#I probably should check that no one is living in our attic or something

[cheeseknives]

I got last months electricity bill and it was like 800€ something, whhhaat the fuck

[hellssheep]

I may need some help from someone who can review the story. Here is the first chapter to get you started (copied from my Google Docs). let me know what corrections i should make to the story, and enjoy the first chapter.

chapter 1: Awake and Aware

Wooly was the first to wake up from his slumber, staring at the ceiling for a bit before finally sitting up from his bed to look around his surroundings. There was one large window on the wall where the headrest of his bed sits against it. Despite the blinds being closed, the vibrant gold light of the morning sunrize ignites it, making the room much easier to see. Sitting between the windows are wooden nightstands fitted with their own drawer and topped off with a vintage lamp and a glass of water. It looked like the so called ‘animators’ finally put more effort into making the environment more detailed to the point where the lighting and texture look so real. 

Wooly then fixed his gaze on the bed parallel to his on the other side of the room. On the bed, there lies Amanda still sleeping peacefully in an uncomfortable looking position; her one arm is thrown across their face while her other arm is stretched out, and her left leg hangs off the edge of her bed. Yet, she is still completely at ease by the way she is steadily breathing and is laying almost perfectly still.

Wooly shook his head, still waking up from a dream he had before he woke up, only to be met with the feeling of weight hanging off his head. He could barely remember what he dreamt about, only remembering the feeling of floating, the light of lined up candles, an empty room, the sound of running footsteps, and trees passing by a window of a car. Everything else is either a blur or pitch black. Dreams can be a strange thing, with them being so abstract yet formed into something only our imagination is capable of making and throws logic out over the cliff. If only he can remember it more clearly, because it would make a pretty good story to share with somebody. Something about that dream feels important despite it not making sense, but it seems too nonsensical for Wooly to care about at that time.

Wooly reached out and grabbed the glass of old water and took a sip from it, then made a face of mild disgust. The stagnant liquid tastes too stale for wooly to enjoy, so his reaction was reasonable. He got off the bed, with his head still feeling heavy, and went toward the door with the glass still in his hand. There were two chests on both ends of the wall the door shared it with. Wooly didn't want to check them out yet in the concern that he would wake Amanda.

 He slowly and silently opened the door, hoping that there's at least something on the other side of it. His hopes come true, because he is met with another door on the other side of the carpeted hallway. On his left, there was a wall with only an abstract painting decorating it. Above the painting is a trap door that probably leads to the attic. On his right, there or two more matching doors and the hallway leads to the living room slightly lit up by the color of amber.

He decided to enter the door across from the room he slept in, gently opening it as if there could be someone else in the house. It's a silly thing to do if the only truly sentient thing in the show is himself and Amanda. He looked through into the dark windowless room, and was able to barely see that there was the basic bathroom essentials; a toilet, bathtub with blue shower curtains, laundry basket fitted with a lid, a picture above it, and a sink with a mirror above it and a plastic folding step stool below. He turned on the light to see that the painting above is that of a cute little sheep under the tree atop of a hill.

Wooly went up to the sink with his stale water glass, and positioned the step stool so he could use the sink to fill it up with fresh cold water. Once wooly stepped up on top of the stepstool, he finally looked up to see the horrors staring right back at him from the sink.

______________________________________________________________

“Aaaaaaaaaa!”

A familiar scream has woken Amanda up, followed by the sound of glass breaking. She got up and noticed the environment. The room looked too real for it to be from her prison she called her home. What episode is this setup supposed to be about?

There was light, brighter than the fading sunrise, creeping out from the opened door. She quickly went through that door to see what happened. Was it something that spooked the intruder? She went through another that led to the bathroom, only to be met by a wet puddle she almost stepped on, a cup broken into two pieces, and a… Wooly?

“Wha…” was the only word she muttered when she saw a sheep in shock. Is that really wooly that was staring back at Amanda. It surely looked like him, but the only difference is that he has a set of six horns, three on the watch side of his head. The largest horns are ram-like, and looped around his ears, while the other two horns that are sitting behind them are much smaller. one of his ears is holding an orange tag with lettering she could barely see from the distance. This sheep even has a wool-covered tail long enough to hang above and behind his bipedal hooves.

“What happened to me amanda?!” he yelled. Yep, that's wooly alright.

“I don't know wooly! How could this happen?”

“I don't know! I was hoping you would know!”

“I have nothing to do with it! I don't think I have the power to do that, let alone remember how you end up like that!”

“Well I'm sure horns don't grow overnight like this”

“Yea, neither do tails”. Those four words are enough to quickly turn and look behind him. Seems like he hasn't noticed that he had a tail until now.

“Oh gods.” wooly responded with. He looked back at the mirror and looked at his new head features. He touched the tag, feeling the burning sensation from his inflamed ear. Reading the tag, it depicts a simple upside down pentagram with the numbers 666 written under it. He then looked in his mouth and noticed that he had a set of teeth that came with sharp canines. “Oh gauds!” he repeated, with his words a little messed up as he moved his lip around with one finger to see his teeth a bit more. 

It's a strange sight to see a character model with teeth like that, but at least they are oversimplified toonish teeth instead of realistic looking ones. Wooly looked a bit more intimidating with those fangs. Wooly is also freaked out by the new features.

“Calm down wooly.” He told himself. “Hopefully, this will be over in the next episode”

“Um… that's the thing, wooly. I don't think we are in the show anymore”

Wooly turned around towards Amanda with a concerned expression “what?”

“Well, take a look around.” she told wooly, widening her arms as she looked at the environment. “This place looks too real to be our cartoonish world”.

“ I can't believe this.” Wooly muttered to amanda. “Are you saying that…we…are in the real world?”

“It looks like it. I can't use my limited abilities to change the environment. I can only do that in the tapes”

Wooly was silent for a bit.”If we really are in reality,” He breathes in deeply, then out. He finishes his sentence turning towards the sink once more “Then this is a lot to take in”.

“It sure is,” she replied. “But we are finally free from Hamelin, right?”

“I'm not sure if we are yet, besides we don't even know if somebody who took us here is one of them or not”. Wooly is making a good point. Who took them to this house? What are their intentions? For all they know, Amanda and Wooly are probably being kept hostage to make money off of them, or something worse than that.

“If I was part of that horrid company,...” somebody behind them said as they gently pushed the door further. “I could have left you there”. The kids jumped a bit in fright. At the doorway, there was a young adult looking at them with both concern and wonder.

 “Sorry for eavesdropping there guys. It's kinda a habit of curiosity. It did help me out in finding you guys though.” something seems familiar about them, but not from hamelin entertainment. She probably saw them before, like in a library or… attic!

“It’s You! That voice! That Face! You're the one from the attic; the one who played the tapes!” 

“Just call me Riley.” they replied. “And I woke up to your screams. I was hoping that I'd be the first to wake so I could prepare breakfast before you both wake up, but it seems like you beat me to it”

“I'm sorry” Wooly announced. “I woke up to get a fresh glass of cold water from the bathroom sink when i basically got jumpscared by my own reflection and dropped your glass”

“Accidents happen, and I can understand how. You look different”

“Yea, i don't know how i woke up this way”

“Well, if you don't know how it happened, then I don't know either.” Riley

“Then how did you get us here?” Amanda interrupted.

  “I’ll try my best to explain over breakfast” Riley kindly told them. “Watch out for the broken glass on the floor. I'll clean that up later.”.

“Aw yeah, can't wait to finally eat” she Responded. Amanda and Wooly did their best to avoid the glass and water on the floor while exiting the bathroom.

______________________________________________________________

All three of them entered the living room, which is connected to the dining room.Wooly admired how cozy the rest of the home looked. The house is really clean and is filled with things that are a mix between antique and modern. The kitchen had its own island counter. That was the only thing separating the kitchen from the dining room. The dining room had one chandelier that hangs right above an antique but polished wooden table surrounded by four matching chairs. 

Amanda and wooly sat down on the table. Wooly waits patiently for what breakfast Riley has provided them, hopefully it doesn't involve meat. 

“What is for breakfast?” Amanda asked.

“You'll see”. Riley opened up the fridge, the aroma of something sweet reached wooly. The smell is enough to excite him a little. They reached into the fridge to pull out two whole pies, ready to be eaten or warmed up.

“Do you guys like your pies? Cold or warm?” Both agreed to have their pies warmed up. Riley put both the pies in the oven and set it to warm instead of bake.

“What kind of pie are they?” Wooly asked Riley.

“Your favorites; one is apple and the other is peach.”. That's music to Wooly’s ears, which flapped with joy by the news.

“You know us too well,” Amanda joked. “While the pies are warming up, I gotta ask: how did we get here?”

“Hmm. where should i start?” Riley questions to themself quietly.”I guess it all started when Aunt Kate sent me a note to say goodbye and to give me ownership of her house. She also told me about your tapes in the attic and…”

“Wait wait wait! Aunt Kate, as in Kate Park from the Kensdale Public Library?! You are related to her!?” Amanda shouted.

“Yep. that's my aunt alright.”

“Oh my gods. Did she send you to save us!?”

“More like she sent me to finish her work; maybe continuing her legacy outside of library work”

“Riley! I want to know everything you know about my best friend Kate! That explains how you know her name. I thought it was just coincidence”

“I thought you knew”

“Nah. i thought you were a friend of Kate”

“Anyways, where was I…” Riley continued their story while Amanda listened. Wooly is stuck with his own thoughts. Wooly has always known Kate a little, since she was the one that promoted Sam’s series.ever since Kate died, Wooly has a hard time trusting people, always anxious about trying to protect Amanda from triggering her entity. He is not good at sensing people’s intentions, especially those outside the tapes. When you are made and mistreated in what's basically a lab environment, you won't know who to really trust.He knew she had a niece or nephew, but Wooly didn't know they were one of them. Perhaps he can trust Riley, since they are family to Kate, right?

The timer for the oven went off, interrupting the story Wooly wasn't paying attention to. “Oh right. Forgot about the pies” Riley told themself. They got up from the table and went to the oven to take out the fruit-stuffed pastries. Riley, using separate pie cutters, took a slice from each pie and put it on a plate for them. Riley gave the slices to the kids, making sure they didn't mix them up. “There you go guys. Enjoy.” Wolly took a bite from his pie. It is a perfect combination of a sweet and juicy fruit, buttery crust, and a hint of spices. The flavors are comforting and nostalgic. 

“MMMMmmmm. This gotta be one of the best pies I have ever had.” Amanda complimented. “Did you make this?”

“Yea, with my aunt’s recipe. I pre-baked the pie after I got you guys out of that facility.”

“Hold on a sec. A facility? Is it part of the story you were telling?”

“Oh right, the story. I should continue where I left off.”. Riley clears their throat before continuing the story. “After checking out the tapes at the library, I followed the clues that led me far from home and to what looked like one of their research facilities. I have seen some strange things there. Very strange cult shi… stuff. I think they were studying demons and celtic relics like the crown of the stag and whatnot. I looked around until I saw both of you get dragged out of a room. Those scientists looked beaten up for some reason, and you guys were unconscious when they locked you up in an empty room. I swiped their keys and research data, grabbed you guys and escaped without them knowing.”

“That was impressive,” Wooly told Riley. “But you didn't have to go all this way to save us. They could have caught you and…”

“Oh shut it Wooly” Amanda chipped in. “I'm really glad you saved us Riley”

“Your welcome, and wooly. I understand your worry, but who knows what else they were gonna do to you if I left you in there a little longer.”

“I didn't mean to sound like I didn't appreciate your help, but…” Wooly paused for a moment to find the right words to use. “But now you could be in danger of hamelin as well. I was hoping you would find someone to help you out on exposing hamelin”

“I will, but I was hoping you guys could be of great help if we worked together as a team. Besides, who else is gonna take care of you guys but Kate’s nibling”

“I suppose so. How far are we from when you got us?”

“It was a 5 hour drive back home. Had to go past a few towns from there.”

“Sounds like it's gonna take a while for them to find us as long as we keep a low profile.”

“That's right. But for now, you need to stay here while I go to the market and grab a few things from there.”

“What?!” Amanda shouted. “But I wanna Go with you Riley! It's my first time outside those darn tapes and I want to go see the world, even if it's right in our own backyard.”

“I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that would raise the risk of them finding you if I bring you out where everyone will see you.”

“We can wear a disguise! We will lay low I promise. Besides, Hamelin might break in and take us while you are away.”

Wooly doesn't mind staying home for a bit, and he could probably find activities to do while Riley is gone. Wooly could convince Amanda to stay if Riley still refuses to take them, but he doubts that she would listen. She hardly listens to wooly, even if it's for her safety.

Riley gave in to her pleas “Alright, but you have to listen and do what I say okay? Maybe I will get you something if you behave well. Do you want to come too Wooly?”

“Sure. I guess it would be better than being home alone.”

“Alrighty then. Let me find some stuff both of you can wear.”

“So, what's gonna be at the market?” Amanda asks.

“Just about anything from food to clothes to technology. Every month, shops and small businesses come to the Kensdale market to advertise their products. I think there are Activities for kids there too since this town is full of them.”

“That sounds fun. I can't wait to see what the town has to offer.”

“Okay. i'll tell you the rules when we get there so it's fresh in your mind”

Hopefully she does listen to Riley Park, who is a bigger authority figure than Wooly. I guess it's because Kate was their aunt, her better friend. Can't help but feel a little jealous.

“Quick question wooly. Think your wool can fit in this corset?”

“What?” 

Looks like Wooly got the short end of the stick when it comes to disguises. Amanda giggled a little while Wooly glared at her. Well, it's weather that or being shaved, and Wooly likes his soft wool.

Next chapter

[mydarlingdahlia]

“Anthropophagist.” Pt.1 | Pt.

(This is the second chapter/part of this series. Read part one if you haven’t already.)

Warnings: see pt. 1.

Dead Dove Do Not Eat: I know, I killed it myself and now it haunts me in my sleep.

Reblogs and feedback are welcome!

You have been warned.

All of them just stood around in the living room, just in utter shock and horror. No one spoke, no one could speak.

Charlotte’s phone screen read: “Tanjiro-disconnected.”

She tried to call him back, but each time she did, the phone buzzed and said, “This user could not be found.” The slight sliver of hope that she had, the hope that Tanjiro had possibly escaped with his life, had vanished from her as quickly as it came.

Now Zenitsu was on the loose. What if he somehow found a way to her family? What if he came for all of them next? There was no way of predicting what his next move would be.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Tengen spoke up.

“Alright, everyone. It seems we have gotten ourselves into a…dangerous situation. We need to take course of action as soon as possible! It would be best for our own safety.” he said.

“But what should we do, Lord Tengen?” Suma asked nervously. Tengen thought about her question for a short moment.

“I know! Everyone, go to every room in the house and lock all of the windows, then find any doors that may lead outside, and lock those up as well. Make sure to double check all of the locks on the windows and doors.

Then I reckon we should close all of the curtains and board everything up. We should make the place look abandoned as possible, as to not attract attention.” Tengen said, crossing his arms.

“But what if we run out of food? We can’t just all sit in here and starve!” Mitsuri replied.

“Good point, Kanroji! Hmm…how about this? If we happen to run low on food, Gyomei and someone else will go to the store and buy all of the food we need. But stick to the back streets, as to be better hidden.” Tengen said.

“That makes sense…” Charlotte thought to herself. “Since Gyomei is the strongest, and being in pairs is probably safer than going alone…”

Everyone either nodded or murmured in agreement, and then they all got to work.

Mitsuri and Shinobu were sitting on the couch with Kanao, consoling her over Tanjiro’s death. The butterfly triplets made sure to bring all of their toys in from outside and anything else that was necessary. Aoi and Muichiro were on kitchen duty; making sure there was enough food to go around for a good while, and things like that.

Gyomei, Giyuu, Rengoku, and Sanemi ran around the house, closing and locking the doors and windows, shutting the curtains, boarding them shut. Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru put everyone into designated pairs, so that no one should ever have to end up alone in a situation.

And Charlotte and Tengen double checked everything. Made sure all of the doors and windows were secure, made sure food was stocked, everything was brought inside, basic inspection, really.

Tengen checked all of the upstairs and the attic, while Charlotte had downstairs and the basement. Tengen decided it was best to leave the back door unblocked, since going out of the front would be blatantly obvious.

The back door would be guarded and securely locked when not being used, but it would remain functional. Tengen and Charlotte checked the kitchen together, and secured everything around the house before locking up.

Charlotte was in the living room, about to close the curtains to a window, when she saw something flash out of the corner of her eye to the right. She slowly opened a bit of the curtain, and her heart almost stopped.

She could’ve sworn, on the Bible and her grave, that she saw a flash of orange and yellow near the house. She quickly closed the curtains out of fear of being seen before she could get a better look, though.

“Hello there, Charlotte! Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Rengoku exclaimed, coming up from behind her.

“O-Oh! Hey, Rengoku! Sorry, I uh…thought I saw something outside.” she said, her eyes glancing over at the closed window again. It couldn’t have been him…could it?

No, that’s impossible…just a trick of the light…

Right?

Right.

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

It’s been weeks now, and Charlotte still couldn’t stop thinking about what she saw in the window that first day. It shook her to her core, like nothing had ever before. It gave her goosebumps every time she thought about it.

Gyomei and Giyuu headed out about thirty minutes ago, and it was growing dark. Everyone hoped they’d be back soon. Charlotte did too, but she felt that something was wrong. Off, so to say. She had a bad feeling about tonight.

Was something going to happen? She sure as hell hoped not… But she just had this gut feeling that would not go away. It made her more on edge, and everyone noticed. And by everyone, Tengen did.

“Hey. What’s going on with you? You seem a little…down.” Tengen said, sitting next to where Charlotte was on the sofa.

“I…I honestly don’t know, Ten. I-It’s just I feel like something’s not right…it’s this gut feeling I have…” she replied softly, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked up at him, and was met with a totally different person.

It wasn’t the usually boisterous, playful, with-a-slightly-annoying-ego Uzui Tengen she was used to.

His face had changed. Normally, whenever he asked her when something was wrong, he always had a comforting grin on his face. Now, there was no smile of any kind detected. His face had softened, his eyes had deepened a little bit. Eyebrows slightly curved, and, even if they were faintly there…barely noticeable dark circles under his eyes.

His voice had changed, too. Not loud and obnoxious like compared to Rengoku, but quieter. Gentler. Like a weary traveler after a long journey. He seemed…tired.

“Well…do you wanna tell me about this supposed ‘gut feeli—’” his sentence was interrupted by Charlotte suddenly embracing him in a tight hug. Tengen froze. This wasn’t normal behavior for Charlotte. Most times when they touched it was either a friendly punch on the arm or something of that nature.

This…was unexpected, to say the least.

“Uhhhh…what’s all this about..?” Tengen asked suspiciously, hugging her back after a few moments.

“I’m sorry, I just…I don’t wanna lose you, Uzui.” she said softly. Tengen froze again. He hadn’t heard her call him that name in years. She never called him that… That only meant she was really serious about this.

“Lose me? Whaddya mean by that? I ain’t going nowhere!” Tengen said, pulling back from the hug with a slight chuckle.

“I…I don’t know…I think I’m just a little stressed with this situation and all…” she said, fidgeting with the hem of her sweatshirt. Tengen nodded and patted her shoulder.

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m your best friend, and can trust me, okay?” he said, a small smile on his face.

Charlotte nodded.

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

About fifteen minutes later, Gyomei and Giyuu came back. Food was made, and everyone went to bed shortly afterwards. Charlotte couldn’t sleep, though. She tossed and turned most of the night.

She would’ve gone downstairs to get water or something, but she was too afraid to. She kept hearing noises that she swore were footsteps. She kept telling herself that it was just her imagination, but she couldn’t shake the feeling the something was in the house. Something that was definitely unwelcome.

After an hour, she finally decided to get up and go downstairs. She went to grab her phone to use her flashlight, but it wasn’t on her nightstand. She must’ve left it downstairs.

Charlotte slowly made her way through the darkness and down the steps, and into the living room. There it is!

She grabbed her phone and was about to head back upstairs, but she felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She quickly turned on her flashlight and turned around, but thankfully, nothing was there. She sighed out of relief.

But then her eye caught something.

A board on a window looked out of place. Had it always been at that angle?

“Probably just imagining it…” she mumbled to herself before heading back upstairs. As she headed back upstairs, she noticed a strange smell, although she couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

She merely shrugged it off and went back to her room.

When she woke up, it was already morning. She put on her slippers and slowly made her way downstairs. She yawned as she reached the bottom step.

“Morning, Ten.” she said as she made her way over to the kitchen. No response.

“Ten?” she said, looking around the room. Weird…he was always the first one awake…

“I’ll go check his room..” Charlotte said as she went back upstairs again. When she reached Tengen’s room that he shared with his wives, she had the intention of knocking, but she noticed the door was left slightly ajar.

She slowly pushed open the door, and that smell hit her again, but it was much more potent and stronger than when she had smelled it the night before. The room was dark, too. She couldn’t see anything.

“Ten…?” she said softly, before flipping on the light switch. What she saw almost made her sick to her stomach. There was blood. So, so much blood. The room was a mess, furniture and belongings thrown ajar all over the place…

Tengen and his wives were nowhere to be seen.

“Tengen?!” Charlotte said frantically, now beginning to search the room. The closet, the entrance to the attic, under the bed, nothing. Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru had vanished. But, she still hadn’t checked the bathroom…maybe they were alright! God, please let them be alright.

She tried the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. She pulled harder, still nothing.

“Oh, fuck this.” she grumbled, grabbing a chair and smashing off the door handle herself. She immediately kicked open the door, and she fell to her knees.

She saw a golden bicep ring, without its owner. The curtain to the shower had been pulled shut. She slowly crawled over to it, and pulled the curtain back slowly.

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

The others awoke with a start, hearing a bloodcurdling scream from Uzui’s room.

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

Thank you for reading part two of my series! Feel free to put/tell me your guesses as to who you think will become victim next~

[roosterforme]

The Craftsman | Rooster x Reader

Summary: You and Bradley go house hunting and are in complete agreement over what you see.

Warnings: Fluff, cursing, mentions of sex

Length: 1500 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

This was written to accompany my series! Check my masterlist.

Bradley was feeling a little bummed out.

"Don't get discouraged, Roo. I'm sure something else will get listed for sale soon. A great house is definitely out there somewhere."

"You know I don't like anything less than perfection when it comes to you, Sweetheart," he replied with a sullen frown. "I want the perfect house."

You and he were in the Bronco, heading back to your apartment after checking out some houses with the realtor. You had spent the last several weekends helping him with house hunting, and while each one had some nice features, none of them were quite right.

"But it's going to be your house, Bradley. You have to be the one who wants to buy it. Unless this means you're going to let me pay you rent if I move in?"

Bradley scoffed. "If? I hope you mean when you move in. And no, you're not going to pay me rent. And yes, I want you to want the house too."

"Oooh, what's that?" you asked, pointing out a sign that read Open House stuck in the front yard of an adorable craftsman style home. "Can we check it out?"

Bradley circled the block and pulled into the short driveway, a little hesitant to feel any further disappointment. "It looks nice. The front porch is huge," he said, staring at the house just like you were. You had both seemingly fallen under its spell already. "I wonder what the asking price is."

"Let's go find out," you told him, hopping out of the car and heading toward the open front door. 

"This is really nice. I'm going to text our realtor, see if he can meet us here," Bradley mumbled as he looked around at the open, spacious interior and picked up one of the flyers on the coffee table.

"Yeah... okay," you replied. Bradley could tell you were already falling in love with what you saw as you slowly ambled around the living room. There were a few other couples and families looking at the house as well, but Bradley hardly noticed them. He only saw how happy and comfortable you looked in the space.

You and Bradley checked all three bedrooms together, and he noted that the master was big enough for a king sized bed. You noted that the tub and shower were big enough for two people. The living room had a beautiful exposed brick wall and a small reading nook that you made a huge fuss over. The attic space had even been turned into an office of sorts with a lot of storage. 

"Oh, Bradley, look at the back yard! It's fenced in. You could get a dog!" He came to stand behind you, wrapped his arms around your waist, and you both looked out the back door.

"Very nice." He leaned down next to your ear and said, "Let's check out the kitchen counters, Sweetheart. I want to make sure everything in there is the right layout for kitchen sex."

"Roo! Quiet down!"

"What? You know we do some of our best work in your kitchen. I love seeing you sitting naked on the granite, just waiting for me to walk in and fu-"

"Bradley! There are children here!" You scolded him, turning in his arms and pressing two fingers against his lips as he smiled.

And now Bradley was thinking about kids. Specifically raising some in this house. With you. 

He wasn't sure if that was something you even wanted in the future, and now was not the time for a discussion about it. But... the house was probably big enough to accommodate that. Just in case. 

Once you removed your fingers from his lips, he pressed a long kiss to your forehead. "Let's check out the kitchen, and by then our realtor should be here," he told you softly.

You walked around the space, running your fingers over every surface and smiling. "This is a nice kitchen. And to your point, there are a lot of good surfaces for certain....activities."

"That's my girl, I knew you'd come around." 

You smirked before opening the refrigerator and checking out the inside. "Lots of space for our favorite beer and hot sauces in here too. How much did that flyer from the listing agent say they're asking?"

Bradley didn't even want to tell you, because it was above his budget. Or, at least it was above the price point that he had told you he was trying to stay around. Bradley figured it would look very suspicious if he threw the rest of the flyers in the trash before you had a chance to see them. 

Just then his own agent strolled into the kitchen to join them. 

You and Bradley looked at him, and he looked back and forth between the two of you. The agent laughed and shook his head. "I can already tell you both love this house. But I'd be remiss if I didn't let you know that it's above your budget," he said, looking solely at Bradley. 

Bradley saw your face drop a little bit and he reached for you. "No, it's okay, Roo. I'm sure there will be another one that will be perfect too."

He wrapped you in his arms and turned toward his realtor. "We need this house. The little lady really likes it."

Bradley reveled in the sound of your bright laughter against his chest. "Little lady?" you asked him, but he just winked at you as the realtor pulled out his phone and worked some math. 

"You would need about eight thousand additional for the down payment, and your mortgage payments would be a bit higher than we had discussed. Want me to talk to the other agent and see if there's any wiggle room?"

"Absolutely," Bradley told him, and he left you both alone in the kitchen, walking away with his phone to his ear.

"Roo, I don't think it's a good idea to go above your budget."

"It's fine, Baby Girl. It's all good."

"What if you need the money for something else?"

"Like what? I eat all your food anyway, Sweetheart, so I'm already saving a lot of money right there," he told you with a grin.

"What if something happens to the Bronco?"

"Nah, she's always a good girl for me. And we can commute together in your little piece of shit if we need to."

"Well, what if something else important comes up? Look, I can't think of anything right now, but it could happen! Things can get expensive."

"What can I say to put your mind at ease here?" he asked as calmly as he could. 

You stepped out of his grasp and looked him in the eye. "Please let me contribute. I would be more than happy to pay you rent when I move in."

"No, that's something a landlord or a roommate would ask of you." Bradley was getting more irritated by the moment. 

You sighed and tossed your hands in the air. "I think you're being unreasonable right now. I make almost as much money as you do, and I have some saved up too!"

Bradley paced back and forth next to the island, running his fingers through his wavy hair. "Y/N, I think we both know this place is perfect. I'm close to a rank promotion, which will come with more pay. I already have enough money anyway, so please relax." He paused before resuming pacing, and his voice was becoming more frustrated. "Plus, your parents already like me, but I need them to love me, so there's no way I'm going to have you paying me rent. That's ridiculous." He stopped pacing and turned to face you. "And the only expensive thing I can think of off the top of my head that I will need is an engagement ring for you. But I don't need to buy one, because I'm planning on giving you my mom's ring someday, okay? Now will you let me buy this fucking dream house without any more arguments?"

You were standing next to the refrigerator gaping at Bradley, your mouth hanging open, as the realtor strolled back into the room.

"The sellers will come down ten grand if you're willing to close in thirty days instead of sixty. Do you want me to write up a formal offer?"

Bradley never took his eyes off you. "Well, Sweetheart? Do you want it?"

You just nodded silently with a dreamy look in your eyes. You walked toward Bradley, wrapping your arms around him and resting your head on his chest. "Yes."

Bradley rubbed your back as he told the realtor, "Write it up." 

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

Thanks for reading! This might be my favorite snippet of Bradley and Baby Girl so far! More to come in the form of one-shots and another series!

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[tmnt22]

Truth or dare (BayverseLeoxReader)

*Leonardo’s walkie-talkie sounds*

Leo already knows it’s you, because all of his brothers were in the lair.

“Y/N?”

*your voice sounded kind of distorted*

“Heeeeey!”

He was glad to hear that nothing was wrong, that you just wanted to say hi.

Since he didn’t have a phone, he got you a walkie-talkie so you could just call him at anytime if something was wrong.

But lately, just sometimes, you called him just to talk to him, you guys became really close.

“Heeeeey!”

He responded with your same vibe.

“What can I help you with?”

You giggled silently to yourself at the dirty thoughts that you made with that phrase brought to mind. You’ve been crushing on him for the past month, but never actually made any kind of move. You didn’t want to disrespect him. Sometimes you even thought that it would be impossible for a lot of reasons, but hey you couldn’t control that. You liked him and enjoyed spending time with him.

“How’s it going Leo? And so, there’s this stupid ikea table that I’ve been trying to put together, right? And everything was going fine till I-“

You were interrupted

“What’s uuuup Y/N??” Mikey, his brother exclaimed through the other side of the walkie-talkie

“Hiiii, what’s up Mikey?”

“Nothing much, hey, you should tell Leo to stop being on our shells to train harder-“

Mikey was interrupted by an annoyed Leo

“Shut up Mikey, ugh, sorry for that...go on”

You giggled

“So everything was fine till I just read in the box that I need two persons to lift it up”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you, I’m a turtle”

Did he really just say that? You thought to yourself and tried not to laugh

“Stop it Leo, oh my god, that’s the worst pun you’ve said this week”

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes”

“Okay, see ya!”

You knew very well that when he meant 20 minutes it could be 10 or 25 mins, no in between. So you fixed your half up messy bun and your side curtain bangs a little bit and waited, while listening to one of your playlists, until you heard a knock on the transparent doors of your terrace. Since you lived in an attic he didn’t need to worry much about being seen. Also, it was 2 am.

“Heeeey” you whispered as you opened the doors.

“Heeeey” he whispered a little bit louder.

At this point it was your thing to greet eachother saying ‘hey’ in the same vibe as the other, everytime.

As soon as you closed the doors back, you two started talking normally again.

“So, show me that ikea table” he said with a ‘surprise me’ smirk

You placed one of your side bangs behind your ear and showed him the upside down table. You kneeled down and right after, he did the same.

“So what do you think?”

“It’s huge, how did you even get this up here??”

“Oh, a random guy from the building helped me”

“You could have called me you know?”

“I did and you didn’t answer, you were probably on patrol”

“...Touché”

You giggled

“So I grab this end and you grab the oth-“

“Nope, I’ll do it, I don’t want you hurting your back”

“...Alright I’ll play some music then”

As you grabbed your phone, you looked at his biceps flex and how easy it was for him to lift the whole thing, you just press the shuffle button and left the phone at the ground.

“Here, done” he said as he straightened back up

“Thank you Leo, you’re the best!” You said as you placed a hand on his forearm.

He loved when you said things like that to him. It just felt good and boosted his confidence coming from you. He always felt a pleasant tension when you are around. Lately he was thinking about that, and the fact that he probably liked you...but he tried to forget about it since you most definitely didn’t like him back and sometimes those feelings will come and go. So he was chill about it but he wanted to spend time with you nevertheless. You guys had a lot in common after all, and he found it easy to talk to you about anything.

🎶Take my breath away- theme from top gun🎶 starts playing

“I love this song!” You gasped as you started to playback the song, dancing while you checked the table. As you looked down on it your bangs kept getting out of your ears.

“Did you do something to your hair?”

Oh, you were so excited about him noticing that.

“Oh yes, well I just got side bangs the rest of my hair is pretty much the same” you explained as you took off your bun to show him your whole hair.

“Oh! And it’s softer now, I got a keratin treatment, here feel it” you said as you grabbed one of his wrists to guide his hand to your hair.

“A what?”

He said trying to hide the fact that he always wanted to touch your hair.

“Soft, isn’t it?”

“Very”

He said with a smile, which made you smile even more.

You were so confident today, you had a new hairstyle, your hair was soft, you had a new table and one of your favorite songs was playing.

🎶take my breath away..🎶

“You know, I can’t believe the first time I get to see your apartment it’s because of an ikea table” he smirked.

You laughed.

“What did you imagine your first time would be like?” You quickly realized how that sounded like, as he gave you a quiet look with furrowed eyebrows and a smile.

“I- I mean your first time here” you giggled awkwardly and blushed.

🎶turning and returning to some secret place to hide🎶

“Well, definitely not an ikea table. I have to say your place is exactly how I pictured it” he said confidently.

“Really? And what did you picture exactly?” You asked cynically.

“I consider you a simple girl with some intensity, so I just pictured a very minimalistic apartment with neon signs or led lights or something” he sat down on the ground with his legs crossed, leaning back on his arms.

“Intensity?”

“Yeah, like..you are calm but something tells me that sh*t goes down if you get pissed off”

“Oh my god, how do you know that, you’ve never seen me mad?”

“I always had a feeling in my gut that you’re probably like that, but you’re right, I can’t picture you being really angry though”

🎶Watching in slow motion as you turn to me and say my love🎶

“Oh speaking of led lights, stay right here I’ll be right back”

You went for your led lights remote, when you had it, you came back to where he was sitting at with a big smile and sat in front of him on the ground.

🎶take my breath away🎶

“Ready??”

“Born ready” he winked with a warm smirk.

You turned all the lights on, to his surprise they were all over the living room, even behind the tv. The lights automatically turned on in the color that you had last which was pink.

“Oh, hold on.”

You said as you changed the lights to a dark blue color.

“There we go! That’s more appropriate since you’re here”

You smiled and caught yourself just starring at him looking at the blue lights with that smile of his. That stupid smile. His eye color mixed with the neon and his jawline was more prominent under these lights, his neck and his shoulders too.

🎶watching I keep waiting still anticipating love🎶

“Heeey that’s my color!”

he smiled and looked down back at you, catching you off guard. You just starred at his eyes without saying a word, just giving him a smile.

He gave you a sweet smile back.

At that moment your world froze.

🎶through the hourglass I saw you, in time you slipped away, when the mirror crashed I called you, and turned to hear you say🎶

~if only for today I am unafraid~ he mouthed to the song.

You giggled

“Hey Leo..”

“Mmh?”

“Wanna play truth or dare?”

“Just you and me?”

“Yep”

“Sure then”

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What was your second impression of me? Because the first one was pretty bad” he giggled as he looked down.

You smiled and looked up, thinking about your answer.

“So, remember that time I visited the lair and you didn’t know I was visiting so you were just singing that part of the song rump shaker that says “since you got the body of the year, come and get the award, it’s like long sharp sword” hahahaha in your room and as soon as you saw me you turned the song off, well that was my second impression of you” you laughed.

“Oh shell... I was hoping you wouldn’t have noticed that or at least forgot about it” he cringed.

“I actually thought that was kinda cute, because in my first impression of you I thought you were kind of intimidating and that you would never trust me or something like that”

“Hah, well at the beginning I didn’t trust you at all I’ll be honest, but now I’ll admit I do and I also find it very easy to talk to you”

That warmed your heart but you couldn’t show it.

“Okay my turn, truth or dare?”

“Dare”

“Mmmm..I dare you to..play a song that you would dedicate to me!”

“Fair enough, may I use your phone ma’am?”

“Indeed, sir”

🎶Horns- bryce fox🎶 starts playing

“Truth or dare?”

He puts your phone on the floor and the tension becomes stronger, you two had very strong personalities and loved to get challenged or teased.

“Dare”

You winked at him and he felt half of his confidence disappear.

🎶Cause the air she feeds me is damned🎶

“I dare you to do ground combat with me”

“You’re kidding right?”

“Nope”

“Alright let me just put my hair up”

You did your half up bun again preparing to lose every-single-combat, for obvious reasons.

He uncrossed his legs and sat on his knees as you did the same.

“Ready?” He bows

“I think so?”

You bowed, and grabbed the belt he had in his chest, which made you feel butterflies in your stomach for reasons that you didn’t even know. Instead of grabbing your t-shirt he just layed his hand on your shoulder. He didn’t use his other hand, to make it easier for you.

“Don’t go easy on me” he teased.

You made your first move which he quickly reacted and made it it’s own, so he won by using your own push to his advantage by pulling you to the same direction as your push, which made you fall on your face, not very hard because he was not going to actually combat with you. He placed your arm against your back gently.

“I won”

“No shit Leo, what a surprise” you laughed as you got up from the floor.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare”

“Hah, big mistake Leonardo” you smirked.

🎶she got two little horns and they get me a little bit...🎶

“I dare you to do a lap dance”

“Beg your pardon?” He lifts one of his eyebrows

“You heard me”

you knew he was not gonna do this. You just wanted to try to make him nervous.

“Y/N, you know I can’t- I don’t even know how”

“Why can’t you?” You kept teasing.

“Because I don’t know how?”

“Oh, wanna learn?”

“I-...” he blushed and looked down with a shy smirk, like if he was keeping words to himself.

“I don’t think so, truth then” he said as he tried to gain back his composure.

🎶Truth be told I don’t mind🎶

You smiled, that’s what you wanted him to say.

“Are you nervous?”

“Yes.”

“Why do I make you nervous then?”

“...”

“You don’t make me nervous at all and you can only ask one question, sweetheart. Truth or dare?”

“Truth”

“What do you want from me?”

“...dare.”

“I dare you to tell me why you’re teasing me.”

🎶Got her heels stompin’ down my throat🎶

“...”

why is it so hard to just say it? You didn’t think that he would actually ask you and you had no plan B so you just giggled and blushed, thinking about your answer.

“Not so playful now huh?” He teased with a smirk

“Fuck Leo, you got me, um well I-“

“It’s okay, you don’t have to answer that”

“Truth or dare then”

“Truth”

“What do you want from me?”

He giggled.

“Using my own strategies against me huh? I want a lot of things from you, so you’ll have to be more specific.”

“...”

Fuck...he caught you again, you didn’t know what to ask.

“What do you think I want from you then”

“Ground combat lessons?” He said with teasing smile, showing his teeth.

“Truth or dare Y/N” he became serious.

🎶she gets everything she wants🎶

“Dare.”

“I dare you to make a fucking move before I make a move” he demanded as he made strong eye contact.

You didn’t hesitate and immediately sat on his lap and waited there for a second, just to look at his features from up close.

“Can I take your mask off?”

He nods and lets you untie his blue mask.

When you take it off his features were way more noticeable and his eyes became brighter, you liked him even more without the mask.

You decide to not say anything and just caress his face. Your hand was shaking a little bit because you couldn’t believe you were this close to him. You never thought he would want you this close to him.

His eyes looked from your lips to your eyes back and forth.

You layed one of your hands on his plastron and you could feel his heart racing then grabbed one of his hands and placed it in the left side of your chest so he could feel that you were feeling the same way. You collected all the confidence that you’ve never had and kissed him. You kissed him. And most importantly he kissed you back.

Leo felt free for one second. He wanted to kiss you but didn’t know how, and he’d never want to admit that he didn’t have the balls to do so. The thought of being rejected by you and how awkward the whole situation afterwards had a part of him screaming ‘what the hell are you doing Leo?’ But how could he waste an opportunity like this with the girl he has been crushing on? His brothers weren’t around and it wasn’t very late yet, just him and Y/N.

The kiss began to heat up, it became more passionate and kind of sloppy since he has never kissed anyone before, but you wouldn’t change a thing.

“Y/N..s-stop, w-wait” he tried to whisper through the passionate makeout session.

“Give me a second” he giggled breathlessly.

Unconsciously, since you were on his lap, some friction happened, which made him feel his shell tightening.

“Why?” You whispered back, as you said that, you quickly sat up and down, trying to change your position a little bit after being in the same one for a couple of minutes, to make yourself more comfortable but when you sat back down you noticed something hard, and then you put the pieces together.

“Oh”

You whispered trying to hide the fact that you just made him hard. You didn’t think you could do that, at least not that easily.

“I apologize I didn’t mean t-“ he whispered again as he looked at you but the sexual tension was so strong that he was about to pull you in into another kiss.

*tmnt ringtone*

“Seriously?... Hello??”

“Hey Leo, how long till you come back??”

You recognized that voice, it was Donatello.

“Um..soon. Why? Did something happened?”

As he was talking you decided to tease him even more and quietly kissed his neck, at some moments you stopped just so you could exhale in the same spot that you just kissed. That made him roll his eyes and bit the inside of his cheeks, to keep himself together.

“Listen Donnie, you guys can have the night off”

*Really?! Booyah! Wait are you coming back tonight then?*

“See ya later donnie..”

Leo hang up and ran his fingers through your hair and lift your head up to meet his gaze.

“You better not have left a hickey on me”

“..oops”

“Fuck it, I’ll worry about that later”

You bit your lower lip and smiled, it was only 4:30 am and you were going to have him all for you, until the sun goes up.

Hope you liked my first fanfic! And thank you to @leosgirl82 for proofreading this! Since English is not my first language. 🐢

[moemoemammon]

So bear with me. MC sleeps like a rock. A bomb could go off next to them, and they don't wake up. Now, add shallow breathing, and they look like a corpse. You could mistake them for a corpse if you don't check their pulse.

How would the brothers (+ datables if you're not too picky hehe) react to the first time waking them up for school only to think they probably died in their sleep on day one??

Sleeping Like a Corpse!

(Feat. GN!MC and the Demon Bros)

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Lucifer

Lucifer didn’t think much of you when you arrived, now could he be bothered to personally make sure you peeled yourself out of bed in the morning. So naturally, he sent Mammon to go do it.

But when Mammon came back complaining about how you didn’t budge an inch, big bro realized he’d have to take care of it himself, like usual.

He figured slamming your door open would’ve done the trick, but you remain still. And as much as he wants to drag you out of bed by the ankle, he knows how fragile humans can be. He opts for giving you a vigorous shake, and.... you don’t budge.

He calls your name, nothing. He literally pulls you upright by the shoulders and jostles you around like a protein shaker bottle, but you don’t move, and- wait... are you breathing? MAMMOOOOOO-

“Haaah... It’s your first morning with us, and you’re already causing me trouble. If it weren’t for the warmth of your skin, I’d have thought you were dead. Perhaps I should give you an enchanted alarm clock, if you prove to be this difficult to wake every morning.”

Mammon

Tch, he seriously didn’t get why THE Great Mammon had to do this sorta grunt work! Why should he have to make sure a lousy human gets up for school? It’s not like he’s their babysitter! but we all know he’s a p*ssy so he’s not gonna say that out loud

But that means he’s gonna make sure you know how irritated he is! Mammon bursts into your room, calling you a ‘stinkin’ human’ at the top of his lungs, and... you don’t move a muscle. So his next step is to stomp over and rip your blankets off, and..... you still don’t move.

What the hell? It’s like trying to wake up Belphie! He leans in to try to smack you awake, when he finally notices how it...kinda...looks like you aren’t breathing.

Wait. Wait wait wait-! SURE he didn’t feel like having to watch you, but that didn’t mean he wanted you to die on the first night! Lucifer was gonna KILL him-! Did you die of fright or something?! He didn’t really mean all that stuff he said about eating you, you know?! Hey, snap out of it-!

“What the- You’re ALIVE?! I thought you died in your sleep, dammit! TCH! What’s the big idea, playin’ dead like that?! Ya tryin’ to get me in trouble?!” “-N-no I wasn’t worried about ya!”

Leviathan

Why does HE have to wake you up..? Sure, he has to go to school today anyway for the student council meeting, but what does that have to do with a human..? Couldn’t Lucifer have asked ANYONE else..?

Beyond annoyed when he enters your room. What’s he supposed to do?? Shake you?? Hit you with something???? Levi opts for awkwardly poking your side, and noticing how you don’t react. Great. Ugh... this sucked....

He tries again, then pokes the back of your head, tugs your sleeve, shakes your arm... then you roll over from the movement and he nearly has a heart attack. Not only because you surprised him, but because you.. wait, did you die?!

Stuck between “LMAOOOO ROFLMAO the human died on their first night! What a noob! #fail!” and “KDAKLFHLDSJFKL OH NO HELLO?????”

“WH- Ahhh... I thought you were dead. You know how long Lucifer would've lectured if if you died, right? He'd be so mad, i bet he'd even confiscate my D.D.D.! Normies like you are nothing but trouble. This is why a human shouldn't even be here..."

Satan

What a chore... This felt like more of a punishment than anything, and Satan hadn’t even done anything yet. Unless Lucifer already discovered the ink he dripped into his shampoo? Either way, he wasn’t the slightest bit interested in you.

But seeing as he got to hang around you in your most vulnerable state, wouldn’t it be funny if he put a curse on you? He was sure that whatever he chose would become a headache for Lucifer in some way, so the possibilities were endless.

Temporary blindness, backwards speech, rainbow colored skin, extreme bad luck, he didn’t know what to choose! Ah, and there were a few curses he wanted to use on Lucifer that needed to be tested out, so why not experiment on you?

He had plenty of time to pick the perfect one and- ah. Were you.. dead? Did someone beat him to the punch?

“Ah, so you’re alive after all. And here I thought I could harass Lucifer with knowing his human had died in their sleep. Well, it’ll have to wait, I guess...I was really looking forward to the expression on his face...”

Asmo

What? Lucifer was ACTUALLY letting him go in the cute little human’s room, completely unsupervised? What a bold move, dearest big brother~! There’s no way he’d pass up the chance to take a peek at your sleeping face! You were pretty cute, but he’d like to see if you were worth his attention.

That being said, Asmo creeps into your room like a sneaky toddler, and doesn’t hesitate to grab your shoulder and roll you over to get a good look at your sleeping face. Hmm... Not bad! 

So with that, he hops right into your bed unannounced, bouncing you around and giving you that innocent giggle of his. Aren’t you lucky? You get to be woken up by the endlessly charming Asmo-chan~! The first thing you’ll see is his gorgeous face, and you’ll be blessed with the perfect first school day! 

Why, there are hundreds and thousands of demons who wish they were as lucky as you were right now! He’s seen how they’ll fight tooth and nail for a chance to-..... hey, how come you’re not breathing..? Er, he’s not really into that sort of thing...

“Oh thank goodness! I thought you up and died before I had a chance to get to know you! You know how disappointed I’d be, right? Knowing I wasn’t able to explore the cute human living in our house... it’d be a tragedy!”

Beel

Surprisingly, he doesn’t mind that much. Having to go and wake you up reminds him of when Belphie was still around, so it’s familiar and feels kind of nice. What DOESN’T feel nice is that he’s missing valuable time he could be spending inhaling his breakfast, because you won’t wake up.

Hangry Beel enters your room with a bagel in his mouth, so you couldn’t understand what he was saying even if you were awake. Just know he’s calling your name and threatening to eat your breakfast. It’s your loss if you miss out.

Hm... You don’t wake up even after he shakes you, so he’s tempted to just leave. But he knows Lucifer will scold you if he returns downstairs without you, so he’s got to improvise.

It’s fine if he just carries you downstairs, right? He’s just tryin to eat man why can’t you- ...Beel is noticing a distinct lack of breath coming from you when he picks you up. Uhhh

“Oh, you aren’t dead. I was going to ask Lucifer if we could have you for breakfast too, but I guess that’s not an option anymore. He says hurry up and get dressed, and that you should give me your breakfast. Bye.”

Belphie

He’s in the attic, so same lmao.

Twins! Still gonna strangle and throw you down the stairs in the future tho

Couple goals amirite?

[snowbearyy]

Can I get the reaction of the Brothers randomly getting dumped by MC with no reason, only to find out later that MC was insecure and thought it was better since he such a powerful demon that he was too good for MC? Thank you!

(This took forever. Sorry! And I changed formats about halfway through, so that's why Levi's is like that. I didn't really know how to convert it... 😂)

Lucifer

He would be very angry and upset but he wouldn't show it

He'd probably stay in his room for hours during the day just to avoid you

When he'd cross your path, he'd just nod awkwardly

The brothers would be so frustrated with this because there'd be a weird tension in the house

But he's mature to a point, so after a few days he'd want to sit down and have a serious conversation with you

After you tell him the reason you broke up with him, he'd be baffled but relieved at the same time

Relieved that he didn't do anything to hurt you, but baffled by the fact that you felt that way

"MC... I understand that I am a powerful demon, but you are a powerful human. I would not be so infatuated with you if I did not believe you were strong, capable, and worthy. I have never once thought I was too good for you. I love you. You're the only person in the three worlds I want to be with." He grabs your hand, "Now, would you be mine again?"

Mammon

He would be crushed

He'd refuse to come out of his room

When he'd have to, he wouldn't make eye contact with anybody

If he had something to tell you, he'd ask one of his brothers to tell you for him

Everyone would definitely be annoyed

When you tell him how you feel, he has conflicting emotions

He doesn't know whether to be flattered that you viewed him so highly or concerned at your level of insecurity

"I mean, yeah, we're powerful demons, but I didn't know you... I- I mean, why would The Great Mammon be with anybody he didn't think was equally as great?! There's no reason for you to be insecure around me. I love you, you know! So just... don't worry about stuff like that, okay?"

Levi

This man would be beyond shattered.

If you think he holed himself up in his room a lot now, you ain't seen nothing yet.

The vibes surrounding his room would be just dreadful.

Nobody would even bother asking him to come out for anything.

You knew he had snacks and stuff in there, but you were concerned about his nutrition so you decided to check on him. When you knocked, there was no answer. The door wasn't locked and there was no request for a password. When you walked in, you saw him in front of his TV with his headphones on, playing a game. You tap on his shoulder and he flinches, face dropping as soon as he sees you. "Levi, can I talk to you?" you ask. He tries to seem nonchalant but you can tell he's very nervous. You explain to him everything you've been feeling and he looks confused, but a bit more relaxed. "You... felt that way about me?" Processing this information takes a few moments for him. "Well, I... I don't really see why you would! I guess I could be considered a powerful demon, but what good is it when I'm like this?! Please don't.. feel that way about a shut-in like me. You're far more amazing! I don't consider myself 'too good' for anything, especially not you! So can we.. go back to the way things were? Please?"

Satan

On the surface, he would be very mature about it. He wouldn't lock himself away in his room or avoid you.

He would try to act like everything was normal

In private, though, he'd be fuming

He'd get really irritated at minor things and snap at his brothers occasionally

Though, he would start to suspect there were strange reasons as to why you broke up with him

He would confront you

When you explain it to him, he'd be really happy

Like an "oh, that's it? we can work it out" type feeling

"I understand, MC. I realize it can be a bit intimidating, but I hope you know nobody views you as a lesser being. You're smart and wonderful and you've changed our lives for the better. I'm especially grateful to you. Because you taught me what it's like to truly love someone. And if you allowed me to continue loving you, I'd greatly appreciate it. Even if you said no, I'd do it anyway."

Asmodeus

He'd be super confused

Like, what did he do wrong?

He'd take a few days to himself

And then after that, he'd convince himself he was back to normal but everybody could tell he's upset

But I think he'd be really upfront about wanting to know the reason why

So it wouldn't take long for him to ask for an explanation and understand everything

He'd also be shocked that that was your reason

"MC... We're totally different species! It's pointless to compare yourself to me. You have so many great qualities, too! I could list them for hours. And I will! But right now, I'm telling you this: I love you more than anything! So I'm not letting you go!"

Beelzebub

He'd feel so guilty and worried that he did something to hurt you

But he'd respect your decision

He wouldn't really know how to treat you after that

Should he give you some space or act like nothing happened?

Because of this, he'd probably end up distancing himself from you regardless

Explaining everything to him gives him peace of mind

And now he's determined to build you up

"I'm sorry you felt that way. If there's anything I can do to make you feel less insecure, please let me know and I'll do it. But you're not weak by any means. And I'm proud of you every day. So, please don't compare yourself. You are perfect. And I love you so much."

Belphegor

He would be... depressed

He'd sleep a lot more than he usually does

He wouldn't blame you, but he'd be upset with himself

He wouldn't want you to see him so he'd hide in the attic or his room most of the day

After talking to him, though, he feels better

He understands you 100%

"I can see why you'd feel like that, but... you're too important to me to give up. I've never compared you to anyone because you're so special. If you think anything can stop me from loving you, you're wrong."

[sorry-i-ship-drarry]

A prompt idea/suggestion :

Usually Harry is back at home by evening but its almost 10 and he isn't back yet, Draco starts to worry and contacts everyone but got no news of him. Harry arrives just before midnight and draco is not in good state. As soon as draco sees him he hugs him and starts crying. Harry is late because he planning something for draco.

No pressure!

I didn't know how to write this without making this a cliche but perhaps it's supposed to be cliche, I tried my best.

Fidus Amor

Fluff | domestic | Comfort fic

Draco checks outside the kitchen window like a usual routine to see if harry had reached but to his surprise he hadn't, Draco only frowned to himself but didn't thought much about it assuming Harry must be stuck with some last remaining work, he let it be and continued cooking the dinner but lost in making the curry, Draco didn't realise when the clock stroke 10 in the night. He frowned as checked outside the window again but still nothing more unusual than it was 1 hour ago. He turned off the last of stove and placed the dinner on the table, hoping that Harry would enter just then and apologize for being late and ramble on about how there was a chaos at workplace because a niffler left loose but Draco stared at the watch on his wrist, then on the wall, his hand under his chin as he waited for Harry but still no see.

15 minutes later draco picked up a cucumber from the salad and ate, then chewed a few more and ultimately finished the plate of salad but harry still hadn't came home yet. It was unusual of harry to be this late, Draco thought. And just for reassurance when it was finally 10:45, Draco decided to call Ron and Hermione to check if perhaps was at their for dinner that harry might've forgotten to mention this morning but upon calling them, he heard they gave no such invitation and Hermione rambling on behind how they should do the dinner again and maybe go to a new place but Ron had confirmed Draco that Harry left the office pretty soon and nowhere later than 8:30 and wasn't at their place. Reluctantly Draco cut the call ensuring them that everything was fine, when it wasn't.

One by one Draco called everyone on the phone list, the speedial, the people from the pub around the corner, rang the neighbours, called molly too, and for heaven's sake even Ms. McGonagall just in case Harry had managed to reach her out but upon calling almost 15 people at ungodly hour for just a five minute information, he didn't receive any whereabouts of harry because nobody had seen him and told him the same sentence over and over that Harry would come back and Draco had nothing to worry about but that was it, wasn't it, he couldn't help but worry about where Harry had gone.

His mind played the evil card once the clock went beyond 11 and imagined all the worst case scenarios of harry being abducted, fainted on the way that nobody knew of or perhaps harry got lost, or whatever the worst that could happen to him and draco couldn't help but panic and be extremely worried about Harry's whereabouts. He sat alone on the couch, his legs bouncing up and down chewing his fingernails in panic as anxiety washed over Draco like the water at the beach over sand. He remained seated there till the clock stroke 11:20 and just as it went to minute 21, Draco stood up abruptly and paced across the room, opening and closing the door and checking if harry had returned but no matter what he did, nothing offered him peace and that he was nowhere to be seen or heard. He started talking to himself loudly, consoling himself that Harry is absolutely fine and nothing had happened and that he probably just got stuck traveling back in a Muggle transport after all London was a busy City but no matter what he tried he couldn't help but worry more minute by minute. He was just at his last straw almost wanting to burst out and look for Harry himself when the doorknob jingled and harry walked Just Before midnight and stopped dead in his movements and stared at Draco standing in the middle of the living room.

" where the hell have you been ?" Draco snapped loudly knowing he was angry at harry but he couldn't deny the flood of relief that ran through him when and instantly hugged harry almost knocking them both our of the apartment and started crying in his neck.

Stunned by Draco's reaction, he soothed down and tightly wrapped his arms around immediately understanding how he had worried Draco " I'm sorry Draco- I didn't mean to worry you so much "

" well yeah that fixes everything " he sarcastically responded yet didn't release harry even a little bit.

" Draco, I love you but we're at the door " harry smiled

" I don't care " Draco weeped.

Harry sighed lightly and started pushing Draco backward little by little so they could just be inside enough to close the door.

" I had been worried sick about you, you could have just given me a call or owled me or sent a damn mail but you had to be out without telling me. I - I thought- something happened-"

" no- Merlin Draco, no " he sighed as he pushed Draco behind so he could see his face and this time Draco let him.

Harry cupped his face " Its alright, I'm here and I'm so sorry about this. I just- I never wanted you to worry "

" then where were you ? You could've told me instead of all this " Draco whispered.

Harry noticed a dry tear over cheeks and in a sweet moment, he kissed it away then looked at him fondly to realise how much Draco really cared for him and then he said " let me show you something "

Harry took Draco by hands and disapparted to where he had been all evening.

" okay- before you say anything or do, Just know that it's all for good intentions. I wanted to brighten the place up and I know we love our apartment but I know how much you love the big houses, so, I tidied up Grimmauld place " harry explained as he pushed open the door.

" you had been here all this time ?" Draco as he followed behind Harry and into the hallway.

" well yeah but there's more to it. I only started cleaning up this place and I only managed to clean the attic yet, apparently kreacher wasn't very helpful. And I wanted to show you this once it was ready but I think if I don't tell you now, you'd be more worried " harry told.

" tell me what ? Gotta be honest harry, you're scaring me a little bit " Draco said as they walked through the kitchen door and to the backyard and harry disappeared.

" harry ?" Draco called out as soon as he lost sight of harry

" just a second " harry muttered from somewhere and Just then a bunch of scattered lights turned on and harry shone in golden and silver lights from above him.

" harry " Draco muttered as he looked above him, completely awestruck..

" I- know how much you loved those tree house's from the movies and you told me you wished you had one too but since we're obviously too old to be fit into these, but I made one for us and I know we haven't heard from the adoption agency yet but I want that kid to have everything we couldn't have and even everything better. I wanted to show you this after we had heard back from them because I didn't wanted you to get hurt if we get put on hold for long but- I- I think there's no time better. I know I should've waited but ever since we applied I couldn't stop thinking, so I came here almost every night and made this. It's still in progress and it still needs a lot of work but this is a start and I know it would no where be around perfect but it'll be ours- and- I think that's what matters, right ?" Harry hopefully waited for a response but Draco was left speechless, he only suited with staring at harry with such fondness that he perhaps might've never seem him with but just the thought of harry doing this made his heart swell too much that he was worried he'd get a cardiac arrest.

" Draco- say somet-"

" I love you "

Harry's eyebrows spiked up in surprise until his face turned soft and into a grin.

" i don't think I've ever loved you more " Draco said with a small smile and approaching harry.

" well-"

" shush-" Draco placed a finger in his lip with a mischievous smile until he put his hands on Harry's neck and kissed him over the lips softly, showing him in that kiss that he meant the entire world to him, that there was nothing better than this, than them, that how much he loved Harry that he couldn't stop even if wanted to.

" wow " harry chuckled when they separated just as a small joke he could erupt.

Draco rolled his eyes but nonetheless pressed his forehead against Harry's " this is beyond perfect, and that's-because it's ours "

Harry smiled wrapped his arms Draco's torso and pulling him closer if it were anymore possible.

" you could've told me though, I would've loved to help you " Draco said after a while of just having pressed their foreheads together and staring into others eyes.

"I wanted it to be surprise but there's plenty left to do, you can still help " harry shrugged as he turned to the side to watch the tree house.

Draco leaned his head over Harry's shoulder, his arm circling his back " I'd love to "

And harry placed a soft kiss on top of Draco's head, wrapping his arms around the other.

"you'll be a good dad, harry " Draco said after a while, watching harry fondly, his head still on his shoulder.

" so would you. We'll give him or her everything " harry smiled gazing into Draco's eyes.

" everything " Draco said in a faint Whisper only for the words to be delivered just to harry until the wind took it away and they remained there watching the tree house, In each other's presence when there awaited an unnoticed letter in their mailbox from the said agency, but everything could wait, just for this moment, where there was love and nothing else.

My apologies for not having been focused on day prompts in a while but I will try to keep up while working on " Da Capo "

300 followers appreciation dialogue Prompt requests open

Angst prompts request open

[batsandbugs]

The Great IKEA Game

Chapter 3: Food Court Shenanigans 

AN: Well, it’s two months later, but I’m finally back! Enjoy! 

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Cautiously they snuck around from display to display - hiding their cloth robins in increasingly creative places, on a corkboard, with a dining set, on a fake bird. It became somewhat of a competition to find the best place within the display room. 

They remained serious in their mission at first, but soon conversation flowed. Snide comments about passing customers, little anecdotes - Damian’s humor was hilarious once you understood his sarcasm and pointed edges were just a defense mechanism (it reminded her of Chloe)- and joking around. Well, as much as they could be, being on the lookout for his older brothers. 

Over an hour they hid over thirty birds, changed outfits twice, spotted Jason another time, which resulted in Damian diving behind some fake curtains while Marinette tried not to drool over a butcher-block table perfect for a sewing room (but which was way too expensive). 

 “Coast is clear,” Marinette called, once Jason once again disappeared. Damian slid out from behind the curtain and joined her by the table. 

“This is nice,” he said. “But I like the dark oak better.” He pointed to the options available, and Marinette had to agree.

“Yeah, but my cabinets are light brown. Not that I need this or can afford it for that matter. I didn’t have a proper workstation even when I was in Paris.”

“Why not?” 

“No room. My parents had the bakery downstairs, then they lived on the second floor. I lived in a converted attic, which was great - I even had a balcony, but my computer desk took up a lot of room.” She shrugged a little self-consciously. “Besides, my projects always ended up splayed all over the floor, anyway.” 

“That’s fair,” he said with a small nod. He pulled out a map of the store, although Marinette couldn’t ever remember seeing ones to pick up. “We've neared the end of the showrooms - or at least the ones we placed calling cards in - once we enter the warehouse we’ll be out in the open. I’m sure one of my brothers are stationed there.” 

“Question is do we want to leave calling cards on the shelves of the warehouse, or do we need to avoid them more?” Marinette asked. 

Damian considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “We’ve still got several hours to go - open and bold moves now are an unnecessary risk. I would propose avoiding it altogether, but…” he trailed off. 

“What?” she prompted. A loud rumbling sound erupted from her stomach, and Marinette instantly wanted to die. Damian bit his lip, holding off a small smile. 

“Oh, laugh it up.” Marinette rolled her eyes, studiously ignoring the burning in her cheeks. “All I had to eat today was a pack of crackers.” 

“I thought you might be hungry - you could go grab something to eat from the food court and take a break if you wanted?” 

Marinette frowned. “But what about you? Aren’t you hungry?” 

Damian waved her off. “Nothing I can’t handle. I’ve gone longer than a few hours without food before.” His eyes were hard and cold, opposite of the teasing glint that had been there a moment before. It sent a small shiver down Marinette’s spine. It was obvious to anyone - or maybe it was just her - that Damian had been through things. 

But it didn’t sit right with her to head off to the safety of the food court and leave him alone and without food. While he had seemed perfectly capable of handling himself before she came along Marinette was very invested in how this turned out.

“How about I go grab both of us something to eat, come back here, and then we work on our next move from there?”

Damian rolled his eyes. “Fine, if it makes you feel better.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek black wallet.

Marinette shook her head. “No, no, I can-”

He shoved a black metallic card into her hands; it weighed more than she thought it should.  

“I insist.”

“I have money.”

“So do I.”

“I don’t need your charity.”

“It’s not–it’s… payment.”

“I’m doing this for fun.”

“I won’t take no for an answer.” He crossed his arms and glared. It might have worked. If Marinette had been someone else. But she had been subjected to both Chole and Kagami’s overprotective and stubborn glares for years. This was nothing in comparison.

“I can pay, it’s nothing.”

He rolled his eyes again. “You’re a college student, it’s not nothing. Take. The. Card.”

Marinette threw her hands in the air. “Fine, you stubborn man.” A brief smile overtook Damian’s features, and then he dove out of sight. She turned to leave.

“I’m a vegetarian," he called. "Nothing with meat. And the pin is 1914.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in fifteen.” Walking away with the card in hand, she felt a little guilty for not fighting more. She was the one who was hungry, and who had offered to get him food. He didn’t need to give her his card.

Sighing in fond exasperation, she left the end of the display rooms. The warehouse section was large with rows upon rows of metallic shelving covered in boxes, but the food court sat off to the side; easy to find. It was mildly busy for a weekend afternoon, so she quickly stood in line and figured out what to order.

As she placed her order, she thought for a moment about just buying everything with her card, and then returning it to Damian as if she used it. She had a sneaking suspicion he would see right through that. Even after years of being a superhero, she still sucked at lying directly to someone’s face.

She scrolled through her phone, enjoying the slight break off her feet when she heard a familiar-sounding voice.

“Damn it, I don’t see the demon spawn,” growled an irritated voice.

Jason.

It was only years of practiced eavesdropping that stilled Mariette’s head from turning toward voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Damian’s older brother running a hand through his two-toned hair. A slightly smaller, but no less attractive man stood next to him, frowning at his phone.

“His credit card just pinged; he can’t have left that quickly.”

Marinette felt herself grow completely still at the mention of the credit card.

‘I am so going to tell him, I told you so,’ she thought furiously in her mind. How the hell would she leave without looking suspicious?

A third man jogged up to the two. A little older than them, but still just as attractive.

'This entire family looks like they could be on the cover of a freaking magazine,’ grumbled the part of her mind that was not overtaken with panic.

“I just checked the perimeter. No sign of him. Are you sure the charge was for the food court, Timmy?”

The man with the phone rolled his eyes. “Yeah–It comes out as $8.32, IKEA Food Court, order number 177.”

“Order 177. Order 177. Your food is ready,” called out a server. They placed the food on the counter, and Marinette saw the men all turn in sync to where the order laid innocently on the counter.

Marinette felt her stomach rumble again but knew the food was out of her reach now. Sacrifices had to be made to win.

‘Damn, I was looking forward to those meatballs and fries.’ No. She had to get out of here without Damian’s brothers noticing anything suspicious. They walked over to the counter, probably to ask the server who had ordered the food and which way they had gone.

Shit. She didn’t have any time.

Tapping on her locked screen, she placed it up to her ear as if taking a call.

“Hey Chole, yeah, no good to hear from you…” She rose from the plastic picnic bench. Only a few minutes before had seemed like such a nice place to rest, now it mocked her. She strolled away from the food court calmly, knowing one wrong move and she would be found out.

She reached into her bag, still walking normally, and grabbed a small metallic ball. It had a green paw print on the front.

Now, this was an experiment she and the kwamis had worked on over the summer. With a little help from Max–not that he knew what it was for–they had siphoned off a bit of pure energy from the Kwami’s and placed it into a small metallic ball that could be activated in a time of need. Mostly when it wasn’t safe to transform. It wasn’t super powerful and, so far, they’d only managed it with Plagg and Tikki, but it was something.

‘A bit of bad luck to distract them,’ Marinette thought.

Now, strictly speaking, this wasn’t exactly what they had in mind when creating the little devices, but desperate times called for desperate measures and all that.

She pressed the small paw print–using a bit of her own energy to activate the device–and threw it on the ground, letting it roll. She continued to walk calmly, and by the time she reached the entrance back to the showrooms, a clatter of noise erupted behind her. She only let herself glance back for a second, watching as a mostly empty display shelf collapsed onto an empty forklift.

Marinette winced. Hopefully, nothing was too damaged.  

Off to the side she saw multiple people had gotten into a traffic jam with their shopping carts, and… oh, everything had spilled out of one, and another looked like it had lost two wheels.

… okay, maybe the balls were a bit powerful.

Seeing she wasn’t being followed, she picked up her pace and made her way back to the showroom she’d left Damian at. Along the way, she saw multiple employees rushing toward the warehouse section. She felt a little bad for them, it would be a mess cleaning all this up, but it was her best shot at a clean escape.

After what felt like forever, but was just five minutes, she made it back to Damian’s hiding spot. Taking a moment to check her surroundings, she glanced around, not seeing any of Damian’s brothers. She breathed a small sigh of relief. She entered the showroom and ducked behind the counter.

“We need to go,” she whispered.

“Where’s the food?”

She shook her head. “Who cares about the food, we have bigger problems. Your brothers were waiting in ambush.” She shoved his credit card back at them. “They tracked your card.”

“Damn it,” Damian muttered.

She paused, thinking over the absurdity of the situation. “Who tracks their brother’s credit card?”

“People who want to win. What about you, Miss Disguises-in-your-purse?”

“They’ve come in handy multiple times.”

“Attention all IKEA customers be warned that aisles seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are now closed because of potentially unsafe shelving units. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

Damian looked at her with a questioning glance, “Did you…?”

“I needed a distraction.”

“How… you know what… no, never mind.” He shook his head, but a small smile told Marinette it amused him.

“They’ll know you’re working with a partner if they get anything out of the server at the register. We need a better hiding spot.”

“Well, while you caused chaos, I figured out our next move.” He motioned her to follow him, and they crept along the floor to the back of the showroom. He moved aside a curtain to reveal an air conditioning grate big enough for both of them to crawl into. “The ventilation layout shows this running straight back to the loading docks, which have rooftop access. We can access another shaft which will take us back to the front of the store. I figured the long route would be safer than going the ground route.”

“Genius.” Said Marinette in amazement, although slightly wondering how on earth he got access to something like ventilation layouts.

“I am aware.”

“But how will we get it off the wall? I have a sewing kit, not a tool belt.”

Damian reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

“That’s a pen,” Marinette deadpanned.

“It’s a specially designed pen.” He grasped the top. “Avert your eyes.” Marinette glanced away, but then heard the sizzle of metal, and felt the warm rush of heat.

She looked. In Damian’s hand was a small laser, shaped like a pen, easily cutting through the metallic grate blocking off the air shaft.

“It’s a LASER?” Marinette whispered in a shriek. “You… just have a laser in your pocket.”

“Well, you apparently disabled four industrial shelving units with your mind.” He grabbed hold of the grate as it came loose and placed it behind the curtain.

“I didn’t disable four shelving units. Just one,” she paused, “and a forklift… and some shopping carts. Just enough to cause a distraction.”

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes, but she could see the glee lurking beneath the surface. She couldn’t help the smile spreading across her own face. Something about Damian was infectiously fun and absurd. Marinette was reminded of her earlier days as a hero before the weight of the city fully settled on her shoulders. Back when fights were simple, and midnight patrols were racing across the Parisian rooftops–making the blood in her veins pound with the rhythm of her steps.

She missed it.

“Ladies, first,” Damian said, gesturing to the vent.

“Thanks.” She crawled in, beyond grateful she decided to wear pants that day. Damian crawled in right behind her and readjusted the curtain over the uncovered air shaft.

She grabbed her phone from her bag and turned on the light. Holding it and crawling was difficult, but it was better than crawling around in total darkness. It was times like this where she questioned the absolute insanity of her life.

She wouldn’t have it any other way, though. Tag List: (Closed, sorry!! I’m so glad you all like it though.) 

@multplelifes @bluesimani @justhugefangirl @nik-nak-3@redscarlet95 @purplesundaze @incredulous-reader @k-poplunardreams @our-preciousss @blackmagicforever @vgirl-10123 @lozzybowe @wannajointhecrabcult @dast218 @chaotic-mess-of-a-life @fidget-eep @kawaiigiantjudgefish @queenmj10@tumbling-down-hills-and-stuff @crazylittlemunchkin @fandom-writer642 @nach0ava @ladybug-182 @sam-i-am-0222@spyofthenightcourt @how-to-fuction-properly@emotionalsupportginger @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmy-mind @mystery-5-5 @theatreandcomicfreak @weird-pale-blonde-person @whatthechickenfriedfuck @myazael@pawsitivelymiraculous @urbanpineapplefarmer @karategirl119@consumeconstantly @hauntedstudent99 @ertyzeta @thornalchemist23 @iloveitwhen @animegirlweeb@byronsacademics @i-wanna-be-a-ninja @moonlitjiminie@iglowinggemma28 @constancetruggle @catgirlkittypryde @waffelyunsure @maskedpainter @lilkymilky @unhappyraspberry @avengerthewarrior @quotesandanime @tbehartoo @clumsy-owl-4178 @g-arya @chocolateherringtacofan​ @jalaluvsu​ @crazyrandomrebel @fatimaabbasrizvi​ @thenillabean​ @goblinwhoships​ @bluefyoto94​ @nerinalith​ @loopingtangent​ @demonicbusiness​ @hecate-hallow​ @themcclan​ @tropestropestropes​ @paintedhope7​

[wonder-womans-ex]

Make a Promise

“Sirius,” Remus says, rolling onto his side to face the man beside him, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Shoot.” Sirius’s eyes stay focused on the ceiling above, but he smiles warmly. 

“Do you—well, you probably don’t remember, but when we lived together, before, in the flat with the piss-yellow walls and the floors that squeaked and the stove that never worked, I had a shoebox. Under the bed. And I never let you look in it.”

Sirius is quiet for a moment, then, “I remember.”

There were three things is the box. And I didn’t want you to see any of them, all for different reasons.”

“Why do I have the feeling you’re about to tell me what they were?” He’s teasing, but his eyes go soft when Remus replies, “Because you know me better than anyone.”

“The first thing,” continues Remus, “The one that took up the most space, was my registry papers. Documents of where I spent every full moon, what classification of werewolf I am, whether I’ve attacked anyone—that sort of thing. 

“Then there was a photo from first year. The one Peter took of James, you, and me after our first detention.” Sirius clenches his jaw, and Remus knows he’s thinking of their old friend. “For years, I thought I’d lost it, but then I was cleaning out the attic after my mum died, and there it was. And I kept it. Because in that photo, you’re looking at me like you looked at me after fifth year; like you look at me now. It just... amazes me, I guess, because we were eleven and we’d barely known each other a month, and already there was something there. I used to take it out, sometimes, when you were gone, and remind myself that what we had was real. It was... it was the only photo of you I didn’t burn.”

The silence envelopes them, heavy and painful, until Remus swipes a hand over his eyes. “Oh, fuck, I’m crying.”

“‘S’okay,” Sirius says, “so am I.”

“You know I love you, right? More than anything?”

“I know. I love you, too. Always and forever.”

Somewhere along the way, their fingers have twined together. Sirius, after giving Remus’s hand a reassuring squeeze, asks, “And the third thing?”

“The third thing in the box?” 

“Yeah.”

“A box.”

“A box. Inside a box.”

“That’s right.”

“How exciting.”

Remus rolls his eyes. “Shut up. What matters is what was inside the box.”

“What was inside the box inside the box?”

“You’re insufferable.”

“I try.”

“Do you want to know what was inside the box or don’t you?”

“Please, do tell.” The grin on Sirius’s face still does embarrassing things to Remus’s heart, even after all these years. “How about I show you, instead?” he says. 

Sirius nods. 

As he leans over to grab his wand from the bedside table, Remus takes a breath. No going back now. He performs a wandless summoning charm, looking anywhere but at Sirius. 

“So.” He snatches the box out of the air as it flies towards him. “I bought this our last Hogsmeade weekend of seventh year. And I meant to give it to you right after graduation, and then again when we bought the flat, and again when I found out James was planning on proposing to Lily, but things kept coming up and I kept putting it off, and eventually it was too late. So I’m giving it to you now.”

He stops. His lower lip is trembling. “Hold out your hands and close your eyes.”

Slowly, Remus presses the box into Sirius’s outstretched hands. “You can open your eyes now.”

Sirius does, eyelids fluttering, and his eyes fix onto what he’s now holding. He inhales so sharply it’s almost a gasp. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Probably.” Remus waits to see if Sirius is going to say something else. He doesn’t, so Remus goes on. 

“Padfoot,” he says, voice barely above a whisper, “you have known me since before I really knew myself. You taught me I matter; I deserve to be loved. You were the first person to find out what I was—what I am—and think no differently because of it. I have tried time and time again to find where I belong, and I never find that the answer is anywhere but with you.

“You are my world, Sirius Black, and it it because of you that I have the confidence to say I am yours. So I ask you, in the house of your awful parents who are probably rolling over in their graves right now... will you marry me?”

Sirius nods, the tears in his eyes spilling over. “Yes. Abso-fucking-lutely yes.”

And now they’re both crying, and they’re kissing each other on the cheek, the forehead, the mouth. Neither of them has ever been happier. 

Finally, Remus pulls back, prying Sirius’s fingers back from around the box, “Aren’t you going to look inside?”

For reasons he can’t quite explain, Sirius hold his breath a he opens the lid, deep red velvet contrasting starkly against thin, pale fingers. A smile spreads across his face. 

The ring inside glints gold; the four tiny rubies set in the band catch the early morning light. “It’s beautiful,” breathes Sirius, grin lopsided where his lip is between his teeth. “Can you...?”

It takes Remus a moment to realize what his boyfriend—fiancee, he corrects himself with a surge of joy—means. “Yeah,” he manages, taking Sirius’s left hand in both of his own and sliding the ring carefully onto the fourth finger. They stay there, palm to palm, for a long time, trading sweet nothings and gentle, chaste kisses. 

“I’ve been imagining how you’d look wearing that ring for nearly seventeen years,” Remus is saying when there’s a sharp knock on the door.

“Breakfast!” Both men look up when Molly’s shout rings down the hallway, neither speaking until she’s moved on to the next door. 

“Our first meal as engaged wizards,” Remus says, pulling Sirius to his feet. “C’mon.”

They wait, giggling and smiling at each other, until they’re sure everyone else has gone down, and then they race to to stars, still holding hands. They slide down the banisters, too; it’s like they’re sixteen all over again. 

At the first landing, Remus stops to push Sirius against the wall. “We’re getting married,” he murmurs into the kiss, and he feels Sirius smile against his lips. 

At the second landing, Sirius brings Remus’s hand to his face, pressing his mouth to each knuckle. 

They don’t stop on the third landing, but they do on the stair after it. Sirius almost falls over as he turns, one foot catching himself on the step below. 

“Can I take your last name?” His eyes are shining. 

Remus says, solemnly, “It would be my honour,” and they laugh again. 

The dining room does not go quiet when they enter. They make no grand enterance. Everyone else continues with their noise and clutter until Harry looks up from his game of chess; he nudges Ron, sitting opposite him, and both boys wave. 

Sirius glances sideways, catching Remus’s eyes. He raises an eyebrow.

Harry grins when Sirius sits down next to him. “Morning,” he yawns. “Ron’s checked my queen.”

“Good for him.”

Ron opens his mouth to say something, but Sirius never finds out what. With a flick of her wand, Molly has set out the silverware—it’s stainless steel, technically, so it doesn’t hurt Remus—and the plates, steaming with porridge. 

“Go on, eat,” she urges loudly, pouring out a cup of tea. “Don’t let it get cold.”

There’s a flurry of movement as everyone claims their place at the table. Remus ends up between Arthur Weasley and Sirius; he has to keep his elbows tucked in so as not to knock over anyone’s morning coffee. Across from him, Tonks is putting her metamorphagus skills to use, her Dumbledore imitation in particular sending Ginny into fits of laughter. 

He nearly burns his tongue on the first bite of porridge. Through the pain in his taste buds, he notices it’s quite good, and makes a mental note to compliment Mrs. Weasley on the recipe. Anyone who can make oats and water taste good, he reasons, is worthy of whatever praise falls their way. 

To his right, Sirius takes a thoughtful sip of his tea. They catch each other’s eyes and smile. 

Glancing around, Sirius sees that everyone is once more engrossed in conversation. Fred Weasley in particular is gesticulating wildly with his spoon, and Sirius has to duck to avoid a flying bit of porridge. Absentmindedly, he twists the ring on his finger around, rubbing his thumb over the four jewels. 

His chair almost topples over when he leans back in it, grabbing an antique crystal goblet from the shelf behind him. He takes the sugar tongs from the table, too, and then he stands up. 

Even with the ding ding ding of silver on crystal, it takes almost ten seconds for just one person—aside from Remus, of course—to look up. Hermione holds his gaze for a moment before leaning over and whispering something in Ginny’s ear. By the time he’s got everyone’s attention, he’s begun to contemplate sitting back down again. 

But, finally, there’s silence, and all twelve pairs of eyes in the room (minus his own, obviously) are on him. 

Sirius clears his throat. He resists the urge to climb on top of his chair, because a broken neck would not be a good start to his engagement. 

“Good morning!” he announces. “I, uh, I have news. Good news.”

Dear lord, he used to be a lot better at this. From somewhere down the table, there’s a mutter of, “Well, get on with it, then.”

Skipping the rest of the preamble, he allows his face to split into a smile. “We’re getting married.”

There is none of the happy amazement he expected. He receives no applause. What he does receive are slow blinks and confusion written on every face except his own and Remus’s. It’s Molly who eventually says something, and what she says is, “Congratulations! If you don’t mind me asking... who’s the lucky lady?”

Now it’s Sirius’s turn to be confused. “You mean... you didn’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Bloody hell.” He isn’t sure whether he should laugh or cry. “I thought we made it obvious enough.”

“Well, clearly you didn’t!”

“How much do we need to broadcast it for you to see what’s right in front of you? How often should we hold hands at mealtimes? During Order meetings? Do you want us to take down the silencing charms on the bedroom, too, so you can hear everything we say, everything we—mmph.”

Sirius is cut off when Remus stands up, grabs the back of his head, and smashes their lips together. Between all those times back at Hogwarts, and now this, it seems it truly has become a trend—Remus shutting him up by sticking his tongue in Sirius’s mouth, that is. 

They break apart far too soon for Remus’s liking, but they do have an audience, after all. He can imagine without looking the expression on Molly’s face, and his imagination is proved correct when he turns away, sliding his fingers down Sirius’s arm to clasp their hands together. “That should answer your question,” he says before anyone has the chance to pick their jaw up off the floor. 

It’s been silent for a while—or, at least, it feels that way; the grandfather clock by the opposite wall shows only thirty seconds have passed—when Sirius realizes they’re still standing. “Excuse us,” he says, and pulls Remus out of the room. 

Out in the hallway, they stare at each other for a few moments before bursting out in laughter. “Oh my god, Remus,” Sirius wheezes. “Oh my god. That was fucking incredible.”

Remus covers his eyes with one hand. “It was spur of the moment, okay? Bloody hell, that was—”

“Unbelievably attractive? Absolutely iconic?”

“So embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing for you, maybe. But that right there? That’s why I love you.”

“What, not my dazzling personality?” 

Sirius grins, leaning in. “Well, yeah, that too. And your gorgeous golden eyes, and your genius mind, and you smile that always makes me melt inside, and—”

“Okay!” yelps Remus, because he knows Sirius too well. “I get the idea!” His gaze is soft, though, and when Sirius reaches up to cup his cheek in one palm, he leans into the touch. 

Eventually, someone—Tonks, or Harry, or one of the Weasleys—will come to find them, demanding explanation. But for now?

It’s just them. 

And despite everything—despite who they’ve lost and what they’ve been through—they have each other. 

[moldisgoodforyou]

bahamas (iv)

warning: everyone is drunk ! , sexual references

wordcount: 6k

_________

The next morning, Allie strolled out of the bedroom with a messy braid, a cheesy grin and a blush that started the second James began to whistle. Colin flipped him off immediately, still as sullen as the night before. “Nice of you to show up.”

“I was busy.” She retorted, then immediately shook her head. “Not like - I just showered.”

“Did loverboy join? What’s his name again?” James questioned, sliding Allie a full plate.

“Carloooooos.” Julia sang, laughing as Allie glared at her. “I saw him sneak out this morning. He said hello. Nice guy.”

“He said he had to get to his shift, he teaches scuba lessons during the day. If we’re interested he said he could snag us a discount.” Allie shrugged, popping a blueberry into her mouth.

“Does he teach underwater basket weaving too?” Colin asked dryly, scowling.

“Is that a real thing?” Rafe asked, looking like he was actually considering the activity for a moment.

Sophie glanced over at him, concerned. “Baby.”

“It’s not?”

Julia shook her head at the couple. “I thought we had a boat today?”

“We do. We’re going sailing.” Rafe confirmed, glancing at his watch. “We’ve got an hour, but we need to pack snacks and drinks. Colin, can you help me grab the cooler from the attic?”

“You can’t grab it yourself?” Colin grumbled, pushing away from the table to follow Rafe up.

“No. It’s too big.” Rafe glanced behind him, making sure they were out of earshot of the group as he led him up the stairs. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“My problem?” Colin repeated, immediately getting defensive. “What the fuck?”

“Yeah, you’re being a dick about Allie’s hookup. No one would say a word if you brought a girl home.” He coughed as he unlocked the attic door and a small layer of dust flew up, the house unused since the beginning of summer. “Actually, maybe you should get laid, you’ll chill out.”

“I don’t have a problem.”

“Then quit being an asshole to Allie. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Colin sighed, helping Rafe tug the Yeti cooler down from one of the shelves. Once it was down, he glanced over at Rafe. “I didn’t mean to be rude. Sorry.”

“Apologize to her, not me.” Rafe told him, looking Colin dead in the eye like he could figure out some hidden secret if he stared at him long enough.

“I will.”

“Good. Just because you’re jealous -”

“I’m not jealous, just don’t like this guy -”

“Ha!” Rafe pointed his finger in Colin’s face, eyebrows raised. “I knew it! You like Allie.”

Colin froze, immediately looking towards the door then lowered his voice. “You can’t tell.”

“Wait, shit, seriously? I was just trying to get a rise out of you...Colin. Seriously? You mean it?”

“The tiniest of crushes. She’s cute.” Colin affirmed, regretting telling him already. “Just - you can’t say anything.”

“I won’t. Brother swear.” Rafe nodded, extending his hand to Colin. “Don’t you dare fuck with her though.”

“I won’t, I won’t.” Colin paused, not taking his hand to shake. “That includes Sophie.”

“Fuck, Colin, for real? You know she doesn’t count.” Rafe whined, running his hand through his hair. “She’s gonna get it out of me. Somehow. She always knows when I’m hiding something.”

“I mean it.” Colin shook his head. “No Sophie. No James, and especially no Julia.”

“Damnit.” Rafe sighed, but grabbed Colin’s hand and shook it. “Fine. You’d better apologize and start making moves or shut the fuck up and let her do her thing, though. No judging.”

“I will, I promise.”

“Good.”

The door banged open, startling them both as James stood in the doorway. “Yo. You two can’t handle this thing?”

“No, we got it.” Rafe shook his head, lifting it easily on his own to haul downstairs. “They send you up here to check?”

“Yeah, Jules started asking questions about last night and Allie clearly didn’t want to gossip with me around, so Sophie sent me up here to get you guys.” James paused, thinking. “She muttered something about you probably getting stuck in some secret fancy passageway. You gonna tell her this house is your dad’s company house, not some family heirloom?”

“I’m pretty sure Sophie wants to know as little as possible about what my family owns. I think she cried for a solid hour on the first night here.” Rafe frowned, taking each step one at a time.

“You tell her about the deb thing yet?” James asked.

“Deb thing?” Colin echoed. “Sarah’s ball? What does Sophie have to do with that?”

“...No. I’m not sure. I think she’ll either agree or rip my head off, no in between.” Rafe sighed. “Sarah’s getting presented at the debutante ball in the spring, Rose suggested Sophie gets presented as well with me as her escort, and somehow my dad thought that was a good idea. Establish her with high society, or whatever. I don’t think he’s forgiven me for breaking up with Brooklyn a week before her deb ball. Apparently me being her escort would have been good for us. Our family.”

James cocked his head. “She broke up with you.”

“Whatever.”

“Huh. Well. That conversation should be fun for you.” Colin patted Rafe on the shoulder just as they got down the attic stairs. Rafe now sported a thin layer of sweat from hauling the cooler down alone, despite him already having no shirt on.

“Oh yeah. Looking forward to it.” Rafe deadpanned, then put on a grin as they all re-entered the kitchen. He didn’t miss the way Sophie’s eyes trailed over his exposed chest, the way she leaned forward on the counter and bit her lip a little. “Found it!”

“Excellent.” Julia clapped her hands together and began filling it with a selection of drinks she’d laid out on the counter. “Sophie, stop eye-fucking your boyfriend and help me out.”

Sophie snapped to attention as Rafe held back a laugh at Julia’s lack of tact. “I wasn’t -”

“Yes you were. Drinks.”

Sophie shook her head, handing Julia drinks with a rising blush on her cheeks.

“I don’t mind, sweetheart.” Rafe murmured to her lowly with a grin, trailing his hand down her spine ‘til he rested his palm on her lower back.

“Ew, we just ate.” Allie complained, pushing her plate away from her. “Thank you for pancakes, though.”

“No problem. It’s my specialty.” Rafe beamed, gathering up the plates and sticking them in the dishwasher.

“Only ‘cause you can’t cook anything else.” Colin pointed out, dodging as Rafe aimed a square punch at his arm.

“He’s not wrong.” Sophie agreed, reaching up to kiss Rafe’s cheek.

“Aw. Thanks for breakfast, Mom and Dad.” James grinned, patting them both on the head.

Sophie whirled on James immediately, only held back by Rafe slipping his arm around her waist (more to protect James than her). “Stop. I mean it.”

“What are you gonna do?” James taunted, grinning. “Hit me? Rafe won’t let you.”

“I will, if you don’t shut up.” Rafe replied, shaking his head imperceptibly behind Sophie’s back.

“What? You weren’t pregnant, it was just the flu - hey!” James took off running the second Rafe let Sophie go, who immediately sprinted after him through the house.

“Fuck off, James!” She yelled, chasing him down the hall.

“I didn’t mean it!” He yelped as she threw someone’s flip flop at him, nailing him in the shoulder with surprising aim. “I’m sorry! Rafe! Help me!”

Everyone else watched from the kitchen, thoroughly entertained. “You gonna help?” Allie asked, glancing at Rafe.

“Nah. He deserves it.” Rafe shrugged. “They’ll get tired soon enough.”

“She only likes fighting when she’s flirting anyways.” Julia added. “I swear all your arguments before you two were dating was just foreplay.”

“Doubt it. She could be pretty mean.” Rafe grinned at Sophie fondly as she strolled back into the kitchen with a triumphant smile, then looped his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Who’s mean?” Sophie asked.

“You.” James informed her as he followed her back to the group, dramatically rubbing a red mark on his shoulder.

“Okay, both of you, knock it off.” Rafe took charge like always, glancing at his watch. “Everyone go get ready, we’re getting picked up in twenty to get to the dock. Don’t forget sunscreen.”

“You really make it too easy.” Julia rolled her eyes, but chose to refrain from calling him Dad again for the fourth time that morning.

“So everyone knows?” Sophie asked the group, frowning.

“For the record, I was team baby. I think you guys would have very cute kids.” James said, already flinching away as Sophie lifted her hand toward him.

“Yeah. Rafe accidentally let it slip when I asked why you looked like hell that weekend.” Colin confirmed. Sophie had stayed at Rafe’s instead of her house so he could take care of her, and Colin had found her sleeping on the bathroom floor curled up in a ball at 2pm when Rafe was in class. (He decided not to wake her up, thinking she was just wildly hungover, and had texted Rafe a photo instead.)

“Great. Fantastic. But if one more person calls me Mom this week, I’m going to rip your heads off.”

“I told you you’re mean.” James grumbled, clutching his shoulder. “I’m gonna have a bruise. How am I supposed to explain that to whoever I’m hooking up with tonight?”

“Tell her you’re into pain.” Allie suggested, shrugging when everyone gave her a look. “What? It could work.”

“...Alright. Everyone go get ready, I don’t want to hear another word from anyone about their sex lives.” Rafe instructed, shooing everyone out of the kitchen as he and Sophie made it toward their room. “Sorry, baby.”

“It’s fine. I’d be more upset if we actually had a kid on the way.” Sophie conceded with a shudder at the thought. “How much did you talk about it with the boys?”

Rafe thought about it, about how James kept going on and on about how he wanted to be a godfather and how their kids would be adorable, and how Colin said he wasn’t really a huge fan of kids but obviously their kid would be family. He thought about how he shared with the guys how nice it would be to have a big family and know their kids would have several metaphorical aunts and uncles, and how much love and support they’d be surrounded by. It made him excited for the future - the far future, of course, but still.

“Not much.” He finally settled on answering, giving her a small smile. “You gonna wear my favorite suit today?”

“The pink one?”

“No, the blue one with the daisies. The one you wore in Nice?” He grinned. “Or, I guess, didn’t wear?”

She blushed, shaking her head. “I think that one’s dangerous to wear around you with our friends.”

“Any bikini is, sweetheart.”

“Control yourself.” She flicked his shoulder in warning. “I have a surprise for you tonight. Don’t let me forget.”

He perked up immediately, smirking. “A surprise? What kind of surprise?”

Sophie just shrugged. “You’ll see.”

“I’ll see...is it a leave-the-bar-early kind of a surprise? A need-the-house-empty kind of surprise?” He asked eagerly, his smirk broadening as she pulled out the light blue bikini from her suitcase.

She laughed, pulling off her shirt before she fumbled with untangling the bikini strings. “I think you can stay quiet enough that we’ll be fine.”

“Will you be able to stay quiet?” He teased, beaming in appreciation as she stood there shirtless in front of him, tongue in between her teeth as she concentrated on fixing the bikini. (He didn’t bother to help.)

Sophie ignored him, rolling her eyes, but glanced up and caught him staring. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“Don’t tempt me, you know I will.” He shot back. “I know you brought your film camera I got you for Christmas.”

“The last person I want seeing my nudes is the freshman art student that develops my film in the photo studio on campus.” She replied with an eyeroll. “Though I’m sure he’d enjoy it.”

Rafe’s face dropped as he immediately grew protective, grabbing the bikini top away from her and deftly untangled the strings. “Get dressed. We’re gonna be late.”

“Okay, Daddy.” She replied innocently, biting the inside of her cheek to hide back a grin.

He paused, considering, then shook his head. “No. Sorry, no, can’t vibe with that. Find a different kink please.”

She burst out laughing, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, James paid me $10 to tell you that.”

Rafe huffed, tugging on his swim trunks and shoved his feet back into his boat shoes, then promptly slammed open the door, striding back to the group. “James! Fuck you!”

________

Later, once everyone gathered their things and made it down to the dock after their driver for the week picked them up, the boat driver helped them all onto the boat, offering his hand. He was younger, around their age or a little bit older, and Rafe scowled as the driver’s eyes lingered maybe a little too long on Sophie’s bikini top. Then the driver politely leaned over to Rafe to inform him that Sophie had the tag sticking out of her top, hanging on by a thread, and he dropped his scowl quicker than it had appeared.

It only took them twenty minutes before they cracked into the cooler, everyone satisfied with a drink in hand, and two failed attempts to go head-to-head in a shotgun contest with James left Sophie drunk within the hour. She had her sunglasses perched askew on her nose, eyes closed as she rested her head in Rafe’s lap, lying down on the seat next to him.

“This trip is good for you. I think this is the most relaxed I’ve seen you all year.” Julia commented, snapping a quick photo of the couple.

“I do feel very relaxed.” Sophie hummed, taking Rafe’s hand and starting to play with his fingers. “Hm. Relaxed. Relaxation. That’s nice.”

“You’re hammered.” Rafe pointed out, but looked down on her fondly. “I want you to eat soon.”

“Snacks.” She affirmed. “You’ll have to feed me. I’m not sure my jaw works anymore.”

James giggled, more tipsy than anything, but still lacked any filter. “Better for dick sucking.”

“Hey.” Rafe warned. “Watch your mouth.”

“Sorry. Just came out.” James shrugged, having zero remorse. “Can we go swimming? I wanna see dolphins. Do they have dolphins here?”

“Some dolphins. I’ll take you.” Their driver interjected, changing direction of their boat.

“Dolphins can travel up to 80 miles a day,” Allie informed them, confused when she got weird looks from the groups. “What? I’m from Florida, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer growing up. Everyone did.”

“Aw. You would have been good at that, Al.” Julia told her, topping off her drink. “Sophie, no sleeping.”

“M’ not sleeping.”

“No drunk napping.”

“M’ not drunk.”

“Well now you’re just lying.” Rafe told her with a smile, gently nudging her up. “C’mon, I need you to drink water for me. Have some snacks.”

“Here, Sophie.” Colin waved the bag of Sun Chips under her nose, grinning. “Try some. Yummy.”

She batted it away, frowning as she leaned back into Rafe. “Everyone leave me alone.”

He pushed her back upright immediately, ignoring her frown, and pressed a water bottle to her lips. “Drink.”

“Do the thing.” She lowered her voice, challenging him with a smirk.

“Sweetheart, I’m not gonna -”

“Then I’m not drinking.”

He sighed, resigned. “Drink water or I’m not letting you go out tonight.”

“Let me? You don’t let me do anything.” She argued, grabbing the water bottle away and took a long drink.

Rafe just nodded, clearly not in the mood for a fight. He knew Sophie was in charge of the relationship, but the second he said he wasn’t comfortable with something, she listened right away. “Okay. Sure.”

“Trouble in paradise,” James sing-songed, only to receive a glare from Sophie.

“You’re still on my hit list.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“You and Julia are on it.”

Julia sighed, glancing over. “You’re really still hung up on that?”

Sophie sat up a little more, her eyes lighting up, and Rafe braced for an argument. “I told you no -”

“And we’re both grown adults, Soph, we can make our own decisions -”

“You don’t even like him -”

“Ouch.” James mumbled, shrinking back into his seat as if he couldn’t be seen.

“Hey!” Allie clapped, standing and putting herself in between the girls. “Both of you, let it go. We’re not doing this again. Julia, drink more. Sophie, no more drinking.”

“But -”

“No.” She crossed her arms, staring them both down until they sighed, mumbling apologies. “Thank you.”

The boys all watched in silence, impressed, until Colin spoke up. “Right, well, I’m gonna go swim.” He and James nodded, jumping off the back of the boat, and Allie and Julia took a second but followed suit.

Sophie moved to join in until Rafe grabbed her around the waist, protective as he pulled her onto his lap. “Hey. You okay?”

“Yes. I feel good.” She promised, but couldn’t fully meet his gaze and was swaying with the rocking of the boat. “Can we go swim?”

“Will you wear a life jacket?”

“That’s embarrassing.”

“It’ll be more embarrassing if you drown.” He pushed her hair back, out of her face, and kissed her forehead. “You’re way too drunk right now, you’re making me nervous.”

She frowned, placing her hand on his cheek. “I make you nervous?”

“No, I’m just worried something’s gonna happen. Life jacket? Please?” He pulled it from under the seat, offering it to her.

Sophie rolled her eyes but let him put it on, strapping it tight across her chest for good measure. “Now can we go?”

He scooped her up with a grin and stood on the seat, ready to jump. “Now we can go.”

“No, Rafe - wait no!” She screamed, grabbing around his neck as he jumped into the water with her in his arms, plunging down and letting her go to float back up.

James snorted, splashing water toward her. “Nice life jacket.”

“I’d like a life jacket.” Allie interjected, closing her eyes and floating on her back. “Wouldn’t have to do any work.”

“Hold on - Allie, are you high?” Colin questioned, swimming closer and poking her arm. She’d only had half of a drink since they were on the boat, but was still acting strange and zoned out the whole day.

“Carlos gave me an edible. I ate it before we got on the boat.” She mumbled in reply. “I have more if you want it.”

“You took sketchy drugs from a sketchy guy?!” Colin exclaimed, much louder than necessary.

Rafe swam over with a frown, shaking his head like a dog. “Who’s taking drugs?”

“The bartender -”

“Carlos.” Allie corrected.

“The bartender gave Allie drugs.” Colin cut her off. “And now she’s high and probably something else.”

Rafe cocked his head, looking over Allie. “Al? You good?”

“I feel nice.” She replied, moving to tread water and smiled at them. “So nice.”

“Jesus Christ.” Colin cursed, while Rafe kicked him under the water.

Julia swam over, tugging Sophie’s hand to drag her along. “Oh, it’s finally kicking in?”

“You knew?” Rafe questioned, pulling Sophie into his arms as she tried to be subtle and unclip the life jacket.

“Of course I knew.” Julia replied. “Don’t freak out, I looked at it, it’s fine.”

“Oh, you looked at it, great. Thanks, Julia, I didn’t know you were the resident expert on drugs.” Colin huffed.

“Just weed, actually, I haven’t done anything else -”

James seemed to finally realize the whole group was congregated instead of doing their own thing, like he was. He swam under the water, grabbing Rafe’s ankle - who immediately screamed like a child and kicked James in the face. James bobbed up straightaway with his hand clapped to his nose and blood trickling from it like a leaky faucet. “What the fuck?!”

“Why’d you grab me?!” Rafe defended, letting go of Sophie. “This is on you.”

James launched himself onto Rafe, grabbing at him, and the two promptly started wrestling in the water, despite everyone’s protests. Colin stuck his arm in between them to break them up after a few minutes, tugging Rafe off of James and being careful not to hit James’ nose again. “Hey! Hey. Everyone back on the boat.”

“C’mon, Colin.” James argued, but hauled himself back up onto the boat anyways when Colin tapped his watch and reminded them all of their dinner reservations.

Once they all clambered back onto the boat and James had a towel and a can of beer pressed to his nose, the boat driver started taking them back to the shore. Sophie had sobered up somewhat and Allie was asleep with her head in Julia’s lap, with Julia absent-mindedly stroking her hair. “Hey, Rafe? Do you have any good recs for somewhere we could go for dinner?”

Rafe furrowed his brow, confused. “We’re going to dinner tonight, what do you mean?”

“No, no, tomorrow. I was thinking it could be just the girls, you guys could do something else -”

“No.” He replied, firm. “None of you are going anywhere alone. I don’t trust any of you when you’re drinking.”

Allie stirred, finally opening her eyes as she’d been listening in on the conversation. “We could invite Carlos to chaperone,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’d love to tag along. Drag you into some trafficking ring too.” Colin grumbled.

James pulled the towel away from his face, confused. “So that’s a no to guy’s night?”

“No one is splitting up.” Rafe insisted, firm, and reached over to press the towel back to James’ nose.

Sophie cocked her head at her boyfriend. “Where is this coming from?”

“Look, I don’t even let Sarah go out alone here, and we’ve been coming here for years, she knows this place like the back of her hand. I don’t want something to happen to you guys.” He slung his arm around Sophie’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Any of you. I mean it.”

“Man, even my own father isn’t this protective.” Julia remarked casually, then immediately regretted it upon seeing Rafe’s wince. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. But that’s final say.”

“Okay, got it.” Julia raised her hands in defense. “So. Back to Carlos. Do you think he’d get all of us drugs if we had a threesome with him?” She suggested, only for everyone to stare blankly at her. “Oh my god, I’m just asking. It’s not like I suggested meth.”

“Who’s in the threesome?” James questioned, cocking his head.

Julia ignored him, barreling on. “That’s, like, an appropriate thing to ask, right? It feels like an island vibe. He’s gotta know where to get something.”

“Something.” Rafe repeated.

“Yeah.” She directed her question back toward him. “Hypothetically, if he could get us coke, would you say no? That’s like a rich person drug.”

“Rafe hasn’t done coke.” Sophie interrupted, assuredly, then frowned as Rafe seemed contemplative. “Right?”

“...No. Had to think. Been in the room, though, so probably got something secondhand.”

“That’s literally not how coke works.” Julia dismissed.

“I wouldn’t. I’m pretty sure that ruins the lining of your nose.” James supplied helpfully - Julia nodded in agreement, considering this newfound information.

“I’d consider doing molly.” Colin added. “But not from him.”

“Oh, like that makes a difference.” Allie deadpanned, always quick with the comeback while the rest of the group registered their surprise, because - Colin? Drugs? Two words that didn’t go together.

“It does, actually, but I get drug tested at NASA every single week, so.” Colin shrugged. “Not worth losing my future job.”

“Right. No one answered my question.” Julia sighed. “I’m open to a threesome with Allie or James. Rafe and Sophie, you’re out. Colin, I -”

“Yeah. Agreed.” Colin nodded, then hurriedly added, “I’m not saying I’m down for a threesome -”

“Hold on, why are we out?” Sophie frowned. “We’re hot.”

“Neither of you would share. It wouldn’t be fun.” James pointed out, only for Julia to nod enthusiastically in agreement.

“Exactly. You two are too, like, in love or whatever. It’s sick.”

“We would be great in a threesome.” Sophie argued, crossing her arms.

“You are too damn competitive.” Rafe mumbled to himself, shaking his head. “No one is having a threesome, no one is doing drugs. Not until we’re back under American laws. I’m not bailing anyone out of jail here.”

“Boo, Dad.” James grumbled, making Sophie lean toward him and raise her hand.

“James -”

“Okay, Sophie, chill, you can be the only one to call him Daddy -”

“Oh god, gross -”

“Home again!” Their driver announced with a grin, bumping the boat a little against the dock. The group snapped to attention, with James and Colin grabbing the coolers and Rafe helping the girls off the boat. He clapped the driver on the back as he was last to get off, murmuring something in his ear and slipped a wad of cash into his hand.

_____

After dinner, the group was dropped back at the house with the same driver they’d had all week, who now knew them all by name and knew way too much gossip about each of them. He knew that Rafe always sat in the front, the girls crammed into the back and James and Colin shared the middle, unless the girls were too drunk to crawl all the way back safely, and the boys would trade. They were all tired from a long day in the sun and agreed to call it with a lowkey night back at the house.

Once they’d all changed into comfier clothes, rather than how they dressed up for dinner, they congregated in the living room, sprawled out on the couches.

“All right, games. I have...uh…” Rafe rifled through the cabinet under the television, coming up short with only a deck of cards. “There’s just this and a poker set. We didn’t exactly play family games growing up.”

“That’s alright. We can play B.S.” Julia concluded, clapping her hands together with a grin.

“Last time we played B.S. it ended in a screaming match, and you and Colin didn’t talk for a week.” Allie reminded her, wary. Drunken card games in their group usually resulted in made-up rules that were only kept on track if someone wrote down the rules to lock down any possible room for arguments.

James and Sophie returned from the kitchen with two bottles of Sprite, two bottles of lemonade, a handle of vodka and six shot glasses. “Okay! Ready!”

“What the - guys, I said a chill game night.” Rafe raised his eyebrows as Sophie passed out the shot glasses.

“Yeah, we decided it’s our only senior spring break so we want to enjoy it.” Sophie told him, smacking a kiss to his cheek. “We’re playing B.S? Whose rules?”

“Normal rules, for the first round. Second round everyone adds a rule as you get away with bullshit.” Julia declared, shuffling and dealing the cards out to everyone with a surprising amount of skill. “Next birthday goes first, and if you don’t get away with it you have to take a shot. Or chug your drink for five seconds?”

“That’s me. And player’s choice, I think.” Sophie decided, sitting up and angling her cards away from everyone, looking a little too contemplative. She placed her card down, and Colin immediately shook his head. “Bull.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Take the shot, Sophie.” Colin insisted, flipping her card to reveal a jack instead of the needed 2.

“Fuck.” She muttered, following suit.

Rafe shoved her cup of water closer to her before she could pour herself a vodka lemonade instead, shaking his head. “You’re not even sober right now. Finish this first.”

“It’s alright, I’m fine.” She waved him off. “You’re next.”

The game continued on, escalating dramatically as they kept playing. By the time the first big bullshit was called, Allie had to accept at least 30 cards, the group had all taken at least one shot, Julia had been banished to the corner for a whole round, James was wearing Julia’s pink sunglasses upside down and Rafe had made out with Sophie three times, due to a rule he’d made up.

“Total bullshit.” Allie giggled as James placed five cards down at once on top of a huge stack. She was rivaling Sophie for drunkest of the group by far, slumped on the couch with her arms wrapped around one of the pillows as she wore a happy grin.

“Is not.”

“Is too!”

“Challenge!” Julia exclaimed, setting up two cups at the end of the table and handed them each a ping pong ball. (No one was sure when this was added to the rules, but everyone accepted it easily.) “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand.”

The two stood and took each other’s hands, laughing as they followed the customary pre-pong rule of spinning each other three times before taking their aim. “That was four! That was four.” Allie protested, having to grab James’ arm for balance as the room spun behind her eyes. “You need an extra spin.”

“Wait, dude, you put five down.” Colin pointed out, cocking his head. “Fucking idiot, take the cards.”

“Julia said challenge!”

“But you cheated!”

“The whole point of the game is cheating, dumbass!” James retorted, shaking his head. “She said challenge!”

“I said challenge!” Julia cried out, tapping her shot glass against the glass table to regain order. “Now throw.”

Both of them missed their mark terribly, James’ ball falling short and Allie accidentally nailing Rafe in the forehead with hers. “Sorry! Shit, sorry!”

“Oh, no, baby, are you okay?” Sophie asked worriedly, smoothing her hand over Rafe’s forehead as she combed through his hair with her fingers.

“I’m fine. I’m not sober.” He replied, humming with a smile as he leaned into her touch.

Everyone stared at the two of them with grins as they realized Rafe’s mistake in his own rule that he’d made up. The couple took too long to realize, slowly glancing around at the group. “What?” Sophie asked, sitting up straight. “What happened?”

“James missed the shot.” Colin grinned at Rafe, way too smug. “Pucker up.”

Rafe’s face dropped as it clicked for him - he’d made up the rule that a missed shot from falling short meant that person had to make out with the player who’d gone before for at least two minutes. It was a carefully calculated rule, he’d played pong with everyone in the group countless times and knew that everyone besides Sophie tended to overshoot, almost every single time.

Almost.

James laughed at Rafe’s expression, crooking a finger toward him. “Come here, buddy. Do you want me to get chapstick? Soph, do you have chapstick?”

“Do I have to?” Rafe groaned, standing up and striding over to sit next to James on the couch.

“It’s your rule.” Julia pointed out. Sophie shrugged in agreement, not quite putting together all the pieces.

“I’m really honored to be doing this with you, seriously.” James joked. “Sophie, can I touch him?”

“Just the head.”

Julia snorted, and she and James exchanged equally delighted grins at Sophie’s accidental innuendo.

Colin pulled up the timer on his phone, flashing it toward them. “Okay...alright. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Fucking hell.” Rafe sighed, but leaned in to make the first move, eager to get it over with. Both of them had their eyes closed and the kiss was relatively tame, albeit impossibly long.

“Oh.” Sophie murmured quietly, unsure how she felt, but uttered a warning “hey” when James’ hand automatically went to Rafe’s face. She decided she felt mainly neutral about it, but would be a lot more neutral if it was James and Colin kissing instead.

Julia was quiet for the first time all night, unable to tear her eyes away as she watched. Allie couldn’t resist a quick photo but giggled, hiding her face in Colin’s shoulder.

“Hey. Hey! Hey!” Sophie yelled the second the timer went off, leaning over and grabbing at Rafe’s arm to tear him away. “No more.”

James had his eyes closed and had unconsciously chased Rafe’s lips with his as they were pulled apart, but made a show of wiping his mouth afterward. “Okay. Well. Mark that under something I thought I’d never do.”

“And you’ll never do it again, so I hope you enjoyed it.” Sophie scowled, wrapping her arms around Rafe from behind and pulled him back to lean against her chest. “Stupid fucking rule, Rafe.”

“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking.” Rafe laughed, clearly unbothered as he tilted his head to press a short kiss to Sophie’s neck.

She grasped his head in both her hands, leaning down to press a sound kiss to his lips, as if it was a mark of ownership. “There. No one kiss my boyfriend again, I’m getting more snacks.” Sophie declared, getting up and heading into the kitchen.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I’m lowkey horny right now.” Julia muttered much louder than she intended.

“Thanks for sharing, Jules.” Allie laughed.

Julia glanced toward James with a desperate look, pressing her legs together. “Are we done playing? Or do you guys want to keep going?”

Oblivious as always, James shrugged, unfazed, moving back to his seat beside Julia. “Whatever you want. I’m down to keep playing.”

“Fuck, I need to get laid.” Julia mumbled much quieter so only he could hear, and he straightened up immediately like a bolt of lightning had shot up his spine.

“Actually, I’m good. Tired, actually. Yeah. I’m gonna - yeah.” He stood, offering his hand to Julia. “You look tired too.”

“Guys.” Rafe warned, glancing toward the kitchen where Sophie was still raiding the cabinet for any leftover snacks.

“Night, y’all.” Julia grinned, ignoring Rafe’s warning as the two strode off hand in hand to Julia’s room, making sure to go around so Sophie wouldn’t catch them.

Rafe sighed, but bit back a smile as he saw a dirty text pop up from Sophie, with a very detailed idea of how they could use up the rest of the whipped cream in the fridge. “Alright. Night, guys.” He promptly got up and left, leaving Colin and Allie alone.

“And then there were two.” The tension hung thick in the air as Allie leaned on Colin, giggly. “Fuck, I am so drunk.”

“Yeah?” He didn’t dare move, especially as she took his arm into her lap and started tracing lines as she connected freckles on his skin.

“I think I’m gonna call the bartender.”

“No you’re not.” Colin frowned, shaking his head. “No. You need sleep.”

She yawned, blinking up at him. “I’m pretty sure my room’s occupied.”

“You can take my bed.” He offered immediately, resisting the weird urge to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “It’s fine.”

“Where are you gonna sleep?” She asked, reaching up and tracing her finger along his cheekbone. “Your eyes are pretty, did you know that? You have a freckle in your right eye.”

“A freckle?” He smiled. “I’m not sure that’s right.”

“It is.” She insisted. “I can go in your bed?”

“Yeah, I’ll take the couch.”

“Okay.” She agreed right away, hauling herself up. “I gotta brush my teeth.”

“Good thing your bathroom’s shared with mine.” Colin reminded her, following her down the hallway. “Unless you really want to go into your room while...that’s going on.”

“No, thank you.” She shook her head quickly, stretching and nearly smacking him in the face. “Sorry! Sorry.”

“It’s alright, just be careful.” He laughed, ushering her into the bathroom. “Do your thing, I’ll fix my bed.”

They’d all changed into comfortable clothes and showered before playing the game, anticipating intoxication, but Colin still wished he had a reason to offer her something of his to wear to bed. He re-made his bed, even fluffing the pillow, before tugging on a hoodie.

Allie returned a few minutes later, giving him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Colin.” She touched his arm as she passed, crawling into bed.

“Of course. No problem. Yell if you need something, yeah?” He told her, smiling back before leaving and turning out the light, resigned to a night on the couch.

taglist: @drewstarkey @lemur46 @jjmaybanksbaby @edgeofgr8 @quxxnxfhxll @obxtess @hoodpankow @vtgirl802 @outerbankies @messagesinthesky @nicolecarsley @svechnikolan @ilovejjmaybank @obxtess @abbyj1822 @oopsiedoopsie23 @g4bster @jjmaybankzz @freddymaybank @dontjinx-it @illbesafeforyou @moniamaybank @tovvaa @jailcalledlife @sunshineitsfine44 @randomficsandshit @outerbankspreferences @outerbanksbro @karsinner @kkmaybank @whoeveniskendall @lemur46 @outerbankies

[ace-malarky]

All Things End

It's been an age and a half since I shared any writing, so uh... have something a couple months old, ft. Briony and Tamar-whose-name-should-change

Same folks from the Ace of Witches stuff! About a year before that one! Referencing stuff in the time travel wip which I've maybe mentioned a couple of times, idk

Briony doesn't like seeing the end of things

~

 Tam’s not quiet, as she comes clunking up the stairs. I stay where I am by the open window and listen to her approach.

 It’s nice out. Should probably head outside. Who knows when we’ll see this much sun again.

 “Bree. My buddy. My pal. You know that I love you.” Tam pushes the door open and I see her sort of collapse through onto the boards from the corner of my eye.

 “I do,” I say, not turning to face her, beginning to smile.

 “Do you have to live in the attic? Really? Every time?” She’s not even out of breath.

 “I think I do. Part of the contract I signed.”

 “Gross.” She walks across to her seat, already set up to face where I perch on the windowsill. “Does that open fully?”

 “Not yet.” Her chair is about the only thing unpacked and ok to be used.

 I got distracted early on in the process.

 “So are you actually looking for help in unpacking, or was this a different cry for help?”

 “Thinking about Saturday.”

 “The person or the day?”

 I laugh. “Both? What do you make of the younger sibling angle?”

 “That it’s only just come up?” Tam shrugs and fetches one foot up on the ledge beside me. “We’ve never exactly asked before.”

 “Point.” I lean my head back against the wall. “I don’t know. I just… feel like it would’ve been the first thing, once the machine was up and running.”

 “To go looking for them?”

 I hum.

 “Maybe he needed to check everything was functional first.”

 “So we were guinea pigs.” I wrinkle my nose. “I think I like that even less.”

 Tam laughs.

 I return to looking out the window, shifting to draw one knee up to my chest.

 “What’s this really about, Bree?”

 “All things have an end,” I say softly.

 “Is that why you haven’t unpacked?” Tam reaches out her foot to tap against mine.

 “Maybe?” I shrug. “It just… all got a bit much.”

 “Are you looking for avoidance tactics or help unpacking?”

 I look at all the boxes around the room. “I should unpack. But…”

 “But it’s a nice day and we shouldn’t spend it inside. Come on.” Tam swings onto her feet and offers me a hand.

 “Where are we heading?” I take her hand and she pulls me to my feet.

 Tam shrugs. “We’ll just follow the sun, ok? No thinking about it.”

 “Or maybe the botanics?” I pull on a shirt over my crop top.

 “Or maybe the botanics,” Tam agrees. “Yeah.”

 “Let’s pretend we don’t live in the city for a bit.” I lead Tam from my room and down the three flights of stairs to the door.

 “One day we won’t. You know that, right?” Tam pulls the door shut behind us. “We’ll be able to leave all this.” She gestured at the roadworks and the cars and the people. “But in the meantime”– She squints, looking for the sun filled streets– “Let’s follow the sun.”

 I follow her easily, eyes half closed. The city is loud, but we take side streets until the noise all but dies. That, too, ends.

 Sometimes endings are good.

 I guess it just has to be on our terms.

[writing-prompts-for-friends]

Questions to Help World Build

I’ve realized I have a big problem with my writing. I am awful at world-building. Like, I just start writing without thinking about the world. And since I write fantasy. Well. That’s pretty no bueno and leads to all kinds of problems down the road. So I did some brainstorming with my friends and we created a list of over 100 questions to help think about our stories’ worlds and make them more concrete. Thanks to everyone who chimed in and gave me a hand! 

A traditional Japanese clock, wadokei, that counted hours from 9 to 4, starting from sunrise, and then starting once again from sunset. (1-3 were not used for religious purposes.) They’re super interesting and confusing. You should definitely check them out.

Temporal

Is your story set in the past, present, or future?

Specifically, what year(s), month(s), day(s)?

Are days 24 hours? Or does time pass differently in this world?

How many months are there in a year? Is it a seven day weekday? Does the concept of weekends exist?

Have most existing societies developed a timekeeping device?

Is there a way to communicate across long distances?

The concept of time zones is still relatively new to our world. Prior to the late nineteenth century, timekeeping was a purely local phenomenon. Each town would set their clocks to noon when the sun reached its zenith each day. Do standardized time zones exist across the world?

Geographical

From a planet perspective, is it Earth? If it is not Earth, or an alternative version of Earth, what is it like? Is gravity the same? Does it have a moon or multiple moons? Can you see other planets? Is it closer or further from the sun? If so, what impact does that have on the climate and passage of time?

What town, state, region, country, continent, planet does this story take place in? What are its bordering/nearest neighbors? Draw a world map if you want.

What kind of land is it? Landlocked? Mountainous? Along the sea? Desert? Tundra? Tropical forest? Plains? Agricultural? Industrial?

What kind of plants and animals are common to the area? Are there any that do not exist in the real world?

What are the most common crops and livestock in various regions? What geographic features influence certain regions ability to grow/raise their crops and livestock (positively and negatively)? Are the regions diets strongly influenced by what they are able to grow themselves, or do other circumstances (like strong international trade) allow them to have more varied selections? How does religion influence what is considered ‘normal’ to eat?

What, if any, natural disasters are common to the region? Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, monsoons, blizzards?

How many seasons does it have? Are any longer than others?

What is the typical weather like for those seasons?

Does the region have any unusual geographical features that set it apart? Perhaps there is some weird thing like Devil’s Tower just chilling out. Or hot springs because of volcanic activity?

Is it easy to travel from place to place within the area? Is it difficult to travel because of terrain/technology issues, or because travel is strictly regulated?

Main Locations: Cities

Many stories take place within one city. In Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, a character remarks, “So, if a city has a personality, maybe it also has a soul. Maybe it dreams.” What personality does this city have? What soul does it have? What does it dream of when it slumbers? If your story takes place within a settlement, town, or city, give these questions some thought.

Exactly where is it located within the lands you conjured up in the above Geography questions? Does it have a bay? A river? Does it butt up against mountains? Draw a map of the city.

How big is the city? Is it compact, or sprawling?

How old is the city?

What is the history of the city? How did it come to be? What tumults and triumphs has it seen?

What is the population? Is it currently increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same?

Does the town have any claim to fame? Any tourist attractions? What are they? What’s the story behind them?

If it’s a big enough city, how many and what kind of districts does it have? Residential, Commercial, Industrial, etc. Where are they?

Are there any areas that are deemed unsafe? If so, where are they and why are they unsafe?

Is there public transportation? What kind, bus, tram, train, subway, monorail? Is it good?

How do people get around this city if not by public transportation?

Are the roads narrow or wide? Crisscrossing in a methodical grid or higgledy-piggledy?

What are the buildings like? What materials are they made of? If they’re wooden, are they new wood, old wood? If they’re painted, what colors? If they’re stone, what stone? If they’re brick, is it new red brick or blackened, crumbling brick? If they’re glass and metal, are they sparkling with new hope or dull and jaded?

Are there many skyscrapers? Or are most buildings 1-3 stories tall? What does the skyline look like?

Are there many parks?

How is the city powered? Coal? Hydroelectric? Wind? Nuclear? Has it always been so?

What is the city’s main source of revenue? Agriculture? Tourism? Manufacturing? Mining? Something else? A combination? Dive deeper into this. If it’s agriculture, what do they grow? Tourism–what is famous? etc. This will help to determine what a lot of people do for a living.

What are the demographics? Ethnicity, age distribution, distribution of upper, middle, and lower class, etc.

How many schools are there? Universities? Are any of them good? Do they specialize in anything? Do schools even exist? Perhaps there are clans that teach their children everything they need, for example, or education isn’t viewed as important.

Are there any particular landmarks within the city that standout?

How many and what kind of restaurants are there?

Are there supermarkets, open air markets, or both?

Where do young people go to spend time? What about adults?

Do people there bustle or do they amble?

What are the nights like? Does the city grow quiet, or does it grow rowdy?

What does the city smell like?

If you had to give your town a color, one that represented its personality, what color would it be?

Main Locations: Houses (or buildings, but mainly houses)

There are many stories that have a house or headquarters or hospital or some sort of building as their main setting. These questions will mostly be geared towards helping you figure out a house, but you can apply these to other buildings too probably.

Exactly where is the house located within the city or outside the city? How does your character usually get there? Draw a map. 

What year was the house built?

Was this house built by the current family or their ancestors? Who else lived in the house before the current dwellers? What were they like? Did they leave their mark on the house somehow?

What style is the house? Bungalow? Cabin? A shed? A cave? (makes the following questions mostly useless if so lol)

How many stories is it?

What is it made of? Wood? Brick? What color is it?

Does it have a lot of windows?

Are the curtains usually open or drawn? Are thee curtains at all?

What does the front door look like? 

Is there a porch?

You enter the front door. Or maybe you don’t. Maybe you use the side door because the front door is for show or something. Anyways. You enter the house. What room do you step foot into?

Draw out the floor plans for each floor. How many rooms are there? Where are they? How big are they? How are they connected? What color are they? What style of decor?

Is there a basement? Is it used or is it just a home for spiders and darkness and unwanted things? How about an attic? Crawlspace?

How many bathrooms? 

Are there any rooms that only certain people are allowed to enter? If so, why? 

What is the flooring? Carpet? Wood? Tile? Linoleum? 

What does the house smell like?

Government/Military/Economy

In other words, “the boring stuff,” if you ask me. But this is a very important aspect of any world. 

What sort of government is in place? Democracy, oligarchy, etc? Is it a just or corrupt government?

How are goods exchanged? Bartering? Money? Coins and bills? Credit cards? A specific kind of sea shell? Lol

What are the police like? Strict? Lax? Is there a curfew?

Do taxes exist? If so, do the people feel as though they are heavily or unduly taxed?

Where is the intersection between theology and law? Is it common to have religious leaders in positions of power? Are laws based around religious ideology, or is there an effort to keep them separate?

Is there an organised structure devoted to halting criminal acts? Are they corrupt? Who runs the organisation? How does their reputation change based on demographic? What is the history of the organisation, and how does that history influence how it operates today?

Regarding potentially criminal acts, what is the elgality of prostitution, sex work, ect.?

What about drugs and other illicit substances? Alcohol, illicit drugs, recreational use. Legality, festivity, age limits, etc.

Underbelly. How prevalent is crime, what sort of crime (scaled from pickpocketing to human trafficking) is there? Are there areas that have bad reputations because of it?

Regarding war, are there currently conflicts in the world? Are they international or civil wars? How common is it to have an active war? What is the history of war? What does current warfare look like (Is it dudes in metal suits swinging swords? Have longbows been invented? Gunpowder? Tanks? Missiles?) Is military service mandatory or voluntary? How is the military seen? Is there a sense of patriotism for the military, or does the common man fear it?

Is there stigma around certain genders entering the military? Are come genders regarded as better recruits than others? Is it illegal for some genders to enter the military? Does a person's sexuality affect their ability to serve?

How has religion influenced war? Have there been holy wars in the past? Do any religious institutions hold their own military forces?

Cultural/Historical

I’ve put these together because events in history lead to cultural change. You can apply these questions not only to the world/country, but also the city or even the neighborhood, workplace, or school that your story takes place in.

What is the history of the region? Who was it settled by? Was another group of people displaced? After that, did any new cultures come in? Did they get along?

Were there ever any wars or serious conflicts in the region? What was the cause and what was the outcome of the war if there was one?

In our world, the internet, social media, and film/tv are massive cultural drivers. They determine the latest fashions, jokes, topics, and expressions. What are the big cultural drivers in your world? Books? Plays? Radio? Oral tradition?

Is it a collectivistic or individualistic society?

What languages are spoken by your characters? Is multilingualism common?

What sorts of cultures can be seen? Do any clash? Do any mesh?

What sort of foods are most common?

What superstitions do people hold? Is there a version of “knock on wood” or throwing salt over your shoulder after a funeral? What are the roots of these superstitions?

Are there religions? If so, what are they? Do any conflict with each other? Are zealots or extremists an issue?

Does slavery or indentured servitude exist?

Are there any class or caste systems? If so, what are they, and what does an average day look like for a member of each class/caste?

How does a person's appearance change from country to country? Do certain countries have very distinct fashions? If so, are the fashions influenced by religion, surrounding countries, the cultural majority or international trade partners?

How does a person's clothing relate to their social standing? Is it very easy to assume someone's roll by appearance alone? Are there punishments for dressing above or below your social standing?

Does the society place a great deal of importance on a person's presentation, or is the society more lenient on such things?

Is there an emphasis on conformity to a dress code, or is individuality encouraged? How strictly is clothing regulated by gender binary? Is it commonplace to see a man and a woman walking down the street in the same cut of clothes? Is there a social stigma when a person does not conform to the most common form of dress for their gender?

How are sexual rights viewed? Does the LGBTQ community have the same rights as people outside the community? How are sex acts between people of the same sex viewed? Is it legal? Taboo? Are there cultures that encourage those relationships in some circumstances (like how the romans were down with guys with guys in the military)?

Are there any groups of people that are victims of prejudice? If so, who are they, who holds these views against them, and what views specifically are they?

In regards to gender, do certain societies hold differing beliefs? Is there a commonly accepted number of gender identities or does it change regionally? Is the most common gender spectrum a binary, or do certain racial and cultural differences allow for a wider range to be seen as the baseline?

Are children raised by their biological parents or are children considered to be in the care of the wider community? Is it common/acceptable for extended family to raise children, such as parents needing to study, work, or serve time in the military? Is adoption a common thing in society? Is there a stigma around adoption/being adopted? Do cultural or religious views impact how adoption is seen by the wider community? What is adoption like for a single perspective parent? When adopting, is interracial adoption accepted/common, or is it seen in a negative light? Are some societies more open to adopting children outside of their own race?

How is sex and virginity viewed? Does religion influence it? What is the age of consent? What is appropriate on a first, second, third date? Is sex something that is talked about openly, or something taboo? Are you supposed to wait until marriage? Do couples stay monogamous while dating? Do some regions place higher importance on virginity than others? Do some place higher importance on one gender’s virginity than others?

How is marriage viewed? Are arranged marriages a big thing, or are people free to choose? Is monogamy common? How is a marriage symbolized? A wedding ring, or something different?

How is divorce viewed? What is the divorce rate? Can people remarry?

Magic and the Supernatural

If magic or spooky stuff doesn’t exist in your story, disregard this section.

Does magic exist? If so, who can use it? What are the limitations to their magic? What things are they capable of using their magic to do? What things are they incapable of doing?

Are there laws against what kind of magic can/cannot be used? What sort of laws? Who enforces them? What are the punishments for breaking said laws if they exist?

How does the existence of magic affect religion? Are there religious institutions that infuse magic into their worship? Are there religious sects that see magic as immoral and in direct opposition to their faith? Have there been conflicts in recent or ancient history between religion and the supernatural? Do some sects employ people to hunt and/or enforce law over the supernatural?

Assuming that magic does exist, is it taught? Are there different schools of magic? Is there a system of ranking for magic users based on their skill level?

Do non-magic users look towards magic users with respect or fear?

What role does magic play in this world? Has technology not advanced because magic solves many problems? Or has technology advanced and the use of some magics has become unnecessary?

Are there any mythological creatures/monsters, such as vampires, demons, skinwalkers, dragons, or other creatures of your own creation? Are they common? Do people believe in their existence? Do people worship them? Where can they be found? Do they interact with humans? Do humans fear them or try to put up with them as they do nature?

Do the dead continue to exist in some form, such as ghosts or zombies or the like? Can the dead be summoned or brought back to life?

Are there human/supernatural hybrids? Perhaps a half-demon half-human, for example? How are these people viewed by their peoples, and by society as a whole?

How has the supernatural influenced war? Do armies tend to have a mix of regular and supernatural soldiers/weapons? Have there been wars between the supernatural/magical and those without? How does magic influence a person standing in a mixed army? Is it more likely for a magical being to be promoted than a non-magical being? Conversely, are supernatural being forced into service and seen as pawns?

The End!

Please feel free to reblog and share, and add on any questions you think should be added!

[official-weasley]

Meant to Be (Charlie Weasley x OC)

What happens when Bill brings home a girl and Charlie is completely awestruck by her?

WARNINGS: curse words, mentions of alcohol, SMUT

A/N: This chapter contains a rather long sexy scene (probably the longest I have ever written and well..it’s…juicy. I had a day, okay. BYE 🙈)

Chapter 14

Charlie

3 months later…

“Charlie, you got a minute?” I stopped in front of the Admission Office.

“Of course, Ernie. Got something for me?” I grinned at him.

“A letter from your brother.” He handed me the envelope. “What got you all cheered up today?”

“What do you mean?” I kept looking at the letter.

After all these months it still felt amazing getting a couple of letters per week from Bill.

“I heard you whistling walking here. You only whistle when you’re in a really good mood.” He smirked.

“It’s the first Saturday in August, Ernie. You know what that means!” I couldn’t hide the smile that spread across my face.

I can’t believe Ernie noticed when I whistle.

The truth is, I don’t recall the last time I was this happy. The mating season was over. Bill and I were on speaking terms again. Just last month I was able to see all my siblings and my parents again.

We had a family reunion and Bill and I got Ron drunk by accident. We had two bottles on the table. One with wine and the other with apple juice and we forgot to check the bottle before pouring him a drink.

He, of course, didn’t say anything and after two glasses he was hammered. Bill and I couldn’t stop laughing at the way he spoke and he was so tipsy. He tried getting up and almost fell flat on his face and then found it so funny that he fell off the bench we were sitting on.

It wasn’t funny when mum found us and saw something was wrong. Bill tried to distract her but failed and she figured us out. She made us take Ron to bed and then we planned to hide in the attic with the ghoul but mum found us and she shouted in our faces for a solid hour. I felt as if I was 12 again.

When she stopped she made us go down and wait on our family members for the rest of the night. Before we did, we made an excuse that we need to use the toilet and we locked ourselves in the bathroom on the middle floor and started laughing so hard I thought I won’t be able to catch a breath. We might be 23 and 25, which is way too old to make mum so mad, but we didn’t care. We were having the time of our lives.

I can’t begin to describe how happy it made me that I could hang out with Bill again. With my siblings. To get a bone-crushing hug from Ginny and play chess with Ron. It’s indescribable. For the first time since I started working in Romania, I wanted to plan my days off to go and see them again and I was loving it.

I was finally myself again. Talking to my family. Supporting and being there for my siblings. Teasing Bill for being so in love and having the best job in the world. I even made myself a bookshelf and I am slowly filling it with books.

My routine in the Sanctuary is more or less the same. I wake up. Make myself a coffee and go watch the sunrise. I am no longer overthinking if Rhylee’s going to be there and if she is, we simply watch the sun showing itself from behind the mountains together.

I didn’t think I would be able to be friends with her after what happened at her place that night but we grew even closer. She was one of my best friends. That didn’t mean my feelings for her faded away. But they were easier to bear now that I didn’t feel guilty for being in love with her.

I have come to terms that I will never call her mine. It was painful, I am not going to lie about that but at least I can move on and not overthink her every move.

Bill and my friends in the Reserve all think that I should tell her how I feel but every time they try and persuade me I stop them. I made a mistake telling my mates what Bill told me about Nick. Ever since I did they are trying to do everything to bring me and Rhylee together. At first, I wanted to kill them but now I just find it amusing.

I am proud of myself for how much I’ve grown. I feel more mature and I see things differently. I see what matters and I push myself to do things that make me happy. I read more. I run. I train Aami and Bean, that’s the name Rhylee decided to give our albino Short-Snout. I hang out with my friends and advise my siblings. I really couldn’t ask for more.

The fact that I am still awestruck every time I see Rhylee or that my heart wants to escape my ribcage every time she laughs or looks at me, is just a minor inconvenience now. I can deal with that with everything else being so great. I wouldn’t change my current life for anything in the world if it means I make my family happy and I can hang out with my friends while having the best job.

At first, I wanted to fight my feelings. Push them down. Get rid of them somehow. But I quickly realized that I can’t change them and that it’s pointless to think they are simply going away. I have meaningless sex and even though it’s never as it was with Rhylee, it still counts as a fun night and it’s a good distraction.

I might get lucky and find myself a girl to settle down with one day. For now, I was happy with the things being as they were. It wasn’t perfect but it was much much better compared to the painful loop I was in before.

“I’ll be damned!” Ernie’s voice brought me back to reality. “I forgot about the party tonight!” He slammed his hand at his forehead. “Thanks, Charlie for reminding me! Can you imagine me forgetting about it?” He shook his head.

“Ernie, if it’s going to be anything like last year, just the music and us being all over the place would remind you soon enough.” I laughed.

Every year, in the first week of August we had a party. We invited everybody from the neighboring wizard villages and there was always someone that borrowed something Muggles call speakers. We decorate the central area of our village with lights and put tables and chairs around it so it looks like a dance floor. We hang the speakers from the trees and we help with the cooking throughout the day.

The party officially begins the second we are done with work and the music starts playing. It’s something we all look forward to all summer. Theo has been talking about it for two weeks now. He made an entire plan on getting us all so wasted that if he asked Gerta out again, we won’t remember how she slaps him in the face.

“You’re right, mate! I’ll see you there!” Ernie started putting papers together. “I have to clean up the office early if I want to make it to the party in time!”

“Want me to help you? I just finished working.” I offered.

“Oh, no! You go get all nice and ready, so you can dance with the ladies!” He laughed and I followed.

“Will do, Ernie. Will do.” I waved to him and started walking toward my home.

People were already running left and right, checking if everything is ready. I unlocked my front door and closed it with my foot while opening Bill’s letter.

Dear Charlie,

I know you’re going to be busy this weekend with your big party and everything, but I just had to write to you about this.

I bought a wedding ring for Fleur today. I am planning on asking her to marry me this weekend. I am taking her to the beach near Shell Cottage. Dad said that perhaps we could even buy it if we ask aunt Muriel nicely. I don’t want to get my hopes up but I can imagine myself living with Fleur there.

I am planning a romantic picnic and popping the question by the end of the night! I would love your opinion on the matter but I sent out this letter too late for your owl to reach me with your answer. Perhaps while you’re reading this, I’m already engaged!

Can you feel how nervous I am through my letter?

Anyways, I just needed to share that with you!

Wish me luck!

Oh, and have fun at the party! Please have the time of your life and don’t hold back in case anything ought to happen, if you know what I mean!

Love, Bill

Merlin’s beard, he is getting engaged! It was Saturday, so either he is already or he will be soon!

I jumped in the air in the middle of my living room that’s how happy I was for him. I hope they can convince aunt Muriel to sell them Shell Cottage. We used to go there as kids and it’s a wonderful place to start a family.

I blinked as I felt my eyes water. I wish I had the time to write him back and tell him how fucking proud I am of him for doing this and that I think Fleur will be thrilled for how he is planning to propose. I can’t wait for them to have babies so I can be an uncle!

What was I doing?

I put the letter down and scratched my head. I was so excited for my brother that I completely forgot.

Party! Right!

I hurried to take a shower and then opened my closet to see what I could wear. I didn’t wear jeans for ages. So let’s go with that and a buttoned shirt. I checked myself out in the small mirror in the bathroom and combed my hair with my fingers. As much as I could comb it. My hair was untamable.

I think I look pretty good! Not that it matters as I knew Theo is going to get us all drunk in about 15 minutes! I locked the door behind me and started walking toward the music.

“There he is!” Andrew raised his glass at me the second he spotted me.

“Look at you being all handsome!” Theo put a hand over my shoulder the second I sat down.

“Are you flirting with me, Theodore?” I winked at him. “My place or yours?”

“Damn, Charles. Is that how you flirt with women because if I wasn’t married I would go with you right now.” Peter laughed.

“I would love to, Weasley. But I am going home with Gerta tonight!” Theo was determined.

“Really?” Andrew and John asked together before bursting out laughing.

“We should get one of those Muggle devices that capture what is going on. So that even if none of us remembers tonight we could watch it in the morning.” Evan said.

“I will stay sober just to see Theo get slapped by Gerta!” Peter smirked.

“You’re already tipsy, boss.” Andrew obviously didn’t believe Peter will stay sober.

“Damn, you’re right.” Peter said after a few seconds of thinking about it.

We all started laughing.

Three hours later our table had 3 empty bottles of Fire Whiskey on it, more empty beer bottles than one could count and the waitress just brought another round. To say that we were completely hammered was an understatement.

We were laughing at something, tears running down my face. I am pretty confident none of us knew what the joke was or who told it.

“Theodore, there you are damn it!” Our faces got serious the second we comprehended who was standing in front of us.

“Gerta, love!” Theo stood up, knocking a few bottles off the table.

“I am just wasted enough to say yes to you. Now come with me before I change my mind!”

I have no idea how Theo fancied this woman. I was terrified of her. Even her harsh voice scared me.

We all watched Theo and Gerta going towards her hut with our mouths open.

“Please, tell me one of us will be able to remember that in the morning!” Peter whined.

“I don’t think I could forget this if I drank the entire alcohol stash in the Sanctuary.” Andrew said slowly.

He looked like he was about to throw up.

“What is happening?” Evan, who was sleeping, leaned on his crossed arms, lifted his head.

“Gerta just took Theo home.” I answered, still in shock.

“What?!” I thought his eyes were going to fall out of their sockets and I think it’s safe to say he just sobered up.

“Look, Charlie!” Peter and John leaned against me. “It’s Rhylee.” They sang together.

“So?” I rolled my eyes.

I knew this was coming. I was hoping they would be too drunk to remember to tease me about her, but apparently, they weren’t there yet.

“Come on! Go and dance with her!” John tried pushing me to stand up but he was too weak.

It was funny how I was the youngest but did the best with alcohol.

“Give me a break, mates.” I pretended to look through the bottles to see if there was one that wasn’t opened yet.

“C’mon! She has been eyeing you all night!” Peter said. “Have some fun, will you!”

I sighed and got up. I knew they wouldn’t stop until I would go and ask her to dance. And to be perfectly honest, I was too drunk to care or to feel nervous about it.

I made my way to her. Surprised that I wasn’t tipsy at all.

“Hi.” I waved at her awkwardly. “Want to dance?”

“Sure!” She grinned and stood up at once.

I haven’t noticed how drunk she was until we reached the dance floor and she started hugging me. We danced to a few songs and I didn’t even dare to look at the table where my friends were sitting. They would probably start cheering.

The next song was a slow one. Shit! Who’s idea was this?

Rhylee pulled me closer, our bodies slamming against each other and if I wasn’t so steady on my feet we would collapse to the ground. She wrapped her arms around my waist and brought her face closer to mine.

“You look very handsome tonight.” She winked at me.

Okay, I think it’s time to take her home. She is drunk and doesn’t know what she’s saying.

“Thanks. You look great too.” I didn’t know what else to say.

Of course, she looked great. She was gorgeous. But I’m not going to admit that to her.

I didn’t like the way she was looking at me. Not one bit. It’s the same look she was giving me all night the night we had sex at the Burrow and I am not going through that again. I might not be hurting anyone this time but she was in a relationship.

“Let’s get you home, shall we.” I smiled at her and hugged her over the shoulder.

“No! Why?” She tried to stop me. “We just started dancing. Come on, Charlie! Loosen up a bit!” She got so close to me that if I wouldn’t move my head backward we would kiss.

This was getting out of hand.

She wrapped her hands around me again. How was she so strong if she was as drunk as she appeared to be? I sighed and we danced through one more song.

“Okay, now you can take me home.” Her whispering in my ear sent shivers down my spine.

We were slowly making our way through the crowd, toward her cottage when I remembered that I never opened the present she got me for Christmas at the Burrow. I have no idea why it popped in my head but I was just drunk enough not to care and admit to her that I lost it.

“Hey, Rhy?” I cleared my throat.

“Yes?” Her eyes were too hopeful for my liking.

“Do you remember the present you gave me for Christmas when we met?” She simply hummed in response.

I felt my cheeks turn pink. This was embarrassing. After what happened between us and she gave me the little package, I simply tossed it in my bag. I don’t remember where I put it once I got back to Romania and I don’t even know why we are talking about it now but apparently drunk Charlie’s curiosity got the better of him and wants to know what’s inside.

“I never got the chance to open it and I misplaced it somehow. What was inside?” I said as quickly as I could.

I didn’t want to offend her for losing it.

“What?” She laughed.

“What was inside the little box?” I repeated the question.

“Where did you lose it?” She ignored me.

“It has to be somewhere in my cottage if I didn’t toss it in the trash by accident.” I scratched my chin, thinking hard where it could be.

“Well, let’s go then!” She grabbed my hand and started walking.

“Where are you taking me?” I chuckled.

“We are going to search your place for my present!” She bestowed me with the biggest grin I have ever seen.

She seemed so pleased with her idea.

“Now?” I chortled.

“Yes!” She exclaimed. “The gift might be silly but we got to see what I got you!”

“You don’t remember?” I raised my eyebrows at her and she stopped walking for a second.

“I am not sure.” She said slowly after a few seconds. “Come on, Charlie! It’ll be fun!”

I haven’t seen her this relaxed and happy in months. She grabbed my hand and started walking towards my cottage again. She was so excited to do this that I simply couldn’t deny her the satisfaction of finding the little box. And to be completely honest, I didn’t want to stop her.

“Okay, so if I was a little box, where would I be?” She put her hands on her hips, thinking hard, her eyes scanning every shelf and drawer. I started in the kitchen and she went to check the compartment in my bathroom.

After half an hour we completely trashed the place but I didn’t mind at all. I was having too much fun with her. She started throwing the clothes out of my closet, jumper after jumper and I started moving the socks away to see if I tossed it in the drawer.

I almost gave up when my fingers touched something that wasn’t fabric. I pulled out a small red box with a green bow on it. This was it!

“Rhy, I found it!” I heard her gasp.

I think she was standing inside my closet. I laughed when she poked her head out of it. She was adorable!

She hurried to me, stepping over piles of clothes, and stopped right in front of me.

“Open it.” She whispered, her eyes on the box in my hands.

I slowly removed the lid and shook the box’s contents onto my palm. I couldn’t believe it. It was a dragon scale. A dragon scale of an albino dragon.

That’s what she got me for Christmas?

I know it didn’t mean anything because she didn’t even know who she was bringing the gift to but I was still astounded. She knew I loved dragons so she got me a dragon scale. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

“You call this a silly gift?” I breathed.

Rhylee dragged her finger across it and put it back in the box. I was so in shock at what it was that I didn’t notice how fast she was breathing. She took the box from my hand and placed it on top of my dresser.

“Rhy, are you o…”

She cupped my face and kissed me hard on the mouth. I was so startled by her action that I didn’t have the time to respond.

“I’m sorry.” She pulled away, her hand over her mouth.

“Emm…it’s okay.” I didn’t know what to say.

I just kept staring at her with my eyes wide open, trying to calm my heart down.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” I could see the panic in her eyes growing.

What the fuck am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to pretend I didn’t enjoy the kiss? Because that would be a bloody lie. I have been dreaming about kissing her again since we spent the night together at the Burrow.

Did she even know what she was doing? How drunk was she? Because that kiss definitely sobered me up! I thought we were over this. She stopped that night when I came to her place. Why did she do it now? I thought I was doing a good job being her friend. Why does she mess with me like this!

I needed every muscle in my body not to grab her hand and pull her back for another kiss. I can’t do this, can I? She has a boyfriend. Somebody will get hurt again! I can’t go through that guilt again. I can’t hurt someone else. Even if I don’t know the guy. Even if he is a prick like Bill said.

Bill…

What did Bill say in his letter this morning?

Please have the time of your life and don’t hold back in case anything ought to happen, if you know what I mean!

Don’t hold back. Bill, that’s not helping!

I was trapped. I wanted to grab her hand and prevent her from leaving but at the same time, I wanted to do the right thing. My heart was beating so fast that it hurt and the look in Rhylee’s eyes wasn’t helping me decide. It was a mix of panic and hope. Hope, that I would decide for her whether or not this was a bad idea.

Of course, it’s a bad idea, Rhylee! It’s the worst possible idea.

“I have to go.” She bowed her head and started towards the door of my bedroom.

It’s a bad idea.

It is a really bad idea.

I know, damn it!

But do I care?

I stepped toward her, almost tripping over the clothes on the floor.

Do I care?

I grabbed her hand and turned her around, our bodies colliding. Her eyes slowly moved up to lock with mine. We were both breathing heavily.

“Charlie.”

Damn it, Rhylee! You can’t say my name like that. Don’t ask for me to do something.

Okay, let’s go over this again.

Is it a bad idea? Yes.

Do I care? I am just drunk enough that it’s safe to say that no, I do not.

I placed my hands around her neck and kissed her. I thought she was going to resist me. I was waiting for her to pull away. But she didn’t. She was doing quite to opposite. She parted my lips with her tongue and it gently found mine. She was kissing me back.

Merlin’s beard, this was insane! I can’t believe I forgot how good her lips felt on mine. What an amazing kisser she was. How soft her lips were and with what passion she kissed me.

I put her hands on her hips and brought us closer to the bed. With a gentle nudge, she was lying on it, that playful look in her eyes again. I climbed on top of her and wrapped my fingers around her hair and gently pulled it back so she tilted her head and revealed her neck.

I placed a soft kiss just behind her right ear and I felt her tremble. I kissed her again, not so softly this time. I started biting her neck and I felt her moving under me.

This simply can’t be wrong. It felt too right to be wrong.

I pushed myself up and started to unbutton my shirt. I looked down at her. Damn, she was so sexy. She always was but the fact that she was wearing a dress when she always wears either jeans or sweatpants was frying my brain.

“Please, fuck me, Charlie!”

Seriously, she was begging me?

Why in Godric’s Hollow did I put a shirt with so many buttons on? I don’t have time to do this! I put my hands on my chest and pulled the shirt off me. The sound of fabric ripping filled my ears and my heart started pumping even faster when I saw Rhylee’s eyes shine.

I helped her get up and pressed her against the wall. She wants me to do her, I will do it my way!

I took my precious time unzipping her dress. I could feel her getting impatient but I knew she liked the tease. If she only knew what she got herself into.

She took her arms out of her sleeves and shook her body so the dress fell off her. I turned her around, her back to the wall now, and spread her legs. She was observing my every move, curious what I was going to do next.

“Lift your arms.” I demanded and without questioning me they were above her head.

I wrapped my left hand around her wrists and pulled her underwear down with my right one. I unhooked her bra without hesitation. She was now standing in front of me, completely naked. I stuck my tongue down her throat while circling her nipple. She moaned in my mouth.

Oh, Rhylee, you haven’t felt anything yet.

I slowly moved my fingers down across her belly button, still kissing her. It didn’t really surprise me that the second my fingers ran past her clit, they drowned in her wetness. She gasped in my mouth as I started moving them in circles.

I let go of her arms now and she put them around my neck, trying to keep it together. I have to say she was doing a rather poor job.

“What is it?” I teased her when I started moving my fingers around faster and her eyes rolled back.

“Fuck…you.” She said between her moans.

“I’m a little busy focusing on you right now, Rhy.” I whispered to her.

She tried squeezing her legs together but I didn’t let her. I felt her getting tighter and I was determined not to stop until she screams from pleasure.

“Are you going to cum already?” I laughed playfully.

“I…I can’t hold it.” She cried.

“Oh, don’t hold back.” I bit the tip of her ear as her breathing got even faster.

She buried her fingers in my hair and kissed me. She was pressing hard against my lips, clutching my fingers with her soaked walls, muffling her moans with the kiss. It was pure euphoria, feeling her tremble. It brought me pleasure on another level.

“Stop.” She finally pulled herself together to talk.

“Are you sure?” I mocked her.

The look in her eyes was saying otherwise.

“It’s your turn.” She winked at me.

“Oh, I am not done with you.” I pressed her harder against the wall and placed a gentle kiss on her collar bone.

She winced, her body still sensitive to my touch.

She was speechless and her eyes were full of the wonder of what my next move will be.

“You begged me to fuck you. Don’t you know you have to think before you speak?”

I bit her neck. And her shoulder. And made a few circles with my tongue around her nipple, while playing with the other one with my finger. I kissed the scar that painted her belly. And just below the belly button. I got to my knees and spread her legs again.

I slowly ran my finger across her clit and she shivered.

“Are you ready to cum for me again?” She bit her lip and nodded in reply.

My fingers slipped back into her. This time I decided to take it more slowly. Let’s see how she likes it if I move my fingers in and out. Does that do anything?

She arched her back, scratching the wall behind her. And what if I do this?

I spread her legs just a bit more, lowered my head, and kissed her wet lips.

“Oh.” She let out a sigh.

I ran my tongue over her clit and started turning it in gentle circles. As she started breathing faster I doubled the pressure and felt her knees give in.

“Keep it together, Rhy.” I teased, my fingers still hard at work.

She grabbed my hair and pushed me back to continue my work.

“Fuck, Charlie.”

I don’t know if she was so horny or was I doing such a good job as it didn’t take her long to cum again. Her body was spasming more than before and this time she didn’t have my lips to stifle her moans. I loved how loud she was. How her pleasureful sounds filled my ears. It was like a drug.

I got up and wrapped my arms around her. She was a mess.

“Have enough yet?” I winked at her.

“No.” She giggled.

“Good.” I nodded.

I put my hands on her hips and lifted her and she automatically wrapped her legs around me. I gave her just enough space between our bodies that she unzipped my jeans and pulled them off.

She grabbed my dick, looking me straight in the eyes, and bit her lips when she placed it right in front of her juicy entrance. I don’t know what she was expecting as a surprised gasp left her mouth when I thrust in her.

She wrapped her arms around me and held tight to keep herself steady, moaning while I was rocking my hips back and forth.

Fuck, she felt good. This was insane. I knew that with all the adrenaline running through my veins, the alcohol left my head a long time ago but I still felt dizzy. I can’t believe it was even better than the last time.

I fantasized about sleeping with her more times than I would like to admit. I just couldn’t help it. She was the best I ever had. I could be myself around her. Somehow I knew exactly what she wanted and I wanted to give it to her. Badly.

I have to start thinking about something else. She felt too good and she was getting tighter again. I want to wreck her completely. I want her to forget her name and I want her to scream mine again.

“Charlie.” She moaned in my ear.

“Have enough of me yet?”

“Charlie.” She said louder.

“Yeah.”

“I…”

“What is it, sweetheart?” I placed a soft kiss on her neck as I started to move my hips even faster.

“I…”

“Come on, you can do it.” I encouraged her to speak.

I was too amused by how weak she was.

“Oh, my…” Her eyelids fluttered and I felt her squeezing me even more.

“Cum for me again.” I breathed.

I could watch her moan and twist from pleasure all night every night.

“Charlie, I can’t.” She finally managed to complete a full sentence.

I stopped moving my hips and froze.

“Are you okay?” I lifted her chin and made her look at me.

“Why the fuck did you stop?” Her eyes widened.

“You said you can’t, I thought…” I blinked at her.

I was so confused.

“I…” She bit her lip and looked away.

“What is it?” I tilted my head to find her eyes again.

“I never came three times before.” She mumbled so fast that I thought I heard her wrong.

“Oh.” I pressed my lips together, to stop them from spreading into a smile. “Well, do you think you could cum again?” I asked gently.

“Yes. I was close.” That naughty smile is going to be the death of me.

“Then let’s break your record, shall we?” I smirked at her and lifted her so she wrapped her legs around me again.

I entered her slowly this time and she pushed my hips more towards her immediately when she saw what I was doing.

“Don’t get slow on me now, Weasley.” She bit my lip and sent a new wave of adrenaline through my veins.

I decided to tease her just for saying that. I slowly pulled my hips back, so that only my tip was inside of her and then pushed my hips forward again with such a force that it took her breath away.

I did it again.

And again and again and again until she started screaming from pleasure again. For a second I thought she was going to pass out as her eyes sealed shut and she gasped for air between her moans. But I was determined not to stop until her body relaxes or she tells me to stop. She was doing neither.

She barely had the strength to wrap her hand around my neck so I could lift her when she stopped moaning. I took her to my bed and covered her.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her voice rusty from all the sounds she was making.

“I’m going to take a shower. You need some rest.” I winked at her.

“We need to take care of you first.” Her eyes moved from mine, down to my dick which was still hard.

“You can do that later. Now rest.” I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

I walked out of the room, straight into the shower.

Just as the hot water started running down my body, I felt her press her body against mine from behind.

“Miss me already?” I turned around and smirked.

“I told you…” She kneeled. “We have to take care of you.”

She didn’t have a chance to say anything else as she grabbed my dick and put it in her mouth. Damn, she was good at sucking dick. It was unbelievable. I was the one with weak knees now. She was moving her mouth so fast as if she wanted to get revenge for before.

I wanted to watch her doing it. I wanted to see how she chokes on my dick but I couldn’t. It felt too good and I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling back and closing them. I buried my fingers into her wet hair and helped her move.

I loved how she enjoyed doing it. The way she was moaning and looking up at me. I can’t take it anymore. I let out a loud groan as I came, the water washing my load off her face.

“Now, I can rest.” She smirked and I helped her get up.

I turned her around, wrapped my arms around her and placed a kiss on her shoulder.

[phairfantooooom]

Obey Me Explained….. Kinda

In which I do my best to explain the shit hell that is the Time Travel in Obey Me. 

Spoilers: It’s absolute bullshit

So we start in chapter uhhh 15 technically since the plot twist is explained that Barbatos is actually a OP Time Wizard, which feels like a throwaway plot device… like dude there are so many ideas and you use Time Travel? Come on.

However I do appreciate the Yugioh Pyramid room. Good taste.

Anyways Barbatos gives you VERY CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO NOT FUCK UP and what does MC do? Why THEY FUCKING BREAK VERY FUCKING RULE IN THE LAWS OF TIME TRAVEL. *screams in quantum physics*

Barbatos’ Rules of Time Traveling (It’s more so Timeline Hopping but you know what, I can scream all day but it won’t change anything)

Do not reveal you are from the future (More like don’t reveal you are from a different Timeline or Universe)

Do not meet your past self (Hello??? Doppelgängers??? Stay the FUCK away)

Don’t make contact with others from the past. (Go back, observe how Belphie got out and then get the hell out)

To get back to this point in time (Read: Timeline) you need to KNOCK and ENTER through the door you used to get to the past 

Now you may be thinking, Huh? What door? I don’t remember going back through a door in the story…

And you would be right. You didn’t.

From here I’ll be explaining the Timeline and order of events and speculation as to why it occurred the way it did. 

For reference. There is the Original Timeline. Which is OT1, this is the Timeline of chapters 1 to the end of 15.

The Second Timeline, OT2 is the Timeline where Belphie kills you.

The Third and Final Timeline, OT3 is the Timeline we are currently in. Which is from Chapter 16-12 and onwards.

Alright now that’s out of the way let’s get this shit sorted shall we?

When you go through the wack time travel door you are sent back to Chapter 12-13, to the perspective of the brothers as they hide so that THIS TIMELINES YOU can go romance/befriend/ WHATEVER Lucifer. 

So we start with OT1’s MC dropping into Mammon’s bedroom. You know, possibly fortnite like. With everyone in there. Worst possible outcome. And rather than fucking BOLTING, you stay and chat. You know, despite being told not to. You have the option to lie about how you ended up in the room but it doesn’t change the FACTS.

At this point, there are two MC’s. One from OT1 and one that is currently vibing with Lucifer.

The boys end up kicking you out of the room and telling you to go chit chat with Lucifer, unaware that there is already a different version of you doing that.

So you hear Lucifer and your other self coming down the hall and this is where shit starts to get weird.

Regardless of which option you choose (Run, Hide, Turn Invisible- which by the way seems kinda like a weird option right? I’ll get to that later) you end up going into Lilith’s room.

Now. Directly from the transcript.

It’s so warm in here.

I recognize this place. It feels like someplace I know very well.

Now. Time to over analyze. You may be wondering why this matters. I’ll get to that in a bit I promise.

It’s stated that it’s warm. But really that doesn’t make sense. The room is stagnant. Nobody comes in or out. The room is abandoned since Lilith is dead and nobody uses it. However, I have a theory that Lilith is spiritually attached to your body which is why you sense what you feel.

Lilith probably has plenty of memories of sitting by the FIREPLACE in her room with Beel and Belphie. A lot of times people with spirit attachments get senses of déjà vu when they are near places that the Spirit used to frequent when the Spirit was alive.

The next area of weirdness is Leviathan. He comes in, unannounced and addresses you as if you were Lilith.

Transcript:

I’m coming in, okay?

Aha, I thought I’d find you in here.

Wait, Belphie’s not here?

Huh, that’s weird… He was just telling me that he was going to stop by your room.

Both of you were playing hide-and-seek, right?

He said he couldn’t find you. He looked like he was about to cry.

Why don’t you try to go find Belphie yourself? I mean, I guess it’s hard to say who’s it at that point, but still.

Well, see ya later.

Alright. So we have a lot to unwrap here, but I’ll make it short and sweet. Something clearly happened when you KNOCKED and ENTERED Lilith’s room (Hint Hint Nudge Nudge) What happened you ask? You jumped timelines. Which is why everything seems disjointed and jarring. It’s not supposed to be normal or feel normal, the game is subtly telling you that you aren’t supposed to be there.

Time is beginning to fray at the seams and when you exit the room you jump into another timeline AGAIN. As you go to the stairs to get to Belphie which you would think should be vacant, they are not.

From a casual players perspective you’d think oh! Well Lucifer and past me are in the living room, and the brothers are in Mammon’s room. So it’s all clear, right?

Wrong.

From the moment you exited Lilith’s bedroom you entered the OT2 Timeline. Which takes place roughly right after Lucifer imprisons Belphie in the attic. And at this point in time, you haven’t arrived in the Devildom yet.

I make this assumption based on the transcript:

Belphegor: What scares you is the thought of disappointing Diavolo, isn’t it?!

Say something! Lucifer!

The old Lucifer wasn’t like this. He wasn’t afraid of what someone else thought of him. He wasn’t pathetic like that.

Lucifer: You’re free to think whatever you want, Belphegor. Also…

I’d say you’ve changed as well.

It would seem weird for them to be arguing like this in the present since it’s like. Wow y’all are really just arguing over the same plot point for an ENTIRE year? Damn and I thought I was stubborn.

Anyways.

Lucifer comes down the stairs. You hide and yadda yadda and you goooo upstairrrrssss

Oh boy oh boy this gets FUCKED in hurry folks

So you YOU can just. Open the door. Without Lucifer’s pact? 🤔 k. And then you go and have familiar dialogue choices to wake Belphie up and blahhhhh

Let me get something off the table here. I am calling entire Bullshit on the Lilith is my ancestor origin story. I hate it and you may or may not hate it too so I’ll present a better argument.

Lilith, the lovely gal that she was, upon remembering who she was when she died decided to haunt the House of Lamentation. Which would provide reasoning as to WHY people believe the House is haunted.

When you come to the house of Lamentation to stay with the brothers you catch Lilith’s eye, and she sees that you have the potential to fix the rifts between the brothers. When she attaches herself to you she forms a pseudo pact with you. Why is this important? Because that’s how you got the dumb door open in the OT2 Timeline.

Now some of you may be screaming, BUT THEN HOW DID IT WORK IN THE ORIGINAL TIMELINE THEN HMMMM? And to that I answer. Lilith could see how the conversation between Lucifer and you was heading and she went to go unlock the door. And before you yell and say BUT SHE IS A GHOST-

Ghosts can manipulate objects, yeah? All she had to do was open the door.

Now this is my theory, in the canon of the game it uses garbage Terminator Time Travel logic which is A PARADOX. Feel free to fight me on this, I have receipts.

Anyway. You open the door. Oh but! You can choose to call out before you do. But conveniently nobody answers. Which means one of two things. Either Belphie falls asleep very quickly, or something else is at work here.

Remember those turn invisible options? Kinda strange right? I mean they wouldn’t even work anyways so why were they listed? Answer: Lilith. Lilith is a ghost so at times of being discovered it would be easy for a ghost to just vanish. That’s why it’s listed as if it were one of the choices you would instinctively make.

Belphie had just been conversing with Lucifer, and while he is the Avatar of Soth, you have seen his anger. He wouldn’t succumb to sleep while enraged. And he has no reason to ignore you either.

What do I think? 

*puts on tin foil hat like it’s a crown*

It’s because something isn’t letting him hear you.

I’ll get to that something later. First things first.

You get in the room and you have some…. choice dialogue. In OT1 Lilith had let Belphie out and naturally since she is attached to you, you have the same instinctive reaction to do the same. The difference is that you are still you. That’s why there is a Lilith choice and there is a you choice.

Transcript of Chapter 13-10

??? (Lilith):

Belphie…

Wake up…

Sorry Belphie…

Now the choices from Chapter 16-4

Wake up. (Lilith)

Belphegor. (MC)

Sorry. (Lilith)

It’s okay. (MC)

This might be over analyzing but fuck it. We ain’t here to under analyze. 

Moving right along, remember how I said we are at the point where you weren’t in the devildom? Well you went through another door, and jumped timelines again. And not ONLY that but you jump into the body of the OT2 MC, your memories are those of OT1 but you are in the body of OT2.

Where is your OT1 body? It’s hidden by the stairs patiently waiting for you to die so you can inhabit it again.

Weird right? But it makes sense, and here is why.

When Belphie brings you to the edge of death you are lying on the border of the afterlife. As such you would be a lot more susceptible to, let say, communication with ghosts.

A.k.a Our good Lilith.

ALSO NOTE Lilith never outright says she is our ancestor and as such I’m going to ignore what Diavolo says because I don’t trust him for reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy but I don’t trust him. At. All.

I’m more inclined to believe that Lilith was trying to say “Because you are my last hope.” Rather than descendant. I mean she outright says she chose you and that she has been watching over you and the brothers. Fact-check brought to you by Chapter 16-10.

Alrighty. Still here? Good.

Lilith lends you some of her power. And you pop back into existence.

Now at first I thought. Oh hey Lilith reversed time! That’s neat, now Barbatos isn’t too OP.

Except…. that’s not what happened at all.

The body you had been killed in was in Mammon’s arms. And your OT1 mind and body are now in what I call OT3. The final timeline. Not the true timeline, but the final one.

Now you really should skedaddle back to the palace and go to the yugioh room AND LEAVE 

But you get caught. And things get very very…. suspicious. History at this point IF we were time traveling would be fucked, but since I don’t believe we are, we are still golden.

ALSO TO EVEN PUSH MORE ON THIS FACT YOU HAVE A FLASHBACK TO BARBATOS TELLING YOU NOT TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANYONE

But a moment later Leviathan sees you. And things get funky. The OT2 you vanishes, we have canon confirmation that both OT1 and OT2 WERE REAL VERSIONS OF YOU. No fakes here folks.

Now. Here is what piqued my interest.

You explain the story of Lilith and Belphie calls you a liar before Lucifer proclaims it to be true. Then Lucifer asks you how you know about it.

When you tell him the truth, that he had told you, he denies it and asks for an explanation. Before you can so much as breathe a response someone intervenes.

Who you may ask? 

Diavolo, of course.

He makes a proclamation about you being Lilith’s descendant and your connection to her. Lucifer often tries to interject but is shut down. Every. Single. Time.

Hmmmm indeed.

Spiritual attachments, if they are strong enough can cause visions. And you may see memories from the spirit. 

I firmly want to believe that all this is bullshit in an attempt to distract us from the fact that we are not in the correct timeline. 

I mean…. did anyone notice just how easy Belphie gave in once Diavolo used the Lilith card? I mean, seriously, the guy killed you. And attempted to do so again not even five minutes earlier!

Diavolo and Barbatos don’t want you dead. And naturally you’d reason that of course they wouldn’t! The exchange program requires you to be alive after all. But what if…. there is more to it? I have reason to believe that Diavolo has more in mind than just the exchange program.

I mean this is the same man who Barbatos serves, it would be easy for him to just…. manipulate reality. We saw an example of this when the OT2 body vanished.

However keep in mind that the Diavolo and Barbatos we are speaking to are not the same as the original ones. These two are from OT3. And they might have a very very different agenda when compared to OT1.

In Chapter 16-19 we ask Barbatos if we warped history.

This is what we get back:

I know I told you that I have the power to see both the past and the future, but the truth is that there’s one more secret —something I still haven’t mentioned.

You see, I have the power to select from any number of different potential realities and make any of them into the sole reality.

Within the various potential realities, there are an infinite number of versions of MC…

...however, in the sole reality I chose, the one and only MC is the one right there. That’s why the previous MC disappeared while you remained…

Now by this logic, there are an infinite number of Barbatos’. Which poses an interesting question. OT3 Barbatos is acting as if he is OT1, which he is not. But him acting shady isn’t not the big issue here, believe it or not.

He can manipulate reality. Unravel it at his fingertips. He himself could have gone back and figured out that the ghost of Litith was the one to have opened the door. Which begs the question, why didn’t he?

Either OT1 Barbatos does not possess the ability to manipulate reality or he had withheld information on purpose. 

Now that’s a scary thought. I mean why would they withhold information unless…. unless…

You were a danger.

I am in the belief that Barbatos of OT1 is on your side, he gives instructions on how to get back. Because you NEED to get back. There are consequences for messing with time, like…. getting stuck in a parallel reality. *wink wink*

On the other hand… if Barbatos of OT1 COULD manipulate reality then why bother with you unless… there was an extra variable at play.

What if Barbatos couldn’t see what happened. What if Mister OP Time Wizard suddenly encountered an anomaly with you? What if this entire situation was orchestrated by Diavolo in an effort to figure out why Lilith attaches herself to you?

But. The horror doesn’t end here folks.

I believe that OT3 Diavolo and Barbatos are lying in an effort to keep you here, in OT3. After all, Barbatos just yeeted the OT2 MC into smoke after all. And we have NO idea where the OT3 MC is. Honestly I have a very funny feeling that you, the OT1 mc, have powers of your own. Ones that are not related to Lilith.

Because Lilith is just lending her aid, you already have something there for her to boost.

You traveling back in time (Timeline hopping, fight me) May have been a test, a test to see if you had powers locked up inside you.

And I think that you do. I think that we are being played as a fool and that there is something much larger at play here.

Or - And please hear me out - I’m going stir crazy in this quarantine.

Hope you guys enjoyed 💚

A/N this took me about 2 hours? To write and bounce between apps. This is about 2.8k words. Maybe I’ll come back and elaborate more on this but it’s late and I’m tired lmao. Someone take the tin foil away from me-

[orangeoctopi7]

All of Your So-Called Problems

[AO3 link]

Stan was trying to find room for the leftover Mac and Cheese in the fridge when he heard the doorbell. He grumbled a few obscenities under his breath as he trudged towards the door. He was NOT in the mood for visitors tonight, even if they might be paying customers. The fact that a demon was trying to break into the house to steal some world-ending piece of junk from Ford didn’t help.

"We're closed!" He shouted before he even peeked out the window. He pulled back the blinds just enough to glare at whoever thought it was a good idea to drop by this late, and his eyebrows raised nearly to his receding hairline when he saw who it was.

"Wendy!? Since when do you knock?" Stan couldn't think of a single time she hadn't just come in and made herself at home since she'd started working at the Shack.

"Since Dipper told me you answered the door with a loaded gun earlier today." The teen answered as Stan opened the door.

"Gonna have to have a talk with that runt about blabbing." Stan rolled his eyes. "What, you having a movie night with the kids?"

"Not exactly." The teen jerked a thumb over her shoulder, and Stan finally noticed the rest of the Corduroy family standing just behind her, right off the porch. They were all carrying sleeping bags and pillows.

"...Wha?" Stan could only utter a surprised grunt as his brain tried to piece together why it looked like the entire Corduroy family was here for a sleepover. 

"Dipper called me and said we could stay here until your brother puts up a barrier around our house." Wendy explained, noticing her boss's confusion. "...Aaand he never even told you anything about it, did he?"

"He sure didn't." Stan deadpanned.

As if on cue, Dipper and Ford both stepped into the entryway.

"Oh, Wendy, you're here already!" Dipper said, voice dripping with faked surprise. "I forgot to ask Grunkle Stan if it was ok for you guys to stay the night. But gosh, since you're already here, I guess we can't turn you away!"

"You can drop the act, bucko, I wrote the book on It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission." Stan folded his arms disapprovingly. "The answer's still no. We're already putting up one freeloader."

"I'm the one who said they could stay." Ford said firmly.

Stan turned his glare to his brother. "This isn't a safehouse, genius!"

"It's my house, Stanley!"

"Where are they even gonna sleep!?"

"Well, perhaps we'd have some place to put up guests if you hadn't turned the two largest rooms into a tourist trap!"

"Oh, like you kept the place ready for company when you lived here!" Stan countered. "These rooms were both filled to the brim with your weird experiments when I got here!"

“Hey, we can sleep outside like men, if it’s too much trouble to put us up!” Manly Dan interrupted the brothers’ argument.

“Unfortunately, that’s not an option.” Ford shook his head. “The barrier barely extends past the front porch.” 

Ford quickly took a mental survey of where there might be extra room. The basement lab was out. He’d finished dismantling the portal, but he was storing the rift down there for now. His secret study was supposed to be a secret, and he still needed to clear out all that old Bill memorabilia. The attic was already taken by Dipper and Mabel. Stanley still had the main bedroom, and Fiddleford was currently sleeping on the couch in the upstairs study. That left the den, which might be large enough for one or two people, but certainly not a family of five. If only Stan hadn’t filled his old experiment and specimen rooms with useless junk! Sure, the rooms hadn’t exactly been empty before, but Ford at least would have known what things could be moved where to make room for their guests. Even his old thinking parlor was… wait…

“What about the parlor?” The old researcher asked.

Stan shrugged. “I kinda use it as a space for rotating exhibits, or whatever else I need at the time. Pretty sure it’s still full of leftover campaigning junk.”

“So, nothing we can’t throw out then.”

“Not so fast, genius, I still haven’t agreed to letting anyone stay here.”

“This is an emergency, Stanley!” Ford fumed. “And besides, it’s not your decision to make!”

Stan regarded the Corduroy family still standing awkwardly on his porch, and tried to imagine Manly Dan with those disturbing yellow eyes he’d seen on that time traveler earlier. He tried to picture the hulking lumberjack acting like that erratic demon. It was not a pleasant thought.

“Alright, fine.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “But only because I don’t want any of these ax-weidling giants possessed by a triangular serial-killer. And don’t expect me to provide any bedding or food!”

“Yeah, we can probably snare ourselves a few squirrels or something.” Wendy’s oldest brother assured Stan.

Stan grimaced. “On second thought, help yourselves to some canned meat. Only the stuff that’s expired though!”

“Thanks Stan.” Wendy said. “For giving us a place to stay until this blows over, not for the expired meat.”

“What? They pad that date out by at least a year. As long as it smells fine, it’s good to eat.” Stan defended himself.

The teen rolled her eyes but stepped into the Shack, followed by her family.

Ford observed them all carefully as they entered. No hesitation or sign of even noticing it as they crossed over the barrier. So they definitely weren’t possessed now. He would have to keep a close eye on them while they stayed. He knew that Dipper trusted Wendy, and that was good enough for him, for now, but the others? Ford vaguely remembered Dan from when he’d been a young man, building this very cabin for him. He’d been friendly, loud, and boisterous. It appeared his sons were cut from the same cloth. But it was hard to say whether or not Bill could convince any of them to try and smash the rift.

“So Wendy, did you manage to get more unicorn hair?” Dipper asked as he helped her lay out a sleeping bag in the parlor.

“Oh yeah. I just snuck into that glade again with a pair of shears and a tranq dart. Works just as well as fairy dust.” She handed a grocery bag full of rainbow hair to Ford.

Ford made a mental note to add that tidbit to the Journal 1 entry on unicorns later. “I’ll get started on it first thing tomorrow.”

Mabel came downstairs to help just a minute later. After a lot of rearranging of campaign signs and novelty phones, everyone had a sleeping space set out. Dan took Stan’s recliner in the den, and his youngest son set out a sleeping bag at his feet. The oldest three children laid out their sleeping bags between the piles of junk in the parlor. 

“Ohmigosh, Dipper, we should pull our mattresses down here and have a mega-sleepover!” Mabel gasped as she pushed the last of the campaign signs into a corner.

“What was the point of clearing out all this junk if we aren’t even gonna sleep in our own beds?” Dipper asked tiredly.

“Hmm, good point. Maybe Barry and Stuart can sleep in our beds, and we can sleep down here with Wendy!”

Dipper and Wendy’s middle brother both blushed beet red.

“Uh… I mean… I, uh, I don’t think Wendy would want to sleep with me--US! With us!” Dipper stammered.

“M-me? Sleep in a g-girl’s room? Like a room that a girl sleeps in?” The middle brother gulped.

“Yyyeah, I think we’re good where we are.” Wendy said cooly, trying to diffuse the awkward tension in the room.

“Aw man!” Mabel pouted, but she didn’t put up any other protest than that. Dipper suspected she was still pretty worn out from the rescue mission this morning.

Eventually, everyone got settled down and the children all fell asleep. The elder Pines twins moved back to the living room to check on Dan one more time.

"Hey, now that the kids are asleep, I've been meaning to ask you something." The lumberjack said in a low rumble that was probably his version of a whisper. "How long have there been two of you?"

"Hooboy…" Stan pinched the bridge of his nose. He really didn't want to retread this again.

"I'm Stanford. I'm the one you first met when you built this place for me. My brother Stanley has been living here under my name for the last 30 years." Ford summarized tiredly. Apparently he wasn't in the mood to make a big deal out of it right now either.

Stan could practically see the gears turning in Manly Dan's head. Eventually the grizzled lumberjack nodded. "Yeah, that adds up."

With that, he turned over and went to sleep. Stan was a little surprised that the guy accepted their explanation just like that. But then again, Dan had lived in Gravity Falls his whole life.

Ford grabbed a folding chair from the card table and carried it out into the giftshop.

"Are you seriously gonna stay up and keep watch over that snowglobe thing all night?" Stan asked incredulously.

"My usual sleeping place is already occupied, I may as well." 

"Y’know, operating on so little sleep just makes you more likely to screw up.”

“Don’t worry. I’m well accustomed to it.”

“Not reassuring.” Stan said flatly, turning and climbing the stairs up to his room. If he was being perfectly honest with himself, he probably wouldn’t sleep a wink tonight either. But at least he was going to try. Ford was going to run himself ragged if he kept up this pace.

- - -

Nights in prison were the worst part of the whole ordeal, in Gideon's opinion. At least during the day, he was able to sway the other inmates to do what he wanted. There was a sort of mob mentality that he could take control of. But at night, it was just Gideon and his cell-mate, and there was nothing the boy could do to stop the hulking man from taking his pillow and doing whatever he wanted with it. 

Last week, the convicted felon had staged a wedding in their cell. He’d made a veil out of toilet paper and hummed “Here Comes the Bride” and everything. Tonight, he seemed to be discussing the possibility of children with his new “wife”.

“But Tessa, your mother and your aunt both died in childbirth! I’m just worried about you, honey!” He paused for whatever imagined reply the pillow gave. “Adoption, you say? I’ll admit, I had not considered it.”

Gideon groaned. He couldn’t even put a pillow over his ears to try and block out the nonsense! He’d tried to persuade the warden to let him switch cell mates so he could room with Ghost Eyes, but apparently they were “both instigators” and putting them both in the same cell would be “asking for a prison riot”.

The boy’s eyes flicked with annoyance to the cat poster still hiding his last attempt to summon Bill Cipher. The triangle had appeared and promised he was working on something, but so far Bill had failed to deliver.

“Stupid useless demon!” Gideon muttered under his breath. He rolled over, expecting another sleepless night.

Well, it did turn out to be sleepless, but not for the reason he’d anticipated.

It was a little past 10 PM when Gideon heard the familiar sound of an old van’s engine revving. He’d heard it many times on his father’s used car lot, but what on earth would one of those junkers be doing here?

That’s when he heard the unmistakable sound of a van crashing through a wall. Followed by the even more unmistakable sound of a machine gun.

“Heavens to Betsy, what was that!?” Gideon ran to his barred window just in time to see a pudgy man with a machine gun walk away from the wreckage of where a large van had burst through the prison wall. His maniacal laughter sounded familiar.

“Well whaddya know? Bill came through!” Gideon said in a hushed whisper. 

He dove away from the window with a yelp a second later when the machine gun started firing in his direction. A few seconds later there was a much quieter bang as a tall ladder hit the wall just outside the window. 

“HEY GIDEON, I HEARD YOU WERE GETTING TIRED OF YOUR PRISON AND WANT TO FIND SOMEPLACE NEW TO PARTY?”

“Bill!?”

“THE ONE AND ONLY!”

“Are you trying to kill me, you maniac!?” 

“YEESH, YOU FLESH-SACKS ARE SO SENSITIVE! YOU’RE FINE. BESIDES, I NEEDED TO LOOSEN THESE BARS!” He ripped out the bars on the window with ease. They’d already been loosened by the machine gun fire. “YOU COMING OR NOT? I NEED YOUR HELP STAGING A LITTLE PRISON BREAK OF MY OWN.”

Gideon pouted and followed the demon down the ladder, grumbling the whole way.

“... You know what, Tessa? I don’t think I want kids after all.” Gideon’s cowering cell mate said after they left. 

Bill kept the guards off them with plenty of machine gun fire, but he had little regard for who he was shooting at, guard or prisoner. He even narrowly missed Gideon on a few occasions.

“Oooh, I hope Killbone’s foot will be ok.” The boy hissed sympathetically as he saw one of his inmate friends go down.

“NAH, HE’S CRIPPLED FOR LIFE!”

They finally made it to the van, and Gideon climbed into the passenger-side door. Bill followed after him.

“A-aren’t you gonna drive?” The boy asked.

“TCH, FUNNY! I JUST RAMMED THIS THING THROUGH THREE WALLS OF CONCRETE; YOU THINK THE MEASLY COMBUSTION ENGINE STILL WORKS?” He flicked a lighter on and dropped it down between the driver’s seat and the steering wheel. Gideon could smell the gasoline. This thing was going to blow any second. He scampered over the benches and out the back door. Bill followed casually behind him.

“Then how are we supposed to get away!?” Gideon demanded as he sprinted to put distance between himself and the burning van.

“RELAX, SHORT-STACK, I’VE GOT A SECOND GET-AWAY CAR RIGHT HERE!” Bill pointed out a small black Audi parked behind a tall tree.

“Then why did you set the van on fire?” Gideon asked in confusion.

“BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT’D BE FUN.” Bill grinned as the van blew up behind them. Gideon screamed and ducked to avoid fiery flying debris. “AND I WAS RIGHT!”

Gideon got into Bill’s car. There was no child’s car seat. “You better drive careful.” He warned the demon.

“AHAHAHAHA, OH GIDEON, YOU’RE ALWAYS A RIOT!” Bill struggled to shift the car into drive, and Gideon had just enough time to realize with horror that the demon didn’t really know how to operate a human vehicle before it sped off through the trees.