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stellalunatmblr · 2 years

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The Flower Path | Prologue

Genre/Tags: isekai (kinda?), bangtan x fem!reader, not poly, oc!bestfriend, surprise romantic pairings; slow burn, fluff (will update tags along the way)

Status: Ongoing

Summary: What would you feel if you find yourself transported to the world of a cheesy web novel? Ecstatic, of course (well, among other things), except you’re stuck being the main character’s best friend slash sidekick. Fair enough, you don’t think you’re main character material anyway. Determined to get through your life that has changed all of a sudden, you try to keep yourself in the shadows of your “best friend.” Let’s just try to get through the last year of high school in peace. You thought it was gonna be easy – like a walk in a flower path– but the thing about walking that road is that there are bound to be thorns along the way.

Inspired by the web novel and manhwa: Inso’s Law

Word Count: 3.5k

Chapter Note: this is a fairly short chapter! but it took me so long to write ㅠ i figured it was okay because it was only the prologue. anyways, enjoy! also feedback would be highly appreciated.

also, everything i know about korean schools are from kdramas and mahwas, so in no way are they accurate. well, none of these are lol.

masterlist

You squint your eyes at the sun and brought your hand up to your face in an attempt to block the light that was straining your eyes.

"Here you go, young lady, this is the last of it." The man handed you a box from the moving truck before turning around to close the back of the truck. You muttered a small thanks and gave him a polite smile. You made your way inside the apartment building and into the elevators.

After earning an opportunity to be executive chef at a nearby town’s high-end restaurant, your dad convinced you to move nearer to his new job location, which meant you had to transfer schools as well. It wasn’t really a big deal for you. The old place carried too many good memories, which all the more made it painful to remember that things have never been the same since your mom passed away two years ago.

The elevator dinged and you made your way towards the unit at the end of the hallway, bowing to the movers that passed you by after they had dropped off your things in the new house you were hoping to eventually call home.

As you neared your unit, the old lady next door came out of her apartment holding a pot with a white-looking flower planted in it. You think you were being silly because the flower looked like it almost sparkled like glitter to you. You smiled politely and bowed lower than you did with the movers, wanting to make a good impression on your new neighbor. Maybe if she's the kind of old lady next door who bakes, and she likes you, you could persuade her into making you some treats.

She smiled back and made her way towards the elevators. You entered the open door into the foyer and placed the box down. You made your way further in and saw your dad’s back facing you, both his hands placed on his hips. When he heard your shoes’ shuffling noises, he turned around and smiled.

"We’re going to be unpacking for a while, huh?" He said this in a playful tone, and you laughed. "We had too much stuff to move," you replied.

Admittedly, you didn’t have to take everything from the old place into here, but both you and your dad are sentimental people, so you barely were able to sort through things that you wanted to give away or sell.

You stretched out your arms and shoulders before turning to your dad. You suggested, "We better get started then if we want to get this over soon," and both of you started working to unpack.

"Hey, sweetie?" your dad asked moments later while ripping away the tape from one of the boxes. You hummed in response.

"I know you said it was okay, but I'm really sorry for making us move when it’s your senior year. You knew it was going to be difficult to adjust, but you indulged me anyway." He said with an embarrassed, almost shy smile. It made you grin widely.

"Dad, don’t worry about it. I have a feeling we’re going to like it here." You smile and try to express in your eyes that you are being genuine.

It’s true, you are somehow looking forward to the change of scenery. Maybe you’ll find solace here that you couldn’t find in the old place. It just felt empty, like something was missing ever since two years ago.

You’ve unpacked about a quarter of the boxes you had, and the pile of folded up cardboard was growing higher near the foyer. This is good progress so far. You were cutting open a box of the things that were going to your room when you noticed a book placed on top of your hoodies.

"Dad? What’s this? I don’t remember ever owning or ever buying this book." You raised the book to your dad’s field of vision. He chuckles, "Your mom loved those types of books and would always say she’d gift her collection to you someday." He placed the glassware on the kitchen aisle. "I saw it in an old bookstore around here when I was hunting for apartments and bought it at a discount. I believe I put it on your desk at home, but now that I think about it, I'm guessing you never saw it."

His face shifted to a sad smile. "She wanted to influence you with her love of reading all the time, remember?" You nodded and shifted your gaze away from him and into the book. He walked towards the living room, saying, "Take it. She'd want you to have it."

You turned the book around and read the synopsis at the back, chuckling to yourself. It was from a teen web novel about high school friends and romantic clichés.

You relocate the box to your room, and you chuck the book on your empty dresser and go back to unpacking.

"Let’s order some jajangmyeon for lunch, dad!" You yelled from your room so he could hear you.

"That sounds fantastic, honey."

❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

A few days later, after handing out rice cakes to your new neighbors, you decided to stop by the school you were transferring to. You saw a bunch of rowdy teenagers in the school court playing basketball, and you turned to the school guide who was giving you a tour. She doesn't seem happy to be tasked with showing you around. You’d even go as far as to assume she doesn't even like her job with the way she lazily said her words.

You sped up your steps to catch up with her, "So why’d you move for your senior year? What about your old friends? Didn't you think it was gonna be difficult for you? " For the first time since you met her, the guide, named Jang Nara, seemed genuinely curious.

"Just.. reasons. My dad got a new job opportunity, and we thought it was the right time to move."

She shrugs, not wanting to inquire more. You hummed awkwardly because everything went silent between you again.

After the tour, she hands you a brochure of the place where you can pick up your school uniform and guides you to get your photo taken for your ID.

“Welcome to Jeongsang.” She said in an almost robotic voice before you left

You sigh when you look back at the school building from the gate, not really looking forward to anything particularly this school year. You turn around and walk to the bus stop.

❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

You were looking for a certain pair of shorts you loved wearing at home after cleaning up in the kitchen when you stumbled upon the book again three weeks later.

Should I start reading it? Hmm.

You ended up plopping down on your bed and turning to the first page of the book, getting distracted and ending up not finding those shorts you were looking for.

Time seemed to pass by when you were reading, so you didn't notice that it's already dark outside. Throughout it, you didn't go without any snickers or cringing at all the lines the characters were saying. It was so cheesy and cliché, you're not going to lie, but you. just. couldn't. stop. reading. it.

You admit it's addicting. It gives you a sense of comfort knowing that you have an idea of what will happen next, that you don’t have to be uneasy with suspense. And you needed that, you think. You needed that sense of ease.

This truly is a novel, huh? You laugh as you read about the main character arguing with their academic rival, whom they secretly pine for. This was the type of stuff you were into, mom? You said it in your head and shook your head with a smile.

Your dad ended up barging into your room in the middle of the night to scold you because you have the high school opening ceremony the next day, muttering something about getting enough sleep or else you'll look like the undead. Gee, thanks dad. He hangs your clean school uniform in your closet, complete with white blouse, navy blue bowtie, and plain beige skirt, as well as the ID attached to the lanyard. You thank him and smile cheekily, "Let me just finish this, dad. Just one more chapter."

He shook his head, not believing you for a second but not being able to do anything about it anyway, and then he exited your room.

You ended up falling asleep in the middle of it, passing out with your hand and the book clutched to your chest.

The next morning, you woke up to someone shaking you by the shoulders. "Sweetie, you're gonna be late for school if you don't wake up now." You groaned in response and covered your face with your palms. He shook you again, but harder this time.

"Okay, alright, I’m up." You sat up and tried to wipe the sleepiness from your eyes.

You head to the bathroom to wash away the drowsiness and tiredness from your body. You walked toward your closet and opened it, only to be surprised at what you saw. You yell at your dad, "Dad! Did you take away my uniform?"

You hear some shuffling before your door opens. "What do you mean? It's hanging right there."

You scrunch your eyebrows and look back inside the closet. Hoodies, shirts, dresses... blazer? You didn't own a blazer. It was a navy blue blazer with silver lining around the notch. You took the hanger it was in and, to your surprise, you found your uniform tucked neatly inside it, only, the bowtie wasn't there. Instead, there was a striped maroon necktie.

"See? There you go.” You snapped your head to face him. "This isn't my uniform dad, we don't have blazers.” You said that flatly and took it off the hanger. Is this my dad's? No, it's in my size. You get even more confused.

"You sure do, sweetie. Look, just wear it and come outside for breakfast, yeah?" He said, before disappearing into the hallway.

You furrowed your eyes and tilted your head. This.. this isn't my uniform. I'm not wearing this! You pulled the ID off of it and looked. Your eyes became wide as saucers.

It said your full name and it had your picture, but instead of saying Jeongsang High School, it said Kkotgil High School.

What the fuck…

You hear the door open again, and your father has delivered your school shoes and what appear to be white knee-high socks. "Forgot these," he said quickly before disappearing again.

In a daze, you go about your morning routine and wear the uniform, blazer and all. Am I going crazy? Am I still asleep? Is this a dream?

You shook your head in disbelief and were about to exit your room when you caught a glimpse of your reflection in the mirror.

Woah. You look like you just walked out of a comic book with what you were wearing. Is it just me or does my hair look fuller? And is my skin smoother now? You whistled. I wish I was like this outside of my dreams.

You paused as you realized something. Will they let me enter the school gates wearing this? School dress codes were strict, after all. You just sighed and decided to cross the bridge when you got there, maybe using your being a new student as an excuse.

You grab your bag and head out of the room. You paused again when you noticed something. Did the place just become.. bigger? And everything was much more organized than when you left it the night before! You absentmindedly step forward, not noticing a small table in your way, causing you to stumble upon it and lose your footing. You ended up hitting the floor.

"Ow!" you exclaimed. That hurt! You think you hear your dad yell and ask if you were okay.

What happened? Why did that hurt? You stood up quickly and held onto your side where you felt very real pain. "It hurts," you mumbled.

Your dad called you to the dining room again, and you snapped out of your reverie.

You power-walked to where he was and asked, "Dad, is this a dream?" As you placed both of your hands on his shoulders, his eyes widened before rolling them.

"Listen, I know you’ve been wanting me to make you some chicken and waffles for breakfast for a while now, but you don't have to go as far as to say you're dreaming now that I did." His answer baffled you. Breakfast with chicken and waffles is completely valid! But also, is this really not a dream?

You looked around the room again, but you were distracted when the front door buzzed. You heard someone call your name from the intercom, so you ran towards it. "C’mon, we're going to be late!" says a soft female voice. You slowly head to the front door and open it.

Your jaw slacked. In front of you was a girl your age with big eyes, full lips, long lashes and smooth pale skin, wearing the same outfit as you and.. Is that light brown hair? You thought the school had strict rules against dyeing your hair?

"What are you waiting for? We have to go now or we’ll miss the bus! " She tried to grab your hand, but you pulled away.

"Who are you?" You whispered, but your eye caught the ID she was wearing. Choi Minyoung, it said. She looked confused for a second before stepping closer.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

No way! Nothing is okay! Everything was different, and you were so confused. Did you accidentally drink your dad’s expensive wine and now you’re drunk and hallucinating? Does being drunk even entail that?

You hear your dad step up behind you as he slips a lunch bag inside your backpack. "Here, if you can’t eat it for breakfast, then have it for lunch. I put in an extra, so share it with Minyoung, okay?" He said before zipping it back up and pushing you out the door.

Your dad knew her? Before you could say anything, the girl, Minyoung, pulled you to her side and headed towards the elevator. You think you spaced out too much that you didn’t even notice you were in front of the bus stop already. By that time, you were already catching your breath, not even realizing she made you run with her towards the bus stop. She saw the bus approaching and she tightened her hold on you even more. She pulled you towards the bus and made you sit next to her.

You turned to look at her face once you sat down. Wow, she's pretty. She looks like she could be an idol. You saw her blush a little before glancing at you.

"Are you okay?" she asked after calling out your name. Something seemed to snap out of you and your mind cleared. You hastily looked at the front of the bus. It's the right bus number, and it's going on the same route you remembered.

You heard the girl next to you ask again, and you turned to her. You panic slightly, not knowing what to say, so you settle for a quick nod.

She smiled, "I’m so glad we get to spend our senior year together. We’ve been best friends for years, and this is gonna be the first time! Oh, I do hope we are in the same class as well. " She rambled on with a big bright smile.

Best friend? You scrunched your brows at her in question, and when she saw it, hurt flashed in her eyes quickly before vanishing. You quickly changed your expression into a polite smile, having the sudden feeling of not wanting to see that look on her face again.

How exactly do I know her? You rack your brain for anything, but your mind goes blank. You can’t seem to think properly ever since this morning.

"Is this a prank?" you whispered softly, now wanting to offend her. And was your dad in on it too? Why was he acting strange as well?

She chuckled nervously. "Seriously, are you okay? You’re acting weird. " You just stared at her, not knowing what to say.

She sighed. "Look, I know we had a huge fight and we haven’t been hanging out as much since.. Anyway, I just thought you’d feel okay now that we talked things out yesterday." You almost thought you heard sad piano music in the background as she said it with a sad smile, her eyes glossy.

"I- uhm." you quickly think of what to do. Do I play along? Do I push her away? Your brain was running at a hundred miles per second. When the bus announced your stop, you let yourself be pulled away by Minyoung again.

She started walking towards a huge gate, but you pulled on her hand that was holding onto yours and it made her halt her steps.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but I really don't know you. And this-" you pointed at the big bold letters on the pillar beside the gate that said Kkotgil High, "-isn't my school. I- I go to Jeongsang High School, you see?" Then, you felt a sharp pain in your temple, the stress of the strange events catching up with you. You were well aware that your ID said Kkotgil, but you have no idea how or why this happened overnight.

She opened her mouth to say something, but you pulled away. "I- I have to go." You turned around and walked away.

After a few moments of walking, you decide to whip your phone out and look up the address again for Jeongsang High. It should be around here or somewhere nearby. This is the right bus stop after all. To your surprise, the search portal said no results.

What the hell?

You checked if it was your data, or maybe it was an error on your phone but you kept getting the same result.

You took a step forward again before you felt someone grab your arm and pull you harshly to their chest. You let out an ugly squeal of surprise.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" You stared back in awe at the guy with mint green hair and cat-like eyes as he glared at you.

You realized just then that you were almost walking into traffic because you weren't paying proper attention to your surroundings. You felt tears prick your eyes from stress and you blinked quickly to try to get rid of them.

"Hey Yoongs! You didn't have to make her cry. It's not like she meant to walk into traffic. " You notice you're wearing the same style of uniform as them when you hear someone say beside him.

"You- do you guys perhaps go to Jeongsang High?" You asked with a hopeful gaze.

The guy beside the mint-haired boy, someone with red hair (seriously, what’s up with the hair colors?) gave you a heart-shaped smile,

"Jeongsang High? We’ve lived around here since forever and there’s no Jeongsang High in Seoul," He said, and you felt like your world crumpled apart.

What.. what do I do now?

"You’re wearing the same uniform as us! So you go to Kkotgil too, right? Are you new? " He asked, and you found yourself nodding absentmindedly. He held your hand and pulled you close.

"C’mon, we’ll take you there!" He said this in a rather cheerful tone and led you back to where Minyoung took you earlier. You noticed how other students you passed by kept glancing your way and suddenly you felt like it was not only you who found it odd that these high schoolers had colored hair. You were wrong of course, they stared with almost sparkling eyes because you had two good looking guys walking with you. But you didn't know that.

"I’m Hoseok, by the way," he introduced himself. "But you can call me Hobi. And Mr. Grumpy Pants there is Yoongi." He pointed to the mint-haired boy—Yoongi, who walked in front of you two.

He led you to the gate and into the long table where the teachers and staff were seated. He walked you towards someone you believe he knows.

"Miss Jang!" You were surprised to see a familiar face. She’s a teacher here? I thought she was a teaching assistant?

"Hoseok! You’re here to see what class you’re in? " She asked with a bright smile, which looked weird to you because this was the same person who looked like she was bored to death when she gave you a tour of the school.

You felt the boy beside you nod and pull you towards the class lists. "This is where the senior classes are listed. Let’s look for our names."

"How did you know I was a senior?" You questioned him, and he grinned before pointing at your tie.

"Your striped tie. Only seniors have striped ties." He replied, and you nodded in understanding.

You looked back down the lists and sure enough, your name was listed under Year 3 Class 4. You softly grazed the paper and felt its texture where it said your name. To your surprise, a few lines before yours was a familiar name. Choi Minyoung.

"Look! It seems like we’re in the same class! Yoongi too! " Hoseok, or Hobi, said but you didn’t process the information.

Your name really is there.

Fuck. Is this real? Is this really happening to you?

You almost felt like you could cry.

What in the world is going on?

#bts au #ot7 x reader #bts fluff #bts x reader #jungkook fanfic #taehyung fanfic #yoongi fanfic #namjoon fanfic #jhope fanfic #hoseok fanfic #oc reader #isekai #jimin fanfic #seokjin fanfic #alternate universe #bts fic #bts fanfiction #bangtan x oc

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writing-in-april · 3 years

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Erotica Explained

Spencer Reid x Female Reader (Spencer’s POV)

Summary: Spencer discovers his girlfriend’s writing.

A/N: Hey Heyyy- this is my twenty-sixth fic for my 30 fics in 30 days for April! It’s based on this request- and I did end up using a small snippet from one of my other fics! Sorry this ones out late too lol had a very difficult day. Feel free to leave me an ask here (I promise I don’t bite) Thanks for reading and hope y’all enjoy!

Warnings: 18+, Smut, Sub!Spencer, Unprotected sex, A little bit of grinding, A little bit of overstimulation, Creampie

Main Masterlist Word Count:1.7k

I don’t use technology often, if I can help it I don’t use it at all. But, I had to use it right now, there was something I needed to look up on the computer. It wasn’t for a case or anything, I was just too curious and too impatient to wait to go to the library.

Because I don’t use technology often at all, I didn’t own a personal laptop. The only one I regularly used was the one I was given at work, and that was done begrudgingly. Though I couldn’t use that one right now as I was at my apartment I shared with my girlfriend. My girlfriend however, happened to have a laptop that she wouldn’t mind me using.

When I opened up her laptop, it was already unlocked with a tab already opened. My eyes unintentionally quickly glazed over the page, my eyes widening as I flitted across the page. It was some sort of story, one that contained things that made me blush. At the end of what was visible without scrolling down it read,

His fingers twitched at his side when you blew cool air onto his length, you sneered again, “If you touch me I’ll stop.”

My own trousers started to grow a little tight after reading that, then confusion made its way into my face, wondering what in the world I was reading. I clicked around, not really knowing what I was doing and I fell into a wormhole of reading. It wasn’t until I glanced up to see who owned the documents it all clicked together. They were my girlfriend’s stories.

They were her stories about a slew of characters that already existed in other media, the first one I had read even happened to be about a Star Wars character- Poe to be specific. Once it all clicked together I slammed the computer shut, feeling like I had invaded her privacy. Then I swiftly got into a cold shower, ready to freeze my arousal and wash off my shame.

—-

My foot was tapping even crazier than normal as I sat next to my girlfriend. We had decided on a night in, choosing to order take out and watch a few movies on a rare night off for me. It was her turn to choose, and unsurprisingly she chose Star Wars.

“What’s wrong?” She asked me when I started to basically vibrate when Poe came onto the screen. I couldn’t keep it in any longer, the guilt was eating me alive sitting here while I watched a constant reminder of what I read.

“I’m sorry-“ She was about to open her mouth to probably ask me why I was apologizing, but I steamrolled over it by ranting, “I looked at your writing- the erotica you write. I- I think it’s about already existing characters? Which I hadn’t heard about before-“

She finally did get a chance to cut me off by calling out my name, getting me to stop my nervous rant, “Are you mad- that I umm am writing about someone who’s not you?”

“No! It’s natural to be attracted to different people even while you’re with someone…” I was already falling down into another rant, this time however I caught myself and found the point I had been looking for, “I actually think it’s kind of hot.”

“Oh yeah?” Her eyebrows had shot up almost high enough that they were up into her hairline. I flushed a little at that, feeling vulnerable under her gaze even though I knew she always kept me safe.

“I- um actually was wondering if you could do to me-“ The words died on my tongue when my eyes met hers again, and just by her eyes I could see that she knew what I wanted. She just wanted me to say it out loud.

“What do you want me to do to you?”

“Wh-hat I read- can you umm-?”

She didn’t let me stumble any longer, cutting off my stuttering, “You want me to do the things you read about to you?”

I nodded vigorously, but that wasn’t enough for her. She leaned forward, grabbing my cheeks between two of her fingers, then prompting me, “Use your words.”

I whimpered at that, remembering seeing it in one of her writings. I learned from the character, who had mouthed off in the fanfic, instead breathily answering, “Yes, I want you to use me like you wrote.”

Soon enough my clothes had been taken off by me as I had to follow her command to ‘strip’. She did so as well, then straddling me, starting immediately to grind on my cock. I moved my hands to her hips to try to get her to do something more, but they were quickly pushed off. She then pinned them above my head, leaning forward to whisper into my lips, “No you don’t get to touch unless I tell you too.”

“Yes, Miss!” I gasped out instantly, wanting to be perfect for her.

“Mmmm good boy.”

That made me keen even more, loving the praise she gave me a dash of, I craved her showering it onto me. She kept her course of action, grinding onto my cock until her own arousal completely soaked it. All it would take was for the head of my cock to notch at my entrance, she was so wet I could slip in easily. But, all I could do was wait until she let me have her. I’m sure if I begged she’d only smirk at me, so I kept my mouth shut and took what I was given.

She finally sunk down onto my cock, though it was excruciatingly slow. I tried to fight my instincts, keeping my hips flush with the couch so I wouldn’t get scolded for moving without permission.

When the backs of her thighs finally hit the tips of mine, I groaned unintentionally. She seemed to love it, starting to buck her hips enthusiastically at my response. My hands balled up into fists, knuckles turning white from how hard I was gripping them. It was taking so much to not cum already, her hands pinning me and how beautiful she looked above me making it overwhelming.

“Awww are you already so close? You love getting used like this don’t you?” She goaded once she realized how much I was fighting my release with my squinted eyes.

It took me a minute to find the words, as all my mind could focus on at the moment was how she felt around me. My IQ was completely slashed to 60, but I did eventually get out, “Yes miss”

She sped up her pace at my words, alternating from grinding down into me hard and bouncing vigorously on top of me. When she lent forward to give me a bruising kiss, she swallowed all the noises I was making, until she dipped her head down to mark up my collarbone. It was all too much; I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on.

“You’re such a good boy for me Spencer.” She gasped above me, writhing on my cock while she continued to bounce. It was getting so hard to bear, especially with more praise, but I wanted to wait until she came. She looked like a goddess, especially just as she was about to cum, which she soon signaled by saying, “Oh god baby, you’re gonna make me cum!”

All I could do was watch as she removed one hand from where they were wrapped around my own to rub circles into her clit. She tipped her head back, mouth dropped open in a moan, and thighs shaking as her orgasm washed over her. She shook above me for a minute, hips stuttering as she tried to continue the pace she built while her orgasm was ripping through her. Once she had come down from her release she then focused on mine, building the pace back up to be even faster than her original one.

“Go ahead and cum baby boy.” With one more swivel of her hips, I fell off the edge at her command, filling her all the way up with my release. She held my hands up above my head still and still moved her hips while I rode out my high. When she stopped her movements once I whimpered loudly out of overstimulation, she finally let go of my hands.

I let myself relax as she slumped over onto me, resting her head onto my still somewhat heaving chest. With my hands once again free I wrapped my arms around her middle, entrapping her this time.

Looking up I then noticed the movie was still going, completely unobstructed by our actions. It was towards the end of the movie already, telling me how long we had been going at it. Though I didn’t care that I missed it, I got to act out a partial storyline from it, even if it was a made up one. The movie could only hold my attention for so long, there was someone far more interesting with me.

“So are you gonna write some with me?” She giggled out while tracing her fingers up and down my chest, lingering over my sternum. Her proposition was an intriguing one for sure, especially now that she explained some of it to me. Though, I think my writing style is more suited for more of an academic setting.

I snorted a little, giggling a little myself, then brushing my hair out of my eyes so I could see them more clearly. When I tipped her chin up with my fingers and their eyes met mine, they were full of mischief. She was definitely trying to get me riled up again, but I had a quip back of my own, “I don’t think I’d be good at it- but maybe you’ll let me read from now on? I wouldn’t mind editing some as well, it sounds fun.”

Ask Me Anything

——

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All Works: @shotarosleftpinky @90spumkin @kyra-morningstar @spenxerslut @boxofsparklingmuses @multixfandomwriter @takeyourleap-of-faith

All MGG characters: @muffin-cup @willowrose99 @princesssmooshie @peterpanouat @anaagraceeberr @ashcakes1918 @reid-me-a-story @cosmic-psychickitty

Spencer Reid/CM: @calm-and-doctor @destiny-tsukino @safertokiss @slutforthegubes @onlyhereforthefanfics @jareauswifey @princesssmooshie @peterpanouat

Sub Spencer: @thatsonezesty13 @pastathighs @virtualpeanutartisanjudge @calm-and-doctor @princesssmooshie @peterpanouat

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid smut #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gubler smut #mgg #mgg x reader #30 fics in 30 days

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yeonbinfics · 2 years

Text

even with my sad heart, make room for me

even with my sad heart, make room for me by rxckbttm (ao3)

Rating: E

Word Count: 39233

Summary: The rustling of the bush gets extremely loud before he sees them part.

He holds his breath, afraid.

This is it. I’m going to be robbed and left for dead. Of course, that’s just my fate on the one night I choose to go out—

He sees a small black figure arch in the dark, and Soobin pauses.

It’s a cat.

(Longtime loner-slash-introvert Choi Soobin somehow miraculously adopts a cat. It turns out to be a lot more than he bargained for.)

Review:

this will probably be a good time to mention that i am in fact the president of the cat boy yeonjun agenda, so when i first came across this fic i screamed.

a long, slow burn, fluff fic about yeonjun being a cat? and its tagged whith a happy ending? bitch yes! sign me up!

this is such a good fic to get lost in on a rainy day. you instantly get lost in the world the creator has set up for us. while it’s not majorly based on world building, the tiny world the author wrote up, one where soobin and yeonjun who are desperately lonely find each other and fall in love, its so cozy and i found myself sad when it ended just because i wanted to spend more time with the characters and the cozy little home of theirs.

it starts with soobin who keeps to himself. he’s lonely, that is actually the very first thing we learn about him.

Soobin knew he was lonely. He did.

that's literally the very first line of the fic.

from there we get a little glimpse of his life. his work life, which taehyun asks him when was the last time he has gone out. well meaning friends but also such comments make him even more anxious because he knows how people must see him as a loner. he goes home as usual, it all seems routine.

It must be nice, he thinks as he stares out the window. He feels like he’s in one of those ridiculously dramatic teen films, in the scene where time freezes and the main character glances out onto the empty street with their saddest realization dawning upon them. A turning point, to try and make the most of life with this new weight they’re forced to carry around; the metamorphosis of adulthood that costs more blood and teeth than it’s worth.

But this is not a movie— the streets are full, time is ticking, Soobin isn't a teenager anymore.

this is where we realize that not only is soobin lonely but he is sad too. and this is also a foreshadowing that his turning point will soon come as well. so even though the tone is sad, it still feels a little hopeful that soobin wont be sad for much longer. that's where we are introduced to the shampoo ad.

and this is what i love about this fic. the author uses little things to push the story forward. because while it looks like a regular shampoo ad, and while soobin thinks the man on the ad is beautiful, he has no idea that this ad will also be his turning point. even though he walks past it regularly, its significant to us, the author makes sure we know its important.

days pass, same routine, same loneliness, and same shampoo ad he sees everyday. except this time, something follows him home. a cat. and soobin is instantly taken by it. full on mush for it. he takes it in and this is the true turning point for him.

and from the tags, we can already guess that this cat is yeonjun. so even though i was waiting desperately to see how yeonjun would turn back or how soobin would find out, it was still such a nice build up as we got to see a glimpse of their bonding even in yeonjun’s cat state. from when yeonjun refuses to eat cat food so soobin has to cook him human food, or when soobin takes a shower not really caring if yeonjun sees him because duh its just a cat but yeonjun is staring at him with wide eyes. i love the bits of humor the author throws at us.

i don't want to write everything down but one of my absolute favorite parts was in third chapter. its after yeonjun turns back into his human form and they have to get used to yeonjun being human again and their bond soon turns into love. after all of that,

“You...were a cat up until I met you? So that day you shifted before I got back was—”

“My first time doing it successfully since I’d given up,” Yeonjun hums, brittle. “Fear and panic shifted me back.”

“Why were you panicking?” Soobin’s face screws up in the soft emptiness of the bedroom, trying to picture that day and what it was that could have drawn Yeonjun’s fear out of the dark. He had only been gone a few minutes.

“You said if you were gone for longer than five minutes, to call the police. I was counting the seconds, you know.”

It clicks together like puzzle pieces sliding into place, and Soobin can’t stop the intense rush of tears that tips over. Like a dam breaking, as more and more pours out.

god i swooned so much at this part. full on rolling around trying not to squeal.

overall, this is a cozy fic. i don't know how else to describe it but 1000000/10 would read ten more times in a span of a week.

please leave kudos and comments for the author.

#Alternate Universe #Fantasy #Magic #Whipped Choi Yeonjun #Whipped Choi Soobin #Cat Yeonjun #Fluff #Slow Burn #Domestic #Mild Hurt/Comfort #Humor #Happy Ending #Mild Smut #Chaptered Fic #Word Count: 40k #Yeonbin #Yeonbin Fic Red #Yeonbin Fic #rxckbttm

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neoaevis · 3 years

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How Much I Love You/Hate you

Word Count: 2654

Warnings:Smut(Use of the word slut, Boss kink, Over Stimulation, Male and Female receiving, Dom Mark, Pregnant Sex, Office Sex, Unprotected Sex(Don’t forget to wrap it), Cheating,Mentions of the word gold digger , Angst,Violence;punching and mentions of hurtful words(that’s it ig pm me for more)

!! NOT PROOF READ!!

A/N: Hello my dear bbys I finished the second chapter and I really hope y’all like it and just like I said it will be indiv story first and in around the third chapter we will see some interactions between our main characters but well lol depends in what I write, I really hope you enjoyed this as much as I did lol and please don’t hate me if you don’t also don’t copy any of my works,you may also chat me for suggestions or give me some asks of atw with things you are curious about and btw I will open the taglist so send me a message if you wish to be tagged enjoy💋

Chapter II

Day Before Heading To Korea

“That was amazing but can be better” Mark says as he stands up away from the girl that was shaking from the sex they just had. Mark was in a meeting that was honestly really boring when one of the intern that he has been flirting around with started palming him under the table that makes his eyes grow wide and his dick erect, originally he wanted to keep his dick inside his pants but she palmed her faster which made him hornier, so in the middle of the meeting he stood up and made everyone confused from his actions and people asking in small murmurs if something was wrong “Let’s continue this later, lunch break” he said with a loud enough voice.

He walked to the door signaling the girl to follow him into his office once she was inside he locks the door shut pressing the girl’s back to the door “What a fucking slut you are” he said with absolute dominance that makes the girl shiver ” I w-want you sir” she said as he tries to grab Mark’s face to kiss him in which Mark refused “You are not allowed to touch me” he removes his tie grabbing the girl’s hand and tying it hard enough that it will surely bruise, due to Mark’s action she feels her clit’s dripping wetness, Mark started by removing her blouse and tossing it just wherever, seeing the lace underwear she wore his eyes grew full with lust, he went to her neck hungrily leaving small marks as he unclasp her bra, he removes her skirt now carrying her towards the sofa near his table, he opens her legs harshly, rubbing her clit he said “Your this wet, I’ve barely done anything” he grinned, the girl was unable to open her legs from too much pleasure in which Mark reacted to by opening it wider “I’m going to punish you and make sure you will regret what you did” he exclaimed while ripping the girl’s panty, he sucked her clit harshly tightly grabbing her thighs, he then moves his tongue down her entrance which makes the girl release a loud moan, he stops and grabs her neck pulling it towards his face “You’re too loud do you want everyone in the office to know how dirty you are” his statement makes the girl’s voice hitch and even before she can give a reply he gets back to pushing his tongue in her entrance while rubbing her clit with his thumb, the pressure make the girl see stars all over ”I-I I’m cumming sir” she stated stuttering too much, Mark stops the girl felt the emptiness and she whined “You don’t get to cum yet slut” he said, he pulls her hair making her kneel he unbuttons his shirt and unbuckles his belt pushing down his pants with his boxer “Open your mouth” he orders as he pushed her towards his dick deep down enough for her to gag , he went on and on that the girl is now crying from how it’s too much but not wanting to stop as pleasure spreads all over her as Mark felt he was close the sloppier he got in pushing her, so she took the initiative to suck him on her own and not long after he came in her throat, saltiness filling her palate.

He pulls her bending her over his desk, he thrust inside her slowly before he slams harder and deep “S-sir you feel so good” his ego got boosted with her compliment thrusting harshly to make sure she would have a hard time walking and for her to learn her lesson, he grabs both of her boobs pushing her towards him deepening every thrust and soon after the girl clenched around Mark “You’re cumming huh?” “Y-yes” she said and Mark slaps her but really hard “You need to call me sir for you to cum” he said demanding her to follow “Y-ye yes sir please make this slut cum” soon after she cums and after a few more thrusts Mark follows, he gave her three more sharp thrusts befor pulling out.

“That was amazing but can be better” Mark says as he stands up away from the girl that fell down shaking from sex, “Your on the pill right” he inquired remembering he came inside her.

“Oh shit, I-I’m not on the pill sir” she said while she tries to stand up but fail, Mark then removed his tie from the girl and began collecting his clothes putting them back on one by one.

“I will tell my secretary to buy you some plan B make sure to take it” he said as he pulls his tie up signaling he will be leaving already.

“What if I don’ take it” she asked teasingly but Mark did not take it well slamming his palms towards the desk she is leaning to “Why did you fuck me is to get yourself pregnant for money?” he exclaimed, fear has spread across the girl’s face making her feel small.

Mark grabs his check in his desk and wrote 1 million dollars worth of money “Here’s the money so make sure to take it” he throws it towards her face.

“Are you just going to leave me, how about me right now or my panty at least” the girl said feeling pathetic and which Mark replied with a scoff giving her another check worth another million.

“I believe the money is enough now” he said walking away now and stopping before opening the door to say “I don’t care about you, what we did was just sex and nothing more so get out of here as fast as you can” and he left as anger spread all over him.

Flashback to College

Truth be told Mark is actually sensitive about pregnancy topics, there was this girl that he loved so deeply when he was just eighteen years old her name was Mina, he spent his youth loving and protecting her, she was poor unlike Mark which his parent’s disliked and protested that she was only a gold digger that is after his money, Mark even went through extreme lengths for her, from buying her expensive gifts to giving every part of him, even arguing with his parents every day and when she got pregnant when they were twenty he was extremely happy, he thought his life was complete with her not until one day when he went to her apartment he heard moans from her room “God, Mark doesn’t even know what we are doing, fucking around like this” said Mina “He is like a puppy following you around” exclaimed the man “Baby if not for his money I won’t be even fucking him, nor get pregnant plus you’re way better in bed” she said moaning, it made Mark really angry and pained, he slams the door open to which shocked the both of them.

“What the fuck did you just say y-you” he said as his voice breaks from too much pain that the love of his life gave him “Only loved me for money” Mina get’s herself off from the man as she tries to get close to Mark “ Mark no you, you heard wrong, I love you not because of your money” he pushed Mina away as he made eye contact with the guy making him punch him hard releasing all the anger “ I did not hear wrong, how dare you cheat on me” he said eyeing Mina, she begged Mark all over and over and the man she was having sex with said “Just leave that good for nothing asshole Mina” his words made every vein from Mark pop that’s why he punches the guy again and again and again in which the guy returned but Mark was overpowering as he threw more punches, Mina tried to stop them both but she was too weak to stop them soon after he gave the final punch that made the guy fall “I am not good for nothing, in fact I have money which both of you don’t have” he said in the most angry tone he has ever been, Mina and the guy was left shocked with his words they felt very belittle by it “And for you Mina, I loved you and all along my parents were right you are nothing but a gold digger” it made Mina cry even harder, regret filling her all over as she tried to reach Mark only to be pushed away hard enough that her belly hit the side of the bed, soon after that blood filled the room Mark was alarmed remembering his baby so he gave the ambulance a call. When they arrived in the hospital Mina was immediately checked and he found out his baby died his blood and flesh died, regret, blame and all different emotions filled him mostly blaming Mina if she did not cheat on him this will not happen. He left her that day returning to his parents because of how sorry he feels he defended her yet they were right all along, after that Mark has changed he no longer is the bubbly and friendly Mark he became a bad boy fucking every single girl not caring about them at all or would have a girlfriend but would cheat on them on multiple occasions, no relationship after Mina lasted as he thought all people care about is money not how he feels.

Day Before Heading To Korea

Walking he saw his secretary slash friend Taeil he immediately orders him to buy the plan B for the girl he just banged or just anything to prevent her from getting pregnant “Sir why do you fuck girls when you don’t want them to get pregnant” his secretary exclaimed “Come on Taeil don’t play innocent who knows you might’ve banged as much as I did or even more” he said teasing him to which Taeil returned with a huge shake of his head “Nope,nope I’m not like you and never will, well infact I am getting married soon” Mark was shocked not really believing Taeil so he slapped his arm “Your jokes are getting better” he laughed while Taeil had a straight face “Im not kidding my girlfriend really said yes and we are getting married” Mark stopped laughing with a face of disbelief that made Taeil chuckle now “Your gonna settle with someone now?” he questions “Hahaha Mark yes I am” he pats Mark’s shoulder “Wow, why is everyone around me getting married, you should know that the single life is way better” he said while clicking his toungue “Being single is indeed better, but when you love someone you would prefer to be with them every minute and every second and then it would be better for you because you love each other” he said lovingly making Mark laugh “You are madly in love hyung” he laughs “I bet when you meet your match you will also be madly in love with her” Mark shook his head showing a big X sign with his arms “Loving someone crazily will only kill you ,plus I know for sure all they want from me is my money” he said protesting and Taeil gave him a comforting smile before he turns his back to return to work.

Mark headed to the rooftop to get some fresh air while doing so he reminisce his past about Mina and Taeil’s words about him finding true love, discovering that there is indeed a part of him that wants to meet someone that loves him for him and not his money but before he could think more he shrugs it off and in que his phone rings and the caller was his Dad, he answers the phone.

Dad : “Son how have you been there in Canada?” his father questions with a giddy tone

Mark: “Here alive and well” he answers bluntly

Dad: “That’s good, how about the company is it doing well?” he questions further

Mark: “Of course it’s doing exceptionally well, is that all you have to ask” he ask as he sense there is something more with his phone call

Dad: ” Well uhm son I need you to come to Korea asap” he said as he cleared his throat

Mark: “How about our company here, it needs me dad” he said, but actually deep down he is not ready to come back to Korea because coming back means revisiting his past.

Dad: “I already fixed that, your brother is coming to Canada to manage the company”

Mark: “But Dad I’m not really sure I actually don’t want to go back”

Dad: “Look Mark, honestly I wanted to ask you kindly first to hear your first reaction but I just want to inform you that even if you say no, I want you to come home here as soon as you can”

Mark: “Dad but I- I ok fine yes I will come go to Korea as soon as I can but do I just leave?”

Dad: “Yes Mark and starting the day you come back here you will manage the company in Korea plus you need to attend a charity ball this week Saturday”

Mark: “ Ok Dad I get it” he said with a defeated tone

And his Dad hangs up, he doesn’t really want to go and feels very hesitant having an inner conflict with himself, his phone rang again and the caller this time is Taeil telling him to get back to the meeting as lunch break was already over, he endured several more meetings after another until it was finally over to signify his day will finally end. He went back to his office massaging the temples of his forehead as he sat down to think about the many things that bothers him, he then pages for Taeil through his phone, Taeil rushed to see him asking what are his orders for him, Mark stood up and told Taeil “Book me a flight to Korea tomorrow” Taeil took note of it as schok embodied him “Tomorrow sir? And Korea?” he knows that Mark hates Korea for the reason behind it being Mina but he repeated “Yes tomorrow to Korea also you are coming with me” he said as he grabs his things preparing to leave work “B-but sir why shall I come with you and how about my wedding?” he inquires worriedly “It’s part of your job as my secretary and as for you wedding if your soon to be wife loves you so much she can wait oh and make sure it’s a one way ticket” Taeil was very schoked with Mark’s action but before he can speak up more Mark was waves him goodbye making his exit.

The next day Mark woke up with a not so good mood, he made his secretary Taeil pack for him and for which Taeil cursed him for, after packing they head in to his car to drive to the airport Mark tried to get some sleep but he can’t seem to get some with all the flashback memories filling him, they arrived in the airport, checked in and headed to the first class seats of the plane, the whole plane ride was spent with drinking, sleeping and eating for he past 15hrs and after all that has passed he finally hears the flight attendant proclaim” Flight #127 to Seoul South Korea has now landed” and there he was in the land he long abandoned, the land filled with bright yet devastating memories, he shut his eyes preparing himself, as he finally left the plane he feels the jet lag kicking and decided to go to his parents house, just as he thought everyone was asleep due to the very dim lighting he was surprised by his parents with a huge “WELCOME HOME” banner, and he thought to himself “This is it Mark you are really here”.

#nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct mark #nct smut #nct angst #nct mark smut #mark lee smut #mark lee angst #nct fanfic #nct 127 smut #richkid #neosmutcollective #kpopcatalog

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pigstepping · 3 years

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Hi folks I am here with another installation of Techno fic recs, this time with an emphasis on peer pressure duo because jesus christ, what the fuck @ last weekend's lore ;-; As usual, this batch includes five wonderful, underappreciated fics with a spotlight on Technoblade, each with 1k words or more and ~5k hits or less. I’ll give the archive rating and warnings, main character groupings, and word count. You give some love to the authors via kudos and comments.

As always, be sure to read the author tags as well! And we're off:

Just a little weighed down. by BecausePlot

T || No Warnings Apply || Boreal Trio, Beeduo || 17k

Phil gets badly hurt saving Ranboo from a grisly fate, but his injury reminds him of some painful memories. Slice-of-life character work with lots of attention to Ranboo’s individual relationships with Phil, Techno, and Tubbo, as well as Techno and Phil’s shared history. Also features some lovely canon-life worldbuilding. Standalone in a larger series.

we can agree on this one thing by So_Runs_the_World_Away

G || No Warnings Apply || Techno, Bench Trio || 13k

Techno and Tubbo put aside their differences to protect Ranboo and Tommy. Features Techno as a reluctant, stressed-out Best Man at the Bee Duo wedding, which is obviously peak content. Also comes with a healthy dose of angst, slowly improving communication, Techno + baby Michael piglin interactions, and a bit of enderwalk lore.

If Found (please return to Philza Minecraft) by HolidayTeagarden, Wolf06

T || No Warnings Apply || Boreal Trio || 14k

Techno and Phil get attacked by a terrifying high-tech cyborg assassin, but they realize something is a little… off. Part of a larger series so there's an unresolved ending but I enjoyed it even as a standalone. Fun cyberpunk dystopia setting, cool fight scenes, and some ethically-questionable but well-meaning human trafficking (?)

gold (property of michael underscore beloved) by k_152

G || No Warnings Apply || Techno, Bee Duo || 1k

Tubbo and Ranboo ask Technoblade for help with Michael. A well-written, short-and-sweet example of a classic premise, with all the piglin worldbuilding, techno being good with kids, and wholesome bee duo parenting you’d want to see. Also a brief shining moment of Ranboo being a fucking weirdo (slash affectionate)

tell me where it hurts by moosical

G || Chose Not to Warn || Boreal Trio || 4k

Ranboo gets wrecked by the wither effect while Techno and Phil scramble to keep him alive. Ranboo really goes through it in this one (tw for emetophobia) and caretaker Techno and Phil are a compelling combination of gentle and steely. Also includes a nice arc for Ranboo as he goes from hiding his vulnerability to trusting people to help.

Happy reading! Hope this makes the non-stop party of canon a little easier to bear <3

(Previous batch here)

#ranboo #technoblade #fic recs #ethic's rec list #things i staunchly refuse to face: the first time technoblade encounters ghostboo #im not strong enough i simply will die #m #(psst if you're an author and you'd like your work taken off my rec list pls dm me! i'm happy to admire your writing from afar <3)

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crystalninjaphoenix · 3 years

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Hospitals & Hellos

A JSE Fanfic

Consider this a follow-up to the action of the previous part. A lot happened, including a cliffhanger that really left you dangling >:)c Sorry about that, but also not sorry. Anyway since it’s so closely related, I’m having trouble summarizing it. Basically, Chase and Marvin get some good news, there’s a brief intermission when something else happens, and then we cut back to those in more danger. That may sound confusing but I don’t want to get too spoilery. Read for yourself =)

You can find the other stories under the pw timeline tag!

Chase woke up to the sound of his ringtone, the sensation of someone shaking his shoulder, and the pain in your back and neck that develops when you fall asleep somewhere you’re not supposed to. He groaned, and opened his eyes. Where...? Ah, right. Jack’s hospital room. He fell asleep? For how long? Visiting hours must be almost over by now.

Marvin shook him again, leaning over from his chair next to him. “You keep getting a call,” he said. “You should probably pick it up now.”

“Right.” Chase stretched, wincing a bit at the ache in his body, then dug his phone out of his pocket just as the ringtone ended and the call dropped. But looking at his lock screen, he had three missed calls from one Detective Nix. “Oh shit!” He was immediately awake. “I gotta call back—”

Before he could do that, his phone rang yet again as it received another call from the detective. This time, Chase picked it up instantly. “Hello?”

“Mr. Brody?” asked the somewhat-familiar voice of Detective Nix.

“That’s me. Sorry about all the missed calls, I-I fell asleep.”

“Ah, I see.” Nix sounded amused. “I suppose I have to plan for calling you several times.”

Chase laughed nervously, glancing over at the others. He’d fallen asleep to Marvin teaching Jack the beginnings of BSL, but now both of them were staring at him, listening in to the conversation. Jack was sitting straight up, without leaning against the bed. Marvin kept bouncing his leg. The two of them were clearly anxious. “So...wh-what’s the situation?”

“Well, there’s good news, bad news, and good news,” Nix said. “Which would you like to hear?”

Chase inhaled sharply. “Bad news first.”

“We couldn’t find your friend Henrik. Or the other one who’d been taken a month ago, Jameson.”

“Oh.” Chase’s heart sank. “What’s the good news, then?”

“First things first: your friends’ tips were extremely helpful. We managed to find the house they were talking about,” Nix said. “We didn’t recover many things from the location, but we found something else. Or rather, someone else. Jackie Donovan.”

If his heart sank before, it now rocketed upward into his throat, rendering him speechless. Finally, he managed to get out a strangled, “What?”

“He was in one of the house’s bedrooms, badly injured and tied to a chair, but alive,” Nix continued. “He’s at the hospital now.”

“Which hospital?” Chase asked.

“Southpoint General, in the—”

“Holy shit, we’re literally there right now!” Chase stood up so fast he knocked his chair over. “Where is he?! Can we see him?!”

“He’s recovering in what is, I believe, the emergency ward,” Nix said calmly. “Don’t worry, he’s stable, but as I said, badly injured. Unconscious, actually. Visiting hours are basically over, but if you’re already here, and you insist, you could probably hurry if the staff lets you—”

“That’s what we’ll do, then. We’ll be there as soon as possible!” Chase hung up without saying goodbye, and turned to face the other two.

“What was that all about?” Marvin asked, confused but hopeful.

“They found Jackie!” Chase shouted, unable to contain his overflowing joy and relief. “They got him back, he’s here, at this hospital right now!”

“What?!” Marvin shot to his feet. “We gotta see him!”

“That’s what I said! If we run, we might be able to squeeze in just before visiting hours end.” Chase started to head towards the door, then stopped, and looked back at Jack. “Oh, uh, sorry, you probably want—”

“Go!” Jack waved at the two of them, pointing at the room’s doorway. “Gogogogogo!”

Chase laughed. “Alright, we’re going! I’ll see you in a couple days, probably!”

“Go!”

“Okay, bye!” Chase hurried out the door.

“Bye, Jack!” Marvin added, following Chase.

Jack waved at the two of them as they left.

From there, the two of them hurried to the nurses’ station so they could ask where Jackie was. Once the nurse confirmed he was in the emergency ward and gave them the room number, they practically sprinted to the right wing, desperate to make it before visiting hours were over. They ended up making it just in time, and both skidded to a halt outside the right door, breathing hard.

The door to the hospital room was ajar. An older man leaned over and peered through the doorway. “Ah, hello Mr. Brody.”

“Hello, Detective,” Chase said. He paused for a moment to breathe, then added, “We’re here.”

“I can see that,” Nix replied, smiling a bit. “Well, you and your friend come in. It’s Mr. Maher, isn’t it?”

Marvin nodded. “Yeah. Weren’t you at the trial? You talked about the case?”

“So I did.” Nix nodded.

“Huh. So you’re handling the whole thing?”

“Indeed. It’s turning out to be a complex beast of clues and crime. Anyway.” Nix stepped back, and Chase and Marvin entered the room.

Most of the emergency ward was large rooms with multiple beds, but there must have been certain circumstances in place to let Jackie have his own room to himself. It was small, but a bit more homey than Jack’s room in the ICU, with cushioned chairs and a couple small tables, even a TV in a cubby in a wall. The hospital bed didn’t have as much medical equipment surrounding it. But Jackie wasn’t awake to appreciate any of this.

Chase stopped short, just staring. It was eleven months since he’d last seen Jackie. He hadn’t always been that pale, had he? His collarbone and cheeks hadn’t always jutted out like that, had they? His hair was a shoulder-length mess, having grown out, and his eyes had deep purple bags under them. He was wearing a hospital gown, but there were scars visible on his arms that certainly hadn’t been there before, as well as some bandages wrapped tightly around his right arm above the elbow. Despite all this, he looked rather peaceful in sleep, breathing steadily.

Marvin made a choked sound, unable to say anything else.

“He’s...fine, right?” Chase asked, glancing at Detective Nix.

“The doctors say so,” Nix assured him. “He was injured when we found him, but they say it’s not life-threatening.”

“H-how? How was he injured?” Chase asked hesitantly.

“Well...you can see his arm. His legs are bad, looked like someone used a knife to slash them up. And there was a stab wound in his stomach. But he hadn’t lost too much blood. They say his main problem is malnutrition. He’ll be okay.”

Chase let out a long breath. “Okay. Okay. That’s good. Good to hear.”

Marvin stayed silent. He walked up to the bed and, after a moment, gently took Jackie’s hand.

“I’ll let you two have a moment.” Nix slid out of the room, closing the door behind him.

The moment passed in silence.

——————

The car ride back was silent as well. A lot had happened that day, and the two of them sat, quietly processing everything. They lost Schneep, but found Jackie, each within a few hours of each other. Who knew what would happen tomorrow?

Chase pulled onto the street where Marvin’s house sat, and noticed something odd. “Is there someone outside your house?”

“Hmm?” Marvin, previously spacing out, snapped back to reality. “Why would someone be at my house?”

“I dunno, I assumed you would. Not expecting anyone?” Chase shrugged. “Maybe they’re in front of the neighbors.”

“No.” Marvin narrowed his eyes, staring down the road. “There’s someone at my door. A car in front, too. Who is that? I can’t see them.” He shook his head. “Too dark. The city needs to work on installing stronger street lamps in the area.”

Chase chuckled a bit. As he approached Marvin’s house, he pulled to the side of the road, right behind the strange car that was already there, and tried to get a good look at whoever was at the doorway. A woman. Dark-haired, wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans. She was facing the door, her back to the road, but when the car pulled up she heard the sound and turned to look. Odd...Chase recognized her. But he couldn’t place where he’d seen her before. “You know her?”

“Uh...I don’t think so?” Marvin shook his head, looking confused. “But I think I do? She kinda looks familiar.”

“I was thinking the same thing, actually.” Chase parked the car and opened the door. “C’mon, I want to talk to her.”

“Yeah, let’s ask her what she’s doing at my house at like ten o’clock,” Marvin said, opening his as well and heading out.

The two of them walked up the short path to the door. The woman, noticing them, waved. “Hello! I’m very sorry, ah—one of you is Marvin, right? Actually, you both look—maybe you could both help me? I’m looking for Henrik.”

That voice made Marvin stop in his tracks. “Mina?!”

Chase visibly started as the pieces clicked into place and he remembered who this woman was. Mina von Schneeplestein—or rather, Mina Pfeiffer, as last he heard she was going by her maiden name again. What was Schneep’s ex-wife doing here?!

“Ah, you recognize me, so I have the right address.” Mina nodded, satisfied. “You are Marvin? I saw you on television, I recognize your hair. Though it’s longer than I remember. But to be fair, my memories of faces are vague.”

“You saw me on TV?” Marvin repeated, looking even more confused now that he realized who the woman was.

“Um, hi.” Chase waved awkwardly. “I’m Chase, I’m a friend of Schneep’s. What are you...It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, were you out of town or something?”

“Oh, Chase! I remember you. Yes, I went back home and stayed with family for some time,” Mina said.

“Why are you at my house?” Marvin blurted out.

“Well, ah—sorry about that. It was the only address I could think of.” Mina sounded fairly embarrassed. “I thought you would be home. I am looking for Henrik.”

“Why? We haven’t seen you for more than a year!” Marvin pointed out.

“Yes, I know. It is...a complicated situation.” Mina glanced back at the door behind her. “Should we go inside and sit down?”

“No, I’m fine,” Marvin said. “We can talk about this while standing.”

“...oh. Okay.” Looking even more embarrassed, Mina stepped away from the door, walking a bit closer to the two men. “I suppose this wouldn’t take too long.”

“So you’re looking for Schneep?” Chase asked.

Mina nodded. “Yes. I received some phone messages and mail from this hospital they said he was staying at. But I threw them out. Shortsighted, it would seem.”

“I think I know what you’re referring to,” Chase said. He recalled a conversation he had with Dr. Laurens, where she said they were trying to contact Mina but getting no response. “Did you think they were spam or something?”

“Ah...no, not exactly.” Mina grimaced. “It is really a long story, and it is cold and dark out, so I would prefer if we could step inside—”

“No, tell it quick,” Marvin interrupted.

Mina bristled a bit. “Well!”

“Marv, c’mon,” Chase pleaded.

“Look, no one disappears for a year without a reason,” Marvin insisted. “And something about this seems fishy, so I want to hear the story before I let her into my house with my pets.”

Mina sighed. “I do not see why you are so concerned. Henrik and I are married.”

“You’re divorced.”

“No, they’re separated,” Chase added. “It’s a different thing.” But personally, he still considered them exes, even if the separation had been friendly enough. The pair of them had rushed into marriage, likely due to some family pressure, and later agreed that they needed some time apart to sort their own lives out. That was about three or four years ago, and shortly afterwards Schneep had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. As far as he knew, they hadn’t gotten back together since the separation.

“It’s just weird that you’re showing up looking for him now,” Marvin said, crossing his arms. “Where were you when he first went into Silver Hills?”

“I was out of the country,” Mina repeated.

“On purpose?”

“What?”

“Were you avoiding him?”

Mina looked like she wanted to protest, but then straightened, adjusted her jacket, and said, “If you must know, then yes.”

“Ha!” Marvin barked.

“You must be missing so much of what happened,” Mina said, leveling him with a stare. She was about equal height with the two men, so it wasn’t hard to do. “Henrik and I...were starting to try again. But then his behavior became erratic, and the next thing I knew, he put his friend in a coma and started killing strangers.”

“He wasn’t the one killing them,” Chase corrected gently—mostly to prevent Marvin from saying the same thing, much louder.

“Well I know that now, but at the time, it seemed fairly obvious,” Mina pointed out. “So I left for some time. I returned a couple months ago, but only now heard the news about the truth of the situation. I saw clips from the filmed hearing between you, Marvin, and that doctor. I saw them on television, and realized something was off. So I looked it up, and now I know, and now that I do, I have to talk to Henrik about something.”

“You know...it seems a bit sketchy that you immediately thought he must be the killer,” Marvin said. “Because he was, what, ‘erratic’?”

“Yes,” Mina said firmly.

“You should have realized he would never do anything like that!”

“I wasn’t about to stick around and have blind faith! That is how serial killers draw in women, it has happened in the past!”

“Schneep would never—”

“I did not know that! He was being very strange, and with his condition—”

“Get off my property.”

Mina blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Marvin leaned close to her. “Get off my property.”

“No, you do not understand, I really must know how to talk to Henrik,” Mina said, tone shifting from defensive anger to a strange desperation. “There is an important matter—”

“Find that mail you threw out and get the address from there. Google it, I don’t care. Though really, if you keep talking like that, I wouldn’t let you anywhere near Henrik.” Marvin growled. “If you stay here one second longer, I’m calling the police. Leave.”

Mina looked like she wanted to protest more, but thought better of it. She walked around Marvin and Chase, staring at the two of them as she did, and then hurried down the path to the street. She got inside the strange car Chase had parked behind, started it, and drove off.

“You could’ve handled that better,” Chase said.

“You didn’t say anything,” Marvin replied, facing him.

“No, I know. You’re right, something about that seemed...weird.” Chase couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about the way Mina was acting was...strange. Not in a bad way. But it felt like there was something more she wasn’t saying.

“I don’t like people talking about people’s ‘conditions,’” Marvin muttered.

“Yeah, that was a bit...Just, the way she said it, like it was a given, y’know?” Chase shook his head. “But you really went off there.”

Immediately, all the fire drained out of Marvin’s body. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m just...tired.”

“I don’t blame you. I feel it too.” Chase nodded. “You, uh...want to go see Jackie sometime soon?”

Marvin nodded. Day after tomorrow? he asked, signing.

“That could work. We’d have to be quick, though, Stacy will be dropping off the kids in the evening for the weekend.”

Oh, you sure? I can go tomorrow, or even after the weekend.

“No, it’s fine, I...I really want to see him.” Chase swallowed a lump in his throat. “I’ll pick you up. How about around two?”

Marvin nodded again. That would work.

“Great. See you then.” Chase retreated to his car, turning back before getting inside to wave at Marvin one last time. Marvin waved back, then turned around and went through the front door to his house. Once he was gone, Chase got in his car and drove away.

This day just kept getting longer. He really needed to get home and go to bed.

——————

Two days later, Chase picked Marvin up and the two of them drove back to the hospital around two o’clock, when visiting hours started. They remembered the way to Jackie’s room, and found it quickly. Nobody else was there. Chase half-expected Detective Nix to still be here, doing some sort of police stuff, but no, the room was empty. Jackie was lying in bed, eyes open, hands folded on his stomach, staring at the ceiling. He wasn’t moving at all, except for the up-and-down of his chest as he breathed. Chase hovered in the doorway, Marvin nearby, feeling uneasy. This sight was a bit...worrying. Was Jackie okay?

Marvin leaned over and whispered, “Is he awake?”

“I don’t know,” Chase replied in the same hushed tone. “His eyes are open.”

“Maybe it’s like with Jack? How he was before?”

“God, I hope not. I don’t want anyone else to go through that.”

At that moment, Jackie’s head turned, and he looked at the two of them. He must have heard them, despite the whispering. Chase gasped a bit before coughing to clear his throat. “Hey, Jackie,” he said awkwardly. “It’s uh...it’s us.”

Jackie didn’t respond, just kept looking at them. His eyes darted up and down as he took in their appearances. Self-consciously, Chase tried to brush some nonexistent dirt off his jacket. He should have worn a newer one instead of the old one with the first merch design for his channel.

Marvin waved. “Hi. We’re here now.”

“Yeah, hi.” Chase waved again. “Uh...how are you feeling?”

Still no response. Though Jackie looked a bit confused now.

“Uh...can you hear us, bro?” Chase stepped forward until he was standing next to the bed, then put a hand on the non-bandaged part of Jackie’s arm.

“Holy shit!” Jackie jerked his arm away and bolted upright. “You’re really here!”

“Wh—yeah?!” Chase said.

Marvin laughed.

Chase glanced back at him. “Dude, what the fuck?”

“Sorry, sorry, I-I dunno what that was about, nervous reflex,” Marvin waved away Chase’s look. “It was just a bit funny, cause he jumped up like that.”

“I—I wasn’t expecting that,” Jackie said, sounding a bit dazed.

“You...weren’t expecting us to actually be here?” Chase clarified.

“Yeah, I-I-I thought that—it’s all a bit—never thought I’d—” Jackie paused, gathering his words. “I thought that maybe...I was just daydreaming a bit. To make myself feel better. This whole place, actually.” He gestured around the hospital room. “I guess it was all so surreal, and I...I was kind of out of it, a-anyway, so I thought this was just more of that.”

“Oh. Well, no, we’re here.” Chase squeezed Jackie’s arm. “You’re really in the hospital. Southpoint General, actually, the same place Jack is.”

“Really?” Jackie laughed a bit. “Cool, I could go visit him.”

“Well he’s in a different, um, ward, or whatever,” Chase said. “But yeah, technically you could.”

Jackie smiled, but then the grin slowly faded from his face. His eyes glazed over a bit.

“So...” Marvin jumped in, walking over to stand next to Chase. “What do you remember?”

“Huh?” Jackie blinked, and looked over at him. “Remember about what? You’ll have to be a bit more specific.”

“I mean about the whole rescue operation,” Marvin explained. “How did the police find you?”

“Oh. Uhhhh yeah like I said I was really out of it, so...” Jackie shrugged. “Not that much. I remember them appearing, I think. There were, like, footsteps, and then a bunch of strangers appeared in the doorway.”

“Did they have to kick it down?” Marvin asked, sounding a little too excited at the idea.

“No, it was already open. I dunno why. Maybe he forgot to close it all the way, he was in a hurry.” Jackie mumbled that last part under his breath, but Chase and Marvin heard it easily enough. “Anyway, they picked me up, and I’m sort of assuming there was a ride to the hospital of some kind, but I completely zoned that out. I kinda vaguely remember a bunch of doctors and some bright lights? But, uh...yeah. Otherwise, I just woke up here, in the bed, and thought I was daydreaming it all.”

“You must have some vivid daydreams, bro,” Chase muttered.

“Yeah.” Jackie nodded.

Marvin gave Jackie an odd look. “I don’t know if having daydreams that strong is normal.”

“No, probably not, but it doesn’t matter, really,” Jackie dismissed.

Marvin looked like he was ready to push the issue, but Chase put a hand on his shoulder and subtly shook his head. This wasn’t the time. “Well, we’re...we’re just really glad you’re okay, Jackie,” he said softly. “We were so fucking worried. You—you’re alright, right?”

Jackie patted himself over, wincing a bit as he pressed on his chest. “Mostly, yeah.”

“Yeah. We’re so happy you’re back,” Marvin added. “What...what happened?” Chase gave him a sharp look, but it was too late, the question was out.

“What happened?” Jackie looked at Marvin incredulously. “I got fucking kidnapped, that’s what happened. And then—a-and then—I was—we—” He stopped, taking a few deep breaths. “Sorry, I...I can’t talk about it.”

Marvin winced. “Sorry. Th-that was—that was rude. It just sort of came out. You don’t have to talk about it. Like Chase said, we were just...really worried, and we—we want to know you’re okay.”

“It’s fine, just be careful,” Jackie said quietly. “I’m okay. Except for the obvious.” In the moment of silence that followed, his eyes drifted down, attention drawn by the bandages on his upper arm. Frowning in strange concentration, he reached up and started pulling at them.

“Whoa, dude, what’re you doing?” Chase almost reached out to grab his wrist, but stopped, thinking that wouldn’t be well-received. “You need those!”

“I just wanna confirm something,” Jackie muttered, managing to loosen the tight bandages enough to start unwinding them. “They can be put back on.”

“I—you’re not wrong, but—what if there’s—I don’t know, a lot of blood, or something?” Chase speculated.

“I don’t think so. Not if I’m remembering right.” Jackie slowly removed the bandages, unwinding and pulling them off. Until, eventually, the wounds underneath were visible.

All three of them stiffened in unison. Jackie’s arm was cut up, but not in a random or accidental way. Instead, the word WARNING was carved into his skin, in bleeding capital letters, going from his shoulder, all down his arm, reaching his elbow.

“What the fuck...?” Chase said, unable to say anything else. He couldn’t believe what he was saying. Stuff like that didn’t happen in real life, only in crime dramas. Who would actually do that?

Jackie’s face shifted as he covered up his distress with a blank expression. “So I was right,” he said tonelessly, attempting to rewrap the bandages one-handedly. Chase pulled himself out of his stunned stupor to bend over and help him with them.

“I’m gonna kill him.”

“Huh?” Chase stopped, looking back over at Marvin.

“Anti. I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Marvin repeated through gritted teeth. His posture was stiff, unmoving, his fists clenched. “He takes our friends—JJ, Schneep, Jackie—and does this? I’m going to kill him. I’m going to take a fucking knife or a gun or rope or whatever I can find and I’m going to kill him and watch the fucking life drain from his eyes—”

“Jesus, Marv, calm down!” Chase cried. “You gotta think this through.”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah. You’re not a killer.”

“I could be,” Marvin said bluntly.

“No!” Chase straightened, grabbing Marvin by the shoulders and forcing him to look at him. “Marvin, I get it, you’re upset by recent events and clearly filled with rage. For good reason, I’ll say. But you can’t just walk up to a professional assassin and attack him, you’ll just get killed! Besides, JJ and Schneep wouldn’t want you to do that, even for their sake. Just...take a step back. Go walk around and get it out of your system, if you have to. Don’t do anything stupid.”

For a moment, Chase’s words only seemed to anger Marvin more. But then, he broke away, letting out one long, single breath. He pressed his hands to his eyes, breathed some more, then let out a shout and hit himself in the chest a couple times. Chase jumped in surprise, instinctively reaching forward to stop him, but Marvin was already done. “Alright, fine, you have a point. That’d be a dumb move. Impossible and not worth it. But fuck, we gotta do something.”

Chase nodded. “Yeah. I know how you feel, bro.” Even though common sense would say to leave this to the professionals, he couldn’t just sit by while his friends were in danger.

“Um...” Jackie waved a bit, drawing the other two’s attention back to him. “What do you mean ‘professional assassin’?”

“Oh. Do you not...know?” Chase asked. “I mean, I thought you would, but...I guess maybe there wasn’t an opportunity. That’s, uh...kind of what Anti does. I think what he’s done with Schneep and whatever he has planned now is just...a side thing, maybe. We actually found his website—oh shit!” His eyes widened in remembrance, and he whirled back to face Marvin. “Marv, you’re not gonna believe this, and you probably don’t need any more reason to hate this guy, but he might be the one who stabbed you.”

Marvin gasped. “Shit, really?!”

“The one who what?!” Jackie repeated.

“Oh, right you were...gone by the time that happened.” Marvin grimaced, then quickly filled in Jackie with what happened at the boutique he used to work for. Finding out it was a front, having someone stab him on his way home one night, getting home and patching up just barely in time, then figuring the owners of the front tried to kill him and heading back to Ireland for a few months to let things calm down. “How’d you figure out it was Anti, Chase?”

“I checked his website. He has reviews from past, uhhh…’clients,’ and one left one talking about a failed hit on a guy who sounded like you,” Chase explained.

“Well, shit.” Marvin folded his arms, face grim. “That’s not good. Well, I’m not gonna leave again until this whole thing is cleared up. Fuckers try to kill me again.”

“Y’know I really don’t think you should tempt fate like that,” Jackie pointed out.

“Fate doesn’t exist, only karma. They’ll get what’s coming to them thricefold, I’m not leaving.”

“I guess...you don’t have to,” Chase said skeptically. “But be careful. We’re not losing anyone else.”

Marvin nodded, expression finally softening. He grabbed Chase’s hand and squeezed it. “I will be.”

“Good.” Chase sighed. “Well, Jackie. This has been a lot of excitement. We should probably let you get some rest.”

“No no no!” Jackie protested. “I-it’s fine, I don’t want you guys to go yet. I...it’s been...so long. You know?”

Chase nodded sadly. “Almost a year.”

“Yeah. Exactly.” Jackie grabbed the edge of the hospital blanket, twisting it. “So...you have a lot to catch me up on, then. I-it’s gonna take a while. You should sit down.”

Marvin and Chase glanced at each other. Then Marvin shrugged. “There are better chairs in this room than in Jack’s,” he said.

Chase laughed. “I mean, I wasn’t gonna say it—”

“You were thinking it, though?”

“Exactly.”

“Glad to hear my chairs are superior,” Jackie said, smiling a bit. “Pull one up.”

“Alright, Jackieboy Man, we have some time,” Chase grinned. “There’s a lot you’ve missed.”

The three of them sat, talking for hours about things that mattered a lot, and things that didn’t matter at all.

——————

“—can’t believe they—how did they know about—probably figured out about the others too—”

Jameson wasn’t paying much attention to Anti’s muttering, but every so often, he caught random snatches as Anti paced back and forth. Every time he passed by the doorway, more angry phrases passed through into the bedroom beyond. Something really had him upset, didn’t it? From what little he heard, someone had found something, and that was a big problem. Well...he had wondered if the police found Anti’s previous hideout, and if that was the reason he had to drag them out of there. Whatever the case, good. If Anti had a problem, he deserved it.

“—three fucking people in this tiny—gotta find out what’s still—somewhere new? Maybe?—”

Lying on the bed, Jameson saw Anti’s shadow pass to the left...then the right...then the left...then the right.... It kept cutting across the light that was shining into the dim bedroom from the room outside. The living room, to be exact. The living room of the apartment he was now trapped in, to be precise. Though, Anti did seem to be distracted. The bedroom door was wide open, if he wanted he could run out and—No, it probably wouldn’t work. Anti told him the front door was locked, and he probably still had the key on him. Jameson couldn’t take it from him; Anti was much stronger. Besides, even if the key had been sitting out on the table, Jameson wasn’t the only person who needed to get out.

Speaking of which...

He rolled over to his side, now facing the bedroom wall. There was a window on this side, but the shutters were closed, and actually had a padlock making sure they couldn’t be moved. Anti probably had that key, too. There was a wardrobe in one corner and a dresser in the other, the former having its doors ajar to show it was empty inside. Or...empty of clothes, at least. A figure was pressed against one wall, huddled up, indistinct in the shadows. When Jameson had woken up a few hours ago, there had been faint mumbling and sobbing coming from that direction. Now, there was nothing.

After a moment of listless staring, Jameson sat up, glanced out the doorway to make sure Anti was still occupied in his pacing, then stood and walked over to the wardrobe. He pushed the door farther open and stared down at the figure. A man. Knees pulled up and arms covering face, the classic defensive position. A moment more passed before Jameson sat down on the wardrobe floor next to the shadowy huddle.

“Ah!” The man gasped a bit, then looked up. Wide blue eyes reflected the little light in the dim room. He stared at Jameson, then asked, “Jackie?”

Jameson shook his head.

“No, no. Of course not. I’m sorry, I am just confused.” The man’s eyes squinted a bit. “Do I...know you?”

Jameson shook his head again.

“Oh. Good. I was worried for a moment there.” The man uncurled a bit, taking his arms away from his face. He reached down to his ankles, slightly adjusting the cuffs around them, binding them together. Then he glanced around. “I do not recognize this place, either. Do you?” When Jameson shook his head for a third time, the man tilted his head. “Can you...not speak?”

Faintly surprised, Jameson nodded. Most people would ask why he was quiet or demand that he talk. Only a few caught on to the reality without him somehow cuing them with signs or writing.

“Ah, I’m sorry, then. Can you hear me?”

A nod.

“I see.” The man glanced out at the room again. “My name—my name is Henrik.” So Jameson’s guess was right. This was the Dr. Schneeplestein he’d heard so much about, and had one brief meeting with, a meeting that had ended badly. “What is your—what do I call you?”

Thinking for a moment, Jameson reached out and gently took one of Schneep’s hands. He stiffened a bit, but allowed him to do so. Jameson then drew out the letter J twice on the surface of his palm.

“JJ? Oh, that is very nice.” Schneep smiled faintly. “I understand some sign language, you know. But I am afraid I am very rusty. I do not think I could hold a conversation.” His smile fell. “Do you...know why we are here?”

Jameson nodded sadly. He gestured out towards the room, in the direction of the doorway Anti was pacing and muttering in front of.

Schneep shuddered. “Yes, I—I have—he has—I have been in this situation. Before.”

Jameson pointed at himself, then made the sign for also by pointing his fingers and touching his hands together.

“I know that one. You...you know him, too?” Schneep’s voice held a combination of horror, sympathy, and strangely, hope. Hope that he wasn’t alone. “I suppose I don’t have to explain, then.”

Letting out a huff of dark laughter, Jameson shook his head.

“Hmm. That is good.” Schneep scanned Jameson, taking in as many details he could in the faint light. “I...something about this time is...different. Than when he last took me.” He suppressed another shiver as he looked up towards the shadow passing back and forth on the ceiling. “I...am sorry you are here.”

Jameson scooted closer to him. He put one hand on Schneep’s shoulder and signed Sorry with his other. Neither of them should be here. Anti should never have interfered in their lives again.

Schneep let out a shaky breath, and leaned closer to Jameson until he was resting his weight against him. Jameson pressed his head against his. And together, they listened to the sound of their nightmare pacing and muttering, wondering what was next for them.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #jacksepticeye au #septic egos #septic egos au #chase brody #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #jameson jackson #dr schneeplestein #brigid writes fanfiction #pwtimeline

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justanobsessedfangirl · 4 years

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Once Bitten, Twice Shy - Chapter 5 - The Maze Runner Newt Fic

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

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Author’s Note: Okay, so I’ve learned I don’t really like schedules. Sorry this is out so late! I really appreciate all of the support for this fic. Thank you so much for reading! Shoot me a message if you want to be added to the tag list! Or if you just want to chat :)

Word Count: 2.0k

The woods were dark. You paced around endlessly, waiting for day, praying for a happy ending, terrified of what would lay beyond the open Maze doors when the sun finally rose.

Your stomach was in knots. New blisters were forming on your feet and thin scratches lined your arms, remnants of a tree branch’s caresses. You felt sick. You felt disgusted with yourself. You felt guilty.

I’m Minho’s partner!

Every footstep pounded the word further into your head. Partner, partner, partner. Left him, left him, left him.

He needed you, Alby needed you, and you didn’t help them. And now Thomas was in there, a Greenie with less than a week in the Glade under his belt.

Newt’s fault, Newt’s fault, Newt’s fault. Step, step step.

Your chest burned with rage. Part of you understood why Newt had held you down and prevented you from helping. Staying in the Maze overnight was, historically, a death sentence.

But that was where Newt had made a mistake. You knew it was dangerous.

And you accepted it.

If staying in the Maze was what you had to do to help Minho and Alby, you would do it, no hesitation. That was your choice to make. Not Newt’s.

You felt like tearing your hair out as you remembered pushing Newt to the ground and pinning all of the blame on him. Just once, why couldn’t you have taken a breath? Calmed down and told him what you were thinking?

Pace, pace, pace. Monster, monster, monster.

Instead, you ran from him. You always ran.

Coward, coward, coward.

You stopped in your tracks and picked up a branch. Using all of your rage and fear and guilt, you whipped it at a tree trunk and watched it splinter into pieces. Then you took a deep breath in, a deep breath out, and turned around and walked to the Glade.

Leaving the shadowy coverage of the trees, you made your way to the doors where you’d last seen your friends. A figure sat slumped against the wall. You were too far away to make out any features, but you knew who it was. The way Newt carried himself was engraved in your mind.

Your steps grew more timid as you neared him. Newt had one leg outstretched, the other bent at the knee. His hands were resting in his lap and his head was tilted back. You couldn't see if his eyes were open or not.

As you drew closer, Newt stirred.

You cleared your throat. “Can I sit down?”

For a second, you didn’t think he was going to respond. His eyes weren’t closed, you saw; he was looking up at the sky, searching for answers among the stars. Then his gaze flicked over to you and he nodded. “Of course, lo-” He frowned and looked back up. “Of course.”

Love.

You sat down a few feet away from him, your back against the wall. The cold stone against your skin should have given relief from the warm night, but it made your skin crawl to touch the Maze. You moved forward and sat up straighter.

The silence that fell over the two of you was unfamiliar. There hadn’t been a time in your relationship where quiet had felt so stifling. Usually, if Newt wasn’t talking or listening, you could glance over at him and find that he was already looking at you, his eyes soft, his smile warm.

You looked over at him. He was staring at the sky.

You followed his gaze up. Overheard, stars twinkled against a pitch-black sky. The moon reigned supreme over them all, full and bright. You wondered if Minho was looking at the moon. Was Thomas searching for a shooting star? Did Alby imagine he could see the hint of a sunrise in the east?

You’d wanted to apologize to Newt, but the words wouldn’t come out. In your heart, you were a coward. The muscles in your legs were already tense, ready for you to run. You had to say something, you had to keep yourself there. You said the first thing you could think of. “Do you think they’ll make it out?”

Newt kept staring at the sky. “We both know what it’s like in there.”

Then, before you could stop yourself, “You should have let me go.”

Now Newt did turn to you, and in his eyes you saw pain and fear and guilt, rage and bitterness and sorrow. You saw a lifetime of suffering in the eyes of a teenager. “How could I let you go in when I know what it’s like?”

The question hung in the air like a noose.

“I couldn’t...I don’t want anyone to be in there, but I couldn’t live with myself if you were.” His voice was thick with emotion.

Your throat felt so constricted you couldn’t talk. Your hands fell to the dirt. You needed something stable, you needed something normal. “You can’t keep doing this,” you said weakly. You gained strength as you found more words. “I need to be able to make my own decisions. You can’t keep treating me like you love me.”

“I do love you.”

“Stop.”

“Love, I can’t. I know you want me to, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to. Y/N, I-”

“Newt.” He went quiet at his name. His eyes were so big, so hopeful, so tired. “I can’t be with you.”

“I know-” Newt began, his voice gravelly.

“No,” you cut him off, “you don’t know. And that’s fine. I don’t need you to know. I just need you to...” He’d already given you space. More space than you wanted. Everything had been so hard without him. You would have run yourself into your own grave, because that’s what you did instead of solving problems. You ran. How were you supposed to solve this?

“Whatever you need me to do, love, Y/N, I’ll do it.”

You couldn’t look at him. You traced shapes in the dirt. Subconsciously, your fingers carved an “N.” You slashed a line through it.

“I need you to be my friend,” you said. Looking up, you saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Did it shrink when you said that? Was it seconds away from dying out? “I need a friend right now. And I think you do too.”

Newt slowly nodded. “I’d love to be your friend, Y/N.”

For the first time in weeks, you smiled at Newt. The smile he returned was a little sad, a little glad, and very, very tired. The bags under his eyes had been growing for the past month.

“Minho told me a funny joke the other day.” You sank back against the wall, head tilted up.

Next to you, Newt was sitting the same way. “What was it?” he asked.

“Well, he told me he had a joke about construction, but he's still working on it."

A few seconds passed before Newt let out an amused huff. “That’s awful.”

“Yeah, Minho needs to work on his material.” Your lips twitched into a small grin, remembering the countless days spent running with your partner by your side. You refused to think of him without you, or you without him.

“Chuck pranked Gally again,” Newt said.

You laughed, Newt joining in a second later. It filled the air around you. “What’d he do this time?”

Newt launched into the tale of how Chuck, with an unassuming Thomas in tow, managed to scare Gally out of the bathroom.

When he finished, you brought up your favorite Minho story, one you’d never told Newt. It was one of your first days as a Runner, one of your first weeks in the Glade. Minho was cordial enough, if a little distant, especially once you started running.

Soon enough, though, it turned into a race. He couldn’t have you even a few feet ahead of him. “Which was a problem, really, because everyone knows I’m faster than him!”

You’d come back to the Glade sweaty and panting and with Minho’s respect. And more strained muscles than you could count.

Newt talked about Alby. He told you about the rare times Alby smiled, the even rarer times when he laughed. “He’s a good bloke. He’s got a lot of pressure on him.”

You stopped yourself from asking how much pressure Newt put on himself. The serious topics could hold off. For now, you were waiting for the sun to come up.

And, slowly, slowly, slowly, you saw the darkness beginning to creep away. Your conversation, filled with all of the events of the past month that you hadn't been able to share, drifted away as the cold fingers of anxiety crept up your stomach. Chuck joined the two of you, then Frypan, and soon your duo had turned into a group.

You rose as the sun peeked over the horizon. Offering a hand to Newt, you helped him up, then stood side by side and faced the doors.

The seconds ticked by slow as an eternity. Your hand never left Newt’s. Chuck lingered on your other side, shifting back and forth. Resting a hand on his shoulder, you kept him still as the Maze began to rumble.

You were so close to the Maze that the sound of stone scraping against stone was all you could hear. As the noise faded, your heartbeat grew louder.

Dread. Dread so thick you could taste it. It sat heavy on your tongue, sour and rancid and acidic.

The doors opened fully. The corridor was empty.

Your heart twisted. You gritted your teeth, forced tears back into your body, swallowed. Newt squeezed your hand. You stared straight forward, not moving, not even breathing.

And then you saw a shoe round the corner.

You broke away from Newt and Chuck, calling to Minho and Thomas and Alby. The boys behind you took up the cry, but none were Runners, so you sprinted into the Maze alone.

Minho and Thomas were supporting Alby, whose feet seemed to scrape the floor instead of step.

Minho’s legs were visibly trembling. His face looked like it had aged years, worn from the exhaustion of a full day and night of running in the Maze. When you reached them, you gave Minho a light push and replaced him under Alby’s arm. Together, you and Thomas carried Alby to the door, Minho trudging along next to you. And although you were full of adrenaline and you were anxious and scared and overjoyed, your heart was beating normally again. A wave of calmness had settled over you once Minho was by your side.

Chuck’s voice was loudest as you exited the Maze. “Yeah!” he cheered, bouncing up and down, punching the air.

You and Thomas laid Alby on the ground. His head lolled to the side, his body limp and unresponsive.

“Where are Clint and Jeff?” You knelt by Alby, scanning the crowd. You stopped on Newt, who nodded and switched into leader mode, giving out orders to the surrounding boys. A few of them took off running.

All of your attention turned to Alby. Pressing your fingers to the side of his neck, you searched for a pulse. Nearby, you heard Thomas and Minho slump onto the grass.

Did they ever have a chance to rest? Were they on their feet the whole night? What did they see?

What did they do?

The faint beating beneath your fingers gave you hope. Alby was alive. Barely. But alive.

Once more, Chuck’s voice rose above the rest. “Did you see a Griever?” Chuck looked too excited. Behind him, someone was rushing up to the group. The crowd parted. Red hair flashed in the sun.

Margaret dropped to her knees beside you, setting a canvas bag on the ground. Struck dumb, you watched motionless as she pulled up Alby's shirt. There, beneath the fabric, surrounded by darkened veins, was a puncture wound the size of your thumb, leaking bloody pus. Margaret moved as if she dealt with this every day. She pulled bandages and clean towels out of the bag, starting to clean the wound.

The Griever sting.

“Yeah. I saw a Griever." Thomas sounded like he was in shock. He was breathless, from running or adrenaline or both.

“He didn’t just see it,” Minho said between pants. “He killed it.”

Tag List:

@anyasthoughts @mara-twins @anapocalypseinmymind @maddeleinegrace @xmberkxm @dreamerinthesun

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gameofdrarry · 3 years

Text

Wizards Hearts Recs: Canon Divergent

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 Evitative by Vichan Rated: Teen Words: 222,452 Tags: Slytherin Harry Potter, Re-sorting, Dark Arts, Slow Burn, Dark!Harry Summary: In the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry is drawn to a room in Grimmauld Place. Like the Gryffindor he is, he enters the room without fear. The room is a library, and Harry is surprised to find that he’s eager to learn. Then he gets the bad news: he’s been accidentally expelled from Hogwarts, and he needs to be sorted again. Everyone is confident that he’ll go straight back to Gryffindor, but with what he's been learning, Harry’s not so sure. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Secondary Task by ProfessorFrankly Rated: Mature Words: 50842 Tags: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Swearing, Frank discussion of teen sex, No actual teen sex, Canon-Typical Violence, If you've read GoF you know the last bit's where the violence and stuff is, Most of this fic has a "T" rating, Quantum Bang 2020 Summary: When Harry Potter’s name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, Draco Malfoy decides the Boy-Who-LIved needs a friend, whether he wants one, or not. With his mother’s backing, Draco sets out to make sure Harry knows he has someone in his corner, for now, and if Draco has his way, for always. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Outtake: The Second Task by MickeySLee Rated: Mature Words: 30824 Tags: Secret Relationship, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Triwizard Tournament, Hostage Situations, Draco Malfoy is a Good Boyfriend, Harry Potter is a Good Boyfriend, Plot Twists, Romance, Fluff, Homosexuality, Homophobia, Good Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's A+ Parenting, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, weekly updates!, Hogwarts Era, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Bashing, POV Hermione Granger, Hurt/Comfort, Consent is Sexy, Fairy Tale Elements Summary: Part of the series Outtakes and A Hard Story. Fourth Year. The Triwizard Tournament. The Second Task. What would happen if Dumbledore made a different decision when it was discovered Draco is who Harry would miss most? Instead of covering it up and declaring Ron to be Harry's hostage, Draco is the one at the bottom of the lake. No one could have foreseen how much trouble that caused. You may want to read A Hard Story or Throughout the Twists to Times first. This story is completed and will be uploaded one chapter per week on Sunday. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Parades, Pansy, and fuck I’m too gay for this by false_heteros Rated: General Words: 2227 Tags: Pride is at the end :), A lot of pureblood bullshit, Loneliness, Draco is Sad, Harry Needs a Hug, Pride, Pride Parades, Modern Era, Sirius Black Lives, Mentions of past child abuse, Cedric Diggory Dies, past homophobia, Gay Harry Potter, Gay Draco Malfoy Summary: After the war, Draco, who had been staying at home like a fucking hermit till Pansy came along, finally finds out about the LGBTQ+ Community, he dives head first into research and is amazed at what he finds. Harry wanders muggle London once every few days. Blending with the crowd and not feeling different for once. He comes along a group of people with beautiful colours around them. “What are they doing?” ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Closure is a state of mind by Quicksilvermaid Rated: Explicit Words: 12229 Tags: Morally Grey Draco Malfoy, Inappropriate medical/therapist relationships, Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues, Lies, Self-Esteem Issues, low key stalking behaviour, Loneliness, Guilt, Therapy, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, taking advantage of a grieving person, Death of a Spouse, Character Death, (not Drarry), Disfigurement, Scars, Brief Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts, Drinking, First Time, Polyjuice Potion, Sex While Using Polyjuice Potion, pensieve sex, Voyeurism, wanking, Concealed Identity, Bittersweet Ending, H/D Hurt!Fest 2020 Summary: After Harry's husband Charlie is killed, his Mind Healer recommends a Polyjuice therapy company, so Harry can see 'Charlie' again and find closure over his death. Draco, whose life over the last ten years has gone from bad to worse, gets assigned Potter's case. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Harry Potter and the Yuletide Waltz by LakeWitch Rated: General Words: 3042 Tags: Yule Ball, Dancing, Hogwarts Fourth Year, six years later, Awkwardness, Meddling, Oblivious!Harry, more dancing, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Christmas, Holiday Season, Canon Divergence Summary: At the fourth year Yule Ball, Draco Malfoy asked Harry Potter to dance. Six years later, Harry Potter just might ask him why. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 When It's All Over by Erebeus Rated: Mature Words: 9292 Tags: Rape/Non-con, Unhealthy Relationships, Self-Hatred, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con (not between main pairing), suicidal/death idolization, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Non-Graphic Violence, Spy Draco Malfoy, Loneliness, H/D Hurt!Fest 2020, Betrayal, Attempted Murder, Brief flashbacks and moments of panic mentioned, non graphic torture, Azkaban (brief), Off screen therapy Summary: If killing you makes Harry happy, you really don't mind. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Catch 22 by jad Rated: Explicit Words: 49895 Tags: Romance, Fluff, Humor, Complete, Letter!fic, Sexual Content Summary: As if NEWTS weren't enough, Dumbledore's gone and had another one of his 'bright ideas.' If all ends well, the Houses will be getting along in no time. Or according to Harry's correspondent, an Apocalypse will be in order. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 (I don't know) what's right and what's real anymore by Ladderofyears Rated: Mature Words: 2101 Tags: Harry Potter and the half blood prince, canon divergence, no septumsempra, guilty Draco, pov Draco, ghostly Myrtle, attracted Draco, pre-slash, pre-relationship, Harry is a hero Summary: An alternative sectumsempra scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Kiss by xErised Rated: Teen and Up Words: 10764 Tags: Hogwarts Era, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship, Getting Together, Kissing in the Rain Summary: For the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, it's not Ron that Harry rescues from the Great Lake, but Draco Malfoy. Hogwarts-era. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 It’s Not Christmas (without you) by LittleBozSheep Rated: Explicit Words: 79213 Tags: Fluff, Family Feels, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Getting Together, Christmas, Slow Burn, Serious Slow Burn, Everyone ships Drarry, Apart from Drarry, Divorced Draco Malfoy, Divorced Harry Potter, Kid Albus, kid scorpius, Everyone makes a camo, side wolfstar, Besides the last chapter it's rated G, Christmas Fluff, 25 Days of Harry and Draco, Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Drunkenness, Drunken Shenanigans Summary: Maybe agreeing to host everyone for Christmas wasn’t Harry’s best idea. Luckily Albus’s best friend’s dad is an events planner who agreed to help, only issue, turns out the dad is Draco Malfoy. Sarcastic and grumpy to everyone but his son. Will Harry managed to catch him and keep Christmas from being a complete disaster? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Leaves by TheLostLibran Rated: Teen and Up Words: 1190 Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff without Plot, Healing, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-War, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary: A lot of work goes on underground, invisible to the naked eye. Though it doesn't mean that no development is occuring, the hopes of a huge, fully grown tree standing strong in the near or distant future only start sprouting when the leaves do. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Okay But That’s Hot by Fuschaslime Rated: Explicit Words: 3640 Tags: Anal Sex, Riding, Dirty Talk, Frottage, Lapdance, Slut Shaming, Established Relationship, Friends With Benefits, Enemies to Lovers, Teasing, Begging, Safe Sane and Consensual, Bets & Wagers, Poker, theyre both over 18, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Banter, Perverted Harry, Slight fluff, Shameless Smut, AU where Lily Potter defeated Voldemort for good, and now everyone at hogwarts is kinda cool with eachother, apart from house tensions, Verbal Humiliation, Kinda Summary: Draco immediately regrets agreeing to a certain bet made at poker night when he realises he’ll actually have to hold up his end of the deal. Harry is ecstatic. OR Draco Malfoy bets Harry Potter a lapdance. He loses. ❤️ Read on AO3

#canon divergent au #canon divergence #drarry #drarry recs #game of drarry #wizards hearts #wh masterlist

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wiypt-writes · 4 years

Text

Riding High

Ch3: Chicken wings and Confessions.

Chapter Summary: Fliss heads to Frank and Mary’s for a cookout, and they both learn a little bit more about the other’s troubled past.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Talks of domestic violence and suicide.

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Again, as you will all know I’m a Brit so apologies if too much British horsey lingo slips into this…ASK away if you don’t understand. Tagging all my SSB/CSI readers…if you want in or off the list PLEASE just tell me.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 2

“Frank goes out most Fridays, but Saturday we hang out.” Mary explained about her weekends to Fliss as she sat on the chair with her juice box. Mary had finished her riding lesson roughly fifteen minutes ago and they were now sat in Fliss’ office waiting for Frank to finish working on the tractor. Fliss had noticed instantly that Mary’s demeanour around the two other girls on her lesson had changed, she had become a lot more introvert. Almost like the children bored her so to speak.

It had surprised Fliss a little, as normally it was the other way round, kids happy to be outgoing with people their own age and more reserved with grown-ups. But she had ignored it and introduced the three girls to one another, simply carrying on as normal. Mary had completely focussed on her riding, not really speaking to the other kids and Fliss was starting to understand now why Frank thought she needed to socially interact a little more with children.

“That’s cool.” Fliss smiled. “So what are you doing tonight then?”

“He said he was gonna do a BBQ.” Mary looked at her. “Roberta’s coming over. She’s our neighbour. She turns up uninvited all the time so Frank said we might as well ask her if she wanted to come as she’d just rock up anyway.”

Fliss grinned “Is Frank any good with BBQs?”

“He BBQs better than he cooks.” Mary answered and Fliss chuckled. “But that’s because it’s not really cooking is it? It’s just heating meat to a temperature so that all the bacteria is killed.”

“Talking about me again?” Frank leaned in the doorway of the office, wiping his hands on an old rag and Fliss looked up, smiling at him.

“Mary was just telling me about your cooking.”

Frank snorted “Yeah it’s not much to write home about.”

“It’s bad.” Mary grimaced. “Unless you get it out of a jar.”

At that Fliss tipped her head back in a loud laugh. “Oh God!”

Frank shook his head smiling to himself before he changed the subject. “Tractor’s all done.”

“You, Sailor, are a God send.” she smiled “What do I owe you?”

“Nothing” Frank shook his head “I had the parts lying around so…”

Fliss frowned, before she smirked at him, “Okay then, today’s lesson is on me again.”

Frank looked away shaking his head before he turned back, smiling “That’s how it is?”

“That’s how it is.” she nodded.

“Alright, quid-pro-quo.” he shrugged, tucking the rag he had been using into his back pocket.

“What are you doing tonight?” Mary asked and Fliss smiled.

“Well my Mum and Dad are away so I have the house to myself. I’ll probably grab a beer, lay by the pool for a bit and then…”

“You have a pool?” Mary’s eyes widened, cutting her off.

“My mum and dad do.”

“That’s so cool.” Mary looked at Frank “Why can’t we have a pool?”

“We do.”

“A communal one.” Mary rolled her eyes. “A private one is way better.”

“Yeah, well, sorry life is such a disappointment to you.” Frank looked at her, Mary pouted a little at him and Fliss smiled at the easy to-and-froing that was going on between the two. “And here’s another disappointment, time to go.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve taken up enough of Miss Gallagher’s…”

“Fliss, please.”

“Fliss’ time, and I need to get to the store if you wanna eat anything tonight.”

Mary grumbled but stood up and trudged slowly towards the door.

“Before you go do you wanna book in for next week?” Fliss asked.

“You gonna let me pay for that one?” Frank looked at her.

“Depends if I find anything else for you to fix.” she shot back, Frank snorted and shook his head. “Same time?”

He nodded “That’s great, thanks.”

“No problem.”

She bid them both goodbye and Frank and Mary made their way to the truck, Frank’s hand dropping to the back of Mary’s head as they walked, keeping her from diverting her attention as she spotted Joanne bringing in one of the horses from the pasture.

“Do you not think Miss Gallagher might be lonely?” Mary asked Frank suddenly.

“Lonely?” Frank looked at her, “Why do you think she might be lonely?”

“Because she’s on her own, at home.” Mary shrugged

“She lives near her parents.” Frank replied.

“Yeah but her parents have been away since Tuesday. And she told me that she doesn’t have a lot of friends round here.”

“Neither do you.” Frank looked at Mary.

Mary scoffed “I have you and Roberta, and Fred.”

“Well then Fliss has her family, her horses.”

“But why not us?”

“I’m not following?” Frank shook his head. “I mean why can’t we be her friends?”

“Well, we are.” he said, “Sorta, anyway.”

“So why doesn’t she come round tonight as well?”

“Well, I…” Frank paused and looked up. He’d only know the woman a week but he couldn’t deny he liked her company. They’d chatted over text most nights since, and in person it was just as easy to talk to her as it was behind a phone screen, but he didn’t know her in any detail… well, not yet anyway. He was hoping he would in time, because he found her a breath of fresh air to be around. She was someone who didn’t know anything about him, his life. She took him for who he was and he liked that.

Taking a breath he looked back down at Mary. “You think she’d wanna come?”

Mary shrugged before she hopped round to the other side of the truck. Frank patted the roof and leaned through the open window of the driver’s side. “Wait her a minute.” he instructed, before he turned and walked back onto the yard.

“Fliss?” he called and she turned to face him.

“Forget something?” she asked, smiling.

“No, well kinda, look. If you want, and that’s only if, there’s no obligation at all but you’re welcome to join us tonight.”

“When I said I was alone, I wasn’t angling for an invite.” she explained and Frank shook his head.

“No, I know…” he assured her “But the offer’s there if you fancy it. Although my limits are burgers, sausages and steak.”

“No chicken wings?” she frowned “What kind of sorry ass BBQ is that?”

“You want chicken wings, you can bring them.” he laughed.

She looked at him for a second before she smiled “Alright, deal.”

“Say about half five? Will you be done here or…”

“I can get one of the girls to close up.” she smiled. “Half five is fine.”

“Ok, well I’ll text you the address.” he said with a nod “It’s not hard to find, we live near the dock not far from St Pete’s beach. It’s the little trailer-slash-prefab park.”

He paused, waiting for the usual judgmental look that came whenever he explained where he lived but it never arrived. Instead, Fliss smiled and nodded.

“Near the dock huh?” she grinned “That’s pretty cool.”

“Well it means the commute to work is acceptable” he shrugged and Fliss laughed.

“I bet the views are amazing.”

“Well, sadly we only have a single storey apartment so can’t see much.”

“Shame.” Fliss nodded. “I could quite happily lose a day watching sailors.”

There was a pause as Frank arched an eyebrow, as she held his gaze, smirking a little and he found his neck and cheeks going warm.

Was she flirting with him?

“Unfortunately you’ll have to make do with me.” He replied, testing the water.

“Yeah, that is a bummer.” She sighed. “Not sure how I’ll cope.”

There was a twinkle in her eye and Frank shook his head, giving a little chuckle.

Yup, definitely flirting.

“Okay, so I guess I’ll see you later.” He asked and she nodded, smiling.

“Yeah, you will.”

***** “Hi guys!” Fliss waved at the screen as her mom and dad squeezed in to say hello.

“Hey Titch!” her Dad grinned back “How’s it going? Burnt the house down yet?” “Yeah, fire brigade are dealing with it now” she rolled her eyes. “How’s Seattle?”

“Hot, like muggy hot, and full of people.” her dad grimaced and she heard her mum tssk in the background before she too appeared on the screen.

“Ignore him!” Verity appeared on the screen, smiling “It’s wonderful!”

“Hmmmm” Bill rolled his eyes “I tell you what won’t be wonderful, my bank statement when I get it. You’ve hit every shop going.”

Fliss laughed as her parents began to bicker affectionately.

“So what are you up to tonight?” Verity turned to her daughter “Making the most of the peace and quiet?”

“Actually I’m going out.” she said, ignoring but not missing, the surprised look her parents exchanged. “Well, to a BBQ”

“A BBQ?” Bill asked.

“Yeah, Frank and Mary invited me so,” she shrugged, “I thought it beat sitting at home alone.”

Another significant look was exchanged between the parents.

“Oh and he fixed the tractor” Fliss said, in a hope that would divert her Dad’s attention. Luckily for her, Bill was a tactful man and could recognise when she was trying to change the subject so, to avoid her mother digging further, he took the initiative and began to ask her a few questions about it, which she answered as best she could. The call lasted for another ten minutes or so before the oven sounded, telling her the marinated chicken wings she had cooked to take with her were ready so she bid them both goodbye, promising to be at the airport to pick them up the following evening, and headed into the kitchen.

Once the wings were out cooling, she took a shower then set about trying to decide what to wear. Her stomach was churning a little, she was nervous for a number of reasons, the main one being she actually kinda liked Frank. He was easy to talk with, funny, flirty and even better to look at. Fliss had never imagined post her husband she’d ever feel as comfortable with a man so easily as she had with Frank, which could only be a good sign, right?

In the end she settled on a pair of cut-off jeans which grazed her ankles, a pair of brown, strappy flat sandals and a light green checked sleeveless button down. She kept her make up light, and pulled her long hair back into a loose bun. Once she had made sure the dogs were okay she grabbed the chicken wings and the beer she had also bought to take with her, double checked the directions and set off.

It wasn’t a long drive to the park Frank and Mary lived on. Fliss slowed down carefully, looking for the number she had been given and soon spotted Frank’s truck parked up in a space just off the little road. She stopped her Jeep behind it and clambered out, only to be almost bowled over by a flurry of blonde hair.

“Hi!” Mary said, giving her a hug. Fliss chuckled and bent down to hug her back.

“Mary you saw me like a few hours ago.” she laughed.

“I know but, I’m glad you came.” she beamed, letting go. Mary then reached down to pick up a ginger one-eyed cat which was following her. “This is Fred.” “Nice to meet you Fred.” Fliss grinned, giving the cat a scratch behind his ear.

“Mary for God’s sake give it a moment before you start bugging her half to death.” Frank’s voice sounded and Fliss looked up, smiling at him as he appeared from the side of the house. Fliss gave him the once over from behind her sunglasses. He was dressed in a pair of light blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a pair of grubby white sneakers. As he crossed the lawn area towards them, he gave Fliss a smile which made her stomach twist and to distract herself she turned and opened the passenger side of the car, reaching in for the ceramic dish covered in foil

“You told me to bring chicken wings.” she smiled as she handed him the dish “I also brought beer.”

Frank laughed and shook his head “I wasn’t being serious…”

“Well, I did them anyway. And they’re already cooked so you just need to char them. No chance of food poisoning.”

“Good to know.” Frank nodded, before he gestured with his head “You err, wanna come in?”

Fliss looked over to their apartment and nodded. “Sure.”

Together they walked round to the back of the house and up a set of steps into a small kitchen.

“I’ll show you round!” Mary said, grabbing her hand. Fliss let the girl lead her into the main room of the house.

She looked around smiling softly, taking it all in. It was small, cluttered and packed with personal touches which gave it a homely feel. A small desk in the corner by another door, which she assumed led to a bedroom, which was loaded with books and school supplies. Underneath a window sat a small leather couch, and the walls were adorned a slightly shabby light coloured wooden panelling which gave the place the feel of a beach hut. It might not have been fancy, but it was nice, the vibe was good and Fliss could tell this was a home that saw a lot of love. And she instantly felt at ease.

“Probably not what you’re used to huh?” Frank watched her as she looked around, suddenly a little conscious that she was more than likely coming from a fairly opulent background with the job she did and her family and sporting heritage.

“No, but,” she smiled at him,“I love it, feels like a home.”

“It’s not much but it does us.” Frank smiled at her comment as he moved back to the fridge. “Beer or…”

“Yeah, beer’s good.” she followed him back to the kitchen, standing in the doorway and nodding to the carrier bag of bottles she had put on the table.

“You know you didn’t need to bring any more.” he said, as he glanced inside it “I got plenty”

“I’m sure you do but my Mum always told me it was polite to take something with me when I go to someone’s for dinner.”

Frank smiled and began to place the bottles in the fridge before he pulled out two already chilled Bud Light and flipped the tops off before passing her one.

“Thanks” she smiled.

Mary walked past the pair of them, Fred shooting ahead of her as she tossed a ping pong ball into the grass of the yard and, with the hand that had just grabbed his aviators off the table, Frank gestured after her, questioningly. Fliss nodded and they stepped back outside onto the lawn area, where a BBQ and a small table and a few chairs sat were set up.

Fliss took a seat as Mary flopped onto a beanbag to their left on the grass.

“Frank bought the special burgers” she stated “Said if we had company that wasn’t just Roberta we should wheel out the good stuff.”

Frank groaned at his niece as he slid on his sunglasses. “Mary.”

“What?” she asked, and Fliss laughed.

“I’m glad you think I’m worthy of good burgers” she teased, and Frank noticed the corners of her eyes that weren’t hidden by her Oakley’s crinkling up as she smiled.

“And I’m offended to know I’m not.” A voice said, and Frank jumped slightly. Fliss turned to see a kindly faced black woman with chin lengthy curly dark hair rounding the side of the house. Mary jumped up to give her a hug and the woman greeted her before she smiled at Fliss who had stood up.

“You must be Fliss.”

“Roberta, yeah?” Fliss asked nodding as she shook the ladies hand “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Same here.” The woman nodded before she turned to Frank. “You going to get me a beer?”

“Get one yourself.” Frank shot back “Make yourself at home. You usually do.”

Fliss grinned as Roberta aimed a slap to his head and he dodged the hit as if he knew it was coming. Which he probably did, Fliss realised. There was a comfortable familiarity between the two of them, a mother-son kind of vibe, even if Frank was trying to be all gruff about it.

Roberta came back and dropped into a chair and they all settled into a comfortable chat. Roberta asked Fliss questions about her Yard, Mary interjecting comments here and there as Frank stood by the grill observing their food. Any tension that Fliss had been feeling quickly evaporated as she became even more comfortable in her surroundings, and she happily chatted away, instantly warming to Roberta as well. She told them about her brother, Steve and his twin boys Charlie and Joel who were both Mary’s age, where she was from in England, and her parents, revealing to Frank’s surprise that Bill wasn’t actually her biological father.

“I didn’t know that.” Frank looked at her.

“Why would you?” Fliss shrugged “It’s not important really. My actual dad left my mum before she had me and then he died when I was four months old. I never met him. Bill brought me up from the age of 2 and adopted me when he married mum, so he is my dad, in everything but blood.”

“You said they were out of town?” Roberta asked. “Anywhere nice?”

“Seattle.” Fliss smiled “Mum’s always wanted to go and, well last year they didn’t get much chance to travel what with everything that was going on so they’re just starting to get round to it. Kinda strange them not being here, it’s the first time since I’ve been in Florida that they haven’t.”

She pondered that for a moment, her nails lightly tapping on her beer bottle before she gave a grin and looked up at Frank. “I face timed them before. Their reaction when I told them I wasn’t simply sitting at home tonight like a total loser was priceless. I thought Mum was going to tell me to give her a ring when I got back home safely.”

Frank gave a little laugh and was about to reply when Mary cut in.

“Why’s that? You’re a grown up.”

Frank rolled his eyes at Mary’s nosey demeanour but Fliss didn’t seem to mind.

"Well like I told you, hun, I don't really have many friends here so I don’t go out a lot” Fliss shrugged "I only really know the guys from the yard and a few people through my parents. My friends are all in the UK, even the people I knew in Boston were more…” she trailed off before she took a breath and smiled “Well, I left them all behind when I moved."

"Well now you got us, right Frank?" Mary said simply as she sat on the large bean bag as she tossed a ping pong ball for Fred who obligingly chased it across the lawn.

"Sure does." Frank smiled, apologetically. “And we’re kinda hard to shake off. "

"Like a dose of the clap." Roberta dropped her voice so only Fliss and Frank could hear. Fliss choked on her beer, sputtering a laugh as Frank flipped the woman off.

"Fuck you"

Fliss wiped the beer she had slopped onto the front of her blouse, taking a little longer than she needed as her eyes had watered up at the sudden sentiment of the moment. She had only known Frank and Mary a week, yet here she was in their home as if she’d known them forever. Friendship was something she had been aching to feel again for months and now she found herself suddenly surrounded by it and she was a little overwhelmed, but in a good way.

When she finally looked up, Frank was surprised to see there was a shine in her eyes as they had watered over. He shot her a wink, tactful enough not to mention it and then asked her if she would mind grabbing him a beer from the fridge whilst he kept an eye on the steaks, giving her chance to escape and compose herself. She shot him a grateful nod and headed inside, taking a deep breath.

“She alright?” Robert asked, standing up and moving to the grill “She looked a little upset.”

Frank shrugged, focussing on the grill before he looked at Roberta “Think I should go after her?”

Roberta shot him a look as if he had just asked the most stupid question in the world. “Dur.”

“Watch that.” he instructed, handing Roberta the tongs before he headed inside and Fliss turned to look at him, gesturing to the beer on the side.

“Was just about to try and find the bottle opener.” She spoke quietly and, reaching into his pocket Frank handed it to her and smiled.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, before she took a deep breath. “It’s just, well, I’ve not done anything like this in a while, other than with my family so…” “Overwhelming?” he smiled softly and she gave a little shrug.

“A little, maybe. But it’s nice.”

“You might not be saying that when you taste my cooking.” Frank deadpanned and Fliss laughed, following him back outside.

******

To Frank’s delight the food was actually pretty damned good. Roberta had brought a potato salad with her and everything got eaten, there wasn’t a scrap left which was why he and Fliss were now sat on the chairs in the garden, Fliss groaning about being in a food coma. Roberta had left half an hour ago and Mary was now flat out on the bean bag, covered by a fleece blanket. Frank had moved the grill away and lit the small portable fire pit before he had retrieved another blanket for Fliss and himself from the stash down the side of the sofa.

Their conversation had turned to Frank’s work and he was telling Fliss about some of the people he had met, the pair of them giggling as he spoke about a real stuck up couple he had fixed a boat for, who had then only gone and crashed it into the side of another boat on the first day of them taking it back out.

“What a waste.” Fliss laughed, “All your hard work gone up in smoke.”

“Well I got paid.” Frank shrugged “And it was a nice boat to drive”

“Sail.” Fliss corrected him and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm as much of a sailor as you are a cowgirl."

Fliss grinned as she took another swig from her beer bottle before she turned to him, the reflection of the fire pit flashing in her eyes. “Well, if the boots fit" Frank laughed "Do you actually have a pair of cowboy boots?"

"I used to." She took a deep breath. "I spent a week in Texas one summer on a ranch, just to try my hand at Western riding. They gave me a pair of boots and a hat when I left. And then my husband burned them one night after I was late home, also breaking three of my Pandora bracelets that I spent years collecting charms for because I also brought back the wrong brand of coffee.”

Frank bowed his head.

"Sorry." Fliss sighed. "That kinda killed the conversation didn't it?"

Frank shook his head softly "In all honesty I was just thinking about what a prick he is. Something I'll never understand, a man laying hands on a woman."

"I tried to understand it for years." Fliss bit her lip. “Even after he was sent down I still wonder sometimes what I did to make him behave like that but I know it’s him with the problem not me." she paused and shook her head again “I have no idea why I’m telling you all this, sorry.”

“Don’t apologise.” Frank looked at her. “Like I said the other night, I’m a good listener.”

“Yeah, you are. You don’t talk much though.” she looked at him.

“What do you think I’m doing now?”

“That’s not what I mean.” she looked at him. “Just a pity I can’t google you like you did to me.” Frank took a deep breath and grimaced as he looked at her “My dad told me” she smiled.

“Yeah, sorry about that, Mary was curious”

“Its fine.” she sighed. “How much did you read?”

“Not much.” He replied honestly. “It isn’t really any of our business.”

“I wish most people thought like that.” She picked at the label on her bottle. “It attracted a lot of interest amongst the circuit. The main reason I left Boston was to get away from all of it but it seems it just follows me all over.”

“Well, no matter how much you try and leave the past behind it always has a habit of catching up on you.” Frank spoke, glancing at Mary. He hesitated before he turned to Fliss.

“Give me your phone.”

“My phone?” she frowned, reaching into her pocket. “I’m not…”

“Well, you might not be able to google me, specifically, but you can google my story.” He said as she unlocked it. “I’d do it but my phone isn’t geared for that type of thing, not really.”

She swiped at a screen then handed it to him where he hesitated for a second. Was he really sure he wanted to do this?

He supposed it was only fair so he typed in what he wanted before holding it out to her.

“The first day we met you asked me what I was running from.” He took a deep breath as Fliss took the phone from him with a questioning look before she glanced down at the article on display.

It was from the Boston Herald.com and her eyes were immediately drawn to the black and white picture of a pretty woman with short, light hair. She was the double of Mary. Across the top the headline read “A Mind for math: Is Diane Adler the missing female variable that finally solves the Navier-Stokes Equation?”

“That’s my sister.” Frank supplied “Mary’s mom. She was basically a genius. The Navier–Stokes equation they’re talking about, well, it’s of huge interest in a purely mathematical sense. It hasn’t yet been proven whether solutions always exist in three dimensions and, if they do exist, whether they are smooth or…”

“You’ve lost me.” Fliss shrugged “I was an English major, numbers and maths really not my strong point.”

Frank chuckled “Sorry, force of habit.” he smiled as Fliss handed him the phone back.

“So, what happened to her?” Fliss asked softly. “I mean, I figure something must have for you to end up with Mary but…”

“She killed herself.”

“Shit.” Fliss sighed, “I’m sorry Frank.”

He took a deep breath. “She was only 27. I was running late for a date of all things. She just showed up, on my doorstep. And she never did that unannounced, and more to the point she never simply showed up with Mary either.” Frank swallowed and Fliss waited patiently for him to continue. “She said she needed to talk. I told her I would talk to her when I got back and I left. I mean, couldn’t be late for a date could I? God forbid it damage my chances of getting’ laid.” Fliss noticed the bitter edge in his voice as he continued “Came home that night. Mary was on the couch…and I found Diane on the bathroom floor.”

Fliss gently touched his arm “Frank, there’s no way you could have known.”

“But I should have.” Frank shook his head, his voice soft. “She was my little sister, you know, I was two years older than her and when my Dad died but I promised then I’d always look after her but…”He shook his head. “Anyway, when she died as soon as I could we moved here. Fast forward 6 and a half years and, well, we’re still here.”

“I take it Mary’s father isn’t about?”

Frank snorted “No.”

“And your mom?”

“She turned her back on Diane when she got pregnant. Didn’t fit with her plan. That’s part of the reason I moved Mary and me here. She’s a very exacting woman, uncompromising, very British.”

At that Fliss raised an eyebrow and Frank looked at her, suddenly realising what he had said.

“She’s from England.” he added, and Fliss smiled. “She hated the fact I gave up my job and, well we don’t speak.”

“What did you do before becoming a Sailor?” Fliss smiled and Frank chuckled slightly.

“I was an assistant professor at Boston University” he said. “Philosophy.”

“Wow.” Fliss smiled “That’s pretty smart.”

“You sound surprised?” he looked at her

“No, not at all.” Fliss protested.

He smiled again, “You know, sometimes I see so much of Diane in Mary, and she’s just a child. She comes out with stuff that’s way beyond her years. I mean earlier this week she asked me what I thought Executive Order 13769 was going to mean for all those refugees being refused entry…what seven year old talks about stuff like that?”

“A very smart one.” Fliss replied

“Exactly.” Frank nodded “I don’t want that life for her, the pressure associated with being a childhood genius like Diane was. Which is why she’s going to a normal school in September, where she’ll hopefully learn how to be a kid.”

Fliss looked at him.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice it before when she was with the other kids on the lesson.” Frank eyed her and Fliss looked down a little “See, she doesn’t know how to a normal seven year old, well, very rarely anyway. In fact the only time I’ve seen it recently is when she’s at the yard with you.

“She’s just a little socially awkward, that’s nothing to worry about.” Fliss looked at him.

“But I do worry.” Frank sighed

“Yeah, because you care.” Fliss said gently, her hand falling to his arm. “I think you’re being a little hard on yourself and her. She’s a good kid.”

“Yeah, considering I brought her up.” Frank chuckled.

“I think you’ve done a good job so far.” Fliss shrugged “It can’t have been easy.”

“Still isn’t” Frank sighed. “It’s not how I envisaged my life panning out that’s for sure.”

“Tell me about it.” Fliss snorted “If you’d have told me ten years ago that by the time I was thirty-three I’d have had my dreams cut short at the age of twenty-eight, then divorced after being hospitalised by the very man I moved thousands of miles to be with by the age of thirty-two, I’d probably have laughed but here we are.”

“He hospitalised you?” Frank frowned, suddenly feeling an inexplicable surge of anger towards this fucker, one which he really shouldn't feel so strongly considering he had known Fliss for all of a week.

“Did you not read that bit?”

Frank shook his head “No I stopped reading after it mentioned domestic abuse. Like I said, none of our business.”

“He wanted us to have a baby and frankly the thought of bringing a kid up, with him, in that environment…so when I found out I was pregnant I got rid of it. He found out and he beat me so hard he broke three of my ribs, ruptured my spleen and fractured my eye socket. I was in hospital for over a week.”

“Shit, Fliss, I had no idea…”

She waved his apology away “In a sick, twisted way I’m almost glad it happened. It was the final push I needed to leave him for good. Wasn’t easy mind, I was low. Very low for a while and when the trial was going on…” she stopped again and shook her head “You know he plea bargained? Pleaded guilty to a lesser level of assault and got four years last summer. He’ll be out next June I expect if he applies for parole, which he will because, well, that’s John all over.”

“Fucker.” Frank bit out between gritted teeth.

“Yeah, well it’s behind me now.” she shrugged “I’m in a good place. I’m happy, my business is taking off and it’s a job I love. I have my family and, well, some friends.”

Frank smiled and nodded “What Roberta said before is true you know. We’re harder to get rid of than an STD.”

Fliss laughed loudly and drained her beer bottle “Well I’m glad to hear it, because I kinda like you Sailor.”

“Back at you Cowgirl.”

They changed the subject then, Fliss talking about her horses, in particular her chestnut mare that was her pride and joy, and then when Mary stirred Frank glanced at his watch and realised it was past midnight. He didn’t want to kick Fliss out but when he stood saying he should get the little girl in bed, Fliss nodded and agreed she should be going as it was late.

Frank told her to wait whilst he swept Mary up and carried her into the house before he came back out to walk her down to her car.

“We should do this again.” Fliss offered, “Only this time you can come to me. Although I’m a better cook than BBQ chef.”

“You’re on.” Frank said, “Although don’t mention it to Mary. It’s all I’ll hear about.” Fliss grinned and then leaned up on her toes to press a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, Frank. I had a lovely evening.”

He smiled as she climbed into her car and as she set off he tossed a hand at the tailgate as she rounded the corner. Once she was out of view, he turned and headed back inside, contemplating the evening. The chat had been hard going in some places, he hadn’t told anyone about Diane in a long time. Hell, Mary didn’t know a lot about her mother, he tried to keep her sheltered but he knew that as she grew older that was going to get harder to do and justify. With that in mind, he knew exactly how much it must have taken Fliss to open up the way she did.

It left him with a puzzlingly warm feeling in his chest, one he couldn’t really explain. And he had a feeling it was to do with the fact that he actually wanted to spend time with the woman and get to know her, instead of simply fucking her into his mattress.

Yup, for the first time in his life, Frank realised he’d extended an offer of no strings attached friendship to a woman.

And he couldn’t deny, it was nice.

**** Chapter 4

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic

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backofthebookshelf · 4 years

Text

Your Handy Guide to AO3 Searching and Filtering

In the spirit of YKINMKBYKIOK (aka let other people have fun and stop complaining that they exist, jeez), and also because I am a Nerd and will apparently do my actual literal job for free if it involves fandom in any way: How To Find Fics on AO3

There are two basic ways to go about this: searching and filtering. In this age of Google we're all kind of used to searching, but Google's search engine is...special, and also not really how a well-constructed database search works. There's a lot of reasons for this, many of which involve "the unstructured chaos that is the Internet at large" and "Google's secret algorithm which we will never understand," but tl;dr you've probably noticed that searching for a specific fic or type of fic on AO3 doesn't always return the results you expected. There are ways to make it work, but I vastly prefer filtering to find fics I want to read.

First off: I usually have something to start with, most of the time it's a fandom. There are a bunch of ways to find your starting tag; usually, to be honest, I'm bouncing off of a direct link to a fic. If you're starting from AO3's homepage, though, you can use the tag search - the plain search box in the upper right won't do it for you, usually. Hit the search tab, pick tag search, and search for canonical fandom tags. 99 times out of a hundred that'll get you your fandom.

Now if you're looking for a specific character or pairing you could browse the resulting page, the one that gives you all the child tags (those would be tags that only apply to this fandom, usually but not always characters) and relationship tags. If your fave is rarer, this is a good place to start. Otherwise, click that Works button up on the top right.

Now you've got the page you're probably used to: your fandom's tag, newest works at the top. If you like to start your fic-reading from AO3's homepage, there's a handy Favorite Tag button up in the top right; if you click that it'll show up on your homepage for you and you can always and easily check the newest fics. But if you're reading this you're probably looking to do something more complicated than just read whatever was posted most recently, right? This is where the magic Sort and Filter option comes in.

Let's start with Include.

This is where you'll get your basic preferences nailed down: how much adult content do you want to see? Do you have strong opinions about any of the official archive warnings? Do you want a ship, or gen, and if you want a ship do you want het or slash or femmeslash or lots of ships or whatever this fandom might have decided "other" means (usually it's tentacles)? Click the checkbox for whatever you want to include. EXCEPT. Keep in mind that the checkboxes work as an AND search, not an OR - that is, if you check both "M/M" and "F/F," you'll get only works that have both M/M and F/F pairings. Anything that’s just M/M won't show up, and vice versa. If you have multiple categories and you'd be okay with fics that match only one of those criteria, hold onto that thought for a while. (If, on the other hand, you only want fics with graphic violence and character death, this is where you'd go.)

Now you could just keep moving on, but I like to click Sort and Filter at this point, because the options it gives you in the next section are sorted by popularity, and sometimes you'll get more of the options you want when you set your base preferences. The screenshot on the left is the Fandoms, Characters, and Relationships filters with no other preferences set; the one on the right is with them set to Rating: Teen, No Archive Warnings Apply, and Multi. You'll see that some of those crossovers have dropped out, the characters have shuffled a bit, and several pairings are just gone.

From here, with these kind of numbers, I'd probably just pick one tag I'm interested in - do I want jonmartin fic, or Jon fic of any description, or oooh, hey, Sasha/Tim - select that checkbox, and go from there. But if you want something really specific, like only jonmartin fic in which Daisy appears, go for it. You don't have to change any of your earlier selections, just click those checkboxes and click Sort and Filter again.

Huh, that's genuinely more fics than I expected.

Now, if instead of having something specific you know you want, there's something specific you know you DON'T want, you have the next section: Exclude. This is relatively new, and it's magic. Don't wanna see Explicit fic? Banish it. Never want to read Major Character Death? Boom. Tired of Jon and only want fics where he doesn't appear? You can do that, too. These checkboxes do work on an OR search, which means you can check as many as you want, and if a fic matches any of the checkboxes you ticked, it won't show up in your search. If there's a pairing or a character you just cannot stand, you can exclude them, click Sort and Filter, and bookmark the resulting page. You'll see every new fic posted to the fandom tag except for the ones that include the thing you've already decided you don't want to see - you can just pretend it doesn't exist. It's wonderful.

There are some more neat options down at the bottom - got strong pro or con opinions about crossovers, or unfinished works? Got a few hours to kill and want something 10k+ to keep you busy? Hoping there's something written in your native language that isn't English? These options also exist, and they stack with the other filters as well, so you can filter only by crossover status or by rating and wordcount or by language and pairing, however you choose to combine them. (My favorite combo is Complete works only, wordcount from 10k (leave "to" blank if you don't need to set a higher limit), and exclude the fandom's most popular pairing. There's some good shit in that search in pretty much any fandom.)

Don't forget the sort! You don't have to see newest fics first; if you're still getting caught up on the canon, you can sort by oldest first and be careful never to read past the date you're caught up to. You can sort by word count to get the longest fics first or the shortest, by hits to see what people read the most, by kudos to see what the most people liked, by comments to see what gets the most interaction, by bookmarks to see...honestly I'm not sure what bookmarks indicate, but you can sort by them. Also by title and author, if you prefer an alphabetical organization for whatever reason.

Unfortunately there's not a good way to clear the filters, so if you change your mind about what you're looking for, you will have to go back and un-check the boxes you've selected before you do another search. Or you can just click on the fandom tag under the first fic in your results list; that will take you back to the main tag with no filters on it, which is what I usually do.

And there you have it: AO3's excellently curated filters, which allow you to curate your fandom experience. If that still isn't enough for you, there are some browser extensions you may want to look into (ao3 savior for tampermonkey; AO3rdr) that let you do even more customization, but those are tricky to use on mobile or if you're switching between multiple devices, so I prefer to rely mostly on AO3's built in tools.

If any of this isn't clear to you I am happy to answer questions! Note that I have nothing to do with AO3 personally other than having been a loyal user for 13+ years now, I'm just a librarian and a nerd for good organizational systems. And goddammit, AO3 is amazing.

#ao3 #archive of our own #i love a good database #fic #fanfiction #the magnus archives #(i wrote this for you but it applies to all fandoms)#long post #sorry everyone on mobile

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noxtms · 4 years

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❝ WE DOUBT EVEN THE MOST SEASONED OF SEERS could have predicted the way that we would exit the dismal winter season ! spring is finally here, and though we’ve all been shaken by the events of the past three months, the wwn is here to remind you that while some things do change... there’s even more that doesn’t. a diagon alley staple, the start of spring festival, kicked off this week in a rather exciting fashion when the leprechauns employed by the ministry of magic to run their annual treasure hunt decided to take to the alley on the backs of some of the magical menagerie’s unmistakable lambs ! it took four aurors several hours to round them up again, and if you were wondering where your tax galleons were going, now seems a good time to remind you that it’s to that specialist department ! we’ve been assured that everything is now completely under control, and that the spring festival and the assorted st patrick’s day celebrations are expected to run without a hitch... and without any more runaway leprechauns, though i think i speak for everyone when i say that that’s something i’d kind of like to see for myself... ❞

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE :

there’s almost always some celebration or another taking place on diagon alley. as the heart of the british wixen world - and given the sheer number and variety of businesses and vendors all hoping to maximise their profits - they tend to take any opportunity that comes their way, as is their right.

the first START OF SPRING festival happened decades ago, and what it looks like often changes. the magical menagerie will always have baby chicks and tiny ducklings on front window display, and sometimes, you might just be able to get yourself a little pet lamb ( usually dyed an outrageous color ). the leaky cauldron will always serve meals heavy on the spring vegetables, and vendors along the alley will promise that the ones they’re selling are the very best type of hand picked organic. shops will slash their prices on certain items ( almost always the ones they haven’t managed to shift since the holiday season ), and there’s always little activity stands, for families and kids and really, anyone who wants to take part. learn how to make a crown from freshly picked wildflowers, or bet a sickle on which magic endowed butterfly will emerge from its cocoon first on the stand outside of gringott’s. try the specially themed ice creams at fortescue’s ( honey is particularly popular, at the start of the month ), and indulge in the feeling that springtime brings ! the days are getting longer, the air is thick the smell of freshly bloomed flowers, and life is... returning. it feels particularly poignant this year.

as it turns out, no one is immune to the charms of the irish, either. the diagon alley celebrations probably started out drenched in irony, but they’ve become wildly separated from what they were originally attached to over the years - probably helped by the fact they blend so much with the spring time festivities. quality quidditch supplies almost always begins pushing their irish team merch in the leadup to the day, and the ministry employs real life leprechauns to do a kid’s treasure hunt with real leprechaun gold. there’s even vendors selling muggle beers to those above the legal age that they promise will give you an authentic irish experience - though, take my word for it : guinness doesn’t compare to a good old fashioned butterbeer.

the fun doesn’t stop as the week goes on, of course : on the day, families have been promised their annual little parade. little is the operative word, given it’s a bit of a tight squeeze - floats that actually float are decorated in garish greens and oranges & everyone is guaranteed a faceful of fast sticking confetti. if that doesn’t do it for you, there’s no need to worry. it wouldn’t be a proper irish celebration without an ‘all out bash’, and the leaky cauldron has flyers up from the start of march about their february 17th patrick’s day party. this year’ll be the first where they have to compete with the poison apple nightclub, of course, but... what do they really have, aside from their themed magical drinks ?

OUT OF CHARACTER :

it’s a little on the nose, i won’t deny it : but a festival that really celebrates the everything that makes up the spring season, with a real special focus on the new life that it brings - really felt like a good place to start, this month. of course, i’ve also managed to throw in good ‘ol st paddy.. this may be a britain based rp, but who would i be if i were not constantly making ireland relevant ? we move in real time, which means that while all the little extras provide setting and content for threads, we won’t hit the end part, the party, until later on.

this event will be two weeks long, beginning officially on monday the 8th of march at 12:00am GMT - click this sentence to see what that works out at for your timezone !

you're under no obligation for the first week to pause any threads you currently have going - when we transition from general festival to final phase, we’ll take a little vote and we’ll see what the consensus is !

event related starters ( including private ones ) should be tagged with nox.event013, and the location is strictly diagon alley. please keep the galleon system in mind with these starters, since they can earn you points !

if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to message the main, and please reply with your favorite holiday song once you’ve read the post !

#nox.event013 #nox.important #nox.event #hp rp #harry potter rp

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chaoticspacefam · 4 years

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6. “How do you think this will all end?” for D'leah, please <3

Pinky once again picking THE juiciest possible combo of prompt + characters, everybody go thank her bc I had a blast with this 👀 I’ve been wanting to write a oneshot for this part of the story for a while and this is the perfect excuse mwahaha

@palepinkycat here you go! Sorry this one took a little while, I haven’t had time to sit and write it out till now, but hopefully it’s a decent enough length to make it up to you! 👀

I have more to say about the body language I described in here (namely the significance of the “under chin” snuggles & also why D’leah Yelled At Abe When He Tried To Do It To Her At The End), but I have a Worldbuilding tag somewhere in my mentions so I’mma save it for that basically. More Tomato Lore gonna drop sometime in the next week or two once I’m done with the drawings skshsks I tried to do one for this one too but it was not coming out right so maybe some other time XD

I’ve seen a lot of fics explore what it’s like to have a Force bond and communicate with it but I’ve seen very few that deal with the “what if it breaks when one of them dies” side of it, so this is my take on what happens and how it probably feels for the “surviving” party; I usually describe my Force bonds as a sort of ethereal “thread” type thing that then connects their emotions/souls/however you want to see it and yadda yadda, so...you can’t tell me that snapping that thread wouldn’t fucking hurt ;-; For extra heart hurty, the song quotes were the main two songs I listened to while working on each “part” of this fic, so you can use them for ambience if you want ;)

As always I use the Coruscant Translator for (most of) my High Sith, translations are included on the bottom however :) (since the quote from the prompt is said in Sith, they’re gonna talk in High Sith sometimes being well...Sith :3)

Abaron is the best brother-in-law, I do not make the rules. D’leah you need to apologise to this man immediately 😂 she does, immediately after this (not shown) dw, I swear

Timeline/Setting: 3729 BBY (roughly/according to the still-holey timeline I’ve been working on since the “canon” one was released) Immediately post-Valkoriate takeover. As in, literally just happened slash is happening as this occurs.

Warnings: Character Death mention (Kissai), Breaking Force Bonds, Plenty of angst (it was from an “angsty” prompt list, after all! 😬) , possible slight gore (?) in the form of description of a former injury from a concussion grenade (just to be safe lol), and ofc some Cuss Words (™)

^^ these are ur warnings, click past this cut at ur own risk and I am not responsible for how you react bc you chose to pass the warning k thanks ^^

“Don’t care if he’s guilty, don’t care if he’s not. He’s good and he’s bad and he’s all that I’ve got. Oh lord, oh lord, I’m begging you please...don’t take that sinner from me -” ~ The Civil Wars, “Devil’s Backbone”

It all happened so fast, they had to react fast if they were going to save the twins, and D’leah knew that. She’d tried so desperately to help her husband, pouring as much of her Force energy as she could through the bond they shared. It had always worked before, why wasn’t it working NOW?! D’leah didn’t know, but she could feel him growing weaker and weaker by the second.

D’leah - his voice was so distant and faint, she almost didn’t want to acknowledge the reality of it. No, no no, he wasn’t dying he couldn’t be dying, no no no…. D-Don’t do this. Sai… her grip on the control cluster tightened until her knuckles turned pale, they were already in the air. It would be easy to do what she knew he was about to ask...but it would mean leaving him to his fate. Could she do that?

Dimly, D’leah could hear Abaron chattering to the girls behind her as he made sure they stayed in their seats, but she couldn’t hear the words any of them were saying, there was just him and that horrible, ominous weakness bleeding from her husband’s end of the bond.

You need to run… Kissai urged her. PROMISE me. The girls-

I can’t...not without you! her mind-voice caught as if the words were difficult to form, she felt him slip further away and frantically tried to bolster his strength up again, but somehow, she couldn’t put her finger on how, it only seemed to make the other Pureblood weaker. Sai, snichi… she pleaded, and she could feel the barest attempt at a smile from her husband as he gave her his final farewell,

Nu aki j’us, D’leah. RUN. For me...

His words were far weaker now, more forced, as if even Kissai knew he was running out of time to convey his plea. D’leah realised with a growing sense of horror that they really didn’t have another option, she had to protect their daughters. She reached towards the navcomputer to punch in the quickest hyperspace code she could think of that would get them as far away from Imperial Space as possible, but never managed to get there.

The pain hit her so fast that D’leah had no time to prepare for it even if in reality, she’d known it was coming. First, came the white-hot metal rod of pain that jammed right down the center of her spine. Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire and it was this that was enough to cause her to cry out in pain and lose her grip on the ship’s controls as the Pureblood was thrown sideways in her seat. She managed to fall with just enough grace to get herself out of Abaron’s way and as she hit the floor and the pain kept coming, she faintly heard the man curse in High Sith as he lunged across to take her place in the pilot’s seat before they nose-dived into Force-only-knows what, out here in open space like they were.

Then she felt the thread of Force energy between herself and her husband straining, threatening to snap, and before long, it did. D’leah knew logically there was nothing she could do to stop it, and that trying would make it hurt more, but she was desperate and on reflex she could not help but try. Frantically, she reached out with her own Force energy and clasped for each thread as it tore away from her, bit by bit, as if clutching at the strings would somehow, futilely, keep him here. Would let him live. But still, the pain came again, and again, and she fancied that the sinews of flesh being ripped from bone when she lost part of her face to that concussion grenade had been less painful than this. “No...no no no no please...please! NO!!!” Everything else was so faint and far-away in comparison that D’leah didn’t realise that her scream had been out loud this time, her fingers fumbling for her heart, though she couldn’t rightly tell if that was where the pain was truly coming from and it was simply a reflexive reaction.

For a long while she clenched her teeth through wave after wave of pain, and while it didn’t stop, it became easier with every breath for D’leah to push it into the background. Slowly, the Pureblood’s blurry vision cleared and she realised the twins were staring down at her, wide-eyed in horror.

She needed to get up. She needed to go to them, she needed to be strong. For them.

Saarai reached for her first, but she scooped both of them up into her arms as best as she was able, all but falling into the seat where the twins had been huddled moments before. The girls both clamored to settle themselves as close to her as they could without pushing the other out of her grasp too. D’leah held onto them as tightly as she could, only vaguely aware of Saarai’s voice as she chattered a question up at her, catching every second word or so. “Moooom!” as she reached up towards her again, and “Dad...gonna find us...right?”

Their mother shushed them softly, adjusting her grip to fit both of the twins, as best she was able, beneath her chin. Safe. They were safe there.

“Shhh, shh-shh, my little one.” she croaked shakily, a tremor passing through her frame as she tried to keep her voice steady and convincing through the lie. “He’ll catch up later, don’t you worry.”

They sat in silence, D’leah clutching them against her chest as if they, too, might disappear if she let them go for even one second, and Abaron took over piloting the ship so that she didn’t have to. He’d practically done all the work already, anyway. She risked a glance down at her daughters, and caught the wary glint in Saarai’s golden eyes, the sideward glance at her sister, and she knew that they knew it was a lie. But she had not the heart to tell them that yet. Not now, through the tears that had begun to stream from her eyes despite her attempts to hold them at bay. She did not mean to cry, but what else could she do??

Saarai’s tiny fingers reached up shakily, when she realised what they were, to brush the liquid tracks from her chin and the spurs on her jaw. It only made her cry more and hold them tighter.

“Nunchi woiunoks, oi ai utja…” she breathed soothingly, hoping it was convincing enough for the twins. “Mom’s got you...nothing is ever going to hurt you while I’m here.” She held them like that right until they landed.

“The daughter of a lawyer, told the fallen priest “it’s a cold, cold place in the arms of a thief”, And tapping at the arrow in her heel, she said “LEAVE ME ALONE! ...but just don’t leave me here, alright?” Alright..” ~ Iron & Wine, “Arms of a Thief”

By the time they arrived at their destination, some planet called “Rishii” that she doesn’t ever recall knowing of before - but perhaps that’s a good thing - and Abaron managed to find them a place to stay, the pain she had felt had dulled to more of a phantom throbbing than anything else. But her consciousness felt vulnerable and empty without Kissai’s own Force presence winding around hers, she felt alone, even though physically she was not. D’leah had sung and rocked the twins to sleep, with some effort, and glanced down at them as they slept, Ni’kasi’s arms curled around her sister as she burrowed under her chin for comfort beneath the blanket their mother had tucked around them.

The pain was gone, and in its wake came the FURY. It bubbled to the surface all too quickly, and D’leah began to tremble again, a growl rumbling deep in her throat as she realised that first, the girls were theoretically out of danger, and secondly, she still had a ship. She could go back.

“I’m going to kill that fucker.” the Pureblood wheeled for the door, only to find it blocked by Abaron, who seemed to have pre-empted her outburst. She stopped short, a hiss slipping past her teeth as her lip curled back to show her fangs briefly. “Abe. Move.” she snarled, resisting the urge to shout so as to not wake Saarai and Ni’kasi from their slumber. The tips of Abaron’s jaw spurs shook as, for once in his life, he declined to follow her order.

“No. My Lord, I can’t let you do that.”

It took every ounce of her self control not to do worse, but as it was, D’leah tried to lunge for him so she could force her way past, he might not have been taller than her but he was stronger, and heavier too. The man reacted just as quickly, his own hands closing around her wrists to push back and keep her in place, his own feet firmly rooted in the doorway as he grunted. “D’leah! Listen to me, please!”

The tears threatened to come to the surface again, her eyes burning hot, though this time the matriarch forced them down, though her voice still quivered as she spat, each word punctuated with a quiver in her voice.

“You have no idea how I am feeling right now!”

“Not wholly, no.” Abaron argued, releasing her arms as she dropped them back to her sides, her remaining spurs still rattling softly in agitation. “But I know that going back there now is foolish, my Lord!”

“Get. Out. Of. My. Way!” D’leah hissed, though she didn’t have the strength left after the manic dash away from Kaas to call the lightning to her fingertips and lend to the threat she was trying to punctuate. “H-He is sitting there, on our homeworld, w-with our people’s blood on his hands!” she tried to shove him again, but her fist connected dully with the plated armour on the other Pureblood’s chest and didn’t make much of an impact on him. “They’re all dead and y-you just want me to -!!”

“I’m trying to protect you, my Lord!” his teeth flashed back at her, yet another thing she would not have stood for if she was half as lucid as usual. He continued on further, his voice a low, agitated growl as he lowered his face to hers as if to punctuate his point. “That is my charge, it’s what you bid me to do and I will not have you risking your life for such a foolish venture, you’re not thinking straight! We are the only ones left! It’s my duty to make sure that all three of you stay alive!”

She flinched at the reminder. Them, and Vowrawn, perhaps...if he was sneaky enough. But Abaron was right, going back would put him at risk, too. His eyes searched hers frantically, and his hands remained raised as if Abaron wasn’t completely sure he wouldn’t need to hold her back again. D’leah was in half a mind about it herself, she wasn’t sure how to react now. And what her brother-in-law said next put the nail in the coffin, so to speak:

“Dias dari j'us minti pa saû iki wisa qorit?” he urged, the words a muttered whisper.

The Pureblood matriarch felt her anger fizzle out almost instantly as the realization sank in. The girls....they were only children. They were far too young for this. Too young, they were too young for this talk of death and loss and grief; too young to have to understand if she left them here and did not come back either. Their father’s passing would weigh heavily on them for the rest of their lives, they didn’t deserve to have to lose their mother, and on the same day, too...

She deflated, her shoulders sagging in defeat, and another tremor wracked her frame as she dropped her own gaze to the floor for the moment. “Abe...I-”

“I know.” he sighed, relaxing as he stepped up to draw her against his chest sympathetically. She almost didn’t react, until she felt his chin brush the top of her head and she realized what he was trying to do. Despite his attempt at the gesture being comforting, D’leah jerked herself away from him to growl warningly. “Dari nindz.”

He looked momentarily taken aback, holding his hands up amicably as he apologised. “I was just...I thought you needed-” “Nu sûa nindz zo ardira!” she snapped at him, but mercifully, turned away from the door and stalked further inside once more.

____________________________________________________

Sith translations, in order:

Snichi... - please...

Nu aki j’us. - I (romantic) love you.

Nunchi woiunoks, oi ai utja. - Sweet little one, it’s alright.

Dias dari j'us minti pa saû iki wisa qorit? - How do you think this will all end?

Dari nindz - Don’t.

Nu sûa nindz zo ardira! - I’m not a child!

#swtor #swtor fanfiction #hoooo the angst #tw: character death #swtor oc: d'leah ahaszaai #swtor ''oc'': abaron ahaszaai #sith pureblood #swtor oc: saarai ahaszaai #swtor oc: ni'kasi ahaszaai #the ahaszaai twins #by brief/honorable mention #i mean they're asleep but they're there skhskhskdn #i *do* have a much shorter oneshot that was basically just before this during the whole ''shit we gotta RUN'' phase #but from baby saarai's point of view #i just originally wrote it for zephyrverse lore so i will prob have to do some editing b4 i can post it too but maybe one day LMAO #and i do have an idea for a oneshot some fluffy mother-daughter bonding #that i might work on next once i've worked on some owed art stuff next week #as a counter-balance to this angst-hammer bc it really is one #i'm sorry #i got carried away lmao #i want u all to know that writing this hurt me just as much as it's prolly gonna hurt u to read ;-;#but at the same time i also...am v proud of it?? i like this one a lot o.o

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hermitcraftheadcanons · 4 years

Text

Zombie Apocalypse AU Masterpost

"There are a few groups that aren't aware of each other's existence. (Architechs, NHO, Convex, ect.) The NHO are made up of all men from millitaries across the globe. Cleo isn't a zombie either, she is a zombie whisperer. She can communicate slightly with zombies and they aren't usually negotiable."

(Paraphrased,) from @creator0fchaos' Zombie Apocalypse AU entry for The Follower Input AU.

Headcanons to start us off:

-Convex were two men from a small buisness. Jellie is also around but she's injured and is mostly carried around by Scar.

-Etho got bit pretty early on and everyone in the NHO knows they're gonna have to do something about it but they're putting it off. Etho seems fine.

-Bdubs is slowly going completely feral. (Possible reference to season 5's jungle feral?) DocM joked he had rabies and the two got into a fight.

-Iskall lost his eye after Mumbo accidentally slashed him with a knife while trying to protect Grian from a hoarde. Iskall ended up getting lumped in with the Architech group because Mumbo feels super guilty about it.

-Xisuma and Keralis came into contact with the NHO for a bit. Keralis and Bdubs nearly became friends but Beef and Doc scared em away. Angst.

-The zombies fear False.

-XB originally planned to just stay in his house and not go out. He was prepared, okay? He had tinned food to last him at least a decade, zombie proof armour and god knows what else supplies. His friend, Hypnotizd, is fleeing to there because he knows XB knows what he's doing.

-Wels wears armour because it's the best he had. Same with Biffa and Xisuma. In this AU, they probably wouldn't be wearing armour if not given the circumstances.

-Jevin has turned this into a game to kill as many zombies as possible.

-Impulse, Tango and Zedaph are all just having a good time trying to survive in the woods. Their main goal is to open a tin of beans Zed has but they don't have a tin opener.

-Rendog found a tin of dog food while scavenging. He was hungry and ate it. He now has an addiction to tinned dog food.

-Wels wears medieval armour in the zombie au because at one point he was trapped in a museum by a horde and like, the armour was technically there. On display. No one was using it.

-Etho wears the mask as kind of a mental reminder not to bite his friends.

-Joe and Stress are hanging with Cleo and even if the small group isn’t the best equipped or prepared, they have thrived thanks to Cleo’s ability to whisper to zombies. It might not stop the zombies but it buys the group time to escape.

–Zombie!Etho is hiding the fact that he’s turning, if not already turned into a zombie, from the rest of the NHO because he loves being with his friends. The problem is that it’s getting harder every day to control himself and he’s constantly fighting between telling the rest of them about it, and having them put him out of his misery to keep them safe, or just keep hiding it, afraid that one day it’ll be too late he won’t be able to control himself and bite them all.

-Someone gets like a really bad case of the flu, this is problem because usually survivors have to stay in the move consistently to survive and that’s hard when someone is really sick, it also bad because all pharmacies have been raided and there’s no medicine.

-Grian originally came from Sam and Taurtis's group but due to Sam's insanity, Grian pulls away and went surviving on his own. That when Mumbo came to photo and knowing that he won't survive the zombie wasteland alone, Grian took it as his task to convince Mumbo make a partnership with him.

-Joe was playing D&D when the outbreak started, and Cleo was in his group. They treat it as a game sometimes, though they toned it down a bit when Stress joined because she was still grieving Iskall. Stress makes them stay around where she lost Iskall, but Joe and Cleo don't mind because she has a base set up there.

-For no fault of his own, the nHo crumbles while doc is in control. They had been losing members for a while but when beef, Bdubs, etho, and doc part ways it’s the draw the broke the camels back, so doc is the only one left of the nho, the rest of them, having either left or died. Doc blames himself for everything going so wrong.

-For the zombie AU because nobody's representing my boy X: Xisuma is known as a master at evading the zombies (he can fight them well if needed but he is best at avoiding incidents altogether). He claims to wear the mask for practical reasons, but what the others don't know is that it hides how terrified he is. He hides his fear because he doesn't want people to lose confidence in him, but getting turned and losing control of his mind is his worst nightmare.

-TFC’s gone for a bunker theme for s6+s7, so maybe, he finds a nHo member, and just drags them down into his bunker, probably chewing them out for walking around alone?

-For the zombie au is ethos mask like a medical one, or was he in a kakashi cosplay for some reason and kept it because all the pockets were practical and then started wearing the mask because he got infected.

-After Stress and Iskall reunite, Joe and Cleo join the Architechs. False joins them after seeing Cleo whisper to the zombies and realizing that the group severely lacks fighters. I need the hermits to (at least mostly) get together!

-TFC is obviously a disaster prepper who has a fully furnished bunker that can house a lot of people. He has been broadcasting this to other survivors using a radio. Unfortunately, he lives in the middle of nowhere and it is a trek to get there, but the Vault (as he calls it) is self-sustaining. (I know this is obvious, but nobody has done anything with TFC yet, and that's a shame)

-Even though he’s scared about not being alert enough to protect his team, Xisuma hides his sickness, which is easy with the helmet, because he’s the leader and he can’t be weak. Due to the pain of the flu and the heat of fever staying trapped inside his helmeted eventually falls to his knees and breaks down.

-Mumbo is wearing a suit because he was on his way to a job interview when the outbreak started, he just never bothered to change clothes.

-Etho used to love making up little tunes, and that hasn't changed since he was bitten. Nevertheless, the others in his group haven't heard him make music since. He blames a lack of instruments because of being on the run from zombies. The morning after he left, though, they find an old recorder where his sleeping bag was, and once they hit play they're greeted with songs in a familiar style, backed by improvised instruments.

Even without saying anything they *know* what had happened, and the recorder is taken along on their journey to a safe haven. Sometimes, when the feeling of missing their friend gets too much, they put on the music in the evening and just allow themselves to cry.

-Well, i was thinking maybe stress was a loner, but like, not completely alone, she was with someone else, probably Cleo or Iskall, but they got bit, she felt too bad to kill them so she wanders around with a zombie friend on a madeup leash, sorry if it sounds sad but i like angst and it seemed like a good headcanon -🐿️

-TFC is the one to get to Beef and break down the wall he had built up after a while of wandering alone after breaking off from the nHo. He finds Beef fighting a group of zombies and after observing how violently Beef was hacking down the zombies, TFC did not see a hardened fighter, but a broken man and went to talk with him.

-Alternate timeline idea when grian was still traveling with Sam and tortoise. Sam end up doing something that results in grian and tortoise getting bitten, because of that Sam leaves them. Now grian is not a normal zombie he doesn’t crave human flesh but rabbit flesh because he’s so hell-bent on getting revenge for what Sam did to him and tortoise, tortoise ends up tagging along. Cleo ends up finding them and discover their not normal zombies and inviting them to stay with her group.

-For the zombie apocalypse AU, RE: Cleo and Joe's DND game - imagine them going into a fight and just screaming "ROLL INITIATIVE!"

-Ok but imagine if like that one anon said, grian was already a zombie but like, one that only wants animals. I imagine they could probably get him to behave normally and imagine the mumbo turning angst but grian is already a zombie and just helps him not loose himself.

-For the Zombie Au, instead of killing Mumbo before he turns, the group locks him in a room and leave him there in hopes that they can bring him back once theres a cure. Whether or not, Mumbo wants to be saved is up to you. If Cleo's still in the group then you could have her "talk" to Zombie Mumbo for bonus angst.

-After finding out that Etho's still out there, Beef becomes more determined than ever to help find a cure. In the bunker he often ends up buzzing around Scar and Cub, desperate for something to do to help. It can get a bit awkward but they understand he's just desperate to see his friend again and are usually able to provide small tasks to help him keep his mind busy (with something other than worrying for Etho) while they continue working toward a cure.

(All those above in red are from our community's lovely Anons!)

-Vintagebeef was the first to notice something was off about Etho. He asked Etho about it but Etho assured him he was fine. Beef asked, 'what if you spread it to the other people in group?' Etho claimed that 'if it was contagious without physical contact, everyone would have caught it by now.'

-Speaking of Vintage Beef, he feels the most lonely and hopeless out of all the NHO members. Etho is probably gonna die from being a zombie soon. Bdubs and Doc are always at each other's throats and Beef fears one of them may accidentally kill the other. He's terrified that he may be the only one left.

-Hypnotizd is the most likely to be bit next. Dude’s running to XB’s house basically defenseless until he gets there, we have no clue how far he has to travel.

(-@tomcatacaphe.)

-You could very easily bring s5 nho angst into this au... Etho leaves to protect his friends from himself, Beef leaves because he can't bare to see his friends fight so much, Bdubs and Doc get in a fight and Bdubs storms off, and Doc is left to try and lead the nho by himself (since you said it's a kind of paramilitary thing here). Ouch.

-Knowing Mumbo's love for bunkers and the dragon bro bunker from s6, the architechs have probably settled somewhere underground to have a somewhat normal life. And, given the combined tech prowess of Iskall and Mumbo, they could easily rig up defence systems to help.

-in regards to that ask about X getting ill, maybe that's where Keralis joins him! He's totally the type to stay with you when sick! :D

-Continuing from that anon, if I may. So far we have Griam, Mumbo, Iskall, Stress, Joe, Cleo, and False all living together... The chaos xD ! You could even bring in hermit challenges as smth they make to, y'know, lighten the mood :D

(-@rebloging-extravaganza.)

-OOF I never thought about Taurtis wandering alone but that's sad. Iskall was also originally with Stress. They are wandering together until a snow storm separates them. Iskall finds Mumbo and Grian and then Mumbo thought he was a zombie cause this man just came out of nowhere. Grian and Mumbo took him in. When Iskall came back to the place where him and Stress gets separated, they saw each other again. What's the first thing he did? He hugged the hell outta her.

-Stress was tired cause the next thing she knew after the storm is that she’s alone. So, she thought for the worst, she thought Iskall was dead. She made a small shelter in the place, tamed a lot of dogs and even made a gravestone for Iskall.

When Stress saw him, her first thought was to get the weapon from the sheath and attack but Iskall started talking. The next thing she knew was she is crying and hugging him tight.

(-@penumbra-rui.)

-After Beef leaves the nHo, he becomes quite a loner. He gets a nickname from other groups even though they don’t know who he is: the Butcher. He gets the name because when groups are being seized down by dozens of zombies, Beef comes in and kills the zombies - every single one - with only his token bloodied apron left behind, waving on a stick. He has hundreds of those aprons and is never seen killing the zombies by the besieged groups.

-When Impulse runs away, he runs into BDubs while in a run down brick building with part of it having been blown up in what looks like a plane bomb. The building seems to have been a local demolition business known simply as ‘Boomers.’

-Before the apocalypse began, Scar was an upper level agent of the FBI tasked with protecting top level cancer researchers across the United States. One of those top cancer researchers was patient 0 and was the original discoverer of the zombie infection (patient 0 was not a Hermit). However, Scar believes it’s his fault for not having intervened when he could have. It’s now his mission to find a way to fix it. He comes across business mogul Cub, who may have the funds to help.

-https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618407386827423744/hypno-has-been-living-with-xb-for-the-last-two XB and Hypno meet: A post too long to copy paste here.

(-@creator0fchaos.)

-After Tango explodes the beans Impulse claims he’s leaving. Z and T think he just kidding but when they wake up the next morning Inpulse is gone. Now Zed and Tango are on a mission to find impulse while also terrified that he’s been bit.

-Continuation of the impulse leaves thing, tango and Zed find and save him just in time. They all reunite and are happy. The problem is that Zed was bit in the process, for now he’s binding it, because tango and impulse were so happy to be reunited and zed didn’t want to ruin it.

-Zed never ends up telling his friends that he was bit, the figure out themselves a few days after it happens. At first they’re mad that zed hid it from them, telling him how he could have turned and hurt them. But a minute late they break down in tears realizing what the bit means for them all. They will discuss what to do in the morning but for now they will grieve.

-Even more of the zit story: In the morning they decide to keep zed around until he really starts turning, they will then kill him so he’s not a zombie, zed protests this wanting them to kill him now, fearing for the other’s safety, but he’s actually really happy to have a bit longer with his friends. Impulse feels guilty because this never would have happened if he hadn’t left, tango also feels guilty because if he never exploded the beans, then impulse wouldn’t have left and zed would be fine.

(-@lookitsspacekween.)

-Xisuma is known as a master at evading the zombies (he can fight them well if needed but he is best at avoiding incidents altogether). He claims to wear the mask for practical reasons, but what the others don't know is that it hides how terrified he is. He hides his fear because he doesn't want people to lose confidence in him, but getting turned and losing control of his mind is his worst nightmare.

-Xisuma could be that person who gets the flu from an earlier submission! It would really scare him because of not being as alert or functional to avoid the zombies. I feel like he doesn't have a set group of people he stays with, so someone would probably find him holed up somewhere with a bad fever and decide to stay with him.

-If Mumbo ever gets bitten his zombie form is his cursed skin from after he sold his bits, it NEEDS to be lol.

-I came here to post immune!Rendog only to find that someone already did! Anyway, Ren is immune, which is good because the man gets bitten A LOT (the diggity dawg is not the best fighter). I feel like he gets lost and comes across the NHO base, and Doc won't let him in at first because he's covered in bites. He probably puts him in a containment cell out of typical Doc paranoia but eventually figures it out.

-Doc tried his hardest to be distant with Ren (because he thought he was going to turn/die soon and didn't want to get attached) but Ren just asks questions and talks 24/7 until Doc gives in and talks to him out of loneliness. Doc probably keeps him in containment for a really long time, first for fear of him turning and then because he's afraid Ren will leave (like everyone else left him.)

-Ren is very calm and cheery through the whole containment thing because he FULLY believes this is all a dream. Like, okay, this German robot man says I'm going to die in a week? Cool! Have to remember to write this one down when I wake up. Doc cannot convince him otherwise and it frustrates him to no end (when he does realize it's real though he's going to have a full breakdown.)

-Mumbo focuses in way too hard when he's working and blocks out everything else. If he gets bitten it will be because he was too absorbed in a redstone project and forgot to check his surroundings.

-When Mumbo gets bitten, Grian makes it his duty to comfort him and keep him calm until the end. Iskall, however, is overcome by guilt. He had been out for supplies when it happened; usually it was his job to watch Mumbo's back while he worked, alternating between fighting zombies and giving jokingly snarky commentary on Mumbo's redstone. He definitely blames himself and won't let the others out of his sight afterward.

-A break from angst! Zombie whisperer!Cleo's talents work by communicating with the infection in the zombies' bodies. Immune!Rendog has the infection, it just doesn't affect him in a dangerous way. Therefore, Cleo is now a Ren whisperer. Hilarity ensues.

-Once Xisuma starts feeling a bit better, he organizes his group to dig underground tunnels for people to travel with less chance of zombie attack (construction Keralis is a big help!) The leadership comes naturally to him, and the hard work is a good way of building up his strength again. Working late into the night on the tunnels is also the perfect excuse not to sleep....

-(post-cure). It takes several weeks, but Doc finally manages to find Etho. When he receives the cure his first words are "Thank you" and "I'm so sorry" (like a true Canadian). While his mind is returned to him, some parts of his body are too decayed to be salvaged, but that's no obstacle for Doc. He builds custom cybernetics and eagerly welcomes his old friend back to the land of the living.

(-@shadeswiftdraws.)

-Mumbo, being really good with redstone, obviously has anti-zombie weapons he made himself. One day he goes out scavenging to find Grian fighting zombies armed with only a large hunting knife, a sledgehammer (probably from whatever build he was working on at the time of the outbreak), and his tiny gremlin speed and agility. (-@my-cat-is-a-bastard.)

-One of the Hermits (up to you which one) is somehow immune to the zombie virus. The catch: they don't know until they get bit. Them and the rest of their group is scared and prepares to kill them when the transformation is complete, but it never happens. The scientist of their group does a couple of tests and discovers their immunity!

-I was thinking about it for a bit, and I doesn’t seem like there’s been much done with Ren... (besides eating dog food lol)

-Happy ending time 'cause I can't stand seeing them all turn! Once Doc realizes Ren is immune, they venture out trying to find another group to create a cure. After gathering some/most of the other Hermits, they come across Scar, and they work on and create a cure/vaccine. The rest of the Hermits take it, and maybe they're even able to cure Etho and the other zombified Hermits! (Sorry if this is too cheesy/happy; I just want everything to be okay, y'know?)

-All everyone speaks of are the physical changes, but one must set the record straight: No matter how horrifying the outward changes are, the mental and emotional ones are far worse. Your friend’s behavior will take a turn for the worse. They’ll become more aggressive, more impulsive, less cautious. They’ll start fights for a laugh, they’ll yell and thrash and scream at the mildest inconvenience, their mind will devolve and fade away. By the time you must say your goodbyes, they will no longer be the friend you knew. They will be childish, angry, insane, and horrible in every way. Even if they fight the illness and outer changes, their behavior will still be impacted and subject to change.

Be wary of this if you choose to let your friend live, and prepare not only your body, but your mind, for the worst.

-Patient Zero could be GenerikB.

(-@12u3ie.)

-I feel like team ZIT keeps putting off taking care of Impulse. Like Etho, Impulse just keeps fighting the changes. They all expect him to wither away, fall down and die one day, isn't that how it always goes?, but that's not how the infection works. They don't get sicker and weaker, in fact most of the people who die from one bite actually die from gangrene and/or septic shock. (Human mouths are GROSS.) But our boys don't know this. They've taken good care of his bite, even if it felt pointless at first, and avoided infection, and as a result he's physically completely healed now. So they end up never NEEDING to kill Impulse, but at what cost? He's constantly anxious about losing control. He can barely even sleep, what if it makes him sleepwalk and he bites his friends then? Tango and Zedaph see him changing still. They see his skin getting pale and dull, his eyes growing hollow, even see he's losing a lot of weight, but they put it up to his sleeplessness, to how they have to remind him, almost force him to eat real food. What sort of life does Impulse really have now? Is it really better to just end it? (What if he and Etho meet?)

Sorry, I've just seen the way this subversion of the Zombie Bite = Zombie Dead trope is going with Etho, and I HAD to get bitten!Impulse in on it as well. Now I can't stop thinking about exactly how this virus works, so I'm gonna hit post before I get WAY too into it and make a text wall.

-https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618456845293633536/the-first-thing-you-notice-is-the-bite-it-stings How the virus works. (Tw gore, worms.)

(-@basaltdragon.)

-Bdubs definitely slept through the beginning of the apocalypse and had no idea what was going on for a while. He just kept doing his normal thing until someone told him what was happening. (-@miss-oleum.)

-I saw a post that mentioned Taurtis in the zombie apocalypse au, so I think this idea would be cool? I think from context clues Etho and Beef are kinda traveling together, but what if they run into Pause! Pause is super stoked to finally be around people in this mess (Team Canada, no less!!) but the dread kicks in when he notices the look in Etho's eyes, and how much paler he is than usual. Maybe he even notices the signs before Beef (who prolly def. noticed but is in severe denial about it). (-@853dragons.)

-https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618477192694939648/you-know-what-im-just-going-to-add-my-2-cents-on

-To the surprise (and delight) of everyone in the Bunker, Beef is a deasent Redstoner. He's still a bit rusty at it tho. But he Knows how to work around those dust if he put his mind it. And after the... Insident with Mumbo, they need all the help they can get with the Redstone. And the first time he fix a redstone contraption on his own he said to his spectators (any Hermit of your choice), "What? You thought I was all Beef but no Brains?"

(-@tearosepedall.)

And now, Writing!

-It's the hunger that's the worst. Gnawing and ever-present, no matter what he eats, he can't escape the emptiness that's settled into his stomach. Etho stares dully down at the can someone - probably Beef - had pushed into his hands, before spearing a handful of syrupy fruit and swallowing it. It does little to satiate the hunger crawling through his every being. And why would it? It's not fruit he's hungry for anymore. (Anon.)

-Fear curls around him like an unwanted friend, a fiend of mist and smoke that blankets his nerves and quickens his heart. He stares dully at the scene before him, at the massacre his group had just barely avoided, as an awful storm of what-ifs swirl through his mind. His hands shake. "X?" Someone asks, "Are you okay?" Xisuma sucks in a deep breath, curls his hands into fists, and turns towards Keralis. "I'm fine," he lies. (Anon.)

-"Hello there. If you are listening to this, we are gone and long forgotten. This base of ours is yours to use now. I'm sure there'll still be some supplies and cans of food left-" "Not if I eat them first!" "Gr- Grian! I'm recording!" "I know that, you spoon." Grian took a few steps forward and stuck his face up to the camera lens. "Hi there!" "Grian! This is serious work." "C'mon, we're always serious! What's wrong with a little bit of fun during the zombie apocalypse?" (12u3ie.)

-(Biffa's POV) I met Xisuma a couple weeks ago. He saved my life, and I joined his crew. We're good friends now, and I hope he trusts me. It just seems like there's something off about him, but not in a zombie way. The way he hesitates before saying he's fine, how his eyes widen for just a moment before battle... the way he mumbles in his sleep about an evil counterpart... (12u3ie.)

-Hands corral him, pushing him forward. Mumbo twists and writhes, trying to escape from the iron grip pulling him forward. Where his tongue still capable of forming complex sounds, he would be protesting vehemently. Nowadays, words are harder to come by, too clunky and heavy for his tongue to try. As it is, he can barely even manage the word no. 'I don't want this!' He screams, but only Cleo spares him a glance. Her eyes shine, wet with tears and pity that turns his stomach.

"We'll find a cure," Someone else promises. From a haze of shattered memories, a face forms. It takes another moment for him to remember a name. Grian. His voice is flat, toneless, but edged with iron and a promise. With one final pull, he's dragged into the windowless room, lined with lockers and benches. Mumbo's breath rattles heavily in his chest, as the iron door swings shut behind him. "I'm so sorry." Whispers seep through the thin walls. "I can't believe he bit Ren." (Anon.)

More to be added!

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withoutmonsters · 4 years

Text

My Body Yearns (and Turns for A Sleep that Won’t Ever Come)

tags: Harringrove, post s2, pre-s3. pre-slash, implied/referenced child abuse, underlying internalized homophobia, pining!fic.

link to ao3

There was a monster out tonight. And not just any monster, Steve thought, eyes scanning over the snow-coated shapes of trees looming in the night, it’s the kind of monster that will kill me if I stop.

The words were peculiarly clear in Steve’s mess of a brain, warring between the sheer panic of a late-night attack, and the calm exhaustion of giving up and dying. He knew they were gone; had gone back to the lab like everyone else at one point just to see the wall that used to be the gate.

But that never stopped the feeling like something was watching him, and he was sick to death of the twisty-turny squirrelly feeling itching at the back of his head most nights. Patrolling was the only thing that kept it at bay, for short periods of time, so he’s out here, and he’s looking for monsters, and he hoped to god that if he found one, he might actually be smart enough to kill it.

He was expecting demodogs, but what he found was Billy. Shaking and shivering and looking half-dead.

Steve cursed, jumping out of his car, taking in Billy’s split lip and wavering form.

Billy slurred through his chattering teeth, “Stevie? What the fuck?”

Steve wanted to ask that very same thing. “Jesus, man, you’re frozen! What are you doing out here?”

Billy sneered like he was a professional at it. “What’s it to you, pretty boy?”

Steve gritted his teeth, trying not to let out a very incredulous scream. A particularly icy gust rushed over them, and Billy shivered violently. Steve thought that he could actually see his body temperature falling. Billy wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather—just his denim jacket over a thick shirt.

“Alright,” Steve said. “That’s it. Get in the car.”

Billy raised his eyebrows. “Why should I?”

“Because you’ll freeze to death if you don’t,” Steve snapped. “In the car, Hargrove.”

Billy raised his chin, like he was going to protest—because of course he was—but Steve didn’t let him, crowding uncomfortably close, laying his warm hand on Billy’s frigid cheek. It felt like ice. Billy flinched, drawing back slightly. Steve moved closer, breath ghosting over Billy’s lips, trying not to notice the green-blue of his eyes, how he imagined that they were the exact color of the ocean on a sunny day.

“Get in the car,” he whispered, not nicely.

Billy got in the car.

When they got back to Steve’s place, it was apparent that there was more wrong with Billy than just near-frostbite. He moved with an odd sort of shuffling stumble, ginger and soft. Steve frowned at him.

Billy raised a belligerent eyebrow. “So, Harrington? You got me alone.”

It was obviously supposed to be a dig couched in flirty words. That was Billy’s main modus operandi when it came to Steve—flirtatious come-ons said so aggressively that they sounded like insults.

“You need to dry off,” Steve said, “I’ll get you something warm to wear.”

“I’m not taking my clothes off,” Billy snapped.

“Yes, you are,” Steve stepped closer, feeling like he was looming over Billy. There was something that seemed small about him. Vulnerable.

Steve wasn’t usually one to initiate space-sharing. No, that was Billy’s role in their relationship—hip-checks in the hall and grinding during gym. But Steve was just really done with Billy’s bullshit tonight.

“I’m not letting you freeze to death in my house, Hargrove.” He tugged at the hem of Billy’s shirt. It was soft and worn and thick under his fingertips. “Off.”

He didn’t wait for Billy to comply, instead turning and marching up the stairs. When he got back downstairs, sweats and a thick comfy sweater in hand, Billy was shirtless in his living room, looking like he was about to murder somebody. A distant part of Steve’s brain noticed his expression and was alarmed, but Steve pushed it aside. He liked not being afraid of Billy, if only for a little while.

There was a stark bruise forming over Billy’s solar plexus, looking fist-shaped. Another on his stomach, bigger and meaner.

Billy’s face twisted when he noticed Steve looking.

“What happened?”

“None of your fucking business, Harrington,” Billy snarled, pushing right up in Steve’s face. And just like that, their normal dynamics were restored.

“It looks like it hurts,” Steve said, quieter than he meant to be.

“It doesn’t,” Billy snapped.

Steve snorted, shoving the clothes into his hands. “I’ll get something for it while you change.”

He darted to the upstairs bathroom, taking his time a bit so that Billy would have some privacy to shuck his snow-soaked clothes. When he returned, Billy was looking a bit like a drowned rat, wet hair limp from the moisture outside, snowflakes nearly all melted and ruining any volume he might’ve achieved. His jeans were in a heap by his feet, sweats tugged over his hips, bunching because they were slightly too long. His expression twisted in a deep scowl; he was still shirtless.

Steve popped open the tin of balm in his hands. He had gotten it after his fight with Billy, finding that it helped with soreness and swelling. He dipped two fingers in, scooping up some, and then reached out, smearing the balm over the bruises. Billy flinched. His skin was, a little surprisingly, hot like a furnace under Steve’s fingertips. Steve rubbed it in, trying to ignore the fact that Billy had crazy muscle definition. Steve stepped back, wordlessly recapping the tin. A muscle popped in Billy’s jaw as he gritted his teeth, but he didn’t say anything. He just pulled Steve’s sweater over his head. It was thick knit fabric, worked in a cable pattern, ordered from Ireland. It was one of Steve’s coziest and warmest sweaters. It leant Billy a strangely homey vibe, like he was getting ready to settle in for the night after a long day of doing—something. Steve cut himself off, trying not to think about how, even in shapeless sweats, Billy still looked like a model.

“Fire’s in the den,” Steve murmured, voice thick.

Billy sneered. “You keep a fire going when you’re not home?”

“It’s gas, asshat,” Steve snapped, storming ahead and flipping the key to get the fire started. It blazed to life with a whoosh.

He heard shuffling behind and saw Billy still doing that ginger-walk into the room, eyes darting everywhere. He immediately looked at the fire, and—reluctantly, Steve saw—went over to it. But it was clear real damn fast that no matter how much Billy didn’t like needing anything, he needed warmth. His skin, still cold, was gaining a slight flush from the fire. Billy sunk down in front of it, looking oddly young. Steve supposed it was his feet—they were bare, tucked under him as he kneeled. It made him look about five years old and gave Steve the strange urge to go get him a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and whip cream.

Steve didn’t, instead sitting in one of the chairs and leaning his head into his palm. He was irrevocably tired, as he always was, and the warm fire combined with the fact that he wasn’t alone was enough to push him—unwillingly, teeth-gnashingly—into slumber.

When he woke up, Billy was gone.

#harringrove #stranger thi #post s2 #pre s3 #implied/referenced child abuse #Billy Hargrove #Steve Harrington

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pitubea1910 · 4 years

Text

Something Just Like This

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: 4k

Warnings: -

Tags: -

Request: -

Notes: I had this little thing on my mind that I wanted to share with you guys, I hope you like it! It is based on the Coldplay song Something just like this, which I can’t get out of my head lately :) Feedback is appreciated!

MASTERLIST

Growing up in Manhattan wasn’t as exciting as Gossip Girl pictured it to be. There were no parties every day, no gossip, no drama. At least not for you. Your parents had been quite strict since you were little, which meant that they hadn’t given you the freedom most of your friends had. It wasn’t like you wanted to do drugs or have sex at the age of 16, but you couldn’t help but feeling a bit left out every Monday morning at high school when all your friends talked about was last Saturday party.

That was probably the main reason why you moved out as soon as you could. And that was when you turned 18 and your parents allowed you to go to college in England. That first taste of freedom was much better than what you had expected. You could do anything you wanted, whenever you wanted and with whoever you wanted. Needless to say that you took full advantage of it.

You loved that life without your parents so much that, when you finally went back to New York, at the age 25, you told your parents you didn’t want to live with them anymore. Of course, they were enraged, but once you found a job that allowed you to pay for your own rent, they couldn’t find any other way to keep you at home. Eventually, they even contributed with your rent so you could afford a place that was ‘right for a classy woman like you are’, like your mum said.

At first, you even fought against it but who were you going to lie? You weren’t a fan of your neighbourhood in Queens. Neither you wanted to go back to Manhattan, but you found a lovely apartment in Brooklyn, with views to the Bridge, big windows and an open plan living room and kitchen. The moment you saw it, you fell in love with it and you didn’t want to visit any other apartment. By the end of the week, you were moving all your stuff into your new place.

Only if you knew how much your life was going to change thanks to that apartment.

You had been living in your Brooklyn apartment for two years when you met him. He happened to live in the building next to yours and your windows were in front of each other. The first time you saw him, putting boxes down in the room as he talked to a read-headed woman, you immediately recognised him: Steve Rogers, aka Captain America.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that you ran into him when you were coming home from the grocery store on a Sunday morning and he was coming back from a run. You weren’t even paying attention to the crosswalk, too busy trying to get your keys out of your pocket without dropping the bag of groceries.

“Do you need a hand with that?”

You looked up to find a pair of blue eyes looking at you with humour in them. You had got so used to see him from your window or on TV that it felt weird to have him standing in front of you. And it all was better because he was wearing one of those grey t-shirts you had seen him wearing so many times. The ones that looked too small for him, but he still could pull off effortlessly.

“Actually I do”, you finally said with a smile.

Without another word, he took the brown bag from your hand so you finally could take the keys from your pocket.

“Finally”, you said showing him the keys. “They were hooked on a loose thread”, you explained.

“I figured that much”, he nodded. “You live here, don’t you?” He asked pointing at the door of your building. You gave him a surprise look. “I’ve seen your through the window.”

“Okay…”, you chuckled, kind of glad that you weren’t the only one creepily looking through the window trying to catch a glimpse of him.

“And that was creepier than I expected”, he said with an awkward smile.

“Don’t worry”, you laughed. “I’ve seen you too”, you shrugged.

“I guess we’re a pair of creeps then”, he said making you laugh again. “Does the creep have a name?”

Smooth, you thought to yourself with a small smile.

“(Y/N) Holston”, you said and took some hair out of your face.

“Steve Rogers”, he said, although you already knew. “Do you need some help with this?” He asked lifting the bag he was still carrying.

“Oh, no”, you quickly said. “Don’t bother, I can take it.”

“It’s no bother”, he shrugged. “I can take it up for you.”

“I’m sure you have some avenging thing to do”, you said. He laughed out loud and nodded.

“Don’t worry”, he said. “No avenging today. The world looks pretty safe.”

You bite your lip, wondering whether to accept his help or not. He looked really nice and not creepy at all. And you had seen him so many times in his own bedroom that he felt almost familiar, so why not?

“Okay”, you finally said. “I can take the bag, though.”

“Then I wouldn’t have any excuse to keep on talking to you”, he said, walking with you to the door of your building.

“I didn’t know you were looking for an excuse”, you said, taking the right key and opening the door.

“I’ve been looking for one since I first saw you in your room, so don’t take it away from me”, he said with more confident than he actually felt.

The statement made your cheeks blush. You didn’t know what to say to that, so you just let him walk in first and followed behind. Although you were glad that you weren’t the only one wanting to talk to your neighbour and not knowing how. At least he had found a good excuse to do it and you were glad he had.

“Wow…” he said when he walked into the apartment after you made your way upstairs silently. “Fancier than it looks on the outside.”

“It was renovated a few years ago”, you told him and took the bag from his arms after closing the door. “Actually I was one of the first tenants here.”

“How long have you been here?” He asked, walking towards the big windows from where you could see the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Two years now”, you told him, taking the items out of the bag. “I was living in Queens for a time but I didn’t feel… like home, I guess.”

“I know a kid from Queens who’s actually pretty nice”, he said, now walking to the aisle that separated the living room from the kitchen.

“Yeah, people are nice”, you nodded. “But not my neighbours”, you chuckled. “Also, I’m closer to my job here.”

“What’s your job?” He asked.

“I’m a content writer and social media manager for a small magazine”, you said, now putting what you had bought in their right places.

“Sounds…busy”, he chuckled.

“It’s not that big of a deal”, you said with a smile. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Do you have beer?” He asked.

“I’m not a beer kind of girl”, you chuckled. “But I have white wine?”

“That will do”, he nodded.

You took a couple of glasses and put them on the aisle in front of Steve. Then, you took the bottle of wine from the fridge and took the cork off before pouring some into both glass.

“Fancy”, he said when you put the bottle back into the fridge.

“It’s a really cheap wine”, you laughed, leaning against the counter. “But I love it.”

“Tastes good”, he nodded. “Although I barely drink wine, except on elegant dinners and that kind of stuff.”

“Do you go to a lot of those?” You asked teasingly. He laughed.

“Sometimes we have to”, he admitted. “And some other times Tony forces me to go”, he shrugged, making you smile.

“You look good in a suit, though”, you shrugged. He raised both eyebrows while looking at you, making you blush.

Actually, the main reason you knew how he looked like in a suit was because your mum was always sending you articles about all the galas she went to and, of course, Steve Rogers had gone to many of them. You would be lying if you admitted that you didn’t look at his photos closely, but who could blame you? He did look good in a suit.

“I don’t live under a rock”, you shrugged. “I read the newspaper from time to time.”

“I see”, he nodded with a small smile. You took the glass to your lips so you didn’t have to say anything else. “Anyway, I was thinking”, he suddenly said after finishing his glass. “You seem to know how to behave in fancy environments, don’t you?”

“What makes you think that?” You asked with a laugh.

“First, this apartment”, he said making a gesture that covered the place. “I bet you work really hard but I think that a content writer slash social media manager salary can’t afford this, which means that you’re family is… in good places, am I right?”

“You’re not wrong”, you said, surprised at how observant he was.

You didn’t feel entirely comfortable saying that your dad had insisted on buying the apartment a year after you moved in. It made you feel like one of those Manhattan spoiled rich kids, which you weren’t. Not at all. All you actually had to pay were the bills and your salary was more than enough for it.

“Also, who drinks wine at noon instead of beer?”

“A lot of people!” You exclaimed making him laugh.

“Honestly, I just saw you getting out of a black Audi with a driver last week”, he finally said.

Last week had been your mum’s birthday, so you had spent a whole day with them. At the end of it, you were ready to wait for an Uber, but your mum had your family driver -Albert- drive you home.

“Okay, fine”, you finally said, knowing there was no point on denying anything. “I was born in Manhattan. Rich family and all. I left to study in England and when I came back I didn’t want to keep on living with my parents, so I found a place in Queens.”

“But you didn’t like it”, he said, remembering what you had previously said.

“Exactly”, you nodded. “I found this apartment, which rent was way cheaper than what you probably think”, you said making him chuckle. “And I moved here. Anyway, my father has never liked me paying for anything so he bought the whole apartment a year after I moved”, you shrugged.

“Wow”, he said surprised.

“I know”, you sighed. “I’m not proud of it but at least I pay the bills and groceries and everything I can afford. So, to answer your question, I basically grew up in fancy environments. My mum used to drag me along to every single gala or whatever thing she had going on.”

“I think it’s great, to be honest”, he shrugged. “It doesn’t look like your father gave you too many options when he bought this place, so I think it’s admirable that you still work to pay the bills.”

“I hate owing him anything, so it’s the least I can do to have as much freedom as possible”, you explained. “Anyway, why did you ask?”

“You’ll probably say no and I completely understand”, he said. “But… Tony is holding another charity event at the MoMa this weekend and I have to be there, but I don’t want to go alone, you know?”

“The Stark Foundation MoMa Gala?” You asked, your boss had been going crazy trying to find someone to get into the gala to write an article about it.

“That’s the one”, he nodded. “Would you come with me?”

“Actually… my boss would love me if I could get in it”, you said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want you to think that I’m taking advantage or something”, you quickly said.

“Don’t worry”, he smiled. “It didn’t even cross my mind. So… would you?”

“Of course”, you nodded with a smile. “I’d love to be your date.”

“Is it a date?” He said, his smile bigger.

“I guess it is”, you shrugged, blushing once again.

That weekend you went together to the MoMa gala and it wasn’t the last time you had a date. You ended up getting together most nights of the week, either at his apartment or at yours, although mostly it was at yours. You would watch movies, cook together, play board games, any time off you both had was spent together.

So it was just a matter of time before something else happened and it did just a month later. You had been at Steve’s apartment since you came back from work and it was when you were saying goodbye at his door, that he finally took his chance and kissed you. It was a short and tender kiss, but it was enough to open the door for many more.

In two months you were officially dating and in three months he finally took you the Stark Tower to meet everyone. You couldn’t remember being more nervous than you were that day. Walking out of the elevator to find Natasha Romanoff, Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson just playing poker was something you never thought you would see, but they welcomed you into the family with open arms and soon you were playing poker with them.

Six months after meeting him, you thought you couldn’t be happier and neither did Steve. He was hanging in his apartment, picking up the clothes he would use for his date with you that night. You had called him that morning to tell him that you had managed to get tickets to go to the movies that night so it was only a matter of time before you arrived from your work to head to the cinema.

“You look like a little girl before her first date”, Bucky, who was with Steve in his apartment, said as he watched his best friend trying to decide which shirt would be better for that night.

“Leave me alone”, Steve said with a smile. He finally decided he would use the navy one, knowing how much you loved that colour on him.

“You really like her, right?” He asked. Steve smiled and nodded.

“I do”, Steve said. “I’ve never felt this happy, Buck. She… she completes me”, he tried to explain.

“I’m happy for you”, Bucky nodded. “But be careful.”

“Why?” Steve asked confused.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt, that’s all”, Bucky shrugged.

“(Y/N) would never hurt me.”

Bucky sighed and looked down at his shoes. That was Steve’s problem. Ever since the 40s he always thought that everyone was just good. It didn’t matter everything they had gone through, what he had gone through, he still through there was good in everyone.

“You’re the Captain America, Steve”, Bucky said.

“So?”

“What if she just likes the strips?”

“She’s not like that”, Steve shook his head, although he had to admit that it had never crossed his mind.

“How do you know that?” Bucky asked.

“I thought you liked her”, Steve frowned, crossing his arms.

“I do, but I want you to be careful”, Bucky repeated. “Anyway, I have to go. Sam needs some help winning a bet”

Steve walked Bucky to the door, his head still spinning from what Bucky had said. You didn’t care about him being Captain America… you liked him because of Steve Rogers, not the superhero. But what if you did? What if he wasn’t the Cap anymore? Would you still like him?

He wasn’t the insecure type, but he had never liked anyone the he liked you, and he suddenly worried about you not liking him the way he liked you. Maybe the last six months hadn’t meant the same for both of you and the idea of that being true broke his heart.

Just then, he heard his phone buzzing on top of the table. It was probably you telling him you had already gone out of the subway and were five minutes away. He took the phone and, indeed, he found your name on the screen. You were a few minutes away and he didn’t feel like going anywhere. With a heavy heart, he looked for your number and called you.

“Hey there!” You said happily on the other side. “I’m just a block away. I’m thinking about buying some snacks before going to the cinema?”

“I’m sorry but I’m not going to be able to make it tonight”, he said all of sudden. There was a small silence in the line.

“Oh…” you finally said. “What happened?”

“Tony called for an urgent meeting at the Tower”, he quickly said, coming up with that lie way faster than he expected.

“Okay”, you sighed. “Don’t worry about it. See you tomorrow?”

“I have to go to D.C”, he said. “I think we are going to be there a couple of days.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot”, you said.

You spoke to him so many times throughout the day that it was easy to say when there was something off. And there was something really wrong at the moment. You only wished you could know what it was, but it looked like he wasn’t willing to share what was on his mind. At least for now.

“Then give me a call when you come back?” You asked, after a few minutes of silent, when you were already getting to your building.

“Sure”, he said. “I gotta go.”

Before you had the chance to say anything, he hung up. You frowned looking at the screen and then looked up at his building, where you knew his living room was, but there was no sign of anyone. Quickly, you made your way up to your apartment and headed towards your room to look at his apartment but, for the first time, you found the curtains completely closed, keeping you from seeing anything inside.

What was going on?

The next few days you barely heard from Steve. He sent you a quick text when he landed in D.C., but you didn’t know anything else until he arrived at his apartment. And it wasn’t like he had texted you or anything, you just saw the lights in his room. You checked your phone in case you didn’t have service, but it was working perfectly. However, you decided to wait, maybe he was just unpacking and taking a shower.

A couple of hours later he hadn’t said anything yet and you didn’t know if you should text him or just keep on waiting. It was impossible that he thought that you wouldn’t see the lights when you had spent the last six months checking for those lights in order to talk to each other. It had become a habit for both of you. Still, you decided that waiting was the best option. Maybe something was going on at the Tower and he was dealing with it.

But when you texted him next morning and he didn’t text back and you still saw him getting into one of Tony’s Audis from your window, you just knew that something was really wrong. The main problem was that there was no way to find out what it was. You hadn’t said anything to him to make him get mad at you, right?

There was only one way to find out. You had to go to his apartment and face him. But he didn’t come back. It only meant that you would have to go the Stark Tower. Even if that meant that you had to talk to him in front of the whole team you didn’t care, you had the right to know why your boyfriend was ignoring you.

After taking a shower and getting ready, you took your bag with your wallet, keys and phone and let your apartment when the Uber app told you that your ride was waiting. Luckily, the traffic wasn’t as horrible as usual and you made your way to the Tower in less than thirty minutes.

You would be lying if you said that you weren’t nervous about facing Steve, but you were more worried about what was going on and wanted to fix it. Whatever it took. You had gone to the Tower so many times that the security guards that were by the private elevator that went straight to the Avengers HQ let you in without any inconvenience. Definitely, being Steve’s girlfriend had its perks.

When you walked out of the elevator, you were surprised to see no one. Usually, there was always someone watching TV or reading a book or just hanging in the living room, but nothing. Still, you made your way into the place and waited until you heard some muffled voices coming from the kitchen. As you got closer, you recognised Steve’s and Bucky’s voices. You were going to just irrupt in there, but you stopped when you heard your name.

“You can’t hide from (Y/N) forever, Steve”, Bucky was saying.

“I’m not hiding”, Steve said.

“This is the first night you’ve spent here since you met her, are you going to say that’s a coincidence?” Bucky asked but there was no answer. “Look, sorry I said what I said. I was just worried about you.”

“But what if you were right?” Steve finally asked. You frowned as you listened closely. “What if Steve Rogers isn’t enough? What if who she really likes is Captain America?”

“That’s bullshit”, Nat’s voice suddenly spoke up. You didn’t even know she was in there. “She’s completely infatuated with you, Steve. I don’t think she even cares about the stripes and the shield.”

“How do you know that?” Steve sighed.

“Well, I don’t, but I have eyes and what I see is a girl in love with you. With Steve Rogers”, she said. “Has she ever talked about you as Captain America?”

“No…”, Steve said after a few moments. “Not really. All she has said was that she loves the navy suit.”

“Even I do”, Natasha said, making you almost laugh, but you didn’t. “If you’re so full of doubts, just talk to her, but stop hiding like a little boy.”

Before any of them walked out of the kitchen and saw you there, ears dropping, you made your way back to the elevator silently. So that was the problem. Steve thought he wasn’t enough. How could he even think that? And how could you prove that it was bullshit, just like Nat had said?

When you walked out of the Tower and headed to the subway to go back home, you texted Steve, telling him to go to your place that night. You two had to talk.

It wasn’t until he texted you back that you breathed again. You were a bit scared at the thought of him saying no, but he said he would be there at 9 p.m. You spent the rest of the afternoon on your computer, finishing some work-related stuff you hadn’t been able to finish at the office and you had to turn in as soon as possible. Before you realised it, it was eight o’clock and you hadn’t even showered nor made dinner.

Since you weren’t going to have time to make some proper dinner, you just decided to order some Chinese food from Steve’s favourite restaurant. If he was comfortable enough, he would be more willing to speak to you. Or so you hoped.

As always, Steve was punctual and at 9 p.m. sharp there was a knock on your door. The Chinese food had arrived a few minutes earlier so it was still hot, meaning he was just in time. When you opened the door, a smile appeared on your face. It had been only a few days since you had last seen him, but you just realised how much you had actually missed him.

Immediately, you wrapped your arms around his torso, hiding your face in his chest with a content sigh as he hugged you back. As nervous as you were, his presence was as comforting as always.

Steve had missed you like crazy. It didn’t matter how worried he was, how insecure he was feeling. The moment he felt you close, he felt complete again, like he was home. The scent of your hair, your warmth, your smile. You were everything to him and the thoughts that had been haunting him for the last days were a completely nightmare.

“I missed you”, you said.

“I missed you too”, he sighed.

“I ordered Chinese”, you said, finally letting him walk in.

“Ching Pao?” He asked, taking off his jacket.

“Always”, you nodded. “And extra rolls”, you added.

“You’re the best”, he said with a soft smile.

You spent a few minutes setting up at the table with dishes and glasses before you sat down at the table, in front of each other.

“How was D.C.?” You asked.

“Boring”, he said. “Meeting after meeting and a gala”, he added.

“I’m sorry you didn’t have your fancy reunion expert with you”, you said.

“I wish I had her”, he smiled at you, but you noticed that the smile didn’t reach his eyes. You sighed and looked down at your plate for a moment, you couldn’t wait anymore.

“What’s wrong, Steve?” You asked.

“What do you mean?” He asked, avoiding your eyes.

“Are we really going to do this thing when you pretend not to know what I’m talking about?” You asked. Steve sighed and put down his chopsticks.

“Do you like me being Captain America?” He asked. You narrowed your eyes and shrugged.

“I like that you are, I’m very proud of you, but it’s not what I like the most”, you replied.

“Then what is? What could you possible like about me besides who I am?” He asked.

“Are you saying that you’re not good enough if you’re not Captain America?” You asked. He didn’t reply, but when he looked away, you sighed. “Steve, I don’t care about it. If tomorrow you said you wanted to hang the suit and drop the shield, my feelings for you wouldn’t change.”

“How do you know?” He asked.

“Because, Steve, I’m not looking for a superhero. All I want is someone who’s there for me, someone I can kiss, someone I can turn to when I need him”, you said. “I’m looking for something…something just like this”, you shrugged. “And Captain America doesn’t give me that. Steve Rogers does”, you added.

Steve was looking down at his food the whole time. You had no idea how good your words were been to him, how much they meant. Just with them, you were fixing that crack that had appeared in his chest a few days ago.

“I fell for Steve Rogers, my neighbour, my best friend”, you smiled a little, reaching out to take his hand. “And I am incredibly proud of you for being Captain America, I really am. But you’ve been Captain America for a long time before we met and I didn’t fell in love with you until I met you.”

He finally looked up at you and couldn’t help but smile when he met your eyes. You had said “in love”, you were in love with him and he couldn’t express how much that meant for him. Finally, he got up from his chair and walked around the table to kneel next to you.

“I love you too”, he smiled, taking your hands in his. “And I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about”, you said, turning your body so you were facing him. “But next time you’re feeling worried about my feelings for you… why don’t you just tell me so we can avoid all this?”

“Noted”, he nodded.

With a smile, he placed a hand on your cheek and pulled you closer to him, sealing the deal with a kiss that had you both grinning into it like idiots.

“By the way”, you said. “I love you.”

“I know”, he smiled widely before kissing you again, deeper this time, making you both forget about the now cold Chinese food for the rest of the night.

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