#I want to put in links (pun slightly intended.)

[cafecourage]

Bet Idol!Reader is going to be so embarrassed when they find out every single one of the chain heard them as they played their games. Heard them say the dumbest things, heard them cry like a baby in some parts, and heard them sing. God, they probably annoyed the Link's so much with their singing!

Thinking this, Idol!Reader just covers their face and turns away from the chain, waiting for harsh words, but the Chain? They just start complementing Idol!Reader! Telling them their songs helped them on their adventures. Hearing this, Idol!Reader just squeaks and keeps their face covered, blushing bright red.

It gets worse when you think about how some people have crushes on their villains but lets hope nothing is heard on that end lololol. I have an ask that I’m sitting on that talks about what songs have been sang/ are the links favorite. I just haven’t been able to answer that.

When I do I want to revisit this one since there might be fun context with how they react

[icharchivist]

Name!Anon here and no,you did perfectly. I specifically asked because I wanted to hear your thoughts and I'm honoured you gave me a rant in return❤️ I also really loved the original Lucifaces naming post,very enlightening (pun intended) :D It shows how much thought was put into something as simple as their names. Perhaps Belial's name ending in -al as opposed to -el is to symbolize either Lucilius complete disinterest in him or how corrupted his obsession with his creator became? Just a thought

aaah i'm so glad 💕 i got worried for a bit ahah, i can get scattered when it hits just close enough from something i have Many Thoughts about

i'm glad you enjoyed the rambling! :D There's honestlys o much thought put into it it's truly fantastic.

And yeah right??? I did think so too.

Honestly Belial is a name with so many use for the thematic they decided to go through with this character. From Belial and Beelzebub both being character in Paradise Lost by John Milton that are associated with Lucifer's (as in, "Faa" there) rebellion against Heaven, and the meaning of "Belial" being "worthless", it already sets Belial up in this weird light we know him into, both by Faa's side, while considered lesser by his creator, especially compared to the "Luci-of-God" we have next to him.

But indeed, with the spelling that ends up taking a tongue and cheek meaning with Feru's spelling, it therefore sets Belial further apart from his creator. His suffix is still "-aru", so, he keeps the "-ru" mark that all the others have, but the "-a-" instead of "-e-" sound all the other have make it look slightly corrupted. Like, "of god, but a little to the left". And with this spelling the Japanese can get a little supplemental treat of still having Belial aligning with Faa's creation, but somehow still standing out, as if he's not exactly like the rest of them in some way.

and then (ofc as i mentioned in the post) we have the two angels who are the most disconnected from Faa himself, who are allies of Feru first, who are those ending in -on, Metatron and Sandalphon, completely dropping any pretense of belonging to Faa.

So we have the primarches who are all specifically "of God", and here, as Faa is trying to reach Godhood, basically appropriate himself all of them. We have Belial, who's still linked to this pattern, but just changed enough that he looks like an outsider, which fits with the thematic of his name, and the way Faasan has seen him. And Metatron and Sandalphon who are actual outsiders because they're not linked to the plans of Faa (or at least, not anymore) and are therefore their own beings.

I honestly can't tell how far they thought all of it through and how much is a pleasant coincidence, especially when it comes to Belial, but in the end it really fits the thematics so well it's just *chief kiss*

i love the naming convention of the gbf angels it's so cool.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the read at least <333 take care!

[lumiereandcogsworth]

Who’s your favourite between the servants?

this is both an easy question and a hard question!!! i think easily, it’s lumiere. he was actually who i cared most about for the first couple months i was in love with this movie all those years ago! lumiere was my BOY and plumiere was my otp <3 and i STILL love him and THEM so much of course, but i think clearly my focus has shifted sjdksj

but the thing is!!!! i love all of them for different reasons. and since adam and belle have become my focus, i like to look at each of their individual relationships WITH them!

i love thinking about lumiere AND plumette’s relationship with adam, especially growing up. i’ve written a small handful of fics about it, this one being my personal favorite, when adam’s eleven years old and lum & plum are a young couple. i just feel like they were the big brother and sister he never had, and often didn’t always fully appreciate. but they were always there for him and that remains true even post movie. AND of course i think they become such close and dear friends to belle! <3 i always write them as oncle lumiere & tante plumette (uncle and aunt) to adam & belle’s children. they’re a family!!!

(this scene makes me go insane. the history, the healed wounds, the forgiveness of it all…. anyway)

i also LOVE thinking about mrs. potts’ relationship with both of them. with adam, obviously, it’s been his whole lifetime. i think it’s safe to say potts was very much a surrogate mother to him, as much as she could be/was allowed to be, after his mother died. (which i personally headcanon that he was 9 when that happened. around 9 and a half actually but my timeline is far too outrageously detailed for that to matter.)

anyway i think something so important with potts and adam is that she’s always straight up with him. she’s honest even when it stings, even when he doesn’t want to hear it. like the scene in the movie when she’s like “oh, we can’t judge people by who their father is now can we?” like WHO else would have the boldness to bring up his father to adam. when it’s CLEARLY the sorest of sore subjects. but notice his reaction! he merely sneers at her, but overall (silently) admits she may have a point. it’s just such a clear and interesting factor of their relationship and i love exploring it in my pre- and post-canon works.

i personally headcanon that she was the one who told him when his father died (when he was 15, in my world). no one else wanted to touch it and the young prince at the time equally knew that. he asked her if he was dead and she told him “yes, he is.” (this is all from a big fic i wrote a couple years back but i’m not linking it because it’s a beast (pun slightly intended) of a fic. just trust me and my lore <3).

a fic i WILL very much link because i’m very proud of it is one post-canon, after adam and belle’s first daughter has been born. it’s one of the sweetest fics i’ve written and it highlights the caring relationship that potts and adam have now. gahh!! i love it so dearly.

i don’t know where else to put this note but: when belle danced with her father at the wedding, adam then danced with mrs. potts.

and a final note for potts, i think she becomes so important to belle too!! belle’s never had a mother figure in her life, and while maurice has been the most incredible parent and belle has wanted for nothing in that department, i still think she enjoys having potts to go to sometimes. for advice or just to pass the time. i have such a cute fic between them, actually when belle’s pregnant with their first daughter, and i think it does a good job of showing the cute relationship that’s developed between them <3

cogsworth is a KING and a LEGEND of course. i love that funny fussy man <3 i love him being something of an old uncle to adam, watching over him growing up and being a constant presence in his life. i read a fic a WHILE ago, forgive me for not remembering who wrote it but it’s probably very deep in my ‘#batb fic’ tag. anyway it made the lore that cogsworth was adam’s mother’s cousin, and she hired him as her head of household when she became queen so she could have some family with her. which i LOVE !!! i mean they’re all treated as family but i do love the idea that cogsworth is actually adam’s semi distant cousin-turned-great-uncle. anyway i love that guy, he definitely has very little patience for adam and belle’s brood of offspring, but he loves them dearly <3

i got so caught up in mrs. potts love that i forgot about chip!!!!!!!! i love that kid SOOO much. literally the cutest kid ever so jot that down. i honestly don’t think much about him in post-canon, mostly because it’s so hard to imagine him growing up. i often make the excuse that he’s away at school (adam generously and gladly paid for his education) or off traveling if it’s way in the future (idk i just feel like if you spent a bit of your childhood as a teacup you may grow up to have an urge to be free for a while). i think he Does have a really cute relationship with the adelle kids (and plumiere kids too!) but it’s just hard to imagine him older haha. i’ve written a tiny scene of him holding baby renée for the first time, but have not published it yet <3

but anyway, i love him. the first scene when maurice is in the castle and chip’s like “mum said i shouldn’t move, because it might be scary. sorry.” and maurice going “ :) it’s fine :)” and immediately running off ALWAYS makes me laugh. and later when mrs. potts says “i’ll tell you when you’re older” and he waits like two seconds and says “okay, i’m older! :D” how could you not love this kid. big love for chip my boy! and ACTUALLY i am gonna link a fic involving him because he deserves it. this fic is honestly one of my favorites of all my works. it is set just a month or two after adam and belle are married, so chip’s still a kiddo. there’s a big scene somewhere in the middle of the fic where belle and chip go play with his toy boats at the pond. they have a boat race and just hang out and it’s extremely beloved. enjoy yourself with that fic i love it sooo much.

shout out to the other staff members that get less attention! (even from me!) chapeau and cuisinier!! i do include them every now and then. i have beloved headcanons like chapeau is the one who taught belle & adam’s daughter juliette to play violin (she’s an accomplished violinist). and when belle is pregnant with all three kiddos she gets very wild cravings and will be in the kitchen at random hours making horrendous combinations of food that are perfect for her but cuisinier just has to stand there like :) because he can’t STOP his queen! he just has to let it happen as she mixes together ingredients that God never intended to ever mix. also i think the kiddos like to hide in the kitchen sometimes so they can sneak pastries and treats, and cuisinier is always on the look out for them and often has to shoo them out (but yes he still gives them treats because he can’t help it)

also special shout out to cadenza and garderobe who are EXTREMELY beloved, LOVE THEM SO MUCH, THEY INVENTED LOVE, but they’re not technically staff so they’re not ever in my fics!! i love them but i always imagine they’re off traveling and gracing the world with their incredible talent and perfect love :”) i headcanon that when they DO come back and visit the gang, there’s always a ball thrown in their honor. the whole family finally back together!! fun ladies tea with belle, potts, plumette, and garderobe. plenty of story-telling about all their travels from cadenza as well <3 but yeah don’t worry i love them so so so much and they’re the world renown incredibly talented couple that are beloved by all ✨

beloved :”)

[thedarkcoven]

This Is Not a Dream | Part Five

Playlist that keeps me motivated: Link Here MINORS DNI! 18+ Only! Contains NSFW Warning: Choking. Slapping. Mind manipulation. Hair pulling. Biting/marking (no pun intended lul). Slight Antisepticeye (Antisepticeye is readers friend/claimed reader as little sister). Jealous Darkiplier. Angst?. Some Sweet!Darkiplier. Rough Unprotected Sex. Demon Powers. Breeding Kink. Darkiplier’s cumslut. Pet/Master. Tie used as rope. Kidnapping. Dark!Nate/Natemare. Possessive!Darkiplier. Claw play. Overstim. Edging. Soft sex. Darkiplier wants to make you know who you belong to. Dom!Darkiplier. Breath play. Voice play. Oral sex (both m and f receiving). Daddy Kink. Darkiplier x Reader. Natemare x Reader. Taglist: -if you wish to be added please let me know <3 @the-craziest-lady @the-craziest-writer

Dark stood leaning against the doorframe as Nathan slept beside you peacefully, thoughts running in his twisted and demented head of his. You smiled as you carefully climbed out of the bed, the bed dipping slightly as your weight shifted. As Nate tossed and turned in the bed you froze before walking over to Dark, your hands running over his chest. "My pet is not sleeping... Why?" "I felt your presence. So I woke and saw you there watching me." You admitted, blushing slightly. "Did you enjoy your fun?" He asked brushing your hair back and standing straight. His dark eyes watching you closely. "Yes, sir." "Good." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours, holding you close. "Come with me. Let's have some fun for ourselves shall we?" Once you were in his room, he pinned you to the wall and kissed you passionately; gripping your hips and wrapping them around his while grinding into you slightly. Whimpers spilled from you as he kissed down to your neck and nipped here and there as the rough material of his pants rubbed against your sensitive folds, putting pressure against your bundle of nerves. Dark smirked against your flesh as he gripped your ass, leading you to the bed, and laying you there carefully before getting on his knees between your legs. Your face flushed as his eyes looked up at you while he ran his tongue against your folds in a long and slow-motion causing you to shutter. Dark pinned your hips down firmly as his fingers fanned out against your pelvic bone as he pushed two fingers from his other hand into you slowly while his tongue continued to abuse your overly sensitive clit. You couldn't help but moan loudly and squirm at the overwhelming sensation as he finger fucked you and sucked and licked at your clit. His moans added to the pleasure. Your fingers gripped the duvet underneath you as you pleaded for him to stop. The response you got was him growling and finger fucking you hard as he moved up and leaned over you. "That's it, kitten. Beg for it... My perfect little one. Want me to fill you with my cum. Gonna breed you nice and well. Can't fucking wait to have you crying for release." A smirk spread across his face as wet sloshing noises filled the room. "Mmm. Making such a big fucking mess for my fingers." "Dark!! Fuck!! Ple-Please. I want your dick, Daddy. Please." You started to shake, pulling him against you as you began to see stars, unsure if you could handle anymore. Before you could fall off the edge he pulled his fingers from you. He stood and removed his pants and briefs then positioned himself between your legs. You winced slightly as he pushed into you roughly. "Mark... fuck.." Dark growled and gripped your hair, yanking your head back as he leaned in to snarl in your ear at the slip of his host's name. "Do not call me that... He isn't here. Just us, love." You cried out as he began to pound into you mercilessly, hitting your spot over and over again, forcing you to look into his eyes. "You're such a good pet for me. All you humans are so pathetic and weak... Wanting demons to fuck and breed you. Is that what you want? Want me to breed you? Have you carry my halflings? You're the perfect subject to fill." He nips at your jawline as his body causes friction against your clit and makes you squirm. "Ye-Yes. Please, sir. I want it. Please." "That's it, pet. So good for me. My good human. Love you so much." He growled as he pressed his lips to yours. You sat in the spare room, head resting against the wall, slightly admiring the bruises that covered your skin; the other half of you heartbroken. His words echo painfully in your confused head. But deep down you knew this is how Dark is… he doesn’t do love because he wants is power. You couldn’t help the tears that flow from your eyes as you cover your mouth from crying too loud as to not wake Nate beside you. The monitors to your computer kept glitching, flashing neon green here and there with static, as a menacing laughing and screaming could be heard faintly. A flash of green

blinded you only for a few seconds as Anti appeared. “A-Anti? Just leave me alone…” His expression turned from a frown to anger as he rushed to you, gripping your arm to look at the bruises. Worry and sadness clear on his face as his eyes flicked back from you to Nate. “He hurt you…” He said through gritted teeth. “Oh, this? I wanted this… not the heartbreak that came with it from Dark. I’m nothing but a human toy to him.” Anti cupped your face softly and kissed your forehead softly. “Why do you trust him so much? He doesn’t care about you humans…” “Neither do you.” You say as you place your hands softly on his wrists. “I care only for a few… including you, Y/N. You’re like a little sister to Jack so therefore you’re my little sister.” He smiled slightly. “Now… Where is Dark?” He asked as his smile fell and his eyes turned black with neon green irises. You quickly get to your feet and grab his arm softly, his head snapping towards you as his brows furrow in confusion. You let out a sigh and look over to Nate to make sure he is still asleep and let go of Anti before leading him to Mark's room. Anti snarled as he smelled the scents of you and Dark; the violation of which you had to endure... willing as it may be, you didn't ask for Dark to treat you just as a toy. Mark returns a few minutes after with his towel wrapped around his waist, the water coating his caramel skin. He froze as he turned and saw you along with Anti after closing the door. You went to speak but Anti began to make the lights flicker as he walked closer to Mark. Before Anti could do anything you quickly rushed to stand in between them and placed a soft hand on Anti's chest. "Please, Anti. Don't hurt him it was Dark not him. Mark is just as a victim as I am." "So you're real too..." Mark said as he walked over to his dresser. "Look. I'm weak. I'm tired. I'm scared and confused. I have no idea what he does to any of us when I'm in the Void so cut me a break, okay? What would Sean think, hm? You using his body for whatever." "I'm here to protect Y/N. He wanted me to so I am doing so. I felt her presence and hurried to her. She was crying and-." Mark stopped what he was doing and looked over at you, his heart shattering in his chest. "Y/N. What did he do?" You rushed over and hugged Mark tightly, letting the tears fall as he wrapped his arms around you, resting his cheek against the top of your head. "I-I trusted him. I-I thought he actually cared. I mean I didn't but there was that voice wanting him to.. to mean what he said about loving me. H-He wants me to carry his children..." A dark laugh caught the attention of the three of you and with the snap of fingers, you were in Nate's arms, his hand gripping your jaw from behind as he glared at Mark and Anti. Anti growled, baring his fangs about ready to lurch until Nate tightened his grip on your bottom jaw, his fingers digging into your flesh. "Nu-uh uh, Glitch Bitch... Not so fast. You know how powerful we beings are. You think I was gonna let Dark just have all the fun of hurting her? Bending her to our will..." You let out a whine as he held you closer against him, his hand moving down to grip your throat. "Nathan. Fight him. This isn't you and we know you don't want to hurt her. She means a lot to all of us. Come through, Nathan." Mark growled slightly, glancing over at Anti. "Nathan isn't here anymore! Why do you care so much for her anyway, hm? She isn't loyal to anyone. She'd rather be a toy to be used over and over. What about the day we get tired of you and throw you away? We'll eventually need new toys." Nate chuckled as he tilted your head to the side and licking from your jawline up to your cheek. "And besides. Dark only wants you for the power you possess, kitten." "Na-Nathan, plea-." Nate growled and gripped your throat harder, causing your vision to become blurry. "I-I said shut up!" "Now!" Mark said running toward you and Nate. Anti grabbed Nate as Mark grabbed you. Your arms wrapping around him tightly as Anti and Nate

vanished. It was about five minutes later and Anti returned with Nathan. Nathan pushed Anti away slightly and looked over at you, his skin as pale as the winter snows. You looked at Anti, noticing claw marks all over his arms. Anti followed your line of sight and let out a slight chuckle as he held up his arms. "Had to scare Nathan out of Natemare. So... Y/N. You're a special person. You're the key to fixing this... I am sure of it. We need to back trace to that night." "Are you sure you guys won't get hurt from it? Having them ripped from your bodies?" "As long as they can't hurt you anymore then we don't care. As long as you're safe that is all that matters to us..." Nathan said, rubbing his arm nervously as he looked at you. "I-I don't want to hurt you anymore. I-I'm sorry for what I-." "He. What he did, Nathan. Not you. You did nothing wrong. None of you did. And Anti he is just a protective big brother. He wants to protect me as much as the three of you. Sean is still present. Cause if he wasn't I'm sure Nate would be dead." "Don't remind me." Nathan stated with a shutter. "So... We need to pack some bags and head to your place. Mark could you take me to my place?" Mark gave a nod and walked over to you, placing a soft kiss to your lips as he held you close. You couldn't help but to melt into the kiss, wrapping you arms around him and deepening the kiss. Mark pulled away and let out a soft sigh as he rested his forehead against yours. "Are you sure you can do this? Promise to not hold onto those monsters." You nodded and looked up into his eyes. "I'm ready to let go. I'm ready to fix this and ready to stop you guys from getting hurt as well."

[mrs-march-ahs]

Getting in Trouble with Kai, Your Math Teacher

Kai Anderson Being Your Math Teacher, Don’t Ask Just Accept It

Not requested but I had this idea in my mind for a while, so I wanted to get it out and hopefully others will like it too. (Part 2 linked here<3)

Summary- Kai Anderson is your math teacher, and you get into trouble with him, so he teaches you a lesson. Pun intended.

Warnings- Non-con, humiliation, mind games, manipulation, big age gap (READER IS 18+), student x teacher, anal, shitty ending.

Words- 2.2k 

Feedback is as always very very appreciated, thank you for so much support so far! Enjoy! :)

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You walked quickly towards the math class that you were in and quickly opened the already shut door. You were a good student and rarely got into any trouble. You got assignments in on time, you got decently good grades and you were never late. You opened the door to your math class with Mr Anderson and look at him apologetically. He looks at you with a serious expression and you say a quick sorry then sit down in your seat. He scribbles something at his desk then walks slowly to your seat, and drops down a detention slip in front of you. Though you liked math and respected the teacher, it always felt like he was so much tougher on you than any other students. You check your watch and look up at him from your seat.

“Sir, I was only late by two minutes”, you softly say to him, hoping he’ll soften up on you. But he definitely didn’t seem like the kind of teacher to do that. Walking back to his desk, he hears you and stops in his step to turn and look at you. His tall stature and formal attitude intimidate you, but you hope to not let him see that.

“Were you late?”

“Yes, but it was on-”

“Then don’t argue with me, Y/N”

You look down at your desk and pick up the detention slip, barely knowing what it looks like before today. For the rest of the lesson, he rarely looks at you and almost doesn’t notice that you’re there. You try to focus on the work but can only think about how mad your parents will be if they find out that you got a detention. You half-ass the work and spend most of the lesson looking out the window. When Mr Anderson walks around the classroom, picking up everybody’s homework, you are too oblivious to notice what he’s doing. He clears his throat to get your attention and you snap out of your trance and look straight forward, at him standing over you with a pile of papers in one hand and the other leaned out in front of him. Your stomach burns as you look down at your bag, fully knowing you don’t have what he’s after.

“I’m sorry, I was in such a rush today…- I definitely did it! – but I don’t think I have it with me”, you shakily explain, knowing he’s already mad at you. His jet-black eyes stare down at you and he walks towards his desk and slaps the papers down. A stern telling off would feel so much more appropriate than this awkward and angry silence. A few seconds later, he dismisses everybody, and you quickly shove your notebook and stationery into your bag and practically jump out of your seat. You can’t wait to get out of your teacher’s radar and not feel his burning stare and anger. Just as you’re steps away from finally leaving the classroom, he stops you.

“Wait”, he demands. You turn on your heel to face him and nervously look into his eyes. He puts his hand on your shoulder and leads you out the classroom and into his office, quicky shutting the door behind him. Still slightly nervous and anxious to be shouted at, you lean against the desk. He stands directly in front of you and asks, “Is there a reason you have an attitude with me today?”. You can’t believe the words you’re hearing, and despite your usual calm energy, you can’t help but get a little mad at what he says.

“No, I think the real question is, is there a reason you’re so much tougher on me than anybody else?”, you ask bluntly. He looks at you, not believing in your disrespect. An amused smile slowly creeps up on his face and he lets out a single chuckle. You put your bag down and continue.

“With all due respect, I was only late by two minutes and this is the first time I have ever not brought homework in”, you explain, hoping to not sound as rude as the first time. “I genuinely completed the work, I just forgot to bring it-”, you’re interrupted by his scoff.

“You think I’ve never heard that before? Why should I give you the benefit of the doubt?”

You look at him with pleading eyes, and he walks closer to you.

“You’re being unreasonable”, you mumble, and instantly regret it. He raises his eyebrows in shock, still slightly amused.

“That’s what you think?”

“Yes Sir, that’s what I think”, you say softly. He comes closer to you and you instinctively lean back a little.

“Lemme tell you what I think”, he says very quietly, putting his hand on the desk you’re leaning on, closer to you than ever before.

“I think you’re a smart girl”, he says, looking down at you. “You never need my help in class with the work, so you go out of your way to get my attention”. He puts his other hand on the other side of you, now trapping you in. His chest and face are only inches away from you, and your heart beats so fast you’re certain he can feel it.

“You’re a naughty girl to get my attention, is that right?”, he asks, making a wave of blood rush your face, turning your cheeks red.

“Yes Sir… I do like your attention, but I don’t-”, once again, your shaky explanation is interrupted by his much stronger voice.

“Well, allow me to give you undivided attention”. His words are so quiet that he almost whispers them at you, and his face so close to yours that you can feel the breath of every word on you. He steps back and puts his hands on your waist, then sternly turns you around. You put your hands on the desk nervously and he puts his much larger, veiny hands on top of yours. He leans into your neck and whispers, “Bend over”. The words making you shiver and obey. You lean over the desk a little, but clearly not enough. Soon enough, you feel his big hand on your shoulder blade, pushing you right down with your face touching the desk. You lay obediently, but move around nervously.

“What are you going to do?”, you mutter. Not moving from directly behind you, he begins to slowly pull your skirt up your thighs.

“I’m going to give you the attention you’re craving, and teach you a lesson on authority”.

He pulls your skirt up fully and scrunches it to stay on your lower back. You close your eyes tightly, embarrassed to be exposed in front of him. He looks down at you and smiles, thriving on your innocence and your insecurities. He steps back and rubs his hands over your ass, examining it closely, before stepping to get a wooden ruler from his desk. You worry at the silence and try to look over your shoulder, before feeling a sharp slap of the ruler against your ass. You flinch hard and unintentionally rise from the desk, which he quickly shuts down, pushing you back down. He strokes the hair off your face and spanks you again with the ruler. The combination of the sharp stinging and the sheer embarrassment from the situation forces tears to well up in your eyes. Another sharp snap of the ruler hits you, this time multiple times, alternating cheeks. You can’t help but straighten your face directly into the desk, your nose touching it, to hide your face. With another smack, tears fall out of your eyes and Kai notices.

“Look at me”, he demands. You turn your head to its previous position and close your eyes to avoid looking at him, but only squeezing more tears out. He chuckles looking at you, and puts the ruler down. You exhale in relief only to feel his rough hands rubbing your sore cheeks. You tense your cheeks at the contact, only making the red marks hurt more. Taking advantage of your disorientated crying state, he quickly pulls down your underwear. You gasp and cry harder when he steps back and spreads your cheeks. He looks very closely at your asshole and your virgin pussy. The embarrassment in your body burns even more, now being completely exposed in front of your teacher. He rubs his hands on your cheeks more, spreading and releasing, enjoying the way they go back to place and jiggle. You try to collect yourself, and wipe your tears. His subtle touches come to an end, and he spreads your cheeks apart as far as they go, grabbing them tightly. The harsh contact on your whipped ass makes you whimper, and Kai spits on your asshole. You clench your teeth at the contact, hoping that he isn’t planning what you think. Before you even have a second to beg for him not to, you feel his thumb rubbing against your wet asshole. He bites his lip, watching it closely and slowly pushes his thumb inside, making you hold your breath. He inches his whole finger inside your ass, and when it’s all in, he lets go off your cheek and watches it fall back into place. He exhales in satisfaction, and looks at you. With his whole finger inside, you wince through your teeth at the new sensation, occasionally still sniffling.

“You’re so hot when you cry”.

You whine at his disgusting and manipulative words. He suddenly uses his free hand to spank your ass hard, making you clench around his thumb. He moans softly at you clenching, and wriggles his thumb a little. You cry at the uncomfortable feeling. He takes his thumb out, way too fast, and shoves it in your mouth. You have no choice but to coat his thumb in saliva that your mouth makes, reacting to the nasty taste. You uncomfortably suck on his finger, knowing that’s what he wants. With his free hand, he unbuckles his belt. He thrusts his finger in and out of your mouth a few times, and you close your eyes, suckling on his thumb. You’re too preoccupied to notice Kai watching you closely, stroking his rock-hard member. He takes his finger out of your mouth, now soaking in your saliva, and rubs it up and down your slit, wetting your pussy.

He steps closer and lines up his dick with your entrance. He rubs it against your slit a few times, before slowly pushing it in. You automatically lean forward on the desk, attempting to escape his rough touch. He puts one hand on your lower back to hold you in place, and pushes his whole cock in you, not satisfied until he hits your cervix. You whimper at his huge length and at the stretch of his thick cock. He lets out a happily moan once he’s all in, and rubs your asshole with his thumb again. He pulls his dick all the way out, and then pushes it all the way back in, this time, his hand on your back pushing you to meet him. You gasp at every thrust and eventually fall into a rhythm with him.

You turn around to look at him, with his eyes watching your face closely, biting his lip. You unintentionally look behind him at the door, and notice people walking past his office. Your mouth opens, realising the door isn’t locked, and anybody could come in and catch you. Kai notices the worry in your eyes but instead of trying to calm you down, smirks at you.

He fucks you faster, and you whine, pushing your face against the desk in embarrassment. Soon enough, Kai’s quiet moans become grunts and he fucks you harder. Kai unexpectedly shoves his whole thumb back up your ass, making you cross your legs and clench your pussy. Kai groans at how you tighten around him and he wriggles his finger up your ass, curling it and thrusting it messily, just to make you clench. He throws his head back and releases in you, making sure to thrust as deep in as possible.  He takes his thumb out of your asshole but stays in your pussy even after filling you up. He pulls you up by the shoulders so that your back hits his chest. You groan at how that changes the angle, and look down in shame. He cups your face and leans into your ear.

“Don’t you look pretty, filled up with my cum?”.

Your eyes widen and you look at him, with a wide smirk. He wipes your cheek, where the tears have dried and then kisses it. You look at him in disbelief, realising that he came in you with no condom. He pulls out, making you gasp and grab onto the desk, and he pulls your underwear up for you. You pull down your skirt and flatten it out, then wipe your cheeks again, to make sure nobody will notice that you cried. You wouldn’t know what to tell them if they asked why. He zips his pants back up and fixes his belts, before scribbling down for a few seconds on a post-it note. He doesn’t say anything to you, just sticks the note to your chest and motions for you to leave his office. You follow his orders and leave his office, and he squeezes your ass on your way out, making you jump at look back at him. He smiles at you innocently and closes the door. You carefully peel the post-it note off your shirt and read it.

‘Sorry that Y/N is late to her next lesson We had to talk about her attitude Shouldn’t be a problem anymore Mr Anderson’

[natromanxoff]

Classic Rock - 2005

Credits to Trajen and Queencuttings.com

"FREDDIE WOULD LOVE IT..."

As Brian May, Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers prepare to hit the UK as Queen + Paul Rodgers, Classic Rock gets the inside story on the collaboration that’s dividing the fans.

Words: Geoff Barton

Queen and Paul Rodgers? Compared to Queen and Freddie Mercury, it's a combination that's like chalk and cheese. Or fire and water, if you will. And to Rodgers's credit, it's a fact that's acknowledged freely — pun most definitely intended — by the veteran frontman himself.

"Me and Freddie are very different singers, and we work from different scales," Rodgers, the legendary former Free and Bad Company singer, recognises. "Freddie had more of a classic scale: do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do, that sort of thing. Mine is more of a blues scale with a bit of Celtic thrown in. So there was that adjustment to make. I think, and I hope, that Freddie would approve."

As Classic Rock writes this story in mid-March, Rodgers has been rehearsing with Queen stalwarts, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, for a little over a month. But by the time you read this, the new band — officially dubbed 'Queen + Paul Rodgers' — will have played their first show, an Aids Awareness Concert in South Africa on March 19. They'll also have performed a special preview concert for their European tour, at London's Brixton Academy on March 28. (The group's line-up is augmented by keyboardist Spike Edney, New York bassist Danny Miranda and guitarist Jaimie Moss.)

So, what can fans expect when the British leg kicks off officially, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Metro Arena on May 3?

"I'm not supposed to tell you," laughs May. "It's still slightly fluid, to be honest. We've rehearsed more songs than we're actually going to be playing. But if you really want to know, I suppose it's about 65 per cent Queen and, and ... erm, hang on a minute ... 35 percent Paul," he says, doing the maths. "Something like that. But really we haven't solidified the set yet. It's close."

Rodgers: "It's largely Queen, I think people will expect to see that. Brian and Roger tell me they've always been big fans of Free. They want to do particular songs in the set that I wrote with Andy Fraser in Free, and a couple of the numbers I wrote with Mick [Ralphs] in Bad Company. There's going to be a sprinkling of my songs throughout."

Rodgers refers again to Freddie Mercury, who — incredibly — will have been dead for 14 years this November. "I think Freddie would be happy," Paul insists, "because I feel his spirit throughout the music. I've been listening to so much of Queen generally, and Freddie's singing specifically. Just studying his vocal style, really. Getting into the spirit of the man. And I feel, actually, quite close."

It's easy to be critical about May and Taylor linking up with Rodgers. (The other surviving member of Queen, bassist John Deacon, is currently retired from the stage.) But the fact is, the tickets for their tour have sold out like stone-cold-crazy. The band recently announced a massive outdoor show at London's Hyde Park on July 8.

Rodgers, in particular, is amazed by the turn of events — particularly as this summer marks the 35th anniversary of when Free played the Isle Of Wight festival, in 1970.

"I was thinking today that I've lived about eight lifetimes. Here I am, I'm 55 years old, and I feel like I'm 17 again, starting a brand new career. It is quite incredible. We put the Hyde Park show in because the UK tour had sold out so quickly. A lot of people didn't get the opportunity to buy tickets; it took them — and us — by surprise. It'll be a great thrill; it'll be the first time I've played Hyde Park."

Talking to Rodgers and May, Classic Rock has little doubt that this alliance is for real. Yes, there are probably truckloads of money to be made by all parties. Yes, fervent Freddie fans might be sceptical about the entire shebang. And yes, it remains to be seen if Bohemian Rhapsody is included in the band's set. (Let alone songs from The Firm, Rodgers's collaboration with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page.) But May, for one, remains defiant: "I'm not in the business of persuading anybody — if it doesn't suit their palate, if they don't like the idea, then that's fine. I'm perfectly comfortable with that. To be truthful with you, we've dealt with cynicism our whole career. There's always been people grousing and sniping. I don't really have anything to say to the cynics except, fine, just stay away. I won't say the negativity doesn't affect you, but in a way it also makes you stronger."

Rodgers urges: "Just come and see us play. The only way you're going to know if this works or not is to go and see it. Quite honestly, I don't think people can prejudge anything at all."

The whole Q+PR (calm down, Loftus Road fans) thing kicked off when Brian May and Paul Rodgers appeared together on stage in September 2004, at the Fender Stratocaster 50th anniversary show in London.

May: "We'd just finished playing All Right Now, and we both realised that it felt incredibly right. The chemistry was there, and there were sparks flying. Paul and me looked at each other and we went: 'Hmmm... " We both had the same thought in our minds. Then Paul's girlfriend, Cynthia, said: 'All you need is a drummer, don't you? And I said: "Well, I might know a drummer... "

"That's kind of where it came from. I got the tape of our performance and sent it to Roger, and he said: "Why didn't we think of this before?"

The trio's relationship was cemented when Rodgers, May and Taylor played together at the UK Hall Of Fame Awards, belting out Queen's We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions, and finishing off with another version of Free's All Right Now.

"Roger has always been the one who's been keen to get back out on tour," May reveals. "It was me who was holding things back, because I didn't think things felt right. There was no one on the horizon who I thought could do the job of singing with us. And then suddenly we're looking at this man [Rodgers], who can not only do the job, he can do a lot more besides — he brings something completely new to it, and that's what turned me around.

"To be honest with you, if you'd spoken to me even nine months ago, I would've said no, I'm never going out again — as far as Queen is concerned, that's it."

May speaks a lot about the 'chemistry' between him and Taylor, and Rodgers. Can he be more specific?

"There's a reason for it, insofar as we both really grew up with Free's music. Paul Rodgers is a very big influence on us, because Free were out there while we were still at college. Free's Fire & Water album is one of our real inspirations and influences. Paul has been part of our history all along - and Freddie was a huge fan of Paul's; he was one of the few singers he really looked up to."

May adds: "Freddie used to give me a hard time if I wrote something that didn't really suit him, and he'd say: "Look, Brian, you're fucking writing this for Paul Rodgers, I can't do this." It became a joke between us, because Paul had that blues edge and Freddie was something different — something very exceptional, as we know. So yes, Paul and Freddie might be poles apart, but there is an overlap because they can both sing Tie Your Mother Down, and it suits them both down to the ground — as we've discovered."

Did Rodgers ever meet Freddie?

"Not properly," Paul says, his Middlesbrough accent still very much in evidence. "I passed him on the stairs once — I passed the whole band on the stairs — when Queen were auditioning managers one time, and they went to see Peter Grant [who used to manage Rodgers and well as Led Zeppelin]. I happened to be visiting Peter as well. And we just said a quick hello, hey, how're you doing... and that was it, really. But I got a very nice vibe from Freddie indeed. He seemed really, really cool."

Rodgers has an active solo career. How does this collaboration with Queen fit in?

"I must say my solo band have been incredibly nice and understanding about it all. Howard Leese from Heart and the guys, they've just been great about it. There will be some solo dates in the future but for the moment I'm putting that to one side.

"I recently worked with The Four Tops. They made a DVD for their 50th anniversary in Detroit, and they invited me up. Aretha Franklin was there, and Sam from Sam & Dave, The Temptations were there as well... and I was actually the only white guy on that stage. Which was a real compliment. I didn't even know that the soul family, if you like, had heard of me. So it was a terrific thing."

Rodgers continues: "As a result of that, the company that was making the DVD, Omni Broadcasting, asked me to do my own DVD along the same lines. But I've had to put that on hold as well because this is a huge learning curve for me. I've got to learn pretty much the entire Queen catalogue in a short space of time, and well enough to be able to deliver it on stage. So it's been my total focus."

These are, obviously, extremely hectic times for May and Rodgers. We spoke to the duo separately: May was on the car phone in the back of a limo, speeding off to God-knows-where; Rogers was holed up in a posh hotel in Bray, Berkshire, close to Queen's secret rehearsal location.

The Queen + Paul Rodgers project — which was originally mooted as just a couple of isolated dates in London — has now taken on a seemingly unstoppable momentum, which has taken both May and Rodgers by surprise. The last full set of Queen shows, after all, was the Magic Tour way, way back in 1986.

May: "We're already at the point of signing on the line for a tour in America, which we plan to do in the autumn. It makes me nervous. Well, being on stage doesn't make me nervous, but it makes me nervous to realise that I am now in the process of giving away my life again. Being in hotel rooms, flying on planes here, there and everywhere... t's quite tough, and I know Paul feels the same way. We've had lots of home time to enjoy in recent times... and this involves a sacrifice."

Rodgers: "From my point of view. I hadn't really planned on doing any full-on major tours whatsoever this year. In fact, the only reason I can actually do this venture with Brian and Roger is because I planned to pull back from my own shows in 2005, and just take it easy. So I didn't quite realise this was such a huge undertaking. It's taken my breath away."

Prior to their encounter at the Fender Stratocaster anniversary show, May and Rodgers had collaborated sporadically in the past.

May: "We did a record together called Reaching Out, which was written by Andy Hill and Don Black, for the Rock Therapy charity. I've also played on one or two or Paul's solo records. I played on a track called I'm Ready, which is on his blues album, and the other time when we worked together significantly was when I did this concert in Seville [Spain] called The Guitar Legends.

"I was hired to do the rock night and we had some of the world's greatest guitarists there. But I didn't want to have them all up there widdling on stage the whole time, so I rang up Paul and he came down. Of course, guitarists love to do all this highly technical stuff, but give them a chance to do the riff to All Right Now and they're in seventh heaven. So Paul and me have been loosely in contact since then. It goes back some years."

So, is Queen + Paul Rodgers a short- or long-term thing?

May: "It's too early to say. We're enjoying ourselves an awful lot, I have to say, so the signs are that we might want to take it further. But equally, we may have had enough of it after we've done this fairly intense tour. It's a pretty serious tour, I have to say. It's not the sort of thing I envisioned myself doing at this time of life, ha-ha!"

Rodgers: "We're going along with how it feels — at the moment it's wide open. We're all songwriters, we've three pretty good songwriters in the band, so the chances are that we'll start writing, given the opportunity. There are other things I'd like to do, obviously — I'd like to do that DVD, and I've been asked to do a solo album of acoustic material, which interests me too — but one can only do so much at a time."

So there, potentially, is the prospect of a Queen + Paul Rodgers album some time in the future?

"I wouldn't say it was out of the question but it's early days yet," stresses Rodgers. "Really, the live shows are the main focus right now."

Even though the spirit of Freddie Mercury still looms large, May has no qualms about teaming up with Rodgers: "I'm absolutely sure Freddie would love it. You might think it strange for me to say that, but I feel very tuned in to Freddie every day of my life. He was virtually a family member, and that's partly why I haven't wanted to do something like this up until now — I've never felt comfortable about any of the ideas that people came to us with.

"But I know that Freddie would be so happy to hear we're doing something with Paul. I know Freddie would be very excited, and the other thing I know is that his mum's excited, which means a lot to me. I'm in touch with her quite often. We've got the Bulsara family seal of approval. Absolutely. She said to me that she knows we'll make her proud. That's lovely. That's all I can ask for."

Brian May's favourite Paul Rodgers track "Apart from All Right Now, obviously, Can't Get Enough by Bad Company has always been a big favourite of mine. They're all favourites, to be honest. The entire Fire & Water album has never left me. We'll be doing some of that on tour, and it's a joy beyond compare. Every time we come to play one of Paul's songs, everybody starts smiling. We just love it — it's a sort of recreation for us."

Paul Rodgers's favourite Queen track "There's a song called The Show Must Go On, which is incredibly dramatic. In my early years as a singer, I listened a lot to Otis Redding. I still do, in fact. Otis has a great spirit and a great soul to his voice; his whole approach to music is very soulful. I'm trying to apply those things — that heart and that soul — to The Show Must Go On. Even though it's early days. it's sounding just monstrous."

[pluviophile-imagines]

Shiggy hand 🕴🕴

I gotchu anon

You think, maybe, that you’re being a little heavy-handed (pun absolutely not intended, but hilarious nonetheless).

Really, it’s the oldest trick in the book. You used to scoff and roll your eyes at the girls who would do it with their crushes in high school—oh, if they could see you now, a secret villain trying to make a pass at your infamous boss.

To be fair, Shigaraki’s hands are quite nice, large and slightly veiny but in a nice way, with long fingers that aren’t quite spindly or skeletal but just thick enough. They’re deadly, though; if his touch were less lethal you’d have done this weeks ago. Instead, it’s taken days of planning with Magne and Toga to get a solid plan in the works. But you’re certain it’ll be worth it—it’s an investment, a present you’re hoping both you and he will be thankful for in the future.

Magne informs you as you walk into the bar tonight that the package you ordered had arrived, and that Toga had already delivered it to Shigaraki. He’s not out in the main area with the others, but he’ll make his entrance now that you’ve arrived. You’re pretty sure past the first week of joining up he’d never missed a single day you’d visited (and to be fair, that could be written off as simply being a good leader, considering your appearances are a lot more rare than those of your other associates save perhaps for Dabi, but you like to think he wants to be around you).

Sure enough, not even three minutes after you make yourself comfortable at a small table in the corner away from where everyone else is sitting, Shigaraki stalks into the bar with a small package held in one hand, pinky up like always; you’ve always found that cute.

“What’s that?” You try to act coy as he comes to find a chair across the table you’re seated at. You’re pretty sure he knows you’re behind this; he’s not a fool, and Toga’s not the quietest of your colleagues (though none of them are exactly quiet right now as they greet their leader quite loudly and he solidly ignores them in favor of, well, you).

“Toga gave it to me.” He’s willing to play along at least, and you’re fairly certain that’s a good sign. Occasionally when you set him up like this he’ll be a bit more amused. If anything, he looks more nervous; he’s not wearing Father, but he’s keeping his head low, letting his hair drape over and provide some cover for his crimson eyes.

Five fingers brush against the shipping envelope, quick and efficient, no need for a knife. A single sealed package is left on the table in the dusty remains. He picks it up, two fingers raised this time, and inspects it.

“She said they were anti-fouling gloves.”

“Artists use them.” You lean forward, resting your chin in the palm of your hand and looking up at your boss through your eyelashes. “They reduce smudging for traditional mediums, friction with tablets…”

They’re black, made of nylon, covering his pinky and ring finger and velcroing around the wrist. Costing less than $10, you’d actually gotten three pairs, because you’re pretty sure there’ll be a bit of a learning curve getting them on.

“You seem to know an awful lot about a present Toga got me.”

He definitely knows you’re behind this, then, but still no clear indication of if he’s put two-and-two together as to why, or even if he’s more excited or nervous for what you have planned.

Instead of getting yourself worked up thinking about that, you reach forward and gently take the packaged gloves from his hands, busying yourself with opening them.

“I think they’ll suit you.” It’s a bit of a struggle; kind of embarrassing, but you play it off by ignoring it as you take out your pocket knife and cut the package entirely, leaving you with a pair of identical black swaths of fabric. “There we go.”

You don’t allow yourself to hesitate or give him a chance to take them from your hand. Dropping on, you reach forward to take hold of his left wrist, pulling it towards you so that you hold his hand over the table right between the pair of you.

Shigaraki’s hands are weapons, this you know; you’ve seen him in action plenty of times between sparring and watching the news. You’ve never quite had the chance to touch them like this—actually, now that you think of it, you don’t know if you’ve ever really touched them at all. He’s not the most tactile person; even when you’ve sparred with him he hasn’t bothered to help you up.

This was a mistake. You shouldn’t have thought you could get away with it.

But when you pause halfway to pulling the glove over his fingers, he doesn’t let you retreat. His free hand comes up, three fingers holding you hostage so you can’t set down the glove.

Your breath hitches. You glance up to see him staring at you, face no longer hidden behind that blue hair and eyes locked on yours, and the intense look in those irises makes your heart beat a little faster. You can’t quite place what emotion he’s trying to get across, something like anxiety or anticipation or excitement. He doesn’t say anything, but the message is loud and clear: don’t stop. Keep going.

So you do.

You pull the glove all the way onto his wrist and velcro it closed. His gaze moves to it now, and you watch as he slowly moves to plant four fingers onto the top of the table, then solidly presses his thumb down. Nothing happens. There’s a little hint of a smile that quirks his mouth as his eyes dart back up to you, then immediately to where your own hands lay laced together on the table before you.

That’s enough of an invitation, you decide. You lift your right hand just as Shigaraki removes his left from the table—you’re pretty sure he’s caught on—and raise it so that it hovers, almost touching.

Then you press your palm to his, fingers bowed back so they still don’t touch. He’s warmer than you expected; you’re not sure why you expected his hands to be cold, but somehow you did, and it’s a pleasant surprise that they’re not.

His eyes never leave where your hands touch, anchored there, but you’re captivated by his face. You watch his Adam’s apple bob with a swallow and decide to go further.

One by one, you press your fingertips to his (or rather, as much as you can, because his are long and on a notable few yours don’t quite reach), pinky and then ring, followed by middle and pointer, and then thumb. Still gauging his reaction, you let your fingers rest fully, hand entirely pressed flush to his.

You hear him sigh; a quiet sound, one you’re pretty sure you weren’t meant to hear but cherish nonetheless. He’s stark still, stiff and unmoving, and you’re floored by how much you like this simple touch.

Is it intimate? You can’t really tell. It’s strange; you’re pretty sure those high school girls who flirt this way aren’t this stunned by it, but to be fair none of them are doing it to an S-class villain whose hand could kill them with a simple slip-up. Your heart is beating fast; you wonder, fleetingly, stupidly, if he can hear it. Now that your fingertips are also pressed against his, his warmth is more obvious, sending gooseflesh rising up your arms.

It’s dumb, you think, insecurity sinking into you. Shigaraki probably thinks you’re a fucking airhead. But the words come automatically; you’re possessed by the spirit of those little high school girls you used to envy as a first year and they spill out as if drilled into your mind.

“Wow. Your hands are so big compared to mine…”

Behind you, all the way at the other side of the bar, Dabi lets out an emphatic groan. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

You whip around towards him, shooting him a glare and flipping him the bird to get a lazy eye roll in response. Ordinarily you’d get at least a little huff of laughter from Shigaraki for that, but he stays uncharacteristically silent, which pulls your attention solidly away from Dabi and back to the man you really want to be talking to because damn if that didn’t make you all the more insecure.

You’re not sure if you’ve given Shigaraki or yourself too much credit, but this was clearly a bad idea. Either you’re too awkward to pull this off or he’s too awkward to pick up your signals. Maybe it’s a mixture of both. Either way, you can feel your face burning.

You move to pull away, removing your palm just barely, but Shigaraki’s hand stops you. It follows, as if desperate to keep you there, and in the same motion his fingers shift.

He moves them to the right just slightly, aligning with the gaps between yours, and then tentatively threads both of your fingers together, resting the pads of his on the back of your hand.

Your gaze shoots up from your now linked hands to his face. His Adam’s apple bobs again. He might not have Father to cover him, but he’s tipped his head further downward so that curtain of pale blue hair shields his whole face from you—you can’t tell if he’s still staring at your joined hands or if he’s moved on, but you’re decently certain he’s still looking at you.

“I can’t wear them often or I’ll get out of practice going without them, and I can’t risk that,” he says softly, almost reverently; you get the feeling he might be talking about you. His head tilts up slightly and you decide, quite suddenly, that you’re very glad he’s been covering his face. He’s giving you a look that takes your breath away. The way his red eyes are wide and blown and soft like a villain’s should never be is not something you think you want anyone else to see. It’s yours; you want to keep it all to yourself.

He gives a little squeeze and you swallow thickly as his mouth quirks up, just barely. “But maybe I’ll keep them on just a bit longer.”

[uncanny-tranny]

hi, I'm the name anon from a month(ish) ago! First I wanted to link to a site I found that was good for name testing since it might help someone else : babynamegenie.com/baby-name-test-drive although obviously intended for expecting parents it's handy for trans people too.

Anyway, I'm thinking of going with Nick! originally I was going to go with Neo because I watched the matrix and Keanu reeves gives me gender envy so, y'know (also because of the meaning obviously and I liked the way it sounds etc, it's just I came across it because of the matrix oof), anyway I'm leaning more towards Nick now, there's also the added benefit of nickname related puns. I just was concerned with the name Neo people might be weird about it, my friend who I nearly accidentally outed myself to was like 'like Nemo?' so that slightly put me off lmao, don't want to be associated with a clown fish for the rest of my life lmao. And also the name Nick won't like immediately out me which is another possible concern for me, and I like the way Nick sounds, so basically just a very long winded way of saying Nick seems to fit better!

I have, however, got a more concrete idea of my middle name! I talked to my mum about how she named me, and she was like 'oh we actually thought you were a boy up until you were born', so I mean they were technically right lmao, but I decided to go with one of those names as my middle name since it's also linked to where I'm from and stuff! I like the name but it's kind of formal-ish so I feel it's better as a middle name that won't get used as much but is still there and important. So yeah I'm really happy to finally have a better idea, thank you again for your tips for figuring stuff out and apologies for the essay I wrote, I couldn't be concise to save my life, I just wanted to let you know now that Ive got a better idea! thank you for taking the time to read this and for helping me out!

Nick is a great name!

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 35

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff

; Word Count: 3.7k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: Just a soft, fluffy chapter for you all after the angst and smut of the last two haha. Please leave comments and reblog it for me so others can read! Send me asks and so forth, we’re getting close to the endgame here so...I really hope you can spur me on.

; Flower Masterpost

-

“Ahhhh, I’m so excited!” Hoseok is practically vibrating in the passenger seat as you drive carefully, eyes firmly on the road and watching the car ahead of you. There’s nothing ahead of them but they’re still doing about ten miles less than the speed limit, frustrating you.

You don’t complain though, instead just sigh deeply while rolling your eyes at the slow person. It was hard to truly feel too annoyed though because Hoseok’s enthusiasm was so infectious. Which was why you’d been sporting a smile for most of the morning, thoroughly bemused by his excitement.

The reason for his bubbly demeanour today was because you were officially going to pick up your new puppy. You’d known for a long time that Hoseok wanted a dog; he’d loved them a lot and had always wanted one. But he just hadn’t had the time or space to get one, particularly given his old apartment not being pet friendly.

It had taken some convincing for you to say yes to a dog, mainly because you’d worried how Kasumi might be around another pet and also because you weren’t a huge dog fan. You liked them obviously, but they required so much more work than a cat. As much as Hoseok loved Kasumi though, you knew what he wanted.

The convincing had mainly been that he wouldn’t leave all the taking care of the dog to you. You didn’t want to end up being the only one cleaning up the mess in the yard or walking them, etc. He’d promised that he would care for the dog just as much as you did, maybe even a little more.

It wasn’t like he didn’t help out in the house anyway, he did because you wouldn’t let him not help, but you just didn’t want to get stuck doing all the dog duties when he was the one who wanted it the most. You doubted he would do that as he was pretty good with looking after Kasumi, even though she wasn’t even his. Given this was something he wanted, you had faith that he’d be a good doggy daddy.

The two of you had poured over websites that advertise puppies for sale alongside looking over rescue centres to try and find the best dog for you both. It had been hard to narrow down your requirements as there were some breeds that you just didn’t want to have and Hoseok had his own opinion on some as well. Other important things were that they needed to be okay with cats and being left alone during the day while you were both working.

But you also wanted something energetic when necessary and enjoyed walks. Part of the reason that you’d said yes was that you hoped it would get both of you to start going out on walks to just enjoy nature a little more instead of staying cooped up in the house. You always enjoyed when you’d gone out but it was hard to break your habits.

Your problems had been resolved happily when you’d been told by Hoseok’s parents that his aunt had a dog who had had a litter of puppies recently. They’d bought a female puppy and before they’d been able to get her spayed, she’d, unfortunately, got the attention of the neighbour’s dog. Which meant she’d been way too young to breed and they’d ended up with surprise puppies.

The mom was a working Cocker Spaniel breed with the prettiest colouring; a soft lemon tan and white with the most adorable eyes. The dad was a Bichon, a breed you weren’t too familiar with but who looked pretty cute too. What resulted was called a Cock-a-Chon, the most adorable bundle of fluff you’d ever seen.

Each puppy had the cutest curly fur and was the perfect mix of both their parent’s beautiful faces. They wouldn’t be too large when grown which was good for you both, as neither of you wanted a really big dog or anything. The puppy you’d both chosen was a creamy golden colour and you’d both fallen in love with her as soon as she’d fallen over her feet when running over to you.

Well...you say that you’d chosen her. It was more like she’d chosen Hoseok because he’d immediately ended up with a tiny puppy crawling all over his legs while her tail wagged at such speed you were worried she might hurt it. Needless to say, Hoseok had been completely lost to those sweet black eyes.

It had taken one look at you with equally big and cute eyes that had been earnestly begging to get your agreement. And that had been it. You’d officially known you were going to be collecting her a few weeks after that point and you’d let Hoseok name her, choosing Ciri from the Witcher series.

The time spent in-between that visit and going to bring her home had been spent making sure that the house was puppy-proof. You hadn’t known how to do that but the two of you had done a lot of research, hoping that if she was kept entertained enough then you wouldn’t have to worry about chewing or anything.

Given that Hoseok had been the one to want a dog in the first place, you’d let him run wild with all the stuff he wanted to get for her. There wasn’t any room for argument considering the number of things you’d bought Kasumi over the years and it had been heart-warming to watch Hoseok get so excited over a patterned collar and a personalised name tag on it.

So she had a ridiculous amount of dog toys already, alongside what you were convinced was a mountain of puppy food and treats, those mats to help house train her, two dog beds, a collar, a cage and lots of blankets to go inside it to train her for when neither of you was home. You hadn’t particularly liked the idea of caging her but you’d resolved to make it her safe space where she could go when she was feeling tired or just didn’t want to be bothered instead of punishment or anything.

Honestly, you’d warned Hoseok many times to make sure he didn’t go too overboard and spoil a dog neither of you even had yet.

Quite clearly, it hadn’t worked given how much he’d bought the little puppy. But again, you were loath to put a leash on his enthusiasm for it all. Pun not intended.

He never asked for a whole lot from you, even now with your three-year-anniversary approaching in just a few months. It always felt like you were taking a lot from him and not giving much back, so if he wanted to go wild and buy a lot of stuff for the new puppy then you weren’t going to complain too much.

There was a lot worse to spend his money on. Not to mention the fact that you weren’t even paying for Ciri. His aunt didn’t want to be paid for the puppy given she was going to a family member and she hadn’t even been expecting them at all. From what you knew, the other puppies had been sold for only a hundred dollars each. Just to cover their medical expenses up to that point.

It was a fantastic deal really, but you were mostly just pleased that Hoseok was finally going to get the dog he’d always wanted. He spoiled you often enough so you were revelling in the fact that you got to spoil him in turn.

That thought made you snort with laughter, the very idea of you two fighting not because you were angry but because you were trying to one-up each other with affection and love. You don’t get to see the curious look Hoseok gives you, slight confusion on his face before he shrugs to himself.

“I hope Kasumi will be okay with this.” Whispering the words, you frown slightly as you watch the road ahead. There’s only maybe another five minutes before you’ll both be there, reading to pick up Ciri and take her home but you’re a little worried about your other pet. 

Ciri would probably be fine with her, being so young that she’d grow up with the cat as her big sister. But Kasumi had spent a long time with it being just her getting all the attention from you, and Hoseok when he’d entered her life. Not to mention the fact that she could hurt Ciri if they didn’t get on, those sharp claws easily causing harm to the tiny puppy.

“We’ll take it slow. The good thing about cats is that they can take themselves away if they’re not happy. She’s used to Ciri’s scent and we’ve got plenty of treats and toys for her too so she doesn’t feel so left out. We just have to make sure that we don’t let Ciri overwhelm her. She’ll be okay Meeps.” Hoseok reaches out and takes your hand, rubbing at your knuckles in reassurance.

His aunt had sent over some blankets and toys that she’d rubbed all over Ciri, soaking them in the puppy’s scent so that you could introduce it to Kasumi. Hopefully, it would mean that while your beloved cat probably wouldn’t appreciate the exuberance of her new sister but she would at least recognise the smell.

“Is it silly that I’m worrying about stuff like that? I mean...your friends are getting married and having babies but I’m here just concerned that my cat might not like our puppy.” That makes Hoseok snort in amusement, slipping his hand beneath yours to link your fingers together before squeezing.

“Hey...that’s their choice. We’ve chosen to have furbabies instead, nothing wrong with that.” Wrinkling your nose, you indicate to turn right and drive slowly down the street his aunt lives on. It’s a nice area with large houses set back from the road, each one having an equally big drive leading to two-car garages. Tall trees, probably decades old at this point, line along the street with luscious green grass between each one and the dips allowing cars to park.

Much like the rest of Hoseok’s family, his aunt is pretty wealthy. She never had any kids though, living in her beautiful house with her wife and a menagerie of animals. Alongside the cocker spaniel that had gotten pregnant; she also had a chocolate labrador, a black cocker spaniel, a parakeet and three cats. It was your idea of a dream in terms of all the animals but the clean up must be terrible.

Pulling into her driveway, you take in the sight of her house once more in awe. You doubt anyone in your family could ever afford something like this and it still leaves you with a sense of imposter syndrome when you realise just how rich Hoseok’s whole family is.

Thankfully though, he’d never made it an issue.

“Oh my god! Come on! Let’s go.” Hoseok practically squeals, his excitement making him look so young and completely at odds with his metalhead appearance. Snorting, you can’t help but smirk as you turn off the engine as he’s already out of the car. Sighing affectionately, you follow him at a much slower pace.

He’s already vanished into the house by the time you get to the door, his aunt, Miyeon, standing with the door held open and an exasperated look on her face. Smiling at her, you take your shoes off and hand her the bag that you’d prepared earlier with an apologetic look on your face.

“Hi, Auntie! How are you? Oh, I’m good thanks Hoseok, and you?” She says sarcastically, rolling her eyes at you. There’s more than a little fondness in her face and voice though so you’re not too worried that she’s genuinely annoyed at him, smiling a little brighter as you greet her.

“Sorry. He’s excited. It’s been like having a toddler in the car rather than an almost 31-year-old man. Thank you so much though, I know you didn’t want anything for her but I couldn’t just..give you nothing. Hoseok said that you collect wine and I don’t know anything about wine because I don’t drink but-” She interrupts you with a hand on your arm, a smile on her face.

“You didn’t have to. But thank you, I appreciate it. Don’t worry, wine is wine. I’ll enjoy drinking it no matter what, I guarantee you that. Anyway, come on. I’ve baked some cookies for you both. Hobi always used to adore eating them when he was younger; peanut butter, hazelnut and chocolate chips.” Leading you through her home, you can already hear the barking of puppies alongside Hoseok’s joyful laughter.

You don’t even realise you’re smiling until you see yourself in a mirror, your expression light and happy. Who’d have thought that just the sound of someone’s laugh could be such a fulfilling experience? 

“Ahhh, so that’s why he likes them. He always asks me to bake those if I’m in that kind of mood. Always thought it was a bit odd as he doesn’t eat anything else with peanut butter, just those. Seemed a strange combination for him to love.” Her kitchen is just as big as the rest of the house, tastefully decorated with all the latest appliances.

You were a little envious of her fridge. It was one of those super fancy Samsung ones where you could see inside without even opening the door thanks to a panel on the front alongside what you could only describe as a tablet embedded into the door. Who needed to watch Netflix on their fridge? 

But all you can truly focus on is the delicious scent of freshly baked cookies. Inhaling deeply, you hum and can’t help but wiggle in delight. His aunt laughs, handing one to you and you eat it quickly. They’re not your favourite flavour but you’d never turn down a homemade cookie.

Especially when it was still warm and slightly gooey.

“Go on, go take one to Hoseok. If he’s not gone into a puppy coma or something. Bora is working late tonight so she won’t be home,” She mentions her wife, letting you know that you won’t be seeing her today. “And I’ve got some paperwork to catch up on. Just let me know when you’re ready to go.”

“Are you sure? Do you need any help?” Shaking her head, Miyeon smiles softly at you before suddenly cupping your cheek. Her hands are soft, likely through years of a careful skincare regime, and warm but there’s nothing strange about it. More like she’s just observing you.

“He’s lucked out with you, does he know that?” Snorting, you grin as you move away towards the sound of happy chaos. Looking back at her, you hold the cookie up with pride.

“I try to make sure he realises that at least once a day. Keep him on his toes, you know?” Her laughter follows you out of the kitchen and you marvel at yourself for how bold you’d just been. Your past self would be shocked to see you now, probably confused as to how you feel confident enough to say something so bold.

“Hey, butthead. You didn’t say hello to your aunt. That was rude,” You say to Hoseok, your tone only slightly playful. “Go say hi. Look, she even made you cookies.”

Handing one to him, you note how he’s laid on the floor and is surrounded by all the puppies in the litter. Ciri was going to be the first one to go so her four brothers and sisters were all still here. Small tails were wagging furiously at your arrival and you couldn’t help but giggle as they ran over to you, jumping and standing on Hoseok’s exposed stomach from where his shirt had twisted up and causing him to groan.

“Hello, puppies! Oh, aren’t you so cute!” Cooing to them, you hand the cookie to Hoseok as he sits up with a slight wince. For a minute or so, he just eats and watches you with the little ones as you play with them all, unable to stop smiling as they practically throw their small, furry bodies against you in an attempt for your attention.

“Go say hi!” Hissing slightly, your eyes narrow at Hoseok until he holds his hands up and gets up, heading out of the room to go properly greet his aunt. Once he’s gone, you look at all the puppies with a gleeful expression and sit cross-legged.

“Good, he’s gone. Let’s play!” The last word is loud and sharp while you reach forward, tickling one of them until they fall onto their back, showing their tummy for scratches and yelping enthusiastically. His siblings are barking too, tails hitting you almost painfully from how hard they’re going.

Glancing over at their mom, who’s currently laid in her dog bed with tired eyes, you smile affectionately before crawling over to her and giving her a loving stroke too. She seems to almost let out a deep sigh and you can’t help but laugh, running your fingers through her soft fur.

“Is it tiring, mama? All these babies wanting your attention all the time. I bet you can’t wait for some alone time. You’ve done well though, look how cute they are!” It must be a law somewhere that everyone should take to animals as if they’re human, especially in that voice that’s reserved for cute things.

But her big eyes are full of warmth and her tail wags lazily against the bed at your words, causing a few pups to try and attack it. You can’t help but marvel at how she just doesn’t seem to notice them, letting them do what they want.

“Not long now, they’ll all be going to their new homes soon. I bet you’ll miss them. We’ll bring Ciri by sometimes so you can see her!” The other dogs in the house had been socialised with the puppies for the last few weeks and Choco, the labrador was currently laid out against the couch. He was watching you carefully but for the most part, didn’t seem to be too bothered by all the noise.

You presumed that Bella, the other spaniel, was with Miyeon in her office.

“Okay, I said hello. And apologised,” Hoseok said, sitting down next to you and immediately welcoming two puppies onto his lap. “Sorry, I was rude, you’re right. They’re even cuter than last time.”

Grabbing one of the toys they had, he played with one of them enthusiastically until the puppy seemed to exhaust itself. There was a brief moment where it tried hard to keep up but then the next thing you knew, it was fast asleep on the floor. Laughing, you pointed at it before grinning at Hoseok.

“Oh my god, it’s you when you’re drunk.”

That gets a playful scowl but he just shrugs, reaching over to rub Choco’s ears to make sure he didn’t feel left out by it all. The labrador’s long tail beats against the floor tiredly, almost like he can’t be bothered to do it and you smirk at the sight. No doubt all the animals in the house are feeling a little tired and overwhelmed with all the excitement that’s been happening.

Finally, though, the puppies all seem to lose their energy and start to fall asleep wherever they are. Soon enough, you’re surrounded by bundles of fluff that are all twitching in their sleep, the silence pleasant after all their noise.

Hoseok carefully, and slowly, lifts Ciri into his lap. Her colouring was more cream than the rest of them, the others skewing more towards an almost golden tan. It had been part of the reason he’d named her Ciri. Her character in the show, video game and book series was infamous for her ash-blonde hair.

She doesn’t wake up, even as he takes off the coloured collar that had indicated whose puppy she was and replaces it with the one you’d both bought. The tag clunks loudly against the metal ring, causing you both to pause in fear that you’ve woken the others up but none of them stirs.

Finally, he shuffles back until he’s resting against the couch next to you, Ciri sleeping soundly in his arms and looks at you with a bright grin. The sheer amount of affection and happiness in that expression makes your heart physically ache, causing you to press a hand to it without realising.

“Ahh, we have a dog!” He whispers, eyes dancing as he tilts until he’s leaning heavily against you. His head rests on your shoulder and you smile, kissing his hair and just inhaling deeply. The smell of him always makes you feel content and relaxed, but even more so right now after all the chaos of the puppies for the last fifteen minutes.

“We do. Happy?” Nodding, he looks up at you before carefully reaching and cupping your cheek. His hands are rougher than his aunts, but you lean into the touch happily. There’s a brief pause before he kisses you, the movement soft and gentle with no real pressure. It’s more of an ‘I’m-happy’ kiss than anything else and you reciprocate it with ease.

The two of you stay in comfortable silence after that, just stroking and admiring Ciri for a while with no inclination to move just yet. You didn’t want to take her from her family so soon, even if you were her new family now. She should get to play with them all one last time before she goes.

“God, if you told college Hoseok that in a decade he’d been in a long-term relationship with a job, a house, a car, a dog and a cat...well let’s just say that laughing would have been the politest thing he could have done.”

“You know, I was thinking something like that earlier. I don’t think my old me would even recognise me now. But I think that’s for the better. I like who I am now, where I am now.” Stroking Ciri’s velvet-soft ears, you don’t see the fond smile on Hoseok’s face.

“I love you.” Smiling shyly, you take the chance to lean against him now and rest your head. Gently, you poke at his arm in your silent language, letting him know that you reciprocate before sighing contentedly.

For once, you finally felt completely at ease.

[inkweaver22-blr]

Phew! This one gave me a bit of trouble to get out! Here we have our second big reveal of the story! Let’s see what happens.

AO3 Link

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Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Five: Timely Assumptions

Tang gets more than he expects at the start of one cycle. This leads to a few startling realizations.

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Tang looked up into the frightened expressions of the much younger Sun Wukong and Macaque as his body continued to disappear.

“I-” Being erased scared him. Would he wake up in a new cycle or simply cease to be?

Tang weakly lifted his hand, desperate to do something, grab something to ground him. Anything. Anyone!

“I don't w-want to go-”

He faded out of existence, not hearing anything else they might have said after. The last thing he saw were their horrified faces.

----------

The cave. The voices. The light.

----------

Tang woke with a gasp, his heart racing.

He had died before, but accidentally erasing yourself using a time-traveling peanut cactus was a new and terrifying experience.

The scholar took a few deep breaths, grounding himself with the fact that he was still here and hadn’t been deleted entirely. He had never been so relieved to be stuck jumping between timelines before now.

Tang winced as he remembered the anguish on the faces of the two monkeys he had befriended. He hoped his vanishing hadn’t traumatized them too much. If they were lucky they wouldn’t even remember anything now that the version of himself that had gone back in time had never existed in the first place.

God, time travel was confusing.

He glanced around his room and noticed a book on his nightstand. Picking it up, he was slightly disappointed to find it wasn’t the one on constellations he had used to teach the younger Macaque how to read.

With a sigh, Tang got up and prepared for the day. There was no point dwelling too much on what couldn’t be changed. Once dressed he stood in front of the mirror and began his little remembering ritual.

He first checked the date on his phone. It was still a few days before MK would get the staff so nothing of real consequence should be too different yet.

Taking a deep breath the scholar began reciting what he remembered about himself this time.

“I am the immortal monk Tang Sanzang-”

Tang choked as he doubled over in pain.

Hundreds of years of memories flooded through him. He collapsed to the ground and clutched at his head as it pounded in agony from the onslaught of innumerable experiences.

Tang crawled over to his bed and leaned back against it, his eyes shut tight and hands over his ears in a vain attempt to block out the rushing thoughts.

Living humbly as a monk. Being chosen by Guanyin. The journey. Sun Wukong. Bai Long Ma. Zhu Bajie. Sha Wujing. The many, many demons they encountered.

(How had he ever been so naive?)

Completing the journey. Becoming immortal. He, Bajie, and Wujing choosing to live on Earth instead of in Heaven.

(Pigsy was Zhu Bajie and Sandy was Sha Wujing!)

Wukong sealing away the Demon Bull King and vanishing. The three of them searching for him tirelessly. Never finding him. Giving up and living the next five hundred years without him.

(He should have never given up. He should have kept looking until he found his beloved disciple.)

It was all too much to handle. Tang needed time to process everything.

He called in sick to work, which with his short breath and trembling voice wasn’t questioned too closely. After sending a text to Pigsy (Zhu Bajie!) so he wouldn’t wonder about his absence at the shop, Tang pulled himself onto the bed and pressed his face into the pillows.

The headache and whirling memories prevented him from falling asleep, so he tried to focus on one thing at a time.

In this cycle he was the immortal monk Tang Sanzang, sometimes also referred to as Tripitaka.

There was still just so much to unpack in that single thought it made him a bit dizzy.

Tang had never been anyone other than himself in all the timelines he’d been in. His roles may sometimes be a bit different but he had always been Tang. He had theorized once that it had something to do with how every soul was unique so he literally couldn’t be anyone else.

His breath caught as he realized the implication that brought.

Tang’s soul was unique and thus he couldn’t be anyone other than himself in the various timelines.

In this timeline, he was the monk Sanzang.

In order for him to be both himself and the famous monk simultaneously, their souls had to be exactly the same.

That meant he wasn’t the monk in just this timeline, but in all of them, including his original time.

Oh Heavens, he was the reincarnation of Tang Sanzang.

Tang gulped in several breaths of air as his mind blanked out. He needed to focus. One thing at a time.

Pigsy was Zhu Bajie and Sandy was Sha Wujing in this timeline.

After the previous revelation, this one was much less earth-shattering.

He had always known that his group of friends mirrored the original journey’s group closely. Pigsy and Sandy also being reincarnations of their historical counterparts in his own time wasn’t much of a stretch.

Tang’s breath slowed as he began to calm. What was next?

Wukong disappeared and the trio searched for him. They never found him and gave up, assuming the monkey to be dead.

This was upsetting in an entirely different way. Tang knew Wukong was still alive thanks to the events of the original timeline, and that made the guilt of giving up even worse. He’d have to fix that.

Tang sighed in relief as his thoughts finally slowed and the pain ebbed. He still had a lot to work through, but that could wait for later. Going back to sleep sounded heavenly at the moment.

He had just started to doze off when an errant fact suddenly popped into his head.

Wasn’t Tang Sanzang already a reincarnation of one of the Buddha’s original disciples, the Golden Cicada?

With a groan Tang shoved a pillow over his head and attempted to beat back the thoughts from whatever that implied about him.

He didn’t sleep very well.

----------

“So what’s this all about Tang,” Pigsy asked grumpily as he accepted a mug of tea from Sandy. It was late at night, a few days after the release of the Demon Bull King, and the three of them were meeting privately at Sandy’s ship on the scholar’s request.

Tang took a sip from his own mug as he studied the two other immortals. Had it not been for his own memories on the matter, he would have never guessed that they were two of the five companions of the legendary Journey to the West.

Zhu Bajie had been, no pun intended, pigheaded, crass, and ornery. He seemed to be contrarian whenever he felt like it and relished in trying to get one over on Sun Wukong. Tang couldn’t deny the pig demon’s ability to rise to the occasion when the chips were down however. For as much trouble Zhu Bajie seemed to cause, he’d been invaluable a fair number of times as well.

Sha Wujing lived to fight. His rage and battle-lust had definitely caused their own share of problems. Other than that, the large river demon tended to be the quiet one of the group and didn’t open up until the latter half of their journey.

Tang wasn’t blind to his own faults though.

Tripitaka, (after some meditation, Tang had decided to refer to his past self as such to avoid confusion with the name Tang Sanzang), had not been ready for such a perilous adventure. He had been too trusting of strangers, too proud to believe Wukong’s warnings. It was his own incredible naivety and insistence that he knew better that had led to the vast majority of the dangers they had found themselves in.

It was hard to reconcile who the three of them had been with who they were today, but Tang supposed five hundred years would change most people.

Pigsy still had a gruff exterior, but his desire to start trouble had long since faded. His discovery of a love for cooking had unlocked a surprising work ethic within the pig demon as well as a silent form of affection that he treated any he cared for with.

Sandy had sought out a therapist and took anger management classes. His love for battle long since extinguished, the river demon now spent his time taking care of his cats, making tea, and being supportive of his friends.

Tang was certainly not naive to the ways of the world any longer. He still did his best to treat any strangers he met with kindness and respect, but he never fully believed anyone new to be trustworthy until they showed themselves to be. He always listened to the advice of his friends as well, knowing that he didn’t know everything and those around him might have insights he did not.

Tang placed his mug down and steepled his fingers together.

“We need to tell MK, Mei, and Wukong who we really are.”

“What?!” Pigsy's angry reaction hadn’t been unexpected. They had made an agreement some time back to not reveal themselves to anyone. It was less to do with having to deal with annoying fans and more with avoiding the painful memories their identities brought with them.

If it wasn’t for the fact he had been hopping through timelines and saw first hand how hiding things from people hurt them, Tang was certain he wouldn’t have been making this decision.

“I said we-”

“I heard what you said,” Pigsy interrupted. “No way! Nuh-uh! Not happening!”

“Now hold on brother,” Sandy soothed, placing a comforting hand on the chef’s shoulder. “Let’s hear him out first.”

“This better be good,” Pigsy grumbled and slouched back into his chair.

“Which do you think will go over better? Us being honest with them about our pasts, or them discovering the truth on their own?”

“They won’t find out if we’re careful about it,” Pigsy countered.

“They will find out,” Tang stated with absolute certainty. “Whether it’s the kids putting the pieces together themselves or Wukong recognizing us, there is no doubt that this isn’t going to stay a secret for long.”

Sandy seemed thoughtful but the pig demon simply huffed and crossed his arms stubbornly.

Tang stared directly into Pigsy’s defiant eyes. Looks like he’d have to pull out the big guns.

“How do you think MK will react once he finds out that we, that you, have been keeping something this important from him?”

With a sharp intake of air Pigsy froze, his expression changing from defiance to horror. He leaned over, placing his face in his hands and groaned.

“Oh god. He’d- he’d feel like I didn’t trust him. Like I didn’t care about him enough to tell him.” The chef seemed miserable at the thought as he looked up. “Okay, we can tell the kid. Mei too, I guess.”

Tang shared a glance with Sandy. Neither had missed the exclusion of Wukong from Pigsy’s concession.

(When did he stop being the Monkey King to Tang?)

“So, uh, will we tell big brother before or after we tell MK and Mei,” Sandy asked, eyeing the pig demon warily.

Like a switch had been flipped, Pigsy’s anger returned in full force, his face twisting into a hateful scowl.

“We ain’t telling that bastard nothing,” he snarled.

“Pigsy,” Tang scolded, shocked at the amount of venom in his voice.

“No! He doesn't deserve it! Not after letting us think he was dead-” Pigsy’s voice broke slightly as he continued his rant. “Not after avoiding us for five hundred years!”

Tang took a steadying breath and pushed down the irrational emotions and hurt that wanted to agree with Pigsy’s stance. He needed to be calm if he was to convince one of his oldest friends to go through with this.

“Assumptions, my dear friend, are very dangerous things,” Tang said.

“Huh?” Pigsy looked confused at the seeming change in subject. Good, that meant he was paying attention.

“We never found Wukong after he disappeared, so we assumed he was dead. We continued to assume such for five hundred years,” Tang began, speaking clearly and with emphasis to be sure he was understood. “We now know our assumptions were wrong. Now you are falling back into the same mistake.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“You are assuming that Wukong knew we were looking for him. You are assuming he hid from us intentionally. You are assuming that he knows we’re still alive.”

“Wait, what,” Sandy exclaimed. He had seemed to be following along with the conversation up until that point and now looked alarmed.

“How do we know Wukong didn’t fall into the same trap we have,” Tang explained. “That he didn’t just assume we were gone, either through death or reincarnation? With that assumption in mind, why would he ever think to go looking for us?”

There was a tense silence as Tang let his point sink in before finishing his argument.

“We can no longer assume things. That only leads to misunderstanding and hurt feelings. If we are to learn the truth we must actively look for it. To do that we must be honest with Wukong.”

Pigsy stared at him for a few moments before sagging and plopping down into his chair.

“I’m not drunk enough for this.”

Tang breathed a sigh of relief as Sandy chided their friend about drowning your feelings in alcohol. That was the first hurdle down.

Now for the hard part.

----------

In the end they decided to tell all three of them at the same time. Just to rip the whole band-aid off in one go so to speak.

It hadn't been too hard to convince MK to get Wukong to invite them to his island. He hadn’t welcomed them into his sanctum however, so they had a picnic on the shore near the waterfall curtain instead.

The food had been quickly forgotten once they began their explanation.

MK was upset at first at having the truth withheld from him, but some heartfelt reassurances and a teary hug from Pigsy had earned them his forgiveness. He bounced back rather quickly and immediately began launching questions excitedly at the trio.

Mei had simply accepted the revelation with great enthusiasm. She had pulled her phone and began live streaming a “Q&A WITH THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST CREW!!!”. So much for anonymity.

Tang gave an amused chuckle as the young adults pestered Pigsy and Sandy as he glanced at the uncharacteristically silent Wukong.

The Monkey King could have been carved from stone with how still he was, his expression frighteningly blank.

“Wukong?” Tang swallowed nervously as his first disciple turned to him with that empty look. “Do you want to say something?”

That had apparently been the wrong thing to ask.

“Do I want to say something? Do I want to say something?!” The empty stillness was immediately replaced with restless agitation as Wukong leapt to his feet and began to pace back and forth angrily. “Oh there are a lot of somethings I want to say to you three!”

“Hey Mei? Stop streaming for a bit,” MK said quietly as he pulled her a little ways away from the group. Tang would have been extremely proud of the emotional maturity the kid was showing, but he currently had a very pissed off monkey taking up most of his attention.

“How could you do this to me?! How could you even think of leaving me to be alone for five hundred years,” Wukong shouted at them, confusion and anger and hurt pouring from every word.

“Big brother, we-” Sandy tried.

“Don’t you ‘Big Brother’ me, Sha Wujing!” The way he spat out the name like a curse made the river demon flinch. “You all abandoned me! I thought I was never going to see any of you again! Yet here you all are!” Wukong clenched his fists as he glared at the three immortals. “WHERE WERE YOU?!”

“Where were we? Where were you,” Pigsy threw the question right back angrily. “We looked for you! For a century we searched! That’s more than what you can say!”

“And then when you got tired of it you gave up! You gave up on me!”

“WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!”

“I MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN!”

The anger bled out from the air at that confession and Wukong seemed to crumble into himself. Pigsy looked stunned, Sandy was nervously wringing his hands, and Tang’s stomach was twisting itself into a painful knot.

“I was alone, Bajie. My brothers were gone and I was left by myself,” Wukong trembled as he hugged himself. Tang had never seen the proud warrior look so small before. “For centuries I had nothing but my memories and grief. Sometimes I wanted to be dead. Maybe then I’d see you again.” Wukong fell to his knees as he looked up at them with tears running down his face. “I missed you all so much.”

Tang felt his own tears falling as he rushed over to embrace Wukong who began to openly sob. Sandy and Pigsy soon joined in and the four of them simply held each other as they let their pain free.

“We’re so, so sorry Wukong,” Tang said. “I promise you we would have never hurt you like this intentionally.”

“I- I know,” Wukong hiccuped, clutching to the three of them tightly.

“We won’t ever leave you alone again big brother,” Sandy vowed.

“We’re stuck with each other from now on, no matter how much we may get on each other's nerves.” Pigsy’s joke earned a choked laugh from Wukong.

Two more pairs of arms entered into their group hug as MK and Mei joined them on the ground.

“Please don’t be sad Monkey King,” MK said. “You have Mei and I now too. You aren’t alone anymore.”

Wukong just began to cry a little harder and held on a bit tighter at that.

The six of them stayed like that for some time, holding each other up in silent support and comfort.

As they sat there, Tang was a little overwhelmed by how right it felt to be holding onto the others. Love burned in his chest as he enjoyed the warmth of being this close to his family.

Oh.

Oh.

They were his family, weren’t they?

That wasn’t just another assumption. These five, across any timeline, were family to him, and he would always care for them as such.

Any lingering doubts about being Tripitaka melted away. It didn’t really matter who he was or had been in the past. All that mattered was the real love he felt for these people that were precious to him.

As long as he had that, he could overcome anything else that came his way.

----------

You didn’t think I would write a Tang-centric fic and NOT have him be Tripitaka did you? It was inevitable honestly.

I'm not sure if I characterized Sha Wujing correctly here, but Sandy canonically went to anger management so I made some (hehe) assumptions.

Speaking of! Count how many assumptions are made in this chapter! There might be more than you think~

The story referenced in this chapter is Tang’s Time Adventure by Poddlebud. It’s a fun little romp with a unique ship. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see the conclusion played out here…

Until next time!

[themurphyzone]

PatB Oneshot: Every Rose Has Thorns and Petals

Summary: Brain’s plan is simple: create a Valentine card with a message that the world should adore him as their new ruler. But he needs extra help in coming up with a catchy message to rein in the consumers for the outer cover. And who better to help than the expert of all things amour?

AN: I decided to see if I could write a good Suavo. Enjoy! Warning for terribly cheesy flirting. I don’t typically write this genre XD

This borrows from the HC that Pinky can still do the Suavo persona.

Written for Valentine's Day/Suavo Sunday. I regret everything.

AO3 Link

At last, a new plan came to fruition! With Valentine’s Day looming upon them with its chocolate-coated fangs and sickly sweet aroma, people would be flocking to grocery stores everywhere to purchase giant teddy bears they could barely carry around and heart-shaped boxes of gourmet chocolate. But most lucrative of all, they would buy Valentine cards with the most obnoxious lovestruck messages that were far cheesier than Pinky’s cheesecake.

Everything clicked into place. The slightly larger than average dimensions of a Valentine’s card. Various red and pink hues for the envelopes. Colorful images with hearts, roses, and Pinky on the front cover (for Pinky met all of the scientific criteria that triggered one’s protective instincts). And on the inside, an image of Brain standing on the world in royal regalia with a message declaring that all the world shall adore him as their new leader.

But there was a single, glaring flaw to his otherwise brilliant plan.

He could not come up with a ridiculous phrase for the outside cover. It had to be eye-catching, humorous, or corny enough to grab a customer’s attention. He stared at the smiling picture of Pinky for several minutes, then gave in.

Pinky was the expert in all things ridiculous after all.

“Life is the road I wanna keep going! Love is a river and I wanna keep going ooonnnn!” Pinky sang along to his playlist, leading a Barbie doll in a tender waltz.

And it was best to interrupt before Pinky’s playlist reached My Heart Will Go On. That sappy 90s love ballad was on there. He was not striking the King of the World pose until he was actually king of the world, but that assertion hadn’t gotten through Pinky’s cotton-stuffed head yet.

Brain grabbed the prototype card and pencil, marching up to the windowsill where Pinky and Barbie danced under the evening sky. The sun lowered, the moon rose, and the first twinkling stars poked out, signifying the beginning of another night.

The phone was propped against a wall, and Brain smacked the image of Anastasia and Dmitri dancing to stop the song as he passed by. Pinky continued to hum, dipping Barbie low enough that her blonde hair touched the windowsill. His eyes were half-lidded, tail swishing to an invisible beat. Though there was no music, his rhythm was steady and his feet never missed a step.

It was mesmerizing. Pinky danced with all the grace of a professional ballerina.

He pricked his finger on a sharp point of the prototype card, and the poke brought Brain back to reality. Right. No distractions.

“Hiya, Brain! Zort!”

Dear Archimedes there were otherworldly blue eyes right in front of his face.  

Startled, Brain leapt back and swung his pencil defensively. There was a muffled narf as the eraser end went into Pinky’s mouth. Once the initial shock passed, Pinky giggled and nibbled on the eraser, several rubbery shavings poking out between his teeth.  

Brain took a deep breath, trying to calm his too-fast heartbeat.

“Quit slobbering on my erasers, Pinky,” Brain snapped. He removed his pencil from Pinky’s mouth, wrinkling his nose at the saliva-coated eraser. He tossed it aside, and the pencil skittered across the counter and onto the floor.

“But they taste so good!” Pinky licked his lips. “Especially with a pinch of dryer lint. That way you get fluff and chewiness in one single fantastic bite!”

Sometimes he truly worried for the state of Pinky’s digestive tract. For now, it was best to change the topic entirely. “As much as I’d love to debate the intricacies of your exotic cuisine, I require some of your eccentric expertise for my latest plan,” Brain said, setting the prototype card on the counter.

Pinky’s tail and ears perked up. A predictable reaction, but reliable all the same.

While Pinky put Barbie away, Brain retrieved a new pencil. There were few writing utensils that weren’t chewed up by a bored employee or Pinky for fun, and it wouldn’t be long before Brain would have to acquire more.

“I gotta help Brain now, Barbie. Thanks for sharing a dance with me! Those ballroom dance classes are really paying off!” Pinky chirped, waving to the inanimate Barbie, who now sat in a pink plastic convertible next to a shirtless Ken doll. He peeked inside the card and clasped his hands together, holding them against his cheek dreamily. “Awww, Brain! This is gonna be so romantic!”

“The very atmosphere I intend to create with these mass-produced cards, Pinky,” Brain replied. “However, while I have all the elements of your typical Valentine card alongside an additional message that will aid us in our conquest, I haven’t worked out one essential component yet.”

He closed the card and tapped the empty speech bubble next to Pinky’s image.

Pinky tilted his head. “You haven’t figured out how to make single people buy your cards yet?”

Drat. He hadn’t considered those outliers.

“Then we’ll just have to infiltrate the postal service,” Brain said, mentally congratulating himself on correcting that error quickly. “But before we implement the plan, I need a Valentine phrase for this speech bubble. A saying that will entice the average infatuated consumer and hook them into purchasing my cards alone. And since you lean heavily toward the sentimental and saccharine…well, this is where I require your assistance.”

“The sentimental and the saccharine?” Pinky echoed. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that soap opera, Brain. What channel is it on?”

Brain opened his notebook and found an empty page, poised to jot down Pinky’s suggestions. “The real life channel. Don’t be concerned about missing it, Pinky. It’s on 24/7 all year long. But I digress. The sooner I find a phrase, the sooner we’ll have the world!”

Pinky tapped his foot in thought, the tip of his tongue poking out like he truly believed protruding tongues had the power to magically grant ideas. For all Brain knew, Pinky probably believed that.

Then Pinky snapped his fingers. “I got it! How ‘bout ‘be mine, valentine’?”

“Too cliché,” Brain muttered. A million Valentine cards would already have similar phrasing. They didn’t have time to seize control of a greeting card factory. “Not unique enough.”

Although the valentine bit wasn’t particularly directed toward him, his grip on the pencil slackened, the tip leaving a graphite smudge along the margins. He quickly turned the pencil around and erased it, hoping Pinky didn’t catch onto his brief moment of inattention.  

Fortunately, Pinky didn’t notice. “Alrighty then. Hmmm…you’re the sour cream to my cheese-slathered potato?”

“…I’ll save it for a last resort.”

Well, he asked for unique. But sour cream didn’t particularly invoke strong Valentine feelings. Idioms that involved sweet foods with enough sugar to induce diabetes in an elephant would be better, and he made a quick note to the side.

“I turtle-y adore you?” Pinky suggested, his blue eyes sparkling accordingly.

Brain felt a light blush settling over his cheeks, and he rubbed his fur to rid himself of the mortifying feeling. “Doesn’t match your picture. And no animal puns unless they involve mice.”

Pinky rubbed his chin, not one to be easily deterred. “There’s gotta be some good ones on the Internet.”

“Don’t trouble yourself, Pinky,” Brain sighed. He sat cross-legged on the counter, massaging his forehead to intercept any headaches before they began. “Figured we should’ve gone with the photobooth plan. It’s your fault for influencing my subconscious with your caterwauling over The Princess Bride’s movie adaptation.”

“Troz! I’ll have you know Princess Buttercup and Westley have great chemistry!” Pinky pouted.

Brain rolled his eyes. “Please. They’re about as compatible as two noble gases.”

Pinky went quiet after that. Whether he’d gone off into the imaginary world of talking cheeses or taken unusually great offense on the lead couple’s behalf, Brain wasn’t sure. But the silence obliged, and Brain took the opportunity to ponder their next course of action.

Take a risk and use one of Pinky’s earlier suggestions? Scrap the plan entirely and pull one from storage? Seek a second opinion?  

Then Pinky gasped, his tail pointing high in the air like an inverted exclamation point.

“Brain, are you pondering what I’m pondering?” Pinky asked, gripping Brain’s shoulders in excitement.

Brain leaned back, supporting himself on the palms of his hands. “We break out the Feldman disguises and ask Mr. Sultana for his opinion on what a hypothetical Valentine card should say?”

“I’m sure he’s got a bunch of good ones, but that’s not it,” Pinky said. “Actually, I oughta slip into something more…in-character. I’ll be right back!”

Pinky skipped away, humming as he went over to his dress-up box in the corner of their cage. He pulled a divider around himself so that all Brain could see was a shadowy silhouette rummaging through clothing and accessories.

Brain continued to ponder, though no feasible ideas were coming to him. He closed his eyes, shutting out all visual forms of distraction. He listened to Pinky dressing in the cage, but it was more white noise than a true hindrance.

Five minutes later, he still had nothing. But there was something…different.

A tantalizing scent. Not overly sharp, though just light enough that he couldn’t identify it with confidence. And he wanted to know more.

It wasn’t fruit or soap. Nor was it vanilla, like the scented candles Pinky loved so much.

Something smooth snaked its way under his nose, brushing the fur above his lips. The scent was closer now. His nose twitched.

“ACHOO!”

Startled by the force of his sudden sneeze, Brain’s eyes flew open. He rubbed his nose to wipe off the lingering sensation, staring down at Pinky’s long tail, which sat unassumingly in his lap. The tip was wrapped around the stem of a small red rose.

The tail lifted, rubbing against the fur under Brain’s chin. Brain felt his cheeks heat up again, and he quickly batted the offending appendage away.

“Pinky, you’re not helping my state of-“ Brain began, ready to launch into a verbal tirade on how he needed to think and if Pinky wasn’t going to help then he could make like a mitotic cell and split…and then he saw a very familiar, perhaps all too-familiar, lavender tuxedo with an overstuffed dark purple…something underneath.

He couldn’t tell if it was a shirt, vest, or pincushion. A gold button glinted in the middle of Pinky’s chest.

Gulping, Brain knew the mysterious article of clothing was the least of his concerns. He forced himself to look up, gaze raking past the slender neck and toward half-lidded, coy blue eyes. A sophisticated mustache poked out from each side of Pinky’s muzzle. And he was genteel, charismatic…

Suave.  

Pinky’s ability to play a character to perfection never ceased to astound him. He still remembered? Brain had long destroyed the Personalitron and its blueprints, deeming them unnecessary and cumbersome.

“Pardonnez-moi, you with the giant head and marshmallow body are seeking the passionate advice of I, the great Pinky…Suavvvo-“ he drawled every syllable with that odd French accent, r’s rolling off his tongue like smooth butter “-for your…ah, Saint Valentine card, no?”  

Fu—choose your words wisely—I mean, dear name of a historical contributor to the scientific or mathematical field who I can’t identify properly at this time.

“I fail to see how playing dress-up is going to help with this conundrum, Pinky Suavo.” Brain stood up and crossed his arms. He wasn’t about to let the Suavo persona sway him. He was the Brain, and he bowed to no one.

Exert control over the situation. Yes. That’s what he needed.

Suavo plucked the rose from his tail between two practiced fingers, inhaling its scent deeply. Where did he even get that rose from? The lab wasn’t growing flora for any reason, nor did any scientist have the green thumb to care for anything so fragile.

“Oh, but love is always…how did you say, a conundrum, is it not?” he purred, and Brain scowled. But Suavo was unperturbed. “One may pluck the petals from a pretty flower and ask if one loves or loves not, yet how will one know if they ask the flower and not the lover? Oh, I do not know.”

His voice dipped into a lower, softer register, and a strange sensation traveled up Brain’s spine. Though the riddle seemed directed at him, he wasn’t in the mood to unravel any cryptic meanings.

Just like before, Suavo’s magnetism was…hypnotizing. Like he had no choice but to do what Pinky Suavo said. And wasn’t that ironic? He, the Brain, as the hapless follower instead of the commanding leader.

Suavo appeared oblivious to Brain’s internal dilemma. He simply set the rose back into his tail and twirled one curled end of the mustache around his finger, humming a dreamy, sentimental song to himself. He was waiting on Brain in the most irritating fashion possible.

But if he wanted this plan to work, he’d just have to tolerate Pinky’s attempt at resolving his predicament.

“Pinky Suavo,” Brain sighed, forcing all his pride back. Suavo turned to him, his eyes still in that odd half-lidded position. “Is that overstuffed pincushion actually giving you ideas for the card?”

“Of course, mon ami.” Suavo slicked his ears and fur tuft back with a smooth, graceful stroke of his hand. “For it is he, who is I, who is the connoisseur of…ammooooouuuur.”

Brain grabbed his notepad and pencil, his stomach doing odd backflips like butterflies had somehow burrowed their way into his flesh and laid eggs there. He was not paying attention to Suavo’s hand movements. No, the eye was just naturally drawn to movement. That’s how it worked.

Besides, he was looking at the same being who once managed to get all his fingers and tail tangled up in a complicated cat’s cradle.

Suavo clicked his tongue, deftly plucking the items out of Brain’s grip. “No, no, you silly mouse. You cannot experience amour through pen and paper alone. You must feel it, see it, hear it. For it is everywhere and anywhere you search…if only you would use those big ears of yours.”

Brain gritted his teeth and jumped for his supplies, but Suavo simply held them out of reach with one long arm. All Brain could manage was a tiny hop. It wasn’t getting him anywhere.

So he took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.

“I’m listening, Pinky Suavo,” Brain said, hoping he sounded at least a little cordial. “I believe the colloquial is, I’m all ears?”

A pleased smile flitted across Suavo’s face, his arm lowering.

Perfect.

Then Brain threw himself forward, digging his hands and feet into Suavo’s clothing and hauling himself towards the notepad and pencil. Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to grip. Suavo stumbled a bit, but he refused to yield. Brain grabbed a fabric fold on Suavo’s right shoulder. He was so close-

-and a red nose pushed into his own. Warm, mint-scented breath tickled the fur on his face.

“You know, it is more, ah, polite to take a mouse to dinner before you begin climbing him, is it not?” Suavo crooned.

Brain’s ears flopped against his back, a warm sensation sweeping through his body. His clammy paws lost their grip on Suavo’s clothing, and he would’ve fallen entirely if Suavo’s free arm hadn’t wrapped around his waist and secured him with a strong yet gentle grip.

In hindsight, perhaps his attempt at reclaiming his belongings was ill-thought out.

Perhaps it was for the best that the arm was covered by fabric, but at the same time, some irrational thought of wanting Pinky’s fur against his own wormed its way into his mind.  

Suavo set the notepad and pen down with care, dipping Brain in the process. Brain clutched the fabric tightly, but it was unnecessary. Suavo’s embrace was strong enough to prevent him from landing on his head. Then Suavo straightened up, once again plucking the rose from his tail and holding it next to Brain.  

“Oh, now this is…magnifique,” Suavo murmured, his eyes darting from the rose to Brain’s face. Though Brain tried to maintain eye contact to make his displeasure known, his resolve was quickly crumbling away. Surely it was the close proximity, the thumb stroking his fur, that was picking apart all rational thought and leaving some hormone-driven creature behind?

“What?” Brain asked, and he inwardly cringed. His voice wasn’t working properly. He’d meant to sound more demanding than that pathetic excuse of a question.

“Your eyes, mon ami, are just a few shades lighter this rose,” Suavo said. Brain stared at him in disbelief. Comparing eyes to flowers, or worse, gemstones, was just ridiculous.

And your comparison of Pinky’s aesthetically pleasing eyes to the wild blue yonder above isn’t?

Brain ignored the contemptuous voice. That was completely different. The sky was neither a flower nor a gemstone, and therefore it wasn’t off-limits. Besides, it was a thought for him and him alone. It’s not like anyone else was going to hear it.

“You are but a deer mouse in the headlights. Yet there is no need to hide under a thorny layer,” Suavo hummed, tilting his head curiously. Deliberately. How strange. Even the slightest movement was mesmerizing. His fingers traveled up the flower stem, until his hand rested underneath the petals, supporting the tiny rose in the palm of his hand. “A rosebush may scratch and prick, yet the great Pinky Suavo cannot be swayed. For there’s a pretty bloom hidden in the darkness, and he is who moi shall…shall…NARF!”

Shocked by the return of the nonsensical exclamation, Brain lost his hold on Pinky Suavo’s clothing. He fell onto the counter surface with a pained groan. The hard material wasn’t doing wonders for the bends in his tail.

Something fluttered against his nose, causing Brain to sneeze again. He removed the offending object, and found himself staring down at the rose he’d been teased with. If he ignored the heavy-handed rose imagery Suavo kept spouting, it was rather adequate for a specimen.

“Narf! Zort! Poit! Egad!” Pinky laughed uncontrollably between his usual tics, uttering them at such a fast rate that they started to blend together like a tongue twister. “Ooh, I haven’t—troz! Haven’t said narf in a long time! But it’s poit—it’s okay cause you needed my help!”

Idiot.

Brain sighed and pushed himself to a standing position, then placed the rose on his notepad so Pinky could reclaim it later.

Now that he thought about it, Pinky hadn’t said any of his favorite syllables in his Suavo persona. Of course, they’d been replaced by stupid love poetry and gratuitous French, but the narfs and poits and zorts were rather refreshing.

Odd. He never thought he’d actually miss Pinky’s…unique diction.

“Pinky, were you actively suppressing your usual speech patterns in your strange form of assistance?” Brain asked. He couldn’t help his curiosity.

“Zort! Oh Brain, I’m not nearly as good as suppressing things like you are!” Pinky’s chortles continued as Brain grabbed his wrist and led him straight to the water bottle in their cage. “Besides—narf! Besides, I had to stay in character!”

“Remind me to never have you play a villain for any future plans revolving around cinema,” Brain grumbled.

Pinky’s tail happily flicked against Brain’s own. Though the imbecile was just swishing it around mindlessly, the brief physical contact suddenly brought back that very odd, warm sensation.

Curse this heightened sensitivity! It’s only a principle of thermodynamics and heat transfer!  

“Brain, are you okay? Poit,” Pinky asked as Brain made him sit down in front of the water bottle. “You’re all woozy and whirlywindy. And white and red all over like a newspaper!”

“I’m f-fine,” Brain said. He was absolutely not relying on Pinky for balance. “Just drink, Pinky. And take off those silly clothes when you’re done.”

Pinky stared, not comprehending anything Brain said, but that was normal for him. Then he started to laugh, and only then did Brain realize he needed to watch his word choice, especially around a certain someone, because of course his fluff-filled mind would misconstrue it.

“Not like that!” Brain spat.

Pinky tipped onto his back, legs kicking upwards as his high-pitched laughter continued to assault Brain’s ears.

For the sake of his own sanity, he left Pinky to his own devices and stormed over to the nearest sink. He pushed on the tap for cold water until he’d created his own miniature waterfall, then hopped right in. He welcomed the cascade over his body.

As long as it pushed his homeostasis in the opposite direction, he was fine with resembling a drowned rat for now.

o-o-o-o-o

The plan failed before it ever took off. Brain had been so distracted that he’d failed to notice the lab was completely out of colored ink, rendering the copy machines completely useless.

He’d gone with the ‘you’re the sour cream to my potatoes’ message for the front cover, formatting it into the speech bubble in an elegant cursive font. Though it wasn’t conventional by any means, he simply considered it again since no other suggestions were forthcoming.

But at the same time, part of him wasn’t keen on allowing the masses to lay eyes on the Valentine card.

It seemed special. Unexplainably so.

“Brain?” Pinky called. His verbal tics had long gone back to their normal frequency. “Aren’t we taking over the world tonight?”

Brain shook his head, relieved that he finally had control over his body again. “Not tonight, Pinky. I’m afraid I’ve been prematurely thwarted by the lack of inventory in this lab.”

“Oh, you don’t have to be afraid, Brain,” Pinky said. Gone were Suavo’s clothing and mustache, and Pinky’s lean, muscular arms were on full display as he folded them across his chest. “I’ll protect you from Tory.”

It was an unnecessary gesture, but Brain couldn’t help but be touched by the admission all the same. Brain made a show of carefully placing the card into storage, just so he could distract himself momentarily.  

When he finished his task, he found Pinky holding an elegant paper rose, crafted meticulously with purple tissue paper. A light blush settled over Brain’s cheeks as he accepted the gift from Pinky, whose blue eyes shone brightly as Brain ran his fingers over the soft petals.

“Thank you, Pinky,” Brain said gratefully, and he resisted the urge to rush off immediately and place the paper rose with his globe keychain, another gift from his dearest friend.

“You’re welcome!” Pinky smiled, and Brain’s heart beat faster. Then Pinky’s gaze flicked to the TV screen, and Brain figured he was about to be roped into watching a cheesy love story unfold. “Brain, can we watch Beauty and the Beast please? With those special Valentine M&M’s and chocolate-coated popcorn? I saw a whole bunch in the kitchen! Narf!”  

Well…he could’ve suggested worse. At least this one was tolerable.

And it’s been a while since they’d watched a movie together.  

“Get everything set up, Pinky,” Brain ordered. “I’ll join you when I’m finished with my own tasks.”

Pinky saluted and scampered into the kitchen, grabbing the rose he’d held in his Suavo persona along the way. He sang at the top of his lungs, though he’d forgotten most of the actual words and replaced them with a series of narfs and portmanteaus. Once Pinky was sufficiently distracted, Brain moved his notepad and pen over to the TV, then laid the paper rose over it.

He heard the crinkle of a bag followed by the sound of M&M’s being poured into a bowl. Pinky would be back any minute.

Brain knocked his head against the side of a wall.

Calm yourself. Pinky believes pebbles are precious gifts. You’ll be fine. Probably.

Slowly, he approached the drawer where he’d kept his hidden present. Sifting through several sheets of paper covered with complex formulas he’d deliberately placed in there to ward off Pinky, he found the sunflower pen he’d carefully hidden towards the back.

It wasn’t exactly…traditional for a Valentine’s gift. Simple blue ink with a green body and tipped with a bright yellow sunflower.

But it was bright. And colorful. Like Pinky.

More importantly, it was practical.

Brain’s ears twitched, and he heard the whirring of the VCR as Pinky popped in the movie. Brain debated leaving the pen and presenting it after the movie, but he didn’t want to procrastinate either. Otherwise it would be impossible to enjoy their activity.

Well, he could just drop it in Pinky’s lap. And snatch up some popcorn so his actions wouldn’t be too conspicuous. He climbed out of the drawer, holding the pen behind his back.

A preview for The Little Mermaid began to play. Pinky was enraptured by the animated marine animals. He seemed so happy.

Maybe he should reconsider. Valentine items would be discounted next week. He could just hold off and give a belated…what was he thinking? Valentine’s was just another day to turn profit!

The paper rose was sitting right there. No…Valentine’s meant something to Pinky. Like Christmas.

“Goody, you’re back, Brain!” Pinky cheered, stuffing two pink M&M’s into his mouth. The large bowl beside him was overflowing with chocolate. “It’s not raining inside, but I love your parasol! Where’d you buy it?”

A parasol?

He glanced up at the sunflower. Oh. So there was a resemblance to a parasol, he supposed. If one viewed it at a certain angle, that is.

“It’s a pen. Not a parasol. Take it,” Brain said, holding out the sunflower pen.

Pinky didn’t take it.

Instead, he made a joyful noise and crushed Brain with a flying embrace. Brain dropped the pen in surprise as Pinky’s entire body curled around him, feet off the ground. Brain had to support all his weight, Pinky’s warm fur brushing against his own.

“I love it! Loveitloveitloveit! Thanks, Brain!” Pinky squealed, happy tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

“You’re welcome, Pinky,” Brain murmured as Pinky nuzzled his cheek. “Now get off. I require my lungs. And heart. And my digestive system.”

Pinky didn’t get off until the Disney fanfare to herald the beginning of the movie began to play. Then he quieted down immediately, rolling the sunflower pen so that it rested across his lap.

“…happy Valentine’s Day,” Brain whispered, nibbling on a red M&M.

Pinky smiled back, teeth flecked with bits of chocolate. He shushed Brain, not wanting him to interrupt the opening narration.

As the enchanted rose appeared onscreen, Brain stroked the soft tissue paper of Pinky’s beautiful creation. Then he set it aside and reached for some popcorn.

His world was here. And there was nothing more he wanted.

Fun fact: the original name for this fic was going to be Suavo Valentino, but the current title was a last minute change cause somehow I just wrote a lot about roses.

Another change: The Princess Bride bit was originally a dig at High School Musical and how Disney Channel has bad romance in general, but since that was mid 2000s I changed it so this story could reasonably fit in the 90s.

Suavo’s lines...were interesting. I couldn’t stop laughing at how dumb some of them were though.

Brain’s got it bad here. Save him.

Are the roses corny? Yes. Do I care? Not really. Maybe. Possibly.

[popculturebuffet]

Amphibia Reviews: The First Temple or Bessie and Joe: The New OTP

Hello all you happy people! Amphibia season 2 moves right a long and it’s time for some video game shenanigans as we enter The First Temple! Family drama, snail on bird action, and outhouses await you under the cut with a recap/review with full spoilers. 

So we open with the Plantars having chocopillbug pancakes. Ironically my mom offered me chocolate chip pancakes after this and thank god for that. This is a rare treat to the point Anne didn’t even know they had choclate, and is suprisingly not strangling Hop Pop over this. Unsuprisingly he broke out the good stuff to try and make up for hiding the box and things are still VERY awkward between the two, with Hop Pop walking on Egghshells around Anne and Anne doing the same when he brings it up with both desperatley trying to avoid the subject and Sprig not helping by bringing it up a bunch. 

I like this a lot and didn’t really think about the series continuting any tension over his decision.. but should have. Partly because this is a modern animated show and most of this wonderful new wave of shows have a LOT of emotional nuance. ANd partly because this show dosen’t forget things even most nuanced shows forget: the fact the characters cause chaos and learn life lesons is outright RECOGNZIED by the show as a pattern and brought up quite often, as are the patterns that lead to it, like mostly being sprig and anne, anne’s impulsivness that sort of thing. It’s the kind of thing you just gloss over in most shows but this one lampshades to hell and back for funsies so when something THIS important happens, you’d better belivie it’s not just going to disappear. 

The tensions thankfully broken by a new arrival, as a massive sparrow shows up in the yard. “It’s a giant bird with.. books on it’s back.. what. “ Great delivery from bill there. Naturally it’s Marcy! 

I missed this little goober. Such a joy to be around, and she of course marvels over the Plantar’s house before getting back on track: She’s found the first temple.. even though she sent a letter saying that and it’s not commented on that she did. It set off the whole previous episode Marcy... you okay Mar-Mar?

That aside though it’s time for the first temple and Marcy asks for the Box, with Sprig trying to make a joke about how good thing she didn’t ask for it a week ago. 

Polly rightly punches him in the ribs... do frogs have ribs? Hold on.. okay here we go

Huh.. so they do not You learn something new every day. Well lack of ribs or no our heroes are ready.. while Marcy’s sparrow Joe is also ready TO GET IT ON. Yes really, he does a mating dance for Bessie, complete with an intersumental version of “Sylvia” from last season. God damn that bird’s got game. The only time i’ve seen more game is THIS. 

 Marcy tells him to knock it off. Look marcy your a pet owner now and as a pet owner, it’s your responsiblity.. to let your giant bird do horrifying things with a slightly smaller but still giant snail. it’s what nature intended. Nature was doing a lot of cocaine that day but we still honor her wishes. 

But anyways Marcy’s figure out something intresting about the box.. by winding it just right the gems pop out, which allows her to take one, we later find out it’s the green one, to use in the temple. So off we go with Marcy and the rest of the kids up top and Hop Pop.. screaming in Joe Sparrows claws. He’s fine. 

So while they get ready, Anne worries about the amount of puzzles and hazzards Marcy’s hyping for this but Marcy shurgs it off and gives her own big boast about how may RTS she’s beaten.. suspciously like Yuaan as one post on here pointed out. Not a huge suprise though, to Marcy she’d just be the grand hero out of one of her rpg’s and not think of how many people she probably killed or who she’s working for.. though you’d THNK given all the RPG’s both tapetop and on her switch she’s played, that Marcy would see that “the benevolent king turns out to be the big bad” trope coming. 

But Anne’s worry is not on the big bad of the show but on Marcy who has a tendency to get so in the zone she ignores the world around her, which goes from focusing on her game while helping anne get softserve leading to a mess, not letting Anne down in a play and.. Anne catching Marcy on tv as all the snakes escape from the zoo. 

Regardless our heroes arrive and while the awkwardness between anne and hop pop continues, they find a majestic temple.. and what appears to be an outhouse. Hey we all gotta poop sometimes, even people making a majestic temple.  If you don’t it comes out like this. 

So they head in and we get our first puzzle, a mysterious cube that lifts you into the air and allows you to tilt the thing around. 

Those of you wondering why I have such a strong reaction have ever never played breath of the wild or played it with a pro controller, i.e. NOT having to tilt the very thing your screen is on because Nintendo has failed to grasp that MAYBE people don’t like that, that it takes you out of the experince and that it’s really hard to focus on your screen while having to move the fucking system about. And the plantar’s getting horribly jostled around as she moves it is EXACTLY how it feels to play a puzzle requring that shit. 

Next is a color based tile dungeon leftover from Link’s Awakening DX. As marcy figures out the reds do fire and the blues do crushing... but she reads the language (And as she put earlier “Guess who learned an entire dead language?” God she’s precious. ) and finds a green with envy pun (Which Hop Pop takes offense to.. several of his friends are green.). Which is curious as given several citzens of amphibia are green.. why would they make a green pun? So she gets on one tile and Hop Pop plans to take the risk of getting on the other green tile, but Anne does it instead.. and things get heated between the two as Anne reveals she no longe feels like family since he did what he did for polly and sprig and hop pop takes offense as she IS. Even if he screwed up with her. But Anne’s near death experince activates the tile. 

The final challnge switches us from Zelda.. to Harry Freaking Potter. 

Now I used to love Harry Potter, with all of my heart. Then JK Rowling turned out to be a transphobic piece of shit who thinks she’s an ally, but is really a bigot who wants to “accept” trans people without giving them any rights. So yeah while I still love the starkid musicals, ore more accuratley the music from them, and own a copy of lego harry potter I got as a gift recently as both parties had no idea she was a monster when this stuff was made. Still a sore subject though, but if I didn’t bring up the similiarties I wouldn’t be doing my job as a critic and this was likely thought up long before JK outed herself as well...

No no the great mighty poo respects all peoples.. and wants to take their heads and ram it up his butt. He’s an equal opportunity butt rammer. 

Anyways this is the frog equivlent of chess flipfrog, and just like with Wizard chess, our heroes end up as the pieces minus marcy.. and in a nice twist on that scene, Anne ends up on the other side. Marcy is a grandmaster at it though so after an hour or so of play she almost wins.. only for the king equilvent to refuse to be taken and the automatic board she’s up against to send Anne against hop pop, and with our heroes magically restrained and given stone weapons, this can’t end well. Eventually though Anne’s forced to hit HOp Pop multiple times and while he says “well isn’t this what you wanted”, she says no.. she didn’t want to phsyically hurt him it’s just complicated. So we get one heck of an emotioinal scene as Hop Pop just wants to help and wants this to stop and dosen’t knoow how to fix this which as someone who desperatlyt ries to fix most emotional situations right away this hit very hard.. and her response of needing time hit harder. The two while not reconciled, ar ecloser to it and Marcy realizes what she’s done getting so obessed with winning and forfits for thier benifit. Our heroes leave, seemingly having lost.. only to find glowing arrows to the crap hole, which turns out to be the pedistal. The temple wasn’t just an intellegence test but empathy.. and the temples are clearly built to specifically test each of the chosen three, our heroines, specifically. Marcy’s tested her intellegence.. but also her willingness to let go of cold clyincal thought to do the right thing. That earns her her gem recharged and a flash in her eyes and her gem starts pointing to the next. She needs time to triangulate and hop pop and anne are back on workable footing... though our heroes offer to take a break instead of going to the next temple. 

Back in Newtopia, Yuaan reports on the toads gathering.. but dosen’t get to mentioning sasha before Marcy’s letter interrupts and Andridas oddly and aburbly dimisses her.. and goes to talk to a watcher with a thousand eyes, his “master” who has plans to undo the prophcey and get their revenge. 

Final Thoughts: This was a damn fine episode that gave Marcy some much needed character development, and gave the reveals of last episode some more emotiional fallout.  It also had some really great jokes as always. Top notch stuf. 

Next Time: Marcy tries to win everyone over through science and we FINALLY get an episode with the Frog Robot apparently. Horay

Next on this Blog: We go into final space yo! It’s unexpected births, ho yay, and horrifying zombie gary’s galore! 

Until then if you liked this review, follow me for more, join my patreon, comission a review if you please and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. Play us out jeff... and I haven’t done THAT bit in a while but eh. This song was too perfect. 

[mithranqueersmusings]

I Think I'll Love You Too I

Chapter: 1/?

Rating: E

Summary: George and Ringo have been going out officially for a couple of months. Ringo anticipated that dating a stripper would be complicated, but he didn't understand exactly how complicated it would be.

Tags: Modern AU, Smut

Pairing: George Harrison/Ringo Starr (Background McLennon)

AO3 link here / Fic masterlist here

"Are you sure about this?" Ringo asked tentatively, running the strips of leather through his fingers gently.

George gave him a look which needed no further explanation, the severity of his gaze enough to silence Ringo's worries. It hadn't been too long ago that Ringo had fantasised about having George all to himself yet now that dream had become a reality, he was nervous. Nervous about what exactly, Ringo didn't know, but ever since George had decided to reveal his extensive sex toy collection Ringo had been dreading the day he'd actually be required to use any of them. It wasn't that he didn't want to use these array of objects on George - the images they conjured in his mind kept him up late on several occasions - but he worried he wouldn't know how to do it properly. George seemed far more experienced with kinks and toys and everything really.

"We can try something else if you like." George was lying on his bed in nothing but a silk - Ringo couldn't tell whether it was real or not - dressing gown that was a deep shade of blue.

"Like what?" Ringo put the whip he'd been holding down onto the bed gently as though it had a mind of its own then scooted around to peruse through George's box once more.

"How about..." George began, scooting down the bed to get a better view "Wax?"

It took Ringo a few moments before he spotted the candles tucked away in the corner, they were thick and red like ones you might see in a horror film. Candles didn't seem that intimidating, at least compared to some of the other contraptions in here. Ringo wasn't even sure what some of them were called, and he was far too embarrassed to ask in this moment.

"Have you ever done it before?" George asked, his voice soft and sultry.

Ringo shook his head and chuckled "How hard can it be? I mean... It's candles."

"Precisely my thinking." George smiled at Ringo, quieting any anxiety he had.

"So... Uh- how do you wanna do this?" Ringo asked feeling rather helpless, picking up two of the candles from the box and giving them a smell - cherry scented, he guessed.

"Well." George began, the excitement in his voice evident, getting up from the bed and crouching beside the box "We're gonna need these."

These referred to a pair of handcuffs and two pieces of ribbon-like material which were a dark maroon colour. Ringo couldn't help himself from staring at George's face as he concentrated, his dark brows knitting together with his expression serious. Even though they'd been dating for a month or two now, Ringo still couldn't believe his luck that he was able to tie down - no pun intended - someone as stunning as George. Light stubble was brushed along his sharp jaw, only accentuating the bone further, his hair was messy yet still enticing and the paleness of his skin was clear to see as the robe slipped over his skin freely.

"We could do a blindfold too, if you wanted." George lowered his voice in concentration "Maybe some... No, I'm getting carried away."

George laughed to himself and returned back to his full height, clutching the aforementioned items before chucking them onto the bed with little consideration. Then he rummaged through his bedside table for a lighter, there was always one in the bedroom due to the cigarettes they tended to smoke after sex. Successful in his search, George threw the lighter to Ringo without warning but he managed to catch it all the same. Ringo cursed himself for feeling so flustered, but it was difficult knowing what was to come. No matter how many times he slept with George, no matter what kind of depraved acts they got up to, he still felt as anxious as the very first time; that was just the effect George had on him.

"I'm gonna hop in the bath real quick, then we can start. Okay?" George threw off his robe casually, letting the fabric slide from his smooth skin into a pile on the floor.

"Sounds like a plan." Ringo nodded, finally putting the candles down beside the bed.

Ringo watched George with hungry eyes as he sauntered off into the bathroom, the way he swung his hips made it clear to Ringo that he knew he was being looked at. The door shut with a gentle thud, leaving Ringo alone to gather his thoughts and prepare for what was to come.

"Comfortable?" Ringo asked after clicking the handcuffs together, pulling George's slim wrists to the top of the bed.

George nodded with a small smile, wiggling his limbs to test the strength of the restraints then nodded again. This was a small moment of intimacy that occurred every time they ventured into kinky territory, the calm before the storm in many ways. Ringo smiled back then flicked the lights off, leaving nothing but a lamp in the corner to light the suppleness of George's body. Ringo's nerves seemed to dissipate in the relative darkness, his breath steadying as he moved back over to the bed. First, he captured George's soft lips in a gentle kiss that quickly grew heated. George wasn't the most patient when it came to the bedroom, his teeth already pulling at Ringo's bottom lip. It took a great deal of strength for Ringo to pull away, fighting the temptation to forget all about the candles and to start spreading George open.

The candles had already been lit, sitting on the bedside table flickering slightly, and it was now that Ringo made his way over to pick one of them up. The sweet smell of cherry wafted around the room, something usually so innocent now suddenly turned erotic. The look in George's eyes was hungry, his hands were already fiddling with the handcuffs as best they could from the awkward angle, watching Ringo experimentally tilt the candle sideways so that the wax began to drip down. First it fell onto the bed, Ringo didn't want to try it directly onto George's skin at first. How much was this going to hurt? Ringo supposed he didn't really have to know, George knew and more importantly wanted desperately to feel the sensation.

"Come on..." George whined, rattling his handcuffs against the metal bedframe in protest.

Ringo moved his hand further, hovering the candle over George's hairless stomach before tilting it once more. The wax dripped down instantly, burning the soft skin for a moment before solidifying; its rich red colour made it appear almost like blood, a sight which no doubt spurred further depraved fantasies in George's mind.

"More." George demanded, his pupils dilated both from the darkness and his exponentially growing lust "And take your fucking clothes off."

Ringo gulped, unsure as to which command he was meant to follow first. It was difficult to think with this enticing display laid out before him: George's cock was beginning to harden and it made Ringo's mouth water. He decided to carry on with the candle for a few more moments, teasingly tilting the candle back and forth so that the wax never fell when George was expecting it. Ringo slowly began making a pattern which gradually grew closer to George's erection, each drop pulling a sharp hiss from his lips.

"Clothes." George repeated impatiently, it was moments like this that reminded Ringo why he'd been so intimidated by George when they'd first crossed paths.

Ringo didn't wait to be told a third time, even though George was helpless to administer any punishment even if he'd wanted to, undoing his trousers and shirt sloppily and tossing them behind him. He hadn't realised how hard he'd become until his erection sprang free from his boxers, evidently George wasn't the only one enjoying this little experiment. Candle back in hand, Ringo carefully shifted himself onto the bed to straddle George's thighs - careful to ensure they were never close enough for their cocks to brush together, that'd be making things too easy - before he tilted the candle once more. This time Ringo aimed for George's nipples which were hard with the coldness of the room, only missing by an inch or two. The second attempt was successful, landing directly onto the target, leading George to groan breathlessly.

"Feel good?" Ringo asked with a raised eyebrow, his free hand rubbing over the clean nipple.

George nodded "Stop holding back. I can take it."

Ringo smirked, jerking his wrist swiftly to administer another hot drop of wax onto his nipples "You wanna tell me where you want it, baby?"

George growled in response, a noise Ringo only heard every so often "My cock." The word sounding so filthy in George's rough tone, his tongue playing with his sharp teeth.

"You sure?" Ringo asked after a pause, his nervousness returning only slightly.

"Yes, I'm sure." George whined, thrusting his hips upwards as best he could to demonstrate his desperation "Now, do it."

Ringo couldn't deny that George's bossiness was a complete turn on, although he'd never let George know exactly how much of a turn on it truly was. He tried his best to silence the anxious thoughts plaguing his mind. Before committing to George's demand, Ringo wrapped his fingers gently around George's erection which earned him a few soft pants. Now or never, Ringo told himself before tilting the thick candle once more and letting the wax fall onto the hard cock gripped in his hand.

The noise that left George's mouth was something Ringo had never heard before, a mixture between a gasp and a deep moan, though it was certainly one he wanted to hear again (and again, and again...) It was difficult to not admire the strange beauty of the wax trickling down George's erection, which was now rock hard.

"Fuck..." Ringo couldn't keep the words from spilling from his lips, only waiting a moment or two before spilling more hot wax onto the reddening skin.

George let out a grunt, sounding far more in pain than he had previously, and for a moment Ringo worried he'd taken it too far but the look on his face was of pure ecstasy.

"More." George moaned, his wrists struggling in the constraints.

"Now, now." Ringo teased, a sly grin on his lips "There's a nicer way of asking that."

The look George gave Ringo made him very appreciative of the restraints for without them, George might've slapped him. He knew George's aggression wasn't genuine, it was just sexual frustration, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. A few moments passed in which the two of them just looked at each other, George's mouth tight with anger as he waited for Ringo to give up this act and carry on following his orders, but the time never came. Ringo only raised his eyebrows further, tilting the candle just so that it never dropped any wax.

"I'm waiting." Ringo spoke with a lilt, his grin widening.

George rolled his eyes and scoffed, looking like a disgruntled child "Please give me more, Ringo..."

"More of... what?" Ringo pushed his luck, he decided he may as well make use of George being helpless like this for as long as he could.

George's stare was deadly but it melted away when Ringo gave his cock a few loose jerks "Please pour that hot wax on my cock, please. I've been good, haven't I?"

Ringo found it difficult to refuse George whenever he opted for the mock-innocent route, so he decided to stop the teasing and snapped his wrist suddenly which led to three separate droplets of wax falling onto the sensitive skin of George's cock. George practically shrieked, his body jerking upwards but failing to move more than a few inches off the bed.

"Fuuuuck." George breathed, his eyes struggling to focus "Do that again."

For a moment Ringo debated teasing George further, but his own erection was growing uncomfortably hard and he wouldn't be able to ignore it for much longer. In a quick motion Ringo grabbed the second candle, unleashing a shower of wax down onto George. The noises were pained yet still erotic, Ringo couldn't help moaning himself as he watched the pain and pleasure washing over George's face. When George and Ringo's eyes finally met once more, Ringo could tell that George's vision was a little fuzzy.

"Can you use wax as lube?" Ringo asked, his mouth opening before he'd even considered what he was saying.

George's hazy eyes lit up "We can try."

Only now did Ringo realise the commitment he was making with that question, although it would have been foolish to pretend the idea didn't excite him thoroughly. It wasn't the smoothest transition but Ringo managed to undo the restraints on George's legs and get him into a position where the wax could drop directly onto his entrance.

"Are you sure?" Ringo asked cautiously, his free hand running circles up and down George's thigh to soothe him.

"Do it." George ordered once more, biting down on his lip.

Ringo shut off the barrage of voices telling him to stop, that this was taking things too far, and let his wrist flop down. George was incapable of making a sound, his mouth agape with only sharp breaths pouring out. However much it hurt, Ringo was certain he didn't want to know, but it was clear that George approved of whatever it was he was experiencing.

"Jesus." George panted "Feels so fucking good."

"Oh yeah?" Ringo asked, letting another two drops fall onto his hole "Tell me."

"Fuck!" George yelped, his wrists rattling in the handcuffs "Hurts so much... Don't stop."

Ringo tried to ignore the potential contradiction, pressing his finger roughly inside before spilling more wax from above; a drop fell onto Ringo's finger and stung for a moment or two before the pain subsided. George was falling apart before him, sweat dripping from his forehead and sticking his dark hair onto the skin in strands.

"I don't need your fingers." George squirmed "I want your cock, Ringo. Now."

"It's not-" Ringo began but George silenced him with a glare "Alright."

Ringo shifted himself on his knees, pumping his finger a few more times before pulling it out entirely. It didn't take too long for Ringo to learn the telling signs of when George was getting close: his toes would start curling, he'd bite his lip just hard enough to draw a drop or two of blood and his eyes would grow so dark, the pupil engulfing the iris completely.

Even Ringo was getting too frustrated to be overtly considerate, letting the wax fall liberally down onto George's arse, coating his cock and his entrance as a cacophony of moans and shrieks filled the room. It was getting to a point that Ringo was concerned that George might break the handcuffs completely, the skin on his wrists clearly irritated.

"Ringo..." George cooed, it was impossible for Ringo not to be enticed by his own name being said so sweetly "I want you inside me."

No further words were needed, Ringo spit into his hand and lathered up his cock before lining up with George's entrance, now covered with red wax. Fortunately it hadn't solidified completely and Ringo was able to fashion a makeshift lube out of the soft wax and his own spit, it wasn't his most dignified moment but in the heat of the moment all he needed was to feel his cock stretching George out. As the head pushed past the tight ring of muscle George began clawing at the bedframe, sweat dripping from his skin as he moaned at the sensation.

"I swear you get fucking bigger every time." George breathed, his hand gripping the metal frame to expel some tension.

"I'm not getting bigger, you're getting tighter." Ringo groaned, thrusting himself in deeper as the smell of cherries wafted into his nose.

It was difficult to move at first, the lube was hardly effective and without any preparation it was a struggle. More spit was needed and eventually more wax, Ringo was as careful as he could manage to not drop any onto his own cock but it was only possible to a certain extent; the further they went the more he found himself enjoying the burning sensation although he was certain he wouldn't be able to endure as much as George had.

"Not complaining are you?" George cocked an eyebrow and pulling Ringo closer towards him with his legs.

Ringo moaned gruffly "You know I'm not."

"Fuck me harder, then." George began writhing again, desperate for his own cock to be touched.

It was a complete sensory overload: the cherry scent so strong now that Ringo's head was swimming, the wax occasionally catching on his skin which would cause him to suddenly thrust forward into George who was so tight that Ringo wanted to scream. George was practically wailing at this point, his lip smeared with red as he tried to keep his eyes locked on Ringo's as he fucked him deeper.

"I feel like I'm gonna pass out." Ringo admitted, the fuzziness of his mind slurring his speech just slightly.

George looked concerned for a moment, it wasn't often that his sultry persona was shaken but it was difficult to hide; Ringo reassured him with a weak smile, gripping onto George's thigh and quickening his thrusts. He was getting close, George seemed to have been on the edge of orgasm for an impossible amount of time.

"I'm close, I'm close." Ringo repeated, cascading more wax down onto the few areas of George's chest that were still bare before blowing out the candle entirely and chucking it onto the bedside table as accurately as he could manage.

"Touch me." George pleaded, barely able to keep his eyes open.

Ringo wrapped his hand once more around George's coated cock, the wax had started to crumble and create a mess all over the bed but neither of them paid any attention. The intensity of his incoming orgasm almost scared Ringo, he'd never felt anything like it before. George hadn't stopped babbling, whether he was whining for release or muttering incoherent yet clearly filthy things.

"Need your fucking cum." George managed to speak with some clarity "Fuck! Give it to me, give it to me... I want your cum."

Ringo gripped George's leg tighter for some stability, expelling his final burst of energy as he fucked into him roughly and sloppily. Both were groaning, dripping with sweat and wax and desperation. If Ringo had known this experience would be this enjoyable, he would've suggested it sooner.

"Shit, shit." Ringo panted "I'm close."

"Mmmm." George whined, his voice nearly wrecked "Come on, baby, give it to me. I wanna feel your hot cum deep inside me. Please, please, please, make me dirty. I wanna be dirty for you."

"Fuuuucking hell." Ringo's hips stuttered as he chased his orgasm, his eyes shut tight as the ever-familiar sensation began deep in his stomach "You're unbelievable, George."

Then he was coming, the orgasm striking Ringo with such an intensity that he released a noise he didn't even know he was capable of making. With these final shreds of energy Ringo desperately jerked George's cock until he was finishing too, shooting cum all over his wax-covered skin. The climax hit like a huge wave, crashing into the both of them as utter ecstasy washed over their sweaty bodies. It took several moments for the both of them to recover, Ringo hadn't even pulled out while they tried to catch their breath.

When Ringo finally felt capable of opening his eyes and returning to reality, George was looking directly at him with a smug expression.

"What?" Ringo asked, sitting down onto the bed and brushing his sweaty hair away from his forehead.

"Nothing." George replied innocently "I just can't believe you did all that."

"Is it really that surprising?" Ringo leaned over to finally release George's aching wrists from the handcuffs.

"Maybe not." George let his arms flop onto the bed "But if you'll do this, maybe there's some more shit in that box we can try."

"I'm gonna need at least 3-5 working days to recover from this." Ringo huffed, lying himself down beside George "Then we can talk."

[rubysunnday]

I’ve got you

A/N: Oh, look I actually wrote something

You stepped out of the bathroom, wiping your face with a clean cloth and flopped down on the bed. That was the third time in the past two days you’d thrown up. Or was it the fourth?

You sighed as you scooped your hair out from under your head, thinking back to when your last period was. 

Isaiah poked his head into the room having heard the toilet flush again. 

“You ok?” He asked as he sat down next to you, gently rubbing your back. 

“When was my last period?” You asked, looking over at him.

“Umm, two months ago, maybe?”

You shot up, eyes wide. 

“Is that bad?” Isaiah asked as you stood up and began pacing.

Eight weeks of no period. How hadn’t you noticed?

“Is,” you said slowly, turning to face him. “I have a horrible feeling that I might be pregnant.”

Pregnant. With Isaiah’s child.

It wasn’t that you didn’t love Isaiah, nothing could be further from the truth. You just didn’t want children. You’d never wanted children and you highly doubted that you’d ever want children.

Isaiah looked at you. “Are you sure?”

“Well I can’t think of any other reason why my period would be two months late!” You exclaimed, beginning to panic. “I don’t want children. They terrify me, children actually terrify me. Oh, god.” 

Isaiah put his hands either side of your face and looked into your eyes. “Y/N, calm down, alright? We’ll figure something out, ok?” You nodded, releasing slightly. “First thing is we need to check you are actually pregnant, ok?”

“How, exactly, am I meant to do that?” 

“Tomorrow lunch, pop out and go to the doctors. It’s the big Cheltenham race tomorrow so they’ll all be preoccupied and won’t notice if your lunch break is longer than usual.” 

You nodded, your hand linking with Isaiah’s. “Ok.”

/

You stepped inside the shop, dodging the people running about the place, and began looking for Isaiah. 

He looked up from where he was organising a load of betting slips and slid his way over to you, pulling you into a corner out the way.

“Well?” He asked softly, hand holding yours. 

You nodded, tears brimming. “I”m fucking pregnant.” 

Isaiah nodded, remaining surprisingly calm. “Ok, that’s fine, we can deal with this.”

“You’re not allowed to panic,” you told him, “I’m panicking your the one meant to be keeping me calm, if we both panic then we’re screwed.”

“Screwing is what got us into this mess,” Isaiah muttered.  “Is, time and place, love,” you scolded, smiling. “Oh, god, I’m pregnant.” 

“So, what do we do?”

You sighed. “Tell Polly. If she doesn’t already know, that is, she’s been looking at me all weird today. And then, probably, tell them.”

“They’ll kill me.”

“They’ll have to kill me first,” you replied quickly. “It’ll be fine, I don’t want it anyway so...” 

“Isaiah,” John yelled waving at him, “need you.”

“Coming!” Isaiah yelled back. a

“I don't want it so surely that's gotta make them happier? If that makes sense?”

Isaiah nodded, bringing you into his chest and resting his head on yours. “It does. It’s going to be fine.”

“Was that to me or you?” 

“Mainly me, but it applies to you too.”

“ISAIAH!”

“HE’S COMING!” You yelled back causing Isaiah to chuckle. 

“Looks like I’ve got to go,” he said, kissing you. 

“I’ll talk to Polly,” you said as he put his jacket on. “I’ll come find you later.

/

Once the boys had left and everything had calmed down, you went in search of your aunt. 

Who just so happened to be making tea.

“Pol,” you said quietly, hovering in the door to the kitchen. “You busy?”

“Yes but I’ve always got time for you, sweetheart,” Polly said, turning around to smile at you. “But, judging from your face, I think I’m going to need longer than a few minutes.” Polly sat down in her chair, setting her cup of tea on the table next to her. “So, who did you kill?”

You laughed, shaking your head. “Fucking hell, Pol,” you muttered, shaky hands playing with a curl of hair. “I need some help.” 

Polly sat down opposite you, already giving you the look. “Alright, what’s happened?”

You opened your mouth to tell her and suddenly found yourself incapable of speaking. There was a lump in your throat, and you could feel the tears forming again. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” you whispered, furiously wiping away your tears.

Polly frowned and moved to sit down next to you, putting an arm around your shoulders. “What’s going on, sweetheart? Come on, you can tell me.”

“I’m pregnant, Pol,” you whispered, and you felt your aunt freeze for a moment. “And don’t you dare tell me you know,” you added, laughing a little.

Polly shook her head. “I had no idea,” she told you, bringing you closer. “And, judging from the tears, I’m going to assume that you don’t want it.”

You nodded. “I never want kids, Pol, I just don’t. And I know that Linda and everyone keep telling me I’ll change my mind but, I just –“

“You’re allowed to not want kids, darling,” Polly said softly, stroking your hair. “It’s a big decision to make and not everyone wants them – which is fine! No one can tell you what to do with your body, no one.”

“What the fuck am I meant to do, Polly?” You sobbed. “I can’t just keep this from them, they’ll know the second I go to get rid of it.”

“You tell them,” she said after a second. “You tell them and tell them you don’t want it. You tell them how scared you are because this is not your fault, ok? Accidents happen and I know that you and Isaiah never meant for this to happen. Assuming that it is Isaiah’s.” 

“I fucking hope so!” You exclaimed. “I don’t just go around willy nilly, pun not intended,” you added as your aunt failed to hide her smirk. “Besides, He’s just as scared as me.”

“Exactly. Neither one of you wants this and even if you did, you don’t want it now. You’re not going to follow John’s footsteps, or Ada’s, and that’s fine. If you were following them, I’d be very concerned.”

You laughed as you wiped away your tears, lifting your head to look at your aunt. “I’d rather be the cool aunt than a shitty mother, Polly.”

Polly nodded. “That’s fine. And, even though this is beside the point, I think you’d make an excellent mother – but only, and I mean only, if you wanted it. Just, if you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you want kids?” 

You sighed. “Because I’m scared of what would happen to the child if I or Is died. Or what world they’d grow up in. I’m scared of bringing a child into this world, an innocent, perfect child, only for this world to break it and ruin it.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” Polly said.

“Children also scare the shit out of me.”

Polly laughed, smoothing your hair back as you rested your head on her shoulder.

Never before had you been so grateful for your aunt. No words would ever be able to describe how much she meant to you. However, when you looked up at her and gave her a small smile, you knew that she knew.

/

You’d been pacing outside Tommy’s office door for nearly ten minutes now. He was in the middle of what he’d claimed was a very important meeting with John, Arthur and Michael but you’d had a sudden burst of courage. Said courage was no quickly disappearing.

“Y/N, if you’re coming in, come in!” Tommy yelled, startling you.

You let out a calming breath and stepped forward, opening his office door and slowly walking inside.

“Hey,” you began quietly, fiddling with the numerous rings you wearing as you slowly approached your brothers and cousin.

Tommy frowned, noticing your apprehension. “Everything ok?”

You opened your mouth and then closed it again, not knowing quite how to begin telling them. Your foot tapped anxiously against the floor as you inhaled, closing your eyes for just a second.

“I’m pregnant.”

There was deathly silence.

“You’re what?” Arthur asked.

“I am pregnant, with Isaiah’s child.”

You opened your eyes and saw one face full of sympathy, for Michael knew only too well your stance on having children, and three faces of anger and shock.

“Fucking Isaiah.”

“I’m gonna kill him.”

John and Arthur both stood up and moved to the office door and you forced yourself to announce the second bit of news.

“I’m not keeping it.”

You heard the floorboards creak as they turned to face you. You inhaled sharply, forcing yourself not to cry as you tried to keep talking.

“I don’t want children. I don’t think I’ll ever want children, to be frank, because, because children scare me and being a mother scares me and I am terrified of this thing in…inside me and I am so scared right now so please don’t start yelling and Tommy you are giving me that look right now and it’s making me even more scared.”

Michael gently grabbed your wrist and forced you to sit down in the seat he’d just vacated, crouching down and put an arm around your shoulders as you tried to calm yourself down, not wanting to cry in front of your brothers.

“Oh, god,” you sighed, tilting your head and rubbing your face.

Arthur sighed. “What have we said –“

“IT WASN’T ON FUCKING PURPOSE!” You yelled, not in the mood for ‘I told you so’s’. “It was an accident, we thought we were being careful but evidently not.”

Your hand found your cousins and you held it tightly as you heard Tommy standing up and walking over.

“Does Isaiah know?” Tommy asked quietly, exhaling a cloud of smoke as he stood in front of you.

You nodded. “First person I told.”

“Pol?”

“Second person I told.”

Tommy nodded. “You don’t want it?”

You shook your head.

“Are you sure, y/n, because if you did want this baby,” Arthur said but you shook your head again.

“It’s not even a baby, Arthur,” you said, looking up at him, “it’s just a thing…well, it’s not even worthy of being a thing it’s just an it.” You sighed loudly, lowering your head for a second. “I don’t want children. I know you all think I’ll change my mind but, I really don’t. Maybe, just maybe, I will change my mind but right now, I don’t want a child. The thought of it terrifies me.”

John sat down next to you and put a gentle hand on your knee. “That’s fine,” he said quietly, tracing circle on your knee. “That’s your decision.”

“I just want it gone, Tom,” you whispered, looking up at your big brother. “I just want this all to be over.”

Tommy nodded, pulling a chair forward and sitting down in it. “I know someone who’ll do it,” he said gently. “Don’t worry.”

“I’m so scared and it isn’t even a thing,” you said, laughing despite the tears falling down your face.

John kissed your head and you laid your head on his shoulder. “No offence, y/n/n, but children are fucking terrifying, you include.”

You chuckled. “Thank you,” you said softly, looking to Tommy and Arthur, both of whom gave you small smiles.

/

“I am sad that you didn’t keep it,” Linda said as everyone filed into the betting shop. “It would’ve been nice to have a little y/n or Isaiah running around.”

You’d gotten rid of the baby the previous day and, despite feeling a bit rough, you’d insisted on getting up for the meeting if only to have a little bit of normal again. Isaiah had put an arm around your shoulders, and you’d laid your tired head on his shoulder, one hand on your stomach.

You huffed a laugh, shaking your head gently. “The thought alone terrifies me, Linda, so, no, it wouldn’t have been nice.”

You felt Isaiah smile above you and his hand came to rest upon the one on your stomach.

“Everyone here?” Tommy asked as he walked in, surveying the room quickly. His eyes softened as he caught you and Isaiah. “You good?”

You looked up at him and nodded. “Never better.”

You smiled as Isaiah bent down and kissed your lips, ruffling your hair with his free hand.

“I’m ok with being the cool uncle,” Isaiah whispered to you as Tommy began the meeting. “Means I can still get drunk and go out.”

You tried to hide a smile at his words. “It also means that we can borrow the nice ones and give them back when they begin to annoy us.”

Isaiah shook his head. “OK, we are never having kids.”

“And I am perfectly ok with that.” You tilted your head up to look at your lover. “I’ve got you.”

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Now that we’ve seen gameplay for all the Champions, which one would you say has the overall strongest style (I know this might change when the game comes out and we can test this for ourselves, but what about a prediction?)

“Strongest” style is obviously subjective, so I’m just gonna speak on personal opinion so forgive the rambling :P

So in the demo, and based on actually playing, I’d say Impa was the strongest (Link second, then Zelda) simply because of her quick speed and ability to duplicate herself. The name of the game is speed and strength, and Impa is able to quickly deal damage, and multiply that at basically no cost, to kill hordes of enemies. Couple that with the fact that I personally prefer the speedy and quick and slightly ranged attacks, her build is really good. 

So, coupling that knowledge with what I’ve seen of the Champions, here’s my (kinda amateur cause again I haven’t actually played them) thoughts

Daruk is the worst of the bunch. He’s your typical tank, super slow but deals high damage. His protection also works great, you take absolutely no damage so long as its up! However while his defense seems good, his attacks just seem weird? He swings his Boulder Breaker around sure, but his specials and strongs are raising these stone pillars that explode (I’m pretty sure it’s a trigger explosion but not sure) similar to Zelda’s cryonis strong attack. I know from playing as Zelda that it’s so weird to attack with that because it’s a strong AOE attack with slight distance. So while I’m up close and personal with my regular Y attacks, if I want to use the strong, the attack isn’t exactly where I need it to be if that makes sense? It’s weird to flow between the two, and just Y attacks on their own aren’t really enough to quickly and efficiently cut through baddies. So that just leaves me with the option to not use Y attacks as often, which, (again personal opinion) I don’t really wanna do because just sticking to slow strong attacks suck. PLUS I don’t think Daruk’s AOE’s are that strong???? They do damage yeah but I honestly expected them to do more??? It’s weird. Maybe the guy playing as him just sucked idk. Daruk isn’t BAD. He has cool rune attacks, and great defense; def not for me. 

I honestly was debating between these two of which to put third and which to put second...hell I don’t even know how their specials work or what they even are based on the existing footage....but I think I’m gonna put Revali third. He’s got great speed, and his ability to fly for so long and deal ranged damage from the air is fantastic. His only notable weakness is closed ranged combat, but that’s not really an issue considering his entire build is centered around staying above and away from the hordes, and dealing great AOE damage. His gale and wind attacks are great for chucking enemies, or bunching them together for a shot with his bow. I’m putting him third for reasons I’ll later explain for Mipha and Urbosa, but essentially while his attacks are great, he actually lacks the speed and efficiency to clear enemies as compared to Mipha or Urbosa. Revali has the fastest movement speed yeah, but his general attacks (which I’m assuming is the five shot arrow strike with his bow) is actually quick slow when you compare it to Impa or Link or Mipha. So that’s a drawback (ha pun fully intended) although it’s very much rounded out by his range and ability to fly. But again, the name of the game is speed and strength, his damage output seems about average, but his attacks seem like they just wouldn’t be quick enough when dealing with really dense hordes of enemies. Which is why in his gameplay stage, the monsters are more spaced out, to deal with a ranged fighter. 

This is the biggest reason why I’m not totally set on the ranking here, because I don’t know the combo capabilities of Daruk and Revali. But I can say for certain that Mipha’s combos are amazing. She’s got this water attack that literally plows through enemies and it MOVES with her so it’s basically ranged and she’s so damn quick with her trident?? So not only is she speedy but she also has cool water attacks that trap and crowds the enemies in one place which pairs so well with her precise trident strikes??? and she can combo that from this teleporting water thing that is an immediate aerial attack which you can apparently just SPAM for distance and then her weak point smash deals AOE it like catches the other lizalfos and the Moblin in the sphere of water which she just swims through holy crap. I can only assume that her weakness would be her defense (and perhaps her attacks on their own are weaker), but I’m assuming she’s gonna have some special related to her healing so honestly a weak defense might not matter that much. Her build seems to essentially boil down to dealing multiple quick close blows, after bunching your enemies together with water stuff. So like....holy crap Mipha is so good did you SEE how dense that Lizalfo horde was in the gameplay she just....holy shit.  

Urbosa is the best of the bunch. Honestly no surprise there huh? She’s basically a dream combo of Link and Impa. She’s got Link like attacks with just going up to monsters and swinging a sword for AOE (plus I think?? she has a ranged lightning attack?? kinda like Link’s bow?? not sure??) but then she can basically MULTIPLY that damage by charging up her lightning?!! Her sword swings get larger range???? Her damage output increase??? Not to mention it’s fucking LIGHTNING that ELECTRICUTES the enemies?!??!?!? And that was all without crazy combos like literally the only reason I can put Mipha up so high is because her combos are so amazing but can you imagine that Urbosa, without the tactics of timing attacks or creating great combos is STILL higher than Mipha here like WHAT. Urbosa has quick attacks, immersiable strength that can multiply (which as we see from Impa is GREAT) so like....what’s more to say? She’s the best. 

So final ranking, Zelda, Daruk, Link (he’ll probably get better I’m just basing this on his demo available skills ), Revali, Impa, Mipha, Urbosa.

[kriffingunlucky]

Hi um I was wondering if you could do a oneshot or a headcannon with the bad batch or one of the clones with their so/reader taking a shot for them in the middle of a battle(it being a very bad injury but they survive) If you do a oneshot (for the bad batch?) could it be for Crosshair? If one of the clones could it be either Dogma, Kix, or Echo?

Oh shoot (all puns intended). Yes.

And since your bio refers to you as a guy,, I’mma try to do that or just keep it gender neutral. [cue eye emoji’s]

___________________

You, being their personal medic, and The Bad Batch were walking through somewhat of a thicket in the woods you’d set out to explore. The crunching of leaves and swaying branches is all that was heard, until Wrecker shouted.

“Look! Look, Cross!!” Pointing at an animal with large, fluffy ears, that was now retreating. “Awe, man. You missed it! I know you love those things too.”

“I don’t.” Was the smooth reply of the sniper.

You laughed hardily, “I saw it Wrecker. It was cute.”

“Ain’t it?” He grinned back, you being able to see his expression due to him wearing his helmet as some sort of hat. You had learned not to ask about many things that happen around here. Because some can’t be explained, and others, you just don’t want to be explained really.

“And you like those cute ‘lil things, huh, Crosshair?” You teased, smiling at him with this shit eating grin.

The man only grunted. “They’re animals. I have no prefer-”

“Actually, I remember one time you tried to adopt one.“ Tech cuts in as you walk towards the edge of a rather steep slope.

“Really??” You snorted. “That’s adorable.”

Crosshair begins to reply with something nasty, as usual, but Hunter holds his hand up, signalling you all to stop. So you do.

Right ahead of you was the seemingly abandoned Separatist tower.

“Tech, the door. Wrecker with me. Cross and (Y/n) keep watch.”

Everyone moves, taking to their respected roles. The three of them sliding down the hill while you moved with Crosshair behind some cover. The sniper set up his stand, laying on his stomach and messing with gauges on his rifle.

You watched, squatted down beside him, eyes squinted and trained on the other bathers breaching the door. You heard Tech’s familiar “Ah” before the large doors slid open. He drew his double blasters and proceeded in with Hunter following, Wrecker coming in the rear.

It seemed okay.

Until something in the top floor blew, no, nothing in the floor blew. It was shot from behind. But as fast as that thought could process in your head you heard the clanking of thousands of metal feet.

“Shit, Crossha-”

“I got them in my sights.”

“But the others-”

“They’re aware.”

Clamping your mouth shut, you plant your knees in the ground and lay the pistol on the rock. Looking through the sights you line up a couple shots when the enemy finally comes out of the treeline. You take down two in the time that Crosshair had taken down six. And he kept his streak up by picking off the main ones that were firing on the building.

They hadn’t located your position, not yet at least.

Until a small object was thrown towards your position, and while Crosshair noticed it, he noticed it too late. He was too focused on the droids firing on his brothers down low.

The grenade flashed with a bright light, scrambling all sorts of technology.

Including his helmet.

It crackled with electricity as he let out a string of curses, ripping it off of his head, he hissed. Running a hand over his face quickly, he then switches multiple things around on his rifle, turning off anything but the mechanics themselves. Since they were fried. He relied on his eyesight and the notch on the top of his rifle.

He didn’t lack the skill, and continued picking them off.

But now you could see his face. How one eye was closed tightly, the other leveling with his gun, his lips pressed together and nose scrunched up. His brows furrowed together as well. You could now see his lips twitch in a smile and him whisper out the count of his kill streak every time he took a droid down.

It was oddly attractive, how serious he looked.

But your awkward staring was cut short when a couple shots come too close to your position, grazing Crosshair’s shoulder plate. Making it smoke. He clicked his tongue. “Dare I say they’ve locked onto us.”

“Oh, well how did you deduce that?” You rolled your eyes and begun firing on them again, since they were now advancing to your position.

“Just a lucky guess-” He started, but then howled, head jerking to the side. He grasped the side of his face, blood trickling down his jaw and soaking into his blacks already. His hand was covered and it hadn’t been there but for a minuet.

Leaping forward, you kneel down, turning him towards you and shoving him down. Keeping both of your heads out of the line of fire The shot didn’t hit him directly but it did nick him pretty good. It was deep and too close to his eye for your liking. “Hey, we have to get out of here.”

He groaned and kept his right eye shut, voice tight. “Have they moved out of the building? I need to cover them.”

You popped your head up and scanned over the area, not seeing them, then ducking back down and clicking on your wrist commlink. Bringing it to your lips while you hold the side of his head with your other hand.

“Are you boys out of there yet? Cross got nicked pretty good and I need to move him to the Marauder to fix him up.”

The link crackled but there was no answer, you cursed, hating that your comms were down.

Taking the incentive you go ahead and lift Crosshair, who’s eyes were dilated due to the amount of blood loss he’s suffered, and support him with one arm while you took out the advancing droids with the other.

Walking as fast as you could with him hanging off of you, you bunker down behind a hill, letting him sit against the moist soil as you popped up and shot down five in a row. Panting as you jerked to the side, your eyes wide.

“Well there almost went my head.“ You grumble as you shoot down a couple more, enough to move more without being too overrun, so you do so.

Helping the now complaining Crosshair up again and moving quickly. You see the ship up ahead and then look back, shooting a couple more times, but missing them. You think you can make it.

So you pick up your pace, shooting at the enemy still, nearing your goal.

“Come on, Cross! You can do it! Keep awake and walking with me, okay?” You shout over the blaster fire and your hard gasping, trying not to panic.

He groans and closes his eyes, obviously in pain. But he opens them again and nods. “Almost there.” He replied.

You smiled and continued to heave, a now more aware, Crosshair. Nearing the ship you see the other batch members approaching from the other side. So you stop shooting and just run with all of the energy you had left. The enemy forces were closing too fast, you had to get him inside.

You set him down on the ramp, or that’s what you played it off as, but really your legs just gave out completely. Wrecker and Tech approaching you first, Tech though ran inside of the ship to start up the engines. Evacuating as soon as possible with the plans was first priority. Wrecker covered you as best he could, but there were too many.

“Where the hell is Hunter?” You pant, knees shaking as you push yourself back up from all fours, sweat and blood running down your face. Holding your blaster with shaking hands you help him cover, your aim was utter shit because of your shaking, but you managed to hit some of your targets.

“Right here.” His deep, very recognizable voice answers your question. “Move back into the ship.”

Hunter steps in first and disappears inside of the cockpit. With Wrecker following second, you bend down to pick the sniper up, bridal style. Standing and then snapping your head over when you hear a whining sound, you see a heavy weapons droid. Your legs felt like jello and you couldn’t move fast enough to get you both inside fast enough, so you turned your back to the enemy, protecting Crosshair with your life.

Very literally.

The Havoc Marauder started taking off, the ramp puling in slowly, which made the droids shot inaccurate but it still hit you. And hard.

All you could remember past that was hitting something metal, cold liquid on your lip and ringing in your ears.

--

Opening your eyes with a lot of blinking, you squint, bright white light filling your vision. Pain raced through your head and shoulders, especially your neck. But you couldn’t feel your back at all. Hoping that was more of a good sign then bad, you slowly regained your senses. Grasping the end of a conversation.

“Lovers do everything together, huh?” You could distinguish Wreckers laugh.

“Not die together. Those idiots.” That was Tech, definitely.

You didn’t understand what he meant but your head hurt too much to try and understand, your eyes finally focused, and you caught sight of what was in front of you.

Actually who was.

Crosshair was sleeping soundly beside you, the side of his face patched up and hand over yours. Face to face, noses almost touching, breath hitting each others faces. You were slightly shocked, to say the least. But took advantage of his closeness.

Cuddling into his chest, you rested your face in the crook of his neck, taking his hand in yours and tucking them between the both of you. Closing your eyes.

But he yawned and shifted, wrapping both arms around your form. Pulling you as close to him as he could. His body was tense for a moment, but when you let a breath out, he relaxed. Dozing back off.

You’d have to ask Tech what meds he put him on to make him this cuddly.

But right now you couldn’t keep yourself from falling back asleep.