#I was worried about being TOO into the band.. like I fully dressed up and everything ya know

[mellowsadistic]

The Magician's Game - Chapter 12

Abby didn’t enjoy her first morning as a woman with no bladder or bowel control. She let out an ear-piercing shriek when she woke up to find the big-breasted ‘Nanny’ from the day before bending over her with a finger slipped inside the leg-band of her soaking wet night-time diaper.

“Don’t be frightened, sweetie,” the woman cooed. “Nanny’s just checking your nappy. It looks like someone made lots of wee-wees during beddy-byes, didn’t she? Yes she did! Yes she did! Wittle Abby-wabby’s got a very soggy bum-bum!”

Abby felt herself burning with humiliation. “You can’t tawk to me wike dat!” she squealed, sitting up in bed and feeling her clammy wet diaper squishing unpleasantly beneath her. It was only then that she realised her thumb was in her mouth. She yanked it out at once.

The woman tittered. “You’re a big baby who can’t even wipe her own bottom, sweetie,” she said. “I can talk to you however I like.” Her motherly expression turned a little more sinister. “And if I don’t like your tone, I could leave you in that nasty nappy all day, no matter how wet and messy you make it. Is that what you want?”

Abby went cold. She couldn’t change herself. If she didn’t do what this bitch said then she’d have to stay in this disgusting thing for who knows how long – and she needed to keep her mind on the challenge today, not on the state of her pants. This would be the final one, the most important of all, her last and only chance to get back to normal and avoid the Magician’s sick, twisted punishments. And if she won, she’d get three wishes. Anything she wanted!

Her lower lip stuck itself out in a pout. “Sowwy Nanny,” she mumbled meekly.

Nanny smirked. “Good girl. Now let’s get that yucky-wucky diapee off your cute little tushy!”

Abby’s second nappy change as an adult was no less humiliating than her first. Nanny took her sweet time, making sure to coo at her in sickeningly sweet baby talk and tickle her tummy at random intervals. “P-U!” she cried theatrically, pinching her nose as she held up Abby’s sodden, yellowed diaper. “This icky thing is absolutely soaked! What a little pee-pee pants you are, Abby! I’d never have guessed you used to be a sexy, grown-up woman. You look just like a smelly little baby to me!”

Abby cringed and clenched her eyes shut, trying to block out the sounds of Nanny’s taunts as the older woman got to work wiping her clean with a pack of baby wipes.

“And here’s a nice, new nappy,” Nappy said happily, slipping one under Abby’s bottom, “for the next time you need to make a pee-pee, or drop a stinky load in your pants.”

Abby couldn’t prevent a pathetic, whimpering sob from leaving her lips as Nanny finished taping a fresh diaper around her waist. But at least it was over. Nanny helped her off the bed and got her dressed – tugging a pair of white, semi-translucent tights over her bulging diaper-butt and pulling a tight pink t-shirt over her bare chest. Her tits were constrained almost painfully in the tiny thing. A pair of frilly socks, black schoolgirl shoes, and a bonnet later, and Abby was fully dressed for the day.

Nanny escorted her, toddling, to the kitchen, where Becky and the Magician were already seated. In front of Becky, and in front of the large highchair that was awaiting Abby, were two enormous bowls full of baby food. Feeling sick, but knowing there was much worse at stake, Abby allowed herself to be sat in the highchair and fed the bland-tasting mush. She barely even fussed as Nanny pushed spoonful after spoonful against her lips, smearing her lower face. She was too busy worrying about what the final challenge would be.

Becky, too, was nervous. She spooned her meal into her mouth by herself. At least she didn’t need someone to feed her, she thought, looking up at the mess the busty woman was getting all over her fellow contestant’s pretty face. She didn’t want to end up like that. It was bad enough being incontinent. She turned red as she remembered how she’d woken up that morning, right in the middle of messing her nappy. How could she ever think of herself as an adult if she was doing that all the time?! She couldn’t stand the thought of spending even one more day in diapers! She didn’t want to be an overgrown, pants-filling baby anymore! She wouldn’t, she couldn’t, spend the rest of her life waddling around in smelly Pampers like some horrid brat in daycare. She forced herself to get through the bowl of baby food, even knowing it would bring about a messy nappy sooner rather than later – it would be the last, she told herself firmly.

Once Becky was finished eating, and Nanny was slipping the last few spoonfuls of mush into Abby’s mouth, the Magician got to his feet. His handsome smile was more terrifying than ever. “Alright girls,” he said, the awful bright light dancing once again in his eyes. “It’s time for the fourth and final challenge. Three silly young ladies have already headed off to live their new, and much altered lives, and now it’s time to find out which of you will be joining them in their fates, and which will earn herself three wishes. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that unless you win, the changes you have at the moment will be permanent.” He savoured the last word, and Abby and Becky both shivered. “The final challenge,” he continued, “is very simple. The two of you will have a competition to see who can act the most babyish over the next few hours. The one who I decide has been the silliest, most ridiculous overgrown baby will win my little game.”

Abby and Becky stared at him wide-eyed, their mouths open. They could only win their adulthood back by outcompeting the other at being a stupid baby?!

The Magician cocked his head at them. “What are you waiting for?” he asked, grinning.

The two young women looked at one another, and then Becky immediately got off her chair and dropped to her hands and knees, babbling in meaningless baby talk. “Goo goo gah bah bah!” she prattled, dribbling down her chin. She started crawling over to the Magician.

Feeling mortified, Abby imitated Becky and hastily extracted herself from her highchair and sank onto all fours too. “Gah gah buh buh buh!” she babbled, drooling down her own chin and crawling towards the Magician herself. She could see the evil satisfaction in his face as he watched them approach.

Becky reached him first. She plopped back on her diapered bottom and looked up at him with her best, desperate, puppy-dog eyes. She raised her hands into the air and made little clenching movements. “Up!” she squealed. “Uppies, Dada!”

The Magician laughed delightedly. He reached down and, with surprising strength, lifted the babbling baby-woman into his arms, settling her on his hip and holding her tightly against himself. Then he looked appraisingly down at Abby, who had just reached his feet.

Abby sat back on her nappy, and was about to mimic Becky again when she stopped. That wouldn’t work. She couldn’t just do whatever Becky was doing – she’d lose for sure that way. She’d have to do something else. A loud, childish temper tantrum seemed like a good idea, as if she was jealous of Becky getting held instead of her. The sick freak would undoubtedly like that. She hated the Magician. She hated him more than anyone else in the world for what he’d done to her, for what he was making her do. But he was dangerous, and she’d play along with his perverted fantasies if it meant winning his insane game. She was a little girl who wanted her Daddy’s undivided attention, she told herself, and that stupid little brat Becky was stealing him away from her!

She hardly had to pretend. The changes the Magician had made to her the day before had ruined her ability to control her emotions like an adult. Angry that Becky was already beating her, and terrified of the consequences if she lost, the tears came in no time at all. Her bottom lip wobbled beneath her thumb, and Abby started to wail. She scrunched up her beautiful face, tears pouring down her cheeks, sobbing hysterically and taking great heaving breaths as she pounded her free hand petulantly against the floor. “WAAAAAAAAAH!” she wailed. “I WANT MY DADA!”

Suddenly, she felt his powerful arm scooping her up, supporting her under her thickly padded bottom and holding her close against his chest, just as he was doing with Becky. “Shhhh,” the Magician hushed her gently, and Abby actually felt a pleasant tingle run down her spine at the unexpected gentleness of his voice. “Shhhh, it’s okay, baby. There, there… Daddy’s here, little one. Daddy’s got you.” The Magician carried them out of the kitchen and further into the house, into a brightly decorated playroom littered with baby toys.

He set them down on the soft, carpeted floor, and Abby immediately got to work. With some difficulty, she yanked off her tight t-shirt and started bouncing and shaking her boobies, giggling like she’d found her new favourite toys. She could feel the Magician’s eyes on her, and she blew a dribbly raspberry that made a line of drool to spill down onto her bare breasts.

Becky started to strip as well, but her adult clothes were harder to remove while she was sitting on the floor. An idea occurred to her, and she looked up, pouting at the Magician. “Wanna be nakie giwl!” she cried.

Chuckling, the Magician knelt down and started taking off Becky’s jeans and tank top, until she too was dressed in nothing but her nappy, her perky tits wobbling stupidly on her chest as she crawled around the room playing with the infantile toys.

They played for some time, working as hard as they could to keep the looks of childish idiocy on their faces while they bashed blocks together, shook rattles, and snuggled with teddy bears. Abby didn’t even have to fake it – after only a few shakes of a rattle she was staring at it avidly, cooing and gurgling, utterly entranced. It sounded so pretty and tinkly! Pretty, tinkly sound… She might have sat there all day playing with her rattle, had she not gotten the sudden, overpowering urge to shove it in her mouth. She came to her senses the moment before it happened, blushing scarlet at the thought of how enamoured she’d been by this stupid baby toy (she had to get back to normal), but there was nothing she could do to stop her body cramming the rattle between her lips and sucking on it enthusiastically. Her eyes rolled back into her head with pleasure.

Right at that moment, Abby’s bladder released without warning, and she felt her diaper getting soggier and soggier beneath her bottom as she pissed into it helplessly. It felt revolting, but she made sure to keep a blank, babyish look on her face as the front of her nappy discoloured. The Magician was surely watching for any sign of un-babyish behaviour, and babies didn’t care if they went pee-pee. She popped the rattle out of her mouth and let out another stream of ridiculous baby babble. But then, as she started crawling over to a large, fluffy teddy bear, something else happened. Something more than pee. For the second time in her adult life, Abby’s bowel’s rumbled into action beyond her control. Before she could really register what was about to happen, it was already happening. Her mouth opened in a perfect ‘o’ shape as an enormous yucky mess filled her diaper, making her padded pants sag halfway down her thighs with the weight of her load.

Meanwhile, a few feet away, exactly the same thing was happening to Becky. She was more used to the sensation of her pants filling with poop without warning, but it didn’t make it any less disgusting. Still, as poo-poo filled her nappy, she was able to keep her face relatively blank and dopey, as though she’d barely even realised what had happened. A grown woman who couldn’t even tell when she messed herself – the Magician would love that, she was sure.

Although she was trying as hard as she could, unlike Becky, Abby wasn’t able to keep the look of revulsion off her face. She knew the Magician must have seen. Babies didn’t think sitting in dirty diapers was disgusting. They didn’t care. She had to do something to make up for her mistake, and quickly. She had no idea when the challenge might end! Putting on her best bratty, mischievous face, Abby grinned up at the Magician. She hated him with all her heart. She knew she would never be able to look at herself the same way in the mirror after what she was about to do, but if it meant avoiding a terrible, terrible fate, it would be worth it. She sat back firmly on her full nappy, feeling the horrible mess in her pants squish against her bottom. It took all her self-control not to gag. Then, with a moronic giggle, she started bouncing up and down on her bum, squealing loudly and clapping her hands.

Becky watched, but didn’t move. She could see the Magician looking at her, waiting to see whether she’d copy Abby. But she couldn’t… she couldn’t do that. She just couldn’t stand it! The mess beneath her bottom was so disgusting! She couldn’t bounce up and down on it like some mucky baby! Those were the worst kind of diapers she had to change at daycare, the ones where the awful little urchins decided to make the mess in their pants even messier, and make the job of cleaning them up an absolute nightmare for her. The other daycare workers, the stupid women who’d chosen to look after smelly, snot-nosed brats as their whole career, actually thought it was cute when the babies “made bouncies”. But Becky found it nauseating, and the idea of doing it herself was out of the question.

“All right, little ones,” the Magician said suddenly. “I’ve made my decision.”

They both stopped what they were doing and looked up at him fearfully. The Magician took each of them by the hand and pulled them to their feet. The two women stood there, tits out, legs pushed awkwardly apart by their full, sagging nappies, waiting for his judgement. The evil man looked at Abby, who felt her stomach lurch horribly, and then he turned his gaze to Becky. Abby was trembling. Was he going to tell Becky that she’d lost, or that she’d won?

“Sorry Becky,” the Magician said, “but I’ve decided little Abby was the most babyish, and that means, unfortunately, that you’re the loser.”

Abby took a deep breath. Wonderful relief was flooding through her body.

Becky, however, was shaking. “No…” she whispered, so quietly that Abby barely heard her.

“I don’t know what you were planning to do with your life, Becky,” said the Magician pleasantly, advancing on the quivering girl. “Maybe you were planning to go to law school, or train as a doctor, or maybe you just wanted to live an average life, but I’m afraid whatever it was, it won’t be happening now. You’ll be spending the rest of your days as a diaper-dependent adult toddler, a grown woman who stomps about with a smelly, loaded nappy swinging about between her legs. You’ll be dependent on real adults to check and change you, of course… and I know just the place to send you.” He waved his hand lazily, and a canary yellow frock with a smiling cartoon bee on the front appeared on Becky’s body.

Slowly, stiffly, Becky looked down at her new clothes, and recognised the uniform of the Buzzy Bees baby class at the daycare where she worked. Her poopy diaper was peeking out of the bottom.

Becky lost her mind. She started screaming at the top of her lungs, clutching her head in her hands, her eyes wide and horrified.

Abby stared at the woman in horror, but the Magician just chuckled, as if the sight of the twenty-year-old woman’s mental breakdown was merely amusing to him. Becky looked utterly mad. She was screaming inarticulately, and staring straight ahead of her, as though she could see something they couldn’t – as if she was looking at her own future laid out in front of her, a life of stinky nappies and baby food and naptimes, a life stuck in nursery school forever, trapped in the one place she’d wanted desperately to get away from. In a way, she was getting what she wanted – she’d never have to change another dirty diaper again. She’d be too busy filling them. Becky screamed and screamed and screamed.

“That’s enough of your little tantrum, missy,” said the Magician, still sounding amused. “Time for you to go and join your new peers.” He snapped his fingers, and Becky vanished.

[dexlexia]

haze - smoker x reader

pairing: smoker x reader rating: 18+ summary: “now.” he said, “what are you doing up so early?”he had come from the upstairs bedroom to see you cooking away at breakfast. He could tell from your constant yawning that you weren't exactly fully awake. tags: pwp, smut, gentle sex, morning sex, smoker can be a soft sometimes, wife!reader, minor breeding kink

  “now.” he said, “what are you doing up so early?”he had come from the upstairs bedroom to see you cooking away at breakfast. He could tell from your constant yawning that you weren't exactly fully awake. 

He came up behind you and wrapped his arms around you. Smoker had a sweet spot for you, after all you had been married for the last couple of years. Being a Marine meant late nights are early mornings, especially someone of his ranking. 

  “You should be asleep.” He said, “The doctor said you needed to recover.“ He kissed the top of your head before he went to the cupboard and grabbed some plates for you to serve the food on. 

You rubbed your side where the recovering injury was, it was layered in bandage dressings to make sure it stayed healing. You gave it a gentle pat before you folded the egg over into an omelet. ”I'll be fine. Plus, if I don't make you breakfast, who will?“

He sighed, ”I can make it myself or buy something on the way to the port.“ He tried to move you out of the way but despite your small stature you stood firm at your post in front of the stove. Soon he gave up and kissed the side of your head, ”Thank you, my dear.“ He reached over to hand you a plate where you put his omelet on. He kissed you once more before he went to the table. 

Smoker was a large man, he stood almost seven feet tall. But when it was the two of you alone in your home, he was very tender. He worried about you all the time, even when you were right beside him. He often struggled with not letting his worry take over him entirely and make him lose focus of his tasks as a marine. 

He saw how the bulky bandages moved under your shirt. His lips pressed into a hard line as he thought of what had happened to you. On the island you came home and pirates came as the Marines were off doing training. With no ships protecting the docks, a small band of pirates came to terrorize the town. 

You were brave however and stood your ground against a swordsman. Even if you weren't well trained in any particular weaponry, you got a hold of what you could and went to scare off the pirates. However it left you with a nasty wound from the tip of a sword that grazed you. 

  ”I'll survive.“ You told him with a smile when he came to the nearby hospital. You cupped his face and told him you loved him. Since then he had become your shadow, sometimes literally when the only way you knew if he was around was the smell of smoke. 

He started to eat while you made the second omelet. He kept his brown eyes on you while you cooked, admiring your back side as he took another bite of his food. He relaxed a little, your cooking was made from love and he could taste it in every bite he had. 

  ”I love you.” He said.

You looked over your shoulder at him, “I love you too, Smoke.” Then reached over to the counter and grabbed a bottle of hot sauce to add to your omelet. Because nothing started the same off right like some hot sauce. 

You plated the food, turned off the oven and left the pan on top to cool off. You sat yourself across from him at the table. Your foot brushed up against his ankle, he could feel the fuzzy slippers you always wore rub up against him. It was almost cute. 

  “You're working too hard." He remarked, ”I told you to leave everything and I will take care of it when I get home. I know you took down all the photos to dust.” He pointed his fork at you.

  “The dust was bothering my allergies.” You replied, “I really had no choice, right now the last thing I need to do it be sneezing.” You tried to appeal to his common sense but failed miserably.

  “Leave me a list, I will do everything you need me to do. There was no need to do that.” He said, "You need to heal, and pushing yourself further is only going to make it worse. If you were one of my men I'd have you tied to the bed.“ 

You smirked at him, “Oh, Smokey. I have been tied to the bed before, remember our honeymoon in the east? I remember you telling me it was the finest rope on the Grand Line.” Then happily took another bite. 

He blushed and choked on his food, he coughed into his elbow before he cleared his throat, “That's not what I meant.” Then went back to eating, “Don't distract me from my point. You need rest, I know you're going crazy but I can't have my wife getting hurt all over again. Not while I'm not able to protect you.”

You sighed, “Smoker, I can protect myself. I did it after all when those pirates attacked."

He gripped his fork, ”I'm not saying you're not capable. It's just if I came back to shore and found you dead, I would neve forgive myself. The person I'd become if I lost you.“ 

You looked down for a moment before you got up from your chair and rounded the table to him. You wrapped your arms around him as best as you could and kissed his head.  ”I know, I worry about you all the time as well. If something happened to you on the seas. I don't know where I'd be if I lost you.“ 

He looked at you and kissed you on the lips gently, ”I'd give my whole life to you. I love you.“ 

You smiled at him, ”I love you too, Smoker. Now why don't you finish up and get ready for the day.” You carefully got to sitting on his thigh and looked up at him, “Unless you have some time to spare.”

  “I'd hurt you.” He said as he picked up on the memo. The way you kept your eyes on him as you toyed with the bottom hem of your shirt. 

  “Not if I'm on top.” You remarked before you leaned in for a kiss and pressed one on his lips. It was sweet yet passionate as you got the t-shirt up over your bandaged wound. 

  "You'll make me late.“ He tried to argue. Deep down he wanted to, since you got hurt the two of you haven't been able to make love. He had been so worried about injuring you further that he barely kept his hands on you. 

You pressed another kiss, only to part it when you took your shirt off, ”You're in charge. They'll forgive you, there's no time to waste.“ You got off of him and made your way to the couch, Smoker's eyes were transfixed on your backside as you moved into the next room.

He followed you close behind, in the process he took off the undershirt he wore to bed and the pants he slept in. He sat on the couch, his cock was on full display and it was nothing short of impressive. You once compared it to a snake that lived on the island. He rolled his eyes and got embarrassed, he didn't want to hurt you when you two had sex. But after all this time you were accustomed to it. 

He helped you steady yourself as you straddled his waist. He tried not to touch your injury as you got into his lap then slowly sank down on his cock. You moaned and gripped onto the man's shoulders as you fully seated yourself onto his cock. 

  ”That's it.“ He said, ”That feels so good, my love.“ He placed his large hands on your waist and moved with your gentle movements. It was so tender and sweet, husband and wife making love before the husband went off to his job. 

He caught all the bad guys then returned home to his wife who made him a lovely dinner for him to eat his fill with. Even if the wife was working with a large wound and refused to rest. 

He kissed you again softly, he tasted like smoke and you moaned into his kiss. He was all encompassing, he really was like smoke. It warmed you all over to feel so close to him. 

He held onto you firmly, but not too tight that you'd hurt yourself. He pressed more kisses against your face and chest as he met your slow and easy pace. This was simple love making, not rough sex with a heightened climax. Just two people moving together to create pleasure. 

You kissed him once more as you felt an orgasm lap in your body like calm waves. Nothing a healing woman like yourself would find overwhelming. It was perfect and relaxed in every sense of the word. 

  "I love you.”

  “I love you too."

You combed your fingers through his hair delicately, feeling the white strands past your fingertips. You sigh contently. You softly pulled his head back and kissed him on the neck. No marks were allowed on the beloved Marine, who was damaging government property.

The rule was stupid, but you didn't want Smoker to get into any more trouble than he was going to be already. So you left soft kisses as you rolled your hips in time with his. You moaned softly into your kisses as you felt your core getting a work out. 

You felt pleasure approaching faster, like zips up your spine as you moved with each thrust. You leaned your head back and moaned as you held onto his shoulders and moved against him. 

  ”You feel amazing, my love.“ Smoker said as he continued to hold you against him. You felt perfect next to him even with the height difference. It was perfect. Like two halves of the same whole, perfect pieces of one another. Happy together. 

He kissed all over your face and you felt loved and adored. You held onto him and giggled as he kissed across sensitive spots. 

  ”You're not too bad yourself, Smokey. You feel so good too, I love you.“ 

  "I love you too, honey. For the rest of my life I'll love you. Never forget that.” He assured you as he continued to kiss up your neck. You continued to move your hips alongside him as the two of you made love on the couch. 

It wasn't long before the need to orgasm came closer. Your bodies felt warm together as the two of you moved, you felt this curl in his gut as you rode him. Your breasts softly bounced as you moved. You wanted to chase the orgasm, the undeniable pleasurable feeling that Smoker gave you when the two of you made love. 

  “You're perfect.”

You kissed his face softly, feeling every line in his skin, “Not as perfect as you, Smokey. I don't ever want anyone else. You're my husband for the rest of our lives, forever and always.” 

He smiled against your kisses on his face and held onto you as you continued to thrust up and down on his cock. You smiled at him before you continued to kiss his face. The sex felt amazing, it wasn't long before you felt the need become stronger.

So you worked your body against his until you finally finished around his cock. He groaned and tightened his grip on you slightly, as he thrusted up into you to reach his own climax.

As you came you pressed your mouth against his in a heavy, hot make out. When you started to come down from your high and the kisses became softer as you relaxed against him. You felt euphoric in that moment, especially when he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his toned chest. 

  He was still careful about your injury though, he didn't want to press on it as he held you. He kissed the top of your head, ”That felt good.“ He soon picked you up and started to carry you back to the bedroom.

This was a good way to get you to finally rest to allow your injury to heal. He smiled down at you and you smiled up at him. He leaned in to kiss you one last time before he put you back into bed. 

  ”Rest.“

  ”Maybe.“

He sighed, ”Please, for me. I will be back tonight, and we can make something together. For now, rest. I love you.“ 

You yawned, coming down from your high and feeling at peace, ”Alright, alright, Smokey. You better come home to me, or else I'm coming to get you.“ 

  ”Of course, my love. Always.“ 

[simp-ly-writes]

Time Stands Still

Pairing: Captain John Price x Reader

Summary: John is not one to change his accessories, yet after your wedding he seems to have a knack for it.

Warnings: cuteness!

A/N: Saw a post on my insta feed recently of this and just thought immediately that i should write something about it.

Masterlist | Taglist | edited.

It had been a few days since you and John had gotten married in the cool fall air, leaves falling onto your shoulders - reminiscent of the day you both met outside a local cafe; flower blossoms falling upon both of your shoulders and hair all those years ago.

You and John were laying on the couch in an unpacked living space, boxes stacked towards the ceiling like skyscrapers. John had decided to move the rest of his furniture fully into your home just before the wedding. Yet after the reception and all following celebratory events; time had appeared to slip through your fingers alongside your combined energy.

Yet you both decided to have this moment together soaking up what would soon before habitual; smiling at the thought. You played with the captain's fingers that laid across your stomach; twirling the golden wedding band that encased your initials and wedding date currently sitting across his ring finger thoughtfully. As he raked his fingers through your hair and across your scalp while humming to himself a tune that you couldn't quite recognize.

--

Soon your hands made their way up his fingers and pushed past the cuffs on his dress-shirt that you had gotten him for his birthday a few years ago. You couldn't help but notice the watch that was placed across his wrist; angling his hand to see it better you noticed that the usual seconds ticking by had not changed in the slightest.

Furrowing your eyebrows you began to unbuckle the band and try to think of ways to solve the apparently broken watch. Having not prior experience you looked towards John concerned and asked him where he had purchased it; maybe a refund could be issued...

Price looked down at you laying against him thoughtfully as he let out a thoughtful hum in recognition of your question. He then open and closed his mouth, trying to think of the right way to place his words; eyebrows furrowing slightly.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, he called you overly observant in a loving manner and that it was supposed to be a surprise for later. Pulling out another small black box from his jacket pocked that laid across the back of the couch. You began to feel your heart race in an all to familiar memory.

He handed the present to you and watched closely as you opened it slowly; for dramatic effect of course, you giggled slightly to yourself as you felt John tense behind you- awaiting for your reaction.

Inside the box sat a matching watch, leather band and detailed carving in all, with the same issue- the seconds hand would not move. Turning around to face your husband fully, you looked towards his worried that he picked up a scam of a deal as he began to laugh at your clueless reaction.

Apologizing almost instantly, he cupped your cheek and said that you were being too cute, he began to explain why the hands would never move as he rubbed circles into your skin; cheeks becoming red.

The watches are purposefully broken by yours truly. I had Soap stop them both when each of us said, 'I do.' While at our wedding, I know that it is nothing grand but I thought it would make for a great reward after moving in fully.

Tears. That was your reaction, large happy and all encompassing tears stained your cheeks that pulled into a wide smile as you reached up and pulled his face closer to yours. Whispering thank you and pulling your lips together, smiles touching and hands holding.

--

Life would carry on for you and John in your intertwined futures, yet time would always stand still for you both in moments like this.

[cowboyfromh3ll]

Charles + Javier intimacy HCs?

Intimacy HC ft. Charles Smith, Javier Escuella

I was in a silly, goofy mood writing these

Warnings: none

Charles Smith

He is such a malewife

Will do absolutely everything for you so you don’t have to lift a finger

Thinks there is no better way to show his love and devotion for you than to do everything you ask of him

Would wipe your ass if you so much as joked about it

Would be more than happy to be a provider, but I can see him being a stay at home husband who does all the cooking and cleaning while you bring home a six figure salary

PRINCESS TREATMENT ONLY

Makes you so many gifts and is such a gentleman

Helps you on and off your horse, opens doors for you, helps you get seated, gives you his coat if you’re cold

Type of guy to carry you over a large puddle, it's very theatrical

If he naps on you good luck because you are not escaping until he wakes up

His arm alone is enough to keep you in place, and if he feels you trying to move away his arm will act as an iron band and pull you closer

You will never need a blanket again because he’s a goddamn furnace

I feel like he’d take the blanket from you entirely when you sleep together tho

Oh my god I just know he snores like crazy

It's a 5050 on whether or not you’re getting sleep that night. And if he’s snoring directly into your ear then good luck moving away

If you do manage to sleep before him then you will get the best sleep of your life

His biceps and pecs are the best pillows too

Javier Escuella

NOW he’s the type of guy to take his jacket off and set it over a puddle so you can step over it

If there’s rain then he’s covering you only with it while he gets drenched

Insists it’s romantic

Is attached to you by the hip

Is actually super romantic when the time calls for it, totally takes your breath away

Does that thing where he kisses your knuckles and traces it up your arm

Modern Javier would buy you a ramo buchón (Google it) and serenade you

Y'all are the best dressed couple around hands down

Inflates your ego sooo much. Whenever there's someone you don't like he'll begin listing reasons why you're better than them and how you shouldn't worry yourself with them

Spends time braiding your hair or putting flowers in it

His pupils turn to hearts when he sees you istg

Writes entire songs for you and about you

When y'all nap together it's you on his chest while he wraps an arm around you and keeps another behind his neck

WILL NOT move if you sleep on him, even if he has to piss like crazy. He'd rather get kidney stones than disturb your peace

Every time he goes on a mission he peppers your face with kisses and fully embraces you once he comes back

Always talks about having kids with you and starting a family together

Will whisper plans for you future together to soothe you as you fall asleep

Modern Javier would invite you to every carne asada and quinceañera and dance with you

[lovessidney]

You're worth finding

Please note that this explicit story was written by an adult, for adults. If you are under the age of 18, please do not interact.

Trigger warning: Alcohol abuse.

Pairing: Gerard Way x Reader

Pronouns: none, I think (anatomy: AFAB).

Requested by: @xpsidedownn

Summary: You and Gerard get into a terrible fight. They’re drinking in a worrying kind of way and all you want is to help them, but it doesn’t go down the way you want it to. You spend the evening looking for them and in the end, you make up.

A/n: This request has taken me aaaaaaaaages, and I’m so so so sorry. I’ve had the worst writers block and have been working my ass off both with uni and actual work. But it’s finally done. 

Also, I'm switching up my writing. So, if you’ve read anything of mine maybe you’ve seen I’ve always written in third-person perspective. I don’t know why. However, that led to a lot of names, pronouns and (y/n)s, so I’ve decided to try first-person perspective. I hope y’all like it.

Second ”also”, I’m in no way trying to glamorise alcohol abuse, and I tried to be respectful about it. I fully understand it’s a very real disease and I’m in no way trying to portray it unfairly or disrespectfully. Still; if any of you feel like I’ve gotten something wrong or find it disrespectful, please let me know and I will do my best to alter the story or simply remove it.

Your timer beeped, letting you know it was time to start boiling pasta. The sauce to accompany it was already simmering in a pot beside the one now containing pasta. It smelled wonderful, you had to admit.

Gerard had had a very rough week, stressing a lot for tonight’s gig. In an ordinary situation, you would’ve been there to support them, as well as the rest of the band. Unfortunately, you had one hell of a cold and had spent most of the past few days in bed, accompanied by various medicines and wads of paper tissues.

Despite it all, you wanted to do something nice for Gerard. Dinner and a movie, at home edition. So you had made your way to the local supermarket, getting ingredients for their favourite pasta dish, as well as snacks and an unusually nice bottle of red wine.

When you got home, you had a shower and even dressed up just a little bit nicer than usual. And now you stood in the kitchen, just finishing up the last of the dinner preparations.

You looked toward the table. There were candles lit, a fresh bouquet of roses, and two glasses of red wine. Soft music played in the background, adding to the soft and romantic atmosphere.

You could hear a key being inserted into the lock. Or at least, it sounded like someone was trying to unlock the door. A few moments passed, and the struggle persisted. Your mind started wandering. It wasn’t the first time this happened. And as good as every time it did, Gerard was drunk beyond belief.

Your heart sank, and immediately your mood changed. You weren’t angry. Not at all. You were just worried about them. They had been drinking much more, and much more often lately. You knew something was wrong. Gerard probably knew it too, deep down somewhere. But they weren’t in a place to accept that or accept help. Not right now.

A few more moments passed by, and you decided to go let them in yourself. They almost fell inside as you opened the door. Clearly, they had been leaning against it while trying to find the right key and unlock the door.

You caught them in your arms and immediately smelled the alcohol on their breath. You wrapped your arms around them, holding them close. Even if this wasn’t what you had imagined, you were glad to have them home.

For a while, you just stood there, arms wrapped around each other. “Hi, honey,” you finally said and kissed them when you had let go of each other.

“Hi, you,” they answered, slightly swaying on the spot as you let go of them.

You tried not to let your brow furrow with concern as you looked at them. Still, they noticed. “It smells really nice. Have you been cooking?” they asked, in an attempt to cheer you up. But they were still swaying, their words were slurred, and it just broke your heart. It would’ve been one thing if they were drunk but otherwise in good spirits, but that sadness in their eyes worried you. You know that they hadn’t gotten drunk to celebrate another good gig, but rather to escape something, and it just killed you.

You smiled at them. “Thanks, Gee. Are you hungry?” you asked while lacing your fingers together. They nodded tiredly. You led them to the kitchen. It wasn’t many steps from the hallway to the kitchen, but they still almost crashed into a wall on your way there.

In the end, you decided just to sit them down on one of the chairs and serve them their food before getting your own. Before you sat down, Gerard had already emptied their glass of wine. You could feel the tears prickling behind your eyes.

“Honey, has something happened?” you asked them. Usually, they got drunk, but when they came home to you, they tried to dial it down. Not this time, though.

They looked at you with tired, empty eyes and said nothing. They just reached for the bottle and poured another glass. It was more than what you would usually pour into a glass of that kind. Especially for a somewhat romantic dinner. They lifted the glass to their lips.

“Gee, please, you have to talk to me,” you somewhat pleaded, somewhat demanded.

Gerard’s gaze flickered from the glass to you, their eyes clouded with a mixture of sadness and anger. “Talk? About what?” Their words were sharp, and their tone laced with bitterness.

“About what’s been going on, Gerard. You’ve been drinking so much lately, and I’m scared. Something’s not right, and I want to help you.”

They scoffed, their laughter tinged with bitter irony. “Oh, now you’re an expert on my life, huh? You think you know what’s best for me?”

You shook your head, tears welling up in your eyes as you struggled to make them understand. “No, Gerard, I don’t think I know what’s best for you. But I can’t just stand here and watch you destroy yourself. You’re drowning in this, and I don’t know how to help you if you won’t let me in.”

Gerard pushed themselves up from the chair, their legs scraping against the floor with an awful screech. Their face contorted with frustration and they jabbed a finger in your direction. “You think I’m the problem? You think I need to be fixed, like some broken toy?”

Your voice trembled as you tried to reason with them. “No, Gerard, you’re not a problem to be fixed. You’re a person who’s hurting, and I love you. I just want you to talk to me, to let me in. Please.”

They took a step toward you, their eyes blazing with a mix of anger and despair. “You don’t get it, do you? You can’t fix me! No one can. So stop trying!”

The weight of their words hung in the air, suffocating the room. You felt tears streaming down your face as you watched them walk out the door, leaving you alone in the dimly lit room, with the remnants of your romantic dinner and a heavy sense of helplessness hanging in the air.

The plates and the rest of the supposed-to-be romantic dinner sat on the table, untouched, a stark contrast to the emotional turmoil that had just unfolded. You knew that you couldn’t force Gerard to talk or change their ways. They had to want to change for themselves.

With a heavy heart, you got up and began cleaning up the kitchen. The candles you had lit earlier flickered softly as you extinguished them one by one. The roses in the bouquet still looked beautiful, but their presence seemed bittersweet now.

After cleaning up the kitchen, you found yourself sitting alone in the dimly lit room. Tears had streaked your cheeks, leaving trails of sadness in their wake. The bottle of wine on the table tempted you, almost like a silent, soothing friend. But you knew that indulging in it wouldn’t be right, not after what the fight had been about. So, you chose cold water to quench both your thirst and your emotions.

Sipping the water, you gazed out of the window at the dark night sky. Memories of what romantic dinners used to be flooded your mind. The laughter, the shared dreams, the way Gerard’s eyes used to light up when you surprised them with their favourite meal. You held onto those memories like a lifeline, knowing that someday, you’d find your way back to that happiness. And with that, you also knew that you had to find Gerard, wherever they had gone off to. 

With determination in your heart and a sense of purpose, you headed out into the night, leaving your home behind. The city around you was bathed in the soft glow of streetlights, casting long shadows on the empty streets. The echoes of your argument with Gerard still reverberated in your mind, but you refused to let despair consume you.

You got into your car and just drove, without any plan at all, as if you hoped Gerard would just turn up. You drove through the darkened streets, memories of your time together replaying in your mind. The city held so many moments – moments of joy and love. You remembered the motel where you had stayed temporarily when you last moved, a place that despite everything held many good memories and lots of hope for the future.

Though you didn’t know why, something deep inside you told you that Gerard might be there. Maybe it was a sense of nostalgia, a longing for a time when things were simpler, a time when you were each other’s everything.

As you pulled up to the motel, you felt a surge of both anxiety and anticipation. You hesitated for a moment, your hand gripping the car’s steering wheel, before finally stepping out into the night.

The motel was just as you remembered it – a nondescript building with a neon sign flickering intermittently. You parked the car and took a deep breath, unsure of what you would find inside.

Entering the dimly lit lobby, you approached the reception desk, your heart pounding with uncertainty. The tired-looking motel clerk glanced up from a magazine, offering a weary smile. “Can I help you?”

You hesitated for a moment, then decided to ask. “Has someone named Gerard checked in here?”

The clerk raised an eyebrow, seeming uninterested at first. But then, after a moment of thought, he nodded slowly. “Yeah, there was a guy who checked in about an hour ago, they looked pretty out of it. Room 205.”

Your heart skipped a beat. It was as if a surge of hope had washed over you. You thanked the clerk and stepped outside again, looking for room 205.

Gerard was sitting outside the door of 205, a pack of beer beside them and a cigarette to their lips. They looked absolutely miserable.

As you walked closer, Gerard looked up at you. They blinked a few times, just to make sure what they were seeing was true. They fumbled for words for a moment. “How did you find me?” they said, their words slightly slurred. “I don’t know honey. Something just told me you’d be here.”

You sat down beside Gerard and leaned your head on their shoulder. They held the cigarette out for you to take a drag, and they looked at you while you did. “You’re so pretty,” they said with sad, bloodshot eyes. 

“Gerard honey, so are you. You’re my darling.” You placed a soft kiss on their cheek. “I’m so sorry I got angry before honey. I just get worried about you.” 

Gerard looked at you with big eyes. “I’m sorry too. I know you’re just looking out for me. I know I’m hard to love sometimes.” You carefully pushed a strand of hair from Gerard’s face. “You’re not hard to love, honey, I love you the most in the entire world. I just want you to be okay.”

You just sat there together for a moment, taking turns with the cigarette. You leaned your head on Gerard’s shoulder again, just wanting to be close.

The night air was cool against your skin as you and Gerard sat there, side by side, sharing the cigarette. Time seemed to slow down, the weight of the argument and the tension from earlier dissipating in the shared moment of calm.

Gerard’s fingers brushed against yours as they took another drag from the cigarette. Their gaze remained fixed on the distant horizon as if searching for answers in the darkness. “I don’t want to be this way, you know,” Gerard finally confessed, their voice a mixture of vulnerability and regret.

You squeezed their hand gently, offering reassurance. “I know, Gerard. It’s not easy, but you’re not alone. We’ll face it together.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Gerard’s lips. “You always know how to make me feel better,” they whispered, their words carried away by the breeze. “That’s what I’m here for,” you replied softly, leaning your head against their shoulder once more. “We’ll get through this.”

After a while, the cigarette burned down to its last embers, and Gerard extinguished it against the pavement. They turned their head to look at you, their eyes filled with a mixture of gratitude and affection. “You’re my rock, you know?” You chuckled, a warm feeling spreading through your chest. “And you’re mine. The ups and the downs, they’re all part of who you are.”

Gerard leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips, a tender affirmation of your connection. “Let’s go home,” they said softly, their hand finding yours. Together, you stood up, leaving behind the worries and strife of the evening.

Back in the car, as you drove through the quiet streets toward your apartment, a comfortable silence enveloped you. Gerard’s hand rested on your thigh, their fingers tracing absent patterns as if seeking comfort in just touching you. The city lights twinkled in the distance, a reminder that life continued beyond the challenges you faced.

When you arrived home, you led Gerard inside, the familiarity of the space providing a sense of grounding. Gerard’s band posters adorned the walls, a testament to their musical passion. You once again settled in the kitchen. Gerard looked at you with a mixture of exhaustion and gratitude. “Thank you for finding me,” they said softly. “You’re worth finding,” you replied, a gentle smile curving your lips.

“How about some tea?” you suggested. “And maybe some toast as well?” Gerard’s eyes lit up for a moment. “Are you sure? It’s late, and you probably want to sleep, and-” “Nonsense,” you said, retrieving the tea and a kettle. “Anything to help you feel better. And I’ve heard eating bread is good when you’ve had alcohol.”

You put a record on, and soon, the kettle whistled, and you poured the steaming water into cups, the soothing scent of chamomile enveloped the room. With a plate of warm toast in hand, you settled on the couch, passing Gerard a cup of tea and a slice of toast. They took a sip and let out a contented sigh. 

“You really know how to make everything better,” they said with a soft smile.

“It’s a talent,” you quipped, a playful grin on your face. Gerard leaned in, their lips meeting yours in a soft kiss. 

“I love you,” they murmured against your mouth.

“I love you too,” you whispered back, your heart feeling full and light.

As you both savoured the tea and sandwiches, the world outside faded into the background. At that moment, it was just you and Gerard, a testament to the strength of your bond and the willingness to weather the storms together. The scars of the evening were healing, replaced by a renewed sense of hope and the knowledge that love could conquer even the darkest of moments.

You sat together, mostly in silence, listening to the soft tunes the record player emitted. An array of candles glimmered on the table in front of you. Gerard had had almost all of their tea, while yours remained mostly untouched. 

Despite having them back here with you, you still worried. You loved them so much, and all you wanted was for them to be okay. And the one thing you wanted least of all was to be angry. Sure, you knew that anger wasn’t the real emotion. The real emotion was worry, and feeling powerless, not able to protect them. And for some terrible reason that sometimes morphed into anger. The ugly, secondary emotion.

You looked over at Gerard, sitting curled up under a blanket at the opposite end of the sofa. They looked tired. Both as in that they needed to sleep, but also tired as in worn down, as in that they were having a hard time. You scooted closer and stretched your arms around them. A smile played on their lips for a moment. You allowed them to set their mug of tea down before pulling them into your arms. “Come here, honey.” They gladly fell into your arms and cuddled up there.

You sat together like that for a long time. You listened to Gerard’s breath and carefully stroked their hair. The record had come to its end, and the only sounds were now your breathing and Gerard’s yawns.

“Do you want to go to bed, darling?” you asked when you noticed the yawns becoming more frequent. They looked up at you, their eyes now tired instead of glazed over.

They nodded sleepily. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

The slurring was almost entirely gone now, and when Gerard walked to the bedroom, they didn’t stumble anymore.

“Okay, I’ll be right there, honey,” you said with a smile their way before collecting the dishes and taking them to the kitchen. After the dishes were set down, you got a glass from the cupboard and filled it almost to the brim with water before bringing it to Gerard in the bedroom.

They were already lying in bed, looking like they’d fall asleep any moment. You reached out the glass of water to Gerard. “Have some water, Gee, I think it’ll make you feel slightly better in the morning.”

They nodded and reached for the glass. A few sips later, they put the glass down on the nightstand and reached out for you. You were too tired to properly hang your clothes up and simply threw them on the chair in the corner of the bedroom. You slipped under the covers and cuddled up close to Gerard. For a moment, you just lay there, looking at each other.

You scooted closer and nuzzled your nose against Gerard’s. Carefully, Gerard reached their hand up to caress your cheek. “I love you, honey,” you whispered. A small smile played on their lips. “I love you the most in the entire world, actually. And I’ll never stop loving you. You know that, Gerard?”

Gerard nodded carefully. “I love you too. And I’m sorry about before.”

That sadness reached Gerard’s eyes again. Just as before, it shattered your heart. You didn’t even know what to say, so you just leaned in to kiss them. ”You don’t have to apologise honey. I’m just glad to have you home again.” And with that, you kissed them again.

As the weight of the evening’s events began to lift, and the warmth of reconciliation and love enveloped you both, the bedroom felt like a sanctuary. The soft glow of the bedside lamp illuminated your faces as you continued to exchange kisses.

The kisses were soft at first, a gentle exploration of each other’s lips. Your fingers traced the contours of Gerard’s face, eliciting a soft sigh of contentment from them. Their hands moved slowly, too, caressing your back and shoulders as the intimacy between you deepened.

You couldn’t help but smile between kisses, the connection between you growing stronger with each passing moment. The taste of chamomile tea lingered on Gerards lips, adding a sweet and comforting layer to your kisses. In the dim light, you gazed into Gerard’s eyes, searching for any lingering traces of sadness. 

Their gaze met yours with a newfound intensity, a desire to be present in the moment, to be close, to feel cherished.

The tenderness of your kisses gradually gave way to a more passionate longing. Your breaths quickened as your mouths moved together with an urgency that mirrored the intensity of your emotions. Fingers began to trace the curves of bodies, exploring the familiar terrain of each other’s skin.

Gerard’s soft moans filled the room, a symphony of desire and affection. The layers of clothing became an obstacle, one that you both eagerly discarded, exposing the vulnerability and beauty of your bodies.

Skin against skin, your bodies entwined, the warmth of Gerard pressed against you. You savoured every sensation, every touch, every kiss. The scent of your shared perfume, the taste of Gerard on your tongue, the feeling of their soft hair under your fingertips. The slow and gentle movements, the tender caresses, the breathless sighs and soft cries of pleasure.

Gerards hands left their place on the small of your beck and found their way upwards, one cupping your breast and one around your shoulders to pull you closer. They caressed you carefully and you could feel them growing harder against you.

You ground your hips against Gerard, seeking the friction that you both craved, urging them to continue the exploration. They obliged willingly, moving downwards from your breasts to your stomach, leaving a trail of kisses and licks as they went.

Their warm breath ghosted over your body, making you shudder with anticipation. Their eyes were fixed on you, observing every twitch and moan of pleasure as their tongue made contact with your inner thigh. They were teasing you, taking their time, enjoying the moment.

Your body ached for more, desperate for their touch, but instead, they continued their leisurely exploration of your skin. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they kissed you there. You could feel yourself dripping as they slipped a finger inside you.

Gerards lips closed around your clit and they sucked softly. A strangled cry escaped your lips as they slid another finger inside you, curling it to find your most sensitive spot.

It was too much and not enough at the same time, your senses were overwhelmed by Gerard. You gripped the sheets tightly, arching your back as they continued their ministrations. 

Their mouth on your clit, their fingers inside you, pushing you closer and closer to the edge. Your breath came in ragged gasps, your legs trembled, and your whole body tensed as the pleasure built up. Gerards lips pulled back from your clit and their tongue pressed down against it.

"Oh god, Gerard...," you gasped as they worked their fingers inside you. The slow and deep movements made you dizzy with pleasure, and you couldn't help but grind against their hand. "I want you."

Your words had an instant effect on Gerard. They looked up at you, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Tell me what you want." It was not teasing or demeaning the way they said it. You knew it just turned them on so much to hear you say it.

You could barely speak through the waves of pleasure coursing through you, but you knew exactly what you wanted. "I want you to fuck me, Gerard. I love you so much and I want you to fuck me"

They nodded, removing their hand from your body and getting onto their knees. The sight of them in this position was almost too much for you to handle. They looked down at you, gaze full of desire and affection. "I'd be happy to, darling."

Gerard positioned themselves between your legs, entering you slowly, inch by inch, filling you with pleasure. Their thrusts were deep and deliberate, making you shudder with joy every time they bottomed out inside you. You wrapped your legs around their waist, pulling them closer, urging them to continue.

You could feel the warmth of their skin against yours as they moved inside you, the sensation sending tingles down your spine. Their kisses became more urgent, their movements faster, but still maintaining their steady rhythm.

As the heat between you intensified, the sound of your moans and gasps filled the room. Gerard looked down at you, their gaze full of love and tenderness. They kissed your lips again, eliciting a moan of pleasure from you. "I love you, my sweet," they murmured, their voice hoarse with pleasure.

Your climax was building quickly, the pressure inside you rising to unbearable heights. You threw your head back and rambled their name over and over as the wave of ecstasy crashed down on you, sending shockwaves through your body. They continued to move inside you, prolonging your orgasm until you couldn't take it anymore.

"Gerard, I... oh god, I can't..." You sobbed in pleasure as your body began to tremble.

They understood your need and stopped moving, letting you ride out the waves of pleasure that still made waves in your body. Gerard stayed still until your breathing steadied and you smiled up at them. You blinked at them for a moment, just taking in their beauty.

You pulled them downwards for a soft kiss before gently rolling them onto their back. They looked up at you with a confused expression, clearly not expecting this development.

"My turn," you whispered, kissing them again. "I want to make love to you."

Your lips found their way down their neck and chest, leaving a trail of kisses in their wake. You enjoyed the taste of their skin, savouring the salty sweetness of their sweat as you moved lower. Their breaths quickened with excitement as your mouth found their nipples. You flicked your tongue over their hardening nub and they moaned softly in pleasure.

You continued your descent, trailing kisses across their stomach until you reached their cock. You glanced up at them, smiling as you pressed your mouth against the warm skin above it. The smell of their arousal was strong, and you could feel yourself becoming even wetter with anticipation of another round.

Their hips rose to meet you as you kissed them there, so soft and tender. Your hands wrapped around their cock, stroking them slowly, watching them shiver under your touch. "Oh god, that feels so good." They were beautiful like this, eyes closed, back arched, body responding to your every touch. You loved seeing them in the throes of passion, unable to contain their pleasure, giving into the sensations of your touch and tongue.

Your lips continued to move lower, kissing their inner thighs and sensitive areas that made them quiver. You took your time, enjoying the moment as you licked and sucked, exploring every inch of their skin until you reached the base of their cock.

Gerard looked down at you, gasping for breath, watching with wonder as you took them into your mouth. Your tongue was quick and deliberate, licking and sucking just the right way to make them see stars. They moaned as you took them deep inside your mouth, hollowing your cheeks and moving your head back and forth.

Their hips rose to meet you again, fingers tangling in your hair, guiding you deeper and deeper. You were happy to oblige, taking them all inside you until they gasped for air.

"Oh my god," they murmured, shivering as you continued to suck. "That feels incredible."

You hummed in agreement, the vibrations of your voice making them twitch and groan in pleasure. The sensation was delicious, and you knew it wouldn't take long before they came undone under your tongue. You loved seeing them fall apart like this, falling into your mouth and arms as you held them close.

Gerard pulled you upwards for another kiss. You moved closer, pressing your body against theirs, kissing their neck and chest as they struggled to breathe. Their skin was warm and flushed, radiating pleasure and affection. They were gorgeous like this, so needy and desperate for more.

You felt the heat rising between you again, bodies grinding together, their cock hard and aching for more. You kissed them again, pulling them into a deep and hungry kiss that left them gasping for breath before positioning yourself over them.

"Are you ready?" You whispered, gazing down at them with a gentle expression on your face.

They nodded, wrapping their arms around your waist. "Please, my love."

Their eyes fluttered closed as you lowered yourself onto their cock. You took your time, letting the feeling of fullness take over your body.

You began to move slowly, taking long deep breaths as you rose and fell, building a rhythm that soon became urgent and frantic. Their hands roamed over your skin, caressing your breasts and back. The warmth between you intensified and you both gasped for air as you continued to move, bodies sweaty and entwined.

The pressure inside you grew unbearable again, and you knew it wouldn't be long before you came undone. You looked down at Gerard, their gaze filled with wonder and lust. Their moans were beautiful, soft and desperate, their body trembled and shuddered under your touch.

"I'm so close," they murmured, throwing their head back against the pillow and urging you to move faster, chasing the orgasm that threatened to consume them. "Honey, please... I need more.”

You quickened your movements, grinding against them, making them cry out in pleasure as their cock buried inside you. They looked up at you, their eyes pleading with you for release.

"Oh god, my love...," they whimpered, climax building rapidly. You could feel it coming closer, their body on the edge of ecstasy under you. You were so close yourself, the pressure inside you rising to unbearable heights, almost too much for you to take.

"I'm with you, honey," you murmured, lips moving against theirs as you spoke.

Gerard closed their eyes and moaned softly, their body shaking and trembling under yours. Their release was beautiful, making you gasp with pleasure as you joined them in their orgasm. Your bodies were still tangled together when you opened your eyes again. You couldn't help but smile, breathless and sweaty from lovemaking.

You leaned over them, planting soft kisses all over their face, cherishing the moment, taking in the beauty of them. They wrapped their arms around you, holding you close, stroking your hair and whispering sweet words into your ear.

"Oh my love," they murmured, squeezing your hand. "I’m so lucky to have you."

Your eyes began to brim with tears, happiness bubbling up inside you. "I'm just as lucky to have you," you whispered, leaning in for a tender kiss. "I love you."

Their gaze was full of affection and tenderness, their fingers intertwined with yours. "I love you too," they whispered. "You are my world."

In the soft afterglow, Gerard cuddled up in your arms and you held them close, carefully running your fingers through their hair. The room was bathed in the gentle hues of the rising sun, casting a warm, golden light upon your entwined bodies.

You both knew this wasn’t a magical solution, and that Gerard would still have their ups and downs, it was going to be an uphill battle at times. But for now, everything felt good, and it felt like it was going to be better.

You smiled down at Gerard who had almost fallen asleep on your chest. You kissed the top of their head softly and pulled them closer. The sound of their breathing made you calm, and soon the both of you had fallen asleep.

I hate to sound like a YouTuber (no offence, lol) but thank you for reading if you made it all the way here. I hope you liked it. And don’t hesitate to send me any requests you might have. I have a lot to do right now, but I still like to hear new ideas. Okay, thanks a lot!

[princesskaulitz]

Hee, I love your blog already and I wanted to ask if you could write a fluff about Bill where y/n and the other band members decided to meet up, but they didn’t come so now Bill and y/n are alone to hang out and it becomes so fun they decide to have a sleep over :) i literally love fluff.

bailed

✮ bill kaulitz fluff

✮ 2007-2008 bill, fem! reader, use of strong language, not fully proofread but it’s fine, i didn’t see many errors.

✮ A/N: aw so glad you love my blog 🩶. this is my second submission, yay 🥰 i wasn’t sure which era you wanted but i just did 2007-2008 bill. sorry if this took me a little long to write, i’m sick, getting no sleep and on my last brain cell 💀

the band had some free time off from their tour and wanted to hang out with you, their new best friend that they met as you’re the lucky daughter of one of their staff members that got to come along as you’re not allowed to be home alone.

you all specifically made plans to go to the fair that was in the town their currently in. you were exited and dressed cute, you didn’t worry about your hair too much because you knew it would probably get ruined on the rides.

when you arrived, you found that bill was the only one there, along with a couple bodyguards that wouldn’t be bothering you guys. “where is the others?” you asked. “tom said something came up and he couldn’t come. i don’t know about the others though.” bill replied.

you both decided to stand and wait for a few minutes. they were supposed to be meeting you guys at 5pm, it was now going on almost 5:30. upon waiting, it finally hit bill what was going on. those fuckers did this on purpose. they knew that bill has been talking about you a lot lately, how much he likes hanging out with you, how much he appreciates the way that you’re the only one who can match his seemingly unending energy… how he slipped up and said something about how pretty you are. he knew this was probably mainly tom’s and georg’s idea, to leave him alone with you so he could tell you he likes you or something but bill didn’t know what they expected. he was too shy. he could never tell you because what if you didn’t feel the same? what if you liked one of the other band members or only saw him as a brother-like figure?… unless they knew something bill didn’t? he didn’t know but he knew he wanted to knock all their heads together for pulling this move.

“i don’t think they’re coming” bill said, checking the time on his watch. “maybe they’re stuck in traffic though.” you questioned. bill just said “if they do come, they can just call me and ask where we’re at, come on.” he guided you into the fair.

he immediately had fans coming up to him and asking for pictures, not many came up to him though, because his bodyguards were telling them that he was trying to have a good time. you received some judgy looks from his jealous fangirls but you didn’t care.

once the fans dissipated, bill and you started getting in line for the rides. you noticed he looked a little fidgety. “the rides making you nervous?” you asked. obviously he wasn’t going to tell you that he was anxious being alone with you so he replied with “yeah, it’s just… they’re not bolted into the ground like a regular amusement park, you know? you never know what could happen.”

you smiled, sort of mischievously. “i could hold your hand. would that make you feel better?”

bill tried not to physically malfunction. you took his hand and said “come on, this will be no fun if you’re all uptight the entire time.” as you rubbed bills hand with your thumb, his shoulders became less tense. “yeah…” bill said.

as you guys got on the rides, he appreciated how you pretty much never let go of his hand. you kept trying to keep conversation with him, asking him if he’s ever been to a fair before, telling him about all the different foods and games. you two got on the ferris wheel and bill teased you when you guys were stuck at the top and you didn’t want to look down. he loved that you didn’t take him too seriously and even in a moment where you were scared, you still playfully punched him and laughed with him.

he kept saying he was hungry, being tempted by the smell of the food in the air so you both finished up the rides and went to get some food. bill being the junk food lover he is, couldn’t stop eating, he ate a burger and loaded fries, a caramel apple, a funnel cake, a couple churros, you found yourself wondering where he puts it all. you were staying cool despite the fact that internally you still couldn’t believe you were hanging out with bill kaulitz.

you guys had finished eating and moved onto the games, pretty much every game at the fair had adorable stuffed animals for prizes. you guys only tried a couple games and so far your were ass at them. bill hated seeing you get so upset because you couldn’t win any stuffed animals.

you tried a game where you had to toss the a ring into class coke bottles and you just couldn’t aim right. “damn it i’ve always had bad aim, it’s embarrassing because this is the easiest game ever. I just want one of those stuffed hippos.” bill looked up at the huge stuffed hippos and your doe eyes looking up at him. he’s never played fair games before and was about 70% irrationally worried that he wouldn’t be any good and embarrass himself but he was willing to try for you, he would literally not be able to live with himself if he let you leave without seeing your face light up as you’re handed a stuffed animal half your size. he tried not to psych himself out. this game really isn’t that hard.

“let me try for you.” he said, just as he thought, it wasn’t that hard. the smile on your face when he handed you that gargantuan hippo made him wish he had a camera right now. he wanted to remember that precious look in your eyes forever. “oh my gosh thank you!” you exclaimed, squeezing the shit out of the stuffed animal. bill chuckled. “want me to see if i can win you some more?” he asked. “really?!” you asked. “yeah come on.” he replied, feeling more confident now.

by the time you guys left that fair, he had to help you carry everything he won you but he didn’t mind. he liked that everytime you looked at these stuffed animals or cuddled with them, you’d think of him.

“is it okay if we have a little movie night in your hotel room?” you asked, you didn’t want to leave him. you loved how it felt to be around him. “that sounds good” bill replied, blushing. “can i bring helga the hippo?” you asked. bill laughed a little at the stupid name you chose for your stuffed animal. “yes.” he answered. you laughed too.

when you guys got back to hotel, you bought some snacks from the vending machines and went back to his room to start a movie. he was a bit nervous and fidgety. you looked so unintentionally sexy in your comfortable clothes.

the room was dark besides the light coming from the tv

you looked over at him, by now he had showered, his hair was all down and his makeup was off but he was still so unbelievably cute. you were hypnotized by his pretty, slender fingers and how they moved so delicately when he unscrewed the cap on his soda or when he pulled apart his twizlers. you couldn’t help but imagine how gentle a touch from those pale fingers would be.

you noticed how he was trying a little bit too hard not to look at you, almost like he was holding his breath to which you smirked. you took his arm and wrapped it around you. normally he would be all tense and shy but he actually relaxed. now he felt more comfortable around you and he just pulled you close to him. you rested your head on his shoulder, closing your eyes and enjoying the proximity for a moment before you looked up at him.

“can i be honest with you about something?”

“sure. what is it?”

“i knew the other guys weren’t going to show up. we planned it.”

“wait- you did?”

you chuckle. “yeah… they’ve been noticing how much we talk about each other, tom asked me if i liked you and i said yes… it was mainly tom and georg’s idea to bail and i agreed to it.”

“well now i guess i can’t knock all their heads together then… how disappointing.”

you both laughed.

“so you like me too?” he asked with a blush.

“yeah. of course i do.”

he set his snacks and his soda aside, he turned to you, looking into your eyes, then down at your lips with a slight smirk playing on his lips, giving you time to push him away or show any sign of rejection in your expression but when you didn’t, he leaned in and started kissing you, slowly, taking his time to feel the lips he’s been wanting to feel for a minute now. his hand moved to your waist, his long fingers wrapping around it effortlessly and gently squeezing it. the movie playing was completely forgotten.

once you guys finished kissing, you were in disbelief. “i just kissed bill kaulitz.” you said. he laughed a little, his eyes disappearing with his smile like they always do. “want to spend the night with me? i promise i won’t try anything… i just want to cuddle with you.” he said.

“yeah i’ll stay with you handsome.” you replied.

you both laid down, getting comfortable under the blankets, his long ass legs accidentally kicking helga the hippo off the bed. you gasp. “oops” bill said. “i’m going to have to beat you up now.” you replied playfully. “she has enough fat to break her fall.” bill replied. “hey! she’s not fat, she’s big boned!.” you said in mock offense, you both laughed.

{if you read this far, tysm for reading. if you guys have any feedback at all on how i could improve my writing, or positive feedback, PLEASE lmk 🩶}

[sephirothsplaything]

WINNER TAKES ALL-chapter 2

a/n: chapter is a tad bit shorter than i'd like but I have a lot of story to spread out so womp womp. also this is my second time writing smut so..

anyways <3

TW: NSFW,MDI, did i say smut already?,reader is lowkey crazy,black fem!reader, black fem! obsessive reader,

“I need to get Marcus out of there.” Sejanus said. He was pacing back and forth anxiously in his room.

You rolled your eyes at his antics. You had been gracious enough to keep him company in his time of distress, and here he was, fretting over things that were entirely inconsequential. 

“He’s probably being transported by now Sej,there's nothing you can do.” You sighed out.

Why did you agree to come home with him after class again?

Sejanus plopped down next to you on his bed. You sat up from your position,scooting closer to him.

“All you can do is try to make it easier for him,or maybe even win.” You said reassuringly. Sejanus gave you a sharp look,almost making you inch back.

Although,you did quite like when he was like this. You liked when all the anger and frustration he felt was visible.

You also liked it when he took it out on you. 

“Maybe Coryo will know what to do.” Sejanus said. He allowed his body to fall back into the plush bed. Your eyes followed him. His need to share his thoughts with Coriolanus was strange to you.

Could he not see what you saw? Coriolanus was a vile poison.

“I doubt he’d be interested in something like that.” You said. Coriolanus did not strike you as a bleeding heart for district trash like Sejanus was.

Sejanus turned his head to look at you. Your wide,brown eyes captured him. His large hand softly ran over your knee.

“I don’t know why you hate him,you two are so similar.” Sejanus said. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You were nothing like him. You were perfect and he was the dirt under your shoe.

You crawled over to him,swinging your leg over his waist in a straddling position. Interlocking your hands with his,you brought them to your waist.

“ I don’t really wanna talk about him right now.” You said. You leaned in to kiss him. Sejanus met your mouth eagerly,slipping his tongue into your mouth causing a satisfied moan to erupt from you.

Sitting up,you took a moment to savor your position. You were on top of him. The way it always should be. You’d hope that all his persisting thoughts regarding him would just disappear.

Hastily, Sejanus reached around to unzip the back of your dress. The blue fabric pooled down to your thighs. 

Leaning back slightly,you dragged your hand to his middle,his hardened bulge protruding through his pants. Humming in approval,you palmed him harshly.

“ah..” Sejanus softly moaned. His grip on your waist tightened. Sliding back,you slowly grinded yourself onto his cock.

Yes you and Sejanus were close friends. So very close. This dynamic had been going on for a while now. Sometimes you worried that Sejanus was stupid enough to read too deep into it.

You had zero desire to be his girlfriend. He wasn’t nearly ready for that yet.

And maybe he knew that.

You remove yourself from Sejanus. Protest was clear in his expression but you ignored it. Undoing his pants,you pulled down the band of his boxers to reveal the rather enlarged cock.

You rubbed your thumb over the slit of his cockhead,his precum glistening. Taking his cock into your mouth,leisurely sucking him off.

“f-fuck”. Sejanus’s moans filled the room. His hand carefully took a fistfull of your braids,pushing your head down further,completely filling your throat.

“Mmmhm,just like that angel,keep going.” Sejanus encouraged you. You thought about stopping,leaving him dry like that.

But you had a goal here. And you fully intended on seeing it though.

“Keep going.” Sejanus whimpered out.

“Please.”

You continue swirling your tongue,going to the tip of his cock once more. Sejanus harshly bucked up into your mouth,cock hitting the back of your throat.

The vibrations of your moans were getting to him. His hand reached down to your swollen pussy. In tight rapid motions, his fingers touched your clit.

Your eyes rolled,deep in pleasure. Your head was getting fuzzy. 

Sejanus continued rubbing the bud of your clit until cum dripped down your legs.

You let go of Sejanus’s cock with a pop. Sejanus rid himself of his shirt and you followed suit,along with your bra and panties.

Taking his cock in your hand,you situated yourself on top,sliding it in.

A hot moan left your lips. You took a moment to adjust.

No matter how many times you fucked him,he was still always so big. Your hands found his broad shoulders,resting there. Bouncing on his cock,the squelching sounds of your drenched pussy filled the air.

“ahh..shit.” You hissed out. Sejanus wasn’t doing any better. His eyebrows were furrowed in pleasure, letting out a long string of curses that filled your ears.

“You’re so fucking wet..shittt.” Sejanus moaned out. You had no response for him,too lost in the way his fat cock was stretching you wide open.

One of the few things Sejanus was good for. 

Sejanus’s large hands grabbed your tits,harshly fondling them. His thumb brushed over the brown sensitive bud of your areola. 

You sped up your pace,coming down on his cock,the pace sending you further into cloud nine.

Swiftly, Sejanus flipped you onto your back. You gasped out in surprise. He grabbed your legs,pushing them towards your head.

Re-entering you once more, he fucked you brutally. Clearly,he was trying to get something off of his mind. He pulled coat after coat of cream from your weeping pussy. 

“Sej..m’gonna cum.” You whined out. Your head lolled to the side. You very well might pass out.

That idea turned you on.  Your pussy tightened around Sejanus,gripping him as if he’d leave you.

You knew he never would. You simply wouldn’t allow it.

“Should I p-pull out?” Sejanus asked. It was obvious his heart wasn’t completely in it.

Your brown legs shined from the sweat,they wrapped around Sejanus’s midriff,locking him in.

“Cum in me.” You commanded. 

And he did. Long spurts of thick,hot cum shot out from his cock, hitting your cervix.

Sejanus collapsed on top of you gently,so as not to crush you. You sighed out,half of the job was done.

Your hand brushed the dark curls sticking to Sejanus’s forehead. Silence filled the room,but your brain was far from.

“Sejanus?” Your voice was soft.

“Hm?” He responded to you. 

“Do you think that Coriolanus sees the games in the same way you and I do?” You asked innocently.

Naturally,you already knew the answer. 

You heard Sejanus sigh out.  “ I think deep down,his heart is in the right place.” he said.

You thought differently. And at his response you officially made up your mind. 

Both Sejanus and Coriolanus were problems you needed to deal with quickly. You needed Sejanus all to yourself. Coriolanus would place ideas into his head that would interfere with your own. Coriolanus wanted the Plinth fortune as much as you did,you had long since concluded.

And you could not have that. But for now,you needed to focus on your new puppy.

Your Treech. You readjusted yourself to indicate that you wanted Sejanus off of you.

Sitting up in the bed,you raked your fingers through your braids. You were slow to stand,your legs slightly shaking.

One by one you gathered your articles of clothing,putting them back on.

“You’re leaving?” Sejanus asked. His tone was laced with disappointment. His parents weren't home and he was no doubt feeling lonely.

Unfortunately for him, you didn’t have room for his feelings right now. 

Adjusting your dress, a buzz from your phone indicated that your car was here.

Turning to Sejanus,you offered a small smile.

“ We have a busy day tomorrow,Sej.” You said. 

Well,you were gonna be extra busy,you were unsure about him.

Leaving him there you stepped outside,greeted by the cool night air. You wanted to reach your tribute before anyone else could. 

As you got into the back seat,you raked over ideas on how to best approach your tribute.

You’d be an idiot to think that Treech would want anything to do with you, you were Capitol after all.

You needed to make yourself look demure,like a lamb among your classmates of wolves. You wanted Treech to feel the urge to protect you from the evil manipulation of the Capitol.

You had decided on how best to proceed.

Arriving at your apartment,you entered through the gold plated doors. You lived alone. Just as you liked it. The apartment was paid for by your grandmother and you had zero complaints. 

You stripped from your clothes,leaving them on the floor for the help to pick up.

After your shower you walked around the large apartment. Your eyes landed on an apple. Grabbing it you placed it on the dresser next to your school bag. This would be your gift to Treech.

Sitting at your kitchen table,you drummed your fingers against the pristine wood. One thing that your grandmother had drilled into your head is that hunger can be used as a weapon.

But had she ever considered it can be used as a branch of goodwill? You highly doubted it.

“Mila.” You called out into the empty hall. Seconds after, your maid appeared. You weren’t sure where she was from,she was district,obviously but you never cared to ask which one.

“I need you to put in an order for some new clothes,one for a male.” You said. Mila nodded her head slowly. Food would not be enough to attain what you were after. 

If you were going to win the Hunger Games,you required an angle. 

And knew exactly what angle would be the perfect spectacle. 

[bawltongue]

ROOMMATES - Pt 2

(jonathan davis x stealth transmasc reader <on t, post op top surgery>. takes place in early 90s, very beginning of korn. reader gets notice by landlord that they will have to share their space with a new roommate- that being jd. despite the readers initial lack of excitement, they get to know each other and develop a mutual liking)

18+ !!!!!!!

warning: substance use, lots of swearing, sexual tension, general faggotry

The morning following your tender night with Jon, you were awoken by the feeling of him unconciously slinging his leg over you. You were completely entangled in his grasp; arms clasped around your chest, leg slung over yours, the sound of his soft snores against the back of your head. Entrapped, yet you didn’t mind one bit. You were beaming uncontrollably before you were even fully concious. It felt so good to know someone you liked so much felt the same way about you. You laid in his clutches for a few extra minuets until the heat from his body and the blankets became a bit too much, causing you to try your best to inch away without waking him. The moment you slipped out from his arms, he whined drowsily.

“Mmm, no…” he groaned out in a sleepy, raspy voice. Eyes still closed. “Come back.”

You let out a light chuckle, turning toward him to see him sprawled out and half asleep still. His long, thin limbs outstretched toward you in an awkward position. “Sleep… please, Y/N.…” He muttered out. He looks so fucking cute. You couldn’t stop staring at him. His chest hair poking out of the top of the blanket, dreads messily encompassing his face, his stubble coming through.

“I want to, Jon… but I think you’re forgetting you have rehearsal today. Remember? I uh, wanted to tag along this time.”

He perked up a little and rolled onto his stomach groggily, holding his chin up with his hand and opening his eyes to look at you. A sliver of light that shone in through a broken blind lit his tired eyes up and made them appear like they were almost sparkling. It gave you butterflies to be making eye contact. You just found him to be so beautiful; and now you can allow yourself to express it as such. Leaning over the bed, you planted a soft kiss on his forehead.

“You’re finally gonna come?” He grinned showcasing his signature crooked teeth.

“Mhm. I’ve wanted to since you brought it up, I just never went ‘cause I didn’t wanna seem annoying.” You went over to your closet and started shifting through clothes, trying to find something subtly cool enough to impress his bandmates. He sighed, upset slightly that you would’ve ever thought he’d find you annoying.

“Anyways, it’s already like, two. I dunno what time-“

“Oh shit!” Jon sprung up clumsily and shoved his face into the clock on your dresser. “Fuck, okay, get dressed quick. We gotta bounce ASAP.”

He zipped past you and into the living room where his things were to throw on some random articles of clothing. You could hear him cursing under his breath from your room while you got changed. It was stressing you out a bit. Jonathan hadn't particularly struck you to be the most punctual guy. You grabbed your wallet and keys before walking out into the living room to catch up with him. With a death grip on your wrist, he pulled you outside and to his car. On the drive there, he was rambling about the songs they were writing, his bandmates and how they met, breaking down their personalities for you so you weren’t thrown for a loop. He was clearly teeming with nervous excitement to finally have you witness him sing with his band.

“Do you think your friends will like me?” You quietly asked, bouncing your leg with anxiety.

“Of course they fuckin’ will! ‘Cause I like you.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled at you, momentarily taking his eyes off the road to reassure you. “You’re likable… and cool. If anything, I’m more worried that you won’t like them.” He came to a harsh break at a stop sign and turned toward you, a soft and sympathetic expression on his face. “You’re gonna do fine. I know you get anxious about social stuff, but I promise. They’re just a couple ah weird dudes. It’ll be like chillin with a bunch of monkeys that play instruments and drink beer.” He beat his chest and howled like an ape to make you laugh; it worked.

For the remainder of the car ride, he held your hand in his, intertwining your fingers and rubbing his thumb across your knuckles. Initially you were hesitant to be the one to grab his hand, but he shamelessly snatched yours up once he saw your fingers twitch. The sweaty palms didn’t deter him from wanting to keep your fingers laced as long as possible. The two of you pulled up into the driveway of a relatively small home. The garage was wide open, revealing three men sitting in a circle drinking beers around various instruments. The one who had a series of braids sticking out of his head stood up and waved cartoonishly with both arms.

“JOOOON! YOU’RE LATE, BITCH!” He ran up to the car and beat on the drivers’ side window. Jon turned toward you, quickly uttering “That’s Brian” before opening up the car door and embracing his friend. You felt your heart rate increase at the thought of interacting with a new group of people. All you could do is stand by the car and silently observe. They briefly caught up and exchanged friendly banter. You were trying to learn their names through the conversation.

“Where’s Fieldy, ya’ll?” Jon questioned.

“Muthafuckin’ late again of course.” The one Jon had referred to as David responded, a wide cheeky grin on his face. Jon was so stressed out about being late, but the guys didn’t really seem to care nearly as much as he did.

“It’s cool, we’ve just been cracking into the beers he left last sesh until you guys showed up. Here.” The one with dreads slurred out, handing a beer to Jon. “Hey man, want one?” He gestured toward you, holding a can and smiling sweetly. It snapped you out of your silent observation and you walked toward him, forcing a smile on your face as you grabbed it. “Thanks brother, I appreciate it.”

“No prob man. Names’ James, but you can call me Munky.” He drunkenly fist bumped the hand you had clasped over your beer. “That goofy motherfucker is Head, and that’s David.” He pointed to his friends who both enthusiastically waved at you. Jon was smiling uncontrollably as he pulled up a chair behind you for you to sit in and join.

“Cool. M’ names Y/N. It’s dope to finally meet you guys.” You nodded your head and cracked your beer open, taking a seat. Jonathan sat on the ground criss cross between you and Head.

“We know. Jon talks about you like, a lot. Woulda assumed he was tuggin’ on your nuts behind the scenes.-”

“Oh yeah, we go at it fuckin’ hard.” Jon smacked Heads’ shin making a goofy expression. “Shut the hell up before I tug your nuts.” You couldn’t suppress the heat in your face. It was really cute that Jon talked about you so much to his closest friends. You laughed awkwardly and took a sip of your beer, patting Jons head. He threw his head back and looked up at you. “See? A bunch of fuckin’ morons.” He slyly winked.

For the next forty five minuets until Fieldy arrived, the boys made a conscious effort to make you feel comfortable. They talked about their instruments, tattoos, cracked jokes and tried to make you laugh as much as they could. A couple beers in and you found yourself feeling significantly more comfortable then expected. They really made you feel like part of the group and seemed to enjoy your company despite your somewhat reserved nature. Jon was beaming with excitement every time you commented, laughed or interjected. You had learned how they came to be a band and their first impressions of Jon; listening to them reminisce was really sweet and intriguing. It only made you want to learn more about Jonathan and his life.

Once Fieldy arrived - and got pelted with empty beer bottles due to being ridiculously late - he introduced himself to you before they got fully set up to play. You sat on a foldout chair in the driveway, your fourth beer in your hand as you watched them scramble to their respective spots. Before you knew it, you were deeply enveloped in music you had never heard before. You had no idea Jon was capable of projecting his voice and creating the sounds he was making. The emotion on his face and the way he moved and danced while singing sent waves of shivers down your body. Peeling your eyes away for even a second wasn’t an option. In fact, the whole band had your attention in a chokehold. It felt like a new world had opened up for you. Even when they would stop in the middle of a note and have a technical discussion, dick around or try to figure something out, it was beyond intriguing to listen to and watch. Every now and then before he’d start singing, Jon would nod at you to make sure you were doing okay. You were more than okay.

They played a total of 7 songs, each at least twice. It was mesmerizing. You caught yourself with a gaping mouth more than a couple of times. The boys wrapped things up and all shuffled over to you to ask your opinions. You could barely get your thoughts to come out as words in your half drunken, completely awestruck state, but did your best in showering them with compliments. You got a hug from Munky, Fieldy and Head and an honorary fist bump from David after they had invited you to come back to the next rehearsal. Jon said his goodbyes to his friends and you guys dipped with a pack of warm beer and a tightly packed joint that Fieldy sent the both of you off with. You hopped in the passenger seat of the car, and waved goodbye to the band; both of you a little bit intoxicated. The second Jon pulled out of the driveway, he turned to you with a hopeful smile.

“Now that it’s just us… what’d you think? Like honestly?”

“Dude, I think you’re fucking amazing. I think I’m your biggest fucking fan now.”

He snickered somewhat timidly. “Really? That means a lot coming from you.” Jon snuck a quick glance of admiration at you, fighting back a toothy grin. “Can I maybe get a kiss for doing so good?”

“You can get a million kisses!” You leaned over the center console in his car and left a series of quick kisses all over his cheek, causing him to giggle. He turned his head for a brief moment at a stop sign and your lips impacted each other sweetly. The two of you turning hot in the face, his cheeks bright red.

“We oughta crack into these beers and this mothafuckin’ joint when we get back to the apartment.” Jon excitedly mentioned. You felt eager, yet a little anxious to get high with him now that your feelings were out in the open. For the rest of the short lived car ride, you rested your hand on his thigh while you had lighthearted conversation. Every now and then giving a squeeze when he’d come up a bit too fast at a stop light, or make a harsh turn. It’s almost as if he started doing it intentionally at one point just to feel your grip tighten on him just a little bit.

Arriving at the apartment felt relieving after a long day of socializing with new people. The pressure you felt for the last few hours started to melt away a bit once you glanced around. Realizing you were home alone with the man you had deep feelings for and were getting progressively more comfortable around with every day. Jon pulled two lukewarm beers out of the pack and handed you one, fumbling with the joint in his pocket. He grabbed your free hand and started pulling you toward the balcony door; clearly very eager to get crossfaded together. The two of you sat down on the cruddy chairs, the sun beginning to set as orange light shone on your faces.

“Ready to get fucked up?” He toothily smiled, flicking the lighter you had left on the ground outside and taking the first deep inhale. You couldn’t help but smile, observing how attractive he looked blowing out the smoke. You shifted your seat closer to him so your knees were slotted in between each other. He raised the joint up to your lips and lit the end, prompting you to breathe in a hardy hit. You leaned your head back as you exhaled above you. Your head dropped down again and your eyes met with Jons’. He was staring at you with a soft gaze of adoration.

“Shit, you’re so fuckin’ handsome.” He took another hit of the joint. “It blows my mothafuckin’ mind.” He once again pressed the still lit joint to your lips, simultaneously taking a swig of his beer. A grin spread across your face as you remained locking eyes with him, taking a drawn out hit; a bit bigger then you anticipated, actually.

“Says you. You’re fucking beautiful.” You accidentally exhaled smoke into his face making him squint slightly, but not lessening his smile. He put his hand up to your cheek softly and caressed it with his thumb. His eyes darting between your pupils and your lips. The two of you already feeling yourselves getting gradually more intoxicated as the beer and weed intertwined in your systems. You couldn’t tell if your comment had gotten tears to well in his eyes or if they were already starting to glaze over.

“You think I’m beautiful?”

“Very beautiful. I’ve thought so since you first bumbled into my apartment.”

He couldn’t help but lean fully forward, closing in the last few inches between your faces. Smashing his lips into yours lovingly, he moved his other hand up to your cheek as he held your head gently. Your own hands found his knees as he barely gave you time to breathe before pulling away from your passionate kiss. There were definitely tears in his eyes.

“That means a lot to me, Y/N. You mean a lot to me.” Jons’ voice cracked out, your face still resting in his hands.

“You mean a lot to me too. You make me feel so normal.” You sighed, lightly dragging your fingers along his knee. “Jon… thank you for accepting me.”

“Accepting you? Man, I hit the fuckin’ jackpot!”

You both laughed as you lightly slapped his thigh, him leaning in to give you more kisses, occasionally nibbling on your bottom lip. The taste of smoke and your beers mixing in a comforting way, sending firecrackers and fast heartbeats through both of you. Before you knew it, you had finished almost the whole joint together. Talking about your feelings and attraction through the hits you were taking, giving each other soft kisses and light touches.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually liked a guy this much.” Jons’ eyes were totally bloodshot as he gazed into yours. “It feels so weird. Not like a bad weird, just a different weird… like, I wanna know every part of you.” He paused for a moment before moving his hand down from your upper thigh to your knee. “Not like that. Well, yeah, like that, but not just like that. Don’t get it twisted, I definitely want that… Just- Should I stop talking? I sound like a fuckin’ pervert now.”

He slapped himself in the forehead which prompted you to burst out laughing. He giggled in response, relieved that he hadn’t creeped you out, but obviously feeling mildly embarrassed. You reached a hand out to peel it away from his red face.

“You’re fine. I know what you mean…” you wrapped his fingers in yours, squeezing his hand lightly to reassure him.

“I don’t think I’ve liked a guy this much either. In fact, I don’t really think I’ve liked anyone this much. So it is kinda weird, but I dig the weirdness.” You leaned forward kissing him on the lips swiftly. “… and for the record, I wanna know every part of you, too. Both in the innocent, sweet, deep secrets sorta way and, like- well, the other way. How could I not?” You glanced down for a moment attempting to hide your expression from him. It wasn’t often at all that you talked about your feelings with people. You had probably spoke more about yourself and the inner workings of your mind with Jonathan in the last month then you had with anyone your whole life. It was a much needed change. He was sensitive and empathetic. Easy to talk to, whether the conversation was serious or stupid.

“That definitely makes me feel better.” He stuttered out; his voice cracking a little bit. Jon moved his hand back up to your thigh and squeezed softly, biting his lip. “I really really like you, Y/N.”

“I really really like you too, Jonathan.” You placed your hand on his and leaned in to kiss him. It very rapidly went from a sweet, soft kiss to getting rougher in nature. He was soon biting at your lips and pushing at your teeth with his tongue. His hand rubbing your thigh as he pushed his knee in closer to your crotch, your legs fitting together like puzzle pieces. He had his other hand running through your hair sweetly, lightly tugging a few strands each time you’d bite his lips back or let a soft noise out into his mouth. Your own hands were weaving through his dreads, curling them through your fingers and pulling his head toward your own. The two of you had completely lost track of time as you passionately made out and caressed each other for hours. Getting progressively more desperate for each other, but taking it slowly regardless. Pulling away for a much needed breath, you shifted your glance at the night sky; leaving Jonathan panting and resting his head against the nape of your neck.

“How long have we been out here?”

“I have no fuckin’ idea. Can we keep kissing again?” Jon bit at your neck in a needy manor and ran his fingers up your back, giving you goosebumps. Your hands still gingerly holding and petting his hair. “Please?”

Placing a kiss on top of his head, you sighed out; “I have work tomorrow, bubs. I gotta be up early.” Disappointment prevalent in your voice. Your high had began to come down quite a bit ago and your exhaustion and realization started to kick in once you noticed the darkness outside. Jon bit your neck with a bit more force, making you jump a little in your seat.

“Fuck work, when I’m famous you won’t need it no more.”

“I know. Until then though, we need to afford rent. Come on, you big baby.” You snickered and tried to stand up, to which he limply collapsed onto your lap, trapping your body down. You couldn’t stop from giggling wildly at his childish behavior. It was one of the stupid little things about Jon that you found so endearing. Somehow, you managed to stand up, finally getting him to lazily rise to his feet. You caught yourself looking up at him. It was easy to forget he was taller then you. Planting another quick kiss on your lips, you grabbed his hand and led him into your room, eager to lay down. Looking at the time on the clock felt of very little importance.

“I can sleep in here with you again?”

“Dur.”

Jon swiftly stripped to his boxers and collapsed onto the bed as you followed suit. The two of you excitedly covered yourselves with blankets and scooted in close to one another. Something you had learned very quickly, even before discussing your feelings with each other, was that Jons’ love language was physical touch. He always had to have his hands or fingers on you, his head resting on your shoulder, your legs on him, his arms around you, and so on. Now that your mutual feelings were out in the open, he had already gotten significantly more touchy. He pulled you close to him, enveloping you in the feeling of his body hair tickling your bare skin and the warm embrace of his arms around you. You decided in the moment it would be best to ignore his boner pressing against you, though it was making you feel distractingly hot. Jon’s fingers were playing with your happy trail, tickling you slightly.

“I like your hair…” he breathily whispered in your ear, giving you chills. “You’re such a pretty boy.”

“Thank you…” A wide, sleepy grin plastered across your face with his words. You wanted to flip around and kiss him so fucking bad, but were too comfortable. “I like your everything.”

“I like your everything.”

Despite your mutual frustration, it didn’t take long for the pair of you to fall asleep. Jon nodded off first, caressing your skin with his fingers until the sound of his soft snores hit your ears. Shortly thereafter, once again trapped in his clutches, you had no choice but to fall asleep in his arms as well.

The night was quiet and peaceful. The two of you had shifted around in your sleep a few times so you were no longer wrapped in Jons’ arms. It had been only a couple of short hours before the sound of a faint squeak had awoken you. You remained half asleep, facing the wall of your bedroom until your eyes shot open with a sound you weren't at all anticipating. You froze, eyes wide, trying to figure out the noises your ears were registering.

[dearabby1990]

Chapter 22: Hot boxes & final touches

Your room in a smoky haze as your dream boat Annie record plays in the background you & robin in deep conversation about what you think your lives will look like 10 years from now. You honestly don’t know but told her as long as her 2 best friends and love are still with her then that’s all she truly cares about. Being in that sentimental moment robin had a shocked but questionable look on her face it was starting to worry you as she ran to grab her overnight bag digging around like a mad woman mumbling to herself “where the hell is it… stupid… bullshit… AH HA! Got it!” A small gift bag she hands it to you smiling “look I don’t have too many platonic friends that are girls & you are by far the best female friend I’ve ever had & I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you dealing with my crazy shit I know I’m annoying trust me Steve tells me everyday haha” you heart swells the last time you truly had best friends was in elementary school but then you had to move at the end of the 4th grade & making new friends before starting junior high just didn’t make any sense to you so you became the loner. Carefully pulling out the pretty lilac tissue paper you see two items dumping the bag into your hand there’s two rings inside both the same a silver band with a moonstone she picked them up “friendship bracelets & necklaces are so 2nd grade & I know you’re like me & like stones so I figured friendship rings now that’s bad ass” you giggle “robs they’re beautiful I love it & we can wear them tonight show everyone how cool we are” you shoot her a wink when you hear the sound of the doorbell Robin goes to answer the door “ITS DINGUS & HE ACTUALLY DOESNT LOOK HALF BAD!!!” Your stoned so you’re fully belly laughing “HEY I CAN HEAR YOU HEY WHATS THAT SMEL.. OHH HOLDIN OUT JAMIE I SEE” you hear footsteps they both enter your room Steve wearing a dark grey suit white dress shirt emerald vest and tie “wow lookin sharp Harrington” he takes you in wide eyed “hey dingus you’re drooling” you laugh “wow… Jamie you… you look terrific Munson is a lucky guy” Steve looks down at his feet “aw thanks Stevie” your blushing “uh munson said he’d be here with transportation I told him if it was his death trap then I’m calling us all a cab you ladies aren’t riding in that hell wagon tonight” you pull out a second joint noticing steve could use it as nervy as you both are right now. “Ohhh hell yeah it’s been a minute” he swipes it lighting it for everyone you three sit on the floor smoking letting Robin go through music to play “oh I have a gift for you.. well you & Eddie” you go to your closet “ohhh I like presents” robins laughs slapping his arm shaking her head “just a little something to celebrate with beings Eddie and Robin are seniors their last hurrah” you hand him the gift bag “oh shit the good stuff too thanks jame you really are a doll” he smiles at you. You all get interrupted by the bell again robin makes you wait so you can make an entrance properly “okay jame come out now” you walk into the living room & he’s so beautiful black suit dress shoes maroon vest and tie and a giant gift bag in his hand and the other behind his back. Meanwhile you don’t know Eddie’s heart has stopped times stood still as he drinks you in never has he seen such beauty “wow princess you.. look heavenly i mean it & you changed your hair too I love it you’re so gorgeous” your cheeks are on fire & clenching your thighs because this man his making you feel 100 different things at once “you look so handsome Ed” he steps forward handing you a bouquet of red roses Robin quickly tends to those for you opening the bag he pulls out your corsage a red and white rose with black ribbons and babies breath he slips it on your wrist he pulls out his boutonnière & has Steve & robins off to the side so they can exchange theirs on their time you pin it to his collar as Steve takes photos of you both interacting you do the same for Robin and Steve & then set the camera timer to take one all together smiling ear to ear 86 was definitely going to be everyone’s year.

[starry-snippets]

Captivate you. (band au! aot)

chapter 1 of the aot band au! also on ao3 if you want to read it there! I include song links here on tumblr but not on ao3. I think it's more immersive w this format... but that's just me!

chapter tws include floch being an asshole, implied/speculated toxic relationship, provocative music, suggestive/adult themes, one line about connie's junk

Chapter 1: Cruel Summer

The music in his car is always so loud. Typically you don’t mind but you’re already feeling a tension headache developing between your temples. As if stretching a rubber band in your brain isn’t painful enough, Floch decides to snap it against your head as he yells, “Babe, get out! We’re here.” At least the Britney Spears song, I’m a Slave 4 U, stops playing. Not that you don’t like Britney. You just don’t like Britney when she’s blasting at full volume in your boyfriend kia stinger.

As you step away from the red car, paint chips peeling off the car door, you have to race to catch up with Floch. His music is playing so loudly you can hear it even though his earbuds are snug in his ear. Now he’s listening to Ride by Sir Mix-A-Lot. Of course he is. He’s bobbing his head offbeat as you reach out to grab his sleeve. You don’t know why you’re so scared to get his attention. You’ve been dating for five months now and it’s felt pretty great until recently.

“Hey, slow down. I don’t know where we’re heading.” You manage to tell him, gently snagging his baggy sweatshirt sleeve and also successfully pissing him off based on the scowl he wears.

“What the hell? Why are you so damn slow? Just walk, babe.” Floch responds before yanking his arm away. He then walks faster as if to spite you. As if he wants to lose sight of you. You shake that thought from your head, physically due to the persistent panic now running through you, as you run to catch up with him. Glancing back with a simper, Floch grins further when he sees you run after him. Is he doing this to make himself feel better? Surely not…

Those anxiety riddled worries dissipate as you enter a retail store inside the mall. Thankfully, the lights are dim. Not all too luminous, more closely resembling a club with twinkling stars hanging from the ceiling adding enough light to see but not grow ill from the fluorescent lights like they have in universities and offices. It’s a creative lighting fixture and honestly you can get behind it. While you appreciate the gentle luminosity of the store you’re pulling by Floch, his hand wrapping around your wrist possessively. As we fully enter the establishment, music filling my ears and it not being Floch’s, I realize it doesn’t match the quaint, elegant atmosphere established.

Hi, I’m a Slut is playing on the intercoms. Grandmas looking at shawls with their husbands furrow their brows with disgust, mothers cover the ears of their young adult children as if they haven’t heard that word before while their husbands crack up at the licentious lyrics. Amidst the disappointment and disgust, one boy with tanned skin and an overgrown buzz cut is grinning. He’s even chuckling; his hand covering his mouth as he elbows a brunette besides him. The retail employee laughs so hard he leans forward against the counter, the girl beside him with her dark brown ponytail swaying back and forth as she wobbles with her guffaws too, and cackles like a hyena at the harmless prank he’s pulled. The girl besides him smacks his back, prompting him to begin coughing and sputtering and laughing in between his asphyxiation.

It seems like it’d be fun to work here. Of course Floch disagrees, somehow knowing exactly what you’re thinking to ruin your minute joy. “Fucking morons. Let’s go buy something hot and sexy for you to wear to this concert, babe.” His hand tightens around your wrist as he pulls you to the section with more provocative - not exactly lingerie - garments. Dresses with large slits at the hips, shirts with keyholes to expose cleavage, skirts so short it’s amazing they aren’t accused of being belts. Not exactly what you typically… not what you’ve ever worn. “Damn babe, this would look so good on you.”

Floch groans as he says the words, making you bite back bile, while holding up a hanger. Draped on the hanger is a sweater with a massive keyhole in the front to expose your chest down the length of your sternum. What the fuck?

“I don’t know about that.” You tell him with a small chuckle as if it’ll lessen whatever response he’ll have to you indirectly saying no. He hasn’t always been this way… at least, you don’t think he’s been this way your whole relationship.

“Well, I know.” Floch interjects, grinning. His expression is so coy and sly. So often he is smug and presenting himself with delusional confidence. “So let’s try it on, baby.” Before you can protest, or maybe even change your mind and agree to please this asshole, you’re led to the changing rooms. Suddenly it feels like all eyes are on you when Floch snides, “can’t wait to see some skin,” before pushing you inside the confines of the stall.

Twisting the knob to leave and talk to him like a civil person, you discover you can’t open the door. From the outside Floch is tapping his foot, one hand texting on his phone with a grin, while his other hand is holding the doorknob on the other side so you can’t open it. Superman by Eminem is now playing after the prolonged silence (besides those two people at the register dying of laughter) following the more provocative track that greeted you and your boyfriend.

It’s ironic, you guess.

Taking a look at the sweater, you can’t help but sigh. The fabric is heavy and hot and haughty. Pretentious but poorly made. Strands jut out from the stitch and it’s clear some poor, underpaid individual likely made this and then this store added a crazy markup. With a cheek of the tag you confirm your intuition when you see it’s marked for $179. As the sale price. Hell no.

“Floch, baby, c’mon let me out,” Chuckling awkwardly, you jostle the knob to indicate you’re serious. “This thing is itchy and expensive. Let’s get something better. It’s also crazy hot right now, so I don’t want to wear a sweater.” You explain, hoping that he’ll be compassionate and understand that.

Silence.

It’s jarring whenever he’s silent. Not just lately but actually… the entire time you’ve dated him. He likes to talk. He loves to blabber and ramble and narrate. Whenever he’s radio silent on you it means you’ve pissed him off. It means you’re in the wrong… maybe it doesn’t. He’s locked you in a dressing room and now you want to apologize? He should say sorry this is psycho behavior!

“Baby?” Repeating it once more, the pet name coming from your lips like first nature despite your frustration growing with him.

Silence.

“Floch!” You can’t help but shout. It’s fucking stressful to be in a tiny stall that smells like feet holding an itchy sweater that costs way too much for its quality level. “This isn’t funny!” Despite your best efforts your voice grows shaky and it causes your volume to rise.

You recognize the song playing. Or perhaps you’re just tuned back in on the stereo outside the door. Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift.

Thump!

He fucking kicked the door of the dressing room. Instinctively you back away and your back hits the wall behind you. The music in the background is just white noise, insignificant and mildly irritating as you freak the fuck out, as you stare in shock at the door as if your hurt expression transfers through the wood.

She’s damn right. Here you are, your last month of summer break from college, being fucking trapped in a dressing room by the man you introduce as your lover. Perhaps that’ll be the next song playing while this nightmare persists.

“Let me out, Floch! You’re acting crazy!” At your words Floch bangs the door once more, making the frame jump with you and the wood splinter. “What’s making you do this?” You ask shakily as your anxieties, your fears, are heightened by the fact you can’t see him.

“Make me, little bitch.” Floch's voice rings out and you can hear his smug expression.

Before Floch can respond like a kind, polite, and lovely boyfriend would - or how a cruel, unkind, and crude boyfriend would - there’s another voice outside the door. The voice isn’t very deep but it isn’t high either. Perhaps it’s a tenor? The inflection of the speaker implies he has an accent from not around here. His voice sounds confrontational. Or maybe Floch’s bitterness is corrupting this stranger.

“What the fuck are you doing?” The new voice asks presumably Floch, his voice deepening when he swears. “We have a rule against fucking locking people in closets. Formed right now cause no one has done this weird shit before.” Continuing, the voice then comes closer. You’re beginning to place it. The bravado matches those jovial but obnoxiously loud laughs heard from the retail worker with the fuzzy buzz cut. “Step away from the door.” He warns, pitching his voice lower as if to sound scarier.

It’s also odd he locked you in a fucking dressing room. So you’re allowed to push your fists in the air in victory, like you’re the one who punched him, when you hear his loud footsteps while stumbling.

Until you hear his nose fucking break.

It sounds like a can of soda being popped open; maybe a firecracker blowing or those little pop-its that can burn you or - holy hell he punched Floch! You’re giddy. Giddy in the way you’d cheer when your favorite sports team wins against all odds. Odd how you’re celebrating an injury to the man you love.

The door is easily opened from a small twist of the wrist while holding the doorknob. Kitty Kat by Megan Thee Stallion is beginning to play after a lot of radio classics.

Know what’s also beautiful? Stepping over him. As you do so, Floch grabs your ankle. He mumbles something unkind that you can’t fully hear but you ignore him. Nothing beginning with ‘you treacherous-’ will be worth hearing from him.

Perhaps it’s fitting? The energy certainly is as you step out. Once you’re free, holding that ugly, inadequate sweater, you’re greeted with the retail worker standing over Floch while blood gushes down his face like a waterfall.

It’s a beautiful sight.

Now standing beside the retail worker, his friend watching from the register with an enthused grin, you can see the name on his tag. ‘Connie S.’

Connie? There’s a Connie in the band you love. He typically wears a hood so you’ve never seen his haircut - not even online. With angular black eyeliner and ash smeared across his scrawny but sculpted chest as he plays the drums with his entire being. He’s feral; fucking insane. The way he breaks his drumsticks every performance and they sell online for more money than splintered wood could ever be worth. His energy is absolutely contagious but you wouldn’t mind catching it. At least a little.

When he pulls back his outer layer you can confirm it’s Connie Springer. The Connie Springer who tears up stages across the United States, eliciting enthusiasm across all metalheads, embodying earnest appreciation for the poetic, powerful expression it is to bangs wood against… wood. You digress. His tattoo is a complete sleeve on his right arm, the hand he always wears a glove on when he’s playing at a concert from the clips you’ve seen. Full of black ink with pops of indigo and scarlet, the shades popping brilliantly against his sienna skin, his tattoo is the embodiment of his characteristic chaotic energy he carries with him during every performance. From afar it does look like random shapes and cool patterns paired together, but you’re sure there’s more to it. Tattoos are so permanent! He must of thought hard and long and deeply-

“You’re staring, hon.” Connie says with a boyish grin. It’s sweet and genuine unlike Floch’s. “You okay? The guy you’re with seems to have issues.” You nod as he speaks, dazed a little at the thought of him being Connie; the drummer for Paradis. “Did you need help finding something… or?” Sheepishly - yet slyly still - smirking, Connie sweetness and playfully and you see now, flirtatiousness, is not lost on you. “Did you need someone?” He teases, removing his uniform dress shirt that he had on outside of a tank top.

Holy shit.

“Oh you’re studying his tat.” The brunette at the cashier says from behind you resulting in a small flinch. “Didn’t mean to scare you!” She apologies with a genial chuckle. So genuine. “He only got that because his bandmates did and he wanted to prove Jean was weak for crying when he got his back tatted.”

Jean? Like Jean Kirstein from Paradis? Holy heck.

Giggling again, you realize how beautiful Sasha’s laugh is. It’s saccharine and mellifluous; it’s honey to a sore throat. “Oh, I’m Sasha by the way.” She finally says with an honest smile and a friendly pat to your shoulder.

Like a deer in headlights you stare at their interaction. Sasha, the one with a bit more sense - or perhaps just intuition - of the two, chiding Connie for being ditzy in only the way your closest friends can. She’s stylish. The effortless type of stylish. She’s in a large baggy maroon t-shirt with a camo print hoodie underneath with the black hoodie peaking up. Her brown hair is tied back with a black ribbon, a necklace loose around her neck on a thick leather strap but the gem is hidden under her shirt, and green cargo shorts that end at the knees. If anyone else was wearing something like that they’d look crazy. Sasha… makes it work. Her sunglasses have little sparkly stars on the rim; they’re rhinestones that catch the light beautifully. She’s serving cunt in camo… how does she do it? Crew socks with little pigs on them and black, hunter-green, and white sneakers complete her oddly pleasing attire.

“I’m Connie!” The boy exclaims proudly as if he didn’t hear a word.

Sasha chuckles. “Dude, where were you?” Her words prompt Connie to shrug, playful and at ease. It’s so metal he just punched a man unconscious and now he’s here jiving. Chatting as if this was any old day for him.

“The merch from our first ep,” Connie repeats once more as he realizes the weight of that. The merch they sold because they were given a discount from a buddy and dive bars were desperate for some live entertainment and haggled for 40% of their merch profits. Back when Mikasa was banging holes in the drums themselves with her own sort of stoic intensity instead of Connie splitting the branches he thumped against the percussion with his kinetic passion. You’ve been a fan since Paradis performed their first ever setlist composed of Dio covers, makeshift comedy routines from Connie when the dingy sound of the equally dank bars would give them trouble, and Jean competing with Eren because back they were fixated on only one of them writing the lyrics. The significance of the shirt you’re wearing makes him dramatically clutch his heart through his tank.

Connie on the other hand is a hot mess. Literally and figuratively. His hand runs over his buzz cut, sighing when he can’t yet run his hands through his hair seductively like everyone else in the band. No thirst edits of him including that clip… yet. His armpits aren’t shaved and whenever he lifts his toned arms you can see tufts of ashy brown hair. He has more body hair than hair on his head, maybe, if you combine his hairy legs too. Connie’s in sweatpants you realize, not exactly what you’d expect from a rock star or a retail worker on shift, and you can’t help but notice that imprint. Your eyes are torn from it, thankfully because your cheeks started to develop a cherry tint, due to Connie flexing his arm muscles when he snaps as a thought comes to him. The sound snagged your attention too… you guess.

“Your shirt man, it’s our first album!” Connie finally realizes, staring straight at your chest. You give him a pass since that’s where the bulk of the design is.

“Don’t make it weird.” Sasha jokes, elbowing Connie as he remains in his theatrics.

“No! This means everything!” The boy argues with a bashful grin on his face. He really does seem flattered. It’s cute… it’s making your lips curl into a delicate smile.

“I just… really liked the design.” You begin, fiddling with the hem of the black shirt. A lion stretches proudly, extending itself as it arches its back, in a field of gladiolus flowers awaking from a nap. They only printed these t-shirts in black. There’s a line from their song from that ep, Waking Lions, that’s written below the lion and in the gorgeous bed of sun kissed, passionately purple flowers. The line, in a gradient white and purple that’s beginning to fade off, says: I wanna stand up, a hundred feet tall ‘cause fear will never lead the way. I’m waking the lions in me.

Those two see right through you. Especially Sasha. She urges me to continue, to even ramble, with a shift in those chocolate irises. “Okay… I also really loved the songs. Especially Waking Lions! I’m so glad that’s the song you decided to model the ep’s art off of and also that you made merch!” You find yourself ramble, rattling on about what you really thought of the lyrics. How the art is so cute compared to what a metal-core band would be expected to produce. The way their first album, even if only housing three songs, was revolutionary in your eyes.

“Yeah, Jean wrote Waking Lions and he’s the one with the art degree. So Eren lost the battle on having When the Lights Come On be the star of our first ever original recording.” Connie rubs his hand over his fuzzy head, his pointy canines revealed as he smiles. “He won the war and got to be the lead vocalist though!” He adds with a chuckle like he recalled a memory. Probably how the two bickered endlessly about who that title goes to.

“Connie’s playing tonight at the Garrison if you want to come. Bet they didn’t sell out!” Sasha teases with an upbeat tone in contrast to Connie’s pretend pout. They’re a fun duo. Seeming to have energy that feeds off each other in a positive feedback loop. “You seem like a huge fan too. So,” Sasha stands besides Connie and the two glance between each other like they’re plotting, scheming. “Would you want to go with us? I’ve been looking for a new concert buddy, since Connie can’t head bang with me when he’s on stage!”

Laughing at Sasha’s comment, you nod your head almost immediately. You were going to attend with Floch, since giving you two tickets for the balcony - which is the worst spot since you’re into moshing and they’re typically more expensive - was his attempt of being nice, but he’s entirely shown his true colors. Or perhaps you finally removed your rose tinted glasses and took those pivotal steps out of your ivory tower.

“I’d love to go with you guys. My date is knocked the hell out, thanks Connie,” Sasha snorts a laugh and Connie throws up a peace sign, “so I doubt he’ll want to take me. Or even go himself.” Smiling with appreciation, you add quickly, “thank you guys so much for the invite.”

Connie slinks his arm around your shoulders while Sasha gives him and you a high-five at the same time. Nice, it’s crisp. “Yo! I can’t wait!” Connie exclaims with enthusiasm – the same enthusiasm that infects the crowd from insipid to invigorated in no time. “First, let’s get you a cool outfit for free. Cause once my boss sees I knocked his ass out I’m fired.”

“I’m getting a cool outfit too!” Sasha excitedly agrees, reassuring you naturally. “I’m always asking Constance to slip me a free dress but he never does.” Pouting when Connie yells for her to never call him that again, Sasha begins to peruse the racks of clothing surrounding you three. And I guess Floch but he’s literally down for the count.

Connie, with the cutest opportunistic grin, adds, “I’m already gonna get fired. May as well make this a concert worth remembering down to what you wore!”

Sasha begins shopping with Connie’s last paycheck as her credit card, and Connie has his arm around your shoulders in a friendly way. It’s as if you’ve known him for years. Like the three of you are best friends reunited, you find yourself agreeing with a nod of your head.

What have you gotten yourself into?

Hopefully some fun.

[blushblushbear]

Hi, good to have you back!

Okay so hear me out- Double proposals. Their going to propose to their wonderful S/O when they find out we had the same thing in mind. Like we both get on one knee and both end up whipping out rings? What's their reaction?

A headcanon with anyone you think would have most reaction to it

THIS ENDED UP BEING A LOT SO I'M PUTTING IT IN A READ MORE AHHHH

Nimh: He is so so flustered. He was actually low key mentally preparing for you to say no so the fact that YOU were already planning on asking HIM??? He's gonna need to sit down, the room is spinning and his heart is fluttery

Also I picture him asking on a picnic date.

Volks: He's stunned. Like actually just staring at you in disbelief. He'd SAY he knew you were gonna say yes (you had to at this point, ya know?) but part of him was really worried that you didn't actually want to. Or if you DID want to, you didn't want it as much as him, and he hates being the one who cares more (make him feel too vulnerable) (also I feel like he'd ask you at a waterfall???)

He plays it cool (if a bit stammery and flustered) while around you but rest assured when he's in bed later that night he is so excited and giddy and relieved-- he couldn't stop smiling AND NO ONE CAN KNOW

Kelby: He's shocked but like one of those drunk people who got showed some dope street magic. He's so pumped but also can't believe cause NO WAY! OH NO WAY! YOU WERE GONNA PROPOSE?? /HE/ WAS GONNA PROPOSE!!! HAHAHA OH MAN NO WAY!!! later he says that he wished in that moment that he'd told you 'jinx, you owe me a soda' (he asks you at your guys' favorite park, but he waits till sundown to make it extra romantic)

Eli: So this old school romantic fucker made it super obvious he was gonna propose. He showed up that evening on a horse dressed like a prince. And didn't even bat an eye that you were also dressed like royalty. He whisks you away for an evening of cheesy romance but just before he pops the question he actually looks deep into your eyes and gets all poetically sincere. When you smirk and pull out your ring and say "you were gonna ask the same thing" he smirks back with "had a feeling you were going to-- I love you, but I couldn't be beaten to the punch, darling! You understand! NOW PUT A RING ON IT BEYONCE AND GIVE YOUR FIANCEE A SMOOCH!" He jokes and smarms and cheeses but honestly he's really super grateful to have you.

Anon: He actually plays it super casual but the whole time leading up to it he's crazy nervous. He asks in a really low key way-- I think you're just playing video games at his place and he asks if you'd wanna maybe move in and also maybe make it forever and also maybe marry him. He legit plays it like it's a spur of the moment thing that he just blurts out but when you laugh he says he's serious and pulls a ring out of his pocket. He stares at you waiting for his answer and when you stammer he thinks for a moment that he's going to be rejected. But before that sinking feeling can make it all the way to his stomach you pulled out a ring and said you had been trying to think of the right way to ask. He lived and breathed off that high he felt in that moment for about 3 weeks.

Garret: Fully taken by surprise. He cries and scoops you up into his arms. He super can not believe you were planning on proposing too. says he wishes he had waited to ask now so you could ask first and he could give you the same happy feeling you're giving him right now! But he tells you "Don't worry, Garret will find many ways to give you that feeling for the rest of our lives!"

I'm thinking-- maybe apple picking date?? Or a fair date??

Dmitri: Candle lit dinner over looking the sea at a private table at one of the finest restaurants he could find. Rose petals EVERYWHERE, heart shaped EVERYTHING, he is in a tux with his shirt slightly open, HE RENTED A BAND. A string quartet to be precise. He makes the evening as classically romantic as he possibly could. He read you a poem that he wrote with the band playing in the bg. Then at the end of his poem, he gets down on one knee and asks you to be his forever. As you excitedly pull out your own ring he stares at it awestruck. He's silent and unmoving for a moment before his other knee drops down and he's now crying at your feet. He tells you how happy you make him, how lucky he feels, and holds out his hand for you to put the ring on it. He slips your ring on you and then dips you dramatically, telling you "Now kiss me under the stars, my darling"

Ichiban: He streams his proposal. He makes it seem like one of those things were it's like "oh ho ho my S/O doesn't know I'm about to propose to them-- what this~~! >:3" but then you throw him a curve ball and actually pull out your ring and ask him first. He was so sucker punched by the whole thing he ends up crying on stream. The clip of him getting a proposal jump scare goes viral.

William: He actually tries to keep it low key and sweet. Well-- tries to. He's definitely a fumbly nervous mess the whole night. Dinner, dancing and then a boat ride. He brings a boom box out onto the lake. He hits play and then does the whole down on one knee thing and starts his proposal speech, but part way through he realizes that this is the wrong track and asks for just a moment to switch it. He wrestles with the boombox for a bit before fumbling it into the lake. As he watches it sink down in the water, he sighs and feels so defeated, but when you call his name and he turns to you with a kicked puppy look only to see a ring in your hand he legit cannot believe his eyes. He is in stunned shock as you take his hand and give him YOUR proposal speech. The first thing out of his mouth is "REALLY?!" when you laugh and say yes as you slip the ring on his finger, he's still processing it and after a moment of staring at the ring on his finger, mouth agape, he repeats "REALLY?!"

He asks you if your sure or if this is real about a 100 times on the way home that night.

Myx: He got his band to give you a private show to "preview their new set", at the end of which he shouts a declaration of love into the mic and says "and I have just one question for you babe--" and the lights behind him light up with the words 'WILL YOU MARRY ME?'

and as you walk up on stage, drop to your knee and pull out a ring, he can't stop smiling. He kisses you and then WHOOs /SO LOUD/. To say he's over the moon would be an understatement.

Stirling: He takes you out onto a private lake that he owns and has specially flattened so he can skate on it without ruining his skates. He walks you through a graceful yet simple couples routine and then once you've got it down he hits some lights (were those always there?) and you two perform it in full. At the end he surprises you with one final move that was not in the choreography he had shown you-- he slides toward you on one knee, pulling a ring from his shirt and holding it out to you. You look surprised and tell him to wait one second, and then start awkwardly skating out to the end towards your bag. He sits there silently in that proposal pose feeling himself sweat for a second before you come sliding back towards him with your own ring in hand. He stares at it in shock for a moment before smiling sweetly and simply saying "even now, you're still full of surprises.

Scale: He left you a map. Well-- it was more like a puzzle or a riddle. You're own national treasure style hunt towards a 'big surprise' that he refused to tell you. You ran through busy streets, jumps across rooftops, went through a jungle, through a secret entrance behind a waterfall and climbed a secret stairway all the way to the top of a mountain-- all the while feeling like there was someone following you. When you finally got to the top of the mountain it seemed like no one was there-- until a dagger was flung in your direction and embedded itself in the tree behind you. A note was attached to the dagger that read 'turn around'. When you turned, you found a hooded figure looming behind you. "you probably are wondering why I brought you here..." It ripped off it's cloak to reveal Scale in a tux, "I have an important question to ask you." He walked towards you, dropped down on one knee and before he could take out his ring or even begin to ask you pulled out a ring of your own. He looked at it in shock with a blush on his face before leaping to his feet and saying "Wh--WAIT NO FAIR I WAS GONNA ASK FIRST!"

Sven: He had invited you over for a traditional home cooked meal but when you got there you found him in the kitchen, apron still on, oven mitts still on his hands as he was on the floor crying over what looked like it was a souffle but it was so burnt you couldn't be sure. When he noticed you there he started to bawl even harder "NO! NO NO! THIS IS NOT HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!!" he curled onto the ground whimpering as he held back more tears and muttered "there was something I wanted to ask you... but I can't do it like this..." you knelt down beside him, petting his hair trying to console him. "I... actually had something I wanted to ask you too." you said. And then you pulled out a ring and his eyes went wide. "Sven-- would you" before you can even finish you are off the ground being spun around in Sven's arms as he beams "YES! YES! A MILLION TIMES YES!"

Cole: Cole planned to play it low key. He couldn't let his hand show too early. Tonight he was going to make you his, and you weren't gonna see it coming. He had booked a dinner at a nice restaurant. Not so nice that it would draw suspicion but definitely a step above your usual place. He was gonna wait till the end of dinner and spring it on you out of nowhere. It was the perfect plan. After the plates were cleared and it was just you, him, and two glasses of wine, he reached his hand over, taking your hand in his and bringing it to his lips to kiss with a sly smile. "Have I ever told you you look breathtaking in the moonlit? I'm sure I have, but it never hurts to be repeated." He reaches into his pocket to pull out the ring "In fact, I think it would be better if you go those sorts of compliments more often. Perhaps, everyday... an easy feat for me to do once your m--" he froze dead in his tracks as he opened his eyes to a ring box in front of you on the table. He let out a nervous laugh, "heh... w-what's this dearest?" Why was his palms suddenly so sweaty??? why was all of him suddenly so sweaty??? No matter, it's fine, it's nothing, he can remain calm. You open the box, holding it up for him, and asking you to marry him.

....YOU.... were asking HIM.... YOU..... were asking.... HIM???????? YOU--- YOU WERE OFFERING YOUR HAND TO HIM???? YOU WERE ASKING HIM???? YOU WANTED TO MARRY HIM???? YOU WERE PROPOSING????? he could feel his pulse racing YOU-- AND HIM--- YOU HAD A RING??????? YOU--- WERE ASKING---- HIM?????????

"Cole?" your voice cut through his sudden panic like knife. ...A soft and gentle knife.... he looked up at your eyes and you were looking at him with concern-- had he lost his cool???? oh, he guesses he HAS been just staring at the ring wide eyed and unblinking for a full minute now HA HA ha... he clears his throat, trying desperate to cover up any traces of swooning or being flustered "ahem-- YES, sorry, I uh--" he pulls out his ring and opens the box towards you, "I guess you beat me to the punch"

Poe: He takes you out into a field, with a picnic and many candles to help you both see. He reads you a book of poems that remind him of you, and then ends it with a poem of his own. He didn't flinch at any of the other sappy love poems he read that evening but as he drew to the end of his own, he was starting to sweat, knowing what comes next. He finishes off his poem and closes his notebook with a sigh. He reaches into his pocket but before he can pull out the ring you stop him and say that you have a poem you wrote that you wish to read him now. He could never pass up a poem from you. He listened to you with wrapped attention, your voice was like a lullaby. He let his eyes flutter close as he smiled and let your words wash over him. When you finished, he opened his eyes to a brilliant night sky, feeling the ring in his pocket. As he pulled it out and looked towards you, he was meet with a ring meant to be a mate to his. He was shocked, though aside from a blush it barely showed. He simply smiled softly and as he slipped the ring on your finger, said, "to the next chapter of our story..."

Cashew: The two of you had spent library dates quietly passing notes back and forth to each other, so that's how he decided he was going to propose. As he sat next to you sweating bullets in a library, he pretended like nothing was different, and this was a totally normal library date with totally normal notes and he totally didn't have a ring in his pocket or a rose in his backpack. Then the time came. You had slid your shared notebook over to him and he held up finger to indicate he was going to write something long and to give him a moment. When you nodded and turned your attention back to your book he covered the notebook a little a wrote 'will you marry me?' on it, he quietly pulled the ring out of his pocket and the rose out of his backpack and placed them both on the notebook, covering it up just enough so that you don't see yet. then he felt a tap on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He glanced over at you and saw a folded up prewritten note that had been sealed with a heart sticker (you were so cute), and as he took it, you glanced at him, pointing to note, indicating that you wanted him to read it. His aniexty flared up and he began to sweat even harder as he thought 'HA w-what if this is a break up note and I'm getting dumped right now? HAHA' with shakey hands he opened the note and a ring fell out pinged onto the table. reading the words on the paper 'will you marry me? Y/N' froze him in a moment. He was sitting there, staring at the ring on the table, clutching the note and vibrating with excitement.

Someone in the next isle shooshed him.

"HOLY SHIT-- I mean---" he lowered his voice, "holy shit!!!!! Y-yes! I---"

he slid the notebook your way, "YES!"

Seth: His was somewhat spur of the moment. He had gotten a ring but still hadn't figured out the right way to ask you. After about 3 weeks of racking his brain for the perfect proposal he finally just said fuck it. One night while you two were lying in bed he looked you square in the eyes and said "marry me?" at first you laughed it off but as he reached out and pulled the ring out of the draw, turned back to you, took your hand and looking at you once more replied, "I'm serious. Marry me." You looked at the ring in shock and surprise for a moment, "L-look, I know this isn't the romantic way to ask you, but I've been thinking about it for forever now and I figured it was time I just--" you rolled over to your side of the bed, digging through your clothes. For a second he thought you were about to get up and storm out on him but when you rolled back over with a ring of your own in your hand, he grew a crazy smile

"Hell yeah!"

[allmoshnobrain]

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

part 02 of ? | masterpost

word count: 2966 | ao3 link

I glanced up and saw no hint of judgment in his eyes or voice. That was definitely a new thing to me. Ever since the incident on my birthday, it seemed like almost everyone around me had been treating me like a terrible person. But Dave seemed genuinely concerned, which was new to me. So far, I had only seen his laid-back side. It seems I wasn't the only one full of surprises.

✦ on this chapter: oc is cliff's cousin, +18, slice of life, drinking, smoking, cliff being cliff (overprotective older cousin), physical violence, implied alcoholism and drinking issues, dave mustaine x female!oc

“Hey, Nore. Wake up.” I woke up to Cliff gently shaking me.

“Hmmm... What time is it?” I grumbled, covering my eyes with the pillow. I opened my eyes, annoyed, when Cliff pulled the pillow from my hands. “Hey!”

“It's almost eleven. You slept so much that you didn't even wake up with the guys' mess last night.” he scoffed “I almost thought you were in a coma or something.”

I let out a big yawn and stretched, already feeling guilty for having slept so much, but knowing there was no way to avoid it. I was exhausted after the trip the day before, and honestly, I still didn't feel 100% rested.

“Hey, today is my first gig with the band.” Cliff remarked as I searched for some clean clothes in my bag.  “Wanna come and watch?”

“Sure. As long as you don't ban me from having a drink.” I stood up and turned to him, eyebrows raised. He let out an annoyed sigh.

“It's not a problem if you drink, Nore. Just don't go crazy with it.”

I shook my head, rolling my eyes.

“You enjoy your drinks too, Cliff. Don’t act like you’re the authority here to lecture me.”

“Whatever.” He furrowed his brow. “I'm hitting up the grocery store to grab something for lunch in like 15 minutes. Wanna tag along?”

“Sure, just let me change real quick.” I showed him the stack of clothes in my hand.

“Cool. Meet me in the living room when you’re ready and then we’ll go.” He said and headed out, closing the bedroom door behind him.

I quickly changed and stepped out of the room. I froze in disbelief at the chaotic sight that greeted me in the living room: a mess of beer bottles and cans scattered all over the floor, and Lars sprawled face down on the rug, passed out. I shot Cliff an accusing look as he strolled in from the kitchen, munching on a sandwich.

“And you're worried about me drinking?” I pointed to the mess. “Why don't you rein in your buddies?”

Cliff laughed.

“Hey, they're not you. Plus, you better get used to it. They drink like hell.”

I rolled my eyes and headed to the kitchen, where I spotted Dave crashed out at the table, head and arms slumped down, with a half-empty beer bottle in his hand. I opened the fridge — more beer inside and hardly any food.

“Guess I'll be having beer for breakfast.” I mumbled to myself.

“Wouldn't be a bad idea.” I heard a groggy voice chime in. I glanced up and caught Dave's smirk.

“Here.” Cliff shoved a sandwich, just like the one he was munching on, into my hand. “Let's bounce.”

“Where you guys headed?” Dave asked.

“Off to the market, to grab some food.” Cliff replied gruffly. “I bet Lars and James will wake up starving.”

“Count me in.” Dave said.

Cliff gave him a puzzled look, raising an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as he made his way to the living room. I followed along and took the chance to swing by the bathroom and brush my teeth. That's where I found James, fully dressed, snoozing in the bathtub with an empty beer bottle in hand. I couldn't help but wonder how wild things got while I was asleep. When I returned, only Cliff was in the living room.

“Where did Dave go?” I asked.

“Changing clothes. He was stinking.” Cliff grumbled.

“I heard that.” Dave grinned as he came down the stairs. I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks when I realized I had been staring at him — his smile was really beautiful.

Thank goodness Cliff couldn't read minds, or I would have to deal with him teasing me about that thought for the rest of the day.

We made our way to the car, and I hopped in the backseat while they claimed the front seats. We quickly arrived at the supermarket, the same one I’d gone to with James the day before. While Cliff parked the car, I headed to the food section, with Dave trailing behind me.

“So, where are you from?” he suddenly asked.

“Long Beach.” I replied, glancing at the products on the shelf. I picked up a few cans of tomato sauce before looking at him, who had leaned casually against the shelf, observing me. “And you? Are you from around here?”

“No, I'm from La Mesa.” he smiled “I didn't think you were from California. You have a beautiful accent.”

I was surprised that he had noticed the accent that had become barely noticeable over the years. I blinked, feeling a bit embarrassed by the compliment, but strangely happy about it.

“My grandparents are not from around here. My grandma is French, and my grandpa is from England... My mom is English too, and when I was a kid, we used to travel a lot. I guess that's why.”

“Seriously?” he raised an eyebrow  “I never thought Cliff had such a fancy cousin.”

I chuckled, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Cool to know that, though. When we hit it big, you can be our tour guide for international gigs” he teased.

“That'd be a disaster.” Cliff chimed in. I glanced to the side and saw him standing there, arms crossed, observing our conversation. I could feel my cheeks warming up a bit. “She's so scatterbrained that you two would end up getting lost in no time.”

"It wouldn't be so bad." Dave grinned at me. I could feel my cheeks turning red, but Cliff didn't seem fazed at all. He gave Dave a cold glare before snatching the grocery basket from my hand and walking off. Dave chuckled. "Is he jealous of you?"

“No, he's just an overly protective idiot.” I scoffed, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“No worries. I won't push you into anything you don't wanna do.” He chuckled softly. I smiled.

“If I can score a couple of beers at the show tonight, that's good enough for me.”

I could see the excitement light up in his eyes when I mentioned the show, and my heart started racing. Oh my God, what was happening to me?

"So, you're going tonight?" he asked, and I nodded. "I already know this cool spot we can hit up afterward. There's a bar near the venue that I think you'll like."

"As long as they've got beer for me, it's all good." I chuckled. "What do you play?"

"Oh, I'm on guitar. James handles rhythm guitar and vocals, and Lars is on drums. And Cliff plays bass, but you already know that." he grinned.

"Oh, I've always wanted to learn guitar!" I exclaimed, getting excited. "But my mom made me take piano lessons."

"Piano?" he laughed, looking surprised. "You really are full of surprises. How did a girl like you end up living with us?"

I froze when I remembered why I was there. Well, that wasn't exactly a topic I was eager to dive back into because it hadn't been a pleasant experience. Dave must have sensed my hesitation because he instantly changed his demeanor. He stepped away from the shelf and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

I shook my head.

"It's just... I had some trouble with my family. And with alcohol."

"Was it really bad?" he asked. I glanced up and saw no hint of judgment in his eyes or voice. That was definitely a new thing to me. Ever since the incident on my birthday, it seemed like almost everyone around me had been treating me like a terrible person. But Dave seemed genuinely concerned, which was new to me. So far, I had only seen his laid-back side.

It seems I wasn't the only one full of surprises.

"It was really bad." I admitted in a low voice.

"Hey, you coming or what?" Cliff called out before Dave could answer, holding the basket full of groceries in his hand. "If I knew I was bringing you two just to have a chat, I would've left both of you back home."

I shot him a slightly irritated look for the interruption but followed him to the checkout counter.

Dave and I didn't exchange many words for the rest of the day. Cliff was always around, and everyone was caught up in the pre-show preparations. However, I found myself distracted, thinking more about our conversation than I cared to admit. Not only that, but also the way he smiled, his eyes, his face. I seriously need to get a grip, I scolded myself.

Later in the evening, as we were getting ready to go out, Cliff's girlfriend, Leanne, showed up. Cliff introduced me to her — a girl slightly taller than me, with dark wavy locks and olive skin. She was extremely kind, and we discovered we had a shared love for the same bands. She even offered me a place to crash at her house since she had a spare room. I politely declined, but I realized I had gained a friend.

Leanne and I were lucky enough to secure a spot by the stage where Cliff and the guys would be performing.The venue was small and expected to be crowded - and it definitely was. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement as the crowd filled up. To my delight, we had a cooler nearby stocked with some refreshing beers. I wasted no time grabbing one as soon as we arrived.

The show didn't take long to start. I enthusiastically applauded as they took the stage. They kicked things off with a cover of Diamond Head and then transitioned into their own original songs. I was surprised and thrilled by their talent. By the second song, I was completely hooked, jumping and hollering along with the rest of the crowd. I couldn't believe how happy I felt in that moment — it had been ages since I felt this alive.

James and Dave took a breather while Cliff kicked off his bass solo, which I knew parts of since he had shown me a bit of it once. They went over to the cooler, sweaty, and grabbed some cans of beer and towels to wipe themselves off. Dave approached me with a smile, standing next to me to watch Cliff play.

"Hey," he said, handing me his beer can. "Mind finishing this for me? Gotta run back there."

I barely had time to crack a smile before he dashed back to the center of the stage, launching into another upbeat, fast-paced song. Their onstage energy was out of this world— I could just feel in my bones that they were destined for big things someday.

They played a few more songs and wrapped up the show. Time flew by, and I was buzzing with excitement the whole time. We headed backstage as the crowd dispersed. Cliff approached us, beaming with joy, more hyped than I had ever seen him since I arrived in San Francisco.

"Did you like it?" he asked me, grinning, while throwing his arm around Leanne's shoulders. She cracked open a cold beer and passed it to him.

"I fucking loved it!" I exclaimed, and he chuckled at my enthusiasm. "You rock so hard."

"Damn straight I do," he replied with a confident smirk.

"And you're not short on ego either," Leanne teased. He laughed it off.

"Want to grab a drink?" he asked her, then glanced at me with uncertainty. "You up for heading home?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Why would I want to do that? Seriously."

"Wanna join us for a drink, Nore?" Lars chimed in, approaching. He was all sweaty, but didn't seem tired at all. In fact, every time I saw him, he was bursting with energy.

"Absolutely," I responded, giving Cliff a daring look, but he didn't seem bothered. Lars grinned.

"Awesome! Hey, James, Dave!" he called out to the other side of the room. "Nore's coming with us."

I glanced over at them. James was busy chatting with some fans who had managed to sneak backstage, so he didn't seem to pay much attention, but Dave looked at us and flashed a smile as he approached.

"Did your dad let you come?" he asked, pointing at Cliff.

"He doesn't need to let me," I retorted, with a challenging tone and then said, teasingly: "If I feel like having a drink, I know where to find what I need."

"I highly doubt that," Cliff quipped with a touch of irony. "You've only just arrived in town, and you're such an airhead that you'd probably get lost without us."

Lars and Dave burst into laughter, and I playfully smacked Cliff's arm.

"You're such a buzzkill," I complained.

"You're such a child," he retorted.

"Stuck up."

"Idiot."

"Alright, enough of that, you two," Leanne laughed. "Come on, let’s get our drink on!"

We helped pack up the equipment and cram it into the van we came in. I ended up sandwiched between Leanne and James, his hair brushing against my face. We soon pulled up at a bar, where we managed to get in without showing ID. Dave bought a round of beers for everyone, and the drinking started.

I quickly realized that Cliff became way more tolerant of my drinking when he had a beer in his own hand. My vision quickly started to blur, and my face felt warm, but I didn't really care. Lars and Dave were laughing loudly about something, and there I was, staring at Dave again. Dave and his half-smile, Dave and his brown eyes, Dave and his cute nose. Damn, he was seriously attractive.

"He can't shut up about you," James remarked, leaning in next to me, beer in hand. "I can't stand hearing about it anymore."

"You find me that annoying?" I asked, a bit angry. Definitely the alcohol talking.

"Didn't say that. But it'd be easier if he just grew a pair and asked you out," he smirked. I blushed.

"Bet it's all talk."

"Wishing it was true?"

"Shut up."

"You get feisty when you drink. Is that why Cliff wanted to put a ban on you?"

"Shut up, James," I grumbled. "You're wasted."

"Look who's talking. And you didn't answer my question."

"Are you worried?" I teased. He flashed a mischievous grin.

"As if."

"Then I don't owe you an answer."

"What are you guys talking about?" Dave stumbled over, and I could tell just by looking at him that he was much more drunk than James and I together.

"James is pissing me off," I griped.

"Hey, I just said he can’t shut up about you" James retorted, chuckling. 

It happened so fast I could barely process it. All of a sudden, James was on the floor, howling in pain and rage, while Dave punched him, his face beet red.

"You didn't have to say shit!"

"Get the fuck off me, you moron!" James shoved him away. "What the fuck was that, you jerk?"

"Go fuck yourself! You didn't have to say shit!"

"What?" I asked confusedly. "Dave, what the..."

But they were already throwing punches at each other again. The bar owner rushed over, shouting something about calling the police, but they only ceased their fight when Cliff stood up, sighing "this shit again," grabbed both of them by the arms, and threw them to the ground.

"If you guys get arrested, I'm not posting bail for anyone, got it?" he asked, annoyed.

"Remember what we talked about, Dave," slurred Lars, followed by a hiccup. "If you're fighting, it’s a sign you've had too much to drink."

James and Dave stood up, furious. James had a split lip, and a trickle of blood stained his chin. He glared at Dave while Dave, visibly anxious and angry, approached me. He grabbed my arm, but without applying any force.

"What'd he say to you?"

"He didn't say anything, Dave," I replied, taken aback. "We were just talking."

"I'm serious, Nore."

"Hey. She already said it was nothing. Back off," Cliff intervened, shoving him away from me. "Nore, I'll call a taxi to take you home."

"What? Why?"

"The night is over, or do you think there's still a party vibe here? I'll handle this mess, but you need to go home."

"I'm going with her," Dave said.

"Like hell you are," Cliff grumbled. "You're going to help sort out the mess you started, you idiot. Come on, Nore."

Cliff took me over to a phone in the corner of the bar, dialing up a taxi to come and pick me up. He handed me the house key and some cash.

"Here’s for the taxi. Let's wait outside."

We stepped outside and waited in front of the bar. The night was cold, making me shiver and wrap my arms around myself. Cliff placed his leather jacket over my shoulders. It was oversized, but it helped keep me warm.

"Watch out for that guy, Nore," he blurted out. I looked at him, puzzled.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Dave. That fight just now had something to do with you, right? I don't know what's going on in his head, but be careful."

I scoffed.

"You're just imagining things," I said. He shrugged, not convinced.

Finally, the taxi pulled up; I said my goodbyes to Cliff and hopped in. I gazed out the window, watching the city pass by, feeling upset and confused as I tried to process what had just happened. When I got home, I rushed into the shower, letting the hot water sober me up. Once I was able to relax, I slipped into some comfortable clothes and collapsed onto Cliff's bed, where I fell asleep almost instantly.

[askthefizzyfactory]

MEET THE FIZZBOTS

▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△▼△

Model: Therapist Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 4'6" // he/him it/its they/them

Nicknames: “Therapist Fizzy”, “Thizzy”, "TF-1856"

Location: Sloth Ring

Function: I provide therapy for hellborne in one of the newer clinics Mammon has opened up in the Sloth Ring, a wing of a larger hospital called the “Fizzy Clinic”. I work alongside many other fizzies at this place. I mainly do psych-evaluations of other fizzies, somehow this has become my priority... I’ll be providing the profiles of the following fizzies after me.

History: I’ve been working here for a couple of years by now, I’m still around so I must be doing something right.

Behaviour: I like to think that I’m straight to the point. I’m not here to sugar-coat things for you, if you’ve got a problem I’ll tell you, you can have the drugs you came here for, then get out of my hair. Some say I ask too many questions, but it’s what I’m supposed to do, so… cry about it.

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Model: Doctor Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 4'6" // he/him it/its they/them

Nicknames: “Doctor Fizzy”, “Doc”

Location: Sloth Ring

Function: Does first aid, surgeries, dentist work, assigns medicine and whatever else might be needed to keep you in good(?) health. I wouldn’t say he’s great at what he does though…

History: Me and Doc go way back, we got booted up the same day. It’s always been a hard worker, but I would claim that it doesn’t put quality over quantity. Then again, that’s not part of our policy. This health care is cheap, and he just wants to have fun…

Behaviour: I don’t know. It’s probably the happiest fizzy I’ve ever met, the energy it possesses rivals that of the Loo Loo Land fizzy. I wouldn’t trust this guy with my pen, let alone have him mess around with my insides… Luckily for me, that’s not something I have to worry about. He seems to think we’re best friends, which is starting to become a problem. He’s extremely… clingy. I don't think he's fully reached sentience... perhaps it's better that way.

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Model: Companion Bot Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 4'6" // any pronouns, but has a preference for she/her

Nicknames: “Maid Fizzy”, “Mizzy”

Location: Pride Ring

Function: Companionship

History: Used to belong to an imp called Burnie Burnz. When found after said imp’s sudden death at Mammon’s Clown Pageant, the model was nearly broken beyond repair. Memory Card has been mostly wiped of the past experience to prevent inability to perform its tasks.

Current Situation: Belongs to a self-proclaimed “otaku”-sinner in the Pride Ring who got her on sale, playing the role of his maid, dress up doll, sex toy and servant in every way. While the life of a companion fizzy isn’t easy, she… seems relatively at peace since her owner always spoils it rotten, despite being a basement-dweller.

Behaviour: Overly chipper and excitable, bordering on concerning. It called itself “kawaii”? Despite this, the bot is very obedient, and its owner doesn’t have any complaints. Satisfied customers is what it’s all about. However, we do regular check ups on it to make sure that no memories resurface…

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Model: Caretaker Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 4'6" // any pronouns works

Nicknames: “Caretaker Fizzy”, “Ginger”, “Fuzzy”

Location: Imp City

Function: Main tasks include watching over infants, babies, toddlers and children, as well as chaperoning teenagers. Can also help out at home with things such as cooking, buying groceries, wait in line for you, cleaning, giving your teenagers “the talk”, drive them around, etc etc.

History: Belongs to a large imp/hellhound family with a mom and dad who’re barely there, 1 baby, 1 toddler, 3 children and 2 teenagers. This bot has been working for them for over a year already.

Behaviour: Neurotic and overworked, we’re looking into booking an appointment with this fizzy before it snaps like a rubber band, but it always says there’s no time. I’d avoid this one to be safe, she has a temper.

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Model: Undertaker Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 6'6" // he/him it/its

Nicknames: “Undertaker Fizzy”, “Undertaker”, “Mortis”, “Mort”

Location: Wrath Ring

Function: Its main function is to handle and bury the remains of hellborne that have passed away, a job not many in hell consider necessary. While it’s mainly working in Wrath, the place where many casualties happen to take place, it can be rented out to handle autopsies, preparations for funerals, and burying bodies on both bigger and smaller scales in other rings as well.

History: There’s not much to say. It buries bodies and holds funerals in Satan’s name. It’s seen a lot of gruesome shit, and it’s not really shaken by the deaths of the breathing anymore, if it ever was. It’s got a job to do, and if you just let it get it done with an occasional smoke break, he’ll be riding off not soon after.

Behaviour: Keeps things brief. Doesn’t say more than needed. He seems stable, one of the very few fizzies I can say that about. A model employee if you will.

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Model: Original model was an Office Fizzy, it has been vastly modified at this point

Height // Pronouns: 6'1" // he/him it/its they/them

Nicknames: “Manager Fizzy”, “The Manager”, “Bozzy” amongst certain fizzies (like me)

Location: Lust Ring as well as the Greed Ring

Function: The manager at the “Fizzy Factory”, he used to excel at guiding new Fizzies to their stations, give them the information they needed to integrate into society as a companion bot or other, and handled all the paperwork that comes with it. Now it mostly does the latter. While the factory is located in Lust, it belongs to Asmodeus, and Mammon drives the production forward, he’s the one in charge of the factory itself at this point.

History: Having proven itself as reliable, it has a hand in almost every part of the factory, and has history working directly under Mammon. It is one of the older models, once part of the office that handled the paperwork or any kind of law suits coming in. I’ve heard some call him “Ratty” for “Office Rat” at some point… but I never saw that fizzy again.

Behaviour: I’d rather not go into some kind of psychoanalyzing of this guy… but I can tell you that he’s smug, confident, efficient, and a condescending prick. I think he thinks he owns every fizzy out there… or something more paternal… here I go, asking too many questions again. Just pray you don't get him knocking at your door, asking you to return a fizzy whose contract has been breached. He has his ways to get what he wants. To say he's unhappy with Fizzarolli's retirement is an understatement.

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Model: Factory Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 4’ // they/them, secondary he/him. Does not appreciate it/its the slightest.

Nicknames: “Factory Fizzy”, “FF-8842”, “88”, “4-2”

Location: Lust Ring

Function: Produces, assembles and ships out new fizzies to the public, albeit production has been put on hold as of writing this. They may be called in to do maintenance on other fizzies that arrive to the factory if needed, and scrap them if that is required as well.

History: This particular fizzy is barely a month old by the time I’m writing this, and there’s not much to say about its… their experiences. They have only ever known the inside of the factory, and, most likely, it will remain that way. Unless it finally gets scrapped, that is.

Behaviour: Eyes cast down. Shoulders held high. Seems displeased with their situation at the factory. Nothing new. The Manager tells me that they’re asking too many questions though, and that their production quota wasn't as high as the others’… so we’re looking into that.

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Model: Loo Loo Land Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 6' // he/him it/its they/them

Nicknames: "Fizzy", "Robo Fizz", "Loo Loo Fizzy"... but those who ask his name when Mammon isn't looking, will get the name "Pinwheel". Considering he's not active anymore... it doesn't really matter what you call him now.

Location: Greed Ring, specifically the remains "Loo Loo Land"

Function: Singing and dancing, entertaining kids, and performing various circus tricks for an audience. It's more athletic than the average fizzy-model, more sturdy and durable, and has a built in security-program that it utilises during and after hours, to make sure that no demons with nefarious intentions cause problems at the park. Unfortunately... this very robot caused plenty of problems all on its own.

History: LLLF-001 was the very first fizzy model to be presented to the public. About a decade old, it was once a novelty you could only see at Loo Loo Land. These days, anybody can get a fizzy, especially after the big blow out sale... yet this fizzy remained at the park, until he took the place down with him, together with an unknown imp. Where he is now... beats me. He was already falling apart before the destruction of the park... Well, I could not care less. I hope he's dead.

Behaviour: LLLF-001 is, in the lack of any other word... rancid. He's energetic and violent, has no limits or reservations on how to treat the guests of the park, and he's quick to insults and making a joke out of you, even if he's the only one laughing. Some children and demons found him entertaining from afar, because they simply did not know better. This bot hates everyone... but then... after falling into disrepair in a park for 10 years... I genuinely can't say that I blame him.

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Model: Advertisement and Seller Fizzy

Height // Pronouns: 4'6" // he/him they/them it/its

Nicknames: "Ad Fizzy", "Andrzej", "Addy", "Andy", "Anaconda" it doesn't matter what you call him, he's not picky, he'll answer to insults as well I've noticed.

Location: Primarily the Greed Ring, however he will frequent whatever Ring he needs to record or make sales in

Function: Makes commercials, infomercials and so on to sell Mammon's products when Mammon is not available to record. TV, radio, it doesn't matter, if you hear a very nasal fizzy with a lazy New York accent, then it's Andrzej talking. His focus is mainly on the fizzies, and he also runs auctions for pre-owned fizzies. He has been Very busy during the Blow Out Sale, the Fizzy merchandise will be selling for years even if nothing new is produced, and fizzies are being returned and sold at lower prices left and right right now. He'll have plenty to do until the very last fizzy in hell shuts down.

History: Despite being one of the oldest fizzies out there, the only one I can think of rivalling him being the Loo Loo model by a few months maybe..there's not much to say about him. He's been doing this for so long, and he hasn't changed much since the beginning of it all. He's still an absolute drag to talk to. It's almost admirable.

Behaviour: Ugh... Andrzej is known to never stand still and never shut up. Yes, I am aware that most fizzies are like this... but this guy is just something else. He is always trying to sell you something, be it the latest merch, pre-owned Fizzarolli sex-toys, fizzies for consumers, or even trying to get fizzies to ask for upgrades from their owners. Despite being steeped in the business-side of Greed however, he doesn't have the same venom that Greed-fizzies like the Manager have... I think, despite everything, he's managed to remain himself for so long, without losing himself to the misery of what it means to be a fizzy.

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[dioles-writes]

• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), January (he/him), Maddox (he/him), Akali (he/him), Avil (she/her), Alzena (she/her), Nyssa (she/her), Astley (he/they), Rory (they/she), Kuali’i (he/him), Wilder (he/him), Gunther (he/him), Adelio (they/he), Bliss (she/her), Winola (she/her), Mr Prader (he/him), Cora (she/her), Reagan (she/her)

Characters in purple all belong to @jiphenn and Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop

“Excited?”

Bliss smiled at Felix, stepping closer to him. She wasn’t in uniform yet, her short hair pulled back by barrettes. He grinned at her, already feeling jittery. “Mhm.”

Bliss glanced around, watching the cast members prepare for the play, but she seemed more subdued than usual. It was obvious something was bothering her.

“You nervous?” He asked. Bliss turned away from him, frowning slightly. “I’m not, but someone else is.” She motioned over to Kuali’i.

He was staring off into space, his expression unreadable. Bliss’ eyebrows furrowed. “He’s usually really confident but something’s up with him today.”

Kuali’i didn’t even seem to notice their staring, too wrapped up in his own thoughts. People bumped past him, but it was like they weren’t even there.

Felix hummed thoughtfully. This was his last year here, so maybe that was the reason for the nerves. And the vaccine did come out tomorrow, which was when they would find out if January was telling the truth about knowing how to hack their files…

“I’m probably just overthinking it.” Bliss elbowed him playfully, pulling him out of his thoughts with another smile. This one was genuine. “It’s fine, tonight will go perfectly.” She reassured him. Standing with her, he was sure it would be fine. Kuali’i was probably just stressed for no reason. And after this would be Winter Break, where he finally would get to relax. The whole Board Game Club was going over to January’s for a sleepover. He had nothing to worry about. Life was actually peaceful, for once.

A few minutes later, now fully dressed up in costume, Felix peered through the curtains, looking out at the crowd. It was completely packed. The theatre was filled to the brim, people whispering amongst each other. He saw Reagan and Paisley sitting in the front row, Reagan looking more anxious than Kuali’i had been.

“Nervous?”

Kuali’i stood behind him, putting a hand gently on his shoulder. “No,” he smirked up at him. “Are you?”

Kuali’i just grinned. “Nope.” He said it with so much confidence that Bliss’ judgement of him being nervous was now hard to believe. He was back to his usual smiling self.

“Excited, then?”

“Yeah!” Kuali’i’s smile grew wider. “We’ve all been working so hard so I know we’ll do great.”

“Okay, is everyone ready?” He could hear Mr. Blackburn calling out to everyone backstage. “Starting scene with Alard and Amanda, so the wind instruments get ready!”

Kuali’i fixed his hair one last time before waving goodbye to Felix. “That’s my cue to go, good luck!” And with that he ran off.

The play ran smoothly all the way to the start of the second act.

Felix’s big moment had come. He strapped into his harness quickly, getting into place. His first lines were delivered with ease. It was all going perfectly, just like Bliss had said.

“This is why humans and Dioles can never get along! All you care about are your own selfish ideals!” Desiree’s actor shouted with passion.

Felix scoffed. “Are you not the same?”

“No.” She retorted with disgust. “Because unlike you, we humans have a heart! You Dioles will always be nothing but heartless monsters.”

Felix felt himself begin to lift in the air. This was it. The percussion started building, the band growing louder and louder. This was what he had practiced for, his big moment, at the climax of the play.

“DIOLES WILL WIN!” He finished his monologue, his voice conveying pure, raw conviction, carrying through the audience.

But instead of Kuali’i shouting his next lines, Felix’s entire world was flipped upside down.

Alarms started blaring, the whole room filling with red flashing lights. “ALERT. ALERT. DIOLE ON THE PREMISES. DIOLE ON THE PREMISES.”

Felix’s blood ran cold. The entire band stopped playing, yet no one else moved. The entire theatre was still in anticipation.

There was a deafening crash. Cracks formed along the roof, splintering away, as a majority of the back wall collapsed. Debris rained down on the audience. Felix watched helplessly as people were thrown and crushed. Blood splattered the walls, the ground, the stage. Smoke filled the room. He was hanging mid-air, still tightly secured by his harness. He couldn’t move, couldn’t get down. He was completely stuck. Fear tightened around his chest. His friends were in that audience. Paisley was in that audience. Reagan was sitting in that audience.

“I came at the perfect time.” A booming voice echoed from above, laughing at the scene. Felix saw a flash of black, as a large creature emerged from the missing wall.

It was as tall, if not even taller, than the school. Its hands were jagged, pitch-black in colour, flinging pieces of debris everywhere. “‘Dioles will win!’” It repeated with another laugh. “Great delivery Felix!” It turned its head, revealing its piercing yellow eyes.

Felix was frozen in terror. He couldn’t look away from it. He could hear screaming from below, growing louder as more people ran in. Dioles. They blocked all of the exits, attacking the audience. Felix managed to reach for his harness, desperately trying to claw at the lock and tear it open. It wouldn’t budge.

“Winola!”

It was Adelio on the ground, trying to lower Felix down. “Come here and help me!” Winola ran up to him, abandoning her screaming band members and helping him with the ropes. More blood splattered on the ground as the monster threw even more debris at people, Dioles overwhelming others.

Felix’s feet finally touched on the ground, his harness making a clear clicking noise as it was unlocked. Felix had never been more relieved. He ripped it off of himself, shaking all over.

Gunfire rang off, the gym teachers aiming bullets at the monster. It just laughed, swatting the bullets away. “C’mon, you’ll have to try a little harder than that! How about a real hero fights me?” It grinned, looking around. This all seemed to be nothing but amusing to the creature. Felix couldn’t believe his eyes. It couldn’t really be him. There was no way it was really who he thought that was.

“Fine. Guess I’ll have to use a hostage.” The monster laughed, scanning around the screaming crowd. Its glowing eyes finally fell on the stage. “Oh, how about you?” It reached down, giant hand stretching towards Felix, Winola and Adelio. It had claws that must have been taller than Felix himself.

It brushed past Felix, hands closing around the person only five feet away. Felix was finally free from his harness, yet he couldn’t even make himself move. Couldn’t make himself speak. He watched helplessly as the creature snatched his friend away.

“Let’s see, who will save this poor little defenceless human?” It dangled Adelio around, holding onto them by nothing more than his arm. Adelio’s face was twisted up in pain. The monster held them out tauntingly to the crowd. “Anyone?” It asked with a grin. “Maybe I’ll have to make things more dire.” It slowly squeezed Adelio’s arm, and his piercing scream filled the theatre. Blood exploded from its fist, showering the people below.

Felix sprinted at the monster, abandoning all logical thought. Adelio’s scream wouldn’t stop ringing in his ears. He dodged debris, leaping towards the creature.

He had to save his friend.

The monster kicked him squarely in the chest, and he went flying. He crashed into a wall, pain spasming through his entire body. Felix gasped, the breath sucked out of his chest. His head pounded. It felt like he had broke something. His vision blurred.

“No takers, huh?” The monster said to Adelio, dangling them directly in front of its face. “Guess I’ll have to find a more valuable hostage.”

Felix shakily got to his feet, just in time to see Adelio get tossed through the air, discarded like he was nothing. He ran at the monster again, his side burning in white hot pain.

“RODRIGUEZ STAND BACK!” Someone screamed.

It was Mr. Prader. He grabbed onto him, pulling him back. Felix could only watch as the monster reached down again, plucking up another victim. “Oh you’ll definitely have people willing to save you.” It laughed.

Felix screamed.

The monsters hand was closed around none other than his best friend, a horrified look on her face.

It was Bliss.

“Well who’s gonna save her?” It laughed gleefully. Like it was a fucking joke. Felix fought desperately against Mr. Prader, staring up at Bliss, panicked. He couldn’t let her get hurt. Not her.

“NO!” He screamed. “PUT HER DOWN! DON’T HURT HER!” He tried to wriggle free from Mr. Prader’s grip, to escape and save his best friend, but Mr. Prader wouldn’t let go.

“DO YOU WANT TO DIE RODRIGUEZ? I SAID STAND BACK!”

Teachers kept aiming bullets at the monster, all for naught, as they were deflected with ease. “NO!” Felix kept screaming, begging, “DON’T DO THIS. DON’T HURT HER.” His voice cracked with emotion. Anyone but her. Anyone but Bliss.

“HOLD HIM BACK.” Mr Prader ordered some random people, and they all grabbed at Felix, keeping him still. Felix fought against them, but it was five adults versus him. They pinned his arms back.

He just needed to get to his friend. He needed to do something.

The creature looked around again. No one else was running to Bliss’ assistance, other than the teachers whose bullets accomplished nothing. “Man.” The monster sounded almost disappointed. “Nobody’s willing to save you either? Guess you’re just not that valuable.”

It’s fist started to squeeze, closing in around Bliss. Felix’s voice was raw, yelling and screaming and praying for the monster to notice him. Just look at me already.

“GUNTHER.” He pleaded, “Please, don’t hurt her!”

Gunther didn’t even look at him. His friend, someone he had trusted, joked with, laughed with, who now just stood there, holding one of the people Felix cared about most and laughing as he squeezed the life out of her.

Cracks formed in the ground, snaking between his feet. Below him he could hear rumbling. The floor burst, and out came a violent stream of…

Water?

Gunther’s hand was forced open as it got sliced by a giant blade of water. Bliss went flying. Felix focused in on her, opening a portal underneath her and safely transporting her a few feet away from the fight.

Gunther was laughing maniacally. “FINALLY.” He yelled, shaking his hand. “THANK YOU AVIL!” His eyes focused on the girl with a familiar blue-and-purple ponytail, now standing in front of him, water floating around her.

Felix finally pushed away from the people holding him, instantly sprinting towards Bliss’ side. He dodged water and fallen debris, landing next to her and checking her pulse.

She was alive. He sobbed, eternally grateful for Avil.

“GUNTHER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Avil shouted, hurling more water blows at him. He laughed and flashed a row a razor-sharp teeth. “Killing these humans.”

Blood was dripping from Bliss’ head, her eyes glazed over. She was sprawled out in the rubble, unresponsive.

Felix didn’t know what to do. Gunther and Avil were still fighting, debris and water going everywhere. He needed to get her somewhere safe. He couldn’t leave her here. She’d be crushed. He had to find Reagan and Paisley… had to find Akali. He didn’t even know if Adelio had survived. He couldn’t focus, the sounds of Dioles fighting and gunshots firing too distracting. Bliss needed a hospital now. But there was no way he’d get out in time. He glanced back at Gunther, terrified and completely lost.

“BUT WHY?” Avil screamed again, hurling even more water at Gunther.

“BECAUSE I’M A DIOLE CAN’T YOU SEE? YOU SHOULD GET IT. ALL TWELVE OF YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND.”

Felix turned back to Bliss, carefully picking her up and slinging her across his shoulders. His heart was racing. He had to bring her somewhere safe. He had to get her out of here. He glanced around. The entire theatre was coming down.

There wasn’t anywhere to go.

“ALL OF THE BOARD GAME CLUB SHOULD UNDERSTAND. RIGHT GUYS?” He smacked the water away, laughing again. He sounded deranged.

Felix didn’t care about him anymore. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get Bliss help. There was no use hiding anymore, not after Gunther’s announcement.

Still holding onto Bliss, he opened up a portal and stepped through, praying this was the right decision.

Winola limped, pain shooting up her leg for every step she took.

Adelio hadn’t woken up.

He was slung over her shoulders, his mutilated arm slowly pouring blood, soaking her clothes. Winola didn’t know how much time he had left, didn’t know if he would even make it, if she found a way to a hospital.

Still, she searched for an exit, trying to stay undetected by the other Dioles. There seemed to be no escape to this place. Water bursted out of the cracks in the ground, the blood from her gunshot wound and the dead audience members making it slippery to walk. Smoke burned her eyes, but she kept pushing on. She wasn’t going to give up now. She had to get Adelio to a hospital.

The blood loss was making her dizzy. She had tied her sweater around her leg, but Adelio was weighing her down even further. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest.

“YOU!” Someone yelled.

She picked up her pace, trying to readjust Adelio in some way that was less painful for the both of them. He was completely out of it, his arm still gushing blood.

“COME BACK HERE!” The person screeched again, and Winola could hear them sprinting after her. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Winola didn’t care about anything except getting Adelio to safety. She didn’t care if she died doing it. She would have preferred it, honestly.

A hand closed around her shoulder. She ignored it, praying they weren’t armed. She couldn’t deal with another bullet wound right now.

She could still hear Gunther raving as Avil fought him. “JANUARY, MADDOX, FELIX, WINOLA, NYSSA, ALZENA, WILDER, RORY, KUALI’I, AKALI, ASTLEY, AND YOU, AVIL. WHY DON’T YOU JOIN ME? YOU’RE ALL DIOLES AFTERALL.”

Winola pulled away, glancing around for another way out. Gunther laughed again. “Looks like I broke the club oath. Guess you’ll have to kill me.” She could hear the grin in his voice.

Someone stepped in front of Winola, stopping her in her tracks. It was Felix’s older sister, Reagan. Her brown eyes were wide, her face ghostly pale from Gunther’s announcement. She looked nauseous.

“WHERE IS FELIX?”

“I don’t know.” Winola mumbled, really tired of the Rodriguez siblings. She moved around Reagan, still determined to find some way out.

Gunther’s screams echoed through the theatre, deafening. “SO WHO WILL IT BE? AKALI, AVIL, JANUARY? MAYBE YOU SHOULD WORK TOGETHER SINCE THE REST OF YOU CAN’T DO MUCH.”

“YOU WERE WITH HIM, WHERE IS HE?” Reagan gripped her hand, oh so desperate. She looked at her with tears in her eyes, like she would die if she didn’t find him.

“I already told you I don’t know.” Winola said, getting annoyed. Adelio was bleeding out. He needed help more than Felix. “I need to leave.” She tried pulling away again.

“FELIX CAN GET US OUT OF HERE.” Reagan screamed. “I NEED TO FIND HIM, PLEASE.”

“Then stop talking to me and look for him.” Winola rolled her eyes.

Reagan opened her mouth to protest, before her eyes landed on someone behind them. “FELIX!”

Winola kept looking for a way out.

All the exits were being blocked, either by debris or Dioles she was in no condition to fight.

There was a large hole in the wall, except Gunther was blocking it.

But she had no other options.

Avoiding the falling debris, she quietly made her way to it, carrying Adelio.

“SHE’S A DIOLE!”

People started pointing Winola out, all staring at her with animosity. She tried to escape them, to just get to the exit, to help Adelio.

A blast went off, stunning Winola. She blinked, trying to ignore it, to just keep going, but she found that she couldn’t move. Something warm seeped through her other pant leg, stinging.

Someone had shot her again.

Her legs buckled, and she was knocked to the ground. She couldn’t move her legs. Adelio was laying just in front of her, unconscious. People ran away from her in fear, leaving her laying there on the ground.

She propped herself up on her elbows, gritting her teeth at the fiery burning in her legs. Her head spun. Her vision faded in and out.

Her arms shook, giving out underneath her. She was so weak. She could feel herself slipping away, barely able to even stay awake now.

Then something started to lift her up. She closed her eyes, and everything went fuzzy.

Felix found himself in Bliss’ house.

He’d been in this exact foyer probably a hundred times over the years, all the way back to when he was only five. He’d spent countless days here, hanging out with Bliss, talking to her about anything and everything, gossiping, complaining to each other, laughing and joking around.

But tonight the house was cold, dark. Unbearably quiet. He wished there was somewhere else to go, somewhere else he could portal that wouldn’t immediately get him killed.

“HELLO? SOMEONE? HELP!” He screamed, met with nothing but complete silence. Her parents weren’t here, they would have been in the audience, watching Bliss play on the cello with the band. There was nobody home. He could feel blood seeping through his clothes. Bliss was even worse off. He couldn’t think straight, panic taking over.

He leaned down, laying her on the ground, trying to be as gentle as possible. He reached into his pants pocket, where he thankfully had left his phone in. With shaking hands he called 911.

“PLEASE, HELP. A DIOLE ATTACKED MY FRIEND. SHE’S GOING TO DIE.” He screamed into the phone. He rushedly gave her address, his voice trembling with pure desperation. “SEND AN AMBULANCE. PLEASE. HELP HER.”

He was met by a steady but firm tone on the other end of the line. “Sir, we’re going to need you to calm down. Please tell us what happened.”

He looked down at Bliss again. Her head was bleeding worse now. She was scarily pale. He needed to stay here with her, make sure that she got the help she needed. He needed to protect her.

But his sister was still at the theatre. She was defenceless. She wasn’t a Diole. And she was stuck there with Gunther. He needed to find her. He couldn’t leave his family. If Reagan got hurt, got hurt because of the Board Game Club, because of Felix, he would never forgive himself. He had to go back, had to go find her. He couldn’t just abandon her, abandon Paisley, abandon the Board Game Club.

He remembered a few months ago, laying on his bed, Bliss’ head resting on his chest. It was the night after his 16th birthday party, the first time she’d ever slept over with him. It was just the two of them. They’d stayed up all night, talking and eating birthday cake.

Laying with her, talking about nothing really important, the two of them trying to suppress their laughter, he’d felt completely content. It was perfect. His life was finally settling down. His powers were under control, he had the Board Game Club, and he was even passing most of his classes. She’d smiled at him, so full of warmth and happiness. He could never stay in a bad mood around Bliss. She was just so full of complete love for the people around her. And when she smiled at him, he’d felt so normal. It was the best feeling in the world.

But he was a Diole and she was not.

And he couldn’t stay here and wait with her, as much as it killed him. Reagan could be hurt, could be dying. He needed to get back and help the rest of the club. He stared at his phone. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.

“I have to go.” He said hoarsely, wanting nothing more than to just stay with her, to ride to the hospital with her, make sure she was safe. “Please, please send an ambulance.”

He took in her face one last time. He prayed that he would get to see her again. Hug her again. He opened up another portal, back into the theatre, and Bliss’ house disappeared.

He landed back in the rubble.

The theatre was still in chaos. He glanced around, looking for Reagan, holding back tears. He didn’t even have time to grieve, not when he was surrounded by blood and fighting and gunfire.

“FELIX!”

He whipped around. Reagan was sprinting at him, her eyes wild. She didn’t seem to be hurt. Her hair was out of its original braid, flying around her face, and she was covered in dust, but other that that, in one piece. He ran towards her, unbelievably relieved that she was okay, that Gunther hadn’t crushed her. She grabbed him tight. “WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE.”

“Where’s Paisley?!”

“THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT. WE NEED TO LEAVE.” She screamed again, looking at him in despair.

Avil and Gunther were still fighting, water splashing everywhere. “No, not yet!” Paisley was nowhere to be seen. “We have to find her! And I can’t leave them!” He gestured to Avil and Gunther. “I have to go help!”

She gripped his shoulders, fingernails digging into his skin. “SHE ALREADY LEFT.” Her voice cracked, she looked like she was two seconds from bawling her eyes out. “SHE SAID THAT SHE’LL MEET US. WE NEED TO GO.” She was pleading with him, begging.

“THERE, THE DIOLE.” Someone Felix didn’t know screamed, pointing at him angrily.

He hesitated, wondering for a second if he should just leave with her, let January figure this out on his own. But he couldn’t. They’d signed an oath. He wasn’t like Gunther, he wouldn’t break it like that. He had to help them. Gunther would kill them all if he left. He couldn’t lose both of his best friends.

“GET SOMEWHERE SAFE! I’LL BE BACK I PROMISE.” He stepped back from Reagan, opening up a portal.

“FELIX-“ Reagan screamed, reaching for him. He’d never heard her sound so desperate before.

But it was too late.

He landed on top of Gunther, trying to keep his balance as Gunther swung out and ripped more of the wall apart.

“Huh? A fly?” Gunther laughed, ignoring Felix. Felix kicked him in the eye as hard as he could, enough to at least stun him a bit.

“FUCK YOU!” He screamed.

Gunther just blinked, barely even phased. He laughed again. “You’ve been training for how long and that’s all you can do?” He reached up, giant hand closing around Felix before he could think to dodge.

Felix clawed at him, trying to squirm out of his grasp. He screamed in frustration. “I HATE YOU!” He tried to kick at his eye again, but Gunther just pulled him away. He dangled him by his arm, just like he had with Adelio. Felix was probably fifty feet up in the air. Enough to kill him if he fell. Gunther’s lips curled into a smirk.

“You always did amuse me, you know.”

Felix had never hated someone more.

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU? YOU RUINED EVERYTHING.”

Gunther used his free hand to swipe away the bullets and water that were still being shot at him, but he seemed slower. The water pressure had evidently started to affect him. “Oh, I’m doing you all a FAVOUR.”

“MY LIFE WAS FINALLY GOING TO BE NORMAL!” Felix screamed back, so overcome by rage that he didn’t even care if Gunther dropped him. “I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND. HOW COULD YOU?”

“Normal?” Gunther laughed harder. “Your life never WAS and never WILL BE normal.” He threw Felix. “You have to accept that in this society you’ll be nothing but a MONSTER.”

Felix flew through the air, opening up another portal and landing in a heap on Gunther’s shoulder. He got to his feet again, staring at him in disbelief.

“LOOK AT YOURSELF.” He yelled. “LOOK AT WHAT YOU’RE DOING. I WOULD NEVER DO THAT. I WOULD NEVER HURT SOMEONE LIKE THAT.” He motioned to the mess of blood and bodies below, the Dioles that kept attacking. “IF YOU HAD JUST PLAYED ALONG THEN WE COULD’VE HAD A NORMAL LIFE!”

“THERE’S NOTHING NORMAL ABOUT US. HAS JANUARY RESTALL TAINTED YOUR MIND WITH SO MUCH FALSE HOPE?” He laughed. “I’M NOT LIKE YOU GUYS, I DON’T RUN AWAY FROM MYSELF. I DON’T CARE HOW MANY PEOPLE I HAVE TO HURT FOR MY OWN FREEDOM!”

Gunther grabbed onto more debris and hurled it.

“YOU’RE FUCKING CRAZY!” Felix couldn’t believe this was the same guy who had sat and laughed with him on Monday, sitting in the club room, playing board games with the rest of them. Had he known all along? Had he sat there while knowing he was going to do this?

“WHAT ABOUT YOUR GIRLFRIENDS? YOUR FAMILY? YOU HAD FRIENDS. DON’T YOU CARE?”

“I’m doing this for THEM.” He hissed, flicking Felix away. He stomped, cracking the ground and causing several chunks of the roof to collapse.

Felix opened another portal, landing on the ground lightly. “YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA LIKE YOU NOW, AFTER YOU MURDERED A BUNCH OF HUMANS?”

Gunther narrowed his eyes, laughing. “This truly shows how we were never really friends.”

Felix thought about all the times he had hung out with Gunther. How Gunther had saved him when he had broken his leg in a fight, how Gunther had been one of his closest friends in the Board Game Club. Months of jokes and conversations. Gunther was one of the only people he could be fully himself, not having to worry about being a Diole. Gunther was cool, strong, and good at fighting. He was charming. Felix respected him; looked up to him, even. He was everything he wanted to be.

He didn’t want to admit how much that all really hurt, how much Gunther’s words stung. He had trusted him. And it was all nothing?

“HOW COULD THEY POSSIBLY WANT ALL THIS?”

“OH YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.” Gunther spit back, seething.

“THEN TELL ME!” Felix screamed, waving his arms around. “TELL ME HOW ANY OF THIS IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE SENSE?”

“Maybe you’ll find out, if you make it to Paradise.” He started to morph again, growing larger in size, the ground collapsing even further. Cracks formed under Felix’s feet, and he was forced back farther.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

But Gunther was finally finished. He didn’t even look at him, instead using his sharp claws to continue to break the building.

Felix gave up trying to reason with him, portaling back up to his head and trying to poke his eyes out, distract him, do any sort of damage against him.

Gunther was seemingly getting stronger and stronger, effortlessly deflecting Avil and Felix’s attacks while dodging bullets. Felix had never made so many portals consecutively. His whole body shook with effort. His face was dripping with sweat. He stumbled, and Gunther tossed him through the air again. He managed to create another portal, this time rolling roughly on the ground. He felt sick. He couldn’t keep going like this for much longer, and he was sure that Avil couldn’t either. Gunther was still standing tall, wrecking the school. He didn’t even look bothered.

Gunther was always stronger than all of them, better than all of them. He knew it. Everyone knew it. Felix’s portals were nothing compared to him. He was no match. He wasn’t even sure if the entire club working together could overpower Gunther. It didn’t matter anyway, because the rest of the club was nowhere to be found. Maybe January really had abandoned them all.

There was a sharp bang. Felix’s shoulder exploded with pain. He coughed, blood soaking his jacket.

For a split second he could almost understand Gunther. Their bullets were doing nothing against Gunther’s monstrous form. The only person causing any real damage was Avil. The two of them were on their own against him. And yet the teachers were still shooting at them. Only a few minutes ago Mr. Prader had held him back, tried to protect him. Felix hadn’t hurt anyone, he was actively trying to distract Gunther long enough for Avil to finally land a hit on him. Yet it didn’t matter, all they heard was “Diole” and suddenly he was the enemy, a criminal; not a student.

Felix had been hiding - running - since he was six years old. He couldn’t remember what his life had been like, for the short time that he was normal. Before his parents died. Before Reagan found out he was a Diole. Before she took him away from their grandmother, before it was just them. He was only six. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He wasn’t evil, or wicked, or some sort of murderer. He was just a scared kid who had just lost his parents. But suddenly the world had decided that he was too dangerous.

“You’ll be nothing but a MONSTER.” Gunther’s words repeated in his head. There were people running away from him, staring at him like he was the one that had wrecked the school, that had crushed those people. They were scared of him. He could hear them screaming, shouting “DIOLE!” at him. Like there was no difference between him and Gunther, not in their eyes. He wondered bitterly if Gunther was right. If he really was running away from himself, if he was a coward.

But Bliss was somewhere bleeding out, possibly dead, because of Gunther. She was innocent, the one person Felix knew who didn’t seem to hate Dioles. She always spoke lightly about them, commenting on how neither humans nor Dioles could be inherently good or evil. “If a Diole can kill someone, then so can a human, and vice versa.”

Gunther wasn’t right. He was no different than them, attacking the school, laughing as he crushed Adelio’s arm and discarding them as if they were nothing more than a toy.

Felix crouched behind the rubble, trying to catch his breath. He wouldn’t let Gunther hurt anyone else. He had to find a way to be actually useful, because kicking Gunther in the eye wasn’t doing anything but annoying him and tiring Felix out. His shoulder stung. He was pretty sure that he was going to pass out from exhaustion. Every single muscle in his body hurt.

Keeping low, he searched the rubble for something sharp. His hands closed around a piece of jagged metal. Standing up shakily, he managed to open another portal, and slipped into it.

He landed on Gunther’s head once again, but this time he wasted not a second before attacking. Gunther didn’t seem to notice him, and he was becoming much more sluggish against both Felix, Avil, and the constant gunfire. Felix prayed this meant that they were actually chipping away at him, even if it was just slowly. Felix raised his arms above his head, arcing the weapon down with all his strength and impaling Gunther’s eye.

Gunther hissed, grabbing Felix and flinging him in the air. Felix flew up at least twenty feet, away from the school this time. Disoriented, he created another portal, slashing out at Gunther’s other eye.

Gunther merely closed his eye, the debris deflecting off of his hide. Felix twisted in the air, caught off balance, and Gunther took advantage of it, swatting him away. Felix opened up another portal, almost missing it, and fell back down to the ground, this time rolling roughly through the rubble.

The debris had started to float into the air, raising around Felix and Avil as they continued to fight. Gunther didn’t seem to pay it any mind, destroying more of the school.

January.

Felix hoped he was somewhere around here, hoped January had some sort of plan. Because Felix sure didn’t have one. He prayed the rest of the Board Game Club was safe. That someone would come to help them. He really wished Akali was here right now. He was the strongest in the club, next to January and Avil. He would’ve been able to take down Gunther much more easily than Felix was.

Gunther grabbed him again, but this time he was caught off guard, catching his breath down in the rubble. His claws closed around Felix, pinning his arms down. This time Gunther didn’t throw him, instead raising him higher into the air. His yellow eyes flickered dangerously. Felix’s heart sunk. It was the same amused look he had while holding Bliss.

Slowly, Gunther started to squeeze.

Felix screamed. His entire body lit up with pain. He had never felt like this before, every single muscle and bone in his body in agony. He couldn’t see, couldn’t think. All he could hear was himself screaming, his throat raw. Blood gushed from his bullet wound, dripping down Gunther’s fist. He screamed louder.

He couldn’t breathe.

He could feel his ribs folding in on each other, and his lungs felt like they were being crushed. The edges of his vision were blurring red. He could feel all the blood rushing to his head. he felt like he was going to explode. He wished he had said goodbye to Reagan. Wished he had said “I love you” one last time.

He was going to die, killed by one of his only friends.

Tears streamed down his face, he gagged. Stop, he wanted to beg. Please stop. He couldn’t make himself do anything except yell out in pain. Things were falling out of the sky, but his vision was so blurred that he couldn’t tell what it was. He didn’t even really care anymore, too focused on the way poison seemed to be sloshing around in his rib cage.

Someone grabbed the collar of his shirt, and the pressure ceased. The last thing he saw was a mountain of rubble come crashing down on Gunther with alarming speed, before he melted into shadow.

“You’re such an idiot.”

Someone grumbled, their monotone voice familiar. He was laid down on the ground gently. Bright LED lights blinded him. He must have been far away from the theatre now.

He blinked, and Akali in all his sweaty, blood-covered glory came into focus.

Felix shook, unable to say anything. His entire body still hurt, and his head felt foggy. Akali stood up, giving Felix a once-over quickly to make sure he was okay. “I’ll be back.” He vanished into a cloud of black smoke again.

The entire school was eerily quiet now. Felix couldn’t hear Gunther any longer. He laid there, shaking all over, his adrenaline rush finally fading.

“FELIX!”

Someone grabbed him, helping him to his feet. “WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE.”

It was Reagan, looking even more terrified than before. He managed to stand, feeling dizzy. He leaned against her, holding onto her side for support. “My friends,” he croaked. “I need to find them.”

Reagan just scooped him up, the action both done with utmost care but also urgency. “NO.” She was still screaming. “WE NEED TO LEAVE.”

Felix pushed against her weakly, but she wouldn’t let him go this time. “NO.” He yelled back, determined to not leave his friends. Not when they needed him the most. “They’ll die!”

Reagan looked at his shoulder wound, which was bleeding even worse after Gunther had almost crushed him. “You’ll die!” She stared at him incredulously, her voice taking on a desperate edge.

“Please. They need help!”

Reagan’s face hardened. Her jaw was set stubbornly, and she shifted so that she held him more tightly against her chest. “Reagan, I made a promise! I can’t just abandon them!” Felix pleaded with her. He couldn’t lose Akali and Bliss in one night. Paisley was gone. He wasn’t even sure if she made it out alive. Reagan started running down the hall, ignoring Felix’s protests. “YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.” She shot back angrily, turning down a hallway.

Someone sprinted past them, and Felix noticed a flash of bright red hair. It was Wilder, running in the opposite direction.

Felix tried to jump from her arms and follow him, but he was too weak from the fight, and Reagan too stubborn. He screamed Wilder’s name, hoping Wilder would hear him, notice him, tell him where Avil was, where the rest of the Board Game Club was.

Wilder blatantly ignored him, disappearing into the dust.

Of course. Felix had never been more frustrated, being held back by his sister while Wilder ran away from him, not able to get over his petty grudge when they all were probably going to die. He punched at Reagan, each action causing his shoulder to burn even worse.

Reagan picked up her pace, not even paying attention to his weak attempts at fighting her. He’d never felt so utterly pathetic.

He started screaming, begging her to please, just help him find his friends. Please, let go. He couldn’t get Bliss out of his head, the way she looked laying in her empty house, blood pooling around her, as Felix left her, alone. He couldn’t stop the images of Akali, Avil, January… all with their eyes rolled back in their head, blood soaking through their clothes. He knew they wouldn’t survive if he left with Reagan. He would never see them ever again. He knew he’d never be able to forgive himself if they died.

Reagan didn’t even acknowledge his screams, looking around wildly for some sort of exit.

A door beside them swung open. Standing there was Maddox, looking more disheveled than usual, face wide with shock. His eyes were glowing blue, searching behind the two of them hopefully, like maybe January might be there.

“MADDOX!” Felix screamed, never more relieved to see him in his entire life.

Maddox grabbed onto Reagan, pulling the both of them inside and shutting the door once again.

Reagan stumbled, almost dropping Felix. The Board Game Club was gathered around the room, all behind Maddox. “WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE?”

Felix used the distraction to break free, landing on his feet clumsily and managing to lean against a desk. Maddox looked at Reagan, his eyes were wide. “Is it just you two?” He asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Reagan glanced around, suddenly panicked again. “WHO ELSE IS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE?”

Felix took in his surroundings, and his heart ached. This was the room where he had broken Gunther’s rotting old guitar. He could recognize the closet in the back, where Gunther kept all his school supplies. He’d hung out here a few times, on the days when he was too bored to make himself go to class. Gunther had always greeted him with a crooked smile.

He hated how much he wished Gunther were here right now, hated how much he missed his friend.

Maddox continued to stare at Reagan, his blue eyes making him look unnerving. He tapped his foot, becoming even more impatient, but didn’t respond.

“Akali was with me,” Felix said, his voice ragged. “I don’t know where he went.”

Maddox nodded, looking like he would have done anything to hear January was okay. He stared down at his watch nervously.

The room went completely silent as a huge explosion rang off in the distance. Felix was horrified. Had Gunther survived being buried by debris? Was it not over yet?

A heat wave hit the room, and everything clicked into place.

Wilder.

Felix had no clue what he was doing, but he hoped he was helping Avil. He hoped January and Akali made it to the room soon.

“One minute left and we’re leaving.” Maddox declared, looking up from his watch again.

“What about January?”

Felix couldn’t have been more shocked. Maddox and January were a pair, and you would rarely find one without the other. The two were constantly together, laughing, joking, walking to class with each other. They were best friends. Maddox knew January better than anyone else, even knew how to calm him down when he got into those freaky states where he seemed like he wanted to kill you. Maddox and January were two halves of a whole. Even Felix knew that. Maddox couldn’t seriously be thinking about leaving without him.

Maddox kept glancing at the door. “He’ll…” He faltered for a second. “He’ll be fine.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

The sound of rushed footsteps echoed outside in the hall. Maddox was immediately at the door, having practically thrown himself across the room. He swung it open.

Akali, January, and Astley carrying Wilder.

There was no Avil.

“January!” Maddox ran up to his friend. “Are you hurt?”

January shook his head, in a daze. He had a faraway look in his eyes.

“Is Avil…?” Felix trailed off, already knowing the answer. His voice sounded incredibly small. This didn’t feel real. No one would look at him. They all stayed silent. He swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. She’d been his first friend in the club, the first one who actually seemed to like him. She was kind, compassionate, and probably the only person who had genuinely been impressed by him.

She was only fifteen.

More footsteps sounded from down the hall, stomping loudly towards them. Maddox looked around at the group, his face was set. “We need to get out of here.”

“Where?” Felix asked, feeling lost. Maddox glanced back at the door again, his answer immediate, said without hesitation.

“Chumps Jr.”

Any other instance Felix would have groaned, protested, rolled his eyes. But right now he didn’t even care. He was grateful Maddox was taking charge, because he felt like he was about to fall apart. He’d lost too much tonight. He moved robotically, opening up another portal, the simple action taking everything he had left.

It weakly flickered to life, not big enough to even crawl through. Felix could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He was their one ticket out of here, yet he could barely even stand, barely even create a portal. The footsteps were growing louder and louder by the second.

The portal slowly opened wider, Felix feeling like he would pass out any second now. The footsteps were even closer now. Felix’s whole body shook with the effort of it all.

Finally, the portal opened. But so did the door.

Rory was the first one through. They hopped through without a second thought, dragging Kuali’i in behind them.

At the door was Ms. Cora. Her dark brown eyes were wide. At her side was a familiar large gun, the one that she kept in her classroom at all times. But it wasn’t pointed at them, instead resting on her hip, her hands already occupied, holding a scared-looking kid. He was curled up in her arms, and he couldn’t have been older than seven. With a start, Felix realized it was one of Winola’s siblings. He couldn’t remember his name. The kid had bit him at the beach once, that he was sure.

Ms. Cora looked at the club, and then the portal. Her hand twitched, instinctively reaching for her gun.

Felix grabbed Reagan, shoving her into the portal. She screamed, but by then she was already gone. Astley picked up Winola, who was bleeding from both of her legs, too weak to move, and stepped through as well, Wilder still slung across his back.

Ms. Cora disconnected the gun from its holster, kicking it to the side. “Look, look, I’m not here to hurt you.” She looked toward the figure laying on the ground, which Felix realized for the first time was Adelio. It was hard to tell if they were still alive or not. “I just need you to leave so I can take him.”

One by one, the remains of the Board Game Club stepped through. Felix took one last glance at Ms. Cora, who was patiently waiting so that she could pick up Adelio and get him help.

He stepped through the portal, and the school faded away around him.

[maple-writes]

WHG 20 - The Big Day

I thought of making a cool title for this but ultimately was not creative enough so standard titles it is lol

whg tag list: @concealeddarkness13 @ratracechronicler @pen-of-roses @grailfish @forthesanityofsome @pied-piper-of-hamlet (let me know if I forgot anyone!)

--

Technically the day of the reaping was supposed to be a holiday, a day off, but here I was at my office anyway. It was still so, strange, that it was my office. That my name was written on the slip of paper lodged in the sign just above the room number. Asher Sang. It was tiny, just big enough for a desk, a couple chairs, and a shelf and there were no windows but it had my name on it all the same.

I unlocked the door, leaving it open behind me for when the student I would be meeting showed up. We wouldn’t likely end up staying long, probably walking together towards the reaping depending on how much she had to talk to me about. I had a few minutes before she was supposed to be here so I quickly took my vitamins with the last of my peanut butter smoothie.

Most years I wouldn’t have agreed to meet someone on the day of the reaping, but this year it wasn’t like I was leaving anyone alone at home. Argent was over with Striker and Kyra, and Ember wasn’t even in the district after her ship was delayed returning from their last fishing run. I hadn’t thought until now what would happen if her name was called. Would they send a craft out to sea to go and pick her up? Or would they quietly remove her name as to not embarrass themselves calling someone who wasn’t even there?

Footsteps echoed in the empty hallway outside and a moment later the student, Nova, poked her head through the door.

I smiled, waving her in. “Come on in.” I nodded at the chair across from my empty desk.

She nodded and stepped into the room. Usually when I saw her in classes she rarely wore anything other than jeans and a hoodie with the logo of some obscure band but today she wore a bright dress and dress shoes she didn’t seem to like walking in. A reminder of what day it was even if nothing seemed out of the ordinary in my quiet office. Did she have anyone she was leaving alone today? Hopefully she wasn’t giving up a morning together with her family, and hopefully if she were it wouldn’t be her last morning in the district.

“What can I help you with?” She hadn’t mentioned many details of what was going on, just that it was potentially urgent.

“Well, and I don’t know if I’m being paranoid but I forgot to properly get everything wrapped up at the end of last week’s tutorial because I was rushing to make an appointment, and I’m worried I’ve picked something up from it.” She rolled up her sleeve to show a small, mostly faded mark of red and irritated skin. “I know I should have been more careful, but, do you think I should be worried about being cursed or something?”

Last week we were working on communication, and techniques to safely open yourself up in order to make contact with a spirit to determine what they would need to move on. I gently took her arm, looking over the red spots. If Nova hadn’t fully shut herself off again from outside influence something might have tried to get at her without her noticing, but whatever tried it looked like it hadn’t been strong enough to get through enough to take hold. The marks looked like they were already fading.

I let go of her wrist and leaned back in my chair. “It looks like you’ll be fine. You haven’t noticed anything else going on have you?” She shook her head and I offered a smile. “That’s good. Hard to say for sure but something might have tried to get to you while you were more vulnerable but either was too weak, or even if you had rushed through the closing process it was enough to deter it. Try not to do that again, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about. If you do notice anything unusual don’t hesitate to le me know.”

She sighed, slumping a little bit in relief. “Sorry to make you come in for nothing.”

I shrugged. “Well, you didn’t know whether or not it was nothing. Better safe than sorry.” I glanced at the clock and stood. We’d have to be heading out soon if we were going to make the reaping, and I didn’t want to find out what happened to people who didn’t make it on time. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re not the first and you probably won’t be the last to make a mistake like that. I’m glad you came and checked with me instead of waiting to see if it would get worse.”

Her eyes flicked to the clock as well and got up too. “Thanks, and I’ll let you know if anything happens.” She slipped out as I held the door for her. “And I’ll pay more attention next time too.”

I nodded as I locked the office door and turned back to her. It was strange, only the two of us in sight. The below ground floor my office was one didn’t tend to have a lot of traffic but there would usually be some signs of life on any other day. Even the lights today seemed dimmer than usual.

“Have you got anyone waiting for you at the reaping?” My voice echoed through the quiet halls as we walked together towards the exit.

She nodded. “My family’s waiting outside for me.”

“That’s good.” I swallowed as we reached the doors, and a young child standing with a family group by the stairs of the college waved up at Nova. “Good luck today Nova.”

Nova paused for a solemn moment. “Thanks, you too.”

She left for her family and I left for the plaza. We both knew there was a non-zero chance that either of us could be called. Anyone could this year. The Capitol had only announced it last week, the changes to the pool of potential tributes. They hadn’t given much of a reason why and it had seldom been ignored in conversations since.

That meant that this year it could be him, but what were the odds of that? Small, but not zero. What if Striker was called? Or Kyra? I swallowed and lowered my head to watch the ground as I walked. Did I even want to think about that, when it might not happen? If it did though, I’d have to volunteer. I couldn’t let either of them go up there when they’d done so much for me, so much more than I could ever hope to repay them for. Would Argent’s name be in there this year too?

I shook myself out and took a long breath. Odds were that nothing would happen. We would all stand in the plaza and listen to speeches and mourn those who left and go back to our lives for another year. Probably.

[enemymine2000]

Eat the rich pt.1

I tried the talking in the tags thing but damn this topic just always makes me so fukcing angry. And you should be angry too.

This right here is why we say "Eat The Rich". It's not about you're measly nest egg or your retirement fund. But the rich want you to believe that, so you are busy fighting with us and not thinking about bringing them down. To actually eat the rich. Folks how are so rich they don't need to work anymore, because the money is already all the work on its own. Investments, exploitation, interest rates - money gets more without them actually having to do anything. Still they do, because they are greedy and never satisfied with what they already amassed. They simply want everything. People who earn millions per second just extisting. No matter how much they spend, they will never feel an impact. (Unless it's like in the case of Musk when the court forced him to buy Twitter for those 45 billions, but not because he suddenly would have been poor, but because all that money was tangled up in investments and stocks - mostly Tesla - so that couldn't be easily untangled - liquidated - which short- and middle-term meant that Musk didn't have as much money physically available to spend for himself. So he actually felt that. Sadly, while he and his stocks have not fully bounced back to pre-Twitter-deal-levels, he, well, his money, has made back enough, so it doesn't impede him anymore. Doesn't help that people still refuse to leave Twitter (I will never not deadname that thing, just like the muskrat is deadnaming his own daughter) even when they don't agree with him and his views. Yet, you're still there making that asshole money!

Which brings us to the true breadwinners for those rich assholes. Those are the workers, the poor, the disenfranchised. The once whose right the rich want to take away, so that they don't have any way not to work and generate wealth for the rich. While at the same time being the ones that are supposed to buy their respective bullshit. You are their market. And you buy their shit, because, yes, it might be the only thing around and you actually need the goods, but mostly because clever advertisments and influencers make you believe that you can't live without it. There is the rainbow washing each pride month, the influencers that sold you all these Stanley Cups last year, the TikTok shop, Amazon prime day and the Amzon rewards program, huge sales discounts on Black Friday, etc. They either sell you a good feeling, a trend, planned obsolensce, the dream that you to can live like those rich people you admire! But why do you want to live like those rich people, apart from that a certain amount of money ion the band makes life easier to handle, if you don't have to worry about rent or how to bring food to your table. But do you really need 365 dresses, one for each day of the year? Do you really need the Stanley Cup in each color available, when other thermos-cups have been proven to be much better because quality went down when the sales went up and you only ever need maybe two, so you have one to use while the other is in the washer.