#I was writing this in a hurry.

[sephsbat]

I've seen people talk about their conversations or experiences with their deities, and I wanted to make something very clear. You don't need to communicate to your deities. Do you think that people back then would just casually talk to the gods on a regular basis? No. They would go to their temples, pray, and give them offerings, and went along with their day hoping the gods heard them.

You don't need to overthink it. Go do some research, make an altar/shrine for whichever deity you want to devote to or worship. If you can't, you can always do some devotional acts. Go to a flea market or go to a mall, and when you look at something and think "Wow, that reminds me of [deity's name]" or "That's something I can totally see [deity's name] wearing," that's a devotional act.

Read their myths, stories, and even fictional shows or movies about them, even if they're depicted as evil or not. Read books or novels about them, good or bad. Pray to them for whatever reason, whether it's for protection or for anything else you can think of. Yes, communication is important, but you shouldn't be hard on yourself for not knowing how to or being able to.

[zephyrchama]

Make barbatos fanfics pls

The memory of your recent mishap kept playing in your mind. It was a complete mistake - you hadn't intended to drench Barbatos in tea. Despite him being more than capable of protecting himself, you foolishly attempted to shield him from whatever toxic concoction Solomon was cooking up. One thing led to another, a massive pot fell over, there was an ear-deafening clang, and Barbatos was on the ground. Sopping wet.

He wasted no time in excusing himself to clean off, leaving you to bear the weight of your sins. Anyone could have easily cleaned the mess with magic, but Barbatos instead opted for a shower for some peace and quiet to calm down. Solomon was left to scrub the floor by hand since he started this issue in the first place.

As all of the castle's linens had been conveniently gathered in the laundry room to be inventoried, you took it upon yourself to grab a clean towel and deliver it to Barbatos.

You could hear the water running from down the hall. It was so loud, you weren't sure Barbatos could hear you. Wisps of steam escaped from the cracks around the bathroom door. You knocked. There was no answer.

"Barbatos?" you called, knocking again. There was no answer. Only the running of water. He was probably already in the shower. You could take this opportunity to grab his soiled uniform and clean it before the stains permanently set in.

With that plan of action, you opened the door. Barbatos was not in the shower, despite the running faucet. In fact, Barbatos was stark naked in the middle of the room. A washcloth in his hand indicated he had already obtained his own towels. He had his back to the door, as if he was just about to enter the tub. He made eye contact with you over his shoulder, eyes wide.

That one second felt like an hour.

His posture was superb. A mix of tea and condensation from the muggy bathroom air trailed down the curve of his spine, fine enough to be in a medical textbook. Your eyes followed, down to the base of his tail and the derriere behind it. Two fabulous, firm full moons. A sight rarer than anything else in all the three realms.

"Did you need something?"

Barbatos' usual polite tone was punctuated with umbrage. He placed a hand on his chest, as though shielding his visage.

"I'm sorry!" were the first words you spat out, on reflex. Coherent thinking failed you in the face of such art. Sentences started falling out of your mouth and you hoped they made sense. "I thought you might need a towel, so I got one from the laundry and came to give it to you. I knocked! I did, I knocked, but you didn't answer so I came in to leave this."

You held the towel forward with both hands as an offering. "And I was gonna collect your clothes so I could wash them. As an apology for, ah, that other thing I did. Sorry."

You stared at the ground. Even Barbatos' ankles were pristine. A little bony, tapering down at the sides that led to his slender feet. You watched his weight shift as his tail curled closer to his body.

"How thoughtful. I'd appreciate if you could hang it on the towel bar. I will handle my clothes myself, later."

"Right, of course." You swiveled and diligently hung the towel up. The dirty clothes in question were on the ground, still soaking wet, neatly folded in a square. You looked from them back to Barbatos. He was rooted in place, not budging in the slightest. One wrong move, and who knew how much you'd see?

More than the current eyeful, that's for sure. More than the slope of his shoulders. More than the rise and fall of his upper body with each fresh breath. More than the sight of his wet hair clinging to the curve of his jawbone and the tenseness in his arm when his painted fingernails wrapped around the tiny washcloth.

"Do you need anything else?" he asked. An obvious cue for you to leave.

"I'm good," you said. It was hard not to ogle at the size of his waist fully unobscured by clothing, and its ratio to his hips. "Do you... need any help?"

"I am fine. I will be taking my shower now." His voice echoed around the bathroom as you finally left. It echoed around your head, too, when he said, "be good and wait for me."

[erinwantstowrite]

Erin! Do you have rednote? Everyone has been moving there from tiktok and I was wondering if you plan to as well?

tbh i really haven't posted anything on tiktok in a few months and i want to give it a while before i try to find another platform. i'm cool chilling here with all of you, and maybe making a youtube instead of another tiktok version

[choccy-milky]

NSFW comic ive been wanting to do for a while of seb getting…influenced…by the dark relic👀👀no idea how long its gonna be or how long itll take, so have a wip for now 🙃

[wistfulwilds]

SETTING: you are a vahumana student trying to conduct your research and a certain haravatat scribe enjoys arguing with you.

RELATIONSHIPS: alhaitham x gn!reader

♥ — like his mother and father before him, alhaitham gravitates toward vahumana students despite the rivalry in darshans. when asked about it, he plainly states he enjoys the discussion.

♥ — you, in particular, put up a fair argument against him. while chastised by his roommate for going out of his way to pick arguments, alhaitham merely stated the following: "not everyone is as sensitive as you. some of us enjoy a good debate."

♥ — sure, maybe he finds himself watching you when you go about your normal research. he's curious what topic your studying — but not because he cares, no. it gives him a good starting point to argue why it would be better from a haravatat standpoint instead of vahumana.

♥ — yes, that is the only reason why he wants to know, kusanali. no amount of mind reading would say otherwise.

♥ — that's because alhaitham isn't one for feelings nor recognizing them. he finds it easy to identify things in the moment, such as enjoyment from annoying you and the way your face scrunches up to defend your argument being... cute, in his own inner monologuing. he wouldn't want to trade the relationship you two share in the brief moments you set aside to debate.

♥ — maybe debating is a love language for him. maybe he just likes to argue. regardless, he keeps finding new ways to engage with your field of study through his own for the chance to spend time with you.

♥ — when it comes time to present your finished work to be sent to the house of daena, you expect alhaitham to make some passing comment about how this would work better under this lens and how haravatat is better than vahumana.

♥ — instead, all alhaitham offers is a small smile he rarely wears and an "excellent work. you did a good job."

[batllethinker]

Can I request for something with boyfriend Leah meeting a model reader at a fashion show and Leah chasing her all night to at least get her number, and obviously she does ;)

Cherry Flavored | L.W

Pairing: Leah Williamson + model reader

Summary: Leah hasn't been able to take her eyes off of you since the night begun and she doesn't really want to

Warnings: pre established relationship, meet cute, Leah is kind of a loser, reader is super bold, they basically fuck in a bar, suggestive content | 18+ mdni

A/N: this went off the rails, and definitely isn't the request, so sorry 😅

She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of you since you first stepped onto the runway, and the first thing she did after finding out your name was to follow you on every social.

Leah had followed you with her eyes ever since you had come to mingle from backstage, you really were the most captivating person she had ever seen.

It was only because of a nudge from her friends and seeing you all alone by the bar that she had the courage to approach you, although nervously.

Standing behind you she was kind of just hoping that you would notice her but ofcourse she would have no such luck.

"Uhm, hi!" Awkwardly waiting for you to turn around, she gave an even more awkward smile once you did meet her gaze. "I'm, I'm Leah"

You gave her a charming, award winning smile as you took an once-over of her outfit before meeting her bright eyes once again.

"Leah, I do know who you are" you chuckled, turning your whole body to where she was still awkwardly standing, "miss european champion"

Watching in amusement as she blushed bright red, fidgeting nervously with her rings as you very obviously checked her out. You loved the fact that you stood taller than her, which made it really easy to take in every single detail of her, and god, the way she looked up at you.

"I. I don't like to brag but that's me" Leah gave a sheepish smile before finally deciding to order a drink, and you couldn't help but admire her drink of choice. Everything about her was admirable, really.

"So, why are you here? Talking to me?" You raised an eyebrow as the other woman flustered, stumbling over her words before gathering herself somewhat.

"Oh, uhm, you're just like – really pretty and uh, I apparently couldn't stop talking about you" embarrassed was the only way you could describe her as the blonde shrunk into herself, which you promptly put a stop to with a hand on her forearm, briefly admiring just how firm she felt in your hand.

Her wide eyes met yours again, face painted in what seemed a permanent blush, tensing slightly as you pulled her against you.

"You're cute and I'm really flattered" giving her a small smile, you gently cupped her cheeks, smile widening when she immediately melted into you.

"Thank you.." Biting her lip to keep herself from breaking out into the biggest smile, she just nuzzles into your hand instead. You were sure that if anyone saw you two right now they would think that you were a couple.

"Leah, can I kiss you?" The blondes eyes widened before giving you a brief nod, eyes already closing as you lean down just enough to press your lips against hers.

Humming softly against her, just loving the way she felt against you, how eager she was to kiss you as you were pressed against the bar counter, her tongue licking across your lower lip just enough for you to open your mouth.

Cherry. She tasted like cherries and you couldn't get enough, your grip tightening on her as you pulled her closer, thigh slipping in between her legs, carefully pressing up against her.

The other woman gasped into your mouth, hips jerking against your thigh before you started to pull away, unable to keep your smile at bay when she whined.

"Leah..we should maybe go somewhere more private" she nodded, taking a few moments to catch her breath before downing her drink.

"Yeah, let's go" you chuckled as you watched her, before taking her hand and dragging her out of the venue and to your car.

You just knew that whatever the outcome, it would be beautiful and several articles would be written.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Just came up with the most beautiful fic plot. Characters A and B like each other. Character C knows they like each other but has been sworn to secrecy on the matter by both parties. A and B will both often separately ask C to help them spend time with each other by doing things like making plans for the three of them, then cancelling at the last minute, or asking them to go run an errand for them, or conveniently sending them to the same location on the same day.

[pup-pee]

bart having 2 learn how 2 run again would ruin me

[gunsatthaphan]

🥹🫳🏻🧸

[fortheharbingers]

(best friend!narumi gen au, no kaiju, he is ruining my life i-. gn!reader btw)

Your back against the wall, perched on the counter, Narumi Gen holds you in place with both hands at your sides.

Transfixed by the sight of your hands, your faint breathing with every small movement, overwhelmed by the feeling of you around him even if it’s just so little.

His gaze falling down, following your line of sight and he watches how you slowly pull him in and out, careful movements, your delicate hand now grabbing at his cock but still there is a gentleness in the midst of your shared desperation.

As the feeling grows, he feels himself snapping out of it and chuckles- “Hey”

His voice comes out in a rasp, “didn’t we- ah, say just the tip?” He tries to play it cool, to conceal that he doesn’t really mind going all the way.

How can he, when he has gotten a taste of being so deep inside of you already? But since you said at the beginning—

You let out a small laugh at him then, his words and expressions contradicting one another, not to mention his body aching for more.

Your head thrown back as much as the small space allows you to, offering him a great angle of your neck with your eyes closed and a playful smile hanging on your lips, you wait like that for a second until you lean back into him.

There is nothing innocent about the way you look at him but that’s a deduction he can only make with experience. Big eyes with a glint to them and a small smile that is barely a pout, “Well…” you drag the word like honey, your head tilted to the sight.

“I thought since you’re so good to me,” you straighten up again, dragging your nails along his length, “and always eager to help…” he feels a shudder down his spine when he feels your fingers, cold and barely touching his skin, burning where they leave—

“It’d be so rude of me to not reward you- for being such a good friend and after all this tease, no?” You speak the words like you’re asking to give him the answers to a final, offering to share your lunch with him.

Your fingers come to a halt and Narumi feels your grip on him again, slowly bringing the tip of his cock to your entrance. Your other hand comes up to his cheek, thumb grazing over him.

“And you did say you could fuck me better than that guy, no? Narumi groans at the sudden intrusion and thrust of your hips- your walls contracting around him and his cock wrapped in your warmth. The contrast of your speed compared to what you’ve been doing all night long has him feeling light headed.

His head falling, supported by your palm only, he smiles at nothing, breathy-

Your other hand slowly goes up to his hair, your fingers fiddling with the strands for a second, pushing them back like he usually stylizes them.

You stroke once then grip at his hair and tug him back the second time, “Let’s put it to test, shall we?” You grin at the man and pull him in for a kiss.

[propussyslayer]

sooo when are the "teacher izuku x parent katsuki" fanfics coming

[creamecafe]

you know you're getting older when you start to feel icky writing about fictional characters when they're canonically teenagers even if the actors an adult irl

[whumblr]

Taken

For @mayhem-in-mordor who wondered what happened when Roman took Dani :))

Prev chapter: Punishment - pt 1 here

-

“Stop! Stop right there!”

The quick racking of the gun cracked across walls of the concrete room and Roman stopped dead in his tracks. His head tipped down, shoulders slumped and he let out an annoyed sigh while he threw his hands up, as if being held at gunpoint was a mere inconvenience. Slowly, drawling, stalling, he turned to face Dani, hands still in the air but dropped them to his side as he looked her over.

“That gun...” he started and began to circle her like the predator he was. “Did you take it from him?” And he nodded at the unconscious man in the blue shirt behind her.

Dani knew better than to look back.

“Yes.” She side-stepped along with him, stepping over the paper folders strewn out over the floor, some still smoldering, an attempt to destroy evidence, research. The smoke teased her nostrils, prickled her eyes. She didn’t even blink and kept the gun trained on him. Right in-between the eyes, no more missing vitals.

He nodded, silent for a few more steps. Then a smirk formed on his lips like he couldn’t contain it any longer. He tipped his head down, leering at her, and dramatically whispered a single word: “Empty.”

Dani didn't hesitate and immediately pulled the trigger to call that bluff. Only to be met by a disappointing click. And no hole in his forehead.

His eyes narrowed in glee. He threw his hands up again, almost in mock surrender but with his palms up and gave a theatrical shrug. Dani bristled and sharply inhaled to keep her calm; their cockiness and annoyance had switched sides at that click, as had her advantage. But she gave a small shrug in reply.

“Fine.” She launched forward, charging at him. She changed her grip on the gun, twirling it by the trigger guard, catching it in a claw and aimed a wide slap right at his face.

He dodged effortlessly, with that goddamn arrogant smirk that she wanted to punch off. Caught the follow-up punch in the palm of his hand and twisted her arm away. She immediately snapped free with a twist, used the momentum to aim another back-handed strike with the gun as she twirled.

“Whoa!”

At least that indicated that she was close. Though she’d prefer an exclamation of pain. Still, she’d shock his arrogant taunting right of him. To her surprise, he didn’t run. Probably knew he was at a disadvantage there. She’d easily catch up. But in close combat, he could shift the advantage to him, or tire her out as he didn’t seem to be interested in going for a killing blow. Yet.

They continued their dance of swerving and dodging, occasionally interrupted by a grunt when one of them hit home. Though her moves were smooth and elegant, she wasn’t above fighting dirty. Whenever the chance presented itself, she jabbed at his eyes or throat, went for the junk, but nothing hit home. Yet. She only broke her calm when she heard a soft scoff and saw his lips curl after he dodged a punch again, and she threw the gun full force at his smug face. Went right over his shoulder.

“This is the third time you’ve messed up my research,” he said.

“Maybe you should stop breaking the law.”

He let out a non-committed hum as he swerved. “Maybe you shouldn’t let your guard down.”

And before she could even question that in her mind, let alone snarl out the words, he side-stepped just behind her, his back to her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him twist towards her, the flurry of his elbow moving up, forearm straight as an arrow as it readied for the—

A sharp jab snapped against the side of her neck. And the control over her body slipped away from her from the neck down. Her entire body tensed up first, then just as fast completely released the grip on every muscle. Her knees buckled first. All she could do was inhale a shocked little gasp, curse at herself and Roman in her mind before everything turned to static. And luckily the world went black before she even hit the floor.

-

Roman watched as if in slow motion as the girl toppled forward. He resisted the body-jerk reaction to catch her, knowing she could still snap up and claw his eyes out if his blow was merely an inch off. Only when she landed face-forward without even moving to soften the landing against the hard concrete, it assured him the fight was over.

He simply stared at her for a few seconds, hesitating, not quite sure what to do. This would probably not render her unconscious for long. And judging by the continued muffled gunfire on the upper floors, she wasn’t alone. He didn’t have much time to decide.

A pang of frustration shot through him as he glanced up, struck by the state of the now ruined room. His ruined research. He glared at the unconscious girl at his feet, a growl in his exhale. He was going to have to lay low for a while. And that rushed him into his decision.

He squatted down next to her. Swiped over her pockets, fished her phone from her brown leather jacket and threw it hard to the floor. Patted her down to make sure she didn’t have anything else on her that could lead them to follow him.

With a grunt, he threw the dead weight over his shoulder and carried her out, down to the underground parking. Shifted her further onto his shoulder as he searched for his car keys. Opened the rear door, stopped, and closed it again. Yeah, no. You wouldn’t keep a feral animal loose in your car. She’d probably try to strangle him with the seatbelt from behind. Or even if he’d had anything to cuff her with, she’d throw her legs over the seat to pin him until they crashed. She’d proven her tenacity over these last three rounds of meetings. And that chop to the neck wouldn’t last the entire journey. Better go for the safe route. So instead, he opened the trunk and dropped her inside without much care.

-

The familiar crunches of grit under his tires and under his shoes a long ride later greeted him home. Good to know that even after quite a while, those sounds still triggered a feeling of home-coming in his brain. Might be something to look into... Later.

Roman slowly walked around the car, keeping his eyes on the trunk, not sure what to expect. There was no banging at the lid or cursing or demands to let her out. Yet he doubted she was still unconscious.

He carefully opened up, hand on the lid to keep her from further busting it open. Oh yes, she was awake. Through the small opening he could see the fury glint in her eyes, staring straight at him. She looked like an angry cat in her basket. If she could, she’d hiss at him, he mused. But he was surprised to see she didn’t spit anything at him, no insults, no saliva. In fact, she cowed back a little and lay all curled up. Somewhat reassured, he fully opened the trunk, leaned forward to drag her out.

A long leg suddenly shot out, and it hit him square in the stomach.

It punched the air – and the snide remark that was on the tip of his tongue – right out of him. He doubled over, hand still on the lid of the trunk pulling it down with him as he almost buckled. It nearly hit the girl right on the head, but in a flurry of movement she managed to snake out, bump him aside, and shot past.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” he brought out, and caught her by the neck of her shirt.

She twisted free and he grabbed her arm instead. She replied with a headbutt. Missed and Roman followed up with a backhanded swing.

A yelp as he caught her full in the face and knocked her off her feet. She heavily crashed onto the grit and he immediately closed in, grabbing her shirt.

Dani didn’t hesitate. Like the fierce cat she was she almost literally clawed up around him, grasping him by the arm, threw her legs up and locked them around his head, pulling herself up.

Roman caught her in surprise, one hand still in her shirt, the other arm around her back as he secured her in reflex. Luckily for him, she didn’t have the momentum to pull him down and they stared at each other, caught in an impasse. If he let her fall, she’d drag him right along.

“We let go,” he said calmly, negotiating his release, “at the same time.”

“Duel at sunset,” she growled, and squeezed her legs but nodded.

“One… two…”

With her legs up and him protecting her from gravity, he felt like he had the overwhelming advantage here. But as he let go of her on “Three!” her back arched and she slithered gracefully from his arms, again not unlike a cat, letting herself fall to the ground in a dive. She landed on her palms, lightly sprang off against his shoulders, and shot away in an elegant back handspring, spiraling off of him with grace. He had to admit, he was impressed, and his lips tugged into a smirk.

It lost him two seconds of precious reaction time. As her feet touched the ground and she straightened, one foot immediately shot back up. Hit him right in the chin. But the hit came at a cost and with her on one leg wobbling on the pebbles straining for balance, he saw his chance. He sank down to a squat, shot out a leg and aimed at her ankle, kicking her foot right out from under her.

He watched as her eyes went wide and he immediately followed up to keep his advantage as she lost the battle with gravity. Finally. Her back crashed into the sea of grit, punched out a grunt. Another kick in the stomach didn’t deter him. Hands flailed, clawed at his face, her moves betraying a certain panic that let him know he was winning and he only had to wait for the right moment until he could calmly catch a wrist and use the momentum to twist her onto her front.

One firm hand on her neck pressed her face into the sharp pebbles, the other twisted her arm up, slowly tearing the ligaments in her shoulder until she yelped.

“Is this how it’s going to be?” he almost growled out a disappointed sigh.

She took full advantage of the little leeway he offered her to reply; twisted her head until she could – painfully – make eye contact, she smiled sweetly and spat right in his face. “It is.”

-

Continued here

Tag list: @firewheeesky @myfriendcallsmeasickwoman19 @whumpawink @painsandconfusion @whumpy-daydreams

@whumpyourdamnpears @auroragehenna @alsolucakairomi @suspicious-whumping-egg @whumppmuhw

@untethered-symphony @withdrawingramen @theforeverdyingperson @treasureguardingdragon

[allgreekbitch]

say if so someone wanted to find a bela x taylor fanfic How would they do that (there’s no tag on ao3)

[sysig]

Obviously I had to make it a thing (Patreon)

Spoilers for Handplates! Make sure you’re all caught up before continuing!

I ended up scene-picking around the timeline at pretty-much-random, whatever I thought fit the lyrics the best in the moment of blinding inspiration (lol), but now that I’ve got the basics down to paper, I think I’d more carefully choose in mostly-chronological order. That also means some would have to be cut, so I want to show them off here! :D I also drew them all from memory so if there’s inconsistencies, that’s why lol

For example this is one of the very early lyrics, but the events take place well down the timeline! I’m sure I can find a good stand in - mostly I just wanted to draw Papyrus from this scene, ugh I love him ♥ And the lyrics do fit!

Looking back to Sans for reassurance haha. I changed a few of the lyrics to be more Papyrus-specific -

- also featured here! He’s got the Gaster pose going on here hehe, and cutting around in time of him in Snowdin and also back at Asgore’s, him reassuring Asgore about Sans’ HP is so cute, I had to make reference to it haha

Happiest little sibling spinnies <3 <3 Probably the cutest panel of the whole bunch honestly haha ♥ Their little faces!! Ugh 💕

One of those instances of the lyrical contradictions, and I think I would keep this jump forward - everything has changed! And they’re really not okay, but they have each other

The one makes me laugh honestly, a bit dark lol. All their safe people, except for the two that take up the rear of each. I mean, technically it’s not inaccurate with Flowey’s, he won’t be alone! Unfortunately. The human, well

Started settling into a rhythm by this point, and rather pleased for it :) Poor Papyrus! He didn’t do anything wrong and he still has all these sad feelings about it!

All catching up to him :( You can only run from and ignore your problems for so long - this line feels so him, dealing with what their world is and all that entails, poorly

I appreciate the fact that Papyrus has this dream several times, it fits lots of places! Gaster look what you did to him even when you don’t exist anymore

Papyrus as an adult! Though he also is in the one with him and Sans dream-sharing. Things start breaking real bad for him, I’m still not over how good this song is lol

I did admittedly go a little over-the-top with these, he was not crying this much but I just jsalfdjfds this scene is so- much. So much! The lyrics goaded me, blame them haha - and also the attention to his neck! Even if it’s not in reference to choking on tears specifically, still drawn to the same place! I love Sans going to comfort him as well as rally him ahhhhh

I got his Soul glitches wrong haha, but seriously! This song, I swear!!

A bit of irony - he’s being heard! So much! Just not listened to. I am so enamoured with his pose callbacks throughout the entire comic ugh, so beautifully done

Handing off the song for a moment to someone who actually can rewind it - I don’t think I’ve ever drawn a Genocide Run human now that I think of it :0 It was so satisfying to draw Gaster kneeling on the ground like that haha, contact points were - on point ✨ for this doodle session hehehe

Originally I had his glow coloured in purple but this was one that I actually went back to look at (because I love this scene so much hhgggg <3 <3 <3) and had to change to his natural colour - he deserves it!! He’s earned it!!

I’ve honestly fallen more in love with this song through him and vice versa haha ♪ It’d be quite a bit before/if I could make a full version, even just with what I’ve got here, but it was so fun to draw at all ♥

[ghastlybirdie]

I went grocery shopping and couldn’t be bothered to carry everything bit by bit to the third floor so I had six heavy bags between each arm and carrying two crates of more groceries as well as my purse and giant whiteboard so it was a great struggle to climb to the third floor

So I fantasized about that mutton chop neighbor again

Imagining that he comes outside his apartment, maybe to grab mail, and seeing you struggling with an absurd amount of groceries, grunting and whining about how heavy everything is

So he rushed to you and scoops away the crates of fruits and snatches three of the bags from you as you stumbled down the narrow hall

You exclaim in some graceless manner, equally surprised and relieved at your arms being freed

“Ya got quite the armful, love?” He asked, unbothered by the weight load and awkward armholds. John, he introduced himself as when he beat down the door some weeks ago, asked for the rest of the bags. Even if you denied again and again he won’t concede until he’s removed everything but your purse from your hands.

It sounded near like an order when he told you to lead the way, one more flight of steps won’t kill him he says, before gesturing with his eyes. You won’t try to think about how little space he gave you to pass him by in the narrow hall, making no effort to move. You chalk it up to him hands being completely full, despite his entryway being more than enough room for him to move back.

John carefully drops your groceries down to the ground and even helps you put it away, giving up on rejecting him after he couldn’t hear your four times repeated refusal. John already knew where all the spices went, and even where your breakfast pastries go in your pantry, but you suppose it was good guesses since he mixed up your recently organized junk drawer for your knife drawer

Once everything was put away, and kitchen quickly tidied by your awkward need to keep busy, John prolonged his stay by pointing to water damage at the baseboard of your walls and inspecting it with hums and hahs, muscles barely contained in his undersized shirt

He says he’ll be over later, will tools and supplies after a run to the hardware store, mentioning something about a good friend who’s a plumber and can look at these pipes with a knowing eye

“Bloke lays pipe real well” a passing tongue-in-cheek that seemed too literal to be anything less than a joke as John saw himself out

He made sure to mention to keep your door locked tight

“Heard there’s been a lot of break ins in the area. Don’t worry… I’ll keep you safe.”