#I’m actually emo oops

[cloud-based-and-rainpilled]

i told my husband i got Kendall on one of those “which Succession character r u?!” quizzes & he agreed & said I was very “Kendall coded” because I “like vengeance” ????

[junglemax]

this is a dumb self indulgent thing don’t mind the fact that max caster is way nicer in this than he actually would be (also accidentally turned this into a monster of a fic rather than a drabble. oops.) (max caster, hook, darby allin, jon moxley, nicholas jackson)

caster realizes his headphones are more useful than he thinks they are, and decides to go around being helpful.

[fic]

“Here’s your headphones,” Anthony says, placing them around Max’s neck. “Grabbed ‘em from the EVPs earlier.”

“Thanks,” Max sighs. He’s not too happy about their loss, but they’ve beaten the bucks once; they’ll beat them again later, for the tag titles. He’s sure of it. “I’m gonna go take a walk.”

Anthony nods, understanding. “I’ll text you if we need you.”

Max gets up, stretches, and finds his way around the back.

It’s quiet, but he doesn’t have music playing. He’s about to when someone calls his name.

“Caster!”

Max turns, and to his surprise, it’s Samoa Joe. He stops and looks at him curiously. “Yeah?”

“Got a question about those headphones.”

Max nods once. “Go for it?”

“Those things soundproof?”

“Yeah?”

“Great. I need them.”

“What?”

“Your headphones? I need them.” Joe looks at him like what he’s saying is obvious.

“Why?”

“I’m going to give them back,” Joe sighs. “Come on, I’m kind of in a rush here.”

“What’s in it for me?” Max asks, crossing his arms. Having Joe on their side against the bucks would be useful…

“I don’t beat you to a pulp right here, right now.”

…Okay, maybe not. He slides them off and hands them over. “You’re not gonna do anything weird with them, are you?”

“Mind your business,” is what Joe says before turning around and half-jogging.

Max’s curiosity gets to him, and instead of leaving it be, he follows Joe.

Joe leads him right to his locker room. Max catches the door right before it shuts and sneaks in.

“I can’t believe you forgot your headphones,” Joe says with a soft laugh.

Max peeks around the corner.

Hook is putting the headphones on and closes his eyes, sighing through his nose.

“Where’d you get those?” Shibata asks.

“Stole ‘em from Caster. We have to give them back.”

Shibata just nods. He’s got a hand on Hook’s back, and Max assumes he’s rubbing circles into it.

Joe taps Hook’s leg, and Hook peeks an eye open. “Better?”

Hook nods. His eyes immediately shoot over to Max, and he furrows his brow, staring hard.

Joe and Shibata follow his gaze, and Max gulps.

“Really?” Joe asks, more than annoyed.

“I’m sorry!” Max squeaks, coming out from his hiding place. “I just had to see what you were doing with them.”

Shibata is nice enough to type an explanation: “Hook forgot his headphones and is overstimulated.”

Max makes an ‘o’. “I’m happy to help?”

“Get out,” Joe says, pointing to the door. “I’ll give them back to you when he’s done.”

Max makes a thumbs up and scurries out.

~

He does get them back from Joe later that day, and Max feels weirdly good that he could help. Maybe he could help someone else…

In the next few weeks, he doesn’t think about it much. He smiles and waves at Hook when he sees he remembers his headphones, to which Hook nods back and tries to look like he doesn’t exist.

It’s by surprise when Max steps into the wrong hallway for a second, but before he turns around and leaves, he spots someone admits the crowd.

Darby’s pacing back and forth, hands on the back of his head facing down. He takes a few steps to a door, looks at it, and then backs away to go back to pacing.

Curiosity gets the best of him and Max goes up, tapping him on the shoulder.

Darby jumps, but looks up and breathes out a sigh. “Oh. Max. What do you want?” He says it sort of meanly, but tiredly.

Max would respond with something mean back, but they’re good guys now, so Max pushes down a comment about how emo is still out of style. “Are you okay?” he asks instead.

Darby blinks at him in surprise. “I, uh- not really.” The stumbling admission tells Max that Darby wasn’t expecting to respond so honestly. Curse him for not just lying so Max could go on his way.

Max looks at the door Darby was attempting to go into, and steps over to open it.

The crowd in there of workers is incredibly loud; Max shuts it in surprise. He looks over at Darby, who’s watching him closely. “Need to get in there?”

Darby nods sheepishly. “Yeah. But something’s- my brain-“

Max cuts him off, walking over to him and handing over his headphones. “Try these. They block out sound pretty good.”

Darby looks at them, and looks up at Max. “You’re not gonna play some stupid shit at max volume in my ears, are there?”

Max almost curses at himself for not thinking of the amount of eardrums he could blow. If only he were a heel. “No. I promise. If anything comes through those, I’ll let you kick my ass.”

Darby feels the headphones and slowly puts them on, readjusts, readjusts, flips them around, readjusts, readjusts, flips them again, readjusts, readjusts. He sighs. “These better work, Caster.”

“I can wait out here for you,” Max offers.

Darby squints at him, then nods. “Yeah. Wait.”

Max salutes, and Darby takes in a deep breath before opening the door and walking in.

Darby’s in there for 30 minutes, and the second he walks out he slips the headphones off and hands them over. “Thank you. Seriously, that helped a lot.”

Max nods. “I’ll uh, see you around?”

Darby laughs. “I hope not too much more.”

~

Max knows he’s entering dangerous territory with this one.

Mox is muttering, pacing, probably growling, too- Max can’t exactly tell, but it sounds scary. This is a suicide mission. But he can’t help feeling sorry- he just looks so miserable. He’s in a horrible spot too, whether he knows it or not; the sound bounces off the walls right back into your ears even louder than before.

Max walks up behind, slowly, and in a swift move he reaches up and plops the headphones down onto Mox’s ears.

Mox turns around within half a second.

Max immediately screams and covers his face. “I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me! I’m trying to help!”

Mox takes the headphones off and looks at them before looking at Max. “The fuck…?”

Max peeks through his fingers. He’s not dead, and Mox doesn’t look angry, just…confused. “Oh,” Max says, softly. (If he speaks too loud he’s afraid of angering the beast.) “Um- you just seemed, uh, really bothered? By all the sound? It bounces a lot in here? So, I thought, maybe you needed to block the sound? To help you feel better?”

Mox looks at him, and Max can’t figure out what it means.

“If you don’t want them, I can just- take them back-“ Max reaches for them slowly.

Mox pulls them away from Max. “Nah,” he says absentmindedly, looking at the headphones. “I gotta give these back?”

“Please? Once you’re done, I mean. Use them however long you want! No rush,” Max laughs awkwardly.

Mox puts them on and taps the sides. He moves his head around, as if he’s testing them out, and nods, finally looking at Max. “You’ll get them back.”

“Okay,” Max says, small, and scurries off. He makes a mental note to order a second pair, just in case.

~

Anthony and Billy have just left when there’s a knock on Max’s locker door. “It’s unlocked,” he calls, thinking it’s one of them coming back for something.

Instead, Matthew Jackson pops his head in, faking a pleasant smile. “Caster, buddy, how are ya?”

Max stands up, ready to defend himself. “Really? An ambush? Not cool, dude.”

“Whoa, whoa, easy! Relax, kid, I don’t want to fight. I want to uh, make a truce for a split second.”

Max takes a step back. “What do you want?”

Matthew sighs. “Look, I’ve heard all about your, uh, kindness and generosity as of late, so I’m asking a very small favor.”

Kindness and generosity? Max catches what he means quickly and smirks, crossing his arms. “What do you need them for? Don’t you guys have plenty of other headphones to wear and be stupid with?”

Matthew frowns at him. “I’m not gonna fine you for that because this is urgent. None of our headphones are soundproof like yours apparently are.”

“Who needs them?”

“That’s really none of your business-“

“You don’t tell, I don’t give.”

“Are you freaking kidding me, Caster? Come on, it’s a pair of headphones-“

“And if you lose or break them, I’m gonna break you. Don’t forget, me and Anthony have beat you once already.”

Matthew looks like he wants to strangle Max, but gives in. “They’re not for me. They’re…they’re for Nicholas. He can’t think straight with all the noise. It’s bad today. Please, Caster, let me have them.”

Max loves the sound of an EVP pleading with him. “I’m gonna have to give you some ground rules.”

“Oh, come on, are you serious?”

“Yep. One: if I don’t get these back by the end of the day, I’m making that Tesla of yours disappear. Two: if I give you these, I am not allowed to be fined, ever.”

“What if for the rest of the year we don’t fine you, hm? Next year can be a different story.”

“Fine. I can handle that, because by then, you won’t be the tag team champions.”

Matthew growls, but holds his hand out. “Are we done?”

“You think I’m gonna give you these?” Max laughs. “Not a chance. Lead the way to your brother.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“If I don’t do the delivery myself, they don’t work as well! I swear. I would never lie to you.” Max does his best pout and bats his eyes.

“You’re insufferable. Come on, then,” Matthew sighs.

Max cheers and follows. He pulls out his phone to text his boys real quick: If you see me with an EVP, I’m not in trouble, I promise

Max, what did you do? comes in from Anthony almost immediately, but Max ignores it.

They go into the EVP’s office.

“Holy shit,” Max says. “You guys are assholes. Look at this place! Why is it so much nicer than what we have?”

“That’s enough,” Matthew warns.

Nicholas is in a corner, sort of curled up, hands on his ears, and for a moment Max actually feels bad for him.

“Nicholas,” Matthew says softly, crossing over to his brother. He removes his hands and slips the headphones on. “Is that better?”

Nicholas puts his hands on the headphones like he’s trying to push the silence into his ears. Slowly but surely, he uncurls, and his hands let go.

Matthew smiles. He looks over at Max, and coughs, dropping his sweet smile into a frown. “You can go now. We’ll return them to you eventually.”

“By the end of today,” Max warns.

Matthew sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fine. By the end of today.”

Max grins. “See you losers later!”

[hermannsthumb]

Please please please more "Fake Dating for Funding"! I haven't read much PR stuff in the last few years and your newest piece jerked me right back to that old standby hyperfixation. It's so cute!!

answering this sooooo late, OOPS SORRY, but here's a little ficlet as i try to get myself back in the writing groove.... the original fake dating for funding fic is right here, but i was thinking over plot concepts earlier and this one made me laugh, LMAO

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

"I have a favor to ask of you," Hermann says one morning.

Typical of Hermann, it's blunt and to the point, no show of bartering or sweetening Newt up with dessert or anything like that. In theory Newt should be annoyed, but Hermann indebts himself to Newt so rarely (and never willingly) that Newt’s actually kind of interested to see where this goes. He pushes up his work goggles and strips off his gloves without a second thought.

Hermann is standing directly over Newt’s side of the yellow line, one hand balled into a fist while the other white-knuckles his cane, his shoulders hunched over. He looks extremely uncomfortable. On the other hand Hermann rarely looks comfortable, so this isn’t anything new, or something to draw immediate conclusions from.

“Okay,” Newt says. “Lay it on me.”

“I would not blame you if you found yourself thinking less of me,” Hermann says, “or outright rejecting the proposition. I’m aware it is far more than one typically asks of a…” He swallows. “Colleague.”

The word hangs awkwardly in the air between them. It’s not that it’s an inaccurate descriptor, but it doesn’t completely encompass the, uh, reality of things, being that they were a litttttle more than colleagues up until two months ago. (Not that they called themselves anything other than colleagues for the duration of that whole—indiscretion. It was a little confusing.)

Still, Hermann’s groveling, and Newt’s interested. “Oh, sweet,” he says, maybe a little too casually. Just two bros having a normal conversation about how they're nothing more than colleagues. “I’m totally in. What are we doing? Is it illegal or something?”

He could actually use Hermann’s mad computer hacker skills for something in the near future—Newt wants unrestricted card access to the typically very restricted hazardous materials storage in the jaeger bay for reasons he’s not going to disclose—and doing something illegal for the guy would be a great way to get him to do something illegal for Newt in return. In a favor-for-favor way more than a blackmail way, because Newt mostly isn't a dick. And anyway, maybe doing some platonic fun k-science bonding time will be good for them. Make things a little less tense. Newt’s been working on that really hard lately, mostly because his multiple Shatterdome transfer requests have been outright denied by the Marshal and he seems to be out of alternatives.

“No,” Hermann says.

He looks at his shoes. He’s about two unlucky inches away from stepping on a piece of kaiju spleen Newt dropped earlier and forgot about, and the fact that he’s not taking any precautions to shield his precious ugly wingtips tells Newt he means business. “Perhaps a little…morally questionable.”

“Oooh, Hermann, you’re such a tease,” Newt says. He tosses his nasty gloves in the trash can and scoots Hermann towards the cluster of their desks with a hand to the small of his back, ignoring the way Hermann bristles and digs the end of his cane halfheartedly into the floor. “Come on, come on, I’ll make coffee, stop looking so depressed.”

He does make himself a coffee but brews a quick cup of black tea for Hermann, which turns out to be kind of a waste of his time, since Hermann blatantly ignores the mug Newt slides in front of him. He’s gone from looking like the most emo librarian in the world to looking vaguely nauseous. If circumstances weren’t as they are, Newt might say it was making him look exceptionally alluring—that whole sickly Victorian lad thing really gets him going. “If you’ve forgotten,” Hermann says, “we’ve another of those foolish PPDC fundraisers soon, at the end of the month.”

“Oh.” Newt leans back in his chair, a little disappointed. “Is that it?”

“Yes,” Hermann says. “No.” He shakes his head gravely. He’s so dramatic sometimes, it’s kinda cute. “It is the root of the problem, but not the entirety of it. You’ll recall, I presume, how badly in need of funding we are, myself in particular for the Breach-mapping software I am attempting to develop.”

Newt does recall, because yeah, he is also in need of funding real bad. Can’t make awesome, ground-breaking advancements in the field of kaiju biology without any kaiju bits to study the biology of. That spleen currently threatening to ooze over the yellow tape line represents approximately sixty percent of Newt's remaining currently viable samples. “Uh, yeah?”

“I have,” Hermann makes a face, “a working theory, so to speak. You’ll further recall the similar PPDC event we attended in August of last year?”

“Yeah?”

“And the one we attended this year, in the week following our—”

“Yeah, Hermann, I remember.”

“Right,” Hermann says.

Newt remembers the second one more clearly than he likes, because having to make nice with Hermann to present a united front six days after a very, very stupid argument about Newt maaaaybe stealing half of Hermann’s sandwich—which ultimately led to a mutual and spur of the moment decision to dissolve the whole weird lab partners-with-benefits thing they had going on—was one of the more uncomfortable experiences of his career. Still, he made as nice as he could, because his supply of work gloves and Keurig pods were running dangerously low and he didn’t feel like shelling out the money from his own abysmally small paycheck for any.

He doesn’t know what was so significant about the other one they went to though, the one last August. It was humid. Newt remembers being so hot he had to take off his tie, and he lost it somewhere in the convention center afterwards. He misses that tie. Hermann hated it, which makes him culprit number one in its disappearance.

“We drew in significantly more donations in August than we did two months ago,” Hermann says, and opens the top drawer of his desk to produce a neat stack of papers, which he spreads in front of Newt to reveal a series of color-coded spreadsheets.

Newt’s eyes glaze over a little at the sight. He doesn’t bother extending the effort to confirm Hermann’s data—as much as he hates to admit it, the guy is thorough with his numbers and rarely wrong about stuff like this. He flips through it anyway to appease him. And, honestly, he thinks Hermann’s feelings would be hurt if he didn’t, and Newt really is committed to being a good labmate (y’know, for the very brief time being). “And prior to August,” Hermann continues, “you’ll note that the average sum total of donations we received per event was significantly lower. August was an anomaly.”

“Sure,” Newt says. “So what?”

Hermann slides the spreadsheet back into his desk, pulls his dorky glasses off, and exhales slowly: he’s getting to the point. Newt has a hunch what that point might be, but Hermann always looks funny when he gets into lecture mode, and Newt doesn’t want to interrupt it.

“I believe,” Hermann says, “that our—relationship status, which was significantly different on that occasion as compared to the rest—might possibly have had no small influence, for one reason or another. We certainly behaved more, er, affectionately, or tenderly around each other, and perhaps others took note and found it charming. Or some such thing. Of course I can't draw any conclusions from a single point of data, but I believe if we were to... Well, it's a bit silly, hearing myself now.”

“You want me to be your fake b-f so we can trick people into giving a shit about us and shake them down easier,” Newt says.

The tips of Hermann’s generous ears go red. “I’m aware it’s an unusual request,” he says, “especially considering… recent certain developments in our working relationship.”

It’s not exactly the fun platonic bonding time Newt anticipated, but he has a hunch Hermann might be on to something—the whole doomed romance, give us money so our love has a fighting chance of surviving the apocalypse thing, which they were apparently already inadvertently playing up. He’s willing to give it a shot. Making a joke out of it might actually help Newt let go of his last lingering nostalgia for that super brief period of time he and Hermann got up to after-hours hijinks and were almost amicable with each other. And, you know, on the other hand, if that doesn’t work, he could totally do the opposite of moving on and revel in the opportunity to do couple-y tender things with Hermann again.

“Yeah, sure,” Newt says. Real chill about it. He’s so chill, man.

Hermann blinks at him owlishly, clearly taken aback, but says nothing.

“It’ll be fun,” Newt adds. “It’s a good plan, great idea, it’ll totally work. Nothing has to be weird, right? I mean, it’s not like we were really even dating before or anything. There’s no reason for it to be weird. It’s definitely not for me. Is it for you?”

“No, er, of course not,” Hermann says. “It was my idea, wasn’t it?”

They’re totally over each other, but they can also totally pretend they’re not for a night or two, no sweat. “Cool,” Newt says, and repeats, maybe to convince himself, “It’ll be fun. We can dress up all fancy and wear matching ties or something and talk about how tragic we are. I’ll grab your ass in front of people and you can brag about how cool and smart and sexy I am.”

“You are not doing that,” Hermann says, “and I am not doing that. When have I ever—oh, nevermind. I am not averse to the neckties, however, especially if it means you’re at least attempting to look somewhat professional for our prospective—”

“Dude, come on, you totally just think I look hot in a suit.”

The splotchy red flush spreads from Hermann’s ears to his neck as he scowls at Newt. He doesn’t bother denying it: Newt’s sure they both vividly remember the most recent annual k-science research symposium when Newt finally let himself be talked into renting a fancy blazer, to look, uh, like the expert in your field you are, Newton, and Hermann had such a hard time keeping his hands off Newt in increasingly unchaste ways that they had to duck out early. I like when you look put-together and competent, Hermann said, or something along those lines, there was a lot of kissing going on and Newt wasn’t exactly paying attention to specifics. He ended up losing the deposit on the suit—which is why he stole the sandwich in the first place, actually. Very petty revenge. Full circle.

“Piss off,” Hermann grumbles.

“We’re gonna have to put in for just one hotel room if we wanna sell it, you know,” Newt says, the realization suddenly hitting him. “Maybe even one bed. It’ll look totally suspicious if we don’t, right?”

Hermann meets his eyes for a few awkward, quiet seconds, and then they both quickly look away from each other. Newt stands up and makes a show of gathering their untouched mugs, both of which have gone extremely cold. Hermann slips his glasses back on and opens up his desk drawer to shuffle through his immaculate spreadsheets again, pretending to look for errors that they both know aren't there.

“We’ve,” Hermann finally says, and then clears his throat. “We’ve survived worse. I'm sure we can manage. It’s only for two nights, after all.”

“Yeah, totally,” Newt says.

[discowingdancingqueen]

BATFAM AUS that I randomly idek cuz I’m bored

-Jason bleached his hair for emo reasons the pit didn’t actually do that

-Tim gets a healthy amount of sleep

-Dick goes by Richie instead

-Alfred is batman

-Dick is straight

-I have no ideas

-damian isn’t a vegetarian

-jumpscare

-they all rotate costumes and personas like they just share and they have board meetings whenever they want to make a new vigilante and they have fun picking out the name (usually bird inspired) and the costume and they debate on the personality and fighting style etc

-happy

-they get some fucking therapy maybe

-Bruce is a actually Edward cullen

-ok I’m out of ideas

-I have none

-ummmm

-I’m sry this doesn’t include Cass I love her I just don’t know enough yet

-Oop and duke

-I’m sorry

-the waynes are the kardashians they have a tv show all the Gothamites are invested and also Clark Kent actually the whole Justice League

-might have to expand on some of these

[hp-rarepair-requests]

Oops! I realised that I had to be more specific

- Augurlight (Delphi x Albus)

- Muggle au

- Abusive relationship

-Albus realizing that Delphi was grooming him (Flashbacks would be nice if possible)

All good! I can absolutely do that!

Augurlight Oneshot

TW/CW: Grooming, Child Predation and CSA

Albus sat in his bedroom, curtains closed, headphones blasting, homework unfinished, and food left to go cold. He wasn’t really sure what day it was, or what time it was, but he really didn’t care. He couldn’t explain the depression he had fallen into. Or maybe he could and he just didn’t want to admit it.

~

“Come on, Dad! Please!” Albus begged.

“For the hundredth time Albus, no,” his father refused him yet again. “You need to finish school.”

“Come on! The kids are mean!” Albus whined. “I passed all the necessary exams for finishing school, I have a job, I can start working more hours and even pay board!”

“I don’t care Albus, you need to complete your education,” his father tried to keep a hushed voice as they browsed the shop, looking for a specific CD for Lily’s upcoming birthday. “I’m not letting you drop out just to chase some fantasy.”

“This isn’t about music—“

“Then what is it about?”

“It’s about not having to go back to that shithole of a school!”

“Watch your language!” His father scolded. “I can’t find it. Stay here while I talk to that worker over there.”

Albus groaned and slumped against the shelf of CD’s. He was sick of that high school. Hogwarts was shit, and any wayward misfit with half a brain knew to stay far away from the preppy shitheads that wore the maroon and blue uniform. He was so sick of his classmates constantly bullying him, and he wasn’t even learning anything he could use in the career he wanted. They’d bloody cut the Music Program, the whole reason he’d even been trying to stay well enough behaved to avoid expulsion.

“Hey,” Albus turned to see a worker, with silver and blue hair and thick eyeliner. “Delphi. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with your Dad?”

“Oh, that,” Albus shuffled. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, happens a lot,” Delphi smiled. “Hogwarts uniform?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t sue you for breathing,” Albus answered. “Not unless you breathe too loudly.”

“I’ll try not to. We get a lot of your classmates in here. Usually they’re upset that their Dad’s aren’t buying something super expensive for them.”

“Nah, I’ve got a different kind of dysfunctional family.”

“I can tell,” Delphi plucked something from Albus’ face and he felt it heat up. “Eyelash. Sorry about your Dad. Sucks when your parents don’t believe in you.”

“Well, I don’t know if he doesn’t believe in me,” Albus cleared his throat. “He just … he’s an adult, he probably knows better.”

“I don’t know,” Delphi knocked Albus’ shoulder. “You didn’t start singing the lyrics to Emo Girl when you saw me. Makes you much more mature than some of the other kids your age. It’s also not that hard to enter the music scene. I would know, my band The Augurey are doing pretty well.”

Delphi walked away as Albus saw his father approaching, Lily’s gift in hand.

~

Albus rubbed his eyes and took his earphones out. There had been a light tapping at his door, and when he pulled it open he saw his younger sister. Lily was in her soccer uniform, with dirt on her shins. She’d just got back from practice, it was afternoon.

“Just figured I’d let you know we won,” Lily grumbled. “Not that you even cared to show up.”

“Won what?” Albus asked.

“The game. The Liverpool Griffins are moving onto the semifinals.”

“You had an actual game today?”

“Yes, and you promised you’d come to this one!” Lily crossed her arms. “You’ve become a real jerk these holidays.”

“Oh my God. Lily I am so sorry. I completely forgot.”

“Yeah, I know! Couldn’t even get out of bed to say goodbye this morning.”

Lily turned and began to storm off.

“Lily wait!” Albus followed her. “I don’t even know what day it was.”

“Save it, Albus,” Lily shook her head. “I would invite you to the next one but I doubt you’d show up. Dad’s making soup for dinner, maybe you can show up for that?”

Lily slammed her bedroom door shut and Albus felt lost. How could he forget something as important as Lily’s game? It was the first one where he wouldn’t be too busy working at The Three Broomsticks to go! He’d promised to go! He hadn’t been able to go to any of her other games that year and she missed his support in the stands. And he missed cheering her on from the crowds. How could he forget something as important as that?

~

“Well, well, well, we meet again,” Albus looked up in shock to see none other than Delphi. “Studying for a test?”

“Algebra,” Albus informed her.

“God, what year?”

“Year ten.”

“Yikes,” Delphi hissed in sympathy. “So your doing all that expand and simplify bullshit with the brackets.”

“Yep,” Albus sighed. “Although, it looks more like hieroglyphics to me.”

Delphi giggled. “You’re funny. What was your name?”

“Albus,” he answered, blushing at the compliment. “I work at The Three Broomsticks just down there.”

“Oh sick, my band is performing a gig there this Friday night.”

“I’m working this Friday night.”

“Oh, so you’re getting paid to see The Augurey live. Now that’s an honour.”

Albus laughed. “What instrument do you play?”

“I’m all vocals,” Delphi clarified. “What about you?”

“Oh um, I used to do the music program at my school before they cut it,” Albus fiddled with his pencil, feeling suddenly shy under Delphi’s piercing brown eyes. “Guitar, bass, drums, piano, little bit of vocals.”

“Oh, so you are literally just a one man band?”

Albus laughed to the point of smiling very brightly. “I guess you could call me that. If you can call a fourteen year old with no released songs a one man band.”

“You’ll be a one man band eventually,” Delphi ruffled his hair. “I have faith in you.”

~

Albus closed his bedroom door and pulled out his phone. A notification popped up and he bit his lip. The Augurey’s social media. They’d posted something new.

Albus opened the app and saw the pictures. Delphi smiling with the rest of her bandmates. Pictures from whatever event they were at now. Pictures he couldn’t help but stare at. Especially the last one. The picture was technically of Rascal and Vermyn, the bassist and guitarist, but Albus was focused on the background. Delphi with some guys tongue shoved down her throat.

Albus hadn’t learnt this guys name. He appeared in many pictures. Sometimes he was even in the foreground. But Albus hadn’t learnt his name. Didn’t want to. He just wanted to know why Delphi would lead him on the way she did.

~

Albus was left to close up close up the restaurant while his manager, Rosmerta, went over the employee schedules for the next week. He found he quite enjoyed The Augurey’s live performance that night. He’d hoped to speak to Delphi at some point, but he was stuck as the dishwasher for most of the night, but the few times he had been out cleaning tables he could of sworn she’d been looking at him. He was pretty certain she’d even winked at him at some point.

“Hey Albus!” He jumped when Delphi came up behind him. “Did you enjoy the show?”

“Yeah, you guys are really good. You have a very good voice.”

“Thank you,” Delphi smiled brightly and touched Albus’ cheek. “You lose a lot of eyelashes. So, are your parents here to pick you up?”

“No, I was going to catch the bus home.”

“You’re kidding?” Delphi’s jaw dropped even further when Albus shook his head. “You can’t catch the bus home at this time of night! There are creeps and weirdos out there.”

“Aside from the creepy weirdo I’m talking to now?” Albus asked, wiping the last corner of the bench down. “It’s fine, I do it all the time.”

“It’s not fine!” Delphi sighed. “How about I drive you home?”

“What?”

“Come on! I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t mKe sure you get home safe.”

Albus felt his face heat up at that. He supposed a car ride with Delphi wouldn’t be the worst thing to ever happen. “Alright, I can give you the directions.”

“Great! Let’s go.”

Albus let out a nervous breath as he followed her to her car, locking the shop door behind himself. She drove a second hand car, small and inexpensive, but the inside was decorated with plenty of gothic delights. He got into the passenger seat and told her where to go.

“So, you hate Hogwarts I take it?”

“Uh, yeah,” Albus shook his head. “Bit of an understatement really. I get bullied. Really badly. And the teachers don’t do shit about it.”

“I feel that,” Delphi sighed. “Wish there was something I could do to help.”

“It’s alright,” Albus chewed on his lip. “My house is that one.”

Delphi pulled into the driveway. “Damn, you’re families loaded.”

“Yeah, we are.”

Albus went to get out of the car but Delphi grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

“What are you—“

“My phone number,” she wrote the digits onto his palm. “Message me next time you have work late. I don’t like the thought of you catching the bus this late at night.”

“Oh,” Albus swallowed. He had her number, that was fun. And really nice of her to be so worried for his well-being.

Delphi caressed his cheek and rested her hand on his face. “Eyelash. I’ll see you later.”

“See you later.”

~

Albus threw his phone to the floor and curled up in his blanket. He really shouldn’t have been surprised. She was pretty, she was semi-famous, she was older. And they weren’t exactly on good terms at the moment either. Of course something like this would have happened.

He wanted to curl into such a small little ball it was like he didn’t exist. No one could hurt him or lead him on that way. People wouldn’t even be able to look at him, let alone talk to him.

“Albus,” he groaned when he heard his fathers voice just outside his door. “Dinners ready.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Come on, you haven’t had dinner with us in a week,” his father answered. “I’m starting to get a little worried.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, if you’re fine you come down to dinner. Come on, get up.”

Albus groaned, and crawled out of bed again. Why him? Why that day?

~

Albus walked out of admin with his letter, supposedly his aunt Hermione was there to pick him up for an appointment he hadn’t even known about. God, his time management skills could really use some work.

As Albus left the school gates he noticed a familiar beat up car. It didn’t belong to his aunt, her car was certainly not beat up, but it did belong to someone else he knew. Someone he was much more excited to see.

“Oh my God, you did not just get me out of school.”

“Hey,” Delphi shrugged. “I told you I wanted to do something to help. Come on, we’re going to the beach.”

“The beach? Are there even any good beaches nearby?”

“Of course there are! You just need to know where to look!”

Albus smiled brightly and got into the car with her. He hadn’t properly skipped school like this in a long time, it was exhilarating.

“Alright Eyelashes, let’s go.”

Albus came down the stairs to see the rest of his family had already started eating their soup. He approached the counter and filled up his bowl. Pumpkin soup. He plonked down at the table, feeling much like the rain that poured outside the window.

“Hoods off at the table, Albus.”

Albus groaned at his mothers words, and yanked the hood from his head before continuing to eat.

“So as I was saying, it’s a very delicate and difficult case,” his father complained about work. “Grooming is a very difficult crime to prove. Our evidence is circumstantial at best.”

Albus ripped a piece of bread and dipped it into his loaf.

“I mean, how am I even supposed to prove he did this? It’s not like he ever actually hurt her, just made it so he could.”

“What?” That confused Albus.

“What’s confusing you?”

“How could he have groomed her if he never hurt her?”

“Grooming is the process of creating an environment which enables abuse,” his father clarified. “A very common misconception people have is that you have to actually h physically hurt someone.”

“Oh.”

~

Albus flopped down onto his towel, and let the rare sunshine beat down on him, giving him a much needed tan. Delphi soon after joined him, and he tried not to look at her too much. He really should have realised that the beach entailed a certain amount of vulnerability.

“That was fun, but I think I might have to take you back to school soon.”

Albus groaned very loudly. “Please don’t.”

“What do you want me to do?” Delphi sat up. “Hold you captive here forever?”

Albus jumped when Delphi pounced on him and they began to wrestle in the sand. His leg was only slightly tangled in his towel by the time she managed to get on top of him. Oh goodness, this was a very compromising position. He only hoped she didn’t do anything to uh … provoke him, we’ll say.

“You’ve got another eyelash,” Delphi’s fingers danced across Albus face as she wiped the stray hair away.

“I swear I didn’t used to lose eyelashes this regularly,” Albus sighed, hoping to get her off from on top of him. This was not something he felt ready to deal with.

“Sure,” Delphi’s face seemed to move impossibly closer, and her breath grazed over Albus’ lips. All he’d have to do is move slightly and they’d practically be snogging.

“We should go,” Delphi got up and put her shirt back on over the top of her bikini. “Your parents will surely be mad if you aren’t home in time.”

~

Albus finished his soup and climbed the stairs before anyone could stop him. He needed some space. Desperately.

Albus opened his laptop and stared at the search engine for a moment. He began to chew on his nails, feeling his stomach roil with the unasked question still lingering in his head. What was he even supposed to do in this type of situation? What was he even supposed to look up?

He swallowed and quickly typed up his question before staring at it. The fact that he even felt the need to ask felt a bit like a confirmation, but he couldn’t be certain. He pressed enter.

How do you know if you’ve been groomed?

~

“What’s this?” Albus asked.

“It’s a birthday present,” Delphi answered.

“My birthday is in October.”

“Just open it.”

Albus smiled before tearing into the gift Delphi had gotten for him. He pulled open the box and inside there was nothing more than a business card. Riddle Studios?

“I may have pulled some strings with my manager,” Delphi clarified. “They’re going to let you record one song, and if they like it and it performs well they might take you on.”

“You’re joking.”

“No joke.”

“Oh my God! Delphi!” Albus got up. “Thank you so much! God, I could kiss you!”

“What?”

“What? Um … not actually kiss you. Just — you know it’s an expression.”

“Right,” Delphi nodded. “Well, I’ll pick you up on Saturday and drive you there.”

“Yeah,” Albus nodded excitedly.

“See you,” Delphi left a peck on Albus’ cheek before walking away.

~

Grooming is the action of attempting to form a relationship with a child or young person, which would enable you to sexually assault them or persuade them to commit some type of crime, such as drug dealing or joining a terrorist organisation.

Albus wasn’t sure that exactly applied to him. He’d been a child, he was a child, but … he didn’t — he didn’t know.

A groomed child may think they are: in a special relationship with the person hurting them, experience self-blame over the the abuse they are experiencing, be confused by the nature of the relationship, and have a fear of harmed or abandoned if they speak out or defy their groomer.

~

Albus had initiated it, but he immediately regretted it. It was stupid really. To think someone as amazing as Delphi might return his feelings. As soon as he’d kissed her he felt like he’d made some horrible mistake and that he needed to run as far away as humanly possible. Something about it just felt innately wrong. Like he’d done something he really shouldn’t have.

“I am so sorry,” Albus stepped back. “I should go. That was — sorry!”

“Albus! It’s fine,” Delphi stopped him from running away. “Nothing to be sorry for.”

Delphi pulled Albus in and this time their kiss was much more of a mutual experience. And it was nice. He’d never really kissed anyone before, so he hoped he was doing it right. Delphi was definitely much more experienced in that regard. And it showed. Delphi was very good at kissing, Albus found.

~

Well, that just didn’t apply to Albus. Right? There was no abuse to feel any guilt or self-blame over. There couldn’t be. Could there? He tried to think. Had Delphi at any point actually abused him? Sure, technically she didn’t need to abuse him for it to be grooming, but there wasn’t anything to blame himself for. Was there?

He’d admit, he had felt special, he had been a little confused by their relationship, he had done things just because he was worried she’d leave if he didn’t, but he didn’t blame himself for … okay he did. Just a little bit. But it was fine because it was technically his fault. The self-blame thing surely only applied when he hadn’t actually done anything wrong right? Because he had! He’d let her get close to him, he’d initiated their … situationship? Relationship? Their whatever! He’d been the one to start it and make it confusing. He made the choice to not defy her. It was his fault.

So, therefore, it couldn’t have actually even been grooming right? What even was the definition of sexual abuse?

~

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going on tour?” Albus asked. “I mean, I figure that’s something you tell your … friend?”

“I was going to,” Delphi got up from her seat on the couch. “But it’s not even like it’s a major tour. We’re just going around England. Nowhere too far away.”

“Right, just the other side of the country,” Albus shrugged. “Would have been nice to know.”

“What? You aren’t proud of us? After all I’ve done for you, you can’t accept that I’m also making progress?”

“That’s not it—“

“Then what is it?”

“You’re leaving…,” Albus sighed. “I just — I thought we were close enough that you’d let me know first.”

“We are that close,” Delphi came over to him and rested her hands on his shoulders. “Come with us.”

“What?”

Albus was dumbfounded. There was no way she was actually inviting him to go on tour with her.

“Come with us!” Delphi’s smile widened. “Come on, you hate school, you hate your family, leave it behind and come with us.”

Albus took a step back. “Okay, first of all, I don’t hate my family. I just don’t always get along with them. And second of all, I can’t just go with you. I have a job, other friends, and my parents are worried enough that I keep disappearing from school and the house. I can’t just runaway.”

“Sure you can!” Delphi held his face now. “Please? For me?”

Albus didn’t know what to say. Delphi kissed him to see if maybe that would be convincing. It wasn’t.

“It’ll be fun.”

“No, I’m putting my foot down,” Albus shook his head and started leaving. “I can’t go with you.”

~

Sexual assault refers to the act of intentionally touching someone in a sexual manner without consent, through either force or coercion. It’s a form of sexual violence that includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape and sexual torture.

Albus scrolled down, trying to find further explanation on what child sexual abuse might entail. He didn’t think he was abused; it was just good to make sure. He seriously doubted he encountered anything severe enough to be considered abuse. And he’d been the one to initiate their relationship in the first place. So it was probably fine.

~

Albus got up from the couch and walked over to the door. Lily was at football practice and their Dad had been the one to drive her. Their Mum was stuck at work so Albus and his older brother, James, were the only ones left at home. He had to assume James took advantage of this absence of people and invited over a couple friends.

He pulled the door open and was surprised to see Delphi of all people standing outside.

“Can we talk?”

“Uh, sure,” Albus stepped aside and let her in. “We better go up to my room, so James doesn’t see you.”

Albus brought Delphi to his bedroom, and gently closed the door behind her. He was sort of glad they were getting the opportunity to talk before she had to leave. They could sort out the argument they’d had and calm down.

“I guess we should—“

Albus was startled by Delphi just grabbing his face and beginning to snog him. They’d snogged maybe a couple times, but never like this. Albus raised his hands to her head as his back hit the wall. His head hurt a little bit, and he winced, trying to separate for at least a moment to rub where his head had hit. But he hadn’t been able to. At least, he hadn’t been the one to separate.

Delphi pulled away only momentarily before attacking his neck. Which, wasn’t really something they’d ever done. It felt a little weird, but kind of nice.

“Um, you said you wanted to talk?” Albus was a little confused now. Not upset, but definitely confused.

Delphi sighed and pulled away. Did he do something wrong?

“Just … wanted to see if maybe you’d changed your mind?”

“Well, I haven’t,” Albus slouched. “You know why I said I couldn’t go.”

“Oh, come on!” She complained. “After everything I’ve done for you, you kind of owe me!”

“Travelling around the country isn’t something I can just do, Delphi,” Albus groaned. “I already told you, my parents are worried enough about me as is. If I left with you they’d probably send a whole search party looking for me.”

“Then leave a note,” Delphi stepped closer. “Please? Can’t you just be the least bit supportive?”

Albus swallowed. He could theoretically go with her, and there was probably a scenario in which everything turned out fine. But Albus didn’t think this was that scenario. He was in enough trouble as it was for constantly sneaking out and skipping school to go see her, although his parents didn’t know about Delphi’s involvement. He didn’t want to make things worse. And Lily kept asking him to go to one of her games. He’d promised to go to one as soon as he could, he couldn’t do that if he was on tour with The Augurey.

“I am supportive, and I’m sorry but I can’t just—“

Albus gasped when Delphi’s palm hit his cheek, and stilled as the sting spread across his face. She’d slapped him. She had just slapped him. And it hurt. Really bad.

“Fine, I don’t need you there anyway,” Delphi stormed out while Albus stood frozen in disbelief.

~

Child sexual abuse (CSA) occurs when an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual gratification. This can include pressuring a child into a sexual activity, indecent exposure of genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child, sexual contact with a child, physical contact to the child’s genitals, viewing of the child’s genitals, and producing pornography of a child.

Albus wiped a tear from his eye. Did kissing count as sexual contact? Did it even matter? A month ago, if Delphi had asked, Albus probably would have done everything on that list for her. If grooming was only the process of enabling abuse, had Delphi groomed him?

“Hey Albus,” he jumped when his mother walked in without knocking, and turned to face her, “what’s—?”

Albus slammed his laptop shut before she could finish asking her questions.

“Why were you looking at the definition of sexual assault?” She asked.

“I wasn’t,” Albus answered, scratching his neck.

“What were you looking at then?”

“Nothing.”

His mother gave him a look before walking towards him. “Did something happen that I should know about?”

“No,” Albus tried to smile. “Mum, I’m fine. What did you want?”

She let out a breath through her nose. “Lily and James have both had their showers. I wanted to check if you had had yours?”

“No, I’ll go do that.”

“Albus—“

“Thanks for letting me know,” Albus grabbed his clothes and hurried towards the bathroom. He didn’t think he was in the mental state to explain everything about Delphi to his mother.

[chromatix-wastaken]

Some older artworks I made but forgot to post here, oops!

Not really sure what else to say because I mean I’m not the most active on Tumblr XD

Anyways

This below drawing was a late Earth day post from my object show Last Lifeline. Featuring one of the contestants Red Ink Pen, who despite his emo-ish nature is a surprising fan of nature. Thus, he fit the bill to be put into this drawing. It was made on April 25th.

Now, let’s go the complete opposite direction.

The next day (April 26th), I made an artwork that shows the destruction of nature. But this is not to go against the idea of Earth Day!! Rather, it was inspired by a canonical event that occurred in the camp that Last Lifeline is based off of. Another LL contestant, Chess Piece, had actually caused the volcano to erupt holy shit.

But not through any OP means!! It was done using some leftover explosives (from the prior challenge) and exploiting the thin rock layer on the top of the volcano.

Regardless, there’s only one thing you should do: RUN.

Yeah this was just a double post. Tank you!!

[the-rarest-sexiest-coinkydink]

Happy Campers (Gerard Way x fem!reader)

kinktober day 23(ish): outdoor sex 

Summary: On a camping trip with the guys, Gerard and his girlfriend realise that neither of them are capable of being quiet enough for them to get away with having sex in the tent. Luckily, he has an idea that just might work... 

Word count: 2537

Warnings: tiny bit of a Frikey mention?? If you need warning about that?? But I think that’s it. 

AN: Hello friends! I’m not dead, look! I’m slowly working my way through the last of the kinktober stories (although personal love life crises, a very annoying dose of the emo flu, and two exams I forgot I had to revise for have certainly made it difficult to write. Oops.) 

I mean, maybe you could think of this as a treat, you know? This way, kinktober is actually gonna last wayyy longer than it was intended to. Silver linings and all that. 

As night fell, the five of them huddled a little closer around the fire, each warmed more by the beers they’d been drinking than by the poorly crackling embers. Except Mikey - he’d drunk four or five bottles of Sprite instead, and was now feeling a little bit sick. It was pretty obvious that none of them would be awake for much longer: actually finding their way to the campsite (which had been all the more difficult because none of them really knew how to read a map, and the GPS on their phones was painfully slow) had worn them out, and that was before they’d even set the tents up. There were three two-man tents in their little corner of the site: one for (y/n) and Gerard, one for Frank and Mikey, and one for Ray and everyone’s bags.

This was a set up they were all happy with; they’d done it before and it had worked out just fine. Ray liked his own personal space, Frank secretly liked it when he woke up to find Mikey ‘accidentally’ spooning him, and as the only actual couple it was pretty obvious that (y/n) and Gerard needed their own space. Not that it saved the others from overhearing things. As they’d discovered quite early on in the relationship, neither of them were very good at being quiet when they needed to be.

The evening was getting cooler by the minute, and it showed. Ray had draped his sleeping bag around his shoulders and bunched his knees up to his chest, cupping the almost empty beer bottle close. “Think I’m gonna get some sleep when this is finished, guys. My legs are killing me.” 

With his head in Frank’s lap, eyes closed as the shorter man ran his fingers through his hair, Mikey looked like he was already asleep. “Mmm yeah, sounds good. Might read the comic I brought with me.” 

Frank rolled his eyes. “Well you’d better let me share it this time. Otherwise I’ll have to steal it once you’re done and then the light will be on for twice as long.” 

“Well I’m only gonna share it if you’re gonna read quietly and not keep making stupid comments the whole way through.” 

“See, I can’t promise that.” 

Keeping his hands warm under (y/n)’s hoodie, Gerard nuzzled into her neck. “You wanna go to bed too sweetie?” 

“Yeah, I’m pretty worn out.” She was sat between his legs, her back pressed to his chest as she traced little patterns on his thigh. “It’s been a long day.” 

On the opposite side of the fire, Frank smirked at the two of them. “Is that code for sneaking off for some alone time? ‘Cause you don’t need to bother, you guys are noisy enough that we’d know anyway.” 

(y/n) made a half-assed attempt to chuck a marshmallow at his forehead, snorting when it landed on Mikey’s face and made him blink in confusion. “No, you weirdo. I’m tired after spending the whole day listening to you whining about your feet hurting while we tried to find this place. I actually want some sleep.” 

“Yeah, like I believe that.” 

All groaning softly, stretching their tired limbs, the five of them picked themselves off the ground and kicked the dying fire out properly. Wanting to snuggle down in their tents as soon as possible, they said quick goodnights to each other and ducked inside the thin fabrics, each zipping themselves in for the night. 

As the little reading lamp in the boys tent switched on, Gerard peeled his jeans off and tugged on a pair of soft plaid pyjamas, not missing the way his girlfriend’s eyes lingered on his soft thighs. “I didn’t think walking would tire me out so much, you know? It’s crazy how exhausted I am.” 

“Well, you can blame your little brother’s terrible map reading skills for the amount of walking we ended up doing.” Having changed into her pyjamas earlier in the evening, all (y/n) had to do was snuggle up in the sleeping bag. “C’mere. It’s getting cold already and you’re so warm and cosy.” 

He grinned, tucking himself under the thick material and pulling her into his arms. “Aw, is my baby starting to freeze up? Well we can’t have that.” He settled with her head on his chest, littering kisses across her hair as his arms tightened around her back. He was content like that for a little while before shifting a little, lips trailing from her forehead to her cheeks, and finally to her lips. 

She smiled into the kisses as he moved to hover over her, breaking for just a fraction of a second to make sure that he was resting her head against the pillow rather than the uneven ground that could be felt through the tent’s thin floor. His knee instinctively moved to settle between her thighs as he stroked her waist, giggling a little as her hands wandered into his hair. 

They felt like a pair of naughty teenagers trying to make out at a sleepover without being caught by their friends, especially as his hands slipped beneath her t-shirt. His fingers were surprisingly cold in comparison with the rest of him and she couldn’t help but squeak, the noise lapsing into a sigh as they brushed across her nipples. 

From there, things got a little more heated; hands crept beneath waistbands and hips bucked in search of friction, each of them needing just a little bit more from the other person. But they had good reasons to be holding back. There were only a couple of metres between each tent, and the flimsy material would be basically useless at blocking out sounds. They might as well be getting it on out in the open, it made such little difference.

And as a familiarly needy moan escaped (y/n)’s lips as his knee pressed against her core, the idea came to Gerard like it was obvious. “Honey, you have to be quiet.” 

She squirmed a little. “I don’t think I can. Not if you keep doing that.”

“Then we’ll just have to move somewhere they can’t hear us.” 

A frown creased her forehead. “What are you suggesting?” 

“Well, we aren’t too far off the forest... we’d only have to head a little way past the treeline to get some more privacy.” 

And she realised what he was thinking. “No way.”

“Come on, it’s a great idea.”

“It’ll never work!” 

“Of course it will, you trust me don’t you? I’ll make it work. You can be as loud as you like out there.” 

Thinking it through, she nodded. “Fuck it, let’s do this.” 

Grinning, he sat up and passed her shoes over, shoving his own trainers onto his feet before unzipping the tent and tiptoeing out into the night. It was almost completely dark now, with the little electric lampposts casting a gentle glow across the entire campsite just enough for them to be able to avoid tripping over the other tents - that would certainly be a giveaway that they were up to no good. He tugged her to her feet, catching her against his chest as she stumbled before leading her towards the treeline. 

She hesitated a little as they reached the point half way between their little camp and the woods, folding her arms over her chest as the cool air pricked at her skin. “Hey, you’re not taking me out here because you want to murder me, are you? Because I have to warn you, it’s a terrible idea. You’d get caught before sunrise.” 

“Of course not.” He grinned, tilting her chin up so he could press a soft kiss to her lips. “There’s no way I’m ever getting rid of you.” He took a moment to assess her expression in the dim light, wanting to make sure she was still okay with the idea. “Still up for it? It’s fine if you’ve changed your mind, we can just go back to the tent and smother each other with pillows to keep the noise down.” 

Sliding her hand back into his again, she kissed the tip of his nose. “Nah, I’m still cool. Just... had a sudden thought about all the spiders and insects and shit that might be crawling around.” 

Sweet laughter bubbled from him as he led her on again, keeping her a little closer as they passed the treeline and entered the woods. “Well don’t worry, I promise I’ll protect you from any nasties that are hiding in the dark. That’s what I’m here for.” 

They didn’t go too far in: having to text the others to come and rescue them because they’d got lost trying to find somewhere private for a quick shag would be the embarrassment of the century, and the rest of the band would never let them live it down. They’d probably gone less than ten metres in before finding somewhere that looked ideal to stop; there was a particularly large tree that looked like it would be nice and stable to lean against, and a little ring of space around it that wasn’t crowded with much shrubbery. 

Nodding towards it, Gerard raised an eyebrow - not that she could really see him now they were under the shadowy leaf coverage. “What do you think?” 

“Perfect.” 

“Just like you then.” 

He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently towards it, making sure to protect the back of her head so she didn’t get hurt accidentally. As her back hit the tree, she tugged him closer, bringing her lips to his ear and whispering seductively. “If I get bitten by anything that isn’t you, I’m not kissing you for a month.”

He giggled, sucking another gorgeous purple bruise into the skin of her neck. “So we’ll make it quick then, yeah? Give those nasty bugs less of a chance to take a shot at what’s mine.” 

The way his arms caged her in against the slightly cold wood mixed with the soft possessiveness in his tone made her melt, and she brushed her nose against his. “Sounds like a plan to me.” The ground was mercifully clear of twigs around their feet, meaning they didn’t have to worry about accidentally snapping any. Although it was definitely cold out, the warmth they were both exuding was more than enough to stop it from being a problem - as was the thrill of the thought of fucking each other so openly. Any late night wanderer could pass by. 

“Good.” Gerard tugged her fleecy pyjama bottoms down, leaving them to bunch around her trainers as he pushed her underwear aside. He trailed a finger through her folds, capturing her gasp with a sweet kiss as he shoved his own pants down. At least out here, they didn’t have to worry quite so much about being overheard. She was deliciously warm against his cool fingers, her thighs twitching in anticipation every time he drifted away from her core. Hooking a leg up around his waist and giving himself a few quick strokes, he slid into her with a gentle whine. 

(y/n) dug her fingers into his shoulders, the soft rustle of the leaves in the breeze above barely hiding her moans. It was her absolute favourite thing, to be filled completely by him. No matter what the situation was: sneaking about in tiny store cupboards and tour bus bathrooms, in a specially booked hotel for their anniversary with rose petals and champagne, at home with their entire toy box to play with - wherever they ended up, the one constant was just how good it felt to be as together as it was possible for two people to be. And this moment, together under the stars and damp foliage, was something incredibly beautiful. 

Considering they’d decided it would be a quickie his thrusts were relatively slow, following a languid rhythm that he knew would still drive her insane. One hand rested against her lower back, pulling her hips even closer to his while the other cradled the back of her head. She alternated between letting loose the breathy moans that had been so hard to hold back in the tent and nipping softly at his neck, leaving little marks that would certainly match the ones on her own throat in the morning. 

Every roll of his hips hit just the right places inside her, and soon she was writhing against him, his name falling from her lips in barely discernable whines, the sounds echoing a little amongst the surrounding trees. All concerns about volume were forgotten now - with nobody there to hear them, they could be as loud as they wanted. And so they were. Her sounds pitched up as her orgasm hit, tightening around him as her head fell back against the tree with a soft thud. 

That sudden increase of friction made his hips stutter, and the little keening cry that fell from his lips as he came was almost enough to make her tip over the edge all over again. 

The mixture of his cum and hers trailed across her thighs as he pulled out, groaning softly against her shoulder. He tucked himself back into his pants before helping her pull hers back into place, both of them pulling slight faces at the sticky sensation on their skin. Still, it was a pretty hot reminder of what they’d just been doing - and the others would be none the wiser. 

The two of them crept carefully back to their group’s little set-up, very glad they could remember the route they had taken, giggling softly every time a twig broke under their shoes or one of them stumbled in the dark. The little electric lights hung up nearby illuminated things just enough for them to get back without causing too much chaos, shushing each other as they tried to get back into the tent. 

As they did the zip back up, tucked themselves back into their sleeping bag and cuddled up, they considered the whole operation a success. But as they settled, there was a slight rustling sound from the tent next to theirs. And then voices: first Frank’s, pitched up and breathy, then Mikey’s, in a scarily good impression of his older brother. 

“Oh Gerard, yeah, right there!” 

“(y/n), baby, yes!” 

The two of them were only able to keep the act up for those two sentences before cracking up, howling as they clung to each other’s shoulders in the dark. They each managed a couple of dramatic moans between bouts of laughter, tears rolling down their cheeks. 

(y/n) buried her face into Gerard’s chest, both of them blushing deeply as their friends continued to mock them as much as they could through the wheezing. Then, they heard Ray’s sleepy voice coming from the third tent. 

“Guys, knock it the fuck off. You two are worse than they are. Save it for the morning, okay? I just wanna sleep.” 

That made the couple laugh too, glad that he was on their side - for now, at least. They fully expected him to join in with the teasing the moment he was conscious enough to. Eventually when the others settled down, they finally managed to get to sleep, drifting off in the cool night air. 

It was something they could tick off the bucket list, to say the least. 

[jasminegazer]

Chapter 1 part 2

Almost immediately after class continued, whispers and guesses about who Karai was spread like wildfire. “ what’s going on with her hair?” “She looks like she walk straight out of hot topic.” “Oop! I guess being emo is back style.”

Despite the warm welcome the class had given the new girl or lack there of, April had mixed feelings. To her, Karai looked amazing. But also kind of scary and weirdly cool. ‘Wait why is my stomach churning. And why does my face feel so warm.Wait am I blushing?! At the new girl?! IN SCHOOL?!

Unbeknownst to April, class had ended and almost everyone had left to go to their next class. All except for the one and only Karai. “What?” April gasped as she realized how big of fool she just made of herself. “I said do you know where Room 23B is.” She replied in a sarcastic yet semi sincere tone. “Oh yeah. That’s actually my next class.” April responded.

Get a grip GIRL.We don’t need seem like a complete weirdo to someone on their first day of school.’ April thought to herself.

“Come on I’ll take you.” She continued gathering her books and heading to the door. “You don’t have to pity me because I’m the new girl.” Karai said with a dulled expression on her face as if she had seen this a million times over. “I’m thought you were cool and you asked for help so why not give it to you.” April snapped back playfully “Now come on we’re gonna be late.”“Huh. So some people here are actually cool.” Karai whispered to herself.

Wow that was a long chapter!(this was cringy and weird I am so sorry I didn’t correct it until now)Hope you guys like it.Bye

Previous Masterpost Next

[ivystoryweaver]

hi it’s me again!

could i request a moodboard with marc spector? no specific vibe in mind but a lil ab me, i’ve got pink hair (lol it’s a defining trait), i’m really into movie musicals like la la land, absolutely a romantic, uhhh i wear a lot of black when i pretend to be emo but i’m actually a total lover girl and my fave color is (surprise surprise)pink 🩷

hopefully that’s enough info for ya! 💘

Ummm I love everything about you! @themarvelousbee

This moodboard vibe is that Marc is grumpy as hell, busy with Moon Knight vigilante-ing but always has time for his romantic, wonderful you - be it taking you out on the town, to a movie or just watching the world go by. You can always help him relax and bring a smile to his face, even if you're singing along to the same movie 100 times. Oops I'm a writer so this is getting fic-y.

I had an absolute blast making this!

IvyStoryWeaver's 500 Follower Celebration

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Moon Knight Masterlist

Main Masterlist

[i-am-bitterly-jittery]

If Love Is A Game, I’m Going To Win

Word count: 3652

Rating: gen

Pairings: Prinxiety, Logicality

Warnings: if you’re looking for some fluffy Prinxiety endgame this is not it my dudes, self-discovery, minor swearing, crying, angst

Aromantic!Roman agenda 💚💚🤍🩶🖤

~~~START~~~

It started on a normal day. Roman spent the morning writing ideas in his Hopes and Dreams journal for more videos Thomas could create, then he spent the afternoon adventuring in the Imagination. Where it got weird was when he headed down to the common room to have dinner.

Logan and Patton were kissing in the kitchen. Logan and Patton were kissing. Roman didn’t know that kissing was a thing that they — as different facets of Thomas’s personality — were allowed to do.

“Oops, sorry did you need something, kiddo?” Patton asked once he noticed Roman standing in the doorway gawking at them.

“You two were kissing,” Roman observed dumbly.

“Yes,” Logan confirmed, straightening his glasses and entering teacher-mode. “That is an act that two romantic partners commonly engage in.”

“We’re allowed to have romantic partners!?” Oh, wasn’t this day getting better and better? Roman loved romance but he hadn’t realized that he was allowed to participate in it!

“Sure, kiddo, why wouldn’t we be?” Patton giggled, cuddling up to Logan. They were adorable and if Roman wasn’t so focused on his new revelations, he would have probably jumped right in to demanding to know everything about how they got together.

“I don’t know, I guess I just never thought about it before. Romantic partners,” Roman mused to himself as he sunk out, meal forgotten.

Romantic partners. Oh boy did Roman need a romantic partner by yesterday. Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner!

Romantic partners!

Logan and Patton were obviously out since they were already spoken for.

Remus was a hard-pass-not-in-a-million-years-Roman-would-rather-duck-out-than-date-him no.

Janus was… there was a time when Roman greatly enjoyed the way Janus stroked his ego. That was before Roman realized that it was all just lies to further Janus’s own agenda. So Janus was out.

That left Virgil.

Virgil would be perfect! He was the introvert to Roman’s extrovert. The emo to his prep. The pessimist to his optimist. Plus, they would have this whole enemies-to-friends-to-lovers vibe that made Roman giddy.

Yeah, Virgil was perfect.

Now all Roman had to do was ask him out.

A public display of affection was the obvious route to take, but Roman didn’t think that Virgil would appreciate that very much. Still, a musical serenade would be best. Plus flowers. And chocolate. Oh, and balloons. And confetti!

Roman grabbed his Hopes and Dreams journal and began writing down all his ideas. By the end of the hour, he had almost the entire thing planned out, all he had to do now was set it up and do it.

The actual event had to be pushed back a couple days due to Thomas’s filming schedule, but less than a week after Roman had first seen Patton and Logan kissing, it was time. He knocked on Virgil’s door bright and early in the morning, he had the whole day planned out and there wasn’t a moment to wait!

Except that Virgil didn’t answer the door. So Roman knocked again.

And again.

Finally, after a full five minutes, Virgil wrenched the door open.

“What– oh, hey Princey,” all the annoyance drained from Virgil's face when he spotted Roman. This was going to work. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing wrong, my Nightmarish Nightingale–” that was a compliment, right? “I had just hoped that you would do me the honor of accompanying me on an adventure to the Imagination today!”

“I– now?” Virgil asked, somewhat reluctantly.

“Of course! I have the whole day planned out and there’s not a moment to waste!”

The hopefulness on Roman’s face was probably what melted the Winter Warlock’s heart because Virgil’s reluctance gave way to resignation.

“There better be food,” he warned, stepping completely out of his room.

“Of course! Anything your spooky heart desires!”

The first stop on their soon-to-be date was a charming little cafe that Roman had set up just outside his castle which was filled with Halloween themed cookies and pastries. After that, they went to the tailors for some new clothes (Roman may slay in his usual outfit, he needed to be absolutely stunning when he actually asked Virgil out, not to mention the fact that Virgil’s usual outfit was in no way appropriate for this soon-to-be incredibly romantic occasion). Then they went to the stables to get their horses for their ride through the countryside on their way to the lakeside picnic Roman had set up as his location to serenade the emo Side.

Virgil, it turned out, did not like horses, and horses, no matter how hard Roman tried, did not like Virgil.

“I am so sorry about that,” Roman apologized after Virgil’s horse finally succeeded in throwing him. He dismounted his own horse in order to help the other Side up and make sure he wasn’t too badly hurt by the fall. “I usually have more control over the animals than that, but there’s something about horses that sometimes gives Remus the edge.”

“It’s fine, Roman, seriously,” Virgil assured him as he tried desperately to brush the dirt from his new suit — a rich purple brocade with black threads woven into an intricate skull pattern. Roman waved a hand and all the dirt faded instantly. “Thanks. Can we just go back now?”

“No!” Roman all but screeched. “No, we’re almost there! I just– I have– please, Virgil?” Roman seized Virgil’s hand imploringly. “It’s just a little bit further, we can walk it in no time.”

Virgil looked down at their joined hands then back up at Roman’s face, his cheeks a little redder than before.

“Just a little further?” He asked reluctantly.

“Barely even five minutes, I swear on my sword.”

Sigh. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Yay!” Roman pressed on to their destination, never letting go of Virgil’s hand.

He did mentally shorten the way to the lake — he had planned a much longer ride — so as to not break his promise, and they soon emerged into a clearing on the shores of a lake where a picnic was set up on the beach and a small rowboat sat ready at the end of a small dock.

“Oh wow,” Virgil marveled as he took in the scene.

Roman finally dropped Virgil’s hand in order to unpack the picnic basket for them. “Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” Virgil complimented. Roman beamed.

The day was going perfectly other than the horse ride, and Roman couldn’t be happier.

…except that it didn’t quite feel the same way it did when Thomas was partaking in romantic activities. Obviously Roman knew that he wouldn’t feel exactly the same as Thomas did since he was a facet rather than a complex human being, but Roman didn’t even feel the same way that Roman felt during Thomas’s romantic escapades.

But all of that could be pushed to the side because that was Thomas and this was Roman, it was different. It made sense.

After their lunch Roman ushered Virgil onto the boat so that they could get to the next and most important step in Roman’s plan: the serenade. For this serenade Roman had chosen, obviously, I See The Light from Disney’s Tangled. Perfect song, perfect movie, perfect location. At no point did it occur to Roman to explicitly ask Virgil out, the song made it obvious, obviously.

On their walk back to town — which Roman had once again shortened but was still about ten minutes — Roman grabbed Virgil’s hand once more.

“I’m reading this situation correctly, right?” Virgil asked as he stared at the joined hands.

Roman was staring at their hands too. He had held hands with both Virgil and the others on numerous occasions, but this time it felt different. Like he could feel every millimeter on his hand where it was pressed against Virgil’s.

It didn’t feel particularly nice, it just felt overwhelming.

“I certainly hope so,” Roman chuckled as he tried to shake the uneasy feeling. “The rest of the day would be awkward otherwise.”

“You have more planned?” Virgil laughed incredulously.

“Of course! Grand romantic gestures are my specialty!”

Virgil shook his head, but he was smiling, so Roman thought he was enjoying himself. “Do I get to know any of these plans?”

“Most shall remain a surprise, my Melodramatic Melody, but I will tell you that I have fireworks planned for the grand finale, unless you find fireworks too distressing, in which case I could make them quieter, or could change course slightly if you’d prefer.”

“Quieter should work just fine,” Virgil assured him. “Especially if I know they’re coming.”

“As you wish,” Roman smiled as they entered town.

The rest of the day consisted of a leisurely stroll through the palace rose gardens, a private viewing of the Nightmare Before Christmas in the palace’s movie theater, and a romantic candlelit dinner in the Imagination’s finest restaurant. Finally, at the end of the day, a horseless carriage ride around town while muted fireworks lit up the sky in dazzling displays.

“It looks great, Roman,” Virgil commented as he watched the fireworks out the carriage window.

“Not as great as you,” Roman said, enjoying the way Virgil’s face blushed. There were a lot of elements of the day that hadn’t quite felt right, but he always enjoyed watching Virgil blush red under his white foundation.

Eventually, Roman noticed Virgil trying to stifle yawns and had the carriage take them back to the palace. From there they exited the Imagination, and Roman walked Virgil back to his room.

“I had a good time today, Princey,” Virgil smiled as they walked.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Um, if I could just ask one thing, next time you want to spend the entire day doing something, can you give me some heads up? Like, you don’t need to tell me what exactly, but maybe a general idea of what and how long?”

“That’s fair. I may have gotten a bit carried away; I was just so excited.”

“It’s all good. Thanks, Roman.”

Virgil had stopped in front of his door and turned to face Roman somewhat expectantly. It wasn’t until that moment that Roman remembered that goodnight kisses were practically a date staple. He hadn’t considered kissing before now, but faced with the expectation, he panicked slightly.

Instead, he did the first thing that came to mind: he grabbed Virgil’s hand and brought his knuckles to his mouth.

“Farewell and pleasant dreams my Sweet and Sour Lemon Drop!”

Virgil looked a little bemused, but not disappointed by the exchange. “Goodnight my, uh, Dazzling Prince.”

Roman beamed at the term of endearment before turning dramatically and making his way back to his own room. Once he was alone his smile dropped. Virgil had seemed to enjoy their date, but it hadn't quite felt right to Roman.

Clearly, he was doing something wrong.

Maybe he hadn’t been trying hard enough?

Whatever it was, Roman fell asleep lost in thought and his dreams were plagued by imperfect dates, social faux pas, and curses placed by dragonwitches.

Roman was just about ready to crawl out of his skin. It had been two weeks, but still Roman couldn’t shake the feeling that he was fucking up at every turn.

Nothing he did felt right. He and Virgil hung out in the living room, and Roman couldn’t stop wishing Virgil would get tired and leave. They went on dates in the Imagination, and he couldn’t stop wishing that he was on a quest alone.

Even when not in a date-setting, Roman was so hyper aware of where Virgil was that it was driving him batty. If Virgil so much as entered a room that Roman was already in, Roman would tense up until he’d either sat down away from Roman or left again. He was dating Virgil; he shouldn’t be feeling afraid of him!

It had to be some sort of curse!

Virgil, he was certain, had yet to notice Roman’s discomfort. Patton and Logan on the other hand…

“Alright there, kiddo?” Patton asked, having just witnessed Roman practically flinch when Virgil walked past him to the kitchen.

“I’m right as rain, padre!” Roman assured him, aiming for upbeat. Judging by the frown on Patton’s face, he’d missed the mark.

“Are you sure?”

“Now that you mention it, I am feeling a little tired,” Roman yawned, hoping for an easy escape. “I think I might go have myself a little cat nap.”

“Do you want to reschedule our date tonight?” Virgil asked, returning from the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, mi amor!” Roman reassured him, kissing Virgil’s knuckles once more. He’d pull that move probably too many times in the past week, but luckily it was very in-character for him, and Virgil had yet to question it. “Just a little nap, and then two hours to do my makeup and I shall be ready to sweep you off your feet!”

He sank out after that in fear that if he stuck around any longer Patton might call him out in front of Virgil. He wasn’t actually tired though, so he instead spent his time making sure their date would be perfect.

Whatever Roman’s problem was, it was clear that he just wasn’t trying hard enough during his and Virgil’s dates, so tonight, under the moonlight, he would finally kiss his boyfriend, and like a fairytale, the curse would be broken, and everything would fall right into place.

It just needed to be perfect.

As he always did when they had a date in the Imagination, Roman picked Virgil up from his room and the two of them walked to the Imagination together. Their date would be a royal ball in Roman’s castle; Virgil was once again dressed in his brocade suit from their first date while Roman had picked out a stunning floor-length red gown with a plunging neckline and a train longer than Thomas was tall.

As they danced, Roman began to regret his choice of date. Virgil was pressed all the way up against him with one hand on his waist and the other in one of Roman’s — it was too much contact and it was making Roman jittery.

A thunderous crack echoed through the castle.

“What was that?” Virgil asked, looking around the ballroom for the source. There was nothing to be seen.

“Probably just Remus playing a game somewhere,” Roman suggested, mentally berating himself for his unexpected lapse in concentration. “Nothing to worry about, my Spooky Sweetheart!”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive.”

The music started back up and the two continued their dance. Roman shifted his focus on his surroundings in an attempt to ignore the unpleasant buzzing Virgil’s touch caused beneath his skin.

All was going well until Virgil started to lean in.

His lips were barely an inch from Roman’s before the ground started shaking. A second, even louder crack tore through the ballroom, and seconds later the north end of the room broke away as though falling from a cliff.

“Roman!” Virgil yelped, staring at the wreckage.

This was a disaster, but Roman had a mission. He just needed to kiss Virgil, and everything would be perfect. He cupped the side of Virgil’s head to turn him towards him then cut off Virgil’s confused sound by smashing their lips together.

There had to be some sort of technique to this, and in the back of his mind, Roman knew that he knew it because Thomas knew it. But the technique didn’t come to him, and Roman ended up just aggressively pressing their mouths together.

Virgil flailed for a few seconds before firmly pushing Roman away. The rest of the castle cracked and fell until Roman and Virgil were left staring at each other in shocked silence, surrounded by the ruins of the castle.

“That always works in the movie,” Roman mused sadly, mostly to himself.

“What works?” Virgil asked, looking thoroughly shaken.

“Kissing,” Roman answered. “It’s supposed to fix everything — break the curse and stuff!”

Virgil opened his mouth, then closed it again. “Roman,” he said slowly. “I need you to be clear about this: what curse?”

“The curse that makes it hard for me to be around you,” Roman shrugged.

Virgil’s face fell, and before Roman could say anything else, he’d sunken out.

“Wow!” A voice mused behind Roman. “That was so much better than what I was going to do!”

“FUCK OFF, REMUS!” Roman screamed. Only silence followed.

It was about an hour later — an hour that Roman spent wallowing in misery and making uncomfortable realizations about himself — that someone knocked on Roman’s door. He opened the door because he was expecting Patton and he could use one of his Patton-ted hugs.

It was not Patton.

“Oh,” Roman sighed dejectedly. “I thought you were Patton.”

“Ah yes well Virgil was crying, and I thought it might be best for Patton to handle him.” Logan replied, seemingly taking little offense at the statement.

“What would you have done if I were crying?” Roman asked. Truthfully, he mostly just felt numb, Logan was probably safe from any overly emotional responses.

“I have a list!” Logan informed him excitedly, pulling out his notebook and flipping to a marked page. “It’s tailored to Patton, but I believe you would find many of the items to be agreeable!”

Roman glanced at the list and yeah, Disney movies and cuddling with someone non-romantically sounded excellent. Much better than it had when he and Virgil had done that exact same thing as a date.

“You got me there, Teach.” He was going for enthusiasm, but he couldn’t have been more off the mark.

“Hmm.” Logan’s eyes surveyed Roman searchingly. “Would you like to tell me what happened?”

“What did Virgil tell you?”

“I did not manage to get much coherent information out of Virgil, though Remus has informed me that you quote ‘flipped your shit’ end quote.”

“I was stupid,” Roman sighed. “Just one, gigantic, prince-shaped idiot! I fucked up worse than when Woody pushed Buzz out the window!”

“That is a very emotional response, with what appears to be an unhealthy dose of bias and exactly zero helpful clues as to what transpired between you and Virgil earlier — unless what you did was push Virgil out of a window.”

“No, I–” Roman choked. “I just– I was so excited by the prospect of having a romantic partner, that I didn’t stop to wonder whether or not I should have a romantic partner!”

Logan’s brow furrowed. “I am afraid I’m not quite following.”

“I think I’m aromantic,” Roman confessed. The word had been sitting heavily in his chest for the past hour, but now that it was out there, he felt the weight had been lifted. “I think I’m more excited by the idea of romance than I am by the experience of it — or at least, me experiencing it — and I know I chose Virgil because he was the most convenient option. I played with his feelings; I am unworthy of the title of Prince.”

“Beating yourself up over guilt is not a productive use of anyone’s time,” Logan stated simply. “Sometimes experimentation is required to learn things about ourselves, and sometimes those experiments accidentally hurt people. The best thing to do is apologize.”

“I know,” Roman sighed, rubbing a hand over his face — his makeup had long since been ruined so it hardly mattered now. “Can we do some of the things on your list afterwards?”

“Of course.”

Patton and Virgil were on the couch in the living room when Roman and Logan found them. Virgil was in Patton’s lap, clinging to him like his life depended on it, and didn’t seem to notice the others’ arrival. Patton sent Roman a reassuring smile.

Roman steeled himself up, mostly helped by the firm but gentle hand Logan had on his shoulder.

“Virgil?”

The Anxious Side froze for a moment before slowly pulling back from where his face was buried in Patton’s shoulder. His eye shadow was smeared across his entire face, but he said nothing.

“I need to apologize to you,” Roman continued, focusing on Logan’s calming presence. “It was not my intention to use you like I did, but I did, and for that I am so very sorry.”

Virgil said nothing.

“I was too excited by the idea of a romantic relationship that it took everything literally falling apart around me to realize that I didn’t want to be in one. You didn’t deserve to be my guinea pig. I hurt you and I will try my hardest to make it up to you because I value your friendship above anything.”

“...okay,” Virgil finally croaked before burying his face in Patton’s shoulder once more.

“I’m very proud of you, kiddo,” Patton smiled at Roman gently. “I think Vee needs some time now, okay?”

“Yeah, alright,” Roman agreed. He still felt awful, but he knew Patton was right.

“May I?” Roman turned to find Logan watching him expectantly.

“Sure,” Roman accepted, though he wasn’t quite sure what Logan was asking.

Logan took his hand — it felt nice when Logan did it, platonically, with no expectations — and sank out. They came up in Logan’s room, where the bookworm’s desk had been temporarily replaced with an in-home theater.

“My library, of course, contains every movie and television program that Thomas has ever seen,” Logan explained as he led Roman over the couch. He sat down and pulled Roman down with him, shifting them both around until he determined them to be in the perfect position — no doubt Logan had boiled cuddling down to a science. “We can watch anything you would like.”

“Moana?” Roman requested. He didn’t think he could watch a romance-heavy movie right now.

“Of course,” Logan promised.

Despite how poorly it had all gone down, platonically cuddling with Logan while watching Disney movies was the most content Roman had been in weeks. He drifted off to sleep to the sounds of Auli’i Cravalho and The Rock returning the heart of Te Fiti.

~~~END~~~

Vaguely based off of the six months in high school where I had a 🤢 boyfriend 🤮 (it was a time 🙃), and the fact that my college roommate (who I’m not sure is aromantic but def has the vibes) calls tinder her “game”

General taglist

@royalty-of-all-things-snuggly @pixelated-pineapple @arsonic-knight @misunderstood-shadowling

[mayahawkins]

no one asked me to list my fav blogs but i’m just gonna make my own end of year follow forever bc i wanna rant abt my talented friends, beloved mutuals, and just people i follow that i have never spoken to but who are such a joy to see on my dash. so, without further ado, maddy’s 2022 follow forever:

@strangeswift abby strangeswift, my beloved. you were the first person i talked to in this fandom and i’m so glad u were bc u are the sweetest most kind person ever. you are so supportive of all your friends and mutuals and u make me wanna be a more outwardly loving and supportive person fr. i remember when u wrote that lil ficlet based on my text post and i’m p sure i almost cried bc i felt so special that someone had been inspired by something i had said to write smth so wonderful. you’re an incredible writer and i am always so excited anytime you post any of your writing. i can’t wait to read more of your fics and am so patiently waiting for MilevenVision (as much as i may bug u for crumbs). i’m so glad to call you a friend <3

@elekinetic ella ella, bonded in shared discord trauma so ur never getting rid of me. i feel so honoured to call you a friend bc you are one of the best people i know. you are so smart and level-headed and loyal as hell to your friends. you are also so kind and you're so deliberate with what you say and how you say it. you defs intimidated me the first few times we talked but now im like oh ya ella, my amazing talented friend ella. your scripts give me so much life. and not just your st ones but your original ones as well. can't wait to one day see "ella elekinetic hexagirl" in movie credits (bc obviously ur last name is ur url). and your OCs?? i have never once become obsessed with someone's OCs the way i can't stop thinking abt yours. that's what you've done to me. you are so incredibly talented and ily <3

@andiwriteordie ANNDDIIIIII ILY FR <3 u are so insanely talented and kind and wonderful. i’m so happy we started talking recently bc u have truly brightened the last few weeks of the year. u got me back into watching merlin so thank u for the pain u will surely cause me as i rewatch this show i haven’t seen in almost a decade. ur fics were some of the first that i read in the byler fandom and that means u will always hold a special place in my heart. i remember the first time i read your let's hear it for the boys series and i was just like omg i'm obsessed with this. i have absolutely adored every single one i’ve read (even though i’m a lil behind on them rn oops but i will catch up) and can’t wait to see what else you write. your atla!au (and the newly brainstormed merlin!au) live in my head rent free and i can’t wait to read them if you write them.

@nnilkyway my fellow emo will truther <3 yvie i love you dearly. you are so incredibly talented i could scream abt ur artwork literally for days. your fanworks and your original art and your doodles are all beautiful and stunning. the day we started talking and you sent me the lil doodle you did of emo will byers i think i actually cried at how much i loved it and that it had come from our conversation about it. i saved it onto my camera roll so i can come back to it easier that's how much i love it. you are also one of the funniest people on here, your tags almost always have me rolling. i can't wait to see what beautiful art you draw in the new year.

@finalgirlbyers sierra lovqbrl madcleradin finalgirlbyers!!!! i know we haven’t talked much but i love seeing u on my dash and u always have the best takes and theories and just posts in general. i know i've said that literally multiple times to you but it cannot be overstated how correct you always are. one of my fav people to follow on here.

people i don't talk to but whose presence is a joy to have on my dash:

@astrobei an absolutely incredible writer that wrote some of my fav fics. one of the best will fics, not all the prayers, that truly is just so unbelievably amazing. like the care that you can just tell went into that fic is just incredible. Some absolutely incredible lines that will punch you right in the gut in the best way possible.

@blueeandyellowmakesgreen jade! one of the coolest people, has some of the most amazing art over on @azuries, like it's actually so amazing and people need to go look at it and reblog it now immediately

@mlchaelwheeler an absolute joy to follow. so many good posts and im fr rooting for mike with a sword in s5 just for her

@elmaxed their fics were some of the first i read in the byler fandom and i absolutely fell in love with them. they hold such a dear place in my heart. also one of the sweetest people fr, one of the first to compliment my gifs and so they are forever in my mind for that <3

@smoosnoom omg their fics!!! are!!!! incredible!!!! so many wonderful fics, i was just looking through my bookmarks and i swear half of them are theirs. the one about mike's will voice has my whole heart.

@wiseatom another lovely fic writer, and one who titles her fics with taylor swift lyrics bc she Gets It!!! also one of the sweetest people in the fandom, always seems to be supporting other people.

@kidovna one of the most talented artists in this fandom oh my GOD. i cannot praise her and her art enough idk how what else to even say besides amazing incredible talented showstopping

@byeler wrote one of my all time fav fics, Heavy Hopes, with my beloved trope, oblivious jealous mike, which is truly *chef's kiss*. such a good writer like it cannot be overstated

@ice-sculptures a truly amazing gifmaker. gifs so many little byler moments that are so precious that i've definitely missed when watching the show.

@william-byers an absolutely incredible gif maker. taylor swift and stranger things together on one blog, what more could you want?

@padme-amidala makes some of the most beautiful gifs ever oh my goodness, her gifs are part of what inspired me to start making gifs and to challenge my gifmaking. i hope to one day be as good as she is.

@robiinbuckley also makes some of the most beautiful gifs, literally in awe of her gifs. also inspired my gifmaking journey and has inspired me to challenge myself when it comes to gifmaking.

[unsleepingtales]

Finale Time. I have food, I have a drink, let’s do this.

Three whole hours <3

Somehow I forgot about the outfits.

Former emo kid Murph is so dear to me

Lipstick by Rick Perry!

$217 at hot topic would not buy six outfits I hate to break it to you.

They all look great, but. Zac looks really good.

Mazey’s mini looks so cool!

Like some kind of fucked up pokemon

Naur

That was spinning for so long oh my god

18 D10????

Holy shit!!!

You’re saying that the shatter stars were parasitically possessing the rat grinders. That’s what you’re telling me right now. PLEASE bad kids hear and process what that means. Please.

Noooo Mazey

Oop

You’re telling me Buddy Dawn isn’t absurdly charismatic? Wild.

Fuck!

FUCK YOU MAN

Oh my god

I’m gonna throw up

Oh my fucking god if Gorgug perma dies I’m gonna. Be upset.

Excuse me?? Is that what he says??

He’s lying girl!!!

OOOOOHHH

Oh god

:( bye kipperlilly

Devastating!

No.

FUCK.

Oh god the hat.

I love the skeleton hand over Siobhan’s pink glove I think that’s fun

FUCK the failed death saves are so bad

God what an incredible turn from Adaine

Someone please incorporate Jace calling Porter ‘Boss’ into their Starbreaker fic

Did not like that sound at the start of Jace’s turn

It really is circus hours you’re so right Ally

Cool hand :)

(Brennan mimics Bigby’s Hand jiggling impotently) god

THANK GOD

I will admit that Zac’s casual ‘well that’s fun because I rolled a 33’ was hot. It was.

Awww the song from the first episode <3

That was a sick move.

I’m so stressed guys

Don’t do this to me don’t do this to me actually I don’t care :(

Yeah making the minis kiss is d&d. That’s what d&d is about

ITS SQUEEM WITH A STEEL CHAIR SIX CORTADOS

And Balthazar!

Mass healing word cast via cortados 😭😭

Awww Fabian’s version of German Shepherd mode!

Kisses and a girlfriend!!

It’s great that you’re wearing a black lip while you’re doing this Lou. It’s great

Oh you’re fucking kidding me

Oh christ

Oh my god

This is what a lot of dms look like yeah

I do love that apparently the big difference is really that K2 lives in a world dmed by Zac Oyama

HER PARENTS GOT DIVORCED?????????

I’m gonna lose it

I really hope Brennan gets to take a minute

Cotton candy lung?????

(Murph cackling in slo mo)

Some god is having so much fun with Brennan right now

Oh my god

OH MY GOD????

K2 is on earth right now. In England. In Austin. Somewhere.

Oh that’s so upsetting. Brennan is really going through it.

THATS HER VAPE

K2 is granted true life. K2 is now a human cleric who has a memory of Kristen’s life but in England.

Just mirrors that anatomy just in a British way.

I’m gonna lose my goddamn mind.

THANK YOU ADAINE <3 Kristen already has sisters!!

Hi Cassandra! Are you just. Back now?

AND THEN SHE BOWS

MLADY

Somehow I don’t think it was Porter saying ‘enough’

We never followed up with them

Oh noooooo

I do not appreciate the paladin hate! Just because this paladin was evil does not mean that the entire class is bad! Fig is also a paladin!

God I’m stressed and there’s still an hour and a half left

Sandra Lynn!! Jawbone!! Lydia!! Ragh!!

YOU DO PLUR WITH BALTHAZAR?????

AGENT CLARK????????

One: why does he count as an ally Two: this really is so unhinged at this point

Fuck

She has faith in her friends and maybe that’s enough <3

Oh that’s so smart. Siobhan Thompson you’re so incredibly smart.

New Gorgug ability!!!

Thank you for not letting k2 get this one

That’s not justice

Love a (potentially unintentional) callback to Fig pretending to be a bouncer in freshman year

God Ankarna is so beautiful

I really love all the mini shots

Oh Emily found her camera for that one

Oh god okay we actually get some emotions thank you

My potential is mine. And I can do with it what I want to do with it.

Goddammit Ally Beardsley. You’re really good at this.

Ohhh god Gorgug and Kristen are the first to find each other. Hold on that’s gotta be its own post.

You don’t wanna kill your mom and get your inheritance though?

Riz Gukgak you kill me dead. Riz Gukgak I can’t.

Oh god if they cry I’m gonna cry

Emily Axford the person you are.

Friends can hurt each other so deeply and it’s so painful.

Please. Let him understand. Let her help him understand.

Oh my god. Maybe this is the one that gets me. The release from parental expectation.

Oh god okay thank you Cassandra’s back that was what I needed.

Now go away. Literally forever.

You crack a cortado???

The purple hair really brings out Beardsley’s eyes. I’m listening to them and what they’re saying and it’s beautiful but also their eyes are lovely.

Rebellion without hope for a dawn is cynical

God they’re mirroring the painting.

They’re married! They’re back together and they’re going to rest

Is SQUEEM Ankarna’s familiar 😭

Wait so who are you bringing back

Arthur Aguefort driving a station wagon

AYDA!!!!!

Well dang.

That’s some narc shit 💀💀

President Applebees.

Lucy’s back? Lucy’s back!!!

Okay so they are bringing the rat grinders back. Okay.

Zac Oyama….. hiiii

Hey WHAT.

WHAT

I LIKE TO SIT DOWN?????? THAT’S THE MOVE??????

What are you Talking about

The world does not rest on what college you go to. It just doesn’t.

Bitchy sisters my beloveds <3

Uncle Ray!!!!!!!! I love this I love this for him

OOF

Why is Telemaine there

CATHILDA ART!!!!!!

Yesssssss

The odds are quite literally one in one hundred Brennan.

They’re comedians!!!! They’re so good at comedy!

Josh???

The child???

Josh get ready for warrrrr Josh

Awwww yayyyy

Yesss get Riz student gov on his resume!!

Oh Trackerbees. They know each other better than most people and they have love for each other.

Nooooo Kristennnnn

Okay that was an unreasonable expectation

I will not understand this for years 😭😭

Hmm. Feeling weird about Trackerbees but what else is new.

Gorgug made Fig an effects pedal. Oh god.

Why are you giving her THAT BENCH

Ooooh Gorgug teaching would be fun

Hey WHAT

Tip top! [and he turns into birds]

Oh Fig and Sandra Lynn. Oh god.

Aguefort never holds podcasts against anyone

Oh boy oh boy!

KALINA!!!!!

What a show. What a time. It’s been an honor to spend the past five months with everybody here on d20 tumblr, and I’ll see you at Basrar’s 💜💜

[horrendous-bisexual-showdown]

Poll 1

Hinata (She/They) by @to-hell-with-good-intentions

Why Should Your OC Win?

Okay buckle up. First of all? Bisexual. Painfully so. She’s in love with a girl and it’s adorable and sickening. She spends every waking hour being like “I get to see Chloe today. I love Chloe. I can’t wait to talk to Chloe.” When she’s actually IN A BUILDING with Chloe she’s a wreck. Cannot stop giggling. Looks up every time someone passes by in case it’s Chloe. She’s trying to figure out how to ask her out but her only ideas have been “Scientists are interested in science just like I’m interested in you” or “Want a raisin? No? How about a date?” She’s the frontman of an emo cover band and also plays the bass. She’s got CFS and uses a wheelchair. She’s a scene girl with an ungodly amount of hair dye in her closet. She burns water. Sets fire to instant ramen. Can’t figure out how to work a tea bag. She’s horrible functionally but wonderful in theory. She’s my favourite. My blorbo. My skrunkly. She deserves to win everything ever.

What is Your OC Like?

She’s so caring. She carries around candies and hair clips in case her friends are sad. She’s kind and kinda stupid and gentle and confused all the time. She loves to laugh and does so often. She gives all of herself to others without expecting anything in return (this is often not a good thing). She considers everyone she’s ever talked to her bestie but is nervous to say so in case they don’t reciprocate. She gets her mom to adopt all her closest friends. She’s failing almost every class, especially English. And she’s a disaster. And autistic. And ADHD. End scene.

Sorin Witherstone (He/Him) by @bonetrix-arts

Why Should Your OC Win?

Because he's a TTRPG character that spawned from an old D&D campaign where I played as Sans Undertale the Horny Bisexual Bard and I think that's very funny.

What is Your OC Like?

This man is a mess. His father is missing and his mother is dead. His little brother is a weird lil guy and there's this strange black cat that just appears in his apartment sometimes. He's in a polyamorous relationship with his two partners; Sebastian Plight (literally just The Lamplighter from OneShot) and Ellis Grayton (a hot hot woman awooga I love women btw). He writes music and plays at a local coffee shop where his bestie Eugene works as a barista. He might also have a little crush on Eugene so oop. He also has a fat crush on the detective sent to help work on his father's dissapearance case; Mysterium Imerty (my bestie's oc omg hi bestie!!). He also is so cringefail but has somehow pulled more bitches than any man that pathetic rightfully should. His girlfriend Ellis is also a detective sent to work on his dad's dissapearance case and he somehow rizzed that cutie wth a southern accent up (god knows how he managed that). He's also tormented in his nightmares by his original iteration which, if you'll remember, is **Sans Fucking Undertale**. Just imagine falling asleep next to your hot purple boyfriend and some 3 and a half ft tall skeleton-ass motherfucker appears in your dream bitching about how he should be the one with the hot boyfriend and successful music career and skin. Wouldn't that just make you want to win a Tumblr poll?

[heizlut]

What are your favorite and least favorite genshin men?

thanks for asking!! i’ll even try to give some actual reasoning for my choices lol

faves: (this is gonna be a long one lmao)

Heizou- (obviously) the way he flirts is so hot. he’s really such a big tease

Kaeya- that man is PACKING. like is it really necessary to wear pants that tight? (not that i’m complaining tho👀)

Albedo- the ultimate rizzler. the true husbando collector. not even lyney can reach the level of rizz he has

Aether- i go feral over him and his slutty little waist UGH love him. i even mained him up until i pulled wanderer in 3.8 (i think i was also AR48 at the time so aether has spent the most time on my team)

Dottore- look i know this man is a fucking monster but as the saying goes “if evil, why hot?”. i would let him experiment on me fr

Xiao- emo babie. i love him so much, he makes me feel so many things all at once

Scaramouche/Wanderer- look, i have a huge degradation kink so i think this is self explanatory LMFAO if he stepped on me, i would thank him. pretty sure he will be my main all the way to the end of the game tbh

Diluc & Alhaitham- there’s something about a serious, emotionally unavailable man that really gets me going

Kaveh- BABYGORL POOKIE PRINCESS!!! i kin him. i love him. i would do anything to make him happy 🥺

Venti & Itto- they bring out the dom side of me fr i want to ruin them in the best way possible (but if they decide to dom, holy shit, on my knees immediately)

Gorou & Tighnari- they awakened something within me. i read one rut/knot fic and i went feral ever since

Cyno- he falls into the emotionally unavailable and stoic man category. he’s so pretty though and i would definitely unironically laugh at all his jokes, im pretty easy to entertain

Wriothesley- his idle animation where he twirls his handcuffs? oops suddenly i’m a criminal in need of restraining

EDIT: Kazuha: how could i forget my other sweet boi. i cherish him so much

least fav:

Baizhu: idk something about him is off to me. also he coughs a lot and it’s gross lmao also his snake pisses me off hahah i just don’t like her attitude

Neuvillette: i hate to be that person i’m so sorry. yes he’s very pretty and is an amazing character, i just find him to be… kinda boring? idk what i expected. normally he would probably fall into the stoic, emotionally unavailable category but he’s like too stoic and serious in such a way that makes him boring to me

Lyney: i have a love hate relationship with this man. i love how forward he is when he’s flirting and he’s quite nice to look at but again there’s just something about him that i just don’t like. idk i feel like he’s very self absorbed in way.

Dainsleif: another love hate relationship. he’s so mysterious and pretty but the way he barely gives any crumbs when he gets screentime annoys me lol

Pierro: he’s hot i guess but like idk how to explain what i’m trying to say without sounding fucking insane lmfao i guess he just reminds me of an evil santa claus HAHAHA

Childe: realistically he and i would probably get along the best out of any of the guys listed (beside kaveh). we’re very similar in personality but he’s only part of the least fav category because he’s kinda cringey lmao i mean that in an endearing way but also in the way that i want to strangle him (although he would probably be into that lol) also his stupid little jacket makes me mad, why does it look like that. I appreciate the tummy window but i think he would’ve looked way better in some kind of button down with a chest window 🤷🏻‍♀️

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Putting Yourself First

Virgil didn't go to the wedding because he knew it would go to shit. He didn't quite realise he would have such an influence whne it came to dealing with that shit afterwards.

Or, Roman is very upset by the proceedings after the wedding and turns to Virgil for help

----

| Ao3 |

Warnings: Panic attacks, kinda angst.

Pairings: No romantic pairings, platonic prinxiety.

Word Count: 4444

Notes: I've been writing this one for a hot second, lol. I've wanted to write an aftermath fic about Roman dealing with POF basically since I watched it. Here's that.

Possibly going to write a part two but no promises because I'm lazy and currently have seven other oneshots and a long fic that I'm working on at the same time sooo... oop.

I hope you enjoy!

P.S. woah look at me go, two fics in two days? How is this possible!! Well don't worry! There's more where that came from :D (this one's actually been finished and sitting in my Google Doc for a hot second, haha)

----

There was a crash and Virgil’s music stopped playing, it took him a moment to realise that he’d jumped so badly at the sound that he’d yanked his headphones cord out of his phone. He sighed, pulling off his headphones and putting them down on his desk, investigating whatever caused that crash was probably important.

Finding the source of the noise was actually a very simple task. When he looked around he found that his dresser had been knocked out of place, causing his mirror and a lot of his jewellery- as well as some figurines and his very emo plant- to fall from the shelf. What worried him the most though, was the fact that Roman was on his floor. 

The Prince was curled tightly into a ball; Virgil could quite easily figure out that Roman had stumbled in here, crashed into his dresser and then fallen. After a double take Virgil realised that Roman was also crying. Well, at least he could guess that the wedding he had refused to show up for didn’t go well, then.

“Roman?” Virgil said softly as he picked up his plant, hastily scooping as much of the spilled soil back into the pot and placing it back on the dresser before kneeling down next to the prince. Roman’s shoulders shook, though he didn’t make any move to indicate that he’d heard Virgil.

“Can you hear me, Roman?” Virgil asked softly, although his entire brain was screaming at him- obviously something was very very wrong if Roman was panicking- he never seemed bothered by anything “I need you to take a breath for me, alright?”   

“V-Virgil-” Roman choked out, trying to reach for him, Virgil let Roman grab his wrist.

“Yeah Princey, I’m here,” Virgil answered, patting Roman’s arm, “You remember the- the breathing exercises Logan and I had you guys practice?”

“I- Virgil I- I fucked up- I fu-fucked up really bad-” Roman choked out, between shallow breaths and sharp sobs.

“Roman,” Virgil said firmly, “I don’t care what happened or what you did right now, ok? You can explain later, you- you’re having a panic attack right now, and I really need you to calm down a little before you try and talk,”

Roman whimpered, before leaning forward and bumping his head against Virgil’s chest. Virgil took his free hand and placed it on Roman’s back, slowly beginning to rub comforting circles.

“Copy my breathing, alright?” Virgil instructed gently as he tried his best to regulate his own breathing into a steady rhythm.

Slowly Roman’s breathing slowed and deepened, though it didn’t quite return to it’s usual level, Virgil realised a little too late that Roman wouldn’t be able to completely calm down in his room. Being in Virgil’s room would only make this worse in the end.

“Come on, I’m going to sink us out to the commons, is that alright?” Virgil asked, Roman shook his head immediately, gripping tighter to his sleeve as a new wave of fear fell over his face, “Woah woah ok, not the commons then, I need you to keep trying to breathe for me, how about your room?”

Roman paused, before nodding. Virgil hummed an acknowledgement before sinking them both out into Roman’s room, they bounced a little as they landed on his bed, though Virgil was able to breathe deeply as the oppressive atmosphere of his own room fell from his shoulders. Roman seemed better off as well, though he was still crying. 

“Alright, now you’ve calmed down a little, are you up for telling me what happened?” Virgil asked, not letting go of Roman. The prince didn’t make any move to let go of him either, though he did tense up when Virgil asked.

“I fucked up- Virge- I really, really fu-fucked up,” Roman answered, trying to wipe away his tears with his sleeve before Virgil summoned the box of tissues from across the room and passed one to him silently.

“You might have to elaborate on that one, buddy,” Virgil said softly, rubbing Roman’s shoulder.

“W-well I guess I just- we were- eugh,” Roman growled, shaking his hands.

“Take as long as you need, Ro,” Virgil mumbled, “Words are hard,”

“That’s certainly right,” Roman said with a sad laugh, before taking a deep breath, “After the wedding I guess we were- Patton and Thomas and I- were talking about- moral stuff and- and- Logan was trying to- and then Deceit showed up-”

“Of course he did,” Virgil shook his head, annoyed.

“He- he had good points but- anyway- I uh- god Virgil I was such an asshole,” Roman sighed, “He… told us his name,”

“He what,” Virgil said, now glaring over Roman’s head at his door to the imagination instead.

“Yeah.. and… and I think- I think Patton accepted him,” Roman mumbled.

“He what?” Virgil hissed, “How could he- how could he accept that- that snake! After everything-”

“Virgil- I-I laughed at him- when he told us,” Roman whispered, Virgil’s anger immediately fizzled out at Roman’s defeated tone, “I was just- so riled up from everything that happened and then- he- he chose to be vulnerable with us and I laughed- Virge, I called him- I fucking said he sounded like ‘a middle school librarian’, and like- I actually really like his name, it's really unique and interesting but in the heat of the moment I just-”

���I’m gonna be honest, Roman,” Virgil said, cutting him off, “The librarian thing is kinda accurate,”

“Virgil…” Roman whined, “That- that doesn’t help,”

“Sorry- sorry,” Virgil apologised, “No making fun of Janus, got it,”

“Wait- how do you know his name? I didn’t tell you that-”

“You remember uh- after the episode with Remus?” Roman flinched and Virgil winced- he should’ve thought that Roman’s brother would be a sore subject, “When you guys all found out I used to be a dark side?”

“Oh- right,” Roman said, seeming defeated, “Speaking- speaking of Remus…”

“Did- he show up too?” Virgil asked, tilting his head.

“No- no… just… De- Janus made a comment,” Roman looked down… 

“Can you tell me what he said?” Virgil asked.

“I-” Roman was interrupted by a knock on the door that made him flinch, gripping tighter to Virgil’s hoodie. Gently, Virgil patted his hair.

“You wanna answer it?” Virgil asked, Roman adamantly shook his head.

“I- I don’t want- I don’t want to- to talk to anyone right now- especially not Patton- or- or Janus,” Roman said, voice shaky and quiet. It really did break Virgil’s heart to see him like that.

“I’ll tell whoever it is to go away, then, alright?” Virgil asked, Roman nodded and slowly let him go and the anxious side ruffled his hair before swiftly standing up and heading for the door. Opening it only slightly to find the cardigan-clad moral side at the door.

“Ro- oh! Hey Virgil, kiddo! Is Roman in? I just wanted to-”

“Roman doesn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment,” Virgil interrupted, making sure the door didn’t open any more than it already had, “He’ll talk to you when he’s ready.”

“...Alright kiddo- but if I could just-” Patton said, gently trying to push open the door, “I’d just like to see if he’s ok,”

“No,” Virgil said, pushing back on the door, “If you even think that there’s any chance that anyone’s ok after everything that I heard just happened, you don’t belong in here right now,”

With that closing statement, Virgil closed the door in Patton’s face before heading back over to Roman, who had taken one of his plush pillows to hold onto in Virgil’s place. 

Sitting back down, Virgil slowly put an arm around Roman’s shoulder. Roman leant into him with a sigh.

“So… if you’re up to it- Will you tell me what Janus said?” Virgil asked quietly, rubbing Roman’s shoulder, Roman practically melted into the touch.

“He…he said-” Roman said, before scrunching up his face with a whine, “I can’t- I- I just- I-”

“Hey- hey- breathe, Princey, breathe,” Virgil said, holding him a little tighter while Roman tried once again to copy his breathing. 

“I- I’ll just- show you…” Roman sighed, waving one of his hands in front of them until a slightly fuzzy image of Thomas’ living room appeared in front of them, a fuzzy patton and Roman stood in their usual spots, as well as Thomas, except Janus appeared standing in Logan’s usual space. An illusion- kind of like Remus’. Virgil had almost forgotten that the other sides’ rooms enhanced some of their powers the same way his room did for him.

“Oh, Roman,” The illusion Janus spoke, the Roman beside him flinched just as the illusion’s Roman’s face fell and Virgil realised this wasn’t an illusion, it was a memory- Roman’s memory that he was showing to Virgil in illusion form, “Thank god you don’t have a moustache, otherwise between you and Remus, I wouldn’t know who the evil twin is,”

Virgil stared in shock as the memory kept playing, everyone else going silent as Roman looked around for some kind of reassurance.

“Are you guys seriously going to take his side?” Illusion Roman asked, illusion Thomas stuttered, before being interrupted, “Over me?”

Virgil found it interesting to note, looking around at all of the side’s faces in the memory, that Janus actually looked like he regretted what he said.

“I thought I was your hero,” Memory Roman said, growing more upset as Thomas tried to reassure him and the memory fizzled away, leaving the room empty once again.

“Oh… Roman,” Virgil murmured as the prince practically collapsed into his offered embrace, beginning to sob into his shirt. Virgil could do nothing but murmur reassurances and stroke Roman's hair while he plotted to murder that snake the next time he saw the guy. That chance, unfortunately for everyone involved, came much sooner than Virgil had expected. 

Because just as Roman's tears had once again begun to calm down there was another knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Virgil told Roman before he could react, carefully untangling himself, "I'll be back in a second, ok Princey?" 

Roman nodded and let him go, wiping at the tears on his cheeks as Virgil made his way over to the door and opened it slightly in the same way he did for Patton. 

Though, unlike when it was Patton at the door, when Virgil saw Janus he simply hissed and attempted to slam the door. Janus was smarter than that, though (of course he was, Virgil thought bitterly) and stuck his foot in the gap to prevent the door being closed.

"I was warned that Roman had a guard dog, I suppose Patton wasn't far off the mark," Janus hissed, his voice a whisper, which was really Virgil's only saving grace here.

"Fuck off," Virgil said, trying to slam the door again. He knew Janus' foot was still blocking the door from closing, it was just incredibly satisfying to slam the door on his foot, "Roman doesn't want to see you, so go away," 

"Virgil please,* Janus said and for a moment Virgil was hit with the notes of remorse in that plea, "I wish to apologise-" 

"He doesn't, want, to see you," Virgil gritted out, "I don't care if your intentions are as pure as gold, Roman is not in the state to talk to you right now,"

"I did many wrongs by him, Virgil," Janus tried to protest, though he didn't attempt to push the door open like Patton had, "I have to speak with him."

"After everything you've done you really think you can just- just come in here with your flowery language and fake apologies and expect everything to be ok?" Virgil asked, fighting to keep his voice quiet, "After you've used him, manipulated him and then berated him? Made him think he wasn't a hero? That was all you, buddy," 

Virgil leaned forward and grabbed the front of Janus' capulet in his fist, they were almost nose to nose now.

"If you really think I'm going to let you speak to him, let alone lay a finger on him until he is ready, then you're thinking wrong," Virgil said, voice harsh, "No-one is talking to Roman until he's ready to talk," 

Virgil let the other side go and he stepped back from the door, looking adequately shaken. It was only then that Virgil realised that Janus wasn't wearing his gloves, and that might've been the only thing that stopped him from slamming the door there and then. He sighed.

"Look, Janus, Roman is upset right now, he's not in the right state of mind to talk to anyone, especially you guys and-" Virgil took a deep breath, "Look I- I know you and Patton probably feel like shit about what happened up there, ok," 

Virgil huffed, wondering if Janus would speak, when he didn't Virgil chose to just continue, "But you know as well as anyone that everyone has different ways of coping with stress and sadness and- trust me this is Roman's way, you'll only hurt him more by forcing an apology on him when he isn't ready to accept it," 

Janus fiddled with his sleeve, looking down and away like a scolded child, "I… understand, Virgil," 

"I'll tell him what you said, and he'll come to you when he's ready," Janus looked doubtful, so he continued, "I know Roman better than any of the others, Jan he's… my best friend, he'll come and talk to you once he has the words,"

Janus was silent for a long while, before sighing, meeting Virgil's eyes, "I was your best friend, once," 

"Yeah well, things change," Virgil said, looking away before sighing, "Go away now, and uh- tell the others not to come up here, will you? I don't want to have to slam more feet in the door,"

Virgil could've sworn Janus almost smiled then as he turned to head down the hall.

"I think I can manage that," Janus said, glancing back.

"Good, oh and Janus?" Virgil called, leaning out of the door, Janus turned, Virgil whispered just loud enough for Janus to hear, "If you really want to get on Roman's good side, make one of those red velvet cakes you always used to make, red velvet is his favourite," 

"Oh well now you're truly asking too much of me, Virgil," Janus said as he turned to continue walking. 

—-

“Wh-what did he want?” Roman asked after Virgil closed the door and made his way back to the bed.

“He says he wants to apologise,” Virgil huffed, “But- he’s willing to wait for you,”

Roman sighed, pulling himself into a tighter ball and glancing around his room, “I don’t… think- I don’t think I could… say all the things I wish to say to him- or- any of them- right now.”

“That’s alright,” Virgil said immediately, “It’s ok to not be ready, I can promise you they’re willing to wait. For now… how about we get comfy here and watch a few movies?”

“May I have the first choice?” Roman asked, already pulling up Disney+ on his laptop. 

Virgil couldn’t help but chuckle as he resigned to the evening of watching the cheesiest classic Disney films there were, “All yours, Princey,”

—-

Halfway through their movie night, one of the others left dinner for them outside the door, knocking and then sinking out so that when Virgil opened it in a huff all he found was a plate of quesadillas- enough to share between both of them. The anxious side could tell immediately that it was Janus’ cooking, he had a way with cooking that Patton could never seem to achieve, arranging the food in a way that effortlessly looked like it could’ve come straight from a five star gourmet restaurant. 

Virgil couldn’t help a smile as he brought the food back to Roman’s bed, they ate it while making their way through the second movie of the night.

“You know… as much as I hate to admit that I like anything about Janus… I missed his cooking,” Virgil huffed as he finished off the last quesadilla on the plate.

“I could stand to get used to it,” Roman nodded with a soft, tired laugh. 

—

By the end of their third movie, Roman had fallen fast asleep, and that meant it was time for Virgil to get some answers that he couldn’t get from Roman. With a deep breath, he very carefully pulled away from Roman. He paused for a second, holding his breath as he made sure Roman wouldn’t wake up before sighing and taking the plate, sinking out to the commons.

“Hey Virge!” Patton exclaimed the moment Virgil had risen up, “How’s Roman doing?”

“He fell asleep,” Virgil answered shortly, he still wasn’t sure who exactly was in the wrong for this entire mess, but for now he was going by the principle of guilty until proven innocent. 

“Oh- er- alright kiddo,” Patton said, going back to whatever he was doing, obviously realising Virgil didn’t want to talk.

Virgil nodded before heading into the kitchen to wash up the plate, unfortunately Janus was also there- making a cup of tea.

“Ah, Virgil, just the side I didn’t want to see,” Janus turned to face him, “Do you have a moment, I wouldn’t like to speak with you,”

“Not right now,” Virgil answered, turning on the tap.

“It’s not important at all that I-”

“I said not now,” Virgil said, turning around, “Look, this can wait, I need to go and see Thomas before he goes to sleep, so- whatever you have to talk to me about- it can wait until I’m done with that, ok? I’ll- I’ll come and find you,”

Janus looked torn, but in the end he sighed, relenting, “Alright, I won’t wash that up for you, go and do what you have to,”

“...Thanks,” Virgil huffed, leaving the plate and sinking out once again.

This time when Virgil rose up it was in Thomas’ living room. Glancing around he concluded that Thomas was not, in fact, there. He’s probably just somewhere else in the apartment, Virgil thought as he took a steadying breath. It wasn’t uncommon for Thomas not to be in the living room when the sides rose up outside of filming. Hearing a clunk from the kitchen indicated that that was where Thomas was- or there could be a burglar in their apartmen- no, Virgil, focus.

It turned out that the noise in the kitchen was caused by Thomas, not a burglar, thank god.

“...Hey Thomas?” Virgil called from the door of the kitchen, Thomas turned quickly, before relaxing slightly.

“Oh, Virgil,” Thomas said with a sigh, “It’s just you,”

‘Shit’ Virgil thought, in his hurry he’d forgotten that he wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with his centre either, the last time he’d directly talked to Thomas he’d driven them both into a panic attack, and the time before that he’d told everyone he used to be a dark side- deep breaths, Virge, you can do this.

“Yeah- just me,” Virgil nodded, “I was… wondering if I could watch the video of what went down earlier, I know you were filming,” 

“Oh right- you missed it,” Thomas nodded, rubbing a hand across his face, “Give me a second to finish this and I’ll grab my laptop,”

—-

Virgil sat in stunned silence as he watched the video back and Thomas hovered awkwardly in the edge of the room. 

He watched as Patton told Roman his opinion was wrong after prompting him to share, he watched as Roman tried to yet again blame himself for their problems, he watched Patton skip Logan- allowing the perfect opportunity for Janus to take his place. He watched Patton freak out and turn into a giant frog, he saw how Janus did nothing but protect Thomas from the moment he revealed himself, he saw Roman desperately try to keep fighting.

And then he watched Janus reveal his name, he watched Roman laugh, he watched the same scene Roman had shown him earlier.

He saw Roman look to Janus to confirm whether or not Thomas was lying, he saw Janus nod in response. 

Roman sank out, straight to Virgil’s room if he could guess, Patton left to check on Roman, and Janus told Thomas to push someone down a flight of stairs. Well, at least Janus seemed to be fine.

After the video ended it took Virgil a few tense seconds to pull himself together, before turning to look at Thomas.

“Are… are you ok? After all that?” Virgil asked quietly, “I know the mindscape is a mess right now so- so chances are you’re not but… I’d like to hear from you,”

“I’m… better than I was when we ended that video,” Thomas shrugged, “Otherwise I… guess I’m doing as well as I can be, how’s Roman?”

“He sank out straight to my room,” Virgil sighed, “I’ve been with him since, got him to calm down with Disney films,”

“Of course,”

“Of course,” Virgil nodded, “He’s sleeping now but… there’s a lot that needs to be said- and not just from Roman, and we’re working on it, I just- wanted the whole context of what happened before I started pointing fingers too.”

“Thanks for that, Virgil,” Thomas said, completely sincere, “To be honest, I’m glad you weren’t there- no- wait- not like- not like I didn’t want you there- but-”

“It means you have at least one impartial side, I get it,” Virgil shrugged, “Unless you count Remus- but- no Remus isn’t impartial, he’d side with whoever it would be funniest to side with,”

“Yeah that’s probably right,” Thomas shrugged, “Uhh- if you’re staying, would you like a cupcake?”

“...No number of cupcakes would be able to fill the empty void where my soul should be,”

“They’re vanilla?”

“...Ok fine gimme one,”

—-

When Virgil returned to the mindscape he sank straight to the hallway outside of Janus’ door. He might be absolutely exhausted from dealing with everything at this point, and he needed to check up on Roman, but he had told Janus that he’d come find him when he was done with Thomas and Virgil wasn’t exactly one to go back on his word about stuff like that.

Standing outside of Janus’ door was odd, to say the least. Virgil hadn’t been here since… he shook his head, no point reminiscing about the past now. He knocked.

“The door is locked,” Janus’ smooth voice called from inside and god Virgil just wanted to punch the guy, just once! Instead he simply pushed open the door a little harder than he would usually have.

Janus was no longer wearing his regular clothes, instead he was sitting at his desk in an oversized hoodie that looked suspiciously like one of his old ones that he thought he’d lost. He had been writing in a notebook, gloves off and hat askew.

“Hey, you wanted to talk to me?” Virgil asked, standing in the doorway. Janus turned in his chair, god it was hot in here, Virgil would never get used to that.

“Yes,” Janus nodded. “Did you get what you wanted from your meeting with Thomas.”

“Mhm, gained some valuable knowledge and exhaustion points, so whatever you wanted to talk to me about better be quick or I’m going to need some coffee,” Virgil huffed, leaning on the doorframe, he hated Janus’ room, in all sincerity, because it forced the sincerity out of you. For the guy called Deceit, his room made it almost impossible to lie.

“Well first of all, I would like to tell you that I’m an idiot,” Janus said, before grimacing, “I didn’t mean to say that, What I meant to say, was that I wanted to apologise for making everything more difficult for you,”

“...oh,” Virgil couldn’t think of the right words to say, so he stayed silent.

“I suppose I simply found it difficult to accept, especially at first, that you had found a new family in the light sides,” Janus said with a dramatic sigh, “But seeing you protect Roman earlier made me come to the realisation as to how shitty of a person I have been, to all of you, but especially to Roman,”

“Thanks, for the apology, I guess- I just- It hurt, to leave you guys, I guess, but- I wish I had done it in a way that didn’t make you hate me,” Virgil sighed.

“I never hated you,” Janus said immediately, Virgil looked up, eyes wide, “Envied you, maybe, hated the others for taking you away, definitely, but hated you? Never,”

“Oh,” Virgil whispered into the now silent room, “I… don’t think I ever really hated you either,”

“That's… good to know,” Janus said, folding his arms around himself, “I’m worried that Roman might, though,”

“He would have every reason to,” Virgil couldn’t help but say, damn Janus’ room for pulling the words from his throat.

“I’m well aware,” Janus nodded, “I hope he doesn’t, though,”

“Sap,” Virgil said, a small smile on his face, “That shit’s for you two to sort through, I’m not your couple’s therapist,”

“I- wha-” 

“Bye Janus,” Virgil said, wiggling his fingers in a wave-like fashion before closing the door and sinking out. He had no idea why he’d said half of the things he had said, but oh well, no point dwelling on that now. When he rose up, he was finally back in Roman’s room. Just this last stop before he could finally pass out on his own bed. 

On arrival in Roman’s room he let out a sigh of relief to find that Roman was still sleeping, though it looked restless. The prince was clutching onto one of his pillows for dear life with his face buried into the soft material. His blankets were half on the floor and it looked as though Roman had kicked them away in his sleep.

As quietly as he could manage, Virgil made his way over to the bed, picking up the blankets and gently tucking the prince back in properly, Roman shifted to seemingly get more comfortable in the blankets and Virgil couldn’t help the urge to run his fingers through Roman’s hair.

Unfortunately though, as he moved to pull his hand away his wrist was grabbed in a loose grip- loose enough that Virgil could easily pull away if he wanted to. Roman looked up at him now, slowly blinking open his half asleep eyes to look at Virgil.

“Stay?” Roman asked softly and…. Really what kind of soul crushing monster would Virgil have to be to say no to that.

[suckitsurveys]

What was the year/make/model of the last car you drove? 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid.

Have you ever been in weather below 0 Fahrenheit (-17 Celcius)? It was like -10F with windchill the other day.

What was the last thing you used your phone for, besides calling/texting? I was browsing Reddit a little bit ago.

Do you have more male or female coworkers? I am the only girl here from M-Th. Friday we have our admin assistant in the office with us.

Did you enjoy high school? No.

What’s an unusual food combination you like? I don’t think there’s anything that “unusual” I enjoy.

What’s the longest stretch of time you’ve spent completely alone? Good question, I can’t recall a huge stretch of time I was completely alone. Probably no more than a day or two.

Have you ever lived in a studio apartment? I have not.

Did your parents allow you to drink soda when you were a kid? Yeah, but I was supposed to ask first. They used to keep Dr. Pepper in the fridge but I wasn’t allowed to go in the fridge without permission, but they always had cases of it not in the fridge so I used to sneak the warm ones and drink those lol.

Do you always check the prices of things when you buy groceries? Yeah, for the most part. We have the Jewel-Osco app so we always look for deals and stuff on that and clip coupons before we go shopping.

Do you like gyoza? I can’t remember if I’ve tried it or not.

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed a lawyer? Nope.

Do you use Instagram? If so, what’s your current profile pic? I do; it’s me dressed as Billie Eilish from the When The Party’s Over music video from this part Halloween.

Did you ever go through an emo or goth phase? Sure.

What are your thoughts on kids being given iPads to keep them entertained? I don’t think it’s all that bad, as long as they aren’t on it ALL day long.

Do you get regular check-ups with your doctor? Oops.

What was the last thing you felt apprehensive about? Work-related shit.

How many nights per week do you cook dinner at home vs. going out to eat? Mark cooks almost every night, but we do have a take out day two or three times a month.

What’s a trend you’ve seen recently that you thought was really dumb? AI. Also the fucking Stanley Cup obsession. it’s not even practical at ALL.

Do you know anyone who has been evicted? Yeah.

When did you last wash your sheets and pillowcases? A couple of weeks ago.

Have you kissed more than 10 people in the past 10 years? I’ve only kissed one person in the past 12 years.

Have you ever been caught outdoors away from shelter during a thunderstorm? Yeah.

Did you leave the house before 10 AM yesterday? I do that every work day, M-F.

What’s your favorite macaron flavor? I actually don’t really like macarons that much.

How often do you have friends over to your house? Very rarely.

Have you ever had a boss who acted unprofessionally? Eh.

How many times have you stayed at a hotel in the past year, and where? Twice? The Wilderness water park resort in Wisconsin and then at a hotel near the airport here in Chicago for my bday. All the other times I traveled I stayed at someone’s house.

What kind of technological advancements do you expect there to be 100 years from now? I don’t care I’ll be dead.

Have you ever done a flip on a trampoline? Nah.

What about a flip off of a diving board? I’ve done flips into the pool when I was kid.

What was the last hot beverage you had? I’m currently drinking tea.