#I'm such a sucker for high school shenanigans

[101maverick]

Damian Wayne Ah Ghul with a reader who is super shy? Like she meets his family and she's practically hiding behind Damian? No pressure, but I'm just a naturally shy person myself.

A/n: I've been thinking of a meeting like this for a while now! tho in my daydreams the reader is a lot more bubbly and stuff, but this one is super fun too! I think I might write them both out :) When it comes to Damian I tend to envision him around his canon age (12ish I think?) because it gives me agency to explore puppy love and I find it so cute! Plus I'm a sucker for school shenanigans hehe🤭 Here Damian is around 15-16 :) Hope you enjoy!! If you like my work, please consider reblogging and checking out my other works through the master list in my pinned post<3

Word count: 1642

Meeting the Family

Your hands are clammy.

Not even overtly so, just enough to make you uncomfortable, to get that unbearable out-of-place sensation one always gets when something's slightly wrong and it feels like life has decided to point a spotlight to it.

You nervously adjust your dress' skirt, fiddling with the hem to make sure it sat at just the right height. You had spent an embarrassing amount of time picking it out, having Damian come by your house earlier than necessary to make sure your choice was appropriate for this occasion, along with your hair and what little makeup you had decided to put on.

He had assured you countless times that you 'could never be anything less than far above standard' , and while that did put you at ease you still have to do your best to relax as you build up the courage to enter the house, Damian waiting by your side.

You and Damian had started 'dating' around three months ago now, and this was your first time meeting his family.

Whenever you think back to how he proposed to you a chuckle curls your lips upward, remembering how out of your depth you felt as he announced his intent of 'courting' you while he held a baby kitten out to you.

The memory loosens you up a bit, and you nod to Damian, who rings the doorbell. He's been holding your hand the whole time, something you find extremely sweet. He gives your hand a squeeze.

Sooner than you'd like, the door opens and you are greeted by the Wayne family's butler, who your boyfriend had informed you is basically like a grandfather figure for them.

He’s an older man, standing tall in a prim and creaseless suit despite his age. His eyes crinkle as the corners of his mouth uptick just the slightest bit, remaining composed as he greets you two.

“Ah, Master Damian, you have finally returned with our guest I see.” He says, looking at your boyfriend. He then turns to you. “My name is Alfred Pennyworth. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, miss…” he trails off.

You can feel your cheeks burn up, and your tongue tangles up as you haste to give him your name. You try to downplay the stutter as much as you can, and rush through the rest of greetings and pleasantries. “It is very nice to meet you as well, mr. Pennyworth.”

Mr. Pennyworth just nods curtly and opens the door wider, making space for you and Damian to enter. "I am glad, miss. Please, follow me to the sitting room." After a nod from Damian, he turns around and starts walking down the hallway to the left of the grand staircase the Manor's foyer opens up to.

The ceiling is extremely tall in this part of the house, two stories high at the very least. The ancient mahogany of the staircase is intricately carved, and the deep, rich blue-green carpet covering the steps gives the entire ensemble a much more regal look, with the way it matches the curtains that are pulled apart to let in all the midday light from the six-feet tall arch windows. It feels way too regal for someone like you.

Damian, on the other hand, looks completely in his element. Not only is this his house, he just fits in with this sort of environment, this regal, sophisticated, high-class one. The blue-green of the curtains and carpets makes the emerald of his eyes pop, and the dark mahogany compliments his tanned skin, reflecting the golden glow of the sun.

Looking at him, you feel a bit surer of yourself, and you straighten your shoulders to match his stance. You're just meeting his family. You can do this.

Mr. Pennyworth leads you to the sitting room. Damian's entire family is lounging there, the majority sitting up while a few rest on the plush couches and chairs. The moment you step foot in the doorway, all conversation stops and all eyes turn toward you.

You can't do this.

————————————

Each of the Wayne family members are here, it seems, and the more you stand there the more you want to crawl out of your skin.

All of these people have been gathered here today for a family lunch because you have come over, and dang if that doesn't make you feel like the inconvenience of the year.

Only a fool doesn't know about how important each of them is, and you certainly aren't one.

Richard "Dick" Grayson, world-class acrobat and notorious heartthrob since his teens, and he surely has better places to be today than here. Keeping up with all of his connections is basically a full-time job, with how Gotham socialites are.

Jason Todd, recently come back from his years-long trip around the world, could be playing golf with the Prince of England right now instead of meeting his youngest brother's high-school girlfriend.

Timothy Drake, at nineteen is C.E.O. of Drake Industries and Bruce Wayne's representative for Wayne Enterprises, right now he could be closing billion-dollar business deals.

Duke Thomas, had graduated from high school at sixteen and at eighteen is in the most prestigious chemistry program in the Continent, he could be studying for the cure of cancer right now.

Cassandra Cain, Bruce Wayne's only daughter and an extremely elusive person for the media, you're sure she'd much rather a virtual stranger wasn't snooping around in her family's home.

There are also two other people, a red-haired woman that looks to be around Dick Grayson's age and a blonde girl around nineteen.

And, of course, there's Bruce Wayne in the flesh. Billionaire, philanthrope, C.E.O. of Wayne Enterprises, arguably the most important person in Gotham and certainly the richest person in New Jersey. One of his charities is always in sight every time you turn a corner on the street in Gotham Proper, his company's name is plastered on almost every single electronically device you can find, and his name is always in the mouth of the press, making headlines day in-day out.

Oh Gosh, you can already imagine it. 'Lowly peasants thinks she can date his son, Brucie Wayne obliterates her and her dynasty'.

Before you know it, your breathing has become laboured and you're standing pressed to Damian's side, trying to fuse with his shadow.

You have no idea how you're gonna hold a conversation with all of these people.

Damian, bless him, saves you. "If you all could quit ogling my beloved like imbeciles, we could go on with introductions." His chin is held up high, and he takes turns staring into each of his family members' eyes, as if daring them to object. With the way he's standing, his body almost covers you, giving you a blanket of security that allows you to relax.

The rest of the room's occupants regain their composure, and Mr. Wayne breaks out into a blinding smile, coming up to you.

"Pardon me! We just hadn't heard you coming down the hallway is all. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Mr. Wayne holds out his hand, and you shake it. His grip is gentle. "Come in, please, make yourself comfortable."

Damian guides you to a couch next to which is a window. The rays of sun catch in his dark hair, reflecting almost-blue. He looks at you, and as he does so you relax. Damian may rarely show it but he has an extremely expressive face, and you have learned to read it.

Right now you read sureness in his jaw, calmness in the set of his brow and something warm and reassuring in the slightest widening of his eyes, the one that happens specifically when e tilts his head downwards to fix his gaze better in yours.

"I must admit I've been waiting for this moment for a good while, I was very curious. Damian has talked a lot about you."

Your eyebrows raise. You start fidgeting with Damian's hand in your lap. "Oh, he-he has?" It comes out as a mumble. You'd beat yourself up over it in normal circumstances but as it stands, you're just glad you are talking at all.

This thought is overshadowed by an eruption of laughter from further inside the room.

"Oh yes he has, the brat has been talking our ears off all day for months! By how he talks, he thinks you've hung the moon and the stars in the night sky." A cackle follows the sentence. You're pretty sure your cheeks are on fire.

Next to you, you notice the tips of Damian's ears turn darker. "Quit your complaining, Todd. It is not my fault if everything you do is subpar compared to her every action."

"Da-Damian!" You whisper-yell next to him, "You can't just say that!"

"Oh, don't worry," Pipes up someone from a chair. You recognise him as Timothy Drake. "Seeing as you've put up with him for months, I think we all believe it. It takes the patience of a saint to do that." He says, a slight smirk on his face.

The rising of cackles in the air and the indignant squawk from Damian pull a little giggle from you, and you squeeze Damian's hand while Dick Grayson placates him.

Mr. Pennyworth, who had disappeared down the hallway after you had reached the sitting room, reappears at the entrance. 1679

“Masters, Misses, the lunch is ready. If you may follow me to the dining room…”

“Thank you Alfred.” Says Mr. Wayne, and after a curt nod from the butler everyone files out of the sitting room.

As you take your place next to Damian at the dining table, listening to Damian and Timothy bicker, you feel more at ease than you ever hoped of feeling while waiting on the front steps.

Your hand is warm in Damian’s still.

————————————

A/n: I wish I had been able to put more Damian/Reader interaction in this but in order for it to work in my vision of their eventual relationship I need them to be alone so unfortunately it couldn't happen for this pic :( I do have more Damian x Reader requests in my inbox tho so there's a high chance I'll be able to expand on it! Plus I'm considering making a list of head canons for Damian and Reader's relationship >:)

[wrongcaitlyn]

okay fuck so i got an anon ask for solangelo fic recs and then i made a draft on my phone but then deleted it bc i wanted to type it out on my computer but then that deleted the ask too so!! hopefully this reaches the anon i apologize deeply for losing your ask😭

but anyway. SOLANGELO FIC RECS. ALWAYS. ANYTIME. I HAVE SO MANY

so first of all if you wanna check out my ao3 i have a bunch of recs in my bookmarks (57 solangelo ones im pretty sure)

but here are some of my favs

i'm put in awe (of something so flawed and free) by CordeliaRose (@cordelia---rose)

archaeologist!Nico & trauma surgeon!Will AU. this fic is. ohmgyod. nico's internal dialogue is just absolutely perfect in this fic and i laughed so hard and god it was just so beautifully written?? but also solangelo are literally so cute. like. ahglskdf. i gotta reread this actually but anyway (also anything by this author, absolutely hilarious, such good writing)

dumb, dumb love by thegoldenappleofdiscord

five times nico and will are dumb and in love, and the one time they are totally 100% dead serious. i love a good outsider's pov, and this fic is just gorgeous. it's a bunch of different perspectives into solangelo, and it's pure fluff, and it's got some of my favorite solangelo quotes (like, when i read fanfic i screenshot parts i rlly like and i practically screenshotted this entire fic), and their characterization is just so so accurate they're so so in love

paris by ethannku (@ethannku)

Nico has a travel YouTube channel. And a crush on one Will Solace. i'm such a sucker for socmed au's and this one is done SO so well. my all time favorite. and it's sequel too!! the formatting i am in awe of, but other than that, it's just a really good time and i just love all the little details. i've reread this too many times to count and was SO excited when a sequel was published, and i can only hope that there's more to the au in the future!! (also this author writes incredible solangelo fics and even more valgrace fics which i recently just bingeread and are soo good)

Perfect Places by buoyantsaturn (@buoyantsaturn)

“My name’s Will,” he started - so far so good - but then continued, “and I guess my favorite food to cook would be, um, frozen pizza.” Was Nico only attracted to idiots? this one's fucking hilarious. i can't even put it to words like their dynamic in this fic is so funny and yet so cute and nico is honestly just like. shocked that will is somehow still alive?? will's a safety hazard. but also piper and jason in this fic are so funny too, it's honestly just such a good, fun read (and, once again, this author's incredible. read everything by them)

I Can't Help It If You Look Like an Angel by the_oncoming_stormaggedon (@lordstormageddidnt)

Will Solace is a pre-med student whose friends run a true crime podcast called "Nothing to See Here". Nico di Angelo, despite not realizing he's a missing person, is the subject of one of the episodes. They meet by chance in a random bar, and shenanigans ensue. i mean, if it's got a taylor swift title, i'm already sold. and then it's part of a series called "Hey Stephen is a solangelo song and i will die on that hill" which is the realest thing ever?? but ASIDE from that, i could honestly rec this entire series (+ the other series it's a part of, "Nothing to See Here" which is all part of the same au) and also everything by this author - it's hilarious, i just love the premise, and the writing is so good!! and hey stephen is a solangelo song, thereby reinforcing my "fearless is will's favorite album ever of all time and i will die on this hill" argument

Even When the Music's Gone by the_oncoming_stormaggedon

It's the 74th Annual Hunger Games, and Nico and Will are the last two tributes alive. haha this is pure angst. just gutwrenching angst. love a good hunger games au and some MCD!

can i handle the seasons of my life? by buoyantsaturn

“I think that most people your age finished high school, and whether they knew what they wanted to do with the rest of their life or not, they went to college. That was their version of ditching everything they knew in order to find themselves. Maybe it’s time for you to stop taking advice from other kids who grew up the same way you did, and take it from someone who used to be normal.”  FAME AU FAME AU FAME AU FAME AU i mean, not REALLY about the fame aspect of it, but i still love it so so much. will's essentially a nepo baby turned not-nepo-baby turned college student and nico's naomi's driver, and there's even... there's EVEN A VERY BRIEFLY IMPLIED POLLEN. yeah they're relationship is just so cute in this and i love the au and i love how it's written and ugh i need more fame au's in my life

so it turns out teachers don't live at school by RegretfullyRegretful (@marbleheavy)

Nico's TA and students are determined to figure out something, anything about him. Of course, it would all just be a lot easier if they asked. Either way, Professor di Angelo is decidedly a lonely hermit. (Someone should really tell his husband and baby that) this was one of the first solangelo fics i ever read, and it's just. so. funny. another outsider's pov bc i love it, and just... the assumptions abt nico, the fluff of solangelo, and then their story of how they got together is so...ahhsdlkjs this author is just a master at tooth-rotting fluff go read everything they write

my lover's the sunlight by demigodbeautiies

Figure Skater Nico di Angelo has a run in with Ice Hockey Player Will Solace. It doesn't go too smoothly, but then again - when does it ever? OLYMPICS AU. FAME(ISH) AU. IM OBSESSED THIS IS WRITTEN SO WELL and like... the very brief part where it feels a lot like a fame au like i just i'm obsessed can you tell. the writing is just beautiful in this, i love nico's internal dialogue, and... i mean, it's an olympics au. ofc its perfect

The Stolen God by TsarinaTorment (@tsarinatorment)

Python is defeated. The prophecies are restored, and Nero has fallen. Apollo has not been seen since. His trials are over; why isn’t he back on Olympus? okay so. this is a bit of a longer fic. and it's a post-toa, pjoxmcga crossover, and it's not *entirely* focused on solangelo - but when i tell you that this fic, if i weren't reading it on ao3, i would truly and full-heartedly believe was a real life published novel - i am NOT LYING. i rec'd this to my friend right after i read it bc i was just like so so obsessed with it and it's literally just. the plot?? is insane. i'm in awe of the author, bc this isn't even the only novel-length fic that they've written with an insane plot too (their fic Eclipse is also phenomenal, but it's more focused on apollo and hades so i didn't rec it here) there's some fierrochase here, lester being lester, and some very very very cute solangelo! and meg! i think sometimes you read a fic and you're like "oh, shit, that could be a novel, and i would think it's better than some actual novels i've read" and this is one of them

(Please Don't Let Me) Fade Alone by TsarinaTorment

Please. Don't let me. the summary's really short here so it's basically that will gets very very very injured and then apollo saves him (rip, i'm sorry, i suck at summaries) once again this isn't necessarily nico focused... it's much more will & apollo. this author writes the absolute best stuff for the apollo cabin, genuinely, if you love will/cabin 7/apollo PLEASE read everything they've ever written but this is just so angsty and the hurt/comfort is so real and goddd it's so good

he was seen on occasion (pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea) by stargirltv

Nico di Angelo is a completely normal eighteen year old. He attends high school, has a socially acceptable amount of friends for a social outcast and has been in a relationship for the past four years with the guy he’s pretty sure he’s going to marry. He also happens to be the world's biggest bedroom pop artist, ‘Hell’s Angel’, with a fan base that will stop at nothing to uncover his true identity and a Father that continually pushes him to be better. His boyfriend freaking out under every single one of his tweets is making it a bit easier for them to figure it out. so. fame au. y'all already know the premise of this is just absolutely hilarious and the interview?? the posts?? will just being will and i absolutely love his characterization?? and the friend group?? this is one of the funniest things ever but also just written so well anddddd yes yes yes it's a fame au POPSTAR NICO RIGHTS except he's not *really* a popstar in this one but like close enough oh AND it's a taylor swift title??? like this fic was made for me basically

okay that was MUCH longer than intended but i hope you enjoy some of the fics on here!! pls let me know if y'all ever want more recs i read literally so many fics - and if you guys ever want to give me any recs, feel free to do so! as of today, i have read *checks fic tracker bc i'm obsessive and need to keep track of everything* about 7.3 million words of fanfic this year. and that's actually less than normal (for me)

also if anyone reads patrochilles please read this fic it's literally been in my head nonstop for the past few weeks since i've read it and it's one of the best things i've ever read and like holyshit if you read patrochilles read it read it read it

[steddieunderdogfics]

Challenge Monday: 10/10 chapters

His Majesty’s Jester by GreenQueenofClubs

Rating: Explicit

Words: 64,294

Chapters: 10/10

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Tags:

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence what if Eddie had appointed himself as King Steve's Jester in 1983? Hijinks and shenanigans will happen is what Eddie is a senior Steve is a junior Takes place in fall 1983 Starts right before Season 1 also includes season 1 Kinda Gay Eddie Munson Bisexual Steve Harrington eddie is a little shit Steve is confused as to how he got stuck with this nerd Tommy Hagan sucks high schoolers being dumb and cute Mildly Dubious Consent in chapter 4 but everyone is actually into it there's just less communication than there should be

Summary:

The thing was, these popular types, the Royalty of High School Society? They just wanted to be entertained. They wanted something to break though the dull monotony of life at the top of the food chain, and if nothing happened to catch their interest, they made their own fun. Good thing Eddie was unparalleled at keeping little sheeps entertained.

Why I'm reccing this: I am a total sucker for stories where Steve and Eddie meet prior to S04, and this one is such an interesting take on it. Eddie draws attention to himself to keep it off Gareth and appoints himself "court jester". It's awesome how Eddie and Steve grow on each other, how they influence each other, and the repercussions that has. The butterfly effects are well considered and well implemented.

His Majesty’s Jester by GreenQueenofClubs

Rating: Explicit

Words: 64,294

Chapters: 10/10

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, what if Eddie had appointed himself as King Steve's Jester in 1983?, Hijinks and shenanigans will happen is what, Eddie is a senior, Steve is a junior, Takes place in fall 1983, Starts right before Season 1, also includes season 1, Kinda, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, eddie is a little shit, Steve is confused as to how he got stuck with this nerd, Tommy Hagan sucks, high schoolers being dumb and cute, Mildly Dubious Consent, in chapter 4, but everyone is actually into it, there's just less communication than there should be

Summary:

The thing was, these popular types, the Royalty of High School Society? They just wanted to be entertained. They wanted something to break though the dull monotony of life at the top of the food chain, and if nothing happened to catch their interest, they made their own fun. Good thing Eddie was unparalleled at keeping little sheeps entertained.

Thanks for the rec!

This rec is a part of Challenge Monday. The challenge this week was Fics with 10/10 chapters.

Know a fic that deserves extra love? Submit through our asks or the submission box!

[when-jaguars-are-sick]

ROWYN: I Thought You'd Be Home By Now

And now it's Rowyn's turn for a proper introductory fic. I'm a sucker for when characters behave uncharacteristically when they're sick, and Rowyn has quite contrasting behaviour, which I'm finding very fun to explore. Plus Colin is just a natural caretaker, so...

----------

Colin is sitting on the desk in the guard room, talking with Kai and Melissa. All the other staff from the night’s lessons have gone home already.

Colin loves hanging out with Mel and Kai. They bicker all the time, and they claim they���re “not friends”, but he knows they care about each other. They always make him laugh, so when they are working together, they like to hang out for a while after their shifts. And this is why he’s sitting on the desk, at 9:45, on a Thursday, listening to Melissa and Kai fool around.

Kai and Mel both have homework they need to do, for their high school and college classes respectively, though neither are particularly keen to leave.

One of Colin’s favourite things about working at the pool is the way the staff members can all banter seamlessly, and they all know each other pretty well. Mel and Kai are similar in that regard, and he’s always noticing the little ways that they look after the other, like he and Julie do for each other.

Working Thursday nights together, the three of them learn their routines pretty well, and this is why Colin knows that Melissa drives Kai home almost every week, so he’s unsurprised when Melissa starts getting impatient, bugging him to hurry up.

Mel might not be in a rush to get home, but she does have an early morning class the next day that she needs to be awake for, so she starts pushing him towards the changerooms.

Colin sits there, laughing at their shenanigans, and appreciating the moment of de-stressing after their shift.

Melissa talks with him for another few minutes until Kai returns, changed and packed.

She stands up, and immediately sways, putting all her weight on the desk, and closing her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” asks Kai quickly, somehow managing to be both suspicious and concerned at the same time.

“I’m okay,” replies Melissa, “Just don’t think I drank enough water today.”

“Sit down, now.” instructs Colin, already moving closer in case she passes out.

As Melissa slumps heavily onto the chair, she claims “I’m fine”, and Kai rolls his eyes at her blatant lie.

“Where’s your water bottle?” he asks, looking around.

She says “In the car.”

Kai sighs in exasperation, then walks away without another word.

He returns with a paper cup that he fills with water, and hands to her. “Drink it all,” he says sternly.

Colin smiles secretly at the obvious care the two have for each other, despite them denying it.

Once Melissa finishes her water, she starts ushering Kai out the door, eager to get home and relax. As Colin’s locking the staff office’s door, his phone rings, and he fumbles trying to answer it without dropping his phone or the keys.

“Hello?”

“Hey Colin. Are you almost home?”

“Leaving now. Everything okay, Ro?”

“Yeah,” he says quietly, and Colin knows it’s a lie.

“Ro, babe, what’s wrong?”

“I just… I thought you’d be home by now.”

“Sorry, I stayed to hang out with Melissa and Kai for a bit. I’m coming home now.”

“Okay,” he says softly.

Colin’s about to say something, when the phone hangs up. Looking at it in confusion, Colin wonders what that was all about.

------

He walks in the front door, kicks off his shoes, and hangs his bag on his hook. He pokes his head around the corner into the living room, and bites his lip when he doesn’t find his boyfriend. Walking into his bedroom, he’s immediately pounced on by a big, soft blob. Realizing that it’s his boyfriend, he hugs him back tightly, before pulling away to look at him.

Immediately, everything clicks together in his brain.

Rowyn, calling to check if he’s almost home, being unusually touchy, and wearing one of Colin’s big hoodies.

“Oh, Ro, you’re sick, aren’t you, babe?”

Rowyn shrugs and sits down on the bed, Apple rubs his hand, purring, while Colin changes out of his work clothes. He says “I don’t know if I’m sick. Just don’t feel good.”

“Aww, that sucks,” he answers,sitting down beside him and wrapping an arm around him, pulling him closer. The shorter man melts against him, cheek pressed to his shoulder and his arms wrapping loosely around him.

Colin brings one of his hands up to cup Rowyn’s head, and he subtly moves it around to check a fever, surprised when he feels no heat against his hand. In fact, he feels almost cool, and clammy.

Rowyn shifts after a moment, and Colin watches as his hand migrates towards his stomach.

“Your stomach bothering you?” he asks, despite knowing the answer, hoping for confirmation and hopefully more information.

Rowyn nods, and Colin kisses the top of his head, grimacing in sympathy.

“Are you nauseous?” he tries again.

“Not yet,” Rowyn answers, tucking himself further into Colin’s side, “Hmm, you’re warm,” he sighs.

Colin hums back, wrapping his arm around more snugly, so that he can reach around Rowyn and gently settle his hand on his belly. Immediately, he can feel the angry churning of the organ.

Rowyn squirms against his hand, pressing forward into the pressure, which pushes up a loud burp that seems to startle Rowyn, as he flushes red and buries his face against Colin, who just chuckles at the display.

“Have you had any real food today? You’re not just hungry?” questions Colin again.

Rowyn gulps down, and says thickly, “Definitely not hungry. I had ‘real food’ today, but I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Fair enough,” huffs Colin with a slight laugh.

Unfortunately, that’s the moment that his own stomach decides to make itself known, grumbling roughly, reminding him that he hasn’t had dinner yet, and he is hungry. He bites his lip in consideration, unsure of the right course of action.

------

Much the way his hand migrates towards his belly, Rowyn himself migrates towards Colin. Being sick sucks for everyone, but Rowyn has always especially hated it. It’s one of the few times he has no control, and he’s essentially unable to be productive, which always bothers him.

Having a boyfriend though, especially one like Colin, means that he has someone who wants to look after him. And somehow this makes being sick less miserable.

As much as he doesn’t like his behaviour when he’s sick, when he gets clingy and whiny, it’s one of the rare times that he lets his impulses control his behaviour, and he asks for the attention and care that he sometimes needs.

All this to say that when Colin mentions needing dinner, he doesn’t hesitate to follow after him to the kitchen like a lost puppy.

While Colin stands at the stove heating something up, Rowyn plasters himself against his boyfriend’s back, attached like a limpet. He buries his nose in Colin’s sweater, grimacing against the fresh queasiness brought on by the smell of warming food.

They move in tandem towards the table, and Rowyn whines low in his throat when Colin breaks their contact, sitting down.

He catches Colin’s smirking at him, obviously enjoying his change in behaviour, though not his misery.

He pouts, sitting in the seat next to Colin, and curling one arm around his tummy, and folding the other on the table, resting his head on it.

As Colin starts to eat, Rowyn asks, “Can you talk? Distract me. Tell me about your day?”

Colin immediately starts up an endless stream of pool themed chatter, talking about the drama of the guard office, the interesting things that happened while guarding, and he’s ranting about one of his classes that can’t do any of the skills they should be able to do…

Rowyn appreciates the familiar, comforting sound of Colin’s warm voice, but he can no longer comprehend the words themselves, his stories fading into background noise as the noise from his stomach becomes more prominent.

He swears he can feel hundreds of insects crawling around inside him. His belly is full of swirling butterflies, and crawling caterpillars. It feels like millions of tiny ants are running across his skin, as the queasiness morphs into nausea.

Lifting his head up from his arm, he’s immediately assaulted by the much stronger smell of Colin’s meal, which, let’s just say, does not help his growing nausea.

He gulps audibly, and Colin freezes, eyeing him warily.

He slowly stands up, and the butterflies in his stomach start fighting to get out. He gags at the thought, and his hand flutters in front of his mouth for a moment before he trusts his stomach not to let it’s contents go.

He hurries toward the bathroom, until he’s on his knees in front of the toilet, distantly hoping that Colin followed him.

------

When Rowyn suddenly stands up from the table and rushes towards the bathroom, Colin fully expects to find him draped over the toilet puking.

Instead, Rowyn jolts forward with a gag, but nothing comes up. He goes perfectly still for a moment, before lurching forward with a deep burp that turns wet at the end, morphing into a heave, but still nothing comes up.

Colin quietly moves into the room, and sits next to Rowyn on the floor, placing a hand on his back.

He can feel Rowyn’s muscles clenching with every heave, but the empty gags continue seemingly endlessly.

After a few minutes, it becomes a near-constant string of burps, gags, and heaves.

“Breathe, Rowyn,” tries Colin, but he’s not listening, too caught up in the turmoil of his stomach to consider taking a breath.

When he notices the little tears clinging to his boyfriend’s lashes, he moves closer, wrapping him in a loose hug from behind.

------

Rowyn is caught in an endless cycle of misery, and for some reason, his body won’t offer any relief. He’s not vomiting, so yay, I guess, but he’s also very much trying to vomit, his body not giving him a moment of respite.

From the depths of his pain, he’s brought back to reality by a warm body suddenly covering his back. Colin, he thinks in relief, his body relaxing even the tiniest amount. This, combined with the gentle weight of Colin’s hands now resting on the small swell of his stomach, seems to finally be what he needed to throw up.

There’s a moment where he lurches forward and it’s as if the migration begins, as his stomach shifts, and suddenly his mouth is full of sour liquid that he releases into the toilet.

He feels Colin’s voice rumbling against his back, but the rushing in his ears makes it difficult to discern words, especially when he’s leaning forward with another heave that lets more of his insides take flight through his mouth.

Unfortunately for Rowyn, his body seems intent on dragging out the discomfort as long as possible.

Another gag produces another small quantity of vomit, falling into the toilet with a splash, but offering no lasting relief to Rowyn.

He continues to be pushed forward as his body contracts with heaves, each one expelling just a small bit of foul-smelling liquid.

When he’s finally given a small break in the heaving, his body immediately releases all the tension, dropping him to the floor in a heap. Colin pulls him back onto his lap, still muttering soothing words.

Rowyn closes his eyes, feeling spent. He still feels nauseous, but slightly more settled, Colin’s steady presence an immense comfort to him during his discomfort.

Colin seems to understand what he needs instinctually, offering all the physical comfort he can.

He gently kisses Roywn on the head, and he turns sideways to burrow into Colin’s chest.

This gives Colin a better view of his face, and he murmurs, “Oh, you’re still nauseous, aren’t you babe?”

Rowyn marvels at how well Colin knows him, as he nods gently.

Colin bites his lip, before asking, “Do you want to get more of it up now, or head to bed and see if it comes up on its own?”

Rowyn gives him a small smile, pleased with the clear choices. The fact that Colin recognizes that he needs to feel some sense of control over his body, and that logical choices are the best way for him to do that makes Rowyn feel impossibly seen.

He closes his eyes, leaning into Colin, who patiently waits for his answer.

He finally answers, “Puke more now, I can’t sleep like this.”

After another moment of sitting there, and pretending they aren’t waiting for Rowyn to throw up, Colin pushes him forward, and he forces his tired body to sit up and settle against the toilet. The porcelain feels unnaturally cool, after Colin’s comforting warmth, and he’s relieved when Colin moves forward as well coming to rest against him once more.

Colin’s arms snake around his body, coming to rest on his belly, and unlike before, he starts to rub circles with his hands.

The motion on his belly makes the nausea ever more present, and when Colin accidentally places just too much pressure on his stomach, he pushes up a deep belch that turns wet at the end, which is immediately followed by a gush of vomit.

Thankfully, this second burst of heaves proves productive, emptying his stomach much more quickly, as the toilet fills with vomit for a second time that night.

------

When Rowyn seems to finish throwing up this second time, it’s as if all his energy has been sapped.

He leans into Colin, letting him flush the toilet, and wipe his mouth with a piece of toilet paper. Colin bites his lip worriedly, knowing that ordinarily, as cuddly as Rowyn gets, he would still rather be as independent as possible. Him letting Colin look after these tasks is uncharacteristic, but then again, the whole night’s been a little off.

Colin helps Rowyn to his feet, and his legs immediately start trembling, hardly able to bear his weight. After a few steps, they give out completely, and if it wasn’t for Colin catching him, he would have landed in a heap on the floor.

Luckily Colin was already holding his arm and was able to soften his fall, eventually just picking him up, and carrying him back to their room.

Settling on their bed, he rummages around in their closet, throwing clean shorts and one of his softer hoodies at Rowyn, then nudging him until he sits up and starts to change.

As they are finally lying down, Rowyn curled up against Colin, he hums in contentment.

Voice muffled by Colin’s hoodie, but still audible, he says “I actually feel kind of better now.”

“Oh, good!” answers Colin, grinning as Rowyn yawns and snuggles in, reminding him of a cat.

Which reminds him, where’s Apple?

As Rowyn starts to fall asleep, Colin stretches to the side to grab his phone, sending off a text.

After a moment, Jamie slowly opens their door, a wide-eyed Apple in his arms. He pads across the room, depositing the cat on the bed, and gently saying, “We kept her in the living room, while you guys were… busy, and let me just say, it was not easy.”

Colin muffles a laugh into his hand, eyes darting to Rowyn, who doesn’t stir. He sighs in relief, and grins at Jamie, thanking him for the kitten delivery.

Jamie leaves, leaving the door open just enough that Apple could push it open if she wanted to leave. Though, currently, it doesn’t look like she wants to leave, considering she’s purring her giant squeaky purr, and using that special skill that all cats seem to possess allowing them to worm their way into the middle of any situation.

This is how Colin finds himself with both Rowyn and Apple curled into his chest, Apple’s purrs vibrating through his body, and Rowyn finally relaxed and resting, comforted by his boyfriend and the dulled nausea that no longer screams of impending doom.

He smiles softly at them, kissing Rowyn’s hair gently, and rolling his eyes when Apple glares at him until he kisses her too, her purrs intensifying when he does.

[laurel-finch]

'I Don't Bite' S1.Ch11: In The Dark

Summary: An unusual case yields new discoveries and old faces... Referenced Episodes: S1 E16 "Shadow" CW: The usual Supernatural shenanigans. Word Count: 4709 Recommended Song: Bad Moon Rising -- Creedence Clearwater Revival Previous Chapter -- Masterlist -- Next Chapter

I pushed our motel room door open harder than anticipated. My eyes flitted towards Dean, his green ones wide with surprise and his phone held to his ear. I half-smiled in apology and made my way toward the table where he sat.

"You trying to bust the hinges or something?" he asked. My cheeks dusted red and I glared at him as I dropped a bag of gas station goodies on the table.

“Got lunch,” I replied dismissively as I shrugged off my coat and tossed it onto the back of the other rickety chair at the table. “They didn’t have the Black Forest ham sandwiches you like, so you’ll have to make do.”

"Sure, thanks,” he muttered as he turned his body away  slightly and returned his attention to his phone. “Right, sorry Sammy," he started again, leaning back in his chair. "Like I was saying, she checks out. There is a Meg Masters in the Andover phone book. I even pulled up her high school photo," he sighed and held his unoccupied hand up, gesturing as if Sam could see him. "Now, look, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading, or whatever it is you do, huh?"

I laughed and Dean's eyes slid over to me, a smirk resting on his features. He winked and then returned his gaze to the ceiling. I rummaged through the contents of the grocery bag, pulling out my own drink and chicken pot pie. Thank God for hotels having microwaves.

Dean hummed and leaned forward once more, scanning his notebook resting on the table. "Yeah, that I did have some luck with." I straightened and turned to him to see him hunched over his hastily scrawled notes. I moved to stand behind him, staring down at his wrinkled paper. "It's, uh—turns out it's Zoroastrian. Very, very old school, like two thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva."

My finger ran lightly over the sigils and words that I had never seen before. I had no clue what a 'Zoroastrian' was, nor a Daeva. It certainly sounded demonic, which was far above my educational paygrade.

"What's a Daeva?" I heard Sam's voice from the end of the phone. Dean changed his phone to his other hand and hit the speaker button.

"It translates to ‘demon of darkness.’ Zoroastrian demons, and they're savage, animalistic, you know, nasty attitudes. Kind of like, uh, demonic pit bulls."

I chuckled. "Pit bulls aren't that bad. Sweethearts, really."

Dean quirked a skeptical brow and Sam laughed breathily from the other end. "How'd you figure that out, Dean?"

Dean huffed in an almost offended way. "Give me some credit, man. You don't have a corner on paper chasin' around here."

"Oh yeah? Name the last book you read."

Dean fell silent and visibly sweat. After a few moments, he finally spoke up and said, "I called Dad's friend, Caleb. He told me, alright?"

I bit back a laugh and hid behind my hands. When I looked up I found Dean already scowling at me and the clear sound of Sam’s laughter over the speaker. I grinned somewhat sheepishly and collected my food from the table. I felt Dean’s eyes burning into me as I strolled to the kitchen and readied my meal.

"Anyway," Dean continued. "Here's the thing: these Daevas, they have to be summoned, conjured." That piqued my interest and I turned back towards Dean, resting my back against the counter.

"So someone's controlling it?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'. And, from what I gather, it's pretty risky business, too," he took a deep breath. "These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And, uh, the arms, and torsos." I scrunched my nose in distaste.

"So what do they look like?" Sam's voice was tinged with obvious confusion and worry.

"Well, nobody knows, but nobody's seen 'em for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient? Someone really knows their stuff. I think we've got a major player in town." Dean smirked and leaned back in his chair again. "Now, why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram?"

"Bite me," Sam snapped.

"I can arrange that!" I hollered from the kitchen. Sam laughed and Dean rolled his eyes.

"No, don't!" Dean said quickly, waving his hands wildly. "Bite Meg, Sammy! But don't leave teeth marks-" the line went dead. "Sam? You there?"

"I think he's busy now, Dean," I called over my shoulder as I put my pot pie in the microwave and started it.

"I sure hope so," Dean grumbled in response. "Kid doesn't get laid enough."

I scoffed and made my way back towards the table and Dean. "I'm sure Sam does gets laid enough, not that it's any of your business." I rifled through the plastic shopping bags to pull our food and drinks out. Dean paled as I slid a chicken salad toward him.

"I can't eat this."

"Then I guess you'll starve," I answered with a shrug. "That's what you get for sending me to the store by myself."

"I was doing research!" he argued, thoroughly exasperated, and threw his hands in the air.

"No, Caleb was doing research. Who knows what you were doing. Probably something I don't want to know about." The microwave dinged, signaling to me that my meal was ready. I sauntered towards the kitchen and pulled my dinner out of the microwave.

"You got a pot pie, and I get rabbit food? What kind of injustice is this?" Dean demanded, shoving his salad away from him.

“It’s good for you.”

“So’s pot pie,” he said, lowering his voice to a piteous grumble. “Can’t I just get a bite of yours?”

I turned to glare at him over my shoulder. “Like Hell, Dean. Your version of a ‘bite’ is half the frickin’ meal.”

“You must want me to starve to death-”

“I picked up some of that raspberry vinaigrette you and Sam like.”

He fell silent for a moment and I heard him fishing through the plastic bag again. From across the room I could hear the quiet but not displeased sigh he let out. “At least there’s some meat in it… but you’re still on thin ice.”

—

Dean tapped away at his laptop for a solid thirty minutes before either of us spoke up. He combed through county clerk records, his preferred type of research… which subsequently left me with the mind numbing task of researching a several thousand year old Iranian religion with a fine-toothed comb.

I eyed his father’s journal from where it sat beside Dean. Now wasn’t the time to bring any sort of drama into this case, not when we knew we had a demon on our hands. But God, that phone number… it itched at the back of my mind. How did John know him?

"Holy fuck!" Dean exclaimed. I jumped from my place across the table and met his excited gaze with one of surprise. "How the hell did we not notice this before?"

"What is it?" I asked. "You find something important?"

"Hell yeah, I did! Take a look at this," Dean said as he spun the laptop to face me. His cursor highlighted a line from the deceased man’s obituary, the first victim. "Look at where the banker guy was from."

My eyes trailed over the blue highlighted text. "Lawrence, Kansas," I breathed out, practically a whisper. Dean nodded.

"Now look at our girl Meredith," he said excitedly as he clicked to the next tab. My eyes searched for her birth city on the webpage.

"She's from Lawrence too..." I mumbled and handed the paper back to Dean. "You think there's a connection?"

"Of course, there's a connection! How could there not be?" He stood abruptly and practically jogged towards the door. "I'm going to go find Sam. If we don't get to him soon, he could end up being our next Lawrence victim."

"Dean-" I said, holding up a hand for him to wait. He quickly threw his jacket on and yanked the front door open to find himself face to face with Sam.

"Dude, I need to talk to you," the brothers said in sync, without skipping a beat. Sam pushed past his older brother and into the room, pacing beside one of the beds.

"Meg's the one controlling the Daevas," Sam stated, tossing his hands into the air in frustration. I left my spot at the table and narrowed my eyes in worry.

"What? How do you know?" I demanded.

"I followed her to this abandoned warehouse thing and-" he took a deep breath. "She had an altar there, with that symbol we found in Meredith’s apartment. She was- she was talking to this, this bowl, and telling whoever it was she was talking to that they shouldn't come."

My eyes widened and I turned to meet Dean's. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door contemplatively. I could see him connecting the red string in his mind, pressing each push pin into place until it all made sense.

"So, hot little Meg is summoning the Daeva?" he asked thoughtfully. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as his eyes moved from the floor to his brother.

Sam nodded. "It looked like she was using the black altar to control the thing."

Dean chuckled and nudged me with his elbow. "Looks like Sam's got a thing for the bad girl." I rolled my eyes sky-high. "So what's the deal with this bowl thing?"

"She was talking into it. The way witches used to scry into crystal balls or animal entrails. She was communicating with someone," Sam replied. I raised a brow.

"Is that a thing witches actually do?" I asked.

"Not all of them- most don't. That's more of a folklore thing, but scrying does have its purposes," Dean answered quickly. "Who was she talking to? The Daeva?"

"No, you said those things were savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who's giving her orders. Someone who's comin' to that warehouse." Dean suddenly straightened and moved toward the table. I hurriedly snatched his laptop from his side of the table and handed it to him. 

Dean hurriedly thrust his laptop into Sam’s hands and stood beside him, pointing over his brother’s shoulder at the screen. "What I was gonna tell you earlier. I pulled a favor with my-" he cleared his throat, " -friend, Amy, over at the police department. The complete records of the two victims—we missed something the first time."

"What'd we miss?" Sam asked, eyes scanning the papers.

"The two victims," I interjected. "Look at where they were both born."

Sam flipped between the two papers as it dawned on him what we were implying. "Lawrence. They were both from Lawrence, Kansas. Holy crap."

"Yeah," said Dean.

"I mean, it is where the demon killed Mom. That's where everything started. So, you think Meg's tied up with the demon?"

"I think it's a possibility," Dean answered with a shrug.

"But I don't understand. What's the significance of Lawrence? And how do these Daeva things fit in?"

"Beats me," he replied. "But I say you and I trash that black altar, grab Meg, and have ourselves a friendly little interrogation."

"Don't," I growled firmly. "You'll just tip her off- you'll get hurt."

"We'll stake out the place first," Sam offered, attempting to be reassuring. "We've gotta see who, or what is showing up to meet her."

"And I'm going to need you," Dean used his whole laptop to point at me, "to stay here."

I snarled. "What!? You expect me to let you track down some crazy blonde demon summoner without my help!?"

"What would you be able to do against her!?" he snapped back. "You can't go wolf-mode on her right now, and I doubt you'd be able to take her and a bunch of demon things."

"Have you forgotten that I’m not a dog!? I have thumbs, dumbass! I can use weapons too!” I shouted. I crossed my arms indignantly across my chest and fixed them both with a heated glare. “If I can't take her and a few 'demon things' then you certainly can't either! I literally have built-in fangs and claws, you two only have guns! I'm not letting you two go alone!"

"We won't be going alone!" Dean shouted back. "I have a plan."

I glared as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number and leaned back against the table. I watched the brothers exchange glances. Sam looked reluctantly between the two of us but eventually withered under Dean’s heated glare. I scoffed as he stepped out of the motel room, likely to prepare the Impala.

I sat down on the bed, fuming. The dialing finally ended and went to voicemail. Dean swallowed dryly.

"We think we've got a serious lead on the thing that killed Mom," he started, sounding rather nervous. My eyes widened as I realized just who he was calling. "So, uh, this warehouse – it's 1435 West Erie. Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can." He closed the phone and slid it back into his pocket, running a weary hand over his face.

"You called your fucking dad?" I snarled from my place on the bed. "The guy who hasn't answered a single one of your calls since this whole shit show started!? You're expecting him to show up when you could just take me with you!?"

"Well, it's not like you can do much against her!" he growled back. "You're in no shape to be fighting demons and crazy people!"

"I can handle myself just fine, Dean, fur or not!" I paced up and down the edge of the bed, raking my fingers through my hair. My eyes were swimming with a dull golden color, fighting to get out. "I was raised by hunters too! I know how to fight! Let me help you!"

"You're not coming with us!" he shouted, pushing off the table and stalking towards me.

"Like Hell, I'm not!" I felt that familiar clawing sensation in the back of my mind. She was digging her claws into the barrier, fighting to tear it down. I inhaled sharply, expecting her to fight to put Dean in his place – instead, it dawned on me that she was yearning and fighting for his safety. "Dean, you don't even know what you're walking into!"

"And you do!?" he challenged, practically in my face at this point. "Sam and I can do this without you! This isn't your fight!"

"My fight is your fight! How long is it going to take you to realize that you're part of my pack now!? It's my job to look out for you!"

He scoffed. "Yeah, great job you've been doing there! Last time you tried to help out, someone died! Sam could have died! You could have died!"

My eyes widened and then narrowed just as quickly, a low growl rising in my throat. My wandering hand clutched onto a rather firm pillow. I inhaled deeply, puffing up my chest, and swung the pillow towards Dean, who raised a hand to block it.

"You-!" I screamed and smacked him again, "Are such-!" I hit him in the ribs with the pillow, causing him to drop his raised arms and expose his head, "A fucking-!" I whacked him in the shoulder, "Asshole!" I screamed, slamming the pillow down on his head and sending him stumbling backward.

My chest rose and fell with labored breaths as I watched the red recede from my vision. The door clicked and my wild, golden eyes fixated on Sam as he peeked inside.

"Bad time?" the younger brother asked.

"No, perfect time," Dean grumbled, rubbing his shoulder and doing his best to smooth out his now messy hair. "We just finished." He glared at me, one full of hurt and irritation. I glared right back, standing tall under his scrutiny.

"You sure?" Sam inquired and gestured over his shoulder with his thumb towards the door, "cause I can leave again, if you want, let you get everything off your chests."

"We're fine, Sam," I said, my short temper obvious. "We can talk about it more when we get back. What'd you get from the car?"

"I ransacked the trunk. Holy water, every weapon that I could think of, exorcism rituals from about a half dozen religions. I'm not sure what to expect, so I guess we should just expect everything," Sam answered with a nervous laugh and dumped his haul onto the bed furthest from the door.

I wasted no time in helping the boys load their guns and pack their small bags. I had a feeling that there was no point arguing in packing my own. The boys carried on their own conversations as I pondered, lost in thought.

There was something seriously dark swirling overhead – I felt like something terrible was going to happen soon, like everything would come crashing down. It was a foreboding feeling and one that brought that familiar chill down my spine. Something was going to go wrong on this hunt, I could feel it.

The boys were going to get my help whether they liked it or not.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Once again, Sam seemed to understand my frustration. Likewise, I understood why he sided with Dean, although he wasn't outright voicing his opinions. If he had, I might have smothered him. I just wished Dean would understand. I wanted nothing more to protect the brothers, just like I only wanted to protect my pack. I know Dean felt the same way, considering how hard he was fighting to make me stay. So why couldn't he see that I felt the same way, just from the opposite end of the spectrum?

After a few pain-staking goodbyes, the boys were finally prepared to leave me to my own devices while they fended off whatever evil Meg was. God, I wish I could have smacked them hard enough to make them understand.

I huffed as Dean stood in the doorway, an apologetic but confident look on his face. He looked as though he had something he wanted to say but just wasn't sure how. It was the same look he had given me in the bar when I first tried to tell them about the number in the journal.

He lifted a finger to point nervously at me. "Sit," he said. "And stay."

I raised my own middle finger at him, glaring harshly. "Bite me."

He chuckled and turned to leave, calling out over his shoulder. "Don't tempt me, fido!" And with that last remark, the door closed on him, leaving me in the dark, in more ways than one. Alone.

I rushed to the window and drew back the curtains just enough that I could see the drive away, but they wouldn't see me. As soon as I heard the Impala's purr and watched it race out of the parking lot I was off again, rushing around the room.

I stuffed whatever weapons I could find into my small bag, dumping out whatever clothes and utilities I once had in it. Since my first hunt with the boys, I had been sure to pack whatever necessities I may need for either a solo hunt or a situation like this: salt, two lighters (they were notoriously unreliable), holy water, shotgun shells preloaded with rock salt, two knives, one silver and one not (I didn't like to use the silver one) and a pistol with extra bullets. Needless to say, I was prepared, although I would have been more prepared with the help of the brothers.

I checked my pistol to make sure it was loaded and zipped up the backpack, leaving everything easily acceptable but not easy to steal or see. I donned Dean's old coat and slung the bag over my shoulders, marching out the door of the hotel room with fury and confidence licking at my heels.

The boys had to know I would do something like this. Perhaps they thought they could wrap up the case before I made it there on foot.

They were wrong.

—

Surprisingly, it didn't take me long at all to get to the warehouse. Iwas panting with my hands on my knees, gazing up at the sheer scale of the building before me. It must have been seven or eight stories. My stomach felt queasy. My instinct and I could both agree that a skinwalker's place was with all four paws on the ground, not high in the air.

God, the things I do for those boys. They were lucky I put up with this bullshit.

I steeled myself and shrugged my shoulders, preparing to march across the road and enter the building. I was stopped by the odd whining sound of a large truck. My eyes scanned up and down the road until they settled on a black pickup, a rather tall and bulky vehicle. The truck pulled into a side alley a few buildings down and stopped. The engine cut out.

My hackles rose once more, and I felt that unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. I chalked it up to my nerves about facing my first demon. If my uncle could see me now, I don't know if he'd be terrified or proud. He tried to stay away from demons and magic, and just stuck to good old-fashioned monster hunting. My parents would certainly be terrified...

I tightened my jaw and marched across the street. Despite this being a busy city, there were no cars out tonight. I was thankful for that, the fewer people to see me, the better.

The inside of the building was ratty and honestly a mess. I really hoped it was condemned. If not, someone was going to get seriously hurt in here. My eyes scanned the broken-down elevator shaft that went up to the highest floor.

"No fucking way," I grumbled at the very thought of scaling that monstrosity. Instead, my eyes flitted around the room, searching for any other option, before finally resting on an old wooden door, tightly shut. I grinned and paced towards it, trying the handle and frowning when it didn't budge. I pushed against the door, hoping my weight would make it pop open. It didn't.

With a puzzled frown, I took a step back and rolled up my sleeves. I squared my shoulders and turned slightly to the side, angling my shoulder towards the weak point near the door handle. With a shake of my arms and a preparatory inhale, I launched at the door, ramming into it.

And suddenly I was falling forward with the door as it came off its hinges, a mess of cobwebs raining down on top of me. The door, and I, landed with a crash at the foot of a long flight of stairs. I lay there for a few moments, catching my breath.

"They definitely heard that," I whispered just loudly enough for myself to hear. 

I stood and dusted myself off, my eyes following the length of the steps. If I wanted to make it to the boys before they did something stupid, I'd need to hurry.

I ran up the steps as quietly as I could, hoping the pounding I heard was my heart and not my feet. Whatever was up there, I didn't want to alert it to my presence. I was lucky I didn't have a swarm of evil thousand-year-old demon things descending upon me as I ran.

My heart thumped in my chest as I made it to the top of the stairs. In front of me was a rather short hallway with a single dark door at the end, the glow of light from something on the other side peaking through the crack under the door. I licked my lips and tip-toed to the door, nerves rising, hoping to hear something on the other side.

I did in fact hear something. It sounded like a muffled conversation. I put my ear to the door and listened.

"It doesn't mean anything. It was just to draw you in, that's all," I heard a woman say. I ground my teeth together as my lips pulled back in a silent snarl. Meg.

"So you killed those people for nothing?" came Dean's unmistakable but muffled voice.

"Baby, I've killed a lot more for a lot less," Meg purred in response. I bit back a growl. My blood was boiling and it wasn't long before I was fighting with myself. Should I charge in and risk their safety, or play it safe and sneak in?

My ears pricked at Sam's voice. "Dad. It's a trap for Dad."

Shit. A trap for John? But there was no way he could make it to Chicago in time, was there? Not unless she planned to use him as bait. For a moment, I was glad I had stayed behind. Now I had a chance to warn John and maybe save the boys.

I straightened as my skin suddenly prickled with goosebumps. I felt an itch at the back of my mind, as if urging me for my attention.

My attention was redirected yet again to the sound of a scuffle on the other side of the door. I heard a crash and what sounded like a person tumbling across the floor – one of the brothers. I went to reach for the handle, but something stopped me. A buzzing between my ears.

My fist clenched, struggling to identify the feeling. My eyes widened as I felt pressure in my head.

Duck, ordered a whisper.

And I did. I ducked low enough to see a fist fly over my head and narrowly missed the door handle that I had just been reaching for. With a growl I spun in my crouched position and lunged towards my assailant, flinging them into the door.

The door splintered with a crack, light filling the once dim hallway. I snarled and tossed myself at my assailant as they struggled to stand, landing a harsh blow to their ribs and a kick to their shin. They grunted and dropped low, attempting to tackle me. I side-stepped just in time to see two shadows tear into Meg's flesh and toss her out a seventh-story window like nothing but a heap of trash.

I heard Sam's voice shout my name from beside the once meticulously arranged altar. I didn't have time to look at him before my assailant knocked me to the floor in a tackle. The two of us struggled and I felt them land a harsh blow to my cheekbone and mouth. Blood careened down my lips and dribbled into my mouth.

Suddenly, the weight was being dragged off of me and I flailed as a set of hands grabbed me under my arms, dragging me away. I kicked and screamed, fighting against whoever held me as an arm wrapped around my torso, struggling to hold me still.

"Easy, tiger!" shouted Dean, from his place beside my assailant, his hands extended toward me in an appearing gesture. My sight cleared enough to rest on the man before me. He was tall and his features were dark, a line of blood dripping down his temple from where I had hit him. He scowled at me and I glared back, struggling to get at him and fight. My eyes widened, seeing Dean's hand on the guy's shoulder.

"It's OK!" shouted Sam near my ear, struggling to hold me still and calm me down. "It's alright, we know him!"

"Who the fuck is he then!?" I snapped back and dropped my arms, ceasing my struggle. Sam let go and helped me stand, a hand under my elbow to steady me. His voice was filled with awe and his eyes were wide with shock.

"He's our dad," he said, quietly. My own eyes widened to the size of saucers, flitting between the two shocked brothers and their raggedy father. My round eyes locked with his brown ones.

"John?"

[amourfae]

cupid fae 🎀 also hi how are you, it's been so long 😭

sim jaeyun x caelin x huh yunjin old money / rich kids. love triangle. friends to lovers. fake dating.

ok so let me give you the rundown 🤭 you're yunjin's bff. you've done a terrible job of hiding your crush on her, but she's somehow remained oblivious. as besties since childhood, you're rlly close with her family and familiar with their crazy rich shenanigans. what you don't expect though is for your forever-solo bff to suddenly reveal that she's got a new "boyfriend". apparently they're close family friends (aka he's also rlly rich) and their parents are celebrating this new-budding romance at some high-end resort. oh yeah, you're invited too. you mentally prepare yourself to meet this new rival of yours, but OH NO guess what ?! her boyfriend's jake sim, that guy you kinda sorta had a thing with (at least until he ghosted you) during the summer before starting uni. you never really got over him ... basically the next few days pass with lots of uncomfortable tension btwn the two (they're dating so why do they act as if they can't stand each other?) it doesn't help that yunjin consistently catches jake flirting with you. overall, the entire stay is terribly awkward and you feel guilty for enjoying his attention. that is until you realize that they're fake dating. oh and they both like you just as much as you do them. <3

omg caelin i missed you <33 im doing well wbu? it fr has been so long 😭😭 i hope you're doing well & taking care of yourself !!!! ILYSMM 😚 also pls forgive me for how horribly formatted this is. i wrote way more than i intended to so i hope it's somewhat coherent 🫶

ok wait i didn't explain why i shipped you with them 😅 i chose jake & yunjin for you bc they fit that rlly mature, thoughtful, and sweet (also HOT) vibe that you have. they're both just so admirable + i love everything abt them just like i do you 🤭

idk if you remember this bc idek when this is from but i have a very distinct memory of shipping you with heejake but in like a school romance setting (lol i found it) as you can tell, i'm a sucker for love triangles which is why you got not just jake, but yunjin too 🫶

[darkcrowprincess]

i saw this rec from the threads app on my insta and i just had to share 😭😭

i think it's fairly accurate considering everything HRJFKDKD

other than fighting rick on a daily basis i also dabble in shipping certain things out of spite which i love that you do as well HHAHA they can pry my ships and hcs from my cold, dead hands-

im curious! what's your go-to trope/au when it comes to your fave ships? im personally a sucker for soulmate aus or anything with angst FJGKDK

I'm going to separate my favorite tropes/aus into normal and problematic/unhingedv

Normal tropes : fake dating, soulmates, forbidden lovers, best friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, friends to enemies to lovers, 7 minutes in heaven, fake out makeouts, kissing to distract the other person and being into it, sword training, secret identities shenanigans, bad boy/punk and nerd/sunshine, friends with benefits that gets real real quick,hand holding(its more sexy that kissing at times), showering a person with kisses, taking your time kissing everywhere but the lips to build anticipation, girly girl characters, nerdy bookworm girl characters(not Bella Swan, hate her) weird girl characters. Rich person x broke person, meeting at a bookstore(hate coffeshop tropes). Couples who have the same humor. Using humor to cope. Found family(but no one calls each other siblings. Hate that new trend) squads, squad are idiots, hot boys, love letters, diary stories, texting fics(to a point, hate it when it gets dumb). Saving person from drowning/fire/falling to there death/just saving someone in general. Protectiveness. Battles couple, power couple.

Normal aus: Period drama aus, Fantasy aus, sci fi aus, pirate aus, fairy tale aus, cowboy aus, ancient times aus(Egypt, Greek, roman, China, Korea, Middle ages), mythology au, reincarnation aus, time travel au, time loop aus, fix it fics, 80s 90s au. Hate anything high school or modern times(unless it's teen wolf, or dear Evan Hansen), road trip aus, running away aus, royalty aus, multiverse aus

Ok now for my unhinged/problematic faves. Stop reading if this makes you uncomfortable

Problematic tropes: Kidnapping, Monster fucking, age difference, student teacher/mentor and mentie romance, sugar daddy and sugar baby, ice play, knife play, some pain play, bdsm but not too much hate name calling, choking kink, prasie kink, possessiveness to the point of craziness, finding someone killing for you hot, abo, bandage, rape fantasy, dubious consent, extremely dubious consent, captor and captive, stolchm syndrome, secret relationships, dark romance to a point, villians getting the girl/guy, hot villians, evil female villians, evil queen, evil female characters, evil female characters winning, bad guys kidnapping kids and being good parents(but they were still kidnapped) evil found family, villian x female character, villian x hero, villans winning, killing abusers,killing horrible guys, gray mentality

Unhinged aus: beauty and the beasts au emphasize on the beast and kidnapping and captor and captive au, the lives and drama of the rich, dirty secrets(pretty little liars level, vc andrews level), arranged marriage, monsters, falling in love with monsters,evil queens conquering and being happy and in love,royals conquering, daddy issues, abusive parents, abo au, war bride/husband, men(mainly straight) being evil and getting what the deserve, werewolves, mates, gothic romance aus, gothic horror au, teacher and student/mentor and mentie. Gotham like or purge like world aus. Zombie world aus where there's just no laws. Supernatural type au with emphasis of the monster and dark. Romeo and Juliet aus. Jail aus.

[purplerose244]

Watched the sixth episode of LEGO DreamZzz: LOVED IT!

So... LEGO released some drawing tutorials with Mateo and I just... they're so pure I wanna hug him 😭😭😭 They're super adorable, I love especially Z-Blob's since he spends the entire time talking about how great his slime buddy is and MOOD MAT MOOD 💚💚💚

We're beyond halfway, I'm kinda sad but I'll wait until the end, maybe we got luck for a season 2?

Here we go!

THE ANOMALY

NOTHING BETTER HAPPEN TO Z-BLOB DO NOT HARM THE BLOB 😡

Pff, what was the chicken story? 🤣

Zoey is still a bit distant, I can't tell if she wants to join in or she likes these people enough to just hang around. I mean, she wasn't there last episode...

Did Logan drop the "Mattie" nick? It felt very derogatory so him switching to Teo feels like a step forward

IS THIS A COOPER EPISODE?? OH YES PLEASE GIVE ME THE DEPTH! ❤️

I knew it, he is stressed! Poor boy got stuff to do and can't even have breakfast, Coop please take care of yourself and have some proteins first thing in the morning 😢

You'll have all the time you want to have breakdowns once you reach high school

It seems like Cooper is the reliable one, Mateo and Logan are constantly over him asking for stuff. I wonder if they also affected his stress as well...

Okay Logan is still mean 😅 He's better, but still mean, and he changed teams permanently? I don't know if this is a "we're not an actual team, only in the Dream World" or a "we'll always be a dream, even if we're not in the real world"... mm

Finally we see the Night Bureau! We saw it only once before... while Teo was almost turning into a night terror... ah such good untraumatic memories 🙂

Ah, so Z is an anomaly? Come to think of it, did he come across because of Lunia's hourglass? Was there another reason?

These objects are histerical 😂😂

CHICKEN MATEO NOOO 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Okay, I'm liking this consistent trend of having Zoey being the most useful character despite being on her own, she just waltzed in solving that riddle lol

Agent... Strick? Oh-oh

DO NOT EVEN TRY TO TAKE AWAY MY SLIME BABY Z-BLOB 😡😡😡

Oooohhhh, so this is confirmed to be Brooklyn? Cool, I didn't know it was an actual place! Again I'm too used to imaginary places like Ninjago or Chima 😂

This gal is intense, dude you locked Oz in a room, isn't that a bit much? Should we call the policr?

Zoey is just there for the drama, girl are you with us or not? 😂😂

Did... did that detect thing turn red when it was on Mateo? Was it only because Z-Blob was behind? Huh... huh

SHE FLIPPING TURNED INTO A BABY/WOMAN WHAT IS HAPPENING

Z-Blob floating has to be the cutest thing even, like, look at that little guy go! To infinity and beyond 💚

NO WAIT NOT BEYOND THE WINDOW

I see how it's going 😅😅

I'm so sorry I understimated Cooper, look at him! He's just a kid and he really wants to be up to expectations, and now we got a brother that sets the example? Dude I'm eating this, I'm a sucker for angst, LOOK AT THIS BOY HE NEEDS A BREAK 😭😭😭

Z-BLOB SHENANIGANS Z-BLOB SHENANIGANS Z-BLOB SHENANIGANS Z-BLOB SHENANIGANS 💚💚💚

You did not make a hotdog out of slime

YOU DID NOT MAKE A Z-BLOB BALOON WHAT IS THIS SLIME DOING???

Is he afraid of being captured? I've never seen him going this awol before, he's always besides Mateo no matter what! Is he only scared or is there a reason?

Dude Cooper was so stressed he forgot breakfast!!! EAT BABY EAT!!!

Okay baby Strick is kinda hilarious... and Oz is on the ceiling... and there is still junk everywhere... and where is Albert? WHAT IS HAPPENING PEOPLE?!

Cooper you left for half a day, and now everything is on fire 😅

LOOK AT HIM IGNORING HIS BROTHER TO CHECK ON HIS FRIEND 🥹🥹🥹

I👏LOVE👏TEO👏AS👏A👏NICK👏

Cooper skyrocketed on my appreciation list in this episode, his backstory got so much potential for analysis! He's such a good friend, he's just very stressed out but he's super capable!!! ❤️

MATEO IDEA TIME 💚💚💚

Was that the superman line? 🤣

Aaaand, we're back! Are we fixing everything now that Coop is here?

Oh wow we actually are! I adore mechanics, I was all over them in Ninjago (Jay and Nya and Zane and Pixal and Ronin and Cyrus... there are so many in Ninjago 🥰), so this is so cool to see!

Agent Strick approves Cooper! YAS!

Oohh, so Zoey was maybe interested in joining, but never could before? Is this why she was a bit snarky in this episode, maybe she wanted to join but could never physically? That's kinda adorable 😂😂

PARTY TIME EVERYONE💃💃💃

COOPER GOT A SMALL HAIRCUT CHANGE I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! ❤️

Alright this was another really REALLY good episode, but... now I'm stuck with the crazy theory that Mateo is the anomaly 🤣

I'm sure I'm wrong and I'm just blowing this out of proportion, but what if Strict examined that plant and found traces of Z AND Mateo? What if Lunia's hourglass was found by him for a reason?

She said that the anomaly appeared "the other night" so it was clearly Z Blob... but technically the other night was when the show started for me, so I might see this as Mateo appearing in this world for the first time. Could it be he fit in in one night, everyone's memories were changed to accept that, and no one questions this?

... I know this just me headcanoning left and right and it's clearly not gonna happen

... I'M STILL GONNA WRITE FICS ABOUT THIS OKAY 🤩🤩🤩 THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD I'M SO INSPIRED!!!!

[undertheknightwing]

My newest au I recently wrote a fic about aka "what if S&L brought Beast Boy into their show" is such a fun one to brainstorm scenarios and shenanigans for because Gar (or Changeling) has been in the d.o.d's metahuman school almost all his life and doesn't know anything about humans or how they live their lives. Like he's from a place with such high level technology but because he's never seen a phone before he's in awe of this tiny box with an interactive screen

Jon and Jordan try to teach him how to blend in and 'act human', not because they believe he needs to change or he's wrong the way he is but to keep him safe from their grandpa who has soldiers searching for the escaped metahuman. Gar forms himself a human disguise for safety and the boys take him along on all their adventures, letting him have fun with them like going with them and the girls (Sarah and Natalie) to tube down the river or hang out at the lake, let him have normal life experiences outside of the metahuman school's walls

I dunno I'm just a sucker for these kind if aus I guess

[zarvasace]

3, 12, and 23?

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

The toughest thing I got through this year was most of Blood-Sucker's Guide to High School. I feel like it's, uh.... disingenuous, a little, to say that I'm really proud of it, since I pulled the plot more-or-less wholesale from another book, but you know what? I didn't pull most of the dialogue or most of the specific scenes. That one scene behind the stage was HARD but I think it turned out well at the end.

12. favorite character to write about this year

I think I wrote a lot of good Shadow things recently. I think Shadow has a lot of interesting character moments, and I feel like I have a better handle on him and the sorts of things I want to do with him now. He's mischievous and takes himself both so seriously and not seriously at all.

23. fic you wanted to write but didn't

For one of the Fright Fight prompts in October, I wanted to write a FS modern AU story where all the boys got together to play Pathfinder. I wanted it to be high level with several alt rules to give them all as much room to be chaotic as possible. It ended up being too much for me (especially after spending all of September frantically writing for the first week), but my plan was:

Shadow as the GM, he would be like one of my old friends: tons of monsters and rules memorized, very down for shenanigans, and an enabler of cool things. He's put together an undead-themed campaign, so each of the characters gets a free undead archetype on top of the normal free archetype.

Green: his character is an orc mummy champion of like, Sarenrae or something (for D&D friends, a champion is a paladin)

Blue: he's an iruxi (lizardfolk) zombie fighter focused around Power Attack

Red: leshy (tiny plant thing) vampire kineticist (firebender)

Vio: anadi (giant spider/humanoid shape shifter, I came up with so much extra lore for them last year) ghost thaumaturge with some edgy background

[kasmusser]

Ship Game: Avery/Nora

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Honestly it's just really cute, I'm a sucker for cute soft relationships. Avery napping on the phone with Nora is just peak.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Cute as all hell, and also great potential for identity shenanigans. Nora might think Avery is rich, might think she's involved in organized crime, knows for sure Avery is in some shady shit, but doesn't know what.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I want it to last. I want Avery to have that unrealistic high school sweethearts forever. Maybe have Nora become Aware/Awaken?

[countlessrealities]

Send 🚢 if you ever considered shipping our characters romantically || Always accepting !

@mnstcrsiiistcrs sent: 🚢 Marsha and Morty maybe

do i ship our characters together? yes | no | not yet but maybe soon [ I find the fact that Morty has a crush on Marsha and that he desperately tries to hide it SO funny, but they haven't interacted enough for me to tell whether or not they'd work as more than friends ]

would i like to ship with you? yes | maybe, i'm willing to try [ we've never really discussed non platonic ships, but we have done some shenanigans with Morty & Marsha, so I'm definitely open to the idea! ] | no

type of relationship i could see: childhood or high school sweethearts | exes | engaged | married | long-term relationship | crushes | unrequited love | fling | long distance | online relationship | just dating | new relationship | toxic lovers | friends with benefits [ It really depends on how you wanna play this out, but it makes sense that they would be just starting in any case, since they are still getting to know each other ]

tropes i'd enjoy writing for them: friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | exes to lovers | fake relationship / dating | forbidden love | grumpy and sunshine | star-crossed lovers | surprise pregnancy | second chance | soulmates | amnesia / mistaken identity | forced proximity | secret relationship | slow burn relationship

would i rather plot first or jump right in and see where it goes? develop their relationship first | jump right in | something in between

what now? let's plot something | send me shippy memes | i'll send you shippy memes | write me a random starter | i'll write you a random starter

anything else i want you to know about me / my character / my shipping habits: I tend to be a sucker for slow burns, but I'm also happy to adapt to my writing partner's preference...as long as it's not instant shipping (that's one big no-no for me). Also, I love putting muses who are pining / crushing on each other in awkward situations xD

[pixelstarr]

1, 5, 20 for the league questions :p

hi!!! thank you for asking i am very excited!

1 - I started playing league in april 2020! I was a first-year college student at the time and in March everyone got kicked off of campus/sent home indefinitely due to COVID. I was like "goddamn what am I gonna do with all this time now, I'm basically stuck in my parents' basement for the foreseeable future" and one of my high school friends said "if you wanna play league of legends with us you can!" I said "what's league of legends" and the rest is history

5 - I play pretty often with my partner! We live together and we often do bot duo shenanigans or play bad ARAMs together. I'm slowly collecting more friends who play league though and I'm hoping to start up a league discord server soon, so I'm always down for games :3

20 - you know that I'm insane about heartsteel BUT I would really love to see a round 2 of Odyssey! There was a lot of lore when the skinline originally released that seemed like it just kinda got abandoned and I think it would make a great event. Also I'm just a sucker for sci-fi/exploring space themed stuff, and the Odyssey crew has the silly goofy found family vibe that I eat up every single time (see: heartsteel).

thank you for asking i love this silly game!!

[lukas-wrld]

Welcome to my world!

In which I almost have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm learning and trying and writing and writing and writing!

You can call me Luka; she/her

I'm an aspiring Malawian writer that supposedly has too many story ideas for her own good, lol. But I'm trying to actually finish some of my WIPs and learn how to actually go about this whole writing business

I'm legal, so minors, take caution. Although anything NSFW will be explicitly stated, otherwise this blog should be pretty safe. I'm trusting that you go only where it is safe for you to

pfp from nellseto's character maker!

I like writing romantic subplots despite having never been in a romantic relationship, lol

I have Wattpad, Quotev and AO3 accounts, but they're kinda lame

I'm a sucker for fantasy worlds and YA novels

my story ideas to wordcount ratio is embarrassing and will not be mentioned

I'm pretty shy, although I would love to make some writer friends here!

Undertale brainrot since 2018

I'm joining writeblr to put myself out there, join the writing community, make friends, and learn more about writing!

I'm under the false assumption that I'm hilarious

maybe I'll update this on occasion

In this particular world,

you'll be seeing a lot of reblogs to do with advice, memes and some prompts and resources. I'm also open to participating in tag and ask games, and writeblr events! And I guess I'll post some original content on occasion too, I guess

Although, fair warning; I'm terrible at being consistent with things, and if I'm here, I'm probably procrastinating something else, lol. And half the time I even forget this thing exists, oops

about my writing;

I'm honestly just exploring writing styles and genres at this point. I mainly write fanfiction 'cause it's less daunting to work with pre-existing worlds, lol.

An Escort

Completed! Being rewritten. (Link to tumblr post here) An Undertale au (Underlust) focusing on the (mostly platonic) relationship between Sans and the reader. NSFW, although it's not the case with the entire story. TW: substance (ab)use, allusions to depression and eating disorders, and reckless behaviours

Blood, Dust & Honey

Planning/drafting; main WIP. (Link to tumblr post here) Another Undertale au (Underswap) following a newly appointed detective in training as she tries to figure out where all the disappearing monsters have been going. Romance, mystery, she needs to learn to ask for help, and plenty of shenanigans

Plain Jane

Planning/drafting An original story following Jane, who just wants to finish her final year of high school in peace, but has to stop a potentially world threatening ploy by her headmaster since no one else seems concerned about it. Romance, mythical creatures and the tempting call of senioritis.

How to be the Perfect Daughter

Planning; barely a vague idea that yearns to be written An original story written in a self help format that details the expectations an eldest daughter must meet in a culture she doesn't completely agree with. Coming of age, questioning tradition, cathartic.

I think that's about it. And if you saw something that caught your eye, why not stick around, or send me an ask? I would seriously love to make some friends here even though I'm really shy, lol

[wowowwild]

I was wondering if you would do Polly's Paper Bag for the fic ask meme questions? I would specify questions but I know you love to talk about it so just pick what ever ones you want.

I love doing whatever I want, how did you know?!

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

It just happened. It came out the mind womb that way. Tbh it was all vibes. Kind of wish I had done any sort of outline but it is what it is.

2: What scene did you first put down?

I actually wrote this fic in order but the first chapter was done long before I started working on the rest.

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?/4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

I can't answer either of these. This is a crack fic so everything is funny. I love funny lines.

5: What part was hardest to write?

The arcade whole thing. Atrocious. So many things. The popsicle scene in particular was hard but the idea was so funny I couldn't not do it.

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

It is different from my other AA fics in that it is a chaptered fic that I did not map out first. I had no idea how the rest of the story was going to look when I started. I've done this before in one other fandom with a couple of fics. Not ideal, but it is how I write my crack fics. Can I really call it that when it's getting a whole fleshed out AU? Yes, bc while I've never done a cocaine, I do write this AU exclusively in the middle of the night when I am in a state I imagine taking drugs feels like. I'm just tired though. Don't do drugs, kids.

7: Where did the title come from?

It is of course from the inciting incident when Trucy and Maya are riling Polly up to get him to place a bet.

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

"So the weather today, huh?" is an awkward conversation starter straight from my freshman high school self. I was in an awkward relationship where we straight up didn't talk to each other. We did before and after we dated but not during. Idk what that was about but I did get this fantastic non starter.

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Do you know how many times I pitched and scrapped ideas? I don't. Probably a lot. There were so many potentially vastly different versions of this fic. And honestly, it might be superior as a stand alone. Not that I'm not excited for writing part two, I just think people should know part two is asking a different question than part one, and while I don't think part two will undermine part one, I think you should take what see at the end of part one at face value. Mostly I'm talking about the friendships that will turn into romances. I don't want the way these friendships are viewed to be tainted by a romantic future. As someone who is aspec, friendships as they are, are very important to me and they tend to get overshadowed, especially if those friends eventually enter into a committed partnership. I don't want that. Especially for Claypollo, terminally co-dependent besties. I'm afraid people will look at how I've written them and decide I always planned for the Pollycule. I didn't. I just wrote them how me and my best friends act. I'm not dating any of my besties and I never will, this is just how we choose to show our affection, bc we love each other. Love isn't only for romance. So yeah.

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

It was always going to be a klapollo story. I wanted to try it out and this is the concept I chose to go with it, bc I'm always a sucker for stupid shenanigans.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I actually finished it. That's a huge achievement for me. Also I made a friend! Tbh that's probably why I'm so gun-ho about the whole thing. Having someone constantly comment when I updated made me look forward to writing the fic and hold it in a high regard. Even though technically speaking it's atrocious. It's about the fun I have with it. Also I'm hilarious and I love reading back my jokes. It's all about the bits.

12: What do you like least about this fic?

So many things. I have changed opinions on certain things since then. I learned that aa6 exists since then (honestly my greatest regret, can you imagine Nahyuta in this fic? Fantastic.). And the ending feels a little clunky, like how they say 'I love you' but it came like super quick. I've already started re-editing some of it, but I'm saving the rest for my re-read before I finish the spin offs that are set during part one and prepare for part two. This might be a trilogy tbh. Unclear. All I know is Ema and Clay are main characters for part two and I haven't really gotten farther than that. And despite 'so many things' being 'wrong' with it, I still really like it.

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

Ways to avoid using 'anyways' as a transition. Now I'm very good at that and I feel like my writing flows better bc of it. Still haven't figured out conversations with more than two people despite constantly putting three or more people in a room, though.

[siverwrites]

Candy Hearts Exchange Letter

Ao3: Siver

Thank you dear author or artist and thank you so much for anything you do! I talk more about what I like here and some general prompts. I hope something here is helpful and you’ve got other ideas entirely awesome :D.

I have several possible requests and while some are longer than others they are all equally welcome!

All requests are fic or art.

Art: Interactions of some sort are my preference over static posing: emoting at each other, talking, sharing some activity, taking a walk, hugs are always welcome, whatever suits the pair/group!

Treats: Are more than welcome and greatly appreciated!

General Likes:

fluff, hurt/comfort, comfort, mutual care and support

family found or otherwise, bonding, cuddling/hugs/holding, banter, emotional bonding, loyalty, slice of life

sickfic, angst with a happy or at least bittersweet end

supernatural stuff, mystery, adventure, worldbuilding, creepy or unsettling atmospheres

fandom fusions, pre-canon, post-canon, missing scenes, reunited characters

General DNW:

NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, shipping (except those ships listed as liked, requested or background canonical pairings), infidelity

explicit gore

real world modern mundane AUs (eg. coffee shop, college, high-school etc)

terminal illness, permanent-death of requested characters

2nd person pov

WIP WIP WIP

--

Ghost Trick

Any

Alma & Pigeon Man

Cabanela & Jowd & Sissel

Emma & Alma

Emma & Cabanela

Emma & Jowd

Jowd & Kamila

Jowd & Pigeon Man

Jowd & Yomiel & Sissel

Alma & Sissel

Alma/Cabanela

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd

Alma/Jowd

Cabanela & Lynne

Cabanela & Missile

Cabanela & Pigeon Man

Cabanela/Jowd

Kamila & Sissel

Lovey-Dove & Pigeon Man

Honestly, there's so much here, I don't have anything in particular for prompts. I love these characters. I love their dynamics. Use one grouping, use several, up to you. Go nuts?

I love post-canon exploration, how they're getting along, new meetings, already established meetings. The Jowd family grown larger--found family. Navigating the Jowd and his weirdness and secrets. Cat shenanigans. Unexpected team-ups.

Emma makes for a delightful combination of intrigue and humour. Nuff said.

I'm a sucker for those five years Jowd is in jail. Cabanela exploration during that point is always a joy.

--

Chrono Trigger

Kaeru | Frog | Glenn & Queen Leene

Lucca Ashtear & Robo

Fiona & Robo

Last time I played the game I was particularly struck by how close Queen Leene and to a degree, King Guardia actually felt to Frog.

I’d just like to see more between Leene and Frog, either after Cyrus dies and before he leaves, or what happens between them in the moment he takes off. Does he tell them? Does he simply disappear? What is he feeling; what is she feeling?

Or coming back after Lavos is defeated.

Or some moment between them when the party is back in 600.

Just, give them some time.

I'm soft for Lucca and Robo. Just being friends, supporting each other. Human thoughts and robot thoughts...

Also very soft for the time Robo spends helping Fiona replant the forest. A robot like him must be very strange to her though. How do they connect in between the work? What does she think of him?

--

Final Fantasy VI

Cyan Garamonde & Relm Arrowny

Cyan Garamonde & Strago Magus

Celes Chere & Chocobos

Celes Chere & Sabin Rene Figaro

Celes Chere & Relm Arrowny

Edgar Roni Figaro & Sabin Rene Figaro

Edgar Roni Figaro & Sabin Rene Figaro & Chocobos

Relm Arrowny & Interceptor

Terra Branford & Mog

Any point during the World of Ruin is particularly welcome. With all the party members either together or those available still looking for the others, it’s ripe for opportunities while travelling on foot/chocobo (chocobo snuggles! Chocobo times especially welcome)–like along the Serpent’s Trench–or while flying in the airship. Friendship and found family vibes are especially welcome here and finding hope where they can in this new wreck of their world.

That said the World of Balance has plenty of opportunities too and I’m happy to see things there too.

And of course there’s all the opportunities after the end. What are they doing now? Where do they find themselves? How do they forge new lives? What are their new or old connections like?

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Discworld

Death of Rats & Mustrum Ridcully

Mustrum Ridcully & Ponder Stibbons

Binky & Death

Death & Death of Rats

I just need these combinations. Any of them. I love them. While Ridcully and Death have had some interaction Ridcully and Death of Rats have not. How does Ridcully handle this skeletal rat? (Is the Death of Rats hygienic?). Ridcully and long-suffering Stibbons are just always a fun combination and HEX being involved in some capacity is always a bonus.

Death looking after Binky at home? Travelling somewhere? Curry outing and things happen?

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Pyre

Big Bertrude & Volfred Sandalwood

Jodariel & Sir Gilman

Oralech/Volfred Sandalwood

Oralech/Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Ti'zo & Volfred Sandalwood

Vagabond Girl & Volfred Sandalwood

Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Big Bertrude & Sir Gilman

Ti'zo & Vagabond Girl

Found family joys. Daily activities while they travel? Post Peaceful revolution activities? Making unexpected connections... Imps! Very different snakes doing snake things. Any combo here is great.

Volfred/Tariq:Something gentle for the tree and the moon who somehow fell for him, any time period

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Bug Fables

Any

Chompy & Leif

Elizant II & Leif

Elizant II & Queen Vanessa II

Chompy & Kabbu & Leif & Vi

Kabbu & Leif & Vi

Leif & Muze

Leif & Tod

Party shenanigans! Party warmth... they're a found family now I say. Fulfilling a request? Or some down time and how they spend it. Either with or without Chompy but that plant is dear to my heart.

As is probably obvious from these groupings, I'm a big fan of Leif. Anything exploring more of this moth out of time would be cool. Awkward cute family times as the great great (how many greats; we just don't know) grandpa or uncle to Tod or Muze. Or adorableness with Chompy...

Elizant and Vanessa just seem neat. Something during the game once Vanessa has been rescued and brought back to the ant kingdom. Reassurances? Plots together? Or something post-game, rebuilding relations between the Ant Kingdom and Wasp Kingdom now that Vanessa's back in charge. Or heck, some downtime for these two queens who could probably use it, if they could be convinced.

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Lunar

Althena & Lucia

Leo | Mystere & Mauri

Nall & Quark

Nall & Ruby

Worldbuilding potential!

Leo and Mauri sibling times for something sweeter or Mauri going all in joining the Mystere shenanigans.

Quark made me sad... but more Quark and Nall would be good! Old white dragon and new white dragon...

Nall and Ruby, two dragons trying to get to know each other better? Nall attempting to mentor her in some capacity and possibly failing. Stories of the past?

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The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

DNW: spoilers for Trails into Reverie

Any

Celeste D. Auslese & Kloe Rinz | Klaudia von Auslese

Estelle Bright & Kloe Rinz | Klaudia von Auslese

Kloe Rinz | Klaudia von Auslese & Julia Schwarz

Lila/Maybelle

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Cassius Bright

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Kloe Rinz | Klaudia von Auslese

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Mueller Vander

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor/Mueller Vander

Ries Argent & Kevin Graham

Ries Argent/Kevin Graham

Cassius & Olivier: The plotting, the sharing of knowledge... the no doubt insufferability to those around their secretive shenanigans. Sky SC gives a taste. I want more.

Celeste & Kloe: Distant relation, sort of, figment of anyway. So much potential knowledge Kloe can grill Celeste for but how much can she even give?

Estelle & Kloe: Best friends! Sisters! Give them some softness because tough times are still coming. Maybe a last get together before Estelle and Joshua leave? Or more during the Jenis chapter? Sky’s the limit.

Kloe & Julia: Looking out for each other...maybe some mutual time away from their respective duties

Kloe & Olivier: Crossbell had me eyeing these two in yes please more please. The allyship, a budding friendship? Working together behind the scenes. Connections over dual identities.

Lila/Maybelle: They’re just sweet and need all the love and a vacation! Take care of each other, pair of workaholics.

Mueller &/ Olivier: One of my few Trails ships, but as noted I’m good with gen too. Liberl times explorations. Their final night in Liberl? The trip back to Erebonia after the airship display with Osborne? I just love their dynamic and Mueller’s care under the grump (still calling him Olivier no matter what, aaa) so more of it is always good

Ries &/ Kevin: Shipped or platonic, either is good. 3rd is a great opportunity of course, but just as interested in their time together while Kevin recovers after the Aion in Crossbell.

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The Legend of Heroes: Crossbell Arc

DNW: spoilers for Trails into Reverie

Any

Alex Dudley & KeA

Elie MacDowell & Tio Plato

KeA & Lloyd Bannings

KeA & Randy Orlando

KeA & Sergei Lou

KeA & Zeit

Lloyd Bannings & Alex Dudley

Lloyd Bannings & Elie MacDowell & Tio Plato & Randy Orlando

Randy Orlando & Ken & Nana

Randy Orlando & Tio Plato

Aaall the found family feels, if maybe a little grudgingly in some cases, lookin' at you, Dudley. KeA winning everyone's hearts. Core SSS bonding. Sibling-like relationships. Pre-future-teacher Randy getting some first hand experience with kids somehow landing himself around Juna's little siblings. Case fic for the SSS. Case fic for parts of the SSS.

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