#I'm sure everyone else can hear that too and they're just not bothered by it

[aingeal98]

Bruce and Cass conversations are just Autism to Autism communication

One time they're going over a case together in the batcave with Dick and they keep getting more and more distressed despite the case being relatively straightforward until Dick with his years of Bruce deduction recognises the signs of electricity in the walls being too loud and goes to fix it. They both immediately relax and he's like "... You guys could have just SAID there was a high pitched sound bothering you." to which he receives matching looks of Bat:

He gives up, grumbling about how he should have just stayed in Bludhaven.

[berryz-writes]

You're mine, sweetheart

Summary: Theo cheers you up after a shit day

Theodore Nott x reader

Pansy looked me up and down, hate simmering in her eyes. She scoffed "Don't tell me that's what your wearing. You look like an absolute slag"

After being best friends with her for our first few years and realising how toxic she really was I had tried to keep my distance from her but she didn't get the hint and instead liked to comment on each and every thing I did. Of course the comments hurt me but maybe after the years they just didn't hurt as much. Maybe I was immune now. The dress I had chosen for this nights party was a short green dress, something to celebrate our Quidditch win but of course the dress didn't live up to her expectations. What was really annoying was she wore a similar dress just a few weeks back but according to her I was the one who looked like a slag.

"I think it looks nice Pansy"

I turned to my mirror and applied a light pink lip gloss that was almost finished because of the amount of times I had used it. I couldn't be bothered arguing with her tonight. I wasn't about to let her ruin my mood.

"I bet you tried finding the shortest dress in that store"

I rolled my eyes "What are you on about?" I was getting tired of her stupid, annoying comments.

"You know exactly what I'm on about. Don't think Theo's gonna fuck you after this, honey. Your just like all the other desperate bitches at the party"

I gritted my teeth together and put my lip gloss down trying to appear as unaffected as I could. "Fuck off. Jealousy isn't a good look on you"

I walked past her, tears forming in my eyes. Before I could leave she made sure to mutter "Once a whore, always a whore". I let my feet carry me outside to the warm summer evening where the sun was setting. I walked around the lake trying to blink away the tears so my makeup wouldn't be ruined. Was there any point of going to the party? No, probably not.

I sat down on hill, the freshly mowed grass making a soft carpet for me to relax on. Me and Theo had sat hear many times before whether it was to have a late night snack or to miss lessons. It was a comforting place.

I sat there until the sun set and soon it got darker. Almost too dark. My thoughts had cleared now. My tears no longer trying to make an appearance. Maybe I could join the party. Just because one person was being an ass didn't mean everyone else would be.

As I was contemplating on whether I should stand up or not someone cleared their throat behind me. I raised my wand instantly expecting...well something scary I guess.

It was in fact Theo holding a small golden lantern. I didn't bother standing up and instead waited for him to flop down next to me.

"My favourite person isn't going to congratulate me on my performance today?" He placed the lantern between us so we were both bathed in a warm orange light. I could just about make him out, his features looking almost worried.

"You were good." I said. I didn't have the social battery to talk to him right now even if he had done nothing wrong.

He smiled at me "I know. What's up with you? Your usually dragging me to parties but instead your...well from my point of view it looks like your mourning your rabbit"

I let out a small laugh. Even at times like these he could make me laugh. "I just don't understand. Why is it so hard for some people to be nice?"

Theo shrugged "They're probably insecure. Or jealous."

"Yeah. Probably"

We sat in silence for another few minutes before Theo stood up stretching out his hand to me "Come on, sweetheart. Your the life of the party. It's no fun without you"

I stood up and handed him the lantern instead "You can be the life of the party tonight. I'm tired"

"Don't let someone ruin what you want to do. Y/n you love parties. You've never missed one. Unless you really are tired, I'll respect your decision and walk with you to your room"

I contemplated my options. I could do what I really wanted to do which was go to the party and enjoy life with my friends or I could get cosy in my bed and feel like a coward for the next week. He was right. No one got to influence what I wanted to do.

"Your playing truth or drink with me then"

He grinned at me "Whatever you want, sweetheart"

As we walked back inside the castle from a more hidden entrance Theo made sure to hold my hand because apparently he "didn't want me to trip and get hurt". Whatever the reason was it didn't stop butterflies from forming in my stomach.

I had to blink at the sudden brightness of the corridors, the light finally letting me see Theo clearly. He had dropped my hand and instead was surveying me.

Theo's eyes took their time on inspecting my outfit, hungrily devouring the way the dress emphasised my curves. He finally brought his gaze up to look at me, his eyes slightly darker than usual "You look absolutely divine"

I smiled at the compliment "If you weren't my best friend, I'd say you were flirting with me"

He raised an eyebrow "Maybe I am. It's quite hard not to when my best friend is so fucking gorgeous" My cheeks heated at his words, my dress feeling a little too tight all of a sudden. I think I needed to sit down after that.

He extended his arm so I could wrap my hand around it. "I can't wait to tell everyone we're dating"

I paused. What did he say? "If that's ok with you" He added hastily.

I thought about what he said. Had I always imagined what it would be like if Theo asked me out and we weren't just best friends anymore? Of course I did. Every single second of every single day.

"That's fine with me"

He smiled again, a small dimple appearing in his left cheek "Then it's settled. Your mine, sweetheart. And I'm yours" 

[audliminal]

It's Just a Game, Right? Pt 3

Masterpost

"You still good?" Sam's voice crackles through the walkie talkie, as Danny flies erratically through and rooms. Danny ignores it for the moment, focusing on his current task. Their distraction plan had certainly worked, but now Danny has to maintain his balancing act, keeping the giw agents engaged without actually getting himself hurt. "Danny?" Sam asks again.

"Real great timing, Sam." Danny mutters, changing his tragectory to straight up. He's on the roof in moments, and allows his body to slip back into tangibility without dropping his invisibility.

"I'm getting a workout for sure, but they haven't hit me yet." Danny says, the moment he has the walkie talkie in hand.

"Good." Sam's relief is clear. Sam was the least enthusiastic about this arg idea from the start, but this current plan, with Danny acting as a distraction had driven her almost frantic with frustration. "We're almost done filming, so you can probably start trying to lose them. And let us know if you need help."

"Yeah? What, are you gonna go ghost and come distract them too?" The joke comes out a bit harsher than intended and Danny immediately winces. "Sorry. Sorry that was supposed to be a joke."

Sam doesn't immediately respond and Danny hears footsteps on the stairs, so he jams the walkie talkie back in its holder and takes off, making sure to fly away from where his classmates are working.

Moments after he drops back into intangibility, the door to the roof slams open and three giw agents rush out, already taking shots in his direction. By now their strategies are familiar though, and Danny is already making evasive moves as he flies off.

"Straight lines are boring anyways," he snickers, dipping down, so he can fly directly through the floor of another building, and then shooting straight up for a moment before continuing on. "Though it would be nice if their damn sensors could stop improving..."

On the other side of town, Danny's class has just finished recording footage of their school with untreated tech. Tonight, Wes and Tucker will start adding the dozens of layers of encryptions and hidden messages that they've been layering their project with.

A surprising number of people have already followed their channel, but so far they've only broken through around two layers of the content they've posted, and certainly haven't even come close to finding the encoded file drops, where they've actually hidden the bulk of the information.

That's the reasoning for this latest idea. As far as the plot of their series so far, the green-tinted, garbled footage won't make any sense. So, if they can get this out there without getting caught, it might help queue the people investigating their videos to dig a little more in search of an explanation.

"Halt, ghost scum!" The booming voice below Danny is immediately recognizable as his dad, and he just rolls his eyes and groans, without slowing. The good news about his parents joining the hunt is that they'll likely distract the giw's own efforts. But it also means they're gonna be extra annoying when he gets home tonight. It's the kind of trade-off that Danny will take every time, but he reserves the right to be annoyed by it.

Danny's parents, like everyone else, are far from happy with the giw's occupation and quarantine of Amity Park. Jazz should be heading off to college in a matter of months, but instead she's going to be stuck here. Jazz hadn't even bothered sending off applications this year - a matter than had been the target of much distress by their parents, and the first thing that got them to really stop and think about what the giw were doing.

Recently, they'd even considered shutting down their portal, but unfortunately that had proved more complicated than would be reasonable. So ghosts continued to drift through, and Danny continued to swiftly catch them before the giw or his blundering parents could show up to cause problems. Most days he managed to get the ghosts captured and himself out without serious injury but, well, even if his parents had stopped developing new weapons, lately, the giw had only ramped up their efforts.

And Danny was stuck in the middle of it all.

"We're done and out, Danny. Please tell me you haven't gotten yourself hurt." Sam's voice comes through again, startling Danny away from his thoughts. He glances back behind him, and is relieved to see no signs of chase behind him.

"Yeah, we're good. My parents showed up with some real clutch timing. Maybe if we're lucky, they crashed into each other and they're out a vehicle or two."

"Yeah, if we're lucky." Sma laughs. "Meet up at the arcade?"

"Sure thing." Danny says, ducking into a nearby store and dropping his ghost form safely in the bathroom.

[teojira]

I hope it's not too much to ask... do you have any head cannons about Bigby dating neurodivergent reader?

[Bigby Wolf with Neurodivergent!reader]

Summary: Bigby trying his damndest to be a good s/o

Warnings: Bigby trying his best, you're a mundy in this!

A/N: Cracks my fingers, it's been fucking ages since someone has asked me about Bigby. I hope these are okay! I miss this man so much. Incurable brainrot he gave me for the last 10 years.

I am not confident in these but I tried, thank you for requesting!

Bigby is rough around the edges, he's not gonna be the best person to comfort you or say the rights things. He's gonna fuck up, and he's gonna feel like shit about it.

You're gonna have to be understanding that this'll probably his first genuine relationship with a mundy, and while the fables use glimmer to pretend to be humans, they're not.

He doesn't get it, neurodivergentcy is not a common topic in fables lives, he will learn for you.

Bighy tries his best though, the second you tell him you're beginning to feel overstimulated, he'll make room and take you away from it.

He's overprotective, almost to an annoying degree but he can't help it. He's not gonna ease off, and he thinks he can handle everything on his shoulders that gets thrown at him.

You gotta tell him that yes, while you may be different and have some issues that fables don't frequently deal with, you're not a child.

Depending on what you struggle with more, he tries to fill in the gaps.

Struggle with time management? He'll be the one to try and remember for you, or telling you to keep track of the alarms on your phone when he isn't around.

Issues with anxiety? He'll force you to lay down with him, sitting in his shitty chair with you on his lap. He'll give you the run down of his day, letting you ask any and as many questions as you want until whatever that's scaring you is gone.

"I'm just, so scared to go in-"

"Do you want me to go?"

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"So what I hear is that I'm going with you."

There are no real off days for the man, but he does his best to follow you around like a guard dog when he's technically off duty.

He realizes it could be seen as codependent but you're his partner, the primal urge to protect you is strong and it will damn near overweight whatever else has has going on.

Mood swings that deal with anger? He knows all about that, he'll let you scream and cry as much as you want, hell he'd let you hit him if you wanted, he lets you work through your issues on him and just holds you after.

Struggle with the hustle and bustle of the city? He keeps you far away from just about everyone, he's not well liked and he's sure if they spot you, they'll give you a hard time. So he'll probably be the one visiting you on your side of town more often than not.

Takes into consideration that the cigarettes he smokes can be a sensory overload, so he tries to limit it to when he's away from you.

At first he tried to push back on it, saying that it's just smoke but when you put your foot down and say it makes you sick, he starts to wean off of them.

Always tells you you're not a bother, that he would never mind comforting you nor does he hate that he's your safe person.

It makes him feel like he's actually important, that he has a job that actually means something.

He deals with bullshit day in and day out, but at least he has you and you have him.

[dairy-farmer]

I haven't been able to stop thinking about the bats being obsessed with Tim's tits. They keep groping and spanking his tits and pinching and playing with his nipples to the point where it's odd when Tim's tits aren't sore and aching from how often they're played with.

I'm torn between this being a part of the normalized public sex au or if the bats are groping Tim's tits secretly and trying not to let the other bats find out out about their obsession with Tim's tits.

Cause for the normalized public sex au, I doubt Tim would even bother with wearing a shirt around the manor cause of how often said shirts would be pulled up (or down, causing the necklines to get stretched out) or even torn off completely so that his tits would be fully accessible for biting and groping. Besides, with tits as sore as Tim's, even the softest fabric would probably feel agonizing rubbing up against his aching tits.

Bruce could pinch Tim's nipples as a form of affection. Dick could squeeze his little brother's tits as a greeting (it's like a hug but for Tim's tits). Jason could smack Tim's tits as casually as one would do a particularly hard pat on the shoulder or back. Cass could grope Tim's tits while they're having a movie night and have it be just kind of like stroking someone's hair.

Also Tim could get away with not wearing a shirt in public despite the many bite marks that cover it, or, alternatively, he could wear very thin shirts that barely hide anything at all and very clearly show his nipples.

Or! Dick and Cass being excited to get Tim to try on "jewelry" :) such as nipple clamps of all types. Ones with little hearts on them, ones with weights, ones with bells that could be used for "stealth training".

Or...Tim getting nipple piercings. I love the idea that Tim's always wanted piercings, and he casually mentions that he wants piercings to Jason, and Jason goes "piercings are a great idea - I know a very reputable piercer around here. let's get you pierced right now" and Tim's excited so he goes along with it, only for Jason to functionally trick Tim into getting nipple piercings cause it's not like Tim specified what kind of piercings he wanted <3

Sure, the nipple piercings will take a while to heal, and everyone will have to wait to play with Tim's tits until they heal (but perhaps they can turn their attention to other things...like playing with Tim's clit until cumming is physically painful), but once Tim's piercings heal, they can go back to adding weights and bells to them for "training" purposes, and he can wear them for much longer now because they're piercings and not clamps (which have to be taking off periodically for health)!

And then there's the alternative...where the bats are groping Tim's tits and desperately hoping that no one else finds out about it, doing their best to coax Tim into not saying a word about it to anyone else. Not that Tim would. He wants his tits groped just as much as the bats want to grope them.

Bruce started doing it when he was helping Tim with some first aid, and he maybe ghosted his hand over Tim's tits for just a little bit too long for it to be an accident, and perhaps there was even a point in time when Tim got hurt enough that someone had to help him bathe or clean himself...and if Bruce spent a little bit too much time cleaning Tim's tits, well, he was just being through, right? Except afterwards Bruce started using any excuse he could figure out to get a chance to freely grope Tim's tits while having some kind of "justifiable" excuse on hand.

Dick doing it on accident first...they're sparring and Dick was pinning Tim down, and his hands landed on Tim's chest instead of his shoulders, and everything would be normal except Dick squeezed a little bit and Tim let out the prettiest noise, and now, well, now Dick can't get enough of it, wanting to hear more of those pretty little noises coming from Tim, but if he wants to hear those pretty noises, he can't do anything at the manor or else he'll get caught, so he extends more invitations to Tim to his apartment where Dick and grope Tim as much as he'd like and Tim is free to be as loud as he wants.

Jason was probably originally just making fun of Tim, or he went to playfully smack Tim on the back, but Tim turned around before he could, and Jason ended up smacking Tim's tit instead. And, well, one thing led to another and now Jason takes every opportunity he can to smack Tim's tits around and maybe even leave a handful of bite marks while he's at it. He's probably a lot less careful than everyone else, but he's not gonna go out of his way to actually say anything about what's actually going on.

Cass, I imagine, is absolutely aware of what everyone else is doing to Tim, but she is also aware of how much Tim likes it, so she starts to do it herself. It becomes a game to her to see how often she can grope Tim's tits without anyone realizing that she is. They're having a family movie night and Cass managed to convince Tim to come cuddle with her underneath a blanket, and she's using that opportunity to grope Tim's tits and pinch his nipples all while Tim is desperately trying not to let a single noise out because he doesn't want anyone to actually stop touching his tits like this.

There's just many possibilities and thoughts to be had, and I love tits and nipple play, and I just think Tim's tits deserve to get lots and lots of attention <3

!!!!!!!!!!!! yes!! i LOVE the idea of everyone groping tim's tits and hiding it from the rest of the family, hoping no one else knows about what they're doing. bruce being the first of them is soooo good because it makes perfect sense.

the idea that bruce was training tim in basic first aid, using one of those medical school dummies to teach tim how to do chest compressions, how to insert iv's, how to draw blood. all basic things. but there were a few exercises bruce had to teach tim by guiding his hands and adjusting his limbs. like placing his much larger palms over tim's while he's giving the dummy chest compressions to make sure they're placed correctly. hovering over tim's shoulder with both arms boxing him in...it's the first time bruce truly realizes how much...smaller tim is.

tim is so light and small that bruce finds it easy to just adjust his positioning, his body, and limbs with hardly a thought.

bruce is showing tim how to put injured people into a recovery position when his palms brush against tim's small tits and they're...so soft. so plush and they give under the slightest pressure of his fingers that have mistakenly grabbed a tit. bruce bites back the choke that wants to push out of his mouth and keeps his hands moving. he doesn't want to bring attention to the accident, it would just be too humiliating for either of them so instead bruce says nothing. its an accident, a simple accident and there's no need to bring it up.

but bruce can't stop thinking about it. he doesn't know why. its not like he's never had tits in his hand. fuck, its not like bruce couldn't go out and bury his face in a supermodels tits if he wanted to. one phone call and bruce could have tits in his mouth if he was that desperate.

but no. bruce sits tensely on the edge of his bed later that night, tim has been gone for hours, driven home by alfred. tim probably didn't think of what happened on the training mats but here bruce was sitting and agonizing by staring down at the palm that comitted the offense. his fingers keep flexing, squeezing around nothing while his brain replays the feeling.

god bruce has had his dark days but never did he think he'd be sitting around thinking about a teenager's tits.

tim's were small, barely even a handful. they were little and perky. tim also didn't wear a bra. bruce knew that now because of the...warmth and the fact that he hadn't felt any padding or underwire.

asking tim to start wearing bras or even giving him a training bra would draw too much attention to something that was. just. an. accident.

so bruce says nothing and tries to put it behind him. he tries to forget.

but its hard. he didn't think it'd be hard to NOT stare at a teenager's tits.

when training tim wore exclusively a combination of running shorts or sweatpants with a fruit of the loom fitted tank top, the kind that came in packages of six. and bruce swore if he stared enough he could see the barest outline of a baby pink nipple.

when tim was sweating he'd tug up the bottom of his sweatshirt, exposing his smooth stomach that was steadily hardening with muscle, and dab at the sweat on his brow and nose.

bruce is mindful of his hands after that. even while showing tim how to floor wrestly and get out of being restrained, bruce never lets his hands wander.

until tim is injured.

it's a few months after he debuts as robin and a rogue gets lucky with a syringe full of some street made paralytic. tim will be fine but he'll need some help until it wears off. normally alfred would be around to help- to assist in undressing and bathing tim free of all the street grime but alfred's plane from new york has been delayed due to weather and he knows better than to attempt the nearly four hour drive to the manor, so bruce is on his own.

he does his best to act normal. he undresses tim carefully, lowers him into a tub of warm water and does his best to murmur assurances to tim that it'll be alright, just a few more hours. bruce is using a washcloth lathered up with soap and is carefully scrubbing him. bruce is kneeled beside the tub and while one hand cleans tim the other is wrapped gently around tim's waist to keep his head above water. bruce's hand is spread open as he glides the cloth along tim's thighs, gently between his legs, up his stomach and...

bruce takes an audibly shaky breath as he spreads the small towels over a tit, the water making it almost stick to tim's skin. bruce's palm is resting, unmoving over it, his palms resting on tim's plush tit and just...squeezing. bruce's hand alternates strengths between light to hard squeezes and it becomes very obvious bruce isn't cleaning tim anymore.

bruce has to force himself to move when tim makes a soft questioning sound behind his closed mouth and bruce quickly finishes before drying tim off, trying not to linger on his tits while he dries him and dresses him. but bruce still catches himself staring at a pair of perky, luscious tits that are so clearly begging to be kissed, squeezed, and bullied.

bruce puts tim to bed in a guest room and hurries out with barely a word or explanation.

clearly bruce is pent up. he's horny and that's why he's fixated on his robin and his tits and he has until morning to come up with a damn good explanation and apology to tell tim. and even with that bruce should be prepared for tim to never want to see or speak with him again.

in the morning alfred has left him a message that he'll be getting a hotel for the night and waiting for his flight the next day and tim is in the kitchen quietly eating a bowl of cereal when bruce comes down for a glass of orange juice and lightly burnt toast.

bruce tries thinking of the speech he prepared. tries recalling the words. but he stares at tim sitting in dick's old college shirt and a pair of his pajama pants that are rolled up at the ankle that bruce mindlessly put him in the night before. the shirt is too big and hanging fully off one shoulder.

and instead of the apology bruce's quiet offer to help tim find a better shirt comes out. bruce has tim stand shirtless in dick's room while bruce digs through his close to find a smaller shirt, and he finds one, a bright blue gotham knights jersey from when dick was 13.

tim is shirtless and rocking on his heels while bruce is tightly gripping the shirt in his hands and...god with each back and forth rock tim's little tits are pushed out and back and they're so...pink. and sweet looking and bruce can't help but shakily reach a hand out and...cup one.

bruce swallows, a shrieking 'what are you doing?! what are you doing?! whatareyourdoing?!!!!' filling his head.

tim tilts a head at him, humming softly as bruce's other hand comes up to squeeze his other tit, discarding the shirt it had been holding on the floor.

"it feels nice when you do that." tim offers like his sentence hadn't just felt like a sledgehammer to the skull.

in response bruce leans closer, breathes shakier, and squeezes both little baby tits in his palms. tim hums sweetly again, closing his eyes like he's enjoying the sensation.

bruce's tongue feels like it's grown to the size of a sausage and he can barely get a word out.

he does, eventually.

and its not an apology. not an excuse. no. it's a whispered question of if tim liked bruce touching him, if he'd like bruce to keep touching him, that if he did then tim couldn't tell anyone about it, that it was a secret just between them.

and god bruce should feel guilt, should be falling to his knees in revulsion and disgust for what he's doing.

but instead. bruce just adds a zipper to the front of tim's robin vest and counts down the seconds for when patrol ends so tim can excitedly unbuckle his seat belt and turn to face bruce while tugging at the zipper to pull out his tits.

bruce needs to sneak the moments where they can do this. after patrol in the batmobile, in the privacy of tim's room when the manor is empty.

sometimes bruce will get daring and sneak a squeeze while passing tim in the hall or during movie night under the blanket. he never dares try anything when someone else is in the room- the risk is just too high. but bruce's affection for tim grows and he ends up showing it in ways that can't be seen by others like pinching a pit until it's warm and red.

so bruce has a bit of a fixation on tim's tits and as tim grows bruce gets...possessive. of course bruce isn't the only one paying attention to tim, bruce sees the bruises and the bitemarks from the overzealous lover tim no doubt has. and bruce tries not to let it bother him. but he can't help it if the next time he has tim's tits in his hand he just...squeezes harder than he should just to hear tim make a sweet little yelp.

[keen-li]

"Ahhh....help me"

You've just spent a night in your boyfriend's holiday house that he's sharing with his friends. You'd got in late from the airport when namjoon came to pick you up, so you didn't feel like touching.

But immediately in the morning before you even did anything else your man was on you. Sex for breakfast.

Namjoon left you to get ready for the morning and you cleaned yourself form the scent of sex. The huge shower was a pleasure to shower in and you couldn't take your eyes off the hickeys namjoon left on you as you look at yourself in the mirror while brushing your teeth. They're low so they won't show when you wear a vest but you won't be able to hide them when you wear a bikini and go swimming.

You're joining your boyfriend and his friends for the summer. You weren't for the idea at first seeing that you're the only female, and you didn't want to be a hinder or make his friends feel weird. But after they told you it's fine and your boyfriend reassured you on a facetime, you were for the idea. Immediately you packed your bags and left on the flight your boyfriend paid for.

You walk out of the house the summer sun hitting you were it blinds. You find his friends, jungkook, taehyung and yoongi on the porch seemingly watching something in the distance.

You greet them.

"Hi y/n. it's good to see you " They greet.

"It's nice to see you guys too" you rub your hands over the skin of your arms, of course nervous. You don't want to be a bother.

"And thanks for letting me join " you say sweetly.

"You don't have to thank us you're namjoon's girl, so we don't mind" yoongi says. "Plus he'd probably be depressed if you couldn't come. Cause before you got here all he did was speak about you." Yoongi continues and you blush at the information.

You knew namjoon missed you but you didn't know he'd spoken about you.

"You know y/n I missed you so much, you're the only funny one here" taehyung jokes as they glare at him. You chuckle at that and hum an appreciation.

"I'd hug you but namjoon would stab me" he continues.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind" you say opening your arms so that taehyung could hug you, which he does. Nothing to dramatic.

And from a distant you can hear your boyfriend exclaim. "Taehyung don't touch her" you chuckle as he moves away from your hug.

"See?" He says and you all laugh.

You decide to turn your eyes to find the voice that just spoke. You didn't see namjoon immediately when you came out but now that you see him, he isn't that far away just like a hundred meters away.

You gasp when you see your boyfriend crouched down with a dog in between his thighs.

"A dog. What the fuck " you exclaims nervously and the boys standing next to you look at you confused by your reaction. You look terrified. They are about to ask what's wrong when you hear namjoon shout.

"Don't worry baby he doesn't bite" like he'll know, you scoff. He looks twice your size, that's an exaggeration but that's how it feels. Namjoon knows you're scared of dogs and didn't tell you there was one here. You never saw him yesterday assuming he must've been sleeping in his owners room, cause you both arrived when everyone was asleep.

When the dog sees who namjoon is speaking to he forces himself out of namjoon's grip and he comes running to you. He's probably just excited to see someone new, he's not a biter and everyone knows that except you.

The dog runs to you and like he's owner knows it he turns to warn you but your already far gone.

"Y/N DONT RUN. HE THINKS ITS FUN TO CHASE PEOPLE " jungkook yells but your legs move before your brain as you sprint along the sand like it's a track.

"He's not dangerous babe don't run" namjoon yells after, and watches as bam sprints behind you like it's a game of catch.

"She's quite fast" yoongi laughs and they all watch you run and scream. Jungkook tries call for bam but the canine is too far interested in you.

"Ahhhhh..... someone help me" you scream and taehyung slaps jungkook's arm so he can do something.

"Help her" taehyung says. You're running in circles when you catch a glimpse of namjoon and jungkook running after you like it's bay watch. They can barely catch up to the two of you, you and bam's speed to fast for them. They are so chill about it cause they know bam won't do anything to you apart from licking, jumping and sniffing you. He's just excited.

Soon enough you and bam's escapade is brought to an when your ankle bends and you fall. You groan loudly when you hit the sand and the canine is soon sniffing you and licking your face.

"No boy, stop it" you say but bam doesn't seem to understand, too excited that he caught his prize.

"Bam come here" you hear jungkook command and the dog finally leaves you. You feel namjoon's shadow cover you as he crouches down and eyes a tired you.

"Are you okay baby" You can only shake your head. "My ankle hurts" you say pointing to your ankle. No one knew how you fell but they just saw you going down. It did hurt but its not something that's going to hinder your holiday.

"Your ankle?" You nod when your boyfriend asks cutely.

"Awww baby... let's get you some ice" namjoon coos and he carries you bridal style, nothing hard for him.

You're a little embarrassed when you pass by the guys as you cuddle into namjoon's neck. You're very much embarrassed. Especially when you hear them mumble apologises and hear yoongi laugh namjoon gives him a death glare which shuts him up.

You're now sat on the couch with your injured leg on namjoon's lap.

You shake your head when he asks you if it hurts, the ice preventing swelling.

"Just a little but it won't hinder my time here" you inform him and he hums acknowledging.

He runs he's other hand up and down your thigh comfortingly.

"Can't believe this is how I start my morning " you scoff "getting chased by a dog" you shake your head at yourself and namjoon laughs and you smack the bare skin on his bicep.

"It's your fault even" you whine.

"You knew my friend had a dog"

"But I didn't know it was here" you complain.

"Okay that's my fault. But I told you he doesn't bite" you shake your head.

"That's not guaranteed joonie " he knows you aren't seriously mad at him when you call him like that.

"I'm sorry baby it's my fault. I'll make it up to you" he smiles reassuringly at you. And you smile.

"You didn't tell me you were a track star babe" he jokes laughing and you forget your ankle is injured and you kick him immediately regretting it. "Careful"

After setting your leg down you speak "actually did a little track back in school. Haven't been practicing but today was a good start " you both chuckle.

"Well this leg better heal quick" you think there's a hidden sexual innuendo but the look in his face tells you otherwise. You farrow your eyebrows.

"Why?" You question.

"You have to meet yeontan" he says and you widen your eyes.

"THERE'S ANOTHER ONE" you exclaim surprised.

"Don't worry he doesn't bite too" namjoon can't help but laugh at you.

You scoff as you lay back sighing once your body is layed down.

"I'm done with this doggy drama. This isn't the doggy drama I wanted"

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Kalim Al-Asim - Playful Dress Vignette

"Spending time waiting in lines"

[Playful Land – Bazaar]

Grim: Ace already went to line up for the roller coaster again…

Grim: He rode it before the show too, how many times is he plannin' on goin' on it?

Grim: I'm gonna check out all the other attractions. What should be next, hmm～

Grim: Hm? Sniff, sniff, something smells reaaaaal good over there. Let's go, [Yuu]!

Grim: This is where the tasty smell is coming from! But what is everyone lining up for? I can't see the front of the line at all.

???: Oh hey, it's [Yuu] and Grim.

Kalim: Did you come 'cause you smelled the popcorn? Me too, ahahah!

Cater: The flavor they're giving out at this stand is salted caramel, apparently. I guess that's a different flavor than regular caramel ♪

Grim: That's different than the one [Yuu] and I had earlier. I wanna try the salted caramel one!

Kalim: Yeah, let's get in line together. We'll get to the front of the line in no time if we chat together.

Kalim: Oh yeah, also, I went and tried the food that [Yuu] and Ace suggested earlier!

Kalim: Cater showed me where all the food wagons were.

Kalim: Leona and Jack were just passing us by around the same time, so I invited them to join us and we all ate pie and chicken.

1. What was the pie like?

Kalim: I was surprised 'cause they gave us a whole pie! I didn't know how I should dig in. Kalim: And that was the first time I ever had a cherry pie that tart. That was a refreshing experience.

2. How was the chicken?

Kalim: It was delicious! The meat was a little tough, though. Kalim: Leona and Jack were just tearing into the meat～ It was pretty intense watching from up close.

Guest A: Oh hey, it's the popcorn wagon! I'm starting to get a little hungry, so let's grab some.

Guest B: It looks tasty, but… There's a really long line. I don't really want to wait, so why don't we just skip it?

Kalim: Looks like those guys want popcorn too. It sucks that they're going to give up just because the line is long…

Kalim: HEEEEY, YOU TWO～～～!!

Guest A: Hm? Are you talking to us?

Kalim: Yeah! You guys want popcorn, right? You can jump in line ahead of us!

Guest B: Eh, you sure? We really didn't want to wait at the end of the line, so that's a huge help!

Guest A: I'm so glad there's someone as nice as you here. Thank you～!

Kalim: Yeah! Seeing you happy makes me happy!

Guest C: Man, I'm getting tired of waiting. Let's just give up on the popcorn and go somewhere else.

Kalim: I'm hearing some voices behind us… Ah, our eyes just met. Is that them?

Kalim: HEY, IF YOU'RE TIRED, YOU CAN JUMP IN LINE AHEAD OF US! THAT WAY YOU CAN GO AHEAD A LITTLE FASTER, RIGHT?

Guest C: Is that okay? You're so nice, young man! Then, I'll take you up on your offer.

Kalim: Yeah! Hope your turn comes soon.

Guest D: That person over there'll just let anyone ahead of him. We should definitely take advantage.

Guest E: I was just thinking that. So, we'll just raise our voice so he can hear…

Guest D/E: AAAAH, MAN, I'M SO HUNGRY～! IF I DON'T GET ANY POPCORN, I'M GONNA COLLAPSE

Kalim: Oh, that's no good! Here, hurry over here. Get in line ahead of me!

Cater: H-Hey… Kalim-kun?

Kalim: Hm? What's up, Cater?

Cater: Uhhh… I'm kinda thinking… At this rate, our turn might never come…

Guest F: Man, we're pretty tired too! Hey, let us in front of you too.

Grim: Ugh, now we got some scary looking dudes…

Cater: Yeah, that was bound to happen～ Might be better to just let them in without a fuss…

???: Hey. What're you all doing?

???: We would deeply appreciate it if you would refrain from bothering other guests.

Kalim: Jade! Floyd!

Cater: Nice timing, you two! Did you see we were in a pinch and come over to save us?

Floyd: Hah? What're you blabbering about? We're pissed at all of you.

Kalim: Eh, me!? Did I do something to anger you two?

Floyd: We've been in line behind your group for a little while now, y'know…

Jade: Thanks to Kalim-san permitting many people to jump in line, we've been suffering quite extraordinarily so.

Floyd: You're just addin' more people in front of us, so the line's not getting' any shorter. And everyone else's now just tryin' to push their luck…

Floyd: That really ticks me off, so… You good if I squeeze every single one of you?

Guest F: EEK!!! W-WE'LL HEAD TO THE BACK OF THE LINE!

Grim: Those guys just zipped away as fast as they could…

Cater: Well yeah, Floyd-kun just now was super scary. But in the end, him shooing them away really saved us.

1. That was scary…

Jade: Fufu, you were in quite the predicament on all sides, [Yuu]-san.

2. Thank you for helping us.

Floyd: 'S not like I was doin' it to help you. I'm pretty pissed off at you too, Shrimpy-chan, y'know.

Cater: Ah, hey, now! The line's moved up a ton. Let's keep going.

Kalim: Oh? You're right! I can't wait for the popcorn.

[Playful Land – Bazaar]

Kalim: They packed this bucket full of popcorn, and look! It's made to look like the Friendly Fox's head.

Kalim: See, see, his hat is the lid. This is so cool.

Cater: Yeah, it's super cute! Hey, Kalim-kun, can I borrow your bucket to snap a pic?

Kalim: Yeah, of course. Oh hey! I'll rest it on your shoulder.

Cater: Thanks～! I bet the folks online won't be able to get enough of seeing this bucket that can only be nabbed at Playful Land!

[snap!]

Cater: Nice, that came out good. I'll upload it to Magicam later～

Jade: Oh my… We meet again. And here I thought you had already received your popcorn.

Kalim: We were just taking a photo of the special popcorn bucket.

Kalim: What are you two doing after this?

Floyd: We're heading to the go-karts. I've always wanted to drive one of 'em land vehicles.

Floyd: Might not actually be the same as driving the real thing, but it might give me a taste, y'know?

Kalim: Go-karts, huh… Sounds great! I want to try driving myself too.

Grim: I wanna go too!

Cater: Then I think I'll head off on my own then. I want to go searching for all the fox symbols hidden through the park ♪

Kalim: Oooh, didn't know they had such a thing. I'll be cheering you on, I hope you find all the foxes!

Grim: Okay, now on to the go-karts!

[Playful Land – Catch The Star]

Jade: It seems the go-karts are also rather popular. This is quite the line of people.

Floyd: Hey, Sea-Otter-chan… I'ma say this now, but don't even think of lettin' other people in front of us, mmkay?

Floyd: I don't care if you wanna get cut in line, but I ain't gonna let it fly.

Floyd: If you do it again, I'm definitely squeezin' ya.

Kalim: I know. Come on, let's get in line.

Grim: Yeah! Hey, Kalim, open your bucket up. I wanna eat the popcorn while we wait!

Kalim: Did you already finish your popcorn? Sure. Eat as much as you like!

Grim: Yay! Chomp, chomp, scarf, munch! Mmmm～ I love how sweet and salty it is.

Kalim: Good, good. You have a great appetite.

Jade: You seem to be in high spirits, Kalim-san, despite standing in such long lines…

Kalim: Yeah! This is the first time I've ever had to wait in long lines. This is super fun.

Jade/Floyd/Grim: WAITING IN LONG LINES IS SUPER FUN?

Kalim: Yeah. Usually when I go to amusement parks, we reserve the whole place, so…

Kalim: I've never seen an amusement park completely packed full of people before.

Floyd: But if the whole place is reserved, then that means your wait time for every ride is basically zero. Isn't that better?

Kalim: Hmmm. I remember back when I was around 6 years old. My family had promised to take me to an amusement park…

Kalim: But then my mom and dad suddenly had to deal with some urgent business.

Kalim: So I thought I'd invite Jamil to come with me instead, but he had already left for school, so it was too late to ask.

Jade: Oh my, what a pity.

Kalim: Yeah, the timing really didn't work out ～ So in the end, I went to the amusement park with some of my other servants that day.

Kalim: There weren't any people in line, so I could get on any ride I wanted by myself, but…

Kalim: But doing everything by myself felt… a little lonely. Like I was missing something.

Kalim: By the end, I was asking my servants to ride with me, so we got on all the attractions together.

Kalim: We'd scream at the top of our lungs on the roller coaster, and play tons of games in the game corner.

Kalim: I wanted everyone to get a chance to ride, so on smaller attractions, I'd wait around to make sure everyone was able to ride them…

Kalim: Having so many people to hang out with is way better than just riding stuff by myself!

Kalim: Even spending time waiting in lines makes me happy because it's all so lively.

Kalim: That's why I didn't mind giving up my space in line to those people earlier, either.

1. I get it.

Floyd: I don't get it at all. It's boring waiting in line～ I wanna get on the ride already.

2. But waiting is still a little…

Jade: After all, we may never be able to come back to Playful Land, we wouldn't want to squander our time here.

Floyd: And even if you're having fun, you're being a bother to everyone behind you in line.

Kalim: But I want everyone who comes to the amusement park to enjoy themselves.

Kalim: Hmmm, what should I do?

[Playful Land – Catch The Star]

Kalim: But I want everyone who comes to the amusement park to enjoy themselves.

Kalim: Hmmm, what should I do?

Grim: Fnyaaa～ …I finished all the popcorn. Now I'm out of things to doo…

Grim: I wanna get on the ride already! Hey, what if we just barge in line like those guys from earlier tried to?

Jade: That won't do, Grim-kun.

Jade: We must politely explain our predicament, and tell them something like, "We are in such dire straits…" until they fully understand.

Floyd: No way. Just say, "Yo, care to get out of my way?" and they'll alllll just slowly move back for us.

Kalim: Wait!? I thought we said cutting in line was bad!?

Floyd: Didn't say that at all. All I said was to not let anyone in front of us.

Kalim: Really? But if you guys take someone else's spot…

Kalim: Then everyone else behind them'll feel upset, just like you did earlier…

Grim: I totally get why people would wanna cut. It's so boring just waiting in line.

Kalim: I don't really think so, but… Hm?

Kalim: Basically, what you're saying is that if you're not bored, then you could enjoy the wait, right!?

Kalim: I just had a great idea. Everyone, wait here a sec!

Grim: Fnyah!? That's not fair, making us wait in line and goin' off somewhere on your own!!

Kalim: Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting!

Floyd: Aha! Sea Otter-chan, what's with that getup～? You're all lit up like an atolla jellyfish.

Kalim: I went and got a bunch of the shiny and sparkling accessories they have at the stalls.

Kalim: Don'tcha think they're super bright and flashy? Plus, when I move like this…

[ting-a-ling-ling] ♪♪♪ [shan-shan-shan] ♪ [ting-a-ling] ♪

Grim: Ooh, they're making some neat sounds.

Kalim: Kinda gets you feeling good, doesn't it? So, I'll start a rhythm, and…

Kalim: JUST DANCE MY HEART OUT!!

[dances]

Guest G: Hm? I hear some sounds over there. Is there some kind of street performance going on?

Guest H: Look, look! That guy there's really standing out. His coordination of the accessories to his outfit is on point.

Guest I: And his dancing is super good! Look at those killer moves.

Grim: He's making me want to start dancing too～ Dum dee dum ♪

Jade: Oh my… It seems all those in line have had their attention drawn in by Kalim-san and Grim-kun. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves greatly.

Kalim: Alright, I'm really riding the rhythm now. Everyone, watch me!

[backflips]

Grim: Woah, a backflip!? I can't let him show me up!

1. Amazing!! 2. Well done!!

Guest J: [whistles] You rock, keep going!

Guest K: Everyone, come over here! Check out this awesome performance.

Kalim: Woah, so many people are gathering around now.

Kalim: Looks like everyone's enjoying themselves. That makes me happy!

Kalim: Alllright, I gotta go even further. Next is…

Floyd: Niiice, it's getting' pretty fired up. Looks fun!

Jade: Indeed. What a fantastic turnout…

Jade: However, as people stop to watch, they're calling over more people… Those two have been completely surrounded by a crowd.

Jade: At this rate…

Puppet: Dear Guests!! You Are Blocking The Path For Other Guests!

Puppet: Please Cease Your Performance Immediately!

Grim: Fnyah!? Now there's a ton of the staff puppets all around us!

Jade: Well, this is quite expected.

Kalim: Eh, should we not have been dancing here? I thought it was a pretty neat idea, too.

Guest L: That was a really great performance! I wish I could have seen more.

Guest M: That made standing in line much more fun, thank you!

Kalim: That's great. I'm happy that I could make you all happy!

Kalim: For all of the amusement parks attractions, the waiting time, the stage show earlier, and even now…

Kalim: It's the best when everyone can be enjoying it together with a smile!

[petrichor-idyllic]

Hi Petri <3, I have a request for a Minho x fem!reader where they're still in the glade. It's the middle of the night and everyone's sleeping, Minho and reader are together on his tent (because here they're already dating), she hears a little cry so she goes outside to see what's happening and find Chuck sitting on the ground and crying next to a tree, he's sad cause he thinks he's not good at anything and is just bothering and annoying everyone around, so she talks to him and explains that he's new and its normal to not know what to do or how to help properly, she tells a story about when she wanted to be a runner just to impress someone and prove her worth, even though she was really bad at it, and how she discovered that actually she was really good at something else, gardening. They have one beautiful conversation and hug it out, after that she put him back to sleep and goes back to the tent, just to be surprised by Minho who was awake and heard the whole conversation and begins to tease her about the little crush she had on him, the ending can have a bit of spice if your comfortable with that.

That was it, love you :)

This is an adorable idea and I have been itching to get around to it.

Your ideas are always so good, man. I'm always honoured to write your work.

EXPOSURE

MASTERLIST | MINHO MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: See above. Takes place before the arrival of Thomas, but not by much. Established relationship.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, spice, Chuck being sad, you getting bullied by your boyfriend.

You've been dating Minho for a while now.

And you couldn't be happier.

You love him. He's your favourite person in the Glade by far, for multiple reasons. Being the only girl is no easy feat, but Minho was always respectful and any flirting was always jovial and friendly.

Unlike some other people.

He always defended you and was sure you were always comfortable, and if he came back from his job and found out someone had upset you - well, good luck to them.

In your eyes, Minho is the perfect man, even if he is a bit too cocky.

And is never fucking there.

The most contentious point in your relationship is definitely Minho's line of work. He's always busy out in the Maze, and whilst a lot of the other Runners work on a cycle so they're not bleeding themselves dry - Minho doesn't get that luxury. Day in, day out, Minho goes out into that Maze. He's Keeper, so he has to.

Which sucks for you because that means the only time you get to see your boyfriend is in the evenings. When he's exhausted. Well, Minho is a stronger man than you, for sure. You doubt you'd have any stamina if you had to do what he does every day. And he still manages to come back to the Glade and not pass out.

So, that's something, at least.

Though, this means the most time you spend with him is at night.

No - not like that.

At least not most of the time.

The man is tired, okay?

The Builders made you a hut the first week you arrived by Alby's orders. Mainly for privacy reasons, but also Gally thought it might get him on your good side.

Gally wasn't very happy when Minho started sleeping in your hut.

So, whilst Minho sleeps through the night, you often spend some time watching him.

Sometimes, it scares you how much you care about him. Especially since he risks his life literally every day.

Every night, you admire him and appreciate that he's still here and that he's asleep; safe and sound - next to you.

Your fingers trace the scars littering his bare back as he faces away from you, the blanket loosely covering his lower half. You and Minho are comfortable enough around each other that you normally just sleep in your underwear.

His soft breaths reminding you how lucky you are to have him, you lay on your back.

You should probably get some sleep, too. Zart will have you doing heavy lifting in the morning, no doubt.

You sigh. Going to grab the blanket, you freeze when you hear what sounds like someone sobbing, and then trying to stop themself. You sit up straight, listening for the sound again.

And after a couple of seconds, it returns.

You swing your legs over the side of your creaky, makeshift bed, grabbing Minho's trademark blue button-up and slipping it on.

Being careful not to wake your boyfriend, you open the door and peer out. It's hard to make out since the Glade is quiet and dim at this hour.

But, with your hut being pretty close to the Deadheads, it doesn't take you long to spot Chuck, sitting in front of a tree. His knees are pulled up to his chest and his face buried in his knees.

Chuck is the latest Greenie - and the youngest Glader here. He's about twelve, definitely no older than thirteen.

You walk the couple of yards away from your hut to the crying boy.

"Chuck?" You ask after a second, standing in front of him. "Are you okay?"

He sniffs, not even bothering to look up from his self-cradling. "Go away."

You sigh.

Looking back at your hut, you almost want to go back and cherish your precious time with your boyfriend. But you can't leave Chuck crying here - you promised you'd look after him when he first got here.

You take a seat in front of him, crossing your legs and adjusting Minho's shirt to make sure it keeps you decent.

"Chuck," you say, your voice low and reassuring, "what's going on? It's me; you know you can talk to me."

He peaks up at you, thinking for a second before shaking his head and returning to his hiding.

"Chuck-" you huff, "I'm not leaving you here."

"I'm not gonna tell you."

"Guess I'm staying here all night then, hm?"

Chuck glares at you, his eyes appearing above his knees, and you grin at him. He rolls his eyes, but moves his legs so he's sitting how you are. Legs crossed, sitting opposite each other, you raise your eyebrows, promoting him to speak.

"It's just... ugh, it's dumb," he rubs his face with his hands, trying to hide any remaining tears.

"I'm sure it's not - if it's upsetting you this much, then that means it's important to you. Come on, what's wrong?"

He hesitates. "I'm just... I'm just sick of being useless."

You furrow your brows. Chuck's been here for two weeks; he can't be sick of anything yet.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm- I'm just bad at everything. And no one likes me. I just piss everyone off and get in the way and everything thinks I'm useless - and what's the point? Why is everyone else so good at it all and I... suck."

"Hey," you shuffle forward, reaching for his hand. "You're not useless at all, Chuck." You rub his hand, offering some comfort. "You're just new, dude. Everyone feels useless and annoying when they're new because you don't know anything yet. We were all the same - we've all gone through the same klunk."

"Yeah, right," he scoffs, clearly not believing you.

You think for a second, recalling your own first couple of months here and smiling to yourself. You let go of Chuck and let your hand fall into your lap.

"It's the truth."

"Uh huh."

"You don't believe me?"

He shakes his head.

"Alright, you wanna hear a story? Something I've never told anyone?" This gets his attention. You smirk. "It's embarrassing."

"Yeah, okay." He crosses his arms. "This better be good."

"Well, did Newt ever tell you that I wanted to be a Runner?"

Chuck tilts his head, his mood already lifting. "No? You wanted to be a Runner?"

"Mhm," you nod, chuckling to yourself. "My first few weeks here, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I tried everything and nothing really fit - and then I suddenly decided I wanted to be a Runner."

"So? What's embarrassing about that?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed Chuckie-boy; but I am no Runner."

"So, what happened?"

"Well, I uh," you scratch the back of your neck, "I actually wanted to become a Runner because I... well, because I had a crush."

Chuck blinks, and you look away, sheepishly. You've never actually told anyone how long you've had a thing for Minho - but it started way before you started dating, and probably way before he had a thing for you.

"Shuck off," Chuck snorts, "you wanted to be a Runner 'cause you wanted to screw Minho?"

"Ew - don't say it like that!" You warn him, but he simply raises his eyebrows, giving you a knowing look. "Well, yeah - but that's not the point."

You clear your throat before continuing. "Anyway, I didn't really have any other motivation to do a job. So, being a Runner seemed like a good bet. I convinced Alby to get Minho to trail me - and I was shit." You snort, mainly out of embarrassment. "All I did was embarrass myself in front of the hottest guy I'd ever seen. I'm not fast, and I have a klunky memory and no sense of direction. So, I made a complete fool of myself."

"How is this meant to make me feel better?"

"I'm getting there," you snap. "After that, Newt got me a second trail in the Gardens - and because I wasn't so hell bent on being a Runner anymore and accepted that was dumb, I actually tried and ended up being good at it. And now I'm a Track-hoe - and it's great."

"So, you've got a decent job? Congrats." The boy flops backwards, sarcasm lacing his voice.

"Jesus- Chuck," you try to level with him. "It all takes time. It took me months to even trial as a Runner; never mind, shuck it up. You can't expect to be brilliant straight away. It takes a lot of effort and patience, and you've only been here two weeks. And sometimes things don't go how you expect them to, but that's fine. You'll be fine. You're gonna find your place and settle in - you just have to be patient." You pause. "And shuck what everyone else has to say; I know you're capable, and so do you. That's all that matters."

He smiles at you, nodding. "Yeah, okay, you're probably right. I'll be fine."

"Yeah, you will," you shift so you're on your knees, "now, gimme a hug and shuck off to bed, Chuckles."

Chuck sniffs, but grins at you, leaning forward and hugging you. He buries his face in your neck. "You're okay, yeah?" You ask as you rub his back and he nods.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he pulls away, "thanks, (Y/N)."

"Don't worry about it, kid, now - scram. Bed time." You stand up, offering a hand to him and yanking him to his feet before playfully pushing him away.

He laughs when you push him again. "Okay, okay, I'm shuckin' goin'."

You stand there for a moment, watching Chuck vanish off into the Glade and to his hammock. Shaking your head, you scoff, turning around and returning to your hut.

Though, when you open the door, you did not expect to find Minho sitting up straight. His legs hang over the bed, the blankets bundled around his crotch, a grin plastered across his face.

You freeze.

He's meant to be asleep.

"You should wear my shirt more often," he hums, "it suits you."

"Shut up, shank," you roll your eyes, shutting the door behind you.

"Hey, that's no way to talk to your long-term crush, is it?" You pause again.

Oh God.

He's never going to let you live this down.

"You're eavesdropping on my conversations now?" You cross your arms defensively, trying to ignore the heat coming to your face.

"Kinda hard not to when you talk so loud. Ain't my fault the walls are thin," he leans forward, tilting his head slightly and a faint smirk playing on his lips.

Dammit.

He's hard to resist.

"So, how long were you crushing on me for, exactly? 'Cause I don't think we've had that conversation." He's enjoying this new power. You are not.

You sigh, walking towards him and standing in front of him. You touch his hands, which he gladly reciprocates. You look at the floor and his looks at you.

"You're cute when you're flustered."

"Shut up, Minho," you hiss, making him let out a chuckle.

"You became a Runner because you wanted my attention?"

You look at him, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth. "Yeah," you say reluctantly.

"How much?"

"What?"

"How much did you want my attention?"

"Minho, seriously-?"

"And for how long?"

You throw your head back, groaning. "Minho-"

"No, no," he cuts you off, "I wanna hear it."

You hate it when he's like this. Well, no, you don't - but you do. He knows exactly how to get you to talk and how to turn you into putty at his touch.

You huff, dropping your head again. "I... I always wanted your attention." You murmur, the words being barely audible.

"What was that?"

"I always wanted your attention," your eyes meet his as you raise your voice. "From the first time I saw you jogging back into the Glade, gross and sweaty." You fiddle with his fingers, avoiding his gaze once again. "I was never attracted to anyone else." You press your lips together. "I was immediately attracted to you - there."

Your face burns, and your hands are sweaty. It's not like you can't tell Minho everything - it's just that this is going to be a teasing point for the rest of your life, and Minho doesn't need the ego boost.

"Is that so?" His voice is heavy and silky as his hands come to your waist. He slips them under your (his) shirt, resting them on the skin just above your underwear. He draws small circles into your hips.

You look at him, already getting drunk off of his touch. "You gonna show me how much you want me, then?" He mutters, leaning up.

Caving in, you press your lips against his, allowing him to guide you with his hands. He frees one hand and tosses the blankets to the side, leading you to sit on his lap. Your hands come to the back of his neck, brushing against his hair and deepening the kiss.

The thin amount of fabric between your bodies and the energy in the room is enough to get friction going. You hum into his mouth, grinding against him as you feel him harden against you.

Your hands go to the bottom of the shirt, about to lift it over your head when Minho stops you.

You pull away, puzzled and he grins. "Keep it on, it suits you, remember?"

You roll your eyes, kissing him again, your hands coming down his back, digging your nails in as you roll your hips.

"Shit," he mumbles pulling away for a moment, panting into your mouth. He takes your bottom lip between his teeth, pulling gently. "I shucking love you, you know that?"

"I love you, too." You look at him for a second before shoving him back.

"Shuck!" He exclaims just before you kiss him again, you lips trailing down his jaw and littering his neck. You leave deep purple marks on his chest, making the boy hiss and pull on your hair.

You keep going further down, peppering his abs with your affection as Minho's eyes roll back into his head.

"Shit," he repeats, his forearm coming to cover his eyes as his brain completely short-circuits. "What are you doing to me?"

His skin is flushed, his chest rises and falls, his hair is a mess, and you don't have to see his face to know his pupils are blown wide.

Sure, Minho holds a lot of power over you, but it goes both ways. You're the only person that gets to see him like this; dishevelled, whimpering, needy - weak.

You fiddle with the waistband of his boxers, feeling his grip tighten.

You look up at him, admiring him once again before you speak.

"I'm showing you how much I want you."

Whoop whoop, another Minho piece done.

The Glade pieces are so fun to write, and it's not very often I get to involve Chuck, so this was a nice change.

I hope you enjoyed :))

[a-killer-obsession]

🔞 Minors DNI 🔞

A search for a rumored Vegapunk weapon leads the Kid Pirates to an unexpected new crewmate, with a bloodlust that rivals their own and an incredible power.

CW: Please check AO3 for all current warnings, but general warning for smut, slow burn, serious gore, and really dark themes. AFAB reader, she/her pronouns.

Masterlist || AO3 || Chapter 1

Chapter 50 - Enemy

With Kid successfully rescued, it's time to go find Killer.

Word Count: ~4k

“So, what's the plan then?” Kid asked, chomping on an apple from your very quickly dwindling food stash, “they're gonna wake up and discover I'm gone soon.”

“We need to find Killer,” you replied, “I'm hoping he knows where the others are. Either because that's where he was, or because he's… working with the Shogun.” Kid sighed at your forlorn expression as you curled your knees up to your chin. “Last time I saw him was in the Flower Capital.”

“How far is that from here?”

“About a day’s walk,” you replied, laying out your map for him to see and pointing to the relevant areas, “we're somewhere around here, Heart Pirate base is here, capital is right here in the centre. I was thinking though, maybe we go to Law first, so we can get your seastone off.”

“Absolutely fucking not,” Kid growled, “I don't need that smug cunt's help. Kil can pick the lock when we see him.”

“Sure, if he wasn't a whole different person right now,” you sighed, “he's more likely to fight you. We're gonna have to subdue him, maybe bring him back here. Can you carry him with one arm?”

“Aye,” Kid responded confidently, “ye of little faith, I can take him without my devil fruit.”

“It's not taking him down I'm worried about,” you explained, “his fighting is off right now. He's manic and sloppy, I can take him down no problem with my fruit. The problem is getting him all the way back here, keeping him restrained and trying to get him to talk. I don't know what they did to him but they convinced him that we're the enemy.”

Kid examined your face carefully, seeing how lost and defeated you looked. Your expression reminded him of the way you looked after you lost your baby, something was hurting you deeply, that much at least was clear to him, even if he himself was emotionally stunted most of the time. “There's something else bothering you, isn't there?” He pried. You blinked away tears and sniffed, only sparing him a short look before hiding your face between your knees. “Talk to me doll, what is it?”

“I don't even know if everyone else is alive,” you sniffed, “what if Heat is dead? I should have told him I loved him earlier, I shouldn't have made him wait. He could be rotting somewhere for all I know.”

“He knew long before you said it lass,” Kid soothed, pulling you into his lap and resting his chin on top of your hair, “he's alive, they all are, we're gonna find them Yin. Just stay strong. You've done so well on your own, you don't have to suffer on your own anymore, I've got you. We're gonna find everyone.”

“What if we don't?” You cried, “what if we're too late? What if I took too long? What if we can't bring Killer back to his senses and everyone else is dead already?”

“Shhh, shh,” Kid soothed, holding your head against his chest, “I'll have no talk of that, you did everything you could, we're gonna save them. Together. You're not alone anymore, I'm right here Yin, don't cry. You're a Kid Pirate, you've gotta be brave.”

Kid took your face gently in his hand, tilting your chin up with a crooked finger, before running his thumb softly over your cheek to catch a tear as it ran over your scattered purple freckles. “You're not alone,” he said uncharacteristically softly, “let me hear you say it.”

“I'm- I'm not alone,” you sniffed, watching his amber eyes flick between your eyes and your lips, overly aware of how close he was and warm chest against yours. “I'm not alone,” you repeated, softer, almost a whisper as you leaned towards him. He made a quiet grunt as you pressed your lips against his, but he quickly took possession of the kiss, pressing back with a harsh need and forcing his tongue in your mouth. The kiss turned frantic, moans swallowed as Kid fisted his hand into your hair and you rolled your hips to grind against his growing erection.

“Not alone,” you whined, “Kid, I need you.”

“I know baby, I know,” he groaned back, shifting you to lay on your side next to him so he could hitch your leg over his hip, holding your ass firmly so he could grind his clothed length against you. “Gonna help you, gonna take good care of you till we get your boys back, I promise. They'd want me to take care of you.”

Desperate to feel full and distract yourself from the anguish still potentially waiting for you, you pushed Kid onto his back and straddled him. You made quick work of his belts while he groped at your tits, pushing up your shirt and bra to reveal the soft flesh underneath. He squeezed them purposefully to make you release your milk, groaning as a thin line shot out somewhat violently and hit him in the face, which made you giggle a little at his surprised expression. His eyes rolled back as you freed his cock and took it in your hand, pumping him and admiring the precum beading at the tip. You shuffled to squat over him, too impatient and needy to properly prepare your cunt, pulling aside your panties and whining as you sunk down on his length, letting the painful stretch and the pleasure that followed distract your mind from your stresses. Things didn't seem so bad with Kid's fat cock buried in your cunt.

“There you go sweetheart,” Kid groaned as you rode him, “let yourself go, all will be well. Fuck, you're so tight. Good girl, such a good girl.”

Kid's praises made you whine and ride him faster, and you wondered if Killer had shared your pension for praise with him. “S-say it again,” you whined.

“You're such a good girl,” Kid cooed, guiding your hips with his one good arm, the stump of the other moving like it longed to reach out and touch you as well, “such a very good girl, Yin. Doing such a good job taking my cock. Looking after your captain like a good sweet thing. You gonna be a good girl and cum on my cock?”

“Yes!” You moaned, coil pulling tight far too quickly thanks to his praise, “c-cumming!”

Kid groaned at your walls squeezing around him, his balls tightening as he realised it was the first time you'd cum on his cock, and it drove him wild. You were trying to come down from your orgasm but he began to piston up into you, making you scream as your orgasm seemed to continue on forever. “Good girl, good girl, good girl,” he chanted before making an animalistic roar and unloading inside you. The moment he stilled you collapsed against him, panting into the scarred crook of his neck, his hand still on your hip, his grip a little lighter now, keeping you sat where you were to warm his cock.

“Do you think they'll hate me?” You whispered. Post nut clarity was a real bitch.

“Who?”

“Killer and Heat,” you clarified, “do you think they'll hate me… for sleeping with you.”

“Not a chance,” Kid soothed, pressing a hard kiss into your hair, “they know you sweetheart. They know your heart is theirs. This is just a comfort. They won't hate you for just trying to feel a little comfort after all you've been through.”

“Okay..” you resigned, not entirely convinced but trying hard to trust your captain.

“Don't sweat it Yin,” Kid insisted, “you're okay, everything is gonna be okay. I'll tell them myself if you're worried about it. I promise they won't care.”

“We should get going soon,” you sighed, letting his softened cock slip from inside you and rolling off him, “it's a day's walk to the capital, we should get moving.”

“Yin,” Kid crowded behind you as you gathered your things into your duffle, stilling your frantic movements with a firm hold on your arm, “we're going to find them. When have I ever let you down?”

You let him pull you into a tight hug, his arm rubbing your back soothingly while your arms struggled to wrap around his thick waist. “I know captain,” you sniffed, “I'm just so worried.”

“Let's get going then, aye?” Kid suggested, giving you a reassuring pat on the back before separating himself, “let's go put those worries to rest.”

You slipped your visor on with a nod and threw your duffle over your shoulder, then you led your captain out of the crumbling shack, onwards to find your friends and lovers.

Your biggest concern right now was how to stay unseen and avoid fights on your way to the Flower Capital. Until now you'd been travelling under the cover of night, when you were at a visibility advantage and it was easier to hide. But with the guards at Udon no doubt having discovered Kid's escape by now, the two of you couldn't afford to stay still for any longer than necessary. You'd both allowed a few hours for a nap, but the sun was now risen, and soon there would likely be Beast Pirates out searching for the missing captain. You couldn't wait till nightfall, you had to keep moving, but that left you both exposed.

Some of the Beast Pirate Gifters were able to fly, and would spot you from a distance, especially now that they were no doubt actively searching. That left travelling under tree cover as the best option, though it would greatly slow the journey, and not all of the route had trees to hide under. You could use your devil fruit to cloak, but it would need to be used sparingly to conserve your energy in case it came to a fight, and you had no way to hide Kid's seastone cuff. If the two of you got caught out with nowhere to hide, the floating cuff would stick out like a sore tooth.

The best option, after checking with the map Kin’emon had given you, was to take a longer route via the neighbouring region of Hakumai, instead of going directly to the Flower Capital. It would take longer, but you would still hopefully make it before night. After that the plan was to search the capital after dark, being that it was the most likely time for Killer, or rather, Kamazo, to appear. The plan was less clear after that, but you hoped you would be able to disable him again so that Kid could carry him somewhere he could be bound, until you both figured out how to fix him. Or at the very least get information out of him so you could find where they were keeping the rest of the crew. You weren't keen on giving Killer another concussion, a man could only take so many knocks to the head before it resulted in permanent damage, or even a death-inducing brain bleed, but if it came to it you didn't have much choice.

The two of you made your way under the treeline, Kid refusing to let go of your hand. He felt responsible for you, as more than just a captain. He felt a responsibility to look after you on behalf of his best friend, and his long time friend Heat. Kid knew how sad and stressed you were, so he was trying to do what he thought they would do in this situation. He was no good with dealing with feelings but he was trying his best, and not to be too humble, but he thought he was doing a pretty good job. You appreciated his effort though. After more than a month on your own, a simple thing like having a warm hand in yours gave you a great deal of comfort. Just knowing you weren't alone anymore did a lot to soothe your anxiety and give you hope.

“How much further?” Kid huffed as he stomped along behind you.

“Why, tired already, captain?” you teased.

“Oi, some of us have spent the last month in a labour camp,” Kid scowled, before quickly remembering you hadn't had things much better, “Sorry, I'm fine to keep going for now, I was just curious.”

“It's still a few more hours, I think,” you hummed.

“You think?”

“I didn't have to take the long way last time,” you sighed, “have some patience, Eustass. This country is fucking crawling with Beast Pirates, and some of them can fly. We have to stay hidden.”

“Fine, whatever,” Kid grumbled.

The edge of the treeline came into view as you worked your way through the brambles, and you pressed your spare hand against Kid's chest to indicate for him to stop, the two of you squatting behind a bush. You adjusted the settings on your visor, searching for any nearby sounds or heat signatures that would indicate enemies. The next treeline was a good five hundred metres away, it was a decent distance to go without cover, so you needed to be extra careful, making sure to scan the skies as well. A group of warm bodies heading your way caught your attention, making you glad you'd taken the time to stop and check.

“Incoming,” you whispered, “big group of them, prisoner escort on their way to Udon I think, I can see one with shackles on.”

The two of you hid in the bushes, thankfully with no need for your devil fruit with the thick foliage, you could only hope that there would be nobody with good observation haki among the group. Even if you cloaked the two of you, you couldn't mask against decent haki. You heard Kid take a deep breath and hold it as the group came into view, maybe you should have warned him you'd masked sounds, to keep any accidental rustling from giving away your positon. Based on their clothing you could see they were all Beast Pirates, led by one on horseback, who dragged behind him a prisoner led by a long chain. Your breath hitched as you saw who they had, grabbing Kid's forearm and gripping it with a strength that told him something was very wrong. He hadn't seen him yet, or perhaps hadn't recognized him, given how wildly different he looked, and even moved, compared to the man Kid had been raised by.

“Killer,” you said in a hushed tone. Kid's brows, or lack thereof, shot up, amber eyes flicking between you and the blonde being forced to walk behind them.

“You're sure?” Kid replied with gritted teeth.

“One hundred percent,” you stammered. Kid made a move like he was going to stand, and you gripped him harder. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Freeing him,” Kid growled.

“And how are you gonna do that?” You hissed back, “you're unarmed, literally, without your devil fruit. All you've got is me and I'm just as fucking exhausted as you are. I don't have the energy to take that many. Not to mention we don't know if Killer will fight them or us. We're outnumbered, it's better to let them take him and free him later.”

“Fuck that,” Kid growled, “they're not taking him to that shit hole. I'll fight them on my own if I have to.”

“Kid! Don't!” You pleaded, “look, they have guns, even if you can take them hand-to-hand, you can't do shit if they shoot you. You're strong but you're not fucking bulletproof.”

As you argued with your captain the group got closer, the two of you turning to watch as Killer walked by. He stopped for a moment, staring directly at the bush where the two of you were hiding, and you knew full well that his haki told him the two of you were there. The horse-mounted pirate tugged at his chain, forcing him to continue, and he threw back his head and laughed as his feet moved again. It wasn't a happy laugh. It wasn't a laugh that said ‘my crew are here, and they're going to free me’. No, it was all pain, mixed up in his brain by the defective SMILE fruit, his true emotion was only fear and hopelessness, you could sense it in his brainwaves. Your chest felt tight watching him walk, and Kid made a soft growl beside you. There was no doubt in his mind now that it was his friend, and that something was very wrong with him. Killer never laughed out loud around strangers, let alone enemies. He hated his laugh more than anything, suppressed it except in the presence of those he loved and trusted most. Everything you'd told Kid was true, as much as he hadn't wanted to believe it, and if it weren't for his bubbling rage, he would have cried.

Kid moved to stand once again, pushing you away when you tried to stop him. “Kid, please,” you begged, “listen to reason, you can't help him right now, they have too much advantage.”

“Who's the captain here?” He bit back, “either you're with me, or you're against me. You're gonna help me free him, or you're gonna stay the fuck out of my way.”

“Kid, please!” you shouted, glad for your power masking the sounds of the argument, “you're just going to get us both captured!”

“Then don't fucking come with me,” he growled, “stay here like a fucking coward.”

Tears welled in your eyes as your hand dropped away from him. His heart hurt seeing your expression fall, but his anger was still in control of him. It always was when Killer wasn't there to show him there was a better way, only Killer had ever been able to convince him to stop and think. Kid had a one track mind to get his best friend back, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him, not even you. Which only gave you one choice.

“Kid, please, if they take you again I might not be able to free you this time,” you reasoned, “I can't let you go out there.”

“Let me?” Kid growled. He grabbed your face and pinched your chin between his fingers hard, and you whimpered, immediately going back to that dark place in your mind that you thought you'd never have to return to. The one where every man in power was a threat to you, and you had to behave, or face the painful consequences. “You don't let me do anything, you fuckin’ hear me? You're my subordinate, and you're gonna do as you're fuckin’ told. Or you can find yourself a new crew.”

Something in your brain snapped then, images of Thompson's body under your knife flickering behind your closed eyes. His blood and piss pooling on the floor, the fearful expression on his face, the way he cried out when you cut him. His life draining from him as he choked on his own dick, the light in his eyes fading by your hand. ‘Never again,’ your mind chanted, ‘never again, NEVER AGAIN.’

“Fine,” you spat back, your voice laced with venom, “you can find yourself a new weapon. I'm fucking done. I'll find Heat on my own, you already know full fucking well he'll choose me over you. And as for Killer, you can explain to him for yourself where I am, why his girlfriend and daughter aren't back on the ship. See if he stays by your side after that.”

Kid let you go quickly, shock evident on his face. He didn't think you'd be so quick to quit, he thought he would be able to convince you to help him if he just threatened you. In the blink of an eye he'd ruined the months of trust he'd built up with you, and he immediately regretted it, but it only served to make him angrier. His anger was misplaced though, it wasn't you he was angry at, it was himself, and Kaido for tearing his family apart in the first place. But right now the only person here to receive his wrath was you, and he'd never been good at holding back when he was mad.

Multiple things happened in the blink of an eye. Before you could register it, a seastone-cuffed fist was flying at you, landing square in your gut and knocking the air out of you. You went down hard, wheezing and struggling for air as your arms wrapped around your stomach. In your struggle you groaned loudly, revealing Kid to the enemy, who spotted him immediately. You had the self-preservation to mask yourself with invisibility, but in your anger and pain you decided to leave Kid on his own. He'd made an enemy of you, he wasn't your problem anymore. He insisted he could hold his own, so he could fucking hold his own.

Next came the laughter, Killer turning manic as chaos unfolded, barely masking the two gunshots that rang out. Your vision was blurry as you lay on the ground, but you could see enough to watch Kid go down, a smug smile on your face as he realised too late that you'd been right. As soon as he went down, he knew it was over, as the pirates used the butts of their guns and swords to beat Kid until he was too hurt to fight back, all the while set to the eerie sound of Killer's mania. Your smug smile was wiped from your face as you watched them drag Kid to his feet. A new chain was attached to his cuff, which was then linked to Killer's, and the two of them were forced to walk again.

You laid shell-shocked on the ground, releasing your cloaking as soon as they were far enough, all your energy now going into the harsh sobs that racked through your body as you realised that once again, you were alone. You stayed there until night fell, curled up in a ball with your knees to your chest, wheezing as the sobs agitated your bruised ribs, twigs and stones digging into your side. The temperature dropped and you began to shiver violently, until you had no choice but to get your shit together. You had to keep going, at the very least you had to help yourself, and if not for your own sake then for Dawn's, and for Heat. Even if you couldn't get Killer out of prison on your own, you could at least sneak in and get information out of him, find out where they were keeping Heat and the others, rescue the rest of the crew, and then guide them to rescue Kid and Killer. Once you freed the rest of the crew, your commitment to them would be over, and you would leave with Heat and Dawn. Steal a ship and leave this awful fucking country for good. Maybe Killer would come find you, but you couldn't let yourself hope right now that he would even ever be himself again, hoping would only lead to more heartbreak.

With shaky breaths you struggled to your feet, your mind set. You would go to Udon, but only for information. For now, you just needed to get somewhere safe, and without Kid you could now move much faster, cutting back to your abandoned shack as fast as your legs would take you, relying on your devil fruit to keep you hidden. You ran for what felt like hours, collapsing immediately as soon as you made it inside the dilapidated building, and quickly passing out from exhaustion.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

👉 Like my stuff? Consider buying me a ko-fi

Taglist: @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @iggy5055 @eyes-ofhell @luvnisstuff

[velvetvexations]

For your friend asking about testosterone, because I think the answers are good but are also lacking perspective from someone for whom testosterone was not the solution in the end: TW brief mention of genitals

I took T for 3 months. I took it at the starting low dose, they determined that I was absorbing it too effectively and lowered it even more. Within those three months, the most notable changes for me personally:

- Clitoral growth. This was the first thing that happened for me, in a weird uno-reverse of most peoples' situations that I've seen. This change stayed.

- Libido. I simply did not have one prior to testosterone. Now I very much do- even only having taken it for 3 months, I experience a way more physical feeling of Need To Get Off than I did prior to testosterone. This change stayed.

- Vocal Fry. My voice dropped probably half an octave very quickly- I still sound recognizably 'female', but I sound like I'm early-hormonal-transition. I also did lose my ability to scream. This change stayed.

- Acne. I had horrific acne for the three months I was on T. I've heard this is normal and does go away when you stay on testosterone. This change did not stay.

- Hair growth. I have dark, long hairs on my chest and belly that were not there before, but they're soft and not a bother to me personally. However, I do grow a gnarly teen-boy's-first-facial-hair situation if I don't shave or pluck every day, after only 3 months. This may be unique to the weird readiness with which my body accepted the testosterone, as I often hear facial hair growth is pretty slow for a lot of trans men. But on the off chance that you have that same kind of situation, be absolutely sure that the texture of prickly hair on your chin and the skin around your mouth is something you're gonna be cool with dealing with, because once it comes in it doesn't go away. For most trans men this isn't an issue, I'm just a) not a man after all and b) autistic in the 'touching prickly things sucks' way.

I wasn't on T long enough for any negative side effects to show up, but the clinic I was at was very thorough with telling me what potential side effects there were, and frankly, I have to second what everyone else so far has said- the risks 'increase' to... basically what they would have been had you been born a cis man, in most cases. And if you decide it isn't for you, as I did after 3 months, even if many changes are permanent, you can still stop taking it and your life will not be ruined. It's not a poison, it's just inducing your body to have a different hormone profile than it did before. Nothing that changes in your body is a characteristic that no other person on earth has. You'll be fine. If you want to try it, try it.

Thank you! This is a very important add-on.

[russellsppttemplates]

You need some down time (Pierre Gasly)

You thought you had been able to adjust your routine to Pierre's calendar, but your body showed otherwise

Note: english is not my first language. This can also work as an alert for you (and for me too tbh) to take care of yourself and listen to your body. You should work on your dreams but also rest whenever you need ✨️ also, I feel like I can finally write about remote work without having flashbacks from my dissertation

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Tw: reader's excessive tiredness (mentions some symptoms and taking pills for headaches)

"Then we are meeting Esteban there, we'll have to present a talk to the group of sponsors and then we have dinner", Pierre explained.

"And you're sure I can get there on time and not bother? I don't want to make a big entrance where everyone looks at me", you chuckled, "no, it's fine. They're waiting for you already, so you won't be a stranger", he smiled, "I'll just send you the ticket so you have it on your phone", your boyfriend added, hearing you fumble with a plastic medicine wrapper, "is everything alright?", he asked looking up from his phone to see you taking what looked like a paracetamol, "just a little headache, probably have been staring too long at the computer", you reasoned back, drinking some water from your bottle, "is that the bottle you filled this morning? If it is, you're not drinking much water either, and that's not good for you, mon ange", Pierre said pulling you gently so you could lay your head on his chest, "you know I've always been terrible at drinking water".

Like Pierre told you, the guy at the front of the event scanned your ticket, immediately seeing on the computer where he should be escorting you, already seeing a few familiar faces as you made your way to the high tables, seeing your boyfriend and his new teammate along with some of the members of the Alpine PR Team, "Hi everyone! So sorry I was late. The meeting went long and then the traffic here from the hotel was not easy either", you noted, standing next to Pierre, "you look lovely, Y/N, I'm glad you could join us at last", Esteban complimented.

"Thanks, Yuki!", you said, and to anyone else, they thought it was automatic, "sorry, Esteban", you apologised, laughing when the French driver laughed too.

The dinner turned out to be a nice and calm setting, contrasting with the excitement and buzz of the previous event, "do you want some dessert to share? I'm fancying something sweet but I don't think I can eat all of it", you mentioned to Pierre, looking around the menu and deciding on what you wanted to order.

Leaving the restaurant, you latched yourself to Pierre's arm, supporting yourself on him as you walked to the car he had driven there, "are you busy tomorrow?", he asked, "yes, the usual. But I think I'm going to clock in later, I think, a meeting has been pushed", you mumbled, yelping when you felt yourself stumble in your heels even though you know how to walk in them just fine, "nearly fell there, are you good?", your boyfriend asked, "it seems, yes. But I'm good".

.

The ring of your phone brought your attention from your laptop to the smaller device, seeing Pierre's mother contact appear for a video call.

"Hi, Pascale, how are you?", you asked, saving the changes you made to the document on your laptop before paying her you full attention, "I'm great, chérie. How have you been doing? I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time!", she nudged, "no, it's fine. Perks of working remotely, I don't need to worry about my boss breathing down my neck since I just need to meet the day's goals", you joked, looking at your planner, "and I'm nearly done for the day", you smiled.

Without your control, your hands trembled a little and you were unable to grasp your phone properly, leaving it to fall on the carpeted floor, "Y/N, is everything okay?", you heard Pascale say, "sorry, Pascale, my phone just slipped from my hands", you explained as you grabbed it, checking for any scratches and seeing none, "butter fingers, hm?", she giggled, bringing a small smile to your face, "more like sweaty fingers, I guess".

When Pierre arrived back from his event, he found you just the moment you shut the lid of your laptop, "Only finishing now, amour?", he asked, kissing the top of your head, "yes. Your mother also called me so I had a good break between my tasks", you noted, getting up and grabbing the remote control for the AC to turn it off since the room had cooled off enough, "now, what do we have for tonight?", you asked, "for a change, I don't have anything. Do you want to go explore the city or just sit here?", he wondered, "can we stay in, please? My head hurts a little, probably from being at the laptop all day", you mumbled, "room service and dim lighting it is then".

.

Finally, you were going home. It had been an intense couple of weeks and you were oozing forwards to spend some time with Pierre and his family without a tight schedule filled with events.

Arriving at the airport, Pierre was quick to get everything ready and you were waiting in line with the time perspective you had expected, greeting the crew and making your way inside the aircraft.

"Here, my love, you can hold my hand", you nudged, knowing that Pierre wasn't the biggest fan of flying, feeing him squeeze your palm.

"Hi, I'm so sorry to inform, but the flight will leave with a delay. The estimate is around forty five minutes", one of the flight attendants apologised, carrying on to inform the rest of the passengers.

"For Goodness sake", you mumbled, groaning slightly ad you felt Pierre squeeze your hand again, "I'll just text my dad that we'll arrive later", he mentioned, grabbing his phone and doing so. "Sorry, I know it's not the end of the world", you mumbled, letting your head rest on his shoulder and closing your eyes for a bit, "it's okay, hopefully soon they'll have some informations", Pierre offered, holding your hand in his and kissing the side of your head.

When you finally landed, you grabbed your bags and walked to the hall where you'd be meeting Jean, "I've never been so happy so see your father, I swear", you mumbled, walking up to the older Gasly man and allowing him to greet you and carry your bags to the car.

Walking up to the bedroom you'd be staying in, you managed to take your pyjamas out along with your toiletries bag, changing out of your clothes, washing your face and brushing your teeth before you met Pierre in bed, "I've been dreaming of this bed for the entire day", you groaned as you finally felt the fresh sheets on your legs, looking forward to cuddle Pierre for the night, "sleep tight, handsome, I love you", you offered, "Good night, mon ange, I love you too", he whispered before kissing your forehead one last time for the night.

Despite his usual routine and his sleep routine working like a clock, Pierre managed to sleep for a little bit longer than usual, opening his eyes to find you curled up on yourself and still facing him, making him brush some hairs away from your eyes and caress your cheek, admiring your features. Your skin was a little more faded than usual, and the circles under your eyes were darker, but hopefully this holiday would help you restore your energies. When you didn't wake up from his touches, he thought it was best to leave you to rest, getting up and tucking you further in, putting on a t-shirt and heading dowstairs to meet his family.

"Bonjour, dear, did you sleep well?", his mother greeted him, kissing his cheek as he poured himself a glass of water, "bonjour, yes, I did, and it seems Y/N is sleeping quite well, too. She's still in deep sleep", he noted, seeing his father arrive in the room.

"Bonjour everyone, I have fresh pastries and bread!", Jean announced, setting the paper bags on the table, "I have Y/N's favourites too, they were nearly running out but I managed to grab a few", he said, looking around for you, "she's still asleep. Although I'm not sure dreamland wins over these croissants", Pierre said, taking one straight from the bag and biting into it.

By now, Pierre started to get worried. Everytime he went upstairs to check on you, you were still sound asleep and not a sign that you'd wake up soon. "Is she coming down? I can warm up some of the croissants", Jean commented when his son came back, "thank you, but no need. She's still sleeping", Pierre murmured, sitting in the sofa next to his mother, "she must've been exhausted", she reasoned, "every time I called either of you, you were either about to fly somewhere or needing to be at some event, I even interrupted her a few times while she was working and you were off somewhere", she reasoned, "it wasn't easy on her, that's for sure".

The words resonated on Pierre's mind. It had been a couple of busy weeks, even he felt it. Travelling around so he could engage with the new team he was part of was as incredible as it was tiring, and having you there was the safe haven he needed whenever he felt a little lost. But had you been taking care of yourself for all of that time too? Was he the person you turned to when you needed to feel safe too?

About an hour and a half later, you woke up, cursing yourself as soon as you looked at the clock and scrambled out of bed so make yourself look presentable. Deciding that, for now, leggings and an oversized shirt would have to do, you made your way downstairs to greet everyone, "Good morning! I'm so sorry I overslept, I swear I didn't do it on purpose!", you apologised, seeing Pierre make his way to you so he could hug you a kiss your cheek, "hey, is everything alright?", he asked, holding your hand in his and pulling you to sit by the table, seeing his parents get started on what you figured was already lunch, "yes, I'm good. Let me help with that, please, Pascale. It's the least-", you attempted before being shushed by her.

"No need for that, chérie. But we do want to talk about how you are", she said softly, "you had us worried for a bit, I kept telling Pierre to check if you had a fever or something like that", she tried, knowing that you had already noticed where she was going.

Sighing, you placed your hands on top of the table fiddling wirh your fingers, "honestly? I feel a little rested, but not fully rested", you admitted, "it's been a lot these past couple of weeks. Work has been non stop, I have been covering some of my colleagues' vacation days, I feel like I'll need a few days to unwind even. The first thing I thought about when I woke up was that I was late for a meeting such is the habit to be in a squeeze of time", you gulped, "it has been a struggle, and I'm just grateful to finally have some down and off time", you finished, squeezing Pascale's hand that found yours on the cold surface.

"I know you don't need me to tell you this, but you need to take care of yourself, Y/N! You can't go around the day and sleep so little, we saw how busy you were!", she scolded still softly, meaning no harm and rather wanting to help you and make sure you took care of yourself and your well-being. "These days you're here, you're catching up on your sleep, eating good food, having some down time and taking care of yourself, I won't allow anything else under my roof!", Jean jokingly threatened, pointing his finger at you before smiling.

Pierre was looking like you expected him to. "Hey, no guilty frown, please!", you tapped your boyfriend's forehead, hoping to soften his expression, "you had your own things to worry about, and besides, it's also my doing because I didn't want to say anything", you admitted. "But still! I saw you were getting up earlier so you could meet me later, saw that you'd have quick lunches and how you felt more tired. I thought it was all jet lag and being busy, but it was more than that", he reasoned, tracing shapes on your hands, "it's all behind us now, okay?", you reassured, nuzzling your face in his neck when he pulled you into his embrace.

"Now, how about you two go enjoy some croissants outside? Despite the cold, it is a lovely sunny day outside. Just make sure you're warm enough, okay? I don't want anyone sick in this house!", Pascale announced, placing the food tray in the oven.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/765221485179731968/writing-about-my-favorite-characters-as?source=share

I'm really sorry to hear you're going through this, anon. I'm even sadder that it's not an uncommon story.

As another trans writer (trans woman, in my case) that's stumbled into other people eviscerating her works for "fetishizing" and being "het in f/f's clothing" I really sympathize with you, dude. The way I look at it is that you cannot try alter who you are for these people. They will always find a way to dislike you because you are their ideological enemy. They dislike seeing trans men in what they see as their ship tags, not yours, so they will always find something they view as a flaw and flog you for it until you either conform or leave.

I've had a similar experience to yours, though not a literal thread dedicated to me. Ouch. I write f/f and sometimes that features non-op/pre-op trans characters because I am personally non-op after many years on E, and I'm always astounded by how it obviously upsets people that otherwise claim to be progressive. I also tag things extensively and I even include some terminology clarifications at the beginning of smut fics so that everyone knows what they're getting into. It doesn't matter to them. It'll never matter to them what you or I do, so why bother trying to coddle them?

There are readers that like my works, but after walking into a fandom Discord's NSFW fic channel, I saw how many people assume that my fics are written by a cis person or the fabled Dirty Fetishizer. It's one thing to intellectually know this happens and another to see your own work - something that you as a trans person created to talk about some part of yourself - ripped apart as this nasty tripe that no "real" trans person would write or read.

To make matters worse, I saw all that after I went through a rather nasty spate of transphobic anons when the fandom was very young. It was so tiring. I was exhausted. Seeing virulent hate in the real world and then having it thrown in my face for writing characters in a way that people disagreed with was just too much for me.

My way of dealing with this was disengaging from my own fandom, turning off anons on tumblr, and blocking anyone I even felt slightly annoyed by just in case it boiled over into something else. It sucks, but it's how I continue to have fun with writing for my ships. I basically never go into my ship tags on Tumblr now, I curate whose fics I read carefully, and I only hang out in one Discord server that's very small. I still read and comment on others' works when I have the mental bandwidth for it, but I avoid most other writers, especially those I don't know just in case they're part of that -phobe segment, and keep the most vocally unpleasant authors permanently muted for my own sake.

Frankly, it is what it is, as thought terminating as that phrase can be, and I gave up trying with these people/this fandom. You could keep trying to interact with the greater fandom, but you should block the assholes that disregarded your lived experience for your own mental health.

It's an isolating process for sure, but that's why I supplemented it with seeking out other fandom friends, most of whom are trans. Maybe we disagree with headcanons, and in a lot of cases we're polar opposites, but we all stick together because otherwise we're all thrown into isolation. That, and I always try to focus on the folks that do like what I write.

--

[cinnamontoastcrunch-15]

Happy Valentines Day!!

I've been prepping this oneshot since the first, I'm super excited to finally share it!

Mary has had an epiphany.

It hits them on the Monday before Valentines Day, in the Great Hall. For once, the 14th is falling on a Hogsmeade Saturday, and it's wreaking havoc in the castle. People are asking each other out left right and centre, the prospect of a Hogsmeade date being much too enticing to pass up. Especially for the seventh years. Lily's already talking about who she's going on ask, and it's looking more and more like it's going to be James. Mary isn't all that bothered about Valentines Day, to be honest, but everyone else is, and they think that's quite cute.

At breakfast, everyone watches Valentine after Valentine landing in front of people, and as they watch another cross the table, they catch a glimpse of Remus' face. His eyes follow the owl with an expression that Mary can only describe as wistful. It throws them for a moment. Remus hasn't shown an interest in this sort of thing before. Still, there's absolutely no other explanation for Remus' expression.

That man is a hopeless romantic.

A hopeless romantic without a date. Yeah, that absolutely can't do. Mary can care about Valentines Day for a bit, if they need to find Remus a date. They're going to make sure Remus ends up on a date if it kills them.

They decide to float the concept later that day. The common room is practically empty, Remus and Mary the only ones with free lessons. They've been working in a comfortable silence, with Mary asking the occasional question about the homework they're both completing. It's the perfect time to ask.

"So, Valentines Day's on a Hogsmeade weekend," they say calmly, not looking up from their essay.

"Oh, yeah, I thought I'd heard that," he answers. It's a pretty obvious lie. Remus Lupin has never been a liar, that much is clear.

"Have you thought about asking anyone?" They glance up just in time to watch Remus' shoulders tense. Opening their mouth, they go to respond, but Mary is not about to let them deny anything. "Oh, you have, haven't you?" Remus' face promptly starts to flush, and a smile finds its way onto Mary's face. "Right, I'm finding you a date," they say decisively, and Remus' eyes widen, glancing up at them. He starts to speak hurriedly, but Mary's heard all that they need to hear.

"That's okay, I honestly don't-"

"Nope, it's happening," they hold up their hand as they interject. "You deserve a Valentine, Remus. I'm finding you someone."

Perfect, now they just need to find the right person.

They spend the first few days mulling over their options. Remus is more popular than he gives himself credit for. It shouldn't be difficult to find him a date.

Shouldn't be.

"How about Hestia?" They ask on Wednesday, dropping down in front of Remus. For a moment, he seems taken aback, confused. As the realisation dawns on him, his face drops. Okay, he's not impressed, then.

"Uh... for what?" James asks, confused.

"Nothing, Prongs," Remus interjects quickly, before turning back to Mary. "No, not Hestia."

"Why?" They huff. Hestia's perfect for Remus! He just shoots them a look and goes back to eating.

Okay, someone else, then.

As it turns out, Remus is picky as fuck. Mary suggests Amelia, Emma, Georgia, all in the span of two days, and gets absolutely nothing. They're honestly starting to lose hope. They mention it to Lily and Marlene on Thursday evening.

"I'm not sure who to set him up with next! Nobody seems to be right for him!" They groan, not catching that Sirius has tuned into their conversation.

"Hey, Mary?" Sirius speaks up quickly, and they turn to face him. "You're talking about Saturday, right?" They nod, and Sirius' eyes widen almost invisibly. "I didn't realise he wanted a date for Saturday."

"It's written all over his face. Have you not seen him watching the Valentines like he'd kill to be asked to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah, I have, but I- I asked him, he said he didn't really care," Sirius says, and it looks like Mary's blown his mind.

Huh. That's interesting.

"Remus isn't just going to admit that he wants something like this," Lily steps in seamlessly. "He does, though. I managed to get that out of him."

"Oh, thank fuck," Sirius says with a sigh, a relieved smile finding its way onto his face. With that, he disappears from the common room, heading straight for the boys dorms.

Well, that's odd.

It doesn't take long to find out what it's all about, though.

They're all at breakfast the next morning when the owl arrives. Mary is playing around with a few more names, deciding between keeping trying to set Remus up with someone or just accepting defeat. Then, an owl swoops in with a single marigold flower, dropping it in front of Remus. He picks it up, stunned, but it's quickly replaced by another. Another. Before any of them know what has happened, there's a stack of flowers in front of Remus. Eyes are stuck on him and, after a moment, Remus looks up. His eyes fix on one person, sitting beside him, like he knows exactly who did this.

Sirius.

Their eyes meet, and Sirius smiles nervously.

"So... Saturday?" Is all he says, and Remus smiles back. He drops the flower and laces their fingers together, as he nods quickly. "I was worried you'd hate Valentines, and I'd look like a prat," Sirius admits with a relieved laugh, which just prompts Remus to move his free hand into Sirius' hair and connect their lips.

Oh.

Okay, that makes much more sense.

[softstraykidshours]

I just want chan to love his pretty nose (and himself in general) but I wish I could just smooch his face and nose all the time and reassure him that yes he is indeed deserving of the kind things that are said about him and that they’re true

bestie literally same. this man beats himself up so much, and it literally makes my heart ache. just like you, i want to shower him in all the love and kisses and validation and reassurance he deserves.

this got me thinking about a soft soft soft soft thought, so i wrote a little something below. i hope you like iiiiiit!

<3 courtney & abbie

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

pairing: chan x gn!reader

warning(s): insecurities

"channie? honey? where are you?" you softly yell through your apartment.

normally chan was running to the door to greet you, so the absence of his presence when you came home from work this evening was concerning.

"chan?" you yell again as you make your way from room to room.

"in here," he responds half-heartedly from behind the closed bathroom door.

"what are you doing in here?" you ask as you slowly open the door. he doesn't turn to look at you, instead continuing to face his reflection staring back at him.

your heart drops when you see his expression in the mirror. your gaze dances across his face as you try and make sense of the scene before you. chan is staring at himself, practically glaring. you can tell he's being hypercritical of everything he sees again. his eyes are puffy and red, silently telling you he must have just finished crying.

you quietly make your way behind him, wrapping your arms around him and keeping your eyes locked on his as you rest your head on his shoulder.

you softly whisper to him. "chan, what's wrong? talk to me."

"it's...it's," he begins with a sniffle before letting out a big sigh. "it's my nose. it's too big. it doesn't look right on my face. it's been bothering me all day."

you didn't even think it was possible, but your heart drops even lower upon hearing his confession. you immediately reach up to gently turn his head towards you. you stand beside him, so you're both looking at each other. you make sure to keep a hand on each side of his face, so he can't look back in the mirror and think all those awful, untrue things about himself anymore.

"channie," you begin softly, keeping your voice gentle but firm. "your nose is perfect. it fits your face perfectly. you don't need to change a single thing about you. you're perfect."

"you're just saying that because i'm upset," he sniffles again, looking down at the ground, afraid to meet your gaze.

you place a few gentle kisses right on the tip of his nose.

"no, i'm not," you reassure him. "i'm saying that because it's true. everything about you is perfect. your nose, your smile, your hair, your personality, your kind heart, everything. i love you so much, and so does everyone else in your life. the reason we say all these nice things about you is because they're true. and look, we're human. we're practically hardwired to be too critical of ourselves, so i know that me saying all this isn't going to immediately fix how you're feeling right now. but i do wish you would believe me when i say everything about you is perfect."

his eyes finally meet yours, a single tear running down his cheek that you wipe with your thumb.

"thank you," he says with a smile, barely above a whisper. "i love you."

"i love you, too" you respond with grin before placing one more peck on his nose.

you spend the rest of the night telling chan all the things you love about him and showering him with kisses all over his face (paying extra attention to kissing his nose).

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Can I request a oneshot with Leshy from Cult of the Lamb and this child follower who just follows him eVeRyWhErE, and after getting mad at the child he's just like, 'yo heket I have a kid' and he's unbelievably chill about it after that and eventually just brings the kid with him instead of the child stalking him. (And platonically because I'm not that kind of weird--)

If you don't write for platonics or just don't want to write this please ignore-- have a wonderful timezone!

Awe this is such a cute idea!! Also for the child follower y/n I decided to make Lamb their parent (I'll leave the other parent up to interpretation).

...........

"Lesh!"

"Augh!! Lamb's little brat...how dare you stand in my way?! I could have tripped over you and spilled all these beetroots!"

"Sorry. I thought you'd wanna play tag..."

"Tag? No, thank you. I feel as though I'd be at a great disadvantage. Why don't you go find somebody else to play with? Perhaps someone who still has their sight."

"Okaaaay!"

"Good. Now away with you." Shooing you off, Leshy heard your hoof-steps running away from him. As he put the vegetables into the farming station's chest, he growled in irritation upon hearing Lamb's annoying bleating, as well as your own as you greeted them.

If only he could roll his nonexistent eyes...

For the Red Crown's vessel to marry their most devoted follower was one thing...but to have a child with them, too??

That's something he didn't expect when he first arrived into the cult. It probably wouldn't have bothered him so much if you weren't half-sheep and chose to annoy him in particular.

He's not sure how much time had passed between your birth and Lamb "saving" him and his siblings from purgatory...but you've grown into quite the irritable spawn.

You only proved his point when you returned a few minutes later, and he slammed the chest closed, making you stop in your tracks.

"The clopping of your hooves gives me a headache sometimes..what is it now?"

"Lammy asked me to ask you if um...you could lead the harvest ritual this evening?" You smiled up at him, oblivious to his attitude and snappy words.

".....they couldn't just ask me themselves??!" He groaned. "Fine. Tell them I will begin it at sundown. And I'm not waiting for everyone. If they're late, oh well."

"Will do! Thank you, Lesh!!"

The green bushworm huffed and tried going back to his work, only to become startled when you rammed into him, hugging his torso tightly. It made him tense up as he hissed angrily at you. "Don't touch!!!"

You let him go, confused. "Why?"

"Because....!!!" Leshy paused, having remembered that Lamb was likely close by, watching him. So he took a moment to think of another excuse. "...because..you may get ichor in your wool. We bishops haven't fully healed yet..so you may get sick."

"Ohhhhh, I see it. Sorry, Lesh! I'll be more careful next time!"

Nodding, he heard you leave to tell your parent what he said, and he was convinced you were officially gone for good this time.

Then his ears picked up the sound of a wheezy chuckle.

"I hear you, sister..."

"Brother...is...warming up....to them.." Heket teased as she approached her younger brother, nudging his elbow playfully.

"As if! I only put on the act because Lamb's around." He scoffed, shaking his head. "They won't hesitate to make me relive my death again if I do anything to upset their little spawn.."

"Hm..good...luck. I'm...hungry...bye...." The red frog decided to leave him alone and head to the kitchen station.

And for a while, Leshy was able to finish his tasks at the farm without any disturbances. But just as he brushed the dirt off his hands and was ready to eat, too, he overheard Lamb talking with a random follower who hollered their name from across the base.

They spoke of having trouble confessing to someone they liked...so they wanted their leader to get flowers from his realm as a "gift" for this crush of theirs.

He thought it was outrageous.

'Does nobody here want to lift a finger anymore?! Or maybe..they're just too scared to enter my realm...so it must be doing well even without me to rule it. But if Lamb's going there, then.....no...would they..?'

It suddenly dawned on Leshy, and he scratched his bandages, finally remembering something that has been weighing heavily on his mind:

A relic.

Specifically a piece of him that was lost to the woods.

He remembers commanding the worms to hide it for him so none of his devotees tried to seize its power for themselves.

For as long as he's been in Lamb's cult, he learned they were an excellent scavenger--willing to retrieve bundles of silk or crystals for their more artsy followers, and even mushrooms for those who were "curious" about them.

They've reunited friends and siblings...even the ones who killed their entire species.

Surely, he could ask them about it.

It wouldn't hurt to try, right?

After the follower left, Leshy walked over to you and Lamb, ignoring your greeting of excitement when he arrived, as well as him making no effort to stop you from playing with his tail. It just swished around, and you kept jumping over it like some rope.

"Lamb. Just so we're clear..this is not a favor, I do not need your charity." He warned.

"...okay? What is it?" They tilted their head, closing their doctrine book.

"Well...when dear brother Narinder struck us in his fury, my eyes were torn from the socket. One was salvaged, and hidden in the tangled Darkwood. I despair at the thought of it being uncovered by some simple-minded beast..."

He took a pause, before sighing. "You have navigated my realm once before, do so again and recover my eye. Perhaps we can...make an arrangement."

As expected, Lamb was adamant. "Why should I find something that your "dear brother" took? Why don't you ask him since it's his fault? Or maybe you can go find it yourself?"

"You know I can't. If he goes, he'll lie and claim it's gone forever. If I go, all of Darkwood will be out for my head!" He huffed. "I thought it was your duty to cater to your followers' needs. You've never sent one back into the maw of Silk Cradle to find their lost brother, even though it's their fault for-"

"That's different, Leshy. You don't get to group yourself with them just yet." They warned, scowling at him. "They don't know these realms like you do. They have good hearts, led astray by your hubris and corruption. You were a rotten bishop who ruined their lives..ruined my life...and on that note, you've shown my child nothing but disrespect since the moment you arrived."

At the mention of you, you stopped playing around and frowned. "Lammy-"

"Disrespect?! They've been following me nonstop and disrupting my work!!" He exploded. "But of course you'll never believe me because they're such a "perfect little angel" in your eyes-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, WRETCHED WORM!!!"

Suddenly, Leshy felt his throat tightening up as his feet were lifted off the ground. And he coughed, clasping his hands around his neck as he realized what was happening to him:

Lamb was strangling him.

And there's no way for him to fight the invisible force that kept crushing his windpipe. He could only gag and beg for mercy, becoming panicked quickly as the ichor dripped down his face faster.

Why did this feel more agonizing than the sharp blades that sliced and diced into him dozens of times?

"Never forget the god who usurped you and granted vermin like you the blessing of redemption.." The sheep snarled, eyes glowing red with rage, sharp teeth bared as they watched the bushworm writhe. "Speak illy of my child again, and I will-"

"Lammy, stop it!! You're hurting him!"

They felt a tug on their cloak and looked at you, having forgotten that you've been standing there the entire time. A look of horror flashed in their eyes as they quickly set Leshy down, allowing him to catch his breath.

"Oh no..I...forgive me, my dear." Embracing you, they gave you a tiny smile after their demonic features disappeared. "I-I didn't mean to make you see that, but...you must understand why I did it, right? He was being very rude and unkind to-"

"He didn't mean it." You pouted, although you did hug them back. "Will you find his eye?"

Leshy glanced up in bewilderment.

Did he hear you correctly?

Lamb was just as stunned that you were taking his side, blinking. "But [y/n]-"

"No! You have to find it, Lammy! He's only grouchy because he doesn't have his missing eye." Your gaze went to the bushworm. "I bet if you find it for him, he'll feel better!"

"...I suppose you're right about that." They sighed in defeat, standing up and turning to him. "You are fortunate that my child has such a forgiving heart, so...I will search for your eye when I have the time. But remember that I'm doing this for them, not for you."

Leshy just nodded in understanding, awkwardly scratching his bandages as he heard hoof steps walking away from him. Yet he was too afraid of moving from his kneeling position.

"It's okay. It's just me, Lesh."

Feeling your smaller hands take his own, his shoulders relaxed a little as you brushed some of the ichor off his face with a cloth you found. "Don't cry, it's okay now."

"I-I..had it coming." He finally found his voice, still shaken up over the altercation. "It's my fault. I was the one acting more childish than you..and I owe you an apology for-"

"No, Lammy should be sorry." You frowned and hugged him. "I don't like it when they do that. You're right..they should help everyone here. Even you."

This time he didn't push you away and instead wrapped his arms around you, feeling the wool on top of your head and the nubs that would soon sprout into horns.

Lamb was right.

He felt blessed to have your forgiveness...or else he surely would have met a grim demise.

Maybe you weren't as annoying as he previously thought.

"..thank you, [y/n], for standing by me. Will you...let me know when your parent returns with my eye?" He hesitated to ask.

Yet you immediately answered with enthusiasm.

"Of course!"

..........

"Sister! My child's green thumb continues to flourish!"

"....you....have...child...?"

"Over there!"

"...Lamb's....spawn-?"

"No, no! That is [y/n]!" Leshy huffed, shaking his head as he heard you rapidly approaching. Then he crouched down with a smile, keeping his arms open so you could rush into them. "How are you today?"

"Great, Lesh!!" You giggled as he picked you up, although he sensed that you put something on his head. "It's a camelia crown. The most beautiful ones I could find! I feel sad you can't see it, though..."

"That is alright, little one. I still remember their colors and radiance.." His claws reached up to gently brush the petals, humming with nostalgia. "Its fragrance remains constant..so I know it's always here with me. Thank you."

Looking at Heket, you giggled again as you saw that her extra pair of eyes were now open, wide with disbelief at her brother's sudden change of heart. "Hek-Hek! I didn't know you had four eyes!"

"...what did...you do...to...brother?" She squinted in suspicion.

"Well, umm..I-" You stammered, trying to explain yourself.

"They insisted that Lamb recovered my eye." Leshy was quick to explain, setting you down on the ground. "At first they refused and got irrationally angry with me for "insulting" their child. But [y/n] spoke up in my defense and...their "Lammy" listened and retrieved it this morning. Looks like it was in one of Chemach's lairs, but I let them keep it."

"Huh.....why..?"

"It's more useful to them as a relic. It's not like I can reattach my own eye and see out of it again, but I find peace knowing it's here."

"...good...point..." Heket paused, before touching her own throat and thinking for a few moments. "Would...Lamb....find....it for..me...?"

"A throat sac? Hmm..you can certainly try, sister."

Nodding in understanding, she turned and walked away, eager to ask Lamb if they were willing to recover what she had lost within Anura.

Once she was gone, you tapped Leshy on the arm. "Can you help me get the fertilizer for the plants? It's....kinda icky and really smelly."

He smiled as well, patting the top of your head. "Of course, little one. You can leave all the "icky" work to me."

And with that, you both set off to the farming plot, with him not being bothered by your presence anymore.

[mzminola]

Reading that comic where Cass faces the Joker the first time, after we get to hear Babs telling of her first encounter where she almost died, and it brings up the idea that one of the big reasons Joker is so awful is that he's decided nothing is real, and therefore none of it matters... except Batman. Batman matters to him, and is maybe real, and maybe the Joker is too but maybe not...

So you know how I'm interpreting him now?

As an isekai protagonist.

Some random comic book fan from the Silver Age who got hit by a truck and woke up in the purple suit and the clown make-up during or immediately after the Crisis that reset continuity. He knows all these people! Except for when he doesn't, because he didn't read their titles. Or they've changed too much with the reboot. Or he just plain forgot. But he knows they're all just comic characters, none of them are real!

(Except him, of course. He's real. Isn't he?)

He knows that comic book characters are more durable than real people, he doesn't need to be careful with anyone. And if he does kill them, well, if they're important or entertaining or useful-for-a-plot enough, it'll turn out they miraculously survived or he only faked killing them even if at the time he thought he really did--

(Of course, they all think they're real people too.)

He can't hold onto any victories. Can't keep any riches. Can't be sure anything he's done is permanent, except to the fleeting civilians written up or sketched into a panel just for him to victimize. Until one of them is retconned into the father/brother/nephew/cousin/former roommate of someone who does matter, and then maybe it's permanent or maybe it's not and he can never tell ahead of time, so why bother trying?

None of his losses last either, there's no such thing as a life sentence and unlike everyone else in Arkham he actually knows that, the others can speculate it based on experience, but they can't know, not like he can.

(Cogito, ergo sum, but where do the thought boxes come into it?)