#IT ALL WENT FROM 0 TO 100 SO FAST

[prapais]

sky: oh, you’re dating payu? cool rain: you’RE DATING PAI? NOT ON MY WATCH

[neptune-scythe]

writing a fic

me: has a good idea of how the story is going to go and the general vibe and tone of it

also me: immediately looses all control over the story and watches it become 300% darker and more brutal in just the first sentence

me:

[emotargaryen]

when you miss the ‘breeding’ tag on a fic and get jumpscared halfway through

[lucysarah-c]

Question: for Virgin! Canon Levi; how do you think that would go down? Like full blown sex one night? Taking it slow over time? Just how do you think reader would need to navigate it with him? Slow burn / build up, a passionate night, tipsy reader?

This is assuming Levi and Reader’s emotions are confirmed for each other

Hiiiii~~ How are you? What have you been up to lately?

Haha, honestly, I'm not entirely sure what caused this full blow-up of questions, but I'm kinda loving it.

Mhh, I think my answer depends a lot on two factors: "Levi's age" and "the experience of the reader." I know you said Canon Levi, but I wonder if you mean canon season 1-4 Levi, Underground Levi, pre-promotion Levi, etc. haha

I'll conclude that you meant "canon season 1-3" Levi. While I personally don't headcanon Captain Levi as a virgin during the "overall" period of AoT (I mean, since season 1, not ACWNR or Underground Levi), I think his reaction depends a lot on how much experience the reader has. Levi strikes me as one of those friends/partners who loves you, cares about you, etc., but hardly ever talks about themselves. In my humble opinion, even if Levi has feelings for you and you two decide to pursue a relationship together, it may take him a lot of time to open up about his past. I mean, this man gets along with Hange amazingly in the story; Isayama says that Hange is who "understands" or "gets along better with Levi," and yet Hange didn't know about Kenny.

So this may be a wild take… but I think Levi wouldn't tell you it's his first time, lmao. He may try to play it cool; you might notice he's not the most "skilled" dude out there ('cause let me tell you, no amount of Ackerman powers makes you seem experienced, lol), but he's not telling you it's his first time. Which, you know, everybody is entitled to their past. Perhaps if the reader is also a virgin and she opens up emotionally like, "It's my first time," Levi would feel she's opening up to him, and he would feel it's a good time to be honest too and be like, "Well… it's mine too, so I guess we will figure it out as we go."

About "how" it would be, I think the reader would have to set the tempo. Most men are READY to blow off some steam if you give them a chance, haha, so if the reader is also a virgin and they kinda want to test the waters before going all the way, Levi would be down for it, especially because it will give him time to catch a trick or two, learn what she likes.

I think that porn or movies make us believe how "sex" usually happens, and I mean, talking from my experience and my friends' experiences… none of us went from 0 to 10. Like, we kiss, we make out, then maybe we got a little handy, then riding on top of clothes, oral sex, fingers, etc. Especially because maybe you don't have your own place to crash at, maybe you two would like to talk it out before it happens. Buy condoms, get ready, etc.

Now, if you are curious how I think Underground Levi would decide to lose his V-card while younger… probably rather quick, steamy, and not giving it much thought, haha. He'd let the hormones talk and make decisions for him. In both occasions, I don't think he made the girl cum before him, which is something that happens a lot; we women are harder to please, it requires more technique than men who… well, let's say that they come rather easily, lol. BUT he will 100% offer to make her cum anyway, with fingers or mouth. Levi will be such a fast learner, give him a chance or two, and he will pick it up like a champ.

Though why can't I shake the idea of a younger Levi in the underground in his 18s, having something with a girl slightly older than him, perhaps 20, etc. And her saying between chuckles, "Slow down, boy."

God, I would pay to see his blushed, embarrassed face.

Link to my masterlist and my other works if you feel like checking them out. Tags!: @nube55 @justkon @notgoodforlife @nmlkys @humanitys-strongest-bamf @quillinhand @thoreeo @darkstarlight82 @angelofthor @aomi04 @levisbrat25 @l3visthighs @hum4n-wr3ckag3 @hannieslovebot @starrylevi @rithty @mariaace @ackrmntea @emilyyyy-08 @levisfavoriteteashop @katestrophes @levistealeaf @an-ever-angry-bi @youre-ackermine @fxnnyackerman @secretmoneybearvoid @trashblackrainbow @flxrartsstuff @katharinasdiaryy @levisecretgfblog @searriously @blackdxggr @ackermanswifee @abiatackerman @braunsbabe @moonchild-12345 @levicansteponme @galactict3a Wanna join my tag list? Here!

[j-jinxee]

Could I request a fic with nijiro or chishiya where reader uses a sex toy or toys on him to make him beg. I love the idea of them being whiny.

[ ⟡​ ] — MAKE ME LOSE,,

NSFW under the cut! ⊹ Chishiya x Reader

[warnings - nsfw, sex toys, begging, public(?), swearing]

A/N - tysm for the request!! hehe I loveee this :3 don't ask me how they got access to sex toys and stuff in the borderland since there's no like, electronic devices kind of yk? Just go w it hehe —★

─────

Chishiya's poker face was one to admire. He had incredible control over his emotions showing, not cracking for anyone or anything. It interested you, his whole demeanour was something no one else at the beach even came close to. The beach influenced everyone to be incredibly care free, dropping their guards and just having a good time, but of course, not Chishiya. Chishiya still kept that same unamused yet intrigued look on his face, he was so peculiar.

Fast forward a few games, you and Chishiya got pretty close. He found you weren't annoying like most at the beach, the way you spoke didn't irritate him at all, plus it was fun having someone around who was actually a challenge. The games got pretty boring after a while, sure you'd get hurt sometimes, but they eventually all got so easy. So you and Chishiya would start placing bets just to spice it up a bit, betting who could get a higher score, who got hurt the least, who predicted which players would die, you know? It was your guys' way of attempting to enjoy the games.

However this type of bet came as a surprise.

"You're so full of it! You would not be able to keep it together!" You exclaimed to Chishiya.

"Trust me I could, it wouldn't be that hard."

"Alright then, let's bet on it." You said with a smile.

His face slightly dropped, you finally got to him. You know he wouldn't be able to keep it together, let alone survive a full game. He'd be too sensitive to focus, because you'd be watching from afar, in full control of a pretty little cock ring he's wearing, vibrations running through his core as he tries not to falter.

Fuck the idea was so hot, and it'd soon be a reality thanks to your betting games. You knew from a friend of a friend that the beach wasn't too far from an adult store, how convenient. Before the next game, you'd taken a little trekk to the store, sure it was creepy and abandoned like everything else in the city, but it still looked relatively clean. Making your "purchase" of the toy, you began your way back to the beach, Chishiya's next game was tonight, so he was just praying it wouldn't be anything in the spades category.

Much to his luck — it was a diamonds game. Fuck, he might actually win.

You two had discussed the "rules" earlier, you'd be in an undisclosed location somewhere near the game arena. You'd also have an ear piece in so you could hear all his pretty little noises, but he'd have to focus completely on the game, no communication was allowed on his end.

He'd win if his poker face stayed strong, basically if no one caught on or asked him about it. He also wasn't allowed to cum, poor baby. However, if you won — he'd have to keep it on all night, all the way back to the beach, in his own bed, everything.

It was some sort of numbers game (think like the king of diamonds except not that serious). There was a screen with numbers 0-100, and a math formula that went along with it. You honestly didn't pay much attention, you weren't playing and were just here to make sure Chishiya doesn't cheat. It was more than likely Chishiya knew where you were, he always knew somehow, and right now you may or may not have been pirched on top of the roof, looking in through the high windows. It was night, and you were in full black, no one else would've seen you.

You decided not to touch the remote at all during the first two rounds, hopefully making him feel the suspense. You doubt it would have any real effect on him, but it's fun to imagine.

"Your move Chishiya, what'll it be?" Another player asked.

His lips parted to begin speaking. vrrr vrrr

You smirked as you saw him hesitate, his mouth closing for a split second before going back to his sentence. You had it on the lowest setting, wouldn't want to ruin the fun immediately.

Your mind started to wander as the game went on, thinking back to all the other pretty toys you saw in the shop. Invasive thoughts clouded your mind, beginning to think about using all the other toys on Chishiya — binding his wrists to the headboard with those hand cuffs, watching hot wax run down his bare chest, fuck. You definitely had to go back.

Two players had already had their heads blown off, three remaining including Chishiya. Your thumb dragged along the buttons of the remote, surprising you with the fact it even worked from this distance. Shiya was beginning to get restless, adjusting his posture, looking around randomly, rubbing his eyes, just trying to feel anything else to take his mind off the pleasure, threatening to spill at any second.

"mm-mmh! shit-" he quietly panted, completely unable to focus. The other players shot him suspicious glances, wondering what was happening to him.

"You alright there?" Another player asked, his expression showing signs of disgust, has he caught on?

Chishiya's little whines did sound very suggestive, even if you were completely oblivious to the situation he was in.

"Hm? Oh- yeah, yeah I'm good" Liar.

As the game continued, Chishiya's moves were less and less calculated. If he didn't get it together, he could actually make a fatal mistake. You decided to give him a break, it was the second last round, and you slowly turned it all the day down to the lowest setting. You could see sweat start to form on his forehead, quickly being wiped away with his sleeve as he proceeded with his move.

Another player was executed, entering the last round. The inconsistent vibrations were starting to make him feel sick, he would've came twice by now if it wasn't for your bet. As he looked back at the screen, his hand went up to select "01" vrrr vrrrrrr

Spiking it up to the highest setting, what else did he expect for the last round? His hand clenched into a fist, his boxers completely soaked in pre, making all the small adjustments feel even better. He resumed selecting the last number, but for some reason changed his answer.

'Player Chishiya selected 00'

He glanced to the only remaining player, giving them a little wave. His expression was horrified, realising he had just lost, and this psycho was- waving him goodbye? Not a second passed before more blood was splattered on the walls, Chishiya had won. Fuck.

You made your way carefully down from the roof, not looking forward to seeing his smug 'I won' face again. You really thought this would break him, sure the other players were suspicious, but they didn't outright ask him about it, you'd lost. However, you were met with something you certainly didn't expect.

Chishiya was barely standing, leaning against the entrance of the game hall with his head angled upwards, bulge very prominent in his pants. Once he heard you approaching, he needed this to end.

"ff-fuck is it over? Please be ove- ah! Does it count? I win right? right?" Holy shit, he was so lost in it. Of course it was over, what was he talking about? He was clearly deluded from all the adrenaline, mixed with pleasure he want allowed to experience, you never thought you'd see him like this.

You decided to play, "I don't know. We could keep going, see if you could last the night, see if anyone at the beach notices."

"Fuckkk- fuck please! No one noticed I- ahhh! I didn't even cum" you still had the ring on full power, getting him closer and closer while he was trying to convince what'd already come true.

"Didn't you? Awh what a good boy. I guess I could let you cum, you've done well enough."

"r-really? Ahh! are you sure? Please end it."

You held his face so gently, attempting to make eye contact as he struggled to keep his open. Calming him with your touch, your other hand slowly went up to stroke him through the wet fabric. "aAH- mmh!"

"I'm sure, you've won. Pretty boy can cum now."

He whined out louder than ever as the most intense orgasm of his life washed over him. Thick ropes of his hot white cum spurted out into his boxers, all his muscles tensing from the pleasure. Nearly collapsing from the pure ecstasy, you turned the small device off and sat down next to him. He was silent for a few minutes before coming back down to earth, his eyes finally opened.

"Fuck, I barely remember the game, or what I was saying. I won again though." He smirked as he looked over at you, there's that smug little cat.

"Yeah, didn't think you had it in you to be honest. So, what's my punishment? Gonna make me eat natto again?" You referred back to the last bet you lost, where he made you eat your least favourite food ever.

The smirk plastered on his face got even wider before he spoke, "no. I thought this time, I'd use your reward against you."

What does he mea- oh.

Before you knew it, you were back at the beach, on Chishiya's bed, wearing a pretty little vibrator that he had control over. Maybe we shouldn't have made that bet.

[softer-ua]

I love that Deku is this intense over thinker who still only ever makes decisions based on vibes 💀

Like he could get stuck spinning his wheels forever if you let him start spouting about theory, but almost none of it is ever introspective 😭

He’s known to get so deep in thought that it scares people, but the best his top introspective deductions were “legs” and “microwave egg”

Bakugo has to spell everything out for him, like Deku was BAFFLED BEWILDERED AND BEFUDDLED to find out Bakugo felt looked down on

And like I get that shit went from 0-100 real quick so he was stuck on his back foot just reacting to the hits from basically BlackWhip developing on, life was coming at him insanely fast

And having other characters give their insight for him to build on is narratively useful, but it makes it seem like all his introspection comes from these flashbulb moments

Dekus mind is free floating through the wind just waiting for an idea to crash into him, his consciousness is untethered and unaware until it’s the pivotal moment and time to lock in

[makeandshift]

Hasan S/O // NSFW headcanons

as requested by this lovely anon. exactly what it says in the tin, so feel free to skip this if it ain't your cup of tea ❤️

ᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ʙᴇʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜᴛ, ᴍɪɴᴏʀs ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴅɴɪ

Sooo gentle the first few times, definitely testing the waters to see what she likes (and not immediately scare her off).

His girl comes first, figuratively and literally. Nothing matters more than her enjoying herself.

Praise kink. Loves to hear he’s doing the right thing and definitely will tell her when he’s enjoying himself too.

He tends to get kind of handsy with her. Can never let the opportunity for a little grope or ass slap pass him by.

So much manhandling, loves lifting her up or throwing her on the bed. It’s part of the reason why he works out 💪

In addition to that: totally counts morning sex as warming up for his workouts.

There’s two modes when it comes to sex. Either he needs to fuck something out of his system, hard and fast. Or he’s enjoying the intimacy and could go for hours.

Such a tease when he wants to be. Can really drag things out until she’s begging, until which he has no choice but to give in because just look at her.

Probably tends to stick to the vanilla stuff because it’s a sure fire way to success, but totally keen on trying out different things as well. Literally up for almost anything.

Except sharing. That’s his girl and nobody is allowed to touch her.

Favourite place in the world is between her thighs. Doesn’t even matter if it is with his fingers, mouth or dick, just loves being there any which way.

Loves going down on his girl though. Would do it daily if he got the chance.

No qualms about wearing condoms, but will probably celebrate the day he doesn’t have to anymore. Breeding kink, anyone?

Appreciates and cherishes any and all nudes / spicy pictures he gets. Could literally just be some side boob and he is happy as a clam.

God forbid their texting history ever leaks, because it just goes from 0 to 100 back down to 0 so fast.

Literally could be talking about the weather and then suddenly it’s a vivid description of everything he wants to do to her. And then back to asking how that work meeting went.

[d1s1ntegrated]

hiiiii!!

so this feels kind of random and maybe a little ooc but i keep imagining shiggy as like a streamer (playing obviously league of legends but also like valorant, overwatch, fortnite, etc etc)

but could i possibly get some streamer shigaraki hcs pls and thank youu ♡

also i saw your post about emoji anons and id like to formally request that i can claim this emoji; 🧸 thank you for all your amazingly handcrafted beautiful posts!!!

ooouuuu yassss. i also love to hc shiggy as a streamer idc if its ooc!

also yes ofc ! 🧸is all urs bby <3

streamer!shigaraki hcs ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ̀ˋ

[■■■■■■■■■□] 90%

it started as a joke, he didnt think anyone would really watch

but followers and viewers SKYROCKETED so fast, he was kinda overwhelmed at first

mostly streams LoL, but loves switching between diff games throught the stream (OVW, apex, valorant, fortnite)

but for some reason, he hates COD. HATES IT. if chat even mentions it he screams

he gets banned regularly for "random shit" aka trying to beef with the 12 year old's in chat, accidentally smoking on cam, etc

has absolutely no filter, just plays the game the same way he would if he were alone, which gives him one hell of a reputation online

chat goes WILD when he ties his hair back, cause usually its in his face

does a lot of 12-24 hour streams bc he cant sleep

streams at the most random and inconvenient times, like 4pm or 3am.

that being said he has no set schedule. he usually just hops online whenever.

loves bantering with chat, he thinks its so funny

"blueflame says... "this man needs chapstick lolz"

"well fuck you blueflame, you need a loving family and some bitches, but i guess both of us are fucked, hm?"

went through a huge minecraft phase and ended up creating a small cult following from it

which he abhors. like fucking hates it bc of all the drama in the minecraft community-he doesn't like to be associated with them.

calls his fans rats/bugs/etc.

goes on long-ass adhd rambles about random shit a LOT

"chat, chat watch this, gonna get this fucker"

*dies*

"chat. i am going to scream."

this man has 0 social awareness or media etiquette

like he's actually disgusting on stream it can be a hard watch at times. especially if he's eating cause he doesnt gaf about being "polite"

listens to a lot of hyperpop/metal/game osts in the background but has gotten in trouble for copyright lol

does dumbass dances in his chair if he wins a round

when everyone realized he wore gloves to game, he got sent a BUNCH of new ones, with different patterns and materials (he shows them all off) (his fav ones are the creeper-themed ones tho :3)

has "horror nights" where he'll stay up and play shit like fnaf, slender, closing shift, and other indie horror games

he played facade once but immediately removed the game from his pc (very dramatically) after trip denied his request to "kiss it sloppy style".

chat regularly begs him to play roblox but he always ignores it

even though he HAS it downloaded.

"chat what the fuck is skibidi ohio"

always drinking some form of energy drink no matter what time it is

"someone in chat said im cute. go touch grass"

has a discord server that he does in fact own and mod. but only lets certain people join (he does have a tier system after a while)

[■■■■■■■■■] 100%

ugh gamer streamer shiggy is so Real to me...and so cute...i need him viciously

thank u for the request, 🧸!

[defectivevillain]

those who fall

pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Reader (can be platonic or romantic)

reader's race and gender are ambiguous; no pronouns or physical descriptors are used.

summary: “What’s your name?” You ask your companion. “Hannibal,” he responds. The man doesn’t look the slightest bit malnourished, despite your predicament. Either he’s new here, or he’s been able to keep his hunger satiated. “Hannibal,” you repeat, taking note of his vaguely European accent. “That’s a strange name.” Hannibal just blinks. The man looks almost expressionless, but you can see a hint of irritation at the edges of his faux smile.

word count: 3k | ao3 version

warnings: canon-typical blood and violence, death, suicide, cannibalism, gore, suicidal ideation/self-harm. Emphasis on the cannibalism — both willing and non-consensual cannibalism. Mentions of throwing up/vomiting.

author's notes: Happy spooky pride! (I'm being told it's also called Halloween...? Weird.) Here’s a really fucked up fic. :3

If y’all haven’t watched The Platform, here’s the trailer, which should explain things. I’ve also attempted to write an explanation, but it’s long and bad. Here it is anyways, in case you don’t want to watch the trailer:

There is a vertical prison system that stretches more than 300 levels down. Each floor houses two people, and there’s a large hole in the middle to accommodate a table. Each day, a single table starts at Floor 0 and makes a stop at each floor. The table is loaded with a ton of dishes for a large and extravagant meal. Floor 1 gets the table for a short time before it drops to Floor 2. So on and so forth. People aren’t allowed to take things from the table to save for later, so it’s a scramble to eat enough to keep them nourished until the next day. They’re all eating from the same table, so as the floors get lower, there’s less and less food left. Inhabitants stay on their floor for one month, before they’re exposed to gas and moved to a different floor for another month. Basically, the lower the floor, the less likely you’ll be to get any food. In theory, if each person ate only their own ration, the food might last. But some people are greedy, wasteful, etc... A floor below 100 is virtually a death sentence, because that means 200 people pick at the food before you get to.

heed the warnings listed above before reading!

You wake up, blinking away the traces of a gas-induced sleep. It’s the beginning of the month, which means you’ve been transported to another floor in the facility. Groaning, you blink blearily, only to find someone staring down at you. You flinch and get up, hoping he’ll move away. But he continues looming over you, looking at you with a scrutinizing gaze. 

“You must be my new roommate,” he says emotionlessly. 

“How’d you wake up so fast?” You respond, squinting at the daylight seeping through the room. Typically, the gas is strong enough to leave you knocked out for at least twelve hours. But this man is already awake, and there’s no telling how long he’s been standing before you, watching you. The thought unnerves you. 

He just shrugs in lieu of a response to your question. You take a deep breath and turn towards the far wall, dread coiling in your chest as your eyes find the number of the floor you’re on: 139. Fuck. You’ve never been this low before. You had the 76th floor last month and the 23rd the month before that, then 87, 6, and 53. You had no idea the floors went down past 100; all you knew was that you’d be getting a new roommate this month, in light of your past roommate’s death. 

Floor 139 is practically a death sentence. You’d normally be able to fast thirty days, but you spent all of last month fasting at Floor 76. (You didn’t have much of a choice, as the food never made it down to you in the first place.) You push yourself to your feet and walk near the center of the space, glancing down only to find more floors stretching down as far as the eye can see. There are dozens—maybe hundreds—of people beneath you. You want to throw up. 

“You look frightened,” your new roommate remarks, breaking you out of your spiraling thoughts. You glance at him, unable to hide your irritation. 

“Of course I am,” you snap, beginning to pace around the edge of the hole in the floor. “The food will never make it down this far.” 

“How do you know?” He hums. There’s a knowing smile on his face, as if he wants you to concede and utter the words aloud. 

“The food didn’t even make it down to level 87,” you recall, shaking your head as you try to fight off memories of an aching stomach and a debilitating weakness anchoring you to your bed. “And we’re fifty-two levels beneath that.” 

Silence. You swallow hard and try to maintain your composure. Panicking won’t do you any good.  And you definitely don’t trust this stranger enough to show him any sort of emotional vulnerability. You bite the inside of your cheek and think for several minutes. “What’s your name?” You later ask your companion. 

“Hannibal,” he responds. He takes another step backwards and light falls on his face, revealing a chiseled facial structure, brown-grey hair, and glimmering brown eyes. The man doesn’t look the slightest bit malnourished, despite your predicament. Either he’s new here, or he’s been able to keep his hunger satiated. 

“Hannibal,” you repeat, taking note of his vaguely European accent. “That’s a strange name.” Hannibal just blinks. The man looks almost expressionless, but you can see a hint of irritation at the edges of his faux smile. 

“How’d you lose your roommate?” You continue determinedly, desperate for some information on this guy. Something about him unsettles you. It must be the unbothered way with which he analyzes your surroundings, as if you hadn’t both just been given a finite expiration date.  

Hannibal studies you for a long moment. “You don’t want the answer to that question.” He eventually answers. A shiver rolls down your spine. 

“You killed them,” you realize aloud. 

“And ate them,” he confirms casually. Your heart starts thudding quickly in your chest. You pretend not to be affected by his confession. Internally, you’re scared for your life. To think that you’d survived months of starvation, only to die at the hands of another human? “What happened to your roommate?” Hannibal continues, before you can truly collect your thoughts. 

“They jumped.” You remember to say, the taste of bile climbing up your throat. There’s no need for further explanation. 

“Ah.” A tense quiet descends on the air once more, and the two of you spend the seemingly countless hours before the table’s arrival in silence. 

When you finally hear the telltale whirring of the table above, your stomach growls. You need food rather desperately—especially after not receiving any legitimate nutrition last month. Your hands are shaky; your vision is blurry; and your legs feel as if they’ll cave in at any moment. 

The glassware rattles and the table sinks down to your floor. Hannibal and you both look at the remnants of the meal from above, only to find plates licked clean and glasses entirely empty. As you expected, there is nothing left for you to eat: not even a crumb or bone. 

There is, however, a man crouched on the table. He stares ahead with blank eyes, as if he doesn’t even see either of you. You look at him for a few moments, immediately promising yourself not to get any closer. In this place, vulnerability is weakness. You’ve seen it happen before: someone will extend a helpful hand to another person, only to be stabbed through the back in the same breath. There is no saving anyone here. You are all destined for death, regardless of when it may come. 

Hannibal regards the new arrival for several seconds, before quickly reaching out and grabbing his collar, yanking him off the table and onto the pavement. You watch in disbelief as Hannibal brandishes a knife—when in the hell did he get that?—and stabs him several times. Your roommate’s ferocity ensures the man’s death. Calmly, Hannibal drags the corpse by the ankles until it’s closer to the walls. 

Then, he sinks his knife into the body’s skin. The victim, unsurprisingly, doesn’t so much as flinch. The knife pierces the skin of his chest and Hannibal sinks his hand into the cavity, gripping the entrails and pulling them out with practiced precision. He gets to his feet, holding the liver in his hand. You watch in silent horror as his head turns and his gaze finds you, his eyes trained on you even as he raises the organ to his mouth and begins eating. 

Your stomach turns in disgust and revulsion. You’ve survived months of fasting—you never ate another human, despite the earsplitting screams from above and below indicating that several other inhabitants did. Even though you know you need to eat, the thought of tearing into that corpse is enough to make your appetite disappear. You quickly turn your head and clamp a hand over your mouth, before raising it to cover both your nose and mouth. The scent is enough to make you nearly hurl. You close your eyes and pretend you’re somewhere else—anywhere else, but trapped on this floor with a cannibal. 

Your ears are ringing at the confirmation that Hannibal is a seasoned killer. This was not his first kill, and it likely won’t be his last. There is a very good chance you’ll be his next meal. Fear pulsing through your veins, you manage to pull your knees close to your chest and close your eyes. The cool metal of your lighter grounds you to this horrible moment, this stiff and unfeeling air. 

If you had known just what horrors you would be subjected to, you would’ve chosen a different object to bring. Maybe you would’ve even chosen a weapon to protect yourself or a form of entertainment. But your naive self chose a lighter—not even for smoking, but just to watch the flickering flame. Your finger now twitches to bring the flame to your skin, but you resist the urge. There is enough pain and suffering here without your own self-inflicted torture. 

It is hard to sleep that night. Your thoughts are buzzing too loudly. It takes a while for your eyelids to slip shut, and once the table comes rocketing by, you shudder awake and have to fall asleep once more. When you finally succumb to slumber, your dreams are distorted and cryptic. 

The weird sensation of something in your mouth pulls you from slumber. You open your eyes to find Hannibal standing over you, the crimson light casting shadows across his face. You instinctively want to belch at the foreign material, but Hannibal’s hand is secured firmly over your mouth. You immediately catch on to what he’s doing: he’s feeding you some of the corpse’s meat. 

You try to fight back—attempting to shove him off—but his grip is too strong and you’re weakened by hunger and lack of sleep. You’re forced to chew, unless you want to choke and die. A shudder runs through your entire body as you chew, disgusted with the texture. The taste of iron and copper runs through your mouth; the smell alone is enough to make you gag. After what feels like far too long, you manage to swallow. 

Satisfied, Hannibal steps away—and you immediately fall off your bed and to the floor, stumbling to the sink to drink some water and flush the organ down. “Fuck you,” you spit at him, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. It comes back bloody, and you take extra effort to scrub your face clean. Hannibal doesn’t seem to be affected by the insult. Rather, he’s wearing an understanding smile on his face—and you’re growing more and more overtaken with the urge to punch that look off his face. You clench the faucet with an increasingly tight grip, until there are bolts of pain sliding through your fingers. 

“You will thank me soon,” Hannibal remarks, staring at you. You can see his heated gaze in the cracked mirror before you. It’s clear what he’s trying to say: if you don’t eat, you will die.  

“I won’t,” you say numbly, your heart roaring in your ears. “You should’ve left me alone.” Your voice breaks at the end of that sentence; if Hannibal notices, he doesn’t comment on it. Instead, he only looks at you imploringly. 

“You need proper nourishment.” Hannibal maintains. 

You hiss and walk back to your bed, turning to the side so you don’t have to look at him. You’re not foolish enough to turn your back on him—not when you know just what he can do. You don’t want to indulge his murderous sensibilities. You spend the rest of the day split between seething and suppressing the urge to throw up.

When night falls, Hannibal goes to sleep. You only pretend. When you hear the steady rise and fall of his breathing, you push yourself up quietly and sit on your bed. You will not fall asleep tonight. You don’t want a repeat of last night. 

Despite your quiet movements, it doesn’t take Hannibal long to notice that you’ve shifted. “You’re not sleeping,” he says aloud, admittedly startling you as the uneasy silence across the space is broken. When you comprehend his remark, you can’t stop the wry laugh that falls from your lips. 

“I don’t trust you,” you respond candidly. There’s no point in pretending otherwise.  

Hannibal lets out a strange noise. It takes you a few moments to realize that he’s just laughing. “If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it already,” he then says. “You are… the least insufferable of my companions so far.”

You blink in the near darkness. “Thanks.” You say dryly. That statement isn’t reassuring in the slightest. You don’t want to wake up to find him forcing organs down your throat again. The thought sends a renewed wave of nausea through you, and it takes you several moments of measured breathing to fight it off. 

Eventually, you fall asleep. You can only fight off the exhaustion for so long, and if you’re not eating, then you definitely need to be resting to conserve energy. 

You wake the next morning breathing hard, expecting to see Hannibal looming over you. But he’s only sitting on his bed, regarding you with a blandly amused look. It appears he won’t be forcing you to consume human entrails again. 

But little do you know, Hannibal doesn’t have to force you next time. 

It’s been sixteen days since that horrible night. Sixteen days without food. Your body has grown incredibly weak. You can barely push yourself up to get to the faucet across the room. Speaking takes too much energy. Most of the time, you just lie on your bed and stare at some point in the distance, losing yourself in memories long gone. 

You can’t find the energy to waste on getting angry. Instead, you’re just… empty. The movement of the table is the only thing that helps you discern the time. The corpse Hannibal took all those days ago has since become a rotted pile. Neither of you have seen anything resembling food on the table. The people above are merciless. They eat the rations of several people; they spit on everything in reach. 

You don’t bother to look up at the table’s arrival today. There will be nothing for you to eat. And indeed, when you finally drag your eyes over, there is only glassware and silverware… scattered around a person in the center. They sit cross-legged and stare ahead with that similar unseeing expression from the man all those days ago. 

You don’t need to watch to know what happens next: Hannibal drags them onto the pavement, brandishes his knife, and kills them. He dissects them with the mercy of a disinterested scientist, before sparing you a simple look. There’s a single drop of blood carving a path down his lips. Hannibal wipes it away. 

You extend a hand wordlessly. 

Hannibal stares at you, a complex emotion passing over his face as quick as lightning. He places a bloodied chunk in your palm. The crimson stain spreads across your skin. You look down at it and feel… nothing. There’s an echo of disgust and horror, perhaps. But beyond that, you’re an empty shell. This place has changed you. Emotions do not survive here—instinct does. And your instincts tell you that you need food. 

Minutes later, the gnawing pain in your stomach has subsided and there’s the horrifically familiar taste of iron settling on your tongue. You swallow hard and slowly push yourself to your feet, mechanically walking over to the sink and getting some water to wash it all down. Your hands are shaking but you manage to satisfy your thirst. Turning the faucet off with shaking hands, you lean against the wall and sink down into a sitting position. 

There’s dried blood on your hands. It doesn’t matter that you washed it away—you can still see it. It haunts you, even when the night arrives and the floor is drenched in crimson light. You’ve since migrated to your bed, but you can’t get yourself to move from your sitting position and lie down. You can’t give yourself comfort. You don’t deserve it—not after what you’ve done. 

You’re not sure how long you sit silently, watching the darkness settle and fade into a dusky light. There’s a persistent pain in your back and your cuticles are picked open, yet these sensations fade to obscurity when you remember the meal you just willingly consumed. You had no choice seventeen days ago. You can’t say the same for yesterday.

There’s an uncomfortable wetness clinging to your cheeks and eyelashes. You’re crying, you realize. It’s been a while since you’ve cried, even with all the horrors you’ve witnessed here. You shakily wipe at your tears, but they keep falling. Falling prey to the burning in your throat, you bury your head in your bent knees and struggle for breath. 

At some point, there’s a hand on your back. You’re so exhausted that you don’t even flinch, because you can’t seem to muster up the energy. Your body is wracked with chills and phantom shivers as you try to comprehend just who is offering you comfort. The same person who kills others with ease and feasts on their remains… is wrapping an arm around your shoulders and sitting on your bed next to you. 

You don’t have the strength to push Hannibal away. You lack the strength and fortitude to do so. Hannibal is the only human contact you will have, if you continue living. You don’t have a choice—if you want to maintain your sanity, you’re forced to cave into the loneliness screaming behind the confines of your rib cage. That’s what you tell yourself as you reluctantly begin to relax in his hold. You cling to him with increasing desperation. Hannibal’s hand rises to the nape of your neck, cradling your head in what feels like an intimate gesture. 

You can’t stop the sobs crawling out of your throat. 

You want to assign Hannibal the blame. But you know it’s not that simple. He didn’t put you in this prison system; he is nothing more than another participant: one with the courage to keep themself alive, at any cost. Perhaps you should be more like him.

…It’s a chilling thought. 

You have never been so desperate for answers, inside bleak cement walls that give you nothing except more questions. The sparkling silverware; the gleaming glassware; the callous cruelty of those above; the painful plight of those below. There is no solidarity or community amongst the people in these walls: only the concepts of superior and inferior… and the fallen. Those who have been above, have savored without suffering… only fall from grace and stumble into starvation’s relentless grip once more. 

Your tongue recognizes the taste of copper; your hands the crimson stain that becomes a murky brown as time passes. You have fallen. And of one thing, you are certain: you will never rise again.

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[loveephia]

you as nekoma's beautiful manager.

content: (🦷) tooth-rotting fluff, kenma has a small crush on you, reader is as pretty as kiyoko shimizu and alisa haiba, karasuno featured in the bonus.

⚠ warning/s: none.

inarizaki ver. | shiratorizawa ver. | fukurodani ver. | aoba johsai ver.

oh dear

now, it's no surprise that the boys have been wanting a manager for the longest time

and you just so happened to stumble into their gym while trying to look for the girls'

you wanted to tryout

but it's okay! you can still walk out and make it to the tryouts—

wrong.

because once yamamoto saw you in your tracksuit, assuming you'd be their manager, all hell broke loose.

guess there's no turning back now

"PRETTY.. MANAGER.." yamamoto falls to his knees and

ok, now, imagine him crying in the jojo artstyle

yeah, that's him rn

you don't know why, but two people in the back did a high-ten and yelled out, "yakisoba!"

yaku is sO KIND AND CARING although lev could say otherwise

kai helped you adjust to the team's stupidly loud antics 😭

kenma just nods at you and goes back to practice

kuroo recognizes you because you're one of the smartest students in nekoma. your report card, from top to bottom, is all filled with lines of 9 (grades from 90-100)

and it's safe to say that he's intimidated

because you're pretty, intelligent, and totally his type 🫦🫦

inuoka gives you a charming smile and you feel ten times lighter than when you first walked in the gym today

"woah, you're really pretty." lev, honey, yk you can think to yourself, right?

fukunaga welcomes you with a joke

"what kind of streets to ghosts haunt?"

"dead ends?" you respond

oh my gosh, is it you? is it really you?

are you the destined one he's been searching for for all of these grim years?

".. yeah, dead ends." fukunaga mumbles.

it's only day one, and you got the entire team admiring you already

nice kill 💯💯

1 point for nekoma 0 for karasuno

you sign the papers that need to be signed, and BOOM!,($!] you're now on trial!!!

everyone was kind!! they politely asked you for tosses, gave you reassurance and encouragement, and they helped you carry a few things to the gym!!

now they're taking a break, and kenma sat on the floor, pulling out his gameboy

you tried to sneak a few glances at what game he's playing, and you recognized it! it's the game you play in your spare time at home!!!

you try to peek at his level, but it's hard to see due to his hair

"you know, you can just.. ask me questions, right?" he asks

you knew that of course >:(

you sit next to him and ask for his level, and it turns out he's a few levels lower than you

sooner or later, you're giving him tips on how to play the game, and WOW HE'S A FAST LEARNER

he went from 15 levels below you to only 3 now

his motions were swift, and you couldn't help but stare starry-eyed as he played

why's kenma feeling warm all of a sudden

it's not even summer yet

maybe he needs some potassium

kuroo notices you two and is happy that kenma has someone he can share his interest in gaming with, like how kuroo shared him his interest in volleyball

BONUS

nekoma welcomed karasuno at the entrance, having been the only school here that karasuno is familiar with.

then suddenly, nishinoya and tanaka are wailing in the background while yamamoto laughs maniacally. "yes, oh, dear, karasuno! look at our beautiful manager!" you stood there idly. you were just trying to carry some fresh produce to the kitchen before yamamoto pulled you aside..

kuroo facepalms at yamamoto's behavior.

© lowercase intended | loveephia

[riaaanna]

‘Brian’s grandkids call me "Nana Neet"’

Anita Dobson on her favourite festive memories, finding fame overnight and why she’s a homebody at heart.

Anita is step mum to Brian’s three children

The festive season is fast approaching, and it wouldn’t be Christmas without an onslaught of feel-good films. While many of us will no doubt be sitting down to watch Nativity, Love Actually or The Holiday, there’s a new corker coming this year too. Entitled Christmas at the Holly Day Inn, it’s a family-friendly, multi-generational romantic comedy about an over-achieving executive who quits her job just before Christmas and goes to her father’s country inn to try to find some balance. Her father is played by former Dr Who Colin Baker, while his love interest is played by ex ‐EastEnder, Anita Dobson.

“We all need dreams and a bit of magic in our lives, don’t we?” Anita (74) tells Yours. “This film is perfect for the festive season. I’m playing a lovely character called Molly, who runs a café in the village where Holly Day Inn is situated. She has a soft spot for Ben, played by Colin Baker.”

Back in the real world, Anita – or Lady May – is looking forward to sharing Christmas with her husband, Queen guitarist Brian May (76). She’s also excited to spend time with his grandchildren – and his children, James, Louisa and Emily, from his marriage to first wife Christine Mullen.

“I thoroughly enjoy being a step-grandma to Brian’s seven grandchildren,” she tells us. “They range in age from late teens down to about five. They call me ‘Nana Neet’ – Neet is what friends and family call me.”

Anita and Brian live in rural Surrey, but the star grew up in London and she says her most memorable Christmas was when she got a red bicycle. “I must have been about seven,” she recalls. “I’d desperately wanted a bike – a few of the other kids in our flats had one, but mum and dad didn’t have much money. I couldn’t bear not knowing if I was going to get one, and I needed to prepare myself for disappointment, so in the early hours of Christmas Day morning, I crept into the living room to see. There it was by the tree – my red bicycle. I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I was. I went back to bed and when we got up, I pretended it was a big surprise.”

It’s hard to think of Anita and Christmas without recalling her iconic episode of EastEnders on December 25, 1986. Her character Angie Watts was served divorce papers by her philandering husband, Den, and the drama pulled in an extraordinary 30 million viewers. “If you do something that captures the imagination the way that EastEnders and Angie and Den did, you have to be proud of it,” says Anita, who recently starred in Doctor Who and a new series of Inside No.9. “I’m very proud of it. Thirty million viewers? Not bad, is it!”

Anita and Brian with family at his investiture earlier this year

While Angie and Den were famously fiery on screen, Anita says she and the late Leslie Grantham got along famously. “There was an instant rapport,” she says. “Leslie was amazing to work with because we never discussed it. He used to say, ‘Your mouth shuts, mine opens. My mouth shuts, yours opens.’ We knew exactly how to cover each other’s backs. It was remarkable.

“Playing Angie completely and utterly changed my life. I went from 0 to 100 practically overnight. Before EastEnders, I’d been a jobbing actress for a long time and then suddenly this gift of a role landed into my lap. Everything changed.

“The lady who ran the corner shop near where I lived in the real East End told me the bloke who lived across the road from me had been given a camera by the press and instructed to take a picture every time I opened my front door. I couldn’t believe it! It was like a rocket had taken off and I just had to hold on and wait until it landed.”

Which it did – to a certain extent – when Anita (74) decided to leave the soap in 1988. Her legacy lives on, though, and these days she says she is lucky enough to pick and choose her jobs.

“I don’t tend to do theatre tours which would mean me being away from home for prolonged periods, because I love where we live and our house and I want to spend lots of time there,” she reveals. “I always said that I would leave this life ‘in harness’ – as in still acting – but now I’m not so sure. I don’t plan on retiring but it’s true that these days, I only take jobs that interest me.”

Christmas at the Holly Day Inn is released November 6, 2023 on various streaming platforms.

From Yours magazine November 2023.

[skylark325]

Omniscient Readers Viewpoint Read Through

Chapter 1-10

>I adore this line

>being able to read kdj's thoughts in the first person makes the story so much more intense. like understanding his subconscionce helps me gain a better grasp on just how apethetic and yet selectively caring he can be. like reading the webtoon it felt like it went from 0 to 100 pretty fast and kdj acclimated so well because he knew the story before hand. but reading the story and having greater insight on his personality from the start shows how different he was and how it contributed to his eventual scheming through the scenarios. (i really hope i’m making sense cuz words aren’t wording today)

>the way i freak out when this happens to me on AO3, Dokja stronger than me fr

>GILYOUNG WAS WITH HIS MOM? did they mention that in the webtoon? i had no idea omg so does that mean he saw his mom go poof? and kdj gave him the insect but not to his mom so he likely lived knowing he could’ve given the insect to his mom? oh my god this is fucking with my head

>kdj sure was a different breed from the start 💀

>famous last words

> ….ok (sorry my humour is juvenile T-T)

>kdj said ☝️🤓

>OH MY GOD so Gilyoung’s mother abandoned him to join in the beat down of the grandma???? and the poor bby saw all that? damn

>i just realised, the first four constellations to take interest in kdj have played such important roles as the story progresses. like idk if this is obvious to ppl but Abysmal black flame dragon being hsy’s constellation, demon like judge of fire being our yaoi queen, prisoner of golden headband’s role when kdj became a constellation feels strangely nostalgic now. like they stayed by his side this whole time. yet to see what secretive plotter will do tho, according to the webtoon they’re definitely suspicious.

>oh they changed bastard to punk in the webtoon loll. can i expect more cursing cuz i need kdj to curse more XD

>*sigh* high schoolers

>UNPROVOKED?

>damn bihyung shut up 😭

>he’s hereeee 💃

>a ‘rugged hand’? not kdj simping over yjh’s HAND? kdj freak confirmed

—

That was fun! Pretty similar to the webtoon but there were so many little nuances I hadn’t seen before and it was an interesting new perspective on the characters. Can’t wait to read ahead!

Next: Ch 11-20

[rosemarydisaster]

The irony of Zur-En-Arrh (Bruce Wayne's back up personality that's 100% Batman) is that their plan to stop him should not have worked. Like, at all

For those of you who avoided that shitshow, here's a mini summary of what happened: Bruce started to lose it getting more and more influenced by Zur-En-Arrh inside his head, pushing his kids away. Eventually Zur manages to separate and upload himself into Failsafe, a robot created by Bruce to upload his consciousness once his body started to fail due to age so he could continue to be Batman. Bruce, now free, teams up with his kids (who forgive him way too quickly) to take him down because the power of love is stronger than the power of Batman or something.

Up to this point, good. Not a big fan of how they're choosing to put every single time Bruce does something hurtful under "Zur-En-Arrh did it", but I can see where they're going with it. My problem is with their plan to take him down.

The Failsafe body is designed to shut down if you kill someone, so Bruce chooses to sacrifice himself and come back thanks to -and I shit you not- some sort of concentrated Lazarus fluid. Jason of all people decides he should be the one to die since ha has the experience -what is this comic???- so the plan is for Jason to get Zur-En-Arrh to kill him.

That's when the whole meme of Jason being dead for like, two pages, was around because that's exactly what happens: Zur-En-Arrh kills him from one punch, it triggers Failsafe's shutdown protocol, Jason comes back. All the absolute bullshit aside, because we truly don't have the time to unpack all that, it shouldn't have worked.

The reason why Failsafe shuts down if you kill is because of Batman's number one rule: no killing. So you're telling me that Zur-En-Arrh, who's basically 100% Batman, only went like a week or two before straight up killing someone??? Obviously he wouldn't care it was his son because he's 0% Bruce, he would have ruthlessly fought and subdued anyone who stood on his way, no matter how dear to Bruce they were. That's the point of Zur-En-Arrh, no sentimental distractions.

But also, he's 100% Batman, the dude that 100% doesn't kill, the dude with 100% control of the strength and accuracy of his blows so he doesn't kill someone, not even on accident. How could he be so easily baited into punching Jason hard enough to kill him? Does Jason suddenly have metahuman abilities to super annoy people??? And he doesn't question why Mr "I don't kill, not even the Joker" is okay with bashing his skull in in just one blow??

I would sort of take it if they put the effort into showing how they tricked him to turn a regular blow into a lethal one, that could have been interesting. Maybe Bruce tries it and can't get it right and Jason takes the blow because he's the one that gets the opportunity. That way he's not just offering himself as a sacrificial lamb just for funsies, he's actually making a heroic sacrifice to end the fight before someone else gets hurt instead of letting it drag until Bruce finds his opening. You could have more tension of whether they're gonna be fast enough with the Lazarus fluid, maybe the other Robin's need to play catch with the vial while avoiding the other bad guys to get to him on time. But I digress, the important part is fucking consistency.

Either show that Zur-En-Arrh is whiling to kill before jumping inside Failsafe (which would be hard, because why wouldn't he uninstall the shut down protocol?), or make sure you the challenge of tricking Batman into accidentally killing someone comes through. Because you're kinda implying that Batman would kill if he had no feelings and that's just... completely against the character. If anything the comics show that Batman needs to overcome his emotions to avoid killing Joker.

This is the central point to defeating your enemy. It is based on the idea that Batman designed his failsafe to short circuit if he killed someone. And they don't do anything to explain or justify Batman breaking his one rule whether on purpose or accident. It just happens because it has to happen and "how cool is it that we outsmarted him?". It's not earned and much like a lot of this run, is not satisfactory (to me, if you're cool with it genuinely good for you, wish that was me)

Even if Not Killing came from Bruce's emotionality, it would be included into the Batman personality. There's plenty to Batman that comes from Bruce's emotions, and Zur-En-Arrh puts people into jail. It's not like they've Established him having a murderous streak. If he were completely clinical about it he would never willingly kill and, with his ability and understanding of the human body, tricking him into killing without making it obvious that that's what you're doing would be an absolute feat worthy of getting the whole Batfam together.

It wouldn't have made me like the idea of the story. It still relies on everyone forgiving him super quickly, Deux ex Lazarus and a lot of other contrivances; but at least it wouldn't contradict Batman's number one rule. I'm not asking for character consistency, good writing or even continuity, I'm just begging you to understand the single most basic thing about the character.

[legostars]

DOGDAY X READER

PART 4

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Summative: After you have arrived home. You can feel your face heat up thinking about him. But as you were walking to your bed, you tripped over something making your head the hard wooden floor. Well, everything be alright? What's going to happen?

Warning: coma, Curse words, worried puppy, Happy family, rush asap, ???

Romance: 7/10

Fluff: 100/10

Platonic: ?/10

Smut: 0/10

Note from Author: I got some ideas from my bestie from discord. And then my discord acc password was reset by someone for some reason... So... I can't log back in anymore.. I miss my bestie:( I hope she sees this...

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After encountering the kissing situation back at playtime co. You slammed the door of your apartment but it was not too loud to wake your neighbours. You slide down the back of the door as you wrap your arms around your knees. With sigh, you can still feel the heat of your face just.. thinking about him.

"God... I'm such a mess right now..." You mumbled silently. You just stood up and started walking towards your bedroom and head to bed.

You walk towards your bed but only to trip over something and fall, causing your head to hit the hard wooden floor. Everything went black... Blood flowing through the wooden floor as you laid there unconscious. The only thing that you heard was someone shouting and screaming your name, you barely hear it. It sounded like you were under water, but you know that you weren't.

It has been two weeks since your incident. You fell from a coma for two weeks unknowingly. Your parents are right by your hospital bed, your mother holding your hand... Pure worry was only you can tell feeling your mother's touch. But not a while when you decide to open your eyes, lights glimmer down on you. You look to the side to see your mother still holding your hand, your father who was fast asleep hm.. he's still the same old man, huh? You thought to yourself.

Seeing your mother holding your hand tightly. You decided to speak up, your voice was weak due to your dried up throat.

"Mom?" Your voice sounded like a grown old woman but you didn't care much.

Upon hearing your voice. Your mother flinched and lifted her head immediately to look at you. You smiled as your mom began to tear up.

"My sweet baby girl!!!" She cried out hugging you instantly. Upon she screamed, your father flinched up awake from his slumber and looked towards the noise just to see you and your mother squeezing you tightly.

Your father sighed in relief upon seeing you finally awake from your coma. A smile was curled up to his face, as he went towards your mother to pull her away from you, so you won't have a difficulty breathing. Your mother who was worried sick and over protective of you continued to cry seeing her sweet baby girl awake from her coma.

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~TWO WEEKS AGO~

Dogday being a good dog, waited for his angel to come in through her office door. He wants to tease his angel about what happened yesterday. Yet, He waited there from 5:00 Am to 6:00 Am, Yet no sign of you coming in. He sighed and waited a bit longer, yet you didn't come. Here he was worried sick about you.

It was time to open the playcare. Yet no sign of you. Dogday got more worried and decided to ask one of your friends, he then soon found out that you fell into a coma. Aw, the poor puppy is getting worried. He sighed as he continued his daily tasks without you, but he tried his best to smile towards others so he could hide the sadness inside him. He was worried about a bit too much, he began to overthink lately. One of his friends saw this and asked if he was alright. The only reply that came out of his mouth was, "Oh! It's nothing necessary!" He replies with the same sentence to all of them except for catnap.

A week without his angel, made him miss you more! He misses your smile, your eyes, your sound of laughter, and your face. It made him even sadder day by day! Yet he tries to smile bright like the sun for the children and the others. Having a hard time dealing with his depression but he pretends that he was fine. But shit! It was for two goddamn weeks! He would sleep in your office every night! And it made the other critters worry about him more!

The poor puppy is worried sick about you!

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After a day of you getting checked up just in case. You were finally out of the hospital and of course! Your mother starts rambling lectures about you to be more careful. But fuck! You were a twenty two year old lady and yet getting lectures from your mother at this age?! Oh, ho! ho! ho! Nope! You weren't having it!

"Mom.. I'm not your little girl anymore! Look! I'm twenty two years old! TWENTY TWO!"

Your mom's pov: A sweet innocent 5 year old child version of angel In front of her.

"That's practically an adult! But you still treat me like I'm a little kid!" You huffed out.

Your mother couldn't help but sigh with tears in her eyes.

"I can't believe children grow up too fast.." your mom sniffled and wiped her tears around the corner of her eyes.

Your dad sighs and just nodded at your mom that she had to let you go. Your mother inhaled some deep air and exhaled looking at you with her gaze.

"Fine.. But will you promise to be more careful? I don't want to lose my baby girl." Your mom tries to hold her tears because just seeing you in front of her makes her proud because she raises such a wonderful daughter.

You sighed and nodded and gave your parents a huge hug. Your parents returned the hug and kissed your forehead. You rode a taxi and waved goodbye to your parents as your taxi set off. "I should probably get ready for work... Wait... Work! Oh my lord! I forgot about dogday! Shit! Shit! Shit! I hope he's not mad at me!!" You thought to yourself as your driver finally stopped at your destination. You gave him a tip and ran to your building and to your apartment door and hurriedly got changed to get back to work once for all.

You rode your motorbike and drove. You quickly got in the elevator or smth idk. And finally rushed to your office door. You sighed as you slowly turned the door knob making dogday raises his head from the couch and his gaze towards the door, You came in with a big sigh. Dogday's eyes widened as his tail wags.

"Angel!" He shouted as he got up and ran to you. He holds you by the waist and lifts you up in the air, seeing his happy smile you couldn't help but smile. "I guess.. he did miss me.." you thought to yourself.

"I'm sorry for.. making you worried.." you apologise as an intense awkwardness lingers in the air.

It was silent for a moment... You then hear sniffles coming from dogday, you look down to see him tearing up. Your eyes widened "did he really worry about me a bit too much?"

You thought to yourself.

Dogday then hugged you to his chest as he began to breakdown. You couldn't help but smile seeing him make you smile. You patted his back and started to hum a song, he continued to whimper while crying. You wiped his tears away and gave a kiss on the forehead as you hummed a song.

One hour passed by. You and dogday fell asleep in each of your embraces, hearing dogday's soothing snores as his chest rises and lowers. Hearing his heartbeat as you slept peacefully, nuzzling your head to his chest fur getting comfortable. Your office was filled in silence only yours and dogday's breathing filled the room.

Both of you were sleeping peacefully. Till dogday heard a knock on the door. You were still asleep on his arms snuggling your head against his chest, he couldn't help but blush slightly at you. He slowly got up and put you on the couch as he walked towards your office door to see who was knocking.

He opened the door to see all of his friends standing in front of him with a concerned look on their faces. Dogday tilted his head a little in confusion, till Bobby handed up a basket with food and flowers and a happy smiling card. His eyes widened and then turned his gaze to his friends. I guess he was so gloomy lately that it made his friends worry about him.

He smiled but then his eyes landed on catnap at the back. Looks like he was worried too.

"What's all this?" He asked with a light chuckle.

"You've been down and gloomy lately, dude!" Kickin said as he rested his arm on dogday's shoulder.

"Catnap has to tell us the real reason why you were all so gloomy! But we didn't think that you would have a heart for an angel~" bobby smirked. She smells love in the air.

"Catnap told you guys?" Dogday asked.

"Duh! Sugar cube! He was also worried about you! So he told all of us about the reason for your sudden depression!" Picky piggy stands next to dogday munching on an apple.

Dogday's eyes were wide in surprise as he saw catnap not meeting his gaze and just looked down on the floor embarrassed. His best friend was worried about him? Ain't that cute!

Dogday walks towards catnap. Catnap looked towards dogday as he was suddenly pulled into an embrace. Catnap was still adjusting but he gave in and hugged dogday back. The others followed behind them and pulled in a big group hug. What a happy family<3

"Well, well, well! What a cute family of friends!" You chuckled behind them as you leaned on the door frame of your office.

The critters turned around to you, they saw you chuckling leaning on the door frame.

"Angel? You're awake!" Dogday said with a happy doggy smile.

"I never slept! I just pretend to sleep just to wait for this family of friends to get into a big family hug!" You chuckled.

They all laughed together with you. Dogday finally feels his sunny happy beam from his heart seeing all of his loving Friends laughing and being happy. He just wishes this moment of life will last forever feeling the happiness.

...

You... your poppy's Angel...

...

Angel...

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Note from Author: My classmates sided eye me while doing this and then complimented me about how good my English was. But I said nah it looks shit. Well that's all, hope you all enjoyed the food💅✨

[raindropsyndrome]

I gotta ask (of you're okay with answering of course!!) How do you get your traditional sketches- that are on paper- I'm assuming, so clean?

I'm totally envious of how pretty it is and how vibrant and clear it turns out in pictures!

I was wondering maybe what your process is or simply how you edit your art to look so pretty! 💜💜

Ahhh thank you!! I’m happy to help!

I’ll use Mikey for this demonstration :>

When traditionally sketching, I first start out with really light lines, then after getting a rough sketch down, I come in with darker lines, then I erase the lighter ones

The darker lines may also get partially erased, but because they’re darker and pressed into the paper more, they remain and I can still see them, so I can just go over them again without keeping my rougher light lines I’d done before

I rinse and repeat until I feel satisfied with my drawing!

Now for the editing, I just use my phone’s camera app editing settings

If this went by a bit too fast, (I’m so used to doing this at this point lol)

In short, what I did was turn the contrast up 100%, then brilliance up to 80% (this varies, it depends on the lighting I took the photo in,) and then I adjust the rest from there. With “highlights” being turned up pretty high, and “shadows” turned pretty low.

Then for the coloring I turned the saturation down to 0%, (for a crisper black and white look, I don’t do this all the way if I used color,) and then I put the “dramatic” filter on it, I like how the filter makes darker hues sharper and how it evens out lighter ones.

Also!! The “sharpness” setting is really nice for making your lines less blurry!! I turn that up to around 15-25%

The cropping is just a matter of framing the main subject well, then taking out unwanted space. I usually adjust angles before cropping, otherwise I might crop out something I wanted in

Here’s the before + after

I hope this wasn’t too confusing, lmk if you want any clarification!

[rogersideup]

Nice to be Kneaded

Chapter sixteen

Crawl Home to You

Series masterlist

Previous Part: Everything will be Okay Next Part: Endgame

Word Count: 7,532

Warnings: My blog is 18+ only. All minors or blogs without an age in bio will be blocked. Minors DNI. Mentions of medical equipment, loss, abuse, PTSD, anxiety and depression.

"Psst"

You stopped in your tracks.

Walking the empty main hall of the compound towards where Steve, Scott, Bruce and Nat were conducting a time travel test, the only sound was the echoed thumping of your sneakers against the floor.

Steve advised you to wait it out in the living room until they were done so he knew you'd be safe and sound, then he texted you that they were all done. However, that text came in the middle of a business call, so you told him you'd come down to them when it wrapped up.

So now, here you were, approaching the pull up zone outside and trying to figure out where that noise came from.

"Sunflower!" You heard the loud whisper again.

Knowing that literally everyone here but Steve only ever called you Sugar Cookie, you knew exactly who it was already.

"Where are you?" You giggled, turning around in a complete circle to find him.

Then, he bashfully turned the corner. Arm behind his back, with a cheeky, genuine smile on his face.

"What's gotten into yo-" You asked with a giggle before he fully turned the corner and you saw what he was trying to sneak around. Your laugh turned into a gasp and your jaw happily dropped. "No fucking way!"

He propped his arm up, and attached to it was the red white and blue shield. "Tony just gave it back to me. We made up, it was actually really nice."

You stepped closer to inspect it, "I can't believe I've been with you for this long and I've never seen the shield before!"

Steve laughed at your body language. Your hands were crossed behind your back, and instead of getting even closer, your few steps kept you at a comfortable distance away from it, yet you still leaned forward and squinted your eyes to see all of its details.

"Are you so happy to have it back?" You asked, looking up at him for a brief moment to see his facial expression.

"It's like reuniting with an old friend, feels like no time has passed." His free hand lovingly pat the front of it. You still seemed very timid, and his step forward caused you to take a step back. "Are you... scared of it?"

"What? No." You denied, shaking your head.

As a test he stepped forward again but this time you stayed put. Steve gave you a confused look, unable to gauge your reaction. "You wanna touch it?"

He extended his arm out to you, and you shook your head again. "I can't just touch it!" You exclaimed like he had gone absolute mad.

"Why not?" He asked with a laugh.

"Why not?! I don't even want to breathe too hard near it! That's like an artifact, dude! Are you crazy?!" You explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I have lotion on my hands, and it's gonna get all over it."

"Baby, it's made out of the strongest metal on earth." Steve explained, gently grabbing your wrist and placing your palm flat to the front of it. "See? Nice shield!"

"Woaaahhhh, that's so cool." Your face turned from concerned to amazed before you ran your finger around the grooves. Then, you made a cheeky big smile at Steve, "Can I hold it?"

"Wow, quick turn around time" He noted how fast you went from 0 to 100 as he pulled his arm out of the straps.

He instructed you to hold your arm out before sliding it through one strap, and to grip the other in your palm.

"How's she feeling?" Steve asked. "I can make it tighter."

"It feels so cool!" You said giddily.

"Looks even cooler, Baby" His heart melted at the sight of his love holding it.

"What do you think? Should I get me one of these?" You asked.

"I think you need lots of training and a small lump some of money to obtain this much vibrainum, but I believe in you!" He kissed your cheek and started guiding you down the hallway again, right back towards his room.

"Sooooo, how did the test run go?" You asked, walking tall and proud with the shield on your arm.

"Not too great. We accidentally tuned Scott into a baby and an old man. But pay no mind to any of that because Tony is here, and he figured it out. So he's going to build a real time travel machine, oh- and Rocket and Nebula just got here too. Rocket and Bruce are going to go get Thor."

"Steve..."

"What?" He questioned nonchalantly.

"Is Scott back to normal?" You asked. "Why did you just brush over that part?"

"Oh yeah, he's back to Scott-ish age now." He confirmed.

"Okay great." You giggled.

"Woah!" Sounded from behind you.

Admittedly, it scared you at first. You didn't hear any footsteps, and you definitely didn't sense anyone nearing. You jumped, shrieked, and dropped the shield straight into the floor.

Steve laughed and he swiftly bent down to pick it up, and you turned to address the terrifying elephant in the room.

None other than Tony stark. "Sugar cookie stuck around, huh?"

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Stark." You greeted him while puffing out a breath and clutching your chest.

"She's polite." Tony acknowledged, Steve nodded with pride. "Just Tony works."

"Oh, sorry." You apologized for using an incorrect title.

"Rogers, didn't I just tell you to keep that under wraps because I didn't bring enough for everyone?" Tony joked, pointing at the shield.

"What could I say? She just looked so cute holding it" Steve justified.

"She looked even cuter dropping it." Tony joked. Then his eyes met yours. "You really are beautiful by the way, thanks for sticking around. Contrary to popular belief around here, I do like seeing Rogers happy."

"Thank you, Tony. I'm happy to be here." You responded politely, unsure of how to let your guard drop around the billionaire.

"Steve, meeting room in 10. We have a lot of thinking to do." Tony told Steve, then turned to you. "Would it be inappropriate to tell you o could really go for some brownies right now?"

"No, not at all." You shook your head. "I'll get right on it... Do you happen to know if Raccoons can eat chocolate?"

"This isn't about the build-a-bear." Tony shook his head. "Okay, gotta go. Kinda have half the universe counting on me to build a Time Machine."

And just like that, he walked off.

You sighed. "When he says it like that, I guess he really does deserve some brownies."

Steve giggled and leaned down to kiss your cheek. "I'm guessing you're headed off to the store now?"

"Depends. Do the Avengers have any dark cocoa powder handy?"

With his free hand, Steve reached into his back pocket and handed you the keys to his car. "Nobody here is smart enough to know how to bake anything. Of course we don't have cocoa powder."

You laughed at his statement, a little snort passed through. "I just love you so much, Stevie."

"I can tell, nobody would put up with any of this for any other reason." He acknowledged. "I love you too, Baby."

You rocked up on your tippy toes to give him a kiss. "Use your big brain, smarty pants. They need it."

"Oh, and by the way," Steve started, smug look on his face. "If you're holding the shield and you get scared, best practice is to hold it in front of you and not drop it on the floor. It can't really do much for you all the way down there."

"Yeah, yeah" You playfully rolled your eyes.

Over the next few days, Steve watched you connect with the team in ways he wasn't quite sure he's ever had. Honestly, it came quite naturally for you.

If someone was upset, it's like your brain didn't even have to think about what to do. You'd autopilot hugs and comforting words. And if someone needed a break to rest their tired brain, they'd always come to you for some fun conversation. If anyone fell asleep, you were there to throw a blanket over them.

No matter how happy it made him, he reminded you time and time again that you didn't have to stick around if you didn't want to. The conversations they were having were heavy, and he could tell a lot of them took a toll on you regardless of your efforts to not show that they did.

But you knew you wouldn't be able to sleep at night without being here for him. You wanted to make sure he was okay first and foremost, and you knew he couldn't sleep at night if you weren't there. It was a tricky balance, but one you'd do almost anything to keep the scales from tipping.

Steve had warned you not to get too attached to any of the team, he told you realistically how it works. They get along and work well together, but when the mission was done they all went back to their separate lives. He knew you and your sweet as sugar heart, and he wanted to protect it from the reality of the people he surrounded you with.

Perhaps Sam, Bucky and Nat were the exceptions. He always knew they would be there for him no matter what. Oh how he wished you could've met Bucky, he knew the two of you would be like two peas in a pod.

But in the time it took to get the whole team assembled and the machine built, he could tell his advice to you had flown out the window.

You and Nat were just too precious to separate. And Thor; sweet, poor Thor. He was really having a rough time, and you just couldn't help yourself from comforting him. Steve saw Thor bond with you in a way he had never quite seen him bond with anyone before. You made Rocket how very own tray of blondies since he definitely couldn't eat the brownies. He even saw Tony giving you business advice, that spiraled into him giving you opinions on everything about the new bakery you were working tirelessly on. Tony complemented your business model and taste in interior design on multiple occasions, which was a very high compliment.

Two days before they decided the machine was good enough for a test run, Steve decided that's when he would feel most comfortable bringing you home.

Everything in him was screaming to get you to safety, but his heart was screaming to never let you go. So, he decided the day he brought you home he'd spend the night at home with you, then go back the next morning. He knew a little bit of peace away from the craziness would help him go into the mission with a stronger, more rested mind.

Honestly, driving through the neighborhood with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand being held between both of yours, he had never been so sure that this was his home now.

Even in just the relatively short time away, he missed everything about it. Your shared home, the bed, the running trails, the lake view lookout cliffs, and breakfast burritos from the diner.

He even almost missed the feeling of being watched by Georgia's careful eyes every time he simply exited near the view of her living room window.

When the two of you pulled up the driveway, put the car in park and turned off the transmission, he looked over at you. You were lost in thought, staring out of the window with no awareness to your surroundings. Steve felt a little crack in your heart knowing exactly what you were thinking about.

"Baby," he squeezed your hand, grabbing your attention. "You'll see them again, okay?"

You grinned and squeezed his hand right back. "I just want you guys to stay safe, that's all."

"We will be." He nodded. "You have to know that saving the world is the goal but getting home to you is number one priority. We all have too much to lose to put anything on the line."

You leaned over the center console to give him a kiss. "I trust you."

Instead of a response, his eyes were open when you pulled away, staring straight ahead. Instead of asking what he was looking at, you followed his eyes and saw Georgia conveniently out on her porch.

Rather than the perfectly put together version of Georgia everyone knew, she looked... off. Rather than a proper outfit, she was in comfortable clothes. The color in her face looked drained, other than her cheeks which were blushed pink.

This time you weren't so sure she came out to see what the two of you were up to. Especially when she slowly walked towards the railing of her porch and barely made it the few steps it took to get there. Stumbling over her own two feet to grab onto the railing, and even when she wasn't walking, she was slowly swaying like she couldn't even stand up.

"Something's wrong." You mumbled, unsure if it was to yourself or the superhero in the drivers seat.

You could tell he was thinking the same thing as you, and every issue you've ever had with her completely flew out of the window and wasn't even a thought in either of your minds as you both un-clicked your seatbelts and got out of the car as fast as you could.

Your legs carried yourself over to her faster than you even looked both ways to check for cars before crossing the street. Steve's legs were longer, they got him to her first. He walked up her porch stairs two at a time before putting his hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Are you alright?" He questioned, full of concern.

"I'm sorry, I just haven't been feeling good an-" She started explaining, before noticing you approaching right behind Steve.

"What's wrong, Georgia?" You wanted her to keep going.

"Baby, you know I wouldn't be asking for help if I didn't need it." She told you.

You were even more worried as you could hear shakiness and mumbling in her voice. She could barely separate words on her tongue, the syllables were slurring together.

"It's okay, tell me what's going on." You reassured her, caring a lot more about her well being than anything that's happened between the three of you.

Steve was already three steps ahead of this situation. He was looking around and making a plan in his head, he knew just by looking at her that she was very very sick with something. Just with one hand on her shoulder he could feel the heat radiating off of her yet her arms had visible goosebumps.

"I just have the flu or something, but I can't go- go to the store to get any medicine." She slurred.

Her swaying was getting worse, eyes growing heavier by the moment. Getting increasingly more concerned by the second, Steve had to make a judgment call.

"Baby." Steve got your attention, now with one hand on Georgia's back and another on her upper arm. "Call the paramedics." He mouthed as to not make Georgia more concerned.

You nodded, understanding why he didn't speak it out loud. "I'm going to go grab you a few things from my house, why don't you let Steve take you inside so you can get comfortable okay? I'll be right back."

"Really I'm f-fine. Just need some cold medicine or someth-" She didn't finish her sentence.

"Georgia?" Steve tried getting her to respond, but her eyes closed.

Having already bracing for this, Georgia became unconscious and fell backwards onto Steve, but he caught her gracefully before she even had a chance to come close to the floor.

You pulled out the phone and immediately called for an ambulance as Steve set her down as gently as he possibly could before sitting down next to her and rolling her head to the side.

He was worried with a fever this high she would have a seizure following the loss of consciousness, and while you were on the phone, your big concerned eyes found his calm ones.

You answered all the questions as best you could before the dispatcher told you the paramedics would be there as soon as they could, then you hung up.

Calm as a clam, Steve sat with her with a watchful eye.

"Do you want to stay with her, or do you want to grab me a few things in the meantime?" He asked.

"I'll stay" you nodded, feeling overwhelmed and worried sick.

"Okay, I'll be right back." He nodded, swiftly standing up and jogging across the street.

He came back not even a full minute later with everything he needed to start treatment while waiting for proper medical care.

You watched as he slipped a pillow from the porch swing under her head, then put a cold wet rag on her forehead, and put down a cold water bottle just in case she woke up. Sitting down next to you on the ground, he reached out and let you play with his hand.

"She'll be okay" He explained. "I think she has a really high fever and hasn't been trying to keep it down enough. They'll probably take her and keep her for a few days, but it's an easy fix. Nothing to be worried about."

"How do you know?" You questioned sadly.

"I spent the first 23 years of my life sick as a dog." He grinned emphatically. "I know because I've been here so many times before."

You nodded silently and played with his fingers before a quiet tear slipped down your cheek and you tried your hardest to not alert Steve of your emotions, but he was always far more observant than you ever hoped he would be.

"Hey, baby." Steve pouted. "Talk to me, are you scared?"

"I'm sad." You corrected. "I care about her and love her so much, and I still do even after all this time and everything that's happened. I don't understand why it has to be like this."

"I'm sorry, Honey." Steve pouted. Though unspoken, his apology had a double meaning. I'm sorry it had to be this way, and I'm sorry for being the wedge in the strained relationship.

"I could've been here taking care of her had she just heard me out and opened her heart to you. It never had to be this way. It should've never come to this." You shook your head. "And now I feel guilty that she's alone. I feel like I have everyone and she has no one."

"That's not your fault." Steve reminded you gently. "You aren't the one who decided for any of this to happen."

"I hope she can see that I still love her, and that you're a good man when all of this is said and done because I hate this stupid grudge."

Although Steve still admittedly hated what she did to you, and wanted to be petty and hold onto it for as long as he could, he understood where you were coming from.

It reminded him of his relationship with Tony. There was a long time in which he thought it was past the point of reconciliation, but not all things were impossible, and the love he had for him never went away.

"You have the best heart, and she's lucky to still be loved by you even after all this time" Steve told you, both of you could hear sirens blaring in the distance.

"She has a sister I should call, do you think I should go to the hospital with her?"

"I think you should do whatever will make you feel like you're doing the right thing." Steve advised you. "I know this is tricky, there's no right or wrong answer, but what we already did was the right thing to do. Anything else is above and beyond."

The sirens got too loud to even respond to him, and the paramedics rushed up to to take her and treat her with urgency. But no matter how quickly they worked, a few concerned neighbors still came out to ask you and Steve about what was going on.

Apparently the nice couple two doors down from her had formed a pretty close friendship, and the wife made a pretty mindless decision to get into the back of the ambulance with her with almost no second thought. It did a lot to ease your mind, especially knowing she wasn't as along as you once thought she was.

After calling her sister who also assured you that she was on her way to the hospital, you felt a lot better and decided to stay home and spend time with Steve who would be quite literally traveling through time in just a short day away.

Eventually you dragged your two feet through the front door, Steve closing it and locking it behind you as you kicked off your shoes.

"Straight to the couch, young lady. I don't want to hear any if's, and's, or butt's about it!" Steve joked.

You followed his instructions with giggle and you plopped down right before he did. It wasn't long before he had you cuddled up to him, with the fluffy blanket on top of the two of you.

Face to face, he gently pushed your hair behind your ear before letting his palm warm your cheek.

"Thank you for helping her even though you had no reason to." You spoke quietly. With barely any distance, words didn't need to travel far anyways.

"I always have a reason to. Helping is what I do best."

Non-verbally agreeing with him, you came to terms with your own thoughts. "These next few days are going to be really hard."

"They will be, I don't think there's anyway we can sugar coat that." Steve agreed. "But I believe in our ability to get through hard times together."

"There's no one else I'd rather be by my side."

"Couldn't agree more." He grinned. "Can I add two more codes to the sunflowers?"

"What do you want to add?" You asked.

"I think in case of emergency, we should do 4 blinks." He suggested gently.

"But there's not going to be an emergency." You raised an eyebrow.

"If course there isn't" Steve agreed with you, though you both knew the chance was pretty high. "And on the contrary I think one long blink should signal that I'm okay. I want you to have peace of mind and a quick way to communicate that to you whenever we need it."

"Ooh, I love that one!" You enthused, earning the sweetest smile from your favorite boy.

"I knew you would"

"What do you want to do before you leave in the morning?" You questioned, fully devoted to making him as happy and relaxed as possible.

"You." He stated smugly.

You gasped and your cheeks immediately turned pink before hiding your face into his neck. He laughed as you squealed like a teenage girl, because even after all these years his sexual comments still pulled great reactions out of you. "Naughty!... but I think we can arrange that."

"You're so cute" he giggled, now cradling the back of your head with his hand.

"I'm trying to hide that I'm blushing!"

"Well it's not so secret anymore, is it?"

You lifted your head to glare at him, and sure enough, your cheeks were painted rosy pink. "What else do you want to do?"

"This is fine by me." Steve shrugged. "Just wanna spend time with you."

"You want a breakfast burrito tomorrow morning, don't you?" You narrowed your eyes.

"I want to spend time eating breakfast burritos with you." He reiterated,

"I know how to read in between the lines, Baby." You giggled.

Besides the forefront of your mind being full of concern over Georgia, Steve, and the Avengers, the two of you managed to spend a really nice day away from the chaos.

You slipped in one phone call to make sure Georgia was okay, then the rest of your time was occupied by Steve and Steve only. Long conversations ranging from heavy topics to funny ones that made the two of you laugh so hard you couldn't breathe, to making sweet sweet love that never failed to make you feel so appreciated and your souls interconnected.

And just as important as making you feel loved during sex was to Steve, making sure you felt just as loved after the fact was arguably even higher priority for him. He never could let go of hearing all the ways you were used and manipulated in the past. All he ever wanted was to make a life for you in which you never had to even be worried about feeling that way every again.

Every single year you've been together has been a constant reminder to him that you always felt safe, loved, and the most comfortable version of yourself when he was around. But that didn't mean he would ever stop being as attentive as he could to you. And you loved to return the favor to him as well.

So after the fun came even more fairytale romantic intimacy in the form of a long, hot shower. The two of you washed each others hair, exchanged kisses, sweet words, and his strong hands even gave you a nice relaxing shoulder massage.

One thing he quickly learned is that a baker's shoulders were always tense, always over worked, and most of the time your right shoulder was hurting you. So some shoulder rubs always released mental and physical tension, and it almost always made you sleepy.

That night Steve felt a sense of accomplishment when he successfully lulled you to sleep after being convinced you wouldn't sleep a single wink until the mission was over, Georgia was no longer sick, and everyone was home safe.

But when the two of you cuddled in up in nothing more than a sports bra, some underwear, and your softest blankets, the warmth and comfort of his bare skin and sweet words sent you straight to dreamland without even processing that it was happening.

Not a single thought in your brain could keep you awake when it was full of nothing but thoughts of how much you loved him, and how lucky you were to be loved by the gentle giant.

When his big frame engulfed you like the cutest little teddy bear, your soft and even breathing always knocked him out quickly too. Though the two of you weren't quite married yet, he was a firm believer in the happy wife, happy wife notion.

You woke up the morning of his departure a lot less relaxed than you were last night, and you could tell that was the case for him too considering he was awake, yet quietly hiding away with his face shoved into your chest and the blankets pulled up to his ear.

For as long as the two of you could afford, you played with the short hair on the back of his head, squeezed him tight and peppered gentle kisses to the crown of his skull.

"Good morning, handsome." You spoke quietly, only to be responded with by him shaking his head. You laughed and gave him another kiss knowing he definitely wasn't ready to start the day.

A few more minutes of cuddles later, he finally poked his head and peaked at you through his eyelashes. "G'morning."

"Maybe if we keep sleeping you don't have to leave." You suggested, feeling the mutual dread over the lack of unknown.

"I just tried that, it didn't work." Steve pouted.

Your arms squeezed him as tight as they could for just a few seconds, and he appreciated every second of you trying to love him to death. That was until his phone ringing interrupted the peace.

He groaned in complaint while you reached over to grab it for him. "It's Tony"

"Let it go to voice mail." Steve half joked.

"You want me to send Tony Stark to voice mail?" You raised an eyebrow.

"It helps keep him humble" He rolled into his back, squinting his eyes to hide them from the harsh daylight.

You clicked the answer button and put Steve's phone to your ear. "Hello, Anthony."

"Oh, even lovelier than hearing Rogers' voice in the morning." He commented. "Where is he, by the way?"

"He's really busy right now." You joked with a smile, everyone knew it was bullshit. He was now hiding his eyes in the ditch of his elbow.

"I'm just gonna assume he's pooping. How are you? Happy to be home?"

"I'm great, but I miss you already."

Steve let out a little complaint, he couldn't believe how well you and Tony got along. He should've expected it, you got along with everyone, but there was something about Tony being able to butter you up that just really got under his skin. He poked your ribs, so you put the call on speaker phone.

"Miss you too, Sugar Cookie. I've been meaning to ask you. When are you and Rogers getting married? If he hasn't proposed yet just let me know and I'll pester him about it. I'll even pitch in for a ring, make sure it's real pretty."

"You're so inva-" Steve started.

"Helpful. Thank you." You cut him off.

"That got him here quick!" Tony noted.

"I think the wedding will be sometime next year, but I'll make sure you get a hand delivered invitation."

"Steve? Do you need some money?" Tony asked, earning a laugh from you.

"I'm more than fine, Tony. I have a big boy job." Steve denied.

"Oh! It's actually funny you bring that up because I was talking to a few of your colleagues, they were all thinking we do the whole time heist thing today instead of tomorrow. So if you want to keep your big boy job to buy that rock we were just talking about, you should probably get here like... soon-ish."

"Okay, then I'll be there soon-ish." He agreed.

"How soon is soon and how ish-y is the ish?" Tony asked.

"Well the soon part is the whole flying a jet thing, and the ish is eating a breakfast burrito and getting dressed so give me 2 hours."

"Hey sugar cookie?" Tony called your attention.

"What's up?"

"When this is all done, Team party at the bakery?"

"The doors are always open for you guys." You agreed.

"Great. See you soon. Rogers, see you soon-ish." Tony said before hanging up.

Both of you dragged yourselves out of bed to put some clothes on and eat breakfast together before sending him off.

Outside of the diner you two hovered next to his car, leaning on it, trying to selfishly take every single moment you could. He briefed you on everything that would go down, you soaked up the information, and unfortunately it was time to say goodbye.

"Remember, I'll be gone for a few hours, but for you it'll only be a few minutes. I'll let you know when I get back by holding down the sunflower, okay?"

"Okay. One long glow." You nodded. "You're going to do great, Baby. And by all means, you're fucking time traveling. Enjoy it, but be safe."

"Always." He squeezed your hands. "I've got the most important thing in the whole world right here, nothing else comes before that. Shit, even if I die and they bury me underneath a concrete slab, you best believe I'm climbing my way out and crawling my way home to you"

"First of all, don't say that. Second of all, don't even think that. Third of all, that sounds horrifying. And fourth of all, that's really sweet, thank you." You schooled him with a giggle.

"I just love you that much!" He enthused.

"I love you too." You smiled. "I'd help dig you out, by the way."

"Teamwork makes the dream work." He cupped your cheeks and gave you a kiss. "When you see that I'm back, stay home, alright? We don't know what the world is going to look like when we bring everyone back. I want you to stay safe too."

"Got it" You agreed with a nod, and one more kiss. "You still have your good luck charm?"

"That $20 was the first thing that made it to my new suit." He reassured you.

"Perfect. Go get 'em Soldier."

"Yes ma'am." He followed your orders, opening his car door. "I love you!"

"I love you more."

Upon his departure, you knew you needed to keep yourself busy. So you decided to eat your own pride and bring a bouquet of flowers to the hospital to check up on Georgia and hopefully start the mend of your broken relationship.

She was asleep when you got there, but her sister let you know she was doing well and will be home tomorrow. Not wanting to disrupt, you left the flowers then made your way back to your second home.

The bakery welcomed you in with the smell of fresh baked cookies and a warm waft of air from the ovens that felt like a big hug.

Time always flew by when you became truly focused on running the place and taking care of orders, but it was never enough to completely rid you of the knot in your stomach you were trying so hard to ignore all day long.

Before you knew it, your sunflower lit up with a big long glow as you were adding on final touches to the cake on your turn table. The last one of the day. You send him a little three glow message to acknowledge that he was back safe and that you loved him before wrapping up at the bakery and heading home like he told you too.

The sun was starting its decent as you were getting comfortable at home. You had gotten into pajamas, pulled your hair back into a ponytail, and cleaned the kitchen as you anticipated hearing all the details about Steve's day.

You wondered where exactly he had gone, what year he went to and what happened while he was there. It took a lot to hold back your desperate yearning to call him, you knew he was probably busy and exhausted from the day he had.

The calmness in your heart turned into a brick in your stomach when you got a text, and clicked the notification on your screen.

Steve: Hey baby, Danielle is on her way to our place right now. Please call me when she gets there <3

Danielle was a decorator of yours at the bakery back before the snap. She quickly became a very close friend of yours and Steve's through the years. Though she left the bakery for a corporate job, she was always there for you both when you needed her.

The knowledge of her arrival and him wanting to talk to you after made your heart thump out of your chest and your legs weaken with anxiety. You knew Steve. If there was bad news he couldn't deliver straight to your face, he would never give it to you over phone or text if he knew you were alone.

So sending a trusted and close friend over to you for support and company before laying it on you was definitely what was about to happen.

It was barely even five whole minutes before there was a gentle knock on the door, and you rushed to open if like your life depended on it.

She stood there with a sad, sympathetic look on her face. She was in sweatpants and a shirt much like you, a bag slung on her shoulder. The pout on her lips and big eyes full of dread told you that there was definitely something wrong.

"Dani, what happened?" You didn't even bother saying hello, this was way beyond that. "Steve told me he was okay. He's okay, right?

She stepped inside your house, and quickly set her bag down. "He's fine, I just talked to him. But you need to call him, he will tell you everything."

You sunk into yourself, and Danielle wrapped her arm around you. "Come on, let's get comfortable on the couch."

With hands so shaky and legs so wobbly did just that before you grabbed your phone, and called Steve. It barely even rang once before he picked up.

"Hi, Sunflower." He spoke, you could hear the bad news in his voice before he even said what happened. He sounded sad, his voice hoarse, raspy, and deeper than usual.

"Oh baby." You felt a physical pain in your chest just from him speaking two greeting words to you. It was like you could feel his pain. "What happened? I thought everything was okay?"

"The mission is okay, we got all six of the stones. We're working on getting them in the gauntlet. But, Honey..."

"No. No buts. You always tell me no buts." Your heart cracking more and more by the second.

"I know. I'm so sorry I have to tell you this but Nat, she's gone." He finally got the words out.

"What do you mean she's gone?" You needed him to clarify, pure disbelief and denial racing through your mind.

"We didn't realize the soul stone was only retrievable with a trade. A soul for a soul. She sacrificed herself. I'm so sorry." That's when the tears started. You hurt for yourself, the amount of grief that flooded over you felt immense, but mostly you hurt for Steve. Steve was in a family of four before he met you. Him, Sam, Bucky and Nat. Nat was the only one he had left and now she was gone in an instant. "I know you two were close, and I hope you know how much your friendship meant to her. You really were a light in her life especially recently when things felt so dark. She told me all the time how much she loved you."

"Can't you just go back again? Just get her?" You cried.

"I wish we could." He gently denied, his own tears flowing quietly. "This is irreversible, we would do anything to get her back if we could. You know I would."

"I'm so sorry, Honey. Are you okay?" You questioned feeling so awful for him.

"I'm devastated." He admitted, his voice shook even though he was trying to be strong. "But we still have a job to do. We can't let her have died for nothing."

Understanding the heartbreak and unfathomable amount of pressure this added to his shoulders, all you wanted to do was hug him. "I wish I could be there for you."

"This is awful." Steve cried and laughed at the same time. "I'd do anything just to be with you, yet the only thing that would make me feel worse than having you states away is having you here in the compound. I need you to be safe."

"I know, I know." You understood where he was coming from. "How's everyone handling it?"

"Everyone is upset and not it great spirits, but again, we have to keep going." Steve sighed. "It's been a really long day."

"I could only imagine." You shook your head with a sad sniffle. Half of your sadness was hearing him cry on the phone and not being able to do anything about it.

"We're going to rest up tonight, and finish this damn thing in the morning. I'll be home the very second I can be."

"Okay, but try to take care of yourself in the meantime. You can't be saving the world without saving yourself first." You reminded him.

"Are you going to be okay?" Steve asked you sympathetically.

"Obviously this is devastating, but I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"I always worry about you." He denied your claim.

"I know you do." He managed to pull a smile out of you. "But don't let that distract you from the bigger goal here."

There was a pause on his end, a sad sniffle, then a sigh. "I'm exhausted."

"It'll be over soon, Baby." You reminded him, but deep down you knew exactly what he meant.

He wasn't sleepy, his body wasn't sore and his mind was alright beyond the obvious, but there were unspoken truths about his life recently that he just couldn't get himself to verbalize.

Steve was exhausted of being Captain America.

You knew that without him even having to say it straight to your face. He told you in little ways, like how every time he left Greenwood to report to duty his feet would drag out of the house and his back would slump. When he was gone away from you, your sunflower would light up so much sometimes you were concerned that whatever was inside of it to make it glow would burn out one day. Then when he got back, the very first thing he would do after greeting you was put all of his tactical gear completely out of sight so he could get it out of his mind.

Just as secretly as he kept his longing for a life where Cap wasn't around anymore, you secretly hoped he was catching on to your subtle reassurance that there was so much more to him than the stars and strips he's worn since he was only 23 years old.

The complexities of his existence never ceased to amaze you, and much like you felt since the moment you found out the cutie next door was a superhero, his job was one of the least important qualities you found in him.

His sensitive heart, compassion, and love for life would always remain regardless of the status of a shield on his arm and a star on his chest.

You didn't need him to be strong, you just needed him to be happy.

Truly, wholly, and undeniably happy.

So when you said it would be over soon, you hoped he understood that you already knew what was to come. All you wanted was to help him make peace with what you already knew.

Steve Rogers always has been and always will be enough.

You were met with more silence. He was completely shut down, and that broke your heart even more. You knew he never used to be like this, he'd tell you all the stories from before the Civil War about how he lived his life bouncing from mission to mission, plucking off one threat at a time all while meeting and losing people along the way without a single glance at what happened behind him.

What broke your heart even more was that you knew he'd wake up tomorrow morning and put on his brave face. Not a single complaint, not a single tear, not a single speck of anything considered to be a lack of bravery would slip past him just so everyone on the team would have someone to look to.

"I miss this morning." He admitted, breaking down as a deep inner thought slipped passed his composure.

"There's going to be another morning tomorrow." You wiped tears off your cheeks, Danielle wrapped her arms around you and hugged you tight."But then there will be another morning the day after tomorrow, and it'll only get a little better every day after that. You remind me of that all of the time."

"Even just hearing your voice has made me feel infinitely better."

"Call me whenever you need to, okay? Even if it's in the middle of the night I'll be here for you." You reminded him.

"Same goes to you, you know that."

"Of course I do. But you seem tired, I think you should get some well deserved rest."

As you said that, he allowed your words to be true in his mind. He did deserve rest.

"If all goes well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"It's going to be just fine, so I will see you tomorrow."

"I'll dream of you until then." Steve said, making your tears fall just a little harder because you still didn't know what you did to deserve to be loved the way he loved you. "I love you, Sunflower."

"Goodnight, Honey. I love you too."

When the line disconnected, you accepted the big hug your best friend wrapped you up in and all the way in New York Steve dug his face into his pillow, and clutched the pillow you slept on not even a full 48 hours ago to his chest.

Regardless of the distance, you both hoped that the result of tomorrow promised a better future and a long, happy life chalk full of everyone you loved.

If anyone could do that for you, and the whole universe, it was Steve Rogers. He was more than enough.

Next: Endgame

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