#Shari wanted to leave

[hiddenzev]

Second Confession: Final Part

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Chapter Summary: Something happened to reader, causing Joel to take care of her. A happily ever after.

Chapter Warnings - Fluff, Idiots in Love, (let me know if i missed anything)

WC: 13.3K

series masterlist, AO3

A/N: The hardest chapter for me to write yall that's why it took me longer to write. It could be better but I hope you guys love the closure. Thank you for taking the time to read this story!!

Breathing in the crisp and refreshing morning air, leaving fresh hoof prints in the snow that has piled up over the night, you’re out for the supply run with Joel this morning. It had started snowing a few days after that night at the bar like you guessed. With one horse each, both of you are riding along the trees in the woods in silence.

Ever since the outburst of emotions between you and him, he has been keeping true to the words of giving you as much time and space as you need before coming around to him again and he took it way too seriously. You never see him in the library after that or the town hall or anywhere else. As a matter of fact, it’s like he has disappeared from the face of this earth. He is avoiding you as much as possible.

You use that time to comprehend everything that happened during that exchange and properly consider the actions that you should take after that. The apology from him was unexpected and it caught you off guard. Time and time again, you would see the big brown puppy eyes that were gazing into yours, begging you for forgiveness, in your head throughout the whole day. The sincerity that you see from the desperation in his eyes, the trembling of his strained voice, moist lush lips from his constant nervous licking to the soft touch of his fingers on yours. You have never seen this side of him up close before and it shook your determination to not let him get to you again.

During those days that you didn’t see him, it felt kind of empty. It’s the first time he was out of your sight for more than a day and you get the feeling of ambivalence. On one side, you get to think more clearly without him affecting you in a physical way but on the other hand, you miss him a little bit. The constant consumption of his presence vanished and it bombarded you with the longing to see him even if it is just for a second.

He definitely needs to show more through his actions if he wants to be forgiven. You’re not going to let him off the hook easily just by him apologising like he did that night. Like he said, he should do whatever it takes to make it all up to you. At the same time, you want to be a better person and not treat him like shit at least. To give him the chance to prove himself that he do want your forgiveness.

The silence of the supply run is suffocating but you don’t mind it as you make up for the time that you were not able to see him by staring at him from the back as long as you can. As much as he frustrates you, you will never get bored of looking at him. As if he could sense that you were staring at him, he glances back to say that you both are nearing the first checkpoint to take a break. By this time during your usual patrols, the both of you would have already start to make your way back to Jackson. This is going to be way more taxing but you know you got to push through it.

Surrounded by some bushes and trees, you and Joel are sitting facing each other, resting. You packed enough food for at least 2 days, packing as light as possible for the travels and supplies. You’re munching on the last few bites of your sandwich when Joel hands a small cup of his coffee to you. You raise your eyebrows at him, not expecting him to share any of his beloved coffee with you. He points with his chin, telling you to drink it.

“Thank you.”

You hand him the cup back after finishing the coffee within a couple of gulps. You didn’t bring any coffee with you unlike Joel who is definitely a caffeine addict. Coffee is a scarce resource so to have him sharing it with you is definitely surprising when he doesn’t even want to share it with Tommy.

“I think we should pick up the pace if we want to reach there before it gets dark,” he says while looking out at the sky.

“Okay. Let’s move on now.”

You stand up and brush off the food crumbs and dirt on your pants. You move to your horse and make sure everything is alright before getting on it. Joel’s eyes follow your every movement and slowly make his way to his horse.

“Cmon Miller, we’ve got no time. Pick up the pace.” you jokingly nag at him as you watch him strap his stuffs back on the horse.

The goofiness in you just want to poke some fun at him since the whole trip from the start has been a boring nightmare. Raw dogging the whole ride on a horse with a quiet and stoic man like your partner is actually brutal to your sanity right now.

He looks back at you, annoyed. You want to let out a laugh so bad but you keep it in. Instead, a small smirk creeps out of your mouth as you look down at him. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of your smile, you turn your head to the side to hide it. Joel glares at you but his eyes soften when he catches that smirk of yours that you are trying to hide from him. He almost smile but straighten himself out and gets on the horse.

Both of you make your way to the designated spot to search for supplies in a faster speed than before. Eventually, you and Joel arrive there a couple hours before the sun goes down. From a distance, you can see there is a couple of cabin houses. Joel slows down and you follow suit, sensing that you should be cautious and ready if anything is going to happen. You scan the surrounding areas with sharp eyes, not wanting to miss something weird going on.

Joel leads you to a nearby tree to the nearest house, tying the horses to it. With rifles already gripped, both of you look at each other to discuss the plan.

Joel steps closer to you, eyes unwavering, whispering the plan, “We’ll check the houses one by one first. You stay close behind me and check our six. You see something, you let me know,” you nod, staring into his eyes, “If there’s no one, we’ll discuss more after. Ready? Stay sharp.”

“Stay sharp.” You echo his words and with determined glint in yours and Joel’s eyes, both of you start walking slowly to the nearest house first.

Joel is moving forward while you are checking the six, moving backwards towards Joel. You scan slowly if there’s anything or anyone hiding behind the trees. There’s no boot prints or any animal prints in sight except yours and Joel’s as you move. Reaching the first house, Joel opens the door easily as it wasn’t locked. Everything seems intact in their respective places, dusts everywhere meaning there wasn’t anyone that came around recently. But still, both of you are careful in exploring the place.

Joel and you check out the other houses as well and as you thought, this whole area hasn’t been infiltrated by anybody else for quite some time. There is an empty shed right beside the first cabin which Joel uses to shelter the horses for the night. After ransacking the houses, the both of you move the supplies found to the same shed and pack the things properly for the ride back to Jackson tomorrow.

The sun is setting once both of you are done with it and Joel is getting ready to warm the place up using the fireplace in the house. There’s only one couch that is big enough for one person to lie down on. Other than that, there are only a couple of wooden chairs around. You push the couch nearer to the fireplace and sits down on one side of it, watching Joel lit the fireplace up.

After making sure the fire is burning okay on its own, Joel moves back to the other end of the couch. You can hear his knees cracking as he sits, sighing heavily as his head reach the back of the couch. He closes his eyes as he listens to the cracking of the fire. You turn to look at him resting, taking in everything that you can to memory. His chest moving up and down slowly as he breathes. Noticing his beard and hair thicker and longer than it was a couple weeks before.

“I can feel you staring at me.” he speaks, breaking the silence in the cabin.

You look away to gaze at the fire as if you were not just staring at him.

“I wasn’t,” you deny.

“Yeah right.” He opens his eyes slightly to look at you while you tried to maintain your lie by focusing on the fire.

It is getting awkward again so you take out the food that you stored in your bag to eat for your dinner. Distracting yourself with food, Joel does the same thing, taking out a small packet of salad to eat. You notice that he was only eating greens which makes you wonder how the hell is he getting the strength without any protein in his food. The meat lover in you wouldn’t survive with just greens but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, you get it.

“Just salad?” You subconsciously frown as you ask him.

He snaps his head to you, surprised that you are making conversation with him, “No. I was short on protein. Only had the jerky which I stupidly left in my kitchen.” He looks forlorn like a kid being sad about the candy that dropped on the floor.

You hand him one of your leftover sandwiches that you have. You don’t mind giving him one because you made a bunch of sandwiches which is more than enough for you alone. He shakes his head refusing to take it.

“It’s fine. It’s your portion for tomorrow.” He refuses while picking at his salad.

“Nah, I’m good. I have more than enough.” You reassure him, not taking a no for an answer.

He takes the sandwich with hesitation, thanking you and takes a small bite out of it. You finish yours while glancing at him from time to time, making sure he is finishing his meal. He tries to hand you his coffee after the dinner but you refuse it this time because you needed to sleep soon. Both of you are slumping against the couch, legs stretched out, falling into the comfort of the night. You are in a daze as you stay still, fire gazing, before he speaks again.

“I read your letter.” He murmurs in a soft voice.

You keep quiet thinking about the letter that you wrote. You can vaguely remember word for word but you definitely know the highlights of it. Your face burns from the embarrassment again.

“I didn’t know how deep your feelings were before reading it. I’m sorry again for being a dick.”

You look down on your hands, not knowing where to look and what to say.

“I love the horse piece by the way. It’s beautiful. You should try to carve more often.” His eyes focuses on you when you turn your head to him.

His eyes twinkles with the reflection of the fire in front of the both of you.

“I thought you must have thrown it away after seeing your reaction that night,” Looking away from him, reminiscing what happened.

“I didn’t,” he shakes his head, feeling disappointed in himself for reacting badly.

The silence grow stronger as he is wallowing in sorrow of that night.

“How about the, uh, guitar pick?” In a quiet voice you ask.

He huffs softly thinking about it, “It’s so corny.” A small curl at the end of his mouth appears as he talks about it, his eyes everywhere else but you. He doesn’t know why he’s feeling shy from talking about it or maybe it’s just you that is affecting him.

“Ellie saw it one time and kept pestering me about why I didn’t tell her that I found it.” He shakes his head, almost smiling, remembering how annoying Ellie was with the bad jokes.

“So you didn’t tell her how?” you’re full on looking at him now, intrigue with this openness from him.

“I didn’t,” he shakes his head and glance at you with an unreadable gaze, “want it to be my own little secret for a bit.”

You blink a couple times at him, flustered by his reply. Meanwhile, his eyes are gazing into yours without a blink. You clear your throat, adjusting your position a little trying to be nonchalant about it.

“Did you tell her about the gifts? Because she’s been on my ass about it recently.” He continues the conversation.

“Yeah. Knew she’s gonna kick your ass about it. Can’t say you didn’t deserve it though…” you shrug your shoulders, giving him an awkward look.

“I still do deserve it.” He sits up and lean forward to rest his elbows on his thighs.

“I want to let you know that I am sincere with everything that I said that night. I’m terrible with this…feelings stuff but,” he pauses to look at you, “I will do my best to regain your affection.” He says in a firm and soothing tone.

Hearing his determination to redeem himself outright to you, it makes you speechless. You just have to see through his actions as time goes by. He breaks the eye contact and stands up to pick up his rifle.

“I’ll take the first shift. Get some sleep.” He takes a couple seconds to look at you, making sure you’re okay before making his way out of the door to check if there’s anything dangerous outside.

You proceed to lie down on the sofa, resting your head on the arm rest as you face the ceiling. Too tired to think of the conversation with Joel a couple of minutes ago, you fall into a deep slumber almost straight away.

Your eyes blink open to a brighter surrounding. The sun is starting to rise and you can hear the chirps of the birds in a distance. In a daze, you look around wondering why Joel didn’t wake you up. You notice he is sitting on the floor, leaning his side against the front of the couch seat. His head is resting sideways on the seat, facing you and almost touching your hip. His face is calm without his usual frown and you can hear his soft snoring as you stay still. His body probably going to ache so bad after this.

Your hands are twitching, wanting to caress his head but you hold back that thought, clenching your fists. You can only take this time to take in his features as he sleeps, wishing things were simpler but you get up from the sofa silently after watching him for awhile before you make any stupid decisions.

He must be in a deep sleep because he does not even move even after the rustling that you made on the sofa. You grab your rifle and get out of the cabin to check on the horses and be on watch before it’s time for you to wake Joel up. The cold air that suddenly hit you as you step out, gave you the shivers so you adjust your jacket right away, zipping it all the way up to keep yourself warm. Gripping the rifle tight, you keep your guard up as you look around for potential threats.

You didn’t find anything amiss as you make your way to the shed so once you are nearby, you sling your rifle back on your shoulders to open the shed door. The horses greet you with a few nickers as soon as they notice you coming in.You smile while giving them a couple of firm pats on their shoulders, rubbing their sides and even nuzzle your face against the neck of your horse, finding some comfort in it. Then, you make sure once again that everything is settled and ready to go.

You sit down at the corner of the shed, somewhere near the door that you left slightly ajar. Still reeling in the relaxation of the morning, you observe the horses across the other side of the shed. Once you realise that you should get back to Joel, you hear a strange noise not too far away, With no time wasted, you move cautiously to the door, hands gripping the rifle as your heartbeat starts to rise.

There isn’t much that you could see as you take a peep through the space left open by the door. You squint your eyes to see a few figures through the soft fluttering snow so you bring the rifle up and point towards them. You place your cheek by the stock of the rifle and look through the scope to have a clearer view. This time, there are shivers running down your spine, not from the cold but from what you see.

Your eyes widen as you take in the clickers approaching the cabin house. You should have guessed it from their erratic movements. There are three of them that you can count in your sight. Your mind is running in full speed, thinking the possibilities that you can take from this point onwards. Joel is probably in the house, still deep in sleep and they are coming in hot.

Without much thought, you take a few controlled breaths before shooting at one of them. Headshot, it falls to the ground, dead. The other two changes their direction towards the shed and started to pick up the speed, sprinting. The horses behind you are grunting noisily, restless after hearing the gunshot but that didn’t distract you from hitting the targets that are coming. The remaining two clickers finally went down after taking a couple of shots to their bodies and heads.

“Fuckin’ hell” you whisper under your breath as you look back at the horses, checking if they are okay.

You continue to take a few deep breaths before opening the door and steps out of the shed carefully to go back to Joel. As soon as you do that, you hear snarling coming from your right and you turn to see another group of clickers, only a few metres away, heading towards you.

“Oh shit!” You exclaim before making a run in the opposite direction, towards the woods.

You turn back a few times to take a few shots at the clickers, successfully getting two of them. There are five more on your heels, still charging towards you.

“JOOOEEELLLL!” You shout for him as loud as you can, multiple times, as you try to keep the distance and kill the clickers.

Luring them towards you, you can only hope Joel wakes up to get them from behind.

“Cmon Joel,” you beg to no one but yourself, “wake up!” You scream helplessly.

As if Joel could telepathically read your mind, you spot him over the shoulders of the clickers, coming out of the house frantically. Then, you hear a few gunshots which brings you a slight relief that he is awake finally.

Now that he is up, you plan to get back to him but you have to make it past the remaining two clickers that are still alive. You need to reload the rifle but with their arms flailing, trying to claw at you, you are not able to do it. In a haste, you duck down to get the knife that you had strapped in your boot. Popping the blade out, you stab one in the head, twisting the knife before pulling it out in one swift motion. One more kill.

Joel is making his way to where you are at while shooting the ones that are coming for him. In a blink, the two clickers drop dead at his feet as his running speed starts to increase towards you, worried. He sees you stabbing one of them in the head before dodging the arm of the other one that tries to attack you.

You avoid all of the aggressive flailing of its arms and move around it to run towards Joel. You take a couple steps but you didn’t notice the large roots of the surrounding trees which are covered in snow, resulting in you tripping and falling head first onto a rock. This causes Joel to scream your name in a bellowing voice, his stomach drops, seeing the scene that is unfolding in front of his eyes.

You tried to move but the overwhelming pounding in your head from the fall makes you freeze. With your head down on the ground, you slowly bring your hands up to clutch your head in pain. You can faintly hear the clicking behind you as you are lying on your stomach. You close your eyes shut, with a pained hiss as you think that this is the last moment of your life before getting bit. However, as you lay there helplessly, you didn’t feel any biting but only the throbbing at the side of your head.

Suddenly, you feel a pair of strong hands grabbing your arms, which causes you to flinch. Joel flips you around slowly, resting your head on one of his thighs as you look up at him. He looks down at you with wide eyes that are examining your face quickly and mouth slightly ajar as he takes long, dragged breaths. He moves your hair away from your face and checks out the cut from the fall with the touch of a feather. You feel warm liquid trickling down your head as his finger accidentally grazes the pained area which makes you scrunch your face and whimpers.

“I know, I know. You’re going to be okay.” He says in a reassuring voice.

In your head, you want to say something sarcastic like, ‘Took you long enough’ but all that comes out from your mouth is just unintelligible mumbling because of the concussion which takes the articulation out of you.

“Can you move?” He asks with a raspy voice, eyes boring into yours.

You nod slightly with a weak voice, “Yeah.”

The both of you get up slowly with one of his hands holding your arm and the other, around your waist. You pause after standing up, taking a moment before moving to stabilise yourself. Your vision is kind of blurry but you push through the dizziness while still holding onto Joel. You can see your bright red blood in contrast to the shallow white snow on the ground. With him by your side, not letting go of your waist, you stagger back to the shed, passing by all the dead bodies of clickers.

You reach the shed without much complications with the help of Joel. He sits you down on the stool that you were sitting at not too long ago before the disaster that you were in. The headache is still prominent but you don’t want to be a burden and prolong the journey back to Jackson. Not only that, you start to feel some parts of your body aching from the fall as your adrenaline level starts to reduce. You are sure there are going to be some bruises and wounds on your body from the impact of the fall but you are more worried about your bleeding head.

Meanwhile, Joel rushes out of the shed to check the house again if there’s anything that has been left behind. He comes storming back to the shed glancing at you to see how you are keeping up. You are taking deep breaths to try and ease the pain but it doesn’t really help you. He goes straight to his bag to grab some stuffs out of it and comes kneeling in front of you, eyes levelling with yours. The whole time your face is scowling from the throbbing pain, it’s difficult for you to keep your eyes open.

He pours some water on a small towel to clean the blood that is smearing the side of your face, down to your chin. You open your eyes slightly, taking in the way his forehead creases, eyebrows knitted and eyes unblinking as he cleans your face gently. However, you don’t have the luxury of time to be lost in him when the ache keeps on increasing. He takes your hand and gives you a small cloth, telling you to keep pressing it on the open cut to slow down the bleeding. You hesitantly do so, sucking in a breath due to the stinging from the contact. He wraps your head with a long shredded piece of cloth to help it stay intact.

“Eyes on me.” You hear him say once he finishes with it.

You look straight at him, biting your lip.

“I’m going to get you on the horse, okay? We’re going back to Jackson right now as fast as we can.” He explains to you in a low, steady voice, grounding you.

“Okay.” You whisper in a strained voice.

He leans in closer to cup your face with his gloved hands that warms your cheek, “You’re going to be okay. I got you so just hold on for a bit longer.”

HIs eyes darting between the both of your eyes for a few seconds before getting up to get everything set and ready to go. Once everything is ready, he move the horses outside. You follow suit with staggering steps as you approach him. He gets a hold of you the moment he notices you walking up to him without his help. Somehow, he manage to get you up on the horse and he is seated closely right behind you. His arms surround you as he holds on to the reins while his thighs cage your legs. The warmth emitting from the closeness of his body engulfs you all of a sudden as he nudges the horse to move.

About 30 minutes of riding, you start to feel way more dizzy. The continuous motion of riding mixed with the blinding daylight is causing you to feel lightheaded and nauseous. You cannot help but to lean back on Joel’s chest, resting your head on one of his shoulders, as you grimace in all of the sickening symptoms you are facing. Your hands reach out to grab whatever parts of him that you can, his thighs and his arms, clenching it tightly. Nails that are covered by your gloves can still be felt digging into his clothes.

“I know, baby, I know.” You feel his warm breath at the top of your head, not even registering him calling you baby as you wince, eyes keeping shut.

“Cmon, stay with me.” He murmurs with a wobbly voice in anxiety, seeing you in excruciating pain.

Your hearing is already reduced and whatever Joel says sounds muffled to you. All you can hear is the rapid heartbeat of yours. Within seconds, you lose consciousness and your body goes limp. Joel uses his arms to keep you steady while still holding on to the reins. He calls out your name louder for a few more times but you did not respond, causing him to slow down to check your pulse. He removes his glove to touch your neck and he feels the coldness of your body against his hand. After making sure that you are still breathing, he picks up the speed, arms circling your waist as his front sticks to your back like glue to share his body warmth with yours.

Throughout the journey back, you are in and out of consciousness from the overwhelming pain and the blood loss. Joel had stop multiple times to give you a few drops of water so that you would not be dehydrated. It is all a blur to you and you just wish to be back in Jackson already.

“TOMMY!” Joel’s yelling makes everyone in the nearby vicinity turn their heads. He shouts for Tommy as soon as the gates open.

Tommy, Maria and a few others patrollers are waiting by the gates as they were starting to get worried, not seeing any glimpse of you and Joel a few hours ago and now, it’s already getting dark. When the gates open, they rush to Joel to help you off the horse. Eddie, your previous patrol partner before Joel, carries you to the infirmary with Maria beside him. Joel gets off the horse, letting the other people to take over the horses and supplies and hurries to follow where you are brought to.

“What happened?” Tommy asks while running back towards Eddie with Joel.

“We were attacked by some clickers back at the cabin house.” Joel answers with eyes fixed on your form being carried by Eddie.

“Did she get bit?”

“I don’t think so,” Joel blinks, eyebrows furrowed.

“You didn’t check?” Tommy asks with a louder voice than before.

Joel didn’t respond, his jaws clenched. He knows he should have checked whether you got bit but he wasn’t thinking clearly. Getting you somewhere safe was his only priority at that time.

“Joel-“

“I didn’t check.” He stops outside of the infirmary doors and turns to Tommy, glaring with fiery eyes.

“She was bleeding out from the head, Tommy, and I can only think of bringing her back here safely.” Joel argues, already stressed about you and now his brother is trying to lecture him about his mistake.

He goes in, pushing the doors aggressively, leaving Tommy to chase after him. He approaches your bed which are already crowded with the only doctor and a couple of nurses on duty in Jackson, checking your condition. He joins Maria and Eddie that are waiting a few steps away from the foot of the bed. Joel cannot keep his eyes away from you. His heart is still racing from the adrenaline rush. You are still unconscious and the blood is trickling down from your head as the doctor loosens the stained alternative bandage to check the open wound to mend it later on. The nurses continue to check the other parts of your body for other wounds or bite marks, just in case. To check, they have to undress you and that is when Maria guides the group of them watching, to wait outside at the waiting area.

Eddie has to go off to check on the horses and the supplies that were brought back, telling Maria to update him on your status. Maria and Tommy thank him for his help while Joel gives him a silent nod. His arms folded while he leans on one foot to the other, pacing back and forth from time to time, staring at the door to the ward room. He looks back on what happened back at the cabin house and he thinks the state that you are in right now is somehow his fault. He shouldn’t have fallen asleep and let you fight the clickers by yourself. He should have protected you from this situation. He runs his fingers through his hair, scratching his head as he feels guilty.

Tommy and Maria doesn’t say a word, seeing Joel already agitated from you being injured. The three of them wait in silence before the doctor comes out to let them know how you are holding up.

“Her heartbeat is stable now. I’ve already stitched the open wound on her head to stop the bleeding. She must have taken a hard impact of a fall seeing the bruises on the left side of her body, especially the shoulder and the arm. Luckily, there isn’t any broken bone or bite marks. For now, we’ll keep on looking after her and wait til she wakes up.” The doctor informs the three of them.

Joel rubs his face as he releases a sigh of relief knowing that you’re okay now. Maria and Tommy hold hands, comforting each other, relieved as well.

“Can I see her now?” Joel in a rush to get back to you after hearing everything from the doctor.

“Of course,” The doctor gives Joel a tight smile.

Joel goes back in to the room after murmuring his thanks to the doctor, not looking back.

“Thank you, Remy, as always.” Maria shakes Remy’s hands before walking hand in hand with Tommy to the ward room.

Joel pulls a chair close to your bed and sits on it, eyes fixed on you. The nurses has already changed you out of your clothes to a more comfortable patient gown. Your stitches is covered with a pad to keep it dry. He notices the red bruises on your shoulders that is peeking out of the gown and there are also a few scrapes on your arms like the doctor had said. He can feel his heart breaks a little, looking at your injuries. He raises his hand to swipe at your cheek gently, feeling your soft skin. He sees your eyes flutter slightly from the touch but still not opening awake.

Tommy clears his throat causing Joel to freeze from what he was doing. He glances back at Tommy and Maria who is observing him and clasps his hands together between his thighs. Shying away from the looks of them, Joel keeps his eyes on your face.

“We’re glad the both of you are okay.” Maria speaks to Joel.

Joel as usual, doesn’t speak but gives a slight nod to what Maria said.

“She’ll be fine Joel. Don’t stress yourself out more than necessary.” Tommy tries to comfort his brother who is clearly defeated from the hours of travelling and tending to your unconscious body.

Tommy and Maria stays there for a while more before leaving to let Joel be alone with you.

“Do you want me to bring you dinner?” Tommy asks him.

“I’m good,” Joel shakes his head, not having the appetite to eat.

“Alright. Do you want me to tell Ellie that you’re here?”

Joel looks up at Tommy, momentarily realises that he was not thinking about Ellie at all,  “Let her know that we're fine. I don’t want her to stay up waiting for me, I’ll see her in the morning.” Tommy places his hand on Joel’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze and heads out with Maria, leaving Joel alone, keeping his eyes on you.

The following morning, Joel is dozing off in his seat beside you, heads nodding awake time and time again. He clearly needs a proper sleep but he is fighting it off, wanting to be by your side when you wake up. With half-lidded eyes, he looks at you who is still in the same position as yesterday night. Throughout the night, he has pull his chair even closer to you. Holding your hand which seems to fit right with his, caressing your head when he hears your little whimpers, softly running his hands through your hair. He wants to keep doing that but it will be even better when you’re not lying sick in bed and is actually awake.

He stands up carefully to go home and freshen up before coming back to look after you. He also have to explain to Ellie about what had happened so she wouldn’t be worried. He gives you a last long look, eyes sunken deeply in sadness before turning around to leave while the nurses give morning greetings to him as he goes.

Not long after, your eyes slowly opens to an unfamiliar ceiling. You can feel a slight ache on your head, not remembering what happened when it suddenly hits you. The memory of the supply run, the clickers and the way you fell resulting in you being out of consciousness. Then, a face comes to your mind. Joel. Joel! Where is he? Where is this place?

You hear footsteps coming towards you. You try to get up from the bed but your body is too weak so you give up in doing so. A familiar face comes into view and you realises that she is one of the nurses in Jackson. She looks away from her board to see you looking at her with confusion on you face.

“Oh! You’re awake. Great to see you again.” She smiles at you, coming closer to check how you are doing.

She presses a stethoscope to your chest to listen to your heartbeat while you are still confused on how you are back in Jackson. She continues to check your eyes and your hearing before letting you know about your health state right now.

“Everything is good but you will still feel dizzy and nauseous, don’t worry, it’s normal after an injury like yours. Your muscles will still be weak and your body will ache for awhile. These symptoms can last for a couple days and up to a few weeks, depends on the how serious the injury is. You can be discharged tomorrow but we advise that you have someone to check up on you, in case anything happens.” She explains to you calmly.

You on the other hand, are at loss of words as you listen to her, still disoriented from just waking up a couple of minutes ago.

“I don’t have anyone to ask. I only have myself.” In a soft voice, you uttered defeatedly. You do not want to be another burden to someone else.

“I’m sure Joel Miller doesn’t mind it.” She mention casually, handing you a cup of water to drink. You pause for a moment, blinking at her blankly and takes the cup.

“Joel?” You stammers out his name, not expecting him to be mentioned.

“Yeah. He was here all night. It was so sweet to see the grumpiest man in Jackson caring for someone.” She gives you a pleased smile, “He left shortly before you were awake.”

You glance at the seat by your bed, knowing he was sitting right there for the night. Your heart skips a beat, imagining him looking at you for that whole time. You’re in your own thoughts when the nurse speaks again.

“Rest up for now. Just call for me if you need anything, alright?” She gives you a knowing smile as if she knows that you are thinking of the man that was just here.

“Thank you.” You give her a thin-lipped smile and thank her for the help.

She leaves you alone in the ward with conflicted feelings. It’s so overwhelming having these different feelings all at once. Before, anger was the forefront feeling that derives you away from Joel while still having a small amount of affection for him that you try to ignore. Then, he confused you with his actions and words, tugging your heart a little bit from seeing the change of his heart. Right now, he has saved you from going into the other side and you remember seeing the look of concern etched on his face when you were going through it. You know that he is definitely not faking it, feeling the sincerity from him in the last 24 hours.

Joel is walking back to the infirmary after washing up and having a short breakfast with Ellie. She was devastated to hear what went down during the supply run and told Joel that she is going to visit you after school. She did not say a word to Joel about how distracted he was during the breakfast. She knows it must be you that is affecting his mood and she cannot do anything about it except not taking more of his time and let him go back to the infirmary. To you.

In his hands, he carries a small bag containing a vegetable soup that he quickly cooked for breakfast with Ellie. He walks in and goes straight to the ward but stopping immediately in his tracks. From the open door, he sees that you are awake, smiling so brightly, not because of him but because of the guy that is sitting on the chair beside your bed. The chair that he was sitting on while rubbing circles on the back of your hand with his thumb.

You are holding on to the flowers that Emile gave you. The both of you are laughing about something and his heart clenches hearing your laughter. The last he heard of your voice was when you are whimpering in pain and all that he wishes, then, was to hear your gentle and playful voice again. He lowers his head, the hopeful light in his eyes gone as he turns around feeling crushed. He approaches one of the nurses and passes them the breakfast that he brought for you, telling them to give it to you before leaving the infirmary.

While you are busy catching up with Emile, another nurse comes in to give you a bowl of soup. It smells delicious and you cannot wait to dig in as you are starving from the amount of energy that you lost for the past 24 hours.

“This smells delicious. Thank you.” You cheerily says in exclamation.

“Mr. Miller wants you to have this for breakfast.” The young lady informs you with an innocent look in her eyes.

In shock, your head snaps towards her with wide eyes, “Which Miller?”

“Joel Miller,” she looks at you questioningly.

“He just dropped this off?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

You peer at the open door, seeing no sight of him while you keep staring. You wonder why did he not just come in and give you the soup himself. Is he busy with another duty? Did he see Emile and was not happy? Why would he go out of his way to give you breakfast?

“Anything else that I can do for you?” The nurse asks looking at you, confused with your reaction.

“No. It’s fine. Thank you.” You give a forced smile at her and your eyes drifting to the doorway as she leaves. You cannot help but to look at the doorway, wanting to see Joel but you are still too shy to admit it to yourself.

“What’s wrong?” Emile’s voice snaps you out of your trance from the doorway.

“Nothing.” You mumble and start to eat the soup made by Joel.

Emile squints his eyes, sensing that you are hiding something but he lets it go, seeing you gobbling the soup down in hunger.

The next morning, you are accompanied by Emile on your day of discharge. You told him that you can go back home today and he offered to walk you home. You are struggling because of the body ache that you are having and also the sudden waves of dizziness if you move too fast. It took you a couple of minutes to be walking without holding on to him anymore. Your stubborn ass is resilient to not hold onto him as you continue walking slowly at your own pace. The three minute walk to your house from the infirmary at your usual speed is now delayed to almost 10 minutes including the intervals of you pausing to let the dizziness or pain pass before moving again.

Joel is sitting by his bedroom window that is facing your house. He knows that you are being discharged today from what Ellie had told him after her visit. If Emile hadn’t offered, he would have gone to help you, given his free time after the supply run. He sees you struggling to walk with Emile by your side with a worried look on his face. For a moment, anger fills Joel’s entire body when he sees Emile not helping you at all but he eventually calms down after noticing how you are holding your hand out when Emile comes closer. He scoffs, a small curl on side of his lips as he shakes his head. What is he going to do with that stubborn head of yours? If he could, he would have already picked you up and carried you in the house.

Emile leaves after making sure you are back in your house safely and you reassuring him that you will be fine, not needing anymore of his help. You haven’t got the chance to eat something yet so you move the kitchen to make a small sandwich for breakfast, already tired from moving too much. You slump down on the sofa after eating, immersing yourself in the comfort of your home without any disturbances. You lay there, eyes slowly blinking heavily, letting your body relax and eventually you are deep in sleep.

A few hours later, you hear knocking on your door, partially awaken from the sound but you are still not moving.

Knock, Knock, Knock

It is louder this time. Grumbling as you get up from the couch, body still weak. You shout as loud as you can saying that you are coming to get the door. You take your time to reach the door and opening it to no one on the other side except a small bag on the floor. You look around and you spot the broad back of Joel slipping into his house, closing the door without looking back. You pick the bag up to find out the contents of it and the mix of nutty and savoury smell of warm avocado toast that hits you almost makes you roll your eyes to the back of your head.

You bring it inside to the dining table and devours it, smiling to yourself. Smiling because of how good the toast was or maybe because of the person behind the toast. You want to thank him for saving and taking care of you when you were out of it. The ice in your heart is slowly melting away, recalling the moments of his newfound vulnerability that he allows you to see. The way he talks to you calmly instead of the usual hostility in his tone when he speaks to you previously. You remember the cold piercing eyes that was replaced with round melancholic eyes that captivates when he looks at you. In your heart, you know that he might just hit the nail right on the head soon and earn that forgiveness from you.

It went on like that for the next couple of days. You will open the door to a bag of packed food whether it would be breakfast or lunch or dinner. It is obviously from Joel, 100%, no doubt. He for sure makes a run home once he hears you coming, taking advantage of your slowed down speed. Every time you open the door, you either sees him already going into his house or already halfway back, walking nonchalantly as he takes a couple of glances back at you.

He comes knocking when there is no one visiting you at that time, knowing when you have not eaten your meal yet. You’ve been trying to catch him, reading his pattern and always sneaking looks out of your window to see if he is coming. You’re in luck this afternoon when you caught sight of him taking big strides towards your house, feeling confident that he is going to get away with it as usual. He does not know that the pain in your head had subsided marginally and your body is stronger now from all the time that you took to rest. Quicker than he is, you are standing behind the front door, waiting for him. Quietly giggling to yourself, expecting to see his shocked face. Unbeknownst to him, this has been a game to you while spending time alone in the house.

You hear the scrapes of his heavy boots and the creaking of the floorboards as he goes up the stairs. Your heart is racing so fast that you can hear its pounding in your ears. He is right on the other side of the door. You don’t even know what you’re going to say to him. He stops, pausing for a beat, then raises his hand to knock on the door. As soon as you hear a knock, you turn the handle, opening the door wide.

Joel’s brows shoot as high as possible, eyes widening as he stays still from the unexpected situation. His arm is still in midair, his mouth parted, not knowing what to say. On his other hand, he is holding the bag of meal that he had cooked for you. You look up at him with a playful glint in your eyes, appearing to be innocent but your mouth is twitching, trying not to laugh seeing him flustered.

“Hi.” You greet him, voice croaked from resisting the laughter that is bubbling in your throat.

He is still speechless, eyes blinking rapidly trying to think of an excuse for his appearance. You wait for his answer but clears your throat instead when he doesn’t respond.

“What do you got for me today?” You point at the bag of meal that he is holding awkwardly.

“Uh, nothing special. Here.” He passes the bag over to you and you take it, fingers brushing his in that split second.

“Thank you, Joel.” You thank him with a small smile, locking eyes with him for a few seconds before looking down at your feet. He grunts a reply, scratching the back of his neck as he fidgets, eyes darting everywhere else except you.

“I think I should go now. Enjoy your meal.” He breaks the awkward silence, not making eye contact as he turns around to head back home.

“Joel.” You quickly call out after him which makes him stop and look back at you.

“Do you want to come in?” You suggested without giving it a thought, not wanting him to leave.

“Sure.” He replies after contemplating for a moment.

You invite him in, heart still racing as you head to the dining table to place the food down. He follows after you slowly, taking in the insides of your house. This is the first time he is in your house and he is observing every single detail of it, knowing this is your comfort place. This is a part of you that he gets to see for the first time so he is going to cherish this opportunity that is given to him.

You’re in the kitchen, washing your hands, grabbing the plate and utensils to place them down at the dining table. You turn towards Joel who is still checking out your place, standing by your living room couch.

“Have you eaten already?”

“Yeah.” He mutters, eyes locked onto the shelves at the front wall of your living room where there is a remaining carved piece of wood that you didn’t put away.

“Can I get for you coffee?” you offer.

He turns around and steps closer to the dining table while keeping his eyes on you.

“That would be lovely, thank you.” He nods before taking a seat opposite of yours.

Joel’s eyes drifting together with your movements as you make the coffee for him. He is pleased to be in your presence even though it is nerve wrecking for him but finally talking to you again makes his heart blooms with happiness. He schools his features back to a composed face when you approach the table with drinks.

“Thank you again for the food.” You thank him again before taking a bite of the steak and mashed potatoes that he prepared for you today. He gives you his signature nod as a reply.

Your eyes widen as you take the first bite of the meat and gawks at Joel, “It’s delicious!”

“Glad you like it.” He shrugs his shoulders, tipping his head forward slightly, feeling smug from your praise.

“What the fuck. It’s really good.” You cannot believe it and keeps on eating.

Joel brings the mug to his face, sipping on his coffee to cover the smile that is breaking into his face after seeing your raw reaction to his cooking. The way you react reminds him of Ellie and he finds it so adorable. He scans the side of your head that is covered with a new gauze for the stitch and notices the red bruises on your arms that is fading to brown as it heals. He hated seeing you in that kind of pain and it was gut wrenching to witness that, not able to soothe the pain away for you. He is relieved to see you smile again and this time because of him.You finish the meal while he sits there watching you eat with warm and focused eyes as you steal glances at him.

He insisted that you have a seat at the sofa as he washes the dishes for you. You did argued with him to let you do it yourself but you cannot defeat the man that is way more hardheaded than you. Staring at the back of the man that broke your heart two months ago who is now washing your dishes in your kitchen, you would have never seen this coming. You selfishly want to see more of him, shamelessly admitting it to yourself.

"Uh, I should go now." Joel rubbing his hands on his jeans, wiping the leftover wetness as he comes out of the kitchen area, towards you.

"Already?" your brows furrowed unknowingly, standing up slowly to see him out.

Joel cocks his head to the side, hearing the disappointment in your voice. He moves closer to you, heart beating rapidly, knowing that you want to spend more time with him.

"I'm on patrol duty with your temporary replacement soon." He explains.

"Oh. Hopefully you don't scare him away while I'm gone." You tease him.

He huffs before replying you with a smirk, "We'll see bout that.”

Just before he steps out of the house, you grab his wrist instinctively, turning him around to face you again.

“I really want to thank you for everything that you did for me. I appreciate it and it means a lot to me that you had my back. I’m sorry if I was a troublesome-“

“You weren’t,” Joel interrupts, twisting his wrist to hold your hand instead, “you never were.” He whispers, still shy to convey his true feelings.

His eyes are expressive with so many unspoken words as he gazes into yours, instinctively rubbing circles on the back of your hands like he did in the infirmary, waiting for you to be awake. But you don’t know that. Don’t know about the delicate touches that he leaves on your skin that night.

“Also, don’t leave the food by itself in front of my door. Next time, say hi to me at least.” You complain.

“Yes ma’am.” He give you a once over before letting go of your hand, “take care.” He heads out to make his way to the stables, looking back at you again who gives him a small timid wave. You notice his smile twisted with a smile before he snaps his head away, hiding his blushing face away from you. He walks away with lighter steps as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Surrounded by the books, you are sitting at one of the tables in the library with Emile. There is no sign of other people this morning causing the library to be filled with serene silence. The sunlight from the window, pierce through the gaps of the bookshelves, softly hitting the tables. Emile is rambling about his new read excitedly and you are listening to him intently, interested in where the story is going. It goes on from sharing stories with each other to talking about usual random stuffs until Emile brings up Joel in the conversation.

“How’s it going with Joel?” He asks in a cheery voice.

“What do you mean?” You release a laugh awkwardly.

“You seem livelier for the past few days and I thought Joel could be the reason for that.” His eyes are bright as he keeps the eye contact with you.

“What makes you say that?”

“I overheard that Joel has been cooking for you and that you guys even eat together for the past few days at your house.”

You smack your lips, nodding your head as you look away. You don’t talk to Emile about Joel so it’s kinda embarrassing to admit it to him. Since it’s out in the open, you use this time to tell the truth.

“You are a good friend, Emile. It’s comfortable to have conversations with you. I get to talk to you about anything and you are one of my emotional support in Jackson. I’m happy that we became friends.” You express to him with a sense of guilt, assuming it might hurt him that you put him in the friend zone. Your eyes lowering to your fidgeting hands on the table.

“Is this the part where you say that you don’t have feelings for me?” He questions with a clear voice.

You blink blankly at him, taken aback by his direct question. Your mouth parts slowly, wanting to speak but he continues to talk, sensing your faint hesitation.

“It’s okay. I know you are just being friendly with me without any other intentions, whether it’s good or bad. I see how you react when he’s around you and it’s pretty obvious, making me think that I’m stupid for not noticing it at first.”

“You’re not stupid,” you deny his negative thought.

“But I do enjoy your company and I’m really glad that we became friends as well.” His face beaming with a smile that infects you to mirror his.

You hold out a hand for him to shake on. He takes it and gives a firm handshake.

“We’re officially besties now” You states with a bright smile.

“Isn’t Ellie your bestie?”

“Okay, you’re officially my second bestie now.” You correct yourself.

“Whatever, tell me about you and Joel.” Emile still curious about the two of you, wiggling his eyebrows as he sent a playful smirk towards you.

“Oh shut up.” You pushes his hand away, rolling your eyes, faking the irritation. You know that if you talk about Joel now, you cannot control your expressions. He barks out a laugh seeing your reaction which makes you laugh as well.

Still giggling as Emile teases you, the both of you hear the door open and standing there is the man of the hour himself, Joel Miller. Stunned, you just freeze in your seat, gawking at him. You notice the cloud of breath coming out of his mouth as he exhales. His eyes studying your face and drifts towards Emile who is sitting opposite of you. His eyelids flutters slightly before lowering his gaze towards the floor.

“Sorry for interrupting.” He mutters, rubbing his gloved hands together before turning around to leave the library.

You stand up, eyes still trained on the door that was just shut.

“Go.” Emile looks up at you.

“I’ll see you again.” You take off without looking back.

Joel is dragging his feet back to his house, jaws clenching as the image of you and Emile having a good time laughing is stuck on his mind. In the span of few days of him checking up on you and having meals together, he forgets about Emile who has always been treating you nicely. How can he compete with a man who hasn’t been mean to you and break your heart?

“Joel! Wait up!” Your yelling halts him in his tracks. He looks over his shoulder and see you trying to keep up with him. He is still worried about you moving that fast, anxious that it will trigger dizziness in you again. He waits for you patiently, facing you with his head hanging low as he looks at his boots in the snow.

Another pair of boots comes into his view, opposite of him. He looks up to your face, seeing you panting, trying to catch your breath. How can you still look this cute standing in front of him while you gasp for air? He just wants to hold your face with his hands, warming your face that is growing cold.

“Where are you going?” You ask him.

“Home.” He gives a short reply, glancing towards the street.

“It’s cold. You should get back inside. I didn’t mean to disturb your time together.” His eyes darting over your shoulders at the library.

“You didn’t disturb anything. Were you looking for me?” You dismisses what he just said.

“I brought breakfast for us to eat together but you weren’t there.” He tries to be casual about it but you caught the sad look in his eyes.

“Let’s go then.” You walk ahead, leaving him to follow after you.

Joel picking at his leftover food aimlessly is bothering you. He is more quiet this morning, keeping his eyes on his plate most of the time. You call him out on his behaviour, not standing it anymore.

“What’s with the long face?”

“Nothing,”

“Don’t lie to me.” You firmly said.

He pauses for a moment before answering you, “You still seeing the librarian?” Still not making eye contact.

“I told you that he’s just my friend, Joel.” You reiterate that point again.

He nods his head solemnly, his lips still in a thin line. He leans back, not having the appetite to finish the rest of his food. You don’t believe that he agrees with that statement.

“You jealous?” You can’t help but grin, raising an eyebrow towards him.

“Get that smile off your face.” He rolls his eyes at you. You still don’t get why he is shy to admit it when he literally said that it hurts him to see you and Emile together, back at The Tipsy Bison.

“I sense jealousy.” You said in a singsong voice as you pick up the your plates and his, going to the kitchen sink.

Joel immediately follows and stands beside you as you wash the plates.

“You’re so infuriating, d’you know that. I told you that I will do the dishes.” He grumbles, annoyed that you didn’t listen to him.

“Well, too bad. I took them first.” You shrug your shoulders.

“Give me that. I’ll dry it.” He takes the washed plate from you, wiping it a dry cloth.

The both of you stand there, shoulders and arms touching as you focus on the task at hand. He lightly shoves you with his arm suddenly which makes you look up at him, frowning. He fake innocence as he wipes the utensils. You pushes him back, stronger than he did but he doesn’t budge. Not satisfied, you keep trying to shove him to the side but you fail miserably. You huff, feeling unfair by the significant difference of strength. Giving up, you continue to clean the cups but didn’t expect him to continue his disturbance by nudging you with his hip.

You cup your hands with water and splashes his face with it. His eyes are closely shut, his fringe sticks to his forehead, soaked with water and it’s running down his face. Droplets of water forms at his chin which drips onto the front of his shirt. Your nose flaring as you try to suppress your laughter but you couldn’t resist it anymore when he opens his eyes to look at you. You back away from him slowly before running away, laughing at him.

“Come here.” He chases after you right away and you didn’t get too far before you feel his arms wrapped around your waist from behind. You squeal as he lifts you slightly before letting you down and turn you around to face him, his hands clasps on your lower back.

He shakes his head vigorously, like a dog trying to dry itself, water droplets splattering on your face from it. You cover your face while still giggling at him. After he stops, you lower down your hand to his chest. A big grin is plastered on his face as he looks down at you, bewitching you with his dreamy and enchanting expression. You are entranced by him, spotting the dimples that you rarely see.

“Don’t mess with me.” He tries to warn you with a smile tugging on side of his face.

“Oooh, that is so threatening. I’m so scared.” You sarcastically joke which earns you a scoff from him.

You stay in his arms like that for a few more seconds. The both of you are not saying anything as you stare into each other’s eyes. He licks his lips and for a moment, you think that he might lean closer to you but disappointingly, he lets you go.

He clears his throat, “I better get going. Patrol duty again.” Avoiding eye contact.

“How is he by the way?” Curious about your temporary replacement.

“Not bad.” He shrugs.

“Wow. That is a compliment in your books.” You are surprised by his comment.

“Yeah. Better than the girl that keeps annoying me.”

“Get out.” You jokingly says, passing him his jacket that is on the couch and with your hands on his back, you keep pushing him towards the door as he tries to fight back while softly laughing at your antics.

He puts on his jacket and faces you again. Bending lower to meet you on your eye level, he tucks a stray hair on your ear and the graze of his fingers are burning your ears. You blink excessively, your heart stopping for a beat when his eyes meet yours.

“See you tomorrow, sweetheart.” He whispers to you, eyes twinkling as if they are the stars. You can’t stop the rapid beating of your heart even after he gets out of your house, leaving you dumbfounded and heated.

The Tipsy Bison is rowdy tonight with the residents of Jackson celebrating the bartender’s birthday. Kyle is the most loved by the people because of his endless kindness to everyone around him. You are seated in a booth with your usual crowd, Tommy, Maria and Joel. Unfortunately, Emile is unable to join as he finishes up his work in the library. Joel’s warm, strong thigh is pressing into yours even though there is more than enough space for the both on you on one side of the booth.

Joel has changed slightly, opening more of himself up to you. You get to see him bantering with Tommy over petty things like little boys which is what they are doing now. Arguing about who will beat whom in a arm wrestling match. You and Maria has seen this behaviour too many times that the both of you just shake your heads, sighing.

Recently, Joel has been brave to steal a couple of touches, not even hiding it anymore. He would tuck your stray hair or pat your head when he compliments you on something that you have done a good job at or placing his hand on your lower back to guide you somewhere and he takes every opportunity that he can to touch you. Like what he is doing now with his thigh, just to feel you there beside him.

A group of drunk, rowdy men walks past the booth before one of them stops to look at you. You sense his gaze and your head turns to look at him. It is the asshole from the other night, Jack. His eyes are heavy as he steps closer to the booth, clearly drunk.

“Oh look who it is!” He exclaims when he recognises you.

You don’t say a word, glaring at him as he drunkenly spews out insults at you again. The Miller brothers stop their argument and snaps their head towards Jack’s voice.

“Aren’t you Emile’s little mommy?” He says in a mocking tone, making you squeeze for fists. Joel scans your scowling face first before he notices your balled up fists on your thighs. His hand hovers your fist before cupping it gently, signalling you that he got your back.

“You threw him to the side after you get your fun and now you’re sucking off Joel Miller. What a slut.” He slurs on without shame.

Luckily for him, you are sitting on the inside so you cannot lunge at him to rip his face off and beat him to death like you wanted. Instead, Joel brings his fist to Jack’s face, rocking his jaw in an instant. Jack stumbles backwards, crashing on the nearby tables and chairs before falling to the ground, making people turn their heads to the commotion. Everybody stills, watching the event that is unfolding in front of their eyes. Joel cages him with his thighs, throwing punches at his face. Tommy gets up from his seat, holding Joel back before it gets worse. Joel stands and presses one foot on Jack’s chest, heaving from the punches that he threw.

“Last time, I told you to fuck off before I break your jaw. It seems like you really need it to break to get it into your fuckin’ head.” He growls at Jack that is looking up at him with eyes that are clouded with terror.

“You talk about my girl like that again, I will not hesitate to end you.” He warns with eyes that could kill Jack right there on the spot. “Now fuck off!” He spits at Jack after removing his foot away. Jack scrambles away with his friends, holding them for support.

Joel stands there, reeling in what he had just done. The crowd slowly gets going again, knowing that Jack had that coming for messing around with Joel. Joel is still pissed off at Jack and if no one had stopped him, he would have already killed that son of a bitch. His hand flinches when he feels a hand touching his. It is you that notices his trembling hand. You bring it up to your face, seeing the blood on his knuckles. You frown, not liking the fact that he got hurt from trying to protect you. You go back to the booth to let Maria and Tommy know that you’re bringing Joel back home to treat the cuts on his hand.

You drag him out of the bar with his other hand, heading back to your house. He follows you obediently, walking hand in hand, even though he is still fuelled with anger. Stomping his feet, he keeps on grumbling insults about Jack and wanting to beat the shit out of him. You glance at him, seeing his fiery eyes and downturned lips as he continues to curse the asshole. A smile appears on your face as you listen to his complaints. You are still replaying the words in your head again and again. He called you his girl. It brings butterflies in your stomach just by thinking about it.

You sat him down on your couch while you get the first aid kit. You pushes the coffee table close to the couch to sit on the edge of it, facing him with your legs in between his. You place his hand on your thighs as you wipe the blood off his hand. After putting the ointment, you bandage his hand with a gauze pad available. The entire time you were focused on treating his wounds, he was studying your face, processing every single detail to memory.

"All done," you let go of his hand.

"Thank you."

"You didn't have to do that, y'know"

"I want to." He says with conviction. "I don't like him talking about you like that."

"But I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not. This was nothing." he tries to minimise the level of his injury.

You narrow your eyes and he shrugs at you trying to say that it is true. You shake your head disapprovingly, tired of his stubbornness. In the quietness of the night, wanting him to calm down, an idea comes to your mind.

"Come, I got something I want to show you." you crosses over his thigh, wanting to go up the stairs.

He quickly grabs your hand, wanting you to guide him upstairs as you hold on to him. You blushes when he does that, still making your heart flutters. Swallowing his spit, nervous that you brought him to your room, he stands at your door just watching you opening your window. You climb out the window to sit at your tiled roof, looking back at him, urging him to join you.

He marches across your room to the window, poking his head out, "It's freezing."

"I know. Just come out for awhile. You won't die," you reassures him. "Or are you just a coward?"

That strikes a nerve in him as he clicks his tongue at you and asks you to move over to give him some space. He folds his body, bones cracking as he struggles to go through the window.

"Damn, you're old." Holding on to him as he goes through the window, teasing him about his bone cracking.

"Ha. Ha. Funny." He replies in a monotonous voice.

The both of you sat next to each other, looking into the darkness of the vast sky. Because it is not snowing heavily, the moon that is not blocked by the clouds, brighten the snow-covered landscapes with a soft glow. The faint twinkle of the stars, reflecting in Joel's glassy eyes as you blatantly stare at him.

"I would sit here especially during the summer nights to stargaze. The enlightenment you get when you let your body immerse within the beauty of the nature is like no other." you explain.

"They're gorgeous." Peering into your eyes as it seems like he's not talking about the stars but you instead.

You are lost in his shining eyes and so is he, in yours. All of a sudden, he blinks the unwavering eyes of his away, remembering something. He takes out something from the inside of his jacket that is small enough to fit in his hands. Opening his palm towards you, you find a horse chess piece sitting on it. You look up at him with questions in your eyes while he portrays a shy smile on his face, suggesting you to take it.

“Stop! This is the prettiest one I’ve ever seen. You made this?” Still surveying the piece in awe.

“Yeah. Look at the bottom.”

You flip it around and notices a small writing on it. You stop breathing for a moment, reminded of the guitar pick that you gave him two months ago. You keep staring at the words directing at you.

“I was contemplating between this and ‘Let me be your knight in shining armour’, y’know. Because of the horse. But it was too long for me to-“ He stammers while trying to elaborate but stops when you lay your head on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Joel. I love it.” You hold the chess piece in your hand, tightly. His heart jumps with elation, overjoyed by your words.

He whispers your name, enrapturing you to shift your eyes at him, still resting your head on his shoulder.

“I would undo every single thing that I’ve done or said that hurt your feelings, in a heartbeat if I could. I didn’t see you for who you are and it kills me that I wasted so much time being a prick when we could spend more time together instead. You never fail to fill my heart with kindness and love and I want to do the same for you. Will you let me do that for you?” He confesses to you.

“Who said you haven’t done that yet?” You batted your eyelashes at him.

His heart stops for a beat, staring down at your face that is only a few inches away. Your glossy eyes mirror his look of adoration and he can’t help but moves your hair out of your face, caressing your cheeks softly.

“Joel Miller, the grumpiest man to ever lived, is sitting on the roof with me, stargazing. Who would have thought?”

“Only because it’s with you.” His thumb rubbing, warming your cold cheeks as you lean more into his touch.

His face tilts down to yours, eyes roaming over your features and stops at your lips. You hold your breath as he moves closer, heart pounding with anticipation. You have been waiting for this moment, imagining many different ways of exploring his lips. Your body shivering as he pauses when his lips are almost touching yours.

“Can I kiss you?” He mutters, almost inaudible as he shifts his eyes back to yours for confirmation, his tongue poking out slightly to wet his lips at the same time.

“Now you want to be polite? Just kiss me already.” You pull him closer by the neck, gently pressing his lips to yours. His lips are electrifying to touch despite the softness of it. He continues to move and you follow, effortlessly flowing together like water. His arms that are pressing against your side, slides up your back, holding you close to him. You feel him smiling against your mouth as the kiss gets heated. You pull back from him to catch your breath, foreheads still pressed against each other while you keep your eyes closed, heart still racing from the kiss. He is panting for air as well, eyes fixed on your parted lips.

“I’ve been waiting for a year for this,”

“I know, baby.” He cups your face, looking at you with dazed eyes before suggesting that the both of you get inside before it gets colder. You step down into the room first and he follows right after. He pulls you back towards him by your belt loop, wrapping his arms around your waist as he cannot resist the look of need in your eyes.

“I’m not done with you, my love.”

He leans in to kiss you again, this time more desperately. You throw your hands over his shoulders, arching your back to press your front against his. As it gets passionate, you are stumbling backwards as he pushes you towards your bed, lying you down on it. He hovers over you, leaning his weight on his palms that rest on either side of your head.

“I’ll repay the one year worth of kisses tonight so that you can forgive my dumbass.” Sliding down the side of your face, leaving kisses on your neck. You let out a moan, blessing his ears with the sounds that you are making involuntarily. You try to say something but your head is clouded with lust as he lightly runs his tongue along your jawline, raking one of your hands through his curls and another, scratching across his firm back. His soft grunts in your ear makes your spine tingle, rolling your eyes to the back of your head as he slides his hands under your shirt, digging his fingers in your waist.

“You’re forgiven, baby.” You blurt out while you are distracted by his pressing body on yours. He stops, raising his head towards you, not believing what he just heard.

“What did you just say?”

“Huh?” Your eyes heavy lidded as you look at him.

“Let me hear it again.” He smiles adorably.

“You’re forgiven?” Your brows knitted in confusion.

“No. The other one.”

“Baby?”

His face breaks into a grin and he softly giggles into your chest, loving the fact that you called him ‘baby’. Fuck the forgiveness, he just wants you to claim him as yours forever. He peppers you with kisses all over your face, making you scrunch, still smiling at him.The night deepens as the both of you continue exploring each other’s bodies, steaming the room up with grunts and moans throughout the night. The chess piece that fell to the ground while the both of you kiss, lies sidewards, the writing prominent at the bottom of it.

‘I pick you 2’

previous part

Thank you for reading! I have another Joel Miller fic that is coming soon over here. It's a sports romance x childhood friends to enemies to lovers. Do keep a lookout if you're interested. All love <3 - Z

Taglist: @greenwitchfromthewoods @rebeccawinters @cuteanimalmama @rodriguez31 @orcasoul @ashleyfilm @macaroni676 @whirlwindrider29 @vickie5446 @uncassettodiricordi @astralqueenoc

[jamneuromain]

Ari's Payback

Mob!Ari Levinson x Reader

Warning: Mob!Ari, Wife!Reader, Ari being petty, a lot of cursing

Summary: As your husband, Ari did what he does best: annoy you.

A/N: Happens right after this event. Part of Venomous Vows series in collaboration with @biteofcherry

Ari cursed silently in his mind.

There was an intense debate going on about whether or not he should do this.

The brain cell of stupidity argued: Do it. Let’s give her hell.

The sane part of his brain said: Let’s just kill her instead.

Okay. Maybe he shouldn’t leave both his brain cells wandering in his mind after a few too many glasses of scotch.

Plus, killing her meant that he could only enjoy the look on your face once. While initiating the plan, on the other hand …

He reached for the box, and snatched the object inside with ease.

A part of him grew curious as to why his wife did not wire her stuff.

Then, at the back of his head, a slurred, drunken voice of his own reminded him that it was his home. It was your home. It was your shared home.

Ari watches as you rummage through the house, ask the maid (he forgets her name once again, Charlotte or Shari or Shar-something) to help you rummage through the house. A while later, the valet is commandeered. Then your chauffeur.

Together, the four of you search every inch of your bedroom, your bathroom, your walk-in wardrobe, and your second walk-in wardrobe with handbags.

He pulls out his phone to take a look at the time.

Ten minutes to eight pm.

He could imagine the guests murmuring, glass clicking, heels clattering, air thickening with his men huffing out cigarette smoke.

He could imagine the guests glancing at their wristwatches – having received a pat-down at the entrance and removed all electronic devices such as their phones like taking some friggin’ SATs – and getting all disturbed, wondering if they should bolt or would FBI come surrounding this goddamn place as this could very well be the largest mob family gathering along the east coast.

Yet, he muses, they should grow accustomed to your tardiness, as there hardly were times when you weren’t late for this annual gathering since your marriage.

He finds a box of cigars in one of the drawers of the coffee table and a box of matches to go with it. He lights the cigar and enjoys the rich spicy odor of it, feeling particularly like a club owner from the 1920s, watching in the dark as the mime continues in front of him.

Well, not a mime-mime, but a –

“It can’t be just gone.” You snap at no one in particular, though it is clear as day that you are not in a good mood, while the helps you’ve summoned keep their lips shut.

Ari allows a small whiff of cigar smoke drift from the corner of his lips.

Poor them. But it’s not like you are going to bite their heads off.

“Charlene, please check my jewelry box again. Marco, my coats. George, my handbags.” You grit your teeth tightly, “It’s a necklace with a ring of pearls and a fuckin’ big-ass pink diamond in the middle. It can’t be gone.”

And it is lying in the deepest darkest corner of his safe in the study. The pleasant bitter taste of the cigar filled his lungs, ghosting Ari’s face with a faint smirk. He takes time to pour himself a glass of scotch, knowing that this fiasco will last forever since he was the thief who wants payback for your last not-so-peaceful encounter when you decided to sabotage his online meeting with the loudest porn.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. It’s not in the jewelry box.” Charlene exits your bedroom a couple of minutes later, apologizing even if it was not remotely her fault.

“Sorry, Ma’am.” Ari’s valet, Marco shakes his head and refuses to meet his eyes with yours after coming back to the living room.

“Sorry, Ma’am.” Your driver George echoes.

You stand in the middle of your living room, hands resting above your hips, full make-up and properly dressed, with a beautiful strapless on you, and on your neck – nothing, nada.

Ari savors his scotch with his eyes closed.

First of all, in his defense, you look beautiful in anything, even a rag. Despite his hatred towards you, he is not blind. And you certainly do not need one specific necklace to bring it out in you.

Second of all, that necklace was a gift from a man before your marriage. A man who is not Ari Levinson (nor your father, for that matter). A childhood friend, to be exact. Ari has always suspected you felt a thing towards that man. Luckily, that man was off to some adventure in a godforsaken jungle in the middle of nowhere.

Ari prays that the friend of yours dies there. He could send a team of armed mercs to annihilate his opponent, but he chose not to. Ari Levinson is not a complete monster, just fyi.

Last of all, it was so worth it, making you mad.

“Fucking stupid goddamn pearls I swear-” You ignore Ari being all suited up on the couch, heading to your bedroom to check under the bed again, cursing under your breath.

The soles of your heels click on the floor hard enough to poke a hole in it.

“Fuck fuck fuckity fuck FUCK!”

He hears you lash out your fury into the soft beddings. He hears your anger pent up with no one and nowhere to aim at. He hears you curse louder.

Ari puffs the silvery smoke into the air.

See? The brain cell of stupidity tells him. Totally worth it.

[yellowbunnydreams]

Bunny Ears (Part 24) ~William Afton X F! Reader~

~This is my formal apology to anybody who cried over the last chapter, I'm sorry! If it's any consolation, I cried writing it.~

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Want more or something different? *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tag List: @ruh--roh-raggy @h4nluv @sleepy---head @do-double-g @confiscated-peaches-main @dij-ology @viviennemuerte @robin-the-enby @shari-berri @randymeeksisafinalgirl @hallow1090 @aponia-yue @likoplays @dilflover-3 @oak-leafs @phd-in-fuckery @weirdoartist21 @nicolezghostz @fauine @emmbny

Sorry if I missed you on the tag-list!

CW: Minors DNI, (18+ ONLY), Female Reader, legal age gap (Reader- 20's, William - 30's), divorce/processing divorce, Afton being a sarcastic hot ass, grumpy x sunshine. Faz-Fuck TM, scenes of making out, soft dom! Will, grinding, teasing (sexual), discussion of kink, drinking

You woke up curled up in William's sheets, holding onto his pillow and eyes opening to find it vacant aside from yourself. Confused as you sat up and rubbed the sleep from your eyes before the door pressed open and you watched a very focused Vanny holding a tray in her little hands as she tried not to spill the contents onto the bed spread, smiling as she noticed you were awake.

"You're awake!"

"Good morning to you too little lady." You smiled, making Vanessa giggle as you took the tray from her and let her climb onto the bed before placing it down, looking at the small bowl of cereal that she picked up, leaving you with bacon, eggs and toast.

There was a gentle knock on the open door and you smiled even brighter as William walked in, his hair tousled and looking half-asleep himself still, carrying a tray in one hand and keeping the other behind his back as he leaned over and placed a kiss on your forehead.

"Good morning, bunny." The nickname he gave you still made your heart flutter as you felt your cheeks heating up, unable to help yourself as you watched how his clothes sat against his body as he sat down besides you and shuffled closer.

"Good morning William." Giving him a kiss as he balanced his tray on his lap, curiously raising an eyebrow as to his hidden hand.

Pulling it from behind his back, he produced a bouquet of sunflowers, blue hydrangeas and yellow roses. Making you gasp and bring your hands to your mouth as you looked up at him, eyes watering as you gently felt him lean into your side, your hands moving to gently take the flowers and touching the petals like they might suddenly break as he wrapped his now free hand around your shoulders and held you close.

"It's not even my birthday, you didn't have to-"

"I wanted to. I haven't gotten you flowers since our first dates and...I wanted to surprise you."

"The breakfast as my idea!" Vanessa informed you rather loudly between bites of cereal, making you laugh at the small girl's determination to have her efforts recognised.

"Yes, apparently it's my solemn duty to make sure that you're treated like a princess this morning." William put on a serious face before it twitched into a smile, unable to keep his serious expression around you as you leaned your head on his shoulder and kissed there.

"Well, I don't think I can say no to that can I? What time is it anyway?" You asked, picking up your fork and beginning to eat slowly.

"Plenty of time before the both of us are due in work, unfortunately."

Work, you had totally forgotten that you were scheduled at Freddy's, and the thought of it sent your heart plummeting through your stomach. Unsure of how everybody would react to you coming back after the previous day's sudden announcement of your relationship to what felt like the whole of Hurricane, hell the whole of Utah as far as you were concerned. Swallowing a little thickly, you cradled your beautiful flowers against your body in a little comfort, William saw the little motion and held you closer to his side as he sipped the coffee he had brought up for himself.

Breakfast was finished all too soon, and you had to get a cab to your house to grab your uniform whilst William dropped Vanny off at Henry and Sarah's house so that she could take Vanny back to her mother. But you were feeling your stomach twisting and flipping as you stood in your uniform in front of the familiar smiling bear logo and neon lights that had yet to be turned on.

Taking a deep breath, you headed inside, feeling your heart beating quickly inside your chest as everybody inside turned their head towards you, you knew it was the same reaction you'd had a thousand times whilst working, but what made you feel like you were going to throw up was the sudden pause in the chatter that permeated the staff in the morning. Gripping your bag close to your body, your eyes flickered down as you headed towards the back to find out what your work assignment for the day was.

Hearing the whispers beginning again in your wake, your eyes watered as you tried not to listen to any of them, afraid of what you might hear as you went through the employee's only door. Placing your bag into the small cubby that was available for bag, adjusting your hair, vest and purple ribbon bow in the dusty mirror as you tried to take a deep breath and calm yourself. Putting on a brave face and smile as you turned on your heel and walked back out.

"Well, we know how somebody got the job at least." Garrett scoffed as you re-emerged, making you look at the floor as any confidence you had falsely put up slipped and your smile wavered.

"Shut the actual fuck up Garrett."

"Yeah, jesus christ, just because you can't get laid."

"You really got to shit on them like that?"

You were surprised as several voices piped up to your defence, and you looked up to see most of the people who had been near to the spotty young man frowning heavily and inching away from him.

"What? It's clear that she did something to get into their favour! I mean maybe she took bo-" Grinning as he spoke, only for you to see Stacey walking up to him, jabbing a finger in his chest.

"Finish that thought and you're going to get your head fucking kicked in." Stacey spat, continuing to push her finger into Garrett's chest as he held up his hands in defence, still smiling and laughing.

"Like you could reach. Anyway, I bet Afton got his he-"

"Well, this was certainly not what we expected to come into this morning." The voice of Henry Emily snapped everybody too, seeing his green eyes darting around and assessing as everybody on the staff held their breath slightly. Looking like somebody had performed a magic trick in front of a dog, whilst the taller, broader figure behind him looked positively murderous.

William and Henry had arrived.

Nobody moved for a second before the two large fry cooks you had never really spoken to moved quickly, grabbing Garrett by the back of his uniform, and picking him up, much to his scrawny, flailing protests as they headed towards the front door. Your heart beating quickly inside your chest as you opened your mouth to protest.

"You're going to apologise to Mr. Afton now, and then to," you heard your name, blinking as you realised that they had set him down in front of William. Holding Garrett in place with a vaugely threatening aura as the staff came together.

The women starting to congregate around you, gently touching your arm and offering a few soothing words as your eyes watered. You thought that they would all think like Garrett, he had voiced your worst fear in coming in that day, but you felt the rest of the staff's support as they glared his way. The guys moving towards William and Henry, clearly riled up by the fact that the scrawny barely-adult had run his mouth.

"Garrett....Why don't you follow me to the office?" Henry offered after a moment, gesturing towards the back offices as Garrett scoffed, rolling his eyes at the kindly smiling man.

"Mr. Emily, I don't -"

"Oh, it wasn't a fucking request. Get in that office, now." Everybody paused as they heard Henry swearing, watching him place a firm hand on Garrett's shoulder and guiding him towards the employee's only door, nodding to the little gaggle of girls that had gathered around you. "Excuse me ladies, you shouldn't have had to hear that from me." All but dragging what you suspected was soon to be your former co-worker into the back.

There were a few beats of silence before one of the guys clapped William Afton on the arm, making him jump slightly and frown before you heard the low murmur of voices.

"Congrats Mr. Afton."

"Yeah, you're a lucky guy! Not many girls would have a guy after saving them from falling flat on their ass." Causing a bit of laughter from the group of guys and watching as William began to relax, smiling a little as he glanced at you over their heads, offering you a softer, more warm smile.

"So...who started this little crush cycle then?"

"I bet it was when he asked for ID."

"No way! It was totally sports day!"

"Come on Mr. Afton, settle the bet!"

"I'm not settling any bets for you lot. Unless it's about how many children I take out at the next sports day." William chuckled, earning a cheer from the guys whilst you were still being fussed over by the few other by the ladies.

Stacey pushed her way to the front of your own little crowd, her eyes wide and watering as you felt yourself being pulled into a tight hug, giving her one back as you laughed softly.

"You're almost as bad as Henry, you know that right?" You giggled, making your friend hug you harder before holding you at arms length, lip trembling as she tried not to cry.

"I can't help it! You're too cute! Both of you are too cute! Oh god at least I haven't missed much...have I?"

"Well...we have matching bracelets?" You offered, bringing your wrist up to show the silly purple plastic one with the Spring-Bonnie charm as William seemed to escape from his own circle and head towards you, smiling warmly, clearly a little flustered from the attention.

"YOU HAVE MATCHING BRACELETS?!" Stacey wailed, holding onto you and making you laugh as William rolled his eyes behind her, reaching over to place a soft kiss against your head, much to the delight of the ladies.

"I swear you're a tiny Henry sometimes. Are you sure your last name isn't Emily?" He asked Stacey, sending her into a million and one questions and vauge threats about if he broke your heart or hurt you in any way.

You supposed you had two families now. The Afton family and the Fazbear Family.

The phone rang in William's ear as he sat in his office, sighing softly and waiting for the supplier he was calling to pick up as the door to his office opened and you entered. Making him smile broadly, running his hand over his beard as he gestured for you to come in by curling two fingers in quick sucession. Smiling at you softly before he quickly scribbled down a note on his desk and hung up the phone. Leaning forwards onto his elbows as he rested his chin on his hands, eyes sparking behind his gold glasses in the same way they had when he had bitten at you when you first came into parts and services what felt like a lifetime ago.

"Well, to do what do I owe this pleasure?" He rumbled, making you smile as you stood infront of his desk, your hands conspicuoisly behind your back as you rocked back and forth on your heels.

"Well, sir, you seemed like you needed to eat something." William groaned as you called him 'sir', feeling his chest tighten as you looked so sweet in front of him. You raised a slight eyebrow at the noise.

"So I've been sent dessert before dinner?" An almost growl to his voice as he heard your own breath catch slightly, feeling pleased with himself that he could fluster you so easily.

You produced a pizza box from behind your back, making William laugh as you set it on the desk, his fingers opening it up as the smell hit him and he realised just how hungry he was. He had only had a coffee that morning, and the extra calories wouldn't kill him, only develop his dad-bod further which he had heard no complaints from you about. He decided to have fun with you though and sat back in his chair with a sigh, hearing the office chair creak under his shifting weight.

"If I only had the time, I have to finish this paperwork and I can't exactly get my fingers greasy and then handle it..." Making you raise an eyebrow at the comment, feeling your own smile widening slightly as he ran his thick fingers through his greying hair. "I guess you'll have to feed me, bunny."

"Well I feel like I'll drop it onto your paperwork if I do, sir." Hearing a little growl under his sigh as he made the same 'come hither' gesture towards you, the office silent aside from a quiet fan as you stepped around his desk. Yelping as he ensnared your waist and pulled you onto his lap, making your cheeks flush badly as he shifted you so that you were sat on one broad thigh. His hand remaining on your waist as he looked up at you, raising an eyebrow and trying to maintain a serious expression.

"Now you won't drop it on my paperwork, and you get to be a good little bunny and keep me company too." Whispering in your ear and making you shiver as he picked up his pen again and began to pull over his paperwork whilst holding onto you.

You picked up a slice of pizza and brought it up to William's mouth. Giggling at the absurdity of sitting in his lap and feeding him whilst he worked away on parts orders and technical specifications that went way over your head, which only made the older man raise an eyebrow at you before he carried on silently with his work. But it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, rather simply a comfortable lack of things to talk about in the moment.

As you fed him, he would occasionally shake his head and you would take a bite. Leaning against him and occasionally squirming in his lap to stop yourself from falling off, earning a small squeeze around your waist as you did so.

"You have sauce on your lip, Mr. Afton." You said after a while, making William blink and place his pen down, leaning back in his chair with you and smiling slightly.

"Oh do I now?" That playful spark in his eyes making you smile.

"You do sir, can I get it for you?"

"Please." You smiled and complied, leaning in and kissing him slowly. Sensually as your tongue darted across his lip to catch something that didn't exist, you simply wanted an excuse to kiss him.

William's grip tightened on your waist as he groaned into the kiss, responding in kind as his tongue slipped into your mouth, eliciting a soft gasp from you and an almost posessive growl from him as his other hand rested on your thigh and stroked over the material of your work pants lightly. Both of you moving slowly before parting for breath.

"I think I got it, Will." Giggling as he looked up at you after a moment, seeing him smile as he placed his forehead against yours.

"Do you know how much you drive me crazy?" Chuckling as you pulled back and looked at him quizically.

"Oh?"

"Oh is right, little bunny. Coming in here, pressing my buttons without knowing what you're doing." He growled, making you smile and look at him with a raised eyebrow and cocked head.

"I did?...How?" You asked, earning a gentle tap on your nose as he leaned back in his chair, running his hand through his hair.

"Think about it, work that brilliant, pretty mind of yours."

It took a few moments of thinking, finding yourself a little flustered after his comment before looking back at William and trying not to laugh as you looked into his eyes.

"Do you...you like being called 'sir'?" You asked, earning a squeeze and a wolfish grin as he tipped his head to one side, shrugging nochelantly.

"And what if I do, little bunny? What if I liked hearing you call me that from your pretty little mouth when we're alone?" He asked, humming softly as he watched your expression. He knew you were slowly being eased into it all, and he didn't want to overwhelm you with it all, especially since he knew he had a lot more ideas of things he wanted to do to you in your shared bed in his room.

"Is it just hearing it from me?"

"Only you, my love."

"Then I guess that's acceptable, sir." You decided to tease him slightly, unsure of what about it make William tick, but the growl and the warning squeeze you recieved on your thigh sent butterflies through your stomach.

"You're playing dangerously, bunny, I have a lot of thoughts going through me right now."

"Show me?" You asked, a mirror of the day you sat on his workshop bench and removed his wedding band with your teeth.

His grip tightened on you as he easily scooped your leg up and wrapped it over him, making you wobble at the sudden movement. William forced you to straddle his waist ans you could already feel how much he strained against his slacks under your ass as he reached up and undid the bow around your neck.

"You're hard." Heart pounding as he looked up at you with darkened silver eyes and his lip curled into a playful snarl. One hand expertly undoing buttons on your blouse as the other moved to your lower back and held you there.

"I've had a beautiful, wonderful woman sat on my lap for the past while. Treating me like she wants to, pushing those little buttons I wanted to keep hidden from you a little longer. Are you surprised, you little minx?" Growling as he shoved your blouse off of one shoulder and began to kiss up the skin between your collarbones. Feeling his beard scratching at his skin and occasionally nipping at you as he made his way up to your neck. His hips thrusting up into your core and eliciting little gasps from you that drove him even more wild.

Your arms wrapped around him and cradled his head against your skin as he found the point between your neck and shoulder that sent sparks up your spine. Grinding your hips back against his and gasping as you were rewarded with the the feeling of his teeth against your skin, nipping and sucking as he held you against his hips. The hand that had been undoing your blouse moving into your hair and grabbing it a little roughly as he marked up your neck in little bruises, listening to each whine and pant that fell from your lips with a thrilling chill down his spine as he enjoyed teasing you.

Eventually, William left your neck and smashed his lips to yours, his tongue bullying it's way into your mouth, allowing you to taste each other as you moaned into it. Feeling his hips still thrusting against you, head reeling as William pulled away and left little strands of saliva connecting your lips as he sat back in his chair with a wolfish grin. Looking at the mess he had made of you.

"Why...why stopping?" Your head was spinning, and William chuckled as he leant in to give you a gentle kiss, buttoning up your blouse for you and retying the little bow as you kissed him back breathlessly.

"Because of that, bunny. Can't have everybody out there thinking I've fucked you so well you can't even speak." Chuckling more as he placed a kiss on your nose, fixing your hair carefully and looking you over to make sure you were presentable. Your cheeks flushed an additionally deep shade as you realised you probably sounded like a mess as he looked at his watch.

"I promise bunny, waiting will be worth it though, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, William. Even if you're a teasing ass."

"You started it bunny, my babygirl, but I am certainly not going to turn down playing." Biting at you like he had the first time he met you, making you blush and shake your head as you smoothed yourself out and headed for the door, blowing him a playful kiss as he smirked and blew one back, shooing you out playfully and shaking his head as he sighed and tried to focus back on the paperwork on his desk, rather than the taste of you on his lips.

You somehow managed to get through your shift without being killed off by the thought of what William had done to you in his office. You knew you were going to get him back eventually, but you knew something about him now that you didn't before, and hadn't expected if you were honest with yourself.

You hadn't gone to William's house after work, claiming the need for a shower, which was true as much as he protested that you could use his, and secondly, you pointed out that you had to do some washing and actually wear clothes other than your uniform and the ones you borrowed from him. He wasn't thrilled about it, but you smiled at how pouty he got that he couldn't drive you back to his house and keep you for a while longer.

A knock on your door disturbed you from your thoughts, forcing you to get up and answer it, hair wet from the shower, wearing William's college hoodie and baggy sweatpants as you opened the door, smiling at Sarah Emily as she held up a bag which bulged with goodies.

"I brought wine!" She sang as she stepped in, making you groan and shake your damp head.

"You know I'm not much of a drinker, Sarah, and please tell me how you're getting home if you've been drinking?"

"Shush, you're sounding more and more like a mother every day! Henry dropped me off and is picking me up when I give him a call. I figured today was a good day to bring wine and have a girlie chat without the kids around." She grinned, glancing at your neck and her smile widening as she suggestively raised an eyebrow. "And it seems like William got a hold of you."

"What?" Slightly spooked by the comment, you felt your cheeks flushing and consciously covering the dark hickeys that had formed on your neck as Sarah giggled.

"That was practically William's signature in college. Henry told me William had a....thing... for biting, although, now you're a big girl and getting into those kinds of activities, the proper term is a biting kink." Placing the bag on your kitchen counter and bringing out a bottle of white wine and a bottle of lemonade, pottering around to find two glasses for you.

"So...William has...this...kink?" The word felt unfamiliar on your tongue, and you had images of William choking on whatever air there was if you asked him about it without any context.

"Oh probably quite a few, and you probably do too, you just don't know it yet." You swore your cheeks burned even more at Sarah's comment, taking the white wine spritzer she had poured for you gratefully taking a sip to give you something else to focus on. "How did the lingerie go down?"

"Yeah...I think one bit of it survived." Chuckling as Sarah gasped and playfully smacked your arm, shaking her head and waggling her pale eyebrows playfully too.

"So what I'm hearing is, if you get more that might might break?"

"I..I'm thinking of maybe asking him to pick out something he likes?"

"You know William far better than you think you so, he will go feral for that."

The two of you burst into giggles as you sipped your drinks, making idle chatter about the week so far and how adorable it had been to see the girls out playing together. As the sky got darker outside and your face began to hurt from laughing and smiling with one of your new found friends, you thought about how different your life would have been if you hadn't gone to Freddy's that day and asked for a job.

How if you hadn't fallen for a prank, you might not have met William Afton.

After Sarah left and you said hello to Henry as he picked her up, slightly tipsy, you decided to get down to the project you had brought the stuff for. Opening a cupboard and pulling out a sewing machine, blowing off the dust and coughing as you made sure it was all in working order. One of the many fixations of a hobby you'd had over the years and never quite put to use.

Quietly, you hummed to yourself as you picked up the bags of fabric and began to outline a pattern. Measuring and double checking everything to make sure it would fit perfectly.

You hoped William liked it, at the least. Working away on something that had been playing on your mind for a while.

[loojii]

I'm laughing at that rude anon who couldn't believe Shari's wearing Indian attire, as if the concept of foreign investors/partners and/or immigration does not exist. I love Shari, she's adorable and I need her UM.

You said her father is based off of the Cave of Wonders, wc makes me think of the Magic Carpet. IK that Kalim has a magic carpet in the game but I don't recall if its the one from the movie or just a reference to it.

I don't think they were rude just passionate haha lets not be mean

I indeed drew her in more Indian attire in the first sketch but it's not what I have in mind for her :) Her casual clothes are just a crop top with matching skirt, the pretty head dress because I wanted her to seem very rich! Her earrings and such are based off the lid of the lamp :D Maybe someday she'll have a proper design lol I had the princess from the thief and the cobbler in mind when I drew her :O

Her daddy is suppose to be the tiger head yeah- and for her mom I thought of the screaming ruby statue? Or is that too dumb haha Shari is home-schooled and rarely leaves the house - y'know like how the lamp is being kept in the cave? (This is getting ridiculous someone stop me)

[honeydewandcake]

What's the name of Shrimpo's mom? I think the names Shari, Carol or Cherry will suit her. And.. Can I draw her next to my shrimp?

I don't know what her name is. I already have Carol and Cheri as Shrimpo's cousins so I won't use those. I'm not exactly sure if I should give her a name, just to leave a mystery, but if you want her to have a name then I'll let others pick.

And yes, you can draw her however you'd like :3

[forgetminot]

Sharing Cigarettes.

✿ Arthur Morgan x gn reader ✿

Warnings : Both Arthur and reader smoking, fluff, tiny tiny bit of angst if you blink, reader is sarcastic and blunt (just like our man, he's a bad influence)

Author's Note : I love him

Summary : You and Arthur share a cigarette by the lake.

You make your way through the forest; the faint glow from the moon shines through the cracks in the trees and lights up the dirt path ahead of you. The only sounds that can be heard are the snapping of twigs and the rustle of leaves as you walk. You continue along the small trail and push the stray branches away with your hands as you step out onto the pebbled beach.

"Took you long enough, thought you got lost." You roll your eyes slightly at the gruff voice and make your way across the beach towards the faint glow in front of you.

"You could have waited." You mumble, raising your brow as the man shrugs.

"Would have been sat waitin' a while."

"You are so annoying." You groan, reaching out and snatching the lit cigarette from his hand.

"Don't you have your own damn cigarettes?" He protests.

"Sharing is caring, Arthur." You smile as you lift the smoke to your lips. He mumbles something quietly under his breath as you inhale deeply. "What's put you in such a mood?" You tease.

"You, for starters."

"Wow, I'm hurt." You smile, taking the cigarette and holding it out towards Arthur.

"Just Dutch driving me crazy, is all." He responds as he takes his cigarette back from you.

"Dutch is always driving everyone crazy, doesn't usually put you in such a bad mood." You move to lean beside Arthur, the rock digging into your back uncomfortably.

"He seems more... Out of it, than usual."

"In what way?" You question, turning to face him as he blows smoke into the air.

"You haven't noticed?" Arthur asks as he hands you back his cigarette and you take it with a smile.

"I mean, I guess?" You sigh. "I don't know, I think everyone is feeling that way lately."

"You not feeling the best?"

"Don't get me wrong, I love everyone in camp." You laugh quietly to yourself. "Let's just say... it's nice to have some alone time, like we are right now."

"So you like my company?" Arthur teases.

"Suppose you are okay to be around." You joke back as you blow a cloud of smoke in his direction, earning a small glare in return.

"Now my feelings are hurt." He mocks, placing his palm against his chest.

"I'm sure you will get over it." You look down at the cigarette between your fingers. "Do you have another?" You ask as you motion to the nearly dull one.

"No." He replies casually.

"No? Well aren't you useful." You tut sarcastically.

"I wasn't plannin' on sharing" He mutters as he swipes the cigarette from your hand.

"Hey! Didn't Dutch ever teach you it's rude to steal." You grin as you reach out.

"Quite the opposite, actually." He jokes, tilting his head back against the rock as he holds his cigarette up into the air.

"Shari-"

"Sharing is caring." He mocks, lifting the cigarette higher from your grasp. "Go on, You can do it!" He cheers.

"I hate you." You laugh as you hit him lightly across his chest.

"Thought I was, okay to be around?" He repeats your words as you move back to your previous spot against the rock.

"I sometimes wonder why I enjoy your presence."

"So now you enjoy bein' around me?" He smiles widely as you groan and passes you back the cigarette.

"Thank you." You mumble.

"What was that?" He laughs gently as you ignore his question and inhale another drag.

"You ever gone night fishing?" You ask out of the blue.

"I ain't the best when it comes to fishing." He mentions, gazing out onto the lake.

"I know that. That's not what I asked." You grin cheekily.

"Why are you asking?" He questions, taking back the cigarette once more.

"Because I want to go fishing." You state bluntly.

"Go fishing then." He responds- just as bluntly as you.

"Not much fun to go on my own."

"Ask Hosea." He suggests.

"Hosea isn't here, you fool." You step forwards from the rock and cross your arms against your chest as you stare back at Arthur.

"Fine, I'll come fishing with you." He sighs, dropping the smoke into the sand and stomping it out with his boot.

"Ain't like your going to be doing much, you wont catch anything." You Jest, smiling to yourself as you head towards the lake.

"Is that a challenge?" He laughs faintly as he follows after you.

"It will be an easy challenge." You grin.

"You have no idea what you are getting yourself into." He chuckles as you both stop at the shoreline.

"Oh it's on, Morgan."

[tlbodine]

Overthinking: Say Cheese and Die

Say Cheese and Die! is the fourth classic Goosebumps book. It's written in third person (which would soon become nearly completely phased out in the series) and features more of an ensemble cast than anything we've yet encountered. It's also a Goosebumps story that feels more Fear Street-like to me, but we'll get into that later.

I remember reading this one as a kid, although I don't recall having strong opinions about it one way or another. I was probably about 11 when I read it, checking it out from the library during a summer when I read a lot of Goosebumps (and other books).

So, how does it stack up against others that we've read? Is it worth a read as an adult? And, most important of all, is it still scary? Let's find out as we continue on our quest to Overthink Goosebumps.

First, the Plot: We begin in the little town of Pitt’s Landing, where we meet our gaggle of friends: Bird (the jokester), Mike (the fat one), Shari (the chick) and Greg (the sensible one). They have some other personality traits too but…not many tbh. They’re bored and decide to amuse themselves by exploring an abandoned house where resident weirdo goth/homeless eccentric Spidey is known to hang out. While poking around, the crew finds a Polaroid-style camera.

Greg (played by a lil baby Ryan Gosling in the TV show) likes photography and becomes immediately enamored with the new camera. But when he asks Mike to pose for a picture, Mike falls through a bannister and hurts his leg. When the picture develops, it shows Mike falling — even though he fell *after* the shudder snaps.

Later, Greg takes a photo of his dad’s car, only for the photo to show a mangled wreck. Not long after his dad is in an accident and totals the car. He takes a photo of Bird that shows him sprawled on the ground, not long before he’s knocked out with a baseball to the head.

Does this camera capture the future, or cause bad luck? Greg isn’t sure, but he wants to get rid of it. But first Shari convinces him to bring it to her birthday party and snap photos of her. But she’s not even in the frame — she’s disappeared from the shot! Not long after she disappears for real. Cops show up, they question Greg, everybody is real on edge and he doesn’t think anyone will believe him about the camera.

He rips up the photo of not-Shari and then….she’s back! She reappears with no memory of where she’s been for two days. Weird!

Now Spidey (remember him?) shows up and skulks around for a bit. Greg and Shari go back to the house to return the camera and find Spidey, who reveals that he 1.) is a scientist who 2.) helped invent the camera but 3.) stole it from his partner so he could have all the glory so 4.) his partner cursed the camera and it ruined Spidey’s life by killing everyone he knows, I guess?

Idk man, at one point he literally says, “I’m evil, you see.” So that’s about as much motivation as this guy is operating with lol.

Anyway now that the kids know his secret (??) Spidey won’t let them leave so there’s a tense chase scene and at one point Shari takes a picture of Spidey which literally causes him to have a heart attack and die (!!) and they pretend they just found his body like that when they call the cops later.

And then at the end a couple bullies we briefly met earlier find the camera and the cycle starts anew or whatever.

Overthinking It: The goofy title and skeleton family suggest a book of a significantly different tone than what you actually encounter within the pages. All things considered, Say Cheese and Die! feels like an unusually somber Goosebumps book.

I didn't have as much fun with this one as the others I've read so far. It feels bloated, for one thing, with a lot of its word count spent on character banter and frankly pointless small talk. I mean, for fuck sake, we spend actual pages admiring a Ford Taurus and its (checks notes) cup holders. Characters will say things and then other characters will say basically the same thing again. Unless of course they’re just cracking jokes. The banter may have annoyed me less if I liked the characters more, but no one stood out strongly enough for me to feel any real connection.

It’s usually explicit that Goosebumps characters are 12, but I don’t remember that being stated here. I feel like Greg’s crew come off as a bit older, which is one reason this feels more like a Fear Street title to me.

There’s also the matter of the scares. Usually, the Goosebumps books we’ve seen so far have had a supernatural threat standing in for unsettling real dangers. Here, the camera may be supernatural, but the nature of the threat is mundane and uncomfortably realistic. This isn’t a guy turning into a plant or a dog growing as big as a pony, this is friends and family having accidents and getting really hurt.

Normally I might like the sense of real stakes and danger, but in this case it falls flat for me, I think because the book just isn’t very *fun*. A Goosebumps book should have some sense of novelty and adventure to it, a capital R Romantic desire to be in the story even though it’s scary and dangerous. You want to play with that weird slime. You want to see the plants with human faces. We don’t get any of that texture here.

The idea of a camera that predicts the future could have been interesting if the characters had leaned into that more, like if at first they took snaps as a form of fortune telling before they realized it was actually cursing them. But instead the characters bafflingly insist that the camera is “broken” as if that in any way could explain its photos. This is an instance where insisting on skepticism just makes you sound stupid.

“My camera curses people” is a problem with a really simple solution, which is, stop using the camera you dumbass. It’s not like this was a curse set in motion that you are now powerless to stop. You could sell this concept if you leaned into the cosmic horror angle of it, if someone became so obsessed with trying to figure out how it worked that they couldn’t stop themselves from using it. Or if the camera itself could seduce you into using it. But we don’t really get either sense here. Mostly we just see Greg being sad and scared and lonely and worried about people as he gets buffeted around by the plot, which is largely nonsensical.

What was the invention Spidey was so eager to steal? A camera that doesn’t need film or batteries? A camera that tells the future? It’s never clear what the big deal is about the pre-cursed camera or why it would be worth screwing a partner over for it, much less why scientists were working on it to begin with.

Not only is Spidey a poor villain based on his lack of motive, he’s also absent throughout most of the book. There’s no real sense of malice coming from him. It would be one thing if Greg was being harassed and stalked and it was plausible that Spidey was the one causing all the bad things to happen, but that’s not really set up or hinted at.

The whole thing just feels poorly conceived and thin. The title and cover are the only really memorable things about this, which is a real shame because there are several directions it COULD have gone that would have been really interesting. Oh well.

If you liked this, THESE will really give you goosebumps:

For all my belly aching, the idea of a cursed camera can be compelling. For a very similar premise executed much better imo, turn to Stephen King’s novella The Sun Dog, wherein a dog keeps showing up in photos….and it’s getting closer.

For another excellent and chilling take on the "I did something bad and now all my photos have unsettling shit in them, I think I'm cursed" motif, try Shutter, either the 2004 Thai original or the 2008 Japanese remake.

If you like the idea of teens trying to escape an inevitable fate, the Final Destination movies are a classic. (The first two are the best, becoming increasingly silly as the series wears on). For a similar take in a different direction, by Stay Alive, in which a group of teens who die in a video game soon after die in real life the same way. (It's not a good movie, but it is a fun one).

So, those are my recommendations. Do you have any camera horrors to recommend? Any Say Cheese and Die apologists out there?

[vicky82gargoylesfan]

My Thoughts on Gargoyles Quest issue 5 Queen of All She Surveys

Great final issue of Quest but the ending was heart breaking.

I loved that Angela had a lot to do here, she was brilliant.

Spoilers

Demona's plan is in full swing.

Angela hears the music and Broadway has to leave the turkey. I assume deep frying a turkey is pretty normal for Thanksgiving.

Turns out Robbins is effected by the spell, I assume it's because this spell focuses more on hearing than sight, so a deaf person would probably be immune to Demona's spell.

We see that Shari and Sevarius are also under Demona's spell

Goliath tries to get Elisa out of Demona's spell trick that was used in Temptation but it doesn't work.

I absolutely love Demona's reaction when Angela confronts her.

Demona leaves and orders Xanatos to cover her by bringing out the steel clan robots. But then Angela uses her quick thinking and orders Xanatos to dismiss the robots.

It was pretty weird that Angela called him David and not Xanatos, maybe she was being polite.

Then Coldstone tells Goliath that maybe leaving the humans under Demona's spell is a good thing for the clan, and that's when Coldfire suspects her mate has betrayed the clan by siding with Demona. I just love Coldfire's reaction.

Coldfire uses her spiritualism again to track Demona to the airport. So Demona wants to use a airplane to spread her evil.

The clan arrive and Demona tells the humans to protect her, So Brooklyn tells Katana, Gnash, Lex, Broadway and Angela to hold back the humans.

Coldstone, Coldfire, Turquesa and Jade help Goliath stop Demona but due to there human influence, they end up under Demona's spell too.

Love the dialogue between Goliath and Demona, Demona said some pretty dark things like wanting to torture Elisa.

Angela has to leave Brooklyn's team to go help her Father. She tells Broadway that she needs but doesn't finish her sentence as he knew what she's going to do but Brooklyn didn't and Broadway tells him, 'family time'. and i'm like YES!!!!

Angela has to take out Coldfire and uses Demona's magic to obey to her instead.

Demona tells her Daughter not to interfere but Angela says she will always stand against her evil plans but will embrace her if she decides to change her path to good and she helps take down Demona.

Coldfire uses her gifts to change the humans back to normal and the 3 keys are destroyed but there will be 3 new keys.

Brentwood said "nice while it lasted" when Shari and Sevarius changed back to normal. Hmmm interesting!!!!!

Demona escapes, sadly there is a mistake, the speech bubble should be on Angela not Turquesa.

Jade and Turquesa finally back home, Zafiro and Obsidiana are there too and not very happy, but they will understand once they tell them their journey.

Sadly, Broadways turkey didn't make it but then we see him hugging Angela who is upset which is understandable, she wanted her Mother to know or even attend her commitment ceremony but it looks certainly she's off the guest list now and :-

Coldstone too now, as Coldfire knows he's a traitor and he should be banished, he accepts it, he could only return when he's deemed worthy, yeah no chance

I expect Coldsteel will be happy once he hears they've split up. LOL

Owen gets his broken flute back but he's smirking, so he knows something.

Then the heart breaking moment, Goliath, Elisa and Coldfire hear Katana scream and she, Brooklyn and Gnash are sitting there staring at an empty space where Egwardo should be. It turns out that Elisa under Demona spell stole the egg and gave it to Demona.

Egwardo won't be having the perfect hatching.

Then the last page we see Demona with the Egg (she wants to raise it herself) with Antoinette and Coldstone!!!! who's still sticking by Demona, so he's not interested in redeeming himself right now. Should of switched him off and put him in storage somewhere.

So Demona has won this round.

The Winter Special is next so I expect there won't be any spoilers as it only focuses on Bronx, so we won't know that if they get egg back or not.

[jayietheriverwarrior]

First: LINK

Previous: LINK

Next: Coming soon?

Here's the next part of my story of Sarafina and her friendship with (and mutual unacknowledged love for) Zira! I might make more, I have some vague ideas of where I might take this during Scar's reign, but nothing concrete yet, we'll see.

The drawing is all mine this time, including the background (though I did trace Sarafina's head again a bit from a screenshot from the movie, she's just so hard to get right). I had a lot of fun with the water effects and lighting for this one. The lightning is meant to be a screen divider, showing two panels, one of Zira, one of Sarafina, hopefully that comes across well enough in the drawing.

~-~-~

Sarafina eventually marries her betrothed, fellow guard member Kimbia, and the pair have a daughter, Nala. While not remotely attracted to each other, they’re good friends and never blame each other for the lack of attraction or lack of choice about marrying each other. They do their best to make it easier on each other, but it’s still less than ideal. Kimbia is actually in love another lioness in the pride, a huntress named Sema, but Sema isn't much of a fighter and Shari wants strong warriors bred for her war against the Pride Lands, which is why she paired Kimbia with Sarafina instead.

Kimbia is open about his situation with Sema to Sarafina from the start, and she is fine with them continuing their relationship, so long as they're careful not to be caught. They're not careful enough to avoid Sema becoming pregnant, however, and she gives birth to a boy named Tojo shortly before Nala's birth. Shari doesn't seem to suspect anything, but it has all three lions on edge nonetheless.

But even more than worrying over Shari discovering what they're up to, the birth of these cubs changes everything for these three lions. Suddenly, it’s not enough to just go along with their pride’s cruel way of life anymore. It's not enough to argue with Ziara over the state of the pride but not do much else to change things and just hope for them to get better. Now, there’s something precious to protect, something worth fighting for a better future for. They soon decide they can no longer stay in a pride so determined to make vicious killers out of their precious cubs. They must escape - they must run away to the Pridelands and beg King Mufasa for shelter, and hope he's not the vicious throne-stealer Shari has painted him and his father as all of these seasons.

Sarafina hates the thought of abandoning Ziara, but after so many arguments on the subject, she knows Ziara would never leave her mother’s pride. When the cubs are toddlers, Sarafina, Kimbia, and Sema finally make a break for it one night when a fierce storm hits, with the hope that the rain will wash away their scent and the thunder will cover any sound of their escape. But they get unlucky when a scout spots them leaving. Ziara is in shock that her best friend would try to leave, but Shari is furious. Not only are members of her guard abandoning their post by trying to leave, but they are stealing cubs from the pride, future warriors in their battle against the Pride Lands. This cannot be allowed. The only solution is the death of the traitors, and the recovery of the cubs. Ziara is desperate to stop her friend and stop her mother from killing her, but she hardly knows how she's going to manage it, she just knows she has to join the effort to recover the cubs and hope to find a way to stop all of this before her beloved Sarafina gets killed.

A chase ensues, and the three deserters end up being driven to the river gorge that divides the Outlands from the Pridelands (where Kiara and Kovu nearly got eaten by crocs in the second movie). Ziara manages to catch up with Sema and wrests Tojo from her grasp - to her shock, her beloved Sarafina turns on her and attacks, tearing her ear to make her let go and take the cub back from her. The lionesses and their cubs manage to make it across the tree bridge to the other side with only a few of the pride making it across while in pursuit of them.

When Kimbia attempts to follow, however, a furious Shari attacks him. With the queen furiously trying to tear into him and holding him back from reaching the other side, and the rest of the pride ready to cross the bridge and pursue his mates and their cubs, Kimbia makes a heart-breaking choice - he jostles the tree bridge in a way that dislodges it from one bank, cutting off access from either side and sending both himself and Shari falling to their deaths in the churning river below.

For a moment, every lion is stunned into silence. The Outlanders have lost their queen, Ziara has lost her mother, Sema has lost her beloved mate, and Sarafina has lost a dear friend and the father of her daughter - and, unbeknownst to her, to the son she is carrying and will deliver in a few months, a son she will call Mheetu. Two of Shari's pride stand on the Prideland's side of the gorge with Sarafina and Sema - Princess Dunia, the heir to her mother’s throne, and her mate Tumbili, the guard's Keenest of Sight. As the Outlanders get over their shock at Shari's death, they begin calling for Dunia and Tumbili to seize Sarafina and Sema, to kill the traitorous lionesses and bring the cubs the long way around the gorge to the Outlands once more.

But Dunia hesitates. She is not like Ziara. She never bought into her mother's hatred of the Pridelands. All she wants is a peaceful life and freedom from her mother's harsh treatment. And now, she has this one chance, this one shining chance, to break away from that life forever. With a glance at her mate to confirm his support, she turns away from her pride and joins Sarafina and Sema, and as the Outlanders shriek their outrage behind them, all four lions set off for Pride Rock. But before leaving, Sarafina turns back, just once, to meet the furious, hurt, hate-filled glare of Ziara.

So in the drawing we see one last look between these two friends, who once loved each other so fiercely, who still feel that love, only to have it soured by hurt and loss and betrayal. Sarafina, now safe in the Pridelands with her daughter safe in her grasp, looking sadly across the river at the lioness who had once been her whole world - but she has a new world now, and as much as leaving Zira and hurting her in this way tears at her heart, she can’t regret it, and she won’t let it destroy her. The rain washes away her guard symbol, symbolizing her leaving the Guard, and her life in the Outlands, behind.

Ziara looks across at the lioness she had trusted more than any other, who she’d thought would always be by her side, and who had betrayed her in the worst way she could ever imagine. Not only did she permanently scar her ear, but her mother is dead because of her, and her sister abandoned and betrayed her because of Sarafina’s example. She had gone after Sarafina to try and save her from her own foolishness, only for Sarafina to take away everything she'd loved. Ziara has nothing left now but her rage, and the hate steadily growing in her heart. With her sister and mother gone, she is now the new queen of the Outlands, and just as her mother did before her, she takes a new name to fit that new role - she is no longer Ziara, a traveler to a sacred place, but Zira, hatred for her enemies. And she will make those enemies pay for every bit of her suffering - starting with Sarafina.

[julymarte]

It has come to my attention that I have not done a post yet about Uri's death, as in the proper story behind it

so let us begin, Uri's death is one of the core points of the story, one that never changes significantly no matter how the story evolves, changes , gets retconned you get it! and is probably the most detailed part of the story i have so far since the others are kinda chained to other events or characters

Long read incoming🕊️

little introduction to explain how we got here: Uri got kidnapped by the sect of the marked to accomplish a ritual to bring back the Padra Empire(world) from it's dimensional exile as he was an easier target of a real high priest from the Kingdom of Sky, the good guys managed to interrupt the ritual midway but a small rift still formed so they now have to find the relics that were the ancients plan B if things went south, during the ritual tho it's participants: Shari, Uri and Ameera came in contact with the spirits of the former ritualmembers who were stuck guarding the "lock" for thousands of years and now cohabit their body temporarily until the ritual is complete, in uri's case it was lady Veleea

After acquiring the relic of the Sun the party looks for Rere'e believing that the relic was in the kingdom of Void but Veleea tells them the relic of light is hidden in the Kingdom of Sky a place the Avii managed to protect from the Padoor troops but she is not aware of it's location as it was hidden after her death. The relic is a sword a tool Avii would never use as a pacifist civilization but a last resort for survival, it can only be used by indivisuals with a powerful mana imprint (see it a bit like excalibur) and has the exceptional ability to turn humans into an Avii as the mask that held the soul of the Padra emperor could turn it's host (if compatible) into a padoor... in both cases wheter successful or not the host has to sacrifice their life to be reborn into something different.

The group arrives in the Azure Capital but as soon as they pass through the portal bells start ringing and they get immediately sorrounded that is cause Uri and Nakir are exiles by blood and their presence immediately notified the watchers

they both get taken away, Nakir to the colosseum to take part to the games overseen by Empress Gloria and Uri to the High Priestess Beatrice, the imperial priestess-advisor, so the grup splits to help/save them: Shari, Ameera and Ajmal will follow Uri and try to have an audience with the high priestess while Taru and Pravaal will join Nakir in the colosseum

Beatrice will basically imprison Uri as she consider him to be unworthy to be Veleea's proxy hoping to find a way to transfer her soul into a more adeguate high priest o priestess who has been preparing their whole life for her return, Shari and the others (also thanks to their royal status) manage to have an audience with her and explain the situation and how they need the sword (and Uri) she tells them the sword is not there, she'll show them the way and let Uri free but she wants to have a chance at it to proove she's more fit to the role than the son of an heretic (his mother Bianca got excommunicated for leaving her tower, imagine a cloistered nun escaping and getting pregnant) so she leads them to a secret portal that instead of leading them in a different world acts as a lift and brings them to a sancturary at the edge of the big lake formed riight below the floating island where the capital was built where the sword is kept. In the meantime Nakir and the others are fighting in the arena and end up tiumphant, they were allowed to make 1 request to the empress and Nakir asks her to bring them to his brother, she then calls a carriage to bring them to the temple where Beatrice and the other were before but they find it empty...they will find the portal but will take them some time... Below in the sactuary Beatrice shows them the swords and tries to weild it but she gets repelled and asks Uri..or well Veleea why and she, through him, replies that is because even if she's got a strong magic her heart is being clouded by their false doctrine and the sword repels those who would not use its power for peace, Beatrice replies that she would do anything for peace so Veleea asks her if she would die for it, the high priestess says she would do anything for Veleea but when she asks her if she's also ready to sacrifice her life to save land walkers she falls silent allowing Uri to get close to the sword and lifting it leaving her surprised but it wouldn't be the end of it as he'd stab himself with it immediately after to everyone's shock... and this is when Nakir, who was veling a stong sense of unease, and the others would arrive to the scene

Uri's corpse would first flop on the ground, the blood flowing copious and turning gold starting from the wound and touching asort of magic cirgle on the ground, Nakir would run to his brother to try and talk to him but he was already unconscious from the blood loss and quickly fading away, Taru would be petrified unsure of what to do and Pravaal would draw his sword thowards the high priestess assuming she was to blame ready to slash her down but gets stopped by Ajmal and Ameera who try to explain him how things went(not in a silly way likethe meme below ofc)

Shari will try to console Nakir assuring him everything will be ok as even if Uri's gone as a fellow member of the ritual she can still feel that his spirit is still alive somehwere, in that moment Uri's corpse would start to float and the golden blood and magic coming from the circle on the ground would envelop him forming an egg like cocoon with a similar pattern to tetra's eggs on top and a magic halo around it, the dword would remain on the ground unmovable but glowing

the group here would split again with Taru, Ameera and Ajmal starting to go in the Kingdom of Moon to find the next relic as Taru knows where it is and assures them it's a safe place and there's no risk to go there with a smaller group(it's in the dungeons of the Red Moon Academy, her Uncle is the headmaster and they'd have the whole Red Moon Guild to protect them if anything happened) and Nakir, Shari and Pravaal would stay to wait for Uri , if nothing would have happened within a few days Nakir would have sent Shari and Pravaal to the Silver Capital to aid the others

In the meantime Uri's body would dissolve to putty a bit like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly, while he was soup he had the opportunity to conversate face to fave with Veleea in a spiritual plane, thing Shari and Ameera would have been able to do only though fire and water not in a direct way, she made sure he would have been able to carry out the duty as if he was not the egg would have not hatched meaning their souls would have gone back to the flux if severed from a body for too long meaning he would have died for good

thankfully after a couple of days (maybe 3 if we want to keep allegories up) the coccoon-egg hatches giing birth to a quite confused Uri, totally not accustomed to his new body, he also announced to have been given a new name, Uri'el as a good omen for his new life from Veleea, the high priestess Beatrice who had also stayed to check on the egg immediately started calling it a miracle and treating him as if he was their new saviour as if she didn't treat him like shit a few days prior and proposes him to come back to be the symbol for the cult after the rift is closed to which he refuses and says that he plans to dismantle the cult instead so that other people would not sacrifice their life away for a fake dream like his mother almost did, the priestess does not like his reply but retreats to not enemy him his brother and lover who are still very much armed

Nakir is of course would jump to hug his brother wile full of tears and snot, they've never been in good terms but his absence made him realize how important he actually was in his life even if they bickered and insulted eachother all the time, Sahri's not so good with words and emotions but she's also glad to see him back even if she's a bit stunned by his new form... his reunion with Pravaal was also pretty emotion charged they did ofc kiss kind of to Uri'el's surprise as he'd expected that he'd be repulsed by his appearence (like his gf will later be) to which Pravaal replies that he should have known by now that what's outside is only relative and it's the person behind it that matters

and that's it! they will reach the others in the Silver Capital immediately and Ameera's part will start

ah in all this Uri has absolutely no idea on how to use a sword, Taru and Pravaal will help him with the basics in the gaps before Mukhtar's arrival at the Red Moon and before the final fight but he'll mostly use it as a magic catalyst

Random fact, in the epilogue the sanctuary where Uri dies will become the starting point to build Yaer'vol Nova and the temple connected to it in the Azure Capital will become an Avii ambassy

[princesssarisa]

If you're still doing the character asks, how about the Donkey from The Town Musicians of Bremen?

I'm always ready to do character asks.

Favorite thing about them: He's a plucky, likable underdog, who takes a bad situation, having to leave his home because he's too old to work anymore and his master wants to kill him, and makes the best of it. Not only by setting an ambitious goal for himself of starting a new life as a musician, but by inviting three other aging, threatened animals to come along, and forming a found family with them that proves more important than the goal in the end.

Least favorite thing about them: Hmm... Maybe the fact that he and his friends scare the band of robbers away from their house when the robbers have done nothing to provoke them, just because they want the house and food for themselves. The mere fact that the men are robbers is the only thing that justifies it. I think The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (which I only just watched for the first time) made a good choice by having the robbers also be the animals' abusive former masters, so it serves as appropriate payback.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I like music.

*I'm not good at hard physical labor.

*If a stranger disturbed me in the middle of the night, I would lash out hard at him.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm human.

*I'm not elderly.

*I'm female.

Favorite line:

When he first meets the Rooster:

"Your cries are enough to pierce bone and marrow. What is the matter?"

From The Muppet Musicians of Bremen:

"I'm a travelin' musician

Just the best there be

I'm a travelin' musician

A tuba-playin' donkey with a hee-haw-hee!"

brOTP: The Dog, the Cat, and the Rooster.

OTP: None.

nOTP: Any human.

Song I associate with them:

"Travelin' Musicians" from The Muppet Musicians of Bremen:

Shari Lewis also did a fun musical version of the story in one episode of her last TV show, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza. I remember seeing it as a kid, but I can't seem to find a video of it.

Favorite picture of them:

The famous statue of him and his friends that stands in Bremen.

This illustration by Leslie Brooke.

This illustration by Scott Gustafson.

These other illustrations.

From The Muppet Musicians of Bremen.

From the Sechs auf einen Streich adaptation.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Mask bans are dumb, dangerous | Editorial - Published Sept 11, 2024

Sen. Jon Bramnick will be proposing a bill on Thursday to ban people from wearing masks at public gatherings in New Jersey. It’s part of a national trend: Republicans have been seeking to criminalize face masks even as COVID cases are surging, once again.

The idea, he says, is simply to discourage troublemakers like campus activists protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, or criminals on their way to hold up a store, from hiding their faces.

“This bill prohibits a person from wearing a mask while congregating in a public place with other people who are also masked or disguised,” it reads, listing a few notable exceptions, like Halloween.

After Jan. 6th, the FBI poured over video footage of the Capitol rioters, Bramnick notes; we want to be able to identify and track down people like that afterwards. That’s true, and his intentions are not malevolent. But this is a superficial policy that quickly falls apart on the details, and presents a clear danger to civil liberties.

Start with this basic question: What if a troublemaker simply decides to disguise his face with large sunglasses and a hat, instead? Are we going to criminalize sunglasses and hats, too? Where will it end?

Not to mention all the enforcement and constitutional problems that this bill presents. Even with an exception for people who wear masks for medical reasons, it’s a threat to personal freedoms, because it leaves it up to the cops to decide whether someone has a legitimate medical reason for wearing a mask at a public gathering.

How will they know that? It’s subjective. And based on past experience, we know what that means: Police will disproportionately stop and question Black and brown people, who have also been the most likely to continue wearing masks to protect against COVID-19.

And, as Jim Sullivan of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey adds, this “overbroad and vague” bill “also gives law enforcement the ability to target people based on their political beliefs.”

If Republicans are trying to send a message, a more sensible way to do it would be to increase the penalties for anyone committing a crime in disguise – something that Bramnick says he would “100%” consider.

Good. Because in its current iteration, this bill would do little to deter actual criminals, while only further stigmatizing mask wearing for vulnerable people.

Ask anyone still masking because of a weakened immune system, or to protect a loved one, and odds are they’ve already encountered plenty of snide comments or hostility. Criminalizing masks won’t help. As the Washington Post reported:

“The day after the North Carolina House of Representatives passed its anti-masking bill in June in response to pro-Palestinian protests at the University of North Carolina, Shari Stuart said a man confronted her for wearing a surgical mask when she walked into an auto service center in the Raleigh area to get an oil change. After she tried to explain that she has Stage 4 breast cancer and a weakened immune system, Stuart said, the man called her a ‘f---ing liberal’ and insisted masks were now illegal. He later coughed on her and said he hoped the cancer would kill her.”

Nice. Adam Reich, a commuter advocate in New Jersey, still wears a mask in public places to protect himself and medically vulnerable loved ones from COVID, including his mother who recently died after a long battle with cancer, and fears a similar chilling effect here.

He is Jewish American, and laments that some Jewish legislators have gotten behind mask bans like this; they’re not effective in fighting antisemitism, he says, and may even further inflame the problem with their infringements on personal freedoms. And in the meantime, he adds, “This narrative against masking makes it more difficult for me in places where I need accommodation, because there’s this resistance.”

Add to that the frustration that he may now have to fight for “the ability to exercise my right to protest peacefully and safely at a gathering.” This is a bill, he says, that “undermines a valuable public health lesson for a political purpose.”

Right. Remember when former Gov. Chris Christie released an ad in 2020 in defense of mask wearing, after he ended up in the hospital ICU for a week with COVID, fighting for his life? “I think about how wrong it is to let mask wearing divide us, especially as we now know you’re twice as likely to get COVID-19 if you don’t wear a mask,” Christie said. “If you don’t do the right thing, we could all end up on the wrong side of history. Please, wear a mask.”

Or, at the very least, don’t criminalize someone else for wearing one.

[legitalicat]

Player 3 Found (mixed media au) - part 6, Jace 1

AN: omg I finally got this part done! Thank you all for the love so far, and I hope you enjoy!!

Series masterlist here!

Summary: Jace and YN are on a call, and everything feels right.

CW: Language, slightly sexually charged, fluff

Pairings: Jacaerys Velaryon x reader, mentions of Aemond Targaryen x reader

Word Count: 565

Previous Part Next Part

You felt insane. Truly.

You had agreed to be in a relationship with two people at once, ones you barely knew. It felt like the greatest way to say fuck you to Erik. He had you entirely, and he didn’t want you. Now two men, gorgeous men, wanted to do nothing but make you happy. Wouldn’t you be a fool to deny this?

“You’re so pretty when you’re thinking,” Jace commented.

You felt the heat flood your cheeks. You had been on a call for a few hours at this point. It was as easy talking to him as it was Aemond. And he was just as willing to compliment you all day if you would let him.

“You’re too sweet,” you said to him.

You were laying in your bed, only the light from your call to illuminate your face. He was gaming to wind down from his earlier gig, so there was plenty of light on his end. You just enjoyed watching him.

“You wanna talk about it?” he asked you.

“I just. The last guy I dated was sooo fucked. I just thought he was better than that,” you said.

You didn’t really know how to talk about Erik. It felt so fresh to you. You always thought of it as being recent but it had been near three months since he moved out. He had been the person you planned on marrying and spending the rest of your life with. But, you figured if he could move on while you two were together you could move on now.

“He’s an idiot,” Jace told you.

“Or maybe I am,” you muttered.

“Princess, don’t think that,” he said quickly, firmly, leaving little room for argument. You watched as he paused his game without a second thought and turned his attention fully to you.

“It’s not like he wasn’t obvious with what he was doing, Jace. Looking back, it was slap in the face obvious,” you told him.

“They say love is blind. And you want to see the best in people, anyone can see that. You’re not an idiot for trusting the person you loved.”

He gave you the kind of look that left little room for doubt in your mind. He spoke so certainly about everything, confidence seeping out of him from every pore. It was, in a lot of ways, incredibly sexy to you.

“When we get to King’s Landing, I’m gonna kiss you so hard,” he said casually as he turned back to his game.

“Oh?” you asked.

“Mhmm,” he said, nodding. “I mean, at least I’ll start there. And I’ll give you more and more until you’re on your knees begging.”

You couldn’t help but bite your lip. He glanced over at you, smirking a bit and chuckling. He truly didn’t understand how you of all people could get so flustered so easily. You were gorgeous, smart, funny, and guys constantly hit on you and asked you out. How you could still be so easily embarrassed was something he already adored about you.

“You get some sleep, Princess. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he told you, smiling at you.

“Don’t hang up,” you said quickly. “Just. Just say on call, yeah?”

He nodded, once again smiling, and settled into his chair. You watched him silently until sleep overtook you, dreams of him blessing you through the night.

><><><><><><><><

Taglist: @zaldritzosrose @lady-phasma @fan-goddess @shari-berri @thenameswinter99 @paigeestrawfordd

@abecerra611

(if you wish to be tagged let me know!)

[yellowbunnydreams]

Bunny Ears (Part 16) ~William Afton X F! Reader~

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Want more or something different? *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tag List: @ruh--roh-raggy @h4nluv @sleepy---head @do-double-g @confiscated-peaches-main @dij-ology @viviennemuerte @robin-the-enby @shari-berri @randymeeksisafinalgirl @hallow1090 @aponia-yue @likoplays @dilflover-3 @oak-leafs @phd-in-fuckery @weirdoartist21 @nicolezghostz @fauine

Sorry if I missed you on the tag-list!

CW: Minors DNI, (18+ ONLY), Female Reader, legal age gap (Reader- 20's, William - 30's), divorce/processing divorce, Afton being a sarcastic hot ass, Henry being such a dad, grumpy x sunshine . Faz-Fuck TM. Cringe scenes ft. Henry.

As the colder months drew closer, there were a few more faces kicking around the restaurant, Henry apparently on a recruiting spree for seasonal workers so that Christmas wasn't too harsh on the longer term employees. Not that you minded working Christmas if you had to, but the thought your boss put into such things was always appreciated.

Several of you were standing behind the prize counter, running through the ticket procedures and prize counts for the newbies, watching them nod and smile with it being abundantly clear that they had not taken in a single word of your explanation. However forgiving a boss you had, you knew that William would not tolerate laziness and even Henry and his big heart had it's limits. You did feel slightly sorry for them if they met the more abrasive side of your boyfriend however, not that it would be anything but their fault.

Through the noise, you heard your name being called, snapping your head up and giving a polite smile in that direction, the smile widening as you spotted a familiar looking little blonde girl clutching a Spring-Bonnie plushie. Excusing yourself quickly from behind the counter and leaving the new staff in the capable hands of your co-workers to go and say hello.

"Hey Vanessa! How are you doing today?" You asked, crouching on her level and watching her face light up as you remembered her. A gap-toothed smile making your heart melt as she giggled.

"I'm good! Daddy's working so he told me to go play." She said, twisting her body slightly back and forth like she was trying to expel the excess energy. "I know you're working too, I just wanted to say hello!"

"Well aren't you cute? Listen, Vanessa, can I ask you to do a really big girl favour for me?" You asked, watching the little girl's chest puff up in pride at being asked to do such an important task by an adult. You reached into your pockets and pulled out a few dollars that you'd been planning on using for a few cups of soda, but decided giving William's little girl some entertainment was far more worth it. "I want you to take these, and have as much fun as you can with them. Maybe you can win your daddy a prize?" You suggested, watching Vanessa's eyes go wide as she gingerly took the dollar bills, reaching into the pockets of her little purple overalls and pulling out a matching coloured purse, placing them inside with a super big smile. Throwing her arms around your neck in a hug as she practically vibrated with excitement.

"I will! Me and Charlie are going to have so much fun! We'll come show you our prizes afterwards!" Bounding off before you could really process the tiny child around your neck, smiling broadly and standing back up. Feeling eyes on you and spotting Stacey standing a little way back, eyebrow raised.

"You know that's Afton's kid right?" She asked, making you think for a second before nodding slowly. Stacey grinned and came up to you, poking you in the side teasingly, making you swat her hand away as she dug into your ribs slightly. "What, do you have a crush on him or something? Sucking up to his kid like that." Your cheeks turned red at the suggestion, though not quite for the reasons that Stacey seemed to have in mind as she made a shocked gasp.

"I know. But she's our boss' kid and I would rather spend a few dollars to get in his good books. I think she's playing with Henry's kid by the sounds of it."

"You totally have a crush on Afton." Stacey teased, totally missing the response you'd given her, making you roll your eyes as you attempted to walk away from the relentless teasing.

"And? If I did, what exactly are you going to do with that info Stace?" You asked, shaking your head slightly as you headed towards the main area as the next showtime started, watching out for screaming kids as they ran towards the stage to see Freddy, Bonnie and Chica perform.

"Still going to be fun to tease you about it! Even if it's our dirty little secret."

Swatting her away annoyedly, you began to pace the pizzeria, running dishes if they were ready to go from the kitchen and soon getting caught back up in the flow of work. Almost forgetting about Vanessa and Charlie until the lunch rush died down and only a few families remained, also finishing up to go back home or whatever they did when they left Freddy's for the day. You were sure your confetti blouse had pizza sauce and/or some soda spilt down it from kids running about, but your hair stuck to your forehead slightly as you finished running some of the last dishes back to the kitchen. Glad to have a moment's reprive.

Until a little body tackled your legs and almost forced them out from under you with a grunt. Looking down to see what was happening and spotting the top of Vanessa's head, looking up at you with that gap-toothed grin as she hugged your legs before stepping back and gesturing to a dark, curled girl hiding a little ways behind her.

"We're back! Me and Charlie got so many prizes!!" Her sweet enthusiasm making you melt slightly as you looked over the collection they both seemed so proud of. With how bubbly Vanessa was, and how Charlie quietly stood to one side and avoided your eyes, you would have assumed that their fathers were swapped. Not quite understanding how William produced such an extroverted child, but adoring the small girl all the same. "Can you help us pick out which ones our daddy's would like?" Tugging at your sleeve until you nodded in agreement.

Sifting through all the trinkets and toys, you made a selection for Henry and William. Charlie seemed quite pleased with your choice, giving a softly spoken 'thank you' as you picked out the matching Freddy's bracelets for her and him. Vanessa also seemed to vibrate with excitement when you picked out a small bag of candy for William, hoping he had a sweet tooth as the two girls held hands and ran off with all their prizes. Giggling wildly and making you shake your head at how cute they were.

'I wonder if William ever wants more kids one day.'

Cleaning up didn't seem so bad after the interaction with the two little girls, humming quietly to yourself as you worked on making the dining area spotless for the next load of guests. Taking pride in the place in a different light now you knew how much passion was laid behind it, you hoped that you could stay at Freddy's for a long time. Part of the Fazbear Family in more ways than one.

Henry and William emerged from the back after a while, which of course drew the attention of all the staff since they were always curious about the bosses walking the floors. Henry was in another colourful abomination of a suit, whilst William was covered up in mechanics overalls, clearly having been in the parts and services room and tinkering away on some project for a majority of the morning. Each one with a small child on their arm, making you smile as you realised that they were going to have lunch in the dining room with their kids rather than hide away in the back office. Although you felt a small pang that your homemade lunch was going to go to waste that day.

Charlie and Vanessa waved to you as they went past, and you waved back brightly to them, making them both giggle excitedly and both of the men smile at seeing their daughters happy. Henry bending down to pick up Charlie and carrying her over to a booth whilst William simply held Vanessa's hand, keeping her close as he slid in opposite his business partner. Chatting away idly to him about something quietly whilst the girls grabbed Freddy's colouring sheets and some crayons, doodling away quite happily whilst their dads talked.

It was a super cute sight to see, and you noticed a lot of the older staff looking happy at the sight as well, whilst the newer staff just looked mildly confused at the development.

Heading on over after nobody moved for a second, you smiled at the men who both smiled back. Charlie giving you a shy smile and Vanessa practically bouncing in her seat as she recognised you. "Hi miss! Hi miss!" You laughed as she greeted you, hearing a chuckle from Henry and seeing William's cheeks colouring slightly beneath his stubble. Planting his hand on his daughter's shoulder in an attempt to get her to sit down properly in her seat. You could tell she was a menace of a child if they ever went out to eat somewhere. Deciding to see about making Charlie giggle perhaps, since she seemed to be the shyer of the two.

"Welcome to Freddy's folks! Have you been here before?" You chirped in your customer service voice, making the two children giggle wildly as Henry looked like he'd blue-screened for a moment and William raised a thick eyebrow, looking at you over his glasses with humour in his eyes.

"Yep! We're friends of Freddy and Bonnie and Chica and Foxy and Fredbear, and Spring-Bonnie!" Vanessa piped up, making you dramatically place a hand over your heart and widening your eyes and expression into dramatic shock. The little girls giggling at the sight and making you fight not to smile with them.

"You're friends with them?! Well now, I'm friends with them too! I'm surprised we've never met." Exagerating your expressions slightly to send the girls into giggles as Henry recovered from his mild crisis and William leaned back in the booth, the corner of his mouth twitching and fighting a smile just like you were.

"We're far more private friends with them." William joined in, his gravelly voice laced with amusement as he met your eyes briefly, winking at you and making your cheeks flush slightly.

"Private friends hey? Well here at Freddy's, we believe everybody can be friends!" Vanessa and Charlie giggling as they looked over the menus sat infront of their dads before looking up at you with a sense of awe.

"Can I have a mini pepperoni with mushrooms?" Vanessa asked politety, looking at her dad before continuing "And a cola?"

"No cola, Vanessa. She can have juice." William interjected, making his daughter pout cutely at him as the already hyperactive child was denied her sugar rush.

"Please may I have just a cheese pizza?" Charlie asked in her soft voice. You nodded and wrote down the order on your mini-pad from your pocket, watching Henry smile and ruffle Charlie's hair affectionately before he finally turned to you properly.

"She can have a juice too, and what do you say Will, you want to split a pepperoni?" Smiling brightly as William finally allowed his lips to curl up at the edge and smile slightly, glancing back at Henry and then at you once more.

"Sure thing. And two sodas, might as well have the full Freddy's experience." He joked, making you laugh as you wrote it down and put the pad away, clearing the menus from the table temporarily and quickly looking over the kids doodles.

"Alright! I'll get that into the kitchen for you." Smiling brightly as you headed away, hearing the girls excitedly chatting about how you asked if it was their first time at Freddy's. The low murmur of voices soothing any nerves you had about doing something like that as you ripped off the order and pushed it through to the kitchen, the chefs nodding and getting to making it whilst you handed the drinks off to another one of the front of house.

Grabbing yourself a fountain drink and reminding yourself to pay it into the till later, you sipped at it as you glanced across the restaurant before heading back to the employee breakroom to go eat your own lunch. Spotting Garrett in there and animatedly talking to some of the new hires.

"So anyway, Wiffle Bat Willy can be a bit of a hardass." He said, clearly in the middle of a debrief or telling a story as you padded over to the fridge, grabbing the bag with your name on it as you could almost hear the confusion in one of the young men's voices.

"Wait, why's he called 'Wiffle Bat Willy'?"

"Because he clocked a kid in the head with a wiffle ball." Garrett explained and rolled his eyes like it was obvious. Shit-eating grin on his face as he spread your boss' nickname to the newbies, and you somehow knew that this would be a running joke for generations of staff to come.

[sareenademon]

Private Lessons

(Bireena will always be my otp but Smoke and Sareena are a sexy pairing too!)

Tomas couldn't help but feel surprised when Ashrah informed him that her sister, Sareena, wanted to train with them. He had expected Sareena to be somewhat similar to Ashrah, but as soon as he met her, he realized how different they truly were. Sareena was a creature of rebellious and carefree spirit, her striking appearance adorned in gothic allure with tight black leather and crimson armor. Her tongue as sharp as the sickles she wielded in battle.

As they ventured into a secluded corner of the fire gardens to honor Sareena's request for a private training session, Tomas couldn't escape the unsettling sensation that the demoness had more than just kombat on her mind. It was as if she were playfully toying with him, leaving him with a sense of anticipation.

Halfway into their match, Sareena's mischievous nature got the best of her. She had always found Tomas's innocence and purity enticing, and now that she got him alone, she wished to test the waters a bit. With a sly grin, she seized an opportunity to gain the upper hand. In a swift and unexpected move, she closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to Tomas's in a passionate kiss.

Tomas's eyes widened in surprise, and his usually unshakable focus wavered for just a moment. Sareena's lips were warm and inviting, and her boldness took him completely off guard. It was a calculated distraction, and it worked like a charm. Sareena took advantage of the opening she had created, slipping past Smoke's defenses with ease and executing a skillful takedown. She pinned him to the grass with a wolfish grin.

"Gotcha," she teased, her dark eyes sparkling with mischief as she straddled him.

Tomas's cheeks burned with embarrassment. "You-you cheated!" His stuttering protest was met with Sareena's soft laughter, a sound as lovely as the sweetest melody. That smirk of hers had an inexplicable effect on him.

Sareena, her eyes reminded Tomas of glossy obsidian glass. They locked onto his gray ones and she slowed leaned closer. She reached out to stroke his hair gently. "All is fair in love and war, sweet Tomas," she purred, her voice like a seductive whisper. "Besides, did the Lin Kuei not teach you to expect the unexpected?"

Tomas longed to respond, but his words remained trapped in his throat. He found himself utterly captivated by the demoness on top of him, she had successfully ensnared the warrior.

"Now..." Sareena's voice smooth, "What shall be my prize for victory?" She inquired, her nails lightly tracing a path from his cheek, down his neck, and toward the collar of his Shari Ryu uniform. Tomas's heart pounded in his chest as her hungry gaze held him prisoner. As his mind raced, Tomas couldn't help but wonder if this was all a dream or not. The boundary between reality and fantasy blurred as he succumbed her. In that moment, he decided it didn't really matter whether it was a dream or reality, because he felt her soft lips against his once more.

[mejcinta]

Lately, I noticed lots of people getting delicate around Aemond and Alys' relationship, claiming that either he raped her or she groomed him.

The book depicts the beginning of their relationship «Prince Aemond had taken her into his bed as a prize of war soon after taking Harrenhal». During the dance, terms such as "take to bed" and "spoils of war" are also used in reference to the Daemon and Nettles, and to the Jon Roxton and Sharis Footly:

1) «Daemon Targaryen had come to love the small brown bastard girl, and had taken her into his bed» but does this necessarily mean that the Demon raped Nettles, as the show has already established his pedophilic tendencies (the young girls whom were offered to him in the brothel, both Laena and Rhaenyra were groomed by him, since one was around 15-16, other never was able to form her charachter without his influence).

2)«Bold Jon Roxton became enamored of Lady Sharis after the First Battle of Tumbleton, and claimed her as a “prize of war.” When her lord husband protested, Ser Jon cut him nigh in two with Orphan-Maker. Sharis wept as he tore her gown», her reaction made it clear that she was assaulted.

Now let's look at the relationship between Alys and Aemond, the background of their characters and how their relationship was later described.

Alys Rivers was a bastard of House Strong, Grand Maester Munkun and Septon Eustace refer her as a bastard of Lord Lyonel Strong. The general attitude towards bastards stems from religious beliefs, where those born out of wedlock are seen as a weakness and dishonour of their parents, and are therefore treated with disdain. The treatment of female bastards is even worse, when in such a feudal and patriarchal society as Westeros, they have far more limited opportunities to improve their position than male ones. "A Feast for Crows" introduces a bastard girl named Falia Flowers, whose family mistreated her and forced her into servitude, and after Euron Greyjoy takes control over her castle, she willingly goes with him because she was enough of the miserable life in her parental household.

While her parentage remains dubious, her surname clearly indicates that she was the daughter of a nobleman. But unlike bastards like Jon Snow or Rhaenyra’s sons, she was a servant to her relatives and after her own children were born dead she served as a wet nurse, an occupation historically regarded as exploitative of women.  Not only she was a servant, but also accused in witchcraft (whether it is true or not), it always is followed by social stigma, discrimination and marginalisation of women.

Obviously power imbalance on Aemond’s side, making her unable to groom her, and how could she do it to an ADULT. But how later their relationship was described:

-“it was Aemond alone who had become besotted with the Rivers woman, to such an extent he could not bear the thought of leaving her”;

-  after the defeat at the battle by the lakeshore he almost strangled the messenger to death if not for Alys be the only one who could stop him, so he valued her enough;

- when alys was captured by sabitha frey, instead of asking for help if she was his hostage, she proclaims that she is carrying his child, and aemond later came to rescue her and she run with him;

- he brought her to battle above the god’s eye with him and kissed her as last thing he did in life;

-  after his death she proclaimed herself as his widow even she would gain nothing from it, and when some man dared to insult her son with Aemond, he was immediately killed, either she ordered someone to do that or even blowed up this man’s head herself.

While show revealed Aemond had unpleasant first sexual experience and called out Aegon’s tastes as depraved, can be assumed that they will not make him force himself on Alys. So the term "prize of war" could be thrust upon them by others and should be seen as such if Alys and Aemond consider it as that.

You know, people can project all they want on Alys, Aemond and their relationship, but one thing the show has made clear is that they're 'softening' Aemond. He's not nearly a scrary brute as his book counterpart (which I still find interesting). There's more nuance to his character, and the same will go for Alys (like Alicent and Rhaenyra's characters).

Hoping that Aemond is made abusive and Alys some sadistic witch is so...boring, unoriginal, petty and bitter. There's nothing remotely new or interesting story-wise about that. But let's just wait and see.