#So I gave a little more flavor text what's it to ya?

[kakusu-shipping]

Me? Writing my Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery, Theatre of Wonders Self Insert chapter? Yeah why not. The tag's already full of OCs and S/Is, might as well add mine into the ring.

Bookworm

Balan Wonderworld Self Insert fic based on the novelization

Streetbeat ran his hand along the brick walls of the town around the Checkered King's castle as they walked, staring at his shoes as he pictured the girl, Fighter, and the man in the hat in his mind.

Who were they? What did they want? Why was he the only one who didn't see anything else...?

The texture along Streetbeat's fingers pulled him from his thoughts. He turned to the wall to see no longer medieval stone work, but books lined perfectly on a shelf that seemed to stretch up into forever.

The floor beneath his feet was no longer black and white tiles, but deep, chocolate brown wood. The narrow alley replaced with tall, cherry red wood stained bookshelves nearly over flowing with thickly bound novels.

Clocktower Kid and Pensive Pierrot turned a corner, with Streetbeat close on their tail, and came out to a skylighted library lobby. Plush seats, couches, pillows, and reading nooks filled every space that wasn't occupied by tables with piles upon piles of books. Transparent residents sat scattered around the area. There was a hush of chatter that never grew loud enough to make out words, like a soft static.

Clocktower kid made her way easily though the maze of plush chairs and towering book stacks to the front desk, which was just as over run by books as every other flat surface. She knocked politely on the large oak desk and called out into the room behind

"Helloooo? Bookworm, are you in?"

From around the corner came a puff of white hair, followed by the face of a young man. His bright red eyes looked almost unnaturally large behind a pair of oversized golden glasses.

"Ooooh! Clocktower kid! Pensive! Hello hello! One moment please!" The man called Bookworm called excitedly before disappearing back into the room behind the desk.

Streetbeat navigated the maze of chairs with the help of Pensive Pierrot and found himself glancing around the building he'd found himself in.

The walls were tall, and while in the stacks the bookshelves seemed to stretch indefinitely, from where he stood now they seemed completely reasonably sized, though he couldn't see the end of alleyways they made. On the ceiling was a large pane of glass in the shape of a tear drop, like the strange crystals that appeared in everyone's stage. Evening sunlight poured in and made the library almost seem to glow with warmth.

Finally, Bookworm stepped out of the backroom, placing a pile of books taller than himself on his desk, "Sorry for the wait." He spoke, pushing the books off to one side, "Shelving."

Bookworm's eyes fell on Streetbeat and lit up in realization.

"Oh! You're Streetbeat! It's so nice to finally meet you." He smiled and reached out a hand, Streetbeat assumed for a handshake and met him half way

"Yeah, likewise-" He began, only to stare in wonder as Bookworm placed a novel in his out stretched hand.

The book was wine red with golden lettering, the word Waltz was written in cursive at the top. There was no author or any sort of cover photo, just the title.

"what's...?" Streetbeat was so caught off guard he couldn't form a full question, he just looked quizzically up at Bookworm, who beamed back at him, seemingly proud of himself.

"Ah, that's how Bookworm welcomes people, he liked to recommend us all novels in his collection. I still haven't finished the one he loaned me..." Pensive explained, scratching the back of his head with a shy smile.

"I finished mine!" Clockwork Kid bragged, "And it was sooooo good I started reading it AGAIN!"

"Oooh, I'm so glad you liked it~" Bookworm cooed, resting his elbows on the desk, leaning closer to Clocktower Kid, "You know when the Prince stole poor Mary away-"

"Aaaaah I read all night to get past that part! I couldn't imagine Mary with anyone other than Atticus!!" Clocktower Kid squealed, pacing a bit in place.

Bookworm nodded, "They get there in the end of course but that carriage accident, oh and the poor bunny, it's just all too stressful!" The short man sighed, then sat up straight and clapped his hands, "But enough about that! Are you three here to peruse the stacks?"

"Actually," Pensive spoke, "we came to talk to you. We think something bad might be happening in Wonderworld."

As Pensive Pierrot explained the visions everyone had been having of the girl and the man in the hat, Streetbeat took a moment again to look around the library.

Every stage so far had been missing something, something obvious to everyone but the stage's inhabitant. He thought it was weird the novel Bookworm had given him didn't have an author on it, but it wasn't unheard of, so he decided to do a little snooping, just to be sure.

Streetbeat picked up a random book from one of the stacks on a nearby low table, it was a deep forest green with the word Nightfall written in bold golden lettering. The one under it was a soft baby pink, the word Daybreak was seemingly stamped on in a deep blue simple font.

The one under than and the one under that followed suit, a single color cover with a one word title and no author.

Streetbeat put all the books back where he'd gotten them and turned back to the group, where Bookworm was now standing with his arms crossed, biting the tip of his thumb.

"I... I have... seen them..." He admitted hesitantly, glancing at the stack he'd pushed to the side before, which seemed now unbalanced and ready to topple at any moment.

"Did you see anything else?" Pensive asked as Streetbeat came to his side again.

Bookworm seemed to hesitate, biting harder at the tip of his thumb as he glanced around the library lobby.

"I saw a monster," Clocktower Kid admitted, putting her hand on the desk in front of Bookworm, "it was scary.. I didn't wanna talk about it either.."

Bookworm released a sigh he'd been holding at Clocktower Kid's confession and placed his hand on hers, holding it. He closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath, the tower of books next to him stopped swaying.

"I saw a building... It was huge, and the doors were open like I was supposed to go in but I... I felt like going in would be my doom... Like I'd be trapped there forever..."

Clocktower Kid held Bookworm's hand tightly in her own, a look of sympathy on her face.

Bookworm took another deep breath, "Who is he? The man in the hat?"

"We don't know," Streetbeat placed his hand on the desk, "But we think something bad's going to happen."

Bookworm looked between the three of them, then squarely at Pensive, "Have you spoken to Lance?"

Pensive winced at the question, glancing first to Streetbeat, then Clocktower kid, before sighing, "Yeah... He warned us to stay out of it..."

Bookworm released Clocktower Kid's hands and stood up straight, "Then that's what I'll do." He turned and picked up half the books from the stack beside him, then walked off into the bookselves.

"Wait!" Streetbeat followed quick on his heels, Pensive hesitating only to follow as Clocktower Kid raced after the two of them.

"Aren't you worried? Somethings happening, these visions, they're not nothing!" Streetbeat argued when he caught up to Bookworm, who shelved books without so much as looking.

"If Lance says it's better to stay out of it, I trust him." Bookworm spoke matter-of-factly, pushing along a large latter on wheels.

"But what if something happens to Wonderworld?"

"Lance will take care of it, he takes care of us."

"But-"

Pensive Pierrot put his hand on Streetbeat's shoulder to stop him, he and Clocktower kid both shook their heads.

Streetbeat sighed and nodded, admitting defeat. He looked down at the Waltz book in his hand before setting in on a nearby self.

He followed the two down the seemingly never ending rows of books until they found themselves standing amidst ancient ruins, the stage of a man called Invisible Custodian.

[inventors-fair]

More than Playable: Typal Runners-Up ~

And our runners-up this week are @feyd-rautha-apologist, @misterstingyjack and @nine-effing-hells!

@feyd-rautha-apologist — Leeches' Kinship

Sometimes when reading these cards I'll go back and look at sets, and this one made me realize that there were indeed quite a few vampires around Strixhaven! If this wasn't intended to be on Strixhaven, well, that's my bad, but that's also what ya get for not including it in your submission. Having a cheap drain effect is pretty awesome, although clever limited players will know that you wouldn't want too many of them in your deck at the expense of creatures. But then, the creatures you get (if they're vampires) will be all the better, so win-win.

Morbid as a Witherbloom mechanic would be more than reasonable, IMO. If there's overlap with the Silverquill folks, that's fun as well, possibly. They do both overlap with vampires! And there's that little sweet spot for where overlap matters, and I think having overlapping subthemes with one small lean makes for a cool draft common that suggests to the players how flexible they can be. I may or may not have talked myself into liking this card a lot more than I did initially but that could also be the Vampire's curse. Hardly matters—I dig this thing and think that it gets one withered thumb pointed right up.

@misterstingyjack — Worldsoul's Boon

What I'm enjoying about the flavor is that most of the elves are assumed to be in white and green, but on Ravnica, there are plenty of Golgari elves, Simic elves, and even a few kickass Gruul elves to boot, and most of the mono/multi white cards wouldn't even come close. I feel that the flavor text itself is a little on the nose, and I'm not sure right now if it's implying that elves are closer to nature or if it's more along the lines of fantasy racism. Convoking is awesome, of course, but just plain attacking is pretty much right along green and white lines, yeah?

That said, if you have a one-mana Elf, turn two adds an additional three power to the board on top of potential lifegain. I feel that this could've definitely been pushed to three mana for that reason alone, and not just because there are a plethora of one-drop elves in any given format that you should keep an eye on. Small notes: 1) I also don't think you needed "then" in the first trigger; 2) Is it just me or is the text on this card really squashed? Anyway, let's back up to the good stuff, because as much as this might suggest typal at first glance, I think it speaks more to Ravnica's diversity in species and the eventual feeling of playing hybrid in a manner that's honestly pretty smooth. Having an Elf is a bonus, not a requirement, but having a creature? That's all that matters in the end. Just gotta have the RIGHT creature. Neat design and unexpectedly interesting!

@nine-effing-hells — Greater Glories

Whoof. It's a real conundrum if this card's undercosted or not. Obviously, Forced Adaptation is the baseline here, but we have to remember Luminarch Aspirant and the like which can give the counter on the combat step that the creature attacks. So you're gonna get the buff straight away, and then every turn thereafter. Now that said, it's pretty fragile, and auras fall off more than we'd like most of the time so I'll give you that. Still, for two mana, this is an aggressive all-star, and I'm not sure if I'm too down for how that plays out.

But we're also pushing boundaries here, and I think we both know that for three mana this card would be practically unplayable. Even if it gave trample for that cost, that's fairly steep, and I'm sitting here biting my metaphorical nails trying to make a decision. In the end? There's a non-zero chance that this card would be really annoying in a set without strong combat interaction and/or removal for either creature or aura. I don't hate it, and the Warrior aspect totally checks out for green on any world. Theros is the first one that comes to mind, but I'm equally drawn to Kaldheim, or really anywhere that's got warriors! It's a versatile and challenging card.

General commentary will be up soon as it's up. @abelzumi

[darkfantasysworld]

First MtF monster post on this blog. I genuinely don't know what I was thinking when I came up with this idea. This post is also not really gender specific, reader just has a cunt & womb.

Female or FtM reader x MtF!drider

You'd heard about driders, basically spider centaur creatures, but you didn't think you'd fall in love with one. You'd been talking to someone you assumed was a regular human for a few weeks, she always had an excuse for not going out but you assumed that maybe she was just shy in person. You couldn't have been more wrong since now you were looking up at the 8'4 woman with the lower half of a giant spider. Her hair was black with a red streak and went down to her waist, her eyes were also red… from what you could tell anyways. Her skin was dark brown with the skin on her waist fading to black to match her spider half. "You're so small.. I think we'll have fun.." She said, her voice was low and seductive. She lowered herself a bit and reached out, caressing your cheek with her hand, her nails were sharp and painted an almost blood red color. You decided to just go on with this date, she was nice while you were texting so you decided to give it a shot. You were sitting down across from the drider, you at least knew she was trans and on hormones, you couldn't help but look at her chest, it was rather large, possibly C or D cups. "What can I get you?" The waiter asked, holding a notepad and pen. "A bottle of your most expensive red wine," She looked at you as she spoke before turning back to the waiter "and I'll have the steak, medium rare, with roast potatoes." She said, eyeing the waiter's hand as he wrote it down before the two turned their attention to you. You told the waiter your order and watched him walk away then looked at the drider. "Is your name actually S—" she cut you off. "Yes, my name is Salem, I didn't lie to you, you just never asked what I am." She responded, reaching across the table and gently grabbing your hand. You could see her muscles and realized how gentle her touch was, her hands felt so soft.. The waiter brought you two the bottle of wine and two glasses before pouring a little in each glass and leaving, setting the bottle between your glasses. Salem moved her hands away from yours and took a sip of her wine. You grabbed your glass and took a sip of your wine as well, noting the… odd flavor. "This doesn't taste right." You looked at Salem who gave you a small smile. "It's supposed to have a tangy note." Salem responded and turned the bottle so you could see the label. "Spider venom…?" You said, confusion in your tone as you read the label. "Small doses help make you slightly immune.. in case I bite." Salem gave you a wink and reached over to gently caress your cheek. You leaned into her touch, wanting more, her skin was so soft.

You and Salem ended up going to a bar after the restaurant and she paid for everything… from what you remember. Your eyes fluttered open, you were moaning as you felt something long and thick push into you, your pussy dripping. Your vision was blurry as you looked around the dark room, concrete walls surrounded you. Your eyes widened and you let out a yelp as you felt the pleasurable object push into your cervix, the tip forced it to stretch and you felt objects move through the shaft and poured into your womb. You felt a bump form in your stomach but for some reason you couldn't move. "That's it.. let my eggs into your pretty little womb.." Salem whispered into your ear, you felt your stomach grow for what felt like hours before you felt Salem begin to pull out. "Wha'd ya do ta me…?" You asked, your words slurred so much you barely knew what you said. Salem didn't respond and just began thrusting her cock into you, your body was practically inviting her large cock, so warm, wet, and tight. Salem softly moaned into your ear as she raped you, her thrusts were slow and gentle, she didn't want to hurt you.

You moaned and whimpered, your body overstimulated as she came in you for the tenth time, she had to make sure her eggs were properly fertilized. Your eyes fell shut as you passed out only to wake up who knows how long later, you felt the eggs moving then, suddenly, you felt one break and your natural instincts kicked in, you pushed, screaming in pain as the baby drider came out, you couldn't even grab the baby you birthed before you felt more eggs breaking, forcing you push out at least two more babies in a row, thankfully they seemed to know how to move and crawled away from your stretched pussy so more could come out. You passed out after the tenth one only to wake up to Salem laying more eggs in your womb, you didn't know where the babies went and you tried to push her off but you were too weak. You remembered why you disliked driders, they used humans as incubators until one of them died.. at least Salem was being gentle.

[jannah1721]

Love Trigger (Dark - Tragedy version)

This is a fanfiction, meaning that all events and occurrences in this story are all fictional and all are part of my imagination. Any resemblance to actual life events and people, living or dead, are all purely coincidence. I am not, in any way, affiliated to Snow Man members or Johnny’s Entertainment so I do not own the Snow Man members mentioned in my fanfiction.

=================

A man looks at the snow falling outside his window.

“Ahh~ it would be nice if I could touch the snow right now…”

You are my love trigger

A dangerous flavor, but I want ya

Yeah

Through the window, Abe Ryohei watches his new next door neighbor moving in. There are two men – the noisy one, who keeps on complaining how heavy the stuffs are; and the quiet one, who responds to all the complains with just, a beautiful smile. That’s what Abe thought. The quiet one intrigues him. He closes his curtain and continue to do whatever that he did before he heard the moving noises.

About half an hour later, Abe heard a knock on his front door. Through the peephole, he sees his new neighbor, the quiet one, in front of the door. He opens the door.

“Hello! I just move to the apartment across yours. My name is Meguro Ren”.

The man bows, then, brings both his hands to the front, which is holding a giftbox.

“Here is a little gift. It’s a lavender scented candle. Hope we can be good neighbors!”

Meguro Ren smiles. That beautiful smile Abe found fascinating.

Abe takes the giftbox carefully from Meguro’s hands. Their skin touches. For a moment, Abe feels a tingling sensation through his body. He finds it weird.

“How sweet of you! I’m Abe Ryohei. Welcome to the neighborhood! Please come in. Let me make you tea. Ohh I saw another man with you before. Please invite him too!”

“Ahh That’s Koji. My housemate. He’s asleep right now. Tired from all the moving. Don’t worry, I’ll ask him to greet you another day”

“Ahh that’s fine then. Please come in!”

Abe immediately lights the candle that Meguro gave him before proceeding to make tea. They sit at Abe’s living room, talking about the neighborhood and getting to know each other personally. Both of them immediately clicks, and it has been nearly 2 hours before Meguro receives a text message on his phone.

“I have to go now, Abe-kun. Koji is searching for me. Need to set up some more things inside the house. Thank you for the tea! You’re such a good company. Let’s chat again some time!”

“If you need help with anything, just let me know, ok? I had a good time too! Thank you again for the candle!”

Meguro left. Abe has a fuzzy feeling inside his chest. He smiles, a happy one.

Before I knew it, my thoughts are all about you

Without realizing, this Feeling is overflowing

The popular Love song I heard on the street

It won’t leave my head, I don’t know why

The melody that won’t let me sleep

Abe is a budding psychiatrist. He’s on the way to apply for a practicing psychiatrist license and is now on his second year of residency. So far, he’s been located to work in various environments in the community – sometimes at the local clinic, at schools and even at prison once.

Abe loves his job and is trying his best to provide accurate diagnosis and treatment on every case he took. However, due to a trauma from a past incident, he’s currently seeing a psychiatrist himself. He’s currently on medication but is getting better, thus, his dosage is getting lower as prescribed by his attending psychiatrist.

The next morning after the new neighbors move in, Abe experiences an unusual phenomenon.

“Oh my God! I’m going to be late! Where are my keys?”

He always put his keys on a table near the entrance so he finds it weird when he didn’t see the keys there. He also remembered that he never moves his keys from the table once he’s inside the house. In frustration, he searches on and under the table thoroughly, checking the drawers and rummaging through his bag. No luck. He runs his hand through his hair, feeling panic. He needs to ask the apartment’s security guard for some help. He unlocks his front door and goes out. The moment he closes the door, he sees it. His keys are hanging on the door lock. He lets out a sigh of relief. However, he still finds it weird. How come he forgot that he has left the keys outside?

“…Everyday is an embodiment of love…We’ll still be loving each other tomorrow morning…”

Abe turns his head at the direction of the singing voice. There he sees Meguro, in a black shirt and shorts, just about to go out from his own apartment. Looks like the man is about to throw away two trash bags to the designated disposal area downstairs. He also seems to have earbuds on because once he made eye contact with Abe, he taps his right ear and greets, “Good morning, Abe-kun!”

“Good morning, Meguro-kun! Everything going well?”

“Yeah! Just waiting for the telecom company to set up the wifi today”

“That’s good to hear. I’m going to work soon. Have a good day!”

“Same goes to you! Ahh, you can go ahead using the elevator. I’m using the stairs”

“Are you sure? We’re on the 11th floor”

“For exercise”, and Meguro giggles.

Abe chuckles too. “Alright then. Take care!”

And he sees Meguro walks down the stairs.

Abe takes his bag which was on the entrance table, locks the door and goes to work.

On his way though, that popular love song, Ai no Katamari, is repeatedly playing on his head.

Don’t be shy. As you are, Follow me

I won’t be able to say that Word afterall

Mystery, no matter what I do, I can’t reach your Philosophy

It has been 2 weeks since then. Abe has only seen Meguro another 3 times in the morning, within the past 2 weeks. He hopes his neighbors are adjusting well to their new place. Speaking of neighbors, he still hasn’t met with Koji, Meguro’s housemate. Aside from the first day, he never saw Koji going out from the apartment. Probably their schedules just don’t match. Sometimes Abe leaves early in the morning and return late at night. Also, he doesn’t know what Koji does for work. He never asked Meguro when he came over on the first day and Meguro also never told him.

Tomorrow is 14th February. Valentine’s Day. Perhaps he could drop by and give them some chocolates. If he’s lucky, he’ll be able to meet Koji.

It’s decided. He will go to the supermarket to buy ingredients to make chocolate cakes later after work. For his family, friends, work colleagues, and also, his neighbors.

Babe, baby, babe

Say my name, Say my name

Babe, baby, babe

Say my name darling

Abe return to his apartment complex around 7.30pm. Upon exiting the elevator on his level, somehow he lost his balance and his groceries fall to the ground – scattered all over the floor.

“Hey! Are you ok? Let me help you!”

A youthful looking man gives him a helping hand.

“Ahh! I’m sorry for the trouble! Thank you so much!”

“No problem! I help you carry these inside”

Abe opens the door to his apartment and let the man in. After the man puts his groceries on his dining table, Abe thanked the man again. Now, he can see the man’s face more clearly. He is very beautiful. Almost like a woman.

“You’re the new neighbor, right? Koji-kun? I’m Abe Ryohei. Nice to meet you!” Abe reaches out for a handshake.

The man returns his handshake and giggles. “Nice to meet you too, neighbor! Ahh! I supposed to meet someone downstairs in a few minutes. I better get going. I’ll see you around!”

“Ahh I see. Ok, see you!”

“Oh wait!” The man pulls out a polaroid camera from his bag. He brings the camera up towards Abe. “Smile!”

A confused Abe then smiles and makes a peace sign. *SNAPS* The photo is taken.

The man then passes the polaroid photo to Abe. “Here, for you! See ya!” Then he runs off towards the elevator.

“Thank you!” Abe shouts at the direction of the elevator. He shakes his head. Koji-kun seems to be a peculiar one. As he remembers that he needs to quickly get to work on making cakes, he tosses the polaroid photo into the drawer of the entrance table without waiting for the photo to develop.

There’s no turning back anymore

Be my girl – the heart won’t lie

Honey Imma make you mine

Hold you tight right now

Can you give me one more night?

Let’s get it now

Abe is awakened by what sounds like pans falling down to the floor. In his half-awake state, he makes his way towards the kitchen. Sure enough, he sees his pans on the floor.

“Ahh…I might’ve placed them so close to the edge…”

He yawns and returned the pans on top of his kitchen table.

As he is about to go back to his room, he hears another noise. He quickly turns back to the living/dining/kitchen, scanning the room. This time it sounds like something or…someone…bumps into something. He starts to feel a little bit…scared. He switches on the light. Nothing is out of ordinary. Maybe the noise came from the outside. He closes the light and goes back into the bedroom.

The remaining night, he dreamt of Meguro-kun. Meguro-kun was embracing him so tight, that he can’t breathe. Meguro-kun whispered into his ears, “Just pull the trigger”. Abe looked down. Suddenly, there was a gun on his hand.

Abe wakes up in a jolt, sweating and breathing heavily. He cries. He can’t decide – whether the dream is a good or bad omen.

You are my love trigger

A dangerous flavor, but I want ya

The moment our eyes met

I’m Going crazy

Going crazy for you, oh God

I’m craving for your love

Abe’s day didn’t start well but life must go on. It’s Valentine’s Day – even though he doesn’t have a lover yet, he still has lots of people that he wanted to say thanks on this day. He can’t wait to see the smiles on the faces of the people he’s about to give his homemade chocolates and chocolate cakes. At least that thought makes him smile and he’s ready to face the day.

Abe goes out at his apartment the same time as Meguro does. He eyes Meguro up and down. Meguro looks so dashing in a red suit. He might be going on a date. Ahh…That’s when it hits him. Of course the man is going on a date. Why would a man as handsome as him doesn’t have a lover? That thought sends Abe to a little depressed state.

“Good morning, Abe-kun! Ahh! That looks heavy. Come, let me help you with it”

“Ehh? No…” But before he could refuse, Meguro already took the bag on his left hand and proceed to elevator. “Thank you…” They ride the elevator together.

“These are so many chocolates. Are you going to go on many dates today?”, Meguro playfully asks.

“Of course not! These chocolates are for my friends and colleagues. Since it’s a lover’s day, I thought why not celebrate it with the people I love and thankful for. Not having a lover doesn’t mean that I can’t celebrate it, right? And these chocolate cakes are for my family. I’m meeting them for a bit after work. Ohh! I also made a cake for you and Koji-kun but I left it in the refrigerator. I’ll come by your apartment later when I get back! How about you? You dressed up so dashingly. Are you going on a date?”

Meguro chuckles. The elevator door opens. They have reached the ground floor. As a gentleman, he holds the elevator and let Abe goes out first. “After you”.

“I have a meeting with an important client today. We really want this particular business to sponsor our theatre production. That’s why I dressed up like this today. Gotta starts with the visuals for a good first impression, right?”, Meguro winks.

“Ohh I see! Hehe All the best! Hope your theatre got the sponsorship!”

After hearing the explanation from Meguro, somehow, Abe’s mood brightens up.

When they get out of the apartment building, Meguro passes Abe his bag.

“Alright, I’m going this way. If the stars aligned, I shall see you in the evening. Thank you!”, Abe bows and turns to the direction he’s going.

“Ahh hold on, Abe-kun!”

At this point, Abe freezes. His mind blank and he feels like he can hear his heart thumping.

Meguro moves closer, adjusting the ribbon tie on Abe’s neck.

“There. Now you look much cuter. I hope to see you in the evening. Have a good day!”

Meguro left. Abe still frozen in his position.

I want your love, I want your love, I want your love

Oh baby

I need your love, I need your love, I need your love

Oh baby

The rest of the day went by smoothly. He had a really eventful day which leaves him feeling good. He reaches his apartment at around 9.30pm. It is quite late, so he thought he might just go to Meguro’s apartment to just send over the cake. They don’t need to invite him inside.

“I’m home!”, Abe opens the door to his apartment. Hmm? The next door apartment is pitch black. For context, from Abe’s kitchen, he’s able to see into Meguro’s living room, provided that the curtain is open. He notices that all the curtains are still raised and no lights are on so he assumed that no one is home.

“It’s Valentine’s Day anyway. Probably they are out late…”

Abe is a little disappointed. Deep inside, he does want to meet Meguro tonight. However, he is also tired. So he decides to take a bath then go to sleep. He can just give the cake in the morning.

After a refreshing bath, Abe, now in his bath robe, goes to the kitchen to drink some water before he gets ready for bed. When he arrives at the kitchen, he notices that there is a light coming from Meguro’s apartment. A dim orange light from a desk lamp. But the curtains are still raised. Maybe one of them just got home?

Abe notices some movements. He can’t see clearly because that place is still mostly dark. Only the dim light from the desk lamp is the source of light at that side. He forces his eyes to focus. He sees a hooded figure. The figure looks like he/she’s searching around the place for something. Is the person wearing a glove?

Abe immediately crouches down. He doesn’t want to risk being found by whoever is on the other side. He also feels like throwing up.  So many things going on in his head. It can’t be! What if…Is he currently witnessing an attempted robbery?

He slowly moves his head up, just enough so he could still see whatever going on the other side. The next scene he witnessed, sends him directly into a panic attack.

He saw the hooded figure beating Koji-kun with the desk lamp. The top of the desk lamp has a sharp edge. And it was used to hit Koji-kun’s head numerous times. The last thing he saw before he decided to dial the security guard number was…Koji-kun’s face on the window, it was as if he’s looking directly at Abe, and he mouthed “Save me”.

The security guard picks up the call on the third ring. “Yes Abe-san, is there anything wrong?”

Abe has trouble breathing but he tries his best to mutter, “Koji-kun…my neighbor…he’s bleeding…There’s an intruder…Please…Come up soon…Please…”

Two security guards arrive at the 11th floor as soon as they can. One of the guards knocks on Abe’s apartment while the other one knocks on Meguro’s apartment.

“Abe-san! I’m coming in!”

The security guard unlocks the door using the master key and enters the apartment, searching for Abe. He finds Abe still on his kitchen floor, breathing hard.

“Oh my God! Abe-san! Hold on, let me call an ambulance!”

Abe stops the security guard. “Don’t mind me…How about Koji-kun? Is he safe?”

“There’s no one inside” The other security guard shouts from outside Meguro’s apartment.

Now, Abe feels like his heart stopped. “…Ehh?...”

“What’s going on?”

Everyone turns to the direction of the voice. Meguro’s voice.

“Ahh I’m sorry for entering your apartment without permission. We received a call from your neighbor. He saw an intruder in your house and that your housemate is bleeding…”

“WHAT?!” Meguro then runs into his apartment shouting Koji’s name numerous times. He comes back outside after a few minutes. “It seems that Koji is still not home though. And there’s nothing out of ordinary. Everything is in place”.

Silence.

Then it was broken by the sound of the elevator arriving at the 11th floor.

A man with a long hair comes out.

“Ahh! Meme! You just arrived home too?”

Meguro lets out a sigh of relief. He comes up to the long-haired man and wraps his right arm around the long-haired man’s shoulders.

“Thank God you’re safe!”

The man, obviously confused, asks, “Why? What’s wrong?”

At this moment, the long-haired man also realizes that there is a security guard standing in front of their apartment, as well as the neighbor’s apartment door is currently wide open. Abe comes outside, with the other security guard soothing his back.

“Oh my God! What happen? Are you ok?” The long-haired man approaches Abe worryingly.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine soon. Thank you. And you are?”

“Ahh! I’m sorry that I haven’t greet you since we moved in 2 weeks ago. But Meme had told me that we have such a cute neighbor. And he’s not lying, you’re really cute! I’m Mukai Koji, your new neighbor! Nice to meet you!”

Abe feels like throwing up again.

“Wha- But you’re not Koji-kun that I know”

The long-haired man then tilts his head, questioningly.

“How…? I mean…The Koji-kun that I met before…is not this person!”

Abe’s breathing becomes frantic again. And he can hear the craziness coming out from his own mouth. He’s sure he’s about to break down anytime soon.

“Ohh? But this is the first time that I’m meeting you…”

Abe falls to the ground, both his hands holding his head. His head is hurting.

“But I swear…I saw…I saw people inside the apartment…”

“Abe-san, I’m sorry but I think you might be too tired. It’s probably just all in your head. No one is harm, see? Both your neighbors are safe. Nobody is hurt. We’re more worried about you right now. We can help you call Miyadate-san if you need him”, said the security guard who soothes his back.

Abe shakes his head. “Don’t. I don’t want to trouble him this late at night. But listen…last night, I talk with Koji-kun in front of this apartment. He helped me brought my groceries inside…”

“You need to rest, Abe-san. It has been a long day. If you’re still concerned about this, we will just call Miyadate-san here. You may consult with him about your condition. For your peace of mind”, the security guard persuade him.

Abe does not answer.

He tries to stand up slowly, then bows to everyone. “I’m sorry for worrying all of you”. He then turns to the security guard behind him. “You may inform Miyadate-san but only if he’s not occupied with anything right now”.

“Alright, Abe-san. Please take care”.

Abe goes inside his apartment while the other security guard apologizes again to the tenants of apartment 11B.

You are my love trigger

I want to wallow in the feelings, just like this

Forever and ever

About 15 minutes later, Abe hears a knock on his door.

“Abe, it’s me, Miyadate”.

Abe opens the door to his psychiatrist, who thankfully lives on level 7 at the same apartment complex. He invites Miyadate-san in then proceed to sit at the living room, across each other.

“The security guard told me what happened. As a psychology student yourself, I believe you must have an idea what this means, right?”

Abe looks at Miyadate for a brief moment before he looks down again, not answering his psychiatrist.

“Tell me the details. I want to listen to you”, Miyadate continues, with a gentle tone.

After taking a deep breath, Abe told his psychiatrist whatever that he saw earlier that night.

After finishing his story, Abe hesitates, but decides to just ask his psychiatrist, “What do you think? Is it…Am I going through a relapse?”

“Hmm…Since this is the first time after a long while that this happened, it might possibly be a symptom. Or maybe, it’s just today. Since today is Valentine’s Day, you must’ve felt overwhelmed. Perhaps there was some event today that have triggered it. Can you tell me how was your day today? From the time you woke up”.

Abe talks about his day. From having a “bad” dream so he woke up in a not so good mood, Meguro-kun helping him carry his Valentine’s gifts till downstairs, his exciting day at the workplace where he also received some more chocolates from his colleagues and patients, meeting up with some of his friends at the park after work, a fancy early dinner with his family who live half an hour away, then coming back home.

Miyadate nodded his head occasionally while listening to Abe’s story. When Abe finishes, Miyadate sits back while crossing his arms, thinking. Suddenly, he asks, “How is your new neighbors? You’re getting well with them?”

“Ahh Meguro-kun sent over that lavender scented candle the day they move in and I’ve been seeing him around occasionally. I still don’t know much about him though, aside from his work as a theatre manager and actor. I saw the other housemate when they move in. I never met the housemate face to face until last night. Meguro-kun said his housemate is called Koji. I met who I thought is this Koji guy last night in front of this apartment but just now, a different man introduced himself as Koji. And he said this was the first time he met me…” Abe suddenly remembers something. “Wait!”

Abe runs to the entrance desk and rummages through the drawer. He freezes.

“It’s gone…”

“What is?”

“The polaroid…It’s not here…”

Abe falls down. His head is hurting again. Miyadate rushes to his side, trying to calm him down.

“I swear…I…Koji-kun…He took a polaroid photo of me last night and he gave it to me…I put it inside this drawer…Why…”

Miyadate keeps on soothing Abe’s back. “Shh…It’s ok…Take your medication and have a rest. I suggest you take a day off tomorrow. I’ll come back to visit you again tomorrow. Come. Let me help you up”.

Abe sees Miyadate out after that. Before the psychiatrist left, he puts his right hand on Abe’s left shoulder, squeezing it a bit. “If you are having a hard time, talk to someone yeah. I don’t want to force more things out of you since it’s already late. We’ll talk again tomorrow. Sleep well”.

He moves forward, enveloping Abe in a brief, gentle hug.

“Thank you, Miyadate-san. Ahh hold on!” Abe goes back inside for a moment and comes back out with a small chocolate bar in his hand.

“For you. Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Miyadate receives the chocolate with a smile. “That’s the spirit. Did anyone ever told you that you have such a nice smile? Anyway, thank you. Expect a return gift next month”.

Abe chuckles. “Good night, Miyadate-san. See you tomorrow”.

Once Abe is sure that the elevator door is closed, his smile falters. “Stay strong, Ryohei”.

He enters back into his apartment.

From the apartment across, Meguro sees everything. And he clenches his fist.

Even when I’m awake, I’m yearning still

For your gestures and your habitual phrases

Oh can you be my lover?

Apartment 11B receives a knock on the door the early morning of 15th February.

“Hold on. I’m coming!”

Mukai Koji opens the door. Abe Ryohei is standing outside, with a box of cake on his hand.

“Umm…Good morning. I supposed to give you this cake yesterday for Valentine’s but uhh…last night happened so…I guess this is also an apology for inconveniencing you last night. I hope you will take this…” Abe holds out the box towards Koji.

“Good morning, Abe-chan! Aww you don’t have to but that’s so sweet of you! Thank you!”

Koji receives the cake excitedly. Abe is a little surprised by Koji’s addressing him with a -chan but he’s glad that the man does not freak out especially after what happened last night.

“I would love to invite you inside but both me and Meme are getting ready for work soon so…”

Abe quickly waves both his hands, making a “no” gesture. “Don’t worry! Don’t worry! I just want to send this over to you. Hope you will enjoy the cake and have a good day!”

“Same goes to you Abe-chan! Ohh regarding last night…We heard everything from the security guard…Don’t worry too much about it yeah. To be honest, I am scared of what you believe you saw but I didn’t find you scary. At this modern times, mental health problems should be made aware. Uhh…I’m sorry if I sound insensitive…uhh…because I don’t know how it works but…I hope you will be able to resolve everything and uhh…Get well soon!”

Abe smiles. He can see the genuine concern from Koji.

“I’ll do my best!”

Both of them giggle.

“Shoppi! You can’t go outside!”

Abe freezes. Shoppi? He felt like he heard the name before. But where…?

A beautiful white cat, a Norwegian Forest breed, slips out from the apartment.

“Mou! Shoppi! Ahh Abe-kun! Good morning!”

Meguro comes out with just a towel covering his waist and with hair still dripping wet. Abe’s breathing hitches.

“Dude! Have some decency! Go back inside, I’ll take care of Shoppi”, Koji scolds.

“Ahhhhhhh alright alright! Have a good day, Abe-kun!” And Meguro goes back inside in a hurry.

“Shoppi~ Do you want to meet Abe-chan? Say hi to Abe-chan!”

Abe crouches down to the floor and pet the cat. “Nice to meet you, Shoppi~ You’re so pretty!”

The cat stares at him.

Abe loves cats. Usually, he didn’t find cats uncomfortable but there’s just something about Shoppi that makes him…uneasy…

“Let’s go inside baby. Mama and Papa don’t want to be late for work”, Koji says while bringing the cat up to his chest, like holding a baby. “I claimed myself to be it’s Mama. Ahh! But me and Meme are not a couple though! He’s actually my cousin and we decided to move in together to save up on rent since our workplaces are not far from here”, Koji winks.

“Ahh I see. Alright, I don’t want to take up more of your time! I’ll see you around, Koji-kun!”

I guess you already know about my feelings

Feelin’ so bad, you can’t get away

Yeah

“Good morning, Abe. How are you feeling today?”

“Better than last night, doc. Please come in”.

Once they are seated, Miyadate starts, “The chocolate is delicious by the way. I finished the whole bar in one sitting while watching a documentary. Say, what is your favorite flavor? I’ll try to make a chocolate with your selected flavor for White Day”.

Abe is feeling a little shy by the compliment and the request. “Hmm, let’s see…I like white chocolates. But really, any flavor is fine, Miyadate-san. It’s the thoughts that counts. And I’m glad you like my homemade chocolates”.

Miyadate makes an OK gesture. “Well noted”.

The doorbell rings.

“Hmm? I wonder who’s that. Please wait a moment, Miyadate-san”.

Miyadate nods.

Abe looks at the peephole. It’s Meguro. Abe opens the door.

“Is something the matter, Meguro-kun? You’re not going to work yet?”

“Nope. Nothing’s the matter, Abe-kun. I’m going to work after this. Here, for you”. Meguro brings out a bouquet of pink tulips and magnolias from behind him.

Abe doesn’t know how to react so he simply stares at the flower bouquet till Meguro speaks again.

“I have some time to spare before my meeting soon so I went to the nearest flower shop to get this for you. I hope this will cheer you up”. Meguro smiles. That radiating smile.

Abe flusters and takes the bouquet from Meguro. “Uhh…Why are you like this…You don’t have to but thank you. I really appreciate your concern. The flowers are beautiful”.

“I like seeing your smile, Abe-kun. You really have a nice smile. Ohh there’s a note attached to the bouquet and I’ve written my number there. If you want someone to talk with, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I can listen to you and I will help you as long as it’s within my capabilities. Ahh! I gotta go now. Give me a text later yeah so I can save your number too! See ya!”

Abe can only mutter a soft “Thank you” after having a hard time finding his voice.

Meanwhile, Miyadate hears everything from inside the living room. “Hmm your neighbor is very thoughtful. That is how neighbors should be”, he comments. Upon seeing Abe enters the living room with the bouquet, he continues, “Put the flowers into a vase immediately so they will last longer. We can still converse while you’re arranging the flowers”.

“Ok, doc”. Abe goes to the kitchen to find a suitable vase then proceed remove the flowers carefully from the bouquet. He looks at the note with Meguro’s number on it for a moment and he carefully put it aside, near his phone so he will remember to text the number later.

“Say, Abe. What do you think of your new neighbor? That Meguro-kun, especially”.

“Meguro-kun? Umm…I find him to be very kind and as you said, thoughtful. I also thought that he must be a reliable and responsible man. He’s conventionally attractive too”, Abe answers with his thoughts while filling ¾ of the vase with cool water, then, cutting the flower stems.

“I see. Are you in any ways, attracted to him?”

Abe stops.

“Aside from this, giving you flowers, did he do something else before this?”

Abe doesn’t answer.

Miyadate sighs. “Judging from your silence, I guess he did something, huh? And you find yourself attracted to him. Isn’t that right?”

Abe keeps his silence and is now putting the flowers into the vase, arranging them.

“For now, I believe whatever this Meguro-kun did to you before, might be a trigger to what happened last night. However, this is a tricky situation, Abe. Meguro-kun may be the trigger and may also be helpful to overcome your Philophobia”.

Abe finishes arranging the flowers. He proudly presents it to Miyadate. “Look! They’re so pretty, right?”

Miyadate sighs again. “Abe, I’m your doctor. You can’t avoid this problem forever. I’m here to help you. Be honest with me about your feelings then we can start from there”, Miyadate encourages, sternly.

At this point, Abe is ignoring his psychiatrist altogether and places his attention to the flowers in front of him.

Miyadate stands up. He moves towards the kitchen counter. He places his right hand on top of Abe’s. “I know you’re afraid. Let’s take this slowly, shall we?”

Abe still doesn’t respond.

Miyadate then comes up with an idea. “Ok fine. If you don’t want to talk about your feelings right now, why not we try to solve the mystery of whatever that you saw last night?”

Now Abe turns his head towards his therapist curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s ask the security guard for CCTV footages. There is a CCTV at every floor’s foyer, right? Which overlooks both apartment entrances. For your peace of mind, as well as for me to do an accurate evaluation on your well-being, let’s get the footages”.

Oh baby, tell me what you’re gonna do

If I’m going to see you,

This fuzzy feeling will be going on full speed in the end

I’m not crazy, Make a move

It’s heaven,

For me who becomes aware of the feelings

“At around 10-11pm, correct? Let’s see…”

With the security guard permission, both Abe and Miyadate were directed into the control room and the 3 of them investigate the CCTV footage together.

“Oh no! The file is corrupted during those hours”, the security guard exclaims.

“Hmm…That’s suspicious…”, Miyadate remarks.

“Actually, this is a common thing. The CCTV in this building is old and the owner of the building don’t bother to replace them with new system. The current CCTV can only store 1 week worth of footages and at some random hours, the footage may be corrupted”, the security guard explains, while showing them some footages at random different times which are corrupted as well. “This is so unfortunate. I’m sorry I’m not able to be of help, Abe-san, Miyadate-san”. The security guard genuinely looks apologetic.

“It’s ok, Mr. Guard! You have helped us enough! Don’t worry! I have another favor to ask you though. Can I keep the whole one week of footages?”

“Yes, sure! No problem!”

“One more thing, Abe. Around what time did you say you met Koji-kun the day before yesterday?”, Miyadate reminded.

“Ahh please open the footage on 13th February, 7pm”

“Roger that”

The security guard browse through the footage collection. He found the footage and he click on the video.

“Damn! Corrupted!”, the security guard shouts, distressed.

“It’s alright, Mr. Guard. We’ll skim through the rest of the footages later”.

“Alright, Abe. I’m going to the clinic now. Please take your medication as I prescribed. I will check you up once a week. We shall discuss more about your condition in the next session. Call me if you need anything. Also, if you find anything in the footage, please let me know. Have a good rest, Abe”, Miyadate said, while both of them are walking out from the control room, towards the foyer of the ground floor.

“I will, doc. Thank you and have a good day”, both of them bow before they part ways.

A flowerpot falls to the ground and breaks. One step away from Miyadate. If Miyadate was one second late, the flowerpot might have hit him. The sound of the broken pot alerted the people at the ground floor. Abe too, is shocked upon seeing the event unfolding before his eyes.

“Oh my God, Miyadate-san! Are you alright?!”, Abe screams, going towards the doctor. The security guard is also out and going towards their direction.

“I’m fine. I’m just surprised. God had saved me. If I was only a second late, there might be a bloody accident”.

The 3 of them look up, trying to find from which apartment does the flowerpot belongs to. It is hard to pinpoint exactly from which apartment as lots of tenants in the building grow flowers in their apartments.

“And almost everyone is at work now. It’s ok, I’ll go around and do a check up on all apartments in the evening. I’m glad nothing happened to you, Miyadate-san. You may go ahead to your workplace. Take care!”

Once Miyadate was no longer in sight, both Abe and the security guard let out a sigh of relief. The security guard turns to Abe, “Weird stuffs are happening around Valentine’s Day. Strange, huh? I hope nothing else happens after this”.

Abe agrees.

Babe, baby, babe

Say my name, Say my name

Babe, baby, babe

Say my name darling

Abe is back to work 3 days after. There were no strange happenings within the last 3 days and Abe had also gone through the rest of the CCTV footage. There was no sighting of the pretty man that Abe thought was Koji at all in the footages. But it was also hard to confirm that the man he saw was never existed because of some corrupted footages at random times of the day. And if he was really seeing things, who helped him bring his groceries inside the apartment that night? Did he himself go back outside to become the “second” person? The thought makes him shiver.

Abe is currently sitting at his workstation, browsing through his patients’ data. His fellow co-worker, Jesse, who just arrived with a cup of coffee on his hand, excitedly greets him by patting Abe on his back.

“Good morning, Abe-chan! I heard you’re unwell a few days ago. I hope you’re feeling better now”.

“I am. I’m ready to get all these tasks done today”.

Jesse nods. “That’s the spirit!” Before Jesse left Abe’s desk, he spotted something, and he chuckled.

“Hmm? What’s so funny?”

Jesse smirks and playfully blurts out, “I think I know how you got yourself healed”.

Abe is still clueless.

Jesse moves to touch the back of Abe’s neck with two of his fingers. Abe got goosebumps from the touch. “Even if you wear collared shirt, I can still see it from this angle, you know. Hehehe! Having fun, heh?”

But Abe still cannot process Jesse’s words.

Jesse is a little annoyed at Abe’s clueless reaction, then marches up to the said man with a portable mirror. “Take out your phone. Put the camera in selfie mode”, Jesse instructed.

Abe does what he was told. Jesse faces the mirror behind Abe’s neck so Abe can see the back of his neck in his phone. There, he sees two red marks on his skin. They look like hickeys. And fresh too. Abe freaks out.

“Who’s that person, Abe-chan? Looks like you were bitten hard. Must be good, huh?”

Abe does not hear anything Jesse said after that. He’s trying to remember. But he had no memories of ever sleeping with someone last night. Heck, he didn’t even leave his apartment at all yesterday and he invited nobody over. Is it happening again? And it’s even worse now?

There’s no turning back anymore

Be my girl – this heart won’t lie

Honey Imma make you mine

Hold you tight right now

Can you give me one more night?

Let’s get it now

[Flashback to 3 years ago]

Abe is in his final year of medical school, under the supervision of Professor Matsumura.

One night, Abe wanted a detailed explanation on a specific medication. Usually, they will discuss everything at the school but that night, the professor invited him to his apartment at the lecturer’s quarters. They sit in the living room and start the discussion. After a while, Abe felt dizzy. He remembered standing up as he felt like he wanted to puke, then his professor’s voice asking him “What’s wrong? Where are you going?”, before he passed out. When he woke up, he was on his professor’s bed, with his professor lying next to him, both of them, naked. That was when he realized. His professor had planned all that. His juice was drugged. And he was having a hard time believing that – he was assaulted.

You are my love trigger

A dangerous flavor, but I want ya

The moment our eyes met

I’m Going crazy

Going crazy for you, oh God

I’m craving to be loved by you

[Back to current timeline]

The rest of the day, Abe is in autopilot mode. He asked the supervisor in charge to give him only paperwork jobs for the day with the excuse of he’s still recovering from a fever. Actually, he’s not in the right mind space to see patients right now.

Abe takes out his phone and is about to send a text to Miyadate, hoping to see his psychiatrist later after work. He was just about to type…

“Abe-san! A delivery for you!” The mail boy hands him over a package with no sender name. Just addressed to him.

He opens the package. He shrieks.

Inside, are various photos of him INSIDE his apartment. Photos of him cozying up on the couch of his living room, photos of him cooking in the kitchen, even scandalous photos of him in the shower and also…photos of him sleeping in his bedroom.

Abe is visibly trembling. What is happening? Who is doing all this? Did he really had a relapse that he doesn’t even remember who he let into his apartment?

“May I know who dropped this parcel off?”, Abe asks the receptionist at the front desk of the clinic.

“Ahh the courier man dropped this off. They said they received special instruction to remove the dispatch note as it was a surprise. What’s the occasion, Abe-san? You finally got a lover?”, the receptionist giggles.

“No…Umm…Did they gave you the dispatch note?”

“Ahh yes. Thankfully I didn’t throw it away yet. Here you go”.

He scans through the document. He gets the 3rd shock of the day.

The sender is in initial M.H. and the address is Unit 11A, Astrolab Complex.

His home address.

His vision goes black.

I want your love, I want your love, I want your love

Oh baby

I need your love, I need your love, I need your love

Oh baby

Jesse sends him back to his apartment that evening.

“If you’re still unwell tomorrow, just take another day off. Don’t force yourself too much, ok?”

Abe thanked his colleague before Jesse goes on his merry way.

Once inside Unit 11A, he ransacks the whole apartment, searching for hidden cameras. After hours of searching everywhere, he finds none. This is driving him crazy. Literally.

Is he really going crazy?

He takes out the dispatch note from his work bag and stares at it for a while.

From: M.H.

Unit 11A, Astrolab Complex.

Pick up date/time: 17th February, 10am.

Surely, he was home during the pick up time. In his memory, he was in his living room, reading a book at that time. He never called for a courier to pick up a package from his apartment. However, the one thing that he found most scary is the initial M.H.

Matsumura Hokuto.

His professor that is still missing since 3 years ago.

[Flashback]

That fateful night, it was Abe’s first time. He was also never been in a relationship before. He felt violated, of course. But Mr. Matsumura confessed that he had always been in love with him. Ever since his 1st year of medical school. And the thought that they will probably never see each other after this, because he will be graduating soon, made the professor decided to do this. Mr. Matsumura looked genuinely apologetic, he begged for Abe’s forgiveness and soon asked him, if they could be lovers.

Call him foolish, call him naïve. But he is inexperienced when it comes to the topic of love. He believed in the sweet words thrown at him. And Mr. Matsumura was never not kind to him. So he accepted.

His judgement was clouded by the thoughts of falling in love. He doesn’t realize at the time that he was manipulated. He forgot that whatever the professor did to him a while ago, was something unkind.

Abe has been dating Mr. Matsumura for 4 months now. It can be said that, Abe doesn’t expect his first love story would be in such a way. Being in a relationship is not always rainbows and butterflies – and Abe learned it the hard way. The professor strictly asked Abe to not tell anyone about their relationship, with the excuse of them being in a student-teacher relationship. Abe thought it was an acceptable request since he doesn’t know what impact it will lead to if the school knows about it, although, Abe is already a full-grown adult. As a matter of fact, even if anyone knows, there would possibly be no problem at all. It is not something morally incorrect.

Being in a relationship like that was quite tough. They don’t really go on dates because strangely, the professor was afraid that they would be discovered. Abe would be invited to sleep over at the professor’s place for certain days in a week. They would do the deed then. And every time, it was getting harsher for Abe as his professor would force him into experiencing different kinds of “pleasure” with the justification of “exploring”. And every time Abe refused, he would get beaten until he submitted.

The first month was decent. They would meet at the cafeteria during lunch if Abe is not doing clinical rotations, and had dinner at the lecturer’s quarters once a week. Second month rolled in and it started going downhill. The abuses began, they don’t eat lunch together as often again with the professor kept saying he’s busy and as Abe promised not to tell anyone about their relationship, he had no one to talk to about the problems he’s facing. It’s no surprise that these new intense experiences took a toll on his mental health. He started having dark thoughts. But he can still persevere. That is…Until he received a text message from an unknown number one day.

“I have a present for you. Come to the lab at 12pm sharp” – the text read.

Abe thought it was from his lover. They had a fight the night before so he truly thought that perhaps his professor was trying to make up with him. He let out a small smile. He leaped his way to the lab exactly at 12pm only to find there was no one around. It was lunch time after all. However, there was a yellow box with a ribbon, sitting on top of one of the benches. He got closer and surely; it was for him. There was a note on top of the box written “FOR ABE RYOHEI” on it. Abe excitedly opened the box.

There was a just a piece of paper inside with the message “Go to the theatre room”.

Ohh this is like an escape room game. Find clues and solve the mystery. He likes it.

He didn’t waste time to make his move towards the theatre room.

When he arrived at the huge theatre room, no one was in sight. Just like at the lab. He checked every seat, from top to bottom level - he found nothing. Then he made his way to the stage. There were just props and costumes; nothing addressed to him. He was about to give up when he heard a small noise. It was coming from the backstage. He slowly and quietly moved to the backstage. Gradually, the sounds started to get clearer. He can identify two different voices. He peeked inside.

That was when he experienced deceit.

Mr. Matsumura, his lover, can be seen doing the nasty with another student.

“You’re the most beautiful. You’re so good. I love you”.

Those are the words that Abe thought his professor exclusively said only to him.

He can hear his heart shattered into pieces.

Something ignited inside him at that moment. Rage. The rage of “How dare the person I love did this to me”. The rage of being fooled. The rage of failing to protect himself.

You are my love trigger

I want to wallow in the feelings, just like this

Forever and ever

[Back to current timeline]

Abe is trying to think logically no matter how irony that might sounds right now. Since the photos were already delivered to him, of course whoever the sender was, already got rid of the hidden cameras. He takes all the photos out from the package and begin to examine each photo in case he can find some details to help him sort out this situation.

This one photo of him cozying on the couch, reading a book, caught his eyes. Behind the sofa he was sitting on, is his work station at home. His laptop, his printer, his stationeries are all on that desk. His gut is telling him to check his laptop.

He switches his laptop on and immediately checks the printer history.

There he has it!

All the photos that were sent to him, were printed here!

The photos are stored in his laptop under the folder “Ryohei’s phone”.

That terrifies him!

He takes his phone and opens the gallery. Sure enough, the photos are all there.

He’s bewildered. He tries to gather his thoughts.

“Did I take all the photos myself? Then sent it to myself at work? What is happening? Heck! Did I have dissociative identity disorder? But…That doesn’t explain the hickeys! I can’t give myself hickeys at the back of my neck!”

“Shoppi! Come back here!”

Abe’s thoughts abruptly paused when he heard Meguro’s voice from outside. Seems like he’s coming nearer.

Abe goes to open his door and get a little surprise, seeing Meguro’s cat in front of his door with Meguro’s red suit jacket in its mouth. Abe crouches down to pet the cat. “Hello, Shoppi~ How are you?”

Meguro reaches them, panting. “He’s such a naughty cat. He wouldn’t let go of my jacket!”

Abe grins. “I guess he likes red”.

“Oh yes he does! You don’t know how he likes chewing on the red roses that Koji just bought. And he wouldn’t sleep on the bed that we bought for him. He prefers to sleep on Koji’s red blanket. I’m sorry to bother you”.

Abe shakes his head. “No, not at all! He went straight to my door. It feels like he wants to visit me! Is that right, Shoppi? Do you miss me? I’m happy that you come visit me~”

Abe helps removes the jacket from Shoppi’s mouth and return it back to Meguro.

“Thanks! By the way, how are you? You still look pale though. Don’t push yourself too hard yeah. When you’re tired, get some rest”. Meguro looks worried.

“Don’t worry, Meguro-kun. Just some work things that I have to settle. I’ll sort things out soon”, Abe smiles.

Meguro suddenly moves forward, giving Abe a gentle hug. Abe’s heart rate speeds up and he wishes he will not hyperventilate.

“I can see that you’re hurting. And it pains me. If there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me. I’m worried about you”.

Abe stands still in his spot, doesn’t know how to react. Meguro steps back after giving a few more soothing rubs to Abe’s back. Meguro is giving soft eyes.

At this point, Shoppi is already walking back towards its owners’ apartment. Meguro shakes his head. “The cat got an attitude. Anyway, I walk him outside occasionally too. I will text you whenever I bring him out so you may join if you feel like it”.

Abe’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Yes! I would love to! Let’s bond again sometime, Shoppi!”

“Hehe good night, Abe-kun!”

Abe stays in his position until Meguro enters his apartment. They wave at each other before Meguro closes the door.

Abe turns around. He is about to step inside when he notices…something on the floor. Like a small card. He picks it up. His eyes got bigger. So many thoughts are running in his mind. But one thing is clear now…

He knows…he was being messed with. Everything has fallen in place. He will not let this go and he will find the truth. Really soon.

If everything can be forgotten and overlaid

We’ll go together

Just pull the trigger

I won’t let you go

It’s 3am. The whole neighborhood is already in silence. Abe’s apartment is already pitch black.

A door opens. Only if one really focuses, can one hear the tiny footsteps entering inside.

A shadow of a figure emerges on the wall.

Now, the door of the bedroom is being open. Slowly. Quietly. And it closes so soon.

The figure approaches the bed.

The figure bends down…

“GAHHH!”

Abe rushes out of his bed towards the light switch. The light now illuminating the room, exposing his intruder. He had immobilized the intruder with a stun gun. The intruder is currently lying on the floor in pain.

“I need explanation, Meguro-kun!”

Meguro slowly looks up at Abe, who is now standing as far as possible from him.

He sneers. “Heh~ I didn’t expect you to figure it out so soon. I would like to toy with you a little bit more”.

“Tell me everything! Who are you? What do you know about me? Why are you doing this?!”, Abe screams in one breath.

Meguro tries to stand up, even though the shock is still going through his body. He directly makes eye contact with Abe. And he chuckles darkly.

“You’re trying to be a practicing psychiatrist, right, Abe-kun? Then why don’t you try to assess me right now? Let’s see if you’re good at your job or not”.

“You’re a psychopath, that’s for sure!”

“Ohh? And on what basis did you come with that conclusion?” Meguro is still holding eye contact with Abe, while he moves to sit on Abe’s bed, making himself comfortable.

Abe takes a polaroid photo from his nightstand and shows it to Meguro.

It’s the photo that “Koji” gave to Abe the night before Valentine’s Day. The photo of Abe was taken near the entrance door of his apartment. Behind the entrance door is a desk. And on top of the desk…is a mirror. And in that mirror…Reflected the figure of the one who took the photo.

“I guess this photo slipped out from your jacket last night. Now I know that it was you, who wants me to believe that I am insane. I also remembered where I heard the name “Shoppi” before I met your cat. This man called its name before he left your apartment. What is your motive? And who is this man?!”

Meguro tsk. “Damn! I knew that cat is a bad omen. But Koji insisted to adopt that little monster…”

“Which Koji?”

“Ahh~ the one that’s in the photo…that’s Fukazawa”.

“And where is this Fukazawa guy now?!”

Meguro smirks, moves his body forward, folds both his hands in wishing gesture and puts them below his chin. He has his legs open. “Six feet under. At Hissori Forest”.

Abe goes rigid upon hearing it.

“Hissori Forest…”

[Flashback]

Abe can’t get the image of Professor Matsumura making love with another student out of his head. It was driving him crazy. He decided then that he would observe his lover till the weekend. On Sunday, he would invite his lover to his favorite date spot, Hissori Forest, to confront the man and they could talk things out. Unfortunately, the date ended up in a tragedy.

That Sunday, they arrived at Hissori Forest late in the afternoon. This place does not have frequent visitors. It is far from the city and it’s just a deep forest covered by pine trees. Abe knew this place since childhood as he used to live at the countryside. When he was still a little boy, his parents would always tell him tales of different monsters that exist in the forest in order to scare him or disciplined him. When he turned into a teenager, his curiosity got the best of him and he decided to enter the forest to see what kind of monsters reside in there. Instead of monsters, he found a calming spot, with a beautiful scenery, with smells of fresh greenery, and it became his favorite spot to go whenever he feels down. Both Abe and Mr. Matsumura sat at the front of the professor’s jeep, with Abe leaning his head down on his lover’s shoulder.

“When was the last time we went on a date? It’s been a while, right?”

“Yeah. This week is especially busy. I’m grading a lot of students for the Shelf exam”.

“Busy? You still have time to play around with other man though…”

Abe lifted his head up. “I saw you that day. At the theatre backstage, fucking another man. I thought you said you love me. Am I not enough?!”

Mr. Matsumura kept his poker face. Then he sighed. “How do you know that I was there?”

“It doesn’t matter! What matters now is that you are cheating on me! What’s your justification?”

Abe’s head was suddenly roughly slammed on the car’s windshield, causing a crack. He let out a painful scream yet the professor was still holding the back of his head harshly.

“That’s no way to talk to your professor. Anyway, you know that I like exploring, right? I want to explore more territories which I did not get from you. Don’t get me wrong. You are very good in bed. It’s just that sometimes, you’re not doing it for me. Also, you seem to get tired easily these days. I can’t reach my high because of that. I’m sorry that you had to hear this from me, but you don’t satisfy me in bed”.

Tears fell down Abe’s cheeks. It hurts. From the impact of the glass. And from the cruel words.

“You don’t love me for who I am? You just love me for my body, is it? I can’t accept that! I want out of this relationship! We are breaking up!”

Abe strides away but the professor caught his hand. He forcefully pulled Abe back into his embrace.

“Oh no, that won’t do baby. I can’t risk you telling everyone about us”.

Abe scorns. “That’s not a problem. I will never want to admit ever dating a scumbag like you!”

Now Mr. Matsumura is violently cupping Abe’s cheeks, forcing the poor guy to look into his eyes.

“How would I know that you will never do that? Listen! You can’t leave me! I will make sure that I will make your life hell if you leave me. Remember, I am your supervisor. I am responsible for grading you. I can make you fail! Then you will regret it! 4 years wasted!”

Abe was thrown to the ground.

In a soft, anguished voice, Abe said, “I should’ve known you’re a red flag since the night you violated me. I’m stupid for believing you. I should’ve just reported you that night…”

Abe felt the energy draining from his body. He was unable to think straight. He crawled, trying to just get away from the place. But of course, the professor won’t let him.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” He reaches down to grab Abe’s shoulder.

A sudden piercing scream. Abe had slammed a syringe forcefully onto the professor’s hand, causing the needle to pierce his vein.

“What have you done?!”, Mr. Matsumura screamed in pain.

The professor’s head is spinning. He tried to stand up but fell back down immediately. Then he experienced shortness of breath. It felt as if he was choked. He raised his hand towards Abe before his vision blurred…and he will never wake up…ever again.

Abe doesn’t remember how he felt when he killed Mr. Matsumura. He does remember what he did after he realized that his professor is no longer alive though. He dragged the body deeper inside the forest and buried him there. He went back to the jeep to carry his professor’s belongings, everything, bringing them to a waterfall much deeper in the forest, then throwing all the belongings down.

He had no memories of how he got back to the city. He remembered suddenly waking up at the medical school clinic. The doctor said that he threw himself in ongoing traffic and a car hit him. However, he cannot recall such a memory. He then remembered the doctors talking about Mr. Matsumura going missing. A few days later, a poster with Mr. Matsumura’s face with the header “MISSING PERSON” was circulated inside and outside the medical school.

Abe looked up at the sky. It was gloomy. A downpour was expected to arrive soon.

“Ahh It’s not my fault. Not my fault at all. He was the one who killed me. I just pulled the trigger”.

[Back to current timeline]

“Remember Professor Matsumura Hokuto? He was my stepbrother”, Meguro announces.

Abe shivers hearing the name.

“I saw both of you at Hissori Forest 3 years ago. And I know that he had passed”.

“And you’re here for revenge? Is that it?”

Meguro burst into laughter. “Nahh~ He was never kind to me so whether he’s alive or dead, I am indifferent. I’m just…interested in you”. He stands up and slowly marches towards Abe, at the corner of the room. “I knew my brother was not exactly a decent man. I was surprised when I found out that he had a lover. Nope, he didn’t tell me about it. Let’s just say, at that time, I was annoyed why my father kept on comparing me to him. Why I can’t be as good and successful as he was. So I harbored a strong hatred towards my brother. I followed him around; in case I could find some dirt on him. I wasn’t disappointed. He did have lots of dirt on him”.

“Stand back!”, Abe shouts, pulling the trigger on the stun gun, showing Meguro the electric volts coming through it.

Meguro raises both his hands up, in a surrender gesture. “I knew you ever since you were in your first year. Initially, you were just a face that I was familiar with, as you were a student under my brother’s supervision. I saw everything when he assaulted you. And I was a little shocked when you agreed to be his boyfriend. I saw an opportunity. I want to use you to expose my brother’s dirty secrets to the world. To show my father how his favorite son, was not an angel after all. I hope you still remember how you got to know about my brother’s affair. I was the one who sent the text message to you”.

Abe comes to a sudden realization. No wonder he felt dejavu when he was putting Meguro’s phone number into his phone contacts. Last 4 digits: 0216.

“You might’ve not realized it when I gave you my number because we’re contacting through LINE. But if you scroll down your Messaging App to that message 3 years ago, you might find my name there”, Meguro smirks. “However, I do feel bad about what happened to you. With the stress of being in a medical school, plus the abuses you have to deal with, it’s no surprise that those things took a toll on you. Sometimes I do feel remorse. If I knew that you’re mentally unstable, I wouldn’t have sent that message to you”.

“And I will be kept in the dark then. And I will probably still under the torture of your brother. All this while, I never questioned who sent that text message 3 years ago. I was so enraged by the truth that I forgot the source of the catastrophe. I guess I have to thank you for that tip. Say, Meguro-kun. If you saw us that day at Hissori Forest, why don’t you report me to the police?”

Meguro laughs again and stares deep into Abe’s eyes. “That won’t be fun then”.

He walks to Abe’s closet. “Anyway, with my brother gone, I change my stalker victim to you! Hahaha! Don’t you feel happy? That you have a stalker? I spent most of my time just for you! Watching your every move! Hahaha! I’ve been watching you for 3 years now. Can you believe it? You don’t even have the slightest idea!”

He pulls out Abe’s white collared shirt from the closet. “You’ve been having it rough; I know. I’m still amazed how you’re still able to finish your medical school with flying colors. It’s as if you’re unfazed by whatever that happened. I learned that you have selective amnesia, but it seems that you only forgot some events, you did not forget your studies at all. How prodigious! You continue living a normal life. However, when you fall in love with that teacher at the school you were doing your residency 2 years ago, you started to get panic attacks. You hallucinate. That’s when you were introduced to Dr. Miyadate. And he diagnosed you with Philophobia, the fear of love. The effect of your trauma was quite frightening that one time, the security guard have to slap you on the face to get you to wake up. You were screaming you saw someone dying in your apartment. Dr. Miyadate said that’s your trauma-based memory, of when you were abused, and felt like dying. The teacher gave you mixed signals and at the end, he just left. He got a new job at Nagano prefecture and didn’t even confess to you. I saw you feeling down for days but getting well on your trauma. How ironic, don’t you think? That’s why I found you interesting. Your condition is interesting. You crave for love but you’re afraid of love”.

Meguro steps forward with the white shirt in hand. He folds the shirt and stretch the long sleeves, making it just like a long piece of cloth. Abe keeps his eyes on Meguro’s every moves. He feels threatened now. So he pull the trigger of the stun gun again.

“You’re a psychopath! How about that Fukazawa guy then?! Why did you kill him?”

“Ahh~ He’s just a poor sacrifice for my plan. Which has now…kinda failed, I guess? Fukazawa was a budding actor in my theatre. I always knew that he liked me. So I made him my boyfriend. He had his…toxic traits, you know. And he kinda annoyed me too. That Valentine’s Day night, I told him to meet me at the apartment since Koji was going to be back late. I guess he was expecting a romantic night but guess what? I attacked him instead. And I made sure, that I made you witnessed everything”.

In a swift motion, Meguro uses Abe’s white shirt to knock the stun gun off from Abe’s hands. Abe doesn’t have enough time to react before he was captured by Meguro next. Meguro uses the same shirt, throwing it around Abe so right now, Abe is locked in Meguro’s arms.

Meguro inches his face closer till the undoubtedly struggling Abe can feel Meguro’s breath on his face. “I want to see you go crazy for real. The plan was to make you saw the murder but acted that it never happened. I passed that one. Then I want you to believe that you did things that you don’t. Ahh~ I wonder where did I go wrong?”

Abe slowly lifts his head to see Meguro eye to eye, as if challenging him, and he smirks, “If it’s not because of the hickey, you might’ve succeeded”.

Meguro returns the smirk. “Ahh~ I didn’t expect you will notice the hickeys. I guess I got too carried away~ You’re just too irresistible that it took my whole willpower to not pounce on you while you’re sleeping~”

“Tell me, when did you start all this?”

“Ohh~ From the very first day I moved here. Fukazawa helped me with the stuffs during the moving day and I was glad when I saw you peek through your window to see us. Then I came to greet you and gifted you that candle. You invited my housemate too. And I said Koji’s name. Which is true. Koji is my housemate but I made you believe Fukazawa is Koji. Remember you were searching your keys the next day and found it outside? I took them. And I duplicate them. So I have access to your apartment all this time without you knowing”.

Meguro throws the shirt away and uses his right hand to hold Abe’s back, while he brushes his left hand slowly through Abe’s right arm until it reaches Abe’s hand. He then hooks their hands together before whispering into Abe’s ear, “Let’s dance, shall we?”

Meguro moves his right hand to hold Abe’s waist while Abe’s left hand is still stuck on Meguro’s chest. They sway left and right, while Meguro continue his tale.

“Koji knows nothing by the way. Not about my plans, not about Fukazawa. I have a respect for Koji as a cousin who’s always helping me. Even this apartment - he was the one to convince the realtor to get us an apartment in this building. Anyway, Koji is always busy and it’s a blessing that his working hours doesn’t match with yours. The chances of you crossing paths with Koji is very thin. It works for my plan. I brought Fukazawa into the apartment numerous times without Koji’s knowledge. When Koji is out working. Fukazawa was a naïve one. He believed everything I said and willing to do everything I told him to. I told him that I want us to keep our relationship private. Nobody in this building ever knows Fukazawa, not even the security guard. Because he always entered with a hoodie and mask on. He could be a guest on anybody’s apartments. Nobody ever saw Fukazawa’s face…until the Valentine’s Day eve. I went to bring him out for dinner but before that, I sent him to get some stuffs that I left in the apartment, the same time you got back from shopping. I managed to persuade him to simply keep his head down and go inside without the mask on. I was hoping that you could just saw his face but unfortunately…or fortunately? Your groceries fell down and you guys interacted. But I knew Fukazawa was loyal. He would never expose himself or us for my sake. So I was glad when he told me that he never introduced himself as Fukazawa nor Koji…because you already said it yourself. It was implanted in your head that my housemate is Koji so automatically, the person who came out from our apartment has to be Koji if it’s not me”.

Abe recalls that night he met Fukazawa. No wonder the man said “Nice to meet you too, neighbor”. He never specifically introduced himself as Koji. Abe was the one who assumed the man was Koji.

“However, that guy made one mistake. He was so excited by the polaroid camera that I gifted him, the thing that I asked him to retrieve from the apartment. He snapped a photo of you and gifted it to you. Thankfully, he told me about it at dinner. It’s as if he knew he wasn’t gonna live much longer, and he left you with the evidence. I got a little panic. But it’s alright. Since I got the key to your apartment. I entered your apartment that night. To retrieve the polaroid”.

The night Abe was awoken by the falling pots! And then he heard a rustle inside the apartment? That was Meguro! It was indeed, a bad omen.

“But that polaroid actually elevates the intended effect on you. You must’ve felt you have gone crazy that moment when you can’t find the polaroid anywhere, right? Hahaha! I guess I owe Fukazawa that one! Anyway, I am…a hacker. If you’re wondering how I’m able to track you every time, it’s because I have installed a secret tracking app on your phone. I have already entered your apartment while you were asleep a few times before the Valentine’s Day eve. To be honest, I did have a fuzzy feeling in my chest when I saw my gift, the lavender scented candle �� you used it even when you were sleeping, with candle warmer lamp”.

Meguro bites Abe’s left earlobe. Abe groans.

“I felt like you bring a part of me close to you. I personally thought it as an intimate gesture. Where was I again? Ohh Fukazawa. Fast forward to Valentine’s Day, whatever you saw from your window that night, all of that, happened. I hit him repeatedly on his head with the table lamp until he was unconscious. What I did to him after that? You know there’s an abandon theatre behind this building, right? I put him inside a body bag, drag him to the balcony of my bedroom…and threw him down. If he didn’t die from the beating, he’d definitely die from the fall. This is the 11th floor after all”.

Abe stops moving. Hearing the brutal story makes him more scared of the man who’s embracing him now. But Meguro forces Abe’s body to keep swaying.

“I retrieve his body the next morning. I rent a car for me to go to Hissori Forest, to bury the body there. But I went to the florist first, to give you the flower bouquet. I knew Dr. Miyadate was inside. I bet either one of you would propose the idea of checking the CCTV. I was right! And I was so well prepared! I deleted the footages when Fukazawa and Koji entered and left the apartment. I also tampered some footages to make it seem like the footages were lost at random times of the day, every day. Ohh by the way, I don’t like how close Dr. Miyadate is to you. I was the one who threw the flower pot down that day. I wish it crashed on his head. I was jealous, you know? No one else can be closer to you than I do”.

“That’s ridiculous! You’re twisted! How can you be jealous when you don’t even love me?”

“Ohh~ but I do love you, Abe-kun~” Meguro reaches down to bite on Abe’s collarbone, leaving his mark. Abe gasps.

“All these years of watching you, how can I not love you, Abe-kun? Love comes in many forms. As you said, I’m twisted, and so do my love. So continuing my story, I successfully buried Fukazawa at Hissori Park that evening. The next plan was to make you believe you did things unconsciously. I already planted some secret cameras inside your apartment beforehand. I sent my favorite shots of you to your workplace, using your apartment’s address as the sender address. I chose my brother’s initial to further convince you that you are…having a relapse. By the way…”

Meguro holds Abe’s chin to face him, making eye contact. Abe’s eyes are hazy. Meguro licks his lips.

“My most favorite photo is the one in the shower. Did you see yourself? So erotic~”

Abe is back to reality and pushes Meguro away so hard till he’s free from Meguro’s caging embrace.

Meguro’s expression turns dark.

“There you are, Abe-kun. You heard the whole story. Now that you know the truth, I can’t risk you calling the cops on me. I guess my fun time with you have to come to an end. There are two ways to have you passed away as if you’re self-exiting. Either I can force you to overdose on your medication…or you fall down. Hmm…I guess seeing you fall down will be much more exciting…So let’s do that then!”

Meguro violently grabs Abe by his hair, dragging him out to the balcony outside his room. Abe struggles. Punching, kicking, doing everything in his strength to get himself away from his captor. At one point, Abe managed to escape, returned inside to reclaim his stun gun but Meguro pulled him back towards the balcony and he struggled to break free once again.

“You know stun gun is only gonna work temporarily, right? You should’ve grabbed a knife or something sharp”.

“A slight chance is still a chance. Even if I can immobilize you just for a split second, I can do something in that split second”.

Now, they have already moved towards the railing, Meguro is still struggling to place Abe in a position where it’s easier to make him fall while Abe is still struggling hard to break free. Abe pulled the stun gun trigger numerous times, but Meguro was able to dodge them. Seeing the fiery determination in Abe’s eyes, Meguro is fascinated. Meguro pushes Abe to the railing, on his back, and Abe’s left hand is holding on to it in a strong grip. The railing is quite safe but with their heights, Abe being 178cm and Meguro is 185cm, accidents like falling may still happen, if not careful. Abe is now dangerously leaning on the railing with Meguro choking his neck. Meguro looks down. He takes a deep breath. He has decided.

“How about this, Abe-kun? Why not…We could go together. Ending my life with you by my side is not a bad idea at all. I also want to know how it feels to fall from this height”, Meguro suggests, looking straight into Abe’s eyes. He loosens his grip on Abe’s neck. He then takes Abe’s right hand, the one that’s still grabbing the stun gun, placing it on his chest, “Come, pull the trigger. With the shock, I bet we will be pushed down together”.

“Hah?! Why would I believe a psychopath like you?! How do I know that you wont only push me down instead?!”

Suddenly, Meguro came to a halt. Seems like something stirs in him, perhaps he is processing his thoughts, so many things jumbling in his mind. He gently pulls Abe into his embrace, slightly away from the railing. Then he pulls both of them down to the floor, still in an embrace. Abe is shocked at this rapid change in attitude. He hears a sob. Meguro is having his head down on Abe’s shoulder. Meguro is crying.

“I…love you so much you have no idea. The thought that…I won’t be seeing you anymore…I don’t think I can stand it…I love you so much…I love you so much…”

Abe is still appalled but he brings his hands to rub Meguro’s back and returns the hug. He decides to analyze the situation a little bit more before he takes further action.

Meguro slowly calms down. He finally brings his head up to face Abe again.

“We both sinned, Abe-kun. We’re both guilty. I believe you also feel guilt-ridden even though you’re afraid to admit it on the face of law. I don’t usually feel sympathy for others. You’re a different case. Till the time of retribution arrives, let us repent in silence, Abe-kun. Be my lover. Let us go far away from this fast-paced, noisy and restless city life. I want to bring you to live with me in the countryside. Leading a slow and peaceful life. Maybe, that’s what we both need…”, Meguro paused. He cracks a small smile, and with confidence, he states, “…Aside from each other. Would you like to try, Abe-kun? Can you be my lover?”

Meguro kept staring at Abe, looking hopeful, while waiting for an answer.

Abe buried his face into Meguro’s chest. He’s bursting into tears as well. He feels intense emotions, and his heart is in pain.

His trembling hands reach out to Meguro’s cheeks. In between sniffing, Abe said, “My toxic trait is when you say you love me, I am compelled to love you too”. A tiny laugh comes out of Meguro. They bump their foreheads together.

“Is that a yes?”

“As long as you don’t try to kill me again”.

Meguro tightened his hug. He looks up to the sky. A lightning. Followed by a thunder.

He takes a deep breath. With determination, he declares:

“I, Meguro Ren, promise to be true to you in good times and bad times, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life. Even in death, I do not want us to part. In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain, I hope mine will always find yours”.

Abe is left speechless listening to Meguro’s vows. He stayed in his position until Meguro squeezed his shoulders, “What’s your answer, Abe-kun?”

Abe is taking his time. Once he’s ready, he announces:

“Let us be true companions. I pledge you, my love, now and forever”.

A roaring thunder. And they kissed.

Let’s get it now

You are my love trigger

A dangerous flavor, but I want ya

The moment our eyes met

I’m Going crazy

Going crazy for you, oh God

I’m craving for your love

{Epilogue}

Abe and Meguro continue living in the same apartment complex until the next 3 years. Abe successfully finished his residency and proceeded to become a healthcare professional that can diagnose and treat a wide range of mental health conditions. Meguro waited till his contract with the theatre ended before he brought Abe to live with him in the peaceful, rural area of Hokkaido. They revealed their relationship to Koji a year after the incident. They made up a story and told him that they gradually developed feelings for each other during every walk with Shoppi at the park. Which is not entirely untrue. Koji was very ecstatic; he won’t stop congratulating them throughout the day. Koji was sad to let them go but the man found another housemate immediately after Meguro left. A pink head who’s as loud an as eccentric as he is. Who also becomes his boyfriend later.

Life seems wonderful for everyone.

I want your love, I want your love, I want your love

Oh baby

I need your love, I need your love, I need your love

Oh baby

[7 years later]

It’s early February. The local meteorological observatory has issued warnings of possible snowstorm in a few hours’ time. Snow has started to fall now, but not hard, yet. Two men are cozily sitting in the living room of a two-storey home in the middle of a vast land in Sarakitomanai. No other houses are built around the area aside from this one. It takes about 40 minutes by car in good weather condition until anyone can find a sign of civilization. The owners of the house seem to prefer living a quiet life. And that’s fine.

A knock on the door.

Abe opens it. He is greeted by two policemen.

One of them asked, “Excuse us, sir. May I know if Meguro Ren lives here?”

Abe hesitates. With a trembling voice, he asked back, “Why?”

The other police officer shows him a polaroid photo. “A forest ranger found two skeleton remains in Hissori Forest by accident. This photo was found in one of the victim’s pants pocket”.

It’s a photo of Fukazawa and Meguro, the night before he was murdered.

Meguro looks at the snow falling outside his window. He sighs. After 13 years of keeping secrets…

“Ahh~ it would be nice if I could touch the snow right now…”

Because the snow will immediately melt with touch.

Just like happiness.

Happiness only lasts for a while.

It doesn’t last forever.

=== FIN ===

You are my love trigger

I want to wallow in the feelings, just like this

Forever and ever

[Offshoot tale] [Back to 19th February, the day both Abe and Meguro made their vows]

After the kiss, Abe and Meguro goes back inside the room. Looks like the rain is about to fall.

Both of them sit on Abe’s bed, side by side, but stay silent. Neither of them knows how to start the conversation.

“Umm…I celebrated my 27th birthday 3 days ago”, Meguro starts, awkwardly.

“Ohh? On the 16th? What did you do?”

“Nothing fancy. My colleagues surprised me at the theatre. As I said before, I’m not in good terms with my dad so I only went to see my mom at a diner near the theatre. She baked me a strawberry cake. Always my favorite. Then Koji threw me a small birthday party. Just me, him and Shoppi. I received an unpleasant gift from Shoppi that day. Ugh…He peed on my favorite hoodie! I swear I was a step away from throwing him out. Ohh but of course, the highlight of that day was…”

The room suddenly feels hot. The atmosphere suddenly turns intense.

Meguro had his face too close to Abe. He blows into Abe’s face before saying, “…to watch you sleep”.

Abe’s heart is racing. In a whispering tone, he asked, “Oh yeah? I wonder what else did you do when you came into my room at night? I believe you don’t just watch me…”

Meguro raises his eyebrow and let out a tiny laugh. “You really want to know?”

Abe breathlessly replies with a “Yes”.

Meguro gently pushes Abe to lie down on the bed. They are staring into each other’s eyes, as if trying to figure out each other’s next move.

“Sometimes, I do this…” Meguro kisses Abe’s forehead. Abe shivers.

“Sometimes, I do this…” Meguro kisses Abe’s right cheek. Next, he stares at Abe’s lips. He bends down. But Abe turns his head away.

Meguro sigh, with a small smile.

“Sometimes, I also did this…”

“Ahh~” Abe let out a sweet moan. Meguro has bitten his earlobe. Meguro chuckles. He’s satisfied with the reaction.

“Sometimes, I did this too…” Meguro places chaste kisses along Abe’s neck before biting hard, at the back of the neck. Another bright red mark appears next to the previous hickey.

“Hmm…” Abe bites his lips to stop the moans. Pleasure. He felt it.

And he craves for it. Now.

Meguro pulls back to have a good look at Abe’s expression. Abe’s eyes are hazy. Meguro can see the desire in those eyes. Abe looks so submissive under him like this. Pleasure. Meguro felt it too.

And he pines for it.

Meguro starts touching Abe everywhere and with every touch, Abe keeps moaning. Tears streaming down his face. He hasn’t been touched for a long while. It is so overwhelming. Every touch from Meguro is burning him.

Meguro take note of every expression Abe made. He’s aroused, examining each and every expression. He felt the need to protect. To bring Abe into his embrace. This time, more passionate, more loving.

“If you say you want me…I won’t hold back. And there’s no turning back for you either, Abe-kun…”

They stare into each other’s eyes again. It felt like eternity until Abe reaches up to kiss Meguro on the lips. The second kiss. More eager and lustful compared to the first kiss, which was not all that innocent.

“Take me. Make me yours”.

Meguro smiles. The sweet smile that Abe loves.

“Your wish is my command”.

They fulfilled each other’s desires passionately throughout the night. Accompanied by the rain. On the bed and continued in the bath.

Although obviously exhausted, Abe manages to mumble, “Happy belated birthday” before he fell into deep slumber, in the arms of Meguro Ren.

His confidant.

[valkriii]

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

α ѕυяριѕє

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

═════════════════════

ʀᴀᴘʜᴀᴇʟ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ꜰʟᴜꜰꜰ

❝ When the crew decides to throw a surprise birthday party for you, you didn’t expect there to be more then the one surprise ❞

═════════════════════

The flash of your phone screen illuminated your face as you turned and stepped into the alleyway where you had meet good ol’ April O’niel. April being one of your close friends amongst the group of mutant terrapins and of course, Casey. Aside from the heartfelt birthday message April had sent you this morning, the brunette suggested you and her go down to the lair for the night and just hang out as a friend group. April knew you weren’t big on your birthday but she was also not going to leave you with nothing on your special day, and neither were the others. The plans weren’t exactly a lie but what you had not been aware of is that her and the others had been at it all day to decorate the lair, set up food and drinks both regular and alcoholic because April insisted you let loose and party a bit and enjoy yourself for your big day. Of course her ideas of a party or partying had been shot down by you in a second of the mention, hence why they had to meticulously and carefully plan the surprise party behind your back while each of them worked on gathering the information of your favorite cake flavor, favorite color, food, and ect.

While April was busy meeting you to bring you down to the lair, she was sure to shoot the brothers and Casey a text as the two drew closer to the lair so they could get ready for the surprise. Once they got the text, Mikey’s eyes darted around, assuring everything was in place, Leo assured everyone was in place, Donnie killed the lights and they all hid. Once they heard the soft foot steps and chatter between April and you stepping into the lair, they gave it a couple extra seconds to drag on, to Mikey’s demise.

“Why’s it so dark and quie—“, you were cut off as lights flicked back on, pouring the room in a bright but soft yellow glow. This was followed with everyone jumping from their designated hiding spots and shouting an array of ‘surprise’s’ and ��happy birthdays’. This was along with a brightly smiling April behind you. This had your breath caught in your throat, your eyes dancing around every decoration, bright pop of the (favorite color) decorations that hung and covered almost all around the lair. Despite not favoring making a deal of your birthday, you had to admire every little detail they put into this surprise party, you couldn’t be mad.

After receiving your hugs of welcome and extra happy birthdays, Mikey was to antsy to not guide you to the rather nicely made cake. “Thanks to Raph over here!”, Mikey emphasized as he pointed over to his older red clad brother, “we were able to give you a home made! (favorite cake flavor) cake, made and designed by your one and only-” Mikey smirked and puffed out his chest before sighing. “It was Raph but I did the decorations! And April got all the supplies while Raph and April got the information!”. “You guys…”, a smile of gratitude but disbelief adorned your features. You looked over to Raph who was standing sheepishly, you’ve never seen the usual hot headed brute seem so pressured under your gaze. His deep emerald eyes manage to drag from everywhere else to finally meet yours, “…I do pay attention to ya’ from time to time I guess” Raph seemed to be trying to pull off nonchalant. A hint of something tugged at your chest as you smiled, “thank you guys this is.. insane”, you let out a breathy laugh.

“Let’s get some cake and get the party started!”, Mikey left no time to waste.

Despite not favoring birthday parties, you found yourself enjoying the company of your friends and music on your birthday. Casey played DJ for your little party as almost everyone held drink in hand. This had been nearly your third one as you felt your head starting to swim in the best of ways. You would chat, laugh and dance with the others, making what you knew would be your best core memories. Especially when you ended up with or beside the muscular red clad terrapin throughout the night. The thought of Raph being so attentive to your likes and preferences actually surprised you, not even thinking he listened or actually processed what you talked to him about half the time.

All night the two of you seemed to spare glances at one another, lingering much longer then any regular look should. The looks paired with touches, brushing of the hands, his hands resting on your waist when passing by when your group got tight, and dancing a bit with eachother as the alcohol snaked it’s way inside your guys system. You knew it hadn’t been the alcohol making you feel like this, it did definitely enhance it. But a sinking feeling rested in your stomach with the fact it may have not been coincidental for you, but maybe it was for him. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back guys”, you excused yourself before finding your way to the bathroom.

Did you really need the bathroom? No. You did need a second to gather your thoughts though. As you stepped in you look at yourself in the mirror and took a breath to yourself and you placed your hand on either side of the sink as you leaned your weight on it. While containing yourself, you heard a gentle but certain knock on the door. “Come in!”, you were fully expecting it to be April checking to make sure you weren’t throwing up or anything. You were caught off guard when the door slowly opened to reveal the towering muscular form of Raph himself. You felt your cheeks heat as you stared at him through the mirror as he leaned against the door frame of the bathroom. “You alright doll?”, his voice always seemed to claw under your skin and send shivers through your veins. All you could do was nod for a second as your eyes stayed locked with his, they were fixated and glazed over. Before you look stupid you spoke, “yeah! Just taking a quick break”, you said before deciding to turn and properly look at him while leaning against the sink. “Hope ya like yer’ party, April was pretty set on making it perfect”, Raph said as he straightened up from the leaning position.

Those words nicked at you as a small smirk played on your face as you looked at your feet, “I mean.. it seems like you were sure to not miss a single detail… since when did you start paying so much attention to me?”. That question definitely caught him off guard as he stiffened up a bit, clearing his throat as his eyes broke the lock between you two. “Erm, ya know I pay attention from time to time. That’s what friends are for…”, your eyebrow raised at that sentence.

“Friends?”, you asked.

The look he gave was all answer you needed. You and him did tend to have a silent communication between one another. Thanks to the alcohol loosening your usual worried self, you stepped closer to him. “That wasn’t a friend thing Raph.. and you know it.”, god you hoped you weren’t reading the wrong signal here. You noticed his chest rise and fall in a deep breath as he now looked down at you as you stood right infront of him. God you were a sight to behold, his eyes eating it up shamelessly at this point as he shook his head, “no…no it wasn’t”. That was the push you needed to press your hand to his chest as you tip toed and inched toward his lips. Before you could taunt, he closed the gap. His lips were much softer then you expect as your guys lips meld together almost perfectly. His hand reached around and rested on the small of your back, guiding you closer as the two of you shared the intimate long awaited kisses. The multitude of tension filled times between you two and obvious moments seem to lead up to just this.

What felt like such blissful moments seemed to end to quickly as you both parted for air. Your eyes opened slowly to look up at Raph, your hands resting on his large shoulders, looking almost pleased with himself. “Well.. I wasn’t expecting two surprises in one night…”, you said with quite a mischievous smirk. This drew a deep chuckle from the brute as he smirked himself, “was that really a surprise to ya?… cause let’s be honest, that was a long time comin’… and no that’s not the alcohol talkin’”. This made you shudder in the best way possible as you bit your lip to stifle the excited giggle that wanted to flow past your lips, “you really do pay attention much more than you play on..”, those were the only words you got out before his lips crashed into yours eagerly once more. This surprise ended up being so much more enjoyable then you thought.

[helliontherapscallion]

I'm sorry for adding on to your pile of requests but I just wanted some family fluff with sbi where all of the siblings are having fun on a road trip or vacation

I don't know if that's specific enough for you if you want a little more detail maybe they're just being really dumb and making stupid videos with each other because that's something my sister and I do a lot

(A/N): I hope you don’t mind that I added Kristin and Tubbo (BASED ON THE CHARACTERS, NOT ACTUAL PEOPLE). Real life AU btw (no covid tho)

Okokok so this is deadass something Philza and Kristin is both dreading and looking forward to

1. They love spending time with their family especially now since yall are getting older and don’t spend as much time together anymore/getting ready to fly the coop

2. Have you met the SBI fam? Chaos incarnated.

After packing, yall set out on your trip to the hotel yall rented for a week or so (about an eight hour drive away from the house)

You and your twin Tommy 100% smuggle Tubbo underneath all of the luggage and a blanket

You’ll just ask them for forgiveness when you’re about halfway through

It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission 

Wilbur and Technoblade catching you hiding the stowaway and blackmailing you both into doing their chores for a few week 

Seating: Phil and Kristin in the front, Tech and Wil in the middle, You and Tommy in the back, and Tubbo in the trunk (it’s a mom van)

Before getting too far into the trip, a gas station is raided for snacks and drinks

Philza raising a brow at the amount of food you and Tommy get 

Philza’s eyes were torn off from the refrigerator in front of him by his wife lightly nudging him. Looking at her in question, she raised her eyebrows and pointed at their youngest kids. It looked like they were just looking at the Monster drinks, so why- oh god the last thing he needed was two already hyper teenagers hopped up on Monster trapped in a car for eight hours. Before he could go over there to stop them, Kristin grabbed his arm. 

“They’re up to something. Listen to what they’re saying.”

He strained his ears to hear what you both are whispering to each other. “...e like this flavor?”

Tommy shrugged, “I dunno. I’ll text him.”

As Tommy texted someone, Phil looked back at his wife. She wore a similar wary expression as they both stared at each other. He nodded in confirmation, “definitely. How do you reckon we confront them?”

He watched as his wife thought for a moment before she sighed and looked at him with a hint of excitement in her eyes, “let’s wait to see. It might be a pleasant surprise.” 

“What? Are you mad?” He eyed his youngest gremlins once more. It seemed that they finally decided on a flavor and are now moving on to the snack portion. He looked back at his wife and felt his heart skip a beat at the small grin on her face. “...fine. Let’s just see what they’re doing after they do it.” Oh, the things he does for love.

He kept a very close eye on you two after that 

You both are on your phones for longer than usual

Texting Tubbo so that he wasn’t lonely 

Tubbo has fun with hiding too, never being bored at all

The only thing that he (and you and Tommy) struggled with was holding in his laughter

You jumped as you felt someone gently slap your shoulder. Turning around, you saw Tubbo’s hand peeking over the backs of the seats. You glanced at your parents in the front seats, they were deep in conversation. Good. You saw Tommy stifle a laugh and pull out his phone to record. 

Tubbo made grabby hands at something but you didn’t know what he wanted, so you decided to mess with him a bit. Smirking, you put your earbuds in his hand. It snaked back underneath the blanket before he threw it back at you and did more intense grabby hands. You put your metal water bottle in his hand. He did the same thing before he threw it back at you. It collided with your forehead with a loud bong sounding throughout the car. Tommy started to laugh loudly and ended the video. You followed suit in the laughter as Tubbo’s hand froze midair and quickly slinked back into his lair.

All noise in the car came to a halt as they all looked behind them (well, Phil glanced through the rearview mirror suspiciously) to see you and Tommy laughing your asses off with you holding your forehead. Through blurred vision, you could see Kristin looking at you with worry and Techno and Wilbur looking confused and mildly annoyed.

“(Y/n) honey are you alright? What happened?” You opened your mouth to respond, but only wheezes came out making you laugh harder. You could hear Tubbo silently cackling to himself in the back, the blanket shaking slightly. Without being able to speak, you only nodded your head and gave her a thumbs up. 

Tommy sent the video into the siblings' group chat and you could see over Wilbur’s shoulder as he watched it before starting to cackle and save the video to his phone. Even Techno got a good chuckle out and saved it to his phone making Phil and Kristin even more suspicious. Well, Kristin was just excited for what you two (four? Was Techno and Wilbur in on it as well?) had planned. Phil could just imagine the chaotic things you had planned. And he did not like what came to his mind.

When the rest stop came eventually (about three hours into the trip), you all left the car to stretch your legs and take care of business

Taking separate ways to walk in pairs (same person they sat next to in the car)

You and Tommy wait until Phil and Kristin leave before getting Tubbo out of the trunk

You three vibe walking along the winding sidewalks for a bit before you come back to the car and get Tubbo back into the trunk

You, however, forgot to use the bathroom so you leave Tommy and Tubbo in the car 

“Fuck, I forgot to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Be quick, I’m not fuckin telling em if we forget you.”

“Pfft, they won’t forget me. Stop joking around.”

With that, you left the car and made a beeline to the bathroom. After that, you went back to the car. Well, where the car was supposed to be. There was no sight of a van anywhere in the parking lot. That asshole, he just let them drive off? He and Tubbo’s probably giggling to themselves in the backseat like school girls. You were only gone for like eight minutes. 

Sighing, you walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, pulling up Techno’s contact and calling him. 

He picked up after a few rings. The second you heard the dial tone stop, you spoke to him, “check the backseat.”

“What? You’re taking a nap, why’re you calling me I’m literally right in front of you.”

“Just fuckin check, Tech.”

In the background, you could hear Tommy snickering to himself. You heard some rustling before Techno started laughing, “Dad, we left (y/n) at the rest stop.”

“YEAH YA FUCKIN DID!” 

You could hear loud laughter from your brothers and muffled cursing from Phil. You heard Kristin tell Techno to hand her the phone. 

“We’re so sorry, we’re turning around right now. We’ll be there in about five minutes. Stay in one place and don’t talk to strangers.”

“I dunno Mom, that trucker looks really friendly. Might do some hitch hiking with him.”

You ended up befriending an old lady when she sat next to you on the bench with her husband. She even gave you some butterscotch and those strawberry hard candies that all older people somehow have but you can never find in stores. Her husband was telling you stories about his younger days when you saw the familiar van pull into the parking lot. Waving goodbye, you thanked them and hopped back into the car. 

After profuse apologizing from your family and scolding Tommy for tricking them, you were on the road again. You glared at Tommy with a small smile on your face, “you fuckin prick. Did you seriously make it look like I was sleeping under a blanket?”

“Yeah, I told you that I wouldn’t tell them if we forgot you.”

“You fuckin dick,” you grabbed a few butterscotches and strawberry candies and handed some to Tubbo after ensuring your parents weren’t looking. He took them gratefully and quickly. You heard him whisper a ‘thank you’ and opened them with plastic crinkling. 

“Wha- are those butterscotches? Gimme some.” He was about to snatch them out of your hands before you moved away from him. “No, you left me at the rest stop. You don’t get any. Do you guys want some? I’ve got butterscotches and strawberry candies.”

After you handed them out to your family, Phil looked at you confused in the rearview mirror, “(y/n), where’d you get these?”

“Oh, I just made some friends with an old couple while I was waiting.”

“You what? What if they kidnapped you?”

“Naw they couldn’t’ve. Ethel has hip problems and Charles was in a wheelchair. They were chill anyway.”

“...Just- just don’t do that again.” “Well don’t forget me again at a rest stop three hours away from home and you got yourself a deal.” 

After a while the family was chill again and everything was back to normal

It was getting closer and closer to when Tubbo would make his reveal

You three agreed that Tubbo would just wait for the perfect time 

That time came about three hours later when Phil and Kristin was asking everybody where they should stop for food

“So kids, we have three options: McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Arby’s. What do you want?”

“Wendy’s is obviously the superior choice.” Tommy proclaimed and you nodded in agreement. You leaned back and whispered to Tubbo, “now would be a great time.” You pulled out your phone to discreetly record the front seat. 

“No it isn’t. Arby’s is you heathens.” Wilbur chimed in, glancing at his twin for back up. Techno shrugged, “I’m fine with anything as long as it’s edible.”

“I’m more of a fan of Wendy’s myself!” Tubbo’s muffled voice chimed in from his makeshift hut in the trunk. You snickered as Kristin whipped her head around to look at the back seat and Phil’s eyes snapping up to look at you through the rearview mirror. 

“...Tubbo?”

“Hi Mrs. Tommy and (y/n)’s mum!” You flipped the camera around just in time to catch Tubbo poking his head out of the blanket and grin sheepishly at them. You panned over to Tommy’s ruby red face as he was holding in his laughter before flipping it back to the front. 

“You absolute gremlins, this is what you’ve been hiding?” Phil scolded you and Tommy, his knuckles whitening from gripping the steering wheel. You could see his shoulders bouncing slightly with a slight strain in his voice from holding in chuckles. 

“Honey, have you been in the trunk this entire time?” 

“Yeah, but it’s quite comfy back here! Tommy and (y/n) gave me pillows and some snacks. Got some stretching done at the rest stop.”

“You’ve been back there for six hours?” Phil’s incredulous voice asked. 

“Yep! Don’t worry, I had a lot of room. Anyways, my vote goes to Wendy’s.”

The car was quiet before Kristin started to laugh, “Wendy’s it is. See Phil, I told you it was gonna be a pleasant surprise!”

Tubbo sat between you and Tommy in the backseat for the rest of the trip 

Techno and Wilbur saying that they knew Tubbo was back there but left out the blackmail part

There was no way they’d risk losing their little siblings doing their chores for them for a few weeks

At the hotel, the rooming was the same as the seating in the car

You, Tommy, and Tubbo having the time of your lives alone in your hotel room

Jumping on the beds, checking for hidden cameras and double sided mirrors (well, that doesn’t sound fun, but you had fun doing it), truth or dare, racing each other down the halls at night time, the works

B L A N K E T  F O R T S (but always cleaning up the hotel room in the mornings bc yall are respectful to the staff)

Getting plenty of videos of you guys ding dong ditching Techno and Wilbur’s room

Them getting tired of it so they tell Dadza and Momza and they tell you to stop : (

Walking around aimlessly around the hotel hallways with Wilbur and Techno

Going up and down elevators aimlessly 

Pulling an all nighter with Tommy and Tubbo on the last day

Philosophical late night talks when yall hardly know what you’re saying anymore (and becoming closer than ever before)

“Tommy, Tubbo?” You three were currently sitting on the balcony chairs looking out at the empty parking lot and the occasional cars driving by. It was about three in the morning and you guys were determined to stay up all night. “If you think about it, a hotdog is puréed meat in an intestine casing. When we eat the hotdogs, we turn it back into puréed meat. It eventually goes through your intestines which makes you the hotdog for a solid couple of hours.”

“...What the fuck, (y/n).”

“No no, they’ve got a point. Don’t you understand, Tommy? We are hotdogs.”

“...I’m starting to think you guys need sleep. Speakin nonsense.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you two reckon we’re alone in the universe?”

“What do you mean, Tubbo?” You glanced at the male next to you and raised an eyebrow. He was looking up at the stars with furrowed brows. 

“Like, do you guys think there’s life out there. Looking down at us right now wondering the same thing.” 

You hummed and looked up at the stars. They were twinkling down at you with the occasional shooting star blazing by. Red lights from far off satellites being the only visible sign of humans in the dark expanse of space. “I think so. I mean, nobody knows how big the universe is. You never really know.”

“Honestly I don’t know what’s scarier, being the only lifeforms and being completely alone or having things out there that we don’t know about.” 

You sling an arm over your twin’s shoulders, “that doesn’t matter. As long as we have each other, we’ll never be alone. We’ll face whatever the universe has in store for us together.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t know, I just hate it when people only see me as the loud annoying one. It really gets to me sometimes and I don’t know what I should do about it. Fuck, even Wil and Tech see me like that.”

“Toms, fuck them. They don’t know you like we do. You’re caring, ambitious, and brave.” 

“Yeah, don’t listen to what they say. We’ll prove them wrong when we form our own nation one day.”

Tommy’s sullen expression slowly melted into a smile, “yeah, I’d like that. You’d be the president.”

Tubbo grinned back at Tommy, “and you’ll be my trusty vice president and (y/n)’ll be our Secretary of State. We’ll rule together.”

“Our nation would be a place for people to escape tyranny and injustice. Somewhere where men could live free, you two would be amazing leaders.”

“What do we call it though is the question,” Tubbo hummed in thought.

“How about ‘Manberg’?”

You looked at your twin with half lidded, exhausted eyes, “I like it, but it needs more… pizazz. How about L’manberg?”

You watched as he smiled widely at the stars, “it’s perfect.”

Watching the sunrise together on the balcony wrapped in blankets

Sleeping on the rest of the way back home

Best sleep of your life

When you wake up (about an hour or so away from home), you see that there’s blankets over you three and you had your head on Tubbo’s shoulder, Tubbo had his leaned up against the seat behind him, and Tommy’s cheek was squished against the window

You stretch out your limbs a bit trying not to disturb the two beside you

Checking your phone to see pictures of you three sleeping sent into the family group chat with Kristin replying with a bunch of heart emojis

You send the videos and pictures you took along the way of you, Tommy, and Tubbo doing stupid things in the hotel room and in the car

If you looked in the middle row, you could see Wilbur watching the scenery pass by out the window with his earbuds in

Techno is reading one of his books (you have no idea how he doesn’t get car sick)

Phil and Kristin are talking lowly to each other holding hands on the center counsel 

Soft radio music is playing in the background

Life is good

General taglist (comment if you want to be added):

@crybabyjabby  @izzybobizzy13  @goldenstarofthunderclan  @bunnyz-pxstel  @averytiredfanfictionwriter  @dcml04  @sparkling-gayyyy  @bbigbbrainn  @thaticecreambish  @kiinokochii  @satansphatass  @bxkubitch  @bxmentchildxx  @roxy3457  @montygator17  @feverish-dove  @the-fictionwriters-hairdo  @jichuuchaeng  @404rynnotfound  @luluwinchester  @laura--444  @the-cult-classic-bitch  @youngstarfishdinosaur  @nottheotheruser

[enchantedflameandflower]

Glimmer 6/? Billy Butcher/OFC

pairing: Billy Butcher/OFC

rating: mature

summary: Sometimes even a wavering light in the darkness can be enough to bring you through. How will Billy Butcher cope with falling in love with a supe he can't walk away from?

chapter: 6/?

The sun was bright in the calm sky, a stark contrast to the man standing on the pavement below.

Butcher had to squint his eyes, glancing toward the building, while he waited outside for MM to square away leaving his job. When he finally came out through the doors he was glaring still but Billy knew his old friend had the same drive he had to take down Vought and all their supe cunts.

“Two hours and the next guy will be here. Then I’m all yours. What’s the plan?” MM crossed his arms, leveling his stare at Billy.

“Don’t you worry.” Butcher clapped MM on the shoulder. “My lead is guaranteed to bring us closer to taking down Vought.” Billy paused, checking his watch and ignoring MM’s doubtful glare. “Two hours is perfect. A-Train is up to something and I have a feeling it’s massive. Word is that Popclaw knows A-Train inside and out. She’s our target, and a soft one at that. We can set up surveillance and have what we need in a jiffy. I’ll text you the address. I just have one more thing to do and I’ll get us set up, eh?”

There was just one more person Billy wanted to see first. Solely to confirm his suspicions. Yes...no other reason at all.

MM was quiet for a moment. “You’d better not be wrong Butcher.”

“Oi,” Butcher grinned. “When have I ever been wrong?”

***

The cell phone in Addison’s pocket buzzed and she stepped aside on the busy Manhattan sidewalk to pull it out. Her stomach did a little flip when she checked the screen and saw who was calling.

“Butcher,” she answered, pressing her phone to her ear.

“Aye, Addi,” his deep, accented voice replied. She would know it anywhere. “Can we meet up? Where are you?”

“Midtown, unfortunately. Are you at my place?”

“Nah, thought I’d call this time.”

Addison smiled to herself. “That’s a lucky first.”

“Just had a hunch. Meet me at the diner at 44th and 8th, eh?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Caught you on a security recording. I’ll explain in person.”

She laughed softly at the teasing in his voice. “Sounds ominous...”

“It usually is. See ya in 10.”

***

Addison found the diner quickly and ordered a turkey sandwich at the counter then picked a seat by the window. The lights inside were dim, and it was dark with the tall city buildings blocking the sun, but comfortable. Billy came in a minute later and ordered a coffee.

“Couldn’t wait to eat, eh?” he teased her.

“I’m starved. I’ve been running around all day.” She took a big bite of her sandwich then licked a tiny bit of mustard from the corner of her mouth.

“How’s the nosh?”

Honestly, the bread was a bit stale and the turkey didn’t have much flavor, but it was food. “Eh,” she answered then took another huge bite. Butcher chuckled and sipped his black coffee. The sounds of the city outside the glass window filled the space when they weren’t talking, comfortable, as if they did this every day.

Addison took another bite before she spoke again. “So what recording did you see me on?”

Billy’s brow furrowed for a moment. “Down at the Supe club. I were lookin’ for A-Train and saw you in the background. Lookin’ for information.” He sipped his coffee, looking out the window for a moment. “Helpin’ out a kid who lost his girl.”

“Lost?” She took a bite of the pickle spear that came with her sandwich, lifting an eyebrow at Butcher.

“A-train killed her. Ran right through the poor bird. Obliterated her.”

“Jesus,” Addison murmured.

“Diabolical,” he agreed.

“Yeah I’ve seen A-Train around...” She stopped and gave Butcher a look. “You’re...helping this kid...or using him?”

“Eh,” Billy shrugged. “Potato - potahto.”

Addison quirked her lips. “How much trouble are you going to get in this time?”

He shrugged a little, glancing around, then back to her. “Well if I’m being honest... maybe a lot. But that’s how I like it. So what do ya know ‘bout A-Train?”

“He hangs out with his friends...” Addison paused, searching her memories. “He never hooks up with anyone, never leaves with a girl, doesn’t stay unusually late.” She took a drink of iced tea, sifting through memories. “I’ve heard him mention Popclaw once or twice...”

Billy nodded, smiling. “That’s what I were hoping you’d say. Already told MM I had a solid lead but I wanted to check with you before I shelled out the extra dosh. Thank fuck that you’re into that club, Addi.”

“I mean - I don’t go often,” she rolled her eyes, “but every once in awhile. Lay low and keep tabs on people.”

“Is that why you go then? Don’t get up to anything else, eh? Look, I wouldn’t judge...” he held up his hands.

“Get up to anything? Billy Butcher are you trying to ask if I have sex on the ceiling?” She teased him, grinning as she finished eating, pushing her plate aside.

“Like I said, no judgment...” he smirked back.

“No,” she laughed. “Definitely not into exhibitionism. I just go for work. And good alcohol.”

“Too bad. Looks like it could be interestin’.”

“You wanting to try it sometime?” she glanced at him.

“Why? You offerin’?” He looked up as if checking how much room they had in the diner.

Damn his cheeky smirk and that dimple. Her stomach fluttered at the teasing look in his eyes but she would not entertain it. She shook her head but she couldn’t help laughing. “Sorry, I don’t fly.”

“Well that’s a shame, ain’t it.”

“It is. Just comfy big beds and tabletops for me,” she sighed theatrically.

“Is that so?”

When she met his gaze suddenly she couldn’t tell anymore if they were still joking and her heart skipped a beat and she’d never been more relieved he couldn’t hear hers. She swore she could see a new flame lighting in his dark eyes though and her breath caught. Then she realized he was waiting for an answer and she opened her mouth though she had no idea what she was going to say.... She cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“So, back with MM...how’d you manage that?”

Butcher grinned. “I walked in, I sat down and talked to him. Bloke to bloke. I was just my charming self, and he jumped at the chance to work with me again.”

“Mmhm...”

When Butcher caught her gaze again she cursed herself for being such a sucker for that dimple. Suddenly his phone buzzed and it shattered the moment.

Addison couldn’t help herself and breathed a sigh of relief while he answered. It took all the will power she owned not to listen in on his conversation.

“Gotta go,” he murmured when he hung up. Was there regret in his voice? She wouldn’t let herself think about it, so she just nodded.

“You workin’ tonight?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “Always something. No rest for the weary.”

He nodded his head once and stood up to leave.

“Butcher - be careful.”

“Talk to ya soon, sunshine, eh?” And then he was gone again.

tbc...

♥

Chapter 7

[etherrreal]

“sweet on you”

Pairing: osamu x gn!reader Genre: fluff WC: 1,168 Summary: you’re on a mission to confess to osamu and you’re hoping that he’ll get the hint with some tasty homemade desserts Warning: there are like 2 puns that are the worst, im so sorry. A/N: sooo, this came out longer than intended lol hope you don’t mind that I can’t write a drabble! but this idea just inspired me to much that I couldn’t help myself! -Luna

Mission "Confess-to-Osamu" began the day after the Inarizaki volleyball team won an intense game, the final set ending in a 32-30 win.

You had to stay up all night to do it, but you managed to make and decorate a dozen cookies shaped like volleyballs and one special cookie that resembled his jersey, the number 11 written carefully in chocolate-flavored icing. You wrapped them up in a cellophane bag, complete with a black ribbon tied into a neat bow.

You arrived at homeroom as early as possible, wanting to place the cookies on his desk and sit down to calm your nervous heart. From the back of the room, you watched as he strolled in 20 minutes later, sending you a wave and a tired smile. He dumped his bag on the floor before picking up the note you tucked under the bag of cookies that read:

'congratulations on your win! you played an amazing game, wish I could've celebrated with you :)'

His eyebrows scrunched as he racked his brain to try to figure out whose handwriting it could be. He shrugged when nothing came to mind, figuring it was just another gift from one of those fangirls who frequented his team’s volleyball matches. At the very least, it gave him something to rub in Atsumu’s face later.

He sat down, munching on one of the volleyball-shaped cookies, which he found delicious enough to eat two more of. You slapped your forehead, more annoyed at yourself rather than Osamu.

Okay, time to try something else.

You made a single-serve raspberry tart this time after you heard Osamu mention to his friends one day that he had a strong craving for one. Again, you arrived early to school, placing the note face down under the treat and spoon so none of your nosy classmates could read it as they walked by.

This time, you made sure to sign your initials at the end of the note, figuring that was the reason why it didn't click for him last time. However, knowing that he would immediately figure out that it was you had your palms sweaty and knees weak.

Osamu walked into homeroom, barely awake, but when he saw the dessert on his desk, his eyes shot open, face lighting up with interest. He looked up to greet you, but you were busy staring blankly at your textbook. The cookies from last time had been devoured before he even left school, though he did save the jersey cookie because he appreciated the effort put into it.

He lifted the tart to grab the note that was stuck underneath. It read:

'hope you liked the cookies from last time! I made a raspberry tart because you're just so sweet ♥'

When you peeked over to look at him, you noticed that there was confusion written all over his face, not knowing what the hell the letters at the bottom stood for. You heard him repeating word combinations that began with your initials to try to figure it out.

Your forehead hit the desk, baffled by how a man could be so cute but so stupid.

This was going to be it. You would place the slice of apple pie on his desk, he would read the note–with your whole name on it this time–and he would finally understand how much you liked him.

So, you went through the same process as before, setting it neatly on his desk with a folded note underneath.  There was no way that he could misconstrue anything this time.

Osamu was suspicious when he saw the sweet treat on his desk that morning. He reached for the note first, like always, to examine it.

'I hope you're not occu-pied this weekend ; want to go on a date with me?'

He knew that you would never be so blatant with your confession, not with your shy nature. Not when all it took was a simple wave from him to make you blush and look away. You'd most likely approach him in a less public setting to ask him out, or text him privately.

Which is why he assumed that this entire thing was just his brother pranking him with some store-bought pie. ‘Tsumu had teased him recently when he’d gushed about how cute you were before. He didn't put it past his brother to mess with him just because he kicked his ass in practice yesterday.

He sat down at his desk with a loud 'humph,' angrily digging into his pie that tasted just as good as the rest of his desserts he had received before.

Meanwhile, you were so frustrated that you swore you felt your soul leave your body.

You'd had enough. The stress of leaving Osamu desserts and waiting for him to figure out how much you liked him was too much. You were just going to have to be blunt and in his face with your confession.

Storming into class with a packaged cupcake in hand, you stopped right in front of his desk. He was taken aback by your sudden appearance.

"Oh, hey, (Y/N)," he greeted. "That's a good lookin' cupcake ya got there. Who's it for?"

You froze. You knew your newfound confidence could only last so long. Actually standing in front of his desk and looking into his eyes was very different from staring at yourself in the mirror as you rehearsed your lines.

Osamu watched as your mouth flapped open and closed, thinking about how you resembled a goldfish at that moment. Suddenly, you shoved the cupcake towards him, looking away shyly.

He barely heard you squeak out the words, "I like you."

He had never felt more stupid than he did in that moment. It finally dawned on him that it had been you the whole time, leaving him the edible gifts and little notes. It actually was your attempt at asking him out.

Osamu gently took the plastic container out of your hands, fingers brushing against yours. "I can't believe it was actually you. Thought it was my stupid brother prankin' me."

You failed to make eye contact with him despite chuckling at his assumption, instead toying with the buttons of your blazer.

They’re so adorable. He had to put you out of your misery. "Do ya still wanna go on that date with me? It's the least I can do for all the trouble I caused. Maybe I can cook for you this time?"

You nodded in response, feeling like you were going to combust at any moment.

"Great! We can walk home together, and I'll whip ya up something good to eat."

"Sounds good," you said once you found your voice. 

Your cheeks were no doubt on fire as you sat at your desk. You assumed that at any moment, you'd be waking up from this wonderful dream. There was no way you could predict that he'd reciprocate your feelings but now that you knew, you didn't think you'd ever stop smiling.

Written by: Luna

[well-its-not-human-anymore]

Hi Hi!!!! So I've been following your account for a little while now and I love every single comedy bomb you drop on what you write so I was wondering....

How would the boys react to their S/O who is usually reserved when at the lair, doing a full 180 when at April's? Like they could be April's roommate or something?....

Like crackhead energy, dishing out memes and vines and literally having a duel with Casey about leftovers in the fridge?... Yeah I know it's very specific 💀

I don't know.....the idea just popped into my head but I lack the creativity and comedy skills for that...so I was wondering if you could do something with this?.....

It's totally fine, if not 😁😁

This is... 100% me. I love this and I'm gonna pour my soul into it. Also I have started mentally referring to these as comedy bombs and I refuse to stop.

Also, I hope you don't mind that I wrote these in oneshot form instead of bullet points. It just made more sense for my brain.

TMNT Oneshots

The boys with a partner whose reserved at the lair but an absolute crack gremlin at home 🤣

Donatello

Donnie may have been a man of science, all logic and facts and numbers and things. But he absolutely believed that everyone had three separate faces, you were direct proof of that theory. While the purple terrapin had known you for nearly a year you’d only started dating a month ago and it shocked him that he was still uncovering new things about you. He loved it, sure, but it had a tendency to give him figurative whiplash.

He’d always known you to be calm and collected, maybe even a bit shy. He swore you’d explode if more than one person tried to talk to you at the same time. So it wasn’t an over exaggeration for him to say that your behavior at home nearly made him break his neck.

He was only there to help April fix a bug in her laptop and to confirm your next date, he was excited to see you since you’d had no contact in person for a week because of your schedules. Just lots of phone calls and exchanged text messages. You both missed each other like crazy and your roommate had neglected to inform you that your boyfriend was coming over.

Hers was already there and he was driving you up the wall, you’d never actually thought about committing a murder but Casey was pushing you very close to the edge of snapping. And he might as well have crane-kicked you off your cliff of patience and into the rushing river of “you little fucking shit I’m gonna piss on your grave” below. You hadn’t even heard Donnie come in through the window much less his conversation with April over her computer.

All you knew was that Casey had come parading into your room like a tyrant eating the leftovers in the fridge that you had specifically put your name on. That did it. Your eyes had skimmed over the top of your textbook to meet the asshole in front of you.

“Casey?”

He couldn’t speak through the mouthful he was trying to chew and grunted in pathetic response.

“Is that my cheeseburger?”

You’d never seen a living person imitate a pug’s facial structure so well, the man’s eyes bugged out of his head and he tossed the takeout box on your desk before turning and bolting out of your room. You followed about two steps behind with a bottle of shampoo in your hand. No, you weren’t entirely sure where you’d grabbed it from, all you knew was that it was your weapon. And it quickly became a very messy problem when it missed your target (Casey’s head) and slammed into the wall, exploding on impact.

You didn’t think you’d thrown it that hard.

“April April help help help helpppppppppppppp-'' The two on the couch had looked up during the chase throughout the apartment, Donnie was mostly curious at what Casey was screaming about. Not a lot usually made the guy make that noise. He was then distracted by April grabbing the laptop and passing it to him, she then clambered over his legs to sit behind him.

“YOU UGLY ASS CROISSANT! FUCKING PANINI HEAD- IT HAD MY NAME ON IT YOU DAFT AVACADO!”

Your boyfriend almost went vertical upon watching you tackle Casey to the floor and knee him in the groin. You shook the terrified man under you and slammed him a little harder into the rug.

“Touch my shit again and I’m gonna make the beaches of Normandy look like a goddamn family vacation.”

Then you climbed off of him and stood, brushing your disheveled t-shirt off with a huff. Donnie caught your attention and you raised your head to grin excitedly at him.

“Hi Dove! April didn’t tell me you were coming over,” you practically skipped over to the couch to peck him on the cheek, “I missed ya, are we still on for Saturday?”

He nodded in complete shock, his gaze flitting from you to Casey, who was still wheezing on the floor and clutching his dick.

“Uhhh yeah! Yeah, yep, Still good for Saturday. Uhm, completely unrelated question, where the hell did you learn to grapple like that?”

You shrugged absentmindedly, already walking to the hall closet to grab cleaning supplies for the puddle of shampoo in the walkway.

“Just kinda picked it up I guess? I’ve watched you guys train enough.”

Leonardo

See, Leo had always known that you were hiding something from him. Be it your true personality or some deep dark secret. He wasn’t really in a rush to find out, you’d tell him when you were ready. The leader enjoyed your quiet disposition anyways, you gave good advice and liked to meditate with him, what more could he ask for? What more could he want?

Well, maybe if you got along better with his family, although he supposed that wasn’t your fault, you always had been a bit shy. Even six months into your relationship with him, Leo only hoped that you’d warm up to his brothers eventually. You seemed to do alright with Splinter, that was a plus for the situation. It wasn’t that you were mean or impolite to the others, you were just… avoidant. Distant, quiet, whatever word you wanted to use. You just didn’t seem comfortable at the lair.

He was excited that April had asked to host a game night though, maybe you’d come out of your shell (haha, see what I did there?) and socialize, even for a little bit. They’d all shown up a few minutes early to make sure April didn’t need help with anything, she’d assured them that everything was handled and made sure to inform Leo that you would be back shortly with Casey from your snack run. Mikey had joked that you’d ditched the get together to avoid them but they all knew it ran the possibility of not being a joke.

You unlocked the door and held it open so Casey could get inside without tripping himself before entering yourself and kicking your shoes off. Leo looked up to meet your eyes and you sent him a wild grin, your entire face lit up with amusement.

“Hi babes! Are you ready to get your ass kicked at Monopoly?”

All the poor turtle could do was nod.

“Good. I did grab drinks by the way, April there should be a mixer in the cooler bag, Donnie there’s some of that lemon lime stuff that you said you wanted to try, Mikey, orange crush as usual, Raph I tried to go for Dr. Pepper but they were out so I figured that root beer was a safe second. And Leo they had a new boba flavor that you haven’t had yet so I grabbed one. If you don’t like it then you can have mine, I just have the peach royal.”

Beverages were tossed and they were lucky that their surprise didn’t throw off their catching skills. You and April shared a quick word in the kitchen as you took your coat off and ran a hand through your hair.

After some arguments team captains were decided and Donnie nearly had a heart attack when you picked him instead of Leo or either of your friends. He even went so far as to point at himself to make sure you weren’t joking. You declared that while you loved your boyfriend his morals were too strong to be competitive, Donnie’s were not, he said so himself.

They were all surprised that you’d remembered that conversation.

It wasn’t until halfway through the game that things started getting heated, you and Mikey were nearly jumping across the table at each other. And it visibly took all of your strength to not burst out laughing when he started yelling.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? THIS IS CHEATING! YOU'RE CHEATING! GET ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE!"

April and Casey were snorting into their arms as you got to your feet and walked towards the kitchen, making a poor attempt at climbing the appliance.

"THIS HOUSE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!"

Raphael

Raph had always been under the impression that you were never really 100% yourself around him, he knew for a fact that you weren’t when you stayed over. He’d never seen someone so aggressively avoid someone, except himself of course. You were his partner of almost a year and it seemed like you were never going to let your true self shine. However you did seem to lighten up when you were alone with him, he supposed that was normal, but you may as well have been a pair of old earbuds that only work when you held them a certain way at the lair.

He honestly hadn’t expected that to change tonight, not given the text that Casey had sent him informing him of April’s recent breakup with whatever guy she’d been dating. So when he climbed in through the window and saw both you and Casey sitting on the floor in front of the bathroom he really didn’t think that the words out of your mouth would be-

“April you’ve got another twenty minutes of this then I’m ripping the door off the hinges!”

Casey shot you a look and you shrugged nonchalantly before getting to your feet and walking over to your confused boyfriend.

“Hey, sorry about this. Casey only texted you as a last resort if he needed someone to stop me from tearing the door off.”

Raph found that peculiar, “Uh, couldn’t he do it himself?”

The man in question looked up from his spot on the floor.

“Nah dude, they’re crazy. Last time I tried stopping them from doing something they nearly knocked my damn tooth out while screaming, and I quote, “If you put your hands on me I’m gonna fucking rip your face off” and quite frankly I don’t have the balls to test that.”

“No no dude, that’s valid. I wouldn’t either. Babe, why are you so-”

You raised an eyebrow at him over a glass of water, “Violent? I’m not Raph. These two just have little bitch feelings.”

He found it hard not to laugh at that and fifteen minutes later when you left his side to approach the door again it sent him reeling.

“This shit’s temporary April. You’ve got nice teeth and a fat ass, stuff your feelings down!”

Michelangelo

There would never be a time where Mikey wasn’t a prankster with you, it was just simply non-negotiable. You were cool with that and he was aware, he was also aware that no pranks were to be pulled at the lair. So he’d reign it in while you visited, just for a short while. But you’d never said anything about the apartment and Mikey was a creature of opportunity.

Unfortunately Leo talked him out of it and forced him not to pull anything while they visited. The leader was already on edge so when he walked in with the others following closely behind you were the first person to see him. Your eyes caught Mikey’s instantly and you might as well have been telepathic at that moment. But you took one look at Leo’s solid, angry face and seized your moment.

They weren’t at all ready for the scream.

“GET YOUR FUCKIN’ DOG BITCH!”

And they also weren’t ready for Mikey’s response of, “It don’t bite.”

And Leo was not ready for the pillow that got whipped at his face at incredibly high speed.

“YES IT DO-”

So when Leo finally realized that they were yelling at him his mood did not improve at all and in fact declined sharply into a pit of “oh fuck”. And that was how you ended up on Mikey’s shoulder getting dragged away from any sort of repercussion for your actions.

These got a little short near the end but I hope you like 'em and I hope I was able to capture what you had in mind! 😁

-Mars 🌠

[beelsnack]

Obey Me! Boys Taking Care of a Sick MC

In honor of me no longer having covid, I decided to write down how I mentally coped with having the plague  some headcanons about our boys and a sick MC. Because I’m all about the hurt/comfort life.

-----

Lucifer: “You should be resting.”

The human scowled. Of course Lucifer was standing guard at the bottom of the staircase.

“I’m just going to get some water,” their voice sounded like sandpaper against wood as they spoke. They felt like the living dead, and judging by the cool stare Lucifer was giving them, they looked it, too.

“No, you’re just going back to bed.” He caught them by the elbow as soon as they were within reach. “I’ll bring a pitcher of water to your room for you.”

“Lucif--” their complaint was cut off by a sudden coughing fit. The force of it made them double over, and they clutched at their chest with one hand while the other went to cover their mouth. Demons couldn’t catch human illnesses, but old habits die hard.

It wasn’t until their lungs stopped trying to eject themselves from their body that they realized that Lucifer had sat them down on the bottom step. He was rubbing slow, soothing circles on their back, a rare look of concern in his dark eyes. “Easy now, my dear,” he murmured as they caught their breath. “You’re shaking, are you chilled?”

“...Just a little,” they wheezed. They must not have sounded very convincing, because Lucifer quickly removed one glove and gently pressed the back of his hand against their forehead.

“Your fever has come back.” In one quick, fluid movement, he had taken the cloak from around his shoulders and wrapped it around them like a blanket. “Go back to bed, now. I’ll bring you water and something to bring your fever down,” he spoke softly, like raising his voice would trigger another coughing fit.

It was too bad they were too sick to appreciate Lucifer’s soft side.

Mammon: “…A’ight, that should be everything.”

Admittedly, he might have gone a bit overboard. But, could you blame him? He’d never nursed a sick human back to health before!

…Okay, so Lucifer may or may not have let Mammon use his credit card to get stuff for them. And he may or may not have taken a few liberties. It was for the human though!

“Mammon, holy shit,” they mumbled, poking their head out from the blanket burrito they had cocooned themselves in. “Is there anything left at the convenience store or did you buy them out?”

“Shut it.” he set the last six-pack of Gatorade (well, the Devildom equivalent of it, anyway) at the foot of their bed. “Ya’ weren’t specific, so I just got one of each!”

Their room looked like a doomsday prepper’s bunker. Cans of soup, a myriad of flavors of instant noodles, a portable heater, the works. Maybe they should have been more specific.

“Do ya’ need anything else?” Mammon sounded vaguely annoyed, but underneath the gruff tone he spoke with, his concern was obvious. They had given him a scare when they first came down with the flu two days ago, temperature so high that they ended up collapsing on their way to RAD. He had been fussing over them since. They weren’t even sure if he had slept.

“...Just one more thing.”

“Yeah?” he perked up like a dog waiting for an order from its master. “Whaddaya need?”

Instead of speaking, they wiggled their arms free of the blankets and held them out. For a moment, Mammon just stared at them in confusion. When what they were asking for finally clicked, his face grew so hot they could use it as a space heater.

“What are you, a little kid?” he grumbled, but there wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation as he climbed into the bed with them. They settled themselves against his chest, sighing contentedly. Sleep had taken over in a few heartbeats.

“...Get better soon, you hear?” they didn’t, obviously, and Mammon took the opportunity to gently pat their head, like they so often did for him. “If you’re gonna be all cute and stuff, I want ya to be conscious of it.”

Leviathan: “You know, I really thought you would take longer to go through all of these.”

The human looked like a whole new person compared to the last time Levi had seen them. They were sitting upright, although they looked ready to slide back down into their previous coma-like state any minute, and the number of blankets wrapped around them had been reduced to just one instead of three. They managed to shoot him a weak grin as they handed over the manga he had let them borrow.

As much as Levi loved staying locked away in his inner sanctum, it was only an enjoyable experience if one’s source of entertainment was also locked away with them. And he couldn’t, in hood conscience, let the human die of boredom instead of dying of illness, so he had ventured out of his lair armed with his collector’s edition box set of I’m A Scholarship Student At An Obscenely Rich School and Now I Have To Work Off A Debt Because I Broke A Vase That Belonged To A Host Club!

That had only been a few days ago, but this morning he had gotten a text from them saying that they were finished.

“It’s not like I have anything else to do, Levi.”

“Pretty sure you could have been sleeping, but okay.”

They stuck their tongue out. “I couldn’t put it down.”

“Right?” Levi nodded enthusiastically, clutching the box to his chest like it was worth his weight in gold. Actually, knowing him, he probably paid his weight in gold for it. “I definitely bawled my eyes out at the end. You have to watch the anime next, the music really brings the scene together. And, like, I’m not usually into pastel themes, but the color scheme actually really fits the mood, and - “

Somewhere in the middle of Levi’s overly-excited info dumping, the human’s eyes had slipped closed. By the time Levi realized he was geeking out, their breathing had evened out and they had slumped against the headboard.

…Oh. They looked really cute like that.

“Sheesh, c’mon, normie,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I bored you to sleep.”

He set down the box on their nightstand and, very carefully, so he didn’t wake them up, inched them down to lay were laying against the mountain of pillows they had. Once they were settled into a position that wouldn’t give them a crick in their neck, he pulled the blanket up to their chin.

“There,” he nodded to himself. “You rest up, because you and I are going to have an anime marathon, and I won’t forgive you if you fall asleep in the middle of it.”

They mumbled, but otherwise stayed unconscious. Levi had definitely seen this in an anime before. His heart was pounding somewhere around his throat, but he wasn’t getting this opportunity again any time soon. Gently, like he was approaching a wild animal, he leaned in close and pressed his lips to their forehead.

“Seriously, get better soon.” he murmured. “I don’t like seeing you sick.”

Satan: His leg was falling asleep.

He had been sitting in the same position for at least an hour, and if it were anyone else he simply would have shoved them off and went about his day. But, how could he push the human away when they were curled up like a kitten in his lap?

They had been complaining about being bored, since they had been too feverish to attend RAD for the past few days. So Satan, always the man with a plan, had arrived in their room ready to binge watch his favorite crime drama. Even though he had seen this show at least eight times, he still found himself getting absolutely sucked into the plot. So much so that he didn’t notice the human starting to nod off until they landed against his side.

“Honestly, you could have just told me you were tired.” he muttered, gently rearranging them so their head was resting in his lap. They made a small noise in their sleep, but otherwise remained unconscious.

It was so rare that the human was still. They seemed to have an endless source of energy, able to be embroiled in all of the shenanigans that tended to happen around the family without absolutely disintegrating. To have them finally at rest, even sick, was quite the treat. Satan couldn’t quit help himself as he reached down to pet their head.

Well, if he was going to be stuck here until they woke up, at least he had a good show to watch.

Asmodeus: “Asmo, I can bathe by myself.”

“Yeah, no, don’t even try it.” Asmo shook his head as he ushered the human into his bedroom. “You passed out in the shower the other day, darling. This is the only time I’m grateful for Mammon’s snooping, because you might still be there if he hadn’t heard you fall.”

They subconsciously touched the sore spot on their shoulder where they had collided with the wall. The pain blended in with the rest of their body aches, but the bruise certainly didn’t.

“Besides,” Asmo sat them down on the chaise lounge. “A nice, hot bath with some quality oils will rejuvenate you like nothing else. Now, go on, strip.”

When they gave him a clearly unamused look, he just laughed. “Not while you’re sick, darling. You know full well being with me requires you to be at peak energy.”

With a sigh, they began peeling themselves out of their days-old pajamas. Admittedly, they did feel like a bath would help them feel a little better. They were pretty sure they read somewhere that the steam from hot water would help clear out all the gunk in their chest. And if anyone knew the intricate rituals of bath time, it was Asmodeus.

While they were stripping, Asmo had made his way over to the Grecian temple that was his bathtub and turned on the tap. After a few moments of running his hand under the stream to test the temperature, he stood and began browsing his impressive collection of bath accoutrements. “Hm, let’s see, let’s see…here it is!”

Asmo turned around, holding up the little bottle like he had just found buried treasure. “Eucalyptus, to help clear out the lungs. It’s good for muscle aches, too!”

With a flourish, he put a few drops into the water. “Alright, ready. Can you get in yourself or do you need my help?”

“I’ve got the flu, not the plague, Asmo.”

“You. Fell. In. The. Shower.” he punctuated each word with a poke to their cheek before holding out his hand to help them. Although they grumbled, they were still feeling kind of weak, so they allowed Asmo to pull them up.

“There, now, easy does it,” he spoke softly as he guided them to sit on the edge of the tub. If this were any other situation, they would be painfully aware of the fact that they were completely naked in front of the Avatar of Lust. But, the fragrant steam rising from the water was beginning to ease the ache in their chest, and Asmo’s soft hands had begun massaging their shoulders. They barely even noticed when they were fully seated.

“You’re not coming in?” they murmured sleepily as Asmo sat himself along the edge of the tub. He just laughed.

“Next time, darling. Now, you just relax and let me take care of you.”

Beelzebub: The phrase “don’t have much of an appetite” just didn’t make sense to Beel. How could someone not want to eat? Maybe he was a bit biased, being the ever-starving Avatar of Gluttony, but still. Humans needed lots of nutrients to get better when they were sick, right? He was pretty sure that was what Satan told him.

Beel scowled, scrolling through the eighteenth listicle about foods to eat when sick. Honestly, he was making himself hungry, but he was starting to get the general idea. Looks like he’s making them some soup.

The kitchen was separated into “human” and “demon” sections, after the one time that they almost used cyanide instead of salt. Human cuisine took less time and involved less magic, so Beel knew his way around the human spice cabinet. Making the soup was the easy part, making sure it got to its intended recipient was another matter.

Climbing the stairs to the human’s room felt like a Herculean task, but he did it - mostly. He may have taken a few bites here and there. But he had purposely put more in the bowl than he knew they would be able to eat, so it was fine, right? He knocked on their door twice, listening to them shuffle around before they finally called out weakly that the door was open.

“I brought food.” he said, shutting the door behind him. “You haven’t been eating much lately.”

They poked their head miserably out of the blanket burrito they had wrapped themselves in. A thin sheen of sweat covered their forehead, but they were shaking, which meant their fever hadn’t broken yet. Did humans always take this long to get better? Another question for Satan.

“I’m not really hungry, Beel.” they mumbled, voice thick and gravelly due to the sore throat they had. “You can eat it.”

Shaking his head, Beel sat himself down on the bed beside them. “I had some already.”

“Have some more.”

“No, I made it for you.” his stomach growled, completely undermining his words. “It’s basically just broth, you can drink it.”

They wiggled around for a bit before they managed to extract themselves from the absolute cocoon they had made. “…What kind of broth?”

“Just chicken, I promise.” he laughed. “I wasn’t about to try to get you to eat a Devildom recipe.”

Finally, they got themselves into a sitting position, but even that seemed to wear them out. They flopped against Beel’s shoulder, and he definitely didn’t like how hot their skin felt against his. Their breathing was ragged as they tried to get the energy to sit up.

“Here,” Beel dipped the spoon into the broth. “I’ll help.”

“I’m not a baby…”

“No, but you are really weak.” he replied gently. “Let me help you.”

He could feel the urge to protest vibrating through their body - their independence was definitely an endearing quality of theirs. But, eventually they must have come to the conclusion that a content of tenacity between the two of them was going to take longer than simply waiting out their illness. With a huff, they opened their mouth and let Beel feed them.

“Oh, wow, this is pretty good.”

“I’m a good cook if I don’t eat the ingredients first.”

Belphegor: “I thought humans slept a lot when they got sick.”

The bags under the human’s eyes were almost as intense as they glare they gave him. When the rest of the brothers had begun arguing over something stupid, Belphegor had taken the opportunity to bundle them up and whisk them away to the peace and quiet of the attic. His intent had been to take a nice long nap with them, but apparently their lungs had a different plan.

“We should,” they groaned, sounding like their throat was made of sandpaper. “Every time I feel like I’m going to fall asleep, I start coughing.”

“That sounds counter-intuitive.”

“Tell me about it.”

Belphie rolled over so that he was lying on his side, facing them. “Well then, you picked a good nap partner.”

They blinked blearily up at him. “Why is that?”

“Come here, I’ll show you.”

He reached out, tugging them towards him until they were settled comfortably against his chest with their head tucked beneath his chin. Although he wasn’t the tallest of the brothers, he had enough height to basically surround the human. “Can you hear my heartbeat?”

“I’m too tired for you cheesy lines, Belphie.”

“No, seriously, just listen.”

He could practically hear them roll their eyes, but they quieted down. Once he was sure they were synced up with the steady ba-bump, ba-bump of his heart, he began to work his magic - literally.

He brought his hand up to cup the back of their skull, fingertips tingling as he focused his magic their. They squirmed for a moment before sighing as the cool rush of Belphie’s special brand of sleep magic washed over them.

“I told you, being tired isn’t the prob - “

“Hush,” he murmured, letting them feel his voice rumble through his chest. “Just relax for me, okay?”

Belphie massaged their scalp like he was washing their hair, working his magic into their skin. Slowly but surely he felt them soften, the tightness in their chest easing. Finally, their slightly labored breathing evened out, and the poor human finally succumbed to sleep.

“About time,” he kissed the top of their head. “You need to rest if you want to get better, so let’s sleep as long as we like, okay?”

[heyitsyn]

Manager!Seijoh Part 5

a/n: we ltr going at 5 parts and i have another part written out and im just drowning in love with these seijoh asks

for more seijoh content, check this masterlist out!

anon request:

Can i ask for cute moments between manager and the boys outside of school, like how she and kyoutani probably bump into each to go feed strays etc??

yes anon!!!!!! these moments made me so soft™

IM CACKLING LIKE BLS THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE ENTIRE STAGE PLAY BC HE PLAYS OIKS SO WELL AND IWA IS JUST SO IWA AND I LIVED FOR OIKS’ ‘IWA-CHAN!’ AND IWA’S ‘RAAAAA!’ AND THIS GIF JUST SHOWS SEIJOH BEING SEIJOH AND HOW THEY WOULD REALLY ACT IF THEY WERE REAL LIKE UGH THEY DID SUCH A GOOD JOB W THE CASTING

these are the cute little moments and get ready to die of the cuteness

be warned, this isnt a straight plot or no main focus but just bits and pieces of fluff 

keeping up with seijoh episode 3467328937

as mentioned before, they dont really get to hang out a lot w you outside of practice 

youre either too busy taking care of your schoolwork, catsitting for the aizawa’s, or having you time since youve been busy w the boys all week

but there are times where you do have available time to go hang out with the boys

and they know about your schedule so they try to make memories either during practice or after practice

fortunately, kyo lives at the same street as the aizawa’s so he walks you to their house when you have a job 

but sometimes when you are just walking home, you both stop by the convenience store first and find some cat food cans and dog food cans and water 

it was a complete accident when you both found each other standing at the same aisle, holding the same things, with the same intentions, for the same animals

the alleyway where you first met is basically your second home bc thats where your babies live

since you cant exactly take in 5 dogs and 6 cats in your house, you and kyo are taking care of them in that alleyway where you feed them and build them a little shelter with blankets and stuff

this will be explained more in the next manager!seijoh part

after practice, particularly after a really productive one, the guys like to go to the ramen shop near the school to treat themselves after their hardwork

by now, the old lady who owns the shop knows their order by heart and has it ready when you all enter

yall get settled in but you go over to yahaba and snap his wooden chopsticks for him bc he never snaps them properly and ends up breaking them

meanwhile,,

you gather as much napkins as you can and place them beside kindaichi bc he makes such a mess while he eats and you have stand-by wipes for him

you make a special request to add tofu into iwa’s ramen bc the mans loves tofu so much and he still doesnt understand how the lady seems to know this despite him never telling her

your seat is usually next to mattsun bc he doesnt eat all the side dishes up like the others and you can eat some of it too

kyo sit across you and demands you eat at least 2 bowls bc you never seem to eat enough and he gets secretly concerned so he aggressively cares for you

‘kyo-san,,,, im full though’

he ‘glares’ at you

‘what you mean youre full. you didnt even finish the bowl. eat the rest and have another or youre not leaving this table’

pls what

fun fact, oikawa actually has two pairs of glasses and he gave you one in case he forgets to wear his main one and leaves it at home

so he gets to school and he just realizes he forgot his glasses and his contacts were still being shipped so he freaks out and texts you about it

but you always have the case safely tucked in your bag so you wander up to the third year floor and knock on his class door

iwa, who is in the same class as him, glares at the students who stare at you and nudges oikawa who was looking out the window

‘oi, your glasses’

his head snapped to the side and sees your smiling face and the familiar brown box being held out to him

his face scrunches and he launches up his seat and takes you in his arms

‘Y/N-CHAN IS SO RESPONSIBLE! SO NICE! OIKAWA-SENPAI REALLY APPRECIATES YOU!’

‘oikawa-san, please let me go’

you mumbled, embarrassed at his behavior in front of the whole class

once iwa has you safely on the ground, you excuse yourself and go back to class

the class still stared at the door you passed through and iwa had to bark at them to go back to their business

youre like the seijoh and younger version of goddess kiyoko

before kyo got back to the team, you usually walked home by yourself but makki actually accompanies you when he doesnt have errands to run

‘makki-san, i heard theres a sale going on for puffs’

you would mention as you walked and you would look to see his eyes light up and walk faster towards the bakery

‘cmon, y/n-chan. makki-senpai is treating you today!’

he turns into a child, a contrast to his chaotic energy in school, and he runs over to the glass where indeed, there was a sale going on for his puffs

while he was staring at what flavor he wanted, youd go to the cashier and give her your card

‘when that guy with the light brown hair with the blue and white jacket comes up to pay for his cream puffs, charge it to my card, please. whatever you do, dont take his and use mine immediately, please. ill come by later and pick it back up’

the old cashier lady felt true hope and happiness for humanity at your actions and it increased when she saw the shocked look on the boy’s face when she immediately swiped the card when he finished ordering

‘what? i havent paid-’

‘the young lady that came with you already did, young lad. shes a keeper’

he turned red

‘ahaha, no, shes our team manager’

once he finished paying and went outside, he took out his phone and dialed your number to call you

you smiled from the aisle in the convenience store down the street bc you were expecting him to call you

‘hewwo, makki-san’

he shut his eyes at how cute you sounded

‘y/n-chan, senpai wanted to treat you today!’

he whined but you bit your lip, leaving the store after purchasing a drink with the remaining cash you had

‘hmm, but i did too. you just werent too fast, senpaiiii~’

you teased and he let out a breathy laugh

‘next time i’ll be faster! mark my words!’

‘then im looking forward to it, senpai~!’

did anyone notice that he is the first one she called senpai?

to our baby yahaba

we know how he literally tried to go after yachi in that one episode so you know how flirty he is

but youve made it clear that you reject his advances and he pouts and finally accepts it so he stops it, instead actually just caring for you

ya know how he cares for the others and cheers them on?

he does the same to you

our babie notices that you are so busy taking care of the others that you forget to take care of yourself

like that time they lost to shiratorizawa, you made bentos for them all week to cheer them up

but he saw you not even eating and realizes that you were busy making the food that they like, each different to accomodate to their taste, that you had no time to make your own

he went down to your class and noticed you missing and he asks kindaichi and kunimi and they said that you said you wanted to get fresh air

since he pays attention to you, he knows you like to go to the roof to breathe

he ventures up the stairs and when he opens the door, he notices you just staring up at the sky, sitting down on the floor

‘being in an empty place like the roof doesnt compare to how lonely Pluto must feel to be outcasted in the solar system’

your comment catches him off-guard but he regains composure and makes his way to you before sitting down next to your form

‘hmm, oikawa-senpai talked to me about space one time. he mentioned the vast possibilities that stays hidden in the shadows’

you and him turn your head at the same time and share a gentle smile

‘but its up to us to find those secrets and abilities’

you finished

he nodded and went back to look at the clouds that looked like they were slowly moving but it was really the earth turning

‘i want to be a sports instructor. i want to be able to help others,,, i want to help them find those abilities and perfect them so they could fully love playing’

a chuckle escaped you and you tightened your arms around your knees, following his gaze to the blob of white that was painted on to the blue canvas

‘let other people be your universe, baba-senpai. dont let them be like Pluto. take time to find out who they are so they dont feel so lonely, okay?’

yall im tearing up right now though

as mentioned at the first part of this series, you go to the gym very early to set up for morning practice

sometimes, the four third years arrive at the same time but sometimes, only iwa comes

you noticed him put his bag down and help you with the nets before pushing the cart to finish the task for the morning

‘thank you, iwa-san!’

you thanked and he ruffled your hair

‘can you actually help me with my workout?’

you nodded and you knew his routine by now

as he got in position for a push up, you gently sat down on his back so he could start pushing up

you sat cross-legged and you counted every push up and held a timer so he could beat his previous record of 100 push ups in under 5 minutes

IWA IS LITERALLY ON ANOTHER LEVEL

once he hit 100, he collapsed on the floor and you stopped the timer at 4 minutes and 48 seconds

‘good job, iwa-san! new record!’

you cheered and he grumbled on the floor

you gently turned him over so he could lay on his back

he closed his eyes from the bright light of the gym and he raised his arms as his hands made a grabbing motion

‘hug. i want hug’

he whined and you fake gasped at this

‘iwa-san, i didnt know you could be so whiny’

‘huuggg~’

in my series, its canon that iwa is actually a whiny little babie despite that tough exterior and hes much more whinier than oikawa

you laughed before surrending, mumbling ‘yes, yes’

this wasnt the first time this happened since he asked you to do this before bc hes a touch starved babie and as a manager, you must give your team love

you climbed on him and laid your head on his chest while he mumbles happily with his arms going around you

‘just five minutes’

you offered and he said ‘mhm’

well, you both fell asleep and were woken up by scandalized and jealous yells from oikawa

to our baby libero watari

watari is actually the only player who has been to your house before

you made an off-handed comment of making bentos for the team again and he offered to come and help you make them

so here he was, standing in your kitchen, as you were cooking with him

you were chopping up vegetables and he was waiting for the eggs to boil so he was just stirring it slightly

‘wata-san, can you give me a bowl from the cabinet above you?’

he nodded and gave it to you so you could place the chopped carrots and onions in it

once the timer was done, he scooped out the eggs and placed them into an ice bowl so he could peel them later

you knew his favorite food was boiled eggs so you wanted to boil some so he could snack on them

‘can you peel one and see if theyre perfectly cooked, wata-san?’

his fingers skillfully rolled the egg on the table before peeling it effortlessly

he hummed as he chewed on the food

‘delicious?’

you asked and he turned to you, cheeks still full but he raised a thumbs up

you grinned and went back to chopping the scallions

‘actually, i didnt need any eggs for the dishes. i wanted you to snack on your favorites as i cook. its like payment for keeping me company’

his eyes shone and he hurriedly went to hug you tightly

‘i really appreciate everything youve done for us, for me. but i just want you to keep smiling okay? i know we’re a handful and we can get out of hand sometimes but you always keep us together. you must be stressed and there must be times you get angry with us and must’ve cried because of us but i hope you’ll still stay with us even through all that’

WATARI YOU MAKING ME C R Y 

lmao kindaichi’s made me laugh

so basically, we all know his famous haircut, right

but what if that was actually just a style hes had since he was young but he has naturally down hair?

the stuff he puts in it like this brand of gel is just so tough and sturdy that two washes of hair is the only thing that can get rid of it

even during practice when hes sweating the atlantic ocean, it somehow stays up

he puts gel on it and stuff after he showers to make it stick up and BOOM turnip head

but one morning, he,,,, wasnt turnip head

the boy woke up late and he didnt have time to perfect the sticking up so he went to school with his hair down and everything

you were already there since morning practice has started and kunimi told you that kindaichi texted him he would be late so you were just patiently waiting by the door for your classmate

but some guy just walked in

your eyes widened and you pulled their arm

‘um, this is for seijoh volley-’

then the words died in your mouth

‘yuu-kun,,,’

you stuttered and he placed his hands on his face to hide away

‘dont look y/n-chan!’

his shout attracted the others and then silence before the laughing and howling started

‘THESE FIRST YEARS I SWEAR!’

makki was on the floor, punching it as he laughed

kindaichi turned red and he was about to run out but you held on to him

‘i can fix it for you, yuu-kun. come with me?’

he nodded immediately and hurried away towards the back where the sun was just starting to rise

you rummaged through your gym bag and found the specific gel brand he uses 

kindaichi was SHOOK bc why the hell did you have it?

you noticed his shocked and confused look

‘i knew this would happen. we’ve facetimed before, remember? just in case this would happen, i brought backup’

his eyes glistened with tears of gratitude but you waved it away and started attempting to fix his hair

tbh you dont know why he did this hairstyle because his hair was really soft and nice and he still looked attractive either way

moving on to kunimi babie

lets face it, he probably doesnt sleep at all at night and he suffers from insomnia

and when he cant sleep, he bothers his friends

but he doesnt bother you though

which makes you sad bc you thought you made it clear that he could come to you if he was in need of something

you only found out after kindaichi accidentally blurted out during morning practice of how tired he is bc kunimi wouldnt stop talking to him at 2 in the morning

‘aki,,, you could’ve called me’

you gently said and kunimi scrunched his nose at how sad you sounded

‘you need your sleep, y/n’

‘but i want you to sleep too’

‘kindaichi’s been my contact since i was like 5 so-’

‘so you dont need me?’

your eyes watered and kunimi jumped, frantically fussing over you

‘okay, okay, y/n, okay. ill call you’

then as if they were never there, you cheered up and bounced happily

‘i’m expecting it, aki-kun!’

but at 1:43 in the morning, his finger hovered over the call button on your contact since he really didnt want to bother you

but he could already hear your whines in the morning

‘aki?’

he cursed when he heard your groggy voice

‘sorry y/n, ill hang up-’

‘no!’

you sat up, forcing to wake up

‘stay’

you mumbled and he made a sound of agreement

‘not tired?’

you asked

‘no. well, like im tired but i cant sleep, yknow?’

you laid on your bed with your cheeks puffed out, trying to think how to put him to sleep

‘we can just talk, aki’

‘about what?’

‘anything. just,,, talk to me. i want to know your favorite color, your favorite food, everything about you’

:( morning calls really hit different

last one is our mattsun babie

so like, mattsun is a TREE

im like 5′3 and hes like 6′2 so we a whole dwarf next to him

you are always dwarfed whenever you stand next to him and this little shite takes advantage of that and puts his elbow on top of your head

he likes to poke fun at you but you just pout bc you know hes all fun and games

‘hows the weather down there’

‘so mean, mattsun-san’

but his height did give him a special memory with you though

you were both left in the gym to clean up bc everyone had something to do like oiks had to go home bc takeru got sick and iwa also got sick and you just volunteered to clean up and mattsun stayed behind

you were sweeping the floor and you unconsciously started humming as you swept and started swaying a little

mattsun heard you as he pushed the carts and watched as you just swayed and twirled around and he found himself smiling at you

you noticed him stop in front of you and he bowed down, holding out a hand

‘may i take this dance, m’lady’

you laughed

‘what? whats going on?’

he softly held your hand and pulled you to him

‘you were dancing and i wanted to join you’

you nodded and looked up at him, eyes half-lidded

‘stand on my feet, chibi-chan. i can lead while you sing’

it was a random song you heard from the radio earlier but you complied while he moved with your feet on his

you giggled when he would lean down to softly kiss your forehead and shriek when he would unexpectedly dip you down

either way, at 8:34 PM, you and mattsun danced under the gym lights with no witness except you and him

ughh i really want seijoh now

you and the team share individual memories that are more special than the ones with the others bc its where you could actually be upfront with each other

its just a shame that there are 4 third years in the team that would eventually graduate and go their own separate ways after high school, leaving behind their underclassmen

they could just hope that those memories and special moments would remind them of who you were and how special you were to them since at the prime of their youth, you were their first true love

a/n: ngl i didnt expect to finish this so quick but im just in a really soft mood right now and this is to makeup for the fact that my update schedule could start becoming erratic due to my school so i hope you enjoyed this blurb!! and depending on my asks, there could only be one last part to this series unless someone requests for another specific scenario with the manager!!

[vagabondreamer]

After the Fall (4)

Pairing: Lucifer x Angel! Fem! MC

Word Count: 2k

Series Summary: Angel! Fem! MC is part of an exchange program that sends her to the Devildom for a year.

Chapter Summary: MC spends some much needed time with Simeon, Luke, and Solomon.

Author’s Note: I totally headcanon that angels are touch-starved.

***

You wanted to shove his pride right down his throat. Throughout the week you had to endure his smug expression and his little comments that were meant to embarrass you, but it just made you mad. Being in the house was driving you insane. Mammon was always glued by your side trying to come up with money-making schemes, Asmo kept flirting, Satan was always asking about the history of your people - as if he didn’t have brothers more knowledgeable than you - and Beel, well, Beel was about the only person not driving you insane. You had barely seen Levi at all, so he didn’t really count at the moment.

Class had just ended, and you could already hear the boisterous Mammon waiting outside the hall for you. Needing a little break from the boys for the weekend, you looked to your angel friends.

“Hey Simeon, do you think I could spend a night or two at the Purgatory Hall?” He looked at you with concern.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just feel overwhelmed.”

“Of course she can stay over for a sleepover!” Luke was practically jumping out of his seat.

“Well, I’d love to have you over, there just really isn’t any room. Plus, you’d have to ask Lucifer for permission.”

“Why do I have to ask Lucifer?” You were getting desperate. “I don’t mind sleeping on the floor.”

“He’s going to freak out again if you just leave without letting him know where you are.”

“Fine, whatever, I’ll ask. But, I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Walking out of class, you had one mission, and that was to find Lucifer.

“Hey MC, how was class?”

“It was alright. How was yours?”

“Boring. The only thing more boring than class is Lucifer’s lectures.” You laughed at that. Anytime Mammon involved you in one of his plans, it always ended in a lecture for the both of you.

“Speaking of, have you seen Lucifer? I need to talk to him.”

“He’s probably in a meeting with Lord Diavolo.” He grabbed your hand and started walking in the direction toward the council room. You looked down at your connected hands, and a weird feeling bubbled up in your stomach. “Hey! It’s not like I wanna hold your hand! There’s just too many demons, don’t want ya to get lost.”

You rolled your eyes. He was always a little dramatic. It’s not like you had never held hands with anyone before, but you were a kid back then. Angels didn’t really hug or hold hands as adults, it was always deemed a little too inappropriate - even if it was platonic. You liked the bubbly feeling, even if it was coming from Mammon.

Mammon led you down a long hall, at the end sat a set of large doors.

“Make sure ya knock before goin’ in.” Geez, if Mammon was the one to say that, then it must be pretty serious. “Think you can get Lucifer to take ya home?” You nodded and he went on his way.

Standing in front of the large doors, you gave a hard two knocks; the sound resonated in the halls. You could hear shuffling behind the door, and it swiftly opened up, showing Barbatos.

“Can I help you, MC?”

“I need to speak to Lucifer, is he here?”

“Can it wait until after the meeting? He’s with Lord Dia -”

“MC!” Speak of the devil.

“Hi, Lord Diavolo.” His smile and energy was contagious, you couldn’t help but smile back. But in the background, you could see the familiar scowl. You knew you had to make this quick. “I’m sorry for interrupting, I just -”

“It’s alright MC, come join us, we were just talking about student affairs.” He ushered you in, leading you to a seat right next to Lucifer. You felt completely out of place, and Lucifer’s stare wasn’t helping. “Before you speak, I just want to say I am sorry about what happened. You should know that those boys have been taken care of.”

And in that instant, you were taken back to that horrible memory. Your hand reached up to feel the scars that reside permanently on your face. You knew you were being irrational, Lucifer was just doing his job and the marks on your face would’ve been questioned - but you couldn’t help but be angry. Why did he have to report it? You looked over at him, expecting to meet his gaze, but his eyes were focused on Lord Diavolo. It seemed like he didn’t expect Lord Diavolo to ever approach you about the subject - he seemed pissed off. You took a deep breath and shoved the memories back down.

“Thank you.” Is that what he wanted to hear? His concerned smile looked genuine, and his apology sincere. But why did it feel like you couldn’t tell him what you really felt? By all means, he was royalty, but he wasn’t your ruler. Maybe it was because of how Lucifer treated him. He was clearly upset with him, yet he wasn’t expressing it. You wondered how he must’ve treated Michael - it’s no wonder Michael was so fond of him. And it’s no wonder why Michael would never treat you the same - you weren’t Lucifer and you would never be.

“So, MC, what did you want to talk about?” It felt silly asking for permission for something so trivial, especially in front of the future king.

“I just wanted to spend some time with Simeon and Luke. Over the weekend?”

“Is everything okay at the House of Lamentation?”

“Of course. I just think it would be good for me to be around them, too.”

“Well, I think it’s a wonderful idea.” You looked to Lucifer, you were asking him permission.

“You heard Lord Diavolo.”

“Thanks,” you told both of them. You left the room and waited right outside the door for Lucifer to be done with his meeting.

***

Lucifer had escorted you home to pack an overnight bag, and then brought you to the Purgatory Hall. Not much was said, both of you were in a bad mood due to the meeting. You said your goodbyes, and he reminded you to text him if you needed something. Walking inside, the presence was immediately different and it reminded you of home.

“Hey guys!”

“MC! I’m so glad you could come!” Luke rushed over to you - he was covered in flour.

“What are you doing, Luke?”

“I wanted to bake for you! And, since you’re close to Michael then you can tell me if it’s good enough to give him, too!” He urged you towards the kitchen; the countertops were filled with sweets of all sorts - it would be a dream come true for Beel.

“I wouldn’t say I’m close to Michael. He kind of just orders me around.”

“Ah, you’re so lucky you’re next in line to be an Archangel!”

You just nodded, and started taste testing. It was a huge honor, and almost never happened to angels. But even then, you didn’t feel lucky. Your path was forged for you, the sole reason for your existence was to take Lucifer’s spot, and for some reason that bothered you.

“Luke, are you done now?” You could hear Simeon call out from a different room.

“Yes! You can let him out now!” You gave Luke a questioning look. “Oh, Solomon’s not allowed in the kitchen when I’m baking.”

Simeon and Solomon both walked out of the room, and sat by you at the table.

“He likes to add his own flavors,” Simeon explained further. “It’s usually not very good tasting.”

“Ya know what? I’m offended,” Solomon feigned hurt. You giggled at their interaction. It had only been a short while, and they were all getting along so well. “So, did you get tired of being around the brothers already?”

“Well -” You’d be lying if you said you weren’t tired, but they weren’t exactly all that bad either. “Each one is just...a lot. There’s a lot of big personalities.”

“Yeah being around Asmo alone is a lot, I can’t imagine being around six more,” Solomon said half jokingly.

“Six?”

“Oh, right, five.”

“Luke, these treats are divine!” Simeon changed the subject quickly. Why did it feel like talking about the seventh brother was a crime?

“Yeah, I think Michael would like these.”

“Really?!” You just nodded and smiled. After all, you did come here to try to not think about the brothers.

The rest of the night consisted of dinner and watching movies until Luke and Solomon passed out. Simeon placed blankets on top of them and called you to his room. It was spacious, and had a couch in the corner.

“You can take the bed,” Simeon said as he started to prepare the couch to be slept on.

“What? No, I’m not taking your bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“MC, it’s no big deal -”

“I don’t want to feel like a burden every time I come over.”

“You plan on coming here more often?”

“Well, only if I’m welcomed.”

“Of course you’re welcome.” You quickly laid on the couch, forcing him to go lay down on his bed. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

“Just a lot has happened in these few weeks.”

“You’re feeling new things...am I right?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“I volunteered Luke to be a part of this program - but don’t tell him, because he doesn’t know that.”

“Okay.”

“I did that because I think it’s important for young angels to see things from...a different perspective.” You nodded in agreement. “I see things differently because of the war. And because I wanted to see things differently.”

“What are you saying?” He hesitated for a moment, as if calculating his next words.

“All I’m saying is it’s not a bad thing to see the other side.”

You meditated on his words. He had known the brothers for a long time, so it made sense to have some sympathy over what happened; but why would you sympathize with all demons? How could you forgive any demon? The marks on your face was proof enough that they did bad things.

“Simeon?”

“Yeah?” He yawned.

“Do you ever feel like...like you don’t have your own life? Like, your purpose is someone else’s?”

No response. You turned your head to see Simeon fast asleep.

***

Simeon walked you back home. The walk was filled with small talk, and your stomach turned at the thought of being alone with the brothers once more. He must’ve seen the look on your face, and tried to reassure you.

“Just try to get to know them better. You should try to get to know Levi, too.”

“He’s always stuck in his room, how am I supposed to get to know him if I don’t know the secret phrase?”

“Secret phrase? Oh, yeah, I know it.” You laughed, thinking he was joking.

“Oh you’re serious? What is it?” He proceeded to tell you the password, and informed you that it was from TSL.

You gave him a hug goodbye. The shocked look on his face said it all.

“I’m sorry - I know we don’t do that - but wasn’t it nice?”

“It was, MC. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Bye, Simeon.”

You walked into the house, and headed up the stairs to your room when you saw a wild Levi out in the open. Now was your chance, you knew you had to catch him now or never.

“Levi!”

“AH!” He shrieked and beelined to his room, dropping some snacks he was carrying.

“Wait!” You made it to his door just as he was closing it, and stuck your foot out to stop him from shutting it. “I know the secret phrase!”

“Ha! There’s no way a normie like you could know it!” You then repeated what Simeon just told you moments ago. Levi stopped trying to close the door, but barely opened it up, eyeing you instead.

“I just want to get to know you.”

“Why would you want to know a yucky otaku like me?”

“Well, I’m here for a year. And I’ve already talked to the rest of your brothers.”

Levi opened the door more, allowing you to step into the shadows of his room.

“Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

After the Fall Tag List @ptv-hades

[heyheyheyhaikyu]

✨proposing to Osamu with a ring pop✨

I’m sorry lmao. I don’t know how to write. Hope you still kinda like it though @ethanharli :’)

Word count: 1.4k

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

Looking up at the sky on my walk to school, clouds were fluffy like cotton candy, brisk breeze tickled my cheeks. Mornings as perfect as these always turned out the best or the worst days.

Walking into the main entrance of Inaruzaki High, crowds of students littered the halls. People whispered things about their fellow students to each other while others did who knows what else.

School had never been one of my favorite places. There was one thing that made it all worth it though...

A familiar face turned a corner and walked straight over to me. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face as I held my arms out and wrapped them around his frame. “Hi Samu.”

“Hi y/n,” Osamu said with a soft smile. That was our normal greeting every morning. You see, Osamu and I have been best friends since we were little. We've always been oddly close, and in middle school we started dating. We’ve been together ever since and I couldn’t even begin to imagine being with anyone else. I'm going to marry that man someday.

****

The day went on as usual, boring classes and unneeded drama. After school though we had clubs, my personal favorite part of the day. I got to spend time with ‘Samu and have fun doing something I love and if that’s not a win-win situation, I don’t know what is.

I pulled Atsumu aside after practice to discuss the lingering thought plaguing my mind. He and I have always had an on and off friendship, but when push comes to shove, I know I'll always be able to count on him.

We walked outside and sat on a bench under a big tree. “So, you're probably wondering why I dragged you here, huh?”

“Yeah, I am, so could ya please just spit it out so I can be on my way?” he crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh. He obviously had better places to be.

“So, Samu and I have been together for like forever as you know,” I said as I sat up straight and looked at him. “I've been thinking about proposing...”

A dramatic head turn and gasp was not what I expected his response to have been. “Like marriage proposal?!”

I slowly nodded my head. “yep.”

He took a minute and compose himself. “Well, I can tell you that I know how happy you make him, y/n. If you really do think you love him enough to spend the rest of your life by his side then I'll help you in any way that I can.”

When I looked at him, I saw a smile that he didn’t show often. His genuine smile had always been able to light up a room, but as we got older that smile seemed to vanish and turn into a fake one full of insecurity and that fake ego of his.

“Well, knowing that makes me feel a lot better. Thank you.” I gave him a quick hug before getting up and running away to find Osamu.

****

“Man, a good ring is going to be really expensive... maybe I could try picking up another job, but I wanted to do this soon.” I sighed and rolled over, looking at the ceiling above me. “I could just get a cheap ring for the time being and pick up another job when we graduate and have more free time.”

I fidgeted with my hands as I mindlessly looked out the window, night sky shimmering with starlight. I glanced over at my desk and an idea came to mind. A wrapped piece of candy sat still in a jar on my desk. I had gotten It at a festival I went to with Samu last week. “That could work,” I said as I rolled off my bed and headed over to grab it.

I sat back down on my bed with the candy in my hand. “A ring pop would be perfect. I won't have anything for him to wear for the time being, but a least I can get the point across, right?” I chuckled to myself as I grabbed my phone and texted Tsumu my idea.

****

After a week or so of preparation, the plan was in motion. After practice I'll take Samu out to our favorite ramen shop. While we’re there, Tsumu and his team will be at the park we first met at, setting up some lights and getting ready for us. I'm sure it'll all turn out perfectly.

The day was normal and uneventful. I'm sure Samu could tell I was nervous about something, but he decided not to ask me about it, thankfully. The day seemed to last an eternity while I patiently waited for my time.

Practice was cut short, so after we cleaned up, I grabbed Samu and we headed off together. “So, you said you wanted to get dinner together, but you can't possibly expect me to ignore the fact that you don’t like going out on week nights. Plus, you’ve been acting weird all day... is something the matter?”

We walked hand in hand as we talked. “Just been excited to spend some time with you. It feels like it's been ages since we last went on a proper date, Samu.” a small smirk crept its way onto my lips and I tried to force it away.

“Okay fine, I won't ask questions, but just know, you're acting sus and I'm keeping an eye on you,” he said with a playful huff.

I chuckled and squeezed his hand lightly. “Well, at least you have a nice view to enjoy,” I said with a wink.

He laughed and shook his head. A short walk later, we arrived at the ramen shop and got our table. The conversation flowed as natural as ever. I’ve always been able to just talk with him. It didn’t matter how long we’d go without talking, conversation always seemed to come easily and smoothly. I could talk about anything with him and it would still be entertaining.

We ate our meal together and headed out hand in hand, just as we had entered. “Wanna go for a little walk?” I asked with a grin.

“Do you have a place in mind?” He looked at me like he knew something was up.

I shrugged. “I was thinking just we could walk around for a little bit without a destination in mind.” though I obviously had one I was planning on taking him.

“Sure, I suppose that doesn't sound too bad.” I nodded and we headed off in a seemingly random direction.

We talked and laughed, just enjoying being in each other's company. I leaded the way to our unknow destination. We walked up to the park on the opposite side, so he hadn't seen the set up yet. “Oh, look where we ended up, Samu,” I said as I pointed at the park.

He looked up and smiled. “Hey, isn't this where we met?” I nodded. “Did you bring me here on purpose or was it actually coincidental?” he asked with a raised brow.

I smirked and pulled him around to the other side. “Seems you know me a bit too well, babe.”

The view before us was magical. A path was lit by green lights that led up to a picture board full of our photos and memories. We walked down the path and every few feet one of our friends stood, holding a rose and a letter. Osamu picked them up as we walked down the path, getting hugs from everyone.

As we reached the end, there stood Atsumu with a remote in his hand and a smirk on his face. I looked at Osamu with a smile and kneeled down onto one knee and pulled out the ring pop. Atsumu clicked a button on the remote and a sign lit up saying ‘So, will you?’

Osamu didn’t even wait for the words to escape my mouth as he burst into laughter and nodded his head. “Yes, of course I will, ya big dummy,” he said as he pulled me up and into a tight hug.

“You didn’t even let me ask,” I said with a pout.

“Yeah, well you just proposed to me with a ring pop, so it's fine.” I slid it onto his finger and it obliviously barley went passed the first knuckle, but it was still perfect and everything I wanted it to be.

“It’s your favorite flavor and everything,” I teased with a big smile. Everyone cheered and congratulated us. I looked Samu in the eyes and pulled him into a kiss. He smiled through it and that made me smile as well.

I’m going to marry this man.

[obeyme-kaidii-writes]

Hot Pepper Challenge

Mammon x poly gn!MC x Leviathan

Words - 2626

Content warnings - humor, some mild language, polyamorous relationship

Prompt/Inspiration - Mammon and Levi engage in a hot sauce battle/hot pepper challenge

Summary - Levi challenges Mammon to a Hot Pepper Challenge and things go about as well as one might expect.

AO3

You weren’t quite sure why you let them talk you into this. Normally, you did a pretty good job of keeping their combined idiocy in check. But for whatever reason, when Mammon and Levi had both come to you, eyes sparkling, full of excitement, you just couldn’t say no.

Levi had heard about a viral trend from the human world whereby you record yourself eating an extremely hot pepper and post it online. And of course, being Levi, he wanted to take things up a notch and make this a contest of sorts between him and Mammon. The prize being a date with you.

How bad could things be? you had thought to yourself. Surely demons were better suited to hot peppers than your average human, right? You would have been correct had Levi been simply intending to ingest human realm varieties. But since he cannot do anything in half measures, he upped the ante by acquiring several varieties of Devildom peppers unbeknownst to you. In fact, it wasn’t until you had started setting up the kitchen with large glasses of milk, with some containers of softened ice cream on standby in the freezer, that you noticed the peculiar peppers Levi was spreading out on the counter.

Not only were they varieties you did not recognize, there were far more of them than you had imagined necessary. It was clear he wasn’t planning on eating just one or two, and you started to have second thoughts about encouraging this activity.

“Um Levi?”

“Yeah?”

“How many peppers are you planning on eating…?”

“As many as I can get Mammon to eat,” he said with a mischievous grin. While he did love the idea of winning an extra date with you, his motives weren’t altogether pure. What he really wanted was to make a viral video for DevilTube...and seeing Mammon suffer because he would be too stubborn to back down from a challenge and admit when he’s had enough? That was icing on the cake.

It was then you realized that there was a good chance Mammon had no idea exactly what he had agreed to, and you knew your sweet, precious idiot wouldn’t be able to stop while he was ahead even after he did. You heaved a frustrated sigh, rolling your eyes at Levi, as you took up your position on the barstool opposite of where he and Mammon were to be sitting. Maybe you could send a text to Mammon, to give him a heads up at least? But no sooner had the thought crossed your mind, than Mammon strode through the kitchen doors, brimming with confidence and smiling broadly.

He walked right over to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders before pressing a quick kiss to your temple. He knew he had this in the bag, and had already bought tickets to a concert he was positive you would enjoy. His smile started to falter however, when he caught sight of the lineup of peppers on display. He glanced down at you, and you just gave him a weak smile, not bothering to explain what he clearly knew.

“Uhh, Levi? Whatsup with these peppers?”

“They’re what we are using, of course,” Levi replied, smirking. This was going to be epic.

“Umm, are you crazy?! We agreed to the human realm challenge. Like that video ya showed me.”

“What’s wrong Mammon? Scared?” You glared at Levi who was looking absolutely gleeful at how things were unfolding. You loved him to bits, but he could be outright devious sometimes.

“I ain’t scared!” Mammon snapped, swallowing thickly, “Just makin’ sure we are doin’ things right is all.”

“LOL ok. Then let’s get started.”

“ Fine.”

“Well, let’s get this over with,” you mumbled to yourself, as you positioned your DDD on the mini tripod Levi had provided you. Mammon and Levi took their seats, with Mammon doing his best to keep a straight face. He hadn’t even touched the peppers yet, and was already sweating bullets.

“You know, you guys really don’t have to do this. I can just go on separate dates with…”

“NO!” They both replied, in sync. Despite the fact that Mammon looked like he was about to cry, he was still staunchly determined to win and somehow impress you. And Levi, of course, was not about to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

You sighed again. These two were going to be the death of you, you were sure.

“Fine, ready when you are,” you said as you began recording.

Levi started with his standard DevilTuber introduction, before introducing Mammon, and thanking you for assisting. At least the color was returning to Mammon’s face and he didn’t look quite so terrified now that everything had begun and he slipped into the same headspace he used when working his modeling gigs.

Just gotta put on a performance. It didn’t really matter how hot the peppers were, there was no way Levi was going to be able to handle them. All he had to do was outlast Levi, he thought, trying to reassure himself.

“Now for the rules! We will be starting with the mildest pepper here, rated at 2,000,000 SHU all the way up to the hottest variety at 16,000,000 SHU. First one to drink the milk, loses.

Ready?”

Mammon nodded.

“Go!”

And without any further ado, the loves of your life took massive bites out of the first peppers.

And you waited.

And you watched.

Levi was the first to start squirming, his face becoming progressively more red. He immediately regret his decision to wear his usual outfit and quickly removed his jacket, tossing it to the side.

Mammon on the other hand, was nibbling on what remained of his first pepper. He was relieved that this was the variety they started with, because it was the same one used to flavor his beloved Hell Sauce Noodles. And judging by the look on Levi’s face, he wasn’t going to be lasting much longer.

“What’s the matter, Levi? Too hot for ya?” he taunted.

“Shut up. I’m just getting started.”

It may have appeared that Levi had overlooked Mammon’s love of spicy things, but this was all part of his Master Plan to lull him into a false sense of security. At least that’s what he was telling himself. In reality, he had completely forgotten about it and hadn’t thought to check the ingredients for the cup noodles he knew Mammon was so fond of. But there was no way he was going to admit to that.

“Ready?” asked Levi, as he grabbed the next pepper in the lineup.

“Yup.”

This one wasn’t much hotter than the first, so Mammon quickly polished it off, licking any stray juices off his fingers. If things kept up at this rate, he was going to have this in the bag. He just had to hope that Levi gave up long before they reached the final pepper that Mammon knew for a fact was way too hot for something anyone had any business eating.

Levi kept stealing nervous glances at the nearby glass of milk, and you briefly considered offering it to him but decided that would only egg his competitive nature on and have the opposite intended effect. So instead, you continued on in your role as a silent observer and camera operator. At least Mammon was handling things well, so far, which allowed you to relax some.

“Next,” Levi choked out. This third variety was the one he personally had to stop at in his practice runs. He didn’t know what he was going to do if Mammon was able to take it as well as the previous two. “Ruri-chan help me,” he whispered under his breath.

Mammon confidently picked up the third pepper, taking a large bite from it as he had done with the others, flashing you a brilliant smile in the process. But after a few moments, you noticed the heat start to rise to his cheeks as he quickly shuffled off his jacket. It seemed this variety was a good leap up on the heat scale, one Mammon was absolutely not expecting.

Even though Levi was on the brink of tears, it did not escape his notice when Mammon had started showing a reaction. He fist pumped internally, sitting up a little bit taller, having regained some of his confidence from earlier. Just a bit more, he thought, one more was all he needed to break Mammon. He just had to tough it out a tiny bit longer.

“Next.”

This time Mammon was a bit more hesitant, but he wasn’t about to back down now. Not after he had come this far.

So he took his first bite, and the reaction was almost immediate. Tears welled up in his eyes, sweat started pouring down his face, and he could even feel his nose start to run. He sniffled, trying to maintain his composure, not wanting to let on just how badly he was being affected, and shot a sideways glance to Levi.

Levi was sobbing at this point, not even bothering to conceal the pain he was in as the tears streamed down his cheeks. He knew he needed to swallow, to get the pepper out of his mouth, but his body was fighting against him and refusing to let it happen. So instead he simply sat there, as more and more heat gathered on his tongue. He swore he could feel a hole starting to form in his mouth, the longer he kept the pepper there, but finally he managed to gag/cough in such a way he was able to choke it down.

Dumbasses. That’s what they are. Dumbasses.

“Ready to give up, Levi?” Mammon taunted.

“HA! As if. This is nothing,” but his tear stained face was telling quite a different story.

“Next pepper.”

“Right. Next pepper.”

“Yep.”

“Yep.”

The boys stared at the next variety before them, neither eager to take another bite. They kept stealing glances at the other, daring one another to reach for the milk. Both were regretting their life choices at this point, and Mammon was saying a small prayer, to whoever listened to demons, that if they just let him win this challenge, he’d walk the straight and narrow and stop stealing from his brothers. Except Levi. Levi deserved everything he had coming to him.

“...are we stopping here…?” you asked. It had been a good five minutes now of them just staring at their peppers and occasionally looking at one another. They both jumped at the sound of your voice, having forgotten completely about you and the fact this was all being recorded.

“Nope!” was all Levi said as he grabbed the next pepper, and brought it to his lips, Mammon following suit. With one final glance at the other, they took a bite.

Mammon was crying now, his nose running, and his whole face and neck flushed. This had to be the worst decision he had ever made, and that included all the shit he had pulled that had resulted in him strung up by the rafters for days on end. Why? Why had he decided this was a good idea? It wasn’t like you didn’t go on enough dates with him already. You spent plenty of time together. He should have just been content with what he had. Now he was going to die for sure before he ever got to take you anywhere again.

At some point Levi had removed his shirt and was now sitting bare chested, bracing himself against the counter top. His upper body was so red he honestly looked more like a tomato than a demon. He was breathing heavily, as he struggled against every fiber of his being that was urging him to just admit defeat like the loser he was and chug the damn milk. But he couldn’t. It would be more humiliation than he could bare if you had to see him give up after he was the one that started this whole thing and had been so smug and confident about it.

Involuntarily, Mammon reached out and grabbed the glass of milk. It felt so cool on his palm. When he realized what he had done, he tried to let go, but his self preservation instincts had reached their limits and were not about to let that happen.

Levi noticed Mammon’s movements, and he couldn’t help but smile. Well, he tried to smile. It looked more like one of those “please pity me” smiles as he psychically begged Mammon to take the first sip. His eyes were blurry with tears, and before he even knew what he was doing, Levi had wiped the sweat and tears away from them.

The moments that followed were pure and absolute chaos.

Levi stared at his hand in absolute horror. What had he done?! Without hesitation, he grabbed the glass of milk and dumped it on his face.

“HA!” Mammon called out, before quickly chugging down his own glass of milk.

“I DIDNT DRINK IT!” Levi whined, scrambling to the freezer so he could start on the ice cream.

“LIKE HELL YOU DIDNT!”

“YOU LOST!”

“FUCK YOU!”

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU STUPID IDIOT! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STOP SOONER!”

“YOURE THE ONE WHO STARTED THIS, DUMBASS!”

You watched on as Mammon and Levi took turns crying and yelling, hurling insults at each other, through gulps of milk and mouthfuls of ice cream. There wasn’t much else you could do really besides sit there and make sure they didn’t fling anything on your DDD, wondering exactly how long they were going to keep this up for.

As their wailing continued, Lucifer popped his head in to see what all the fuss was about, ready to lay into Mammon. But when he saw him writhing in pain on the floor, shoving hunks of bread into his overstuffed mouth, he realized there wasn’t anything he could do to punish him more thoroughly than how he was suffering right now. He also caught sight of Levi, who was now laying on his stomach, cheek flushed to the floor while he spread out his limbs to get as much contact with the cool surface as possible.

Even though the pain in his mouth had subsided, (whether because he managed to clear out of all traces of the peppers, or because his nerve endings had simply been burnt away, he didn’t know) his body was impossibly hot and at some point he had also removed his pants, leaving him in nothing but his Azuki-tan boxers. He knew he should be embarrassed to be in such a state of undress not only in front of you, but in a public place like the kitchen, but he didn’t care. The only thing that kept him from jumping into Henry’s fish tank was the exhaustion that was weighing down his limbs, and the thought of how much work it would be to access the top of the tank.

A smug smile spread across Lucifer’s face, satisfied with his brother's joint misery. When he turned to look at you, he briefly felt something akin to pity, but you were as much to blame for this as they were, as far as he was concerned. You had chosen them, after all, for reasons that Lucifer couldn’t quite fathom, and you knew exactly what you had been getting yourself into when you had done so.

So, with a wave of his hand Lucifer wished you “Good luck” as he left the kitchen and headed towards his study to relax to one of his favorite records. One that he felt would harmonize perfectly with the sounds of their suffering.

[rickybowensfever]

Sicktember - Zach has a headache

Another @sicktember post! Today’s story is with my oc’s Kylie and Zach. 

Prompts: 

Blankets

Medicine

Missing Out 

Headache 

Fever

 Zach and Kylie are in the last week of summer before their senior year of high school and want to make every minute count. So, when Zach arrives at Kylie’s family’s End of the Summer BBQ looking flushed and develops a headache, Kylie drops everything to take care of him. 

Zach swings by the kitchen where his sister, Emily is garnishing her avocado toast — a sprinkle of paprika, an egg over easy — before taking the right Instagram photo to share with her friends.

“‘Morning!” Zach croaks, startled by the sound of his voice. Must just be my morning voice he tries to convince himself. 

He grabs a glass from the wooden cabinet nearest to the refrigerator and pours a glass of orange juice for himself before finding a quick breakfast. 

His eyes grow wide when he sees a white plate with four pieces of bacon lying on it. He quickly takes piece by piece until only one remains on the plate. 

 “Zach!!” Emily exclaimed, her eyes raised and face scrunched in annoyance. 

“Those were for Mom!” she explains, holding a hand on her hip. 

“Sorry…” he mutters, “That would’ve been nice to know before, you know” he gestures his hands to the plate of bacon, pouting his lip. 

“Ugh, it’s fine. I can just make more” 

“Sorry, I have to be at Kylie’s soon for their barbeque and I totally woke up late,” he says trying to justify his actions. 

 “Oh, nice! I’m going to try and stop by later with Kara”  she half-smiles. Emily has been seeing a girl named Kara for over a month now since they met at her summer job as a school nurse at a summer day camp. Emily’s first job since she graduated from Med School. 

 Zach touched his Home screen button to reveal the time, 12:48 PM with five unread messages from Kylie probably asking him where he was. 

 “Fuck. I better go” Zach said, panicked. He had been up late watching Netflix aimlessly and his throat was sore. He had tried everything: tea and honey, gargling with salt water, and honey-flavored cough drops. Nothing was curing the aching in his throat. 

Finally, around 2 am, he was able to fall asleep thanks to some NyQuil. 

But, he was deeply regretting his decisions when he woke up at 11:45 am after Kylie told him to get to her house at 12. 

Luckily, the pain in his throat had hindered. Please, don’t do this to me again, he said into his mirror as he pulled on a blue t-shirt and khaki shorts. 

 Zach pulled into the Daniels’ driveway which was beginning to pack up with cars. As he parked his car, Kylie’s brother, Blake ran over to him waving his arms around in excitement. 

Blake was a year younger than Kylie and Zach, playing in a band with some of his high school friends. 

“Yo! You playing tonight?” Zach asked as he got out of the car to greet him with a handshake. 

Blake laughed, “Nah. I got out of that tonight. One of my bandmates is taking their brother to college,” he said. 

Blake escorted Zach to the back gate where their ingrown pool was fenced in and the party was brewing. Kylie waved to her boyfriend the minute she saw him. She wore an ombre purple bikini top with denim shorts and flip-flops, pulling out pool noodles for the kids to play with. 

Zach smiled, walking over to her, greeting her younger cousins. He pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek.

“Do you have any water?” he asked feeling dehydrated. 

Kylie perked up, turning her head toward him. 

“Yeah! Right in the blue cooler”, she mentioned, throwing a couple of pool noodles into the pool at the kids. The kids screamed with excitement, one laying on their stomach and the others blowing water out the trunk of the noodle. Kylie giggled. 

Zach pulled a cold water bottle out of the cooler and sighed out of relief. Suddenly, he felt light-headed and super thirsty. He chugged the water bottle until only drops of water remained. 

“Let’s go inside. My mom still needs help getting everything set up” she mentioned. 

Zach nodded, following her lead. 

Kylie closed the gate over and started heading into the house. 

When they walked into the Daniels’ home, Zach was immediately greeted by her family members. 

“Zach! Nice to see ya,” Uncle Tim said. Zach nodded waving at him. “I’ll be right back, you chat” Kylie whispered in his ear. 

Zach shrugged. “Ready for senior year? Do you have any colleges picked out?” Aunt Michelle (Tim’s wife) asked. 

Zach dreaded this question. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. 

“Uh, I’m going to community college, actually,” he said, confidently. 

“Oh,” they said in unison. Zach was so used to hearing the disappointment in their voices when he told any adult he wasn’t going the “traditional” route for college. 

Why was it so bad that he’d rather save money and figure out what he actually wanted to do instead of contributing to being in crippling debt from student loans? His sister had done the same thing and now, she landed a job as a school nurse. When he figured out whatever the hell he wanted to do in life, he would be successful, too. 

“Yeah! Trying to save money” he said smiling at them. This was his cue to walk away. He walked over to the sectional in the living room across from the kitchen where the TV was playing a re-run of a Food Network competition. 

Once the winner was revealed and another episode started, Zach looked around for his girlfriend. The chatter of Kylie’s loud relatives made his head start to hurt and fatigue set in. 

His eyes lit up when he saw a hint of purple and his girlfriend bringing in a folded chair for an elderly woman to sit in. He ran over to Kylie as soon as he saw her. 

 “Hey. Can I go lay down in your room? I have a headache” he said, talking low so no one could hear him. 

“Sure. Do you want some Advil?” she asked, pouting her lip with concern, “You look a little flushed” she mentioned. 

Zach nodded, “Yeah, that’d be great” and jogged up the stairs turning a corner in the hallway to enter her room. 

The noise died down as he closed the door. Now only hints of loud voices were in the distance. Zach grabbed a fuzzy blanket from a wicker basket and lied on top of her dark purple comforter, closing his eyes as his head pounded. 

Then, the door opened. 

Kylie rubbed his back saying, “Hey, I brought some water and Advil” 

Zach opened his eyes and grabbed the two pink tablets from her hand, chasing them with the water. 

“A nap might help? You look exhausted” she said brushing her hand through his soft brown hair. 

He nodded, “Thanks” and curled back into his position. A shiver went through his body. Making Kylie now more concerned. 

“Do you feel okay? Besides the headache?” she asked quietly. 

“Mhmm” Zach mumbled. “Alright, I’ll check in later, or come and get me if you’re feeling better,” she said, closing her door over. 

 Zach woke up an hour later, feeling cold, his throat burning, and his head pounding more than earlier. He groaned. He could just go home and rest, but driving felt impossible. 

He laid in the bed trying to muster up some strength to send Kylie a text. He waited, counted to five in his head, and slowly picked his body up. 

Z: come here pls i need u 

K: coming! 

He threw his phone down and curled back up in his position. Shivering under the one blanket from earlier. 

The door opened and Kylie quietly walked. 

“Hey, everything okay?” she asked, calmly. 

Zach opened his eyes seeing she changed into a Lakewood University shirt - the college she was most eager to attend. 

“Need to go home. Can’t drive” he muttered. 

“Aw, what’s wrong?” she asked, worried.

“Everything,” he said, his voice raspy. “I just need to go” 

Zach groaned. “Babe, you can stay here. I don’t mind. I know you don’t feel well” she offered. 

He was silent. 

Kylie held in a laugh, resting the back of her hand on his forehead. “I think you have a fever,” she said frowning. 

“Why don’t you stay here until you’re feeling a little better? Then, I’ll drive you home” she suggested. “Your sister and your mom are already here, so I don’t think anyone would even be at your house”

“Okay,” he mumbled.

 “Let me get you some medicine and see if you have a fever,” she said, running out to the hallway closet where the Daniel’s stored their medicine. 

Kylie returned to the room with a bottle of Tylenol and a digital thermometer. 

“I’m sorry, but I need you to get up. Please” 

Zach slowly, painfully got up and looked at his girlfriend. 

Kylie frowned at his glassy eyes and pink cheeks. 

“This should help relieve your symptoms for a bit,” she said gesturing to the pink bottle.

Zach just looked at her. He looked exhausted, she thought. 

She poured the liquid into a plastic measuring cup and handed it over to him. Zach took a big gulp of the medicine, wincing from the taste. 

“It’ll make you feel so much better. I promise” she said smiling softly, then grabbing the digital thermometer. 

“Next,” she said holding the thermometer in the air. Zach opened his mouth, letting the instrument rest under his tongue. 

“I’ll get some more blankets while we wait,” she said softly. 

Even though he felt like utter shit, Zach was so grateful for Kylie. She would drop anything for him, even their family’s annual barbeque. Even before they made things official, as just friends, she was still always there for him. 

Beep. Finally, the thermometer beeped as she held two blankets in her arms. 

She placed the blankets on the bed as Zach lied on his back with the blanket she gave him earlier. 

Kylie took the instrument out of her boyfriend’s mouth and read it. “Okay, you probably just have a bad cold. Nothing we can’t fix! And, you have a little fever, but the medicine should help with that ” she explained. 

Zach grabbed the blankets at the end of the bed, ignoring whatever she was saying. 

“Zach? Are you listening to me?” she asked noticing her boyfriend’s extra blanket. 

He placed the blanket on top of the other and sighed out of relief. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” he asked. 

Kylie sighed. “I said, you have a little fever. But I think you just have a bad cold. Nothing we can’t fix” 

Zach nodded, feeling warmth under the blankets. “Sorry. I really was looking forward to today” he muttered. 

“Oh, don’t even worry! We had a great summer, anyway. Now, let’s get you better” she said kissing him on the forehead. 

See more of Zach and Kylie! 

LOVE SICK 

[everybodyscupoftea]

the date

pike jj x reader ft. cody and tyler

part 2: in which you begin to move on

it’s been a secret, but here’s zach :)

let me try and explain the timeline here real quick: okay so this is before the pogues come to visit, after the sick day. the timeline is a little fucked but that’s okay, we can just pretend we do not see inconsistencies :)

“Call him,” Tyler urged, nudging your leg with his foot.

“What if he says no,” you protested, “I can’t take any more rejection from men this year. Not to sound like I need men to validate me, but I’m not sure my ego can handle much more of this.”

Cody laughed, “We’ll kick his ass if he hurts your feelings.”

“I doubt you could, I’ve seen the pictures,” you scoffed.

Tyler’s jaw dropped, “Hey, I can hold my own.”

“Sure you can, scarecrow,” you teased.

He rolled his eyes, “Whatever, look, I know this guy and he’s really nice and respectful and understanding. Plus he plays baseball, I know how you feel about that.”

Raising your eyebrows, you hummed thoughtfully, “You should’ve said that immediately. I’ll call him.”

“Really?” Cody asked, “That’s all it took?”

“That’s all,” you confirmed, “now, help me come up with something to start the conversation.” -

“You can’t wear that,” Cody scoffed, looking disgusted at your outfit.

“What? Why not?”

Cody ticked reasons off on his fingers as he spoke, “First, you already had to cancel on him once because your body just shut down so the expectations and anticipation are even higher. Two, you have to really wow him because he’s only seen you looking like shit, you have to prove you’re better than that usually. And C, look good, feel good.”

You wanted to roll your eyes, but he made some pretty good arguments, “First of all, if he’s seen me only looking bad, the bar is pretty fucking low, dude.”

“Exactly, that’s why it’s so sad that you’re literally tripping over it.”

Looking down at your shorts, you crossed your arms, “Wait, what’s wrong with this outfit though?”

“No shorts,” Tyler yelled from the bathroom.

You scoffed, “Mind your business in there.”

“No, you need help.”

“Trust me, I do not need two men’s help.”

“But you do though,” Cody said, digging through your wardrobe, looking for something else.

“Dude,” you protested as he pulled out an armful’s worth of clothes.

“Options,” he told you, “I’m just trying to help.”

You sighed, “I suppose you’re right. Hit me with it.”

“Skirt,” Tyler yelled from the bathroom.

“Where are you going?” Cody asked, walking back to dig through your closet again.

“Dinner and a basketball game.”

“Oh, maybe shorts are the way to go.”

“Thank you,” you said, grabbing some clothes to put back in your closet.

“No,” Tyler interrupted, finally leaving the bathroom, “Still a skirt, but you can dress it down with a t-shirt.”

“But, shorts,” you tried to argue.

“Show off your figure, bitch,” Cody responded, shutting you down.

-

Zach picked you up from the dorms, Cody and Tyler watching you get in the car from a distance. He rolled down the window and waved at them, “See you guys around!”

“See ya, man!” Tyler yelled back.

Cody gave him a scrutinous look, “Be good!”

“No promises,” you mumbled and Zach snorted.

“Gonna be that kind of date, huh?”

Your cheeks heated, “No, I meant like, the basketball game. I get kind of into it.”

Zach pulled out onto the street and glanced over, “Hey, I was kidding, don’t stress.”

“Not stressed,” you pouted.

The restaurant he picked was one you’d surprisingly never been to and when you told him he chuckled, “You strike me as the type to have a regular.”

“I am, but I swore we tried every place near campus before establishing our regulars.”

“Well, I’m honored to show you something new.”

He parked and jogged around to open the door before you could get out. It was, unusual, but you weren’t complaining. Zach walked slightly behind you, hand hovering near your back as if he wasn’t sure whether he could touch you or not.

You paused and he walked into you, hand brushing against you, and cleared his throat, “Fuck, sorry.”

“You can touch me, you know?”

Zach blushed, “Well, I didn’t want to assume.”

“That’s very sweet, but I think we’re past the point of casual touches after you spent an entire day taking care of me. And, technically, we’re dating.”

“Well, we agreed it was the fever talking and we’d actually go on a date before making that decision.”

“I’m a modern woman,” you waved his words away, “caution to the wind.”

Zach laughed and held the restaurant’s door open for you, “Fair enough. Takes a lot of pressure off for tonight.”

“Were you nervous?” you teased.

“Well, yeah. You’re so pretty and funny and smart, and I want to impress you.”

Your jaw dropped and your ears felt hot, “I,” you cleared your throat, “well, thank you. Consider me impressed,”

“Good,” Zach smiled, picking up the menu the hostess had sat in front of him. He flipped through it and nudged your foot with his, “By the way, the meatball subs here fucking slap.”

“Oh yeah?”

“If I remember correctly, you told me once that meatball subs were your go-to for testing out Italian restaurants.”

“I, yeah they are, um, when did I say that?”

“You snapped me a picture of a meatball sub from Subway one night super late when you were drunk and told me about it.”

“Right, and you just…remembered?”

“Well of course, I had to pick a place with a fire meatball sub for you. Good impression, remember?”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get the picture.”

He smiled and nudged your foot with his again, “Ready to order?”

“Guess I’m trying the meatball sub.”

When the waitress came back, Zach let you order first and then ordered his food and a bottle of wine for the table. You raised your eyebrows as she inspected his ID and told the two of you it’d be out shortly.

“I’m 20,” you told him.

“But I’m 21, and I know you drink.”

“Touché.”

“This wine is really good. Admittedly, I don’t know everything, all my knowledge is by proxy, my uncle owns a winery in Napa, but I know some.”

You nodded, fully impressed, “Good enough for me.”

Zach laughed, “Good to know.”

The wine and the sub were excellent, right on par with the company. Zach kept you laughing through the whole meal, the conversation staying alive without things getting awkward.

“Wait wait wait,” he laughed, pausing to take a sip of wine, “you’re telling me that Tyler actually went as Hermione?”

“Full wig and everything!”

“Fuck, wish I could’ve seen pictures of that.”

“Oh, I have some,” you reassured.

Zach dissolved into laughter again, taking your phone from you to scroll through. The smile dropped after a few seconds and he swiped up on a notification, locking your phone. Your heart dropped and you smiled uncertainly as he said, “Ready for dessert?”

“Yeah, I saw lava cake on the menu. Is everything okay?”

“I think so, you just got some passive aggressive texts from a JJ.”

You rolled your eyes, “What did he say?”

“Something about being a bad friend and abandoning them. I think it was supposed to sound like a joke, but that’s not the vibe it really portrayed.”

“Yeah, he’s been a real dick lately.”

Zach’s eyebrows shot up and he leaned forward, “Wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t really want to kill the mood,” you laughed humorlessly.

“You aren’t if I’m asking.”

“Well, if you want the whole truth, I kinda liked him. And then he started dating this girl Brooke, and she’s the fucking worst. She literally hates me for no reason and JJ doesn’t say anything in my defense when she treats me like shit.”

“Ah, I’m sorry to hear that. You deserve a better friend.”

“Not so sure about that, clearly karma has it out for me.”

“We’ve only known each other for a short time, but I think you’re incredible and you don’t deserve to be treated that way by a friend. Is that the guy you were telling me about, the reason you want to take things slow? Because I think I understand now.”

Your eyes filled with tears at his earnest words, “Yeah, it is, and wow, you’re actually the best.”

Zach laughed just as the waitress set the lava cake and two spoons between the two of you, “I try.”

Shortly after finishing, Zach paid and the two of you left the restaurant hand in hand. He opened the car door for you again and smiled, hand on your knee. You gave him a wobbly smile and patted his hand, “Thanks.”

“Anytime, seriously. Ready for some basketball?”

“Always.”

-

When you got back to your dorm JJ, Cody, and Tyler were all sitting on the floor outside your room, half empty bottle of flavored vodka between JJ’s fingers. His eyes were fluttering and you could tell he was gone.

Tyler smiled apologetically, “I’m so sorry. He was threatening to come here alone so we decided to come as buffers.”

You snorted, “Real mature, J. Saw you blowing up my phone while I was at dinner.”

“With who?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I met someone.”

“We’re best friends, of course it’s my business.”

“Are we?”

You didn’t give him time to answer before going inside your dorm and letting the door slam shut between you and the boys. There was a slapping noise and Cody said, “Bro I know you’re not going to remember this tomorrow, but for fuck’s sake.”

JJ made a wounded noise, “What if he’s a dick?”

Going on your tiptoes to look through the peephole, you managed to catch Tyler’s shrug, “Dude, I’m not sure what to tell you other than that he’s a good guy.”

“Is he good enough?” JJ countered, arms crossing sloppily.

“Is Brooke good enough?” Cody asked, not even looking up from where he was kicking at the floor.

“Brooke is great,” JJ slurred defensively.

“Great at being the absolute worst,” Tyler scoffed.

You fought back a laugh and walked away from the door. JJ wasn’t going to ruin your night.