#This may go poorly but ah what the hell ))

[galaxythixf]

Hello Hello! While I'm working on a bunch of drafts and asks I figured I should give myself yet another project to work on. This is mostly an excuse for me to use some muses I am testing/considering testing and new verses but if you want a muse from my actual roster, that's also fine to request. This is a starter call, go ahead and like this post and comment who it is that you want. I'll leave a list of my testing/considered and special verse muses below. Most won't have legitimate tags yet but I'll figure it out as I go. Starters will range from spotify one liners to maybe like a few sentences, depends on how I feel.

Testing/Considering: Nahoya "Smiley" Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) Souya "Angry" Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) Seishu Inui (Tokyo Revengers) Harue Shigima (Paranormasight) Gon Freecs (Hunter x Hunter) Miles Morales (ATSV/Spiderman 2) Melinoe (Hades 2) Hidetoshi Odagiri (Persona 3) Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Ken Takakura (DanDaDan) Muses with Special Verses: Ryo "Yoru" Kiritani (Valorant → Omega, One Piece, Occult Verses) Hazal "Fade" Eyleymez (Valorant → Omega, One Piece, Occult Verses) Klara "Killjoy" Böhringer (Valorant → Omega, One Piece Verses) Zyanya "Reyna" Mondragón (Valorant → Omega, One Piece Verses) Tayane "Raze" Alves (Valorant → Omega, One Piece Verses) Zhaoyu "Iso" Li (Valorant → Omega, One Piece Verses) Finlay "Clove" McDuff (Valorant → Omega, One Piece, Occult Verses) Ken Amada (Persona 3 → Persona 4, Persona 5 Verses)

[local-ground-apple]

Our Diasomnia boys just going about their business before hearing a soft squeak like scream, only to turn around to see Yuu holding their, now broken, nose while their eyes are tearing up. The culprit, from the Diasomnia dorm, trying to console Yuu before said boys notice.

It's basically whole squad reaction in one! Thank you for your request! Tho like, Malleus would get mad. Really mad.

,,Now, now don't cry, don't cry...It doesn't even hurt right? Right?"

You could hear nervous voice that was poorly attempting to console you and stop you from crying. It wasn't quite effective. Perhaps, because the said person had just punched you in your nose. You weren't sure what made them change their tone of voice that was quite confident mere seconds ago to this desperate plead.

Weird.

Though, it hurt. It hurt like hell.

You couldn't stop your eyes from tearing up nor a soft squeak that left your mouth when harsh fist collided with your face. Blood was falling down your face, as you weeped.

That person's hands gently patted your head and you could feel yourself shrinking at their touch, too afraid to pull away in case they decided to hit you once again.

,,You! Get away from our Human!"

A loud and familiar voice resonated through empty hallways, as you heard various footsteps rushing in your direction.

Ah, it all made sense now. That Diasomnia student who punched you began desperately consoling you, because they saw your squad approaching.

You slightly raised your head, yet before you could even saw the faces of your friends, you were turned around carefully, as warm hands gently cupped your face, inspecting the damage inflicted.

,,Are you okay?"

Silver's soft voice was barely audible given Sebek's loud screaming in the background. You couldn't quite make out the words he was yelling in his rant, yet you were almost sure that he was scolding the student.

You only nodded in response. Silver titled your head to the side, carefully assessing your broken nose. He didn't look pleased at all. He gently whipped the tears streaming down your face and began clearing the blood dripping from your wound with a handkerchief.

When he finished, Silver gently wrapped his arms around you pulling you into a warm hug. He patted your head, hoping it would calm you down.

While he was consoling you, the rest of Diasomnia squad was dealing with the aggressor.

Sebek was still yelling, relentless in his scolding. Malleus was indignant that someone even dared to raise their hand at you. At his favourite human. Needless to say, Diasomnia student was shivering in fear. They were absolutely petrified and they regretted their actions. They fell down to their knees and prayed for mercy and forgiveness.

Lilia was whispering with Malleus, trying to convince him not to do anything unpleasant nor rash.

,,I suppose you may be right"

Malleus sighed heavily, as his eyes landed once again on the student kneeling before him. He wasn't swayed with Lilia's idea. However, he knew better than to scare you away. He briefly glanced at your trembling form in Silver's arms.

Lilia's plan was definitely better.

,, Now, now, Little One. Wouldn't you like to serve some retribution?"

Lilia's question made you stop crying. You raised your head from Silver's chest and looked at him questioningly. You looked quite pitiful with face covered in smeared tears and blood.

Lilia approached you swiftly and kneeled down to your eye level. You could see a mischievous glint in his eyes, as soft smile danced on his lips. He whipped a stray tears falling down from your glassy eyes. He titled his head looking at you with anticipation.

,,Remember how I showed you how to properly punch someone?"

Your eyes widen slightly at the implication of his words. Silver only furrowed his eyebrows in response, deciding not to interfere this time and letting you decide for yourself.

,,It would be only fair to return the favor, don't you think so, Little One?"

You supposed that perhaps he was right.

Given how Sebek eagerly agreed with Lilia and how Malleus nodded his head in confirmation, perhaps it wasn't a bad idea.

Yet, you were hesitant.

You've never punched anyone. You often opted for a peaceful solution and you were never the person to pick violence as an option. Yet, this time it seemed quite tempting. You shook your head.

No, you couldn't.

You could get in trouble if someone was to witness this situation. After all, fighting was strickly prohibited. You could easily report the student for punching you and he would get punished. It's not like you needed to get revenge.

,,Someone could see this and we would get in trouble"

You whispered in response, which earned a chuckle from Lilia.

,,Oh, come on Little One~"

Malleus turned around, before he spoke.

,,It's not like I will see anything"

,,See? Malleus is allowing you a small revenge"

[transformers-spike]

Yeah separately because that is. A whole can of continuity-hopping-worms that I’m not ready to open. I just want to bang the old men!!!!!!

As the pole dictates, I'm going for Alpha Trion in his alt mode. Consider this a prequel to Solitude. Will I ever do the TFA Ultra Magnus soft femdom? Probably someday, I already started writing it.

“Okay?” he asks, muzzle pressed against your cheek. There’s a slight mechanical warble to his words, but the English is nigh impeccable. It’s been a few months and he’s already grasped more than you did studying German for three years. His pronunciation has rapidly evolved, going from techno dial up noises to something almost human if not for the digitized waver in his voice. For someone so huge, let alone made of metal, he’s awfully gentle with your squishy human body. You kiss his snout, sending a wave of crackling energy to his horn and tail. “Yeah, I’m good, no need to fuss over me,” you say with a smile on your face.

You climb the last steps of the human-sized stairs up to his bed. The fabric is notably similar to a non-sticky gym mat, uncomfortable to sleep on, sure, but manageable when your goal is to get your rocks off. There’s no time for a strip-tease when he’s been insistently brushing his muzzle against your sex for half an hour, purring poorly translated but no less sweet praises. Naked on all fours, feeling all kinds of vulnerable in this new position, you brace yourself on your arms, arching your back to show your ass in what you hope to be an attractive display of your goods. Your heart is pounding in your chest like you're teenager waiting for "dessert" after a date , and no matter how many times you do this, he makes you feel like an utter virgin. He props himself over you, half standing on the bed, half on the ground; his hands (or paws if you want to get technical) pressing into the soft mesh of the mattress. Yes, he could fall down and crush you. But you trust him not to, because if none of the Primes have, there's no way in hell the chillest member is going to put an end to your life when he has the focus and self-control to create near-perfect sand replicas of your ships.

“Ready?” he asks to be sure, to which you reply with a quick “Yep!” and push against his panel. The feeling of his snug cock brushing over your sex and stomach sends a fire to your loins. The pace is slow and passionate, member languidly (and carefully) stroking sensitive nerves that make you shudder with delight. The blue fluid coating your thighs is warm and welcome next to the chilly air. His vents breathe excess heat onto your back, and you barely get the chance to thank him between moans when he finds the perfect angle to make you lose it. You grip onto the bed, ass up, face down, bucking against him pathetically. Ah, dignity. It’s been months since you lost her. “Like this?” he asks again, angling his head to catch an awkward glimpse of you under his frame. You give him a thumbs up and cheekily reply “I need you to fuck me like I owe you money.” A bit too jokey of an answer, because now he’s looking at you like you just spontaneously grew an extra head. “Yes,” you confirm, “like this.” He complies immediately, maintaining the perfect (and probably uncomfortable in his case) angle, pressing against your sex so pleasantly your knees are shaking. It doesn’t take long for you to cum, crying out his name as you’ve done many times before, legs buckling underneath you. He doesn’t seem to mind having you rest on his member, and he leaves you a few minutes to collect yourself before he pulls away and transforms back into his normal form. You roll over and spread your arms out welcomingly when he reaches over and takes you into his hand. Then, he sits back down on the mattress with you in his palm. “May I?” he inquires for the final time, gesturing at his hardon, terribly polite for someone who sounds like he’s on the brink of losing it from sexual frustration. “Please do,” you answer with proverbial popcorn in your lap, stroking your sex as he starts pumping his member.

[kyunniebuns]

˗ˏˋ Entry : 049 - Lover! Jinwoo x Fem! Reader: Trichotillomania ♡ ˎˊ

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕘 𝕁𝕚𝕟𝕨𝕠𝕠˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

[ Trichotillomania: Repeated hair pulling habits from stress, anxiety and depression. Do not engage with this fic if you are in a poor mental health state. Familial abuse. Physical abuse. Body Dysmorphia. Depression. Suicidal Ideation. Trichotillomania can be considered as a form of self harm. Other variations of self-harm is in heavy description. Ends in fluff ]

╰┈➤ ❝ [ Just Somewhere to Hide. Just somewhere. Anywhere. ] ¡! ❞

The only thing that's stopping you from ending things right now is that there is a lack of a knife present in your hands.

The kitchen is just a few steps away. Just one thrust into your heart and it's off to the comfortable embrace of death itself.

But you can't risk that, there's no spot in this godforsaken house you're imprisoned in for a peaceful death. Every corner of the walls around you is a death sentence to invite panic attacks in.

Why can't everyone just shut up and leave you be?

It's not like it's your fault you can't get into fucking college because of the tuition fee. Aren't you saving everyone's fucking wallets from that bullshit?

No one should give a fuck about your lack of education, you can enroll by the time the expenses die down.

You shouldn't have been here in the first place anyway. If it weren't for that single night you wouldn't be born.

But ah, life has a wonderful way of fucking up everything.

You grew pampered, with food served to you in rich flavors and huge amounts. You're thankful for that, you're thankful for the lovely childhood.

Oh how you wish to go back to those days.

But do you really?

Childhood may have been lovely but underneath all the glitters and rainbows were belts and hangers and brooms used to discipline you?

Can't spell a word right?

A smack from a fist.

Can't do your math right?

A smack from a hanger.

Can't translate between two languages fast enough?

A smack from the wood of a broom.

Can't do an essay right?

A smack with a belt.

Maybe childhood isn't lovely either.

Where was the place that you could hide yourself away? School.

Yes.

As much as you hated that place for all it's shitty standards it was a safe place. At least there you can pretend, at least there you can have some form of isolation even if you're being bullied and mocked for how you look and your voice sounds.

It's fine that you undergo discrimination and bullying, at least they're not swinging belts and brooms at you. It's just them destroying your self-esteem.

Not like you have any to begin with thanks to your parents who were even more brutal about your appearance that you now have body dysmorphia on tip of depression and anxiety.

Even if school is a place where teachers normalize humiliating students shamelessly for basic wrongdoings that can be corrected with simple warnings.

Even though that place is full of people who only respect you when they need something out of you, even if that place is a paradise for the pretty girls and a hell for those who don't fit the beauty standard— That place felt safer than anywhere else.

All your life you've never been given privacy because of your privilege. You're luckier than your cousins who have it harder, so be thankful.

But at one point you started wishing for your places to be switched. It's fine that you eat food that is burnt and poorly cooked, it's fine that you have to eat shitty food.

If it meant you can have a little more breather instead of getting anxious that you might have done something to earn the belt— It's fine.

You'd rather starve than anything else.

At some point in your life you started to pull your hair out. It started from a few strands. But all of the sudden there are clumps of hair gathered on the floors.

What did you get instead of receiving help?

A beating.

That's right, a beating.

You got your hair yanked, pinned to the floor, and slapped repeatedly on your helpless situation. When your aggressor was pried off of you— You got kicked on your already helpless situation.

In the end who is the one who asks for forgiveness and gaslit that you being pinned down and slapped is justifiable? You.

You.

The helpless you.

The you who isn't allowed to voice your feelings out so you grew to not know how to tell anyone what you really feel, even to the point that you feared telling your feelings is what will doom you into irreversible damage.

You feared your own emotions.

You feared everything you should have been allowed to fear from the years of abuse. The fear bedded into your soul.

Did you want help?

YES.

Fuck yes you did.

What happened instead? You are guilt-tripped into saying no that you don't need a psychiatrist despite the fact you have major social anxiety, severe trichotillomania and heck— You even cut yourself when you can.

Nothing.

Nothing could help you.

Everything is a prison and you yourself are rotten from the inside out.

No one wanted to help you.

Your family?

Right.

They only fucking insist on caring because the image of a severely mentally ill daughter is bad for their image.

Nobody really cared.

Nobody did.

Even if you cry your heart out nobody could help you.

Nobody wanted to help.

No one.

There's no one there.

Not here.

Not there.

Not anywhere.

You're all alone.

In this vast world that you try to paint into a pretty picture in your head— Not one soul wanted to help you.

The embrace of death seems all the more enticing now that you really think about it.

Why fear it?

Death gives you mercy from the agony of living.

Atleast if you're dead— No one ans nothing can hurt you.

You can sleep all you want while your body rots from six feet under.

You've always been rotten anyway.

Dying won't be any different.

Life always ends in slumber, it's about time for you to dream.

⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ଳ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅ ⋆ ౨ৎ ˚ ⟡ ˖ ࣪

"My liege!" Beru's panicked voice yells out for his master, instantly jolting Jinwoo awake from his small nap after playing a few rounds after homework. "The empress— She's unwell!"

"Exchange"

The command slipped out of Jinwoo's lips in an instant. He knew what was happening.

Even if he doesn't know the full story of what you've been through— He knew the situation is bad as he feels Beru's heightened anxiety.

Jinwoo can technically peer into your memories and see for himself what really happens. But he didn't. He wanted you to tell him what happened in the years you grew up. He wanted you to tell him what pushed you to whatever the hell happened to you today.

He knew about your destructive habits. It was the result of bottling up your emotions for so long that it created a ticking time bomb that will burst at any moment should the right trigger be pulled.

And when Jinwoo finally materializes from the abyss-like wisps of shadows— He would find himself face to face with your figure staring out at the cityscape as you stand on the ledge.

"Stop, wait!" Jinwoo panics, breaking into sweat when he saw you take a stop.

He yanked your arm back in an instant, letting your back crash against his chest. Jinwoo held you firmly as you thrashed and screamed in his hold.

But ah, his strong arms will not let you go.

He refuses to let go. Knowing the moment he does you will take flight and descend to your demise. Still he was hyper aware of his strength, if he so ever squeeze too much and he might kill you.

As you stretched your palm out to yearn for the ledge— Jinwoo uses his to grab hold of yours and pull it back.

"That's not something you should longing for" Jinwoo says, his voice trembling as he uses his other hand to cover your eyes so you wont see it anymore. "A leap of faith is not what you need."

You kept thrashing in his hold, cursing Jinwoo out for daring to interrupt your final farewell.

But soon he would lift his palm up from your eyes.

As your eyesight adjusts back to the waking world— You find yourself no longer on top of the building you were in a second ago.

Instead in front of you is a vast field of grass with blooming flowers swaying back and forth along with the gentle breeze blowing your way.

Once Jinwoo could tell that you're no longer agitated, his hold becomes gentle, and instead he would just hug you from behind as you both sat on the grass.

Your breath was completely taken away by how pretty the sight is. Every single dark thought you had in your little head is instantly washed away by the peaceful and beautiful sight.

The sky itself is majestic, with full and fluffy clouds drifting about and even the stars blinking so prettily along with a meteor shower.

While your gaze is distracted by everything else, Jinwoo's eyes are on you. He could see another bald spot on your head from your hair plucking habits. At the center of it was a huge gaping wound fresh and still bleeding. He blows on it gently, the wound closing instantly and your strands growing back anew as if nothing ever happened in the first place.

"Better?" He finally asks as he nuzzles the side of your head.

"Mhm." You weakly nod, too distracted to really talk properly.

"I know, I know that I can't tell you that everything will get better" Jinwoo holds you softly, holding you tighter. "It'll be stupid for me to try and tell you about rainbows and whatnot."

"..."

"But if you want to run away, if you want to be somewhere far away like this. Just tell me. Don't go hurting yourself, don't think about leaving this world" He goes on.

You can't see him directly, but you knew by the tremble of his voice that he must be crying. And yet Jinwoo pretends to be strong. The one who needs comfort is not him, but you.

"When the world is too cruel on you, when everything is just too painful for your, when you just want to cry— Turn to me." Jinwoo said, no— He was pleading you. "I'll take you here. Just you and me. Just us."

A place of solace.

A paradise for both of you.

A place where no one can hit you, no one can yell at you, a place where you can let your guard down.

The thought of that caused you to break into tears. You wanted to tell him what you feel. What you think. What happened and why you're like this. But instead you only sob.

You can only cry your sorry little heart out, you let out all the screams and tears you've been hiding because you will be guilt-tripped for having emotions. For being weak.

Yet this man wasn't doing any of that. Instead he was rubbing your back as if he understood what you were trying to tell him in your tears.

You don't have to hurt yourself. Not as long as he's here. If it's a hero you need then he will be your saviour. Jinwoo wants to show you that you are loved.

If not by the world, then by him.

He will love you, more than he has now.

The world is beautiful, and you have unfortunately been too exposed to the ugliness of everything. So he will be your beacon of light.

He'll hold your hand and show you everything that should have been shown to you in the first place. He'll pamper you to the point that you'll forget your destructive habits.

After all, those came to life because of your environment.

In the hellhole that you are imprisoned in, he'll pull you out to take you home. A home for you and him.

꒰ 🪼 A/N: What a way to start my Lover series hahah. I just needed this fic so bad so I'm sorry for introducing my new series like this. If you are in need of professional help please reach out immediately should you are able to. Please don't bottle up your emotions. You're only hurting yourself. If you are unable to reach out to therapists then please talk to your friends or close people for comfort. ꒱

ʚ(੭´͈ ᐜ `͈)੭ .｡✧: ~♡ —! stories written by kyunnie; translations, reposts, plagiarism are strictly forbidden.

[amaretigris]

Friction

Taglist: @luna2034 @hopeisrising @notagreekgal28 @mylittlemermaid221 @justagirlthatlovedtoread @freyagallileaevans @daydreamerwithnohobbies @jonahmermaid23 @jonahhauer-kingg

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Ch. 2 | 2.6k words | Angst & smut suggestion

༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄

The truth is that Eric didn't know why he'd offered up his name. It was an olive branch of sorts. He hadn't realized that he'd been so inherently prejudiced against (Y/N) since she arrived. He'd already allowed his past to interfere with his present to a disastrous degree. He couldn't let it seep into everything. His father would chide him for it. He could practically hear the king's voice say, "that's no way to live, son."

Eric also didn't know why he'd thought to tell her to call him by his first name when he already allowed all of the palace staff to do so freely. He would never look at someone sideways for using his name instead of the tiresome "Your Highness" or "Your Majesty" titles. (Y/N) would eventually discover that, if she hadn't already, but it was the mere act of showing her that he didn't think himself better. Admittedly, he has been in a terrible mood for the better part of eighteen months, and sometimes he uses a facade of arrogance to simply save face. If people saw him be confident, maybe they wouldn't worry so much about his state of mind.

But, Eric supposed he could be objectively nicer. He was sure he'd unintentionally taken things out on the staff over the past year. That was the worst of it- that while he was going through his own personal hell, he may have been inflicting it on others. You were the first to openly call him out on his behavior. How long had he been conducting himself so poorly without even realizing?

Although he couldn't guarantee that he'd always be in an upbeat mood, Eric would keep better hold of his manners when addressing anyone around the castle. He thought back to your face when you confronted him on his conduct. You'd had a slight flush to your cheeks despite your resolute demeanor. Even with his astonishment in the moment, he remembered thinking that you looked beautiful. The real question was: why was he thinking about it?

༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄

"You have to be joking," you mumbled to yourself. Lashana had just handed you a tray of tea and asked you to deliver it to the prince. The irony was not lost on you. You hadn't seen him since your last interaction two days ago. What if he'd thought about your words after you left and gotten angry with you? You'd never spoken to one of your employers so openly.

Heat had scorched your face when you said it. You didn't know what had possessed you to address the prince that way, other than the fact that you were tired of being trodden down by royalty. That was all well and good, but you must remember your place. Snapping your thoughts back to the present, you shook your head. You nervously cleared your throat, teetering the tray in your hands.

"Ah, is there anyone else who can take this, ma'am?" You quietly asked. "I was going to tend to the washing."

Lashana gave you a knowing smirk. "Now, now, don't be intimidated by him." Her expression grew more serious. "The poor lad's had it rough the last couple of years. He may be harsh at times, but he has a good heart."

You sighed, resigned to your fate. "The tea isn't too hot, is it?"

Lashana's eyebrows shot up in amusement. "Pardon?"

"Last time he had tea, he said it was too hot and burned his chest. He had to take his shirt off," you shrugged. You shouldn't have included that last bit, but you realized your mistake too late.

Hazel eyes narrowed at you. "I see. And he did in front of you?" She quirked a brow.

You stammered, feeling embarrassment wash over you. "N-N-No, of course not. I happened to be in the hallway." You licked your lips, feeling the need to over explain. "I was searching for the washroom, and I got your directions mixed up and-"

"(Y/N)," Lashana's hand came to rest gently on your shoulder, halting your babbling. You sucked in a sharp breath. "The tea isn't too hot by now. Off you go," she flicked her chin in the direction of Eric's room. She turned from you with a soft smile on her face as she heard you ascend the stairs.

Cursing your luck, you wound your way through the halls to the prince's room. You stopped at the door, taking a deep breath to settle your nerves. You raised your fist to knock when you heard a sharp moan. You startled away from the door, barely keeping balance of the tray in your arms. The tea in the pot sloshed slightly, splashing onto the sleeve of your dress. You hissed as it burned your skin. Eric was right, the tea was too hot.

Your eyes searched the hallway, looking for clues as to what you should do. Had you heard right? Or was that a fluke? Just then, a guttural grunt sounded from the room, and answered your question. You couldn't stand there any longer. You all but dropped the tray in your hold to the floor. It was not graceful, and, much to your dismay, the teacup on the tray wobbled on its saucer. Your hand jerked down to steady it before it crashed to the ground, but the distinct clinking of the fine china was cacophonous in the silent hallway.

You heard cursing and rustling behind the door, and you darted down the hallway and around the corner. You flew back down the staircase, and didn't stop until you reached the kitchen again, almost colliding with Lashana in the process. She grabbed your shoulders to steady you with wide eyes.

"(Y/N), you look like you've seen a ghost, girl. What happened?"

You were breathing heavy, gulping in air, but you shook your head. "Nothing."

Lashana gave you an incredulous look. She went to move past you, perhaps to go investigate. You reached out to grip her arms.

"Nothing happened, I promise you. I scared myself is all." You forced a fake chuckle. You hoped it was believable, but given Lashana's expression, you weren't so sure. You held a hand to your heart to sell it. "I thought I heard someone coming around the corner, and I ran into the flower pot. It almost fell to the floor and shattered, and I barely dodged a heart attack."

Lashana's look of disbelief dissolved into a sympathetic smile. "That's okay. I won't tell if you don't. But you really must get a better layout of the castle..."

Her words were overpowered by the roaring in your ears. Relief prickled at your spine, but so did something else. Curiosity? Excitement? You weren't sure, but you'd never felt this alarming sensation before.

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Eric had just crested to his peak when a crashing sound came from the hallway. His pleasure was replaced with a sense of urgency.

"What the hell?"

He moved Marianna off of his lap, despite her protests. "Eric, what are you doing?"

Wrapping a towel around himself, Eric opened his bedroom door. He found a tray with a pot of tea, sugar cubes, and fine china in disarray at his feet. Eric's brow pinched in confusion as he looked down both ends of the hallway. No one was here. Not anymore. Whoever delivered this ran off.

A strong smell hit his nostrils, and Eric clutched the doorway and sucked in a deep breath to identify it. It was the fragrance of vanilla. He did feel sorry for whoever had presumably heard his fornication with Marianna, but they smelled delightful. Your face fleeted through his mind, but Eric shook his head of that thought and turned back to his room, swinging the door closed.

༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄

Eric had never smelled vanilla on you before. Never in passing at least, which is the only time he'd ever been around you. Surely, it wasn't you that left the tea at his doorstep the other night. The palace had hundreds of staff members. Yet the thought still plagued him. What if it had been you? Eric would be embarrassed. Not on your behalf- he was sure you had plenty of suitors. He would simply be embarrassed of another instance of you finding him being indecent. That was all be could seem to be around you.

Most of the palace staff knew of his fling with Marianna. They would see each other occasionally when he was home from his voyages. It was one of the many vices that he'd turned to after the loss of his father. There were no serious feelings harbored between the two of them, but Marianna helped him pass the time. He'd known her for most of his life, and she had suffered the loss of her husband a couple years back. Grief brought the two of them together, if only for the sake of distraction and numbness.

Still, Eric went out of his way to look for you in the days after the incident. He even asked Lashana about your progress. "So, how is the newest employee doing? (Y/N), was it?"

Lashana smiled at him. "Yes, she's wonderful. She's a hard worker, though she does seem to be lost in her head most of the time. Poor thing got sick yesterday, too. It came out of nowhere, but she said she caught a stomach bug."

Eric blinked. "A stomach bug?"

Lashana nodded. "Yes. She's kept to her quarters the last two days, but she said she should be feeling better by tomorrow."

The timing was suspicious. You supposedly got sick the morning after the tea predicament. It could be a coincidence, but Eric had a feeling that it wasn't.

"I see," he continued. "Perhaps I should go check in on her. We wouldn't want any of our staff to be gravely ill without the proper medical attention if it's truly needed."

Lashana opened her mouth, but closed it again with a nod. "Right, sire."

"Very well. Can you show me where the tea is?"

༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄

Eric's pulse pounded in his ears as he approached your corridor. Why was he nervous? He was the prince for god's sake. But something about your bold personality and your beauty had him floundering. What would he say when he got there? He couldn't outright ask you if you heard him the other night. Part of him wanted to, if only to see the flush on your face. But he needed to be more civil than that, didn't he?

Eric arrived at the exact room Lashana had directed him towards. He knew the castle front and back since he'd explored it as a child. He'd never given anyone, staff or otherwise, permission to move into this room until you. At first, he'd given the choice very little reason. Now, it seemed like it was meant to happen. Does he even believe that things happen for a preordained reason anymore?

A quick knock on your door pulled you out of your reading. You glanced to the doorway, wondering if you'd imagined it. When another short knock came after a few moments, you rose up out of your bed. You were still dressed in your nightgown. You'd hardly been expecting visitors. Combing your fingers through your hair, you pulled the door open expecting Lashana.

All of your breath left you when you saw Eric standing in the hall. Your eyes widened, glancing down to the tray in his hands. Oh God. You wanted to die of embarrassment. Did he know? Without a word, you turned from the door, burying your red face in your hands as you trudged back to your bed. Eric stood at the door with a smirk on his face for a moment before he shuffled in the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

That's when he smelled it. His nose was assaulted with the same scent from the other night, and he felt his pupils dilate. He glanced around the space, wondering if he'd find vanilla beans in this very room. None appeared, but the fragrance was so strong that he took a deep inhale, straightening his back. It had been you.

When you sat criss crossed on your bed, Eric realized that you were still lounging in your nearly transparent night dress. You were careful to keep your thighs and lap covered, but Eric's mind wandered. Damn. This was a bad idea.

You finally glanced up at him again, and Eric realized he was just standing in the middle of your room with a tray of tea. Hesitation scurried through him before his feet moved of their own accord. He lowered the tray onto the comforter, pointing on the opposite side from you. "May I sit?" You nodded. He settled himself at the foot of your bed.

"If you're here to see why I've been missing work, I've been sick. I told Lashana I'll be back tomorrow."

Eric's brow formed a v, and he shook his head. "No, that's not why I'm here. I came to see if you're alright. Lashana told me about the sudden onset of your illness." Your eyes avoided his. He would be lying if he said he didn't take delight in the blush that he was rewarded with.

"Yes, well, it was very sudden, but I suppose that's the nature of stomach bugs."

Eric studied you, observing your mussed hair and pouty lips. It gave him ideas.

"I brought you some tea," he quickly changed the topic, pushing the tray towards you.

Your (e/c) eyes briefly touched his, but were diverted again. "I see. It's not too hot?" You teased.

Eric shook his head. "I blew on it to make sure."

The scowl etched on your face made him smile. He watched you open the lid of the tea pot, examining it's contents like it was poisoned. When you were satisfied that it was safe, you poured a small amount into the teacup. He watched you slowly bring it to your lips, and he suddenly had to know.

"(Y/N), you may speak freely with me. You seem to have no trouble with that. Did you drop off the tea at my door the other night?"

You sputtered on the little liquid you had just taken in. Setting the teacup back on the tray, you coughed with a hand to your chest. Eric watched the scene play out before him with obvious amusement. You finally caught your breath again, and tilted your chin up to him.

"No," you lied. "Why do you ask?"

"I went to go investigate the crashing sound I heard from the hallway, but no one was there. Only a tray of tea. It's deliverer did leave a trail of vanilla scent, however."

Eric smiled wickedly as you opened your mouth in horror.

Damn, you knew you shouldn't wear your perfume at work.

"Fine," you admitted, looking down at your hands in your lap. "It was me."

Eric's expression sobered. "I'm sorry," he replied genuinely.

Your eyes shot back up to his in disbelief. "Sorry?"

He released a sigh. "Yes, sorry that I've been entirely unpleasant and unrefined since you arrived here."

You sucked in a sharp breath. The prince was not only admitting his indiscretions, but apologizing to you? You never thought you'd see the day.

"It's okay," you shrugged. Eric kept his eyes on your face, not letting them dip down to your chest. "I've been rude and brash since I've been here, and it's certainly not my place. I apologize for that."

Eric nodded. He held out his hand for you to shake. "Truce?"

You faltered for a moment, wondering just what you were agreeing to if you took his hand. What all did a truce with Eric entail? You realized that you didn't have much of a choice if you wanted to continue working here. You softly took his hand, giving it a shake. "Truce."

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

(GFL Short Fic) AN-94 attempts romance

AN-94 has no idea how to approach romance, given her lack of social skills and knowledge about humans in general.

But she would do her best to let her feelings be known!

AN-94 sat in her dorm dressed in her casual uniform, that being a black t-shirt and pants. Her gaze was focused on the wall, but she was fighting a mental battle.

She had learned that she quite enjoyed spending time with one of the human personnel, who seemed to feel the same. But it was...strange. It wasn't quite the same nature of how she felt for the rest of DEFY.

According to (Y/N), she seemed to smile around them and acted differently. What did humans call two people that were always together again?

(AN-94) "...A couple?"

That's right, they were called 'couples' according to the internet searches she had conducted in her head. But how did one become a couple? As far as she could tell, they were just friends. If that internet definition was even right, anyway.

(AK-12's Voice) "Thinking about (Y/N) again?"

(AN-94) "Ah, yes. Do you know how couples are made, AK-12?"

AK-12's Advice

(AK-12) "Hm, I'm not entirely sure. But why bother asking me when you could do so yourself? Come on, go out there and be yourself! I'm sure it'll be fine!"

AN-94 nodded.

(AN-94) "Understood. Commencing mission."

She left the dorm with a determined walk, AK-15 and RPK-16 looking outwards after her.

(AK-15) "...You realize this will end poorly, correct?"

(AK-12) "Probably. But better to learn from failure, eh?"

(RPK-16) "Agreed."

...

(Y/N) "So, what brings you by today, 94? Need something?"

(AN-94) "I am just being myself."

(Y/N) "...I-Is that right?"

(AN-94) "Is that a problem?"

(Y/N) "Hah, no. I don't mind a bit. I'm just gonna be organizing some paperwork for the commander, I can't imagine it's exactly exciting."

(AN-94) "Then allow me to help."

(Y/N) "Sure, that'd be great! Thanks again!"

AN-94 helped (Y/N) with the paperwork. True to her mission, she remained herself, not mentioning a single thing about her feelings towards (Y/N) and remaining almost silent the entire time.

For (Y/N), it was quite a comfortable silence. For AN-94, she was even more confused. She had changed nothing, why was (Y/N) not mentioning they were in love yet?

RPK-16's Advice

(RPK-16) "So, they didn't have a reaction?"

(AN-94) "Negative. I am unsure what I did wrong."

(RPK-16) "Hm, well you do have the sort of air to just be seen through..."

AN-94 slightly frowned at the comment until RPK-16 excitedly put her hands together.

(RPK-16) "How about physical contact? Humans are quite like rabbits where they desperately crave it!"

(AN-94) "Physical contact?...I see, that may work."

...

(Y/N) was suddenly confused as to why AN-94 was suddenly in their quarters. Not to mention she was completely still, her face literally in their chest.

It also didn't help they were also on their bed. She remained unmoving like a statue, and she was acting as if there was nothing wrong.

(Y/N) "U-Um...!"

(AN-94) "Does this bother you?"

Her voice was muffled in their shirt.

(Y/N) "A-A little. It's almost midnight, why are you just-"

(AN-94) "Then this method is not working. Please, excuse me."

Quickly removing herself from their upper torso, she stood back up and left the room without saying anything else, leaving an extremely confused (Y/N).

Commander's Advice

(AN-94) "...And that explains my situation, sir."

(Commander) "...Now, I know I have an open door policy, but why did you come to me about this?"

(AN-94) "Are you unversed in romance, sir?"

The commander awkwardly coughed into his hand, adjusting his jacket's collar and trying to ignore the fact AN-94 had just called him out for being single.

(Commander) "I'm just saying there are probably others who's far better at reading these kinds of emotions. Plus, that probably confused the hell out of poor (Y/N)..."

(AN-94) "They did seem quite perplexed as to why I was so close to them."

(Commander) "...Oh, I know who could help!"

He said, snapping his finger. He quickly reached for a nearby intercom and called out the T-Doll's name.

Springfield's Advice

Springfield brought out a small tray containing four muffins she had baked, giving AN-94 a warm smile.

(Springfield) "You know what they say! The quickest way to a person's heart is their stomach!"

AN-94 contemplated that for a moment before Springfield cleared her throat.

(Springfield) "It's a metaphor dear. Before you tear out their internal organs, it means that they'll get your message of love a lot faster if you give them good food!"

AN-94 nodded and stared at the muffins.

(AN-94) "But...these are made by you. Would (Y/N) not love you instead of me?"

Springfield couldn't help but giggle at her innocence. AN-94 tilted her head.

(Springfield) "I'm sorry, that wasn't meant to offend, sweetie. Well, you do have a good point, it would mean a bit more if it came from you, but-"

(AN-94) "May I borrow your kitchen? I would like to make some muffins."

(Springfield) "Be my guest!"

...

(Y/N) "Mmm! These muffins are so good! Thank you so much for bringing them here! Springfield always knows how to bake them just right."

For some reason AN-94 was flustered, unable to look them in the eye. Maybe it was because of that whole planking incident a few days ago? (Y/N) was confused, they weren't angry at her to begin with.

(Y/N) "Would you like some? There's more than enough for the two of us!"

(AN-94) "...T-Thank you."

Seeing her smile got (Y/N) to smile now as well, something she immediately took notice of. AN-94 made sure not to tell them of the fires that broke out in the attempts of her trying to cook for them.

Instead she had to use Springfield's muffins in the end.

...

AK-15's Advice

AN-94 sat back in DEFY's dorm, looking dejected as she laid in her bed. Every attempt had failed spectacularly. If only romance was like the battlefield, then she could complete this mission with no problems. She could hear AK-15 sigh as she approached her bed, crossing her arms.

(AK-15) "So, have you tried telling (Y/N) you liked them directly?"

(AN-94) "...What?"

(AK-15) "There's no use of beating around the bush. Tell them how you feel so you can avoid any further misconceptions, and get results that way."

That...made sense, actually.

(AN-94) "Thank you, AK-15."

Springing up from her bed, she immediately dashed out and made way towards (Y/N)'s quarters once again.

(AK-15) "...Human etiquette is so inefficient..."

...

(Y/N) "You...like me?"

(AN-94) "I do, (Y/N). I...I only hope that I am irreplaceable in your heart."

(Y/N) began laughing, which made AN-94 confused again. Before she could voice it, they stepped closer to her, grabbing both her hands gently.

(Y/N) "Is this what those last few days have been about? Why didn't you just tell me?"

(AN-94) "I...I wanted to try things a human would."

Seeing her flustered reaction made (Y/N) embrace her tightly, laughing gently and making her comfortable.

(Y/N) "Fair enough. I...I like you too, AN-94. And you've always been irreplaceable to me."

AN-94 smiled back and sunk deeper into their embrace, the two of them remaining silent.

AK-12 was listening in around the corner, nodding to herself in satisfaction. Walking off, she came across RPK-16 and AK-15 who were also nearby.

(AK-15) "You could have just told her to do that from the beginning and saved her the headache."

(RPK-16) "Oh come now, it's about the experience as well as the end result. Not everything has to be so direct, you know!~"

AK-15 simply grunted. AK-12 couldn't agree more. She'd have to pay (Y/N) a visit later, and make sure they'd be the best partner AN-94 could have outside the battlefield.

[cookiesandcosplay]

So! I Found an AU suggestion and this is the result. Inspired by the post linked, please feel free to give any feedback or comments.

Word count: 1.3k

Trigger warnings are in the tags!

@thecoolkids-things @genocidecomics

Too many. So many…

Remy LeBeau had fought everything he could, pulled children from the wreckage of splintered buildings. Grotesque infrastructure mangled and broken as the vile metallic beast tears through the once safe haven that was once Genosha.

Streets once filled with music and beauty, now ran red with bloodied rubble and bodies.

Horror. The smell of death. The sound of screeching beams filling the air. As he moved to take down the Sentinel, seeing it take off towards the gardens, Gambit pulled his trusty bow-staff from his pocket, a poorly planned plan sprouting to his mind. A kinetic surge. Shock the damn thing from the inside, take out the belly of the beast and it’ll drop where it stands.

His beloved Southern Belle had already taken a blow, Magneto eliminated before her very eyes as she was rooted to the spot by a cage of the old man’s own design. He can imagine it felt like hell. Seeing the closest thing to love torn away from you in a flash… It had broken him, watching her be wrenched from him during the dance at the gala. Even if she wasn’t his to lose, even if she’d already told him that he was just the Swamp Rat waiting in the wings? Watching as she glided through the air, bare skin brushing against the hands of the Germanic old fool. It’d broken him. Hurt him on the deepest of levels. He’d never held her like that, now it seemed he never would.

Even if he had expected the pain, it didn’t make it any easier to accept. He wasn’t ready, doubtful really that he ever would be.

Since the tortuous visions courtesy of Mr Sinister back at the mansion, LeBeau had had his fears. His doubts. His outright heartbreaking paranoia. But that all paled in comparison to the hearing the way Rogue saw him. A man who could never touch her. Not in the way she felt mattered. Not in the way she wanted. Needed. His heart had shattered as she made her admissions in his room. Speaking about how he was never going to light her up the way he brightened the rest of the world. That his touch was able to light up everything around him, but not her.

But even now, he’d lay down his life to keep her safe, a Devil’s Advocate. The truest gambit that may not pay off on his end… But the surviving mutants would be safe. She would be safe. Rogue is laid somewhere east, knocked out of flight (hopefully consciousness) from the charged motorcycle he’d launched into her to prevent what was essentially a suicide attempt in a rage filled move of vengeance.

He had no wish to die, but Hell… If he had to go, he’d sue better than the thieving swamp rat he was always seen to be. As he steels his gaze upon the vile kaiju creature that moves for the distance, taking a final millisecond to appreciate that she won’t see him suffer. Closing his eyes for a moment more, obsidian and ruby eyes fall closed for a brief moment, the Cajun taking a final breath as he coils himself to run. “Gambit ain’t got a chance… but the rest ah ya do. Content qu'elle ne soit pas réveillée pour voir ça.” The words meant for no one but himself. Muscular legs move to spring forward.

Until a hand grasps his arm, turning him away from the metallic monster with force. Sections of reddish brown hair and stark snowy bangs falling from the intricate braided bun that had once contained the curly manic locks. Emerald eyes shine with tears, as her body floats before him. The tattered red dress and running eyeliner may have seemed imperfect, but only showed the ferocity and tenacity that embedded her spirit. “Rogue no, Cher, I—“ The words are cut short, broken by lips against his. Heady, desperate as he feels a weakness in his body, gentle warm hands cupping his jawline to steady him as the strength starts to leave his body. The glow that once surrounded his staff begins to fade, a groan leaking into Rogues mouth as his wide eyes fall closed. His body starts to droop, falling into a state of weariness.

Releasing his jaw, Remy falls to the ground, the knees of his white suit trousers scuffed in the dirt. “Sorry Sugah… But this is how it has to happen. You light up everythin’ you touch. Even me.” Her body rises in the air, a heavy pink glow surrounding her as she looks down at the Cajun. A deep black seems to flash in her eyes for a moment, the darkness alight with a loving silence. An apology that she prays Remy can recognise. For the slightest moment she meets his gaze with a weak smile, only to whoosh away again, grabbing rubble and tossing it with the kinetic charge to draw the threats attention.

The shriek of green energy beams follow her, the Southern Belle weaving and bobbing around each ray. As a kinetic charge breaks a large crack in the Sentinel, she rushes forward, gritting her teeth as she generates the heavy kinetic field around herself. Her skin is on fire, her bones ache, her blood is boiling and her muscles are starting to seperate. Her voice is weak, the vibration of her vocal cords causing her more pain than breathing as she pushes on. “Ah feel you, Sugah, ah feel you!”

With a final push, Rogue breaks through the large crack burying herself in the swarm of wires and metallic veins inside the shell. A rasping brutal scream fills the air as the terminal blow leaves her body. Fingers wrapped around metal tendrils, limbs tangled in the wires and leads.

A bleeding pink glow envelopes the night sky, a mushroom cloud of Sentinel shrapnel spreading across the sky. LeBeau watching from the ground, he’s sick to his stomach, soundless, left in a state of shock. His fingers dig into the dirt, gripping as his head drops for a moment, he’s on all fours. Trying to muster the strength to recognise what he’s just seen. Sweat beading on his brow, blood streaking from his nose under the duress. Eyes clenched shut, he grits his teeth, jaw straining until a breath is finally released, a scream filling the air. “Rogue!” The scream is guttural, he can taste the metallic tang of blood as he howls.

Clutching at the bow staff again, he pulls himself to his feet, stumbling as he tries to run towards the gaping hole in the street. Adrenaline coursing through him, the drained energy not enough to hold him back as he sees a deep drop in the pavement. He throws himself into the hole, soot and dirt streaking the white suit as he skids the bowl-like drop. Hitting the bottom, there’s a limp body sprawled in the dust. Red fabric, singed and messy hair framing a face with blood streaming from her ears and lips.

“No… no, Cher no.” The words are weak as he crawls to the form, pulling away the lingering shards of metal tendrils, throwing them away as he pulls her body into his lap with no hesitation. A shaking hand supports her head, the other taking her hand.

Sobs rattle in his chest, his breaths shallow, almost wet as blood clings to his throat. Her chest unmoving, her emerald eyes closed as small sections of hair smoulder, pale skin marred by charcoal and bloody scrapes. The hand holding hers traces gentle circles on her palm, pulling it against his cheek. Her fingers are limp, unmoving, pale as the blood no longer circulates.

Desperately he holds the hand tight against his face. Whimpering words the only sound that fill the air as survivors step closer to the pit.

“S’okay, cher. Gambit’s gotchu. He ain’t lettin’ go. Gambit’s gotchu.”

[kissorkill16]

The Weather Station: A Hello Neighbor Fanfic

By JJ

Summary: Delroy and Nicky find the old abandoned building where it all went to hell.

Nicky tried not to think about it, but something itched in the back of his mind.

The tunnels underneath the school was a thought he forgot about, being so busy with following Mr. Peterson and all.

He raised his hand, "May I please go to the bathroom?", he asked Mrs. Smith.

"Make it fast.", she said.

Nicky left the room with the hall pass.

After he washed his hands, he planned to make his way back to class, but something in the corner of his eye pulled him back.

He saw a kid in a bright yellow jacket, and there was only one person he knew with a bright yellow jacket.

Delroy.

Despite his reluctance, and his teacher's warning to make it fast, he walked over to Delroy and tapped his shoulder, making the boy jump back.

"What the hell, man?!", Delroy shook himself off to calm down. He bent over to pick up a bobby pin he dropped, "What do you want?", he asked.

"Nothing, I'm just wondering what you were doing.", said Nicky. He looked behind Delroy, "What do you need to go into the boiler room for?"

"None of your business, dude.", said Delroy. "But if you must know, I'm trying to get back into the tunnels."

Ah, the tunnels. Nicky raised his eyebrows in realization. He remembered being down there when he found Delroy, and when the two raced to the principal's office.

"Why?"

"Nevermind why. I just need to get back down there.", said Delroy. He tried to unlock the door with the bobby pin again, then he looked back at Nicky, who was making his way back to class.

For some reason, Delroy felt the need to tell someone why he was so interested in the tunnels. He didn't feel like anyone would listen to him if he told anyone, but that was everyone else. Nicky on the other hand...

"I found a couple of teachers go down here wearing black cloaks."

Nicky turned around to look at Delroy. "Hm?"

"I saw some people wearing black cloaks go down here. I thought it was kind of weird, so I wanted to see what they were doing.", he said. "Do you maybe want to come with me?"

Nicky rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, man. I gotta get back to class..."

"We'll just say you ate a bad sandwich and you had to take a big dump. It worked for my teacher. I'd do anything to be out of class longer."

Nicky thought about it for a moment, but then he nodded and walked back to the boiler room door. "You realize we're total dead meat if we get caught, right?"

"Duh.", said Delroy. "Now stand back, I'm trying to unlock this."

As Nicky leaned back and watched Delroy become more frustrated with the lock, he started to become frustrated himself. He pulled out his lockpick set from his pocket and gently pushed the boy out of the way.

"Let me do it. You'll never get it open with that.", he said, taking out his half diamond pick.

Nicky was right, he actually managed to get the lock open faster than Delroy tried to with the bobby pin. He pushed the door open and walked down the stairs.

"Where was the entrance again?", thought Delroy. He looked all around the boiler room, saw the water heater, and immediately remembered.

With Nicky's help, he pushed it out of the way and they both slid down the hill to the tunnels.

"What do you think these tunnels were made for?", asked Nicky.

"Not sure.", replied Delroy. "But whatever it's for, it's big enough to lead to different places underground."

The kids turned right, and scurried to the wall when they saw a couple of rats sneak by.

"Damn it.", grunted Delroy. "Whatever we find down here better be worth it."

They continued to walk down the long, poorly lit tunnels. Neither of them knew how long they've been walking. A couple of minutes, maybe an hour. All they knew was that these tunnels seemed longer than they could even imagine.

Delroy wasn't looking where he was going, and he tripped over his loose shoelace.

"Son of a bi - AHHH!"

Suddenly, Delroy was hanging off the edge of an impossibly deep chasm. Nicky snapped out of his own thoughts, and he reached his hand out to pull his friend back up.

Delroy steadied himself as soon as he was out of that hole. "Jesus, where the hell did that come from?"

"No idea.", said Nicky. He looked around and saw a staircase, he pulled Delroy with him as he ran up the stairs.

He pushed the door open, and the two boys were surprised with what they found.

A large, high tech room with many floors and control panels.

"What is this place?", Nicky mumbled to himself. Apparently, his mumble wasn't as quiet as he thought it was, because Delroy answered his question.

"This, my friend, is the weather station.", he said. "This is where people used to keep track of uneasy weather, like thunderstorms or tornadoes."

"Nice.", said Nicky. "But why would the tunnels lead to the weather station?"

Delroy shrugged, "More importantly, why would anyone even need to come here in the first place? This shit hole's been boarded up for ages, I couldn't imagine anyone who'd want to come here for whatever reason."

Nicky looked around the big office for another moment, "Let's look around for a little bit. Maybe we'll find something important."

The two split up, looking in different places in the large room.

Delroy was searching through stacks of paper, and didn't even notice that Nicky had left the room. When he did, it was only after he heard Nicky scream "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"

Before he even knew it, Delroy sprinted out of the room, and out of the door. He found Nicky standing outside of the weather station, staring up at something. When he looked up to see what it was, his jaw dropped.

A giant green eyeball.

"That thing fucking scared me.", said Nicky, "But now that I'm still looking at it, I feel like it's more creepy than scary."

"Agreed.", said Delroy.

Just then, the two heard rustling coming from a few nearby bushes. They jumped back, and were already ready to make a run for it.

"Who's there?", called out a voice.

The two ran back inside, into the office, down the staircase, and through the tunnels.

They were sure they were going the right way...

But which way was the right way again?

Before Delroy even knew it, he started hyperventilating. "Oh God, oh God, oh God!"

His heavy breathing grew heavier when he heard footsteps come from behind them.

"Did you hear them? Which way did they go?", asked a voice.

"How the fuck would I know? I had my mask on, and they were so fast.", said another voice.

"Geez, easy on the foul mouth, Tavish.", said a female voice.

"DON'T USE MY NAME!"

Nicky grabbed Delroy's hand and started running to the left.

The two kids ran as fast as they could, not sure if the people down here could hear them or not. Either way, they ran as fast as they could.

Delroy fell to his knees, clutching at the sides of his head and hyperventilating. "Oh God, we're gonna die. We're gonna die. We're gonna die.", he said.

Nicky sat down next to him, gently putting his hands on his shoulders. "Delroy, calm down.", he whispered.

"NO! We're gonna die down here! They know we're down here! They're gonna kill us! Oh God, why did I think that coming back down here was a good idea?!"

"Delroy, you're gonna draw attention to us. Calm down."

But Delroy didn't calm down. Nicky held his shoulders tighter, and gently shook him. "Delroy.", he said, "I want you to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Can you do that for me?"

When he didn't answer, Nicky let go of his shoulders and took a few deep breaths himself. "Like this. See? Breathe in and out."

As he spoke, Delroy followed along, deeply breathing in and out, his stress levels going down.

"Feeling any better now?", asked Nicky. Delroy nodded.

Then, from somewhere in the dark, they heard footsteps.

"Where are you?", asked a voice. "Come out wherever you are, and maybe we'll have some mercy on you."

Delroy quickly got up, backing away from the voice. He tried pulling Nicky with him, but Nicky seemed to be in his own little world. "Do those voices sound familiar to you?"

"Nicky, come on!"

Nicky seemed to snap out of it, and let Delroy pull him down the tunnel.

The two kids seemed to find their way to the hill they slid down, running up the stairs, into the boiler room, and into the school hallway.

Delroy slammed the door shut, locking it against whoever was still down there in the tunnels.

They flopped down to the floor, leaning against the lockers. "That was crazy.", said Nicky.

"No fucking doubt.", said Delroy.

A moment of silence, then Nicky spoke up. "But apart from any of that. Seriously, did those voices sound familiar to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Those voices.", Nicky said. "Those voices we heard in the tunnels. For some reason, they sounded almost like Principal Abanate and Mr. Murtaugh."

Delroy scratched his chin a little, "Now that you mention it, I did hear a voice that sounded a lot like Mayor Tavish."

"What the hell were those guys doing in the tunnels?"

Delroy shrugged, "No idea. But whatever it is, it's deep enough to hide in a maze of tunnels and an abandoned weather station."

[gubbles-owo]

So Manticore's paradox simulation, from what I can gather, is designed around using her S2 (Toxic Overload). But for shits and giggles I wanted to see if I could clear it with S1 (Scorpion Venom) instead. And-- because this wasn't unnecessarily painful enough-- without her passive slow module either. And I found a goddamned way.

This took three hours of strategizing, experimentation, and practice to get down consistently. I ain't a high-level Arknights player by any stretch of the imagination, so perhaps this isn't all impressive, but fuck you I'm still proud of it!! Below the cut, if you wish, join me on an unnecessarily detailed journey of pain, trials, insight, and growth. Spoilers for Manticore's paradox sim, obviously, so if you're looking to go into that fresh then uhhh dont watch the video come back to this later or smth teehee

So first, Manticore's skills: her S2 slows down attack speed, but stuns any enemies it hits (that is to say, anyone unlucky enough to be in her range). The slowdown may seem like a detriment, but when you consider that the wind up takes about the same time as she idly goes invisible, and that she gets a significant attack boost on her first fit when cloaked-- that's a hell of a damage boost. On the other hand, her S1 is more passive. Whenever she hits something in her range, it gets slowed for some time. At full mastery 3, the length of the slow equals her attack interval, which equates to a constant slow on an enemy as long as she can keep hitting em. Her module stacks on a passive slow to ANYTHING in her range. WITHOUT hitting it. This helps her S2 be a bit more effective as she can pool up more victims within her reach, and amplifies the effect of S1 to get enemies reeaall sluggish. It also just flat out boosts her attack and defense. So of course we are not going to use it here. For funsies! With that out of the way, let's get a sense of what we're dealing with here.

Upon starting the mission, Cuora (our spunky little tank turtle) is immediately bound by this slippery sack of shitsuck right here:

Doesn't even walk in or anything, just poofs in out of nowhere and kicks down your turtle. What an asshole. Anyway operators who are bound or stunned cannot block incoming enemies. As you will swiftly learn, this is a problem. Because these two slobbering snifflepricks will charge in to ruin your day.

These are not good boys. They are bad boys. Rancid, even. If you don't act quickly, these two will breeze past your sole point of defense and end your run like 10 seconds in. Amiya and Haze, your two provided casters, can take care of them if you place them cleverly and quickly. But it leaves them poorly equipped to deal with the rest of the fodder that comes rolling in shortly thereafter. This is like, just my flawed observation based on experience, but I believe the intention here is to equip Manticore's S2 and place her in this spot first thing:

Fire off her skill as soon as it's ready and it'll break the enemy caster out of its bind, just in time for Cuora to recover and block the incoming dogs. Now there is a small chance you're grabbing your screen and violently shaking it while screaming "bUt WhAt AbOuT tHe StUn GeNeRaToR!?!?" to which I say: yes, you can use it to stop the dogs in their tracks without using Manticore! It's the second thing I did when playing this sim for the first time. Ah, yet this is but a devious trap. Because there's a big surprise waiting for you 'til the very end!! :D

ouguhghh right in the dick yeeaahhhhh so there's this massive malignant amalgamation of mud (and/or rock). And it will cock-sock u straight into hell! "No big deal, Cuora can heal with her sk-" she is locked into S1 in this scenario. +50% defense, that's it. If Manticore can no longer stun this thing out of attacking, Cuora WILL go down, it's just a matter of when. So we'll have to figure out how to work around this inevitability. Even with Manticore's stun, you're going to need to save that stun box for this part too. Perhaps there's a way around this, but from all of my experimentation, you just do not have the DPS or slow to afford it. I cannot tell you how many runs died with just a teensy tiny imperceptible little sliver of its health slipping past my defenses.

Come on. You can't even SEE its health. That bar is EMPTY and nothing can convince me otherwise. This is already getting pretty long here, so I'll just do a quick walkthrough of the final run, and explain some of the rationale behind it on the way. So without further ado,

the strateyg

To start things off, we deploy Amiya first.

The dogs aren't a problem quite yet, so we want to focus on getting rid of shibari slut here as quickly as possible. Amiya's skill charges with each hit she lands, so the windup time is pretty damn good. Much faster than Haze's. And speaking of Haze, I played around a lot with who to deploy here. Originally I tried to get Haze in place to sap most of this caster's health, but uhhh

yeeeeaaaahhhh so Haze's skill here really ain't great for tanking damage. I was so goddamn confused as to why she was dropping dead so quickly, as the caster one-shots her, until I finally noticed the "-75% max HP" in the skill description. rip. So for a few reasons, survivability included, Amiya gets deployed for the opener. This positioning leaves the bottom lane wide open, and we've got two snarling problems heading up from south-side. So we deploy Manticore as soon as we've got the DP.

(NOTE: Manticore here is a pitiful potential 2, but that does lower her DP cost to 19. This is probably still doable with her base cost of 20? Haven't tested it tho) This position not only lets her get a full 3-long coverage on both exit lanes, but also covers five tiles total on the lower path. This is critical for slowing down the dogs here in time for Steward to take care of em. Once the caster finally frees the turtle, they start hitting Amiya. Hard. But don't fret, once he rounds the corner he'll start targeting Manticore (i think) instead. Bnnuy is left with little health, but this isn't a problem as we'll soon see. Once the enemy caster targets whoever else it's safe to deploy our last caster. Go Haze!

Provided you didn't deploy her too early, she should survive the last few caster attacks just fine. So one of the key things to do here is to retreat Amiya as soon as the enemy caster is defeated. We'll need her later, but in the meantime, the team of Haze + Manticore + Cuora can make quick work of the flood of incoming fodder. And good lord is there a lot of fucking fodder.

It's scary, but don't panic. Take hold of my hands. Look into my eyes. Everything will be okay. I promise. The primary thing we have to watch out here is for the first red uhhh pirate (???) that comes down from the top lane. Haze's skill needs to be activated once he's in range or else he'll leak right on through to the exit. Aside from this, this section doesn't require much action. srsly tho they look like pirate hats and u cannot convince me otherwise If we retreated her quickly enough at the start, Amiya should be ready to get back in action just in time for Mudrock's pet rock to show up.

Look at that. TACTICAL RETREAT to achieve a particular setup later. Who would've thought? And FACING HER BACKWARDS. She covers a whooping six tiles that this mud glob slowly meanders through, and she's gonna need all of them to kill this thing in time. I am so fcukign smar t. From here it's pretty simple, but strenuous: fire Amiya's skill as soon as muddy gets in her lower range. Fire Haze's skill similarly. Pray. Let Cuora get hit once, then slap the stun box before the 2nd punch so Warfarin can heal her, let Cuora take the third before activating her defense skill. Then uhhh watch as she perishes under the next punch anyways cause idk? Warfarin was quick enough in earlier iterations of this strategy but apparently not the final one? Whatever, it's fine, the thing crumbles and we win!

Since Manticore can no longer stun in this run, we use her to simply assist by slowing down the fodder-- enough to hold off the full firepower of a caster for later use. And once we do re-establish our full DPS, our favorite scorpion gal slows down the big tanky thing for as long as possible, stalling enough to slay it just in time-- even with our sole defender having been pummeled into dust. What a fuckin' run. Soooo yEAH, I'm still figuring out the whole "strategy" thing, but it was real fun to attempt a little self-imposed challenge run that I wasn't even sure was doable in the first place. There were several points I was sure it wasn't, but I wound up figuring something out after fucking around and finding out. Could it be further improved and optimized? Probably. But three hours working out the thing and an equivalent amt of time just writing out this damn thing, im gonna go lay down instead anyway uhhh manticore best arlknight gril send tweet

[terrahlee-cup]

The finale of the ‘holy shit she has a lot to say about this one fic’ series before I return to my regularly scheduled random bullshit. Enjoy lol @raphaelesbian

Chapter 11

*sees author’s note, immediate fear*

Him thinking they look like they should be scared of him hurts me. The baby is not doing too hot tonight huh? Let them like youuuu 🥹

OUTFIT TIME YES! “We need to match if we’re going to be a team!” I KNOW I KEEP SAYING THIS BUT THEY’RE ADORABLE. 

“He’d gone past that feeling, to the frayed mess that he was now. He… didn’t want her to feel like this.” Buddy you shouldn’t feel like that either??? This child is so sweet with other people when he needs to be but never himself ow ouch.

These two are so excited to dress him up and I am excited to read it.

“Well, I love being difficult. Ask Leo.” And the self-deprecation is back. Ohp.

Love these two being legitimately concerned for him when they find out his family doesn’t know what he’s been doing. As much as everything they’ve been up to has usually been dangerous it’s really good for Raph to have more friends outside of his family.

Also, the actual effort to make him feel like he’s part of their little group is incredible and amazing and adorable and-

Ohp they found a landmine— wonder if that’ll come up again later?

Damn Raph didn’t even hesitate with that one did he. Call him a crybaby and he will have his revenge lol.

Oh yeah they still don’t get the turtle noise thing yet do they? And now the alcohol is really hitting time for the sad.

He’s… not going to be as quiet as usual while drunk. This could go poorly. He is so getting in trouble it is so obvious he’s intoxicated. Multiple people are up he is DOOMED.

Yep. Yeah his dad figured it out immediately. Oh boy. AND CASEY’S THERE TOO THERE GOES HIS EXCUSE FOR BEING OUT. I am. Uncomfortable. Agh, lying to his family is not good but he DOES need to be able to get out of the lair. He’s in a bad spot as it is without being cooped up all the time.

Ah. There’s the blow-up. Yayyyy. Donnie… hun, why in the actual fuck would you think suggesting that would be a good idea after everything that’s happened?

“None of you get to decide what I do!” Annnnd there’s the main problem. Sure, Raph may have been the ‘rebellious one’ before the brain worm, but people trying to control him (even if trying to protect him) is probably way more uncomfortable for him now. He lost all control of his body for what, 3+ months? Yeah can’t expect him to not need some level of freedom right now. Anxiety-inducing as hell for his family (entirely fair), but trying to keep him in the lair is probably going to do more harm than good.

Chapter 12

Oh hey he’s dissociating almost immediately after waking up that’s good! Yay! :D

“Karai would hate him for it.” Hun I very much doubt that. She definitely knows your family would find out eventually.

“If I’m such a disappointment, why do you even care what I’m doing?” Agh stupid dumb child must hug him.

“No wonder Shredder favored robots and mind control.” Oh boy. This can only go well. The self-deprecation is getting worse too lovely! Bud your family’s just really fucking worried damn it. They don’t hate you 😫

Mikeyyyyyy <3 bean. Lol he snuck Raph his phone, nice.

Of course he got caught immediately trying to sneak out. “for a moment he wanted him to give in.” This kid is NOT OKAY. AT ALL. That is NOT GOOD.

“the desperation woven into a noose that tightened with each word that fought its way through his esophagus.” EYYYYY HE SAID THE THING. (Ow.)

“Y’know, he said the same thing.” OW. FUCK. THAT WAS HARSH BUDDY- LIKE WAKE-UP CALL YES BUT ALSO WAY TOO MUCH.

I think I summarized a lot of my thoughts about these two chapters very well here:

But in all seriousness this is very well written and I am very excited for whenever the next chapter is uploaded. Seemingly we’re in for some more angst based on… certain posts *squints*

Love the chaos trio that is Shinigami, Karai, and Raph. They are menaces and will probably give Splinter gray hairs in the very near future lol. I suppose Raph and Karai have probably given him quite a few already on their own, though. Whoopsie.

[thenightling]

This is my review, thoughts, and theories from the latest episode of Interview with The vampire. Episode 4 of season 2. I think the showrunner mistakes unnecessary twists as being clever. So here are the twists I anticipate. 1. I suspect Santiago's maker was Nicolas. We keep going back to Santiago's story. By the way, it's trite and very CW that the story of what happened to Santiago's maker, from being "killed" for breaking one of their laws, to finally revealing the law he broke was making a vampire without permission... this is very CW when plot points like that are unnecessarily drawn out. It pulls me out of the story and reminds me that this is TV writing. And yet they had the audacity to pretend it's "Soapy" to reveal that Lestat was involved with the theatre coven? 2. It's pretty clear that the visions of Lestat are NOT hallucinations like the showrunner tried to make us believe in the first episode of season 2. He's obviously astral projecting to Louis. He' been telling Louis things that Louis did not know such as how long Lestat was an actor, and what he had sewn into his suit pocket. 3. Though I really would like the reveal that Armand messed with Louis's memories, I'm starting to wonder if this lazy showrunner and writing team are keeping the soft woobified version of Armand and the one who messed with Louis's memories was Marius to sabotage the interview and protect the vampire race. This would be a major deviation since Marius was amused by Lestat's rock career in the books.

4. It looks like they're going to change why Claudia was condemned, perhaps foreshadowing that her being condemned is because she makes Madeleine into a vampire.

While I'm on the thought did anyone else go "Ah, yes! This was written by a man who knows nothing about womanly anatomy and behavior!" when Madeleine commented with surprise and apparent suspicion about Claudia's breasts still being small two years after they met. That was... weird... She might as well have said "This is unnatural! We've known each other for two years and your titties aren still small to medium sized! Why aren't they Dolly Parton sized yet?!" Claudia is played by a nineteen-year-old. A dress maker would know some people have small breasts. Also they're not THAT small! Just because you say something doesn't make it true. Claudia didn't need to give a war time explanation for her size. I haven't grown since I was thirteen. I'm five foot one and forty-two-years-old. And I didn't get my first period until I was fifteen. So Claudia being apparently sixteen and small chested should NOT be gaining attention from the dress maker. Yet again the show had a ridiculous amount of smoking. Why the Hell was hallucination / astral Lestat smoking? Madeleine talkin about the boy Yahtzee. "He paid with food and cigarettes." I think if this show runner could make the rats smoke he would. By the way, I STRONGLY suspect that Lestat may be in Paris, perhaps being held prisoner. Hmm... Have we actually ever seen the rats in the body disposal thing? That would be stupid though. Anne Rice's vampires, in the novels, don't eat. I know they did here but it would still be stupid that he wouldn't cry out to Louis "Hello! I'm here!" Now I'm imagining some idiotic "He was so starved for blood that he ate the flesh from the corpses, looking for whatever drops might remain." Yeah, they would do that... It also looks like there will be a theatre uprising and Santiago's group will be who condemn Claudia. And Armand truly won't be able to stop it. (I'm guessing the show runner missed the parts in the books and the subtle clues in the movie that Armand was actually behind it. He seems to miss a lot of what's important in the books, like he only read a poorly written wiki entry. Unless all of this is false memories? How would Louis know about the calls Santiago made while he and Claudia were not around? Who told that part?

Finally, why are the theatre vampires upset at Louis for living like a human? I thought that was the entire point of the vampires LEAVING Armand's Satanic coven under the cemetery? They used lines about Lestat for Louis here. Why? Lestat already taught Armand's followers that they can live like humans two centuries earlier. Why recycle the plot?

And why are they still following the Satanic coven rules? Sabbats? The Theatre is supposed to be secular.

[thenewfuture]

HAJIME! Stop interrupting Nagito, look - I get your pissed at him or whatever; but he IS trying to change and we are seeing it but yet you aren't letting him change and you aren't helping him and just being a hypocrite! You constantly go on and on about change but here you are, denying Nagito of change. So here's some advice, how about you practice what your preach instead cherry-picking?

.......

I felt "betrayed", because I thought Hajime was special and really looked up to him. He solved all those trials, and brought so many people together. Yet he was kind of in the same boat as me? I didn't want to believe it...

So I took a page out of your book. I wanted to doubt it so much that I had to believe in it. There wasn't a world in which a seemingly remarkable person such as him was just an ordinary, reserve course student and didn't have a talent. But sure enough, it was the truth.

Fuck you, you asshole!

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

Hajime. Calm down.

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

I AM CALM!

Ah, I worded it poorly again... I apologize for that. But I really am trying my best to explain my actions...

And you're sucking at them!

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

Hajime. Nagito has kept quiet and let you speak uninterrupted. The least you can do is do the same for him.

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

How the hell can I when I constantly have to hear this BULLSHIT he's spewing?!

He's nothing but a dick and somehow trying to say that I'm at fault here! Everyone here knows it too, and the sooner he acknowledges how fucking-

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

Look around, Hajime. No one is on your side.

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

......

.......

......

.......

G-Guys....?

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

I'm not saying you don't have a right to doubt Nagito's words, or even be slightly upset at him.

But this is what we were talking about with poisoning your relationships. You're hatred and distrust of Nagito is affecting your emotions and logical reasoning. Your friends won't even stand by your side anymore.

All I'm asking of you right now, is to let Nagito finish. Hear him out. And then we can discuss any lingering issues from there. Does that sound reasonable?

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

.......

*sigh*..........

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

Apologies, Nagito. But you may finish.

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

....Very well...

What I'm trying say is; I looked up to you, Hajime. I truly thought I wasn't worthy of being next to you all, and was hurt deeply by what I discovered in the Funhouse. But even still, what I'm trying to say is....

Is...is that I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for everything I've done and put you through. I'm trying to do better and I'm trying to change...! Honest! I know it isn't much but all I have are my words...! A-And if you give me a chance, I'll do everything i can to make it up to you, to you all...!

..................

[specialagentlokitty]

Martin Evershed x reader - coming home to you

Part 4:

You and Martin agreed the first date would be casual, something you’d both feel comfortable doing, so you settled for going to a cafe on one of the busy shopping streets.

“So Martin Evershed, why did you ask me out?” You asked.

“Many people have told me I need to start dating again, and I think you’re nice.”

“So it has nothing to do with the fact that you basically live in my house as much as I do?”

“No I don’t!” He huffed.

You laughed a little.

“Martin, you’re there most morning and evenings, you basically live in my house at this point.”

“Well maybe I just like the company.”

“My son dumped flour on your head because you fell asleep on the sofa.”

“Okay, maybe I like your company he’s mean.”

You nodded your head in agreement and smiled at him.

“Why did you say yes?”

“I’ve been thinking about dating again to be honest, I’ve been on a couple of first dates over the past few years but nothing serious.”

Martin nodded his head.

“Aside from Gaynor I’ve never really had a serious relationship.”

“Me neither, Benny’s father was the only one.”

Martin looked at you.

“Can I ask what happened?”

“Let’s just say things weren’t all love in paradise.”

He nodded his head in understand and held out his hand, so you gave him yours and he gave it a small squeeze and smiled at you.

“Well, how about we both take it slow and we’ll just see where this goes?” He offered.

“I like the sound of that.”

Martin nodded his head with a grin.

“Do you know how long you’re here for?”

“Not sure, I could get deployed again, I could not. It’s one of those things, but I’ve got some time off in a few months so that’s fun.”

“I assume you’re taking Benny out of school?”

“Actually I was gonna wait until half term.”

Martin nodded.

You both finished your drinks, and you began to just slowly walk around, hand in hand as you stopped to look at different shops.

“Martin?”

He hummed and turned to look down at you.

“Come on.”

You tugged him inside of the store and you began to hold up different ties against him.

“I already have ties.”

“Old man ties.”

“Why do you hate my ties so much they’re nice!”

“They literally look like you got them at an auction.”

“Alright two can play that game, my turn next.”

You brought him a few new ties and he carried the bag as he dragged you to the nearest phone repair store and he held out his hand.

“No.”

“You’re phone looks like you smashed it with a hammer.”

“It still works!”

“Your screen is falling apart I don’t even know how it still works. Criticise my ties I’m going to insult your very poorly cared for phone.”

You huffed, crossing your arms as you looked at him.

“There nothing wrong with it.”

“Okay, if there’s nothing wrong with it put it on the counter.”

“Fine.”

You set your phone down and Martin turned to look at the man behind it.

“Please tell her that her phone is broken.”

“I’m shocked it’s help up this long, what the hell did you do it it?”

“Dropped it.” You mumbled.

“Off what? The empire state buildings?” Martin laughed.

“I… may have been messing around in a helicopter and dropped it during take off…”

“Yeah no we’re fixing it.”

The man handed Martin a slip of paper and he grinned at you.

“You’re mean.”

“Not as mean as you are to electrical devises apparently.”

You huffed, slapping his stomach and he grunted a little in pain and looked at you.

“I was going to fix it I’ll have you know.”

“When it turned to dust?”

“Martin!” You huffed.

He laughed and put an arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his side.

“Okay, okay I’m sorry. But you really needed your phone fixed.”

“I’m paying for it.”

“You’re not.”

“I am.”

“No you’re not. If you want to pay for something you can pay for some coffee.”

“Ah yes, because coffee and a new phone screen are clearly the same price.”

He rolled his eyes at you and smiled, and you just laughed a little, shaking your head at him as you both carried on walking.

“What’re you doing next weekend?” You asked.

“Probably nothing.”

“You have a very boring life.”

“Alright don’t be mean just because some of us live a quiet life doesn’t mean we’re boring.”

You shrugged a little.

“I said what I said.”

“You’re a bully. Is that why Benny bullies me? Because you do?”

“You’re just easy to bully.”

Martin pouted a little at that and you smiled, patting his chest.

“Don’t be sad, not everybody could bully a soldier.”

“I’ll get you back just you wait for it.”

You grinned at him and shook your head.

After a few hours of aimlessly wondering, you lightly bullying him and him just accepting there wasn’t anything he could do about it, you finally picked up your phone.

“Oh this is so not going to last long.”

“Then we’ll get it fixed again.”

“We? Bold of you to assume we’re gonna last that long.”

“Bold of you to assume you’re getting rid of me that easily.” He responded.

“Oo okay mr ego.”

Martin laughed and you slapped his stomach again.

“No, that hurts. Why do you have to backhand me.”

“Because I want it to hurt.”

“You’re horrible. You know that right? You’re a mean woman.”

“I didn’t get this far by being nice Martin Evershed.”

“Clearly.”

You grinned and him and slowly backed away from him.

“I’m going home!”

“With what car? I have your keys.”

“Damn.”

He grinned and followed you and took you home.

“Is he returning to his own home this time?”

“You’ll be glad to know he is because he has some things to do.”

You smiled and walking over, placing your hand on the side of his face you kissed his cheek.

“Dinners at 6.”

“I’ll be there.” He smiled.

You and Martin went on a date twice a week, once during the weekday whenever he wanted, and once on the weekend wherever you wanted.

It became the highlight of your week, you looked forward to your dates.

Even if he was hanging around your house most days, it was nice to sometimes just dress up for dinner or just wonder some shops.

It was simple and nice.

And just like he said you took it slow.

Two months had passed, and you were sat at the base talking to a few others when your phone went and you picked it up to read the text.

Martin: Benny’s been hurt, at hospital now.

“Lieutenant if anyone asks I’m at the hospital with Benny!”

With that you ran out, jumping in your car you drove over as fast as you possibly could heart racing in your chest.

You ran into the hospital and found Martin waiting at the entrance for you.

“What happened?!”

“Rugby, bad tackle.”

You nodded and he led you to A&E and over to one of the rooms where Benny was sat on a bed with his arm in a cast and sling.

“Oh sweetheart…” you said softly.

Benny looked at you and he sniffled a little bit.

Walking over, you let him rest his head on your side, and you placed your hand on his head and Martin stood to the side waiting.

“Well, good news is it’s only a fracture, nothing too serious. He’ll be in the cast for about 6 weeks, and if it’s not healed by then we will have to look at possible surgery to fix it.” The doctor explained.

“I see, thank you.” You said.

The doctor gave you some more information and you took Benny out to your car and turned around.

“Thank you for staying with him.”

“I wasn’t just going to leave him alone. Do you want me to get anything on my way back?” Martin asked.

“Just some paracetamol, hold on a second.”

You opened the car door.

“Do you want Martin to pick you up anything?”

Benny looked at you and shrugged a little.

“I’m hungry.”

“Alright.”

You turned back to Martin.

“Maybe some food? He’s hungry, I’ll send you the money for it.”

Martin smiled and leant down, kissing your forehead.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll let you know where I’m going so he can decide.”

“Thank you so much.”

You got in your car and took Benny home, and you sat him on the sofa, bringing him some water and you sat down with him.

“What happened sweetheart?” You asked softly.

“We were just training, and I.. I don’t know I guess I got tackled wrong or something. It really hurt and Mr Evershed didn’t want to waste time waiting for an ambulance so he drove me when he knew it was just my arm.”

“Alright well, take the rest of the week off, and I’m sure you’ll be better in no time.”

Benny nodded his head.

By the time Martin came back, both you and Benny were fast asleep on the sofa and he smiled.

Setting everything on the table, he grabbed a blanket and covered you both up, leaving a note saying he took your spare key to lock the door he left.

He happily gave Benny the time off he needed, and would bringing anything he needed over at the end of the day.

While you had to go away for the weekend he offered to stay and look after your son.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this Martin I know it’s a lot to ask I’m sure my parents won’t mind.”

“It’s alright, I only live next door so it’s not much a bother plus I’d be happy to.”

You nodded and set your bag in the car.

“I’m sorry sorry about this.”

“It’s fine, just go.” He smiled.

You sighed and walked over to Benny, kissing the top of his head.

“Behave for Martin while I’m gone, and done get into any trouble.”

“No promises.”

You rolled your eyes and hugged him before walking over to Martin.

Hugging him gently, you kissed his cheek.

“I’ll make it up to you I promise.”

“Just go.” He laughed.

When your car was out of sight Benny walked back inside and Martin followed him, heading to your kitchen to finish washing up from the morning.

Benny came padding in and he set something on the counter and Martin stopped what he was doing.

“Benny?”

“Mr Evershed?”

“I’ve never broken a bone but I’m pretty sure the cast is supposed to stay on.”

“But my arm itches sir! And it’s all gross and it stinks, look!”

Benny showed his arm and Mr Evershed turned away.

“Benny that’s disgusting put your cash back on!”

“Are you scared of a little dead skin?” Benny mocked.

“That is not a little.”

“Please sir come on! I do it all the time!”

“Does your mum know?”

“Well if she did I wouldn’t still be doing it.”

Martin chuckled a little and shook his head.

He filled up the sink with warm water and told Benny to wait and he came back down with some sunburn cream.

“It’s not a sunburn sir.”

“I’m sure it’ll work the same for the itching.”

“Clearly you’re not a science teacher.”

“Just put your arm in the sink.” Martin chuckled.

Benny grinned and put his arm in the sink, and Martin grabbed a few sheets of paper towel and walked back over.

“You’re not gonna tell her are you?”

“If I say no will you put the cast back on after?”

“Yes!”

“Then no I won’t tell her, now give me your arm.”

Martin cleaned his arm and dried it, and put some of the cream on it before cleaning the sink again.

“Does it still hurt?”

“A little, but only a week until I hopefully get this cast taken off for good.”

“How did you even take it off?”

Benny grinned a little and showed him the cast as he put it back on and redid the bandages that were supposed to be holding it in place.

“Crafty.”

“I know.” Benny beamed.

“Just stop taking it off.”

“Fine.”

Benny wondered out and Martin shook his head, wondering how he was going to get through the whole weekend with the slightly chaotic teenager

[writingaustin]

Going through and reposting old stories I wrote for Reddit. This one's called Puzzled Reaper. Guess the story prompt.

“Wait, I died? How?”

“Listen guy, I’m just as baffled by this as you are.”

“So you don’t know how I died? But aren’t you the Grim Reaper?” I heaved a weary sigh. This was my first ever client, and it was already going poorly. I held back the urge to curl up in a ball and start crying. That probably wouldn’t be very respectful of me, seeing as I was standing over this man’s corpse.

I shouldn’t have taken this job from the temp agency. The pay was too good, but I thought that was just because I would be on call 24/7. I sure as hell should’ve said no when they sent me this scythe in the mail.

“No, I’m the Puzzled Reaper.”

“What?”

“Exactly.”

“Is this some sort of joke?”

“Oh god, I wish.”

“…” The man (or the soul, I guess?) bent over and covered his face, making a sort of sound that reminded me of a dying animal. I gently patted him on the back.

“No, it’s okay. Dying’s not so bad, bud. There’s no reason to get frustrated about it.”

“I’m mad at you! Aren’t you supposed to be helping me with this?! Explaining that I died, where I go from here…” He slapped my hand away, rearing on me with a red face. It soon paled, however, as his own words hit him. Now he was looking as lifeless as his corpse.

That sounds kind of redundant. He is a corpse. A soul? Some sort of…ethereal ghost-creature? A jerk who yells at hardworking customer service agents?

“Where will I go…?”

“Probably Hell for yelling at me on my first day.”

“What?!”

“No, look, I don’t actually know. I just take the souls to the place where they are…uh…” I paused and fumbled in my dark-as-night robes. Didn’t they give me a manual? I winced as my scythe fell away from me as I looked for that little booklet, clanging pitifully on the ground.

Look, everyone has a rough first day. Just keep it cool, and you got this. I took a deep breath to steady myself, repeating the mantra my yoga teacher taught me.

“You are one with the universe…loved by the universe…”

“You really have no clue, do you?” “No, of course I do. Look, it’s all in this manual here.” I flourished the tiny little pamphlet that had been sent with my work clothes and scythe. The title, in easy to read bold lettering, said, ‘So You Want to Reap Souls.’ The title was incorrect, as I didn’t actually want to, but a job was a job.

“Did you not receive any training?”

“I received a manual?”

“Ugggggggggh.”

“Let’s see…ah, yes. The Puzzled Reaper. See? That’s me.”

“What. Does. It. Say.”

“Hey, relax. You gotta take life slowly sometimes…oops. Sorry.”

“WHAT. DOES. IT. SAY.”

“Sheesh. Alright, ‘The Puzzled Reaper is the reaper that takes care of souls that perished in mysterious circumstances. It is the job of the Puzzled Reaper to illuminate…’, wow, this sounds kind of pompous.”

“Keep. Reading.”

“Alright, alright. ‘To illuminate the soul as to the cause of their death so that they may pass on safely to the underworld. Only by understanding how and why they died can a human’s spirit find solace and move on. Failure to do so will result in…’”

“In…?”

“’In the human soul turning into a revenant that will forever haunt the earth.’”

“So, if I’m to understand…”

“We need to figure out how you died so you can pass on safely to Hell.”

“I’m screwed.”

“Hey, bud, we got this. I may be new to the job, but I love detective stories. That’s just what this is, right? We’re like detectives! Well, I’m the detective. You’re my Watson!”

“I’m completely and utterly screwed.”

“Let’s examine the crime scene, Watson!” I kneeled down and began to examine the body for clues.

“Undeniably, irrevocably, doubtlessly screwed.”

~-~

“Using my extensive experience of the past twenty minutes as both a detective and a ferryman of souls, I deduce this man with an incurable case of no longer breathing.” I knelt before the corpse, gingerly jabbing at it with the non-pokey end of my scythe.

The man himself (that is, his soul) was now quietly sobbing in a corner of his office, face completely pressed against the wall as I made my expert diagnosis.

“Now, what sort of assistant are you? Shouldn’t you be taking notes, or making snarky remarks?”

“Just leave…”

“That’s no way to treat a friend.”

“I don’t even know who you are…” He glanced back at me, his eyes suspiciously dry.

“Oh, actually, I suppose it’s not like you can actually cry. I mean, you don’t even have a body anymore. Physically, that is.” He turned back and started to sob again.

“Jeez, come on. Alright, look. What’s your name?” If a look could kill, I would need a Grim Reaper. But I suppose him glaring at me was preferable to the fake crying.

“Tell me, what’s your name?”

“Jonathan.”

“Jonathan, alright, like Swift.”

“It’s Herrick, actually.” That’s some progress. Jonathan Herrick, my aspiring assistant detective and present corpse on the ground.

“Alright, Jonathan Herrick. You can call me Reaper, or detective.”

“You aren’t a detective!”

“Ye of little faith.” I stood up, taking a seat atop the oak desk in the middle of the room as I reached to grab the now cold mug of coffee beside me.

We were in Herrick’s (former) home office and current tomb, his lifeless body collapsed beside an old leather chair behind me. The only light in the room came from a laptop still running beside me on the desk, its harsh and electronic radiance providing no favors for Herrick’s (his body’s) appearance. Though it should be midday outside, the curtains were tightly drawn. Herrick’s soul was now pacing in front of me, with an expression that couldn’t seem to decide between homicidal rage and self-pity.

“I’ve already deduced that you were murdered using some sort of poison.”

“What?” Oh, self-pity it is then.

“Hmhm, yes, what sort of genius was lurking underneath this cloak indeed, dear Herrick.” I sniffed, pretending to hold a pipe. My dream of being a veritable Holmes elucidating the secrets of the world for my own dear Watson was already coming true.

“No, what do you mean by murdered?”

“By poison?”

“Who?”

“You?”

“What? Why would you think I was murdered?”

“Because I’m here.”

“But you’re just here to figure out how I died…”

“Remember what I said earlier about dying in mysterious circumstances? Well, it seems obvious that I was sent here because that happened to you. You were murdered, and now we need to find out who killed you so you can find peace in Hell.” Hahah! We’ll catch this criminal in time for dinner at this rate.

Herrick’s eyes went blank as I graciously waited for him to agree on how clever I was. Forget rage or self-pity, he looked like someone grasping the truly inconsequential nature of humanity in the grand scale of the infinity that was time. Or, I don’t know, a comparison for suitable for normal humans…he looked like a man who had looked up one day to find that the sky was pink, despite it being blue all his life before that moment.

Cut me some slack, I don’t know what normal human things are, I’m an embodiment of death for goodness sake.

Anyway.

We stayed like that for a few minutes; I sitting on his (former) desk, and him standing there in front of the door, staring at some point beyond this world. But slowly, and surely, I could see the gears turning in his mind. The confusing slowly giving way under the power of anger and indignation as ‘Why was I murdered?’ slowly turned into ‘Who was the bastard that did this?’

“And why do you think it was poison?”

“Well, there’s no actual damage to your body. I mean, let’s be honest, you’ve got on a bit of that winter weight, clearly took your fair share of Santa’s cookies during the holidays. But, the fact I’m here seems to suggest that we can rule out natural causes like a heart-attack.”

“Hey…that’s true, but hurtful.”

“Yet, there doesn’t seem to be a single mark on your corpse. No wounds of any sort.”

“So…it can’t be natural causes, yet it doesn’t seem like I was attacked. So the way I died…”

“Must’ve been something you drank.” I took a big swig of the cold coffee.

“Hey, wait-!” He held up a hand to stop me, but I was already finishing off the dregs at the bottom of the mug.

[actual-bill-potts]

Ok, you said to distract you, so here’s a whole collection for the ask game!

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh? 🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write? 💖 What made you start writing? 🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip? 🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

Thank you so much, you're the best <3

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh? Answered this here, but here's another one that I really like:

"Ugh," Maglor exclaimed, gingerly wrapping his own Orc-skin about himself. "Why must you make unpleasant comments when the stench around me is already so foul?"

"I hadn’t noticed a change from your usual presence," Maedhros said mildly, and ducked to avoid the clod of dirt that came sailing towards his head a second later.

Ah, sibling bickering. I love to write it.

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write? I am comically low-tech here. If I'm on my phone, I write using the Notes app; if I'm at my laptop, I write directly in AO3. I realize this is terrible but the AO3 interface is so much less scary than a blank word document, don't @ me.

💖 What made you start writing? Hmm. What made me start writing at all, or what made me start writing unhinged silm fic? To answer the former: I've wanted to be an author since I was like. 5. I have notebooks upon notebooks from my childhood full of stories: about a group of rainbow kitties that live in the sky, a rabbit with fire powers, horse girls, two cousins trapped in a lighthouse, poorly-disguised Les Mis fanfiction; Antarctic explorers; etc etc. I also wrote a shit ton of poetry and many plays that I forced my siblings to act in when we were younger, haha. I've always been writing.

In terms of fic writing, though, what really started me writing fic was when I was starting college as a STEM major and realizing that I...really needed a creative outlet or I was going to go insane. I'd been reading fic since I was like 10, and writing it in my head/in little notebooks for a long time, but had never dared to try posting it before. But I was in college and figured, why the hell not? So here I am ^_^

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip? gladly! here's a little bit from my Athrabeth script:

Finrod (trying for cheer): - Well! We were talking of death. You referred to death as Morgoth’s curse. 

Andreth: I did.

Finrod: But - death comes to all things. If Eru had not created death, it would not be in this world. Morgoth has made death a fearful thing, to be sure - but without Morgoth’s stain, perhaps death would be quite different. Rest and release, rather than a terrified flight into darkness.

Andreth: What do you know of death? No Elf can know death as we do.

Finrod: We know death. We know death, and we fear it! My people died, and died, and died on the Ice; and those we followed here have fallen to Morgoth. We are dying still in battle - and not one of us will be spared in the end - in the battle to defend all the children of Eru from Morgoth! Not just Elves.

Andreth (acerbic): I have not heard it said that Fëanor led the Noldor from Aman to defend Men. But perhaps the noble house of Finarfin did not care so much for treasure (this with an ironic glance at Finrod’s ring-decked fingers and layers of necklaces). 

Beat.

Andreth: In any case, I say to you again that you do not know death as we do. Death may hurt you; it may bring loss; but for you there may be healing, and you may hope to see your kin again. While we - we go out into utter darkness; and we do not return. It is a curse: and it is a grievous wrong that has been done unto us.

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success? I think I consider a fic a success if I enjoy re-reading it! If I write a fic, post it, and then never think about it again, then either I didn't write it compellingly enough or the concept wasn't that great in the first place.

Thank you again friend!! <3

[sofasoap]

SOAP FIC!!!!

then you came along, with your quick wit and charming smile, and he was a goner from the moment you first met.

OH, this is so Soap. love at first sight.

when he finally finds somebody, you're accompanied at all hours by one of the few things he fears.

*pat pat* its ok soap. you know, gotta face your fear one day??

"cheers, but i'll pass…" johnny attempts to protest, in the motion of taking a step back, but you grab his hand before he can escape and drag it down to your dog's face with an amused grin.

I can see Soap's soul leaving his body ----

"his name's rex." he hears you say, but the way your dog is sniffing at

:all of sudden i have that tv series Inspector Rex in my brain lol

he looks to you for help, but you're watching him with a mischievous grin that sends his heart aflutter.

SOAP SWOON

"price put you up to this?" he asks, holding back a flinch when rex looks up at the sound of his voice. "he did." you nod, standing back up and meeting his eyes again. "but rex actually does like you. guess you're just charming like that."

Price : go and get that muppet use to dogs. * sigh * OHHH Reader flirting with Soap * wink *

"but what i wanna know is, do you like me?" "hmm…" you feign indecision with a poorly concealed smirk, tapping a finger on your chin before leaning closer and placing a hand on his bicep. "i may need a little more convincing."

OH Soap, back to your flirty self eh? Reader isn't gonna back down with his flirting advance eh???

. it takes some coaxing from you, but eventually he gets comfortable enough to let rex take a treat from his hand. he may not admit it, but the only reason he even lets rex get so close is because you're there. simply your presence gives him the courage, makes him feel secure.

LOVE CONQURES IT ALL

"i'll take you out proper, treat you right." you blink at him, surprised, but not a moment later a wide smile is taking over your face. "i look forward to it, mactavish."

Smooth MacTavish Smooth, just like the 40 yr old whiskey.

the others, particularly gaz and ghost, give him hell for how infatuated he's become with you, but their teasing doesn't deter him.

Ghost : finally chance to tease him.

Soap doesn't give a fuck at all LOL ah, you are so in love MacTavish.

"no. i'm not leavin' without 'em." johnny growls, his face morphing into a frown as he brushes off the captain's arm and turns to go back inside.

aw soap...

"no!" johnny wails, ignoring the heat on his face and taking a shaky step over the jagged stone and glass that crunches under his boot, "no! they're still–" his voice breaks, "they're still in there, for fucks sake!"

😭😭😭😭 how heartbroken he must have felt... oh Johnny...

rex is alone. you're not with him. he doesn't go anywhere without you, and that can only mean one thing. the confirming thought alone shatters the dam completely.

Poor Soap, heart getting ripped open again....

"shit, stay with me, hun, i've got ye…" he mumbles, putting all his weight onto your stomach. "ghost! help me!"

They are ALIVE!! Good Boy Rex *ruffle *

johnny stays with the canine while you're in surgery and for the days you're asleep, making sure he's fed and allowing him to sleep in his room so he won’t be alone

Soap, oh you .. * teary * you are too nice and devoted to reader.

before the door can completely close, johnny catches a glimpse of gaz’s mischievous grin and groans, but he doesn't have time to yell at him before he’s out of sight and rex is distracting him by leaping onto your bed.

*thumbs up * good job Gaz

u want some pets too?" you chuckle, reaching over and dragging his head over to you by a hand on the back of his neck. "good job, johnny, you’re a good boy too." you coo,

UGH, UGH I wanna do that too to Johnny pleaseeeeeeeeeee

"don’t short circuit on me yet, soap, you still owe me a date."

yes Johnny, where you gonna take them? is Rex allow to come too? Thank you for the wonderful fic!!!!!

whatchya got, boy?

note: requested by @wetsocksinbed :D this fic came to me in a prophetic vision as soon as i read that ask, all i have to say is i was cackling maniacally while writing it. bon apetit.

pairing: john 'soap's mactavish x gn!reader

wc: 4.4k

summary: soap is scared of dogs, you're a k9 handler. your dog is good at finding bodies, he doesn't ever want him to have to find yours.

warnings: angst with a happy ending, canon-typical violence

ao3

soap has never liked dogs.

when people ask him why, he tells them that it's just how he is. he wasn't bitten by one, it's not a trauma response, he just doesn't like them, plain and simple. being in the military and having a phobia of dogs is like painting a giant red target on his forehead, so in the interest of not getting relentlessly made fun of, he keeps it to himself.

until recently, it hasn't been a problem.

then you came along, with your quick wit and charming smile, and he was a goner from the moment you first met.

price had given them your files, told them you and your partner are on loan to the one-four-one for the next few months while they track down a particularly slippery target. the term partner had initially disappointed soap, but then you'd both marched into the room with your heads held high, and he realised;

oh. your partner is a dog.

a german shepherd, to be precise. you're a canine handler, like the universe is playing a trick on him – he hasn't been genuinely interested in someone in god knows how long, and when he finally finds somebody, you're accompanied at all hours by one of the few things he fears.

he's about ready to give up on pursuing you before the briefing is even over, but as the others all stand and file out of the meeting room, your partner comes bounding up to him in all his fanged, furry glory and soap almost has a heart attack.

"he doesn't usually trust strangers," you told him as your dog sits at his feet and wags his tail so hard it might be at risk of dislocation. johnny’s moments away from bolting, the fear climbing up his nerves like constricting vines.

"lucky me, eh?" he smiles at you, which was honestly more like a grimace, but somehow you're not offended by his obvious dislike of your partner. you let out a laugh, and the sound is so melodic he almost forgets about the beast waiting at his heel.

"you can pet him," you grin knowingly, and soap gets the sinking feeling you've figured him out already, "he doesn't bite – not unless i tell him to."

"cheers, but i'll pass…" johnny attempts to protest, in the motion of taking a step back, but you grab his hand before he can escape and drag it down to your dog's face with an amused grin.

"his name's rex." he hears you say, but the way your dog is sniffing at his hand has every muscle in his body tensing involuntarily. he's mortified that you're seeing him react like this, he already knows he'll never be able to live this down once the others find out.

when rex chuffs and starts to lick at his hand, johnny feels like his soul might leave his body. the sharp teeth so close to his skin is so unnerving, the only thing stopping him from making a run for it is your soft grip still around his wrist.

he looks to you for help, but you're watching him with a mischievous grin that sends his heart aflutter.

"see? that wasn't so bad." you chuckle, crouching down next to your dog and thankfully taking rex's attention off him. johnny breathes a quiet sigh of relief, wiping his wet hand on his trousers as he watches you fuss over the canine.

you're endearing, and johnny has to admit that seeing you coo at rex like he's a baby makes him slightly less terrifying.

"price put you up to this?" he asks, holding back a flinch when rex looks up at the sound of his voice.

"he did." you nod, standing back up and meeting his eyes again. "but rex actually does like you. guess you're just charming like that."

"well, thank god for that…" johnny grumbles, his voice dripping with sarcasm. you laugh again, and with the way his pulse quickens, he can't help but send you a cocky grin. "but what i wanna know is, do you like me?"

"hmm…" you feign indecision with a poorly concealed smirk, tapping a finger on your chin before leaning closer and placing a hand on his bicep. "i may need a little more convincing."

after that, johnny can hardly keep himself away from you. 

whenever you're next to him he's got an arm slung over your shoulder, you’re always talking – texting when you’re apart – and any free time he has is spent following you around base, not unlike rex at your heel.

you ask him if he wants to watch you when you train rex, and initially he tries to say no, because he thinks seeing rex practising attacking people might break whatever spell you've cast that makes him not hate the dog; but you drag him along anyway, and he ends up being glad that you did.

it's fascinating, watching rex sniff a shirt from your hand and track down whoever it belongs to with expert precision. it looks almost like a game to the canine, the way his tail swings back and forth the whole time as he effortlessly completes any task you give him.

he finds the dummies you hide with ease, even when they're buried under piles of boxes and clothes and various other obstacles. johnny actually finds himself respecting the dog, which is shocking since a few weeks ago he never would've been able to handle even being in the same room as one.

you give johnny the treats to feed rex, which makes him nervous all over again when the canine looks up at him with wide eyes and all his sharp teeth on display. it takes some coaxing from you, but eventually he gets comfortable enough to let rex take a treat from his hand. he may not admit it, but the only reason he even lets rex get so close is because you're there. simply your presence gives him the courage, makes him feel secure.

"when this is over," johnny begins, hand twitching under rex's tongue and looking at you with such fondness it feels like his heart is about to burst, "i'll take you out proper, treat you right."

you blink at him, surprised, but not a moment later a wide smile is taking over your face. "i look forward to it, mactavish."

the others, particularly gaz and ghost, give him hell for how infatuated he's become with you, but their teasing doesn't deter him. he likes you, and he doesn't care if everybody knows it; you like him too, and that's all he really cares about.

now, sitting in the heli on the way to what they hope will be the final location for this mission, he was almost disappointed to be done with it. you were only on loan for this mission, so once they have their target, you'd be gone. he was hoping, optimistically, that once everything was said and done he could convince you to stay with the one-four-one. he was sure he could talk price into it, and though it was selfish of him, he just wanted you to stay by his side.

you're sitting next to him in the back of the aircraft, rex between your legs with his head resting on your thigh, staring up at johnny with those big brown eyes. without even thinking, he reaches a hand out and ruffles the fur on his head, earning a nudge and an adoring smile from you when he looks over.

"he might like you better than me," you tease, scratching behind rex's ear who was yet to take his eyes off of johnny.

"don't be jealous now, bonnie." he chuckles, returning the nudge to your shoulder. "you can have 'im on weekends."

you grin again and lightly shake your head, taking rex's face in your hands and bending over to press a kiss to the top of his head. "you love me the most, right boy?"

before long, the helicopter is landing and the five of you – plus rex – are following the captain out into the forest. it's cold when they exit the heli, night vision goggles highlighting the terrain through the darkness of the night.

the silence buzzes as you all stalk through the trees. johnny pays more attention to you than he should as you walk beside him, anxiety lighting up his nerves for how this mission will go.

as according to the plan, once the manor is in sight, you all split off into teams of two; him and ghost, price and gaz, and you and rex. he trusted you to do well, like you have been doing for the last few months, but he can't help the way his shoulders tense as he watches you disappear around the corner.

the building is guarded, which was expected of course, but they only had to take down a dozen or so guards until the place was barren.

the corridors were eerily deserted, bathed in a moonlit glow as johnny crept around the manor, following closely behind ghost with both of their heads on a swivel. the radio was quiet, by design for the mission plan, but somehow this time felt different, like they wouldn't hear him if he did call out.

it's the beeping that gives it away. so faint, he almost missed it, but his senses are sharpened like a blade – and as a demolitions specialist, he knows the sound of an explosive when he hears it.

johnny carefully pushes open the door to his right, scanning the room for any movement and finding none, but when his gaze lands on the centre of the room, his pulse skips a beat.

propane canisters, fuse linking them all together, and most concerning, a timer on top blinking at him; two minutes, ticking down with a sickening green glow.

"ghost," he calls, his voice hard and serious as the anxiety builds again, "it's rigged."

ghost steps into the doorway next to him, following johnny's arm as he points to the device.

"fuck." he spits, stepping back and clicking the radio on his vest, but no sound comes out. ghost curses again, looking back to johnny with a tense expression that the sergeant mirrors. "radios aren't workin' either. let's move, c'mon."

there's no room for argument in his tone, marching back the way they came with johnny in tow.

as they emerge back out into the night, price and gaz appear from around the corner, both lifting their goggles and approaching with concern evident on their faces.

"what happened?" price's gaze darts around behind them as he speaks, as if waiting for someone to jump out and attack.

"the place is rigged, we have to go." ghost explains, already moving past them and away from the manor.

the captain nods, gesturing for johnny and gaz to follow as he tries his radio with no luck, just like ghost. the pit of anxiety lingered, getting heavier by the second.

"move it, soap." price commands, a deep frown creasing his brow.

but johnny doesn't move. "hold on, where's k-9?" he asks, a frown of his own pulling his features downwards.

"radios are down, we don't have time to look for 'em." ghost calls over to them, earning a solemn nod from the captain, who tries to move him with a hand on his shoulder.

the radios are down, you have no way of knowing the building is rigged. there's no way johnny's about to leave you on your own in the blind, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did.

"no. i'm not leavin' without 'em." johnny growls, his face morphing into a frown as he brushes off the captain's arm and turns to go back inside.

"they might already be outside." gaz tries to reason, stepping in front of him and blocking him from the doorway. kyle's regretful gaze cuts through him, and there's the distinct feeling that everyone else has already given up on you. "we have to move, mate."

johnny scoffs. "fuck that! i can't just leave 'em!" he hisses, insulted by the very idea of leaving one of their own to fend for themselves. no, that's not how they operate, that's not how he operates.

a flash of anger shoots through him and he's about to shove past gaz, but before he can move, price is yanking him away.

"soap!" he growls, shaking him slightly as he grabs johnny's other arm. "get it together, you are not goin' back in there."

before he can argue, he's being grabbed by ghost and dragged away from the manor with him as the other two jog ahead of them into the treeline. 

"oi!" johnny shouts, struggling in the lieutenants iron grip, but to no avail. ghost practically drags him along as he digs his heels into the dirt, writhing in an attempt to escape and go back for you.

he's desperate, he can't lose you, not before he takes you on that date, he promised, you can't die yet–

johnny blinks, the deep, rumbling boom completely derailing his thoughts and starting a piercing ringing in his ears.

white hot fire bursts from the windows of the manor, showering the surrounding area in shards of glass and debris as the heat escapes the building in waves. 

no.

everything seemed to stop around him. ghost stopped trying to drag him away, the trees stopped blowing in the wind, he almost stopped breathing. the world pauses as the walls of the manor are engulfed in flames.

no.

johnny rips his arm out of ghost's grip and stumbles back towards the manor, his mind floating out of his body.

"no!" johnny wails, ignoring the heat on his face and taking a shaky step over the jagged stone and glass that crunches under his boot, "no! they're still–" his voice breaks, "they're still in there, for fucks sake!"

"johnny!" ghost shouts, grabbing him by the strap on the back of his vest and yanking him sharply away from the blaze. "they're gone." he mutters, purposefully avoiding soap's glassy eyes.

"shut the fuck up!" he cries, thumping his fist against ghost's chest and clawing at the arm holding him back. the tears spill from his eyes hard and fast, constricting his throat and blurring his vision.

he falls to his knees with his head in his hands and ghost lets him, the debris that litters the ground sharp against his flesh, but nothing compared to the pain in his chest.

it wasn't supposed to go like this.

you were supposed to come back, and he was supposed to take you out and give you a perfect date and he'd kiss you at the end of the night and now he'd never get to do any of that because–

you're gone. slipped through his fingers like sand into the ocean.

"c'mon, johnny." he hears ghost mutter, his voice distant even though he's right there, pulling him to stand by his arm. "let's regroup."

he doesn't struggle this time, shaking himself free of his lieutenant's grip and shuffling past him with his head hanging low. if there was a god, he's sure they're laughing at him by now. it all felt like some kind of cruel joke; give him hope by granting him someone to love after all these lonely years, and then rip you out of his arms before he can know the happiness you would bring him.

he and ghost don't get far before he hears the lieutenant stop in his tracks, but he doesn't care to know why, the hollow feeling in his chest won't allow him to.

"the dog…" ghost utters from behind him, an air of disbelief in his monotone voice. johnny freezes, a cold dread travelling up his spine as he hears the unmistakable sound of rex's claws padding towards them.

he turns slowly on his heel, fresh tears welling up in his eyes.

your dog is standing in front of him.

"rex…?" he calls softly, taking in the dust and ash and dirt and blood caked into his rich brown fur, illuminated by the fire still raging. rex barks, tilting his head like he's confused, and johnny falls to his knees again, uncaring for the way the rubble tears through his trousers and his skin. "no, no no no no–"

rex is alone. you're not with him. he doesn't go anywhere without you, and that can only mean one thing.

the confirming thought alone shatters the dam completely.

the sobs wrack his body and johnny gathers rex into his arms, hugging him tightly to his chest, burying his face into his thick fur despite the filth that coats the both of them. he whimpers and whines in johnny's ear, and the sound only makes his heart hurt even more.

a few months ago he never would've dreamed he'd be hugging a dog, but you changed that; you'd helped him work on his fear, and even if rex was the only one he could tolerate, it was still leagues better than what he could accomplish without you.

but now you’re gone, and neither of them have you to fall back on.

johnny sinks his fingers deep into rex's fur, sniffling pathetically because he may have lost you, but your canine lost his entire world and he would never understand where you went, why you left him all alone, why you weren’t coming back.

rex begins to wriggle in his arms, and soap knows he wants him to let go but he can't bring himself to. this dog is all he has left of you now; he would take care of your beloved canine, it doesn't matter if he was still terrified in the back of his mind.

after a painful few minutes, jonny regains the awareness to remember where they are and the fact that ghost is still watching him break down with the dog in his arms. with a trembling sigh, he loosens his hold on rex and pulls back, wiping a dusty hand over his eyes.

as he pushes himself to stand rex barks again, startling johnny with a jolt of panic before bounding back the way he came, away from him and ghost.

johnny frowns. "hey, don't run," he mutters, ambling after the canine as he pads backwards. every time johnny gets close, rex slips just out of reach before he can grab him.

ghost sighs, but allows him to go after the dog, keeping a watchful eye on them as they get further away.

the way he was running along and looking back to make sure johnny was following reminded him a worrying amount of how he acted in his training. the training where you would hide a dummy for him and johnny would reward him with treats when he led you to the fake body.

"no, no rex," except this time, the body wouldn't be fake. "please, boy, just come back…"

rex doesn't react to his pleading, determined to lead him to what johnny knows he’s found, but desperately wants to deny anyway. he tries to stop, to turn back and never have to face the reality of you being gone, but the canine won't let him. he takes johnny's trousers between his razor teeth and growls, deep and threatening, as he tries to pull him along.

the sound makes johnny freeze, fear clawing at the back of his mind as an instinctual reaction, but he blinks hard and pushes through it. "alright, i'm comin'..."

rex lets go once he’s sure he’ll follow again, trotting ahead with the occasional check behind him to make sure johnny was still there. he follows the canine past the rubble, through the treeline, and into the underbrush where the sick feeling in his throat only grows stronger.

he doesn't bother with the night vision goggles. the fire provides enough waving light for him to just about see where he’s going, and he really has no desire to see what rex is guiding him to.

johnny almost trips over him when the canine comes to an abrupt stop, his wide eyes trained on a bush to johnny’s left.

the dread pooling in his stomach becomes suffocating.

"wh…?" he swallows thickly, crouching down to rex's level and placing a hand on his back, feeling his laboured breath that matches his own. "...whatchya got, boy?"

rex barks and noses at the branches of the bush, before stepping backwards a few paces and looking expectantly between johnny and the shrub.

johnny stares at the bush. no amount of training could've prepared him for the terror he feels imagining what he’ll find on the other side of it. as if sensing his hesitation, rex barks again to spur him on, but it only makes his heart sink further.

his hand shakes as he reaches for the branches. there's a stutter in his heartbeat, a hitch in his breath, as he pushes them aside to reveal–

"bleedin' fuckin' jesus–" johnny cries, jumping through the foliage to couch over your weakened form, forgetting his fear all together as he ruffles rex's fur with both hands and a breaking smile when he barks again. "oh good boy rex! good boy, fuckin' hell!"

it's you, blood and ash smeared across your skin and your chest rises and falls in shallow breaths, and johnny's just so happy you're alive he can't think to be afraid when rex snaps at his hands in a misdirected effort to protect you. he presses both hands against the slice in your abdomen, using the few medical supplies in his vest to help stop the bleeding as the tears being to well again.

"shit, stay with me, hun, i've got ye…" he mumbles, putting all his weight onto your stomach. "ghost! help me!"

the rest is a blur.

they carry you to the helicopter, rex barking protectively between their legs the whole way until he can lay on guard between your legs on take off.

when they finally touch down back at base, johnny has to grab rex by the vest so the medics can carry you out, wrestling him away as he barks and whines in protest. johnny stays with the canine while you're in surgery and for the days you're asleep, making sure he's fed and allowing him to sleep in his room so he won’t be alone – despite how uncomfortable it makes him, and how little sleep he gets because of it.

it's four days until you wake up.

he's not the first to find out, but as soon as the words reach his ears he’d racing down the corridors and bursting through the infirmary doors with enough intensity to make you jump out of your skin. the sight of you sitting up and talking to price almost has his eyes watering again, but he pushes that urge down.

he approaches your bed more carefully, a wobbly smile pulling at his lips under your warm gaze. with an understanding look, price is patting him on the shoulder as he passes by and leaving the two of you alone with each other.

"aren't you a sight for sore eyes," johnny grins, taking a seat in the chair next to your bed and grasping your hand in his. a smile lifts your features as he brings your hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss there as a heat rises in his cheeks.

"i could say the same, my knight in shining armour." you reply, moving your hand to cradle the side of his head and smoothing your thumb over his brow. he revels in the contact, the tension bleeding from his muscles under your touch. "where's rex?"

"he's fine, i made sure." he reassures you, and you let out a sigh of relief at his words, visibly relaxing into the pillows holding you up. "tried sneakin' him in here, but the nurses wouldn't have it."

a laugh escapes you, the sound still managing to make his heart feel light, even all these months later. "can't imagine why," you tease, gently nudging his head as he chuckles along with you.

it feels like a weight is lifted from his shoulders, finally having you with him again. his eyes flutter shut as the relief washes over him, and a minute passes where neither of you speak, simply basking in each other's presence.

there's a scratching sound at the door that interrupts the peace and quiet, and the two of you share a knowing smile. not a moment later, the door is being pulled open just enough for rex to slip through and skid towards your bed on the linoleum floor, wagging his tail at breakneck speed.

before the door can completely close, johnny catches a glimpse of gaz’s mischievous grin and groans, but he doesn't have time to yell at him before he’s out of sight and rex is distracting him by leaping onto your bed.

you wheeze as your canine braces his paws on your chest and begins his assault on your face, licking every inch of skin he can reach with a series of excited chuffs and narrowly missing johnny’s head with his swinging tail.

"hi rex! you saved my life, didn’t you boy?" you giggle, affectionately ruffling his fur and planting kisses of your own on his face. "who’s a good boy? who’s the best sniffer dog ever?"

johnny clears his throat, drawing your attention to him as you cuddle rex to your chest. "i don’t want’a blow my own horn here, but i saved yer life too…" he gives you that lopsided grin, a playful glint in his eyes that makes you laugh again.

"you want some pets too?" you chuckle, reaching over and dragging his head over to you by a hand on the back of his neck. "good job, johnny, you’re a good boy too." you coo, pressing your lips to his forehead and the tip of his nose as you ruffle his mohawk like rex’s fur.

the effect is immediate. his cheeks burn again with a striking red blush, and he chokes on his breath in bashful embarrassment under your ministrations. he hopes you haven't noticed his reaction, but the way your laugh bubbles up again he can tell you’ve caught on.

"i think i like that more than i should, bonnie." he mutters, pressing his forehead against yours and allowing his eyes to flutter shut. you hum sweetly, your warm breath fanning over his face.

"don’t short circuit on me yet, soap, you still owe me a date."

tagging: @cheezbites