#actually come to think of it the reason i woke up so suddenly is probably cuz i heard her door slamming

[fatuismooches]

Zandy speed-walking to your room wrapped in his blanket whenever he got nightmares wasn't anything new.

In the beginning, he felt guilty for bothering you in the middle of the night, but ever since you found out the child had bad dreams once in a while, you urged him to come find you no matter what time it was. Thankfully, they had significantly decreased since he met you, but there were still times he woke up scared and sweating, as if flames had nearly licked him. Admittedly, a part of him wished you could sleep in his room every day so it wouldn't happen, but he knew it wouldn't be fair to you.

At first, Zandy would knock on your door and wait for you to open before intruding, but eventually, you managed to convince him to just let himself in and onto your bed. During these instances, you'd wake up to the child cuddling to you, sometimes with Foxttore squished in between. It was healing for both of you. And tonight, Zandy thought as he tip-toed to your room, would be no different. Quietly twisting the doorknob and entering the room, he already felt a bit more at ease, especially at the sight of your silhouette. The boy walked to the bed and began to climb on it when suddenly a hand shot out to grab him, and he was faced with none other than fellow blood-red eyes.

Quickly, Zandy figured out the situation, when he noticed that you were actually on the other side of the bed, this person was none other than Prime Dottore which he didn't realize in the darkness, and that he had accidentally woken him up. It was only natural that Dottore would be woken up at the slightest noise - he had never been a deep sleeper.

But more importantly, the situation had turned awkward once Dottore had removed his grip from the boy, realizing it was just him. Immediately, Zandy tried to shuffle off the bed - he and Prime had been on way better terms lately, no longer being ignored, which was wholly thanks to you - but he was still hesitant to interact without you. But Dottore wasn't going to let him off that easy of course.

"... What are you doing here?" The boy's eyes nervously flitted from your sleeping body to Prime, hoping you'd wake up to get him out of the situation.

"W-Well..." Zandy's voice came out louder than he wanted, "I wanted to... to..." he then drifted off as he tried to think of a reasonable excuse. He could tell Dottore wasn't particularly impressed, moving to get up when suddenly a new voice entered the conversation.

"Zandik, what's wrong?" You yawned as you began to sit up in bed. "Usually, you aren't this noisy when you're sneaking off to go do work instead of sleep-" You stopped your sentence slowly and rubbed your eyes, as you now realized someone else was in the room too. "Zandy? Is that you?"

"Yes..."

"Another nightmare again? Poor thing, come here," you cooed, stretching your arms open. Dottore remained silent but quickly pieced together what happened. Well, it made an awful lot of sense - you somehow always managed to be soothing after experiencing the terrors of the mind. He too remembers the times he rested his chest on your chest after his own nightmares. Logically, when the scholar thinks about it, his child segment's nightmares were probably similar to his too.

However, Zandy didn't seem very certain of the idea anymore, more interested in heading out the door. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion before you quickly remembered that Dottore was likely causing his hesitation.

"There's no need to be shy. You can stay, we don't mind," you said softly, moving to the edge of the bed and grabbing both his hands. "Right, Zandik?"

"... Go ahead. There's only a few more hours until I get up, anyway."

"See? Now come here." With only a bit of persuasion, the child was in between the two of you. Well, he was mostly attached to you while Dottore was just on the other side, but it was still sweet. You gently patted Zandy's head as you began yawning again, sleepiness still coursing through you. At that, Dottore pulled up the covers, making sure you (and the child) were warm.

"Good night, Zandy, Zandik..."

"Good night, [Name]... fa-" The word quickly softened and dried up on the boy's lips as he realized that he was still not brave enough for that yet. Zandy swiftly shut his eyes and willed his body to sleep as fast as possible.

A little while later, after Dottore was sure you both had dozed off, he sighed at the sight that was mostly covered in darkness, but he could still make out his child self's body wrapped by your larger one... as well as the rather wide and palpable gap in between his and his segment's.

Briefly turning over, the Harbinger glanced at the time. It would be time for him to return to his work soon, this break only a haven you begged to grant him. Dottore looked back at you, reaching out to caress your cheek, letting out another sigh. He moved his body closer, to where his own was only a little bit from touching Zandy's, and then wrapped a protective arm over you, and by extension, the child.

He would be gone soon enough, anyway - this wouldn't hurt for now.

It was moments like this that made what the future held hurt even more.

[phagodyke]

woke up randomly in the night and my flatmate is in the bathroom so I can't go pee and immediately go back to sleep incident 7493 dead 19923 casualties

[limethefirst]

hwellooooo i love your movie shadow fics!! Would it be alright if i made a request i finally got to see sonic movie three today as my christmas present and im brain rotted from it. Could we have a movie shadow x a reader who maybe prehaps shadow meet when he woke up at gun? Maybe prehaps he sees that the reader is being mistreated and hiut by gun after they have been looking after shadow in statis for awhile because they do see the good in him and tried to defend gim before he woke up to let him be left alone. Then when shadow sees it something snaps in him and he saves them. Bringing them with him to get revenge on gun, wanting for protect them for her act of kindness towards him seeing a glipse of maria in her.

Protector

pairings: Shadow the Hedgehog x reader (platonic)

warnings: mentions of being hurt/kinda bullied by everyone at work

summary: after waking up from statis Shadow asks you to come with him, wanting to protect you after you protected him

a/n: thank you for the love! This request kinda stumped me so sorry for taking a bit and if it isn’t the best, I was thinking of ways to incorporate the reader into the story but for it to also make sense

You were a worker at GUN, a lower level worker, at least that’s what your co-workers liked to joke about. A laughing stock, the work punchline. Basically deemed as unimportant and unnecessary but the reason for this wasn’t because you sucked at your job or you were a loser, no, it’s because your task was looked down upon.

When you were hired, the one thing you were told to do was watch over and take care of Project Shadow; you would clean the room he was stored in, kept the glass from getting cloudy and would just watch over him. A little protector, the others called you.

Today was no different from the day before, or the day before that or even the month before. It was routine. You quietly made your way to Shadows containment unit. The guards watched you enter, only sparing you a quick glance before going back to whatever they were talking about.

A small sigh escaped your lips as you made your way to the glass, checking for any cracks or signs for deterioration, “This sucks,” you quietly exclaimed.

Not because you hated looking after Shadow, no that was something you actually enjoyed, you’d some blabber about your day, finding comfort in the fact he couldn’t actually hear you; though sometimes you wish he could.

No, what sucked was the fact everyday at work was another day of being belittled and looked down upon. If it weren’t for the fact you’d grown somewhat attached to the little hedgehog, as well as a really good pay, you probably would’ve left this job by now. 

Slowly you continued to check the glass, making sure it was in perfect condition. As you did a sudden movement had caught your eye, it was fast and quick; like a flicker of light.

You weren’t able to quite catch what is was though because it was gone almost as fast as it was there, so you tried to leave it alone, going back to cleaning and checking the containment unit.

Suddenly the guards shouted your name, which was strange as they didn’t really talk to you much, thinking you were weird for protecting a hedgehog in Statis. You turned over for them and saw you motioning to move away from Shadow.

You only made a few advances towards them before a bunch of soldiers stormed the room, “What are you guys doing?!” You angrily questioned the masked men.

None of them responded, their gazes fixed on the hedgehog in front of you. The room became eerily still, the only thing you could hear was the faint beep of the machine wired to enhance and check Shadows heart beat.

It was a fast paced beep, it was getting worse and worse, you started to grow worried, trying to make your way to the machine so you could check it but one of the soldiers held you back. Not gently, quite forcefully, sparing no expense when it came to Project Shadow.

Then it stilled. The long beep indicating it was over, your eyes widened, a mix of shock and confusion over coming you. The soldier that was holding you back let you go, a sigh of relief escaped his lips.

Crack.

The glass was shattered. Shadow had finally woken up, and his demeanor only showed one thing. That he wanted revenge.

You were quickly pushed onto the cold floor, hitting your arm harshly, a small cut formed as blood was seeping from the wound. You let out a hiss of pain that didn’t seem to go unnoticed by the hedgehog.

He didn’t have a chance to react though as the men started to shoot at him, not caring that you were in the room. You tried to duck and ran into the corner hoping that no stray bullets, rubber or not, wouldn’t come your way.

Shadow made quick work of the soldiers, effortlessly taking them down without breaking a sweat. Then he made it to you, his gaze was sharp, but he didn’t attack you. He just watched you, his eyes looking at the cut you had on your arm, the blood dripping onto the floor. He looked back at the man who pushed you down.

His expression was unreadable. You both looked at each other, for some reason you weren’t scared, you should’ve been considering you just saw him take down over 8 armed men but if Shadow was going to hurt you he definitely would’ve already.

“Come.” He told you, turning his back to you as he punched the wall in front of him down and looked back at you before he continued to walk to the edge of the cliff.

Shadow wasn’t entirely sure why he told you to come with him. There wasn’t a set moment he knew you would accompany him, all he knew was that you weren’t like the other workers, who saw him as a threat and tried to take him down. You defended him, and for this kindness he would repay you. By becoming your protector, like you had been protecting him before.

[unclewaynemunson]

It wasn't the first time Eddie woke up to an empty bed after having someone spend the night. But it for sure was the first time it caught him by surprise.

He had been pretty sure things were different, with Steve. There was a real, proper date before they ended up in Eddie's bed together, after all. They held hands, they cuddled, they did all the romantic shit that Eddie used to scoff at and skip right past, before he got to know Steve Harrington. It hadn't felt like it was just about the sex: there had been tender touches and sweet words and soft kisses, and falling asleep in each other's arms afterwards had felt more intimate than anything Eddie had ever experienced before. So it didn't make sense to wake up and see no trace of Steve. No note, not a single piece of evidence that Steve had been there, not even something as dumb as a forgotten sock. Nothing.

As he went through his morning ritual of coffee, cereal and cigarette, he felt confusion make place for anger. By the time he was dressed and looking at himself while brushing his teeth in front of the crappy old bathroom mirror, he wondered how he could ever have been stupid enough to think that Steve would stay. The realization that Steve had apparently only used him to get what he wanted and dropped the act as soon as that happened, made him feel gross. He spit out his toothpaste with way more force than necessary and jumped in his van to tell Steve exactly that Eddie wasn't the kind of guy who tolerated being toyed with like that.

-----

When Eddie barged into Family Video, Steve was standing at one of the shelves with a big pile of tapes in his arms, the store empty and quiet except for some movie playing on the big screen in the background.

He looked up at the sound of the bell, and actually had the audacity to smile a soft, almost tender smile when he saw Eddie coming in.

"Hey there."

And, well, that truly did it for Eddie.

"Hey there?!" he repeated in a loud, shrill voice. "Seriously, Steve? What the hell, man? You sneak out of my bed after making me think what we did actually meant something, and now you greet me with a "hey there" like nothing has even happened?!"

Steve frowned; he looked genuinely surprised. Seriously, had none of the dozens of girls he probably pulled this on ever told him off? Or were they all worth staying for, contrary to Eddie the Freak Munson?

"Wha- What do you mean, making you think it meant something?" Steve stuttered. "It meant something. At least," he shrugged lightly and his cheeks colored into a light shade of pink, "to me it did."

For obvious reasons, Eddie found that a little bit hard to believe.

"Then why the hell did you sneak away at the crack of dawn like it was just some goddamn one-night stand?!"

Steve stared at him for a couple of seconds, his mouth falling open. Eddie had seen him look confused plenty of times before, but never like this - like he was missing something huge.

"I - I was allowed to stay?" Steve finally uttered. And it sounded so genuine, so small, so lost... All Eddie's anger easily got knocked out of him with that one question.

"You thought you weren't allowed to stay?" he asked, in a much softer voice this time.

Steve shrugged, suddenly avoiding Eddie's gaze.

"Yeah, I mean... I just assumed..." He swallowed visibly, seemingly searching for words. Finally, he fixed his eyes back on Eddie's face. "You actually wanted me to stay?" It sounded equal parts confused as hopeful, and the look in his brown eyes was so soft and innocent that it almost broke something inside of Eddie.

"Why the hell did you think I wouldn't?"

"I dunno, I just thought..." He looked away again, to a point just behind Eddie's shoulder as he continued, "Whenever a girl would come to my place, they'd always leave right after we finished. Or when I'd come to theirs, they'd have me leave through the window before their parents would notice. Some of them wanted to cuddle for a bit afterwards, but not, like, the whole night, y'know."

"Fuck, Stevie... I -" Eddie could barely believe what Steve was saying; it truly blew his mind that there were so many people who could have Steve Harrington in their bed and not want to keep him there forever. It made him furious - not at Steve, obviously, but at those girls who had made this perfect boy believe that he wasn't the kind of person people would want to keep around for what came after the sex.

"Falling asleep with you last night... That was the best thing that ever happened to me," he told Steve. It felt vulnerable, to say it out loud, but he knew he had to get it all out in the open. "I mean, don't get me wrong, the things we got up to before falling asleep were also pretty damn mind-blowing..." He couldn't help but chuckle. "But of course I wanted you to stay. I thought that would speak for itself."

"Oh," was the only thing Steve said, just blankly staring at Eddie for a couple of seconds. Then, his eyes widened as Eddie's words finally seemed to sink in. "Shit, Eddie, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to -"

"It's okay," Eddie cut him off. "Can you uh," he nodded towards the video tapes in Steve's hands, "Put those away, please?"

Steve placed the pile on the shelf behind him and Eddie immediately launched himself into his arms, pulling him as close as humanly possible without crushing his bones.

With a surprised Oomph! Steve took a few stumbling steps backwards before he caught his balance again, and hugged Eddie back just as tight.

"I'm really sorry, I messed up," he said, his mouth close to Eddie's ear. "I had no idea. If I had known, I would never have left, seriously. I would've called in sick and made you pancakes, and I would've stayed with you in bed all day."

"It's okay," Eddie repeated. "I mean, it's frankly ridiculous that you'd assume I wouldn't want you around every single fucking morning from now on, but -"

"So can I make it up to you tonight?" Steve interrupted him, an eager undertone to his question. "Or actually tomorrow morning, I guess?"

Eddie leaned back slightly to see Steve's face. He was hesitantly smiling at him, and Eddie gave him a beaming smile in return. Then, he leapt forward again to press an impetuous kiss against Steve's lips.

"How 'bout you make it up to me every day from now on, big boy?"

"I dunno, making you pancakes every day from now on is a bit much, don't you think?"

Eddie laughed. "Then the deal's off, sorry."

"What if we take turns?"

He pretended to think for a moment. "Alright, I think I can live with that," he finally concluded, letting Steve pull him closer again to steal another kiss. And as long as he could taste Steve's lips, he couldn't care less about pancakes.

[yunniestars]

peach mango pie 🥧

pairing: kinich x chef!reader tags: fluff, kinich is a bit grumpy here but we cool, based off that one tiktok i saw around 4 months ago but i forgot where it is now, implied insomnia, not proofread (i think i've never proofread my works help), the title is based on what i wanted to cook for a while already and i did (i'm actually eating it right now)

as a hunter, kinich usually suffices with just meat and berries he caught in the wild. he doesn't care about the quality as long as it is edible and it fills up his stomach (not too much though to avoid feeling too full). ajaw has complained multiple times about this but kinich reprimands him that they can't just slack off during a commission to cook a 5-course meal, much to the dragonlord's rage.

which is why when he met you, ajaw was ecstatic. you would always give so much treats to the point kinich reprimands you to not spoil ajaw too much.

jokes on him, though, kinich is guilty of being spoiled too. you always make sure he eats 3 meals a day while also checking if the food won't be a hindrance to him when he goes out for commissions. nevertheless, though, kinich is super grateful for your kindness.

so whenever kinich comes home after a long day, he would always await for whatever meal you had prepped up for dinner and hug you tiredly. in exchange, he does the dishes so you won't have to carry the burden of cooking the meals and doing the dishes.

kinich is thankful, he really is, but there's just one thing that concerns him.

୨୧

it's 3 am and kinich woke up from a bad dream. it was you leaving him for some fontaine boy, without even telling him the reason of why you broke up with him.

he was looking for your presence, about to panic because you weren't there, but then he started to smell something from the kitchen.

"oh god not again."

he immediately gets up and the moment he steps out the door, he sees you holding a tray of red velvet cookies. not only that, but he spots another tray which seems to be bagels stuffed with hotdogs.

you turn to see him looking at you with an expression that only you know that means "disbelief". he looks nonchalant, but really he's just ??? about why you're baking at 3 am AGAIN.

"good morning," you smile and take a bite off a cookie.

"why are you cooking at 3 am again? can't sleep?" he approaches you with slight worry. he's concerned about how you'd suddenly wake up at ungodly hours in the evening just to bake.

"mhm," you nod and let him embrace you. "and i was craving for the bagels we ate last week."

kinich sighs while ruffling your hair. "you couldn't wait till morning?"

"i felt the wayob telling me to do it now."

he chuckles and caresses your face, wiping the velvet crumbs off your face. "you probably misheard the wayob. you need to sleep, love."

you sigh and rest your head on his neck. "not tired..."

as you say that, kinich rolls his eyes because every time you say that, he ends up carrying you back to the bedroom while you sleep. which was what was happening right now, before he could even get the chance to tell you about it.

he sets your body gently on the bed, caressing your sleepy face and admiring how peaceful you look despite of the amount of desserts you baked just now.

kinich then sighs. that's another thing he has to worry about. where is he supposed to store the newly baked desserts when there's still 5 boxes from last time?

well, he'll just clean up for now and struggle it alone. what matters is that you're getting the amount of sleep you deserve right now.

"sleep well, my dearest."

[ written with love, yunniestars. ෆ ]

a/n: rahhh thanks for reading!! im really thankful for each time u guys read my work, it gives me lot of motiv hehe. one question though, how do u guys think kinich will say "love"? like the equivalent of "mon coeur?

[lizardkingeliot]

Okay so we're all in agreement that it was Lestat who pulled Louis out of the wall in the theatre right? The episode doesn't make it explicitly clear and they only show us Lestat saving Louis during the trial. And in fact they have Louis say he knew the blood he tasted upon being freed was Armand's...

But in the context of everything else that... doesn't actually make much sense? Because here's what actually happened...

First, Louis woke up in the sewer alone...

Why would Armand just leave him there if he suddenly decided to choose Louis over the coven after Lestat saved him from imminent death? After listening to him screaming in agony as he starved in that coffin for... how long? The opportunity that presented itself wasn't Louis being saved from death at the trial on the stage and being locked in a vault. Armand could have taken him out at any time. He chose not to. He chose to listen to him screaming in agony for... days? Weeks????

Armand didn't care. He chose the coven. He discovered Louis was gone and only then did he reach out to him telepathically while he was in the crypt plotting his revenge. Louis asked Armand if he saved him at the trial AND if he pulled him out of the wall. Armand gave the same monotone "yes" as an answer to both. And I think we're meant to understand these are both equal lies in hindsight.

And when Armand told Louis to leave Paris it was clear his only aim was to save the coven. If Armand wanted to be with him he would have been. He only decided to choose Louis after the coven was gone and he had no other choice. Armand was at full strength the whole time. 500 years old. Powerful enough to walk in the sun. He could control the coven with a snap of his fingers.

But you know who wasn't at full strength at the time? Who couldn't have just gone to him right away even though he wanted to save Louis more than anything in the world?

Lestat only let Louis stay in that situation for as long as he did because he was so weakened by doing the mind trick that saved him in the first place. We all saw how rough he looked after Louis had been taken away in 2x07. The way he was standing there swaying on his feet...

He had to regain his strength to go back to the theatre, get Louis out, give him his blood at full strength so that it might heal him. And he only left him there because he believed he needed to let Louis go. Because he was not worthy of Louis' forgiveness etc...

This is probably a conclusion lots of you have already come to but I didn't pick up on it during my first watch because I was so emotionally compromised. I don't know why they had Louis say it was Armand's blood, but maybe we're meant to understand it as another misremembering. Louis trying to reason with himself that it had to have been Armand's blood. Because before Daniel gave him the final pieces of the puzzle, he very much believed Armand had been the one to save him at the trial. The one to pull him out of the wall...

[princessbrunette]

reader upset bc things just aren’t going her way today, she woke up on the wrong side of the bed after not getting much sleep, and her hair didn’t turn out the way she wanted it too, she couldn’t find her favorite skirt and she broke her nail. rafe takes her with him to run errands and handle business, and she’s quiet and upset the whole time and she just needs her rafe but he’s so busy right now. eventually something small happens like she trips over her feet or spills something over herself and had a meltdown, bc we all get overstimulated and have meltdowns sometimes :/

i can’t explain to you how much i relate to this :(( have too many days like this one !!

you’d be quiet for the most part, more quiet than usual but rafe isnt gonna necessarily question it, just chalking it up to being in a bad mood. by the time you’ve made it to the car, everything’s overstimulating you. you don’t like the songs that keep coming on the aux, the car is rumbling too loud, rafes being quiet too so it’s just setting you on edge thinking somethings up, it’s just too much. but worst of all, you were hungry.

rafe had some errands to run, but he’d promised you fries, mentioned casually earlier which he’d probably forgotten about. you were holding onto that fact, knowing being fed would greatly cure a large part of your foul mood.

you’d passed the midway point, rafe completing another task on behalf of his father before you finally speak up— voice croaky from lack of sleep and lack of use. “can we get food now?”

he glances at you, reversing out of his spot, looking over his shoulder with his mouth parted in concentration. “huh? oh — uh, yeah, yeah soon. i left somethin’ in the boat so i gotta go pick it up.” he speaks casually.

for some reason, it’s your tipping point.

“no… you said we’d—” you’d go to argue, but suddenly burst into tears, crying into your hands. once you start, you quickly realise you can’t stop, the overstimulation and every issue you’d faced that day catching up with you. rafe frowns in confusion at you, eyes darting between the road and your hunched over form.

“hey, what are you — why are you crying?” he asks, and you can’t answer— far too upset. he sighs, thinking for a moment you’re being a tad dramatic, so used to being spoiled by him that you’re crying over something so minor. he doesn’t like seeing you so upset though, so he sighs and starts to turn his wheel, the car hitting a U-turn. “alright, hey, alright. i’ll get your damn fries. shit.”

it’s only when you don’t calm down he actually starts to get a little concerned. you cry the entire journey, not lifting your head from your hands— and all he can do is spare you worried glances before ordering your food. he parks in the lot, a wad of napkins from the food bag in his clutch and turns to you.

“look at me, kid. please?” he instructs, and you reluctantly do. blinking through gloopy mascara and sniffling your snotty nose shamefully. he dabs at your face, holding the napkin to your nose and quietly telling you to blow. he then sets it aside, and places the fries in your lap, running his hand over his chin and jaw thoughtfully for a moment.

“m’sorry.” you break the silence, staring down at your fries. he sighs, shaking his head.

“what happened, hm? was it me? did i fuck up?”

“no rafe, just got overwhelmed. im having a bad day.”

he stares at you for a moment, turning his body to face you more. “what do you… what do you want me to do?” he asks, his own finger gently prodding at his chest. he was trying to understand you, trying to be a good boyfriend. you think for a moment, glumly staring at your hands.

“i wanna go home and just be with you.” you sulk. he nods slowly, staring off out the window.

“y’know i got shit to do though, baby. can’t just… drop everything, you know? got people countin’ on me. m’handling shit today. ” he squints, hating that he has to be tough— but makes his voice gentle enough to soften the blow.

“i know.” it comes out as a broken whisper, and he can tell you didn’t like his answer. he stares at you, helpless, before speaking once more.

“eat your fries, and then you’re gonna go lay down in the back and have a nap, okay? think you need one. we’ll figure it out from there, a’ight?” he places a hand on your shoulder, tilting his head down and staring into your eyes, hoping what he’s saying is good enough. you think for a moment before nodding and he smiles, patting your cheek.

“alright, that’s my girl. proud of you, okay baby?”

[angelpuns]

50Au Part 21

“ And he still hasn't moved?” 

“ Not yet. I…I didn't want to go in and have him run again,” Donnie murmured, tapping idly on the desk, “ I don't want to turn the camera off for the same reason, but this…it can't be good for him. I'm not sure if he's actually…there…or…” 

He let out a frustrated sound and rubbed his forehead, a headache growing behind his eyes. 

Leo had been sitting and staring at the camera for at least 6 hours now. Donnie didn't know what to do. If they went in and tried to bring him out of it, he might run. Not that he would get very far, but Donnie didn't want him to rip his stitches and panic further. 

Not to mention he seemed to react better to the  whole ‘strangers claiming they're your family’ thing when he didn't wake up in a panic. 

He texted Raph and Mikey as soon as he realized what was happening, Raph joining him in his lab minutes later. He guessed Raph was about in the same state as himself, probably unable to sleep. 

“...could you turn the TV on from in here? Maybe get his attention with the montage?” Raph suggested, pointing at it on the screen, “ he musta woke up ‘nd turned it off or something’” 

Donnie blinked. Right. That would have been the easiest solution. He suddenly felt so stupid, quickly wrenching open his desk drawer and rifling through it. 

“ Raphala, I officially name you as Family Co-Genius!” He pulled the remote out from the messy drawer and held it up, “ behold! The Plot Device!” ( aka a remote Donnie modded to turn off/on all the tvs in the lair for his own amusement ) 

He clicked the power button, the TV in Leo's room flicking on and bathing him in blue light. 

Leo jumped, pressing himself impossibly close to the wall as the TV flickered with static. The video started a moment later, Donnie watching tensely to see Leo’s reaction.

Leo brought his hand to his face and chewed at his nails, watching the TV with a faint frown. Ah, so he was doing that when they couldn't see. Donnie was going to make sure Mikey got onto him about it later. 

Much later, when all this curse business was over and it didn't feel like Leo would try and run at the first sign of aggression. 

“ I can't tell if its working…” Raph murmured, leaning closer to the screen, “ d'ya think it's makin’ it worse or..?” 

Donnie shut the camera off with a sigh.

“ I don't know, but we better get down there in case he tries to make a run for it,” Donnie murmured, “ I've got the tranq gun ready, but hopefully we won't have to use it,” 

He led the way down to the lobby, hands fiddling with his sleeves. He ran through the list. 

The lab was locked down, Leo's swords were hidden away proper, and he has the tranq gun. 

And unfortunately, Leo couldn't fight them in his current condition anyhow. 

Mikey stepped out of his room as Donnie stepped off of the last stair, yawning and heading to the kitchen. 

“ Morning! Did Leo-” 

Donnie shushed him and quickly covered his mouth, glancing towards Leo's room. 

It was quiet, only the soft mumble of his own voice on the TV coming out. 

Donnie slowly let go of Mikey, readying the gun. 

From inside Leo's room there was a bit of shuffling, and then the door slid open. 

Leo peeked out and gave them a shy wave. 

“ Um..hi?” His voice was rasping and weak, but he didn't sound like he was going to bolt at any second, “ any chance a guy can get some breakfast and a couple Tylenol ‘round here?”

Donnie hid the gun back in his hoodie pocket. Hopefully they wouldn't need it today. 

~~~

“ So you're going to have to go into my head?” Leo muttered around a spoonful of cereal, “ brothers or not, I don't think you all wanna see what's going on up there,” 

They had filled Leo in on the last couple of days. He seemed to believe them for the most part, not too surprised to hear about how he'd been injured. 

Donnie was a little shocked at how calm he was, really. Considering he'd spent half the night in and out of a panic and probably delirious with the pain. 

He did make a point to tell Leo about the camera, but promised that he would remove the red indicator light. There was no need it for anyway, since Donnie could track whether it was working from his lab. He even showed Leo the live feed from his bedroom, to which Leo had laughed and told him he was ‘ a huge fucking creep doe that’. 

Which. Fair. In Leo's eyes it was probably creepy as hell, but it was a necessity given the circumstances. 

“ Trust me, I'd rather not go into any of our heads ever again, especially due to the amount of trauma we've all gone through, “ Donnie huffed, finishing off his plan bagel with a final bite, “ but apparently it's necessary to make sure we ‘wash the correct memories’ - which is completely unscientific and sounds like a whole lot of magical bullshit if you ask me,” 

“ I told Barry what you told us, though, and he said it makes sense. Sometimes a curse needs to be broken and sometimes it just needs to be washed off,” Mikey offered, “ like a bad stain or something”

“As opposed to a good stain…?” Leo muttered, giving Mikey a skeptical look. 

Donnie sighed, “ the point is, we'll have to go into your memories once we get all the ingredients for the- the potion or whatever it is. As much as it pains me to say it, there is no medical or scientific way to fix this, because that would be far too easy,” 

He slid his tablet across the table to Leo, showing off the plan they'd been working on. It was more or less a ‘Leo Protocol’ until they could get the rest of the ingredients. 

He didn't include anything about the tracker or any codes they had put in place, just in case this was Leo acting again. If was getting harder to tell if he was just playing along or if he genuinely believed in them. 

“ We just need to make sure to that we keep you safe and not panicking until we can wash away the curse,” Donnie supplied, “not that telling you this is going to help for the coming days, but I figure being forthright with you will help today, at least” 

Leo shrugged, ���I mean its not like I can get very far anyway. That Tiger guy totally fucked up my leg!” 

That was another thing. Donnie was still gathering data, and it appeared that Leo had memories of the previous days, but just…different. 

Like someone had gone in and erased everyone else out and left him alone. It sounded…incredibly sad, actually. 

But Donnie still wrote it down in the notes he'd been keeping. It was important to remember what Leo could and could not remember. That their memories, while still more correct than Leo's, weren't that far off from his. 

“ yes, well, I'd have liked you to sleep in the med bay and be on bed rest for at least w week, but as it stands that would probably freak you out,” Donnie shrugged, “ and the montage idea seems to be working out,” 

“ Oh yeah that was great. I really felt like Drew Barrymore in the waters of Alaska,” Leo grinned, “ Except way less cold. And probably less seasick.”

He finished his cereal with a sigh and pushed the bowl away, “ so, what's the plan for today Family? I’d love to go back to with town and give that Tiger a piece of my mind-”

“ yeah, no. You're not going anywhere. You've got a fucked up leg, a concussion that I still have yet to fully check on, literally less than 50% of your actual memories, and I'm fairly sure less than 5 hours of sleep,” Donnie listed, “ so you're going to stay here with Raph. Who also probably didn't get much sleep,” 

Raph scoffed at that, but didn't argue. So yes, he most definitely hadn't slept. 

“ and me and Mikey are going to get the rest of the ingredients with Barry. So you two play nice and Leo, don't even think about running away,” He said pointedly, standing and heading for the door. He and Mikey had to get an early start after all. 

----

Hopefully my Lil brother doesn't take me to court again for this ( long story ) but I don't really like this part. I just didn't really know where I was going with it at any point, but that's kind of the idea of this whole au, so I'm not too upset by it.

Also Raph and Leo bonding time! Yay! These guys need a nap.

Also Leo not talking about the whole ' 5 hour staring at a red dot' thing is 100% on purpose, he definitely said ' listen I'm already kind of freaking out so pls don't make me talk about it ' . he'll discuss it later tho :)

Part 1 | Part 20 | Part 22

[magics-neptunes-things]

Mockingjay - Part 9

Hi guys!

New chapter for Mockingjay, you guys know the things now! Like the others I hope you will like it!

I don't know how many chapters it will have left to be honest, I received the question several times and I still don't know... Sorry?

Enjoy ♥

TW : Blood, death, fight, injuries, weapon.

Chapter before

Ona slept for several hours that night, but when she woke  up, she managed to make Lucy sleep too. She’s used to being up at night and sleeping during the day usually, just like an owl. But when she looks at what she did until now, Ona must admit that she hasn’t done a lot of things.

Well, she’s still alive, which is pretty good actually.

With Lucy asleep, Ona could let her mind go to Teagan for long hours. She can’t forgive herself for not being able to put the boy in security somewhere. She feels like she doesn’t deserve to be here and not him. It’s so unfair.

She is angry when she thinks about his death. She’s not sad anymore. Unlike when she lost Jana, she wants this time to get revenge for Teagan. Seth is dead thanks to Lucy, but Ona wants to make Camden pay.

That idea terrifies her. She’s not a violent person usually. But now, it’s different.

Ona kept her anger at a reasonable level while Lucy sleeps, though. She passed her time stroking Lucy’s face, redesigning without getting tired the features of her face. Lucy doesn’t seem to mind and hasn’t woken up, so Ona guessed that it was pleasant for the other girl too.

When Lucy finally stirs, the sun isn’t here for now. But they still have the fire keeping them warm and nice.

“Hi” Lucy says with her sleepy voice.

“Hi” Ona smiles, stopping her caresses. “Did you sleep well?”

“Better than since the beginning of the Games”

Ona lets Lucy sit and rub her eyes, but she doesn’t stop looking at her. She probably never finds Lucy as cute as right now. She wouldn’t be against a hug to be honest, but she doesn’t want to be too clingy. Or needy.

“Where were you sleeping until now?” Ona asks with curiosity.

“On the ground” Lucy shrugs. “We made our camp near the starting point. What about you?”

Ona nods before answering. She was right when she told Teagan that they shouldn’t pass straight by the starting point. They were maybe just unlucky to be seen by Seth and Camden.

“In the trees. We went to a house in the city at some point. And I think I slept in one of the big buildings at the beginning.”

“Where I saw you” Lucy says.

Ona nods one more time, even if it wasn’t a question. She remembers perfectly the way Lucy was suddenly in front of her, the fear she had to be discovered and killed. That moment only lasted one or two seconds, but it’s still massive in her mind.

“When Kayla said that she saw you going into the city, I was so scared. I knew I needed to find you first, otherwise they would have killed you. It was a massive relief to be the one finding you.”

Ona hums softly. It seems that she was lucky several times during the Games. She hopes that karma won’t charge her in exchange.

“I was lucky it was you” Ona concedes. “Just before I received chocolate, it would have been sad not to be able to eat it”

Lucy chuckles softly and grabs one of their bottles of water to drink a little bit. Ona hasn’t any chocolate left, Teagan and her have eaten them already.

“Did you receive a lot of things from the sponsor?” Lucy asks.

“Just some food the first day and the cream when I got hurt. What about you?”

“Some useful things”

Ona looks at Lucy when she stands up to go near the backpacks leaning against the cliff. Ona hasn’t realised until now that Lucy took advantage of her sleep to reorganise their stuff.

They have some food, the things Ona and Teagan have collected yesterday, and some things Ona thinks might come from Lucy’s or Camden and Seth’s backpack. There is bread, dried meat and even some fruits.

“We need to eat that today” Lucy comments while looking at a banana.

Ona hums softly, looking at Lucy grabbing other stuff from the backpack. There is a flashlight, the rope they used to get Ona out of the cliff, a lighter, some tape, several bottles of water, a lighter, several knives and the hammer which belonged to Seth or Camden, Ona doesn’t really remember.

“How do you feel?”

The question takes Ona out of guard, and she turns her head in Lucy’s direction. Lucy is looking at her with concern and Ona smiles softly.

“I’m okay, what about you?”

“I’m not the one injured here”

Ona rolls her eyes, making Lucy smile. The older girl gives Ona the banana she was looking at before, telling her to eat it. Ona obliges and keeps looking at Lucy. She can’t believe they are together again, but at the same time, Teagan’s death is still in her mind.

“You don’t have any injuries?” Ona asks, impressed.

“No” Lucy shrugs. “But there is nothing to be proud of. We were six at first.”

Ona hums once again. She looks at Lucy when the girl comes closer again from her, sitting next to her. She feels herself shiver when Lucy pushes the hoodie a little bit to discover her neck.

“What happened to you here?” Lucy asks, looking at the bites on Ona’s neck. “Did you get into a hot make out with someone else?”

Lucy is teasing her, and it makes Ona smile softly. She feels like it happened weeks ago, but it’s not so far away than that finally. The girl wasn’t aware that she still has the mark on her skin.

“I got bitten by a dreaming bee”

Lucy frowns and looks at the bite closer. Ona can feel her breath against her skin. She almost forgot how much her body can react to Lucy.

“I wasn’t aware that their bites look like this” Lucy comments softly. “Did you have fever and hallucinations?”

“No”

Ona shakes her head, eager to erase the concern and worry on Lucy’s pretty face.

“I had a dream, but that’s it”

“About what?”

Ona bites her lips softly. She wanted to tell her about her dream when she woke up that day, but she doesn’t know if it’s a good idea finally. She doesn’t want Lucy to take her for crazy.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to” Lucy assures her with the most caring voice.

“I want to. I just don’t want to look like a fool.”

“You won’t.”

Lucy seems sure about herself, so Ona decides to talk about it. Maybe it will make sense for Lucy too, after all. Ona takes a deep breath before opening her mouth.

“I dreamed about Jana” she explains softly.

“Oh. Did you dream about your life together? Like, before?”

“Not really” Ona smiles softly and shakes her head. “I excuse myself at first, for how things happened for her. But she told me that she had a happy life before everything happened and that she wouldn’t have chosen to make things differently if she could.”

Lucy nods softly, looking a little lost. But she doesn’t say anything, not wanting to interrupt Ona. Lucy is scared that Ona won’t explain everything to her if she cuts her in with her explanations. And she wants to know.

“She said that she had a happier life than a lot of the other tributes” Ona explains “And then we talked about you.”

“You did?”

Lucy tilts her head on the side, looking at Ona expectantly. That level of cuteness makes Ona beam, and the girl gets closer from Lucy, almost sitting in her lap.

“Yes. She told me that your family life is complicated and that you maybe are less happy than she was” Ona says slowly. “And then she said that it’s okay for her that you and I have something between us.”

Lucy bites her lips, seeming to be lost in her thoughts. Ona knows that this is a lot to process and that she still can take her for a mad woman. But Lucy is stroking her knee while thinking, which can only be good, right?

“My family is complicated” Lucy sighs softly. “My parents aren’t okay about my sexual identity. They wanted me to hide it and find a man to get married and have children”

Her face can say alone what Lucy thinks about it and Ona can’t help but chuckle softly.

“Jorge was the only one from my family to get over it. He fought against our parents for me, they didn’t want me to have a good link with my nephews. They were scared that I would corrupt them or something.”

“It’s stupid” Ona groans. “Like if it’s something contagious. I can’t believe that there are still people thinking that way now. A parent should love their kids no matter what.”

“I know” Lucy sighs. “But I didn’t want to make a fuss. I was too happy to be able to meet my niece and my nephew.”

Ona smiles sadly, cupping Lucy’s cheek with one of her hands. In her eyes, Lucy is perfect. She would love for Lucy’s parents to love her like she does. Because she deserves it.

“For me, you are the most perfect person I’ve ever met” Ona whispers softly.

“You are biassed” Lucy rolls her eyes.

She tries to play the girl who isn’t touched by Ona’s words, but the younger one knows better. She doesn’t want to push Lucy though, so she just snorts and says nothing else. She lets Lucy take her against her and play softly with her hair.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Ona asks after several minutes.

“I just… I mean… Do you…”

“Once at a time is enough” Ona laughs.

She tries to get out of Lucy’s embrace when Lucy tickles her ribs in revenge for her teasing, but Lucy doesn’t let her go.

“I’m trying to be serious here” Lucy says, tickling her one last time.

“Sorry” Ona giggles.

“I was scared a lot, during the first moments of the Games. I was scared that you thought I won’t go back to you at some point. And I was scared that something would happen to you before we could get together again.”

Ona looks at her, frowning softly. She wasn’t expecting that, to be honest. For her it was sure that Lucy will fight during all the Games with the teammates who were chosen for her.

“You never said that you wanted us to be reunited at some point” Ona says slowly.

“I know” Lucy sighs. “I needed everyone to believe it. Someone could have heard us if we had talked about it at the Capitol. I couldn’t take any risks, for me but for you too. My plan was to stay with Declan and the four others before killing them as soon as possible. Let’s say it wasn’t what happened.”

Ona hums softly. She feels a little selfish suddenly. Lucy consoled her about Teagan’s death, but Ona didn’t say anything about Declan.

“I’m sorry about Declan” Ona says softly before continuing when Lucy shrugs. “I was scared too. For you. I saw how they betrayed Declan. I was scared they would do the same thing to you.”

“I don’t know why they didn’t”

There is another silence, and Ona is practically sure that Lucy is asking herself the same thing that she is. Why haven’t they tried to kill Lucy? They were suddenly three against one. Camden, Kayla and Seth could have easily killed her. The thought only makes Ona shivers.

Of course, Lucy notices it.

“Hey now. We are together and it’s all it matters” she whispers before kissing her cheek.

But, feeling like they talked enough about their feelings, Lucy decides to take the conversation in a more practical subject.

“Did you only have that knife to fight?” Lucy asks.

“Yes. I would have loved to have a bow or even a crossbow, but I haven't even seen one since the beginning of the Games.”

“Lilith did find one” Lucy thinks out loud. “The bow must still be at the base, I think. Kayla and Camden prefer to fight with a weapon.”

“Is it a good idea to try getting it?”

Lucy bites her lip, thinking before talking. She doesn’t want to take any risks and put Ona in danger, especially with all of her injuries.

“I can try to go and grab it” Lucy finally says.

“Alone?”

Ona doesn’t have to say something else for Lucy to understand how stupid she finds that idea. She can read it in her eyes and on her face. It’s so deep that she could laugh if the situation wasn’t so serious.

“Yes?” Lucy answers cautiously.

“Don’t even dream about it.”

There is no discussion left in Ona’s tone once again and Lucy raises both of her hands in surrender.

“It was just an idea.”

“A stupid idea” Ona frowns. “We are finally together again. There is no way that we will take any risks to be separated again.”

“It works for me”

Lucy smiles at Ona, not wanting to let this little fight ruin their mood for now. She was almost sure that Ona would refuse it anyway.

“Did you see Tony at all during the Games?” Lucy asks with curiosity.

Ona shakes her head. She hasn’t seen a lot of people to be honest and the ones she saw are almost all dead.

“No… Did you?”

“At the beginning of the Games, yes. Then I went with the others, and I never saw him again. He killed at least two people during the bloodbath.”

Ona doesn’t answer anything, she just grimaces. She doesn’t know how to feel about Tony, to be honest. She didn’t like the way he acted since they left for the Capitol, but that doesn’t mean she wants him dead.

“It could be a good thing for you to have a bow, though.”

Lucy coming back to the first discussion turns Ona away from any thoughts about Tony. She doesn’t know that Lucy did it on purpose. She hates that guy.

“It could” Ona confirms. “Maybe we can try to craft one”

That is what they do for the rest of the day, trying to find the good wood to make a bow for Ona and some arrows. When they found the good material, they even started to craft some of them.

“I’m just going to look if there is something we can grab to eat” Lucy says at some point.

Ona hums softly, now looking for rocks who might be at the end of her arrows. Something in metal would be better, but hers are better than nothing. Ona is still a little bit jealous of Lilith’s bow though.

Several minutes later, Ona hears footsteps and turns in that direction, ready to see Lucy standing next to her. But there is no one. If she was in district 8, she would have thought that it’s a cat, but there are no cats here. 

Not even birds.

Ona stays still for a little bit, waiting for another noise, but nothing’s coming.

“Lucy?” Ona tries to call.

When she doesn’t have any answer, she decides to gather the few things they left on the ground and go to look for Lucy. She takes the same direction Lucy took, trying to figure where the older one could have gone.

“Lucy?”

The silence Is almost dizzying, and Ona starts to be worried. She starts to walk faster, looking around to find any sign of Lucy. It seems to her that she sees some branches and grass crushed, so she takes that way.

Ona walks for several minutes, her bow and the arrows she already crafted with Lucy in her hands. She doesn’t understand why she’s getting more and more nervous. Maybe because she can’t find Lucy, but she feels like there is something else.

She understands when she sees the scene in front of her eyes in one of the clearings of the forest.

Lucy is fighting against someone that Ona quickly recognizes as being Tony. And it’s nothing to say that Lucy is in a difficult position. Tony has a massive mace as a weapon and even if he’s bleeding from several parts of his body, it’s Lucy who seems the worst one.

Ona first instincts would have been to shout to Tony to leave Lucy alone, but she knows it won’t have any use.

So, with shaking fingers, she grabs her bow to place an arrow on it. Just like in the training, she takes a deep breath, keeps both eyes open and blocks her breath before shooting.

Her first arrow arrives in Tony’s arm, between his elbow and his shoulder. Ona doesn’t know if his scream is more from the surprise or the pain, but she doesn’t allow herself the time to think about it. She grabs another arrow and shoots again, aimed for his head this time.

The arrow finishes in his neck which is maybe a good thing finally. Her arrows aren’t strong enough to cross his body like metal arrows can do. Tony still bleeds abundantly and falls on the ground.

During this time Lucy managed to sit and crawl back away from him. Ona hesitates before shooting a third arrow, going for his back this time. And when she’s sure that he won’t come for them, she runs towards Lucy.

Tony isn’t dead, the cannon hasn’t sounded.

But she still wants to take Lucy away from here. Lucy groans in pain when Ona passes one of Lucy’s arms around her shoulders to help her walk away from here. Ona would have preferred to look at Lucy’s injuries here, but she knows that she needs to take Lucy to a safe place before doing it.

They take the way back to the mountain, Lucy groaning from time to time because of her injuries. She seems out of breath when she talks after several minutes.

“Ona… We need to slow down, please.”

“Not now. Come on, we have soon arrived”

It wasn’t true, Ona and Lucy knew it both. They only made half of the journey to find their cave in the mountain. Ona is glad to have been careful to look around this morning, because she wouldn’t have been able to find it back now. She was in a rather bad state yesterday.

It takes what seems to Ona to be an eternity before finally arriving. But she managed to drag Lucy there, making her sit next to the rest of the fire.

Lucy is paler than ever, but Ona takes it upon herself to not show Lucy how worried she is.

“Okay. Where are you in the most pain?”

Ona asks her question while taking out all the things they took from the forest today to put them next to their other things. She’s sure that fresh water will be needed to clean some of Lucy's skin.

“My stomach”

Ona was turning her back to Lucy, so she didn't see the other girl swallowing and closing her eyes before answering. But she still realises how weak Lucy’s voice is. Ona kneels next to Lucy.

“Can I?” she asks, taking a part of Lucy’s shirt in her hand.

Lucy nods and Ona shivers when she sees the wound on Lucy’s stomach. It’s pretty deep and because of Tony’s weapon, the wound doesn’t have a regular form.

“I’m going to clean it, okay?”

Lucy nods and closes her eyes, even if she flinches when Ona presses a little bit on it.

“I’m sorry” Ona whispers.

When the bleeding is finally stopped, Ona wraps the tape she got at the beginning of the Games around Lucy’s waist. She puts back Lucy’s shirt to look at the different other parts of Lucy’s body. She would have given anything to have disinfectant here and make sure Lucy doesn’t take any virus or bacteria.

She wasn’t waiting for Lucy to look at her when she looked away from Lucy’s arm she just cleaned too. But Lucy was looking at her and the intensity of her gaze made her blush.

“You’re so beautiful” Lucy whispers.

Ona blushes harder but smiles softly, putting her hand on Lucy’s forehead.

“Do you have a fever?”

She is in fact a little hot, but the older girl doesn’t seem to have any interest in this information.

“Don’t joke with it. You saved my life. And you’re beautiful. And I… I love you, Ona. I’m so in love with you.”

There is so much intensity in these words that Ona couldn’t have any hesitation about Lucy’s sincerity, even if she wanted to. She can’t help but smile, putting a finger on Lucy’s lips.

“You saved me first. And I’m not only talking about the Games” Ona whispers, carefully putting her forehead against Lucy’s. “You are my light in the dark. And, by the way, you don’t have the right to die now.”

“Why?” Lucy whispers back.

“Because I love you too.”

Chapter After

[another-lost-mc]

hiii could i request how you think the characters with reptile like demon forms would react to an mc that's really scared of snakes? (we get a lot of wild venomous ones where i live and I've been terrified of them since i was little)

like for example if either levi or barbatos tails suddenly touched my leg without warning id probably jump out of my skin thinking it was a snake crawling up my leg and then id have to apologise profusely because i wouldn't want to hurt their feelings 😭

pet snakes are fine as long as like. they're in their enclosure or im not touching them, id probably think henry 1.0 was cool to watch in his enclosure but would be too scared to hold him so i feel like levi would not like me for a bit </3 barbatos might be understanding since he's scared of rats

A/N: I've always pictured Mephisto with a tail seeing how the RAD sports event played out in Lesson 68, so I'm including him in this.

LEVIATHAN, BARBATOS and MEPHISTOPHELES

0.6k words | SFW | gn!Reader

Warnings: anxiety, insecurities, developing relationships (romantic or platonic in nature, your choice).

You inform them right from the start, "I have a fear/phobia of snakes," but some of the demons hear, "I don't like snakes." They might not understand what the big deal is or take it seriously. Okay, sure, the Devildom serpents might be a bit bigger or deadlier than their human world counterparts, but it's not like they'll let you get eaten or anything!

When you first arrive, the ones with reptilian tails sort of glance at their tails and back to you and shrug. What are the chances you'll see their real forms very often, let alone be in a position where you might actually touch them?

Levi is the first one to scoff and act like you and his tail have zero business being near each other. Fast forward to a few weeks later when you're both asleep in his tub after watching a streamer marathon on DevilTube. He's not sure how it happened but he shifted into his demon form during the night—at least partially—and woke up to you screaming and scrambling from the tub. It's not his fault his tail ended up curled around your leg! (Wait, why did it do that?) That's not important! He tries to blame you at first for being scared to begin with, then he blames himself for being even more disgusting and off-putting to you. He's going to feel embarrassed and a bit guilty about it, but it's going to take a while to get him calm enough to have an actual discussion about what happened. He'll be nervous sharing a tub with you after that because he can't promise it won't happen again, but he really likes cuddling with you...maybe he can put a body pillow between you? He'll brainstorm ideas to try and keep the accidental tail-wrapping to a minimum, and if he does go into his demon form on purpose, he's careful to keep it away from you.

Barbatos has even less reason to believe that you'll have any reason to come into contact with his tail. He doesn't like it when others touch his tail on the best days, and he trusts that you can keep your hands to yourself. He's very conscious about what his winged horns and tail are up to when he's carrying out duties in his true form. You've walked together before without any issues, and he makes sure that his tail flicks away from you to avoid any mishaps. He can't explain what happened the day you were walking through the Demon Lord's castle together. You yelled suddenly and he thought you saw a rat with how upset you sounded. He's not sure why one of the forks of his tail tried to slither around your wrist. (Later on he'll ruminate about how that was even possible—he should've caught himself before that even happened.) He apologizes profusely and masks his own embarrassment over the incident. He might avoid using his true form around you for a while after that to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Mephisto sees your issues with reptiles as something you need to deal with, and it doesn't concern him at all. It's not like he plans on spending more time around you than necessary, and certainly not in his true form. If that means seeing even less of you so you can avoid him, even better. Later, after he's eaten his words and you're almost friendly, you finally see his tail. It's not as long or scaly as Levi's, and it's not...wet...like Barbatos', but it's still snake-ish enough to give you goosebumps the first time you see it. He stands a few paces away from you, his true form on full display, but there's something vulnerable in his eyes even though he keeps his head tipped up defiantly. He braces himself for disgust or fear and he's not sure why anxiety gnaws in his gut when he waits for your approval. It's a positive sign that you don't run from the Newspaper Club office in terror. You offer him a smile to let him know you're fine if he wants to stay that way since you trust him to keep his parts away from you. (He lets out a deep breath he didn't realize he was holding when you turn away to continue sorting documents, and he remains in his true form—to help you get used to it, obviously.)

[iknowher]

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀i miss you, i'm sorry ೀ

──ㅤ🤍ㅤ۫ㅤ ͏cheater! gojo who isn't loyal at all 𓉸ㅤ۫ㅤwc.ㅤ:ㅤ1,618 reader's note.ㅤ:ㅤit's quite rushed and short. also it's my first post so requests and constructive criticism is highly appreciated!!

it started with him telling you that he’d be on a mission. you didn’t think he’d be gone for that long. you checked the last time he was here. it’s been approximately 1 week, 4 days and 9 hours. you gave up trying to wait, it was miserable without him home. you decided to text him.. you, 07:24 pm: hey you, 07:24 pm: when are you coming home ??

… no answer. he’d usually respond within minutes— usually seconds. you text him again.. quite desperate now. you, 07:30 pm: gojo you, 07:31 pm: please answer you, 07:36 pm: hellooooo? ! ! ! after a few minutes, a notification sound came from your phone. you got a little dopamine rush, hoping it was gojo. and thank god, it was.. satoru ml ❤️, 07:41 pm: god do you ever shut up satoru ml ❤️, 07:41 pm: you’re so clingy i’m actually sick of you huh? you double-checked the contact name in hopes it wasn’t gojo.. but it really was gojo. you felt confused, why was he acting like this.. like a dick? you felt your eyes swell up. suddenly, yuki texted you. you didn’t feel any more energy to text anyone anymore— but you decided to open it anyway. yuki girlboss duhh, 07:50 pm: um hey girl.. you might wanna see this yuki girlboss duhh, 07:51 pm: (attachment added)

you opened the attachment, feeling your fingers shake. as soon as you open it, you felt a pang of disgust course throughout your body. the picture showcased gojo in a white suit— wait, holy shit.. is that a prada blazer..? you could just tell that his whole outfit probably costed thousands. his hair looked more well-kept than usual.

and there was a girl sitting at the same table as him, she probably also wore an expensive dress.. but you couldn’t really care less. the only thing you cared about was him basically cheating on you. you heard rumors about gojo being a player in highschool, but he was so charismatic— so you decided to ignore it. big mistake. you were so stubborn. literally everyone warned you.. however, you just ignored it. you, 08:02 pm:  oh. ty

shit, you hadn’t realized it but you were on the couch, crying till all your mascara was drooping on your cheeks. you were.. ugly crying.

you were watching your favorite show, 13 reasons why.. you probably rewatched it 4 times by now. and to add onto your already bad mood— you were playing I miss you, I’m sorry in the background.

though your phone was on mute, you couldn’t help but check if anyone texted you. unfortunately gojo did. Satoru Gojo, 01:10 pm: sorry that i said that Satoru Gojo, 01:12 pm: but i have to be real, we should break up … you were torn about insulting him or blocking him— but luckily, you took the more mature route. you, 01:13 pm: kay. why though? within seconds, he responded

Satoru Gojo, 01:13 pm: let’s be honest. this isn’t working. I’m busy and i don't see us continuing as a couple. i’m really sorry you clench your jaw before letting out a scoff, you knew damn well his ass was with another girl, having the time of his life.

you, 01:13 pm: shut the fuck up *you blocked this contact number. tap to unblock* nevermind. you took the immature route you felt the next stage of a breakup, anger and resentment. you opened your instagram, me_and_gojo it was an account where you posted basically all your lively moments with him, gojo. you changed your username to: me_and_myself before taking a good hour or so to delete every post, cleaning everything up. you looked at his account, though there were no posts of him and that girl— you still felt spiteful. you blocked his instagram account too.

…after a couple hours, you woke up at 6 am or so. you rubbed your eyes, seeing that the tv was playing a random movie recommended by netflix. you grabbed the remote, turning it off before grabbing your phone again.. but this time, it was geto, gojo’s best friend. geto, 05:32 am: hey girlieee geto, 05:32 am: i heard you broke up with gojo. I’m rlly sorry for that (i personally think gojo’s in the wrong for that) geto, 05:33 am: but anyway, he wanted his stuff back from your house.. I think he’s moving somewhere else? you let out a sigh, knowing that you’d have to talk or atleast see gojo again you, 06:05 am: oh. alright. you, 06:05 am: when is he coming exactly? geto responds in a few minutes

geto, 06:11 am: he says he can come in an hour or so geto, 06:11 am: just to lyk, i hope you can recover a faint smile appears on your face, but it quickly disappears as you see in the phone reflection how your makeup basically got ruined.. damn, i should invest in some waterproof makeup, you thought to yourself. you quickly head upstairs to your room, grabbing some micellair water and a cotton pad before rubbing it on your face, your makeup disappearing in a couple seconds. as soon as you finish, you hear the doorbell ring. that must be gojo. you felt dread, not wanting to see gojo’s stupid ass face after everything that happened. you hurried downstairs, before opening the door to see gojo, standing casually in front of your house. you felt his six eyes stare at your face. you tried to hide your expression of disgust.. but you could tell he knew you weren’t happy with him being home. he waved awkwardly, ‘’hey, i guess.’’ you ignored him, giving him the silent treatment as he walked in. ‘’oh.. I see, not being very talkative today, eh?’’ he lets out a dumb chuckle. everything that made you love him gave you the ick now. ‘’just.. do your thing.’’ you mumble under your breath. you notice him carrying a couple of big boxes, but even with that— you knew it wouldn’t be enough. ‘’eh alright. it’s gonna take some time, though.’’ he emphasized. as he walked nearby you, you could smell his jean paul gaultier cologne.

the moment you smelled it, you felt dizzy because of how strong it was. highkey, it was suffocating. you made a face of disgust, but you quickly turned around and sat on the couch, looking at him as he walked upstairs with an empty box— and in a few minutes he was downstairs with a full box you were unsure that could even be taped shut. this process continued for more than an hour, until he finally spoke up. ‘’hey, i’m done now. have a good life, alright?’’ he says before walking out the door. you quickly waddled to lock the door and head upstairs, curious how the room you first shared looked like now. you never noticed that most of the stuff in the house was from gojo. everything was and looked so empty— it didn’t feel homey anymore. fast forward to a few months or maybe a year later, you still weren’t really over it yet. honestly, even though gojo was annoying as shit, he fulfilled a spot in your heart nobody could.

he was arrogant, sure, but he could also be an absolute sweetheart at times— and let’s not forget the time when he spoiled you at your birthday. you felt so lucky to be his girlfriend.

maybe, just maybe, you wouldn’t find anybody like gojo again. all your friends told you, ‘’girl there are so many fish in the sea’’ and all that bullshit. but, you also knew, if he was really your soulmate— he wouldn’t have cheated in the first place.

after your initial breakup, you couldn’t really care to take care of your looks, usually having messy hair and little to no makeup each day you went to work. maybe being single would be better, cause then you wouldn’t have any heartbreak anymore.

until one day that you walked out the door, deciding to walk to work, it wasn’t that far from your place anyway. you saw geto, but you noticed that he looked kind of.. sad? and he didn’t even care to put his hair up into a bun.

you stopped him in his tracks, wanting to greet him. ‘’hey geto.’’ you smile awkwardly as he glances up at you. ‘’oh. hi.’’ he says, trying to act polite.

‘’eh.. what’s up?’’ you ask him, wanting to know the reason behind his dampened mood. ‘’oh.. you haven’t heard?’’

‘’gojo died.’’ those two words felt like a truck crashing into your heart. ah.. you hated him, sure, but you didn’t exactly want him to die.

‘’huh.. when.. why?’’ you ramble, before geto interrupts you. ‘’well he died, like, a couple days ago. and why? meh.’’ geto shrugs in a nonchalant way. ‘’he died because of a mission. he was being kind of cocky— he thought he’d be able to kill sukuna.’’ you cut him off, wondering how he could’ve died— i mean. he has infinity, six eyes.. he’s basically immortal. right?‘’hold on— how?’’ ‘’hey, i don’t know either.’’

and from that day forward, you had to live with curiosity. who was that girl he was on a date with? how did he even die? but deep down, you knew you would never get an answer on any of your questions. you unblocked him, just to send one, last, message.

you, 06:03 pm: i miss you you, 06:03 pm: i’m sorry. *this contact number has been deleted, your message could not be delivered*

ㅤ🗝ㅤwork belongs to @ iknowher﹐do not plagiarize my work !

[futuristicanoe]

a true believer

venus, looking in the mirror — is she covering herself with the fur, or is she opening the fur to reveal more?

mature themes & nsfw content, mental health issues. [ sub al <3 drinking & smoking mention. a bit messy. ]

Alex is standing in front of a mirror.

It is a tall thing, firmly holding onto the wall. He feels nervy, overwhelmed with the need to scratch his throat from the inside for a few seconds before he calms down and pulls up the zipper of his boot. He has only put on the left one, and the fact irks him all of a sudden. He always puts on the right shoe first.

Alex slumps down in his armchair, next to the mirror.

The white undershirt he is wearing remains to be the only thing that feels comfortable at the moment. The rest of it clings to his skin like a fever.

Yesterday was not good, last night — even worse. He drank a bit, got soppy then sloppy, and at some point he had, apparently, opened his closet and taken everything he found there, scattering the neatly folded clothes all over his bed. It was a mess, and not even a beautiful one, not the kind of mess that makes you want to stare and stare till it hurts to blink. It felt more like looking at the table after a giant supper. The flashy evidence of distorted humanity is so clear in every inch of the scene that it could ruin a nerve ending or two. He had grimaced, confused with himself. Frustration and the wine he had before raising up in his throat...

Something has surely gone wrong, he had thought.

And when he woke up in the morning with a dull ache pressing into him, writhing behind his eyes, he just pinched the bridge of his nose and went to take a shower. It went smoothly afterwards. He put on the bathrobe that is acknowledged only when he can't find anything else to wear and grabbed a cigarette.

Now, that is where a line should be drawn. More specifically — or, preferably — a telephone line.

As if bound by a seemingly useless string of telepathy, you called him. He answered, which is classified as one of the better directions that interaction could have gone in, but he sounds way too distant for your liking.

(You ask him if everything is okay, and he says, "Yeah." It is just a low grumble that does nothing special or nice to your worried state.

"Alex?" You say, and he has to pull his phone away for a second so he doesn't accidentally hear more of your words, your gentle voice. He is not entirely sure he deserves it at all.

"It's okay," he answers.)

Alex is wearing his black slacks here, now. Worn, slightly too big for him, but they look great. He lets his head fall back. What was he thinking about just a few minutes ago?

Did he tell you? No. Surely he didn't write it down either, but it was something good. Oh...

What a pity.

Luckily, he does not have time to start overthinking this time.

He freezes suddenly, perking up at the dim noises of footsteps echoing through the house.

They get closer, slower, then stop abruptly.

He lets out a gentle breath. It's you. It's you getting ready to knock on his bedroom door, probably pressing your lips together and letting your knuckles hover over the door. The door, which has been left slightly open, actually, but you know it does not mean that you should just push it open without knocking first. For some odd reason, he often forgets to close doors like a normal human being.

It is impossible to remember who came up with it, but you remember laughing when someone joked about how his inability to close doors properly could be the reason he is at home all the time.

("Been gettin' way too used to elevators, haven't I?" He had joked back, pressing a smirk into the rim of his glass. Is that funny, or is he just sweet?)

"Come in." His voice feels scratchy in his throat, just like the sound of you opening the door, letting yourself in.

There is one thing to feel nice about; he looks calm. You smile at him.

"Hello, Alex."

He smiles back. Soft, in every sense of the word. Hair a bit tousled and mussy from the shower, jaws soft and more or less clean-shaven, while his chin and moustache remain prickly. This is the way of life he has found the most suitable lately. Slightly stubbly with a troubled face, his eyes blinking slowly, a few strands of pretty hair dancing over his forehead. As his bony fingers silently squirm over his piano, just to feel how smooth the tiles are. Flawless.

"Was just getting dressed."

You nod, moving over to sit on the bed.

"Going somewhere?" You ask. The question is genuine, soft on your tongue. Even though you already know the answer to it.

Alex laughs at that, but it is short-lived. His face slowly relaxes again when you don't laugh along with him. He bites his lip and shakes his head slowly. "No."

You smile again. He envies that sometimes, the way you can smile so effortlessly. An awkward laugh is the most he can do lately. Maybe he will just settle on trying to make you laugh, then.

"That looks nice," you say and look at his legs. The black fabric is draped over him so... carelessly. Flawless. "Old?"

"Yes." He touches his bottom lip with two fingers, fidgeting and staring at the criss-cross stripes on the wall. "But it's not– didn't even need ironing or anything."

You hum. "Where were you last night?"

He stills. "Home."

"Here?"

"Here," he agrees and looks over at you. He is avoiding your gaze this whole time. There is a particular shade of comfort all over the wooden floor, which he can never seem to catch unless he is avoiding somebody's gaze. "Where were you?"

"Had to take care of some family stuff. A matter of urgency, as it always is." You accidentally pull on the skin around your nail too harshly, letting your downward gaze meet a lively drop of blood. "Meant to call you earlier."

Alex nods, "It's okay," he says.

It is easy to get past it. You've heard him say that phrase far too many times. It is kind of losing its meaning. "Are you?"

"Maybe it's not okay..." He looks you in the eye properly. "But it's..."

"Tell me." Your sweet voice breaks the silence. Gently, quietly like a vase falling, shattering on the floor and making sure the flowers land safely.

"I love how you do it," he says. "The openness, I suppose. Don't have to crack you open to know what it's inside. You are just always... there. Where I never seem to be." Silence. "It's as if I am in a dream- and I can't get the words out of me mouth no matter how much I mean them, you know?"

"Alex."

"Yes?"

"Do you want me here?"

His eyes are slightly watery. You continue speaking before he can answer the question.

"I saw you in my dream, actually. Think it was last night..." You get up from the bed, leaving your bag there and standing over him with your hands crossed behind your back. Just a habit.

"Really?" Alex sounds blissfully distracted for a moment.

"Yes. You didn't see me, though."

"Oh." He looks almost apologetic. "What did I do, then?"

"Nothing that I can recall, really. But you were there. It was a special moment." You look down at him. The way one socked foot is resting almost elegantly on the carpet, while the other one is in a completely different state. Precious.

The next thing comes naturally, almost as a reflex. Not that you remember ever doing it before. "We were here, I think. You, looking in the mirror," you say, slowly lowering yourself down on the floor. Kneeling like a true believer, who doesn't even know what they believe in, but there is truth to be found in most things, and some of those are just meant to be treated with love first, before any soul-searching can begin. "I don't remember where I was..." You put a hand on his knee. "But this is quite nice now."

Alex chuckles, covering his amusement with a hand over his face. You reach for his ankle, running your fingers over the sock with a pleased expression on your face. It feels soft, almost velvety, and you gently press your thumb against the smoothness. He shivers as you trap his ankle in place when he instinctively tries to move.

"Love–"

"Hush..." you kiss his thigh. "Need to put this on you, too, now that I'm finally here."

Alex grips the waistline of his pants, which is tight over his soft tummy. He lets a thumb rest beneath it, bending it at the knuckle.

You are too busy picking up the boot, adoring the way it gleams with elegance and something derived from madness. There is a tender tremor in your hands that you have not felt for a long time. It makes him feel like an animal. But not like one of the animalistic kind. This is not about anything carnivorous or — what is this print – reptilian? It is sort of silly. When it comes down to subconscious needs, a great fucking conversation might cure him for a decade, but nobody should enforce epiphanies.

You can not force a flower to bloom, isn't that what they say? Kind of odd to think like that now. But then again, that is something you both are very good at.

Gently, you zip up the boot.

"You are so..." he murmurs. His voice is low, rumbling, almost cute. Very cute.

"Go on." You nudge him, your legs touching his boots as you lean forwards to brace yourself on his lap. With an elbow pressing into his thigh now, the words come way more comfortably.

"Fuck..." he has gone all sorts of wobbly. Rapid heartbeat ripples through his veins like a bad memory at the sound of his own shaky voice.

You frown, then glance down at his hand. "Oh, baby..." The trousers are taut over his groin, digging into him. Cruel, but smooth. You kiss the shape of him that's beginning to show through the fabric.

Only the sound of your soft sigh holds the room together. He is not even breathing. As if you have gotten so close that he does not need to breathe himself, and can just rely on your mouth smearing wet kisses over his trousers to ground him. It's only when you look up, with your lips gently touching him, that Alex lets himself peek through his fingers to catch your gaze, willing it to make his lungs jolt to life again.

You chuckle against him and decide to be mean because you can do that here, holding his ankle down as you think of another way to ruin him. You bite his thigh, not even bothering with pulling your hair back and surely tasting nothing but warmth and fabric, but when he cries out, it is the sweetest thing that has ever existed in the same world as you.

Alex grabs the back of your head with a trembling hand. "Don't–"

You pull away without making it seem as if the touch on your nape is unpleasant. Instead, you gently grasp his wrist. "What is it?"

He tries to squeeze his thighs together.

"Nothing- don't let me go, or think, not now..."

"Think about what, Al?"

"Just want to be here, with you." He drops his head to the side, trying to avoid your gaze, but nearly shuddering in defeat when he finds his own eyes in the mirror. "Please."

You slide your thumb over his boot, silently admiring the texture.

"Watch yourself." You say, "think about how lovely you look."

He shakes his head. A fuzzy curl falls on his forehead almost innocently, and he shuts his eyes tightly, as if it hurts. Just like how he scrunches his face up when he is trying to find the perfect word to end his sentence with, or when your fingers are inside him and your shushed sweet nothings become part of a memorable moment.

"You are so wet, aren't you?" You whisper the words into his tummy, feeling his pulse under your cheek, your chin gently pressing on him.

"Mhm."

"Really?" You smile, happy with his little noise. Your fingers reach up to his face, caressing his scruffy chin before gently dipping a finger into his slack mouth. "Here?"

Alex whines, squirming.

You feign confusion and frown back at him. "Don't think I can trust you to speak the truth, dear. You are drooling over me." There is stickiness clinging to your finger when you pull it away, and you let him see it. "Many things your mouth is good for, but this is just pure sweetness. Wish you were looking at yourself now."

He closes his mouth, licking his lips lazily. "I don't want that." He sighs. "'s wearing me out."

You feel something tug on your bones, urging you to comfort him. Or slap him across the face. "It's okay," he will say, still. "It's alright."

"Then, what is this for, Al?" Your voice is soft, soothing his thoughts like a balm, as you touch the leather of his shoe, the silky material of his pants — it's difficult to feel anything but love. Keeping something so special like his vulnerability in your heart has to make a tear fall down your cheek, but you feel yourself growing needy just from looking at him. His hazy eyes, the way he looks stubborn and grumpy even when he would happily let you eat him up.

"I was just trying to remember. Being somewhere else..."

"So, why would you try going back?" You kiss him again, tracing cute patterns with your fingers over his thigh. "Stop trying to chase old memories. There is always a reason for it if they keep slipping away from you."

"Like what?" When did that angry shadow appear on his face?

You don't like that, so you pull on his waistband with a firm grip until his back arches. "You want me here, no?"

Alex nods swiftly. Warmth pools in his belly as his lips are trembling, gone all glossy like his eyes.

"There is always the wrong way to do a good thing." You put your fingers over the zipper of his trousers, waiting for another quick nod before pulling it down.

"I know that," he whispers and shifts his hips.

"Of course you do," you say, as you pull him out, intently listening to his soft hisses when you move your hand around him. You hum, content with the way he feels in your hand. Needy. Thick. "You are all sticky. Maybe I can trust you to know things, hm?"

Alex bucks up into your touch, shuddering as he moans softly.

"Is that a yes?"

He nods.

"That's a good boy."

You don't look up; he does not want to be looked at, so you stare in the mirror instead.

The jittery warmth that often fogs your brain lives somewhere inside him, you realise. Whether it is the pink tint over his cheeks, or his eyes going slightly wider when you say something particularly satisfying, it is dizzying.

He is beautiful. Like a painting, but not the famous one. Not the kind of painting you would see on the TV or in some old magazine, but the kind that people would judge, as if it was done just for them, and they have the right to demand corrections. Too showy, too raw,

head tilted back and mouth open, — his Adam's apple looks even sharper from the side. The arm of his chair hides where your fingers are working over him.

What a pity.

It is only a matter of seconds before you catch his gaze in the mirror.

It doesn't last long. He twitches in your palm, and a little whine escapes his throat as warmth coats your fingers, dripping down onto his trousers.

His thighs tense under your arms and you grab him with your free hand again, cradling his ankle lovingly. It keeps him calm this time, instead of riling him up like before.

There is a feeble moment of peace.

Alex looks absolutely indecent, even after you tuck him back in his trousers. Not before pressing a little kiss to his soft cock, of course. He might have snorted at that, somewhat surprised by the intimacy or how good it felt — being treated like a precious thing.

His hand comes down to brush your hair back.

"Thank you," he says. "Needed you."

You rest your head on his knee, letting out a sigh. It has been a weird couple of days. Blurry moments, shaky mornings ending with you passing out on the couch, stubbing the cigarette out just in time so you don't accidentally burn your house down. Your eyes grow heavy, and you hold in another sigh.

"Have I tired you out?" His question is gently folded like an envelope, full of carefully chosen words.

"No," you murmur against him. "I was already tired."

Alex tangles his fingers in your hair, rubbing your scalp sweetly. "I would suggest a nap, but the bed looks busy, doesn't it?"

You agree with a slow nod. "I did not know you still owned so many colours."

"And I still picked something so..." He looks at the criss-cross stripes on the wall to find the perfect word. He says, "Funereal. Must be something wrong with me."

"Wanna shower?" You ask.

"I think-" He laughs at the way your tired mind does not even register his words. "No, yeah, I don't think so. I showered just before you got here. The back of me head still feels pretty wet."

"How about a bath? I can wash your hair properly."

He traces his teeth with the tip of his tongue, considering the idea.

You are technically curled around his leg, an image of pure exhaustion. Absentmindedly caressing his calf, not caring for the cold floor beneath your knees... It fascinates him how you seem absolutely eager to please, always.

He is glad to be here. Even if filthy at the moment, his mind is perfectly slow. No racing thoughts pinching and pressing into his brain, no need to stare at the furniture and analyse the day before. He looks in the mirror again, his gaze immediately dropping to you. Your hair has gone all messy, your lips a lovely shade of red.

Alex notices the little spot on your finger and looks back down at you. Still keeping up the bad habit, he thinks, as he observes the tender skin and the similarities between the two of you.

You snap out of your dreamy daze when he grabs your wrist, caressing the bone and loving how he knows the reason you aren't wearing your favourite ring is that it makes your hands feel too cold on windy days. He smiles at your wide-eyed face before leaning down, kissing your nose.

A/N: dedicated to/inspired by/basically everything — goblinontour. <3333

[lovely-showtimes]

out on the balcony . . . ♡

characters - tsukasa, emu, nene, rui.

type - scenario.

contains - gn reader. reader having a nightmare while at a sleepover with wxs and is pretty freaked out by it, but no details of it are specified. reader is stated to be a big fan of jellyfish in rui's so i'm very sorry if you do not like them!

a/n - haven't been having the best of times lately, so i decided to write this. based on a daydream i've been having w/ these 4 ever since i got into project sekai pretty much. enjoy <3

You jolt awake in the middle of the night, your heart pounding in your chest. Your sweaty palms desperately grip your blanket as you try to make sense of where you are and what's real.

That... That was a dream, right? You think, exhaling deeply. I'm... I'm not in there. I'm with my friends now.

Quietly as possible, you roll onto your side to look at the other four. They're all fast asleep, snoring peacefully (some of them louder than others). Somehow, knowing that they're here beside you calms you a little.

But this living room, despite being massive, still felt way too stuffy to you. Making sure to not awaken your friends, you carefully get up and stumble away.

Emu's house was definitely way too large, and even though you've been here a couple times before, you still felt utterly lost. After blankly wandering about for a few moments, you finally manage to find a balcony overlooking the city.

The cool night air hits your face as you step out onto the balcony. It's a little chilly to be out here in only your pajamas, but you don't care about that right now.

Looking up, you can see the stars twinkling high above in the sky. There's something grounding about watching them like this, and you can forget about your nightmare for a while.

You're not sure how long you're out there, it feels like hours and minutes at the same time. Soon enough, however, you hear someone softly call your name from behind. You turn around and...

You're suddenly met with the warmth of a blanket wrapping around your shoulders, immediately causing you to feel warm and snug.

"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here like this," Tsukasa lightly scolds you. "It's important that you stay healthy! I would hate for you to become sick."

You stare at him blankly for a few moments, shocked to even see him here in the first place (how does he not get lost in Emu's labyrinth of a house??), before realising you should probably say something.

"Um, thanks." You smile awkwardly, holding onto the blanket to make sure it doesn't fall off of you. "Do you just... carry a blanket around with you?"

Tsukasa chuckles lightly and shakes his head. "No, no. When you got up to leave, you accidentally nudged my arm a bit and woke me up. I thought you were just getting a glass of water or something, but you didn't come back for ages so I decided to come find you!"

Tsukasa folds his arms and frowns. "But then I found you out here, and... Listen, if you want some time alone, that's fine! I'll go back to the others! I just didn't want you to be cold, because I could see you shivering..."

You didn't realise you had been that cold in the first place. You barely noticed the cold, you'd been so wrapped up in your own thoughts.

"I'd actually quite like it if you stayed out here with me, if that's okay." You speak softly, gaze averted in embarrassment. It's such a simple request, but for some reason, you feel guilty asking for it.

"Of course that's okay!" Tsukasa declares, placing his hands on his hips with a grin. "I'd be more than happy to stay out here with you for however long you want!"

He strides over and leans on the balcony beside you. You both stand in silence for a few moments, and you wonder if you should say something. Do I tell him about the nightmare? Maybe it's best if I just keep it in...

You glance at him out of the corner of your eye, only to notice him staring up at the night sky above. He has a small, content smile on his face as he gazes upwards.

He looks so much calmer than usual. You didn't know he liked stars so much.

Without thinking, you shuffle over and lean your head on his shoulder. Somehow, he feels softer and warmer than the blanket swaddling you.

"Hm?" Tsukasa turns to you in surprise, before he soon relaxes again and wraps his arm around your shoulder, bringing you in close.

A sigh of relief escapes your lips as you relax against him. Being in his presence like this is making you feel so much more at ease than before. Your eyes begin to droop closed as the two of you stand together, your nightmare long forgotten.

"Oh, Emu. Hi."

The short pink-haired girl stands in the entryway, her head tilted to the left ever-so-slightly. She bounces on her feet ever-so-slightly as she rushes to you, skidding to a halt in front of the railing.

"You're awake!" She exclaims, wide eyes studying you carefully. "Aren't you super sleepy right now?"

"Not really." A yawn cuts in between your words, as if to prove you wrong. "I can't sleep."

Emu stays silent for a few moments. You feel like her bright pink eyes are going to stare right into your mind and pluck out your secrets for all to see.

"Okay. I'll wait until you're tired, then." Her forearms come up to rest on the railing, on which she rests her head.

You open your mouth to object, to tell her that it's fine and she should just go back to bed, but you realise you want her company. You turn to face the view once again.

The two of you stay silent for a while. It's not usually like this with Emu - she's always quite talkative. But right now, she's not saying a thing.

She's probably just tired, you reason with yourself. I doubt she's used to being up this late, unlike... some other people I know.

That's when she speaks up again to prove you wrong. You really feel like she's reading your mind or something.

"Do you wanna see something cool?"

You turn your head slightly. "Uh, sure. What is it?"

"Follow me!" Emu beams and takes your hand, leading you off the balcony.

You have to follow her for quite a while. You don't think you'll ever get used to this place, and you have to wonder if Emu ever feels lost in it herself.

Eventually, she starts leading you up some stairs into what appeared to be an attic. Emu hops up some precarious-looking stairs and opens a small window to the roof. She grins, beckoning you over.

"E-Emu, is this safe...?" You question, feeling apprehensive as you cautiously climb the stairs.

She nods enthusiastically. "Don't worry! I've done this plenty of times! You'll be just fine~!"

You don't have a choice except to trust her. You carefully climb the stairs and look through the window, where Emu has climbed through.

You're at a fairly high point of Emu's home, although not quite the highest. You're on a flat roof, with walls surrounding it so that neither of you would accidentally fall off.

"Oh," you murmur, climbing out and standing on the roof beside her.

Emu collapses on a couple pillows and blankets she has positioned on the roof and smiles at you invitingly. "Come sit!"

You take a seat beside her as she lays down and points at the sky. "Look! You can see the stars super well!"

Upon lying down as well, you realise she's right. The stars look even more beautiful from up here, and you love it.

"I wish I knew more stuff about stars," Emu sighs. "One of my friends loves them! I like listening to her talk, but she has such a calming voice that it makes me sleepy..."

You glance at her out of the corner of your eye. "I know a few constellations, if you'd like to learn, maybe?"

Emu's eyes sparkle in joy. "Yes, yes!! I'd love that!!"

You smile softly, before turning your attention to the sky and pointing. "Okay, see those up there? That's Ursa Minor..."

As you start to talk about the different constellations in the sky, Emu's gaze briefly wanders to you, and the content smile on your face.

They don't look so sad anymore, she thinks gleefully as she turns her attention back to the sky.

"Nene? What are you doing awake?"

The green-haired girl hesitates in the doorway, as if she's thinking carefully.

"I could ask you the same thing," she responds. "I just got up to get some water. Why are you out here?"

You feel pretty reluctant to tell her about your nightmare. It sounds embarrassing in your head to tell someone you had a nightmare, as if you were a child. You grow uncomfortable as your gaze drifts to your feet.

"...Can't sleep." Is what comes out of your mouth.

"So, you had a nightmare." Nene cuts in immediately, as if seeing right through you.

You clear your throat in embarrassment and turn away. You didn't expect her to figure it out so quickly. Was it that obvious?

Nene takes a couple steps closer. "Usually whenever I have a nightmare, I like to play some games for a while before I go back to sleep. It helps me get my mind off of it."

You glance back at her, brow furrowed slightly. "Don't you only play those violent shooter games? Wouldn't that just make it worse?"

"N-No," she splutters, cheeks tinged pink, "I-I don't just play those! I play some other things too..."

You can't resist the urge to smile at her embarrassment, which causes her to glare at you and huff.

"Do you want to play a game with me or not?" She demands.

You laugh slightly and nod. "Yes, I'd love to. Thank you, Nene."

She quickly turns around and heads back into the home. She's back soon enough, holding two handheld game consoles - yours and hers - as well as a blanket. She sits down on the ground, before tilting her head up to you.

"C'mon. Sit."

You sit beside her, pulling one end of the blanket around you as Nene takes the other half. You had just realised how cold you were, so you lean against her as you boot up the console.

"So, what do you wanna play?" You ask softly.

Silence. You thought maybe Nene was just thinking about it, but she's just not responding.

"Nene?"

She clears her throat as you prompt her. You catch a glimpse of her red face out of the corner of your eye. "Sorry. Um, I bought this game recently, and I think you told me you liked it...?"

You scan her screen quickly and sit up, beaming. "Oh, that's one of my favorite games!! I'd never thought you'd play it, because it's not really your style. Thank you, Nene!"

She hides her face in her hair as you speak so you don't see how red she's getting. Nene boots up the game as she speaks. "No... No problem, I guess."

You beam and continue resting your head on her shoulder as you open the game as well, eager to play it with your friend.

You come face-to-face with Rui, who's watching you with an odd expression. He's smiling as usual, but you can sense some concern in his gaze.

He walks over and leans on the railing beside you, before tilting his head in curiosity.

"Didn't expect you to still be awake at this hour," he comments casually. "What brings you out here?"

You look away, clutching the railing a little more tightly and bowing your head slightly. "Can't sleep."

"Are you sure? That's all?" Rui further prods, leaning his head on his arms. You feel like his piercing yellow eyes have already seen all your secrets, somehow.

You look away. "...Yeah. That's all."

You know that he knows you're lying, his soft "I see" after you speak tells you that much. You just can't bring yourself to talk about it right now.

You tilt your head down to stare at your hands. You're clinging to the railing so tightly that it's starting to hurt your hands, and you didn't even realise til now. You release your death grip, but continue resting your hands on it.

Suddenly, you hear something... mechanical? It sounds as if something is moving. You glance over to see some kind of contraption balancing on the railing. Instinctively, you put your hand around it, stopping it from falling off the railing just in case that would happen.

"R-Rui?!" You snap your head around to stare in bewilderment at the inventor. "You can't just put these guys on such precarious areas! What if it falls off and gets damaged?"

He only laughs at your fretting. "Its legs can stick to any surface it likes. Don't worry."

As if to prove this, the robot walks around the railing, hanging on underneath for a few moments before walking back up again. It beeps at you proudly.

You reluctantly remove your hands. "...Fine. What does it do, anyway?"

Rui pouts at you in the saddest way he can. "Ah, is walking around and sticking to surfaces not enough...? Don't you love him the way he is?"

The robot lets out a few small, sad beeps. Before you can respond to his antics, Rui's signature smile returns like it never left.

"Anyways, yes. It can create small projections in the air. For example..."

On queue, the circular top of the robot lights up, and a couple butterflies appear in the air, flying around without a care in the world. It was surprisingly realistic, enough that you were almost convinced that there were butterflies in front of you.

"...Woah." You breathe, watching in awe. "You made this?"

Rui nods, smiling warmly as the projections change - this time to a bird flying through the sky.

"You got its movements down so well," you murmur. You carefully reach out to brush your finger against it, but of course, it just goes right through. It is a projection, after all.

It lastly switches to a projection of jellyfish slowly floating through water, which makes you really excited. You love jellyfish, after all! They're just so pretty, and seeing them in front of you like this brings you so much joy. Even if it isn't real.

Rui chuckles at the way your eyes light up. "I had a feeling you'd like that one." He grins and leans his head on his hand as he continues watching you.

"And hey, you're not so down anymore, are you?"

You halt immediately, realising he's completely right. You'd totally forgotten about your nightmare thanks to Rui's little contraption.

"Yeah. Thanks." You offer him a small smile. "If you have them with you, could I see more of your robots?"

Rui's eyes flash with glee at being asked a question like that. "Why yes, of course! I'd be very glad to show you some more!"

He cups his hands and moves closer to you, where you can see a large variety of contraptions, way more than anyone would normally need to take anywhere.

Dumbfounded, you turn your gaze to him. "You seriously took all of these here?"

Rui shrugs, as if it's a normal occurrence for him. "I just enjoy being prepared. Now, look here. First, this one can bring small objects to you if you ask..."

[peekawoocc]

Law × Reader

Hospital beds

WARNINGS - none, fluff

Law walked out of his room late that night, the thought that y/n might need to be checked on kept looming over his thoughts. Allowing him to think of little else.

He was in a rush so all he was wearing was an open coat, no shirt, with his gray, black-spotted jeans. It was late, around 1 a.m., to be exact.

Y/n had been sleeping for almost 2 whole days, surely they were about to wake up soon.

Law walked into the recovery room, and looked over to the bed where y/n was laying. He looked down at them for a moment before deciding to try and wake them up.

"Y/n?"

"You feel like waking up yet?"

Y/n shifted a little. Good, at least there's some indication that they're coming out of their sleeping beauty fairytale.

"Y/n?", he said, shaking them a little more sternly this time.

"Hmm..? Yeah?", y/n said, still sleepily.

"Good, you're finally awake,"

"What happened?" Y/n said, a little surprised by the amount of relief Laws words seemed to carry.

"You don't remember?"

"No, not really... I remember I was still fighting one of the enemies...I was in the middle of trying to deliver the final blow and then everything's blank after that,"

"Bepo told me you got ambushed from behind from another enemy. He tried to get to you, but unfortunately all he could do at first was watch. He said when he finally got free he made his way to you as soon as he could. By then you were knocked out cold,".

Y/n slowly started to sit up, Law then reached out his hands to help steady y/n by the shoulders.

"Easy does it, you've been out for quite a bit, don't try to use up too much energy,"

Y/n felt the warmth of his hands on their shoulders. It's been a long time since they felt the careful touch of such a kind gesture. Y/n had always longed to recieve any kind of good attention from Law. They felt the warmth of his touch spread throughout their body and mind, just as they were starting to let their thoughts drift to lovely, lustful fantasies, they suddenly remembered they were staring at their captain, who seemed a bit confused by y/n's long stare.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you were still trying to remember what happened before you got knocked out right?". He removed his hands from y/n's shoulders.

"Y-yeah," they lied, too embarrassed to admit what they were really thinking about, they decided to change the subject.

"Sorry for making you worry about me,"

"I always worry about you, there's no reason to apologize for it. I just want to do what I can to look out for you. You're important to me,"

"Yeah, because I'm apart of the crew now,"

"Not just that, but that is part of it,"

"What's the other part of it?"

"How's your leg feeling? I had to put a few stitches in, you had some really deep cuts in you,"

"Yeah, I suppose I have the enemies swords to thank for that, but...hey! Wait a minute...why did you ignore my question?"

"We can discuss that later once you've healed, I don't wanna put anymore stress on you. We need to make sure you get as much rest as possible,"

He put his hand back on their shoulder and smirked, he knew exactly what he was doing. Oh well, at least it would get them thinking about him after he retires back to his room for the night. He pulled his hand away and started to get up.

"W-wait, where are you going?" Y/n said, shocked by Laws sudden action.

"Back to my room, I really need to try and get some sleep, not that it'll be easy. Never is. You should do the same,"

"But i just woke up! Well, if it wasn't so cold in here maybe i could! Seriously, are we docked near a winter island or something?"

"Yes, actually. Being submerged doesn't really help either I'd suppose. It is really cold, I should've put a thicker blanket on you," Law suddenly paused, and then his gray eyes gently lit up as a thought played across his mind.

"I think I know a way to make it up to you. It'd probably be beneficial to both of us, actually,"

"What is it?"

"We could sleep together,"

Y/n suddenly became flushed at Laws very forward suggestion. Realizing that what he had said didn't come out right, he began to feel the blood rush to his cheeks as he put his palm on his face. Trying to cover up some of his embarrassment.

"I-....uh....I meant that we could sleep in the same bed. I didn't mean to imply...that...".

Glad that he gave a bit more detail to what he originally meant, y/n started to calm down a little, and with a flustered sigh said, "Um....well...alright. I suppose it wouldn't hurt. It is really cold, and if it'll help my captain get some rest then I suppose..."

"Ok...um...could you turn around please?" He said, removing his palm from his face.

"Turn around? Why?" Y/n asked, wondering just what exactly he was planning to do.

Law let out an annoyed sigh and said, "Well, unless you want to see me strip,"

"Huh!?!"

"Sleeping in jeans doesn't exactly sound too comfortable,"

"I guess thats true,".

Y/n suddenly turned on their side, still a bit flustered. As they laid there, anxiously waiting for Law to get into the small bed with them, they began to notice the sound of Law stripping. First, the sound of his coat dropping to the floor. Then, the sound of him unbuckeling his belt and letting his jeans hit the floor. Finally, y/n fully realized the meaning of what was about to transpire. He's about to get into bed with me. Wearing nothing but his underwear. In this small bed. There's no way we won't be touching in this small space. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FALL ASLEEP LIKE THIS!?!

Y/n suddenly came back to reality as they heard Law crawl into the small bed as a slight cold breeze grazed their leg from him lifting the blanket. The tension in the air was thick, y/n tried so hard to not think about what was happening, but due to the closeness between the two, all of that came to a crash as they felt Laws breath on the back of their neck. Law spoke up.

"I didn't realize how small this bed would be...if you're uncomfortable like this, I understand,"

"N-no, no....it's ok...I didn't really think we'd be this close either, but...uh...,"

Y/n was completely flustered, and didn't completely fathom the fact that they were saying the thoughts coming to mind, "It is a lot warmer now. I can't say that being this close displeases me, or anything. I never thought something like this would ever happen,". Y/n always had fantasies that something like this could happen, but only in their dreams. Had all those times that he glanced their way have been real, and they weren't just hopefully imagining it. Did he really think of them in the same way. Did he feel the same way?

So many questions had flooded their mind until they felt a sudden urge to have that very question answered.

"Hey, Law?" Y/n said, turning over to face the handsome man.

*Snore*

Y/n stared, completely dumbfounded. Here they were. Finally gaining the confidence to ask Law such an important question, and there he is. Out like a light. Y/n couldn't stay annoyed for long though, as they stared at the lightly candlelit face of their captain. He rarely ever showed such a peaceful expression. Y/n stared at his face, admiring every detail. Slowly looking down his face, to his neck, to his tattooed chest. Watching as it rhythmically rose and fell. He always works really hard and doesn't get much sleep. So y/n continued tracing all of his features with their eyes until they felt their mind fade to ease.

Bepo had been looking everywhere. Where could his captain be? When he last saw Law he was making an inventory list of supplies they would need to restock on after their last battle. As he stood for a moment trying to think of anywhere he hadn't checked, he had a sudden realization. The recovery room! Bepo quickly ran their as soon as possible. He must've went to check on y/n after waking up.

As he opened the door, he was met with a closed curtain, he knew Y/n was behind it, but were they awake? Was the captain behind it with them? "Um...y/n? Captain? Captain are you there?"

"H-huh....*yawn*...yeah?" Law growled annoyingly in a mixture of not wanting to wake up and also not wanting to leave y/n's side.

"Um, captain, what're you doing here?"

"I came to check on y/n, I'll be out in a little bit,"

"Oh, ok...".

Once Law heard the door close he sighed in relief at finally being alone with y/n again. He knew Bepo was just doing his job, he just wasn't a morning person.

Y/n slowly coming to their senses, started to open their eyes. There he was, in all his smirking glory.

"Morning sleeping beauty,"

That was it. That was all it took for y/n to be all flustered again. They covered their face in embarrassment.

"You're already awake?"

"Yeah, thanks to Bepo,"

"Oh, I should've said 'good morning' to him. Wait...did he see us...like this!?!"

"Calm down. No, he didnt,"

"Ah, ok...".

They laid there in silence for a moment, enjoying eachothers warmth. Y/n started to wonder, "So, does this mean something to him, like it does to me? Was he really that cold or was there more to it than that?". As they sat there in thought, Law began to speak.

"How did you sleep? And how's your leg feeling? Any soreness?"

"It feels a little sore, it's bearable. I slept ok, but it does feel a bit cramped in this bed,"

"Yeah, next time we should use my bed,"

"Huh...n-next t-time?"

Law blushed, not aware of what he had said until it was too late. He sat up so y/n couldn't see is face.

"Uh, well, if we ever get this close to a winter island again, I wouldn't be against it..."

"U-um, ok. That doesnt s-sound like a b-bad idea,".

They went back to silence yet again, this time it felt more tense than peaceful. Y/n finally sat up. Now shoulder to shoulder with Law. They glanced up at him, trying to find an icebreaker, but then he spoke.

"Well, I guess I should go find Bepo now. We might need to do this again on a night when I can't sleep. It was actually really nice despite the tight space,"

"Yeah, I guess I should probably go get some food,"

"You think you'll be able to walk on that leg?"

"Won't know til I try,".

Y/n went to get up, confident they'd be able to stand. It was a natural motion, why wouldn't they be able to get out of bed? All that confidence went to pieces when y/n started to stumble and lose their balance. Luckily, they fell back to land on the bed before going down. Falling slightly on Law, y/n was met with an annoyed look from the grumpy cat.

"You really need to be more careful! I'll have Ikkaku come bring you breakfast. Stay in bed til you can actually put weight on that leg,".

Y/n nodded, smiling while being a little embarrassed. Law got up and went to his discarded clothes he had left on the ground. Y/n quickly looked away out of a mix of respect and embarrassment. After getting dressed, Law headed towards the curtain, opened it, then headed for the door. All the while y/n was getting readjusted to the newfound space that they had before last night. Even though now y/n could spread their arms and legs out more freely now, they couldn't deny that they had missed the previously taken up space. Y/n laid there, awaiting food, consumed by the thoughts of the slender, dark-eyed captain.

[maleyanderecafe]

Suffocation (RPG Maker)

Created by: Kekkonsnow

Genre: Horror

I'm a fan of this artwork and it's made by the same person who made Akahane Academy, which is a funny but fun yandere meme game. It's a short game about the MC having woke up after being hurt and having to decide who is telling the truth. As of current, the game is not available for some unknown reason, but you can watch playthroughs of it on youtube.

The story starts out with the MC playing dead after seemingly being in an incident. They are awoken by their best friend Foster who seems to have been looking out for them. They say that they will always look out for them during these times, and that they will always protect them from the monster in the woods. The MC tries to ask what happened to them, as they do not remember, but Foster seems to dodge the question, asking if the MC would like to go home instead. Soon after, another friend, Hal, comes out of the woods, covered in blood. He seems worried about what has happened, asking if Foster did something to them. After a while, the two start arguing, with Foster being more overprotective over the MC, even blaming Hal for hurting them, stating that the blood on his body is actually the MC's and calling him a monster. Hal tries to counter back, stating that Foster's obsession with the MC is really abnormal. In the end, Foster asks the MC who they believe, him or Hal.

If the MC chooses Foster, then Hal will initially freak out. Foster is about to bring the MC home when Hal suddenly shoots him, stating that perhaps he had cornered the monster after all.

Choosing Hal or not choosing at all will end similarly, with the MC suspecting Foster for his strange behavior. Hal tries to chime in as well stating that it was Foster that knocked the MC out, before Foster cuts them off. The MC knows that even if Foster did do something he would never admit it, and it ends with Foster leaving and Hal taking the player home.

The game itself is very short but it does give a good interesting plot. Neither character ever states what happens to the MC to have them be in this position, so the mystery of what happens is something that you'd have to theorize and really decide who is telling the truth. To be honest, I was fully expecting Foster to be the only yandere considering the initial comments he makes about the MC initially (stating that he will always protect the MC and that he is their only best friend) along with the fact that on the original itchio page, the game states that he seems to want to be more than best friends. So when the more obvious Hal comes around (covered in blood) I didn't even really bat an eye. I think it's also because Hal is more in a defensive situation in this case as Foster is the one who is accusing Hal of hurting the MC as well as being dodgy about the situation. Since we don't actually know the events of the story, we don't really know if Foster is a yandere other than he's rather overprotective of the MC and seems to want to be more than best friends with them. If what Hal says is true, Foster did knock the MC out, but given what we've heard from both sides it does make me wonder if Foster knocked them out as a way to protect them, given that he does accuse Hal of trying to kill the MC. It's also weird that Hal just lets Foster leave when Foster is being accused but kills them in the route where Hal is being accused.

Hal on the other hand is definitely one of those yanderes where I probably should have seen it coming but I was blindsided by the more obvious answer. As I've mentioned before, its partly because Hal is mostly on the defensive during the spats with Foster, so it feels like you're more inclined to listen to him. Of course, as we see in one of the endings, that he does end up shooting Foster, basically stating that it was him that nearly killed the MC (or at least, that's what it seems). It does make me wonder then why Foster kind of inadvertently covered for Hal, seeing that he simply leaves Hal and the MC alone despite knowing that Hal did try to kill him. It also makes me wonder why Hal ends up killing Foster in the first place, was it to just shut him up or was it because he was going to take the MC away from him? I'd like to think it's the second one considering that he doesn't end up killing Foster in the endings that the MC chose Hal instead of Foster.

Although the story is short, I think it's at least a good start to these characters. I quite like the artstyle and my only real gripe is that you have to replay the entire game to get to each of the endings, and there's no skip button. I hope that more of this story will be able to be covered in future games.

[falling-star-cygnus]

Actually here's another Billy angst idea just with him being a cyborg/robot, what if he glitches out and is out of commission for days maybe even weeks and then he powers on to see everyone's shocked faces

oml, this has been sitting in my inbox for FAR too long. -> i am so sorry TT^TT

side bar, i was just introduced to the wonderful WiseBilly and BillyBelle agenda, so maybe there will be some of that in the future :D -> not in this fic tho, in case shipping isn't your style

someone legit sent in an ask a few days ago asking me to tag my works with 'fanfiction' so that they could block them all 😀 bc 'they didn't want to block a million different fandom tabs' -> BUT THAT'S LITERALLY WHY I USE A 'KEEP READING' CUT. SO THAT IT'S BITESIZED TO SCROLL PAST 😭 Master List

Something was very

very

wrong.

Currently, it was 8:24 in the morning. Nearly an hour past the time Billy normally woke up. And almost excatly the time he knocked on Nicole's door each day to tell her breakfast was ready.

Nothing had crashed yet.

Or shattered. Or banged. Or 'thudded.' Or 'thwacked.'

No one had started yelling.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Nicole stared at the ceiling and ignored the growing worry in her gut. It was probably nothing, she conceded. He had used a lot of power yesterday, so... the android was probably just taking an easy morning. God knows he deserved it after everything that had been going on.

Maybe he had found a movie to share with Anby.

...yeah, right. The boss of the Cunning Hares' bursts into quiet giggles thinking about it. Those two couldn't share that old thing to save their lives. It's why the schedule was made.

Her alarm clock buzzes. 8:30.

He'd come knock any second now.

Annny second.

…

8:31 blips on to the alarm’s face.

8:32.

8:35.

Nicole can feel her limbs growing cold- despite the relatively comforting warmth of her bed- and it cements in her stomach like gum.

8:44.

She was being ridiculous.

8:50.

Just because the android wasn’t knocking didn’t mean anything was wrong. Billy wasn’t required to do so by any means, it was just a habit he had picked up to make sure they all ate.

8:52.

…but he did like his routines.

8:55.

Was he mad at her?

9:00.

Nicole throws herself out of bed decisively and slams open her door.

“Where’s Billy?”

He's not with Nekomata or Anby, from what the boss can tell from her survey of the room. The two smallest members of the Hares' were cuddled together on the couch. Which was frankly- adorable. In any other situation.

But she had an android to find.

"Billy hasn't come out of his room yet," Nekomata answers, looking somewhat weary of Nicole's warpath. Anby pauses next to her.

"Really? He hasn't?"

"E-eh?"

The cat thiren suddenly looks very uncomfortable as the Demara's pin her with twin stares.

"There was a rerun of a Starlight Knights special playing this morning, it's why I came to bother you," Anby continues, ignoring her former cuddle buddy's squawk of indignance as she moves to stand up.

"Wh- what? I thought you said you wanted to bond!"

"I can want two things."

"Anby!"

Nicole leaves them to their squabbling, striding towards the android's room with deliberate steps. It was far too early for this sort of worry, he better be fine in there-

His door isn't fully closed when she pushes on it. He didn't exactly have a 'room' like the other Hares' did- he didn't exactly need one- but it was sort of mutually agreed that the garage was his domain.

Billy wouldn't leave it open like this if he could help it- not when it could mean unwanted visitors got inside.

Maybe she had a valid reason to be worried...

Or maybe not.

The android is still plugged in and leaning against the wheel of their car, not a scratch on him. His eyes are slanted in as closed as they can get, and his signature red jacket is hung neatly off the ground.

He looked fine.

So-

Why wasn't he awake? Why would he miss an airing of his favorite franchise? Why couldn't the boss hear the familiar whirring and clicking he always gave off?

Something wasn't adding up.

Nicole is pressing her ear to his chest before she can even process she's moved.

The metal is cold as it bites into her cheek, and it's silent.

Anby and Nekomata peek through the doorway, for once taking due care to make their presence loud enough that Nicole can hear them approach. Probably for the best, the boss of the Cunning Hares' felt like a fraying thread about to snap.

There was a burn under her chest, nestled into her ribs like a hot coal she'd been forced into swallowing. Billy didn't move.

Calm down, she scolds herself, There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. He's not dead.

She hoped he wasn't dead.

Wordlessly- because she didn't trust herself to speak yet- Nicole begins checking his dormant form over. The other two join in with a silent nods towards each other.

Anby carefully tilts his head from side to side to examine his neck.

“Wires are fine here.”

There's no damage to his auditory processors either, or his faceplate, or any of the joints visible to them. And they resolutely refused to take his pants off. It didn't matter if he didn't have anything down there- maybe he did, they wouldn't know- that felt... too invasive.

Unless absolutely necessary, that was a bridge that would remain uncrossed.

"Oh-! There! His charging thingamajig!" Nekomata suddenly exclaims, somehow having weaseled her way behind Billy, "It's all burnt around the edges!"

"Burnt!?" Nicole all but flattens the thiren against the wheel as she takes a look for herself.

Sure enough, the silver metal around the cable was a charred black that flaked off onto her fingers. Hm.

The boss of the Cunning Hares finagles the cord out of the port, and yelps when Anby grabs the back of her shirt to fling her away. Nekomata lands next to her.

"Anby! What the hell-" the boss is cut off when she sees the white... powder? Paste? Thing that bubbles up out of the opening. It smells foul, whatever it is, and clings to her tongue in a way that makes her sick.

"That's battery acid," Anby explains, jaw tight in a way that was usually reserved for boss battles, "Given the burn marks, it's likely his battery fried itself and exploded. We shouldn't touch it barehanded."

Billy's battery had what.

"Exploded."

Oh, Nicole said that out loud.

"What do you mean exploded," she demands, getting up to her feet.

The smaller Demara throws a pair of latex gloves Nicole's way in lieu of answering. Out of all the Cunning Hares, Anby really was the only one who knew shit about batteries. Well- Billy did too, of course, but..

"It happens when they get too overrun with electricity. Considering that Billy used a lot of power yesterday, only to get accidentally tased by Phaethon right after, there's a 98.96% chance that he overloaded his battery by charging it. If we take care of it before it can corrode any of his wiring, we should be able to minimize the overall damage."

That... sort of made sense. Right. They had an objective now.

Nicole can feel her title as the boss settle over her like a second skin, clarity cutting through the haze of morning and worry like a cut from a blade. She knew what they had to do, now to execute it.

"Ok then," Nicole nods once, overcome with a false sense of confidence, "You're the expert, Anby, what do we need to do?"

For a moment, things don't seem so bleak. Everything was going to be fine, and Billy would be back to his rambunctious big-brother ways in no time.

They end up not having the means to replace the battery- or the skillset to open the android up and remove said battery- so...

"We can't take him to Grace," Nekomata insists, something like a shudder rolling it's way through her spine and tails, "She's so- so weird about him."

"Agreed." Anby nods, crossing her arms sagely, "Grace is out of the question. But we need to get this fixed somehow, and Belobog is the only group close enough that has the skillset we need."

Nicole couldn't help but agree. The last time they had interacted with the eccentric mechanic of Belobog Heavy Industries she had practically glued herself to the android's hip! It didn't matter how many times he had edged away- or downright hid behind one of the girls, she just kept coming on to him!

It didn't help that she also referred to Billy as an it at first; even if she took it in stride when the Hares' had corrected her. Swiftly and firmly corrected her. Anby style.

Billy was not an it.

"What about Phaethon," Nekomata pipes up, her tails moving in swishing waves, "they might know someone!"

"That's right!" Nicole snaps her fingers, and ruffles between the thiren's ears for her good work, "Our dear proxy is sure to have some better information."

In the spirit of fairness, she pats Anby's head too. The smaller Demara had been the one to point out the problem with the android's battery, after all.

Nicole looks to the downed member of their team.

And pats his head.

It felt... wrong, somehow, to leave him out when he was like this.

"Don't worry, Billy," the boss whispers, in some vain hope that it'll reach him, "We'll get you fixed up in no time."

.../^\...

Nicole doesn't realize how badly she'd miss this part of her routine until it was gone.

It'd been three weeks since Billy had gotten repaired.

Three weeks of waiting, three weeks devoid of Starlight Knight references, three weeks of radio silence.

By all accounts, it should be peaceful. But.. in the end, she just missed him. For all her scolding, it had never really been an issue to listen to him ramble. And his optimism always stopped anything from feeling too hopeless on a mission.

Anby had stopped doing the little braid in her hair, the same as she did when that scrapper had taken the android for parts, and even Nicole had stopped putting her own hair in it's little half-up half-down pigtails.

She'd had them even before Billy came barreling into her life, of course, but there had been numerous occasions where she simply felt too tired to want to deal with the hassle of taming her bedhead.

Two black strips of cloth sit innocuously on her nightstand.

"We have to meet up with that contractor today, remember Boss?" Billy had said one morning, as he began to brush through pink frizz- starting at the bottom and slowly worked his way up until it was all neat and shiny.

Nicole hadn't even realized what happened until her hair was already tied up with cute bunny ear bandanas and the android was clipping in her usual barrettes.

That was the moment that had won her over, she thinks privately, as she fiddles with an errant strand.

Her clock buzzes for 8:30.

Time for another quiet day...

knock, knock.

....huh?

The boss of the Cunning Hares throws herself out of bed, praying to whatever higher power that would listen that this wasn't some sort of cruel joke.

knock-

She flings the door open, with maybe too much desperation, but she can't really bring herself to care when-

"Oh- morning, Boss!"

"BILLY!"

Metal bites into her cheek as Nicole wraps her arms around his lanky build and squeezes until her arms ache. It hurts for a second and it's real, he's real, and he's warm, and he's loud. There's no stench of acid, or charcoal, just the dim whir and click of machinery under his plating.

"Boss-!?" the android startles, hands hovering uselessly around her back before settling gently on her shoulders, "did you.. have a bad dream?"

Something like that, she thinks.

And really, Nicole is more than willing to write it off that way.

bonus: *a few weeks later, after a taxing raid on their resident android* *Billy is sitting in the Remodelling Shop* Enzo, patting Billy's shoulder and wiping his hands clean: Battery's all good. Billy: uh... Boss? Is this really nec- Anby, Nicole, and Nekomata: Yes. Billy: ...okay.