#also 'let me keep this to myself in case i need to betray and kill everyone'

[demonwebs]

vhaal casually pretending he can't levitate, identify alignments, climb walls, or do anything cool for all three acts until you're in a huge boss fight after which he proceeds to gaslight u

[kaija-rayne-author]

Hugest of sighs.

I really hate it when I can feel a special interest dying.

It's like watching something you've loved and put your everything into for however long get smaller and smaller in the distance. Until it disappears in a puff of smoke.

I can feel it happening with Dragon Age.

It's actually managed to hang on for a long time, so I guess I should just... wish it a fond farewell and let it go.

I was going to write a less acid filled version of my editorial critique/review about the gameplay preview to send to the devs, but why?

I don't get the kind of interaction I need on posts like my Dragon Age posts to help me keep the special interest alive.

The devs aren't going to listen to some internet rando like me if I did waste my time writing it. Not even if I'm actually a professional editor and this is in fact my job that I'm pretty good at.

They don't even toss me a heart on responses to their posts. And they probably wouldn't read it even if it did happen to make it through all the stuff they probably get on their feeds, anyway. Valuable professional editorial critique or not.

Before I stepped way back from social media I could easily get thousands of @ in a day. I know what they must be dealing with.

I have other things I should really be spending my time on.

Sadly, my special interest in Dragon Age has been on life-support since I saw the gameplay preview.

My DA gaming group has gone from a couple hundred people, most of whom weren't active, to waaaaay more people than I'm comfortable being social with. (I have since muted most of it and withdrawn from anything I'm just... not interested in anymore.)

I honestly feel the new look for Solas killed Solas for me. (Given I'm solavellan that's saying one hell of a lot.) For a bit there, I was hoping he'd grow on me. But apparently, I haven't been inoculated with that particular style of virulent mould yet. So it hasn't happened. Every time I saw a picture I just... cared a little less.

Where once I had the fires of a volcano inside my heart for this franchise, nothing but ash in a breeze remains.

It's always possible that something could happen to reignite my passion for it. It's happened a few times before for faded special interests. It could also be my depression talking and I'll feel completely different tomorrow. That's happened too. (So far hasn't happened in the threeish days since I wrote this. It's probably not the depression.)

But... After seeing that gameplay preview, and listening to the Q&A, and reading the Game Informer post... it may just be time to call Time of Death. As someone who loved the first three, and who absolutely marinated myself in the lore, I frankly feel betrayed. (I mean... Varric with a beard? Really? There were story significant reasons he did not, in fact, wear a beard, did they forget that? Like they forgot his bloody hair colour?)

So long, Dragon Age. It was fun while it lasted.

I truly do hope people enjoy the blathering posts I did about it when passion filled me.

I hope people truly do enjoy the new game. There's too little joy in this world and I hope with all my heart it gives you as much joy as you can handle. I'm just a little sad it won't for me. I'll always have the first three, which I do legitimately love to pieces.

I'm not even crying or upset. I just... don't care anymore.

From a professional standpoint, that's always a danger when you change a piece of media too much. There has to be a certain amount of continuity to it so it feels the same. Without that?

You lose obsessed people like me.

You lose the older gamers who loved what Dragon Age was.

And absolutely, yes, fiction does need to change. It's an integral part of the whole thing. If it doesn't change, if it doesn't adapt, it dies just as quickly as if it changes too much. I like to see change in media. It's needed in so many ways. Change can be hard to adapt to, of course. Or in some cases impossible. Shrugs.

There's a professional balance to these things. It wouldn't surprise me if I have a bit of savantism when it comes to editing and writing. I just seem to deeply understand how it all works in ways others rarely see. Looking at a novel or a game or a show from an editorial perspective is very much like looking at a 4d puzzle for me. I can instinctively see what works and what doesn't.

It's just that, in my honest professional opinion, they tried to change way too much to appeal to a different set of gamers than those of us who are a little older and have loved the feel of the first three games.

It's not the change itself I object to. I'm definitely not one of those people who thinks that DAO was the best DA ever. I've loved them all for different reasons. But they all still felt like Dragon Age. Even DA2, which a lot of people hate, still felt like a fantasy RPGish adventure. (I enjoyed it for what it was. I'd've liked to see what it could've been with more time, but for what it was, they did a great job and it was an enjoyable game).

DA4? From what we've seen so far, it doesn't even remotely feel like a fantasy RPGish adventure game. It feels like a cheap star wars/FFXIV/Fortnite knockoff designed for a much different type of gamer. (Which was actually confirmed by Epler in the Q&A. They did, in fact, design it more for younger players than those of us who have been waiting for it for however long.) Professionally, I believe that was a mistake that may cost them.

The darkspawn alone are a bloody travesty. WTAF are those things? And yes, I've seen the 'lore excuse' that it's the red lyrium making them look like bad halloween deco. I'd buy it if they were kinda spiky and had red lyrium growths and stuff like the red lyrium infected creatures in DAI. But it's like they forgot their own canon.

I dunno. It really just doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure that no matter how beautiful the backgrounds and some of the art they've just... lost me.

I guess I write these kinds of posts so others in the same boat as me know they aren't alone.

You aren't imagining it. While change is in fact good and necessary to a certain extent, they've changed it so much trying to appeal to a different market that it really doesn't feel even remotely like Dragon Age anymore.

[illuminatedjoy]

Ace!Culprit Theory

I'm writing this on Thursday the 19th and I'd like to get it out before episode 14 arrives and shifts the case more. During my recent rewatch of chapter 2, I started to think Ace is the culprit, and the two newest episodes have further convinced me and helped me understand how it happened.

First, touching on the murder attempt in the gym. Back when Chapter 2 part 1 came out, I considered the possibility that Nico didn't try to kill Ace, and he actually attempted suicide. The trial shot that theory down fast when Nico confessed they did in fact attempt to kill Ace.

Or, did it? I think what happened was that Ace tried to hang himself, but the fan collapsed, drawing Nico to the gym. They would have been feeding the fish around that time. Nico saw him unconscious and unguarded, and tried to finish him off by cutting his throat with the wire. This was an attack of opportunity for Nico. Whether they truly meant to follow through on their initial threat or not, they were willing to go through with it when Ace was right in front of them.

Now, there are two pieces of evidence I need to address here, the turpentine and the wire. If Rose didn't notice Nico stealing the turpentine, she just as easily might have not noticed Ace steal it, so that's easy. Ace could have dosed himself with turpentine to pass out during the attempt and avoid pain. But the wire...

I previously thought, as many people did, that Hu gave Nico the wire and encouraged them to kill Ace. She would have either helped them win the trial or betrayed them and allowed Nico to be executed. However, I don't think this is consistent with Hu's actions in the trial.

I'm not saying she can't be a culprit later on, but I don't think she's lying about how she feels here. Therefore, trying to kill everyone to save Nico makes no sense, and throwing Nico under the bus makes no sense because of how she usually treats them. I also don't think Nico would have known about the mechanics of hanging if Hu wasn't helping them.

So, how'd the wire get to the gym? The same way the rope got to the playground: the culprit took it out of storage. We now know that Hu has struggled with suicidal tendencies most of her life. Speaking as someone who struggles with the same thing, I do not like to keep things in my home I could easily kill myself with if I can help it. It's not worth the risk. I think Hu put her wire in storage for her own peace of mind, perhaps after learning that Arei got rid of her rope. Ace took it for his suicide attempt because he thought it would be sturdier than the rope.

One more thing about Ace attempting suicide is this line. It's what originally made me think it was likely, but I kind of let it slide after Nico admitted to attempted murder.

So, I definitely think Ace has the most solid murder motive out of anyone in the cast. He's already given up on surviving the killing game. He's convinced everyone is out to get him, and he's shut out anyone who might offer him assistance like Levi or Eden. Furthermore, he has no alibi, either at night or in the morning. If he did attempt to hang himself, he likely does know enough about hanging to pull off Arei's murder. (Perhaps his one friend died by hanging? Hmm.) As for the evidence, something people bring up a lot is the grippy tape that disappeared from the gym. This is often used to point at Eden. But, why not Ace, too?

Ace left the gym intent on murder. He may have grabbed anything he thought might be useful. He also might have already had the tape on his person anyway, if he used it in his suicide attempt at all. Eden was thrown out of the gym without warning. I think it's simply much more likely that Ace had it then she had the presence of mind to grab it while everything was going on.

I don't really see any evidence that contradicts Ace!Culprit. There are a few things I don't know how to explain, like the starched up ball of clothes, but a different culprit doesn't explain that any better.

I think this is the most interesting outcome for the story. I'm curious to see how Levi takes it. I think Hu is going to be devastated when she realized her actions contributed to a suicide attempt and eventually a murder. Nico is likely to face some backlash too. If they had helped Ace instead of trying to kill him, it might have changed things.

And it punches a big hole in Teruko's belief that trusting no one is the safest way to survive. Because Ace trusted no one, and it drove him to desperation and murder.

[istherewifiinhell]

HM for the bingo: matoba, um um um. your least favorite oppie. your most favorite starscreamer. ummmmm. Abyssal Black Flame Dragon

HEHEHE

shitty id in alt. WELL THATS URRRR GUY. thats the guy thats nat.sume is about. pretty sure <- took me like a year to figure out this is not the case. he is silly. ive seen it in the gag manga. hessss a pretty loser goth in and out of drag what is not to like. im just assuming ur the most right about him i dunno if that means other ppl are wrong tho

joelle joelleity joelletwo is trying to get my ass murdered on tumblr dot gov. EDITED AND UPDATED. need to reflect that my constant with this one is i get why megs got like that

[alt]. ohhh buddy...... you asked. 1. no personality. 2. hate his whole vibe (aesthetics/affect) 3. BETRAYED THE REVOLUTION. 4. not a very good conflicted pasicfist if thats what they were gonna go for. 5. tee fee pee special. u know show dont tell. this is tell, then forget to bring up ever again. simply. simply. listen if the girlies in the tag have to make him interesting for their fanfic and fuck nasty shit (honourary) go with god. i have read good fic of him. but thats compliments to the fans. me personally. i would simply use any other iteration. i suppose u cant beat how DIVORCED this guy is. im not opposed any of his specific characteristics really. its the holistic sum thats my enemy.

DOODLING HEARTS AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE ON THE SCANTRON <- which tf is that 🥁🔔

[ALT] actually can i edit this again lets do a bingo for bullying. he got bullied possible the most anyone has but ill bully him some more 😏🤨😳. now ur some ppl might think oh u like this screamer so much to u inversely not like this megs for beating him up. well not u tho. thats gotta be one of my favourite 2 minutes in all of tf kajdgbjfdhb. hes not real so hes fine with that i asked him myself. ANYWAY WHAT IF U WERE BACKED INTO A CORNER BY UR OWN VIOLENT IMPULSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF UR OWN ACTIONS and also millennia of unending war so u just decide to go full nihilist about it. and this literally saves your world and people. well not the ones u killed but most of em. and u keep winning <3 and ur pettiness and self severing survival instincts also saved the universe. btw. idk if i have HC so much as. i can see my reading of the text not being universal but also im right <3. billybob thompson one of 2 fav non latta screamers. prettiest modern screamer design

out of LEFT field but i LOVE IT

[alt] wait how did u land on a orbeez side character i would at remember the vibes of enough to get double bingo. was it dragon sooyoung? kfjjdf. DO U KNOW. how often i watch something and think. this character would be improved if they were an edgy anime fourteen year old. WELL HERE IT IS. the most important thing u can be in the world is a shitty emo teen with a deviant art dragon fursona. i dont remember anything else im literally just like. thats perfect. what a shit head. the best character in the book now im saying so.

[pangtasias-atelier]

Seteth is gifted a cursed box of confections by Linhardt after getting on his case for being lazy. The curse makes him lethargic and gluttonous and over time he starts to lose control around food and gets extremely obese and loses his sense of decorum and poise. Eventually he figures out Lin is the culprit and turns the tables on him, leaving the monastery with two immobile fat men.

These Seteth requests I swear y'all are trying to kill me asjbhanjsbj. I love writing about men getting fat as fuck and kinda just only caring about eating and stuffing themselves.

Hope you enjoy this cause this got long and also wanted to like not drag out my like descriptions than usual and do a bit more little timeskips.

Warning: This is a fetish story!

Linhardt looks at his future experiment. He does his best to not betray any emotion, not that he needs to when Seteth keeps his focus directed to his desk and the papers that occupy it.

“Here you are, Seteth. A gift for properly giving me a chance,” Linhardt extends an olive branch to Seteth. A crisp, pristine wrapped box of chocolates are in his outstretched, slightly pudgy hand. The confections show no mark or branding of any chocolatier. 

Still working at his desk despite the orange and pink hues that trickle from the sunset sky into his window, Seteth finishes his current signature before looking up at Linhardt. His green eyes widen in surprise at the generously sized gift. “Oh, why thank you,” Seteth accepts the gift and places it on his desk after clearing away the organized stacks of signed paperwork into their proper filing. “I apologize for my… earlier apprehension towards your application. But I will have to repay you for such a fine gift along with your stellar performance,” 

“There’s no need. All I ask is that you enjoy them, since I made them myself,”

At that, Seteth’s ears perk up. And it takes every muscle in Seteth’s body to not reach up to feel if his draconic ears are exposed despite his current employee well aware of his true nature along with most others who fought with him in the war a couple years ago. “I’m sure I’ll appreciate such a finely handcrafted delicacy if your wrapping is any indication,” 

“Perfect. Well then, I have some tests that unfortunately won’t grade themselves,” Linhardt leaves with his gift handed out. He gently closes the door to Seteth’s office and promptly allows himself to let out a sigh after walking down the hallway and making a turn into his own office. “Finally. Now I can get him off my case,” Linhardt’s bones crack as he stretches, slightly filled out limbs stretched above his head. He arches his back; the small bump that is his flabby belly he’s gained from extra snacks while working presses against the narrow, form fitting waistband and the bottom flaps of his vest, the navy blue fabric of his shirt slightly yet notably bulging from the extra sliver of pudge. 

Grabbing some of his own chocolate from his stash of snacks in the bottommost right drawer, he plops himself onto his well cushioned chair. “If only he’d get off my case all the time, maybe I’d give him the usual chocolate I make,” The thickly sweet caramel coats his tongue as he pops an entire piece of chocolate into his mouth. Linhard does his work, doing his best to not think about the upcoming future. 

Or more properly, Seteth’s future. 

“All done,” Seteth says to no one but himself. He only takes a couple more minutes to properly sort the finished forms and place them into their designated areas to be handed out tomorrow. As soon as he finishes his day’s work, his flat stomach growls. His nose twitches from the surprisingly aromatic scent wafting from the chocolates on his desk. “I suppose one won’t hurt before dinner,” Seteth unwraps the delicately packaged box, picks out the top left chocolate, not without first tossing away the packaging in his small trash bin, and doesn’t think before eating the whole chocolate into his mouth despite usually only taking a small bite to truly savor and appreciate such treats. Unaware of the magic infused into his gift, Seteth holds back a choked moan at the explosion of bitter yet sweet milk chocolate paired with just perfectly salted almonds. Before Seteth can even register his actions, he grabs a second chocolate. And then a third. His mouth is assaulted by a deep, rich dark chocolate filled with the perfect sliver of caramel and then a cloyingly sweet milk chocolate embittered by the strawberry jam at its center. Seteth’s swallows down all the budding saliva from his now suddenly famished state. He clears his throat and fixes his still unwrinkled attire and stands up. “I will make sure to savor these,” He unknowingly lies to himself as he closes the box with the highest amount of willpower he needs before walking at a brisk pace towards the mess hall.

Unaware of gluttonous magic cursed into the chocolate given to him, Seteth begins his descent into pure, unabashed hedonism, his surprising second serving and even more shocking third serving at dinner clearly demonstrating the magic’s potent effect.

______________

Seteth stares at the box of chocolate in front of him. Only having them for a week, the box manages to surprisingly be only half empty. The still sizable amount of chocolate left comes from some restraint on Seteth’s part. Though he finds himself devouring several plates of food to keep himself from eating all the chocolate.

The chocolates cursed with gluttonous magic, the spells have taken clear hold of Seteth. In both his appetite and figure. Seteth sports a potbelly now, the bundle of flab a brand new addition in all his years of living. Seteth's small bundle of flab that makes up his stomach isn't the only addition to him from all his binging. His entire frame is thicker, each limb sporting a small yet generous coating of flab; Seteth's arms a bit wider, the lean, defined musculature of his biceps are still there despite the extra bit of fat on him. His thighs are the same. His legs are in a snug yet somehow still comfortable state with his pants. Thankfully, Seteth has his pants covered by his outfit. Not that Seteth needs to upsize his attire. He comes close to needing it however. His sleeves are already a bit loose fitting. The white fabric still has some extra stretch and give to them. And his overcoat manages to still keep every single button without popping. His chest does struggle slightly with stretching the fabric, the blue material taut against his budding man boobs. Unlike the rest of his outfit, Seteth forgoes his belt due to his belly. 

"I-he couldn't have…" Seteth stares down at his seated frame. His pudgy frame far from apparent, he still glares at the small amount of flab that becomes ever so slightly more noticeable with him sitting. The trickling sensation of being peckish begins to invade his thoughts even as his lips are unsatisfactorily upturned at his figure. 

"I already ate lunch," Seteth grumbles to himself. Able to determine that he has in fact been cursed by something, he still holds out on being hopefully wrong about his theory towards the cause of his current predicament. Regardless of the cause, Seteth's own willpower manages to suppress the magic to some extent. He refrains himself to only light snacks periodically throughout the day where he should be glutting out on entree sized dishes every so often. Though even he finds his mental fortitude slipping and weakening as the days go by with the curse's magic only tightening its grip around him much like his clothes. Especially around food. Every fiber in Seteth that tells him to get help always ends up reduced to nothing more than a feeble voice in the back of his mind when allured by the thought of eating and stuffing himself, to properly satisfy his cravings that he deserves to enjoy and fulfill. He even feels that his manners are starting to worsen. Not by much, he thankfully notes; his usually slow methodical eating to properly enjoy his meal and the effort that goes into such a fine treat has slowly turned into more rushed bites and hurried chewing to allow himself to eat more even faster. 

Nearly certain of the culprit, Seteth forlornly stares at the seemingly innocent box of chocolates that are still on his desk. After some moments, he closes his eyes and sighs. A deep breath fills his entire being, the same determination coursing through him when he wielded his spear countless years ago. Seteth grabs the box and with a speed that surprises even him, he holds the awful creation over his trash can. 

His fingers clenched around the box and his throat suddenly parched, his calm demeanor breaks into a near painful frown as he slams the box back onto his desk and opens it. He crams the chocolate down his throat, half of the remaining chocolate frantically and messily shoved against his lips. He barely even tastes the addictingly sweet confections. His pathetic moans come out choked, the slightly melted chocolate muffling his whines. 

Seteth's face and hands are a mess after his sudden action. Staring at the last quarter of chocolate that remains, his blank stare quickly turns into a scornful glare. Not at the chocolates, but at the oh so nice person who gave them to him.

Thoughts churn in Seteth's mind—stuffing himself with food always on the periphery of each and every single idea—as he plots out his revenge. 

The magic so deeply rooted in his mind and body now, Seteth doesn't even have an inkling of a thought to reverse his situation. 

_____________

Currency watching his obese lab rat up close, Linhardt doesn’t need to put much effort into hiding his person watching. 

Linhardt no longer needs to worry about much anything nowadays with Seteth off his case regarding anything and everything. Originally giving the chocolate for revenge for Seteth always pestering him over deadlines far away and over countless upon countless thinly veiled guidelines offered as tips, even Linhardt hadn't expected his magic to work so potently.

Seteth is an absolute butterball now. Currently eating away, his size and gluttony no longer causes a scene anymore with it just another part of daily life in Garreg Mach. He uses his own seat, the center of the bench taken over by Seteth's large figure. The back of his large ass spills off the bench and his thighs are squished and pressed against the front edge of the bench. His stomach sags far down onto his lap. At least, the portion of his gut that isn't crammed against the table, the wood partially upholding Seteth's massive belly that's heavy enough to cradle with two sets of arms and still struggle to support and fat enough to sag past his blubbery fat pad that is snugly pressed in-between the lard of his gut and thighs. And his heavy chest that is burdened by the weight of all the lard that's accumulated and piled onto each swollen tit rests on his gut like a heavy, busty shelf. Both of Seteth's breasts splay out on both sides of his gut. So fat, they press against his own blubbery love handles. And also his arms that are wider than his pudgy face as they reach forward at the table that is ladened with numerous plates, each platter filled with a variety of food. 

Seteth devours his food without abandon. So focused on satisfying his cravings that grow with every single day, he thinks about nothing else. 

Gazing at Seteth's frame, Linhardt leaves the mess hall as soon as he finishes his own lunch, an averaged sized portion of Daphnel stew. He heads back to his office.

The walk back is uneventful, Linhardt only occasionally stopped by simple greetings and minor pleasantries. The only surprise he gets is a tiny wooden box on his desk. "A gift?" Linhardt raises a brow as he walks to his desk. He opens the small box and finds tea bags along with a near blank white card that only has Byleth's signature. 

Linhardt brings one of the tea bags to his nose and gives it a small whiff. "Oh, Angelica tea," He excitedly says as he smells the earthen, peppery base scent that's followed by an after note of citrus. He immediately puts his tea pot to boil water. And he pours the boiling water into his already prepared mug. The aroma of his favorite tea wafts in the air. His stomach gurgles while he waits for his tea to finish. 

Feeling a bit peckish, Linhardt reaches into his drawer of snacks and begins to munch on some of his safely stored almond cookies. 

His hunger doesn't dissipate even as he snacks on the treats. Unaware of receiving his own curse back to him, all seven of the tea bags are chock full of the magic reverse engineered by Seteth, the card also forged by him so as to not possibly give away. Linhardt doesn't think about anything as he takes a careful sip of the still hot tea, the just barely drinkable liquid managing to go down his throat smoothly without coming close to scalding his tongue or throat. His stomach gurgles after drinking the beverage. Which he helps satisfy by eating another two cookies. 

"I guess a little cheat day won't hurt," Linhardt mumbles to himself. He takes another sip of his tea, his hunger increasing as he unknowingly falls prey to his own curse.

_____________

“He would've shown up at least 30 minutes ago,” Linhardt eats his breakfast for the day. Well, his first breakfast, the large vegetable omelet paired with crispy chunks of potatoes his starter meal for the day before his larger second serving of juicy meats accompanied by more potatoes a couple hours later. He eats at a hurried pace, as if the meal is going to suddenly disappear right in front of his eyes. 

Linhardt is rather fat. Already past his pudgy phase that only lasted for a few days, he weighs 316 pounds according to his scale earlier today. His clothes are less pristine than normal; the normally crisp fabric has a few wrinkles in it from his rush to go grab breakfast after his morning Angelica tea and full tray of snacks. Even his hair is less tidy, a few strands of hair loose along with a less neatly made bun to keep all his hair out of his face. His pants thankfully hide the amount of girth stockpiled on his rear, his lower half easily the largest aspect of him. Despite only just surpassing the three hundred pounds of man fat, his ass already takes up most of the space in his chair and even comes dangerously close to being fat and wide enough to get wedged inside what should usually be roomy space. Thankfully, his stomach is much smaller than the rest of his engorged frame.  He does still have a sizable little gut that constantly yearns for more and more food as the days go by however. The stretch fabric of his clothes hug and outline the soft round shape of his belly. It also shows off the flabby circumference of his waist; the once narrow frame bulges with flab. His chest stretches out his clothes but not too uncomfortably. The back of his outfit is much worse when it comes to being revealing though. Every stretchable fiber in the fabric reaches and wraps around his flabby, bulky backside to illustrate just how wide he’s gotten in such a short time. The fabric of his sleeves now drape against his love handles. The biggest issue his outfit gives him is his collar; the buttoned fabric slightly squeezes the bit of pudge he has on his neck and budding double chin.

Linhardt well aware of being affected by his own magic, he can't bring himself to care about the effects of the curse. He only worries about satisfying his intensifying cravings. Which he temporarily does after finishing his large plate. And curiosity gets the best of him. Heading back to the hallway meant for faculty, he doesn’t return to his office; instead, he walks into Seteth’s room.

His thoughts are confirmed upon the sight of Seteth. 

Seteth so large, his mobility has become an issue for the morbidly obese man quite some time ago. Yesterday’s meal and the accompanying midnight snacks are apparently the final amount of food that stops his corpulent body from lifting itself up. Seteth is now bedbound. The frame of the bed dangerously creaks underneath all his enormity, the wood somehow still standing. His enormous gut rises high into the air, the fat piled on top of itself giving it extra height along with his fattened chair crushing ass. Seteth’s comparatively small feet barely stick out from underneath the mound of blubber. His feet are swaddled in a layer of fat from his calves and ankles that meld together from all his flab. His thighs are blanketed under his gut, each swollen barrel sized thigh unable to move underneath his weight that pins him down. Though even if Seteth could move, walking is out of the question, his pathetic waddling yesterday the product of several tired, wheezes and a determination to fill his aching, famished gut. Seteth’s arms lay uselessly to the side of him. Each arm juts at an angle with the fat from his breasts in the way. His chest now presses against his flabby flour bag sized arms in the way. And at the very top of all of Seteth’s corpulence is his panting blubbery mess of a face, Seteth reduced to barely able to communicate with him now so fat and heavy that all he can think about is eating more to try and calm the beast for a stomach.

“Ough…please, so *wheeze* hungry…”

Despite not being able to see much of Seteth, Linhardt can at least hear Seteth’s desperate pleas for food and whines over being starving; something he doesn’t doubt, Linhardt all too aware of his own hunger pangs when he tries to put off eating. “Thankfully, I already have a spell planned for this,”

Seteth has to catch his breath before he can respond. But thankfully, his gut responds for him. His entire frame wobbles. Each roll of heaping amount of flab sloshes against each other. The motion is the last bit of pressure for the bed, the frame cracking and breaking underneath Seteth’s weight. “Thank you. Need food…” Seteth pays no mind to his own immobilized corpulence, only thinking about eating upon hearing Linhardt’s confession.

For Linhardt’s part, he doesn’t think much about Seteth’s hedonistic self either. He focuses all his attention into properly casting his spell and is rewarded with perfectly summoning a portal alongside two feeding tubes. “I’m sure you’ll need another one later anyways,” Linhardt places one tube in Seteth’s mouth who accepts the feeding mechanism and begins to guzzle away at the food that pours down his throat in torrents. 

Seteth thanks Linhardt in deep moans, unable to speak while glutting.

And Linhardt only walks away soon after, yawning and thinking about taking his second breakfast early before a nap, only caring about now satisfying his hunger like Seteth has instead of caring about how he is following in Seteth’s ponderous footsteps.

_____________

“I…” Linhardt takes deep breaths after his meal. Eating for an entire hour and a half—and just for breakfast, his meal sized snacks before breakfast adding another half hour—he leans back into his chair. Well, Seteth’s chair, the seating used by Linhardt now that Seteth no longer fits into it. Or anything else with him immobilized a week ago. Linhardt is now unable to control himself; small remnants of the sauces from his food remain on his sagging cheeks. He has one hand on his gut. He lazily pats at the mass of fat that is now large enough to fill out an entire armchair. He slowly wipes away the mess on his face with his other hand. Linhard is now more than twice his weight. He easily surpasses the six hundred pound benchmark to even be rapidly closing in on seven hundreds. His large, hefty gut rests comfortably on his massive thighs that are wide and bulky enough to struggle to fit in a doorway now. Each thigh that is, the two thick enough to struggle even with doorways twice their normal width when combined. His thighs also make walking an extremely difficult chore for Linhardt. He has to waddle, the slow, feeble attempts much more difficult now compared to a couple hundred pounds ago when he first needed to lift and sluggishly swing one massive thigh past another just to move around. Linhardt’s ass completely smothers the bench; the reinforced bench is completely hidden underneath all his immense flab besides for the very sides of it that his shapeless ass doesn’t reach. Much like his gut, his chest has little in the way of flab compared to his lower half. The two meaty breasts press against his too tight top, the sides of the shirt bulging from his chest. And his gut seeps past his shirt, the pale creamy skin exposed.

Linhardt sits in place for a few moments, more like ten minutes, before beginning the arduous task of standing up. The bench visibly rises with it no longer having to support his ass for the day. Or ever again.

Linhardt waddles out of the mess hall and slowly walks towards one of the outer edges of Garreg Mach. It takes him several minutes alongside multiple stops, but he does reach his destination, albeit extremely exhausted as he wheezes and his fat face bulges with the gulps of air he takes. He thankfully has the frigid air to aid him in gathering up his energy. Sensing that his time of mobility is coming to a close, he lets out a sigh of relief upon arriving at the auditorium.

He makes his way deeper into the abandoned auditorium. Well, formerly abandoned with Seteth now taking up residence inside with him having outgrown his room yesterday. 

At the very center of Seteth’s gluttonous frame that nearly crushed the walls to his bedroom is his face. His porcine jowls splay out on both sides of his face, each massive cheek fat enough to just barely sag down to his flabby, tire sized neck that squishes against his budding fifth chin. His enormous stomach spread out in front of him. The pile of lard is large enough to fill up an entire carriage. The sagging pair of breasts that rest on top of it are comparable to armchairs at their size, each tit near the size of a person with how easily Seteth has let himself go. His arms are completely useless, both arms forced to the side from the fat from his torso and from the very own fat in his arms. The limbs resemble cylinders of fat stacked on top of each other. His thighs are the exact same, only on a much grander, larger scale with each leg larger than a couch. Much like his stomach, Seteth’s back spreads out and smothers the ground behind him. His back is littered with backrolls and fat that juts out from both sides. His ass has the bare minimum of a shape to it, his ass large enough to take up the entire surface area of a bed and crush it.

And Seteth absolutely enjoys the grandeur of his enormity. He chugs away at the food that slams down into his mouth like a waterfall with the aid of two feeding tubes now.

All Linhardt can do is stare at the parts of Seteth that he can, unable to get a full view of such a pile of lard for a man. A glimmer in his eyes, his stomach churns at the hedonistic pleasure in front of him. Linhardt’s brain listens to his gut like it has ever since drinking the tea and falling to his curse just like Seteth. “Looks like I have some catching up to do,” Linhardt casts the very same spell he used for Seteth and promptly appeases his ravenous gut by cramming both tubes in his mouth. He takes a seat on his plush ass and allows himself to devolve into a mess of moans like his larger roommate. 

Neither of the men care about modesty or sensibility, the two entirely content to keep eating and growing fatter as they reach higher and higher weights.

[true-blue-sonic]

I really love reading your Espilver stuff while attempting to prepare myself mentally for going to sleep but in those cases it's usually a 50/50 on whether my sleeping thoughts are gonna be fluffy scenarios I conjure in my head or mind-shattering angst from the depths of inferno

Like I know that stuff like Absence have good endings thankfully but sometimes my mind just wanders and takes only the dark part to use as night fuel

Oh dear, I can't imagine such angst really helps with sleeping well! At least, it doesn't for me, but maybe you are more lucky? Regardless, I get the feeling the more fluffy scenarios do help, for which I am glad!🍀

Hmm, let's see here... I dove into my WIP folder today, and I came across some half-finished things. Maybe this will help elicit the Cute Fluffy Thoughts for bedtime? ^-^

So the premise basically is TMOSTH, except this time they didn't brutally keep my son away from me and also Espio makes Silv his victim instead, lol. AU time, I guess? Enjoy!

-----

“Apologies,” Espio’s voice resounds behind him, and before Silver can yelp or whirl around a stark jab of pain hits him right in his neck.

The hedgehog staggers. His fingers curl around the edge of the train’s control panel with all its buttons, for a moment all he hears is whooshing along the ringing in his ears. The pain recedes, a gasp slips past his lips, his movement to turn to Espio makes him stumble...!

“Silver. Silver, you’re okay,” his beloved murmurs in the vague distance, and Silver groans out something he cannot understand himself as tender fingers brush over his jacketed shoulders.

“What...!”

His head collapses against slightly-itchy fabric, warm fingers trailing up to the back of his neck. The second pinch of pain that follows from there makes him flinch, the sudden movement dizzying and disorienting...

But Espio is warm, and stands steady, and Silver’s woozy mind all but betrays him when the tender scratch given behind his ear makes him purr. “That was a sleeping agent, small one,” Espio murmurs in the other one, breath making it flick sluggishly. “It pains me to do this, but I must. You’ll be taking a nice nap, and wake up none the worse for wear.”

Nap...? That can mean only one thing...!

“You killed me?” the psychic sputters out, and the laugh above him makes his stomach flutter.

“Indeed I did, love.”

“But I want to play,” Silver protests against Espio’s clothed shoulder, finding his arms unwilling to move and swat at Espio in revenge. “Why me?!”

“Because you chose to be all alone in an unguarded room, my silly one. And I need to kill someone, lest Amy’s whole party is ruined. And because no-one would believe I was the one who would do something so heinous to my beloved.”

Something between a whine and a laugh comes out of Silver’s mouth at that. Indeed, whatever part of his mind has not yet been overtaken by a comfortable fog calling him to just close his eyes can imagine Espio very well, in his fake horror and mock attempts to avenge his beloved without revealing to anyone said beloved fell by his own hand. But those thoughts are just as quickly pushed away by the heaviness swirling through him, his knees buckling until he can’t stand anymore and he crumbles to the ground-! “Don’t go,” he mutters to his beloved, fighting to have his fingers clutch onto Espio’s white sleeve. “Don’t leave-!”

“I am here, tenshi. I won’t go until you’re nice and sleeping. And I’ll be there when you wake up, I promise,” is the last thing he hears, somewhere above him, his body shifting and head sinking into more itchy fabric, and something warm and tender pressed against his cheek before the darkness around him wins and Silver falls deeper and deeper until all is black.

But somehow, he is not scared.

Because Espio will take care of him, and even when unconscious by some dumb sleeping agent shot into him by his cheeky beloved, that is a truth that will always make Silver rest easily.

------

(Silver is gonna wake up just fine, no worries!!)

[layanasstories]

Cause of pain

Part 5

I hated it. I hated him, hated the betrayal. I hated my life. I hated myself for being addicted to him. Everything I encounter in my aimless flight I kick or beat out of my way. Every breath hurts and brings shooting pains in my chest. My stomach also keeps squeezing, forcing me to stop running all the time to stop the gagging. The lump in my throat is so big that I can't even sob anymore. The gasping for breath makes me cough only to suppress the gagging again. As my legs gave out, I collapsed and rolled up into a ball, crying.

The sun was already high in the sky when I finally sat upright again. I wiped the tears from my face and had made up my mind, closing everything once and for all. Looking around to orientate where I am, I see that I am next to the lake. A long walk was ahead of me, towards the village. In this case, the church was my refuge. Jake still had my backpack in his car; my dashing away had made me forget about it. Unfortunately, it contained my phone and wallet, which meant I couldn't get anything at a supermarket or cafe. So I hoped the church could help me get a glass of water and a toilet so I could freshen up.

The pastor was a real sweetheart. He immediately walked me towards the toilets and even gave me a small towel. The cold water against my face made me feel like I could breathe a little again. I cleaned myself up, stroked my hair a bit and made a neat ponytail. When I stepped out of the room, a female deacon was ready with some drinks and even a sandwich. The pastor and the deacon asked no questions; they were happy to help me. I barely got the sandwich down, but out of politeness I ate it completely. The ice water was like a gift from heaven, and let me be in exactly the right place to feel close to heaven. Although I am not religious myself, this glass of water almost converted me. Afterwards, I thanked them both kindly for their help and walked towards the police station.

The parking lot is small, room for five cars. There are three parked there, one police car, Alan's car and Jake's car. In the latter, I quickly check to see if my backpack is there, but unfortunately not. When I step inside the building I see a policemen sitting behind the counter. The hall is quiet but I can clearly hear some arguing back and forth at the back of the building. After a moment, the officer looks up from his work and greets me politely. "Good afternoon ma'am what can I do for you?". "I would like to speak to your chief." I answer him determinedly. "I don't know if he has time at the moment, if you want I can also listen to you." his attempt not to bother his boss is not going to succeed, because this man cannot help me. "I'm sorry, but no. I need to speak to Alan. I am sure he has time for me, you can pass on that Layana Schmidt is here for him." Forced, I give him a smile. "One moment, I will see what I can do for you." he smiles back and then gets up from behind his desk, disappearing through a door.

Within 15 minutes, I was in an interrogation room, waiting for Alan. I was surprised that when the door opened it was not Alan but Jake standing in the opening. "I have nothing to say to you, Mark" with the tone in which I say his fake name I try to show my disapproval. I have no desire to blow his cover, or betray his secret. I want to close the whole Duskwood chapter, with Jake in it. The disappointment on his face is huge, but says nothing and walks away again. Not long after, Alan steps into the room "Hi Layana, it's been a while. What brings you here to Duskwood?" had I not known him better, I would have bought into his kindness. "Oh except it's been a year since Richy killed himself? Or that it's been a year since Hannah can walk free again?" my eyebrow raises at the stupid question he asks. "Right. The memory of that terrible night and time, let's call it an anniversary." his answer is quick and without value. "I am also here because I heard that a body was found?" I ask my question directly, I am not in the mood for small talk. "That's right." his reply is equally short and direct. "Is it possible for me to identify the body?" this question makes him look a little out of sorts. “You want to identify the body? Does this mean you have an idea who it could be?" that he suspects me of involvement is more than obvious, and totally expected.

[blackaquokat]

Nobody asked me, but now that I've finished the main story of both Danganronpa games (Let's Plays, anyway, I'm going to play myself now), here are the thoughts running through my head. This post will be for the first game, I'll make another post for the second one.

(spoilers under the cut: I know the games have been out for a while but still):

1. It took me a LONG time to finish the first game after the first execution. I really liked Leon and not just because his design reminded me of Kirishima from MHA. I felt really bad about the situation he was in, even if, you know, he still killed Sayaka, his death was Brutal. I stopped watching for a few months because it haunted me, until my sister encouraged me to keep going because she wanted to talk to someone about it.

2. On that note, WHY, of all the available classmates, did Sayaka pick Leon as her potential victim? Why, if your goal was to kill, would you pick one of the Ultimate athletes? I feel like she would have had far more success if she'd chosen Hifumi or even Chihiro (sorry bb, I love you). Is there a lore reason behind it?

3. All that said, I am unfortunately interested in Leosaya content for the dramatic irony and tragedy of it, so if anyone has suggestions, let me know, and I also want to see Leon and Ibuki being best buds because she left her music group to pursue her actual creative dreams and Leon hated baseball and wanted to pursue dreams of being a musician and I can see them teaming up to be in a weird-ass band together. Someone direct me to any Leon and Ibuki platonic (or romantic, I'm down) content.

4. I think Leon is gaining blorbo status for me, but not as much as some other characters from the second game, but this is in no coherent order so bear with me, and also keep in mind, I have yet to play through all his possible dialogue in the School Mode version of the game so this is liable to change.

5. I went from waiting eagerly for Byakuya to die to being devastated that he died in the second game to REALLY HAPPY that that apparently wasn't even him (though I do like the Imposter & would like to know more about them). AND THEN to being so excited that he's apparently in a power throuple with Kyoko and Makoto, OT3s FOR THE WIN!!!!

6. Hina and Sakura were really sweet, and I Loooooove how protective Hina was, because yeah, the whole point of the fourth case was she underestimated Sakura's strength, but I also think Sakura deserved to be protected. Just because she's strong doesn't mean she didn't deserve people defending her.

7. On that note, ya'll, when I didn't know what to expect from this game, I legit thought somehow Mondo and Taka were going to die in that sauna. My stomach was in knots over it. Then they just. Were bros. And I was confused but on board with them (platonically AND romantically) and then the second case devastated me and not just because I had to watch Taka be Sad for so long.

5. I feel...so bad about the whole case with Mondo and Chihiro. They were BUDDIES. I know the whole point of the story is that people betray each other but God, imagine the "motive" you were given wasn't so much a motive as it was a fucking PTSD break and it lead to you killing someone that you were not only cool with, but who admired you for qualities you didn't feel worthy of, just FUCK--

6. If you let yourself stop and think of the Everything about these games and the stories, it really fucks you up, let me live in No Despair Land where everyone's friends with each other and there's no murder--

7. Also, the whole thing with Junko. I remember, before I took a break after Leon's execution, vaguely wondering about her last words? But it was a fleeting thought that didn't lead to anything, AND THEN IT CAME BACK AROUND??? So holy shit, that was cool.

8. Gotta say, as frustrating as a lot of repetitive stuff in the game got, I understood why it was needed for the case solving portion. As some of you can tell from my Clone Wars series with sweetiepie08, I LOVE mystery solving stuff when it's done right, and even if some of them are So SO convoluted, it's satisfying to see how they fall together.

9. The VAs in these games are fucking awesome. Even if some of the shit they had to say was ridiculous (which is par the course if that's your job), they did so damn good.

10. YA'LL, I legit thought Makoto was about to be executed, so when Alter Ego suddenly showed up and saved him, I shrieked, and then KYOKO found him, and I know a lot didn't happen after that except a shit ton of exposition, but I was so psyched.

11. *sigh* I don't know what the public opinion is of Toko, but she drove me insane with the debilitating inferiority complex. And then the Genocide Jack/Jill thing happened and I mean, at least she was...slightly more interesting with that, but still, I think Toko was somehow my least favorite out of the whole gang, next to Hifumi. I also would not have predicted that she'd be one of the final survivors.

12. I legit thought Hiro was going to snap at one point after his long period of denial at the beginning. I thought he'd snap and kill someone or get killed, so when he survived until the end, I was very surprised.

13. Tbh, I did not predict the endgame survivors for either Danganronpa. I think literally all I would have gotten right was Makoto, Kyoko, and Hajime. Everyone else was quite a surprise to me.

14. Not to compare another Danganronpa character to MHA, but I was super fond of Taka right off the bat because he's so Tenya coded, those two are definitely cousins or something.

15. Someone add onto my agenda of doing a Danganronpa x MHA fusion somehow, I'll make thoughts on another post.

16. I really loved Kyoko's dynamic with Makoto, idk why, and I just fucking love Kyoko in general, she's so cool. Sherlock Holmes, step aside.

That's about it! I'll make a post about the second game later.

[olexxorodnixxsxyswifxx]

Also having a dog-person at decision making position significantly changes lives of all of us, making further research in the are of different advanced BSes to be impossible because dog people are degenerates.

When dog person is in spotlight, we have to be panically watching all our actions

One accidentally made at wrong moment screenshot is able to pump TSLA by 3%

I need to start taking into account time when I go out on street because otherwise I can accidentally pump TSLA by 3%

Do you think we want to live in this constant cycle?

You tried to create delay till some another potential way to fight me will be completed

You know that followers of TSLA are very special kind of people: there are very loud, very annoying, and always adverse to us: they are zombies

You made them raise again. Yes, I killed second Elon Musk several days ago, but they react to price of TSLA as a beacon of their activation and when it is big, we can't live, we can't breath and it's just not possible to maintain supply chains because followers of Elon Musk are able to exist only in state of being ultimately frightened and oppressed by us, but safe to us people, or in a form of loud agressive adverse crowd that destroys everything that we create

And you apparently indicated and proclaimed that in the best case you will be taking my words as recommendations to your actions,

Look, I just say that I am enjoying this life as well and what you do will make my lifepath unbearable.

In other words I can't understand how I can let you to remain at those positions.

Maybe I will not remove you today but will do this tomorrow but you seem to be a person with whom we will never be able to achieve our goals and we are at late stage: because of your actions many of our people who were not at first positions most likely appeared in very bad situation

You were squeezing out one Grandmaster after another, till I faced the fact that our supply chains are seemingly completely ruined and they can't exist when TSLA is on raise but you said that you have your own formed conviction and you don't just don't care about what I say

I mean, Jenna, I don't understand how it can be possible to keep you at this position without admitting that this is actually exactly this betrayal from my side that some people were afraid of for so long

If you remember, after I survived cancer inductor of PE: DK, he had to explain to everyone that it was not intended and he just faced some unexpected mechanism of protection, and that he didn't betray all his followers

It was very obvious from the start that there will be problems, because you can't even understand that numbers mean nothing and you live in physical reality

You believe in some bullshit, communism, pose arguments about Katy Perry, Chubays, probably think that second Elon Musk is still alive and some Dernholm died, visions from cube didn't help and you consider me a real time mirror

Meanwhile our enemies, numerous, are destroying us at whole strength while you are pretending to be dumb and trying to argue that this organization belongs not to me but to Trent Reznor or Putin, because dad of second Ariana Grande said you this

Shit, Jenna. I don't know how I can let myself to keep you at your positions

[tiefling-with-a-gun]

Margot Thoughts #112

Alright, let’s say, purely hypothetically, I did keep working with her. What would the consequences of that be?

Edwina’s words were at least a little fed by Bones Malone, which means that he for some reason is anxious about us working together. Me signing onto her operation officially, especially after that little stunt I played with Steve, could put my life at genuine risk.

I haven’t yet forgotten that little notes in the Wire Witch’s books. I’m not sure how allied Ms. Lamplight and her are, but I get the feeling that if Bones really wanted the Wire Witch on his side, he could get her. Althea becoming a threat to him might cause him to call in an old favor or something.

Lamplight gets along with the Eight Eyes as well, which would be nice. I’ve been anxious that they’re somewhat angry with me after that whole “turn the Ivoryclads against them” thing, but hopefully betraying and killing the Ashen Ringmaster in a complex web of lies has at least gotten them to warm up a little to me. At least, enough to not jeopardize her relationship with them.

The Black Tide is another factor I need to think about. Nessa listens to Ashling, who has a long-standing grudge against one of Althea’s lieutenants. I would be incredibly anxious about getting between the detective and her enemy, because I both respect her as a friend and, frankly, have been mauled by her a few times too often. I’m really really good at starting conflicts, it would be inconvenient to find my professional loyalties aligned against the party yet again.

The Ivoryclads hate both of us, so no real problem there. And the DIA… I don’t really care about being in Damien’s good graces.

As for my home turf… Scarlet Row is in disarray, and I have a feeling that she’s going to gain a lot of territory pretty quickly. It would be nice to work with the person in charge of where I live, for sure. But, of course, that was also the case for the Ashen Ringmaster, and look where that ended up.

The truth is I’m pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I was a really convenient pawn to take out the Ringmaster (whose primary weakness, as Althea must have correctly deduced, was that he bred contempt without loyalty). But without my pact I don’t really have anything special about me.

If I was to take significant action, I’d want to dismantle the Carneval. Board by board. Remove any trace of the Ringmaster’s presence from Scarlet Row, and put an end to the culture of abuse he helped foster. No more slavery here, through trafficking or debt.

Of course, that’s probably what she’d also want me to do. But I don’t trust her. Edwina did make a good point, I can’t allow myself to trust anyone to be in a position of power over me like that. Otherwise I’ll just wind up hurt again.

Life is good, I think. I’m not sure I’ve really been able to live it yet. But for the first time, I’m free. I have enough money to live comfortably, I have a profitable business enterprise, and I’m free.

[unseededtoast]

Turtle Doves | Joel Miller

Part Seven

Chapter Directory

Series Summary: In which two broken souls connect so deeply, that if one should perish, the other would surely die of a broken heart. (slow burn, timeline changes. After TLOU1, before TLOU2, assumed knowledge of infected, uses elements from both show and game)

Series Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, death, and sexual content.

Also cross-posted on Wattpad and AO3. Link to my masterlist for everything else I’ve posted!

"When they return, I'll be waiting for them."

The eerie silence of the night amplifies every little noise. Joel managed to fall asleep about an hour ago, and each time he moves or readjusts, fear strikes me. For some reason, my mind is convinced that more infected are in here, when I know they're not. If they were, they would have made themselves known by now.

Looking back out of the window, I readjust the way I'm sitting because my legs have gone numb. My eyes burn from forcing myself to stay awake, but each time I close my eyes I'm haunted by images of the dead children. I tap my fingertips on the floor as I keep close eye on the horizon, looking for anything to signify life. My chest rises and falls dramatically as I sigh in frustration and disappointment.

Standing from the ground, I pace around the small corner I've confined myself to for Joel's comfort. I knew that he'd never let himself be lulled to sleep if I stayed close, he seems to be well guarded and generally untrusting. So I was surprised when I glanced over and saw his eyes closed and head leaned against the wall a few hours ago. Only the muffled sound of my boots hitting the floor can be heard, and I'm sure it's not loud enough to wake him.

My mind begins working through different scenarios once more. Like what is my next move if the killers don't start a fire tonight? How am I going to determine which way to go? I can't just guess at it, that would be a massive waste of time and would put me in unnecessary danger. My eyes drift back to the large windows on the wall, wishing and hoping that I'd finally see something. Each time I look and see nothing, a small part of my strong resolve dissolves.

Yawning, I find my fingers fiddling with my necklace, trying to keep myself inspired to stay here and see this through instead of feeding into my disappointment and going back to the QZ.

"Why don't we trade off?" Joel's voice startles me. My body jumps involuntarily at the unexpected sound and I look over to him, the moonlight illuminating half of his face. Once my heartbeat has settled to a semi-regular pace, I shake my head,

"No that's okay. You get more sleep, I'll be just fine." My voice is rough from staying silent for so long. Joel looks out the window.

"You haven't slept all night. You really think you can keep goin' like this?" His voice is deep and quiet, his dark eyes meet mine through the shadows. A part of me knows he's right, I can't keep functioning at my fullest capacity with limited sleep.

"I'm gonna have to." I say, my words betraying what I know is right. For some reason, I know I would feel bad if I took him up on his offer. This isn't his fight, he shouldn't have to stay awake for my sake. He shakes his head,

"You say that 'til you're face to face with death because your judgment is impaired and you make a simple mistake." It almost sounds like he's speaking from experience. I walk closer to him so that our voices can stay quiet, just in case there is something lurking around in here that we didn't see.

"But that won't be on you. And besides, this was my idea, I can't pass off my responsibility to you. You'll need the rest for your trip." I say, tucking my necklace back underneath my shirt. He stares at me for a long while, like he's trying to figure me out.

"Who are you after?" He asks. I shrug my shoulders,

"I don't know. Well, you heard what I said back at James' place, three kids were killed. They were all assaulted and mutilated. One of them died in my arms. And I had even checked that area not fifteen minutes earlier." My voice trails off as I remember the poor girl's last breaths and her blood smearing on my arms as she grasped at them for help. My gaze finds its way down to the ground and I blink away the tears.

"Who were those kids to you?" He asks, his voice sounding softer than it was a few minutes ago. I pick my eyes back up and stare straight ahead out at the city.

"I didn't know them. But nobody deserves that end, especially not kids." I say and turn my head to look at him. He just nods.

"Sleep. I'll look for them." He says and stands from his position on the ground. I shake my head and cross my arms, prepared to stand my ground on this one. I'm not sure why I'm so concerned with this stranger's wellbeing, but I can't find it in myself to be selfish and accept his offer.

"No it's oka-"

"No. Sleep. You'll need the energy." He doesn't let me finish my sentence before he turns his back on me and goes to look out the window.

I take his spot up against the wall, and lean my head back. If he's so insistent on it, then I guess I shouldn't fight it. He knows his capabilities and it's not my job to take care of him. My eyes close and the silence welcomes me to sleep quickly, maybe I needed this more than I thought.

"Hey." A shove on my shoulder wakes me and my eyes fly open. Quickly, I look around, not recognizing my surroundings. I find Joel's face above me, he's standing right beside me and must have nudged my shoulder with his leg.

"What?" I ask, suddenly alert and aware of where I am. I stand from my spot and follow him over to the window, where he presses a finger to the glass, pointing off in the distance. I follow his finger and see what I've been looking for all night. A plume of black smoke is rising to the sky.

My jaw sets tight as I watch the smoke dissipate in the air. The rising sun is visible on the horizon, I must have been out for a few hours. My arms cross in front of my chest and I make note of where it's coming from, and what streets I need to take to get there. If I leave now, there's a good chance I'll be able to reach them before they abandon their camp.

Turning away from Joel, I grab my backpack that I had put in my corner last night. I shrug it over my shoulders and tighten the straps so that the weight is evenly distributed. My boots feel like they might be getting a touch loose, so I bend down and tighten the laces. Once I'm sure I'm ready to leave, I take a centering breath and go over to Joel and extend a hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you." I say with a small smile, appreciating his willingness to stay with me. He looks down at my hand and back out the window.

"The smoke was to the west, the way I'm headed back home." Is all he says and I awkwardly drop my hand back down to my side. My eyebrows scrunch together, not entirely understanding what he's implying.

"You could go around, might add a mile or two to your trip though." I say, glancing back at the smoke plume. Joel takes a moment to look back out at the smoke before he nods his head and holds his hand out. I take it and give him the firmest handshake I can.

The two of us turn and make our way back down to the street, the sun quickly rising in the sky. If I can pull this off well, I might even be back home before sundown. Off in the distance, I can still see the smoke. Joel and I turn to one another before we part our ways.

"Stay safe out there." I say with a small smile, hoping that his trip is uninterrupted and goes well for him. He's probably got a family waiting for him, and they deserve to have him back. He gives me a curt nod,

"Good luck." Is all he says before we embark on our separate journeys.

I begin walking towards the smoke and try to get into a fighter's mindset. It's not only the people I have to worry about out here on the streets. I push every other thought out of my mind and try to get back into the headspace I had years ago when I had to fight the infected every day on patrols. They're quick and they're strong. So, I have to be quicker and smarter if I want to live. The same goes for dealing with the killers.

My stomach twists the closer I get to the smoke. I don't like that I'm essentially going in blind, who knows how many there are. It would be in my best interest to try and pull this off stealthily. If I can find some sort of vantage point before I get too close to scope out the camp that would be best. It would be really nice if I had a rifle with me, then I could find somewhere up high to camp out and take them out like that. But unfortunately, rifles are very difficult to find nowadays, even more so now that the arms trade has slowed in Boston.

I keep moving forward until I find myself close enough to the smoke where I can smell it. Taking a look around, I find an old store off to the right where I should be able to get a good angle on their camp. Swiftly and quietly, I make my way to the store with no interruptions and carefully step through the broken glass door. I'm careful to keep my footsteps level and close to the ground, so that the glass shards don't make too much noise.

The store looks like it had been ransacked years ago, and is now a mess of tipped shelves and useless products. As I make my way to the back of the store, I look at the discarded items, making sure there's nothing of use that I can grab. But it looks like all that remains are empty boxes and various electronics. Nothing that I can immediately use to my advantage. The back of the store houses the roof access point and I climb the ladder, pushing the entrance open with a small squeak.

Sunlight blinds me as I step out onto the roof and I quickly crouch down so that any wandering eyes won't be able to spot me. From my vantage point, I see a small camp. There's one tent set up and a smoldering fire in the center, billowing white smoke now that it has been put out. Squinting my eyes, I see one person standing around. But nobody else.

My blood runs cold, that has to be the killer. Or at least one of them. Maybe the other one is off patrolling the area or something. If I can go take that one out, then the other should be no problem. However, it all seems too simple, too easy. Something just doesn't feel right to me. But, maybe I'm just overthinking this and it really is going to be this simple.

I wait for a few more minutes before I leave the rooftop, just to be sure nobody else is going to show up. I don't hear anyone in the distance, so I have to guess that the coast is clear, or at least will be clear enough for me to get down there and take down the person I saw.

I stay crouched as I make my way to the camp, grabbing the curved blade out of my belt and holding it tightly in my hand. All of my focus is on staying quiet and making smart moves. My mouth goes dry as I approach the edge of the camp. Hiding behind a building, I peek out to make sure nobody else somehow showed up.

The same person is standing by their tent with their back facing me. It strikes me as odd, but maybe they got their hands on some pills and are too spaced out to know what's going on. Before I leave my cover behind the building, I close my eyes and say a silent prayer with shaky breaths.

My eyes open and I'm focused on one thing only. To kill the man that stands a few feet from me. I turn the corner and take calculated steps, avoiding debris on the ground. My breath is silent, but my heartbeat sounds incredibly loud. The man isn't turning around, he's standing oddly still and it sends a familiar panic through my body.

I freeze in my tracks as my boot steps on a rogue twig, probably meant to fuel the fire but never got used. Within the blink of an eye, the man turns around and it doesn't take me long to register that he's not alive, well, not humanly. The man's reanimated body screams out and runs toward me, hands outreached to grab me.

I dodge his swing and plunge my knife towards his head. The recently-turned man is fast, and my knife only catches a few inches of his throat. I don't have enough time to react to the missed slash before I'm tackled to the ground, the man's teeth inch closer and closer to my neck as I try to fight him off.

My panic somehow makes me more focused, and old maneuvers feel like muscle memory. I bring my knee up and hit the man, throwing off the equilibrium so I can get the upper hand. As he's thrown off balance, I use the momentum from my kick to bring my body above his, my hips straddling his torso. Without thinking, I raise my knife and bring it down into the man's head. His body goes limp and twitches as he dies once again.

Blood splatters my hands and forearms as I pull the knife from the man's skull. I use the man's green shirt to clean my blade and then I stand from the ground, looking down at the corpse. He looks recently turned, maybe a few hours old at this point. Turning around, I look for any more runners that may have been tipped off to the struggle, but find nothing except empty streets and silence.

Taking advantage of an empty camp, I start rummaging around for anything they left behind. I check the man's pockets first, finding nothing but an old cigarette. Next, I search the tent and find an old map shoved underneath the sleeping bag. Unfolding the map, I see several marks on it.

The Boston QZ is circled, and I see a few other cities with the same circle. Other places are marked with the Firefly symbol. Sprinkled throughout the country there are some areas marked with stars. One location is marked with a large 'T'.  There's no indication of what these symbols mean, but I can deduce some things from common sense. I can only guess that the circles represent QZ areas and the Firefly symbol is where known Firefly outposts are; that much is fairly obvious. The T might represent where these people came from, but it's all the way out in Nebraska. As for the stars, I don't have the faintest idea.

I fold the map up and put it in my bag to study later once I'm not out in the open. The rest of the tent holds nothing of value to me and so I move out and check the fire. There are scraps of paper in there mixed with twigs. Reaching in, I grab the largest scraps I can find, and see that there's only a few legible words left on each. The one scrap says "eliminate" and the other says "immune".

Moving on and not dwelling on what those words might mean, I tear apart the rest of the camp to look for anything useful. Beside the fire there's a second sleeping bag and I reach my hand down in it, pulling out another piece of paper. These people love writing notes to one another it seems.

The words on the paper are a lot more useful than the scraps I found in the fire. I read it quickly and read it a second time, not believing what I'm seeing. The note is almost like an instruction guide. It tells whoever was here what their mission was. It looks like their mission was to hit all the QZ's in the northeastern part of the United States and kill children between the ages of thirteen and seventeen indiscriminately. It doesn't say why, but on the bottom of the paper the Firefly logo is drawn.

I put the paper in my bag along with the scraps and map. What do the Fireflies have to do with this? Going back to the man's body, I look for the telltale sign of the Fireflies, but see no pendant around the man's neck. But what I do find is the letter 'T' carved into the skin of his chest.

Making sure there's nothing else to find in the camp, I move on so that if someone does come by I'm not caught off guard. I return to the store rooftop to monitor the camp some more. If someone does come back, they'll need to be killed for their involvement as well. Nobody is going to be spared from this group if I can help it.

The sunlight begins fading, and it's becoming abundantly clear to me that nobody is coming back to this camp. Infected probably came by and they scrambled, leaving their friend to his undead fate.

Back on the move, I decide to go west. I know there's more of these people out here and if I'm right about the map, they might be going back to where they came from in Nebraska. And even if they aren't going there now, they will eventually. And when they return, I'll be waiting for them.

Part Eight

[beevean]

Fun fact: to explain to a friend why the Lenector plot makes me sick and why the real Hector wouldn't fall for Lenore, I subjected myself to some more clips.

(I guess I do have self harm tendencies :V)

And I haven't found a clip for the dialogue on the balcony, but here it is:

Lenore: Does it hurt? Hector: No. It just reminds me of the last time someone put a collar on me. Lenore: In Braila? Hector: When Carmilla almost killed me. Lenore: Well, she does have a temper. But she would never have meant to kill you. Hector: No. Because she needs me to be her forgemaster slave. Lenore: No, because if she'd meant to kill you, you would quite simply be dead. Hector: Hmph. Lenore: And if she'd meant to torture you, you would have arrived here carrying your guts in both hands with a spike up your arse. Hector: I suppose that's true. I mean, I can see her doing it. In nightmares and such. Lenore: She does have a temper, but she's logical. She never lets it run away with her to the point of, oh, I don't know, condemning the entire human race to death? Just a recent example of what being genuinely insane with murderous rage looks like. Hector: All right. Lenore: You may not have been treated like a boy king on your way here, but you did show up alive. Hector: Might have been nice, though. Lenore: Have you considered that you're only alive because you listened to Carmilla back in Dracula's castle? Hector: I hadn't. She tricked me. Lenore: I don't think she did. I think she made complete sense to you, and you felt guilty, understandably, about how it all played out. Hector: She made me betray Dracula. Lenore: No, she didn't. She showed you the old man was insane, and she saved you from the consequences. Nobody here wants to harm you. We just don't quite trust you yet. Hector: Trust me? Lenore: You did try to hurt me, Hector.

As an abuse apologist, Lenore is perfect. Look at how she keeps justifying Carmilla and the way she beat Hector nearly to death in S2, saying that "she has a temper" (which is a lie, Carmilla did it out of sadistic pleasure, not anger) and that Hector was still lucky that he was left alive. That is correctly terrifying. But also look at what she keeps saying: "dracula bad, we good". Which, incidentally, is the exact same thing Carmilla did in S2, one month prior.

This is not a manipulative woman pretending to love Hector enough so that he'll lower his guard. She's just insulting one guy. And I suppose throwing some flimsy compliments like "I like the sound of your voice" or "you're pretty".

I am trying, I really am, but I simply don't see how the story goes from "Lenore convinces Hector that Dracula was stupid" (something he had already considered with Carmilla, this isn't special) to "yes Hector would totally have sex with this random chick who was kind of flirty with him a few times". I can come up with all sorts of theories that go from "he was lonely and desperate and craved a comforting touch" to "he was tired of jerking off and preferred a warm (?) hole" lol, but that's me doing the writer's job.

I am trying to see this from the perspective of a man who knew nothing but abuse, but the writing isn't subtle enough! This is not how abuse works! Lenore doesn't actually do anything for Hector, and even when she promises him new shoes or gives him a bigger cell, she always remarks that it's in the name of diplomacy - so it's not personal!

Again. For comparison. Dracula was the first person in Hector's life who accepted him and gave him a place where he could live, who accepted his powers and gave significance to his life instead of seeing it as cursed. Rosaly saved his life without asking for anything in return, and gave him a chance to be reborn as a new man free from his sins and dark nature. That is why Hector trusts them completely (or almost, in the former case). I will die on the hill that Dracula was the perfect abusive figure for Hector, because he'd care about him, not this jailer he had known for a few weeks.

Even the prelude to the sex scene is stupid:

Lenore: I'm loyal to my sisters. To just fling open the door and say, "Fly, be free, pretty human boy"? That-- That would be a direct betrayal. [...] Lenore: You only have one advantage in this whole negotiation. I'm not sure it's an advantage. I like you. [...] Lenore: I'm loyal to my sisters… but what we're doing is wrong. We could just leave, Hector. If you want to be with me.

There is naive, and then there's "not noticing that Lenore literally contraddicts herself in the span of a minute". I have no trust in this show's writing, so it's easier to believe this is just yet another plot hole like many in this ill-thought out story.

I would have loved a story where Hector's canonical tendency to devote himself to people who grant him the most basic of decency gets twisted into something heartbreaking, but Lenore isn't a fake Rosaly. She's just Carmilla 2.0 + petplay. Her brand of manipulation doesn't make leverage on Hector's need for love and acceptance, which are supposedly why his show version keeps believing obviously suspicious women.

This is what infuriates me. The writing isn't just bad in the sense that it makes me ill. It's just low quality when you stop to think about it for more than three seconds. And what people get from this "huehuehue look at lenore playing hector like a fiddle, #queen"

still obsessed over N!Hector and the sheer unfairness of how he was treated, stuck between "fans" and critics who both reduce him to a pathetic dog to be saved from his own stupidity, because hurr durr he keeps getting manipulated by pretty women! it's just that one camp fetishizes him and the other mocks him

while I feel alone in my belief that Hector being starved for love and devoting himself to anyone who shows him basic decency is canon! It's canon! I can prove it! He did it with Dracula and most importantly with Rosaly! It's not him being "wimpified" it's the natural result of his trauma that was carried over in the show! Why do y'all think he went on a revenge quest after Rosaly was killed, why do you think he was ready to die afterwards? he LITERALLY planned to give his life for the one person who loved her! because that's what dracula taught him to do!!!

the difference is that the prequels did not turn that compelling weakness into fucking rape fetish fuel i hate everything so much i want to bite something to shreds

[jiminiesfavouritecolourisblue]

Our little love part 2 - mafia/yandere au Drabble {angst + fluff}

As always please let me know what you think, I am actually going to go to bed now my brain is angry with me for not sleeping.

It seemed the cycle was never ending, you fucking up and pissing them off, them punishing you by drowning you in their love, only letting you come up to breathe so you could swim in your own guilt and submit to them.

You wince as the victim to your latest fuck up gets another blow to his chest. Taehyung and Hobi held onto his arms as Jungkook and Jimin kick and punch the poor individual. You know not to speak, it’ll only make things worse. Temperament was a fickle thing in their lives, trust was everything, and you still had to build yours up again.

“Y/n help please,” Kai whimpers as you stood with your arms crossed looking away.

“Don’t fucking say her name,” Jungkook growled before punching your ex colleague in the face. You’re frowning, the need to beg them to stop was fighting for exit on the top of your tongue, but you bite it down and pray Kai doesn’t say another word. You know if you do as he asks they’d kill him. Your punishment was to watch silently.

Yoongi strolls up behind you, hands in his pockets before he rests his head on your shoulder, watching the display in front of you both.

“Nothing to say little love?” He whispers as your friend groans out in pain.

Please don’t kill him, you want to say, but you just shake your head in defeat. You want to believe they’re better than this, but the evidence of the contrary was never hidden from you. They showed you every side of them whether proud of it or not with bold eyes daring you to stop loving them, pushing your boundaries and morals waiting for you to snap. But the breaking point never came, you loved them, you shouldn’t and you knew it, but you did. You were completely and utterly theirs, yet still they treated you like you hadn’t seen the worst of them. Like you would run away the second you realised they were monsters, not that they would let you run far, only far enough to let you take a single breath before making you drown in them once again.

Yoongi wraps his arms around your waist, keeping an eye on your reactions. The asshole deserved it, not that they cared either way, he tried to take you away from them, that was enough.

Kai was your old partner before you took a very early retirement, what you didn’t know was that he continued the case you were working on before you left; the case of the seven men you now loved and the reason you quit said job. He had called you to meet up for old times sake and you, very naively in Yoongi’s mind, decided it was harmless. But if it was harmless why didn’t you say anything to the boys? You thought Kai didn’t know the reason you handed in your resignation, but he had been keeping an eye on you all before he realised you were the key to their downfall. He knew you harboured some feeling for him in the past and thought you’d reciprocate when he tried to flirt his way into getting his hands on the evidence you collected, he didnt know you burned it all. You lied to him and said you lost it, same difference anyway. This prompted plan b from him.

“Y/n they’re criminals,” he had said to you. “You’re a cop at heart you can’t love them.”

You floundered at his words when you realised he knew, and yet he still asked you to betray them.

“Kai I think I need to go...”

It was a mistake, you knew it then, but he followed you out onto the street and you hoped tonight the men you loved weren’t keeping an eye on you. Maybe naive was an understatement.

“Are they coercing you Y/n! Do they have something on you or are they threatening you?” He calls after you. “Because the Y/n I know would never love killers, what have they done to you?”

It was when he reached his hand out to grab your arm that your boyfriends decided to show themselves from the shadows. Which lead to the situation now, Kai beat up and bruised beyond recognition, and you forced to watch. He falls unconscious and they let him drop to the floor, you hate this side of them, it was cruel and cold but you’d never leave. They turn to face you now, their anger still present despite the last hour of releasing it onto your old partner. They don’t miss the way you’re shaking, the shallow breaths as you try and keep your tears to yourself. As much as you hate their violence, you hate their disappointment in you more.

——————————————————————————

You’re sitting in Joonie’s lap for what you call the debriefing of your punishment, this happened way too often in your opinion. You look down but he wasn’t having it today, tilting your head to look at him by your chin.

“Why did you get punished today little love?” He starts the same way as usual.

“I went out without telling you guys where I was going or who with,” you say while fiddling with your fingers out of nervous habit.

“And?” Hobi sits across from you in a chair, legs straddling the back and an elbow rested on top with his fist holding up his face. Hobi was hardest to pacify, he was ruthless and unforgiving and while that didn’t extend to you, you still had a hard time with his stubborn anger.

“I met up with Kai, and I let him touch me,” you’ve done this too many times before to not know how it worked. Kai’s ‘touch’ obviously meant nothing to you but for them it was the worst crime anyone could commit against their little love.

You remember the time you nearly tripped in the park and a guy steadied you politely, but you still had to hold Jungkook back from throwing hands.

“Kookie would you rather I fell and hurt myself?” No he hadn’t wanted that so he grumbled in agreement still seething but you cooled it down. “Instead of hitting him maybe you should thank him,” it was a joke but it made the youngest scoff.

“Baby girl why can’t you just be good?” Namjoon’s sigh brings you back to the present. “Why do you always have to test us like this?”

You didn’t mean to, you want to say it but the words are stuck below the sob in your throat. You actually whimper as his tone, bottom lip wobbling pathetically. He hadn’t even told you off properly, but you already felt like a mess as he bathed you in his disappointment. That was the common consequence of your actions and you hated it, you couldn’t do anything right.

——————————————————————————

“Jin do you need help with the food?” You ask your eldest boyfriend politely, he was frowning and you thought it was because today’s meal was too much for him to handle alone, his tone of voice made you realise it was because of you.

“No, I’m alright,” he doesn’t look at you as he speaks and you’re left gaping at him like a fish. Jin loved it when you cooked with him, it was your bonding time without the others, although Yoongi would join you from time to time. The others also tried but Jin wouldn’t let them anywhere near the kitchen, they hogged you enough anyway.

You feel your soul deflate, still standing there as he ignored you.

“Are you mad at me too?”

The way you said it made his heart twinge with guilt, but the others were right you wouldn’t learn and your first betrayal was still fresh on their minds. He sighs and you turn away, refusing to crying in front of them for the tenth time that day. What was wrong with you? Ever since that day where they found out who you really were you felt like you werent enough anymore, you tried so hard to make up for it all but you kept messing up. You weren’t like this before, but after seeing the hurt you put them through you were constantly on edge and second guessing yourself. You wish you could go back and stop them from ever finding out.

Jin hears the sniffle as you walk away and he can’t go through with it.

“Wait little love,” he calls for you. “I forgot to cut the onions, would you mind?”

You shake your head, you didn’t mind, but you didn’t trust your voice to answer for you. Youre grateful to Jin for giving you this task, it hides the fact you’re crying, but you know he doesn’t miss it.

——————————————————————————

Jimin and Taehyung were giving you narrowed stern gazes through dinner, it put you off your food which resulted in getting told off by Jin just after he branched out to you in the kitchen.

You felt alone, like the seven men you loved were against you and there was no one to blame but yourself.

“I’m sorry,” you say quietly before getting up and removing yourself from the dinner table and dining room, ignoring all of their stares. You decide maybe an early night is best, you could start again fresh tomorrow. You don’t get too far up the stairs before a hand pulls you back, you turn to see Jimin with Tae a few steps behind him.

You’re so used to seeing them laugh and play around that it feels like you’re looking at different people. Even during missions or gun fights, the youngest three were always joking their way through the bloodshed, keeping scores of who got the most headshots and other grotesque games. You remember the time Jimin and Tae called you during he middle of a shoot out, arguing with you and each other over who you loved more out of the two while you begged them to not get shot or killed.

“Why did you go see him Y/n?” Jimin asked, he wore the demeanour he used for enemies and it takes you back to that night.

“I... h-he said he wanted to see me to catch up,” you explain but you know it’ll fall on deaf ears.

“And you thought that was a good idea, to see your old cop buddy?” His tone makes you feel stupid, you weren’t stupid.

“He was my friend Jimin,” you say in disbelief, you know in the end it was a mistake but at the time it didn’t seem like the worst idea in the world.

“You’re ours,” Taehyung moved forward, towering over you even though he’s a step below you. His face is close to your own, eyes burning into yours as he looks disgusted at the words that left your mouth as if they’re still attached to you. “How do you think we felt when you went to see another detective? Do you have any idea what was going through our heads?”

“Tae I love you,” you lean away from him, searching his face for a hint of softness and love in his gaze, but there was only fire. “You know I wouldn’t, you all know I wouldn’t, I left that life for you why would I turn back to it?”

He stalks away from you without a word, Jimin close behind, giving you a final cold glance before leaving you alone. You thought your love could make them better but if anything you made their darkness worse.

——————————————————————————

Jungkook needed to vent, the only way he knew how was physically. Obviously it wasn’t the cleverest thing he’s done, taking rounds with the punching bag only to open up the cuts on his hand from beating the bastard earlier. He mutters a few curse words under his breath, why did you make matters worse? Maybe they were being harsh on you before today, finding any excuse to punish you a little, test your boundaries and see if you would run, but today they honestly feared that was what happened. They thought you chose to leave them and go back to the life you had before them, but they’d never let you go, they couldn’t let you go. Despite everything you loved them and they worshipped the ground you walked on. You were everything for them now, there’s be no point to any of them without you. Why didn’t you understand that?

He throws another punch to the bag, spreading his blood across them, it hurt like hell, but the thought of you running back to your old partner still played on all of their minds. He wanted to cry, he wanted to find you and beg you to never leave them, they’d be nothing without you.

There’s a knock on the door and he finds you on the other side, waiting for permission to come in. You never waited for permission, it makes him frown, maybe they were too harsh on you today. He could see you shuffling your weight, insecurity screaming through your eyes, you feared his rejection more than his anger.

He notices the first aid kit in your hand, you must’ve heard him. He doesn’t let the fluttering in his chest reach his face as he sits on the bench, waiting for you to come to him.

His gaze is expectant, daring you to cross the threshold and face him, you were no coward, you didn’t fear them the way others did, why were you behaving so meekly now? You force yourself to move and sit beside him, setting the kit down and pushing your hair back behind your ears. He doesn’t move his gaze away from you, even with the sweat and hair hanging in front of his face.

You carefully take a his hand into yours, sucking air between your teeth at how injured it was.

“I’m sorry you hurt yourself because of me,” you say, eyes on his bloodied knuckle as you press the ointment against the open wounds. “Are you sure you want me to stay, I keep hurting you...”

You try to sound like you’re joking, that you’re okay and the hurt isn’t weighing you down with your doubts. He frowns, they really did take it too far. He sets down the cotton wool from your grasp, taking both of hands into his before kissing each finger delicately without letting you look away.

“You’re perfect little love,” Jungkook says, reassuring you with no question in his voice. “We’re the ones who don’t deserve you, we’re mean and cruel but we’re never letting you go.”

You remember how loving they were before that night, maybe while they accepted the truth at face value they could never really forgive you in their hearts. Maybe that’s why they were being like this, they didn’t love you the same way anymore.

“Do you love me?” You had to know, the doubt was eating you alive.

He looks at you as if you’re insane, maybe you are, you don’t know anymore.

“Little love, don’t you see how much we love you?” He asks sincerely. “We would do anything for that love even if it made you hate us, you belong with us, and no one is going to take you away.”

You could see the crazed look in his face grow as he spoke, you believed him, the honestly worn like a heart on a sleeve. But his answer bought a wave clarity to your hazed vision, you made them like this, you made them worse, you had to leave.

[cowboycakes]

Do You Get My Letters

✥ Pairing: Levi x fem!Reader, somewhat Reiner x fem!Reader

✥ Themes: Fluff, angst, sadness, big ass plot twist

✥ Warnings: Female bodied reader (she/her pronouns,) Pregnancy and birth (nothing gory.) Mentions of death, violence, and threats. Manipulation.

✥ Synopsis: You are carrying Reiner's baby when he betrays Paradis. Levi decides to step in.

✥ Word Count: 2.2k

(there is a part two up to this fic, but i've decided i'm going to rewrite the ending at some point.)

Anon's Request: Hi! I saw your requests are open so here I want to give my little scenario a try! 🕳🤸🏽‍♀️ I thought abt this last night, I’m currently rewatching AOT after 6 yrs and yet to finish season 4, so sorry if I’m wrong abt timelines/the plot? My request is the reader was with child with Reiner, but b4 reader told him, he betrayed and exposed his mission. Levi stepped in to help reader. And btw, I just finished watching ep 3 of season 4, so maybe Eren telling reiner abt his child and he regrets leaving the reader? And reiner jealous at the fact Levi is most likely considered his child’s father at that point. I can’t come up with an ending, so I’ll leave it up to you if you do take in my request. If this isn’t your type of writing I totally understand!

Note: This story is canon divergent. It is set in season 4, but in a universe where Reiner is not revealed as a traitor/the armored titan until a few months before season 4 takes place, as the reader was having relations with him until then and did not know his secret. I’m sorry if that change bothers you, I just wanted to write this as sort of its own story. This story contains season 4 spoilers! It also has nothing to do with the canon ending of AOT.

---

Dear Reiner,

I hope this letter somehow gets to you, I don’t quite know where to start.

In a perfect world, I would be so happy to tell you this. You’d be ecstatic too, I think. And before you try to second guess me: I’m sure by now, don’t worry.

I’m pregnant.

I guess we weren’t careful enough before you left. I feel like an idiot. And lost. But I’m not hopeless. I know myself, I can make it work somehow. With or without you.

I’m still in shock about you. How could someone so close hide so much? You’re a talented spy I suppose, a great asset to Marley. You made me trust you with my entire life. You made me love every false thing about you. And this is the rude awakening I get in return.

I’ll raise our child to value honesty and kindness, all in spite of you.

Sincerely,

Reader

---

The paper was damp with tears after you lifted your pen for a final time. You wished you could just keep the whole thing a secret: go make a quiet life for yourself somewhere else. It wouldn’t be right. Not after all of the dishonesty that man had spewed to you over the past few years. You had to tell him.

The door to the office room you’d settled in to write the letter creaks open. It’s Levi. He looks at your puffy eyes somberly, sympathetic. He was the first person you had told about the entire situation. Not because you were close, just because you needed help.

You fold your letter and stick it into a sturdy envelope. Levi takes it in his hand.

“That piece of shit doesn’t deserve a thing from you. Not a letter. Certainly not tears,” Levi says, using a clean handkerchief to wipe a stray drop from your cheek, “but I am proud of you.”

You take the handkerchief from him, feeling more tears stream down your face.

“Proud? I’m a fucking idiot,” you say through your sobs.

“Don’t even try to pull that self pity shit with me. Things happen sometimes. And you’re strong enough to commit to getting through it,” he responds.

You stand up, pushing your chair out. You look at him as you dry your face off again.

“I’m alone. How the hell am I supposed to do this shit alone?”

“You are not alone,” Levi replies. You’re shocked when he pulls you into a hug. “I’m going to help.”

You had never seen this side of him before. You look at him as you pull away slowly, tears still welled in your eyes.

“Are you sure? That's a big burden, Levi. None of this has to involve you.”

“Not the biggest burden I’ve ever taken on,” he shrugs. “There’s a lot of death around here, Y/N. Everyone is going to be happy about the little bit of life you’re giving us.”

You chuckle. He’s cynical, but he’s right.

He licks the envelope as he walks toward the door.

“Want me to run you a hot bath or something? Is that the type of shit pregnant people need?” he asks.

You laugh, a little harder than normal. It felt so relieving to laugh.

“Sure, Captain,” you respond softly.

---

Dear Reader,

I received your letter before the battle in Marley. I actually got to hand it to Reiner myself. He knows everything now. He broke down in front of me after reading it, going on about how much he regrets everything. How he wishes he could change things and be there for you. He begged me to kill him right there.

The world will eventually not have suffering like what you are going through now.

Eren Jaeger

---

Your jaw had dropped reading it. He begged me to kill him.

You hand the letter Levi had just delivered back to him. He reads it with a furrowed brow.

“Do you think…” you begin, your voice shaky, “do you think I could send another letter?”

Levi purses his lips, “Possibly. I can ask Jaeger. But right now, you need to bring your blood pressure back down.”

You were over seven months along now. You had found out about your pregnancy late, after being in denial for four whole months. Hange insisted on checking you out after you’d thrown up every morning for a week.

Levi had since gone on a parenting book reading spree; he made you read several of them too. He knew just about everything you needed to do to make a healthy baby: what to eat, what not to eat, how to exercise, when to go to the doctor, etc. It was really sweet how much he cared. You knew it gave him hope, something to fight for, something to come home to.

You were terrified when he left for Marley. You kissed him for the first time when he returned. Just about everyone you knew had to fight. You wished you could be out there fighting with them like you were supposed to. Maybe you could have made a difference.

Levi takes your hand, squeezing it to bring you out of your thoughts.

“What can I do?” he asks.

“Get me a glass of wine,” you grumble.

“Absolutely not.”

---

Dear Reiner,

Reader does not know I’m sending this. So keep it that way, or I’ll kill your sorry ass. Or maybe not, you’d probably enjoy that. In that case I’ll get creative.

How does it feel? Being a fucking deadbeat? Is it everything you’d thought it’d be and more? Fucking her and leaving her with nothing, like she belongs in a whorehouse. Reminds me of what happened to my mother. Pieces of shit like you came in and sent her to her death, leaving her kid behind to starve.

I wasn’t about to let her suffer like my mother did. But you were. I’m glad your choices haunt you, Reiner. You fucking deserve it.

I’ll be there for the both of them from now on, doing everything you were never capable of. She’s due any day now, I’m sure she’ll try to write to you.

Levi

---

You feel your first contraction while napping on the couch with Levi. You were settled in between his legs, your back leaning up against his chest. He had his hands on your stomach; he loved to feel the baby kick and tell them some of the happier stories in his memories.

The two of you had grown so close over the past few months. You slept together every night now. You didn’t want to leave each other’s sides if you didn’t have to. Levi would cuddle and massage you any time your pregnant body was ailing you.

You had fantasized with him about life after the war. He wanted to be a husband, a father, to live peacefully in the countryside. And he wanted more than anything for you to join him.

The first contraction wasn’t painful enough for you to make much more than a grunting noise, but Levi woke up the second he felt your stomach contort a bit. He was on very high alert these days.

“Holy… shit…is that what I think it is?” Levi whispers, “Don’t answer. I’m getting Hange.”

He crawls out from behind you and sprints out of the room.

The pain worsens and becomes much more frequent while he’s out looking for Hange. You stand up eventually after getting the urge to walk around - and your water breaks. You start panicking, unsure of how dilated you were and how much time you had left before pushing. You really wished you’d done more than just skimmed through those birthing books right about now.

Levi and Hange eventually come sprinting back into the room with a wheelchair and cold rags to find you whimpering in pain on the couch, trying your best to control your breathing.

You’re rushed down the halls to the Scout’s infirmary, where Levi had made sure the perfect room was set up for you - and it had been that way for two months.

The next hour goes by in a blur. Hange knew the biology of how to deliver the baby, and Levi knew how to coach you. He helped you hold your legs back when you pushed, and helped you count out your breathing. Hange attended to everything that might have made Levi faint, like checking your dilation and making sure the baby was coming out at the right angle. You got lucky having these two by your side.

Through all of your efforts, you finally hear a cry. You look up to see Levi holding your tiny new baby as Hange wiped them clean. He was smiling, way bigger than you’d ever seen him smile before, with tears in his eyes.

“Here,” he says softly, handing her to you.

You cradle her on your bare skin. “She’s so perfect, Levi! Look how sweet she is!” you coo.

“What are you going to call her?” he asks, stroking your hair as you gleam down at your baby.

“I was thinking,” you smile, “Kuchel.”

Levi lets out small gasp. Tears start streaming down his face, his efforts to stifle them failing.

“Really? I think that’s,” he wipes his eyes, “a wonderful name.”

—-

Dear Reiner,

She’s finally here! Oh my god, she’s precious. Levi and Hange helped to deliver her. Labor went smoothly. Levi started to cry when he saw her for the first time. She really is just that perfect. We are calling her Kuchel, after Levi’s mother. He cried when I told him that, too (don’t tell him I’m sharing those crying details.) I've decided to give her Levi’s last name as well.

Levi set up the perfect nursery for us.

If you really did feel guilty for leaving - don’t be. I’m happy.

She has your eyes.

Sincerely,

Reader

—-

Dear Reiner,

Kuchel said her first word today. Of course it wasn’t mama, she’s such a daddy’s girl. She started crawling awhile ago, we are now working on standing up on our own. She has all of this blonde curly hair, too. She’s growing up so fast.

Reader

—-

Dear Reiner,

Levi proposed a few days ago. It was so perfect. We found a nice house with room for a farm that will be perfect for a family.

I can only wonder how you’re doing, now that the war is over.

Are you even alive?

Reader

—-

Dear Reiner,

I’m expecting again. Levi is beyond excited. I am too, of course. Kuchel started school this year. She is such a smart kid.

I still wonder about you. After all these years.

Reader

—-

Message after message, word after word. No response. You had decided he must be dead. The devastation after the war would argue that he was.

That is, until you found yourself rummaging through one of Levi’s desk drawers, looking for baby Isabel’s lost pacifier.

You felt the bottom of the drawer shift. A false bottom?

You pry at it until it comes open.

Letters.

Dozens of opened letters. With Marleyan postage stamps.

You pull out the first bundle you see. They’re all from you. Unopened. Unsent. You set them aside, your jaw quivering.

You pull out the second bundle and gasp.

��-

Dear Reader,

Eren showed me your letter. I am terribly sorry. Let me fix this, somehow. You can come to live with me in Marley. I will take care of you. Please.

I’m not just a traitor, a liar, a farce. Everything between us was real. I can explain everything. Just trust me.

Love,

Reiner

—

Dear Reader,

Do you get my letters?

I’ve only heard rumors about our new baby girl. I wish I could see her. Just once. For a second. Do you have a camera? I know they’re hard to come by in Paradis. I can send one.

I’d do anything to change this. You know I would.

Love,

Reiner

—-

To Levi,

You son of a bitch. I know exactly what you’re doing. You think this is protecting her, but it’s not. Just let her talk to me. She would listen, she would understand. You said yourself that she writes. You manipulative, sick bastard. That is MY child. She will never be yours. No matter what you brainwash her to believe, your dirty Ackerman blood does not run through her veins. She deserves to know. You are the farce, Levi.

Reiner

—-

There were dozens more. All opened. All from Reiner.

You sink down to the floor, tears spilling from your eyes.

You are the farce, Levi.

But, why? He was just protecting you, right?

The office door opens. You jump, shoving the letters back into the drawer.

“Mommy, why are you crying?” Kuchel asks.

You take a deep breath, staring down at the letters, thinking about everything that could have been.

“Are you happy here, Kuchel?”

“Yes!” she chirps, “Every day!”

“Then it’s nothing, baby. Mommy just got hurt. She’s better now.”

Your daughter giggles and skips out of the room, leaving you to hide away the rest of the letters.

༺♥༻

I REALLY HOPE I understood your request, Anon! I actually had a lot of fun writing this. It isn't something I would normally think to write, but I'm so glad you shared this idea! Sorry for the sad ending, I love playing w people's emotions ;)

༺♥༻

[dreamwritesimagines]

Twisted 25 - The Family Dinner [Spencer Reid x Reader]

A.N.: Thank you so much for your wonderful support my loves! Here’s the next chapter, I hope you will like it as well, and please let me know what you think of it! ❤❤ Ily, kisses! ❤❤❤

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Murder, serial killers, violence, manipulation, mentions of sex, drinking, smoking.

Word Count: 5300

Summary: Family time can be chaotic.

Sharing secrets was difficult, but sharing secrets about one’s past was quite possibly one of the most difficult things that a person could do with who they loved. You knew how difficult it was for Spencer to talk about his past with you, but he stood by his word and told you absolutely everything, with nothing to hide. By the time you finished that conversation, it was almost dawn and yet you didn’t feel tired at all.

After that night, something changed but it wasn’t a bad change like Spencer feared.

You felt even closer to him, if such a thing was possible. In the following week, your relationship was better than ever-

Well.

Until now.

“I don’t believe this,” you shook your head, “I just… I refuse to believe this. After everything we’ve been through, I don’t even want to believe you’d put yourself in harm’s way and betray me like this. I get that you have no regard for your happiness, but doing this?” you ran a hand over your face, “This is too much, Spencer. You have no idea what you’re walking into, what kind of danger that’s going to be waiting there to ruin you!”

Spencer just raised his brows, then looked between the two ties he was holding up.

“So that’s a no to the blue one?”

“No to this whole thing!” you let out a groan, falling back to the bed, “No to this dinner with my family nonsense!”

He chuckled at your dramatics as you huffed out.

“Don’t you think maybe you’re worried about the wrong thing?” he asked, “You’re also meeting your father today.”

“But we know my father is a sadistic cruel demon sent to earth to make everyone’s life miserable,” you pointed out, keeping your eyes on the ceiling, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but my father isn’t the only dangerous person in my family.”

“It’s just a dinner.”

“No, that’s what they want you to think,” you insisted, sitting up in bed, “Before you know it, they invite you to our place by the lovely countryside, and you’ll walk in thinking it’s just like any other place, there are wolves howling outside and-“

“Why are you giving me the plot of Dracula right now?”

“Because that’s what they are!” you exclaimed, “They’re like vampires! Have you ever wondered why my sister was named Mina? Dracula’s Mina!”

“Your mother loves horror books?”

“Spencer you can’t ignore the signs!” you insisted as he started tying his tie, a small grin pulling at his lips, “They’ll- they’ll suck the life out of you! By the time the dinner is over, you will be begging to see the sunlight again, and you will never be able to. Figuratively speaking.”

“Sweetheart, I’ve already met all of them,” he said patiently and you felt your heart melt, “In case you forgot.”

“Yes, and do you remember how that went?” you asked, “Nolan threatened you, my mother treated you like she was going to hire you and questioned you about everything, and Mina… Mina is a warning by existence.”

“Kenzie was nice though.”

“Yeah, she’s the only good person in our family,” you muttered, then turned your head when you felt his glances on you. “What?”

“Nolan is a part of your family?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” you scrunched up your face and grabbed your lip liner and lipstick to walk to the mirror, uncapped it and started applying it, “I’m going to have a billionaire stepfather who looks like a puppy around my mother— that’s not the point.” You put the lipstick into your purse and went to sit down on the bed again while he ran his fingers through his curls as if trying to keep them under control, “I just don’t want you to change your mind because my family doesn’t know how to act normal.”

“Change my mind about what?”

“About this,” you motioned between you and that was more than enough to make him turn his head, his brows furrowed. “I love them, but they’re going to be overly prying, overly dramatic, overly….everything and the next thing we know—“

“That’s never going to happen,” he approached you to crouch down so that he could look at you better, then reached out to entwine his fingers with yours, “That’s why you were so nervous about this?”

You pursed your lips, heaving a sigh and shrugged silently.

“Do you remember what you said to me a couple of days ago, that night?” he asked, “How trust works both ways?”

“You already know almost everything about my past.”

“That’s not it,” he shook his head, “This is about our present, and future.”

“Or lack thereof,” you commented dryly, making him chuckle.

“Do you seriously believe that?”

“They can be a little intimidating.”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured you, “And no matter what happens tonight, or on dinners to come with-“

“Social vampires.”

“With your family,” he corrected you, “It won’t change anything. I promise.”

You cupped his cheek, running your fingertips over his slight stubble and he turned his head to place a kiss into your palm, nuzzling there.

“Fine,” you murmured, “Let’s go see my sadistic demon father then. Should be enough of a practice for tonight.”

                                              ***

When you and Spencer got to the prison your father was held in, Luke was already by the hallway, waiting for you.

“Hey,” he said, “He’s going to be ready in five.”

You nodded, “Okay.”

“And don’t worry, after you guys are done here, I’m taking him to bullpen and he will leave at 7 p.m. latest. Rossi promised, even if there’s a dead body he’s gonna attend the dinner tonight.”

You looked up at Spencer, “Wait, there was a possibility of you not attending if someone ends up dead?”

“I mean if there’s a case…”

“Please don’t kill someone so that you guys can avoid this dinner,” Luke pointed out and you made a face at him, “We took you off our suspects list way too soon.”

“Hilarious,” you deadpanned and one of the guards opened the door.

“He’s ready.”

“I’ll be behind the glass if you two need anything.” Luke said and Spencer squeezed your hand as if trying to assure you everything would be alright.

“Come on,” he coaxed and you nodded, then took a deep breath and entered the interrogation room, Spencer following you. Your father looked up, then raised his brows.

“Oh look at you two, together again,” he said and you rolled your eyes, trying your hardest not to show how nervous you were. You took your seat across from him beside Spencer, and crossed your arms.

“John.”

“Dr. Reid.”

“So that’s why you haven’t had the time to come and see me lately,” your father motioned between you, “I can hardly say I approve but…”

“Oh that’s good. I’d probably kill myself if I did something you’d approve of.”

“Honey, you’re surrounded by CEOs and businessmen, and you went for an FBI agent?”

“What the fuck does that have to do with-”

“How much do you make monthly?” he asked, turning to Spencer, “I mean, I need to make sure-“

“Oh shut up, will you?” you cut him off, “He’s going to be hearing all that nonsense and more tonight, I don’t need this from you too.”

“Tonight?”

You and Spencer exchanged glances and he shrugged slightly, as if telling you to continue. A small smile pulled at your lips and you turned to your father.

“We’re having a family dinner tonight,” you said, “Naturally it doesn’t include you, so there’s one good thing about this bullshit, I guess.”

“Well, if it doesn’t include me you could hardly call it a family dinner.”

Your smile widened and you clicked your tongue,

“Nah, Nolan is going to be there so we’ll be fine. The whole family is there.”

Your father frowned, “Nolan?”

“Yeah,” you said, “Yeah, mom’s boyfriend.”

A silence fell upon the room as he stared at you for a couple of seconds,

“Your mother has a boyfriend now?”

You hissed in a breath,

“You’re right, boyfriend doesn’t exactly cut it,” you said, “He’s going to propose, so I guess we could call him mom’s future husband-“

“You’re lying,” he cut you off and you tilted your head.

“Am I though?”

“She wouldn’t get married,” he shook his head, “No way.”

A laughter escaped from your lips, “Why not?” you asked, “Because she loves you?”

“Yes she does.”

“The last time I checked, she called you a monster and was hoping you would die as soon as possible,” you stated, “Barely a love story.”

“Of course you wouldn’t understand,” he said through his teeth, “Your mother and I were in love, Petal. We still are, regardless of divorce, or this.” He motioned around the room and you blinked a couple of times, trying to wrap your mind around it.

“Jesus, you really are delusional.”

Spencer muttered your name to remind you to be careful, but you shook your head, keeping your eyes on your father.

“I’m pretty sure Nolan could buy this whole prison,” you motioned around, “I should suggest that, as a wedding gift.”

“They won’t get- hold on,” your father said, “Did you say Nolan? Nolan Yates?”

“Mm hm.”

“Nolan fucking Yates is going after my wife?”

“Ex-wife who hates your guts,” you corrected him and he gritted his teeth.

“I knew it,” he spat, “The first time I saw him at that gala, I saw the way he looked at your mother. They’re not getting married.”

“Okay then you lunatic,” you scoffed “I guess you need something to have delusions about while we’re out there moving on—“

It happened in a flash. One second you were talking, the next you were cut off as your father jumped on his feet, Spencer pushing you out of your chair to behind him almost automatically.

Then, something in Spencer’s eyes shifted.

He grabbed him by the arm, twisted it and slammed him down to the table in front of you, making you cover your mouth, your heart beating in your throat as the door opened with a bang and Luke and two guards came in.  Luke was the first to pull Spencer off of your father, telling him to let go while one of the guards grabbed you and pushed you out of the room before he made his way to your father still trying to get out of the handcuffs and lunge at them as if he was a man possessed. They dragged him out of the interrogation room to what you assumed was the hall that led to his cell while you stood still by the wall, trying your hardest to snap out of it but your mind was almost foggy.

“Excuse me,” you managed to say as you made your way to the bathroom, your hands still shaking. Thankfully no one was there, so you rested your palms on the sink, taking a deep breath before you turned on the tap, holding your hands under the ice cold water.

“Okay,” you muttered to yourself, “It’s fine. You’re fine. It happens, you have a fucked up family.”

You rolled your shoulders back, that crazy light in your father’s eyes flashing in your mind before you shook your head, exhaling slowly.

“Y/N?” Spencer’s voice reached inside as he knocked on the door, “Can I come in?”

Your heart was still pacing in your chest but you cleared your throat.

“Yeah,” you called out and he stepped inside, his lips pulled into a thin line as he offered you a small smile.

“Hi,” he said gently, still keeping his distance, standing by the now closed door. “Are you okay?”

You nodded, crossing your arms, adrenaline still pulsing through you, “Yeah, of course.”

“I’m sorry,” he said and you pulled your brows together.

“Huh?”

“That you had to see that,” he said, “I know I shouldn’t have slammed him down like that, but when he lunged at you, I just…. I saw red. I understand that it was hard to watch and I apologize—“

“Hold on,” you cut him off, gawking at him “You’re apologizing because you stopped that psycho from lunging at me?”

Spencer frowned as if he was confused at your own confusion, and nodded.

“Yeah. Human mind is very complex, so even if you think you hate him, it could’ve been difficult for you to see him hurt, not to mention it was me who did that. Jung has a theory that states—“

“Spencer,” You interrupted him again, “Lock the door.”

His frown deepened but he did as you asked, but he didn’t get to ask why when you walked to him and pulled him into a kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck and standing on your tiptoes. His hand cradled your head, a sigh of content escaping him but he pulled back when you grabbed his tie to loosen it.

“Wait, here?” he asked, “Y/N, this is a bathroom.”

“Yeah, I’m aware?”

“Do you have any idea how unsanitary this place probably is?”

“Oh, very unsanitary,” you stated, “On the other hand, though…”

You shrugged your shoulders and pulled your silk blouse over your head, so that he could see you in your bra. He stared at you for a moment and he swallowed thickly, his eyes snapping up to yours when you giggled.

“You make a good point,” he muttered before he pulled you into a kiss and walked you back to the sink.

                                                ***

Unfortunately, the rest of the day wasn’t that fun, especially when it was time to get to your mother’s house for the family dinner. You had insisted on picking Spencer up from work after you were done at your work, so that you would at least try to change his mind on the road again, but when you actually arrived to your mother’s place, he still looked like he wanted to do this.

“Last warning,” you said as Spencer looked up at the house, then twirled the flower bouquet in his hand, “Not too late to change your mind professor.”

“I’ll be fine, come on,” he offered his free hand and you took it, then both of you climbed the stairs to the front door.

“I’m a little nervous, in case you couldn’t tell.”

“You hummed the Darth Vader theme for the whole road,” Spencer reminded you, “I had a feeling you were nervous, yeah.”

“Abandon hope all ye enter here,” you quoted Dante as you both reached the door and Spencer scoffed a laugh.

“Ah we went from the den of vampires into the gates of hell, then?”

“Yeah! As Dante would put it, to a place we come where nothing shines.”

“I doubt he envisioned this when he was talking about the circles of hell.” He rang the doorbell and you let out a small whine, looking up at the dark sky.

“There are worse people than me out there,” you said as the footsteps came closer, “Why am I being subjected to—“

“Spencer!” your mother greeted him as she opened the door and you frowned.

“Since when do you answer the door?” you asked and she shot you a look before smiling at Spencer.

“Hello Ms. Knight.”

“Welcome, both of you!” she gasped at the flowers, “For me?”

“Oh—yes, of course.”

“They’re lovely, thank you!” she said and took them from him, “Come in, come in!”

“No I’m serious, did something happen to Tina? You never answer the door.”

“It’s nice to see you too sweetie, I see we started our dramatics on the way.” she kissed your cheek and you smiled.

“Hi mom.”

“Let me put these in a vase.”

“Spencer!” a gleeful scream rang in the hallway as your mother went to the kitchen and Lily threw herself at Spencer who crouched down as soon as he saw her “Hi!”

“Hi there! Whoa, you’re very strong!”

“Just in time for bedtime,” Kenzie walked into the hallway with a wine glass in her hand, “Hi guys.”

“I told mommy you’re a magician! And grandma, and Nolan too!” Lily counted with her fingers, “And I told them- I told them you can make coins disappear, and that you can do magic with paper, and then—“

“Bug, breathe,” you said, “Also, where’s my hug?”

Lily hastily rushed to you to hug you, then turned to Spencer as if she wasn’t interrupted while he just watched her with a fond smile on her face, listening intently to everything she was saying, and that warm feeling spread through your stomach again.

“And then I told Bobby I know a superhero, then he told me superheroes can’t be magicians but he’s wrong! Do you use magic to catch bad guys? Because if you do, I can help you with your superhero name!”

“Alright, auntie time.” you lifted her up into your arms as Spencer straightened up, “Sorry about that.”

“No, don’t,” Spencer shook his head, still smiling, “Please, I… she’s amazing.”

“Lily,” Kenzie said, “Bed time, come on.”

“Can you show me a magic trick please and thank you?” Lily said breathlessly and Spencer let out a laugh before turning to Kenzie.

“Is that okay?”

“Sure thing.”  

Spencer took out a coin from his pocket and held it in her sight, “Alright Lily, this is just a coin, right?”

“Don’t let him trick you,” you whispered to Lily who giggled, then nodded fervently after checking the coin.

“Yes.”

“Okay, keep your eyes on it,” Spencer showed it to her one more time before he put it into his palm, closed his palm and when he opened it, the coin was nowhere to be seen. Lily gasped, her jaw dropping and you couldn’t help but smile at her expression, her eyes shining with awe. You pressed a kiss on her cheek as Kenzie took her from you, and she let out a whine.

“But you all will have fun here!” she murmured, pouting and you heaved a sigh.

“Lily I can assure you, no one will have fun here.”

“Don’t be like that,” Kenzie shot you a look and smiled at Spencer. “She didn’t intimidate you, did she?”

“She tried,” Spencer said as you wrapped your arms around his torso and he kissed the top of your head, “Didn’t exactly work though.”

“For some reason,” you grumbled and Lily waved at you.

“Night night!”

“Good night!”

“I’ll see you later bug!” you said and entwined your fingers with Spencer’s, then pulled him to the dining room where Kenzie and Nolan were talking. Before you could even greet them, the sight of the dinner table caught your eye and you gawked at all the food there, your mother was definitely out of control and this was the proof of it.

There was enough food for a small army.

“Oh God please don’t tell me we’re going to have live music too,” you muttered and Mina raised her brows.

“Yeah, you might want to lower your expectations,” she shot a fake smile at Spencer, “But then again, that seems to be the theme of tonight. Hi Dr. Reid.”

You gritted your teeth, glaring at her and of course the jab didn’t escape Spencer’s attention, but he chose not to respond with the same sarcasm.

“Hi again.”

“Welcome, Dr. Reid,” Nolan smiled, “Y/N.”

“Hi Mr. Yates.”

“Nolan.”

“So this is where you grew up?” Spencer asked you as you led him away from them towards the library, and you nodded.

“Yeah,” you said, “Right over there me and Mina got into a fight and she pushed me into a vase.”

“Ouch.”

“Spent the next ten minutes begging me not to tell mom. Over there,” you pointed at the corner, “Used to be this huge Christmas tree every year.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and we used to have another room next to this, dad’s study, but after he was arrested and we all figured out how evil he was, mom grabbed a sledgehammer and smashed the—“

“Dinner is ready!” your mother called out and you heaved a sigh.

“Just saying, we could just tell them there’s been a murder.”

“You don’t give up, do you?” he smiled at you fondly and you shook your head, Kenzie entering the living room again.

“I’ve been called stubborn before.”

“Can’t imagine why,” he joked as he kissed you on the forehead and you turned to your family who was slowly taking their seats around the table, then both of you approached the table to sit down as well.

“I’m so glad we decided to have this dinner,” your mother clasped her hands, “It was about time, wouldn’t you say?”

Spencer smiled at her after thanking the maid who was filling his glass, “Thank you for inviting me Ms Knight.”

“Y/N was trying to make him change his mind,” Kenzie sang and your mother tilted your head.

“Spencer, I promise you we’re not as bad as my daughter tries to make you believe.”

“I’m not saying you’re bad,” you defended yourself, “I’m just saying you might be a little too much.”

“Define too much.”

You gawked at her and motioned at the table, making Spencer chuckle silently beside you.

“I really appreciate the effort you put into this,” he added, making your mother smile.

“Why thank you, Spencer,” she said and turned to Nolan, “Honey, Spencer works for the BAU as you know, you should introduce him to your friend.”

“Your friend?” Kenzie asked.

“The head of FBI,” Nolan said, “That’s a great idea. He might also help you in any position you want in the bureau.”

Spencer blinked a couple of times, as if he was at loss for words, then cleared his throat.

“Thank you,” he said “I already- I already have the position that I want though.”

“Ah for the future,” Nolan waved a hand and your mother sipped her drink.

“Yeah, now that it came up,” she said, “What are your future plans?”

“Mom,” you said warningly and Mina leaned back, looking between you with a smirk on her face.

“It’s just a question, don’t be so nervous,” she commented and Kenzie arched a brow at her.

“Mina.”

“No it’s okay,” Spencer pushed his hair behind his ear, “I um… I think I’d like to focus more on teaching.”

You lowered your glass, “Hm? Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I mean I do love BAU, they’re my family but seeing murders every single day, seeing all those victims, it becomes too much sometimes. But I love teaching already, so I think I will do that. In the future, I mean.”

“Oh how lovely. How about something other than your career though? In your future, would you say you’re planning to have chi—“

“New topic,” you cut her off quickly, “I saw dad today, and he knows you two are dating now.”

Your mother frowned but Nolan reached out to squeeze her hand, “It’s okay, he would learn eventually.”

“He actually thinks he is in love with you,” you told your mom and she scoffed.

“Please don’t say that, we’re eating,” she said, “I don’t want to feel nauseous.”

“It’s actually understandable that he’s under that disillusion.” Spencer said, making all of you turn to him, “Especially people in his situation, they feel this need to hold onto some outside world that’s waiting for them to get out of their minds. In a way, he hopes that because if he feels cut off from here, he will probably crash down. It’s very common in people who are imprisoned.”

“Well he can hope all he wants, I never want to see him again.”

“I’m sure Y/N doesn’t want to see him again either, but she’s not that lucky, thanks to FBI. What do you think about that, Spencer?” Mina asked, and Spencer looked at her.

“I think that’s a decision left to her.”

“Is it though?”

You narrowed your eyes. “Mina I need you to remember what I was like when we had dinner with Kenzie, and return the favor.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means shut the fuck up.”

“Y/N!” your mom gasped and Mina tilted her head.

“Ah well, excuse me if not all of us are in a forgiving mood unlike you.”

“None of that!” your mother said, “Both of you, honestly…”

“Spencer, you strike me as a whiskey guy,” Nolan said, attracting his attention, “I purchased a bottle of limited series in an auction in London the other day, would you like to try it after dinner?”

“Sure,” he nodded fervently and you held up your hand.

“I want to try that too. And what about that rum you were talking about the other day? Is it here too?”

“Sure thing.” Nolan snapped his fingers, “In fact, I know a great distillery, why don’t we visit there after dinner?”

You lifted your head, “That could be fun. Where?”

“Costa Rica.”

Spencer looked between you, “You—um, you want to go to Costa Rica after dinner?”

“We could take the jet. We’d be back before the dawn, obviously.”

“People,” you cleared your throat, “Has no one read the normalcy manual I e-mailed you the other day?”

“Yes but the manual said we could talk about drinks.” Nolan said and Spencer turned to you, frowning.

“Normalcy manual?”

“I just thought it’d be useful for tonight.”

“Oh it was very useful,” Mina commented, “Especially the footnote about murders, even if it was unnecessary. No one will joke about murder Y/N, we don’t want your boyfriend to arrest you again after—“ she was cut off as Kenzie kicked her leg under the table, and Spencer pursed his lips, as if he still felt guilty about that.

“I wasn’t in the city,” he said calmly, looking her dead in the eye, “I came back as soon as I heard, I was trying to get her out when you got there.”

“You don’t have to explain anything,” you said, “Mina , stop it will you?”

She didn’t even look like she heard you, “Get her out? Ah so that’s why I walked into that interrogation room when she was being hounded by your team?”

“Okay!” Kenzie said loudly, throwing the napkin on the table, “I’m so sorry, I just remembered something about Lily’s school that we missed. Babe, can you come with me to the kitchen for a moment please?”

Mina huffed out and put her glass down, then pushed her chair back and followed Kenzie to the kitchen.

“Honestly….” you downed your drink and motioned for another one but then Spencer squeezed your hand under the table, as if trying to assure you.

“I bet you miss the serial killers right now huh?” you mumbled and he tilted your head, humoring you.

“Drinks are better here,” he admitted and you tried to smile before you grabbed your cigarette pack from your purse.

“I’m gonna go to the backyard for a moment to smoke,” you said and your mother shot you a look.

“It’s dinner time, Y/N.”

“It’ll take like five minutes, tops,” you said and pushed your chair back, “I need some fresh air anyway. Spencer?”

“Sure, I’ll come with you,” he said and followed you down the hall until you reached the door to the backyard, opened it and stepped outside.

It was a silent night, as silent as it could be in the middle of the city. You looked up at the stars as you lit your cigarette, then heaved a sigh and leaned back to Spencer’s chest when he wrapped his arms around you, resting his chin on top of your head.

“I apologize on her behalf,” you said and he shook his head.

“You don’t have to,” he muttered, “She has a point. I should’ve… I should’ve been there, in that interrogation room.”  

You looked up at him, then reached up to run your fingernails over his slight scruff while he lowered his head to press his nose into the crook of your neck, nuzzling there.

“Spencer, you need to stop blaming yourself,” you said slowly, “I mean it. I don’t blame you for that at all— and….you know Mina. She just turns into someone else when it comes to protecting the family. She doesn’t mean it, not really.”

He nodded silently and you combed back his hair with your fingers, making him heave a sigh.

“This is nice,” he muttered and you let out a small laugh.

“So are you ready to admit that I was right?”

“Hm?”

“I said you would regret it, do you regret it yet?”

“The dinner?”

“Yeah.”

He shook his head “No.”

“Why not?”

His arms around you tightened and he pressed a kiss to your neck, “Because you’re here.”

You closed your eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth of his body against yours and you stubbed your cigarette before you turned to him. He smiled at you and you couldn’t help but stare at him under the dim lights of the backyard before you stood on your tiptoes and brushed your lips against his.

“God, I love you so much,” you said, making him smile, “Thank you for being here and… I don’t know, going through this absolute torture. I know it’s a lot.”

“Hey,” he cupped your cheek, running his thumb over your cheekbone, “I need you to listen to me, okay?”

You nodded, looking up at him.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” his voice was silent, almost hesitant, “To make you happy. You know that, right?”

You could feel the burning in your eyes and you sniffled, your heart skipping a beat before you wrapped your arms around his neck, burying your face into his chest. The rest of the world felt like it disappeared as you swayed from side to side, inhaling his scent and you pulled back.

“I know now,” you wiped at your nose, clearing your throat and he pushed your hair behind your ear.

“Good,” he grinned, “Glad we cleared that out.”

Someone knocked on the door and you turned your head to see Mina as she opened the glass door.

“So about earlier,” she leaned sideways to the doorframe, “Apologies and remorse, etc.”

“That means she’s sorry for what happened earlier,” you said helpfully and Spencer scoffed a laugh, shaking his head.

“You don’t need to apologize,” he said, “I get it. Trust me, I felt exactly the same when I saw the tape, but I was trying to get her out with minimum damage.”

Mina nibbled on her lip, eyeing him up and down.

“I guess,” she said, “But just so you both know, mom and Nolan are actually planning a weekend trip to Costa Rica. It’s like what happened with Kenzie all over again, only there’s two of them now.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you muttered and Mina nodded at Spencer.

“Yeah so you might need to tell them you have murders to solve during the weekend Sherlock, because they’re not going to listen to us.” she said and Spencer looked down at you.

“I’ll be there in a second,” you said and he pressed a kiss into your hair before making his way inside. Mina lingered there for a moment, inspecting her fingernails in a complete nonchalant manner.

“I guess I could trust you to know what you’re doing,” she said, “Just make sure he doesn’t screw you over, okay?”

You raised your brows, then clicked your tongue.

“Kenzie said no sex unless you apologize huh?”

“She meant it too!” Mina whined as you walked past her, letting out a laugh.

“Unbelievable,” you shook your head with a smile, making your way to the dining room. “All of you.”

Chapter 26 

[chaoticrebels]

//hehe, well I can't deny that they would be kinda cute together. So I'll join you down the rabbit hole.

There was a moment where Kimo didn't say anything, just looked at her with a curious expression. He didn't know why but it didn't seem like Layla was too thrilled by the idea of him meeting Sean, which was silly wasn't it? Because weren't they friends? Unless the little mouse didn't trust him to meet the realm traveler, to meet this guy she kept mentioning. But that was ridiculous, right? No, maybe not but he wasn't about to comment on his suspicions.

❝Oh so you are leaving in an half an hour. what were you doing to do til then if I didn't decide to be social with you?❞ He asked, ignoring the possibility of meeting Sean for a moment. ❝Well then I'll finally have a face to him, finally know this person who you keep talking about.❞ They say curiosity killed the cat but seriously, what could go wrong?

At her comment about knights not holding a gun to someone's head, he couldn't help but to laugh. A broad smile flashed across his features until he realized his fangs were on display, which caused him to cover his mouth pretty fast; abnormally fast for someone who was meant to be a normal human but he didn't need her to see his double fangs. ❝Oh no, no, no. Most knights definitely do not hold a gun to someone's head, prefer to use swords I do believe. Ah, so you know a real knight in shining armor. Well I am enthused that he embodies everything a knight in shining armor is, would be consider high treason if he betrayed whom he is meant to be protecting or I assume it would be.❞ He mused, which almost made him wonder if his so called bodyguard had been peeping on them. Given as a favor for his mother, he posed as his "father" that lived near by to keep an eye on him. ❝Ahh, well he must have quite the reputation then. M' that works for me. And you'll have to forgive me but mousey just had such a nice ring to it that I couldn't resist.❞

A soft amused chuckle escaping his throat as his facial features lit up in amusement, loving the fact that he had managed to make her blush with his honesty of why he bit his lip. She could rest assure though, he wasn't turned on in the slightest right now. It was between uncertainty and nervousness that had him biting him lip in this case. ❝Yeah, yeah, probably. I mean one can never be too careful in the line of work I'm in, after all being an assassin is bound to make one some enemies.❞ There was no way he was going to add the fact he was also a spy and royalty which only added to it.

Kimo was in the process of waving off her apology when he heard the question, which caused his colorful hues to widened momentarily. Oh fuck, well technically he shouldn't be surprised the question popped up since he did slip up and spoke his native language when he was caught off guard. But now that meant he had to expose himself or lie, and lying would just be awkward so he sighed, trying his hardest not to bite down on his freshly healed lips. ❝Elvish.❞ Kimo remarked, before letting his glamor on his ears vanish since might as well let her know the truth now.

Then she was apologizing again and the elf couldn't help but to wave her off once more. ❝Don't apologize, it's fine. Just caught me off guard.❞ He shrugged like it was nothing before snorting softly, shaking his head moments later. ❝Layla, stop. It's fine, really. Just a warning would have been nice, after all I could have stab you instead of exposing myself.❞ And he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he did harm her because he didn't want to hurt his new friend.

❝Alright, hot chocolate it is.❞ The assassin voiced, making his way to the kitchen. ❝Oh, so this might be the last time I see you mousey? That's a shame but sure, I can at least share some details but don't tell a soul.❞ He gave her a few minutes to answer while he gathered everything he would need to make some hot coco for her, and only once it was in the process of warming up, did he turn his full attention back to her. ❝As you see I'm not human, I appear human but I'm actually an elf. And just like you, I'm not from here. I'm from Alfheim. And you already know that I'm an assassin, but I'm more than just an assassin, I'm also an entertainer. But as much as I love making music, it drives my personal bodyguard nuts. He thinks I should be more cautious with pretty myself out there, given that I'm royalty where I come from. My mother sent me here to protect me from something, not sure what. Only my pretend father knows but he won't tell me anything so, though given the fact the dark elves went to war with Asgard, maybe that has something to do with it. Beats me, I don't know.❞

Was that too much, probably but it was the gist and a good place to start.

There was no denying it, as Kimo almost seemed disappointed he might never have the possibility of meeting Sean in person. It was something that Layla was just going to have to accept, part of her worrying in the back of her mind that the moment Kimo met Sean he would completely forget she even existed.

----but that was just life wasn't it? Some people just shined brighter than others and Layla was used to playing the supporting character, the background extra, the person who always fell into the role of the little sister type if any sort of friendship were to develop. So, she had done what she usually did, forcing the best smile she could muster as she looked at Kimo and ignored the thoughts running through her head.

“He is coming to pick me up in a half hour, you can meet him then.”

After all, might as well just rip off the band-aid all at once, right?

Layla had tilted her head as Kimo told her the other forms of his name he actually preferred to be called, and she couldn't help but to softly laugh when he mentioned it made him seem like a knight in shining armor. “Most Knights don't hold a gun to the back of somebody's head either, so there is that. I actually know a knight in shining armor, Alexander. He is everything that a knight embodies. Loyal, noble, kind --” She smiled thinking about him, “We haven't actually met in person, well, maybe in passing, but his reputation precedes him. I don't have many nicknames myself, well, besides Mouse, and apparently now Mousey, --- I'll call you Ki' from now on.”

Oh. Oh dear had Layla's cheeks flushed bright pink when Kimo went into further explanation about why he bit his lips much, the dropping of the words turned on had her throat suddenly dry. The point of the matter was, as she sorted through his explanation of all the reasons he had bit his lip, the most logical explanation was that he was nervous. After all, it wasn't like he was expecting to see her and he seemed to think she had only returned to see him so that she could extract some devious plan of revenge against him. She wasn't that devious, but he didn't know her well enough yet to trust that.

“Maybe I make you nervous because you think I only came here to kill you.” That was, after all, the only reason that Layla could think of, right before she had used her magic to heal his lips, not at all recognizing the language he had used. “I'm just healing your lips, I apologized if I overstepped, I - what language was that?--” Of course she would never think to ask what he was, to her that would have been incredibly rude.

It was clear that Layla had overstepped. “I really am sorry, I don't know what came over me.” She really didn't, she usually wasn't that bold. “I won't do that again, I promise.” She had held up two fingers to swear it as he explained he didn't actually have any tea to offer her. “Oh, no, its fine, please don't trouble yourself. Hot chocolate will do just fine. If it is alright though, I would like to know more about you, whatever you are comfortable telling me, in case we don't see each other again.”

As the last words left her lips, she had followed him into the kitchen.