#also this was originally a third of the length it is now

[iholdwhatican]

reunions

pairing: art donaldson x reader x patrick zweig

read part 2 here!

length: 3.8k

tags: y/n is art donaldson's wife ; birthday party ; surprise visit from patrick ; art is down bad ; patrick wants y/n ; possessive!art ; the boys are fighting ; no use of y/n ; pining ; sexual tension

summary: you want to make your husband's birthday special, so you invite his attractive, charming, estranged childhood best friend in the hopes that they'll make amends. surely nothing will go wrong, right?

author's note: i can't stop thinking about them i am so ill. this is the first of presumably many challengers works. and yes i did make a new blog just for this, don't judge me. this is a drabble that was stuck in my head but I do have more for it should it be wanted! preferably something that leaves you sandwiched in between them :3

originally posted by iholdwhatican

You told yourself this whole thing happened out of the goodness of your heart. You’d just wanted to be a good wife and make your husband’s birthday the best it could possibly be. Because Art Donaldson was the most amazing person you’d ever known, and he loved you, and he deserved the world. There was nothing off limits when it came to him, no line you wouldn’t cross. 

You knew how much Patrick had meant to him, how much he missed his best friend. Your cheeks hurt from how wide the stories made you smile, how happy he sounded when he recounted the things he’d gotten into with the eccentric tennis player. And you knew how sad Art was that they didn’t talk anymore. 

So what better time to remedy that than for his birthday? That was a wonderful surprise, right? Right?

Upon meeting Patrick Zweig, your first thought was how the hell this man got along so well with your Art. Not to say he was a bad person, but he was just so… much. He was cocky, indomitable, the kind of person that knew what he wanted and what he was worth and wouldn’t settle for anything less. He was a force not to be reckoned with, no matter what. He was also unbelievably charming (and not bad on the eyes, which you would never admit), and you hated the way his sweet-talking got under your skin. 

He asked you how Art was. You told him he was fine. Retired, now. Making the most of a quiet life. You’d just celebrated 3 years of married life. He asked to see wedding photos and you didn’t miss the sadness in his eyes at missing the event. You happily obliged. It was the most romantic day of your life, after all. 

And you couldn’t help but internally pat yourself on the back. Patrick missed him too. You could mend the broken bridge between them, and your husband would be thrilled. He’d reward you for your good work. 

You asked Patrick to come to Art’s party. To make contact again. To come back into his world. He only hesitated for a moment, asked if Art knew and was okay with it. 

The lie slipped off your tongue easily. Of course, he’s wanted this for a long time. It’s a surprise, but a most welcome one. You didn’t have details on what happened between them- only knew of a falling out while Art was in college- but it couldn’t be that bad. Anything could be overcome, right? 

Patrick accepted and you hoped the lump in your throat was from excitement and not dread. You thanked him for meeting you, told him you’d forward him the details, and went back to your husband. 

The day of the party came, and you were so nervous you could hardly take it. You’d spent the last couple of days working yourself into a frenzy, convinced that this reunion was a terrible idea and your husband would hate you. You had no right to bring an estranged friend back into his life, on his birthday no less. And without saying a word to him. 

God, what the hell was wrong with you? 

You gripped the edge of the kitchen counter and downed your third glass of water. It did nothing to soothe the dryness in your throat. Or the pounding of your heart. You wondered how fucked you’d be at the party if you took a Xanax right now. Or five. 

Just then, Art peeked his head into the kitchen, donning a sweet smile when he spotted you. He looked as handsome as ever, sporting a well-fitting polo shirt and khakis. His hair was growing out again, starting to show those boyish curls you’d fallen in love with all those years ago. He made his way over to you, wedding band sparkling on his finger, and your heart melted. 

You loved him so much. Had you ruined his birthday with your stupid meddling? Maybe even ruined your marriage? 

“Hey, beautiful.” He greeted, sliding a hand around your waist and kissing your head. It was a familiar gesture, a normal one. He loved touching you, keeping you close. You loved it just as much, “The cake was just delivered. You went way overboard, as usual.” 

You pretended you weren’t overcome with dread and cupped his cheek, “Shut up. There’s no such thing as overboard. You deserve this, okay? You deserve to be celebrated.” 

Please, please don’t be mad at me for inviting him. For bringing him into our world. Please still love me. I did it for you. I’d do anything for you.

His eyes crinkled as he smiled- in that perfect way you adored so much. He leaned down to kiss you again, this time on your lips. It was gentle and caring and everything you were to each other. It made you want to cry. Art was everything. All you wanted was to give him the same. 

The doorbell rang, breaking you two out of the moment, and your husband pulled away. He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. 

“Well,” He spoke, looking at you like there was nothing else in the world, “That must be our first guest.” 

You hummed happily, “Guess it’s time to celebrate you, Birthday Boy. Shall we?” 

“We shall.” He teased, doing a mock bow as he offered you his hand. You took it, laughing, and the two of you made your way to the front door. 

You took a deep breath and tried not to focus on the unhappy way your stomach was churning. 

The first hour of the party went by with a pleasant lack of reunions-turned-altercations. Patrick had yet to show his face, and you wondered if he might not come at all. Part of you was relieved at the idea, while the other couldn’t help but be frustrated. 

He said he would come. What if the surprise didn’t end up being a bad thing? How would you know if he never showed? 

God, you needed a cigarette. 

You’d spent the entirety of the party so far glued to Art’s side, being his doting wife as you made conversation with everyone. Your eyes continued to stray to the door, looking for a certain dark-haired man. Every single time, you were disappointed. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. From what you’d heard, Patrick wasn’t really someone who could be counted on a lot. 

Maybe this whole thing was just a big mistake. And maybe the part of you that truly felt let down at not getting to see him again was something you should never, never look into. 

You patted Art’s chest and stood on your tiptoes to whisper in his ear, “I’m gonna check on the food. I’ll be back.” 

He nodded, smiled, and pressed a kiss to your temple. His arm released its grip on you and he continued his conversation with an old Stanford buddy without missing a beat. He was fucking incredible. At everything. You were crazy about him. 

The food didn’t actually need to be checked on. The caterer was high-quality, and they knew better than to fuck up one of your events for your husband. You had full trust in them- you honestly just needed a breather. This whole night had felt like a cold fist clenched around your heart. 

Instead, you grabbed yourself a large glass of wine and made your way to the patio to enjoy some cool night air. 

The area was blessedly empty, allowing you to slip out of the hostess facade. You were more than happy to do it, especially when celebrating Art, but the circumstances tonight were making it much harder than usual. Which was, of course, entirely your own fault. Way to go, you! Knocked it out of the park tonight, didn’t you? 

You sighed, leaned against the railing, and took a long gulp of your drink. The weather was slightly chilly, and it felt amazing against your heated skin. Already, you were finding it easier to breathe. And think, for that matter. 

“Shouldn’t you be at the party, Mrs. Donaldson?” A familiar, spine-tingling voice spoke, breaking you out of your peaceful moment. 

You whirled around, eyes landing on Patrick fucking Zweig leaning against the wall of your house. A lit cigarette hung from his lips, his hands nonchalantly tucked into the pockets of his dark jeans. They went well with the button-up shirt he wore, a stark contrast from the shorts and hoodie he’d had on when you first met. He looked good- really good. Enough to make a pit grow in your stomach. 

“I thought you weren’t coming.” You blurted out, thankful that the darkness was shrouding your red face. His face was just barely illuminated by the orange glow of the cigarette, and you watched as he looked you up and down, “Also, how’d you get back here? I didn’t see you walk into the house.” 

Patrick kicked off the wall and walked over to you, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. His curls fell over his forehead, and you found yourself fighting the urge to brush them out of the way- the same way you always did to Art. You swallowed deeply. What the hell was wrong with you? 

“I told you I’d come, didn’t I?” He responded matter-of-factly, blowing a puff of smoke into the air. The smell made you nostalgic. You and Art had made a pact years ago to quit together, but God did you miss it sometimes. You licked your lips and tried (and failed) not to stare, “I snuck in through the back. Thought it’d be less messy that way.” 

You had no idea how he’d been able to get back here, but you decided you weren’t gonna ask. It didn’t matter in the long run, anyway. Besides, he was probably right. You had no idea how Art was gonna react, and it was smart to have it happen in an isolated area. 

“Probably smart.” You muttered, taking another swig of the wine. The feeling of his eyes stayed on you, burning into your skin, but you didn’t meet his gaze. You didn’t want to think too hard on why. 

“He doesn’t know you reached out to me.” It wasn’t a question, but you responded to Patrick’s words regardless. He’d find out eventually. 

“No.” The admittance came out with a heavy breath, like you were releasing the weight that had been on you all night. In a way, you were. You ran a hand over your forehead, “I don’t know what happened between you two, he doesn’t talk about it. But I just- I’m terrified he’ll hate me for bringing you.” 

Why the hell were you pouring your heart out to this stranger? What was it about him that drew you in so much and made you want to bring down your walls? How was this charming man already under your skin from one damn meeting? And how the fuck were you supposed to explain any of this to your husband, his estranged best friend? 

You needed another drink. Or ten. 

“You really love him.” Again, not a question. But you answered. You had to. 

“More than anything else in this world.” 

Patrick offered you his half-smoked cigarette and you took it without thinking. The sting of the smoke in your lungs was like coming home. It was so good it almost made you cry. But lots of things made you want to cry right now. You could taste mint on the cigarette, like he’d been chewing gum before lighting up. The same kind Art always chewed. 

It made something flip in your stomach. 

“Well, from what I can tell, you’re pretty great. Super caring, based on how far you went in an attempt to make him happy. Shit, you tracked me down, which is a feat in itself. And you’re gorgeous, obviously. I’m surmising that you’re basically the whole package.” He spoke calmly, as if every one of those words didn’t make your heart jump into your throat. You chugged your drink to use it as an excuse for your rosy cheeks, “So I don’t think there’s any way he could hate you. Even for inviting me here.” 

You were speechless for five long seconds as he took the cigarette back and inhaled. Then you finally got your brain to stop lagging, “You don’t even know me.” 

“I know enough.” He countered, continuing the pass back and forth of the cigarette, “And I know Art. He wouldn’t marry someone beneath him. The fucker somehow always gets the ones way out of his league.” 

You didn’t comment, but you knew what Patrick was referring to. Tashi Duncan. The now pro-tennis player that he’d had a thing with back in the day. You didn’t know the details, but you knew she was a point of contention between the two men. 

Honestly, you tried not to think about Tashi. She was gorgeous, super talented, and an overall seemingly great person. Art had passed up on that for you, and it got to your head a lot. You wondered if he regretted it. Or at least wondered what his life could’ve been like. 

You didn’t think you were out of his league. In fact, you thought the opposite. Not that you needed to tell Patrick that. Your insecurity and jealousy issues could stay yours alone. 

“Well, I don’t know about that.” You murmured.

The cigarette began to dim as you took the last drag, flicking it off the balcony and down into the grass below. With both the alcohol and nicotine gone, you started to think you probably needed to get back to the party. Your husband would be looking for you, and you didn’t want to keep him waiting. You just had to figure out how Patrick would fit into the equation. 

“If you weren’t taken, I’d be trying to charm the fuck out of you right now.” 

The statement caught you completely off guard. You looked over at him, eyes wide, and tried to keep your cool at the sexy smirk on his face. God, he was so fucking attractive. 

You blinked once, twice, a third time, “What?” 

His smile grew at your flustered state, “I have great taste in women, and I’d flirt with you if I could. So I’m saying you’re definitely a catch. And totally out of Art’s league.” 

You licked your lips. Subconsciously, “I’m pretty sure that was flirting.” 

“Was it?” He didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed, “Oops.” 

You ran your finger over the rim of your wine glass, trying to think of something to say. You came up empty. You were married- to this man’s childhood best friend. To the love of your life. He shouldn’t be flirting with you. And you definitely shouldn’t be enjoying it. 

“There you are! I was starting to worry.” Art’s voice broke the tense silence, and you turned around to watch him making his way to you with a smile. Then he spotted Patrick and his smile dropped as his face filled with recognition, “You- what the hell are you doing here?” 

You opened your mouth to speak, to explain and mediate the situation, but the dark-haired man beat you to it. 

“Your pretty little wife invited me.” He said, which was probably the worst thing he probably could’ve chosen. You internally buried your face in your hands. 

Art’s jaw clenched and his eyes lit up. It took you a moment to realize that the expression was anger. Honestly, it took you by surprise. It was extremely rare to see him angry, and never was it directed at you. And though he was looking at Patrick, you were terrified that in this instance it was. 

“Let me explain.” You immediately choked out, clutching your empty wine glass like a lifeline, “I really just thought that-” 

“She thought you missed me and wanted us to reconnect. As a birthday surprise. Isn’t that sweet?” Patrick butted in, throwing an arm over your shoulders. Art looked ready to murder someone (probably the tennis player holding you), “I doubt it was easy contacting me, but she managed. All for you.” 

You laughed nervously, ducking your head, “Well, that’s not-” 

“Let go of her.” Art demanded. His voice was cold and dangerous. Possessive. It made something twitch in your core. Oh, you liked that. 

The brunette didn’t hesitate to do as he was told, holding his hands up in surrender, “My bad, man. I just feel like we’re already such close friends from hanging out together. Don’t you think so?” 

The last part was directed at you, and Patrick nudged you. You gave him an incredulous look. 

The charming, sweet man you’d just been talking to was gone. He was replaced by a cocky, near-disrespectful antagonist who was trying to egg your husband into some kind of altercation. And he was using you as the bait. 

You couldn’t lie that you were frustrated, but it did feel a bit nice to be in an almost tug-of-war between the two men. You liked being an object of affection or desire. 

“You should head inside, baby.” Art spoke to you, though his furious gaze never left Patrick, “Our guests will wonder where the hosts went. I’m gonna talk to Patrick for a minute.” 

You’d be damned if you told him no. Even though this situation felt like a mess that was definitely all your fault. Damn you for inviting Patrick. Damn him for being so captivating. And damn Art for loving you so much that the sight of another man touching you made him see red. This entire thing was like a whirlwind. 

“Okay…” You whispered, moving towards your husband and the house. You gave Patrick a small smile, hoping to convey your thoughts to him. Please don’t hurt him- he’s my world. Then you stopped at Art’s side and placed a hand on his bicep, “I’m sorry if this was a bad idea. I just wanted to make your birthday special, is all. I didn’t mean to fuck it up.” 

He finally looked at you, just long enough to give you a loving smile and a shake of his head, “You didn’t ruin anything. I’m so proud of you for doing all this for me. Don’t worry.” 

Then he kissed you, only to stop and pull away, “Is that- were you smoking with Patrick?” 

You sucked on your teeth and nodded, “Yes, a little. I’m sorry. I just-” 

But then he was kissing you again, hard and needy. Like he wanted to fuck you right then and there. Your face burned bright red, and you could feel Patrick’s eyes on the two of you. Art had never acted like this in all the time you knew him. But right now, within thirty seconds of being around his old friend, he was putting on a show to prove that you were his. 

You belonged to him. And he wanted Patrick to know it. 

You really, really fucking liked this. 

When he pulled away, you felt dizzy. From both the kiss and the wine you’d downed. You barely had time to take a breath before he was lightly patting your cheek and sending you inside. You managed to take a look at the two men before rejoining the party. They just stared at each other, like they were in a standoff. 

It was unbelievably hot. 

As you went back to your guests, lips still tingling, only one thought was coming to you. 

You wondered how long you could keep Patrick around, just to see what it would do to your precious husband. 

[roosterforme]

Mr. Right Now Part 5 | Hangman x Reader

Summary: Jake can't pinpoint why he feels the need to make you understand that you're special. Or maybe he can, but he's too afraid to admit it to himself. You are completely out of your depth, but you know you'd rather drown with Jake than be with anyone else right now.

Warnings: adult language, sexual touching, oral sex, fingering, cum play, 18+

Length: 3700 words

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Female Reader

Why is Jake on my masterlist!? Mr. Right Now masterlist

Jake was surpassing all of your expectations. You were already three orgasms deep on the weekend, and you just met him less than a day ago. He was sweet and handsome, and right now he was kissing your lips softly on his couch as he held you tight. You couldn't help but smile against his mouth as the sticky coating of his cum spread from your tummy to his hard abs as you and he made out at a luxurious pace.

He was taking charge, but he never made you feel small or stupid for your lack of experience. He just didn't seem like that kind of person. And besides, you did manage to turn him on for the third time, and instead of letting him sneak away, you got him to stay put on the couch with you.

"Were you really going to try to jerk off alone again?" you asked as he kissed his way down the side of your neck.

"Mmhmm. You caught onto that, did you?" You felt his tongue trail along your skin before he said, "Wasn't about to make you feel obligated to take care of it for me in any way."

Okay, so Jake was kind of a gentleman. So much so that he still hadn't fucked you. And he still hadn't told you when he was planning to. The crazy thing was, you now understood that he could probably make you come a dozen other ways that didn't involve his cock at all. You were impressed. You were also a little sad that once you and he did get around to that little matter of eliminating the fact that you were still a virgin, you'd be on your way.

"Are you sore, Darlin'?" he asked, setting butterflies off in your belly. "I was a little rough with my fingers."

You moaned softly and tipped your head back. "It felt amazing. I liked it."

"I'm glad," he crooned. "But if you're sore, you could take a bath."

You perked up even more. A bath in his big tub sounded delightful, and once you started moving, you realized you were a bit more sore than you originally thought. "I want a bath," you told him, and you left a mess of his tacky cum on him when you stood up. You suddenly remembered you were completely naked and covered in his semen as you ducked your face away from him and muttered, "I wasn't sure what the texture was going to be like. It's really sticky all over me now."

Jake stood and pulled you close again. "Gets messier and harder to clean up when it starts to dry. But you didn't seem to mind me coating you up since it was your idea in the first place."

You pressed your lips together and muttered, "I never saw a guy come in real life before. I was curious. And it was so hot."

Something like possessiveness flashed in his eyes. "And then, to my surprise, you started playing with it," he added with a dangerous smirk, and you turned away from him in embarrassment, because maybe you weren't supposed to do that at all. "Do you hear me complaining?" he asked, pressing his lips to your shoulder. "That was some advanced level kinky stuff. Just wasn't expecting it. But I am not complaining. Let's get you in the bath."

Jake kept his arm around your waist as he led you back to his bedroom and then to the en suite bathroom where he cranked on the hot water before turning to look at you in all his naked glory. "I'm going to grab myself a beer for bathtime. Something about hot water and a cold beer is very satisfying, and maybe you can learn all about it after your next birthday. You want another crystal goblet of ice water?"

Your brow furrowed. "You're taking a bath with me?"

He raised one eyebrow and took a step away from you. "Unless you don't want me to."

Once again, you were surprised by him, but not disinterested in the idea of having him join you in the tub. "I want you to."

He half smiled in response. "And the goblet of ice water?"

"Yes, please," you told him with an eye roll. Then he was gone, and you were left with the soothing sound of the tub filling up while you went in search of a washcloth. You found some in the small closet just inside the bathroom door. Along with extra towels, razor blades, and a half empty box of extra large condoms.

Of course he would have them. He brought you home which meant he probably did the same thing every weekend. Maybe he even had more than one girl each weekend. One for Friday night and one for Saturday night. Maybe he'd fuck you and then offer to drive you home soon so he could go back to the bar tonight and find someone more his speed. Someone who knew that condoms came in different sizes.

You couldn't let yourself get jealous or sad, because there was no point in it. This was practically a business deal. Jake was helping you get ready for Cooper while he got his rocks off as many times as he wanted to. No more, no less.

"Here you go."

You startled a bit as Jake held out your wine glass filled with ice water, and he took a long sip from his bottle of Sam Adams. "Thanks," you whispered, and then he pressed his cold lips to your forehead before nodding at the tub.

"Get in and get comfy."

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

Jake had never shared his bathtub with anyone. Soaking in the hot water until it was almost too cool to stand was one of his guilty pleasures that he never planned on letting someone else experience, too. He usually brought a beer in with him. One time he drank an entire bottle of champagne. But he always did it alone. Until today, apparently. Something about the way his cum was drying on your skin while you kissed him made him want to take the time to clean you up. And he also realized by how his wrist felt that he'd gone pretty hard with his fingers.

You looked too fucking cute with the steamy water up to your shoulders while you sipped from the condensation coated stemware. But you were quieter than you had been in the living room, which bothered him, because he had gotten used to your constant chattering and your smartass comments.

He slipped one foot into the hot water, and you scooted a little further forward. When he had both feet in, he eased himself down until he was sitting with you tucked between his legs. But you were facing away from him, so he couldn't see your face as he asked, "Is the temperature okay for you?"

"Mmhmm," you hummed, sipping your ice water.

He leaned back against the tub and took another sip of beer, but you remained where you were. "You comfy?" he asked.

"Yes," you whispered, your back still to him.

"Well, I'm not," he said blandly.

"What's wrong?" you asked right away, turning to look at him over your shoulder, finally letting him see your pretty face.

"You're all the way over there." 

Jake reached for your hip under the water, wrapped his hand around you, and pulled you closer to him. Your eyes went wide, and you turned to brace your hand against his chest. Some of your cold drink splashed onto him, but he just muttered, "That's better," while you set the glass down on the edge of the tub.

"You could have just asked me to scoot closer."

Jake studied you and took another long sip of his beer before setting it down next to your glass. "You haven't complained once when I've touched you."

"I'm not complaining," you whispered, so he stroked your waist, and you snuggled in a little closer to him. "I'm just wondering when you're going to fuck me." 

He kissed your forehead as you looked up at him. "You're playing by my rules, remember?" he muttered.

"You don't have to be so sweet just for me." Jake's fingers froze on your body as you added, "Unless you're always like this? Making breakfast for your overnight guests? And cuddling in the bathtub? I guess that makes more sense."

But he wasn't always like this, and he wanted to tell you that. But he knew he didn't have the right to say anything at all when you really only needed him for one purpose. Once you got what you wanted from him, you'd be gone.

"Are you always this sweet?" you whispered, wet fingers wrapped around the back of his neck as you looked up at him through your lashes. 

He licked his lips and shook his head. "I don't think I've ever been quite this sweet before." When you finally smiled again, your eyes softened, and Jake kissed the bridge of your nose. "You might as well get comfortable, because I don't get out until the water's cold."

"Cold!" you complained as he held you tighter. "You expect me to stay here until it's cold?"

"Mmhmm." He took another sip of his beer. "And I expect you to tell me what kind of pizza you want for dinner, too. And why don't you tell me what you're studying in school while you're at it. And how you usually spend your weekends."

"I'm staying for dinner?"

Jake sighed and let his head tip back. "I don't think I can fuck you until I've taken you on a proper date. So... will you have dinner with me at my dining room table?"

"Yes."

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

A proper date. The words were bouncing around in your mind even as Jake stretched out on his couch in his gym shorts while you were almost completely on top of him, wearing his clothes. "You're wrong," you told him, shaking your head and pushing his hair off his forehead. "You have the wrong opinion about pineapple on pizza, and I refuse to believe I'm the first person who has ever told you so."

His hand on your butt flexed as he laughed. "Nobody else would dare. Except for you. Go ahead. Tell me what else I'm wrong about."

"Well," you said with a huff of pretend annoyance, "you ate your eggs sunny side up this morning. Wrong. And you didn't already have your bedroom window open to listen to the sound of the ocean last night. Wrong." You paused for a beat before saying what you'd been thinking about for a while. "I would say you're wrong about needing extra large condoms, but I did see and feel you, so maybe you do. Not wrong."

His deep laughter rumbled through his chest, and you jostled slightly on top of him. "You found my stash in the bathroom?" he asked, but he didn't sound annoyed.

"I was looking for a washcloth."

He hummed and asked, "How many condoms are left in the box? I haven't checked in a couple weeks."

"About half." You looked him in his pretty green eyes. "Does that mean you haven't had sex in a couple weeks? Or that you just haven't been using condoms?"

"I always use condoms," he replied immediately with a little nod, and you believed him. "Lesson seven: never skip a condom. Guys are pigs. Don't let them cut corners."

He kissed the corner of your mouth, but all you could say was, "So you haven't had sex in a little while?"

Jake nodded again. "Was getting a little sick of the bar crowd, to be honest. At least until you dropped your fake. Kicking tag chasers out of my bed in the middle of the night isn't much fun anymore."

"What's a tag chaser?" you asked, running your fingers through his soft hair.

His cheeks tinted with pink as he said, "Women who go after guys in the military. Some of them think it's fun to 'collect' tags. Some of them are hoping to trap a guy for the marriage benefits. Different reasons. Same name. And you absolutely can't let them spend the night with you."

You wanted to laugh, because this actually sounded like your roommate, Kylie. But then you remembered why you went to that particular bar in the first place and who you were originally looking for. Your eyes went wide. "Wait. Am I a tag chaser?"

Now he was hooting with laughter. "I don't know, Darlin'. Are you? That little leather skirt screamed yes, but your smart mouth and the fact that you didn't care that I was an aviator are telling me no."

You thought about it for another second and said, "I'm not one," while he laughed some more. "I couldn't be! You let me spend the night."

He reached for his phone as he said, "Yeah, well you're different, aren't you? I'm going to order this pizza."

"Okay," you whispered, letting your cheek rest on his chest as he tapped his screen and then held his phone to his ear. He was looking at you as he said, "Yeah, hi, a large pizza for delivery, please." He paused for a second and then said, "Toppings? Since I'm with a girl who has weird ideas about pineapple on pizza, just wait to hear how horrible this thing is going to sound. Are you ready?"

You were laughing with your face buried against his arm as he gave his address and credit card number, and when he hung up, you screeched, "Jake! You're ridiculous. And wrong! It's going to be the best pizza ever."

"Sure," he said sarcastically before sitting up with you on his lap. He nipped at your lip as he added, "It'll be about thirty minutes before it gets here, Darlin'. I think we have time to review some of your lessons if you feel like it."

A smile bloomed across your face as you asked, "Which lessons?"

"Whatever lessons you want."

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

You told Jake you wanted to review lessons two and three, and now you were naked on his couch with his face buried in your pussy and his hands wrapped around the backs of your thighs. Foreplay and oral sex were two things you clearly loved. He spent about ten minutes making out with you and hitting all the spots that left you dripping wet, and then he treated himself to a taste. 

"God damn," he growled, lapping at you as you tugged on his hair. Once again, you got him rock hard as goosebumps trailed down his neck. "Fuck."

"Jake," you whined until his mouth was back on your clit, and then you sighed contentedly. He knew he could get you off before the pizza arrived, and he also knew he'd be amped up for you later. He was excited. You excited him. He wanted to be so good.

"Jake!" You came apart on his tongue, rolling your hips up for more pressure. He rewarded you for knowing what you wanted by sucking on your clit, and he enjoyed every second of your orgasm. Every little sound. Each tug on his hair. The way your body seemed to relax into the couch cushions once you were fully sated. And then there was a knock on his door.

"Don't move an inch, Darlin'," he teased, kissing the apex of your thigh.

"I can promise you I won't," you whimpered, arm tossed over your eyes as you ran your fingers slowly up your body.

He chuckled as he walked to the door, and then he realized that he was wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts and a raging boner. He grimaced and tried his best to hide himself with his left hand while he pulled the door open. You were just in the other room, completely naked on the couch, and if you sat up, the pizza delivery kid who looked like he was your age would have front row seats to the show of a lifetime.

"Thanks," Jake muttered, taking the pizza box and quickly closing the door. Then he walked to the table, his cock merrily bobbing along the way. He started to grab plates and get you another wine glass of ice water, and he had to pause to consider why exactly he felt the need to make this seem like a date. He'd already been over every bit of your body with his mouth and hands. He could have just fucked you by now. He desperately wanted to. But he needed you to understand that you had to go for the guys who weren't just setting out to take advantage of you. That you needed to make them work for it.

Jake turned when you made a soft sound and wrapped your arms around his waist. You were wearing his clothes again, and he collected you against him. "It smells good," you muttered.

He kissed your forehead and said, "This is the one and only time I'm letting you choose the toppings."

Your laughter rang out as you sat down with your ice water. "I guess I better make it count then. And that's such a typical guy thing, to think their pizza topping preferences are the best."

"Yours are just wrong," he replied quickly, dropping a slice onto your plate before putting one on his own. He watched you take an enormous bite and smile as you chewed it up. "But you're cute, so you can get away with it."

You looked satisfied with his comment as you asked, "So, you usually make other girls eat the grotesque topping combination you prefer? Is that why you don't have a girlfriend?"

"Wow. Okay," he replied with a laugh while he sat down, enjoying your smirk. "You think this Cooper guy is going to put up with you, smartass?"

You cocked your head to the side like you had forgotten all about him. "I thought we weren't supposed to be talking about him anymore? That was lesson number one."

"You're not allowed to bring him up," Jake reminded you. "But I can. So what's so great about him anyway?"

You nibbled on your crust and kind of shrugged. "He's pretty hot. And he asked me out four times. I keep telling him we can go out soon, but I know he's going to stop asking if I don't actually pick a day and do it." You paused and looked at your glass of ice water as you said, "I should have just slept with someone by now. I don't want him to be disappointed that I'm a virgin who doesn't know how to do anything."

Jake grunted and set his pizza down. He'd been with his fair share of women, but there was nothing disappointing about you. The way you got him going was unparalleled, and even though you claimed you didn't know how to do even the basics, you definitely had his number. The hair pulling and cum play and little noises you made were all unintentional but so fucking hot. And now he was annoyed.

"That's why you want to lose your virginity? So you can please him physically?" You shrugged again. "Remember how I told you that it's never about the guy?"

"Yeah."

He reached for your chin and tipped it up so you met his eyes. "That goes for everyone, but especially Cooper. Okay? There's nothing wrong with you, Darlin'. You got everything just right."

You nodded and swallowed hard, and Jake was so fucking jealous of a college kid, he wanted to scream. "Okay, Jake," you whispered. "I believe you."

His fingers slipped slowly along your jaw until they were digging gently into the back of your neck. He studied your pretty face and memorized how his clothing looked on you while your gaze stayed fixed on him. "Are you sure you still want to do this with me?" he asked softly. "Because you don't need me to fix anything about you since there's nothing wrong to begin with."

In an instant, you planted your hand on his thigh and leaned all the way in to kiss him. He realized he was still a little hard from giving you head as soon as you nudged him, but he didn't mind you knowing how badly he wanted you. He didn't stop you as you eased yourself onto his lap without breaking the kiss, and when your body settled against his, you moaned softly. 

Jake pulled away and watched you chase him for more before your eyes fluttered open. "I need to hear you say it," he whispered, hand creeping up inside the shirt you were wearing. "Is this what you really want?"

You didn't hesitate as you told him, "Yes. I want you for my first time, because you're sweet and I know you're not going to hurt me. I don't always need to explain myself for you to know what I need. I want you. Not Cooper and not Rooster. You."

The shirt you were wearing fell to the floor next to his chair, and Jake ran his rough fingers along your sides, making you shiver. He kissed you softly as his hands found the undersides of your breasts. "This pizza is going to taste even more disgusting cold," he murmured as you arched into his touch. "But I can't wait any longer for you."

You smiled against his lips before you stood, taking his hand and guiding him to his feet as well. Then you led him to his bedroom, and he got lost in your little glances along the way.

"Better get those extra large condoms," you told him with a soft laugh.

He kissed you and guided you back toward his bed, and you stretched out luxuriously beneath him, his hand resting on the elastic at your hip. "You got nothing to worry about, Darlin'. I'll take care of everything."

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

Full speed ahead to Jake's cock in the next part. He's ready to go. You've been warned. Thanks @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 6

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@mrsevans90

[hi-sierra]

Okay okay I'm behind on posting about my various adventures this summer, but let's just skip a few for now bc I wanna post about my most recent one:

Glenn Pass. 12,000 feet of elevation.

Kings Canyon is one of several glacially carved granite valleys in the Sierra Nevada. Several other, smaller valleys feed into it, including the paradise valley and Bubbs creek.

The Rae Lakes loop is a short but brutal route that starts at the floor of King's canyon, takes you up one of those side valleys, over the crest of the High Sierra, and down another valley.

To get across that divide, you have to cross the notorious Glenn Pass. Not only is this the highest point on the Rae lakes loop, it's also one of the highest points on several massive through hikes, including the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.

Now. The JMT and PCT people may have it rougher than me overall due to the sheer length of those hikes.

But.

Their campsites for the previous days are around 10,000 feet of elevation.

I made the BRILLIANT decision to hike from 7,500 feet, 10 miles up and over Glenn pass at 12k feet, and then down to upper Rae lake in one day. It may have been the single most physically challenging day of my goddamn life.

But holy shit, it was it worth it.

This route absolutely floored me. My original intention here was just that this was my "final check" for the High Sierra trail- in terms of difficulty and conditions, it's basically identical, except half the length. I packed as if I was doing the HST, and used less than a third of my consumable stuff, so I feel more than ready for it.

I was expecting it to be pretty, but I was not expecting it to be one of the most gorgeous couple days of my life. Yosemite can suck it. The granite valleys and cliffs of Kings Canyon and the paradise valley are my new favorite glacial valley in the Sierras.

And that's not even mentioning the wildlife! I mostly recorded video of them, but I saw bears, deer, rattlesnakes, mountain kingsnakes, pikas, marmots, tons of different birds, and more that I'm probably forgetting! If there's any interest, I might start posting the videos I've taken of me talking to wildlife lol

[bearieio]

it’s so sweet..

(っ╹ᆺ╹)っ♡

warnings: older!experienced!price x fem!reader, reader is a virgin/inexperienced, unprotected sex (don’t try that one at home), soft dom!price, virginity loss (but it’s not made a big deal), praising, fingering (r!receiving), reader calls price “sir” a couple of times maybe if you squint teehee, consent checks bc those are cool & awesome, price encouraging and reassuring the reader, price is the aftercare god

a/n: I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE ORIGINAL REQUEST😭 but here it issss!!!! :D also i love cigarettes after sex🤘🏽 ALSO, not proofread, pls don't come for me..

for @coqvttes <3

“are you sure about this, sweetheart?” you hear john murmur… again. he lifts his head up from between your legs, his hands still gripping the undersides of you thighs.

“mhm!” you huff out, your chest heaving, slightly frustrated at the fact that he’s asked if you’re ready/if you’re okay with what he’s doing over a dozen times. 

“use your words, lovie..” he whispers, peppering your inner thighs with slow, loving kisses. 

your slight frustration increases. but before you get the chance to mutter out a “yes,” you can already feel his large fingers and you let a small gasp leave your lips.

he’s so gentle with you. he waits for you to act on his request when he starts to lightly circle his thumb which had moved up to press down on your puffy clit. 

he’s been taking his time, allowing you to cum on his fingers two to three times, you’d honestly forgotten by now.

“yes, please- ..wanna feel your fingers,” you pout, looking down at him, his eyes prepared to meet yours.

he nods his head, acknowledging your words. but he continues to rub both your entrance and your clit with a painfully slow rhythm.

“sir, please..” you whine. your eagerness earning a soft chuckle from your huge boyfriend

as soon as those words your mouth, he pushes a finger into you, making sure he’s not pushing in too fast or harshly. 

he makes sure to listen and watch for any sounds or an indication that you’re uncomfortable or in any pain. when you ask him to speed up, he does so reluctantly, asking if you’re okay with the pace.

by the time he makes you cum for the third time (fourth?) you’re whimpering and your legs are left trembling, but you felt… empty. you grew needy and needed more of him. you needed him to be closer to you. you needed him inside you.

you whimper a faint “want you inside me,” as john moves up, kissing and caressing your stomach and waist, an occasional nips at your plush skin making you gasp and jump against him. 

he looks up at you, his eyes seemed to darken as he stared into your eyes, a smirk forming on his lips. as he moves up to kiss you, he feels his way up towards your nipples. pinching and tugging at them, prompting you to squirm and whimper while his lips are pressed against yours. 

“mm, sorry i didn’t hear you, could’you repeat that, lovie?” he teases, placing fuzzy pecks on your lips and face. he’s not even trying to hide that huge grin he has on his face.

you groan and wrap your arms and legs around him, trapping him in a prison built from you limps. “please sir… i need you inside me..” you whisper into his ear, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. 

“aw, such a good girl for me.. so polite.” he chuckles some more, squeezing you back. 

his beard tickles you as he moves away from you in order to remove his pants that had been growing ever so tightly on him.

“are you sure, sweetheart? we can always do this another-“ johns voice is cut off by the sound of yours, “yes! please, sir, need to feel your cock!” you insist, gripping his arms, urging for him to push into you. 

“okay, okay, baby, just don’t wanna hurt’ya.” he affirms, his tip pressing into you. 

as he pushes into you, your breath hitches. you feel his length stretching you, molding your cunt to his cock. “that’s it.. ohh such a good girl.” he groans in between ever couple words, doubting whether or not his entire length will fit.

looking down at you, he asks once more “is this okay?” with your chest heaving faster now, you can’t seem to regain the ability to form full sentences at the moment.

“uh-huh! yea!” 

after a few minutes of him encouraging you, john begins to steadily rock his hips against yours. you can’t help but let out a few whimpers and moans, mainly focusing on that feeling building inside you.

“i’m gonna-“ john cuts you off, moaning, “me too, lovie.”

he caresses your cheek, rubbing his thumb over your soft skin.

“go ahead babygirl, cum for me.” he notices you beginning to squeeze down on him. “atta girl.. i got’ya..” 

he’s now gripping your hips hard. not hard enough to really hurt you, but maybe a pair of blue and purple handprints imprinted in your skin after. 

he’s so close. the lewd smacking sound filling the room, along with moans and whimpers coming from the both of you aren’t helping him resist pump you full of his load.

after a few more thrusts, your cunt eventually clamps down on his cock, causing him to groan as his thrusts get sloppier.

with your mouth agape, allowing every dirty sound to came out of your mouth, your body tenses and your legs begin to shake. you can’t help but let all your moans flow from your mouth.

you feel john’s warmth fill you, his length still twitching inside your cunt. 

“my girl did so good for me..” he exhales, kissing your temple and caressing your hair. “i’m pullin’ out now, sweetheart,” he warns.

you whine, not wanting to feel empty again, “sorry baby, but in order for me to help you clean up, i gotta pull out.” he adds. 

after returning from the bathroom with a washcloth and a cup of water, he helps clean you up, he then helps you pick out a pair of pajamas after carrying you to the toilet (always pee after sex!). 

“here.” he says, handing you the water, “drink, please. and you did. “more, sweetheart.” he instructs. and you did. 

the rest of the night, you guys ate snacks  (which you swear, he always ends up eating all the ones you wanted before you have the chance to do so) and watched your favorite shows. 

before you drift off to sleep, you hear john telling you how proud of you he was and how you did such a good job taking him. he then kisses your forehead, continuing to rub your back, and humming slightly, making sure you rest before the next morning. 

masterlist

[eightmakesonebraincell]

ateez as brothers

genre: brother!ateez x gn!reader, fluff, crack

length: 6.2k

c/w: swearing, mentions of alcohol consumption, brothers being brothers?, this is like 80% roasts

a/n: second collab with yumi (@sorryimananti-romantic) because between the two of us we have three brothers but we don’t want any of them so we’re going to pretend that we can replace them with ateez

hongjoong

a brother?

what is that

he is a dad

nags you about everything

“stop sleeping so late”

“stop drinking so much coffee”

and you’re just like 😃??

because he literally sleeps later than you?

and he says it while holding his third cup of coffee that morning??

definitely says “i told you so” whenever you don’t listen to him and something goes wrong

his communication method is based heavily on sass and sarcasm

he’s the type of brother to say no when you ask for a favour

but then ten minutes later he’ll knock on your door and hand you the cup of tea you asked for

or two days later he’s left your laptop back on your desk with a note saying that it’s been fixed

he also gives you a lot of backhanded compliments 

like

oh you’re not as dumb as i thought

or

nice cooking, i think the pigs would really like it

as kids though he’s the brother who has the worst retorts

like when you insult him and say he’s stupid

he’ll be like “i know you are but what am i?”

or he’s the type to block his ears with his fingers and go lalalalalalala really loudly

it absolutely infuriates you

he’s definitely the type of brother to tell you that santa isn’t real

nor is the tooth fairy

the brother who laughs at you when you fall over before he makes any move to help you

half the time he’s giggling so hard he falls over too

it’s really only when you two grow older that something in him suddenly switches

he’s the overprotective brother who will interrogate you whenever you go out

where are you going who are you going with what time will you be back

sends you texts every now and then to remind you of your curfew

and when you walk through the door after getting home, he’ll literally be standing in the corridor waiting for you

“why are you home so late”

“joong, it’s only 9”

he can be overbearing but he just wants you to be safe

you’ll have the most stylish wardrobe because he helps reform all of your clothes

except he will reform it however he wants, your opinion be damned

he’ll be like i don’t care if you want this blue, i’m doing it red

and despite how much you scream at him that you hate red, the end product actually kind of looks really good

like, you love it

but you’ll never admit it and give him the satisfaction of being right

you like to steal things from his wardrobe

because his blazers look oversized on you and they just hit different, you know

except he’ll bite your head off if you touch any of his stuff

doesn’t stop him from touching all of your stuff as he pleases though

and you’re like isn’t that mine?

“iSnT tHAt MinE i made it shut up”

hongjoong will be your sugar brother

when you guys go shopping he’ll whip out his card without batting an eye

or when you guys eat together he’ll naturally wait for you to order too so that he can pay

sometimes you arrive home to a box of pastries on your desk

or hongjoong comes home and throws a bag of snacks in your face

tells you that the store was doing a 1+1 promotion or that he bought too many things while shopping for himself 

he lets you study or do your work in his studio

as long as you’re quiet

otherwise he threatens to kick you out

there’s a super fluffy blanket and pillow in the corner of his couch that he complains ruins the aesthetic and ‘cool vibes’ of his studio

but it’s always nicely folded and stacked together for you every time you go over

sometimes when he’s stuck or having writer’s block except music-wise

? producer’s block

he’ll let you have a bit of fun with his drafts

(he quadruple checks though that he’s saved a new file and it’s not the original track)

you guys make up nonsense raps and silly melodies

and sometimes you’ll record a studio version of it

if he secretly has a playlist of all the songs you two make together that he listens to when he’s feeling burnt out, then nobody needs to know

he takes a lot of candid photos of you

“woah i got a picture of a gremlin”

but inside he thinks that there’s no other person he would rather take pictures of

basically, he’s the emotionally-constipated brother who loves you but never says it aloud

seonghwa

okay hear me out

he may be the eldest in ateez

but he’s really a baby 🥺

he’s so younger-sibling coded

the type to just come into your room and show you random things

like his new island layout in animal crossing

or the lego set that he just finished building

or the latest star wars figurine that he bought

he just wants praise or compliments or some sort of validation from you <3

and his boba eyes light up whenever you’re like oooh!! that’s so cool!!

when he grows older he still walks into your room like it’s his

mainly to share tmi’s of his day and to ask you about yours

he’ll randomly bring up gossip that he’s heard

he’s also the type to do things to make you laugh

except it’s not funny so you just have to force yourself to laugh so you don’t hurt his feelings

but he can tell and he’ll put his hands on his face and pretend to cry

he definitely gets sad when you don’t play with him

especially when you two are younger

or when you go play with your friends he’s the brother who wants to tag along

“mum said you have to take me too”

when you spend more time with other people?

he pout :(

when you guys do play together though, he will always without fail end up having more fun than you do

doesn’t matter what the activity is

cars? he’s going vroOOM and making sputtering engine noises as he runs the car down the stair railings

dolls? he’s taking their shoes off and tucking them into bed after their tea party

drawing? he makes it a personal challenge to turn the cutest thing into the most unhinged doodle possible

didn’t think anyone could make hehetmon look drunk

he’s the brother who has a crazy collection of figurines in his bedroom

like all his funds go towards lego and star wars merch

while you go up to him with a new haircut or accessory and ask him “what’s different about me”

he’s the brother version of that

drags you to his bedroom after he adds something else to his shelf and asks you “what’s different about my room”

seonghwa’s the type of brother who uses your hair and skincare products

you walk past him one day and he’s like oh you smell nice

and you’re like thanks i got a new shampoo

strangely, he smells just like you the very next day

when he’s younger he definitely mixes shampoo, conditioner and soap together to make a potion

the type to come home real buzzed/tipsy after midnight and barge into your room

and he wakes you up just to ask if you want a cheese toastie

“hwa wtf it’s 2am”

“...but also, yes”

if you two are out drinking together though, you definitely have to drag his ass back home

he gets excited and tries to drink more/party for longer than his body actually can

but seonghwa also makes sure to take care of you, especially if he is the older sibling

constantly texting you

mostly little reminders to bring an extra jacket in case you get cold

or to remember an umbrella because it might rain later

he always wants to give you the best of everything

like the bigger slice of cake or the window seat

but once he realises you’re trying to do the same for him, he’ll be sneakier with his actions

like, when you make him pick which ice cream flavour he wants first, he’ll leave the rainbow sherbet for you because it’s your favourite

even though it’s his favourite flavour too <3

he’s the type of brother to walk you to your classes or drive you to work whenever your schedules line up

always tells you to have a good day

you wave at him to leave

he waves at you to go through the doors

he always wins though and has to see you go in safely before he leaves

if either of you move out, he makes an effort to keep in touch

will ask if you’ve been sleeping well, eating enough

if you have enough groceries or money to spend

he’s definitely the type to make surprise visits to check up on you because he’s worried you’re lying

brings bags of groceries to stock up your fridge

slips a few notes into the pocket of your coat

reorganises your closet for you

steals a few packets of snacks on his way out

in short, seonghwa is the epitome of sibling duality

he’s both such a younger sibling and a mum sibling

you’re each other’s babies honestly

yunho

the brother who makes fun of your height regardless of how tall or short you are

“how’s the weather down there?”

pretends to lose sight of you even when you’re standing right next to him

uses you as his own personal armrest

puts things on the top shelves so you can’t reach

with yunho as your brother, you have to live your life on high alert

because he will use any chance he gets to prank you

especially because he’s the type who is willing to spend months plotting and preparing

he will build up your trust just to set up for one prank

like once he offered you an oreo

and you were immediately suspicious because why is he suddenly sharing his precious snacks with you

he says that he’s trying to diet so he’s sharing to stop himself from eating it all

and at first you’re like hmmm but when it continues for several weeks it becomes normal

and when you’re least suspecting

he swaps out the oreo filling for toothpaste, sets up a camera and then tosses the bait

not only does he never let you hear the end of it, but he uploads your reaction to tiktok

‘OREO TOOTHPASTE PRANK - HILARIOUS REACTION’

carves out a potato into the shape of a soap bar and puts it in your bathroom

if you fall asleep, yunho will try to put as many fries as he can into your open mouth

or he’ll make the tallest cookie tower possible on your head 

and he’s the type of brother to shock you awake by clanging a fork or spoon against a metal bowl

honestly at this point

napping around yunho and then getting pranked is your fault

when you guys text, the man is incapable of replying normally

you ask him a question?

he replies with a meme

you tell him to do something?

he blackmails sends you a video of you doing something stupid

talks to you irl in tiktok lingo

at one point he definitely tries to teach you how to play video games

but he gets frustrated at you easily and gives up LOL

yunho’s the brother who is everyone’s campus crush and you can do nothing about it

you try to keep it lowkey that you guys are related because everyone always talks about him

and you’re kinda like

my brother is the campus crush?

yunho? the guy who twerks in his pjs at 9 in the morning?

the person who chews his drinks??

and uses a spongebob voice when he answers your phone calls ? ?

but you sort of get it

because as goofy as he is, yunho is the type of brother that you can confide in

he knows when to be serious and offer comfort/advice when you need it

like if you’re having a bad day or if you get into a fight with a friend

he’ll dump a whole mountain of snacks on the table and put on your favourite movie (even if you’ve watched it 20 times and he’s sick of it by now)

or he’ll listen to you ramble while he hands you tissues

yunho is also pretty protective over you

like, physically, because he’s so tall and you just seem so smol to him

his hand hovers over your back when you go through a door first or like when you walk up the stairs

or he keeps a hand on your shoulder as he guides you two through a crowded area

he’s the type to drive you to places when he can such as to your appointments

or especially when it’s nighttime and you’re walking back home

he’ll be like wait for me right there i’ll come pick you up

and if he gets an inkling that you’re being bullied or mistreated by someone?

he’s ready to square up and throw some fists

when you guys go out drinking, he always keeps an eye on you

where you are

if you go to the bathroom

how much you’ve had to drink

it helps that he can hold his own alcohol well

especially when it’s a large group setting and you’re all playing drinking games

he’s definitely the type to start stepping in and taking your penalty shots for you

piggybacks you home if you’re too drunk to walk

he makes fun of you for it the morning after

but you wake up to a glass of water and aspirin on your bedside table <3

overall, yunho’s the brother who pranks the heck out of you but will not sit still if anyone else does it

yeosang

you two are like the twins who look innocent but are actually evil

quite honestly?

you guys are probably each other’s biggest bullies LMAO

as kids, he’s relatively more on the quieter side

so he usually finds it most comfortable to stick with you at school and in the playground and at family gatherings

just because he’s quiet doesn’t mean he’s not mischievous

usually you nudge him and whisper him your idea

and he grins at you and is like let’s do it

he drags the chair while you climb up to reach the secret chocolate stash

or you keep an eye out while he doodles with crayon on the wall

he’s the type of brother who’ll take your grudges against someone and make it his personal grudge too

like

you don’t like this person? okay, i don’t like them either

he doesn’t involve himself in the arguments

but he’s definitely somewhere in the background nodding furiously

occasionally you might hear a “yeah!”

at family gatherings you both sit at the back table and judge all your other relatives together lol

bombastic side eyes

if a relative who you guys aren’t very familiar with comes up to talk to you both

yeosang definitely sits there and lets you do all the talking

while he does his ha. ha. ha. 😀 laugh at the right times

you have the EXACT same laugh

when you two are trying to be polite

or it’s awkward and neither of you know how to react

you guys ha. ha. ha. 😀 in sync

whenever one of you come home from somewhere, you both have late night catch ups to share the tea

yeosang looks sweet and clueless but he’s quiet only because he’s actually eavesdropping on the table of old ladies behind him so he can tell you the neighbourhood goss later

nothing stops him from exposing you though

especially when you’re with friends, he’ll bring up your embarrassing childhood stories when you least expect it

like you could literally be watching a movie

and he suddenly says

hey remember that time when you were six and you choked on your noodles and a strand came out of your nose

you’d think that he wouldn’t be able to recall these things

but no

or he’ll call you by the pet name that you hate

in public

in front of your friends

in front of his friends

he’s also the type of brother who randomly yells out your name

and when you ask “what” he doesn’t reply

or he’s like “nothing”

he gives you that smug look on purpose to make you think that he’s hiding something from you

which drives you nuts and you pester him all day about it

when you rant to him, sometimes he’ll accidentally zone out

and he’s just smiling :D

and you’re like

…i asked you a question

or you’ll say “i’m the cooler sibling”

and he’ll nod and be like “mhm, yes, very true, mhm”

yeosang’s the brother who changes the tv channel and then hides the remote so you can’t change it back

pretends he doesn’t know where the remote went either

gives you that wide-eyed innocent look smh

people always ask whether he’s your boyfriend because you two are always together

and when you’re like ew no, he’s my brother, they ask you for his number

which is the perfect opportunity for you to get revenge

you expose his flaws and tell his admirer that he’s not as perfect as he looks

also because you’re protecting him from girls who are only going after him for his looks

as much as you guys roast each other (and other people)

there’s no greater supporter than your brother

and you’re his greatest supporter too

even if the world is against you, it’ll always be you and yeosang against the world

he always has your back and you always have his

even when your parents are scolding one of you two, you’ll naturally take each other’s side

you two share the same taste in. literally. everything.

you share the same hobbies

you like the same snacks

your clothes are the same colours

yeosang definitely suggests you two swap clothes and dress up as each other for a day

you guys do absolutely everything together

he waits for you to watch that movie you two have been wanting to watch since it came out

you wait for him to be free to check out that new restaurant that’s opened up

you both attend the same college

and relocate to the same city to work

where one sibling is, the other sibling will also be

yeosang is proof that your sibling will always be your original soulmate

san

san is the brother who lets his intrusive thoughts win

you hold something out for him to take and he just bites it

will randomly walk up to you and pretend to have a boxing match

throws jabs while making that ‘ss ss’ sound with his mouth

puts you into a headlock for the lols

when he starts to learn taekwondo, he pretends to flip you over his shoulder or roundhouse kick you

most definitely actually kicks you once by accident and makes you cry

he desperately goes shhhh please don’t cry so you don’t alert your parents lol

san is the type of brother who’s super gullible growing up

you convince him that watermelons explode if you shout too loudly next to them

he cries when you tell him horror stories

like if he stares into the mirror for too long his reflection will move by itself

or he only has three seconds to make it back into his bed after he switches the bedroom/bathroom lights off

otherwise the monsters eat him

you always hear him thundering down the corridor after taking a midnight piss

san’s the brother who comes into your room singing the same section of the same song that he’s been singing for the past three days

will lie in your bed and make himself into a blanket burrito

laughs while scrolling through memes on his phone or he just sits and stares at you

might open and comb through the drawers of your bedside table

when he’s had his fun he just walks out without closing your drawers or door

he messes around with your phone a lot too

he likes to take 0.5x photos of his face from real close so it looks fisheye

you have to delete almost 1000 photos of his nostrils from your gallery

you most definitely also have to change your wallpaper back

sometimes he takes it upon himself to customise your device like his device

like he’ll switch your light mode to dark mode, or he’ll rearrange your apps into different folders

it drives you insane as you try to remember which app used to be in that odd gap on your screen

he’s the type to nag you about manners and responsibilities too

like hey don’t talk to mum like that or hey do what dad asked you to do

rules are thrown out of the window when it comes to veggies though

as a kid he tries to slide his carrots onto your plate when you’re not looking

all your friends have a secret crush on him

except it’s not really secret and he knows and basks in the knowledge

he’ll purposely hang around or find excuses to walk into your room or through the living room when you’re hanging out with friends

you tell him to stop being so annoying

that being said, san’s the brother who finds you absolutely endearing

like no matter what you do he thinks you’re adorable

he brags about you to all of his friends

like the project that you finished the other day

or that you bought him the shirt he’s wearing right now

if any of his friends actually start to show interest in you though

he’ll be like

sorry who? no such person exists

san 🤝 gatekeeping

except when it comes to things that you like?

siri, search up ‘antonym of gatekeeping’

san’s the brother who will give up anything to make you happy

he’s so selfless :’((

lets you have first pick for everything

will swap his meal with yours if you don’t like your food

would literally donate both of his kidneys for you

and he’s always thinking of things that will make you smile or things you’d like

if he sees a cute dog on the street he’ll send you a photo

or if he’s walking past your favourite bakery he’ll get you a pastry

if you’re into collecting, he definitely goes out of his way to bring you back a souvenir from whichever place he’s traveling to

stamps, postcards, keyrings, currency, figurines, photocards

doesn’t matter what it is that you’re collecting

he supports your collection

he’s just supportive in general <3

and he’s so affectionate

so many hugs

presses his cheeks against yours

likes to place a hand on the back of your neck or an arm around your shoulders

the only time you mind is when he comes home from the gym

and makes a beeline to your room to see what you’re doing

and you’re like gross go away

he gets sulky and pouty smh

will say that you hate him and you have to be all nO yoU’RE STINKY go sHOWER

basically, san’s the brother who lives off your attention

he’s tinkerbell

stinkerbell

mingi

mingi’s the brother who randomly does things to you when he walks by

basically the brother who lets his intrusive thoughts win pt 2

randomly slaps the back of your head when he walks past

messes up your hair by ruffling it

stops suddenly when you’re walking behind him so that you bump into him

knocks the back of your knees when you’re standing to make you lose your balance

whenever you accidentally break something, mingi’s the brother who will automatically yell out “MUM!”

even if you try to cover his mouth and shush him

he’ll create a ruckus to expose you

and when your parents are scolding you, he’s standing in the corner of the room or like, peeking around the corner laughing at you

he shuts up and puts on a straight face as soon as your parents turn around to glare at him though

mingi tries to bait you into shouting for mum

he’ll pretend to curse except he changes the second half of the word into something else as soon as you open your mouth to tattle

“FU-dge cakes”

also the type to pull pranks on you, like yunho

but unlike yunho, mingi’s not very good at it

he sees the oreo prank

shows you the video while he’s dying of laughter

and then the next day he mysteriously comes home with a packet of oreos

because he just so happened to suddenly crave oreos

besides

mingi is the brother who refuses to share snacks with you

you’ll ask him for a bite and he’ll be like okay

but then he spits into it or licks it before offering it to you

or he takes the last one and hands you the empty packet

if he willingly offers you food it’s probably because he dropped it on the floor lol

or trying to prank you

when it comes to your food though, it’s free game

he’s the type to take a bite out of the toast that you just buttered for yourself

or he’ll slurp up the noodles you literally just cooked

mingi's the type to call for you from across the house

and he doesn’t answer when you ask him what he wants so you have to go to him

and when you walk into the room like >:( what do you want

he’s like

on your way out can you pass me my charger it’s on my desk

he laughs so hard when you storm out

but you guys are literally each other’s best friends <3

you both have the exact same sense of humour

so when something funny happens or you watch a funny video together, you’re both leaning against each other as you cackle

neither of you can breathe

when you play games together, it’s a competition of boasting and bragging

you both think that you can do better than the other

it becomes such a chaotic battle

all rules are thrown out the window within the first few minutes

mingi is definitely the brother that cheats with petty tricks

yanks your hoodie over your head so you can’t see the screen

peeks at your cards when you’re getting a cup of water

not that his methods help him win LOL

but you both have so much fun

he’s the brother than you can go wild with

karaoke? y’all screaming until you lose your voices

the arcade? he empties his pockets and wallet for another coin you can attempt the claw machine with

theme park? you sacrifice each other in the haunted house

LOTS of spontaneous outings

“i’m headed to the shops, you wanna come?”

“i’m going to the drive-thru, you coming?”

even if it’s 2am

you guys rock the hoodies, fluffy pants and slippers look

the spontaneous outings are some of your favourite things to do with your brother

and sometimes

they seem to curiously occur on the days or weeks you’ve been feeling down

it just so happens to be the thing you need

but really, mingi’s the brother who is very observant of your mood

he knows when not to take a joke too far

probably also knows when you’re getting sick before you even realise yourself

he picks up on it very quickly when you seem a bit off

physically or mentally

he tries to take you out for a distraction even if just for a little while (he’s so sweet pls)

he never fails to make you smile and laugh

you can just be yourself around him

honestly, mingi is that brother who tries to make you cry but it absolutely breaks his heart when you do cry

wooyoung

survival of the fittest

doesn’t matter if you’re older or younger than him

his greatest joy is to drive you up the wall

will walk into your room, pick some random thing up, throw it into the void and then walk out like nothing happened

or he doesn’t even do anything he just stands at the threshold of your door

and you tell him to get out of your room

and he’s like technically i’m not in your room ;)

he will fart and smother you under a blanket so you smell it

tells you that you stink even when you just come out of a shower

similar to seonghwa, wooyoung would be the type to text you about everything

except you get texts like

‘lol i just took the biggest dump and now i weigh half a kilo lighter’

or

‘walked past this today and it reminded me of you <3’

*proceeds to attach a photo of a rubbish bin*

but two can play the game, and when wooyoung is your brother you learn fast

“mum look, there’s a monkey at the window”

“...please let your brother back into the house”

you guys are constantly fighting, but like, over the pettiest things

who has to go take a shower first

why you’re staring at him weird

why he’s sitting on your half of the couch

sometimes the fights turn physical

but when i say physical, i mean biting physical

and if you guys aren’t arguing, then he’s talking your ear off

especially when you’re both driving somewhere he’ll be talking non stop regardless of whether you’re interested or not

so you just zone out and say “yeah” and “mhm” and nod and laugh every now and then

but he knows and yes he’ll bite you for it

“PAY ATTENTION TO ME”

he is an ANIMAL

definitely the brother who climbs up the stairs on all fours like a dog

will growl at you when you try to take a bite of his food

the type to pick up a random clothing item of yours that might look a little different from what he’s used to seeing

like some thin, fluffy thing he thinks is a scarf

he wraps it around his neck and checks himself out in your mirror

shits on how short it is

and you’re like that’s because those are my socks

he highkey judges your fashion choices

you remind him that he ain’t one to talk with those ugly black stompers

as much as you two butt heads though, he wouldn’t trade you for the world

except maybe for san, but like, that’s understandable

he loves you more than anything

runs up to you and jumps onto your back

you two topple over when he catches you off guard

which is like, always

he squishes your cheeks together

pulls you into so many crushing hugs

plants wet kisses on your cheeks that you scrub off

wooyoung’s the type to end his phone calls with i love you’s

and if you don’t say it back or you just hang up, he’ll definitely call you again and repeat it with increasing aggression

“I SAID I LOVE YOU”

the man will not give up until you say it back

you can never win against him during an argument

one because the speed at which he talks at just doesn’t give you a chance to even interject

two you can’t hear your own thoughts over his voice

and three because he’s strangely convincing with his reasons

when you two are on the same page though?

y’all invincible

you guys could probably rob a bank and convince the police officers it’s their fault

it’s very useful for talking yourselves out of trouble with your parents

like, mum if you had put the muffins away instead of leaving them on the dining table then we wouldn’t have thought that we could eat them

he definitely uses the time out sign like five times during the debate

“wait, time, time”

wooyoung’s the brother who is surprisingly-

but also unsurprisingly

-thoughtful

if physical touch and words of affirmation are his top two love languages

his third is cooking

he wakes up early to cook you breakfast or makes you a boxed lunch for special occasions

like your first day of college or your first day of work

fusses over you if you skip meals

whenever he cooks himself some food he’ll pop his head into your room and ask if you want any

and even if you say no he slices some fruit for you

always breathing down your neck about staying hydrated

in short, wooyoung is an absolute menace but only because he loves you

jongho

acts like the older sibling

“when i was your age…”

before his jokes actually become funny, he overuses the same two dumb jokes

like when you ask him for the time

and he’s like, “time to get a watch”

or when you ask him what’s up

and he replies with “the sky”

50% of jongho’s photo gallery is derps of your face

he’ll use those pictures to make his own custom stickers on messaging apps, like whatsapp or kakao talk

if yunho is the type to reply with memes, then jongho is the type to reply with your own derps

the other 50% of his gallery is video evidence

of you drooling while you sleep

of your head getting stuck in your hoodie

of you about to put a spoon in your mouth but the food falling off

you two will be sitting together scrolling on your own phones when he giggles all of a sudden

and he’ll turn to show you an atrocious photo or video of yourself

he imitates everything you do

will forever reenact that one (1) embarrassing dance move you did in the kitchen when you thought you were home alone

even though it was a decade ago

he still makes fun of you for it

jongho’s the brother who tries to make you laugh during a serious or formal situation

you could be attending an online class

or you guys are at someone’s wedding

you’re on stage presenting something

he’ll make faces at you from across the room until you crack

has loud dad sneezes, particularly when it’s all silent

and you get so embarrassed

jongho’s also the type to peek over your shoulder at your screen when you’re chatting with someone

“ooh who’s tHAt is ThAt yOUR CruSH”

has the most shit-eating grin on his face

he’s the type to fight you over who gets to push the trolley when you guys go grocery shopping

and even when you get the handle, jongho stands at the front of the trolley with a hand pulling it along 

clowns you as he watches you struggle to lift the pack of canned drinks into the cart

calls you weak

makes sure to comment on how light the drinks are when he picks it up instead

whenever you ask for his help with opening a container or jar or sth

he’ll flex his muscles and pose like a bodybuilder

he’s all high and mighty until there’s a bug in the house

he’ll holler for you even if you’re on the other side of the house

and when you arrive he’s literally climbed onto the table or the couch to get as far away as he can

“GET RID OF IT NOW”

as much as he clowns you, jongho takes his role as your brother very seriously

he is your Big Bad Brother

even if he’s the younger sibling

he’s not very vocal with his love but you definitely feel it in the little things that he does for you

like when he carries all the shopping bags on the way home

or he blow dries your hair for you when you’re too tired after showering

he opens your water bottle for you before handing it over

or when he tucks your collar/shirt tag back in when it sticks out

he’s also the type to make you walk on the inside of the footpath or sit on the last remaining seat

jongho appreciates all the little things that you do for him too

like you always text him names of coffee places you think he might like

whether it’s a place your friends take you to or an insta post you scroll past

he has a little folder in his phone where he keeps a list of your recommendations

and one of his favourite things to do is when you both go and try out one of the cute cafes or brunch spots together

if he goes by himself he sends you pictures of the new coffee that he tries and his review of it

he also gets so shy when you compliment his voice

you catch him singing in the shower

or humming when he’s making his coffee in the kitchen

and he loves it when he hears you singing or humming along with him

jongho won’t admit it but he has a very soft spot for you

he lets you hang off him like a koala

lets you drape over his shoulders in a back hug

even if he pretends like he’s being held hostage

basically with jongho, you get ✨sibling privileges✨

[horseshoegirl]

Set Me Alight: Part 9 - The Woods

📜Hi..... It's been a hot minute. My mental health was not in a good space back in April when I last posted. I signed off because of it. And now I'm considering coming back because after countless therapy sessions and working on what I could, now seemed like the perfect time. Also, my therapist told me writing is my saving grace, so she and a few countless friends are the reason I'm back... for now... maybe on a trial basis to see how things go.

That's it :)

Now, Let's see how those two are doing, shall we?

❗️+18, Minors DNI, Strong Language, Enemies to Lovers, Original Female Character (s), Short OFC, Angst, Description of injuries, banter, snark, getting lost in the woods.

#5.2k

Part 8 | Masterlist | Part 10

The first thing you can register is pain.

Not the dirt or the leaves or the twigs under your hands. Not the light mist of spitting rain leaving dewdrops on your face. It's the deep ache of your muscles and the crunch of your spine. You can't move, your body remaining locked up and in limbo. You couldn't dare move a single inch, even if you thought about it, attempting to shift yourself amongst the dirt.

But you can feel - that must count for something, right?

You focus on trying to open your eyes, using every bit of mental power you currently possess. The dark lull is too strong, enticing you to stay—stay and fall back asleep once more, stay and give into slumber, stay so its unforgiving grip on you can threaten to pull you under once more.

Something else, or someone else, pulls you out of its grip instead. A pair of hands suddenly gripping your shoulders. They gently but insistently pushed and pulled, attempting to shake you awake.

"Midge," a voice cuts through, sounding near and infinitely far enough away in the same breath. "Come on, Midge. Wake up."

Ah. I'm hearing voices. I must be in hell. 

Those same hands shift, one sliding down to your waist and the other to the side of your neck. While you couldn't feel the ground beneath you before, you could feel those hands, their touch, chasing the darkness away and bringing feeling back into your body. Unfortunately, each jostle or movement sends ripples of pain throughout your limbs, muscles, and bones. 

Stop! It hurts! Stop! Stop! Stop!

A thumb glides across your cheek, fingers curling into the back of your neck. "Midge, you need to open those pretty eyes for me," the voice urges again. "Let me see them, please!"

You were trying. Really, you were trying to listen to the voice. You wanted to open your eyes. Everything was simply too much effort. Your head hurt, your back, your injured wrist pulsing and throbbing. Even your lungs hurt, and awareness of each breath suddenly made every one that followed an effort. 

The voice grew impatient, and you clearly weren’t trying hard enough as they shook you a little more forcibly. 

"You're not dying out here, Midge! Not before I can... Come on! Yell at me. Insult me, tell me how much you hate me, just let me know you are okay!"

The person curved their hand into a supportive grip, the other now gripping at the back of your legs as they lifted you from the ground. You moaned at the ache it caused, pain shooting down the length of your spine.

"Midge?"

You're not sure where the strength comes from or how you managed to open your eyes. It's a quick flutter; all you can see is a blurry, white, cloudy sky. There’s also a shape of something leaning over you. You blink and then blink again, forcing yourself to twist in a pair of arms like you had awoken early in the morning.

The third time you blink, things are much clearer now, and you realize, half laying here in this forest bed of dirt, it's Jake leaning over you, holding you. There’s mud smeared across his cheeks, his beard covered in bits and pieces of leaves. His golden blonde hair seemed to have gotten the worst of it; clumps of dirt, leaves, maybe even a stick or two caught up in the strands, you couldn’t tell. 

You also couldn’t help but notice how panicked he looked —his eyes were usually so confident and teasingly wide with concern. Or how the lines of his face were furrowed, crow's feet creasing hard. 

This is so at odds with how the two of you normally act with each other, how he normally looks at you, that it disorients you further. As you're trying to figure out why you are on the ground and why he is holding you, you catch the words tumbling out of his mouth from above.

"Hey, Midge, can you hear me?" he asks, his voice cracking slightly. A hand pushes away your hair, almost covering your eyes. “Come on, talk to me. Please."

Midge. Annoying Nat. Nat. Natasha. The fight. The Bear, Jake... Falling...

Everything comes rushing forward, surging forth in a tidal wave of memories that has you gasping for breath. It's an adrenaline rush of panic and hurt that has you twisting out of his arms and landing on your stomach, face first in the ground. You shout out harshly, "Get your hands off me, you asshole! Trying to cop up a feel while I'm knocked flat out?" 

Jake only leaned forward, his hands hovering over you uncertainly, unsure whether to retreat or try to help you further. "Are you okay?" 

You laugh mockingly into the dirt. "We just fell down a fucking cliff. Are you seriously asking me that right now?"

Failing miserably to push yourself up, you accidentally attempt to place weight on your injured wrist, practically forgetting it was injured in the first place. A sharp stab shoots up your arm, causing you to cry out and fall on your shoulder. Everything is blending together at this point: your head, back, and entire body, and you know there's not much you can do about it. 

Jake's hands immediately grab onto you, finding a place on your back and elbow, gently guiding you to sit in front of him. You're in too much pain to protest, and that fact alone makes you want to give in to the overwhelming urge to hurl whatever is in your stomach out into the dirt.

Or on Jake. Yes, I should have thought that first. 

Once he gets you sitting on your butt, you shake your shoulders, trying to get him to let go. Jake listens to you for once, lifting his hands off you like your touch has suddenly burned him. 

You wish he had been. You also wish he didn't let go. His touch, even if it was his touch, had brought you some comfort as you battled the tears streaming down your face. You’d never admit it, though. 

His eyes search your body, seeking out possible injuries and bruises, until they snag on how you are clutching your wrist tightly to your chest. 

"Let me see," he says, shuffling forward quickly on his knees amongst the dirt and leaves. He reaches out gently, fingers just skimming the fabric of your jacket when you tilt away with a frown. 

"No, I'm fine," you lie. 

Jake pulls back, his hand still floating mid-air. "You honestly can't tell me you're fine after that? Miss, 'we just fell down a fucking cliff. Why are you asking me that?'"

No .

 "Yes! I'm fine!"

Jake’s eyes call you out on your bullshit lie. 

"And I'm the Queen of England. Midge, just let me see it."

You don’t fight him this time as Jake reaches for your wrist. You aren’t in that much of a position to fight him on this either. His grasp is firm but gentle, and he carefully extends your arm out for him to see. The clasps had popped themselves free with the fall, the bandage covered in dirt, small flecks of leaves, pieces of wood, and God knows what else. The end was hanging loosely off the base of your wrist, and Jake frowned when he touched it. 

"Did Mickey even look at your wrist?" he snapped as he started to unwrap it from your wrist. 

You eyed him carefully. "Yes. Why? It's more than I can say for you."

Yeah, Maeve, he probably just saved your life, and you're still spewing hateful shit.

Jake ignored you, unwinding the fabric from your limb. "Damn, asshole didn't wrap it tight enough.” 

“Why would you care?” you snap.

“Cause I asked him to.” 

You stiffened at his words, drawing in a sharp breath. Bunching the length of fabric on his lap once he got it off, Jake never took his eyes off your wrist as he prodded the largest bruise. "I'm the reason you hurt it in the first place. Why wouldn’t I care?"

Lies . Oh, you wanted to scream that he was lying. There was no way, no fucking way he had asked Mickey to look. There’s no reason he’d care. None that you can think of

Skeptical of his actions, you croaked out softly, "You're not exactly a medical professional, Jake." 

"Neither is Mickey. Clearly." He scoffed back, turning your hand so it was face up. 

You clenched your jaw, fighting the urge to snap back at him. But when he pressed on a tender spot, you hissed out, "Mickey asked Cora. She wrapped it."

Jake shook his head. “So he couldn’t even do it himself.” 

“He asked the professional.” 

“I should have done it myself.” 

“Do you think I would have let you?” 

"If you weren't so reckless all the time, then maybe you would have!" he snapped, his grip tightening on the bandage for a moment before he forced himself to relax. "Running off into the woods like that? What the hell were you thinking!" 

You bit your lip, slamming your eyes shut before everything snapped and broke free. 

"Reckless?! I was trying to get away from you!" you shrieked. "You were the one who followed me into that bush!" 

"Because I was trying to fucking apologize, Midge! And thank god I did! Who knows what would have happened to you! You’re always so fucking stubborn!"

“Do you think I wanted you to follow me? After everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours? You ruined Nat’s proposal, you fucking pranked me with those two idiots, and.. And…” 

You couldn’t speak, too caught up in every overwhelming thought and emotion. Jake took advantage of your moment of weakness to continue. 

“You think I can just leave you alone?! You don’t think I’ve tried?! I’m trying to apologize, damn it! For everything! For all of it! I have no idea what I did for you to be this mean to me, but can’t you see even that?” 

“I don’t want your apology!” you shouted, pain and anger mixing in your voice. “I just wanted you to leave me alone! I just wanted you to stop hurting me!” 

Jake took a deep breath, his jaw tightening as he remained uncommonly silent. 

You shook your head, tears welling up in your eyes. "You can't just fix everything with an apology, Jake. Some things... some things can't be undone."

The forest was eerily silent, the only sound the distant rustle of leaves in the wind. The air was thick with unspoken words and unresolved tension. Jake's jaw was clenched as he carefully examined your wrist, his fingers gently probing the bruised skin. His eyes remained fixed on his task. You stared off into the trees, your breathing shallow and uneven, trying to mask the pain and the anger simmering just below the surface.

“Leave the bandage off,” he finally says after a moment, his voice quiet. “It’s making your bruise worse.” 

Jake avoided your eyes as he stood, your bandage in hand. He was quick as he worked, wrapping the fabric back into a roll. Still on the ground, you watched his fingers, realizing he was doing it correctly. A tiny voice somewhere deep within your hardened heart wondered where he had learned to do that in the first place. 

He held it out to you, head turned away. You only stared up at him, his hand holding the bandage, half stuck to the ground. When you didn’t take it right away, Jake faced you with an expectant gaze. 

You did eventually, weakly reaching for your backpack as it lay forgotten in a pile of leaves. 

Last you could recall, it had been on your back as the two of you had fallen. Jake must have taken it off you while trying to wake you. 

The state of your belongings within or your fragile paint brushes and paints were the furthest things from your mind as you worked the zipper of the front pocket first before blindly holding out your hand to Jake. He placed the bandage silently into your palm. You threw it in, not bothering to see if there had been space for it. Threading the straps through your arms, you settled your bag against your back, hoping you could walk like this. 

You struggled to your feet, wincing as you braced yourself with your uninjured hand against the ground. Your other wrist throbbed, though, along with practically everything else in your body, reminding you exactly how you and Jake ended up in this situation. Or how either one of you would manage to get back to the rest of the group. 

That was until you turned to look up. 

“Oh no.” 

“Oh yes.” 

“No… No... No!” 

“I don’t think shouting no will change the fact, Midge.” 

“As if all this couldn’t get fucking worse.” 

“We just had a run-in with a bear. You see this as worse?” 

You clenched your fists, the reality sinking in with each passing breath. “I would have rather seen my life end as a pile of bear shit.” 

“Really, Midge?” he remarked with disbelief and frustration. “Is that how you see it?”

You glared at him, the anger still simmering. “Yes, Jake. Because being stuck here with you is worse than anything I could have imagined.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Look, I get it. You’re angry. But do you honestly think dwelling on it isn’t going to help us right now?”

You let out a humourless laugh. “Oh, so now you’re the voice of reason? The guy who wanted us to climb up a cliff carrying all our stuff to save what? Fifteen Minutes? You want to climb up that ?”

And what did Jake do but grit his teeth? He offered you nothing else but a reddened face and steely eyes, clearly lit up in frustration. 

Silence fell, and tension was thick between you. The sounds of the forest seemed amplified in the absence of your bickering. You couldn't deny the fear creeping in, the realization that you were truly isolated.

Isolated. With him.

“I may not have all the answers, but sitting here fighting isn’t going to solve anything. We need each other to get out of this,” Jake tried again. 

You scoffed, shaking your head. “The last thing I need is more of your stupid plans.”

“Well, it’s either that or we both end up dead out here. Do you really want to risk that?”

You paused. It was a serious ask. Your anger didn’t completely fade, but the urgency of the situation was undeniable. “No, I don’t want to die out here.”

Jake nodded, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. “Then we need to work together, whether we like it or not. At least until we find someone or something or a way to get out of here.”

You clenched your jaw, feeling a mixture of frustration and very reluctant acceptance. 

“Fine.”

“Fine,” Jake echoed, his voice resolute.

He gestured towards an opening in the bush, you adjusting the straps of your bag, taking a shaky step forward. Jake followed closely behind, and as the two of you trekked off into basically the unknown, you couldn’t help but think… The second I see poison Ivy, I’m shoving it down his shirt. 

—

"I hate you."

"No, you don't, sweetheart."

"I fucking hate you, Seresin. I'm not your sweetheart."

"Don't lie to me, Midge. I know you love me. I did save your life and all that." 

"Kiss my fucking ass, jackass."

"Are you offering?"

You let go of the tree branch you'd been holding out of the way, letting it swing back and thwack Jake in the face. "Oops," you called out sarcastically, not bothering to look back.

Jake stumbled back, swatting at the branch like a pesky insect. "Ow, what the -"

"Watch out for the low-hanging branches," you mocked, the corners of your mouth twitching upwards. Jake rubbed his face with his eyes closed, grinning despite the slight sting. "That branch hit harder than your insults."

"Practice makes perfect, right?"

You're not sure how long the two of you had been walking, though given how low the sun was, it was safe to assume it had been hours. The two of you followed the bottom of the cliff until you could no longer do so, hoping there might have been a slope or at least something along that cliffside either of you could climb up.

But the terrain became treacherous with each step, and the underbrush became impossible to navigate. More rocks littered your path, forcing you and Jake to veer off into a less dense part of the forest.

The further you went in, the less you knew where you were or how to return to that cliff. The forest swallowed any trace, everything the same yet different.

It was hard when you only had the compass and not your map. With a map, you could potentially figure out where you both were and where you should be heading. The compass only told you the direction you were facing, not where you should go. 

You aren’t sure if you’re even happy the tension back at that cliff had dissipated within an hour, the two of you returning to your normal back-and-forth banter. Jake hadn’t once brought up that question he had asked before the two of you ran into your little friend, and there were no signs he was about to either. 

It was simply the same old, same old, Seresin and Midge. 

Stepping over a fallen tree trunk, you looked up from the ground only to freeze. There, stretching vertically across your path, was a chain-linked fence. It merged and disappeared into the thicket, maybe even a few trees growing through the interlocking pieces of metal. Tackled to one section was a weather-beaten sign, the words and icon on it fading, though you could still make out the message. 

Keep out - Authorized Personnel Only.

You’re not sure if these types of fences were supposed to be out here, dead centre in the middle of nowhere, but the sight of it is less than comforting. 

Jake hadn’t realized you’d stopped, slamming himself right into your back. You tripped forward in a daze but caught yourself before hitting the fence. You spun on your heel, ready to give him a piece of your mind. 

“Look where the hell you’re going, Seresin!” 

“Hey, what’s the big - “Jake cut himself off when he saw what was behind you for the first time. “Oh… a fence.” 

You rolled your eyes, turning back to investigate its sudden presence. You pointed to the keep-out sign. “Look.” 

Jake squinted, then offered a shrug. “It’s probably just the park boundary line.” 

You frowned, peering through the mesh at the expanse of untouched forest that lay beyond. “Or something else. Maybe it’s a dumping ground. You know, where they keep the bodies.” 

Jake rolled his eyes. “Because every remote part of a national park is a crime scene or conspiracy,” he said, his tone dripping in sarcasm. 

You whipped around, pushing on his shoulder. Jake didn’t even move an inch. You felt stupid for even trying. 

"Well, excuse me for being suspicious of a big ominous-looking fence in the middle of a woods that has a keep out sign!" you snapped, your mind now racing with the possibilities, none reassuring.

Jake bit his lip. "You know, this feels a bit like Jurassic Park..."

You closed your eyes. "Jake... No...Don't say it..."

"When they find the raptor pen," he grinned. "And it all goes to hell a few hours later."

"Can you not?" You shudder. "I'm going to be fucking terrified now, thinking something is following us."

Jake rolled his eyes, returning the way you both came. "It's just us, Midge. Come on, scared a serial killer is hiding out in these woods?" he teased.

You murmured something under your breath, following him before turning off at the next apparent break in the forest, Jake having stopped to wait for you to catch up.

You called out into the trees in a sing-song manner, "Psycho Killer, que'est ce que c'est?"

Jake cocked an eyebrow at the back of your head as he followed you. "Ah, the artist listens to music."

"So does the douche," you shot over your shoulder.

"It's Talking Heads. Who hasn't heard them."

You laughed softly to yourself. "Not the Taylor Swift loving groupie's back at the camp."

You internally cringed as soon as the words came out of your mouth. The ill-fated Halloween party flashes in your mind, that girl and him in the bathroom—that damning orange dress. You're glad he can't see your face right now. 

Somewhere behind you, Jake let out a fake gasp. "Now, what do you have against T.Swift?"

You roll your eyes again, pushing away a branch and holding it back until Jake is close enough. "Nothing, personally. I just don't like her music. Or her fandom."

You let the branch go, the leaves rustling as it swung backwards. Jake dodged it just in time when it whipped towards his face. "Midge..." 

"I told you to keep an eye out." 

A smirk tugged at his lips. "You're enjoying this way too much." 

You shrugged nonchalantly, stepping over a fallen log. "Maybe. It's not every day I get to torture someone with my taste in music."

“But it’s Taylor Swift, Midge.” 

You made a disgruntled noise. "Why does every fan of hers like to shit on someone who doesn't like her music? It's not the only thing out there. So, I don't like her music. I'm not a fucking martyr."

You're not sure if you are surprised whether or not the remark didn't incite a reaction from him. From what you've seen online, her fans loved to attack those who didn't share their opinion. Sure, there were good ones. The ones you thought, like with everything, who existed in a minority. The ones who appreciated what she did or even does for music, not the ones who latched on to who she, and in their words, was destroying next. 

Jake seemed like the last person to be a Taylor Swift fan, but you weren't one to judge someone who liked works of art. Jake also loved to rile you up for no apparent reason. He would do this just to piss you off further. 

Realizing the rustling of leaves and branches behind you had ceased, you stopped, twisting to look over your shoulder. Jake stood motionless between two trees, staring at you with metaphorical gears grinding over his head. The sight was unnerving. It left you wondering what he was thinking or perhaps what he was waiting for you to do. 

Or what remark he was currently concocting. 

But no banter was coming from his lips: no eagerness or cocky smirk, horrible statement or condensing glare. The urge to fill this extended silence was building the longer it lasted. It seemed like not saying anything would make it that much worse. You're still trying to figure out why you even wanted to. 

"It's not that I don't want to. I did. Once upon a time," you offer hesitantly. "Things just change, I guess." 

"Didn't like it when she switched to pop?" he asked, offering no hint of emotion, nor did he try to move or lift his eyes. The moment that settled over the two of you was calm, no thick heat or fire in search of something of either of yours to burn. 

It’s perhaps why the following words flew out of your mouth so easily. "More like every mean girl started listening to her music, and suddenly she was the villain icon for everyone to excuse their fucking behaviour.” 

You visibly winced when you realized what you had said. Not because that haunting memory was always at the forefront of your mind when it came to Jake, but because you revealed more of yourself than you wanted him to know.  

You turned to face the path, taking a few steps forward, hoping Jake would take the hint and drop it. But when you didn't hear him try to follow you, you twisted back again to see him still standing in the same spot, his eyes now on you and lighting up with a thousand revelations all at once. 

Then came the shift. The subtle softening of his face gave way to one of regret. 

You hated it.

"You were bullied growing up?" the words come out of his mouth softly. 

You averted your eyes, staring at the ground. 

"Who hasn't?" you laughed ashamedly, shrugging your shoulders. "I mean, you probably haven't... Where do you think I got all this snark?" 

Lies, Maeve. He's the reason you got all this snark. You simply ran away back then. 

"So you don't listen to her music because you were bullied?"

You met his eye. 

Nobody had really asked you about this before. You hadn't offered to tell anyone about it either. Nat loved her, practically worshipped the ground she walked on, and it was apparent now more than ever that Nat would have never understood where you were coming from if you had. 

You're not sure why Jake is that person now, why it's suddenly spewing all out of you. He was the person you spent most of your life hating during and after school. Yet, because of that fact, you knew deep down you had nothing to lose by telling him. 

You didn't lift your eyes when you shook your head. "I didn't. At least, I don't really. Sometimes, now she's making new albums... creating songs that don't bear the same weight in memories. But it's hard to shake the association."

Suddenly, shame wracks your whole body, and you turn away, taking a few steps forward. You want to run. Run like you always have from him. 

This time, you know you can't. 

If you ran, it would doom you both. As much as you wanted to live, the one thing you refused to be responsible for was Jake's death. After all, if either of you got out of this place alive, you'd have no actual reason to be around him anymore. 

Waiting for Jake to follow, you watched a worm twisting its way through the mud. You focused in on its shape, letting your eyes glaze over a blur. Even as Jake finally moved and stopped at your side, waiting for you to step forward, you hadn't taken your eyes off the tiny, helpless creature. No eyes, no mouth that would produce a single sound and from appearance alone, it relied on touch to navigate the world.

A single, lone worm was wriggling in the earth, and you felt you had more in common with it than any single person back at that waterfall. 

You can feel Jake's eyes on you, waiting for you to continue explaining. You know you have to. 

"Sometimes I meet people who think she's giving them permission, sanctioning them, to be mean to people. When really, they're just passing off owning their own mistakes. Or want to get out of circumstances of their own creation."

You sniff, pushing a piece of hair behind your ear. "Cause if she says it's okay, then why wouldn't it be?"

Jake's voice was low as he offered, "She can't help how people use her lyrics."

You closed your eyes, a tear streaming down your cheek. "Hasn't anyone ruined anything for you, Seresin? That's not the point."

Jake didn't say anything, merely staring at the side of your face. 

"Whether she knows it or intents it to be or not, she is an iconic Mean Girls Artist." You took a deep breath, opening your eyes and letting them glaze over. "And every time I try to make it better, I'm always brought back to the remarks whispered in the corners of high school hallways. Never being able to defend myself because first impressions are hard to beat. And word of mouth from a person who has their hooks in every person in your grade because you're the weird silent art kid with niche interests and they are the beloved popular girl matters more than any remark I could ever muster the courage to voice and prove them wrong."

Giving into the urge to hug yourself tight, you dropped your chin to your chest, a part of you wondering what Jake would do with this information. A part of you wanted to stop, but the fact that he was letting you speak, you weren't going to. With everything that had happened, you just wanted someone to listen. You just wanted to be heard.

Nat didn’t afford you that chance. But Jake was. He was here. He was listening. Perhaps for the first time since you don't remember when.

How fucking far have I fallen that Jake is suddenly now that person?

You sniffed again, wiping your nose. "I mean, it's not the fake ownership over them saying they might be the problem because of that one fucking song, but me, being the problem for saying anything, for being myself, walking the halls... existing." 

Holding yourself tight, you failed to notice the sad recognition in Jake's eyes. Or how his shoulders dropped or how he took his bottom lip between his teeth. 

“I only shouted ‘bear’ because I was trying to get Jessica and Veronica to leave me alone. Jessica’s… obvious... With her … attempts,” he admitted. “Well, unobvious to Rueben. I hate it.” 

You sniffed, wiping your eyes with the back of your arm. “You weren’t trying to scare me?” 

“No, Maeve, I wasn’t,” he replied earnestly. “It was stupid, and I should have just told them off, but I panicked. And a part of me wanted them to shit their pants… because of how they’ve been treating you. They seemed like the type who would…” 

You sighed, shaking your head, croaking out, “You really are an idiot, Jake.” 

He let out a small, humourless laugh. “Yeah, well... That’s nothing new.” 

You couldn’t help but laugh softly back. 

 "Thank you for telling me,” he finally said after a few moments of silence. 

 You reeled back, staring at him in shock. Out of all the things you expected him to say, that was not it. But Jake's familiar pattern of mocking you, hurling some insult, or trying to hit you where it hurts never came. Instead, he was looking at you like he was genuinely sorry. 

Another few seconds passed before you shook your head and swallowed. "I'm not entirely sure why I did. You're probably going to find some shitty way to use it against me or put it on that list you mentioned."

There was nothing mean in his voice when he shook his head, gently replying, "Not too bad to have on hand." 

You could hear the smile in his voice as he took a step forward, mud squishing under his boot as he took over leading the way. "If I ever do stand a chance of topping your wise-ass remarks."

Despite yourself, despite knowing you'd never see him again after you got out of this park, you let out a small smile as you followed after him.

"Keep dreaming, asshole."

Not so mean, are we now, Midge?

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Taglist -> I've been off on here, so if you've messaged or commented and I haven't seen it, please let me know, and I will add you as long as I'm still on this trail basis thing.

-Lucky ☘️

[orderforbrian]

manifestations for tma2 if jon is indeed trapped in a tape recorder (this was originally meant to be kind of angsty and then it turned out silly lol)

[Start ID: Four panel comic of Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood from The Magnus Archives. First two panels are interlocked in a bottom and top corner, the middle colored green. Jon is in the first panel, his side profile is shown but his hair is blocking most of his features aside from a tiny smile. He has long, curly black hair with streaks of grey and a beard also streaked with grey. The background is a gradient of grey. He says, "How do you think of me? Now that I'm not there.". Second panel is the upper half of Martin's face, his eyes looking up to the first panel with a blush. He has shoulder length, brown wavy hair with a single streak of grey and wears browline glasses. The background is a light blue, broken up by white clouds and a couple green eyes. He says, "I think of you...". The third panel shows Martin laying back with a tape recorder in one hand, his other hand is pointing up in the air. With delight, he says, "Like a pair of glasses with tired eyes and angry eyebrows!". Above him, a green cloud poofs up with sparkles and shows exactly what he said: a pair of disembodied glasses with tired eyes and angry eyebrows. The last panel shows a close up of the tape recorder and overlayed is a disembodied pair of glasses with squinty eyes and angry eyebrows (meant to represent a very offended Jon). End ID.]

[dianawinchester03]

Season 2, Episode 12 - Nightshifter

Series Masterlist

Authors Note: A very very late update and I do apologize for that but I’ve made it somewhat long to make up for it lol. Just a little heads up, you guys are probably gonna HATE y/n in this chapter. But remember that no one is perfect, so I do hope everyone enjoys!

Also, I made playlists to go with the book🥰Been wanting to do it for a while but I wasn’t sure if anyone would like it then I was like fuck it hahahah

1) Princess’ Hits👑 - The playlist Dean made for Y/N (its a little longer than I originally intended but I got carried away lol)

2) Idiots to Lovers💕 - Honestly just songs that remind me of the pair, I’ll be adding more as the series continues and their relationship progresses

Third Person POV

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Dean's eyes were narrowed in Y/N's direction in the recently robbed jewelry store they were investigating as she flirted with the gorgeous brunette girl behind the counter. Gritting his teeth as the familiar burning feeling in his chest arises. He clenched his fists, his body tense and rigid, as he observed Y/N and the brunette laughing together. His eyes darkened with jealousy and annoyance, silently berating himself for his reaction.

"So, what's it like, being an FBI girl?" The brunette asked intrigued, her tone alluring. "Well, it's dangerous. Yeah." Y/N sighed, allowing a coy smile to play on her lips as the woman's brows raised with interest, her eyes trailing down y/n's physique. "And the secrets we gotta keep, oh god. The secrets" Y/N muttered, shaking her head to add to the act.

"But mostly....it's lonely" Y/N added, a twinge of mischief in her eyes as she scanned the woman's frame. "I so know what you mean." The woman nodded her head as she gasped, falling for the act. This made y/n's smirk, "Mhhmm" She hummed, leaning on the jewelry counter.

Dean couldn't help but huff in irritation as he watched the duo flirt shamelessly. He tried to push it away, reminding himself that Y/N was just playing a part in their undercover mission. Still, the way the woman's eyes roamed over Y/N's figure in that knee-length, skin-tight skirt, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Hypocritical much, Dean? His inner voice chastised him. Making him roll his eyes to himself. Hating the fact that his inner monologue was dead right.

"Dean- Hellooo, are you listening to me?" Sam snapped in annoyance, waving in hand in-front of Deans face after realizing his idiot brother wasn't paying attention to a word he was saying. Sam's voice snapped Dean out of his thoughts, jolting him back to reality. He quickly shook his head, shifting his attention back to his younger brother.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening," he muttered gruffly, trying to hide his irritation. "What were you saying?" He forced a casual tone, shoving his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. Forcing himself to tear his gaze away from y/n and the counter girl.

Sam raised a skeptical eyebrow as he studied his older brother's demeanor. Despite Dean's attempt to act nonchalant, it was clear to Sam that something was bothering him. He knew his brother all too well, and that tension in Dean's shoulders and the clench of his jaw gave him away. Sam's eyes traced over to Y/N, now realizing she was flirting with the counter girl. Putting two and two together he snorted in amusement.

-

"Helena was our head buyer. She- She was family, you know?" The manager of the jewelry store explained to the Winchesters, his tone filled with sadness, "She said it herself. Every year at the Christmas party. She said that we were the only family she had" He added, "So there were never any signs that she'd do something like this?" Sam asked, "No, I still can't believe it, even now" The manager shook his head.

"That night, Helena came back to the store after closing. Cleaned out all the display cases and the safe" He explained. "Edgar, our night watchman, he caught her in the act. He didn't know what to do. He'd known her for years....he called me at home" The manager gulped, "And that's when she took his gun?" Dean asked. "She shot him in the face....I heard him die....over the phone" The manager said tearfully.

"Any idea what the motive could've been?" Sam asked, "What motive? It makes no sense." The manager exclaimed. "Why steal all that diamonds, all that jewelry, then when? Just dump it somewhere? Just hide it and then go home and-"

-

Across the store, by the counter, "She killed herself?" Y/N asked the counter girl she was chatting up. "Well the cops said she dropped a hairdryer in the bath and fried herself. They should know, right?" The woman responded, "Yeah" Y/N nodded, thinking for a second before flashing her a coy smile. "Well, thanks Frannie, I think that's all I need" Y/N smiled,

"Really? I mean, because I've got more" Frannie smirked a bit, this made y/n's brows raise, intrigued. "You know, if you wanted to interview me...sometime, in private" Frannie said in a suggestive tone, biting her bottom lip. Y/N's mouth went dry, her eyes flickering over to Dean with a twinge of guilt in her heart.

It doesn't mean anything, it doesn't mean anything. She chanted to herself again before turning back to Frannie with a coy smile.

"Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a good idea" Y/N nodded, making Frannie smile in victory as Y/N pointed at her with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "You're a true patriot hun, you really are. Why don't you write your number down there for me? That'd be good" She suggested, wiping her mouth as Frannie wrote down her number for her. Gulping a bit as her eyes flicker over to Dean again and back to Frannie.

-

"So you never saw the security camera footage yourself, then?" Dean asked as Y/N approached them, his eyes darted over to her, noticing she was stuffing a paper with what he presumed was a number in her pocket. She cleared her throat as Dean held the urge to roll his eyes, "The police, they took all the tapes, first thing" The manager shook his head.

"Of course they did" Y/N muttered, nudging the boys.

________________________________

The Impala pulled across the street from one of the people they were meant to question. Since Y/N took her bike back to Sioux Falls, leaving Quinn at Bobby's to save on gas, she was lounging in the backseat. "Look at your file, this is it" Sam told Dean as he parked. "Ugh, fucking cops" Dean grunted as he opened his drivers side door, shutting it hard before moving over to open the backdoor for y/n.

"They're just doing their job, Dean" Y/N defended as she stepped out. "No, they're doing our job. Only they don't know it, so they suck at it" Dean sassed, shoving the back door shut. Earning an amused eye roll from y/n, "Fair point" She muttered with a shrug. "Talk to me about this bank" Y/N told Sam as they made their way up the curb and towards the house.

"Uh, Milwaukee National Trust. It was hit about a month ago" Sam informed them, closing the passenger side door. "Same M.O. as the jewelry store?" Dean asked, "Yep, inside job, long-time employee. The never in a million years type. Dude robs the bank, then goes home and supposedly commits suicide" Sam explained as they walked up the porch. "And this guy, Reznick, he was the security guard on duty?" Y/N asked as she raised her hand to knock on the door.

"Yeah, he was actually beaten unconscious by the teller who heisted the place" Sam added, "God" Dean muttered, "Yeah" Sam sighed as y/n's knuckles wrapped on the screen door. "Mr. Reznick?" She called out to the man. "Ronald Reznick?" She called out again after a couple seconds of no answer. Then suddenly, a giant ring light at the corner of the door flashes in the faces of the hunters.

Practically blinding the, "Son of a-", "Jesus Chr-" Both Dean and Y/N exclaimed, all shielding their eyes from the blinding light. A short heavy set man with shoulder length hair appeared on the other side of the door inside the house. "FBI, Mr. Reznick" Sam informed the man, squinting from the blinding light. "Let me see the badge" Ronald demanded. This made Sam give him an unimpressed look as Dean and Y/N huff.

All pulling their badges out from their inner jacket pockets, lifting it up with their right hands, pressing it to the clear screen door simultaneously. Ronald leaned in to take a look before saying, "I already gave my statement to the police" He told them as they put their badges away. "Yeah, listen, Ronald, uh, just some things about your statement. We wanted to get some clarification on it" Dean said causally, tucking his badge away.

"You read it?" Ronald asked hopefully. "Sure did" Y/N flashed him a sweet smile. "Come to listen to what I gotta say?" He asked surprised, pointing to himself. "Well, that's why we're here" Dean nodded before Ronald smiled, opening the door. "Well, come on in" He invited them in. "None of the cops ever called me back. Not after I told them what was really going on" Ronald rambled as they made their way down the hall behind him.

Now in his living room, there were multiple articles about the robberies plastered on his wall. They all shared a skeptical look, "They all thought I was crazy. First off, Juan Morales never robbed the Milwaukee National Trust. Okay, that I guarantee" Ronald began as they all scanned the room with their eyes. Y/N noticed a poster shading, 'Cheeseheads are Potent Mandriod Spies' and this peaked her curiosity with the multiple conspiracy theories posted on the wall.

"See, me and Juan were friends. He used to come back to the bank on my night shifts and we'd play cards." Ronald explained to them, "So you let him into the bank that night. After hours" Sam pointed out in realization. "The thing I let into the bank....wasn't Juan" Ronald said with guilt, "I mean, it had his face, but it wasn't his face" He continued to ramble as the hunters shared a look, raising their brows at the man.

"Every detail was perfect, but too perfect. You know? Like if a doll maker made it, like, I'd I was talking to a big Juan doll." Ronald explained, his eyes wild as he took out a file from beneath his computer. "A 'Juan doll'?" Sam and Y/N questioned in unison at the term. All blinking at the man as if he was crazy, "Look, this wasn't the only time it's happened, okay? There was this jewelry store too" Ronald defended, handing y/n the file, opening it.

Sam and Dean peered over her shoulder to take a look. "And the cops and you guys, I mean, you just won't see it. Both crimes were pulled by the same thing" Ronald explained as they canvassed the file of newspaper clippings, surprised that Ronald put this together. "And what's that, Mr. Reznick?" Sam asked in a professional tone. Ronald picked up a magazine with a picture of a robot on the cover, pointing to it firmly.

"Chinese been working on it for years. And the Russians before that. Part man, part machine" He exclaimed joyfully, making Dean roll his eyes while Sam and Y/N grimace. "Like the Terminator but the know that can change itself. Make itself look like other people" Ronald pointed to his temple, a smile on his face. "Like the one from T2" Dean snorted, "Exactly!" Ronald exclaimed, happy he got the reference.

Dean smiled at this while Sam and Y/N shot him a side eye, making his smile falter. "See, not just a robot. More of a-a-a-a 'mandriod' " He explained, trying to find the word. "A Mandriod?" Sam raised his brows at his in amusement as y/n held back a laugh. Feeling a hit sorry for the poor bastard who has no idea what was actually going on, but he wasn't quite far off.

"And what makes you so sure about this, Ronald?" Y/N quipped as they all bit back smirks. Ronald's face dropped for a second before holding up his finger to indicate to them to give him a minute.

-

Ronald slid a tape into his DVR, "See, I made copies of all the security tapes. I knew once the cops got them, they'd be buried. Here" Ronald explained to them, now sat on his couch, patiently waiting for him to start the tape with intrigued looks on their faces. "Now watch. Watch him, watch, watch. See? Look, t-t-there it is!" Ronald exclaimed as he rewinded the tape show Juan's eyes.

There was a flicker of something silver in his eyes, a look of recognition crossed the hunters faces as they shared a knowing look. "You see, he's got the laser eyes" Ronald exclaimed as he pointed to his eyes, convinced Juan was a Mandriod but he was far off. Ronald smiled in victory as he stared at the video footage, "Cops said it was some kind of reflected light. Some kind of 'camera flare'. Okay?" He air quoted with a chuckle as he got back up.

"Ain't no damn camera flare. They say I'm a post trauma case" He snorted as Sam, Dean and Y/N shared a look while Ronald took the tape out. "So what? Bank goes and fires me? It don't matter. The Mandriod i-is still out there" He exclaimed hysterical as he pinned up a clip out of the News article of the jewelry store robbery on his board before turning back to them.

"The law won't hunt this thing down...I'll do it myself" He said determined, pointing to himself. "You see, this-this thing, i-i-i-it killed the real people. Makes it look like a suicide. Then it sort of like..." He gestured down to his body. "...morphs into that person. Cases the job for a while til it knows the take is fat...and then it finds its opening" Ronald smiles, believing he's right, which is his but not particularly.

They knew what they were dealing with but they continued to listen, "Now, these robberies, they're-they're grouped together. So I figure, the-the Mandriod is holed up in the middle" Ronald explained, tracing the locations on his map that's attached to his board with his finger, "underground maybe, I don't know. M-m-maybe that's where it recharges it's uh, m-m-mandriod batteries" He said, pressing his fingers to his chest.

The hunters raised an inquisitive eye as Dean pumps his brow. "Okay" Sam cuts in, his tone dry, nudging y/n to take over. She usually has a gentle touch when it comes to breaking the news to civilians so she took over. "Hun, I want you to listen very carefully" Y/N says gently, getting up from the couch, the boys following behind her. "Because I'm about to tell you the god's honest truth..."

"...about all of this" She added in a soft tone as Ronald nodded frantically and excitedly, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited. "There's no such thing as Mandriods" She said in a flat tone, making Ronald's face drop. You could practically see the guys heart break outside of his chest. Dean bit back an amused look as Sam schooled a serious one, but he was amused on the inside.

"There's nothing evil or inhumane going on out there. It's just people." She added firmly. "Nothing else, you understand?" Y/N chided as if she was talking to a child. Ronald was speechless, "...T-the laser eyes-" He croaked defensively, pointing to his eyes but Sam chimed in, "It's just a camera flare Mr. Reznick" Sam added firmly, the crushed look on Ronald's face deepening.

"See, I know you don't wanna believe it, but your friend Juan robbed the bank, and that's it" Y/N said in a flat tone while tears welled up in Ronald's eyes. "Get out of my house! Now!" He yelled at them, pointing at the door. They seemed unfazed by this, "Sure" Sam shrugged, "But first things first" He narrowed his eyes at Ronald, who looked baffled and Dean looked confused but intrigued, furrowing his brows.

________________________________

Y/N's POV

After practically sucker punching Ronald Reznick into giving us all of his security tapes, the boys and I made our way back to our motel room. Currently Dean and I were waiting for Sam to get back in while he was drinking a beer, staring at the pictures we had taped to the wall. I was sitting at the table in the middle of the room, my feet kicked up on the desk, smoking a cigarette.

Sam finally came back, stepping into the room as Dean quipped up, "Man, that hand gotta be the kicker, straight up" Dean snickered amused. "I mean, you two tell that poor son of a bitch that- What did you say, Sammy? Remand the tapes that he copied?" Dean snorted as Sam shoved a tape into the DVR on the TV across the room. "Classified evidence of an ongoing investigation? That's messed up" He shook his head, moving over to take a seat across from me at the table.

While Sam sat in-front of the TV, remote in his hand. "What are you? Pissed at us or something?" Sam scoffed, turning to Dean who snatched my feet from the table and rested it on his lap gently. I cocked my brow at him but let it be as I dusted my ash from the bud into the tray. "Nahh, I just think it's creepy how good you guys are at being feds" He stated a bit amused but me and Sam rolled our eyes at him.

"We've only been doing this for a lifetime" I quipped up which earned me a snort from Dean while Sam chuckled. "I mean, come on. We could've at least thrown the guy a bone. He did some pretty good legwork here" Dean defended, it was now my turn to scoff. "Mandriod?" I pointed out the stupidity as I took a sip of my beer. "Except for the Mandriod part" Dean muttered as he scuffled through the blueprints laid out on the table.

"I liked him. He's not that different from us" I agreed with a shrug. Ronald seemed sweet but he was a little in over his head. "Yeah. People think we're crazy" Dean added as he drew a red line on the graph paper. "Yeah, except he's not a hunter, guys. He's just a guy who stumbled onto something real. If he were to go up against this thing, he'd get torn apart" Sam argued, me and Dean share a look at this and couldn't help but agree he was right.

It's the main reason I took Sam's hint and dismissed Ronald's idea about the mandriods. "Yeah, I guess" Dean mumbled as he doodled in the graph paper. Sam turned back to the TV, pausing it when Juan looked up at the camera. His eyes flashed over a flicker of silver, "Shapeshifter." Sam scoffed in recognition, shaking his head. "Just like back in St. Louis. Same retinal reaction to video." He added.

"Eyes flare at the camera." Dean muttered. As my mind went flashing back to the memory of our last encounter of a shapeshifter.

•Flashback to St. Louis 2005:

"I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky, seeing as Dean is so convinced he doesn't have a chance with Y/N and is so stupid to not even admit his feelings for her to himself. He would bang little Becky if he had the chance" Shapeshifter Dean says and I freeze, my heart feels like it's gonna fall out of my chest.

What the fuck? Is he high or something? He's got to be lying. Demons do it to weaken their targets. Surely shifters do it too because he was just taunting Sam. Sam looks over to me quickly and Shapeshifter Dean turns to me.

"And sweet sweet little Y/N.." He coos, striding over to me. "He has quite the thing for you..I mean me. Gotta admit though, I've got amazing taste in women" He crouches down and rests his hand on my cheek, which makes me feel physically ill.

"Don't touch her!" Sam shouts protectively and I nod at him to assure him I'm fine. I move my head away from him but he just comes closer to me. The smile on his face makes my stomach churn and not in a good way.

"You are the package deal. You're sexy, smart, snarky, and funny. You know how to keep me on my toes, challenge me. You make me laugh in any situation despite how stressful it is. Hell, I hate to admit it but you keep me in line whenever I'm acting like the dick I am" He chuckles at the last part, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"Sometimes I'm even a bit jealous at the friendship you have with Sammy....But the way you would look at me sometimes, your flirty little comebacks, the way you would sway your hips when you walk, the sight of you on that bike of yours....oh mannn....gets me going everytime" He licks his lips looking at me with a lustful gaze and I feel a chill run down my spine in disgust.

"Jesus dude, at least by me dinner first" I sneer at him and he chuckles. "See? That's the snark I'm talking about" He says, smiling at me and rubbing his thumb on my bottom lip. "Where.Is.Dean?" I grit my teeth at him. "I'm right here baby" He says huskily and I groan.

"I remember how stoked I was when you didn't hesitate to come with us to find my dad...then your daddy went missing too...tsk tsk tsk...poor thing" He says sympathetically, clicking his tongue.

"You grew from this adorable shy timid girl who was afraid of her daddy to this beautiful confident badass women who stood her ground against her controlling father and left..." He trails off as if he's recollecting something, then he roughly grabs my hair, pulling it harshly causing me to wince in pain.

"LET GO OF HER YOU DICK!" Sam yells from across the room, trying to rip out of his bindings. "Did you know when you ran away, your dad had me looking for you for months!" He shouts in my face. "Hauled my ass from Washington to Florida and back!"

"You should've never run away you little bitch" He seethes through his teeth pulling my hair more making me cry out in pain. "You're lucky I covered for your ass every single time, I knew exactly where you were and I had to lead him away every time because I was trying to be a good friend!". He grits his teeth in anger

"You did me just like Sam and walked out when I needed you most! Sam left and then you! God you two are selfish" His tone is pained, betrayed. And I snap, a sick thought crossing my mind but I'm too angry to care right now if he kills me or not.

"Well let me make it up to you" I say suggestively, flashing him a coy smile. Hes fully taken back at this. My eyes flicker to Sam and. I can see his expression go from angry to confused from across the room. A clear look of shock is evident but a sickening smirk on Shapeshifter Dean's face.

"And how would you do that, princess?" He says huskily. I could see Sam's face contorting to disgust across the room, confused and angry. "Lay a kiss on me charming, you wouldn't regret it" I wink at him, smiling seductively.

"You're kidding?" He says surprised, chuckling, his grip loosening on my hair. "No jokes" I grit my teeth, trying to hide my disgust. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" Sam yells from across the room.

Shapeshifter Dean's eyes flicker down to my lips, when leans in to kiss me, just as his lips is centimeters away from mine. I hawk up a loogie, spitting it in his face and draw my head back instantly, head-butting him in his nose.

"YOU BITCH!" He screams in pain. He holds his nose, stumbling back. When he recovers, he draws his fist back, right hooking me in my face, hard. "STOP IT!" Sam pleads begging. I turn my head back to Shapeshifter Dean, laughing, a victorious grin on my face. The metallic taste of blood and saliva coating my taste buds.

"Fuck you, you even punch like a bitch. That's to show you'll never be Dean" I sneer at him, spitting the blood out from my mouth on the ground besides me. He groans in pain, grabbing a tarp covering Sam who's yelling at him. He then grabs another to cover me but before he does, he looks at me and says. "I can't wait to kill you" and I smirk.

"Look at me good. Remember this face clearly. Cuz I'll be the last thing you see when I put a bullet in your head, you skin shedding, goopy son of a bitch!" My tone is deadly as I seethe through my teeth. "Well...if it ain't working with you...let's see how it works out with Becky" he winks at me. Covering me with the tarp.

•Present Time:

I shook my head, blinking rapidly as I crushed my cigarette butt in the tray. My heart was practically out of my chest, god I was stupid to think I ever had a chance with Dean. "I hate those fucking things" I growl, my nostrils flaring as I took my feet off of Deans lap. He shot me a confused look as Sam shot me a sympathetic one, "Agreed, sister" Sam grumbled in agreement, "Yeah, well one didn't turn into you guys and frame you for murder" Dean quipped back.

"Yeah, well it did try to kiss me. I win" I huff, shivering at the thought. I could see a flash of anger in Dean's eyes at this, clenching his jaw before going back to tracing on the graph paper. "Yeah, and you spat in its face, right?" Sam asked. "Mhmm, and head-butted the bastard right on its nose" I grinned with pride as Sam chuckled. "Good shot" He praised.

I preened under the praise but looked up to see Dean staring down at the graph paper, his mouth twitching slightly, I furrowed my brows at this and kicked his leg softly. "Earth to Dean, you still back in the 21st century?" I teased, he looked up at me with a smirk. "Ha, ha" He quipped back sarcastically with an eye roll.

I attempt to change the subject as I page the room, "Besides the point. Look, if this shifters anything like the one we killed in Missouri-" I began. "-then Ronald's right." Sam cut in, giving us a knowing look. "Alright, they like to lair up underground. Preferably the sewer. All the robberies have been connected so far, right?" Dean stated as he lifted the graph paper he was tracing from the blueprint of the sewer.

"Yeah," Sam answered, shaking his head as I strolled over to Dean's chair, bracing behind him with my hand resting on the back of his chair as I peered over his shoulder. Dean cleared his throat after glancing back at me, holding up the graph paper he traced out on, resting it over the map. "So the uh, sewer main layout" He peeled it back to reveal one more bank that was in that layout, pointing at it before circling it with the red marker.

"There's one more bank lined up in that sewer main" He discovered and my eyes widened at this. "Impressive" I muttered leaning in further in over his shoulder to look at Dean's markings, my hair brushing over his shoulder. I could feel him shiver slightly and his jaw clench, watching him swallow hard. I smirked, noticing his reaction to me. "Atta boy, charming" I praised him with a chuckle, clapping the palm of my hand on his shoulder.

His brows shot up a bit in surprise. He flashed me a grin and I swore his ears turned red as they were slightly tinted in red but it might have been my imagination. "Uh thanks" He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Avoiding my gaze as Sam looked between us, raising an eyebrow, snickering before rolling his eyes at us as he got up.

"I'm gonna get food" Sam announced, "You guys want your usuals?" He asked us, picking up Dean's car keys on the nightstand, snatching up his jacket from his bed. "Yeah" Dean and I both answered in unison, glancing at each other and a snort escaped my lips at this. "Thanks Sammy" I called sarcastically as he rolled his eyes, flipping me off, a middle finger in my direction.

He then left, shutting the door behind him, leaving me and Dean alone. I raised my eyebrows turning to face Dean who was looking at me. He had a look in his eyes, something I wasn't used to seeing from him. It was intense, not like the amused gazes and grins he usually throws my way. There was a hint of...lust? I doubt it. I titled my head at him as I leaned on the back of the chair.

"Something on my face or you just enjoy the view, charming?" I teased casually. He chuckled, a low rumble in his chest, his eyes never leaving my face. "Don't flatter yourself, princess" he mutters in a joking gruff voice. I felt my stomach doing backflips, the gruffness of his voice driving me crazy. But I quickly schooled the act.

Get it together girl.

"Wouldn't dare" I joked back, trying my best to keep my cool. I crossed my arms over my chest and bit my lower lip. Trying my best to not let my eyes linger on those lips of his. He smirked, I've always wondered what it would be like to have those lips all over me...oh my god. I am horrendously down bad.

"Mmmm....your lip must really get dry because you do that a lot" Dean commented, motioning toward my lips, drawing my attention back to him. It dawned on me that I had my bottom lip tucked in between my teeth, running my tongue over it repeatedly. I didn't even notice when he leaned forward a bit. "What?" I mumbled, my arms dropping to my sides as the blush creeped on my cheeks.

The only thing running through my mind is the image of his lips all over my skin. God this is just pathetic.

"You're doing it again" He drawled in that damn honeyed voice of his. Dean's gaze trailed from my lips to my eyes, my chest heaving slightly. My gaze went from his eyes, to his lips and back to his eyes. Dean shifted in his chair slightly, while every part of my body was yelling at me to kiss him. My gut was telling me yes but my mind was telling me no.

His gaze was intense, and his shoulders were tensed, a visible muscle in his jaw ticking as he clenched it. Dean was fighting something in this moment, I wasn't completely sure what, but he was struggling to restrain from something. Our breaths were labored, our faces inches apart.

Screw it, to hell with, I'm fucking tired of holding back.

'Say your prayers little one,

Don't forget my son,

To include everyoneeee'

Just as I was about to cave and yank him by his shirt, my phone rang. Enter Sandman by Metallica blaring through the quiet heated motel room. We both jumped at the sound of the music. You've got to be kidding me. I leaned back, exhaling a frustrated breath through my nose, digging my hand into my pocket and grabbing my phone and looking at the caller ID.

Dean cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair, slumping back in his chair. "It's Ash" I informed Dean, looking at him apologetically, he gave me a reassuring nod, gesturing for me to answer my phone, his shoulders tensing even more if possible.

"This better be good, Billy Ray" I answer through gritted teeth, my tone coming off slightly frustrated. I could feel my heart beating fast still from how close we were moments ago before the phone rang. Dean shifted in his chair, rubbing his temple, his eyes on the floor. "Hey, cupcake" Ash's southern voice crackled over the other line.

"Not a great time, dude" I ground out in irritation, shifting on my feet, my fingers clutching the phone tighter. Dean continued to stare at the tile floor clenching and unclenching his jaw, his shoulders visibly tense. Sam better take his sweet time coming back.

-

Apparently he got a lead on Jo. She cut him off too and Ellen made him track her down. They hoped we heard from her but I haven't, I'm not sure if Sam has. I made sure to tell him that I'd ask Sam and let him know before shooting him some choice words about, "You could've just called Sam and ask him yourself"

He just chuckled, making some comment about my 'sass' but I wasn't really paying much attention as my eyes were roaming over the back of Dean's chair right now. Before Ash could say anything else, I made another snarky comment and hung up on his ass.

I let out a frustrated groan as I shoved the phone back in my pocket. The silence between me and Dean was deafening and all I wanted to do right now is just...him. I was sure our moment was ruined and any chance at anything happening died in that moment. "I'm sorry" I sighed.

"It's not your fault princess" He muttered, a gruffness in his tone. He glanced up to me, his gaze intense, causing my stomach to flip. Suddenly his tongue darted over his lower lip unconsciously and my gaze dropped down to it. My mind going hazy. Dean pushed himself from the chair, strolling over to me. I unconsciously backed back into the dresser, pressing against it, swallowing hard.

He caged me in by placing his hands on the dresser on both sides of me, his eyes never leaving mine. There was that look in them again, this time it was a mixture of something I couldn't quite place. Lust? Yes, that was definitely one of them. But I'm not sure what the other emotion might be.

I'm pretty sure the universe hates us, because the door swung open on cue, revealing Sam with a bag of food in his hands. "They didn't have pi- WOAH!" He exclaimed, almost dropping the food in his hands. We immediately broke apart at the sound of Sam's voice. "SON OF A-" "JESUS CHR-"Dean and I exclaimed in unison as he ran hand through his hair, letting out a huff. Sam paled for a second, his eyes wide before recuperating, he looked between us as a sheepish smile appeared on his face.

Before he could speak, I pointed a finger in his direction. "Don't say it" I warned, causing him to smirk.

I huffed, not daring to look Dean in his eyes. Before stalking over to the table and snatching up my pack of cigarettes. Dean took the bag of food from Sam and tossed it on one of the beds, Sam still looking between us, his smirk growing wider. "Were you guys-" He started to say, only to be cut off by Dean. "Don't finish that sentence" Dean warned, pointing a stern finger at him before I closed the motel door behind me.

-

I flicked the lighter after taking out a cigarette and bringing it to my lips. I took a long inhale, savouring the feeling as the smoke filled my lungs and the calming sensation washed over me. I exhaled, watching the smoke dance in the air as I stared off at the cars in the parking lot.

I took another drag of the cigarette, letting the smoke fill my lungs again, as I tried to fight off the thoughts that were clouding my mind. I didn't know what to think, my thoughts were mixed between lust and confusion at the moment.

The last thing I expected was for Dean to act that way. The way he looked at me...the way he caged me in against the dresser, I could feel his body heat radiating, feel his breath on my skin. I bit my lip and shivered, god I'm pathetic.

I'm not gonna lie to myself and say I didn't want Dean to kiss me. It's exactly what I wanted, but I'm gonna take tonight's close call of events as a sign. Maybe it's just not meant to happen, I know for a fact Dean is attracted to me, there's no denying that. I wasn't that dumb or blind. He never failed to leave sly comments and his hands tend to linger on me more often. But attraction doesn't mean he feels the way I feel about him.

He may be infatuated but that doesn't equal love. My mind keeps telling me that even if we were to kiss, hook up or whatever. It'll just be that. A hookup. I truly believe all he'll want from me is to be friends with benefits for the most part. And I can't do that...not with him at least. He's an amazing guy, but I'd rather have him in my life as a friend than fool myself into believing I could be more than that with him one day and end up losing him.

________________________________

The next evening, the boys and I headed over to the City Bank of Milwaukee, disguised as 'Securiserve Guard Service' employees. "Well, we haven't had any flags go up on our system yet" Henry, the shift security guard, told us as he led us through the crowded bank. "No, no, no, this is a glitch in the overall grid" Dean cut in, "Yeah, we just wanna make sure the branch monitors are kosher, sir" I added in a sweet tone.

My mind was still fixated on the events of last night but I forced myself to push it aside for the sake of the hunt. I couldn't let my infatuation and feelings get in the way.

Henry smiled at me, taking the bait, "Ah, better to be safe than sorry I guess" He offered me a small smile. "That's the plan" Dean shot me a wink as we glance back over to Sam. Henry lead us to the room with all of the security monitors, swiping a card over the door before pushing it open. "Alrighty. You guys need anything else?" He asked us kindly. "Oh no, no. We'll be in and out before you know it. A routine check" Sam assured him.

"Okey-dokey," Henry nodded before leaving. Dean snorted as Henry closed the door, "I like him. He says okey-dokey" Dean practically giggled as me and Sam shared a look. "What if he's the shifter?" I suggested as they stepped forward to pull out chairs and to a seat in-front of all of the monitors. "Then we follow him and put a silver bullet through his chest plate" Dean stated with a shrug while pulling out two rolling chairs.

He gestured for me to sit in the first one he pulled out and I feigned a gasp, "Such a gentleman. Are you gonna brush my hair next?" I joked, placing a hand over my chest in mock surprise. "What, would you like that?" He asked, a smirk on his face as he pulled out the chair next to it for himself. "Maybe" I teased, before taking a seat in the chair.

I sighed as we studied the screens, "Okay...got any popcorn" Dean muttered bored and I snorted. I had a fair mind that he was gonna get bored easily when he suggested yesterday that we do this. So I reached into my pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar, handing it to him, "You are too predictable" I laughed.

Dean's eyes widened as I pulled a chocolate bar out of my pocket and handed it to him. He feigned a look of offense and playfully gasped at me, "Hey! How dare you call me predictable! That's not nice." He tried to keep a straight face but failed to do so. "Do you want the candy candy bar or not?" I deadpanned.

"... Yeah, I want the damn candy, you're right." He grumbled, giving me a cheeky grin as he took the chocolate from me and started to unwrap it. He leaned back in his chair, his legs spread out before him and resting up against my chair, and he stuffed the candy in his mouth. "Don't worry little Winchester, I got us something too" I turned to Sam, fishing out a pack of gum from my other pocket.

Sam looked up from the monitor he had his attention locked on, his expression lighting up slightly when he saw the pack of gum. He eagerly took it from my hand and pulled out a stick, unwrapping it and putting it in his mouth. He leaned back in his chair too, his position mirroring Dean's. Brothers.

I shook my head as I unwrapped a piece of gum, popping it into my mouth.

-

Hours have passed and no one seemed to be the shifter, a lack of silver in all of their eyes. I leaned back into my chair, my feet propped up on Dean's leg as I blew a bubble in my gum out of boredom. Dean leaned over, using the mouse connected to one of the monitors and zoomed in on Henry's face, "Well, looks like Mr. Okey Dokey is....okey dokey" He commented, earning a snicker from me.

Sam seemed beyond bored and that was saying a lot. Because it takes a lot to make him bored. Can't say I blame him, we've been here for hours and so far it's a dead end. I'm beginning to have my doubts. "Maybe we jumped the gun on this, fellas" I sighed, yawning as I stretched in my chair. "Yeah, we don't even know it's here" Sam agreed, turning to us. Dean hummed, probably still convinced that the shifter was here.

He ran his hands up and down my shins as he canvassed the monitor. "Maybe we should just go back to the sewers and-" I go to suggest but I noticed Dean was zooming in on one of the female bank attendant's ass on the monitor. At the corner of my eyes I can see Sam roll his eyes in annoyance at his perverse behavior. I quickly took my feet off of his thighs, reaching over to swat him across the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for, woman?!" He cried out in faux offense, rubbing the back of his head dramatically. "Can you not be perverse for one minute?!" I hissed, gesturing to the monitor that he's eyeing like a creep. "Dean, we're supposed to be looking for eyes" Sam said in an exasperated tone, "I'm getting there" Dean muttered defensively before zooming out on the woman's behind. "Oh, yeah?" I huffed sarcastically, rolling my eyes at how much of a hypocrite I'm being right now.

Taking Frannie's number, which I am definitely going to be using later, to almost kissing him to now being jealous of Dean looking at another woman's ass? What is happening to me?! Lord, give me the strength. Get a grip y/n! I need to get laid...I need to get over him.

"Wait a minute" Dean muttered, sitting up from his chair. Snapping me out of my inner monologue. Our eyes shifted over to the screen where the bank manager's eyes flickered silver in the lens. "Hello, freak" Dean smirked, zooming in on the man's face. "Got him," Sam sighed in relief. Me and Sam immediately got up to head for the door but Dean stopped up. "Sammy, y/n/n"

"What?" We asked in unison, turning to Dean. We lifted our heads again to the direction Dean's eyes were trained on. The security cameras showed Ronald around the back with a loaded automatic, chaining the doors at the back entrance locked. "Hello, Ronald" I groaned in annoyance. This dude is gonna get himself killed.

Soon after, shots began firing downstairs and we heard Ronald yell as we left the monitor room. "THIS IS NOT A ROBBERY!!" Along with the screams of terror erupting from patrons in the bank. "Get down, damn it! Come on, on the floor, on the floor! IN THE MIDDLE!!!" We heard him scream at people. "And you said we shouldn't bring guns" I grumble at Sam as we paced down the hall.

Two people came running down the hall, terrified. "I didn't know this was gonna happen, Y/N" Sam defended. "Yeah, yeah." Dean huffed, with a roll of his eyes as we dodged people running down the halls. "Just let me do the talking. I don't think he likes you two very much!Agent Johnson and James" Dean sassed us as we peered around the corner to see Ronald holding up a key to the patrons who were sat, terrified on the ground.

"Now there's only one way in or out of here and I chained it up. So nobody's leaving, you understand?" Ronald growled at the crowd, holding up the automatic rifle. "Hey, buddy. Now why don't you calm down? Just calm down" Dean said calmly to Ronald, revealing ourselves, our hands up in surrender. His eyes widened with recognition, "What the fuck, you! Get on the floor now!!" Ronald ordered, raising his rifle at us.

Dean offered him a sweet smile but my heart began pounding out of my chest, "Okayy, we're doing that" Dean added, the three of us getting to our knees. "Just don't shoot anybody, especially us" Dean pleaded, pointing to us. "I knew it. As soon as you three left. You ain't FBI. Who are you?!" He shouted at us, his gun pointed at my head. "Who are you working for, huh?! The Men In Black? You working for the mandriod?!" Ronald demanded, Dean's face contorted with disbelief.

Me and Sam let out laughs of frustration and amusement. I'm sorry, I'm trying to be sympathetic here but this is too much man. "We're not working for the mandriod!!" Sam screamed back. "You shut up!!! And you two smiley pants! I ain't talking to either of you. I don't like you two!" Ronald shouted at us. Making our smiles drop. Okay, I deserved that.

Dean gave us a face that said, 'I told you so', "Fair enough, sorry hun" I gulped, offering him an apologetic smile. Ronald clenched his jaw before pointing to a man across the room with his gun, everyone gasped fearfully, "Get over there, frisk em down for weapons. Go!" He ordered the bank manager.

Fuck, I've still got my butterfly knife in my boots.

The man patted Sam down, as I gave Dean a nervous look. The expression on his face meant one thing, he had a weapon on him too. The man parted Dean down to his boots, lifting up his pants leg to reveal his knife. Dean groaned in annoyance at this before the man patted me down, then finding my butterfly knife in my boots. Sam gave us looks of disbelief but we shrugged, "We're not just gon walk in here naked" Dean defended.

"Now what have we here" Ronald said before taking the knives from the man. "Get back down," Ronald ordered him. Our eyes widened when we saw reaching over to toss our knives into the waste paper bin. "No, no, no!" Dean pleaded. "Come on man, not again!!" I yelled in frustration at the fact that I lost yet another knife Dean got me. "We know you don't wanna hurt anybody, but that's exactly what's gonna happen if you keep waving that cannon around" Dean tried to persuade him.

"Now why don't you let these people go?" He pleaded, "No! I already told you, if nobody's gonna stop this thing, then I gotta do it myself" Ronald defended loudly, "Hey, we believe you! That's why we're here" I interjected, "You don't believe me, you said it yourself! Nobody believes me! How could they?" Ronald's voice broke at this and my heart shattered. He sounded so terrified yet so determined.

He wanted to stop this thing, granted he had no idea what he's actually going up against. His heart is in the right place, I can't help but feel a bit sorry for the guy. "Come here" Dean whispered to Ronald, ushering him over. "What? Now" Ronald huffed in confusion, shaking his head. "You're holding the gun, boss. You're calling the shots, I just wanna tell you something. Come here" Dean sassed as me and Sam looked at him like he's crazy.

Ronald stepped closer to us, a look of hesitation on his face as he leaned in, "It's the bank manager." Dean whispered to Ronald. "What?" He gasped, "Why do you think we've got these getups? Huh? We've been monitoring the cameras in the back. We saw the bank manager. We saw his eyes" Dean further explains, his tone hushed. "His laser eyes?" Ronald leaned in closer, his tone panicked.

"Yes..." Dean nodded before realizing what he said because of the way me and Sam looked at him. "No! No, look, we're running out of time, okay?? We gotta find him before he changes into someone else" Dean yelled urgently, making Ronald back up, "Like I'm gonna listen to you. You're a damn liar" Ronald growled at him, aiming his gun again at us.

Dean flinched back as a thought crossed my head so I attempted to get up. "I'll shoot you. Get down!!" Ronald shouted at me, my heart was ready to explode as my anxiety went through the roof. Dean tried to pull me back down by my arm as the patrons gasp, Ronald's finger hovering over the trigger but I shrugged his hand off. Giving him a quick wink, hoping he caught my drift. "Take me. Okay? Take me with you as a hostage. But we gotta act fast" I pleaded.

"Are you insane?!" Dean hissed at me through gritted teeth but I waved him off. "Because the longer we just sit here, the more time he has to change." I tried to reason but Ronald looked hesitant. "Look at me, hun. I know you don't like me and I'm sorry for telling you all those things. But I believe you, you're not crazy." I said gently, "There really is something inside this bank" I assured him, pointing to the ground. A look of desperation etched on my face.

Sam and Dean looked at me like I was insane as Ronald stood still. Then Ronald looked to the ground, his body beginning to tremble. Sam and Dean looked like they were ready to shit their pants if he actually killed me, but I have an inkling that Ronald didn't have it in him to murder. He may be a little loose, but he doesn't seem to be that much of a loose canon.

God I hope I'm right. ESP thing, work your magic.

"Alright" Ronald breathed out, giving me a small smile. "You come with me" He pointed at me before waving his rifle around to everyone, screams of terror and fearful gasps echoed through the room. "But everyone else, gets in the vault!!" He ordered.

-

"Come on, move!" Ronald yelled at the patrons, ushering them roughly into the vault. "You lock up" He pointed the rifle at me as Sam and Dean got in lastly. I gave the boys one last look before saying, "It's okay everyone, just stay cool" I said calmly before giving the boys a firm nod, terror and worry etched on their faces as I finally pushed the large metal door in. "Spin that, spin that door" Ronald ordered me, I sighed heavily before spinning the lock, bolting it shit.

As the vault was locked firmly, I heard a few gasps and a scream from inside but tried to ignore it. I took a shaky breath before standing up and looking at Ronald. His hands were clenched so tight around the rifle I thought that he was going to crush it, he was shaking like a leaf.

Third Person POV

She's gonna get herself killed. What the fuck am I gonna do? No, she's smarter than that. Y/N can handle herself. Dean thought to himself as he internally panicked.

His heart was ready to give out as his eyes darted over to his little brother who looked defeated, "Who is that woman?" One of the bank employees asked them fearfully, a twinge of recognition and admiration in her voice. Sam sighed heavily. "She's my sister," Sam muttered. "She is so brave" The woman swooned, causing Dean to roll his eyes at this.

"Brave, dumb, same difference" Dean mumbled which earned himself a smack upside the head from Sam. "Ow, hey!!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his head as his little brother glared at him disapprovingly. The woman and other patrons, mostly women, nodded in agreement, swooning over y/n. "She's an absolute badass," one of the other women gushed.

His heart was on fire. He was so worried that she was gonna get shot or something even worse than dying. A wave of terror and anxiety washed over him, hoping and praying that she was gonna be okay.

Sam's gaze drifted over to Dean, picking up on the way his chest heaved. "Hey, it's okay man" Sam assured him, placing a comforting gentle hand on his older brother's shoulder. "Deep breaths, man. She's gonna be fine. You know she's a fighter" He comforted, patting his big brother's shoulder.

"Thanks, Captain obvious," Dean snapped with a scoff, rolling his eyes at his brother's statement before shoving his hand off of his shoulder. He knew she could handle herself, but it still didn't ease the anxiety he was feeling. "You think I don't know that?" He said sarcastically, rubbing a hand down his face

-

Y/N took off the jumpsuit she and the boys were wearing earlier, the disguise tossed over her shoulder. Now in a dark brown tank top, and a light brown flannel shirt over it with a pair of washed out jean shorts that she was wearing under her disguise.

Ronald pushed open the door to one of the offices, allowing y/n in after. "Check behind the desk" Y/N instructed him urgently as she made her way over to the private room. Ronald canvassed the room before accidentally slipping on something, falling hard on his back. "Ugh!" Ronald groaned, causing Y/N to rush back in panicked.

Her eyes went wide, covering her nose when she realized what Ronald slipped on behind the desk. He turned to see the shedded slimy skin of the shapeshifter, the squelching of the gunk below him. Ronald let out a loud scream at his discovery, shaking with disgust as he quickly got back up to his feet. "What the hell is that?!?" He yelled disgusted and panicked at Y/N, pointing down at the gunk with his gun.

Y/N then turned to the desk light, shining it on the shedded skin, confirming her suspicion. "Oh, great" She huffed, crouching to the ground as Ronald shook with fear. "When it changed form, it sheds it old skin, so now it could be anybody" Y/N explained to Ronald who was poking at the skin before getting back up. Ronald picked up a shed of skin, sniffing it. "It's so weird" He whispered.

Gagging at the scent, "It's robot skin is so lifelike" He added, dropping the skin back into the pile. "Okay, let's get something straight. It's not a Mandriod" Y/N said to him firmly, "It's a shapeshifter" She revealed to him. "Shapeshifter?" Ronald muttered confused. "Yeah. It's human, more or less. It has human drives." Y/N nodded. "You know? In this case, it's money. But it generates its own skin. It can shape it to match someone else's features. You know, tall, short, male-" She explained but is cut off.

"So i-i-it kills someone and then takes their place?" Ronald asked fearfully. "Kills em or doesn't. I don't think it really matters" She muttered, her eyes landing on a silver letter opening. She then took it up from the desk. "W-what are you doing?" Ronald gasped as she examined the opener. She sighed in relief after realizing it was indeed silver. "Nice," She nodded before turning to Ronald.

"You remember the old werewolf stories? It pretty much came from these guys." She explained, waving the silver opener. "Silver is the only thing I've seen that hurts em" Y/N finished before flipping it, making her way out of the room. "Come on, Ron" Y/N called out to him as he stared at the pile of skin with amazement. Ronald followed behind, an excited smile on his face before locking the door behind him.

________________________________

Cops, SWAT, news vans swarmed outside the bank. Dozens of cars came piling in as swat members filed out of the vans. Locked and loaded with weapons and explosives. Snipers stationed on the roof of the building across from the bank.

-

Y/N and Ronald were still inside the bank, near the main entrance looking for the shifter when Ronald started laughing out of the sudden. Y/N furrowed her brows at this, "What are you, nuts?" She turned to him as they walked through the bank. "That's just it. I'm not nuts" Ronald laughed happily, "I mean, I was so scared that I was losing my marbles. But this is real. I mean, I was right. Except for the mandriod thing. Thank you" He stated gratefully.

"Yeah, don't mention it hun" She offered him a tight smile. "And I'm sorry for being so harsh on you, Ron. It was just trying to prevent.." She said apologetically, gesturing around the bank with her hands. "...this" She added. "It's alright, y/n....You seem nicer than I expected" Ronald's face softened. This made y/n smile, "Thanks man" She sighed, before turning to lead him to through the bank when out of the sudden, the power cut, leaving little to no light in the bank.

"Damn it. No, no, no, no, no, noo" She grumbled, panic rising in her chest as she looked around for any source of light. "What? What is it?" Ronald asked fearfully, aiming his gun into the dark bank.

"They cut the power. It's probably their way of saying hi" She stated, grabbing Ronald by his wrist, "Who?" He asked confused. "Cops" She stated as if it's obvious. "The cops?" Ronald gasped, y/n gave him a look of disbelief before letting go of his wrist. "Well you were exactly a smooth criminal about this, Ron, I mean, you didn't even secure the security guard. He probably called them" Y/N pointed out.

"Well, I-I didn't think to-" Ronald stuttered, panicking but she quickly cut him off. "Hang on, hang on. Let's just take a breath here for a second, alright?" She said gently, calculating her next move, her eyes scanning the bank. "They probably got us surrounded." She mumbled as Ronald aimed his gun at the door. "They cut the cable to the cameras so there's no way of telling who the shapeshifter is..." She continued to state their odds, rolling her eyes before turning back to Ronald.

"It's not looking good, Ron" She huffed, turning to lead him to the back but a thump in the background drew their attention causing her ears to perk up. Ronald heard it too, aiming his rifle in the direction of the movement, "Did you hear that?" She whispered to him, her eyes wide. Ronald nodded, his eyes wide with fear.

-

Back in the vault, a woman fanning herself with a folder since the power was cut and the vault was boiling hot. "Has your sister always been so....um...wonderful?" The woman asked Sam and Dean in a gushing tone, they have now stripped off their own disguises, in their causal wear. Both rolling their eyes in annoyance at the love stricken woman. "I mean...staring down that gun." She leaned in closer to Dean.

He flashed her a tight smile, avoiding eye contact, shifting awkwardly as he stood next to Sam. The gushing woman didn't see his discomfort, and only continued on. "It was hot." She purrated, the woman was clearly not getting this hint. Whispering in his ear as he grimaced, moving back. "And you know, the way she played right into that psychos crazy head, telling him what he wanted to hear. I mean, she's like a real....heroine or something"

The woman gushed again, a cheeky smile on her face as she giggled. Sam sideeyed the woman who was inching closer to his brother as Deans brows knitted together.

"Yeah. Yeah" Sam smiled tightly as Dean just glared at the woman. He shifted awkwardly on his seat again, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes darted everywhere but the woman. His patience was getting thin, and he was starting to get annoyed at this woman swooning over y/n.

Sam could sense that Dean was not enjoying the attention this woman was giving him and was about to tell her to back off, when they heard a commotion outside the vault door. The vault door then opened, revealing Y/N with a pistol in her hand. Causing Dean to shoot up from his seat. His eyes immediately met y/ns, holding her gaze for a moment before shifting his eyes away, swallowing hard.

He attempted to fight the urge to march over and inspect her for any other injuries, knowing full well that she wouldn't appreciate being babied but his concern got the best of him. Dean's eyes roamed over y/n, taking in every inch of her body, making sure she was okay. "You good ,sweetheart?" He asked softly, stepping towards her, wanting nothing more than to get her in his arms to make sure she was unharmed.

The woman gasped, "Oh my god! You saved us, you saved us!" She exclaimed with glee, holding onto Sam shoulders as she jumped up and down. "I'm fine, charming" She assured Dean before stating, "Actually. I just found a few more" Y/N said, gesturing to everyone she found in the bank hiding as the woman's smile dropped. "Come on everybody. Let's go, let's go" She said firmly to the patrons.

Ushering them into of the vault, pointing her gun inwards. They filed in as the woman expression deepened with shock, "What are you doing?" She asked Y/N confused. "Fellas? Ronald and I need to talk to you" Y/N said to the boys, they nodded, stepping out of the vault before y/n flashed the shocked woman a cheeky smile, quickly locking the vault again, bolting them in.

-

"It shedded its skin again. We don't know when. It could be in the halls, it could be in the vault, it could be anyone" She informed the boys, running her hand over her face, wiping away some sweat as Sam and Dean shook their heads at the new information. "Great" Dean huffed sarcastically, "You know, Dean, you are wanted by the police" Sam pointed out with an unamused chuckle. "Yeah" Dean snorted unamused, rubbing his chin.

"So even if we find this damn thing, how the fuck are we gonna get out of here?" Y/N groaned at Sam's very clear point. "I don't know, one problem at a time" Dean grumbled, pacing the room. "Alright, I'm gonna do a sweep of the whole place, see if I can find any stragglers. Once we get everybody together, we gotta play a little game of Find-The-Freaks" Y/N stated, taking the initiative lead on the case.

"So, here. I found two more of these for you guys" She handed Sam and Dean two letter openers, one each. "You two stay here, make sure Ronald doesn't hurt anybody, okay? Help him manage the situation" Y/N instructed the boys but of course, Dean protested. "Help him manage?! Are you insane?!" Dean almost shouted as Sam chuckled unamused again.

Y/N flinched back a bit before turning Ronald, flashing him an encouraging wide smile, putting up both her thumbs before winking at him. "Look, I know this isn't going the way we wanted" She turned back to the boys, her tone low. "Understatement!" Sam shouted in annoyance. "Alright! But if we invite the cops in right now. Ronald gets arrested, we get arrested" She stated the obvious, gesturing between the three of them.

"The shifter gets away. Probably never find it again, okay?" Y/N pleaded with them, Sam's eyes flickered over to Ronald, giving y/n a look that says, 'See what we have to deal with?!', as he pointed to Ronald who was standing directly in the light the police were flashing inside of the bank as helicopters hovered over the bank. His gun aimed at the light. "Ron! Out of the light!" She instructed him firmly.

Ronald timidly moved away as Dean shook his head, chuckling despite the dire situation. "Seriously?" Sam huffed. "Ron's game plan was a bad plan. I mean, it's bit of a crazy plan but I'm with y/n here" Dean chimed in, "Right now, crazy is the only game in town" He agreed with her. "Thank you" She sighed, "Now stay and watch over him" She instructed them again but of course, once again, Dean protested.

"Absolutely not, you are not gonna go looking for that thing by yourself" He argued back, stepping in front of her as she held back a frustrated sigh, knowing he'd react that way. "Why not?" She asked in an irritated tone, trying to sidestep around him so she could leave but he blocked her again. "It could attack you, you can't take a shifter down by yourself" Dean whisper yelled at her.

"I can handle myself" She hissed to him, trying to not raise her voice. "You need a partner" He argued back, refusing to back down. "I don't need a babysitter" She shot back. "I'm not saying you can't handle yourself" He explained, his voice was quieter now, trying to keep their argument under wraps as Sam watched the two of them silently.

She crossed her arms over her chest standing her ground, "Look sweetie-" Y/N chided, reading to defend herself but Sam cut in. Sam sensing the tension between the two, he interfered before it can escalate, stepping in between them, trying to play peacemaker. "Stop. We don't have time for this right now" He warned, glancing between the two of them.

Both Y/N and Dean continued to glare at each other with tense shoulders. Dean shot him a glare before turning his attention back to y/n who was still standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. "Both of you go, I'll take care of Ron" He assured them with a heavy sigh.

Sam's words snapped both Dean and y/n out of their little stand off, turning their gazes from each other to him. Y/N was ready to argue that she would be fine by herself but stopped at Sam's look, knowing he's right that there's no time to waste. She sighed, relaxing her shoulders and nodded her head. "Fine" She huffed as she shot a brief glare at Dean, both leaving Sam with Ronald alone.

Sam turned to Ronald who had a bit of a standoffish look on his face directed to Sam, "Hi Ronald" Sam said timidly with a bit of annoyance. Ronald's face softened before looking away.

-

Dean and Y/N tiptoed their way down the halls, flashing their lights through the dark room. "So, are we gonna address the elephant in the room?" Dean muttered to her as they creeped down the hall, referring to the fact that they almost kissed last night. Y/N was quiet for a moment as she swallowed hard. She knew what he was talking about.

It's not like they could just act like that never happened. But neither of them was ready to confront that almost-kiss. The memory flashed through her mind as she fought the urge to shiver at the memory of the way she was caged against the dresser. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a long, steady breath.

Y/N covered it up with a roll of her eyes, continuing to scan the room for the shifter. "That's not the most important thing to be focusing on right now, Dean" she whispered back to him with a scoff, her eyes flicking to him. She knew what he was referring to, and she knew he would bring it up sooner or later. That moment between them the night before was playing over and over in her head like a broken record.

"We are quite literally in the middle of a shit storm and you want to talk about the thing we did or almost did in a panic-stricken moment?" She added bitterly, keeping her eyes focused on the room as she tried to ignore the tension bubbling between them. Dean huffed a laugh, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. He knew she'd pull the whole 'we're in a bad situation' card, of course. She was right but it's better now than never.

It's not news that she'd try to avoid the topic of their almost kiss as best as she could or avoid confrontations in general. He opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by the distinct sounds of thumping in a room down the hall. Both hunters instinctively raised their weapons, glancing to each other as it grew louder, Dean snatched Y/N by her waist swiftly, pressing them both to the wall.

One hand over her mouth covering it, as the blue and red police lights flashed through the windows, sirens blurring. They stood hidden behind the wall, holding their breaths as the lights passed by the windows, casting strange shadows on their faces. She stood pressed up against his firm body, her back against his chest as she could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

Dean could feel hers practically pumping out of her chest. She wanted to pull away, to put some space between them, but his large hand held her in place, his body holding her pinned against him. The scent of him filled her nostrils, the smell of leather, spice, and musk.

Not the time, not the time! Y/N internally shouted at herself.

Prying away from Dean, they two shared a heated look before breaking their gaze, crouching to insure the police couldn't see their shadows from the outside. The thump inside the room went again, but this time louder. Both gulping as they inched towards the door.

-

Back inside the vault, the patrons were growing irritated and more hot inside the crammed sweat box. All huffing and puffing from the heat, unbuttoning their shirts, stripping off articles of clothing as Sam reopened the vault door. "I'm gonna keep this open, get you folks some fresh air in there. Alright?" Sam said sympathetically to them. "But no one leaves this vault" He added firmly, then out of the sudden. The wall phone rings, startling Ronald.

He aimed his gun in panic at the ringing phone, eyes wide. "I don't understand, why are you helping them?" The woman who was gushing of y/n earlier asked Sam, her tone pained. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you" Sam said softly as Ronald took up the phone, answering it. "H-hello?" Ronald says shakily into the phone, pressing it to his ear.

"I think I gotta get outta here!" Henry, security guard from earlier, gasps alert, sweating profusely as he pants heavily. "Sir, I'm very sorry but you're just gonna have to stay put. Alright?" Sam said firmly to him, his head darting over to Ronald who was on the phone. "What- What do you mean demands?" Ronald said confused into the phone. "Ron!" Sam gritted his teeth at Ronald. "Hang up" He ordered him in a hushed tone. "No, I-I-I'm not a bank robber. I-I-"

"I gotta really get out of here" Henry pleaded, panting as he fell to his knees, clutching his chest. "Sir, you can't leave" Sam stressed. "I'm kind of a crime fighter I guess" Ronald chuckled as Sam looked at him exasperated, "Ronald!" Sam bellowed as other patrons tried to help Henry, "Okay, Henry just breathe. Just breathe" A woman said panicked as Henry gasped for air, two men helping him up.

Sam was conflicted on what to do, "Look-" He attempted to help the man but Ronald kept talking. "No, I'm acting alone" Sam huffed at this and snatched the phone away from Ronald, hanging it up on the wall. "Ronald..the less the cops know, the better" Sam sighed heavily, already fed up of babysitting. "Hey! I think this dudes having a heart attack!" A man alerted Sam, holding up Henry who was screaming in pain, clutching his chest. "We need a doctor!" A woman screamed.

"Great. Could be our guy, could be a trick" Sam groaned frustrated, "What? You just gonna let the man die?!" A man shouted at Sam who rolled his eyes as Henry screamed. "No one's dying in here!" Sam shouted back, "Cover the door" He ordered Ronald before snatching the phone back up, pressing it to his ear.

-

Dean and Y/N ended up in the panel room, looking for any way to get the power back up and running. This lights shining through the caged panels.

-

"Can you tell me how many hostages this guys taken?" The officer asked over the phone, "Look. One of the people in here could be having heart trouble. You need to send in a paramedic" Sam said urgently. "Just stay calm sit, we'll have you folks outt-" The officer said calmly but Sam became fed up, "Just send in a paramedic, okay!? And don't try anything else. Please!" Sam shouted angrily.

"Paramedic? Guy don't have time for that man!" The man helping Henry grunted as Sam hung the phone up. "Listen, I-I'm sorry. Okay? I am. But nobody's getting out" Ronald said apologetically. "He's dying right infront of you." The man growled, making Ronald's heart sink with guilt. "Help.." Henry panted.

-

Y/N shone her flashlight up to the ceiling, she noticed one of the wooden tiles above seemed out of place. She nudged Dean gently, nodding her head towards the ceiling. "You see that too?" She whispered, "Yeah...one sec" Dean agreed, scanning the room for a long object. His eyes landed on a coat rack, he quickly picked it up before taking it and poking it at the ceiling.

Within seconds, the ceiling caved in. Y/N tackled Dean instinctively out of the way as the thud of a dead body hit the ground. Once the dust settled and coughing fit subsided, Y/N sat up, quickly checking Dean for any injuries. "You okay, charming?" She asked him gently, her voice filled with concern as she wiped away the dust that had gathered on his face.

The wooden tiles collapsed, sending a small cloud of dust wafting through the air. "I'm fine," he reassured her once more, his tone firm but there was a hint of vulnerability in his voice. He appreciated her concern and the tender way she wiped the dust from his face. Her gentle touch felt like a comforting touch.

He quickly snapped out of it when she turned and flashed her light on the body. Her eyes widened along with Dean's, they slowly made their way over to the man. Turning him over to see a slit across his throat, "Son of a bitch" "Jesus Christ" The cursed simultaneously when they realized this was one of the patrons from the vault. The same man who was helping Henry. Dean and Y/N exchanged horrified glances as they confirmed the identity of the body.

-

"Come on, man. You gotta unlock the front door. We gotta get him outta here" The shifter holding up Henry tried to coax Ronald into letting them out to make his escape, but he aimed his gun at them, erupting screams from other patrons. "Both of you, stay where you are!" Ronald bellowed as Dean and Y/N called Sam over.

The two quietly informed the younger Winchester of their horrific discovery. Informing him that the shifter was the man helping Henry. Sam nodded firmly before interjecting. "You know, Ronald. He's right. We gotta get this man outside. Come on" Sam said calmly, taking over helping Henry. "Yeah. I'll help you" Sampson, the shifter, said but Sam shook his head.

"Oh, I got him. It's cool. Thanks" Sam denied any help, holding up a wailing Henry. "Thank you. Thank you." Henry sobbed gratefully as Sam carried him out. "Just watch your step. Sure" Sam said gently as he walked him out, groaning in pain from his chest. Dean and Y/N's eyes were narrowed at Sampson. "Hey, can we talk to you for a second?" Y/N coaxed Sampson over with a wave a crooked finger.

He smirked, walking over to them. "You got the gun, mama. Whatever." He shrugged, his eyes darkened before right hooking Y/N across her face off guard. Y/N stumbled back, clutching her cheek in shock and pain. Her eyes watering from the blow. Dean's eyes widened in shock and anger as Sampson sucker punched Y/N. He backhanded Dean who was charging at him and tossed Dean into the metal vault door head first.

Landing on the floor with a grunt, Dean's vision blurred as he held his head. Ronald attempted to shoot the shifter but with a kick, he sent Ronald flying into the wall. Y/N jumped onto the shifters back, attempted to stab him with the silver letter opener, only for him to back into the wall. Y/N cried out in pain from the impact, dropping the opener. Sampson threw her off of him, and she grunted loudly when her back hit the floor.

Dean tried to stand, his head still spinning from the impact, but the shifter kicked him, sending him reeling to the floor once more. Giving him a chance to escape, the shifter bolted, taking advantage of the moment, he quickly ran out of the vault. "Fuck," Dean cursed under his breath, scrambling to his feet after regaining his senses. He helped Y/N up from the ground, his concern for her well-being overshadowing any anger towards the shifter's escape.

"Stop, come back here!!" Ronald screamed, scrambling to pick up his gun and up to his feet, running after the shifter after witnessing the whole fight.

"You alright, sweetheart?" He asked Y/N, his eyes scanning her face for any serious injuries. He gently brushed aside the stray strands of hair that stuck to her forehead from the impact. She nodded weakly, her hand gingerly touching her bruised and stinging cheek where Sampson hit her. "Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, though the pain in her voice and the tear streaks on her face told a different story.

Sam who was helping Henry out and away from the light heard Ronald screamed, he ended up going into the light as the shifter ran away. Sam's eyes widened when he spotted the red sniper laser on Ronald's back, "GET DOWN, RON!!!" Sam shouted at the top of his lungs, but it was too late. The sniper had shot Ron through and through his back, the bullet exiting through chest, over his heart.

Dean quickly grappled Y/N upon hearing the shot fly through the glass window. Clamping a hand over her mouth to muffle her scream before pulling behind a counter, away from the light to hide from any stray bullets. Deans heart panged with guilt as Y/N's muffled sobs went into the palm of his hand as Ronald's knees hit the ground, his gun slipping from his grip. Slumping dead onto the hard floor.

-

Patrons from the still opened vault came file out, their whispers hushed and terrified as they seek shelter, Sam creeped around the corner after helping Henry to safety, crouching behind the counter next to Dean and Y/N, pressing his back to the hard surface. Dean still had his arms wrapped around Y/N, her back pressed to his chest, settled between his legs. Both their faces stoic as they look on at the flashing red laser, still hovering over Ronald's dead body.

All breathing heavy, guilt coursing through them after seeing Ronald killed in cold blood. "Here, take care of the guard. Im going after the shifter" Sam told them in a hoarse tone, before they could protest. He had already gotten up and ran in the direction that he saw the shifter went. Dean and Y/N's eyes were trained on Ronald, both taking a deep breath before creeping a bit closer to his body.

Away from the light, in attempt to get his gun. "Sorry Ron" Y/N croaked, paying her respects. "You did a real good job tracking this thing. You really did" Dean added sincerely. They both share a sorrow filled look before Y/N reached over and slid his gun towards her. Handing it to Dean. They both gave Ron one last look, the image of his blood pooling around his body and the leaking from his mouth, forever etched in their brains.

-

Sam was canvassing room, on edge as he tiptoed towards a door. Throwing it open with a rough motion, a flashlight in one hand and the silver letter opener in his other. The light shone in to show the janitor's closet was empty, Sam spun around, startled to see two women and one man. He wielded his knife to stab, holding back when he saw the three patrons with terrified screams leaving their throats.

"Oh! Please don't hurt us! Please don't hurt us!" The woman begged, clutching onto her friend. "You shouldn't be back here right now! You're in danger. Now go back to the vault. Now!!" Sam shouted at them like a disappointed parent, pointing in the direction of the vault. The three patrons scrambled towards the vault as Sam let out a heavy sigh.

-

Dean and Y/N were approaching the door with Henry, Y/N pressing her letter opener to Henry's back while Dean strapped Ronald's gun around him. "This will all be over soon" Y/N assured him softly. "Everything is gonna be all right" Dean added as Henry pushed the door open, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Please!" Henry pleaded with the swarm of officers, guns aimed at him and the hunters.

There were so many cops that they lost count of how many there were. The police lights were like a strobe light that was blinding everyone. Henry's hands up in surrender, "No, no, no, no, back up!" Dean shouted, using Henry as a shield, "Don't even think about it!" Y/N shouted along with Dean, doing the same as him. Police lights and bright white light shone of them as the lasers from the snipers pointed at Henry. Their eyes widened when they saw how much cops and reinforcements were really out here.

"Son of a fucking bitch" "Jesus fucking Christ" Dean and Y/N cursed in unison. "We said, get back, now!!!" Dean bellowed, "Don't think about it bub!!" Y/N growled at an officer who had his laser aimed at her head, her eyes wild. The officer immediately aimed away before she crouched behind her Henry.

"Okay, hun. Go, go" Y/N ushered Henry gently into the officers hands before she and Dean made a break for the door, swiftly relatching with the chains Ronald put on. "We are so screwed" Dean muttered frustrated as they locked themselves in. "Amen, brother" Y/N muttered back, equally as frustrated.

-

Sam was crouched infront of a pile of skin, grimacing as he pressed his phone to his ear, calling Y/N.

Y/N, who was walking down the stairs to the basement with Dean, her phone rang, Metallica blasting through the empty hallway. "Yeah?" She answered, putting the phone on speaker. "He slipped his skin" Sam informed them. "What?!" Dean and Y/N exclaimed in unison. "Yeah, bastard shifts fast. A lot faster than the one in St. Louis" Sam groaned. "Fuck, it's like playing a shell game. It could be anybody, again!" Dean grumbled.

"I think most of the employees are out of the vault by now" Sam told them. "Alright, you search every inch of this place. Me and Dean are gonna go round everybody up" Y/N instructed Sam, making sure Dean was okay with that. He gave her a firm nod before she hung up.

________________________________

Meanwhile outside, Lieutenant Robards, the officer in charge of everything was in the van sipping coffee while his partner groaned, "Fuck" His partner groaned. "What?" Robards asked, "The feds are here" He informed his superior as the FBI vans pulled into the already crowded street. He stopped mid sip, "Oh, fuck" Robards huffed as the door to their surveillance van opened.

In walked two FBI agents, "Lieutenant Robards" Victor Henriksen greeted them. "Yeah" Robards rolled his eyes. "Special Agent Henriksen" Henriksen offered the Lieutenant a handshake. "Let me guess. You're the lead dog now, but you'd love my full cooperation" Robards snarked, earning a cocky smirk from Henriksen. "I don't give a rats ass what you do. You can go get a doughnut and bang your wife, for all I care" Henriksen sassed.

Robards smirk dropped at the rebuttal, "What I do need is your SWAT team, locked and loaded" Henriksen ordered firmly. "Listen, agent" Robards snapped, "Something's not right about this. It's um-...It's not going down like a usual heist" Robards tried to explain. "That's because it isn't a one." Henriksen retorted, this led Robards to become confused.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with, do you? There's a monster in that bank, Robards." Henriksen argued.

-

Meanwhile, Sam was downstairs still searching for the shifter, his light shining through the dark hall. He threw open only to stumble into another broom closet.

Dean and Y/N were escorting patrons that tried to escape, back into the vault to keep them safe from the shifter. "And I thought you were one of the good ones" The woman who was swooning over Y/N earlier scoffed. She sighed heavily, "What's your name, hun?" Y/N asked her gently. "Why would you care?" She rolled her eyes. "My name is Y/N and this is Dean." Y/N introduced them kindly.

"I'm Sherri" Sherri responded, her arms crossed over her chest. "Hi, Sherri" Y/N offered Sherri a sweet smile, the two woman shared a heated gaze as Dean looked between them. His eyes shifting back and forth, their eye contact is interrupted when the wall phone rang again. "Everything is gonna be alright. This will all be over soon, okay?" Dean assured Sherri.

They both left the vault, Dean locking the door inwards while Y/N answered the phone. "Yeah?" Y/N answered harshly with an eyeroll. Dean pressed his ear to the back of the phone, his stubble gently brushing over Y/N's cheek. "This is Special Agent Victor Henriksen" Henriksen said roughly. "Yeah, listen. We're not really in a negotiating mood. Right now, so-" Dean sassed, only to get cut off by Victor.

"Good, me neither. It's my job to bring you in. Alive's a bonus, but not necessary." Victor retorted. "Woah. That's kinda harsh for a federal agent, don't you think?" Y/N muttered, both surprised by Victors harsh tone. "Well, neither do you are the typical suspect, are you, Dean?" Victor snarked, their stomachs dropped at Dean getting recognized. Both now internally panicking.

"I want you, Sam and Y/N out here, unarmed. Or we come in." Victor ordered in a warning tone before adding, "And yes, I know about Sam too. The Sundance to your Butch, and I know about you too Y/N. The Bonnie to Dean's Clyde....Or is it Sam's? I don't know. Don't care." He added in a jeering tone. Dean and Y/N shared a panicked look at this, "Yeah, well that parts true. But how'd you know even we were here?" Dean chimed, looking around warily along with Y/N.

"Go fuck yourself. That's how I knew" Victor scoffed, their brows shot up at this. "It's become my job to know about you, Dean. I've been looking for you for weeks now. I know about the murder in St. Louis, I know the Houdini act you guys pulled in Baltimore. I know about the desecration and the thefts. I know about the assault charges." Victor listed off all of their previous offense.

"I know about your fathers" Victor added, this made their eyes widened with fury, "You don't know shit about that" Y/N gritted her teeth, her nostrils glaring. "John Winchester, Ex-Marine. F/N L/N, not much on him but I know they both raised their kids on the road. Cheap motels, backwoods cabin. Real paramilitary survivalist types." Victor continued to poke at them.

Tears welled in both their eyes, swallowing the lumps in their throats. "I just can't get a hand on what type of wackos they were. White Supremacist, Timmy McVeigh. Tomato, tomato" He added, "You got no fucking right talking about our dads like that. They were heroes" Dean defended, his nostrils flaring as he ran his tongue over his top teeth. Y/N's hand clutching around the phone tightly.

"Yeah. Right. Sure sounds like it. You have one hour to make a decision or we come through those doors, full automatic" Victor gave them one last warning before hanging up. Dean shook with anger as Y/N screamed, throwing the landline against the wall, not bothering to place it properly.

________________________________

Sam was still searching the bank, his eyes darted around the room as he shone his light. Blood drippings on the floor, in-front of a closet caught his eye. He slowly tiptoed over to the closet the blood was dripping from before quickly pulling it open, only for a dead body with its throat slit and stripped naked to come tumbling out. The dead body of Sherri. "Fuck" Sam cursed frustrated.

-

"Hey" Sam said to Dean and Y/N who were still by the vault as he approached. Both looking troubled, "Hey" They breathe out in unison. "We got a bit of a problem outside" Dean said urgently, "We got a problem in here" Sam scoffed ironically, pointing to the vault door. They both tilted their head in confusion.

-

The door to the vault opened, startling everyone. "Sherri. We're gonna let you go" Y/N said urgently, "What? Why me?" She asked confused as the other patrons whispered, "Uh, as a show of good faith to the feds. Come on" Dean came up with the first lie on spot. Sherri looked hesitant and scared, "Uh....I think I'd- I'd rather stay here with the others" Sherri stuttered, backing away from them.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to insist" Y/N said a bit more standoffish, stepping closer to Sherri. Her eyes flickered over to the silver letter opener in Sam's hand, a fearful look on her face as Y/N extended her hand to Sherri. Dean and Y/N offered her tight smiles as she slowly walked past them.

-

Y/N held Sherri by her hair roughly, pushing her into the room where the body was. "I thought you were letting me go!" Sherri yelped, whining a from the pain of Y/N yanking at her roots. Y/N rolled her eyes and held her, pushing her face right over the body. Sherri let out a piercing convincing scream as she looked at her own body, throat slit and naked on the ground.

Deans brows pumped at this as Sherri shrieked terrified, trying to rip away from Y/N's grips,  only to run straight into Sam's broad body. The younger Winchester gripped a terrified Sherri into a headlock. "What is that community theater or are you just naturally like this?" Dean snarked, an amused grim on his face. Thinking Sherri was faking. "This is the last time you ever become anyone. Ever." Sam growled at her, wielding his silver letter opener, ready to stab her.

"No! No, oh god....oh..." Sherri pleaded before falling unconscious due to shock. The three hunters remained stunned and confused when Sherri fell to the ground unconscious with a hard thud, all looking at each other confused. Dean shrugged, before handing Y/N the automatic weapon, kneeling besides Sherri. Sam and Y/N exchanged a look at this, contemplating why the shifter would give up its body so quick to keep up a facade.

Dean held the letter opener above his head, ready to stab hers. "Dean, wait, wait, wait" Sam stopped his brother, earning a confused look from the elder Winchester. "What's the advantage of this plan?" Sam questioned in a low tone, "He's got a point, man. I mean, fainting now wouldn't help it survive." Y/N whispered.

Dean realized they had a good point, all their heads turned to the other 'Sherri' that was stripped naked across the room. "Huh..." Dean hummed before walking across to 'Sherri's' body with the slit throat, kneeling besides her, examining her. The sound of a window shattering in the background caught their attention. Their heads snapping in the direction of the sound.

Eyes wide in the direction. Without their knowledge, the real shifter, who was now posing as a dead Sherri, gripped Dean by his throat by surprise, earning a grunt from the hunter. The real Sherri came to, screaming, "Oh God! Oh god!" Sam grabbed her along with Y/N while Dean tried to stab the shifter, only for the creature to defend itself, catching his hand mid air before he could finish the job.

"Get her out of here. Now!" Dean ordered Sam and Y/N. Both hesitating to leave but they listened to him, escorting Sherri out of the room quickly.

-

SWAT team members came piling into the bank, all armed and loaded. They canvassed the bank, almost catching Dean in the basement but the skilled hunter quickly hide in a corner.

Three more SWAT members came filing down the hall, stumbling upon a shaken Sherri in at the end of it. "Don't shoot. Don't shoot!" She pleaded, their lights flashed on her. "I work here. I work here" She sobbed.

-

Meanwhile on the other side of the back, bent the corner, Sam and Y/N pretending to run from the SWAT members. "Freeze!" The officer yelled at them. They two hunters froze, "Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands!" The officer ordered them. The two shared a look knowing look, a silent conversation exchanging between both of their eyes before giving each other a firm nod.

Both hunters swiftly grappling the guns of the two members, right hooking them simultaneously off guard before knocking them out. They heard the footsteps of one more officer trudging down the hall. Sam and Y/N pressed themselves against the wall, then once the officer was in slight, Y/N charged at him, kicking the back of his knee to knock him to his feet, falling to the ground with a grunt.

While Sam quickly knocked him unconscious with the butt on the gun he snatched from the previous officer. The two dragged the three members into a closet before stripping them of their uniform, armory and headgear.

-

After Sam and Y/N changed into the gear they had stolen, they headed stayed covered, pretending to be SWAT as they looked for Dean. Both silently praying they would find him first.

They finally ended up in the electrical room to see Dean kneeling next to a dead shifter, both breathing out in relief at the fact he successfully took down the bastard. Sam then flashed the light in Dean's face, startling him. A fearful and defeated look on his face, thinking he had gotten caught and was as good as gone. "Dean Winchester. You're under arrest for being an A-Class jackass" Sam snorted through the mask.

Dean let out a groan as he rolled his eyes as he got up from the ground. "Not funny, man" Dean grumbled. Y/N giggled amused, tossing a bag she stole from one of the officers that previously had armory inside, now stuffed with an extra suit. She tossed it as his feet, "Saddle up cowboy, we gotta go now" She said urgently.

________________________________

SWAT was still canvassing the bank,

"Clear in here!"

"Clear. Move!"

"Clear!"

"Clear. Move!"

Victor Henriksen strolled down the halls to see a group of officers examining Sampson's dead naked body. "Male. African-American. Goner" The officer informed Henriksen who gritted his teeth.

-

While downstairs in the electrical room, officers stood over the shifters dead body, which was still in Sherri's form. "I'm telling you, man. I just walked her out of the bank" The SWAT officer told his partner. "She must have a twin sister or something" He added bewildered.

-

Back upstairs, Victor was getting irritated they had yet to find Sam, Dean and Y/N. "Sir, my team said it's secure. They're gone" An officer informed the agent. "You tell your team to tear it apart! The ducts, the ceilings, the furnace, everything!" Henriksen growled infuriated. "I don't think that's necessary" The officer insisted. "Why not?!" Victor snapped, turning to him. "

The officer then told Victor to come with him, ushering him to the room where Sam and Y/N had stashed the unconscious, stripped but very alive bodies of the three SWAT members they took down and stole their gear from. Henriksen grunted in frustration. Realllyyy getting to hate these flannel wearing bastards.

________________________________

Sam, Dean and Y/N made way back up to the above ground parking garage where Baby was parked, all still in the SWAT gear. Dean opened his door, hopping into the drivers side while Y/N climbed in the back and Sam claimed shotgun. All hunters took off the headgear with a grunt before peeling off the black under face mask. They let out sighs, breathing heavily as they contemplated what was going on and how they were gonna get out of this.

"We are so fucked" Y/N commented the obvious.

Before leaning back into the backseat. Dean hugged in agreement as Sam remained silent, clenching his jaw before Dean started his car, putting her in drive and speeding out of the parking garage.

________________________________

Sam's POV (SURPRISE BITCHES!!)

Aurora, New York

•The Next Day

I sat in the Impala parked in front of a small diner, the neon sign casting a warm glow over the parking lot. I was alone, sitting in the dark car, the food Dean sent me for was waiting in the back seat getting cold as   people came and went of the dingy old diner. We all hauled ass out of Wisconsin and are now hiding out in Y/N's New York safehouse.

I swear, I'll never know where her family got the money to have all these damn safe houses but thank God indeed.

My thumb hovered over Jo's contact on his phone, the image of her warm smile flashing in mind. My heart ached as I remembered our last conversation, the way she had looked into my eyes. Jo was beyond pissed at all of us, pure betrayal and hatred in her eyes. I've been in this position countless times and all I wanted to do was hear from her.

She's been on my mind quite a bit, and if I'm being honest. I felt a little like a second option, not sure if she even wanted to hear from me. She was flirting with my brother first, but that hunt when she got kidnapped by Holmes. I thought I was going crazy not knowing where she was.

I took a deep breath and scrolled down to her name, my finger hesitating for a moment before finally hitting the call button. The line rang once, twice, three times, and my heart beat faster with each subsequent ring. My mind raced, wondering if she would answer or not. The silence on the other end was deafening, only interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.

But then, her voicemail picked up, and I felt a pang of disappointment mixed with worry. I listened to the familiar sound of her voice recording, telling me to leave a message. My heart sank at that moment, but I forced myself to keep it together. "Hey, Jo," I started, my voice a mix of frustration and concern.

"It's me, Sam," I continued, trying to keep my tone casual. "I really need to talk to you. Please, just...just call me back, okay?"

I waited for a moment, hoping that she would pick up, but the line remained silent. I hung up the phone, feeling a mix of frustration and disappointment. I knew it was a long shot to hope that she would answer, but the thought of not hearing from her was almost unbearable.

I decided to say screw it and head on over to the grocery to pick up supplies for the safehouse.

-

Halfway into my ride over, my phone rang. Startling the crap out of me. I flinched as my phone suddenly rang, the sound unexpected and loud in the quiet car. I fumbled for a moment before managing to grab it, my heart rate picking up a bit.

The caller ID showed Jo's name on the screen, and I felt a mixture of relief and nervousness wash over me. I quickly answered the call, holding the phone to my ear, quickly pulling over to the side of the road.

"Jo, thank god," I breathed out, relief flooding my voice. "I didn't think you were going to answer." There was a moment of silence on the other end, and I could sense her hesitating. But then she spoke, her voice a mix of irritation and frustration.

"What do you want, Winchester?" Jo asked, the edge in her voice was evident. "Didn't you get the hint that I didn't want to talk to any of you?" I let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Look, I know you're pissed at us, and you have every right to be," I said, trying to keep my cool. "But I'm still your...friend. And I'm worried about you" I swallowed my pride, praying she didn't think I was just some desperate loser.

There was another pause on the line, and then I heard Jo let out an exasperated sigh. "Friend," she repeated sarcastically, her voice dripping with annoyance. "More like a pain in my ass" I felt a pang of hurt at her words, but I knew I had to keep myself together. "Okay, fine," I retorted, feeling my own irritation rising. A sly comment came flooding out of my mouth before I could stop it,

"But...you always did have a nice ass" I chuckled deeply, quite literally facepalming myself after it shot out of my mouth.

God I sound like Dean right now.

I could've sworn I heard Jo giggle. "Wow, smooth move, Winchester," Jo retorted, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice. "I swear you and your brother are identical sometimes." I chuckle as I lean back against my car, feeling a small sense of relief that she wasn't completely shutting me out yet.

"Believe me when I say, that's far from the truth" I snorted, shaking my head. My amusement died down subsequently, "So...how have you been Jo?" My tone was gentle and concerned. There was another moment of pause on the line, and I heard Jo let out a heavy sigh. "I've been okay," she said quietly. "Hoping to just keep moving, y'know?"

I could sense the exhaustion and frustration in her voice, and I realized that she was putting up a strong front. "Ash called Y/N and told her he hadn't heard from you in a while. She told him she hasn't heard from you since then....but you've been on my mind quite a bit" I admit, cursing myself for being such a softie.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, and I could picture Jo's eyebrows raising in surprise at my confession. "Really?" She asked, her tone curious now. "You've been thinking about me, huh?" She said softly.

Jo's next words caught me off guard, and my heart skipped a beat. "You know," she began, her voice taking on a mischievous tone. "I've been thinking about you too, Sam"

My eyes widened in surprise, not expecting her to reciprocate my confession. I couldn't believe what I was hearing "You...you have?" I asked, my voice betraying my surprise. "Yeah, I have," Jo replied, her tone amused. "I mean, you're not so bad, Sam. Although you could definitely use some work in the smoothness department" she teased, a hint of a laugh in her voice.

I huffed a chuckle at getting called out for my lack in charisma, but it amused me coming from her. "Yeah. Thanks" I retorted with sarcasm. I could practically hear the eye roll in her voice as she responded, "You're welcome."

There was another moment of silence between us, but this time it was more comfortable, almost lighthearted. I could feel a warmth spreading through my chest at the realization that she had been thinking about me too.

"You know," Jo piped up after a moment, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "If you're that worried about me, you could just come check on me yourself" My brows shot up at this, a sly smirk making its way to my face, "You know, if I didn't know any better. I'd say you're hitting on me Ms. Harvelle" I quipped with sass, intrigued by her abrupt invitation.

Jo chuckled on the other end of the line, clearly enjoying my playfulness. "Maybe I am, Mr. Winchester," she replied, her voice taking on a flirty tone. "You got a problem with that? Or should I just go back to hating you?"

"Nono, carry on," I laughed. Jo's laughter joined mine, and I could practically picture her wicked smile. "Glad to hear it," she teased. Her invitation still hung in the air, "So...should I take that as a yes to you coming to check on me?" She asked, sounding a bit...hopeful? But I could be mistaken.

I took a deep breath, slightly hesitant. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty here. Jess has been dead almost two years now, yet the wounds are still fresh. I felt like like I was betraying her memory. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the truth. Jess wouldn't have wanted me to wallow in grief for the rest of my life. She would've wanted me to be happy, to move on and find peace. But knowing Jessica, she would've pushed me to move on. It's hard regardless.

I contemplated Jo's offer before nodding, "Yeah, text me your current address. I'll convince Dean and Y/N to take the trip with me, which I'm sure wouldn't be hard" There was a pause, and I could sense Jo's hesitation, understanding the complexity of her situation. But then she spoke up again, her voice firm yet gentile.

"Okay," she agreed, and I picked up on a glimmer of excitement in her tone. "I'll text you my address. You guys better come see me soon, or I'll come and hunt you down myself." I chuckled in response, feeling a mix of relief and anticipation. "We'll be there as soon as we can," I promised.

We concluded the call, and I was left feeling a strange mix of emotions. There was excitement at the prospect of seeing Jo again. Yet I also felt a pang of guilt, thinking about Jess. I knew I shouldn't feel guilty for moving on and finding comfort in someone else. However, it was difficult to shake off the sense of betrayal in regards to Jess. But then again, I knew deep down that Jess would've wanted me to be happy.

________________________________

Third Person POV

•One Hour Earlier

"We need to talk about it, Y/N" Dean presses as they toss open the door to her safehouse. It was low on supplies since they hadn't been here in a while so Dean made Sam take the Impala, shunning him away to get food and supplies so he can have the dreaded conversation with Y/N.

"Talk about what?" Y/N feigns confusion as she rested her duffle bag down on the dusty couch a tad bit harshly, coughing slightly from the dust that raised when she tossed it.

Dean huffed in annoyance, closing the motel door gently and folding his arms over his chest. "Y/N, you know what I'm talkin' about," he drawled, tilting his head, eyebrows raising slightly.

Y/N sighed, refusing to face him. "There's nothing to talk about," She grumbled. "Not buying it," Dean quipped, taking a few steps closer towards her. He was still a good distance away, giving Y/N her personal space he knew how grumpy she could get when annoyed.

"What do you want me to say, Dean?" She huffed, turning to face him. "The truth," Dean replied without hesitation, his jaw set in a firm line. "I want the truth," he repeated, softer this time. He could see the emotions battling on her face, he didn't like that she was trying to act like nothing happened.

Y/N swallowed harshly, "The truth is.... I'm glad it didn't happen" She bit back. "Because you've said it yourself, that 'it doesn't mean anything', so. I'm glad it didn't happen" She added, referring to when he slipped and called her 'his girl' only to claim after that 'it didn't mean anything'.

A flash of guilt filled his eyes, something Dean tried his best to ignore, but he failed, he always failed with Y/N. Her words had stung and he deserved it. Dean wanted to punch himself in the face, he could see the way her shoulders slumped forward as she said it.

"Y/N..." he sighed, his shoulders slumping forward as his arms fell to his sides, hands curling into fists as he fumbled to explain or defend himself.

"It's fine, honestly. I'm not gonna let unreciprocated feelings get in the way of our friendship" She said softly. Meaning that she had feelings for Dean and she thought he didn't feel the same way and that she would rather it not ruin their friendship.

But Dean took it in a completelyyyy different way, assuming Y/N meant that she didn't feel the way that he did for her, leaving him to believe, she was rejecting him on the spot.

"Oh-"

Oh...

Dean's face fell, his heart sinking down to his stomach as he slowly turned his gaze to her, blinking once in processing her words. As lame as it sounds, he felt as if God himself had driven a knife into his heart and tore it out of his chest.

"Oh..." he repeated lamely, his heart beating faster in his chest, pounding violently against his rib cage.

The realization made his stomach twist in a painful way and he inhaled swiftly, trying to rid himself of the pang he felt deep within him. Dean's brain was screaming at him to fix the conversation, his heart was aching at the confirmed fact that Y/N did not feel the same way.

"Right... yeah..." he muttered, taking a slow step back, feeling as though he had just been punched in the stomach.

"Yeah..." Y/N gulped, her heart pang terribly in her chest. Tearing her eyes away from Dean, she had hoped, prayed he would say, 'No princess, that's not true. I love you too' but those words didn't come. She should've known better. As if, 'It didn't mean anything' wasn't blatantly clear enough.

Dean watched as Y/N looked away, trying to avoid the intensity of his own gaze. He could see the pain etched into her features and it only made him feel worse.

He wanted to reach out, to comfort her, but his arms remained by his sides, his fingers twitching, wanting to hold her. The words were on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn't bring himself to confess the truth. He had practically been rejected in his eyes by her words of 'I'm not gonna let unreciprocated feelings get in the way of our friendship'. That was enough rejection for him.

"It won't happen again," Dean muttered, his voice low and almost shaky as he spoke. He could feel his heart thundering in his chest, the pain in his chest refusing to subside. He didn't want her to see how she was affecting him.

Dean's eyes flicked over her features once more, taking in the way her eyelashes fluttered and the way her hair fell to frame her face, his body aching to reach out and touch her. But he remained still, his hands clenched at his sides.

Y/N's heart tightened in her chest at Dean's words. 'It won't happen again.' The phrase seemed to echo in the room, deafeningly loud, mocking her. She felt her eyes sting with tears, but she refused to let herself cry.

She bit the inside of her cheek, desperately trying to keep them from spilling over. 'No, show no weakness, show no fear, don't let him know it affected you' Instead, she forced a small nod, her eyes still avoiding his intense gaze. "Yeah, it won't," she repeated quietly.

Dean nodded slowly in agreement, his eyes still locked on her. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he had no right to. As far as she knew, his feelings for her weren't reciprocated. And he had no idea that she believed the same.

Y/N shook her head before turning to dig into her duffle bag, pulling out her pack of cigarettes, "I'm gonna take a smoke..." She forced a casual tone as she strode over to the front door, locking it behind her.

Dean stood silently for a few moments, watching as her figure disappeared through the door, the house suddenly feeling smaller and quieter now that she was gone.

The hunter exhaled slowly, running a hand down his face, his mind racing with confusion and denial. He sank down onto the edge of one of the couches, his elbows resting on his knees as he hunched forward, lost in thought.

He had always prided himself on being confident and in control, but right now, he felt anything but. The words she had said replayed over and over in his mind, making him question everything he knew, everything he believed.

She doesn't feel the same.

The thought alone made his heart ache with a pain he had never felt before.

Dean forced himself to go over to the window, he peeled the curtain back to see Y/N head across the street to sit on the tire swing by the tree to smoke her cigarette. He quickly shut the curtain and in seconds, the once stoic and cocky hunter, burst into tears.

Dean's body trembled as the dam broke, his emotions finally flowing through him like a raging river. He stumbled backwards, his body landing on the edge of one of the couches again, sitting down with a heavy thud.

His hands gripped the edge of the couch tightly, his head lowering as he tried to catch his breath. The sight of her leaving the house, the image of her sitting outside, alone, smoking, it all fueled the pain that tore through him.

Dean's shoulders shook with each sob as he covered his face with his hands, tears streaming down his cheeks leaving them stained and his eyes red. His breath came out ragged and shaky, chest constricting like his heart was being squeezed. He couldn't believe it, his breath hitched as he let out a choked sob.

He loved her, he loved her so much, but he thought she didn't feel the same. He didn't think she could ever have feelings for someone as broken as he was.

-

Y/N took a deep, shaky drag of her cigarette. The smoke filled her lungs, providing a brief moment of comfort as she exhaled slowly. She could feel the tears welling up again, but she forced them back.

The cool night air nipped at her skin, but she didn't mind. The sting helped keep her grounded, preventing her from spiraling into her thoughts. She took another drag, her eyes staring blankly at the house across from the tree.

How could I ever think he would see me that way? I'll never be nothing more than the dorky girl with pigtails to him.

But he tried to kiss you

That doesn't mean he loves me the way I love him

She chastised herself, the lump in her throat growing by the second.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't you DARE cry L/N!

Sitting on that cold tire, the only thing keeping her warm was her cigarette lit between her fingers. Every so often she would raise it to her lips and take a drag, exhaling the smoke into the night air.

Her mind was swirling with thoughts and emotions. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to run back into that damn house and beg Dean to give her a chance. But she didn't, she couldn't. She couldn't show that weakness.

Y/N closed her eyes, exhaling another plume of smoke, watching it swirl and disappear in the air.

Why does it have to be like this? she silently wondered, her heart heavy in her chest.

She took another long drag of her cigarette, savoring the taste of the tobacco and the nicotine rush it provided. The brief relief was a small comfort.

And yet, I can't bring myself to stay away from him. Her inner thoughts whispered as her eyes opened. With that, the psychic gifted hunter burst into tears.

Her tears fell in earnest, streaming down her face and staining her cheeks. Her body shuddered as she tried to catch her breath, but the sobs just came harder, more tears flowing down her face.

She thought of all the times they had laughed together, the nights they shared on the road and the hunts they had gone on. All of the memories flooding in of their childhood they shared with Sam, their first kiss. It just added to the ache in her chest.

Y/N couldn't remember a time when she had felt so vulnerable, so raw and exposed. The pain of loving someone she thought didn't love her back was overwhelming.

Her sobs were quiet and shaky, her shoulders trembling as the tears streamed down her cheeks. The cigarette hung loosely from her fingertips, forgotten for the moment.

She tried to control her emotions, to keep her tears at bay, but it was futile. The pain and disappointment was too much. The pain of knowing that the man she loved would never see her the way she saw him.

The words echoed in her mind, a loop of pain and heartache that seemed to drown out everything else. She knew it was pointless, she knew it would only hurt more, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop loving him, no matter how much she tried to convince herself that she didn't.

For years, she had been pushing her feelings down, pretending they didn't exist. But now, sitting on that bench, tears streaming down her face, she knew it was a losing battle. Y/N took a shaky breath, her hands trembling as she brought her cigarette to her lips again.

Y/N leaned forward, exhaling the smoke, bracing her elbows on her knees as she let out a choked sob. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "Why...why do I have to love him so much?" She whispered to herself between sobs, her voice cracking with emotion.

-

Dean was still sitting on the edge of the couch, his hands now clutching the fabric of his jeans so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

He was still deep in thought, the pain of the rejection still felt raw. Tears streamed down his face, hot and salty against his skin. He let out a shuddering breath, cursing himself silently. He tried to process everything that had just happened, but it kept circling back to her words.

'It's fine, honestly. I'm not gonna let unreciprocated feelings get in the way of our friendship'

Those words stung, like a knife to his heart.  "Why...why do I have to love her so much?" He whispered to himself between sobs, his voice cracking with emotion.

________________________________

Authors Note: I think I’m gonna have to dodge some tomatoes right about now🤣

I hope everyone enjoyed, please don’t kill me! I actually sobbed writing the last part if that makes anyone feel better😭💔

Taglist: @hjgdhghoe @rach5ive @tiggytaylor @star-yawnznn @quarterhorse19

@deangirl96 @bitchykittenconnoisseur @globetrotter28 @hobby27 @mrsjjkwinchester

@juwu-theliciosa @magiccliopleurodon @nesnejwritings @karrah89 @whattheduckisupkyle

@iloveyou2mia

Once again, I’m so sorry for the late update and thank you everyone for continuing to read and support me🫶

Xoxo

[dailycass-cain]

2023 was another big stepping stone with Cass. The character was featured in A LOT of stuff this year amongst a few negative antics.

But unlike prior years the good really outweighed the bad. BY A LOT.

So let's take a look back one final time #CAINAISSANCE2023...

The year started STRONG with the release of Batgirls #14 aka the BEST solo story that involved the character this year.

I've gone in LENGTH on how AMAZING this tale was. If you haven't read it DO SO. You don't need any context but to just take in the masterpiece given.

Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad gave artist Jonathan Case just this canvas of an issue to tell AN EPIC mostly silent issue.

If there's a tale Batgirls will be remembered for it'll BE THIS ISSUE.

I've lost count to just taking in the gorgeous art Case delivers here and just letting the actions and emotions tell the tale.

The only regret is well no full payoff to what is fully learned within this issue.

It just hits EVERY mark and is something any Cass fan CRAVED, but never got in Batgirl Vol. 1. Batgirls #14 was a worthy issue that should be talked about amongst fans of Cass for quite some time.

February gave us Cass's grand entrance to Ram V's Detective Comics run (#1069) and what an entrance it was! Literally, I can't let it go of how AMAZING it was.

And the run itself? It just keeps delivering as THE Batman book out currently.

It's a slow burn and when the run lays the payoffs IT HITS THOSE PAYOFFS. The series just ended an exceptional bi-weekly event that featured Cass and well, I'm extremely curious where this run goes with the character.

If anything, I just want MOAR from Ram V or a smaller secondary story involving Cass. But given the various characters he's been rotating and given next year is 2024 (more on that later) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for ALL OF THIS.

This run does work in trade but I digress you'd be missing the GORGEOUS covers this series has been shelling out. If anything BUY the single issues and read the run this way until you get to the present.

Or reread them like I've been doing. 😋

The early half of 2023 marked Cass's surprise return to an actual role in mega crossovers. She took part in the final issue of Batman vs. Robin being one of the random factors to stall the possessed Batman until ALL of DC's magical users came to cast it out of him.

The weakest of the crossovers the character was involved in I have to say was Gotham War. It was a nothing burger that made me swear off the Chip Zdarsky run of Batman completely.

Honestly, I feel more rewarded reading Tec more. Unless Chip pulls off a miracle turnaround in 2024.

But I digress Zdarsky was only half of the problems with the other being Tini Howard and yeah, if you were a Bat Family member who wasn't Jason Todd (how did that mini turn out to be more entertaining then the ENTIRE event?!)?

This story SUUUUUUUUCKED. Quite possibly the worst Batman event story since War Games/Crimes for me.

Sadly, the most disappointing stories I'd have to say are on equal ground in Beast World and Knight Terrors. As there was interesting concepts with Cass involving them, and both stories just go NOWHERE.

I feel more so robbed with Knight Terrors as the design for Cass within it went hard. It's just that you give us THIS design and tease us with this little nugget and give us NOTHING?

COME ON!

Beast World was a whole nothing burger as well, save the pretty art and a full confirmation that Cass's old NML is now canonically her defacto one again.

Even if we had it mentioned earlier last year and again in the best crossover event involving Cass...

WHICH WAS IN LAZARUS PLANET: DARK FATE #1. It gave us Alyssa Wong returning for a THIRD time to write Cass and they were joined by Haining on art which introduced us to the world of Xanthe.

That in itself led to a spinoff mini-series that had Cass in it with SPIRIT WORLD. It did more with the new character Xanthe and laid out their origins and powerset nicely while also laying some seeds for MAYBE future Cass stories.

Again, I feel like a repeating record on how GOOD this series was. Like, I can't wait for the trade next year to take it all in again. But besides the creative team delivering it gave us Dustin Nguyen AND Marcio Takara drawing Cass again OFFICIALLY AS BATGIRL!!

Even when this series ended, I STILL WANT MOAR!! Like what memories did Cass lose? What the heck happened with Spirit World twisting her memories of Batgirl Vol. 1 #72?! How will Xanthe be with the Jade Court?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

Something else that left me with MANY questions was DCeased universe as even though the story ended back in April.

I still crave more starring Cass, because let's face it STEPH/TALIA DESERVE CLOSURE!! Cass could be the gateway to that.

Doing so would tie up the final loose ends as well. Let's see how Rose is raising her kid with Jason. Silent Olsen. Harley/Ivy. Ollie/Dinah. Jim Gordon.

But I digress. It gives us more Cazzam. We need more Cazzam.

But an alternate universe Cass just didn't pop up there we had a Cass show up in various other comics. Knights of Steel which also had me hankering for MOAR and Harley Quinn & the Legion of Bats.

I know some didn't like it, but me? I think it was LEAPS and BOUNDS better than what we got in the actual season of HQ.

Let us never talk about that season again…

Now something we SHOULD talk about more is the first actual appearance of Cass in a DC ANIMATED MOVIE!! Yes, Kai Li Cain from Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham.

I was blown away at the extended role they gave the character in the film (to the, "Oh right Tim is here and alive." role in the books).

Kai Li voiced perfectly by Tati Gabrielle gave a balance of innocence and reason with the batshit craziness this film throws at us.

Like, I really REALLY want a sequel. Just to see what she'd do now given full access to Bruce's fortune? Will she follow his path? I mean yeah we want steampunk Bat!

Speaking of which artists we need designs for this stat still!

It just adds that anchor where you want to see more of this universe and the characters that inhabit it. I mean that's the sign of a REALLY good Elseworlds. Where you want more and sometimes you get just that.

But with all this good came the sad, and that was the canceling of Batgirls. I know many were against the series (especially after #7-8), but the series found its footing with #9 and ran into something I hope more positively can be talked about it.

It's true failing wasn't the creators behind the series, more just elements outside that just slotted it's end (Batgirl movie getting canned making #7-8 more wasteful), Evil Oracle #4 aka the pitch, and just being something it couldn't be).

I'm grateful for each and every creator who worked on this book because it was a GIFT that I'll always be appreciative of.

I'll say it again, THANK YOU TO ALL! 🙏

And its spirit lived on in the Nightwing back up a few months ago. It was something that was TRULY needed after the garbage fire that was Gotham War. It gave us this Cass/Dick sibling stuff and GIVE ME MOAR!!!

Unlike the past where we'd be done, DC brought us back up giving us the current BIRDS OF PREY ongoing which has Cass in it.

Really the series is a revelation of giving us things I always wanted that I'd never thought we get. Cass with Dinah? CHECK.

Cass meeting Big Barda and the two having a bond? HELLS YEAH CHECK! Anytime that bond grows I squee even more.

Just give writer Kelly Thompson ALL the time and ideas she has to churn this out to the proper conclusion she has envisioned. Just give me fifty-plus issues of her, Leonardo Romero, and Jordie Bellaire.

Finally of course there was Batman: Wayne Family Adventures which gave us THREE banger Cass stories. One where she and Steph are a MENANCE (as they should), Cass scaring the crapbaskets out of EVERYONE and of course...

Season 2 gave us A LOT of things I wanted in general (her interacting with Damian) and just showing the world why I really really love this character. Why I talk about her daily.

Really as 2023 closes and 2024 is about to begin... Well, it's the character's TWENTIETH-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 25 years of kicking ass and ripping our hearts out.

It's been a journey for sure.

really REALLY hope DC honors this anniversary and continues to mend the bridges burned all those years ago.

Give us that Omnibus. Give us a mini or SOMETHING to celebrate this character. If not, I'll take whatever Ram V and Thompson give us.

#CAINAISSANCE2023 may be over, but #CAINAISSANCE2024 will be the most important year yet.

25 YEARS OF CASS!! LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN ON JANUARY 1st!

[oneknightstand-if]

Fencing Club Route is a Go!

Update 2: Chapter 1 Part 3 - Fencing Club Route

Don't feel like playing polo? Join the fencing club instead!

Play the Updated Beta Test

(Since there were bugs reported throughout Chapter 1 & 2, your current saves are probably going to reset to the beginning of each section of the game)

*If you're getting error messages or the fencing club route isn't showing up properly for you (after you refreshed and restarted the game), you'll need to clear your cache. More details found here.*

Additional Word Count (Sans Code): 120,000+ Additional Word Count (With Code): 155,000+ New Total Word Count (Sans Code): 614,000+ New Total Word Count (With Code): 833,000+ Average Playthrough: ~60,000 words

Note: You can view the game code on my site the same way you do on Dashingdon just add /scenes to the end of the URL.

Next Update

Merlin's Guide to Minor Enemies

A bucketload of owed texts & e-mails to the MC

Decisions of great import... just where are you sleeping in that motorhome?

A̴ ̴C̴o̶m̴p̷l̷e̵t̷e̴l̴y̵ ̶N̴o̷r̸m̴a̶l̵ ̵G̴a̴s̸ ̶S̵t̵a̷t̷i̶o̷n̸ ̵S̴t̸o̷p̷

Take part in your first multi-user spell! (Potentially depending on the length of the gas station stop?)

Meet the next Harbinger - RO #4 (Potentially depending on the length of the gas station stop?)

Link to New Polls on the Update (Which don't auto close in a week like the Tumblr ones)

Also...

I'm currently coming down with something (Covid test says not that, so maybe just the flu?) so I'll be taking a bit of a break after this.

More (Fiddly) Info on the Update Behind the Spoiler Cut...

The Update Also Includes...

Calmly letting Merlin into your apartment after escaping the monster-under-the-bed no longer removes the mute flag

Fixed Adrian literally calling the MC as "MC" in the pub

Fixed expresso back to espresso AGAIN *stares at it*

Fixed the phil_status 2 bug AGAIN (Somehow I must've reverted a bunch of bug fixes in Chapter 1)

Fixed bug where MC's name permanently changes to their pseudonym if the player tried to back out of the renaming screen

Fixed the "On second thought, let me try a different fake first name…" option so it only asks the player to change their fake first name (as originally intended)

Fixed some dialogue with Adrian depending upon your clothing choices in the polo club branch

Fixed the Adrian text messaging bug. Again. Hopefully third time is the charm.

Fixed bug where your current job being your dream employment wasn't triggering the positive job attitude flavor text

Fixed bug where the mute flag was being toggled off when interacting with Adrian regarding your fancy outfit before the polo club meeting

Choice where Lucid Dreamer MC talks to Modern Arthur about Merlin's dreamwalking advice is now set to toggle only when the MC speaks to Merlin in the Camelot dream sequence

Fixed bug with the user's input option for Business Casual outfit

User's choice option for Business Casual & Business Suit now toggles pants or skirt variable

Fixed bug with the Cracking text effect in darkmode

All piercings & scars now available in one choice during customization.

Fixed bug (AGAIN!) when Lucky MC fails the luck check to escape the bed monster

Added reactions to Camelot-affiliated names belonging to inanimate objects.

Fixed *set ag2 2 -1 bug in Camelot dream sequence (I wonder how that didn't trigger QuickTest)

A Bit More Info on the Update Mechanics

The decision on which club you join is one of the first questions in Chapter 1, so players will have to restart from pretty early on. However the fencing club flavor text will continue to run throughout the rest of the game (including in the Camelot dream sequence with the Courtyard branch for the Lucid Dreamer MC).

Otherwise this current update does not progress the game further into Chapter 2.

Also Part 2....

We lost power to part of the house (thankfully not including my computer), and while I'm usually the one who deals with the circuit breakers, since I'm currently sick I asked my mother to do it this one time. She turned the power off to the entire house. 🥲 The uninterruptible power source did nothing and now my computer and the microwave are bugging out. I'm just going to lie down now.

[ashensgrotto]

Never Had a Friend (like Me) - Part 1

Original art piece by pfbatakopd on twitter (Used only for Header. Do NOT REPOST ORIGINAL ART)

Part 1 (You Are Here) Part 2 Part 3

YandereSoulmate! AU:

Part 1 (Am I Feeling Love?)

Part 2 (Protective)

Part 3A & Part 3B (Poor Unfortunate Souls)

Characters: Azul Ashengrotto X F!Reader

Word Count: 9,105

Synopsis: A chance for redemption comes in the form of a wish…

Author’s Notes: Ok, here we go. I received an anonymous message in my inbox for the next part of the Yandere!Soulmate series and I was actually going to work on it - but with the arrival of GloMas, working on the next part of ‘Raison D’être,’ wanting to finish “Weren’t You Aware, Angelfish?”, AND the holidays, time got away from me and I forgot about Scarabia’s segment for a short while. 

However, because you all seem to enjoy this and want to know if the tako has redeemed himself - I figured I would work to get this part done. Now, warning - Pompefiore’s part is going to take a bit of time to complete because I will have to wiggle my way through my memory bank and replay a few parts of it (which is approx 76 chapters in length for those players who haven’t made it that far into the game yet) since I’m working so deep into Ignihyde’s chapter right now (which is a doozy - I’m still in chapter 67-tower 1, oof help).

This one is also going to be split into three parts - I promise it will not be a long wait for the second & third parts as this is my Christmas gift to all of my readers <3

Thank you all for your continued support!

Warnings are as follows: yandere behaviors, manipulation, imprisonment, & hypnosis

***

I’m in the mood, to help you dude

You ain’t never had a friend like me.

***

It had been weeks since the last overblot incident… and just as long since Azul last saw you.

He sat in his office, looking over paperwork for the last quarter and rubbing his brow with worry.

The profits had started to steadily decrease following his overblot, causing the Monstro Lounge to slowly suffer the loss, like an infection slowly eating away a mer’s life. He had no one really to blame but himself for that… Azul had lost control, let his obsession get out of hand and had hurt the people closest to him.

Jade… Floyd… you.

Azul let out another large sigh and set the report down, taking his glasses off and rubbing his face. He had considered going back to the Coral Sea for holiday, but was unable to due to two reasons; one, the ice floes would’ve made the journey too dangerous to travel alone - especially since Jade and Floyd had already prepared to stay at NRC for the holidays, and two… you were still here.

Not in Octavinelle where Azul had wanted you to be, but in a rundown shack on the school property.

The building had been a dorm, once upon a time, but ghosts had moved in and scared the students to the point that the building was deemed ‘unsafe.’ However, with your charms and personality, the ghosts were easily persuaded and welcomed you in with open arms - though Azul had a sneaky suspicion that both the headwardens of Savanaclaw and Heartslabyul had likely persuaded the otherworldly spirits in exchange for access to both of their dorms. Regardless, with you no longer in Octavinelle and now at the mercy of the headmage’s “generous” nature, Azul could only watch from the shadows as you now tended to the school property in a janitorial role.

Azul leaned back in his chair, his thoughts plagued by you before an obnoxious ringing noise filled the office.

He grumbled, picking the phone up, “Monstor Lounge, this is Azul speaking.”

“Hello baby, how are you?” the familiar voice of his mother on the other end made Azul jump in surprise.

“Mother,” Azul coughed, “Hello - I apologize I hadn’t had a chance to call you. We’ve been busy lately.”

“Oh, I know, sweetheart,” his mother answered, “It’s been busy here too… but everything’s been calming down since the ice floes came - though I was surprised to see your letter that you were considering coming home for the holidays.”

‘Shit…’ Azul had completely forgotten about that - when (Y/N) had lived in the Octavinelle at the beginning of the year, Azul had entertained the idea of potentially inviting her to his home for the holiday, slowly and suringly getting her accustomed to the idea of staying with him - although it would prove to be a difficult task, especially now.

“However, I’m assuming that you changed plans at the last minute,” his mother continued.

“Y-yes, I was indeed planning on coming… however, Jade and Floyd both decided to stay behind so I chose to stay as well,” Azul answered, the lie slipping easily off his silver tongue, “Someone has to keep those two in line, after all.”

His mother snickered, “Don’t be saying that in front of their father though. Sevens knows what the moray will do if you say anything like that.”

Azul nodded, clearing his throat, “Um, well… What's going on with you, then? The restaurant still alright? How’s Finn?”

“Finn’s well - busy as always,” his mother answered, “Business has been getting better - hired several new staff members as well… a few sweet mers around your age, Zully.”

Azul rolled his eyes, “Mother… we’ve had this talk. I’m… not interested.”

“You might not be, but it will happen one day,” his mother’s voice was calm and soothing before she sighed on the end of the phone, “However… I have a sneaky feeling that you’re still upset about what I told you all those years ago.”

Azul bit his lip, answering, “Of course not… Soulmates? That’s ridiculous.”

“Azul…” his mother’s voice turned into a scolding tone, “There are plenty of fish out there - I know you’re still pretty young to be thinking about it, considering a mer’s life is longer than most, but shorter than a fae’s… but I only want you to be happy.”

“I am, mother,” Azul tried to smile, “I’m content where I am - I’ve gotten stronger, my business is growing, and… I’ve learned so much.”

“Perhaps, but allow me to give you a little insight - it’s something I learned long ago,” his mother prompted, “Happiness, though may be defined as ‘the state of joy or contentment,’ is typically filled by three main parts of life; success, dedication, and personal. Dedication and success go hand in hand with each other - if you work hard and are dedicated, you achieve success - even if the tasks prove to be difficult to the point that you might fail over and over again. Personal can mean time for yourself - spending time with your hobbies or doing what you love… spending time with those you care about even.”

Azul listened to his mother’s words, thinking.

“I know that you are successful and you’re dedicated,” his mother continued, “But you won’t achieve happiness if you just focus on those two things - take time for yourself now and again, look for stronger connections within your friendships… and look for someone that will want to support you and you support them.”

“I… I think I understand…” Azul answered, “I’ll… take your words into consideration.”

“I hope so - your grandmother taught me that when I was still a little octo fry many years ago,” his mother answered, a teasing tone caught in her voice.

Azul couldn’t help but smile, “Yes… Nanna always did know what was best.”

“Yes, she did, still does even… Well, I should probably let you go, then - you have a lot of stuff going on there,” his mother let out a sigh, “Just remember… I love you, baby. Merry Christmas.”

“I love you too… momma. Merry Christmas and I’ll see you at the end of the year.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Zully. Stay safe.”

Azul smiled and hung the phone up, sitting back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. 

“Finding that so-called ‘other half’ is like - well - like the story of the mermaid princess and her longing to be with a human. It’s a rare occurrence that only happens once in a millennium if not longer. Anyone can be happy with or without their soulmate, Azul. There’s no reason you should go to such lengths to be with someone who may not even exist…”

Azul shook his head at the memory of that day years ago - he wanted to forget… but sevens knows he couldn’t forget you.

A sudden loud crash had Azul bolting upright, his features twisting in annoyance. As far as he knew, the only ones in the lounge were Jade and Floyd… which could only mean one thing. 

Trouble.

“Those two morons…” Azul gritted his teeth, standing from his chair, “If I catch the lounge in a disarray again…”

He grabbed his jacket, tossing it over his shoulders, before placing his hat upon his head, the magestone pen morphing into the headwarden’s silver octopus topped cane. He hurried from his office and headed into the lounge.

Entering the lounge, Azul’s eyes widened at the sight.

The lounge was damaged - several tables and chairs were overturned, marred by huge cracks and scratches while lamps lay in pieces on the floor, the glass orbs scattered into a thousand fragments on the carpeted flooring and the magestones cracked and shattered as well. Azul’s eyes narrowed on Jade and Floyd’s figures, but realized they weren’t alone after all. Several students from the Scarabia dorm were there as well, their wands out and at the ready - pointing them at Jade and Floyd, who seemed to be guarding something on the floor.

Azul’s eyes widened in surprise at seeing Kalim’s magic carpet as well as Grim hiding behind the remaining two members of Octavinelle - and they weren’t alone.

You were there as well, cowering behind Jade and Floyd’s intimidating heights as the Scarabia students glared daggers at you.

“There’s no escape for you now, thieves!” 

“Surrender quietly!”

“Mrow?!” Grim held his paws up, “You chased us all the way here?! You guys are seriously stubborn, you know that?”

Azul remained quiet for a moment, his eyes shifting to look you over - noticing how you had one arm close to your body. Were you hurt?

Azul’s eyes narrowed as he approached, his shoes echoing in the lounge as his stern voice addressed the situation, “What is all the commotion at this late hour?”

The students turned to look at Azul, one of them speaking quietly, “Y-you’re… Azul Ashengrotto, the housewarden of Octavinelle!”

“Would you care to explain what is going on?” Azul asked calmly, moving to stand in front of you with Jade and Floyd behind him.

“It’s none of Octavinelle’s business,” another student tsked, “Just hand over the two of them quietly.”

Azul crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head as he eyed you and Grim out of the corner of his eye, “Now that I’m looking closer at it - it appears to be (Y/N) and Grim sprawled out on our floor, quivering and covered in dust. Heh - I almost thought they were a pair of dust cloths.”

“Azul, please,” Azul met your gaze, “save us with your spirit of benevolence.”

“Hmm…” Azul turned back to the group of Scarabia before him.

“If you refuse to hand them over, you’ll be blamed for their wrongdoings as well,” the student warned.

“Hey - are ya yankin’ my tail here?!” Floyd’s eyes widened dangerously, his teeth peering out from behind his lips, “Who do ya think yer talkin’ to?!”

“No fighting of any kind is permitted in the Monstro Lounge,” Azul kept his arms crossed over his chest, his focus reshifting to address the situation at hand, “This is a place for gentlemen.”

“What was that? Are you interfering?” one of the students asked, “Fine, we’ll just do this the hard way.”

“Hmph, I think it’s time we asked these ill-mannered patrons to leave,” Azul growled, clicking his tongue in annoyance, “Jade. Floyd. Show them the door.”

The eel twins grinned as they moved quickly, going after the Scarabia students like the set of predators that they were. Azul was quick to move and cover (Y/N), his overcoat covering your form to protect you from the fighting, “Don’t look, my dear, I do not wish for you to see such behavior.”

“Azul - I’ve seen worse,” your voice rattled him to the core as he huffed.

“I... don’t need the reminder.”

It didn’t take long for the Scarabia students to fall back, Jade and Floyd repocketing their pens.

“Go on an’ scatter, ya bunch of minnows!” Floyd laughed eagerly.

“We’ll be eagerly awaiting your next visit to our lounge,” Jade smiled.

As the last of the students disappeared, Grim jumped for joy, “Mya-haha! We did it! You see that?! That’s what you get, you bunch of jerks!”

“We, Grim? I think you mean they - Floyd and Jade - did it,” you ask before shaking your head and turning toward the trio, “Thank you, all three of you - I don’t want to think what they would’ve done if you hadn’t stepped in.”

“Thanks are unneeded, my dear,” Azul answered, standing and offering his hand, “However, I’m afraid we’ll have to bill you for repair fees for the tables and chairs - not to mention the lamps and assorted dishwear that was damaged in that fight. Not to mention our own labor rates, since we were dragged into this affair.”

“WHAT?! You’re charging us for that?!” Grim asked, throwing his paws up in the air.

“Surely it’s a small price to pay for us rescuing the both of you from the inky depths of peril? After all, (Y/N) did ask for my spirit of benevolence.”

“Azul, please,” you asked quietly, “There’s a reason that the Scarabia students were after us.”

“I’m assuming it has something to do with Kalim’s magic carpet.”

“... Not really,” you answer, “We were being held hostage.”

Azul frowned, not liking the word one bit, “Explain, (Y/N).”

***

Azul muddled over what you had just told him, Grim piping up every so often to include details about the Scarabia situation to add more information as the cunning octopus thought deeply. As Azul thought, his eyes kept shifting to you, his thoughts going deeper into self-loathing; if you had remained in Octavinelle, none of this would have happened - you would’ve been safe, not having to walk to an oasis down and back again every morning before even eating, or sleeping in a closet under lock and key, or even doing battles with other students of magic when you couldn’t even cast a spell yourself.

His poor little angelfish…

Azul’s eyes widened, an idea appearing in his mind… a chance of a lifetime had just been given to him and he would be damned to let it go to waste.

A knowning smile spread across his features, “...It sounds like we should go to their aid.”

“Myra?! Did you hit your head or something when I wasn’t looking?!” Grim asked.

“Of course not!” Azul feigned harm, lifting his gloved hand to his chest, “I’ll have you know, my dear Grimmy, that the last incident forced me to reflect on my greed. I came out a changed man!”

“Oh, really?” You asked, folding your arms across your chest, “Care to explain?”

“I decided to contribute to the school as a whole, in honor of the Sea Witch’s spirit of benevolence,” Azul explained, his features turning coy, “It’s common knowledge that the housewardens are typically the ones their students go to in times of need or struggle - even the vice wardens are responsible for that as well. However, the power has to be shared equally between both the house and vice wardens - and Scarabia’s all over the place. It’s faced with a crisis now and my own classmate is in need of help - I can hardly ignore them in their time of need.”

You watched Jade and Floyd give each other knowing smiles before the twins looked at Azul, Jade asking, “What is the plan?”

“Here’s my idea,” Azul proposed, “The five of us head to Scarabia tomorrow - we’ll go under the guise that we are returning Kalim’s carpet as well as offering assistance with the dorm’s studies, this will ensure our stay especially since Octavinelle did overwhelmingly well on their finals before break…”

“No thanks to your study guides,” Grim huffed.

“Grim,” You warned.

Azul coughed and continued, “Once we’ve secured our spot within Scarabia, we’ll be able to do a bit of sneaking around to figure out what’s really going on.”

“And I’m assuming you have an idea on how to do so?” Jade asked.

“Let’s get to that point before we make any rash decisions,” Azul answered.

“I think that is a wonderful idea,” you agreed.

“(Y/N)?! Are you crazy?!” Grim asked, “We can’t go back there!”

“Grim, we really have no other options,” you turned to the feline demon, “We’ve tried contacting the Headmage, the other students can’t get into the school because the dark mirror is closed off, we have no way of contacting Riddle or Leona either… Azul’s plan is the best we have right now. Personally, I’d rather not go back, but with the way things are looking for Kalim…”

“You’re afraid there’s going to be another overblot, aren’t you, pearl?” Jade asked.

Azul blinked, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. Yes, Kalim’s behavior was erratic, but it couldn’t be enough for the headwarden to go into an overblot… would it?

“I’m afraid so,” you admit, looking over at Azul, “I noticed that… when things got a little out of control, someone overblotted. I can’t bare to see another student go through that, much less a housewarden again. I’d like to try and prevent it from happening again, if possible.”

Azul nodded, “No worries, angelfish - I’ll make sure mine was the last one you saw.”

You give the housewarden a small smile of relief - thankful that he seemed to understand.

Azul remembered during his blot how the memories of his childhood came forward; the root cause of his pain and suffering that eventually became his thirst for power that festered and grew until it snapped - and you had seen it all. Whatever this strange magical gift was and how you received it, Azul was certain that it was your own form of unique magic - one that was so powerful that it may even make Malleus Draconia afraid if he knew about it; the power to look into one’s past and see everything that shaped them into who they eventually became was strong powerful magic indeed - but, of course, Azul didn’t want anyone else to know about it, considering he was victim number three to the overblot crisis that appeared to be happening this year.

Azul reaches out, offering his hand to you, “(Y/N), as headwarden of Octavinelle - allow myself and Jade and Floyd to help you and Grim solve the mystery of Kalim’s strange behavior. I’m certain the five of us plus Jamil will be able to ease Kalim’s troubles and bring back the peace Scarabia so desperately needs. Do we have a deal?”

You look at his hand, the memory of the first day you met him and the day you lost your legs both playing in your mind - but what choice did you have? You look at him and take his hand, squeezing it.

“Promise - this will make us even?”

“Indeed. I promise.”

[dduane]

Meanwhile, on the digital art side...

All the Middle Kingdoms maps for lo, these many years have been adaptations of one or another of the very old original landscape-oriented line art maps. (I'm still wondering why none of the editors ever asked for a portrait-format one, as better suited to the printed page. Except that by the time the series reached a major publisher, it was just finishing up the third volume of the main sequence, and they most likely thought ehh, nobody'll care... as maps were going out of vogue.)

Anyway, this version's a bit of a chimera—a compromise among several graphics styles and newer maps generated over the last few years. But at least it gives an accurate sense of the terrain, and of where things are in relation to one another, until I can get to grips with the World Creator software that'll let me rebuild the terrain, and its mapping, from the ground up. (So to speak.)

As a result, this map will for the time being be going out with the Ebooks Direct ebook editions of the MK books, when I have time to pull each one of them back into the machine to add it. (For the print versions, I have to consider whether to go greyscale on this one, or just back-engineer a line art version. Once I have a few minutes to rub together to start work on the reconstruction of this landscape in World Creator, I'll be better able to make a call on this.)

The map above also now appears in the just-refreshed version of Tales of the Five #1: The Levin-Gad. Tl:dr; I was recently rereading this work as research for something else and spotted a really obvious issue that needed to be fixed—a bit of character business. That discovery triggered a mini-edit of the novelette novella. (Why the hell can I not keep the relative lengths of "novelette" and "novella" straight? FFS.) Nothing major, but I wound up making revisions to a scene that needed adjustment so that things would wind up properly.

Anyway, if you've already purchased this particular work from Ebooks Direct, either on its own or as part of a bundle—such as the Whole Store Bundle or the 2023 Pride Package—and you'd like the revised edition of TOTF1, just drop a note to the store's support address and we'll send you a download link in a day or two.*

Thanks, all!

*Free, of course. It's not like we're funding a space program or anything. ;)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not comforting a child after her science project didn't work?

( 💞💥 to find)

Okay this was a while ago but I still think about it sometimes and I'm genuinely unsure of if I did the right thinh.

So I (15F at the time) was a part of a science league thing facilitated by my school. Basically, you would meet after school once a week to study/work on projects, and then go to a competition in the spring against other schools. There were a bunch of different categories and activities but they were primarily separated into ones you had to study for (and would then take a test on) or build for (like a wheeled vehicle or a model plane, which would be graded). It was really fun and low-key compared to the sports programs at my school, so I liked it a lot.

A friend of mine, who we'll call S (15F) was also in the science league. We did a lot of study based competitions together, and usually placed in the competitions. During our third year, her youngest sister, M (12ish), joined the league. She was a really sweet and smart kid, and she was interested in trying a building based event. You needed two people to enter an event, so I volunteered to build a marble rollercoaster with her. M also grouped up with a girl in her grade for another building project (I think it was a plane).

Because M was doing two building events (which were predictably a lot more time consuming than the study events) and the school musical, we agreed I would create the plans for the rollercoaster and get the materials together. Now, each building events came with a printed copy of parameters and optional features that could get us bonus points. I decided on attempting for three bonus features (two jumps and a loop). Between designing on paper, adapting for the parameters, measuring out the track lengths, and gathering materials (that of which I had to switch out half way through), the whole process took me about four months to complete, and that was just the planning. We were getting pretty close to the competition date when we started to actually assemble the damn thing (at this point she had finished up her other stuff and was able to help me more consistently), and we were having a lot of issues with getting the track pieces to fit together. As I remember it, the problem came from having to fold the track over a bunch of times so it would stay in the 30cm-somethingish width parameter. The Thursday before the competition (which was in Saturday), M volunteered to take the coaster home and finish it there. I was honestly so relieved when she said this, because I knew through S that her dad was really handy, and like mini trebuchets and stuff for fun.

Flash forward to the event, when we're boarding the bus going to the school hosting the competition. She gets on with a cardboard box, and excitedly shows me a marble rollercoaster that is absolutely not what she left with at all. For reference, the original plan for the coaster was made of pvc pipe, which I spent around three weeks measuring out and cutting with a band saw in the shop room. This rollercoaster was two pieces of plywood with tinfoil tracks that you leaned against the cardboard box she was carrying it in. She hadn't included any of the extra features I had implemented to get us extra points. While I was shocked and admittedly pretty pissed I didn't say anything because she was a) a kid and b) I assumed that there was probably some issue that had arisen in testing that necessitated the changes. When we went to impound she struggled a lot with setting it up and the three pieces weren't attached with anything and were literally just leaning against each other. At this point it was also visually obvious that the width want way beyond 30 cms, and when the judges came around to measure, it turned out that it was above the allotted height too. M was looking really nervous about now, so I assured her that most of the time, the marbles don't even make it down the coaster tracks, and as long as our marble makes it to the end we should be able to place. Except, when it came time to release our marble, it moved for about three seconds before getting stuck in the tinfoil. We were allowed to try two more times, and it got stuck in the same place each time.

M was very visibly upset, and looking back I think she was on the verge of tears. It can't really remember what I said; I know I didn't say anything malicious or accusatory, though. Honestly, I think I might have just stood there in silence, because I was honestly really fucking angry that she ditched my design for no apparent reason and didn't bother to check any of the available rules or even test her design. But I don't think that anger justified leaving a little kid without support when she was upset.

tldr: When I was a teenager I didn't comfort my friends little sister after our marble rollercoaster didn't work because she had ditched the design I had made for one that broke parameters.

[rubyroboticalt]

QBLR QUARTERLY WEEK 2!

Minecrafters grab your pickaxes, and catch up on the QBLR QUATERLY! What's up guys, update just dropped! It sure is something to try and decipher, huh. We've got pages of new stuff to go over, so let's catch up on all the events and mishaps that happened on the server this week!

Desnay finishes his base, and Perrito has a concert!

A new emote touches the server, it's the purple guy stand emote. Surely, nothing can go wrong with that emote and so many creatures around.

Smashing last week's record, Cheez logs a total of just under four full 24-hour days on the server. It has been up for 9 days. Does this man sleep? Eat? Stretch maybe?

All this just in time for a special server event! The dark magician who clears dropped items every 15 minutes gathers up all the creatures running around the island, and distributes them to groups of carers! This goes about as well as you'd think for a server of people in the prime age to develop baby fever over a voxel egg.

And for folks who would rather remain childfree, no need for concern! Planned Parenthood opens a clinic on the server where both reproductive health and world hunger concerns can be addressed. Any unwilling parents can pick up an Abortion In A Bottle free of charge!

Of course, there are plenty of folks who have other ventures going on, including the theatre kids' first outpost on the server, and some autistic minecraft behaviors. No, I mean some really autistic minecraft behaviors. This is impressive.

The theme of this week's builds is farms! A lovely community farm where everyone on the server is coming together to create a seed vault and garden that anyone can take a seed from if they're missing a plant.

And of course, there are plenty of new seeds and plants found and collected by the several intrepid world border expeditions! All four borders were reached this week. The border is 30k x 30k in length and width.

If you thought there was only one server event this week, you'd be wrong! Due to timezones and lag reasons, a second creature event was planned and held a day after the original! This event came with complementary drugs!

With two creature events down, the creatures start settling into their new homes and bonding with their new carers. Some creatures are kept in utmost safety, and others partake in activities that perhaps a creature should not be partaking in. As of yet, there are no family vloggers on the server, so that's a win.

While Nightmare Stalkers are nightmarish as the name suggests for the first few nights of having such vulnerable creaturess around, they quickly become nothing more than a regular nuisance. As such, traps and poisons to dispatch them swiftly are set up around the server.

But wait, there's more! That's right it's a third creature event batch! The final group of creatures are assigned carers and begin to settle in.

With all these creatures now assigned, a creature task system begins to be implemented, and carers take photos of the tasks with their creatures to earn tokens. These tokens ARE valuable.

Otherwise, all the creatures begin to make their mark on the world, with players also building many important venues and farms for the server. This includes the server's XP farm, a mob farm designed for lag easing while still providing XP.

And, of course, there are shenanigans aplenty with creatures and residents alike, including picnics, pole dance classes, abyss exploration, and the birth of G-dzilla.

And the second week of the server is aborted peacefully.

[khytal]

I’ve been meaning to write about this since ep12 aired but I haven’t had time until now. I'm sure someone's already brought it up by this point but I wanted to put it into my own words, so here I am :]

I’m gonna talk about the “plant song”, as it’s called in stampede’s soundtrack: an 8-bar motif that comes up in several songs in the ost (but I’ll only be going through 3 of them + some other things)

*I consider "common front"/"trigun stampede" to be vash's main theme, rather than "vash the stampede" (more on this later)

it's used (or not, in one case) in some very interesting ways, which have interesting implications :)

I'm referencing track 28 from vol2 of the ost, "plant song on erhu", as the base that I'm comparing the other songs to. aside from some stylistic ornamentation, it's just the 8-bar melody on its own (which I've transcribed in the above image). this is also currently the only version of the song in the soundtrack that features this melody as a solo, with no other instruments.

some notes before I get into it:

-for my sake, I refer to "common front" as vash's theme in this post x) I know it's a shorter version of "trigun stampede" (they're the same song), but the track title makes it easier for me to associate it with vash so I'll be using that instead of "trigun stampede". the titles are more or less interchangeable though

-the rests in measures 3-4 and 7-8 in the transcription for "bio-power reactor" and "common front" don't exist in the songs themselves. I inserted them so that the corresponding parts line up with when they occur in the plant song

-the excerpt from "bio-power reactor" is a diminution (note lengths were cut in half) to make the comparison easier to see

-in "common front" 's case, the transcription isn't entirely accurate but it's more about the notes than the rhythm u-u)b

-this motif is heard in more than just these 3 songs, but about a third of the ost recycles sections from other songs (ex.: "vash the stampede" is just "the jeneora rock resistance" and "trigun stampede" stitched together), so I picked the ones I felt were like "source" songs. since this is about plants, I only had to look for the tracks that were most representative of the twins and the plants themselves

-knives has like 7 different versions of his theme (including the piano/duet ones) but they're all more or less the same so. yeah. I referenced the vocal version in vol2 since it emphasizes the plant song as the melody, and has a slight variation

-I don't talk about the duet here since it's pretty clear that it's for both vash and knives, and it's just a fancy version of the plant song. not much to analyze about it for this post

-I did annotate the music I transcribed, but no knowledge of music terminology is necessary to understand it. it's all pattern recognition, and I mostly just highlighted where the similarities and differences were

-please don't take any of my interpretations as fact, I just thought it'd be cool to point out the motif. you're more than welcome to have your own interpretations using the transcriptions I've included ^^

okay here we go :)

-the songs are listed by how closely they resemble the original plant song, with "millions knives" (and any other related themes) being nearly identical and "common front"'s excerpt being something barely recognizable as the plant song

-"millions knives" has this motif everywhere. you could say it's representative of him being in tune with his identity as an independent plant. or almost like he represents the plants--oh wait, he does (self-proclaimed, but that's irrelevant here)

-almost every time the plant song is heard, knives is there/involved. prior to ep12's implication that it comes from the plants (and the ost outright confirming this), it wouldn't be odd to assume that it's his theme; that's how frequently it pops up. and it's even more obvious in the soundtrack..........except it might as well be his theme, despite its origins lying with the plant race

basically: *knives voice* my theme now

-even though "bio-power reactor" refers to the plants, their song is barely present in the track (it's heard at the beginning and end). kinda sorta makes it feel like a transference of the theme to knives. like the plants are just vibing (they are, mostly) while knives is taking the reins (he is, mostly)

-the reason the track "vash the stampede" isn't part of this is because the plant song is nowhere to be found in it. while it does use "trigun stampede"/"common front", it doesn't have the part that I transcribed

(if you really want to read into this, you could consider the motif's absence a reference to vash being more akin to a human than a plant. I can't say whether this was intentional or not though, considering "vash the stampede" is just a mix of 2 pre-existing songs and has no melodies unique to it)

[-feel free to skip this tangent: "common front"/"trigun stampede" stands out to me because the lyrics are more about vash than the track that's literally named after him (which isn't even an original composition for some reason):

"here I come, here I come any enemy is powerless in front of me here I come, here I come, keep anybody that get(s) in my way, away from me

get everybody involved like a typhoon pull the trigger, shoot down [on a/on the/'nother?] full moon can't you see what I'm [hiding/having?] in my hands call me vash the stampede, and feel love and peace"

not that "jeneora rock resistance" 's lyrics aren't about vash, but I think it's odd that "vash the stampede" doesn't use the lyrics from "trigun stampede" beyond the initial "here I come, there is no one anywhere who is a match for me"]

-"common front" is vash's main theme to me, since it references the plant song while also being about vash himself. it describes vash as he is amongst humans, with the motif serving as an acknowledgment of his race without overpowering the rest of the song (unlike with knives, where it's nearly constant and makes up the core of his theme. if this was intentional on the composer's part, it's very clever)

-the bit I transcribed from "common front" is from the part in the middle that features a flute solo (1:17-1:26; or 1:36-1:45 in "trigun stampede"). you can also hear this in the low brass around 2:27 of "millions knives", where it follows the same pattern as the section in "common front". it looks like this (written as it's heard, without the 2 measures of rest I added):

"millions knives" and this fragment from "common front" are both in the key of b minor ("common front" starts in d minor and briefly modulates to b minor before going back to d minor)

personally I like that knives's variation is grand/drawn out, while vash's is played freely. it highlights their personalities, though we don't really get to see much of vash being "free" in stampede

-there's a very short call and response bit in ep12, where vash sings the first 2 bars to the plants and they sing back to him:

nothing specific to write about here but vash's "La"'s in the jp dub are more articulated because of how japanese people pronounce the "L" sound; whereas jyb's articulation is much softer/barely noticeable (though he sings the 2nd measure with 1 "la" instead of articulating each new note. also his F# was a little flat but like. don't take that as an actual criticism lmao I just have a really good ear)

I don't know why the plants' responses are unique between the two dubs, but I thought it'd be cool to transcribe that part as well. the rhythms were a little hard to pin down since they're sung freely so idk if it's accurate but I know the notes are right x)

-I'm guessing the dub's VA for young vash couldn't sing the C so they cut it and had them start a beat later to compensate and match the lip flaps:

not a significant difference, since the altered part exists in the plant song so it doesn't stand out unless you're listening for it (like I was), but yeah. there you have it

(-I'm sure people know this by now but I figured I'd mention it anyway since I'm talking about it. the reason "knives" asks vash what he's humming in the flashback is because it was rem who asked him that in the original memory. the song seems to be something that all plants know instinctively, so knives should've known what it was. and this discrepancy is part of what caused vash to become aware of himself again......which means knives screwed up his own plan x)

(I wonder if knives will ever talk about what the song means to him))

-when vash is poking at the piano keys at the end of ep12, he's just playing an octave (between a low and high Bb, but that isn't important). my guess is that he's trying to play the plant song, specifically starting at the octave that ties into the triplet, but for some reason he can't get any further than that.

I think he's reluctant to hear the song of his people, the one that made up the duet he and his brother used to play; the one that used to calm him down but may now instead only remind him of what he did/lost. maybe he's trying to reassure himself with the song, and is unable to with the weight it suddenly holds for him

(side note: the duet is in the key of a minor and no Bb's are played in it, so he's not trying to play either parts of the duet)

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

extra things I noticed that aren't very conclusive (so don't take them too seriously) but are still worth mentioning:

-these are also arranged from most to least similar

-........yeah I found the plant song in "tombi". the augmented triplets in the pre-chorus tipped me off. I'm pretty certain this is a coincidence though, since it's the only piece of the motif that I heard. I didn't look too much into it, but if "tombi" was written with stampede in mind and if kvi baba was asked to incorporate the plant song then. well. x) anyway I just wanted to point it out, coincidence or not

-knives's theme is here again but for the express purpose of being compared to "orphanage" of all things, because they're in the same key. this 2-bar excerpt plays from 0:18-0:22 in "orphanage", and it seems to be pulled from "millions knives"

the notes are split between 2 different instruments (3 if you count the piano chord reinforcing the A) but they form that exact phrase if you put them together and follow the main beats

which leads me to this point: knives's theme is in "orphanage" because he's linked to it through the eye of michael (again this is me reading deeply into the pattern, so I wouldn't say this was on purpose but if it was.....!)

-elendira's theme doesn't have the plant song in it; at least, not directly. she's actually the reason I ended up writing this whole post, because I wanted to know if the plant song was in her theme. and it's not. fascinating.

anyway this one's a HUGE stretch but I find it to be an interesting interpretation: the plant motif possibly being an inversion, as a way of saying she's neither plant nor human (as mentioned by dr conrad)

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

that's all I have to say about this! I hope it wasn't too confusing x') thank you for reading, if you made it this far. the plant song is pretty significant in stampede so I'm really looking forward to hearing how it's used in s2 o)-<

(if there's anything I missed or if you have any questions feel free to ask!)

[wehaveagathering]

Just curious, what was the skate like irl? Who didn’t even finish/ who did better than the rest??

Oh, I love you for this question. Buckle up.

First of all, I think there are a bunch of misconceptions about what 👹Tort's Rope👹 actually is and how it works. I had not a clue how it worked until today, and literally a week ago I thought Torts was tying ropes to hockey players and having them drag each other around the ice... Not how it works.

So, John Tortorella's bag skate. First, the rope is marked in large sections and tied between two goals, placed a little closer together than usual. The players are split up into 4 groups of approximately 4 players each and sent to the four corners of the rink. When Torts blows his whistle, one player from each group completes 4 laps of the goals and returns to their corner; the next player up is sent off on his own laps, and so on and so forth. Once each player in each group has completed his first four laps, the two goals are widened to a new length marked on the rope and the first player is back up. It's not a test of time or speed; it's a test of endurance.

(Those numbers are rough estimates based off of what I saw today — it could be three laps, and I don't know how many reps they did. The actual schedule says 3x8 Lap which is the technical term for 👹Tort's Rope👹 but I thought I saw four laps. Eight reps sounds about right, too. Whatever! The actual numbers don't matter too much.)

What matters is that the player completes his laps and returns to his origination point, no matter how tired he is. His teammates can give him a pat on the back, or some tips and pointers, or they can stare into the blank void of space and consider a new career path. Whatever it is, he has to finish. So "not finishing" isn't really an option unless someone throws up or passes out or dies. And no one did that — so technically, everyone finished.

Some people certainly had an easier time than others. I noticed that Michkov and Bonk struggled quite a bit, and Jamie didn't look too thrilled either.

Travis Ballinghoff.

Which kinda sucked, because I was really rooting for them. But holy shit, Michkov was struggling. Charlie O Connor actually said in the PHLY podcast today that he noticed Michkov kind of cut his final lap short at one point and that John Tortorella came over to him and was like yo. can't do that. And for the rest of the time he pulled through.

Egor Zamula kept getting yelled at. "Let's go, Z! Keep skating, Z!" He also kept getting lapped by Rasmus Ristolainen. Tyson Foerster had "kill me now" face (see Bonk above) but Foerster does tend to have a pretty expressive face. Sean Couturier kept getting help from TK, who skated right behind him for the most part and kept pushing him forward with his stick. He even admitted it.

It seemed to me that most of the guys from last year, the returning ones, were the ones that did the best. Farabee, Frost, Tippett, Hathaway, Poehling, Laughton — they all had a routine in between their laps that they used to help keep them going, whether it was motivatinal or physiological or psychological. Farabee and Hathaway skated up and down the rope, in the center of the lapping players. Tippett stretched on the boards. (He's flexible. 👀)

It was interesting to watch who was fast, though. Ronnie Attard looked like he was having the time of his fucking life, and he actually did very well! Carter Sotheran has resting happy face, but I can't imagine he was having any fun. Jett Luchanko was certainly winded, but pulled through with minimal painful expressions. (Erik Johnson went on the record to say Luchanko looked like he didn't even have to try.) Zayde Wisdom, Noah Cates and Cam York all paced themselves well. But everyone, no matter who it was, was slowing down by the second or third rep — very visibly. It looked awful.

And then — and then! — they had to do shuttles. This one was in groups of four — started at one end, raced to the other end, tight turn, back to the original spot. Then a group of four at the opposite end, who were waiting, would do the same, and the small groups would switch off. They must have done at least five reps. No one fared well on these. No one. They were all lagging by the second rep.

Anyway, to answer your question, it was loud, and it was cold, and hockey players are big. The tallest ones were like hovering a foot over me (looking at you, Matteo Mann, what the fuck are you so tall for??) and even Michkov at 5'11 looked fucking ginormous. And his group was right near me — him, Frost, Seeler, and Lycksell. Frost was tiring but I could see him grit his teeth and grind out his laps. I assume after the emotional pain of John Tortorella, Frosty can handle the physical pain too. After one of his laps was done he gave Michkov a lil side hug. It was really cute!

Travis Ballinghoff.

Off topic, but stick "taps" — that's bad nomenclature, right there. A stick "tap" at the Vorhees TC sounds like a car backfiring.

At the end of every group's torture, they settled down for a circle stretch. TK went around the first one talking to guys and grinning and laughing. He looked like a leader. The second one Joel was going around making every guy give him a little fistbump. Then the third one was actually led by Spencer Gill, who I thought had done reasonably well, especially for having only just been drafted. He held his own.

Thank you for the ask!