#and i figured i'd start with this one since i FINALLY got to start putting words on the page for illbringthestrap69420 again

[nooomagnus]

Last Line Meme

Tagged by @accidentallyadorable like 6 months ago :) thank u <3

Rules: In a new post, show the last line you wrote and tag as many people as there are words.

Which was to say, she felt absolutely frigging incredible, and had done a prodigious amount of jerking off.

this is too many words so i'll tag: @nepenthean-sleep @theriverbeyond @valancietrinit @nose-coffee @once-a-polecat @goodmorningnona and YOU if you are seeing this and want to do it PLEASE do it i want to know what you're writing!

[emakataken]

The hospital nursery was quiet. A single monitor beeped gently in the corner. The baby, a little over five pounds slept in a bassinet lined with a soft blue blanket, arms swaddled tight, face scrunched as he suckled in his sleep.

Tommy stood at the foot of his tiny warm crib, unmoving.

His hands were stuffed deep in the pockets of his jacket, shoulders tight. There was soot still streaked faintly behind his ear, a reminder of the shift he'd barely made it through before his world tilted sideways.

He hadn't moved since the nurse led him in.

The door behind him clicked open. "Tommy?"

Evan's voice was soft, unsure.

Tommy didn't turn. Just blinked hard and nodded once.

Evan stepped up beside him, his face drawn in concern, still dressed in work clothes, hair mussed like he'd run a hand through it too many times on the drive over.

"You okay?" he asked, eyes flicking from Tommy to the sleeping newborn. "You said it was urgent."

Tommy swallowed hard. "It is."

They stood in silence for a moment. The kind that stretches and stretches until it thins into tension.

Evan glanced at the baby again, then back to Tommy. "Whose kid is that?" he asked, careful but curious.

Tommy's voice was hoarse. "My nephew."

"Wait. What?" Evan's voice cracked.

Tommy pauses, his mind skimming backwards, trying to remember if he had ever told Evan of his sister. Once, maybe a year ago when they first got together. "His name's not even written down yet," Tommy said, eyes fixed on the bassinet. "He's four days old. Five and half pounds. Born early. And... he doesn't have anyone."

Tommy's shoulders drew tighter. "Jerry, the social worker. He's the one who found me and brought Eliza letter... she signed over her rights. Left the hospital. Named me."

Evan turned toward him, the pieces starting to align. "Eliza?"

Tommy nodded, finally glancing over. "My sister. I haven't seen her in nearly a decade. I looked for her for years... and then she just, disappears. Until now. And this..." He gestured toward the bassinet. "This is what she left me."

Evan didn't respond right away.

His gaze shifted from Tommy's face back to the baby. He took a slow breath, like he was recalibrating.

Tommy's voice dropped, nearly breaking. "We never talked about children."

Evan looked at him, really looked at the red-rimmed eyes, the clenched jaw, the way he stood like he might shatter, was waiting to shatter. That this would be the moment that Evan decided he was too much.

"No," Evan agreed softly. "We haven't."

Tommy exhaled shakily and turned back toward the baby, his voice cracking. "I didn't think I'd ever get to have that. A family. Not really. Not after everything. Not with how I was raised. Now, it's not even a choice. It's just here." He dragged a hand down his face. "I don't even have a crib."

Evan reached out, fingers brushing his elbow. "You have a home," he said quietly. "And you have a heart big enough to say yes. That's more than a lot of kids get."

Tommy didn't answer. His hands trembled slightly.

He pressed his knuckles to his mouth and shook his head. "I don't know if I can do this. Not without screwing it up. Not without breaking something."

Evan stepped a little closer. "Then we'll figure it out. Together."

Tommy nodded slowly, but the words didn't ease the tension in his chest. If anything, they made the weight heavier. "There's more," he said, voice barely audible. Like speaking it might crack something open he couldn't put back.

Evan went still beside him.

"There are two others," Tommy continued. "Levi Thomas and Lila Grace. Eight and five." He swallowed hard, breath shuddering on the way out. "They've been in foster care almost two years. I didn't even know. Not a single word for nine years. Not a letter. Not a call. Just... a letter. A plea to keep them away from our parents."

He blinked hard, his throat working. "I didn't even know they existed. And now, they're mine. Or they could be. All of them." The words came out rough, like they hurt on the way up. Like they weren't ready to exist in the world yet.

Evan didn't interrupt. He watched Tommy carefully, his posture shifting. Like something in him was bracing, uncertain. Like some part of him still remembered the cracks between them, the fault lines they were barely learning how to navigate. His face twisting into the guarded cautiousness their breakup had caused.

It sent an ache through Tommy's ribs. But he kept going, because he had to. Because if he stopped now, he wouldn't be able to start again. "I'm a pilot for the LAFD with fucked hours and I haven't even looked at half my childhood, let alone dealt with it. I mean, I'm trying, have been for years." He let out a bitter, quiet laugh that didn't sound like a laugh at all. "I mean, who the fuck thought this was a good idea?"

He shook his head, jaw tight.

"What if I'm not enough?" His voice cracked. "What if I can't do it right? What if I break something in them that can't be fixed?" His eyes flicked toward the sleeping baby, then to Evan just for a moment.

Long enough for the truth to land in the open space between them. "Who the hell would entrust this tiny, amazing little human to me?"

The silence held for a breath just long enough to feel like his universe might implode. Then Evan stepped in, closer, his voice going firm in away Tommy's rarely heard, "You are."

Tommy looked at him, stunned by the certainty he found laced in those two little words.

Evan's voice stayed low, steady. "And you're not alone." The words fell between them like a promise.

A truth. He let it sit for a second. "Let's just get through tonight, okay? One step at a time."

Tommy huffed a laugh that sounded like a muffled sob. "Yeah," he said, voice thick. "Okay."

"Tonight we'll go home," Evan said, glancing at him, "we'll eat something warm, we'll collapse into your bed. And tomorrow... tomorrow we call that guy again. What's his name, Gary?"

Tommy shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly despite everything. "Jerry."

"Right. Jerry." Evan smiled, a little crooked. "Tomorrow we'll ask more questions. We'll start an Amazon order."

Tommy nodded. But his eyes had drifted back to the baby again, and his chest pulled tight all over again.

Evan followed his gaze. "He needs a name?"

Tommy nodded slowly. "Eliza said... she wanted me to pick it."

Before either of them could say anything more, there was a soft knock at the door. A nurse stepped in, calm and kind, her smile small but warm. "If one of you would like to hold him," she offered. "You may."

Tommy froze, like the words hit a fault line in his chest. His body tensed, like he wasn't sure if he could trust himself but his gaze followed Evan.

Evan who didn't hesitate. He stepped forward without looking back, without asking, without waiting to be told he could.

The nurse swaddled the baby a little tighter, then carefully placed the small bundle into Evan's arms.

And something inside Evan shifted the moment the weight settled against his chest. His shoulders relaxed. His breath evened. His entire body seemed to soften, like he'd just been handed something that made his entire life make sense.

He looked down at the baby, eyes wide with wonder.

"Hey, little fella," Evan whispered, instinctively rocking. His voice soft with love, "You're small little guy, huh? We're gonna need to increase your protein intake, bulk you up a bit, bubba."

The baby made a tiny sound, a breathy sigh. Evan's expression lit up like someone had flipped a switch in him. Like something in his heart had just clicked into place.

Tommy watched him, unmoving. His heart was still aching and heavy and twisted in fear but underneath it, something bloomed. Something tender. Something that felt like maybe, just maybe, this wasn't a mistake.

"He's so little," Evan murmured, glancing over his shoulder, beaming. "How is he so little?"

Tommy smiled faintly, voice cracking at the edges.

"Luke?"

Evan wrinkled his nose. "No."

Tommy tried again. "Lincoln?"

Evan gave him a look. "After the hot guy in the pub? Absolutely not."

Tommy laughed. For real this time-small and rough, but real. "Okay. Liam?"

Evan went quiet. His eyes dropped back to the baby. He swayed slowly, "Yeah," he said softly. "Liam."

He adjusted his grip, pulling the baby in a little closer like he belonged there, in his arms. Like the tiny bundle hadn't upended their life. "Liam Robert Kinard."

Tommy blinked, startled by the certainty. "Robert?" Evan still didn't look away from the baby. "After Bobby. Liam's big brother Levi was named after the best man Eliza ever knew. I just... figured I'd keep with the theme."

Tommy's breath caught. He stepped forward and gently rested a hand against Evan's back, watching the tiny rise and fall of each breath of the babe in his arms. "You're a good man," he said, voice low and thick and full of everything he couldn't put into words.

Evan finally looked up at him, eyes shining but steady. "Let's just try to be good enough for him."

Tommy stared at the two of them, this man who hadn't flinched, and this baby who had no idea how lucky he already was. "Welcome to the world, Liam Robert Kinard," he whispered.

[suguboos]

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

after countless empty promises spilled from his lips, you wanted to believe that he’d show up to your anniversary of all things.

FEATURING: toji fushiguro x wife! reader

CONTENTS: non canon compliant/au, marriage problems, talks of divorce, angst, smut, porn w/out plot rly, unprotected p in v, cunnilingus, fingering, spanking, doggy, missionary against a wall, pet names (ma, princess, etc.)

WORD COUNT: 4.9k

AUTHOR’S NOTE: repost bc i need this dilf in my bed rn 😞

"I'll make it home to you by six, mama. Take you out on a nice date, get you some flowers, all that stuff you like. Promise."

The clock was nearing eight o'clock with no signs of Toji coming through the door anytime soon, your own patience starting to run out with every tick. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. The sound echoed through your ears since you'd sat down on the leather couch nearly two hours ago, waiting for Toji to fulfill the promise. A promise that he'd made after flaking out on the date planned prior to that one.

And prior to that one. And prior. It'd been more missed dates than actual ones that he'd taken you out by now—you weren't exactly sure why you'd hoped for tonight to be different. Well, you knew exactly why. Today marked three years of being married to one another. You knew that he didn't prioritize date nights with you as much as he should, but you had held some sort of foolish hope that your anniversary would mean something—anything to him.

The divorce papers felt like a dead weight in your hand, much like how your relationship would be the second that you brought it up. It all just seemed so final, seeing the terms laid out that would end years of marriage. Just by the flick of a pen. But the idea was almost like a reprieve, like something that was worth looking forward to. You shook your head, getting up from the couch to set the stack of papers on the kitchen table where Toji wouldn't miss them.

Another half hour of eerie silence and Toji still hadn't come through the door. It was getting increasingly difficult to keep some semblance of hope that he'd even show up at all, much less for your date. You admitted defeat, slipping off your heels and pulling up a throw blanket over yourself. Succumbing to the sleep that was weighing down on your eyelids.

You weren't even sure how much time had passed when you heard the door swing open, the door hitting the wall from the force. The thud of his shoes hitting the tile followed, a grumble leaving Toji's lips. "Fuckin' bastards rigged that race. Robbed me of fifty bucks," he muttered to himself, slipping his coat off before placing it up on the coat rack.

"You're home late," you called out, watching as Toji turned to look at the couch before flicking on one of the living room lights. "Jesus woman, you scared me," he grumbled, a large hand resting by his chest as he looked over in your direction. Toji rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion lingering on his face like a second skin. It was only then that he looked over at you, really looked at you, and what you were wearing.

Ah shit.

Almost as if he wanted to make the situation worse, he'd chosen to go with, "You got all dolled up just to fall asleep on the couch?" You could've sworn you felt your eye twitch at the question. He'd barely opened up his mouth and you were already wishing that he didn't even bother showing up for the night.

Toji knew he was in deep shit with each step he took into the living room, his mind already starting to work overdrive to figure out what he could do for what he'd missed. A date? No, you wouldn't have put on the very expensive pair of Louboutins for just any date. His mind was blanking on anything other than the numbers that he'd lost with earlier in the day. Come on, think.

"No, I got dolled up because I thought I'd be going out with my husband tonight," you retorted dryly, smudges of eyeshadow sticking to your hand when you went to rub at your eyes. You could see Toji's brows furrow, the wheels seeming to turn in his head for once, before a look of realization settled on his features.

"Look, I'm sorry. I got carried away at the casino," one of the many excuses you'd heard before coming back to bite you in the ass. The same excuse that he'd used last month when he forgot about a work party you'd mentioned to him. Which wouldn't have been too bad if it weren't for all the snide comments being whispered in your direction and all the unwarranted marriage advice.

Advice that you ended up forgetting about chugging down two glasses of tequila like water. "I'll make it up to you, I swear. You can pick the place and all that shit." There went another one. He'd really topped himself using the two of them in a row. You rubbed the bridge of your nose, looking over at him in disbelief. "Do you even know what today was? Why I'm so pissed off?"

"It's your birthday?" Toji spoke after a couple seconds, the answer clearly wrong just by the look on his face. You rubbed a hand over your face, standing up from your spot on the couch. "It's our wedding anniversary, Toji," you spoke up before he made another guess that would just piss you off even further, "And I have something I need to talk to you about. It's on the kitchen table."

Underneath the vase filled with wilted flowers—a collection more than anything that you kept around as a reminder that Toji used to care, was a stack of papers. He placed the vase down on the table with more force than necessary upon realizing what the documents were. "A divorce?" The words slipped out of him with such venom, such distaste, like the idea was unfathomable.

Toji slammed the papers down on the table, the salt and pepper shakers trembling before falling over. "Is that really what you want?" He stepped closer to you when you approached the table, his hands instinctively moving to hold your hips. Holding you close to his body. "No, I didn't get married with the intention of getting a divorce. But you've been neglecting this marriage for a couple months now."

"I'll make it up to you now," Toji spoke quickly, like he was afraid of losing you at any moment. Like you'd disappear if he didn't. And as much as you wanted to avoid looking over at him, the task had just become all that much difficult when you had nowhere else to look at. It only took one glance at his face to realize just what he meant by 'making it up to you.'

"You think you're gonna fix months of pushing me aside with just sex?"

"Nah, I know it's gonna take more. But you've been so tired, isn't that right? So tired of tryin' to keep this marriage from falling apart and nobody taking care of you?" His words were like a siren's song when he whispered them in your ear, your traitorous body leaning back to meet the drag of your fingertips. It was almost laughable at how easily your resolve had melted. "Lemme take care of you mama. Promise I'll make you feel good."

"You wanna call me a dick, never wanna see me again? That's fine, just don't deny me one last taste. Please," And while Toji wasn't a man to beg for anything in his life, he found himself saying the words anyways. "Thought this was you making it up to me," and as much as you were willing yourself not to fold, you felt yourself spreading your legs almost instinctively when his finger dragged up your inner thigh.

"Can't it be both?" Toji's teeth nipped at your neck, licking a stripe up the junction of your neck. Practically salivating at the taste of you, of the expensive perfume you'd put on just a mere hours beforehand. "One could say that you're just being selfish," your words quickly died out when Toji started sucking on your pulse point, your own heartbeat betraying you. You'd expected Toji to sass you back, say something about how your body was just so needy against his touch.

But instead, he dropped down to his knees in front of you. The wooden floor underneath his knees almost made him feel bad for all the times he had you in a similar position. Almost. Toji looked up at you, "Selfish only when it comes to you."

Every slow drag of his fingertips across your smooth skin seemed almost reverent— like you were something to worship. You were, he just failed to realize that until now. Until you were almost out the door. "I'm sorry," the first real apology of the night slipped out of his mouth, his lips pressed against your shin. "I'm sorry," he moved up to your knee, repeating the action. Hushed whispers of I'm sorry's and featherlight kisses moving up your legs, stopping only when he gets to your clothed cunt.

"I'm sorry," Toji uttered his last apology against your cunt, his eyes locking onto yours as he applied an open mouthed kiss on your clothed clit. Barely darting his tongue out, swirling it against the nerves that were just begging for one ounce of stimulation. And he was practically reveling in how needy he made you in the span of seconds. Your back arched to rest against the seat behind you, one of your hands going to rest on his head.

Toji's fingers dragged slowly in between your folds, feeling the wet patch already starting to form through the thin lace material. You refused to make eye contact with him, knowing that if you did, he'd be able to see just how desperate you were in just a manner of seconds. Even if the bastard probably had a clue already. "You sure your pussy agrees with the divorce?" His voice came out to something akin to a purr, the drag of his fingers slowing down.

Getting you even more worked up than you were already. "Fucking hate you, can't even apologize right," you let out a hiss, your hand going down to his hair. Pulling his head even closer to you despite your previous claim. "Fine, I'll apologize correctly," Toji sounded like you were the one inconveniencing him—to which you were. He wanted to take his time with his meal, have you begging for him to touch you. And normally, he would've.

If he weren't desperate to have your cunt on his face again after weeks, months? of just having his fist to work with. His fist and a used pair of your panties up to his nose like a pervert, hips humping the air in desperation. Imagining that it was your tongue flicking across his leaking tip instead of his thumb, that it was your soft hands in exchange of his rough ones. And as easy as it was for him to get laid—he didn't want to be with anyone that wasn't you.

Toji hadn't tasted someone as sweet as you, heard someone so angelic before, but now he supposed that maybe he'd have to put that theory to the test if you left him after all. Just the idea was maddening. That someone else would be doing the same thing that he's doing to you now, that they'd give you the affection that he should've given.

"Especially sorry to you. Been neglecting you for too long," he hooked his fingers around the side of your panties, pulling them to the side just enough to reveal your slick folds to him. Toji swiped the tip of his finger along your entrance, your slick glistening against the harsh kitchen lighting before he stuck in his mouth. Swirling his tongue around it, licking away at it like the slut he was.

And like the deprived man that he'd been, Toji's hands went to the lace of your underwear and stretched it out until a loud rip echoed throughout the kitchen. "You always this wet for people you hate? Or is that just for me?" Toji taunted, pushing your tattered panties down to your ankles. Finally leaning in closer to where you were aching for him to touch you. To do something other than just tease you relentlessly.

Toji settled on his knees behind you, spreading your legs open like you were his favorite meal. His tongue swiped up on your dripping cunt, licking up your essence with sheer greed. "Mmph fuck, so good," his words came out muffled, his tongue swiping across your folds before darting inside of your cunt. Your grip on the table tightened, your hips working on their own accord to push back onto his face. Practically suffocating him in your pussy. Not that he minded. By any means.

Toji practically welcomed it, his hands pushing you down onto his face. Getting absorbed in your cunt completely. "A-Ah fuck, Toji!" You could already see the noise complaint hanging on your front door first thing in the morning. But how could you be expected to keep your voice down? Toji spread your folds apart with two fingers as if he were preparing for a feast, his tongue feverishly licking in between.

"Fuckin' soaked already, knew you loved me," The vibration of the low chuckle that followed his words shot currents up your spine, your ass jiggling all that much more in his face. With such a decadent taste coating his taste buds, dying by your pussy would be nothing short of a blissful way to go out. One of the fingers that he'd been using to spread your folds had been pushed inside of your cunt, your walls clenching around him.

Toji's tongue flicked against your clit, swirling the tip around the bud while his finger slowly pushed further inside of you. The loud squelch of your cunt was the only thing that filled the apartment, everything else completely silent. Your fingers dug deeper into his scalp, a low groan leaving his lips. "F-Fuck, Toji Toji," he pushed another thick finger inside, moving them in a scissoring motion to stretch you out.

"You think y're gonna find someone who can do this?" Toji looked up at you, his fingers curling up to hit that spongy spot inside of you almost perfectly. And if you didn't know any better, you'd almost say that he looked vulnerable while he made the question. Toji's lips wrapped around your clit, gently sucking on it as his fingers worked you closer and closer to your orgasm. You couldn't bring yourself to answer—didn't trust yourself to speak.

"Toji, Toji, gonna cum," you gave him a warning, your jaw falling slack and your lips parting in a o-shape. Soundless moans leaving your lips, feeling that coil in your lower tummy start to tighten up all the much more. With one final pump of his fingers, you were covering his lips with your release. His tongue swiped across his lips, across the scar that he hated, collecting every drop. Savoring what he imagined would be the last taste of you.

"Turn around," It was almost embarrassing how quickly you'd turned around per your soon-to-be ex husband's request.

Toji didn't take more than a couple seconds in unbuttoning his pants and taking them off, his cock hitting his stomach once it was released from its confines. Precum dribbled from his annoyingly almost pretty pink tip, dripping onto the floor. Drip. Drip. Drip. His cock slid through your folds like a slip n slide, your previous orgasm coating his tip with every lazy drag. "Toji," your voice bordered on a whine, pushing your hips to try to meet his movements.

"Tell me what you want," Toji clicked his tongue, one of his hands moving to hold your waist. Keeping you completely still until he got what he wanted. You figured there wasn't any harm in whining—you were already fucking the man after you brought up a divorce. There truly wasn't that much more to lose. "Why do I have to ask for it when you're the one apologizing?"

"Because you're the one pushing your hips back against me. All needy 'n shit. So.. beg."

"Want you inside me, Toji. Please."

"Want?"

You let out a huff before correcting yourself, "Need."

"Come on, doll. You can say it nicer than that, right?" Toji's pointer trailed up your torso, leaving goosebumps in his wake.

So goddamn annoying. You swallowed whatever pride you had left before looking back over at him, "Please, Toji. Need your cock in me. Please."

Toji clicked his tongue, one hand wrapping around his cock and giving himself a couple tentative pumps. "Think you can beg better than that. But since I'm feeling nice, I guess I'll let it slide." So much for feeling apologetic. Toji pushed his cock inside of you in one swift motion, a hiss leaving your lips at the stretch. Even with the fingers that'd been inside of you, nothing could've really prepared you.

"You okay?" Toji dropped his head to rest on your shoulder, whispering the words in your ear. Staying still while your walls tried to adjust to the overwhelming stretch. "You try taking your cock," you muttered dryly, giving him a nod to start moving. "Why would I do that when you take it so well?" Toji pushed the rest of his cock inside, his hands resting on your hips.

Toji wasn't particularly known for being gentle—the one hospital visit after he'd injured your cervix more than enough proof of that, but he started off slow. Slow, shallow thrusts. Fucking you in a way that he hasn't since your honeymoon. "Toji, you can speed up," you assured him, your words getting cut off with a smack to your ass. "What I'd say about tellin' me what to do?" Ah, there was the mean Toji that you recognized.

"Wouldn't need to tell you what to do if my vibrator wasn't looking more appealing right now."

Famous last words.

The change was almost immediate. Mascara dribbled down your cheeks, the sight of your once composed makeup all ruined making Toji's cock twitch inside of you. "Fucking pretty like this, y'know?" His teeth sunk down on the junction of your shoulder, his teeth grazing across the sensitive flesh. His hips snapped roughly into yours, your breathing growing erratic. "Fuck, Fuck, Toji!"

The coldness of his gold wedding band hit your skin as soon as he went to grip your hips, holding you against him like he needed to be close to you. The two of you had been distant for some time and he hadn't bothered to take off his wedding band once, not even on the rare occasion that he actually did happen to take a job. Toji would never admit it, of course—but he was starved for the feeling of your skin against his own.

To confirm that you were still here after all.

Your hands reached out to grab to whatever you could grab—anything, and of course, it just happened to be the divorce papers sitting on the middle of the table. Practically taunting you as your own signature glared back at you. "This good enough for you, princess?" Toji taunted in your ear, his blunt fingernails digging into your sides. "Mhm, j-just like that," your voice came out in a mewl, all bits of defiance completely out of your system.

"There you go. Nasty fucking girl," Toji all but purred in your ear the moment you started to jerk your hips back to meet his own, your ass bouncing with each one of his thrusts. "Just needed Toji to take care of ya," all you could was nod your head fervently, your grip on the divorce papers tightening. And Toji, of course, took notice. He took the papers from you with one hand, giving them a once-over before passing them back over.

"Come on, since ya wanted it so bad, read me those divorce papers," Toji handed you the stack of papers, pointing to where you'd signed your initials just a couple hours prior. Your hands shook as you held the papers, your vision blurry as you tried to make out the legal jargon in front of you. Even the simplest of words seemed all too complicated to try to make out.

"T-Toji, I can't," your voice cracked, your grip on the papers tightening when his cock reached all that much deeper inside of you. Toji clicked his tongue, peering over your shoulder to read the first sentence from the document. "That's not what it says ma, try again."

"Without all the stuttering too."

You took a deep breath, willing yourself to focus on the words in front of you instead of Toji's cock sinking further and further into you. "S-Says that the divorce agreement was made today between us," you clutched the sheets tighter, your eyes almost rolling back when Toji bottomed out inside of you. The tip of his cock dripping precum, your walls fluttering as you tried to get adjusted.

"Mm, yeah, keep goin'," Toji really couldn't care—his focus solely on the way that your cunt stretched out to fit his cock. Leaking around his shaft, loud squelches when he pulled out overplaying whatever shitty soap opera was playing. "And what'd I say about the s-stuttering?" Toji mocked your words, his own hips stuttering mere seconds later while he tried not to get absorbed in your cunt. Not that it was an easy task by any means.

It was hard, especially with the way that you claimed to be over this marriage despite your pussy claiming otherwise. When you opened your mouth to speak, the only thing that left you was a moan. "F-Fuck Toji, right there," your eyes shut tightly at the touch of his calloused hand making itself in between your legs, his thumb rubbing at your clit in a speed that felt like it combated his own running abilities.

"That's not what it says, c'mon," Toji grabbed your chin with his thumb and pointer, turning your head to face the overwhelmingly long divorce papers. You wouldn't finish tonight if he intended for you to read the whole thing, you knew that much. A harsh slap against your swollen clit made the pleasure coursing through your veins mix with pain, a shaky gasp leaving your kiss-swollen lips.

Drool leaked from the corner of your mouth, the black ink smearing with each drop that fell from your parted lips. Your walls enveloped every inch of his cock perfectly, your cunt holding his cock in a vice-like grip. "That I won't try to t-take your things," you managed to get out, hoping that it would be good enough. You knew the two of you wouldn't finish today if he made you read the never ending stack of papers. 

"Good enough," Toji sounded like he would've kept it going if he could, but you set them down as quickly as he spoke. It was almost like Toji was trying to remind you of why you'd fallen in love with him in the first place—the man reverent to your cunt and your cunt only. Every grip of your hips kept you closer and closer to his body, almost as a way for Toji to make sure you weren't slipping away.

"Wh—" Before you had the chance to complain about the loss of contact, Toji had already carried you without a smidge of struggle. His hands hooked underneath your plush thighs, hoisting you up against the wall. Your legs instinctively wrapped around his slutty waist, practically clinging onto him like a koala. "There we go, there's that pretty lil face," Toji placed his pointer underneath your chin, taking in the view in front of him.

The glazed over look in your eyes, the sweat beading up on your forehead, the makeup that he'd successfully ruined—everything about you was just so beautiful. How you tried to avoid looking in his direction for too long. "Don't leave me ma, need you in my life," the words were whispered into your ear, his cock pushing back inside of you in one swift motion. Toji's fingers went back to your throbbing clit, his pointer and middle rubbing against it at the perfect speed.

Not too fast, not too slow, and not too rough.

"Don't ask me to do that," you almost sounded pained as you spoke—not from him filling you up, but for the implication of his words. You'd practically babble anything right now, anything for him to keep going. To forget about the reality that awaits the two of you. Toji's lips found yours in an instant, the exchange between the two of you almost depraved. His mouth was feverish in the way that it moved against yours, like he'd never get the chance again.

Your hand went to the back of his head, pushing him closer against you. Letting yourself forget for just a little while longer. A string of saliva connected your lips to his when you pulled away—only to catch air. "I’m close, Toji, so close," you whined against his lips, your release coating his shaft a mere moments later. Toji only used that as lubricant, his movements quicker against your cunt to chase his own release.

"There's no one else for me, I'll stop goin' to t-the casino, stop gettin' into trouble," Toji had been reduced to a babbling the first thing he pulled out of his ass, if only to get you to stay. His head rested against the junction of your neck, basking in the remnants of proximity that he could get. Shaky breaths left his lips with each thrust of his hips, feeling himself getting closer and closer. "You've been saying that since we've been married."

"I mean it this time, I promise," you'd never heard a lie sound so pretty slipping from someone's lips before until now.

He bit down on the side of your neck, hard. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to where you'd probably have to use a tube of concealer to even attempt to cover up the bruising mark. Causing you problems even now. But you'd be lying if the sudden act of possessiveness had your walls clenching against him even tighter, if that was even possible anymore.

His cock was barely moving against the tight grip you held around his shaft, his pace stuttering. "Fuck, fuck, so tight," Toji let out a loud groan, completely at the will of your pussy. He threw his head back, a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks in this lighting. Ropes and ropes of cum decorated your cunt, his softening length snug inside of you. Toji ended up pulling out a couple moments later, scooping the drops of cum that leaked down your thighs with his finger.

Toji was shameless in the way that he stuck the finger in his mouth, a low moan leaving his lips at the combined taste of him and you. Before your rationality came back, before you got the chance to even think about regretting this, you leaned in and crashed your lips against his own. Tasting yourself on his tongue. The kiss lingered between the two of you more than it needed to, it was less rushed than the prior ones you'd shared.

Like a last taste.

"So, you still want to get that divorce?" Toji knew you would've just babbled whatever for him to keep going, saving the question until now. His movements were almost reluctant as he pulled his pants over his legs once again, making little attempt to fix up his hair. If anything, his fingers only ended up messing the strands even more. Despite knowing the answer deep down, Toji still held out hope. That maybe you'd had some eye-opening moment while he was balls-deep.

You stood up properly, looking over at the ruined sheets on the table before looking back over at him. "I do," you spoke after a couple seconds, grabbing your tattered panties from the floor and smoothing over your dress. Trying to maintain whatever semblance of dignity you had left. Even if it was probably just as tattered up as your underwear at this point.

"Why? You know I love you. You know that you love me. So why should we get separated?" You did know that. But you also weren't sure that he'd ever loved you enough to consider changing. To consider the fact that you needed some sort of affection outside of sex.

"Because you think that somehow every problem between us can be resolved with sex. You say that you want to do better and yet, you never do. It doesn't even feel like you're my husband half of the time," all the bottled up feelings from the past couple months spilled out of you in a manner of seconds. All the bottled up thoughts that maybe you should've told your husband about earlier. Though, you weren't even sure if Toji would've paid it any mind.

And almost as if he'd read your train of thought, "Why didn't you tell me about all this before just hittin' me with divorce papers?"

"Because the few times that I did, you told me to stop bitching. That I shouldn't have anything to complain about with a roof over my head and a fridge full of food," you started off, almost waiting for him to deny what you were saying, "And while I'm not saying that I'm not thankful for those things, I also don't want to feel ungrateful for saying that I miss my husband."

Silence lingered between the two of you, each second that passed by only confirming what the two of you already knew by now. That a divorce wasn't such a far-fetched idea. Toji knew there wasn't left to even attempt fighting for, so he simply just told you, "I'll sign 'em when you get the new ones."

[fict1onallyobsessed]

Just watched act 1 and I'm actually feral for Sevika. Like omg what?! How is she so hot?! Anyway I've had this idea of sharing a smoke with her. Specially shotgunning. Um. Yeah. Anyway maybe that would turn into something a bit more - NSFW should we say. Definitely biting. You know what I'm talking about lol anyway this isn't a lot to work with I know.. I just saw your post asking for Sevika requests so I figured I'd pop in

Sevika x F!Reader 18+

Her lungs burnt as she inhaled her cigar, watching you fix her arm for the hundredth time this week. Your eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, screwdriver carefully pulling out the broken metal parts in her arm, clinking in the silence.

She could feel your frustration before she even entered your little mechanic shop. People were being more demanding for fixes as Zaun practically relied on prosthetic limbs, and you were rated the best one for the job. Sometimes you felt like a pawn; people didn't even pay that well. You might have to think of increasing the prices...

"You think too much."

You sighed, looking up at your girlfriend who huffed out smoke through her nose. She knew you were busy, and a part of her felt bad last time you stayed late to fix her arm, so she tried really hard to keep it in a manageable state for longer than usual.

Heavy on tried.

"You should learn how to fight." You snapped back playfully, looking back down at the arm for the final few fixes. The arm hissed and popped once, finally being fully functional again. "Even Ran doesn't come in this often. Might have to start charging you."

Sevika scoffed as she watched you stand up to toss your tools onto your very littered desk, your hands coming up to wipe your tired face.

"You're processor is fried. I'll make you a new one soon, but this one should hold up if you can hold off fighting for a few days."

She was listening but all she could focus on is how exhausted your eyes looked. She asked if you were done for the day, if you wanted to go home but you were already backlogged for weeks with new projects and fixes. You politely declined, walking over to her again and taking the cigar from her lips only to put it in your own mouth.

Sevika didn't flinch. It was something you did often, especially on nights where you needed something to keep you awake for a little longer.

Sevika sat on the small couch, looking up at you as you inhaled, smoke escaping your nose before you even got to exhale. She thought for a moment, then grabbed the back on your thighs and pulled you to straddle her.

"'Vika, I need to get-"

"To work. I know." She casually said, taking the cigar from your hands and inhaling deeply herself. Her eyes remained on yours while her hand reached up to grip the back of your neck, pulling you up to her lips.

For a second you thought she was going to kiss you, like she did always in thanks when you fix her up. But instead, she stopped you right before her face, hand now moving to open your mouth with her thumb. Then she exhaled.

You felt dizzy. You had smoked plenty of times, and since meeting Sevika you smoked plenty more. But this was so intoxicating it felt better than any cigarette you've ever tried.

You relaxed on her lap, sinking onto her as you tried to breathe normally. Her mechanic hand held your waist, the other firmly on your jaw to keep it open against her mouth. Just as the smoke began to fade, she pulled you fully against her, lips clashing together in a kiss.

You pulled away only when you felt you couldn't breathe, both of your chests rising and falling as you stared down at Sevika, her pupils blown wide, devouring you.

Work could wait.

You grabbed the cigar back, inhaling so deeply you felt your throat close up momentarily. Still, you leaned down and grabbed her jaw while her hands fell to your hips, gripping tightly to pull you even closer.

You exhaled the smoke as slowly as you could, relishing in the moment for a while before the smoke faded again. You wasted no time in kissing her again, a slight moan escaping your lips and into her mouth. You could taste the smoke in her mouth but it only seemed to rile you up more.

Your hips bucked, unintentionally, and you felt Sevika smirk into the kiss.

"That's all it takes to get you going?" Sevika teased. You replied with a breathy and rushed 'shut up' before going back to her lips, rocking your hips more now she was aware of your intentions. Her grip on you tightened, moving you so that you were straddling one of her thighs.

You really tried to keep your groans in, but the way your clit was grinding against the inside of your jeans. Fuck.

"Fuck. Do it again." You lifted the cigar to her lips, making her inhale it and letting her grab your jaw once more, shot gunning the smoke right into your mouth. You tried to breathe steadily, but her hand made you grind on her thigh more.

"So fucking pretty. Barely touched you and you're gonna cum already?"

You were so fucking close, a whine leaving your lips as you hid your face in the crook of her neck. She could feel the small puffs of air you breathed, trying to maintain some kind of control. Your teeth nipped at her skin, her own composure slowly failing.

You huffed when she accidentally made a sound when you bit into her neck. Your hips stuttered and bucked uncontrollably as you came, lips remaining at her skin until you were stable enough to pull away.

"That's all it takes to get you going?" You teased, mocking her words as angry red marks appeared on her neck. She was flushed and panting, your hips still held by her hands. She smirked, kissing you again before standing up and making you stand on your wobbly legs.

"Home. Now."

[chrissturnsfav]

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 fuckgirl!reader finally gets her way

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬, part one

you feel his hand on your thigh like it’s burning straight through your skin, searing hot and fucking impossible to ignore. but he’s not moving it—just holding steady, like he’s testing you, seeing how far you’ll let him go before you start pushing buttons again.

but the thing is, you never stop pushing. that’s your whole game. always has been.

you blink up at him, your lashes heavy with mischief, heart hammering in your chest but face calm as ever.

"finally," you murmur, biting your lip, your voice low and teasing. "thought i'd have to get fucking naked just to get your attention." you say, dragging your fingers lightly along the inside of his forearm—the one still resting dangerously on your thigh. "since you're so into that whole mysterious, quiet guy act. it’s kinda cute, honestly. like, really fucking pathetic, but cute."

he exhales sharply, his grip tightening on your thigh. "careful," he warns, voice lower now, rougher.

you smirk, leaning in and brushing your nose along his jaw just to watch him flinch. "careful’s boring. i don't do boring."

"figured that out already," he mutters, but there’s a little edge creeping into his voice, like maybe he’s finally about to snap.

"good," you whisper, breath ghosting over his skin. "then do something about it."

for a second, everything hangs in the air between you. and then he moves.

his lips crash into yours, rough and desperate, like weeks of restraint just shattered all at once. fuck, it’s so much better than you remembered. raw and wild and completely fucking perfect.

you gasp against his mouth, fingers tangling in his hair as you shift in your seat, climbing halfway over the console because there’s no way you’re staying put now. not when he's finally giving in. he tastes like smoke and heat and bad decisions, and you’re completely here for it. all of it. every messy, breathless second.

matt groans against your mouth, and the sound shoots straight through you, making your pulse race. his hand tightens on your thigh, rough now, fingers digging into your skin like he’s trying to keep himself grounded but losing that battle fast. it’s messy, heated, every bit as reckless as you knew it would be once he finally broke.

"you should do something about the issue in my pants," he fires smoothly against your lips, that smug little smirk tugging at his own again, his eyes flickering to his cock completely straining through the fabric of his worn out jeans.

yes! you think, biting back a grin. it took weeks of relentless teasing, shameless flirting, and dragging him right to the edge for him to stop hiding behind that untouchable vibe—but now here he is, cracking wide open, and you’re fucking living for it.

"oh?" you purr with a slow, deliberate smirk. "so you finally admit you’ve got a problem."

his tongue darts across his bottom lip, slow and deliberate, that smug glint still flickering in his eyes. "yeah," he drawls, voice rough and steady, "but you already knew that, didn’t you?"

"mhmm." you hum seductively, fingers brushing lazily along the hem of your skirt as you reach over to place a hand on his upper thigh, "guess i could help...if you ask nicely."

he huffs a laugh through his nose as he feels his dick twitch in his pants, shaking his head like you’re infuriating him. "nicely, huh?"

you grin wickedly, the thrill of control coursing through you. your hand drifts higher, fingertips brushing the seam of his jeans, deliberate but teasing—just enough to make his breath hitch. "not gonna beg, hm?" you taunt softly, voice dripping with mock pity. "that’s cute."

his eyes darken, and for a second, everything between you hangs in a delicate, dangerous balance. the air in the car is thick, buzzing with heat and tension.

after a tense moment, he swallows hard, and then suddenly his hand is on yours, guiding it to where his cock is painfully straining against his jeans. "stop fucking teasing," he growls, all that restraint snapping at once.

your breath catches, a spark low in your belly. "there you goooo," you coo, giggling cheekily.

less than literally two minutes later, his jeans and boxers are resting mid thigh, your body leant over with your mouth stuffed full of his cock, straining and leaking in your mouth, sucking his dick with fiery skill.

matt's eyes are rolling back, his mouth open as he breathes heavily, quiet grunts and moans slipping from his lips. his hand is tangled in your hair, making a makeshift ponytail as you suck him sloppily.

a pool of spit glimmers at his base, your lips wrapped around his cock so prettily as you hollow your cheeks, drool dribbling down your chin, big eyes looking up at him all innocent.

"such a fuckin' messy girl," he groans, watching your head bob up and down with a smirk plastered on his lips, chuckling at the moan he elicits from you. "drooling all over my dick like that."

you giggle cockily around him, licking a long stripe up from his base to his tip before taking it into your mouth, suckling as you sweetly bat your pretty long lashes up at him, your hand jerking his cock with expert skill.

matt hisses in pleasure, biting his bottom lip as his thighs twitch, huffing out a chuckle, "take it all, fuck are you doing?"

you snicker, swirling your tongue around his tip, watery eyes looking up at him, "say pleeeaase," you sing teasingly.

he scoffs, rolling his eyes as he grips your hair harder, "suck my dick before i start fucking your mouth."

you hum, your hand slowing it's movements on his saliva coated dick. "yeah?" you taunt, tone dripping with mock sweetness. "do it."

that's all it takes for matt, his self control snapping in half. with no hesitation, he starts thrusting his hips up into your mouth, letting out a shaky groan, the moans you let out vibrating against his cock adding to the pure ecstasy.

you gag on his dick, his tip brushing against your uvula as he fucks your mouth, eyes rolling back as they water, your hand moving speedily around whatever can't fit.

"fuck, fuck, i'm gonna cum," he grunts, his eyes rolling back as he continues to thrust into your mouth, tugging on your hair as heat rushes to his balls, a deliciously tight knot forming in his belly. "lemme cum on your face...holy shit...please..." he almost whimpers.

you laugh around him victoriously, finally you think. you knew he had a little submissiveness in him. all you needed to do was get him close to the edge, and he finally snapped.

you pull your mouth off his cock, sticking your tongue out with a triumphant grin as you tap his tip against your tongue, hand still jerking him speedily, his length dripping with spit.

matt looks down at you through lidded eyes, his vision growing splotchy as moans and grunts fall from his lips, his hips twitching. "h-holy...fuck...shit, shit—"

thick ropes of hot cum sprawl out onto your face—your cheeks, your nose, your lips, your tongue. it feels like all the pent up sexual tension inside him has finally been released. literally.

you ride out his high with your hand, giggling as he cums all over your pretty face, looking up at him through your lashes.

he's breathing heavily, his eyes rolled back as he finally comes back to his senses, and when he sees your pretty face dripping in his white seed, he almost moans.

"fuck..." he whispers shakily, gathering his cum onto his trembling thumb on your bottom lip, pushing the sticky release into your mouth.

you close your eyes, sucking the salty liquid off his thumb as you snicker around his thumb. "took you long enough."

thank you for reading!! <3

tags 🏷️: @sturnobsessedwh0re , @idrk2292 , @mattsbrat , @ribbonlovergirl , @matthewsroses , @mattsdemi , @emely9274 , @frankoceanfanpage , @ifwdominicfike , @marrykisskilled , @strnilolover , @cayleeuhithinknott , @forgottxen , @sophand4n4 , @sturnsrecord , @purpledragon222 , @faiyaz555 , @jocelyncsblog , @freakiolos , @slut4chris888 , @chriss-slutt , @ilovedanielcaesar , @annsx03 , @snoopychris , @chrissweetheart , @slutformatt17 , @mattsturnii , @dominicfikeenthusiast , @mattsbratt333 , @ivysturnss , @tessasturns , @coquettechris , @courta13 , @sturniolo101 , @malsmind

@chrissturnsfav ™

[felassan]

David Gaider on Flemeth, under a cut for length:

"I have a type. I admit it. There are certain wells I can return to repeatedly and always find something new to explore. One of them is older female characters. Mike used to rib me about it. Consider Wynne. Meredith. Genevieve. And, of course, the biggie: Flemeth. Why are they a type? I... don't know, honestly. I guess I have a feeling that older men fade, they strive to regain their youth or establish a legacy and we've seen that story a thousand times, but older women? They become free to become something new. I guess I see so many possibilities in that. I had a conception of who Flemeth was, and why, right from the very start. Her creation went hand in hand with Morrigan, as a being whose thirst for retribution hundreds of years ago attracted an entity (slight confession: I didn't know Mythal specifically, at the time, "an elven god" was enough). I also knew where Morrigan was right and very wrong about her. Misconceptions of the truth are built into DA's foundation, and they were fundamental to this mother-daughter relationship I was building. Like many seeds I'd put in the world, however, I had no idea whether I'd ever get to explore it. Knowing that she was a character of possible future importance, if not a major player in DAO, I wasn't much surprised when she was one of the first cuts the art team made in terms of getting a unique appearance. Thus the "batty old woman" players met in DAO. Not as hard a cut as the Qunari, though."

"Going into DA2, I wanted both Morrigan and Flemeth, but we could only have one. So I picked Flemeth. This was the game where she really got to come into her own. I remember the art team coming and asking if it was OK if she got a new model, as it'd be a retcon of sorts. I didn't care. I wanted it. I honestly don't remember whether Kate Mulgrew was cast before or after Claudia. After, I think? All I recall is that Cab came into my office one day and asked if Kate might be a good fit. Asked me, the dyed-in-the-wool Trekkie who had stuck with Voyager even through the admittedly lean years? The squeal I made was un-manly. Cab took that as a "yes". 😅 I didn't get to talk to Kate until DA2, however. Schedules being what they were, we had a tight window to record Flemeth... so I had to write all her scenes before almost anything else in DA2 was written, before I even had a team! Ack! It was OK, though, for the most part. I knew where I wanted to take her, and a big part of it was going to explain her transition - to set her up for the future. So I whipped up a script in, like, two days and off we went. Kate was a marvel in the booth. She adored Flemeth and you could really tell. I didn't get to meet Kate in person, however, until DAI. This came pretty late in its development, compared to when we recorded her for DA2, and we flew down to Virginia (to accommodate her schedule - she was writing her memoir at the time, I think) for a single session. It was going to be *tight*."

"I was a mess. I was finally going to meet Captain Janeway... and yes yes, I know she's also more than that. But come ON. When we sat down, I figured I'd have to talk her through the character all over again. It'd been years since that one session at the start of DA2, right? And even more since DAO. But, no. Kate remembered Flemeth perfectly. I remember sitting there as she told me how much she loved the character, how rare it was to get one with so much texture and possibility. She called out my writing - my writing! - and waxed poetic about how she viewed Flemeth's arc. I... I was floored. 🫠 Then we began recording. One issue that quickly reared its head was how Caroline had to speed through the lines if we hoped to finish. Kate was a trooper, and most takes she'd get it in one (which is rare), but I was alarmed because we weren't giving Kate time to read the VO comments on each line. I brought it up, as there were some lines (so much sarcasm) that required nuance - Kate was getting them, oddly, but I was worried. "Oh, it's fine," Kate said. "I read the comments as we go." "How could you? We're going so fast!" "I'm a speed reader." Oh. OK, then. That certainly explained it. 😁 We got to the confrontation scene with Morrigan and she nailed it. Over and over. More than once, Caroline would make a call and, before I could even interject and say "no, Kate had it right, actually" Kate would explain exactly why she did it that way and why it worked for Flemeth. I was in love. She did the "I will see her avenged!" section all in one go. I got chills. Then we got to the final scene. You know the one. With Solas. It was this beautiful moment. She took it somewhere quiet and sad... and when she got to that last line, we all felt it: Flemeth was dead. Everyone was in tears. I suppose I could talk more about the process. How she started off aligned with Morrigan's original Delirium inspiration, but I didn't pull back her loopy way of talking as much (bet you wondered). I still don't know why it was so easy to slip into her voice, but I'm grateful I got the chance. ❤️"

[source thread]

[cynassa]

we were twenty for such a short time

Nightwing found him. It unnerved him, because he hadn't expected to. Red Hood was sitting on a crumbling ledge, helmet off, cigarette stuck in the corner of his mouth. He didn't look like he was out of his mind, or going to go for a gun or knife.

"Why'd you do it?" Nightwing asked, carefully maneuvering himself out of the way of the heavy-looking desk that could be flung at him.

Red Hood grunted. "Don't suppose you've got antiseptic in there somewhere?"

Nightwing shrugged, letting it ripple all over him, where, it should be eminently clear, there was no place for a first-aid kit.

"Figures," Red Hood muttered.

Nightwing set his hip against the wall, not close enough to get in range of Hood's vicious front kick, but close enough to throw an electrified escrima stick at him if necessary. Black Bat was ten minutes away, as was Robin with the Batmobile. Ideally they would get this sorted before Batman was finished and could become involved. He just had to stall for ten - no, nine minutes now. With an on-edge Hood who had killed - no, executed - executed three people.

Hood nodded at the table.

Nightwing raised an eyebrow.

"Why I did it," Hood said. "Since you asked. I'd offer tea and scones with 'em but whoopsy, seems like I'm all out."

A quick flick of his eyes showed three neat nondescript folders. He'd have to put his back to Hood to read them.

Eight minutes.

"Not much of a reader, me," Nightwing drawled. "Why don't you give me the Sparknotes version?"

Hood snorted. He finally lit the cigarette. "Cappello's wife begged me to," he said.

Nightwing tensed.

"Had a porn ring, she said. He's a cop though, so she couldn't get away. Then her girl got old enough to contribute and she just wanted him dead," he said, sounding... exhausted. "Watson was a pimp too. The women told me that he was okay for a bit and then he got greedy and things got worse. Tried putting the fear of Hood into him at first but he'd heard that I was with the Bats, so he just beat them to shut them up after I left. Had some Family connections too, FBI fuckers wouldn't touch him."

He stopped, took a puff at his cigarette.

Seven minutes

Dick was abruptly tired. The Rogues were one thing. But this. These horrors of America's crime capital were unending. A man could die trying to hold them up.

"And Stewart? He was in jail," Dick said.

Jason smoked his cigarette slowly. It was a Marlboro Red Long. Still the same cigarette.

Six minutes

"Stewart, Danny M.," Jason said. "He'd been in juvie, you know? Got off after three months on 'count of good behavior. Kept the connections though. Plenty of connections in his jail too, enough to keep his little racket in the juvies running. And who cares if some street rat with a record goes missing from time to time. Mayor probably called it housekeeping when he took the money from him."

"And so it's got to be you who actually cleans house instead?" Dick asked, wishing he could throw his sticks at Jason, wishing he could put them down and- and?

"Who else do they got?" Jason asked, squinting at Dick. "I tried doing it the other way for a bit, y'know," he said, almost sympathetically.

"Right," Dick said. "For all of five minutes."

Five minutes

Jason shrugged. "Bit more'n that. But yeah, people would come to me and beg me to help them, rescue them, and I'd get these fuckers sent to places that would -- like, pedos don't last long in jail, y'get me? Or sometimes I'd just bribe the jail catering to give them something. But then people stopped being afraid of me, and it all got worse. Twice the effort for less than half the results. I didn't have any control over the trades here anymore, arms trafficking had gone up, they'd started human trafficking again."

Jason had just been killing people anyway. Of course he had.

"You thought that was the other way? Bribing other people to kill..." Dick wanted to bash his face in. "You thought that was right?"

"I'm not the one who does the right thing," Jason said. "That's on you, Big Bird. I'm just the one filling in the gaps the light doesn't reach."

"That's an easy fucking excuse," Dick bit out.

Four minutes

"All these people suffering, and I was sitting with my thumbs up my ass because I wanted a family, while they were losing theirs, how was that right?" Jason continued, like he hadn't heard Dick. "I'd been brought back to do one job, and I couldn't do it, because I was desperate to--" there was a tear at the end of one eye.

"That's not-" Dick gasped, "this isn't what you were brought back for! That's not true."

Jason shook his head. "You don't know that. You don't know how I was brought back."

"Neither do you!" Dick snarled at this nonsense, now wishing he really had just bashed his head in.

"Nah, but I know what it was for," Jason said, oddly peaceable. "I know what I gotta do, and then I can die."

"You can still stop," Dick pleaded, afraid suddenly, of something he couldn't name.

Three minutes

"Nah," Jason said, sad but placid. "There ain't no way but this for me anymore. Sorry, Big Bird. I'll miss you though. I'll miss most of you, I think."

"And now I've got to bring you in," Dick said, voice cracking. "Did you think of that? That now I've got to-"

"Can't let you do that, 'm afraid, still got a job to do," Jason said, half-smile on his face, turning to him finally, pushing off the ledge and moving forward, dropping the cigarette on the table.

Two minutes

Dick squeezed his sticks but didn't raise them. Jason moved swiftly, grabbing his face roughly and leaning down - because he was taller now, because he wasn't the little wing yearning to reach five foot, because he had died - to roughly kiss Dick's forehead. "Take care of yourself, Robin," he whispered and then shoved Dick back.

Dick had tensed in preparation but was still shoved back by Jason's sheer strength. By the time he leapt forward, Jason had thrown himself out of the window. The red Bat wasn't on his armor anymore.

Dick glanced out of the window just long enough to see Jason tumbling into a red moving truck. Then he sensed something and abruptly looked up to see the cigarette had lit up the files unnaturally well, as if they already had a flammable coating. This seemed to trigger some other mechanism, and the building slowly started going down - making a groaning noise as if in warning.

One minute

Dick unhooked his grapple and dived out, landing lightly on the Batmobile as the building slowly but surely came crashing down, so thoroughly destroyed that there was no way anything could be rebuilt again.

I give you back 1948.   

I give you all the years from then

to the coming one. Give me back the moon   

with its frail light falling across a face.

Give me back my young brother, hard

and furious, with wide shoulders and a curse   

for God and burning eyes that look upon   

all creation and say, You can have it.

[writingwithciara]

across the hall; part 5 -quinn hughes-

summary: y/n moves in across the hall from quinn and in an emergency, she leaves her five-year old daughter in his care

word count: 2.2k

pairing: quinn hughes x reader, toxic ex-boyfriend x reader

notes:

it was just after 2am when y/n finally got off of work. she had worked for over 12 hours and she was exhausted. all she wanted to do was go home, take a hot bath and put abby to bed.

but then she remembered that quinn had texted her during her break and informed her that abby wanted to stay at his place for the night. so when she got home, she would be alone.

she loved her daughter but there was not a whole lot of time she got to herself since becoming a mother. this was just one of the many reasons why she was thankful to have quinn in her life.

when she pulled into her parking spot, she spotted a familiar car a few spaces away from hers. and suddenly, she was hesitant to enter the building.

she did promise andy she would talk to him later, but in her mind, later meant the next day or maybe days from then. but he was persistent. so she headed up to her apartment.

just as she predicted, andy was sitting outside her apartment. when he saw her, he stood up and dusted off his pants.

"i was starting to get worried about you." he looked at her, seeing if there was any damage to her body. when he concluded there was not, he let out a sigh of relief. "quinn told me you would be home around midnight. so i've been waiting."

"yeah i figured." she sighed. "look, andy, i've had a really long and stressful day and i know i promised that we could talk later, but i just don't have the energy for that right now."

"that's what i thought was going to happen. but you don't have to do any talking. just listen, please?"

"3 minutes. that's all i can handle."

"can we go inside?"

"no. because if we do, i'll be too exhausted to make you leave and we both know that will not turn out well."

"i've changed, y/n. i really have." he took a hesitant step closer. "i know you may not believe me but i've been going to therapy and i've been making a ton of progress in making myself better. into a man who actually deserves someone as great as you or abby in my life." he looked at her. "i know it'll take some time but all i want is for you to give me one chance to prove it. please?"

"i'm tired, andy. can we talk more about this tomorrow?"

"can i take you out for lunch?"

"if that's what it takes to get you leave right now, then fine." she unlocked her door. "i'll meet you at the cafe that's 10 minutes from here."

"okay. thank you." he went to walk away. "can you bring abby?"

"i will not allow abby any time with you until you have proven to me that you're a changed man."

"okay fair enough. see you tomorrow." he walked away and y/n fought against her will to go inside. the logical part of her brain wanted her to go across the hall and see quinn but the tired part wanted her to just get some rest. she would see quinn tomorrow.

by the time she climbed into bed and got comfortable, the only thing on her mind was the man across the hall.

the next morning, y/n woke up earlier than she wanted. even with the 8 hours of sleep, she was still exhausted. but she had promised to meet andy for lunch so she had to get ready. she did it slowly but the end result was fine enough.

she went across the hall and knocked on quinn's door. he was rubbing his eyes when he answered but when he saw y/n, he smiled.

"good morning."

"good morning." she smiled back. "would you mind watching abby for another hour or two?"

"why? what's going on?"

"i stupidly told andy i'd meet him for lunch today to hear him out."

"oh." was all quinn said.

"yeah." y/n looked at him. "will you watch her?"

"of course." he smiled. "go hear him out. we'll be here when you get back."

"oh you're the best." she leaned up to kiss his cheek and headed towards the elevator.

that was twice in less than 24 hours that y/n had kissed his cheek and left him frozen in place. things continued to get confusing.

he shut the door and went to the kitchen to make abby some lunch. it was a good thing he was an excellent chef who was good with kids or else he wouldn't be doing this.

he chuckled when that thought crossed his mind because even if he wasn't either of those things, he would still keep an eye on abby because y/n asked him to. at this point, he would do anything she asked him to do.

-----

y/n looked at the coffee and sandwich in front of her as she mindlessly listened to andy explain how he wanted to be better for her and abby. she wanted to believe him but there was so many factors from her past that contradicted what he was saying. stuff that caused her to lose her trust in almost everyone.

"do you hate me?"

"why would you ask that?"

"you've been zoning in and out of this conversation for the last 10 minutes. either something is on your mind or you hate me."

"can't it be both?" she cracked a smile.

"i understand why you hate me, but please, don't deprive our daughter of a life without her father."

"it's not really entirely up to me, andy. i'll talk to abby and get back to you."

"if it helps, i brought presents for her for every holiday and birthday i messed up on. and i have stuff for you too."

"keep it. i don't want any of it."

"but what if abby does?"

"that's up to her." y/n sighed. "i'm taking her to the park later. if you happen to stop by, i can't stop you from seeing her, i suppose."

"so what does this mean then?"

"you're on probation, andy."

"fair enough." he stood up and paid for everything. "thank you for this chance."

"yeah yeah. it's your only one so if you screw this up, you won't be getting another one."

"understood. i'll see you later."

y/n sighed and waited another 10 minutes before heading back to the apartment. she walked into quinn's apartment without knocking and froze when she heard abby's giggling coming from the hallway. seconds later, quinn was running out with abby in his arms, guiding her around like an airplane. when he spotted y/n, he slowed down.

"we have arrived at our destination." he smiled and set her down on the floor. "go get your stuff, abby."

y/n watched her daughter run down the hall before turning to quinn. "i may have made a mistake, quinn."

"i'm guessing the talk didn't go well."

"no. it went better than expected, honestly." y/n looked at him. "i told him i was taking abby to the park later and that if he jut so happened to be there too, i couldn't stop him from seeing his daughter."

"oh."

"tell me if i made a mistake."

"i don't think you did. it's important for a girl to know her father. and it's up to you to set those boundaries." he smiled. "also, i've noticed that you've never made a mistake in the time i've known you. you always think every decision through before making one."

"thanks, quinn. i truly appreciate you and everything you do."

"i appreciate you too." quinn pulled her into a gentle hug. one that she melted into without a thought.

"can quinn come to the park with us today, mom?"

"i would love to, but i got plans with some of the guys from the team. maybe next time, sweetheart." quinn bent down to give abby a hug.

"okay, quinny." abby smiled and headed across the hall. y/n turned to quinn with a grin.

"quinny?" she giggled.

"she started calling me that last night." quinn smirked. "think she likes me."

"dude, she loves you. you're great with her and i appreciate it."

"anything for you." quinn touched her shoulder gently and left her in the hallway. y/n blinked for a few seconds before going to her apartment and grabbing abby.

an hour later, the girls sat down for a picnic when y/n saw andy approaching them. she gave him a signal to stop for a second before she turned to abby.

"hey. um, your dad wants to visit you. would you be interest in that?"

"i guess. he's gonna come around even if i say no, isn't he?"

"yeah i guess so." y/n waved her hand towards him, telling him to move slowly.

"hey. mind if i join you?" he looked at abby. she nodded and looked back at her food, not wanting to engage with him.

andy took a seat next to y/n and set his bag down. "remember the gifts i mentioned?"

"mhm." y/n looked at her phone, wanting nothing more than to text quinn.

"well i brought a couple of them with me and was hoping you girls would accept them."

"presents?" abby set her food back on the plate and turned to face andy as he pulled out 3 gifts. he placed them on the table and abby began opening them.

"i told you i wasn't going to accept any gifts from you, andy." y/n eyed him for a second and went back to her phone.

"i know. but i was hoping you would accept this one." he placed a small jewelry box in front of her, finally catching her attention.

"you really think this is going to make me forgive you, andy? it's going to take a lot more than a necklace." she opened the box and she felt her eyes begin to water. inside the box was a locket with abby's name & birthday, while inside the locket was a picture of the sonogram & a picture of abby when she was 2. y/n's favorite picture. "i'll accept this one gift. but that doesn't mean you're forgiven."

"that's okay. it's a start, right?" he smiled his trademark smile and picked a piece of cheese off y/n's plate.

he ended up being so good with abby and everything he was doing was proving he really was a changed man. y/n hated that she was starting to fall back into his orbit so easily.

later that night, y/n actually let andy into her apartment for dinner. he even joined her in tucking abby in for bed. it felt like they were a family as andy put his arm around y/n when they walked out of the room. she walked him to the door and before he left, he turned to her.

"i just want to thank you again for allowing me to have this day with you guys. i know i've been a terrible person in the past but i hope today was proof that i'm really trying to change. and not just for abby. i'm trying to be a man that deserves someone as wonderful as you."

"you're still on probation, but if i'm being honest, your behavior today has shown a lot of promise."

"i'm glad you feel that way." he slid his hand down her arm and gently grabbed her hand. "i missed you, y/n."

"goodnight, andy." against her better judgement, y/n leaned up and placed a kiss on andy's cheek before he left. just as she was about to shut the door, quinn came out of his apartment.

"hey. how was your day?"

"it was surprisingly good. i think andy may actually be a changed man."

"well, be careful with who you give your heart to. i'd hate to see you get hurt, y/n."

"i appreciate you looking out for me, quinn. but i promise not to get too invested in this, just in case."

"you know i'm only saying this because i care about you, right?"

"i know. and i appreciate it." y/n touched quinn's arm the way andy had touched hers earlier. "thank you."

"you're welcome." he smiled and looked at where her hand was placed. "are you and abby free tomorrow? i have the day off before we have to go on the road for a week and i wanted to spend the day with my favorite girls before i go."

"i'm sure abby would love that, but i won't be able to make it. i work in the morning and i don't know when i'll be home."

"oh." quinn looked at her. "i totally understand. your job is important."

"i'll let you spend the day with abby tomorrow and the first day you get back from the trip, we can spend the day together. i'll make sure to book it off. i promise."

"okay. i would really like that."

"i'll drop abby off before i go to work, alright?"

"sounds good. i'll see you in the morning."

"good night, quinn." y/n kissed his cheek and headed back to her apartment.

quinn was never going to get used to the way she could freeze him with just one simple action.

----------

tags: @alwaysclassyeagle @justagingerliving @marroonwitch

[moonymarvel]

Exams (oneshot/mcu peter)

🂱︎ pairing: mcu peter parker x female reader

🂱︎ synopsis: Peter gets caught up studying for his exams.

🂱︎ genres: established relationship, fluff

🂱 warnings: none :) for my first fic I thought I'd keep it nice and fluffy

🂱 notes: my first fic on here! I've posted this ages ago on Wattpad (ew) but I think it deserves to be put up on here too :)

The door to Peter's bedroom creaks open as it reveals dozens of papers all over the floor, pencils scattered across his desk, a calculator for some reason webbed to the wall, but no Peter in sight.

You balanced the plate of newly baked cookies on one hand as you made his way across his room, using your other arm to balance yourself as you looked down on the floor trying not to step all over his notes.

"Peter?" You called out.

There was no answer but the sudden sound of a keyboard clicking from behind you. Nope, not from behind, on top of you.

You take a cookie and reach your arm up to the ceiling, and feel his hand touch yours and steal the cookie away.

"Are you gonna come down?" You asked finally looking up at your boyfriend, sitting cross legged on the ceiling, typing away on his laptop.

"Sorry darling, give me a second." He replied biting into the cookie, a few crumbs falling on your shoulder.

You brushed the crumbs of the hoodie of his you were wearing, and checked the time on your phone. It reads 6:12pm.

"I texted you I was on my way here, did you get the message?"

"Er--" He says pulling his phone out of his pocket, to see your message pop up on the screen.

"I guess I did, sorry, been preoccupied." He replies, absentmindedly putting his phone down (on the ceiling) only to have it fall down to you, with your reflexes quick enough to catch it before it made contact with the ground.

"You should get down here soon. Your head looks like it's ready to pop like a balloon." His head did in fact not look like it was about to pop, due to his spider-powers that allowed for him to comfortably remain upside down. You did however want to stress that it was about time he give himself a break. You make your way to his bed, putting his phone down on his side table.

"mhmm, in a minute. I think better up here. Maybe it has something to do with the blood flow to my brain or the lack of distractions on my ceiling." He replies still not having looked at you properly once since you got here.

"Peter?"

"Yes y/n." He replies

"What time do you think it is?" You add.

"Uh, 4:00." He replies.

"Wrong, it's almost 6:15 so I think it's about time you head back down here and let gravity do its job."

He finally looked at you, his brown hair falling every which way.

He sighs, and closes his laptop. You make your way under him once again, catching his laptop as he let it fall to your hands. He followed suit and jumped down, coming nose to nose distance to you.

"Hi." 

"Hi."

He lands a quick kiss on your nose. He stumbles, tripping over some pencils scattered around the floor.

"Falling for me are ya?" you tease.

"always." he replies.

You make your way to his bed, and he settles his pretty little head to rest on your stomach, your hands lacing around his brown curls.

"Ooft, should have probably come down sooner." He says suddenly breaking the peaceful silence.

"I figured, you were up there for like 2 hours?." You replied.

"4."

"4 what?" You asked

"I started at 2, I've been up there for 4 hours."

"PETER!"

"What? Like I said, I focus better up there."

"You have to take better care of yourself! Have you even had a drink of water since then?" You asked

"Uh, no..."

"Let me get you a glass then--"

"It's fine I'll get one myself." He replies getting off you. He reaches the door and turns the knob when the sound of the metal crunching under his hand bring your attention to him.

He releases the knob, only to find it crumpled like a piece of paper.

"Sorry, er... It happens when I'm tired and forget to control my strength." He adds shyly before exiting the room.

"you web-head." you reply. He chuckles and exits the room. Your curiosity gets the best of you and you decide to check out what Peter's been working so hard on. 'Ew, calculus.' you think to yourself as you flip through his notes.

You hear Peter enter the room behind you, and he sets his glass down and wraps his arms around your waist from behind, resting his head on your shoulder and pressing his chest against your back.

"Ew, calculus right." he says, you chuckle lightly under your breath.

"my brain hurts." he hums into your hair.

"haha, I can tell." you reply going through one of the equations he couldn't seem to finish.

"mhmm" he replies tiredly, taking in the fresh scent of your shampoo.

"one of these pythagorean conjugates is wrong." you add suddenly.

"hm? No, I triple checked that." Peter replies.

"Nuh uh, you might've just read it wrong but this is meant to be cosine not cotangent." You add lifting up the paper to his eye line and pointing out his careless mistake.

"No. NO WAY!" He says pulling away from you and snatching the paper out of your hand.

"I KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT THAT WASN'T RIGHT!" He adds, one hand almost crumpling the paper and the other pulling at his already disheveled curls.

"Maybe you're just not as smart as you think, bug-boy." you reply laughing at his distressed state.

"No, I just have a genius girlfriend!" He drops the paper and picks you up by the waist and spins you around. Your laughter fills the room and that would've been enough to light up Peter's whole world. He set you down slowly and covered your face with soft kisses, leaving your mouth for last.

"Thank you." He adds, his eyes looking deep into yours.

"Not a problem my spider-man."

[faeryseiko]

Ahead of me || Katsuki Bakugo

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

A/N: Hi ! I haven't wrote since 2022 so I'm sorry if this one sucks but please take the time and tell me your thoughts on this one !! It is a song lyrics based fic, I LOVE the quirk I just cooked and might do an AO3 story with it...

WARNINGS : season 7 BIG SPOILERS. death, blood.

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

Muffled screams, tears running down soft cheeks.

"If I could, I'd be your little spoon"...

I looked as Shigaraki threw Bakugo's body like an useless doll that he didn't want to play with anymore. My heart was beating strongly fast in my chest. I got up on my feet and ran to his side, sliding on my knees as I did so. I started to scratch my arms, the red powder falling on the hole of his chest.

Quirk name : Philosopher's stone

I kept scratching, normally it wouldn't even take a second before healing. But it didn't this time. I felt my own blood rolling on my arm and saw it going to mix with his on his chest. I heard Best Jeanist next to me as he just saw the student he taught yet learned so much from.

"No. No no nonononono" I started to panic as my eyes watered down. I was shaking a corpse, trying to wake it up. I put my forehead on his and was breathing uncontrollably.

"Y/n-san, with you around, we will not be scared of our injuries anymore. I know we can count on you !"

I remembered Izuku's words, now stabbing me as I felt useless again in my life. My best friend was lifeless before me and I couldn't even bring him back or save him.

My quirk wasn't a flashy one, nor did it help for defense. I had to work harder to prove myself worthy of being a hero. The number of times I felt useless watching my class fight as I could only stand watching on the sidelines. I hate it, I'm thankful for Aizawa that have let me show my worth.

"Your quirk is special, Y/n. Great sacrifices and hard work will have to be done to reach it's full potential."

I was shaking, taking his numb upperbody on my knees as I carressed his cheek with my thumb. His beautiful crimson eyes were now turned a pale pink color and his mouth gaped open to show the last breath he took. I let my forehead fall on his chest.

. . .

"One day, I'll become number one and will beat all bad guys like All Might !"

It was one of these times where Bakugo and I's parents would hang out and we would play in the park together. We were on top of the slides as we practiced our hero poses while laughing.

"I'm excited to see my quirk so I can now start ny hero journey, aren't you Bakugo?" I asked with a smile and to this he nodded with a proud smile.

"I already know mine will be awesome ! You'll just have to wait and see. It'll be so strong that it will surpass even All Might and AH-"

I jolted in surprise and panicked as I saw Bakugo fall from the slide's top. I carefully went down and sat down next to him. He winced in pain as he was holding his arm. After a few seconds, a blue color was appearing and that's when I knew it was broken.

"Bakugo, y-your arm-"

"Shut up I know !"

He tried to not let his tears fall and when I saw this, that's when I suddenly took his arm. I don't know how this happened... Even today, I am not able to reproduce what I did that day, but when I touched his arm, his arm healed itself, but in the process broking mine completely.

Bakugo smiled as he saw his new and healed arm.

"Y/n! Your quirk it finally came-"

His eyes widened, seeing me holding my arm in pain. His smile disappeared and I don't know what he thought at that time. That I had an useless quirk ? That I was pathetic ?

. . .

That day was my quirk's first appearance and I couldn't understand how I did it. I had the properties of a stone made with alchemy. Yet, I couldn't understand them exactly.

"And kiss your fingers forevermore..."

But then, it clicked.

I gently lift up Bakugo and hugged his figure, closing my eyes in the process. I focused on him, I had to.

"but big spoon, you have so much to do..."

Water filled my eyes as I sobbed, hugging him tightly, knowing this was my first and last.

....

I remember when I saw Bakugo and Deku fight against eachother, their first fight when they were teammed up with Uraraka and Iida. I looked in awe at both strenght.

Even though Izuku used to be quirkless, he showed himself worthy for All Might to give his quirk. Bakugo was mad and confused at the time, mad that Izuku had showed up randomly one day with a quirk that was strong. And confused on how it happened.

I was selfish to think that... but with Izuku I felt less alone next to Bakugo with his amazingly strong quirk. I had to work extra harder and might never catch up to them.

I also remember at the festival, against Kirishima I was nothing but an easy target. I have cried that day so hard, I even wondered what I was doing at U.A and why I stayed. Also on why our teacher kept me.

Aizawa taught Shinsou and I to still be strong even with a quirk that didn't give us boosted strenght, rapidity or stamina.

I have made so many good friends at U.A, but I knew that if for whatever reason someone had to leave, they had too much potential, too many hopes and dreams for it to be them.

"And I have nothing ahead of me..."

I have made so many great memories, so many. I felt my chest getting lighter and breathing turned so easy to do. Weights on my shoulder turned into empty ones, you know that feeling before falling asleep ?

And as my chest softly stopped to move, I felt against my ear a heartbeat. By now, I was too weak to great him happily like I usually do.

I wish we had more time, more time for me ask for his help for math homework, more time for him to look behind him to look at me, as if having me helped feeling more confident.

Or more time for me to go shopping one last time with Mina, one more time for Shinsou and I to proudly look at our better fighting forms, one more time to play video games with the squad.

More time so I can admire the developpment Bakugo has made on himself.

Maybe, I can finally be useful to you, Katsuki ?

....

Bakugo's eyes opened softly as he heard Best Jeanist yelling out someone's name. Surprisingly, it wasn't his.

The pain he had felt on his chest left and the blood disappeared, he still felt some weight on his chest. He had a hard time moving, but when he looked down, he saw your h/c hair, your normally e/c vibrant eyes that were now closed forever.

He would call you a dumbass, but he knew you wouldn't hear him this time. He would call you a selfless idiot, because since the day you had your quirk, the coolest quirk he've seen in terms of healing, that's just who you've become.

His eyes watered down. He focused so much onto catching up with Deku that he hasn't looked behind him at the person who destroyed themselves just to catch up to him.

And now, it was too late for him to simply catch your hand to help you run with him.

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

song : Your Best American Girl - Mitski.

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic X Shadow Takeover Analyzer (Part 1)

I was so excited to hear this Takeover since it is only Sonic and Shadow talking to each other and answering question. It is one of those times where you get to see their dynamic without anyone else's input.

Since I feel like I could write an essay about these two, I decided to instead put all my thoughts into bullet points, this being Part 1 of my list:

First of, congratulations to Shadow for hosting the Takeover! Shadow sounds so proud of having managed to take over the channel and having gotten a whole year for himself. At least until Sonic reminds him that he is also there.

Why does Sonic's mind immediately jump to ''marriage'' when he hears the word proposal? Is he still bummed over the fact that he didn't think of proposing to Shadow?

I never thought I'd live the day to hear Shadow saying ''Sonic x Shadow''. I know it's referring to the game, but shippers are going to have a field day with this.

Shadow finally got his #AskShadow. Sonic is not happy to lose to him.

The best way for Sonic to annoy Shadow is to just be around him, with Sonic adding how he'd slowly take his time when they're racing and drag it out, much to Shadow's chagrin. God, I love how Sonic trolls Shadow.

Sonic doesn't know about Doom Wing... and he forgot about Black Doom! X3

I love how Sonic's idea in a body swap scenario with Shadow is to brag about himself, while Shadow's idea is to tell everyone how Sonic is stupid... and more importantly, telling that to Amy. Sonic sounds really flustered, and while I get the Sonamy joke... I'm pretty sure they threw that in because they knew the Sonadow fans will go wild over this.

There you have it folks! Shadow doesn't hate Tails, but he will beat him up if he stands in his way. I also love how Sonic immediately jumps to Tails' defense - big brother gotta protect his little brother.

Sonic loves the journey, while Shadow points out how you need to learn from the experience to not make the same mistakes. I love their philosophy, since they mesh so well together... and it also feels as if Sonic wants to go on a journey with Shadow.

I love the scenario of Sonic and Shadow babysitting Cream and them arguing over their methods (Sonic, the twelve scoop ice-cream cone scenario is really specific).

Did Sonic just invite Shadow on an ice-cream date? As Cream's babysitters, but nonetheless, it is a date. And he also knows what Shadow's favorite ice-cream flavour is.

Okay, start the counter for how many times Sonic attempts to convince Shadow to go out with him.

I love how Sonic knows how to challenge Shadow and Shadow falls for it despite his reservations, even if it's something silly like a thumb war. Sonic knows exactly how to get under his skin and Shadow just goes along with it, much to his chagrin. X3

Sonic, Shadow and Silver have a Big Brother, Little Brother relationship! Love how they're ready to help him at any point of time and how Shadow respects Silver.

So, Sonic forgot about Elise? To note Sonic 06 technically did happen, but the universe did get reset.

I adore that Shadow acts like he doesn't care whether he's Sonic's biggest rival, but the moment Sonic starts trolling him by placing him between Zavok and... Dodon Pa? (What?) - Shadow gets irritated. It's obvious that Shadow wants the recognition of being Sonic's main rival, and knows Sonic is messing with him.

Did Shadow just laugh at the Joe Mama joke?

Shadow correcting Sonic's Macarena bit is hilarious, especially since neither of them know the lyrics. Also, obligatory Macarena singing is obligatory.

I love how Shadow shares Omega's ''enthusiasm for blowing things up''. We saw him enjoying himself blowing up G.U.N. property alongside Omega and Rouge in Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings, so I'm not surprised. Sonic then immediately figures he also needs to hang out more with Omega,... perhaps in hopes to get closer to Shadow?

Shadow pointing out how Tails is the reason why Sonic's always in trouble is not wrong. These two can be a disaster when together as siblings tend to do.

''Shadow, have you ever given Sonic a present on his birthday?'' ''No, my presence is more than enough.'' There are several things to discuss here:

Shadow is willing to buy Amy a present in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but couldn't bother get anything for Sonic, which is hilarious. Especially since we know that it was Rouge who convinced him to go to Sonic's birthday by promising him a rocket.

Shadow arrived at Sonic's birthday just after he was traumatized by watching Gerald and Maria return to their own timeline, knowing this was the last time he saw them again. I doubt getting a present for Sonic was on his mind at that time.

Shadow claims his presence is enough of a birthday present. I interpret this as him claiming that he is Sonic's birthday present and you can't stop me.

Sonic teasing Shadow about the Hot Honey concert is so hilarious... until Shadow reveals they're going on another concert, and Sonic's mood drops. Honestly, Sonic, if you want to go to a concert with Shadow, ask him out!

Sonic being so intrigued and even saying that he's jealous over Shadow smiling in Big's presence, and then suggests a fishing trip with all three of them. Not only does he want to see Shadow smile again, but he is still persistent about getting his date.

Shadow chooses to save Sonic from danger because he knows Sonic will get himself into trouble, so he needs keep an eye on him. This is completely out of Sonic Prime and I'm loving it! It really shows that Shadow cares about Sonic.

Sonic isn't too enthusiastic about going with Amy on shopping trips. Shadow, on the other hand, just buys what he needs, which is understandable... Sonic then immediately uses this as an opportunity to invite him on a shopping date, even saying how he'll make it fun. Shadow immediately accepts the moment Sonic turns it into a race.

They mention the matching outfits (possible reference to Sonic Speed Simulator)! Sonic believes they have similar tastes, Shadow calls it a coincidence and insists it means nothing, which Sonic doesn't buy at all.

''But if we do ever go to a party, you know I'm picking the outfits.'' Sonic is still desperately trying to get that date and Shadow is not budging. These two sound like a married couple.

I love how Shadow respects Sonic enough to refuse beating him in a swimming competition, even if he reasons that it's because Sonic would drown, so he wouldn't be able to see the look of the defeat on his face.

Sonic immediately mentions a ''plummeting to Earth contest'', which is just... woah! I didn't expect him to go that far. Shadow gets an UNO Reverse on him by teasing him about needing floaties. Go Shadow!

Sonic keeps his chest fur short to stay aerodynamic and run laps around Shadow. You guys do know that hedgehogs circle around each other in order to court?

Frontiers!Sonic voice is back! Shadow sounds baffled. X3

So, Classic Sonic is just chilling in the room. Shadow likes him because he's silent, though. I suppose Modern Sonic is taking notes... or not.

#Sonic X Shadow Takeover Analyzer (Part 2)

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

[lucy90712]

Finding out you’re pregnant

A/n: Happy new year guys. As promised for the new year this is the start of a pregnancy mini series. New parts will be out when I can get them done hope you enjoy ~ Lucy 

Gavi: 

Over the past week or so I haven't been feeling right I've felt nauseous most days and just overall not myself. I have also missed my period which only really points to one thing but I don't want to believe it. Pablo and I are still so young sure we've been together for nearly 3 years now but having kids isn't something we've talked about much. We both want them but it was always an in the future thing so for it to maybe be happening now has me panicking. I know I should take a test to find out for sure but I'm scared because once I know the result it becomes real and if I'm pregnant I have to tell Pablo. 

Today though I feel like I can't put it off anymore I have to find out and deal with the consequences whatever they are. I can't do it alone though so I went out and got a test as Mikky is coming over with Miles and I figured she'd be a good person to have around when I find out as she's been through it all. When she arrived I told her how I'd been feeling and my plan and she was encouraging me straight away telling me that everything would be fine. After I took the test she waited with me and even looked at the result first as I was too scared even though I already knew what it would be. Once my suspicions were confirmed and I knew I was pregnant the conversation turned to how to tell Pablo, Mikky suggested doing something simple like just giving him the test in a box so that's what we set up. 

When Pablo finally got home Mikky left leaving just the two of us. Being alone with him I felt so nervous I mean what is he going to think he doesn't often get mad at me but I can see this being one of the rare times he does. Surely he doesn't want to be tied down by a baby when his career is just starting out I know he wants to enjoy being young but I don't know if he can do that for much longer. 

"Are you ok you've been extra quiet ever since I got home" Pablo said 

"I'm fine but I have something for you" I said handing him the box 

"You're pregnant" he whispered clearly shocked 

"Yeah I am and I know we said we weren't ready for kids so I'm sorry and I get if you want nothing to do with me now" I rambled

"Hey it's ok I'm actually really excited we're starting our own family sure it's sooner than I imagined but I can't wait to see this baby grow" he said giving me a kiss which made me feel a lot better 

Pedri: 

Pedri and I have talked about having kids. Starting a family is something we both want but neither of us are quite ready yet or at least we weren't but now we might have to be. I've been feeling quite sick the last few days and straight away my mind went to the day Pedri and I weren't as careful as we usually are which of course has come back to haunt us. I wanted to ignore it and at least wait for my period to be late but Pedri wanted to know now and I'm not going to say no. 

To find out we needed a test as I don't keep them on hand as we are always careful so I don't keep tests for emergencies but maybe I should. Pedri wanted to come in the store with me but he also didn't want us to be seen and for someone to put our business all over social media. So it was just me who went in wearing sunglasses and a mask so no one recognised me either. It was so nerve wracking buying the test especially when the cashier wished me luck I felt like a teenager sneaking around behind their parents back. On the drive home Pedri held my hand the entire way trying to help calm me down which was a sweet gesture but it didn't really help. 

Back in the comfort of our own home I went straight to the downstairs bathroom to take the test. Pedri stood with me as we waited the 5 minutes for the results his arms were around my waist and my head rested on his chest as I thought about what the result might mean for us. It all feels like a lot but having Pedri there made me feel a lot better as it felt like we were truly in this together. The timer I set scared the both of us as we were in our own little world but quickly we were brought back to reality. As I went to flip the test my hands were shaking so Pedri put his hand on top of mine and we flipped the test together. Two very obvious lines stared back at us both which I thought would make me feel nervous but I was actually overwhelmed with excitement. 

"I can't believe it I'm actually so excited" Pedri said 

"Me too I thought I'd be more scared but I'm actually so happy" I said 

"Clearly we were ready to take this step and just needed the push to realise it" he said 

Jude: 

Jude has always said he doesn't want kids and I was on board with that as having kids isn't something I've ever been crazy about. It isn't something I ever ruled out completely as you know people can change their minds but in my mind that was at least 5-10 years in the future if ever. Recently though I've just felt off like somethings not right so when my period was a few days late my mind went straight to the worst case scenario. Any normal person would probably tell their partner and they would figure it out together but I'm terrified to tell Jude in case he leaves me as he has made it very clear multiple times that having kids isn't something he wants. 

This fear is exactly why I went and got a test and took it on my own without anyone knowing. I could've talked to one of my friends but I didn't want anyone to possibly let it slip to Jude as I need to be the one to tell him. Of course the result was exactly as I feared it would be I was very much pregnant. I cried for hours after I found out as I knew I had to tell Jude and deal with whatever the consequences will be which will probably end with me doing this alone when Jude ultimately decides to leave me. Realistically I should've told him that day to get it over with but I couldn't handle it mentally so I put it off. 

It has now been over a week and I am still hiding this big secret from Jude, I have wanted to tell him I really have but the right moment hasn't come up yet. He is starting to get a bit suspicious though as he keeps asking me if I'm ok and giving me weird looks when I say I'm fine. As I've waited so long I've built up this moment so much that I'm so scared for it to actually happen. 

"Hi love how are you?" Jude asked as he arrived home from training 

"I'm good how was your day?" I asked back 

"What's up with you I can tell you are keeping something from me please just tell me what it is whatever's wrong we can figure it out together" he nearly begged 

"Please don't be mad but I'm pregnant" I finally blurted out 

"Wow that's not what I was expecting" he said 

"I'm sorry just please don't leave me" I cried 

"I'm not going to leave you I promise I just wasn't expecting that I know I said I didn't want kids but for some reason I feel different with you I'm ready to step up and for us to do this together I'm actually kind of excited" he said 

"I love you" was all I managed to say 

"I love you more" he said 

Joao: 

Joao and I have been together for a few years and engaged for a year now and after moving to London we had a discussion about our future together and ultimately we decided that both of us were ready to take the next step and start a family. Even though we said we were ready we agreed that we didn't want to rush the process at least not right now so we wanted to take a more casual approach. I stopped taking my birth control but I haven't been tracking my cycle or doing anything special as I'm under the impression that it will happen when it happens. 

Over the past few weeks I've been feeling really ill I just have no energy and I have been feeling nauseous most days. To start with I just got on with my life as I thought it was just a little cold or something but as time has gone on and I've not got any better I realised it must be something more. Joao made me call off work the past few days to rest and see if that makes me feel any better but that hasn't helped either. After another day of barely leaving our bed Joao suggested I take a pregnancy test just to be sure as then if it's not that he will definitely make me go to the doctors. 

Luckily I have pregnancy tests in the bathroom for situations like this so Joao helped me out of bed and I took the test with him waiting for me right outside. I sat the test on my bedside table and we just waited. Joao had me sat in his lap on the edge of the bed stroking my hair but we sat in silence while I thought about whether I could actually be pregnant. It hasn't been long at all since I stopped taking my birth control and I didn't think it would happen this quickly but if it did that would be really exciting. The 5 minute timer Joao set passed rather quickly and suddenly it was time to learn if our lives will be changed forever or if I'm just really run down. 

"I'm pregnant" I said not quite believing what the test in my hand read

"I can't believe it who knew it would happen so quickly" Joao said 

"I know we haven't even been trying properly" I said 

"At least we know why you have been feeling so awful now" Joao laughed 

Ruben: 

Ruben and I have been trying for a baby for almost a year now. To start with we were trying more casually but then I started tracking my cycle and we did things properly but that didn't work either. We have tried every tip and trick and still no positive pregnancy test. There has been times that I've had symptoms like nausea and I've even been late on my period a few times but still every month I'm greeted with a negative test. It's been hard as I want nothing more than to start a family with Ruben and I just feel so useless that I can't get pregnant like every other woman I know can. 

Again this month I've had some symptoms like being extra tired and not liking food I usually love but I don't want to get my hopes up as I've been in this position before and only been let down. It's always difficult not to get a bit excited at the prospect of finally being pregnant but I don't think I can handle another disappointment at least not night now. The amount of times I have wanted to just give up have only increased especially recently, this whole process is just making me feel awful and I don't know if it is worth it especially right now. 

Ruben wants me to take a test again and I can see why but I've been putting it off to avoid the disappointment. I promised him that today I would take a test but we agreed that if it was negative that we'd take a break from trying and I wouldn't take another test for a while just to protect my mental health. Of course Ruben came back from training super excited but I just can't get myself to feel the same way. Despite that I still took the test and just gave it to Ruben as I simply don't want to see the one line I've become accustomed to seeing. 

"I-it's positive" Ruben chocked out a few minutes later 

"What?" I questioned 

"It's positive we're going to have a baby" Ruben said handing me the test so I could see for myself 

He wasn't wrong there was two clear lines on the test. Neither of us could stop the tears from flowing as Ruben picked me up and spun me round which made me feel quite sick but I couldn’t care less I was just so happy this nightmare has finally ended with the result we wanted. 

[bookshelfdreams]

I know it's been half a year and I don't feel like digging up the original post rn but I finally got started ooooonnnnn

✨The American Duchess Wrap Cape✨

Carol Kimball made a printable version of the pattern which she generously shares for free on her blog along with instructions for alterations and assembly (PLUS pockets! And a hood!). This is what I'll be working with.

I forgot to take a picture, but I'm using a grey-green (sage? I'd call this sage) boiled wool as top fabric, and dark blue flannel for the lining. Because I am an idiot, and also due to my general hubris, I have forgone the mockup. Instead, i decided to try on every pattern piece as I go along and see what alterations it needs. I am sure I will not regret this.

(I do have a lot of fabric, so there's room for error. When I bought it earlier this year I thought I would do the hood, but I have since decided against it - with the colour, a hood would make me look like some twee forest creature. Not that that wouldn't be an amazing fashion concept. Unfortunately, hoods don't work great with scarves and shawls, so no hood this time.)

First (after printing and taping together the pattern pieces) was extending the shoulder seam. The original pattern has tiny shoulders, which might work fine for some (although, tbh, even the og pictures of AD's reconstruction seem to fit the model kinda awkwardly), but for me, too small. Kimball recommends making a sort of bulge on the front piece so it actually goes over the bust, which I did; I freehanded it and figured I would cut it out, sew in the darts and then check if it fits.

I wasn't sure how to mark where to put the darts without cutting up the pattern. In the end, I just put a little bit of white thread through the start and end points, pulled off the paper and tied them off loosely. That worked really well, and it made folding the darts easier, too.

Anyway, the front piece seemed to fit! So I used it to adjust the pattern for the lining, cut out the two front pieces, and put in the darts there. Then I cut open the darts, finished the seams that needed finishing, and pressed all my seams, as if I knew what I was doing and wasn't a chaotic craft gremlin.

Next, I cut out the back piece (the pattern prints only one half, but I mirrored it and then taped the two halves together, so I wouldn't have to fumble around trying to cut it on the fold. That would not have ended well) in both top and lining, sewed them together with the according front pieces at the shoulders, and pressed the seams again.

Then I ran out of blue sewing thread. But since it's 20:00 anyway, and my sewing machine is very loud, I'll be a considerate neighbour and stop with the noise-heavy activities. Tomorrow I'll have to go to the inferior craft store (the good one is closed on tuesdays) to get some fusible interfacing for the collar and pockets (up next!). Also blue thread.

(The cat was helping, as always)

[lizard-queen-izzy]

Its Mr. and Mr. Games!

To celebrate the end of the TIT era, and the upcoming rebranding, I wanted to draw something. I knew from the first time I heard the song back in November that I had to make piece to honor this beautiful reintroduction to two of the most influential people in my life.

This design will eventually be up for sale, either as prints/stickers or keychains. Once I get it all figured out.

I'm gonna get sappy now, but I'll put that under the cut.

Dan and Phil came into my life at probably the perfect time. I'd seen little bits of their content before officially becoming a Phan, and I'd always liked them. But there was something about stumbling across them the summer before middle school, that really stuck with me. I'd never been particularly popular, and I moved quite a bit for a few years, and here I was in a whole new environment with no real friends besides my brothers. I was slowly starting to fall victim to the typical puberty age insecurities and my poor mental health was starting to take a toll on me. And here were these two British guys, like a ray of light in the dark. They didn't fix everything, far from it, but they started to become a safe space regardless. I love them both of course, but I've always been a Dan girlie. It was like staring at, myself in a mirror but despite our similarities he was actually popular, at least online. And at the time we didn't know as much as we know now, but I felt a deep connection with him, I felt like he got it. Like it wasn't just a "I have mental health issues, I'm just like you", it was genuinely someone who was dealing with similar things to what I was. And Phil was always a wonderful ray of sunshine, and it helped that he so clearly got Dan. He understood and he didn't shun him for his struggles or ever make fun of him beyond light, friendly teasing. And I've craved a bond and connection like them since (which I do finally have).

But it wasn't just about Dan and Phil. It was about the community they created, the safe haven for kids and teens that came from all over. A community they were so welcoming of and cared about so much (even when that community was less than deserving of it). And this community is how I made friends. Some of my first ever real friends in middle school were made in part because of Dan and Phil. As well as some of my friends now. Some of my first real connections came to me because of these silly guys online. And they didn't all last, but some did. I saw them live in November with one of those friends I made all those years ago because of them.

Dan and Phil truly raised me. They created a space where I had two incredible role models, I was watching content that was safe and made by safe people, and they kept me creative. But they also saved my life. And they continue to be one of the things that keeps me going. They came into my life at a time when everything was falling apart and I was ready to give up, and pulled me back to my feet and told me it was worth it to keep going. And anytime I'm in a bad spot, they're one of the things that helps draw me back out.

They've grown and changed so much in the last 15 years, and I definitely have to, but a constant that will never change is my appreciation for these two and all they've done and continue to do. Thank you, Dan and Phil. For being you, in all the ways, and for showing me I can be too.

[mendessi]

things i say when you sleep | chapter eight

multi chapter bodhi durran x fem!oc

word count: 5.2K

chapter summary: bodhi durran on ania alistair

tags: slow burn, friends to enemies to lovers, canon typical violence, mentions of death, she falls first he falls harder, majority canon compliant, some canon deviance, eventual smut, angst with a happy ending, additional tags to be added

AO3 masterlist

six | seven | eight | nine | ten

b o d h i

Ani had always been an exceptional girl.

She'd been a part of my life since I can remember. When I think back to my earliest memories, she's always there.

Once Ani learned to walk, the Alistairs would join our family at Riorson House for weekly dinners. Despite being the youngest, she learned to read before any of us. Every adult I knew always talked about what a bright child she'd grow up to be—a Healer, maybe, just like her mother. 

She and I could always relate, being the youngest of the group. Sometimes we were left out of the plans that Xaden, Garrick, and her brother, Beckett made. Eventually, as we got older, we started to be included too. More often than not, Ania would choose to exclude herself to stay in the library.

But she was always there. Her presence was always there. She was just as much a piece of our family as we were to theirs. The times she did decide to join us, she'd shut her book cooly, but the way her eyes lit up was undeniable.

Sparring with her was always entertaining. Once she turned ten, we started letting her into the gym with us. We thought having a girl on the mat was amusing, but we learned quickly that her adaptability was unmatched. Observing us, she picked things up and engraved them into her brain. She never won, but she always put up a challenge.

With us being the youngest, our mothers always dreamed of the idea that we'd grow up one day and get married. In turn, Xaden, Beckett, and Garrick would tease us. "Lovebirds", they called us. I never minded the jokes, but I'd put a stop to the conversation when I saw Ani's cheeks flush.

Once the rebellion began, the talk became more serious. While Xaden had been betrothed to Catriona, the backup should something happen, I was betrothed to Ania. Under any means necessary, we had to preserve the Throne in Aretia. She never understood the severity past that point. It was still a harmless joke amongst our families to her. How could she understand when she was left in the dark?

We had always planned to tell her, we just never had the chance to. It was hard when her mother was so against it. It was too late when we finally wanted to let her in. Beckett died and we barely had time to blink before the executions. 

The last time I saw Ania, she was thrashing in a man's arms as he pulled her away from us. The new relic shimmered against her skin as she hit his chest. Xaden and I fought for her. We at one point had all managed to grab onto each other but, were ripped apart, and shipped off to new foster homes. 

Years went by and I could nothing but hope that she was being treated right in her new home and grieve what had been taken from us. We were just kids. 

My first year in the quadrant practically flew by. Xaden and I were different and for some deluded reason, we had expected her to remain the same after six years. We were wrong to think that she'd be happy to see us. 

Xaden found me after Parapet and his jaw flexed as he pulled me into a quiet corner where we could talk.

"Is she here?" I asked him. 

"She hates us," He said as he ran a hand over his face. "Wants nothing to do with us."

"What do you mean?" I pressed further. 

"She blames us for Beckett," He replied. "I helped her cross but-"

"She told you this?" I looked around the courtyard to see if I could see her. 

"No, I just know," He sighed, "She's not the same. Just keep your distance til we can figure out how to handle this."

Gods, did she make it hard on us. 

We were fools to think that she could be the same after everything that happened in Aretia. 

Keep my distance. That's all I had to do.  

I didn't question it when Xaden told me she had changed. We all had. The ramifications of the war were not light on any of the Marked ones. The things we went through as kids, molded us as people. 

The Ani that I saw step onto the mat during Assessment Day was not one I was ready for. She'd grown. She was always a beautiful girl, we'd heard it our whole lives, but I was seeing it now.

Our first mistake was sending Quinn in. 

She left the mat with a broken nose, even though she, by technicality, won. Since Ania had yielded. This hard exterior was fascinating. I never imagined Ania to be what other cadets would call "ruthless." I had a hard time grasping the person she had become. 

I didn't heed Xaden's warnings to stay away. How could I when that night, I found her sitting under a tree watching the stars? I instantly was reminded of a time when we were kids. The stars were beautiful from the top of Riorson House. 

Things had seemed to be going well, I was making progress, actually getting through to her. Until I brought up Xaden. 

"She hates us but at least she doesn't seem to be getting closer to anyone else in the quadrant," I said to Xaden as I sat in his room one night. 

"I don't want her to be isolated. Unfortunately, you can't make it here without some sort of teamwork." He replied and I knew he was right. 

Ania was isolating herself. Excluding herself like I'd seen her do on several accounts growing up together. 

We took what felt like a million wrong approaches toward her. We had to tread lightly, and carefully, to avoid pissing her off. We noticed early on that she had developed a very serious anger problem. We'd all been there, all shed it, but her's had stuck. That became the top priority. We could use her anger and do our best to avoid it backfiring. Once she let us in, we needed to focus on her control. 

Her anger would get her killed. 

Only after calling her to the mat did we start to slowly make progress. And it wasn't because of me. If anything, I'd set our progress back to the start. I'd call it tough love, but I'm not sure it deserved that name after I knocked her out. 

"Let me talk to her," Liam had said to us. 

Xaden had told him about Ania during their time being fostered together. Liam had been excited to meet her. He, like us, had been expecting someone different. 

Xaden pondered on the thought, slightly angry with me for taking it too far, and then nodded. 

Liam Mairi had been the first of us to get through to her. 

When Xaden decided that she had trusted Liam enough, he sent me back in. 

With Threshing approaching he was beyond stressed.

"I'm stretched thin," He kept saying.

At this point, it was a matter of if she lived or not would we finally be able to make things right.

"Ani?" I asked. He had been observing in the valley and was supposed to keep an eye on her.

"I lost her," He replied, running a hand through his hair.

'What do you mean 'you lost her'? I raised my voice. 

"Sorrengail was in trouble," He said and he had to put his hands on my shoulders to keep from running into the damn valley myself.

"And what about Ania?" I screamed. 

I forced myself to walk away from him for my own sake. Xaden was not a fight I could win.

I found her squadmates and asked if they had seen her. My stomach sank when Violet returned, and she still hadn't. 

Xaden's jaw ticked and I know he was worried. We had broken Beckett's promise. If he had just kept eyes on her-

"Ani!" The second I found her in the medical tent, my heart sank. I practically ran toward her. 

I cupped her cheeks into my hands my eyes scanning her over to assess her injuries. She looked like she just went through hell and back. Maybe even shook Malek's hand while she was at it.

Her face was covered in blood, hers or someone else's, I'm not sure. Her hand had a gaping hole through the center and I can only imagine it's from a dagger. 

I tilted her head to the side, clenching my jaw when I saw the fresh bruising in the shape of handprints. 

I'm the one who has to control my anger now. The second she tells me who's responsible, I'll fucking kill them. 

"I'll relay to Sgayel that she's okay," Cuir says and I mentally thank him.

Xaden appears within minutes, but I'm still pissed at him. As he surveyed her, I could see regret swimming in his eyes. 

She killed two men. My Ani killed two men. Innocent, bookworm Ania Alistair. A murderer. Justifiably.

But she survived in the process. Ruthless, she lived up to her name. If she looked like this, I'd hate to see the other two. 

With a glare in Xaden's direction, I helped her to the healers after the celebrations begin. She didn't even flinch when her Red Swordtail burned a relic into her skin. 

She's strong. In shock maybe, but strong.

"She made it, she bonded," Xaden said to me when I returned to the flight field. I had members of my own squad that I haven't checked on yet, being too preoccupied with Ania. "Is she okay?"

"She killed two men today, Xaden," I replied with my arms crossed over my chest.

"That's a part of life, Bodhi," He was stern with his tone, "We can't coddle her. Especially when she doesn't let us. Beckett wouldn't want that. We want her to live past the quadrant, yes?"

"Of course," I said. 

"Then we can't hold her hand through it. She's not a kid anymore. We can do our best to protect her and trust me, we will. But we can only do so much." Xaden said.

As much as we want to believe that she's someone we can shield from the hardships of the world, we just can't. "When do we tell her about what's really going on?"

 "We'll take it day by day," He replied with a curt nod.

The next morning when I went to check on her I was not expecting Ridoc Gamlyn of all people to open the door. Shirtless.

His eyes flared wide like he knew he was not where he's supposed to be, "Oh shit."

I ran my tongue against my teeth when Ani appeared behind him standing in nothing but her tunic. I accidentally let my eyes glance her over, noting the angry dagger wound in her thigh.

All I did was look at him, but that seemed to scare him enough for him to scramble out of her room without even putting his shirt or shoes on. 

That was a situation I could've handled better. She didn't need me to be overbearing in that moment and I was, but I couldn't help it. I told myself the anger came from concern over her not letting her injuries heal. I had no right to tell her who she could and couldn't bring into her bed. Or that she can't bring anyone into her bed at all. 

Garrick and I met in Xaden's room that night to talk about the next drop-off. We never made it through a meeting without bringing her up. How could we not? We'd all been there the day Beckett died. Xaden held him in his arms while we surrounded him. We all made a promise. 

"I see her in the gym a lot," Garrick said, "Pretty much every night. If not with Gamlyn then with Liam. She's pretty intense." 

"She still avoiding you?" I asked.

"Yeah, but because I give her the space to. She'll come to me when she's ready." Garrick replied, tapping his fingers mindlessly against the table. "She's got a good head on her shoulders. I think we should consider letting her in."

"I agree. But we can't just pull her aside and lay everything on the table. She's a logical person. Extremely intelligent. We have to plant the idea inside her head, let her figure it out." Xaden explained and then turned to me after a beat, "You should be the one to start. She's starting to trust you."

"I can do it," I nodded.

"Anything else?" Xaden asked. 

"I found Ridoc in her room this morning," I said, trying to ignore Garrick and my cousin's shared glance.

"Does that bother you?" Garrick asked as he crossed his arms. 

"I think that she should be focused on other things, that's all." I defended. I should've kept that to myself.

"As long as she's not sleeping with a psycho like Barlowe, then I hardly think it's our business," Xaden smirked. "Cadet Gamlyn cares for her. In a strictly platonic way."

My cheeks heated up and I hated the way that Garrick and Xaden burst into laughter.

"Some things never change," Garrick laughed as he stood up and pushed his chair in.

Hardly any progress was made from our end. I began to accept the fact that she genuinely wanted nothing to do with us. When we started sparring, she took the notes I gave her and didn't say much to me otherwise. Watching her from a distance as she grew closer and closer to her squadmates was bittersweet. She was meant to be coming on runs with Xaden, Garrick, and me by now. Our dynamic was supposed to have returned to how it had been in Aretia. She made it so hard, but we were not letting up.

Even though I had a way of saying the wrong thing at the wrong times. 

"You don't necessarily make it easy to care about you," I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth that night.

Progress reset once more. 

Xaden took matters into his own hands after that. He finally sat her down and talked to her about the promises he'd made to Beckett regarding her. He was convinced now that moving forward should be easier. We were so close to fully earning her trust.

I was the first one to test that theory.

We finally were able to meet in the gym to spar and I was grateful that I had caught her before she left. 

I let her put me down once, but in her second match, she earned her victory fair and square. 

On round three, I attempt to do what I was sent down here by Xaden to do. 

"Do you remember those stories that Xaden's dad used to tell us?" I asked, as casually as I could. Plant the idea. Let her figure it out.

"About the venin?" She ducks under my arm as I throw a punch. "They were why I was scared of the dark forever. You really wanna bring that up right now?"

She had always been scared of the dark as a kid. There's a distant memory of a night we had a sleepover at Riorson House. Garrick was staying with us for the summer and Beckett and Ani had come over as well. We spent the night playing hide and seek in the dark and trying to scare each other with the tales of the dark wielders. When Beckett and I woke up the next morning, Ani was sleeping at the foot of our bed because she had gotten scared in the guest room by herself. 

I never expected her to manifest moments later. 

There's only one other time in my life I've felt fear like that. The day that our parents were captured and we knew that we had lost the war. 

The scream she let out rattled my bones as I held her. Every mage light in the gym shattered. The second I felt her skin rising in temperature, I lifted her into my arms and carried her to the bathing chambers. I put the water on as cold as the lever would allow, but by the time we got there, I could hardly touch her without wanting to pull away.

"If her power is backlashing, she could kill you in the process," Cuir said through our bond.

"I don't care." I slammed my shields shut to block him out. I just needed to focus on her.

I pulled her tunic over her head to try and cool her off, but she was shivering and her teeth chattered uncontrollably. I couldn't understand how her skin was so hot, yet she seemed to be freezing. Was she going to wield fire? Ice? I couldn't tell.

My hands shook as I cupped her cheeks and forced her to look at me, "You have to ground, Ani. Please. Please ground." 

I'm begging her to ground, I'm telling myself she'll be okay, I'm begging Malek to not take her from me. 

"T-t-the library. R-R-Riorson Ho-use," She said after I asked where she grounds. 

I brushed the wet hair from her face, searching her eyes to do my best to counter whatever the fuck she was manifesting. 

"I'm trying. You're going to be okay, I'm right here." I fought back the tears, trying to catch the glint that would tell me how to counter what was happening. 

We both were drenched, fully clothed as the cold shower sprayed over us. I flinched when the mage lights in the bathroom shattered just like they had in the gym. 

I tucked her body to my chest in case any glass were to fly at us and I realized then how heavy I was breathing.

I'd never felt so hopeless. She was either going to live through this, or she was going to die and take me out with her.

You're okay, you're okay, you're okay.

The whispers were continuously falling off my lips when I finally heard her say my name. When I opened my eyes, the entire bathing chamber was pitch black. But her hands were glowing. 

Magnificent. 

My forehead fell against hers at the sheer relief of hearing her voice. She pulled my face a few inches from hers and I wished I could see her face. I wanted to see her eyes just for the extra confirmation that she'd be alright. 

Light returned to her fingertips, nearly taking my breath away. My hand finds the base of her neck, brushing the soft skin there. Soft, golden light illuminated her face and within an instant, she was the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on.

She gently tugged my face toward her but I held back. I reached for the lever instead, afraid that she'd do something she would regret, and turned the water off. 

After I left Ania in her room, I immediately went to Xaden's, hoping he was still awake. 

"What's going on?" He asked once I stepped inside. "You're dripping water all over my floor."

"She manifested," I said, turning to face him. "And she- Gods, she was so close to fucking backlashing."

"What did she manifest?" Xaden asked me. 

"She can bend light," I said to him. "I had to carry her from the gym to the bathing chamber, she would've combusted if-"

I sat in one of his chairs, covering my face with my hands. The overwhelming feeling of relief settled within me and tears threatened to spill. I don't remember the last time I cried.

"I was so scared," I admitted in a whisper. "I couldn't counter it. I couldn't help her. She was in so much pain and-" 

"You did everything you could," Xaden reassured me with a hand on my shoulder, "She's okay because you were there. Thank you." 

Time was not something gifted to us after she manifested. Between her squad's trip to Montserrat and prep for War Games, I didn't get much time to train with her. I'd wanted to check in so many times, ask how she was, and see how her signet was developing. But there's just no time. 

I replay our time in the shower when she tugged my face toward hers. It was so subtle that I didn't even want to suggest that she was going to do something like kiss me. Would I have let her if she tried? 

After the first battle of War Games, I find her and Ridoc on the flight field. I can't help but be amused at how Ridoc still does his best to avoid me after I found him in Ania's room. 

I'm sitting on the edge of her bed and she's explaining something she did with her signet and I just want to listen to her talk about it endlessly. Flight leathers look good on her and I find myself fighting the urge to stare. Her hair is wind-blown from flight and she's got lines from her goggles, but she's stunning regardless. 

"How have you been otherwise? We haven't seen each other much," I asked, forcing myself to be coy. There was a line that I was threatening to cross and I needed to stop before I could start. What would the others think?

"Fine," She answered as she crossed her room. She's annoyed that I'm avoiding the conversation she really wants to have. But I can't go there with her. She turned her back to me while she undressed and I forced myself to look away, my knuckles turning white from how hard I gripped the edge of the bed. 

My gaze returned to her when she turned back around and I couldn't help but look her over. The way the fabric cut off in the middle of her thigh, the sounds her bare feet made across the stone as she walked to me. Her hair rested in waves from the loose braid she'd had it in. I nearly felt sick to my stomach at how divine she looked.

"Ani," I whispered when she stepped between my knees. Fucking hell. 

"Yes?" She asked softly. She had to know the effect she was having on me. 

"Don't do this to me," I practically begged her. Thin. Ice.

"Do what?" Her skin felt like silk under my fingertips as I trailed them up the sides of her thighs, stopping short of the hemline of her sleeping gown.

"Tell me to stop," She whispered. I'd rather die.

She settled herself deeper between my thighs, looking down at me. 

I want her.

"Ani," I warned. Moreso, for myself but I wished she'd heed it too.

My fingers dug into her thighs as I fought every illogical thought I was having. I couldn't do this. She shouldn't either. She'd regret it in the morning. 

But I've never wanted someone more in my life than I do right now. 

"I can feel it," She whispered. Feel what?

My thumb brushed her bottom lip and my lips parted. Soft, plush. I needed them against mine. Just once. I cupped her jaw gently pulling her face toward mine.

The position in which we were in, me sitting on the edge of her bed while she stood between my legs. As she looked down at me and I up at her, things couldn't be more clear. She had me in the palm of her hand. 

"You're gonna be the death of me," I said under my breath. Just this once. 

I couldn't hesitate any longer. I pulled her face towards mine, pressing my lips to hers in a soft kiss. She wanted more and I did too, but I couldn't help but hold back. 

She tangled her fingers in my hair and she deepened the kiss for the both of us, urging me further back on the bed. She pushed me back onto the mattress, tugging my bottom lip between her teeth and in that moment, she could've done anything. I would've let her. 

She was on top of me and I wanted her so fucking bad that I'd give up everything good in my life to just spend the rest of my life in this bed. 

My hand was around her throat, pulling her lips against mine in a heated exchange. It felt like I'd been deprived of air and she was the first breath of it. Her hips grinded into mine and I groaned into her mouth, my fingers pressing into the sensitive skin at her neck. 

I want more. I want this. I want her. 

But I'm holding back and I don't know why. 

Too many thoughts were clouding my mind. What would Xaden say, what would Beckett think, she'll gonna regret this in the morning. 

"Just kiss me, what are you so fucking scared of?" My eyes flared when she pulled away and I had to second guess if I said any of that out loud. "What? Bodhi, please. You want this. I know you do."

She leaned to kiss me, but I stopped her, "Ani, what are you feeling right now?"

"I want you. But you won't let me. You're holding back." She said.

I pulled her face back toward mine, my lips brushing hers but then I stopped myself again. She whimpered and the sound made my heart throb. I looked up at her, something primal in me taking over. We would not be leaving this bed tonight.

I flipped us over so that I was pressed between her thighs, kissing her hungrily. The anxiety and uncertainty of it all still lingered, but I couldn't find it in me to care. Not when my tongue was against hers and she's whining into my mouth while my hands run up and down her sides underneath her sleeping gown. 

I'm right where I need to be. 

The thought is shoved into my mind and the anxiety dissipates almost immediately as I pull her chest flush with mine. As the anxiety faded, logical thinking returned and I forced myself to pull away. 

She groaned in frustration when I let my forehead rest against hers. 

This could ruin everything. I could lose her if we get involved like this. I can't lose her. Not when I've worked so hard to get her back into my life. 

"You're not going to lose me. Stop thinking that," She said breathlessly.  

I pulled away to look at her, my eyes scanning her face. The second it clicked, I wished it didn't. I wished this information hadn't been set on me. 

"What, Bodhi?" Her voice is soft and her lips are slightly red and swollen.

"You're a fucking empath."

The disbelief is fresh on my tongue as she slowly crawls off of me. I'm amazed she has a second signet, but terrified of what it'll do to her.

She hesitates and looks down at her hands before she slowly crawls off of me. 

"You say it like it's a bad thing," She has hurt in her eyes. 

"It's a death sentence, Ania," I whisper. "You can't tell anyone." 

"I didn't know that I was until just now," She defends herself, wrapping her arms around her body. "You can't even be sure that I am."

I stand up from her bed and she grabs my hand and when I turn around her, her knees are pressed into the mattress and she has tears in her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Her voice cracks. 

"I can't be around you right now," I say. I'm trying to be gentle, but the words refuse to come out in the tone I intend.

"Wait, please." She holds my hand in both of hers and my heart nearly shatters at her frantic words, "I- I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, Bodhi. Please, I won't do it again."

"I have to go," I pull myself from her grip and leave her sitting on her bed. I try to ignore the soft sob that leaves her lips right before the door shuts.

Halfway to Xaden's, I have to lean against the wall to regain my composure. 

"You did not handle that accordingly," Cuir says.

"Yes, I'm fucking aware," I huff, punching the wall so hard that my knuckles split. 

She wanted me because I wanted her. She was acting on my desire, not her own. 

"Have you thought that maybe her desire was simmering before tonight?" My dragon says down our bond. 

I can't think about that right now. 

Xaden opens his door the second I knock, but he looks like he's heading somewhere. 

"What happened? Where's Ania?" He asks immediately. 

"She's..." How do I explain this? "Something happened Xaden, but I-"

"She manifested again," Xaden says, and my brows furrow.

"You knew this would happen?" I ask. 

"What did she manifest? Walk me through it," He leans against the door. 

My heart pounds. Her second signet is a death sentence. I know for a fact that Xaden would never let anything happen to her because of it, but I speak it out loud that just makes it more real. 

"I'm not sure if I'm right. I could be overthinking," I backtrack. 

"Bodhi, get it the fuck together, I have somewhere I need to be," My cousin says. It's tough love. 

"They'll kill her if she can't keep it hidden," I say quietly. 

"She's an inntinnsic," Xaden whispers. 

"She's a type of inntinnsic, I've only heard of them by word of mouth. I wasn't even sure they were real, but I'm positive she's one." I explain. "An empath."

"I need the step by step," Xaden says. 

Well here goes.

"We were," I hesitate, "Kissing-"

"Naturally," Xaden smirks. He deserves to be punched for it but I'll let it slide.

"She picked up on my fear, on my anxiety, my doubts. The lust most of all. The idea of losing her, she picked up on it." I tell him.

"She can read emotions." Xaden nods slowly. "Eventually manipulate them with practice, I'm sure. Like Cat." 

I take a deep breath and sit on the edge of his bed, running my hands through my hair. "She didn't just read them, she absorbed them."

"I'll help her get it under control. She'll learn to sort what's hers and what isn't. It's an easy signet to hide," He says. "Do you find it intriguing that both of her signets manifested in your presence?"

"Why would I?' I ask. 

He shrugs and then stands at his full height, "What happened after that?"

"I told her what she was and then left." Not my proudest moment.

"You what." Xaden's jaw clenches and for a split moment, I fear for my life. 

"I couldn't be around her anymore. She was absorbing all of my emotions, I was trying to help her," I argue.

"And how exactly did you 'tell her what she was'?" Xaden balls his fists. 

"I said, 'You're a fucking empath.'" I repeat my words.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that." He opens the door and nods his head. 

"You asked how I said it," I defend myself as I walk toward the door. 

"I told her that when it manifested, to find me or you. Because I trusted that you would handle the situation with care. You just left her there alone to deal with the aftermath." Xaden pulls the door open and gestures me out. Right, he's heading somewhere. If I had one guess, I'd say its to Violet's room. "I'll try to talk to her tomorrow."

Amari, if you're up there, please help. 

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[thevoidstaredback]

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

They had planned to leave before Bruce got back to the Manor, but plans change all the time and it wasn't Danny's fault!

Alfred had invited a friend of Dick's, Barbra Gordon, to the Manor for dinner, meaning that Dick had to stay if he wanted to see her. And since Dick was staying, Danny was staying. Tim wasn't about to leave Danny to Bruce's mercy, so he was staying for dinner, too.

Bruce Wayne arrived at Wayne Manor exactly three and a half minutes after six in the evening. He entered the kitchen exactly ten minutes and five seconds after that.

The air was tense.

Dick had been tense since Danny first roped him into coming to Gotham, only getting worse as they got closer to the building they were now sitting in. Now that Bruce and Dick were in the same room, it was like the rope had frayed to the point of snapping with a light breeze.

Bruce sat at the head of the table with Tim to his left and down a chair. Dick sat at the foot of the table, Barbra sitting to his immediate right. Danny sat on the unoccupied side of the table, directly in the middle.

No one was saying a word.

Danny was on edge.

Finally, "Dick," Bruce said.

"Bruce," was the response.

As if the spell had been broken, though the awkwardness remained, Barbra cleared her throat and said, "It's good to have you back in Gotham, D."

Dick smiled at her, soft and happy and relieved. "It's good to see you, Babs. How've you been?"

"The same as usual. Though, Condiment King again!" She glared when Dick started laughing. "Yeah, sure, laugh it up, Wonder Boy. It took three hours to get that mustard out of my costume! It's easier to get blood out of white carpets-!"

Bruce pointedly cleared his throat, bringing all attention to him. "As good as it is to see you, Dick, who've you brought with you?"

Barbra flinched back slightly, having forgotten Danny was even there. Oops.

Danny grinned at Bruce, hiding his nerves behind his favorite fake-it-'til-you-make-it smile. "My name's Danny, it's nice to meet you Mister Wayne! I have to say, you're a lot less smiley in person than you are on the internet."

He hummed. "I apologize. Today's been an off day."

"No need," Danny waved off politely, "I get it."

"I have to say, Daniel-"

"'Danny', please. My name's Danny."

To his credit, Bruce didn't even skip a beat. "Then, call me Bruce. I must say that I didn't expect Dick to have taken anyone in."

Danny chuckled a bit. "I think it's less of him taking me in and more of me kind of letting myself into his house."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I noticed he wasn't doing too well, so I figured I'd step in to help where I could before he got himself hurt." 'Or worse' was heavily implied. "I imagine Tim did much the same with you?"

Tim stiffened as Bruce sighed. Well, that's not a good sign.

"Yes, though Tim doesn't live here."

"He has a room, though, right?"

"Of course."

"Good. I can't imagine having to travel with the kind of injuries you guys get at night is very fun." Here, he turned and looked Barbra in the eye. "Honestly, you deserve a prize for traveling from here to wherever you live after getting injured."

Barbra smiled sheepishly, "Thanks? I don't really come here, though. Only on occasion."

Bruce interrupted before the conversation could continue, "What do you mean? Dick's the only one of us who could possibly get hurt on the job." He shook his head. "Honestly, why did you ever join the BHPD? It's too dangerous."

Oh, Danny had to put a stop to that right away!

"Sorry, to jump in here, Mister Wayne, but I know what all of you moonlight as." He ignored Bruce's narrowed, sharp glare. "You're Batman, Dick is Nightwing, Tim is Robin, meaning that Barbra has to be Batgirl and, if I'm right, Oracle."

"Who are you?" Bruce demanded. He didn't ask because asking is for people who aren't paranoid enough to have six levels of security at the front gate alone.

"I just told you: Danny." He unflinchingly met Bruce's glare. "Not good enough for you? I'm Danny, personal caretaker of vigilantes who refuse to take care of themselves, bookkeeper, cook, unlicensed medical unprofessional, et cetera. Though, don't call me a therapist because that's my sister. Is that a better answer?"

Bruce hummed.

The meal itself was somehow even worse than before Alfred had brought out the food. Glares were being thrown and concerned glances shared. It made the food taste bad, which was probably a war crime.

Danny had been raised with manners, so he'd thanked Alfred for making dinner. He even offered to help with clean up, though he backed down when he was refused. He knows better.

After dinner, the group had gone back into the very same drawing room as before. Dick and Barbra cuddled together on the couch, Bruce and Tim took the two armchairs, and Danny sat on the floor in front of the now lit fireplace.

"So, Tim," Danny started, "You working on any interesting cases?"

Tim seemed to perk up a bit. "Yeah, actually. It's a murder-"

"We're not at liberty to discuss anything with you, Daniel." Bruce's voice was gravely, almost the voice he used as Batman, as he spoke over Tim.

Danny's eyes narrowed. "I believe I told you my name is 'Danny', not 'Daniel'."

"Well, seeing as I don't actually know you, and you have offered up no sir name, I'll stick with calling you whatever I'm comfortable with, especially in my own home."

"This isn't a fight you wanna pick, Mister Wayne. You might want to rethink your choice."

"I am well aware of what battles to fight. However, you're mistaken. This isn't a battle. I'm merely stating that I will be calling you 'Daniel' until you offer up your sir name to be called by."

Danny very obviously looked Bruce up and down. "I guess my parents were right; You can't ever believe everything you read on the internet."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"Because you, Mister Wayne, are horrible with children."

The temperature in the room dropped. Bruce's glare hardened even more. He appraised Danny, assessing him and filing away everything he could find. "Speaking to me like that in my own home is quite the move."

"Are you threatening me, Mister Wayne?"

"Not at all," he denied. "What are you really doing here, Dick?"

"I wanted to come meet Tim," Dick lied.

"Don't lie to me."

"What, I can't even come meet your newest Robin?"

"After the way you treated Jason?"

Dick stood quickly, Barbra scrambling to her feet. "After the way I-! You're the one who let him put on my old uniform!"

Bruce stood to his full height, looking down on Dick. "Me? You barely even talked to him! I spent as much time as I could with him!"

Danny blocked out the already out of hand yelling match and grabbed Barbra's and Tim's hands, leading them out of the room. This was not how he was hoping this would go at all.

He could still hear the yelling, even in the foyer.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to Tim and Barbra, "I didn't expect this to happen."

"It's alright," Barbra said, flinching when she realized that she could hear both men's voices almost clearly.

"No, it's not. I dragged Dick here to apologize to Tim. We were supposed to leave before Bruce even left Wayne Enterprises."

Tim shook his head. "We should've anticipated something like this would happen."

"Yeah..."

The three sat together on the steps, Bruce and Dick's voices carrying through the wood and marble.

"Hey," Barbra said after a few minutes, "How do you know about the Cave being under the Manor?"

Danny blinked at her before turning to Tim. "There's a cave under the Manor?!" He glared playfully at his friend. "You didn't tell me that your base of operations is a cave under Wayne Manor!"

"If it makes you feel any better," Tim offered, "Dick named it the Bat Cave."

"It's called the Bat Cave!?"

Part 12 Part 14