#and then 2 days of 'health' and then suddenly i was coughing and my nose was completely stuffed

[chaoswillcalmusdown]

i can actually breathe through my nose ???????? and i haven't had a coughing fit since dinner ???

[couldeatthatgirlforlunch]

If you are up for it could write more Justice League x Assistant reader?

That scenario did things to me honestly, and I can't find anything similar 😭

Maybe reader calls in sick and the each JL member goes to check on them unanounced (reader never told them were they lived but of course they'd know *sideeyes batman*) which end up on all the members questioning and pointing at each other *cue spider man meme*, because why are you at my darling's- I mean our Assistant's house!

Reader kicks everyone out except the gourmet chef batman brought to cook reader some chicken soup.

A Day in Life: In Health and Sickness

Synopsis: A day in life were you, the Justice League's assistant, find out that sickness and a bunch of obsessed superheroes are just too much to bear all at once.

Pairing: Yandere!Justice League X Assistant!Gn!Reader; Platonic!Alfred Pennyworth

Tw: Nonconsensual (not sexual) touching; A single mention of obscene acts; Kinda breaking and entering; Reader gets physically restrained; Kinda forced infantilization? But not really, just humiliation; Some members of the League might be out of character bc I don't know them well enough; I was sleepy while revising and editing this so I might fix any mistakes I didn’t see later; English is not my 1st language.

Word count: 2,6k

Requested? Yes.

Extra notes: Thank you so much for your compliments and the request!! Your suggestion really gave me inspiration to write as soon as I saw it. It's not exactly what you asked for but I hope it's the same vibe and you like it!! Also I’ve seen all the requests for a part 2 of “He's My Collar”, but as stated here, I didn't answer bc I’m working on it! I just didn't have any ideas yet!

General masterlist | A Day in Life - Series masterlist

Whatever hit you today, it sucks. Yesterday, in the afternoon, you had a mild throbbing in your head, but not exactly a headache, at night, fever hit you, alongside a cough. Medicine helped enough but today you still felt a little warm, your head hurt, your nose was somehow stuffed and leaking at the same time. You've been awake for an hour and still just couldn't get yourself to care for your basic needs like showering and eating, let alone go to work, so you called in sick. At least you would have some piece for a day.

Or that's what you thought, until you heard some tapping on your window, scaring the shit out of you, and saw Superman outside with a sympathetic smile and holding a pharmacy bag, a crate of water bottles and food.

Ugh, of course you couldn't actually have some peace.

You took a deep breath to prepare yourself and got up, walking towards you bedroom window, and tried sticking your head outside, hoping he wouldn't enter your home if you kicked him out before, but before you could do anything else, he supersped inside and suddenly was at your side, making you dizzier.

— Hey! I heard what happened. How’re you feeling? — The alien’s face showcased his concern on his furrowed brows and he took a step too close (any step in your direction taken by one of the heroes was already too close for you), extending his arm forward to place the back of his hand in your forehead. You took a step back but he didn't seem to mind.

— Uh, I'm fine. You didn't need to come here. — Superman shook his head.

— I wanted to help. Here, I brought som- — Doorbell. The hero looked in the direction the sound came from, most likely using his X-Ray vision to look through the walls and doors, and squinted his eyes. Oh boy. — You called someone? — His voice is weirdly calm, contrasting with the way he abruptly starts marching out of your room and to the door.

Earlier you thought the fast exertion of movements would be too great for you, but apparently adrenaline was on your side, enough to follow him around as if you were the visitor inside your own place.

— I didn't. — You respond flatly and holding back a groan from annoyance, since you also didn't invite him.

Superman immediately opens the door as soon as it's within his reach and what's on the other side surprises you more than when you got the job at the watchtower.

— Superman. — Batman didn't seem surprised, but he also never showed emotions other than anger. �� (Y/N). This is Penny-One. — He is surely referencing the old man well dressed on his side. — He is here to take care of you. — You raise an eyebrow, almost speechless.

— T-Take care of me? — You helplessly watch them invading your residency, painfully aware there's nothing you can do. Superman crossed his arms.

— This is not necessary, I came here to do just that. — Superman’s protest unfortunately doesn't give you any hint of how this will all turn out, nor does it scare Batman and his friend away..

— You have your own responsibilities. — Batman simply states. — You should go.

Penny-One simply turns to you.

— It's a pleasure, Miss/Master/Mx (Y/N), even in your condition. Master Batman talks a lot about you. — You don't know what to stay and it probably shows, since no one waits much for your reaction before Penny-One is moving towards your kitchen and Batman and Superman continue with their argument.

You just go and sit down on your couch, questioning your life decisions and escape plans, which will have to wait until this damned curse leaves your body (and your home).

Your hands raise to rub your face and maybe give you some clearance, maybe wake you up from this nightmare, but keeping your eyes closed and sitting down only remind you of your condition. You feel worse or is it just your spirits? Either way, you let your body slide down until your side rests on the couch cushions, arms hugging your own body to try to have some warmth back. When did it become so cold?

At least their voices were low, as if trying not to bother you, it's a little soothing, especially with the promise of having food. Your eyes hurt just from staying open so you don't. At some point, some type of fabric is thrown over your body and a hand combs through your hair. You are too weak to do anything.

Next time you open your eyes, it's due to disturbing noises, your head is no longer on the arm of the couch and instead is laying on someone’s bare thighs. A pair of hands is running through your locks, and a really nice smell is in the air.

Did you fall asleep?

That would explain why your head is on fucking Wonder Woman's lap and she is looking at you lovingly. Also the fabric from before is Superman's cape.

You quickly shoot up, although just as fast, four or five pairs of hands, coming from seemingly out of nowhere — startling you even more — push you back down, you don't go without struggle, and soon, all hands disappear, green lights catch your attention and you can't move your body a single inch anymore. Somehow, you ended up restrained by a green and bright cocoon, as if you were soon to be a butterfly, only your face is free. Green Lantern’s construct.

— Hey, hey, calm down, hot stuff. I know she’s scary and you would never want to be close to anyone else but me, but you still need rest. — You're turned to the ceiling against your wishes. For some reason the fact that your whole body is covered doesn't give you the comfort nor the protection it should give you, instead, it reminds you of how vulnerable you are.

Your wide and paranoid eyes try to search for anything, since your head is being held in place. You can see Wonder Woman above you, glaring at something outside your line of vision, you are still in her lap. A bit of Aquaman’s blond hair on the bottom of your vision. And Batman, towering over you and the amazon, just observing as always.

— You can release them now, Green Lantern. — It's Superman's voice.

— He is not going to. — You see Batman saying at the same time another voice speaks the same sentence, making all of them turn in the direction of the sound, somewhere you can't see, but you recognize the voice. — He thinks they're weak and incapable of making decisions. — I'm sorry, who is weak and incapable of making decisions here? — He also wants to prove he is the only one capable of protecting and taking care of (Y/N), and impress them so they will fall right into his arms, call him a hero and give him a kiss… And other obscene things. — Batman smirks. Wonder Woman and another new and deep voice loudly laugh, the masculine voice being more obnoxious. Someone scoffs indignantly.

— Okay. Get out of my fucking head or I will make you. — The Lantern's voice sounds angry and you hear hurried footsteps. They wouldn't fight right here, right?! Right beside your sick body and in the middle of your crumpled apartament… It would make such a mess…

— I wasn't inside your head. Your thoughts were too loud, it's like you are screaming in my ear.

— I will make you scream! — You hear Superman superspeeding, probably getting in between the fighting duo.

— Ha- Green Lantern, calm down. No one will make anyone do anything here.

The agonizing feeling of restriction grows.

— WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? — You scream in a husky voice, panting right after. Everyone is silent and the next second, the construct moves you around until you're sitting up, back to the back of the couch. You are still being held and manhandled, but at least you're not in someone's lap and you can see something other than your ceiling.

Martian Manhunter is standing a few meters away from you, Superman by his side. Wonder Woman was still sitting beside you and doesn't look like getting up any time soon, Green Lantern makes his way to sit down on your other side, placing his arm around you, gladly you can't even feel it. Batman is still standing on the side of the couch, his cape covering his body. Aquaman is sitting in your armchair, his face laid on his hand, watching amused, if not a bit annoyed.

It's so weird seeing all of them, suited up, in the middle of your living room, and in plain daylight.

— We came here to nurse you back to health. — Wonder Woman speaks.

— Uhh, don't you think this is a little too much? — The heroes look at each other as if looking for the issue.

— I mean, yeah. I could do it alone, but for some reason when I got here, these freaks had already broken into your house. — Freak Lantern says, pointing an accusing finger at the other freaks in question, the trinity, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. — Those two came in later. — He nodded at Martian Manhunter and Aquaman, not giving them a single look, his eyes solely on you. Like everytime he insists on overly making eye contact with you, it's a bit uncanny. — Worry not, beautiful. I will kick them out for you. — Superman and Wonder Woman snort at his arrogance.

— You could go with them. I'm fine, I don't need help. I’ve been taking care of myself for years and can still do it. — You've been nice long enough, they crossed the line, they invaded your apartment, which is so unprofessional, and you need to set limits. They just look at you with pity.

— I am are aware of my neglect. — Neglect? — But it's going to be different now that we are reunited… — Uh? What is Manhunter talking about?

— Exactly. History has proven how men are unreliable and indifferent to others. I'm the only one you need, darling. — Wonder Woman caresses your face. — I don't even know what they think they are doing here…

— What are you doing here, princess? Don't you have mommy issues to fix or a guy named Steve Trevor to talk to? — The amazon furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the one sitting on your other side.

— Don't listen to him, (Y/N). I left Steve a long time ago, when I met you. — Girl, why? Go back to your man! Leave me alone! — What about Aquaman? Doesn't he have a kingdom to rule? — The man in question dismissed her answer with a hand movement.

— I’m protecting Atlantis’s future by making sure none of you get any ideas and (Y/N) survives their illness. — Batman shook his head.

— I’ve already made sure they're taken care of. You shouldn't be here. There's more important matters for us out there.

— Then why aren't you there?

Their battle of egos is just too fast for your slowed down brain to process and try to formulate any form of strategy. Before their banter gets worse, the older man from before reappears.

— Your soup is ready, Miss/Master/Mx (Y/N). — Penny-One seems unbothered by the commotion around you, walking in with the source of the heavenly smell. Your mouth waters.

— Let me do it, Penny-One. — Wonder Woman gently offers and takes the bowl from him, along with the spoon. The Justice League makes sounds of disgust when they start watching her spoon feeding you (they wanted to be in her place).

You groan, complain, try to wiggle out of the construct but nothing works, especially with your fatigued and sick state. If you weren't claustrophobic before you might be from now on. You are clearly uncomfortable and practically begging to get out but for some reason they just won't listen. It gets to the point where as soon as you finish your soup — after realizing, again, that with those people it's just easier to surrender —, and take your medicine, Green Lantern’s temper apparently gets done with your whining and resistance, and he simply makes another construct. Now you have a pacifier in your mouth. It's your limit.

They start fighting again because some of them find it degrading, some like to hear your voice even if they know how close to cussing them out you are, and some think it's cute and prefer your quietness over your cries.

You can't move. You can't spit it out. You can't bite it off. You can't ask for help.

Green Lantern is rubbing your cheek while — slightly — mocking you. Wonder Woman is cooing at you, while trying to convince the Lantern to stop with his antics. Aquaman is clearly expressing he is on the Lantern’s side. Batman, Superman and Martian Manhunter are threatening him.

Frustration gets the better of you and the dam breaks loose. Now you are wrapped, with a pacifier and crying. Like a baby. In front of your bosses. In front of people who think you are vulnerable and need them. They're practically keeping you hostage. You didn't want them here. You told them no, countless times, and they just blatantly ignored your boundaries.

You have a pa-ci-fi-er. In. Your. Mouth.

And they are talking. They are ignoring you. They're been doing it for hours. No. Months. That's abuse.

This is the most emotion they ever got out of you and it immediately quiets everyone down. They're just staring at you, shocked. This whole thing is just a shitshow. A disaster. They're a curse. You are cursed.

It's so distracting that it makes Green Lantern lose his concentration, which is what fuels his ring’s power, and the constructs start dissipating.

You immediately get up and put as much distance between you and the team, who all have wide eyes and maybe had just now realized the gravity of the situation, while thinking about control damage.

You are searching desperately for how you could effectively kick them out, while also experiencing just the aftereffects of a new trauma, when it looks like it will get even worse. Flash zooms into the apartment.

— Hey, (Y/N)! Sorry I took so long! Busy Day. N-Not that I wouldn't quit anything and everything just to help you. I just now saw the notification that you took a day off today! W-What… W-What are you guys doing here…? — The speedster noticed after his rambles the he is not the only one in the middle of your living room, and points at the whole team, who is on the complete opposite side of you. They also point at him.

— You’re late. — Batman states.

— Slowest man alive. — Green Lantern calls out his friend.

Flash looks around as if gathering his thoughts and notices your distressed state. He turns completely to them, his back to you and him being between you and his team.

— What did you do to them? — At his demand, all of them start pointing at each other and giving some sort of explanation or their side of the story at the same time, turning it into unintelligible sounds, until your yell interrupts them.

— GET. OUT!

— But-

— OUT!

— But, (Y/N)-

— NOW! GET OUT NOW!

They grumble but comply. Penny-One, who was totally unfazed during the while ordeal, just sighs, and starts making his way with them. Until you take a timid step toward him and stop him.

— N-Not you… I-I mean the soup was really good and I don't think I will have the energy to cook later… I-If it's n-not bothering you… — The older man smiles placantinly at you.

— Of course, dear. I'm getting paid either way, might as well just finish my job here.

Like, comment and reblog 🥰

Taglist:

@wandalfnation

[finnsbubblegum]

Becoming Mrs. Miller {Part 5: The Surprise} (Joel Miller x Reader)

Pairing: pre-outbreak!joel miller x f!reader

Warnings: fluff, domestic joel, mentions of pregnancy, morning sickness, pregnancy tests (lmk if i missed any)

Summary: You were now Joel Miller’s wife and Sarah’s mom. A few months after the honeymoon, you started to feel pregnancy symptoms. Joel, you, and Sarah were surprised by your pregnancy and they couldn’t be happier with having another family member.

Words count: 2k

A/N: Hi! This is part 5 for Becoming Mrs. Miller. But it can also be read as a standalone. I might finish with one or two more chapters! Stay tuned and hope you like it!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

 *Alarm rang*

“Ugh..” You extended your arm to turn off the alarm on the bedside table.

You felt tired even though you had slept for 7 hours. You rubbed your eyes and sat on the bed. Suddenly, you felt your stomach sick. You rushed to the bathroom, opened the toilet lid and threw up. Joel heard you and followed you to the bathroom.

“You okay?” Joel held your hair up.

“I don’t know.” You coughed.

You gagged and threw up again. Joel’s other hand rubbed your back in circles to help you feel better.

“Don’t look. It’s disgusting.” You rubbed your chest.

“Hey..In sickness and in health, remember?” Joel insisted on staying.

You nodded, stood up and flushed the toilet. You went to the sink and brushed your teeth. 

“Why don’t you take a day off? Get some rest.” Joel cupped your cheeks.

“Yeah. I’ll take a sick leave.” You walked to the door.

“Where are you goin’?” Joel stopped you.

“I need to make breakfast for you and Sarah.” 

“I’ll take over this morning. Why don’t you get back to bed and get some sleep? I’ll bring your breakfast over.” Joel guided you back to the bed.

“Thank you.” Joel tucked you in.

Joel went downstairs and made you breakfast. 

“Hey..” Joel stroked your head gently, waking you up.

You opened your eyes and Joel was sitting beside you with a tray of your breakfast.

“You need to eat.” Joel put the tray on the bedside table.

“I don’t think I can eat now. I’m still feeling nauseous. I’ll eat later. Thank you.”

“But don’t skip your meal, okay?” 

“Hmm.” You nodded.

“I’m runnin’ late. I’ll be headin’ to work. Call me if you need anythin’ alright?” Joel kissed your forehead and left.

You slept for a few hours and got up by lunch time. Despite getting more sleep, you still felt fatigued. You ate half of the breakfast Joel made for you and washed the dishes. You opened the fridge to keep the leftovers. 

“Oh my God.” You covered your nose as you couldn’t stand the smell. 

You felt sick again and ran to the bathroom throwing up the food you just ate. You wondered why you were sick. Was there something wrong with the food you ate yesterday? But Joel and Sarah were fine so it must be something else. You kept thinking and thinking. Then you realized your period was late. You checked the calendar and found you had missed your period for two months. You looked in the mirror and looked at yourself. You realized your breasts were swollen and you gained a bit of weight. 

“Oh my God. Am I-? This can’t be right.” You gasped and rushed to the drugstore to buy 5 pregnancy tests.

You went home right away and took the tests. You were shaking while waiting for the tests. 

“Please, please, please.” You folded your hands praying the tests would come out positive. 

Three minutes went by, you closed your eyes and took a stick. You opened your eyes and saw a positive sign. You gasped and quickly grabbed the other sticks. It all came out positive. 

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” You cried in happiness and rubbed your lower belly. 

You wanted to call Joel and share the news but you hesitated. You wanted to tell him face to face so you decided not to call him. You texted him instead.

You: What time will you be home?

Joel: Probably by dinner time. As usual.

You: OK. I’ll make dinner tonight.

Joel: OK. Everything alright?

You: Yep

You couldn’t wait for Joel to be home. You were so excited so you went to the kitchen and started preparing dinner. Even though the smell of different kinds of food made you feel sick, you tried your best in making the dinner special.

“Hey mom, feeling better?” Sarah just got home from school.

“Oh hi sweetie. I’m feeling better, thank you.” 

“Need some help?” Sarah offered to help you.

“Yes actually, can you help me cut the onions, please?” You passed the onions to Sarah.

7 pm

“I think your dad is running late.” You and Sarah had waited for one hour and Joel hadn’t arrived home yet.

“Maybe we should just eat.” Sarah started eating and you ate too.

10 pm

You kissed Sarah goodnight and went to the living room. You checked your phone and still no text from Joel. So you decided to wait for him and turned on the TV. You yawned multiple times and were getting sleepy. It was unusual because you usually stay up until midnight but the pregnancy was making you feel tired all the time. You forced yourself to open your eyes but you finally fell asleep unconsciously.

12 pm

Joel was finally home. He opened the door slowly trying not to make any sound. He saw the TV was on and walked to the living room finding you were asleep on the sofa. 

“Hey, baby.” He rubbed your arms gently. 

“Oh, You’re home.” You yawned.

“Did you wait for me?” He looked guilty. You nodded.

“How are you feelin’?” He moved your legs and put them on his lap.

“Better.” You smiled.

“I’m sorry I’m late. The concrete guys were-” Joel wanted to explain but you cut him off.

“Shh. It’s fine. Did you eat?” The fact that he missed his meal worried you more.

“Ate with the guys.” He felt even more guilty and rubbed your feet.

“Great. By the way, I have something for you.” You got excited.

“I let you down and yet you got me a present?” He smiled and kissed you.

“Uh-huh. Close your eyes. Give me your hand.” 

Joel did what you told him. You grabbed one of the positive pregnancy tests you hid in your pocket and put it on his palm.

“Okay. Open your eyes.” You smiled so wide you couldn’t hide your teeth.

“What is-You’re pregnant?!” Joel opened his eyes slowly and saw what was in his hand. 

“Yeah, I think I’m pregnant.” You nodded.

“Baby, I-” Tears streamed down his face and he couldn’t finish his sentences. He pulled you closer, hugged you tightly and stroked the back of your head.

“Thank you, baby.” He kissed your temple and you cried with him.

“You’re going to be a mom!” He held your shoulder and shook you.

“Shh. Sarah’s asleep. I haven’t told her yet.” You laughed and told Joel to calm down.

“She’s gonna be so excited to have a sibling. Let’s tell her first thing in the morning tomorrow.” Joel rested your head to his shoulder.

“I was thinking maybe we could go to the doctor first. Just to make sure.” You didn’t want to disappoint Sarah if the tests were wrong.

“Okay, sure. Anythin’ you want.” Joel hugged you once again.

“I’ll take a day off tomorrow and go with you.” Joel moved his thumb up and down stroking your hand.

Joel suddenly stood up and carried you bridal style. You gasped. 

“I’m not gonna let you move a muscle from now on. I can’t let you work so you’ll need to quit your job. You’ll be working on carrying our baby. I can’t let you work a double.” He smiled and carried you to the bedroom.

“You’re so sweet.” You chuckled.

He laid you down gently on the bed and kissed your forehead.

“I’m gonna take a shower real quick and join you in the bed.”

You were already asleep when Joel finished taking a shower. You gasped and looked down when you felt a movement on your feet.

“What are you doing?” You saw Joel putting wool socks on your feet.

“You need to keep your feet warm, sweetheart.” He continued putting the socks on you and rubbed your feet to keep them warm.

“What did I do to deserve you, Joel?” The hormones were making you cry at his actions.

“Hey, why are you crying?” Joel climbed beside you and pulled you to his chest.

“I don’t know. I just love you so much.” You sobbed.

“I love you too, baby.” Joel kissed your head.

At the hospital

The next morning you and Joel went to the hospital to see an obstetrician. You were shaking while waiting in the waiting room. 

“Hey, you okay? You’re shaking.” Joel held your hand to calm you.

“I’m fine. I’m just nervous. It’s my first time.” 

“It’s okay, baby. I’m here.” He rubbed your back in circles. 

You nodded and rested your head on his shoulder.

“Mrs. Miller?” The nurse called your name.

“That’s us.” Joel held your hand and walked to the exam room.

“Good morning. What brings you in today?” The doctor asked as the two of you sat on the chair in front of her.

“I’ve been feeling fatigued and nauseous lately. I took a test yesterday and it came out positive. We want to make sure we’re pregnant.” You took a deep breath.

“Okay, please lay down here and we will take a look.” 

You raised your clothes and unbuttoned your jeans. The doctor poured cold gel on your lower stomach and you flinched. Joel took your hand to his and you squeezed his hand.

“Okay, let’s see. Hmm..” She moved the transducer on your stomach.

“Okay. You see here. This is your baby. Congratulations, you're 7 weeks pregnant.” She wiped the gel on your stomach.

“Oh my God.” You chuckled and cried. Joel kissed your hands.

“I’ll give you some time alone.” The doctor left the exam room.

“We’re gonna need another bedroom, baby.” You rubbed Joel’s arms.

“Don’t worry about it.” Joel assured you.

“Just focus on staying healthy. That’s what matters the most.” He rubbed your hand.

“I love you.” You gave him a kiss.

“I love you more.”

The doctor entered the room after giving you and Joel a moment.

“Okay, so I’ll give you some vitamins. You can get it at the pharmacy downstairs. And here is the sonogram. I printed a few so each of you can have one. I’ll see you next month. Again, congratulations.” The doctor smiled and shook you and Joel’s hands.

“Thank you, doctor.” Joel and you thanked her and walked your way out.

Joel took the sonogram picture and couldn’t stop looking at it. He was more excited than you thought.

“You need to stop looking at it.” You chuckled.

You were already in the car for sometime and Joel still hadn’t started the car.

“Do you think it’s gonna be a girl or a boy?” Joel looked at you.

“Hmm..We have Sarah, so a boy?” You raised your eyebrows.

“Right. I don’t want to be left alone. Sarah’s gonna be so excited.” Joel couldn’t wait to tell Sarah that she was going to be a big sister.

“Let’s go home, Joel.” Joel put the sonogram picture in his wallet and started the car.

“Do you want something you want to eat? We can stop by somewhere before we head home.” Joel wanted you to eat a lot especially now he knew you were carrying his baby inside you.

“Hmm..Pizza?” You squinted your eyes. 

“Okay, mama.” He drove slowly as he didn’t want to hurt you and his baby.

At home

“Where were you guys?” Sarah was confused as the two of you came home.

“Uhm.. We went to get some pizza.” Joel closed the door.

“Without me?” Sarah was getting upset.

“Sarah, sweetie, we need to tell you something.” You asked her to sit on the sofa.

The three of you sat in the living room. Your heart was beating faster and you took a deep breath.

“So..we’re pregnant.” You couldn’t find the words so you just told Sarah the main point.

“What? So does that mean-” Sarah's jaw dropped.

“Yes, babygirl. You’re gonna have a sibling.” Joel added and passed the sonogram to Sarah.

“Are you serious? That’s awesome! I gotta tell my friends!” Sarah got too excited.

Joel buried you and Sarah to his chest. The three of you laughed in happiness and had a family hug.

To be continued...Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Taglist:

@nyotamalfoy

@moonlightdivine

@happinessinthebeing

[susie-dreemurr]

Arcane s2: ep 1 - 3 reaction

After putting it off for so long, finally started season two! Compiling my liveblogs here so I don’t spam my followers lol

Ep1

The counselors piss me off honestly. The only ones I have sympathy for are Mel and MAYBE Jayce (Viktor and Caitlyn aren’t part of the council so they don’t count) mfs attack zaun 1000 times but when zaun fights back suddenly they’re horrible creatures.

Oh thank god Vi didn’t accept the enforcer badge just yet. I know she eventually becomes one due to game osmosis, but I think she needs to change too much for the worse for that to happen. And she doesn’t feel like that yet.

Why does this guy sitting beside vi look so much like Vander…..

Come on Vi do NOT be tempted by one nice girl and Caitlyn’s sweet words. Do not become an enforcer yet. Wait at LEAST until halfway through the season, please please please 😭😭😭

WAIT BO DONT KILL MEL PELASE PLEASW NOT MEL

I think Vi is going to join the enforcers mostly because she might see Caitlyn as the only person she has left, and since they have hextech because she sees it as an answer to her problems. Sigh Vi I will love you even if you become a cop but I will be very disappointed

OMG I FORGOT THIS LADY WAS TRHE MOTHER OF THE KID WHO DIED. Yeah she should be allowed to do as she pleases with Jayce,

Vi nooo don’t use hextech… ought here are no right decisions right now but this marks the beginning of the end

Oh. Omfg. Mel’s mother is with them. She likely got together with them and coordinated an attack so that Piltover would have an excuse to use hextech against Zaun. Vile woman. It makes sense now why that person randomly spared Mel, though— oh wait I nvm I rewatched this part I understood everything wrong. Still… very suspicious. This is now my theory, then.

Oh, man… Vi can certainly relate to that. Vi do not project yourself into Caitlyn too much pease, I want you to spend at least 1/3 of this season Not being a cop

… what the hell are up with these images? Drawings? Caitlyn is looking at…? Interesting. And ugh there goes there fuck ass counselors again

“They must have had help from someone up here” and the camera pans to Mel’s mother. Either I was right or this is a red herring. Either way they’re definitely implying she did it

NOOOOOOO VI NOOOOOOOOO. THSI IS THE WORST DAY EVER. Please quit soon <3 I feel sick.

Edit: can I just say when caitlyn said “I thought you were on our side” and “I understand now how easy it is to hate them” all I could think was fucking. Nick from Zootopia “oh so there’s a THEM now?”

Ep2

Can I just say like. I know this has a lot of symbolism and everything but it’s so funny how basically every episode starts with a fucking amv.

… is the fucking shitty parent abandonment issues cycle hot gonna continue with Jinx and this kid or will the world finally allow me to be happy

Omg it’s werevander isn’t it?!???

She’s not handing Jinx over in an attempt to fulfill Silco’s last wishes, isn’t she?

Can i just say Viktor looks sick as fuck

I fucking forgot Heirmedinger existed godamnit. Now that he’s working with Ekko I can tolerate him ig

…oh fuck either 1) viktor is gonna accidentally corrupt places due to his body being full of hextech now or 2) the cave with shimmer, you know with the mad scientist, has started to contaminate natural resources around it and Ekko’s resistance could be close to it

THE FUCKIGN GUY. THE GUY WITH THE TUMOR IN THE HEAD DUE TO SHIMMER. THTA GUY

Jinx ily but godamnit the first thing you do once you smell somethign that makes you cough up like that is TRY to cover your nose and mouth —- oh fuck no. No. The gauntlet. Jinx is gonna see what Vi became. Nooooo. Fuckkkk

Neither jinx nor I am ready to see enforcer vi. I’m going to ki *remembers suicide jokes are bad for my mental health* I’m going to defeat the king on my own.

Jinx not taking the shot on vi :(((((

Nah bro these mfs are actual dumbasses fr fr, who td just throws a bomb in the ground like that.

Ok eu não terminei ainda mas acho que sei o que que meu primo quis dizer com “ele vai aparecer. Jesus” agora. Viktor REALMENTE parece o Jesus.

Omfg he literally is so Jesus coded. Por que que eu to vendo um episódio da bíblia agora.

Ep3

Ok fucking hell I saw the title this is gonna hurt. Last episode I could withstand it for just the couple seconds but godamnit I’m not ready for enforcer vi.

Throwing myself into the ocean I do not want vi and caitlyn to be cops. I knew cait was kinda one before too but she was fired so. Point is fikfjdkdjdksnnsns NAURRRR

Jesus Christ Caitlyn don’t you fucking turn off the air ventilation system for zaun. That’s evil. Like, she already tried using it against jinx, sure, but that’s an entirely different matter. Vi if this really does happen then you better give her shit when you find out— Nevermind she’s walking with her. Still, hoping Vi (and Caitlyn too, because she is also changing for the worse) snaps out of this soon <- knows she won’t

Fuckkk. At least the villainous song slaps.

Who tf is that mf in the pillar. Might be bait from jinx

…is Vi trying to mediate? If so, it makes sense. Vi has never seen Caitlyn act like the enforcers that put her down for so long and she doesn’t want that to happen, im sure. And despite everything, Vi is still a zaunite. Even if she may not be aware that she’s trying to mediate, this girl very much remembers what it’s like to be on the other side.

“Everyone in my life has changed. Promise me you won’t change” vi :(

NOOO FUCKINF THE VENTILATION SYSTEM. JINX GODAMNIT WAS THIS YOU. Hope I’m interpreting this wrong.

Caitlyn and Vi being concerned for the other’s changing but their own changes stopping them from truly reaching out….

Minha internet cagou justo quando a vi e a jinx tavam lutando mano não é POSSÍVEL

…this whole thing really was Jinx’s elaborate suicide plan. Also Vi protecting the child and trying to keep Cait from shooting her is such a mirror to the scene where she and Jayce fight people with hextech.

It’s just so… there are no winners in war. There are innocents in both Piltover and Zaun. And even those who don’t have their hands clean but are also victims. All this does is create more suffering. But there was no other way it could have gone now was it

“I keep telling myself that you’re different, but you’re not” nick zootopia in the head again.

Motherfucker. Well maybe she didn’t orchestrate the memorial attack (though we don’t know that yet) but she certainly did this.

“You’ve given Zaun opportunity after opportunity to right their wrongs” no you haven’t. Lmao.

Referring to CAITLYN????????? ohhhh my god

Also. Did Vi last like one(1) episode as an enforcer and stop. I don’t think that’s the case obviously but it’d be really fucking funny since we haven’t seen her here yet

YES YES I FUCKING KNEW IT SHE CAUSED THE MEMORIAL ATTACK DIDNT SHE IM RIGHT ARENT I LETS FUCKING GOOOO I DIDNT INTERPRET WRONG ANYTHING FUCKERS

…okay maybe I am a little excited for Caitlyn’s villain arc— godamnit there’s no fucking way that fuck ass doctor from s1 is still alive.

(That was awesome. But seriously though where is Vi)

[wetsnifflesneeze]

Carolina and Alison (Cold) (Sneezefic) (Part 2) (F/F)

Continuing with these 2 cuties because there are simply not enough w/w f/f posts 😡 There's some mild hurt/comfort/trauma here in this part. It's mild.

Carolina woke up and glanced over at her girlfriend. She was so happy to wake up in her bed, as always, especially when she felt like Alison needed her. Which today and last night she definitely did. When Alison woke up with her nose too congested to fall back asleep she was there with tissues, she was there with some honey and soothing lozenges for her throat and of course kisses, lots of kisses. She rubbed Alison's back whenever she coughed softly into her pillow or Carolina's shoulder.

As she looked over at Alison she couldn't help but to notice how pale she looked. She looked beautiful but at the same time she did look sick. Carolina gently placed her palm on her girlfriend's forehead to check for a fever. She could tell straight away, no need for a thermometer. "Oh poor baby" she murmured softly.

"Hey baby, good morning" Carolina said sweetly as she stroked Alison's face and gave her a gentle kiss"

"Hey.." Alison replied weakly after making a little moaning noise. She just looked at Carolina with a pained expression on her face and sniffled.

Carolina looked into her poor girl's eyes, she could see them all glossy and her pupils dilated from the fever she had. "You don't feel good today at all, do you?" She asked sympathetically.

"Cari... I feel so much worse than yesterday" Alison's voice broke and she started to cry.

"Shhhh it's okay baby, c'mere, shhh I know you're scared angel... hey it's okay.."

Carolina was right. Alison was scared. She wasn't crying her eyes out just because of her fever, there was something else. She knew her girlfriend pretty well and she happened to know that Alison had health anxiety. As a child, she had severe pneumonia, due to her parents carelessness more than anything else... which greatly upset Carolina to find out. In her mind Alison is an angel who deserved better and she is going to give her better. Holding her closely as she sobbed into her chest, still scared and traumatized after those weeks in the hospital and the physical and emotional pain of it.

"I'm here sweetheart" Carolina cooed. "Not gonna let anything bad happen to you okay? I'm not your parents, you know that."

Alison cried until she ran out of breath and started to cough. Carolina gently rubbed her back and kissed her head. Carolina gently rocked her as her breathing slowly returned to normal. "You're okay honey, I just need you to take some medicine for this fever you have and you'll feel so much better."

"Okay *SNNNFF* ugh I'mb sorry, I got your t-shirt all wet"

"Baby don't apologize for crying, ever okay"

" 'kay *SNFFF* Cari? ...HhuhTSSSCHIEEW"

"Bless you. Yes, my love?"

"Could you pass me sombe tissues?"

"Oh of course, sorry I should've thought of that."

"It's okay *SNF* I just... I feel so weak I don't wanna move, I don't even know if I could"

"You don't have to move at all my love, that's why I'm here. Thank you for telling me what you need." Caroline gave her a kiss. "Here, let me.." She gently wiped Alison's tear streaked face and then held some tissues to her nose "Now, blow your nose. That's it, good girl. Okay, now it's time for medicine." Carolina passed her a couple pills and then also held a spoon of liquid to her mouth.

Alison suddenly shivered. "Aww poor thing, you're shaking" Carolina wrapped her arms around her once again and held her close. "Here I'll get you warmed up" she kissed Alison's warm forehead.

"HEIIISSSSHHIEW ugh sorry *Snffl*" Alison raised a hand to cover her mouth slightly as she sneezed into Carolina's chest.

"Bless you, Ali. Don't apologize sweetie. You can sneeze on me all day, I don't mind."

"I could get you sick though"

"I don't care about that" to prove her point she placed her hand under Alison's chin to gently tilt her head up for a soft kiss on the lips. After a few seconds Alison sniffled and broke away before sneezing into the other girls shoulder "ATiiiisSHHIEW"

"Bless you, I'm so sorry you feel like shit but I think you're adorable."

"Okay, you must really love me" Alison chuckled.

"Oh, I do. Like you have no idea." Carolina said as she wiped a little bit of snot trailing from Alison's nose. "I know you're probably exhausted since you didn't sleep very well last night so come lay down on me and fall back asleep"

"Yeah, okay, *snf* that sounds ndice HETsSSHIIIEEW" this time she sneezed uncovered into her girlfriends chest.

"HeEiiSSHIIEW ATiIISHHIEW EEIIIISHHIIEW guh”

"Oh bless you, my sneezy baby"

"Sombtimes I sneeze a lot when I'mb sick..kinda embarrassing *SNNFF*"

"Well I think your sneezes are cute so lucky me"

Alison smiled and cuddled closer to Carolina "you make me feel so loved, thanks for taking care of me"

"hhhKTSSSSTHIEW"

"Bless you, gorgeous." Carolina held her and played with her hair until she fell back asleep.

~Thanks for reading

~ I love these 2 so much 🥰🥺

[crazedmetalhead]

Eddie Blurb (Part 1/2) {Finally SMH}

First off, happy 4/20 to everyone who celebrates! I hope you have a good day, this post is sort of a way to commemorate the 'holiday,' I guess. This is my first fan fiction so go easy on me!

!Content Warning!

MDNI Eventual smut, drugs, mentions of self-harm, depression, anxiety, mental health, shot gunning, thigh riding PiV unprotected filth. 18+ I mean it, if you're under 18, move along! Mentions of weight (curvy insecure reader) and this is very specific, dom!Eddie Sub!Reader Friends to lovers. No use of y/n and lots of pet names. Don't like, don't read.

The days drug on in Hawkins Indiana lately, never seeming as short or as light as you would have liked, the depressive feelings weighing on you like a thick leather as you walked to your next class, books held tightly to your chest. You looked around at these kids you knew your entire life and wonder if any of them struggled like you have been. There's Chrissy, beautiful and kind, living in a rich family. She's so skinny and pretty... You knew it was wrong, but you felt kind of jealous as you looked at her. Exactly Eddie's type, you think as you avert your gaze, instead looking down at the rubber band on your arm, flicking it lightly as you tried to distract yourself, a technique Eddie himself taught you after he found you in the middle of a depressive episode, laid out on the bathroom floor, razor in hand. From that day you promised him you'd never hurt yourself again. It's been hard, but you kept that promise.

You sighed, tapping your fingers on your desk as you took a seat, wondering if anyone would be looking at you. It's been a common occurrence since you hung out with Eddie, but you try not to let it get to you. You're snapped out of your thoughts when you hear a loud clattering behind you, making you spook. "Whoa Princess, it's just me, you know, your best friend, Eddie," Eddie jokes and you feel your shoulders slouch from their raised position as you turn to look at him. He's beautiful. His chestnut curls are strewn about in all different directions, bouncing with a life of their own as they fall in ringlets to his shoulders, his nose is slightly scrunched in amusement as his chocolate eyes sparkle with mirth. Your heart flutters at the exposure of his dimples before you avert your gaze to a patch on his vest as you pick at your cuticles.

"Hi Eddie," you say meekly, your nerves getting the better of you and he looks you over, concern in his eyes. "What's wrong, Sweetheart?" He asks softly and you shrug, "Did somebody mess with you?" he asks, his tone more stern and you shake your head. "No Eds, it's nothing like that," you say, snapping the rubber band yet again and Eddie freezes, noticing how red and raw your wrists are.

"You doing okay lately?" He asks in a hushed tone, leaning in closer to you and you shrug. "Could be worse," you say and his big brown eyes widen further at that, you feel your heart sink. "Wanna skip?" He offers and you look around. You don't particularly want to stay, but your parents would be pretty mad if they found out... you consider for a moment before nodding. "Sure," You finally say and Eddie lights up, the grin slowly spreading over his features as he suddenly pops up, grabbing your hand and dragging you out of school, flipping off a teacher on his way out, leaving you a giggling mess behind him before you reach his van, your breathing heavy as you hunch over yourself, coughing laughing.

"It's good to see you smiling, pretty girl," Eddie says and you feel your cheeks flush as you bite the inside of your cheek and avert your gaze. "You too," You say softly, and he grins, his eyes lit up as he opens up the back of his van, holding out his hand, you take it as he helps you up, "milady," he comments, and you giggle some more as the butterflies swirl around in your stomach. As soon as you're settled into the back of his van, Eddie jumps in after you, his curls wild as he launches himself towards you, ticking your stomach until you're kicking and squealing. "Okay, Okay Teddie! That's enough!" You gasp and he chuckles.

"There she is!" He says and you glower at him, he feigns hurt despite the shared mirth in both of your eyes, "You hath wounded me with your mean glare," Eddie jests and you roll your eyes, despite the grin slowly spreading across your face. "You're such a dork sometimes, Eddie," you say and he grins, biting his bottom lip. "I'm a lot of things, darlin'," he teases, and you flush and he chuckles, "Only teasing sweet thing, unless you liked that," He taunts, and you squeak in amusement.

"In your dreams, Munson," You say and he chuckles, mumbling something that sounds like, 'if only you knew,' under his breath, making you flush more. "You've been anxious all day, Princess... Do you want to talk about it?" he asks and you shake your head, "Okay... do you want to smoke about it?" He asks, holding up a baggie of weed and flashing you a goofy grin and you can't help but replicate it. "Please," you say and Eddie smirks.

"Please what?" He taunts and you scoff. "Please share your crappy weed with your best friend," You huff, and he snorts. "It is NOT crappy," Eddie says indignantly and you huff out a laugh. "If you say so, dweeb," you say. You sit in the corner as Eddie rolls the blunts between his pretty fingers, his tongue poking between his lips and decide to take the liberties you rifle through his tapes before settling on a copy of Kill 'em All which is scratched to high hell before putting it in and Eddie grins approvingly as he finishes, holding the blunt triumphantly between his fingers.

"You're lucky you have good taste in music, or I'd have banished you from this rust bucket ages ago," He teases and you smirk. "Is that so?" You ask, batting your eyelashes at him as you wipe your hands on your jeans, pulling out a lighter and lighting the end of the toke. "It is," Eddie confirms, nodding his head, you snort and put your lighter away as Eddie takes a drag, expertly inhaling and exhaling when he's supposed to. You bite your bottom lip, he's so gorgeous and doesn't even notice it and you're... you, thunder thighs and stretch marks... he probably wouldn't look at you twice had you not have gotten involved in his heated debate that Pippin is a better character than Legolas, being best friends ever since.

Then it's your turn. You take the cigarette and stare at it hesitantly before bringing it to your lips and inhaling before instantly choking on it, a chuckle escaping your lips as you fan the smoke away and Eddie smirks in amusement. "Aww sweetheart... can you not handle my 'crappy,' weed?" He taunts and you give him a light shove on the shoulder, still coughing as you pass the blunt back to him.

"Can too, I just need to get warmed up," You pout, your cheeks flushed. Eddie chuckles, taking another drag, you realize he's held it in for a while and give him a strange look but he beacons you over and you tilt your head, confused by his antics. You crawl across the back of the van and that's when he cups your face and you freeze. Is this really happening? He leans in closer and brings his lips lightly to yours and you open your mouth willingly as he breathes the smoke back into your mouth slowly, letting you adjust to it and you flush, feeling those damned butterflies return again. You pull away and exhale and Eddie gives you a sheepish look. "Sorry, uh, was that okay?" he asks and you nod.

"Uh yeah... that was easier to take," You say and Eddie grins a bit, pulling you to sit on his thigh, looking into your eyes. "You want to keep doing that, you know, until you feel ready to take the blunt on it's own?" he asks and you flush as you realize his hands are on your waist. You've sat on Eddie's lap before, but never like this. You wonder if it means anything or if he's just trying to help you smoke the weed better.

 "Yeah sure," You say and he smirks, his eyes lighting up. "Come here then," He says before taking another drag, bringing your lips to his. He repeats this action several times and you find yourself feeling dizzy as he breaths into you, the contact going straight to your core as you struggle, to no avail to find more friction as his leg presses between your thighs and he pulls away with a smirk.

"Awe, is it me that's getting you all worked up baby?" He asks and you nod helplessly, "No, sweetheart, be a big girl and use words," he encourages and you clear your throat. "Yes, Eddie," You say and his eyes darken as he leans in, his lips ghosting the shell of your ear as he whispers, "Good..."

[elizabethplaid]

mid-day notes - oct 5, 2024

I can't explain why, but I'm really wound up today. I got a couple 2-hour bits of sleep, but I've woken up suddenly both times. I don't really know what happened. I was sitting up, hugging my legs to my chest, nodding off again and almost falling back onto the bed. (Not far to go, but it's still weird when you're disoriented.)

I closed my window yesterday, expecting today's rain. I woke up in a cold sweat after the 2nd bit of sleep, but I'm not sure what factored into that.

Oh, I need to take my nose spray. I coughed wrong earlier and stuff went down the wrong pipe. I grabbed a popsicle to soothe my throat. Sinus stuff is worse today, due to the rain (atmospheric pressure on my sinuses).

Did reading my old counseling notes affect me badly? It was stuff from 2018-2019, including notes for my stories. Depression was kinda bad then, and I was vaguely discussing those "3am feelings". Consciously, I feel very distant from those thoughts. And I was already tense even before reading that stuff.

On one page, I was asking rhetorically "what does it mean to heal from trauma?". I could feel that desperation again, how distraught I was 5+ years ago. I'm struggling with self-care again, so maybe my sub-conscious felt it more than my surface-level awareness.

I've already negotiated with myself that any self-care that I can't do before my doc appointment, let it happen; we're going regardless. It's all signs I'm not doing well, so it's okay to be honest and say "yeah, this is how bad it's getting again". And if I don't want part of my body examined, I can speak up.

I mean, medical professionals deal with all sorts of gross body conditions. That's why people seek their help. I think I'm also old enough to feel a lot less ashamed. Fantastic progress, indeed.

I wish I was feeling well enough to make big plans for my birthday. I know I can do things later, but it's a little more thrilling when it's near my actual birthday. In my heart, I'm so excited, so thrilled to be alive and have grown so much. I'm very proud of myself.

I wish I could give hope to that me from 5+ years ago. My pain was so palpable in my writing. I'm still in pain now, but it's somewhat differently sourced. More related to regressing from my accomplishments (eg volunteering). Most importantly, it's off-set with my pride and the love and support of my friends and family. I have a strength now that I had been so desperate for over the years.

Idk if I'll be able to sleep again soon. You'd think I'd be better able to sleep with the rain and all, too. Mental health stuff is so tough when you don't have the language to describe things, to understand things.

[kast43]

How the Obey Me! DEMON brothers would react to MC getting sick...

[im going to try a new way of writing Obey Me! Imagines....let me know how well it works]

MC stays home with a cold

One day, MC was heading home from running errands in the Devildom. They were walking back to the House of Lamentation when a storm suddenly started. It was pouring down ran as MC ran back to the house. It was late, it was raining, it was cold. MC was soaked to the bone by the time they made it to their room. MC had checked in with Lucifer as soon as they were home, dried off and went to bed.

=Lucifer=

-Noticed MC was running late that next morning, and when MC finally made it for breakfast noticed they looked flushed.

-Lucifer, the intuitive demon he is would begin his investigation by greeting MC.

-"Good morning MC, how did you sleep?" he would ask.

-When MC replied sluggishly "Good morning." sniffle "I actually didn't sleep well" he knew something was wrong.

-Would boldly check MC's temperature.

-"MC, you're burning up." he would point out.

-MC would resist and deny any kind of sickness, but when they cough a very dry cough Lucifer would go full Protecc Mode(™)

-"MC, you are not going to RAD today. You will go back to bed immediately." he demanded.

-MC would argue, but seeing as they didn't even have the energy to stand, Lucifer overpowered them and forced them back into bed.

-Lucifer called Lord Diavolo to excuse MC and himself from RAD.

-If you thought Lucifer would leave a sick MC home alone you WERE WRONG

-Diavolo understood, and allowed their absence [of course]

=Mammon=

-Lucifer came back into the kitchen after pretty much picking up MC and taking them back into their room

-Of course Mammon was upset with that alone, why was he picking on MC?

-Lucifer announced to the brothers that MC was sick and they both were staying home.

-Mammon tried to play it cool, but mentally he was freaking out.

-How could MC get sick?

-Humans were SUPER fragile...MC COULD DIE

-Mammon wanted to stay home too, but Lucifer refused.

-Mammon could not focus all day.

-He wanted to know how MC was doing, so he would text constantly.

-After an hour, MC stopped answering

-PANIC

-Mammon would eventually duck out of RAD and sneak back home...just to check on MC.

=Leviatian=

-When Lucifer announced MC was sick, he tensed up.

-The thought of someone so strong and confident being taken down with a sickness gave him great anxiety.

-But also he also DID NOT want to get sick himself.

-Had all the same worries that Mammon did, but he was scared to actually go see MC.

-Went to RAD without much hesitation, but would also worry about MC.

-Decided to show his support by ordering MC some snacks...food...medicine and having it shipped to the house ASAP.

-He would sneak back to the house at lunch break to see if MC got all of his orders, but from a safe distance.

=Satan=

-When it was announced that MC was sick, he did not panic as badly as his brothers.

-He knew that a cold was not as bad as most things MC had been thru in the Devildom, but it didn't stop him from worrying over MC's health.

-He would go to RAD, but immediately consult Soloman for advice.

-He would be about to start class when MC Face-timed him.

-"Lucifer won't let me go to RAD, can you let me watch the lecture?" MC would ask

-Of course he would agree and prop the Phone up so MC could watch the lecture.

-He had the camera flipped so he could see MC, and soon noticed MC had fallen asleep.

-MC looked so peaceful, Satan could not resist taking a quick screen shot.

-He would constantly watch MC sleep, but the second he looked away and then looked back he was met with a very angry looking Lucifer.

-Satan never hung up a phone call with MC so fast.

-ALSO snuck home at lunch break to check up on MC.

=Asmo=

-when he heard of MC being sick, he naturally wanted to help MC.

-nothing some serious TLC could not fix! [Asmo actually stop]

-He went to RAD, but solely focused on a "MC is sick Self care routine"

-when it came to lunch time, he snuck out of RAD and went shopping for his care plan.

-Ice packs to help with red skin [fever], a dehumidifier for a dry cough [runny nose], and all sorts of bath things for a nice long relaxing bath to soak the sickness away

-his heart was in the right place, he would return home and start to set up for the MC spa day. [Rest also works my dude]

=Beelzebub=

-Honestly the boy was more worried about if MC was going to eat enough.

-would have went to RAD, but as soon as lunch time hit he [like all his brothers] went back home to MC.

-he stopped at a few cafes or markets and got some food that he and MC could eat together

-would not be surprised when he saw Belphie already laying in bed with MC by the time he got there, good thing he got enough to share!

=Belphagor=

-he would have been the most worried over MC getting enough rest.

-chances are he would have just came back home before Mammon even did [he gave it a good 10 mins before said 'aight, imma head out']

-would have just snuck into MC's room, MC hid under the covers to hide.

-"Scoot over, I want in the bed."

-"No! You might get sick too!" Mc resisted, which failed because again, No energy to fight anyone off.

-"I don't care. But if it worries you that much then don't face me" He stated getting under the covers. ".....its so warm...."

-most likely would slowly get into big spoon position because he liked how warm MC was.

-100 percent Lucifer catches him, big angry.

================

Lucifer found Belphie in bed with MC when he went to check up on MC. He was furious that Belphie didn't go to RAD that day...but he just threatened to punish him later since MC seemed comfortable for now. [I don't think Belphie cares tbh] Well since it was getting a bit late, Lucifer decided he would make MC some soup for lunch. He started too, but then suddenly there were non-stop packages being delivered to the house. When he had finished accepting packages and went back to the kitchen to cook, he heard a bang in MC's room. Lucifer came rushing in to find Mammon on the floor, Half hanging out of the window. Now Mammon had skipped RAD? On top of that, MC had their phone propped up and face timing one of his brothers DURING CLASS. He was about to unleash his fury on the 2 brothers, but then noticed MC had fallen asleep. He settled for confiscating their phone...and dragging Mammon into the kitchen by his leg. Forcing Mammon to help out by accepting all if the new deliveries, he finishes lunch. Nice and hot Devildom soup. The next thing he knew, he heard the front door open and close. Turning to see Satan and Levi had returned home. They had walked to MC's room, and then the front door opened again. Asmo, carrying tons of bags of spa like items.  Lucifer's headache started to get worse. He went to see if his brothers were bothering MC to see somehow, Beelzebub had eaten all of  the soup he had made for MC.

Why were all his brothers home? An anger started to boil when he got a phone call from Diavolo. He answered and started to apologize immediately for his brother's behavior and would punish them all. Diavolo just laughed, saying he already excused their absences since he figured that would be the case. He was just honestly surprised how long it took them all.

[disastermages]

[read it on ao3]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

“It’s really coming down, isn’t it?” Cangse asks, her eyes looking up at the tin roof that hangs over the train station, as if she could see through it and watch as the building gets pelted with rain without letting it touch her or the bag that’s starting to dig into her shoulders. The weight of it is welcome and familiar, it no longer burns and itches like it had after she’d first left her mother’s house.

The old woman who’d been standing next to Cangse for the last two stops only smiles and shakes her head, “This is a winter rain still, my dear, you haven’t seen a rainy day in Yunmeng until you’ve been here in the spring.” Bringing one finger up to her nose to try and brush warmth back into it, Cangse wants to ask the woman what the difference between a winter and a spring rain was, but she doesn’t get the chance.

The headlights of something bulky and black sweep over Cangse and the old woman, making them squint, even as Yu Ziyuan sucks on a lemon in the driver’s seat, both hands gripping the steering wheel. They needed her there, but it would be a cold day in hell before Yu Ziyuan would be happy about it. Cangse doesn’t dare dim the smile on her face as she waves and turns back to the woman standing beside her.

“Popo, are you going to be alright by yourself?” Cangse does her best not to bend to speak to the old woman, but it’s hard, the woman is short, and Cangse worries about the woman hurting herself to look up at her. Rain and cold were supposed to hurt old bones, weren’t they? “My friend could give you a ride if you want.”

Calling Yu Ziyuan a friend was a stretch when she was already honking the horn, the sound of it blaring, but the old woman only smiles and shakes her head, her hands gripping her bag tightly. “My son will be here soon, you go on. Your friend doesn’t seem like the patient type.” For one moment longer, Cangse and the old woman share a conspirator’s smile, trying to drag another round of honking out of Yu Ziyuan, but then Cangse is being nudged down the steps.

“Are you wearing bell bottoms?” Cangse hadn’t expected to be helped with her bags, but the sight of Yu Ziyuan’s bell bottoms more than makes up for it, the grin spreads across Cangse’s face before she can stop it, the rain is still pelting her back, and Yu Ziyuan is still frowning up at her, though she shuffles further against her side of the car, the heel of her boot catching against the car’s floor.

“Shut the door! It’s freezing out!” Yu Ziyuan demands, though she looks no less like a ruffled cat when Cangse does as she’s told, the car shaking and bouncing as she gets settled into her seat, tracking in mud that neither of them mention. Cangse would get used to the mud, she would have time.

The car starts and Yu Ziyuan reaches into her bag with one hand, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, her foot still heavy on the brake. She must feel Cangse looking at her, because Yu Ziyuan looks back, the cigarette between two fingers, “Did your mother not tell you what mine did? It’s fine to smoke, but only in the car.” It’s the driest thing between either of them, but Cangse knows a joke when she hears one, and she doesn’t stop herself from snorting, even as she cracks the window, just enough to let the smoke out and to keep the warmth in. Cangse doesn’t blame Yu Ziyuan for smoking, not since Jiang Yanli’s health had started its downward tick, but it still almost makes her cough, and it still makes her eyes burn.

“I thought you and Jiang Fengmian would have sent Wei Changze after me.” Wei Changze would have been happier to see her, but he would have insisted on helping Cangse with her bags, and Cangse would have had to thank him, but not in the same way she would have thanked Yu Ziyuan, had she offered.

Finally, Yu Ziyuan takes her foot off the brake and they start rolling down the gentle slope of the hill, picking up speed when she finally presses on the gas, the cigarette still held between two fingers. Those fingers are no longer near Yu Ziyuan’s mouth, though. “Wei Changze had to drive A-Li and her father to a doctor’s appointment.” The phrase “A-Li and her father” raises Cangse’s eyebrows, the meaning behind it clear. They were fighting again. She’d seen it during their courtship, during their engagement, even on their wedding day. Or, at least, she’d seen some of their fighting on their wedding day. Wei Changze had carefully pulled her away from that, keeping her hands held tight in both of his.

Cangse sees the smile on her own face in the window’s reflection, but she can’t see the old woman on the train platform anymore, but she doesn’t see another pair of headlights behind Yu Ziyuan’s car, either. She must have gone inside of the office, she’d only stepped out to keep Cangse company after all, hadn’t she?

The woman had been there, and she’d gone inside the station office, where it was warmer and drier, to wait for her son.

“Fengmian wants another baby.” Yu Ziyuan says it suddenly but steadily, the train station behind them growing smaller and smaller in the rearview, the cigarette between her fingers is already halfway burnt. Cangse presses her lips together, but she isn’t surprised. Jiang Yanli was almost five, she was almost five and already needed delicate handling. Jiang Fengmian would want someone he could play with. It still sets Cangse’s teeth on edge.

“What do you want?”

Cangse doesn’t ask the question lightly, nor does she ask it to be cruel, but Yu Ziyuan’s cigarette is almost completely ash by now, only a sliver of white left to see before she stubs it out quickly. Some of the ash blows onto the denim of Cangse’s jacket, but she won’t begrudge Yu Ziyuan for it.

“I think,” Yu Ziyuan starts and stops, loosening her grip on the steering wheel, “I think I’d like a boy.”

~

“He fucking didn’t.” Wen Qing’s voice rings out across the dining room, a coffee cup still held in one of her hands, but Meng Yao doesn’t turn to look at her. The spoon in his hand is too heavy, but he still plays with it, even as Jiang Yanli stands up from where she lingers just inside his line of sight. She’d been lingering like that, since Saturday evening had dripped into Sunday morning like ink, and Meng Yao had pretended that he hadn’t heard Wen Qing tell Jiang Yanli that the bruises on his neck looked self-inflicted.

They weren’t, Jiang Yanli knew that, though she hadn’t said it. It went unsaid that there was no point, but Meng Yao knew that the bruises that had been there, even though they’re fading into nonexistence. He’d hoped… he’d wanted them to be gone by the time Lan Xichen got back, so he wouldn’t have to explain, but his hand still strays up towards his neck, trying to feel for swelling that went down. Jiang Yanli and her constant, too cold, ice pack had seen to that.

“I’m not pulling him out when he gets stuck in the mud again, my whole front end almost came off the last time.” With sleep heavy eyes, Meng Yao can see Jiang Yanli’s hand on the small of Wen Qing’s back, neither of them backing away from the window. They don’t have to worry about being seen, both Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan were already in town, taking care of their own businesses. They rarely came home for lunch. Jiang Yanli had told him that when she’d stepped into his office, refusing to let Meng Yao take his lunch there. Jiang Yanli had gotten stubborn about leaving Meng Yao alone. She’d left his office door open, and lingered like a ghost dressed in blues, and purples, and the occasional yellow or green, or she’d kept him from leaving to the loneliness of his own room.

She’d almost driven him crazy, but he’d been grateful for it. Meng Yao had been grateful for every interruption and every excuse she’d given just to keep him from being alone.

It still hadn’t stopped the nightmares, nor had it stopped the sleepless hours that came in between, but Meng Yao is grateful for every measure Jiang Yanli had gone to. He’d done his best to swallow it all down, but even Yu Ziyuan had called him out for the dark bags under his eyes and the way he’d only picked at his breakfast.

His work still hadn’t suffered because of it, Meng Yao had made sure of that.

“A-Yao,” Jiang Yanli’s voice is as gentle as the hand she puts on his shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts and making Meng Yao look up at her. He wants to shield his eyes from the brightness that spreads across Jiang Yanli’s face, “You’ll come to the door with us, won’t you? Xichen is back, and he’ll want to see you first, I’m sure of it.” There’s insistence in Jiang Yanli’s voice, her smile wide and bright enough to make Meng Yao think to shield his face from it.

It takes him a moment too long to realize what she’s said, but when he does, Meng Yao is letting the spoon clatter into the bowl as he stands. He doesn’t care if Wen Qing turns to glare at him, he hasn’t cared about that since Saturday evening, but he somehow cares even less now.

Meng Yao can’t help but glance out the window as he walks by, his eyes falling on something light gray and shiny, and tragically just low enough to get caught in the worst of the mud if a storm were to come and swallow them up. Wen Qing’s words make sense now, even if Meng Yao had only been half listening to them. The three of them walk to the front door together, but Jiang Yanli allows Meng Yao to lead, trailing behind with Wen Qing as Lan Xichen beats them to the door, his bag hanging heavy on his shoulder and his keys still jingling in his hand.

Something makes Meng Yao stop short, his throat going tight and the light bruises around it suddenly burning again, as if they were fresh. His hand twitches, but Meng Yao won’t let himself reach up and press his fingers to them, he’d done enough of that when he’d looked into his own reflection, wary of any sudden change that might happen.

Can Lan Xichen see them? Would he have any idea that they had been there? If he doesn’t, Meng Yao won’t tell him, he couldn’t and wouldn’t put that weight on Lan Xichen’s shoulders. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he did, and he couldn’t expect Lan Xichen to either, no matter how much he might want to.

But there’s already a hand pressed against his cheek, a thumb already stroking just underneath Meng Yao’s eye, soft enough that he can’t choke down the pull he feels to wrap his hand around Lan Xichen’s wrist. His own thumb strokes over the rounded bone of Lan Xichen’s wrist. If they hadn’t had an audience, Meng Yao might have pressed a kiss to Lan Xichen’s palm, but he’s too aware of Wen Qing and Jiang Yanli standing at his back, pretending that they don’t see the two of them, just like Meng Yao pretends not to see the two of them in their spare, stolen moments.

“A-Yao,” Lan Xichen starts, a gentle smile spreading across his face, but Meng Yao feels no need to shield his eyes from it. His other hand twitches, wanting to reach up and hold Lan Xichen’s face in return, but the chance is taken away by the sounds of two people bounding down the stairs from where they’d been doing who knows what for how long, only coming down to cut Lan Xichen’s words before they’d even fully formed.

Meng Yao has no energy left to be angry at them for it, nor does he stop Lan Xichen’s hand from slipping away from his face, though their fingers still linger, still clinging to each other by the tips. Something so small shouldn’t settle all the ruffled parts of Meng Yao, but it does. Touching Lan Xichen soothes the frayed ends and soothes the bruises that still burn at Meng Yao’s throat, whether Lan Xichen can see them or not.

It’s easier to follow the group of them to the kitchen this time, to watch as Lan Xichen drinks water from a tall glass that Jiang Yanli gets for him, to watch him lean against the counter, to participate in the flurry of conversation that comes when Lan Xichen returns, a glass of water held in his own hand.

This is a routine that Meng Yao had seen before, but he hadn’t allowed himself to be part of it. He’d tried to stay out of it, and he’d tried hard, but now Meng Yao doesn’t have to force himself to remember Lan Xichen’s name, nor does he feel the prickle of being someone new somewhere old.

He doesn’t stop himself from listing, just a little, after the others leave him alone in the kitchen with Lan Xichen, all the frayed, ruffled, and now soothed parts of him dragging him downwards, until his forehead meets Lan Xichen’s shoulder and fingers press into Meng Yao’s cheek.

“Yanli called me, you know,” Lan Xichen starts gently, stroking the apple of Meng Yao’s cheek with just the tips of his fingers, “she told me what happened.” Meng Yao squeezes his eyes shut. He hadn’t imagined that Jiang Yanli would have told on him, but he might have known that she would, if she’d been pressed. “Let me see?” Lan Xichen asks, and Meng Yao starts. The prickly feeling comes back into his stomach and he hesitates for a moment too long, swallowing thickly. “I won’t make you, A-Yao, but I was worried, I thought…” Lan Xichen doesn’t finish, Meng Yao won’t make him.

Slowly, achingly slowly, Meng Yao makes himself tilt his head back, exposing what remains of the bruises and letting Lan Xichen bend down just a little to look at them. His thumbs press into the sides of Meng Yao’s throat, and he closes his eyes, his own hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. He won’t allow himself to push Lan Xichen away, he would let him be kind.

Lan Xichen deserves to be kind, if he wants to.

“A-Yao,” Lan Xichen whispers, leaning in closer and pressing a kiss to either side of Meng Yao’s neck, “what got ahold of you?” Lan Xichen isn’t looking for an answer, Meng Yao knows, but the words stick in his throat like bones.

Meng Yao doesn’t realize he’s crying until he feels both of Lan Xichen’s hands on his cheeks, his lips on his forehead. There isn’t a breath of space left between them, and Meng Yao finally lets himself set his hands onto Lan Xichen’s hips, asking him to stay close without a word. “I should have been here, I could have…”

“Xichen,” Meng Yao tries to speak, but his voice is already muffled against Lan Xichen’s chest as he’s pulled close and bone crushingly tight. What could he have done? Would he have gone out into the woods and returned with nothing, just like the police had? Would he have tried to open the door from the hall, and would he have gotten the same result that Meng Yao had? Meng Yao presses his face into Lan Xichen’s chest and breathes hard, trying to shake the cold memory of that room off of his skin still.

“A-Huan.” Lan Xichen reminds him softly, fingers stroking gently through his hair now, though his voice is no less serious, “When we’re alone, I’m A-Huan, remember?” Meng Yao nods, but doesn’t dare raise his face from Lan Xichen’s chest, not when Lan Xichen’s whole body is still so comfortingly warm around him, driving whatever miniscule amount of wakefulness away, and making Meng Yao sleepier by the second.

“A-Huan, I missed you.” Meng Yao allows himself to say it finally, no matter how muffled his voice is in Lan Xichen’s oversized sweater. The words twist a wary laugh out of Lan Xichen, the sound of it comforting against the top of Meng Yao’s head.

“I didn’t get around to grading any of the boys’ work that I said I would, that’s how much I missed you.” It pulls at something in Meng Yao’s chest to hear that, his arms sliding up to curl around Lan Xichen’s neck, though he’s almost too short for it. “I would start to, but then I would think about you, and I would think about how you would already have all of this done. I would try again, but the same thing kept happening.”

Despite everything, Meng Yao hears himself chuckle, the point of his chin pressing into the center of Lan Xichen’s chest. For a moment, there’s only quiet and the two of them, clinging to each other like no one else could walk into the kitchen and see them, but then Lan Xichen is speaking again, the sound of him quieter now than it had been before, “I thought we could sneak away a little bit later, that’s why I brought the car. There’s a place down by the cove, Yanli told me how to get there once.”

“You’d take me there?” Meng Yao has to ask, but the words are brittle. Even if Lan Xichen didn’t know how to get there, Meng Yao remembered the walk to the cove well, when he was younger, couples went there for bragging rights, but Meng Yao had never been lured there by some high school boyfriend’s siren call, not once.

“I would.” Lan Xichen answers, pulling away, though only far enough to look into Meng Yao’s eyes before he kisses him, soft and sweet, and far, far too quickly. “Yanli says it’s prettier at night, but I thought we might catch the sunset.”

If Jiang Yanli had gone to the cove… Meng Yao silences that thought with a tiny shake of his head. He wouldn’t think about what Jiang Yanli had done with anyone at the cove, be it Wen Qing or anyone else.

If Lan Xichen took him there, it would be their cove. Theirs and no one else’s.

“Alright.”

[bruhlsbees]

paradox burning ; 2/5 || ernst schmidt x fem!reader

summary: when it seems you've lost earth, panic finally settles in

pairing: ernst schmidt x fem!reader

word count: 5,548

warnings: biting of skin around the fingers, mentions of mental health issues

a/n: finally settled into my apartment and have wifi! i will admit this one was a little hard to write so i apologize if this was a little hard to read. next chapter for sure will have more meat to it! thanks for all your comments, shares, and support! <3

Another test aboard the Cloverfield Space Station. The 47th test in just over two years is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. All eyes are on-

“This is Huntsville...we’ve got eyes and ears.”

Seated beside Acosta, you watched the newscast presented on the screen with Mark Stambler - the conspiracy theorist who was on yet another rave about this so-called ‘Cloverfield Paradox’. Acosta seemed to be just as irritated with what the guy was saying just as much as you were. You could only wonder how many people actually believed what this guy was saying.

“Right this minute, they are testing a particle accelerator up there, so we can learn how to make unlimited energy down here. But those who have accepted the Cloverfield Paradox is real...know how dangerous that is.”

Shaking your head, you brought your fingers to your mouth, chewing on the skin that was around your nails, leaning forward towards the screen. You didn’t know what was more nerve-wracking...what Stambler was going on about, or the team around you preparing for the next test.

As you sank your teeth into your skin, tearing it off before moving on to the next finger, you felt a sensation trickle down your spine, as if someone were watching you. Glancing to your right, you quickly pulled your fingers from your mouth at the sight of Acosta giving you ‘the look’. Blushing, you looked down and squeezed your hands together in your lap.

“Sorry...just a little anxious.” You whispered, your eyes falling back to the screen.

Placing a hand on your knee, Acosta gave your knee a comforting squeeze before pulling away, “It’s going to work this time. I know it will.”

Nodding your head, you smiled weakly at Acosta, finding a sense of ease with his own hope on the day. You did your best to focus on the newscast again, ignoring the stinging sensation from your fingers at the spots that you tore into too deep. The faint taste of iron in your mouth from the blood. You knew you’d have to clean up after the test, not wanting to go around with bloody fingers the rest of the day.

“This experiment could unleash chaos…the likes of which we’ve never seen. Monsters, demons, beasts of the sea-”

“To clarify, you believe their efforts to solve the energy crisis might unleash demons?”

Scoffing, you couldn’t help but laugh as it continued on, “This guy really thinks that we are going to break open some world-ending creation, doesn’t he?” Shaking your head, you leaned back in your chair, your hands gripping at the armrests on either side of you.

It was the Commander who finally had enough of what bullshit was spewing from the guy’s mouth - directing that you and Acosta turn it off. As you did, you heard over the intercom from Volkov that the gyro was calibrating, meaning that it was only minutes before the test finally began - but not before egging Schmidt’s temper on how his station was doing.

You smiled weakly at Schmidt who rolled his eyes, mumbling something under his breath as he continued on before your attention went to Mundy who approached you and Acosta, asking for him to grant them with his ‘holy stick’. When Acosta stood to lead into prayer, you sank to your knees on the ground, crossing yourself before clasping your hands together, you closed your eyes and bowed your head, waiting for Acosa to begin.

“Oh come on. Not now when we’re-”

Opening one eye, you looked to see Schmidt slightly amused, in shock that you were about to go into prayer before the test. You all had your own faiths, or lack thereof, and something you and Schmidt never seemed to see eye-to-eye with was that. He could treat it as a joke all he wanted, but this was possibly the only thing that gave you even an ounce of peace of mind.

“Schmidt.”

When the Commander scolded Schmidt, he fell silent, sitting in silence while Mundy, the Commander, Acosta, and yourself all gathered around for Acosta to lead you into prayer.

“The farther we travel from home, the clearer it becomes that there is power infinitely greater than us. Please show Your mercy and allow the Shepard to work this time. To provide the energy we need. To prevent our countries from going to war. Please, God, be on our side. Amen.”

Standing up, you smiled at Acosta before laughing as Mundy went in to fist-bump Acosta.

“That was righteous.”

It was finally time for the test to begin. As the accelerator began to power up, the team gathered around to their stations, you stood beside Acosta, watching as Schmidt made his way from his station towards the two of you.

“Back to work. Sunday school over with?” You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at Schmidt’s comment, shaking your head as he smirked, winking your way before turning towards the middle of the room, to the main starter for the accelerator.

“He’s insufferable.” You mumbled, earning a laugh from Acosta before he nudged you, heading over towards Schmidt and Mundy. You followed in suit, standing beside Acosta as you watched Schmidt prepare to launch the accelerator.

As you steadied yourself for the test, you found yourself toying with your cross necklace, squeezing the pendant between your fingers as you listened to Schmidt count down before turning the key, igniting the accelerator. The ship around you began to shake as the accelerator kicked in, preparing to send out another test of electricity.

You didn’t have it in you to watch, closing your eyes, you began to mumble a prayer to yourself, hoping that this was it - that this would be the test that worked and that you’d all get to go home. Back to your families, back to a normal life, back to reality.

“Please…” You found yourself whispering, “Please let this work.”

The whirring sound of the machine almost drowned out Tam’s voice, but when she repeated herself, your eyes shot open. Did you hear her right? Was this test successful?

“What’s our output?” Commander Kiel asked.

“We have positive energy flow,” Schmidt began, “For the first time. Look at this! Look at this!”

Of course this was a time to celebrate. For the first time you managed to finally run a successful test. Turning towards Acosta, your smile grew from ear to ear before rushing into his arms, hugging him tightly as the two of you laughed, happy to hear that your prayers were finally answered and that they finally managed to figure out how to get a successful test.

“We are focused at 47 teravolts.”

“Oh man!”

The cheers and celebrations that went around were only expected - perhaps a little unprofessional with some of the language that came from Mundy, but nobody could be upset - after two years, finally you had something go right.

“Hamilton, get us in viewing mode.”

Watching as the screen changed from your current view of Earth to the accelerator lighting up. Your grin never faltered at the sight of the beautiful purple hue buzzing, indicating that everything was going smooth. All things were finally going to plan…

Until they weren’t.

You weren’t sure what happened, but the purple light soon became too much, practically blinding you until the power shut off completely, the accelerator overloading the system. Catching yourself as the ship violently rocked, the power shortly coming back, your eyebrows furrowed as the alarm began to ring, screaming at Schmidt as the warning for ‘system overload’ presented itself on the screen.

“Schmidt! Tell me something!”

“It says it hit 602-”

Before Schmidt could finish his sentence, the glass in the room shattered, sending everyone ducking to the ground. You groaned at the bits of glass digging into you and how abruptly you were thrown to the ground. Pulling yourself to your knees, you lifted your hands up, flipping them over to see that your palms were covered with glass, small trickles of blood freckling your skin.

Looking over towards the main window, you squinted at the sight of the harsh light beaming in, the electricity buzzing picking up again. You covered your hands over your ears, the sound becoming almost too much for you. What the hell was happening now?

Before you could even ask, you felt your body suddenly lift off the ground and into the air, hitting the ceiling along with everyone else - pinned in place before being dropped to the ground again. This time you rolled to your back, letting out a cough as you tried to collect your thoughts.

The test failed. You along with many others would probably have some sort of injury that you and Acosta would have to look over later. The test failed and you only had two more tests now before...well....

When you sat up, you let out a sigh before grabbing the table in front of you, pulling yourself up before sitting in the chair. Your hands at this point were burning from the glass and your head was so heavy it felt like it was going to topple off your shoulders and roll to the ground. But there was no time to recover just yet, because this was just the beginning.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

After attempting to kill the fire and figure out what exactly was failing with the ship, everyone came back together in the main control room. Glass was still everywhere and the awful smell of smoke still stung your nose. You currently sat in front of Mundy, looking over his hands and picking out the glass with tweezers, your own hands wrapped now from you and Acosta treating one another before the others returned.

The hiss that came from Mundy made you jump, although you continued to work on his hands, pulling out the final pieces of glass from his left hand before wrapping it up to match his right. You looked up and smiled at him, letting his hands go as he stood up to gather around with the others.

You knew that panicking wasn’t going to help anything, but the feeling in your stomach wasn’t going away and it was hard to not lash out when Volkov and Schmidt were at it again.

“For once, Volkov! Could you please just shut up?” You snapped, your back facing away from him as you rubbed at your temples.

“Enough! All of you!” You tensed at the sound of the Commander’s voice booming over the arguing that was going on. He didn’t have to say it for you to know, but you all sounded like a bunch of toddlers throwing tantrums.

Crossing your arms over your chest, you chewed on your bottom lip as you calmed down, or at least attempted to. You were doing fine until Hamilton spoke up.

“It isn’t here.” Hamilton explained, a worried expression washed over her face. The color was drained from her face, as if she saw a ghost.

Spinning in your seat, you watched as the Commander headed towards Hamilton, standing beside her as he looked down at the screen. What wasn’t there? Was it the frequency for Mission Control like Schmidt suggested. No, it was much worse.

“The Earth...it isn’t there,” Hamilton rushed, “I...can’t find anything.”

“We must have got turned around, moved during firing.” The Commander suggested.

“Well it’s big, blue, full of angry people. Keep looking, you’ll find it.” Mundy pressed, now hovering like many others over the station that Hamilton was at.

Standing now, your own worry began to sink in. How in all names holy did you just lose Earth? Making your way now beside Mundy, you watched Hamilton as she continued to look over the monitors for Earth, still unable to find anything.

“I’ve double checked the radio target, but the target’s gone.”

“Guys, the system is scrambled!” Mundy reminded, trying his best to remain calm.

“Hamilton is right,” Looking over towards Schmidt, your heart sank to your stomach. You didn’t want to believe that Hamilton was right, but it seemed as though she was. “It’s-it’s not here. We’re not picking up any signals!”

“The entire Earth is not gone!” You finally cried, tears filling your eyes. “We didn’t just lose Earth!”

As everyone around you began to frantically look through the monitors, your brain went to your family. To Mama, Papa, to Mila and Joseph. Did you lose them? No, no you couldn’t have.

You didn’t wait around to hear Volkov point blame at Schmidt, when you didn’t see the Earth on the external cameras, you pushed by Mundy and made your way out of the room, rushing down the hall to begin looking out the windows for yourself.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

As you looked out the window that was outside of your own quarters, you felt the whimper escape your throat, your body rocking slightly before your attention turned towards your room, rushing in suddenly and towards your computer, typing in Joseph’s name to start a video call. You knew it was a long shot, but you could only hope Joseph would answer.

Staring at the screen through your tears, feeling some finally begin to spill over, you watched as the call searched for a signal - feeling like forever until finally-

/COMMUNICATIONS ➤ NO SIGNAL FOUND

“No...no...no!” Wiping away your tears from your face, you frantically retried the call. Waiting until the same error message popped up. Sinking into your chair, you stared at the picture of your family, the red error message burning into your eyes.

So this was it. The weight of possible damnation staring in front of you. How could something go so right, yet so wrong in the matter of just seconds?

You tried one more time to call Joseph, watching as the connection buffered before the same message popped up again. Letting out a shaky sigh, you dropped your head and cried until no more tears could fall from your eyes. The overwhelming sense of fear filling your body.

After taking a moment to recollect yourself, you stood up and wiped your face, heading to the mirror to look over yourself. No matter how hard you wiped away your tears, it was still so evident that you had been crying. You didn’t want anyone to see you like that - knowing that you were cracking under pressure.

“Get ahold of yourself,” You whispered, staring at your reflection in the mirror. You shook your head once before fixing your hair, wiping away the tears and letting out a sigh, shaking your arms and legs as if to get all the nerves out, “You’re going to see them again. Crying isn’t going to solve anything.”

You took one final look at yourself in the mirror before nodding, taking a final look at the screen once more, looking at the picture of your family.

“I’ll find a way home. I’m not going to stop until I’m back with you.”

Despite knowing that it was just a picture, you waited a moment, as if waiting for them to respond before exiting your quarters and moving down the hall, back to meet with the others.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

When you walked into the common room, everything felt heavy. Despite the room filled with everyone now, besides the Commander, nobody spoke a word. Sniffling, you quickly wiped your face to make sure no new tears were falling before making your way to the table, taking a seat at the end in between Acosta and Tam.

Pulling your knees up to your chest, you hugged your legs to you, staring ahead of you at the table. You swallowed the thick lump in your throat, choking on the whimper that dared to escape. Clearing your throat, you tried to pretend that you weren’t on the verge of crying, coughing once before hearing the corridor doors open.

“Alright, here’s what we’re up against.” The Commander spoke as he sat down at the other end of the table. Your attention turned to the end of the table where he was seated, listening to what he had to say.

“The station’s got problems we don’t have tools to fix. At this point, looking for home is a luxury for us. First, we need to survive.”

“We need to consider, evidence or not...that we might have ended the lives of billions of people,” Acosta interjected. You sank in your seat, your eyes watering. You hadn’t thought of it like that. Did you destroy the Earth? Did you wipe out your home planet instead of just get shot to some other part of the galaxy?

“We didn’t destroy the Earth,” Schmidt explained, surprisingly calm, “We just...lost it.”

It was Mundy who let out a laugh, and you couldn’t blame him, it was almost a joke as to how Schmidt had put it.

“Totally routine day. Copy that.”

Shaking his head, Commander Kiel motioned towards Mundy and then Schmidt, “Mundy, take Schmidt and deal with the O2.”

Looking up, surprised to hear that the Commander wanted Schmidt with Mundy, you smiled to yourself - it seemed like any sense of normality was off the table now.

“I’m a physicist.” Schmidt reminded.

“And now you work for Mundy,” Adjusting your position in your seat, you leaned forward against the table, listening as the Commander continued on with orders, “Tam, you and Monk will search and repair all power leaks. Maybe we can get this temperature under control. Hamilton, Volkov, test all circuits, then we can start looking for home.”

“When the Shepard overloaded, something went wrong with the station’s orientation system.” Volkov explained.

“We’ll replace the circuits-”

“No shit, if that’s the problem!” Volkov cut Mundy off, annoyed at the obvious solution, “But um, it might be the gyro.” You watched as Volkov messed with the side of his face, rubbing under his right eye as if something were bothering him.

You tried to ignore Volkov, your attention pulled to the Commander when you realized that he hadn’t assigned you to do anything. Watching as everyone headed out, you stood up and made your way towards the other end of the table.

“Commander? What can I do? You didn’t assign me anything.” You pointed out, toying with the bandages around your fingers from where you were biting at earlier.

When you caught that the Commander was looking at the bandages, you quickly dropped your hands, as if trying to hide them. You watched as he smiled weakly, standing up before placing a hand to your shoulder.

“Yeah, listen...I want you to go check on all medical supplies. Actually, supplies in general. See how much we have and figure out how long it’ll last us.” He nodded and went to turn, going to meet with the others before you stopped him.

“Wait, that’s all? Commander, I’m sure I can be of help elsewhere.” You explained, taking a step forward towards him. The Commander’s steps slowed to a stop, his shoulders sinking as he let out a sigh before turning around.

“When you were going through your interviews and evaluations, what was your weakest eval?” He questioned, perplexing you until it came to you.

“M-My psychological evaluation, Commander,”

“Yes, exactly,” He took a step towards you and placed both hands on your shoulders, “Like Hamilton, you have family you’re close with, which oftentimes brings more stress to you both than the rest of us.”

“I don’t understa-”

“Your fingers. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. You’re under a lot of stress right now, anxious about not being able to contact your family. Right now you going and trying to mess with wirings or the systems is not safe. Not for you, or the rest of us on here.”

You felt insulted. So what if you were experiencing a slight breakdown - who wouldn’t be in your shoes? You passed your evaluation, barely, but you did. You felt like a child, not being able to play with the big kids because you were too small.

“This isn’t fair, Commander. I’m just as much a part of this crew as everyone else. There must be something I can do to help!”

Pulling away, the Commander sighed and shook his head, “I want you to go to the medbay and go through medical supplies, that’s what you can do. Please, don’t take this as punishment. You are helping,” He paused and straightened up, clearing his throat, “Now I don’t want to hear anymore of it.”

And with that, the Commander left you in the common room, alone with your thoughts. Feeling your hands balled into fists, you looked around the room, tears welling in your eyes before you let out a laugh, shaking your head.

“Incompetent...is that what I am now?” You squeezed your nails into your palms before feeling the tension inside of you soon pop, leaving you back to your empty state of mind. Wiping your cheeks, you mumbled a string of curse words as you headed out of the common room and down to the medbay where you were tasked to look into the medical supplies.

When you arrived at the medical bay, you shut the door behind you, pulling on a pair of gloves before grabbing the clipboard that contained all the medicines on file and quantities. Opening the first cabinet, you went through the list, verifying that everything was in order and that you had the correct amount of vials that were listed on the paper.

You grew tired of the task quickly, rubbing your eyes and blinking as you stared at the paper. Looking up from the clipboard, you tossed it down on the examination table before sitting at the stool, closing your eyes to take a break, soon drifting off into an unexpected slumber.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“There are a few that I’m worried about joining you on the ship, Commander,” You overheard someone - a woman - state. You could hear her flipping through files, searching for the right paperwork.

You were the last of the crew to receive your final evaluations before departing onto the Cloverfield Station. You knew something was off when you finished your psychological evaluation and the doctor left in a hurry, not stating much other than you were free to go. Now you were seated outside of the examination room, waiting to receive your results from the Commander, toying with the hem of your shirt as you listened to the doctor and Commander speak.

“She hardly passed her psychological evaluation. Her temperamental issues, not as severe as Volkov or Schmidt, are still high - dangerous when unstable. I fear that she may become a threat on board if the wrong situation should arise.”

Frowning, you held your stomach as it began to flip, making you sick. You had always known of your own mental health issues, of course, but to the extent the doctor was putting it made you sound incompetent of joining the crew - and you knew that you had a right to be on board just as much as the rest of them.

“So what are you saying, Doc? If Volkov and Schmidt are good to be on board with their own temperamental issues, what is the concern with her?”

“It’s not that she has anger issues, but something more depressing. Being in space, without the sun, away from family, it can send someone into a state of panic. I fear that her being around those medical supplies, especially when she is having an episode, will not only harm her, but the others too.”

The silence that fell over the Commander and doctor made your heart sink. So this was it? All this time, all this money, all this preparation just to be told no right before boarding? Shaking your head, you stood up and went to leave, not bothering to stay to be told what you already knew.

But before you could make it to the middle of the room, the Commander’s voice startled you to a stop.

“She is no threat to this crew and belongs on board the Cloverfield just as much as the rest of them do. Until I see her pose a threat, I don’t give a damn what cruel ideas you have set in mind for her.”

As you turned your attention back towards the doorway of the room the doctor and Commander were in, you felt your cheeks become red when you saw the Commander, in a huff now standing in front of you.

“Commander, I-”

“You’re all cleared for boarding. Go change into your uniform and prepare to meet with the others. We leave at sunrise tomorrow.” The Commander quickly said, not letting you get the chance to even attempt to apologize for eavesdropping.

Your mouth turned into a small smile, nodding before turning and making your way out of the room and down to the room you were staying in on base, the closer you got to your room, the bigger your smile became.

Waking with a start, you tried to catch your breath as the sound of screaming came from outside. Jolting up, you made your way towards the door before stopping halfway as the entire crew came in, carrying, well, that you didn’t know.

“Clear the table! Quick we need to get these pipes out of her!” You heard Acosta yell, motioning for you to clear off the examination table.

Nodding, you frantically made your way to the table, pushing off the clipboard and other things you had piled on before stepping back as the crew surrounded the table, setting the mysterious woman down before holding her as she thrashed about.

“Who is this?” You asked, squeezing your way beside Acosta, holding up a light as he began to cut away her pant leg, revealing the wiring that was going through her. Gasping, you held your hand to your mouth, trying not to gag at the grotesque sight.

Nobody seemed to be responsive, in their own world as they tried to calm the woman down, pinning her until Acosta was able to inject her with something in the leg to numb her pain and put her to sleep while he operated on her. When the woman was finally asleep, the room filled with just the panting of everyone on the crew, you looked up at everyone.

“I’ll ask again, who the hell is that-”

“We don’t know! Okay? We found her in the wall, wrapped in the wirings and screaming.” Schmidt exclaimed, his face red.

Glaring towards him, you shook your head and pointed your flashlight at him, letting the light hit his eye, “Don’t sit there and talk to me like that. I wasn’t there. You expect me to just sit back and watch as some random person comes into the medical bay?”

Schmidt held his hand up to block the light from hitting his eye, “Would you get that light out of my face?”

You dropped the light, watching as he dropped his hand before you shot the light back up to his face, blinding him once again, a smirk toying on your mouth before jumping at the sound of the Commander.

“Enough! Acosta, finish looking after her and give us an update when you have one.” You watched as Acosta nodded, continuing to look over her. As you started to get your own set of medical supplies to help, you were stopped by the Commander, placing a hand over the drawer before you could get anything out.

“No, not you. Go to your room and cool off for a minute and then you can come back and help. Right now, you’re on the brink of-”

“Of what?” You snapped, turning your attention to the Commander. You ignored the rest of the crew in the room who tried to not so obviously watch and listen, but you kind of made it hard when you were pulling a scene. “I’m sorry that I’m reacting like a normal human being, Commander. But to be quite frank, we’re fucked. I’m not going to pretend that we aren’t, especially when you have a strange woman who you claim to have come from the wall lying on the examination table!”

Your face, now red, stared up at the Commander who seemed to be blank faced. When he didn’t say anything, you fell back on your heels, scoffing.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go. I’ll go to my room and suck my thumb because evidently that’s all I’m good for!” Moving around the Commander, you pushed past Schmidt, knocking him to the side before storming out of the medical bay and down to your quarters. It was times like now that you wished the doors were manual, so you could slam your door shut and let the irritation seep out of you.

When you arrived at your quarters, you pulled off your medical gloves, tossing them in the trash before unzipping your suit, decided to change into your sweatpants and t-shirt as you didn’t expect to be doing much else today.

“Stupid...incompetent...might as well just say it to my face instead of dance around it,” You mumbled, pulling up your sweatpants as you looked at yourself in the mirror. You pulled your hair from your ponytail and shook your hair loose, letting it fall down your shoulders.

Hearing the door open and shut, you looked through the mirror to see Schmidt, his hands behind his back as he made his way towards you.

“What do you want?” You asked flatly, crossing your arms over your chest. Even in that moment, you were too annoyed to even want to see him, and usually you always wanted to see Schmidt. When he didn’t answer you, you uncrossed your arms and pointed to the door, ready to kick him out before being suddenly blinded by the light.

Flinching, you jumped at the light and closed your eyes, groaning as you held your hand up to block the light, “Okay, I get it, I’m sorry - but you really pissed me off, you know that?” As you blinked your eyes back open, adjusting to the light, you tried to not smile as Schmidt made his way to you, setting the flashlight on your desk before wrapping his arms around you.

“When don’t I piss you off?” He asked, smiling down at you as he moved his hands under your shirt, rubbing your waist. Moving your hands up, you placed your hands flat on his chest before pushing him away, your own smile now creeping onto your face as you went and sat on your bed.

“When you’re asleep,” You teased before cocking your head to the side, “Actually, no, even in your sleep you piss me off. Did you know you snore? God, it’s awful. Makes me want to suffocate you with my pillow.”

Smiling, you watched as he laughed, making his way to sit beside you on your bed, pulling you close to him as he kissed your cheek, moving down to your jaw before up towards your ear, “I know something else you could suffocate me with.”

You giggled at the feeling of him biting on your earlobe before sitting back against your pillows, your legs now on his lap.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be? Something important to do? Or were you put on babysitting duty?” You shook your head and looked at your fingers, examining the bandages to make sure none had to be changed.

Shaking his own head, Schmidt looked down at your feet that were rested in his lap before rubbing your ankles, “Tam is meeting me at the X-Deck in ten minutes, but I wanted to stop and see you first after what happened in the medba-”

“What happened in the medbay was nothing, Ernst. I’m fine.” You knew that lying to him was pointless, but right now you didn’t want to explain to him what you were feeling, why you were feeling it, and so on. To you, it felt useless given everything else that was going around.

When you didn’t hear him respond, you looked up and frowned, seeing his own disappointed expression on his face. “Look, I’ll tell you later, okay? I’ll leave my door unlocked for you.” You leaned forward and pressed your lips to his, holding his face in your hands.

At the feeling of his own hands on your face, holding you steady as he deepened the kiss, you sighed against him, wishing that the moment could continue. Pulling back, you stared up at him, “You should go,” You explained gently, leaning forward to kiss him one more time.

Schmidt nodded, mimicking your actions and kissing you as well one last time before moving your legs, standing up off your bed before looking back down at you.

“I’ll be here at the usual time. I’ll see you later, okay?”

Nodding, you smiled and watched as he turned, heading out of your room and going to the X-Deck to meet with Tam, leaving you to your thoughts again.

When the doors shut behind him, you let out the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding, laying back on your bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Perhaps the Commander was right, maybe the mission finally cracked you.

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

I feel like I’m living in a bizarre alternate universe.

We struggled so much the past couple of years with the number of people around here who didn’t take covid seriously, while we were taking it extremely seriously. I know for a fact that the woman who runs my son’s camp has been one of those people not taking it seriously.

So this week a seeming plague hits my son’s class. 1-2 positive strep cases and a bunch of RSV cases. There are maybe 15 or so kids in the class, and there were 2 days this week where all but 3 or 4 of them were out sick. The main morah (not the person mentioned above) has also been out.

All of a sudden we are apparently the outrageously cavalier ones. The woman who runs the camp texted my husband yesterday telling him that my son had a “very bad cough” that “sounded like croup” and we needed to take him to the doctor after pickup (though at least she didn’t make us come get him early). Now, we know bad coughs. My son had a post-covid cough that woke him up multiple times a night for months, and even after that cough went away for a long time he was getting new coughs at the drop of a hat. He’s had to use both saline and corticosteroids with a nebulizer at various times. He’s had to get chest xrays twice in just a matter of months. We know what a “very bad cough” is.

My son did not cough once between when we picked him up at 3pm yesterday and about 8:30am this morning. Then he coughed once.

He has a bit of congestion, but he’s totally himself. For his part, there is absolutely no reason he needs to go to the doctor or shouldn’t be able to go to camp. And yeah, if we did schlep him to the doctor and they tested him for RSV, probably it would come back positive if the test is sensitive enough, since his entire class has just had RSV and he hasn’t been around anyone except them and us since Shabbos. But also, his entire class has already had it, so it’s not like he’s about to get anyone there sick. If he was this mild and one of the first kids in the class to get sick and we knew it was RSV, fine, I’d keep him home to protect the rest of the class as best as possible. But there is no one left to expose! Even if the 2-3 other kids who were holding out healthy with him earlier this week are still not displaying symptoms, they were already around all the other sick kids. They’re either getting it at this point or they’re not. 

But like, the woman who runs the camp was basically insisting that we take him to the doctor for a stuffy nose that we are pretty much certain is from a virus (so nothing to do for it but wait it out) that the whole class already just had before him (so he’s not getting anyone sick). This is a woman who posted online in late 2020 that schools being closed due to covid was an antisemitic government conspiracy because “no one knows anyone who’s so sick with corona right now.”

And suddenly we’re the ones who aren’t worried enough about health.

[poundstonaira]

Asta x Pregnant Reader - Worries

Word Count: 1700+

The usual, cold, wet, white snow fell on the tip of my nose right when I looked up at the dead, dark sky which did nothing but made endless amounts of frozen ice fall onto the ground and my coat that covered the rest of my clothes along with my impregnated body. It was ruthlessly freezing cold, my body felt like it wanted to break down every time I moved a step in the thick snow. I kept my hands in my pockets because I knew the moment I’d let my hands be exposed to this weather, they'd only be numb and useless when I needed to make a call.

I know my fiancée is either still playing Ghost of Tsushima, Resident Evil 3 remake, or Apex Legends with his step-brother to which he is probably raging at because he is not that good at first person shooter games. He’s better off still playing fortnite at his big age which is really sad to say. I still love him though, I just wish he would spend more time with me, especially when I’m sad. That would be really nice.

Ever since I started this accidental pregnancy, Asta has been very distant towards me, it’s like he’s scared of me, or that he’s nervous to talk to me. Everytime he would see my bloated, round stomach, he would freeze as if he was nervous or just stare at it in fear. I mean, it’s been 3 months since I’ve started developing but, shouldn’t he be used to it already? He told me not to end the pregnancy because he was ready and will do whatever it takes to the best father he could but if that's the case, why does he act all hostile every time he’s seen my stomach? Not once has he ever rubbed it, kissed, it or even spoken to it. Does it really take that much time to process that your fiancé is pregnant with your child? I’ve been thinking for a couple of days that it’s even cut into my diet and mental health, making me more confused and needy of this situation. It’s like I can’t even tell if I’m overeating or it’s my hormones making me over think like this.

_Wait. What was I outside in this freezing cold weather for again? Oh, that’s right. I was supposed to buy some snacks that Asta and I wanted. At least the corner store is right in front of me. I was in such a deep state of thought I wasn’t even looking up. Silly me. _

…

5 bags of Hot cheetos, 4 packs of sugar cookies, 20 bars of kinder chocolates, 6 packs of Cadbury chocolates, 2 jars of Nutella, 120 Freddo Chocolates, 6 packs of Battenberg cakes, and even more snacks that I’m carrying in this big ass bag.

When I left the store, I was brutally greeted with the familiar feeling of the cold gust of wind along with the snow hitting my face, causing me to cough a bit. The distance between the store and our home wasn’t a short one but, it definitely wasn’t a long one, it would usually take me about 10 minutes to get home but with this snow it would probably take double the amount. Not that I mind or anything, it’s not like Asta’s waiting for my return or that he cares. And it definitely doesn't seem like he cares that this pregnant fiancé is out in a blizzard buying snacks for him and herself. The only thing my ash-blonde husband probably cares about is his game he’s playing or whatever he’s fixated on.

As I began carrying my body through this dangerous winter weather, I heard my phone ringing through my bluetooth headphones, I let out a heavy sigh, letting me see my breath come out as cold fog. I quickly picked my phone out of my pocket and saw who was calling me.

To my surprise, it was Asta. Along with 50 messages and 4 miss calls. At this, I hastily picked up my phone and answered him.

“Asta I-”

“Where are you?” My green-eyed fianceé asked me with a serious tone which was different from his normal, cherry voice. I started to sweat, getting a bad vibe from his tone of voice.

“I’m sorry I-I was just at the store p-picking up some things… Uh… I’m on my way home right now-”

“What was taking you so long!?” I heard him shout, making me jump a bit because of his tone of voice.

I suddenly froze at his question with my eyes widened and my gut having a bad feeling. I didn’t know what to do or say, I just froze in my spot, letting the snow and winds hit me like I was nothing. I didn’t have an answer on why I was out for so long. Hell. I didn’t even check what time it was when I left the house. The reason why I went outside in the first place was to take a walk and to buy some snacks no matter how bad the weather was. I was so much in deep thought to know how Asta felt, I only thought about what he was doing and whether he cared or not.

“I-I just wanted to go on a long walk and buy a few t-things, I didn’t-”

“It’s dangerous out there! It’s even more dangerous that you’re pregnant and you are going out in such dangerous weather... Do you even know how long it has been?”

“No… Asta, listen-”

“It’s almost been 2 hours! I was waiting for you to come back, I was so nervous… Seriously! I thought you were kidnapped or something. I was in the living room the whole time, waiting for you, I was going to meet you to come pick you up but, I didn’t know where to go because I didn’t know where you were…”

“Asta…” Was all I could say. I was seriously at a loss of words, I was in such a negative and grumpy mindset that I didn’t even know that he cared. My fianceé is such a bouncy, and weird individual that I didn’t even know he would care that I even put my pregnant body through such weather, since there are intense risks to that. This whole time I thought Asta only cared about playing video games and only helping when he needed to. Guess I was wrong.

I felt my body shake as a tear slipped out of my right eye.

“I-I’m sorry, Asta. I’ll be home right away.”

… As soon as I opened the front door to our home, I was quickly embraced with strong, muscular arms around my body, making my drop the bag of snacks I had recently bought.

“You scared me… do you know how dangerous it is for you to go out in that weather all alone WHILE you’re pregnant? Anything could’ve happened to you. Anything…You really had me worried and I didn’t know where to look, that’s why I didn’t come outside, I was scared I wouldn’t see you...” Asta muttered into my neck, still holding me tight.

There was really nothing else for me to say at that moment. I could hug him back, making contact between my wet coat and him.

“I’m sorry Asta, I won’t put myself through such dangerous weather again. I-” I was then interrupted by him pulling me into a long kiss before he pulled away to rub my head.

“That’s enough. Go take a relaxing bath and sleep. You could catch a cold.” Was his response for cutting me off.

“Then what am I going to do with all these snacks I bought?” I asked him which made his eyes pay attention to the extra large bag full of snacks, his eyes then glimmered and he started to drool with the thought of devouring all of them.

“Yummy…”

I smiled at his usual antics.

…

After I took a bath in steaming hot water, the both of us were now cuddled up on the couch, watching endless amounts of animes that we queued up on Netflix while consuming our snacks. When we have these moments, I most of the time forget that my weirdo of a fianceé put something inside of me. I remember staying focused on the moments where we were just escaping the ruthless blizzards that are outside of our homes, trying to cause chaos. None of that bothered me anyway, I just remember the feeling of Asta holding me tight and his head croaked into my neck, picking up my scent and occasionally leaving a few love bites there. Although he doesn’t show it, I can tell he’s excited for the birth of our child as well. He may not kiss, touch, or talk to my stomach but I know every time he embraces me, it’s a sign that he loves me and that he’s ready.

“Are the snacks good?” I asked him, giving him a small smile as I watched him chew on the chocolates.

“Of course they are!” He replied in a cheerful manner, making me give him a small smile to which he quickly blushed at. I honestly adore how he gets all flustered at the small smiles give him.

After he finished the snacks in his mouth, I felt Asta’s hands snake around my round, bloated stomach, before he slowly rubbed it. I jumped a bit but I then realized that this is what I wanted, what I wanted for a while now.

“But do you know what's even better?” He whispered in my ear, making me shiver in excitement a bit.

“Yes?” I quietly replied.

“My own child growing in_ your _stomach. The possibilities of their genes and what they could be, whether it could look like you or me… the more I think about it the more excited I get. Even though I didn’t mean for this to happen, I am more than happy to do what it takes to care of our children.” Asta finished, kissing my neck.

I felt that same tear slip out of my right eye again because of his warm, trusting words. I didn’t feel nervous about anything anymore. Because I already know that I’ll be fine.

This pregnancy should be nothing to worry about.

“Thank you, Asta.”

[pcttrailsidereader]

Avoiding the Preventable

On my first PCT hike I was a little younger and a lot more naive. I was with my two friends and we were in the Cascades doing something we had never done before. We were spending a month walking from the Columbia River to Rainy Pass in Washington state. It was late June when we began our journey. The rainy times are not completely done by then. Needless to say there was plenty of early summer snowmelt bringing fresh water cascading out of the mountains.

We drank freely and often from the streams we found along the way. The water was cold, crisp, and delicious. Soothing to parched throats and reinvigorating to tired bodies. All was just fine until about a week after we returned to our respective homes. A week after slowly integrating back into 'normal' life I began to not feel so great. Severe abdominal cramps, diarrea, and general fatigue were keeping me sidelined. I wasn't sure what was happening to me. Whatever it was it wasn't good.

I got to a doctor who had recently studied parasitic diseases and recognized my symptoms as giardia. To be sure he had me do a lab test but got me going on a strong medication to clear the intestinal cysts that make giardia so nasty. The meds turned things around pretty quickly. Gladly I was feeling more like my normal self in a few days.

The lesson learned was, 'DON'T drink the water!'. I knew that my future adventures in the mountains would include some form of purification or filter system for any water I was intending to. drink. I clearly knew I DID NOT want to experience giardia again if I could help it. That was the start of a long history of making sure I was being sensible about drinking water in the backcountry.

This has led me practice everyday preventative actions to keep myself and others as safe as possible. These days we are really concerned about preventing the spread of Covid 19. We also don't want the flu, or the common cold, especially when we are so far from home. Even out of doors it is still important to cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing. None of the above mentioned infections stop at trailheads. You can reduce your risk of Covid with measures like being fully vaccinated, wearing a mask where appropriate, and staying outside. Even before the Covid outbreak many PCT hikers were fist bumping up and down the trail as both a greeting and preventable measure.

Gastrointestinal issues are an often preventable cause of wilderness medical emergencies. By washing your hands you can decrease your chances of contracting stomach ailments. Norovirus is a particularly contagious virus. Outbreaks have occurred on trails around the world. Simply washing your hands frequently with biodegradable soap at least 200 feet from water sources can make a real difference towards preventing many health issues. Illness often begins suddenly and lasts about 1 to 2 days, with stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Plenty of time to ruin a wilderness experience. Noroviruses are found in the stool or vomit of infected people and on infected surfaces that have been touched by ill people, such as pipe gates or containers of water at a cache.

Washing your hands, or at least using hand sanitizer can lessen the opportunity for a virus to strike. Other strategies include not sharing food or drinking from the same water bottle. Try not to touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. Finally, boil or chemically treat water as most filters will not remove viruses alone.

This probably reads like a horror story. Well, if you get sick you will be starring in one. No one wants that. I was so happy in my misery with giardia to be home and not miles from a road and a ride out. Taking a few preventable measures can keep you moving in the direction of your dreams down the trail.

[ao3bronte]

the skies belong to no one

[Chapter 2: Marinette]

[Chapter 3: Adrien]

The ride home from Marinette’s is quiet, with nothing but the sounds of Parisian traffic to keep him company. Nathalie isn’t in the vehicle today, not that she would have provided much of a distraction; she’s been off sick more often than not these days and Father has been keeping her primarily on office duty until she gets better. Adrien worries for her health sometimes, especially when she gets into one of her coughing fits, but he’s long learned not to interfere or ask questions. He used to make that mistake quite often when he was younger, but not anymore.

Adrien is sixteen and wears the weight of the world on his winged shoulders.

(He’d feel a lot lighter if he didn’t have wings at all.)

He finishes his homework mechanically and eats dinner in the dining room alone. Again, Nathalie doesn’t come around to watch or report on tomorrow’s schedule. He checks his calendar between bites of chicken and notices that he only has a fitting tomorrow. It’s a light week, which is nice. He enjoys them as the rarity that they are and tucks his mobile back into his pocket, wary of being surveilled.

Adrien doesn’t have anything better to do tonight but sit and stare blankly at the screen of his monitor. He tries to play a game but he can’t focus, his mind too wrapped up in the potential consequences of Marinette’s discovery. No one is allowed to know about the binding or the clipping; while wing binding — like plastic surgery and hair/fur pigmentation — is one of Hollywood’s worst kept secrets, having his wings physically clipped is completely illegal in the European Union. Only felons have their wings clipped and even then, not many felons are winged to begin with. The only other cases of wing clipping have happened to people who are victims of hate crimes and children who are abused by their parents. 

Adrien doesn’t consider himself to be any of those things.

Or he didn’t, until this afternoon.

Marinette had looked like her soul had left her body when she noticed that half of his primaries were missing. He’d been getting them clipped every year since he was a toddler and he’d long gotten used to the painless, but still mentally exhausting, process. Marinette, however, certainly wasn’t. She’d pinned him with questions that Adrien had struggled to answer and suddenly his babbling, bashful friend had turned into a tempest right before his eyes, furious and vehement that she would find a way to “fix things”.

Adrien sincerely doubts that. There aren’t many people who could expose Father for doing something illegal and get away with it unscathed; in fact, he can only think of one. Maybe if he asks Ladybug kindly enough, she’ll whisk him off to a foreign island where he can live in peace for a year or two until all of his primaries grow back. Once he can fly with his civilian wings, he’ll be unstoppable!

Dubious, he laughs through his nose and flops belly first onto his bed. His foreign island would have to pave a postage address or else he’d run out of his allergy medication. It’s a pain in the ass, being allergic to his own feathers. It’s why he loves being Chat Noir instead.

Well, maybe Ladybug could drop him off at a nice vineyard in Corsica for a year or two. He could help prune the vines and get a great tan in the process...he’s never shied away from hard work before and after a few months, his Adrien hands would be just as strong as the ones encased within his Chat Noir gloves.

That, and once he turns eighteen, his trust fund will be released to him and Adrien will finally be able to stand up for himself about the wing clipping. Adrien’s no idiot; he could barter his modelling for his freedom if he really wants to right now, but with no cash in the bank, Father would surely make his life as miserable as he could under his formidable roof.

He doesn’t want Father to get in trouble with the law. In anything, Adrien would rather just...try and navigate that landmine on his own. He’d long learned that asking about being allowed to fly would lead to punishments — sometimes severe — but Marinette had been clear about one thing. Wing clipping is wrong in every sense of the word, especially if it’s done without consent, and Marinette seemed to even grow paler when he explained to her that he’d been clipped for as long as he can remember. Father was and always has been explicit about never using his wings for flying; his wings are for decoration only, property of Gabriel®. 

Until Plagg came around, Adrien just thought that being grounded, quite literally, was normal.

And, as Plagg assured him, having no autonomy was not a very normal thing at all. 

Speaking of which, Adrien spots his companion staring at him from across his bedroom, “What?”

"You're thinking too loud," Plagg grumbles around a mouthful of Camembert.

"Sorry to bother you," Adrien snarks back, taking comfort in their familiar song and dance, "But one of my best friends just learned the biggest secret of my entire life and if she says anything to anyone and word gets out..."

Plagg meanders over, his eyes just a little bit greener than usual, "Eh, so what if Pigtails found out that dear old dad is cutting off your feathers."

"Well, when you say it like that…"

"Just because you're famous, doesn't make it okay," Plagg spits, "You ever see someone being declawed before?"

Adrien pales, "What?"

"It's not the same thing exactly," the kwami of destruction shrugs, plopping down on Adrien's pillow, "But one of my former wielder's had her claws removed. Want to know why?"

Adrien shakes his head. He really doesn't.

"Because it was the trendy thing to do at the time. Just like chopping off half your feathers and stringing you up like a roast chicken is now."

"Is it really that bad though? I mean, I can’t be the only person who’s clipped..." Adrien murmurs, glancing away, "Marinette made it sound like I was...I don't know, repulsive or something."

Plagg sighs, "All your famous friends, the ones on your Instant Spam—”

“Instagram.”

“Whatever,” Plagg quips, his whiskers raised, “The fur removal, the snout reductions, the eye widening, the scale bleaching; it’s all the same thing. Everybody’s gotta look like something different. But do they really want it? Just like you, you don’t think they have someone else pulling their strings?"

"I'm...not a puppet."

"And I'm the kwami of bath tubs," Plagg rolls his eyes, "Look, your dad has control of you. You don't. It's that simple."

Adrien’s expression hardens, "I don't want him to control me anymore."

"Then don't, cause guess what? You’ve got something all your other puppet pals would kill for”

“And what’s that?”

“Me!” Plagg rubs his paws together, his fangs gleaming in the lamplight, "You wanna be free? Let’s make it happen. What do you have to lose?"

[Chapter 4: Chat Noir]

[not-delicious-milk]

unspoken

pairing | fushiguro megumi x itadori yuuji, kugisaki nobara x zenin maki

content | um i think this counts as slow burn maybe, idk instrospection? sort of fluffy and sort of angsty? just two emotionally constipated bois and one (1) really bad wingman. or maybe a great wingman. depends on how you look at it. i think this is funny.

word count | 3.2k

form | oneshot

originally posted | 30 December 2020

author's note | i really wanted to make a joke about sukuna having 2 dicks but unfortunately there was no opportunity to. also i did all that research about heian period courtship and what did it amount to? like 3 sentences

He met Fushiguro's eyes, and balked slightly at their intensity. They always seemed to bore right through him, as if his skin was glass and Fushiguro interested himself more in what lay underneath. Not that there's anything he cares about in there.

"You're not hurt, are you? I did push you kind of hard."

Yuuji shook his head quickly. "No, I'm fine." He tried to set his mouth in a neutral line, like Fushiguro so often did.

Fushiguro nodded curtly, and turned to leave, back to where Ijichi was waiting with the car. Yuuji's fingers twitched.

or

yuuji doesn't know how to talk to fushiguro. sukuna "helps."

Fushiguro sure looks nice today. 

Yuuji sighed and looked away. He really needed to focus on the mission. There was a grade 2 curse somewhere on the premises of this abandoned building, and if he kept staring at Fushiguro, he'd probably get— 

"Look out!" Yuuji was only briefly aware of the curse's presence before he was aware of concrete, a dull throbbing in his side as he realized Fushiguro just saved him — again — and was busy siccing his Divine Dog on the curse that appeared while he was distracted. 

This is embarrassing, he grumbled to himself. 

You've got that right.

Yuuji did his best to tune out Sukuna's voice as he got up and into battle position. Fushiguro seemed to have the situation under control, so he focused on cleaning up the lower-grade curses swarming around them. 

Something flickered at the edge of his perception. This time, he wouldn't be caught off guard — Yuuji launched himself at the curse on the other end of the room, intercepting it before it had the chance to so much as look at Fushiguro.

"I didn't need your help for that one," scoffed Fushiguro as his Divine Dog slunk back into his shadow. "Honestly, I could have done this alone. Don't know why you insisted on coming."

Yuuji bit back a retort. "I need the experience, right?"

He met Fushiguro's eyes, and balked slightly at their intensity. They always seemed to bore right through him, as if his skin was glass and Fushiguro interested himself more in what lay underneath. Not that there's anything he cares about in there. 

"You're not hurt, are you? I did push you kind of hard." 

Yuuji shook his head quickly. "No, I'm fine." He tried to set his mouth in a neutral line, like Fushiguro so often did. 

Fushiguro nodded curtly, and turned to leave, back to where Ijichi was waiting with the car. Yuuji's fingers twitched. 

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

Movie night was usually somewhat less stressful than fighting a curse. Usually. 

The film was something Yuuji was pretty sure Gojo-sensei had found at the very back of the clearance shelf. The DVD store probably paid him to take it off their hands. It wasn't even so bad it was good, it was just bad. 

Kugisaki had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the opening credits. At first, he'd been a little confused and concerned for her health — it was only 6 pm, after all — but sneaking a peek at her phone screen when it lit up intermittently afforded him all the clues he needed. Kugisaki had been texting Maki-senpai, probably for a while, and probably all night. 

Her phone screen lit up again — they were a few hours into the movie, and surely Maki realized she wasn't going to respond, right? Yuuji strained his eyes and recognized the thumbnail of what could only be described as a cursed image. Is that a floating banana? What the— 

Something stirred in his chest. Jealousy? Why? Because Maki and Kugisaki had only been texting for a couple of weeks, and they already shared inside jokes that made Kugisaki laugh like a hyena in the middle of the night? Because they never needed to ask, to confirm, before sharing something — a word, a bag of chips, a seat, a jacket? Because when Kugisaki looked at Maki, with that vulnerability in her eyes that she always disguised with harsh words and thinly veiled threats of violence, Maki looked back?

Yuuji couldn't stop himself from looking at the other person on the couch with him. Fushiguro looked like he was going to cry of boredom. Or punch someone. Or both. 

Should I switch the movie? I don't think he likes it. 

Well, Gojo-sensei picked it. He would probably be offended.

Yuuji looked around. His teacher was conspicuously absent. No way! He's the one who forced us all to watch this shit, and he just leaves before it's over?

"Hey, um…" The question was past his lips before he could stop himself. "Fushiguro, is there something you'd rather…" Yuuji already knew what his answer was going to be. There were plenty of things Fushiguro would rather be doing, let alone watching. Reading a book, for one. Alone. 

He received only a vague shrug in return. "Do whatever you want."

Yuuji found himself staring blankly at the floor. An oppressive silence blanketed the room, even with the vague sound effects and poorly dubbed dialogue coming from the TV. 

This is torture. Say something already.

I would if I could, okay? Unless you have any better ideas.

That managed to shut Sukuna up, at least for a moment. Good. All that was left was to sit through the last scenes of the movie and go back to his room and scream into his pillow. 

Yuuji could feel his forehead flushing and his eyes starting to burn. Oh, no no no no no. Why is this so awkward? At least Fushiguro can't see anything since all the lights are off. Or maybe he can see in the dark, like a vampire? Come to think of it, he is pretty pale… He's probably not saying anything to be polite. I bet he can see everything. I bet he's reading my mind right now with that stupid look of his. 

"I need to go to the bathroom," Yuuji said, a little louder and a little higher than he intended. Fushiguro only raised an eyebrow at him and went back to watching the screen.

As soon as he was out of the dorm common room, Yuuji sucked in a breath of air. 

"Coward."

This time, the cold voice he was so used to hearing came from the back of his hand. Yuuji didn't have anything to say in response. If he did, it would only be in agreement. How pathetic of him. 

"You're damn right that it's pathetic. It's a miracle you can even stand up straight, given your lack of a spine."

Yuuji was almost at the door to his bedroom. 

"I'll help you, just this once."

He froze. Since when did Sukuna help with anything?

"I don't believe you," he muttered.

An eye opened on his hand just to roll itself at him. "I'm the one who has to listen to your self-deprecating monologues, and I'm getting sick of it. Just tell him how you feel, brat." Sukuna's disembodied lips curled into a smirk. "If you don't, I will."

"No way!" Yuuji whisper-shouted. He practically sprinted into his room and, in the absence of a lock, pushed a chair behind his door to grant the illusion of privacy. But Sukuna wasn't done yet, and the next time he closed his eyes, Yuuji found himself ankle-deep in what he really hoped wasn't blood, and looked up a pile of ox skulls at the last person he wanted to hear romantic advice from. 

Sukuna absentmindedly picked at long, black nails. "Why don't you switch with me? I'll be sure not to embarrass myself, so don't worry about that."

"That's kind of creepy. Aren't you like, a thousand years old?" Yuuji wrinkled his nose. "Do you just want him all to yourself?"

Sukuna made a face. "Oh, that's disgusting." He made a retching sound, like a cat coughing up a hairball. "Imply that again and I'll kill you in your sleep."

Yuuji was, at the very least, thankful that the murderous curse sharing his body had standards.

"Now the image is burned into my brain. Look at what you've done, brat." Yuuji only recognized the sensation of being cut into pieces and immediately restored because of how many times his conversations with Sukuna had ended that way. Still, he stumbled a little at the sudden disorientation. 

"Hmm." Sukuna tapped his nails on a skull. "Brat, what have you been educated in?"

"Huh? Aren't you the one who complains about having to sit through my algebra classes? You already know what I'm educated in. Um," Yuuji furrowed his brow. "I took piano lessons when I was 8? Not that I was any good at it."

Sukuna sighed. "I don't care about your algebra or your piano lessons. I mean your courtly skills."

"Uh."

Yuuji heard the creaking of bone, and he was met with two pairs of blood-red eyes suddenly before him. 

"Calligraphy? Poetry?"

"No…?"

Sukuna leaned in closer. "So, nothing then? You know nothing?"

Yuuji pushed him away. "Um, you've seen my handwriting."

"Kids these days." Sukuna clicked his tongue. "How standards have fallen."

"You know, a lot of things have changed between now and when you were alive. For one, there's this new thing called personal space."

The curse ignored him. Yuuji blinked and saw the ceiling of his dorm room, back at home in his body. 

Do you at least have a brush, then?

No, weirdo. I have a pen, if that's good enough for you.

Tch.

Seriously, how are you this far behind? I thought you were starting to get this modern era stuff. 

I am trying to salvage the situation you've put me in, brat. How will you write a letter to him without putting care into your calligraphy?

Nobody said anything about a letter! 

This is how it was done in my time. You certainly don't have any better options.

"Fine, I'll Google it then," Yuuji mumbled. He opened his laptop, his fingers hovering over the keys. Slowly, he typed out "how to tell someone you like them."

The advice was all very vague. It was awkward enough to admit to himself that he liked Fushiguro in a way that went past friendship. It was worse that Sukuna's eye was wide open on his cheek and reading everything he did, reminding Yuuji somewhat of a teacher hovering behind him in the computer lab and reading over his shoulder. 

"It says you should give him a gift. I have an idea." Yuuji didn't want to hear Sukuna's idea. "You should give him the carcass of a beast you slew yourself." Yuuji didn't want to hear any more of Sukuna's ideas. 

"Sukuna, have you ever actually done this before? Because I don't think that would work, even if it was a thousand years ago."

"Why would I need to do such a thing?"

That was a little surprising. "Well, you sounded so confident, I thought you had experience or something."

"Love is a fruitless endeavor. The only thing that matters in this world is the spilling of blood upon the earth, and everything that comes between. But you're so annoying that I decided to stoop down to your level so I could help you. You should be grateful."

"Stoop down to my level? What, is this wounding your pride?"

"My pride isn't something so easily scarred. Hearing your constant chattering, all revolving around that Fushiguro boy, is much more painful than condescending to help you." 

"What's with the flowery language all of a sudden?"

"You really are uncultured."

"Well—" 

The sound of someone knocking at his door startled Yuuji out of his carefully constructed comeback, laced with a few choice words he'd learned from Kugisaki the last time she stubbed her toe. 

"Itadori? The movie's over." Oh fuck. "You left your phone on the couch." The doorknob rattled. 

"Uh, just a second!" Yuuji slammed his laptop shut and dragged the chair out of the way before opening the door.

Fushiguro blinked. "Itadori, were you watching po—"

"Nope! No, I wasn't," Yuuji said, fully aware that every word he spoke only cemented that conclusion in Fushiguro's mind. "I'm just going to take my phone now. See you tomorrow!" 

Yuuji grabbed his phone and made a move to close the door, but Fushiguro caught his wrist. His grip was firm and cool to the touch. 

"You've been acting strange lately. Did something happen?"

"I'm fine," Yuuji said automatically. His lips had probably memorized the shape of those words by now. 

"No, you aren't." Fushiguro's grip tightened a little, as if worried that Yuuji would try to snake out of it. I could try. I'm stronger than him.

"Itadori, look at me."

Shakily, Yuuji turned. Blue eyes met hazel. He felt naked somehow under the spotlight of Fushiguro's penetrating gaze. Oh god, that sounds so wrong. I don't want to think about that, not now.

"Is it something I said? Or did something else happen to you? I want to know." 

(It had nothing to do with anything Fushiguro said, and everything to do with what he didn't.)

Itadori. I need you.

"I said I'm fine."

"And I said you're not." Fushiguro sighed a little and closed his eyes. The flutter of his eyelashes was distracting. "I'm worried about you."

Fushiguro? Worried about him? 

"Why?" Yuuji knew it was a stupid question, but he was feeling pretty stupid at the moment. "Why would you do that?"

"Why—" Fushiguro's grip on Yuuji's wrist loosened in surprise. Yuuji twisted himself away, ready to cache himself in his room, but Fushiguro caught the sleeve of his hoodie instead. Worse, he stepped inside and uncomfortably close to Yuuji.

He could already feel his face turning red, and this time he couldn't rely on the cover of darkness. 

"You're seriously asking me why I worry about you?" Fushiguro's voice didn't sound quite as even as it usually did. Yuuji didn't let himself hope it was concern. "You died in front of me, Yuuji. I… I had nightmares about it for months. Of course I'm worried."

He didn't know if it was Fushiguro's sudden use of his first name, or the quiver that accompanied it, but Yuuji's blood froze. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. 

Fushiguro positioned himself in front of Yuuji, and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. His sapphire-blue eyes, normally so cold and distant, glittered with repressed tears. Yuuji stared at his lips instead. They looked so soft. Fushiguro had been biting them again; they were slightly flushed and raw in some places. 

"Please." Fushiguro was barely whispering now, his words only meant for the two of them. "I don't…"

I don't want to lose you again.  

Yuuji opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know where to start. How could he claim insecurity now that Fushiguro had been so vulnerable with him? His anxieties suddenly seemed very small and pitiful in the face of the burden he'd saddled on his friends. It was his fault that Fushiguro was close to tears now, when he could face curses on his own without a flicker of fear. Dark, thick shame sat heavily in his throat, and all he could do was gasp for air. 

You should take off your shirt.

Indignation replaced guilt in one swift motion. I am not taking off my shirt. 

"Sorry, Fushiguro." The apology was too quick, too shallow. "I'm sorry. For… everything." The back of his throat stung. "I'm sorry for bothering you. Please, just…" Just go. Just leave me alone. 

Just leave me to die. 

"You don't have to worry about me."

It's only going to hurt you in the end.

"I'll be f—"

Fushiguro grabbed him by the back of the head, subtracting from the distance between their faces. "How many times are you going to say you're fine? Is it so hard to believe that I care about you?" 

Don't say it. 

"Is it so hard to consider that I—" Fushiguro's voice broke. A gentle flush crept across his neck as he seemed to realize how close their faces were. 

Yuuji's vision blurred around the edges. Time crawled to a standstill, and there was nothing but the slope of Fushiguro's lips, trembling with words unsaid. Yuuji could hear his heart beating in his ears. He wondered if Fushiguro could hear it too, and if he felt some small comfort in knowing that the heart he had seen torn from its body and discarded like offal had been restored, and that it could beat and bleed and break again. 

"Would you just kiss him already?" 

Yuuji would have liked to think Sukuna had kept that comment for his ears only, but the way Fushiguro reeled back and turned beet red confirmed otherwise. 

"Your purple prose is getting on my nerves. I think I preferred it when you couldn't string sentences together." The lips on his cheek curled. "Honestly, if you had just taken your shirt off like I said, this would have been over already. I should have done it for you."

"What do you have against shirts? Haven't you ruined enough of my hoodies?"

Fushiguro cleared his throat. "Um."

Yuuji's face burned. "Oh. Uh. Sorry about that."

"What is it with you and apologies? You don't have to be sorry for everything." But Fushiguro was laughing. His mask had cracked, or perhaps he removed it himself. 

Yuuji couldn't help but smile. "I'll stop being sorry when you stop acting like you don't need anyone."

Fushiguro's face darkened slightly, as if wrapped in a shadow. "Is that what it was? I—"

Yuuji punched him lightly in the arm before he could apologize. "You're so emotionally constipated." 

The tiniest of grins played on Fushiguro's lips. "So…" He leaned in closer. "What was that about kissing me?"

And this time Yuuji leaned into it, letting Fushiguro take everything he had. His eyelashes, still wet from almost crying, brushed against Yuuji's face as they breathed each other in. Yuuji found himself clinging to him like a lifeline, as if any moment he might slip away.

I'm not going to leave you behind.

He was laughing and crying at the same time. "I never thought you liked me back," Yuuji gasped when he broke away for air.

Fushiguro traced his thumb under Yuuji's eye. "You really are dense, you know that?" "So I've been told."

Is this what I was looking for?

Yuuji melted into him, kissing him like a drowning man gasps for air. How could he have deluded himself into thinking he was alone? How, when Fushiguro's body fit him like a puzzle piece, and they were embracing each other like they had never been separate? 

You're welcome. Brat.

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

"You know, I thought you'd at least notice all the times I was staring at you," Fushiguro mumbled sleepily. Their rhythm had slowed and now Yuuji was small and limp in his arms, playing with a strand of his hair. 

"Nope. Not even once." A sea of drowsiness threatened to engulf Yuuji, but he stubbornly resisted, if only to stay with Fushiguro for a moment more. He suppressed a yawn. 

"Gojo caught me watching you train once. He tortured me about it for a week." Fushiguro chuckled softly. "Um, he takes a lot of pictures of you. If you ever find a really blurry photo of you sparring in my room, that's why."

"Mm-hmm." Who knew Fushiguro was so warm? 

"Hey."

Yuuji's gaze flickered up to Fushiguro's eyes. Oh, he thought. They're so open. I can see right through him. 

"I'm here. Okay?"

I'm not going anywhere.

"Okay."

Neither am I.

And there was nothing but Fushiguro's breathing, and the heaviness of sleep, and the weight of words unspoken between them. 

[hold-me-sickfics]

Okay guys, as promised:

Day 1: Namjoon💜

Prompt: Namjoon’s been up since 2:00 a.m. with a stuffy nose and a pretty rough cough. His throat is killing him, and can someone please bring him the lotion tissues? His nose is bright red from how many times he’s used that old t-shirt in the floor. Thankfully, he’s been given permission to stay home and rest for the day, but that’s just impossible for him. He’s supposed to be the leader of the pack, so how can he just abandon them right before an interview? What if they need him? What if the interviewer only speaks English? What if Jungkook loses his shirt 5 minutes before they go in? What if Jimin and Taehyung accidentally reveal what the new album is called? What if… well everything happens? Or… what if… just maybe… the leader needs loved and coddled but instead he’s all alone at the house all day...

TW: Food, this fic is more snz focused than anything (Note: if anyone sees a trigger I missed, please let me know and I’ll post a warning for it too!)

—————-

“Namjoon, why are you in here? I thought I just told you to stay in bed until I got your breakfast.” Jin lightly scolded the leader. Namjoon had been up since 2:00 feeling pretty sick.

“I know but I wadted to bake sure you didn’t deed help with breakfast.” Namjoon shuffled over to the coffee maker, and poured himself a mug of it.

“Joon, down. No coffee. You’re sick, so the last thing you need is coffee making your stomach hurt.” Jin took the mug from him, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Here, just sit down and rest okay? How about you make a quick call and see if you can get today off. I’ll make you some hot tea. We’ll see if you feel like eating once your sinuses open up a little, alright?” Jin eased Namjoon down into one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

Namjoon had to admit, he felt terrible. His nose was stopped up and running at the same time. His throat felt like it was tight and on fire. His muscles ached, and he felt cold. His skin felt so sensitive; even Jin touching him earlier had hurt. But still, having his hyung so close did help him to feel safe and cared for, so he had endured the pain.

Namjoon picked up the phone, and dialed the BigHit office number, asking to speak to his scheduler.

Jin listened closely as Namjoon struggled to talk. He grabbed a bottle of honey out of the cabinet and poured a tablespoon into the tea he was brewing on the stove. Sympathy pain took over his chest when he hear Namjoon cough to clear his throat. The cough was wet, and thick, and had nearly even made him gag.

Just then, Taehyung and Jungkook came running downstairs.

“I AM EATING THE BACON! YOU CANNOT STOP ME!” Taehyung screamed.

“I WILL JUMP ON YOU!” Jungkook swung over the railing.

Surprisingly, the maknae managed to land perfectly on Taehyung’s back, causing him to hit the floor- hard.

“Ah!” Taehyung let out a harsh cry.

“Shhhh!” Jin pressed a finger to his lips. He mouthed the words “Joon’s on the phone”

Both the younger boys apologized immediately, and then bolted to the refrigerator. Jin couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Yeah, I cad’t breathe well.”

Namjoon coughed again. This time wasn’t as thick, but Jin could tell there was enough snot in his throat to fill a bucket.

Hoseok came downstairs in his bathrobe, hair still dripping wet from his shower. He too, heard the last cough, and decided to inquire about the situation.

“Jin, he sounds awful.” Hoseok glanced over at the leader. He immediately noticed Namjoon’s red nose, puffy-pink eyes, and pale skin. A sheen of sweat covered his face and upper chest. His hair was half-matted to his head in sweat as well.

“He’s been like this since 2:00. He’s trying to get today off so he can stay home and rest.” Jin took the tea off the stove and poured a decent-sized amount into a small, blue mug.

“Okay, thank you.” Namjoon hit the “end call” button, and set his phone down. He rested his head in his hands.

Jin carried the mug to Namjoon and set it on the coaster. He took the chair beside Namjoon and stroked his hair softly.

“What’d they say?” Jin leaned down to try and meet Namjoon’s eyes.

“They’re letting be stay home... but you all have an interview today... I cad’t stay here and just let you guys go alone.”

Though it hurt to have someone touch his skin, he leaned in closer to Jin, trying to take in some of his strength.

“Joonie, you have to stay home today. You look like you feel awful, and I know you do. You’ve been up since 2:00 this morning, and I know you’re exhausted. We’ll be back by dinner, okay?” Jin carded his fingers through the younger’s sweaty blonde hair.

Namjoon was about to protest when his chest broke into hacking, heaving coughs. His ribs hurt from coughing so much and his throat felt like it had been run up and down a cheese grater. Tears came to his eyes as he finished his coughing fit.

“Take it easy Joon-bug. Sip on this for me. It’s got honey in it. It’ll help ease the pain a little. And hopefully it’ll open you up too.” Jin lifted the mug to Namjoon’s hands and helped him lift it to his lips. Jin couldn’t help it, he had a soft spot for all the members, but it was really bad when Namjoon didn’t feel well. It seemed that Namjoon was all he could think about on those occasions. Perhaps since they were paired together so often in games and such. They’d just gotten really close as oldest and leader of the group.

Namjoon gratefully accepted the beverage, and sipped it down. He was visibly relieved by the warmth and smoothness of the liquid. It nearly made him forget that he had to let the group be on their own today.

Aaaaaand that’s when he remembered.

“Jin, what if they don’t have a transblator? Or like, what if Judkook can’t find his shirt again? Or what if...” Jin cut Namjoon’s worries off short.

“I’ll take care of it okay? You just rest today. And if I come home and find you doing anything but resting, I won’t be very happy.” Jin gave him a gentle look, telling the leader that he was just doing what was best for Namjoon’s health.

Namjoon wanted to debate, but he just couldn’t. He wasn’t feeling strong enough. He nodded, and they went through the rest of breakfast pretty smoothly.

An hour passed, and Namjoon was currently being tucked in by Jin.

“Okay, I put a bottle of water on your table. There are two extra blankets in that chair over there. I have cough drops over here beside the water, but if you end up needing more, they’re in the top shelf of the bathroom cabinet. I know you didn’t want to take medicine, but I left it here anyways. Send me your temperature every hour, unless you fall asleep. If you fall asleep, then take it ten minutes after you wake up. We’ll be back by 4:30 p.m. If you need me, call me. I’ll have my phone on while we’re there except when we’re shooting. Other than that, I’ll most likely pick up on the first ring. Oh and-“

“Jin?” Namjoon interrupted him.

“Yeah?” Jin realized he might have been rambling.

“Thanks.”

Jin smiled. “No problem. Just rest okay? No doing stupid things. Don’t try and do housework, don’t work on songs, don’t make calls unless absolutely necessary... or well you know, unless they’re to me.” Jin’s eyes softened. “Feel better Joon-bug.”

Namjoon nodded, and rested his head on the pillow as Jin closed the door.

He heard the other boys close the front door, and suddenly, he was alone in the house.

He felt lonely almost instantly. Turning on the tv was supposed to help, but it didn’t. After one episode of “Housewives of America,” he turned it off and tried to sleep.

He woke up slowly, and turned to face his alarm clock.

“Please be 4:30, please be 4:30...”

The clock read 10:48 a.m. They’d been gone for 46 minutes. Namjoon whined loudly to himself.

He tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. His nose kept running and his throat hurt badly. He finally just decided to get up and get something to eat.

That task proved to be harder than he originally thought it would be. The moment his feet hit the floor, chills ran cold up and down his spine.

“Aish,” he wrapped his shaking arms around his body. Luckily, he remembered Jin’s statement about the extra blankets, and he was able to turn one of them into a nice cape for him to wear around the house. With that, he trudged to the kitchen and opened the pantry door.

“I deed food.” He sniffled as he eyed the contents of the small room.

Namjoon finally decided on a pack of blueberry muffins, and...

He glanced back at the coffee machine, recalling Jin’s strict warning about the coffee being bad for his stomach. But... Jin wasn’t here soooo....

Namjoon did a sneaky little dance of shuffling over to the machine with a mischievous smirk on his face. When he got there, he took the filter out and there was a small post-it note inside.

“Morning Joonie. I hope you’re feeling some better by the time you read this. I figured you’d come for coffee after I left, so I took all the coffee with me. There’s some tea in the refrigerator that you can warm up for your throat. Remember to rest up, and I’ll see you when we get back.

Ps. If I get home and find out you bought coffee and had it delivered, I will remove our address from every coffee shop record between now and last October. Remember to send your temperature every hour. *hugs*

-Jin”

As much as Namjoon knew that Jin was doing this in his best interest, he really wanted that coffee.

Within the next thirty minutes, he was on the couch with a coffee in hand (thankfully, they delivered). He sipped the beverage happily and took a few nibbles of the muffins he’d gotten from the pantry earlier.

The hot coffee felt great on his throat, and actually helped the muffins to go down easier.

When he’d eaten enough, he checked his phone just to see if he’d gotten any new notifications.

And that’s what he’d forgotten.

11:06 Jin: “how’s that temp bud?”

Okay now he was in trouble. Jin wanted his temperature, but if he gave it to him, his mouth would be wayyy hotter than normal because of the coffee... Then, he had an idea.

11:09 Namjoon: “I’m 99.3. I don’t feel like I’ve got a fever so I think it’s just a little cold.”

Thankfully, he’d remembered that you could take your temperature under your arms too. He meant to wait and see what Jin would say back to him, but he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and decided to take a shower.

Fifteen minutes later, he came out of the shower feeling a lot better. Jin had texted back saying “good, make sure to stay hydrated and rest.”

He smiled at how caring his hyung was, and then turned his phone down. He thought it was best to go ahead and take a nap while he could still breathe. Maybe his symptoms would even be gone by the time he woke up!

Well, as hopeful as he’d been, he was wrong.

Namjoon woke up at 12:45, with his throat hurting more than ever. His nose was so stuffed, he had to breathe through his mouth, which felt like glass scraping his throat brutally.

On top of that, he had started feeling bitterly cold. A couple minutes passed and he took his temperature.

“101.4” Could be worse but could be better. The only problem was, Namjoon had a tendency to get really emotional when he had a fever higher than 100. This was no exception.

Namjoon’s eyes flooded with tears. He wanted the other members here... he wanted Jin here. But they couldn’t be... they had to work. He desperately wanted them home, but he knew they’d have to finish before they could come back. So, he decided to text them.

12:56 Namjoon: “I’m at 101.4.”

12:56 Jin: “Okay. Are you feeling worse? Or just the fever?”

12:58 Namjoon: “I feel bad Jin... my throat hurts, and my nose is stuffy and I can’t breathe. And my stomach hurts.”

As soon as Namjoon hit send, he regretted it. His stomach was starting to hurt because of that coffee from earlier, but Jin would be furious if he figured that out.

Before Namjoon had the chance to defend himself, Jin had texted back.

1:02 Jin: “That’s what I thought. We’ll be home in a few hours okay Joon-bug? Just lie down and drink water or tea until I get there. There are some fever reducers in the cabinet. Only take one, and then in thirty minutes it should start working.”

1:04 Namjoon: “You’re not mad at me?”

1:05 Jin: “Namjoon, you’re sick. I’m not going to fuss at you even though I probably should. I’m not entirely heartless you know.”

Namjoon wiped a hot tear from his cheek. More than anything in the world, he wanted Jin to coddle him.

1:08 Namjoon: “Please hurry home. I need you.”

Namjoon set his phone down and cried a bit into his crab plushie. He would take fever reducer, but it hurt to move. His muscles ached and his skin was so sensitive that even his pajamas seemed to prick him.

His soft cries tightened in his throat. He was in so much pain. Only one thought crossed his mind:

“Please come home Jin. I don’t want to feel this way alone...”

———-

Jin put his phone back in his pocket. His chest was tight with sympathy. There was nothing he wanted more than to hold Namjoon close and tell him it would be okay.

But for now, he had to push that aside. He had problems that were a bit more pressing...

“Jin Hyung! Have you seen my pants? I can’t find my pants.” Jungkook yelled from the other side of the guest room.

“Jin, my snack bag is gone and Hobi is gonna explode if he doesn’t get a sprite in the next 12 seconds.” Yoongi was scrambling around the room.

“Hyung, have you seen my other earring?” Jimin looked totally lost and Taehyung was trying to help.

“Aish. I’m coming just hang on.” Jin then set off to solve all the problems that had been named off. The interview was in 20 minutes and everything that had been mentioned was nearly life or death.

ESPECIALLY Jungkook’s. He really needed to find pants before he just decided to go on without them. Because, he definitely would if given the choice.

——-

Namjoon had managed to fall asleep.

Jin had rushed through everything as fast as he could, and had quickly thanked the interviewer and called for the bus early.

4:00 Jin: “I’m on my way Joon-bug. Hang in there for me.”

When Namjoon actually fully woke up, he felt a hand on his back. It hurt against his skin, but he hoped that it meant Jin was back. He turned over, and sure enough, it was.

“Grande? You had to get a grande coffee? You’re gonna take out that stomach of yours.” Jin was smiling, which told Namjoon that he wasn’t really upset with him.

“I really wadted it Jin. Like, really really.” He sniffled. His nose was back to running.

“Yeah yeah I’m aware.” Jin popped out a fever reducer pill and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Now take this for me. I’d check your temperature again but just feeling your forehead earlier told me enough.”

Namjoon did still feel chilled, even under three blankets. His throat was sore, and speaking was hard.

Luckily for Jin, this meant he couldn’t protest taking his medicine.

“Alright, open up for me.” Jin placed the tablet on the younger’s tongue and then lifted the bottle of water to his lips. When he’d taken it, he eased Namjoon back down onto the pillow.

“How’s your throat feeling?” Jin asked, taking the leader’s hand in his own.

Namjoon didn’t want to speak so he just shook his head sadly.

“Alright bug. Just wait here, and I’ll go warm up some tea. I’ll probably put a little something in it for your stomach too since I can literally hear it bubbling from the coffee still.” Jin patted Namjoon’s hand and then got up from the bed. He closed the door and started to walk up the hallway.

Namjoon just smiled. Since Jin was home, he knew he’d be better in no time.