#and then I would try desperately to figure out what the heck I was doing with Vina

[sunderwight]

SV fic where Luo Bingge discovers that Shen Jiu had a long-lost half-brother or something, and subsequently decides that he's going to infiltrate the minor sect which this "Shen Yuan" belongs to in order to get close to him and then indulge in revenge fantasy 2.0 when it inevitably turns out that Shen Yuan is like Shen Jiu (i.e. a horrible abusive scum teacher).

So Bingge uses some magical object or technique or other, makes himself look like a scrawny 12-14 year old, then puts himself in Shen Yuan's path in hopes of convincing the man to take him on as a disciple. The idea being that after Shen Yuan abuses him, Bingge will be justified in reenacting his Shen Qingqiu Revenge Arc again and maybe finally feeling some closure about the whole thing.

Yes, this is a very deranged plan. No, no one is going to tell the emperor of the three realms that. Bingge also wants it to be clear that this has nothing whatsoever to do with his recent escapade in an alternate universe, except that he was inspired to find Shen Jiu's relative as a consequence of that. But he's absolutely sure that this guy is going to turn out just as rotten as his brother, given the opportunity. That is definitely the only reason he is doing this!

Flash forward about four years. Bingge's retainers are begging on their knees for him to actually come back and do some administrative work. The harem is running itself at this point and they're all very terrified of the situation with Liu Mingyan and Sha Hualing (i.e. ruling with lesbian iron fists) and whatever the heck Ning Yingying is up to (no one is certain but it's something). The outer provinces are rebelling. Mobei Jun's somehow found another weird human surnamed Shang to cavort with, except this one is basically running admin for the entire northern kingdom now and no one's even sure if they're fucking or if it's some kind of mind control situation or what.

Bingge is annoyed. He doesn't have a good explanation for why a bunch of demon lords would be showing up on the doorstep of Tiny Cultivation Sect to beg him for anything. They're going to spoil his cover! And they're interrupting his schedule! It's already four o'clock and he hasn't started on Shizun's dinner yet! Shoo! Get lost!

Anyway, eventually some of his demon followers get desperate and dramatically kidnap him. Shen Yuan is horrified and grieved when it seems that his precious disciple, so like white lotus Luo Binghe from the novel, has been captured by demons. He tries to track the assailants down, but they've covered their tracks too well. In the end, there's only one path left to him to pursue: taking this matter to the protagonist!

Yes, the protagonist! Because the thing is, Shen Yuan noticed the similarities between his disciple and the book character he so admired. Not only that, but he did manage to glimpse Bingge one time from afar. It wasn't anywhere near to a real interaction, but it was enough for him to notice the strong resemblance between the protagonist and the mistreated little lamb who showed up at his doorstep. A resemblance for which there can only be one explanation:

Shen Yuan's disciple is one of Binghe's kids!

Yes, he had it figured out since fairly early on. Not only was there a resemblance, and not only were their dispositions quite similar, but also the boy showed a lot of signs of some demonic heritage. Shen Yuan was just working up to broaching the subject, partly because he had been trying to avoid any direct or even indirect interactions with the emperor, and partly because he... became somewhat reluctant to part ways with his student. Sue him! He got attached! And anyway, he knew how missing child plots usually went. There was probably someone in the harem who was out for his disciple's blood, and it wouldn't be safe to send him back into that mess until he was strong enough to look after himself.

But as is inevitable, the plot seems to have reclaimed Shen Yuan's student all on its own.

He just... needs to make sure that it isn't a tragic outcome. It seems it falls on him to make the emperor aware of his son's survival, and subsequent peril, and help launch a rescue!

Which also means approaching Luo Binghe in person, which he knows is very risky indeed, due to his connection to the infamous Shen Qingqiu! He'd been avoiding the protagonist at all costs for that exact reason.

But if it's his only hope of rescuing his disciple, he will simply have to take the risk, and hope that enough time has passed that Luo Binghe doesn't read too much into a shared surname and a passing resemblance. Or that restoring the emperor's long-lost son to him will be worth seem lenience for the crime of being connected to Shen Qingqiu. Maybe if he's lucky, he will even be allowed to continue visiting his disciple! (Ha, yeah right! More likely, Luo Binghe's going to take his head for hiding his own kid from him for so long!)

Anyway, cue Luo Bingge running around swapping between his Emperor and Disciple forms, dramatically trying to orchestrate a situation where he can fake the emperor's death and go back to the sect with Shizun as his disciple, or something, only for it all to blow up in his face because Shen Yuan keeps flinging himself between Bingge and potentially fatal threats that could plausibly kill him???

[pagesofkenna]

I think I may have already posted about this, but I went through all my digital files a while back to see what I could find of my old NaNoWriMo projects, and theres two books completely missing and one I can only find half of

and I know that this isn't how the human brain works but it feels like all of the projects I have full files of, I can remember. If not all the details then at least the main gist of how those stories went. but the files that are missing digitally feel like they're also missing from my brain. I remember writing them but I do not remember what happens in them

[generalsmemories]

Jing Yuan the... Lion

✧ jing yuan x gn!reader

✧ based on the ask: how would the characters react when jing yuan somehow magically transforms into a lion (like mimi) for a day? x reader is ok!! - requested by @/ephemeralyae

✧ contents: humor, established relationship, fluff, mentions of other characters

✧ a/n: i've noticed a certain pattern with my writing sideblogs, and that is the fact that i'll always get this sort of request HAHA. And in line with similar patterns, this will be the first post written in a headcanon format! i went the x reader route with just a hint on how characters would react (not that big of a reaction, moreso what they have to do in this situation) so i hope it was okay!

not beta-read again lmfao.

✧ He is as confused as everyone else with this situation. One moment he's sitting idly by his office, writing on his desk and the next moment he's left staring dumbfoundedly at a gigantic paw quite similar to the paws he squishes quite frequently back at home.

✧ Is the quick rundown you're given when you arrive at the Seat of Divine Foresight along with Fu Xuan and Yukong - having been frequently spammed with incoherent messages from Qingzu in the span of a few minutes.

✧ And although this very much is a serious situation - nevermind the mystery that the Divine Foresight is always absent from his usual seat, if he actually stays in this lion form for more than a day everything onboard the luofu will be behind schedule and he will for real be absent from the Seat of Divine Foresight because he's going to be taken in by the alchemy comission to figure out how to turn him back.

✧ And yet, as everyone is scrambling around trying to figure out a solution to turn him back and a reason to why he specifically was turned only - you're just left staring straight back at the lion with soft white hair and golden eyes who seem all to relaxed when staring back at you.

✧ Heck the tail is even comfortably swaying back and forth - even though he's well aware of the chaos he's caused.

✧ "... You know everyone in this room is in a disarray because of you, right?" a small roar that oddly sounded like his usual laugh, "... Yukong have to be able to discreetly send a message to the other flagships without even alerting anyone else in the Palace of Astrum, you are aware of that, correct?" you swear you saw the lion nodding his head.

✧ "... Master diviner Fu Xuan is going to have a lot more on her plate with this added problem, you agree to that right?" you ask once more, the lion only gave you a closed eyed smile.

✧ "Yanqing will be disappointed when you're not going to spar with him today, you've already avoided it for the past 2 weeks and you promised him today," the lion merely turns his head around, promptly ignoring you with a side glance of mischief.

✧ How can he be a scoundrel even when turned into a lion.

✧ "... Mimi would probably attack you the moment she spots you," you settle on saying. And somehow that information alone was enough for the once relaxed state of the lion to be in distress. Jing Yuan's once laid down form springing back into all fours - the sudden action making Qingzu who were still sorting out documents yelp.

✧ "... You know you could've tried saying you would leave him to see if he would react," Fu Xuan comments as the lion before the two of you makes his way over, "I think he would die on the spot if I said that, now how do we get him to-" you're unable to finish your answer back to the master diviner when you're suddenly pounced on by Jing Yuan.

✧ And as anyone would've expected, the much heavier weight makes you topple down to the floor with a loud bang.

✧ "... Did he already gain some feline traits?"

✧ You're unable to answer the question, desperately slamming your fist down on the lions mane before you're able to wriggle your head away from the amount of fur in your face, "Jing Yuan-" you wheeze, "I'm barely able to carry you while you're human, what made you think I can carry you when you weigh close to 200 kilograms?!"

✧ The lion seemed to not care, merely nuzzling his nose against your hair while making no move to actually get off of you.

✧ "... You know what, let's just call the healers down here and leave him here for the day. I have other business to attend to and Yanqing is already blowing up my phone asking where this idiot is," you say, tapping the lion on top of you on the nose before letting your hands tousle the mane, blinking in surprise at how oddly soft it was.

✧ "... On second thought I'll stay here until the healers come," you rephrase, continuing to run your hands through the mane, Jing Yuan seeming to purr in content at the excessive rubbing.

✧ So this is why Mimi is so content whenever you would excessively rub her everywhere.

og request here!

[coralinnii]

When they accidentally kabe-don you feat: Epel, Jamil, Jack, Deuce genre: fluff, budding romance notes: reader is written as Yuu, not gender specific, no pronouns used,

when he’s hiding from Vil

Epel just needs a break now and again. The skincare routine, intonation and vocabulary training, posture correction, calories check…everything is little too much for today. 

He honestly just wanted a rest in the courtyard before Vil figured out he’s skipping out on his lessons. Which is how you found the lavender-haired freshman laying behind the bushes. 

“So, how long are you planning on hiding?” You asked him with a cheeky grin Epel doesn’t appreciate

“When I’m good and ready” or caught. Epel whispered those last words under his breath as he guessed that Vil had already noticed his absence and was looking for him or had ordered Rook to bring him back. 

“Monsieur Cherry Apple~” Speak of the devil

Epel cursed as he heard the hunter’s call and in hurried desperation, pulled you down with him as he rolled into the bushes. He didn’t realized how he pinned you down as he peered out through the gaps of the leaves trying to see if Pomefiore’s vice housewarden was out of sight. 

He only realized his position when he heard a shaky tone whisper his name. 

He looked down to see you looking at him, surprised and flustered. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he assessed his situation. His arms and legs caged you underneath him, and the low height of the bushes forced him on his elbows and knees to avoid peaking out from the foliage, so your bodies were so close that he swore he could feel your heartbeat (which he noticed were quite fast) on his own. 

He’s been trying for so long to make the first move on you but now that he had you so close to him, he’s blanking on his next move. He’s wondering what would Leona do in this situation? Heck, what would Vil do? 

Epel was so nervous that he didn’t notice your own mental battle as you decided what you should do. You were fidgeting with your hands whether you should push Epel away or if you should pull him by his cute little bowtie. Finally you decided to shoot your shot, reaching out to touch the lapels of Epel’s school jacket, gently pulling the flustered freshman towards you. 

Taking the hint, Epel started to lower himself as he watched your expression for any last minute second thoughts or discomfort. You showed none. 

Too bad that’s as far as he got as reality smacked him in the face with a burst of light shining through a sudden gap of the leaves being pushed away. 

“Beaute! A beautiful embrace between two young lovers, intertwined like vines of the foliage that hides their rendezvous from the eyes of their peers.” 

Rook’s sudden intrusion forced the two of you back to your senses as you and Epel scrambled out from each other’s arms, looking away in embarrassment. 

Perhaps because Rook senses the awkwardness, Rook reached for Epel and pulled him to walk with him towards the Mirror Chambers to head back to the Pomefiore dorm. 

“I sincerely apologize, young freshman. But, our esteemed Housewarden is awaiting our presence as to begin your daily lessons” 

Epel didn’t grumble or sigh under his breath at that like he usually would. Instead, his thoughts were swirling around the last few minutes with you. He’s stunned and honestly a little giddy over the positive step in his relationship. You reached for him, right? That means you, his crush, want something more with him, right? 

Epel braved a glimpse behind him and noticed you fanning yourself to cool your warm face. He felt his ego swelled at the notion that he made you that way. 

He promised to himself that he’ll be the one to make the first move next time. 

when he saved you during Basketball Club 

Basketball was one of the few aspects of Jami's life that doesn’t revolve around Kalim or his duties as the servant of the Asim family so he assumed that he could have some time away from his responsibilities. Too bad that’s not the case when Floyd, the wishy-washy eel merman and Ace, the scheming slacker are his clubmates. Whenever one or both of them are here, there’s always a possibility of something that is bound to give Jamil a headache. 

Today was a little different however, when Ace decided to invite you to watch the club activities. Regardless how quiet or chaotic you are, Jamil would much rather deal with you than the worrisome Floyd and no, it is not because he finds you charming or attractive in any way. He swears it’s not that…not at all. 

You sat on the side benches, watching and sometimes giving encouraging hollers to your friends, including him which certainly boosts the morale of the club members. Almost unfortunately so as Floyd started getting too into his slam dunks. In his manic glee, the eel merman wanted to see if he could slam the ring hard enough to break it. 

Despite everyone’s pleas not to do so, Floyd went for it and slammed the basketball hard, succeeding in bringing the ring down along with the ball. The rest of the team ran from the hoop as the ball that was still stuck in the net of the hoop bounced towards you, bringing the ring with it. 

With quick reflexes, Jamil dove towards you to push you away from the ball’s path. The Scarabia student covered you as the both of you got on the ground, the basketball safely bouncing away from the two of you. 

Recovering from the fall, Jamil raised his head to survey the damage. It looks like the ball lost its momentum and is now rolling to a stop somewhere far from him. He sighed a breath of exhausted relief and looked down to ask if you’re alright. 

Still a bit shaky, you answered back with affirmation as you loosen the tight grip you just realized you had on Jamil as you must have wrapped your arms around his neck when he reached for you. To be fair, Jamil also just realized he had placed one of his hands behind your head, worried you might hurt yourself when diving to the floor. 

The both of you didn’t say anything else, lost in each other’s presence as you both wondered what’s the best course of action. Jamil is a tactful man but even he can be confused as to what to do. He searched you for a clue as to what you’re thinking. Were you uncomfortable? Scared? Maybe happy? 

“Floyd, this is why we said stop. Now how are we gonna play?” Ace complained to the tall Octavinelle student who responded with a frown

“I wanna see if I can, so I did it. You got a problem with that, Crabby?” Floyd said, showing off a glimpse of his sharp teeth in intimidation “We can talk it over if ya want. Come over here” 

“Nope. No thanks!” Typical Ace, running away after running his mouth but Floyd is unfortunately a chaser. 

Jamil sighed, getting to his feet then helping you onto yours. He weighed in the pros and cons of intervening before deciding to do so, in fear Floyd may break more things if left alone. Before he did, he took a quick glance at you and his keen eyes caught something rather pleasant. 

You were biting your lip.  

when he accidentally bumped into you 

Jack Howl is an honest student. He does his best in school and he makes an effort to not miss a class if he can help it. Except one day, that may not be the case. 

Jack was assisting his senior Ruggie in convincing Leona to attend one of his classes. He already missed too many classes that week and Professor Crewel was scarily serious that the lion beastman attend his class as his grades depend on this particular attendance. Worried, Jack had offered to literally carry Leona to his class which offended Savanaclaw’s Housewarden enough to walk on his own, angrily declaring that no one is going to carry him like some sack of potatoes. 

But now, Jack was almost late to his own class which explained his long steps and quick walking as running in the halls was prohibited. In his haste, he didn’t consider looking ahead as he rounded a corner which ultimately caused his collision with another student. 

Jack was young but he was still a bulky beastman. A collision with him would mostly end badly for the other party which is why with Jack’s build and strength, pushed the other student backwards onto the floor with Jack following suit. Thankfully, Jack managed to catch himself before he reached the floor, softening his landing and using his arms to avoid crushing anyone. 

“Ah, sorry-“ Jack started to apologize before he looked and realized it was you. You were also in a hurry to your class and the last thing you expected was to bump into what you initially thought to be a firm but surprisingly soft wall. 

“I’m sorry, Jack!” You apologized as well with a look of worry. “I should have looked where I was going. Are you ok?” 

But Jack didn’t respond. He was slowly working his feelings whenever he’s near you. He noticed that his tail starts to wag excitedly around you which he curses his obvious joy he feels in your presence. Thankfully you haven’t realized or you weren’t aware what his tail wagging means. 

That may change though as you spoke once more, “Umm Jack. Your tail is tickling me” 

Jack’s ears perked up and he looked behind him and to his horror, he watched his tail whip about, occasionally brushing against your legs that were under Jack’s. The soft fur was tickling your legs which made you reflexively move away but being under Jack meant you accidentally bump into the beastman’s thighs, which definitely made him flinch. 

Mortified, Jack scrambled hastily off you but still offered to pull you up which you accepted. After a quick look to see you’re ok, the white-haired student gave a quick nod before running towards the direction of his class, school rules be damned. 

You were left in the dust but you didn’t try to stop Jack. Especially since you needed to head to your class as well. With that, you turned to walk towards your destination but with a shy but satisfied smile on your lips. Turns out what Ace and Deuce told you about Jack’s tail was true after all. 

when blocking others from you 

It was not a secret that the school cafeteria was filled with delicious meals and treats for the students in NRC. Considering the rich, the powerful, and actual members of royalty were attending here, the school can’t afford to serve anything else but the best and finest lest they want to hear complaints. 

Still, that doesn’t mean there’s enough to go around. The cafeteria works on a first-come, first-serve basis where you gotta be there quick if you want what you want for lunch, especially when there’s something particularly rare on the menu. 

Which is why one day there was a scrambling line of hungry and greedy students who were on the brink of starting a fist fight for a special limited edition sandwich made by the finest and rarest of ingredients. Grim and Ace in particular were hankering for a taste of the supposedly grand sandwich so you, Grim, Ace, and Deuce were quick to get in line for the chance of such a treat. 

The crowd was getting restless. Students were pushing and yelling, agitated over so-called line cutters or people pushing each other to accelerate the pace. You could handle yourself well enough but a push too far from these relentless students could send anyone to the wall at this point. 

And luck would have it, a student was aggressively pushed back which in turn pushed you out from the line and back against a wall near the food line. You groaned over the slight pain coursing your back before seeing the back of another student coming your way. 

Before you could brace yourself, a strong arm came between you and the incoming student, effectively blocking the impact from you. You looked to see Deuce’s body protectively covering you as he placed his other hand against the wall near your head, glaring at the student who came flying towards you. 

“Watch it, buddy” Deuce said, his delinquent side peeking out as he gave the student a nasty warning stare. The student walked away, grumbling how it wasn’t like he wanted to get flung around like that and returned back to the line. 

Ignoring him, Deuce turned to look back at you with worry. “Are you ok?” His voice was nothing like the gruff tone mere seconds ago but instead a sweet voice of concern which had you more flustered than before. Not trusting your voice, you nodded your head. 

But Deuce wasn’t too convinced, he was worried that the slam might cause a bruise on where you landed. He cautiously moved his hand to the side of your head, gently touching you as he tried to feel for something, perhaps a bump or some blood. “You gotta tell me if you’re hurt, ok? A hit like that can do some serious damage” 

As sweet as Deuce was, you couldn’t pay attention to his words right now. Not when he’s caressing your head so softly like that, as though you’re a fragile baby chick in his hands. He was so oblivious to his effects on you that you curse him for his obliviousness but at the same time, you’re relieved he can’t tell how nervous he’s making you. 

“Yo Henchhuman, Deuce!” Grim’s voice called you and Deuce out from your own little world as the cat-like creature ran to you. “We got the yummy sandwich! Let’s hurry and find a seat” 

“What happened to you guys?” Ace questioned with a suspicious quirk of his brow, as he noticed the closeness of you two. 

“Some jerk pushed Prefect into the wall, and then nearly crushed the two of us,” Deuce angrily explained. “Looks like we’re good, though” 

“Well then, if nothing’s wrong then let’s find a spot to eat. I’m starving!” Grim already started walking with Deuce already following to make sure he doesn’t crash into somebody with his small body. You and Ace followed soon behind but yours and his attention were somewhere else. Ace watched you with mischievous curiosity, dying to interrogate you on the details Deuce left out in his story, and you looked anywhere but the red-haired freshman as you already knew what he’s thinking about.

[reixtsu]

Unwanted Attention - Jiyan x fem reader

Synopsis: While going to the meet up place that you promised to see Jiyan, a drunk man started flirting with you. Jiyan interferes and guides you away from the man.

Genre: idk to be honest

Warnings: none!

"Nice tits you have there, milady," a random drunk guy whistled at you as you made your way to the meeting spot that you promised to meet Jiyan. The man gazed at you for what seemed to be like hours, lust slowly showing in his eyes. You glared at him in disgust, visibly uncomfortable with being in the man's presence.

"Um, was that supposed to be a compliment?" You asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

The man grinned, snapping his fingers, as if proud that you noticed. "Of course, sweet cheeks." Oh, that cringed you out even more.

"Well, I'm not interested in you. Bye," You turned around, not caring if he still wanted to talk. Just as you were about to0 walk away, the man grabbed your wrist. "Wait! Give me a chance!"

You flicked your wrist away from him, glaring at him in pure disgust as if he was molding trash. "I have a meeting with someone. Move."

"Such a feisty attitude. Come on, I won't bite!" The man teased. "Unless you want me to."

Annoyance bubbled in your chest as you opened your mouth to say something, but it was just then when an intimidating yet gentle figure formed behind you.

"She said she wasn't interested. Is that not clear enough?" a deep and soothing voice addressed, hif voice having an air of authority. You smiled, turning around to look at your beloved Jiyan.

His piercing yellow eyes held no mercy as he glared at the drunk man. You couldn't help but admire his chest, completely forgetting the previous man.

"And who the hell are you?" The drunk man slurred, irritated that someone interrupted his flirting. He was desperate to shoot his shot. "I was in the middle of courting that beautiful lady!"

You laughed, finally having your attention back at the man. it was honestly amusing that he thought that he had any chance to court you when Jiyan was around. Your heart and soul belonged to Jiyan only, but you laid low for a while as you watched how Jiyan would handle the situation.

"Unfortunately for you, you do not meet her standards. Besides, she is already with someone at the moment."

"Heh. So what? She obviously would change her mind if she gave me a chance." You could tell from Jiyan's impatient sigh that he was starting to lose his patience. 

He closed his eyes, reaching out to hold your hand in his gentle grasp. "We must depart now. We have a meeting to attend to. I would appreciate it if you stop bothering my lover."

The other man scoffed, not knowing how to react to Jiyan's polite tone. "Um. Fine..."

With a small hum, Jiyan walked away, hand in hand with you. You looked at him with an amused expression, ready to tease him at any moment. Jiyan loved you, and was willing to protect you no matter the situation. After all, you were the light of his life, and you loved him back just as much.

Author’s note: I know most Wuwa simps simp for Scar, I kinda do too but I’m trying my best to hide the fact that I simp for Scar or else my girlfriend will tease me. Jiyan and Yinlin though, oh my goodness I simp so hard for them.

Anyways, this isn’t my proudest work. As some might be able to tell, it was rushed. I basically just put all of my ideas onto paper.

Jiyan though… he is hot and fine as heck.

[barnxsromanxff]

That Night | Josh Washington x reader

| Do not repost any of my writes without credit to me

Pairing: Post prank Josh x f!reader

Prompt: The real events of that night start to reveal themselves as Josh is tied up.

Warnings: implied smut, make out sesh, cussing, crying, slut shaming, emetophobia warning, mentions of death

A/N: So this is kinda angsty? i never really write sad stuff but i wanted to try something new. This one is a bit short, let me know if i should add a part 2! remember requests are open through my inbox, comments or dm me! i hope you enjoy!

Also i’m sorry if it’s not the most game accurate depiction! I tried my best :,)

His hands traced every curve and line on your body, his tongue worshiping your skin. His lips grazing your own. You felt like a goddess as he let your name fall from his lips as a prayer.

His voice, his scent, his body, everything about him was overwhelming your senses. Even with the lights off he had your figure memorized, touching every sensitive spot you had.

His drunken mumbles began to form into a cohesive sentence, “I love you.”

~

You held onto your coat trying to keep any warmth in, shivering to regulate your temperate. Your gaze rested on his erratic form, his breathing irregular as he screamed out,

“You pussy!”

His exaggerated scream making you roll your eyes, your fingers found there way to the bridge of your nose with you pinched tight.

You pretty much ignored the entire argument, it was getting you all nowhere. You only started paying attention when he mentioned you again,

“Excuse me! Am I boring Miss righteous over here?”

You dead panned at your best friend, no evidence of a smile at all. You stood up and came closer to him,

“Josh, I think i’m speaking for everyone here, shut the fuck up.”

Your sudden outburst shocked the boys but Chris and Mike nodded in agreement. You began pacing the shed, your mind spinning rapidly,

“Why are we even here? This was so stupid,”

You let out a shaky laugh and continued your rant with it slowly turning from an angry cry out to sobs leaving your lips.

“We shouldn’t even be here.”

You repeated, over and over, your hands raking through your disheveled hair. The boys all watched your every move intensely, finally there was silence in the room.

You believed what you said, you were still in denial. Your two closest friends were gone, and it was time for you to realize this.

“Fuck! What the fuck.”

You kicked over a box of old tools, the noise clambering against the wall. You held your body tight, trying to find any form of comfort. Everything was wrong, this wasn’t how it was suppose to be.

“Hey, Come here.”

Chris pulled your body close to his, the heat from his build enveloping yours. He stood there silent, knowing no words would bring any comfort to you.

Everyone knew you were right, but no one had the energy or need to agree.

As he held your body you could hear snickers coming from tied up Josh, a heavy sigh leaving your lips as you prepared for his next verbal assault.

“I’m just saying, one heck of a performance. You don’t think I know what really happened that night?”

Your eyes squinted in confusion, for once you wanted him to continue. You stepped away from Chris and felt desperate to hear what he was going to say, you internally slapped yourself as you gestured him to go on with his rant.

“Josh? What are you talking about?”

He scoffed, the look in his eyes full of hatred. He thrashed his body attempting to get out of the tight constraints.

“Whoring yourself for a prank? Pretty low if you ask me, just as bad as good ol’ Mike here.”

Your stomach sank as you begin to realize what he was implying.

“I remember every. single. second. of that night. Too bad I wasn’t there for Beth and Hannah, instead with you.”

You shook your head, your tears continued and you yelled out a ‘No!’

“You took me back there just to distract me, fucked me real good huh? Should’ve known it wasn’t real, out of everyone that night,”

He paused before finally meeting your eyes, the look sending shivers down your spine.

“You, you disgust me. You hurt me the most.”

Mike and Chris exchanged confused looks. No one knew what that night had looked like for you and Josh, that being the one secret you had the power to hold. The one thing not distorted by that evil memory that night holds for you.

It went silent, your mind recalling the events of that night

~

“Shhhh Josh, they’ll hear.”

You held his hand as he led you away from the group, both stumbling and trying to find your way through the maze of his lodge.

Finally he jiggled with the door knob of his room, letting you in first just to whistle as you entered.

“Been hiding that all this time?”

You hit his chest and immediately went in for a kiss, your hands holding into the chest of his shirt clinging to be as close as possible.

Your kiss deepened, somewhere along the way both your clothes had been quickly discarded as an afterthought.

Josh let out an airy moan as you suckled on his neck, his hands wandering over your naked body.

You giggled and kissed him all over his face, wanting nothing more than to live in this moment forever.

~

“Josh…”

You sighed and despite the guys disapproving looks you moved closer to him, sitting down on the cold floor near him.

Josh ignored you, his eyes avoiding your ever knowing stare.

“What we did that night, what we said, I haven’t forgotten it.”

You bit your lip trying to find the words to say to this broken man, your eyes watering as you continued barely above a whisper ,

“That night, I wish it could’ve gone differently. I regret almost everything about it,”

You pause as he stares up with you, his eyes flooding with hurt as he took in your words. All the hatred he had for you was gone, and instead heartbreak.

“I don’t regret what we did, I would never regret you. Don’t think I have. I regret not being there for Hannah and Beth, for keeping you away from them. But I don’t regret what we shared.”

Josh kept quiet, but his expression had changed. It seemed like he didn’t know what to think, his mind continued to play tricks on him, he didn’t dare to speak after that.

You wiped the stray tears as you stood up and looked at the boys,

“Now what?”

You three argued over a plan, trying to figure out who would stay to watch Josh and who would go. Finally the decision falling onto you. You look back at Josh who seems defeated, his eyes devoid of emotion.

“I’ll stay here with him. Go with the others.”

Despite their push back the eventually leave, reassuring you they’d be back for you.

Once they leave it’s just you and Josh left in a pitiful silence, almost missing his screaming from earlier,

“Josh, I’m sorry,”

It had been the first time you had said those words to him, saying sorry would just confirm the worst.

“For everything, you didn’t deserve all of this pain. I don’t know why this happened, why they disappeared. I don’t know why you are hurt so badly, and i’m sorry that I don’t know.”

“It’s not your fault, I know that.”

His words were barely audible, but you understood him clearly. Finally, he looks back up to meet your eyes. His eyes were filled with tears, he was breaking down in front of you.

You desperately wanted to untie him, to hold him, but you knew better than that. He was off his medication, unpredictable, and you didn’t want another thing to go wrong tonight.

As the night continued your mind wandered back, replaying the events of that night.

~

The fire cast a warm light on your bodies, his skin looking like a bronzed gold, his chest rising and falling with every breath. He looked beautiful, just perfect.

“Like what you see?”

You smiled and hummed a yes, planting a kiss on his jaw. His arms wrapped around you, pulling you impossibly close to him, not wanting to let go.

“Y’know, I meant what I said. Wasn’t just being crazy romantic for no reason.”

He confessed with his eyes still closed. You blushed recalling his words earlier, thankful it wasn’t just a drunken mistake.

“I know.”

It was his turn to hum in response, pinching your side making you laugh.

“Not gonna say it back?”

You both knew it, you had been smitten for years. His teasing was just because he yearned to hear those words come from you,

“I love you too, Joshua.”

~

“Every day without a doubt, I remember that night with you,”

Josh’s sudden announcement made your ears perk up, letting your attention turn to him.

“I remember everything about it, your laugh, your voice, your body. I even remember the smell of the tequila that came from you as we ran off together.”

You smile and nodded in agreement, recalling exactly all he was saying.

“It was disgusting, had to keep myself from vomiting during the party.”

For the first time in a long while you heard his hearty laugh, it was different then the one he had been putting up all night. This laugh was all him.

“When we get out of here, we’re gonna help you Josh. I will be there for you.”

Josh nodded as he let the idea creep into his mind, maybe he wasn’t a lost cause? Maybe a future with you would be his saving grace,

~

“No! Where is he!”

You shoved Mike as he dragged you out of the mines, wincing at every contact you made.

“We have to go back, please. Please Mike!”

You screamed as he ignored you, your eyes being coated in a familiar substance.

“I love him! You have to do something!”

Your pleas go unheard, completely ignored as you’re forced out towards the lodge where you are the rest of the group are rescued.

Everyone in a complete shell shocked state, no words spoken.

The paramedics and police eventually seperate you all, taking you into different rooms for questioning.

“Have you found Josh? You have to be looking for him, in the mines.”

“No miss, we have no other confirmed bodies as of now.”

Bodies. They don’t expect to find anymore survivors, do they? Your face drains of any color as you feel the need to vomit out of disbelief.

~

He held you all night long, your bodies molded together in perfect unison. You felt safe in his arms, his body warmth lulled you to see as you listened to the best of his heart.

You had waited for this moment for years, pining over Josh. Little did you know, Josh had fallen in love with you long before you, his affection growing day by day.

It was perfect, the entire night was everything you could ever ask for .

As the morning light crept through the windows a knock at your door with a frantic Chris yelling woke you both out of your slumber, changing the rest of your lives forever.

[writingforatwistedworld]

Hi! If requests are still open, can I request for a Reader who like prince charming in manga or manhwa? Like the reader is such a gentleman(or gentlewoman), treat the TWST guy like a princess, and even when the TWST guys fall the reader just caught them and say "are you ok, princess?"or something similar? For self-aware!Au and Leona/Malleus/Vil if possible? Thank you! Please take time to rest and feel free to delete it if it broke the rule or you are not comfortable making it! 😊

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNING: Yandere themes, neglect, family problems, stalking, taking photos without consent, invasion of privacy, violence, unhealthy relationships

Leona Kingscholar/Vil Schoenheit/Malleus Draconia-Player is like prince charming

Imagine this: Leona tripping over air, a most heinous thing hiding in plain sight, and then suddenly something catches him

If it weren't for your face being so famous he would have thought you were a student from RSA

“Are you alright?” Yeah, I think he is. Other than the fact that he stares at you like the red dot of a laser pointer is on your forehead, he is fine

What he didn't know though was how everyone else in the hallway was just staring at the two of you. Could be the stars and flowers surrounding you two but what do I know?

If Leona wasn't such a loner then he would have started a fan club or something like that

But since he can't he is more on the “silent screeching teenager on the inside” trip

Like, my man is hiding behind corners, snapping pics, trying to smell the slightest bit of your perfume

Ok, maybe he is a bit more intense than an entire fan club usually is but he is just trying to figure out more about his prince char- *ahem* you

And we wouldn't be talking about Leona if there wouldn't be the tiniest bit of that, you know, manipulating others

Ruggie once more gets a chance to make others have “accidents” but if it would be too obvious why he orders him to do that then he can also take care of it himself

You know, roughing up a few students who came too close to you. That kind of stuff

But oh, how much he wishes that you would pay most of your attention on him

Leoan might not seem like it but all the years of neglect back home had made him crave it

So he gifts you a lot of things

From simple things for everyday use to luxurious accessories

But why won't you accept them? Do you dislike him that much? What else does he need to do? Tell him. Tell him!

Dramatic violin chorus, Vil falling backwards from the stairs, heels caught in the carpet, one last desperate look into the air before a chorus of opera singers screams in despair to add even more dramatic flair to the situation

And then, nothing. A soft cello plays a soft tune as arms close around his waist, stars sparkling in Vils eyes as his gaze falls upon his savior

Birds are singing and warm sunlight falls upon the duo... until the two Pomefiore students who carried a mirror start to move again making the reflecting light which fell on the two of you break away once more

Five meters away Epel just stares at you two with an expression that can only be described as “Ugh”

Rook stops the music which played in the background, the piece surprisingly supportive of the situation

As if the moment needed even the slightest bit more to seem like an abridged version of a Disney film you even asked Vil if he was alright

One second later and Epel asked himself what the heck Disney is

But congrats, you have now what Vil would call “a troublesome fan”

Oh no, Vil wouldn't buy merch of you or something like that. He has an even better collection

If you were to push his clothing in his closet to the side you would see its wooden back littered with photos of you

Some are a few selfies the two of you had snapped together (it was just a nice memory. He totally didn't mean to use it in any creepy means) and other photos you were not aware of

Some of them are taken disturbingly in private moments like when you were cooking and somewhere buried even deeper is even one when you were starting to change your clothing...

Vil also starts to hog all your time

No more eating lunch with a group of students you deemed your friends. Oh no, now it's Vil, Epel and ,if our local harassments of overgrown house cats has behaved well, even Rook

Although Vil doesn't trust Rook 100% when something is about you. The queen knows after all that the hunter has his own sights on you and is more than ready to snatch you up at any moment

Should you try to distance yourself though I recommend wearing long sleeves, otherwise the desperate clawing of nails that are way too sharp will rip your skin to shreds, a desperate fan of yours hanging just as desperate as the fairest Queen was on her beauty on your arm

Do you hear that too? What you don't? Did I imagine the wedding bells just now?

When Malleus fell from his broom, most ungraceful, he was surprised when you suddenly caught him (although this tiny bit of hight wouldn't be able to harm him)

Even after he reassured you that he was more than just alright you still insisted to bring him to the school nurse just to be sure and even then you still treated him like he was something easily broken

Is... Is this how normal people feel when someone takes care of them?

The poor school nurse was almost screeching in fear when Malleus suddenly made a sound akin to purring

The situation is kinda as if the prince who fought against Maleficent suddenly apologized after striking her, making sure that she got better and then proposing to her

Ok, maybe he imagined the last part but he is just a lovesick fire spewing lizard in human form. Let him have his fantasies!

Malleus isn't your ordinary Fae though. Oh no. You are courted by royalty here but given his rather... unhealthy interest in you I am not sure if you could consider this a win or a loss

Gold, rubies, diamonds and much, much more is at your disposal. Don't tell anybody. Otherwise there will be break-ins

At this point it's a normal occurrence to see a scene from those clichè romance novels acted out in the hallways of NRC

But since Malleus has “Fae-prince-who-can-end-your-life-with-the-snap-of-a-finger” privileges no one dares to say anything

Malleus wouldn't be a good dragon if he weren't even the lighter bit hoarding

Only that it isn't just “a bit” but rather “hoards all the time” when something concerns you

And suddenly eh invites you to visit the Valley of Thorns

“Visit” haha, funny

Have you heard? There are rumors of Briar Valley soon having a second future ruler. Huh? Who? I don't know? But aren't you close to Malleus? Maybe he knows something

[soap-ify]

hold on i got this idea randomly and its like past midnight so yeah... bear with me.

thinking about reader who works at a local cafe, and might be just a little crazy about price who's new to the area, slowly becoming a regular customer of this cafe.

it wasn't as if you weren’t freakily obsessed with him or anything. you were just too infatuated with him, having memorised his order by heart, memorised the way his eyes would crinkle in delight whenever he’d find out that you already had his tea all prepared, nice and warm — just the way he likes it. wait, how did you know he was going to come at this exact same time?

you couldn’t help it. he was a walking distraction — always sitting at the far edge table in the cafe, absorbed in some paperwork or just simply staring out of the window, looking so unreal. you needed to read him, learn everything about him, learn all of his schedule and stuff.

you’d accidentally forget to add a thing or two in his orders sometimes. he ordered a cookie? oops, you forgot it. but it’s okay, you wanted him to approach you and start a conversation, even if it's over some missed cookie.

sometimes he’d have a woman next to him, discussing some stuff very quietly, making it quite obvious that it was over whatever their job was given how he always handed her those papers.

you had to be rational, you had to. but how could you when he was always smiling so brightly at her? especially when she herself was so pretty. were you really getting insecure during your shift? yeah.

you couldn’t start a ruckus here by doing something impulsive, but you’d be lying if you said that you weren’t tempted to.

you were too nervous to start a conversation on your own too. not even a proper “how’s your day going?”

your obsession stuck with you staring at him throughout your work shift as long as he was there, carefully looking at the watch on his wrist and the case of his phone, figuring out all the brands in your head.

you had even figured out what perfume he wore during one encounter when you caught a whiff of his cologne — not strong and quite masculine. it suited him so much. you remember spending an hour in the male perfume section in a local store that day.

and oh, price knew all of it. he wasn’t stupid. he was too smart in fact, always feeling your scrutinising and curious gaze on him, filled with an odd longing. he had noticed the way your hands would accidentally brush against his sometimes when giving him his order, the way you would shyly hand him some extra stuff for free sometimes.

heck, he even noticed the way you gave him one of your napkins once, saying that he might need it. what were you even trying to do, claim him? yeah, that was your little way of leaving something of yours to him.

you’d feel sick sometimes, all head over heels over just a regular customer, writing letters and letters over him, simply rambling about how nice his voice was and how warm he seemed, just wanting those strong hairy arms of his to cradle you against him. sometimes you’d also just write about all the interactions you had with him. your favourite memory was when he first told you his name, resulting in you squealing into your pillow the whole night happily. john.

of course, you were never going to send these letters to him.

unbeknownst to you, price was always staring at you too whenever you were distracted by some other customers, his fingers lightly rubbing against his beard. who knew a sweet thing like you could be so... eager? you were like some desperate starved puppy to needy for something, anything.

and maybe he needed to do something about it. he might even dig some information of you through some people, who knows? maybe keep you all to himself.

[ducktoo]

Syncing Dream [Aespa x M!Reader]

23. Who do you like?

Note: Here comes my favourite arc. Whose solo was everyone’s fav btw?

Masterlist here

The energy in the practice room was at an all-time high. Aespa had just received the official confirmation that their world tour was happening.

Yes. Synk Road: Parallel Line got the green light.

Even better, each member was preparing their own solo stages. The excitement was palpable as the girls bounced ideas off each other, rehearsed choreography, and fine-tuned their individual songs. The tour was going to be huge, and everyone knew it.

Y/n was doing his usual rounds, making sure everything was in order—managing schedules, checking on the set designs, and coordinating with the staff. But today, there was something different in the air. Something… was Up.

“…I feel uncomfortable.”

He should’ve sensed the impending doom earlier. Maybe it was the way the girls had been whispering amongst themselves, or the way Karina had been giving him sly looks all afternoon. But he was so busy with preparations that he didn’t see it coming—until it was too late.

It started innocently enough. Winter, with her mischievous smirk, sauntered over and leaned casually against the mirrored wall. “So, idiot, we’ve been talking…”

Y/n’s senses immediately went on high alert. “Stop. I don't trust whatever is coming out next.”

"Whyyyy!" Winter whined, having that signature pout on her face.

"Everytime you start with "we've been talking" or whatever, I have to choose stuff that's scarier than choosing my university."

Karina joined in, stepping closer with that unreadable expression she often wore when she was plotting something. “Well….We were just wondering something.”

Giselle and Ningning were already flanking him on either side, locking his arm like preparing for an execution. He could practically feel the walls closing in as all four of them surrounded him, cutting off any possible escape routes. Heck, he could feel a blade hanging on top of his neck.

Y/n put on his best poker face. “Okay… what is it?”

Ningning grinned wickedly. “You’ve heard all our solo songs by now, right?”

Oh no. The blade was loosening. He could see where this was going.

Y/n tried to play it cool, flashing a nervous smile. “Uhuh…I’ve heard them. All of them rocks.”

“That’s not what we’re asking,” Winter chimed in, leaning a little closer. “We want to know—whose solo song do you like the best?”

The blade was really loose now, hanging on a thread!

The question hit him like a truck. His eyes darted from one girl to the next, desperately searching for an escape route, but there was none. They had him trapped, and they knew it. “Uh… I mean, they’re all great! You’ve each got your own vibe, and honestly, you’ve all done an amazing job—”

“Nice try, idiot.” Karina cut him off, her arms crossed as she raised an eyebrow. “But we want specifics.”

“Yeah, we’re not letting you out of this one,” Giselle added, a sly smile on her face. “You have to pick.”

Ningning, ever the playful one, made a show of fake-loading finger guns and aiming them at Y/n’s chest. “Come on, Y/n-oppa. Tell us the truth. Whose song is your favorite?”

Y/n felt the sweat starting to form on his brow. This was a no-win situation. If he picked one, the others would never let him hear the end of it. But if he didn’t pick, they’d torment him until he did. “Guys, c’mon… I haven't even seen the choreo. You can’t seriously expect me to choose—”

“We seriously do,” Winter said with a teasing grin. “And you better pick wisely.”

Y/n groaned internally. “Alright, fine. But no one gets mad, okay?”

The girls exchanged knowing looks, each with their own smirk. “Sure, sure,” Karina said, clearly lying.

Y/n sighed, taking a deep breath. His mind raced as he tried to figure out how to get out of this unscathed. “Okay, let’s see… Rina-ya, your song is so powerful and swag, it’s like this anthem of boss girl. Giselle, you're popping off with your vocal and rap, and your song is just Gen-Z material. Ningning, your voice is stunning, and your song will flip everyone's expectation and certainly won't be like your song title. And Minjeong…”

Winter tilted her head, her eyes twinkling with anticipation. “Yes?”

“…Your song is really sparkling. Like, really sparkling.” He knew what he was saying.

The room went silent as all four girls stared him down, waiting for the real answer. He knew they weren’t going to let him off the hook with vague compliments.

Karina folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “That’s all nice and flattering, but we want a name, Y/n. Whose solo is your favorite?”

Y/n could feel the weight of their gazes pressing down on him. This was it. There was no backing out now. “Okay, okay… If I had to pick, and I mean really had to… then I’d say…”

He paused, looking around at their eager faces. “Spice it up. Up. Up. Roll Up”

There was a brief moment of stunned silence.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Winter’s jaw dropped in shock, her eyes wide with betrayal. “What?! Jimin-unnie?!”

Giselle burst out laughing, slapping Y/n on the shoulder. “Wow! Didn’t see that one coming.”

"…yea, it's on my head for like a while now."

Ningning shook her head, pretending to wipe away a tear. “I thought we were friends, Y/n… but apparently, Karina-unnie’s anthem of girl crush wins.”

Karina, meanwhile, was basking in her victory. She shot Y/n a smug grin, clearly pleased with his answer. “See? I knew you had good taste.”

Winter, still reeling, crossed her arms and gave Y/n a mock glare. “I can’t believe this. After all the friendship, after all the memories… you didn’t pick me?”

Y/n raised his hands defensively, trying to fend off the inevitable backlash. “Ya, you told me to be honest! Plus, I'm being held like I'm at an execution!”

“Oh, you’re panicking alright,” Ningning teased, joining Winter’s side. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

Karina, still enjoying the chaos, playfully nudged Winter. “Don’t worry, Minjeong. I’m sure he likes your song. He just prefers mine, you know? Can’t blame him.”

Winter shot Karina a side-eye, half-annoyed and half-amused. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Oh, I definitely am,” Karina said with a wink, flipping her hair dramatically. "It's a win, after all."

Y/n, meanwhile, was trying to defuse the situation. “Listen, I love all your songs! You’re all amazing! I was just put on the spot—”

“You were not just put on the spot,” Winter interjected, her teasing tone laced with mock hurt. “You chose Karina. That’s a choice.”

Giselle, ever the peacemaker, laughed and threw her arm around Y/n. “It’s alright, Jeong. He’s just one guy. We all know who the real favorite is.”

Ningning nodded vigorously. “Yeah, don’t worry, Minjeong-unnie. You still win in my book.”

Winter sighed dramatically, though a small smile tugged at her lips. “Fine, fine. I’ll let it slide this time.”

Y/n let out a relieved sigh, but it didn’t last long.

“Still,” Winter added, leaning in close to Y/n with a mischievous glint in her eyes, “I will annoy the sht out of you for not choosing my song. Big time.”

Y/n chuckled nervously. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”

“Nope!” the girls chorused in unison.

As the playful bickering continued, Y/n couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Sure, he had picked Karina’s song in a moment of panic, but the teasing and chaos that followed had a strange charm to it. It was these moments—when they could laugh and joke, even in the midst of preparing for something as big as a world tour—that made everything worthwhile.

As the girls finally let him off the hook and returned to practicing, Y/n muttered under his breath with a grin, “Next time, I’m rolling a dice.”

-

A few weeks had passed since the "solo song" incident, and the tour preparations were in full swing. The members were practicing day in and day out, perfecting their solo performances, refining their choreography, and tweaking every little detail to make sure everything would be flawless on stage. Y/n, ever the diligent manager, was always nearby, making sure things ran smoothly—though he couldn’t shake off the memory of being cornered by the girls about his favorite song.

Winter, especially, had been keeping an eye on him ever since that day. She hadn’t forgotten that Y/n had chosen Karina’s song.

Like, at all. She was salty. This girl kept hanging around Y/n like moth to a flame, trying her best to hypnotize her childhood friend to like her song more.

If this path doesn't work, then dig another, she thought. And Winter hit the jackpot.

Today, the energy in the studio was buzzing. They were getting close to wrapping up the final details of the choreography for each solo, and things were falling into place beautifully. Karina’s solo had become a powerhouse performance, Giselle’s Gen-Z stage oozed charisma, Ningning’s vocals were melting hearts, and Winter’s choreography had finally reached its peak.

Y/n stood at the back of the practice room, arms crossed, observing each member as they rehearsed. It was during Winter’s turn that he found himself paying a little more attention than usual. Her stage presence had always been undeniable, but there was something about her solo performance that had started to grow on him. Maybe it was the energy she put into it, or the way her movements were so effortlessly smooth, the outfit maybe?

But Y/n couldn’t help but be drawn to it.

Winter caught him watching. As she danced, she shot him a playful glance, her lips curving into a knowing smile. He looked away quickly, trying to play it cool, but the damage was done. She knew she had his attention now.

After her run-through, Winter grabbed a water bottle and casually sauntered over to where Y/n was standing. “So,” she said, her voice teasing, “still leaning towards Jimin-unnie's song? Or have you finally come to your senses?”

Y/n chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Jesus, You’re not gonna let that go, are you?”

“Hell no,” she replied with a grin, taking a long sip of her water. “I’ve got my pride, you know.”

Y/n laughed, his eyes meeting hers. “Well… if I’m being honest, your song’s been growing on me lately.”

Winter’s eyes lit up, her grin widening. “Seriously?”

He nodded, trying to suppress a smile. “Yeah, I mean, the choreography’s killer, and the vibe just… fits you, I guess. You’ve got this natural energy that really comes through. It’s hypnotizing to watch to be honest.”

Winter practically beamed at the compliment, her face lighting up like she’d just won a prize. “You finally admit it! Took you long enough.”

Y/n laughed, shaking his head. “Hey, I never said I didn’t like your song. You guys put me at gun point back then.”

“Mhm, sure,” she said, giving him a playful nudge. “But it’s good to know I’ve won you over. Your attention on me only, please”

Y/n smiled, genuinely happy to see her so excited. “Yeah, you’ve got me. It’s definitely my favourite now.”

Winter’s smile softened, and for a brief moment, the teasing atmosphere between them melted into something more sincere. “Thanks, Y/n. That means a lot.”

Before the moment could get too serious, Karina suddenly called out from across the room, her voice laced with amusement. “Hey, what’s going on over there? You confessing that Minjeong's your favorite now?”

"Song." Y/n glared. "Minjeong's song. You forgot that word, Yoo Jimin-ssi."

Giselle and Ningning immediately joined in, their teasing voices filling the room. “Oooh, are you switching teams?” Ningning grinned, clearly enjoying the drama. “I thought you were all about Jimin-unnie!”

Giselle smirked, crossing her arms. “Looks like someone’s changed his mind.”

Y/n threw his hands up in mock surrender. “Come on, guys, don’t start this again.”

Winter, however, was absolutely basking in the attention. “That’s right, he did change his mind,” she said with a triumphant smirk. “I win. Take that, Yoo Jimin.”

Karina shot Winter a playful glare. “Oh, so that’s how it is now? Just because your song has some cool choreography, you think you’ve got him?”

Winter shrugged innocently. “I don’t think, I KNOW.”

Ningning giggled, shaking her head. “Well, this just got interesting.”

Giselle chimed in with a grin. “You better watch out, Karina. Winter’s stealing your spotlight.”

Y/n groaned, running a hand through his hair as the teasing intensified. “Great, it's Rina vs Minjeong for the nth time.”

Karina, though, wasn’t about to let Winter have all the fun. “Alright, Y/n, you may have switched to Winter’s side, but just remember who’s got the anthem of boss girl,” she said, raising an eyebrow in mock challenge. "First impression is always good."

Winter rolled her eyes, still grinning. “Please, I’ve got him now. You’re old news.”

The girls continued their playful banter, each one tossing in their own jabs and teasing remarks as they circled.

Y/n. He stood in the middle of the room, caught in the middle of their playful chaos as they bickered over whose solo song was truly his favorite. Despite the teasing, he couldn't help but laugh. This was just how things were with Aespa—chaotic, fun, and full of energy.

As the laughter died down, Winter gave Y/n a soft nudge. “Don’t worry, you’re forgiven—for now.”

Y/n sighed in mock relief, wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead. “Phew. Thank goodness. I wasn’t sure I’d make it out alive this time.”

Karina smirked, shaking her head. “Just wait until the tour starts. We’ll see how loyal you are then. Full package will be the final factor.”

“Yeah,” Ningning added with a grin, “we’ll have a whole new batch of things to tease you about.”

Giselle nodded, her mischievous smile never leaving her face. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll even switch favorites again. Me, perhaps”

"Or me!" Ningning raised her hand.

Y/n chuckled, knowing full well that they’d never let him off the hook. “I guess I’ll just have to brace myself.”

But as they all returned to their practice routines, a small, genuine smile crept onto Y/n’s face. It wasn’t the teasing or the bickering that got to him—it was the fact that, through all the chaos, they were a team. They supported each other, challenged each other, and pushed each other to be better. And somehow, in the middle of it all, Y/n had found his place with them.

He watched as Winter took her spot in front of the mirror again, preparing for another run-through of her choreography, and his smile grew a little wider. It was moments like these that reminded him why he loved working with Aespa—stupid banters and stuff.

[mollyrolls]

MOLLY CONGRATS ON 500 BILLION WHAT THE HECK !!!! so deserved youre so talented!!! i sprinted to ur inbox the second i read u were writing for sakusa…..

could i possibly request sakusa, left for dead, wanted sign, & canyons !!!!!!! waves empty cup in your face LOVE YOU !!!

here in LONESOME TOWN... @jadeoru and @nectardaddy are

✪ tied between a rock and a hard place

tags: sakusa x fem!reader (only gendered terms (darling, etc) but tagged fem just to be safe), enemies to lovers, gunslinger, "left for dead"

warnings: animal death, guns, knives, threats, fear, uhhh something else im sure

an: requests are scary. i hope u guys enjoy i have no idea if this is up to standard or not. also, since jade and dodger requested pretty much the same thing this will be a two parter hopefully out tmrw

wc: 1098

mlist. ✪ event mlist.

You probably should’ve known better. 

Normally, there’s no harm in having a drink with a stranger in town, most of them just passing by for the night until they continue on their way out west. It’s a way to get free drink, and they’re normally harmless.

But, just your luck you suppose, these fools weren’t so harmless.

You’re currently struggling against the restraints, willing the bite of the rope to lessen just a bit to return the circulation that’s quickly fleeing you. 

The attempt is to no avail, but that doesn’t stop you from trying. The sick fucks that took you knew what they were doing. 

You’re stranded out in the middle of the canyon, but in an cave that echoes your cries for help back to you. Ropes tied not only around your wrists and legs, but your torso is taut against the rock behind you. Not to mention the nasty bump on the back of your head that continues to swell from where they took you out. 

You know the coyotes are coming soon. The air stills but the energy begins to rustle as the deep reds of the sun finally dip beyond the horizon. 

As the final moments of light leave you, the struggling returns with an intensity you’ve never known before. Trying anything at this point, you feel around for something you can use.

Right as your fingertips graze a rock you might be able to use as a knife, you hear the scraping of something across the ground.

There’s a small part of you that hopes that someone managed to find you, that coming around the corner would be your savior. A larger part thinks that your captors have come back to finish the job, too greedy to leave the satisfaction to anyone else.

The largest part is the one that comes to pass, as you look up to see dark eyes blinking up at you. There’s a deep growl from the back of the coyotes throat as it sizes you up, waiting to see who makes the first move. 

Trying desperately to remember if you’re supposed to get loud or back away quietly for an aggressive coyote, the animal begins to stalk toward you. 

Taking your chances with the former, you begin to make as much noise as possible. Kicking the lump of your legs against the ground and yelling at it to ‘get on’, the coyote begins to tuck tail. Right as it’s about to turn, it suddenly drops to the floor as you hear a clear gunshot sounding through the night.

Your heart drops to your stomach, thinking surely that your captors have returned. You know it’s a human this time, and there’s no way anyone could have tracked you out here. 

Scrambling again for the stone you found earlier, you fervently begin to scratch at the ropes, praying to all that is holy that you can escape unharmed.

The entry to the cave suddenly gets covered, a large mysterious figure blacking out everything behind him.

You can’t help the gulp you take, finally resigning yourself to the scariest demise you could’ve ever imagined.

The stranger tosses the bottom of his coat back, sliding what you assume to be his pistol back into his holster. He stalks toward you, not too unlike the coyote moments before. His steps are slow, calculated, almost reserved. It sets you on edge.

“Listen stranger, I don’t know what you want from me but I’m beggin’ you to leave me be.”

As you speak, the man’s steps falter. He adjusts to the side, letting a bit of the moonlight pour into the space. With just that amount of light, you’re able to make out the dark mess of curls under his hat, and the broadness of his shoulders becomes more identifiable.

“You’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding me.”

Sakusa looks down at you, barely suppressing a smirk.

“I would be nicer with your words darlin’, unless you want me to just leave you here.”

Suddenly, you think the coyote was a much better option. Anything would be better than being in a debt to Sakusa Kiyoomi.

"You can do just that. I've been fine on my own, I don't need any rescuing from the likes of you."

The venom lacing your words rolls off him in waves, looking no more bothered by them than an unpleasant chill in the air.

He hums in consideration, one of his more irritating traits. Trying to take your mind off it, you avert your gaze to continue sawing at the ropes binding your hands.

"That's not going to do anything. You'll just tire yourself out."

He doesn't make any effort to move though, opting to just stand there and watch you with distant humor.

You drop the stone in frustration, unwillingly admitting to yourself he had a point. "Can you leave? I don't want your help, but I don't need your heckling either."

"No. 'Wasn't doing anything better with my time. Situation seems fine to me."

Sakusa emphasizes his point by grounding his heels into the dirt, sturdy in place as he towers over you.

The two of you stay there, eyes locked in bitter anger. Neither of you willing to be the one to look away. 

After what feels like ages of pure torture, he breaks the silence. “Just ask.”

“Ask what?”

He shrugs. “To untie you.”

The position your arms are in has been getting uncomfortable, shoulders twisted in a way they should not have been. Is the pain enough to win out over your humiliation in getting his help?

“Fine. Can you untie me?”

He moves forward without hesitation, walking around you to crouch behind the rock. 

“You have a knife?”

“Why would I have a knife? If I did, don’t you think I would’ve gotten out of here already?”

He stays silent, not buying it.

You hate how well he remembers you.

You have to gesture with both your legs, but you haphazardly kick to your left. “It’s in my saddle bag. Probably in that corner.”

As he walks over, you actively fight the urge to size him up, see how much his stature has changed. It’s futile.

He kicks around in the dark of the cave before finding your bag. He unbuckles the straps, before sliding his hand inside to find it. 

You open your mouth to tell him where it is, but he draws it out before a sound can even pass your lips. 

“Kept it hidden. Attagirl.”

“Don’t call me that, you bastard.”

He only grins to himself as he returns to his spot behind you, finally cutting you free.

to be continued...

taglist! fill out here

@nectardaddy, @aozui, @wyrcan, @jadeoru, @mjustag1rl,

@eggyrocks @bakery-anon, @chaotic-neutral-ig, @angee444, @introvertsince2003,

@Kameyyy, @bakingcuriosity, @Anniewings, @nobodybutnnoorr

[anxiousnerdwritings]

Muggleborn!Dursley!Reader introduces Blaise Zabini to video games during the summer they spent together at 4 Privet Drive when Mrs. Zabini was on yet another honeymoon

I personally don’t think the Zabini’s are blood purist. I feel like they’re a more sophisticated version of Horace Slughorn who collects talented and well connected people.

Yesss!! First, I wanna say I’m really loving the Blaise x Muggleborn!Dursley!Reader dynamic! I honestly really just love the idea of Dursley!Reader with the whole Slytherin crew in general (Mattheo and Enzo included). And just them all being overprotective and possessive of their Muggleborn!darling, platonic or romantic. Especially someone so closely related to Harry cause you know it gets an irate reaction from him.

I love to imagine that Blaise and Dursley!Reader had so much fun with one another during their summer together. The Reader is just so happy and excited to show their classmate/housemate muggle stuff, meanwhile Blaise is honestly just happy and content seeing them so excited and open to share parts of their life outside of school with him.

Like, I could see the Reader having persuaded Petunia and Vernon into taking them all to the zoo, or the movies, or a museum. Heck, even to just drop them off at a muggle park. If Petunia and or Vernon wouldn’t take them then Blaise would just have his Squib driver take them instead. Harry of course is coming along whether he’s welcome to or not, meanwhile Dudley is too freaked out to/being kept back by Vernon, not to mention both Blaise and Harry make it pretty clear that he isn’t invited either way.

Dursley!Reader would have totally taught Blaise to play video games. They even go as far as gifting him one of Dudley’s old gaming systems or gameboys that fortunately still works. At first they lended it to him during his stay so they could play together but when the day comes for him to leave back home, the Reader tells him to keep it if he wants. And when I say that Blaise would treasure it, I fucking mean it. That boy would play it all the time back home and his mom probably wouldn’t even bat an eye at it or she just tells him to make sure none of the other purebloods see him with it, not like they’ll know what exactly it is. Even at school, Blaise would find a way to sneak playing on it. Hell, he’d honestly end up playing it out in the open not caring too much about what anyone says or thinks.

I can’t help but imagine Blaise’s reaction to either having used the gameboy so much that it stops working or because it’s an older one it just stops working one day. I could see him kind of freaking out and inwardly panicking at first, like oh shit he broke the first and so far only gift that his darling’s ever given him. He would spend so much time trying to figure how to fix it by hand before he realizes he could just use magic to do something about it. I could even see him reaching out to some of the professors to fix it if he was really desperate enough. Like, I imagine him just laying it in front of Snape one day after class and neither of them saying anything, only having a conversation with looks before Snape sighs and takes it, later returning it completely fixed to Blaise in the common room or the next time he’s in potions class.

[momentomori24]

I haven't seen anyone talk about it in detail if at all, so I'll just throw this out there: Is it just me, or are Ashley's feelings for Andrew very not romantic?

Just to be very clear-- this isn't me trying to sanitize the incest present in their relationship or twist it into pure unproblematic platonicness despite everything in the game being a hellish, dystopiant, grotesque, unapologetic mess (in a good way), just an observation that's been on my mind for a while.

We know Andrew is absolutely, 100% romantically attracted to his sister especially through both his inner monologues, relationship with Julia and of course, The Scene. But I never really got that same attraction from Ashley. She loves to degree where it can't be considered platonic, but there's a blunt edge to her affection I wouldn't call romantic either.

She's obviously been obsessed with him from a young age as he's the only person she had to cling to without worrying that he'd leave her. She doesn't treat him like a person, she treats him like a coveted toy that only she can play with. Between borderline neglegent parents, untreated apathy issues, a major abandonment complex and a parentified brother/psuedo-dad, unhealthy attachments and toxic tendencies can go real bad real quick. Go figure. It's possessive, referring to her brother as hers and something that's considered stolen the moment someone else has an interest in it, but it feels a lot more "innocent" than Andrew's possessiveness of her. Andrew is hers to have because he's her brother, just like how a plaything would be hers because it was bought for her-- there doesn't seem to be anything more to it than that.

I think the best example of that is their reaction to the Vision in the Burrial route:

Unlike Andrew, who is disturbingly flustered rather than reasonably revolted, she just... doesn't have a reaction to it. They've already trapped themselves in a box with each other and commited some of the worst atrocities imaginable, so she just chalks it up to another thing to add to their crimes list. Her causual playfulness and indifference to the situation is such a strong contrast to Andrew's desperate denial and really shows her feelings about the whole thing. Or lack of, as she isn't at all fazed about it. You'd think that she'd be thrilled, or excited or equally as flustered as Andrew at the thought of their relationship taking the next big step, but there isn't any of that here. Despite her jealousy, obsession, possessiveness and extreme closeness, it doesn't seem that there was ever any romantic intent involved on her end (or at least none that she knows of). Heck, she even voices her confusion when Andrew confesses he read her actions that way:

There is something funny about going through the story thinking ''ok i get it she's the obsessed yandere sister with a brother complex i see you game'' only to be hit with the revelation that it's the complete opposite way around. Basically just Ashley hitting both Andrew AND the players with the "wait you really saw me like that what did i even do to make you think that??" at the very end and it is baffling. The fact that she seems genuinely oblivious to how she comes off is both a little cute and unexpectedly innocent, but also cements just how little she grew up from when she was a kid.

But I think this line from her really encapsulates their relationship perfectly:

One way to keep him around. She won't sleep with him because of some repressed sexual tension or genuine (messed up) affection, but because she views it as transactional. She loves Andy, that version of her brother who went along with whatever she wanted and cared about her despite all her issues when no one else did. She always acts uncaring towards other people, but it's so obvious that she's lonely. That the people she cares about not caring about her has an effect on her. We see it with their mom, the way she continued to call her despite the abuse and neglect she put her through and immediately assumes she wouldn't have wanted them to find her because she feels that unwanted. We see it with her ''friends'', the way she felt so betrayed by how they basically left her for dead in that apartment without bothering to try throwing some food up their balcony. She didn't even care if they would've succeeded or not-- she just wanted someone to try. She clings so viciously to her brother because he's all she has left. She's been labelled unlovable by everyone else in her life, and the moment he leaves her for someone more stable, she's alone for good. Andy needed her the same way she needed him, but now he's gone, and Andrew is more unpredictable than ever. His nightmares have gotten better, so he doesn't need her to sleep easier at night (not that he did in the first place). He's better at having a social life too, so surrounding himself with others and getting his life together shouldn't be too hard. He doesn't need her the way she needs him anymore, but she knows that Andrew wants her, so she'll give herself to him before anyone else can if it means that he'll stay. Which, by the way, is such a good parallel to her mom's own mindset when it comes to relationships (like mother like daughter ammirite). It's so far from love; it's just blatant codependancy she doesn't acknowledge on her end, something we see Andrew both enable and take advantage of whether he realises or not. And I think that's a more nuanced, fascinating trait of her character rather than just the ''yandere sister in love with her brother'' trope.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading this messy, hopefully coherent analysis of our gravecest couple, mostly focused on Ashley. And who knows, maybe she IS in love with Andrew and I completely misinterpreted her feelings for him, but until proven otherwise I'll keep clinging to this theory. This GAME THE-- [GUNSHOTS].

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Ok~ I saw your unrelenting longing to share about your human toitles, BUTTT you don't want to spoil anything for the story, soooooooo

Would you care to share some no-context art or sketches if you have any? :) And then we the fans can theorize the heck out of em? 0u0

Also, hope you're doing well, Phoebe! Drink water, see the sun sometimes, and remember that you are a human with needs that far exceed what your fans want. <3 :)

Alsoooo~ I'm workin' on the next chapter of our little DM Mikey story as we speak.. ;) Might be a little bit before I actually write it, but the ideas are COMINGGGGGG

~ Melissa

Thanks for the words of kindness! I desperately do wanna talk about the human AU, I just get nervous about sharing wips sometimes and I'm still trying to figure out how I'd share the story (comics vs fanfics). But in the meantime --!!

I made a mini comic of the moment Lou adopted them once

And here are the original drawings that inspired the AU

Thanks for reminding me about the drinking water thing I totally forgot that was a necessity.

ALSO DM MIKEY YUUUUH love this game

[ssa-atlas-alvez]

Omg what about cowboy male reader having a gay panic moment when he sees this very handsome man and his brain just goes like " I want that gentleman to do unholy things to me-"

Warnings: gay panic, some unsavoury thoughts - like one

Taglist: @xweirdo101xo101x @xdark-acadamiax @ara-a-bird @heidss @chubbyboyinflannell @pendragon-writes @migwaynee @bigolgay @technikerin23 @supercriminalbean @honestlycasualarcade @caffeine-messs @1s3v3n11 @oddmiless @kevyeen @stealing-kneecaps @criminalskies

"This is Officer Carter," Sheriff Johnson introduced, "He's currently the lead on this case,"

"I hope you don't mind us lending a hand," Hotch said as he shook hands with Carter. Carter was a tall man, towering over even you by a few inches, his shoulders were broad. He was clearly well built - if his tight-fitting shirt was anything to go by.

'I want that gentleman to do some unholy things to me-' You snap yourself out of your thoughts as you tune back into the conversation.

"Not at all," A strange feeling flooded your stomach, a light, almost bubbly feeling as he spoke. His voice was smooth and deep and damn. "It's a pleasure to meet you all,"

"Our cowboy here would say 'y'all'," Morgan grins, you roll your eyes.

"Cowboy?" He asks, turning to you. You resist the urge to furrow your eyebrows as your stomach flutters when he looks at you.

"Texas," You say with a shrug and Carter nods slightly.

"Follow me, I'll show you where you can set up," He says, turning his attention back to the whole team.

You looked around at your teammates, seeing that they were all currently staring down at their files, desperately trying to see something new, you let your eyes sneak up. Watching Carter's form through the window as he made himself a coffee in the break room.

"Whatcha looking at?" JJ asked, you snapped your head away from the man, turning to JJ, furrowing your eyebrows.

You knew you liked women. That was very very obvious. Heck, you had developed a massive crush on a co-worker for Pete's sake! Guys had never really appealed to you (until today, it would seem). So what on earth was going on?

"Er... Nothin'," You give her a quick smile before you turn back to the board.

Eventually, Hotch called it a night, giving you all strict instructions to get some sleep. And so, here you were, laying in bed, wide awake in the dark (you didn't want to wake Morgan up), mind racing. Were you gay? But you liked women. Was it just women you liked? Because your mind was going a mile a minute picturing the scenarios with Officer Carter. You had never really thought about a guy like that.

You huffed, rolling over. This was just too complicated for you to deal with right now. You sighed, rolling back onto your back, staring at the ceiling. This was bullshit. Surely, if you were gay, you would have figured it out by now? Maybe you were just a little bit gay? Or just gay today? Was that a thing? That didn't sound like a thing. You huffed once more, trying not to groan in annoyance.

The hours passed agonisingly slow, but, eventually, it was morning.

"You okay?" JJ asked, frowning as she saw the dark circles under your eyes. "You don't look like you slept,"

"I sort of didn't," You mumble, rubbing your eyes quickly before blinking - in a vain attempt at waking yourself up. Seeing JJ's questioning look, you gave a small shrug, "Just couldn't get comfy,"

You force the thoughts to the back of your mind as they tried to resurface. All you had to do was get through this case. Then you could pretend it never happened. Yeah. Let's do that. The sounded easy.

[ineffable-endearments]

I keep going back and forth on how much I think Aziraphale understood the Metatron's offer as an implicit threat right off the bat. How much of 'Heaven is the side of Good' was sincere, felt-it-in-his-marrow sentiment, and how much of it was a desperate lie, or a desperate attempt to convince himself that he and Crowley were about to be given what he wanted, or a desperate attempt to harness Heaven's power for his own purposes.

I have kind of shifted to believe, though, that maybe Aziraphale's character development doesn't have to be exactly "learning that Heaven is bad." Maybe it's OK, from a character development standpoint, if he already knows that, at least 75% of the way.

Because I actually think there's something deeper than just "Heaven isn't good" that Aziraphale has to go through: "You can't violate free will even if your intentions for people are one thousand percent good and pure and kind." This is the core reason why Heaven is "irredeemable," so to speak: its whole purpose is to "mess people around," as Adam Young would say. Even if Aziraphale could walk in there, instantly dominate the Metatron, stop the Second Coming, and dedicate all of Heaven's operations to Making Humanity Good, it still wouldn't be okay.

Like, Aziraphale needs to value free will for its own sake, rather than as a means to a Good end. This feels more all-encompassing of both the philosophical conflict between Aziraphale and Crowley and the alarming behavior we've seen from Aziraphale this past season (controlling people's mood and behavior at the ball, for example).

It's also a compelling philosophical conflict because accepting free will for what it really is is frightening. Sometimes you will watch people be self-destructive. Sometimes you will make yourself vulnerable to other people's choices and they could hurt you or your loved ones. Heck, when Crowley had a chance to give a bunch of humans the ability to kill each other to prove a point about human nature, he protected them from themselves!

But on the scale of the whole universe, for free will to work like it's "supposed to," like Aziraphale says out loud it's supposed to (just before Armageddon), it has to be absolute. Having humanity pushed into the middle of a cosmic battle between Above and Below doesn't actually enable free will or any of the other qualities Aziraphale admires in the world of humanity (and Crowley).

Forcing people to choose between two sides isn't really free will.

Heck, even if the Final Fifteen of Season 2 was merely one big miscommunication, a failed bullet catch trick, that in itself could be part of the lesson. Trying to use your power (relationship) to push your loved ones (Crowley) into doing things (becoming an angel again) you believe are For Their Own Good WILL hurt them, no matter how pure your intentions are.

Evil/cruelty in Heaven will be an important part of the main conflict, I think we can say that's obvious, but Heaven's whole...thing is moving people, humans and angels and probably Hell's demons too, around like pieces on a chessboard. The entire mission of the organization would be wrong even if everyone was perfectly well-intended and nobody ever engaged in intentional cruelty and Heaven decided not to destroy Earth after all.

So, while I really can't say I'm confident in making predictions about it, I would find it narratively satisfying for Aziraphale to go up there, immediately know what's going on, and make real trouble for Heaven while still finding lots of compelling ways to grow as a character.

And lots of ways to bumble around charmingly, too. Remember that Aziraphale very smartly figured out something he was never supposed to figure out, the location of the Antichrist, and looked like a complete ding dong (I am saying this in the most loving tone imaginable) the whole time.

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Universal Constants

Summary: Sam makes a stupid wish without thinking during a fight with Danny, and in the aftermath, discovers she wasn't as necessary as she thought for the creation of Phantom.

That doesn't, however, mean she wasn't just as necessary as she thought for Danny.

...

“Danny I swear, there are days, I wish I had never even met you!”

Sam wasn’t really thinking when she snapped the words, just reaching for something she knew would hurt Danny.  Not her proudest moment to be sure, but she’d figured she would give them both some time to cool off and apologize tomorrow.  That’s her goal when she walks up to Danny’s locker and aims for a casual “hi.”

Danny’s response, however, just proves he’s way pettier than she thought, and she clearly hasn’t give him enough time to cool off.

“Do I know you?”

Sam scowls.  “Oh, very cute.  I said I wished we’d never met, and now you’re pretending like we didn’t meet.  You’re hilarious.”

“No, seriously, do I know you?” Danny asks.

“Seriously, Danny, cut it out, okay?” Sam says, crossing her arms.  “I was trying to apologize.  Where’s Tucker, is he here yet?”

But Danny just continues to stare at her like she’s the one being weird.

Sam opens her mouth to either ask what the heck is up with him, or snap at him some more about his sarcasm not being funny, when from off to the side she hears “I wish somebody would show you what this feels like!”

She glances over momentarily and sees Dash shoving Mikey into a locker.  But just as she’s about to turn her focus back to Danny, who’s being weird and is clearly the priority here, a very familiar ghost appears, especially dangerous considering the situation.

“Desiree!” she and Danny exclaim at the same time.

But then a second later, Danny turns to her in surprise, like that was some kind of big deal.

“You know her?” he asks.

“What are you talking about, of course I know her!” Sam exclaims.  “You have to do something before she—”

But they’ve wasted too much time talking, because Desiree blasts Mikey with a pink beam that turns him into a much larger green monster.

“Danny!” Sam exclaims, but when she turns he’s already started running off, and he jerks upright before spinning back around to face her.

“What— why are you running?” Sam exclaims, as Mikey grabs Dash in the background.  “Desiree’s right here!”

“Uh, why do you expect me to do something?” Danny asks, looking around desperately like he needs a place to hide.

Sam stares at him.  “Why— duh, because you’re half ghost!”  She still keeps her voice down, but everyone behind her is screaming or running loud enough that she feels pretty safe just saying it.

But then Danny’s gaze snaps right to her, wide-eyed and… scared?  What on earth?

“How do you know that?” Danny snaps, running right up to her and grabbing her arms a little too tightly.  “Who told you?”

“What?  Nobody told me, what are you talking about?  Why are you arguing with me when Desiree’s right—”

She twists around, but it’s far too late.  Desiree’s gone, and Mikey has shoved both Dash and Kwan into a locker, not that she cares much about the second part.  Especially as Mikey changes back into his normal self and slams the locker shut with a bright smile on his face.

“Great,” Sam says, turning back to glare at Danny.  “Why’d you let her get away, dumbass?”

But Danny’s still staring at her in confusion and fear, and Sam doesn’t have time to figure out what’s going on with that.

“Come on,” she says, twisting out of Danny’s grasp so she can grab his arm instead.  “Maybe if we hurry we can still catch her.”

She starts to pull him down the hallway, but Danny stops her firm in her tracks.

“Absolutely not, we are talking about this first,” he says, and before Sam can ask what “this” means, he turns them both intangible and pulls them through the door to the janitor’s closet.

“Okay, seriously, how did you know I’m— that?” Danny hisses, leaning right into her face.

“What are talking about?” Sam asks, leaning away from him.  “How would I not know?  I’m your best friend!”

Danny scoffs, and crosses his arms.  “That doesn’t mean anything.”

“What do you mean that doesn’t mean anything?  I was there!”

“I think I remember who was there, and it wasn’t you,” Danny snaps.  “I’ve never even seen you before today.”

“Of course you have, we met in—” Sam stops, as horrified realization strikes her.  “Desiree,” she says, looking back towards the door, where Desiree must be out there somewhere.  “That stupid fight.  Danny, we— we had a fight, and I said something stupid, I— I wished we’d never met.  And Desiree made that happen!”

Danny narrows his eyes.  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Danny, come on, think about it,” Sam says desperately, reaching out and grabbing him by the shoulders.  “I know who you are.  I know you’re Danny Phantom.  I knew who Desiree was.  I— I’m wearing a Specter Deflector.”  She gestures down at the metal belt still around her waist.

Danny looks down at it, and his eyes widen.  Then he looks back up at Sam, and she can see his eyes widen further as he processes each point Sam made.

“Oh god,” he says, leaning back and bracing himself against one of the shelves.

“It— it’s okay!” Sam says, though it feels anything but.  “It’s gonna be okay, we’re gonna figure it out!”

Danny looks warily up at her.  “We?”

“I mean, yeah.”  Sam looks away, rubbing the back of her neck.  “This is sorta my fault, of course I’m gonna help you fix it.”

Danny shakes his head.  “You could get hurt.”

Sam rolls her eyes.  “Yeah, no duh.  Come on, I know what I’m doing.  Even if you don’t think I do.  We can figure this out.”

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be figuring out,” Danny says.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.  Look, Desiree did this, so she can probably undo it, right?  We just have to catch her.”

It doesn’t cross her mind until a second after she says it, but then it does cross her mind— what if Danny doesn’t want to undo it?  What if things are just a million times better for him here, and Sam just screwed everything up and lost her best friend and she can’t undo it because Danny would hate her for it anyway?

She doesn’t voice the thought out loud, because she doesn’t know what she’ll do if it’s true.  Thankfully, after a second, Danny nods.  He still looks hesitant and unsure, but he says, “Okay.  Yeah, we can do that.”

Sam lets out a breath of relief.  They can.  This is going to be a weirder ghost fight than usual, but they can do this, and they can fix things, and then everything will go back to normal.

So she smiles as best she can, and holds o it her hand at Danny.  “Sam Manson,” she says, even though it feels weird.

Danny looks at her hand for a moment, seeming uncomfortable, but after a second he does reach out and shake it.

…

Danny seems unsure about her hanging around, but he doesn’t object, and Sam needs to anyway.  But for the first half of the day, they’re stuck in classes anyway, and she doesn’t see a good chance to grab Tucker and explain what’s going on.  She does manage to explain a couple things to Danny— how she was there when his accident happened, how they’ve all been doing their best to figure out this ghost fighting thing, and how Danny’s gotten to be pretty good with his powers at this point.

Danny doesn’t say anything to her throughout her explanations.  He doesn’t even look at her through most of them, which Sam supposes is fair.  It has to be a weird experience, even with the bar for what qualifies as “weird” having raised a lot recently.

Either way, Desiree doesn’t show up again before lunch, and so Sam just walks down with Danny like usual— or, almost like usual, with a significant memory/reality caveat.  Danny’s lagging behind her, so Sam scopes out the lunchroom and finds Tucker sitting pretty far from their usual table, though given this morning, that’s not that weird.  So she starts over, and makes it almost all the way there before Danny grabs her by the arm and hisses, “Wait, Sam!”

But whatever Danny’s holdup is, it’s too late, Tucker’s looked up and seen them.

“Hey,” Sam says, because it’s rude to just ignore him now that they’re all staring at each other.  “So, I’m guessing you don’t know who I am either.”

“Uh,” Tucker says, looking very confused.  “No?”

“So,” Sam says.  “We’ve got some things to catch you up on.”

“No, we don’t,” Danny says, grabbing Sam’s arm and yanking her backwards.

Sam turns and gives him a baffled look.  “What do you mean no we don’t?  If I explain it the way I did to you I’m sure he’ll get it.”

“Uh, Sam,” Danny says, giving a nervous and guilty look towards Tucker.  He pulls Sam further away, out of earshot of Tucker.

“What?” Sam asks.  “What’s going on?  Why are you being weird?  I mean, other than the obvious.”

“Okay, so there may be uh, information, that you’re privy to that Tucker… isn’t,” Danny says.

“Information?” Sam asks.

Danny gives her a look.

“You—” Sam’s mouth falls open slightly.  “You haven’t told Tucker?”

“Haven’t told me what,” comes a sudden voice, and both Sam and Danny whirl around.

Tucker looks angrier than Sam’s ever seen her, and Danny looks like a deer caught in the headlights, and Sam feels like she’s playing ten different kinds of catch up.

“Are you telling me you told a random girl you don’t even know what the hell is going on with you and you haven’t told me?” Tucker snaps.

“Okay, it’s really not like that,” Danny says, holding up his hands.

“Well then what the hell is it like, Danny?”

“It’s like a conversation I don’t want to have in the middle of the lunchroom?” Danny says, looking anxiously around.

“You don’t want to have it at all,” Tucker says, reaching out and jabbing Danny in the chest.  “You know, if you’re that sick of being friends with me, I’d rather you just drop me than drag things out like this!”

“I never said that!” Danny exclaims, halfway between angry and desperate.

“You don’t have to!  Anyone with eyes can tell!”

“Can we please go somewhere else?” Danny says, looking very self-consciously at the eyes that are now all on them.

“You can,” Tucker snaps.  “I’m here to eat lunch.  And you know what, you’re not welcome to join.”

And with that, he turns around and storms back to the table, then sits down with his back facing them both and drags his tray over in front of him.

Sam turns a baffled look on Danny, who’s very intentionally avoiding her eyes.

“I’m gonna go eat lunch in a classroom,” he mutters instead of saying anything relevant.  Sam watches him leave and then turns back to Tucker, who’s very angrily shoving chicken nuggets in his mouth.

This feels like an abysmal idea, but then, Sam’s ideas haven’t exactly been stellar the past couple days.  So, she walks hesitantly over to Tucker.

“Hey,” she says hesitantly, drawing an immediate glare from Tucker.  “I’m sorry.  I wasn’t trying to, like, start something.”

Tucker looks at her for a moment, but then his glare fades and he sighs, and gestures at the seat next to him.

“You’re new, right?” he says.

Sam nods as she sits down.  It works as well as any other excuse.

“Well, just so you know, don’t expect Danny to be super reliable as a friend,” Tucker says, taking a bite of a chicken nugget.  “You’ve got better options.”

“Uh,” Sam says, looking away.  “Look, maybe it’s none of my business, but did something happen between you two?”

Tucker sighs again.  “It’s your business if he’s gonna try to be friends with you,” he grumbles after a second.  Sam winces.

“Okay, so, Danny and I have been friends for a long time,” Tucker says, turning to face her.  “But a couple months ago, he just started randomly coming up with excuses to leave, like almost every time we hung out.  And he was clearly hiding something, and he wouldn’t tell me what was going on.”

Sam doesn’t say anything, and after a moment, Tucker narrows his eyes at her.  “You do know what’s going on.”

Sam bites her lip and nods.

“Oh, great,” Tucker says, glaring down at his food again.  “So he really did tell a random nobody.”  He winces and looks up at her.  “Sorry.”

Sam still doesn’t say anything.  She doubts saying that Danny didn’t strictly tell her anything would help.  And something tells her if she just blurts out what happened to Tucker, Danny won’t be so thrilled at the idea of still helping her fix reality and making them friends again.  Though why Danny hasn’t said anything to Tucker yet is beyond her.  Especially if they’ve gotten to the point of failing friendship.

Finally, Tucker just moves on, and picks up another chicken nugget.

He pauses a minute before eating it and turns again to face Sam.

“Is he okay?” he asks quietly.

Sam doesn’t know if she can answer that as confidently as she would have an hour ago.  She also definitely doesn’t want to lie to Tucker.

So after a moment, she finally admits, “I don’t know.”

That doesn’t seem to make Tucker feel any better.  And, well, if Sam is going to fix everything, she doesn’t necessarily have to wait until they get their hands on Desiree.

“I’ll talk to him,” she says to Tucker, standing.  “And I’ll get back to you.”

Tucker gives her a wary look.  “I don’t know if you can fix this.”

“I think I’m in a good position to try,” Sam says.  “And I’ll get back to you anyway.”

Tucker doesn’t look like he quite believes her, but that’s fine.  Soon enough Sam will have fixed the issue with Desiree anyway, and none of this will be a problem anymore.

So for now, she gives Tucker a reassuring smile, and gets up to go find Danny.

…

“So are you going to explain to me why you’re being such an idiot, or am I going to have to guess?”

Danny turns in the classroom desk he’s sitting in and glares up at her over his lunch, seeming very unamused with her appearance.

“Why didn’t you tell me Tucker knew too?” he asks.

“I said we were there, didn’t I?”

“No, you distinctly said you were there.  Had I known that meant Tucker too I would have told you to keep your mouth shut.”

“What’s wrong with you?  You know he wouldn’t care.”

“No, I don’t know that.  Why would I know that?  If my parents want to cut me open and most of the town thinks I’m a menace who kidnapped the mayor and the only other half ghost in existence wants the two of us to be some kind of fucked up evil family, who’s to say that Tucker wouldn’t have a brand-new way to ruin my life and expose me to everyone?  Something like, oh I don’t know, exactly what you’re doing?  Ugh, I’m such an idiot!  Why did I even let you help in the first place?”

“Danny, you don’t have to be alone in this,” Sam says.  “I’m not going to just blurt out your secret.  I wouldn’t have done that with Tucker either if I knew you hadn’t told him.  Even though you should.  He’s worried about you.”

Danny just glares at her.  “Look, I know you’ve got some weird reality thing going on, but I still just met you today,” he snaps.  “I didn’t give you permission to butt into my life and start making decisions for me.  I’m fine being alone.  It’s safe and I can handle it.  I don’t need Tucker, and I definitely don’t need you.”

“Oh, puh-lease.  Do you know how many times we’ve saved your butt?  You’d be dead like six more times over without us!”

“Well,” Danny gestures wildly at himself.  “Evidently not.  Just back off.  I’m fine.  I’m great.”

Sam, looking at him, feels inclined to disagree.  She can’t exactly argue the fact that Danny is still here.  But the Danny she knew yesterday was admiring monster trucks with Tucker, excited about going to a party as Phantom, and casually using his powers to get milk off his clothes.  This… does not look like that same Danny.

So, though she feels a little like she’s pulling a dirty trick, Sam crosses her arms.  “Don’t you miss Tucker?”

She sees something break in Danny’s face, and she almost takes it back.  But then Danny just glares at her.

“What kind of question is that?” he snaps.  “He’s the only friend I’ve ever had, Sam.”

“Well, if we figure this out and everything goes back to normal, I can promise you that not only will Tucker know without you having to work up the courage to tell him, but he’ll be super cool with it,” Sam says.  “We’ve been with you from the beginning, Danny.  We’re not gonna dip because Desiree pulled a dumb memory trick.”

Danny doesn’t say anything, but she can see he’s thinking about it.

“What if you get hurt?” he asks eventually.

“Sometimes we do,” Sam admits.  “I’m not saying it’s all glamorous.  But we’re not just gonna make you deal with protecting the entire town by yourself.”

Danny ducks his head, and Sam’s chest aches.  She hadn’t spent much time before now thinking about what it would be like if Danny had to deal with all of the ghost fighting on his own.  It clearly isn’t very fun.

“Hey,” she says, stepping forward.  She sits at the desk next to Danny, and he looks hesitantly up at her.  “We really love you.  I really love you, you know that?”

Danny shakes his head.  “Obviously not,” he says, his voice fragile.  Sam decides to cut him some slack and doesn’t acknowledge it.

“Well, I do,” she says.  “I promise.  I’m sorry about the miscommunication with Tucker.  But we can still do this.”

Danny doesn’t look at her.  “I don’t know,” he says quietly.  “Maybe it’s safer for both of you this way.”

“Oh, don’t start with that,” Sam says, rolling her eyes.  “I’m not leaving you by yourself, Danny.  If we don’t fix things then I’m just staying here with you anyway.  It’s not like you can get rid of me.”

Danny looks up at her, and Sam can’t read the look on his face.

“What?”

“This is weird for me,” Danny says.  “I’m not used to people… fighting this hard.”

“Yeah, that’s cause you’ve been without my impeccable companionship,” Sam says, sitting up so she has space enough to put her hands on her hips.  Danny snorts.

“What, you don’t believe me?” Sam asks, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just,” Danny shakes his head.  “I get why I’d want to be friends with you.”

Sam grins at him.  “Yeah, cause I’m awesome,” she says.  “Come on, we’ve dealt with harder stuff than this before.  I have, and you have to have too.  We got this!  Let’s go kick some ghost butt!”

Danny’s smiling again, a definite improvement.  Then he nods.  “Okay,” he says.  “Just— let’s leave Tucker out of it, okay?”

Sam gives him a look.  “Alright, but then you’re apologizing to him when things go back to normal.”

“We’ll see about that,” Danny says.

And Sam lets the topic drop for now, even if she has a feeling they’re not done.

…

Sure enough, Tucker finds her after school, when she and Danny both head to the mall to scope out potential wish-makers.  There aren’t many places you’re more likely to find dissatisfied teenagers than in a mall after school lets out, after all.  They haven’t had much ghostly luck by the time they decide to stop and get food, though.  Sam’s used to her usual afternoon snack after all, and she’s definitely done enough to earn it today.

But it’s while they’re there that they get their first whiff of actual ghosts, as Danny’s ghost sense goes off while he’s in line to order an ice cream cone.  He looks at Sam, seeming unsure, and Sam waves it off.

“I’ll cover for you,” she says.

Danny doesn’t seem to know how to react to that for a second, but he eventually runs off.

Just after he does, Danny hears, “Hey, it’s… Sam, right?”

Sam turns around and sees Tucker walking up to the side of the line.

“Hey Tucker,” she says, though she’s not sure exactly what she’s going to say to him.  She promised Danny she’d uphold his secret, even if it was stupid, and she’s not going to break his trust.  He doesn’t seem to have a lot of that right now.

Thankfully, her needing to answer is spared by a loud crash from the other side of the room, and both of them whirl around to see a ghost that looks suspiciously like Nightmerica has cut a hole in the wall, which— what?

“Paulinaaa,” it says, with very clear malicious intent.

Sam hadn’t even noticed Paulina before now, but she jumps up from a couple tables over, screaming in fear.

Thankfully, Danny shows up before the ghost can reach her, this time as Phantom.

“Uh hey, why are you just staring?” comes Tucker’s voice, and Sam turns just in time for Tucker to grab her arm and yank her behind a table.

“Wha- hey, what was that for?” Sam says, pulling her arm from Tucker’s grasp.

Tucker stares at her like she’s crazy.  “I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to stick around when two ghosts want to have a boxing match,” he says.

Sam rolls her eyes.  “Okay, one, not what’s happening, two, I can handle myself in a ghost fight.”

“What?  I thought you were new here.  They have ghost fights where you’re from too?”

Sam ignores him and jumps out to find Danny tangling with Nightmerica-ghost on the other side of the room, holding her back from a very frightened Paulina, who’s pressed against the wall.  His thermos is on the ground just a little too far away, so Sam goes for that.  She grabs it, spins into a crouch, and fires it up, sucking up Nightmerica-ghost and then shutting it off before it can get Danny too.

Danny turns to face her, maybe surprised that she meant it when she said she could handle herself in a ghost fight.  Behind him, Paulina screams and runs.

“Here,” Sam says, tossing the thermos casually to Danny.

Danny opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by, “Okay, seriously?  What was that?”

They both turn as Tucker leaps out from the table he was hiding behind.

“I thought you said—” Tucker stops when he sees Danny, and takes a step back.

���Uh, how exactly did you miss one?” Tucker asks, taking another fearful step back.

“Oh, stop being such a baby,” Sam says, crossing her arms.  “Phantom’s not dangerous.”

Tucker stares at her like she’s crazy, and all Sam can think of is Danny insisting Tucker would find some new way to be awful and ruin things if he found out who he is.

“I’m gonna go,” Danny says behind her.  Sam turns to look at him, and she knows he’s thinking about the same conversation.  “Thanks for the help.”

He vanishes, likely flying through the ceiling, and Sam gives it a couple seconds before turning and crossing her arms at Tucker.

Tucker, however, is staring at the spot Phantom was just a second ago.

“He,” he says faintly.  “He talks?”

“Uh, yeah, obviously,” Sam says.  “Little too much if you get him started on space.”

Tucker looks at her like she has two heads.  “You’re friends with a ghost?  Who the hell are you?”

“Someone infinitely more badass than you, apparently,” Sam says.  “You’re telling me you’ve never even tried talking to Phantom?”

“No one’s tried talking to Phantom!” Tucker exclaims.  “I didn’t even know he could talk.  It’s not like he ever does anything but show up and fight other ghosts!”

Sam raises an eyebrow.  “Does he ever show up first?”

“What?”

“Has he ever hurt anyone who isn’t a ghost?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Has he ever done anything intentionally malicious?”

“He kidnapped the mayor that one time—”

“Mayor was overshadowed by a ghost trying to frame him, that wasn’t his fault.”

“How on earth could you know that?”

“Because I talk to people,” Sam says, because she can’t exactly say “I was there in an alternate timeline that doesn’t currently exist.”

“He’s a ghost.”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Do you have a death wish?”

“Nope, I just know what it looks like when someone needs a friend.”

That seems to catch Tucker off guard, so Sam leaves it hanging there.  She’s not entirely sure why she’s pushing this so hard.  The plan is still to fix the world and get everything back to normal, she doesn’t strictly need to fix things for this Danny and Tucker too.  She just isn’t sure how she’s supposed to deal with the look in Danny’s eyes when he talks about Tucker, or the obvious way that Tucker’s bitter about Danny while being scared of Phantom.  And then, of course, there’s the other question.  The “what if she and Danny can’t fix things” question.  It’s not like she can leave things like this if they can’t.

“Anyway,” she says, after neither of them speak for too long.  “Danny isn’t sick of being friends with you.”

Tucker blinks, obviously surprised by the sudden topic change.  “What?”

Sam shrugs.  “That’s what he told me.  I believe him.”

Tucker doesn’t seem to know what to say to that, which Sam can understand.  It’s hard to come up with an alternative excuse for why someone completely stops hanging out with you if you don’t know the “ghost protecting everyone every time another one shows up” part.  She gets why he went with “Danny doesn’t care about me anymore,” even if it sucks for both of them.

Tucker crosses his arms.  “Well, okay then,” he says.  “What did you do that I didn’t?”

Sam blinks.  “What?”

“Why did he tell you what’s going on?  What did you do that I didn’t?”

“It’s— it’s more complicated than that,” Sam says weakly, which feels like the lamest excuse in the book.

Sure enough, Tucker gives her a very unamused look, and Sam winces, looking away.

“Okay, so you’re clearly not going to tell me what’s happening either,” Tucker says.  “Awesome.”

“I promised Danny I wouldn’t,” Sam says.  “I don’t want to break his trust right now.  It’s… he’s not… doing great.”  She looks back at Tucker and sees his gaze has shifted closer to concern.

“Doesn’t he know I’ll help him if he lets me?” Tucker asks.

“I’m working on it,” Sam says, in lieu of an answer.

Tucker just looks more distressed at that, and Sam can’t blame him.  But eventually, he nods.

“Is there anything I can do, then?” he asks.  “Stranger who apparently knows my best friend better than I do?”

Sam sighs.  “Maybe next time, try talking to Phantom,” she says, because it’s the best idea she’s got right now.

Tucker gives her a baffled look.  “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You asked for an answer, I gave it to you,” Sam says.  “I have to go.  I’ll see you at school.”

…

“Okay, so Desiree is being weirdly absent, right?” Danny asks the next morning in class, whispering to her during a break.  “This isn’t a reality shift thing, is it?”

Sam shakes her head.  “No, when she’s around, she’s usually around more often then this,” she agrees.  “Maybe she’s gearing up for something really big?”

“Like what?” Danny says.

“Mr Fenton, Ms Manson, this is not the time to chat with new friends,” comes Lancer’s sudden voice, and they both spin to the front of the classroom.  “You can speak to each other at lunch.  Now as I was saying, the meteor shower will start shortly after midnight tonight.  There will be a short reflection assignment about your experience, so make sure you watch.”

Groans start around the classroom, but Sam looks right at Danny, and she can tell they’re both having the same thought.

“Paulina’s having a quinceanera party tonight,” Sam hisses.

Danny nods.  “I know,” he whispers back.  “I guess we’re crashing.”

The bell rings overhead, and they both stand and quickly make their way out into the hall.

“Okay,” Sam says.  “So she’ll definitely be there to hear a bunch of dumb teenagers making wishes.  All we have to do is find her and catch her so we can undo the wish.  That can’t be too hard, right?”

Danny gives her a look.  “How many ghost fights have you been a part of exactly?”

“I’m kidding,” Sam says, giving him a look right back.  “Obviously we’re coming up with a plan.  How do you usually take on Desiree, in, you know, this reality?”

“I mean, last time, I caught her trying to grant one of Tucker’s wishes and wished her back inside the thermos.  But if that didn’t technically happen, I don’t know what she… expects from me, this time.”

“No idea,” Sam says.  “But no matter what she expects, she’s probably not expecting me.”

Danny raises an eyebrow.  “Meaning?”

“Come on Danny, you know I’d love to be a secret weapon.”

“No, I don’t know that.”

“No, but you will after tonight!” Sam says with a bright grin.

Danny rolls his eyes with a fond smile, and Sam gets the sense that he’s rather alright with that fact.  For her part, she’s very glad things will be back to normal soon.

“I’ll meet you at your place at 10,” Sam says.  “If the meteor shower starts at midnight, that should be enough time to get there and be prepared, right?”

“Yep.  Especially if you’re cool with me flying us.”

“Oh hell yeah, flying is badass,” Sam says.

Danny, rather than laughing at her being ridiculous, gets a slightly fragile, definitely soft smile on his face.  “Alright, I’ll see you at ten,” he says.  Sam does him the courtesy of not commenting on the look.

…

They both end up sitting on a hill overlooking the Quinceanera, as opposed to trying to mingle among it.  It gives a better view, and allows them to be wholly focused on the reason they’re here.  It also allows them to not have to avoid both Paulina asking why they’re there when she definitely didn’t invite them, and people potentially running from Danny, who’s floating next to her as Phantom.

However, it has the unintended side effect of meaning they don’t have much to do for a couple hours other than talk.  And Sam isn’t surprised that Danny has questions.

“Were you really,” he says quietly, and then stops for a minute.  Sam can tell he’s not done, so she waits while he thinks.

“Were you really there for the accident?” he asks eventually.

Sam nods.  “Me and Tucker,” she says.  “I… kind of goaded you to go in.  I’m sorry about that.”

Danny shrugs.  “I mean, clearly I would have done it either way.”

“Yeah,” Sam says.  He’s right.  But if this was one of the options, she’s glad she and Tucker were there.  He obviously needs them.  And not in a self-important, he’s-lucky-to even-be-my-friend way.  More in a struggling to trust people, clearly not handling superhero responsibility by himself very well way.

“What do people there think of Phantom?” Danny asks.  “I mean is he— like does everyone still—” he stops.

“Are you asking if it’s better there?” Sam asks quietly.

Danny nods.

“I mean, I’m definitely biased,” Sam admits.  “But I think so.  Phantom still isn’t beloved by the town, but we were all taking it on together.  We were doing a pretty good job figuring out ghost stuff, and Tucker and I can kick some ghost butt too.”  She ends it with a grin, but lowers her voice as she keeps going.

“We all really got closer after the accident,” she says.  “We were navigating so many new problems together.  I think it brought us together too.”

Danny doesn’t say anything for a minute.  Sam lets him think.

“It’s just,” he says finally.  “It’s hard to believe anyone would be okay with it.  I’ve never seen it.  Most of the town thinks I’m evil, or not sentient, or dangerous.  My sister doesn’t think ghosts are real.  My parents talk about wanting to dissect me at the dinner table.  Why would Tucker be any different?  Yeah, he was my best friend.  But that doesn’t mean anything.  He’s still scared of Phantom.”

“Danny,” Sam says.  “He doesn’t know anything about Phantom.  Before yesterday, he didn’t know Phantom could talk.”

Danny turns to her in surprise.  “Wait, seriously?”

Sam nods.  “We had a whole talk yesterday after you left.  He just wants to help you, Danny Fenton, his best friend.”

Danny looks away.  “Yeah?”

“That’s what he told me.  I believe him.  I think if you explain to him that helping you means helping Phantom too, he’d adapt really quickly.  But you have to give him that chance.”

Danny doesn’t say anything, and Sam leaves it at that.  If they have to, they can talk about it again later.  But hopefully everything will be fixed by then and Danny and Tucker will just need to debrief on what happened and move on.

For now, she glances down at her watch, and notes “It’s 11:55,” to Danny.  He nods.

They both keep eyes on the party below them, and the sky above them, and before long, Sam spots the first falling star.

Just as she’s about to mention it to Danny, however, she hears, “Hey!” in a very familiar voice.

Both her and Danny spin around and find Tucker running up the hill towards them.

“Tucker?” Danny exclaims.  “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, your friend told me to be here?” Tucker says hesitantly, stopping a decent distance away from them pointing at Sam.  Danny turns and stares at her, and Sam holds up her hands.

“No, I most certainly did not!” she says.

“Yes you did!  You said if I wanted to help Danny, I should try talking to Phantom!  So I tried to make a ghost tracker thing, and I found you both here!”

Danny gives her an even more incredulous look.

“Tucker, that’s… not what I meant,” Sam says weakly, as it processes what he took her statement as.  “I meant like, if you see him around… we’re kind of busy here!”

As if to prove her point, Sam hears Paulina calling faintly from below.

“Hey look everybody, falling stars!” she says.  “Close your eyes and make a wish!”

Sam looks anxiously down at the party, and Danny looks angrily between her and Tucker, and to cap off the rapidly spiraling situation, from the hill behind them rises Desiree.

Danny groans in frustration, then glares at Sam.  “Keep Tucker safe,” he snaps, then flies up into the air.  “Desiree!”

Desiree seems surprised when she sees him.  “You?  You’re still here?”

Danny, in lieu of answering, fires a plasma blast at her, knocking her back.

Sam turns in order to run back towards Tucker, who’s staring at Danny and Desiree in obvious fear, when suddenly two of the bushes next to her leap up and wrap around her arms.

“Ugh, who the heck wished for evil plants?!” she snaps, trying to kick the bushes away from her.

If nothing else, her yelling seems to snap Tucker out of it, because he runs over towards her and grabs her arms, pulling hard enough on them that they’re both yanked away from the bushes and land sprawled on top of each other on the ground.

“Tucker,” Sam says, sitting up and pushing him off of her.  “Seriously, get out of here!  You can do this another time!”

“What— I’m not leaving you here, you’re alone with two ghosts!”

“I’m fine— ugh, Danny was right, this was a terrible idea,” Sam says, burying her head in her hands.  “Okay look, you want to stay?  Put this on.”  She pulls her Specter Deflector out of her bag, and straps it around Tucker’s waist.

“What’s this?” Tucker asks nervously, looking down at it.

“It’ll keep you safe,” Sam says.  “Now come on!”  She grabs Tucker’s arm and yanks him over towards where Danny’s still fighting with Desiree.  But Desiree’s clearly more powerful than she usually is with all the wishing happening right now, and Danny’s struggling to hold her back, pushed up against the side of the hill.

“Hey, Tucker,” Sam says.  “Do you trust me?”

“Me?  I don’t know, I barely know you!”

“Great!  Hold on.”

Sam runs up to Desiree’s side, and throws Tucker directly into her.  Immediately, the Specter Deflector lights up and starts buzzing, and Desiree cries out, letting go of Danny.

Then, however, she smacks a huge hand right into Tucker, knocking him off the side of the cliff.

“Tucker!” Sam screams, leaping after him.  When she looks over the side, she sees Tucker’s managed to grab onto a ledge just out of her reach.

Thankfully, the next second, Danny darts over the side of the hill and grabs him, flying him back up to the top and setting him down.

Tucker drops to his knees, shaking, and Danny turns a furious look on Sam.

“You idiot, this is exactly what I meant!” he screams.  Sam takes a step back.  “Tucker almost—”

“Danny, look out!” Sam screams, pointing behind him.  But it’s too late, and Desiree smacks her hand on top of Danny, holding him down against the ground.

She laughs, looking down at Sam.  “Oh, I see,” she says.  “He’s here, but he doesn’t know you.”

Sam balls her hands into fists at her sides, but before she can say anything back, Tucker climbs shakily to his feet, runs back over to Desiree, and leaps on top of her hand.

Desiree cries out and pulls her hand up, but this time Tucker wraps himself firmly around one of her fingers, squeezing his eyes shut and holding on for dear life.

Desiree, obviously in pain, keeps trying to shake him off, but Tucker’s got a vice grip on her, so Sam looks over at Danny, who’s climbing to his feet.

“Hey,” she calls, running over and pointing at the thermos around his waist.  “I got Tucker.  You catch Desiree, okay?”

Danny looks down at the thermos, then back up at her, and though Sam can tell he’s still angry, he nods.

So Danny turns and points the thermos at Desiree and it up, which sucks her into it but leaves Tucker hanging in mid-air.  So Sam runs over just underneath him, and he drops right into her arms.  She falls to the ground with an “oof.”

Sam glances over at Danny, who’s putting the cap on the thermos, and lets out a sigh of relief.

“You okay?” she asks Tucker.

Tucker’s clearly still shaken, but he nods.

“That,” Danny snaps, and both of them turn to face him.  “Was the dumbest thing you have ever done!”

Sam holds up her hands.  “Look, I—”

“Not you,” Danny snaps, glaring at her.  “I’ll deal with you in a moment.  You!”  He points an angry finger at Tucker, who scrambles a couple of feet back.

“Do you have any idea how hard I’ve tried to keep you out of ghost fights?  To keep every human out of ghost fights?  I can handle them on my own, I don’t need people butting in and potentially getting hurt!  What on earth were you thinking?”

“She,” Tucker says, still scrambling backwards and obviously scared.  “She called you Danny.”

Danny stops dead in his tracks, and Sam’s eyes widen.  She thinks back on the fight in her head.

“Oh god,” she says, putting her hand over her mouth.

Danny turns to face her.

“I— I’m sorry,” Sam says, sliding back herself.  “I’m not used to having to hold my tongue around Tucker.  And Desiree was right there, and she was coming for you, and—”

Danny buries his head in his hands and laughs, and Sam stops talking, though the feeling of desperation doesn’t go away.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Danny says, pulling his head up and dragging his hands through his hair.  “This is on me.  I just fucking forgot that I can’t trust anyone with this, the second some random girl comes along and makes me feel like I don’t have to do everything alone.  God, I’ve been so fucking stupid.”  He buries his head in his hands again, really looking like he’s beating himself up for forgetting something obvious.  It makes Sam’s chest hurt.

“Danny,” she says weakly.

“Stop calling me that,” Danny snaps, glaring at her, a fury in his eyes she’s never seen before.  “I’m not Danny right now, and we’re not friends.  You don’t get to act like you know who I am!”

“Hey,” comes Tucker’s voice, and Sam’s surprised to hear a decent amount of anger in that too.  He pushes himself to his feet and takes a couple steps forward, glaring at Danny.  “Don’t blame her for your dumb decisions.”

“Excuse me?” Danny snaps, turning his own glare to Tucker.  Tucker’s eyes immediately widen in a “oh shit what did I just say and who did I say it to” way, and he backs up again.  Danny doesn’t seem to notice.

After a second, though, Tucker takes a deep breath and keeps talking.

“Dude,” he says.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Danny stares at him, and gestures wildly at the cliff behind them all.  “You almost died.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t.  And she seems to know what she’s doing.”  He gestures behind Danny at Sam, who wants to disappear.  “So clearly you’re not averse to working with people.  Do you not think I might be a little more able to handle myself by now if you’d let me help you from the beginning?”

“She’s not here because I let her be ,” Danny says, glaring back at Sam, who shrinks down on herself.  “She’s here because of reality changing bullshit.  And you are not here because I let you either, you’re here because she doesn’t know when to back the fuck off!”

“I— I’m sorry,” Sam says, looking down at the ground.  “I’m sorry, I— I didn’t mean for this to happen.  I just didn’t like seeing you hurt so much.  I wasn’t used to it and— and it felt like my fault.  Because I was the one who made that stupid wish without thinking.”  She sniffs and wipes at her eyes.  “I didn’t want Tucker to get  hurt, I’m just not used to being careful around him, but I didn’t like seeing you guys fighting and I— I didn’t want to be alone.  You’re all I’ve got.”

There’s a couple seconds of silence, but Sam doesn’t look back up.  But suddenly, she feels arms wrap around her, and she sees, to her surprise, Danny’s black hazmat suit.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly.  “I don’t want that for you either.  It’s the worst.”

“Yeah,” says Tucker, and he sits down on the ground next to them both.  “It really is.  I don’t really know what any of that meant, but if you need a friend, we’re available.”

Sam laughs wetly, and smiles up at Tucker.

Danny gives him a wary look.  “We?”

“Oh, don’t you start,” Tucker says, crossing his arms and leveling a firm look back.  “We’re not doing this.  You’re gonna teach me how to fight ghosts and we’re gonna kick some butt together.  Along with Sam, who seems to know who we both are somehow.”

Danny looks down at Tucker’s hands, which is when Sam notices they’re shaking.  Tucker clenches them into fists and sets them on his legs.

“I’m serious,” he says to Danny, with no room for argument.

Danny sighs.  “I’m not getting rid of either of you, am I?”

“Nope,” Tucker says.  Sam still feels shaken, but she manages a smile.

Danny sighs again, but he smiles a little himself as he looks up at them both.

“Well, then it seems like she’s the easiest way out,” he says, with a nod down at the Fenton thermos.

“Are you okay with that?” Sam asks.

“Yeah,” Danny says.  “I am.  I mean, if we word it right we’ll still remember everything, right?  It’s not like this version of Tucker and I will just vanish from existence.”

“Uh, sorry, you’ve both lost me again,” Tucker says.  “Who’s vanishing from existence?”

“I accidentally made a dumb wish,” Sam says.  “We all knew each other before, but I yelled at Danny during a fight that I wished we’d never met.  And uh, this happened.”

Tucker’s eyes widen.  “Woah.  That’s… okay, this is a lot of world changing information all at once.”

“You ready for it to change a little more?” Danny asks.  “We think we can fix it.  You know, while also keeping our memories and general senses of identity as real things that happened.”

Tucker looks at Sam.  “How long have we known you?” he asks.

“We met in second grade,” Sam says.  “Dash was picking on you both on the playground, and I yelled at him until he left.  He also said he wouldn’t hit a girl.  Last time he said that.”

Tucker smiles a little.  “I take it I like you then?”

“Only when I’m not bugging you about how you eat too much junk food and meat,” Sam says with a smirk.

“Ugh.  Okay nevermind, we can’t actually be friends.”

Sam laughs, probably harder than the comment necessitates, but she’s had a couple very long stressful days.

“Alright, I vote we take Desiree home so we can wish while she’s locked in the lab, and then I can send her immediately back to the ghost zone,” Danny says.  “You guys good with that?”

“I don’t have any opinions yet on how best to do ghost fighting,” Tucker says.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Sam says.  She smiles warmly at them both.  “Let’s go home.”

…

In the following days, they talk a lot.  Danny explains a lot of what the reality he remembered for those couple of days was like.  The struggles that came with having no one to help him lead a double life, and how hard that was.  Tucker and him talk a lot about things Sam can’t quite understand, but they fill her in on as much as they can, and she can imagine the kind of reality that would come from the fears she felt those couple of days extended in their natural course.  What it would be like having no friends, or knowing her friend is hurting and there isn’t anything she can do.  It hasn’t ever been something she’s had to worry about.  For as long as has been important, she’s always had Danny and Tucker, and they’ve always had her.  She’s lucky that she wasn’t the one to lose any of that, not in any kind of long term way.

But, as Danny and Tucker both seem to agree pretty quickly, they didn’t lose anything long term either.  That even if they had ended up stuck in another timeline without any memories of the one they came from, it was clear nothing there was unfixable either.

In the end, the whole experience is just another thing that brings the three of them closer together.  Which, as far as how things could have gone, is a pretty good outcome.