#another spoilers tag just to be EXTRA safe

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

Bathrooms/Restrooms in THH (specifically THH)

The fact that no one ever needed to use the restroom ONCE during the trials is insane when you think about it. Those trials are for several hours, no sitting area, no break, just standing there to figure out who done it. So, the fact that none of these idiots accidently drank too much water at any point before the trial is a damn miracle. Hell, I think these punks weren't drinking as much water as they should honestly!! I bet they're all dehydrated and honestly haven't been taking good care of their bodies. For one, it's a killing game. Lotta stress, lotta murder, prime setting to have physical health to not be the biggest priority aside from ensuring one's heart was still beating. So, at the very least, the bare minimum was at least somewhat met to some extent for the cast. At the same time though, even the bare minimum can have it's holes. Which leads me to this whole ramble to begin with! Moreover, still on topic but a bit different, the more I think about it, I wonder if, after Chapter 1, Makoto would be using the restrooms outside of his dorm. Or, at the very least, for the majority of the killing game. Of course he's still attempting to use the shower's and all in the dorm room (gotta get clean somehow) but also, there IS a bath house that gets opened up. So, the more I think about it, kinda a missed opportunity in a way? Though that might just be me. Though, that restroom, that dorm restroom, that must have haunted his mind at least for a good while anyway! Not that Makoto isn't allowed to concur that. Of course he can! I do think it'd be an interesting angle though of Makoto's mini journey of going from the full on dismay of going back into that restroom to slowly taking it all head on. Who knows. Maybe him taking a shower before he and the rest confront the mastermind has it's own power to it. However, for both of these ideas of mine, I feel the realistic topic of these people in this killing game and their bodily needs isn't really something that's ever really brought up (which makes sense. not like there needed to be a pissing mechanic in the dang murder game). But, damn it! I just like thinking of the logistics of this stuff. At the end of the day, the cast still have those teen mentalities. They're all still people and vulnerable and prone to getting diarrhea like the rest of us! I refuse to believe that all of them were 100% treating their bodies right and eating enough fiber and in the right headspace to even be taking care of themselves right in the first place! Hell! Not all of them can even cook (talking to YOU specifically, Byakuya!!) Whether some were coping by using all their energy to work on finding the mastermind (cough cough Kyoko) or just getting by with the basics or even stress eating to gain some sort of comfort during the grueling times of the killing game, it had to have been effecting them all in some sort of a deeper level. Perhaps more than just a feeling of dread but one of the many side effects of despair.

[turtletaubwrites]

Numbers Game ~ Part 24

Just a Little More Pretending

Pairings: Cross Guild x Fem!Reader x Shanks

Numbers Game Masterlist

Word Count: 4295

Ao3 Link

Ongoing Series Playlist: Youtube Music Link | Youtube Link

Summary: The party has started, but you are adrift. Can you keep pretending with proof of your lovers' betrayal standing before you?

Author's Note: ⚫ !! IMPORTANT TW !! ⚫ We have had quite a bit of blood and pain in this story so far, but this chapter contains the use of a knife during sex. I have bracketed that section off with these symbols ~~~⚫⚫⚫~~~ and you won't miss the story if you skip it! There's aftercare and more smut after that section, so PLEASE DO NOT READ if self harm, knives, or blood may be triggering for you. EXTRA NOTE: This series is about villains, and was always meant to have blood and violence. I won't be able to section off everything, but I know how triggering a scene like this one can be. Please skip it, and know that you are not alone!! 💜

Alternate POV Symbols:

🌲 ~ Flashbacks from Reader's Past | 🐊 ~ Crocodile | 🗡 ~ Mihawk | 🤡 ~ Buggy | 🔴 ~ Shanks | ⏰ ~ Flashbacks for listed POV | ⚫ ~ Scenes depicting Dark Content listed in Author's Notes

!!! SPOILER WARNING !!! Fic contains spoilers for the end of the Wano arc

Rating/Warnings: Author May Choose to Exclude some Warnings to Avoid Spoilers for Certain Chapters, Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ ONLY, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Use of Y/N, Dark Content, Blood & Violence, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Dissociation, Grief, Swearing, Alcohol, Cigars, Smut, Fluff, Angst, Guilt, Drama, Jealousy, Manipulation, Pet Names, Power Imbalance, Cross Guild boys are VILLAINS, Possessive Behavior, Teasing, Threats, Size Difference, Daddy Kink, Masturbation, Blowjobs, Inappropriate Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, Shameless Shameless Smut, Pain Kink, Knifeplay, Blood Kink, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

~~~~~~

“I don’t believe you were on the guest list, Mr. Sylvad.”

Mihawk’s cold, dangerous voice didn’t make sense. Lies. Pretend.

They sold me.

“My apologies,” Uncle Cedrick charmed. Your body turned to ice while he held your hand limply, as if he’d forgotten you were there. “Ambassador Siggins was called away for a last minute family emergency, and he was gracious enough to offer me his ticket. I’ve been looking forward to visiting with my dear niece, and meeting her esteemed employers. Perhaps we can share a nightcap after the party? I’d love to–”

“Get your fucking hands off of her.”

Some wicked part of you felt a thrill at the sight of Uncle Cedrick’s eyes going wide with fear. Your body and mind hadn’t decided on what to feel, or trust, or give a fuck about anymore, but you instinctively put yourself between your uncle, and the seemingly furious ex-warlord whose hook was inching closer to him. 

“Don’t make a scene. They’ll all turn on you, and you’ll never make another berry for the rest of your lives.”

You felt the violent stillness from both of the domineering forms at your sides, but neither moved.

“Always so shrewd, niece,” Uncle winked, his breath shifting back to his confident ease. “Besides, you know I never travel without insurance. If I’m not back safe on my ship to make a certain call at a certain time, then my location will be leaked to sooo many friends. You know my friends, don’t you, smarty?”

“I know,” you breathed, voice low while you fought to swallow every horrible feeling flooding your body.

“Of course you do,” he gloated, pulling his hand away before touching your face when he glanced at the men beside you. “You were always so smart. See you inside, dear.”

“Rabbit–”

“Sweetheart–”

“Don’t cause a scene.”

~~~~~~

~~~⏰🗡️🔴⏰~~~

“Was it really necessary to cause a scene? The other tavern had much better wine.”

“I didn’t cause the scene,” Shanks smirked, leaning in close while he teased. “I just beat up the asshole that did. No one messes with my friends… Besides, if you drink enough of the cheap shit, it gets the job done.”

Shanks laughed when Mihawk rolled his eyes in a very different way than he planned on making him later. He walked his fingers across the bar, but the swordsman pulled his hand away before they touched. 

“Well, Red Hair,” he challenged, a tiny smirk making Shanks’ breath catch, “how many bottles will you be bringing up to the room? How many will get the job done?”

“How many can you carry,” Shanks rasped, eyes glued to that pretty mouth. 

~~~

Shanks was grinning.

Mihawk was trying not to. 

How many years? How many times had they ended up like this?

And how many more times would he fucking beg for it?

“Please, daddy,” Mihawk whined, “need…”

“Tell me,” Shanks chuckled, digging his nails into Mihawk’s skin while he gripped his face. “What does my slutty, little boy need, huh? You gonna be a greedy whore? Gonna beg me to do so many, filthy things to you?”

“Please–”

“Knew it, you selfish brat,” Shanks scolded, shoving the side of Mihawk’s face against the wall. “What are you gonna give Daddy in return?”

“Everything, please,” Mihawk begged. He tore off his clothes while Shanks kept his face pinned, these moments with the red haired pirate being the only times he didn’t give a fuck about where his clothes landed. “Take everything, daddy, take–”

“Such a desperate whore for me,” Shanks hummed, an evil grin on his face as he released the other man from his grip. “Tell me what you want, and I might be nice. If I think you deserve it.”

Mihawk’s eyes rolled back, the wicked promise in Shanks’ voice giving him so much pleasure and comfort, he didn’t know what to do with it. He fell to his knees, pleading.

~~~⚫⚫⚫~~~

“Make me bleed,” he begged, pulling a knife from his pile of pretty clothes. “Please, daddy. Take my blood, let me–”

“My little freak,” Shanks huffed a laugh, following his friend to his knees. “How would you live without me?”

“I– fuck!”

“My pretty boy,” Shanks purred, dropping the bloody knife so he could smear all that red across Mihawk’s perfect chest. “This what you needed?”

“Y-yes, p-please,” Mihawk shook, back arching while he twitched, his eyes rolling white. 

“Need your daddy to hurt you?”

Mihawk was shivering, whimpering, moaning when Shanks showed off those red fingers. 

“Poor thing. Let me give my little freak what he needs.”

There was nothing like this. 

“Such a perfect body, and you want me to rip it to shreds?”

“Gods, yes. Pleeease.”

Shanks would never have thought to do this with a lover, but Mihawk was hypnotizing. How could he not give him what he craved when he begged and whined for it like this? When the “Marine Hunter” would debase himself, would do anything Shanks asked him to, just to feel this?

“Tell you what, selfish brat,” Shanks taunted, just starting to ghost the tip of the blade along Mihawk’s skin. “Lay down, let me watch my little pain slut jack himself off, and I’ll keep ruining this pretty chest of yours until you come.”

Shanks gave a pleased laugh, deep and dark, while Mihawk fell to the floor, his back arching as he let out a pathetic, needy moan. 

“Not gonna last long, are you,” he challenged. “Prove how much you want it, whore. Don’t stop touching yourself, or you won’t get any pain at all.”

“Yes, daddy,” the swordsman breathed, getting to work.

Beautiful.

Shanks paused for just a moment, stunned again by his powerful rival turned friend. Stunned by how wickedly perfect he was. Stunned by how much he wanted him. He’d almost forget just how much every time they drifted apart again.

“Da—“

“Don’t be impatient,” Shanks purred as he teased the blade down Mihawk’s side. He hummed at the twitching, near panicked body he had so much control over. “Tell me what you are.”

“I’m your pathetic slut, daddy’s whore, your— fuuck, Shaaanks.”

Mihawk could barely see with his eyes fluttering and rolling, but he caught that look on his friend's face.

Shanks was fucking glorious, the power he exuded like sweet poison. The swordsman would never let another touch his skin with a blade, would never admit this weakness to another soul. Yet, Shanks… He was perfect. Beautiful. Strong. 

And he controlled him so well. 

The teasing scrape of the blade turned to unreal pleasure as it pressed into his skin. Mihawk didn’t know why he was like this. Didn’t know when it started, but he didn’t fucking care.

That sharp sting of the knife slicing down, and the heat of the blood he could feel tickling along his skin, had him coming in his hand within the same breath. He bucked and moaned as ropes and ropes of come covered his stomach, his chest, the column of his throat.

~~~⚫⚫⚫~~~

“You did so well,” Shanks rasped, leaning down to taste the weak whimpers and whines still lingering on those lips. “How’s my pretty boy doing?”

“I…” he tried, breathless, with the hint of tears shining in his golden eyes. “Thank you, daddy.” 

“You know I’ve always got you,” Shanks promised. He breathed those words along Mihawk’s skin, trailing soft touches, and teasing nails across that magnificent, painted body to bring out more delicious sounds and shakes. “Just relax, baby. Breathe for me.”

Mihawk couldn’t understand. Couldn’t believe the pleasure that Shanks gave him. That he let Shanks give him. There was no one else he could trust. No one else he respected. No one he wanted…

“Shanks…”

The red haired pirate chuckled at Mihawk’s reaching fingers, kissing the man’s temple to soothe that tension. 

“Don’t rush, bright eyes. Just feel good for me. We'll get you cleaned up in a bit, then you can show daddy how grateful you are.”

Mihawk could never admit that the weak sound that left his throat was a sob, but he stopped caring when Shanks kept touching him, kissing him, dragging nails down his skin, just enough to make him moan. 

He’d never felt safer. 

~~~

“Look at you.”

Clean and bandaged, with his black hair still damp from the shower, the swordsman’s breath caught at Shanks’ hushed words, at the way he watched him crawl across the small bed. 

Those brown eyes were too soft. Mihawk shivered under that gaze before he found what he was looking for. 

“Just like that, baby. So good for me.”

The praise made him dizzy, dizzier than the swollen cock he’d licked and teased before swallowing deep, his watery eyes still locked on the soft, brown ones above him.

“I love it when you do that,” Shanks hummed when Mihawk massaged his balls, still taking that veiny shaft down his throat, so fucking deep. “Such a good boy for daddy. I’m close, keep those lovely eyes on me.”

Mihawk moaned around his cock, and Shanks couldn’t handle the look on his friend's face. He fisted that damp, black hair, and took control, just like his swordsman needed. Fingers gripping tight, demanding, taking and taking as he shoved that pretty face up and down his cock like a beautiful toy. 

“Fuck yeah. You love being daddy’s little whore, love taking everything I fucking give you, huh?”

The pleasure of the new pain sent the swordsman to blissful twitching, not caring if he choked, wanting it, wanting to be used. 

“Fucking take it. Take daddy’s come, show me how much— fuckin’ hells. You feel so fucking good. Swallow it all like a good boy.”

Those soft eyes and those desperate eyes stayed connected, fighting against the instinct to thrash, to writhe, to look away. They stayed connected until Mihawk’s throat took every last drop of Shanks’ pleasure, the giving and taking between them like another spar, a dance between too-friendly rivals. 

“Come here,” Shanks purred, his lovely smile making the swordsman feel the urge to frown. Instead, he moved to sit against the headboard with his friend, hoping the barkeep was still downstairs so he could book another room to sleep in. 

The safety Mihawk had felt was dwindling fast, being replaced by the need to leave, to pretend he hadn’t let himself be so weak. 

But he supposed a few more minutes of resting by his red haired rival wouldn’t hurt. 

~~~

Shanks felt light, almost high, when Mihawk crawled up the bed to lean against him. He was staying. Staying still for once. The red haired pirate let his fingers travel along that perfect skin covered in new and old scars, taking in Mihawk’s intoxicating scent. Taking in every feeling he tried not to carry when they were apart. 

“Hey, Hawk?”

“Mm, what is it,” the swordsman drawled, fighting with the exhaustion that was trying to convince him to stay. 

The red haired pirate didn’t want to explain, didn’t want to risk losing his courage, so he pulled away just enough to look into those golden eyes. 

“I love you.”

Mihawk thought he must have fallen asleep, but it was too real. The scent of their bodies. The sting of the wound on his chest. Those gorgeous, soft eyes. 

“Please,” Mihawk laughed. The cruelty in his own voice felt like a storm he couldn’t stop, only watch as it tore through the world. “Love is boring.”

“What?”

Shanks tried to keep that lightness. To pretend he wasn’t hearing this, wasn’t watching those cold eyes go deadly.

“Don’t be boring, Shanks,” Mihawk sighed as he pulled back. The safety he’d felt was a lie, ripped away. He couldn’t think, couldn’t take in whatever that look was on his rival’s face. He just needed to leave. 

To be alone. Safe.

“Hawk,” Shanks breathed, staring at the swordsman while he pulled on those fancy clothes. He brought his shaky hand to the sheets, focusing on controlling his breath, his heart, so that his friend wouldn’t hear just how fucking deep he’d wounded him. He didn’t want to feel this, just wanted to shove it down. 

“See you next time, Red Hair.”

Shanks couldn’t shove it down. The door closed, and every good feeling he’d ever had seemed to rush out of the room with it. Every good feeling he’d just had in this shitty room turned tortuous as he tried not to suffocate in it. Every word, every touch, every look in those golden eyes.

“Fuck…”

The red haired pirate managed not to yell, not to destroy. He managed not to leave this inn to find another at the risk of running into his friend. He managed to finish all of those opened bottles on the floor while he tried not to choke on the painful heat in his throat.

Shanks managed to drink enough to blame his tears on the liquor, and to lie to himself that he was fine. That he would get over it.

He’s heartless. A pirate without a fucking crew. Dracule Mihawk isn’t capable of love. I should have known he couldn’t love me.

He can’t love anyone.

Those thoughts weren’t as comforting as he wanted them to be. 

Mihawk’s thoughts were not as clear as he needed them to be. Not as calm, not as empty, not as safe.

The way he’d fled that room, and avoided that hurt gaze, made him fight to keep steady.

What was he thinking? Ridiculous. Idiotic. How could we even—

Not even worth entertaining. Boring. 

Mihawk ran from the feelings within him just as he'd run out of that room, out of that tavern. He ran and shut the door, pretending that it meant nothing. 

He stuffed every thought of it away. Every thought of those soft, brown eyes away until he forgot what it was he was truly running from. 

Something that couldn’t be real, and could never be safe.

Mihawk could never risk feeling safe. 

He could never risk the idiocy, or the blindness, of something as boring as love. 

~~~⏰🗡️🔴⏰~~~

~~~~~~

“Welcome, welcome, fine guests, to the Cross Guild’s very first gala affair,” Buggy’s voice boomed, bright and shining on that small stage while he addressed the gathered crowd. “Before our main event, we’ll enjoy a delightful dinner accompanied by the flashiest show you’ve ever seen.”

Buggy winked for the crowd, yet even though you knew it was really for you, you couldn’t feel a thing. Just the ice trailing down your spine.

“For now, please help yourselves to the hors d'oeuvres, enjoy an aperitif, and dance, before we all make too much berry on wicked things.”

Your clown was a bit more reserved than his usual shows, with a mesmerizing lightness to his movements, his body floating just slightly within his clothes. Yet he’d dialed up his dark charm, the tantalizing danger that so many of these bored, high society leeches were hungry for. Just enough to titillate, not enough to scare them away. Buggy had listened to your notes, adjusting his act just enough to still be his, yet still appeal to this privileged group. The excited buzzing of the vultures around you told you that he’d hit his mark. 

Galdino nodded at you as you scanned the crowd, his eyes flicking back to watching the select group of pirates they’d deemed appropriate guests to not frighten away the potential backers. 

Part of your mind was in work mode, going over every detail, deciding which asshole to shmooze first.

The rest of you was gone. Shaking. You could feel his stare. 

Uncle was smirking at you over his drink. He wasn’t paying attention to the leeches at his side that were trying to bask in his glow as if the Sylvad wealth could rub off on people. 

They sold me. 

“Dance with me, little rabbit.”

Mihawk bowed his head a bit, those dangerous fingers reaching for yours. There were only a handful of couples on the floor, and your employers weren’t supposed to touch you. 

He sold me. He’s throwing me away just to line his pockets. Never real, just pretend.

Uncle Cedrick’s charming laugh carried over the music, finally giving the other guests some attention. You could still feel his eyes. 

“I’m a terrible dancer.”

“You don’t need to dance,” he smirked, taking your hand in his before leading you toward that gleaming floor. “I’ll do all the work. Just let your body listen to mine. I know you can do that, rabbit.”

Mihawk didn’t give the tease his usual force. It didn’t knock you off your feet, but it was enough to make you sigh, relaxing your shoulders just a bit. 

“Breathe with me, love,” the swordsman soothed, and you couldn’t stop yourself from melting as his hypnotic voice washed over you. “No one else exists. Nothing else exists. Just our bodies, our breath, and the music. Will you believe that with me? Will you dance with me, darling?”

“Okay,” you whispered, your body shaking for him now. 

Just a little more pretending. 

~~~~~~

~~~🐊🔴🐊🔴~~~

Shanks was haunting the corner bar, downing his third aperitif, and trying to ignore the stares he kept getting. 

Oh, yeah. I’m Red Haired Shanks.

He chuckled to himself before returning his focus to her, watching Hawk treat her like she was precious, watching him care for her, dance with her. Yet her eyes were still empty. 

Y/N. It’s my fault she’s… I thought I was such a good man. So fucking egotistical—

“Red Hair,” came a gruff voice, accompanied by the thud of a golden hook onto the pretty bar top.

“Sir Crocodile,” Shanks replied, still watching her. He finally glanced over after a too-long pause, surprised to find the larger man looking almost pained. “What’s going on?”

Crocodile didn't want to do this. Didn't want to say this. 

He wanted to gut this man, then suck the life out of him until all that was left was his stupid, red hair. 

I don’t want to be a monster to her. Not to them.

“Will you protect them,” he choked out, forcing the painful words past his lips. It felt like admitting defeat, and his body raged against it. “Will you take care of them?”

Shanks forgot to breathe from the shock of what he thought he’d just heard. 

“What—“

“If they choose you, I won’t stop them. If you swear you’ll take care of them, all of them, then I won’t stand in your way.”

…

Crocodile almost lost it, almost reached for the man’s throat. Hesitation was fucking unacceptable.

Shanks felt like he’d plummeted to the bottom of the ocean, dark, heavy thoughts drowning him in a silent death. 

This monster, this villain, cares enough to let them all go. 

What does that say about me?

“I swear. I’ll protect them. I’ll care for them. I’ll—“

“Good,” Crocodile snarled, holding himself back like a wild beast. Like a monster. “Y/N’s uncle crashed the party, and she won’t let us kill him yet. I’m gonna put you at his table. See what you can find out about him.”

Shanks went to stand from his stool, all those words not fully registering. He stumbled just a bit, and Crocodile let out a vicious growl.

“For fuck’s sake, are you drunk already?” 

“Not even close,” Shanks sighed, steadying himself. He couldn’t seem to find his balance in this upside-down world.

“Get your shit together. If you show me you can’t protect them, then I won’t care what they want, I wont care what I want, I’ll just fucking kill you.”

“What do you want?”

Shanks stared up into that frightening face, and couldn’t understand. Couldn’t believe.

“I want them all to be safe and happy. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”

Crocodile felt like his organs were boiling with the need to end this man. To end this man that was taking what’s his. He stared down into stupid, brown eyes, grinding his teeth against his rage. 

“I want the same thing.” 

“Then prove it,” Crocodile spat, leaving Shanks to sway.

Buggy…

I have to tell him.

The Emperor of the Sea floated through the crowd to sneak backstage again, hoping he could figure out the next right thing to do. 

Hoping he could prove it. 

~~~🐊🔴🐊🔴~~~

~~~~~~

“You look absolutely enchanting tonight, love.”

“There’s no need to brag about your work.”

The tease left your lips like a miracle, and Mihawk’s eyes filled with that lovely mix of annoyance and pride that you seemed so skilled at drawing out of him. 

“My vicious rabbit is always stunning, even when I don’t get my hands on her,” he teased back, still perfectly guiding your body along the dance floor. “Though I certainly enjoy the honor.”

You barely heard the satisfied hum he let out when you shivered, yet his voice was still too much. His voice was a drug, just like his eyes, his scent, and his wicked, wicked fingers. 

Mihawk was pleasure, seduction, desire. The pain he added to that intoxicating mix only made you crave him more. He made you feel so many things. Hard things. Soft things. Addictive things. Your eyes fluttered as you fought to stop thinking this way about the man that sold you. 

Just for daydreams. Not real. 

~~~~~~

~~~🗡️🗡️🗡️~~~

Perfect. 

She’s perfect.

Mihawk wanted to kill every single soul in the room, just so he could hear only her. Hear only her lovely heart, beating against his. He could hear it all, but he needed more, needed her.

He needed to keep that spark in Y/N’s eyes. His breath had caught at that glimpse of her, at her brave, little tease. That attitude he ached to punish and praise, and never go a day without hearing. 

Everything. Mihawk wanted everything with her.

“Little rabbit?”

“Mhm?”

The world’s greatest swordsman was bested by this strange, lovely girl. The effort, the bravery it took to keep going was almost insurmountable. 

“I’m not pretending.”

Y/N stiffened at those whispered words, and his hands had to control her, carry her even more, forcing her body to follow his dance. 

“Please…”

“I know I don’t deserve you, but I’ll do anything, darling. Anything to watch you. To watch how your beautiful mind works, to see you be fierce, to hold you when you’re tired.”

Mihawk felt high. He’d finally forgotten the rest of the world existed. Nothing but Y/N in his arms. 

Now that he’d started, he couldn’t seem to stop. When she rested her cheek against his chest for a moment, Mihawk almost fell to his knees. She breathed him in before showing him that tiny spark of her, still burning behind those beautiful eyes. 

“You’re not tricking me,” Y/N questioned, her voice hesitant, wounded. It tore his insides to shreds to hear her in pain. To know that he’d been the cause. “You didn’t sell me?”

“Rabbit…”

Why didn’t I see what she was before? She believes I could… would I have?

Guilt almost stole his breath, his courage. 

“I am so sorry, Y/N. There are no excuses for a villain like me,” he breathed, lost in her, needing her. “You have taken me over. The thought of losing you…”

“Mihawk?”

His name on her tongue. Lovelier than the rarest of wines. The only thing he wanted to hear.

“I don’t care what you decide, rabbit. I will follow you anywhere, if you would have me.”

The swordsman couldn’t read her. Since she’d fallen apart, Y/N had become impossible to understand, impossible to decipher, her body’s new language from some other world. 

A lonely world that he needed to pull her back from.

He needed her back. 

“I love you, Y/N,” Mihawk confessed. He noticed that his hands were shaking, almost losing his hold on her. A tiny moment of feeling selfish passed before he breathed her in again. “My little rabbit… I love you more than I can fathom, more and more with every moment. You have woken me up, darling.”

Mihawk tried to reach her, tried to read her, but knew that he couldn’t take from her anymore. All he could do was tell her the truth.

“Y/N, you have brought me to life.” 

Her heart. 

What does that rhythm mean?

“Mind if I cut in?”

~~~🗡️🗡️🗡️~~~

~~~~~~

It was a miracle that your Uncle hadn’t been vaporized on the spot by the murderous glare Mihawk flung his way. His touch that had been so gentle a moment ago went rigid, your bodies gone still in the middle of that shining dancefloor. 

“Come now, it’s just a dance,” Uncle Cedrick prodded, and you wondered if he understood how close to death he was. 

Mihawk wanted to kill him. Truly. 

He really didn’t sell me?

“It’s fine,” you soothed, pulling away from your lover that had violence radiating off of him in waves. “I’ll be fine. Please, don’t—“

“Alright, love,” he conceded, his eyes somehow even more intense as he studied your face. “I’ll listen to you.”

Mihawk placed your hand in your Uncle’s, his own hand tensing before letting you go.

“Much obliged,” Uncle Cedrick purred as your swordsman walked away, his head jerking subtly at the sound of those words.

“So, dear niece,” he smirked, pulling you into position. “Were they actually able to teach you how to dance? Or do you still require a firm, guiding hand?”

You’d fought so hard against it, knowing it would only break you down. Knowing that all it could do was destroy you.

Yet catching Mihawk’s gaze while he studied your uncle like fresh, new prey did something. You knew you should stomp it out, but the rage in those golden eyes had lit a spark. Just an ember, glowing weakly, but it was there. 

Hope. 

~~~~~~

Likes, comments, and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you!!

a/n: !!!!! I am eating, sleeping, and breathing this party 😅 I rarely do more than a vibe outline for a fic, usually just a brain dump, but I wanted this party to come together smoothly. Y'all, the OUTLINE for this party is 23 PAGES 🙃🙃🙃 Lol, get comfy (and, oh gobs, please tell me what you think so far, I've been going bonkers 🙏🏼🙏🏼)

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Part 25

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| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

[spookyscarydemonbabe]

Drive

A/N- During the normal April rain, i got the urge to watch some more of S4. Have i officially finished it yet? No. Does it still give me little ideas every now and then? Absolutely. And sorry to come back with such a (somewhat) depressing fic 😂 please know i’ve been working on a few things back and forth for the last two months so expect a few scattered fics here and there when i get around to finishing them. I still miss you all very much 😘 (P.S. i got this story while listening to Drive by The Cars, hence the title :p)

Summary- Late one night you get a call from Eddie that sends chills down your spine

Genre- Hurt/Comfort, Fluff

Warnings- S4 spoilers, mentions of death/dying

Tag List- @thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles @munsonology @esme-viridian @gvf23 @wheels-of-despair

(tag list is always open, let me know if you’d like to be added 🖤)

Word Count- 4.5k

Tonight was finally the night.

The last dreadful day of school before spring break, thank god. For another seven days you would be able to stay up late, sleep in, hang out with the guys, smoke, put a dent into the list of movies Jeff and Gareth had been making for you to watch before you die, and maybe finally dive into that stack of books next to your nightstand that you’ve been putting off reading. All the while you’d have full accessibility to the house while your parents were on vacation for a little spring break of their own.

It would be bliss. Save for the few shifts at work during the week, but it was a sacrifice you’d be willing to make for all that extra free time.

You had finally sat down after a shower, your hair still damp at your shoulders as you sat on the couch with a bag of chips at your side and a can of pop waiting to be opened at the living room table, you reached for the remote and as soon as you clicked the power button you could hear the incessant ringing of the telephone. As much as you wanted to ignore it and let it ring, something just didn’t feel right.

There was something that washed over you as you glanced down the hall at the phone on the wall, and just couldn’t help but carefully wander down to pick it up. Your heart dropped into the pit of your stomach before you could even say anything.

Eddie was at the other end. Crying, hyperventilating, and you could just hear his panicked pacing through his quick speech. It took a moment for you to even realize what was happening before finally speaking up,

“Eddie! Eddie, calm down, i can’t understand you. What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I don’t know!” He shouted into the phone between sobs, “I was in my bedroom and then walked out and she was acting so strange and then she started floating and-“ He couldn’t finish. Whatever it was that had happened, you knew it wasn’t something that could be fixed with him calming down.

“Ok, it’s ok, you don’t have to tell me. I know you’re really scared right now, i’m here for you ok.”

“(y/n), i don’t know what to do…” He cried out, and it was heartbreaking hearing just how badly he was hurting without even knowing what was going on. The mystery of it all was panic inducing enough for you, you couldn’t imagine how Eddie was feeling on the other end.

“Eddie, i need you to listen very carefully to me, ok? I want you take a deep breath, i want you to get your keys, and i want you to drive over here. Don’t bother with going home, don’t bother grabbing anything or stopping anywhere, get over here now. I don’t know what the situation is but i can tell that whatever it is, it isn’t safe.”

He said not another word, and you heard the click of the phone on the other end, the disconnect tone playing in your ear wasn’t helping the situation.

Within minutes you could hear the screeching tires of Eddie’s van pull into your driveway. You watched from the front window as he struggled to pull the keys from the ignition, rushing to get out as fast as he could. When he saw you carefully open the door for him he couldn’t help but run to you, wrapping his arms around you in a tight embrace, his head buried in your chest and you could hear the slow sobs start once more.

“Ok, it’s ok. Shh, it’s ok…” You still had no idea what was happening.

All you knew was that Eddie was here, crying, panicked, scared, and he needed you.

You quickly shut the front door, clicking the lock and moving your arms around him once more, one hand moving to cradle the back of his head as you felt his tears start to soak through your shirt.

He was trembling, cold to the touch, and you were terrified not knowing what on this earth had made him feel this way. He was in a state that you had never seen him in before, and as painful as it was to not bombard him with every question you had floating around in your brain about what could possibly be making him like this, you let him be. He needed time, and what he needed now was someone to make him feel right again.

The moment you heard the sobs start to quiet and his breathing became slower, you carefully pulled yourself away, hand still on the back of his head to comfort him as his arms never left your sides,

“Shh, it’s alright. Take a few deep breaths ok?”

Eddie looked up to you and nodded, his bloodshot eyes slowly closing as he took a few shaky deep breaths. Your hands moved to his cheeks, wiping away the few stray tears that slipped through.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened right now,” Eddie opened his eyes as you held his cheeks, “but i need to know if you’re hurt, or if someone else is hurt…” You looked down to his Hellfire Club shirt, spotting a few stray droplets of blood, but Eddie seemed to be physically fine.

“Someone else…” The thought of whatever had happened made him muster up another quick sob.

“I’m glad you’re ok. We’ll worry about that in a little bit ok, right now let’s stand you up.” He nodded once more and your arms moved to hold onto his, trying to give him a reassuring smile as he did his best to slow his breathing back to normal, “Let’s go get you cleaned up, come with me.”

You still held onto his arm as you led him upstairs. This wasn’t the first time he had come over, he knew the layout of your home well, but you wouldn’t dare leave his side while he was in this state.

You slowly walked him down the hall and into the bathroom, letting him carefully sit on the toilet as you leaned over and fidgeted with the knobs for the faucet. Eddie leaned over, his elbows at his knees, palms at his forehead. His breathing had slowed finally, but he was quiet. You reached your hand beneath the faucet and once the water felt warm enough you pulled the curtain and started the shower for him, kneeling on the floor before him.

“Eddie?” He slowly moved his hands and looked to you, eyes still bloodshot with swollen cheeks from all the tears he had shed, “I know that whatever it is you’re going through isn’t easy, but all i want to do is help you. You know that right?”

He was still silent, but nodded.

“Take a shower, clean yourself up. I promise i’ll be nearby the whole time, and i’m going to come back in a few minutes with a towel and pajamas for you, ok?”

He nodded again, and you gave him another smile as you stood. You pushed the hair aside on his forehead and placed a gentle kiss to the space, and it seemed that this finally got a reaction out of him. His lips twitched at the corners, and you could see he wanted to smile back to you but he was just so exhausted.

You left the bathroom and shut the door behind you, standing there for just a moment to listen for anything. As soon as you heard a bit of shuffling and his clothes hitting the floor you smiled to yourself and wandered to the hall closet, grabbing a towel and then heading into your parents room to steal a pair of your dads pajama pants and an extra shirt for Eddie to change into. They’d be oversized and probably a little uncomfortable but they were better than nothing.

You walked back to the bathroom door, towel and clothes in hand, and waited. After a deep breath, and a quick shake just to get your nerves in place, your gently rapped your knuckles at the door,

“Eddie?” You opened the door just a crack, “I’m coming in, ok?”

You only heard a groan from him, but it was enough for you to enter once again. You saw his clothes piled up on the floor and placed the towel on top of the toilet, the extra pajamas on the counter. You could hear a few sounds from him through the curtain, a few groans and it sounded like he was doing his best to keep his composure. You left him to his business, grabbing his clothes off of the floor and quickly folding them into a pile and carrying them out with you, save for his underwear that you left with the extra pajamas for him.

“I’ll be in my room ok? Take all the time you need and i’ll be there when you’re done.” You said before stepping back out into the hall and softly closing the door behind you.

With one more deep breath you walked to your bedroom door, flicking the light switch on and leaving the door open for Eddie whenever he was finished and ready to come in. His clothes were placed on top of your dresser and you quickly wandered around to grab a few things for him. Extra pillow and blanket, a hair brush and some detangling solution, and you grabbed a few small snacks from your munchies stash under your bed for him to snack on. You didn’t know what he would’ve needed, but it was a good idea to be prepared for anything.

As you sat on your bed waiting for him you reached for the remote and switched on your TV, you heard the floorboards creaking at your door. Eddie was standing there in your doorway, towel in hand with his wet hair soaking the shoulders of the oversized shirt.

“Hey, come on in, close the door behind you.” You smiled to him, standing up and approaching him slowly, “Here, you take this, and i’ll take that,” You had handed him the TV remote and took the towel from his hands, leading him to the end of your bed, “you sit and find something to watch. Let me deal with your hair, i know you like how gentle i am with it.”

Eddie finally gave you a smile. A small one, but it was something. He sat at the end of your bed and you sat behind him on the mattress, reaching over and grabbing their hairbrush and detangler before lifting his wet hair and draping the towel over his shoulders.

He finally seemed calm as you sprayed the fruity scented detangler into his hair, gently brushing at the end in small sections as he finally found a channel to settle on. It was one of the local public access channels that showed old music videos while the host talked about all his favorite parts from the video afterwards. Music was always his happy place.

Eddie breathed deeply, quietly, sitting there before you with his eyes on the tv while you gently brushed his hair. He was always so grateful to have you to turn to when he wasn’t ok. Though it was odd to see him like this.

You had seen him cry when he was panicked over having to repeat another school year, you had seen him scared after Wayne found out he had swiped a few cans of beer from the fridge, but this was something new. This was a different kind of fear. He wasn’t trying to brave this one out and take it on the chest like he had before. It was like he had reverted to a scared little boy with no clue what to do or who to turn to. This was something he couldn’t face alone and he knew you knew that now.

You kept quiet as you finished with his hair, setting the brush down next to you and using the towel to scrunch his curls, gently pulling it off of his shoulders and bringing it to your hamper. He didn’t move as you went to sit next to him, only turning to you as you nudged his shoulder to grab his attention.

His face was still slightly puffy from the tears he had shed, his eyes were slightly pink, but his breathing was normal and that you were grateful for.

“Are you ok?”

His eyes wandered away from yours and he shook his head gently, still not speaking.

“Eddie, i know you might not think i’ll understand whatever it is you’re going through, but i want to understand. Please…” You moved yourself to sit in front of him, his view of the TV blocked by your form, “I just want to know what happened.”

Eddie clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath, and as he opened his eyes they began to water once more,

“You won’t believe me…” He choked out.

You stood for a moment and quickly ran over to your nightstand, grabbing the box of tissues for him to use whenever he needed them.

“Yes i will.” You reassured him. “Eddie, i know you wouldn’t lie to me, but i don’t know what’s going to happen if you don’t tell me. You said someone else was hurt and i saw the blood on your clothes… If you did something-“

“I didn’t do anything!” He shouted, cutting you off mid-sentence.

You sat back on your legs and reached over to turn down the volume on the TV, sitting and waiting patiently for Eddie to be ready to finally tell you what the cause of all his panic was. You could sense that he was ready, it was just hard to find the words.

With one last deep breath he looked down at his hands in his lap,

“I was at the trailer with Chrissy, i met her after school and she said she was going through some stuff. Asked for something strong. I left her in the living room while i went to look for it and when i came back she was acting… different.”

You tried to move closer to him but he backed himself away.

“Different how?” You asked.

His lip started to quiver and his eyes were shut tight again.

“She was just standing there… silent. Her eyes were rolled back and then her feet just lifted off of the ground, but not like she was floating, like someone had picked her up but there was nothing… no one…”

You gave him time. He needed patience, and you could see that whatever happened next was what caused him to act the way he was. He was terrified of something, someone, but he didn’t know what or who.

“I tried to wake her up and see if maybe she was just freaking out or something but…” His lip quivered as he tried to collect himself, but it was clear that this was an event he was having to relive every time he closed his eyes, “She floated up to the ceiling and it was like…” He started to hyperventilate again, and you inched closer, reaching out and gently grasping his arm, though this time he didn’t move away, “it was like something was inside her, breaking every bone in her body…” He couldn’t stop the flow of tears, and you couldn’t bear to have this go on any longer. Though it sounded crazy, Eddies reactions weren’t making it seem crazy.

“Ok, ok, you don’t have to tell me anymore, it’s alright.”

Eddie quickly wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in close as he sobbed into your shoulder. You held him gently, slowly moving your fingers through his hair to try and comfort him. It always worked before.

“You don’t have to tell me any more…”

You said to him quietly, the music on the TV softly playing in the background was helping slightly to dull the horrific reaction Eddie was having to this memory.

A few moments had gone by, and though he was no where near better, his breathing was slowing and the tears were slowly stopping. Or maybe he just didn’t have any left in him.

“You think i’m crazy, don’t you?” He said through slow breaths.

“No.” You said plainly, “I don’t think you’re crazy Eddie. It sounds unreal but… with how you’ve been reacting i don’t see anything else making sense…”

It was an insane scene to think about. It sounded like something straight out of a horror movie, and those things were fine, they weren’t real. But this was. And Eddie was horrified.

“Did you call anyone else about this? Did you tell the guys or the police?”

“No…” He whimpered, hiding his head back into your shoulder, “I ran… I didn’t know what else to do or who else to go to…”

“Eddie,” You carefully lifted his face away from your shoulder, grabbing a tissue and wiping away the tears that trailed down his cheeks, “I know it’s scary, but you have to go to the police.”

“I can’t…”

“Yes you can.”

“I can’t, they’ll know i did it!” He shouted.

“You didn’t do anything!” You shouted back, quieting him once more, “I’ll go with you, i’ll vouch for you, i’ll say that you saw her earlier in the day and then you came over afterwards, i know you couldn’t have done something like this Eddie.”

“No.” He said it with no emotion between every word you were saying, “No, no, no. You are NOT lying to the police for me (y/n).”

“Then what are you going to do?”

Eddie was silent for a moment, sniffling as he recollected himself. He brought his knees up to his chest and looked down into his lap,

“I don’t know… They’re going to think it was me anyways…”

“Don’t say that!”

He could hear in your voice that talking about this was making you more and more worried for him. That’s the last thing he wanted.

“I’ll figure something out.”

You were quiet.

Neither of you were sure how to go about something like this.

You moved yourself to sit back next to him, your legs crossed in front of you as you fidgeted with your fingers in your lap. The quiet music on the TV was fading in and out and as the song played, somehow it managed to calm both your nerves, at least a little bit. You slowly leaned over and put your head onto his shoulder as you sat together, bringing your hand up to wipe away a single tear that had fallen from your eye. But of course once the first one started, it was difficult to stop. Eddie only noticed your tears after he heard a few muffled sniffles from next to him.

He looked over to you and saw the wetness at your cheeks and reached one arm around your shoulder to pull you in closer,

“Why are you crying?”

“Because,” Another sniffle as you reached up to wipe your eyes, “I’m worried about you…”

The corners of Eddie’s lips curled up into a small smile as he rested his head on top of yours,

“It’ll be alright… I promise.”

You silently nodded, looking up at him with a pursed smile through your wet eyes. You didn’t know if he would be alright, but Eddie wasn’t the type to lie. Especially not to you.

With a deep breath, you slowly shut your eyes and let out a yawn, Eddie catching it and doing it himself a moment later.

“Why don’t we get to bed?” You offered, “We’ll get everything figured out in the morning.”

Eddie nodded, slowly getting up and stretching his arms over his head as you stood up next to him.

You wandered over to your bed, grabbing a few pillows and holding them in your arms as you started to pull one of the blankets away for Eddie to use before he stopped you,

“Wait! Um…” He was hesitant for a moment, but you let him take his time, “Could i uh… If you’re ok with it-“

“Do you want to sleep in bed with me?” You cut him off, seeing that he was a bit uncomfortable at the thought of having to ask. He nodded and you smiled to him as you placed the pillows back into their spots, “Of course you can.”

You pulled the covers back to make room for him as he wandered to the other side of your bed. He’d stayed the night plenty of times before, but never like this. Just the two of you sharing a bed. The thought of it made his heart flutter, and maybe under different circumstances he might even consider it a romantic thing between you with the music helping the mood. But he was just happy that you cared so much for him.

He didn’t know if you liked him or not, but he knew that you loved each other.

“Go ahead and make yourself comfortable.” You fluffed up his pillows as he sat at the edge of your bed, grabbing the remote as you walked over to Eddie’s side, “Here. Put on anything you want, i’m going to go downstairs really quick and make sure everything is locked up ok?”

Eddie nodded as he took the remote from you, closing his eyes gently as you pushed his hair back from his forehead and placed a gentle kiss onto the skin,

“I’ll be right back, but just in case, you call me if you need me ok?”

He nodded once more, the corners of his lips curling into a smile as he watched you leave the room. The quiet music and the sound of your fading footsteps somehow made him forget about the incident. Or at least forget as much of it as he could.

He kept his attention on the TV, listening to the music play to get his mind off of everything else that had happened that night. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew that he couldn’t have you getting hurt because of him too.

He looked at the remote in his hands and fidgeted with the buttons for a moment, looking back up at the door as he heard you enter the upstairs hallway and close your bedroom door behind you.

“All locked up.” You said with a smile.

Eddie smiled back and took a deep breath as he set the remote onto the nightstand next to your bed.

“Want to keep the TV on?” You asked as another song started to play.

Drive by The Cars.

Eddie nodded and pulled the covers up over himself, settling into bed, yet keeping his eyes on you. He needed to make sure he had you in his sight, just in case. You reached out and turned off the light switch, the glow from the TV softly illuminating your room.

It was strange.

You’d dreamt of a moment like this before.

Eddie in bed with you, safe and comforted, though you never had imagined it would happen like this.

You slowly walked over to your side of the bed, lifting the covers and laying yourself next to Eddie as he sat with his back against the pillows resting on the headboard. He had been staring at nothing and yet he seemed like he had been seeing everything at once. Glazed over with both fear and exhaustion. All you wanted to do was help, Eddie knew that, but a situation like this was so hard to read.

“Hey,” You said softly up to him, his head turning to look down to you, “lay down. I want to talk to you for a second, ok?”

Eddie slowly moved his body downward, lifting the covers up as he adjusted himself next to you, trying so desperately to keep himself at a respectful distance. His face was close to yours, noses so close to touching, and you could feel the warmth of his body as it lay close. Even in times like this he still kept so warm.

“I’m scared too… I don’t know what it is that you saw, but i promise you that i’ll do everything i can to make sure you’re safe.”

“(y/n), you don’t have to do that-“

“I do.” You cut him off sternly, “Eddie, i love you. I care about you. The only other time you’ve ever come to my house freaked out was when Wayne caught you swapping out his vodka because you didn’t know alcohol froze.” Eddie smiled to himself as he remembered that night, knowing he fully deserved his punishment for doing something that stupid, “Whatever happened, i know you didn’t do it. I know you. Do you have anywhere else you can stay? Some place safer?”

Eddie thought to himself for a moment. He didn’t know. He had a million things racing through his head, before finally looking to you and nodding his head. You were unsure of his answer, but you didn’t want to keep prying.

“I don’t want to tell you what to do Eddie, but you really need to tell someone what happened.” You reached your hand up and gently held his cheek, and you could see that though he didn’t know what he needed, he needed you to be there with him, “I just want you to be ok…”

He could hear the cracking of your voice, knowing how hard you were trying to hold back your emotions, but it was terrifying. For him, for you, and for god knows who else this may have happened to.

Eddie reached up and grasped your hand in his, holding it tightly as he looked to your eyes,

“I promise i’ll be ok.”

You couldn’t tell if he meant it, but you nodded as you looked to him. He wanted to be ok, and you knew he could take care of himself, but when Eddie needed help you knew it was serious. You just hoped he’d be able to come out of this unharmed.

Eddie took a deep breath and moved his hand to the back of your head, raising his lips and pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. His arms slowly wrapped around your body, pulling you in close, and as he moved himself closer to you it was clear he was starting to cry again. Softly. Quietly.

Your arms moved around him and held him tightly, one hand slowly moving through his hair as the other gently scratched over his shoulders to comfort him,

“Shh, it’s ok…” His quiet sobs and whimpers only made you hug him closer, “I’m right here with you, you’re safe, i promise…”

It would take a while before either of you would get any sleep, you figured as much when Eddie ran through your door and into your arms. He needed someone there and you were so happy to be the person he came to, wether you knew how to help him or not.

As you lay in each others arms, the slow song playing softly from the TV soon was able to lull you both to sleep.

Every now and then throughout the night, Eddie would wake up in a cold sweat, seeing the scene that had unfolded before his eyes earlier. He’d look around the room, see you sleeping so soundly in his arms, and he’d calm down.

He was safe where he was.

[tinosawruswrites]

Drunken Confessions

Week 2: Drunken Confessions (One-shot)

BG3 Baddies/Lilith Hell Discord server Fanfic prompt

Word count: ~3100 words

Synopsis: After saving the world, the party holds a drunken celebration at the Elfsong. Goofy chaos ensues and Alina (Tav) in her heavily inebriated state confesses her feelings to Astarion.

Tags/Warnings: Named Fem! Tav (Alina), OC Tav with backstory and defined personality, rogue half-elf Tav, spawn Astarion, spoilers for act3, spoilers for the ending of the game, side character Gale, Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Minsc, Jaheira, Halsin and Minthara, reckless alcohol consumption, minor dubcon cause one of them is absolutely blasted, but it’s mostly innocent little kissies on the cheeks etc, attempts at comedy.

Extra special thanks to @charmandabear for helping me by proofreading, fixing grammar errors and giving me insight on how to better my writing!

The party arrived safely back to what remained of the Elfsong. The tavern had been spared from most of the chaos of battle, its structure intact, but a part of its roof collapsed and a couple of its walls with gaping holes in it – almost a fit metaphor for the state of the party.

Karlach and Wyll went off to Avernus and the Emperor disappeared. Astarion had to make a brief vanishing act to escape the sun, emerging back into the group only after Gale located the spellbook that allowed him to cast darkness.

Alina had started crying when Astarion made a run for it and Karlach almost burnt alive. She calmed briefly after each of their little problems was solved, but didn’t stop fully until after they had all settled in the Elfsong.

Lae’zel attempted to voice her plans to leave once they were done, but felt too bad to actually commit once Alina took both of her hands into her own, eyes leaking and lips trembling, shaking her head.

It postponed the githyanki’s departure, possibly indefinitely.

The rest of the party didn’t voice their need to leave, or at least hid any such plans as to not upset Alina even further. After all, they had just barely saved the world and they had a celebration to attend to.

Despite its worn down status, the Elfsong was a sight for sore eyes and the innkeeper was more than happy to return to his everyday job serving food and drinks, instead of fending off against mindflayers and their minions.

The group settled within the tavern’s torn down walls, chose a table and began their celebration with a round of drinks.

“To Karlach and Wyll!” hailed Gale to honor their friends.

“To Karlach and Wyll!” the group repeated and toasted their drinks together.

Alina downed her pint in one go like a thirsty sailor, slamming the empty vessel back against the table, much to everyone’s surprise. She wiped away the foam clinging under her nose and hiccuped loudly. The group broke into laughter and toasted again. Alina giggled, hiccuping again, her small frame already swaying.

All drinks were on the house and the merry making escalated rapidly as the day progressed into the afternoon. Alina managed to down another pint almost immediately after the first one, prompting Shadowheart to ban her from drinking anything else for a while.

“It’s for Karlach and… Wyll… They would have wanted for us to… to… be happy and not sad after winning.” Alina was already partially slurring some of her words, surprising even herself.

“And they would want us to also not die of alcohol poisoning while doing so, I’m sure,” Shadowheart reminded Alina, patting her in the back while holding her own freshly poured cup of wine in the other.

This seemed to work and kept Alina from drinking for a good while, coming down to a comfortable buzz after Gale convinced her to eat something to soak up the alcohol. 

She wasn’t much of a drinker in her free time and thus didn’t have much experience when it came to drinking. She did a lot of taste testing and sampled each concoction carefully before deciding if she liked it, only finishing those she did. She got her samples by stealing from the cups of her friends, mostly from Gale.

She distracted him by hugging him first, then poked him on the shoulder from behind, duping him into turning towards the non existent person trying to get his attention, allowing her to take a loud slurp from the goblet in his hands.

Gale chuckled at Alina’s antics but loudly reprimanded her with a couple choice words after falling for her cheap trick for the third time, forcing Shadowheart to come and help put a stop to the blatant drink thievery, only to end up as the next victim.

She forced a giggling Alina to sit down with her around a lone table, closely monitoring the rogue with both of her arms crossed, a full wine goblet in front of her. Alina had her own goblet full of water in front of her, but when Shadowheart’s attention inevitably faltered, the rogue used the moment to swap their drinks.

Shadowheart turned to watch Alina gleefully down her supposed goblet of water and smiled approvingly, taking a victorious sip of her own, quickly finding out the trickery.

What followed was a full on pursuit with Shadowheart and Gale chasing after Alina while she went on a wild alcohol motivated crime spree, stealing as many sips from as many of her friend’s drinks as she could. Laughter rumbled from all over the tavern that had slowly filled up with more patrons as the day progressed.

After getting apprehended by none other than Halsin and told to slow down, Alina calmed down like a tamed feral kitten, already feeling the booze take effect. Shadowheart and Gale sighed of relief, settling into their own merry-making, knowing for certain that Halsin’s gentle authority would keep Alina in line, and it did.

She slowed down remarkably, most definitely due to her absolutely hammered state.

She was mostly a giddy drunk, happily singing and dancing around the tavern with everyone who would engage with her. However, her joy would take a brief, yet intense nosedive whenever she remembered their missing companions, oftentimes triggering the moodswing herself by trying to find either Karlach or Wyll. She would sink to a low, depressive slouch, ugly crying until comforted and reminded that despite being forced to leave, they were both still alive and well.

Hopefully.

But that was something nobody wanted to add.

After the fourth bout of crying, it was Jaheira’s turn to console Alina, - Gale, Shadowheart, and Halsin had each had their turns already. In a rare motherly fashion, the druid decided it was better for the rogue to take a break from drinking and sit down at the sidelines to separate her from all the wild partying of the others.She tutted at the young half-elf while guiding her under her arm away from the loud center of the tavern, soothing her with druidic words of wisdom about “rivers always finding the sea at the end” and “strong roots that joined trees that were distances apart.”

Alina sniffled and nodded at her, allowing herself to be seated in one of the quieter corners of the tavern, right next to Astarion. The vampire was lounging in one of the more comfortable seats the tavern had to offer, a leather armchair with a small foot rest.

He was swirling his wine in a goblet, one empty bottle next to him and another one halfway done on the table, terribly bored being his inability to get drunk in the traditional way.

He raised an eyebrow seeing Jaheira half carrying a clearly very drunk Alina to sit next to him.

“Keep an eye on her and don’t let her drink anymore.” Jaheira gestured towards Alina.

“...What? I’m not a-”

A loud crash sounded off from the other end of the tavern. Minsc had accidentally broken a table by drunkenly trying to demonstrate a handstand upon it, shattering a bunch of wine bottles, glasses and a couple pints on his way down towards the floor through it.

“Minsc is fine! No worries friends!” the ranger called from the floor while groaning, sounding remarkably sober but struggling to orient himself.

Boo squeaked something from the front counter, safely tucked inside a small, makeshift hanging swing with a biscuit in its paws.

“Ah, Boo! Your wisdom is truly boundless!” Minsc exclaimed, and supposedly tried to follow the hamster’s advice by rolling himself over, somehow failing.

Lae’zel, though nearby, was of no help, being absolutely smashed after winning a drinking contest against a couple dwarves that Shadowheart had goaded her into. The githyanki was muttering incomprehensible things in her native tongue, while clumsily offering the drunk ranger still struggling on the floor a chair to continue the handstand demonstration on, all the while barely staying on her own two feet.

A heavily wine-tipsy Shadowheart sat next to the two, too busy laughing at the fallen ranger and the fumbling githyanki to try to help. She laughed hard enough to double over and ended up falling on the floor herself.

Gale was unable to help as he had been passed out for more than an hour after enjoying one glass of wine too many. He laid on his front on the floor near the fireplace, half-naked, all limbs spread open like a starfish.

Halsin was nowhere to be seen at first glance, but one could spot a snoring bear surrounded by a pile of empty honey mead bottles under the table near the counter.

Minthara sat smirking at the chaos from the opposite end of the tavern. Legs crossed on top of a table, wine glass in hand, unwilling to meddle and ruin the wild entertainment her companions provided her, while Scratch laid sleeping under her chair.

Jaheira snapped her attention back towards Astarion and gestured towards the chaos that had unraveled before them, beckoning him to go sort out the mess in her stead. The vampire spawn wrinkled his nose at the wordless suggestion, leaned back on his chair, extended his arm towards Alina and gave her shoulder a couple small clumsy pats, content on his less burdensome task. Jaheira scoffed at him and went to sort out the drunken mess.

Astarion watched the druid leave and emptied his wine goblet before turning to look at Alina. She was slowly getting over her most recent crying fit while Jaheira began to put things and people in order in the background.

Astarion gave Alina the best smile he could muster, uncomfortable and unsure how to approach the situation. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Darling, you look awful.”

Alina just nodded at him.

“… I know,” she sniffled and rubbed her swollen eyes.

She raised her head to stare at nothing in particular and contemplated her words before speaking up again.

“Is just… I love them so much. Wyll and Karlach. The Emperor too… well. The Emperor… in a way, sort of. I think,” Alina babbled and blinked, her inebriated state giving her great difficulty in grasping her thoughts.“I miss them already.”

Astarion nodded and refilled his wine goblet.“Well, there’s nothing much we can do for any of them at the moment. What’s done is done. The Netherbrain is defeated and the tadpoles are gone. Hooray for victory,” he sighed bitterly while taking another useless gulp of wine.

Alina caught him off guard when she suddenly climbed into his lap, practically draping herself over him. He had to put down his goblet to use both of his arms to prevent her from falling off.

“...sorry,” Alina mumbled against his shoulder.

“Pardon?” Astarion asked blankly while securing her against himself.

“I’m sorry… you can’t walk under the sun… anymore, it must have been painful...” she lifted her face to speak clearer and hugged him tighter.

“Oh, darling, that…”

“I love you too, you know.”

Astarion froze and stopped breathing for a solid minute. He would have liked to see Alina’s face, but she had leaned it out of view over his shoulder. He turned his head slowly towards her, burying his nose into her brown locks. She smelled of fresh apples, vanilla, booze and saltwater. A strange combination that shouldn’t have smelled as nice as it did.

“It’s not fair… You deserve happiness, true happiness…after everything… you went through,” she continued, caressing his back up and down in comforting motions. “I’m sorry we didn’t find… a solution, and you got hurt.” Alina’s fingers dug into the back of his jacket, crumpling it in her sloppy grasp.

Astarion was speechless. He felt his head slump against Alina’s, his arms hesitantly holding her back. He nodded, barely moving his head as he swallowed dryly.

Jaheira, in the meantime, was almost done getting everyone back up, patiently reprimanding Minsc for causing destruction, helping Shadowheart up from the ground and commanding Lae’zel to sit on the chair she was still holding onto.

“Well darling, if it’s any consolation…”

Alina hiccuped loudly, interrupting him.

Astarion rubbed her back.

“...As I was saying, if it-”

Alina hiccuped loudly again.

She pulled her upper body away from Astarion and met his gaze, eyes wide.

“Uh-HIC-huh?”

Astarion sucked in his lips for a brief moment, trying to keep himself from laughing. Alina hiccuped again while waiting for him to finish.

“I’m going to hold my breath.” Alina stated, drunkenly confident.

“I don’t think it’s a…”

But Alina had already inhaled deeply and was puffing out her cheeks, trying to hold her breath. Astarion had trouble keeping his composure. Another hiccup made Alina jump in place and she frowned with annoyance before she stubbornly inhaled more air into her lungs. Astarion stopped breathing alongside her, like a strange show of camaraderie.

Her face began to turn red, but the hiccup didn’t let up.

“Unlike me, you will eventually suffocate if you do not breathe, sweetheart,” Astarion reminded helpfully.

Alina shook her head at him, eyes scrunched shut so tightly she could pass for a mummy.

She hiccuped again.

The fury in Alina’s eyes was comically over the top when she was forced to exhale and start breathing again, the hiccup undefeated.

Astarion burst into laughter.

The momentary disappointment in Alina’s face was taken over by confusion, then a curious humor.

“What? Is my -HIC- struggle -HIC- funny to -HIC- you?” Alina chuckled to herself, trying to feign anger at Astarion.

“Oh yes. Yes it is, my sweet.” Astarion grinned wide, all sharp fangs interrupting rows of perfect teeth.

Alina grinned with him, still hiccuping every now and then.

“I… love hearing you laugh,” Alina said, somehow managing to stifle the hiccup.

Astarion settled, searching through Alina’s joyful gaze with his own.

“And seeing you grin like that,” she paused, pressing a finger against Astarion’s upper lip, parting it slightly to show one of his fangs.

Her focus was intense enough to forget about the hiccups.

“I think... your fangs are cute. Makes me think of… kissing them. Sometimes.” Alina focused on his lips and went quiet.

Her hiccups stopped, but she didn’t notice.

Alina began forming useless shapes with her mouth, face reddening while clearly struggling to think. She blinked rapidly, as if it would somehow help her form more coherent thoughts. Her eyes began to flicker between Astarion’s eyes and mouth.

“I… think about... kissing you… a lot, actually.”

Alina’s gaze met Astarion’s again, this time maintaining eye contact. She licked her lips and giggled shyly. Astarion nodded silently and licked his own lips, eyes staring unblinkingly at Alina. He raised a hand to gently cup her cheek, brushing his thumb over her freckles.

“Then… why don’t you?”

Alina’s smile was gone in an instant. The rest of her face bloomed red, the blush creeping all the way down to her neck and up to the tips of her ears. She swallowed nervously and grew hesitant.

“W-would it… be alright…?” she asked as a strained whisper.

Astarion smirked and tilted his head, raising a curious brow at her. He watched as Alina breathed slowly in front of him, waiting for his answer. He could hear the way her heart hammered inside her chest, pumping heated, alcohol filled blood through her veins. Even wasted beyond reason, she was still adorably considerate.

“If you want to.”

“W-where… would it be… alright to?”

“Anywhere you want, sweet Alina…” he purred her name and drank in the way she practically melted on his lap.

Alina nodded, the unfocused look in her eyes telling him that his words barely registered. She gave him a shy smile, then turned serious before lifting a clumsy hand to map out his face.

Astarion watched as Alina trailed her fingers up along his cheek, over his temple and brushed through some of the unruly curls covering his pointy ears. Her eyes met his gaze again and she gave him another shy, earnest grin.

“…cute,” she said and leaned closer to his face.

Her expression turned thoughtful once again as her fingertips brushed along Astarion’s cool skin, feeling it over like delicate silk. She finally shut her eyes and pressed a soft kiss on the hollow of his cheek, just below his cheekbone.

She pulled away with her face lowered, giggling like crazy. Astarion couldn’t help but grin with her.

“Is that all?” he asked her.

Alina’s alcohol-hazed thoughts scattered even more upon his question. Her golden eyes gleamed with reserved interest and she bit on her lower lip, shaking her head slowly.

“Well, go ahead then, love.”

Some kind of suffocated sound escaped Alina’s lungs before she nodded and raised a shaky hand to cup his face again. She pressed a soft kiss on his other cheek this time, pulled back with an unsure look, then kissed his cheek slightly higher after he blinked in confirmation.

From there, she didn’t need more encouragement and showered Astarion with kisses all over his face, his temples, forehead, jawline and even the tip of his nose, tactfully avoiding the area near his lips.

Her breath smelled heavily of a variety of different kinds of booze and her lips left warm, slightly moist patches wherever she pressed them.

Alina pulled away and tried to blink away the delirium caused by the kissing, cheeks deliciously flushed, lips gleaming slightly. Astarion maintained a smile throughout the whole show of affection, finding himself humming when Alina kissed closer to his ears.

Alina brushed her thumb against his chin and pressed one final kiss inside the borders of his laugh lines.She pulled back heaving and grinned.

“I… I think I’m drunk.”

Astarion chuckled.

“You think so?”

Alina nodded, dead serious.

“What do you want to do now, miss drunk?”

“I want to…”

Alina squirmed on Astarion’s lap and nestled herself against his chest, head rested just under the side of his jaw, eyes gazing upwards at him adoringly.

“I want to stay here, if it’s… alright with you?”

“Hmm-mmh. Perfectly fine, sweetheart.”

Alina smiled and placed her open palm against his chest.

“I love you a lot, you know.”

“I… think I do, darling,” he smiled down at her, raised a hand, and hesitated briefly before brushing it through her hair.

“Hmmm,” Alina hummed and leaned into the touch.

For the rest of the evening, Alina sat comfortably in Astarion’s embrace, lounging with him on the leather armchair in their private little corner, slowly sobering up while trying to sneak sips from his wine goblet and being tricked into drinking water instead.

She would thank him later for it, suffering a milder hangover compared to everyone else who drank.

[deltadream]

Have a continuation on my thoughts about the What if Akivili Never Died AU, first thought of by @ryn-halo26

This is just what I think Akivili thinks of the people in HSR

The Astral Express

Trailblazer

Their new kid!

They think they're interesting. Considering Akivili had been around a very long time, when something new happens they'll get interested. A human hosting a stellaron? Definitely new and interesting. Akivili probably knows just how much damage stellarons can do, since it had once damaged some of the Astral Express's rails, so considering a person can host one? Yeah they're keeping their eye on them. Other then that though, I'd expect Akivili to treat them like another of their kids (the Express crew). After all, the Trailblazer's on a journey too!

March 7th

March! Precious baby March!!

That's probably it. To Akivili March is the baby. They join March in everything she does, from juice making to shopping, if March asks them to, of course. I think Akivili may or may not have somewhat of an idea of where she came from but they can't really pin point where exactly. Nevertheless, whenever Akivili and March go out to have fun, expect another member of the crew to tag along, if only to make sure the two of them don't get extra chaotic

Dan Heng (leaks + spoilers)

Their quiet child!!

To them Dan Heng is somewhat of a mystery. They are aware that he is a vidyadhara, since they probably knew Long and so knew their progeny. Yes, Dan Heng doesn't look like a vidyadhara but they knew very well what Long felt like, and all of Long's children had that same feeling, albeit fainter, but still there. Akivili doesn't know why Dan Heng was exiled from the Luofu, because that had to be the only reason why he didn't want to go back, and they pressed the reason out of him, but they never said anything. The Astral Express was open to all, even those who were running away from their past.

Welt Yang

The eldest of their kids!!

If Dan Heng was running away from his past, Welt was running towards it. Welt and his strange companion had been their first passengers in a long time, Himeko did not count, and even after the strange companion left without a goodbye, Welt stayed and continued on with Akivili and Himeko. There had been something odd about him, but after some pressing it seemed? to be fine. Well, being able to create anything just by knowing how it worked, including black holes? Welt was a strange man, but a well meaning one. Akivili was still so very curious about his home planet, perhaps when they arrived there they would go around and find out how exactly it worked.

Himeko

Their precious child!!!

Himeko meant a lot to Akivili, as the one who not only fixed their train, but also looked after them while they slowly recovered. She had also been the first person to walk on their Path in such a long time. So yes, Himeko is their favourite, no doubt about it. They still love the rest of their crew though. But as the first person who reignited their drive to Trailblaze across the Universe, Himeko would always have a special place in their train.

Pom Pom

Their little friend!!!

Pom Pom has always been there, but dear Pom Pom was no fixer, so it was no surprise that they'd disappear. Where, Akivili had no idea, but at least the little bunny had been safe. How warm their heart was, when they travelled together again, just like the old times.

Gonna do some more characters later :)

[whosscruffylooking]

The Beginning of Us Part 2 (Joel Miller x Fem! Reader)

A/N: Here is part 2! Next chapter brings the ultimate heartbreaks, so I will be spending a little extra time on it. Also, if anyone wants to be added to the tag list for this series please let me know!

Series Masterlist

Warnings! Spoilers for TLOU Episode 1, mentions of death, mention of panic attack, angst.

Word Count: 3.9k

»»————-　♡　————-««

*September 26, 2003* ~Later That Evening~ "So, the answer would be 783?" Sarah appears unsure. You give her a reassuring nod, "Exactly. Great job. You know, as much as I dread going to work every day, I'm so glad I don't have to do homework anymore." The two of you are sitting on her bed agonizing over her algebra homework.

As she piles up all of her papers into her folder, you wander around her room, examining all of the little touches that make the room hers. There is a simple, yet strong feminine touch to her room. A clear representation of the latest teen trends, and yet it is all a reflection of her youthful vibrance.

The poster in the corner of the room catches your eye, "You really do love Halican Drops huh?" "It's my dream to see them in concert one day," she says with a sparkle in her eye. "I think we should go sometime," you wink at her.

She jumps off of her bed, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I saw them once live and they are amazing. It would be even more fun to go with another fellow superfan."

Her enthusiastic expression turns to a more solemn one. Extending your arm out to her you bring her back over to the bed to sit down, "What's wrong Sarah?"

She pauses and takes a deep breath, "My dad is a good man...but he's been through a lot. He has been hurt a lot. Uncle Tommy has tried to get him to date, but nothing ever comes of it. That's why I know you are different."

"W-what?" Your brain stutters for a moment, struggling to process what is happening.

"I know you slept over last night. And before you freak out about that, I just want you to know that it makes me happy to see my dad as optimistic as he's been. He's come out of his shell again. I swear to God everything we talk about somehow comes full circle back to you too. The other day I said I want to go to Disney World and he told me how you have a baby picture of yourself with Mickey Mouse on your fridge. That was my first signal that my suspicions have been accurate."

Leaning forward, you take her hands into yours once more, "Sarah...if any of this makes you uncomfortable at all please tell me. I would never want to overstep or make you feel like-"

"Hey hey hey, I'm so happy about this. Since you moved in a year ago, you've slowly brought my dad back to me. I can see the way he looks at you, it's kind of how he looks at me...but different."

Tightening your grasp around her hands, you draw her into a hug. She settles into your embrace and whispers, "Just don't hurt him." Kissing the top of her head you quietly express, "I'll keep him safe I promise."

»»————- ♡ ————-«« The rest of the night is spent waiting on Joel to get home. You and Sarah intensely watched the clock as the hours passed by, wondering when he'd get back.

Finally, the door-knob to the front door begins to shake and you can hear Joel mutter a curse word when he realizes it's locked. "Well, you locked the door for once, good job," he acknowledges Sarah once inside. "That's because I made her," you stare down at her. Nothing can hide the disappointment on her face. She'd wanted so badly to spend the day celebrating her dad, and nothing had gone according to plan.

The young girl kindly reprimands her father for coming home past the time he'd promised AND for forgetting to bring home a cake, she makes him swear to make up for it tomorrow. Eager to move past the awkwardness and save Joel a little embarrassment, you signal to Sarah to give him his watch.

"Fixed it for you," her hopeful eyes look to his in search of commendation and gratitude. He tricks her into thinking that the watch wasn't properly fixed and you watch the two of them with such admiration, for the beautiful bond they have. The ability to have a deep father, daughter relationship and yet be each other's best friends was so endearing. You never want to come between them, but you'd be honored to have a front-row seat to their little family unit.

"Where'd you get the money for this?" He inquires.

"Drugs. I sell hardcore drugs," she says in all seriousness.

You and Joel laugh in unison, your eyes meeting briefly before turning your attention back to his daughter.

"Actually," she rests her head on your shoulder, "Y/N helped."

There is a pleased look in his eye, as his gaze meets yours. It's as if some element of peace washed over him and pure contentment settled into his rough features. It's been years since a woman showed him this much kindness, and you'll be damned if that job ever goes to someone else. »»————- ♡ ————-«« Sarah had fallen asleep to a movie, her head laying in Joel's lap. The two of you kept stealing glances throughout the movie. You feel his fingertips graze your shoulder and you turn to him, resting your head on the back of the sofa.

"Hi Joel," your pupils dilate.

"Hi beautiful," his eyes twinkle, fixated on studying every detail of your face.  

Very quickly, you learn that your conversations do not need words to feel meaningful. The tilts of your heads, the shrugs of your shoulders, the serene sighs of surrender when you feel completely at ease with one another. Both of you are soothed by each other's presence and it is evident even in the voids of quietness. In those moments you can fully savor the company of the other and thrive off of the respect and admiration that radiates from you. There is a feeling of safety and confidence that stays between you and has existed since the beginning of your friendship.

The sharp ringing of the phone snaps you both back to reality. He answers it. You can't make out the words but can tell it is Tommy on the other line. With a heavy sigh, Joel falls back against the couch in defeat.

Damn it Tommy. You got yourself locked up again, didn't you?

Joel turns to you, jaw clenched with annoyance, forehead furrowed in disappointment. He wants to stay here with you a little while longer.

You offer to remain at the house and make sure Sarah is taken care of while he picks up Tommy. He takes her upstairs to tuck her into her bed. Dragging himself back downstairs, he rolls his neck from one side to the other in an endeavor to relieve the kinks. Stifling a yawn, you meet him halfway in the living room.

"We'll be here when you get back."

Although his expression was pensive, it eases slightly as you pull him out of his thoughts and back into the present with you.

"Thank you for staying with Sarah. Hell, sleeping over two nights in a row...things are getting serious." He gives you a goofy smile.

"Go!" You let out a short laugh and shove him out the front door. »»————- ♡ ————-«« As the hours rolled by, your sense of urgency grew. Joel should have been back with Tommy by now. Eager to distract yourself you turn on the television and aimlessly channel surf until you discover a movie that piques your interest. Another hour of watching the front door, willing Joel and Tommy to walk through it, passes by.

Drowsiness begins to overtake you. You take your eyes off of the television screen not wanting to exert any more effort into looking at it. Each muscle in your body begins to release the tension of the day, one by one as you settle onto the couch. The faint buzz of the television lulls you to the edge of sleep in mere moments.

Jolted awake by the deafening rumble of helicopters passing overhead, you fight off the dream that is still clouding your mind. Everything from your eyelashes to your feet feels heavy. Resting your eyes once more, you grant yourself another moment to enjoy the void of unconsciousness.

That moment is interrupted by Sarah shaking you awake.

"Y/N, what's going on? I think I can see explosions outside..."

Groggily sitting up, your vision finally focuses on the TV just past Sarah. The channel that was airing a movie not too long ago is now distorted with static. Sarah picks up the remote and changes the channel.

"STAY INDOORS! Law enforcement and emergency services are in the area and will be in contact with further instructions."

"What the f-"

Your attention shifts from the national alert to the sound of scratching at the window. The Adler's dog is loose and attempting to get into the house.

Okay, this night CANNOT get any stranger.

"It's Mercy! We need to see if he's okay," Sarah rushes to the door. You grab her arm, "Uh, I don't think that's a good idea. I think we need to stay inside right now and keep the doors locked."

"But he never gets loose. What if something is wrong with the Adlers?"

Suppressing the dread that is developing rapidly within you, you swallow your fear for Sarah's sake. You have to keep things calm and safe for her.

"Alright," you smooth your hand over her hair, "I'm gonna go over to my house and grab my nursing kit okay? Let me go check on them, but you do not, and I am so serious right now....do NOT leave this house by any means. Understand?"

She was too frightened to even lift her head, rather she stared out the window at the distant flares of light coming from the city.

You kneel to her level and hold her for a moment, "Everything is going to be alright okay?"

"Can I see if Mercy is okay?"

Conceding, you cautiously open the door and allow Sarah to clutch onto the dog. "Remember Sarah, do not leave the house."

Your pulse beats in your ears, as you turn to face your house. Although your mind is intent on making the trek across the street, it is as if your feet are cemented to the ground.

You tell yourself that being a little nervous is a completely normal reaction to what is going on. But that's just it, what IS going on?

God Joel, where the hell are you?

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"Damn it Tommy can you drive any faster?"

Tommy's grip on the wheel tightens, finding an odd comfort in the grooves between his fingers.

"Joel, I am going as fast as I can okay? They will be fine. Sarah is a smart girl and she has Y/N who won't let anything bad happen to them."

Joel could not wrap his mind around any of the events that transpired once he left his home to go get Tommy. One second he was in the comfort of his living room, within arms reach of the woman he'd just spent the most incredible night with. And his daughter, the embodiment of his heart and soul, was safe asleep on his lap. Next thing he knows, he and Tommy are being chased by a stampede of rabid-like inmates at the Travis County Jail. He could no longer restrain the tremors in his hands, shaking in an irregular rhythm.

"You really care about this girl don't you," Tommy's voice manages to break through the wall of thoughts blockading Joel from thinking clearly.

Recalling the night before, he is transported back to the moment when you pulled his shirt over his head and started grazing your hands across his chest, down the ridge in between his abs. It was a sensory overload, every nerve ending in his body tingled with anticipation. The two of you collapsed onto his bed, your bodies trembling as you bonded with every motion, each passionate touch leaving a flaming sensation on your skin. Your hearts raced in tempo with one another, like a symphony crescendoing to its epic finale.

"I do. This is the only time since Sarah's mom left that I've felt alive. Young again, invincible." Joel has never felt so certain in his life about someone, not even his ex-wife. Being with you is effortless. In your presence, he feels weightless. Like a drug, you drew him in slowly, tempting his every desire. At first, he took you in, little by little. And without detection, he became addicted. »»————- ♡ ————-«« Emerging from your home, nursing kit in hand, you prepare yourself for whatever you might face at the Adler's home. Surely it is nothing too grave, and yet you can't help but wonder why her kids didn't come to get you or call 911 if something happened to Nana?

Passing Joel's house, panic passes over you, causing the fine hairs on the back of your neck to rise. The front door is still open. Your mind races faster than your feet as you rush into the house. The endless possibilities as to what could've happened to her plague you.

You are confident that if anything happens to Sarah, Joel will strangle you with his bare hands...and not in a pleasurable way. Even if you told that stubborn girl not to move a finger from where you left her. She reminds you so much of yourself though. Curiosity can be so enticing at times that it blinds a person. Especially someone with as honorable of a heart as Sarah's.

"Sarah!" You frantically call out in each room.

Where are she and that damn dog?

Joel, hurry up. Please.

After surveying the entirety of the house to no avail, your chest tightens, and your lungs feel as though they have been wrung out of oxygen. Unsure of whether or not your lack of oxygen is due to the running or the panic attack creeping up on you, you take a moment to gather your thoughts. Mind over matter. Where would she go?

The dog. The damn dog. She's at the Adler's.

The next few seconds are a blur. You are uncertain how you got to the Adler's doorstep so swiftly. It felt like you were practically flying. Similar to Joel's home, the front door is open.

This girl needs to learn how to not only lock doors but actually CLOSE them.

A sickening sensation flares through your body as you peer into the still home. There go the hairs on the back of your neck again, but this time, the tingling sensation snakes down your spine and arms too.  Instinctually, you know not to go in there. But, Sarah is in there and she matters more than any gut feeling or self-preservation right now.  

"Sarah?"

Apprehensively, you venture deeper into the house. That's when you lay eyes on her, frozen in the kitchen. Unclear as to what she is fixated on, you join her in the doorway. That's when you see it. A trail of blood leads directly to Mr. Adler, his mouth agape and his limbs contorting. At first, the sight does not phase you. As a nurse working in an emergency room, you handle bloody wounds day in and day out. It's not until you look closely at where the blood is coming from that your fears reignite.

Is that...a bite wound?

A guttural noise captures your attention. Following Sarah's line of sight, terror sucks the very breath from your lungs. There is Nana, atop Mrs. Adler. Another river of blood floods from the daughter-in-law's neck.

Nana's raspy breathing slows to a more even tempo as she raises her eyes toward you. Vine-like appendages protrude from her mouth, attaching themselves to Connie's neck. The drumming of your heart, deafening and irregular, obscures your mind with fear.

Fight? Or flight? First, get Sarah as far away as possible.

Latching onto Sarah's arm, you tug her behind you.

One word. "Run."

Keeping your eyes on the gasping old woman, you ready yourself to prevent her from reaching Sarah at all costs. You listen intently for Sarah's footsteps pounding out of the house until you are positive she's made it outside.

You can feel the flight responses taking over your body, flooding you with increased adrenaline.

Nana stumbles to her feet as she releases a splintering screech. That is when the adrenaline ceases full control over your body, sending you hurdling towards the front door. Whatever creature has possessed the once docile elderly lady, is now hot on your heels. Her bone-chilling snarls signal you to her presence behind you.

Just as you begin to fear the worst outcome, you see him.

"Don't go," Joel's pleas echo in your mind from mere hours ago.

The thought of being wrapped up in his secure embrace once more drives you to push your legs harder.

Anguish pierces his voice as he calls out your name. Even so, it translates into a calming melody that brings some clarity to your mind.

"Get behind me..." He motions you over to Sarah.

As you hold her trembling frame, you turn back to Nana who is collapsed on the ground. Her limbs are mangled and her eyes are void of any life. Suddenly, the sharp cracking of her bones churns your stomach. Like a rabid animal, she growls and sprints toward Joel on all fours. Rising to her feet and closing in on him, she flails her arms wildly.

"What are we doing Joel!?" Tommy exclaims.

Without hesitation, Joel swings the wrench clutched in his fist and lands one solid blow to the side of the woman's head, sending her motionless body to the ground. Sarah screams and you quickly shield her from the sight of her father standing over their neighbor's corpse...or at least the shell of what she used to be.

Joel rushes to his daughter's side and caresses her cheek, looking her over to make sure she's safe and in one piece.

"You killed her," she cries in disbelief as she collapses into his arms.

He tightens his grip on her, "Baby, I'm sorry." He pulls away and stares into her eyes with strength and focus, "It's not just the Adlers. But we're gonna be brave and we're gonna get out of this."

Not just the Adlers? The helicopters flying towards the city...whatever took control of Nana did not die with her, she was merely the introduction.

Feeling lightheaded, you lean against Tommy's truck. He rushes to your side and holds you up, "You got that nursing kit of yours?"

"N-no. Inside," you point to Joel's house.

One by one, generators and streetlights begin to explode. Sparks of orange and gold, light up the sky over your neighborhood.

Joel ushers Sarah into the car and turns to face you. For a brief moment, time stands still. His pupils dilate, as he looks at you, the woman who made the future look like skies as clear as sapphire. Yet, he recognizes a shift in the atmosphere. A shared dread hanging over you like a dark, impenetrable cloud. His hands tremble, searching for yours to steady them. He twitches, his body responding to your delicate touch.

"Don't go." He implores you. His signature phrase to you. That in itself could be your new love language.

Attempting to open your mouth to speak, no words flow out. A simple nod is all you can manage. With that permission, he hurries you into the truck, meanwhile warning another one of your neighbors to stay inside and lock her door. Once Joel is inside, you lean forward and drape a reassuring hand on his shoulder. A subtle, but significant sign of solidarity. He laces his fingers with yours and holds you in place against the back of his seat.

As aggressively as Tommy floors the truck into motion, he brings it to a screeching halt. The headlights of the truck illuminate the Adlers stumbling onto the street. Their limbs are just like that of Nana's, wrenched and fidgeting.

"Get your seatbelts on," Joel declares.

Tommy warns, "Hold on..."

His foot finds its way back to the accelerator with no delay. Bracing yourself for the unthinkable you turn to Sarah, "Come here." She folds into your lap, a whimper escaping her lips. The Adlers charge at the truck simultaneously. Connie soon disappears from view as the truck plows over her and sideswipes Danny.

Closing your eyes, you do everything in your might to hold down the bile rising in your throat.

Sarah sits up and wipes a few stray tears from her eyes, "Daddy-"

"We don't know," Joel interrupts.

You shake your head in disbelief, "The Adlers, they were infected with something, some kind of parasite maybe?"

"That's what they're saying on the radio, some kind of virus," Tommy confirms.

"Are we sick?" The young girl persists.

"No. Of course not," Joel's fearful tone turns to a more frustrated one. As a father, his instinct is to protect his daughter and provide her with comfort, but he has no clue what kind of threat lies ahead and can't give her satisfying answers. You tighten your hold on his hand, and he gives you a firm squeeze.

Joel's brother slows the truck as you spot a family pulled off onto the side of the road.

"Tommy, don't," you state firmly. The family shouts after you in desperation.

"But they have a kid."

"So do we," Joel glares at Tommy.

It's officially every man for themselves. Each outsider you bring into your safety net becomes a variable. An unpredictable risk that could put you and the people you care most about in grave danger.

Beams of crimson light glow in the distance, a vast sea of unmoving taillights. Seems like everyone in Austin had the escape plan as you, sending Tommy into a frenzy.

"It's okay, just think it through, we'll think it through," Joel says in repetition, not just for Tommy, but also to ease himself.

Coming from the opposing direction, panicked vehicles race towards you, and away from the perpetual gridlock that hundreds of other cars are trapped in.

Looking out the window into the vast, empty land that stretches for miles uninterrupted, you have a plan.

"Tommy, the field. It's the perfect detour. Cut across it and we will end up on the west side."

Speedily, he veers off onto the barren land. A stampede of cars follows behind you. The collective rays of the headlights light your path to....another dead end. The highway is infested with army vehicles crawling along it.

Tommy and Joel bicker over what the next move should be. Joel opts for a small town on the north side.  

"And then what?" You interject.

Joel steadies himself against the dash, the unstable terrain tossing your bodies left and right.

"I don't know. Mexico. Just far, far as we can."

Sarah's eyes gloss over. "Maybe it's everywhere. Maybe there's nowhere to go."

"Hey, hey look at me. We are going to be fine. As long as the four of us stick together, we will be fine. There will be somewhere for us to go and find safety. I promise you, we won't let anything happen to you," you place your hand over your heart and affirm to her.

The dilemma is, you don't know if you can even accept what you promised Sarah. This isn't some influenza you can shelter in place from. The battle is against mankind's worst enemy, man. But not normal men, men being transformed into monsters.

"I-I believe you." Sarah's faith in you is unshakeable, "And I love you too Y/N."

»»————-　♡　————-««

Tag List: @midgetpottermills​ @erenswiffe​ 

[angelofchaos001]

Meet Shale!

Okay I made a proper introductory post for Shale! (Schist will come once I figure out their design) I'll make them a separate post for all the dialogue I came up with.

some spoilers for the game but not a lot, also tagging time: @doodlebug091 @mellow-mooon @sawyer-is-eepy @a-crawling-chaos (Just poking at my followers/moots who I know like Outer Wilds)

Alright! Let's start the bidding at this beauty of a reference. I know it's got some messy colors and no I don't know which layer the two random dots are on to erase them, but I'm proud because I drew this without needing to reference someone else's posing art. I just used my own arms and legs to figure it out and winged it and it looks like a person. I'm proud.

While we're on the topic, I might as well discuss my thought process for their design. This is Shale when they're not busy exploring dangerous ice asteroids. I tried to make the design look comfortable, and that's the main thought behind it. Shale likes scarves. They like fingerless gloves. They like baggier shorts. They despise long pants. They don't like wearing bright colors. They like grays and browns. It's Shale in their peak of comfort.

And then we've got this one! Also done without a pose reference. I actually did draw a whole spacesuit originally, but then covered it up with that big coat they're wearing. Anyway, Shale's suit is designed to be bulky, thick, insulted, everything they'd need to explore space properly. But to add onto that, they brought the scarf and coat for extra warmth on the Interloper. A lot of their patchwork fixes were done by them on the fly, and they even made their viola case all on their own. Shale uses yellow as their bright coloration because they hate the color orange. They have a ton of rope, ice picks, and grippy boots because they knew they were going to an ice place. And that antennae on their helmet is meant to pick up distant signals, so far it has not picked up anything new.

Now it's time for what nobody came here for, the infodump about their history and personality!

Shale developed a fascination with space at a very young age. Extremely young. All it took was young Shale getting one look through a telescope to become completely obsessed with the idea that they, someday, would join the well-known travelers out there and do something legendary. Sometimes, when things lined up right, Shale got to opportunity to talk to the travelers over radio. They loved hearing stories of Feldspar's glory and dreamed to be immortalized like they were.

Once they were allowed to join Outer Wilds Ventures and start learning how to be an astronaut, Shale wasted no time being both a delight to teach and an absolute headache to watch over. Whenever they weren't learning or doing their part in the village (Shale helped keep the observatory clean), they were working on their own little project. With some help from Slate, they attempted to make a jetpack just like the spacesuits had. They got precisely two attempts at this before they were shut down, but the first attempt went off mostly fine. Despite the device not working, Shale landed mostly safely in the water and their only injuries were some scrapes and a sprained ankle.

Shale never stopped writing new ideas, but didn't physically attempt any more jetpacks for a while. Instead, they focused on studying and getting closer to the other trainees they were learning alongside. They did grow close to the protagonist, and another recruit named Tin, though weren't able to click as well with the slightly older hearthians, Schist and Bismuth. Most of their time was still spent with their mentors, but whenever hatchling wasn't working with Hal on the translator, Shale liked to be around them.

When they were a little older and nearing the end of their training, Shale made their second attempt at the jetpack, and came out with a promising result. However, this attempt went far poorer than the previous one. For one, they moved the attempt location to avoid being caught by anyone, sneaking away to some of the further-out geysers with Tin (in case something impossibly went wrong). They even snuck a spacesuit (yoinked from the Zero-G cave), since their plan was to launch from a geyser and leave the planet, just for a moment (They didn't take the jetpack there because the entire point here was testing theirs).

The plan went smoothly, with Shale indeed getting launched from the geyser and coming close to leaving the orbit of the planet, except for the part where their jetpack failed. Catastrophically. It actually exploded on their back, pretty much destroying the "borrowed" suit, but more critically, burning Shale badly. Luckily, they had brought someone else with them, so Tin was able to (try and) catch them so the fall wouldn't kill 'em and then get help for them.

Shale got taken to be medically treated, and everyone agrees they're incredibly lucky to have survived as well as they did. In spite of the massive burns, the suit protected them from the worst of it and it was really only their back that got hurt severely. While the smaller burns along their neck and arms healed fine, much of their back burns scarred and took a lot of time and effort to heal.

So. Obviously Shale got in massive trouble.

Such trouble that not only did they move their launch date back (both for recovery reasons and punishment reasons) significantly, but the others considered forcing Shale out of the space program. In the end, Shale was allowed to stay a recruit as long as they 1) Did not try that again 2) Agreed not to sneak around again 3) Helped repair the suit they'd broken and 4) Spent some time after healing not being in the program (think getting suspended). While in this suspension period, Shale got to watch Schist launch off, still fantasizing about that being them.

Shortly after Schist was Bismuth, and as Shale's own launch date approached they were eager. Tin launched a few days before their own, and so Shale spent a lot of time reassuring them that it'd be fine and they'd do great things. Eventually, it was finally Shale's turn. After camping with Slate (and having an amazing conversation about 'Why did you do the stupid thing' - 'Why did you let me do the stupid thing'), they set off for their ambition: The Interloper. They were determined to find out where it came from.

This ambition proved harder than they'd thought, but it didn't deter Shale from their goal. They became an avid studier of ghost matter by extension of their Interloper studies, and theorized a lot about what happened to the core of the asteroid and it's origins. They also spent some time studying how to make ships designed for deep space, hoping that the frozen Nomai ship they found on the asteroid could hold the answer for that.

Some time later, Tin sent everyone frantic radio messages to come back to Timber Hearth and that they'd discovered something new. Tin desperately tried to explain how they'd found a new hidden spinning disk thing, but as time passed with Tin being unable to provide real evidence, Hearthians began dismissing their claims. Shale was one of the last to give up on Tin's ideas, but eventually waved them off as mad like everyone else. They feel bad for Tin and their situation, but don't disagree with their grounding and truly believe their friend went a little crazy.

After that, some time passed, and then we hit the events of the game. They did radio Hatchling plenty of reassuring words before their launch, though!

[sabine-smitten-obviously]

And now i want my neck bitten ...

... and can pls somebody help me with the heat???

Hello my lovely co-readers! I fell into my first A/B/O-fanfic and what can i say ... I have another fanfic-review or more ff-recommendation for you!

Mark of the serpent by @naromoreau and @summerofspock

Whats it about:

Prince Aziraphale is about to be crowned King of Angelhaven when he's taken captive by pirates. When he's sold as a pleasure slave to King Crowley, ruler of the nation readying for war with his, he is forced to keep his identity a secret as he tries to find a way home and keep peace. But not everything at King Crowley's court is as it seems and Aziraphale will have to face machinations of a Royal Court that are far more complex than he had thought. A Captive Prince AU with an omegaverse twist.

What i love about it:

❤️Well, for starters - this is my very first contact with the Omegaverse. I never read anything like this before.

Basically in this story it means that Crowley is an Omega, he is a male but can get pregnant (yes i googled it and yes there are even explanatory pages for that ... 😅 i just took it as given and read on). Aziraphale is a male Alpha. I have come across some A/B/O-stories so far but never started them. Why here? Well because of the plot - Aziraphale a prince and Crowley a King - and Az becoming a pleasure slave? I am sorry, but who am I to resist?

The whole setting is already like a tale, so this makes it a lot easier to just take Omegaverse in additionally.

🤷‍♀️That said if you never have read something like this before, mind the tags. Though i would like to add: i only read stories with happy ends and sometimes the tags are even a bit off-scaring and i am truly happy i just looked at the "eventual happy ending"-tag and dove right in.

❤️When you read the summary you already know the ending, right? I mean a prince, a king, rivaling kingdoms - come on! BUT - as always its the way how we get there and the plot here is twisted, which i found quite interesting.

🤔There is also a bit of tension here, you might even call it angst - i have to admit in the last third i once went back to check on the tags if it really predicted a happy ending. Go through with it - its worth it!

❤️Without any spoilers - there is quite a span where Aziraphale has to earn Crowleys trust and love. And though i sometimes thought Crowley was a bit overreacting (i think Demon Crowley wouldnt have been able to resist Aziraphale for so long 😂) - i actually found it very healing for ME to see Ziraphe so stable and safe in his love for Crowley.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

OMG the explicit scenes! You have to know that in Omegaverse Omegas go into heat and Alphas into rut. You can imagine what happens to explicit scenes when the hormones kick in on top ... I think i am going in heat, too 😂

Look out for:

🤓a little bonus!!! there is an extra fanfic, one shot, telling Crowleys perspective on the first shared heat!

My favorite quote:

“Acceptance is a powerful thing. Once I accepted I could never stop loving you, things got easier.”

So if you like tales, are into very explicit scenes and want to give Omegaverse a try, this probably is a very good and easy start for you!

I am absolutely hooked and will look for more GOOFF (good-omens-omegaverse-fanfics) now. If you have some recs, pls comment!!! 🤗

Reading is not a hobby - it´s an attitude.🤍

[aihoshiino]

"So, are you... waiting for someone?" Ai asked after a few moments of comfortable silence, when it became apparent the little girl wasn't going to volunteer any information about herself without prompting. "No." she answered crisply. "Visiting." Ah, that explained the outfit. Maybe she'd been dressed up by her parents to look extra presentable for visiting hours. "Ah, okay. Is it a relative?" "No." Ai waited for her to elaborate. When it became clear she wouldn’t, she hazarded another guess. "A... friend?" "No." the girl repeated. But this time, she lowered the can of oshiruko from her lips and turned to face Ai, meeting her eyes with a piercing, scrutinizing stare. "This is our first meeting." A little chill ran down Ai's spine. ✧✦✧✦ Hidden away in Takachiho and awaiting the birth of her children, Ai Hoshino crosses paths with an apparent stranger, with an outsized interest in just who her children might grow up to be. A missing scene to answer the question of why exactly Ai Hoshino became the mother to two formerly motherless children.

Our favourite little creacher made her anime debut today, so here's a little boost to my Ai & Crow Girl fic! This is technically spoiler safe for anime onlies in that it does not explicitly spoil anything about her nature or identity but will broadly hint at stuff that won't be S2 material. Also, uh, her real name is right there in the tags unfortunately..... thanks AO3

[charliebug3]

Alright lads what up it's ya boi back with another crack video game lore theory but this time it's about the ark animated series because the Brainrot has gotten sooo bad dude help me

Anyway here's my theory on Rockwell's backstory based entirely on approximately 2 seconds of teasers and a singular drawing in the background. I'm expecting basically all of this to be incorrect I just think it's fun to speculate. Im tagging it as spoilers anyway just to be safe

1. He had a daughter named Charlotte (based on the drawing of a young girl in his study, which is who he likely name-drops in the part 2 teaser. I'm assuming daughter because it could serve as a bit of a stand-in for Helena's role in the game lore. Or a prerequisite. Bro is not escaping fatherhood no matter what version of the lore we go with and I think that's funny) [side note it's extremely cursed that that happens to be my name as well, Wildcard out of all the feminine English names you could have picked why did it have to be that one I'm goign to implode]

2. She died (bonus points if she dies of some illness that Rockwell himself recovers from, for that extra survivor's guilt)

3. Rockwell tried to lose himself in his work to cope, unfortunately said work happened to be early studies on Element and he started going off the rails about its potential of creation and modification, and no one believed him about its potential so they thought he's just genuinely insane (hence the "what is God compared to the genius of man" type comment. This would also parallel Helena being responsible for the early concept of recreating extinct creatures, much later used in the ARKs. He came up with the how, she came up with the why)

4. He got mercilessly locked up in an asylum and started to further deteriorate due to isolation (given how they've handled other characters I'm assuming this will be presented as a Bad Thing by the show. Like I don't think it'll be framed as "lol he deserved it" I think it'll be "hey this is why maybe we support struggling people instead of locking them away and forgetting about them")

5. He eventually dies and then wakes up on the ARK, cue extra "why did I get another chance and not my daughter" pain

6. While on the ARK he starts obsessing over Element again to prove to himself that he was always right about it and didn't deserve what happened to him

7. The Element starts inevitably corrupting him and from here we follow the old lore path yippee!!

If any of this comes true I will be eating drywall btw. Drinking paint. Gnawing at the bars of my enclosure etc etc

[otome-mondays]

Collar x Malice: Unlimited Review 🐈‍⬛

Ok I know I recently posted a Collar x Malice review, but I’m going in order I played these games. Who’s ready to jump back into the world of Collar x Malice! So some background info to start: this is the first fandisc I have ever played, and as of writing is the only one I’ve played. Because of this, I’m not generally sure what the standards are for fandiscs. I also played this back in 2021, so it has been a while. Please go back to my previous review on Collar x Malice for trigger warnings (use the otome mondays tag)

Spoilers Ahead

Prologue

So to start off this game, we have a separate prologue. You do have to play the prologue because it unlocks all the after stories. So let’s see how this game starts out! Well, for starters we have one of my least favorite things: retroactively adding characters and events that would’ve DEFINITELY been mentioned in the original if it happened. Yeah, needless to say I was not please at this start and quickly became frustrated having to unlock routes. Oh, right if you want to play anything else you have to unlock each boy’s route separately with their prologue choices. So fun! Let’s actually move on to what I bought the game for, 3/10.

Sasazuka Takeru 🍩

So for the after stories, I started with Sasazuka. I saw a recommendation to just pick one that you enjoyed but wasn’t your favorite or pick your favorite to start the game since there’s no need for a route order. I did originally place Sasazuka’s route as solid middle ground in terms of my favorite love interest and also route itself, so it seemed like a safe bet. And thank god it was! This one starts up after the events of his best ending and him rejoining the cyber crimes division. The main conflict here is that Sasazuka and Ichika are learning how to balance work and life and being in a relationship together. The pacing was pretty solid and even though it’s short, it’s enjoyable! If you liked Sasazuka’s route, you’ll enjoy this after story. 8/10.

Yanagi Aiji 🚬

I decided after Sasazuka’s route, I was going to get Yanagi’s out of the way. I do enjoy all the characters, but Yanagi is my least favorite out of the LIs here. After the events of Yanagi’s best ending, we have the start of the after story. Yanagi’s started his private detective agency and everybody’s getting back to normal life. That is until Yanagi’s older brother randomly shows up and threatens him to rejoin the police. So this story mostly focuses on that conflict. This is another cute and short story, so if you liked Yanagi’s route you will like his after story. 8/10.

Enomoto Mineo 🪭

I honestly picked this route next on a whim, and I’m glad I did! This story picks up after he’s been reinstated into Field Ops 2 and now the couple work in the same building. Enomoto’s route definitely focuses on him maturing and developing his relationship with Ichika, and it’s so refreshing to have a portrayal of a healthy relationship in a game (which is rich coming from me tbh). Thanks to his after story, he moved up spots on my favorite LIs list. Honestly I don’t see how anybody would dislike this route. 10/10.

Shiraishi Kageyuki 🐱

Shiraishi yet again stealing the show for some of the best writing…it’s a shame he has this weird extra character. I feel like it’s obvious, but this story has a lot of angst. Because of Shiraishi turning himself in and all of his crimes he committed, he’s under arrest and contained in a special cell. Unfortunately, random extra dude is the main issue in Shiraishi’s story. It is nice to see his growth though as a character. I feel like they did him dirty by making a third of his route flashbacks to the og game. 7/10, Shiraishi fans will probably enjoy but it could’ve been way better.

Okazaki Kei 🏃‍♂️

So I saved my favorite for last, and I’m glad I did! After the X-Day events have wrapped up, Okazaki returns to HQ and Ichika stays with SRCPO. This story also focuses on the two of them trying to navigate being in a relationship and work and life. I was a bit disappointed to see that Okazaki kind of regressed and goes through the same growth all over again but speed run edition. Even though it ends good, this story is kind of meaningless because of this. It isn’t a bad story, just disappointing. Sorry for all us Okazaki fans, 7.5/10.

Other Routes 🐈‍⬛

So let’s talk about the additional bonus routes. To play any of these extra stories, you do need to play through all the after stories. First, let’s go over the Adonis route. This takes place after Yanagi’s tragic end. Ichika joins Adonis after everybody she has cared for is murdered and Zero convinces her to join. It was nice to see Ichika interacting with the Adonis members and how they showed Ichika and Zero have a horridly toxic relationship. If you do want to see all this route has to offer, you do have to replay it a couple of times. Due to this, it’s a little more repetitive than enjoyable at points. Still nice additional content, 8/10. We also have some extended short stories, one from Kazuki’s perspective during X-Day, a semi-Minegishi route, and a semi-Yoshinari route. Kazuki gets an 8/10, Minegishi gets a 4/10, and Yoshinari gets a 7/10.

Overall Thoughts 🐈‍⬛

I like the idea of a fandisc and I think some elements were executed very nicely! Unfortunately, I do have a few issues with some of the content here (mainly the random dude being added and prologue entirely), but I still would recommend it for anybody who enjoyed Collar x Malice! 8/10

Since characters stay the same here, I’m not adding an LI ranking. I will add my route ranking though!

Route: Enomoto > Sasazuka > Yanagi > Adonis > Kazuki > Okazaki > Shiraishi > Yoshinari > Minegishi > Prologue

Resources 📝

I once again used CGs and screenshots from the game and I relied on Otome Kitten’s walkthroughs.

[yuexuan]

[Review]惊悚练习生

Title: 惊悚练习生 Thriller trainee

Author: 妄鸦

Length: 251 chapters + 8 extras

Tag: transmigration, infinite flow, horror

Summary [taken from novel updates]:

The washed-up magician Zong Jiu transmigrated into a horror, infinite flow novel about a survival show, taking the place of the cannon fodder who died tragically in the first evaluation round. This show was very interesting. Out of the tens of thousands of people, only a hundred people could survive, and the c-position (strongest contender) could even get a universal wish ticket.

If it were someone else, they’d probably be scared to death.

No one expected that Zong Jiu was not only unafraid, but also caused a sensational stir, shamelessly showing off his tricks the whole way.

Once his tricks stopped, and his life could be considered safe and sound, he ended up in a rivalry with the novel’s big villain.

Today you try to get at me, tomorrow I’ll get you back, back and forth, it’s pretty fun, heh.

As a result, though it was just playing around, one time they got carried away and really did end up sleeping together. Watching the nemesis who was pressing him to the ground, Zong Jiu lazily lifted his gaze. “If you want to kill me then kill me, don’t speak nonsense.” Even when at a disadvantage, he showed no trace of fear, and actually continued to provoke him.

That person used his ice-cold finger to trace his ear, and the action heading toward the aorta suddenly stopped.

“What a pity. I’ve changed my mind.”

—

He was once very willing to personally give Zong Jiu death. Every day, he used to regret not gouging out his flesh, personally snapping his neck. But after this person fell into his hands, another, more urgent desire grew like weeds.

Compared to winning or losing, he would rather see him crying and panting, with eyes red, begging for mercy.

Novel | Novel [translated]

Comments **contain spoilers**:

The summary pretty much covers the gist of the novel. The main couple has an enemy-to-lover dynamic, with the MC being a cool and stoic world-class magician, whilst the ML being a cunning devil. On the surface, the two of them are arch nemesis, but beneath it all, they are pretty much the same type of person, seeking the thrills within each horror show.

Highlights:

The tension between the main couple is solid. ML is constantly trying to create troubles for MC and MC is constantly thinking outside-of-the-box to beat ML’s games. As the no. 1 trainee and ‘trainer’, ML has the ability to control any trainee and NPC of his choice, sending them to obstruct MC’s progress. Fortunately, MC received a stack of tarot cards that enabled him to seek out the characters that were controlled. The entire plot revolves around the two of them playing a figurative game of chess, until their enmity eventually evolves into something more hehe.

As with many infinite flow stories, worldbuilding is always a highlight. I liked how there were more ‘relaxing’ games after each ‘show’, where the trainees were allowed to rest or bet their lives on additional rewards. Out of all these games, I particularly liked the amusement park arc where MC befriended the monsters/ghosts and received their assistance in winning the game. It was kinda sweet watching the monsters/ghosts feeling happy interacting with the trainees.

Another unique aspect is that there were shows where trainees had to work together to survive. For example, the arc where they had to pass exams in a school was particularly touching when members of the 9th class sacrificed themselves to ensure the survival of the rest of the class ):

Aside from the main pairing, I also liked the second pairing a lot - watching them go from F-tier trainees to A-tier trainees through their hard work was so sweet and I wished there were more moments of them together.

Things I didn’t like:

This novel reminded me a lot of <这该死的求生欲>, where the main pairing also had an enemy-to-lover dynamic and ML was one of the bosses. More importantly, the writing style also reeks of chūnibyō from time to time. The way the novel described the interactions between the main couple and their appearances can come off as very immature-ish haha. That said, it does get better in the latter half of the story, especially after the two realized that they had special feelings for one another.

[nachosncheeze]

Fanfic Writer Ask Game

📚 & 🏷️

📚 Is there a fanfic or fanfic writer you recommend?

Definitely! It depends on what you are looking for, so here's a few of my faves in a couple different categories:

***Edit: I'm adding a cut bc it's just occurred to me to mention, anyone new who's not done the series but is seeing this - I do have a spoiler-safe fics list that Scotti and I were working on at one point, so if there's a specific season you're looking for, but not wanting to know what twists come after (or if you're looking for fic for a specific episode or event), feel free to inbox me and I'll send some links. :)

Below this cut there are descriptions that spoil all sorts of things, so.....***

For Jeller, everything by @indelibleevidence is outstanding. I'm gonna start out saying probably a majority of it has passages that are NSFW so if you're a minor or not into that, tread lightly. I'm currently revisiting Remember to Forgive, which has late-season 3 Weller suffering amnesia that takes him mentally back to early season 2; you know, when he couldn't stand to be in the same room as his wife. The angst! It's a fave and totally my jam, I could probably quote it. Torture Without You is... well. Read it. Amazing. I'm a big Remi fan, and here you will also find one of our two Reller champions: the Damaged Goods series is so dark (also very NSFW) but soooo good.

@idealisticrealism is another that everyone should definitely read, imo. The Fire is basically my favorite one-shot ever, and she's our other Reller champion - as complete AUs go I can not possibly overstate my love for From the Ashes and Into Flames. I could literally quote them both to you.

@gypsyscarfwoman is responsible for my other favorite one-shot, Nothing Can Come Between Us, which is Jeller after season 2, but from Sarah Weller's POV. It's just a tiny bit angsty but fluffy and sweet. I love the way she describes the interactions between Jeller as viewed by a concerned third party. There's also Shelter From Your Storm, which is another season 2 AU except that post compound raid there's legitimate concern Nas might throw Jane under the bus and let the CIA have her, so Weller fake marries her to legitimize and protect her.

@ladyriot recently did a lovely retelling of s2 but as a Jane/Patterson slow burn. The way they low key agonize over each other is tragic, but the ending is so sweet without being completely saccharine, and it's definitely worth a look.

I haven't read much Zapatterson but @narvaldetierra is actively writing them. I read Remembers from September and No Good Deed Goes Unpunished a while ago, and I'm excited to reread them soon and then keep working through this ship 😁

Dylan Cruca is worth checking out if you want a bit of season 2/3 Jeller canon divergence/extra scenes, or Jeller/Reller AUs - I thought their post-season 1 AU ended up being a particularly interesting twist - but they're not for everyone.

I could go on but I'll end with one that's basically the fic equivalent to a playlist of Sad Songs to Sob To: Silence Speaks by lochness20, in which Jane's black site escape attempt fails, and when they find her, she is in a REALLY bad state. Warning that it's pretty dark and brutal and tw for suicidal thoughts and an eventual very graphic murder.

🏷 Is there a tag you like to search for when looking for fanfics to read?

I don't really look for specific tags; it's not a huge fandom so there's not a ton of room to be choosy. I can say that straight whump isn't my thing, nor is pure domestic stuff, and I generally steer clear of pregnancy/kidfic unless there's some other compelling plot alongside the kids. I guess I basically love angst most of all 😍

Thank you for the ask!! :D It's always fun to revisit some faves. 💕

I'm trying to find my mojo and inspiration to start creating again, and I find these memes are a really good exercise to think critically about my ideas and hopefully get the juices flowing. If anyone else is curious, please check here and consider sending me an ask!

I've also recently done a WIP ask meme, which you can find here if you'd like a peek at what I've been working on before the words left me. :)

[theartisticintrovert]

focus

Fandom: XXX_CYBERRAT_XXX Rating: T Tags: POV Second Person, Anxiety, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Paranoia, Unreliable Narrator, Stream of Consciousness, Mental Health Issues, Spoilers Summary:

It’s too much. You had nothing left. Your site was gone. Your friends were traitors. Dox wanted you dead, Markov wasn’t real, and Kappa.... Kappa’s a fucking kid.

AO3 Link (x)

--

You should’ve known from the beginning.

No adult talked like that, all self-important mockery and cheeky confidence, too full of shit to realize their world could come crashing down at the slightest whisper from a stranger they didn’t even know. Still, it’s not like you had much room to talk yourself. Only, what, five, six years on him? And it’s not like that extra time gave you any bonuses, either. Just gave you more time to fuck up, really.

Sure you made it through school for a while, but the second they let you out the psych ward after your episode you dropped out and went straight to popping pills like fucking candy, didn’t you? Same shit, different name, and you could feel them getting less and less effective the more time went on—shit, was that the door? Stand up, check the lights, do the rounds, nobody there, it’s fine. It’s fine.

You dig the heels of your palms into your eyes and let the spots bloom over your corneas, the dancing lights and dull ache joining the rest of the headache taking up residence in your skull. How long has it been since you holed up in this shitty motel? Three days? Four? You’d probably have to move soon, couldn’t risk them finding you—fuck, demons, light, light, where’s the damn light—

It’s too much. You had nothing left. Your site was gone. Your friends were traitors. Dox wanted you dead, Markov wasn’t real, and Kappa....

Kappa’s a fucking kid.

You couldn’t ignore it anymore, no matter how much you wish it wasn’t real. The screen hadn’t lied to you yet, not like everything else, and it was right there in black and white. Lenox Benavides, Age 18.

You didn’t know what to do with this information. You couldn’t just ignore him, that was pussy shit, especially after what he said to you. It was bad enough already that you’d blocked him, if you left things like this he’d have the last word, and you’d never get your reputation back. Why’d you have to go straight to threatening to kill him? Stupid, now he’ll never take you seriously! You’re supposed to build up to that, dumbass!

This shit with Dox must be getting to your head, you’ve hired what, four hitmen at this point? Or was it the same hitman four times? It didn’t matter. A whisper behind you—ah, the eyes are back. That’s.....not great, but at least they’re not hostile. You swallowed thickly, hands shaking as you clicked through another site, eyes burning. You had his info. All you had to do was upload the DoxDocs file to that hitman site and Kappa was done. Toast. He’d learn not to fuck with you, and.....what?

No. No, no, death was too easy. Too quick. He’d feel fear for half a second before getting a bullet in the brain, and that wasn’t enough. He took everything from you! Your money, your site, your freedom....It wouldn’t surprise you if it was that little punk who called the “welfare check” on you last year just to orchestrate the whole takeover in the first place!

No, you wanted Kappa to feel the same way you did. The same fear, the same humiliation of getting dragged out in front of half the goddamn campus because nobody would fucking believe you—!

D e e p  b r e a t h s.

Another pill, just to take the edge off. It’s fine, though the stock in this one’s getting a little low. Should probably order another soon, just to be safe. Could’ve sworn these used to last longer.

Quiet. Too quiet. Look behind—pounding, shit, get the door! Don’t let them in, can’t let them find me, too much to do, can’t go back!

Lights off lights off lights off safe in the dark can’t see me in the dark dark dark dark quiet safe dark don’t look don’t look no eyes no noise no life just me just me just me just

focus.

everything will be okay. just

f o c u s.

[paviitrhakar]

1. Mutuals only. I will not write with those who I don’t follow. Anons are okay to ask things like headcanons and other things that don’t involve writing unless you are a side blog.

2. Reblog memes from the source. As in if you don’t plan to send anything in to me. Extra note, sending memes if the best way to interact. No memes have an expiration date unless I say so in an ask.

3. Spoilers will be evident on this. If you haven’t seen the movie, please interact with caution. Do not blame me if the film is botched just by this experience alone.

4. I will tag all common triggers. If I miss something, please let me know so I can tag it accordingly. My triggers include: Dogs ( in real life ), birds ( in real life ) and chain letters.

5. Most of writing will be without icons after the starting point as in Pavitr doesn’t have too many scenes of him during the movie that can be used as expressive. For live action, I don’t plan to use a face claim.

6. Please don’t pressure me for replies on threads, ask, and others. I work long hours and come here as a break from stress. I don’t need more of that added to my plate. Also, no hate towards me or my character. As another addendum, mun does not equal muse. All drama needs to be either put under read more or tagged.

7. Personals will be blocked on sight unless you state that you are in fact a side blog. Do not reblog my headcanons and writing if you are a personal either.

8. My name is SERE ( SIR-REE ), an 18+ demiromantic asexual that loves cartoons, anime, video games, writing, reading, fishing, and sleeping. Timezone is Eastern Standard Time.

9. As Pavitr is a minor, there will be no 'not safe for work' things on this blog. Also, anything that is sent to me that even borderlines this will be automatically reported, no questions asked.

10. Please HARD BLOCK me to break mutuals. Do not simply unfollow or soft block. That makes it so I don’t accidently refollow you by mistake.

11. If you have reached here, congrats. You don’t have to send in passcodes or anything. I hope I can interact with everyone. Cheers.

[turtletaubwrites]

Numbers Game ~ Part 16

Anything for a Friend

!!! SPOILER WARNING !!! This chapter, and the following chapters will contain a spoiler for the end of the Wano arc. This spoiler occurs in the anime before the Cross Guild is formed, but I realized that some readers aren't caught up with the show yet, and are just enjoying Cross Guild fics for the "vibes" 🥵😅 I apologize if this means you'll have to wait to continue. I detest spoilers, so it didn't occur to me until I was editing that there might be people reading Numbers Game that haven't made it to the Cross Guild yet. I'm not sure if you'll care about this spoiler or not, but you have been warned!

Pairings: Cross Guild x Fem!Reader

Numbers Game Masterlist

Word Count: 9686

Ao3 Link

Ongoing Series Playlist: Youtube Music Link | Youtube Link

Summary: Red Haired Shanks comes to visit with an interesting request, and you learn a bit more about your lover's past.

Author's Note: Sorry this one's extra long, I hoped you'd prefer longer with smut vs less long with no smut, lol. I hope you enjoy it!

Flashbacks from reader's past are bracketed between these symbols: ~🌲🌲🌲~

Rating/Warnings: Author has Chosen to Exclude some Smut Warnings for this Chapter to Avoid Spoilers, Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ ONLY, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Dark Content, Swearing, Alcohol, Cigars, Smut, Fluff, Manipulation, Humiliation, Pet Names, Power Imbalance, Cross Guild boys are VILLAINS, Possessive Behavior, Teasing, Threats, Size Difference, Daddy Kink, Overstimulation, Degradation, Hair-Pulling, Vaginal Fingering, Cock Warming, Unprotected Sex (stay safe out there), PIV Sex, Rough Oral Sex, Comeplay, Inappropriate Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, Shameless Shameless Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

Shanks and Mihawk shared pleased laughter while your mind reeled, shocked to be face to face with another terrifying pirate, this Emperor of the Sea. 

This cheerful, flirtatious man that was bringing his eyes back to you, still holding your fingers in his hand. 

Cold metal pulled at your wrist, a golden hook chilling your blood as it passed between you and the red haired pirate, breaking your contact with him. 

“Miss Y/N isn’t his ‘bunny,” Crocodile warned, his hand tensing against your back before he led you to the couch. You sat in your usual spot, with his arm draped around your shoulders. Shanks stared at the two of you, then caught eyes with the swordsman before cracking up. 

“Don’t be sour, Crocodile,” Mihawk coaxed through smug, fading laughter, “I’m sure our little rabbit wouldn’t mind a new nickname.”

“She’s got plenty,” he growled, pulling you in against the warmth of his body. “I won’t have you loaning out my sweet girl to every lowlife that comes to visit.”

Shanks grabbed a heavy, velvet chair, dragging it close before lounging across from you. His eyes gleamed while he grinned at you, and Crocodile’s body was stiff beside yours while you were still too dazed to speak. Mihawk took his seat, chuckling when you jolted at the touch of his hand on your thigh.

“We can talk business,” he soothed, looking over your head at the larger man, “but it seems cruel to deny our little vixen a treat. You’re already dripping with excitement, aren’t you, darling?”

A tiny sound left your throat, your eyes wide as Shanks tilted his head, looking down at your tensed thighs before meeting your gaze.

“It’s alright, darlin’,” he purred, that deep voice doing too much to you. “I don’t like to scare my bunnies as much as ol’ Hawk Eyes over there. I bet he’s real mean, isn’t–”

“That's enough,” Crocodile warned. He wrapped his arm around your side now, practically squishing you against him, bringing another small noise from your lips.

“Why don’t we ask Y/N what she would like,” Mihawk taunted, leaning down to pour his vicious words into your ear. “I know your body is just aching for another owner, isn’t it? Would you like his sweet tongue to taste you? Want to give us a pretty show while another man has his way with you on the table?”

Your body was quivering, and you were almost grateful when Shanks cut in, until his words shook you more.

“Mihawk, it’d be a shame to have my first time with such a beauty in front of an audience. Surely Miss Y/N would prefer some privacy.”

“Not happening,” Crocodile spat, and you couldn’t believe how calm Shanks seemed when he gave a little shrug, imploring the larger man. 

“I’m just shy, Crocodile. I’ll take good–”

“You are the furthest thing from shy,” Mihawk laughed, his fingers digging into your thigh as he leaned toward the red haired man. “You just enjoy making your toys fall in love with you before you break them.”

For the first time since he’d sauntered into the room, Shanks was frightening. It was so fast, so subtle, but something dangerous flashed in those deep, brown eyes when he looked at you. A wicked purr filled his voice as he spoke to Mihawk, his eyes never leaving your face.

“Hush now, old friend. Don’t scare the little bunny away before we’ve even gotten acquainted.”

“Fuck this,” Crocodile scoffed, kissing the top of your head. “We’re leaving. You two can enjoy your–”

“Just a moment,” Mihawk prodded, dancing his fingers along Crocodile’s wrist. “It’s Y/N’s decision. Tell me, little rabbit, would you like to enjoy some alone time with this delightful, old friend of mine?”

Shanks’ eyes gleamed at you until you clenched yours shut, nails digging into your palms to stop yourself from moaning “yes,” fighting to remember why you shouldn’t.

“No, thank you,” you croaked, trembling as you wrapped your arm around Crocodile’s waist, burying your head against his silk vest. He gave a surprised hum, smoothing his hand along your side. You kept your eyes closed, but could feel the stares from the other men crawling up your skin. 

“Good girl,” Crocodile praised softly, the vibration of his voice letting you sigh with relief. 

“Oh, I don’t think our little treasure is being good for you, Crocodile,” Mihawk taunted, patting your thigh a few times before playing with the hem of your dress. “I think she’s valuing the clown more than her own desires again. I thought we fucked that out of you, darling. We even let you keep him in our bed, our little toy. Yet you’re still going to deny yourself–”

“Buggy’s your…” Shanks interrupted, sitting up a little straighter. “You didn’t tell me he–”

“Shanks, please. After how you went on about him, and how Miss Y/N can't seem to let him go, you can’t blame me for being curious,” Mihawk sighed, taking a large swig of wine. “Even if he is a clown.”

You coughed, trying to pull away from Crocodile, but his arm held you in place. Shanks started to speak, but turned to watch as steely words rolled over you.

“Is it true, sweetheart,” Crocodile questioned, leaving your mouth dry. “Don’t lie to me, Y/N. You really want this stranger to fuck you right now, don't you? But you’re pretending to be a good girl because you don’t wanna hurt the clown’s feelings?”

Blinking away tears of overwhelm before they could stain your cheeks, you caught the soft smile of the red haired pirate across from you. There was no lying to Crocodile. The thought of what he might do if he ever caught you in an outright lie made you shiver.

“It’s true.”

“What a sweet, little bunny,” Shanks hummed, leaning over the table to grab your chin with a gentle touch. The red haired man just looked at you, his eyes too soft for a stranger’s. Before Crocodile’s anger could boil over, the large door creaked open, and you watched a painted smile go taut.

“Shanks?”

“Buggy, old friend,” he beamed, looking over his shoulder to see your clown slamming the door shut. “Just who I was hoping to see.”

Buggy moved forward, his eyes flaring at Shanks’ hand on your chin. That hand pulled away as the pirate stood, holding his arm out wide, but the gesture went ignored.

“Friends? In what fucking world, shithead,” Buggy scoffed, getting a bit taller in his stretchy clothes. You couldn’t hold in a gasp as Buggy got in his face, looking down at the other Emperor. He was going red under the light coat of paint, his voice more vicious than you’d ever heard. “Did you forget the last time I saw you, asshole?” 

“I don’t know what you mean, we–”

Buggy fisted his hands into the collar of Shanks’ cloak, pulling him even closer, and you would have tried to stop him if strong, dangerous hands hadn't pressed you further into the couch. All you could do was watch. 

“You lied to me, AGAIN,” he seethed, Shanks’ face not showing a hint of reaction, just a bland smile as Buggy continued. “And now you’ve got the nerve to come into my own fucking house, and touch my girl…”

All that rage died in his throat when Buggy’s wide eyes looked to you, then to the two men with their hands on you. 

“Your what, clown,” Crocodile scowled. He was as cold as stone while he watched Buggy reconnect, returning to his normal height. 

Buggy opened his mouth but nothing came out, until Shanks patted him on the back. 

“Miss Y/N’s your girl,” Shanks asked, whistling as he shook his head. “No need to worry, friend. She already shot me down.”

Anger had coursed through Buggy's body again at Shanks’ touch, but those words sent confusion flying across his face. He risked another glance at you, tentative pride pulling his lips into a tiny, crooked grin. 

“Really?”

A split second of warmth, and Buggy’s sweet disbelief made you smile so freely for him. 

Forgetting that you weren’t quite free.

“I believe that was still up for debate,” Mihawk drawled, lightly pinching your thigh. “Now, if you’re done acting like a blowfish, pull up a chair. Unless you’d rather leave your girl all alone with three, scary men.”

As everyone settled, you held your breath. Crocodile had found your forearm, tracing his fingers down your wrist until he held your hand in your lap, so tiny encased in his. He wasn’t hurting you, but the pressure of that large hand gripping yours felt more like a trap than a comfort. 

You leaned against him, looking up until those stony eyes met yours. 

He gripped a little tighter. 

“You haven’t even been here for thirty minutes and you’ve already caused chaos,” Mihawk scolded, the faintest hint of twisted delight in his words as he pulled your attention. “Since you refused to tell me anything over snail, I can’t imagine what sort of ‘business’ you claim to have on our little island.”

Buggy had pulled up a chair as far from Shanks as possible, and you couldn’t look at him on the other side of Crocodile without moving your head, so you didn’t. Instead, you stared at the easy smile of the stranger as he unhooked his cloak to lay across the back of his chair. His loose shirt was tied off at the left sleeve, showing that he was without a left arm. 

How often does that happen to pirates?

You started to turn your head to glance at Crocodile’s hook, but caught yourself, not wanting him to think you were looking at Buggy. 

But Shanks was looking at Buggy. 

“It’s time, old friend.”

“Stop fucking calling me that, dickskin,” Buggy grumbled, only making the man smile wider.

“I wasn’t ready back then,” Shanks confessed. 

You didn’t know this man. You hardly knew anything about him, but somehow you knew this was important to him. It tasted like reverence was dripping from his words as his eyes implored Buggy to listen, to be happy. 

“I know it’s been a long time,” he continued as the world seemed to freeze, “but I’m going now, Bugs. I’m going after it, and I’d like you to join me.”

The silence was thick with things you didn’t understand, even Crocodile and Mihawk going taut beside you.

“You fucking ASSHAT,” Buggy fumed, almost screeching as most of his body parts flew toward the red haired man who just covered his face with his arm. “You think you can just show up, and say that shit after TWENTY FUCKING YEARS? You sick fuck. Piece of shit. You trying to fuck with me? Think I’ll forgive you after all— OW.”

Crocodile had released you, making you yelp as his hand shot forward to grab a piece of Buggy’s floating body, squeezing it until Buggy went quiet. You were trembling now, unable to stop after Crocodile let go of Buggy to sit back, wrapping his arm around your shoulders again. 

“Calm down,” he ordered, his voice steadier than you expected after all the anger he seemed to be holding back since Shanks walked in. “You’ve talked yourself into enough trouble today, don’t be more of a nuisance than usual.”

Buggy pulled himself together, breathing heavily while he stood beside the source of his rage. You started to understand Buggy’s frustration when the red haired pirate just gazed at him, as if the clown had been showering him with compliments instead of insults. 

“So,” Mihawk changed the subject, waving his hand as if to brush the moment away, “it seems you’ve come to steal away our colorful leader so that you can sail off into the sunset together. To find the One Piece, if I understood that correctly?”

“I don’t think our clown wants to go anywhere with you,” Crocodile rasped. Your trembling stopped at what sounded like a possessive note to his voice, as your brain took in Mihawk’s words without fully processing them in the face of your other lover's exchange.

Buggy blinked at Crocodile a few times, mirroring your confusion before rage took over his features again, his gloved fists clenching when he met Shanks’ doe eyes. His next words came out through his teeth, almost growling as he held himself in. 

“You scum sucking liar. You expect me to believe that you’ve finally stopped being a coward? You betrayed everything we–” his voice cracked a bit, and he coughed to shake it away. “How dare you use the One Piece to trick me. To use our dream– my dream... This is a new fucking low for–”

“Buggy,” Shanks soothed, grabbing one of those gloved hands. Buggy took a step back, but his hand disconnected, held firmly by the other man. “I’m not lying to you. I’ll even show you my proof if you like, it’s on the ship... I stayed with you back then, remember?”

Crocodile let out a quiet sigh, as if he’d rather be anywhere but here, while Mihawk seemed to have electricity running under his skin. The emotions and pain running across Buggy’s face sent an ache into your chest, but you couldn’t reach for him yet. 

“I didn’t ask you to stay with me,” Buggy sneered, though his voice was weaker now. 

“I didn’t wanna go without you,” Shanks coaxed as he stood, moving close to place Buggy’s hand back on its wrist before gripping the clown’s shoulder. “I know it’s later than you wanted, but there’s room on my ship if you’d like to join me now. For old time’s sake?”

Buggy’s mouth went slack, his shoulders slumping, even under Shanks’ touch. A touch he didn’t shrug off. 

Then he looked at you. 

Your chest caved in, a hammer of pain and guilt hitting deep. 

Buggy's going to leave me. 

The selfishness you felt in that moment made you sick. You hadn’t known anything about their relationship besides Buggy’s rage, but their connection practically radiated off of them. Who were you to keep him from that? 

People like me don’t get love after all.

Bile hit your throat at that self pitying thought. Crocodile and Mihawk startled you, their hands moving in soothing motions at the same time, everyone waiting for Buggy to speak. 

He didn’t.

“I heard you’re throwing a party,” Shanks broke the silence, his relaxed voice a bit tight as he patted Buggy on the back. “Could I stay for a few days to enjoy the festivities? You can think on it, and we can all have a bit of fun, eh?”

“Was all of this simply a ruse so you could drain us of all our liquor, Red Hair,” Mihawk cut in, his sharp tease giving Buggy a chance to step away as Shanks’ attention was pulled. Buggy plopped down in his chair beside Crocodile, and you didn’t care this time, tilting forward to look at him, but he had leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. 

“Worry not, Hawk Eyes,” Shanks laughed, "we made sure to stock up before we came. In fact, I even brought a few vintages worthy of your refined palate.”

“I’ll let Y/N be the judge of that,” Mihawk praised, helping you breathe again with a soft kiss to your temple. “My little rabbit is more skilled at detecting quality after a couple of weeks than you've been your entire life.”

“Miss Y/N does seem to have good taste,” Shanks grinned, catching your eyes again. 

“Can we drink now,” Buggy groaned, earning laughs from everyone, even Crocodile who stood, walking around to pat him on the back. Buggy gasped, but there was no violence in the touch, or in the larger man’s eyes. 

“Come on, let’s go grab some more bottles. I doubt there’s enough in here.”

It took him a long moment, but Buggy agreed, and you couldn’t help but stare after them. Crocodile never “fetched” anything. Buggy didn’t need to either, there were servants in the hall. You didn’t know whether to feel touched or scared on Buggy’s behalf. 

“Why do you always make such a mess,” Mihawk complained. He wrapped his arm around you, and you let the scent of him calm you down as he pulled you against him. 

“This is actually me trying to clean up a mess,” Shanks laughed, propping his feet up on the table. 

“Are you going to hurt him again?”

Those words rang through the air, and your eyes went wide when you realized that you’d let them escape your lips. Mihawk squeezed you to him gently while Shanks gazed at you. His eyes were so damn pretty, and it felt impossible to think of him as anything other than sweet and handsome. Another slow smile almost took your thoughts away, but you dug your nails into your palms to ward off his charms. 

“I don’t think you’ve made a good impression with our numbers girl,” Mihawk purred, his voice not filled with the usual warning it held when you were doing something he didn’t approve of. 

“I’m glad he’s got someone like you to look out for him,” Shanks praised, and the jovial tilt to his head pissed you off. 

“You don’t know what kind of person I am, and you didn’t answer my question.”

Mihawk chuckled, pulling back from you as if giving permission. 

“You’re right,” the red haired pirate agreed, dipping his head. “I never meant to hurt Buggy, and I don’t plan to do it again.”

“Then why didn’t you say you were sorry,” you snapped. 

I really do have a fucking death wish. 

The Emperor of the Sea finally showed something else on his face besides humor, his brows furrowing as if he didn’t understand. He paused for too long, so your voice went high, fear almost getting in the way. 

“Even if you didn’t mean to do it, you hurt him,” you explained, hoping there was more behind those soft eyes than charm. “You know you hurt him, you just said it. Even if you hurt someone by accident, and especially if you care about them, you should fucking apologize. Otherwise, you’re just an asshole.”

You held your breath. 

Shank’s eyebrows raised, and his lips parted just a bit, while Mihawk laughed openly now, taking a sip of wine as if he were having a lovely time. 

“Let’s get shitfaced,” Buggy yelled as he crashed through the door with a case of wine, the bottles clinking like chimes. Crocodile followed close behind, his face unreadable as he offered you his hand. Confused, you stood while you watched Buggy’s hands fly to the bar to grab more glasses. Crocodile pulled you to the side, pressing another kiss to the top of your head.

“Take your spot, clown,” he ordered, gesturing to your normal seat. Everyone paused while Buggy sat down, leaving you to stand awkwardly while Crocodile sat, until he smoothed his hand along his thigh, giving you one of those smiles that made you shy. “Take your spot, sweetheart.”

Even with the tension in the room, Crocodile’s attention washed it all away until you bit your lip, your body swaying slightly. You leaned in for a kiss, and he didn’t let you pull back. His large hand grasped your waist, his thumb tracing up and down the fabric of that expensive, purple dress he’d picked out for you. 

“Come here, babygirl,” he whispered, helping you climb onto his lap. He guided you to lie back with your legs stretched out across Buggy’s thighs, but ordered the clown to grab the cushion from his vacated chair to prop up behind you. You hummed, perfectly comfortable laying across all three men on the couch. 

Mihawk’s cool fingers tracing over the tops of your feet made you shiver, while Buggy’s grin, and his gloved hands running up and down your bare legs warmed you up. Crocodile supported your head with the base of his hook, hidden behind that velvet cushion, while his hand reached down to your hip, smoothing and holding your dress in place as he stared down the man you’d completely forgotten about. 

When you turned to look at Shanks again, he wasn’t holding that perfect, jovial smile as he took you all in. Instead, his eyes held some of that danger you’d seen before, but there were no emotions that you could read. 

Except for hunger. 

Those soft eyes that were suddenly anything but soft met yours.

“So, Y/N, how long have you known Buggy?”

Thank gods for alcohol.

~

You thought drinking wine from your relaxed position would be difficult, but your lovers kept taking turns holding the glass to your lips. Laughter grew in the room, but it didn’t quell the rotating guilt, sadness, and anger that kept moving through you every time you looked at Shanks, every time you heard his welcoming voice, so full of joy. 

He said it’s his dream. He needs to go. I can’t let him stay. 

Buggy was wiggling in his seat while he told a story, swaying back and forth as he pinched and squeezed lightly up and down your legs. He looked so happy and cute, and seeing him this way between Crocodile and Mihawk made you close your eyes, sighing as you pressed your head back against the cushion. 

“I’m going to take my little rabbit out for some fresh air,” Mihawk announced, still massaging your ankle. 

Crocodile looked down at you as if to disagree, but nodded, helping you to your feet. 

“I’ll join you. Could use a smoke.”

You couldn’t argue as Mihawk's strong arms carried you out into the hallway. Buggy’s wide eyes followed you, and you caught a glimpse around the swordsman's shoulder of that red haired pirate standing up to move closer to your clown. 

Throat tight with trapped emotion, you held yourself up, knowing that relaxing into Mihawk’s warmth and scent might make you lose what control you had. 

The stars were out in full force, sparkling over the balcony like stage lights that were just a tad too far away. Nothing interrupted that silence except for a few small sounds as Mihawk set you comfortably in his lap, and the flick of a lighter followed by the thick scent of smoke as Crocodile sparked his cigar, his silver eyes never leaving your face. 

“Want us to make him stay?”

“What,” you choked out, not sure if you’d imagined that deep voice.

“All you gotta do is tell me what you want,” Crocodile reminded you, that curling smoke hypnotizing you as you tried to understand. “I’ll even fight our hawk eyed friend if he disagrees. Do you care more about making our sweet girl happy, or impressing your red haired ex?”

A tiny sob squeezed from your chest as you closed your eyes. You didn’t have the energy for one of their fights right now. 

“Shh, rabbit,” Mihawk hummed, tracing fingers through your hair. His voice went listless as he stared into the stars, holding you to him. “Shanks is one of my oldest– ha, maybe one of my only friends... But he’s also a grown man with a trail of mistakes. I can’t promise you that his request will lead to joy or sorrow.”

Words couldn’t pass through the threat of tears in your throat. 

This isn’t real.

Those long, dangerous fingers kept playing with your hair, pulling you back into the moment as he tugged and scratched at the strands at the nape of your neck.

“I won’t trap him,” you declared, voice rough as you sat up straighter. “If he doesn’t want to be here, then I would feel sick to make him stay. It’s… I want Buggy to live the life he wants.”

“Caring more about the clown’s feelings than your own desires,” Mihawk scolded in a whisper after a heavy pause. You waited for a threat, for a punishment, but all you got was a gentle kiss to your forehead. 

Crocodile snuffed out his cigar, reaching with those smoke scented fingers to trace along your cheek. 

“You really are sweet, aren’t ya?”

You choked out a laugh, still waiting for the ax to fall, gasping when Mihawk sat you on the table. They both stood to look down at you, and you tried not to be empty. 

“So,” Mihawk waved his hand again, his sharp voice driven toward his goal, “Buggy gets to decide if he stays or goes, and we still have a few days until the party. What would you like to happen in the meantime, rabbit?”

Mouth hanging slack, you jolted a bit when Crocodile rested his hand on your shoulder, his eyes so far above you from this angle.

“What do you…”

Mihawk grabbed your hand, bringing your knuckles to his lips with an almost wistful smile.

“Would you like to partake in a ridiculous amount of fun with the man that might take your clown away? Or would you like us to make him sleep on his ship?”

Soft shock hit your face, and those golden eyes just narrowed in a tease. 

“If it helps your decision, he is a phenomenal fuck.”

“Don’t pressure her,” Crocodile growled, squeezing your shoulder. 

Laughter broke through that dam of emotions in your throat, bursting through you to echo up toward those shining stars. 

Those pretty stars. 

You pressed away the hint of tears from your eyes with the meat of your palm, laughter like a drug to cleanse those bad feelings away. 

“Why do you care about me so much,” you coughed, unable to keep that risky question in. 

“Get over here,” Crocodile ordered, Mihawk helping to lift you into his arms. “Didn’t I tell you already? When I find something of value, I protect it.”

Your laughter bubbled down to quiet giggles, shy once again as that frightening face smiled down at you. Mihawk tugged at your hand, guiding you both down the corridor. 

“Come along now,” he purred as he pulled you back toward the lounge. “Let’s find out how our little rabbit wants to get fucked tonight.”

~

Mihawk crashed through the door more violently than you’d ever seen, slamming it wide. Buggy was leaning back into the couch, those crystal eyes wide as he looked toward you. Shanks was laying across the coffee table, propped up on his elbow while a floating hand held a glass of wine near his lips. 

“Here comes the party,” Shanks called over his shoulder as he sat up. You noticed his knees intertwined with Buggy’s when you were laid out in your new spot, and he was close enough to your clown that you were now laying across all four of their laps. 

“Thank you,” you breathed, trying to read Buggy’s overwhelmed face as he brought a glass to your lips. 

“Look at you two,” Shanks teased as those playful eyes went back and forth between you. He was so close to you now, and you found yourself pressing your legs together to avoid touching his bare chest, or flashing him as he mirrored Buggy around your knees. 

It was hard to focus on any coherent thought with so many idle hands on you. Mihawk was slowly massaging your feet, Buggy still using your legs as a fidget toy, and Crocodile eventually gave up on or forgot about holding up your short dress as he cradled your hand in his. You caught Shanks’ eyes dragging across the exposed skin of your hip, smirking at you when you pulled the fabric up.

The conversations twisted and turned, until he brought it back to you. 

“I’ve never met anyone that had such a hold on so many powerful pirates,” Shanks laughed after downing another glass. “At least not at the same time.”

The night had loosened you all by now, and you felt pulled by his smile. He snagged your free hand, rubbing his fingers along yours while he studied you. 

“Just where did you come from, little bunny?”

“A snooty little tavern–”

“She’s a mystery actually,” Mihawk cut Buggy off, trailing his hand up your shin. “Our numbers girl has secrets.”

“Secrets you’ll be sharing in a few days. Right, sweetheart?”

“Right,” you gasped, meeting Crocodile’s stare as he nudged your face toward his. The press of lips against your palm tore you away to find the red haired man kissing your hand as Crocodile released you. 

“A mystery girl, huh? No wonder you’ve got these three wrapped around your finger.”

“You don’t know her,” Buggy huffed, folding over to lay his head against your stomach. He tugged your hand from those foreign fingers to hold you close, and you couldn’t help but smile. 

“Why don’t we all take a walk,” Mihawk suggested, making you sigh again as those deadly fingers worked the muscles of your feet. “I’d like to give a tour.”

Mihawk carried you down the halls, and you weren’t the only person that noticed the direction he was leading you toward.

“I think the tour of the bedroom can wait,” Crocodile complained. 

“You can just stay in the hall then,” Mihawk taunted. You heard a disgruntled noise from the larger man, but before he could complain again, Mihawk stood before his old suite, across the hall from the one you shared now. 

“Korris,” he called, tapping the bottom of the door with his leather boot. 

“Yes, sir,” came a rough voice through the door. He cleared his throat before opening the door, just a crack. “Status report; Adam has continued to show preference for wet food, the litter was changed this morning, and play time has–”

“Thank you, Korris,” Mihawk hurried, and you pretended not to hear the stifled laughter behind you. “We’ll be visiting with Adam, you may take a break.”

“Of course, sir.”

The bearded man that emerged from that cracked door was large enough to match that deep voice. He wore aged leather armor that carried an array of scratches and tears, and you smiled at what you thought might be the source of some of the more recent additions. Korris left the room quickly, holding the door closed to prevent an escape attempt that didn’t arrive. 

The changes to the suite were drastic, and you couldn’t keep from laughing as you all rushed inside. The large space meant for multiple humans to live in had been altered into exactly what Mihawk had called it.  

A cat paradise. 

So many interesting toys and surfaces, covered beds, endless shelves, scratching posts, and plenty of couches for humans and cats to lounge on together. 

And there was Adam. 

Mihawk kissed you before setting you down, and you went straight to the ground as your sweet tabby came right up to Mihawk to rub against his ankles. 

“You assigned the cat a servant,” Crocodile deadpanned while you gave chin scritches in exchange for head bumps. 

“This is nothing,” Shanks smirked, patting the larger man on the arm before plopping down on a couch. “I’m amazed there’s only one cat in here.”

Buggy choked out a laugh before joining you on the floor, already snagging a toy for Adam to focus on. Those cute, little eyes went massive as he wiggled his butt before pouncing. 

“No more cats,” Crocodile sighed, shaking his head softly as Mihawk walked up to him. 

“Everyone should have someone to curl up to at night,” the swordsman teased, turning his back on Crocodile to face the rest of you. “Speaking of that, Shanks, you may have Y/N’s old suite. It’s the door on the left when you leave Adam’s room.”

You and Buggy glanced at each other, and you grinned at the impulse.

“You two can decide which of these three suites you’d like to sleep in tonight,” Mihawk announced, drawing everyone in. “I’m sure Adam would enjoy some company, but we’ll be across the hall if you need us.”

“Mihawk–”

“Come on, Crocodile. Let’s take a nightcap in our suite. Let the little one’s play for a bit.”

“No,” your scarred lover insisted, walking around Mihawk to offer you his hand. “I’m not leaving Y/N alone with a stranger.”

“I’m no stranger,” Shanks started, but Mihawk reached for Crocodile’s hand before you could take it. 

“Don’t you remember our brave clown last night,” Mihawk praised. He gestured to Buggy, whose lips parted as he stared at the swordsman, until Adam pawed at that faded paint. “He won’t let anyone hurt her, not even us. Such a loyal little toy.”

He patted Buggy on the head before rounding on you.

“Besides, our little rabbit has a safe word, and you know I’ll hear it if you say it. Tell us your safe word, darling.”

“Hopscotch,” you managed, each surreal moment making you question your grip on reality. 

Maybe he did put me away. He said it wouldn’t be that hard. Maybe this is all just a drugged, fever dream, and I’m strapped up in an asylum somewhere.

That could have sent you into the worst sort of spiral, if not for your next thought. 

I don’t fucking care. It’s a good dream.

A gasp left your throat when Crocodile took a knee, tugging you up off the carpet to scan your face. 

“You’re my sweet girl, huh,” he whispered in your ear, making you melt against him. 

“Mhm,” you promised, falling into his kiss. 

“Be good.”

You were left with your mouth agape while Crocodile walked toward the door, Mihawk nudging your chin before leaving a wicked kiss, a kiss that made you dizzy. 

“Be bad if you like, little rabbit,” he purred, making your eyes roll back before he sauntered out of the room. 

“Well,” Shanks stood, wiggling a half-empty bottle toward you. “I’ll trade you a drink for a tour of my suite.”

~

As soon as Crocodile and Mihawk left you alone, Buggy had his hands on you. Giggling as you squeezed through the door, you smiled at Korris who’d returned to keep Adam company. 

It felt strange stepping into that suite. You’d only stayed there a few nights when the new regime had taken over, but heat rushed to your cheeks at the sight of the bed.

The bed you’d buried your face into, trying to relieve the aching need they’d stirred in you, trembling under the desperate fear of being heard. 

“You like this bed, huh,” Shanks rasped, leaning to breathe those words against your ear before lounging on the mattress. “Seems pretty normal to me. Care to show me–”

“Lame,” Buggy mocked, letting go of your waist to give two thumbs down while he blew a raspberry. You laughed a little too loudly at the face Shanks made before you kissed Buggy on the cheek.

 “You’ve got such a great sense of humor,” Buggy grinned, lifting you by the hips until you wrapped your legs around his waist, giggling as he covered your neck with kisses before leaping onto the bed with you beneath him.

“I’m not used to being the third wheel,” Shanks laughed, moving closer to smile down at you while Buggy kissed along your collarbones.

“Get used to it, shithead,” he mumbled, rubbing his face down your chest, that purple dress about to get smeared with grease paint. 

“Stop,” you breathed, grabbing his hand when he pulled away with worry in his eyes. “No, keep doing that, please! Just– Crocodile likes this dress.”

A half second of confusion was followed by that look of ownership you’d missed in his eyes until recently. 

“Can I take it off for you? Or does my pretty star wanna put on a little show?”

The normal, giddy nerves you would have felt were magnified when you caught Shanks’ eyes. 

“I’ll take it off,” you decided.

“Hold on,” Buggy yelled after letting you off the bed. He dug through both nightstands until he pulled out a tonedial, holding it up with a triumphant laugh.

“I forgot about those,” you squealed, leaning toward him to press the shell. Cliche “sexy” music filled the air, which Buggy had deemed vital to place in every suite. 

“Never know which room you might fuck in,” the two of you joked simultaneously, devolving into silliness until Shanks snagged the dial. 

“I might need to borrow one of these, Buggy,” he teased, holding it in his palm while he gestured toward you. 

“I wouldn’t trust you to return it.”

Buggy’s mouth had opened, but it was your lips that delivered that harsh quip, earning you a raised, red-haired brow, and a red-painted grin.

“We’ve only just met,” Shanks studied you, the corner of his lips teasing into a wicked smirk, “but I think I need to earn your respect, don’t I?”

“Good luck,” Buggy snorted, but you got caught by his old friend’s soft, and dangerous eyes. 

“I hope luck is on my side,” Shanks rasped, dropping the tonedial onto the bed to grab your hand, pulling you toward him. Your pulse got heavy as his breath got close, his fingers leaving featherlight touches along your arm, your shoulder, your neck. “Can I try to make it up to you?”

Shanks breathed that question against your ear, his fingers teasing into your hair as you swayed. 

“I don’t…”

“Of course,” Shanks backed off, sitting beside Buggy. “I don’t want to overstep.”

“Yeah, you do,” Buggy rolled his eyes, sending a hand to hold against your cheek until you looked at him. “Star, we can leave if you don’t want to–”

“Do you want to?”

A tiny hint of fear touched your words, but you pushed it aside, willing Buggy to see nothing but your gentle smile.

He’s with me right now, and right now is good. 

“Yeah, Buggy,” Shanks purred, a shit eating grin taking over his face. “Do you want to?”

“Fuck you,” Buggy grunted, frowning at his own choice of words before studying your face. “I only want to if you want to.”

Letting out a breath, you leaned forward to click the button on the tonedial. 

The air shifted as it filled with that cheesy music, and with the heat of consent that left goosebumps along your skin while they watched you dance. They hardly moved, but their eyes that had just been so playful and bright were now heavy with promises you weren’t sure you were ready for. 

But as the purple dress fell to the floor, and hunger filled both of their faces, you stopped caring about anything except for those eyes on your skin. 

“Fuck,” Buggy breathed as you tossed your lingerie to the side. 

“You like to watch, don’t you,” Shanks asked, wetting his lips while his eyes stayed fixed on you. “You like watching Crocodile and Mihawk fuck your girl.”

“I–”

“Yes,” Buggy surprised you, cutting you off with his quiet, but firm agreement.

“Wanna watch me take care of her for you,” Shanks rasped, your body reacting before you could think. “One apology isn’t nearly enough, is it, Buggy? I need to make it up to you. Need to make your little bunny come ‘til she cries, huh?”

Buggy pulled you onto the bed when you gasped, your knees going weak before he set you down next to Shanks.

“I want to if you want to,” Buggy teased into your ear. The tension in your body relaxed as you nodded, smiling when he addressed the other man. “Take care of her for me.”

“Of course,” Shanks vowed, cradling your face as he leaned toward you. “Anything for a friend.”

“Idiot.”

Buggy’s grunted insult had Shanks pressing a smile against your lips, and after a moment of tightness, you let yourself give in. A satisfied hum left his throat, as if he knew he’d finally caught you. Like a trap slamming shut, he deepened the kiss, his fingers tracing along your bare skin until you whimpered for him, tugging at his loose shirt. 

“Want me this bad already, mystery girl,” he taunted, his words burning along your cheeks. That didn’t stop you though, and you hid a smug smile at the little gasp he let out when you started pulling at his waistband.

“I wanna put on a good show for my captain,” your challenging words rolled out in a purr. You couldn’t recall feeling this wickedly powerful before. The danger that flashed in his eyes should have sent you cowering. 

Fuck it.

“I was expecting more from the ‘Great Red Haired Shanks,” you risked, looking him up and down as he hopped off the bed. “You’ve been pretty underwhelming so far. No offense, of course.”

You didn’t dare look away from Shanks, even as Buggy started laughing so hard he was wheezing, his body parts floating lazily around the room as if he couldn’t hold himself together. The red haired pirate’s face was frozen, staring at you as if you truly were a little bunny that had somehow learned to speak.

Then he smirked, dropping his clothes to the floor. 

“Ugh, seriously,” you complained, rolling your eyes at the sight of his nude body.

Not even a heartbeat passed before he was straddling you, pinching your cheek while a frightening grin pulled at his lips.

“Hey, hey,” Buggy calmed, grasping the other man’s wrist.

“Mihawk must–”

“Do all pirates have perfect cocks, or do I just keep getting lucky,” you cut Shanks off, breathless as adrenaline buzzed through you. You flicked your eyes toward Buggy, giving your clown a wink. 

Shanks sucked his teeth, releasing your cheek to tilt your chin up toward him. 

“I’ve got a whole ship full of pirates that would love to help you test your theory,” he warned. You couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not, and the potential threat made your mouth dry.

“You can barely handle my pretty star,” Buggy taunted as he wrapped himself around your back, sticking his tongue out at his old friend. “I doubt any of your underlings would last a minute.”

Buggy’s kisses and praise along your cheek brought more breathless giggles, and you relaxed back against his chest. Shanks paused to watch you both before his retort. 

“I don’t know,” he hummed, brushing hair from your face. “Ol’ Benn has taught me a thing or two about dealing with bratty little bunnies. Seems like Mihawk’s been going easy on you. Never thought I’d see the day.”

A nervous laugh escaped you at that terrifying thought.

“Y/N,” he soothed, tracing his thumb across your lips, “I know I’ve made a bad first impression, and I’ve been a bad friend.”

“A terrible friend,” Buggy corrected softly, earning another little smile. “A shit friend, actually. Dog shit friend.”

Shanks stayed quiet for a moment, his lips quirking as though a laugh or an argument could come flying loose at any moment. He took your hand, his gentle touch carrying too much heat. 

“Please, Y/N,” Shanks started again. Those pretty eyes implored you, and all that ungodly charm weighed your body down. You knew you were falling for it, but didn’t care enough to resist. “Please, let me make it up to you, to both of you.”

The corner of his lips picked up when he noticed your body react, that cocky gleam shining in his eyes when he scanned your features. 

“How about I sweeten the deal for ya, gorgeous? Let’s put on a helluva show for our favorite clown, and if you promise to be a good little bunny for me, I promise I’ll make you scream my name so loud, you’ll forget why you didn’t like me in the first place.”

“I remember you being better at this,” Buggy deadpanned, while you failed to hide your snort with a cough. 

“Tough crowd,” Shanks sighed, studying you.

I’d like to get fucked sometime tonight.

Laughing at your own impatient thought, you took Shanks’ hand in both of yours, kissing his knuckles, tracing along his rough, calloused fingers. Just your breath moving across his skin was enough to shift the air, and you tried not to gloat.

“Here’s the deal,” you hummed, pausing to drag your lower lip down with his thumb. You gave him wide, innocent eyes, letting your body melt under his gaze. “If you can fuck me dumb enough that I can’t say another bad thing about you tonight, then I’ll let it all go. But if you can’t, then I get to drag you through the dirt tomorrow, however I see fit.”

You ended your demands by sucking two of his fingers into your mouth, your body finally giving in to that desire. 

Holy fuck, I am insane. 

Buggy was shifting, gasping softly as he kissed your hair, while Shanks stared down at his fingers in your mouth. Your needy, challenging eyes trailed lower, but you choked before you could find what you were looking for, rough fingers shoving down your throat. 

“You didn’t say anything about me getting some help,” Shanks taunted, winking at Buggy who let out a soft moan. The red haired pirate kissed the corner of your lips while you fought not to gag around his fingers, his next evil words whispered into your ear. “Could have been so nice and sweet. Could have taken all night to tease and taste you. But my friend’s girl needs to learn some manners, huh?”

Buggy grabbed your wrists, already trapping you for Shanks without needing to be asked. Shanks laughed when your eyes rolled back, the smug sound making you shake. You'd forgotten to tell Shanks what your hand signal was if you couldn't use your safe word, but Buggy was right there.

Buggy's right here with me.

Shanks' commanding voice ripped you back into that edge of fear and need, that loss of control.

“I agree to your deal, little bunny,” he taunted, fingers still invading your throat, “but here’s mine. I’ll do all of those wicked things you want me to do to you. I’ll even let you have this pretty mouth back. But if anything but sweetness falls from these lips, we’ll find out how many body parts I need to shove down your throat until you learn to shut the fuck up.”

Hot tears flowed down your cheeks as you tried to meet those “soft” eyes, struggling to relax while four of his fingers fucked your throat now.

“Don’t piss me off, bunny. I’d hate to fail my own challenge, but if this sweet mouth spills anything rotten, then we'll be too busy cleaning it out to give your pretty pussy any attention. Do you understand?”

“Mnngnm,” you moaned around his hand, drool trailing down your strained lips. He released you slowly, pulling free to smile at the strands of spit connecting his hand to your lips you while you gasped and coughed.

“So pretty with all that mess,” he praised, his thick voice making Buggy pause before wiping your chin with a gloved hand. “It’s alright, you can clean her up. It won’t be the last mess on that beautiful face tonight. Would you like that, darlin?”

A needy moan left your raw throat at the sight of Shanks’ sticky fingers reaching down to trace along his perfect, dripping cock. Mesmerized, you watched his thumb tease that bead of precum around his swollen tip. He hissed softly at his own touch, eyes feasting on you as you started to struggle and whine under their weight. 

“Bunny wanna taste,” he offered, holding his thumb in front of your face. Satisfied laughter left his lips as you wrapped yours around his thumb, desperately sucking in the taste of him.

“Mm, is that what this is,” Shanks soothed as he pulled away, freeing your legs to sit beside you. You slumped back, melting against Buggy’s chest while Shanks traced fingers down your thighs. “You really are just a sweet little bunny, aren’t you?”

“Fuck,” you gasped, back arching against Buggy as Shanks plunged two of his fingers into your dripping cunt, his thumb teasing over clit until you moaned for him. 

“I knew it,” he laughed, never letting up. “You only acted like a brat because you’re such a good girl, wanting to make Buggy happy. Isn’t that right, old friend?”

“My girl’s so good for me,” Buggy praised, his name now pouring from your lips. 

“What a cutie,” Shanks chuckled, curling his fingers up until your eyes rolled back, then he froze until you stared up at him. 

“Please–”

“Uh uh uh,” he tutted, tearing a surprised yelp from you when he lightly pinched your clit. “Even though you were acting out for the right reasons, you still need to learn your fucking manners.”

“I’m s-so—”

“You were so mean, and you're already saying sorry,” he wondered, pressing a few teasing circles over your clit with his thumb before leaving another pinch. You recognized a bit of Mihawk’s manic glint in his eyes as he watched you squirm for him. “It’s too bad, huh? Could’ve just shown me what a good girl you were, and I would have helped you.”

“Shanks–” Buggy warned, still holding you against him.

“All you wanna do is please him, don’t you, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” you cried out as he gifted you with pleasure again. “Wanna please you, Buggy. So bad, please…”

“Fuck, baby,” Buggy moaned, meeting your half lidded eyes. It was Shanks’ fingers that were bringing you, but you couldn’t look away from the shocked smile on your clown’s face, ignoring the other man, yet again. Buggy ate your screams, his faded red lips on yours while you came on those wicked fingers. The pleasure stretched on and on, until you gasped at the change in pressure. 

Shanks palmed your dripping cunt, still twitching from his work. Both you and Buggy turned to him as he raked his fingers through your core, before dragging all that slick over his cock. Your eyes rolled back, returning to find Shanks’ manic eyes searing into Buggy’s now.

“Can I help her please you, Buggy? Let me do it for you, please?”

The tiniest slip of need from his voice made you shiver, Buggy freezing behind you. He just blinked at the red haired man, until you whispered his name.

“I want to if you want to,” you smiled, giving permission for your lovely clown to enjoy whatever Shanks’ needy request had promised. 

“So darn sweet. Come on, Bugs. Let me show our bunny how it’s done.”

~

“That thirsty, even after our little water break,” Shanks teased, smirking as you crawled across the bed with bare need on your face. He had his back against the headboard, lazily stroking himself while you and Buggy joined him. 

“Yes,” you admitted, fighting the urge to grab his veiny shaft when you sat beside him.  

“What are you waiting for then? Let me feel that hungry, little pussy.”

Buggy kissed your shoulder as you shuddered, crawling over Shanks’ lap until you hovered over that pretty cock. If not for the last couple weeks of your wild life, you might have been timid. Instead, you moaned as he teased his tip through your folds, dragging all that wetness down his shaft. You didn’t pause when he lined himself up, shoving yourself down slowly. 

“Oh gods,” you choked out when you’d taken all of him in.

“Mm, this is what you needed, isn't it,” he rasped, tracing his lips along your neck before chuckling softly, nibbling at your ear. 

“Yes, please,” you moaned, starting to move over him, until floating hands appeared at your waist, holding you down. Buggy gave a soft laugh with Shanks’ cruel one as they watched you whine and fight for friction on that swollen cock.

“Come on, little bunny,” Shanks laughed, teasing his thumb over your clit for a brutal moment before smearing it across your lips. “I’m gonna show you how to please Buggy, just like you wanted. Be a good girl, and you might get to do more than just warm my cock tonight. Do you wanna be a good girl for me, Y/N?”

“Mhm,” you panted, catching eyes with Buggy as he sat beside Shanks. The slow, satisfied look in Buggy’s eyes let your body go loose as you glanced back and forth between them. “I’ll be a good girl.”

“You heard her,” Shanks growled as he held his hand in front of your face. His eyes were wide and hungry as he stared at your lips, until his hand was suddenly full. He tilted his head back, letting out a deep laugh while your brain processed that Buggy’s cock was now gripped in his friend’s hand. 

“Let me show you how it’s done.”

Shanks kept taunting eyes on yours while he licked and sucked Buggy’s cock like he was born to do it. The sight of him taking your lover down his throat had you clenching around his length inside you, until all three of you reacted to each other, a loop of pleasure and need that had only just started. 

“Your turn,” Shanks rasped, planting a sloppy kiss on your lips before shoving Buggy’s dick down your throat. 

Digging your nails into your thighs was the only thing you could control, besides relaxing your throat to let Shanks use you. Buggy’s fingers tightened as he kept you in place, your body going frantic with the need to fuck yourself onto that thick cock.

“There ya go, bunny girl. Relax just a bit more for him, and we’ll give you what you need. Mm, that's good. Is she pleasing you, Buggy?”

“F-fuck yes,” Buggy groaned, the press of his fingers only adding to your need. 

“Do it, Buggy,” he purred, guiding a little more force down your throat. “Fuck her onto me. Show me what a sweet little cunt you’ve got– gods damn…”

Buggy’s hands on your waist went from pressing you down to lifting and slamming you onto Shanks' cock over and over until you forgot you were human. All the pressure and discomfort of waiting, of getting throat fucked so thoroughly, turned into blinding pleasure as Buggy used your cunt like a toy for his friend. 

“I’m gonna–”

“I feel you, Bugs. Fuck, yes. Let me see you make a mess on her.”

Shanks pulled him out, holding that floating dick above you just in time for hot lines of come to paint your face and neck, dripping down to your chest. You were still gasping, relearning how to breathe, but you licked your lips clean. The way they both looked at you made you want nothing more than to please them for the rest of your life.

“Come here,” Shanks growled, before pulling you in for a kiss. He dragged his tongue across your chin first, sharing the taste of Buggy’s come while he ate at you, moaning as he sat back. Your clown’s hands still used you like a fuck toy for the other man, and your body loved to be used.

“That’s right, bunny,” Shanks praised, fisting his hand into your hair. “You’ve been so good for us. Such a messy girl. Mm, what a sweet little pussy, milking my cock like this. Gonna stuff you so fucking full.”

Buggy’s hands returned to holding you down while Shanks groaned, forcing his friend’s come as deep inside you as possible. Your voice was almost lost by the time you could remember language. 

“Got anything to say about me now, little bunny,” Shanks threatened, a dangerous laugh leaving his lips as he trailed his fingers down your skin.

You fell against his chest, shaking your head as you took in the scent of him. He kissed your temple, chuckling as he wrapped his arm around you. Sleep felt suddenly urgent, but Buggy’s lips tickled up the back of your neck until you shivered. 

“Shower time. Unless you want another hair care lecture in the morning.”

“You know he can still hear you,” Shanks teased over Buggy’s hushed tone. 

“Now he can, asshole!”

“Why do you care anyway, clown? Don’t you have your own sense of style?”

“Crusty gizz hair might still be your style, Shanks, but some of us have actually grown up.”

“Crusty?” 

“If I don’t go to bed now, I might get grumpy, and say grumpy things.”

“Can’t have that,” Shanks agreed, and you let these two old friends carry you to the bathroom. Buggy asked you both to wash him while he sent his hands out to change the sheets. 

Of course, the bed was a mess since he’d done it blind, and you had to interrupt before Shanks finished claiming he could have done a better job one handed.

“Sleeeep,” you chanted, laying down on the plush carpet until they got it together. Humming through the air when Buggy lifted you, you let out a contented sigh as he laid you down in the middle of those clean sheets. You curled up against his chest as you had so many times before, but instead of Crocodile’s large form, it was Shanks that wrapped himself around your back. 

Exhaustion hit hard, and you enjoyed the soft, silly banter as you all drifted off. 

So comfortable. So happy. You’d almost forgotten about the painful question this man had brought with him. You almost let it go, relaxation so close to winning out.

But even after Buggy drifted off into light snores, Shanks’ hand didn’t stop reaching for him. 

The red haired pirate’s arm was curled around you, but he couldn’t seem to pick a spot to rest. 

His hand gripping Buggy’s shoulder.

His thumb tracing along Buggy’s hip. 

His hand wrapped around Buggy's waist. 

His rough fingers teasing across Buggy’s skin until goosebumps rolled over him, until Buggy shivered in his sleep beside you.

Now that Buggy’s snores had grown louder, you doubted you’d get any sleep tonight.

“You can come if he wants you.” 

The almost sound was timed with Buggy’s snore, and you jolted when you felt that breath in your ear. 

“Wha–”

“Shh, little bunny,” Shanks urged, pressing his hand over your lips until you froze. “Let’s let him rest.”

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Part 17

Operation Olive Branch has compiled a working spreadsheet of ways to help families fleeing from the genocide in Palestine. If you enjoyed this fic, and are able, please click the link to find a list of GoFundMe's, as well as other ways to help.

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