#anyway storytime over sorry chat

[oh-cramity-its-amity]

basically we (hs marching band) played for pete buttigieg for his campaign and it was absolutely the worst fucking experience of my life because THESE PEOPLE did not close down the street downtown where we (as a BAND) were marching.

followed up by dumbass people who didnt understand that WE NEEDED ROOM TO WALK and wanted to walk right beside us (like the sidewalk was so small dude when ur trying to have political supporters hog a majority. not understanding or even rlly respecting us) shouting and being fucking stupid selfish mfs.

so like they were pushing us or crowding our space while we were marching. not giving us enough room to play. its like i was in the middle of people and god it was beyond claustrophobic.

i think i hit several people with my drum because they WOULDNT move and had elbowed and been rude. my god we were JUST high-school students.

anyway the sidewalk was SO shotty bc like half of it (the side we were forced to walk on) had unexpected dips or unusual formations in pathway- esp cause sometimes it broke into square mini tree plot things and not cement or solid ground.)

not to mention we had curbs to walk and not being able to see below me because of being shoved around and having people all around me moving at a set speed. i didnt see how a curb was broken- or even really that it existed.. and i face planted with a bass drum on forward.

director was right there asking if i was okay in an instant and being concerned about my wellness but i really just- got up like nothing happened and started playing again. i was just so pissed and didnt even have room to even hit the drumhead.

we WERE promised to meet pete + food but we literally got neither and lied to in multiple ways (mostly bc they said we were going to have the street closed) ugh god its like a bad experience.

the stick clicks tho were rlly fun. also hillary clinton was there + bernie. it jst politicians coming to boost rep for presidency shit (forget the year but our school got stuck w pete)

tldr DONT PLAY FOR POLITICIANS FFS.

ugh whenever i hear (the song) high hopes i literally have violent ptsd because of marching band. i hate it so much. theres self lore yk like really fun storytime moment

[pardonmydelays]

how did the prison gang come to be a thing and what does the name mean?

STORYTIME!!!

ok, so for those who are confused, there's six of us in prison gang: me, @wagingmywarsbehindmyface, @mymuses-acquiredlikebruises, @noproof-youjustknow, @anixknowsnothin and @redwidow616.

if you were here last year, you probably know that my blog didn't look like it does now lmao. basically, bel and i, we were obsessing over totally different things - the little mermaid (2023) and hamilton, mostly (or should i say: jonah hauer king and lin manuel miranda?). anyway. this is a very important part of the story, because we've known each other for literal years and before that we were both posting mostly about taylor swift. and then everything has changed (pun intended) last spring/summer and this is exactly how the entire prison gang found each other on this hellsite.

i do not remember the exact time we've all started following each other but i do know anix found me because of some hamilton shitpost (or was it the other way around? i think maybe it was me who found HER hamilton post and reblogged it and then she followed and texted me? correct me if i'm wrong, i need to do some research). anyway. then red found me because of anix cause they already knew each other - both swifties and musical theatre nerds. just like me.

now i do remember that edith had swiftie url and i found out she's also into musical theatre some time later and we started interacting through the posts. i also remember she said my tags always make her laugh hehehe. and M, M definitely had url from the little mermaid (wild uncharted waters my fucking beloved) and so we started following each other because of this and then also found out she's into musical theatre (she told me that she absolutely adores my love for hamilton hehehe i was pretty loud about it back then) and also a swiftie. it's crazy when you think about it - we were basically all just one person.

and i am only speaking from my own experience because i do not know the exact moment they all followed each other - i only remember how and why i became mutuals with them.

and it was a few months later when i was talking to bel and we were like hey, it would be so fucking cool if tumblr had a group chat option... and then she came up with the idea of creating a discord server for our group. i know anix helped a lot because she's good at discord - i literally installed the app only because of those people. and we are still there, almost one year later. and it's our first anniversary soon!

about the name tho... anon, i'm sorry but i have absolutely no idea why we are called prison gang. we were probably talking about the possibility of murdering someone (we always have our knives ready) and ending up in prison together and someone (probably anix) just randomly said "prison gang" and we just adopted the name cause it was funny. anyway. i would die for this group it's not even funny.

[fappellmoan]

bitch post time!!!!!! many revelations ok last night's vibes were HEINOUS but it provided so much for me and lydia to talk about and now i am gonna share with you yippee storytime

k so we plan to go to this valentines day showcase thing that the college radio is putting on last night. mind you at my place of work where i pretended that i had a family emergency and had to go home cause i didnt feel like going into work yesterday morning lol idiot... i was so paranoid my boss was there in disguise or some shit it was stupid. sorry um. yeah so ok i was largely like this could be a chance for friend groups to come together and maybe ill be able to talk to sams roommate and also like i do want to see more live music and it's free! so. anyway ok wait let me tell u abt the first part of the day

so me and lydia drive over some wine bottles to sam for him to use as props in a film. and sam and the roommate are sitting on their porch and we chat a little bit acc sam said as i walked up 'you always look so suspicious' and i was like 'ok u guys were literally just staring at me' cause they WERE and roommate was actually really nicely like 'oh no you're okay' and generally was just kind of inserting into our convo which well i had fun with naturally. um anyway and then who comes running up but teko! our buddy teko. and sams like have yall met and im like Of course and teko gives me a hug and i cant lie it was actually so sweet. i am also extremely touch starved but it was a nice hug. anyway. then i had to help roommate pick shoes alongside teko's fit and then i was like um Ok Bye. when i got back in the car lydia was like so i saw a neon sweatshirt... and i was like yeah <3 that's my man <3 sorry ok vibes get worse as the night comes

me and lydia end up getting to sam's late to 'pregame' this show and ig it was supposed be like. it was encouraged to dress formally. and i was wearing a dress that was too small and my chappell red tights and docs. kind of a serve but me and lydia were serving much more valentines day than formal. anyway. roommate does swing around to be like hi! and THEN i see my girl chloe i looooove her shes so fuckin funny and weird and we made this weird little short together in class last semester and i was kinda intimidated by her so i was so happy shocked when she was like I was so excited to see u :D WEEE shes so cool guys and has the funniest fuckin laugh and well honestly the high points of the night were us and lydia fucking around and dancing and being weird and offputting wallflowers cause again this thing SUCKED. ok

we did also smoke beforehand and i accidentally took this huge hit and then thought id be fine w a little more but brother was i feeling funny. did not eat enough and didnt take water it was atrocious. so. we get there and let me tell you if I WAS WORKING i'd have been able to fix the fact that it was soooooooooo fucking loud in there like bad bad bad audio distortion etc i wanted to kick this dude off the mixer but like what ever... it hurt so bad. and the lights were mostly on until chloe and sam duped this guy into dimming some of them but even still it was giving middle school dance. without the fun cheesy music. some of my instagram gay people are there. um but sorry there was simply no way i was going near that dance floor like the bands lowkey highkey sucked (i mean it was just a bunch of white college dudes and they did not slay. shocker. sam kept being like 'they're so good' and we were like um haha... straight face emoji)

we acc disappeared for a while to another floor for the br and just chilled for like half an hour (and security came to find us lmfaooo but ended up just leaving) and i was feeling odd and out of body and too aware of how i looked and it was just not great i was like we're the only bitches serving cunt here... um. anywho. so like later theres a slow dance and roommate is dancing with this other girl i only know from instagram till this point and i suppose if i was really feeling myself i could have tried to make a move but i was not. once again. vile vibes in this place. like i dont mean to be a pussy i typically would be much more charming and fun if i wanted to flirt and kinda felt the vibe from them but i was not really enjoying myself LMAO

then some more of the friend group shows up at the end and sam's like 'drama is actively going down' and im like Wuhhhh the fuck and i feel like a few of them r looking at me and i was just like get me OUT of here but for some fuck ass reason was still like nooooo we should go over and have pizza w sam and them. forgive me for thinking they had like frozen pizza or smth and i could get some free food out of this no we had to sit there and wait for dominos or whatever

AND THE MOST ANNOOOOOOOOOOOYING AWFUL TERRIBLE GROSS MEN YOUVE EVER MET SAT THERE AND JOINED THE BRIEF SMOKE CIRCLE AND THEN WERE JUST THERE AND LIKE YOU COULD JUST FEEL THEM TAKING UP SPACE AND US 'GIRLS' WERE MADE TO FEEL SO SMALL ON THE FUCKING COUCH I WAS SOOOOOOOO TIRED. had to get a sweater cause i felt so uncomfortable. girl i really was only there in case i could have a saving grace moment with roommate im so serious. well and for chloe but otherwise me and lydia shoulda been outta there

literally chloe was so excited to show our little video to people and sam cut us off from getting there to show us the fucking fidget spinner game he has on his tv. girl get out! oh my fucking god. finally lydias like Cool anyway so - like sams misogyny jumped out in previously unprecedented ways. it was bad. these boys were truly making me want to kill myself im sorry like it was so bad i have curated my experience so as to be away from that for so long it was really jarring. and what you need to understand about sam is that he's almost died twice and kind of has a funny little gender vibe going on and so for a while now yeah we've gotten along through silly odd things we relate through but holy shit....... that was so offputting i cant even wrap my brain around it

also sam very much walked me into like yaoi-fying him and his best friend and then was like haha noooo why r u calling us gay ur so weird bitch just fuck him already im tired and also dont care.. hes so attention seeking and not used to um not being the center of attention. sorry! oopsies anyway so

so then im like ew like i kinda need to reassess um. the people im around. and again cant stress enough how gross and judged and just kinda old i felt surrounded by these ppl even tho theyre all like within a year of age? and like roommate still seems maybe cool but since we didnt actually talk and they were off w the other roommate/other ppl i cant help but associate them w the odd vibes but like. honestly idk i might just try to uh slide into their dms rlly casually. bc. well idk how the friend group is fracturing and it wouldnt surprise me if they were annoyed with sam esp living with him but obv i dont really know. but again let me stress this friend group has been friends since their freshman year like what r yall doing yeah u do need to break up....

so i figure since they're hot (and kinda tiny i cant tell if they're shorter than me or just right around my height) (but also they kind of scared me by giving Instagram face while posing for a pic last night i cant do any more people giving off dorian gray rn. but i was also under the influence so um that didnt help) i could just yeah be brave see how it goes and worst case scenario it's not a vibe yk. and best case scenario i get to hang w them and teko. teko so gives francis. anyway

OH also sam and the friends insisted on listening to this ai generated… thing like idk guys i think i was in hell fr

also had several men yell out of their cars at me and staring at me as we walked to the bus stop :/ so men really do ruin everything btw

um. so. that was the night! thx for reading if u did. i am excited to be around other fun silly cool queer people god bless fuck these people

[honeypot-sapphic]

Relationship storytime at the request of @junipermead53 ! It's a lot im sorry but to be fair it took almost three years lol

- Meet this girl Junior year of hs in my trade program, let's call her G

- Assume off initial meeting she's either going to be a lesbian or a republican and don't think much more of it cause we aren't friends

- slowly become her friend towards the end of Junior year and be friends with two other girls (E and K)

- We chat over the summer but i ignore her a lot bc severe depressive episode whoops

- Senior year comes around, uneventful start. I have long since learned i was wrong she isn't a lesbian or a republican and is a straight christian girl

- I realize around October that oh no, I caught feelings for her and have a crisis over it cause of course I'd fall for the one straight girl in my friend group.

- Chat with her constantly in and out of school, we call constantly when out of school and I consider her one of my closest friends

- Somewhere mid April, I send an Instagram reel that says something like "ask me any question and I have to answer it". After a long and back and forth about actually saying it it makes it out that I like her, but she doesn't like me and is straight. We decide to remain friends.

- In the same voice call that the reveal happens, she suggests we fake date to play a joke on our friends. Specifically E and another girl named P.

- We have a trip to California for a competition we competed in (scored 4th place nationally babeyyyy) and decide to full send the fake relationship for the trip, which is end of April

- Trip happens. On our day we get home I stay over at her place just cause of convenience and she tells me she actually DOES like me. We do not begin a relationship yet.

- Early May, E and P blow up on us for the fake dating, calling us manipulative and toxic and bad friends. We feel bad about it but also huh what?? Manipulative? For a fake dating prank? Anyways we apologize and feel bad about it. Very shortly after me and G decide to actually start dating

- Things are rocky. Senior year ends, the job hunt begins, she's having an identity crisis and starts acting super weird to me. I have to flat out ask her if she's breaking up with me and the answer is yes. ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRIDE MONTH. BY SAYING SHE'S STRAIGHT. homophobia at its finest

- I cut my losses and let us stay friends.

- Over the course of June we somehow get closer? Calling every night, constantly chatting, ect.

- July and August we hang out in person and she gets REAL clingy. Like.. she's super huggy and sweet to me, wants to hold my hand a lot, ect.

- September 4th ish? We have our first kiss. Yet again because of an Instagram reel, this one joking about making out.

- Have a "so what are we" debate before we make things official where she tells me she does actually like me and whatnot

- And we make it official on September 8th!

- ignoring the mental breakdown I had early October when I broke up with her for a day we're going strong! Five month anniversary coming up start of February and I'm so very in love with her

[ahopelessprincessreincarnation]

Hey there, my name(or more so an internet alias currently at the very least)is Emanuel Marco aka Daniel, Julian or Edgar and welcome to my official alternative and somewhat not-exactly-secretive more diary-type internet journal space known as my blog on my brand new Tumblr Dot Com blog(aka where you are right now). I am a teenager and soon to be adult in my real physical life that's not on the interwebs, but I feel more as if I am some sort of childish adult, or atleast have felt grown up for awhile now due to stress. I guess you could say I'm "mature for my age" but that's barely the case to be honest with you and besides, I've sort of come to associate that term with creepy older men attempting to chat inappropriately in private direct messaging or whatever. Lmfao anyways, while I do want to keep my age a little vague for the reasoning being of an attempt at interweb safety(despite how far too late it seems considering other stuff at the moment), what I can say more in depth is that I am a neurodivergent person who is professionally diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum along with ADHD. I am considering that I may have other neurological conditions/disorders but I don't really know or care too much at the moment, by the way, I am also a white-latino who is bilingual in both English and Latin-American Spanish despite how I may struggle with the language along with attempting to reconnect with apart of my culture. I am an LGBTQIAPlus/Queer community member and supporter of other identities that I may not even fall under completly, though specifically I am a genderfluid bisexual aceflux person who uses both he/she pronouns(please don't use they for me unless I specifically asked to, thank you). I used to identify as a transgender male(ftm)but due to realizing the amount of harm being inflicted on women of both cis and trans due to violence and misogyny, I thought the most correct thing to do morally would be to stop being such and to instead just lean into more masculine types of gendernonconformity(I am still pretty feminine though so it's just an idea I guess lol(Please know that there's nothing inherently wrong with transitioning from female to male or something male-ajacent or whatever, I know it's probably more complex than just "all men are bad" like no duh but still, it's been really hurting my heart that I could possibly be giving off the idea that misandry is real or something roflmao. Sorry if that explanation is stupid, but I'm not the best at phrasing stuff sometimes♡).

For what I am going to be posting on here, it's probably gonna be different from my main page and other social media platforms but at the very least I wanna keep my alternative/side-blog more clean and organized when it comes to my interests and other stuff relating to my thoughts and ideas for different types of subject matters. While I am am an admittedly mostly digital artist and animator who intends to make more stuff involving my inspirations such as making more gay yuri anime and bara yaoi manga style graphic novels/comics, I want to use my alternative page/side blog to write not only fictional stories involving my original characters and even fanfiction, but also stuff about my life almost as if they were written storytime videos that would usually he formatted visually on my YouTube Channel. To be honest with you, I've been looking more into stuff involving the subjects of alterhumanity, soulbonding, therianthropy, fictionkin and just otherkin over all on here atleast. I don't know how much more I can possibly explain without falling asleep since it's night where I am on the planet Earth at the moment, so this is probably just gonna remain as a temporary pin but please keep in mind that updates are probably going to come soon♡.

I know nowadays on the interwebs and most public mainstream social media platforms, users usually put some sort of "before you follow" and "do not interact" criteria as a set of boundaries specific for those who want to support their account and become mutuals with them. Since I want to avoid any sort of needless drama situations or scenarios involving meaningless discourse, I am just going to leave my simple requests here for those who care enough to read through my little ideas of what I consider to call my own boundaries♡:

•Obviously, first and foremost, please just be normal as you would not using the computer or phone infront of you which means...use basic common sense and maybe possibly even kindness perhaps I don't even know anymore. This specifically means no racism, xenophobia, ableism, queerphobia/LGBTQIAPhobia and so on. If I do something that's considered any of the above, I can assure you that it was an accident and to please educate me on whatever I have done that may be offensive or wrong since I recognize I do have certain privilege♡.

•Secondly, please do not come to me if you support problematic fictional media or internet communities such as lolicons/shotacons/kodocons, radqueers, pro-paraphiles, fujoshis/fudanshis or himejoshis/himedanshis, proshippers/comshippers/profiction/darkshippers or whatever other name these groups go by nowadays atleast or enjoyers/condoners of feral nsfw content. I am against these groups due to the harrassment, sexualization/fetishization and grooming that runs rampant in these specific internet spaces though please don't attack any minor users in these communities. Many of the younger ones are traumatized children who don't have many healthy coping mechanisms and while these habits should absolutely not be encouraged, they still should be guided and helped into the right direction by others who know better atleast♡.

•Thirdly, If you are apart of other insensitive and hurtful groups such as endogenic/non-traumagenic "systems"(that's not how being a system works dummy), if you support mspec lesbians or male-lesbians aka "lesboys"(you literally cannot be attracted to men while being a lesbian or be a man and also identify as a lesbian so please stop making non-men loving women and the rest of the LGBTQIAPlus community look bad because you're literally just scared to admit you're straight or bisexual or something I don't know???) and others who use marginalized communities in order to hurt others by disregarding their concerns♡.

•Fourth, my last but not least important request, is for you to leave my alternative/side-blog(and other social media platforms if you know who I am yet somehow)if you support the unneeded cyberbullying towards those who may seem "cringeworthy" but in reality are harmless and at worst cheesy on their own(Examples being neopronoun/xenogender users, alterhumans/therians/fictionkin/otherkin/soulbonders etc or furries and cosplayers). Humanity can be very beautiful when using all of our differences for good and not for evil, otherwise we end up creating a very ugly and nasty pathetic excuse of a community for us all to reside in. We all have a story to tell, whether we're comfortable sharing or not and at the very least we should attempt to be understanding of others despite how cheesy such a thing sounds I know. Just please bare with me here)♡.

So it seems I've gotten atleast almost all thw words of what my brain wanted me to pour out onto the screen as I sometimes carry concepts that are hard to explain with me even through textpost lol. For those who care, my DMs are open 24/7 though sometimes I may not be motivated to reply exactly on time(again, please bare with me here. I know it sounds dumb but still-), now I'm gonna be signing off until something pops into my mind and makes me attempt to come up with a coherent post again, yours truly ~AHopelessPrincessReincarnation.

(P.S:Thank you to the kind internet strangers on here who have happened to wander onto my post somehow[maybe through the tags listed below]and were able to read through my whole, long and crushed up pinned introductory textpost. It means a lot to me that certain people on here are interested in what I have to say, so your support is very much not only appreciated but cherished! You all really do rock)♡.

Have a great day or night wherever you may be in the world right now and please never be afraid to check in and stay tuned for more>:]♡.

[weneedhelp]

YES MAAM STORYTIME

SAY LESS. also warnings: i’m gonna mention alcohol and a house fire so read w caution 🫶😀

okay so the story takes place late july, around the time of my birthday. backstory for context: my first love from hs came to my birthday party my friends threw for me at my house and we were drinking (i’m of age but DRINK RESPONSIBLY!!) and mind you he has a gf and we went to his car where he kissed me and blah blah we hate state named boy. anyway so the next day after my party this ex of mine from hs and i were texting and im obv sober now and i’m like do you wanna talk about it?? bc yk he has a gf and he told me i’m pretty much forgetful 😀 and yeah that was my final straw being sorry for myself (context: up until that point 15 y/o me was still in love w who he was when we were kids and seeing him after so long showed me who he is now and respectfully,, i hate him.) anyway,, so i was like i’m gonna download a dating app to get over myself bc who wants to be sad over some douche bag who cheats on his gf just to kiss his hs sweetheart??

and i did just that and at the time where i was living i had roommates that i was close w one was a childhood friend (who i now know was obsessed w me and is insane) and they were hyping me up yk? so i made my profile and he (my bf) was one of the first 3 people to message me and i kid you not his first message (mind you i put in my bio i’m a mom bc i’m being up front) was ‘you got kids?’ I WAS LIKE WHO TF SAYS THAT 😭😭 nevertheless we chatted and he asked me what i wanted here and i sent a whole mf paragraph about what i was looking for and this man said “so fwb?” I WAS LIKE CAN HE NOT READ?? and then he told me he wanted something more serious and i was like okay?? doesn’t pertain to me?? and he send me his snap but told me to find where that goes and ofc i go to insta bc that’s what i use the most and ofc i was wrong so i added him on snap and HE CALLED ME I WAS SPOOKED WHO TF CALLS SOMEONE ON SNAP YOU HAVENT MET?? this man of mine i tell you.

so he calls me and he’s on his way over and i shower and i stay on call w him till he arrives and he gets out his car and i’m like DEAR LORD HES SO FUCKING CUTE maybe i was touch deprived but i was giggling. GIGGLING. and we go to my room and watch the nun (he’s scared of scary moves and those are my jam so we laughed about that and we watched the movie and the first fire alarm goes off so i go to check tf was happening and 2/3 roomies said there was a small fire they put out in the garage (i’m not gonna explain rn bc its too much to type 😭) and then i go back to my room and we watch the movie and the second one goes off and my roommate who was childhood bestie said get out the house so we do so and my garage was ablaze i tell you 😃

so i tell him if he wants to leave he can bc this doesn’t happen everyday and he said i kid you not ‘rn i’m more worried about you so i’ll stay to make sure you’re okay’ HELLO I WAS DOWN IMMEDIATELY. he moved his car and i leaned against it and he held my hand and rubbed my back while i was shaking crying and after the fire department left we all went back inside and it was a mess there was ash and soot everywhere and i took another shower and since he worked that same morning. IN A FEW HOURS he stayed over and i didn’t sleep til he left, we finished the movie and he slept maybe a hour and a half and i bid him goodbye and i went to sleep. HE CALLS ME ON HIS LUNCH BREAK I KID YOU NOT and it woke me up so i answered and he was w a coworker and asked me what i was doing for the day. i was like. cleaning up my house 😭so he said if i get an break from cleaning up if i wanted to go to a movie w him?? HELLO?? FIRST DATE MUST BE ROMANTIC RIGHT??

so it was so last minute so we went to see Oppenheimer and i didn’t know anything about the movie but i’m a history nerd so we get there and we’re in the front row like where handicap seats are for those who need them. that’s where we at 😭but it was just us two and a bunch of space so like an hour in he’s gone,, snoozing w his head on my shoulder 🥹 and yeah bc i was confused as to what timeline we were in around ww1 and 2 so i took a 30 min nap MAX and woke up and tried to watch the rest of the movie and the power went out. AT THE NEAR WND OF THE MOVIE IT WENT OHT. our movie started at 7,, power went out 10 minutes after 10pm. THE WHOLE THEATER WAS PISSED so i woke him up and we went back to my house and he waited 3 weeks of basically spending every night at my house to ask me out,, but he met my kid the day of his birthday (the baby’s birthday) and that night after midnight we drove to the beach and he took a polaroid pic of us and wrote it i’d date him on it 🥹 and we had gotten ice cream and soda to make floats and candy and we were listening to music in my car and there’s a song i played for him and told him this particular part reminded me of him and it’s this is how you fall in love by jeremy tucker & chelsea cutler and it’s her opening verse where she says ‘what’s easy is right, my mothers advice, you are the reason i never think twice’ and THIS MAN SEARCHED UP THE LYRICS ON GOOGLE. HIGHLIGHTED IT AND TOOK A SC. i wanted to cry,, i wanted to marry him then and there. and now i have two polaroids in my car, one of my first day back to work after the garage fire bc it was only slightly damaged and no one was physically harmed so work had to be done and as i’m leaving he says “wait, smile!” and i was like 🙂 and he took a pic and i wrote on it “his name pov : smile!” and the one of us the night he asked me out. so if you really think about it august is important for me bc it’s loki day on one day, the next is esa day, the next is baby day and the next is his day w me 🥹

[apompkwrites]

reader impact || first meeting: archon edition

series masterlist characters: venti, zhongli genre: fluff summary: a game has been released entitled genshin impact, consisting of otherworldly abilities relying on the basic elements of nature. the game follows the story of an interdimensional traveling twin in search of their other half. along this journey, they meet different characters that live in this world. including you. notes: i still don't know if this will be a series but last post would've been too long if i had all four in one

venti's playthrough -

hoo boy, venti's streams would be VERY chaotic.

this boy has nothing to tie him down except for his own mortality, but will that stop him? no.

lots of late night or early morning streams because his sleep schedule is practically nonexistent.

he does a lot of singing or storytelling streams, which is why the time is perfect.

he'll sing lullabies and read bedtime stories at night. in the morning, he'll sing soft songs to wake up his viewers and talk about the rare dreams he'd have once he passes out.

he'll also have drinking streams where he just drinks as much as he can. he's a drunkard, what can i say?

anyway, gaming is something he isn't opposed to, but mainly ones with music or just pure crackhead energy.

when his viewers suggest genshin impact, he'd be somewhat hesitant?

he needs games that are chaotic and filled with energy to keep his attention.

his mods and viewers, however, are able to convince him because of a certain drunken character.

as soon as he sees the non-spoiled description of your character, he's off to download.

he actually enjoys a lot of the adventure aspects of the game, even if he's known as a lazy streamer.

anyway, his viewers definitely should have warned him about your appearance.

they never told him you were such a cute character!

"don't be afraid. it's alright now, i'm back."

"HASGDGSJFK"

he shrieked when you started talking.

"HOW ARE THEY SO CUTE?!?!"

he gets sad when his character sets off dvalin...

you disappear and your dragon friend flies off... now venti's just sad he might've made you upset.

he's pouting the whole way through mondstadt, thinking of ways to make it up to you.

he doesn't care if you're a video game character, he loves you nonetheless.

and once dvalin shows up in mondstadt, he's genuinely excited. he knows your bound to appear again because your friend is here.

when you help venti fly behind dvalin, his chat is teasing him because of the grin on his face.

he's so soft for you, man...

he will spend hours just ranting about you when he's going through the domains with the standard characters.

when he finds the other statues in mondstadt, he likes to climb up it to admire your archon design.

even though he's known you for a few minutes, he will automatically recognize your face in the game.

he knows it's annoying but he can't help but ask his chat if he'll get to see you again soon. he really doesn't want to spend hours without hearing you and seeing you in game.

he likes to yell at paimon whenever she makes fun of you

he shrieks again when he sees you running past the fountain.

he almost cries when he sees you playing your lyre for the first time.

you're perfect in his eyes and all he wants is to spend every minute of this game with you.

although, he did have to take a break the first time he saw your archon form illustrated.

you just... look like an angel and his body can't handle that.

he loves listening to your tales. like the battle pass story that occurs every time it renews, he never skips it. soon, he'll memorize it and recite it with you once it appears.

"oh! i remember you two. you both scared dvalin away!"

"I'M SORRY"

please forgive him. he knows you won't because the game doesn't require it, but he decides to always call stormterror dvalin to make up for it.

"ah, right! i haven't introduced myself... i'm (name) the bard!"

please this boy is so smitten for a video game character.

when you're revealed to be the archon, he's not too surprised? i mean, he already recognized you from the statue.

he is so excited to steal the lyre for you.

it takes him a bit, though, just because he has a bad attention span and ends up revealing his location.

he's even more excited to learn you're a regular at diluc's tavern.

he would do anything to drink with you.

he'll reluctantly end the game there just because it's time for his bedtime songs/stories.

"i'll be back tomorrow, (name), my love! i promise!"

zhongli's playthrough -

zhongli's a really good streamer even when he doesn't try to be.

he is basically the king of just chatting streams.

daily tea times and storytime streams are a go!

his voice is what lures them in and his charm is what traps them there.

he's still poor, though...

he relies on the donations from his viewers but he always expresses his gratitude.

man's respectful, what can i say?

anyway, he does play games every now and then. he doesn't tend to enjoy fighting games though.

although, he's rather good at them... for some reason.

his gaming streams tend to be a lot longer because he picks games with an overarching story.

i'm talking long games like night in the woods, detroit: become human, really any long game with deep meanings and stories.

his viewers will pay for him to just sit there and read to them.

anyway, someone donates to him and recommends he play genshin impact because of the long story and hidden lore.

he definitely enjoyed the beginning of the story, but got even more attached once he reached liyue.

he seems very intrigued when he begins the quest by watching liyue's archon fall dead on the ground.

he would definitely go on a long rant about gods and goddesses that have fallen.

when he meets childe, he does take a liking to him.

now, this man is known for being stoic and serious, so it comes as a surprise when he almost loses his composure when you appear.

keyword being almost.

he manages to stay composed but his chat knows for a fact he's freaking out over you.

your fancy suit/dress reminds him of the anthropological tales of gods/goddesses and kings/queens.

let this man drink tea with you please--

"it is an honor to meet you. i have heard tell of you from mondstadt."

"... they have quite the pleasant voice."

his chat is going wild at this point.

they get to listen to two heavenly voices talk to each other at the same time?! it's a dream come true!

another man that will let your long lines of dialogue play, listening intently to the stories you tell his character.

he actually really likes the image of his character talking to you.

he's so short compared to you--

he also really likes your animation when you're standing still.

not your idle animations, even though those are really nice as well. i'm talking about the movement of your clothes when your character is standing there. it's just so... soothing to him.

the gradient of your hair color to your elemental gnosis is also a nice detail to him. he likes how there are subtle ways archons look compared to normal citizens in teyvat.

when he finds out you are also a person who struggles with money... oh boy, this man cannot relate more.

you both can be broke together.

he will look to his chat for help every time a bargaining option occurs.

similar to venti, he'd be able to tell you were an archon automatically, mainly because of the way you carry yourself and your design.

when you give away your gnosis, he was really interested in the fact that you were so dedicated to your title of the archon of contracts that you would just willingly give your gnosis away.

when he meets the adepti, his chat jokingly says that the yaksha is yours and his adopted child.

"... i would not be opposed to that idea."

all of the artists and writers in his chat are dying at this point.

he'd look up all of the lore, especially ones involving you, and use them for his storytime streams.

[tiredloserr]

CREEPY STORYTIME!

(long post, sorry lol)

okay, so I don't live in the best neighborhood in the world and about a month ago, one of my more sketchy neighbor's house burnt down (this being the second time it's caught on fire in 2 years, but we don't have time for all of that). stuff from their house has been blowing around since but we are across a circle from them so we don't get too much stuff coming over. today I was cleaning my yard and I found a page from some religious book sitting up against a fence.

[Image Description: a dirty, slightly burnt page that has "The Future Millennial Kingdom" typed in the header that reads "(...) spoken of in the present tense in Revelation 20:10, indicating that they are still there. It is into this lake of fire that Satan will be cast. He, the Antichrist, the false prophet, and all those from every age in history who rejected God's free offer of salvation through faith in Christ will 'be tormented day and night forever and ever.' The Bible clearly states, then, that this punishment will last for all eternity!" End description]

....... so,, not the funnest thing to find in your yard??? but I joked with my brother about it and then set it to the side because I just had a weird feeling thinking about tossing it right then. from this point on, I felt really strongly like I was being watched. and this could definitely be me being paranoid but it was intense. I found a few other pages but I think they're all from the same book and I don't have the energy to transcribe what they say but I'll put in the pictures here:

so these ones definitely are not as unsettling as the first page, but it's just bizarre to me first of all, that my neighbors would have this book (they are definitely not religious to the best of my knowledge) and that these are just perfectly sitting in my yard?????

so anyways, I just left all the pages set off to the side next to my front porch and kept doing my yard work, still feeling really strongly that someone is watching me.

as I'm picking stuff up, I find a decapitated little bird head sitting like, a yard away from where I found that first page. we do have stray cats in my neighborhood so it could definitely be them but it really really freaked me out.

at that point, I really didn't want to be in that area since I was so unsettled so I went to a part of my yard behind my house because even though this is all creepy as shit I really have to get yard work done lol. I was still feeling like I was being watched which is literally impossible at this point bc of the placement of my house and stuff but I just kept truckin.

everything was fine for like half an hour then I find an entire dead mouse just laying out in the open, which again, could be bc of stray cats, but I checked it out (with gloves then I buried it) and there were no teeth marks or drool or blood or anything on this little guy, he looked perfectly healthy.

when I was burying it, I got a suuuuper intense feeling of sadness and literally just started bawling so after I was done, I tapped out and went back inside.

I was messaging my friend on Instagram about the whole thing bc I'm obnoxious and I was sending her voice memos since it's faster than typing. when I was waiting for her to message me back, I was just scrolling instagram (as you do) and I tapped thru my story from the day before. and obviously I posted that first picture of the book there too bc it was creepy. and out of NOWHERE as I'm still looking at my story, one of my voice messages that I had just sent my friend started playing on my phone. which shouldn't be possible since I was not in our chat???? I even just went to my Instagram feed and my voice message wouldn't stop playing??? i had to completely close out of the app to get it to stop.

so yeah, I don't have any sort of resolution, but this has been the weirdest shit and it could all totally be coincidental and I'm just paranoid but it's a bit much to all just have happened to happen on the same day.

[erin-bo-berin]

Storytime

Hello, here comes another Spencer fic. This one is so super long I’m sorry, but I had this idea of each part being told like a story by Spencer. Plus I was a up in my feels writing this one with the Spencer fluff and kids and the team being such a family. Anyway one thing before you begin: I added Savannah and Morgan to the current cast mix just because I wanted to switch it up and make it to where he was around when this certain event happens to Spencer. It just seemed right. Okay, if you manage to read this monster long fic, you’re the absolute best. Enjoy and have some great Spencer feels!

Spencer Reid/Reader

Word Count: 7,635

Rating: Mature (some smut)

You grunted as your back hit the wall with a thud, but you didn’t let it distract you. Your lips found your boyfriend’s again, kissing him hard. His hands gripped the back of your thighs as he held you up against the wall.

Spencer had been gone on two back to back cases causing the two of you not to be able to see each other for 2 weeks. All your pent up sexual frustration was now bubbling to the surface as you roughly tried to get his clothes off as fast as you could.

“Easy there,” he chuckled, aiding your fumbling hands.

“Why do you have to wear so many damn layers,” you complained, ridding of his suit jacket only to realize there were at least two more layers to remove.

He grinned, kissing you again. You’d missed him in more ways than physically of course, but you’d been so worked up while he was gone and nothing was cutting it. You practically jumped him the minute he walked in the door. Not that he seemed to mind because he was here pressing you against the wall, kissing you just as fervently as you were him. You could already feel his own arousal pressing against your leg.

“I missed you so much,” he mumbled when you’d parted for him to lift your shirt over your head, a smirk momentarily gracing his lips when he noticed your lack of bra.

“Naughty girl.”

“Saves time.” Your hand found his hair and pulled him back to your lips, resuming your heated kiss.

One hand snaked up your stomach to your breasts, gripping and massaging causing you to moan in his mouth. Your body seemed hypersensitive to his touch after being without it for a few weeks. 

“All this. Off. Now.” 

You tore off his cardigan and tie tossing them to the side. You were tempted to rip his button down apart just to get it off, but barely managed to contain yourself since you knew it was one of his favorite shirts. You felt like a caged animal, felt like you were going to crawl out of your skin your need for him was so bad.

He sat you down and pulled you towards the bed, you discarding the bottom half of his clothing. He sat back on the bed, propped against the headboard and pulled you on top of him, his lips attaching to your neck. His hands moved their way down your back, thumbs hooking into the waist of your shorts, removing them and your underwear in one motion. Normally both of you spent more time teasing each other and fooling around, but right now you didn’t have the patience for that.

“I want you so bad,” you half said, half moaned as he sucked on the one spot of your neck that only he knew drove you wild.

“Tonight I’m all yours,” he whispered, his grip on your hips helping position you perfectly.

You sank down on him slowly just enjoying the feeling of him filling you once again. You could already feel your skin heat up, your combined moans filling the air. You bit your lip as you began moving your hips at a quicker pace than you had begun at. 

“So. Good,” he gritted out.

Your back arched when his mouth came in contact with one breast, his hand kneading the other. Your hand tangled in his curls where it always seems to migrate and try to coax him back to your lips. You kiss him briefly before reaching above him and grabbing onto the headboard, moving harder and faster on him desperate to feel every inch of him. A ragged moan escapes you when his upward thrusts perfectly match your own, hitting spots that you didn’t even know existed until now.

“Fuck Spencer, fuck yes,” you groan feeling your climax just around the corner.

Hearing a dull thud, you peer down at him to see his head against the headboard, face contorted in pure bliss, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth for just a second until a low groan erupts from him. His grip on your hips tightens and you can tell he’s not far off either.

“Eyes on me baby,” he rasps and your gaze finds his.

“I want you to look at me when you come.” His teeth scrape his bottom lip and you notice a few strands of hair sticking to his forehead that’s covered in a slight sheen.

“I want to see you completely wrecked cause of me.”

You’re so focused on his face that you don’t realize when one hand has moved territory and his thumb is rubbing circles on your clit. It’s seconds before your release comes crashing down on you and as much as you try to keep your eyes on his face, you can’t help when they squeeze close, the pleasure so intense it’s almost painful. 

Your name falling from his lips as he completely lets himself go is like music to your ears. His fingers dig into your hips so hard you’re sure they’ll leave bruises, but at the moment you couldn’t care. You vaguely feel the familiar warmth along your inner thighs when he pulls you down to kiss you.

After a short, chaste kiss he whispers against your lips, “What would you say to trying some actual wall sex?” 

•••

Your head was spinning as you paced back and forth, the linoleum floor blurred in your vision. Your panic kept rising the longer you waited.

You had been home, in bed, sick as a dog. You’d caught the flu from Spencer who’d just gotten over it himself last week and was currently back at work in the field. You were halfway watching a cooking competition on TV which was probably the worst idea since you were fighting off nausea, already having thrown up twice that morning. 

As usual, Spencer called to check on you a few hours earlier as the team was just starting a new day, still working on their case that was thankfully local. He’d been the best at working long hours only to come home with more ginger ale or medicine for you and try to take care of you.

When your phone had rung, you grabbed it expecting it to be another typical Spencer check in; not that you minded that one bit.

“Hey Spencer,” you smiled slightly, just the knowledge that hearing his voice made you feel a bit better.

“Y/N, it’s Emily.”

You sat straight up in bed. So quickly your head swam for a moment. It was rare that Emily Prentiss, Spencer’s boss called. Sure you were friendly, but you weren’t exactly at the point of random phone calls just to chat.

“Emily, hi. Is something wrong?”

You heard an intake of breath from the other side of the line before she said, “Spencer’s been shot.”

You don’t remember much of what happened next. Somehow you managed to get to your car and rush to the hospital although you didn’t have much memory of it. You didn’t care that you were sick, you didn’t care that you’d probably ran every red light on the way to the hospital all you knew was that you had to get there now.

You’d been pacing the length of the waiting room for 15 minutes, still trying to process what had happened. You hadn’t seen Spencer, you hadn’t heard anything from the doctor, you didn’t know what was going on. All you knew was what Emily and JJ had explained to you the moment you got there.

“What happened?!” Was the first thing you said when you saw Jennifer Jareau already there, Emily and the rest of the team there and waiting as well.

“He was talking down an unsub,” Emily began.

“Everything was going well, but the victim tried to run and the unsub retaliated and shot at us. Spencer got hit in the stomach,” JJ finished.

“Why wasn’t he wearing a vest? W-why wasn’t he?!” 

You were trying to remain calm but the dam had broke and your tears had come, turning into heaving sobs as JJ wrapped her arms around you.

He had been the one to go in to attempt to talk down the unsub. To do that with this particular one, he had taken off his vest and left his gun behind so he was seen as no threat to him. Danger was part of the job, you knew, but up until this point nothing this severe had happened to your boyfriend. 

“He’s in surgery right now,” Morgan said, “Me and Matt were just going to check and see if there were any updates.”

You nodded, trying to wipe your face as you sat down in a chair, a fresh stream of tears already replacing the ones you’d wiped away.

Luke crouched in front you, hand on your knee, “Can I get you anything? Maybe some water?”

You nodded again, whispering a thanks to him as he too left to fetch you a bottle of water.

“He’s a tough kid, Y/N,” Rossi said, watching you.

You looked up at him and sniffled. 

“He’s like a son to me,” he continued, “And I’ve seen a strength in him that I think even he doesn’t realize he has.”

You smiled, laughing a little through your tears.

“I know. I’ve always told him he’s the strongest person I know.”

“He’s going to pull through this,” Tara reassured you as well.

JJ had taken your hand, holding it tight in yours. She was his best friend, you knew that she understood the pain you were currently feeling. In fact, all the people in this room knew. You were grateful that you didn’t have to shoulder this alone.

You looked up as last but not least, the only missing member from the team came in, tissues in hand. Penelope sat in the empty chair on the opposite side of you and hugged you tight. She handed you the tissues without a word before taking your other hand in hers and squeezing it gently. 

An hour had passed with no updates and you’d begun pacing across the room. It felt like the room kept getting hotter and sweat was pouring down your face. You’d already had to dash to the bathroom once to vomit in your time being here. You tried to convince the rest of the team to keep their distance since you were sick, but they refused to leave your side. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” JJ asked watching you pace.

“Honey, you’re sweating buckets,” Penelope said, handing you a tissue which you wiped your face with.

“I’m fine. I just want to know if Spencer is okay.”

You stopped pacing to face the two women.

“And I’m not going home. I’m his girlfriend. I should be here too.”

“But you look-” Penelope began.

“Like shit,” Morgan finished, earning him a hit on the arm from Garcia.

“I’m not leaving.”

The room seemed to spin around you and your arms flew out, trying to balance yourself.

“Whoa, Y/N. You alright?” JJ’s brow furrowed.

You looked at them, your vision beginning to blur. In a snap second the world tilted and you felt yourself begin to fall, the room turning on its side as your knees gave out. The last thing you heard was shouting before you completely lost consciousness.

When you woke up, bright fluorescent lights shone above you. You squinted in the brightness, trying to make sense of your surroundings.

“Oh thank heavens you’re awake!”

You turned to see Penelope at your side, a relieved expression on her face.

“What happened?” you croaked, your throat dry. You noted that you felt like you could drink a gallon of water. Possibly two.

“You fainted.”

“Where am I? How’s Spence?!” You look around and for the first time notice an IV in your hand, the pole and a bag of clear liquid next to the head of the bed.

“In an emergency room wing. Derek carried you here and Savannah cleared a room for you immediately so you could get checked out. Spencer is fine. He’s out of surgery.”

You sighed in relief, practically sagging back against the hospital bed pillow.

“Can I see him?”

“Not now. He hasn’t woken up yet and besides Savannah said you needed to stay here and rest. Before she left she said the doctor would be in shortly to speak with you. How do you feel?”

Assessing yourself, you realize you feel better than you have in days.

“A little sore but okay, I think. What’s this for?” you nod to the IV.

“I’m not sure, I finally just got permission to come see you. Apparently they were running a few quick tests.”

As if on cue, you heard a shuffle of shoes on the floor and the curtain pulled back to reveal a middle aged male doctor with a kind looking face.

“Good evening ma’am, I’m Dr. Reed.”

Your eyebrows shot up and Penelope stifled a laugh into her hand.

“Everything okay?” He glanced at her, looking confused.

“It’s just that her-”

“Everything’s fine,” you cut her off. The sooner you could get out of here and see Spencer, the better.

“Am I free to go now? I feel fine and my boyfriend just had surgery and I want to be with him.” You tried to move to get out of the bed suddenly remembering the IV.

“Miss Y/L/N, you need to rest for a little longer. You were severely dehydrated and we had to give you an IV to get fluids back into your system.”

“I mean, I do have the flu so that’s not entirely shocking. I haven’t been able to keep much down the last few days.”

One of his eyebrows rose as he studied you.

“So you’ve been vomiting a lot lately?”

You nod.

“Has it just started or have there been other incidents?”

“No it only started after I caught the flu from my boyfriend.”

“I see. Have you found yourself to be overly fatigued? Or sore?”

You thought about it, remembering the other day how you’d been so exhausted you went to bed for the night at 6 in the evening. You also had experienced body aches, but hadn’t thought much of either.

“Yes. Why?”

He thumbed through a few papers on the clipboard he was carrying.

“We did some blood work when you first got here, to make sure you weren’t having a diabetic episode or something just as severe.”

“Uh huh,” you listened, clearly not following.

A smile crossed his face before he said, “Congratulations. You’re pregnant.”

Your eyes widened and jaw dropped. You looked over and saw Penelope mirroring your same expression. Of all things, it was the last thing you had expected. 

“Oh my god Y/N!” Penelope squealed, grabbing your hand as it sunk in what the doctor had just announced.

“Wait,” she said, noticing your lack of excitement, “This is good, right?” 

“Of course. I’m just, wow. I’m just in shock,” you chuckled, “I had no idea.”

“Would you like to see your baby?” the doctor asked.

You broke into a grin, your heart swelling in your chest at the sound.

“Yes.”

Fifteen minutes later, the ultrasound probe was gliding over your stomach and you were staring in awe at your baby on the screen. You and Spencer’s baby.

“Oh my god,” you said, turning to Penelope who was at your side, watching with you, “How do I tell Spencer? What if he’s mad? What if he doesn’t-”

“Y/N,” Penelope stopped you mid-sentence, “I’ve known Reid for over a decade. I don’t know anyone who’s better with kids than him. He’s wanted kids for so long. He’s going to be over the moon.”

You relaxed a bit, smiling at the thought.

“You think?”

“I know,” she smiled.

“It looks like you’re about 12 weeks,” the ultrasound technician announced, “Everything looks good. Just start taking your prenatals immediately and the doc said after your IV bag is empty, you’re free to go see that boyfriend of yours.”

She handed you the ultrasound picture and you smiled, running your fingers over the black and white image.

“Congratulations, again,” she smiled.

-

“You’re pregnant?!” JJ exclaimed, hands coming up over her mouth in surprise as she grinned behind them.

“Shh!” you grinned in return.

You and Penelope had left the ER an hour later after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting for your IV to drain. You were now just down the hall from Spencer’s room where he had just woken up a few minutes before. Thankfully, JJ had been there when he had although you felt guilty that you weren’t there too.

“I don’t want him to hear. I have to tell him still, obviously,” you chuckled.

“Congrats!” she hugged you tightly and you two swayed back and forth for a moment.

“How is he?” you asked, concern replacing your previous excitement.

“Tired, sore. Asking for you,” she said, nudging you in the direction of his room, “We’ll give you some privacy.”

“But I wanted to see his reaction!” You heard Penelope whine as the two of them headed in the opposite direction towards the waiting room.

You walked into his room and felt your heart leap seeing his face immediately brighten at the sight of you.

“Hey, you,” you said, going over and hugging him gently.

“I heard what happened. Are you okay?” He asked, pulling away and holding your arms, searching your face.

You laugh, shaking your head.

“You just got shot, had surgery and you’re asking me if I’M okay?”

He nodded, “I was worried when I heard what happened. Why aren’t you at home resting?”

“You were shot, I had to be here. You scared the shit out of me by the way.”

One side of his mouth turned up in a small smile, “Sorry about that.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” you laced your fingers through his, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up.”

“Y/N, you were in the ER. I think you get a pass on that one,” he laughed, then winced, pressing a hand into his stomach.

“Easy, take it easy okay?”

He nodded, laying back, eyes on you as you sat in the chair next to his bed.

“So what happened? Did they just give you some medicine or something?”

“Well they did some blood work and hooked me up to an IV of fluids. Apparently I was really dehydrated.”

His frown continued to deepen as you continued talking. 

“But you’re alright now, right?”

“Yes. No. Well, technically yes.”

“Y/N, I know I’m a genius, but that didn’t make sense, even to me.”

You snorted, amazed how even in a hospital bed he never failed to make you smile with his immense knowledge and total Spencer Reid wit.

“I just..I have something to tell you. I just don’t know how to say it.”

“You’re leaving me for Morgan aren’t you?” he joked, deadpan.

“Spencer!” you laughed, exasperated.

“Sorry, continue.” 

He smiled at you, waiting for you to continue. Just looking at his bright smile made all your earlier worries and concerns disappear in an instant. This was the man you loved, the love of your life. You couldn’t think of anyone you’d want to share something so precious, more than with Spencer.

“I’m pregnant.”

You bit your lip to hide the growing smile that came when his eyes lit up, his smile growing so wide it could light a darkened room.

“You are?!” 

He reached for you, kissing you as tears began to fall from your eyes again. This time happy ones, relieved ones and somehow he just knew what they represented.

“Do you want to see the ultrasound picture?” you asked when you pulled away, reaching to get it.

You handed him the small square and watched his face brighten even more so as he looked at the little bean in the picture. His fingers stroked the image delicately, then looked up at you.

“I’m going to teach little one so much,” he said, then launched into an infamous ramble of all the things he couldn’t wait to share with your child.

He was going to be an amazing dad.

•••

“What do you think? Purple, blue or green? Or all 3?”

You and Spencer were currently sitting in the middle of the room that was to become to the nursery. He was currently working on the crib while you scrolled through baby items on your phone, getting ideas for nursery colors and decorations.

“Baby, I don’t think she’s gonna care what colors of elephants or pandas or whatever animals you’re thinking about will be on her walls,” Spencer shrugged.

You smiled, a hand running absently over your now prominent bump. Just last month you’d found out you were expecting a sweet little girl. Spencer had been over the moon once again to know he was going to have a little daddy’s girl. He was for sure going to be wrapped around her little finger.

“I know. I just want it to be nice for her.”

He sat back, pushing up his glasses as he looked at the instructions again. You loved when he was more or less bumming it. He was still in his pajamas which consisted of sweats and a t-shirt, his curls a little more unruly than normal and of course, was sporting his glasses. If you thought he looked good put together, he was even more stunning now. 

“It will be.” He smiled over at you, watching you scrolling through more pictures.

“There’s just way too many options and things to consider,” you groaned, setting your phone aside, scooting closer to him to lay your head on his shoulder, “I’m just so stressed.”

He kissed the top of your head, putting a hand on your stomach, rubbing it gently.

“You don’t care what your room looks like do you, baby girl?” He leaned down to kiss your bump, continuing, “It could be purple and yellow polka dotted. Is that what you want?”

“Spencer!” you laugh, shoving him a bit, “We are NOT putting our baby in a hideous nursery.

He grinned, returning to putting the crib back together.

“You know, we still have to decide on a name for her.”

“I know,” you sighed.

Both of you had yet to decide on a name. You’d been back and forth going through more names than you could even remember. You thought for a little bit you’d had a winner when you both decided you’d like to name her Diana, after his mother. Unfortunately, his mom didn’t like the idea. She said her granddaughter better have her own name, so back to the drawing board it was.

“I’m just so stressed over trying to put the nursery together, getting the house set up, trying to think of baby names. She’s only gonna be here in 3 months!”

Since Spencer’s apartment was no longer big enough for your growing family, he’d found a house. Fortunately, it was even closer to work, than his old apartment was. The downside of the new house was having to unpack everything, all in the midst of preparing for a baby.

“What if JJ, Garcia and Savannah helped with the nursery?” he asked, looking over at you while he screwed a bolt into one of the crib legs.

“I couldn’t ask them to do that.”

“That’s the thing,” he said, pushing his hair back out of his face with one hand, “I’ve been meaning to tell you. They’ve been asking me if they could. Kind of as a present from the BAU, in a way.”

“Really?” You smiled, heart swelling in gratitude to the amazing people he worked with.

He nodded, “Garcia has been practically begging me to do it anyway. Besides JJ and Savannah also have knowledge of nursery decorating anyway.”

“That would be amazing. And so much help.”

“You hear that sport? Your aunties are gonna fix up your room for you.” 

As if an answer, she kicked right into his hand.

-

“Okay, okay. Close your eyes.”

“Garcia they are closed!” you grinned.

It was 3 weeks later when you finally were getting the nursery reveal. After giving them the okay, the trio of ladies had swooped in to begin working, never once letting you catch a peek. Of course Spencer had seen as he’d been there throughout the entire process yet he was tight lipped, insisting that it was supposed to be a surprise. 

“You ready?” JJ asked, squeezing your arm.

“Yes, show me!”

You heard the door open and you opened your eyes, immediately gasping at the beautiful room that stood in front of you.

“Guys,” you gaped, amazed, “I love it so much.”

The carpet was a creamy white, the walls were painted a light turquoise blue. On one accent wall there were light pink flowers painted. The crib, which was white like the matching furniture in the room—a rocking chair, dresser and changing table—sat under her name painted on the wall with gold stars surrounding it. It was amazing that you’d managed to finally decide on a name and apparently just in time for the girls to add a special touch to her nursery.

Above the crib hung a gold star mobile. The bedding was light pink and turquoise and a turquoise blanket was folded neatly and placed on the railing. Inside sat a white, bunny plushie. On a third wall, there was gold and white shelves with a few stuffed animals, some bunny figurines and other little knick knacks that definitely had Penelope written all over it; including a little unicorn.

The final wall held a set of decorative pictures in pink, white and gold. There were four in total. One said, “We love you to the moon and back”. Next to it, the second was a picture of a gold glittering moon surrounded by baby pink stars. The third directly below the first said, “Dream big little one”, followed by the fourth picture; a baby pink cloud raining gold stars.

You noticed a gold tin bucket sitting next to the chair, filled with tons of books, some you’d bought and some you sure were passed along from JJ’s and Savannah’s boys. 

The curtains were the matching pale pink of the rest of the pink in the room and to top it all off, the overhead light had been replaced with a gold chandelier with the designs of flowers and stars on it. 

It was everything you could have dreamed for a nursery and you were positive your joy showed on your face as each woman hugged you, chatting away about one thing or another about the room.

You took another look around, only about the millionth time you’d looked around awestruck. As you felt arms wrap around you from behind and a kiss drop down on the top of your head, you knew what it was about the room that left you so breathless. It felt so right being in here, like everything was just about to fall in place.

It was perfect.

•••

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Spencer asked for the fifth time.

“I can ask Emily to come home early and not work this case. You know she’d understand,” he continued.

“Spence, I’m fine. You made me stay with Penelope anyway so I wouldn’t be alone. Besides if you came home, your mind would be on the case anyway. It’s better if you stay.”

You heard his exhale of defeat.

“Okay. Can I talk to her?”

“You’re on speaker, so she can hear you,” you grinned.

“Hi baby girl. You be good for mommy okay? No coming out until after daddy gets back alright?”

You rubbed your stomach, feeling a hard kick.

“She can definitely hear you. She’s kicking up a storm.”

Your due date was days away and with no progress in your dilation, your doctor was pretty sure you’d have to be induced soon. As a result, you had told Spencer to join the team on the current case in California. He went with one condition: that you’d stay with Garcia, both at the BAU and her apartment until he got home.

“I love my daddy���s girl.” You could hear the smile in his voice.

“She definitely loves you too,” you chuckled, “Be safe okay?”

“I will. Rest up. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

After hanging up, you settled yourself in a rolling chair of Garcia’s.

“Sorry to be an intrusion.”

“Don’t be silly. Besides I have an excuse to take breaks for baby kicks,” she beamed.

“Well you’re in luck,” you laughed, “She kicks up a storm almost every time she hears Spence.”

“She’s a total daddy’s girl isn’t she?” Penelope chuckled.

“Oh that’s a definite understatement.”

“I think she’s got him wrapped around her finger already. You and the baby are all he talks about anymore. I haven’t heard him utter more than a few statistics in weeks.”

Your eyebrows raised, “Are we sure we’re talking about the same Dr. Reid?” 

Garcia nodded, “I’m sure. He loves you and this baby so much.”

 You smile, feeling a slight blush creep up your cheeks.

“I know him Y/N. He may not have always said it, but I know he’s wanted kids for a long, long time. Now that it’s happening I think some days he’s trying to make sure it’s actually real.”

“I know what you mean. Sometimes it doesn’t seem real to me either. Did he tell you he got her a onesie that says Daddy’s Little Genius?”

“He showed me,” she grinned, “Isn’t it adorable?”

You nodded, agreeing.

“I love it.”

Your eyes lit up when you feel her kicking and you grab Penelope’s hand, so she can feel.

“Auntie Penelope can’t wait to meet you sweet girl,” she beams, “Hurry up and come on out.”

“Please,” you half groan, half smile, “I’m so ready to have this baby.”

“Careful what you wish for,” she winked as her phone begins to ring.

“I better let you get to work.” You grab your paperback that you brought with you to read as you hear her answer.

“You’ve reached Penleope Garcia, house of knowledge, how may I assist you?”

-

It was after 2 in the afternoon when Penelope finally got a break.

“How you doing over there, baby mama?”

You stretch your stiff limbs, putting your book down. You’d fallen asleep in the chair while reading, without even realizing it. It was much harder to get comfortable nowadays with your much larger, nine month pregnant belly, resulting in not a lot of sleep for you at night.

“Ready to not feel like I swallowed an entire watermelon,” you grimace, stretching your back, “I’m so stiff and sore.”

“‘Fraid I can’t help you with that one hun,” she pats your arm as she moves her chair towards another computer, typing something.

“How’s the case going?”

“It’s going. No huge leads right now. Spencer called me about 5 times when you were napping, freaking out cause he couldn’t get a hold of you.”

“Oh god, I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize I fell asleep.”

“Don’t worry. I told him his baby and baby mama were sleeping peacefully next to me. The other four calls were just him checking in.”

Her phone rang and she glanced over at it, “Speaking of boy wonder.”

She answered and put it on speaker.

“Hello, Daddy Reid.”

“Garcia, is Y/N okay?”

She gives you a look as if to say, ‘you see what I deal with?’ before you answer.

“Hey Spence. I’m fine, okay?”

“Baby,” you hear the relief in his voice, “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I promise I am. You need to stop worrying okay? Just focus on the case. They need your head there. If anything happens, I will call you.”

You promise a few more times before he reluctantly hangs up.

“I have never seen him more panicked,” Penelope said.

“Well he is going to be a dad. But then again, some days he’s freaking out so much you’d think HE was the one having the baby.”

You feel a sharp pain in your stomach and groan, putting your hand on the spot.

“Speaking of, I think she just knows when someone is talking about her daddy,” you shake your head, exasperated. 

“So, is there anything I can do to help you?” you ask, tired of sitting around and doing nothing.

“Honey, no. You’re going to rest okay?” 

“Actually if you don’t mind, I’m just gonna go for a little walk around the building. I’m pretty sore from sitting.”

She nods and with a hand on your back, you start your walk of the halls of the BAU, hoping to work out the soreness. You’re not far into your walk when you feel liquid running down your leg. You stop looking down, afraid you’d wet yourself when another sharp pain hits. You grip the wall, bent over, grimacing as you try to breath through it.

“No, no, no. Not now. Please not now,” you groan, straightening back up, trying to simultaneously keep an eye on the time and make it back to Penelope’s office.

“Garcia,” you pant, slightly out of breath when you get to her office.

“What’s up sugar?” 

She turns and eyes widen when she immediately spots your soaked jeans. 

“Did your-”

“Water break? Yeah. Contractions are starting. I’m trying to time them. So far they’re not very long or close, so that’s a plus. Can you call Spence please?”

“On it.”

You feel another contraction and you groan, doubling over again, not expecting one again so soon.

“Penelope we gotta get to the hospital.”

“Come on. We’ll call him on the way.”

Fifteen minutes later you’re all set up in a birthing room, while Penelope is pacing at your bedside.

“Spencer Reid I swear if you leave me alone with your girlfriend while she gives birth, I will kill you! Okay I actually won’t, but you need to call me, ASAP.”

“Penelope,” you reached out for her arm, “Take a breath. You aren’t helping things.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she sits, “I just don’t know what to do in this situation and Spencer isn’t answering and he should be here for the birth of his child.”

“I know. The doctor said I’m only at 3 centimeters though and my contractions have stalled. He has time.”

As if on cue, Garcia’s phone rang. Putting it on speaker, Spencer spoke before she could.

“Y/N’s in labor?! I gotta get back home!”

“Calm down. Her contractions have slowed down for the moment and she’s only at 3 centimeters.”

“Okay, that should give me time to get home. Typically, most first time mothers can be in active labor for up to 24 hours. Some women are even in labor up to 36 hours.”

You whimpered, your head falling back against the pillow.

“Spencer, I love you but I doubt your girlfriend needs to hear that sort of thing right now.”

“Right. Sorry.” You can practically hear the wince in his voice. Typical Spencer.

“Anyway, Emily gave me the okay to leave obviously and told me to take the jet, that it would be quicker.”

“Okay, hurry. I don’t think I can handle this myself Spencer.”

“I’ll try my best,” was the last thing he said before the line went dead.

Hours passed and you kept dilating quicker it seemed. 3 centimeters became 4, then 5. Soon you were rewarded with the relief of an epidural and still no Spencer. Your physical pain turned to anxiety and then worry.

“Have you heard from him?” you asked Garcia for the hundredth time.

“Yeah, they’re just now taking off.”

“NOW?!”

“Something happened that he couldn’t take the jet, he had to get last minute tickets, there was traffic and he almost missed the plane. He should be here in about 6 hours.”

You groaned, “Remind me next time I’m having a baby just to go with him. At least if I go into labor he can deliver the baby.”

“Wait what?” she looked up at you, eyebrows raised.

“He memorized the delivery handbook when JJ was pregnant with Henry in case she went to labor in the field. He still remembers everything, of course.”

“Ah,” she nodded, “Get some rest sweetheart, the doc said that they’ll probably be in to check you here and there to see how you’re progressing, but it should be a little bit longer before you start pushing.”

“I don’t remember the doctor coming in lately.”

“Oh no, I meant Reid. That’s what he told me to tell you.”

“Gotcha. I think I will take a nap. Wake me up if anything changes.”

She promised she would and your eyes slide closed as your exhaustion takes over. In the midst of your sleep you hear different voices and vaguely remember being woke to be checked, but each time you fall back asleep.

It isn’t until some time later when you feel something brush your face that you stir awake once again. The first thing you see is Spencer next to your bed, smiling down at you as he strokes your hair.

His tie suit jacket is gone, tie loosened and shirt completely wrinkled. His hair is a mess and his prominent dark circles under his eyes look even darker, but you couldn’t be happier to see him.

“Spence,” you reached up to hug him, “You made it.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he pulled back and put his hand on your cheek.

“What time is it?” you asked, looking around the darkened room, also noticing Garcia was gone.

“A little after 2 in the morning. Garcia said you’ve been in labor for almost 12 hours so I sent her home. The case was just about wrapped up when I left and the team is flying out so they can be here in the morning.”

You smiled, overwhelmed with him finally being there with you and the love and support from his coworkers.

“Come here, sit down.” You scooted over so he could sit next to you in the hospital bed.

“I spoke to the doctor before coming in, he said he checked you half an hour ago and you were at 8 centimeters.”

You groaned, tired of waiting.

“I was halfway hoping I’d wake up and she’d been born already.”

“She’ll be here soon. She was just waiting for daddy. Are you in any pain?”

You shake your head.

“Thankfully not much. I got my epidural and only really feel very mild contractions. Much better than what it had been.”

You rest your head on his shoulder, glad to be in his arms again. Your fingers lace with his.

“Will you tell me about the case while we wait?”

“Okay well, there’d been four homicides in the San Francisco area. 3 women, 1 man.”

The two of you sat talking as you waited to become completely dilated. You knew that pain was involved with labor, but you never realized how much waiting was involved too.

“Why does dilation take so loooong?” you whined, “I’m tired of waiting.”

“Well the average time for first time mothers can be 8 hours but that’s just the average. Usually dilation from 7 to 10 centimeters can take as short as 30 minutes to 2 hours but other women can have stalling and take a bit longer. Unfortunately, you seem to be in the latter category.”

“Well I know one thing’s for sure. There’s no other mother here that has a boyfriend or husband that can spout facts to her about her own delivery like you can,” you said.

When he doesn’t respond, you look up him and see his face has turned serious. Serious and concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you think I’ll be a good dad? I-I don’t have much to go on, you know with not having a dad around most of my life…” Spencer trailed off, swallowing hard, “I just want to be the father that I never had.”

It was rare that he spoke about his emotions let alone his insecurities, so having him be so vulnerable in front of you now, especially during such an intimate event as the birth of your baby, made you love him even more. You watched him, his hazel eyes full of worry.

“Spencer, you’ll be an amazing dad. You’re so full of love and compassion and care for the people you love. You’ve already loved our little girl endlessly since the moment you’ve found out about her. She’s going to grow up knowing she has the greatest, smartest and most supportive dad. You’ll teach her new things, always encourage her to go after what she loves and support her through whatever life brings her. You are not and never will be like your father. You have too big of a heart to be like him. She doesn’t comprehend it yet, but she loves you so much already. And I love you so much.”

He’d been watching you throughout your entire ramble. But when you finished, you see him biting back a smile. He kissed your hand—the one that didn’t have the IV in it—before kissing you.

“Thank you,” he whispered, “You’re amazing in more ways than one.”

It takes another few hours before the doctor declares it's time to push. Your hand is in Spencer’s, more nervous than you had been this entire time. The room bustles with a few nurses and the doctor preparing everything for the birth of the baby. As much as nerves take over your senses, so does excitement. Spencer is beside you and you’re both about to meet your baby. You couldn’t think of anyone else you’d want to experience such an amazing thing with.

“You ready to have this baby?” He smiles at you, your grip slightly tightening in his.

“I’m ready.”

•••

“It took mommy almost TWO hours to push you out. Two hours! You were a stubborn little thing.”

You’d fallen asleep after the chaos of giving birth had died down. You were able to see her immediately, as nurses wrapped her in a quick towel temporarily so you could hold her before she was taken to be examined. Spencer was in complete awe. He later told you he’d never seen something so amazing. You fell asleep while he fed her and had woken up 15 minutes ago. Since your back was to them, you’d been secretly listening to him talk to your daughter telling her everything from when she was first conceived up until she was delivered, just hours ago.

You turned over, stiffly, wincing.

“Did you really just tell our daughter how she was created?”

“Not specific details. She’s too innocent for all that, but it was important to the story,” Spencer grinned, “How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted, sore, happy.”

“You did amazing, Y/N,” he smiled down at the small 6 pound, 8 ounce bundle in his arms, “She’s amazing too.”

“How is she?”

“Took her bottle like a champ, took a nap and I’ve been telling her her very first story. The story of her.”

Your heart melts watching him cradle her. Sure enough, she’s wide awake, a hand curled around his finger and staring up at her daddy. Spencer moves to sit on the edge of your bed and you reach out to stroke her cheek. 

“I can’t believe she’s here,” he said, watching as she moved her little arm out of the swaddle and cooed.

“You’re already wrapped around her finger, literally,” you chuckled, pointing to her grasp still on his finger, “I can’t blame you for being totally in love.”

“Well I’ve always been in love,” Spencer said, looking over at you, kissing your cheek.

“I’m just MORE in love now.”

“Touché.”

You sit watching the two of them in silence, not sure how or when this became your life, but happy that it did. He catches you watching and his face breaks into one of his infamous big smiles, the one that makes his eyes crinkle.

“I love you so much, Y/N.”

Before you can respond, there’s a knock at your door and you look up to see one of the nurses.

“Sorry to interrupt Dr. Reid, but your company has arrived.”

“Thank you, I’ll be right there,” Spencer told her, turning back to you.

“The team is in the waiting room. I want them to meet her too. I’m gonna take her out there so you can rest. They can visit you later, okay?”

“Okay, go ahead. Oh and Spence?” 

You grabbed his arm before he can leave and he turns looking at you expectedly.

“I love you too.”

-

Spencer walked down the hall toward the awaiting group of people, the bundle in his arms yawning.

“Don’t worry, they’ll love you baby girl,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

He turned and entered the room, the group bursting into excited chatter when they saw him. All of his coworkers, also known as his family, are there; Emily, JJ, Morgan, Matt, Luke, Tara, Rossi and last but not least, Penelope. They crowd happily around him to get a peek at the pink bundle in his arms.

“I want to hold her first!” Garcia exclaimed, “I was there during labor, I should get first holding rights.”

“Reid, she’s adorable,” Matt said.

“Poor kid, she looks exactly like pretty boy here,” Morgan laughed.

“What’s her name?” Emily asked.

“Guys, meet Abrielle Jade Reid. Abbie for short.”

Penelope reached out to take Abbie, holding her close, “Welcome officially to the BAU family, Abbie. We’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

[jeromesxreader16]

Such A Joker 37

SAJ Part 36

~

"How are you going to do it?" I ask holding Jerome's cold hand. "Sending waves of high electricity and jump-starting the brain should trail with the elements of the awakening."

A loud laugh echoes through the warehouse causing me to fight green eyes I lost long ago. "He's going to fry me!" Jerome laughs looking down at himself.

"Well looks like when this is all over you won't need that replacement any more."

Xander. Crap.

Jerome giggles clapping his hands together. "He's not real anyway, doll. Don't worry about it. You think you've been living a life without me to help you along?" Jerome pets my head kissing the crown of my head and grabs my cheek. "Aw, sweets, you do need me."

Everything I've done in the past couple of months has been fake? It would explain how closely Xander and Jerome resemble each other. Maybe I am just crazy. Maybe I never was cured.

Maybe I just need to be free again.

"If you don't want to get shocked Ms. Gordon I would advise you to remove your hand." Dwight places clips on Jerome's body and flips switches making a huge machine hum with power.

Dwight giggles as he rests his hand on a large lever. "HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS FOLKS!" The lever is forced over and lightning fires within the room. Dwight cackles at my poor lover's body gets fried.

"Come on Jerome. Come on, baby." I beg, gripping the chair for life.

Soon after the machine clams down and Jerome is still lifeless. I grab his hand weeping. "J?" I lean down trying to listen for a heartbeat any sign of life.

"He's still dead." Dwight's assistant addressed. "I know he's still dead. I ran into some technical difficulties. Nothing that I can't fix."

"Is everything plugged in?" "Yes." "Try turning it on and off." "I did! Three times."

"Look, you have spent the last year telling everyone that the Prophet would return. People have made sacrifices for you, Dwight. I left a really good job at the post office. The police are coming, and you promised them Jerome. The others expect to hear him speak. They want to see his face and if you can't do that-"

"You know, you make an interesting point."

Dwight walks near, grazing Jerome's face. "What are you doing?" I gasp seeing a small scapula in his hands. Dwight smiles and rests a hand on my cheek.

"Shh."

the black bag is thrown over my head and I'm forced away from Jerome.

~

I'm sat in a chair now fully handcuffed and unmoving. I groan moving my arms and resiting against the restraints.

"Don't move too much, doll. You'll bruise your pretty wrists." Jerome whispers in my ear. "You're not even here!"

"Not yet."

"Brothers and sisters, I promised you Jerome would return and today your faith is rewarded. Jerome is here, and so is our Queen!"

The bag is ripped off my head and I'm set on stage for the whole cult to see. I look up the stairs behind me and feel my heart sink.

Jerome's face is being used as a mask for this wannabe! Dwight prances down the steps wearing my lover's face!

"Behold the Prophet. The Prophet is here." Dwight grabs my hair raising me to a standing position. "We are back!"

The crowd screams in protest of their false leader. "Where's Jerome?" "Where's the hell's Jerome?"

Dwight groans pulling me forward. "The Prophet is here. Tell them, (y/n)!" I glare at him smirking at the mask. "You'll never be Jerome. You will never even meet the standers." Dwight hisses and throws me to the pavement harshly making the crowd scream.

"The Prophet is here! Listen to me! Jerome is here. He never left us. Each of you kept him alive. Each of you is Jerome. I am Jerome. We are all Jerome."

The cult chats over and over again getting louder every time. Dwight rips me from the floor and holds me in his arms. "Kiss me, doll face." I glare at him and turn my head. "I only kiss men with scary smiles."

"Then I don't need you." His voice is thick with venom and he tosses me into the crowd. "Remove the toxic cog! She has resented me. She has disrespected Jerome!" They push me away and out the door scraping my legs and arms every time they push me to the ground until I exit the building and run into town in search of my father.

I run into the GCPD panicked. "Dad." Lee catches me as I stumble past. "(Y/n)! What happened?"

"Dwight! He took- He cut off his face!" I cry out letting my tears fall. Lee leads me to Jim in an examination room.

"(y/n), god where have you been?" I fling into his arms crying. "Dwight took me. He- He's wearing Jerome's face! He cut it off, Dad." I sob in his chest as he smooths my hair back.

"(y/n)." Lee says grabbing my attention. "We know." I turn around seeing my faceless Jerome laying on the table.

I cover my mouth choking on my sobs. "Why couldn't they just leave you alone?" I whisper and touch his shoulder still feeling the coldness of the grave.

"I was going through the evidence you recovered from the scene. That phone was on the corpse next to Jerome. The last number came from the precinct." Lee explains passing over a flip phone to my father.

"Wait. You're saying someone in this house tipped them off?" I ask never taking my eyes away from Jerome.

" It would make sense. They cleared out moments before we got there." "So we got a freaking mole? Is there any way to know who called?" "The number came up as the main."

"So you can't make some kind of gadget to figure it out?" I look up meeting my father and Lee. "Why don't you just flood them out? You have the phone. Go call the number back from the floor and see who sweats." They both nod and move to exit the room until Jim grabs my wrist.

"I'll let you say goodbye, (y/n). Properly this time." I smile and wipe my tears away. "Thanks, dad."

A quiet room surrounds me and all I can do is stare at the faceless man I've loved for years. I sit next to him playing with his fingertips. "I wonder where we would've ended up if we skipped Gotham together. You might be here. I might not be crazy. We might be happy."

I let a tear slip from my eye sighing. "I've just lost the fire in me. It was all connected to you Jerome, and now I feel empty, but I know I have to get healthy. I need to stay strong. You were always worried about me stepping out alone in Gotham. So I can't live how we want. I'm going to have to be a fucking cog, and be the boring detective's daughter again. I'm just sorry you can't be here to laugh at me."

I close my eyes crying alone. I miss him so much.

"Detective's daughter, huh? I could make it work."

I giggle opening my eyes and looking over to the corner expecting the ghost that keeps me company, but the room is empty.

"Looking for someone, doll?" I avert my eyes down and see the faceless Jerome smiling widely at me. I drop his hand covering my mouth in shock. Jerome laughs looking at the hand I was previously holding. "Strang."

He sits up staring at me with his green eyes. "I know you. Don't I?" I nod my head feeling a smile creep its way up my cheeks.

The door opens and closes shut and not a second later Jerome has my gun pointed at my head and is threatening Lee. She looks at me with wide eyes. "(y/n)." I shake my head sighing. "It's alright. He won't shoot me." Jerome tightens his grip digging the end of the gun in my head. "Is that so?"

I smiled turning around to meet his eyes. "I know you. Don't I, Jerome?" He stares at me and begins to cackle madly. "You've got me, honey." He then points the gun at Lee. "Game change! Now tell me. What's going on?"

I sigh walking to the door and blocking it from entry. "(y/n), what are you doing?" Lee asks panicked. I roll my eyes picking up medical supplies to wrap Jerome's face. "Looks like I'm taking care of your patient. Now tell him what's going on." "Why do you do it?" I laugh rolling out the gauze. "Well I'm not the one with the gun pointed at them, am I?"

I watch Lee's facial expression change from confused to realization. "You never changed did you?" I roll my eyes walking over to Jerome.

"Gosh, you sound like my father." I place one end starting at Jerome's neck. "Hold please." He smiles and holds the cloth down.

"Storytime. Let's go!"

Lee proceeds to tell him the recap of his last living months, and everything that's happened in between.

He throws his head back laughing. "Wow. Now that I quite a story. You know, I know I've been dead, but doesn't that seem kind of crazy to you?" Jerome looks at me laughing.

Lee tilts her head smiling sarcastically. "Hey, maybe you're dreaming. Try shooting yourself." Jerome hums putting the gun to his head making me giggle. "Makes sense. Maybe you're right. Is this my angel?" He points to me winking.

"Hey, tell me more about this cult. They think I'm pretty great, huh?" I roll my eyes spinning in the chair. "They're a bunch of raving lunatics and idiots."

"Plus they have no respect for their queen."

Lee raises an eyebrow at me. "They didn't even get me a crown."

"Aw, baby don't you worry. I'll get you the biggest crown in the city." Jerome says pinching my cheek. He groans grabbing at his head. "Sorry. Head's a little fuzzy. You know, I was just reborn. Last year was nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see."

I sit next to Jerome patting his shoulder lightly. He looks over at me and tilts his head. "I know both of you, right?" He giggles smirking at me.

"Hey, did you and I ever, uh..." Jerome places the gun suggestively near his crotch and winks at me. I nod returning his wink. "Ah, I knew you were something else, doll. Long history?" "Another story for another time, love."

Jerome waves my gun at Lee laughing.

"That's right, (Y/n) Goron, the crazy, badass, sexy daughter of Jimbo. It's good to have you back sweetheart. Now that leaves you. You're Jim Gordon's little Twinkie." Jerome moves closer pressing the gun against Lee's face making me smile.

"How's it going between you and Jimbo? Huh? You still together, or..." "No." "No?" Jerome turns to me, "You knew this? Daddy can't keep a girl huh? Oh, that's a shame. I really liked you guys. What happened?" Jerome lays his arm over my shoulder pulling me to his side.

"He killed my husband on our wedding night." Jerome starts to laugh pulling me along. "Glad you two find it funny."

"I do. I get why you don't. Wow. You miss a lot of being dead!" He laughs again. He pulls me close and kisses my head.

"You know what? Go ahead, enjoy it. There are about a hundred cops on the other side of that door ready to kill you all over again, and all they'll do for (y/n) is lock her up in Arkham."

I huff rolling my eyes leaning my head on Jerome's chest. "I see your point."

"So, when I was last, you know, uh, alive, I was about to kill Bruce Wayne. I suppose I didn't manage to-" We shake out heads. "No. Right. Theo Galavan killed me, that jug-eared Judas. Well, I suppose I should start by killing him. Does that sound like a good plan, doll? I'll let you get the first swing."

"Theo Galavan's dead, J." "Oh Who beat me to it?" "W-Which time?" I grit my teeth as I feel Jerome grow tense. "Galavan came back to life, too? That son of a bitch is always upstaging me. Well, I guess I'm just missing one thing, then." Jerome presses the gun to Lee's face again. "Where is my face?"

I push myself off the chair and tap Jerome's shoulder. "I can help with that." I turn on the TV finding the station showing Dwight making a speech wearing Jerome's face. Jerome watches the TV closely. "Huh. Interesting. Looks almost like my twin!" Jerome cackles with glee.

[jungle321jungle]

Sleeping In The Woods: One

It was never in Virgil’s plan to be a camp counselor, he had never been a fan of kids.

It was never in his plan to learn to enjoy each of the boy’s company, he had never wanted to learn the truths behind their fake smiles.

It was never in his plan to get wrapped up in things he didn’t understand, he had always preferred to keep to himself.

None of it was ever his plan, but he’d do whatever he’d have to save everyone- even if it means risking himself.

Ao3

General taglist: @ashensanity @angels-and-dreams @ollyollyoxinfree @gattonero17

~~~~

One

Virgil had never been a fan of children.

They were loud, annoying, needy, and tried his patience to the point that driving off a cliff would be better than babysitting.

But when his mother had demanded that he get a job for the summer instead of: “becoming the newest piece of furniture in their home”, his father had unfortunately overheard. And of course because of truly cinematic timing, one of his coworkers had a son, Thomas, who would be working at Camp Storytime which was short a counselor.

Virgil already hated it at the sound of its name.

But upon research he had learned that due to being a camp for rich kids, the pay was very nice. So he had put on his best fake smile for that Skype interview where he had essentially lied to every question.

“Let's start easy, do you like kids?”

“Of course. Why would I be applying if I didn’t?”

The camp director had given a laugh, “So what age do you prefer?”

“I don’t really have a preference, but given I just graduated high school I’m not sure some of the older kids would really respect me.”

“Do you enjoy fairy tales? And all that goes with them? The younger kids are really into all of our themes. We have Pirate Days, and Royalty Days, and last summer we even had a Monster Day. Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

“Yeah, it sounds fun. What’s not to like about being a pirate? Well, other than scurvy.”

Despite getting the job, Virgil was not one hundred percent he could pull off the facade necessary to get through the summer.

But with training ending and campers arriving in a couple days, he didn’t really have a choice.

“Alright now that general training rules and protocol have been drilled into your head, it’s time to find out which cabin you’ve got and get your rosters. So you’ve got the rest of the day to move in and start prepping.”

Virgil gave a heavy swallow as the papers were passed around. For the last few nights they had all shared one cabin while the others were being prepared for campers, but now he was going to have to move elsewhere and truly begin to prepare for responsibility.

Yay.

He just hoped he was paired with one of the more competent counselors.

“Oh I got the Prince Cabin with Jon,” Thomas commented handing the stack of papers to Virgil.

Virgil glanced over Thomas’s shoulder, “Nineteen of them, you enjoy that.”

Thomas shrugged, “What do you have?”

Virgil gave a breath and finally flipped through and pulled out the assignment sheet with his name in confusion.

While it clearly said which grade and cabin was his, 4th and Wizard Cabin, it only listed five names under campers.

“Only five?” Thomas asked in surprise. “There’s really not that many Wizards this year, huh?”

“I’m by myself,” Virgil realized after a short pause as he passed the papers on.

“Well yeah, the ratio is ten to one. So you lucked out with half that.”

Virgil blinked before looking Thomas in the eye, “But I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Fake it till you make it? But hey, if you really need help I’m in the Cabin next door.”

Virgil mumbled a thank you in reply.

Another thing Virgil had never been amazing at was decorations. And yet he had been tasked with decorating the cabin in a “wizard theme”. He wasn’t even sure he knew what that meant. So for now he guessed, and decided he was going to over use glitter, make some wands out of something, and maybe throw some glow in the dark stars up- was that too young for fourth graders?

Oh well, they would have to deal with it.

“Your stars are in the wrong places.”

Virgil’s mouth had opened and closed as the kid walked past him to sit on a bottom bunk bed. He looked at Virgil with a bored expression from behind his glasses, “This one says Dante but I want to sleep here.”

“Logan Ackroyd,” his mother chided before he held out a hand. “I apologize, you said it was Virgil, right? I’m Patricia Ackroyd, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Virgil nodded slowly before he pulled off the “Dante” sign and moved to the Logan one to switch them, silently wondering why the name sounded familiar.

“Oh you don’t have to,” his mother tried. “I’m sorry he’s being difficult.” She then sent her son a look which he stiffened at. “Usually he holds himself with a better demeanor.”

“It’s fine,” Virgil told her switching the signs. “I figured that I might get a complaint if I labeled things anyway.”

“I notice there’s only five names?”

“Only five kids apparently.”

“Interesting. Well Logan, let's get you unpacked.”

Virgil made awkward small talk as they did so before the next campers voices could be heard as they approached.

“But why can’t we be in the Prince Cabin,” groaned a small voice before an exasperated voice replied,

“That one’s for fifth graders.”

“But I don’t want to be a wizard!”

“Me neither!”

“Doesn’t matter what you want!”

The voices turned out to belong to the two twins which had been on his list. Roman and Remus Regis. Along with them were their parents- who did not look happy to be there. But then again the movie stars that they were, he guessed they didn’t really love the idea of being in a dirty forest.

“Sentor!” Their mother, Daniela Regis he recalled, cried suddenly excited going over to where Logan’s mother had been kneeling by a very small dresser (Virgil silently wondered the point of having dressers at all when each looked like they held four shirts at once). “It’s so good to meet you again.”

Senator?

Well, these were supposed to be rich kids.

Logan’s mother stood and gave a well practiced smile as she dusted off her skirt. “Hello Daniela.”

“You the counselor?”

Virgil turned away from the women to the man who had entered, movie star Michael Regis. Virgil hoped he was good at poker faces, “Yes. I’m Virgil.”

He nodded and set down the two suitcases beside the beds, “Keep them in check.”

“Got it...”

With that the man moved beside his wife to chat up senator Ackroyd.

“I’m Remus,” one the twins stated looking over to Logan. Virgil made a mental note that Remus was the one with a light patch in his hair. “This is my brother Roman. I’m gonna guess you’re Logan?”

Logan looked away from the conversation in front of him and gave a stiff nod, “Yes.” The boy said it with such finality that made it clear that he didn’t want to be spoken to, but that sentiment was apparently ignored.

“Have you ever been to a camp like this before?” Roman asked him.

“Do you like pranks?” Remus added.

“I’m gonna unpack,” was Logan’s reply as he moved to do so.

“Logan,” Mrs. Ackroyd tried, but the Regis’ were not letting up.

“Really? You know the director?”

For an actress Mrs. Regis was not very good at sounding as if she hadn’t rehearsed.

“Did you make the wands?” Roman asked appearing at Virgil's side.

“Uh yeah... I did. Why?”

The wands weren’t anything too special. He had simply taken a few cool looking sticks and cut them down with a pocket knife. And then Thomas had thought they were plain and had doodled on some mainly out of boredom.

“Ollivander said the wand chooses the person. And you chose for us.”

Virgil blinked, before he came up with a quick response, “You're not eleven yet. These are trainer wands.”

The boy seemed surprised by the response, but with that he backed off. Unfortunately Logan didn’t.

“Do we have to wear robes?”

“It’s summer so I think we can make an exception. Plus, we’re not British.”

Whatever was going to be his response was cut off by the sound of loud laughter from outside. And then moments later two women and a little boy entered. The first woman Virgil recognized as the head counselor as Delia, but the other woman looked like she should be anywhere but the middle of the woods.

She was tall, skinny, wearing a tube top and a very short skirt with tall heels. Her long dark hair was done in a fancy way and her make up was perfect too.

It just didn’t make sense. At all.

“I was coming to check in and I bumped into another one of yours,” Delia smiled. “This is Charlotte Ekans and her son Dante.”

Beside the super out of place looking woman Dante gave a smile and wave and Virgil forced himself not to stare at the boy’s half scarred face.  

“I’m Virgil,” Virgil introduced. He then motioned to an empty bunk bed, “That spot over there is yours. Since there’s only five of you guys each get a top and bottom bunk to yourselves.”

“So you’re missing one?” Delia observed. “That’s not bad. Alright I’m heading to the next Cabin.”

“Michael! How are you?” Virgil’s attention was redirected as Mrs. Ekans walked up to Mr. Regis and pulled him into a tight hug. “How long has it been?”

“Hello Charlotte,” Mrs. Regis said as she gave a tight lipped smile. “I didn’t know your son went to this camp?”

“This is his second summer,” she replied letting go of Mr. Regis to hug his wife.

She pushed away near instantly, “We should be going Michael.”

The two left then with a few parting words to the Senator- and yet none to their sons.

“How are you Patricia?” Mrs. Ekans asked heading back to Dante to help him unpack.

“I’m fine,” Mrs. Ackroyd replied. “I do thank you for clearing my space to breathe.”

“You can always count on me for anything ... you know that.”

“Can I change my sign?” Dante asked Virgil. “I like to go by Dee.”

Dammit he should’ve thought about what the kids preferred.

“We have arts and crafts tomorrow,” Virgil started. “You could make a new one?”

Dee nodded satisfied as he pulled out his bedding, “That works.” He then looked to the other three boys in the room, “I’m Dee. What’s your names?”

“I’m Roman!” Remus answered eagerly. Wait. That was Remus wasn’t it? “What happened to your face?”

Virgil sucked in a breath quickly as he took a step forward, “Roman- Remus, either lets not ask people personal questions like that, okay?”

But apparently it hadn’t bothered Dee as he leaned forward on his bed, “Take a guess.”

Remus(?) gave a large smile, “You were abducted by aliens?”

“Nope.”

“Attacked by a shark!”

“No.”

“Wouldn’t something like a car crash make more sense?” Logan interrupted. “Or just being born with it?”

“But that’s boring,” Remus complained. “Ooo! What about jumping out of a speeding car?”

“Logan we mind our own business,” his mother stated sternly.

“It’s fine,” Dee told her with a smile. “And no to the speeding car.”

“Bear attack?”

“Nope.”

“Cannibal.”

“Nope.”

“Lochness monster- no Bigfoot!”

“Still no.”

“I’m going to figure it out,” Roman(?) replied.

“You won’t,” he smiled back before he pointed to the twin who hadn’t been speaking. “So he's Roman. What’s your name again?”

“Remus, I’m the one going gray from having the stress of a younger twin.”

Roman hit his brother with a pillow in reply.

Virgil blinked as he ran the encounter over in his head. How did he know that wasn’t Roman when Remus has introduced himself as his brother?

“Alright Lo, I think you’re all set,” Mrs. Ackroyd was saying as she pulled her son into a hug. “Remember the rules?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” she pressed a kiss to his hair. “Love you.” She went to leave, but she hesitated at the door. “Charlotte are you perhaps free this evening?”

The other mother gave her a smile, “I have plans. But I can walk out with you? And if you’re feeling generous enough, could you give me a ride back? We were dropped off.”

“Then how were you planning to get back in the first place?”

“Who knows.”

The two women left then leaving Virgil alone with four kids.

The living nightmare was beginning.

He gave a sigh as he sat on one one of the unused beds.

The pay is great. The pay is great. The pay is great.

“So what do we do now?” Roman asked him.

Virgil cringed, “Well the plan is just for us to hang out here for the rest of the afternoon until dinner. After that is a campfire then bed. Then tomorrow we have a full day with swimming, arts and crafts, games and other things.”

“Can we go explore?” Remus asked.

Virgil shook his head, “Sorry, but no. There’s only one of me and I need to stay here in case our last camper shows up. But we can all play a game in here?”

“What kind of game?”

“Um... that depends on what you guys like.”

“Let’s play mafia!” Dee cheered after a moment.

“We need more people for that,” Logan disagreed. “Are there any board games?”

“No,” Virgil answered. “They’re in a different building.”

“Let’s play quack-a-dilly-oh-my,” Roman suggested.

With that they had gathered in a circle on the floor and begun to play- until an argument about the lyrics had arose.  

“It’s eat a marshmallow,” Logan said crossing his arms.

Remus shook his head, “No it’s your face is turning yellow!”

“It’s yellow,” Dee agreed while Roman nodded. “Right Virgil?”

Virgil shrugged, “I grew up with both.”

“See? He’s on our side.”

“That's not what he said,” Logan disagreed.

“Either way you’re outnumbered,” Roman announced. “So what does your opinion matter?”

“Everyone’s opinion matters,” Virgil tried but he didn’t think he was heard.

As the argument escalated Virgil gave a groan, thankfully he was saved by the door opening and a boy walking in beside Thomas.

“This one got a bit lost,” Thomas explained setting down the kid’s bag. “This is Patton.”

Patton gave a wide smile, “Hi! What are your names?”

While the other boys stood up to introduce themselves Virgil moved over to Thomas. “Where’s his parents?” He asked quietly.

Thomas gave a shrug, “He was just left at the entrance.”

Virgil gave an awkward nod and looked back to the boys.

“Patton, are the lyrics to quack-a-dilly-oh-my ‘eat a marshmallow’ or ‘your face is turning yellow’?” Logan asked.

Patton seemed confused by the question but he answered anyway as he put his small backpack on his bed, “It’s marshmallow- oh cool a wand!”

“See?”

“You’re still outnumbered,” Roman reminded him.

Logan gave a frown before he turned to Thomas. But Thomas was faster, “Well I need to get back to my own cabin.”

~~~~

Someway, somehow, Virgil managed to survive the afternoon. He had helped Patton set up his bed (before the twins because they hadn’t actually done more then dump stuff out) and then it had been time to take a small tour.

He showed them places around the camp, from the fields to the bathrooms, to the dining hall for dinner and a few others in between. And for a little while Virgil thought he could actually do this.

And then a scream woke him in the middle of the night.

Virgil shot up from his bed and promptly fell to the floor. He hurried out his room and into the next one hitting the light as he did. When he did he found Remus and Dee laying on the floor cackling beside Roman who was comforting a crying Patton. Meanwhile Logan gave the world a glare from where he had sat up in his bed.

“He’s fine,” Dee laughed.

“The spider is fake Patton!” Roman was trying.

“Can we reenact that?” Remus asked between gasps of laughter. “Virgil can take a video!”

“You’re all stupid,” Logan mumbled flopping back down and pulling a blanket over his head.

Virgil gave a deep breath calm down his now quick beating heart, but his fear as he did his worry was replaced by anger. “All of you, go to bed!”

“Some of us are trying!” Logan shouted back.

“It's the first night of camp,” Dee frowned. “Did you expect us to sleep?”

Virgil gave the child an annoyed glare, “I expect you to be quiet enough that I can sleep.”

“Have you ever been to camp before?”

“Get in your bed. I don't give a-” He forced himself to take a breath. “Just get in your bed and be quiet. All of you... Patton do you want water or something?”

Patton had calmed slightly and shook his head as he wiped at his eyes, “‘M okay.”

Virgil nodded and headed back to his room. “Just be quiet. No. Be silent. Understood?”

“Yes Mr. Virgil!” Remus mocked climbing into his bed.

It was going to be a long summer.

~~~~

One - Two

Welcome to yet another AU!

As with all my aus the original idea was to have happy fluff throughout because I realize I’ve done all the sides as kids except Dee. But if you can read the description that’s not where we will end up.

But welcome to the ride!

[im-not-corrupted]

Safi, No (a Witchlands Fanfiction) - Chapter Fifteen

Written with @un-empressed, who wrote both POV’s for this chapter.

Read the other chapters here: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve | Chapter Thirteen | Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Summary:

Safi does not want to apologise to Merik.

Also on Ao3!

Safi was frustrated. They were making her apologise to Merik Nihar, of all people. It wasn't like he didn't deserve it. Still, Iseult made her apologise, and Safi couldn't be mad at her best friend, so she instead focused her anger on the person whose fault all of this was.

Safi: Gather round children, it's storytime time

Caden: "storytime time"

Safi: first of all fuck you

Safi: second of all fuck Stacia Sotar

Vaness: Do I even want to know what she did?

Safi: The worst thing imaginable

Iseult: She just told Merik's friends about the plan

Safi: She told MERIK'S friends about THE PLAN!!

Lev: I can't believe I thought about robbing a bank with a traitor

Stix: It was Leopold's fault, not mine!

Vaness: I don't doubt his involvement for a second but what did he do?

Stix: He sent an incriminating message to the chat and Kullen saw it

Stix: So he was like

Stix: "What is this?"

Stix: And there is absolutely no trust in our friendship, apparently, because he looked through my messages and made me tell him what it was

Vaness: So you terrible people can't even be terrible properly? What a waste of air

Stix: I am not

She was. Safi couldn't believe it when Iseult, Kullen and Ryber showed up at her door. She wasn't going to break her promise, but that didn't mean she wouldn't still complain.

Safi: Disagree. I now have to apologise to that asshole because of you!

Leopold: Just don't call him an asshole when you apologise

Safi: Don't tell me what to do

No one said the apology had to be sincere, anyway. She had half an hour before Kullen would take Merik to the ice cream shop where the Bribery and Corruption group met. Or used to meet.

Safi didn't know what would happen with them now that their plans were revealed. The assholes grew on her, goddamn it. She hoped they would still be friends. Even Stix, as angry as Safi was with her in the moment.

Instead of planning what she would say, Safi kept the conversation in the group chat going. It wasn't the more clever of the two options but Safi really didn't care in the moment.

Safi: You all have to apologise too. Iseult says so at least, and I don't want to be the only one subjected to that kind of Hell on Earth

Vaness: I don't apologise to people

Safi: Too bad

Safi didn't want to risk ruining her somewhat friendship with Vaness, but she also didn't want to have to tell Kullen that someone refused to apologise. He did a pretty good job of controlling himself, given how obviously furious he was. No doubt Ryber played a big part in that, but Safi didn't know if she would be there today and she didn't want to take any chances.

When it was time to go, Safi had already bribed Vaness into apologising. It just so happened that she shared a class with both her and Stix, and it would really be a pity if Vaness couldn't hear the teacher over her yelling about the betrayal.

Despite Safi's pleas, Iseult didn't want to go with her. She said she'd apologise in the group chat with everyone else. Apparently Safi was supposed to give her phone to her enemy. Former enemy? Safi didn't know anymore.

As soon as she entered the ice cream place, Safi was glad that Ryber was there. She knew she would inevitably say something stupid, and even though Kullen calmed down, Safi knew he wouldn't appreciate it.

Merik looked confused to see her there as she sat across from him. Did his friends not tell him?

Well, that wasn't Safi's problem. All she had to do was apologise, and then she could avoid Merik for all eternity. Simple, right? Wrong.

"Hi," Safi said awkwardly. She was overly aware of the expectant looks. "I might have created a revenge plan against you, and no regrets, I would do it again, but I'm sorry if it actually hurt you. But, to be fair, we were both assholes so you should apologise to me as well."

Merik needed a moment to process all she said. At that point it was obvious that Kullen and Ryber didn't tell him anything. "Wait, stop. A revenge plan? What?".

Safi laughed awkwardly. She really should've thought about what she'd say before she started talking. "Yeah. I...got a bit too into it, and I made Vaness spread that rumour."

Safi wasn't ashamed, so why was it so hard to say? And why was she dreading Merik's reaction?

"How did you manage to include Vaness? Who else knows?"

Safi noticed how he ignored what she said about him apologising as well. Still, she answered. "Bribery and Corruption, my good friend. Well, not friend. You know what I meant." Safi hated herself in that moment. What was wrong with her to say that? "As for who's included... Well, Iz said they should all apologise too, so here."

Safi handed Merik her phone. She usually just threw it in her bag or whatever pocket she could, but this conversation made her oddly nervous. She was playing with it under the table, just to keep her hands busy.

Safi told her friends to write their apologies in the group before she left her house. She hoped they all did, if only because she didn't want to be there any longer than she had to.

Kullen and Ryber didn't say anything through the whole conversation, which only made it more tense. Safi looked at them as Merik read through the messages, but Kullen was too focused on reading over his friend's shoulder. Ryber shot her an awkward smile.

Merik finally set her phone down on the table after what felt like forever, but was probably two minutes at most.

"I don't even know anyone included in this group chat except for three people. Am I that bad?" Merik asked. It seemed honest. Maybe Kullen was right about Merik trying to fix himself.

Safi fought the urge to say that yes, he was that bad. Even worse in fact. She knew that she was overreacting. Iseult told her that from the start. It still felt so different to face the consequences of her actions than it was hearing about them and how inevitable they were from a friend.

Safi didn't want to answer, so she responded with another question. "Who are the three people you know? Stix, of course, and Vaness, I assume. But who else?"

Merik looked at her like she was stupid and it bothered her immensely. She was trying, goddamn it. And everyone had a bone to pick with Merik, seemingly.

"My sister?"

Safi was going to murder someone for not giving that very important detail.

[x]

Aeduan hated having to write that apology. He didn't even do anything particularly wrong. He was, as Safi called it, Bribed and Corrupted. At least they were getting a break from her while she went to apologise, no matter how small that break was.

It was very small. It hadn't even fifteen minutes before Safi sent another message to the group chat.

Safi: All right, which one of you fuckers is Merik's sister

Stix: Merik has a sister?

Vivia: Ouch

Safi: YOU?!

Stix: ^ but less aggressive

Safi: I look like an idiot just sitting here furiously typing while Merik and his friends stare at me! Why wasn't I told about this? We could have used it

Iseult: The revenge plan is over, Saf

Safi: Yeah, unfortunately. But it totally would've been epic if we used it back when it was still a SECRET, STACIA

Stix: Rude

Aeduan rolled his eyes. It was so immature, and so typical of the unreasonable group of people he got himself involved with.

He was as surprised as the others by Vivia being related to the target of their plan. Aeduan knew that siblings didn't usually overly enjoy each other's company, but joining a revenge plan against them...well, Aeduan couldn't exactly judge Vivia if Merik was as terrible as they all said. He doubted it, though, but siblings were weird.

Aeduan wasn’t all that close to her, so it didn’t affect him too much. Or at all. It was still beautifully ironic.

Safi: Well I’m going to subtly excuse myself from this awkward conversation, wish me luck

Stix: Kullen is never going to let you get away with just a few words

Safi: Too bad

Aeduan hoped Stix was right, if only because he didn’t have it in him to keep up with the group chat anymore.

But even though Safi wasn’t available, the others still talked.

Lev: I can’t believe you gave us away

Leopold: I can’t believe you blamed me

Vaness: why? You’re easy to blame

Stix: ^ plus it was a really incriminating message that YOU SENT. If it was a regular, or at least half subtle text, he wouldn’t have been as suspicious

Lev: So it’s Leopold’s fault?

As much as Aeduan loved blaming Leopold, he found the whole situation to be ridiculous. They were going to get revealed one way or another. It was better that it happened sooner, before they had any chance to do something much worse. Much, much worse. Knowing Safi, it was extremely fortunate.

There was no need to point fingers, not really. If Stix didn't give them away, someone else would have. They were just hypocrites, and Aeduan had a feeling they knew it.

Stix: Is there anyone here who doesn't hate me right now? Because something really funny just happened and I need to tell someone

Iseult: No one hates you

Lev: Yes we do

Vaness: None of you are too pleasant, but I wouldn't say I hate you. It's a bit too strong

Leopold: It'd be fine if she didn't blame me, even though I had nothing to do with it

Stix: Die mad about it

Oh, how Aeduan wished he had never gotten involved with them in the first place. His days would certainly be a lot more boring, but boredom was better than having to participate in these conversations.

But he had to, so he wrote a quick text. I don’t care enough to hate you.

Stix: Wow, you’re all very supportive. You know, I don’t even care what you think, because I know it wasn’t my fault and that’s what matters

Vivia: I don’t hate you either

Stix: Breaking news, all of a sudden what people think of me matters. Thanks, Viv, you’re the best

Lev: Don’t change the topic. You’re still a traitor

Stix: I am not

Leopold: You so are

Stix: Yeah, well you’re annoying

That was such a desperate insult, really. Everyone knew Leopold was annoying. Leopold knew Leopold was annoying. He enjoyed irritating people beyond all reasonable measures and pushing their limits. Aeduan knew that from experience.

Vaness: Oh, wow, really? We weren’t aware

Lev: That’s a really bad insult

Iseult: Even I have to agree

Stix: Breaking breaking news, it suddenly doesn’t matter what you think again

Vaness: Vivia, tell her it’s a bad insult

Vivia: Sorry, Stix, but it really is

Stix: Wow, I thought I was the traitor

Zander: Do we have to fight?

Aeduan wanted to know that too. Was it so necessary for them to throw insults back and forth? It already happened, and it was obvious that neither party was going to change their mind. It wasn’t even the intriguing kind of drama people enjoyed listening to. It was just unnecessary fighting, even though Aeduan enjoyed the part where they blamed Leopold.

Safi: Yes, we do, because now I apparently gave Merik Nihar my number because I was pressured by Kullen to act like we're the best of friends now. I'm going to spoil tomorrow's news for you, a murder happened

Stix: Love you too

*

Read the next chapter here: Chapter Sixteen

[onthevirgeofdestruction]

Storytime!

Sanders Sides Canon Divergence AU - fluff/angst - hurt/comfort - some intrigue - actually has a plot (side eyes my other fics) - largely Virgil centric - it’s about growth i guess idk

Words: 3,960 Warnings: Spiders Characters: Virgil, Janus, Roman, Patton, Logan, (Remus in passing) Universe: Storytime! Genre: Clingy Idiocy still

Chapter 26: In Which Bishops Haunt Virgil Again

newsflash virgil is still clingy but he’s doing okay unlike everybody else

chapter 1 for new readers - ffn mirror

   Virgil sat quietly next to Deceit with his hood up as Deceit talked to Remus again the next morning, waiting for whatever this meeting was where Remus got bit was to be over. Virgil leaned heavily on Deceit with the weight of exhaustion lulling him back to sleep. He couldn’t stop his eyes from fluttering periodically, though he stayed awake. He had trouble getting back to sleep this morning for some reason. Lately, he had been sleeping like a rock, but today he just groaned and rolled around after Thomas woke up.

   Remus waved with a manic smile and disappeared from the room. Virgil yawned and looked up to Deceit, who pulled his hood down. Sounds came back to Virgil’s ears as he blinked slowly up to him.

   “Can I stay with you today?” Virgil asked quietly and hung on to Deceit’s cloak.

   “Of course, I’m completely free to lollygag around, Virgil,” Deceit said sarcastically.

   “Please? I’ll be quiet. I’ll just nap for a bit or something,” Virgil pleaded hopefully. He really didn’t like being alone anymore. The idea alone made him squirm.

   “Can’t you play with your other friends?” Deceit looked to him in annoyance.

   “Logan’s on to something and Roman was asking too many questions. I can’t hang out in Pat’s room with him. I’m just too tired to deal with Remus right now. I just want to steer clear for a day. One day is not too bad to skip on, right?” Virgil begged with a sigh. “I don’t want to be alone all day. I know I’ll have to go back to my room later and all,” Virgil couldn’t stop the sad expression on his face from the knowledge of the inevitable and the potential of D just sending him to his room right away.

   “I suppose I can work in here for now,” Deceit conceded, sounding a little frustrated, and shifted to sit against the wall on the bed. He summoned a folder and his signature quill and worked on his wildly involved business. Virgil smiled and curled up next to him, pulled his sound dampening hood over his head, and rested his head on the edge of Deceit’s lap. Virgil looked up to see a half-smile on Deceit’s face and nestled in to and finally started drifting again.

— * * * —

   Patton looked longingly at the clock in the kitchen and frowned. “I guess Virgil isn’t coming to breakfast,” He said sadly, tapping his fingers against the tabletop. They had finished the food some time ago, and they were all sitting around chatting with coffees or cocoa, waiting for their weird anxiety. Roman knew he’d need to stick around to make breakfast for him, but Logan had even finished his paper and didn’t return to his room either. Roman leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

   “Maybe he’s sick?” Roman supplied. “He was acting a little odd,” Roman said, feeling worried and glancing at Virgil’s regular chair.

   “I doubt that Thomas has suddenly come down with some kind of mental ailment that would discombobulate Anxiety. He appears to be performing his functions just fine. Thomas is alert, mindful, and ready, to a certain extent. I believe he is just sleeping in again if the past few days are any indication. I am concerned, however, that he has been avoiding me for 2 days,” Logan said tonelessly, flipping through his newspaper.

   “Maybe he doesn’t mean to? He hasn’t been avoiding us and he knows we talk to you,” Patton suggested. “We’ve been busy lately. Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding,” Patton added hopefully.

   “I appreciate your optimism, Patton, but I would like to talk to him, regardless,” Logan said evenly and refilled his coffee cup. “Would you wake him, Roman?”

   “He just said yesterday that it was a terrible idea to wake him up,” Roman said and stayed seated with his latte.

   “Virgil has a tendency to exaggerate at times. It is just part of being anxiety. I am positive you will be fine,” Logan insisted, looking annoyed.

   “If it was something deters Remus of all sides, it’s probably a massive deal. You’re volunteering to come in and help me if I call, then?” Roman grumbled and put his drink down.

   “That is a reasonable compromise,” Logan said, calling Roman’s bluff right away. He didn’t get why Logan couldn’t just go, other than the whole ‘avoiding him’ thing. Roman grimaced and sank down to head to Anxiety’s room.

   The room was well lit, perhaps even a little sun coming through the windows. Nothing seemed out-of-place other than the fact that Virgil definitely wasn’t here. He wasn’t on the stairs, hiding in the couch cushions, not in the kitchen pantry. It was so eerily silent in there that Roman swore he could hear the spiders move. Probably Beatrice on the prowl. At least Roman hoped that Virgil didn’t have any non-pet spiders that were not as docile as Beatrice that he was hearing creep up on him. Maybe it was just the room trying to trick him. Anxiety’s room did always give him the creeps. It was no wonder Virgil enjoyed hanging out in Roman’s room. Roman kicked and pushed and dug around a little more, but it didn’t even look lived in. Virgil usually had blankets and pillows strewn around after waking up since he liked to bundle himself up. There was just one blanket folded neatly on the couch. Roman couldn’t even find a pair of headphones anywhere. Roman gave up searching for him and sunk back to the kitchen table.

   “He’s not in there. It’s so empty that it doesn’t look like he had even been there recently,” Roman said, turning around to look at the stairwell. “I guess he’s in someone’s room?”

   “He could also be in the mind palace,” Logan offered. Roman’s face twinged. He better not be. “That was an odd reaction to my suggestion, Roman,” Logan stated with slight suspicion, raising his eyebrow at Roman.

   “I’m just worried,” Roman said dismissively. Virgil didn’t want anyone to know, and it seemed harmless to hide it. It’s not like it would change anything if Logan knew why he shouldn’t be in there. Virgil would still be missing. “He’s been very present lately, and it’s odd to not see him,” Roman said, sitting back down to work on his latte again.

   “Yeah, it’s been so fun to hang out with Virgil! But maybe he’s recuperating. He has probably been pushing his social energy to the limit lately,” Patton mused with a slight smile.

   “It’d make more sense if he was recuperating in his room, not in the mind palace or in somebody else’s room.” Logan corrected him.

   “Maybe he’s a master of illusion and was hiding in his room!” Patton suggested excitedly.

   “The only illusion I’ve seen him flaunt is somehow being comfortable and not sliding down the stairs when he lies on them,” Roman said, dismissing that idea.

   “Yes, I have also seen Virgil laying upside down on the stairs. I find it somewhat unnerving that he ignores physics so brazenly,” Logan replied. “I do not believe he would be in anyone else’s room, but if you see him, please direct him gently to talk to me. I will finish the information packets in my room,” Logan said with a nod of goodbye a sunk away.

   “Well, I can’t blame him for wanting to talk to Virgil and all, that but was annoying of him to make me his errand boy twice in the same five minutes,” Roman huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back on the chair.

   “Oh, I doubt he meant it like that, champ. It’s only if we see him in passing,” Patton said placatingly.

   “I’ll be in my room working most of the day, not passing by random side’s rooms for fun. I’m following Logan’s stupid schedule. He should know that,” Roman gestured in frustration and took another drink of latte.

   “Thomas has been busy lately. I’m impressed Logan found the time to write something and the packets. I kind of thought he’d skip them this week since you two have been working more and more these past couple days. I’m surprised you’re not more tired in the evenings,” Patton said, leaning forward on his hands.

   “You know me, padre, I’ve got plenty of energy,” Roman smiled knowingly and winked and Patton.

   “Oh! You’re right. I forgot,” Patton giggled. “Well, I hope you take the breaks you need, anyway. Creative burn out is serious business!” Patton said seriously, tapping the table with his pointer finger.

   “I’m well aware. I’ve got it under control. It’s actually nice to blow off steam with Virgil in the evenings,” Roman shrugged and crossed his legs.

   “You have been seeing him at night for a few days now. You haven’t been fighting the entire time, have you?” Patton said, looking critically at Roman.

   “Not the whole time,” Roman scoffed and posed with his hand to imply the implication offended him.

   “You should be nicer to him,” Patton frowned.

   “Trust me, Virgil usually starts it. He’s a little…” Roman considered the right word and twisted his hand in the air while he processed it. “… feral in my room,” Roman flipped his hand in the air. “Last night he tried to start a fight three times,” Roman sighed, shaking his head.

   “Oh! Well, sorry for accusing you of being mean, then,” Patton said sheepishly.

   “It’s fine. I started plenty of fights with him. It wasn’t an unfair assumption, and you haven’t seen him in my room before,” Roman said dismissively with a slight shrug.

   “Well, our kiddo is sure full of a lot more fight than flight, lately!” Patton mused, sipping his cocoa.

   “Well, unless you believe Logan’s whole… ‘avoiding him’ thing. I haven’t seen Virgil do that thing where he stiffens and runs off or anything,” Roman said, not really believing Logan’s accusation. Though Virgil was acting exceptionally weird, either way.

   “As I said, It’s gotta be a misunderstanding. Virgil’s been downright pleasant lately,” Patton pouted, summoning more marshmallows into his drink. 

   “Well, maybe for you,” Roman laughed. “I still say he’s feral. Oh, gorgon breath, Thomas has been at the computer blanking and I didn’t notice. He got there early today,” Roman rushed to stand up. “Damnit, Logan, that’s not on the schedule! I’ve got to run, Pat,” Roman hissed, sending off his drink and standing up quickly.

   “Don’t work too hard, kiddo!” Patton waved after him, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

   “Work hard, play hard!” Roman called out with a proud grin as he sank out.

— * * * —

   Deceit must have given into the pouting puppy face that Virgil learned from Patton. Instead of all the things Deceit said he was busy with today, they were playing chess on the floor in Deceit’s room with snacks and drinks Deceit had summoned. Virgil had hoped whatever Deceit had planned wasn’t so important that it needed 100% of his focus so that playing chess was okay. But Virgil was happy just to be spending time with D. He always got him and always cared for him in his own weird way.

   Virgil didn’t mind if Deceit used him sometimes, honestly. It was nice to be needed. Deceit had even been more straight-forward with Virgil lately. Virgil was pretty certain Deceit did things the way he did because he didn’t want to be rejected or ignored. Virgil didn’t think it was from any kind of bad place. He could get that probably more than any other side, as a side who used to try to scare the others into listening to him. The other sides were kind of assholes to D, so he didn’t have many options. Deceit was kind of an asshole too, but it was hard to care about that in the past when he’d been helping Virgil constantly in the present. Deceit admitted he was wrong, and that was big of him. Virgil knew he hated doing that with burning and over-dramatic passion.

   Virgil was lying on the ground and agonizing between two different good-looking moves, but he was pretty certain Deceit had already thought ahead and was trying to pick the best move to survive over the best move moving forward.

   “Virgil, your bishop has had an opening for six turns, why do you refuse to use it?” Deceit asked, sounding somewhat baffled. He was sipping his tea cross-legged on the other side of the board and fiddling with one of Virgil’s fallen pawns in his other hand while Virgil was thinking. Virgil involuntarily winced and held his clavicle.

   “The bishop doesn’t need to get items from the king or queen for special moves,” Virgil said quietly, just realizing it was a dumb thing to have been waiting for as soon as he said it. He flinched at his own stupidity and buried his face in his hands.

“We’re not playing that accursed version that Remus plays,” Deceit said, tinged in frustration.

   “I… I know. My brain mixed it up, I guess,” Virgil mumbled through his fingers. “It’s not like either of us was playing like that up until that point. I would have pulled a knife on you already,” He exhaled and let go of his face.

   “Yes, it’s such a magnificent idea to pull a knife on me,” Deceit said sarcastically, tossing up Virgil’s pawn and catching it.

   “Well, how else could I have gotten two turns to take your knight without losing my own?” Virgil said rolling his eyes and flipping his hand out.

   “That’s not chess, Virgil,” Deceit said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know what to call whatever that monstrosity is,” He sounded exasperated by the whole subject.

   “Fun until it’s not,” Virgil said blithely. “You’ve judged for us before, but I’ve never judged for you two, are you any good at his weird version?” Virgil asked, finally making his move. It was a bad one, Deceit had immediately taken his piece, and he wasn’t that far from checking him.

   “I’m such a fan of being attacked,” Deceit said bitterly. Virgil chuckled lightly and looked up to Deceit, who looked annoyed.

   “So, really good until Remus pulls out his morning star,” Virgil posited with a smirk.

   “It’s not an inaccurate summation,” Deceit muttered. “I don’t understand why you want to fight with him so much, other than when your aspects eventually taint each other,”

   “He’s fun to fight. I just feel like I have to around him, I get all wired and need to punch something,” Virgil explained. “It’s certainly not that I want an enemy I can actually beat, unlike the crushing weight of capitalism or something,” Virgil added bitterly.

   “You don’t seem to beat Roman much,” Deceit mused with a raised eyebrow.

   “He’s much more fun when he thinks he has won over me,” Virgil said with a smirk. “Just taking a page out of my favourite noodle’s book,” His head swam for a moment as he fought the effects of Deceit’s room. He had been in here all morning, and it was getting very difficult to think straight.

   “Love the nickname,” Deceit said angrily, taking another one of Virgil’s pieces. Shit. He was within range of the king. “Check, darling,” Virgil scrambled for a move, he luckily still had valuable pieces that could protect the king for now. 

   Except for the fact that his bishops and remaining knight didn’t matter, in the end. Deceit had him beat in a few tense turns, regardless of any saving plays Virgil tried to make. He really was brutal at chess. 

   “Checkmate,” Deceit cooed and knocked over the king piece, the entire board disappearing right after. Virgil slumped to the floor and held his head.

   “Brilliant move,” Virgil mumbled derisively. Deceit placed his hand on Virgil briefly before pulling him up to his feet.

   “You need to go, Virgil,” Deceit said smoothly. Virgil pulled him in for a hug.

   “I’m handling it just fine,” Virgil groaned in frustration. Deceit rolled his eyes and hugged Virgil back, and they both sank out, causing Virgil to grumble angrily as they rose into his room. He stumbled for a moment after rising, feeling a little dizzy.

   “Yes, you are completely well and unaffected,” Deceit hissed, letting go of Virgil. Virgil held on stubbornly, though, partially because he wasn’t ready to be alone and partially because he was concerned he would fall over. “You don’t have to be a brat, darling. I’ll stay for a bit,” Deceit said, loosening Virgil’s grip on him with a tinge of annoyance. Virgil stumbled again when Deceit let go of his arms after pulling Virgil off of him. Deceit caught him before he fell to the floor. “Ah,” He said in understanding and carefully lead him to the couch, sitting down with him.

   “Thanks a lot,” Virgil murmured as Deceit lowered them both down together. Virgil pulled himself into a ball to catch his bearings, leaning against Deceit’s shoulder on the couch. Deceit grabbed the weighted blanket off the back of the couch from his nap yesterday and draped it over Virgil, which was an impressive move with one arm. The weight was really grounding and Virgil sank into the couch and laid down on Deceit’s lap instead of fighting it any longer.

   “I don’t know if any side should stay in another’s room that long,” Deceit hummed. Virgil grunted in acknowledgment, not really wanting to admit it but also not really in any state to disagree. “I would scold you for not saying anything normally, but I don’t think it counts in this circumstance,” Deceit mused. Virgil nodded in his lap, extremely grateful that Deceit understood. “I’ll just have to keep a closer eye on you next time,” Virgil cooed. Virgil looked up at him, seeing Deceit staring at a web instead of looking at Virgil. He was willing to spend more time with him even after Virgil had fucked up and let Deceit’s room get the better of him. He wasn’t even mad at him for it. Virgil sighed in relief and nestled into Deceit’s lap.

   “I’m still too dizzy to do anything else, but if you want to snark at a TV show or something we could do that,” Virgil offered quietly. He watched the remote fly up from the coffee table and the TV switched on. Deceit was flipping through the choices, looking for something to watch with him. Virgil was relieved that Deceit was willing to stay while he recovered.

   Deceit had watched 2 episodes and shared possibly a hundred insults at the characters with him before he turned off the TV and reached down to help pull Virgil up.

   “Thanks for staying,” Virgil muttered, sitting up on the couch now and rubbing his face to focus. Deceit looked like he got hit in the face with a whole-ass eyeshadow palette. He was a great actor, though. He wasn’t shaking or looking around wildly, or really anything. He held out his hand, and Virgil took it, and Deceit pulled him into a hug. Once they broke apart, Deceit conjured a large jar.

   “I require some of your fear spiders for an experiment,” He said twisting off the cap filled with holes and holding it out for Virgil. “I know they’re not quite followers but order them to listen to me,” He said evenly. Virgil looked at him in confusion for a moment, but placed his hand over the top of the jar, creating some spiders and webs for them to house inside the jar.

   “I can’t make them last past Thomas waking, is that okay?” Virgil asked as he finished and Deceit twisted on the top of the jar. Deceit just nodded. Virgil placed his hand on the jar and commanded them to follow Deceit’s orders in his head.

   Deceit kissed his head when Virgil pulled away and waved once as he sunk away with the jar. He wasn’t entirely sure what that was about, but he knew Remus was his test subject since their morning meetings and never minded throwing a wad full of spiders his way, in the same way Remus liked to whip out the demonic ooze often. Virgil sighed and crawled to the top of the couch to write some poetry. He needed a distraction, and it felt like it had been a while. He was partially recovered from Deceit’s room other than feeling exhausted.

   Beatrice crawled onto his head while he was writing, and she argued with him about the symbolism in his poetry sometimes, but her telling him he used death too often or to switch his rhyming scheme, but that was funnier than anything else. She couldn’t even hold a pen. Though perhaps with enough effort and some tiny weights she could type on a laptop. The visual made him chuckle. They wrote together quietly. He’d have to credit her on this sonnet, or she’d throw a fit.

   “Hey, Kiddo, we missed you at-Ahh!” He heard Patton say and watched him rise up, recoil suddenly, and sink back down right away. Virgil laughed pretty loudly.

   “My, Beatrice, your abilities have only grown since I created you. Even I can’t make Patton run screaming,” Virgil said with a laugh. Beatrice spun around on his head proudly.

— * * * —

   “He’s in his room this time,” Patton said, raising into the living room and rubbing his arms. “That giant creepy crawly was on his head!” He cried out and clung to Logan, who was working on the schedule in the recliner. Logan just sighed and pat him on the back, being slightly crushed by Patton’s hug.

   “Was he doing anything odd?” Roman asked curiously, looking up from his laptop at the table. Patton released Logan finally and went to go sit on the couch. He took a deep breath of relief.

   “He was sitting on the back of the couch writing in a composition notebook,” Patton said with a little shiver and summoned a blanket and wrapped himself up.

   “That’s completely normal for Virgil,” Logan said. “Did you ask him if he was still going to meet us later for the story session?”

   “There was a giant spider on his head, Logan, I’m lucky I made it out alive!” Patton whined and buried himself in the blankets.

   “I have never seen him with a larger spider than Beatrice, and she is only slightly large for a tarantula, I don’t know if he can even conjure larger arachnids,” Logan said plainly.

   “There are larger spiders than Beatrice!?” Patton screamed and sank from his spot on the couch, his blanket collapsing to the couch. Logan shook his head wearily.

   “I can’t believe he remembered that creeper’s name,” Roman said, rolling his eyes and returning to the laptop. “I’ll just send a note to remind Virgil,” Roman flicked his wrist and summoned the note pad. “I’m not a big fan of that fuzzy demon either,” Roman said and flourished his hand and the note disappeared. He went back to typing and Logan waited patiently to see if there would be a response. A skull sticky floated down to his laptop. “He sent a haiku about how he wants to punch me in the face?” Roman said incredulously and extremely confused.

   “That response seems more like something your brother would send,” Logan said, walking over to the table to take the note from Roman to see for himself. Roman handed it over and shrugged. It was indeed a simple haiku about how he wants to punch Roman in the face in Virgil’s handwriting. But the backside had a big checkmark. He showed Roman the check and placed it down on the table. “Well, he is informed and aware,” Logan said dismissively and returned his work.

taglist: @itsaamood-33 @elizabutgayer​ 

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 11

Last time, on Brotherhood:

Onwards to Rush Valley!

[Narrator] “Maes Hughes is dead…” I said, onwards to Rush Valley. You don’t need to remind me. And jeez, it’s going to be brutal when the Elrics and Winry hear about this. Episode 11: “Miracle at Rush Valley” Huh, looks like a rather desert-y area, scrub trees and tan stone surrounding the town. I guess I’ve gotten used to the more European environment of Central and East. Quick look at the town itself as Winry begins what I predict will be a long gush over the place, fair number of people walking around the streets, most carrying cases of some sort. The town sign is held up by two pillars designed as mechanical hands, and I’m seeing “Automail” on a lot of signs. So like Winry said, town is big on the mechanical limbs. Makes economic sense, the desert climate would tend more towards mining than agriculture, and people making metal arms and legs would gravitate to the source of their building materials. And yeah, Automail limbs (and an eyepiece, neat!) everywhere. I like this town! Winry jumps around with such enthusiasm that the townsfolk seem a bit unnerved, and the Elric Brothers settle in for a long day of “follow the fangirl”. Ed gripes about being out in the heat to look at automail (hey, you’re the one wearing black in the desert, buddy), asks why they didn’t just drop Winry at the station and continue on to visit Teacher. Pfft, A) like she would have let you, and B) stop denying the ship. Suddenly someone calls out for Ed to stop for a sec, and Oh My Leto Ed’s surrounded, the man grasping his arm and calling out for everyone to look at this unique model. Oh dear, it really is a town of Winry’s isn’t it? And we even get return of the funny sound effects, the crowd [*Swarm*] and [*Jostle*]-ing around him. Well hello there, young dark-skinned girl! You wouldn’t happen to be our focus character for the episode, would you? Oh my gosh Winry, maybe be a little more concerned that the crowd just stripped Ed for a “closer look”. Ed takes a moment to redress as the crowd turns to [*Badger*] Winry and Al, griping about automail engineers. But then he starts patting his pockets… uh oh, we’re down one State Alchemist watch! [Random NPC with Robot Eye]: “It sound like you guys had a run-in with Paninya.” 10-to-1 this is the unique character from before. Townsfolk say she’s a pickpocket that targets tourists, they might know where she is. If they could just have another look at the automail? Hey, back off with that wrench, buddy! One angry Ed later and we’ve been pointed to an automail shop run by Dominic. Team Alchemist are now staggering through the mountains, since Dominic lives way outside of town to find the highest quality ore. More sniping between the two blondes, Al just walks behind them. One plus for being a Soulbound armor; you don’t have to worry about the heat! Pity about all the drawbacks… Oh hey, Al just spotted someone! And yup it’s the girl from the crowd earlier, running across a wooden bridge with the watch in her hand. Ed goes into full-on Toph Mode, Earthbending huge stone pillars to run down as he charges at the pickpocket, who quite reasonably turns and runs from the angry Alchemist. After a little bit, Ed catches up and forms a stone wall to block Paninya, who just says “That was awesome!” and asks how he did that. Well, props for keeping your composure, lady, but maybe give the guy his property back? You were pretty agile but- Huh, ok then. Paninya is quite a bit more agile than I was expecting, she’s dodging Ed’s Stone Hands with ease and practically laughing about all it. Oh, but she just ran into Al, who’s caught her in a TC. Pickpocket, meet Birdcage. Now that she’s caught, Ed demands his wa- hello! Paninya just sliced the cage open with… ooh! Paninya: “Come on, you can’t be too surprised. You’ve seen the town, haven’t you?” Pickpocket’s got robo-legs! Right leg’s got a blade… and Lefty’s got a cannon, a freaking one point five inch cannon. That’s some serious firepower! How does a pickpocket have this level of armament? With the Elrics recovering from the blast, Paninya’s off again… only to get grabbed by Winry. Who’s not letting her go until she gets to see the automail. Yep, pickpocket’s not going anywhere. Then a couple looks out of a house they’ve ended up at, recognize Paninya and ask if she’s got some friends over. Going out on a limb here and guessing Paninya’s adopted by these folks. Inside, Winry is geeking out over Paninya’s legs to the point of creepiness, no way Ed’s getting anything about his stolen watch until this blows over. Winry compliments Dominic on the craftsmanship… but he didn’t make them? Ah, so Glasses-Guy is not-Dominic (apprentice? son?), Dominic is a gravely-voiced old man. Who might be the one related to Paninya? Going out on a limb here. Now Dominic’s giving Ed an examination? When did we get to this? Anyways Dominic’s critiquing the work, saying it’s a bit heavy. And might have stunted Ed’s growth? Cue mental image of freakishly-tall Ed. While he’s lost in flights of fancy, Winry begs Dominic to become his apprentice. Uh, don’t you have a business to run with your grandmother? Moot point anyway, Dominic shuts her down instantly. Not the most personable of people, is he?

And confirmation that Glasses-Boy (still don’t have a name yet) is Dominic Jr. Still reeling from being called little by the old man, Ed is getting dragged down a hallway by Al when they run across Mrs. Dominic Jr., who is quite pregnant. This is followed by a sweet scene where she lets the Elrics touch her tummy, Ed feeling the baby’s heartbeat. A sweet scene… but Mrs. DJ winces? Is she ok? Winry and Paninya are chatting now, the pickpocket rubbing her rain-aggravated stumps. Storytime? I’ve noted that she’s wearing camo, betting there’s military in her background. Or not, it was a train accident that took both her parents and her legs. Couldn’t walk, nowhere to go… and then she met Mr. Dominic. *Flashback of homeless Young Paninya in an alley* *slightly Younger Dominic walks by, sees her* [Younger Dominic]: “You look like the most miserable, pathetic girl in the entire world. Nothing annoys me more than mopers like you.” And then he just picks her up and carries her home. Gotta admit, I don’t think this particular adoption story is going to win any charity awards. [Paninya]: “So, without anyone ever asking my opinion, I was outfitted with automail legs.” What seriously? Dominic, ease off with the tough love there buddy. But after surgery and rehabilitation, Paninya was up and walking again. So now she’s sworn to pay him back, regardless of the fact that he refuses any money. Maybe it’s because you keep stealing it? Winry has the same complaint that I did, chiding her for using Dominic’s gift to steal rather than work honestly. Paninya… agrees rather suspiciously quickly. I don’t wanna come across as paranoid, but you might check your pockets there Winry. Oh right, you’re a girl, so your clothes don’t have any pockets. My bad. But if Paninya’s really being honest, she’s going to start by giving Ed his watch back. A quick check to make sure it’s alright- but it’s not opening? Winry says it’s sealed by Alchemy, and she can guess why: Something’s inside that he’s embarrassed to let anyone see! Time to break out the tools! Some lockpicking later, and it’s open. But all that’s inside is a scratched note: “Don’t forget. October 3rd ‘11” Ah. Based on how quiet Winry just got I’m guessing it’s the date of either their Mom’s death, or the failed Human Transmutation. Winry gives it back to Paninya to return, and declares that she’s going to ask Dominic again to be his apprentice. Winry’s knocking on a door when Ed rushes up in a panic, babbling. Three guesses what’s got him so riled up, and the first two don’t count. [Panicked!Ed]: “The baby’s coming! The baby’s coming!” Thunder and Lightning as Dominic dons a raincoat, they can’t get her to town in the weather so he’s going to fetch the doctor. Mrs. DJ’s in bed with [Ridel] (finally got his name!) beside her, asking her to hold on. [Satera] (finally got her name too!) deadpans that there’s no holding on in this case. Cue Mass Bystander Panic as the baby decides it’s tired of waiting, it’s on the way now.

All the guys are predictably useless in their panic until Winry steps up saying that they’ll do it. Ed darling, stop being clueless, what do you think Winry is talking about other than delivering the baby? Of course no-one’s got any experience or knowledge about this, so they’ll all have to work together. Elrics are off to get boiling water, Paninya to get towels, and Ridel to get disinfectant. Ridel asks the Elrics if Winry can do this, he says that she came from a family of doctors and grew up reading medical textbooks. Ok, so they’ve got some knowledge, like Ridel says it’s not quite a medical degree but there’s some groundwork here. In the room Winry’s going over the list. And unfortunately there’s something else, but she can’t remember it. Ed and Al are left standing outside the room after Paninya’s called in to help, Ed bemoans that when it really counts he can’t do anything. Then they’re sent [*Cowering*] behind some chairs as Satera starts yelling. Don’t suppose there are any painkillers in this setting? Now Ed remarks that sure, the Brothers aren’t big believers in God, but maybe he could help them this once? Sorry boys, I don’t think Leto’s feeling too charitable to you right now. Suddenly the door bursts open, Paninya comes out mumbling about the blood. Oh. Oh no. Please don’t. Ed rushes in to see Winry looking shocked. She points To the small squalling infant in Satera’s arms oh my LETO show don’t scare me like that! Ed gushes about how awesome this all is, how they’re witnessing something that Alchemists have failed to accomplish for centuries (Al swaying around in the background as the baby is cleaned is adorable). Winry chides him for lumping the miracle of birth in with alchemy, Ed defends that it’s just how he thinks as an Alchemist. [Ed]: “Besides, whatever you say, it really is awesome. People are awesome.” Aw, that’s sweet. Now, if Ed could help Winry up? She kinda can’t stand right now. A beautiful shipping moment as Ed is giving Winry a piggyback ride to the chairs in the hallway, them snarking at each other all the while. Daw. But then Winry says she saw it. Uh oh. Winry just admitted to seeing the inside of the watch, Ed just dropped her. Quietly asks that she forced it open. Well yeah, I can understand Ed being angry about this. And Winry knows she did wrong, apologizes. Ed sighs and helps her back up, they take their seats. [Ed]: “I haven’t shown that to anybody. Not even Al.” He says it’s private, an admonition to himself. He carries it as a reminder. Really, Ed? You have to ask why Winry is crying right now? It’s because she cares about you, dolt. Flashback to the Elrics burning down their house, so there’s no turning back (y’know, besides living with the Rockbell’s. Also, in the burning house there was a family picture with a noticeable absence. Where the heck are you, Papa Elric?) And even back then Winry cried, and Clueless Ed had to ask why she was doing that. [Winry]: “You two won’t cry. Someone else should do it for you, don’t you think?” [Ed]: “Don’t be an idiot.” Winry reaffirms that she’s not leaving. How can she, when her skills aren’t up to her satisfaction? She’ll keep learning, to make Ed the best automail she can so he’s as strong as he can be. Once more, she’ll ask Dominic to be his apprentice. Oh hey Paninya! By the way… WATCH! NOW! Dominic’s back! And wow, [Mushy] is the only way to describe how his personality’s gone 180 and he’s fawning over his new grandkid. Up until he scowls at the Elrics for commenting on that. Hey. Hey Winry. You’ve got some major brownie points with the old man right now. Go ahead and ask to be his apprentice. But apparently “one has nothing to do with the other”. He flat-out won’t take an apprentice. Buuuuuut he will recommend her to an accomplished engineer further down the mountain (methinks a recommendation from the guy NPCs in a town devoted to automail called skilled will go a long way). And he’s not going to stop Winry from coming once in a while, to “see my grandchild”. I think Paninya has picked up on Dominic’s oh-so-subtle approval. Now back at the train station, Ed and Al are hurrying to catch it and run by a couple of wanted posters (hi Scar!). Don’t want to miss the only train for three days! Winry, call your Granny! And learn stuff to make even cooler automail next time Ed sees you! And with that, they’re gone. But Winry knows that they’ll be back.

[punkscowardschampions]

Ava & Grace

Ava: Hey Grace: 👋 Ava: How'd it go with gym boy? Grace: 🤞 he's got the hint 👻 Ava: That good, huh Ava: how about the rest, you know, not boys? Grace: we so aren't here to talk about me Ava: Come on Ava: Give me some normal conversation right now Grace: !!!!!!!!! Grace: 100% not gonna be that bitch, talk to ME about what's going on in your oh so dramatic life! Grace: are you okay? Ava: Okay, okay Ava: I'll just come out with it Ava: no sugarcoating Grace: Duh 🚫🍫🍬🍭 Grace: it's not a cheat day Ava: 🤫🤫🤫 Ava: You wanna hear this hot, hot tea or nah Grace: obvs Ava: You'll be the least surprised so there's that Grace: 🚫😱😱😱 Ava: You know when you came here and then married guy couldn't come and then everything fizzled out? Ava: well, it actually did, for nearly a month Ava: but then he came back Grace: OMG Grace: it's literally the MOST 💖📽🎞 like FORGET before Ava: It really was Ava: remember when I got hit by that cyclist? Grace: that was so wild! OH was he the 🚴??? Ava: 😂 Ava: Imagine Grace: your otp Ava: But no, my parents were out of town Ava: and he came to the hospital, to make sure I was okay Ava: and he took me home and looked after me Grace: I'm like about to cry???!!! that's so Grace: 😍😍 Ava: Me too Ava: and of course, I had to go on Holiday like immediately after so that was shit but since then we've been talking and Ava: he's divorcing his wife Grace: I TOLD YOU HE WAS PURE Ava: I know Ava: and I'm sorry I had to kinda lie to you Ava: but I accidentally let slip I had talked to you and he freaked and that's why he first left so Grace: Oh please, if I filmed a storytime about this ALL the comments would be calling me out as #fake Grace: I get it Ava: It does sound pretty unbelievable Ava: even more so if I actually tell you who he is Grace: are you GOING TO???!! 😱😱😱 Ava: May as well, I've had to tell Nancy Ava: Parents and Buster to go Grace: Ugh! so sorry babes Ava: I couldn't tell you before 'cos they kinda know him Ava: knew him Ava: he was one of Buster's friends from School Ava: and his crazy wife is the main girl who bullied Nancy so Ava: that was fun Grace: Really?! wtf Grace: Chelsea is like Grace: so weirdly small Ava: That's why we call 'em villages, even though you're in a big city, the actual communities are ridiculously close-knit, for better and worse Ava: oh and Ava: make it weirder still Ava: you remember that boy from my party, Teddy? Grace: UM obvs I never forget a 💋 Ava: Well, that's his brother Grace: !!!!!!!!!!!!! Grace: do they look alike cos 🧸 is 😍😍 like 🙏🙏 Ava: Kinda Ava: [sends a cute photo he would've been able to send to the fake profile] Grace: oh Grace: my Grace: god Ava: I know Ava: 😩😍 Grace: did he edit his 👀??! I'm so shook 💙 Ava: No, I've seen them up close Ava: they're actually that unreal Grace: I can't even Ava: Guess what Grace: ?? Ava: He said he loves me Grace: NO WAY Grace: 😭😭😭😭 Ava: I know, I know Ava: I can't even Grace: so are you like a thing™ now? Ava: Yeah Ava: that's why I'm telling everyone Grace: Your parents are gonna be so Ava: Ugh Ava: it's going to be a whole thing Ava: with all of them Grace: mhhmmm Grace: like I feel like I know the answer but how did Nancy take it?? Ava: She just Ava: does my head in at the best of times and this was no exception, sadly Grace: at least Buster can't be telling ANYONE how to live their lives Grace: especially 😍💖 Ava: Watch him try though Ava: I'm expecting it though, they'll have to get over it on their own time Grace: 🙄 Grace: I feel that, Ri always thinks she can tell me something Ava: It's so Grace: IKR Grace: full offense babes I'm gonna listen to Janis before you & like no Ava: It's gonna be hellish but they can't do anything about it Grace: 🙏💜🤞 Ava: unless they do in which case bye and feel free to go through my wardrobe 🤷 Grace: duh Grace: but watch me also take your man Ava: 😏 cheek Grace: my crazy would look 😇 next to his ex's Grace: love that for me Ava: 'Til I haunt you crazier Grace: so scared obvs Ava: 😒 Ava: I only just got him, you can't be stealing him Grace: so sorry but like gotta get the full set on that fam now Ava: You better 🙏 my parents take it that personal Grace: 😇🙏💜 Grace: Jesus is totally my bae so Ava: and God's favourite son Ava: leave mine alone 😉 Grace: 😂😂 Ava: So you're not mad at me now, yeah? Grace: lowkey 💔 but not mad Ava: awh please Grace: ILY bitch you know it Ava: ily too 💙 Grace: & now I don't have to 👻💔 his brother so Grace: no way he'll be hitting me up after this Ava: Oh yeah, you're welcome for doing your dirtywork Grace: 💜😂💜 Ava: Has he hit you up then? 👀 Grace: 🤐🤐🤐 Ava: After I just poured my heart out? Ava: Rudeness Grace: you're in a 📽🎞💖 I'm in a 📽🎞😱 starring my crazy Ava: Girl, please Grace: I'm so serious Grace: & so over it Ava: You're not crazy Grace: I'm not not Grace: ask gym boy, but like don't Ava: I'm not gonna sleuth on you, don't worry Grace: if you had you'd see 🧸 on my pics hitting the 💜 Ava: Cute Ava: he must like you or he'd air you Ava: it's not unheard of Grace: like I said, thanks for putting that work in for me babes Ava: 😒 why not talk to him Ava: you don't have to see him 24/7 Grace: well duh I'm not about to move in with you Grace: but that's not why I can't Ava: ? Grace: he's like Grace: & I'm like Grace: It's not gonna be a thing Ava: You can't be friends? Grace: 😂😂 no Grace: that's as terrifying OMG Ava: 🙄 he is NOT scary Ava: though he is gonna hate me now probably so loyalties Grace: UM yeah he is Grace: he's nice & so I'm scared of him Grace: @ gym boy too Ava: 🤔 Grace: ugh whatever Ava: You're a nice person, you should hang with other nice people Grace: 🙄🙄 Grace: I've got friends he doesn't need to be one Ava: Okay Ava: not my otp, not gonna push that hard Grace: or ours its fine Grace: he won't be 😭😭😭 Ava: 'Course Ava: gonna have bigger problems to deal with, lbr Ava: 😬 Grace: yeah exactly Grace: maybe we can bond when the wife murders you but like Grace: black isn't my fave tbh can't 🤞 I'll serve my best look Ava: Funny 😏 Ava: she's actually 'out of the country' rn so you should probably watch your back 🔪🔪 Grace: you're so not gonna come visit me now you're 😍😍😍 are you? Grace: are you even doing holiday 2? Ava: time is getting away from us Ava: summer holiday standard Ava: it lowkey has not been organized so god knows now, I wouldn't be mad if it didn't but I wouldn't not go, I guess Grace: depends how they take your homewrecker status Ava: Yep, cheers 👍 Grace: people are shady Ava: Sure Ava: but my actual friend friends will know what's up Ava: everyone else chats about us anyway Grace: true Grace: shoutout to the fam for that one Ava: at least this one is something I actually did so Ava: oh well Grace: anyone who has a clue about his ex will know it's not even you Grace: like sorry hun you killed that 💍 yourself Ava: I'm not too fussed, it's my last year 💁 Grace: #priorities Ava: Exactly Grace: still so triggered by the idea of going back though thanks Grace: school is the WORST Ava: tell me about it Ava: won't miss that place Ava: Chelsea in general moreso but it isn't like I'll be a million miles away Grace: unlike me always a ✈ away Ava: Do you reckon you'll stay in Dublin? Grace: I guess Grace: where else would I go? Ava: You aren't going to make like Billie and Nancy and bounce then? Grace: being a or sleeping with models isn't very likely for me, babes Ava: Models are usually weird looking anyways Ava: oops accidental shade at your sister 🙊 Ava: don't tell Grace: thanks? I think Grace: shade her all you want, I'm about it Ava: How many times have you seen her kid? Grace: Like none Grace: we might get christmas but Ava: this family is messy Ava: watch me get lectured like it ain't Grace: preach Grace: maybe I shouldn't stay here Ava: you could stay or go wherever Ava: everywhere needs beauticians Grace: not Chelsea though, I'd run into your boyfriend's wife Grace: obvs can't escape anyone there Ava: 😂 truly Ava: I don't wanna be far away from the fam Ava: cracked as they are Ava: but that's just me Ava: I guess it isn't automatically selfish to move yourself halfway 'cross the globe hmm Grace: same though, I even miss Junie & like ?? why Grace: never saw him when we lived in the same house Ava: yeah Ava: that whole situation still fucks me off I Ava: idk Ava: I know it's not the kid's fault but I can barely even look at pictures of her Grace: Ri never should've done it Grace: like he didn't need a kid that bad Grace: obvs he didn't actually need one at all but nobody NEEDS one Ava: If they'd been together any amount of time Ava: Junior wasn't 20 fucking years old Ava: it was really stupid Ava: Buster said but oh well Grace: Demi is so Grace: I can't Ava: This family can't seem to help but add more fucked up people into its sphere Ava: like Ro hadn't just brought Drew back, AGAIN Grace: Getting pregnant by accident is one thing, like it's stupid but okay Grace: they planned that Ava: This family has way too many baby hangups dating back to nan Ava: can't blame her for all of this but break the cycle, someone, damn Grace: literally had my contraception on 🔒 since I was 13 thank you Ava: 'Accident' is some bullshit 9/10 times tbh Ava: you knew it was a matter of time, even if you don't know you knew it Grace: @ my mum & dad so hard Ava: and mine, they say the twins were an accident but they probably would've broke up if they hadn't have had them at that time so Grace: mhmmm Ava: ugh Ava: I'm just heated knowing how hard I'm gonna have to defend this Ava: like I've got myself pregnant Grace: don't even joke, she trapped that poor boy so hard like Ava: seriously, he probably never wants kids again Ava: not that I've asked because it's been like a month or so and I'm not psychotic, thanks Grace: do you? not now obvs Ava: I don't know Ava: like, don't tell my mother but I don't actually meticulously plan every aspect of my life Ava: if I ended up at a place and time in my life where it felt right, I could see it Ava: but if I ended up living a different life where they wouldn't fit, I wouldn't and I wouldn't be 💔 about that Grace: 😂🤐 Ava: Do you? Grace: girl, I'm too freaked out to let a boy date me, I don't think it's gonna happen Ava: you won't be 16 forever Ava: and if Ro can manage it Ava: your mum and Drew are probably the only people to see her vaguely undressed in her life Grace: idk sometimes it's all I want & sometimes it's the WORST thing I could think of Ava: I get that Ava: I don't think its a thing you can overthink, 'cos it's not usually right or wrong Ava: so people just do it and have to deal, better or worse Grace: Yeah Grace: maybe I'll get like that with dating Grace: or you know, get so lonely that I won't care that people always leave Ava: 😔 Ava: You'll get there, whether there is living your best life with or without Ava: I'm defs getting left after this fiasco so I'll come 😭 to you in a few no doubt Ava: we're walking Frank rn, so gonna enjoy this whilst it lasts 👌🥰 Grace: UM no! He LOVES you remember, you'll come at me with your 😍 more like Ava: 🤞🤞 Grace: 🙏💜

[breg21]

Ladynoir Month: Patrol

@ladynoirjuly2019

Ao3 FFN

I love Ladynoir! It’s so cute and innocent. Hope you guys enjoy!

Patrols were honestly Chats' favorite time of the day— or night, in their case— it was a time to spend with his bugaboo, and that was something he'd always cherish.

Tonight, he was already seated on the tower, waiting for her arrival. Usually, she was the first one to get to they're chosen spot, but it seemed today that he beat her there, which was okay, really, because after all that had happened in the last week, and what the week had brought, he needed to clear his thoughts.

Ladybug… Ladybug was starting to return his feelings. They weren't together, no, but it was something. She was working everything out in her head, and there was a possibility that one day they could actually be together. It was a crazy thought, one he had honestly started to lose hope in.

But then, something just broke, and now everything was changing. And he was ready for whatever this change was bringing.

"Hey, Chaton. Looks like you beat me for once. Ready for patrol?"

He whipped around at the familiar voice and was startled to see Ladybug standing there, hands on her hips as she looked at him with that usual, beautiful smile that he had grown to love so much over the past several months. "Ready when you are, bugaboo."

She smiled, and took out her yo-yo.

But before she could set off, he grabbed her wrist, pausing her actions. She looked back in confusion at his bold move. "Ladybug, do… do you think we could hang out after you've cleared your head more? Now, I don't expect you and I to date right away, and I.. I wanna get to know you, actually get to know you. Masks on at all times obviously, but if you're willing."

She smiled, the tension that had bunched in her shoulders falling in ease. "I'd like that, kitty. Meet back here after we've done our sweep of the city?"

He felt his mouth drop, and he wasn't really sure how to close it. Did she really just implied what he thought she did? "Bu-but, don't you need some time to…?"

She nodded. "I do, I still need time to think about us being together. But at the moment, kitty, my heads clear enough to talk. I'm not gonna ignore you just because I need to know where my heart is. And besides…" She paused, digging the tip of her boot to the metal of the tower. "I saw how much the guy, the other guy, really likes the other girl. And I think it helped, at least to the point where I'm not a fumbling mess in my head for the time being."

His heartbeat picked up and he gulped. "Does that… does that mean?"

She shook her head as a smile made its way onto her face at his eagerness. "I'm not ready, yet. I just… I saw how happy he was, and I'm happy for him. It made me realize that it's okay for me to move on, to let another boy in." She shot him a wink, "He'll always be engraved in my heart. I can't change that, nor do I want to. I'm still trying to figure out everything in my head, but things haven't been such a chaotic mess since then. I'm more relaxed and ready to take on whatever may come."

He smiled, daring to move in for a hug, and at her nod of approval, did so, pressing her soft frame against him and just holding her for all that he could. She was so warm, and inviting, and made every little worry he had in life just wash away. He was drowning in her and he wasn't sure if air was a thing he really wanted at the moment if it meant had to let her go.

He breathed in the scent of sweet sweet vanilla that had been soaked into her hair. Which caused him to wonder, did her shampoo make here hair smell like this, was she around the smell so much in her civilian life it got rubbed off on her?

So many questions, and few answers.

He hoped one day, she'd share those answers with him.

But for now, he reveled in this. Being secured in her arms and being invincible. Because that was what he was with her. Invincible and unbreakable.

He knew, however, for anything to work, he had to also be vulnerable with her, too. To show her the side of him that held insecurities, doubts, and fears about life. Because Chat wasn't him, he was a part of him— and there was so much more to him that she didn't fully know yet.

It was a scary thought, shedding his skin so that she could see him, but she was worth it. He knew how guarded she had been with her heart in the first place, he knew to be thankful that he had what he did, he vowed not to screw it up.

"Thank you." He said as they pulled apart. As her gloved finger glided under his eyes, he hadn't realized that he had been crying.

Her smile was more than the stars, more than the sun. They couldn't provide half the warmth that her lips could. "Anytime, kitty." She pushed herself away and rushed to the edge of the tower. "Last one who finishes patrol has to deal with the press next." And jumped off into the night without a warning.

"Hey!" He shouted. "That's not fair. You got a head start."

Her beautiful laughter rung clearly throughout the sleepy city.

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

Two weeks later and Chat was exhausted.

His father had decided that he, apparently, needed more things to do. He had four photoshoots, two charity events, and fittings to go to. Add that to the homework that was piled on top of all that, and he felt burnt out.

Which was why he was late to patrol.

Two hours late, to be exact.

Ladybug had not been happy when he finally made it. The look of worry would be forever engrained in his brain as she paced back and forth, yelling and frailing her arms around her. She told him how she called a billion and one times, and texted him twice that.

When she finally calmed and her ten minute rant ended in an angry huff, he strode over to her, engulfing the little bug into his arms. "I'm sorry that I worried you like that. I should've woken up in time for patrol."

She sighed into his shoulder and he felt her entire body breathe. "No, I shouldn't of overreacted. You have a life outside of being a superhero and seeing me."

A life I want you to share with me.

He would never say that out loud though. "Bugaboo, it's okay. I understand."

"Doesn't make it right though."

He shook his head. "Still. You were worried. I've been there before. I know what that's like, I understand what that's like. Trust me."

Her lips fell into a weary frown as she took a small step forward to examine him. His lungs constricted in his chest as she lifted her hands and cradled his face for a few seconds, eyes on him intensely before she spoke in a whisper. "You're tired."

He shrugged. "Long week. Nothing to worry over."

Her tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth. "I'm gonna worry about you, Chat. Even when I don't always show it. C'mon, we can skip patrol for this night. Let's relax and just talk. Please?"

He could never tell her no, he would give her the sky if she wanted it— especially when she pouted with those deep blue eyes that made the ocean look shallow. He relented with ease. "Okay, what do you have planned?"

She simply moved away and took a seat on the metal beam and patted the spot next to her. "Storytime?"

He nodded eagerly. Storytime was something between them that they had deemed okay. Rules were: Very few others could know about the secret story— that way, they wouldn't hear the story from a possible mutual friend that they could have and have their identity be spilled.

Rule two: The younger, the better. It was best to tell story from their childhood, rather than when older, because again, identities.

And rule three: They never spoke about the stories in public to their friends.

When he took a seat next to her, he was flabbergasted when she patted her thighs, an invite to rest his head on, and upon seeing his expression, she said, "Just this once, kitty. You looked drained. You need to actually rest."

He scoffed. "I'm not a trained house ca- actually, ya know. Never mind."

She smirked. "That's what I thought."

When he settled into her lap, making sure not to get too comfortable, as her thighs pillowed his head, he couldn't stop the pur that started as she began to play with his hair. It was just so relaxing, and he actually forgot what it felt like when someone played with his hair.

Chat's eyes went out onto the beauty of the city before them and he was reminded of the freedom he got with this, with her. As she brushed her fingers through his hair— although, he knew it was only temporary while she still came to terms with everything— it was something he knew to cherish while he had it.

The only person that had ever done that was his mother and it had been so long, he actually forgot what it felt like.

He definitely missed it.

"So." Her tone was light, the usual way before she started an embarrassing story, and his cat ears twitched at the thought. "You know how you want to date me? Well, I have a story for you." Her laugh was dry, self deprecating, almost. "Something you should probably know, definitely way before we even start to seriously think about it. Just so you know I have been known to have… stalker like tendencies."

He chuckled. "Okay. Go for it. I'm all ears."

She coughed a few times before she started. "And, only my best friend knows about this, so we're safe as far as people talking about it, because she knows not to." He heard her inhale before starting, "Well, you see— and to preface this, I'm sorry, it's about the other guy, but you need to know— I'm usually very nervous around my crushes-"

"Good to know where I still lay in your heart."

She slapped his arm slightly. "Shush, my feelings for you started after we became friends, I've been crushing on this guy before. Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted." He snorted. "I couldn't form my words around the guy, you know, stuttered, tripped over my feet— that kind of thing."

He nodded to show he was actively listening to her.

He couldn't see her, but knew she was smiling. "One day, my kwami decided that I should try to ask my crush on a date. I got his number from my best friend, and called him up. I got to his voicemail, and told him to call me back very rapidly, and thought I hung up, and tossed it to another part of the room."

Chat couldn't help but burst out laughing from that. He could just picture her throwing her phone off like it burned her hand. It was actually really cute.

"Anyways," She stressed. "I thought it was off, and my best friend asked me why I left the voicemail that I did and I go 'What was I supposed to say? Hey, hot stuff, this is— my civilian name— I wanted to ask you to the movies this Saturday, but I have such a crazy crush on you that the only way I can talk to you, is over this stupid phone. Pretty ridiculous, right?'"

He almost rolled off of her, as laughter seized him from head to toe. "You-hot stuff? What-what in the world? Why!?" At this point, he was grabbing at his stomach, ignoring her scowl, and trying to get the air back into his lungs.

She growled. "And that's not even the worse part."

He did his best to regain his composure. "What'd you do? Steal his phone and delete the voicemail?"

Her sheepish grin was all that he needed. "Oh, m'lady. You didn't."

"I didn't mean to steal it." She explained hastily. "I just… I couldn't let him hear that. It was terrifying."

He smirked, feeling his energy slowly trickle back into place as he leaned in. "See? I knew you were a thief!" He poked her in the ribs.

She sputtered for a moment at the close proximity before she put on her Ladybug face and narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, really? And since when have you ever accused me of being a thief."

"Simple." His smile turned lovestruck. "When you stole my heart."

Her eyebrows twitched in a well held rage. "I will throw you off this tower."

He inhaled dramatically. "First you steal my heart and now you threaten to break it. Is there no end to your villainous ways."

She jumped up as he bolted away. "That's it, kitty, you just spent one of your nine lives!"

From the streets below the elder walked out of his shop, looking up to see the silhouettes dance between the rooftops. "There really is nothing quite like young love, Wayzz."

Thank you for all the support you guys. I don't think I'll ever be able to tell you how much it means to me.