#anyways. I also know this fic will get like. 5 reads when I’m done with it but I also gotta do my part and contribute to zirk nation 🫡

[white-weasel]

Writing something about Zirk. Meant for it to just be a quick “Fia and Henry find out about Zirk’s deal with the fairy.” I have instead written 2k and we’re just getting to the part where Fia comes in and is going to start the conversation

[spencer-sweets]

9-1-1 Fic Recs | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz

[Part 1] [Part 2]

so i am back in the trenches of this ship once again. praying for it to go canon in the next couple of seasons but i am surviving on the crumbs. i made a post before with some old recs but these are ones i have read recently.

[this rec list is incomplete and will be updated as I find more fics I enjoy - last update 4/9/25]

Bobby Versus Buddie by songbvrd (ao3) Mature 10,391 Eddie huffed out a breath. “I’m having a crisis.” And Bobby, he wasn’t proud of it, but the word ‘finally’ was flashing in front of his eyes in giant, neon yellow letters, because surely, surely this meant that he’d figured it out. Finally, at long last, Eddie was having the crisis they’d all been waiting for since he’d started a thousand emergencies earlier. Bobby waited, silent and hopeful, relieved that they’d finally gotten there. “I think I’m homophobic.” Bobby blinked at him. “I’m sorry?” OR - Five times Bobby tried to gently hold Buddie's hands and tell them they were in love, and one time they got the picture.

a cute 5+1 with bobby being done with eddie and buck. got to love the bobby and buck dynamic too.

What’s Your Love Language? by songbvrd (ao3) 18 332 “Which do you think makes you feel most loved?” Eddie thought for a long moment. Too long, maybe. Then he shrugged, “Honestly, Buck? I have no idea.” Buck’s brows pinched up. “What do you mean? When have you felt the most loved?” “Don’t make a big thing of this, Buck. Promise?” Buck made a show of crossing his heart, brows still raised curiously. “I’m not sure I’ve ever… really felt loved in a relationship? I’m not convinced that I know what makes me feel loved…” OR - After finding out that Eddie doesn't know what his love language is, Buck sets about finding out for him. He begins a five week experiment, one for each love language, to figure out which will make Eddie feel the most loved.

another great fluffy fic with some slight emotional infidelity. set in season 7 and buck decides he needs to learn how to best love eddie. spoiler: he was already doing just fine.

50 Cheeky Texts by songbvrd (ao3) 20.999 Bucklecup: I really like your moustache. it’s very girthy. really solid. Eddito: girthy????????????? Eddito: did you just text me at 7pm on a wednesday evening to tell me my moustache is GIRTHY???? Bucklecup: honestly, i’m kinda surprised you haven’t blocked me yet, eds OR - Buck gets drunk-dared to send Eddie one cheeky text every day for 50 days. Eddie loses his mind. TW for the cringiest pickup lines in existence.

awwww. tho i should warn you there is some emotional infidelity going on here but it wasn't bad enough to turn me off of the fic but i thought i'd warn yall. anyways absolutely beautiful fic that made me laugh. also love the author. unintentionally bookmarked this back to back with their prev on this list haha.

know it's for the better by hyruling for fallingthorns (ao3) Explicit 24 931 “I love you, you know.” Buck smiles, and it’s Eddie’s favorite - the one that seems to light him up from within, beautiful and too bright to look at directly for long. “Of course I know that, Eddie,” Buck replies, easy as breathing, but Eddie shakes his head. --- Or: Eddie confesses. Buck doesn't love him back, but it doesn't matter. He'll keep telling him anyway.

oblivious buck and a pining eddie. eddie confesses and buck kind of shuts down mentally over it but eddie just keeps loving him. set in season 7.

Hen Wilson's Four Part Guide To Making Your Stupid Friends Date by songbvrd (ao3) 25 010 “Okay, I know we kind of all had an unspoken rule not to talk about it, but…” “Buck and Eddie are being weird as hell?” Chim asked, sucking in a breath like he'd been holding back from letting the same thought out for far too long. “Yes!” Hen hissed, relieved that she wasn't the only to see the weirdness in the room. “Now, look, they're my friends and so obviously I want them to be happy, but it's also just throwing the team vibe way off.” Bobby took a long, tired breath. “Okay. So what did you have in mind?” Several things, as it turned out. Between them, they managed to come up with the very vague outline of a plan. Or a few plans, really, depending on how many failed. OR - When Buck and Eddie aren't speaking, Hen decides to take matters into her own hands.

i feel like i should be a little bit more ashamed at putting so many fics by songbvrd on this list but... they're sooo good. always coming in clutch for some interesting plot in a medium length fic. this one is no exception to that trend - loved hen in this one and i love miscommunication and outsider POV.

Eddie vs Romance by allyasavedtheday (restricted) (ao3) 27 889 “You wanna talk about it?” Buck asks after a beat. He doesn’t drink his beer. Eddie doesn’t either. It’s a crutch, mostly. A pretence, so that if the conversation gets too deep, too fast they can blame it on the alcohol. Eddie appreciates it. As he thinks about Buck’s question he wonders where to start. He’s told Buck some of it, the important parts, but not- not what compelled him to do any of it in the first place. In the end, he can only think of one thing. Swallowing around the lump clogging his throat, he says, “I don’t think I know how to be in love anymore.” - “I think Eddie’s in love with me.” She gapes at him, mouth working for a response that doesn’t come until Chimney beats her to it. “Eddie’s what?” Maddie claps her mouth shut, stepping aside to let Buck through. Chimney’s on the floor in the living room with Jee playing with her tea set. “You’re not involved in this conversation,” Buck says, pointing at him. “It’s your fault in the first place for even putting the idea in my head.” Maddie apparently finally finds her voice, appearing at Buck’s side and looking between them. “I’m sorry, what? How did Chim put the idea in your head?” “Him and Hen!” Buck exclaims, waving a hand. “They told me I should pay attention to how much Eddie wants to be around me.” “And you took that to mean he’s in love with you?” Chimney asks incredulously. * In which Buck has a clipboard and a list and is about to romance the hell out of Eddie Diaz.

a short series of two fics that explore eddie realizing he is in love with buck, buck realizing eddie is in love with him and then them getting together. really cute and an amazing take on eddie's relationship to shannon.

I’m Bringing You With Me by CourtepointeClementine, sunlight (ao3) 30 997 Eddie props his chin up on his hand to stare at Buck in the dark. The mattress makes an ungodly squeaking noise from even this small movement. Maybe sneaking out wouldn’t actually be that easy. Eddie reaches across him and squeezes Buck’s shoulder. Buck looks over at him. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Eddie says. “I took the couch,” Buck blurts out. Eddie’s hand stills where it was still gently squeezing Buck’s shoulder. “What?” “Ugh.” He dislodges Eddie’s hand and pulls the duvet up over his own face. “Why?” Buck uses the duvet cover to absorb the lone tear that is trickling down to his ear. “It looked lonely. On the curb.” On Eddie’s last night in LA, Buck does something a little crazy. While Eddie’s in El Paso, he does something a little crazy. It all comes back to the couch in the end.

eddie moves to el paso and buck does not handle it well. like at all. lots of emotional hurt for buck and of course a happy ending.

it was more than a moment (it was the rest of our lives) by smilingbuckley (restricted) (ao3) Mature 36 161 At work, Eddie gets the shocking news that his parents are suing him for custody of Christopher. His lawyer, falsely assuming Buck and Eddie are a couple, suggests they get married to give Eddie a stronger case. Buck gladly agrees. -- “So,” Buck speaks up when the waiter is gone. He stretches his arms above his head, making the shirt under his jacket ride up and expose a bit of his skin. Eddie can see the faint lines of a tattoo before Buck shifts and his shirt falls down again. “Are we getting married?” Eddie has to do a double take, “Excuse me, what?” “Well, Mrs. Reese said that it would be useful,” Buck says, like it’s not a big deal at all. Like marriage isn’t an official commitment, usually reserved for people in love that plan on being together for the rest of their lives. “I… Buck, it’s… good that you’re, you know, my fake boyfriend or whatever, but I can’t let you marry me for this.” “Why not?” Buck asks, “If it helps you get Christopher back.”

fake marriage turned real marriage fic. also fuck helena and ramon all my homies hate helena and ramon. eddies parents fuck up and try to take chris permanently and eddie and buck get married over it. season 8.

something touched me (like a knife-blade) by kithmet (ao3) Explicit 42,295 “I feel fucking explosive, Buck. Like I’m about to go off at any second. I don’t want you caught in my mess.” His eyes sting. At the very least, Buck contains the sound of it in his voice. “Eddie, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” he replies, “but I already am.” Eddie self-implodes. Christopher, seeking refuge, flees to Buck—whose priorities amount to, in varying order: take in the kid, get Eddie to talk to him, and keep the three of them afloat in the process. (Oh, and Tommy’s there too. He thinks.)

this was a great fic and an interesting take on chris staying with buck and eddie getting his shit together.

everything (nothing) has changed by bizarrestars (restricted) (ao3) Explicit 48 550 After Eddie gets shot, Buck confesses his love. From there, things get a little out of hand. *** Buck breathes for a moment, then sets his shoulders. "Eddie, there's something I have to tell you." "Do you?" Eddie asks flatly, still alarmed and doing his best to hide it. "I would've never guessed." Buck swallows. "Eddie, I love you." "Are you softening the blow, or buttering me up? Because, I've got to tell you, I'm still very worried regardless," Eddie tells him. "No, you don't understand. I love you. I'm currently in love with you," Buck says as evenly as possible, and even then, his voice wobbles precariously there for a moment. He exhales. "You don't have to worry about it, though, because I've processed it and decided to—to find relief in telling you before moving on and moving forward." Eddie stares at him. No response at all. Well, at least he's not freaking out.

the note left in my bookmark: "couldn't even play my video games while listening to this smh. took too much of my attention. <3"

i tend to download fics and listen to them through a epub reader and play video games but i could not keep from pausing to keep reading manually i needed to know what was next so bad. buck and eddie being stubborn and stupid and includes some of my favorite pining tropes. i love when one of them is convinced the other cannot love them so they try to fall out of love. amazing. also jealous eddie ftw.

Juxtaposition by ProstheticLoVe (ao3) Teen+ 74 552 “What kind of partner do you want?” Buck looks him straight in the eye and with no hesitation says, “One who has my back. Someone who loves me for me. All the chaos and the weirdness included. Someone who I love. Even if I have to wait for them to catch up.” He says it with such confidence, Eddie feels like his answer was lacking. Or the one where Eddie’s too busy stuck on the idea of a heteronormative family that he misses who is right in front of him and has been all along. Don’t worry, Buck’s trying to tell him.

eddie being in love with buck but being so deeply repressed is one of my fave tropes and it is pulled off excellently here.

Away From Us by Marchling (restricted) (ao3) Mature 76 165 They turned the last corner they needed to get to Buck’s loft and the floor was gone. “Firefighters evacuate. The building is collapsing.” Eddie stared incomprehensibly to the gaping drop that should have been Buck’s hall. His heart was pounding, not because he had worked so hard to get here… Because he was terrified. “Buck!” Eddie screamed as loud as he could to be heard over the flames. His hands scrambled over the walls, testing them, trying to see if he could use a ledge or a doorknob or something to get to Buck’s door. There was no answer but Eddie screamed again, “Buck! Are you here?” --- After the lawsuit Buck is doing his absolute best to try to win back his family but nothing is working and the hope is starting to hurt. He makes the the decision to resign from the 118 via letter and leave LA to start something new in Arizona. And that would've been fine except a fire burns down his entire apartment building that morning and the letter never makes it to Bobby. When Buck isn't found amongst the survivors his loved ones have to accept that he died in the fire. A presumed dead story about forgiveness, grief, second chances and falling in love.

aaahhhh presumed dead my beloved. buck is presumed dead in a fire when he decides to run after the lawsuit. eddie and the rest of the 118 have to grapple with the death of buck. loved bobby in this one and it broke me to see his grief over losing another kid.

there is no road by littleghost (ao3) Explicit 99 788 Eddie listens to the voicemail later. Buck sounds like he’s at a grocery store, absentmindedly talking into the phone. “Oh, I guess you’re with your sisters. Sorry to miss you. I just wanted to tell you about this call we had last night, but I gotta hear your reactions, so, later. Okay, uh, I guess I’ll just call back. Or text.” It ends abruptly, without a goodbye. Eddie replays it a second time, closes his eyes as he sits in the truck. For a moment, he can pretend Buck is sitting in the passenger seat next to him. For a moment, Eddie is back in Los Angeles and his best friend is dragging him through the grocery store. The voicemail ends, Eddie opens his eyes, and the fantasy breaks. Eddie is still in El Paso, parked in front of the house he’s renting, and there’s no one in the passenger seat with him.

omgggg. so im fairly sure the title is from that song from the bolt movie so points off the bat for that decision i have it stuck in my head now. a good fix it fic for season 8 where buck and eddie keep communicating through voicemails as they intentionally and unintentionally miss each others calls. great fic that has calls in it and a lot of substance. loved it.

originally posted 4/7/25

[osxmui]

‘ life can be cruel , if you’re not a dreamer . ’

summary : you start your first day at the cafe, and learn of a certain bandaged barista, unknowingly kidnap his cat, but it was somewhat worth it when he and another barista come over to the cafe the next day searching for his ‘beloved’ cat and thinks that one of your friends stole it as revenge.

AUTHORS NOTE : hai !! first chapter is done, and i had so much fun writing this. unfortunately, i did struggle at some parts, like the rent thing and had no idea what to do for the plot😭 so, let’s all just act like its a good excuse and its just for the plot !! and characters might be ooc, and unfortunately for everyone, i highkey dgaf and this is for fun so if u come in my ask box to say “omg this is so ooc!!” YES I KNOW GET OUT OF MY ASKS I KNOW anyway if u do wanna be tagged in future updates, just lmk i will gladly tag you :3

GENERAL WARNINGS : reader is afab / fem, she/her pronouns will be used when needed. cussing (obviously), sometimes i will specify outfits but you can just imagine your outfit any other time lol , college stuff, substance abuse mention in other chapters, self harm mentions at times (dazai), dazais siblings r elise and yumeno, and oda, mori his dad.. the slowest slow burn of all of the slow burns, rare sex jokes because i can not resist, and just typical dazai behavior .. also, it has been awhile since i have written like this, so i might be bad at first so. um. ignore that.. + some time skips so we can get to the good part :) tried to speed this chapter up so we can get to the better part of the fic ! anyway, have fun reading!

you had set a routine for yourself once you left the comfort of your home for college; sleep, wake up at 5am to get ready, go to class at 6:30am, study after class, go to more classes, go back to your shared apartment around 4:30pm, relax a bit until 10:45, sleep, and repeat. you were not planning on changing that at all, until your landlord decided to up your rent, and you were forced to work with your friend, chuuya, who was working at a local cafe. originally, he had been paying the rent, and you paid the bills with money your parents gave to you as a little startup, and you could not pay rent with the money, and did bills until now.

you had felt bad for him once the rent raised, especially since the rent was now almost 1,950?? you possibly couldn’t let him pay by himself! so, you got a job at the cafe he worked at with your friend group.

and, you seriously regretted that after seeing how chaotic it was..

⌢ time : 4:30 pm . ⌣

you and chuuya were walking to the cafe after class. the heels of both of your shoes clicked against the pavement of the sidewalk, the sound of your voices quietly echoed through the air of the already loudness of the campus, other students chatting away and the sound of the occasional laugh registered in your mind.

“you’ll be fine, the cafe is a really nice place. you’ll do great, i’m sure.” chuuyas voice suddenly came through, breaking the momentarily silence you two shared for a bit.

you never really worked in a cafe. a fast food place? sure. but a cafe was new, but you knew everything since your mother owned a cafe, and you sometimes came over and watched her work. but this was new, you are ACTUALLY working at one, and doing all the things you saw your mother do.

“i know i’ll do fine, it’s just new, y’know?” you reply to him, but you were grateful for his assurances either way. a small hum left him after you spoke, and you could feel him offer you a small look. “just don’t stress about it, yeah? if you need anything, i can help you.”

after alot of talking, you two had started walking out of campus grounds and walked down the sidewalk towards the cafe, and you could see the little building in the distance after a few minutes of walking.

⌢ time : 5:39 pm . ⌣

luckily, there weren’t any customers since apparently, customers rarely came in at this time unless it was game day for the college, and then the cafe was packed since it did have a tv where they could watch the game.

but that wasn’t all that important, you were just glad that you didn’t need to deal with ‘bitchy’ customers. chuuyas words, not yours.

you were in the middle of putting on your apron as your friends spoke, their voices overlapping the faint sound of music playing from the speakers.

“god, i hate those people. they constantly try to one-up us with their deals and purposefully got a bigger tv for game day. you know, one of those days, i’ll break that tv in front of them..” chuuya grumbled, his narrowed eyes focused on the cafe that was actually across the road. if it was not obvious that he hated the cafe across the street, then the look in his eyes was definitely an obvious sign.

“oh, calm down. it’s not like they do it on purpose.” higuchi spoke, rolling her eyes at his complaint while she wrote on some of the paper cups, something their cafe made them do to show that it was a welcoming spot or whatever the manger said. “oh, they definitely do it on purpose. have you seen how smug they looked when they got that tv? what bitches.” tachihara spoke up, standing next to chuuya as they both glared at the cafe across the street.

“aren’t you all being dramatic? it surely can’t be that bad.” you eventually spoke after getting your apron on and went to help higuchi, who gave a grateful look and continued. “she’s right, it’s not that bad, you’re all being dramatic.” higuchi agreed.

chuuya and tachihara glared at you and higuchi in sync, the two boys clearly judging you both. “you two have no idea what those idiots are like. even in class, they’re so bitchy. i am unfortunately cursed and have a class with the freaky bandaged one.” chuuya sighed, looking back at the cafe across the street.

you sighed, shaking your head at your best friends words. “you say that like it’s a bad thing, he might be nicer than you think.” you reply, trying to be optimistic since chuuya did have the habit of being a little dramatic with his opinions of people. “chuuyas right, the bandaged one or whatever his name is, is weird. dude looks like a mummy of sorts.” tachihara had spoken up, also looking back at the cafe.

chuuya immediately scowled once he saw some of the workers from the cafe across the street walking up to their own cafe, a few of them in a group as they started opening up their cafe.

you looked up and watched, examining the small group of people who seemed to go at the same college. there was a blonde man, a woman with dark hair that had her hair in a messy bob of sorts, a younger guy who looked to be a first year with white hair, one with brown hair and glasses, and another guy with brown hair that had bandages around him.

“what are their names?” you whisper to higuchi, not wanting to interrupt chuuya and tachiharas glaring. “hm? oh, the blonde is kunikida, the woman is yosano, the one with white hair is atsushi, the one with brown hair and glasses is ranpo, and the bandaged one that chuuya hates is dazai.” the blonde woman whispered back, to which you nodded in response.

“they seem nice, why is that they’re hated?” you ask again. you were confused, the group seemed genuinely nice, so you had no idea why most of your friends seemed to hate the cafe. “oh, chuuya got into a fight with dazai a few weeks ago and their cafe and ours seemed to have a war of sorts ever since.” she had whispered back, shrugging as she continued to write on cups.

ah, you had heard about that. chuuya had come back in the evening one night, and said he got into a fight with some ‘idiot from class that looks like hes cosplaying a mummy.’ .. you didn’t know why you didn’t realize that until now, but it made sense since chuuya had an obvious grudge.

⌢ time : 8:27 pm . ⌣

you and chuuya were now walking home after work, it had been a nice day, the cafe wasn’t that busy, and it was a good first day. now, you were walking home.

but, you stumbled upon a pretty, somewhat fluffy black cat, who seemed to be freezing in the low temperatures of the night. you were immediately going to help it as chuuya followed.

you looked back at chuuya as you sat on the pavement of the sidewalk, then at the cat and quickly took your jacket off. “what are you doing?” chuuya quickly asked as you slowly approached the cat, smiling at how the cat was snuggling up to your hand. “i’m not letting a cat freeze up in the cold. i would feel horrible if i left this poor thing in the cold.” you reply to him, slowly getting the cat to come closer.

the cat was the sweetest thing ever, you could hear small purrs come from it as you gently pet it, but you quickly wrapped it in your jacket and slowly picked it up, smiling at how it easily allowed it. the cat was obviously accustomed to humans, and trusted them easily, so it was pretty easy to pick it up.

“come on, we’re going to the store first and buying it some food until we figure out what to do with it.” you suddenly announced, already walking in the direction of the local store. chuuya sighed, already knowing he couldn’t stop you when you were determined and simply followed. “you’re insane. what are we going to do with a cat we found on the street? we can’t keep it!” he spoke, crossing his arms as he walked next to you.

“well, we’re not keeping it forever, dumbass! just until we figure out what to do with it or some missing pet poster pops up.” you remark back, a small huffy sigh left you as you continued your walk, and eventually made it to the store.

the two of you walked into the store, both of you offering polite smiles to the workers who greeted you both. you and chuuya walked to the pet aisle, and went to the shelf of cat food as you held the purring cat in your arms.

“do we get it wet food or?” chuuya whispered to you, you shrugged and just decided to go with wet food and dry food. you were sure wet food was the answer, but you wanted to be safe and not buy something the cat wouldn’t eat. “get both, just in case, y’know?”

chuuya hummed in response, grabbing a small can of wet food and a small bag of dry food before you two walked to the shelf checkout area. you watched how he scanned the items and put them into a plastic bag, and then decided to spare him of trying to find his card and offered to pay (more like forced..). “grab my card from my bag, it’s in the second pocket.” you spoke to him, smiling at the sigh he gave and went to your crossbody bag.

he went through the pockets, looking for the card in the pocket you said it would be in, and after a few moments, he eventually found it and grabbed it, and went to pay. and after a few seconds, he returned the card and closed your bag, then went to grab the plastic bag with the cat food.

after a few minutes, you two were now walking home with the cat and the cat food. you ignored the cold air biting at your hands, and you were suddenly grateful that you were wearing a warm, long sleeved shirt since you definitely didn’t want to get sick from this. but the cat definitely seemed warm.. lucky.

“what are we going to do with the cat when we go to work?” you suddenly ask chuuya, remembering that you actually had to work tomorrow and you didn’t necessarily trust a cat you picked up from the street to be alone in your house. “we can give it to koyou? she’s not busy and can watch the cat while we work.” he suggested with a shrug, knowing that his older sister, koyou, could probably help.

you nodded in agreement, knowing koyou could be trusted rather than all of your other friends. “yeah, we can go to koyous house before class, and after work, we can pick up the cat.” you agree.

⌢ time : 6:15 am . ⌣

you and chuuya were currently walking down the hallway of a familiar apartment building, walking to a door that had the number ‘629’ , the same apartment that chuuyas older sister lived in. as you held the cat with one arm, your free hand went to the door, giving a few knocks.

after a few moments, you and chuuya could hear the door lock unlocking, and the door opened to show a woman with redish hair, and was still wearing her home clothes. “oh, hello. did you two need something?” she spoke up softly, giving a polite smile, and a curious look.

you both immediately smiled back at the woman before you. “hey, koyou. we’re wondering if you can watch this cat for the day, and we’ll pick it up after work?” you ask her, seeing how she immediately nodded in agreement and you handed the cat over. “sure, i can watch it for the day. just get to all of your classes, yes?”

you mentally sighed in relief, mostly because you weren’t really expecting her to be that nice, and she seemed to be in a good mood. “thank you, koyou.” chuuya spoke before you, giving his sister a grateful smile before she nodded and closed the door with the cat in her hold.

well, at least you got that out of the way..

⌢ time : 5:08 pm . ⌣

you and all of your friends were at work, you and chuuya had arrived first, then tachihara, then higuchi. all of your other friends were busy with night classes, so they worked the morning shift, while you and the others worked the late afternoon to night shift.

anyways. you and chuuya were in the back, simply talking while chuuya got a smoke break, but then, you two heard yelling from the front. you immediately went inside while chuuya shortly followed after taking a big hit of his cigarette before putting it out, and quickly followed after you.

the moment you walked in, you were witnessing the weirdest scene ever. dazai and yosano were at the counter, talking to tachihara.

“i already told you, i didn’t see your stupid cat nor did i take it!” tachihara yelled back at dazai, who was looking at tachihara as if he killed his whole family. “bullshit, i know one of you took it as revenge!” dazai replied quickly, clearly unhappy and was certain one of you took it.

you and chuuya walked up to the counter, and chuuya crossed his arms as he interrupted. “what’s wrong now, dazai? why the hell are you yelling at my coworkers?” chuuya spoke, glaring at dazai, who focused his attention to you and chuuya as yosano sighed quietly and just watched.

“i know one of you took my cat, there’s nobody else who would steal it but you and your idiotic friends.” he easily replied to chuuya. the brunette took out a paper and waved it in chuuyas face, showing a missing poster of a fluffy, black cat. the same black cat you saved from the cold so it didn’t freeze to death.

well, fuck. you didn’t really mean to steal this guys cat, and the cat didn’t have a collar, so you just sort of assumed it was a stray.

you and chuuya immediately shared a look, before chuuya gave a cocky smile, and before you could speak and admit you had the cat, chuuya cut in and looked back at dazai. “nah, didn’t see your stupid cat anywhere. but i did see another cafe down the road take in a cat that sort of looks like that inside.” chuuya lied through his teeth, shrugging as if it was nothing.

dazai narrowed his eyes, shoving the paper back in his pocket, keeping eye contact the whole time. “osamu, if they said they didn’t take the cat, then they didn’t. no need to be this protective over it.” yosano suddenly spoke, then dazai sighed and softened, realizing he was being dramatic, but he couldn’t help it. the cat was the only thing making him survive the hell that was college.

“fine, if you say that you don’t have it, then you don’t. but if i find out that you or any of your friends stole it and you’re lying to my face, i will—” he spoke, but you quickly cut him off, and decided to just go with chuuyas lie since you two were way too deep into this now. “is it really necessary to threaten? how about this; if we ever see the cat, then we can come find it and give it to you, personally.” you had cut in with a polite smile, noticing how he looked at you, his mood changing immediately as he saw an opportunity to be playful with someone.

dazai smiled, suddenly perking up and becoming all nice. “is that so? personally? how sweet.” he replied with a hint of playfulness. chuuya immediately looked at dazai with a narrowed gaze, wondering how the fuck dazais mood changed.

you, tachihara and chuuya were both confused on how dazais mood quickly changed, how it was like he changed in a blink of an eye. first, he was all stressed and frustrated, then, he was suddenly cheerful and playful? what the fuck?

“yes, personally. now, if you and your friend don’t mind, we actually want to work.” chuuya scoffed, rolling his eyes, and dazai looked back at chuuya, seemingly calmed down and shrugged. “fine, then. enjoy your 4 customers.” he said with a mocking grin, then turned around, grabbed yosano and dragged her out the cafe.

tachihara watched the two leave the cafe in disdain, before the bell atop the door rang, signaling the door being opened and closed. “god, what a fucking mood swing that was.. jesus, that guy needs to get checked out and put on some pills.” tachihara mumbled, before going back to setting the coffee machine up.

chuuya was happily smiling once dazai and yosano left, clearly glad that dazai was finally out the shop. that was something he was grateful for. “we are not giving him back that cat until the end of the month, i must drag out his misery.” chuuya whispered to you with a happy sounding sigh, finally finding something to hold over dazai.

you sighed quietly, realizing that you couldn’t do anything since you just lied to that guys face about his cat, and was now holding the thing hostage. “we are so fucked.” you mumbled quietly under your breath.

you had no idea how you will keep your mouth shut about it, but it was too late now to go back..

small authors note : sneaking in my hc of dazai having very, very sudden mood swings hehe.. Though, i do apologize for how rushed this chapter was! just trying to get to the good part quicker ^_^ + reblogs, likes and comments are appreciated <3

[sadnightforus]

NEXT LIFE  (JJH)

toxic-boyfriend!jaehyun x gn!reader

SYNOPSIS: You’re sick and tired of the on and off relationship you have with your boyfriend. He was a chaos and you were trying to tame it, overtime, it burns you and turns you into someone you don’t recognize. And you decide that you’ll walk out of this, to save both yourself and him.

WORD COUNT: 1.4K

WARNINGS: ghosting, neglectful behaviors, toxic toxic toxic, manipulation, self destructive behaviors on god, this makes my head spin.

A/N: i’m better at long one shot than a full fic. embarrassing. anyway, enjoy this charli xcx crumbs, i love love love next life by her (which is the inspo for this). also super fun fact, I wrote this on March this year and it's October now lol.

reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated!

 You both are at the river side, a popular spot for couples to hang out and strengthen their bonds. For you, it’s very far from the truth that you want to strengthen it, because you know it’s on the verge of falling and there’s no way to stop it from crashing and burning.

 It’s a nice day, you feel content. Or force yourself to feel content with what you have. 

 Then you begin to think far, about how tired you are. How sick you are that your relationship with him played out like this and it never became better as time went by. But in one way or another, you found yourself going back to Jung Jaehyun, no matter what. 

 You think his heart is made of metal, that’s why he doesn’t care to change.

 Love can be so pure, but so poisonous, and you’re on the receiving end of the latter. You can barely recall what love is supposed to be like anymore.

 Loving him is a form of self harm, you convinced. Why does it hurt to walk away even when you need to?

 You’ve always been more than understanding. You understand why people lie. You let people use you and throw you away many times, it’s the same thing with him. Nothing is more addictive than lies that come from his lips such as ‘I love you’ and ‘I’ll never hurt you’ are some of the few. And when he kissed you like he meant it. But you know he was kissing in an attempt to mend the broken heart and only then crushed it with his own hands. 

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.”  You blurt out, in the moment that you both are enjoying the riverside sight after all of the chaos, which earns a confused look from your boyfriend. You stand up, pulling the strap of your bag to stay on your shoulder as Jaehyun does the same. 

“What’s wrong?” He questions, stunned by the sudden change in your behavior that was just sweet moments ago. Despite that, his face never falters from the stoic expression and you find it so hard to read him.

“I want to break up for real. This time.” You breathe out, finding the courage and words that hides itself in the back of your brain, then gazing right into his eyes before continuing. “Thank you for everything. But we shouldn’t do this anymore.” 

 He reaches out to grab your hand, as if a sentiment for you to change your mind. There’s a different sparkling in his eyes, almost like he cares about your departure from his life. He shifts closer, analyzing your body language if you were being honest. “Do you? Do you not wanna do this anymore?” 

“Yes.” You find the courage to speak louder than you had ever been. Maybe it’s a false confidence, but you want to get out of this situation. He makes it so hard with the way he has been giving you those helpless eyes that made you want to rethink everything you’ve said. 

 Except you don’t. 

“But we can try again, can’t we?” He pleads, asking for another chance but you won’t crumble like you had done so in the past. 

“You say that every time, but that’s why this shit dragged on for 5 years! 5 YEARS!” 

 Perhaps your voice will most likely catch the attention of many if it wasn’t for the fact you both are the farthest as you can possibly be from the area where it has a few people. That much of a distance buys both of you the privacy of doing this in public. 

“I’m really sorry…” 

“Do you mean it? Do you mean it when you say you’re sorry?” It sounds condescending, but really it’s not. It almost sounds taunting, but he doesn’t miss the way tears are making its way out of your eyes. “You don't, right? You don’t. You always said sorry but then you’d go back to neglect me then we’ll fight and say it’s my fault. Then we’ll make up and then get along for you to ghost on me again. Tell me, what did I do for me to get that kind of treatment? Do people in relationships do the same thing as we did?” 

 His eyes shift around, uncertain of the outcome, although in his guts, he knows that it’s not as the same as it was before. That thought crashes him. He was overconfident that you would stay and tolerate him forever.

 Maybe he was wrong. 

 You have tried loving him and given him so many chances, but it was never easy– you watched him being self-destructive. Itt was the same old broken song record that you kept trying, hoping that you would be able to fix all of those errors. He was a beautiful chaos, but still a chaos that you needed to get away from.

 And you do indeed need to get away from him, everything has worn you down so much that you barely recognize yourself. You begin to wonder, why did you let him play with your heart this much?

“Are you aware that I’m just a human too? Every time I thought we could just be friends or change into someone better, you turned around and fuck it up. I DON’T GET YOU!” You yell, hot tears streaming down your cheeks due to frustration. “It’s not the first time you made me feel like this. I’m so fucking tired. Do you see how tired I am? DO YOU?!” You try to suppress your cries in an attempt to articulate your thoughts as you search for remorse on Jaehyun’s face. “We went back and forth so many times. My friends watched me bend my back for you, picking you up at the bar just because you fought with someone who ran their mouths. Aren’t you tired?”

“I am.” 

 His answer sounds as worn out as you are. “I’m sick of it too. But what can I do? I’m fucked up on everything. I’m lonely, you were my only hope. When you were gone, I wanted to get your attention and tie you back to me.”

“Why would you do that?”

“As selfish as it is, you were the only person who had your best interest for me.” And he ends it with “I’m sorry that I took advantage of your kindness. I’m too confident that I’ll get back up on my feet and you’ll still be there in the future. But I’m wrong.”

 You’re stunned, so stunned that you held your breath because you can’t believe what he was saying.

 Suddenly, you see the glimpse of the Jung Jaehyun that you fell in love with, before all of these catastrophic events. You wish that he hadn’t changed so much, because it’s too late to back out now.

 You turn around in an attempt to walk away, want to, but a hand stops you.

 “Let go of my hand.” Your voice trembles, betray the confident demeanor you had earlier as you were lashing out. 

“No.” He firmly answers. “If you promise to answer this question, I’ll promise that I’ll let you go.”

“Okay.” You turn back around, dancing him as you take in a look of him one last time, because you might never see him again. You pull your hand out of his grasp, and he doesn’t make a big fuss over it.

“Do you think somewhere in the parallel universe, we’re happily engaged and in love and I’m.. the best person you could ask for?”

“I think so.” You meet his eyes, which are bloodshot red from tearing up by now.

“That’s all.” He nods, biting his upper lips to suppress his cries. “Maybe we’ll be better in our next life.”

“Maybe in our next life, I’d think twice about this.” You sigh, then finally say out the words you want to say the most. “Goodbye, Jaehyun.”

“Goodbye, Y/N.”

 As you turn around to walk away from the river, heart heavy and body tense, there’s still Jaehyun who stands frozen in the same place since you had left him there.

 His eyes are piercing at your figure that slowly makes its way to slip out further and further from his sight. He wishes he can tell you this one thing.

“Maybe in our next life, there will be no goodbye.”

 But he has to accept that you’re gone, and won’t come back to him anymore.

COPYRIGHTED BY SADNIGHTFORUS, 2024

[thepalehorsevictoria]

5 fic recs from Vic #2

Awwww shirt, here we go again because I am procrastinating like hell and I churned out multiple chapters so I think I should take it sleazy tomorrow. (Okay no let's be honest I'm going to get toasted on 20 and write nonsense smut.)

But anyway. Five more EmmRook fics that I've been enjoying like hell or have before and my fellow older-man-fuckers might like.

Usual disclaimers: I'm an F/M smut girly and honestly very few things squick me. Check the tags before you dive in.

The key is: 😱 feet-kicking, hair-twirling, giddy omgggg 🥵 is it hot in here or is it just the fucking Gentleman Necromancer? 👻 pardon me while I stare out the window. This one part (or more) just haunt(s) me.

The Privilege of Worship by @ollypopwrites “With you, I feel as life has begun again,” he panted against her neck. “I hardly know what spell it is you’ve cast — what have you done to me?” ARE YOU KIDDING. I’m not telling you how many visits this has according to my history. 😱🥵👻

The Person That I Am Today by Sensitive_Inferno I am not as verbose as I want to be in my writing. It comes from years of having to be succinct. This? This is proof that you can still have hot smut in 1k words or less. 🥵

Sugar and Spores by @silshinobii Maybe it’s my bills talking even after decades of Cup Noodle. Maybe it’s being in the Darkest Timeline. But when Sil drops a sugar daddy so lovingly crafted with at least two chapters annotated with “Emmrich is a freak?” Sign me the fuck up. Also I can absolutely see Manfred as a ragdoll. 😱🥵

Pantomime by @tiger-shrike. “Unhinged academic 4 unhinged academic” ahahahahhahaha This one reads like it’ll be a while to develop, but I am invested. I love a good marriage plot. Amara is a delight. 😱

Dirty Chai Latte by @kirkwall-tourism-department. We have all had miserably bad days like these. And then “Just because it hurts doesn’t mean you have to stop, darling.” AAAAAH. Two fist thumps on my desk. 😱🥵👻

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man Part 4

Fic Summary: Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you’ll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie.

Chapter Summary: Well, the arcade was a bust, but maybe going to a local dive bar and listening to music will yield better results.

4k words

a/n: This chapter is shorter than usual because my brain fried when writing it at work lol But we finally get to talk to Eddie without Steve cockblocking (too much)

Series Master List

Proof read? You have no proof I can read.

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It wasn’t until Monday after school that Dustin was able to make his way back to Family Video. After the night at the arcade, he’d been caught up with sneaking chats with Suzie and spending time with his mother. Not to mention the dentist appointment that caused him to miss a good chunk of Monday morning. If anything, dating and matchmaking be damned, Dustin had earned the treat of renting a movie and shoving candy into his newly cleaned teeth. 

The freshman walked in, said hi to you and walked shamelessly into the back while you called after him half-heartedly that he wasn’t supposed to go back there before turning back to your conversation with Robin. 

“Jesus, Henderson you can’t just barge into the back of any job I get!” Steve said as he sat in the break room. “I’m going to have to say no to you at some point.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve talked about this.” Dustin said, sitting next to him in the small room, grabbing some of Steve’s chips. “Anyway, has she said anything about Saturday night?”

Steve watched in annoyance as his friend helped himself to his lunch. “No, she hasn’t said anything about what happened. When I clocked in she said she didn’t want to talk about it.” 

“Probably because we might have... totally ditched her.” Dustin admitted. “On accident! It wasn’t my idea!” He added quickly as Steve gaped at him. 

“What?!” Steve was surprised. “Wait, what happened?”

“Well when the two of you left, Eddie decided that we were done and we all went to get pizza instead.” Dustin said. “I saw her when we were leaving.”

“Shit. So he saw her leave with me, which probably didn’t help.” Steve groaned. “Did Eddie say anything about her?”

“Yeah he... said he wasn’t interested.” 

“Really? Shit. I knew he was a freak, but I didn’t think he had bad taste.”

“Why aren’t you dating her?” Dustin asked. “You won’t date Robin and now you won’t date her? Are you allergic to dating cool girls or something?”

“Robin and I are just friends.” Steve said firmly. “And who said I didn’t try to date her? I tried to ask her out once but she turned me down. She said I was ‘too normal’.”

There were tears streaming down Dustin’s face two minutes later from how hard he was laughing at that. Steve Harrington could get any girl in town, and got shot down by the wierdo. 

“Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system, Henderson.” Steve groaned. 

“She’s too good for you, Steve.” Dustin finally managed to say, calming himself down. 

“So Eddie was a bust so I guess I’m back to square one.” Steve sighed. “I guess I could take her out to a bar and help her get numbers. If she can keep herself from saying something too weird for at least ten minutes it’d be easy.”

But it didn’t feel right. You already knew what you wanted, and any bar in town would just be filled with the same normal, boring people that you’d never had an interest in. 

“You know... Eddie’s band plays at the Hideout.” Dustin said suddenly. 

“Yeah, I thought we just established that wasn’t an option.” Steve frowned. 

“Okay but hear me out, she liked Eddie, right?” 

“Yeah, so?” 

“So? So if she liked Eddie then she’d probably like someone who also likes Eddie. He told me that people come to watch his band play specifically.” Dustin was grinning wide. 

“Henderson, you might be onto something.” Steve was starting to follow his friend’s logic. “If his fans like him, then she’d probably like his fans.”

“Precisely, Steve!” 

The two of them grinned at each other as if they’d just cracked the code to helping you out. However, Steve was only aware of half the plan. That night at the arcade hadn’t been sitting right with Dustin since Eddie tore out of there like a bat out of hell with the rest of the club in tow. He’d seen the way Eddie had stolen glances at you when he thought no one was looking, and only Eddie could miss the way you had been staring at him as the two of you talked. 

Dustin wasn’t sure what the hell Eddie’s problem was saying he wasn’t interested, but if Steve was giving him a chance to be nosy and meddle he was going to take it. You had been nice to Dustin this summer, and after starting the new hell that was high school he wanted to help you out. Eddie had been the only person who had been nice to him and Mike in school, and you had been nice out of it. 

If this didn’t work he’d leave Steve to his own problem, but Dustin had this one last trick up his sleeve. 

“So Eddie’s never talked about having an interest in anyone before?” Steve asked as he tossed his trash and handed over the remaining chips to Dustin. 

“Not really. Jeff mentioned that he used to have a thing for some girl named Ronnie, and they all act really cagey about someone else named Paige.” Dustin said with a shrug. 

“I have no idea who those people are.” 

“I don’t either, they don’t talk about it much.” 

“Alright, well I guess we’re gonna go to the Hideout.” Steve decided. “Wait, isn’t his band him and a bunch of high schoolers? How are they even allowed to play in a bar?”

“It’s a bar, not a club, Steve. They can be there, they just can’t drink. Legally.” Dustin decided not to share that Eddie had one or two fake IDs that the barkeeps were happy to overlook for Eddie at least. 

“What do you know about clubs?” Steve was surprised. “The only club you should know about is your weird fantasy club.”

“I watch MTV, I know how some things work!” 

The banter between the two continued until you showed up in the break room. 

“Steve, your break ended fifteen minutes ago. If you get your butt to the front I’ll fudge the time sheet and say you just forgot to clock back in.” you said. “And Dustin, honey, I love you. You aren’t supposed to be back here. Actually, I don’t care because you’re a good kid. Just ask before you barge in, okay? If Keith’s here I’ll actually have to enforce that.” 

“Yes, Ma’am!” Dustin gave you a salute as the two of them made their way back to the front. When Steve took his place behind the counter, Dustin took a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it over. 

“What’s this?” Steve took the paper, looking at the list of movie titles. 

“My payment. I want these movies for my services. We had an agreement.” 

“Jesus, Henderson you’re gonna give yourself nightmares with these.” 

“Nothing’s been scarier than what we’ve been through.”

“Fair enough.” 

You looked to be as thrilled to be at the Hideout on a Tuesday night as you would be at the DMV. You didn’t have anything against the place, but you didn’t have anything for it either. You’d been to bars a few times with friends with varying degrees of enjoyment. Hell, this wasn’t even the first time you’d been to this bar. Hawkin’s didn’t exactly have the biggest variety of places to drink in town, and this place was the town’s “old reliable”. Cheap enough for the blue collar workers to enjoy a cold beer after work, but with enough variety to have the young adults of the town fill up the booths on the weekends. 

It was not the weekend though, it was a Tuesday night. A weird night for Steve to drag you out to a bar to help you get a date. As you swung your body on the barstool waiting on your drink you glanced around. There was a small, cramped stage set up in the back and a few older men were hanging around. 

“So... Steve not to be terribly picky and not to sound ungrateful, but I’m not so sure about this.” You said, scanning the bar for anyone who didn’t look old enough to be your dad or grandpa. 

“There’s a band that’s supposed to play tonight.” Steve said, pointing over to the stage. “I heard they’re about our age so I thought it’d be worth a shot.”

“A band?” You considered it. “What type of music are they supposed to play?”

“I think it’s a metal band.”

You snorted into your soda. “A metal band? In Hawkins? Oh, this I have to see.” You hopped off the stool to make your way over to the cork board that was covered in advertisements for the town. You scanned it until you found a flier that had been covered partially by an advertisement for lawn care. 

CORRODED COFFIN- TUESDAY NIGHTS 

That must have been it. It didn’t give you any information about the band, other than the name and when they played. The logo was hastily drawn on in black and red markers as if putting this up was a last minute idea. You pulled the paper off the board and repositioned it so that it was front and center instead. There, that was your good deed for the day; giving a small band an additional 8.5 by 11 inches of visibility. 

“As usual, I have learned nothing.” You declared, taking your seat again. “I have a name and that’s it.”

“What’s the band called?” Steve asked. 

“Corroded Coffin.” you replied. “Shouldn’t you know? This was your idea!”

“I was just told there was a metal band that played, I wasn’t given a name.” Steve had been given the name and immediately forgot in the near endless ramblings that Dustin had gone on about. 

“You’re gonna think I’m crazy-”

“I already do.” 

You laughed and continued. “You’re gonna think I’m crazy but the name sounds familiar.” Your legs were swinging off the stool, leaning back against the bar with your elbows. “How can you forget a name like that?” 

Easily. Thought Steve. 

A few more people were starting to show up now, though it was still pretty dead and slow. Even as people shuffled in and out of the small bar, there was no sign of anyone who you’d deem “age appropriate” for you. 

“So you tried to set me up with a high schooler and now it looks like you’re trying to hook me up with someone twice my age.” You joked. 

“Yeah, I was hoping there’d be more people here to choose from.” Steve looked around the room. Dustin had said that this band was supposed to have a crowd but he wasn’t seeing evidence of that anywhere. 

“Ah well, even if tonight is another bust we can still have fun.” you gave him a playful punch. “If the band is bad we can bond over that, and if they’re good you probably won’t appreciate it and I’ll subject you to my every thought about it.”

“You do that anyway.” Steve breathed out a small laugh.

“I’ll be worse, cross my heart.” 

It wasn’t long until the doors to the Hideout opened again, with two highschoolers struggling to fit a drum set through the doors. You snickered as they twisted the parts trying to adjust the bulky equipment. That’s right, the circular drum goes through the square hole. 

“Steve, high schoolers.” you whispered. “Again?!” 

But then you realized that the two teenagers looked familiar. Familiar in a fresh way. Familiar in a ‘Hey, didn’t I just see you the other day?’ way. Your stomach twisted as they finally managed to get through the door and make their way to the stage for set up. 

“Hey, Steve, these kids look- shit.” 

Your heart leapt in a way you didn’t expect when the man you’d poorly attempted to get to know just a few days ago walked through the door with a guitar case strapped to his back. He was laughing with another member of the band as they carried in an amp. Eddie didn’t even look your way as they made their way to set up on stage. 

He played guitar. Of course he played guitar in a metal band. Jesus Christ, you were actually going to murder Steve and Dustin if this whole situation wasn’t going to kill you first. Eddie dropped his leather jacket on the side of the stage, leaving him in a band shirt that you couldn’t make out the name of in the dim lights. He had really nice arms (how had you missed the tattoos last week??), and the way he was smiling so genuinely and joking around with his friends made you feel fuzzy on the inside. He hadn’t looked like that when you two were talking-

“You’re drooling again.” Steve said. 

You shook your head and quickly turned around, putting your back to the stage. 

“Steve... what the fuck.” You hissed, glaring at him. “I know I didn’t exactly share what happened on Saturday, but I thought it was pretty clear that it didn’t go well.” 

“Listen, I had no- I” Steve couldn’t lie to you. “Henderson said he’d be playing tonight, but I swear I’m not trying to hook you two up again. I really thought that when he said there’d be a crowd there’d be more freaks here!” 

You smacked your head on the bar a few times with a groan. “It was so awkward. I told him I’d be right back but then when I went back in everyone was gone. He wasn’t interested in me.” 

“His loss.” Steve said. “Listen, we’ll stick around for a few songs and if no one else shows up then we can leave, deal?” 

“Deal.”

You tried to ignore the pounding in your heart as you pointedly refused to turn around. You didn’t even know why you cared so much that Eddie was there again. You had only talked for a half hour before he left, but the man had stuck in your mind since that night. 

You had been attracted to guys before, but Eddie was on some other level. 

“So, are you stalking me now, Harrington?”

FUCK. 

“Nah man, just in the mood to do something different tonight.” Steve said, trying his hardest to play nice. He had to remember that this was for you, even though he was starting to like Eddie less after his disinterest in you. 

“I didn’t take you as a man with music taste.” Eddie said. You hated that this man seemed to always sneak up on you. You finished off your drink and turned around to join the conversation before Steve made things worse. 

Fuck it. It’s not like this could be any more awkward than how things were left off. You might as well have some fun. 

“Actually this was my idea.” You said, lying through your teeth with a grin. “Steve here knows nothing about good music, so I thought I’d show him a little culture.”

Steve was now looking at you with his jaw dropped, wondering where the hell that came from. He looked offended, and Eddie? Eddie’s eyebrows shot up as recognition crossed his features as he looked at you. 

“So you like metal?” Eddie said, his gaze now locked on yours. You felt an odd pounding in your heart as you looked up into those amazingly round brown eyes. “What’s your favorite band?”

It wasn’t a challenge. There was nothing in his tone to indicate that he was about to turn into a total dick about music, and that both put you at ease and made your attraction to him far worse. 

“Well, Black Sabbath is always good.” you thought. “But I’m gonna have to go with WASP. I’d rate them a 69 out of 10 for being so damn horny in their songs.” 

Eddie’s eyes lit up and he smiled wide, the same kind of smile he’d just given his band mates a few minutes ago. You licked your lips and felt Steve kick your foot, probably signaling you to stop drooling. 

“So someone in this town does have good taste!“ Eddie was moving around more now, taking a few paces back and then back towards you clapping his hands. 

“I don’t like to limit myself.” You said. “I’m always looking for new sounds and music. It’s like I feel like I’m suffocating if it gets too quiet.”

You winced internally at the statement, knowing that it was probably off putting but to your surprise Eddie only got more excited. 

“Exactly!” He practically yelled.

How was it so easy to talk to him, and so hard at the same time? Why was it that every conversation so far had ended so awkwardly when moments like this felt easy? 

“So how long have you been playing?” you asked, looking over at the stage where he’d set his case down. 

“The band’s been playing together since we were in middle school, I started playing guitar around fifth grade. We’ve had a rotating cast of members, so I started it, and Jeff’s been there the longest after me.” he pointed to a member fiddling with his bass. “Zack and Gareth joined in high school.” 

“And was Chris Morrison ever part of this band?” you teased. 

“Fuck no!.” Eddie laughed. “My uncle would say that Chris couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on. He tried to play manager. Tried. After seeing how he ran his campaigns, I wasn’t interested.”

“Didn’t he also run for student council once?” 

“You remember those posters?!” there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Oh, he never ran. The rest of us were so done with how he was running Hellfire we put those up detailing why he was shit at leadership.”

“You’re kidding!” you gaped. “Jesus, you guys are weird.”

Eddie bent down in a joking bow. “I got a week’s detention for that stunt. I wasn’t the one who made most of them, but Higgin’s always had it out for me. Still does.” He mumbled that last part mostly to himself.

“Why do you two keep talking about Chris Morrison?” Steve asked, and you suddenly remembered that he was there too. Whoops.

“Common thread, apparently.” you shrugged. “It’s too easy to rag on the guy.”

“You had to be there.” Eddie said, as if you and Eddie were sharing connected memories that you were both part of rather than piecing together fragments of a puzzle where you were both corner pieces. The same picture, but never touching. 

At least, as far as you were aware. 

Steve was looking at you as if you were both insane. He was probably right. 

“Okay, okay Steve’s right. I don’t want to talk about Chris fucking Morrison anymore.” you said. “How long have you been playing here, at the Hideout?”

“Every Tuesday for about 2 years, give or take.” Eddie said. “We started monthly, but we get a crowd now so they asked us to play weekly.”

“A crowd.” You nodded, looking around the dead bar. “Damn, I must be pretty lucky to have the front man talking to me when you have all these people here to see you.” Behind the joke, the tone you used was sincere and playful all at once. You sat up a little straighter, leaning towards him on your barstool. 

That was a flirt. You just flirted. There was no taking that back. You were gonna have to commit now. 

There was something boyish about the smile he returned, calm and relaxed. “Oh yeah, you should feel special. As you can see we have a crowd of about-” he turned to the rest of the bar, counting the patrons. “-Right, about four drunks. I guess Tim’s out today.” 

“Well, make that four and a half drunks and also Steve is here.” you shook Steve’s shoulder playfully. 

“Half?” Steve looked at you, pushing your hand off. 

“I drove here, I can’t get wasted. But I can have one or two drinks and be fine.”

“Well, if you happen to bite off more than you can chew, I have room in my van for you.” Eddie said. “I could give you a ride.” 

Well, that wasn’t what you had expected. Your stomach was flipping like an acrobat at the suggestion. He was offering you a ride home if you wanted to drink? After he’d disappeared on you? Just what was this guy's deal? 

“If I’m biting my drinks that’s cause for concern. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to bite a drink.” Smooth, so fucking smooth. You might as well call yourself Skippy because you were as smooth as chunky peanut butter.

But Eddie just laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, you’re right. But the offer’s on the table. Or the bar, since you want to be literal.”

“I’ll think about it.” you said. “I don’t normally go home with men I just met at bars but if your band is any good I’ll consider it.”

His grin widened at that “Then I’ll be sure to tell the guys to pick up the slack tonight.” 

That was a flirt, right? Eddie just flirted back with you. That had to be right? You almost wanted him to go away so that you could confirm with Steve that your suspicions about that line were correct. 

“Eddie! Get over here and help with the amp, it’s doing the thing again!” One of the teens from the stage called out. 

Eddie sighed and looked over at his band that was messing with the amp they had brought in. “Again? Alright, I have some tape in my toolbox.” he called back to them before turning to you. HIs eyes flicked over to Steve for just a split second before meeting your eyes again. “Talk to you after the set?” 

“Yeah, I’d like that.” you said, “After all you might be my ride home.” 

And with that, Eddie turned and left.

“What was that?” Steve said immediately looking at you. “Where did that come from? Your idea? Going home with him?!”

“What?” you asked, taken aback. “You told me I should actually flirt, so I flirted!” 

“Where was all that on Saturday?! Hell, where was that for the past two months we’ve had this deal going?” Your friend was looking at you like he hardly recognized you. 

“Great question Steve, and it deserves a great answer.” you nodded. “I have no fucking clue. Maybe I’m exclusively attracted to guys that I don’t think I have a chance with?”

“He offered to drive you home.” His eyes darted over to the stage where Eddie had reappeared with a toolbox, messing with the amp. “I don’t know how you missed it but he was flirting with you.”

“Oh, good, I thought I was losing it.” you laughed. “Glad we got that established. Cool. Loving that. Now, on one hand he’s offering me a ride home. On the other hand, to get this supposed ride home I will have to intoxicate myself. Which sounds fun in theory but he’s also a guy I barely know.”

It should have been sketchy, it really really should have been. The only man you would trust to get your drunk ass home without worry right now would be Steve. 

“Hey, can I get another one of these, please?” you asked the bartender, holding up your glass. 

Once your refill came, you grabbed the drink and stood up. The band was finishing up the sound check and it looked like they were about to start. 

“Come on, I want to sit closer. I’m feeling reckless tonight.” You grabbed Steve’s arm and dragged him to a table closer to the stage. Eddie made his way to the mic and smiled at you and your raised your glass to him with a smile. 

“Thanks for coming out tonight, we’re Corroded Coffin and we’re here to make you feel like you’re fighting demons in hell!”

It was in that horrible, terrifying moment when the lights dimmed and the sound of an electric guitar ripped through the air,  that you realized something; you were going to end the night with the biggest, stupidest, useless crush on Eddie Munson and there was nothing you could do about it. 

Part 5

Dividers by @strangergraphics

I would also like to note that this is a work of fiction. You're allowed to make questionable decisions when playing with fake scenarios. Just roll with it.

Tag List: @k8loo @terrormonster55 @sp1dyb0y1008 @crocwork-clockodile @ali-r3n @mxcheese @josephquinnschesthair @gagasbee @peaches-roses-sins @witchwolflea @vintagehellfire @royale1803 @cumslutforaemond @prestinalove @browneyedgirly93 @perpetualmess @thebook-hobbit @mistonk @cultish-corner @grishaversecaptivated @sortagaysortahigh

[panic-in-the-multiverse]

Reunion

Pairings: Daryl Dixon & teen!reader, Tyreese Williams & teen!reader, Carol Peletier & teen!reader, Judith Grimes & teen!reader (all platonic obviously)

Requested by Anonymous: when the prison fell you and Daryl got separated, this is how you meet up, based on this request

Warnings: mention of blood, fighting, mention killing walkers/zombies, killing people, Daryl hug (yes that’s a warning), knives, guns, mention of killing kids, Terminus, hopefully if you read this you’ve seen the episode and knows what it includes, but ya know typical twd stuff.

A/N did I accidentally write this way longer than I intended yes, yes, I did, now don’t get me wrong the moment where Tyreese defends Judith is iconic but for the sake of this fic I changed it up, kinda wanna make another part

For you who wants to know the episode is season 5 episode 1

Anyway I hope you enjoy this <3

Judith giggled happily in your arms as you walked on the edge of the railway. You could’ve once imagined all kinds of trains going up and down the tracks as they blew past the trees, but now you couldn’t actually remember much about trains, you had the idea of them but not much details (and if a train were to come right now that would’ve been a miracle).

Tyreese walked a few steps behind you, with Carol in the front, as she led your group of four forward. She came to a stop when a sign that states “TERMINUS” showed up once more. It was your headed path, the sanctuary called Terminus. You personally didn’t trust it, not after the Governor, but you had to find Daryl and the rest of the group. You knew that if any of them were still alive they would’ve gone to Terminus after finding the railway. Which all of them had probably done. Along with finding Daryl you also had to get Tyreese and Judith to safety. Tyreese wasn’t fit to live on the road at the moment, he refused to kill anything that came your way leaving you and Carol to kill stray walkers, or animals for food. Judith, well, she was a baby and sometimes could be screaming all day, she was mostly quiet but the times she did cry was the times walkers got attracted. A baby was no way near fit to be on the road but here you were all of you somehow still alive (except for Lizzie and Mika Samuels, but there was no loss for you over Lizzie that’s for sure).

“We’re close” Carol stated as she saw the sign. “I’m gonna get you all there, make sure you’re safe, but I’m not gonna stay” She saw your face morph into disappointment as you nodded your head, a sad smile on your face. You’d missed her while she was gone and now she would be leaving again, and you didn’t like it, not one bit and you knew Daryl would be sad over it too which didn’t help the matter.

As you heard the rustle of leaves behind you in the forest, you all turned around to see two walkers stalk forward in your direction. Tyreese motioned with his hands to take Judith from you. Judith was carefully switched over to Tyreese and both you and Carol went forward to the walkers. Both of you killed them quickly only to notice the herd that was about to come out of the forest. Carol whispered to Tyreese that more were coming, and so all of you went into the opposite side of the railway. You hid in the forest until the walkers got distracted by shots firing not too far away from all of you.

Tyreese looked worriedly at you as he started to talk. “That gunfire it could’ve been from Terminus”

“Someone was attacking them, or they were attacking someone” Carol responded

“Do we want to find out?”

This time you involved yourself in the conversation, as you believed that you did indeed need to find out. “Yeah, we need to find out, If the others are there they might need help”

With that, and Carol's instruction of walking another track that would get you there as well you all started to walk once more, this time in need to find out the truth.

Your next stop had been outside a small worn out cabin, but it wasn’t the cabin that got your attention. What got your solely attention as you hid in the forest with your companions was the man that talked in a walkie-talkie. He was putting up a bunch of fireworks, no doubt to lead the herd of walkers away from Terminus. You could faintly hear him mention a woman with a sword, and you stopped Carol from going forward. As you continued to listen you heard him mention a kid with a hat and that was all you needed to go on. You didn’t think there were that many women with a sword and kid with a hat together nearby at the same time, so it didn’t take much to know that they were talking about Michonne and Carl. Nor did it take long to realize they had done something to your group, thereby also Daryl. Especially when he mentioned bleeding the kid out.

Carol slowly started to creep up behind the man and you followed not far behind. Tyreese more hesitant but still following. She put her gun toward his head, the young man froze and put his hands up still holding the two way radio. “Keep your finger off the button and drop it”

“Listen, ya’ll don’t have to do this. Whatever you want, we got a place where everyone’s welcome”

“Shut up man” it was what all three of you were thinking but Tyreese was the one to say it.

“Okay”

“We’re friends of the chick with the sword and the kid in the hat” Carol pressed the gun against his head forward, making the man lean forward as the gun touched his head.

It didn’t take long for you and Carol to tie him up and drag him (not so carefully) into the cabin leaning him against one of the walls. Throughout the whole ordeal the man continued to tell the three of you that you didn’t have to do this, that you could all come up with a deal, but he had no luck there.

As Carol made herself ready to scout Terminus out to see what was happening Tyreese continued to hold Judith in a protective embrace. You however had been asking the man questions, finding out that ever since the first questions he had been lying. He told you he only had Carl and Michonne, that they had both attacked them out of nowhere, that they were just protecting themselves. But none of you believed him. Not with the things you heard him talk about before you confronted him.

You would of followed Carol to Terminus had it not been for your will to protect Judith and Tyreese. As much as you loved Tyreese he wasn’t in his right mind. So you stayed to help if anything bad were to happen, to walkers coming your way or your prisoner getting free somehow, it didn’t matter you were there to protect your family. You only hoped Carol wouldn’t need any help.

Talking about your prisoner he was even more shatty when Carol left. Apparently a teenager, a baby and a man who he could clearly see wasn’t going to kill him was no threat to him. It was his undoing in the end. He underestimated you both and it showed in the way he talked to you and Tyreese as you sat by Judith, who’d you made a makeshift bed to.

“She got a name?… Hey, she got a name?”

“No” you answered at the same time Tyreese answered “Judith” you glared at Tyreese as he told the stranger her name, you didn’t want to give him any information, you never knew if it would backfire.

“She your daughter or something?”

“She’s a friend”

“Huh, I don’t have any friends… I mean I know people. They’re just assholes I stay alive with. The other one your friend, the woman” the younger man nodded towards the door that was now closed. Tyreese slowly looked away at the comment being conflicted about his answer. So instead you answered.

“Yes”

The man nodded and his voice that had now started to annoy you filled the room once more. “I used to have them… used to watch football on Sundays. Went to church” he let out a small laugh as if the thought of it was unbelievable. “I know, I did, but I can’t picture it anymore… it’s funny how you don’t even notice the time go by, horrible shit just stacks up day after day, you get used to it”

Tyreese turned his attention towards the man and spoke with distaste laced in his voice. “I haven’t gotten used to it”

"Of course you haven’t, you’re the kind of guy who saves babies, it’s kinda like saving an anchor, when you’re stuck on a boat-“ you had by know decided to drown out his voice as he tried to make justiciable to let him go.

Your thoughts got filled with Daryl like they had for the most time since the prison fell. You missed him. He always looked out for you. Ever since you met you were drawn to each other. Daryl used to pretend he hated you, especially when Merle was around he couldn’t have his brother think he was soft. However everyone knew he had always secretly looked out for you ever since he met you he’d felt the need to protect you. It came to the point that whenever you wanted to go on a run to get new supplies or do anything really you’d always ask Daryl. You had never spoken about it to each other but there was a silent agreement between everyone even you and Daryl that you were his kid and he your father. It might not be by blood but it was how it had come to be. Everytime something happened to you if you got hurt or if you were sad they’d always notify Daryl, but most of the time he already knew and would be with you to try and cheer you up in his own moody way. When you’d been out on the road before you found the prison you’d always sleep next to each other making sure the other one was safe. Even in the prison your cells were next to each other. He always looked out for you. He taught you how to hunt, he taught you how to use his crossbow, and to fight people to be able to protect yourself. Like Judith was “little asskicker”, you were the “big asskicker”. You couldn’t help but to miss him and the thought of him being hurt from the people in Terminus made your stomach hurt. You didn’t really want to voice your thoughts but you needed the reassurance and Tyreese was the only one who knew who Daryl was and could give reassurance. So against the warnings your mind gave you, you voiced your concerns.

“Do you think Daryl’s okay?” Your voice came out quieter than you expected as your mind filled with more scenarios in which Daryl had gotten hurt in.

Tyreese turned from Judith to look at you. He tried to give a reassuring look on his face as he answered. “I’m sure he’s fine Y/N”

”So Daryl’s your dad, maybe boyfriend” he continued to gues what Daryl was as you made no indication of actually giving anything away to him. After a while he stopped, he wouldn’t get anywhere with you, but he was still confident that if he talked enough to Tyreese, he would let him go.

“See, you’re a good guy, saving babies and teenagers.

“You have no idea about the things I’ve done”

“You’re a good guy, that’s why you gonna die today, it’s why the baby is going to die, why Y/N is going to die” both you and Tyreese stood up taking an intimidating step towards the man, your knife pointed at him. “Or… you can get in that car, get out of here, keep on being lucky.”

“You think you’re gonna kill me?”

The man turned his sole attention to Tyreese as he answered him. “Why haven’t you killed me? How does having me alive help you? Why the hell are you even talking to me? Take the kids, take the car and go, I don’t want to do this today”

“For your information we could always use you to get more information or we could kill you now, like you said we have-“ you got cut off by an explosion going off. Tyreese rushed to the window to see what was happening and saw the smoke over the forest.

“Is that Terminus?” The man moved forward as if trying to see out through the window but he had no luck in that department as he slouched back towards the wall.

“Yeah, probably”

“Maybe you’re gonna win this, maybe your friend, I mean maybe that woman just got capped, maybe I’m gonna be the one who gets capped when she comes back”

“Nobody’s got to die today”

“Man if you believe that… then it’s definitely gonna be you and the kids, even if the place is burning to the ground”

“Man maybe you can shut up and stop talking before I kill you myself” the man took his eyes of Tyreese to look at you as you had your knife pointed at him an annoyed look on your face. He didn’t believe for a moment that a teenager would be able to kill him, nor win in a fight against him. He had a way to high ego to think that you would be able to do any harm to him, he underestimated both you and Tyreese and when he heard as well as saw Tyreese look out at the walkers coming toward the cabin he moved quickly and soon enough his hands went to hold Judith in a hold that would be easy to break her neck.

He told you both to drop your weapons and you both did so not wanting him to hurt Judith. As he saw the walkers claw at the windows he looked towards Tyreese telling him to go outside. As Tyreese went outside he went over to you and bound your hands together with some spare rope just like you had done to him earlier. He made sure the knot would hold before he went over towards the walkie-talkie and tried to connect to the woman (apparently named Cynthia) on the other side.

While he did all that you tried to desperately tie up the knot that held the rope around your wrist together. Right as you were able to get rid of the rope around your wrist (thankful Daryl taught you how to do it) the noise from outside stopped. It became deathly quiet and the man looked towards were the last pounding against the walls had been. He took out his knife and was about to kill Judith when you quietly and quickly grabbed the knife that was laying right were you left it beside you on the floor and you ran over to the man. You saw red as you knocked him over, he had threatened to kill Judith and Tyreese. Threatened your sister and one of your closest friends. You knocked him towards the floor and your hand went into the air as you threw it down onto him repeatedly stabbing the knife in your hand into him. even after he was clearly dead.

Tyreese had to carefully walk over to you as he took the knife away from you. He told you that the man couldn’t hurt them anymore nor the walkers, everything would be okay. You appreciated his comfort as you hyperventilated for a few minutes over the fact that you’d just killed a human. You’d killed walkers before but never a human being. In your mind it was justified as he was about to kill all of you anyway, but you still felt like you’d lost something inside of you.

It was a while later when you glanced out of the window and saw Carol as she walked towards the cabin, Rick not that far behind. You broke out in a relieve laugh as a smile spread briefly over you lips, this made Tyreese glance out towards where you were looking. You booth scurried to get everything as you both wanted to leave the cabin not being comfortable to stay inside any longer than you needed to.

As both you and Tyreese stepped out of the barn you glanced at the people led by Carol. Your eyes scanned the crowd looking for one person in particular.

Daryl stared at you in disbelief he couldn’t believe you were actually alive, he’d seen you get shot, and without medical attention he guessed you’d died. He hadn’t wanted to keep hoping in case he would someday find your corpse rotting away (either as a walker or actually dead).

Daryl took in your bloodied state, you’d no doubt had to fight. Dirt and blood covered most of your clothes, and your face had a few cuts covered in dried blood. Your once white shirt was miss colored and your jeans had been ripped in some places, your jacket had blood stains all over it. Daryl could only guess what you’d gone through to end up looking like that (he didn’t even look that bad). He didn’t like all the blood covering you, he didn’t like not knowing what had happened, he didn’t like being away from you, he needed to protect you, he’d lost Beth to a couple of strangers, he wouldn’t lose you too.

When your eyes finally found Daryl, you had a soft smile on your face as you saw him visibly relax at your eye contact. While Rick and Carl ran towards Judith in Tyreese’s arms, Daryl stumbled forward towards you, dropping his crossbow to the ground. You met him halfway and he engelfulled you in a tight hug. You’d never know nor would anyone else but Daryl let a few tears fall in relief as he hugged you tightly knowing you were still alive, actually alive. As he felt you wrap your arms around him he felt you hug him just as tight, the comforting sensation you both brought each other was all you needed to ground each other and know that either of you were dreaming, this was real and both of you were okay.

As Daryl heard you sniffle he realized you were crying and he hugged you even tighter, taking one hand to your head and petting it softly — not knowing fully how to comfort someone, even now, having comforted you all those times before he still was unsure if he did it right. However he did know that you were crying from relief, because he did the same thing. You had your father back and he had his kid back and knowing that, you both knew that everything would be okay in the end. You were yet to be bested by someone when together, even when apart you always won, always found your way to back to each other. You would beat this world together and that was all that you needed to know, and the fact that neither of you were planning on leaving soon.

[nyewclear]

Heyo! Could you do the NSFW alphabet for Artemis? I’m sorry for such a freaky ask 😔

omfg i've never done one of these before.... DON'T MIND IF I DO!!! i think it's very fun when u guys send in freaky asks lol they're so fun to answer. there's something about fictional character sex that is so important...

anyways! here's artemis' alphabet :3 ladies gentlemen and everyone in between, please buckle your seatbelts!!!

a = aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

they often get super lazy afterwards and they’re very content to just melt into whatever they’re laying on. they also get kinda silly and flirty after sex, mostly because they get soooo loose and smiley after they get their rocks off. they don't like to fall asleep right after sex though— they prefer to clean up and then chill afterwards.

b = body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

i would say that their favorite body part on themself would be their hands. they have long fingers, calloused on the fingertips from playing guitar but somehow delicate at the same time. they know how to please you well with them and they find that their hands are often big enough to swallow you up when they touch you, which they really like. i've mentioned before that artemis has a penchant for their partner's chest and they love to stick their hands up your shirt because of that. it doesn't really matter the size of the chest, they still really like it hahaha. it's something in the groping, i think.

c = cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

they're a big creampie fan as i've talked about before, but this is more because they find them to be incredibly intimate and romantic in a way... they're not the type to think that sex is a crazy soul-bonding experience, but they do think that there's a sort of beauty in it. they don't really sleep around or anything, so to them, having an orgasm with someone they love is like a top 5 experience. they're so gay and corny man

d = dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

they really get off on seeing you in their clothes. they REALLY get off on the smell of you on their clothes after you've returned them. they tried to act very normal when they assured you that you don't need to wash their clothes before giving them back to them because "they'll do it," but they're just using the smell of you on their clothes to get their rocks off because it turns them on so much. they feel kind of grossed out that they do this, so they would never tell you.

e = experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

they've only had two partners prior to the cryptid coffeehouse's mc (yaritza in high school and albie not too long before mc), so i wouldn't say that they're incredibly experienced, but they know what they're doing at least. i think it's important to note that artemis starts to come into themself sexually when they're with you. when they were with yaritza, they were fumbling around a lot as it was their first relationship and they & yaritza were both virgins. with albie, they took a sub bottom role pretty much exclusively. those who have read my fics are aware that they often prefer to take the role of a submissive service top with you, which is something they never particularly got to explore with their other partners. they're a bit clumsy when the two of you first get together, merely because they haven't topped anyone in like 6 years, but one thing they are very good at is giving head. they're almost scarily good at giving head...

f = favorite position (this goes without saying)

any position where they can see your face! they like to keep eye contact because they're a sap. although they prefer missionary over cowgirl because they like to do the work (service top things)

g = goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

lowkey they're kinda serious LOOOOL but they do sometimes crack jokes, typically after sex though. in the moment, they're typically so caught up in what's happening that they don't have the brain space to be witty or silly.

h = hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

genetics dealt them a hairy gene so they can't exactly not be groomed well. they got a cute lil happy trail :3

i = intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

they can get quite romantic during sex... those who have read my fics know that they often tend to praise you, but in more of a reverent way rather than a "you're doing so well" way. they often speak of you like they're in awe of you, like they're not sure how you came to be theirs, and i think that comes off in the way they have sex as well. they also have a tendency to say that they love you during sex, especially when they're about to cum.

j = jack off (masturbation headcanon)

they frequently & almost exclusively masturbate to the thought of you. they struggle to think of anything else. even if they're watching porn or something (which is rare), it's often stuff that they want to do with you/want you to do to them. they moan your name a lot, it's kind of pathetic but also really cute hehe

k = kink (one or more of their kinks)

i've listed their top five kinks here, but i'll list them again! their favorites are praise, being dominated, pet play, edging, and breeding, in that order.

l = location (favorite places to do the do)

home!!!! in their room!!! with the door closed!!! surprising, but they're actually pretty self-conscious when it comes to their sexual habits because they live with other people (and they're always kind of awkward about sex, endearingly so). they aren't especially adventurous about where they have sex unless they're really encouraged to get risky with it. i think if you were a person who enjoyed risky sexual situations, they'd very eagerly follow after you if you gave the impression that you were confident about it and would lead them. otherwise, they'd rather keep it at home. sometimes they'll have sex on the living room couch, but kurou and mordag hate that so they try not to do it if they can help it haha

m = motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

making out, hair pulling, being given hickeys, being talked to like they're your pet, your smell, being praised, grinding with clothes on, wearing collars and leashes, giving head, sloppy messy sex, creampies, did i say making out? kissing turns them on like crazy, tight shirts that show off your chest...

if you touch their wings right where they sprout from their back, the fuzziest part close to their skin, that makes them melt. touch them there for too long and they'll pop a crazy boner

n = no (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

piss 👎🏾 and also, don't touch their antennae. they're way too sensitive there, but like in a bad way. they don't know how to be mean to you in bed, so they'd also really dislike getting rough with you like that.

o = oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

they love giving head! they're really good at it too, in a way you're not sure how they got to be so good. often times they can get off just by giving their partner oral because the act of making you feel good without expecting anything in return makes their brain go crazy. it makes them feel very pleasantly subservient and they love the taste of your mess when you finish :3 if they're receiving though, they like it when it's messy. lots of spit really turns them on.

p = pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

they start off slow, generally with a lot of foreplay, and the energy/passion always ramps up as time passes. artemis is pretty reserved at first, but after a bit of teasing and touching, they get really desperate and needy for you, so it's hard for them to control themself. they're a lot like a little puppy in that sense— they get so hyped up on how good you make them feel that they struggle to keep themself under control.

q = quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

they love a good quickie, especially if they're feeling desperate. they don't often have quickies because they like to take their time and really linger in a moment with you, but if (a) they haven't had sex in a while, (b) you're riling them up, or (c) they're some sort of inebriated, they have a tendency to get a little sloppy, needy, and more inclined to pounce on you for a quickie... especially in a public space.

r = risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

i would say that they're not particularly a risky person on their own, but if their partner was into risky things and had a vibe that they would take care of them and lead them in a risky scenario (as was mentioned previously), they would pretty much follow along their partner blindly. they're willing to do a lot of things that they wouldn't normally do if they were alone with an adventurous partner.

s = stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

at least two! maybe three if they're super pent up and haven't had sex in a while. they don't cum super fast, but if you edge them for a long time, they won't be able to last for a second round. this doesn't particularly mean that they won't finish you off though... they're content to service even if it means they don't get to cum ^_^ getting you off gets them off in such a satisfying way.

t = toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

they do own toys, but they don't use them as much as they prefer to go old fashioned with it lol. often times their hand and a wildly vivid fantasy is enough for them. the only toy that they like to use on a regular basis would be their collar because they are sooooo puppy. they also have a fleshlight sort of situation but they really only use that when they're alone during their mating season. they'd use toys on you but it'd really be up to your discretion!

u = unfair (how much they like to tease)

they're not a teaser typically. you gotta get them feeling really overconfident to do such a thing. they like to be teased though... being teased almost to the point of torture is their favorite, which is probably why they like edging so much.

v = volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

they talk a lot during sex and are pretty noisy. they ask a lot about how they're doing, if they're doing good, if they're making you feel good, and they're always whining and moaning and whimpering. it's really hard for them to stay quiet because you always make them feel sooo good

w = wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

despite how reserved about sex they tend to be, artemis has a big fantasy to have sex in a dressing room. they're typically not one for public sex, but there's something about watching you try clothes on and getting really worked up about it... the methodical taking on and taking off, your skin flashing every so often, you posing in the mirror, them sitting and watching... if they think about this fantasy for too long they'll get so hard that they'll struggle to think lol someone please indulge them

x = x-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

in my fics, i always describe artemis as being... well-endowed... and i think it fits with their build. they're really tall and skinny lol i think it just makes sense. i don't know exact measurements, but i would say they'd be slightly over average in length and thick. they're a shower, not a grower. their ass is flat though i cannot emphasize this enough LMFAO

y = yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

i'd say if it was a rating from 1 to 10, their sex drive would be rated maybe a 5 or 6. they like to kiss and flirt and be silly and stuff, but whenever it's not mating season, they could really go without sex if you weren't too sexually inclined. once a week is fine for them, maybe even once every week and a half. as long as you two are having other forms of non-sexual physical intimacy, they can go quite a while! but sometimes they get horny out of nowhere, especially if you like to tease them often hehe.

z = zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

they really don't like to fall asleep after sex because they wanna clean up, no matter how tired they may feel. they have a tendency to fall asleep when washing up in the bathtub afterwards... so they often try to get you to shower with them instead to keep them awake. only after everyone's all nice and tidy do they want to fall asleep.

[maxinemaxmayfield]

Twelve Days of Stranger-mas (5/12)

I'm using the twelve days of Christmas prompts from the @strangerthingswritersguild to create an ongoing fic with a short chapter for each day! steddie | teen&up | temporary character death

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR

Day 5 Prompt: Five Handwritten Notes

Robin had suggested it. Steve had scoffed and shook his head and sworn he wouldn’t try it. But here he is, pen in hand and notebook in front of him on his desk. Closure, Robin had said he needed.

Dear Eddie Munson, 

Steve scratches that out immediately, feeling like a twelve year old girl writing a diary entry. It’s not like Eddie’s actually going to fucking read it anyway. He tears out the whole page and tosses it into the trash can across the room. 

It takes another week before he tries again. 

Hey Eddie. It’s been two months since you didn’t come back from the Upside Down. It feels like so much longer and yesterday at the same time. It’s not like you’re the first person we’ve lost, so I don’t know why this has hit me so much harder. Maybe it's because of the kids. They talk about you all the time. Sometimes I act like it annoys me, but honestly it’s kind of nice to learn more about you. Those kids idolize you, man. They really do. 

Steve hides the journal under his mattress when he’s done, feeling even more like a twelve year old girl, but he can’t risk it falling into the wrong hands, especially with Dustin hanging around all the damn time nowadays. 

Eddie – Fucking hell, I wish you were here to take Dustin off my hands for a while. I know he’s grieving but holy shit, dude. I wake up to him checking in on the walkie every morning, can’t go to work without him stopping by every single day. I can’t even go to sleep without telling him first, otherwise he’ll come banging on my door in the middle of the night, convinced I’ve been attacked by Vecna. 

Time keeps dragging on, and Steve starts to find comfort in writing his stupid little notes to Eddie. He finds himself sitting down most nights, just updating Eddie on his day, however boring. 

I’m sick to the gills of Hawkins, Eddie, I really am. I always thought I’d live my whole life here, settle down with a little family, all that shit. But it’s day after fucking day rewinding tapes, seeing the same kids and same couples and same assholes coming in to rent the same rotation of movies and I think I might lose it, Eds, honestly.

And when things in his life change, when there’s big news or something to vent about, Steve finds himself counting down the hours until he can write an update and get all his thoughts out on paper. 

Robin has a girlfriend. I don’t know if you knew Vickie? Played clarinet in the marching band? Anyway, she’s nice enough, and I’m happy for Robin, so happy for her, she deserves a girlfriend after everything. But… I’m also kind of lonely. We used to moan about being perpetually single together and now all Robin wants to do is talk about Vickie. Or go see Vickie. Or call Vickie on the phone. And I’m left feeling like a pathetic third wheel. 

Do you think we would be friends, if you were still here? I know you can’t answer me, I’m not fucking stupid, but I don’t know. I think we could have been. Surviving that shit does something to you. Bonds you or something. Maybe we would have been close. Sometimes I feel weirdly close to you, just writing these. I don’t know. Maybe. Guess we’ll never know.

PART SIX

[goeldicotton]

For some reason people keep reading my other ElevenRiver ship question thing…So sure, why not another. I’m working on a time tot fic anyway.

1) Eleven, not that River can’t. She’s just usually forced to be the adult in the room.

2) I think they both struggle a bit with that. Their baby would have their energy. If I had to decide who’s better…I imagine River??? Just because she just tries more often. The doctor usually just forgets the baby should sleep until his wife reminds him, or they finally knock out on their own.

3) Both of them, but Eleven specifically is pretty over protective…and by pretty I mean extremely. For several obvious reasons, and several fic related ones. Meanwhile, River is also protective. she just has a better handle over her emotions.

4) They almost always go to their dad, because he’s almost always awake. He’s a time lord, he doesn’t need as much sleep as his wife, it just makes more sense for him to handle it. Plus, he’s very good with monsters and nightmares, plenty of experience.

5) Well, River reads more stories, but she doesn’t do voices, she just reads like normal, so I guess the Doctor wins by default (though, for the record, I think his voices would be exactly as ridiculous as you’d expect).

6) I think they’d be homeschooled unfortunately, so neither.

7) Eleven, for both, and River would tease him for being a sentimental old man.

8) Eleven, River.

9) Depends, River is the disciplinarian when it comes to things like when playtime ends, when to go to bed, and getting done homework. You know, house rules. Meanwhile, on adventures the Doctor is usually on edge with them, and starts getting snappy, especially when things go wrong. It’s not that he wants to, he’s just is really worried when traveling with them.

10) All that being said, he’s still the Doctor. Losing his companions is practically part of his job (although he’d have a much bigger heart attack in this particular case). River would hold onto them the whole time.

Alright, that was fun, sleeping now.

[starryjkoo]

JM: *gets death threats from solos and tkkers*

ARMY: anyways, have y'all read this tkk au?!

But let's here from the "OT7 jkkers" about how "fic writers are necessary 🥺", "not all tkkers are bad", "my best friend is a tkker (and most likely harasses jimin or calls jkk fanservice on her other/private account)" and "if you don't ship tkk or engage with tkk shipping content you hate tae and jk 😡" once again 🎤

sorry for the upcoming coke rant but yeah today was very annoying and I'm sick of it (I’m sure we all are)

anon do you know what’s really funny about that particular discourse right now? Look, I really don’t like singling people out on my account. I also can’t believe I need to clarify this, but I’m very much against harassing and bullying people. If you don’t like someone, block them and move on. It’s never acceptable to harass anyone over any of this fandom stuff.

With that out of the way, I just went back to look at that authors account and it took me literally .5 seconds to find content from a JM/JKK anti on their page now that they’re actively engaging with the tkk creative community lol (tkk art from someone who follows antis & who was just dragging that Jikook Golden Party fanart). I know they are absolutely NOT an anti, but it’s simply impossible to engage with any part of the tkk community without interacting with or helping to platform antis (also nothing on their page about the hate or threats Jimin received a few days ago).

But… according to a big chunk of Jikookers — this person is a pillar of the Jikook community! This person is so important and has done so much for the community because they… have written some popular Jikook fanfiction? Yeahhhhh, respectfully, if you think that way then maybe you need to reorganize your priorities and perhaps question the sort of things we should be valuing as a community. I think it’s fine if you personally value fanwork. In my opinion, if you engage with it you do owe the author something (kudos, comments, respect) but the only thing that should be relevant to the community at large is how someone treats the actual Jimin and Jungkook, not the fanfic versions of them. At least in my opinion anyways.

I’m mainly bringing this up because it’s an example of the overall issue ARMYs have with shipping.

it’s extremely problematic how a large portion of this fandom blatantly prioritizes shipping and ship content over the actual BTS members. You have a whole group of people today who are more outraged and vocal about being told RPF is weird than they are about Jimin receiving literal death threats. That’s beyond messed up.

This fandom has shown time and time again that they absolutely do not have the maturity to handle shipping BTS members responsibly (including just for fun shippers). It shouldn’t be so easy for me to find content from Jimin antis when scrolling the account of an OT7 non-serious tkk shipper, but that’s the reality of the tkk community. That should be unacceptable. Instead you have ARMYs aggressively defending that community simply because they enjoy their content.

I don’t want to get into my whole spiel about non-serious “just for fun” shippers, but a lot of them are just as complicit in creating the current toxic shipping environment as serious ones — yet they feel none of the responsibility. They think they get a pass because they “don’t believe ships are real” when they absolutely contribute to the current state of things. Non-serious shippers make up the following of a lot of those toxic accounts, they continuously engage and help platform toxic shippers, consume and share their content, bring their posts and narratives and edits into OT7 spaces, actively defend their favorite content creators even if they’re toxic. Some of them even believe and help spread toxic shipping narratives (such as recently the “ARMYs” who claimed that BH gave TH a shady edit on AYS). This is an issue with non-serious tkkrs in particular but I’ll be fair and say all shippers can be guilty of this.

Then you have the argument that “it’s just fiction!” as if fiction has zero impact on the way people perceive and feel about real people. I mean, actors literally get harassed and receive death threats because people hate the fictional characters they portray. I’m reminded of that one Breaking Bad actor and how badly she was harassed because people hated her character. There are a LOT of examples of this.

So many fandoms for fictional content have shipping communities that are wildly toxic. They’ve harassed and doxed other shippers, sent death threats to literal showrunners, creators, writers, VA’s, mangakas. It’s also super common to aggressively hate on characters because of ship wars for fictional pairings too. Do ARMYs really believe that fanfiction is going to have zero impact on how our unbelievably immature fandom perceives and treats the BTS members? Anyone else see how ridiculous that assumption is?

This is particularly an issue because of how extraordinarily common it is for tkkrs to portray Jimin as a villain in their work. It’s very clear that a lot of them purposefully create those narratives in their fanwork as a way to project and vent their actual feelings towards Jimin and the vminkook dynamic (to cope w/ their personal misery). I remember seeing a tkkr requesting fics where Jimin was literally in the “home wrecker, other woman” role (can’t remember the exact phrasing, but that was the gist) and boy did they get plenty of recs. It doesn’t matter if it’s “just fiction” when it has actual real life impact on how some shippers perceive and treat the BTS members.

My issue is not with fanwork but with the lack of accountability in this fandom for how they engage with it and their refusal to try and curb the toxic parts of it. If you participate in RPS of any form I personally believe you have an obligation to be mindful of the way you engage with shipping content and the impact said content has on the real people involved. That should always be the number one priority for anyone participating in RPS. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a serious shipper or not. The issue is that ARMYs aren’t doing that at all. Also the “for-fun” shippers think they’re entirely absolved of any responsibility when they’re actually a big part of the problem.

As soon as shipping within the BTS community crossed a certain line ARMYs should have packed it up, stepped back and recalibrated their relationship with shipping. You know that whole “the fun is over thing”? When this fandom showed that it could not handle shipping responsibly it should have been taken away until they took the time to clean things up and reset the narratives. But that never happened because they prioritize the shipping content over the BTS members. They STILL refuse to even have a conversation about the negative impact shipping has on Jimin and the other members, no matter how bad or how scary things get.

Look, I think it’s genuinely fine if someone’s favorite part of fandom is fanwork and they want to focus solely on fun things. I’ve said several times that I fully understand and respect this perspective. I do not think we all need to be internet warriors subjecting ourselves to those chronically online psychopaths for something that we all do in our free time for fun. People come here for a break and an escape from their daily lives. If they want to just enjoy their time in the fandom I totally get that. I don’t think anyone here owes anything to BTS just because they enjoy their music and content. I would never judge anyone for making that decision. I also think that the Jikook creative community is one of the most fun, chill and OT7 spaces in all of the overarching BTS fandom spaces. I understand wanting to defend it and that’s not what I’m complaining about.

My problem is that if you personally don’t want to pay attention to the hate, if you want to bury your head in the sand, if you’re only here to have a good time, maybe don’t turn around and then try to downplay or diminish all the toxicity that comes out of shipping just because you’re feeling defensive and called out and protective over your shipping spaces or tkkr buddies. Maybe don’t derail or hijack the conversation when ARMYs are trying to have a serious discussion about how to curb the frighteningly out of control organized harassment the members (especially Jimin) are receiving because you’re scared of losing your ship content (which has never been at risk to begin with).

I’m tired of the lecturing and the faux intellectual rants about the importance of creative content from this particular group of self-righteous “for-fun” shippers whenever there’s any criticism about the overall negative impact shipping has on the fandom. Most of them are simply just selfish and hiding it under the guise of moral superiority because they can’t admit that they care more about their fanfiction than they care about the extremely negative, real life consequences shipping has had on Jimin, the fandom, the other BTS members.

This dedication to shutting down any conversation about improving the overwhelmingly toxic and rotten shipping landscape is frustrating to say the least. I’m just tired of all these shitty excuses just to protect a status quo they benefit from. No one is trying to take away, ban or censor fanwork. But having a conversation about the impact that all kinds of shipping has had on this community is extremely overdue and important. The people in the shipping community could be an important part of the conversation and actually make a difference in combating things but they don’t want to bother, because most of them actually don’t really care. They just want to make sure to shut the convo down anytime they feel the status quo they benefit from is being threatened and then go back into their holes to ignore all the toxicity that comes out of it.

And circling back to tkkrs real fast. Yeah, the issue is that even their “for-fun” spaces are just absolutely invested with antis. Their literal biggest fanart accounts are antis with hundreds of thousands of followers? The majority of their general fanbases are antis too (with proof). But these accounts are just constantly being protected and shielded under the guise of “protecting fanwork” and “there’s nothing wrong with shipping for fun”.

And sure, maybe there are some non-serious tkkrs out there who don’t hate Jimin — but here’s the thing. I guarantee you that if you go to any of their accounts right now you will quickly find anti content on their pages or in their following lists — even if they’re engaging with it unknowingly. The tkk ship community is so beyond rotten that it’s literally impossible to participate in it without regularly engaging with antis, and that’s just the truth. I don’t know about you, but I’m never going to be cool or comfortable with that or find myself respecting the people who are. If those tkkrs really cared they would be actively taking the effort to try and clean their spaces out but they clearly don’t lol.

I’m really rambling now, sorry. It’s just tiring today to see the way ARMYs rally to protect fanwork but not the actual BTS members. Again, I have nothing against fic. Some of my favorite ARMYs are content creators who genuinely do a lot for the fandom and have clear respect for the BTS members as artists and individuals. But if someone can’t understand why there is a stigma on shipping considering how awful and out of control shippers are then I don’t even know what to say. Then they are just blatantly choosing not to see it because they don’t want it to inconvenience or threaten their personal fandom experience.

When the BTS community has gotten so toxic that Jimin can’t even mention the name of the person he’s enlisted with without receiving literal death threats, don’t you think that something major needs to be done about it, that it’s deserving of a conversation from every part of the shipping community including “non-serious” shippers? Idk man 🫠 clearly nothing is going to change at this point but I’m definitely at least going to continue hard judging people and being bitchy about it.

Tbh I hope ARMYs never get to freely enjoy shipping in their main fandom spaces ever again unless they actually wake up and start trying to fix things. If they can be complicit in making the experience of everyone who loves Jimin shitty because of their addiction to tkk porn and their passivity to the hate he receives, then I will sit back and passively watch solos drag the shit out of them whenever they’re caught talking about the “captain jeon” AU (unless they’re dragging the members which I am obviously not cool with). I hope those particular ARMYs never know peace honestly. Because if I can’t enjoy Jimin weverse spam or a single Jikook interaction without dealing with psychopaths harassing him then I want the ARMYs responsible for the rotten state of this fandom to be miserable too tbh (but not the good ARMYs who do genuinely care). And that’s my toxic trait.

[hanaruri-tunes]

Degrading Leviathan (Levi x reader)

I am BACK from my uni exams, and I’m pretty sure I passed them all so please applause this genius over here. (Or don’t. That’s fine too :')

Anyway, as promised this is supposed to be the part 2 to the humiliating Leviathan fic, but it is smut so I’m pretty sure you can also read it without any prior knowledge of the other one fuehdhd Plot is not really important here after all.

⚠️ Also, if this wasn’t already obvious -> MDNI please!

If you want to read it though, here’s the first part. (Hopefully the link works.)

If you want to jump right into this one, here’s a quick summary of part 1 (or a quick reminder for those who did read it): Basically our MC here is pretty sadistic, she found some of her "belongings" in Levi’s room and understood that he was obviously using it to touch himself, she acts like she’s disgusted and disappointed in him, then makes him do some "stuff" for her so she’ll forgive him. And all the while, she’s mocking him (Levi’s into that, of course.) It ends with her revealing that she was acting and Levi is reassured (but still turned on. Yep.)

This is the direct continuation of that! Here are the warnings: praise, degradation, two dicks, a bit of petplay (dog Levi), raw, bj, usage of tail, overstimulation (and if I forgot some stuff don’t hesitate to tell me!)

MC/ Y/N is cisfemale in this one like the first part!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Now that the charade was over, Levi kept hanging onto you as you two were making out. This might have lasted either 5 minutes or half an hour, you're not quite sure. Slowly regaining your senses, Leviathan had naturally calmed down and turned back into his usual form and casual attire… though his dicks were still hanging out of his pants. You laughed.

"Isn't it about time you put those things away?"

Leviathan chuckled nervously.

"Oh… But I-I thought we weren't done?"

…

Huh?

"Well uh, aren't you tired? You came quite a lot… Not to mention from both of them so…"

He looked into your eyes, a pitiful air hanging around him while still holding into his wish firmly.

"No… I can finally kiss you, and touch you freely and even…"

He looked down to your skirt, under which he knows how wet you had gotten after the make-out session you just had despite the fact that you had just climaxed earlier from his tongue.

"Anyway! What I'm trying to say is- I can still go on for way longer. Probably more than you think. If anything, once is quite literally nothing now that I have you. I've dreamed of this for so long♡"

You take a pause to ponder it. It’s not like you couldn’t take him but you still wondered how you should go about this since, well, he has two of them. Plus you wanted to keep things interesting and that box you had found earlier with his "filthy" belongings had some interesting costumes. You stood up, making Levi worried that you might leave only to see him cheer back up when he understood where you’re heading towards.

"You’ve got a lot of slutty outfits in there, huh?"

You take some dog ears and a tail out of it.

"Are they meant for me or for you?"

Leviathan grins at your pick, excited and eager. He reaches deeper into the box, knowing exactly the placement of each object. He could probably navigate in it even with a blindfold on. Not so shockingly, he pulls out a collar and a leash out of it.

"Whichever is fine ehe. I even got a leash to go with it so um, y'know. We can use it right away i-if you want."

Clearly, although he had said that whichever was fine, his eyes were telling another story. Anyone could’ve seen that what he truly wanted was to wear it and get ordered around by you. Not like it was hard for you to do so might as well. You gently put the ears on him.

"Try barking?"

"Woof!♡"

"Cute. You’re the dog then."

His smile widens, happy that you picked the role for him and chose the one he wanted. It takes barely a minute for him to take his clothes off, now he’s only left with the costume and his boxers that clearly outline his cocks. You take a hold of the leash, pulling him as you walk back towards the seat where both of you were making out earlier. He follows you on his hands and knees, already nailing the role. You sit while he stays on the floor.

"Sit."

He sits.

"Look down."

He looks down.

"Paw?"

He puts his hand on yours.

"Good boyyy! So smart."

You scratch him under the chin as if he’s really just a pet.

"W-woofff…♡"

He brings his face to your legs, lovingly rubbing his head and cheek against them. Both of his dicks are already hard and leaking for you, even through the boxers it’s so apparent, it’s almost embarrassing how turned on he got from being treated like an animal. Not like he minds, if that gets you to mock him he’ll take it. Actually, he’ll take anything from you, be it praise or insults.

"Aww is baby all excited to play with me? You wanna feel good inside your owner?"

He nods against your thighs, helplessly craving your touch. Babying himself up to make you feel sorry for his poor state.

"...Alright. Stand up Levia-chan, I’ll suck you off and stroke you for a minute. If you manage to hold it in, I'll let both of them inside me."

He perks up. Had the ears and tail been real, his ears would have perked up as well and the tail would be wagging. He stands up, finally speaking like a human being. That is, if we ignore the drooling and the leash you’re still holding onto.

"N-No way?! Ha… ahhh… Sorry. I’ve gotta calm down. O-Okay. One minute. One minute, you can do this Leviathan."

He mutters to himself, psyching himself up while you’re pulling half down his boxers, taking his upper dick into your mouth and stroking the lower one through his boxers with your free hand, the one that’s not holding the leash.

He keeps his eyes tightly shut, probably realizing that if he opens them and sees your cute face sucking on his gross cock he’ll ejaculate immediately. He breathes heavily and repeats "IcandothisIcandothisoneminutejustoneminutegodplease". You retain your smile, but he’s just so cute. You count up to 60 in your head, it probably wasn’t super accurate but you’re proud of his restraint regardless.

Once you stop, he slowly calms himself down and starts breathing normally again.

"D-did I make it??"

"Yeah. Despite being such a slutty dog, good job hah."

He grins at your mocking tone, enjoying it. Then he opens his eyes, his gaze goes straight to your open legs. As soon as he had calmed down, he got excited again, seeing you ready to take him fully in. He comes closer, his hard cocks hovering over your slippery pussy and ass.

His eyes go a bit crazy for a second, as if he’s in a frenzy, or hypnotized.

"Ahh… Ahh… fuck. Fuck fuck. Really? I can put both of them in?"

You chuckle at how nervous and eager he is.

"Knock yourself out."

He starts to laugh softly, exhilarated.

"Hah. Haha… Oh my god. I’ve always dreamed of shoving my disgusting cocks into your cute and pretty pussy. I’m such a lucky fucking bastard."

He firmly grabs your waist, frankly you’ve never seen him being so sure of something. He slides them in slowly, both in each hole. You squirm and whimper under his unbreakable gaze on your whole being. Your holes gladly taking him in, your soft body, your cute facial expressions as you’re feeling better and better as he’s pushing himself in, he watches all of it so closely that it almost makes you shy.

"S-Stop staring so closely you dirty mutt."

"Y-Yeah. You’re right, I’m a dirty dog~ Please abuse me with your words some more…"

Geez, this guy has a problem… A problem that you find unbearably hot and cute.

He pounds into your holes, holding your legs up from the back of your knees, pushing them upwards, near your face. All the while you’re still holding onto the leash that is strapped on his collar.

"Come on. Please please please… I’m begging Y/N! Just a little bit."

He’s already enjoying himself so much inside you yet he wants even more, he sure is spoiled. But well, you want to see him go even crazier over you. So you do as he wants.

"You absolute gross fuck. You’re more of a pig than a dog you know? I’ve never seen anyone make such an elated face while fucking someone. You should just get over with it and serve me as a sextoy."

He submerges himself in your fake disgusted face, grinning as you’re completely disrespecting him as a human being, or, well, a demonic being. Then he happily glues his body against yours, his lips near your ears as he begs for more insulting words.

"More please, embarrass me more."

Your mind is already wandering off from getting fucked so good. It’s getting harder to think as both of his dicks are pleasuring your insides, making you pump out so much of your juices, more than you ever have. Yet you somehow manage to answer his needs.

"Y-You… You’re just a gross little fuck- A lame creepy otaku with two dicks who gets off on his crush’s insulting words. You s-sure are good at acting cute and pure while all you really are is a masochistic whore- Mmh!"

You can’t see his face but you can feel him smiling and drooling against your neck and shoulders. Suddenly, the air around him turns dark as he takes on his demon form. Completely lost in his lust and pleasure.

He sticks the tip of his scaly tail into your mouth, making you unable to degrade him any further and his pace quickens. He pounds into you harder and faster, his cocks getting ready to unload themselves into your pretty holes.

"A-And yet you’re so kind that you’re letting a lame, gross and disgusting fuck like me pump both of his dicks into you and you’re wholeheartedly sucking on his monstruous tail. Aaaaahh…~ You’re so nice Y/N, I’ll be your toy all you want! Iloveyousomuch.♡ Iloveyou Iloveyou Iloveyou-"

Your mind completely goes blank thanks to all of your holes being filled by his dicks and tail, at this point, fucking him is like fucking 3 guys at the same time. And as you lose yourself, he does so as well. Emptying himself inside you, grinding on you over and over as he keeps cumming for a solid 20 to 30 seconds, you never even thought it was possible for someone to ejaculate for so long… Well he is a beast and a demon.

When he pulls out, his juices flow out of you for a while, maybe even longer than it took for him to cum since his loads have been mingled in with yours inside of you. He hurries over to his phone, taking pictures of you completely fucked out so he can use them later… Well, hopefully he won’t have to, since from now on you’ll always call for him when you need to use his dicks, right?

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Done! As usual please don’t hesitate to leave comments or some tags (or messages in my askbox if you’re shy!) This is tumblr, I can assure you no one will make fun of you or judge you, we’re all chilling in our trash here 🫰

[forest-hashira]

Noble Blood - Chapter Three

i FINALLY finished this chapter!!! not that the wait was exceptionally long between chapters 2 & 3, i know, but there were at least four separate time i thought i was going to be done with this chapter and then realized i was not at a good stopping place. also what i originally planned for this chapter Did Not Happen, and now won't until at least chapter 4, maybe not even until chapter 5, so. hooray for me i guess. sigh. anyways, i hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

fic masterlist here | read on ao3 here | wc: ~5.3k | cw: gender neutral reader, satoru being a little shit as always, some angst (it's not bad tho)

A few days after your visit to the Gojo estate, Satoru showed up in town again, grinning as he ran up to you, bundled up in a heavy coat and scarf. You couldn’t help but grin back, thrilled to see your friend out and about again.

“Hi, Satoru!” you greeted cheerfully, though you quickly had the breath knocked out of you when the boy practically tackled you with a hug, which you returned eagerly once you’d regained your bearings. “Where’s Kenji?” you added quietly, not sure if anyone else outside of the Gojo clan knew about the dragon, or if he was still meant to be a secret.

Satoru released you after you asked the question, glancing around for a moment to make sure no one was watching, before he loosened his scarf a bit.

Confused, you leaned in a bit closer, and you blinked in surprise when you saw a pair of blue eyes staring up at you from a white, scaly face. The hatchling made a little sound, about halfway between a chirp and a growl, then settled in closer to Satoru’s warmth and closed his eyes again.

“My parents wouldn’t let me leave without him, but they didn’t want anyone to see him yet,” Satoru explained. “Even if they hadn’t made me bring him I would have. He looked sad when I wasn’t holding him, and it made me sad, too.”

You nodded slightly, leaning back from your friend, opting to give him back his personal space, though he’d never been particularly keen on maintaining that distance from anyone – especially not his friends. 

“We should go somewhere,” he said after a moment, shifting on his feet, looking as if he were about to take off running in a random direction just to see if you would follow.

“Like where?”

“I dunno. Maybe to Nanami-san’s bakery?”

“I don’t have any money. Do you?”

He checked his pockets, then frowned. “No.”

The two of you went back and forth like that for a little bit longer, neither of you able to come up with somewhere in town you could go that didn’t pose an issue; you didn’t have money for the bakery, Satoru rejected the idea of going to the library, and neither of you wanted to go to the observation deck in the middle of the day, when your odds of getting caught were much higher and there were no stars to look at.

Suddenly, your friend’s blue eyes lit up. “We should go to the beach!”

“Satoru, it’s freezing.”

He rolled his eyes at your words. “Not to get in the water, dummy. We can skip stones or something. Plus I’m bored just standing here.”

You hesitated for a moment, but you didn’t have a good reason to say no, so instead you gave a small shrug. “Alright,” you conceded. “To the beach.”

Satoru’s grin returned full force, and he grabbed your hand before taking off at a dead sprint towards the ocean.

Even knowing you were about to be dragged off to satisfy Satoru’s whim, you still stumbled over your own feet, and it took you a few seconds to catch yourself before you were able to really keep up with him. Adults called out for the two of you to watch out as you ran past, Satoru practically shoving people out of the way as he went, ignoring the human shouts and dragon chuffs as he pulled you along, and despite yourself, you giggled. It was nice to be doing something normal with Satoru again, even though you weren’t even sure what normal would look like going forward, after the teacher the Gojo clan head had sent for arrived in the settlement to help Satoru train Kenji.

Those thoughts were shoved aside as you stumbled to a halt on the beach, your friend releasing your hand to start searching for stones to try and skip across the unusually calm waters. You quickly followed his lead, walking a few steps away as you looked, eventually returning to your friend’s side with a small handful of smooth, round stones about the size of your palm.

As the two of you took turns skipping rocks, seeing who could get the most skips – Satoru was currently in the lead with six – you turned to watch him for a moment, unable to help but notice the way his fluffy, unruly white hair stuck out against the blue-grey of the ocean and the sky beginning to grow overcast. Thankfully, you looked away before he could catch you, but as you turned out to face the water once again, you noticed something you hadn’t before.

“Is that a ship?” you asked your friend, pointing at the shape quickly approaching from the distance.

Satoru frowned at your words, then followed your finger towards the horizon, looking a bit surprised when he spotted the shape. “I think it is,” he agreed.

“Should we tell someone?” You felt a bit uneasy, not entirely sure why a strange ship would be approaching the settlement with no sort of warning or announcement amongst the town.

The boy beside you seemed hesitant, an uneasy expression settling over his face, though his looked more disappointed than worried. “No,” he sighed after a moment. “I think I know why it’s here.”

“What?” you squawked. “Who is it? Why is it here?”

“I think it’s the teacher my parents sent for.” 

You went completely still at his words, gaping at him in disbelief. “Didn’t your parents just send for him?” How could he be here so quickly?

“They probably told him it was urgent, or offered him a lot of money.” Satoru paused for a moment, then added, “Or both.”

“Does this mean you’ll be training all the time now?” Will I even see you anymore?

He finally turned and met your eyes again, still looking displeased by the whole situation. “We still have some time before the ship gets here,” he said, offering you a small smile. “I don’t have to go home yet, and if we hide before the ship is here we can spend a little more time together.” His gaze was hopeful, and you realized he was trying to cheer you up, while also avoiding your question. After a moment, you decided it wasn’t worth it to argue, and you nodded.

You skipped stones in silence after that, though your heart wasn’t in it anymore; you kept looking towards the boat, dread and sadness growing heavier and heavier in your gut the closer it got. 

Once the boat was close enough that you could hear men’s voices carrying across the water, Satoru took your hand, and the two of you took off again, running back through town, looking for a place to hide. Before you could find one, though, you heard your father call out your name, and both you and Satoru nearly toppled over from how quickly you stopped.

Your father called your name again, and you glanced from him back to your friend, a pained look on your face; he knew as well as you did that you found disobeying your parents nearly impossible. He smiled at you and nodded, giving your hand a squeeze. 

“I’ll see you again soon,” he promised. “I’m gonna tell you all about my new teacher. He’s probably an old man who can barely see and has a dragon that can’t fly.”

A little laugh escaped you before you could stop it, despite the fact that you were hesitant to leave his side. “Bye, Satoru,” you said softly, squeezing his hand in return before letting him go, calling back to your father as you ran to join him.

Despite his assurance that he would see you soon, Satoru started coming around less and less often. You tried to hide how upset it made you to not be able to see him much, your other friends picked up on it easily. 

Utahime started inviting you to take walks around the settlement with her. More often than not the two of you wound up at the library, huddled together in a corner, thankful for each other’s company and the peaceful atmosphere of the building. Most of the time, Utahime would find a book to read, and you would read over her shoulder. She read a lot of history books, which you initially found dry and boring, though occasionally the accounts of battles fought and dragons encountered would pique your interest. Your favorite she read was the diary of the last rider to ever bond with a metallic dragon, more than three hundred years before you were born. He was, unsurprisingly, a member of the Gojo clan, making him one of Satoru’s ancestors. 

Shoko started inviting you out, as well, though her invitations were more practical than peaceful; she would ask if you wanted to help her gather herbs her parents would need to make the medicines they used in their clinic. You didn’t know as much as Shoko did about these things, but following her instructions on what to pick and what to avoid was easy enough. As you went on more and more of these trips with your friend, you began to pick up on a few things: willow bark for pain, valerian for help with sleep, yarrow tea for fever; you weren’t sure why you’d ever need to know any of this, since you weren’t going to become a healer, but Shoko insisted it was always good to know a little about a lot of things. 

Kento even asked once if you wanted to spend time with him, pointing out that you seemed lonely, now that Satoru was spending more and more of his time at the Gojo estate. You had agreed, not knowing what to expect from your young but serious friend, and you were more than a little surprised when he took you back to his family’s bakery. 

“My parents do all the actual baking,” Kento told you, as you hovered outside the kitchen, “but sometimes they need help with other things, like cutting shapes out of the cookie dough, or glazing the pastries once they cool.”

All you did was nod, still in awe of the scale of everything in and around the kitchen; you’d helped your parents in your own kitchen at home, of course, but you’d never seen bags of flour or sugar so big and heavy, though Kento’s father seemed to have no issue picking them up and carrying them around. Even the dragons had their own jobs to do: Kento’s father’s dragon – a small white and beige creature, who you learned was named Ginger – tended to the fires for the ovens, keeping the heat consistent and adjusting the temperature when necessary, which Kento’s mother’s dragon, Cinnamon, carried trays of finished goods from the kitchen to the display racks, every tray perfectly balanced, not so much as a wobble as she walked. 

Your friend’s parents were incredibly kind, asking if you wanted to try and help with anything in the kitchen, but you had turned them down, not wanting to get under their feet or be the reason anything got burnt. 

Kento’s mother had offered you a gentle smile, nodding in understanding at your hesitance. “We need someone to cut out the cookies for us, if you’d like to help the kids with that,” she suggested, tilting her head towards where her son was rolling out cookie dough on a large table, Kokoro next to him with what you assumed were cookie cutters in her hands – one was a circle, the other a star. 

“I can do that,” you agreed, sitting on the opposite side of the table from the Nanami siblings, watching them curiously.

“Can you put the cookies on the baking tray after Koro cuts them out?” Kento asked, and you couldn't help but smile at the way he shortened his sister’s name, since you rarely heard him do such a thing.

“I’m not good at that part,” the girl added, a slight frown on her lips.

“I’ll do my best,” you said, then watched as the pair cut the shapes out of cookie dough: Kokoro’s excitement to be cutting out star shapes was palpable, and you were a little surprised she didn’t overlap any cutouts with how close together she was making them. 

Once you were sure your fingers wouldn’t accidentally fall victim to the little girl’s eager cutting, you carefully began to pick up the dough stars, laying them out on the tray that had been waiting on the table for the three of you. As you worked, you spared a glance over at Kento, and you had to stifle a laugh; some of his circles were fine, but a lot of them looked like they’d been overlapped and cut multiple times, leaving them oddly shaped and looking incomplete.

Before you could say anything, your blonde friend caught you looking. “They’re supposed to look like this,” he told you. “So they look like different phases of the moon. They’re for the New Year’s festival in a couple days.”

His words sobered you instantly, and the laugh you’d been holding back died in your throat. He was right, the annual New Year’s celebration was just a few days away, but the reminder made you realize just how much time had passed since you’d been able to spend any time with Satoru, and it made you sad.

The siblings noticed your change in demeanor right away, and Kokoro, as sweet as ever, rushed to cheer you up. “Everyone will be at the festival!” she said. “Everyone will be there and we’ll all have a lot of fun.”

“I’m sure Satoru will be there,” Kento added, offering you a slight smile before he finished cutting out the cookies. 

You offered a weak smile in return, nodding silent as you returned to the task of putting the cookies on the baking tray. Though you tried not to show it, you were in a much more dejected mood the rest of the day.  

The last two days before the New Year’s festival flew by, and before you knew it, your mother was dressing you in a red kimono with little white fish on it and fussing with your hair like she always did, though this time you didn’t fight her or try to hurry her along at all.

You hovered around your parents for a while at the beginning of the festival, unsure of where Shoko and Utahime were, and knowing that the Nanami siblings would be at their parents’ booth, helping them sell the cookies and other pastries they’d spent the last few days preparing; you’d seen them for a few moments when your parents had stopped by the booth for cookies.

The festival wasn’t unpleasant in and of itself, but your mood had yet to recover from how low it had dropped since your separation from your best friend. After about half an hour of being your mother’s shadow, you heard a familiar voice call your name, and you whipped your head around, searching for the speaker. 

“Satoru?” you called back, hoping you had actually heard him, and it wasn’t just your mind playing a cruel joke on you. Looking for a flash of white didn’t even help you this time, since so many people were wearing white, but thankfully you heard your name called again, and suddenly there he was, blue eyes flashing with relief when he caught sight of you.

“There you are!” he said, grinning as he raced up to you, his face flushed. He paused for a moment, looking up at your parents, giving them a slight bow in greeting. “Would it be alright if we walked around the festival together?” he asked, almost shockingly polite in that moment.

Your parents shared a look, though you could tell from the smiles on both of their faces that they were going to agree.

“Run along,” your father agreed, gesturing for you two to enjoy the festivities on your own.

“Try not to get into too much trouble, alright?” your mother added before you could run off.

Thanking them with a grin, Satoru took your hand and tugged you off in a different direction. “I didn’t want to tell your parents,” he said, leaning in a bit closer to make sure nobody else would hear him as he spoke. “But I’m not really supposed to be out here mingling with people.”

“You’re not?” you asked, glancing around, wondering if someone was already looking for your friend to drag him back to his family. 

Satoru shook his head. “No, I’m not. I think my parents wanted to make a big deal out of announcing my bond with Kenji tonight, but I don’t want to be part of it.”

“You don’t?” you felt a bit stupid for asking such simpleminded questions, but his words baffled you; normally Satoru loved to brag when he was the first to get or accomplish something, so the fact that he wasn’t jumping at the chance to rub it in everyone’s faces that he, at the young age of only eight years old, had bonded with his dragon seemed a little odd.

“No,” he said. “Kenji is my dragon, not anyone else’s. Nobody else will ever train him, or have much of anything to do with raising and taking care of him. Why should it matter if everyone else knows?”

You were silent for a moment, blinking in surprise at his words. “That is… surprisingly grown up of you,” you said eventually, and you couldn’t help but giggle softly at the look he shot you. 

“You don’t need to sound so shocked about it,” he groused, but you could tell he was fighting a smile of his own. He opened his mouth, presumably to insist he was Very Mature, Actually, but before he could say anything, someone started calling out for him.

“Satoru!” The voice was unfamiliar to you, somewhat gruff and clearly frustrated, and you couldn’t yet see who it belonged to.

Satoru’s hand tightened around your own, and he gave you a mischievous grin. “Run,” he said, and the two of you instantly started sprinting away from the voice, ducking and weaving between other townspeople as you went. 

“Who are we running from?” you asked breathlessly, as Satoru tugged you around the corner of a building, both of you crouching low to try and stay out of sight.

“Yaga-sensei,” your friend answered, looking around to make sure you hadn’t been spotted. “He’s the teacher my parents sent for after I bonded with Kenji.” He finally turned to look at you then, a slight scowl on his face. “He’s bossy and he’s boring. I don’t like him.”

Even having never met the man, you also felt a sort of resentment towards him; after he had arrived in the settlement, Satoru had been secluded up in the Gojo estate, unable to leave and spend time with his friends the way he used to. 

You stood there for a few moments longer, still catching your breath, when you realized something. “Do you have Kenji?” you asked, brows furrowed slightly. 

Before Satoru could say anything, you heard a small chirping noise, and just a second later, Kenji’s head popped out of the boy’s sleeve, right by where your hands were still joined. 

“You’re not supposed to be down there!” Satoru exclaimed, releasing your hand and scolding his dragon for causing problems.

Stifling your laughter proved a challenge as you watched your friend try to negotiate his dragon out of his sleeve so that Satoru could get Kenji settled closer to his own body heat. Kenji was as hesitant to follow orders as his rider, and almost seemed to backtalk Satoru every time the boy spoke to him.

“Fine!” Satoru said after a bit, clearly feeling exasperated as he stared at his dragon. “Fine. I’ll make sure to share my desserts with you. Now will you please come down from there before that crazy old man finds us?”

“You should really be more respectful when talking about your teachers.”

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard the voice from behind you, and you half-hid behind your friend as you looked up to get a proper look at the speaker.

He was tall, with a fair amount of dark hair on his head, styled to be slightly spiky, and he wore a pair of tinted lenses, which you thought was odd, since it was growing dark outside; all that to say, he looked nothing like the old men who lived in the settlement. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at you and Satoru, a displeased and unimpressed look on his face.

“Satoru,” the man began, though your friend cut him off before he could continue. 

“Yaga-sensei,” Satoru retorted, mimicking his teacher’s facial expression and stance – as well as he could with Kenji climbing out of his sleeve, anyways.

“You were supposed to stay with your parents and I,” Yaga said, exasperation already evident in his voice.

“Was I?” Satoru asked, playing innocent. “I didn’t know that.”

“We told you no less than four times that you were not to go running off.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

As teacher and student continued to bicker back and forth, you watched Kenji as finally crawled completely out of Satoru’s sleeve, and began to make his way up his arm to the neck of his kimono. Instead of tucking himself close to your friend’s body heat again, though, the dragon turned and looked at you, a curious little chirping noise coming from his lips as he altered his course, taking unsteady steps onto the sleeve of your kimono, where you were hiding behind and clinging to Satoru.

You stared, wide-eyed, as the little creature made his way up your arm, across your shoulder, and eventually draped himself across the back of your neck, like a tiny, reptilian scarf. A shiver ran down your spine as he settled his scales against your skin; he was cold, so cold you weren’t sure how he was still able to move around with relative ease.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Yaga’s voice was much closer than it was before, and you were startled when you looked up to see him staring down at you.

“What I’m— huh?” you stammered, unsure what he could possibly be talking about. 

“You’re trying to steal Satoru’s dragon,” he said. “You’re not as sneaky as you might think.”

Your eyes went wide with panic. “N-No! I’m not— I would never take Kenji from Satoru!” you insisted. “He climbed up here by himself, and I didn’t want to scare him or knock him on the ground by moving too suddenly.”

“He climbed on you?” Satoru asked, eyes wide; he looked absolutely fascinated. “Where is he?”

“Y-Yeah, he’s laying on my neck… I don’t understand what the big deal is, I figured he was just trying to get warm.” Your brows furrowed as you looked at your friend, unsure about why he was acting like it was such a big deal.

“White dragons have ice powers when they grow up,” Yaga explained. “They’re built to handle cool temperatures. They rarely need to be kept warm, even as hatchlings.”

“And Kenji doesn’t let anyone touch him but me,” Satoru added, grinning widely at you now, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

Still confused by everything that was happening, you angled your head to try and see Kenji, where he had draped himself around your neck. He met your eyes steadily, his little head tilted slightly to the side, as if he were waiting for you to say something to him. You stared dumbly for a moment, then asked, “Are you comfy?”

Not being as familiar with Kenji as Satoru was, you weren’t entirely sure what his mannerisms meant, but the dragon seemed almost…amused? The sound he made sort of resembled a laugh, and he settled back down afterwards.

“Satoru,” you asked, turning back to your friend, completely bewildered. “What is happening right now?”

“No idea!” he replied cheerfully. “But Kenji likes you, which is good. He doesn’t like anyone else but me.”

You nodded slightly, glancing briefly over at Yaga, before a thought occurred to you. “Do you think your parents would let me meet the other hatchling?” you asked, feeling hope flicker to life inside your chest. “If they knew that Kenji was friendly with me, maybe that means that I need to meet—”

“It never hatched,” Yaga cut in, and you felt almost as if you’d been struck.

“What?”

“The second egg never hatched,” Satoru elaborated, much more gently than his surly teacher. “Nobody’s sure why, but Kenji was the only hatchling from that clutch.”

All of the hope and excitement left your body at the words, and you felt yourself deflating; the odds were slim that the Gojo clan ever would have let you meet Kenji’s nestmate in the first place, and you had no delusions of being as special or important as Satoru, so even if you had been able to meet the hatchling, it was unlikely you would have bonded with it anyways. But, still, it hurt to have those hopes smothered so quickly.

“I’m sorry,” Satoru said quietly, noticing the disappointment written clear across your face. He stepped in a bit closer, taking your hand again and giving it a gentle squeeze; a squeeze you half-heartedly returned.

“Not your fault,” you sighed, only giving yourself a moment to feel crestfallen, before shaking yourself of the gloom; there was still a festival to enjoy, after all.

“Satoru,” Yaga said, “you’ll be coming with me, and returning to sit with your parents before the announcement is made.”

“I will be doing no such thing, Yaga-sensei.” Satoru’s grip on your hand tightened slightly as he spoke, and he stared his teacher dead in the eyes as he defied them.

“Satoru—” 

“I have told you, and my parents, and everyone on the estate who could hear me, that I have no desire to be involved in some silly announcement that doesn’t even benefit anyone. It just makes my parents feel more important, and it makes everyone else in the settlement jealous. It’s stupid. Whether I have my dragon yet and how I choose to train that dragon isn’t anyone else’s business.”

Yaga continued to stare your friend down for several long moments; you knew Satoru well enough to know he wouldn’t back down, and if Yaga were to force him to go back to his parents, Satoru would scream and thrash and bite and cause such a scene that it would embarrass his parents so deeply that no announcement of their son bonding with his dragon at such a young age would be able to make up for it.

Apparently coming to the same conclusion, Yaga sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. “Fine, I won’t force you to come back. Just promise me you won’t cause any problems?”

Satoru exchanged a mischievous look with you before turning back to his teacher. “I will try my best.”

Yaga, looking thoroughly unconvinced by Satoru’s answer, let out a long, slow breath through his nose, as if holding back some sort of remark. Then, with one last glance at you with Kenji around your neck, he turned and walked away, presumably back to where Satoru’s parents were waiting for their son to be returned to them. 

“I don’t think he likes me,” you told Satoru, after you were sure the older man was out of earshot.

“I don’t think he likes me either,” he replied; you found his comment oddly reassuring, and you laughed.

“Not exactly what I thought you’d say to make me feel better.”

Satoru turned to face you then, a slightly quizzical look on his face. “Who cares if that old man likes you or not? He’s not your teacher. Besides,” he added, his eyes darting to his dragon. “Kenji likes you, and that’s a much bigger deal.” He did genuinely seem thrilled that his dragon was fond of you, though you still weren’t certain as to why. You didn’t want to crush his excitement, though, so you decided not to push it.

“Yeah,” you agreed, unable to help but return your friend’s contagious smile. “I guess that is pretty cool.”

“Come on,” Satoru said after a moment, tugging you along behind him as he made his way back to the festival. “I want to find Utahime and beat her at that ring toss game again.”

Another laugh escaped you then, and you hurried after him as you remembered the last new year’s festival; there had been a ring toss game set up, and the prize for winning was a large paper lantern, expertly crafted and painted to resemble a goldfish. Utahime and Shoko had spent all their money trying and failing to win the lantern, but Satoru had won first try, and then several more rounds after that. He’d selected the lantern as his prize, grinning at Utahime in a way that she had taken as smug, and she had stormed off with tears in her eyes. He’d looked so confused when Shoko had hurried after your friend to comfort her, shooting Satoru a glare.

“Why is she upset?” he’d asked you.

“Because you won the prize she wanted.”

“...Oh,” he’d said after a moment, though he’d still looked a little confused. “I was going to give it to her,” he’d explained. “I just thought the game was fun, I didn’t actually want any of the prizes.”

It had taken a bit of hunting, but eventually the two of you had been able to find Shoko consoling Utahime behind one of the stalls selling sparklers, and Satoru had explained everything to the other girl.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Hime.”

She’d just stared at him for a moment, slack-jawed, holding the goldfish lantern in her hands. “It’s okay,” she’d eventually managed to say, the tips of her ears going red. “Thank you for winning the lantern for me.”

You’d seen that same goldfish lantern in her bedroom, proudly displayed on her bedside table, the last time you’d gone to visit her.

The sound of your friends’ voices drew you out of your reminiscing, and you grinned when you spotted Shoko and Utahime already standing in front of the ring toss stall. There were no lanterns as prizes this year, but there was a small, hand-painted wall hanging of exotic flowers that Shoko seemed to have her eye on. The girls were hesitant to play at first, but were easily convinced when Satoru promised to pay for everybody.

As your other two friends stepped forward to get their rings for the first round, you held Satoru back just long enough to put Kenji back around his neck, rather than your own; you didn’t want to cause any issues with his family if you got caught with a dragon that wasn’t yours.

Satoru’s eyes sparkled fondly as he smiled at you, adjusting the neck of his kimono and allowing Kenji to settle close to his body heat again. “Thanks,” he said quietly, then took your hand and tugged you to stand alongside Shoko and Utahime, getting your own rings and tossing them at the bottles stacked at various heights, trying to land enough of them to win a prize. 

By the end of the night, all four of you were bickering and laughing just like always, and it was easy to forget that so much had already changed in such a short period of time. After tonight, Satoru would go back to his constant lessons with Yaga, and he would still be unable to come and spend time with your friend group like he used to, but tonight, none of that mattered. Tonight, you were going to work together to win that poster for Shoko.

reblogs & likes always appreciated!!! especially reblogs, guys, seriously. keeps my writer heart happy & full and my writer brain motivated!!! 💜

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[astriddestelle]

The way I was obsessed with enemies to lovers/rivals to lovers as a kid 😭😭😭 my top pairings growing up ranked. Canon/Fanon included.

Can you tell I’ve been on a nostalgic rewatch.

1. Logan/Quinn from Zoey 101. The OG teenbop enemies to lovers omg I stan. When they pronounced their love for each other at the season finale at the prom, screaming crying throwing up. The way they get together is so random lmao he calls her hot and they kiss then Michael rides by on a horse like what? But the pay off and ending was so *chefs kiss*

2. Courtney/Duncan from TDI. They were everything to me and Cartoon Network ruined it. First season the bantering, the flirting. When I tell you I was hooked. The scream I scrumpt when they finally kissed (also me didn’t she just throw up but whatever I guess) then she left and it was all downhill from there.

3. Rose/Jake from ADJL. The Romeo and Juliet of this paring needs to be studied. They were so down bad for each other. When Jake found out she was huntsgirl then when she found out. Their first kiss being right before she had to ‘kill’ him for sport in an arena. Her giving up her life to keep him and his family safe, him giving up her to keep her safe. 😭😭😭 they don’t make em like they used too

4. Draco/Harry from HP. The ship that started it all. Before this I’d never read a slash fic before is it even still called that. Anyways this right here is my longest going ship I’m still into only reason it’s not higher is that I love the other ones more. You get so many variations of this, from the super toxic fic, to the I’ve always secretly loved you, to the meet up after the war is over and so on and so forth. Ugh I love it. There’s like 50,000 fics of them on a03 and I know I’ve read like half at least 🤣

5. Zuko/Katara from Avatar. My second non canon ship on here. When I tell you I was obsessed with them. Sigh then I discovered other fandoms and by the time I came back to them I was just done. Which I think comes fromm just not being as much of a Zuko fan anymore. This ship was gold, tho, I mean come on I’ll save you from the pirates how can I not. The way he jumped in front of her (obviously he’d do the same for everyone but like listen it ate down bad) the whole crystal caverns episode was fuel to the fire, the writers/creators knew what they were doing

6. Jake/Miley from Hannah Montana. Another OG omg she hated him so much. The flirty the snark then they had to kiss and both of em were like oh hot damn. They were so cute together and I will forever hate Disney for making her choose Jake just for him to cheat on her like what was the reason. What was the reason 😭😭

7. Alejandro/Heather from TDI. Woo child buckle up. This is one of those slowburns cause it’s not until like a quarter in to the season you’re like hold up. Are they going where I think they’re going and then they did. I don’t like the ending cause seriously wtf was the point. But the lead up and bruh the stuck in a hole song I still sing that on a daily. They were literally made for each other.

8. Chad/Sonny from Sonny with a Chance: one thing about Disney they ate down when it comes to enemies to lovers, or annoyance to like, whatever you wanna call it. Chad Dylan Cooper and Sonny omg the drama was beautiful, they hated each other so much and when they started dating I bout passed out. Lol they were so hilarious together I miss it.

9. Raven/Beastboy from TT. This and next two aren’t super enemies to lovers, more live annoyances or belligerent sexual tension. But I really was obsessed with this, like I was the girl reading Terra bashing fics 😭😭 they were so cute, the Beast Within was ship gold, Nevermore, the fact that she holds onto to the penny he gives her when she ‘dies’ and oh he only turns into the Beast again to protect her from Slade and never again. Beautiful

10. Jimmy/Cindy from JN. They may have only been nine but sheesh the rivalry to lovers or in this case crushes was intense. Cindy was down bad since day one but she hid that shit so well. The Valentine’s Day episode still makes me giggle like a kid. And the last episode where they’re legit just straight up flirting with each other I can not. When she almost confesses when he’s the orange hulk. So cute.

Honarary mentions:

Jinx/Kid Flash from TT. They were cute but I hated it solely for the fact that it shoulda been me 😭😭🤧🤧

Sam/Freddie from icarly. Ok so I used to love this one and as I got older, Sam was just so fucking mean that I couldn’t ship like damn. At some point it’s not cute anymore, it’s just down right abusive, early seasons yes, later seasons where they’re actually together no.

Bakugo/Deku simply cause some days I think it’s cute other days I hate it

Mindy and Josh from Drake and Josh. Cute and amusing but didn’t care for em much.

Bailey and Code from Suite Life on Deck see above.

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hi, could you please recommended any fics that were basically stiles or anyone from the halen pack join the BAU. Thank you

Yeah, @ashton23458!

I'll Blow This (open wide) by LadySlytherin

(1/1 I 12,595 I Teen I Sterek)

FBI intern Stiles Stilinski is beyond excited at the prospect of joining the elite Behavioral Analysis Team. The BAU seems happy to have him joining their number.

When a fellow-intern comes to the mistaken conclusion that Stiles Stilinski and Dr. Spencer Reid are both dating the same person, Stiles sees it as an opportunity to bond with his future-teammate. One should never underestimate the pranking ability of two geniuses with devious tendencies.

Temporarily Misappropriating the BAU by L3T5_G3T_KR4K3N

(6/? I 15,423 I Mature I Stanny)

Stiles Stilinski would like it known that he did not intend to break the law. Or get a new boyfriend. Or be forcefully adopted and recruited by the BAU. He never intended to solve murders, just as he never intended to get his best friend turned into a Halloween stereotype. Though he doesn't regret it, he would like to blame it on Scott and Jackson for leaving Stiles and Danny unsupervised in a lockable room with alcohol. Honestly, their lives would have been much simpler if they had just stuck to the normal teenage things like making out, instead of hacking the BAU. - - - - - - - - - - - You created a Group Chat with PG and 5 others.

The Lawston Butcher was a woman, not a dude. Pretty sure she was your third witness, Mrs. Alfia.

DM: What?

George Gelding wasn’t one of her victims, which threw off your data. His killer just used the Butcher’s method to throw off the trail. Also, his killer was most likely Kyle Freeden.

AH: Thank you for your input on one of our past cases. May we have your name for the record of the tip?

LOL no. I’m drunk, not stupid.

I'll cross this country on a frequency by illusemywords

(18/18 I 53,541 I Mature I Sterek)

“Stiles, I need you to run a license plate for me.”

“Whatever you need, babe.”

“Don’t call me babe.”

“Stop being such a sourwolf, just tell me the numbers.”

or

The one where there's a serial killer on the loose, Stiles Stilinski has a stalker and Derek Hale doesn't know how to express his emotions.

The New Member by Shadowofahunter

(30/30 I 60,241 I Mature I Stydia)

After losing Prentiss the team is raw, but when the new Agent Stilinski joins in her place they begin to heal.

Set in season 6 and ignores the cases.

Unforgettable by Sallyasher1994

(18/18 I 161,523 I Explicit I Sterek)

“No, I guess not,” Stiles shakes his head distractedly, “What’s this about anyway?” What was it about? Had his dad called and complained about his attitude over the phone? Technically it was made from a work station but it was a personal phone call. He can’t get in trouble for that right? Then Stiles thought about how his stand in boss had mentioned Derek. Derek who is in Beacon Hills right now. Within driving distance of his father. All alone. Without his scrawny, children’s book comparison of a husband to defend him. Stiles felt his heart sink with dread. What had his dad done?

“Everyone get your go bags, we’re heading to Beacon Hills,” - Derek and Stiles are married and work for the FBI, with Scott, Stiles best friend and Derek’s brother. Stiles has always struggled with his father hating Derek, but he never thought it would culminate in the man arresting Derek for several murders. Stiles and Scott have to take the team to their home now and see if they can not only free Derek, but also catch a killer, and do it before anyone else gets hurt… they can’t do all three.

Sheriff is not awesome. Like he was, but now he sucks. Seriously it’s so worth a read but don’t expect to love the sheriff.

Raised By Wolves by auburn 

(6/6 I 186,765 I Mature I Scallison)

An alternate universe mash of season one and two (with later elements), where the FBI is called in to investigate the murders in a small town. Peter doesn't manage to kill Kate, the kanima is not Jackson, Scott McCall is a failure as a friend, Stiles has to face some hard truths, Derek's never been human, the BAU sees what they expect to see, and Gerard Argent is still more monstrous than any werewolves.

[consistentlyamess]

Wild Sweetness ⎮ Chapter 1 - Actin' like a sweet car crash

[2.9K]

pairing(s): luca x fem!oc MJ

summary: MJ has just settled in after opening back up a bakery in Chicago when some unexpected news stir up some old feelings

warnings: not much so far, takes place during and after season 3, 18+ , MDNI, swearing, eventual smut, second chance romance, pining, slowburn, flashbacks in italics, lmk if i missed anything!!

A/N: heeelloo!! this idea has been sloshing around in my head since i watched season 2 and started working on it while waiting for season 3. comments, likes, reblogs are appriciated as always or just come chat at me! And as always 💜💜💜 TY for reading!!!!💜💜💜

Fic Masterlist I Previous Chapter I Next Chapter

London, 5 years earlier 

Everyone warned her about the harsh English autumn dawns. It would be cold and dark and dewy. And it was. But it was also cosy and quiet and nice. She liked that every now and then a grumpy early bird smiled back at her after she handed them their order, she liked that she had a steady trickle of people for a about an hour before the morning rush flooded in and she liked the thought of being done by 3 pm and still getting to go for a walk or sit in the library and study for her classes. But not all of it was fun. Not all the time anyway. There was always one asshole. And sometimes she could deal with them just fine. With a cold but persistent smile on her face. But sometimes they just struck a nerve. 

‘Hi! Welcome to Crumbly Delights, how can I hel- oh, Marcie, hi!’ 

‘Hello, sweetheart, how are you doing?’ 

‘Oh, I’m good, how are you? Long night?’ 

‘You know it. We’re re-organizing the whole kids book section and it just feels like a never-ending task.’ 

‘Woof, I can only imagine. What can I get ya’ darling? And knock yourself out, it’s on me.’ 

‘Oh, now I can’t possibly accept that!’ 

‘Yes, you can and you will! Come on, don’t break the heart of a generous American. And besides, how many times have you let me stay after closing? Or waived late fees?’ 

‘Alright, alright, just this once. I’ll have a raspberry-vanilla danish and a cappuccino to go then.’ 

‘Atta girl, coming right up!’ she said with a warm smile. She didn’t miss the man who walked in with a serious look on his face. Even though he had this boyish streak to him, his eyebrows somehow made him look like he was perpetually stern and concerned about something. She didn’t pay him any mind until she heard him mutter under his breath. 

‘It is waaaay too early to be this chipper in the morning.’ 

She dealt with assholes every single day. She knew how to take care of them, she knew how not to take it personally. But in front of Marcie was another thing. The nicest, wisest British lady, who saved her on so many lonely nights. Not with her. 

‘Well, fuck you too! You wanna try again?’ she replied with a cutting tone. 

They all froze for a moment. Her, fixing this douche with a glare, Marcie, with rounded eyes and a hand raised in front her mouth in surprise, and the douche with a slight embarrassed blush and mouth moving like a fish’s, stranded on shore. She raised an eyebrow that said, ‘try me you dick’. 

‘Uh, uhm’ he started stammering. ‘Shit, sorry, fuck I-uh, I’m sorry! I’m- i’m a chef and I have early mornings and I never, ever wanted to greet anybody like this, at 5 in the morning. I was taken aback a bit, I think, I’m sorry.’ 

‘I’m not a chef, I just work here and I’m paid to be cheerful and nice with dickheads like you all day. So, if you want to buy something, the least you can do is keep your mouth shut if you din’t have anything nice to say.’

‘We- You’re right. I’m sorry. Everything you just said was right. I’ve had a rough week, which is not an excuse, just an explanation. I’m not usually like this.’ 

‘Apology accepted. So, what can I get you today?’ 

‘I’ll just have a coffee and a croissant. Please.

‘Great, coming right up!’ she said, still with a smile on her face. She shot a ‘this fucking guy’ glance at Marcie and got to work on the on orders.

‘Have great day darling, I hope I’ll see you soon at the library.’ Marcie said as she left. 

‘Oh, don’t you worry, you will! Have a great day Marcie!’ The coffee she was making for the douche (she decided, she’ll just call him that) was ready but she thought she’ll take her time with it. 

‘Alright, here’s the croissant and the coffee, it’ll be 5,50 please.’ 

‘Right’ the douche said. He started searching for change in his pocket and she was somewhat ashamed to admit that the flustered haze pleased her a little bit. He eventually put a 10 pound bill on the counter. ‘Here.’ She started looking for change before he said: 

‘No, no-no, I don’t want the change, sorry. I was a dick and this is the least I can do.’ 

‘Well, thank you.’ She started to feel a little bad now. ‘I’m sorry that I snapped at you. It is early and even though you were being a dick, I shouldn’t have.’ 

‘Given the circumstances I think you were remarkably merciful. So, again, sorry, uhm Ma-’ he was looking at her nametag. 

‘Oh, Marjolaine. It’s French. But no one really calls me that.’ 

‘Really? It’s a beautiful name.’ 

‘You already gave me a tip, you don’t have to keep buttering me up. You’re forgiven.’ 

He chuckled at that. 

‘I actually think it’s a beautiful name. And I’m honestly surprised you didn’t spit in my coffee. The servers I worked with definitely would’ve done that.’ 

‘Well, you would’ve seen me do that. Sue us for healthcode violations or just never come back here. Can’t really risk losing business here.’ 

‘Oh, I definitely would’ve come back. Even with the spit, my conscious will only be clear, if i can leave you a tip like three more times’ 

It was now her turn to chuckle a little bit. 

‘Are all chefs such smooth talkers?’ 

‘Most of them are- how should I put this? They do tend to find some enjoyment in uhm, smooth talking and conquests.’ 

She blew raspberries as she laughed in surprise.

‘Conquests? Where are you from? The 1800s? You guys fuck the servers. Everybody knows this since the Kitchen Confidentials, there’s no need to be coy about it.’ 

‘You Americans and your straightforwardness.’ 

‘You guys and your weird prudishness.’ 

‘Well, this is where the Victorian values started. Also, not all chefs shag anything that moves. Pastry chefs generally tend to be a little more tender.’ 

‘Ah, pastry chef, huh?’ 

‘Yup, a late one at that. I better get going.’ He started leaving and she found herself wanting to say something that would make him stay. Almost as if hearing her thoughts, he turned back before stepping out. 

‘I’m Luca by the way. If you’re ever in the neighbourhood, come check out the Mimosa, my treat. Have a nice day.’ 

‘Thanks, you too.’

Chicago, Present day

The first time MJ moved into the small apartment above the bakery she immediately fell in love with the kitchen. It was probably the biggest space in there, wide counters, big fridge, small pantry that definitely made up for the lack of a bathtub. But the absolute knockout had to be the fact that it had not one but two windows. On two different sides making sure that sunshine and light could always get in. A far cry from the gloomy little London apartment she used to have. A far cry even from her first Chicago apartment from like two years ago. Coming back to the States was difficult enough, feeling like she had to start everything over at almost thirty. But there was something about the kitchen and the curtains with the small flower print that immediately had her heart. After moving in, the first thing she did was bake a peach pie. After the frenzy of moving, the uncertainties of starting a new job - the only thing she could think of at that moment, finally stopping after a gruelling month, was baking something. Nothing was unpacked, boxes filled nearly every surface area. Except for the kitchen. Getting ready to bake back then involved setting up her workspace for the first time, which finally filled her with some excitement. Feeling the space, deciding where the pots and pans should go, which drawer should store the cutlery, the cutting boards, the napkins and the clean towels - almost a form of meditation. Peach pie was always the first thing she baked in every new oven she came across. The baking of the crust gave her a general idea about times and temperatures, hot and cold spots in the oven, if it came out burnt or underdone was maybe even better if it turned out perfectly. Gave her more information. The peach had to get a little colour but not too much for it not to get mushy, the sugar or honey glaze on top browning a little but too much. 

She’s made a lot of peach pies since then but none of them felt like this. It was frenetic, hurried, it felt more like something she had to do, not so much something she wanted to do. She was always messy but this went over anything she’s ever done before. Flour everywhere, some eggshell made it into the better, trying to roast the peaches a little turned into burning them quite badly. She huffed and puffed and just couldn’t get her mind to shut off. Her hands weren’t cooperating because she wasn’t really paying that much attention and she knew it. She knew it and hated it. The tense muscles, the tightly shut jaw, her breath in her throat that just would not go deeper, the shakiness of her exhales, the headaches she gets when she can’t relax her face for too long. Everything went on autopilot but that also seemed to be glitching.

Even hours later, running errands, stepping into the bakery to help out, nothing worked. It was stupid. Down right idiotic, really, if she wants to be honest. Which she doesn’t, hence her current predicament. Pacing up and down in the kitchen, waiting for Sophie to finish her shift. Curses being murmured, no use for that of course, but still. She’s hoping that maybe if they keep coming out in these strings, maybe she’ll exorcize something, that maybe the tightness of her chest and the grip of her stomach will eventually go away. Maybe a miracle will strike and she’ll get out of this.  A long shot for sure but which one of us hasn’t hoped for one in times like these? 

‘You okay, boss?’ Sophie asks, finally wandering back to the kitchen. She noticed it earlier for sure but not wanting to hit a nerve, she ignored it. Also hoping that whatever was going on would sort itself out, that she would sort it out, which she somehow always managed to do. Apparently not this time. MJ contemplates for a minute, with a long sigh, with arms wrapping around herself. Cuticles and nails long gone due the anxious gnawing and tearing she’s been keeping at for the last two weeks. 

‘Hm? Oh, yeah, sorry, I’m- you know just-’ 

‘Okay’ Sophie interjected, putting the plates in her hand down. ‘Look, I wasn’t gonna say anything ‘cause maybe it’s none of my business but what the fuck is going on?’ 

She should’ve seen this coming for sure. Sophie always figured it out. She’s been with her since they started the renovations, through the opening, through money troubles, through broken fridges and missed deliveries. If she was being honest, Sophie was as close to best friend as she managed to have in her adult life. She absolutely should’ve known that there was no way of hiding this from her. 

‘Jesus Margo, you’re starting to scare me.’ 

‘I- fuck me! It’s not a scary thing, I promise, it’s just’ Everything comes out in huffs, in between heavy breaths and she kind of hates it. ‘Okay’ steadying breath, palms pressing into the cold metal of the counter while Sophie stays there, waiting. 

‘Do you remember that guy I told you about? The one I met in London?’

‘Sexy pastry chef guy. Of course I remember, still haven’t shown me a picture.’ 

‘Well, you’re in luck. You can see for yourself in, like, 2 days.’

‘What?!’ Sophie’s voice rises, along with her eyebrows, eyes growing big and she simply cannot blame her. ‘But, wait- that’s-’ The wheels are turning and she’s patient. She‘d much rather Sophie put it together for herself than her having to spell it out anyways. ‘No. Are you kidding me?! Sexy pastry chef guy is Luca?’ 

‘Yeah.’ 

‘Luca, from Copenhagen.’ 

‘Yup.’ 

‘Marcus’s mentor, who, I’m still not sure he’s not in love with, Luca?’

‘Yeah, Sophe, that’s all him.’ 

‘But- What?! How’s that even possible? Why the hell didn’t you say anything?’

‘I just- I don’t know, okay? When Marcus first mentioned him when I was too shocked and I couldn’t say anything and then I kept not saying anything while we became friends, thought it would be really weird, and then suddenly almost a year passed and I thought, well, now it would be really fucking weird to say anything and I just kept on not saying anything and then Marcus said he was visiting and- I don’t know, it all just got away from me a little.’ 

‘No shit.’ Sophie can’t even be mad. The fear and the sadness that settled into her MJ’s eyes is more than enough for her to know that this is not the time for scoldings you could’ve told mes and the like. ‘Again, how’s that even possible?’ she asks, still wanting to understand at the very least. 

‘It’s not that complicated, really. I was in London for two years during college, with a scholarship. We met there, my scholarship ran out, he got Noma, I moved back here, he went to Copenhagen and we broke up not too long after that.’ Still vague, still no details, still hesitant and a little closed off. Sophie nods. Not the time for prodding either. 

‘Do you want to close up, get really drunk and continue this after?’ 

‘Absolutely, I do.’ 

‘Good.’ 

***

After going through the motions, closing up shop, it’s still just 7PM. Perks of running a bakery. 

‘Is it okay to ask how you see this playing out?’ Sophie finally chimes over her third glass of Pinot. 

‘No fucking clue.’ They both laugh because this is ridiculous. Absolutely hysterical.

‘Maybe he doesn’t even remember me, you know? It’s been a while.’ 

‘Yeah, fat fucking chance of that happening.’ 

‘Yeaaaah, I’ll just have to suck this one up, I think.’ 

‘You still could just talk to Marcus, you know? Tell him not to bring him to the bakery or work something out, change shifts, bring him when you’re not there. Or you can still just get the fuck away. Make an excuse about someone’s cat dying or whatever.’

‘Sure, not suspicious at all. Also Marcus is so excited. And it’s already eating me up that I didn’t tell him earlier.’

‘How has he not figured it out though? Luca, I mean, not Marcus. Your name is a pretty huge giveaway. It’s not like there are a shit ton of Marjolaines running around Chicago.’

‘Well, Luca never knew that I ended up in Chicago. When I moved back, I went back to San Francisco. It wasn't until a couple of months that Dylan called me about the bakery. And as for the name, Marcus was the one who started calling me MJ. My best guess is he calls me that with him too and he ever felt the need to explain how that happened.’

‘Right.’ They fell silent for a while. MJ loved these nights. Hanging around for a couple more hours, for a couple more drinks. The bakery was closed, but the smells still lingered. The sweetness of vanilla, the fattiness of butter, the slight bitterness of cooked or baked fruit, lights out, most of it leaking out from the kitchen and seeping in from the streets. Lower, softer, warmer twinkles that would only stop the hardest of stone-cold hearts from opening up a little. Even now, when the jig was up and she had to actually face what was coming her way, which did kind of feel like watching a car crash in slow motion.

‘Is it okay if I ask questions about him?’ Sophie asked eventually.

MJ just nodded, eyes a little hazy. Of course she can. When, if not know? Memories being stirred up and tongue loosening from the wine. She still appreciates it. The checking in, the earnestness and caution of this younger generation.

‘How long were you guys actually together?’

‘About two and a half years.’ 

‘Did you love him?’ 

‘Shit, Sophe, big fucking questions tonight.’ 

‘Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just- you never talk about him. And until now I thought it was because it was just kind of a fling or something. Hot pastry chef, college years, you know, the works. But seeing you now, I’m starting to think it might have been the opposite.’ 

‘Meaning?’ 

‘You know what I mean, bitch.’ Sophie pushed her shoulder a little and a laugh spilled out of her despite the ache in her chest that not even the wine could dull down.

‘It’s been such a long time. But yeah, yeah, I loved him.’ 

Sophie just hummed. 

‘Why did you guys break up?’ 

MJ just groaned as if she pulled a muscle she didn’t really use. 

‘Can I plead the fifth on that one? Just for tonight. It’s a long and sad story and-’

‘Hey, of course, you don’t have to explain.’ 

‘Okay, look!’ she slammed her glass down, turning towards her, wine splashing up on either side. ‘We can do this, alright? ‘ I’m sure Marcus will understand, and as for that douchebag-’

‘He’s not a douchebag.’ 

‘Well, he fumbled you, so he will have to try and prove that to me. So. As for that douchebag, you can handle it, and I’ll be here with you, the whole time. How long is he staying?’ 

‘I don’t know, I didn’t have follow-up questions.’ 

‘Nevermind, it doesn’t even matter, we’ll get through this, okay?’ 

MJ nodded. Sophie’s confidence was moving but she wasn’t nearly as sure of that as she was.