#because others might jump in and run with their ideas and develop them more quickly and take all the credit

[thecomfywriter]

How to Write Narration/Dialogue in a Child’s Perspective:

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Heyyo! Welcome to a new #thecomfywritertoolbox post! This question came up in discord (this is for you, @the-letterbox-archives) so I thought I’d write a post about it, since I haven’t done one of those in a while.

Before we get into it—as you can tell, I have a new blog post setup!!! I’m really happy with how it turned out, since i wanted to organize my posts better without having all the links bombarding the bottom. So yes, check out the links above ☝️

Now, without further ado… On writing children’s voices.

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Age and Developmental Stages:

Children have a very unique perspective in this world, especially since age and time in terms of childhood works completely different to how it works with adults. A two year age gap between a twelve-year-old and a fourteen-year-old can feel monumental due to the development, life stage, and experience each child has. Twelve-year-olds are still newbies in middle school, probably forking around with their friends, going to recess twice a day and needing to ask permission to get something out of their desk (this is based on the Canadian experience lol. Obviously, it differs between countries). Whereas fourteen-year-olds are freshman in high school. TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

so when writing from a child’s perspective, really consider their age as a determining factor.

a kid trying to fit into their new high school and impress their older classmates will talk far more differently than a preschooler, or a middle schooler.

Listen to audios with children of said demographic speaking:

You’ll notice children tend to have a different cadence and pattern of speech. They hesitate on some words, stutter on others, drift off into though mid-sentence, or jump ship and talk about something completely different. The younger they are, the smaller their attention span, and the more filterless they become, because younger children don’t yet have a grasp on social norms, so they’ll tend to speak their mind and ask more questions.

Another thing to consider here, however, is how they were raised. were they raised to be priss and proper, and speak without stuttering? Do they have a speech coach for that?

Questions to consider when addressing the cadence, tone, and patterns of speech of children:

Do they have a lisp that needs addressing?

Do they speak really quickly and forget to take pauses, meaning they have a lot of run on sentences?

Are they emotionally reactive and yell a lot, or switch between moods fairly quickly?

Vocab and grammar!!!

Again, this is highly dependent on the age demographic of your kid, but younger kids are shit at grammar!!! Especially the funky rules of irregular English verbs. It’s harder for a child, who is taught to recognize the conjugation patterns of ‘-ed’ to signal past tense, all of a sudden be told that saying “telled” is wrong. They might make mistakes like that until they are corrected otherwise.

But again, that’s for the younger kids.

Elementary school kids will chipper chapper with their friends and family a lot. They seek to impress most of the time. They’ll get excited over things they know really well and most kids giggle a lot/get excited when it comes to talk about them (some kids have social anxiety and won’t, but instead go quiet). When I worked summer camp, the kids would always try to grab me and smile really bright whenever attention was on them and whatever they wanted to talk about. They made a lot of silly jokes, but acted mighty proud whenever people laughed at them. So they’d repeat the joke louder. Again. And again. And again.

It’s an age of asking approval from adults and peers. But also an age when the idea of authority inspires submission, because they regard those authority figures in a higher esteem. So the way an elementary kid will be boisterous and laugh amongst friends is probably not how they’ll talk to adults. Until that adult earns their trust, they might just shrink into themselves and be as small as possible.

Then you have the defiant age group. The preteens to teenagers. They have their own slang, oftentimes. A way to differentiate those from the “in-group” and those on the “out-group”. if the out-group uses their slang, “Eww… that’s so weird. Why are you talking like that? Look at her, she’s trying to be cool, oh my god. That’s so embarrassing.”

Yeah, this is the age where passive aggressive bullying is strong lmao.

Younger kids trying to be mean will be blunt with it: “Your mom smells like old socks!”

Older kids? Older kids will give you stank eyes, lock gazes with their friends, try to fight off a laugh, and then look back at you all sobered up. There’s more exclusivity at this age, but also a wider range of vocab. That vocab is used creatively, as a means to express oneself in a unique way, or as representative to the group they identify with. So bear that in mind.

And then you have young adults but womp womp this is about kids LMAO.

Perspective:

LASTLY… Consider perspective. How does a child see the world? Bright and colourful? Hopeful? Do they notice the butterflies that flutter across the sky, the ones that adults have gotten used to, so their eyes glaze over? Do they smile at every stranger because their parents taught them to always be kind? Do they spot an ice cream truck down the street and LOCK IN before proceeding to plead their parents for money to go buy some?

What are the things the child values? What are the things that they haven’t wrapped their head around yet? if you’re trying to write in the perspective of a child, these are the things to consider.

Oh yeah. Bonus point. Children gets embarrassed TEN TIMES easier than adults do. Specifically preteens and teenagers. Younger children are a bit more shameless, because again… No concept of social norms. But preteens have started to develop this shame and insecurity and MY GOD it burns.

So TLDR:

Consider age demographic (SPECIFIC AGE)

Consider grammar mistakes and vocabulary limitations

Differences in peer-peer interactions vs adult-child interactions

Consider perspective

Cadence, tone, and speech patterns

Watch videos and observe the way children speak in different contexts

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That’s all folks! Have a mighty bopping Saturday!

Happy Writing!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I was so determined to hate chapter six as a diehard Hercules fan, because just from the first part, I thought they weren't doing the movie "justice" (whatever that means).

But I finally finished all of it, and oh MY GOD, I think it might just be my favorite chapter in the whole damn game.

My biggest complaint is that I wish there was more Shroud brothers content in it? I swear, I felt like I didn't know what was happening with them, like, 70% of the time.

When Idia goes down to Ortho in the beginning in his Chariot, I genuinely had no idea what he was planning and was completely thrown for a loop when he's suddenly on Ortho's side and behaving as the "big baddie." And then he overblots? What brought upon that? Was it because he spent too long down in Tartarus with the Phantoms and blot? But then isn't his curse supposed to burn blot? And are members of the Shroud family the only one who have the ability to run Styx because of their curse? Is that why Idia is fated to this future and this future alone?

I tried to read through the story twice to be sure but remained just....very confused!

(Sorry if you've already answered this before; I've been stalwartly avoiding any chapter six content until I read it myself!)

Nooo, not walking into something wanting to hate it… 😭 Personally, I try to give media the benefit of the doubt until I can experience it for myself and then make a sound judgement 💦 I don’t think any good comes from jumping the gun on content I have yet to see. A lot of stuff can be taken out of context in a bad way if you don’t know the full picture, and expecting the worst can set up the content to fail (confirmation bias, oof). I’m glad that you ended up liking episode 6 though, it’s definitely my favorite of the main story as well.

I think TWST is a lot stronger when it tries to do its own thing or it gets creative with its interpretations of Disney rather than loyally following the original’s ideas. (Episode 2 is a prominent example of how strongly adhering to the Disney inspiration can harm the narrative and weaken its characters 😔) TWST is meant to be a reinterpretation of classic Disney villains, so I like it when we can see just how far they can push the envelope and make a name for itself unrelated to what came before it.

I don’t think it can be helped that episode 6 didn’t seem to show much of Idia and Ortho; it had to balance a LOT of other characters, their development, and new lore in addition to the Shroud brothers and it was handled surprisingly well despite that bulk. I also feel like we spend a lot of time without Idia and/or Ortho due to… well, having to tiptoe around certain dark and sensitive subject matters?? Even in JP, some things had to be implied instead of explicitly stated. That requires reading between some of the lines or putting together vague events or lines of dialogue spoken from different parts of the episode.

When Idia flies down into Tartarus, he was just going to check on Ortho because he had a weird hunch once the holo-Ortho called him by his childhood nickname (Idy in EN, “nii-chan” in JP, whereas robo!Ortho usually called him Idia in EN and “nii-san” in JP). Idia was NOT going there expecting to OB, he was just convinced to give in to the temptation offered to him by the thought of reuniting with his dead brother. It’s not outright stayed, but you have to infer that Idia has been quietly suffering based on his gloomy attitude and self-deprecating, “woe is me” lines; him OBing is just a culmination of those frustrations and guilt surrounding Ortho. I believe the implication is that Idia OB’d quickly because Tartarus is teeming with Phantoms. The high amount of blot present overpowered the speed of his natural abilities to burn blot. Think of it like metabolism; Idia’s body could not burn the blot as fast as the blot was accumulating, and as a result, he was overwhelmed.

It was definitely stated in episode 6 (by Idia, then again in his post-OB flashback) that the Shrouds are ideal candidates for operating Styx due to the organization’s focus on blot research. Most of the other employees are humans with low magical reserves to minimize their changes of OBing, whereas the Shroud family direct the facilities, as their bodies are able to rapidly dispose of any blot they accumulate or come near. (However, as Idia alludes to, the Shrouds MUST be near blot to burn and/or generate blot themselves by using magic consistently, otherwise the curse will turn inward and start eating away at the cursed individual.)

It is also said that the Shrouds (a branch family) were a part of a rebellion against the main family (Jupiter), so they were punished by being forced into this particular line of work. Idia is essentially paying for the sins committed by his ancestors. Gate to the Underworld is also a hereditary UM which is unique to the Shrouds; only they are capable of managing the secure door that separates strong, ancient Phantoms from creeping into the real world and destroying it. Idia is, therefore, obligated to carry on the Shroud family legacy for the sake of the world.

Again, episode 6 throws a LOT at you so it may take some rereads and some thinking to put everything together. I still forget things or confuse the details, so I find myself constantly double-checking episode 6 if I'm referencing info from it.

[timelyovertime]

Marvel Mystery Comics #2

Date of publication: October 13, 1939

Starting with the second issue, Marvel Comics gets 'Mystery' added to its title. It's more of a standardized title than a reflection of the contents, as the next book will also be a 'Mystery Comics' & there isn't really a lot of mysteries in either. It could be a case of language evolving over time though, and mild intrigue with an occasional villain reveal was enough to count as proper mystery back then, I'm not sure.

This is the first time we are seeing a cover date too, since the image I used for the previous issue had that corner torn off. Saying on the cover that the comic comes out in December, but then releasing it in October, is just an advertising gimmick to make it seem cutting edge when it first hits the shelves & stops it from seeming out-of-date a couple months later. No idea if comics still do this, but it made trying to find the right order to read them in pretty annoying before I figured out what was going on.

Interestingly, the first page is actually an advertisement for a different publisher's comic. Silver Streak Comics #1 would come out around the same time as Marvel Mystery 2, but it didn't come to have the long-term success of the two big superhero comic companies, & its titular flying speedster is now in the public domain. Timely's cross-promotions wouldn't last long, as their popularity quickly made them self-sufficient. Reading about the Silver Streak's convoluted origin, I can see why he's not the one who stood the test of time.

The following page is a recap of the first Human Torch story, with the framing device of it being notes left by Professor Horton before his death. It's a cool way to get readers up to speed, especially since the changed title might make kids think this isn't the same book. The choice to kill Horton off-screen like this without explanation is odd, but maybe it's just to write out the possibility of him making a second Torch, which would be ironic considering a future development. While I haven't gotten quite that far, I am aware that this death will get retconned anyway, so who knows.

The story starts off at an auto race track with a woman reading the newspaper, who strikes up a conversation with a stranger about the news of Horton's death, revealing that it was because Torch's escape burned his house down. (Which doesn't track with either visual depiction of Torch jumping out through the roof, or the fact that Horton left notes about it- I'm going to err on the side of clumsy early comic book fumbles instead of assuming that's clever foreshadowing for years later.) Little does she know, the stranger she is talking to is none other than the Torch himself, who tells her that Horton deserved it because he wanted to use the Torch to make money. And, I have to point out, Horton did say "WE could make a fortune" in the previous issue, there's not actually any signs that he was being a selfish money-grubber, and Torch's personality in these early stories makes me think that we're not actually supposed to think he's morally justified here so much as he's self-centered & taking his personal offense as more important than a human life. It's not an interpretation that will track with his characterization in the future, so Horton appropriately gets a bad rap going forward, but that's how I read these early stories at least.

In any case, the race begins, but a car locks up & crashes off the track, bursting into flame. Torch rushes down to try saving the driver, but not only is he too late, he's blamed as more cars start to burn, despite the fact that a big red plane keeps swooping down right before each one ignites. After burning a cop's hands because he remains super-heated after turning off the flame, he allows himself to be arrested, & his cellmate luckily happens to be a former member of the racket, telling him it's run by a man named Blackie Ross, who pumps cars full of incendiary rounds so that he always wins with his own car. Which has to be the least subtle form of rigging a bet ever, I think even if I was a child in the 30s I would have noticed a fighter jet shooting at cars until they explode in every race so that the same guy wins every time, even as a burning freak of nature I don't know how Torch got successfully framed for this.

Torch breaks easily out of jail & a few days later is staking out the next race, ready to leap onto the plane when it passes by so he can melt its engine. He catches the pilot, but the plane explodes, destroying all incriminating evidence, so the Torch flees to think of a new plan. The criminals come up with a plan of their own, & Blackie's girlfriend pretends to be the sister of a victim in order to lure the Torch into a trap, a giant vat of water. They load the Torch into a truck & drive him out to a pit where limestone is burned, & dump him in there. Now, if they kept him in the water, it would have been fine, but they dumped the guy whose entire thing is being on fire into a giant kiln, so of course he escapes, & runs overnight (he can leap far, but they haven't decided he can fly yet) to reach the next race just in time for it to begin. As he rushes after Blackie & his goons, the car crashes & the stands burst into flame.

Then he does this. Fire apparently has some degree of sentience, & acknowledges the Human Torch as "their master", so if he yells like this, flames will obey him & disappear. This is easily the most baffling bit of lore I've seen so far.

Blackie's men escape, with Torch in hot pursuit, & we get our first example of a staple of Human Torch stories, both here in the Golden Age & later with Johnny: asbestos as a flame-retardant solution for mundane villains to deal with overwhelmingly literal firepower. It's kinda hilarious in hindsight, with multiple characters revealed to have suffered the predictable result in the modern era. In this case, they don asbestos suits, then force the Torch with hoses into a vat of molten steel. But he bursts out quickly, & Blackie escapes once again using a smokescreen.

Torch is approached by his cellmate, who reveals he was an undercover cop the whole time, which could explain why the police were so easily duped, but doesn't as a cop will later apologize for thinking he was responsible. He directs Torch towards the airport, assuming Blackie will make an escape by plane, & Torch gets there just in time to melt the propeller. There's a brief fight, which is relatively pretty interesting for these early comics because Blackie is in his car the whole time, trying to run the Torch over. It's still one-sided though, & after setting the car on fire, Torch gets Blackie to sign a confession, forgetting he was still wearing the fire-proof asbestos suit.

While in the first Torch story he felt like a tragic gothic monster, a modern, modern Prometheus, in this one he felt like a cryptid. Partially because at multiple points characters are baffled to see that he left blazing footprints behind, but overall he just has super bizarre vibes.

Our Angel story takes us to Hong Kong, where a woman named Jane is arriving by boat with instructions to find The Lost Temple of Alano and its cursed treasure for the Smithsonian. She is being watched though by two people, a "gruely-looking stranger" & a well-dressed American who had been on board the same boat. She gets a rickshaw to her hotel, & the American man gets his own, threatening to throw the driver in the water if he can't keep up with her. Almost immediately though, the gruely stranger leaps out of an alley with a knife to kill her, & the American leaps to her rescue, punching him off the docks. He is, of course, the Angel in his civilian clothes.

A heavy-set man, Mr. Sumner, also comes to her aid, & the Angel notes that this man is someone he recognizes, but in disguise. He quickly writes a note for Jane & slips it into her handbag before Sumner can drive her away to the hotel. In the car, she reads the note, warning her that her worst enemy may pretend to be her best friend. Meanwhile, the Angel finds her assailant & follows him to a gang of thugs that he throttles.

That night, Sumner creeps in through Jane's balcony & takes both her gun & the map to the temple, revealing that the supposed curse on the treasure was just him murdering any competition looking for it. He calls his men & tells them to be ready to dispose of her, not realizing on the other end of the line was the Angel after having beaten them all unconscious. After Jane tries & fails to get away by crashing the car, the Angel leaps into action, defeating Sumner & giving an exposition dump of his backstory as actually being a member of the original expedition who started the curse rumor before disappearing. Finally, he confesses that he has absolutely no proof that Sumner & this missing person named Lelong are the same guy, but assures Jane it's true anyway, showing he's just that good.

This was actually the first Angel story I read since most uploads of Marvel #1 are incomplete, & I'm inclined to think it's a better introduction to the character. All the same key points are there, like being clever enough to be right with just a wild hunch, & he's just as highly violent, but he never needs to kill anybody in this one, so he doesn't. His reputation now might be different if the two were switched around.

The Sub-Mariner story here picks up immediately where the former left off, as he dives into the water from Dorma's stolen plane. While not always the case, Namor's strips tend to have a much more consistent storyline than anybody else this early, usually following from one to the other. The narration says he has come to wage a "war of espionage against the white man". For the first five pages, Namor does not say a word. He is dragged into a water pipe &, feeling threatened, lashes out at powerplant workers & police officers. He takes refuge in the sewer, where he finds a homeless man & steals his clothes.

Realizing though that he needs better clothes, he knocks on the door of a nice looking house, which is answered by a stereotypical African-American butler who reprimands him for being a bum but still trying to use the main entrance, his dialogue written with an eye dialect as is unfortunately standard for any black characters fluent in English for this era. The owner of the house, a beautiful woman with a cigarette, invites him in before accidentally setting her dress on fire. Namor rushes to put it out, but as soon as he comes in contact with the hat, his pores spontaneously erupt with water, dousing both of them & putting the fire out.

The servant calls for an ambulance, & Namor, after stripping, almost leaves, but then decides he covets the girl. He leaps atop the ambulance, & once they have reached the hospital, he threatens to kill the doctors if they cause a scene, then ties them up & kidnaps the unconscious woman. The cops catch up to him once he reaches the docks & open fire, but Namor is completely bullet-proof. He jumps into the water with his captive, but 2 officers follow, one saving the girl while Namor kills the other, before disappearing in the depths. Torch being a selfish cryptid freak is a reading of his early stories, but Namor being one is explicit fact.

This installment of Masked Raider opens up by explaining how a one-handed killer named "Hook" Tebbs is leading an entire town of outlaws, who are looking to recruit new men for a big train robbery. The Raider poses as a lone bandit that recently stole $10,000 in a bank robbery in order to get an in with the gang. Tebbs gets rough with him right away for not being shown respect, but he throws Tebbs into a barrel & draws his guns on the rest of the gang, & this impresses Tebbs enough that he welcomes this outlaw they nickname "Streak".

They let "Streak" in on way too much information, & that night he lets the sheriff of the actual town nearby know their plan is working. The gang also includes a Mexican member, with an over the top accent, who "Streak" gets into a fight with and calls the first ethnic slur in Marvel's history. Most of the men leave for a job, but Tebbs wants to speak with "Streak" so they both stay behind; he shows him where their loot is stashed down the well, but tells him not to ever go down there. As soon as he turns his back, the Masked Raider does go down there, & Tebbs is waiting with a gun to tie him up. But the Raider easily escapes (I guess it's hard to tie a knot with a hook hand, but it's not explained), makes a smoke signal for the sheriff, & they round up all the criminals. My main takeaway is just how stupid the entire "don't go down the well" gambit is.

American Ace opens by explaining that after the First World War, an evil monarch, Queen Ursula, was exiled for 20 years from her nation of Castile d'Or. She has just been rescued by those loyal to her who have taken over the government, so that she can rule again in secret & start a war of revenge by having one of their own politicians assassinated by someone disguised as a citizen of the nearby country of Attainia (which was retconned into Attania 70 years later). The titular American Ace, a mining engineer here named Perry Wade (although that will also be retconned a couple times), flies to Attainia unaware of the impending war, & is knocked unconscious in the first air raid. It's a short & uneventful strip that only really serves as a set-up for Perry's ongoing adventures, which... didn't exactly play out, but we'll come back to that when it (doesn't) happen. Like the first Sub-Mariner story, "The Origins of the American Ace" was also originally supposed to be in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, & the longer comic from that was split up into this issue & the continuation in Marvel Mystery Comics #3. The only other notable thing is that this begins Marvel's participation in the proud comic tradition of making up countries in order to avoid setting something unfortunate or controversial in an existing one.

The prose story this time, Death-Bird Squadron, is actually about the Angel. In a town in Poland during an air-raid, he leaps on top of a building, then onto a passing bomber. That's right; the cover of this issue is depicting the written short story, rather than any of the actual comics. That turns out to actually be pretty common in issues where the short story involves one of the comic characters, to compensate for the prose only having a single picture in it alongside the title. He climbs up the bomber & punches through the metal, grabs the pilot, & throws him at the tail-gunner with so much force that it shatters both of their skulls. He's not a hero who actually has any super powers, but this little story is written by a David Cooke instead of his creator Paul Gustavson, & David obviously hadn't actually read either of the existing Angel comics. The Angel then uses the gun to shoot down the other planes before crashing the one he was using into the last of them, & he leaps out of it to land lightly on the ground below. Maybe Mr. Cooke just didn't know how anything worked. It ends with him thinking about how this is just one more act of heroism the world will never know he was responsible for, which is pretty funny given how he is introduced as being an infamous crime fighter. Come to think of it, the start of the story also describes him as being dedicated to fighting war-mongers, even though he's almost always fighting street-level criminals. What a mess.

The second installment of Ka-Zar starts with showing that Zar's mate, the lioness Sha, doesn't trust him. He remembers seeing a mirror in the previous part of the story &, wondering if it was still in the abandoned camp, goes to look for it. But, upon reaching the camp, he hears sounds he identifies as the apes led by Chaka, who you might remember from last issue's title card. Inside de Kraft's tent he finds the mirror already in the possession of one of the apes, Bardak, & the two violently wrestle over it until Ka-Zar makes Bardak admit defeat. He allows Bardak to live, but back at their cave Zar disapproves of showing mercy.

As Sha's tolerance for Ka-Zar becomes more strained, he & Zar go on a trip to look for the elephants that are led by Trajah. Before finding Trajah though, they are attacked by another elephant that Trajah tells them has had "the madness come upon him", presumably meaning he has gone into musth in preparation for mating. When they return, they find Sha has given birth to two cubs, & Ka-Zar gets the shit kicked out of him for getting too close. Zar gets mad, but admits that it was Ka-Zar's fault & he should stay away from the cubs.

Bardak. this whole time, has been brooding over his humiliation, which reaches a boiling point when the lady ape he likes makes fun of him for it. He decides to enter the cave when no one is around to steal the mirror back, but cannot find it, & is chased out when Sha returns with her cubs. Desperate, he swings down & snatches up one of the cubs. Sha's roars bring both Zar & Ka-Zar, & the rest of the ape tribe, who mock the lions while Zar threatens war. Bardak throws the cub from high in the tree, but Ka-Zar catches it safely, then climbs after the ape, & manages to kill him with his knife, earning Sha's acceptance.

And instead of ending it on that nice note, we have All-in-Fun & Loony Laffs, both of which are another page of 5 single-panel jokes like the one that started Marvel Comics #1. They're funnier this time, but that's not saying much.

This was the final Timely Comic to be published with a cover date of 1939, but going by actual release dates, it's not even the last one this month. Next time we will start a daring new book, with a new cast of characters. Unfortunately.

[p-artsypants]

Paint it Black (13) Diagnosing

Ao3 | FF.net

The Titans, Batman, and Alfred sat on the couch in a circle, as Black assumed the lotus position over by the window. For once, he wasn’t singing. 

“Let’s review,” Batman began. “Richard Grayson was volunteering at the Jump City hospital when he learned about Project: Duality, a rehabilitation project run by Dr. Jack White. He joined the project, and quickly found out there was much more to it than he anticipated.” 

“Richard recorded a series of videos on a Slade bot that shows the condition of the environment he was kept, as well as messages for us,” Raven added. 

“So you know who’s behind this?” Cyborg asked. 

“I’m fairly certain. I found it shocking at first, because the pair do not get along, and are rather hostile towards each other.” Batman threw down a pair of files on the table. “This is the work of Joker and Two-Face. That much I gleaned from the final video recorded. Two-Face works in duality. When Harvey Dent had his accident that left half of his body burned, he developed a dual personality. One of order, and one of chaos. In the video, one of the men is called ‘Harv,’ no doubt short for Harvey. I believe he hired Joker to create a toxin that would cause a similar effect so that he could create an apprentice.” 

“How did you know it was the Joker?” Beast Boy asked, fascinated. 

“As I said earlier, I recognized the alias Jack White, but more importantly, Robin said so in the video.” 

“He did?” Asked Cyborg. “I’ve watched it several times and I never—” 

“In his code.” 

Beast Boy thought for a moment. “But he sings Cotton-Eyed Joe and Karma Police. How does that—?”

“Joe-karma. Joe-kar. Joker.” 

The team stared in awe. 

“You’re good,” said Cyborg.

“I’m Batman.” 

“Why were they all the way out here?” Raven asked, “You said so yourself that it didn’t make sense that they were across the country.” 

“It didn’t. Not at first. But then I realized they came out here for the same reasons Robin did. 1.) Jump City has the second highest psychiatric hospitalizations in the country, right behind Gotham, and 2.) It's far away from me. I was actively looking for both of them. If this experiment was a three month long ordeal, they needed somewhere they wouldn’t be interrupted.”

“Somewhere where they wouldn’t be on anyone’s radar,” Raven frowned.  

“Well, let’s find them and beat them up!” Said Beast Boy, punching his palm, an action he had picked up from Robin. 

“I’d love to, but we still need to focus on Robin. I have an idea, but it may take a while to work. Joker’s venom is never the same concoction twice, but he does use similar components. These, I’m familiar with. I may be able to synthesize an antidote for the toxin, but I have to have a clean blood sample. No opioids, no sedatives, just the toxin.” 

“But…won’t that…?” Cyborg began to ask, remembering the trickle of dark fluid Robin coughed up. 

“It’s not ideal, no,” Batman agreed. “And I don’t know if we can truly get a clean sample with how long Oxycodone stays in the blood. But we need to try.” 

“So,” Beast Boy began, optimistic, “if we give him this antidote, Robin will be back?” 

“Yes and no. The opiates stabilize whatever concoction the Joker made which suppresses Robin’s Ego. The result is this persona that was created out of trauma. I clearly see a lot of age regression in him as well, so it’s compounded on the childhood trauma he had. If we cure the toxin, we’ll probably see Robin a lot more, but there’s no guarantee he won’t just switch into Black at a moment’s notice.” 

“How do we fix that?” Raven asked. 

“We convince him that being Robin is ideal and that Black is the part he should suppress. Besides that…we might not be able to fix him completely.” He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and folding his hands under his chin. “Are you all going to be able to handle that?” 

“Whatever it takes,” Starfire said. “I am prepared.”  

“Ditto,” said Beast Boy. “I can handle the occasional crazy Robin.” 

“I’m in,” said Cyborg. “He was always a little crazy.” 

“Let’s do it,” said Raven. 

“Where shall we start, Sir?” 

“First,” Batman smirked. “We need to wear him out.” He turned to the corner. “Hey Black!”

"Yes Sir Hops A lot!" Black saluted.

"Would you join us for a workout this afternoon?”

"Psh, do bears ride motorcycles?"

There was a long pause before Starfire whispered. "Do they?"

—-

Out on their course on the beach, Batman prepared a set of skill tests to measure Black's abilities. He was curious to see what the dynamic change was, if there was at all. Cyborg supplied him with the most recent charts Robin had filled out.

Black came out, his hair slicked back from hair gel, sunglasses, and Robin's work out pants. His many scars were visible on his torso, despite the red beater he wore. He could care less though. Walking through the doors, he walked with a slouched posture and exaggerated shoulder movement. “Awright,” he spoke with a terrible, thick Jersey accent. “Who’s ass am I kickin’? Where’s the gabagool?” 

Batman narrowed his eyes as he observed the scars. Once Black was tired, he’d try to get a better medical assessment. For now, he wanted to see how Robin was recovering from his ordeal, and if he could go back into the field. 

“What is a gabagool?” Starfire asked him, indulging his stupidity.

“What? You don’t know gabagool? That’s a load of gaaawbage!” 

Batman didn’t look back up from his charts. “Gotham is in New Jersey, and many people there have that accent.” Then he tacked on, “Gabagool is a type of deli meat, like capicola.”

“I did not think Black ate processed meat?”

“It’s just a fun word to say.” 

“Gabagool…gabagoooool,” Beast Boy chuckled in the corner. 

“Alright, children." Batman said, louder. "Let's get started. Black, front and center."

The delusional boy skipped up and stood rim rod straight, his hand in an 'L' shape on his forehead.

"I want to see what you're capable of, so we have some tests to run. Cyborg, if you please..."

Cyborg spoke up from the control panel. "We'll start you out on our obstacle course. Starfire will do it first to show how it's done." Then he called over to her. "Remember Star, no flying!"

"Comprehended!" She called back.

A red light by Cyborg told her to get into position. Yellow, she crouched. Green, she was gone.

Black watched in admiration as she slipped through the obstacles, no problem. Lasers grazed past her hair, sharp claws swiped and missed her skin. At the end, she landed perfectly and elegantly on her toes, not a hair out of place.

"How did I do?" She asked Cyborg.

"Almost matched your best time, by two seconds."

She snapped her fingers. "Flortoga!"

“Alright Black, it’s your turn.” 

The boy scratched his chin, then while keeping in his Jersey character, he asked "Do I gotta do it like that?”

Batman considered. "No...I guess you can do it anyway you want."

"Great!" He happily tottered over to the starting point.

"You ready?" Cyborg called.

"Whenever you are, you delicious chocolate man!"

Giggling came from the rest of the Titans as Cyborg shook his head and reset the test. “He’s not sane, Cyborg. He doesn’t know any better.” 

"BumbumbumbumbumBUM. BUM. BUM. BUM. BUM." Black started singing. 

The green light signaled and Black started. Right from the start, he started showing a hidden cleverness and intelligence. He took a separate route, still through the course, but the less dangerous way. Each move he made was calculated, and didn’t waste any energy. There was little running, mostly acrobatics to get big air from spot to spot. Lasers were guided so they aimed at him, but he moved so that he not only avoided them, but they took out each other. Then he surprised everyone as he sang while he moved. "The sun is shining in the sky, There ain't a cloud in sight. It's stopped raining, everybody's in the play and don't you know it's a beautiful new day?” He even threw in a few dance moves. 

Batman frowned, though not in disappointment. “Interesting song choice.”

“Mr. Blue Sky?” Beast Boy asked. “It’s a classic, and a personal fav. What’s so interesting about it?” 

“It doesn’t fit his theme.” 

“You mean the Radiohead theme? I think that was Robin’s doing. I think this is just Black goofing around.” 

“Perhaps.” 

“Running down the avenue, see how the sun shines brightly in the city, on the streets where once was pity, Mr. Blue Sky is living here today.” Black took an unnecessary risk by leaping sideways and cartwheeled through the air. He was almost nicked with a blade, but managed to twist himself out of the way at the last second. 

Batman scowled harder. “It’s a routine.” 

“I have never seen him perform such a routine,” said Starfire. “It is not in our battle plans.” 

“It’s not a training routine,” he clarified. “It’s…it’s an acrobatics routine.” 

“I do not understand,” Starfire apologized. 

“I don’t get it either,” said Beast Boy. “Was Robin really into gymnastics or something?” 

Batman huffed, not thrilled that he had to divulge such things. “I’ll tell you later. All of you. It’s…not a short topic.” 

“Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why you had to hide away for so long. Where did we go wrong?”

The team watched in fascination as Black seemed to bend the rules of physics to weave through this course. And he did it effortlessly. 

Like he had done it a hundred times before. 

“Hey you with the pretty face, welcome to the human race. A celebration, Mr. Blue Sky's up there waiting and today is the day we've waited for!”

He came to the end, landing like a gymnast would dismount, up on his toes with his arms up. Then he lost all feigned composure. "Whoo! Didja see that, son?! Bang! Pow! Whoosh! Zing!" He laughed wildly to himself as he ran to Batman, grabbed his hands and danced around. "I did it! I did it! Are you proud of me, Bunny Man?” 

“Unhand me," Batman spoke stoically.

"What's next huh? Huh!? Huh?! Uh-huh?! Huh!"

Batman placed a heavy hand on his head, to still him. "Calm your tits, kid." He looked over his chart, his mouth ticking to the side. "Matched Robin’s best time."

“Yay! I'm a match! Just rub my butt, and I'm on fire!"

Batman narrowed his eyes as he stared at his old partner, his adopted son, this insane stranger. 

He was completely unrecognizable. 

They spent the day out there. Every variation of the course they could conceive, they made Black run it. Any information they left over from Robin’s charts, they compared with Black. 

He either matched them, or squeaked just beyond. 

“I’m impressed,” Cyborg admitted, looking over Batman’s shoulder. 

“I’m not,” said Batman. “Training courses are good and helpful, but I would like to see him in a fight, hopped up on adrenaline.” 

“I have some footage of him during the few fights we saw him in.”

Batman handed the clipboard over. “Actually, I think I’d like to see it in person.” He stood in the middle of the brawl ring. “Black!” 

“Aye aye Captain!” 

“I’d like to brawl with you. No holds barred. Give it your all.” 

“Are you sure?” Beast Boy asked. 

Batman gave him a flat look. 

“Fair enough.” 

“You wanna wrassle?” Black beamed. “Let’s tussle!” He ran into the ring, getting into a fighting stance. 

Batman didn’t wait for a countdown or anything, but lunged forward to throw a punch. 

Black easily dodged, and launched an attack of his own, throwing a jab to the side that Batman left open. 

Batman grabbed his wrist and attempted to twist it backwards, but Black did a standing backflip to go with the twist, then spun on his heel and nearly kicked Batman in the face. 

“Wow Bunny Man! You’ve got the groove!” 

Batman didn’t say anything, just attempted to kick Black in the ribs. 

Black blocked the kick with his arm, then trapped his leg against his body. He smiled widely at Batman before punching Batman in the thigh with the side of his fist. 

Batman cried out as a searing pain dug into his leg. He reached forward and grabbed Black by the face, and shoved him away. 

Blood was trickling down his thigh. “Who gave you a knife?” Batman snarled. 

“I’m a man of many secrets,” Black grinned again. Then his smile faded as he saw the rage on Bat’s face. “You said no holds barred. I thought I was allowed to stab you.” 

“You wanna play dirty?” He growled. 

Black’s eyes flashed in delight as he darted towards Batman, ready to strike again, but Batman simply grabbed the front of his shirt, turned, and used the momentum to guide Black over and onto the ground. 

Batman reeled up to punch him, but Black somersaulted backwards, getting to his feet, before leaning back and nailing Batman in the jaw with his foot. He twisted, landing on his other foot, and then kicked Bat’s in the face again. 

While Batman reeled backwards, Black darted forward and attempted to jab him in the stomach. 

The fight would have taken a horrible turn if Batman hadn’t grabbed his wrist at the last second. 

Black had the knife again, and almost stabbed his father in the stomach. 

“We’re done,” Batman stated sternly. 

The smile on Black’s face was malicious and sinister. “What’s wrong, old man? Don’t like losing?” 

With the grip Batman had on his wrist, it took no effort to lock it and throw it out of joint. 

Black swore a tirade of foul curses against him, his family, and friends.  

“Not so fun being in pain, is it?” Batman hoisted him to his feet. 

Black’s anger dissolved into tears, as he started throwing a tantrum like a toddler. 

Batman just shook his head. 

Cyborg picked Black up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Back to the med bay with you.” 

Black attempted to hug Cyborg around the waist as he was carried away. 

Starfire sidled up to Batman and lifted him around the shoulders. “Pardon me if I am assuming too much, but you are injured. There should be no reason for you to walk on your injured leg.”

Batman didn’t argue. He couldn’t afford an injury right now, and Starfire carrying him would prevent it from getting worse. “Thank you, Starfire.” 

She smiled at him and rushed after Cyborg. 

—-

In the med bay, Alfred got to work patching Batman up while Raven and Cyborg put Black’s arm back into place.

“Of all the times you’ve been stabbed, I did not think Master Dick would be one of them.” 

“Makes me wonder how many criminals he has stabbed,” Batman winced as another suture went in the wound. 

“Johnny Rancid got it in the leg too,” said Beast Boy. “Made him lose control of his bike and crash into a wall.” 

“Jesus.” 

Black laid back on the bed, his arm in a sling while Raven did her best to knit the muscles back into place. He pouted as he stared at Batman. “You cheated,” he grumbled.

“I cheated?” Batman frowned back. 

“You called the fight off, and then you dislocated my arm. That was cheating!” 

Batman shifted his jaw and then answered, shortly, “fine. I cheated.” 

Alfred finished up, and gave him some Tylenol. 

Black perked up. “Can I have some of those?”

“No.” 

He pouted again. “This is cruel and unusual punishment.” 

Batman simply took a sucker out of his belt and tossed it to him. That shut Black right up.

“You don’t argue with him,” Cyborg noted. “Why are you indulging him?”

“Not indulging,” Batman insisted. “Compromising. I’ve worked with the insane for 20 plus years, and I always have better results if I compromise on the small things. Especially if they aren’t committing a crime. I’ve gotten Mr. Freeze to stay complacent in Arkham because I have Wayne Enterprises working on a cure for his sick wife, with his input. Poison Ivy gets rare and exotic plants for her cell that she couldn’t get anywhere else if she behaves. And Robin decides to trust whatever I tell him to do because I ‘get’ him.”

Black scooted back on the bed to lay down. The exercising worked, and he was tired. 

“So what next?” Asked Cyborg. 

“Now, we wait. He hasn’t had any opioids since last night, correct?” 

“Yes sir.” 

“Then we keep him hydrated and wait until they move out of his system.”

“How long will that take?” Asked Beast Boy. 

“Probably another day at least. We’ll just have to keep an eye on him. No matter how much he whines, we can’t give him anything.” 

Black ‘hrmph’ed from his place on the bed. 

“Alfred, why don’t you make these kids some food? In the meantime, I’m going downtown to conduct my own investigation.” Without so much as a ‘goodbye’ he turned and left. 

Once he was gone, Black let out a long whimper and pouted. “Mr. Bunnyman is mad at me…” 

“Well, you stabbed him, what did you expect would happen?” Beast Boy snipped. 

Black started sniveling. “He told me to fight hard! I thought it was okay!” 

“It’s never okay to stab someone,” Raven told him, bewildered that she even had to. “Where did you put that knife?”

He put his finger to his lips. “Izza secret.” 

“Hand it over,” she said sternly. “You don’t want me to find it on my own.” 

He blew her a raspberry and took the knife out of his pocket. “Fine, Mrs. Killjoy.” 

“It is for your safety, Black,” Starfire insisted. 

Black started bobbing his head, grooving, one might say, then sang, “You got some nerve, coming here.”

“And we lost him again,” Cyborg rolled his eyes. 

“You got some nerve coming here. You stole it all, give it back.” 

Raven ignored him and stowed the knife. “Let’s all move to the ops room and help Alfred with dinner.” 

“You stole it all, give it back,” Black sang. 

“Uh…I don’t think Robin liked that you took his knife.” Beast Boy pointed out. 

“Well,” Raven poked Black in the chest. “Robin can get over it. If he cares about our safety, he’s not going to let Black have a knife.” She huffed, then looked at Starfire. “Keep an eye on him, would you? When he decides he wants to join us, he can.”

She went to the hall, with a bit more anger in her step than she intended. 

Black’s voice followed her.“Good morning, Mrs. Magpie. How are we today? Now you've stolen all the magic. You turn your back, walk away.”

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Jealousy made a Monster – Father!Anton x Son!Reader

WARNING!: Attempted Murder, Violent thoughts, Cursing, Violence, Blood x Injury, Blood x Gore AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

Anton Shudder, Ghastly Bespoke and Erskine Ravel went back to the Irish Sanctuary. Keiran followed them, without them noticing, right behind Keiran were the rest of the Dead Men, because Fox begged them to trust him, desperately.

Something was off about all of this, since they went together into the war against the other Sanctuaries, and Keiran was worried sick for his Dad. Keiran Fox might be a grown up, but he didn’t want to lose his Papa yet. Because of this, the Dead Men agreed to follow them, without them noticing, to help.

Soon enough they got back to the Sanctuary and Keiran sneaked inside first, the others stationed themselves outside, to make sure no one got in.

As Keiran was inside, he saw almost immediately Erskine sneaking up on Ghastly, with a dagger in hand, Keiran whipped his head around and soon spotted the black Cleaver, who was formerly the white Cleaver, too, who had his eyes trained on Anton.

He had to act fast ! They didn’t know !

“Ghast ! WATCH OUT !”, Keiran yelled loudly.

Ghastly instantly whipped around and saw Erskine attacking him with the dagger, he caught Ravel’s wrist, with the dagger in hand, quickly. Ravel cursed.

More Cleavers came inside.

Anton summoned his Gist, which was a bad idea. The black Cleaver went to attack him, knowing Anton will be unable to move and is unprotected. Keiran ran for his Father, in blind panic.

‘INSIDE ! HELP ! TRAITOR ! DANGER ! WHITE CLEAVER !’, Keiran yelled in his mind, reaching out to Skulduggery.

“PAPA !”, he screamed.

Ghastly looked at Anton and saw the black Cleaver, running at him, scythe unsheathed.

“Anton, GET DOWN !”, the tailor yelled.

But Anton couldn’t move, like always. He can’t move while his Gist is out, it takes too much effort, that he could pass out. Keiran sprinted faster and ran, with a slight jump, full force, into his Dad, protecting him from the scythe, taking the hit and making his Father fall to the floor. Keiran stayed protectively over his Father, back vulnerable.

The Gist looked at its Host and Kin, seeing the damage Keiran had gotten instantly. His back was cut by the black Cleaver’s blade. It would have beheaded Anton, if Keiran wouldn’t have interfered. The Gist got more angered at that, than it was before already, and attacked the black Cleaver.

Anton used a lot of effort to turn around to lie on his back, then he stared at his Son in concern. His face was screwed up in pain. Anton wanted to ask, what was wrong, but froze when he saw blood running down Keiran’s arms. He was HURT.

“Keiran ?! Are you alright ?! How bad is it ?!”, he yelled worried sick.

“M-my head is still on my sh-shoulders, P-Papa.”, his Son managed to mumble out.

Anton’s eyes widened at that information. They went for his head and his Son saved him from his early death, taking the hit himself. He looked at his Gist, that just managed to tear the black Cleaver to shreds and then came to aid them. It whined softly at Keiran, concerned. A very rare, close to impossible, development for a Gist to care for its own Host’s Kin, but Anton’s Gist was always different.

“R-return to Papa. I-I’ll be fine...”

The Gist listened to Keiran and returned to Shudder. Ghastly wrestled with Erskine, on the floor, in the meantime. Erskine seemed to be winning. Keiran got up and saw that Ravel was about to push the dagger into Ghastly’s neck.

“N-no.”, he tried to stand straighter and then ran at Erskine.

No one hurts his Family.

Before Ravel could stab Ghastly to his death, he was thrown off of him. Ghastly quickly got up.

“KEIRAN !”, Anton yelled in panic.

He was badly wounded on his back and he still went to fight, he could make it worse ! At this, his Gist went wild in worry, demanding to be let out again for help.

They wrestled and Ravel managed to stab Keiran’s right shoulder, deeply, making the male yell in pain. It made Anton’s Gist just wilder, wanting to rip Ravel to shreds. Ghastly speed – walked over to them and kicked Erskine, with all his might, in the head.

Erskine fell off of Keiran and was passed out. Then the doors flew open and inside came the rest of the Dead Men, running, with weapons drawn out. Madame Mist cursed.

Keiran may be in pain, but he was pissed.

“KILL HER ALREADY ! SHOOT HER ! SHE TRIED TO KILL GHASTLY AND PAPA WITH ERSKINE’S HELP !”, Keiran screamed in anger.

Mist’s eyes widened in fear and she tried to run away.

BANG !

Her eyes went even wider and she fell to the floor, coughing out blood and trying desperately to catch her breath, only to notice that she will die. Dexter’s gun still smoked, his glare deadly and his face was darkened, his mouth making a disgusted and outraged expression.

Valkyrie never saw him this mad before...

Then they ran to Anton, Keiran and Ghastly. Saracen was with Anton.

“Are you alright ?!”, he asked worried.

He nodded.

“But Keiran is not.”, Anton replied worried sick.

Dexter and Skulduggery were with Ghastly, checking on him, while Valkyrie was with Keiran and gasped at the damage she saw on his back.

They all turned to her and Skulduggery rushed over, instantly. He got out his phone and called Doctor Synecdoche, telling her that he needed her help immediately in the council room of the Irish Sanctuary. Then he quickly hung up and mumbled as he tore off his suit jacket and used it to slow down the bleeding.

“I need more help, the cut is big and deep, his right shoulder seems to be injured too.”, Skulduggery informed the rest quickly.

Anton rushed over next and Dexter followed. They pulled off their coats and pressed them on the wound of Keiran’s back, trying to slow down the bleeding there too. Ghastly took off his coat and tied it tightly onto Keiran’s right shoulder, which made the male hiss in pain.

“Synecdoche will be here anytime soon, she is hurrying.”, Skulduggery informed.

Saracen glared at the passed out Erskine, in hatred.

“What about him ?”, he asked coldly.

“Put him in handcuffs and leave him there.”, Skulduggery replied with an ice cold tone.

Saracen nodded and did as told. Then Synecdoche came rushing in with a few more helpers. She stopped and gently pushed Dexter aside, then looked at the damage.

“Oh wow, this is serious. Get him to the medical wing ! We need to fix him as fast as possible !”, she yelled.

The helpers got quickly to work and the Dead Men backed away to let them do their job.

“How did that happen ?”, Valkyrie asked Anton and Ghastly.

“He yelled a warning at me first and with that I survived, then he yelled for Anton, but he couldn’t move. He had the Gist out. Keiran ran into Anton and shielded him from the black Cleaver’s scythe with his back. I fought with Ravel, but it seemed fruitless as the dagger came closer to my neck, in last second, Keiran threw himself at him and tore him off of me, he stabbed his right shoulder and I kicked him in the head.”, Ghastly explained shortly.

She stared at Erskine in horror, which soon turned into disgust.

Anton quickly followed the Doctor, wanting to be there for Keiran. He HATED Doctors. He needed Anton to stay calm and not fight. The others followed too.

When they reached the room, they already could hear Keiran yell and scream at Doctor Synecdoche, trashing the place as it seemed. A lot of things crashed and clashed around.

“Keiran calm down.”, she said.

“NO ! DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ME !”, he screamed.

Anton quickly entered and Keiran’s head snapped to him. Keiran’s face showed rage and fear at first, but as he saw his Dad, he seemed to calm down and feel ashamed. Anton approached him and patted his uninjured shoulder.

“Calm down and let them help you, Keiran. I’m here. No one can hurt you.”, he soothed.

The male nodded his head softly. Anton knew why he hated and feared Doctors. There was one Doctor, he was at. He was a psychopath and traumatized Keiran, since then he needed Anton by his side, to not freak out and kill a Doctor that meant well.

When Nye was working at the Sanctuary, Keiran refused to go. He rather went to Anton and Skulduggery to get his wounds at least stitched and bandaged, than to risk his own sanity with Nye. Not even Anton could keep him calm near that thing.

Synecdoche went to work quickly and explained every step she was about to do, to soothe Keiran. It did help him. Anton was thankful that she knew what to do, without him asking it of her.

-Two hours later-

“I am finished.”, she announced.

“Th-thank you.”, Keiran said softly.

“It’s my job to help. Now do not move any heavy objects, don’t get into such a fight again, don’t get your back injured in the next four days and everything should be fine. Okay ?”

Keiran nodded softly.

“Good. Here is the medication you will need for at least today. It will help to heal it faster.”, she explained and gave him the recipe and a small package.

“Thanks again.”, Keiran said.

With that they left the room and were in the hall, where the other Dead Men waited.

“How are you ?”, Ghastly asked Keiran.

“Better.”, he answered.

He looked at Ravel, who was awake and gagged, legs bound together too.

“He tried to escape ?”, Keiran asked.

“He did.”, Saracen answered.

The male nodded softly and then went in front of Erskine. He helped him stand up, which shocked the rest of the Dead Men. They were about to accuse him, but suddenly...

SLAP !

Erskine’s head snapped to his left and he fell onto his left side and onto the left side of his face. The other Dead Men stared at Keiran, who slapped Erskine. The handprint was already forming on Ravel’s right cheek.

Ravel looked at Keiran in shock. The boy, he helped to raise, with the others... He glared at him with so much rage and hatred.

“I hate you, Ravel. You led them into a trap, you worked with the enemy, you betrayed us, you tried to kill my Father and Ghastly. My Uncle. I really have the urge to beat you up until you are close to death. They were there for you all the time and you stab them in the back, like a dirty, slimy slug !”, Keiran yelled with rage at Ravel.

He stared at the young male in shock and shame.

“You DISGUST me, Ravel. I wish I NEVER met you. I wish you were NEVER born. And I will kill you, when I get the chance.”, he spat outraged at him.

Ravel never saw Keiran’s hatred like this and he didn’t like that it was directed at him. Keiran turned around with an outraged and betrayed look on his face.

“I’m ashamed that I wanted to be like you. One, of the eight Role Models, I had looked up to and he is a traitor. Do us all a favor and fucking die.”, Keiran said and then left.

Ravel stared at Keiran’s retreating form in shock. He saw him as a Role Model, he wanted to be like him too and he let Keiran down. The Torment lied to him ! He said that Keiran would be happy if Erskine did what Torment told him to do ! He said that Keiran never saw him as a Role Model ! He...he ruined everything.

He looked at his former friends, they all glared in hatred at him, besides Skulduggery, he didn’t have a face, but he was definitely outraged.

“Can I kill him ?”, Anton asked darkly.

Erskine knew he had no right to plead, but he wanted to explain himself. He pleaded at them with his eyes and looked down at his gag, to make them understand that he only asks them to let him speak.

Valkyrie glared at him, but sighed and took the gag off.

“Thank you.”, Ravel said softly.

“Don’t even start. Whatever you have to say, do it quick, before I gag you again. I really don’t like you anymore, Erskine.”, she growled.

He looked down.

“Of course. I...wanted to explain and apologize for what I just tried and did behind your backs, I know it won’t safe my life, nor am I asking for forgiveness or mercy. I beg you to do your worst after I explained myself.”

They still glared, but Val, Skulduggery and Ghastly were confused slightly. What’s the point in explaining himself, if he doesn’t expect to be forgiven or get mercy ?

“I was missing a few times in the war, if you remember, besides Valkyrie, she wasn’t there when we fought Mevolent’s forces. I was...jealous of you. Keiran always said he wanted to be just like you all when he grew up. He said it to everyone of you, but me. So I thought he didn’t like me or I was not interesting. He looked up to you all and...not me. I felt excluded and I liked Keiran. I was even more jealous when Anton was chosen, by Keiran himself, to be his adoptive Father. At some point, I met the Torment and he knew all of this. He said if I would do what I was doing today, then Keiran would see me as his Role Model. Blind as I was, I believed him. He fed lies to me and made my jealousy grow into distaste and blood thirst. I knew it was wrong, you were my friends and I fought against this jealousy, cherished every moment that I had spent with Keiran instead, but after the war, I barely saw and heard from him, with that my jealousy returned. I got worse. I never knew that I already was his Role Model, that he looked up to me already.”

They stared at Erskine in shock.

“If I would have known, I wouldn’t have fallen for the Torment’s lies and tricks. But I do not expect forgiveness or any mercy. Do your worst. I deserve it. Kill me if you have to.”

“He never told you then ?”, Anton asked.

Erskine looked at Anton.

“What do you mean ?”, he asked confused.

“It was hard for him to pick between you and me. He saw you like a big Brother and me like a fatherly figure. He always feared that he bothered or annoyed you, if he would come to you or write you the first letter, so he waited for you to write. But you never did. You struck him as a person that can be nice, but can easily mask their annoyance with a fake smile, so he never wanted to bother you all that much.”, Anton explained.

“He was supposed to tell you.”, Saracen said.

“He never did...wait...what date was that ?”, Ravel asked.

“It was the 24th of October 1875.”, Ghastly answered.

“Oh... Well then I scared him off, I think. I was very stressed that day, had too little sleep and was easily annoyed. He must have seen me and then backed away.”

There was silence for a long while.

“I always looked up to you. I thought you would think it’s childish. So I never said that you counted in too. It looked like you didn’t like me all that much, so I didn’t bother you. You should have told me.”, Keiran’s voice came from the darkness.

“And you should have told me some things too.”, Erskine countered.

“Miscommunication is a pain in the ass. And it led to this too.”, Dexter sighed out.

Erskine shrugged his shoulders.

“At least none of you died and I will be punished accordingly. My jealousy doesn’t justify what I tried to do and did. I doubt you could ever trust me again.”

Keiran stepped out of the shadows and looked at Erskine.

“I will need a LOT of time to forgive you. And even MORE time to trust you again, BUT I am willing to give you a second chance. Everyone deserves one. Yes, your jealousy doesn’t justify anything, but you were partly brainwashed too, which makes you partly innocent too. I am at fault too, I should have had the bravery and told you that I was also looking up to you.”

“So...my sentence ?”, Ravel asked Ghastly, who was now technically Great Mage.

“Because of the truth you told us and what Keiran said I would put you to jail, with locked away magic, for ten years. You will get therapy to get rid of whatever remained of your jealousy and you will be released when you are considered ‘healthy’ again. Then you can work on getting our trust and friendship back. Don’t fuck it up, otherwise I won’t hesitate to give you over to Keiran and he will make you cry, when he is done with you.”, Ghastly threatened.

Ravel nodded, but didn’t smile. He had no right to smile. He was still a disgusting man. He tried to kill two of his best friends, that always stayed by his side, for something as stupid as jealousy...

Masterlist HERE !

[fakenerdboy]

It's been about 24 hours so I can write a post I know nobody will read.

Jesus Christ, at least the NYT will stop talking about that fucking debate for a minute. Of course, the usual suspects are already running their hit pieces about how this makes Trump unstoppable and Biden's on the back foot, despite the fact that this development is nothing but good for Biden's message, and will probably continue to do so as the Republicans go crazy.

First, the given. They were always going to blame dems for the shooting. They will continue to do so even now that we know the kid was a registered republican, because he donated $15 to dem campaigns once. For the record, as if it needs saying, that's the weakest connection they could possibly have and proves nothing. They'll make all kinds of conspiracy theories about it. I wish liberals hadn't jumped immediately to false-flag theories, but I guess all we do now is make a conspiracy out of everything. I'm sure that will end well for everyone. Looks like they also might jump after the Secret Service for not preventing it, which is interesting.

The thing is, none of it matters at all. What matters is how those all-important undecided voters think of the whole thing. The only way I could think of that it could turn out badly for Biden is if the shooter turned out to be a Biden supporter, which we now know is not true. He could be some kind of never-trump republican (all at 20 years old), but that still doesn't change the fact that the call is coming from inside the house.

The idea that this attempt means Trump has now won is... so fucking stupid. He doesn't look any stronger. Republicans aren't going to vote for him any harder than they already would, they're voting already because they were promised an abortion ban. Independents aren't going to jump to his side just out of sympathy - did you guys all forget how everyone fucking hates this guy? He's been losing his own party in primaries, underperforming his own fucking polling. Get a fucking grip.

Biden got up to a podium quickly, and said exactly the right things. This shouldn't happen to anyone, because it sets a bad precedent for all elections and candidates. Wow, maybe that's why we should fucking BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS so it can't happen again! He was even coming out of church to say it!! The optics of this couldn't be any better. The shooter was some kind of fucking gun nut, we know that already regardless of motive. Dems are the party trying to prevent gun nuts from killing people - so far, it looks like they're running on that, and that's good!

I'll tell you what I think will happen, and that's that the republicans are now going to go crazy. Trump hasn't really been given his phone back yet or whatever, but I don't doubt he's going to double down on his FBI assassination theory. Someone is going to say something completely fucking out of pocket at the RNC, and it's going to make them look insane. They're trying to politicize the shooting, and they're the ones who are always saying we shouldn't do that. Rational people, I believe, are not going to buy the idea that it's not their very own rhetoric that led to this.

Attacks like this don't happen to a strong political movement that's winning with the people. They simply don't, especially in our current environment. This is nothing more than a major sign of fractures within the conservative moment, fractures that have been going on basically since the guy got elected and he took over the republican party.

I can't believe (I mean I can, but it's somehow an even dumber tack to take than panicking after the debate) that people are choosing to see the political fallout from this as anything other than a complete and total affirmation that we are on the right and winning side here, because it is. The right is killing each other, and we're the ones saying we think that shouldn't happen. Thankfully, people posting on tumblr about how it's over and trump won are far less important than biden and other leaders expressing the exactly correct message that this shouldn't happen. What's left to be seen is if they'll complete the sentence - and it's because of Donald Trump that we're at this point.

[respectthepetty]

I am currently hooked on Past-senger. I don't know how possibly may have a happy ending but I am enjoying its lightness and humor. Did you notice Bamee house is the house of Tonhon in TonhonChonlatee?

I have tried Love syndrome III because I like its protagonists but it's terrible. How can the acting be that bad? I know from other series they are not that bad.

How the Koreans manage to give us such a steady string of wonderful stories such as Unintentional love story and The eighth sense? They always leave me with a nice aftertaste I don't get anywhere else.

Anon, Taiwanese BLs are my favorite, but I appreciate Thai QLs because so many are produced compared to the ZERO I've gotten from Taiwan in 2023. ZERO! The last BL Taiwan offered was HIStory 5: Love in the Future, which shared the time travel theme with Past-Senger, and as much as I love Taiwanese BLs and the HIStory franchise, I think Past-Senger did a better job with it.

Quantity does not equal quality, so Thailand having over fifty QLs a year doesn't necessarily equate to great stories or production value, but, much like Vietnamese and Filipino QLs, there is always a solid foundation with some heart at its core. Also, Thai series are easily available, for free. I haven't nor will I watch Love Syndrome III because I will hate it, and not in a fun hate-watch way, but some who watched it liked it because that's the beauty of variety; we have more to pick from based on what we like and there is something for everyone.

Past-Senger, with its Tonhon Chonlatee house, has its issues, and there are plenty including spotty sound, a clumsy final quarter, and odd pacing, but as you mentioned, it does humor well, and it takes the time-traveling aspect seriously compared to HIStory 5. When Kiew lands in the future, he is constantly reminded that he is out of place and not meant to be there, while HIStory 5 spent the first episode on that idea, then quickly moved along.

Korea tends to go back to the past (Tinted With You and Once Again) or for reincarnation (First Love Again and The Director Who Buys Me Dinner), but there is always in underlying melancholy to these since the narrative makes it clear these are "right person, wrong time" stories. Korea loves a time skip like Japan loves to make its guys run. But the issue most people as well as I have with Korean BLs is they are too short to properly develop the plot, the characters, and the resolution. For me, something is always rushed or lacking.

Yet Our Dating Sim has done the best "left him because I love him" plot out of all the QLs I've watched, and I think Star Struck might do well with it also. Both also demonstrate the Korean staple of "right person, wrong time" with time jumps that I just complained about, yet they are done well here.

As much as I stay rooting for Taiwan, I appreciate a range of queer media because every show is doing something different; therefore, each show has the possibility of doing it better.

Gameboys and Hello, Stranger, both Filipino offerings, gave us love stories about the pandemic DURING the pandemic, but unlike my Taiwanese See You After Quarantine?, I feel like some dismissed them simply because they were Filipino even though Gameboys was one of the biggest BLs of 2020 with its mask-off scene.

I have trash taste. I didn't like Bad Buddy overall and I have intentionally never watched a MAME series, so you don't have to trust one word I wrote here, but all of this is really to tell you that as great as Korean dramas are, I encourage you to continue dabbling in other countries' offerings every now and then. I'm a HIStory 4: Close to Me whore first, and a human second, but I loved being surprised by how Bed Friends handled healing from trauma through a sexual relationship, how Moonlight Chicken presented generational and economic differences through a queer lens, and how Kabe Koji and My Beautiful Man showed how distorted views of self-worth can drastically harm the people who love us.

Gems are everywhere. We just have to be willing to shuffle through some dirt to find them. Consider Love Syndrome III your dirt, but perhaps a Mame series will be your gem.

[nazmazh]

I think I've realized why I've taken to Lethal Company moreso than I have other "Definitely needs to be multiplayer"/collaborative games (Yes, you can try to play LC solo, just like Minecraft, all the zombie survival base-builders, etc. But they all work best with a group):

Because my schedule's rather asynchronous with a lot of my friends, I'd pop in when I'm able, but in the meantime my friends would have developed so much more of the base/tech tree/etc. Which is great for getting geared up and running out to do things, but it's so easy to feel completely left behind, and have utterly no idea what's going on with new mechanics, or just not having gained the personal experience/skill to equip to you do things in the world like they are. Plus, like, it just feels kinda bad to show up, grab a bunch of gear, help for like, 1, maybe 2 best-tier available things, then not help again until they're several tiers down the road - You're just mooching gear and appearing occasionally, y'know?

Lethal Company has a built-in mechanic (unless you're using specific mods) that after a certain point, the loot quota will become impossible to meet. Total party wipes - complete ones, not just a lost round, though those happen too and are fine - happen at some point, and the game is reset - All the new gizmos you had are gone. What little decor there is to the base gets wiped out.

This means you jump back in and off you go again, no muss, no fuss.

And even with better weapons/tech, there's only so long you can be out in moons before the ship will leave, so your daily cycle's gonna be overall pretty similar. Plus, there's certain monsters that are just plain immune to all damage and can fuck up even the most experienced of salvagers - Your coil-heads, your ghost girls, etc.

Even discounting them, the traps, hazards, and regular monsters can still end you very quickly - You don't get any extra health/defense ever. No immunity to lightning or quicksand, and a bracken or balaclava worm can still mess you up if you don't notice them in time.

So basically, there's only so much anyone can do to gain better equipment in this game, and personal skill and familiarity with the game are helpful, they're not complete protection against what the game throws at you. You're expected to die frequently. Everyone is. It's not a huge deal if/when you do.

Also - The whole use of cycles means that the gameplay loop only lasts so long - One day's visit to a planet at a time. Then 3 days before you have to sell items and get a new quota to meet.

Plus, like my current ongoing-staple, Dead by Daylight, once dead, you can spectate your friends and cheer them on - Bonus, your other dead friends join you in doing this. Meaning you can take a quick break if you'd like, or have something to do while waiting for next round [Okay, yes, you theoretically might want to stick around and watch to cast a vote to JUST LEAVE, but it's not super-common that we've encountered scenarios where that was necessary] -- Also, the orbits between rounds mean that you can take a break without hampering your friends, everyone can be ready to get going before you start - Something that's not really possible in real-time/persistent games).

Actually, the group I'm in has been having a lot of fun with doing low-gear runs, since that's going to be the default state of many runs - We'll get a ton of flashlights, and the teleporter to recover bodies/the occasional emergency evac. And that's usually it - We might get a handful of shovels here and there, to varying degrees of success. We've started using ladders for certain pain-in-the-ass fire exit ledges.

But almost nobody uses walkies, because that tends to get us killed as often as not because of the noise - Or you have to shut them off preemptively, which means they're not helpful anyway. And I say this as the team's most frequent ship-duty guy. If monitoring, I can usually get doors and hazards from the monitor screen and hopefully send codes when necessary.

Limited gear makes it easier to replace when you have a crew of like, 8+ people at any given time (because if you're playing this game, you really, really should be playing with a mod that lets you have an utterly ridiculous number of crew and get everyone in on things). Having that many people contributes further to the overall slapstick mood/feel of the game.

Anyway, yes, TL;DR: - I've been loving Lethal Company. And I think I'm understanding why this game is clicking for me while cooperative survival/base-building stuff hadn't been.

Can't wait for more content (might have to take a shot at modded new moons/facilities, perhaps).

[ominouspool]

TLDR : when consuming long running storytelling such as manga make sure to take your time reading it and allow yourself to go back and reread it in between big story set pieces to keep yourself immersed.

I'm trying to post here in the hopes that i can get myself back into the habit of writing ideas down and finding out how i like to express myself and since i don't have to worry about having an audience or anyone read this i can just ramble about things i like which is nice. now onto the topic at hand, Recently Ive been doing a reread of Choujin x.

I've been following the series from the day the first chapter dropped on the Shonen jump website back in 2021 and my enjoyment of the series on my first read was volatile at some points. For some reason I was just having so much trouble following the events of the story and the arcs of the characters while staying invested adding to my confusion was that i was having this much of a struggle only around 20 chapters into the story. Unable to really put my finger on what was spoiling my enjoyment so i did what i usually do when i am struggling with a piece of media, i went back and read the whole thing again.

I can't remember whether i had figured this out before or after my first reread but my problem was not with the contents of the story but rather the way i was consuming it.

I read a lot of weekly manga, I'm fairly certain i had caught up to One piece, Naruto and a few other series by the time i was 13. this created a habit of mine where i would binge a series as quickly as possible and then add it to my roster of weekly releases that i had to keep up with. This system is generally pretty effective but the longer a story continues the easier it is to lose track of the events within the story.

With series on a monthly or later basis, it's pretty common for me to just let chapters build up for while and come back when i feel like Ive got enough to sink my teeth into.

there is a lot more to my reading process that isn't really relevant or important but i promise guys i have really good media literacy you just have to believe me i swear i am doing my best over here.

Earlier i mentioned that Choujin X started releasing in 2021, at the time of writing this post it is very early 2025 and the manga currently is up to chapter 59-2. This is because the author Sui Ishida has control over when they finish and releases chapters allowing them to take as much time as he needs to create the story they want to make. sometimes the gaps between chapters is a week or two, sometimes a month or two passes without a release.

While not a massive difference in the grand scheme of things, i had become very used to consuming my manga in binges or weekly scheduled releases and doing neither for this series led me to get very confused.

After going back and reading back to where i was and feeling satisfied with my grasp on the story, I started with my new approach to reading it. In this approach I'd follow the story as it released and then as i felt an a big moment building or the end of an arc was approaching i would go back and reread the story from either the start of said arc or a point further back where i thought a relevant detail might lie. This approach was baller as hell and i soon started applying it to most things i read in general. (i think i was already doing it a bit but it was definitely more intentional afterwards).

Anyway i think i want people to think about the way they consume stories i guess because this does generally apply to all types of art but i specifically want to see a bit more of it in discourse online because i am sort of haunted by the weekly Jujutsu Kaisen discourse that occurred during the final arc and i desperately want to see Shonen Jump produce more series where the author has complete control over the release schedule (I think it could be one of the most important developments for the industry and i want people to be on board with it but maybe ill elaborate more on that later)

anyway this wasn't written well to begin with, didn't get any more coherent as it went on and definitely went to shit at the end but i feel pretty alright with that.

Thank you for reading if you happen to stumble onto this but hopefully not

[philistiniphagottini]

- (anon from ygo dm characters)

I've been thinking for some time now, and i think i have come up with a cute sfw drabble thats fitting for the both of us! ˃ ᵕ ˂

i was thinking; gn!reader who travels along with the group and went with them on the blimp for the battle city quarterfinals (where yami marik first surfaced) and developed an unexpected liking towards him at first sight ‼️😋 they keep it a secret tho, because who wouldn't be ashamed for crushing on the bad guy who's trying with all his might to bring misfortune among your friends ╥. ╥

(this is still just a little concept!! im just eager to share since you're probably the best writer for yugioh reader inserts that i have seen yet! remember to take care! <3)

Yooo thanks for coming back and sending in a request. I'm always so happy to write yugioh stuff because I think this fandom deserves so much more. Thanks for sharing your idea, I hope you enjoy this late night plot bunny that suddenly spawned after reading it :)

CW: Yami Marik, minors DO NOT interact

You needed to take a walk. A very, very long walk and sort out the mess inside your head. You lost yourself among the labyrinth of winding hallways of the Battle Ship, the stage for the Battle City Quarterfinals. You had been ecstatic when your friends invited you along to watch them compete in a tournament of Duel Monsters and to top it off, you got to watch them duke it out on top of a blimp cruising over Domino city. An all-expenses paid trip from Kaiba Corporation. What more could you possibly ask for? What you thought would be a fun trip with Yugi and the gang quickly turned sour when the blimp departed. 

You rounded another corner, leading into an extensive hallway as you continued to wander aimlessly, lost in a sea of thoughts as you tried desperately to find the source of your current predicament. In all honesty, it wasn’t too hard to locate, you were still just rotting in denial. Why? Why him of all people? Why did you take an unexpected liking towards him? You ran a shaky hand through your hair, a frustrated sigh falling from your parted lips as you stared absentmindedly at the floor. You could still recall the first time you laid eyes on him, the memory still fresh in your mind as it spun on repeat over and over like a broken record. You were so ashamed of yourself for falling for the dark side of Marik the moment his alter ego came out to play. He was the bad guy, trying with all his might to bring misfortune to your friends. So why did your stomach feel a little tingly, like the delicate flap of a butterfly's wings when he looked at you? Why was your body drenched in a hot flush when he laughed so wickedly? If you closed your eyes right now, you could already hear the cruelty of it grating against your ears.

Your grip in your hair tightened, nails threatening to start ripping your hair out at the roots as you tried to claw your thoughts out of your head. You couldn’t voice your awful thoughts to anyone, especially not to your friends. They knew something was wrong with you after the gang’s first encounter with Marik’s twisted side. Everyone was a little shaken up but you were taking it pretty hard. No matter how many times Tea asked you how you were holding up, you lied and told her everything was alright. No matter how much she pried you refused to budge, lips tightly sealed in a thin line as you buried this secret so deep there wasn’t a chance anyone could pry it from you. That’s one of the other reasons you were walking along the hallways, hoping that no one would find you. 

You had already tried to talk with Kaiba to let you off this hell ride. He laughed in your face and refused your request outright. You already considered jumping ship several times. The thought sounded a little appealing. Running from your problems instead of facing them always sounded appealing. Your mind and body were fighting with each other. Your head told you that it wasn’t right but yet your heart betrayed you by yearning for someone you really shouldn’t be interested in. There were so many red flags your vision was drowned in crimson. Your head was starting to feel dizzy and if you kept pacing up and down these hallways you were eventually going to start scuffing marks along the polished floors. Maybe if you did, Kaiba would be forced to kick you off for daring to put even a speckle of dirt on his fancy, new toy.

You were so lost in your own head, a sea of thoughts threatening to drown you in the dark abyss, that you failed to take notice of your surroundings. You failed to notice the approaching footsteps and you failed to notice when your entire being was enveloped in a dark shadow. You were wrenched back into reality when you felt something snag your wrist, your raging thoughts coming to a screeching halt as you faltered in your stride. You were too slow to react and your world was sent spinning as you were dragged down the nearest dark corridor, away from the harsh light and any prying eyes. Your back flared with pain as you were promptly shoved into the wall, a sharp hiss whistling through your teeth as a loud yelp got caught in your throat. You were forced to swallow your voice as a hand clamped over your mouth, muffling your protests as you struggled in your captor’s grip. Once your eyes adjusted to the dim light, your eyes widened in silent disbelief. The very man you had been trying to avoid was staring directly at you. 

His lavender eyes pierced you down to your very core and a cold shiver crept down your spine at his close proximity. You could feel the heat of his breath against your skin as your mind kicked into overdrive, still trying to comprehend what the hell was going on. You were paralysed. Your mind screamed at you to fight, kick, scream and run. Yet your body refused to listen. You were staring directly into the gaping maw of danger, razor sharp teeth bared at your throat and you were oddly docile. Was this what it felt like to be a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car? Just complete docile to your fate?

You felt Marik’s fingers pressing into your skin, sun kissed skin pleasantly warm against your face as he dug his nails into your plump skin. 

"Scream and you won’t like the results" Marik warned. 

The apathetic stare he gave you was offset by the sinister smirk curling his lips. It was like he was goading you into giving him a reason to want to hurt you. Did he truly need one? Pain flared in your wrist as his nails pressed intimately close into your flesh, goosebumps prickling your skin as you felt your sins crawling over your back. You didn’t know whether you were liking his sudden fixation on you or loathing it. You were filled with conflicted feelings, trepidation and elation taking turns with your weary body. You felt dizzy again and the faint metallic scent clinging to Marik’s clothes made you feel nausea. You were going to be sick. Or pass out. You didn’t know which feeling was going to win in the end.  

Marik’s face hovered closer to yours and you could feel every hair on the nape of your neck standing up. Your palms felt sweaty and his proximity was not doing any good to your poor heart, your pulse hammering in your ears like the loud beat of a drum as you questioned why he was here. What did this mad man want from you? He was in no rush to answer that question, your voice still cut off by the palm of his hand as his fingernails scraped across your jaw. He tipped your head, your body not putting up much resistance as you bent to his will with such ease that the sight would be considered laughable. And you could tell by the smirk still present on his lips that Marik noticed the peculiar behaviour too. 

"Oddly placate, little lamb" he commented, mirth tinting his voice as it dripped from his mouth like a slow acting poison.

You despised the way you shivered in response yet you did nothing to stop his advances as he tipped your head, tilting it in a different direction every few seconds as he examined you. You felt like a bug being scrutinized under a microscope as he continued to examine you, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed in concentration. It looked like he was searching for something. For what, you hadn’t the foggiest. But if he just told you what he wanted, then this encounter would be over much quicker. Your knees were beginning to wobble and you weren’t sure how much longer you were going to hold out. Dizzy, you felt so dizzy. Your vision wavered slightly as your attention flicked back to Marik, a sound akin to a thoughtful hum stirring in the back of his throat as he seemed to reach a conclusion. A conclusion you prayed you would like. Or at least come out with every limb intact. 

"I’ve decided" he announced.

You raised a questioning eyebrow in response. Decided what? Care to share with the class? Unfortunately, your untimely wit was swallowed as the hand covering your mouth clamped around your face harder, making your jaw ache when you tried to dislodge your words from the back of your throat. Tears pricked the corner of your eyes from his harsh grip and it was obvious your pain only brought him further amusement. You weakly grabbed his wrist, nails scratching at his skin as you tried to catch his attention. He refused to budge. You weren’t allowed to get a word in. Marik’s face pressed closer, your panic-stricken face twisting with even more alarm as the tip of his nose brushed along yours, your vision obscured from everything else around you until only he remained. Your discomfort only added fuel to the fire and Marik found himself rather enjoying the reactions he was pulling from you.

"You’re coming with me, and you’re going to fix the turmoil you have stirred-" his voice trailed off as his hand reached for his chest, fingers clutching onto the front of his shirt like he was in pain. "In here" he concluded. 

You didn’t know how to react to those words as they slowly burrowed their way under your skin. You felt dizzy.

Dizzy.

Dizzy.

[berdie314]

I just googled Anglish and found their website. The first link I clicked after reading the first page was telcraft (mathematics), of course, and right at the bottom of the page they couldn’t not include the Newton/Leibniz calculus inventing rivalry like so:

Flowreckoning - the lore of things happening right now, and how fast, among other things. It was first made by Isaac Newton in England, and at the same time, but less well-known, by G.W. Leibniz on the Europish mainland.

[wildernessuntothemselves]

Don’t Make Me Jealous Again

Summary: You’re the only muggleborn Slytherin in the history of Hogwarts, and you suffer about as much as one would expect because of it. You didn’t think it was so bad at first as you’d made the unexpected acquaintance of a certain ice prince who was always there to help you when no one was looking. So can anyone blame you when you started developing a crush on him? You even thought that he might like you too. And so, armed with the stupid valor of youth, you made a confession to him in front of the whole dining hall, expecting him to break out into his sweet grin and take you into his arms, and you could finally be together without hiding. 

Instead, he brutally turned you down in front of everyone and proceeded to treat you like the dirt under his shoes lest you even make the mistake of thinking you’re worth anything to him again. 

So why was he now, a year later when you’d finally moved on from him and everything that happened, so furious that he’s caught you sneaking out from the Gryffindor dormitory after fooling around with Soobin?

Genre: Smut, Angst

Warnings: NONCONSESUAL!!!!- mind control- face fucking- masturbation

A/N: longest summary i ever wrote but I had to explain the backstory since this just jumps straight into action lol

This is a nonconsensual fic. Be careful and read at your own risk!

______________

You had left the gryffindor dormitories blushy and giddy after having had a slight rendezvous with your long time crush Soobin. He was such a gentleman, and as sweet and shy as you are so you felt more than safe messing around with him despite your inexperience, knowing he'd never hurt you. In fact, you think he might ask you to be his girlfriend soon.

As you made your way back to the Slytherin dormitories however, treading through the midnight darkness of the ancient castle, that feeling of safety dimmed more and more until your skin crawled with the feeling of being watched.

You nearly shriek out when you round a corner and bump into someone, their hard body not yielding and instead your own body being flung back. You're sure you would've hit the ground if it wasn't for the mystery person's arms snaking around your body and pulling you up to steady you against the wall.

"T-Taehyun?" You gulp, coming face to face with the intimidating prefect. The ice prince. The man whose mere gaze could bring you to your knees.

But he's not looking at your eyes, preoccupied instead with the tie partially hidden under your shirt. "Why are you wearing a gryffindor tie?" His soft voice makes you shiver, scaring you more than anyone's shouts would.

Your throat was suddenly parched, making you struggle to form any words. "I-I... Soobinie..."

As soon as you say the other male's name, Taehyun's eyes snap to yours, and you could feel your knees buckling under his gaze.

"This is his?" He asks, thumbing at the brightly colored tie. You would smack yourself if you could, but he was holding you too tightly for that. How could you ever think this could be a good idea, sneaking off from your crush's dormitory with his house's tie around your neck? You thought you were being cheeky, high off the endorphins you got from your encounter with him. But in reality, you were just stupid.

"You snuck into the Gryffindor dormitory to give him a taste of your cunt?"

You gasp at his crude words and try to wriggle out of his grasp but he just presses his body harder against yours and traps you completely against the stone wall.

"You're so easy. At least make him work for it."

"You're wrong. We didn't do anything." You squeak. You don't know why you're lying. You didn't have to justify anything to him. You can do whatever with whoever you want, yet still you find yourself hoping he'd believe you.

"Don't lie to me, slut." He grabs your shirt and tears it open, sending the buttons flying everywhere and exposing your bare breasts to him, Soobin having taken your bra in exchange for the tie.

"What are you doing?" You try to cover yourself with your hands but Taehyun quickly mutters a spell under his breath that has your hands pinned against the wall. With your arms now out of the way, he's free to grope your breasts.

"What are all these hickies then?" He tuts, his hands rough as he squeezes your breasts and pinches your nipples. "You've really let him do whatever he wants to your whore body. That makes me really mad, baby. I thought you liked me," He lets one of his hands drop between your legs to stroke over your pussy. "but I guess you'll go to anyone who'll fill your holes."

"Stop it. Why are you doing this?" You cry, struggling against your invisible bounds but not even making them budge. "You rejected me."

"Because you're stupid! Asking me out in front of everyone. You know I can't be seen with the mudblood. Doesn't mean you're not mine." He growls, hand slipping under your panties and pushing a finger into you. It's a tight fight despite your regrettable wetness at his ministrations. "Shit, you're so tight. At least you weren't that much of an empty headed whore to let him take your virginity. That is mine, baby."

You pale at his claim. "Are you g-gonna--"

"Fuck you?" He finishes for you and you wince as his finger pumps in and out of your pussy. "Yes but not here. I'll have you in the prefect's quarters so we can get all the space and privacy we need. It's going to be a long night for you."

"But I don't want to."

He laughs at your protest. "It's cute that you think you get a say in this. You can't be trusted after you've shown yourself to be a loose whore who'll run after any dick that offers."

The tears stream freely down your face now. "I'm not a whore! Me and Soobin like each other."

He slaps your face, anger filling up his expression. "Don't fucking say his name again. You think anyone would love a mudblood like you?"

You don't know what possessed you to defy him. You know the punishment will be severe just from the fury on his face but it's the only thing you can do, the only form of protest, the only way you can hurt him, so you do. "Soobin loves me."

What he utters is something you would have never expected in your wildest dreams.

"Imperio."

You don't even get to express your shock before the spell takes over your body.

"On your knees." He commands hoarsely, and your body smoothly falls to the ground, no hint of resistance from your muscles, and you wonder how much he practiced that spell to be able to do it so seamlessly.

But the horror just keeps on coming. Now eye level with his crotch, you see clearly as he undoes his pants and pulls his cock out, but instead of putting it to your lips right away, he drags the hardened length all over your face, humiliating you as his precum smears over your skin and he lets out little gasps of pleasure. "That's it. That's where you belong, mudblood. On your knees for your master."

You can't even cry anymore as he finally presses the head of his dick against your mouth. "Open."

He hisses as you easily take his length in, the spell making it so you don't gag or flinch away as his length pushes down your throat. "Gonna wipe his name from your whore mouth."

Taehyun is ruthless as he fucks your face, and even though your body gives him no resistance, it still hurts to have his cock repeatedly ram down your throat and his crotch slap into your face.

You're making an embarrassing mess around him in no time, saliva and precum gurgling around his cock and dripping over your chest, obscene sounds filling the ancient hallways around you.

You wonder if anyone would hear and come to your rescue. You wonder if you even want to be seen like this, even if it meant you'd get to escape from the cruel man above you, moving your head over his cock like you were a disposable toy for him to use.

But ultimately you know no one would hear you. Taehyun is smart, and it wouldn't have slipped his mind to put a silencing charm around you, and if he could use an unforgivable curse with such ease then he certainly knew a spell or two that could divert any unwanted attention.

You vision starts getting foggy from the lack of oxygen and you wonder if he'd even notice if he killed you. How would he know when he has total control of your body and you have no way of warning him of your impending loss of consciousness.

To your surprise, he somehow senses it, pulling back from your mouth with a lewd squelch, his cock dislodging from your mouth dragging a gush of spit with it.

"Fuck, you look like a mess." He strokes your hair, almost fondly but you can't look up to see if his face is as soft as his tone. All you see is his slick and swollen dick hanging heavy between his legs.

"Pull your shirt open for me." He murmurs and you immediately obey, pulling apart the fabric that had fallen to cover your chest again. He grunts as your breasts come into view.

"That damned tie." He wraps the tie around his knuckles until there is only a small part between his fist and your neck then he pulls on it, tightening the knot around your neck and restricting your breathing. "Touch your tits."

You do as he says, and if you could move, your body would shiver as soon as you touched your nipples, and for the first time you feel lucky that you can't.

You hear a slick sound as Taehyun starts pumping his dick to the sight of you. "Play with your pussy." He whispers, and immediately one of your hands goes to rub at your clit, shameful pleasure burning in your belly at your own hands touching yourself and you wonder if the imperius curse can control your pleasure too.

Yeah, that must be it. You can't possibly be aroused under these disgusting circumstances. It was all the work of the sick man standing over you.

But Taehyun can't even let you lie to yourself, as he suddenly takes the spell off you, and you body immediately jerks at the pleasure.

He groans out loud as he sees your body react to your own touch. "Yeah, that's it. Make yourself cum for me, baby."

You marvel at how you still have the resolve to disobey after all he put you through, stopping your movements in spite of his command.

Cold fury passes over his face and you flinch, immediately regretting your small act of defiance. He tightens the tie around your throat again.

"Would you rather I choke you on my dick then? Maybe after I cum in your mouth I should leave you strewn on the floor for everyone to find you in the morning."

"No!" You cry, your voice barely coming out of your abused throat, and you quickly put your hands back on yourself, touching yourself for him like he wanted.

He sighs at your quick defeat, leaning back into his own touch again and loosening his grip on the tie. "You have so much training to go through before you can be my perfect pet."

"Please let me go." You choke out, still rubbing your fingers over your nipples and your pussy even as you beg. "I don't want this."

"I'm sorry, baby." He didn't sound sorry at all, his face twisted in euphoria as he neared his orgasm. "I promise I won't be so harsh in the future. You just gotta be a good pet and not make me mad."

His hand lets go of your tie and falls to your chest to palm your breasts. You instinctively arch in his touch, and when his fingers pull lightly on your nipple, you cum.

Valiantly, you try to conceal your orgasm, biting down on your tongue to not make any sounds but it's no use, he can see the fucked out look on your face and the way your body shudders with the intense pleasure.

"Yeah, like that. Good girl." He groans, hand faltering over his dick as he too cums, his seed spurting over your face and dripping down to join the mess on your tits.

He continues lazily stroking his dick as he looks down at you, clearly proud of the mess he made of you.

"You look perfect." He purrs, content. "You look all mine."

"Don't make me jealous again."

___________

A/N: anyway if you have a yandere or hybrid txt idea send it to me and I might write something like this for you too (but most likely way shorter)

[hotch-stufff]

can i get angst 47 with gibbs 👁👁

Bruises

gif is not mine

Paring: Gibbs x Reader

Warnings!: mentions of abuse, angst, crying, comforting, abusive relationship, cursing, mentions of injuries from abuse

Prompt: "You flinched"

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I laid on the ground, not having enough energy to stand up. I couldn't move, and God did it hurt to breathe. Probably a bruised rib, would definitely have some bruises to add to the collection.

Hopefully nothing bad enough to send me to the hospital. The last time I did that, well it was just really bad, and Darren was pissed. So pissed that when we got home, he beat me all over again.

Now I know what you're thinking. What is a federal agent doing staying in an abusive relationship like this? Truth is, I had no idea. At first it was because I thought the beatings would eventually stop, but they didn't. And after realizing they would never stop, I tried to get out. But that only left to another hospital trip and threats. The threats were the only reason that I stayed.

Darren threatened a lot of things. He threatened to beat me so bad I couldn't move. To kill me. But the worst was that he threatened to hurt my team. He knew the whole team, he knew them really well. He worked at NCIS for God's sake, just not on Gibbs team. And that was enough for me to stick around.

Of course, it should be known that it wasn't always like this. Darren was a good guy in the beginning. He brought me flowers and took me out to nice restaurants. He made time for me, and I did the same for him. But then, he didn't get the open spot on Gibbs team. I did. And it all went downhill from there.

The bruises were getting extremely hard to hide. Turtlenecks and long pants were becoming my everyday wardrobe. Which wasnt the easiest thing to work in, but foundation was expensive, and Darren spent most of our money on alcohol or cigarettes. Whatever his weekly fix was. It was ... exhausting. The front I had put up in front of everyone was tearing me down, and people were starting to notice.

Tony and Ziva, who sat closest to me would send me a concerned glance each time I winced when moving. I blamed it on muscle pain, from working out so much.

Abby would see the amount of makeup I was wearing and would ask if I was okay. Of course she just thought I was insecure. She would always tell me that I was bueatiful and that I didn't need makeup. It warmed my heart each and every time she said it.

Palmer was concerned because he had caught one of my bruises. It was on my wrist and my sleeve had rolled up slightly. He had asked about it and I had told him the first lie that popped in my head. That I had fallen. He had taken me straight to Ducky to make sure that it was actually okay. Which is how Ducky got involved.

And then there was Gibbs. Gibbs didn't ask questions, he didn't push for answers, he didn't send me concerned glances. But I was certain he knew something. He didn't know what was actually going on, because he would beat the shit out of Darren if he knew. But he just seemed like he knew something. I knew that if I was going to go to anyone about my "issue", it would be him. Gibbs had been there for me since I had joined the team. And we both had spent plenty of late nights in the office talking. Me, avoiding going home to Darren and him not wanting to go back to his empty house.

Everyone had said that Gibbs was this hard man that never opened up and remained silent most of the time. But boy once he got talking, he never shut up. We talked about eveything. And sometimes nothing, just enjoying each others presence. And if I'm honest, I may have been developing feelings for the guy. But I could never do that, because Darren would probably kill him. And that scared me more than anything.

But life seemed okay. Atleast I was the only one getting hurt.

Of course until it all came crashing down. And it had just been a normal day.

* * *

I sat at my desk, working on and endless stack of paperwork that came with each case. We had just wrapped one up, a good ending thankfully. The team was in high spirits, talking about going out to a bar tonight. But I knew Darren wouldn't have it. I had turned down the offer, instead opting to sit and do paperwork until I had to go home.

Everyone had left for the night, leaving me alone in the bullpen. My hand was a scribbling away, when I had felt the gentle tap of a hand against my shoulder. I should have been more careful, but I had thought it was Darren. So I flinched away from him and crossed my arms in front of my face.

"Y/n?" Gibbs. It was Gibbs. That was it. Just Gibbs. I instantly pulled my arms down and straightened up.

"H-hey Gibbs. What um, what can I do for you." He just stared at me, giving me the usual Gibbs glare.

"You flinched." I grimaced. Of course I did. I didn't want him to find out like this, but I guess this is how its gonna go.

"Um- I, I. Well you see Gibbs-" he cut me off.

"Is someone hittin ya?" He paused thinking, before remembering my oh so lovely boyfriend. "That son of a bitch."

"Wait Gibbs. Its not what you think." But the damage was done. He was going through everything in his mind. My clothes, the grimaces everytime I jerked around, the excuses, the late nights avoiding going home. It all made sense to him now.

"Take off your shirt." My eyes grew wide.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." There was no avoiding this, he wasn't letting me off easily. I took a deep breath before grabbing the bottom of my turtleneck and bringing it over my head. His breath hitched when he saw the bruises that littered my skin.

"My god y/n." He shook his head, running the rough pads of his fingers up and down my arms. "Gonna kill him." And he stood back up, turning quickly before stomping towards the elevator. I slipped my shirt back on and ran after him, but he was already gone. I hurried down to the parking garage and jumped in my car speeding off.

He was gonna kill him. Although who would kill who, I didn't know.

I broke just about every speeding law on the way to my house. When I got there, the door was kicked open and yelling was coming from inside the house.

"Gibbs!" I shouted, running as fast as I could. I walked in the door and gasped. There was glass littering the floor, and picture frames scattered across the ground. I walked further in the house and found them in my kitchen. Gibbs on top of Darren, repeatedly punching him in the face.

"Gibbs! Stop!" I ran to him, pulling him off of Darren. "Stop, he isn't worth it." I pulled Gibbs up by his arm and dragged him away. But he wasn't finished.

"Ya ever go near her again, you're gonna wish you were dead. We'll come back for her stuff, you better not be here when we do." I wanted to cry, to scream, to shout. But I held it in, grabbing Gibbs more forcefully and dragging him back outside.

Once outside, we hopped in his car, and he began driving back to his house. Saying I was grateful was an understatement. Grateful that it was finally over. That maybe I could sleep at night now without worrying about waking up to another beating.

The ride was driven in silence, and soon we were at his house. He got out of the car and walked inside, leaving me out here by myslef. I walked in after him.

I found him in the the kitchen pouring a glass of Bourbon. I came up behind him hugging him.

"Thank you." He froze for a minute before turning in my grasp and brining me into a tight hug. And thats what started the tears. We stood there as I cried into his chest for what felt like forever. Until he finally pulled away and cupped my face.

"Ya didn't deserve any of that. Don't know what happened, or when it started. But ya didn't deserve any of it. You are beautiful and loved and noone should ever have to be treated the way you were." He paused and I began rambling out whatever words came to my mind.

"It was you. I stayed because he threatened you. He said he would hurt you and the team and I couldn't let him." He leaned his forehead against mine. The tears pouring steadily down my face, sobs racking by body.

"Shh, shh. Sweetheart its okay." He leaned in slightly, our lips brushing slightly. And then he leaned in the rest of the way, kissing me into he most gentle way he could. So much different than the bruising kisses that Darren would give me. He broke away after a second.

"Dont know if your ready for it, but I love ya." He said softly. "We can do this, if you want. At your own pace. I just want to show you whats its like to be loved the right way." I nodded.

"I might need some time. But I love you too... Jethro." He smiled.

"Take all the time you need. But m'not leaving your side." I giggled softly as he brought me into another hug. And I stood there whispering thank yous and I love yous until we headed off to bed. I hadn't felt this safe in a long time, and I never wanted to let this feeling go.

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

Hope you guys enjoyed this one. I'm really enjoying writing for Gibbs. Thanks for reading! Requests are still open, so ask away! Im so sorry if I don't get to your request! If you would like an idea of what to request, here is my prompt list, and if you would like to read more of my work, here is my masterlist.

[jekde04]

Home

One-shot for Gruvia Day/Greige Day/Gruvia Family Day 2021

Summary: Coming home from a mission is always better when there's someone waiting for you.

Word Count: 2,483 words

You may also read it on FanFiction.net and AO3! Check out my master list for other Gruvia fics.

Tag List: @shampooneko @fbflame94 @juviaafullbuster @unvalley @gruviaftw11​ (Wanna be tagged, lemme know)

“Mommy, we’re back!”

Looking for her blue head of hair had become second nature to him, so he quickly spotted her among their friends as she stood up to gather the running Greige into her arms. He followed right after, though a lot calmer.

“I finished my mission with Daddy!” the four-year-old boy with dark blue hair exclaimed as he reached his mom, still a little breathless from running. “I made big blocks of ice for the party, and Daddy crushed them to make snow cones for everyone!”

Greige prattled on excitedly, demonstrating each point with his hands and arms and making Juvia smile. Arriving at her side, Gray put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and kissed her temple. She embraced him back, giving him a quick squeeze before letting go and turning back to their son.

Gray chuckled. It seemed like ages ago when Juvia would welcome him with a half-hug, half-tackle to the ground while shouting, “Gray-samaaaaa!” Now, all her attention was on their son.

“That’s great, darling,” Juvia told Greige as they all sat side by side, with both of her boys on either side of her. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

Gray rolled his eyes. It was so like Juvia to get worried over a simple mission of making ice sculptures and snow cones for kids at a birthday party, even though she was the one to spot it on the job board.

At first, she got really excited as she saw it as an opportunity for family bonding. But with her six-month pregnant belly, Gray wouldn’t risk it even if it was just an easy and harmless mission.

It ended up being a father and son bonding with his little ice mage apprentice.

“Relax, Juvia. As if I would let something happen to our son,” Gray answered after taking a gulp of the ice-cold water waiting for him at the table. Mira passed by and set a hot bowl of udon in front of him, giving him a light pat on the back.

“Of course you won’t, Gray-sama,” his wife answered with a smile. “But Juvia will always worry for you two. It’s just the way it is.”

She turned to Greige and held his elbow to pull him closer but was surprised when he yelped in pain.

“Greige-kun? What’s the matter? Where does it hurt?” Juvia asked in a concerned voice, trying to look for any bruise or cut on his son’s well-covered body.

Gray also turned to look at him with worry. “Did you get injured, buddy?”

“N-nothing. I’m okay, Mom,” Greige answered, squirming from Juvia’s fussing and a bit embarrassed about his outburst.

“Don’t ‘nothing’ me, young man,” Juvia said in her stern mommy voice that meant business. She rarely used it to both Gray and Greige, so both of them knew better than to defy her in any way when she was in one of her moods.

And being pregnant, those mood swings escalated tenfold.

Greige let Juvia remove his outer coat, allowing her to quickly spot the source of the problem: a scratch on his elbow. It wasn’t that deep or big, but it definitely should be cleaned, or else it would get infected.

Suddenly, Juvia snapped her head towards her husband and glared at him with her fierce blue eyes.

“Gray-sama! You said you won’t let anything happen to our son!”

Gray gulped and scratched the back of his head. All they did was make snow cones, how the hell did Greige get that?!

“Juvia, I swear, I didn’t let him out of my sight! I don’t even know where he got that,” he answered as he moved to Greige’s other side, examining the wound. “Besides, it’s just a small scratch. It’s no big deal.”

He immediately regretted his words the moment they came out of his mouth. He felt goosebumps prickling his skin as Juvia’s glare intensified.

Really, this woman means the world to him, but she could be scarier than Erza sometimes.

But before he could appease his wife, Greige said in a small voice, “This was from yesterday.”

Juvia turned to their son. “Yesterday? What happened? And why didn’t you say anything about it?”

With his head bowed, Greige mumbled something he couldn’t hear. Gray was about to ask him to speak louder when he saw him chance a glance at the pink-haired girl just three tables away from them...

And blush.

Holy Mavis.

He knew that look. He used to steal glances at Juvia with that look.

But his son was just four years old!

“What did you say, Greige?” Juvia’s voice broke through his thoughts (and internal panic), and he tried his best to focus on his son’s answer instead of his pink cheeks.

“I-I... scraped my elbow while Nasha and I were trying to hide from Aunt Lucy,” Greige answered, and Gray swore his son’s cheeks flushed some more.

Okay, he and Greige need to have a long talk when they get home. He was just four, but who knows what ideas and thoughts were running through his head now? Better nip it in the bud while it was still early.

And maybe he would tell Juvia tonight, but he had to be really careful because it might trigger the waterworks. And God knew how extremely sensitive she was, especially now that she was pregnant. Just last week, they ran out of milk, and she bawled her eyes out over it.

“Next time, be more careful, darling,” Juvia said, seemingly oblivious to what just happened and already arms-deep into her first aid kit.

Juvia had always been like that whenever he returned from a mission. She would have a first aid kit by her side and a glass of cold water and a serving of whatever the meal of the day was already ordered for him. At home, there would always be a feast.

He had to thank her failproof Gray-sama radar for always getting the timing of his arrival right.

She started dabbing alcohol on Greige’s wound while blowing at the spot to ease the pain. Greige flinched a little, but he put on a brave face while his mom cleaned his wound, his eyes traveling now and then to the nearby table where his bubbly friend was busy playing with her mom’s keys, unaware of his stolen glances.

That talk was definitely happening the moment they get home.

“All done!” Juvia exclaimed, lightly patting the band-aid she placed over the abrasion. “Now, for the finishing touches.”

She puckered her lips and lowered it to Greige’s elbow to kiss the boo-boo away, as she always did whenever her son injured himself. But just when her lips were a mere inch away, Greige saw Nasha looking at him with her big brown eyes, causing him to push his mom’s lips away from him.

“Ahh, stop it, Mom! I’m a big boy now!” Greige blurted, crimson cheeks and all.

Lisanna, who was delivering some drinks to a nearby table, smiled widely and ruffled Greige’s hair. "Aww, you are so cute, Greige-kun!" This made the boy even redder.

Surprised, Juvia locked eyes with Gray, and he tilted his head towards the table where his rival’s family was staying. She saw Nasha looking at Greige, and she looked at her husband and raised one of her eyebrows.

“Okay, Mommy understands,” she told Greige as she smiled at him and smoothed the band-aid on his elbow. “But promise me one thing, darling.”

Greige looked up at her and waited.

“Promise me that even though you’re a young man now, you won’t give Mommy a grandchild yet, okay? Mommy’s too young for that.”

Greige just continued looking at her, brows furrowed in confusion. Gray, on the other hand, almost choked on his udon and shouted, “Juvia!” at his giggling wife.

“Really, I can give Mommy a grandchild? How?” their son asked, excitement twinkling in his eyes.

Gray took a gulp of cold water before turning to his son. “Alright, that’s enough. Greige, don’t listen to your mom. And Juvia, stop putting ideas into your son’s head!”

Juvia covered her mouth with her hands. “Juvia’s sorry, Gray-sama. Juvia just thinks it’s so cute that Greige-kun already has a --”

“Greige?”

A little girl’s voice interrupted them, and they all turned to look at Nasha, who had quietly made her way to their table. Gray stole a glance at his son and saw him giving the girl the tiniest of smiles.

Just like the smile he used to give Juvia when he was still fighting his growing feelings for her.

All of a sudden, the innocent-looking girl jumped on Greige and locked his head under her arm, a mischievous smile on her lips. “Aunt Juvia, Uncle Gray, can Greige and I get some ice cream?”

“Ow! Let go!” Greige exclaimed, suddenly finding himself in a headlock with a giggling Nasha. He escaped her grip and glared at her while his mom answered, “Of course, sweetie. Just don’t go far and don’t take too long.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Nasha excitedly answered, dragging a sulking Greige after her. “Come on, weirdo. Let’s get some ice cream!”

“But I just ate a snow cone!”

“Whatever, you’re coming with me!”

Gray followed the two kids with his eyes, watching them hold hands as they made their way to their Aunt Mirajane.

That was his son, alright. Before long, he would be all grown up and meeting Nashas from different worlds and seeing snow dolls of Nasha and having enemies conjure up fantasies of him and Nasha in a perfect, happy world and --

“Relax, Gray-sama,” he heard his wife say, bringing him back to Earthland. “It will be a long time before all your thoughts would come true.”

His wife’s Gray-sama radar probably got an upgrade as it apparently developed mindreading powers now. And since when did his mind start running off to fantasy world? After all these years, Juvia’s powerful imagination must have rubbed off on him somehow.

Gray stretched his sore muscles and popped the joints in his neck. “Don’t joke about grandkids again. It’s scary.” He placed his hand at his wife’s round belly. “‘Sides, we’re not yet done having kids.”

Juvia looked at him, the most beautiful smile gracing her face. “Juvia knows. Now, get naked.”

“N-now?” Gray stammered, surprised at his wife’s sudden request. Sure, he would love to try having more kids, but --

“-- so Juvia could examine you thoroughly for any wounds. And change your bandages,” she continued, eyes feigning innocence. But he could see a small smile tugging at her lips, satisfied with the little joke she pulled.

Gray rolled his eyes and took off his shirt. He let Juvia’s light fingers explore his body and carefully remove the old gauze wrapped around his broad chest. “It’s almost healed already,” he remarked.

Juvia just continued applying antiseptic on his injury, not looking up at Gray. His wound was by no means fresh, but it was a deep gash he got from one of his missions with Team Natsu. He threw himself in front of a kid to protect her from one of the bandits, which earned him a cut over his breastbone. Good thing Wendy was with them; it could have been fatal if she didn’t treat it right away.

“Still not totally healed. Gray-sama should keep the bandages clean to avoid infection.” She looked up at him and added, “And Gray-sama should be extra careful now that our family is growing.”

Despite her steady tone, he could see her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. He remembered the first time she saw his injury and how she tried to muffle her sobs so that Greige wouldn’t think something was wrong.

Gray wiped the tears that escaped her eyes and kissed her forehead tenderly. “I will. And no matter what, I will always come back home to you.”

Juvia nodded and gave him a small smile. She wrapped fresh bandages around his chest in silence.

“All done now, Gray-sama.” She patted her handiwork and started putting all the stuff back inside the first aid kit. When she was done, she stood up and was about to return the kit to Mira when Gray thought aloud, “How come she does it for Greige but not for me?”

Juvia turned to look at him. “Are you saying something, Gray-sama?”

Gray looked at her sheepishly while scratching his cheek. “Ah, nothing.”

“Juvia’s sure she heard something about doing it for Greige but not for you. What is it?”

Gray’s cheeks turned pink. “Well, it’s just that...” He puckered his lips towards her.

“Eh?” Juvia asked incredulously. “Juvia’s not sure she understands what Gray-sama’s talking about.”

Gray sighed and picked up his shirt. “Forget it. It’s silly.”

Juvia sat beside him again, thinking aloud to herself. “Hmm. What does Juvia do with Greige that she doesn’t do with Gray-sama?” After a few moments, her face lit up. “Aha! Does Gray-sama want Juvia to kiss his boo-boos too?”

Gray’s face flushed some more, but he couldn’t help the smirk from crawling on his face. “Well, you used to do it, right? I’m just curious how come you don’t do it anymore.”

It was now Juvia’s turn to blush. She put her hand over her mouth and said, “Is Juvia hearing this right? Gray-sama wants Juvia to kiss his body right in the middle of the guild?”

Realizing what she was saying, Gray suddenly burst out, “What? No! I was just asking!”

But it was too late. Juvia’s lips were already pressed onto a scar by his collarbone.

“Does this still hurt, Gray-sama?” She then moved lower to his chest where the bandage started, and kissed it softly. “How about here, hmm?”

Gray froze as Juvia’s lips traveled even lower, now kissing his hard abs covered by his bandages. He clenched his fist as he could feel something else hardening.

“Is Gray-sama feeling better now?” Juvia asked in a sultry voice, looking up at him with those beguiling eyes, a tiny smirk on her luscious lips as if challenging him.

Oh, she was definitely teasing him.

But why did she have to look this sexy?

Around them, he could hear some of their guildmates snickering and hollering.

“Get a room!”

“They’re being lovey-dovey again.”

“Give your wife what she wants, Gray!”

He was flustered alright, but he only knew of one way to turn the tables on his wife.

He grabbed her shoulders and straightened her so that they were at eye level with each other.

“You missed a spot right here,” he said, pointing to his lips. But before she could react, he angled his head and kissed her full on the mouth.

That will teach her, he thought.

Amid all the teasing, gagging noises, and catcalls, a little boy eating his ice cream a few tables away yelled, “Eww, Daddy and Mommy are being gross again!”

***

Happy Gruvia Family Day, loves! 😘

[aminiatureworld]

Burden

Characters: Xiao, gn!reader

Word Count: 2,261

Warnings: None

Premise: Xiao fell in love with your goodness, with your selflessness and generosity towards others. Perhaps, however, in doing so he had misunderstood your own complexities.

In which the reader feels they are a burden.

Author’s Note: I feel like I should note that there are going to be some relatively extreme emotions, mostly negative. I don’t feel like it’s enough or specific enough to be given a warning, but if anyone wants to tell me to tag it for something I will gladly. That being said I’m pretty proud of this one

Xiao

Ever since your first interaction you had been helping Xiao. It had seemed so natural, even then, even when nothing seemed natural about interacting with a human, those strange people from who Xiao must always be separated. Yet there you were, asking if this perfect stranger was alright. And there Xiao was, suddenly seeing his world opening up before him.

Perhaps it was for this reason that your relationship had developed in the way it had. To Xiao your selflessness, your never ending kindness, the fact that you would stop to help someone regardless of circumstance, all of that was normal. It was innate in your personality, and perhaps that was why Xiao never questioned what effect having that kind of personality might have on you. It is easy to assume that a kind and selfless person is also one with a short memory. After all, how could they stand it otherwise?

So when the first, barely noticeable, traces of that burden which Xiao saw so often began to swirl around you the yaksha’s initial reaction was that of utter panic. Was this not the exact reason that Xiao had chosen to disconnect himself from humanity? Was this not proof, right before him, that the chains he carried could not be contained. Though Xiao generally thought of humans as vaguely useless, deserving of protection because Rex Lapis proclaimed it be so, the idea of harming any one of them with the legacy of his own sins, it was something that he could never stomach, no matter how many times he feigned apathy. That you should be the person upon who his burdens should be transferred, how could he bear it?

Of course a small, more logical, part of him urged the adeptus to stop and think. The miasma that Xiao attracted in such high concentration was everywhere, and humans were not exempt from this burden by themselves. After all, did humanity not channel great evil as well as good? Did not the most ordinary human, dejected by their lot in life, become swarmed by little wisps of evil? Yet those were other, ordinary humans. Ordinary humans couldn’t understand the sheer capability to love that you seemed to possess. No, if Xiao could sense such a miasma around you then it was surely his fault.

Still the idea of leaving you was something quite painful to Xiao, to the adeptus who had so recently learned what it meant to love someone wholeheartedly. He told himself that it was best to leave immediately, best to disappear with the wind and never look back. Yet a part of him couldn’t seem to bear the idea; and that was the part that won out as Xiao approached you later in the day, as if in a desperate last attempt to prove himself wrong.

“Are you alright?”

“Xiao!” You jumped slightly, having evidently been lost in thought. Smiling widely you shook your head. “Of course I’m alright! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I…” Xiao paused for a moment as the idea of telling you what was going on flitted through his head. Almost immediately the thought was squashed. After all, would the knowledge not worry you more? “I was just asking.”

“Well thank you Xiao, it’s very kind of you to think of me.”

“It’s my duty.”

“Still,” your smile never faltered. “You deserve thanks for what you do nonetheless.”

Xiao tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach, tried to block out the emotions that crashed over him like great waves as you leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. Was this not a good thing? After all, if Xiao was what cause this miasma to float around you, then was that not your salvation? Xiao knew how easy it was to drown in the burdens that one must shoulder. He knew how easy it was for humans to sink to the bottom of their despair and never once more emerge for water. Why should it not be a blessing that you would never have to fight to keep your head up, to keep yourself from a life full of burdens? Why, why did it hurt so much?

During the night, Xiao would leave during the night. After all, you deserved one last evening of happiness, if the yaksha could even believe that he brought you happiness. Or maybe it was for his sake that he refused to leave before the world was plunged into darkness. Maybe it was simply that Xiao could no longer imagine a world without you, and that such nightmares came out easier at night. Lying on top of the roof, eyes closed, ears focused on the familiar tread of your feet, Xiao willed himself not to think. He could regret when he was far away from you, when you were once more safe. For now he could only follow that ritual which had so long kept him sane, kept him from joining his brethren. For now he thought only of the contract he had once made.

The sound of your feet on the ground below came all too soon, as the sun finally began its descent across the heavens in earnest. Keeping his eyes closed, as if to stall the darkness for a little longer, Xiao took a deep breath in. He needed to steel himself for this evening; if not, well, Xiao had no wish to cry for the first time in a millennia.

Only once these thoughts finished flitting around in his head did the yaksha finally recognize the change in your footfall. Usually you were very light on your feet, dashing this way and that, stopping to ask Goldet or Yanxiao some mundane question, inquiring after the old lady who had basically set up permanent residence on the bottom floor of the Inn. This time, however, you seemed to drag, as if you were indeed carrying something very heavy. Alarm flashing through him, Xiao willed himself into perfect stillness. He wished to hear more, wished to understand what had caused such a change in you.

What he certainly hadn’t expected was the labored breathing of someone seconds away from tears.

The moment Xiao heard the door to your room close the sobbing began in earnest. Though you certainly seemed to be trying your hardest to hide your tears the sound of your muffled sobs rang through Xiao like a siren, flaring up every bit of alarm he had to offer. Jumping off of the roof Xiao catapulted his way through the hallways of the Inn, not bothering to hide his presence to the few, very confused, residents that were out. Reaching your room he didn’t allow himself a moment’s hesitation before grabbing the knob and opening the door.

Your head snapped up, eyes a mixture of dark emotions as you stared at him. For a moment you seemed ready to flee, to run and hide somewhere, or perhaps to throw him out. However almost immediately you seemed to sink back into yourself, and though Xiao could still sense your distress, at least the initial shock of his arrival seemed to have passed as quickly as it would otherwise.

“Xiao! I, I didn’t expect you. I, could, could you leave? I don’t, I don’t want, I don’t want to be seen right now.” It was all you could get out before another round of sobs wracked through your body.

Trying to remember what you had done for so many people, for himself, Xiao grabbed the pitcher that sat at one of the tables in the room. Pouring some water into a glass he crept towards you as softly as possible, hoping that he could convey his worries in these odd, brusque actions. He knew that he didn’t have the talent you had to comfort people, knew that all his gestures of kindness inevitably came out cramped and awkward. Nevertheless he shoved the glass into your hands, staring just past you as you tentatively downed the water. Taking the glass from you Xiao then reached out one of his palms to you. His relief when you placed your own palm on top of his was indescribable.

“I guess you probably would like an explanation,” you rasped out.

Xiao said nothing, waiting for you to act on your own. If he knew anything the yaksha knew that attempting to force the truth out of anyone would never worked. Hadn’t his own years as a pariah taught him that.

“It’s just,” you finally continued, taking in deep, labored breaths. “It’s just so hard. It’s so hard Xiao, I can’t stand it anymore!”

“Stand it?”

“Stand the… the hurt!”

Your eyes filled with tears, and you went to grab the handkerchief that you left on your nightstand. You always needed one with you, as your eyes stung terribly whenever you began to cry. Xiao said nothing as you sobbed once more, only moving to draw small circles on the back of your hand with his thumb.

“It hurts so much, to see other people. To hear their problems. Not that it’s their fault, or that I don’t want to help them. I do, I really do. I look at all the people suffering near me and I just want to take all their burdens and give it to myself, after all they don’t deserve all their sufferings. But it’s so hard Xiao, it’s so hard to take on people’s burdens, even a little bit. And I feel so selfish when I think that, so selfish and so worthless. How can I say that? But it’s true, it’s really, really true. And when I think about that, when I think about all the other people suffering worse than me, it just makes me feel so horribly selfish. Like, like all my problems are so stupid and selfish and telling others would only hurt them, and didn’t I want to take everyone else’s burdens away? I’m so stupid. And it just, it hurts.”

Xiao sat there quietly once more, waiting as you cried. At one point you seemed to collapse in on yourself, leaning against his shoulder as if to support yourself. Only then did Xiao allow himself to move. Carding his hands through your hair he said nothing, he merely waited.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. You already have enough burdens, I know. I shouldn’t be complaining to you of all people. I, if you want you can tell me if something is wrong. I mean, you always can, I, just. I don’t know. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“My burdens are my own,” Xiao replied softly, finally letting the emotions swirling through him try to string together as words. “It has nothing to do with you. It never will. You, you should come to me when you feel burdened.”

“But then I’m only passing my problems onto you!”

“I told you, my chains are my own. They are the payment for my contract. They aren’t what you tell me or push on me. If you feel these burdens then give to me. That is my duty.”

“But Xiao, I, I don’t want to. I don’t want to be a problem.”

“How can you say something so stupid,” Xiao scoffed. Bringing his hand to your cheek he sighed softly. “You will never be a problem. You will always be dear to me. Let me help you. You help so many humans. I want to help you.”

“I, I don’t know,” you spoke, voice faltering.

Though Xiao could still feel the tension in the air, could still see the miasma which swirled around you, there was something fragile about it. It was as if Xiao could reach through the tangled threads and pull them away, if only he could find a way to do so. Stroking your cheek softly Xiao pressed his forehead to yours. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath in. After a few moments he heard you do the same.

The rest of the evening Xiao stayed vigilant by your side, listening as you finally let yourself say all the things that had been weighing down upon you. It was painful, listening to you. Xiao constantly had to fight the urge to tell you how wrong you were, how much you mattered and how far he would go to bring you all the happiness he could possible gather in his stained hands. Still he said nothing, for if you had taught him anything it was that simply listening could do infinitely more than promising to fight or trying to shoulder each burden as you lay them out in the daylight.

Eventually you grew exhausted, a combination of the crying and the talking and the reliving. As Xiao listened to your breath even out, softly shifting your head from leaning on his shoulder to resting in his lap, the yaksha thought about all that had happened.

Xiao had assumed that you were somehow above all the humans around you. Purer, gentler, kinder. He hadn’t stopped to think how that might have affected you. Now that he knew that wasn’t true, now that Xiao knew how deeply you felt, how sometimes your mind too chased after darkness or found itself struggling to keep above water, he couldn’t help but feel as if he’d missed something before. Perhaps you shouldered these burdens and perhaps you were just as human as the rest. You were still kind, kind and selfless and utterly beautiful. And Xiao still loved you in a way that continued to burn brightly through his soul.

[spencerreidsconverse]

When Evil Doesn't Sleep

summary: Spencer has been gone far too long on a case and when he finally returns home, reader shows him just how much she missed him.

word count: 3.4k

warnings: smut, implied dom/sub undertones, pet names

Pairing: Spencer Reid/Female Reader

A/N: My first fic!!! I hope you all enjoy! <3

“Y/n I’m really sorry but it looks like the case is going to take a lot longer than we thought. We had a recent development and the profile is now pointing to a partnership so now we’re hunting down two unsubs”. You sighed as Spencer rattled off his apologies through the phone before putting him out of his misery “Spencer honey, you don’t have to apologize. Quit worrying about me and focus on catching the bad guys.”

To say you missed Spencer would be the understatement of the century. He had been in Utah for six days already and now with a pair of psychos your odds of finding him in your bed by the end of the week were growing increasingly slim. It didn’t help that you had been swamped prepping for an extra class you’d agreed to take on at Georgetown where you worked as a Criminal Psychology professor. Between both of your hectic work schedules you hadn’t had a real weekend to yourselves in a few months, and while you knew when you first started dating Spencer that it was an inevitable of his job, it had never been this crazy before. They say evil never sleeps but lately it hasn't even taken a catnap.

“I love you Y/N. I promise I’ll come home to you soon and take you out on a real date. I’m sorry darling, I have to go. I’ll text you when I get to the hotel tonight and if you’re still up we can talk for a bit okay?”. “Alright Spence, I love you too. Stay safe okay?”. “I promise, goodbye love.”

Your farewell barely made it past your lips when the dial tone cut you off and once again your boyfriend of three years vanished from your side of the country. You let out an exasperated sigh before reminding yourself that there were other people who needed his help and that you could wait for his attention - at least until that night. Continuing the trek up the stairs of your and spencer’s shared apartment, you managed to haphazardly balance your grocery bags in one hand while unlocking the door and disabling the security alarm, internally cringing at the high shriek that rattled through your brain.

Walking through the living room, you sat the bags on your kitchen counter and began reorganizing the small fridge space to fit all the perishables you had brought home, absentmindedly hoping they wouldn't spoil now that it would be just you for several more days. Moving to the cupboard you replaced the few grab and go snack boxes you had made up to try and encourage Spencer to eat more throughout the day and refilled the paper plate stash that quickly became a requirement after you realized neither one of you could tolerate doing dishes every night. You ripped open the cardboard packaging of yet another microwave dinner and set the timer before leaving to change into more comfortable attire.

Opening the door of your shared bedroom, the smell of vanilla wax melts and dryer sheets hit you like a brick and immediately sent a pang of loneliness through your chest. Spencer was usually around by the time the chores needed done, and you rarely had to do them yourself. Unfortunately, the laundry was piling up and you needed something to distract you so you spent the day running errands and cleaning the apartment more thoroughly than necessary. You walked over to the stack of black dresser drawers and pulled out the first pair of pajama pants you touched, Spencer’s old caltech sweats that now fit you far better than him considering he had received them when he was 14. They looked more like capris on him now and it was embarrassingly difficult to convince him to buy a new pair that fit him properly. You slipped on a tank top and pulled your hair back before making your way lazily to the bathroom to take off the remnants of your simple makeup.

After scrubbing your face clean and pulling your dinner out, you moved to ready the couch for yet another night of binge watching cheesy 90s movies. You selected Clueless and watched the vibrant colors pop across the screen while you dived into your meal, making a poor attempt to ignore the slight freezer burnt taste that lingered after every bite. You finished your dinner and set the bowl aside before covering yourself with a blanket and allowing yourself to sink into the cushions, desperately awaiting Spencer's text.

You were jolted out of your doze by the loud buzzing of your phone against the wooden coffee table. Clumsily you reached for it and managed to swipe the answer pad before it sent your genius to voicemail. “Hello?” you managed before a yawn ripped its way through you suddenly. “Hey Y/N, I’m sorry it’s so late. I didn't mean to wake you, I figured you’d still be up. You should go back to bed love.” For the first time, you noticed the neon green numbers on the microwave. 12:30. You stifled another yawn and shook your head in an effort to wake yourself further “No way, I just dozed off while watching a movie. I was waiting to talk to you. Besides, I’m up now anyways so you might as well stay on with me for a bit. Did you get any further today?” “Well, JJ had the idea that the partners were originally a typical dominant/submissive partnership but that something in the dynamic must have changed because the MO began to deteriorate. We think the partners must have split up now, because we’re finding similar pieces of the previous MO at separate crime scenes.”.

You processed the information he fed you slowly due to your semiconscious state but eventually you put your words in order well enough to respond. “That should be helpful though yeah? I mean, they’re used to working in a partnership so being suddenly separated from your other half so to speak would throw you off track quite a bit right?”. You could practically hear him smiling through the phone as you drew the conclusions the team had come to only a few hours prior. “Yes. We’re hoping to be able to draw them out and trap them. Play them against each other.”.”Does that mean I can stop sleeping on the couch soon?”. You heard him let out a dejected sigh - you knew he hated that you would force yourself onto the cramped couch when you had a king sized bed a few hundred feet away but he understood.

When he had come home in the early hours of the morning after an abrupt end to a case a few weeks after you had moved into his place, he had caught you curled up on the sofa with a throw pillow stuffed under your head. When he questioned you about it the next morning, you simply answered that the bed felt too big without him and that you couldn’t stand the empty feeling. “Sooner than later I hope my love. Y/N I really wish you wouldn’t do that to yourself. It’s horrible for your body. It can put you at a much higher risk for chronic back and neck pain as well as-”. “Spence. I’m not a giant like you are. I fit on the couch much better than you do, and I barely notice the difference.”. You both cringed, hearing the lie clear in your voice. Still, Spencer must have felt bad because he humored you. “If you're sure. What did you do today my love?”. You smiled sadly hearing in his voice just how desperate he was to escape from his reality and come home to you.

”Well, I straightened the house. In fact, it’s so clean i think we could use it as a sterilization room.”. He let out a soft chuckle and you could hear him begin to relax as you recounted the rest of your day, excluding the part about the microwave dinner. Spencer loved to tell you how many of the ingredients were one step away from processed garbage and you decided to opt out of the lecture for the evening. He had more than enough to worry about without having to focus on your diet while he was away. After a half hour of light conversation, a loud yawn betrayed you as you were excitedly discussing the cute puppy you had met on the way to the market. Spencer immediately requested that you hang up and get some more sleep but you refused. After a few minutes of bickering, you relented on the condition that he would read to you until you had fallen asleep. You curled up under the fluffy blanket as Spencer’s even voice recited the collection of Grimm’s fairy tales quickly lured you to sleep.

You woke up the next morning as sunlight peered through the curtains, stretching your body out to ease the aches from the previous night. You smiled softly as your screen lit up with a text from Spencer wishing you a good morning and an update that they had a solid plan for boxing in the two unsubs that afternoon. “If all goes to plan I should be carrying you to our bed before midnight tonight.”. Your smile widened and you sent back “Can’t wait to truly see you - and love you- tonight. I’ll be waiting.” You plugged your phone into the charger and straightened up from the night before when your phone went off again. The one word message glared at you from the screen and you let out an involuntary giggle. “Tease.”. You hoped it gave him something to look forward to until he was back in your arms. You sent back a simple “XO” before deciding to reread one of your favorite books for a few hours to kill some time. You made yourself a sandwich for lunch and had a few glasses of water as the clock slowly ticked by. You were over halfway through the lengthy novel when you received another message.

“We apprehended both unsubs. Hotch is postponing the paperwork until Monday so we can go straight home. I’ll see you in a few hours baby.”.  You jumped slightly in celebration before finishing your current chapter, marking your place, and all but skipping to the shower to shave and exfoliate your skin. You knew Spencer would still be heavily worked up once he arrived home and luckily, his favorite release included intertwining your bodies as close as possible and loving you sweetly and slowly.

You took your time in the shower careful not to nick yourself with your razor. You scrubbed your scalp with your nails, letting your stress and soreness melt away under the steam. You waited until the water ran cold before turning the knob and stepping out, wrapping yourself in a fluffy towel and blow drying your hair until it layed perfectly even. You applied lotion all over your skin and stepped out of the bathroom to slip on your black silk robe, knowing it wouldn’t be worth it to dress up further. Spencer would be desperate to feel your skin against his and any fabric in his way didn't stand much of a chance.

You made an actual meal for dinner, a pasta dish with chicken that could be easily reheated for Spencer when he grew hungry later in the night. You helped yourself to a serving and after quickly cleaning up the kitchen and storing the leftovers, you retreated to the bedroom to wait for his return.

You were half paying attention to the feed you opted to scroll through on your phone when you heard the door creak open and bags drop to the floor. You set your phone on the bedside table and ran towards the foyer, all but throwing yourself at the exhausted man in front of you. He took a step back from the impact but still enveloped you in his arms and pulled you impossibly tight into his chest. “Hi baby.” you whispered against the scruffy skin of his jawline, peppering kisses up towards his earlobe. He let out a long sigh of relief and picked you up off the hardwood floor, wrapping your thighs around his waist resulting in a high pitched giggle to erupt from your throat. He kissed you then, slowly at first but quickly building more passionate. Your lungs were burning when he finally allowed you to pull away, opting to kiss down your neck to your collarbones and the skin of your chest that was newly exposed as your robe slipped open.

He carefully made his way back to your room, continuing his kisses back up to your shoulder, stopping only to leave marks you knew would only grow darker as time passed. At the very least he was sure to only mark you in places you could cover with little difficulty. “I missed you so much Y/N. The entire ride home all I could think about was you waiting for me in our bed. My gorgeous girl.”. You felt your chest heat up at his words of admiration, wrapping your fingers into his curls and pulling his lips towards your own once more.

You felt him groan against you and moved to quickly unbutton his shirt, slipping it down his arms and tossing it in the general direction of the hamper. He pulled you up with him then, so you were both on your knees, chest to chest as he pulled your robe fully down your back to the swell of your ass where he grasped at you through the slick fabric. You let out a whine and you pulled his belt off, undoing his jeans desperate to continue. He grinned against your neck and pushed you down so you laid flat on your back, completely exposed to him. He kissed at your stomach, making his way down to your inner thighs. He licked a slow wet trail from your pelvic bone to the top of your clit as you whimpered desperately. “Spence, please… I need more”. He humored you, creating slow small circles with his tongue moaning at the taste. You cried out as he created the perfect amount of pressure on your clit, legs threatening to close around his head when he moved to slip one of his fingers easily inside you as the mix of your own wetness and his saliva aided him. He smirked as he felt your thighs flex before using his left hand to throw one of your legs over his shoulders at a time. He pushed a second finger in, curling them up to perfectly reach your g-spot with every thrust. Soon though, you grew impatient with just his fingers. You needed more and you knew just how to get it.

“I want you so bad Spence. I’ve waited for so long and I just can’t anymore. I need to feel you deep inside of me.”. You were positive those words would leave him just as needy as you were and he proved you right when he kicked his pants the rest of the way off and went to line himself up against you. “Wait.”. He stopped immediately, examining your face for any indication of what was wrong. “What’s the matter baby? Are you okay?”. You shook your head and smiled at his concern before switching your positions so his back was resting against the pillows as you straddle his thighs. He smirked at you as he caught on, trailing his hands up the front of your legs to rest at your hips. “You gonna ride me angel?”. You responded with an eager nod and he squeezed your hips, pulling you up further so you were hovering above him. “Sit pretty like my good girl then.”. You whined softly at his words before slowly sinking yourself down around his length, sucking in a harsh breath at the stretch. Even with how wet you were, the adjustment took longer than usual due to the dry spell you were both suffering from as of late.

When you finally felt stretched out enough to move, you slowly ground your hips forward flush against his. He groaned out, lifting you back up so you were almost completely off of him before pulling you back down. You moaned both at the sensation and the idea of being manhandled by the genius below you. You realized what he was asking though, and began bouncing yourself up and down his cock, stopping every few thrusts to grind your clit down on him. You let out soft moans, and after a few more minutes you felt his fingers dig deeper into your hips and his breaths quicken. You knew he was close and as if on cue you started rubbing fast circles against your clit as he spoke again.

“Baby girl I’m getting close. You gonna cum with me angel?” You nodded furiously in response and you felt him start thrusting up to meet you. You panted as you hurried towards the edge of your orgasm, holding on until his thrusts grew sloppier. “You ready to cum with me baby? You gonna cum on my cock?” “Yeah.. gonna cum all over your cock Doc.” You fought to keep the grin off your face when he moaned at the title. He thrusted deep into you twice, before he ordered your release. “I want you to cum now baby. Cum all over my cock.” You felt your orgasm rip through you, electricity shooting through your limbs. Spencer groaned loudly as you tightened around him before pulling you down deep and releasing inside you.

You both fought to catch your breath as you rode out your highs before you found yourself slumping against his chest, suddenly drained from your activities. You felt him chuckle at your drastic change in energy as he wrapped his arms around you again. “I know you just washed the bed sheets and we’re both sweaty but do you think a washcloth will suffice for tonight?”. You nodded against his chest before slowly lifting yourself up and off of him, rolling onto your back on the other side of the bed. Spencer swiftly made his way across the hall, returning to wipe you down gently with the warm fabric. You shivered as the cool air dried your skin, watching him move throughout your room.

He slipped on a fresh pair of boxers before tossing the washcloth in the hamper along with his previously discarded clothes. He hung your robe on the back of your bedroom door then flipped the light switch off before rejoining you in bed to slip under the blankets with you. You immediately curled up into his chest, sighing contently as the sound of his heartbeat filled your ears. You kissed his chest and whispered goodnight, drifting into your first real sleep since before he left.

The next morning you and Spencer went shopping after you successfully convinced him to upgrade to a smart phone with video call abilities. He had begun to shut down the idea as he always had before but after the mere suggestion of what it could do to better your late night hotel room chats he was the one pulling you towards the nearest phone shop. You smiled politely while Spencer took his sweet time weighing the pros and cons of each model, letting your mind drift to the first time it would come in handy. As you finally neared the checkout counter, you took Spencer's hand in your own and gave it a gentle squeeze. After running his card through the machine, the salesgirl gave him the small plastic bag and wished you both a good afternoon.

As you exited the shop, you looked up at him, nudging him to get his attention “What do you think of an app controlled vibrator?”. He stared at you incredulously for a few moments, almost stopping dead in his tracks. After recovering from the initial shock at the vulgarity of your suggestion, he shook his head with a soft smirk and nudged back against you. “Tease.” he called you once more. “That’s the reason you love me right?”. He pulled you into his side, kissing you softly. “One of many Y/N. One of many.”