#because this was in my drafts for months and i dug it back up

[stargirlrchive]

TOLERATE IT

older!ghost x reader — i realized after i finished, i did not mention simon’s name once, but this was written w him in mind lmaooo

cw: angst, no comfort, break up? ish, friends w benefits and complicated feelings, simon self-sabotaging, im in such an angsty mood! edit: this has been sitting in my drafts for over a month and i don’t know if i like it

your nails dug into your palms as your eyes filled with tears. you were drowning, he was drowning you. you had known it for a long time now. this, whatever it was, wasn’t working. not anymore.

not when you had bled yourself dry, spread yourself too thin for him, just to receive nothing in return. worst of all is he had told you so from the very beginning. but some naive, stupid, part of you thought that would change. that he’d change for you.

stupid, stupid, stupid.

“what did you except?”

his voice was ice cold, indifferent and… bored. as if you pouring your heart out to him mere seconds ago meant nothing.

you realized then that you had been terribly wrong. mistaken the way he held you, and kissed you, as something more. “i just figured-”

his eyes blazed with frustration, “figured what, hm? that i’d eventually soften up? grow to love you?”

yes.

“i don’t know. would that be so difficult?”

“yes.”

your face twitched, unable to mask how deeply that hurt. your throat tightened with regret. regret of ever tangling yourself with him, regret with voicing your feelings.

“you knew what i wanted from this arrangement. you had agreed. we were on the same page.”

the regret and melancholy that had ebbed and festered in your heart turned to anger. blinding, burning rage.

“i had told you, made it so very clear that nothing long term would come from this. i can’t give you that.”

that rage was threatening to consume you.

your voice shook with anger, but the look on his face took the crack in your voice as one of sadness, weakness, “you won’t give me that. it’s not that you can’t.”

he said nothing, because you both knew it was true. “look, kid-”

“don’t-” your voice rasped, “don’t call me that.”

his fingers clenched in frustration, breathing through his nose as he tried to collect himself. he had never heard your voice grow that cold. not towards him and it made his bones ache.

“it’s nothing personal. i’m just not want you’re lookin’ for. not for something constant, and if things were different, if i was a different person then maybe. but im not.”

your eyes burned, a few stray tears falling but you were quick to wipe them away. yes, you had come to an agreement prior to this. but things had changed, the way he looked at you, and held you.

the whispered words in between your tangled limbs had proven that. he lingering touches and soft eyes.

he must’ve been one hell of a liar if he didn’t mean any of that.

stupid, stupid, stupid.

“i don’t believe you.”

you sniffed softly, looking at him and you were sure the devastation was clear in your eyes. “because if everything that passed between us, if you were able to fake that. you’re a monster.”

“you knew what this was when we started.”

you missed the way his fingers dug into the armrest of the couch. shaking your head as you stood up. “get out.”

he felt the chill of your words wash over him, and the part inside him that yearned for you, desperately begged him to speak up. to tell you that this was all some big misunderstanding.

stupid, stupid, stupid.

what he was doing was stupid. but it was for the best.

you deserved better, and he’d never be able to give that to you.

yes you would.

he forced the voice back, swallowing roughly before standing up. grabbing his things as he watched you try not to fall apart before him.

the words of ‘i’m sorry,’ heavy on his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

his footsteps heavy as he left your apartment. his heart aching the further he walked away and it comforted him a bit to know you’d never forgive him again.

there would be no hope, no one to hurt or disappoint and he could live with that. knowing that he let you go before you could begin to hate him.

[withwritersblock]

Oh! Darling pt. 3

~Oh! Darling by The Beatles~

Author's Note: a bit of a fluff piece tehe Summary: Y/N and Quinn get a night away Warnings: none Word Count: 2,082 Quinn Hughes x fm!reader

July

Ellie was asleep in her nursery, it was well past eleven and Y/N and Quinn were still wide awake. Despite Quinn’s best efforts, he’s been gone a lot more than he’s wanted this summer. The NHL awards and the draft took a week of his time. His family was in town with him but the two most important girls in his life were still in Vancouver. 

He spent all day with Ellie practically attached at his hip, now he was spending time with his girlfriend. They were simply laying together in bed, watching Miracle. A movie that they can have in the background while they simply talk. It’s been too long since they’ve spent alone time together.

“What if Riley comes by and watches Ellie for the night while we go on a date?” Quinn asked as he rolled onto his side, meeting her gaze. She tilted her head down, her eyes squinting slightly. “What’s with that look?” he asked teasingly. 

She rolled her eyes playfully as she rolled onto her side, meeting his gaze. “Riley? Riley watching our four month old? Really?” she questioned sarcastically. Quin smiled as he dryly laughed. “She can barely watch herself!” she said while laughing.

“Would you rather my friends do it?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. She sighed while rolling onto her back, staring towards the ceiling. “That’s what I thought,” he leaned towards her, pressing his lips to the side of her head. “We need a night to ourselves, you need to be pampered and you need to get all dressed up,” 

“Oh really?” she asked. 

He hummed as he climbed on top of her, staring down towards her, “When was the last time you went out and got all fancy?” he asked while staring down towards her. She pouted as her hands ran up and down his chest before she looped her hands around his neck. 

“I’ll be getting pampered?” she asked suspiciously. He nodded while leaning towards her. He pressed his lips to her cheek for a moment.

“We’ll have the whole afternoon and night together, only if you trust Riley to watch Elliana for that long,” he said while scanning her features.

She was hesitant. Maybe it was easier for Quinn to spend a night away from Ellie because he’s done it so much already. She’s never been away from Ellie for a whole night, let alone leave her alone with someone who’s never been alone with a kid. 

“I’ll ask Riley, I’ll make a full list of everything she needs to do so it’ll be okay,” she mumbled. He leaned towards her pecking her lips for only a second.

“It’ll all work out, I promise, my love,” he whispered before he kissed her lips again. 

~Two Days Later~

Ellie was starting to eat some baby food, they have only introduced apple and banana to her as they were given a list to do one day at a time. Today Ellie was sitting in her high chair, waiting for Quinn to give her some food. 

“Alright, my baby girl, we’ve got peas or carrots, probably both gross but maybe good to you. I don’t know,” he spoke, a small laugh leaving his throat. Ellie simply babbled, not fully understanding what he was saying. He sighed, “Carrots will probably be better,” He set the peas container down on the counter.

He clicked open the carrots container, “I’ll give it a try first and then you, okay?” he said and she giggled. He dug the tiny green spoon into the suspiciously orange baby food. He brought it to his mouth, taking the tiniest bite. It was awful. “Oh-so good, so good,” he cringed out as he tried not to show his disgust. “You try,” he said as he dug the spoon back into the baby food and he airplaned it towards her.

She gladly took a bite, clearly enjoying it. “Better you than me, Darling,” he whispered as he smiled towards her. Quinn lifted his gaze to see Y/N standing at the door way. “Hey love,” he said as he met her gaze from across the room. “Elle Belle likes carrots,” he offered excitedly. 

“Clearly you didn’t,” she teased as she walked across the living room towards where Ellie and Quinn were.

“Shhh, she’s not supposed to know that,” he said with a teasing grin.

“You put on a good performance though,” she offered as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder. Tilting her head to the side she met his gaze for a short moment before she pressed her lips against his briefly. “Riley’s going to be here in thirty minutes,” she offered. He hummed as he switched his attention back towards his daughter.

“How does she like this stuff?” he asked as he gave Ellie another spoonful. She gladly ate it no problem. Y/N giggled.

“She’s a baby, Quinny, she doesn’t know anything else,” she offered as she stared towards her little girl. 

“Yeah well wait till she finds out what ice cream is,” Quinn said smiling. She kissed his cheek for a few seconds.

“I’m going to get dressed and do my makeup. Any guidance on what I should wear?” she questioned as she slowly pulled away from him. Quinn watched her walk away.

“I’m wearing a suit, if that helps my love,” he let out, a grin oon his lips. 

“It does, thank you,” she said as she hopped and walked excitedly towards their bedroom.

After thirty minutes, Riley arrived. Not knocking per usual. “Where’s my beautiful date for the night?” Riley called out as she walked into the apartment. Quinn chuckled as he stood up from the couch as he held Ellie to his side. “There she is! Ellie, my girl,” she said excitedly reaching for the girl. Ellie giggled as her arms reached towards Riley. 

“Amazing, I can start getting ready,” he said excitedly jogging around Riley towards his bathroom. Riley rolled her eyes playfully as she shifted her attention solely to Ellie. He jogged into the bathroom squeezing past Y/N. She was standing in a robe, styling her hair. She smiled towards him as he started ripping his clothes off so he could jump into the shower. She rolled her eyes playfully as she watched him.

It took another thirty minutes before Quinn was ready. Well, almost ready. Y/N stood beside him finishing her makeup while he was running his fingers through his hair, styling it. He was in his suit, the same one he wore when he won the Norris trophy. 

“Ri, you doing alright?” Y/N shouted as she tilted her head back, peeking towards the hallway. 

Riley smiled widely as she walked up to the doorway, no Ellie in her arms. The baby monitor in her hand. “Nap time started at three, she’s out like a light. I got this, you two finish getting ready and have an amazing night away,” she said smiling widely before she slipped away back towards the living room. 

Y/N shifted her gaze towards Quinn, smiling softly. “She’s got this,” Quinn offered while pursing his lips forward. She rolled her eyes playfully as she finished applying the last of her makeup. He smiled as he adjusted his collar as he stared towards his girlfriend smittingly. 

“I’m going to get my dress on and we can head out,” she stepped towards him, kissing his cheek before she wandered towards their bedroom. Quinn smiled to himself as he dropped his head. He walked out of the bathroom, towards the living room. 

Riley was planted on the couch, a blanket covering her frame as she was clicking through Netflix trying to find something to watch. “Thanks again for this Riley,” Quinn offered as he shoved his hands into his pants pocket awwardly. 

“Y/N’s been needing this, she’s missed you a lot Quinn,” Riley said as she smiled a wide grin, “I’ll be full time babysitter if it means you two get to be Quinn and Y/N again.” she said. Quinn smiled as he dropped his gaze to the floor.

“Thanks Ri,” he mumbled, shyly. “She’s got to get up at four if she’ll be asleep by eight. And you want her to be asleep by eight or else-”

“She won’t sleep at all, I know Quinn. I got this, remember?” Riley offered. Quinn chuckled nervously.

“Right, yeah. We just haven’t left Ellie alone with someone who’s not our moms,” he said with a chuckle. “But between Isabella, Luke, and Jack, we trust you the most,” 

“It’s not the fact that I live in Vancouver and Isabella lives in Michigan. Luke and Jack are Jersey, none of that matters?” she asked sarcastically. He shook his head laughing.

“Even if any of them lived in Vancouver, I would never leave them alone with my daughter until they have their own kid,” he explained while laughing, he lifted his gaze to see Y/N walking towards them in a short black dress. It was flowy, had semi-long ruffle sleeves. “Oh, wow,” he let out breathlessly. 

She shyly dropped her gaze towards the floor before she continued walking towards him. “You like it?” she offered as she took in a deep breath. He nodded dramatically, a wide grin to his lips as he walked towards her.

“You look amazing,” he mumbled, taking a hold of her hand, spinning her. 

“Okay, stop making me sad and more single than I already am. Go out, don’t make another baby, and come back refreshed,” Riley expressed, her face squirming up in disgust. Quinn and Y/N chuckled as Quinn took a hold of her hand and guided her towards the door. 

“No promises, on the baby making,” Quinn teased, Y/N shoved him slightly as they giggled. They continued out of the apartment, hand in hand. 

“So where are we heading, my love?” she asked as she began to swing their hands back and forth. 

“We are going to that fancy restaurant you love, and then we are going to go walk downtown and then we are going to a very fancy hotel with very amazing room service,” he explained. 

“You don’t have to spend that much money on this day, Quinn-”

“You deserve to be pampered, my love,” he whispered as they entered the elevator to the parking garage.

“But this is too much,” she whispered as she turned to face him. They waited for the elevator to reach their floor. Quinn reached his hand over, brushing the small piece of hair away from her face. 

“You deserve a lot more than what I planned for tonight,” he leaned towards her, delicately kissing her as the elevator doors opened.

~~~

They stopped on the path, turning their gaze towards the water. The moonlight was cascading over the water, illuminating it. She stared towards the water, smiling softly as she inched closer to Quinn. He switched his gaze towards her, pressing his lips against her forehead, “What are you thinking, my love?” he asked softly as his hand ran up and down her back. 

“Did you think at fifteen this would be our life?” she asked as she continued looking ahead of her. He furrowed his eyebrows as he hummed. “I honestly thought we wouldn’t make it,” she dropped her head.

“Why’d you think that?” he asked. She pointed towards the small bench closer to the water edge. He followed her towards the bench, sitting closely beside her. 

“I knew you would make it, I knew you would be drafted to some team and you would be successful. I thought that we would do the long distance thing and we would fizzle out. Like a lot of high school relationships do. But you asked me to go Vancouver with you and I was going to say no. I really was but I agreed and I never looked back,” she paused, taking a deep breath. “You’re my dream Quinny, our daughter is my dream,” she mumbled out meeting his gaze. He swallowed hard, blinking tears away from his eyes. 

“Where’s all this coming from?” he asked, choked up slightly. She smiled towards him.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m just happy,” she expressed a soft grin to her lips. 

“Maybe I’m just happy too,” he whispered as he leaned towards her, pressing his lips against hers. He reached his hand up, resting it onto her cheek for a moment. He glided his hand from her cheek towards the base of her neck.

[doumas-whore]

MIDNIGHT SKYLINE

IT’S FINALLY HERE AFTER MONTHS IN MY DRAFTS 🙏 thank you all for being soooo patient with me

Samuel Seo/Seo Seonggun x reader

Angst. GN. Reader is insecure, Samuel is insecure, EVERYONE HATES THEMSELVES 😭🙏

🍊🌻🧡⭐️

You stood there, alone in your shared bedroom. Samuel hadn’t come home the night before, so you had no choice but to prepare for the Gala alone. Dressed to the nines in the expensive outfit that your boyfriend bought for you, you started at your reflection dismally.

You traced the contours of your face, the designer bracelet on your wrist glistens in the rising sun. You stare for a second, brows furrowed as a frown begins to form on your lips.

‘Why me?’ you thought to yourself. ‘I don’t deserve things like this.’

You struggle for a moment before managing to unclasp the bracelet and placing it back in your jewelry box. You dug around for something less extravagant, opting for a simple silver-plated chain, which matched your necklace. You knew that Samuel didn’t like when you wore it, he thought it was too simple, unrefined.

After putting it on, you paused. Oddly enough, you felt guilty. Maybe it’s because you weren’t wearing his gift. Maybe it’s because you knew that you weren’t good enough for a man like him. You saw how his eyes wandered, always on someone prettier, skinnier, or smarter. He never said anything, and yet you had always felt inferior.

You shake your head to snap yourself out of these thoughts, but that looming feeling of imperfection would stay with you for the rest of your night.

The phone rang and your eyes lit up, hoping it was Samuel. Your smile dropped instantly when you realized it was just his chauffeur.

“Hello, Y/N speaking,” You said politely, already knowing that he was just calling to pick you up.

“Hello L/N, I’m outside now,” He said curtly. “We’ll be stopping to pick up Mr. Seo on the way, so please try to hurry.”

“Alright,” You said before hanging up.

You’ve been ready for a while, so it wasn’t like you had to hold up the operation. You slip out of the penthouse, making sure you had everything before locking the doors. Once the elevator was on the first floor, you greeted the staff in the lobby with a smile before making your way to the car.

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

The rest of the ride was silent. You fidgeted with your necklaces, even after the vehicle had come to a stop outside of a nondescript skyscraper. Within minutes, Samuel had taken his spot beside you. You wanted to speak, but you didn’t have it in you. Minutes passed before he broke the silence

“You’re not wearing the bracelet I got for you,” He said softly, holding your wrist at eye level.

“It was too much,” You responded meekly.

“How so?” He asked, quirking a brow skeptically.

“Samuel, that bracelet costs twice my mother’s rent, of course I can’t wear it,” you said, breaking eye contact for good.

He didn’t say anything, he just stared.

You wanted to apologize, but you couldn’t find the words,so instead you just sat there, occasionally stealing glances, just to see him on his phone.

The car halted again, signaling that you had reached your destination. You watched as Samuel tweaked his appearance slightly

“Sammy, baby,” The words leave your mouth before you can even register that you’re speaking. “Do you still love me?”

He faltered for a split second, eyes meeting yours with a sigh.

“Something like that, Y/N,” He said.

You felt a sting of disappointment, but even so, you weren’t exactly surprised. You climb out of the car, entering the party before him.

Like he would’ve expected, he found you at the bar, colorful cocktail in hand as you were chatting with other attendees. Just like he was afraid of. After all, you could easily have anyone, and you expect him to believe you picked him? The way he saw it, his cold words were just self defense from the inevitable hurt that would come with the end.

You, on the other hand, were not usually this talkative with strangers. You were never much of a partygoer to begin with, but alcohol works in mysterious ways. You were already tipsy off half of a cocktail, which is admittedly a lot more than you would regularly drink.

The reality of the situation is just that you wanted a distraction. That pit in your stomach that was slowly forming over time suddenly felt a lot more real. You couldn’t really dismiss it as overthinking after what he said.

You shake your head, a physical attempt to rid yourself of those thoughts, before you slam the other half of your cocktail. You glance over at Samuel, who’s staring at you from across the rooftop. You leave a tip for the bar tender before disappearing deeper into the crowd.

———

HIIII I hope this wasn’t the worst thing ever 🤙 i wanted to get it out today so it’s a little rushed and open ended. if it performs well i’ll definitely write a part 2 :D

[rustys-lodge]

Angrily panicky

Summery : Panicky as hell, you act out instead of asking for help. And Sam and Dean don't like it.

------

Your chin was shivering against your will, your stomach was churning and you trembled discreetly, but uncontrollably.

Was Sam acting stupid on purpose ? Weren't you allowed to ask questions ? Wonder ?

You tapped your right foot on the floor as you waited for the door to open and for your two saviors to come save you. You weren't sure whether they were coming to save you or kick you ass, but at least they'd be here. And that's exactly what you needed.

As soon as keys jungled outside the door, you ran towards it, yanking it open.

Relief rushed through your body the minute you processed the faces looking back at you. They looked confused, angry and worried. But who cares ?

"Need something ?" Dean asked, sarcasm apparent on his tone and your mouth just froze open.

What did you have to say ?

"Are you ready ?" Dean totally ignored you, brushing past you as he entered the room, while Sam followed behind, eying you from the side, a judgy hint in his glare.

Following behind after you closed the door, you planted your knee into the edge of the bed, crossing your arms over your chest. "We don't need to go right now, right ?"

"Yes we do." A cold cold Dean answers, and you just scoffed, shaking your head repeatedly. "No, no we don't" you crushed your chest, squeezing your arms against your body, harder.

You couldn't...You couldn't. Not right now. Why do they get to decide for everything ? When you leave, when you don't. When you're allowed to participate.

"No, we don't. No, we won't. I'm-I-m really tired. And i need to sleep."

"Don't we all." Dean answers, coldly, again, sending a strike of anger down your body.

It wasn't just anger, though. As your heart sat heavily in your chest. And your gut tightened.

"Well." You shrugged. "I'm just not going, then." You shook your head at them. And all they could do was stare.

This wasn't how you'd usually act. But when were they going to realize that ?

"Why's this suddenly a problem ?" Sam asked and you spun around to fully face him.

"What do you mean it's suddenly a problem ? Am i not allowed to have one good fucking night of sleep ?"

"You've always slept in the car, why is it suddenly a problem now ?" Sam's voice softened for a second, attempting to set out the fire, but that only ignited it more.

"Why is it a problem ?" You stepped back. "Maybe because who-the-fuck wants to sleep cramped in a revving fuck-"

"Say fucking one more time, y/n." Dean interrupted you, sending chills down your whole body. And you just quieted. Even you weren't sure why you were acting this way.

Somehow all types of emotions flooded your mind and you didn't know what to do.

"I don't fucking c-"

"Hey !" Dean shouted at you. You startled.

"What is this sudden temper tantrum ?"

"Don't say that to me, this isn't a fucki-"

"Okay, you know what ?" Dean held his hand up, cutting you off again. "Stay. We're leaving."

"D-" You were about to protest. But you just said you didn't want to go ? What else were you going to ask for ?

"This isn't the right way to talk to your older brothers, kid." Dean scolded before walking past you and out the door, followed by Sam.

And that is how you realized anger wasn't the right way to ask for help. Because they left.

And there you were, back glued to the door and your chest puffing up and down against your hand.

Your hand trembling against your will, you dug into your pocket, pulling out that phone of yours before calling Sam.

"I'm sorry." You panted, breathing heavily. "Please, come back." choking on a sob, you held the phone close to your ear. "I'm sorry, i-"

Sam cut you off, shushing you and cooing to calm you down.

"We're on our way back, don't worry, baby. We're almost there."

Familiar to those words, you breathed deeply as relief traveled through your body. They were coming back to save you.

------

Been in my drafts for months. 'Hope it's good ❤❤❤🌹🌹🌹

[gurugirl]

omg loved your blog. pls give me a lil spoiler of whats coming next

So... I've got a whole bunch of things coming. I looked through my drafts and documents and feel like this one is something I can share with you guys. I've got the story maybe halfway done and I've been working on it slowly for about 6 months. I don't know when I'll post it but you asked for a sneak peek for something so here's something to tide you over.

For context this is burlesque dancer!Y/n and rich CEO!Harry (this is a combination of requests I've received all in one story).

...

The sign read: 24-hour breakfast. $2.99 all-you-can-eat pancakes. The one she drove past every day.

She imagined slathering each stack with butter and syrup and surprising the staff when she went for seconds and thirds. Her stomach growled as she got into place behind the other girls and the music started. Bethany raised a brow at her when she heard it.

The routine was the same as the week before. They had a short break before they went back up and did another set. Y/n hadn’t been in such a good mood in weeks, knowing what was coming after the show. She was shaking with the anticipation of finally eating something of substance.

Like last week, the main dancers got to use the locker room first. Y/n and the others sat at the end of the bar and watched the guests leave as they chatted. They never got into anything too deep. Y/n wasn’t keen on telling the others about her situation. It was embarrassing. She was technically homeless and she was dirt broke. But Angelique had given them their checks and Y/n was more than happy to use it. She wouldn’t cash it that night because it was too late, but she planned on using her credit card to buy the $2.99 buffet pancakes. Maybe she’d splurge on eggs as well.

After showering and charging her phone she nearly skipped to her car. She parked strategically under a lamppost and noticed right away a man leaning on her front bumper.

“Excuse me?” She stopped halfway between the building and her car, ready to run back into the building if needed.

The man stood and she saw the chocolate curls of the British man she’d met the week before.

“Sorry! I thought I’d wait out here for you. I wanted to tell you that you did a great job in there,” he smiled kindly. That sweet smile, dimples and all.

Y/n let out the breath she’d been holding and finished walking toward her car. She figured she could trust Harry at this point.

“It’s okay. Just startled me a little to see someone leaning on my car. And, uh, thanks!”

She dug her keys out of her bag and walked next to Harry. He was taller than she thought. She hadn’t stood directly next to him before but now that he was only a few feet from her as she unlocked her car door she noticed it.

Harry pointed into her windshield, “I don’t mean to pry or anything, and you can tell me to fuck off if you want, but I noticed the blankets and pillows in the backseat. Is that… are you…?” Harry didn’t finish his sentence but Y/n knew what he was asking.

Normally she folded up the blankets and stuffed the pillows into the floorboards nicely but this morning she didn’t care. She’d been in such a good mood about the upcoming pancake dinner that she left it all strewn about.

She thought for a moment about how to answer. She looked down at her shoes and sighed, “Just temporary. It’s not a big deal,” she brushed it off.

Harry stayed quiet. But the longer he was silent the stranger it felt. Y/n looked back up at him and he was stoic. Deep in thought. Her stomach growled and she groaned. It was like if all the most embarrassing things in life could come out all at once in front of a handsome man it happened right then. She was hungry and homeless. That was the truth. And Harry was now aware of this fact.

Harry sighed and his face softened, “Look. I know it can get hard out here. But, let me buy you something to eat at least. I was hoping to chat with you anyway. Maybe we could just… I don’t know… get to know one another over a drink, or food. No pressure,” Harry was cautious. He knew he could be overstepping a little. But he probably felt it was necessary based on the circumstance he was now aware of.

Y/n shook her head, “That’s not necessary, Harry. I just got paid. I was going to buy myself something to eat. You really don’t need to…” The look on his face had her pausing her words. Harry’s brows were raised and the soft grin told her he wasn’t buying her I-don’t-need-your-help act.

“Fine. Then you buy yourself something to eat. Can I join you at least?”

And so that’s how she found herself at the dingy diner sitting across from Harry in a booth as she shoveled pancakes in her mouth. Harry ordered a coffee. Black.

Harry watched her for a bit as she scarfed down her first plate. Y/n tried to hold a conversation while eating but her body was on autopilot. She needed to eat. Harry could see that too.

When she finished the first plate she looked up at Harry. He was leaned back, comfortable in the booth with his arms crossed over his chest, an amused look on his face.

She licked her lips and sipped the orange juice before clearing her throat, “What?” She felt embarrassed. It was probably quite obvious to Harry what was going on.

“Nothing. Still hungry?” He smirked and leaned forward to the table, putting his forearms over the linoleum and clasped his hands together in front of him. He’d pushed his sleeves up to his elbows again and Y/n could make out the dark tattoos that went up one arm.

She breathed out a laugh at the question. Without a doubt, she was still hungry. She nodded, “I am. Yes. Is it okay if I grab another plate? Do… uh, do you want anything other than coffee?”

Harry shook his head and kept his eyes on hers, “I’m fine. I’ve eaten today. Go and get another plate, love. I’ll be right here.”

Y/n brought back another stack of pancakes with a handful of margarine butter packets and went to work to make her second plate as sugary, fattening, and calorific as possible.

“So, where are you from, Y/n?” Harry took a sip of his coffee, and Y/n saw him wince. She doubted the coffee was any good. Especially black. It was probably old and bitter and room temperature. But she appreciated that he was sitting with her and trying to fill the void of loneliness. Though she would have been fine to sit and eat her pancakes in silence.

“Bible belt. Nowhere,” she kept her eyes on her meal, drizzling the maple-flavored syrup over the top.

Harry laughed, “I see. Okay. So, why are you here in Nevada? Big dreams of becoming a famous dancer?”

Y/n shoved a forkful into her mouth and shook her head, putting her finger up as she chewed. Another sip of her orange juice and she finally responded, “No. I needed a change of scenery. I am a dancer. Well, I have a bachelor’s in dance. I’m not a professional or anything. It was sort of a whim, but a good one. There was nothing keeping me back home. What about you Harry? Where are you from? How did you get here?” She tried to change the subject from herself to him.

She ate while Harry told her his story. He was born in Manchester and got a business degree in London and then moved to California when he was in his mid-twenties after being offered a job at a private equity firm.

After a couple of years at the firm he and a close friend of his decided on opening up their own business, a startup. Which turned out to be quite profitable early on. Harry was a managing partner and owner of a wealth management group specifically for entertainment companies. Like burlesque clubs. Like Haute Baude. The owner, Richard, hired Harry as his wealth management agent years ago and they grew close.

Y/n knew next to nothing about the finance world so she just nodded and hummed along, “Wow. So, you’re doing well. A successful businessman,” she smiled and licked her fork clean.

Harry chuckled and tilted his head to the side, “I guess so. You’re impressive too, you know. It was brave to come out here all by yourself.”

There was a bit of quiet after he spoke those words. Y/n smiled down at her empty plate and then looked up at Harry. His coffee cup was empty.

“And you’re cute,” Harry spoke the words quietly but he kept his eyes on hers.

Y/n set her fork down and kept her eyes on the handsome man, squinting at him in question. She didn’t know how to respond. He hadn’t really been flirting with her, that she could tell, but she was aware of the way he was looking at her. How when she’d take a bite he’d watch her lips move and he kept licking his own lips.

“Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” Harry said but he didn’t hide his smile well when he pulled his lips into his mouth, that reaction only drew his dimples in deeper and it made Y/n smile and laugh.

She shook her head and looked down. His eyes were getting to her. His intense gaze was alluring. Harry was charming and handsome. She didn’t know what his intentions were but he seemed nice at least.

When Harry remained quiet for a beat longer than was comfortable Y/n looked back up at him. She couldn’t help but smile back at his expression and she laughed, “It’s okay. You haven’t been obnoxious or anything. I just… I’m a mess and hearing that threw me off a bit.”

“What do you mean you’re a mess?” Harry asked.

“I mean, well, come on… you saw my car. And here I am buying $2.99 all-you-can-eat buffet pancakes at 2 am the moment I get a paycheck. I’m… down on my luck a little. But I think things are better now. For one, my tummy’s full,” Y/n smiled shyly. She hated that this successful man was privy to her misfortune, but he felt trustworthy.

Harry shook his head, “Not a mess. Just a victim of circumstance. Are you sleeping in your car tonight?” He raised his brows in question.

Y/n looked to the corner of the room and breathed out a huff of breath and pursed her lips as she nodded before looking back at Harry with a shrug, “Have nowhere else to go.”

[box-architecture]

I was rereading some of your stuff on Ao3, and went “huh. I know Sapnap kidnaps Dream out of a misguided idea of what’s happening at one point, but how does that all go? How did Dream react? What was Sapnap like?”

So now I’m asking you. At 12:20 am. I have class in 7.5 hours!

Okay so we're going to ignore how long this has been sitting in my drafts, half answered. Okay? Okay. Awesome

-

So at some point during the Discovery Of Many Kinks (because when you're having a weird poly relationship with your former Warden, you're going to try a bunch of different things. For Science) awesamdrunz attempt to do a sex tape. It gets left around and found within like three days. By Sapnap.

So of course because of burning curiosity he has to watch the mysterious tape to see whats on it.

Then the only reason he kept watching was shock and also trying to figure out who the hell the third person was, why they looked familiar but also what the hell happened to them. Fun ways to find out your former best friend wasn't lying when he said he was horrifically tortured by your kind-of finance: finding his sex tape.

And listen, originally it was a fun crack idea to have him see this relationship nonsense where awesamdrunz was basically fucking in sex dungeons (made by Sam) after kidnappings, and decided that this was actually a really good template to fix his own relationship. He ends up trapping Quackity and Karl in what might be a previously unused sex dungeon!

(Resounding success: both of his boyfriends did not murder each other (due to bars in between them) and even spoke to each other in order to escape. This is the most progress he's had in months.)

But then! Alternate Idea! Sapnap sees the sex tape and (honestly not unfairly given his prior knowledge) believes Punz & Sam are at minimum, pressuring Dream into this relationship, and somehow this is a worse crime than murder. No wonder Dream couldn't stay in the prison! (Which. Not inaccurate.) So Sapnap sets about needing to find and protect Dream.

Sapnap finds Dream, and tries to convince him that he'll protect him. Dream is confused about what Sapnap saw, and has a tough time refuting anything. He also does really miss his friend. So he,,, doesn't really fight when Sapnap takes him to a secondary location.

-

"The windows are nice. Not as defensible, but you'll know if the enemy approaches." Dream commented, staring at the cloud-covered sea.

Sapnap laughed nervously, pulling open kitchen cupboards. "Yeah, I don't know. There shouldn't be any way for someone to find us out here though; its not like I told anyone where we were going."

Dream pursed his lips, but said nothing, eyes following the way the waves crashed against the shitty boardwalk Sapnap cobbled together half asleep. He figured Dream wouldn't want to be cooped up in the cottage all the time, not after… everything, so they could go sit out on the beach and fish, maybe, or go look for seashells. They hadn't built a sandcastle since they were kids, either, so it would definitely be something fun to try. Just like old times.

The wheat was crumbling in his hands, so Sapnap quickly tossed it on the counter.

"Are you hungry?" He called out, trying for a bit more cheer. Dream's gaze pulled to his, and Sapnap began pulling more ingredients out on the granite. "I know I'm not usually the person who cooks, but I've been getting into it lately! I made rabbit stew for Karl the other day, and he didn't even make a face when he was chewing."

He didn't really think about the potatoes as he dumped them into the sink, but he did notice the way Dream flinched, drawing in on himself and towards the doorway.

"Dream?"

"Just…" Dream looked back out into the sea. His fingers, what remained of them, dug into the fabric of his pants. "Nothing with potatoes. Please."

Sapnap felt his anxiety roll like the tide.

"Yeah, dude, that's cool. Doesn't sound appealing right now anyway." He said uncertainly. Dream's shoulders relaxed marginally, but Sapnap still felt off. "Anything you're in the mood for, though? Beet soup? Cheese sandwich?"

"Whatever you cook is fine." Dream reassured him. A brittle, but teasing edge appeared in his smile. "Unless you somehow got worse at baking bread."

He had, but god forbid would he ever admit to that. He grinned, and sat up on the counter. "Oh, like you're so good at it. I tried your stupid 'Everything' bread, and it tasted like ash."

"You turned off the timer and it burned."

"Well maybe next time don't leave random timers on the oven and expect anyone to know what they're for."

"Maybe next time you should assume its there for a reason and not touch it." Dream said in exasperation. Sapnap stuck his tongue out, and Dream threw his hands up, exiting the kitchen. He was so dramatic, Sapnap thought fondly.

-

Its a lot of Sapnap attempting to reestablish their previous connection and realizing how much Dream has changed, and staring at the scars when he thinks Dream isn't looking. He gets Super Protective and promises he wont let anything else happen to him. Dream is instinctively upset (why now, why does it matter now, why do you care, I am Perfectly Fine) but its one of his People and he is So Tired.

Sapnap is sorta kinda keeping Dream with him. It's not exactly against Dream's will, but it's also like, if Dream could walk out the door and come back later without Sapnap freaking out he'd rather do that. But Sapnap is freaking out, and seems to believe that there is a credible threat against Dream if he leaves. Given Sapnap's previous relationship with Quackity, Dream is willing to believe he might know something and that alone makes him anxious enough that he wants to stay.

Sapnap gets more horrified the longer he's with Dream (Dream flinches under his touches, his fingers are gone, Dream makes a snide comment about Quackity when Sapnap asks about the scars,) and this only convinces him more that clearly he needs to be protecting Dream. Sapnap expresses a lot of fury towards Sam, and Dream doesn't have any good arguments against it. There's a lot of stuff that he just sorta, decided to ignore, and now that coming back up is messing with him.

They get into a brief yelling match when Dream gets tired of what he presumes is pity and fake behavior, and it ends with Sapnap holding Dream to keep him from leaving or collapsing.

(The irony(?) of Dream comforting Sapnap for most of his life only for them to switch places in this moment is not lost on him.)

He gets to snuggle with him under the covers and gets a kiss on the chin (Dream is half asleep, and thinking about how much he missed him.)

Meanwhile, Punz is going to Murder Sapnap.

Punz has no context for why Sapnap took Dream so he is assuming Sapnap is going to attempt to imprison Dream again (after failing to kill him) and while he is 100 percent confident in Dreams abilities he also is aware that Sapnap is one of Dreams People and therefore capable of hurting Dream emotionally. Hurting Dream is Not Allowed.

Sam is having a panic attack because Dream isn't within sight line and isn't with Punz and therefore everything is Wrong and Bad in his world.

When you finally get a confrontation between Sam and Sapnap (because at this point, they don't know that Sapnap knows about Punz, so Sam is going in first), Sapnap responds viciously, tearing into Sam both for the scars on Dream's body, but also stating he knew they were fucking, and there's no way that's even remotely acceptable given the position of power Sam had (he's not wrong. this is a true statement of fact for everything that occurred prior to the prison break. it's just that things got weird after that). Sam has no good rebuttal, and faced with violence from Sap, has to flee. He's left shaken from everything.

Dream: listen he may have enabled my torture and abuse, and starved and isolated me, and accepted sexual favors from me while being in a position of power over me But he's also a very sad wet cat of a man, and I'm a control freak

Punz tries to talk with Sapnap on slightly less,,, angry grounds? On his part. Knowing about the interaction with Sam, he feels better about the fact Dream is probably safe and Sapnap probably has good reason for what he's doing.

To be clear though, Sapnap is furious with Punz. Right out of the gate he reveals he knows Punz was involved. At first, he's assuming that Punz was paid off to help Sam, but Punz decides "fuck it" and reveals at least part of things. He explains he was working with Dream after the prison break, that he felt bad for betraying him, and that they had a relationship. Dream wanted to involve Sam post-prison, Punz was against it, but wanted Dream to be safe.

Sapnap: you're forcing him to do this! Punz: I DON'T EVEN WANT HIM TO BE DOING THIS Sam: >:(

Sapnap needs to take some time to processes that, but he then presses to clarify; Dream and Sam had a relationship while Dream was in prison? Yes.

Sam had a hand in the torture and Dream's condition? Also yes.

After he broke out, despite all of this, Dream still felt like he wanted to return to Sam? Yes.

Sapnap: And you LET him?!

Punz doesn't have a good answer for that, other than Dream is his own person, and Punz can't stop him from doing what he wants with his life. To which Sapnap responds, yes you can motherfucker

It's a very fundamentally rift in their two perspectives. Punz, particularly post-prison, couldn't morally justify restricting Dream or telling him how to life his life or cope. Sapnap, thinks that Dream was not in a position to make a choice like that.

Punz doesn't have a good answer for that, it's the exact thing he's been feeling guilty over. So he ends up leaving, Not for forever. Just to think.

Meanwhile, Dream overheard everything. He now understands what Sapnap is seeing as the "real issue" (or at least, the current threat at hand), and he knows that he's going to make his own choice here.

Dream: I understand that my decisions are problematic but have you ever considered that I've made my choices and will continue to make them, even if you don't agree Sapnap: NO

Dream tells Sapnap gently that he's leaving now. He wants to go back. Sapnap doesn't want him to, he makes fair arguments about how much Dream could be hurt here. Dream understands, but he's also an adult, and he's decided what he wants. He's forgiven his stupid creeper hybrid boyfriend. It might not make sense to, but he has. It's his choice in the end.

Sapnap doesn't like it, there's a long people where he's just holding Dream and in tears. He's apologized a lot. For leaving Dream there. He says it again for good measure. Dream gives him a soft kiss on the forehead and he doesn't say it's okay, but he does say that he loves him. That it will be okay.

Dream has to go now, but he promises to come back, they set a time and they get to just spend time together. Talking about things one at a time.

(Sapnap and Dream see each other a lot now, as he slowly enters Dream's life again. Occupying his space and checking up on him and fretting. They get more kisses, more cuddles in bed. Once a week they come back to their little cottage and grow something that isn't what they used to have, but its still good, and its full of love.)

Later, Dream will be reassuring Punz that he made the best choices he could make, sighing and pulling Sam out of his prison depression hole. Kidnapping once again proves to be a great way to solve problems.

[imagines-by-cleo]

A different punishment

Erwin Smith x Fem!reader

I missed our favorite Commander! I can't believe it's been months since I last wrote an Erwin fic so I dug this out of my drafts and finished it up to share with everyone. My inbox is closed right now so I can't take any requests if you want more but I would still love to hear some feedback in the replies and reblogs!

CW: SMUT, dom/sub, breeding, begging, hair pulling, dirty talk, protected/unprotected sex, car sex, overstimulation

The pain of standing in your best heels like this didn’t bother you, nor did the footboard of your bed digging into your stomach as you were bent over it. The ticking clock synced up in time with the rattling bedframe reminded you how late it was getting, but the increasing tempo informed you that you were in no danger of completely missing your party.

Usually you waited until after you were dressed and at a party to start teasing your husband in hopes of earning a nice punishment for your actions, but you were impatient enough to start before you left and were now facing the repercussions of your actions; or rather taking them from behind.

Erwin being the brilliant tactician that he is was one step ahead of you and formed a plan to deal with you the minute you gave him that look while slowly rolling your thigh high stocking up your leg. The next thing you knew you were burying your face into the sheets and ruining your expertly done makeup.

He felt different with the condom on, at least since it had been so long since he wore one. He was explaining the reason for it in his scolding authoritative voice but you were much too blissed out to even pay attention.

"Are you listening?" He asked, changing his tone drastically.

"Yeah." You lied, whining into the sheets.

He laughed. "If only you were this agreeable all the time."

Approaching your second orgasm, or possibly your third, they were all starting to blend together. You felt that familiar ache in your core, wanting Erwin to join you and to feel him finish inside you. The usual risks and implications that drove you wild just thinking about them didn't have the same impact all because of a thin layer of latex. Reaching behind, you prompted him to take your hand and lean in a little bit closer.

"I'll be good all night, I promise. Please just take it off." You begged fruitlessly.

"Now now, you wouldn't learn your lesson if I did that." He scolded you, his voice heavy on the edge of an orgasm.

"But wouldn't it feel so much better to cum inside? You don't even have to pull out, you can just keep me stuffed full." You suggested, words emphasized in little whines and the occasional gasp.

Only reacting with a deep chuckle, patting your butt gently knowing you would have rather had him spank you. "You're cute when you beg, but there's no getting out of this."

"You want to get me pregnant don't you?" You asked in a final attempt at persuasion.

Erwin gently weaved his fingers into your hair, tilting your head to the side so he could lean in and whisper low in your ear. "You're all mine, and I can breed you whenever I feel like it."

The bass in his growling tone was too much for you to handle, sending you into another orgasm that caused everything below your waist go softly numb while the tingling spread through your whole body. Only staying upright and off the floor by the vice grip his large held on your hips that was getting tighter and tighter.

Insides still churning with every brutal thrust, you couldn't even moan anymore when you came together with him one last time. Just a groan while you felt the condom fill up in you, as disappointed as you were it still felt so good to be full like that. You wanted him to stay, buried deep inside until the afterglow faded but that could take all night. Instead he decided to pull out, throw the condom away and check his watch, leaving you cold on the bed unable to come back to reality.

"We're gonna be late, hurry up and get ready." He told you before leaving, emphasized with a soft smack on your butt.

"Do we still have to go?" You groaned, dragging yourself off the bed and stumbling toward the mirror at the other end of the bedroom.

"I do, and I'm leaving with or without you." He shouted from down the hallway. "Have you seen that tie I bought yesterday?"

"On the kitchen table." You answered, unsure of how you even remembered your own name let alone where he left his damn tie.

Checking the damage in your reflection and seeing the absolute wreck that was now your makeup you made quick work of wiping away the smudged lipstick and streaks of mascara on your cheeks. Before you could reapply the lipstick a hand caught your wrist, Erwin standing behind you wanted to sneak in a quick kiss so he wouldn't make a mess. He moved down to your neck while you finished your makeup, running his hands everywhere he could reach while you melted into his touch.

"You're gonna have to explain why I'm limping to the party." You teased.

"You knew what you were doing when you picked out that dress." He answered.

"I can change it for you if you want." You offered, knowing how much of a pathetic simp you sounded like and loving every second of it.

"No..." He mused for a moment before answering bluntly. "I want you to show everyone what they can't have."

"Yes, sir." You purred.

Driving to the party was a blur, as was walking in and being greeted by other guests. The rest of the night your eyes were glazed over in a post orgasmic haze that just wouldn't fade even after hours of socializing, people would talk to you and your voice and body went on auto pilot finding a way to politely end a conversation so your mind could wander back to hours earlier and think of what would happen when you got home.

You were never far from Erwin, he would constantly put his arm around you while talking to someone or hold your hand while leading you around to meet people. It was hard to tell who was being more clingy as you would just cuddle up to him everytime he pulled you close.

The party wasn't even over by the time you left, even saying goodbye to your friends seemed like it would take longer than you had patience for so the two of you snuck outside quietly back to his car while the lights and noise in the house faded into the distance. He wasn't too impatient to come around and open the door for you, only it wasn't until you were shoved inside and fell on the seat that you realized he opened the back door.

Pressing you between his body and the cool leather seats as he climbed in after you, you molded to him instinctively and perfectly as you wrapped your legs around his hips and your arms over his shoulders. He had left you so satisfied earlier it was no more need inside, even when his fingers had started to tease your oversensitive entrance just right. All you wanted was to touch him, hold him, kiss him while he moaned feeling of you.

Still so wet and ready from before Erwin had no trouble sliding in and moving right away, the lazy self indulgent jerks were a far cry from his usual controlled calculated thrusts. Even the noises he made were out of the ordinary for him, breathy moans just verging on a whimper, showing how pathetically drunk he was on you.

The whole car was starting to rock while the windows collected fog, even if someone were to notice you doubted he would care. It was his car, his woman, he would do whatever whenever he wanted; you held him a little tighter to remind him of that.

A little moan escaped from your mouth when his pace picked up, he was so close and you realized you were too. The image of him losing all self control so deep in you made your core hungry for all of him.

"Inside... Inside..." You babbled, letting him know where you wanted him to finish as if he would anywhere else.

It was hard to tell who came first, your tired legs only jerked a little feeling more of a relief than a climax. Erwin still breathless as warm bursts filled you up, not as much as he would have without the condom earlier but enough to finally fill that void in your core. He didn't make any move to pull out but you kept your legs wrapped tight around him anyway, keeping your warm bodies tangles together for as long as you possibly could.

All you wanted to do was fall asleep in his arms, and he apparently felt the same the way he rested his head in the crook of your neck and eased his weight onto you. The more time passed however the more you were sure that you didn't want to wake up in the car a few hours later and regret your decisions, so reluctantly you started to rouse Erwin.

"Hey, it's time to go." You told him, earning a stubborn groan though you continued to try and push him away.

He lifted off of you, keeping you caged in his arms for a moment while staring down at you and touching a hand to your cheek. "I wish I could keep you like this forever."

You pulled him down for one more sweet lingering kiss before pushing him away again. "C'mon take me home."

[bloodyknucklesforme]

I Know I've Kissed You Before | Carnal XVII

Carnal (adjective) : relating to or given to crude bodily pleasures and appetites

The aftermath of the hunt

Masterpost

CW: cannibalism, rape mention, smut

This is very much a horror fic mostly based around the films Raw (2017) and Bones and All (2022), if you sit through those you should be good here. This is my first horror fic.

Chapter Title Credit: Pink in The Night by Mitski

In his dreams she was a rabbit and he was a dog. His mouth clenched tightly around her neck. She was screaming and fighting, kicking at his chest until she could do nothing but twitch. Blood dribbled from her mouth and onto the stone as he dropped her at Simon’s feet. 

“Good boy.” Simon patted his head before scooping her up with a tea towel. He followed inside to the kitchen where he laid her on the butcher block. He drooled onto the floor as Simon snapped her neck and began to dress her, loud tears as her fur and skin was ripped from her meat. When he cut her open it wasn’t the normal mess of organs, just a constant flow of warm, red blood. It flooded over the edge of the block and onto the floor where he hungrily licked it up. It tasted like vanilla. 

He was alone when he woke up. The rest of the bed empty and made. Simon’s doing. The room still smelled like him and Nina. Sweet and woody. He got up and found a pair of sweats before making his way downstairs. He could smell tea - black and sweet. 

Downstairs had a cold draft, he followed it outside where Simon sat on one of the iron patio chairs with Nina tucked into his lap wrapped in a quilt. Her blonde hair stuck out in messy tangles. She was taking small sips out of a steaming mug while Simon’s sat on the ground beside them. They weren’t talking. Simon stared out towards the garden and field into the woods. . It was barely dusk and the first snow of the season had started over night leaving a dusting of white over the browned landscape. 

“Good morning.” Johnny said to announce himself. Nina perked up and reached out for him. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. Her face was more scratched up than he noticed last night. There was still a smear of black makeup around her eyes. 

Guilt gnawed at him. He shouldn’t have let her go alone. He should have gone looking for her sooner. The rage he felt when he turned the corner, saw the man from earlier and smelled the blood. He was at the end of the hall faster than he could think, a knife pulled from his pocket. He’d been trained to kill. He was a soldier. His speciality was clearing buildings, fast and cleanly. He shredded that man. His hands were shaking. If he had more time he would have torn him apart slowly, ripping skin off with his teeth . He only stopped stabbing because the blade broke off. 

Simon was the one who rescued her. He had the sense to open the door and find her. Seeing her face down on the ground, made his stomach twist. He thought he was too late. He could still smell the blood on her. On all of them. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked. Simon’s free hand had found itself on the small of Johnny’s back, pulling him in closer till the iron arm of the chair dug into his leg. 

“I’m okay.” She said softly. “Tired still.”

Simon pulled her closer to him as well, letting her head rest against his shoulder. Johnny leaned against the chair, his hand holding the base of Simon’s neck. It felt natural for the three of them to be like this, holding onto each other. 

He couldn’t say he was a good partner. He must have done something wrong for Simon to leave him or to make Nina think he’d leave her. He tried, was attentive, empathetic, dedicated. Maybe loyal to a fault. He’d followed Simon around like a dog for those Spring and Summer months. Got kicked like one too. 

He wouldn’t let her hunt again. He didn’t want to make rules for her after his injury and what happened last night, Simon seemed to be the only one fit to do it. His grip on Simon tightened to steady his shaking hand. He didn’t want to lose either of them. 

“Let’s get you inside.” Simon said not to either of them in particular. “Johnny grab the tea.”

He carried their mugs inside while Simon carried Nina. She was wearing some clothes at least. Looked like his boxers and a sweater. Simon was only wearing boxers. Crazy get. 

They set her up on the couch in the living room. Tea in arms reach. 

“Johnny and I will make breakfast. Call if you need anything.” Simon rubbed her cheek with his knuckles. A couple days ago he would have gaped at this show of affection, now he felt like Simon was the only one worthy to give it. 

Johnny sat at the little table, staring into his tea. Scottish breakfast with cream and honey. Simon was always good at the little details.

Eggs and what looked like bacon were cooking on a pan on the stove. 

Two hands laid on his shoulders, rubbing the muscles. 

“How’s my boy?”

“Not well…” Johnny admitted. His hands were shaking again. Residual rage coursed through him thinking about how that man was in the basement, locked away in the freezer. He couldn’t hurt her yet he still wanted to cut him to pieces. Make sure he could never come back. Burn it all, let the wind take it away. 

“She’s safe now.” Simon cupped Johnny’s face and turned to face him.. “We protected her. We got her home. We killed the cunts that hurt her and we’ll do it again if we need to.”

Johnny pressed his forehead against Simon’s. He didn’t remember the last time they touched like this. That cottage by the sea, blood still on their lips with Simon slotted between his legs. He wanted to crawl back into bed with Nina at his front and Simon at his back. He wanted to taste them both at once. He wanted to keep Nina and take back Simon. Eating his cake over and over again.  

“The food’s burning…” He choked out. He wanted to kiss him, let him fuck his worries away. Johnny’s hand was on Simon’s chest, palm over his heart. 

“Go keep her company.” He nodded. “I’ll bring breakfast in a bit.”

She was still curled up where he left her - knees tucked to her chest. Johnny sat down next to her and helped her into his lap. His hand rubbing her back under the quilt. He kissed along her hair line. “I got’cha. Not letting go.” 

Her quietness stung. She was never chatty like him but she’d whisper and giggle to him. He would mould himself to her, wrap himself around her to keep her safe and warm. Hand feed her, breath from his mouth.

She turned and hugged him, legs around his waist and her face in the crook of his neck. He pulled the quilt over both of them.

“We won’t leave ya, Neen. You’re our girl.” Our girl… not just his. His and Simon’s. Their girl. 

Simon brought breakfast in on a tray. 3 plates with eggs, bacon and toast. Johnny fed Nina, letting her relax against his chest. Simon fed him, sat next to the two of them, resting his free arm along Johnny’s shoulders. 

“I want a bath,” She said untangling herself from him. Her legs were covered in bruises. Johnny wanted to kiss each one, a healing touch. 

“I’ll clean up.” Simon said, gathering the plates. He nodded his head for Johnny to follow her. 

She liked the water hot and he winced as he got into the tub with her. His legs stinging. 

“You’re gonna cook us both.” He chuckled, kissing her shoulder. 

“Simon…he kissed me last night or this morning. I don’t really know what time it was.”

“Oh…err… did you want him to?” He tried to overcome the wave of nausea that hit him. Not out of jealousy, worry maybe. 

“I guess… I wasn’t really thinking about it. I couldn’t sleep so he took me downstairs and I ate and then he kissed me. I was worried you’d be upset… I don’t really know what we all are.”

It was a good question.

“I think if we want, the three of us can be something together.”

“Is that something people do?”

“We’re the only people like us so I don’t think it matters what other people do.”

“I think I’d like that. Being with both of you… up until last night I thought Simon didn’t like me very much.”

“That’s just how he is. Took us almost dying for him to admit he liked me.” 

She giggled at that, leaning back against his chest. He washed her hair for her. Washed her face and body. He piled bubbles up on top of her head just to make her smile. He helped dry her hair and wrapped her in a towel. Got new clothes for her. His shirt and her panties. He tucked her back into bed. Rubbed her back until she fell asleep. 

Simon was watching from the doorway. 

“Thought she’d be worse.” He said, shutting the door behind Johnny. 

“She’s tough.” He said. “Wish I’d done more to protect her.”

“We won’t let it happen again.” Simon took a step forward, backing Johnny against the wall. “You ripped that cunt to pieces, Johnny.”

He closed his eyes and breathed Simon in. Cedar swirling around in his head like a boa constrictor.

“You kissed her?”

“Jealous?”

“Of her.” He admitted. “I miss yo-”

Simon’s mouth was on his. Commanding and all consuming. Memories of this time last year flooded his head. The two of them in dive bars and club corners. In cars and alleyways. Simon inside him. Johnny in his mouth. 

“What did I do wrong?” He broke, holding Simon back. “Last Summer. What did I do?”

He wouldn’t fuck it up again.

“You didn’t do anything, Johnny.” Simon kissed him again. It didn’t settle his soul. Johnny was a weak man though, he knew that much, because he ignored it and kept his mouth on Simon’s. He missed the taste, the feel, the warmth. 

“I want you.” He breathed. “I want you so much.” 

He might cry if he was rejected now. 

“Not here. Don’t want to wake her. We’ll go to the stables.”

Johnny nodded. 

Simon having lube on hand didn’t surprise Johnny. He was moaning shamelessly, bent over the counter of the tack room. Simon had already worked two fingers inside of him. His legs were shaking, Simon was pressed against him, hunched over his body, grunting dirty things in his ear. 

“Tight as ever, Johnny.” 

“Pleasepleaseplease,” he prayed. Simon’s fingers scissored inside him, gently stretching him open. Almost four months without. He would have treasured their last time if he knew it was the last. In the sand, at sunset, on the beach down the trail from their rented cottage. Romantic actually. More than this was. 

“Missed this.” Simon breathed, nipping at Johnny’s ear. “Missed splitting you open.”

Precum dripped against the front of the cabinet. He was glad Nina never came in here. Less worry for cleaning up. His mind still floats around her. He’d like to have his head between her thighs right now. It might be the only thing to make this better, trapped between the two of them. 

“Where you drifting off to, Johnny?” Simon tugged on his hair. It was longer than he preferred but Simon always liked something to hold. “You thinking about her?”

“Yeah…” He shuddered. Simon’s hand wrapped around his cock, pumping him teasingly. 

“You wish she was here too?”

“Yes.” 

Simon lined himself up with Johnny’s hole. Drool ran from his mouth onto the counter. He was white knuckling the edge. He needed this more than air, more than meat. 

“Close your eyes, Johnny. Think of Nina.” He licked behind Johnny’s ear, melting him. It burned in a familiar good way like holding your hand too close to a fire. 

“Fuc…k simon. Fuck please.”He keened. 

“I got you, Johnny. Just relax.” He pumped him faster, timing it with his thrusts. “I’ll take care of you.”

Johnny’s eyes rolled back into his head, letting Simon take control of his body and mind.

It was almost lunch time when they got back to the house. Nina was still asleep. 

“Clean up. Then bring her down for lunch.” Simon said, kissing his temple before disappearing downstairs.

“Hey, love. How are you feeling?” Johnny brushed the hair out of her face. She blinked up at him with a frown.

“You smell like Simon.” He turned red. She cupped his cheek. “You’re pretty when you’re embarrassed.”

There was a torso sitting on the butcher block in the kitchen. Simon had his usual array of knives sitting out next to it. Nina leaned closer to him. 

“C’mere. Both of you.” Simon nodded. 

Nina stood between them, a hand in each of their pockets to steady herself. 

“It’s okay.” Johnny cooed, rubbing her shoulder.

“Cut it, Nina.” Simon offered her the knife. 

“No,no, I… I can’t.” She was blocked from moving by Simon’s arm gripping her waist. He leaned over her, their foreheads almost touching.

“You can and you will. This is your kill. You took the first bite. You need to do it. There’s no difference between this and what you did last night.” Johnny wrapped his arm above Simon’s and kissed her shoulder. “He was going to rape you, Nina. He was going to rape you and then gut you.”

She held back a gag and turned away, tears pricking her eyes. Simon grabbed her chin and forced her to look back at him.

“I ate the men who raped me.” Johnny bit his tongue to hold back any look of shock or horror at Simon’s words. “Animals get treated like animals. Cut him and eat.”

Nina took the knife in a shaking hand. Simon held his hand over hers to steady it and motioned for Johnny to do the same. He’d seen couples do this to cut cakes at weddings. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“You can do it,” Johnny soothed. 

They followed her hand as she cut down into the muscle.

“There you go,” Simon cooed, kissing her tears away.  “I need to know you’ll be able to take care of yourself when we’re gone. My brave girl.”

Nina’s tears were replaced with an angry frown as she cut. A righteous anger that steadied her hand.

They butchered him together. Till the torso was broken down to pieces, wrapped in paper and twine with Simon’s handwritten labels. 

 When it was done they sat together in the living room. Nina’s head in Johnny’s lap and her legs in Simon’s. He pet her hair while Simon rubbed her legs. 

“I’m sorry, Simon.” She said softly. “I didn’t know.”

“No one does…did. Just you two.” He shrugged. Johnny leaned his head against Simon’s shoulder, nuzzling him. Simon wrapped his arm around Johnny. “You’re a fighter, Nina. You have to be.”

It started to snow again. 

Tag list: @gogh-with-the-flow @queen-ilmaree @cathnoneofyourbusiness @pssytrux

[slashmagpie]

Blood & Snow

Pt. I

Directory: {Pt. II} {Pt. III} {Pt. IV} {Pt. V} {Pt. VI} {Pt. VII} {AO3}

Welcome to my @hermithorrorweek fic! I spent a while trying to figure out seven different fic concepts based on the prompt, and kept coming up blank, up until I decided to combine them all and write a single fic, with each prompt being the theme for a different chapter. Blood & Snow is the result, and at the time of posting it is not quite complete, but I'm excited to share it with you nonetheless. I'm hoping to post a chapter once per day, but later chapters may be delayed depending on how long it takes me to get them written. Some of this builds off concepts I played with in some of my earlier Decked Out 2 ficlets, which you can find in my writing tag. TWs for this chapter include: non-consensual body modification*, unreality*, panic attacks

I. GAME MECHANICS

Game design is simple, really.

Well, no, it’s difficult—but the principles behind it are simple. Make it fun. Make it challenging. Make it rewarding. 

Decked Out 2 is a game.

To be more precise, it’s a long-running, deck-building, dungeon-crawling game. It’s competitive. It has rewards—bragging rights, for one. Trophies, for another. If you win, you can get crowns, and buy things to make you more powerful, to make the game more fun. You get frost embers, which are used to build the deck, and—

Clank is Decked Out’s central mechanic. Trigger a shrieker, generate clank. Easy as that. Taking your artefact will also generate clank, because it angers the spirits of the dungeon. That’s another important thing about game design: atmosphere. Design. Having something that feels cohesive. So—no, max clank isn’t quite as dangerous as it should be, but very few mobs would work to replace the vex, because, well, they’re not the spirits of the dungeon, and—

Hazard is generated every thirty-seven seconds, roughly. It used to be thirty, but that lined up with card draws, and the sound cues were hard to keep track of. So. Hazard is generated every thirty-seven seconds, roughly. Hazard makes the dungeon more dangerous to traverse, by closing doors, raising pathways, and otherwise making certain routes more dangerous or downright impossible to cross. People underestimate hazard at first, but quickly find out that hazard kills. When clank maxes out, that turns into hazard too, because max clank wasn’t dangerous enough by itself, because the vexes aren’t doing their damn jobs—

There were two older systems that got replaced. Not a lot of people know that. Focus could be built up, would synergise with other cards, but it was just—it wasn’t working. It got reworked. No one would miss it. Delve was a difficulty setting, but it was dumb, just press a button to choose your difficulty, that works way better, and—

Game design is simple, really. 

Decked Out is not a game.

Had it ever been a game? In its first iteration, back in season seven, had it hungered the way it does now? Had it slept, slumbering beneath the earth, soaking in blood that would slowly, slowly bring it to life? When the idea had wormed its way into Tango’s head, a sequel—had that been his own thought? Does it matter if it was?

He’d certainly thought it was. Began drafting up plans, re-evaluating what he’d done in the past and putting better spins on them. Decked Out 2 would be huge, would be the biggest project he’d ever worked on, but it wouldn’t take that long. Surely.

…Thirteen months later, Decked Out 2 opened its doors.

Thirteen months. It had started as a hole, as many things do. A hole, a build, a plan, a citadel—Tango had thrown himself into it like he would with any huge project. And at first it had been—it had been a project. A build, a game. A giant hole filled with promise. A castle built in a week. Just Hermitcraft things. The usual.

When had it started? When he’d dug, and dug, for hours and hours upon end? When he’d carved jagged-looking scars into the landscape and dragged the citadel up from them? When he’d started building level one? When he’d begun assembling the redstone? When the ravagers and wardens began to roam its halls? When did Decked Out come alive?

…Had it always been alive?

Okay, better question: when did—

A frozen shard is placed into the barrel. The door lights up, sounds play. The door opens. The hermit—Joe?—begins to take off their armour and items and set up the game. A difficulty button is pressed. A shulker is placed into its slot. The cards begin to filter through the system. A minecart ride, and a pressure plate—

Decked Out turns on.

The Dungeon watches carefully, hungrily. A shrieker triggers. A hazard door closes. The game is running, the game is alive, the game is always alive—

The Dungeon Master floats, untethered, bodiless, watching, speaking, unheard, unseen. His body stands in the dark, empty, eyes sightless and lungs unbreathing. Why would he need to breathe? Dungeons don’t need to breathe, after all. Games don’t need to breathe. And Decked Out isn’t a game, not really, but it still works on principles of game design, and none of those principles require the game to breathe.

So the Dungeon watches, and the Dungeon Master watches, and Joe runs straight into the blood-stained horns of a ravager, and—

And—

Tango tries to blink. To breathe. A hazard door slams open and closed. The wires are crossed, that’s not—he needs to go—an attempt to step forward dispenses a stack of frost embers into the dungeon. They’re not supposed to do that. That’s a bug, he needs to fix—

He needs his hands—

Stone walls aren’t fingers, but they flex all the same, groaning under the strain—

There’s an itching in his legs. Skulk creeps up the walls. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This isn’t—

It’s dark. A warden sniffs. A shrieker howls. Stone becomes sinew becomes skulk becomes shadow becomes smoke becomes a soul. The Dungeon Master wrenches open his sightless eyes, and the Dungeon sees—

(Buildings aren’t meant to have panic attacks. Neither are dungeons. Nor games. But Decked Out is not a game, never really has been, and Tango—)

Joe and Hypno stare in bafflement at the flickering availability metre outside of the dungeon. “Tango, fix your game!” Hypno cries, and—

Ha.

Here’s a better question: when did Tango become Decked Out?

[fcktheewrldd]

Honestly, it’s not my first fic but it’s my first time posting on this app. I will NOT continue until I get some recognition though. 😻

Anyways, Toji x BLACK reader. (NSFW)

You'd come home from another double shift at work and your back and legs were sore as hell. Your feet felt dead. How you were walking was a mystery to you. You went straight to the bedroom, bypassing your usual 'welcome home' kiss from your boyfriend who was waiting for you on the couch, seeing as he got home a couple hours earlier.

You laid down, after stripping down to your underwear, and sighed as you tried to release the tension in your entire body, but nothing worked. You had a killer migraine, you were cramped up all across your back and legs, and to top it off, you were pent up. it'd been almost a month since you had enough free time for more than a quickie. Those weren't fun so you never did them unless absolutely necessary.

As you let out a long sigh, Toji gently rubs your back and gently asks in his usual stoic voice, "Long day?” You knew he was concerned. You nodded, not trusting your own voice not to crack as a wave of emotions, brought on by stress, rushed to the front of you mind as you felt his touch. Very gently, he rubbed your back in slow, soothing circles. The tension melted away in a matter of seconds, leaving you moaning softly in relaxation. As his hands met the base of your back, you groaned louder in pleasure when he applied pressure. "I needed this." You mutter in your tired voice.

It was an accident. Not even you knew you were that tired. He gave a low chuckle that let you know just how fucked you are. Respectfully, he massaged your legs and even worked some feeling back into your feet because he knew you needed it. He then worked his way back up to your thighs playing with them a little, and he noticed you flexing your groin muscles as you try to stay relaxed. The teasing was getting to you though. As he felt you up, he quickly learned you were pitching quite the tent in your underwear.

He slowly slid your panties down and got between your legs. He slowly massaged your ass, occasionally spanking you. The carnage and hunger was apparent in his eyes and hands as he manipulated your body to make you sing his favorite song of moans. He spread your cheeks apart with a devious smile that you didn't have to see to know he had. As you shivered from the sudden draft, he licked his fingers till they were soaked.

You were getting a little impatient as he teased your hole, adding pressure but not enough to slip inside, or only slipping the tips of his fingers in. "I-I can't wait, babe. P-please put them in.." you quietly begged. He heard it but pretended not to hear to make you beg louder. He had you right where he wanted you and he knew it. You whined as he kept teasing you. "Babe please.. I need them inside.." you repeated louder.

He gave another low chuckle, this one more dominating and sadistic than the last one. A bolt of electricity ran down you spine as you heard his voice, and seconds later, his fingers plunged deep into you. You arched your back, pushing your hips up in the process, as you moaned out loudly. His fingers crashed against your sweet spot, hush thumb rubbing slow, teasing circles around your clit. He smirked as he watched your hand grip the sheets as if you were holding on for dear life. He then leaned over as he moved his hand faster and whispered in your ear, "Did you need this too?” he teased. You blushed hard, a very desperate and submissive whimper escaping your throat.

You covered your mouth as you felt more moans threatening to escape your lips. He intentionally pinched at your swollen nub. "Don't hold back mama, let me hear you.” He teased, unconsciously rubbing his hard on against your thighs as he dug his fingers deeper in you. Normally, you can endure a lot more. But your body was definitely touch starved and sex deprived. He felt you squeeze at his fingers, your cunt twitching wildly in his other hand as utter desperation laced your moans. As he picked up on the signs, he took his fingers out of you.

Before you could look back at him, he flipped you over on your back and slipped his fingers back into you. He gripped your thighs and got back to work, holding your legs wide open with his knees by your thighs. He started teasing your clit more, as a devilish idea popped up into his head. He got you as close to the edge as possible and then pulled his fingers out right when you clenched down, preparing to release your load. At the same time, he slowed his strokes of your clit to a painfully slow motion.

When you felt his fingers slide out you groaned ind desperation. "Wh-what the hell...?" You muttered. "Beg." He demanded. You whined with shaky breaths. Quietly, you begged yet again, "Baby, please. I need it.. I'm so close...” He smirked. "Baby's not my name, Mama.” He mused. You blushed even harder. "Daddy.. please..” you muttered, burying your face in the pillow beneath you. "Speak up,” he commanded. "And tell me what you want.” You whined again, this time out of embarrassment. "Daddy p-please,” you begged louder. "P-please let me... L-let me cum, daddy..”

Your voice faded at the end, but he decided to be merciful to you this time. "Good girl.” He cooed in a dominant tone as he pushed his fingers back in you and began eating you out at a high speed again. He focused more on your clit, curling his fingers to add more pressure on it as he dug his fingers deep in you he smiled as he watched you squirm under his touch. He slid his hand felt you clamp down hard on his fingers and he pushed them in as deep as possible, as you came hard, your sweet nectar filling his mouth. He groaned deeply as he continued to eat you out throughout your high. You rolled your hips on his face, riding your orgasm, till it was over.

When you were done, he pulled his fingers out of you and licked his lips clean, keeping eye contact the whole time. You blushed hard, averting your gaze when he was done. Soon, you yawned softly, and he chuckled a little as he reached into the small side table next to your bed. He pulled a drawer out and grabbed a condom as he licked your neck. "Don't fall asleep on me Mama, we've got more to do." You whimpered, knowing it was gonna be a long night. You made a mental note to call in sick tomorrow as he continued teasing your body all night. You knew he'd make certain that you won't be able to walk tomorrow.

[geddy-leesbian]

some Leon taking care of an injured Luis I dug out of the deepest depths of my drafts

Set after the end of CODE:Veronica, in an AU where Luis met Leon and Claire during RE2, and when Claire left to look for Chris, Luis went with her because he felt like he owed her a favor. Leon stayed behind with Sherry. Same universe as How Do You Talk To Girls? but that's just how they met and doesn't get into any RE2 or CV stuff, so this can be read standalone, you're not missing too much.

(Also Leon gets to keep Sherry and isn't extorted by the government because she didn't get infected and before leaving Luis coached him on what he should say so he comes off as a potentially useful idiot instead of someone who "knows too much.")

Luis's heart is racing the second he wakes up, because Leon isn't in bed with him. He's pretty sure he didn't just dream Leon picking him up, but far from certain. All his memories of the night before are hazy. He vaguely remembers taking a painkiller after getting to Leon's apartment, or at least what he thought was Leon's apartment, so that's making the memories even more clouded. He at least knows he didn't dream getting out of Rockfort; there isn't a tracking collar around his neck.

And because he's clean. Well, not clean. Slightly less dirty and disgusting than before is a more accurate description. And he has clean pajamas on. Not the once white shirt that ended up dyed red with blood. Not the pants that had gone from skintight to loose and baggy over the course of his time as an inmate.

But none of this is evidence that the Leon part wasn't a dream. Someone else could have cleaned him up and changed his clothes.

Then he hears something, and everything is okay again. Leon's voice from the other room. He doesn't know who Leon is talking to, and tunes the conversation out because he doesn't particularly care. All he cares about is that he is with Leon.

No longer on the verge of a panic attack, Luis closes his eyes again. Leon comes back into the bedroom a few minutes later, and starts putting a hand on Luis's wrist. His eyes flutter open. Leon lets go of his wrist.

“Hey, sweetheart, I'm gonna bring you something to eat. Be right back,” Leon says softly, and kisses his forehead. A couple minutes later he returns with a basket of snacks. “Sorry I don't have a meal for you. I wanted to get back to you right away. I'll cook something later, but you should have something now.”

“I heard you talking to someone? Sherry?”

His memory really is fucked. He knows he asked about Sherry last night, but can't remember any of what Leon said. He's pretty sure there wasn't any bad news at least.

“Oh, no, I was on the phone. She's not home. I was supposed to pick her up today, but that didn't exactly pan out, so she's staying there another night.”

“Didn't pan out?”

“You. You've been asleep for like 16 fucking hours. I was worried sick. Kept coming back in to check your pulse to make sure you weren't dying on me. Didn't want to pick her up and get her worrying about you too.”

“Oh. So that's what you were doing before getting me food. Sorry for worrying you. I guess I just need to catch up on good sleep. Been a couple months since I slept feeling safe, and clean. I guess I showered last night? I don't remember much…”

“It's okay. I mean I knew it was just something like that, or I would have taken you to the ER or something, but you mean so much to me that I still felt worried,” Leon says. “God, you were annoying last night. I love you, but you were horrible. You wanted to shower before going to bed, but I told you no, because you'd taken a pill and were kinda out of it and I didn't want you falling and cracking your head open on my bathroom floor. But you argued with me and said you were too dirty to sleep in my bed, and then you started crying too, so I finally just gave up and compromised and let you take a bath. With me watching you, so you wouldn't drown. Of course after like 3 minutes you fell asleep in the tub and I had to dry you off and carry you to bed.”

“Shouldn't have asked. I was definitely better off not knowing I did that. But you were watching me in the bath? Did I at least say something inappropriate about it to you?”

“Surprisingly, no. You did when we were arguing though. A lot. You just kept listing various sex acts and saying you'd do them if I let you shower,” Leon chuckles, and then pecks Luis on the lips. He's trying to be careful because he knows touching Luis could hurt him, but all he wants to do is wrap him in the tightest hug. He really thought Luis was dead, and still struggles to wrap his head around Luis being alive and here. “But whatever, how do you feel? You need another pill?”

“I feel a lot better, actually,” He doesn't feel better. He actually feels worse. But he hates that the pill fogged his memory up so badly. He'd rather deal with physical pain than mess his mind up again. “Maybe if you have something over the counter, but I don't want to take anything strong again.”

“I know I said you were annoying, but it's really not a big deal. I'd rather have you be annoying than be in pain.”

“Seriously, Leon, I don't want it. Even before you told me about last night, I was planning on stopping it in the next couple days. I want to be in my right mind so we can start our life together right.”

Leon frowns for a second, then gets up and kisses the top of Luis's head, not minding how disgusting his hair is. “I'll see if I have anything over the counter. Eat something while I'm gone.”

Nothing is appetizing to Luis. But he knows he needs to eat, and he knows eating will make Leon happy, so he manages to choke down a couple packs of fruit snacks.

“Ibuprofen,” Leon says, handing Luis a glass of water and some pills. He smiles when he notices the empty wrappers. “Glad you're eating. Got a hot bath ready for you. Figured you'd want a real one, so you can actually get clean instead of falling asleep immediately.”

“I do want to get clean, but why a bath? It's basically sitting in your own filth.”

“It's not that bad. It's like doing the dishes.”

“What the hell does that even mean..?”

“You have really nasty dishes, then to get them clean you let them soak in hot water and soap. Then you just have to rinse ‘em off. But it's not just about the cleanliness. The hot water will be good for your pain.”

“You make compelling arguments. Bath it is.”

“You're not going to ask for me to watch?”

“I'm genuinely so excited about just getting all this grime off me that I don't feel like making a joke. But if you want to watch… I certainly won't object.”

Despite his protests, Leon insists on helping Luis walk to the bathroom, and he does stay in the room after helping him into the bath. Not even for an inappropriate reason, he's just missed Luis so much, to the point he hates the thought of leaving him alone, even if it's just in the next room.

“Leon? I need– uh, I need your help,” Luis hates asking for help, so he decides to finally add a joke to put himself a bit more at ease. “Not for anything perverted, so don't get too excited. Just– Can you wash my hair for me? Don't know if I can even bend like I'd need to.”

“Of course. Should be last though, when you're done,” Snapped out of his idle mind, Leon starts to pay more attention to Luis, and he's kicking himself for not doing so sooner. When he's just laying back and just soaking, the hot water is soothing and he looks content. But every square inch of Luis's body either has dirt, blood, or both, and needs scrubbed. And Luis winces almost every time he has to bend in a new way, to reach a new unwashed spot. That explains why he'd phrased his request like he couldn't be able to wash his own hair at all. He wouldn't ask for help if it would just hurt. Leon scoots to sit on his knees beside the tub, reaching a hand out to Luis's hand with the washcloth. “Don't like watching you hurt yourself. Let me?”

Luis does hesitate to hand the washcloth over. For over half of his short life, he's been fiercely independent. The day his grandfather died, he was alone in the world and it was trial by fire. He made it out of Valdelobos himself, armed with nothing but maps, a bit of food, and a guitar. Then when he made it to civilization, there was so much more he had to learn, and quickly. He learned where not to sleep. He learned where pity would buy him a full belly, and just how often he could exploit each bleeding heart before their generosity would be stretched too thin and they'd stop feeding him. He learned to listen to his gut instincts and avoid any situations that he had a bad feeling about.

Actually, cross out that last one. Eventually he wanted to do more than just beg, so he started playing guitar on street corners to scrounge up enough to keep him fed. There was a woman who stopped by everyday. She struck up a conversation, asking about his life, why he was on the streets, if he had any family, etc. Despite the nagging feeling in his gut that something was wrong, he spoke freely, bragging about everything he had done all by himself. And then she asked if he'd heard of Umbrella, if he'd be interested in taking some tests to see if he'd be a good fit for a special boarding school…

Even at the boarding school, he was alone. They were all kids, but Umbrella buttered them up with compliments about how mature they were. They were expected to act like adults and treated like they were, never being given any slack. There was no being taken care of, ever. If you got sick or hurt, you were expected to just grin and bear it and keep working, or else…

So needless to say, being taken care of is very foreign to Luis. Letting anyone take care of him is weird, and uncomfortable. But he does give in, and surrenders the washcloth to Leon and closes his eyes.

“All clean, from the neck down,” Leon eventually says. “You want me to wash your hair now, or soak longer?”

It's a tough call. Luis wants to, but isn't sure it's a good idea. Mostly because the water feels too good, and he had been so exhausted that even those 16 hours weren't enough. It makes him worry he'll doze off. Of course Leon would prevent him from drowning, but it would be embarrassing, and apparently he still has a tiny scrap of dignity left that he doesn't want to give up.

“Just do my hair.”

“Be right back.”

Leon comes back holding a pitcher. And without pants on.

“I didn't take my pants off for anything perverted, so don't get too excited,” Leon grins as he parrots Luis's words back to him. “Just relax and sit in a way that doesn't hurt. All I need you to do for me is tilt your head back so I can rinse without getting water in your eyes.”

Luis slides more towards the middle of the tub. Leon sits on the edge of it, one foot on the bathroom floor, the other in the tub. First he has to go through the tedious process of getting Luis's hair untangled. He doesn't get frustrated or annoyed by how long it's taking, he just keeps gently untangling knots with his fingers. Eventually he reaches for the faucet and turns it on just long enough to fill the pitcher.

“Wish I had a nicer bathroom, with a detachable shower head,” Leon mumbles, as he starts pouring the pitcher to wet Luis's hair, being careful to make sure all of it is saturated enough, and none is dripping down his forehead. Luis has no complaints. Something about the way Leon pours the water feels nice on his scalp. “Should have just gotten us a hotel really. Could’ve had a tub big enough for both of us, would have made it easier to wash you.”

“This is fine,” Luis says. “It's good. I don't think I would have been willing to swallow my pride and ask for help if there was a chance you would get into a tub full of dirt and my blood.”

“Guessing you want to shower for a couple minutes to rinse all the soap off, so I'll go get you a towel now while you do that?” Leon asks when he's done with Luis's hair. “Put one in the dryer when I got the cup, so it would be warm for you.”

“Wait, Leon, can you…” Luis trails off. Leon has already done so much. He was thoughtful enough to go out of his way just so Luis's towel would be warm. “Nevermind.”

“I'm not getting up until you tell me what you were going to ask me to do.”

“I was going to ask you to rinse me. Something about the way the water felt while you poured was relaxing. But that would take forever, I'll just shower.”

“I got all night,” Leon says, reaching for the cup again. “I really don't mind. Actually like getting to take care of you. You deserve it. Remember in Raccoon City, how you'd be demanding to look at me and thoroughly clean so much as a paper cut. Just let me return the favor. Please.”

Please really is a magic word. At least it is when Leon says it.

“Okay… And you can help more with my hair, after I'm rinsed. Blow dry it. I'd usually braid it or wake up with knots, but just pulling it up into a bun should be fine.”

“I can braid it for you!" The way Leon's whole face lights up with excitement over the fact he can help Luis… Yeah, he can get used to this, he can learn to let himself be taken care of, if it means Leon keeps giving him looks like that. “Sherry doesn't have a lot of good memories with her parents, but she did miss her mom doing her hair. I got Barry and one of his older daughters to start teaching me that kind of stuff. I'm not great at it yet, but I'll try.”

“Well, I'm perfect for you to practice. I don't care how it looks, just don't want knots.”

“You are perfect for me. In a lot of ways. Wait, did I ever tell you that I fucking hated you when I first saw you?"

“You definitely did not. I would never forget hearing something so heartbreaking!” Luis says over dramatically. He'd be dramatically clutching his chest if moving didn't hurt so much. “But seriously, what? You were the one looking at me first! I went to talk to you because you were giving me serious bedroom eyes. I didn't even hesitate to leave the woman I was talking to, because I thought I was going to get to have sex with you instead.”

“I mean, you did get to have sex with me. Eventually. But I wasn't even interested in you at first, I just wanted to know how you looked so stupid and still got a girl.”

“You're telling me you thought I looked stupid? Do you think I forgot about how I was doing my best to be patient for once in my life and not try to sleep with you right away, and then all of a sudden you forgot you were shy and asked me to suck your dick in the parking lot! You liked me!”

“Jesus Christ, Luis,” Leon says. “Just shut the hell up and let me finish the fucking story!”

“You're so mean to me, Leon. Telling me you thought I looked stupid, telling me to shut up, it's like you don't even love–” Luis cuts himself off with his own laughter. It's a laugh that hurts his ribs, but he's not sure he cares too much. Poor Leon just looks so baffled. “I'm sorry. I just wanted to kiss you, but I couldn't reach you without hurting myself. I knew you would kiss me if I sounded sad and said anything about you not loving me, but I just couldn't keep a straight face because you've been sitting here pouring–”

This time Leon cuts him off, with a kiss.

“There. If that was what you wanted, all you had to do was ask. You didn't need to go crazy like that,” Leon gives Luis one more kiss, on his forehead, before going back to rinsing. “You got what you wanted, so now you can shut up and let me finish rinsing you and telling you the story.”

“What I kept trying to get to is that I hated all that shit about you, until we were closer. You fucking broke me, I swear. I'd only ever been into girls, and then I got up close, and saw that your stupid tangled hair was actually just beautiful curls, and your stupid tight pants showed off your stupid hips.”

The phone rings before Leon is done rinsing. He murmurs an apology and says he'll be right back. Luis starts to come to an upsetting realization: He’s not as fine as he thought. The hot water was doing some heavy lifting. Now he's cold, and every piece of his body aches.

“Shit, Barry, bad time. Can you give me like half an hour, and I'll call back? Just let Sherry stay up 'til then.”

“Oh no, he's actually awake now! Sorry, didn't even realize how that would have sounded to you. Just bad timing because he needs some help with his hair. Got too caught up in the relief of him waking up to realize it was getting close to Sherry's bedtime, or I would have called already.”

Sherry. Luis wishes he didn't fucking hurt. He puts his arms up, to try to stand up again and shower, so that Leon wouldn't have to waste time rinsing Luis with a fucking pitcher. But he can't do it. Everything hurts.

“Thank you so much. Go ahead and tell Sherry he woke up, but don't say anything about him being ready to talk to her. I know he wants to, but obviously he's still not great, so I don't want her to be disappointed if he falls asleep or doesn't feel up for it tonight. I'll still talk to her, of course.”

Luis starts crying.

“Sorry, that was just–” Leon stops when he sees Luis's face. “Luis, what's wrong?”

“I… I heard what you were saying. I wanted to get up and shower myself so you could call Sherry sooner, but I'm worse than I thought I was. Tried to a couple times, couldn't get myself up.”

“It's okay. I'll do this faster, if you want to hurry?” Luis nods. Before Leon had gently poured, slowly and methodically making sure that water would reach everywhere it needed to, and feel good for Luis. Now he pours quickly, almost dumping it on him. Luis isn't upset at all, he wants to get to Sherry. The hairdryer cord is long enough that Leon blow dries it while Luis is still sitting in the tub, so that he can get Luis straight from the tub to the bed. Once his hair is mostly dry, Leon is reaching into the tub with the warm towel, scooping Luis up in it. “I got you, Luis. Always will.”

It's not at all difficult for Leon to lift Luis, which Leon has mixed feelings about. Leon wasn't even as strong as he had been in Raccoon City, having given up on all the police training. He had still been going to the gym, but wasn't as serious about it. Picking Luis up should be doable for him, but not easy. But Luis had lost enough weight while gone that Leon didn't need to be that strong to carry him. He sets him on the bed as gently as he can.

“I'll go get your medicine.”

“No, Leon, still don't want it. I want to talk to Sherry.”

“Luis, please,” Time for an experiment: Can Luis resist Leon saying please? “You told me yourself, you're worse than you thought. You're in pain, you need your medicine.”

“Compromise. Let me talk to Sherry first, read to her, then after I'll take the pill without arguing at all,” No, he cannot resist it. “I promise. I'll even let you take me to another doctor for a second opinion tomorrow…”

“… Okay. I'll be right back," Leon returns with the phone and a book he sets down on a night stand. He keeps the phone wedged between his face and shoulder, so he can talk to Barry while he puts a shirt on Luis and tucks him under the covers. “Hey, Sherry. Sorry I'm late, but I got a surprise for you.”

[elizabethplaid]

a drafted note - April 7, 2021

I've now had 3 former romantic-interests reach out and check on me in the past 6 months. Maybe I'm too entrenched my own bubble-world, but I don't understand why they're reaching out. We weren't that close; we drifted apart, sometimes even by my choice. I kinda understand the ex from 15 years ago, but not the other 2.

Is this part of growing older, the passage of time? People stop and reflect, then want to reach out before it's too late. No, because we don't say anything, don't solve anything. Anything of substance. There’s a status update, the mention of “I’ll message again later, take care”, and then no follow-up.

I have this figurine with an electric eye, and it plays music when it “sees” light. So anytime you pick it up, the music starts and won’t stop before the end of the song. These check-ins from lost contacts feel like someone has dug out the figurine, and I’m suddenly reminded of how startling that song-feature is. It was packed away, safe from light, with me happily forgetting it. Not a big deal in the long-run that it came back. But the silence was disturbed and the emotions, memories, and lack thereof came rushing back. Just a rock thrown in my pond.

Whenever someone has done this sort of check-in in the past, I’ve hated how I can’t trust them to stick around and keep talking. Now, I purposely don’t want to talk to them; those chapters of my life are closed to me and carry no interest. There’s no appeal to reconnecting.

My ex probably does care about my well-being, as he saw me through some of my worst anxiety attacks and mental health stuff. But it was short-lived puppy love of a 19-year-old girl. And neither of us were good for the other.

I don’t know what’s expected of me. Should I just say, “I’m dense/confused enough that I don’t know what you want of me. Please give me the parameters of this interaction, so I know how to navigate. What’s the goal? Why now? Why me?”

--------------- Finally posting in Feb 2024: Nothing much came of these interactions. I told one guy to not bother messaging me, as he had been doing it once a year with the same results.

For the record, we were still in quarantine and under masking mandates per covid at the time.

[minkkumaz]

YOU TAUGHT ME HOW TO FEEL UNLOVED

there used to be so much love there, just two people completely infatuated with one another. you've been through so much with haemin, and you thought maybe he'd fight for your relationship. but even after all this hurt part of you still loved him.

PAIRING jung haemin x fem!reader WC 2.0k TAGS lovers to exes. angst. growing apart. asshole haemin. somewhat a timeline of denial to acceptance. miscommunication. OMI NOTE another little something for my @woonhakist because i love writing for her. except unlike prince sungho it's actually angst. sorry sungho ur getting booted out of this. this has been in my drafts for about a month but now i'm motivated to get it done for u hehe. i hope you like. ^_^ (inspired by just me by rin)

the skys were clouded with pillows of dark gray. it had been rainy recently, the smell of wet pavement becoming more distinguishable as it continued. you wanted to assume that maybe it was his fault. the reason behind why your days were always so dark.

it was common to fear the unknown. being innocently unaware of what was going on behind the scenes was slowly eating at your insides; making you feel as if you were the dead carcass of a street animal, being fed on by rats.

things were different recently, he was different. haemin was going out more than usual, a breath of fresh air in comparison to the introverted persona you were used to. despite your worries, he convince you that you didn’t need to know where he was all the time.

“i’m just hanging out with kyungmin and a few other friends. do you have to be so worried?” he groaned.

“it’s not like that, haem! i just got curious…”

shouldn’t you be glad? that feeling of relief knowing he was blooming into a person that could celebrate with others. it was growth, but not in the way you expected. more or less, he was growing into someone unrecognizable.

phone dials were met with an empty line. and even when he did answer, he ended the call with a simple ‘bye’ and not ‘i love you more.’

still, you loved him to the moon and back. every couple went through a rough patch, you understood that when you agreed to be with him. though it was difficult to convince yourself you were content with how things were playing out.

often you took long walks to distract yourself from the unread text messages. it was this time at noon that was most gloomy. your umbrella collected droplets of water, dripping down the side to barely avoid you.

you saw couples on the streets, holding hands happily. they took photos together and shared hot drinks with eachother to battle the slight cold. you envied them.

because in your head, that position seemed almost unreachable. he was so far away from you, farther than you could even realize. what used to be something special between your heart and his wasn’t recognizable.

that day, you stopped going on walks. everything reminded you of the boy that was falling out of love. you came home quickly, trying to outrun your own thoughts. the bronze plate with your apartment number came into view as you dug through your bag to get the keys.

fumbling with the lock for a second, you finally open up to your home. immediately your gaze lands on an extra pair of shoes by the door, making your heart skip a beat slightly. tugging off your own, you set down your umbrella in a corner to dry.

when walking farther into the house, you see haemin sitting comfortably on the couch. he looked busy on his cell phone, paying almost no mind to your presence.

“haem! i didn’t know you would be home, where were you?” you smile fondly, letting yourself sit next to him.

“oh. i was just out for a bit.” he barley acknowledged your existence, angling his phone slightly away from your view. you noticed this, but said nothing.

“did you have fun? it was pretty rainy out today so i hope you weren’t cold.”

“yeah, it was fine.”

“that’s good! did you eat while you were out? i can always make us something for dinner, though i do need to get some groceries–”

“are you done with your questions?” he said bitterly, setting down the device to look at you.

“i’m sorry haem, we just haven’t spoken in awhile and i wanted to see how your day was.” you said in a whisper.

“don’t be so clingy, y/n. we see eachother everyday.” he tells you.

“oh. you’re right, i don’t know why i was being so silly.”

“mhm.” he mumbles under his breath before getting up from his seat towards the bathroom. 

after the door shut behind him, the pit at the bottom of your stomach grew deeper. this wasn’t like him at all. the excitement that would underlie his stoic demeanor because all the love he had for you was overflowing disappeared. could you even call it love when you didn’t exactly know what it was?

every romantic word hes ever told you felt meaningless; what happened to ‘you’re so pretty, y/n. you’re so sweet?’

you could hear haemin’s muffled voice from down the hall, before movement of caps and containers echoed the bathroom walls. it sounded like he was on a call with somebody. he came out soon after, shaking the remaining drops of water off of his clean hands. 

“i’m going out.” he calls out to you before pulling his coat off the rack.

“wait! didn’t you just go out? i can go with you if you’d like!”

“no, i’ll be out late and i know you get agitated if you’re in public for too long.”

“can’t you just stay in for a little then? what about a movie night like we always used to have?” you rushed over to him, desperate to spend any sort of time together, “i just miss you haem..”

“did anything i say get into your head? you don’t need to so clingy, i’m just going out with a couple friends.”

“haemin…” you reached out to his hand, fingertips barely getting the chance to touch him before he was pulling away like you were the plague.

“god. i can’t do this anymore, y/n. i just want to live without you bothering me constantly!” he complains, sliding both of his shoes on forcefully.

“what is that supposed to mean?” you furrow your eyebrows worriedly.

“it means that i’m having a hard time pretending like i haven’t fallen out of love with you.” he sighs, “just give it a break, y/n. you knew were never going to last."

it felt like your world was collapsing around you. there was a confused look on his face as you stood there silently, trying not to cry. you wondered what it felt like to die, and if it felt anything like this.

they say your life flashes before your eyes, yet all that flashed was memories of what you and haemin used to be. you felt stupid to think that maybe it was salvageable, but the sorry truth hurt much more than this ill fantasy.

“but you promised me. you promised me that we would work through everything together, haem. was that a lie?” you choked.

“i wouldn’t make an empty promise like that, don’t twist my words.” he muttered.

“i’m not twisting anything! when you first confessed to me you said so many sweet things and promised to always–”

“i said give it up. that was almost a year ago, okay? you can’t expect me to keep a promise like that for so long.”

“are you serious right now haemin? after all that we’ve been through?” you uttered with a hurt tone.

“i cared about you, okay? but i can’t handle this anymore.”

“you’re my first boyfriend, i– i can’t let you go without at least talking first!” your words came out as a broken sob, but haemin only looked at you with disgust.

“and you were my worst.” he scoffed, “i can’t be with someone who isn’t mature enough to understand when i need time away.”

“but–”

“don’t even look at me right now, y/n.. i don’t want to hear you speak. i’ll come back and get my things later.” he leaves you with a bitter ending, before leaving out the door.

watching the love of your life leave you with no closure and not a second word was starting to physically pain you. you felt yourself drop to your knees as his sentences rung in your mind, stringing themselves into a sequence of utmost heartbreak.

cold hardwood floors comforted the red - hot heat that began to rise up your face like a wild fire. you were embarrassed of yourself, disappointed that you couldn’t grow enough for him to see you. see that you could change.

and while he was out with no doubt in his mind that he made the right decision, your world was shattering in the comfort of the home you used to share with him.

the only time he messaged you was him asking for you to pack up all of his stuff for an easier pickup. it was clear he didn’t want to see you anymore than he had to. would he see how mature you had become in the four hours he was gone if you obeyed him?

boxing up all of his things neatly, you stripped every memory the two of you ever shared together. your house feeling ever so empty from the lack of love, trapped in between cardboard walls. 

for what it was worth, you attempted to write a note to send off with him. however, your vision was too blurry with your tears, and you couldn’t keep them in. the smudged ink added for dramatic effect, but it was too much that it was impossible to read coherent words.

your head was scrambled everywhere, and for a second you thought he was right when he said you were immature. it felt like when you were back in highschool giving him silly love notes to hide in his backpack pocket. it reminded you of how he said that they were all still there, as he never bothered to clean them out.

why couldn’t things be the way that they used to? throwing away so much because there was a lack of communication. you wanted to see him, be with him. feel the pure touch of his lips sending shockwaves to your beating heart.

but since that day, you never saw him once. rushing to grab all of his things and get out of your life, barely escaping your desperate grasp. what was once a fond moment became a distant daydream.

you were so blinded by your infatuation for him, despite the fact he never thought of you like that. once again you failed to understand much.

and things only got harder from then on, your plush pillow absorbing your tears. the air in your room only grew heavier as time continued. 

at first days, then weeks, and months were going by that you gave him so much love from afar. a comfortable distance through your phone screen where he couldn’t spit such hurtful words to you again. it was difficult to bear with his selfish sense of care.

stalking him on social media didn’t get you anywhere really. he already moved on from you. though you were unsure whether your jealousy blossomed from the fact that she was beautiful, or that he moved on extremely fast. maybe it was both.

posts of his hand intertwined with hers, captioned with cheesy song lyrics that used to hold so much meaning to you. your music taste always tended to rub off on him. 

there were long paragraphs declaring how much she meant to him, and how she was such a breath of fresh air in comparison to his past relationships. these sacred words that used to be yours. and while you remembered what the two of you had together, he could only think of her.

still, you loved him.

but things got easier, even when you thought they wouldn’t. it took some time for you to realize that being alone was a lot easier on the heart. 

there was a big takeaway from this, being that the only thing he taught you what it was like to feel unloved. though everything that happened when things were okay, you’d never take for granted. 

the sky felt brighter, and you made your walks frequent again. you remembered thinking how dreary he’d make your days seem, but it felt like you were finally able to see the sun again. because throughout the multitude of stars in the galaxy, one always shone the brightest.

even when you were blinded by a haze, it was still there. maybe you were the star.

© 2023 minkkumaz, all rights reserved support your writers by reblogging + giving feedback! it is greatly encouraged and appreciated. thank you! → why feedback + reblogging is so important. ~ (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ if you'd like, donate to minkkumaz !

[taraljc]

One of the things I've been thinking about recently is how most of the things that upset me about The Dark World relate to pacing, and cutting a significant portion of Jane's storyline so that she ends up a damsel in distress for a huge chunk of the movie. It's a massive disservice to the character and the actor, and I remember really empathizing with how frustrated Natalie Portman was when Patty Jenkins was no longer available because she had mostly signed up to do the movies specifically to work with Jenkins.

But I remembered that apart from scrapping the entire original Jane and Thor ending where they break up and also Odin voluntarily leaving Asgard and decides to wander Earth for a while, that they had gone back and added scenes with Loki. I kept thinking that they were more of the banter while attempting to fly Malekith's ship, but it turns out it was two scenes that I can't actually imagine the movie without.

I had some notes saved in a file but I had to figure out where they came from so I actually dug up the original article from 2013.

Here are the excerpts that are relevant to my and probably other Loki fans interests:

[Director Alan] Taylor was very clear to say they were not "reshoots," but "additional photography," he gave some insight into the Marvel process:

"It's my experience with the Marvel process they save a portion of the budget for this and what we were basically doing. A lot of it was getting more Loki stuff, because we realized how successful he was in the movie, so we sort of "Loki-ed it up" a little bit.

"There's a scene that we probably shouldn't identify too much, that's one of the funniest scenes in the movie where Loki's a shapeshifter. That was a very, very late addition. And there's a connective thing at the beginning that bridges from The Avengers story to sort of explain how Loki is in prison or why he is in prison. That was a very, very late addition. That was probably "more Loki is a good thing," but also we decided it was an expositional link that was needed for the audience. So those are two examples of Loki stuff."

Tom Hiddleston further clarified:

"[The bridge scene and morphing] were the only scenes [added], yeah. What does it do, adding scenes? It's interesting, because I had actually always wanted there to be that scene with Odin. I remember saying when I first got the draft of the script, "Shouldn't he have a scene with Odin where you see them lock horns one more time?" So I was very glad to do that and I think it makes more sense of the references to Odin all the way through the film.

"And the morphing scene was just so fun. It was just adding more mischief, more playfulness to the character. His charm is so much of the character and is a facet I love to play. I suppose the challenge of adding stuff later is just trying to capture the same psychological and emotional continuity, because there were many months between... Of course when you're shooting, that's when you're focused solely on that particular job and then once you wrap you go off and get distracted by other things, other projects in your life. So it's having the discipline to shift back into the right gear, but it was worth it."

You definitely want to read the entire article because from a production standpoint, the fact that they were still rewriting well into post-production. like they didn't have a complete script until picture lock which I just can't even imagine. No wonder Idris Elba was so disgusted with the process that he asked specifically to be killed off in the next film. and I know that Christopher Eccleston was very disappointed in the final film because a lot of the material that he shot was cut. and the thing is if you look at all of the excise material, and all of the additional photography, it would be very easy to recut the movie into a significantly better movie in every way.

The deleted scenes with Jane and Odin by the way are not available on any of the home entertainment releases that I've seen. The only place I found them was on YouTube. If I can dig up the links, I will post them next.

[spectres-swtk-thoughts]

The Monsters from Tellawna-4

This has been a draft in my docs since a year and ten days ago 😅😅😬 But here! Have a fic with Tech, Hunter, and Omega as the main cast!

Context: This is set in season 1 of The Bad Batch. Also, semi incorporates an au where Tech is physically younger than the others because a "glitch" of his experimentation stopped his accelerated aging factor at 5 (phys. 10) years old. So he's about 16 here even though he should be like 22-24. I plan/planned on writing a rewrite of season 1 from Tech's perspective in this au, I only have the first two episodes "done." This is therefore a deleted scene of sorts that'd fit in there somewhere

Summary: Hunter and Tech introduce Omega to the monsters that live aboard their ship.

Word Count: 1457

Warning: This is a tickle fic

Hunter watched Tech with a furrowed brow. To anyone else, his vod’ika would look fine as he sat in the co-pilot seat of their ship, one leg curled up to his chest to support his datapad while the other acted as an anchor for him to swing gently back and forth; the picture of relaxed. His brother’s words, however, betrayed this tranquility. Tech was info-dumping, borderline rambling, about the wildlife of the planet they were on. That in itself was normal for him, but the rapid fire facts going on for this long worried Hunter. That typically meant Tech was distracting himself, which meant Tech was stressed or tired or worried. Their lives had been nothing but chaos the past couple of months and it hurt to see that it was getting to his brother. Hunter couldn’t let him carry on much longer.

“What about invasive species?” Tech perked up at Hunter’s question. “What would a creature like, oh I don’t know, the one from Tellawna-4 do here?” His brother stiffened. Hunter, who tried to school his features, continued.

“Because I am pretty sure it’s stowed away on the ship again.” Before Tech could even protest, another voice piped up.

“There’s a creature on the ship?” Both of them turned to see Omega, clad in pajamas and holding Lula, probably coming to say goodnight. But now, her eyes were wide in excitement, looking expectantly between the two.

“Yes!” Hunter beat him to it. “We keep trying to shake it but somehow it follows us from planet to planet and gets on board.”

“Really? What’s it look like?”

“It’s very sneaky, hard to get a good look. But I’d say it’s fairly big, can walk on its hind legs if it wants. Its arms are great for capturing its prey, right Tech?” Tech just gave a shrug, trying to ward off his and Omega’s attention.

“Its prey? Is it dangerous?” Hunter couldn’t help the way the corner of his mouth quirked up.

“Hmmm, it can be. This creature is a tricky thing. Never strikes the same way. Sometimes it waits and pounces, other times it lures in prey with sounds.”

“Woah, what else does it do?”

“Well it doesn’t just devour its prey immediately. It’ll tire them out first, doesn’t it Tech? You can typically hear the prey from a distance because of it.” By this point, Tech had pulled up both of his legs to his chest and was watching Hunter’s every move, every little gesture, waiting for him to pounce. Hunter smiled.

“Tech knows all about this creature, don’t you Tech? He says that sometimes this creature teams up with others of its kind to corner their prey.” Hunter threw a wink in Tech’s direction as Omega turned towards him.

“Mm-hmm.” Tech swallowed. “They employ both hunting tactics here. One attracts the prey with the sounds they emit while the other strikes from behind.”

Omega squeaked as a hand dug into her stomach. She squirmed and thrashed, nearly doubled-over as Hunter, it was Hunter’s hand, continued to wiggle his fingers into her midriff. Giggles started pouring out of her mouth, Omega couldn’t seem to stop them. She had been tickled before, Wrecker had introduced her, but it was still so new. She didn’t quite know what to do. It did not take long for her legs to tremble and Hunter quickly caught her in one arm and stood from his seat, hand never stopping as he lowered them to the ground.

“You see Omega, this creature from Tellawna isn’t just any ordinary animal. It’s the tickle monster, and you seem to have been caught by two.” He looked over at Tech, who slowly unfurled himself from his protective position and sat down on Omega’s other side. With a tentative smile and an encouraging nudge from Hunter, he squeezed Omega’s knee.

“Thahahat’s mehehean!”

“Mean? Was it mean when that dragon took our power cell? Or when a tooka catches a mouse? They are just getting something to eat. And likewise, this catch will be a very nice meal for the two of us.” Omega didn’t answer Hunter, she just kept laughing.

Tech, for his part, was nearly never on this side of tickling. When they were younger yes, but as they got older, and his brothers got bigger, Tech stopped daring to do so. It was always a fight he knew he’d lose. So while he wasn’t a stranger to doing this, Tech was no longer used to being in this position. But what did he have to be nervous about? That he’d tickle Omega incorrectly? Tech tried to shake off his strangely timed fears.

Squeezing Omega’s knee seemed to be working well enough, but reaching behind to scratch at the back, that elicited a squeak. Tech had to bite down a laugh of his own at her reaction and did it again, rewarded with another squeak and stream of giggles. Hunter was smiling too, watching Omega (and Tech out of the corner of his eye) with immense fondness. She was very wiggly, not knowing what to do or how to escape. Hunter used that to his advantage, tickling one side of her ribs and letting her wiggle away into his other awaiting hand.

Tech decided to make matters worse for Omega and scribbled his fingers into her sides. Omega seemed to give up on squirming as means of escape and instead tried to curl up, grabbing at their hands.

“Now that just won’t do. Tech, can you take care of that?” Understanding his brother’s idea, Tech crawled up to the doorway of the cockpit to sit next to Omega’s head. Taking her wrists in one hand, he clawed his other into her underarm.

Omega threw her head back and began to kick. Hunter, sitting in the danger zone, likewise changed course and grabbed her ankles with one hand and scribbled fingers up her soles. Both Hunter and Tech kept their tickling light, spidering their fingers over Omega’s tickle spots. They didn’t want to tire her out too badly. The tickling lasted only a couple minutes more, Tech skittering his fingers down to Omega’s hip and back as Hunter wiggled a finger against her arches. Both brothers knew to stop when Omega seemed to accept her fate and melt into the floor.

“Hey Hunter, aren’t we forgetting something?”

“W-whahat could yo-you possibly be forgetting?”

“No, Tech’s right. We need to decide what to eat.”

“Eat?!” Omega exclaimed. “Eat how?”

“Oh,” came a voice from behind Tech, “like this.” Tech was lifted from the ground and wrapped into a large set of arms. He couldn’t help but squeal as a raspberry was blown into his neck, laughing as his attacker rubbed their stubble over the spot.

“You see Omega,” Hunter explained as Wrecker pinned Tech next to her, “sometimes tickle monsters will team up against themselves.” His grin was borderline wicked as he watched Tech get taken down oh so much like Omega as Wrecker’s hand vibrated into his tummy. Unlike Omega, Tech went to shield his ever-reddening face rather than fight back.

“So,” Wrecker chirped, “dinner?”

“Dinner,” Hunter agreed before he and Wrecker took dramatic breaths and blew a cacophony of raspberries into both their tummies. The cockpit echoed not only with the silly sounds of the ultimately ticklish torture method, but also childish laughter as Omega and Tech were overpowered by two evil tickle monsters.

The tickling stopped suddenly as both monsters let out a short yell and flinched away from their victims. Omega and Tech glanced up to see their savior, Echo, digging his hand and scomp between Wrecker’s and Hunter’s ribs.

“I think they’ve had enough.” Echo declared. His expression told them all his decision was final, though the look in his eyes betrayed his utter amusement. Wrecker sighed.

“Bedtime.” He scooped Omega and Lula up into his arms and carried her down to the gunner’s mount with the promise that everyone would stop by to say their goodnights. Echo and Hunter seemed to be having a silent conversation which Tech knew he was the subject of. It ended with a nod and a wave goodnight from Echo, leaving just Hunter and Tech in the cockpit once again.

Hunter stood and shut the door, giving them the tiniest bit of privacy on their small ship as Tech sat up, finally getting himself composed after that surprise attack.

“So…” Hunter started, “you’ve talked a lot today, but I don’t think you’ve been saying what’s really on your mind.” Tech shrugged in response.

“I promise no more monsters tonight so,” he reached towards Tech with grabby hands, the clear indication for cuddles, “how ‘bout we talk, truly talk.” And how could Tech say no to that?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Can you tell I just wanted it done there at the end? 😅 But, I hope you all enjoyed!

I don't know if that season 1 rewrite will ever see the light of day (aka ao3) but a little bit of Tech's feelings on his age can be found in chapter 4 of this fic I wrote here. (I have thoughts and opinions about this au and their canon ages that I want to talk about if that's not obvious.)

[all-pacas]

HEY HIMYM ANON, i found a draft for you! i actually quite like this, maybe i'll work out an ending. it was mostly written out of spite, iirc - maybe my least favorite part of the finale is the idea that "this whole time you were talking about robin!" because. way to miss the point, ted's kids.

--

It is not a story about Robin.

After Tracy had passed, he’d spent weeks, months, ready to follow. To give up. To surrender to it, the grief and luxury of sleeping for days at a stretch, missing her, the smell of her, the smell of her hospital room, sickly sweet and sharp and deadly. They’d done everything right. Everything they could. Taken the kids traveling, taken Tracy to New Zealand, to Paris, blowing their savings on oncologists and presents.

It had been bad, when the cancer caught up and the money ran out and Tracy talked for her doctors alone for an hour and told him firmly, gently, that she was done with chemo. They had still smiled and laughed and photographed and filmed, filling album after album, their fridge full of second hand casseroles. Smiled until it hurt and dug and tore, ripping through his skin, yanking him apart.

It had been bad.

Others would take the kids for days at a time, Barney blowing in from Manhattan to take them to zoos and museums and Lazer Tag, Lily teaching Penny how to apply mascara, eyeliner, buy her first bra. Marshall cutting Ted checks, depositing them without asking first, each generosity another blow.

It is not a story about Robin.

She moves back to New York in ‘26, he hears, from Marshall, who hears it from Lily; runs into her in person some time later. She is beautiful, pristine, untouched. Smiles and glad-to-see-yous. Polite hugs. Polite, continental kisses. He’s glad to see her, glad to see her well. It’s shocking how much they remember, how easy it is to resume five year old conversations. She doesn’t mention Tracy, and he takes it for politeness and avoidance until one afternoon it hits him: she has no memories of Tracy to share.

--

Barney has joint custody of his daughter, who, at seven, loves animals, outer space, and her older cousins in that order. They go to the Bronx Zoo, the five of them: Ellie following Penny around, Luke on his Switch the whole time, Ted and Barney hanging twenty paces back and keeping an eye on the kids.

Ted’s laughing, actually laughing, at some insane work story of Barney’s when he thinks: I can’t believe we’re still friends, and in the lull he says: “We’ve been friends twenty five years.”

“Of course we have,” Barney says, mouth twisted in incredulity. He’s wearing a suit and his hair is slowly graying and twenty five years ago he started talking to Ted at the urinal, when Ted was twenty five.

Penny is getting a little snappy with Ellie, who wants to follow her into a public bathroom. Penny stomps over to Ted in a huff, and Barney takes the younger kids to get ice creams while Penny complains.

Ted hums. “Did I ever tell you how I met your Uncle Barney?” he asks.

--

They all get together for Lily’s fiftieth. The Eriksens hire caterers, waiters, rent a Long Island event hall. White tie: Barney shows up in Westchester with tuxes for Ted and Luke, claiming he doesn’t trust them to pick out their own. Penny is twelve: Lily helps her curl her hair, buys her low-heeled pumps, and she looks so much like Tracy that Ted has to go into the washroom and sit, lost, for several minutes, until he can emerge smiling and tell her how beautiful and grown-up she is without crying.

He and Marshall split a joint in the parking lot, and it helps. Perfectly legal nowadays, but the furtive feeling brings him back, makes him feel younger and reckless. Lily is fully manic, and Barney sneaks Marvin half a glass of wine.

They take pictures: the four of them, the Eriksens alone, the four of them plus kids.

Robin arrives half an hour late. Polite hugs. Kisses. Lily pleased to see her, everyone else hugging and exchanging small talk. Robin isn’t invited into the first set of pictures, but it might have been an oversight. Ted spots her, lips thin, as he’s smiling huge and fake on Lily’s order.

He and Marshall catch Barney smoking in the parking lot after their joint. “I thought you quit,” Marshall calls, joking, heading back in.

Ted lingers. “Doesn’t count,” Barney says shortly, before he can say anything.

“Robin?” Ted guesses, and Barney shrugs.

“I get it,” Ted says.

Barney stubs out his cigarette butt under his heel.

“We never really talked about any of it,” Ted says, looking off to the banquet hall.

“What’s there to talk about?” Barney asks.