#because where I live every time we went there the order would be messed up somehow.

[knackfandomarchive]

"Welcome to Knack in the Crack- I MEAN-

*growl-sigh*

Jack in the Box.

(pleasantly) May I take your order?"

[inbabylontheywept]

i once accidentally dated someone for a few months. its very difficult to explain how this happened, but the gist is that i thought we were hanging out, and she thought we were on dates, and it was just a very painfully highschool thing.

she was a little bit confused that i hadnt tried to pull any moves, at all, even a little. like, didnt even try holding hands because, and i cannot emphasize this enough, i did not know we were dating.

so, halloween rolled around, and she thought, you know, why wait for destiny, when you can grab it? so she hit me with a clue by four.

babylon, she said. babylon. my mom's gonna be out of town on halloween, and im gonna have the house to myself, and it's going to be kind of lonely. would you like to come to my house and watch scary movies with me?

you know, kind of a netflix and chill thing. except, and i cannot emphasize this enough, i did not know we were dating. also autism. so i took it at face value and said: oh! yeah! thatd be fun! and she thought she got her point across, but she didnt and it was a mess.

skip forward to halloween: my family has a block party every year, right? and at that point i was too old to really trick or treat, but we still wore costumes for our role in the block party, which in my case, was handing out cotton candy. so i took the first shift, and my costume was this homemade abomination minion thing. i had full yellow body paint, and goggles, and a bald cap, and overalls. the kids who saw it were like, uh, hm. overly realistic minion. and adults were like, oh, some kind of hills have eyes hillbilly with jaundice. very scary.

(it was not my best costume.)

my little brother swapped me out for second shift, and i was getting ready to change out to head to her house when i was like: no, she'll get a real kick out of this. this is one of the worst things i have ever worn. so i kept it on and just brought a change of clothes thinking i could shower real quick and change at her place after she saw my nightmare getup.

so i left after that, got there, knocked on her door, and she said come on in. so i went in, and there was this very long hall with an abrupt right turn into her living room where the tv was, and i went down the hall, and i made the turn, and my field of view went from beige drywal to her, on the couch, naked. naked in the paint me like one of your french girls pose. super naked.

i panicked. this was my first time seeing a real person like, full on sex naked,which is a totally different beast from other kinds of naked. you see one kind of naked and you think yeah, im ready for all the kinds of naked, but you arent. i wasnt at least. i really wasn't.

so my brain crashed to BIOS. she also crashed to BIOS, but for different reasons. of all the ways this could have turned me, having me show up in yellow body paint and overalls was pretty pretty low down the list.

so we sat there a while, and you know, she wasn't getting any less naked, which really wasn't helping me get my brain sorted out. it really wasnt much of a surprise when she got her bearings first and started asking questions.

"babylon," she said. "babylon. what are you wearing?"

and i was like, kind of rebooted, but i was nowhere near full functionality, so symbolic language wasnt loaded in yet. i had nothing running but my trusty autism.exe, so i said

"overalls"

and she looked at me like i was the dumbest person in the entire world, and i looked at her like she was the first naked person i had seen in real life who got naked specifically for me, and my upper level cognitive process went: "listen man, we are not going to get our shit together as long as 80% of your brain power is devoted to not blinking. you gotta get out of here."

and if id communicated that, maybe things would have been less of a mess, but instead i just kind of turned around and walked back to my car. i figured i could drive a few loops around the block, get my brain in order, and figure out what the hell we were gonna do.

the only thing i had said to her since arriving was, again, overalls.

first loop around, i was like: oh god fucking damnit. oh shit. oh shit. shes gonna get like, an eating disorder from this. oh no.

second loop around i was like: oh NOOOOO oh WHAT THE FUCK oh SWEET JESUS PLEASE. i dont wanna go back man. i just wanna bury this and forget about it. please. please. let this bitter cup pass from my lips.

and after my third loop, i went and i knocked on her door again.

she answered it this time, and i counted my lucky stars that she'd changed into some pajamas. she was all teary eyed which was the saddest thing ever, and we sat down in her kitchen and talked. it was pretty bad - i figured out we'd been dating, and she figured out that trying to jump from home plate to 3rd base is considered ballsy in baseball, least of all dating. no real winners there. and i can remember after all that, we sat there a bit a bit longer, just steadying ourselves, and i was like "well, im actually really glad we figured that out. guess i'll see you at school tomorow' and she said "WAIT. wait."

"lets watch shrek 2."

so we did and it was horrible. we did not look at each other. we did not say a word. we just sat in stony silence, while shrek 2 played in the background, and when it was done we shook hands. i think we might have been able to salvage that as a friendship if it hadnt been for shrek. as it was she turned white as a sheet and ran away every time she even got a glimpse of me at school, and that summer she moved to a new state to live with her dad. all her friends said she moved just so she wouldn't have to go to school with me anymore, and i dont actually think they were lying.

every time i hear relationship counselors talk about how important communication is, and i'm tempted to roll my eyes, i look back and go, alright. alright. theres probably some poor bastard, somewhere in the world, who doesnt even know that hes married.

and god help him when he figures it out.

other bad dating story here.

[letoasai]

dp x dc Chronos part 5

Part 1 - Previous - Master list

Diana was furious. 

She’d known her young uncle for only a handful of hours but here she was, ready to go to war for him. Perhaps that was what her grandfather had meant earlier, his words still ringing in her ears. 

I have a task for you, Diana. One i do not think you will turn now but i’ll give you the illusion of choice.

Perhaps it was less an illusion and more her grandfather merely knowing ahead of time how she would react. If Danny was to be believed – and he did seem such a trustworthy boy – his Clockwork knew every path one could take. 

She knew there were still questions to be asked, but Danny had been able to tell her a great deal before his eyes began to droop and she insisted he try to sleep. The curtains to the room had been left open and she watched as his eyes happily glazed over at the sight of open space before him. It had only taken minutes for him to fall asleep. 

Now she had a lot of work to do and she planned to get as much done while Danny slept as she could. 

She entered the conference room with a quick stride, many members already present for the meeting she had ordered via text. They’d learned that some equipment didn’t work well around Danny. Visuals were blurry at best and audio crackled into something indistinguishable. Diana had instead been texting information to Bruce and Kal to look into while she focused on the boy. 

“Were you able to find anything?” She asked immediately, not elaborating on which fact she was talking about. She’d sent them so many little snippets that she didn’t really care where they started. 

Batman just grunted, and despite wearing his cowl, she could see just how unhappy he was. 

“You’re not going to like it, but you expected that.” Superman said, papers laid out in front of him. He wasn’t the only one doing his research. 

Green Lantern and Flash were still there, the latter looking like he was having an existential crisis over the topic of ghosts. 

Martian Manhunter had also arrived, his frown informing her that the others had caught him up on what had been happening. 

“Can we confirm the truth as Danny has laid it out for us?” She asked, taking a seat. 

“Oh, yeah.” Hal muttered, rubbing a hand down his face. “Constantine will arrive later, but he could confirm the new High King of the Infinite Realm went by Phantom. Never heard him sound so horrified as him learning that someone had punched a hole into another realm in their house though. Inter-dimensional war crimes on our end are stacking up.” 

“Our end?” She asked. 

“The GIW…” Bruce began, sounding a mixture of exhausted and livid. “Are completely out of their depth and did not have the authority to just name a species unidentified to the rest of us as non-sentient. If the Infinite Realm retaliates, and John thinks it’s a possibility, it won’t just be aimed at the GIW alone but the entire dimension. That makes this more of a mess for us to clean up than it already was.” 

They’d already decided to help, that was what they did. But there was a difference in lending a hand and righting a wrong and taking responsibility for someone else’s fuck ups because they had to. 

“Can we prove it?” Diana asked. 

“Absolutely.” Kal nodded. “Honestly, for a government agency, their security is a joke. There was a backdoor already in place. We can ask Danny about that later.”

Diana nodded, certain the information would be good in his hands. She turned her attention back to Bruce. “The Fentons?” 

There was a certain level of disgust that tried to choke her out in that situation. Danny had been so hesitant, the betrayal fresh and painful. She had lived in the World of Men for a long time now and it had as many delights as it did drawbacks, but to learn what Danny’s parents had attempted to do to him left her burning to seek them out herself. 

His mother had lost her privilege to refer to herself as such.

She didn’t care what the circumstances were. Capture and torture with the intentions of vivisection was inexcusable. The target being a child made it all the more heinous. Diana knew Batman would understand without her saying a word. 

“Run of the mill mad scientists. They might have been onto something once when it came to energy but their bias took over. Even if they had been correct about ecto-entities, their language is incredibly inappropriate. No licenced and competent science journal would be associated with that.” He stared at her unhappily. “They’re lunatics. The fact that their children grew up in their home is outrageous.” He hit a button on the remote and a location appeared on the computer screens. 

A bricked house on a street corner, enormous Fenton Works sign taking up most of the front. It was an eyesore, but not as much as the sci-fi looking shuttle sticking out of the roof. The OHSA violations alone should have had the building condemned and there was no way permits had been granted for any of that construction. 

It was a supervillain's dream and not the least bit subtle. It should have been a crime in itself for the town to allow it to remain in a residential area and was shocking that no calls to Child Protective Services had been made. 

Yes, Danny was an exceptional being, but Diana understood now all the likely scenarios where he could have died in that house. Danny had called his death an accident, but she wasn’t so certain about that. “They were the ones to hurt him.” Diana said, hating how her throat was tight. She was already emotionally compromised. 

“Yes, i know.” 

Diana’s attention snapped back to him. “How?” 

“Simple reasoning. They are unstable ghost hunters with questionable science. Danny was removed from his home for his safety. Chronos said he needed a guardian. That doesn’t paint a pretty picture.” Bruce muttered. “Either his guardians couldn’t care for him, or shouldn’t care for him.” 

She felt her shoulders relax somewhat, knowing that such a logical conclusion should have occurred to her too. She really was worried about Danny’s recovery. “We can add it to the file i know you’ve created, but i’d prefer if no one asked him about that at this time. This last attack only happened several days ago and it is still fresh on his mind.” 

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, always a hound when it came to sniffing out abused kids. “This last attack?” 

“They’ve been after him for a while.” Diana hummed, though she’d only had a vague example or two since Danny hadn’t wanted to get into it. She couldn’t imagine how he’d just returned home every day to parents who tried to capture his other persona. 

“We must factor in his identity.” Martian Manhunter approached them, having been listening. J’onn had been doing his own research the last several hours. He laid down a startlingly clear picture of Danny in his white haired ghost form. A print out of an Amity Park newspaper article. 

“What is that?” Bruce frowned, sliding it closer to read. 

“The hero of Amity Park. Phantom. The articles are biased and unfavorable, but that is not the current accepted public opinion. Phantom protects the living from ghosts. He also protects the ghosts from the ghost hunters.” J’onn explained, voice carefully neutral. “Phantom appearing other places, perhaps shouldn’t coincide with where Daniel Fenton ends up.” 

“A name change could be warranted. If that’s what he wants.” Bruce adds. 

J’onn gave a single nod. “It’s a great deal of pressure on one teenager's shoulders. Being a king of a realm on top of that…” 

It was silently agreed upon that Danny deserved this break and Diana was going to get it for him.

“It was only a matter of time before something had to give.” Diana said, turning enough to speak to everyone in the room. “Well he won’t be dealing with all of that alone now. We start with dismantling the GIW, appealing the Anti-Ecto Acts, and smoothing over our relations with the Infinite Realm.” 

“Only that much, huh?” Flash muttered, trying to wrap his head around the science of ghost hunting. 

“Why not get some of the kids involved. Young Justice, maybe?” Hal was rubbing his eyes, not looking forward to the consequences of this mess. “Once he heals it might do him some good to be around others closer to his own age. People he wouldn’t need to hide half of himself from.”

When put like that, Diana could only agree. 

“I’ll mention it to him.” “I’ll get the information i have to Lois.” Clark said, sliding his papers into a binder. “If public opinion of Phantom is already decent in Amity Park, then we’ll up the exposure to put pressure on our oblivious government.” 

“I’ll take a few of the GIW facilities.” Bruce muttered, but he had that familiar tone that said he was about to let his children go buck wild. “A little recon…” he added vaguely. 

Before anyone else could put in their own two cents, the sensors went off, exactly how they had before Chronos had arrived. A paranormal knock of sorts before the very air seemed to split in two, a glowing green portal building around it. 

“Here we go again.” Barry muttered, each of them surrounding the portal as they’d done early for safety’s sake but they were less inclined to fight immediately. 

As J’onn was seeing it for the first time, he remained near Diana, keenly watching the portal manifest. It wasn’t Chronos who stepped out though, it wasn’t human at all. 

From the portal stepped a creature that Diana didn’t have the name for. Bipedal, humanoid, but beast like in appearance. Horns on his head and spikes from his tail made of ice were noticed secondary to his arm of ice that still encased his bones inside. His fur was white, his claws could easily kill and he was covered by a kilt and cape. 

What gave Diana pause as the bag slung over one shoulder, the tell tale signs of a medical cross across the front. 

“Who are you?” Superman asked, more polite than their earlier run in with her grandfather. 

The creature, a ghost presumably, held himself rigid. He was doing a great deal to make himself appear smaller then he was but his gaze was assessing. He was ready to fight if necessary. 

“I am here for His Majesty, the Great One.” Was his response. 

Diana stepped forward, deciding this was exactly what she suspected. “I am Diana. Granddaughter of Chronos who Danny fondly calls Clockwork. You are Frostbite, come to check on Danny, yes?” 

All of his attention was on her now, but he seemed to see what he wanted in her after locking eyes. “I am. Frostbite, Ruler of the Infinite Realm’s Far Frozen. I have come to see Our Savior the King, as his primary physician.”

“He’s a doctor.” Flash whispered. 

“Fascinating.” J’onn muttered, sounding a little winded by whatever he was sensing. “He is who he claims.” 

“I’m relieved.” Diana muttered, approaching him with a smile this time. “Please come with me and i will take you to Danny. I’m afraid we did what we could but his unique biology left us questioning our choices. He is resting in a private room.” 

“Did something happen to setback his recovery?” Frostbite asked, serious over the care of his charge as he followed Wonder Woman out of the conference room without so much as a glance back at the other heros. 

“Excitement, i believe.” Diana offered. “He may have been a little too excited to show off his alternate, living form and seemed to forget his condition.” 

Frostbite actually snorted. “Sounds like him.”

“I did not realize how badly wounded he was. We had been talking about our arrangements and he was answering my questions about ghosts. He appeared sore, but fairly pleased to speak with me. Given what he had just been through…” 

Frostbite grunted his agreement. “His heart is soft, but his will is unlike anything i have ever known. Many of us saw this tragedy coming, but he insisted on seeing it out for himself, hoping for a favorable ending.” 

Diana cracked her knuckles out of habit, that anger still simmering. “He will be safe in my care, i assure you.”

“The Great One is the rightful King to our realm, but many forget he is still just a child.” Frostbite said, eyeing her even as she led him through the Watchtower. 

“It is not something i am likely to forget.” Not after she’d seen how small he was in their medbay bed. “He’s resting but weak, you can help?” 

“As long as he has not taken more damage, i’m sure i can.” Frostbite said, a gentleness to his voice as they stopped at Danny’s room. Diana went in first to prove the area was a safe one but that may not have mattered given how quickly Frostbite followed her. 

He was at Danny’s bedside in an instant, having somehow moved passed her without knocking into her. He could have gone through her for all she knew. For all he seemed to be a hulking beast, Frostbite was nothing but gentle as he examined Danny. He looked over any and all work that had been done to Danny since his arrival, and checked the bandages across his torso. He went as far as to grab the clipboard on the foot of Danny’s bed to read, having no trouble understanding the medical jargon. 

From his medical bag, he pulled out several small bottles, all of them growing a toxic green. Injections were given to the teenager, and it didn’t seem to matter that he was in his living, dark haired form. 

“Has he explained to you what it means to be a halfa?” Frostbite finally asked, breaking the silence. 

“Only in vague, teenager terms.” Diana said. She’d been quite sure that Danny’s flippant attitude was more a coping mechanism than anything.

Frostbite just hummed. “Then i will have to fill you in.”

[mrsparrasblog]

You're Losing Me Pt.3 POLY 141 x Reader

TW: angst, mentioned rape, mentioned drug abuse, violence, alcoholism, crying, manipulation

prev part first part. next part

Wrapped around with a blanket, you lay on the couch singing all the breakup songs you know, pathetically. You didn't talk to your friends, called in sick at work, and haven't left the apartment since it happened. The only thing you had was Winston, the Taylor Swift vinyl on repeat that Johnny gifted you, and a cheap red wine that tasted like ass. You ordered some pizza so that something else keeps you company. When the bell rang, you didn't bother to put on a nice outfit. You went out with your tangled hair, your puffy swollen eyes, and Simon's ratty t-shirt that you couldn’t bother to throw away; it just smelled like comfort to you.

You were surprised when you saw, instead of the delivery guy, Kyle in front of your house. He looked so unlike Kyle. He didn't have that cheeky smile you loved, and his clean pretty boy aesthetic was gone. His white shirt was full of blood, his jaw bruised, and your heart broke. That was your man - was.

"Do you want to collect your stuff?" You asked, it hurt you so bad to ask, but you needed to be strong. You didn't want to be like your mom who stayed with your Dad despite how often he cheated on her. You were strong and independent before you met them, you can reach this again.

"Babe, please."

"Don't do this to me, Kyle," don't make me love you, don’t make me forgive you.

"Can I see at least Winston?" He asked, and that was a thing you couldn't deny. It was his dog too after all. You remembered how you rescued him together from a dog shelter. Everyone else would have said no, but Kyle loved animals just as much as you do. So you adopted that corgi, and you can regret many things but not your loyal dog.

"Come in," you said, not bothering to apologize for the mess.

When Winston saw him, he jumped immediately on Kyle, and this made you smile for the first time in days. "What happened to your face?"

"Got in some fights around the base."

"Kyle, you never get into fights with coworkers. Look, just because we're not a thing anymore doesn’t mean you need to sabotage your own life. Things like breakups happen, and I'm sure you will find a lovely girl." Your heart ached just thinking about them with another girl, all sharing and loving how they loved you.

"Don't want anyone else."

"Kyle."

"I mean it, I love you, and not just a bit. I know you're the right one. Tell me what you want, and I'll do it. Want me to quit the military? Easy. Want to punish me? Hurt me? I don’t care. Want to never touch me again? Fine, I'll live my life without sex just to have you. Want me to marry you? Done. Why wait? Do you want me to kill that slag? I'll do it. You don’t understand it; there is no such thing as too much for you. There isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do for you."

You were too stunned to speak, but by the look in his eyes, you knew he meant every word of it. He really loved you. But how could you trust him again? And John, you knew Kyle loved John, maybe not as much as you, but you were no one to separate them. That wasn’t fair.

"Let me clean the blood from your nose, Kyle." You stood up, ignoring the things he said, and went to the bathroom, grabbing alcohol and one of Kyle's spare t-shirts, inhaling the scent as you sobbed into it.

"Love—"

"Let me clean you."

He picked you up, sitting you down at the sink, where you slowly cleaned his wounds. Your breath felt heavy every second you got near his lips.

"Tell me you don't love me, and I'll never bother you again."

"Kyle, I can't lie to you."

You cleaned him and gave him his new shirt, but you couldn’t let him leave.

"Kyle, I love you, but I love all of you so much that I can't let you choose between me and John. You love him, I know that, and it's okay. I understand."

"John didn’t cheat on you; it was Johnny."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'd never lie to you. He just knew we couldn’t live without you, and you know how selfless he is."

"I thought he cheated." You started to sob again. "I screamed at him, told him how much I hate him, and he wasn’t at fault." You felt like a monster for your feelings.

"He understands."

"How does he hold up?" You knew John was never someone who shared your feelings.

"Locked himself in the office, drinking for days, doesn’t even speak with me."

"Let me fix this."

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

John thought he was hallucinating when you went into his office with the spare key you had. It was too good to be true to see his angel again, but you weren’t real. He needed to stop drinking.

"I'm so sorry, John," you said over and over again, walking towards him, where you sat in your reserved place, on his lap, and slowly removing the glass out of his help. "I'm sorry, John. I don’t hate you, I’d never hate you."

"Cheated on you, deserve it."

"I know it was Johnny."

"Lie."

"Kyle told me."

"Oh."

"Can you forgive me, John?"

"Of course, lovely," he laled and smiled.

"Let me get you in your room, okay, and sober you up." He nodded, and you brought him to his room. You still weren’t sure what to do. Will you forgive them? Will you forgive Johnny?

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

"Lea mah room, slag," Johnny screamed at the medic. He had enough of her and her manipulative acts, how she went into his room and touched him in training. It was enough.

"Don't be so harsh; I'm your girlfriend, after all," she smiled. She was sick fucking delusional.

"Youre nae mah burd ah tellt ye this often enough," he pressed his hands together, his knuckles white from rage. If he was a worse man, he’d kill her on the spot. But he needed her to make a mistake, so there would be proof of her lying.

"Not so aggressive, Johnny, this isn’t good for our baby."

"Are you mental? There is no fucking baby. You raped me three days ago. Aren’t you supposed to be a medic and know how this shit works?"

"There will be, and then we'll be happy."

"You're sick. This will never happen."

"Oh, there will, or you know I could tell anyone how you raped me and dared to kill me after your girlfriend found out."

"No one will believe you."

"They will."

And there was a knock on the door. He left her in the room, telling her it was probably only a rookie. He was surprised when he saw you. Even though you looked broken, you were still the most precious thing in his life. He wanted to hug you, tell you the truth.

"I know it was you, Johnny," you started to cry you never thought Johnny would do such a thing to you."

"Hen, please."

You hugged him tight, which caught him by surprise, but he held you through it. "Tell me why, Johnny. Please, let me know what I did to deserve this." His heart broke with every word you said. He desperately wanted to explain to you that you could never do anything wrong in his life, but the shame ate him up. Would you understand? Would you believe him?

"Tell me you won't do it again, Johnny. Tell me you regret it, that it didn't mean a thing. I'll forgive you, please, Johnny."

"Look, hen—" But before he could finish his sentence, the medic left the room wearing only one of his shirts.

"What are you doing here? I thought you’d broken up with that bore."

You noticed the shirt, the ruffled hair, and the bracelet you gifted Johnny that she wore. "Johnny, why is she wearing your shirt? Why does she have my bracelet?"

"Love, don't believe—"

"Oh, you're not only a bore, you're also dense, aren't you?"

That was enough to finally break you. You walked away, screaming at Johnny that he should leave you alone, running into Simon on your way out.

"Luv?"

"Stay away from me, Si," and he respected your wish, giving you the time to heal you need. He finally found Johnny in a screaming match with the medic. When she saw him, she gave Johnny a peck on his cheek and left with a sly smile.

Johnny was never a man to cry until that day. He didn't know how his life went so downhill in a few days.

"Johnny?"

"Go away, Lt."

"Johnny, tell me what's wrong."

"You wouldn't believe me. No one would."

"Let me decide that. Let's get you in your room and talk." His heart broke seeing Johnny like that, and he knew whatever it was, he would fix it for him.

[heartfeltcherie]

Lucifer x shy Baker reader

very first lucifer story and i can’t tell if i like it or hate it lol but i hope u guys enjoy it!! :)

☾. °.   ࿐  ` , •

sugar. butter. flour.

that’s how most of your days went — baking pastries in one of hell’s finest bakeries, serving regular, everyday sinners, to the fanciest overlords of hell. it was tiring work, starting everything from scratch each and every morning and making sure every bite would be the freshest it could be.

you, yourself, weren’t an overlord — just a normal city goer on the streets of pentagram city, doing your job to make a living. even in hell you’re expected to pay rent; but i guess that’s why it’s called hell.

the door chimes, signalling a customer entering your quiet little bakery that smelled of strawberries and sweetness.

“hello, darling” and there he was — lucifer morningstar, the king of hell, himself. you look up from where you were putting the last of your pies in the display case, your cheeks becoming as red as the strawberries you cut up earlier. “oh, your majesty! hello!” you make your way to the front counter, hoping he doesn’t realize how flustered he makes you merely by his own presence.

oh, he absolutely notices. and it feeds his ego tenfold.

he rests his elbow on the counter, resting his chin on the back of his hand.

“i believe i ordered a dozen of your finest cupcakes. shaped like ducks, to be more precise” you chuckle to yourself — who knew the king of hell would get so much enjoyment out of rubber ducks? “let me go get those for you, your majesty”

“oh, dear, there’s no need for formalities. lucifer’s just fine. especially since i’m in here oh-so often” he looks at you with half lidded eyes, raising his eyebrows at you. he knows exactly what he’s doing to you when he speaks in that tone.

you try not to stumble over your own two feet as you get the fancy pink box that has a clear lid, perfectly displaying his highness’s order. you can feel yourself trying not to shake with nerves because satan, he’s so beautiful. “i’m beginning to think you come in here for more than just the sweets i bake” you place the box with fragile goods down in front of him on the counter. lucifer chuckles at your statement, drawing small circles with his pointer finger on your counter. “oh, really? and what makes you say that, hm?”

“i-i don’t know… maybe it’s just an observation, but you come here more than the regulars. and when you do, you usually strike up a conversation with me for hours on end until i have to tell you we’re closed” you chuckle shyly, recalling the countless times lucifer has come in just to talk to you, or give you so many compliments that turn you into a blushing mess.

you don’t understand why he has specific interest in you; he barely knows you, and you him. only in the fairytales in your mind are happily holding hands together.

“oh! haha! that!” he looks nervous, fiddling with his jacket lapels and wiping none existent dirt off his sleeves, not realizing how many times he’s come in just to see you. but he can’t help it, he’s craving the sweetness you give off of lavender and daydreams that it spins him poetic; and he hopes that maybe one day you’ll let him have a taste (you will). “i suppose you just have a way of… drawing me in, i-i guess”

“i just work here, lucifer… you don’t even know me”

“well then, perhaps we should change that then, don’t you think?” you furrow your eyebrows in confusion, tilting your head like a small puppy. lucifer’s heart nearly beats out of his chest. “what do you mean?”

“i meaaan… come by! a-and share some cupcakes with me! and we can also have tea! or chocolate milk! we don’t even have to have the cupcakes! i can get something made for us! michelin-tasting menu, free à la carte!”

you giggle at his excitement and lucifer swears he could listen to that sound for the rest of eternity.

“i-i get off work at five?” you ask with a shy smile, pink dusting your cheeks at the thought of a date with the man you’ve been crushing on for so long. “then i shall see you then, my dear” he kisses the back of your hand with a gentleness that leaves your head spinning as he picks up the box of duck-shaped cupcakes and walks out of your bakery.

please reblog/comment if you enjoyed my work, it’s greatly appreciated ♡

[berylcups]

Hey, just wanted to know what do you think La Squadra members would avoid while looking for a s/o. So basically their biggest turn offs.

I love your posts btw 😍

Thank you so much 😭😭😭 your encouragement is like drugs to meeeeeeee

This was a fun one to do- thank you so much for asking 🤩 it really made me put my thinking cap on! 🧠

La Squadra No-Gos in an S/O

CW: Suggestive Content aka Melone being Melone

Notes: this was fun to write! Remember we all have our flaws and the squad loves you REGARDLESS! 🥰 💜 Beryl

Visually there’s nothing that the guys don’t like. It doesn’t matter what your skin color is, what your ethnicity is, where you’re from, your neurodiversity, your mental illnesses, how tall you are, or how much you weigh. They’ll love you all the same! ❤️ But it’s what’s on the inside is where they get picky…

Risotto

Self centered/ overly needy- This leader is always thinking about others and nothing irks him more than someone who only thinks about themself. It just makes him think of the boss when an S/O gets greedy or demanding, expecting him to use all of his mental, physical, and financial resources only on them. He deserves some love and care too! But he won’t admit or demand that because he’s too proud of a man. Just be patient and wait your turn and he will always have the time for you. It might not be all the time you want but he does dedicate time just for you.

He just can’t handle someone who’s overly needy. You're going to have needs. He knows that. He’s going to tend to you at a higher level than he does his own men. Don’t demand too much out of this exhausted man. He’s probably not in the mood to go out on a big date but he’s going to come home to you and give you a big hug and kiss and listen to you about how your day went. He’s going to tell you how much he missed you and help you make dinner. He’s not going to be here every time for your beck and call. But he’s going to come back to you every time he has a moment to himself because he loves you that damn much.

Formaggio

- Judgmental / perfectionism- This man goes with the flow when it comes to life. He’s a very laidback man without any plans. So don’t get irritable when he doesn’t have huge goals or aspirations. There’s nothing more that irks him is a judgmental perfectionist. If you mess something up don’t worry about it! You can always do it again. Not everything needs to be in order! He doesn’t mind a little cat hair on his shirt or the fact he throws his dirty laundry by the washing machine on the floor. He’ll get to it when he’s ready.

Don’t be so judgmental- there’s no one correct way to live life. He isn’t telling you how to live so don’t tell him! He understands if you have something debilitating like OCD. We all got our issues. He just doesn’t really want to be nagged or bossed around. Want him to clean up the house? Just ask nicely and zaddy will take care of it for ya! That’s all it takes! He’ll work on being a little more organized as long as you work on yourself too! He’s your biggest supporter and he’ll let you know it!

Illuso

Dishonesty/ cheating- he absolutely hates it when someone lies to him. Just be honest with him! He has eyes and ears everywhere—the mirrors. So he knows if you’re talking shit or plan on cheating on him. Don’t even say it’s all a misunderstanding! Once that trust is lost, it’s lost forever. He doesn’t let people in very easily so expects you to be a loyal faithful s/o. He acts like a man who thinks relationships will “chain you down” but he only acts that way due to past relationships going sour, almost always surprisingly with him the one getting cheated on.

He doesn’t expect you to put up with his bullshit or sass! He knows when he needs to be put in his place. But if you’re his s/o he won’t really tease you. He’s a very sensitive guy but will only share that side of himself with you. So don’t be going around spilling his secrets or making fun of his sensitive side. His trust is just that fragile.

If you treat him kindly, he will treat you like a god/dess. He’s undeniably the most loving and loyal man you’ll ever have as long as you’re faithful and don’t play with his heart.

Pesci

Negativity/ Cynicism- This sweet guy is a huge empath. So there’s nothing he dislikes more is someone who is super cynical or super negative. He’s like a biiiiig emotional sponge. If you’re feeling bad, HES FEELING BAD. He has low self esteem and can understand if you do too but the relationship won’t last long if you’re both being emotional anchors weighing each other down. 😞 You’re allowed to have your bad days! Everyone has bad days. But let him try to pep you up and let you know that things will pass and you’ll see the light of another happy day again. Don’t push him away and have a pity party! Show him a smile through those tears! 😚 and do the same for him. Be each others amateur therapists and cheerleaders! 📣

Prosciutto

Passive Aggression/ Bad Communication- There’s nothing that irritates this no nonsense man who beats around the bush. Say what you need to say damn it! He’s very transparent with you about what he wants and expects. He wants the same from you! So if you got beef with him, say it, don’t be passive aggressive about it. He needs clear communication from you. You aren’t going to “hurt his feelings”. He’s a grown ass man/adult and can handle some criticism as long as it’s constructive of course. Don’t go all out insulting him. He won’t stand for that, and he doesn’t expect you to stand for it either! Let him know if he’s being too harsh. LET HIM KNOW EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO TELL HIM. 👏 A healthy functioning relationship is ALLLLL about communication!

Melone

Rigidness/ Closed minded- Anything goes with this guy. He’s all about trying new things. New foods, new vacation spots, new fashion trends, new cultures, new sex positions.

He doesn’t like someone who’s super close minded and won’t at least try something. You need to get out of your comfort zone just a little bit! Do you know how much you’re potentially missing out on??? Melone knows. He doesn’t want to have to beg you (unless he’s in the bedroom) to try every little thing! He KNOWS you’re not going to like everything and he KNOWS you’re going to be NERVOUS! And that’s okay! He’s here for you and he’s not going to take offense because you didn’t like something. Everybody’s different and that’s what makes the world so interesting but you have to be able to give in a little and let loose or else this relationship just won’t work! He doesn’t expect you to try everything, somethings you just know that you won’t like. Hate chewy textures? Then you probably won’t like the shrimp or the calamari. You know your body best! He just wants to make as many firsts with you and fill his photo album of you two 💜

Ghiaccio

Impatience / no empathy: Now before you call him a hypocrite try to understand his side of the story. He’s neurodivergent and he has to constantly adjust to his environment. His senses are always being overwhelmed. He needs someone who’s Autistic too, neurodivergent in another way, or just understands him. He can’t have someone snapping back at him to calm down and stop being so angry all the time! He’s not doing it because he wants to! He loves being calm!

He has no time for an argumentative s/o that isn’t understanding with him. He’s really a sweet guy when he isn’t on edge. Make him a meal with all his sides separate, and make sure the texture is juuuusssst right. Don’t get upset when he’s getting annoyed with the tag on the back of his shirt bothering him or if he doesn’t have the right socks for his shoes. He hates the scratchy material of cheap socks…he likes them super soft! If he gets irritated about an idiom let him rant it out. Maybe take the time to explain to him what it means if he doesn’t know. He still might be annoyed but he’ll thank you for sitting through one of his rants.

This may sound like a tall order but trust me on this-he’s easy to please because he likes the same thing every time. He will always repay your patience with the utmost gratitude!

[judysxnd]

Cookie dough

Lando Norris x reader

summary: when you burnt dinner, you decided to make the only thing you knew how to cook: cookies

I absolutely don’t like what I wrote, so imma do what I do when I send a risky text, I’m publishing it and staying away from my phone 😭

——————————————————————————

You were staying with Lando for a few days at his place before leaving for the new F1 season. Tonight he was playing games with his friends again, streaming a little to please his fans one last time. In the meantime, you were trying to make what could be your dinner, but it was not going well.

You’re not really a good cook, but you manage your way through. Usually. This time it didn’t seem like it. You couldn’t cook the meat right, it wasn’t enough, and when you thought it was good, it was overcooked. The rice is the only thing you didn’t mess up. But you couldn’t only eat rice! So you secretly ordered food while Lando was still playing.

But you decided to cook something for dessert, something that didn’t take long and that you knew you wouldn’t mess up: cookies. It was simple to make, and it doesn’t take long. You put some music in the background, from the playlist you made for Lando. You have similar taste in music, and every time Lando put his music you always liked it, so you made a playlist with his musics.

It helped when you were away from each other. When you missed him you put his playlist, making you feel like he was with you. He doesn’t know about it, you don’t think he does. It’s not like you were hiding it, but you usually listened to it when he wasn’t here, since when you’re together you mix both of your music.

You wanted to sing to the music, but Lando was streaming not far from you and no one needed to hear you. So you were doing some playback, moving your hips while you were making the cookies. You were so focused in the cookies and in the music that you didn’t hear Lando enter the kitchen.

“very much liking the view” he said, making you jump

“Oh, Lando! I didn’t hear you” you laughed “what are you doing here?” You asked him as he walked closer to you, leaving a kiss on your head before leaning against the counter next to you.

“Hm, I’m living here” he joked

“Haha hilarious” you rolled your eyes “you stopped streaming?”

“Yeah, I was getting too hungry and the smell of the food made me stop” you laughed

“Well you’re going to be disappointed” you admitted as you poured the flour in the bowl. He looked at you with a straight face.

“Why- what did you do?”

“I’m just not much of a cook”

“What did you burn this time?” He started to look for the food

“I didn’t burn anything!” You started to defend yourself “and you’re not better than me so you can’t say anything”

“I know I’m not better, but at least I know it and I stopped trying” he laughed

“You’re lucky my hands are busy otherwise I would have hit you”

“But where’s the food?” He opened the oven to see the meat completely black “if that isn’t burn I don’t know what it is” he closed the oven and went back to you

“I’m sorry I tried”

“It’s okay, I’ll order something”

“Don’t worry I already took care of it”

“You did?”

“Yeah, I ordered what we were supposed to eat” you laughed “I did hope you would still be playing so that I could pretend I cooked it, but, well, I can’t have everything”

“I would have noticed either way”

“Sure” you scoffed

“There’s a difference between food cooked at home and food from a restaurant, I would have known” he leaned on the counter again, stealing some dough from the bowl

“Hey! Keep your fingers out of the cookies!” He laughed, tasting it. “And no you wouldn’t know”

“At least the cookies are good, if you don’t burn them in the oven we can eat them” you pretended that you were going to hit him, making him step back a bit.

“You be careful with what you say pretty boy, because I know for a fact that you can’t tell the difference between the food I cook and the food from a restaurant”

“What? That’s not true”

“Yes, remember the lasagna we ate a month or two ago? That I made?”

“Back at your place?”

“Yes”

“Yeah, it was del- wait” you tilted your head “you didn’t cook it?”

“No, I burnt the sauce so I ordered them, I was too embarrassed to admit I messed up so I pretended I cooked them” he started to laugh

“I knew it tasted too good to be cooked by you” you couldn’t help but laugh too

“We’re not great cooks”

“No, we’re very bad cooks”

“The fire alarm always turns on when I cook breaded fish” you admitted

“What???” Lando was laughing even more “how is that even possible!” He said in a high pitched voice, still laughing

“I don’t know! So I stopped cooking those too”

“I can’t judge, it does the same for me”

“Okay can you pass me the chocolate chips please? In the bowl over there” you pointed, your hands full of cookie dough. Lando grabbed the bowl and poured the chocolate in the dough while you started to knead it.

“We’re making a good team” Lando said as he put the bowl in the sink

“You just put chocolate chips in a bowl” you laughed

“But I did it good” you rolled your eyes

“Whatever” you couldn’t help but laugh “can you change the music please?”

“Sure” he said as he grabbed your phone, changing the music. “Why is there my name on top of the list?”

“Hm?” You turned around “oh because it’s your playlist” he looked at you with puppy eyes

“You made a playlist for me?”

“Yeah!” You smiled “I love most of your music so I made a playlist with the songs we have in common”

“That’s so cute!” He walked behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist while kissing your neck. “I made one for you too” he whispered in your ear.

“Really?” You had a big smile on your face. “Yeah, let me show you!”

“No no wait” you said before he could move

“What?”

“It can wait a bit, I want you to stay here” he kissed your cheek and rested his head on your shoulder, arms locked tight around you while you were finished to make the cookie dough.

[jjkamochoso]

The Perfect Fit

Story Overview: Levi Ackerman begrudgingly finds himself falling in love with the Survey Corps’ seamstress. Will they be able to own up to their feelings for each other? Or is their love doomed to fail before they discover the truths of each other’s hearts? This slow burn reader insert story will be filled with angst, yearning, and a bit of mystery as we slowly unravel the truths behind Y/N’s past… and explore her and Levi’s future!

Chapter 1

Series Masterlist

Chapter 2 linked here

Levi Ackerman x female reader

Warnings: cussing

You grunted, lifting the last box into the cart and feeling relief that your sore arms could take a break for the short ride over to the Scout Regiment. You slipped your foot into the saddle of the horse, brought your other leg up and over, and started on your journey. You wanted to enjoy the feeling of wind in your hair and sunshine on your face this fine summer day, but frankly, you were too exhausted to give a damn. Your fingers were numb, your wrists cramped, your eyes dry. You were up all night mending the Survey Corps uniforms. As the resident seamstress, tailor, and only person skilled enough at embroidery, you were always busy, but no time were you more overwhelmed with work than after the group comes back from an expedition. Most, if not all, soldiers’ uniforms had holes of every size that needed to be patched. Pants, jackets, capes—each had to be in working order and acceptable in appearance as fast as possible. There was never enough money allotted to the Scouts to buy new uniforms as often as they should and sometimes you were even left working with clothes of the deceased to clean and repurpose for their living comrades. The whole situation was messed up, sure, but with severe lack of resources, especially with Titans taking up the valuable real estate needed to cultivate more, you understood that you had to make do. And so, you did. Just because something is a necessity doesn’t make it any easier to work with, though. You took to your face a handkerchief to dab away the accumulated sweat as your horse neighed and the cart slowly came to a halt in front of barracks. You were afraid that when you dismounted, your legs would give out in exhaustion, but you mentally slapped yourself. There was no way you would show an ounce of weakness in front of the people who give their lives just to keep you safe. Before you could give it any more thought, a voice called out to you.

“Y/n! Welcome! I trust everything is here?”

Commander Erwin walked toward you, halting his conversation with a shorter man who looked displeased at the interruption, but nevertheless made his way to you as well.

“Hello, Commander. Yes, all of the Scouts’ uniforms are in here, mended and ready to wear.” You slid off your horse and thankfully didn’t fall over. “Where should I unload the boxes?”

“Captain Levi will show you where they go. If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to.”

Your eyes went wide when you realized who the man in front of you was.

“Captain Levi,” you said, a smile gracing your face, “it’s an honor to finally meet you, sir. I rarely receive your articles of clothing to fix. You must truly be as good as they say if you can avoid snagging your cape in the tree branches.”

Levi had an unreadable look on his face as he let out a “tch.” You were about to say something else when Hange came running over.

“Y/n!” They screamed in excitement, dragging out the last syllable of your name. You were greeted with a big hug from your friend and you felt the tiredness slip away from your body for a brief moment.

“Hange! I haven’t see you in forever! I made sure to stitch up your shirt extra well and took great care to make sure it was straight as can be.”

“Aww, I am your favorite-”

“Isn’t that your job?” Levi interjected, looking annoyed as ever.

You were confused by what he meant. “I’m sorry?”

“Your job. Isn’t it your job to make sure the stitches are straight? Why are you bragging about doing your job the way it’s supposed to be done?”

You felt your face warm in embarrassment. You weren’t expecting to make a fool out of yourself, especially in front of someone as important as the captain, yet here you were. You should’ve heeded everyone’s advice to avoid talking to him or near him at all costs. Hange punched him in the arm, presumably for being so rude around their friend, but you answered him before a fight ensued.

“I don’t have a sewing machine,” you muttered.

Levi raised his hand to his ear, signaling you to speak up. You took a deep breath, frustrated at his attitude.

“I said, I don’t have a sewing machine. I mend everybody’s clothes by hand, by myself, with a turn around time of basically nothing.” You felt yourself getting heated and you knew it was because you were tired, but you kept going. “I fix undergarments, shirts, pants, jackets, and capes for 150 people at a time. I scrub blood from the dead’s clothes until my own fingers bleed because we don’t have enough material for me not to. I’m sorry my standards aren’t high enough for you, Captain, but sometimes I can only work extra hard on one person’s uniform. If I took the time to be that precise with everyone’s, your cadets would be fighting the titans just as naked as they are.” You felt your eyes start to water but you were determined to keep your cool. “Now, please show me where these boxes go. I have lots of work that needs to be done.”

No more words were exchanged as you, Levi, and Hange moved the boxes to an empty room inside barracks. When the work was done and Hange bid you farewell, it was just you and the moody captain alone again. Your horse could sense the tension between you two, stamping the ground in light distress, and you both reached out to soothe the animal. Well, him being an animal lover makes you like him the tiniest bit more. Alas, you knew you had to make verbal amends or else you’d risk getting reprimanded by whatever higher ups caught wind of the situation that you weren’t giving 110% on your work (that inevitably gets ruined the next time the cadets get too rough during training, but you digress).

“Look, Captain, I sincerely apologize for my behavior. I know I technically don’t work under you but you’re still an officer and deserve respect. Just know that I am trying my best to work under these rough conditions, as are you and your team. I hope I didn’t offend you or undermine the importance of your team’s uniforms.” You lowered your head in a slight bow to show your remorse.

“Raise your head, dumbass. It’s fine,” he said, monotone as usual, and he walked away. When he was out of earshot, you groaned. You were lucky that you and Erwin were close or else you figured you’d be fired immediately for your lack of tact toward a superior. Mounting your horse once more, you rode back to your workshop for some much needed rest. With your horse squared away in its stable, you locked your front door behind you and took off your shoes, feeling your pain creep up. You went upstairs to your living area and sleep overtook you as soon as your head hit your pillow.

The next morning, you awoke to a soft knock at your door. It was much too early for any tailoring appointments you had, so after you yawned, you called out, “just a minute!” to let the person know you were on the way. However, when you opened the door, you weren’t greeted with a human, but a sewing machine! You stood in shock for a few moments before sweeping it into your arms, cradling it like a baby. As much as you never wanted to let go of the machine, you put it on your work table to read the note that was attached.

“ALL my soldiers deserve to be fitted with the best uniforms from the best seamstress. Also, go to the damn medic. Your fingers are fucking disgusting.”

If it weren’t for the note, you would’ve thought Hange got you the gift, but no—it must have been Levi! You couldn’t help but giggle at what he wrote as you looked down at your hands. He was right, of course. Your fingers had blisters all over them from sewing too much. He must’ve noticed them when you were moving boxes, or maybe when you touched your horse? Either way, he has a hell of an eye for detail because you were never all that close to him yesterday. Rereading the note, you felt your heart skip a beat. He definitely cared deeply about people, much more than he let on, which was apparent in the way he sourced a literal sewing machine for you in under 24 hours, a feat that few could pull off in these times. But he was just being a concerned captain, that’s all. There was nothing more to his actions, no hidden feelings or anything cheesy like that.

Right?

Chapter 2

[alienguts]

Kintsugi (Bruce Wayne x f!Reader)

Summary: Bruce takes Y/N out for lunch to make up for his moping.

Warnings: mild angst, mentions of breakups, feelings and shit

Request?: sort of, a few people asked for a sequel so here we are

A/N: I haven't been writing a whole lot recently because I had a lot of work and study related things to do, but that's now over and I have a five day weekend ahead of me so I can finally get things done!

1 - Picking Up the Pieces | 2 - Kintsugi | 3 - Stay with Me

Bruce had lost track of how many times he’d looked at his watch in the past hour while sitting alone in the cafe. Y/N did say that she would be running late, but he didn’t think she meant this late. He decided to wait another twenty minutes before texting to see where she was. 

Is this what being stood up feels like? Bruce wondered, thinking back to the numerous times he’d skipped out on meetings and dates for other commitments. His mind couldn’t help but drift back to the times he’d stood Y/N up for other commitments, whether that was work at Wayne Enterprises, the Batsignal, or another woman.

Guilt washed over him as he remembered how disappointed she’d been when he turned down her offers to hang out, not noticing when she was in need of a friend or for him to be more than a friend. He’d never realised how lonely she was and had always tried to push the sad look in her eyes from his mind, but he’d been so blinded by love - no, lust, desperation - to see that she was the one who’d supported him this whole time, who truly understood him and knew what his soul looked like.

He was just about to leave when the door clicked open and a rush of footsteps approached him. Bruce looked up from his phone, about to text Y/N when he saw her standing in front of her, her hair a mess from the wind and her shoulders shuddering with each breath.

“I tried to get here as fast as I could,” she said between pants. “There was an accident a few blocks down so I had to take a detour.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bruce said, smiling softly as he stood up to greet her. “I’ve been late for everything so it gives me a taste of my own medicine.”

Y/N let out a huge sigh of relief and took the chair across the table from Bruce, sinking into it as her muscles relaxed again. She briefly looked around at their surroundings, feeling a little out of place in the cafe Bruce had picked. She was used to frequenting diners and Starbucks rather than the grand patisseries that Bruce could afford.

“I already ordered for us,” Bruce said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “If that’s okay.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Y/N said, smiling at him. “You always know what I like anyway.”

His heart fluttered when she smiled at him. It felt like something that had been missing his whole life but had been there the whole time. 

If only he hadn’t been so foolish not to see it.

Their lunch date was just like old times: two old friends talking about how their lives had been and what they were planning to do later on in the week. It was as if they’d never been apart, as if Bruce had never taken Y/N’s friendship for granted. He’d pretty much forgotten about the events of the night before and he’d almost forgotten about Selina. Almost.

That wound in his heart wasn’t likely to heal any time soon, and rushing into something with Y/N wouldn’t be fair for her. He needed time to grieve the relationship and piling all of that onto her would be a bad start to a new relationship. Especially one with his oldest and best friend.

“Y/N,” he started after an extended quiet moment. “I wanted to apologise to you.”

“What for?” Y/N asked, stopping as she reached for her cup.

“For taking you for granted for all this time.”

Y/N shot him a confused look. “I’m not sure I understand,” she said.

“Every time I went through a rough patch in a relationship or a breakup, I would always come running to you for comfort,” Bruce said, keeping eye contact with her so she could see how sincere he was. “But I never did the same for you. Whenever you needed someone to be there for you, I wasn’t.”

“Maybe I didn’t need someone to be there for me,” Y/N said. “I know how busy you are.”

“Yes, but a true friend would drop everything for a friend who needs them. And I’m sorry that I was never there for you.”

“Bruce, you don’t have to be sorry for anything, I understand why you can’t always be around whenever I’m moping.”

“But I should be,” Bruce said, drawing the attention of some of the other diners around them. “I should be there for you because you’re always there for me. I feel like I’ve taken advantage of you and I don’t want to keep doing that.”

“I don’t want you to either,” Y/N said, her voice quiet as she looked down at the table. “I cried so much when you left last night. I felt like I was stuck in this endless loop of you breaking up with someone and coming to cry on my shoulder before going off to the next one.”

And I want to be the next one, she stopped herself from saying. Her throat felt thick like she’d swallowed a spoonful of molasses and couldn’t get it to go down. She wanted to tell Bruce how she felt about him, but not right in the middle of a cafe and not when he’d just been left at the altar. It would probably eat her up inside until she felt the time was right, but she’d endure it. Even if that meant waiting years for Bruce to be ready to love again.

“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling her back to the room with him. “I’m sorry I put you through that. I want to be a better friend to you and I’m going to be a better friend.”

When Y/N didn’t respond, Bruce excused himself from the table to pay for the cheque. A single tear spilt from her eye once he was far away enough for her to not notice and was quickly wiped away with a napkin. This wasn’t how she had hoped the afternoon to go, and she was sure it wasn’t how Bruce wanted it to go either. After making sure she didn’t look like she was on the verge of tears, she gathered her things and joined Bruce at the counter who was ready to go.

“You feeling okay?” he asked when she approached him. She just nodded in reply. “We should get going.”

Bruce drove Y/N home and walked her up to her apartment, keeping close to her every step. His fingers brushed against hers occasionally, sending sparks up his arm and making his body run warm. They walked up the stairs to her floor in silence, the sound of their footsteps the only sound until they reached Y/N’s apartment and she fished her keys out of her pocket.

“Lunch didn’t end the way we’d hoped, huh?” Bruce said, trying to lighten the mood. “I really am sorry. About yesterday. And today.”

“It’s okay,” Y/N said. “You’ve been hurt, you probably haven’t been thinking clearly.”

“Thanks for understanding, Y/N,” he said with a smile.

“Thanks for lunch,” she said in response before stepping forward to hug him.

Bruce eagerly accepted her hug, wrapping his strong arms around her tightly and resting his cheek on the top of her head. He breathed in the scent of her shampoo and the perfume that he knew she always dabbed behind her ears and let himself relax into her body. Hugging Y/N felt natural to him, but for some reason, it felt even more natural now. Like she was home and was welcoming him back to her after being away for so long. 

Without thinking, he shifted his head to softly kiss the top of her head and let his lips linger before she moved away from him. She looked at him wide-eyed, hoping he wouldn’t misinterpret her response before letting her gaze move down to his lips. Her chest rose and fell as her heartbeat sped up and Bruce moved one of his hands from her back to her face, brushing the backs of his fingers against her cheek and moving to gently hold her jaw. Just as he leaned his face into hers, her eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted, waiting for him to make contact.

She felt his forehead against hers first, then his nose brush against hers before he softly captured her lips. Her heart skipped a beat before she relaxed into him, returning his kiss. It was gentle and chaste, but exactly what she’d wanted for years. And all it took was the man she’d loved her whole life getting left at the altar by her rival in love.

The kiss was over just as soon as it had begun. Bruce had pulled away from her just enough to still feel his breath on her skin, his hands still on her but full of restless energy. She knew he would have to go but she just wanted one more minute of feeling like he was hers.

“I should get going now,” Bruce said, his voice soft and quiet. “Alfred will be wondering why I’m taking so long.”

“It’s okay,” Y/N said as she let him move away from her. “Um, we should do this again soon.”

No, it’s too soon, Y/N, she told herself.

“Y’know, when you’re ready, of course,” she added quickly. Bruce smiled at her and took her hand.

“I’ll always make time for you,” he said warmly. “I told you, I want to make up the past ten years to you.”

“I’d like that,” she said as she opened her apartment door behind her and slowly backed into it. “So, see you soon?”

“See you soon,” Bruce said and watched her go before making his way down the hall and stairs and back to his car.

Once the door had closed, Y/N again slid down against it, this time in triumph rather than sorrow. It was too early to know for sure, but she knew that she didn’t have to live in dread of Bruce blowing her off for some other fling again. She finally knew what it was like to be close to him, to have him kiss her, even if it was so briefly. Her fingers drifted up to her lip, still tingling from his kiss as if she couldn’t believe that it had happened. But it had, and hopefully, it would happen many more times in the future.

[thoughtsonlou]

I just got back to my hotel after the Away From Home Festival and I needed to document my thoughts! This is the third festival in a row that I have attended and so far, this was my personal best experience. In Spain, I had planned poorly and ended up feeling dehydrated and sick, Italy was a travel nightmare (and the worst merch stand experience I have ever had), but Mexico was organized so well. Starting off, I actually got my bracelet this time (unlike Italy where most of them got thrown in the trash??). The merch line was short and efficient (I got a beautiful t-shirt—Louis’ merch never misses). The entire area was lively with colorful food stands, banners, lights, a giant AFHF sign in front of some stone. There was plenty of space, but it still felt like there were a lot of people there. The atmosphere was so chill, I loved it. Surprisingly, I never felt hot, the sun went down quickly and there was a gusty breeze most of the night.

Now for the music…

I completely missed Rodrigo Leal. I could hear Gibby while I went through the line outside (and I saw him later getting photos with fans). I thought he sounded great. I listen to some of his songs sometimes. Reverend and the Makers were better than I thought they would be. The lead singer fumbling with the Mexican flag was a bit comical, but they sounded tight as a group. Honestly, Dylan was kind of my favorite (of the openers). I didn’t really vibe with her music before the concert, but she was great on stage, and I respect that she cut all the Harry stuff. She added a rock edge to her more pop-y songs, and it changed them for the better. I don’t know she was just so charismatic on stage I dug it. Kevin Kaarl was clearly adored by the audience. Unfortunately, I don’t speak a word of Spanish, so I did not understand anything (and may have taken a bit of a snooze on the ground during his set). However, that is not to say I thought he was bad, quite the opposite. It was a nice change of pace, and his voice was moving. I love the DMA’s and were stoked that they were performing this year. They did not disappoint. I was a little distracted because Oli was like fifteen feet away from me singing along and dancing it was really cute 😊. It was so cool to have such a big band there at Louis’ festival. Ooooh the lineup was certainly my favorite of all the AFHFs I have been to so far. Spain is a close second, but I truly loved every act here, and in the case of Dylan, found her way more compelling in person.

Now for Louis…

He is pretty isn’t he. I can’t believe he essentially wore the poster as his outfit. His hair was perfect, and his skin glistening.

My top five songs from the night (in order of the setlist) were: MEGAMIX—All this time is the perfect song argue with the wall, and the live album made me appreciate the intro and transition between att and sibwawc even more than before, I though all of those sounds were prerecorded track, but I saw Steve messing with one of those sound board thingies in real time… neat! WALLS—this song just makes me emotional, especially when the crowd is so into it like they were tonight. BACK TO YOU—as much as I love a sappy moment, a festival set should be energetic and fun, and that’s what back to you is, she had me jumpin’. SATURDAYS—I admire that he has the confidence to sing alone at the microphone with hardly any backing instrumental for that long, it is so pretty, but when that build up pays off it is soooo good, the wall of sound was really taking the pain away on this Saturday. SILVER TONGUES—trust I meant it when I said, ‘I don’t feel like going home,’ what a jovial song I’m smiling just thinking about it, this song fills me with warmth!!

The instrumental outro is sick, and I can never remember what it sounds like, so that was fun to hear. I was trying not to be a grouch about the 1d songs, but why is night changes there for real? If he replaced it with We Made It, or HEADLINE?!?!?! this would be a darn good setlist. Drag me down is actually pretty good in my opinion. Where do Broken Hearts Go is fine live, but I dislike it in principle (if you’re going to sing a 1d cover, at least pick one you wrote on?).

The worst part of the night was when Chris walked right in front of me during night changes.

The best part of the night was going balls to the walls during Silver Tongues.

Truly the night (especially Louis’ set) flew by! I had a great time and cannot wait to see what is in store for next year :)

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Life in China Observations #4

It's been a while since I last did this, so let's go again!

Identity is complicated The question "where are you from" can be just as complicated as it is simple. For many people, their country of birth is where they're from, which is usually the case here. However, if you happen to be born in country A to parents from cultures B and C, immigrated and became a citizen of country D and now attend university in country E and are now on an exchange program in China, the question "where are you from" is not that easily answered. From what some of my friends told me, where you're from is actually the place where your dad was born in even though you may have been born in a different city which is a pretty interesting concept known as the "ancestral home" - 祖籍 (zǔjí) or 籍贯 (jígùan).

You have to make the first step I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but people are constantly doing something and unless you specifically and intentionally reach out and work on your friendship, you may end up drifting apart. Maybe this is a specific thing, but back home I could go a few weeks without really reaching out to my friends and then someone would suggest grabbing lunch together and it would be like no time had passed at all since we last saw each other. Here? Quite different.

Beauty and pop trends There are all sorts of weird and wonderful trends that you can come across in China. From using bread as a study tactic to decorating your workplace with banana plants, I feel like the more I assimilate here, the bigger the reverse culture shock will be when I go back home, and not just for me. dr.candiselin covers some of these trends on Instagram (not a promo post!), and I recommend checking out her content, it's quite brilliant.

Taobao You can buy anything on taobao. Literally. I saw someone selling a house there. I was previously a little shocked to see animals such as cats and bunnies being sold, but after seeing houses and cars being sold I honestly don't know what else is there to surprise me with.

Prepare in advance (foodwise) for the lunar new year During those 8-12ish days during the holdiays a lot of stores were closed. The convenience store outside my campus was open thank God, because otherwise I would have been living on instant porridge and instant soup which was my main food source 2 weeks prior due to being ill and there is only so much instant oatmeal that you can eat before slightly losing it.

Being ill is a nightmare And I mean the mandatory-bed-rest-no-going-out-for-at-least-5-days ill kind. You need to go to the hospital or a clinic to get a note to give to your school otherwise the day's you're absent will be counted, and once they reach a specific percentage you won't be allowed to take the exam (which can seriously mess with your grades, even more if you're there as an exchange student).

The weather can change at the blink of an eye I remember back in December the weather was in the negative digits and then suddenly the next day it was around 20 celcius?? The very next day it went to 3-4, and even now in March it's very all over the place. The weather forecast is not that useful because I'll leave the dorms wearing my coat in the morning only to return carrying my coat, jumper, long-sleeved shirt and wearing only my t-shirt.

More affordable beauty products I saw some products go for around $80 online?? And here on Taobao they cost under $10? I'm assuming it's the shipping costs that drive up the price so drastically, and now I'm pondering whether it would be cheaper to order online or to travel to China every couple of years just to stock up on beauty products.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Agitation 3.10 Live Reactions

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

It's July 4th, work is dead, I've got nothing else to do, let's try to plow through a bunch of these, shall we? At the rate I've been going I'll be at this all year.

The rest of the battlefield was chaos.  Patches of darkness covered everything, and the landscape was distorted.  In some of the areas Vista had warped, the rain wasn’t falling in a straight line.  One spot in particular had the rain moving horizontally before it dropped to help fill a massive puddle thirty feet across, where her power had made an indent in the ground.

I do like Wildow's attention to detail here, and the way these powers just... absolutely fuck everything up like this, and stay like that.

Bitch screamed, and it was a long and primal noise, filled with rage.  I was still inside the bank, watching things unfold through the window, barely able to hear it, and it still made my skin crawl.  So he’d shot the dangerous psychopath with a blast that made her angry.  Someone would have to explain that one to me at a later date.

I'd guess Gallant didn't shoot her with rage, it's just that Rachel's kind of messed up. But I could be wrong.

Seems an odd choice though, if he did.

Apparently that was order enough, because Judas charged at the teenager that was dressed like a science fiction Lancelot.

I love descriptions like this because they both tell us absolutely nothing about how it looks... and also tell us everything. I once read a fic that described the armor of a guy from a culture that went from medieval tech to space travel in like, 100 years (sorta, long story) as being 'Lord of the Rings, with Sci-Fi bolted on' (the POV character was from Earth), and it both told us nothing, and yet, told us everything.

Descriptions are hard, ya'll. Worst part of writing. Props to Wildbow.

Was someone’s power at work, giving me a headache?  There wasn’t anyone in the Wards, I was pretty sure, who could mess with your head like that.  Gallant could mess with your emotions, but he had to hit you with a light blast to do it.  The person on the roof, then?  I was fairly confident there wasn’t anyone in the Protectorate or New Wave who could affect me like this.

No one suspects the healer!

(also no one knows the healer can do this, but)

.  A gun, no less than fifteen feet long, with a barrel three or four feet across, all turret mounted on a circular platform not unlike the board he was riding.

I know technically there is no overkill, just "Open fire" and "I need to reload" but also...

Overkill.

I jumped for cover the moment I realized what he was doing.  There was a muffled sound, more a very large person someone hitting a punching bag than what I’d expect a laser cannon to sound like, and the window exploded. What was he doing?  We had hostages inside.  I turned to check, and saw there weren’t any hostages near me.  Did he know that?  Heat sensors in his visor?  Was someone watching me through the cameras and passing him info?  Damn it!  There was too much I didn’t know, and Tattletale wasn’t around to fill me in.

You know, if Kid Win and Victoria were dating, he could be the Collateral Damage Ken to her Collateral Damage Barbie.

But JESUS Kid, what the fuck?

(Yes, CDB is an incomplete representation of Vicky, but she does earn the nickname fairly at the early stages. I'm also going to assume it's an unfair representation of Kid Win, but still, *Man* wtf?)

The bugs were slow to react, slow to move and some were slipping from my grasp, returning to their instinctive behavior.  Making matters worse, I wasn’t blind to the fact that every time I gave a command, my headache got exponentially worse.

Given that Amy's little messing with the Black Widows only affected them, I'm surprised? Or is this just some sort of Master headache? Is she doing more with the swarm than usual?

 Aegis didn’t try to run this time.  He stood his ground and reached for his utility belt.  He retrieved something that looked like a miniature fire extinguisher. Then he pulled the pin. For the second time in a matter of minutes, I dove away from the window.  It wouldn’t be a grenade, but the option that made the most sense-  I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears just in time.  The explosion the flashbang grenade

Flashbang. Much more responsible, Aegis usually is in fic, so presumably in canon too. Tracks.

and Regent was striding out of the darkness, in Kid Win’s direction.

With his outfit and mask that actually probably looks kinda badass.

I whirled to face the voice, and saw the freckled, brown haired hostage that had been glaring at me when we’d first taken control of the bank lobby.  After that, I saw only stars as she slammed something large and blunt into the side of my head.

AMY! :rofl: Finally!

Okay, so like, I get that Amy's not the MC of Worm, but like, I've been waiting for the Fire Extinguisher smash the entire time I've been reading this Arc, so bear with me.

Amy's blorbo, okay?

[panickingpansexuality]

Imagine Darry calling you when Pony goes missing

It was late when you got the call, you lived with your grandma down the block from the Curtis brothers. 

When you answered it was Darry, frantic as ever, you didn't even get a chance to say "hello" before he started talking

"(Y/n) I messed up, Pony's gone and we can't find him anywhere I need your help."

"Where are you?" Is all you asked.

"I'm by the drive in right now I can be there in a minute to pick you up." 

"Darry, it's ok I'll meet you over there-Wait Where's Soda?"

"Absolutely not!" He said near to yelling. "It's too late right now, please just..wait for us, Sodas with me."

"Ok." You sigh out, "I better have a full explanation on what happened."

"You will, I promise."

Fifteen minutes later the two Greasers were at your front door looking sweaty as if they've run a mile.

"What happened?" You asked slinging your old school book bag over your shoulder. 

"We.." Darry began, "We got into a fight and.." he swallowed. "I hit him."

"Fuck." You breathed out, you covered your mouth with one hand and breathed, removing your hand you look grab Darrys hand and give a gentle squeeze.

"What about the others? Have you called them?"

"No." Soda said, "We figured we'd try and look first since it's so late."

"You two keep looking." You say, "I'll ring up everyone in this damn state if I have to."

"We'll walk you." Darry said.

"The more time you're with me is more time you're not using to find Pony." You say softly.

You reach up and give a kiss to Darrys cheek before letting his hand go and running off in the direction of their house.

You pulled out your phone book from your bag and started making calls.

Two Bit: Nothing but awake and alert now

Steve: Nothing but with your persuasion, he went out to look.

Johnny's house: his mother answered, he isn't home.

Tim Shepherd: Annoyed but did say he'd let you know if he saw either of them.

Buck Merril: Ain't seen any damn kids, but since their Dallys friends he might know.

Dallas:

"What?" 

"Dally I'll excused the attitude cause we've got bigger problems, It's Johnny and Pony they're missing."

"What do you mean missing?" 

"They're gone, Pony flew out of the house after a fight he had with Darry and I called Johnny's and his Ma said he isn't home."

"That's a dumbass idea to call over there."

"You and I both know that his dad's either out or too drunk to wake up to the sound of a phone so don't even start with me."

"And if he woke up?" 

"I would've played dumb that's what I'd do."

You two were silent for a moment before something clicked.

"Where are they?" You asked him

"How would I know? Look, give them some time, they'll come back, I'm sure they're just sleeping at the drive-in or something."

"Dallas Winston, you know where they are because you'd be jumping out of whoever's bed you're in to come help us and at the very least give them a bed to sleep in."

The line went dead.

You let out a frustrated groan then made other calls, some to your friends, others to a very few Soc girls you knew, and others to the middle class kids, all promising to keep an eye out but that was it.

By the time you were done the two older brothers were back.

"Nothin." You told them, "But Dally knows something but he ain't telling me."

Darry was up in a minute.

"Stop." You said, and he did.

"Bed," You ordered, "both of you, maybe Dally has them where he's at but if he does it's best to leave them be."

"Them?" Soda asked.

"Johnny's gone too."

Dallys shoulders relaxed a little, Soda still looked a little worried.

"It's late and y'all got work tomorrow, Soda go on in I gotta talk to Darry for a second."

"Yes ma'am."

When you two were alone Darry didn't meet your eyes, he looked frigid, carefully you stepped towards him and wrapped your arms around him. The reaction was instant, he buried his head in your hair and held on tightly.

"It'll be ok." You said quietly, and that's when he broke down. 

Every sob broke you and all you could do was hang on tighter.

"I'm trying so hard (y/n)." He said, "Mom and Dad would hate me if they saw how I was doing."

"No." You said fiercely, looked up at him and made him meet your eyes. "Darry they would be proud of you, maybe not the proudest right now, but you're trying and you're doing so good with them."

"I'm so hard on him (y/n)." 

"It's not because you're hateful to him." You said.

"You love him and it's unfair this is being put on you, but listen to me when I say they would be so proud of you Darry but they'd be more upset over you boys being thrown into this."

"Now, as for being hard on him, just talk to him, Darry, please. He'll be home soon and y'all can talk it out."

"I can't believe I hit him."

"Neither can I," You say, "but it will never happen again."

Darry nods and kisses your forehead.

"Bedtime." You tell him, "I'll take the couch."

"The hell you will, little lady." Darry says picking you up bridal style.

"Darrel Shane Curtis Jr you put me down right now!"

You squeal, Darry takes you into Pony and Sodas bed and throws you down in there with Soda.

"Lord you're lucky I love you." You say.

Soda laughs as Darry lays in between you and him.

"Yes I am." He says

"If y'all gonna be gushy, sleep in the other room, please!" Soda whines.

"Goodnight boys." You say kissing Darry on the cheek.

"I'll be here in the morning ok?"

Darry looks torn but nods, you lean down and give him a good kiss on the lips to let him know you love him, before leaving the two to some needed brother time.

You took off your sneakers and laid down on the couch, grabbing a blanket from your bag. They'd hear from the two of you tomorrow, at least you hoped so.

[doppel-dean-er]

a question that's always bugged me is: how do the Community characters make money?? we never get to see them working in the early seasons, yet they all somehow pay for their living areas. so, here's where I think the Greendale six work! :D

ABED: possibly the easiest and the hardest, there are a couple options: his dad's falafel business would make sense, but he might wanna distance himself from his dad, since he doesn't support his chosen career path, I think he likely does work in a kitchen somewhere, (1) because of his previous experience with it and (2) because it requires less people interaction than other jobs.

ANNIE: also has a couple options: in seasons 3/4 she would be a hospital receptionist so she can get a feel for the field she wants to pursue. before that, I can see her working as a tutor for middle/high school students. maybe a coffee shop? definitely not Starbucks though, like a locally owned one.

TROY: laser tag. He applied because he thought working there meant he got to play laser tag and get paid, and when he got the job he just decided to keep it even though he doesn't. firmly believe it also has an escape room or two, and every time they change the puzzles they have Troy run through them, because if Troy can do it, so can a child (he doesn't know that, he just likes doing the puzzles).

JEFF: Jeff refuses to be seen working anywhere. what if he runs into one of his old lawyer co-workers and they see him???!? I think Jeff would work at a call center, and convince the callers that "actually, you like your computer better like that." or "did they really mess up your order, or did they give you something better: an experience?"

SHIRLEY: I once went to this record store that was directly above a church, the floor literally shook with how loud the guy yelling "JESUS CHRIST! THE LORD!" and the Christian music was. I think Shirley works in a place like that, and says it's because "no one who isn't Christian could stand being in there for too long."

BRITTA: Britta sucks at holding a job, but she's good at getting hired. we know she both worked as a bartender and at Shirley's Sandwiches, but before that, she probably had like ten different jobs at various fast-food places and the like, before getting a job at a rad anarchist book store, which was the longest she ever held a job (and it was only like six months).

(bonus: Chang mugs people)

[the-haunted-office]

Man. I have this sort of half formed idea that would require rewriting some of my lore, but I like it, so I just might go for it...

I know the fact that my muses' ability to respawn is tied to the Office, but it isn't specifically stated how, just that it is. Which is fine and all. Part of the reason it's written that way now is because of the history of my blog and how it all started and how it's all gotten to this point. If I change things now, it won't make as much sense. Except I have changed things and things still don't make sense. xD

Let's see if I can simplify it.

The Office was alive when I first created the blog. Then I changed my mind and it wasn't alive. Then I changed my mind again and it was alive because it was also taken host by the mist, and it died when the mist was defeated and nobody ever knew it was alive in the first place. It was supposed to be one of the first of its kind to have started evolving, one of the first buildings to have a soul and to start gaining living functions. There was no rhyme or reason for this.

But then I got the idea later on that the Monolith came to Earth after the apocalypse happened and triggered the evolution of new species on Earth, ones that combined organic species and the refuse left behind by mankind. This also brought buildings to life. The Monolith gave a soul to the dead body of the Office, thus Dorian was born. Dorian's essentially lives in the body of an older building.

With me so far? It's a mess, but hopefully you're with me.

The whole deal with my muses being able to respawn at first was tied to the Dampening mist. Cyrus, Thursday, and Stanley were able to respawn because the mist was in their blood and it brought their bodies back every time they died. It was able to repair them because it essentially "owned" their bodies and could regenerate them. But after the mist was killed off, they no longer had a way of respawning.

Except everyone was still subject to the Parable, meaning they still had to be able to respawn... somehow. With the mist no longer being around, I no longer had a viable explanation for them all being able to respawn, so I just went with, "Well, they're essentially still in the Parable, so they can just respawn because I say so, poof, it's done, it's roleplay, nobody will question it, moving on."

Except... that never really sat right with me either, so I came to tie their lives to the Office.

Except... the Office was dead at that point.

I then got the idea that if their lives were to be tied to the Office, the Office had to be alive. And remain alive. And by that point we had Dorian. But that didn't explain how they were able to die and respawn in the interim between the mist being dead and Dorian being born. There's a whole gap there that doesn't make sense from a storytelling perspective. Given the fact that this is roleplay and not a professionally published novel, everything is made up and the points don't matter, so it's not really that big of a deal. BUT here's where the potential rewrite in some of my lore comes in.

I'm not sure how I'll work it all just yet, but I really like the idea of my muses' lives and ability to respawn being tied directly to the Office's life. I might have to change up Dorian's biology and history a bit here in order for it to work the way I want it to, so I'll think on it a bit.

One thought I have is that while everyone was trapped in the Office during the time the mist was there, the Office was technically stuck in a black hole. The Monolith could have been the one to grant a soul to the Office at that time, but there was some kind of spacetime cosmic narrative delay (or however you want to spin it :p) due to the presence of the black hole, and once the mist was defeated and Cyrus and Aurora released the Office from the black hole, everything caught up then. Dorian is still essentially a younger sentience then, or at least misplaced in time as a result of the delay, and something in this process of giving the Office a soul while it was a black hole connected everyone's souls to the Office. So when someone dies, they respawn there. It's like they belong to the Office, in a way, and can never leave fully leave it, not even in death.

A problem with this idea, though, is new people moving into the Office. Currently the idea is, if a new person moves into the Office and stays there for long enough, eventually they become connected to it too and eventually the Office becomes a sort of respawn point for them. I suppose the same can be applied to the updated lore in this case? Maybe there's some sort of black hole soul-bonding side effect of being in the Office over a long period of time. The longer you stay, the more it absorb you into it or something. But you don't realize it's happening until it's too late. And for the Haunted Office residents, it's already too late. Their souls have bonded with Dorian's and now they're stuck together forever, mwahahahahaha.

A caveat might be, though, that if Dorian dies, then everyone else dies too! 🙃

I'll think over this some more before I rearrange everything permanently, though. Like I said, the lore is... a mess... because it's roleplay and I didn't plan everything out for sure before moving forward. I like the things I've started with here, though! So yeah. That's it for now, and if you've read down this far, cool. x)

[sauce-machine]

Perfect

My first Pizza Tower fic, and first fic in ten years. (Angst, Yelling, Mentions of abuse.)

“Are you-a serious?! Again?!” Peppino shouts so loudly one would think the walls of the pizzeria were shaking. It was loud enough for the rats in the back alley to scurry away, for Gustavo and Brick to fully turn their attention to the kitchen, and for his clone to slither backwards into a corner in fear.

Since the tower fell almost three months ago, the beings that inhabited that tower went to live in other places. Some integrated into the wild, others had families to fall back on. But not all of them.

Peppino’s clone would skulk around outside of the restaurant during hours, sometimes trying to get in, other times digging for food in the trash. At the mere suggestion that they take in the clone, Peppino would sputter and throw a fit. He wanted NOTHING to do with that clone.

That’s what he would say, until Gustavo finally wore him down.

The clone would only help with odd jobs in the back for some food, nothing more. It would stay in the back where customers wouldn’t be able to see it.

For the most part, his clone was pretty good at being told what to do. Sweep the floors, take out the trash, clean the bathrooms, fold the pizza boxes. It made things easier around the kitchen.

But every so often, his clone would get too ambitious. Accidentally knocking over orders, spilling sauce, minor mistakes in the eyes of the everyday working man.

But Peppino was a workaholic, with a temper that could explode at any given moment. And when his clone happened to drop an order flat on the floor, these were one of those moments.

“Fucking hell! The moment I turn my back to you, you mess-a everything up! What the hell are we going to do with you?!” Peppino shouts at it. His face is red and sweaty, not too far from his usual state.

Gustavo comes running in. “What happened?! Is everyone-a okay?” Gustavo asks. He immediately sees the pie face down on the floor. “I see, I see. Peppino, just-a give me the order and I’ll remake it-a.” Gustavo said softly. His eyes wander over to the clone cowering in the corner. It was almost a pile of mush at this point.

Peppino glares at Gustavo. “Gus! It shouldn’t even-a had the pie in its hands! If this thing would just listen to me--” Peppino argues.

“I think you’re being-a too hard on him. Look, Peppino..” Gustavo says as he softly gestures to the clone in the corner.

The mushy pile that is Fake Peppino gurgles a few things. “...Yrros..Yrros.. ...yrros m'I…” It says.

Peppino shakes his head. “No, enough is enough! I’ve-a had it! I want this thing OUT!!!” Peppino yells from the back of his throat, pointing sharply at the clone.

As soon as he does point, the clone jumps up and screams. It’s much more rattling and sharp than Peppino’s yell, and even more inhuman. It spreads its limbs out, holding itself up in the corner of the room. It lets out a hiss at Peppino as it jump’s into the air ducts.

Peppino sighs, but gives himself a weary smile. He claps his hands together. “Well! It-a seems to have-a gotten the message. Now, to fix that order..” Peppino says.

“Are you really going to-a let it suffer like that?” Gustavo asks.

Peppino rolls his eyes. Gustavo is his closest friend, in fact, many creatures and people consider Gustavo to be their close friend. He has a knack for befriending the weird, creepy, unsettling, and unnatural. And also Mr. Stick.

“That thing can’t-a suffer. It has no heart.” Peppino says.

“Oh, really? What makes you-a think that?” Gustavo asks.

“Because it wants to-a be me! I bet that moment I close my eyes tonight-a, it’ll sneak into my apartment and slit-a my throat!” Peppino loudly exclaims, making a knife cutting motion across his neck.

“It’s been-a months now! Don’t you think it would have already-a tried to do that?” Gustavo asks. He begins to clean up the mess on the floor, Brick slinks in to help.

“Maybe it’s-a waiting for the right moment. When I’m alone and don’t-a expect it.” Peppino mutters as he carefully places the toppings on the pizza.

Gustavo places a few dirty rags in a bucket of water, finishing up with the cleaning. “Oh, well, I hope you’re not-a too afraid.” Gusatvo says.

“I’ve-a got the gun upstairs.” Peppino says.

“And why do you-a have the gun upstairs?” Gusatvo asks.

Peppino hated that question. Gusatvo knew the answer, why even bother asking it? He keeps it upstairs in case…

Because…

He just…

Peppino chose not to answer, and instead, just kept working.

The rest of the day was quiet. A few more customers coming in and out, nothing special. Closing time has come yet again. Another day, another dollar, until the rent is due. Again.

“Have a good night, Peppino.” Gustavo says while riding Brick out.

Brick does not squeak a goodbye. How odd.

Peppino waves them off. He has to count the earnings from today, then, he can finally go to bed and forget about this nonsense day.

DING!

Cash register is open.

“One, two, three, four, five…” Peppino begins counting.

Drip….Drip.…Drip….Drip.…Drip….

Where was that dripping coming from? Is it a leak? Better not be, just another damn bill to pay..

“Six, seven, eight, nine, ten…” Peppino continues to count.

Drip….Drip.…Drip….Drip.…Drip….

The sound is…getting closer? What if.. No it can’t be. That thing ran off, but still…

Peppino looks around for the source of the dripping. He doesn’t have to look long or hard at all, as he sees flesh colored ooze dripping from the air duct above him, and a single eye looking down at him.

“EEEEEYYYYAAAAAHHHOOOUGH!!!”

“!!!HGUOOOHHHAAAAAYYYYEEEEE”

The two of them scream. Peppino feels his heart shoot up in his throat. His entire chest beating like a drum, wanting to escape.

The clone immediately drops from the air duct and onto the floor, where it tries to run away, but instead backs itself into a corner.

“You!!” Peppino shouts. “You almost-a gave me a heart attack!”

The clone melts into a little pile of flesh again, gurgling apologies.

Peppino approaches the mass of flesh. “What-a the hell is the big idea, scaring me like that?!” He can really feel his anger rising now. “Am I going to have to beat-a some sense into you?! Is that it?!” Peppino yells at the clone.

His clone stops shuddering for a moment, it regains its usual shape. Tall, disproportionate, googly eyes, pink cheeks, all that it was missing was its goofy smile.

The clone’s hand reaches back to the kitchen, searching around for something. Peppino is left completely in the dark. “What-a are you-?”

CLANK!

The clone drops a knife in front of Peppino.

He stares at it.

“What it…Why?” Peppino asks.

“.tnemhsinuP” Utters the clone. It nudges the knife closer to Peppino with its foot. “.tnemhsinuP” it repeats.

“You’re-a going to punish me?! For what?!” Peppino hollers.

The clone winces and shakes its head. “.tnemhsinup yM. tnemhsinup yM.” It gestures towards itself with one arm, and sticks out the other one as if it’s waiting for something to happen.

Silence fills the pizzeria, an uncomfortable and heavy one. Peppino had no idea what the clone was getting at, but he didn’t want to say anything. For once, he was analyzing the situation before him instead of just acting upon it.

Until finally, he spoke. “You want-a me to-a punish you? Why?” Peppino asks.

“.azzip depporD..” The clone gurgles sadly.

“But why would-a that--”

“.tnemhsinup sa tuo hself ym fo stib tuc dluow daehazziP .rewot eht ni pu ssem dluow I nehW.” said the clone. Its eyes stared directly into Peppino’s, despite them always being a bit lopsided.

The clone steps closer.

"...pu ssem dluow I revenehw os ,tcefrep eb ot em detnaw eH .uoy fo enolc a ot teg dluoc eh tsesolc eht saw I" said the clone.

".pohC" It bubbled.

“Pohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcpohcp̸̰͉̯̲͈̒̈́͂̀́̈́͋̈́ơ̴̱͔̭̤͛̅̈́͒͒h̶̛̟̞̲͖͔̙̝̯͓͙̣͔̝͔̝̋͐̈́̆̅c̵̲͔͋̈́̿̀̆͌͘̕͝͝p̶̨̡͉̃̑̏̐͑̐̔ͅo̴̜̻̗͉̖̱͙͆̂̂̃̾͌͋̽͂̏͂̕͝h̵̢̙̜̻͕̕c̶̢͈̰̮̦̘̖͍̑̚p̴̝͕̠͈̭͔͈͖͚͖̩̟̓̍̀̈̍̕o̵̲͊͂̏͑h̸̞͇͓̘̞̲̿̂̅̚͝͝ç̴̐͛̃͛̄̂̂̌̂̃̑̚͝͠p̷̡͕͚̞͚̬̻̣̝͉̝̰͍̤̈́o̴̧̞͉̙̳͔̜̲͍̩̺͂͛́̿̅́͂͐̀̿̈́̏͜ḩ̷̼̣̺͍̾́̇̀̀͐c̶̹̮̆̄͗̓̑̃͘ͅp̴̨̧̥̬͇̪̫̰̬̗̰̫̝̜͝o̶͎̳͉̲̎̅͆̊͐̔̀͘̕͝ḧ̴̛̟͉̯̝͕̝́̎̉͒̓̆̾̓̆̆̅͝͠͠č̵̩̿͂͊̏̐̈́͝p̶͉̑̔̎̃͑͛̍̀̈́͑̓̀͛̚͝o̴̧̭̪̤̟͉͖̪͚̹͖̞͇̒̈́̊͆̃͜͠h̷͇̩͇̟̗̤͎͍̬̐̋͊͐̌̒̽͊̾͛͌̔̔͘ç̸̧̺̫̹̲̠̝͍̩͌̐̆̈́̉̈́…” The clone kept repeating itself over and over until even it just kept repeating a garbled mess of backwards words and cries. It melts again into the floor, but the arm is still up at Peppino.

Disturbed. Peppino always felt a bit disturbed at the sight of his clone. But this time, he didn’t feel it towards the fake, but instead himself.

What the hell did Pizzahead do to this thing? All it does is act like a weird dog, sniffing things, occasionally eating restaurant equipment and the odd rat. His clone didn’t deserve that, nobody did.

Peppino looks down at his clone’s hand, and takes it. His clones shudders, morphing and changing against its will in a fit of unbridled anxiety and fear. This thing is just like him..

This thing is him..

It acts like him, it mimics his speech patterns, it even cooks like him. Which makes Peppino wonder if his clone suffers the same way he does?

“Mio dio… When the hell did I become-a so heartless?” Peppino sighs as he gingerly puts his other hand over his clone’s. “I’m not gonna hurt you, compango.”

“?ognapmoC” his clone uttered softly.

Peppino kicks away the knife between the two of them and sits down. “Now, I don’t-a know what-a Pizzahead did to you in-a that tower. I almost-a don’t want to know… But rest assured, I will never-a do that to you, capeesh?” Peppino says. He explains it sternly, like a father talking to his kid.

His clone slowly regains his form, building up from the pile of flesh it once was.

“I’m not-a exactly used to having you here yet. If I’m-a being honest, you still kinda freak me out. But, I’m-a sorry for yelling. I’ve let-a my anger go unchecked when it comes to you. You didn’t ask to be brought into this-a world, so why should you be punished for it?” Peppino says.

He notices his clone poking at his hand. Peppino takes it and gives it a firm but loving squeeze. “I’ll be more-a patient with you from now on.” Peppino says.

For the first time in what feels like a while, his clone smiles again. It was that moment, Peppino learned to appreciate his clone’s big dopey smile.