#blame the cough syrup

[i-cant-cast-that-yet]

Y'know, I read a lot of Jiuyuan--or really just anything Shen Jiu in general, and Id like to pitch this idea to the class:

Disciple Shen Jiu who fuckin haaates men, right? Shen Jiu who goes to brothels to sleep bc he just can't around the other boys knowing full well how shit his reputation is bc of it but Fuck You he's gonna do what he has to to get some fucking rest on this shit ass peak of pretentious rich-kids who wouldn't know the tip of their sword from the hilt unless it was jammed in their throats--

Disciple Shen Jiu who's seen just about every flavor of man in the streets both from his nights with his jiejie's and from his time with the Qiu and the slavers, and loathes them with a passion and is, shamefully in his mind, afraid of them.

Standoffish, rude, holier than thou, venom spitting queen with a cruel streak a thinly veiled mile wide, Shen Jiu. A scum villain in the making.

Enter Disciple Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan, in all his millennial transmigrator glory. Hikkikomori ass lame ass chokes on a meatbun and fucking croaks after reading a porn harem web novel for the fucking plot (cough-lbh-cough) Shen Yuan.

This rando ass dude with Shen Jiu's family name--no they aren't related stop asking, Shen Yuan why do you look grossed out do you wanna fight??--

Shen Yuan who doesn't get close to any of his shijie's, bc "Oh they're all gonna be in Bingge's harem at some point, I don't wanna steal the protagonists wives!!"

Shen Yuan, a shut-in nerd in his early to mid 20s, who also shirks any of his shixiong's attention for other reasons. He's not big on sports in the first place, and as cool as swords are they're fucking heavy!!! Where's the training montage skip button, system!?!? All this (ugh) comraderie...he just wants to stay in the library and pretend the scrolls are as interesting as zhongdian was, okay?

Shen Jiu, who sees these avoidant traits in a boy with his name and a face that looks like his and assumes Shen Yuan has the same traumas as him.

He hates men, Shen Yuan included for both the happenstance of his birth and also because he's an idiot, but now he's seeing more of him reflected in this dude and it itches.

Maybe he bullies Shen Yuan like he does Binghe. Maybe Shen Yuan, who isn't actually a teenager in his own head like lbh was and fucking hates the scum villain (he called for castration in one life and he'll do it again!! This life gave him cultivation and a sword, he'll get creative if he has to) fights back.

Puts all that time in the forums to good use and verbally eviscerates the guy. Hits on several sore topics all at once and if it wasn't for the very public scene being caused Shen Jiu might have killed this upstart instead of just throwing a punch and jumping him like he currently is.

And listen. Fighting between peaks is typical. The Qing Jing peak lord of the time could care less if Shen Jiu fights the Liu kid from Bai Zhan--there's history between the peaks as it is. But the two Shens beefing so publically?? That's bad for Qing Jing's image.

Shen Jiu might be hated, but Shen Yuan is adored by several key figures across the sect and this Shizun can't tell if the brat did it on purpose or not but it's troublesome either way. Shen Jiu is here on Zhangmen-shixiong's head disciples request, so she can't get rid of either of them.

So she strategizes. It's like her whole thing.

Qing Jing peak lord-jie sticks the Shen's in the xianxia equivalent of the get along shirt. She makes them go on missions together, do chores together, etc. They'll either snap and kill one another or become friends. She wins either way.

It's bad at first. Blood is drawn, fans are thrown and broken over heads. They're too alike and too different and Shen Jiu sees himself in this kid but also every rich boy who wastes their own potential and privilege that they can't realize they were blessed with and he haaates it. Shen Yuan is pissed bc this ass is cruel and awful but so fucking sympathetic once he's spent enough time around the guy to put some pieces together. Bro loves a problematic blorbo and Binghe was a lot of things in pidw, but the product of Shen Jiu's projection is chief among them and Shen Yuan is getting a whole lot of it right now and it puts a lot into perspective.

...................

This is getting away from me now. It's late. Maybe I'll pick this up later.

[beautifulmysteryme]

It's ridiculous how high the cals in cough syrups are.

[chatsukimi]

ᴄᴏᴜʀᴛɪɴɢ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ

featuring: protective!heian!sukuna, kindhearted!servant!reader. slight angst/hurt -> comfort. synopsis: you're sick. to your surprise, you're rescued by the man second closest to death himself. masterlist

you should've known he wouldn't come. sukuna has never set foot in the servant's headquarters in his life, let alone to chase after a sick servant. you lower your head, trying to ease the headache that has plagued you through the day.

sukuna loves his bloodshed and his gore. him and death would be good friends, you think to yourself. he wouldn't care if your body was burnt or buried, you think to yourself; wouldn't care if you died at all.

the room the others put you in is empty. ash spreads neatly over the cold floor. the scent of kibble haunts the atmosphere. it's where they put the dogs before sukuna killed them.

ever since you took care of the king of curses while he was sick, the other servants had been careful in keeping a distance from you. not in ill of heart; they're simply terrified at what you must've done to survive in your week long stay with the monster. honestly, you don't blame them.

but now when you're laying on the freezing ground, struggling to breathe, it's hard not to.

'this is where you live?'

your eyes look up. shock. then, with all the strength you can muster, you heave yourself one step away from the man at the doorway, which only serves to piss him off more.

sukuna ryomen, in all his glory, looks down at you. bending down to pick you up like a limp doll to be seated against the wall, he seems to revel in his regained strength. you can't help but feel happy for him, to have survived this fatal disease. not many men can attest to that...

then again, he is no ordinary man.

'i asked you a question.'

you nod, a small thing, barely a movement. he seems to clench his teeth.

he takes off his long white coat, flaunting a layer of dried blood, and drapes it over your shoulders.

yet it doesn't end there. he retrieves from his pocket a bottle of what looks to be a golden syrup.

you know exactly what it is.

he takes your hand and wraps it around the flask, making you hold it, sparing, not one, but two of his eyes, to stare at you, making sure you do as he commands.

'swallow.'

you shake your head. you know he's asking you to do. this is a medication is so rare for your disease that no sorcerer has found in over a hundred years. he's brought this thing of myth right to your very lips. now he's asking you to drink it, and thus take away any chance of it saving anyone else's life.

you scowl, but the tickling sensation in your throat grows stronger, eventually erupting out of your mouth in a harsh cough. you look away from sukuna.

'leave,' you whisper, weakly. 'don't wanna infect you.'

'i survived the illness already. i've developed an immunity.'

you shake your head again. you couldn't threaten your king's health with your own weakness. you just couldn't.

'i can't take this.'

he growls. without any notice, he swallows your lips in a kiss. in the momentary haze, you could hardly resist, fisting the front of his kimono to ground yourself. then, you feel something sweet, honey-ish, hit your tongue.

with his hand locked on your chin, it forces you to swallow.

you pull back, pushing him away. he groans.

he wipes his mouth, still with two eyes staring.

no... no, why did he do that?

'y-you- how? no... why did you waste it on me?' you whisper, desperately searching his face for an answer. 'i'm just a servant. you could've given it to a princess, or a scholar, or priest-'

he grabs you by the arm and forces you into his arms. its heat astounds you, and you find yourself crawling closer. a vague thumping sound seems to press against your ear-

oh. you calm your breathing.

it's his heartbeat.

alive.

'sleep in my room tonight,' he demands.

what did he say? you strain your mind, trying to replay what he said earlier. no... maybe you heard correctly.

'but i'm no concubine,' you respond, instantly.

his arm supports your waist, helping you up effortlessly to your feet. he then directs two of his eyes to the doorway, his cadence low and domineering.

'it doesn't matter.'

he leads you placidly through the servant's quarters. you notice all conversation cease at your entry, bodies dropping into a low bow. a small voice in you whispers that it's where you should be too. you tug at sukuna's arm.

'i'm only a servant, sukuna.'

you know what it looks like, a servant clutching onto a man, more god than human. a man who has slaughtered villages, blood staining the base of his kimono crimson, and turned half a province on its head, just to save you.

'whatever you are in my eyes is what you are to the world,' he states, his expression unchanging. 'if i deem you a queen, that is who you are.'

exiting the servant compound, you know you can't say no- not like you wanted to. the wide expanse of his chest is comforting.

yet however sweet this feeling remains, you can't help but gulp. perhaps this is the closest a human has ever come to courting death.

[ditzydoe444]

MDNI 18+

panty stealing jason part 2 ૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა

perv jason! x puppy!reader

smutty

a/n: i love all of the perv jason requests i’ve gotten so please send more!! also the brief hint of part 3 at the end??

part 1

it’s been a week since jason helped you settle in, and the majority of your furniture was built thanks to him. “thanks for everything jay,” you beamed as you baked his favourite cookies, for some extra reason he loved dipping them into a sweet drink. not that you could blame him of course, you loved to indulge in as many sweet treats as you could. but obviously, you were unaware of his true intentions. he loved the way your tits shook when you shook the syrup, and how he would imagine the bottle of whipping cream was his cock instead, you eagerly pumping it.

“everything all done?” you asked cheerfully as you licked the whipped cream from your finger, jason’s hands tightening around the mug. “kind of, small things need some tweakin’,” it was a lie. everything was all done, but he didn’t want to go yet.

“oh that’s all good,” you shrugged innocently, completely unaware of his true intentions. for some unknown reason, your clothes had gone tighter, your tits spilling out and your ass cheeks exposed in your tiny tiny boy shorts.

you were completely unaware that jason was the one responsible, at first he started with him stealing your clothes, boy shorts, tanks, undies etc. now, to cover up his tracks he would buy you the exact same thing, either in a smaller size of one identical but would shrink in the washer. and god did it shrink.

jason watched as you bent over to grab something on the counter, your cheeks fully exposed. he let out a low cough before coming closer “here, let me help you.” he didn’t miss the ways your eyes beamed innocently, thinking he was just helping you when in reality it was to get closer.

he placed one of his large hands on your hips, going lower as he bent further, his broad chest against your back as his grip pinned you down on the counter. “this the one?” he asked lowly, his large hand drifting down to your ass cheek, grazing it ever so softly, mentally remembering the feeling of the soft flesh in his hands.

“yeah,” you smiled cheerily, your teeth sinking in slightly to your bottom lip, the sight was enough to make him come. “thanks jay,” he didn’t miss the way your ass pressed against his clothed dick, and god did he want to feel it again.

**

jason was now currently ‘fixing’ one of your shelves, you were perched on top of your bed watching him intently like a little puppy, your eyes way too big for your head. he couldn’t help but take advantage of the moment, accidentally dropping one of his tools and making it roll under your vanity. “sorry about that, mind if you grab it for me?”

you, completely unaware bent down to grab the tool leaving your whole ass on display for him. your boy shorts were so tight and thin he could see the outline of your pussy, his kind wondered to the most lewd thoughts, how tight you would be and how well you would take his cock. jason mumbled a groan, his pants tightening as you arched for the tool.

then his eyes caught on, he had stolen several panties over the course of the past few days, reducing your collection little by little. he swore he saw a small damp patch on your shorts just by your cunt. “here jay,” your voice broke him from his trance.

“ahem, hey, could you grab my toolbox down by your closet?” he needed to see if he saw it correctly. when you complied with no questions bending over again allowing jason to see the damp spot clearly near your cunt he almost came at the sight.

“actually could you help me by holding the shelf? i need to kneel down to screw a few things.” god damn lie, you just wanted to be face to face with her cunt.

the moment you positioned yourself holding the shelf securely, jason kneeling to ‘screw’ a few loose ends together allowing him to be at the right level of your cunt if he tilted his head back to look up. he was so damn close he could see the damp spot outlining your pussy, and the scent of it. whilst he was acting like the biggest pervert, you held onto the shelf tightly, ditzy as you are, you were determined to do what he said. jason used the excuse of helping you ‘reposition’ because you weren’t doing it correctly. his calloused hands grabbing your thighs tightly as he squeezed the soft flesh, gently caressing it.

“anything else jay?” you asked sweetly as you batted your lashes, god he would do anything to see his cock stuffed in your mouth whilst you blinked your tears away. “no, that’s all.”

you smiled, a wide toothy grin, “i’m gonna go shower then, you ok with that?” god of course he would be ok, knowing the fact that a door was the only thing separating your bare body from his was enough to drive him insane. “of course.”

**

jason didn’t hesitate asking to go your bathroom after you, at this point, the man had no shame and didn’t care if he got caught. he eyed the pile of clothes discarded on the floor, the tank and boy shorts you wore on top. not caring anymore he grabbed your shorts before putting them in his toolbox, he knew what he was going to do tonight.

the moment he locked himself in his bedroom, he pulled out your shorts from the box, putting it to his nose, smelling the slight scent of your arousal from before. it smelt so good he started jerking off, one hand pumping his cock whilst the other held your shorts to his nose.

he wondered if this would be familiar to you riding his face, wondered how desperate you would be. would you soak his face and ride him like a desperate whore? god only a man could dream.

the moment he came, his thick hot cum squirting on his hands his gaze drifted to another thing he stole from you that he placed on his bedside table.

a magazine. one about sex toys.

[supernovafics]

Hi! I recently found your "I'll be there for you" universe and I love it.

I was wondering if you'd want to do a sick fic where reader gets a sudden fever/body aches/chills/so on and tries to shrug it off as no big deal even though it absolutely is and Steve, the ultimate caretaker he is, forgets all about his plans for the evening to stay in and take care of them. Thank you, have a great week!

𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔

"i'll be there for you" universe masterlist

pairing: bestfriend!roommate!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 4.7k words

warnings: explicit language, descriptions of sickness/being sick, brief mentions of parental neglect, mentions of weed, overall very soft and wholesome and cozy<3

summary: in which you and steve are sick on christmas 

author's note: thank u for the request !! when i started this series one of the first ideas i had was something where reader and steve are sick during the holidays so this request fit with that perfectly<33 i couldn't really figure out how to end this so it kinda just ends lmao

general note: everything in this universe/series can be read as standalone oneshots but to understand the full “lore” it would prob be best to read the other stuff too<333

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Winter 1985

“This is your fault,” You told Steve as you sniffled.

“I know, I know,” He responded— he had been hearing your grumbling from the moment you woke up, so he was pretty much used to it by now. He walked over to where you were sitting on the couch and held out a capful of cough syrup for you to grab. “Here. Take this.” 

“Thank you,” You mumbled as you drank the medicine and then immediately went to grab your glass of water sitting on the coffee table because of how strong and bitter the cherry flavoring was. “Ugh.”

You now fully regretted that moment a few nights ago where you and Steve sat out on the fire escape and smoked weed in the freezing weather; an idea that had fully been Steve’s. It was fun in the moment, even though you could barely remember most of the conversation the two of you had, but a hint of a cold started building from the second you woke up that next morning and now it was at its worst. You currently had a stuffy nose and a horrible cough that gave you the shittiest headache. And after hours of laying in your bed and falling in and out of sleep, you finally decided to go out into the living room and complain to your best friend about how much you blamed him for your current sickness. 

“Can you pass me the blanket, please?” You asked, pointing to the one that was laying on the back of one of the dining table chairs; it was barely five feet away but you didn’t have it in you to move out of the comfortable position you found yourself in on the couch. 

“You become such a baby when you’re sick,” Steve told you with a roll of his eyes that you knew wasn’t serious as he handed you the knitted throw blanket, which you immediately wrapped around yourself after putting your water back down.

“Oh, whatever. I swear you’re always worse than me,” You said with your own eye roll; if he was closer to you, you would’ve given his arm a light smack. Your gaze moved upward, taking note of the time on the clock that hung on the wall above the television; it was a small round red clock that Steve had thrifted a few months ago. “Anyway, when are you heading to the Wheeler’s Christmas Eve party? Make sure you have fun for the both of us, and bring me back some of those gingerbread cookies that Karen makes.”

Steve sat next to you on the couch. “I’m not gonna go to the party.” 

Your eyebrows furrowed in both surprise and confusion when you heard him say that because he loved going to that holiday party just as much as you did. All of the kids would be there as well as Robin and Eddie, and always at some point during the night, you all would end up migrating downstairs to the basement away from the real adults. The kids and Eddie would start playing D&D as you, Robin, and Steve sat on the sidelines watching the madness unfold. And then eventually the three of you would simply start playing random card games with Nancy and Jonathan. 

“I won’t be mad if you go. Jokingly, yes— I’ll probably pretend to be mad at you for going for the next few days. But, I’m not actually,” You told him and then sniffled again because you couldn’t help it.

“No, it’s okay,” He said as he leaned back on the couch. “I don’t wanna go without you.”

“You sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay, well, in that case,” You scooted closer to him on the couch and leaned your head on his shoulder. It was a position that never failed to comfort you, and you especially needed that in this moment where your body was telling you that you needed to sleep and the cough syrup you just took was making it easier to do so. “Thank you.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You weren’t entirely sure how or when you ended up in your bed, but you were happy about it. It was now dark outside and the digital clock sitting on your nightstand told you that the time was only nine o’clock. 

You turned on your side and saw Steve next to you— head against one of your pillows, eyes shut, and lips slightly parted. It was a nice surprise seeing him asleep next to you, but you also knew that he probably shouldn’t be. 

You reached out and lightly poked his cheek a few times. His eyes slowly opened just for a second before closing again and he let out a soft, “Hm?”

“You’re gonna get sick too if you sleep here,” You told him. 

“I wanna stay close just in case you need something.”

You couldn’t help but smile at that. “And you wonder why I act like a baby when I’m sick. It’s because you treat me like one.” 

“Well, someone has to.” Steve shrugged through his half-asleep daze and you knew exactly what he meant by his words. 

When you were younger, before you met him, you had gotten so used to taking care of yourself because your parents weren’t the type to do much; your dad was always on some sort of business trip and your mom was always busy working at her office. You honestly couldn’t remember the last time either of them gave you medicine or soup or even worried about you at all when you got sick. However, the day your parents met Steve’s on that cruise and it was discovered that you all lived in towns that were only twenty minutes away from one another, things changed— you and Steve started taking care of each other. 

In tenth grade when you got the flu, he spent his lunchtime every day that week driving to your house to check on you. And even though he hated school, he’d still go to yours and pick up your assignments from one of your friends, and he’d help you do most of them so you didn’t fall behind too much; most of it was wrong, but it was the thought that counted. And when he got sick last Summer, you spent every night at his house until he felt better. It was slightly funny because those four days led you to getting sick the next week, and it felt like that same thing was about to happen in this instance. 

“You saying that just reminded me that I need to call my mom and tell her that I can’t come to the Christmas brunch thing she set up with my Aunt and cousin,” You shifted a bit and pulled the blanket higher over you. “Now, I’m actually glad that I’m sick.” 

“I already called and told her while you were sleeping, but she didn’t really believe me, so yeah you should probably call her too,” Steve said, which made you laugh a bit.

“That’s actually not surprising. I’ll call in the morning,” You said and then yawned. “You don’t have to go to your parent’s tomorrow, right?”

“Nope, they’re in California for this business thing my dad has to be at.”

“Nice,” You responded with a small nod. “For some reason, I can’t remember the last time it was just you and me during Christmas.”

“Ninth grade,” Steve said with a small sleepy smile on his face and his eyes opened again. ���My parents were out of town, and then yours had to leave too to do something last second. We had the great idea to set up the tent I got in sixth grade and camp out in my backyard.”

“Oh, yeah,” You said, laughing at the memory. “We got way too cold around one in the morning and decided to just sleep in front of the fireplace in the living room.” 

“I wish this place had a fireplace.”

“We can sleep in front of the radiator?”

Steve thought about your suggestion for a second before shaking his head. “Not the same.”

“Okay, that’s true,” You said with a quick nod before reaching beneath the blanket and lightly poking his t-shirt covered side. “Hey, do you remember what I got you that year?”

Steve immediately let out a laugh. “Yes, and I actually still have that Mickey Mouse poster.” 

You turned away from him then and covered your face with your hands. “Oh, God. No, you don’t. You’re kidding.”

“Yes, I do,” Steve said and you could practically hear the smile in his voice. “It’s rolled up in my closet. I would go grab it, but I’m too tired to move right now.”

You remembered exactly how excited you had been to give him that poster, which was supposed to be a really cool picture of one of his favorite basketball players, and the guy that you bought it from at the flea market even told you that it was signed. But when Steve pulled it out of the plastic and unrolled it in his living room on Christmas, instead of it being anywhere close to a photo of any basketball player, it was a picture of Mickey Mouse on a train.

“I’m still so embarrassed and mad that the sales guy at that flea market tricked me,” You said and sighed. You were still a little upset with yourself that you didn’t make him open up the poster and show it to you before you bought it, but he said that was “against the rules” since it was sealed in the plastic, and that reasoning had somewhat made sense to you. “And it’s not like I could try to return it or yell at him because the flea market was only here for a weekend.”

“Now that you’ve brought it up, I think we should hang the poster up in the living room. Maybe where the dining table is?” 

You turned to face Steve again. “I will never allow that to happen.”

“I guess I’ll just have to put it up when you fall asleep,” He said, and you ignored his overdramatic wince when you playfully punched his arm. “Do you remember what I got you for Christmas that year?” 

“Of course,” You nodded. You still had that silver bracelet he got you, and you were a thousand percent certain that you would keep it forever, even though now it just sat in your jewelry box because the clasp broke sometime last year. “I still can’t figure out how to fix that damn clasp.”

“I could just get you another one.”

“Not the same,” You told him with a quick shake of your head. “One day I’ll figure out how to fix it.”

“Okay,” He said and then brought up a different time that the two of you decided to try camping in his backyard, which was in the Summer and on a very warm night, but you and him still didn’t fully spend the night outside because there were too many bugs. 

You laughed at the memory as Steve talked about it now because it just reminded you that you and him were probably the least “outdoorsy” people ever, but somehow that never stopped either of you from trying to be. 

That was how the rest of the night went; reminiscing about more random stuff— memories from various moments of your friendship that always made you smile or laugh or even feel a little bit embarrassed— until both of you fell asleep again. And it wasn’t the biggest surprise when Steve woke up in the morning sniffling.

“I told you this would happen,” You said to him as you walked back to your bed, cough syrup in hand because you knew that he’d be needing it. You were actually feeling the tiniest bit better; still pretty bad but not as horrible as yesterday.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” He grumbled as he rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and then sneezed.

“Here. Take this,” You said with a small smile, mimicking the same words he had said to you yesterday. 

“Our roles changed way too fast,” Steve said before drinking the capful of cough syrup. “I was supposed to be taking care of you, and now you’re the one taking care of me.”

“We’ll take shifts on who gets to be the more helpless one,” You told him amusingly. “Right now it’s your turn. Do you want some water?”

He nodded and you went to the kitchen to grab a bottle and then handed it over to him before you settled back in the bed. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A handful of hours passed, all of which marked the most boring Christmas you’d probably ever had; but you’d take this silence and sickness over a tense brunch with your mom any day.

You were reading a book and Steve was still asleep next to you, turned on his side and blanket covering his head. A knock on the front door pulled your focus away from the page you were in the middle of reading.

You really didn’t feel like getting out of bed to answer it, but you also didn’t want to wake Steve and make him go do it, so with a sigh, you closed your book and placed it on the nightstand and then walked out of your bedroom. You headed to the couch first to grab the knitted throw blanket and wrap it around your shoulders so that it covered your bare legs, and then you proceeded to answer the door. 

Miss Johnson, the sweet older woman that lived a few doors down, stood in front of you with a red and green plaid patterned tin of what you assumed were the Christmas cookies that she told you about the first time you met. When you and Steve moved into the building, she introduced herself on that first day and gave you a welcome basket of muffins that were probably the best muffins that both you and Steve had ever had, and she also mentioned that for the holidays she gave out cookies to people in the building.  

She smiled at you for a brief second before a surprised look crossed her face. “Hi– Oh, you look terrible. What happened?”

Somehow the brutal honesty actually felt more sweet and worried than rude; and it warmed your heart and simultaneously hurt it so fucking bad that she was the only older adult in your life that actually seemed to care. 

You let out a small cough. “Me and Steve are sick right now. Just a cold.”

“Oh no, that stinks,” She said with a frown, and then held the tin out toward you. “Here take these cookies and I’ll be right back. Let me go make you both some soup.”

You grabbed the tin and smiled at her. “Thank you so much for the cookies, but you don’t have to make us soup.” 

In all honesty, you would’ve loved soup at that moment because you and Steve hadn’t eaten all day aside from the two slices of buttered toast that he made around noon, since neither of you could really be bothered to make anything else. But, Miss Johnson had already made the cookies for you two, so you felt bad about her also doing this for you and Steve. 

She shook her head at you. “No, no, it’s not a problem at all. I know I already have all of the ingredients, so it’ll just take me fifteen minutes, twenty tops.”

You were about to assure her again that she really didn’t have to do that, but she was already walking away and heading back down the hall before any word could leave your mouth. 

There was something about the gesture that felt way too sweet and nice, and it made you wish that you had someone like her in your life when you were younger. And then that thought made you feel so fucking grateful that for the past almost ten years, you had Steve. 

You placed the cookie tin on the kitchen counter and then tightened your blanket around you. You could see from the large window that led out to the fire escape that the sun was beginning to set, and as you got closer and peaked below at the street, you saw that some snow still lingered on the ground from when it came down a few days ago; the same night that you and Steve sat out on the fire escape.

The sudden sound of Steve saying, “Please don’t go out there. I don’t wanna repeat this sick cycle,” made you turn around and look at your best friend. He had slipped on a hoodie, which was yours (although back in high school it technically had been his), and his hair was the messiest you’d seen it in a while, and that let you know exactly how bad he was probably feeling right then. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going out there without an actual jacket anytime soon.”

“Okay, good,” He yawned and then smiled when he saw what was on the counter. “Miss Johnson brought the cookies?”

“Yes,” You said, walking back to the kitchen and watching as Steve opened up the tin. There were at least a dozen cookies in it; a mixture of Christmas trees, Santa Clauses, and snowflakes. “She also went to go make us soup since we’re sick.”

“She’s way too nice to us,” Steve said and grabbed one of the Santa Claus cookies.

“I agree,” You told him, deciding to grab a snowflake cookie for yourself. “Meanwhile, we’re horrible people and didn’t even think about getting her something for Christmas. Once we’re better we have to get her something.”

“Yeah. We can get her a nice sweater or cardigan,” Steve said, and you nodded at that suggestion; whenever either of you saw Miss Johnson she was almost always wearing some sort of fun and colorful cardigan so that idea felt right. He took another bite of the cookie in his hand and then looked at you. “Will this ruin our appetite?”

“Considering the fact that we’ve barely had anything to eat today since we’ve felt so shitty, I don’t think that there’s really an appetite to ruin.”

“Very true.”

The two of you migrated to the couch, bringing the cookie tin along with you, and mindlessly watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special that played on television as you ate some more cookies. 

When there was another knock on the door twenty minutes later, right as the Charlie Brown episode ended, you looked at Steve and pulled your legs off his lap. “Your turn to get it.” 

He nodded and got up, running a quick hand through his hair, which didn’t really do much to tame it, before opening the door. 

“Hi, Miss Johnson,” Steve said, and even though he was facing away from you, you could hear the smile in his voice. He received a smile back as she handed him a full tupperware of soup. “Thank you. You really didn’t have to make this for us.”

“It’s really no problem. I hope you two feel better soon,” She responded. “And also here are some tea bags. You guys should be drinking that too.” 

You watched as she put a few in Steve’s free hand. Neither you nor him really liked tea, but you weren’t about to tell Miss Johnson that when she was being so damn nice and thoughtful. 

“Thank you so much,” You said from the couch and smiled at her. “Also, we’ve already tried some of the cookies and they’re amazing.”

“Just wait until you try the chocolates I make for Valentine’s Day,” She said and you smiled even wider at that. 

“Can’t wait.”

She said her final goodbyes and headed back down the hall to her apartment after telling you both that you could knock on her door if you needed anything; more soup, medicine, etc. And that offer, which sounded completely genuine, only further confirmed the fact that you and Steve definitely needed to get her a gift as soon as possible. 

Steve pulled two bowls out of one of the cabinets and split the soup, which you then learned was chicken noodle, evenly in both of them and then handed one over to you. 

“Thanks,” You said as he also gave you a spoon and then sat down on the couch again. 

He took control of the TV remote and you didn’t argue when he stopped on a channel that was playing a James Bond movie. After finishing your soup, you maneuvered around so that you were laying down and your head was in his lap and you fell asleep just like that. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Another set of hours passed, although you were unaware of exactly how many. You were woken up by the feeling of Steve softly stroking your ear; which he knew would always either annoy you or make you laugh because of how much it tickled— most of the time it was both. This time was no different. 

You were laughing as you shooed his hand away. “Stop that.”

“I needed to wake you up.”

You looked up at him and rubbed your eyes. “What time is it?”

“Almost ten.”

You nodded at his answer and then suddenly realized through your half asleep daze why he decided to wake you right then. “Oh, we have to open the presents.”

From that very first Christmas you spent together, it was agreed upon that you would do your gift exchange at night— once you both were done being stuck all day with your parents and other family members that you never saw any other time of the year. 

You’d sneak off to his house once those family members were gone and your parents were asleep, or he’d come to yours, and then you’d exchange gifts and almost always end up talking about nothing until the morning. 

You sat up. “I’m just now realizing that we could’ve done it earlier today.”

“Yeah, but that would’ve broken the tradition,” Steve said and you agreed with that, there was something about always doing the gift exchange at night that felt like the only way to do it at this point.

You went into your bedroom and grabbed Steve’s present that you had stashed away in your closet. When you left your room, you saw that he was already sitting next to the small Christmas tree that sat lit up in the corner close by the window and he was holding what you rightly assumed was your gift from him. 

The tree was so small that it didn’t make sense to put gifts under it, so that was why you kept the one you got for Steve in your room and he had yours in his. The only things that did sit next to the tree and slightly under it were the little presents that you both got for Harold the Hamster. 

“Merry Christmas, Stevie,” You said, sitting down next to him and giving him his gift. He let out a laugh when he noticed that the green wrapping paper had pictures of polar bears wearing Santa hats on it— when you had seen it weeks ago at the store, you thought it was adorably funny and knew you had to get it.

He handed over the gift he got you and the sight of his messy wrapping job made you smile. “Merry Christmas.” 

The nostalgic sound of wrapping paper ripping could be heard as you tore into your gift. A happy yelp emitted from your lips when you saw the vinyl of The Breakfast Club soundtrack. It was quite literally the perfect gift— you had held the tape of the movie that you rented from Steve’s Family Video hostage for a month straight when they first got it in, and sometimes you’d watch the movie just to hear the songs.

“After how many times you watched the movie this year, this felt very fitting,” Steve told you. He hadn't opened his gift yet, and instead, he was playing with the red bow that was placed on top of it; he always liked to see your reaction first.

You looked at him and smiled. “I hope you’re prepared to hear this at least three times a week for the next few months.” 

He laughed a bit. “I knew you were going to say that, and I’ve already accepted the fact that I will have to hear Don’t You Forget About Me on an endless loop for a while.” 

“Good,” You said, still smiling, and then you bumped your knee with his. “Open yours.”

Steve finally started opening your gift for him, tearing the wrapping paper off to reveal a shoebox, which had a new pair of white Nikes inside. They were the same as the pair he already had that had the red “swoosh” on the side, but that pair was now a lot less white since he had them since Sophomore year of high school and he’d wear them almost religiously. 

“It’s time to retire the ones you’ve had for the past three years,” You said as he pulled out one of the sneakers. “Oh, also, there’s a note at the bottom of the box.” 

Steve put the one sneaker down and then grabbed the small notecard with your handwriting on it that was buried underneath the other one. “‘This is long overdue. You probably should’ve gotten rid of your last pair after the basketball season ended Senior year. And speaking of basketball, after your many years of begging and pleading I will finally grant your wish and play basketball with you. You’re welcome. Shit, I already regret writing this.’” He looked at you, a smile growing on his face. “You’re serious?” 

“Sadly, yes,” You answered, and when he smiled wider, you said, “It’s only gonna happen one time and just for a couple of hours, and if I break my leg or arm or anything else during this, I will sue you, Harrington.” 

You had two left feet when it came to any sort of sport— in a way, it was funny how clumsy you’d get whenever you had to play anything— and Steve knew that, but for perhaps the entirety of your friendship he still always tried to convince you to play basketball with him, and you always said no because why would you ever do something that you knew would only lead to embarrassment? Even if it was just with your best friend. He’d seen more than enough of your accidental embarrassing moments, and in your mind there was no need for him to also see one that could easily be avoided. 

But, you knew that finally doing this would make him happy, and that made your imminent embarrassment feel somewhat worth it.

“You’re not gonna break anything, but if you do, I’ll completely understand if you decide to sue me,” Steve said and you could hear the joking undertones in his voice. “So, when can we play?”

“You can choose the day, but please wait until we’re not sick and when it’s not freezing cold outside.” 

He nodded at that. “Okay, deal.”

“What did you get Harold?” You asked as you picked up the present next to the tree that Steve had wrapped.

“A new wheel,” He answered and that made you laugh.

“I also got him a new wheel.”

It actually wasn’t entirely surprising that you and Steve had the same gift idea. You two loved Harold with your entire hearts, but at least twice a week he’d wake one or both of you up at three in the morning by running on the current wheel he had, which was the squeakiest thing in the world.

Steve looked over at where Harold’s cage sat on the coffee table in the living room area. “Maybe he’ll like having two.” 

“Yeah,” You nodded. “Maybe he’ll designate one for daytime running and the other for nighttime running.”

Steve smiled at your joking statement. “Exactly.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

let me know ur thoughts<333

(requests are open for stuff you wanna see in the universe/series!🫶🏾)

[arcanewhoosh]

A Room Full of People

900 words

Proofread? Y/N

Relevant Tags: Jinx x Reader, could be an au but vague enough to stay in the universe, holiday party, in the clurb we all fam, drinking

You take a break in the corner of the Last Drop as your friends party the night away on a Tuesday evening.

Note: I've been to so many holiday parties this past week so why not write about it.

Is drinking on a weekday a good idea?

A waiter bumps into you and mumbles an apology, one completely inaudible with the loud bass of the track currently playing. You’re thankful you invested in one of those expensive earplugs all those months ago. For one, the loud music of the bar isn’t aggressively assaulting your ears, its usual invasive sound lulled to a pleasant thrum.

You take a sip of your drink. Your friends deem it absolutely horrendous; who in their right mind would willingly sip on a Jager bomb all night? You like it though, after joking that you take comfort in it since it tastes like the cough syrup you liked when you were a kid—Caitlyn had looked at you in horror when you said this—and you liked the familiarity.

You take a step back to avoid another partygoer making a beeline for the bathroom. You notice your step isn’t as coordinated as you’d like, a familiar weightlessness starting to bloom in your head. You try to count how many shots of tequila you’ve had, plus the first two Jager bombs you had finished off earlier. You have a presentation tomorrow morning.

Maybe drinking on a weekday wasn’t such a good idea, after all.

The Last Drop was packed for a Tuesday, you blame it on the fact that it was the holidays, and people had probably finally had time off of work. The others were all paired up, dancing or talking amongst themselves in the crowd. You yourself were squeezed in with them just a few minutes ago, but your unfortunately minuscule social battery had given up an hour ago, so off to the side you went.

You loved going to the parties, you loved hanging out with your friends, getting absolutely sloshed; having the worst hangover the next day, then rinse and repeat. But most of all, you loved being invited; a small reminder that there were people that cared about you. People that cared enough to want you around them while they made terrible decisions.

You were the introverted one in the group. When you were younger you were quiet, kept to yourself, and avoided events where you would have to talk to people you didn’t know. But eventually, as you grew older, you thought there wouldn’t be much harm in going out with friends and hanging out late into the night and early morning. Humans are social creatures, after all.

You look down at your watch and frown. It was only nine, which means you're only going to progressively get drunker before you all decide to call it a night. Which means an unavoidable hangover in the morning. Definitely not a good idea.

Looking over at your friends, all happily dancing and jumping to the music, you take minute to drink the entire scene in. The thrum of the music, the bass reverberating in your chest, the kick of the drums, as a remix to a familiar song starts to play. The people on the dance floor all cheer before singing along, all of them seemingly catching a second wind and dancing harder. You find yourself starting to nod to the music, the alcohol you've consumed helping you loosen up.

Mylo and Claggor catch sight of you and start waving you over, their own drinks spilling as they do so. You wave them off in response, content in staying in the corner--and avoiding being given shots--and watch the room.

They look like they're about to walk over and pull you into the dance circle they've formed where Ekko is having a dance-off with Vi. But then the chorus of the song picks up and they immediately jump up and pump their arms, and you're left forgotten in your corner.

You continue watching your friends, occasionally sipping your drink. You're just about to head over to the bar and get everyone a few water bottles, when you catch a whiff of a familiar smoky perfume. You remind yourself to ask her what perfume she uses as a pair or arms snakes around your waist, and you feel her rest her head against the back of your shoulder.

She asks you a question, she knows you can't hear it, but asks anyway. You roll your eyes in response, and take out one of your earplugs, the music suddenly becoming ten times louder. She gets on her tip toes, inadvertently pulling you back a bit, leaning next to your ear.

"Now why are you hiding here?" Her words are just a tiny bit slurred as she says this. You snort, and turn around--a little less graceful than you usually are--meeting her expectant, slightly glazed eyes; the lights of the bar giving them a pink shade. Her smile is lopsided, and moves her arms to wrap around your neck. You tilt your head so you can speak a little closer to her ear, she pulls you closer to her.

"Maybe I was just waiting for you here so I could get you to myself."

She grins. "Well I'm here. What now, oh great mastermind?"

Her eyes flit to your lips for a moment, before settling back to yours. There's an expectant look in them, a welcome invitation.

You lean in and close that gap between the two of you. Suddenly the music in the bar is deafened, the only thing flooding your senses is her perfume, her arms around your neck, and the taste of the alcohol on her lips.

Maybe drinking on a weekday isn't such a bad idea, after all.

[inkdrinkerworld]

Dad!Sirius who is absolutely determined to be a better father and husband than his own father ever was. He will constantly spoil his wife and daughter, and the amount of times she’s walked out of her and Sirius’ bedroom to see Sirius lying on the couch with his daughter’s tiny body on top of him is insane. He’s the best dad in the whole world. Also his daughter would absolutely be besties with Harry!

You get home to an eerily quiet house. Sirius is at home with your daughter this week- the flu had been wracking her body and all she’d wanted was her dad.

Not that you could really blame her- Sirius was perfect with her.

There was something in the way he was just able to settle her crankiness with a couple of kisses and little massages to the length of her legs that made going to work a little more bearable.

Daphné also had Sirius wrapped tight around her little fingers- she’d only have to puff her cheeks and quiver her lip and as fast as she’d been given a ‘no’, Sirius’ heart would clench and he’d be doing whatever she asked in seconds.

You find them cuddled up on the couch as you step inside- the house clean and smelling like fresh laundry and hint of milk.

Sirius is flat on his back, head propped up by a couple cushions while Daphné lays on his chest, silky curls braided neatly down her back.

“Hi Siri,” your voice is quiet when you realize Daphné is asleep, pressing a soft kiss to Sirius’ forehead.

“Hey, dolly, how was work?” You shrug and Sirius smiles. He juts his chin to the kitchen, “There’s a bit of soup left if you’re hungry. Was thinking maybe we could make toasties for dinner.”

You smile, sitting on the floor beside your babies. “How was she?” You whisper, finger inching towards her chubby cheek that’s a little paler than usual.

She’s Sirius’ twin for the most part, skin fair and hair just a dark, but her eyes and nose (and maybe her attitude, if Sirius tells the truth) are all you.

“Cranky, god knows I hate seeing her like that,” Sirius sounds as distraught as you look. Seeing her sick, her little two year old body fighting something so harsh, makes him worried. “Then I caved and gave her a bottle.”

You shake your head teasingly. “It was breast milk!” Sirius defends quickly. “Full of antibodies and all that, knocked her right out with that cough syrup the doctor recommended.”

You coo, stamping a kiss to Sirius’ bicep. “I’m only teasing Siri, she’s not too old for a little bit of milk.”

She really isn’t, but you don’t want to get it back to a regular food item in her diet. Maybe only if she’s poorly, you decide to yourself.

“Other than that?” You ask, watching her nose wriggle as you stroke it.

“An angel! I’m telling you, Daphné’s a saint, dolly.”

“Daphné could rip apart every sheet of music you have and you’d think she was interceding from the gods, Siri.” You laugh, already envisioning Sirius having a hard time reprimanding her.

“She would be!” She’s going to be the most spoilt baby the world has ever seen and you’re going to enjoy every second of it and so will Sirius.

[brucewaynehater101]

Do you have any fic recs when Tim just finally looses his shit on the batfam, like he's already frustrated and someone does something that just slightly ticks him too far off and he just breaks, screaming, crying, breaking things kinda anger

Oof. I definitely do. Forewarning, some of these are not friendly to other batfam members. I don't agree with outright blaming other members (besides Bruce), but Tim is venting and angry and hurt. These fics deal with those emotions and tend to acknowledge that there's many sides and points to arguments. I don't agree with character bashing the batkids.

"Some Days" by faithms. As the summary dictates, Tim, after not receiving an apology for a year, walks up to his oldest brother and knees him in the dick. Very amazing fic.

"He's Done Caring" by AkwardBlueFish. Tim tells the Bats what his biggest regret is.

"The Fear of Falling Apart" by Sohotthateveryonedied. Tim returns to the Gotham just to deal with the rise of corpses (this is before he proves Bruce is alive, but after the desert). When he's trying to sneak out, Dick asks him to stay. Tim gets mad.

"Burning Rubber" by Huntressundone. Tim breaks the second most regarded rule of the Bats cause he's pissed.

"Lesson Learned" by Blacksheeperton. This is more about Tim reaching that point of anger where he gives up on his relationships with the Bats.

"Everyone Has An Angry Phase" by faitms. Tim talks with Barbara, Alfred, Kon, and Cassie about his issues with them to prevent himself from causing mass amounts of murder, destruction, and pain.

"So I said To Him I Said" by TicciJack. Tim dares Jason to call him Replacement again. Jason does. There's consequences.

"cough syrup" by DairyFarmer. Tim tells Bruce that either Damian leaves or Tim does. He's tired from constantly being asked to put up with the abuse.

The tags "Angry Tim Drake" and "Tim Drake is So Done" are great for finding fics like this

[lale-txt]

𝐒𝐎𝐅𝐓 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇 (𝐎𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐮 𝐱 𝐟!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫) ❦ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟓: 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥

♫ My Ugly Clementine - I’m Boring

Why do I even want you? Why do I care? You make me think about you You make me stupid as fuck And I'm not even in love

⭅ back to m.list

✽ 𝐧𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝…

Akaashi and y/n arrived back in Tokyo around the same time and had ramen together afterwards to debrief their trips

y/n mentioned Osamu's name 79 times but it's not like Akaashi is keeping count

Yukie earned her nickname 'The Finisher' in high school and it also describes her driving style really well

like a true friend Makki hasn't stopped laughing for the rest of the day and would still burst out into random laughter whenever he saw y/n again

Sakusa diagnosed with third degree yearns

the Miyas didn't grow up with pets (their single mom had her hands full with the two of them already) but especially Osamu was always fond of them

as in every really close friendship y/n will sometimes forget what her friends' jobs are. this includes the ones playing pro league volleyball and the one working for a funeral company

Osamu's staff overheard the conversation about the engagement and maybe he hasn't fully cleared everything up just yet (he blames it on dinner rush)

the Tokyo group and the Osaka will finally meet soon! surely nothing chaotic and messy will happen! (lie)

✰ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓:

@brithedemonspawn @gigiiiiislife @yuminako @notverymarley @krissiekris

@wyrcan @kentocalls @simp-simp-no-mi @uncovered-mad-man @honey-deku

@yukichan67 @dailyakira @nu-suave @zq13 @morgan-lowell

@ellouisa17 @toges-cough-syrup

send me an ask or dm to be added (or removed, no hard feelings ♡)! minors DNI!

[wanderersmalewife]

DR2 and DRv3 boys comforting their sick S/O

Characters: Hajime, Nagito, Kokichi, K1-B0

Warnings/content: G/N reader, mentions of vomit... nothing else tbh

A/N: So self-indulgent bc i have a fucking fever 😭😭

🌻Hajime Hinata🌻

- Hajime is extremely concerned when he hears you're sick. His anxiety just makes him an easily worried person

- That being said, he is. So awkward about taking care of other people

- Hes never been around other people much and he's never had anyone to take care of him

- Very much hovering around you but never really touching you unless you're explicitly asking

- The moment you tell him you need him, that you want him by your side to snuggle... he's a bit hesitant, not wanting to be sick himself. But he'd easily give in.

- He can't resist when you ask so sniffle and... sad

- Constantly asking you if he can get you anything or help

- If you get nauseous or vomit he is also. SO AWKWARD 😭

- He just looks horrified (this diva...) but he'll kneel next to you and awkwardly rub your back

- very sweet, just a bit unconfident

Another coughing fit is expelled past your lips, facial features twisted into a strained expression as your throat burns.

Hajime frowns, brows furrowing with concern as he watches a bead of sweat trickle down your forehead.

He reaches a hand out to rub your shoulder before he stops himself, actions hesitant. "You should drink something. It might help..."

Somehow, you manage a small glare. You know he means well, but does it look like you have the strength to get something right now?

"Ah, sorry." He apologizes near-instantly, standing from the bed. "I-I'll go get you some water!"

You sigh softly, body slightly relaxing even as you watch him disappear into the next room.

Your eyelids feel heavy as your breathing slowly evens out, fatigue settling in.

You barely register the sound of Hajime's soft footsteps as he re-enters the room.

What you do feel, though, is his hand softly brushing your bangs back and his lips pressing over your forehead.

A soft hum leaves you as finally drift to sleep.

🍀Nagito Komaeda🍀

- So so SO doting

- You don't even have to ask him for anything. He's immediately on it and making sure you have everything.

- Might forget a few things because of his dementia, but if you gently remind him, he's more than happy to go get it for you

- One of the best people you could ask for comfort

- Only thing you'd have to worry about is him getting anxious or self-conscious if he messes things up. Will blame himself horribly especially when you're already so unwell

- Nausea? No problem.

- The kind of guy to hold your hair back if you have longer hair

- constantly rubbing your back and whispering encouraging words and praise

You groan as you press your head against the pillow, pain throbbing against your skull.

Nagito is beside you in an instant, a patient smile over his face. "I'm sorry, my hope..." His tone is gentle. He doesn't need words to understand you're expressing your pain.

His prosthetic hand finds its way into your hair, cold metal scratching over your scalp. It's a much needed relief from the heat of your fever.

He chuckles softly as you lean against his touch, working his fingers over your head before he presses the back of it to your forehead.

You finally open your bleary eyes, and instead of pain flooding your mind from the bright light, slight relief washing over you as you see Nagito's angelic face.

His gaze softens, eyes meeting yours with adoration. "Good morning, my hope. I'm right here... promise."

🎲Kokichi Ouma🎲

- what a little asshole

- somehow whinier than you 😭??

- acts like this affects him SO MUCH

- "You're sick? EWW STAY AWAY FROM ME I DON'T WANNA GET SICK TOO. WAHHHH!"

- i mean. That doesn't mean he's not worried. He hates seeing people he loves in pain

- He's also allergic to being sincere

- He's also genuinely worried about getting sick but that's a him problem

- You can tell he's cares though.

- Hes shoving like 15 different cough syrups, fever medicines and whatever else he can at you

- Also a squeamish asshat about nausea

- Literally fake gagging over you vomiting like he's gonna puke too??😭 wtf

- Threaten to puke on him and see what happens it'll be so funny

- Not the kind of person to comfort you physically or verbally if you're puking... but he will absolutely get you a glass of water afterwards so you'll stay hydrated.

"Ughh... Kichi..." You whine, voice nasally from congestion.

The smaller boy next to you, much to your chagrin, simply grunts, scooting away from your reaching hands. "Don't touch me! You'll get your cooties on me!"

Fucking brat. You lift your head from your pillow, glaring unhappily at him with a small sniffle.

He seems to shrink at that, a small flash of guilt passing over his face. One that only someone as close you were would notice.

Great. Latch onto that and make him give in.

"Mmmh... it hurts..." You whimper again, head flopping onto your pillow as you clutch at your stomach. Not fully a lie... your stomach is churning, but it isn't intensely painful.

Kokichi catches onto your theatrics almost immediately, scoffing as he looks away. "Yeah, yeah. I can tell you're lying!" He winks, smiling cheekily as if he wasn't neglecting his very poor sickly partner.

Alright. That's it.

With as much strength as you can manage through your sick stupor, you leap forward, arms latching around his waist.

Kokichi yelps. Loud.

"Ghh-! Dammit, [name]! Let go!" He squirms with small grunts, wriggling like a rat caught in a trap.

Despite this, you easily notice he's not putting his full effort into it. Kokichi may be small, but he could pack a punch when he wanted, especially against a sick person.

He wasn't making a real effort to get away from you.

Content with your efforts, you simply keep yourself latched around him until he stops, pouting. "You're so mean..."

Even as he complains, he huffs while sliding down into the bed with you.

His arms wrap around you too, head resting against your tangled strands of hair.

"Fine, I'll stay. But you better take care of me if I get sick too."

🤖Kiibo🤖

- Oh lord hes so awkward. Save him

- He cares you soso much but he does. Not understand how being sick works or how to help 😭

- Does research as best he can. Probably ends up actually being overbearing

- You're bedside is suddenly filled with cough syrup, and tea, and cough drops, and Tylenol, and Ibuprofen, and soup, and water, and Gatorade, and-

- You have to politely tell him that's enough. More than enough. You'll be okay, You promise

- So anxious abt doing everything right. Asks if you're sure like 10 times and only stops asking when you pat his head softly and smile. "You're doing great, Kiibo. Thank you..."

- Immediate blushing mess as he eagerly nods , just thankful that he's helping

- Nausea. Makes his panic so much worse

- "O-Oh my gosh! Are you alright? Can I help at all!? Oh, that's a lot... oh my gosh..."

- Bro acts like you're dying.

- You ask him for water and he's back in a split second with it

- Once it's all out and you're just panting over the toilet bowl, he'll slowly pat your shoulder until you lean back against him.

- He just holds you until he realizes you fell asleep. He feels so bad abt waking you up to go to bed, but he 8snt strong enough to carry you

"I-Is that enough? Are you sure you don't need anything else?"

Your eyes scanned over the various items lined along your bedside table. Medicines, drinks, and tissues alike cover the flat surface, not a single spot untouched.

In all honesty, the cluttered area was a bit overwhelming with everything going on, but you don't have the heart to tell him that.

You just nod from your pile of blankets, (which Kiibo had also collected for you,) voice ragged from a sore throat. "Mhm. Thank you, Kiibo..."

Kiibo nods, and for a moment it seems like he gets the message.

But then, his brows furrow, and that anxious little frown finds its way onto his face again. "Are you sure? I've found plenty of other remedies that might work if these don't help enough! I--"

You cut him off, gently taking his hand. You press a chaste kiss to his cold knuckles, grinning with a soft gaze before you speak. "You're perfect. This is more than enough... Thank you."

You see that familiar blush creep up his face, and despite his lack of any real blood, his face feels warm. "Oh! I-I'm glad then! I'm happy I can be here...!"

You giggle and nod before you speak one last time. "Just one more thing. Could you stay...? Please?"

"Of course!" He sits on the edge of the bed, hand resting over your side.

"I promise, I will never leave your side."

[blues824]

Could I maybe request the dorm leaders and jamil with a reader who has a pollen allergy which get worst in spring

Gender-neutral reader.

Riddle Rosehearts

You were sneezing and coughing, and tearing up and he was growing concerned that you might have caught a cold

However, you told him that you were allergic to pollen, and the flowers around NRC had pollen that was going airborne

He still wanted to make sure that you were alright, so he took you to the infirmary to have a definite answer as to if you had a cold or not

Roses do have pollen, but the particles are too big to become airborne, so Heartslabyul becomes your new sanctuary

Ramshackle doesn’t grow any flowers at all, but the trees and shrubs still do produce pollen, so he thinks that you should stay over

Totally not because he wants to be able to look after you and have you close to him… totally not

Leona Kingscholar

You disturbed his nap with your coughing and sneezing, but to be fair he did ask to meet up with you in the greenhouse

The thing was, you wouldn’t stop, and it was getting on the lion’s nerves because you couldn’t make it through one sentence without sneezing

After a visit to the infirmary (of course he didn’t let you go alone), he was low-key kind of glad that you weren’t sick, but rather suffering from the pollen

Luckily, Savanaclaw does not grow any flowers as there has never been any planted there, so he takes you there and tells you that you are going to stay there 

At first, you tried arguing against him, claiming that Crowley would never agree to this, but he said ‘too bad’ before handing you another tissue box

If someone has the audacity to say that he’s going soft, he will take a tissue out of the box and hand it to them before saying he will give them a bloody nose

Azul Ashengrotto

For some reason I pictured him like Sheldon in that he would use his shirt to cover his nose and get some Lysol spray

The second you walked in coughing and sneezing, he knew that it would make clientele stray away from the Mostro Lounge

He made you go to the nurse, who said that it was a simple pollen allergy and that made him calm down a little

Octavinelle does have some underwater plants that do pollinate, but none are kept within the dormitory but rather the mirror realm in which it resides

So as long as you stay inside, you should be fine, and he makes sure that everyone is alerted not to bring flowers inside

He wanted to make sure that you were comfortable, so he offered for you to sleep in his room with him, even if the thought alone made him flustered.

Kalim Al-Asim

He is very worried when you come into Scarabia with a tissue to your nose, coughing and having a hard time breathing in general

Took it upon himself to get you to the nurse, afraid that you had a cold because he would have blamed himself

But you just had pollen allergies, so he told everyone in Scarabia to get every non-hypoallergenic flower out of the dormitory so that you could stay there

Will send you texts asking if you’ve taken your allergy medicine and if you need any more tissues than the thousands of boxes he has already purchased for you

Anything you ask for can and will be delivered; he basically treats you as though you were made of glass and he’s crying as Jamil gives you some cough syrup

It’s actually so sad how much he worries about you, and he wants to help, but you have to tell him that it’s just allergies and they will go away when the seasons change

Jamil Viper

You had just come from the infirmary, and your eyes were tearing up and you were sniffling and sneezing and coughing into a tissue

He asked if you were alright, and you looked at him with an ‘are you serious?’ face as you stated in a monotone voice that you were ‘just peachy’

Bro kind of already guessed that you had allergies, considering the spring season is renowned for causing it and a few other students have been suffering as well.

Makes sure that you take the allergy medication that the nurse had given you, and will get more tissues for you

Will order and help his dorm members to remove the non-hypoallergenic flowers from the dormitory, as they are causing many (you) to suffer

If you would rather, he would love to temporarily move you into his room because the dust in Ramshackle is not helping your situation

Vil Schoenheit

Gave you the most bombastic side-eye when he heard your sniffles, and also pulled a Sheldon where he pulls his shirt over his nose and sprays you with Lysol spray

There was no way that he was going to get sick, as he had so much on his schedule that would be pushed behind and the stress causes breakouts.

However, you started wearing a mask and you told him that it was allergy season, so he made sure that he had allergy medication nearby in his room

Understands that allergies are horrible, and so he will remove the vase of flowers in his room as they do produce pollen

Will make his room your safe-haven, as he knows that some bastard that goes by the name of Crowley will not upgrade Ramshackle to make it hypoallergenic

Anyways, he will always snap at you if you don’t cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue, and he will make sure that you wash your hands regularly

Idia Shroud

You were sneezing and coughing into the mic as you were on-call with him for an assignment, and it got to the point where he asked if you were okay

He was worried, but he honestly didn’t even know where to begin on taking care of you when you came over

To be fair, there were no flowers at Ignihyde, so he invited you there, but he was biting off more than he could chew

At least you weren’t sick, because it was only allergies, but Ortho was the one who was ordering him around and he was not questioning anything

Whenever you go through a fit of coughing or sneezing, he will panic and ask if you’re dying, and you have to shake your head as you motion to the box of tissues

Can’t discern between real tears or tears caused by allergies, so he will panic whenever he sees your eyes watering

Malleus Draconia

This man was convinced that you had Tuberculosis when he saw you coughing into a tissue, and he was afraid that you broke a blood vessel

You have to explain to this guy, who is currently preparing your death bed, that you have mere allergies and are not dying

Then you have an entire dorm sweeping through the building and making sure that any flowers are thrown out of the window

If you try to get him to calm down and stop fussing over you, he is not going to listen because you deserve to be comfortable in your time of illness

Lilia is dying of laughter every single time, and you beg him to calm the dragon down, but he just says ‘Poor Y/N! It must be so painful being so sick!’

May or may not be using his magic to slowly get rid of your allergies, just because he believes that you shouldn’t suffer

[joeyalohadream]

I’m doped up on so much cough syrup and cold medicine, I cannot be blamed for how the next chapter of Let your heart be light turns out, y’all.

[eggxeggxegg]

Tag game! Share your current top 10 songs on repeat :)

Counting Stars by OneRepublic

love is embarrassing by Olivia Rodrigo

Monsters (feat. blackbear) by All Time Low, blackbear

Don’t Blame Me by Taylor Swift

Cough Syrup (Glee Cast Version) by Glee Cast

good 4 u by Olivia Rodrigo

I’m Born To Run by American Authors

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve by Taylor Swift

Yes I’m A Mess by AJR

Shut Up and Dance by WALK THE MOON

@dog-with-anxiety @stripedwolf88 @quiclycasual @robinparravel

[spn-exp-on-file]

I came to pretty instantly.

The first thing I noticed is the feeling of a fork in my hand, the metal sticky and uncomfortable to hold- so it gets dropped onto a platter of half eaten pancakes almost drowning in syrup, I don't even like pancakes.

"Where am I?" My voice is scratchy, practically crawling out of my throat.

It hurts to talk.

"Well we're in Georgia at the moment-" Sam gets cut off pretty quickly by Dean, who's giving me a look that would have made me shit my pants in fear if I didn't somewhat know these people.

"What the fuck are you?"

I didn't really think this far ahead about what I was going to tell them, especially considering I still needed answers on a lot of things, but the look in Dean's eyes told me not to fuck around with this.

"You're not gonna believe me." Maybe I was a bit overwhelmed with it all, keeping my gaze down on the plate of a breakfast mess in front of me- but could you really blame me?

"Try me."

I knew I wouldn't magically be better with my words in this weird alternate dimension, but the idiotic "uhhhh" that left my mouth was still an unwelcome surprise. I am destined to embarrass myself in every universe.

"So- uhm, first of all what year is it?" I couldn't make up a cover story with something that hasn't even happened yet, so I needed to make sure I wasn't about to lore drop on these two.

"Uh, 2011- why?" Sam answered quizzically.

Oh god I hated being stared at.

"So- uhm, do you guys remember being sent to an alternate dimension where you were both actors?" They're gonna think I'm crazy but then again at this point everything's a bit crazy for them, so even though it's not entirely true what I'm about to tell them- it's an easier pill to swallow than what actually happened.

If I was a normal person I'd hold back my laugh at seeing the two Winchester's faces drop- but I'm not, so I had to cover my snort up with a hackled cough.

"You've got to be kidding me." Dean deadpanned.

"I- I don't know how, but I keep getting blipped here or something." I was, yet again, temporarily distracted by a cup of coffee on the table.

The black liquid began to sway back in forth in the white mug, spilling over the edge and splattering onto the table.

Sam and Dean could have been saying something, to be honest it was pretty hard to tell when my ears began ringing and my vision started blacking out.

As soon as I took my glasses off to rub at my eyes I woke up, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.

All of it was a pretty big "what the fuck" for me.

[thewinter-eden]

almost summer | kim seungmin (08)

08 : IT WAS RIGHT

Pairings: KIM SEUNGMIN x OC | YANG JEONGIN x OC

Rating: mature

cross posted on AO3 under the_winter_eden and wattpad under alone-at-last.

Warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, thoughts of murder, ridiculous amounts of anger, thoughts of suicide and self harm; 

Maven is a deeply feeling and incredibly empathetic person, and much of this chapter explores how powerfully her emotions are affected by mistreatment.

almost summer masterlist Comment a request to be tagged!

< last chapter | next chapter >

I will love you as misfortune loves orphans, as fire loves innocence, and as justice loves to sit and watch everything go wrong. -Lemony Snicket

She couldn’t count the times she’d dreamed of killing him. Sliding a knife between his ribs, over and over until he lay gasping at her feet. Handing him a cup of coffee full of cyanide or rat poison and watching him fall helplessly on his own face. Pounding her fists into his skull until he stopped breathing.

Thousands of times, the words I’ll kill you passed through her head as though she could scream them at him.

After she started having panic attacks, a new thought entered her head. Crying, sobbing, wailing into her pillows, punching her walls until her knuckles swelled; screaming her heartbreak until the panic set in and she dropped to the floor, gasping and thrashing for air that wouldn’t come for minutes at a time. After the panic attacks started, she didn’t just want to kill him. She wanted to take her own life, too. Take too many allergy pills, chug a bottle of cough syrup, stop eating, cut her wrists, push a little bubble of air into an artery—she wanted to write him a scathing note and blame him for her destroyed life, all while memories of how happy he’d made her bombarded her from every corner of her brain.

I despise you. I despise you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you if I ever see you again. I have panic attacks now because of you. I hope you’re happy. I hate you.

He took everything from her. He filled her with hope and happiness and then he ripped it all away like he didn’t care. Like it meant nothing to him to turn his back on everything they’d built and experienced together. Like the fact that it was gone like a wisp of smoke was just meaningless to him.

New scars marked her wrists where she’d wanted to die but known it wouldn’t hurt him enough. Logbooks sat on her bookshelves of her weight fluctuating as the periodic starvation took its toll.

She dreamed of killing him for breaking her. She’d trusted him with everything. She’d loved him with everything she had. Maven wanted nothing more than to make him bleed for that. He’d pay. He’d pay for taking everything from her.

So, when the time came for Maven and Seungmin to prepare to enter the facility, her patience with him was running out. She had an hour before she had to be downstairs, loading up in the Jeep with him, and she was spending that time sitting on her bed, ruminating over the past year. She was caught in the same mental torment that she’d found herself in most days since he left her.

The good memories, the love and companionship, versus the bad memories—the distrust and fear that he’d put her through, the blatant lies and the day that he destroyed everything; the bad memories were easier. She could find some strength in self defense, in believing that she deserved better than him, in the desire to crush him under her shoe as she got over him and never look back.

The good memories were betrayal. Burning, mortal hurt followed the thoughts of the way they used to be together. The way he’d been her best friend, the way they’d shared everything and turned to each other for anything.

Well—the way that she had turned to him. He’d never leaned on her when he was dealing with something, not unless she insisted that he talk to her. He’d isolated himself, he wouldn’t talk to her, he left her feeling useless in their relationship, and somehow it was her fault.

He had blamed her for everything, as though he hadn’t made her feel like he was going to leave her every time he felt like they were in conflict.

Before she knew what she was doing, Maven had thrown one of her boots across the room, where it struck the wall with a loud bang. Anger pulsed in her chest and painted red across her vision until she couldn’t see.

What had he said when he was telling her he didn’t want her anymore? That she wasn’t as sociable as he was and she didn’t like going on walks like he did? He complained those points morosely at her like she’d wounded him so deeply by being a different person than he was. 

Maven threw the other boot, and a second later, a knock sounded on their adjoining bathroom door.

Seungmin poked his head in. “You good? I heard banging.”

“I gave you Seoul.” Maven snapped, eyes flashing as he entered her space.

Baffled, the tall special agent let the door swing open. “What?”

“I happily gave you Seoul.” It had taken time for her to warm up to the idea, but then she had started telling him that she was getting excited about it, and that she was happy to live in Seoul. He’d told her that they could eventually retire to Tokyo, and she was excited about that, too.

Processing slowly, Seungmin slipped one hand into his pants pocket. “Maven, you hated Seoul. Why are we talking about this now?” He seemed smug to see that she was still hung up on his deeds against her, as though he’d rather hear that she was still hurting than that she still cared about him.

“You have never cared about what I liked or hated—only what you wanted. I gave up being a special agent.” Back in the beginning, she’d given it up without a word, and never brought it up. He hadn’t wanted her to be part of the program, because then she wouldn’t be at home making a family possible. She didn’t bring it up or ask to apply unless he pushed her into it, and he pushed and pushed for her to consider doing it, and she kept saying no, because it wasn’t part of their plan, it wasn’t what he wanted.

But he would keep pushing and convincing her that he wanted her to and that he would let her do it and he would make it work. Every time he convinced her to agree with him, he would get hurt and upset and start fights, and then twice he’d disappeared on her for a whole week. He would push her into believing that he wanted her to be a special agent and that he was willing to accommodate it, and when she believed him, he would throw a complete fit and blame her.

“Being a special agent was all you ever wanted. Look at you—you did it.” He was still speaking gently, defending his choices, as though he’d done what was best for her. The fact that he’d manipulated and entrapped her didn’t even reach him. He thought he’d been so perceptive about what she really wanted, and that it was her fault that she wanted it.

“I chose you over it. I wanted you more. You wouldn’t listen to me and you thought you knew what was best. I chose you, but you knew better, did you?” She got off her bed and stormed closer, riding the fury of finally being able to confront him. She could have put her hands around his throat and squeezed the life out of him—not for what he’d done to her, but for what he’d been to her. He’d been the love of her life, and she’d given everything to him.

“I agreed to a lot of kids. Kids were a difficult concept for me, but I worked and worked at factoring it into my life for you, and all you would do was try to push for more, and never gave me any credit for being willing to give you any in the first place. When I would have moments of fear, given my own experience, you would use it against me. Screw you.” She wanted to strike him as hard as she could, but she didn’t.

“I gave you the wedding. You already knew I don’t like weddings. But I put so much work into it. I prepared for over a year for that wedding. When there were things I wanted, like to have it in Hokkaido, or a non-church wedding, or a small wedding, you didn’t allow any of it. So when it was going in every direction I didn’t want it to go, you were insulted and hurt that I wasn’t happy with it, even though I was trying to be happy about it. You didn’t even have your wedding clothes yet, a month before our wedding.”

Her mother had been making her dress. Sewing it by hand, designing it with her, putting hours and days and weeks into making it perfect, and all the while all he could do was complain that she wasn’t putting enough into his perfect wedding.

So after everything that she changed to give to him, he had the audacity to throw a fit that she didn’t like lots of socializing and long walks, too? How dare he expect her to give him everything and throw tantrums when she struggled with that process?

She had to move to Seoul, deal with his whiplash over VALOR, give him 7 fucking children, and love socializing for hours, and love long walks, and agree with him on everything, and not be allowed to express any kind of difficulty with everything he expected of her?

He had the nerve to say that he couldn’t trust her after lying numerous times to her face? After throwing false affirmations and shameless manipulation about VALOR?

“I tried so hard to give you everything, and when I didn’t feel like you were listening or appreciating or understanding or prioritizing me, you blamed me for being upset at you. It was always my fault. You used it against me rather than listening to me.” She could have clawed his eyes out with the way he was staring at her like he pitied her.

She had tried to give him everything.

“I should have controlled my emotions better, but I was struggling under the weight of your expectations and demands. You didn’t give me any grace or room to grow. You didn’t try to give anything back.”

He tried to take her hair and her clothes. It's too short, he'd say. I want you to grow your hair out. Or, why do you wear dark colors all the time? I think you wear too much black.

He offered to let her have a cat, a gracious offer considering he doesn't like cats. He offered to let them retire on property in Tokyo, an unbelievable offer considering he swore to never leave Seoul.

Everything else had to be his way, and it was her fault that it hadn’t been her idea in the first place.

“I messed up. I let myself get upset at you too often. I was 23. It was my first relationship. I have generational patterns to break. That takes years and work to fix, but I was determined to fix them. You blamed me for not having the same plans as you from the start. You stopped telling me when things bothered you. You lied about everything being okay, and then weeks later you’d tell me that everything wasn’t fine and you’d use my fears against me. You would disappear for a week at a time. Twice. You expected me to live according to your plan, and you’d be hurt and insulted when it wasn’t my idea in the first place. We both had things to work on. You bailed, out of nowhere, and gave up because all of a sudden you couldn’t deal with the fact that relationships take work. I offered tangible steps. We could put off the wedding. I could move closer. We could go to counseling for a few months. You said you still loved me but you weren’t willing to do the actual work that could be done. You stupid, insecure, controlling, manipulative ass.”

He broke her heart, destroyed her life, neglected and abandoned her.

And there he was, looking at her like he was waiting for her emotional outburst to be finished.

“You’re a liar and a user. You threw me away for no good reason. You cruel little child. You broke everything. Nothing I did was good enough. Nothing I offered was good enough for you. God forbid I have emotions while my fiancé is 500 miles away living in comfort, making me plan the wedding and graduate training at the same time, and then being late to our one phone call a day. How dare I struggle with your plans and expectations of me?”

Seungmin was staring at her, watching her break down in tears as she threw a year’s worth of anger at him. He watched her hands ball and clench, muscles across her upper body tightening as though she wanted to maul him but was holding herself back. “Maven,” He started, voice soft. She glared at him with such hatred and malice that he almost didn’t recognize her. “It was for the best.”

She considered the weapons on her belt in the next second that passed between them. At his arrogant, narcissistic words, she collected herself in a single breath and turned away, heading for her door. “Fuck you, Seungmin.”

A L M O S T    S U M M E R

Rather than climbing out of the riverbank where they had been on previous excursions, the VALOR fire team continued on towards the runoff pipes. Every so often, Seungmin would give her a sign to halt, and he’d clamber up the riverbank to check their surroundings and make sure no one was approaching their location. When he would move up to the field, Maven would backtrack a few yards downriver and listen for anyone potentially following them.

Under the blackest night sky she’d seen in months, Maven once more found herself far more nervous than she had been in the daylight, or even during their nighttime expedition the day before. They wore night vision goggles and their rifles had night vision optics, but the altered perspective distracted her brain so much she felt blind.

As they advanced toward the Nokken facility, the water got deeper, soon spilling over the top of their tall, waterproof boots and soaking them through. On first contact, the water felt cold and chilling, but soon faded in sensation to a lukewarm, tepid temperature. It was like wading around in old bath water.

The closer they got to the perimeter fence, the better they could see that the river widened into a reservoir that was being dumped into by the runoff pipes. Roughly six yards from the fence, the river started to widen and get still deeper. As Maven’s feet stopped catching the riverbed, the water lapping around her ears, she wished they’d finished testing the contents of the water before they went swimming in it.

Ahead of her, Seungmin was finally starting to get in over his head and began a weak side stroke. He’d always hated swimming, and with half of their equipment on his back, Maven could see him struggling to get a strong rhythm.

At the chain link fence that stretched inches above the surface, Seungmin and Maven tucked their heads under water and swam through beneath it, and then they were in the camp.

Waiting for the guard to make his rounds past their location, they stayed low, silently treading water. When he tromped by, Seungmin took the lead towards the giant runoff pipes looming overhead. Swimming the final stretch of about twenty meters, he put himself into position and pulled a climbing cable out of his pack.

Maven did the same, double checking her harness before shooting a hook upwards to pierce the closest pipe. It punctured the metal with a dull thunk sound.

When nobody came running to investigate the noise, he gave Maven a nod. At his signal, she retracted the cable with a remote on her harness, and found herself being slowly lifted out of the reservoir.

The inside of the pipe was slimy with algae and fungus, and her boots slid in the grime when she first pulled herself inside. Crawling in on her knees, she ignored the way the swampy plant life squished under her. Once her weight was off her cable, she hit another button on her harness, collapsing her grappling hook back in on itself, and retracted it to clip into her belt.

Maven settled back on her heels and listened for a few seconds. She couldn’t hear anything from up the pipe, and it didn’t sound like Seungmin was having any unwanted company below her, so she stuck her head out over the lip.

In the dim light from the camp, Seungmin's mud-covered face looked like two white eyeballs in a sea of night.

She held out a hand in a thumbs-up.

He waved back and she tucked back into the pipe. A second later, his grappling hook shot past her and the pipe shook as he began his ascent.

Relying on her night vision goggles, Maven backed deeper into the slimy runoff pipe to give him room to crawl in behind her. Moments later they were moving, following the digital map that VALOR’s drones had scanned for them.

They were getting close to the first service hatch.

The deeper into the pipe they got, the more Maven started picking up on a rotting smell. She found herself holding her breath to fight the nausea she felt.

“Hey,” His voice whispered up to her.

Maven paused, glancing back under her arm. “What?”

He tapped her boot to signal her to keep moving. “I just wanted to say—I know I screwed up. I know I mistreated you. You didn’t deserve any of what I did to you. I’m sorry.”

Maven let his words sink into her brain for a few long minutes, finally distracted from the mushy fungus squishing between her fingers as she crawled through the alien plumbing. He’d never admitted to having mishandled the situation, but he’d said sorry half a dozen times before.

Anybody could say they were sorry. It didn’t mean anything. They usually didn’t mean anything by it—it was the thing to say to absolve themselves of wrong, whether they cared or not. Maven had no intention of letting him off the hook for saying he was sorry when he always expected her automatic forgiveness in the past, and when he had lied to her so many times in their relationship.

“Yeah,” She finally whispered back. “You should be.”

‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a request. It didn’t demand a response, except socially. She didn’t owe him an ‘it’s okay’ or an ‘I forgive you.’

He said he was sorry.

She supported his decision. He should have been very sorry.

He was quiet for a little while.

They were coming up on the service hatch, so Maven switched her attention to searching the sides of the tube for a seam in the metal. If they could get past the pipes, they could initiate a mapping software and begin finally gathering data on the Nokken facility.

“I am sorry.” He whispered again. “I know I can’t make it right.”

He couldn’t make it right. Maven found the seam. “Here’s the hatch.”

“But I want you to know I’ve got your back. And I really do want us to be friends.”

“Are those more promises?”

More promises from the promise-breaker. She couldn’t contain her overwhelming disgust.

Seungmin shuffled up beside her and began helping her get the hatch open. “Yeah, I’ve given you no reason to believe me. Give it time; I’ll prove it to you.”

Maven scoffed. “Would you shut up and get the magnet?”

A L M O S T    S U M M E R

Sludge and murky runoff water dripped out of the pipe around them when they slid out into a loud, dark space. The moment Maven’s boots squished down on hard concrete, she dropped into a crouch and pulled her rifle around to her front, squeezing the grip with soggy gloves.

Her night vision displayed the room in a green cast.

They seemed to be in a maintenance area, with various breaker boxes, air filtration units, furnace systems, and a number of gas tanks that appeared to be fueling the heating and hot water utilities.

Seungmin touched down next to her. “University Station,” he muttered into his radio. “This is Ego. We’ve successfully infiltrated through the runoff system. Our entry point appears to be the boiler room.”

After determining that they were alone, the agents took up positions on either side of the room and initiated their mapping software. While the VALOR program created a digital blueprint of the room, Maven snapped pictures of each piece of machinery.

Across the room, she watched him take note of two doors, and head for the nearest one. His soaked tactical gear dripped around him, making a stiff scraping sound as he walked. He tried the handle and pulled the door open, and scanned the space with his sidearm ready.

Maven waited for the mapping software to finish, eyes fixed on her partner. His words ricocheted around her head until she felt sick. She’d heard them before. He’d spouted all kinds of lies while they were together and as he broke up with her that rang the same tune. He was sorry. He’d do better.

She scoffed to herself, scanning the last corner.

He’d fooled her enough.

She’d rather wander the Nokken facility blindfolded by herself than trust him again.

[anxiescape]

Fanfic writer interview, tagged by @violetjedisylveon

What fandoms do you write in?

A lot, actually, but I’ve only published in a few so far: LEGO Monkie Kid, Danny Phantom, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Other fandoms that I’ve written in are Sonic the Hedgehog, My Hero Academia, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gravity Falls, Supernatural, My Little Pony, and Marvel. But I’m not going to post any of those except for maybe a Sonic fic or two, since most of it is from my junior high days. 😅

How many words have you published in 2024?

Published? 27,016. Unpublished? A lot more.

What are your top three fics you’ve written this year?

(I’m counting 2024 since I haven’t written too much yet this year.) I guess those would be Stargaze, The Apprentice of Thanatos, and Fire Lilies, since those were all I was able to post in last year.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

Oh, it’s currently ongoing. Just the dread that I won’t be able to get all my stories written, that I’m not posting often enough, that my stories aren’t any good, the usual… 😓

What have you learned?

Hmmm I’ve learned some neat stuff about ancient Chinese history and ancient Greek history while researching for my fics. And I’ve also learned lots about lily poisoning and cough syrup intoxication. (You can blame Fire Lilies for that, lol.)

Did you beta any fics?

I beta all of @amalgamorph’s fics! (which you should definitely read, by the way!)

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

Gosh, I don’t know if I've even managed to read three fics this year (and by this year I mean 2024). I’ve been way too busy, unfortunately. 😭 BUT!!! A few that I love and have read somewhat recently(?) are the space between a rock and a hard place by Alienu, The Constellations Within Us by cloud_somersault, and Shards by LadyGreenFrisbee.

What ideas are percolating for next year?

I’m really hoping to get Fire Lilies done and Stargaze rolling again, and I’m hoping to start posting To Hell and Back and The Last of the Shadows! 😁🤞

Tagging @amalgamorph and @mythicalmagical-monkeyman and anyone else who would like to participate. :3