#but bc he was with other Shadows he panicked

[lilcritterdoingmabest]

hold on. thats actually so cute. wait just a moment while i hyperfixate on a Vaqueros innocently complimenting Ghosts tattoos

Ghost: One of the Shadows told me he didn’t like my snake tattoo but one of the Vaqueros who doesn’t speak English very well told me “Cobra beautiful”.

Ghost: So fuck you, Graves.

[q1ngqve]

hi!! same anon here you dont have to take this as a request bc i just wanted to get this out of my chest yandere or at least obssesive averatio where both overstim the hell out of reader (lowkey mindbreak if you're comfy about that??) after reader rejects their advances NOT OUT OF HATE or anything but bc their insecurities got the best of them and either thought the two were just messing w them or they have abandonment issues (i do not have the second one whatever do you mean i am not projecting do not percieve me) no offense to these two but they look like the ppl to mess w your heart n leave you to rot

mb some predator/prey (they both hunt you down after you avoid them both and as ratio wisely said "what do you do with a cornered prey? hunt it to death" AUGHAHSGA) aphrodisiacs, drugging, etc. anyways after that you best bet you'll be too dumb to ever think of something as stupid as that, and sure, yes ratio hates idiots but well..... you will be the only exception given how cute you look all fucked out and broken on their bed with their cocks deep inside you <3

SKLDJALSDJAL HELP i feel awfully embarrassed w writing this lmao scuse me while i bleach my head.

i am very sorry this took so long </3 i wrote this as a fic at first but i lost motivation so now it’s just in the form of brain rot :(

oh no :( poor reader with insecurities from your past relationships thinking every man out there is a liar, especially the two that gave their hearts to you :( running away from them is a smart move because we don’t trust men in this household!

but you forget how annoying they can be when it comes to getting what they want, and they want you (´▽｀) so don’t be surprised when you find yourself feeling scared out of your mind walking home alone and feeling like you’re being watched! or when you find certain luxury items randomly appearing in your room! or the slightest hint of their cologne when you wake up every morning! because you asked for this by running away 😵‍💫

this was supposed to be holiday for you — coming to penacony, but the headache and blurry room before you has you panicking! you best know that no one is coming to save you when you’re running through the reverie hotel like a lost bunny when you receive a letter saying they’ll have you tonight! and if you think you had any chance of escape, you’re so wrong 😖

oh, and don’t let them know that you’re afraid, it only spurs them on! hunting you down through the corridors of the hotel is so adrenaline inducing for them <3 running shouldn’t be so hard though, so why do you feel as if your legs are going to give out any second? oh right, the drink! they probably drugged it, seems like something they would do

an exasperated gasp leaves you when you finally let your body fall, eyes closing, preparing for impact. and the next thing you know you wake up, hands tied above you to the headboard, your body completely bare. you’d struggle with all your might, soft whines sounding at the back of your throat when you spot the two of them hiding in the shadows, staring down at you with those bright, lust-filled eyes

oh, you’re so dead

your body feels like it’s on fire, desperately needing release, needing someone to touch you, anyone. your voice betrays you as whimpers leave you when they stalk towards you, their burning gaze not helping with the burning sensation.

you really did think you could escape! so why’re you here, tied and unable to move? tears fall as you lock eyes with veritas ratio, your fight or flight kicking in when he reaches out to caress your cheek, wiping the tears away. laughter sounds from aventurine on the other side of the bed, you’re just so naive! all he wants to do is to love and break you until you’re a sobbing mess beneath him 😵‍💫 so don’t blame him when he kisses you, he just can’t help it anymore, not when you’re already shaking when all they did was drug your drink and reveal themselves to you after months of stalking :(

the aphrodisiac is making you incredibly sensitive to their touch, which is perfect for them because that would mean hearing your sweet cries of pleasure! you best prepare yourself though, because they’re not stopping until you’re about to pass out 🧎🏻‍♀️ they haven’t had you for months, nobody is going to stop them from worshipping you, not even yourself.

you’ll be so overstimulated by the end of the night that even just innocent touches can have you whining and trembling like a leaf (^^)

“you really think you can run from us?” — veritas ratio

“who you knew you were so filthy, hmm? you wanted us to hunt you down, didn’t you? dirty, dirty girl.” — veritas ratio

“missed you so much, pretty girl.” — aventurine

“stop? now why would we do that? you’re clearly enjoying this. look at you, making such a mess on my cock.” — aventurine

[tragedy-of-commons]

GWEN POOKIE POOKIE IM SO PROUD OF YOU !!! CONGRATS ON GETTING 200 💥💥💥 YOU DESERVE SOSOSO MUCH !!

as for your prompt, can i get a "that was but a moment of weakness. think nothing of it." with dan feng? romantic please bc lord im starving of dan feng content

AGAIN, CONGRATS ON 200!! HERES TO YOUR FOLLOWER EVENT GOING BOOM BOOM BOOM <333

"That was but a moment of weakness. Think nothing of it."

Dan Feng's words echo into an ensuing chasm of silence. You're getting real tired of this whole back and forth, but you have to hold your tongue - the High Elder would not like to be called out on his lie so easily.

...even if his tail is wrapped snugly around your waist, and his austere countenance is plagued by a tinge of pink.

"Really? You're not known for being weak," you jab, unable to help yourself. Being 'your roguish self' in his presence is inevitable.

Dan Feng's tail unhands you, lashing side to side before stilling. His quarters are unlike anything you've ever seen, really; opulent cushions and fabrics making up the (multiple) chaises, a vanity littered with vibrant lotus blooms, and a subtle air of cloudhymn magic buzzing about each nook and cranny.

Even though you've been let in here at least a dozen times, it still feels like you're trespassing on sacred ground.

"A lapse in judgment, then," he supplies, taking a few purposeful strides towards the highlight of the chambers themselves - the vanity. "It happens to the best of us, despite what you may believe."

You watch as he sits down, ramrod straight. When he starts to tap his foot impatiently, you groan and slink over.

Dan Feng, Imbibitor Lunae, High Elder of the Vidyadhara, Guardian of Scalegorge Waterscape... is utterly enchanting. Your own reflection fades into white noise in the image of the mirror, subdued by his presence alone.

Without making him wait any longer, you pick up the familiar hairbrush within reach, beginning to comb through his tresses delicately. Whenever you snag on a minute tangle, he stiffens in warning before you curb the knot.

You hum. "Well, then I'm glad it happened to you, Esteemed One. Without your 'lapse in judgment', I'd have been doomed to my next incarnation much earlier than I would've liked."

You're referring to the incident that took place earlier today. On a stroll with the High Elder himself, a banditry of rebels and mutineers attempted to assassinate Dan Feng, and by extension, you as well.

It went by in a flash; one second, you were holding his hand and chatting about something as mundane as the scenery - the next, you were shoved behind his back as four Vidyadhara, your own kind, jumped out of the shadows, hungry to further their agenda.

The speed at which he ran Cloud-Piercer through them all was unbelievable. Seconds had gone by, not a hair on your head out of place, yet the enemies lied vanquished on the ground. Finally, Dan Feng had turned to you afterward, scanning you for any signs of injury with a pinched brow.

He almost looked panicked then. No high and mighty quips, no diluted sarcasm, no nothing! It was strange, to say the least.

News had spread like wildfire, and after rushing through the appropriate procedures, Dan Feng stuck to you like glue. He often says that he likes to keep you close so you don't fall into a crevice and perish, but this is different.

He protected you and your honor with his life. He pulled you close with his tail during the following hours - an intimate act usually reserved for lovers, neurotically monitoring anyone who got too close to you, baring just a hint of fang.

You know he cares for you in his own way, but this is dizzying.

"...you are exempt from referring to me by formal title," he sobers you from your thoughts, likely sensing your distress. After all, healers such as him are constantly attuned to other people's wavelengths. "It was nothing. There is no need to be grateful."

That response also strikes you as odd. Usually, Dan Feng basks in your praise and gratitude. Now, he's almost humble, whispering so only you can hear him.

Perhaps, in the depths of that statement, he's leaving an underlying message for you to pick up on. Something possibly along the lines of:

Don't be grateful. I could've lost you.

Your grip on the silver handle of the brush tightens. "If you say so."

The remaining knots are lightwork, Dan Feng's hair pooling around his pointed ears, now silky and smooth. His eyes are closed, posture relaxed and statuesque. When you do get to see him like this, it's always healing in its own right.

Experimentally, you brush your fingers over the nape of his neck. Sparkling teal scales adorn the skin there, responsive to your gentle touch. They flare at the intrusive sensation before calming, passively granting you permission to continue.

"That was the first time you were with me when an attempt on my life had been made," he cracks open his eyes, gazing at your reflection instead of his own. "I can't guarantee it won't happen again."

"I'm aware."

You set the hairbrush back onto the vanity, task completed. At this point in the routine, you'd normally excuse yourself to go about your own obligations.

But now? You remain rooted behind a man that you desperately want to love, just a little bit more.

"Something is on your mind," Dan Feng cuts in, "I suggest you voice your concerns."

He knows you just as well as you know him, even if he acts above vulnerability and the baggage that comes with it. Ghosting your fingers up the slope of his skin and through his dark locks, you sigh. Translating your turmoil into words has never been an easy feat.

Your hand now rests in between his regal horns, unsure. You've never so recklessly tested the waters before - but you need answers. You want to know, desperately, if he views you in the same light that you bestow upon him.

"Dan Feng," you whisper, admiring the appendages and their luminescent glow. They match the rest of him perfectly, and you've always imagined what it'd be like to touch them - to revere them. Gentle sea green, molded into branch-like coral.

"May I?" you hope.

When the Imbibitor Lunae's response comes, it's sweet, chased by a resigned sigh that tells you all you need to know.

"If you so wish."

Initially, you feel the telltale vibrations of him shuddering as you make yourself known as his lover. Today, in some other universe, Dan Feng might have lost you. But in this one, where you're both intertwined in the best possible way?

There is not a chance he can get rid of you so easily.

🏷️: @akutasoda, @aviiarie, @lowkeyren

a/n: your wish is my command, miss illu :3 your support brings a tear to this old clown's eye... but thank you, really! almost done with all the requests, and i hope you enjoy what i did with dan feng. never written for him before, but your writing served as inspo ^^

event post here

[yestrday]

Any characters and au with M/C who has another stalker?? 🤨🤨🤨

i think it'd be funny to see this go down bc the yan would be like :000 someone else with loose and unethical morals! i need to protect my darling even though i pose an equal if not more dangerous threat to them! i love my hypocrites

you might like:

academy! mika starts panicking when he realizes that another freak has joined him on following your daily route throughout the academy. he starts rambling to his fellow first years about how worrying this is! and that they should— he should protect you! but he doesn't quite know how to go about confronting this stalker and he's worried that he might be overreacting that he might be just overthinking things. the others sit in amused silence. this isn't your first time having stalkers (bennett clamps razor's mouth before he can speak up about his own stalking), and the fact that your most obvious stalker is worrying about another is kind of funny.

the stakes are higher in the hybrid au, so obviously no stalker will be left untouched... or unhurt. as one of your most prominent shadows, hybrid! xiao can easily catch any rat trying to sneak up on you. your whole security team actually, but being one of the more powerful ones, xiao is usually the one to snatch them up. he doesn't take his time and already has a spear to the poor guy's neck, ready to behead them. the others have to stop him so that they can get some more intel about him. he's a bit huffy about letting dirt like that live for a bit longer, but he lets the others do their thing while his steely gaze is on the interrogated's head for the rest of the questioning.

househusband! kazuha gets pretty protective when a stalker shows up while he's... protecting you from afar. in fact, this entire situation just further cements how much you need his protection! he confronts your stalker with a gentle smile, pretty enough that they would've thought he was just some friendly passerby. but that all changes when kazuha has a sword to his neck and they start panicking because— who carries a sword in modern day teyvat?! and oh archons he feels his flesh splitting. kazuha's pretty merciless when it comes to anything that could pose a threat to you, and he does all this with his gentlemanly smile that you don't even notice the stench of blood when you come home to him and his cooking.

[mycadences]

I find it interesting that Eris could manage to sneak up on Cassian and Azriel - the Spymaster of the Night Court - in Chapter 69 of ACOSF. That same page has Cassian narrating:

The Blood Rite would end the next day. Cassian had heard nothing of Nesta, felt nothing. But he’d barely slept. Had hardly been able to keep his focus on the party ahead as they entered a low-lying forest beyond the hills, ancient and knotted and full of hanging moss.

Cassian, being worried over Nesta (his own admission), would have been easy prey for Eris. But Azriel? What's his excuse for not detecting Eris when he was literally just a step away from Cassian? I suspect that SJM included the quote above to justify why Eris could take Cassian by surprise (since she wouldn't want us to think Cassian is incompetent), even holding a knife to his ribs without him noticing. This suggests that she perhaps had also prepared an explanation (or even the same explanation; hint: mates) for why Azriel did not realize Eris's presence.

And yes, it might have something to do with a certain conversation that transpired between Azriel and Cassian just a chapter ago (Chapter 68):

“There are plenty of other unspeakable things that could be happening to her,” Cassian said, voice thickening. “To Emerie and Gwyn.”

The shadows deepened around Azriel, his Siphons gleaming like cobalt fire. “You—we—trained them well, Cassian. Trust in that. It’s all we can do.”

I'm just saying that I won't be surprised if when we finally get Azriel's POV, we find out that he was panicking internally when Gwyn was taken to the Blood Rite but had to block out those thoughts. We know he has a habit of blocking out memories that are particularly traumatizing to him - his BC revealed that he blocked out the memories of Gwyn's assault as well as his mother cringing before his father.

[scekrex]

Hey I was wondering if you could do Adam x reader where reader is a sinner who literally just spawned in the middle of an extermination so not only are they panicked about one somehow being alive, two the fact that they're body is basically completely different, and three that weird winged people are killing others. Adam sees reader and after a second or two of thinking and deciding that yeah they're cute makes up his mind and helps them. I hope you have an amazing day/night!

Thanks for request hun! I swear it was great writing it bc it was tricky to keep Adam as character accurate while also making him sympathize with reader. Here ya go, hope you like it xoxo/p

I’ll shelter and adore you more than anything

pairing: Adam x male!reader

warnings: language, mentions of death, low-key canon typical violence

note: not beta read bc fuck you I don't have beta readers

First it had all been black for a moment, a silent void that your soul seemed to travel through. Then there was light, at first it had seemed reddish, then it turned gold, the golden light transitioned to white and then you found yourself standing on solid ground.

What?

You reached for your head, your hands roamed over your skull, there was soft hair there, no sticky red blood, so liquid that coated your hair and made it all greasy. There was also no sign of your skull being cracked open even though that was what had just happened before the world had faded and turned black.

Your eyes roamed over your surroundings and panic and anxiety fueled you alongside confusion on why you were still alive.

There were winged people, they were fighting other creatures, in the hair, on the ground, all around you. Your body screamed at you to run away, to go seek shelter somewhere, to not get killed again. Which was weird enough because you had just died so why the fuck were you here and where was here to begin with. But your body didn't move, it felt like you were glued to the spot, as if your feet had melted and were now one with the ground.

A thing you noticed quickly was that all of the winged people wore black and white only, their wings matched those colors. But there was one guy, way taller than the others, he wore a purple robe with white details and golden sleeves, his wings were also golden. You assumed he was their leader.

You wanted to hide, from him especially, because if you were right and he was their leader, you were easy prey for them. You didn't understand what was going on, nor did you know where you were. Your arms reached for your legs, you tried to move, to get out of their view, to make yourself as unnoticeable as physically possible. But your body still wasn't moving. So you stood there, body violently shaking from fear and panic, what would it be like to die a second time? Would it be just as painful? Would you come back yet again and live through it all again?

“Fucking run you stupid bastard,” someone yelled at you as they rushed past your frozen body. All you could do was to look at them. Then your legs gave out and you collapsed.

Curled up into a ball your body was still shaking, vibrating even, and you felt hot tears streaming down your cheeks. That's it, you were going to die again, maybe even more painful than before. But most importantly: this time you were going to die alone, no partner by your side.

In the corner of your eyes you saw a shadow that was casted over you, a gigantic shadow with wings that were spread out, the winged creature was basically shielding your body from the few of the other winged creatures.

You saw how he leaned in, how his face got closer to your body, a dead serious expression was meeting your unsteady one. Fuck, he was going to kill you, wasn't he?

His lange hand grabbed your shoulder roughly and forced you to lay on your back, he eyed your face carefully before greeting you with a relaxed, “Sup?” You were too stunned to speak. You had expected this creature to kill you, to tear you apart until all that's left of you were little shreds. But instead he greeted you with a simple ‘sup’? Your body tried to get away from his touch, everything inside of you screamed to get away from him, that he was bad news. But you stayed, mainly because his grip on you was painfully firm, but you stayed. “Y’know,” he continued as he raised an eyebrow at you, “It’s pretty fucking rude to not answer.”

A weak and quiet, “Hey,” was all you could get out and while clearly not the answer he had wanted - he made sure you knew that by sighing heavily - he picked you up bridal style. His golden wings were still spread, you supposed he held them up in pride, claiming you as his very own personal trophy. “Where are we going?” it was more of an instinct than actual knowledge you wanted, you were pretty sure you did not wanna know where the two of you were heading to. Most likely he was carrying you in your death. “Dunno, away from the fucking battle for now,” was his response as he walked away from said battle. Why was he being nice? Was he being nice or did he just carry you away to brutally murder you? But if that was his intention then why was he leaving the battlefield? Why not kill you then and there? “Why?” you simply asked, it was all that you could get out, you were too caught up in your thoughts to talk in proper sentences. He looked down at you and for a moment there was confusion written all over his face before he understood, a simple shrug was the answer. “You looked fucking lost,” the creature carrying you explained, “Fucking scared and alone.”

Adam sighed as he forced his eyes shut, you had reminded him of himself after Eve had left him. He was alone, scared even. And then he had crossed the pearly gates and the loneliness continued, he was less afraid but still as lonely, still as broken as he had been on earth. And while you had ended up in hell he couldn't just leave you there, not when you had been looking so much like him when he had died. Adam had died alone, no one should die alone. Especially not someone as gloriously holy looking as you. Because for a sinner, you looked too much like an angel. The wings were missing, obviously they were, no sinner would be reborn with angelic wings, but he could picture you with a pair and he hated himself for it. Because hell was forever and for the first time he didn't like the thought of that, because it included you. The first man didn't quite understand where the sympathy towards you came from, maybe it was just that he had seen himself in you, maybe it was because you seemed different than the others. Has God made a mistake? Adam shook his head, no. God makes no mistakes and neither do angels. But yet he questioned why you looked so holy, so angelic while being reborn a sinner.

The inner conflict Adam was fighting against himself was interrupted by two cannibals that were walking right towards you. Adam rolled his eyes, one hand let go of you and his wing came up to hold you up instead as he raised the hand that had been holding you only moments and a golden battle axe guitar appeared out of thin air. He twirled the shiny looking Instrumental weapon, then sliced their heads off smoothly, Adam's wing had covered your eyes so you weren't able to see it, but you heard it. Heard the blade slicing through flesh, heard their heads hitting the ground. And as surprisingly as the weapon had appeared, it was gone again.

One of the black and white dressed creatures flew towards you, seemingly targeting Adam. “Sir,” the female spoke with respect as she landed next to the guy that was carrying you. She eyed you, then looked at the tall man. “No fucking comment about it, Lute,” he warned with a low growl in his voice and the woman straightened her back with a nod, “We are done, we need to leave.” The masked man looked down at you, you looked so beautiful against his golden feathers, so holy, so untouchable. Yet you were a sinner and he couldn't bring a sinner with him to heaven. So he carefully let you down, the tip of his longest feather ghosted over your cheek, it wiped the tears away. “Promise me to stay fucking safe,” he mumbled as he stood in front of you. You looked up at him with curious eyes, “Where will you be going?” And it was just then and there that Adam realized that you knew nothing. Without him you would've died on the battlefield. “Heaven babes, me and those crazy bitches are going home,” he hummed and pointed to the woman next to him. “And we're currently in…?” Adam's face scrunched up and he bitterly spoke, “Hell.”

Oh. Oh.

So he was an angel? What did that make you? A demon? And yet he had protected you, shielded and saved you. Your eyes widened at that and the man in front of you chuckled. “If you ever see my ladies again,” he once again pointed to the woman next to him, “As for Adam, I'll let these cunts know about you babes ‘n’ they'll lead ya ass to me.” You repeated his name softly, deciding immediately that you liked the sound of it. “The one and only, it's not every day that you meet the fucking og dick,” a cocky grin was sent your way and it took you a moment to process his words. “The Adam? Like Adam and Eve?” That caused the first man's expression to sour immediately, Eve was seemingly a sensitive topic, you took a mental note. “Yeah. That one.”

Lute was once again the one to interrupt, “Sir we really need to go. The seraphims will question why we were gone longer than agreed.” Adam once again rolled his eyes and grabbed your shoulders again, more gentle this time, “Stay safe babes, we'll be back in six months.” And while you weren't entirely sure what he meant by that - because back for what? - you nodded.

[necros-writing-stuff]

Hi Necro I’m the anon that sent the ask abt the batboys and JayTim to Inky and I love that you just now posted that lil JayTim snippet about them being horny and unhinged 🫶 It could not have come at a better time bc I was also just reading another trans!Tim JayTim fic where they’re banging to the point of busting Tim’s stitching and making him bleed :)

Needless to say this is a wonderful night, you and Inky are glorious, more unhinged JayTim (or other batcest) pls? 🙏🥰

Hehehe hello friend, of course we can have more.

Summary: Tim feeling out of place in the Batfamily but Jason's affection fills him with a deep "selfish" need. No smut, just Tim's mental illness making him think he's bad for wanting a place and affection.

'Did the Lazarus Pit only heal his mind or did Jason get vivisected after?'

A common thought had by any Bats who see him in a medical cot, half delirious on fear toxin with bandaged broken ribs he got after falling torso first onto a fire escape railing.

The scars are so angry, the Y shape looking more like a claw tore through the former Robin's skin rather than a scalpel smoothly separating each layer. It is not the only scar, no. The ring finger on his left hand is twisted and gnarled, the fingernail missing and nailbed ruined. A blade had knicked his lip, healing so that the scar pulls it up into a sneer. Lash marks marr his back.

Tim can't look at Bruce right now. Can't look at Dick or Alfred. He's thankful that Babs isn't here, too. He can't handle the guilt weeping out of everyone's pores - the continued grief for a boy gone when there's a man laying before them. He's handled their grief, Bruce's especially, for years now. And he's tired.

Damian is the only one who seems unaffected, though whether it is because battered bodies were common in the League or he and Jason 'forgot' to mention that they already know each other due to Talia, no one can say.

He should leave. Tim knows he should leave, give the family some room to help the lost son in his time of need. They don't need the cuckoo chirping for sustenance, even when the balm he craves is to comfort the lost son, too. Not that Jason would accept comfort readily.

He can't leave. Not when, right at the moment he pulls away, Jason's hand flies out and clings to his wrist almost hard enough to break it. It's a sight to see, the big bad Red Hood clinging to Red Robin's arm as though he'll disintegrate if he lets go.

Tim sits on the edge of the cot. He lets Jason's arms draw around his waist, his head on his lap as incoherent muttering is muffled by the fabric of his armour.

Over a decade ago, Tim had snuck into the night with a camera and a beating excitement in his chest. He'd spent his nights hiding among the shadowed places of Gotham's rooftops, snapping photo after photo of Batman and Robin. Dick's Robin.

When Robin stopped flying, he had felt a note missing in those heart beats. When a new Robin lept over him, he briefly thought that he should hate him. Instead, his heart only beat harder. His lense focused on the bird more and more, leaving Batman to the unfocused shadows once again. A distraction. That's what Robin does. And he did, Jason distracted Tim so well.

Jason was Tim's Robin. His chosen favourite. Here, in the cold medical bay of the cave, Jason has chosen Tim. Not his dad, not his big brother, not his grandfather, not the blood son, or the daughter, not any other. Tim.

Tim knows that he is selfish. He knows he's the fake in the family portrait, the false son. Yet, maybe it's okay for his fingers to card through Jason's hair, to feel beneath the greasy locks for even more hidden scars, and ease those panicked mutters into whimpered murmurs.

He almost forgets everyone else is sat at that bedside. Almost forgets wide-eyed glances that flick over to him. To his neck, his scar, that the very man he comforts gave to him.

He almost forgets to disguise the prideful smile drawing his lips up into a softer, more caring expression.

He'll have to get into the caves security cameras and save the video of this after.

[s0fter-sin]

punk!soap metalhead!ghost brain blast!!!

ghost trying so hard to get soap out of the bad parts of the scene bc he's starting to get pulled in by the shadows, a group of wannabe anarchists that stand for nothing except themselves, but soap loses his shit; laying into ghost for daring to try and "save" him

no one's ever been there for him when he needed them; no one ever offered him support or a soft place to land, why the hell would he want ghost's help when he's perfectly fine on his own? (when he’s always had to be?)

"you think i can't make my own decisions? well fuck you, ghost, who needs a washed up piece o’ shite like you!"

he doesn’t talk to ghost for days, doesn’t let himself acknowledge the hole he’s left behind until he's getting pissed with the shadows one night in an abandoned house and graves starts waving around the gun he snuck through customs and it accidentally goes off, grazing soap's temple

he's never heard anything so loud, even at all the shows he’s attended and there’s so much blood; it's getting in his eyes, running down his neck and soaking into his clothes and he’s frozen. graves and all his shadows bolt after hearing the gunshot, worried about cops finding them and they leave him there; staring at the growing puddle at his feet

soap's panicking; half-blind, blistering pain lighting up his head and he can't think about anything beyond how much he wants ghost

ghost's been sulking at his flat since soap blew him off; pissed at soap for going off on him when he just wants to help but still worried about the punk. he doesn’t want him going down the same road as him; doesn’t want him to repeat his mistakes when he could save himself so much suffering and he almost doesn't answer his phone when it buzzes on the couch

he lets out a ragged sigh as he picks it up; raking a hand over his shaved head when he sees the bubble emoji and contemplates letting it ring out. contemplates answering with a growl; something a younger, crueler version of him would spit. in the end, he decides on silence and puts the phone to his ear just before it can stop ringing

he almost breaks it when he hears soap choke out, "i've been shot."

he's out the door in a heartbeat, running down the stairs because the lift is too slow; trying to get more information out of him but he can't get anything out beyond a repeated, "i've been shot."

he breaks every law there is as he speeds to soap's location; visions of his cold, bloodless corpse staining his mind's eye. the only thing keeping him calm are the strangled breaths from the other end of the line; he's not dead, he can work with not dead, this isn't tommy, soap won't end up like tommy-

ghost screeches to a halt outside a random alley and throws himself from the car when he sees soap collapsed against a garbage bin. he's covered in blood, soaked, just like that night, it's everywhere and he's not moving, he's not moving-

“johnny!”

he skids to his knees and fits his hand under his chin to check his pulse… but his heart beats strong under his fingertips and soap's eyes flutter open; flooded with blood but conscious and alive

the second he registers ghost in front of him, he’s reaching out for him; babbling apologies over and over, "you were right, i'm sorry ghost, i should've listened; i'm sorry, i'm so sorry."

ghost just gently hushes him, cupping his face heedless of the blood. "that doesn't matter now, johnny. we're gonna get you all fixed up, yeah?"

soap’s hands fist in his shirt, clinging to him. "i got shot, ghost," he says again; lost and smaller than he's ever heard from his punk and it's been years since he's felt this kind of rage but he doesn't let a drop of it touch his voice

“i know, lad. i know. gonna let me take a look at it? make it right?"

soap finally nods, his stuttering apologies coming to a halt and ghost runs back to his car to get a towel. he presses it to soap's skin, trying to soak up as much as he can so he can get a proper look; cooing assurances as soap absently hisses in pain the closer he gets to it

it's only a graze and something in his chest unravels; old fears and grief settling as the shallow wound continues to gush into the towel

ghost slumps, pressing his forehead into the top of soap's head and takes a second to just breathe. “‘s’alright, johnny; it’s not even that bad, not even that bad,” he promises, low; spoken more to himself than soap

his hand starts to grow damp and he forces himself to his feet, gathering up soap and getting him into his car. he puts the towel in his hand and presses it against the wound, trying to coax him through his shock to put pressure on it so he can drive

soap curls up in the passenger seat; eyes distant, seeing nothing and ghost has to tighten his grip on the steering wheel so he doesn't turn around

soap is the priority

he has to get him home; has to get him cleaned up and safe

then he can go hunting for the gutless shadow that hurt his punk

[bamboozledbird]

HOWLING: TST Rewrite // Prev. / Chapter 3 / Next.

Characters: Thomas, fem!reader, Newt, Aris, Teresa (bg), Minho (bg), Frypan (bg), Winston (bg) Pairing(s): Thomas x Reader (the slowest of burns as is my brand) Word Count: 4.2k Tags: Mix of book and movie canon, newt!sister!reader Warnings: Canon typical violence and gore, heavy gore and violence this chapter, sad times are ahead my friends

A/N: What is a writing schedule. I certainly don't have one anymore. Right now the inspo is only pulling me here bc she is a fickle, fickle mistress. Also, if you've only seen the movies, you might be a bit confused. Cranks are different in the books; they don't look like zombies exactly. The longer they remain a crank, the more injuries they get from fighting each other or hurting themselves bc they're, y'know, tragically insane. They can usually talk too, but they sound real messed up and, again, insane. From here on out, the lore will probably blend between movie and book based on what I remember the best lmao. Taglist: @m30wk1ttycat @mxltifxnd0m

You’ve heard about cranks. You know all the technical terms and definitions. WCKD told you about all of the stages, described the slow descent into madness during their lengthy justification of your two years in hell. They said the worst part is just before the end, when you know you’re about to turn, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. That’s when they leave, they said. That’s when they banish themselves to the hidden societies of the damned—the violent, savage world of the Gone. 

None of it prepared you for witnessing it first-hand.

Thomas turns towards you, and his smile immediately twists into panic—though, panic isn’t quite right. You’ve seen Thomas panicked before, often, in fact. It seems to be a constant with him; there’s always a little bit of unease crawling under his skin. 

This is something else. 

Thomas is in front of you, breathing heavily against your skin, before you can think of a better word. He grabs your arm and yanks you into his chest so quickly your shoulder clicks under the strain.

 A loud shriek answers all of the questions furrowing your brow. 

A girl—an almost girl, throws herself against the chain link fence you were just leaning on. She snarls around the wire, teeth gnashing together without any regard for her tongue. Foam gathers at the corners of her mouth and dribbles down her chin. She’s more animal than human. 

You know the terminology, Past the Gone; it doesn’t make this any easier. It doesn’t make this easier at all. 

The first thing you notice is how small she is. There are more pressing things that require your attention—like the deep gashes carved into her skin and the large scars spread across her cheeks to her browbones. And her eye sockets. Fuck, her eye sockets are hollow and obscured with pink knitted tissue—and that’s when you realize exactly what the scars are from. She clawed her own eyes out. 

Such horrific, grisly details, and all you think about is how small she is. You finally realize what she’s screaming. Help me. She’s screaming, ‘Help me.’

“Come on,” Thomas tugs on your arm again and pulls you further away from the screaming, “we gotta move. We gotta move now.”

A crank rushes from the shadows. A man this time, missing his nose, and you shudder through your shoulders when you notice the bite marks around the exposed nasal cavity. 

Thomas drags you forward by your hand, forcing you to keep up with his sprint. His feet are nimble as they are quick; he snakes away from the cranks emerging from the darkness without missing a step. Your rhythm is a little less fluid, but every time you trip over a sudden pivot or scattered plywood, Thomas’s grip on your wrist hauls you back onto your feet. It hurts a little. Thomas’s blunt nails dig into the thin skin on the inside of your wrist, and his fingers squeeze the delicate bones hard enough to bruise—and you’ve never been more grateful for anything in your life. 

You can hear the thrum of your blood rushing in your ears, your feet slamming against the concrete, and the muddy sound of someone shouting through the fog of adrenaline. Nothing else seems real. 

Thomas has to scream directly in your face to cut through the haze. “Hold ‘em shut.” 

The world refocuses with harrowing clarity. 

There’s chilling laughter on the other side of the door, and Thomas clutches at your shoulder with his free hand. He nods towards the thin sheets of metal and glass separating you from savage teeth and feral eyes. “Hold ‘em shut.” You don’t have the mental capacity to question him. 

It takes your full weight to keep the horde of cranks from breaking through the doors, and you know you can’t manage it for long. Your heels start to slip against the floor, and you can just barely hear Thomas over the sound of your boots squealing and cranks asking for, ‘just a little taste.’

Thomas yells, barks really, “Get out of the way,” from the corner, and you do. 

You trust him in this primal state. You can’t decide if that means more than how you feel about him when you’re in your right mind—and then a large filing cabinet crashes to the floor and wakes you from your temporary stupor.

Thomas takes your hand again and rushes forward. He can’t decide, it seems, whether he should keep you behind him or in front of him, but it doesn’t matter when a double escalator, broken-down and cluttered with debris from the ceiling, separates you. Your feet remember what to do now that you’re on your own. 

You turn a corner, and a sudden burst of air whooshes through your lungs when you see that the rest of the group is okay. Newt cups a hand over his eyes and squints. You can see the exact moment he finally hears what Thomas is shouting, and then again when he sees the creatures nipping at your heels. 

Newt’s eyes somehow grow wider, and you think, for a moment, that they might just engulf his entire face. “Oh shit.” 

Newt, fool-heartedly, doesn’t start running until you reach him. You grab his hand and wish you had the breath and time to shake the stupid right out of him. 

“What in the ever-loving hell are those things?” Newt shouts, close to your ear. 

You wrench him forward with a harsh tug when he tries to look over his shoulder again. “Oh you know,” you wheeze slightly as you snag a broken piece of rebar from the ground, “just Thomas and his groupies.”

“Well tell’em to take a bite outta him, then.”

You feel a little pinch of guilt in your gut as Newt’s struggles with his bad leg—but you don’t let up your pace. You jerk him forward every time his joints get stuck or he trips over his uneven footing. Better he have an aching leg than no leg at all. 

“What about the ones without ears?” You manage a flash of a smile, more of a spasm really, and Newt exhales a sharp breath of air that feels like a laugh. 

He yelps when you pull him away from a pair of cranks on your right, swallowing the snark poised on his sharp tongue. Two more cranks swarm from the left, and Newt tries to push you in front of him, but you beat him to it. You shove him up the next set of escalators and stay a step behind him, ready to push him—hell, ready to carry him up the flight of stairs if need be. You’d figure it out; adrenaline can make a person do crazy things, after all.

A crank manages to get ahold of your jacket, and Newt falters. “Go,” you shove Newt with one hand and rip your other through your jacket sleeve. You can’t even feel the ache in your broken thumb, not with the panic sparking through every single one of your synapses. “Get out of here.” 

The crank still has a hold of your empty sleeve, and it seems like she isn’t planning on letting go anytime soon. You swing the rebar into her arm and twist out of the other sleeve, sending your denim jacket and the crank spiraling down a long descent to the floor.

Newt is waiting at the top of the stairs, and you give him the fiercest glower you can manage while struggling for air. “I told you to go,” you snap. 

Newt takes your hand this time and rolls his eyes—impressively flippant given your current situation. “Yeah, well you aren’t the boss of me, are ya? I’ve already got one friend with a god complex; don’t need two.”

Your lungs are burning, and your head is throbbing, and you’re too tired to launch into a tirade about just exactly how stupid he is. “Should be,” you hiss through your gasps. “You make terrible decisions.”

“I’m older.” You’re sure if Newt could breathe without coughing, he would be sticking his tongue out at you. 

“Senile, you mean,” you reply, smugly and with emphasis. You can see the door ahead. It’s so close; you think you might just make it. 

Glass shatters behind you, and you’re filled with an all-encompassing sense of dread when Newt doesn’t snark back. 

Your head whips around just in time to see a crank crash into Newt. 

Newt falls. It happens instantly and endlessly—and you run straight towards the crank on top of him before you even realize you need to. It’s instinct. Something deeper inside your mind than a thought. Something written in your bone marrow, coded in your DNA. 

Something WCKD can’t erase. 

You smash the bar against his—it, you think with an edge of desperation—its skull. The sound of the cranks' bones shattering makes your stomach turn and your eyes water. You have just enough time to kick it off of Newt and pull him to his feet. 

You don’t let go of his hand this time. You keep your sweaty palms, grimy with dust and dirt, pressed together until you see moonlight. 

When you finally stop moving, your legs give out on you. You fall to the ground and lean back against a frigid wall. For a long time, all you can hear is soft panting; it’s almost comforting—a reminder that you aren’t alone. You’re surrounded by humanity, maybe even friends in another life. You allow yourself to burn your fingertips on the thought as your eyelids droop towards your cheekbones.

The shelter Thomas found isn’t very hospitable; the walls are precariously balanced slabs of broken concrete, and the only seats to be found are jagged pieces of rubble and rusted steel barrels. Perhaps, that’s why the cranks give up their search, or maybe it’s closer to dawn than you think. Frankly, you’re fine with either option. Your legs have jellified, and the others don’t look much better. 

After a long, arduous hour, Thomas shifts and deems it safe enough to talk. He keeps his voice low. You can’t hear what he’s saying to Teresa and his other friend—Min…something, you try to recall, definitely something with an ‘M’—but you’re pretty sure it’s about Winston. You do know Winston’s name. It’s the least you can do after he was nearly shredded in two while giving you enough time to escape. 

Winston’s quiet groaning masks the rest of their conversation. Selfishly, you’re more concerned about Newt anyway, and the feeling is far too familiar for comfort. 

You nudge at Newt’s ankle with an admittedly pathetic kick. “Prop your leg on that,” you nod towards a chunk of concrete in front of him. 

Newt’s head lulls towards you, heavily, like it's going to snap off of his slender neck and roll to the ground. “Already told ya’, you're not the boss’f me,” he mumbles, words slurring together with his melting eyelids.

You roll your eyes and huff, “It’ll help with the swelling.” You kick at his leg again, and you keep nudging him until he complies with a sigh so heavy it makes you roll your eyes once more. 

He lifts his leg with shaky arms and drops it on top of the rubble without ceremony. “Happy?”

You stick your tongue out at him, just because you can, and give him a vexing smirk. “Exceedingly.”

Newt mutters something under his breath that you don’t bother to acknowledge. He’s a blink away from sleep anyway. 

You close your eyes, but you can’t fall asleep. You can’t tell if it’s lingering adrenaline or simply because you’re a bad sleeper, even when you aren’t sleeping on concrete. It’s the dreams. They come for you most nights, and they’re never sweet. They’re caked with blood and laden with grief. 

You sit up and pull your knees to your chest. Your cracked lips curve into a fond smile when you see Newt clutch your backpack close to his chest, like a child with their favorite blanket. Or their teddy bear. You swallow and scrub at your eyes. That girl in the cage, what was left of her anyway—she couldn’t have been more than six.  

The back of your neck prickles with the warmth of someone’s, or something’s, attention. You slant your head towards the sensation and meet Thomas’s gaze. His eyes are dark in the starless sky, almost black, but they still shine with concern. Worry. He’s always worried, you’ve noticed. Always on edge, waiting for something to lurch out of the shadows, waiting for something else to be taken from him. 

Thomas tilts his head a little and then nods towards a pile of sand a little ways away from the concrete cave. 

Dawn is just beginning to settle over the desert, and the sand looks golden in the light of the rising sun. A little sigh of relief slips through your lips—Cranks don’t like the sun. Honestly, at the peak of day, you can’t blame ‘em. 

Thomas slips out of his corner and holds his hand out towards you. You look at it for a second, chew on your bottom lip, and then take it. He lets go after he pulls you to your feet, and your skin immediately misses the warmth. 

You’ve come to find that the Scorch is a cruel, cruel mistress. It varies between freezing and blistering, and you can’t help but find it incredibly unfair. Silly compared to everything else, maybe, but it irks you all the same. 

You watch the beginnings of daybreak with Thomas by your side. After you let out a soft exhale, Thomas tips his chin down to look at you. 

“You okay?” he says quietly. You aren’t sure if the quiet is for you, or the sleeping Gladers, or the stillness of early morning—but it’s nice all the same.

“Uh huh,” you yawn it more than you say it. 

“Your hand?” Thomas presses, crooking his head down to examine your bruised thumb in the faint light. 

“S’okay,” you shrug and shudder. You can’t really tell if it’s the residual chill of night or the ache in your thumb. In the end, Thomas decides for you. He shrugs off his jacket and wraps it around your shoulders. 

Thomas is left in a gray t-shirt that looks as thin as your tank top. You frown at his bare arms and tilt your head up at him, “Now you’ll be cold.”

He shrugs, a little sheepish. It makes you smile. “I run warm.”

You rest your fingertips against his forearm and shiver as his chilled skin leeches the warmth from your fingers. “Liar,” you hum, but a tiny smile wiggles across your lips. 

Thomas bites his lip, “I’ll be fine once I’m in my sleeping bag.” 

Your lips purse, and your eyes narrow, “You gonna go put on your sleep bag, then?”

He gives you a little grin, “Maybe. I think I could pull it off.”

You think that he could, indeed, pull it off. Truly, Thomas could pull anything off, and you think it’s also incredibly unfair that a person can be so infuriating and so pretty all at the same time. 

You dig the toe of your boot into the sand and wrap Thomas’s jacket tighter around your torso. “If I asked you a question, would you tell me the truth?” He frowns, and you suppose that’s fair. It’s a loaded question, especially compared to the weather. 

Thomas turns towards you and catches your illusive gaze, “Yes.” 

You trap your lip between your teeth and look up at him with big, blinking eyes. It’s not the answer you expected, and you think that he might be the only person in the world who’d give it. 

“Do you think we’re gonna make it?” you ask quietly. You glance out at the imposing horizon, a wasteland of nothing but sand and the sparse remnants of a world that’s almost extinct. You look back at Thomas, searching his face with bloodshot eyes. “Do you really think we’ll ever stop being afraid? That someday we’ll be…” your nose scrunches as you scour your mind for the right word. When you find it, you wonder if it was part of the girl WCKD wiped away, if that’s why it took you so long to unearth. “Free,” you finish quietly, “do you really believe that someday we’ll be free?”

Thomas doesn’t answer for a long time, and then he flickers his gaze to your face. His eyes are so big, lined with dark lashes that kiss his freckles. Like a fawn, you muse, he has the eyes of a fawn. Right now, they’re resolved. “I have to,” he finally answers, quiet again, another thing for you to keep.

The corner of your mouth tugs into a soft smile, sad too, “That’s not really an answer.”

Thomas shrugs slightly, and his mouth falls into a hard line. “It has to be.”

You chew on your cheek and his answer. He did what you asked, you suppose. You asked for honesty, not logic. Dropping to the sand, you trace little swirls in the grains with deft fingers and hum, “Can I ask you another question?”

He nods and sits down next to you. 

“How do you…” you shake your head a little and struggle for meaning, “do it.” 

Thomas’s brow pinches, “It?”

You run your tongue over your teeth, scraping away the grit of sand stuck between your molars, and shrug. It takes you a moment to come up with a question he can actually answer. “Care,” you look at him through your lashes and rest your cheek against your knee. Your jeans scratch your skin, but it’s a distant feeling against the warmth radiating from the sand below. “How do you care so much and still have something left?” You can’t think of the right word for ‘something’, but Thomas seems to understand this time. Good. You certainly don’t. 

“I don’t know. I just…have to.” Thomas winces a little at his repetition, but when he glances at you, he has a slight smile on his face. “Why are you asking me? You do it just fine.”

You aren’t sure why it offends you so, but it does. “I do not.” 

You kick a little pile of sand and watch it burst in the air. You imagine for a moment that the grains are stars, or fireworks, or something other than a product of a world destroyed. You realize eventually that Thomas went quiet again. 

He’s looking at you when you glance over your shoulder. His face is creased with whatever thought is sharpening his eyes. They’re more gold than brown in direct sunlight, and right now it feels like they’re molten, like he’s burning through your skin, your bones, your air. You can feel him seeing you, and you have to look into the face of the sun to make it stop. 

“I saw you,” Thomas says quietly.

Your eyes water from the glaring light. You divert your gaze towards your shoes and snort, “Not this again.”

Thomas grins a little, but it turns into something much softer when says, “I saw you in there, with the bear, and then with Newt…in-between all the screaming and running for our lives obviously,” his cheek twitches with a wry smile, “I still saw what you did for him. It was the only reason I felt like I could get us out of there, knowing you had his back.”

“Lead, you mean,” you tease with a wicked grin, “you led us out because you’re the leader. Grand Marshal Thomas—daintiest feet in all the land.” It’s a clear deflection, one Thomas doesn’t take. 

“And then after, with his leg,” Thomas makes you look at him with his unwavering focus, “you care. You care a lot.” 

You pause, suddenly feeling far less playful. You stand up and brush the sand off of your jeans, turning away from the sun and the light in Thomas’s earnest expression. “Yeah, well, I don’t care about saving the world. I just want to save him.”

Thomas is by your side again, and you can’t understand why. He stops you with a hand on your shoulder; his eyes are alarmingly piercing. “I don’t even know if the world can be saved—but I am going to save us. All of us. I promise.”

Your mouth parts, and all you can do is stare at him, eyes wide, heart thudding. The others start to stir, sparing you from coming up with a coherent response to...that. You walk away from Thomas and his disarming sincerity before you start to evaporate with the burning sun. 

You offer Newt a hand when you find him, and then immediately withdraw it when a smirk slides across his face. 

Newt props himself up on his elbows and blows his flop of feathery hair out of his eyes, “Are you going to make a habit of wandering off with Tommy? I already have a hard enough time keeping track of him.”

You rolls your eyes and nudge his shoulder with your knee, “Thought we already established that I’m the bos—”

A low, agonized groan cuts through the quiet chatter. 

The makeshift bandages wrapped around Winston’s torso are soaked through with blood. The worst of the pooling is almost black, and crimson seeps out from the center of his wound to the hem of his shirt. He struggles to sit up, and one of his friends is quick to lend a hand. 

You’ve seen enough people die from blood loss to know the odds. 

You swallow the thought and take Newt’s hand for balance as you climb down a steep pile of concrete and rebar. Everyone looks at Winston when they take a moment to breathe. It’s not discreet, but it can’t be helped. It seems like everyone knows what’s to come when they see how far away the mountains are. It’s going to take days to get there, maybe longer, and Winston doesn’t have days. He might not even have hours. It’s unspoken, and it looms overhead like the searing heat of the sun.  

When Winston tumbles down the sand dune, you can see it in their eyes. They know.

It’s a desperate, crawling feeling, knowing and not being able to do anything about it. You’ve felt it before, and when you look at the misery in their faces, you feel it again. You don’t know what to say. Don’t know what to do. Don’t know how to help when they’re about to lose another friend.

No one says much in the end. The boys load Winston onto a dodgy stretcher crafted from what little you could find in a desolate sea of sand and ruins. Frypan and Minho struggle through the sand with the added weight of their friend, but you wonder if it’s helping, being able to help in some small way. You wonder if anything can. 

Aris ends up by your side, and you let him take your hand. You still aren’t sure how old he is—neither is he, to be fair—but he’s always felt…small. Strange, considering he towers over most of the group B girls, but he does. He’s scrawny, and awkward, and shy—and yet another person you can’t do anything for. 

“You know them,” Aris says quietly, simply.

You glance over your shoulder at Newt. His face is grim as he mutters something to Teresa. “Not really.”

Aris tilts his head, ducking his eyes away from the glare reflecting off the dunes in the distance. “You did once.”

“Was that even me?” You’d let out an exasperated sigh, but opening your mouth for that long seems like a bad idea with the wind picking up behind you.

His bony shoulder lifts with a tiny shrug, “You can know them now.”

Biting down on your cheek, you shake your head and look over your shoulder briefly. The sun reflects off of the thick lines of slow, silent tears slipping down Frypan’s face, and Minho looks like he’s about to bite off his own tongue with the effort to hold back his own. 

“What’s the point?” you say it so quietly you think you might have imagined it, that maybe this is all a horrible dream, and you’ll wake up frozen to the Maze walls in the morning. 

Aris squeezes your hand, and you sigh. He’s real. This is real. Another nightmare that’s bled into daylight.

“I think he can do it.” Aris nods towards Thomas’s back. “I think he’s the right one.”

“Pretty risky,” you drawl, digging your nails into your palm when you hear Winston cry out in pain, “making a pigheaded kid with a death wish into Jesus bloody Christ. Good way to crush your faith.” 

Aris looks at you, in that startlingly perceptive way he does when he’s working out a puzzle, and then smiles a little. It’s a smidge, but it’s there. 

Your brow arches, “What?”

“He sounds a lot like you.”

Your scoff is lost to the gale cutting across the desert. It whips against your cheeks, and the gusts of sand billowing in its path blind you. 

Thomas shouts something in the distance. You can’t hear him over the wind wailing in your ears, but you can guess what he's saying. There’s no choice but to take shelter until the storm passes.

You hope that tonight’s nightmares will at least be a little sweeter than what awaits you when you wake.

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Prelims - Propaganda Division - Group 3

Propaganda:

Gene -

"Has a special interest in film and almost works himself to death because he doesn't think his film is as perfect as he wants it to be. He completely botches a project on purpose, an action blockbuster, because he felt like it wasn't respecting the thing he loves the most."

Kei -

"It was the scene in which Makoto and Nao discover that he was able to stuff so many wild plants into his bookbag bc there was literally nothing in it that sold it for me. I can't put it into words. I just see that and I know. I know that boy is autistic."

Arthur -

"His powers are literally fueled by his special interest in knights and chivalry."

Euini -

"I relate a lot to his social anxiety, especially his performance anxiety that occurs when he's being watched by people, particularly due to his stress at needing to follow the plan/do things the "proper" way in order to not feel like he's a failure. he also stands like a lil autistic kid and i appreciate him so much for that.

(LIGHT SPOILERS) basically, he has a test that he needs to take in order to advance as a witch, and he keeps failing it because he cant perform properly while being watched by other people, even though he knows the "right" spells to use and why he's supposed to use them. on his third attempt of the test, he's prepared a "script" to use so that he can follow it and not worry about failing in the moment (in this case, his script is a hand-written book of the proper spells to use and the order in which he's supposed to use them), but when a part of the exam changes, he's no longer able to follow his script. because he's been taught all his life that there's only one proper way of doing things, his way of thinking is very rigid and he's not able to deviate from his plan without panicking. luckily, one of his fellow examinees (richeh from the autistic anime girls poll 💕) is able to convince him to try and change the way that he does things to something that is more attuned to his personal needs- basically change the way that he casts his spells and which spells to use so that he doesn't need to struggle with doing things in the way that everyone says that he should; the way that he cant seem to manage. but, even before richeh helped him with that though, he was still finding way to modify the "proper" spells a little bit to better suit his weaknesses. he was trying so hard to fit in to the mold that witch society gave him, but it just wasnt right for him and he was making it work however he could."

Westar -

"something something Westar's entire character is an anomaly amongst the other denizens of Labyrinth in that he's a big goofball in a world where everything is dictated to the extreme by its ruler. if that's not an autism metaphor of some kind I don't know what is."

Sousuke -

"Sousuke Sagara is an ex-child soldier turned teenage special ops who has to go undercover at a high school to discreetly bodyguard another student. The only problem is that he has no IDEA how to act like a "normal" teenager. Sure, you can say that a lot of his mannerisms come from the whole "raised as a child soldier" thing which, fair, you could make a decent case for (C)PTSD. However, he's also extremely serious and has notorious flat affect and does not understand when other people are joking at all. He's incredibly literal; there's several scenes where he misinterprets what someone says, like the time he asked the art teacher what a model was supposed to do and got a rambling flowery metaphorical response about "becoming one with nature" so he ran off to hide in the woods. Another thing, his social skills are… lackluster at best. He's very blunt, and also a terrible liar for an undercover agent, when the student in question confronted him his strategy was to repeat the same phrase over and over again. One time he's challenged to see if he can pick up any girls, and after a brief misunderstanding his "improved" flirting tactic was to jump in front of them and say "Hi! Would you like to know the names of defense agency spies?" Speaking of, Sousuke has an obvious special interest in the military tech and giant robots he works with. He reads their magazines for fun and was able to rattle off the specs for a model Russian tank. The first time he actually looks happy is when he accidentally starts infodumping in front of the class while introducing himself. One time he got distracted on a mission (and need I remind you, Sousuke takes his job VERY seriously) because he found someone who was also interested in the giant robots and got into a full-on conversation with them and completely forgot what he was doing. It is IMPOSSIBLE to read this boy as allistic. And sure, he might be a little stiff, but he's also very caring in his own awkward way. One time he gave a girl flowers as an apology gift…because they were poppies and he told the girl she could get rich by selling opium on the black market. The "picking up girls" challenge mentioned earlier ended with him helping a grandmother pick out a toy for her grandson. He agreed to pretend to be someone's boyfriend for a day (it went exactly how you'd expect, but it's the thought that counts). In conclusion: stan Sousuke Sagara. and vote for him too."

Katsuhira -

"His entire thing over the course of the entire show is that he doesn't feel pain or emotions like other people. He isn't 'interested in himself' or other people (low empathy) and doesn't realize that the things that happen to/because of him do effect other people, he doesn't realize when people have a crush on him or want to be friends, and all of this is stuff he kinda comes to realize as the show progresses. He struggles to care for himself physically because of the lack of physical and emotional input he experiences, and his friends canonically often cook for him and have to remind him to eat, and is a bit picky about what he eats. He cannot read social cues to save his life and is very blunt and honest when communicating with others, and doesn't talk with much tone or emotion in his voice."

John -

"Is very loud and passionate and says everything he thinks out loud, not understanding why others may see that as weird. Has difficulty controlling his volume, so he's almost always shouting."

Yuuri -

"So he models his entire life around the first celebrity he gets a crush on. He's takes up that celebrity's hobby, he gets the same kind of dog that his crush has, and he definitely has his bedroom wallpaper with his crush's face. But then, he actually meets his crush. And his crush likes him back. Naturally he panics over this and proceeds to deny it for months until his crush straight up kisses him. Then like a day later, he just, buys a ring and proposed to his crush on the spot. He's the guy ever. He's so socially awkward, yet somehow still incredibly cocky."

Yoshimori -

"Baking special interest but does Not Get math my beloved."

[elainsgirl]

Instead of worrying about why Azriel wasn’t concerned for Elain when she was in the cauldron (he was half-dead, and Azriel’s reaction would have raised too many suspicions among readers too soon especially since Elain and Lucien are supposed to be soulmates at the end of the book and that Azriel was supposed to love Mor since 500 years), the Gwynriels should be more concerned about the fact that Azriel didn’t come to check on Gwyn for two years (he didn’t seem worried either) and that he preferred to work while Gwyn was at the Blood Rite, not even reacting when he learned of her kidnapping.

And for now, what matters is that Azriel shows concern for Elain at several moments in ACOSF.

And nothing for Gwyn.

Hey anon 🫶

Im so glad you sent this ask so I can use this SS:

“Gwynriels should be more concerned about the fact that Azriel didn’t come to check on Gwyn for two years” - I pointed this out & this was the response I received. (The last half of the comment wS bcs I made a video saying Gwyn isn’t getting a main novel as she hadn’t met Feyre - I rlly got on their nerves w that take lmfao)

Elucien’s themselves love saying, Sjm confirmed Elain and Lucien were endgame by acomaf… if that was the case, then why are they now expecting Azriel to have a blatant mate-like reaction to Elain going into the cauldron? They themselves admit, Azriel isn’t a Li for Elain or her mate so why do they want him to have shown a huge reaction. Even if he had, me and you both know, they’d spin it to be unromantic or not important.

As you mentioned, if Sjm had Azriel show a strong reaction to Elain entering the cauldron and not Lucien, then it isn’t believable for elucien to have become mates after. It would have left readers asking why Az had more concern for Elain then Lucien.

I also just don’t think Sjm officially had Az and Elain be each others’ Lis. She wanted elucien and moriel (until she realised elucien don’t have chemistry unless you change the personality of either character) hence why you have Az show concern for Mor. Lucien for Elain.

But things, as we know, clearly changed in ACOWAR. Azriel shows more mate like behaviour in certain instances then Lucien himself which imo makes up for his lack of reaction to elain during the cauldron scene. Even in SF, we get his shadows darkening and stilling when he learns of nesta & elains fight. Not wanting elain to put herself in danger by scrying.

Sjm really could’ve had Az show just as much concern and panick as Cass. Even subtly point out how his concern was for Gwyn specifically. She could have had both Az and Cass go to Rhys demanding to break the BR laws & save their girls

yet, Az showed concern for emerie & gwyn, then moved on to Eris. Thats not giving mate behaviour and its worse then him during the cauldron as back then he was literally shot & poisoned making him weak. However when his supposed mate Gwyn gets kidnapped for the BR? This man was in peak health and didn’t care more then the bare minimum. Correct me if im wrong, but he doesn’t even visit her after at the library again.

I agree w you, antis need to worry about the lack of good, meaningful romantic scenes for their own ships then cherry pick on a scene between elriel when they weren’t even LIs at the time.

[rindough]

hellooooo r you still doing the song thing?? if so then I think “I’d Rather Sleep” by Kero Kero Bonito n Gallagher would go so well togetherr like y’know that one bit “Now I know what’s real, what’s fake” as in like if you’ve finished 2.1 (sorry if I spoil it) but like reader realising that he’s not who he actually is n like… stuff.

u don’t have to do this because I’m terrible at describing things and just talking in general so sorry if this was hard to understand 😭😭

contains both 2.1 n 2.2 spoilers

Nahhhh i had to do this bc the song rlly fits that part when he reveals himself, although it gives me some omori vibes... like not omori but when those anime or rpg games whr the mc opens their eyes from a nightmare. I envision u as the trailblazer to just open their eyes one day upon waking up in penacony's golden hour during one of the days that led up to him 'attacking' Sunday. Ever since the murder of Robin, u've slowly picked up certain things that Gallagher says but seems offputting or out of place, such as how

"Sometimes I have to make sure my pet keeps the right people together."

"Not quite sure what my pet likes to eat... Y/n you have any ideas?"

It's something that slips off his lips under a mutter or even during your convos together. The thing is you find it odd whenever you ask about it, like what type of pet is it, did he get a new dog? A hard to please cat?

He'll just tells you that "Hey, someday you'll find out." and just continues on with whatever he's doing. Leaving the conversation high and dry.

Then it all comes to that day when he visits Sunday, you followed him in stealth, creeping in the shadows of his surroundings and whatnot to get to know what's up with him today. Honestly... curiosity killed the cat.

Good for you, congratulations!

The horror that left your lips as you watch that dark dagger pierce through the body of the Oak Family's leader, watching him fall lifelessly to the ground before bubbles of his lifeform disperse into the air. Hearing the clink coming from the lighter in the bartender's hand, you sprinted, sprinted down the corridor and made turns left and right, bursting through doors one after the other.

Legs stumbling and muscles burning, you dashed forward one last time, passing through those tall statues but he grabs onto your wrist.

Oh it felt so wrong, looking into his eyes felt so wrong now. Whatever you had once imagined, had longed for had yearned for in those brown orbs.

"Y/n."

It's silent now, errily silent. His grip tightens. It's too silent for your liking in this empty hall.

Your name comes out of his lips, now dripping in urgency? Your ragged breath telling him that you're at your limits, you're burning out soon.

"Let me go!" You yank your hand off his tight hold but he just wouldn't let it go. Only for him to pull you into a tight hug as he cradles the back of your head. Gallagher at this point knew that he must tell you what's going on, why is he doing this. Otherwise, leaving you out that door could not only cause him to be on the run, but to also lose that faith and trust you had in him. All he can do now is hush your panicked form, feeling your trembling body within his embrace whilst tears stream down your face in fear.

Is he going to call that thing to kill you?

Perhaps you now know what is real, and what is fake. Or more like

Who is real, and who is fake?

[horrorjunki3]

Can you do the sawyer brothers when their S/O falls to the ground and starts having a seizure? (Plz include Drayton because I'm a simp)

Sawyers reacting to they're S/O falling and having a Seizure

An: lmao don't worry im such a simp for Drayton -> choptops mentioned in all of these lmao sorry

Warnings: sad boys, seizures, mentions of war training -> dissociation and mental illness

Drayton Sawyer

Parental instics activated - he'll jump striaght into action while everyone's panicking -> at first he just things your fainting bc of the heat so hell catch you and lay you down ready to bark orders at his younger siblings until you start shaking then he freezes -> he doesn't really know what to do till he gets yelled intrustctions (curiosity of choptop)

He'll make sure you don't bite your tounge and keep your head in his lap until it's stopped -> his so worried the whole time

The whole house kinda go silent no one dares annoy Drayton whole his sweethearts hurtin'

Infact all the boys kinda stick close to you afterwards always ready to catch you and help ya -> pays to be they're "other parent" you've got a mino army of crazies to help at the touch of a button

Afterwards Drayton will lecture you and ask if this is common -> he'll ask what he should do and like this man's is taking notes!!

He'll make you food -> fully believes a hardy soup can sure anything!

Choptop Sawyer

"Fallin' for me sugar?"

At first he assumes you've just tripped until he doesn't hear your giggle to his flirting then his worried

Whips his head around and is striaght inro action -> again his training in the army kicks in he kinda shuts all his emotions off and just goes on autopilot -> he can't bear to think about what'll happen if this ends badly

He rolls you into the best position and makes sure you don't bite your tounge, hit or head or anything like that -> he'll stay until the sizeures settled then jump into giving you water and bandaging you up

It's crazy the shift in Chop when your hurt he goes from goofy, crazy hippie to stone cold in seconds ordering Nubbins and Drayton around -> his training really kicks in

He won't lecture you like his older brother but he'll wanna know if it's common and how to avoid it

He won't leave your side for the rest of The day -> keeps his arm around your waist for good measure so you don't fall and harm your head

Nubbins Sawyer

He doesn't pick up on you even falling at first -> his rambling about his Camera and pics of you but once he realises he panics -> drops everything and rushes to you

He knows enough to giuide your head inro his lap to stop from harming your head but his feverishly screaming for Chop -> ( as soon as Chop hears twin screaming he'll be there in seconds ♡ )

Chop will calmly tell Nubbins what to do and sit comforting him until you do -> once you've stopped he just pats your head and walks away

Poor Nubbbins is a stuttering worried mess, his got tears down his cheeks and can hardly even get words out "y-y-you sc-a-a-red m-m-me" :(

His like a dotting puppy for the rest of the day constantly running to chop to ask questions and following you around

"Is my camera bad? I can turn flash of sweet thin'" -> he doenst wanna trigger a seizure

Asks so many questions and is your lil shadow for the rest of the day - you wanna go shower? To bad his following - and besides how could he not follow ya? *click aggressively shakes picture*

He'll have you sit in his lap and pamper you he was so scared!

Bubba Sawyer

As soon as you drop a sea of panic squeals leaves them -> this'll cause a rush of footsteps and the boys bursting in!!

Chop again is the one that jumps into action he'll tell Bubba to put your head on his thighs and encoruage them to softly stroke your hair to calm down while he goes about helping ya' can't have his new sibling dying on him can he?

Bubba silently squeals and whimpers while there's orders being thrown around :(

Once you've come to he'll pull you into they're chest and just hold you

They'll make you chop and Drayton tell them what to do next time and will prepare for it!

Lots of cuddles and checking if your okay from them

They'll kiss you on the head and whimper while you tell them you okay -> he was so scared!!

[unifox]

Deer In The Headlights

~Pairing: Joshua x fem!reader

~Genre: fluff/ crack/ light very light horror/thrill?

~Warnings: idk how to word it, but the reader feels really unsafe and feels the need to pepper spray her offender. Light Panic attack (Let me know if there's more!) Not proof read (yet!)

~Words: 1,7k 

~Summary: What do you mean the creep you pepper sprayed was your neighbor's best friend?! In which Joshua wants to walk you home but you mistake him for a creep and spray him.

a/n: My first Seventeen fanfic! This was kind of fun to write since I was inspired by the song of my favorite artist! Deer In The Headlights by Owl City. Since where I live is not the safest place my dad made me walk around with a mini pepper spray can (just in case, we never know right?) and it matched the lyrics perfectly. I also made a fem!reader bc as a girl I don't feel totally safe walking alone at night so I did something more relatable to myself, hope yall don't mind. Anyway, I hope you guys like it! ~Foxy🦊

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"Police report another case of young women being followed by perverted men around the neighborhood. It is recommended that women avoid walking alone at night."

Nice, just nice.

You had to run out of cat food and only realize it at night. Coming home from work after a really long day you decided to nap, which was not a good idea. Shadow, your 1-year-old cat meowed really loudly at your sleepy face once again. Great, it's time to gather your pepper spray and courage and walk to the closest convenience store.

It's ok, you just have to walk for about 10 minutes

Seeing the convenience store you walked faster and got inside. 2 packs of wet cat food for now will do. Get some sweets and maybe a soft drink to go with your dinner. Opening the refrigerator to get your drink you saw from the corner of your eye a man pass by on the other side of the ice cream fridge. 

As he passed by, you caught Joshua's eye. He didn't believe in love at first sight before you. 

Tell me again, was it love at first sight?

He needed to get your name and hopefully your number too. He went to the register to pay for his stuff before waiting to meet you outside. Maybe he could offer to walk you home since the news kept on reporting perverts around that neighborhood.

Food acquired, you grabbed the little pepper spray can and put it in your pocket after paying. looking around from the door of the store you decided it was safe to step outside. Walking fast to of there you didn't notice the pretty boy waiting for you. 

Feeling a presence behind you, the hand in your pocket gripped the can inside it with more strength 

"Hello-"

Turning around to see a (might you add, very pretty) man, you let out a high-pitched scream, spraying your offender with the pepper spray and then running away. The 10-minute walk to the store turned into a 5-minute run to your apartment. With the adrenaline still running through your veins you didn't even notice your neighbor getting his mail, running straight into him. 

"Oh god y/n, are you ok?" Mingyu asked grabbing your arms before you hit the floor. 

"Mingyu? I- I- I think? I don't know I-" You panicked

"Ok breathe" he did a little breathing exercise with you until you stopped breathing heavily

"I went to the convenience store and a guy started following me so when he got too close I sprayed him with this" You raised the little can on your hand so he could see it. 

"Woah, that must have been so scary. You can call me or my roommate Wonwoo to accompany you to the store next time. If we're not home I can check if my friends can go with you, some of them live nearby so it's no problem. Let's get you home yeah?"

While Mingyu gently took you home, Joshua somehow managed to drag himself home, knocking on the door so that someone could help him. 

"What the fuc-" Jeonghan opened the door and as soon as he did, he began to cough

"Please just help me to the nearest sink"

"What the hell happened to you? Weren't you supposed to just go to the store to get us snacks for our movie night?" Jeonghan guided Joshua into the bathroom

"Yeah, but I got paper sprayed by this really pretty girl so help me, I don't know what I should do"

"Ok, so according to Google you have to not panic and stay calm" If Joshua could see normally he would have rolled his eyes at his friend's words

 "Also wash your eyes with water and soap"

"Took you long enough"

----------

"Yo Mingyu, let's cancel movie night. Joshua is... Not feeling well" Seungcheol said through the phone while looking at his friend, who asked to not disclose what really happened to him "No no no he's fine, you don't need to bring anything... Ok thanks, I'll let him know. Bye" As he hung up Josh groaned

"It feels like I'm dying. Please open the window I'm still breathing funny." 

"What did you even do to get her to spray you?" Sungcheol scolded

Jeonghan laughed not even looking up from his phone "he said hi"

"You're kidding me"

"I'm not! I was going to ask her if she wanted me to walk her home since it's dangerous and she attacked me!" Josh responded trying to sit up on the couch and almost falling out

"She probably thought YOU were attacking her you idiot. Now lay down, let me get you some water"

"Thanks bro"

----------

A week passed and nothing eventful happened. Once a week you'd go to the supermarket with Mingyu (or his shy roommate Wonwoo), which made the three of you become closer. 

Now, you're currently sitting on your sofa playing Mario Kart against Wonwoo, who's sitting very still because Shadow is sleeping on his lap. Mingyu is in your kitchen making popcorn when his phone starts buzzing on the sofa to your left. Wonwoo is winning this round (again) so you don't bother trying to beat him and look at Mingyu's phone.

"Gyu! Someone called Joshua is calling you"

"Ask Wonwoo to pick it up! I don't want to burn the popcorn!!"

"Put it on speaker y/n, can't let you win this time" Wonwoo responds with a grin. He knew you wouldn't beat him anyway...

"Hey Shua~" He responds when you accept the call and move the phone to sit between you two

"Oh, Wonwoo hii. Where are you guys? I just came by to drop off the books Jeonghan borrowed last week."

"yessss~" Wonwoo quietly celebrates his victory while you roll your eyes "Oh yeah, we're at a friend's place..."

"Sorry man. I'll drop by tomorrow then..." he starts to say when you interrupt

"Hi! We're two floors down in apartment 21 if you want to drop by."

"Hi, didn't know you were neighbors. Thank you, I'll be down in a minute" He said in the nicest tone then hung up

2 minutes later Joshua was at your doorstep and as soon as you opened the door and looked at his face he froze

But when beauty met the beast he froze

With quick instincts, you closed the door on his face.

Mingyu came out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and looked confused.

"It wasn't Joshua?"

"Gyu, it's the guy!" You whisper yelled at him kinda panicked "The guy that followed me from the convenience store!" 

With that, Mingyu got alert and quickly left the popcorn on your table and rushed to the door. Opening the door it was just Joshua frozen in place. What...?

"Josh?"

"Oh god Mingyu"

Mingyu closed the door behind him and started questioning Joshua

"Do you guys know each other?"

"Oh well... Long story short... I think I scared her in a convenience store and she pepper sprayed me"

Oh, that makes sense

"So last week you weren't sick... you were pepper sprayed?" Gyu started to giggle at the thought of Joshua all messed up

"Dude stop! That's embarrassing! I only wanted to ask if she wanted company to walk home since, you know, the neighborhood is kinda... not safe?" Josh stated turning red when Mingyu left a genuine laugh

Oh no...

You thought while listening to their conversation though the door. Wonwoo and Shadow found their way next yo you sitting on the floor near the entrance. Wonwoo thought the situation was hilarious while you were panicking. You attacked their friend with pepper spray... poor guy. You felt sorry. All lost in their own thoughts, you didn't realize mingyu opening the door.

The four of you just stared at each other. Mingyu with a goofy face, Joshua blushing in embarrassment, wonwoo holding back giggle sitting on the floor and your panicked face while leaning on the doorframe. Shadow sensed the shift in the situation meowing at you.

This was embarrassing

"can we come in...?" Mingyu asked as you got Shadow in your arms answering a quick yes and moving out of the way

"Yay, let's clear things up." Mingyu answered as Joshua hesitantly followed him inside.

You all sat in the living room. You and Wonwoo on your mini sofa as Mingyu sat opposite you on te floor, ushering Joshua to sit next to him, the books forgotten near the door. 

Joshua started explaining to you and apologizing about his... creep-like approach. With you quickly apologizing as well for spraying him. He couldn't help but stare at you. 

Up close you were even prettier

After introductions and explanations, you invited him for your movie night. He was Mingyu and Wonwoo's friend after all, which he gladly accepted. Anything to spend more time with the girl he was sure he fell at first sight.

After that, you started seeing more of Joshua. Sometimes you saw him in your neighbour's home and sometimes you crossed paths in the nearby market and the convenience store. On your fourth meeting, at Gyu's apartment, he asked if you wanted to hang out at his apartment. You met mischievous Joenghan and caring Seungcheol.

On your eighth meeting, he asked you out and two months later you were a couple.

On your one-year anniversary, you both lay on your bed, staring at the ceiling where the galaxy projection moves slowly while a soft Lofi playlist plays in the background. You lay on your side, clinging to Joshua's left arm, while his right one carcasses the black cat sleeping on his stomach. 

"Remember when we first met? And you almost blinded me with your beauty?" He says amused

"More like my pepper spray" you comment feeling embarrassed

"It's okay sweetie. At least I know you're self-sufficient... And that the paper spray works! You know, I feel like when I saw you it was love at first sight, you caught my eye immediately. I couldn't think straight when I saw you leave, I had to talk to you." He says in that love-filled tone you grew to love so much

"I know baby, I think it would be an ok situation but you got your timing really wrong. You got me fearing for my life that day" You chuckled "You got paper prayed, but hey! Now you have a girlfriend because of it!"

"I don't think that's how it works..."

"Shhh, just be happy that we're dating" You shut him up with a kiss on the cheek

"Happy one year together Shua"

"Happy one year together y/n"

When you met, Shua is the doe-eyed one. But you were the deer in the headlights.

[hailtothepumpkinqueen]

(Overhauled something I wrote a few weeks ago bc I wasn't happy with it. I was worried about it being long, so I rushed through it...and now it's even longer lmao

Nothing too serious. A little angst but it ends happy.)

It was supposed to be a quick little excursion into the mines.

The mayor had asked her for help dealing with an increase in the red slime population making things unsafe for less experienced spelunkers. Calling herself an experienced spelunker would have been a wild concept a few years ago, but of course she accepted. She always jumped at the chance to be "useful", and slimes were easy to deal with. It would take an hour, maybe two tops, and she could be home before it even got dark out.

What Lewis had neglected to mention, the bastard, was there was ALSO an increase in the Void Spirits making the mines even more unsafe. Shadow Brutes and Shadow Shaman far out numbering the supposed red slime problem.

So what was meant to be a quick trip turned into a several hour slog she hadn't properly prepared for. Maybe he thought she wouldn't have agreed if she knew how dangerous it really was, but a fucking head's up would have been nice.

But, by the grace of Yoba and a warp totem to the farm, she made it home in one piece. Exhausted, bruised and covered in sticky red slime from head to toe. Honestly, a little pissed at Lewis for basically sending her on what felt like a suicide mission, but she'd deal with that later.

Right now, guilt was starting to settle heavy in her stomach when she saw the lightless house looming over her like a disappointed parent, dark windows feeling more like judgemental eyes. She had never snuck out as a teenager, but this was what she imagined it was like. And she hated it for the needless anxiety it produced.

Dragging her sore, tired body into the house, she practically tripped over the poor dog, who had fallen asleep by the door dutifully awaiting her return. A mix of surprised yelps and panicked swearing breaking the still silence, followed by many whispered apologies. The dog licking her hand in forgiveness before settling down in his usual spot by the fireplace, almost immediately asleep again.

"What time is it..?" She wondered, squinting in the dark for anything that could tell her the time. It had been early afternoon when she went into the mines, but she had no idea how long she was actually down there. Time passes weirdly being so deep underground.

The oven clock said 12:50 AM, the LED display practically glaring at her in disapproval. Silently chiding her for coming home at such an absurd hour.

Shit. It was late, it was REALLY late. Shane, her husband, would be dead asleep by now. Hopefully. He was known to be a light sleeper most nights and an insomniac on others, but the upstairs lights all being off was a good indication that he was, in fact, out for the count. Blissfully unaware of the trouble she had gotten into and then back out of. Maybe, if she was careful, he didn't HAVE to be aware of it. What he didn't know couldn't worry him, right? She just had to be sneaky...

Kicking off her boots, and shrugging off her backpack, she creeped through the quiet house and up the stairs to their bedroom, each step like climbing the world's steepest mountain in her fatigued state. Silently padding across the room towards the bathroom and wondering if the bedroom had always been this big, or if it just felt that way because she was taking such small steps in an effort not to wake Shane. So close to her destination... before being sabotaged by a particularly creaky floorboard.

"Chickpea?" Came Shane's sleepy voice in the dark almost immediately, accompanied by the sound of fabric shifting and the mattress squeaking with movement. The fact that, even in a half awake state, his brain went to his nickname for her first made her anxious heart soft. "S'late. You just get home?"

"Sorry, hun. I lost track of time." She called back gently, inwardly cursing the old farmhouse and its betrayal. "I'll be there in a minute, I just need to shower first."

"Without me?" She could hear the smirk in his voice, amused with his own joke.

"Go back to sleep, doofus." She chuckled, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"Come to bed. We'll shower in the mornin', s'fine." Beckoning her towards him still, and she was half tempted to give in. Just crawl into bed a sticky mess and be held by him. Forget the clusterfuck that was the last few hours. But the thought of all that laundry ultimately stopped her.

"I can't. I'm covered in slime, and I'm not getting that on the sheets."

She saw his silhouette sit up straighter in bed immediately.

"Why are you covered in slime?" His voice more awake now, more serious. The guilt twisting her stomach in knots to the point of nausea now, leaving a sour taste in the back of her throat.

"There were things making the mines unsafe. Mayor Lewis asked me to help make them, well, safe." Trying not to feel like a child being reprimanded for misbehaving as she continued to inch towards the bathroom. Definitely not running away from what felt like a brewing confrontation. No, siree.

"You were in the mines? Why didn't you tell me? Are you okay?" He threw off the covers and started walking towards her, arms out to pull her to him. Not even bothering to turn on the lamp in his haste.

"Don't! I'm dirty and sweaty and gross." Putting her hands out to stop his approach, voice going up an octave in her panic. Don't get closer, don't see how bad she looks. Don't worry about her more.

"You think I care about that?" He scoffed, still reaching for her. "Come here. Let me see you. Are. You. Okay?"

It was only when she shied away from him that he stopped in his tracks, crossing his arms over his chest and awaiting a response.

"I'm...okay. A little banged up, but I'm okay." Tip-toeing around the answer because she didn't want to flat out lie to him.

"'Banged up'?? You're hurt, and you didn't lead with that? Yoba's sake, Kat!"

Dammit, why did she say that? Her plan to not worry him was going horribly wrong. And now not only did he sound worried, he sounded upset. Which was worse. She could feel the prick of tears building in the corners of her eyes, a lump forming in her throat that she painfully swallowed in an attempt not to cry. Grateful it was too dark for Shane to see her being such a sensitive crybaby.

"Can we not do this right now?" She whispered, cringing at the emotional little wobble in her voice. Betrayed by her body along with the house. Pathetic. "Please? I promise I'm fine. Really. I-I just want to get out of these clothes and shower."

He sighed heavily and his posture deflated, shoulders sagging sadly. Taking a step towards her with a hand outstretched as if to touch her face but letting his hand drop before actually making contact.

"Okay...You get the shower started, I'll be there in a minute and help you clean up." He said after an agonizingly long beat of silence.

"You don't have to..."

"I WANT to. I'm going to. So there." She could tell he was trying to joke now, lighten the tense mood that had settled over them like a heavy blanket. But there was still a note of finality in his tone that meant there was no arguing with him on this.

She sighed this time, stepping to meet him and carefully press a kiss to his lips--that she could feel were set in a frown--without getting any gunk on him. Scurrying to the bathroom before her eyes could adjust enough to the dark to see the expression on his face.

The bathroom light was blinding and made her wince, far brighter than the dimly lit mines or the dark bedroom she was just in. Too bright, a spotlight highlighting all her faults. Making her feel exposed in what should have been a safe place. She tried not to think too hard about it(or the self hate-y thoughts trying to bubble up), peeling off her sodden clothes and letting them drop to the floor with a disgusting squelching sound. Actively avoiding her reflection the entire time.

But she must have been a sorry sight, given the quiet gasp her husband let out behind her. She heard his footsteps quickly get closer and felt his arms encircle her waist, pulling her against his chest. His body still sleep warm and honestly better than any heating pad on her sore muscles. She could feel the mermaid pendant around his neck press into her spine, more of a relief than a discomfort because it meant he still loved her enough to wear it.

"I'm going to kick Lewis's ass next time I see him..." The sharp anger in his voice juxtaposed by how carefully he held her.

"Hey, now. That's not a nice thing to say about your Aunt's secret boyfriend." She teased, entwining her fingers with his and squeezing his hand. Her turn at trying to ease the tension.

He groaned in disgust and buried his face in the back of her shoulder, making her giggle.

"Buh...don't remind me.." he grumbled, keeping his face hidden. Holding her a little tighter after a moment. "...M'sorry I yelled. I was worried. Didn't mean for it to come out like that.."

"I know, hun." She said quietly, squeezing his hand again. "It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going into the mines today. I didn't think I'd be gone so long."

"Why did it have to be you, huh? Why couldn't the 'good mayor' deal with it himself? Or Marlon? Isn't that his job? Why do YOU have to be the one put yourself in danger?"

"I wanted to help.." She gave a helpless shrug. "Seb and Abby go exploring in the mines, and they don't have much real fighting experience. And Linus and Leo live really close to the mine. AND Maru and Robin and Demetrius. What if something bad got out and attacked someone?"

"Well, they're not you, so I don't care." His voice casual and matter of fact. As if she had simply asked him what time it was, rather than asked him to imagine the people they're known for years getting hurt.

"Shane!" She admonished, very gently elbowing his ribs. Not really upset because she knew he didn't mean it, but still.

"Katherine!" He shot back, mimicking her tone and putting his chin on her shoulder now. She could see him frowning in her periphery.

"Uh oh. The full name. You only bust that out when it's really serious." Still teasing but a little worried he was actually mad at her. "Am I in trouble?"

"I just...I don't get why you always put everyone else's wellbeing before yours. Why can't YOUR safety be priority for once, huh? Why can't YOU be the one being taken care of?"

"You take care of me.." She offered, shoulders hunching in renewed guilt because she knew he was right.

He scoffed. "Fat lot of good I'm doing if I'm asleep while you're off being a hero...What if something had happened? What if you were..." He hid his face again, the only way he could be vulnerable right now. "I can't go through that again. I can't get another awful phone call in the middle of the night again. I can't...I can't lose you."

His voice broke at the end, and she felt her heart break along with it. Of course he was upset, of course he was. After what happened with Jas's parents, how sudden it was and how badly it had wrecked him...of course he wouldn't want to lose anyone else.

She twisted around in his arms to face him, pressing her forehead to his and going a little cross eyed to make eye contact with him. Heart breaking further when she noticed his eyes were shiny and wet.

"I'm sorry I worried you, love. I'm sorry my self preservation skills are shit, and that I don't take care of myself like I should. Do you think you can forgive me?"

He pulled away a little and hummed in thought, lower lip jutting out as he did so. The humming gradually going up in pitch and going on long enough for her to catch on that he was doing a bit for comedy's sake, making her giggle again.

"I can forgive you...IF.." He paused dramatically, tilting his chin up with a grin and equally dramatic arched eyebrow.

"If?" She prompted, mirroring his expression.

"If you stay home with me all day tomorrow. Doing nothing but eating mountains of junk and watching movies on the couch in our underwear. No going into the mines or town or anywhere but the bathroom." He paused, his expression becoming mischievous. Almost devious. "Aaand if you help me put chicken shit in Lewis's mailbox without getting caught. Send the bastard a message."

She laughed at that, a full bodied, throw her head back laugh. Feeling the weight of guilt and anxiety and exhaustion fall off her bones. Yoba, she loved this man.

"I think I can agree to those terms." She grinned, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Yeah?" He breathed, leaning his forehead against hers again and resting his hands on her hips.

"Yeah."

He kissed her, short and sweet but no less filled with unspoken affections. Only pulling away enough to speak again after a moment.

"Then let's hit the showers and hit the hay. We got a long day ahead of us~."

[islandtarochips]

Hi taro! :)

Ik this a bit diff but can I request a brief story of my oc ruz! And your oc Nigel! I can be about anything! It’s not forced at all I just thought it be cute to see two friends to hang out with eachother bc I love them :) 😍

Hey there! And sure! I wouldn't mind! And I love these two very much! And I want to apologize for answering this late! And I hope this is worth a wait for you, pele! Love ya!

Meanwhile in Hawaii, WTF and 141 are having a nice BBQ at Alana's older brother's place. Just to spend some time off from work and also celebrating their mission that they have taken. The two different teams had really enjoyed their time off. Seeing them having their fun and freedom.

Even for those two special friends from two different teams.

Nigel and Ruz were just talking and laughing while sitting at the edge of the pool. Dipping their legs into the water while nudging each other a bit from time to time as they were telling some jokes.

"No REALLY! Aggie and I have been planning to prank Tiala for MONTHS but she STILL manages to escape from it!" The red-haired man said with a smile but also with a bit of a disappointing tone. "I swear! It's like she has a 6th sense!"

The medic started to laugh. "I mean, she DID grow up with little brothers, nieces, nephews and cousins. Who did pranks on her BEFORE. So I guessed it's a habit that she knows of what you two are planning."

Nigel sighs but chuckles a bit as he lean back, placing his two hands on the ground behind him. He looked around to see his team and Ruz's as they were getting along. Before his green eyes had landed on Gaz and Tiala was talking. "Well, would you look at that? Seems like Shark isn't biting his ass off."

Ruz looked at where Nigel was looking before smiling a bit to see the Sergeant and the First Sergeant are getting quite comfy with each other. "Ah yes. Seems like she isn't. Which is a good thing."

He smiled before sighing softly as he looked up in the sky. "......you know, that night? At Las Almas? I thought Kanoa won't accept me ever since I've been working with the SC."

The female medic looked at the Sergeant. Knowing what he’s going to talk about. “Nigel?”

He took a deep breath before looking up to the blue sunny sky. “I know this is random but…I couldn’t help but to feel like…I don’t deserve this. I mean, Alejandro made me feel like I don’t deserve it. But I don’t blame him.” He said in a sad tone as he brushed his hand through his red hair. And closes his eyes, keep hearing those words of Alejandro even everyone else who had seen him still being a Shadow.

Then he suddenly felt something touching his other hand that was on the ground. He opened his eyes and saw Ruz with her worried looks.

Ruz held onto Nigel’s hand before giving him a smile. A soft smile, hoping that Nigel would listen to what she’s going to say. “Nigey…listen.” She said in her soft voice. “I’m sure Kanoa had trusted you ever since you saved him and helped him escape from that base. And it takes a while for Tiala to trust you but when she saw you of how you helped her brother. You have NO idea of how grateful she was.”

Nigel perked his head up to hear that. “Wait…really?”

She nodded and smiled a bit. “Yeah…she doesn’t want me to tell you that but I thought you wanna hear it. Trust me. She was panicking after hearing the news of her brother being interrogated but…when she and I went to get him ourselves. She saw you, helping Kanoa. That’s when she realized that you’re not like the OTHERS.”

Nigel was very surprised.

Tiala Shark Toa.

The woman who he thought would give cold shoulders to the one who she doesn’t trust. Had actually had a change of heart. Why, though?

That would be the question to unanswered until another time. He looked at his dear friend before smiling at her. “So…do you think she’ll forgive me?”

Ruz shrugged before smiling at him while still holding onto his hand. “If Kanoa forgives you, even me. I’m sure Tia will come around. Just give her some time to think. Besides, Agnes forgives you RIGHT there when you two met. And even though she saw you used to be working with the Shadows. She knows that you’ve changed so well.”

Hearing this from her had made Nigel’s heart feel light again. He gave his best bright smile to his friend. “You’re right. And…thank you, Ruzzy.”

She gave him a nudge on his arm. “No problem. And also, if you still feel like that again.” As Ruz slowly slid her hand from Nigel’s hand and up to his arm. Which it makes him confused before he got pushed down into the pool.

“WAH!”

The medic had started laughing before seeing Nigel popped his head out of the water. She had given him a teasing wink. “I’ll help you COOL off from it.”

The red-haired man was just staring at her so dumbfounded. As he was not expecting that but gave her a smirk. “Oh you cheeky bugger- COME HERE!”

Ruz started to scream before getting her legs pulled and landed into the water.

Some of the gang saw this and laughed before some of them joined in.