#but im not overheating anymore so that's good at least

[sovaharbor]

pretty sure i have endo becausw holy shit. holy shit. Holy Shit .

[jyoongim]

i saw this one story of urs where it was alastor and vox sister reader, and im OBSESSEDDDD I LOVE UR STORIES!!

im obsessed with the trope of two rivals then one courts the others family member, its so good!! so, in honor of my love for this trope..

alastor rearranging the readers guts and broadcasting it for all of hell to hear, including vox. OR, even better, using vox’s own technology to broadcast it for all of hell to WATCH! i want the reader crying, glitching out and begging from overstimulation, and possibly even overheating from it. and maybe a bit of praise and degradation? pretty please? :3

your new anon, pixie 🤍🌸

Warnings: Vox!Sister!Reader x Alastor, in love with the enemy trope, Smut! Overstimulation, begging, praise/degradation, slight humiliation, taunting

Think of reader like a humanoid robot

——————————————————————————————-

Vox had always made sure that you stayed clear of Alastor.

He didnt want the Radio head anywhere near you.

You were his little sister and he would be damned if that old-timely prick got his hands on you.You felt bad for your brother, he was trying to protect you after all, but you were a big girl and could handle your own affairs.

Vox had warned you against getting close to the Radio Demon multiple times, and while at first you listened, Alastor had found you quite interesting. Being Vox’s sister was just a bonus, he liked seeing Vox growl in disapproval or take you away from the red demon’s prying eyes. 

Alastor had been making Vox’s life feel like a whirlpool with the constant close proximity he had with you and then turning around to belittle him for all of Hell to hear.

But you liked the attention the red demon gave you.

It was the first time in satan knows how long, that someone wasn’t terrified of Vox and his influence and you could just feel appreciated.

Alastor was a gentleman. He took the time to get to know you and after a while you accepted his advances.

You didnt have the heart to tell Vox.

I mean what would you tell him?

’oh yea by the way! I’ve been seeing Alastor behind your back even though I know you hate his guts’

You really wanted him to at least tolerate Alastor as your partner.

”What’s on your mind doll?” a rough low voice said, making you blink out of your headspace.

Alastor tilted his head as you smiled ”oh its nothing. Just wished that my brother didnt hate you. You’re not as bad as he says you are”

Alastor chuckled. The two of you had been seeing each other behind the Televison’s back and it gave Alastor so much joy of the thrill knowing you fancied him enough to go against your brother.

He rubbed your thighs reassuringly as he pressed a soft kiss to your pouty lips. “Oh really?” He smirked.

You shook your head, not wanting to think about it anymore. To shift the mood, you tangled your fingers in his fluffy locks, pulling him back to your mouth.

The two of you were in his radio tower for a late night rendezvous.

Vox would blow a fuse if he knew you had snuck out of headquarters to see the red demon.

You pressed your body against his, grinding your hips against the hard bump in Alastor’s pants. You smirked against his lips “aww you missed me that much?” Alastor growled lowly as he dug his claws in your soft skin.

Most secret nights were spent having intense make out sessions and heavy petting.

But you wanted to go further, it was always Alastor who stopped before the two of you could go any further.

You slipped from his lap, to situate yourself between his thighs. Your hands fumbled with his belt and right when your fingers pulled at the band of his boxers, Alastor stopped you.

”I think its quite late to indulge in such activities dearest”

You pouted up at him, eyes swirling up at him “I just want to make you feel good too…don’t you want to fuck me Al?”

You nuzzled your nose against his erection, purring “I don’t know when Vox’ll let me out again” 

How he resist when you looked so cute peppering kisses to his cock?

He let out a groan and when he didnt protest any further, you pulled until his cock sprang from its confines and slapped against your lips.

You took ahold of the girthy length and stroked it a few times before wrapping your lips around the tip.

Alastor sighed as you swirled your tongue on the tip of his cock, giving it kitten licks before taking him whole.

You bobbed your head happily, sending vibrations along his length as you sucked.

A hand wrapped in your hair,pushing you further down until you gurgled around him.

Alastor’s cock twitched in your throat as he looked down at you.

Oh what a pretty thing you were…

He snatched you off him, ignoring your whine when he pulled you back into his lap. He grinned at you. You were buzzing, skin flushed. He pulled you close to his face “seems you’ve convinced me enough to indulge you my dear”

A hand made its way under your dress, toying with your panties.

”To think your brother thinks he can keep you away from me” he chuckled as a finger caressed your puffy clit. You let out a low gasp, leaning into him as he played with your pussy.

You jolted when a finger slid into your warm heat, curling along your gummy walls. You mewled in his shoulder, grinding into his hand. Alastor grinned as your sticky slick dripped onto his hand, adding a second finger, he curled them into your walls, stretching you out.

His lips pressed into your exposed shoulder, sharp teeth nipping ”you’ll be a good girl for me wont you doll?” You nodded and gasped as he slipped his fingers out of you and picked you up to lay you across his control panel.

He grinned above you as he pulled at your dress. Your full tits spilled, nipples perking as they were exposed to the cool air.

You threw your head back as he pinched and twisted the peaks, letting out a ragged moan when his hot mouth enveloped the mound, switching between the two, sucking on your nipples like a babe seeking milk

“Ooh-Ah” you sighed when he tugged a nipple with his teeth.

Alastor grinded his cock against your smoldering heat, coating him in your essence.

His lips released your tit and trailed up to litter your collarbone and neck in kisses. You blinked when his face appeared in your vision.

You gave him a soft smile and hooked your legs around his waist.

You were tingling with excitement. The buttons on his control panel dug into your back, but you were focused on the demon looming over you.

”I fear your brother will be furious if he discovered our treachery” 

He was givin you one last chance to change your mind, but at this moment all you wanted was the pleasure that he could grant you.

So you threw caution to the wind

You angled your hips so his cock catch your clit, pulling him by his collar 

“Fuck Vox”

He grinned and when he slotted his lips against yours, he thrusted into you, swallowing your groan as he stretched your cunt.

Unbeknownst to you, Alastor had turned his radio frequency on.

You were unaware that he was now broadcasting his defilement of you. 

Voxtech’s pampered princess.

”A-Ala..Oh fuck!” You moaned in his neck as he filled you.

Alastor groaned in your ear “you take me so well darlin hehe i knew you would” bottoming out til his balls rested on the curve of your ass.

Your face was buried in his neck, body tingling as your systems ran haywire.

But when he pulled his hips back and pushed again and again and again you couldn’t stop the airy gasps that left your throat.

Your cunt clenched around his cock as he buried himself in you, soft grunts rattling in his throat as he pushed your hips deeper into the control panel. You were sure you’ll have the marks afterwards from how hard he was pummeling into you but that was a matter to be concerned with later.

A hand wrapped around your locks, pulling your face from his neck to look at him. Your lip was caught between your teeth, trying to contain the depraved sounds that bubbled in your chest. Your face was flushed and your eyes were blown.

Alastor peppered your heated face with kisses, whispering perverted nothings against your skin as he rutted up into you.

”Seven hells this cunt is perfect fuck! you look so pretty doll. My pretty girl. This what you wanted isn’t it? Hmm? You wanted me to take you didnt you doll?”

High pitch whines left your throat as his pace quickened.

”A-Al p-please oh fuck oh fuck I’m gonna ah!” Your cunt gushed and squeezed as your orgasm wrecked through your system.

Alastor sneered in your face, eyes narrowed as your face contorted in pleasure “That’s right doll cum on my cock. That’s a good girl. Such a good little slut”

You let out a cry as your systems buzzed as you creamed his cock.

You slumped against his chest, panting as your body shook.

”oh sweetheart I’m not done with you”

Vox was fuming.

How dare that insufferable loser take over his systems!

He was trying to gain control over the frequencies when he froze at the sound of your voice.

No

”Alastor oh fuck!” Your voice ranged out on the monitors.

No No No No NO!

FUCK NO!

Vox watched in horror as his baby sister cried out in ecstasy.

”Sir the channels are blocked how would you like me-”

”GET THE FUCK OUT!” He roared.

Vox sat in his chair and plugged various cables into his import.

He would be damned if anyone else saw you in such a disgraceful state. He checked every monitor in the city and shut the system down. He limited it to only Voxtech headquarters.

”that’s a good little slut”

Vox growled as the systems glitched and became distorted.

”P-please please please! Al no more” tears streamed down your face as blue sparks flew from your systems.

Your legs trembled as the red demon pounded into you.

Your body jolted against his control panel as your claws ripped through the metal.

”You can take a little more can’t you doll?” Alastor asked as he worked you through another orgasm.

Your body was covered in sweat and your systems were working overtime to prevent you from overheating.

Alastor’s cock twitched as your core heated up. It was like being surrounded by molten goo. Your cum was dripping down your legs and coating his length.

You cried out as his cock get that sweet spot inside you, the sound of your cunt squelching and his skin hitting yours radiated through the room.

”I wonder how far I can push your systems dear. Youve got such a pretty pussy, wonder how much of my cum you can take”

Every word had you clenching around him.

”Allllllll” you whined as your system started to glitch, a warning ding ringing in your head.

”You like me ruining you don’t you doll? What would your dear brother say if he saw you taking the cock of the radio demon? I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I send you back to him filled with my cum, oooh yes would you like that pretty doll? To go back home stuffed with my cum hmmm?”

”too m-uch oh fuck fuck fuck Al! Ah! Please please I t-think I’m-I’m gonna OH!” Your body seized as you glitched out, sparks flying and the lights on the control panel flickered as Alastor tore your orgasm from you. A cry ripped for your lips as your eyes dimmed, systems shutting down as you milked his cock, pulling his own orgasm from him.

Alastor came with a growl as he painted your heated walls white, humming in satisfaction when your body went limp and a soft beeping came from you.

With a squish, he pulled his cock out of you and watched as his cum dripped out of you. 

He watched as you slid from the panel and into a heap on the floor. Your body convulsed and twitched as your eyes glowed on and off, a soft static coming from you. He hummed and grinned as Vox appeared across your eyes.

”Hello old pal enjoy the show? Hope you don’t mind the little dear coming home late she’s a bite worst for wares.” 

Bright sparks flew from you as Vox tried to boot your systems back up.

”YOU FUCKING PRICK! I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!” Vox growled.

Alastor chuckled, before pulling your limp body to him. He angled your head so Vox could see him clearly and rested his head on your ass. He grinned when electricity ran through you, a protective measure no doubt, he leaned down to your used cunt and placed a soft kiss to your cunt, sucking it into his mouth. 

Vox smashed his control panel and cursed when your systems sent a report of the mess you were.

“Hehe until next time old friend” Alastor crackled as he took over your systems, blocking Vox from having any access.

[squidthesquidd]

*scratches at window cutely* any lore of pre-war Cybertron pls :3 💫💫

teehee :3 well… every since watching tfone my ideas have changed a bit, but most of my pre-war lore is a bunch of my favorite bits and pieces from other continuities! (also all bots have t-cogs)

as for characters, the ones I have the most ideas for pre-war are Optimus, Elita, Megatron, and ratchet! Optimus, elita, and megs were of course: Orion pax, Ariel, and D-16 (ratchet was always ratchet lol)

Orions job was to transport energon from the mines to the refineries, so he wasn’t actually in the mines himself, and instead worked around them. he did essentially live with the miners though. I think ive mentioned this before, but his cooling and ventilation systems have never worked properly, so despite his job being very easy for most, it put a lot of strain on him because of how easily he overheated.

Ariel wasn’t a miner herself, she was a mining dump truck, so she just carried away all the unneeded material that was dug up. also!! she used to be yellow instead of pink (tfa elita reference lol) She always followed the rules and did what she was told.. except when it came to orion. her superiors often gave orion a hard time, so she would get in the middle of it, and since she’s huge and great at her job, they could never get rid of her for insubordination. (she was also the only dump truck at the mine she was stationed at so she definitely wasnt expendable)

D-16 worked in the mines just as your typical run of the mill miner. he was great at what he did, buuuuuut he did have a bit of an issue with authority figures. and this pissed off his superiors a lot, so after one particularly heated argument where D and ariel were trying to convince their boss to please let Orion go to a medic cus smoke is literally pouring out of him, D was shipped off to the gladiator ring. His frame was practically remade to twice its original size, and he was dropped off in the fighters barracks. he hated fighting but was unfortunately very good at it, and his fans nicknamed him “megatronus” which he later shortened to Megatron

aaaaaand last but not least, Ratchet! He was created a medic, loved being a medic, and was amazing at what he did. After an incident at the mine where our big three worked at, Ratchet was sent there to treat any wounded he could find.. whhiiich is where he found Orion! Orion wasn’t injured in the incident, but he was severely overheated at the time, and Ratchet saw this chronically ill little guy and immediately decided he just had to help him. Ratchet got permission to bring Orion back with him to run some tests, aaand it turned out that if orions temperature increased anymore he was literally going to explode and die! but ratchet was able to stabilize him 👍 yaaaay. after that, Ratchet would often be at the mines where orion stayed so he could do daily checkups on him and to keep him from going offline. and of course they became besties lol

as for society and governemntttt,,, the functionist system was very much in play (if you were created with a certain alt-mode, that dictates your entire life) i think the aligned continuity is closest to what im going for with.

tbh i dont have it super fleshed but i’ll be working on it 👍👍💥

[scrreeeamformx]

fuck this weather

why is everything moving even slower than before today? im currently typing this in a dinosaur aged laptop belonging to my sis sitting at home with god knows what's the weather out there now, 35 degrees? and alternating between needing to sweat and also not overheating myself. i seem to remember that my sis describes me as being a carnivorous plant, i need water and moisture if not i just die which literally happened to me 2 days ago. temperature shot to 39.3 and i was delusional. body aching too much to get on my feet to wash up and head down to our family doctor, was in a half dazed mood the whole day, the bloody meds making my tongue all numb and all food tasting bland. well glad all thats over.

today is the last day of my so called medical leave and gotta return to being a cog in the machine of capitalism? economic growth? whatever it is, its the thing that gives me money so i can spend it however i like and on whoever i like. i just realised my last post was early april this year and it always feels like a whole year has passed since i last written in here. at least its still a consistent thing for me. no matter how infrequently i write. i still got opinions and stuffs to say, maybe not to humans but online. because this space is not meant for anyone but myself. so no judgements, no stonewalling, nothing, just peace and quiet, exactly how i want things to be.

my job is chaotic now, so different from the previous one but the time passes really quickly and im learning new shit which is all good. colleagues are pretty good as well, no mind games and management is old school/traditional which is fine by me. still not very sure about working under a female boss but time will tell. man once this week passes, it will be 3 weeks im in this new company, time sure passes quickly. the rest of my life is pretty much the same really. i miss hanging out with my group of 5, me included. can be totally myself with them, all of us feel the same way. minus the smoking and hard liquor. i think my 3 cups of soju bomb was my max till i flatlined. man at least it was in their home and not some pub or strangers home. glad to always have them, need to catch up soon like for real. for real.

why am i talking like im a homie? pretty soon i will be saying bruh to everyone and hierarchies be absent. i dunno i mean i read about this new generation now called generation Alpha? like how weird is that? i thought the alphabets thing was already weird enough but now we have alpha? said it came from being ipad babies, born and raised using ipads. sounds privileged and kinda sad though tbh to have ur whole world shaped using electronics without being able to use ur 5 senses to discover the world around you. damn im glad i was born a millenial, if i have a kid next time, wouldnt know if i am raising an alien or a child anymore. they be all smarter than us and taking over all our jobs in no time is what im saying.

guess thats all i have to say for now. peace out, love this community.

[nihiltism]

RUNS TO YOU KAZ PAZ KAZ-- 1, 20, & 28 for the fun questions if you're still doing them ! :>

1: 3 things that changed you into the person you are?

ok well wandersong is the big one. mmmm what else jeez. um um um. oh! when I was 12 I joined a cs group on deviantart called mothcats and they were a fantastic influence. so that's a big one. also I say "were" but I'm still there I just dont draw my cats as often I just kind of look fondly at them and use it as a built in friendgroup. shoutout mothcats by the way join mothcats they're not on deviantart anymore. anyway. uh last one. oh less serious one but also spending a non zero amount of my formative years on the hellscape that is the moshi monsters forums did something. it gave me some good friends at least who fucked me up irreversibly in lovely ways from there.

20: favorite things about the night

it's colder!!!! it's usually windier!!!! so I have a good excuse to wear layers and soft fuzzy stuff! and im not overheating !!! also I just generally have less stuff to do at night. that's my me time to do stupid shit. it's kind of unfortunate because I've got 8ams so I don't have much night time to myself this quarter :(

28: do you collect anything?

I guess?? I have a small collection of glass figurines but I haven't added to it in a hot minute. I've got a Lot of plushies too. oh!!! also whenever I go out thrifting I have to stop by the books section and if I find a redwall book I don't own already I'm like obligated to buy it so that's a small collection I've got rn. will I ever get around to reading them? haha

[akawrites000]

hot vs cold

Hero groaned, pulling on that black tie with curled, tense fingers. They've never been a big fan of formal wear, but this particular assignment had called for such a situation. They looked up at the gloomy sky, mind wandering about to how many side jobs heroes actually had to do. People would think being a hero would consist of mostly fighting off villains- and that's true, but villain was the least of their problems right then; in fact, it had almost been a week since they had a face off with villain. When they weren't paying attention, their thoughts would sometimes betray them, making hero think that they almost missed villain. Almost.

Sweat pooled on their brow as they waited under the hot sun, dearly missing the comfort and familiarity of their hero costume. This particular job requirement was that they act as a bodyguard and protect a high profile individual while they attend some sort of a party that hero couldn't be less concerned about. They preferred being the hero and not a bodyguard for someone who they didn't even know.

Just then, a black limousine rolled out and stopped right in front of the hotel they were staying in; a huge man with sunshades got out from the back, waved their hands at hero, signaling them to get in. That must be my ride.

They got into the car without any fight, and took one look at the rear most seat to check if this was in fact their employer or just a fancy way of kidnapping.

"No staring."

"Wha-

Hero didn't have a chance to speak out before they were crushed by the huge man sitting to their left. They couldn't believe it, why did they have to be squished, with no concept of personal space in a limousine?! This was just absurd.

Hero felt another lithe body press to them on their right, that person in turn being squished by another big man to their left. Hero groaned internally, they were just really bad with close contact with people in general, they could never understand why, but it just felt foreign to them. It's like they never knew how to act, and their mind would settle on the default "freak out" option.

Hero was dragged out of their head when they felt themselves being pushed further to the lithe person on their right, because the big guy decided to squirm in his seat. The sweat pooling on their brow slowly slid down their cheekbone, and hero was feeling hot... everywhere. There were too many sensations ramming into them all at once- their tight suit, which felt like it was glued to their body now thanks to their nerves; being pressed to another person; feeling their body heat. Hero had always had a high body temperature so all of this contact was making their head spin.

They just sat there silently, wishing for this agony to just end.

-

Villain was in high spirits, this was a job that paid well, so they enthusiastically got dressed up in a suit that was the dress code for a bodyguard and got into the assigned limousine. They had a mask plus voice changer on for good measure, and nobody questioned that which was good. They were thinking how ironic it was that they accepted this job request, because this was what the heroes did- protecting people, not villains.

So it was an understatement to say that their jaw almost dropped to the floor when they saw hero getting into that same limousine. Villain found themselves gaping at them, their mind betraying them and caring for their nemesis who they met almost every day, in a fight of course.

I can't believe that hero is actually here, so now we have to work together? Do they even know that I'm villain? And they're not even wearing a mask to hide their identity, how irresponsible. Oh, they look good in a suit-

Villain had to stop their mind right there, willing themselves to focus on anything else other than the hero sitting next to them. But these two gorillas on either side of them made that almost impossible as they kept pushing each other closer in this seat that was too small for all of them.

Villain couldn't help but glance over at hero every few minutes, they were being too quiet. The hero they knew was noisy, always running into a fight before thinking, a person that kept jumping around all the time. So seeing them this calm was just... weird.

By now villain was pretty sure that hero didn't recognise them, so they were mentally prepping themselves to talk to them when the gorilla to hero’s left pushed them further into their body. Villain immediately froze. Too close. Hero might as well be practically sitting on them now, villain could feel everything- their breathing, heartbeat, and their body heat, they were practically burning... wait, burning?!

Villain whipped their head towards hero and took in their slumped figure. Their head was downcast so they couldn't really see their face. Hero was practically leaning on them, making no effort to even hold themselves upright and villain was a little worried... okay, a lot more worried than they let on. Hero’s breathing was ragged and villain felt like they had to do something, anything. But hero beat them to it.

"H-hot". Hero breathed out, weakly, pathetically.

Their voice was so low, villain almost didn't hear them.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

Hero propped their head up on their shoulder, lips parted as they gasped in some air, bangs stuck to their sweaty forehead and villain shamelessly drank in those visuals, despite their thoughts clashing with one another. Hero’s eyes were shut tight, while villain’s eyes were wide open, staring at them.

"S' so hot, I can't-" they croaked.

That's when villain painfully realised that hero was having some sort of a panic attack and they needed space. Villain haphazardly pushed at the big man to hero’s left, glaring at him so that he doesn't attempt to move any closer. Then they draped a protective arm around hero, activating their powers and felt weirdly proud when hero almost moaned out at the cold sensation.

Villain brought up their other hand to hero’s face comfortably nestled on their shoulder and gently touched their forehead, cheek and neck.

Hero blinked up at them in slight surprise, eyes opening and then closing as they went limp in their arms, all of their tense muscles relaxing and villain just felt so powerful.

Hero finally looked up at them after regaining a bit of their energy, their face a palette of red, when the car screeched to a stop.

The two of them were ushered out of the car and hero wobbled after the 'mysterious masked person who had saved them' . They were pulled upright by the same person when their balance toppled and they almost ended up kissing the floor, with a "be more careful" from them. Hero felt their face heating up, just how many times did they have to be helped today? A behavior totally unbefitting of a hero.

"Um!" Hero called out and the 'masked person' stopped to turn around and look at them.

Hero was already bowing, words sounding like apologies and gratitude steadily spilling out of their lips in a messed up heap, as they bombarded villain’s ears. Villain wanted to understand, they really did, but all they could pick up were hurried sorries, shy thank you's and the word stranger that kept popping up here and there and how hero was so embarrassed by their own behaviour.

Villain simply scoffed, they had seen far more embarrassing sides of the hero and secretly enjoyed them, their nose scrunching up every time hero called them a stranger and villain couldn't stand it anymore.

As fun as this was, it was time to reveal their masked identity-

"But I'm no stranger to you darling." Villain mocked and the 'goldfish expression' on hero’s face was oh so worth it.

Villain turned around with a smug smile as hero caught up with all of that information and was by their side in a second, screeching into their ears.

"Villain?!"

"Yes, that's me."

Hero groaned, Villain's voice dripped with so much amusement that made hero’s heart flare with embarrassment at that moment.

"I'll punch you after this job." Hero hissed.

Villain smiled, "Is that how you thank people? But lucky for you, I'll accept it and punch you back."

Hero rolled their eyes. "Just shut up. Please."

Villain chuckled and hero couldn't get that voice out of their head. While they were distracted, villain took the opportunity to close in next to their ear and spoke in a sinful tone which should be illegal-

"I-im hot~"

Hero simply tripped on air, falling face first to the ground this time. There was no getting that voice out of their head now. They looked up and glared at villain, who made a funny face and walked away.

Hero hid their face in their hands. "Shit. That's unfair, you shitty villain."

Hero felt another large hand tapping their shoulder and looked up to see one of the gorilla men looking down at them, sympathy written all over his face. Hero took the man's outstretched hand and let themselves be pulled up.

"That was cute, didn't know you both knew each other. But my partner and I," he pointed to the other huge man standing next to the limo and grinning at them, "are totally on your side. That was one underhanded move."

Oh, if hero wasn't embarrassed enough a few seconds ago, they definitely were now.

"Wait, what, how did you-

"I have superhearing." , the man simply said as hero gawked at him, and then started wishing for the ground to swallow them up whole.

BONUS: Every time hero overheated during a fight and felt faint, villain would use their powers to cool them down, and hero would lean into that touch like they could never get enough of it. It attacked villain’s heart every time.

So yeah, my brain decided to give you hero x villain squished together in a limo instead of a bed? New trope? xD

Thank you so much for 260 followers, you all are so precious 🥺❤

[musherum]

For the ask meme: primes?

who is/are your comfort character(s)?

i dont really know if i have one anymore. sometimes, when im upset, i'll imagine kim kitsuragi from disco elysium shit-talking people im mad at, or him telling me that im doing okay. but i dont know if that really counts?

i used to have lots. but ive mostly moved out of that stage in my life. idk, i guess it felt in a way slightly infantile, and not like a great way to engage in media - and also like it was kind of a flattening of myself, if that makes any sense.

2. lighter or matches?

matches are soooo tantalizing. i love striking a match. but they disappear so quick! so i prefer a lighter, generally. the flint mechanism is also fun to play with, though i understand that is pretty unsafe to do.

3. do you leave the window open at night?

yes, usually. i like to keep fresh air flowing in, to keep myself from overheating or starting to wheeze. and i get to hear the crickets :)

5. what color are your eyes?

a fairly unremarkable blue. looking into them sometimes reminds me of looking down through the water at the beach, into the sand. but mostly they are fairly poetically uninteresting.

7. hair-ties or scrunchies?

hair-ties, usually. scrunchies are fun and cute, but i usually put my hair back for utility, and not for fashion or to look cute - i dont have a good relationship to the shape of my forehead and brow, or my jaw or chin, so if im trying to look nice ill generally leave my hair down. so cute scrunchies arent really something ive invested in.

11. favorite extracurricular activity?

i dont think i did many extracurriculars as a kid. i was in cross-country for a bit. i liked it okay, i liked going fast. but my asthma got too bad, and i started collapsing and not being able to finish races.

i was in a writing workshop in middle school, but honestly despite me always getting good grades in english, and despite me always being my english teachers favorite, i simply was not and am not a very good writer, at least not of fiction. idk, maybe i just need to practice more and stop judging everything i make like its the thing that will make or break my worth as a person. either way, i didnt attend the workshop for long, because of life-ruining depression

13. when was the last time you ate?

a few hours ago? my sister was over to do laundry, and i defrosted the veggie shepherds pie filling i had in the freezer, and made us both little shepherds pies in some ramekins.

it was pretty okay. i mixed the mash with some goat cheddar because i was out of parmesan, and it turned out nice. browned well, light and puffy. the filling was missing something. maybe it just needed some acid or something. idk

17. are you farsighted or nearsighted?

im nearsighted. thats one of the biggest reasons i dont wear my glasses very often - keeping them on, when im doing tasks that involve my face being just a few feet away from my point of focus? gives me a headache.

19. imagine we’re at a sleepover, would you paint my nails?

i could try? im not very good at it though :( i cant even paint my own nails without making a mess of it.

23. how do you feel about chilly weather?

already answered!

29. how do you like your shower water?

depends on the weather, and what would feel most refreshing. in the summer, i usually let my shower water run slightly cooler. but then again - after a hard day, when im full of aches and pains, nothing hits better than hot, hot water pouring down on me. so i guess it depends on the weather and how tiring my day has been.

31. what type of music keeps you grounded?

i usually listen to more energetic electronic music, but when i need to ground myself or bring myself back from the brink, i usually lean towards something slower and singable and maybe a little bit sad or morbid. half the time i wont even listen to it - ill just sort of wail along to it.

37. someone in your life, other than a relative, you’ve known for 10+ years?

this is a tough one. aside from some family friends?? ummm. drawing a blank here, i stopped communicating with a lot of other people from earlier in my life a long time ago. the closest thing i can think of would maybe be a couple of tumblr mutuals? and even then, theyre maybe, like, 8 or 9 years, tops.

41. how do you take your coffee?

already answered!

43. what’s your take on spicy foods?

already answered!

47. what was the last message you sent?

i asked my youngest sister if she was coming over tonight to do laundry, and if she wanted me to make her something to eat.

thank you for the questions :)

[viostormcaller]

Stringbound Chapter 2

[TW: nausea/vomiting, near car accident, needles, fainting (ask to tag if I’ve missed something!)]

AN: This has been ready for a good while, actually! I just haven’t posted it since I’ve been away. However, since it’s Marvin’s birthday, I thought it fitting to post this today. So, happy birthday, Marvin, and I duly apologize for the awful things that happen to you in this chapter. Now, without further ado, here’s chapter 2!

Read Chapter 1

As the tension finally dissipated from the theatre, Marvin could finally feel that the threat was gone. It was just them now. At first, he let himself calm down and relax while Jackieboy Man called whoever it was he needed to call and informed them on the situation. But then, it hit him all at once, just as the adrenaline from the fight wore off. A dizzying, blinding headache accompanied by ringing ears and followed by a nosebleed. His body began to ache and he felt nauseated and overwhelmed, skin prickling all over. He overdid it, he definitely overdid it. Normally he would take a moment to rest after a show because he needs to recharge after expending his magical energy, despite the amount he uses never being a significant amount. His shows not only never take much out of him, but they also never involve combat, especially when it's an overpowered, unkillable enemy. He actually hadn't fought anyone using magic in a long, long time. Hadn't needed to. He fell to his knees with a grunt, holding his head and groaning.

Jackieboy Man startled when he heard the thump, looking behind him to see Marvin doubled over on his knees. He cursed to himself and put whoever it was he was talking to on hold. "Shit, you alright?!"

"Overdid it," he got out. "Too much-- ngh! Energy…"

"Are you injured anywhere else?" Jackieboy Man asked.

"Nn-nnh," Marvin shook his head. Instant regret. His body lurched and he clapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes beginning to sting. He swallowed thickly and slowly exhaled. "Don' feel well… gonna be sick…"

"Okay, shit, uh… you'll come with me, you can lie down and rest, um… D'you need anythin' else or are you alright?"

"Lie down… 'n a shower… 's it…"

"Alright, gotcha."

"I'll give you… my address. You c'n take me home…"

"Ah… no, can't do that. Sorry. You'll have to stay with me. Not safe with Antisepticeye after you now."

"I can... handle myself," Marvin forced out, his frustration making his head hurt worse. "'m a grown adult. Don' need protecting."

"No, trust me on this one. Please." Jackieboy urged. "I know what I'm talking about. I'm not having anyone else go missing or fall deathly ill under his control, not on my watch. And you're weakened, on top of that. You have to come with me. I've rigged the house in a way where he can't find me or anyone else who stays there. You'll be safe there until the heat's off you."

"...fine," Marvin agreed begrudgingly. Jackieboy Man sounded sincere enough, and the hero did appear to have more experience with Antisepticeye than he did. But mostly, the sooner he could lie down, the better, and at this point he would do anything to speed things along.

"First, though," Jackieboy began, fishing through one of his satchels.

Marvin groaned. Ugh, what now, he thought to himself, clearly annoyed.

Jackieboy Man held out a tissue to Marvin. "Your nose is bleeding."

"Mmh." Right. Aside from the metallic taste coating his lips, he'd nearly forgotten. He pressed the napkin to his nose and pinched it, tilting his head back. His nosebleeds never lasted long, thankfully, so as soon as it stopped a moment later, he was able to shakily rise onto his feet. Though, the dizziness struck back hard, nearly causing him to fall over again.

"Woah, careful! You alright?" Jackieboy asked, rushing over to steady him.

"Mmh… thanks."

"No problem. Y'know…" Jackieboy couldn't help but smirk, "considering you seem to have a connection to cats, I assumed you'd have better balance than that!"

Marvin furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes at Jackieboy Man, giving him a "what the actual fuck are you talking about?" face.

"Your cat mask?" Jackieboy supplied.

Marvin rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth, turning his gaze away from the hero. "Shut up."

Jackieboy snorted. "Alright, let's get you somewhere safe. Friend of mine should be waiting outside by now. He'll drive us. You don't get carsick, do you?"

"No."

"Good. Alright, easy does it, now… slow steps."

Jackieboy Man slowly led Marvin out through the exit door he sawed open earlier on. They headed through the hallway leading out to the main doors and were hit with the cold night air as they stepped outside. The bright city lights were glaring, making Marvin's eyes hurt. He hissed and shut them, feeling his head pound harder. The cold air was cooling down his overheating body, at least, but he could tell he would be shivering before long.

"That white car over there is where we're headed," Jackieboy Man informed. "My friend -- his name's Chase -- he'll be taking us back to the house."

"Mmh."

"You're really clammy," Jackieboy commented. "Sure you're not comin' down with something?"

"Jus' overdid it…" Marvin got out. "I'll be fine."

"There's a doctor that lives with us. He can check you out if you want?" Jackieboy Man offered.

"Mmh." Marvin really didn't feel like seeing a doctor, nor did he need to, but he also didn't feel like talking anymore. He figured the hero would shut up if he just nodded and agreed. Plus, the sooner he stopped talking, the better, because the nausea was hitting Marvin full force and the last thing he wanted to do was open his mouth to speak, lest more than words came out.

Finally, the pair finally made it to the car. Jackieboy Man helped Marvin in first, who scooted all the way towards the left-most seat, while Jackieboy sat on the far right. Marvin took the opportunity to pull his mask off his face and set it down in the empty space between them.

"Yo, Jackie, everything good?" asked the driver, who Marvin assumed was Chase. "And who's this you got with you?"

"Yeah, Chase, we're fine. Oh, and this is Marvin," explained Jackie. He then turned to Marvin. "Wait, your name is Marvin, right? I was just goin' off the sign on the theatre."

"Yeah, name's Marvin." he mumbled, trying not to open his mouth too much.

"Ah, okay. Good. Yeah, he was targeted at his show tonight. I'm takin' him back with us to stay 'til the heat's off 'im."

"Yeah, alright." Chase sighed. The house was big, sure, but if Jackie kept taking on new people like this… well, he supposed it was for the best. "So, uh… we heading straight back? Or d'you need to stop anywhere first?"

"Nah, just head straight home. Marvin needs to lie down and rest. But drive slow, alright? He's not feeling well."

"Yeah, alright. He injured?"

"No, no. Thankfully he's not. I'll explain later, but he just needs to find someplace to lie down."

"Alright. Everyone buckled in?"

"Yeah, I am. Marv, you buckled?"

"Mhm," Marvin hummed.

"Alright, starting the car now."

Chase pulled out of his parking spot and began to drive off. True to his word, he kept his speed slow, but Marvin could still feel every jerk and bump of the car. He had his head leaned against the window, taking slow, deep breaths, his eyes closed.

"Hey, Marvin?"

"Mmh?" Marvin slightly turned his head towards Jackie's direction.

"You see that pocket on the back of Chase's seat? There's paper bags in there. Keep 'em there just for situations like this. If you feel like you're gonna be sick, don't be afraid to take one, alright?"

Marvin hummed in acknowledgement, going back to closing his eyes. He was trying with all his willpower to settle his stomach as much as he possibly could. He didn't want to resort to using a bag, but he'd be mortified if he threw up in someone else's car. Gods, he hoped he could lie down soon…

Chase was paying close attention to the road, trying to watch his speed and make sure he wasn't driving too fast and not too slow, that he was in the correct lane, when suddenly a car from the complete opposite side of the freeway came barreling at him from his left. He spotted it just in time, largening headlights near blinding him.

"Holy shit!" Chase cried. He rapidly turned the wheel, speeding up to try and get out of the way. Jackie cried out from the back seat and held on tight to the handle on the roof of the car as it swerved and collided with the guardrail, the screech of metal on metal filling the car. Marvin groaned and hissed as his stomach flip-flopped and his head bumped hard up against the window. The other car thankfully missed, and aside from the car scraping against the guardrail, nothing was damaged and no one was severely hurt. He turned on the hazard lights and quickly pulled over, trying hard to catch his breath and calm his heart. His entire body was trembling.

"Shit… you guys… you guys alright back there?" he got out between pants.

"Yeah… think we're good," Jackie said. "Shit, man, what happened?"

"Dude, someone tried to fuckin' hit us."

"Shit, you serious?"

"Yes!" Chase turned around in his seat to face Jackie, eyes wide with fear. "Dude, I swear to god, this car came from the other fuckin' side of the freeway and came charging right at us, like it was trying to hit us. Coulda killed all three of us if I didn't move out of the way!"

"You… you don't think it was a drunk driver, do you?" suggested Jackie.

"Nah, man, that felt way too deliberate to be a drunk driver. It looked like whoever was driving was targeting us."

"...Well, then we better get home fast," Jackie said. "If the road's not safe, then we gotta get outta harm's way."

"R-right, right…" Chase turned back around to slump in his seat and took a deep breath, calming himself. He was still shaking, but he knew he had to get everyone home. They couldn't sit there forever. He reluctantly turned off the hazard lights and, after waiting for all the cars to pass, slowly veered the car back onto the freeway.

Marvin, meanwhile, had a hand over his stomach, feeling it turn and bubble. Throughout Jackie and Chase's conversation, he was desperately trying to fend off the nausea with little success. As the minutes passed by it only became worse. His breathing grew quick, jaw clenched as he tried with all his willpower to keep whatever wanted to come up, down.

"Marvin?" Jackieboy asked frantically, turning to Marvin with a worried look in his eyes as soon as he'd noticed his breathing had picked up. "Marvin, are you okay?"

Marvin didn't answer. His brow was furrowed, sweat beading on his forehead. He hated feeling this way. He hated nausea, the way his entire body prickled with it. He swallowed thickly and tried to steady his breathing, but swallowing triggered his nausea further. He gagged once and then finally his stomach lurched, bile rushing up his throat. Marvin quickly sat upright, clapping one hand over his mouth and using the other to reach out and open up a paper bag. Against his will his stomach lurched again, body convulsing, more bile filling his mouth and spilling out into his hand. He got the bag opened, and no sooner had he done so did he heave, vomiting into it.

"Get it up, Marvin, it's alright. I've got you," Jackie supported.

Marvin felt a hand on his back, rubbing in slow circles. He almost wanted to shrug him off but didn't have the mental energy to, not while also focusing on expelling whatever it was his body was so kind as to reject.

"Marvin's throwing up back there?" Chase called from up front.

"Yeah. Don't worry, none got in the car if that's what you're worried about." Jackie answered.

"Is he okay?"

"Uh… gonna say no on that one. He doesn't look like he's doin' too hot. How far are we from the house?"

"Uh, give or take twenty minutes?"

"Alright. Hang on 'til then, Marv. Okay?"

Marvin groaned, breath hitching as he was stopped up short by another wave of nausea. His head felt like it was being squeezed by a really tight rubber band, only worsening as he coughed and gasped. He wanted nothing more than to lie down somewhere, curl up into a ball and just sleep. When the nausea for the most part subsided, stomach empty of all it had and then some, he went back to leaning against the window, taking slow breaths as he tried to calm his heart and his breathing down.

Finally, Chase was pulling into a driveway. Marvin couldn't see as his eyes were closed, but he felt the car slowing down and heard the sound of tires against gravel. The engine whirred to a stop, the car filling with silence. Finally, there was the sound of Chase unbuckling his seatbelt and the silence was accompanied by cold air as his door was opened.

Chase naturally went outside to inspect the damage. It looked pretty bad… but it could have easily been a whole lot worse. He tried to be grateful for that. He could only force out a breath, running his hand through his hair. He knew he couldn't afford to pay to fix this right now, so he only hoped that this was all the damage that was done.

Jackieboy simply watched Chase from his window for a moment before turning towards Marvin. His eyes were closed and his breathing was awfully… still. "Marvin…?" he whispered. Was he asleep?

"Mmh?" Marvin hummed, not looking up.

"We're home."

"Mm…"

"Need me to help you out of the car?"

Jackieboy didn't get an answer. He hummed to himself and got out, going over to Marvin's side and opening the door. He unbuckled the seatbelt holding him and went to help Marvin up.

Marvin allowed himself to be helped up, but as soon as he moved, the world began to spin dangerously. His vision rapidly blurred and darkened and he collapsed, feeling a quick burst of pain shoot up his arm and through his side as he collided with the pavement beneath him, and then nothing.

"Shit, Marvin?! Marvin, are you okay?" Jackie cried out, bending down. He began to shake him. "Marvin? Marvin! Shit… Chase, Marvin's not responding. Go inside and get Schneep. Hurry!"

"Fuck, dude… yeah, on it!" Chase quickly locked the car before dashing towards the house, nearly tripping on the front steps and almost dropping his keys trying to unlock the door.

"Henrik!" Chase called into the house. "Henrik, where are you, man?" He was met with silence. With a slightly-annoyed huff, he headed straight towards a door on the right side of the hallway ahead of him and quickly threw it open, hurrying down the basement stairs. He finally reached the basement door at the bottom and burst through.

"Henrik," Chase repeated.

"Hm?!" Henrik startled, looking up from the paperwork on his desk and quickly swiveling around in his chair.

"Hen, we need you outside. Someone we're helping fuckin' passed out on the ground."

"Oh, für die Liebe zu…" Henrik huffed and rolled his eyes. He didn't hesitate in standing, though, immediately pulling on his white lab coat that was hanging nearby and grabbing a fresh pair of medical gloves. "Take me to them," he directed.

Chase nodded. The pair of them rushed back up the stairs and out the door, and Chase led Henrik over to where Jackie was, leaned over Marvin's unconscious form.

"What happened? Who is this?" Henrik asked, crouching down beside the stranger's limp body.

"His name's Marvin. He's staying with us until the heat's off him. He was attacked at his show tonight. By you-know-who."

Henrik hummed and slowly nodded in grim understanding. He had no qualms helping this stranger now, now that he had context. "What happened before he collapsed? What symptoms was he having?"

"Uh… he was really clammy, he was nauseous…"

"Was he vomiting?"

"Yeah, he was, though I should mention that was only after the car swerved. Uh… he said he had a headache and his nose was bleeding earlier. I think he said he just overdid it and used too much magic energy? But I still hoped you would check him out anyway, just to be sure."

"Magic? You serious?" Chase asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, man, another magic user. You shoulda seen it, though. Marvin's powerful."

"Ugh, enough of the chit-chat," scolded Henrik impatiently. "Help me get Marvin inside. Is cold out here and I do not want him getting hypothermia."

"Right, right. Sorry." Jackie apologized.

The three of them lifted Marvin, and while it was awkward, they managed to safely get him inside. After removing his cape, suit jacket, and shoes, they set him down on the couch for now, piling blankets over him and setting pillows underneath his head. Afterwards Jackie and Chase sat themselves at the kitchen table and Henrik heated up the food he'd been saving for them -- he'd eaten his own plate earlier.

"So," Henrik grunted as he sat down in his chair. "You had said the car swerved while you were driving, yes? What happened?"

"Someone… someone tried to hit us," Chase replied.

"Tried to hit you? Are you certain?"

Chase grimly nodded, swallowing what was in his mouth. "Yeah, pretty certain, dude. Car came at us from the opposite side of the freeway. I had to swerve outta the way. Car hit the guardrail, dunno if you saw the damage."

"Yes, I… I saw." Henrik fell silent, mulling this over. "I assume you did not get a license plate, did you?"

Chase shook his head sadly.

"I figured as much. Did you get a look at the driver, at least?"

"No. Headlights were so bright that I couldn't see anything. I mean, shit, it was dumb luck I was able to get us outta the way at all!"

"If the damage is bad enough I might have to be called in to help clean up debris and help the survivors, if that car hit anyone else," Jackie said, his voice having a serious edge to it.

"No, I think you are fine, Jackieboy," Henrik said with a shake of his head. "If they needed help cleaning up, they would have called earlier. Maybe the car did not hit any other drivers?"

"I can only hope."

The three fell silent then, Henrik simply watching over Chase and Jackieboy Man as they ate. Finally, Chase spoke up, setting his fork down.

"...I'm pretty sure there's only one person who would have it out for us enough to try and hit us."

"It… it couldn't have been him," Jackie said. "I dunno where he fucked off to, but… we did really heavy damage to him."

Henrik blinked. This was news. "You… you did? What did you do?"

"It was…" Jackie huffed, laughing silently. "It was mostly Marvin, if I'm gonna be honest. He's really fuckin' powerful, you guys have no idea. Who knows how long he's been eyeing Marvin for, with that kinda strength…"

"Mm, we could use someone like him, then," Henrik said.

"At one point, um… I thought he killed him."

Both Henrik's and Chase's eyes widened.

"Dude… you serious?"

"Swear on my Ma. He was… he was out for a good minute. Had a hole blasted through the center of his skull. But, uh… apparently, he can't die."

Henrik's brow furrowed. "What… what do you mean, "he cannot die?""

"I mean that… he's not alive in the first place. I guess he… never was. Which means I need to look at a different approach to taking him out."

Chase just silently cursed to himself, slumping back in his chair and dragging a hand down his face.

"I do have good news, though!" Jackieboy quickly added. "You know those prototype bullets I've been workin' on? They work! They're pretty effective! If I make 'em a bit stronger, who knows how much damage they'll do!"

"Good, good! So we have a starting point for building defense, then," Henrik said with a relieved smile.

"Seems so, yeah."

Finally, Jackie looked over to Marvin, who was knocked out on the couch.

"So… what are we doing with Marvin?"

"...Well, the only option is for him to sleep on the couch," Henrik said. "Chase has his room, you are using mine, and I sleep down in the lab… the only place left is the living room."

"Guess you're right…"

"I am going to watch over Marvin for the night, make sure he is alright. Are either of you injured, by the way?"

"Nah, I'm good," Jackie shook his head.

"Same here," agreed Chase. "Little shaken up, but I'm all good otherwise."

"Good, good."

"Wait, shouldn't you be by Jack?" asked Jackie.

"I mean, yes, but as of right now, Marvin is the priority. If he is sick, I need to be there in case he gets any worse."

"I can go watch Jack," Chase offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, man. I mean…" Chase laughed, "I'm probably not gonna be sleeping tonight, anyways. Might as well do something useful, yeah?"

Jackie nodded and rose. "I'm gonna head upstairs and write everything that happened tonight down, and then head to bed so I can get an early start tomorrow. Gonna head out on patrols in the morning instead of at night just in case his puppets are on the loose. After tonight, can't be too cautious."

"That is a good idea, Jackie. I will be in the living room. Chase, if you notice anything that is not right with Jack during the night, we will swap places. I will go down to be with Jack and you will watch Marvin. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Chase rose as well, grabbing his plate.

"Oh, do not worry about the dishes. I will do them. You two both go."

"Thanks, dude," smiled Chase.

"Yeah, thanks, Schneep. Owe you one." Jackie was about to head upstairs, but a final glance at Marvin reminded Jackie of something important. "Oh shit. Chase, wait, need a favor from you."

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Go down to the car and grab Marvin's mask. It's in the back seat."

"Yeah, got it." Chase pulled his keys out of his pocket and headed for the door, pulling it open and stepping outside.

Jackie headed upstairs while Chase was gone, while Henrik proceeded to wash the plates and utensils. When Chase came back, he set Marvin's mask on the coffee table and headed downstairs to watch over Jack. Once the dishes were done, Henrik headed to the living room to get comfy in one of the reclining chairs opposite and to the right of the couch and proceeded to watch over Marvin during the night. Eventually, though, he fell asleep.

                                                                  ⁂

Marvin groaned as he awoke. His head was still throbbing, his body ached, his middle was sore… He always felt like shit after expending so much energy. This was normal, but it didn't make it any less unpleasant. He went to move his arms so he could sit up and hold his head, but the first thing he was made aware of was the pile -- not one, but an actual, literal pile -- of blankets covering him. He opened his eyes to find that he was on a couch in an unfamiliar living room. Off to his right, he detected the faint sound of someone snoring. It was someone he didn't recognize, sporting skewed glasses and a white lab coat, still detectable despite the darkness of the room. A scientist, perhaps? Or, wait, Jackieboy Man mentioned they lived with a doctor. This must be him. Marvin reasoned he was responsible for covering him in so many blankets. He made a mental note to thank him when he woke up.

Marvin pushed the blankets off of him and pulled himself up off the couch. He spotted his mask sitting on the nearby coffee table. He wondered who brought it inside, considering he didn't grab it before he passed out. Well, better here than in the car, he figured. He couldn't afford to lose that mask; it meant a great deal to him. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he headed out of the living room, trying to make his way around this new environment and memorize its layout so he knew where to go should there ever be danger. Also, it was helpful to know where the bathroom was, considering that was where he was heading.

He was still dizzy, so he made doubly sure to keep one hand trailing against a wall or against a piece of furniture at all times as he (rather slowly) explored this new place. The other was kept against his head. Despite the headache, he tried to take in as many details as he could. From what he gathered so far, the living room and kitchen were right across from each other, with the staircase separating them and the front door located at the point where they meet. Past the staircase was a hallway leading straight ahead from the front door, and there was a windowed door at the very end of the hallway that appeared to lead outside. There was a sole door on the left side of the hall, halfway down, and two doors on the right, one under the staircase and another a few feet down. The one under the staircase was a bit smaller, so given its size Marvin assumed it to be a closet of sorts. The left door, evidently, led to the bathroom, and for now that was all the info Marvin needed. He ducked in, flicking on the light and locking the door behind him.

It took a while for his aching eyes to adjust to the harsh light of the bathroom, but he at least had stopped squinting by the time he washed his hands. He leaned against the counter, taking deep breaths. Everything hurt. As he kept telling himself, feeling like shit was normal after expending too much energy, especially since he hadn't engaged in combat with anyone in a very long time. However, he really didn't feel very well and it was noticeable enough for him to tell that something wasn't right. The dizziness wasn't subsiding and neither was the headache. His stomach was caught between being sore from exertion and a genuine, slightly nauseating ache. What's worse, he still felt weak and shaky, as if yesterday's battle happened an hour ago. Did he really push himself that far? He knew he was slightly out of practice, but something wasn't adding up. He knew he needed to look into it as soon as possible, but for now he simply opened the bathroom door and stepped out, remembering to turn the light off as he did so.

The room looked so much darker now that the light was off. It was hard for Marvin's eyes to readjust. He kept a hand on the wall, feeling his way around and trying to keep himself upright as his vision slowly began to pick up the silhouettes of furniture. Anything large and stable he leaned on until he made his way back to the couch.

Or, well, almost.

It's hard to tell just how much the room is spinning when said room is pitch-black. All Marvin knew was that suddenly, he felt really lightheaded. And then, in a stroke of bad luck, he stubbed his toe against the coffee table and fell with a strangled cry, his right side colliding with the floor.

"Nnh?!" Henrik jerked awake at the noise, sitting up and adjusting his glasses and looking around with wide eyes. "Wh-who is it? Who is there?!" he demanded.

Marvin tried with all his might, but he was too weak and too dizzy to get up. Gods, what's happening to me?! he mentally panicked. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and then attempted to speak. "Hh… h-help me…" he got out.

Henrik quickly rose, adjusting his glasses and moving to flick on the living room light. Marvin hissed in pain as he was once again momentarily blinded by the drastic shift in brightness. This made the headache all the much worse and he whimpered.

"Marvin?" Henrik questioned near-disbelievingly. "Marvin, are you okay?"

"Help… please, help me up…" Marvin begged.

Henrik nodded and quickly got to work, moving the coffee table out of the way first before reaching down to help support Marvin and get him onto his feet. However, he was having a hard time trying to lift him up. It was like he was going completely limp in his arms!

"Ghh-- M-Marvin -- that is your name, yes? Y-you have to-- hhh…! Work with me here! I cannot-- ngh! C-carry you on my own!"

Marvin was trying everything within his willpower to get his limbs to cooperate with him, but they seemed to flat-out refuse. He felt numb from the chest-down. It was getting harder and harder to suppress the growing panic.

"I-I can't move my legs," Marvin quickly got out, eyes blown wide. "Gods, I-I-- I can't move anything! I can't move! What's happening to me?! Gods, what's happening to me?!"

Paralysis? Henrik mentally questioned. That is not a good sign. "Okay, okay, I am setting you down now." True to his word, he propped Marvin up against the couch and crouched down beside him. "Take deep breaths for me, yes? You will be fine. Just relax," he soothed. He even went as far as to take deep breaths along with Marvin -- which actually helped to clear his own racing mind. Once he saw that Marvin had calmed some, he nodded and hummed. "Good, good… now, can you tell me what symptoms you are having?

"I-I can't move my arms or my legs. I feel numb everywhere," Marvin explained, residual panic still present in his voice.

"Are you in any pain?"

"My head… and my stomach, but it doesn't feel sore anymore. It feels more upset than anything else... M-my foot should hurt because I fucking stubbed it on the table but I-I can't even feel that."

"Any other symptoms?"

"I'm still dizzy… the room's spinning. It's… it's making me feel nauseous, actually…" Marvin closed his eyes and took labored breaths. Keeping his eyes shut helped quell the dizziness, which thankfully also aided in easing the nausea, and he'd much prefer it if he could avoid throwing up again by any means possible. Especially since for the time being, he was unable to move.

"Hm…" Henrik reached out, feeling up Marvin's neck. "Lymph nodes are not inflamed…" he mumbled to himself. But then, he stopped up short. "Marvin, are you aware that there is a… a cut on your neck?"

"Hm? No, I was not..." Marvin's brow furrowed in confusion. "That's a bit peculiar… I didn't notice any sort of wound, or even any marks on my neck while I was in the bathroom."

"Well, is very small, so it would be hard to notice unless you looked closely. I… normally I would not pay any mind to small cuts and bruises but... a cut on the neck is not a normal place to have a cut…"

"Hm…"

"Jackie mentioned you were attacked…" Henrik brought up, worry flashing ever-so-briefly in his eyes.

Marvin knew immediately what Henrik was alluding to. And after a very short moment of recalling the events of Antisepticeye's ambush, he knew exactly how it happened.

"That… glitch. He had me at knifepoint. Pressed the blade to my neck and threatened to give me a matching scar if I moved even an inch."

"So he cut you, then?" Henrik asked, shifting as if he were about to stand up.

"Not intentionally, no. When Jackieboy Man took out the glitch's... puppets, I had a brief window of attack. I took it, and in the process I believe he nicked me when his arm swung away due to the recoil."

"Alright, so was not planned… good." Henrik nodded, looking away. He actually rose this time, letting out a breath. "Marvin, I… I have something that may help. Is an experimental drug and I have not tested it yet, so I need your consent to administer it. But I believe it is our best bet."

"Whatever you plan on giving me, I'm certain I've drank far more dangerous potions," Marvin huffed humorously. "Hit me with whatever you have. If you think it helps, I'm completely fine in taking it. Just, please… help me regain the feeling in my body."

Henrik nodded wordlessly before heading for the hallway and rushing down into the basement. Chase jumped as he heard the door suddenly swing open and pulled back the curtain shielding him and Jack, peeking out to see Henrik frantically rushing around the room.

"Henrik? Woah, dude, what's wrong?"

"Not now, Chase!" Henrik snapped. "I explain later!" He made a beeline for a cabinet filled with medicines of all sorts. He sifted through bottles and vials, growling when he couldn't find what he was looking for. He cursed under his breath, mentally scolding himself for losing such an easy-to-spot drug, when he remembered where he put it. With a roll of his eyes and a smack of his palm against his forehead, he sought out a small cooler by one of the desks in the room. He opened it and pulled out a vial with slightly-glowing green liquid in it. Closing the cooler, he set the vial delicately on the desk, steadying it so it wouldn't fall, and went to grab a clean needle, a disinfectant wipe, a band-aid, and a fresh pair of medical gloves. Now that he had everything he needed, he grabbed the vial of medicine and hurried back up the stairs, praying to whomever that might be listening that this worked.

"Alright, Marvin, I have it," Henrik notified, quickly crouching beside him. He set the needle and vial down on the coffee table and began to unbutton Marvin's shirt. Once one of his arms were free enough, he opened the pack of wipes and began to wipe down his upper arm, right below the shoulder. He then reached behind him to replace the used wipe for the medicine and needle and stuck the syringe into the vial to fill it. Finally, he set down the now-empty vial on the coffee table and flicked the syringe a few times to make sure there were no air bubbles in it.

"Alright… I would tell you to hold still, but…" Henrik huffed humorously, "Well, it seems you have no choice, yes?" He stuck Marvin with the needle, slowly injecting him with the medicine.

Marvin watched (or at least, tried to, as he was still dizzy) as Henrik administered the medicine. His eyes then widened as he saw every vein in his body begin to pulse with a green glow.

Henrik placed the band-aid over the area where the needle had stuck Marvin, then rolled up his sleeve and looked down at his watch, softly counting the seconds. Marvin closed his eyes to combat the dizziness and listened to him count, and as Henrik did so, slowly he felt his body begin to regain feeling. At around fifteen seconds he could move his fingers and hands, and by thirty he was able to move his arms and legs. By then, the glow had subsided.

"How are you feeling, Marvin?" Henrik asked.

Marvin swallowed thickly. "Still… still nauseous and dizzy and my head still aches, but I can move again. Thank you, er…"

"Henrik," he supplied. "Henrik von Schneeplestein, but "Henrik" or "Schneep" works fine."

"Right. Thank you, Henrik."

Just then, Henrik and Marvin turned their heads at the sound of the door to the basement stairs opening.

"Hen…?" Chase asked reluctantly, nearing closer. "Everything good up here?"

"Yes, everything is fine now. I am sorry I snapped at you, I was in a rush."

"What happened?"

"Marvin was suffering from paralysis. At first I was afraid he hit his spine on the edge of the coffee table when he fell, but it turns out he had a tiny, little cut on his neck from you-know-who's knife."

Chase slowly nodded, growing wary. "He's… he's not gonna turn, is he?"

"No, with the medicine, he is fine. I had to act quickly before it could advance any further in stage. You know how short the window is, yes?"

"Y-yeah, uh, that's why I asked."

Marvin silently absorbed all this information. It made sense; before Antisepticeye gained control of his "puppets," they all had fallen limp onto the ground. Whatever he'd done to them caused instant paralysis. Because the nick he'd given Marvin was small, however, it took a lot longer for him to be affected.

"Henrik, are you at all versed in alchemy?" Marvin inquired.

"No, I am not, actually," Henrik answered. "But we, um… used to live with someone who was. He was kidnapped and we have been looking for him since. He is the one who came up with the formula for the medicine I just gave you. One of the ingredients was a plant only he knew how to grow, and he would not tell us the name of the plant in case the information got into the wrong hands -- at the time, the house was not fully protected and we could never know who was listening."

"I see."

"Yeah, our plan was to fuck around with the medicine's dosage and the ingredients to make something to wake Jack up. You-know-who is responsible for Jack being in a coma," Chase interjected.

"Er… who is Jack, exactly?"

"Jack is our close friend," Henrik answered, his voice having a slight tinge of sadness to it. "He is also our "patient zero," as it were. He was you-know-who's original host before he took on a physical manifestation of his own."

"So… he's like a parasite, then?" asked Marvin.

"That's the thing. We dunno what the hell he is," Chase said. "Fuck, we just learned today that he isn't even alive!"

"Plus, as of recently, he no longer requires a host to survive. He has evolved himself past that. He is always changing in some way, shape, or form."

"How odd…" Marvin mumbled.

"Yes, very," agreed Henrik. "Jackie's mission once you-know-who is taken out is to take with him a large enough batch of an improved version of the medicine I just gave you and give it to everyone who has become his puppet."

"What's wrong with this version?"

"It is not strong enough, to put it simply," Henrik answered. "As I mentioned before, this is an experimental batch and I have not tested it. However, based on the formula, the dosage I gave you is only supposed to be enough to fend off the beginning stages of his corruption. Had I let it progress any farther, I would not have been able to save you. The window is very, very short, only about five minutes or so after you start displaying the initial symptoms. That is, if you have managed to escape him alive at all. But usually the wounds he inflicts are enough to kill, anyway. Apparently, however, the smaller and more shallow the wound, the more time his "toxin" needs to act. I would do a test study on this, but is far too risky."

Marvin simply nodded, understanding, absorbing all the information presented to him.

"You are lucky I had some of that medicine. The batch is very small and we are trying to conserve as much of it as we can until we can find our missing friend."

"What is the name of this friend of yours?" Marvin asked.

"JJ," Chase answered, his expression matching his voice. Grim. "Jameson Jackson. He was… he was like a son to me." He rubbed his arms and sighed, looking away. "I wish I could do more to help look for him…"

"Chase, I keep telling you that you do plenty!" Henrik argued.

"Yeah, and you and I both know that that's bullshit," Chase shot back, eyes narrowing at him. "I can't fight. I don't have any strength. I don't have powers like JJ did or Marvin does or medical knowledge like you do or intelligence like Jackie has. I have nothing to offer except my fucking car. But god, I swear, if I had powers, you bet your ass I'd be out there every single fucking day looking for JJ."

Henrik huffed. "Then maybe it is for the best that you do not have powers. That way you do not get yourself killed searching day and night."

"You do not need powers to make yourself useful," Marvin spoke up. He swallowed, holding a hand over his stomach. It felt fine for a little while as they were speaking, but now it seemed to be upset again. He took a slow breath and continued. "Maybe it is a bit... hypocritical for someone with powers to be telling this to you, but… my words have truth to them. Sometimes it is… it is those who have no powers that are the most helpful. Usually, they are the ones behind the scenes, keeping everything afloat. If…" he took another breath, shutting his eyes. His headache was worsening. "If all you had was everyone on the front lines and no support, your team would go down rather fast. Take my shows for example. Yes, I'm the one doing the performing, but without the crew behind the stage, I would have nothing."

"I… yeah. Yeah… I understand…" said Chase finally, rubbing his arms and looking down at his feet.

"Are you okay, Marvin?" Henrik asked, watching his change in demeanor.

Marvin had gone to taking slow, deep breaths, a hand slowly rubbing his stomach. He shook his head. "N-no… I feel sick… D-does that medication have any side effects?"

"I do not know. Like I said, I have not tested it."

Marvin just groaned in response, clenching his jaw slightly.

"Do you need a bucket?"

Just the thought of throwing up made Marvin's stomach protest. He lurched a bit and one of his hands rose, suspended in midair, waiting to see if he needed to cover his mouth, eyes wide and almost confused. He quickly nodded.

"Scheisse." Henrik quickly moved, as if he were going to rise, but Chase stopped him.

"No, you stay put. I got it." Chase hurried over to the closet under the stairs, searching for the mop and bucket. Once he found it, he left the mop behind and rushed over with the bucket, handing it to Marvin. He took it gratefully.

"Thanks," he muttered. He adjusted himself, leaning over it and closing his eyes. He took deep breaths, shuddering as the faint yet potent odor of cleansing chemicals slightly stung his nostrils.

"Yes, that's it. Deep breaths, Marvin, there we go…" Henrik comforted him, slowly rubbing his back. Chase stood by in case he needed anything else.

After a few minutes or so, simply swallowing his saliva became near impossible. Between labored breaths he spit up into the bucket and soon his stomach finally started to revolt. His entire body tensed as he gagged, his free fist clenching, and shortly after did he actually begin to be sick.

"Shhh… yes, that's it, Marvin… just get it up, you are alright…" Henrik soothed. Meanwhile his mind was racing. If this medicine had side effects, he needed to know and mark them down for future patients. So far nausea seems to be one, but at the same time, Marvin was already feeling nauseous beforehand. Still, he figured it would be smart to write it down just in case. "Chase," Henrik spoke up. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"Bring me a pen and some paper? I need to make a list of potential side effects this medicine might have."

"Oh, gotcha. Yeah, on it. Be right back."

Marvin felt awful, if he didn't already feel awful before. On top of the returning nausea and newly-worsened headache, his entire body felt sore, every nerve filled with a deep-seated ache. He felt out-of-it and as he lifted his head slightly and looked around the room, he found he was seeing triple. He mumbled something unintelligible before dipping his head back down over the bucket and heaving again.

"Marvin?" Henrik asked. "Are you okay, my friend? Can you repeat that?"

Marvin mumbled again. Even he didn't know what he was saying. He was panting hard, he was having a difficult time breathing, he could barely keep his eyes open… he felt shaky and weak and he didn't even have the brain power at the moment to contemplate what could possibly be wrong with him.

There was the sound of someone coming up the basement stairs and Henrik turned his head in time to see Chase come into view, pen and notepad in hand.

"Yo, got your-- holy shit, what's wrong with Marvin? I was gone for, like, two seconds!"

"I-I do not know, Chase!" Henrik replied, eyes full of worry as he turned back to Marvin. "One minute he is vomiting and the next he is mumbling nonsense at me!"

"He looks, like… really fucking out-of-it," commented Chase. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"I-I…" Henrik hesitated. He honestly didn't know, but… "Yes, I… I am sure he will be fine," he replied, turning back to Chase. "If his breathing issues and nausea persist I might have to administer more medications and have him rest in a bed down in the lab instead of on the couch, just to be on the safe side."

Henrik and Chase both sounded so far away to Marvin. Their voices were muffled so he couldn't understand them at all. He set the bucket beside him. He felt insanely lightheaded, and something in him knew that he wouldn't remain conscious much longer.

"M'gonna pass out…" Marvin mumbled.

Henrik stopped up short, turning back to Marvin with slightly-widened eyes. Did he hear that correctly? "Marvin? What was that you said?"

But Marvin couldn't hear him. He could feel his body giving out on him. Finally, his eyes rolled back in his skull and he slumped to the side, causing a loud thump as his body hit the carpeted floor.

"Marvin?! Marvin!" Henrik scrambled closer and tried to tap his cheek to get any sort of reaction out of him, but he got nothing.

"Holy shit, what are we gonna do?!" Chase cried.

"Chase, go wake up Jackie! Hurry! Have him help you bring my medical equipment up here. Oxygen tank and mask -- he needs more oxygen! Go!"

"O-on it!" Chase threw the notepad and pen on the coffee table and hurried up the stairs, yelling for Jackie on the way. Meanwhile, Henrik stayed with Marvin, trying to get him to wake with no luck.

If the medicine in that small of a dosage was this unsafe to use, then they needed another plan, and fast.

Taglist: @taizu-lazure @bupine @innocent-angel3 @immabethehero @wowowgoodurl @n-anon @g-rexthedino @scarletender @coconutpillow05 @friezzzboiii @jade-orade (some of the tags aren’t working and/or are missing, so I apologize for that. lemme know if you wanna be added to the taglist!)

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

Consider: Danny Phantom and Laika, the space ghost dog

Sorry this took me so long to answer, I was sick for a while. But anyways. You. I like the way you think. Hey Anon, I don’t know who you are, but you have earned my undying love. I want to, will, and already have married you.

I have so many emotions after I considered this and really, I can’t help myself when it comes to screaming about space. So here are my considerations (also shhh im ignoring some science facts for the purpose of telling the story)

Also, please take a look at this wonderful art made by the lovely @wolfsongroar because it inspired the ending to this drabble

::

Danny didn’t exactly remember how or when he first heard of the dog.

He had been young, a little innocent kid so easily starstruck by anything dealing with the idea of space. The kid often went on conquests for information and his parents were always too happy to help their future little scientist. It was probably a children’s book or magazine. He recalled learning the name of the first satellite put into orbit - courtesy of Russia - Sputnik. He learned of Sputnik II, the famous vessel that brought the first animal into orbit.

At the time, the young Danny Fenton knew there was a dog but something bad happened to it. The article was put into simpler, glorified terms aimed for a younger audience, essentially saying the dog died peacefully after a week in space.

The reality of what happened to the dog - Laika - didn’t escape his sharp mind. But young Danny Fenton didn’t quite get the concept of death quite then. Such an idea terrified him, and the poor little compassionate soul was scared for the dog.

The memory of crying in his parent’s laps while having death explained to him was gone but never quite forgotten in the flurry of childhood.

::

At age fourteen, he became painfully familiar with the concept of death. It still terrified him. This was a memory that was always haunting the edges of his every thought.

It was the push of a button that changed things for Danny, and he would never forget.

He was panicked, a bolt of something stronger than anxiety took over Danny’s being. He wanted to run. Strange sounds, strange lights, and strange sensations were too overwhelming. Try all he wanted, but Danny couldn’t move.

His muscles were seized in a literal death grip on a piece of loose wiring. He touched it by pure chance and now he was wishing this jumpsuit was made of some sort of insulator. An incomplete circuit or some broken wiring, that was the problem with the portal, he realized just too late. The electricity caused all of his muscles to seize, he couldn’t move.  Now his body was at the mercy of his environment. Hell, the electricity was probably cooking his body as he stood there.

His heart hadn’t even been beating when a bolt of pure ectoplasm had hit him in the back of the head.

Danny’s mind had been moving a mile a minute as it happened. Everything was too hot, the air was a coarse poison. At least the sparks were pretty, they remind him of the stars.

CRACK.

::

Nothing had been the same since.

He obsessed over things. He was always depressed or tired or angry or on the verge of tears. He scared everybody (intentionally or not) he knew and they now bend over backwards as to not set the ghost off. Even dogs were scared of him.

This lost, tainted taste of humanity made him upset. This was nothing he wanted.

And on nights like this, when he wished he wasn’t some sort of half breed that shouldn’t exist, he liked to distract his mind and dwell on happier times.

He was reading something online about Laika.

And it wasn’t a happy or valiant story as that children’s book portrayed it to be.

Newspapers and other public sources of the time said that the dog lasted a week and went relatively peacefully. Later on, the actual details were released. The reality was the dog was alive in Space for a few hours at the most.

And now Danny knew it was far from peaceful.

That fact made Danny’s heart hurt. It made his core ache in sympathy.

Laika had been a stray they took off the street, trained to stay in tiny spaces, undergoing various tests that astronauts go through. A ship was no place for a dog.

Something went wrong. She quickly died of stress. She quickly died of overheating. The scientists didn’t expect her to last more than four days in the first place. She had been left completely at the mercy of a cruel and unforgiving environment.

And maybe he was grasping at straws, but Danny couldn’t help but to think of how similar his own death was.

He cried.

::

Space was an interesting place.

It was terrifying, cold, eerie, beautiful and peaceful. It seemed to be too much to describe or handle, it always contradictory.

He loved it

And Space always had an interesting effect on him - namely his ghostly mind.

The first time he visited had been due to an accident with a new teleportation power. And that was one of the few accidents that lead to some good in his life.

Space made his ghost half feel… completed? There was no good word for it. That place brought back a childish happiness that he thought had been long dead, it felt good. The ghostly parts of him that liked to obsess Latched onto this and made him visit as often as he could.

Later he would find out it was because of his last thoughts. Years later, Danny would find that he couldn’t exactly recall his last thoughts, but if they were about Space then it didn’t surprise him.

Danny had a small collection of souvenirs going, which also made his ghost half happy. A few space rocks he thought looked neat, two tiny bolts, and a piece of a broken solar panel.

The space junk as interesting. Though hard to come by in the sheer enormity of Space, he loved to look at it and for it. One of Danny’s favorite fun facts was of a spatula being lost in space. He would love to find it one day.

Sam and Tuck compare his new collection to that of a bird who collects shiny things. He tells them to shut up.

And while being up there makes him happy, Danny still feels somewhat unsatisfied. At the end of the day, he still has to return home before curfew and he still has to deal with being inhuman. Half the time it’s like putting a bandaid on a wound that needs stitches. It’s like going to Disneyland when you have depression.

Looking at the trash at leasts gets his mind off of things.

It was by pure chance he stumbled upon another ghost in Space.

He was initially lured in by wreckage of a cone-shaped satellite (or capsule? He wasn’t sure what was a better word for it). But oh wow… he hasn’t come across anything quite like this yet. Fascinating! When Danny’s mind became fixated on the celestial trash, he manages to forget everything, just for a bit.

The contraption is larger than him, and he isn’t sure of what to do with it. His mind not-so-helpfully offered the idea of taking it home. That wouldn’t work. Probably. Maybe he would try it but he needs to know more first. The cold metal surface seems to have been worn down by the (nonexistent) environment. He flew closer, maybe there would be some identifying mark.

The last thing Danny expected to happen was for his ghost sense to go off.

The innocent wonder and fascination were gone in a snap. Back were those guarded and aggressive fighting behaviors that he associated with cold lungs. He was unsettled. This was supposed to be his little safe place, no ghosts should be here. After glancing around and seeing nobody, his stance dropped by just the slightest bit.

His eyes were once again trained on the satellite in a suspicious, untrusting gaze.

Something in the back of his mind was itching, though. Despite himself, Danny’s suspicion was melting away into something akin to thoughtfulness and curiosity. It was the satellite. Maybe the Itself vessel was a ghost? Concepts, possessions, and structures have the potential to crossover into the Ghost Zone and be classified as undead. In this case, he doubted that theory.

A satellite with a ghost on it?

He finally touched the cold metal, not really affected by the temperature. He wished there was sound in space, though. The action felt incomplete without some sort of thumping noise.  Nothing happened. He further hesitated before phasing his head in near the top, his personal otherworldly glow lit up what he saw. Wires and electronics. Lovely. He continued to slowly work his way down, marveling at the technology.

On some level, Danny knew it was coming. Regardless, the boy wasn’t prepared for when he came eye to eye with a starry ghost dog.

Both ghosts were transfixed.

Danny didn’t even realise he had phased a hand in until the ghost dog had gotten up from a resting position. But the halfa’s eyes gazed to the floor of the small pod, past the legs of the ghost and to the mess on the floor-

Startled, he phased his head out, forcibly putting space between himself and what was in there.

He couldn’t get his mind off of it. He couldn’t get his body to stop shaking. His arms were clasped tight around his body in some attempt of self comfort. A anxiety attack of some sort is what Jazz would tell him what was happening. It didn’t matter, though.

Danny never did good with seeing the aftermath of death. And that? He had reasons for trying not to cry in Space but things were already difficult, that is close to pushing him over the edge. This was supposed to be his solitary corner of reality. The halfa continued with his internal war.

But a little wet nudge on his cheek brought him out of that headspace. There was some ice on his cheek, but Danny didn’t give it any mind.

He cracked open one eye - not even realising they were closed - and there was the starry mutt. ’Laika’, some part of his mind whispered.

Danny didn’t dare to move one bit, only staring. Dogs didn’t like him very much anymore, he reminded himself. But…The mutt was wagging her tail, and little bits of stardust were flung with it. The dog had not run away yet.

Danny reached a hand to it.

Laika didn’t flinch like other dogs he tried to pet. To his delight, she leaned into his gloved hands. And the dog didn’t protest one but as he brought the ghost into his arms.

Both of their cores were pulsing, in something akin to a mutual understanding.

He heald Laika for a while longer. Danny tried not to cry in Space. His tears had the terrible habit of freezing in his eyes and it was often a painful ordeal.

Still, the tears came.

[sunshinechii-scenarios]

in sickness & health - c.sc

✿ Seventeen's Seungcheol x Female!Reader ✿ Fluffy uwu ✿ 1.3k Words ✿ Requested by: @a-happy-otter - Could I request an imagine where scoups taking care of you while you're sick? Thank uuuuu TwT ✿ Written by Chii

I obviously don't know the meaning of a imagine since this might as well be a whole scenario on its ownendkndjdjd - Chii

          You laid on your couch and groan at the stiffness in your joints, the pain in your head and the stuffy nose you had. You mustered up all the energy you had to text Seungcheol if he could come over and take care of you. You debated about asking this if him since he was always busy but you didn't think you would make another hour of barely taking care of yourself. You sent the text and out the phone down on your stomach that was covered in two big blankets. There was a cold pack on your head and a box of tissues an arms length away. As you felt your nose dripping, you went to wipe it but winch at the raw feeling of your skin from the blowing and aggressive wiping of snot. Just as you were trying your best to carefully wipe, you sneezed and felt your body crying for moving so suddenly. You heard your phone ding, probably Cheol's response. You looked at your notifications.

I'll be over right now, do you need anything?

You couldn't even use your fingers to text at this point. You used Text-to-Speech to text him back.

maybe a new nose, and body, the whole thing lol

:( My baby is really sick, huh? No fear! I'll be over! I'll see in a bit

You didn't have anymore energy to hold on your phone and just let it fall next to your head. You patiently waited for Seungcheol to come over, your eyes moved to the TV that has been on since this morning, nothing fascinating on except for the warning of the cold, the flu and head colds this month. As if you needed a warning when you felt like you needed to be quarantined. You rested your eyes for a bit, hoping to maybe rest a little bit Cheol would try to drag you to the doctors.

          Just as you were about to drift off. You heard the doorbell ring, “it’s Seungcheol!”

You wanted to get up and open the door for him but with the little strength you had, you just couldn’t. You turn to grab your phone and message him.

there’s a spare key in the flower pot, the rock all the way in the back has a key taped to it

You pressed send and let the phone fall on your chest while you listened to Seungcheol’s phone ding and him looking through the rocks before opening your front door.

“Hey,” you weakly said. He closed the door and took off his shoes before coming into your living room area. His face was shifted with sadness and worry.

“How did you get this sick? Did you go to that meeting even though I told you not to?” His hand came over your hair to pat it down, it was all over the place with the constant shifting of your body to grab a tissue and go back to laying down.

“Caught me there,” you grinned at him. He sighed and felt the ice pack on your head. He took it off, you whined at the lost of coolness on your forehead.

“It’s barely cold, I’ll get you a different one,” he said as he walked to your kitchen. You listened for the freezer opening and closing before hearing his footsteps. He used his free hand to move any hair out of the way before placing it on your head.

“I’ll have to tie you up next time you put something else over your health.” You laugh as his remark as best at you could. He shook his head with a smile.

“Do you think you could get my medication for me? I haven’t gotten up since this morning to brush my teeth.” He nodded and walked back to the kitchen. His eyes scanned the cabinet for cold medicine. He took your high temperature and aching body symptoms into account and poured you 30 milliliters of an orange syrup. He walked back over to you and held it to your pale and cracked lips. Once you finished it with a sour expression on your face, he stuck his hand in his pockets to look for a small tube.

“Got it! Pucker up,” he said while he uncapped the chapstick. You weakly gave him a smile before doing what he asked. He applied a generous amount to your lips. You felt the blood rushing to your face at the awareness of how much he was looking at your lips but thankfully, he finished up quickly and you let go of the breath you held.

“You might feel a little sleepy, I gave you something to help you sleep and hopefully it’ll heal you up while you sleep.” He capped the small tube with a ‘click’ sound and put it back in his pockets.

“I kind of feel it already,” a smile spread on his face as he nodded.

“Permission to use your kitchen?”

“Permission, granted,” he made a mental note to go grocery shop when you slept. He continued to sit by your side while his comforting touch lulled you to sleep.

          When you woke up, your body still felt stiff a little less than before thought and your head still hurt. Although your nose wasn't stuffy and you could smell something comforting coming from the kitchen. You got up for the first time since this morning but by the sun setting you could tell it was late afternoon. The couch springs creaking notified Seungcheol that you were getting up. He stepped out of the kitchen in an apron and wore a pair of house slippers as opposed to his socks. He crouched down while you sat up on the couch.

“Are you sure you should be getting up?” He asked. The back of his hand came in contact with your forehead.

“You feel a little better! That's good.” He happily said as his fixed your hair for the second time today.

“Hey, do you want to go take a shower or something? You’re covered in sweat.” You finally noticed your damp back and the uncomfortable feeling of sweat all over.

“It’s alright, I’m nervous about falling in there.” You laughed, Seungcheol noticed the brighter tone in your voice, probably from the medication earlier and the well deserved rest you needed.

“Do you want to change clothes at least?” He tilted his head.

“Sure, can you get me a change of clothes?” He nodded and walked into the kitchen first to turn off the stove before walking to your room. He opened your dresser and the first item he saw was a long tee-shirt, more specifically, his tee-shirt.

“Do you want pajama pants or shorts?” He shouted from your room.

“Shorts, I feel like if I try to cover myself in more fabric I'll pass out.” You giggled, happy that you could speak without coughing between every word. You saw him walking out of your room and toward you, you held out your hands to grab the clothes but he shook his head.

“Let me do it. I know you don't have entirely all of your body cooperating right now.” Cheol said, you nodded. Cheol has seen you in a swimming suit before and in your underwear so this wasn't anything new but the blush couldn't help from creeping up your face.

“This is embarrassing Cheol. I feel like a child.” You covered your face while you raised your hips for him to switch your bottoms. He removed your hands from your face.

“Let yourself get babied every now and then. Especially when you're in such a bad state.” He said calmly while changing the shirt. You bathe in the coolness of the air and the dry clothes as opposed to feeling overheated and damp from sweat.

“Alright! You're all changed, now, do you want something to eat?” He said happily while gesturing over to your kitchen.

“Do you think you could feed me?” Cheol was taken back from your request but laughed before nodding.

“Anything for you sweetheart.”

:((( im sorry this is like a weeeek or 2 late bubba but this was rlly cute to write and I had to stop myself like 4 times bfndjmsmfncbdj thank you for requesting baby! - Chii

[hail-langdvn]

Work on an Off Day

Summary: Duncan’s been a bit too busy for (y/n). REQUESTED (:

Warnings: smut, fem!reader, language, daddy!kink, maybe a bit of dirty talk (i say maybe bc im horrible at dirty talk LMAO), probably more but im bad at warnings im sorry

Word Count: 1.9k

(hi, ugh its me. ive been mia and had the meanest writers block but im back for like the 50th time! i havent watched house of cards a day in my life but i assumed after all the hc & research ive done that this’ll be enough lmao)

He was in his office all day. Not that (Y/N) was complaining, at least he decided to stay home today. But when (Y/N) had pestered him to stay home, she envisioned his physical being with her, not being cooped up taking every single call in between whatever else Duncan did on a day to day basis. She didn't really ever ask what he really did, but she had a overall generality of it.

At first they planned to just stay in and watch whatever she wanted to watch—a lazy day because she never had those with him often. But then when Duncan got the first call, that idea got thrown in the trash. He whisked away into his office and never came out.

(Y/N)'s a reasonable girl! Moderately. Today was supposed to be their day and when something meddles with that, she was no longer reasonable.

When Pretty Woman wasn't making her smile to herself anymore and her thoughts consumed her, she decided to go a bit on a whim. (Y/N) pushed herself up from the couch and made her way to the office upstairs, where her boyfriend stayed.

Slipping in unnoticeably was easy, he was vigorously typing on his MacBook and talking to God-knows-who.

“No, that's not what I asked for.” He stated, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Give me a second.” Duncan puts the phone on mute for a second before turning to face his girlfriend. “Sorry, baby, I have to take care of a few things. Give me thirty minutes.”

Thirty minutes went by and he was still taking care of “a few things.” (Y/N) couldn't take anymore neglection; if she knew today would be like this, then he should've just gone to work.

The second time she entered the office she made it clear she wasn't taking anymore of this. When Duncan heard the knock on the door, he expected to see her in his oversized t-shirt she stole, the gray sweats she always wore at home, her hair in a loose ponytail, and her glasses threatening to fall further away from her face. However, (Y/N) wasn't there to be a pitiful girlfriend pouting for his attention. If she was going to get his attention, it was going to be drastic.

“Hold for a minute.” He hadn't noticed her, yet, which definitely annoyed her. But that didn't discourage her. “Baby- fuck.”

She sat on the black leather couch from across the room innocently as if she didn't waltz in there with his favorite lingerie set. “Are you done, yet?” She needily whined, slightly parting her legs not breaking eye contact.

“I'm in the middle of an important phone call.” He explained, gripping his pen as she started sucking on her two fingers. When her fingers were coaxed in her saliva, (Y/N) slid aside the panties she wore and rubbed her clit.

“So, you don't want to play with me, daddy?” She asked with a frown, giving him a clear view of her pussy. “That's why you stayed home today.”

“Five minutes.” He abruptly said, holding up his five fingers. She huffed, shrugging at him kicking it up a notch. Her index finger and thumb slightly pinched her nipple allowing a whimper to escape, growing wetter by the second. When she knew she was wet enough to slide a finger in, she wasted no time. Pumping her finger in and out, she grasped Duncan's attention more when an ungodly moan left her.

“Three minutes, daddy.” She taunted, glancing over at the clock on the wall to the right of her. Slipping the second finger in made her feel a little more full, yet it didn't feel as good as when he'd slip a second finger in. Nevertheless, she didn't stop herself.

“Look, I'll call later, I have some other business to take care of.” Duncan quickly hangs up and focuses all his attention to her. “Such a dirty slut, while I was taking a call?” He queried, walking over to her. “Shouldn’t have answered in the first place.” She sassed, sucking on her fingers. Her every move taunted him. “Supposed to be our day, remember?”

He instantly feels bad for his girlfriend, remembering the real reason why he was in his home office. Duncan wasn't even supposed to be working today. “I'm sorry.” He mumbled, approaching her on the couch. “How 'bout I make it up to you by playing with your pretty little cunt?”

Her legs feel like jello hearing his voice and tone change. (Y/N) melts under Duncan's touch when she feels his hands grip her thighs as he crouched down to become leveled with her pussy. “Didn't I ask a question?” He sternly asked, glancing up at her.

“Please, daddy, touch me.” She whimpered, feeling his breath against her.

“Doesn't sound like you want me to even touch you.” He teased, pretending to get up.

“No, no! Please, daddy. It's been two weeks! I need you so bad, please.” She moaned, trying to get him to at least slide a finger in or something. “I've been a good girl for you waiting all day, please, please, please—“ and she continued to splurge more nonsense rambling to prove how much she wanted him to touch her. Duncan didn't move a muscle or change expression, he derived off her begging alone.

When she noticed his small smirk, her mouth clamped shut. She thought she earned it, but when Duncan stood up, tears grazed her eyes. “Where are you going?” (Y/N) asked, watching him turn away from her and walking over to his desk.

“I spoil you too much.” He plainly said. Her eyebrows furrowed while her eyes glossed more by the second. “You beg like that all the time, and I give it to you. I just think you're not wanting it, you just say that you do.”

The games he played were painful, especially when she was severely turned on. (Y/N) was practically halfway to her orgasm before he approached her moments ago! He didn't want to cut her any slack?

Her sweet face contorted into a sadder version of his baby doll. “I-I was being a good girl! I tried to convince you as much as I could.” She sadly pouted, standing in front of his desk. “Please, daddy. I won't take it for granted, I promise!” Her final plea made Duncan give in. Who wouldn't?

He slid his rolling chair back allowing her to sit atop his desk with her legs wide. “Gorgeous.” He muttered before sliding his finger in her sopping pussy. (Y/N) suppressed any moans, not getting any permission to moan, yet.

Duncan couldn't hold back anymore, he attached his mouth to her clit. Laying his tongue flat, he licked upward, gathering all the juices in her mouth. His eyes never left her, yet (Y/N) clamped her eyes shut, being a bit intense for her.

“Look at me, baby.” He mutters on her clit. She forces her eyes to open and look at Duncan. “So sweet on my fucking tongue, almost forgot how good you taste.” He praised pumping his fingers in and out attempting to get her to cum faster.

“Oh god.” She exclaimed, unable to suppress anymore moans. “Please fuck me already, Daddy.” She whines, setting him off a bit. Duncan forgot how easily she could get overheated and assertive when he doesn’t let her moan.

He stops, sliding his fingers out and standing up straight. Instead of an angry expression or one of those “don’t-be-ungrateful” looks he’d normally give her, Duncan gave her a cheeky smirk licking his fingers clean. “You sure you want that now, darling?”

His ominous tone could send anyone running for the hills, but (Y/N)? She would consume it and ask for more. Maybe that’s one of the reasons he loves her so much. “Of course, Daddy. That’s why I asked.” She returns with an even more crazier tone matched with a grin, leaning into his personal space.

Duncan was already hard from when she strutted in his office and started pleasing herself. If she hadn’t been so assertive any sooner, he would’ve ripped his clothes off himself. But (Y/N) took care of that.

“So hot, Daddy.” She innocently grinned, taking her place back on the desk.

“Look at you,” He ushers gripping his cock, spreading her legs apart. “Wanting me to fuck you over my paperwork.” He teasingly rubbed his tip up and down her clit, earning a frustrated groan from his girlfriend. “What’s that, baby? Forgot that I control when you can have my cock?”

The tension of all of this wouldn’t let her form a coherent sentence. It was on the tip of her tongue like a single word forgotten. “Daddy,” she managed to get out, “Please don’t tease.” It was weak, but enough to make Duncan bury his cock deep in her. In less than a second his thrusts came in and came in rough. Her mouth gapes open and her eyes slam shut from the instantaneous burning in her stomach. Duncan’s hand gripped her thighs and his hips slammed into hers. She needed this for the past two weeks.

Her moans became louder by the second and she could’ve swore that after the first minute she could’ve cum. But she asked for this, so why in the world would she let in so easily?

“Squeezing around me so tight,” He spoke aloud, “must feel so good, huh, baby?” She could only respond with a moan in the state he had her.

“I-I’m gonna—“

“Not so fast.” He said, slowing down his pace to a painstakingly slow (yet, rough) thrust in and out. “I don’t fuck you for two weeks and you need to cum so soon?”

She let out another frustrated moan. “You just wanna tease me, you don’t want me to cum, Daddy.” Duncan smirks at her, his slow thrusts brought his a little closer to his own orgasm. When she was finally into the slow pace, he decided to tease her further switching the pace (for his own purposes, as well) and bringing the two of them to their climaxes. “Go ahead, cum around my cock.”

Her walls tightened around him and in an instant her cum dripped down his cock. Duncan slips out of her, jerking himself off, finishing himself off before shooting all over (Y/N)’s chest. She grins at him, swiping a bit of it on her finger before sucking it clean.

After showering and cleaning themselves up, Duncan finds himself in the bathroom staring at his beautiful girlfriend. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She asks, genuinely curious, halting her face washing.

“I’ve been so busy with work,” he glides behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, “and it was supposed to be our day today. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, silly.” She laughed, bending over washing the rest of her face wash off with water. “I wasn’t mad, just frustrated.”

“Maybe I can stay home tomorrow, too. Make it up to you.” He suggests while she dries her face.

(Y/N) turns to face her boyfriend and shakes her head. “As great as that sounds, you wouldn’t be able to keep that promise. Just make it up to me when you get home.” And boy did he do that.

[pbandjesse]

Today was a really really excellent day even if I just stepped on some broken glass. Mostly surprised me. Today was still an excellent day.

I could not for the life of me fall asleep last night. I was up until past 2. I cleaned a bunch. I made more piles. Brought all my stuff up from my studio. But doing all that gave me like. Nervous energy. So I was wide awake for a long while.

Eventually I found a video to fall asleep to. And woke up at 730 from a text from my dad. He was on his way!

I knew it would be at minimum 2 hours. So i laid in bed for a while and just enjoyed a lazy morning. Eventually I got up and dressed. Made a sandwich. And watched some tv. I did some nore organising. Tried to make things easy for the work me and dad were doing. And it was nice.

My doorbell rang at 10. Dad was here! It was so nice to see him. Hes gotten so skinny! But he looked good. Happy. I was a little distressed over a mean email i had just received. So it was nice to have him right there to talk to and get my mixed up feelings out. My dads always been a realy good sounding board for that kind of thing.

We weren't idle for long, quickly we got into removing screws and pins and spackling. Its that fun pink stuff that changes to white when its dry. We did that for more then an hour. Just talking and fixing. Some of the time i was fixing a sculpture mom sent along with him. And gluing that tiny fidget spinner to the back of my phone case. Its really nice to have it there. Can't drop it anymore.

By noon we were basically finished. And I was starving. Dad got changed and we headed to Ceremony roasters for lunch.

There was a line but it moved fast. Dad got a macrobowl with chicken and I got the spicy avacado toast with a poached egg. We got drinks. I created an abomination of black ice tea, sweetener, and half and half. I really enjoyed that. We talked. Caught up about family. And then the food came and ot,was way more colorful then I anticipated.

But it was so so so good. I even ate the pink parts that i didn't recognize. They were a little spicy. And while the egg was slightly overcoojed it was all awesome. I will for sure go there for food again. Maybe when Jess is here in July.

After we ate we walked to the car. We held hands which was nice. I love my dad very much and it was nice just being with him. Even if I was nervous about him falling or getting hurt or not being able to walk. We did a lot Today and that was really nice.

We went to amazing glaze! It was great! We decided to pick something to paint for eachother. Dad wanted this toothbrush holder thing. And I got a bowl. We looked at my Pinterest insp board and got to work.

I made dad's forest at night themed, and he made mine kind of based off of a russian or Ukrainian piece i had saved on there. We both made them navel blue as a base. And had fun decorating. I hope they come out well. I really had a great time. I got to learn that he majored in ceramics in High school. Something i never knew. And that he's been really inspired to make installation art lately. He didn't call it that but the pieces he wants to make that he described to me are exactly that. Im really excited to see what he does with his ideas and free time.

We each wrote on the bottoms of our pieces. And helped him finish his outlines. And then we were done. We paid and I'll go back at the end of the week to get them.

We walked next door and got ice cream next. Enjoyed sitting outside. It was beautiful and I just felt really happy and at easy.

We hung out and talked for a long time. And then home. We got to my apartment. And got the last of the stuff to go to the studio. There's still stuff in the fridge. But almost everything was taken over today.

And because of dad's bad joints and hernia, I had to carry most of it. Which was exhausting but we knocked it out. He brought the things from the car and i took them upstairs. Good teamwork.

I was very overheated though. So I laid on the ground for a while. But once i cooled down i was all good. I got to show dad the furby stuff ive been into. Explain the culture and ebay and all the weird stuff. It was fun and he had questions and was supportive of my weird hobby.

He wanted to go take a nap. So he headed out and back to my apartment to sleep. And i started unpacking things. I got some stuff away. And while I was working on the kitchen James came home.

We rested and unpacked. Had a snack. Cleaned up. And then at just about 8 got a call from dad. He was done his nap and ready for dinner. So we met up at a pizza bar around the corner.

We got 3 diffeent pizzas to share. And that was fun. It was a really nice dinner. The food was very good. James told us about sports. Dad asked us about medical marijuana and we ranted about the prison industrial complex for like 15 minutes. It was great fun.

A littke after 9 we said good byes. I will go meet up with dad in the morning. At least briefly. And then he will go back home. Im really glad he came. I love him very much and had a lot of fun with him today.

Me and James got back to the studio and I got washed and am in pjs. I patched some holes here, but the one is a nightmare. Thr wall is just crumbling. I put so muchs spackle its basically a new wall. Well see if it holds or the water damage was to much. It was fun veing handy. Then James helped me pick outfits for the week. Which is when i stepped on a piece of broken glass from the bowel aquarium mom sent. It was dropped a bit and a section broke off so now theres small shards in the carpet and we don't have a vaccuum here. Ugh. It'll be okay. Just annoying.

Tomorrow is back to work though! We are doing some organizing and set up at wildwood. Im looking forward to it. It'll be a really nice day. I'm sure of it.

Goodnight everyone. Sleep tight.

[yooniesim]

hi there :> if it isn’t too much to ask, i would like to know what you use to play sims 4. im going shopping for a new computer and i already know that im looking for a computer that will allow me to download cc (lots of it) and create it, freely. sorry for the bother, but i would really appreciate the help!

hiya!! it’s no bother at all!! to be honest, im no expert in building a pc as I bought mine around 2013 and it was pre-built, and I admit I didn’t do that much research being an eager teen lol. I’d actually like to get a new one myself. But, mine plays sims well with ultra settings, reshade, and currently 13 GB of cc (and plenty of other games on ultra, like skyrim, fallout, etc).

I don’t think they sell my exact one anymore but I got mine from Cybertron PC. It has an AMD 4130 quad core processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of storage space. I would 100% recommend getting 1 TB of space or more bc I’m almost full on mine from downloading lots of cc, games, and mods for other games. As far as my graphics card goes I have a Nvidia GTX 750TI. I’m sure you could get a better one these days for the same price but it works out just fine for me! However, I’m sure games are just going to get even more intensive as time goes on. So I would focus on processor, graphics card, a power supply that works with those, storage space and having enough RAM. Oh, and at least a few fans inside so it doesn’t get overheated! I have 3 in mine.

Anywho, like I said I’m nowhere near an expert on computers and I’m sure you can find a much better updated one than mine! And if anyone else knows this better than me/has actual good advice please comment haha 😂

[britnxyspears]

I guess a small chunk of my life story feels a but more relevant right now... im not very open on this blog I'm a very shy and closed off person to he honest and its hard to open up sometimes. But I don't know where else or how else or who else to really tell and I feel like it needs to be out there somehow. Instead of just all inside me.

... when I was homeless and when I was living with Hoarder Gramother #1 (the one who's a lesbian) all I really had to keep some form of... idk, some calm in my life was watching Gordan Ramsay and Cam's King Family uploads... like those videos aren't most people here's cup of tea (I'm not like judging btw, I get it lol, you're not that interested in the guy aside from his voice acting and I'm sure the King Family fans are the same way but vice versa) but those videos were what helped me sleep when I was truly reaching the limits of how far I could go without going completely insane while homeless and the way he fondly talked about his family and the various other family or interest related stuff was filling the place of a loving family for me at the time.

I got kicked out for not being able to manage my grandmother's hoarding, (animal hoarding) my uncle's hoarding (garbage and too much of a good thing hoarding) and my little sister (who did not go to school. I got 0 break. I had to room with her too so no privacy either) and I was also expected to get a job even with all of that other shit. I got locked out of the house when I had enough for the day after 6 months of this and went to go to the gas station down the road. I got locked out, on my period, in the rain in winter (granted Georgia's winter is like crisp Wisconsin fall, but still) and I almost got gang raped, and was rescued by a pastor, who proceeded to yell at me for upwards of two hours when I squeaked that I was gay somehow in all of this.

So after all this I get back and they're sending me back to my mother. I left my mother in the first place because she was emotionally abusive and I was unable to stay in the closet. I made multiple suicide attempts because of it and I couldn't do it anymore. I thought my grandmother would be more accepting of me being both gay and mentally ill but she wasn't any better. And I had to raise a child.

After I arrived in Wisconsin, I find out I'm staying with my other hoarder grandmother, and the whole family expects me to clean her house... which they've been trying for decades... im supposed to do this singlehandedly...

Hoarder grandmother #2 is much more sympathetic. But she's also a million times worse with ocd. There was no where for me to even sit down in that house... so I had to live outside and every now and then I'd come back to the house to shit and piss. Sometimes the water and toilet wouldn't even work.

I would sometimes crawl into the car when it was snowing or raining. They somehow had wi-fi still in that house because my alcoholic nerd uncle lives there too. I would freeze in February and around this time last year I was overheating so much I thought I'd be another hot car death.

This whole time the only thing that ever helped me sleep was going back to those King Family videos... it was all I had. I couldn't even lay down but if I watched enough of them id feel soothed enough to finally sleep.

On my 20th birthday I was ready to kill myself... because the aftermath of all of that had and has left me so beyond traumatized that I didn't know what to do with myself... I went back to my comfort place, and I rewatched his 'stop me if you heard this' show... if you don't know, Cam Clarke has a very interesting life story himself. I kept rewatching the part where he talks about his birthday after he was diagnosed with hiv... how it was like a funeral that he could be there for. I watched it over and over and I didn't pass away that night.

I know it sounds dramatic but Cam is the reason I'm still here physically and mentally. I would have killed myself at least 4 times already if not for this man, or I would have lost my entire mind if not for him. I really owe him a thank you and its going to really really eat at me until I can. That's why it meant so much to me.

[twinkletoes-rp]

Wolf’s Rain: Bloodied Chances Ch. 4 - A Flash in the Pan

(Can also read on FFN / AO3 / Previous / Next)

They’re on their feet and inside faster than they can blink.

True to Hige’s word, Toboe doesn’t look good. He’s sweating and shivering at the same time, and his skin is flushed and much hotter to the touch than it was before. Kiba tries to touch him, brush his bangs from his forehead to make him more comfortable, but he yanks his hand back almost immediately. “H-he’s hot! Really hot! Like he’s burning from the inside out!” Watching and listening closely, on bated breath, Toboe’s heartbeat and breathing are quicker and shallower, too. Like he told them before, Kiba doesn’t know much at all about this stuff, always letting the moonlight take care of anything physical, but right now, he wishes he did. “W-what is this? Is it his wound? Hige, is it infected?”

Hige shakes his head vehemently. “It—it can’t be! We just checked and re-bandaged it two hours  ago, it all looked and smelled fine!” Just in case, though, he does check it, and he breathes a sigh of relief. “His wound’s fine. No gross yellow-white stuff like before either. Should be a good sign, right?”

The others can’t really say. Kiba purses his lips. “Well, if it’s not an infection, do either of you know what else this could be?”

“M-…-maybe…” Hige answers, though he doesn’t look sure as he watches their youngest worriedly, “…but I’m not a doctor or expert either. It’s—I haven’t really seen anything like this up close…”

Tsume’s been quiet the whole time, watching Toboe with a beyond-worried expression mixed with barely-controlled rage brewing beneath the surface. He wishes this was something he could fight—something he could bite and claw and kill with his own fangs. But as much as he hates it, the fact of the matter is, he can’t, and Toboe needs him, so for now, he takes a deep breath and does his best to push that aside. He closes his eyes and thinks back. Something about this feels familiar…

Then, it hits him, and he lifts his head. “A fever,” he murmurs.

Kiba and Hige snap toward him, the younger’s eyes narrowed and head titled. “A wha—?”

“A fever,” Tsume repeats, louder this time in turning to them. “That’s what the humans called it in the old world, at least. One of my—the younger humans working for me got sick once after a fight gone wrong, and it was just like this.” He thinks for a moment, his eyes going far away. “If I remember right, they kept him warm with a lot of blankets and put cloths soaked in water on his forehead. They made sure he drank a lot of water and ate a little—soup, I think, some bread dipped in it when he was a little better.” At the incredulous looks he’s receiving, he stiffens, then glares a bit, hoping the dark hides his light blush. “What?” he growls.

Kiba keeps his gaze steady, but Hige looks away and holds up his hands innocently. “Nothing! You just seem to remember a lot for someone who ‘never paid attention!’”

There’s the smallest edge of teasing to his voice, and if he’s honest with himself, Tsume can’t say their confused curiosity is undeserved. It’s just… Looking away, his voice lowers. “It was a boy, not much older than Toboe was back in the old world.” Gehl. “He’s the one who…fell from the roof that night…the night I met you three… I tried to catch him, but…I bit him instead, and he…” He doesn’t need to explain any more. Things are making more sense now, a whole lot more. Why he was so quick to drop everything to save Toboe the night they escaped, why Toboe didn’t flinch from his saving bite-hold, why Tsume came with them in the end…

It really was all because of Toboe.

Kiba breaks the thoughtful silence that’s settled. “We understand. You don’t have to say any more.” He smiles gently, proudly. “Thanks, Tsume. You’re a lifesaver.” Looking toward Toboe, he asks, “You said soaked towels and blankets, right?”

“Yeah. That’s what I remember, anyway. It seemed to work for Gehl, but…he was human. I don’t…”

“It can’t hurt to try,” Kiba presses. “For now, Toboe looks human, and instinct be damned, he’d probably have a worse shot in our true forms, so I say we do it.”

Immediately shucking off his jacket, he drapes it over Toboe. Following his lead, Hige does the same, then grabs a spare clean cloth. They only have a little bit of water left, but not a single one of them minds sacrificing their shares for this. Placing it gently on his forehead after carefully moving his bangs out of the way, they’re all relieved to see that Toboe looks a little more comfortable. Thank Paradise.

Hige looks over. “We don’t have any blankets, and that was the last of our water. We’re gonna need something a little easier on his stomach than what we had for dinner, I’d guess. Maybe that, uh…‘soup’ and some bread like Tsume talked about?”

Tsume himself looks conflicted about leaving Toboe again, especially now that he’s like this. Kiba doesn’t think they’re going to be able to convince him this time. “I’ll go find what we need. You two stay with him.”

“Whoa, what? Kiba, come on! Even you can’t carry all that by yourself!” Hige tries to reason, Tsume staring hard at him, too. But they know that look on his face…

“Then I’ll make a few trips. Toboe needs you right now to make him feel safe, Tsume, and Hige, you’re our backup healer.” He flashes them a small smile, already backing up toward the opening to eliminate room for argument. “I’ll be back soon. Howl if you need me.”

In a turn of heel and flash of white, he’s gone. It’s getting a little late, when most people would be home by now, but the shops here stay open later than most other towns they’ve come across, so he shouldn’t have much to any trouble finding what they need. Before, Toboe told them the birds in this town said it’s because of some kind of old-days crop cycle the townspeople haven’t dropped yet. The wolves thought it was strange at the time, but they’re grateful as hell for it now. They don’t want to think about what they would’ve done otherwise.

Hige sighs, but there’s a good-natured grin on his face. “Well, there goes our stubborn leader. Again.” His gaze flicks to Tsume. “Don’t tell ‘im I said that, okay? Any time anyone calls him the leader, he looks like he’s constipated or plotting our deaths or something.” Attention drifting to Toboe again, his smile falls. Hating how he’s shivering and his clothes are damp with sweat, he moves to push aside their jackets and unbutton the boy’s shirt before hesitating. “You said he’s overheating and freezing at the same time, right? Should we…keep him covered or air him out?” he asks, turning to Tsume. He doesn’t want to do the wrong thing and accidentally make the kid worse.

Tsume, having settled on Toboe’s other side and taken his hand like it’s second nature, ignoring its clamminess, hates what he has to say next. He’s sure it shows on his face, too. “Keeping him warm is crucial. Something about…letting the fever burn itself or whatever it’s fighting out of his system, I think.”

Hige wrinkles his nose. “That sounds awful…” He wants to ask if there’s a better way, but he knows Tsume would have led with that if there were.

“It was,” the older wolf replies quietly. Hige glances at him, surprised by the guilt and grief in his voice, and Tsume looks far away again, eyes fixed on Toboe. He must be remembering that kid from the old world again. “He was just a kid. Part of me wanted to help, but…around him, there was something… I couldn’t control myself. I’d lose focus and show my true form if either of us touched each other.” He huffs a laugh, smirking a bit. “It pisses me off a little, but you know, the only time I actually held it together was when I punched him to save him from Kiba when we first met and the half-dead idiot was killing every human who came near him.” Taking the cloth from Toboe’s forehead for a moment to wipe the sweat from the kid’s face and neck before putting it back, Tsume sobers. “Maybe it’s because he was the youngest of us. Maybe it’s because he trusted me—” for the most part, anyway, until that last moment; Tsume tries not to think about that, “—reminds me a lot of the runt. But something...hurt in me, watching Gehl suffer like that. I guess, that one time, even if I didn’t realize it until now, I made an exception to my distance rules.”

A moment’s silence. Then, “Good.”

Tsume snaps up to look at Hige, eyes wide. He blinks. “Hmm?”

Hige just grins toothily and snickers. “What are ya, deaf? I said that’s good! That you broke your rules and paid attention, I mean. Otherwise, we might be in a lotta trouble right now with our runt.” He softens, just a bit, reaching out to sift comforting fingers through Toboe’s hair. “Seriously, you really helped us out. When I ran to get you guys, I was panicking, thinking maybe I totally screwed up and hurt the kid even worse...” He sighs heavily, and Tsume can see how much those thoughts really were weighing on him. It’s in his slumped shoulders, tired expression, haunted eyes. “But then you came up with the answer like a Lunar Flower from Paradise.” He smiles widely. “Thanks a lot, Tsume.”

Thank goodness it’s night or Tsume almost definitely wouldn’t be able to hide the rather bright blush he’s sporting. Huffing a laugh, he reaches over to ruffle Hige’s hair roughly (but not as roughly as he normally would have). “You’re just lucky my brain’s the size of your stomach, Porky.”

“Yeah, se—hey, wait a minute!”

Laughter.

Half an hour later, Kiba’s back with everything in one haul. Apparently, a nice older lady near the store saw him struggling a bit and offered a large knapsack she didn’t need anymore. He’d accepted it gratefully and even her help folding most of the blankets into compact sizes so he could fit as much in the bag as possible. He’d brought back enough water, soup, and bread to last at least a few days and enough blankets (with some spare cloths thrown in) to cover each of them a few times over.

Helping him unpack everything they’ll need right now, Tsume throws the two back their jackets and covers Toboe with three of the blankets up to his neck. The boy whimpers and tosses his head, trying to throw off the blankets, but Tsume carefully pins his arms to his chest. “I know, kid. I’m sorry,” he sympathizes softly. “But these blankets should help you feel better, so I need you to leave them, okay?” There’s still a little fight left in the boy’s struggling limbs, and Tsume fractionally tightens his grip, lowers his voice that much more. “Do it for me?”

Toboe pauses, seems to hesitate, and then it shifts into an obedient pout as the fight leaves him entirely. Tsume sighs in relief and releases him, covering him back up and rubbing his arms gently where he held them. A small, proud, ridiculously-fond smile, almost a fiendish smirk, comes to his face. “That’s my runt.”

He turns to the others once Toboe starts falling back to sleep a few moments later, but he stops short when he notices Hige trying not to grin behind his hand (so cute!) and the startlingly soft smile on Kiba’s face. Again, thank Paradise it’s night so they can’t see his bright blush. He merely glares (he definitely does not pout!), mostly at Hige, and then goes on. “You think that’s enough for now or should we add more?” While he was covering Toboe, he noticed the blankets were maybe a quarter-inch thick. “They’re not the thickest, after all.”

Kiba hums, looks over everything. He wishes he could have found something better, but…well, the world is ending (again)… “Maybe two more? If we need more, we can always add them, right? But if we start out short, we might as well not have put on any at all.”

Hige frowns a bit, shrugging. “I don’t know. You’re the ‘fever’ authority here, Tsume.” Moving around them, he sticks his hand under the blankets to feel how hot Toboe is now. He winces and takes it out, blowing on and shaking it out. “Sheesh! He’s hot, all right, but not much more than before. I vote we put on at least two more. Better safe than sorry.” Switching out Toboe’s now warm and almost dry towel on his forehead for a cold, almost-dripping one, he wipes down his neck and face first. Some of the discomfort lines on Toboe’s face smooth out, and Hige yawns. “That should hold him for a little bit.” Rubbing his eyes, he says, “If I fall asleep, wake me up to check his wound and redress it in a few hours. Don’t wanna take any chances.”

Tsume looks between his two friends silently. They’re tired from the stress and worry of the day. He doesn’t blame them. He feels it, too. Of course he does. But he wants to stay with Toboe more than he wants sleep, so he doesn’t mind staying up with him. “I’ll wake you up, Hige. I’ll stay with him. You two should get some sleep.”

Hige raises an eyebrow, frowning deeply. “All night? Tsume, even you can’t do that.”

Kiba sets a hand on his shoulder, a small smile playing while his steady gaze never leaves Tsume’s. “It’s Tsume’s decision, Hige. If he says he wants to keep watch, we’ll let him. He’ll be the best at watching over Toboe anyway.”

Hige gives him an uneasy look. “Well, yeah, that’s a given, but still…”

“I appreciate the concern, but I can handle it, Porky,” Tsume breaks in, arms crossed lazily over his jacket-less chest. Taking a breath when Hige still looks unsure, he exhales helplessly. “Look, I’ll stay awake long enough for you to check him, and then I’ll sleep, but I’m not leaving him. Happy?”

The second-youngest is unimpressed. “It’s a start.”

Tsume snorts, then Hige, and then Kiba, and soon, they’re all laughing. It’s almost perfect.

When they get Toboe back, it will be.

[fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction]

Sick of your shit

When you have a crappy job, a crappy pay check, and an even crappier boss, you tend to get sick of it, really quickly. Mike sure has...in more ways then one.

Written by Snapfoo

It wasn’t worth it.

The measly amount of money that this stupid job paid him just wasn’t fucking worth it. It had never been worth it from the start mind you, but even the tiny pay raise the Boss had given the guards (hoo boy a full DOLLAR!) still didn’t make this stupid fucking job worth it to come in right now.

Mike let out a groan as he let the screen drop, rubbing his face with his hand as he willed the headache that had been hounding him all damn night to go away. It wasn’t the usual headache that he was used to when he worked nights here from time to time. No, those came with a haze of memories and the feeling of blood seeping into his hat to mingle with the sweat that it already trapped and lectures from his fiance upon returning home with said bloody hat. No this one wasn’t the usual headache.

This one was normal. Which is precisely why it was so ABnormal.

A streak of chills pushed through him and he suppressed a shiver as he held down the button on screen for the music box, the constant creaking of the crank in the box turning the gears so the music continued to flow sounding very similar to the sound of nails on a chalkboard as they echoed through his head. Childish laughter bounced from one wall to another as the metallic thud of a body climbing through the vents entered the office, making things all the worse.

Mike sighed as he fought off the wave of chills, leaning his head back and closing his eyes for a moment. Just a little silence. That’s all he wanted, just a little break in the night to let his head stop feeling like a barrel of dynamite about to go off. He couldn’t afford breaks like these, not even the smallest of seconds. It was Friday, an overly active night for the walking, talking tin cans and that meant he had to be on his toes and ready for anything.

“Hello?”

He forced himself to open one eye, looking to his left with a half lidded gaze. Smiling up at him from the floor was, of course, Billy. He didn’t have energy to yell at the small animatronic but his words still held the same venom in it as he addressed him. “If you don’t get….back in the vent….and leave me alone….I will take that sign….and give you a new orifice...just so I can stuff it up your ass….I swear to god.” The final part of his statement was snarled through gritted teeth as he once again let his eye drift closed, his mood dropping harshly with the little annoyance in his office.

It seemed to work well enough, as the abnormally loud sound of the animatronic leaving racked his brain once more before the room went silent. He risked a glance at the desk, the flashlight sitting untouched by the grabby power greedy hands. He didn’t know what it was about the boy animatronic that annoyed him so horribly, but he felt a small amount of guilt poke at him from the harsh words. Billy was a nuisance on most nights true with how many times he tried to end the nightguards life with his meddling with the flashlight, but even HE didn’t deserve such a heavy threat. Oh well. The guilt quickly passed him as he lifted the screen again, checking on the music box once more. If he was going to act like a douche, then he deserved to be treated like one.

A wave of heat rocked him and Mike had to fight to keep down what little of the food he had eaten during his small lunch break. It had been this way all damn night, washes of cold then hot then cold then hot, each one bringing him closer and closer to turning his stomach inside out. He coughed harshly, his throat raw and pained as he struggled to regain his composure. God damn it, he REALLY didn’t need this right now.

The sound of metal footsteps stomping their way down the hallway had him reaching up and slapping the desk a few times, his hand roaming around till he found the flashlight. It fell to the desk with a thump and he would have winced at the sound it made if he hadn’t known it could handle such abuse. It felt like it took a monumental effort to push the button down, but once it was on he was rewarded with a garbled “Aurgh!” and the scurry of footsteps rushing away to get out of the light. It brought him a moment of satisfaction before the shivers returned, and this time he didn’t repress the shaking that came with them. He was so tired of this. Of this job, of this migrane, of these stupid robots...it wasn’t worth it to do this job. It so wasn’t…

Distantly he heard the sound of someone yelling his name, telling him to grab...something? A face? Why would he want to grab a face? The words were garbled and didn’t make much sense to him, a fog slowly pushing it’s way into his head and numbing the pounding that had become almost unbearable. He sighed softly at the relief and briefly he relaxed on the desk, the flashlight rolling from his hand and clattering to the floor. The yelling began again, more garbled than it had been before, more faded but he couldn’t find the will to really care about it anymore. He couldn’t make out what they were saying and he strained to hear the words, his tired mind unable to process them. He just wanted to rest...just a little bit.

And then the world was falling away from him, spinning wildly as he was jerked out of his chair and lifted from the ground by the front of his shirt, pulled over the desk to dangle in the air before it. He heard a scream somewhere in the back of his mind as he made the effort to open his eyes, gritting his teeth as he stared back into the sinister expression of the namesake himself.

“G-G-G-Got you…”

“Fuck you…” Mike spat at the animatronic bear as he was hoisted up higher, grabbing hold of Freddy’s hand and trying in vain to pry it off of him. It did very little as he reared his arm back and flung the former night watch down the main hall and away from any safety he may have had in the night. He hit the tile floor with a sharp cry, pain racing straight up his spine to explode behind his eyes in a series of stars that flashed through his vision.

For a moment while he heard the heavy thud of metal marching from many directions, he lay motionless on the floor, eyes squeezed shut as the headache from before returned with a vengeance, slamming into him with the force of an 18-wheeler going 90 down the interstate and it was all he could do to remain awake. A ringing noise had filled his hearing, drowning out any other sound like a horrible bout of tinnitus and sending his vision spinning wildly as he tried to open his eyes, tried to see where he was or where they were. He couldn’t hear Freddy anymore but he felt someone there, watching him in the dark.

He couldn’t find a reason to get up at first, the clusterfuck of pain and sound making for a good reason to stay on the floor where he was despite what he knew had happened on it more than once. Besides, the tile was cool to the touch and felt heavenly on his overheated face. Regardless, he knew that he had to get home. Doll was waiting for him, so was Jeremy, he HAD to get up. It was just so damn HARD. Everything felt like it was creaking and groaning as he shifted slowly, planting his hands on either side of his body to get a sturdy hold on….what? The floor? Whatever, it didn’t matter. He didn’t hear the whimper that left him as he pushed himself up, managing to get halfway off the floor with the monstrous effort that he had put into the action.

He felt something hard touch his side and give him a small push. He tumbled to his side with a grunt, unsure if he wanted to attempt getting up again. It was just...too much. He couldn’t do this. He had gotten through almost the entire night and then he had gotten sloppy. The last time that had happened, he had broken a leg and still managed to make it through the night. Now, it felt like he had a weight in his chest, smothering every amount of energy he had into nothingness.

The world tilted and fell away again as he was lifted once more, his head rolling back on his shoulders as he groaned. Peering through the dark, he gazed up at the familiar muzzle of a fox. The eye patch lifted from Foxy’s face and two eyes that looked way too alive gazed down at him with a mixture of emotions. Briefly… he could have sworn that he saw the flicker of a small figure sitting there on the animatronics shoulder, looking down at him with an unreadable expression.

“M-M-M-Mikey?”

The only response he could give was a very quiet sound that mixed between a groan and a sigh as his eyes rolled into his head and fell shut completely, body going limp within the powerful grip of the Captain. This job wasn’t worth working through this pain. It wasn’t worth the meager paycheck or the monumental effort it took to even move.

It wasn’t worth it…

_______________

“I KI-KI-KI-KILLED ‘IM!” Foxy shrieked in shock and panic as Mike went limp in his grip. Chica rolled her eyes as her toy counterpart reached forward and took the now unconscious night guard from him, holding him under his arms at arms length as she looked him over carefully while Bonnie tried to comfort his horrified companion. Something was wrong.

Mike was a fighter, he always had been. The animatronics, the older ones at the very least, would always come away with some sort of minor damage from clashing one on one with the guard and they would always fail in dragging him away from the office on their own. He was resilient and aggressive, throwing insults and threats down the hallway as if they were darts to a dartboard, no hesitation in his voice as he confidently fended them off. It was quite an attractive trait if Chicacoo had to be honest, if a little annoying.

So when Michael refused to get off the floor after being thrown by Freddy, at first they had believed him to have been knocked out with the maneuver. As they drew nearer to where he lay however, he had begun to shift, showing that he was indeed still awake. This caused them all to pause. Michael was always one to spring back to his feet and instantly take off running, out maneuvering them all as he fled and calling taunts over his shoulder, but his movements were slow and… labored. It was out of character for him to be so...lethargic.

“He isn’t dead…” She reported simply, her system tapping into the medicinal section of her programming. She shifted the man so he lay cradled in one arm while using her now free hand to remove his hat, handing it to BonBon before putting her hand on his forehead. It was clammy with a fine layer of sweat covering his face, but it did nothing to mask the severe heat that she was able to feel coming from him. His face twitched a bit at her touch, a small noise escaping him as the cool plastic touched heated skin, but he didn’t stir. Her system beeped a small warning and she pulled her hand away.

“He has a fever. He’s sick!”

“S-sick?” Foxy tilted his head at her as beside him, Freddy nodded.

“Figures. M-Mike hardly ev-ever took days off before, even when he was sick.”

“Well doesn’t that mean we’re lucky? We’ve got him! Let’s--”

“No.” Chicacoo pulled him into both of her arms, holding him a bit closer. “Th-that’s not fair! He should be allowed to defend himself at least, right? He’s just like a little kid like this!”

The four withered animatronics jerked a bit at her statement, looking at one another in thought. After coming to a silent agreement, Freddy turned down the hallway to walk back to the security office. BonBon sighed. “Oh. My god. This is STUPID. We could totally just take him to the prize room.”

“We could…” Freddy said as he returned to the group, tablet and Mike’s phone in hand. “... but she’s right. We have to be at least a little fair. We… owe him that at least.”

The others nodded, making the plastic rabbit sigh and shake their head, reaching out and grabbing the phone. “Fiiine. Whatever…”

_____

For a while, he was floating. Not drowning or suffocating, but just...floating.

It took Mike a very long time to swim through the blackness that surrounded him and resurface with consciousness and when he did, he didn’t quite recognize where he was at first.

The room was dark and quiet, the white ceiling being a welcome sight once he understood what it meant. He let out a soft groan, his body aching as he shifted his arms and hands, his whole body telling him to be still and rest. He lifted a hand to his head, finding something cool and soft resting on his forehead. A washcloth? It was damp and cool and felt phenomenal against his forehead, so he left it be and opted instead to look around the room.

He was at home, as he had suspected from seeing the familiar ceiling, but his tired mind couldn’t quite put together how he had gotten here and honestly...he didn’t care. He was laying in bed from what he felt, coupled with a spare blanket over the comforter and bed sheets that lay on him to fight off whatever chills might attack him. At the moment he felt… woozy… lightheaded… but not as horrible as he had felt earlier that night. Something moved beside him and he felt a hand, smooth and gentle, cover his own.

A warmth bloomed in his chest and he couldn’t help but smile as he tilted his head to the side to look at her in the very dim room. Doll smiled back at him, rubbing her thumb gently over the back of his hand, her voice a pleasant whisper. “Hey sleepy head.”

“Hey…” His voice was weathered and hoarse from both sleep and illness, but he croaked the word out nonetheless. “How long have I been out..?”

“Most of the day. It’s 4:13 right now.” She gently moved his hand aside and pulled the cloth from his head, flipping it over and settling it down again. He sighed softly.

“...How’d...how’d I get home?”

“One of your co-workers called after they opened. She said you had passed out mid-shift from your fever.” She explained gently, cupping his face and running her thumb across his cheek softly. “I gave Brian a hard chewing out about it when I got there. He didn’t seem too willing to argue with me in front of the few customers that were there.” She grinned a bit mischievously. He couldn’t help but snicker, despite how much it hurt. He wished he could have seen that look on his face.

“You’re the best, Doll…”

“I try.” She said smugly before leaning down and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Get some rest, Mister Macho. You have the day off to recover.”

“‘Kay…” He sighed as he closed his eyes, feeling her give his hand a soft squeeze before she slipped from the bed and out of the room.

How the hell he survived the rest of the night without being stuffed in those damn suits, he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure he WANTED to know honestly. Knowing those fucked up robots, they probably didn’t find the whole ordeal fun enough if he wasn’t at his best. It didn’t matter… he was home safe and sound, where Doll and Jeremy were. He didn’t have to worry about murderous robots or homicidal puppets. All he had to worry about was sleeping, and he was more than happy to drop back into that blissful void of black again as he drifted off to sleep.