#but on the other hand if you reached a high enough level you'd start having to play without a rival more and more often...

[flash-from-the-past]

Glassez!

[alotofpockets]

Highs and lows | Lia Wälti x Sister!Reader

Warnings: Reader is a type 1 diabetic and experiences both hypo- and hyperglycemic events. I hope all the medical talk is right!

Woso masterlist | Words: 1.3k

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One of the things you loved to do outside of football, was going on walks with some of the girls on your team. When you and your sister Lia made the move to London, you had found a second family in your Arsenal teammates. The friendships you made here went beyond the pitch, and you were forever grateful to have gotten a place amongst them.

Today you were joined by Lia, Steph, Viv, Beth, and Leah. As well as Myle and Calvin, the dogs were both running around the park as the rest of you were talking. 

“Oh hi Myle girl, do you want me to throw the ball?” The dog had dropped the tennis ball into your lap, so you got up to play with her. You made a quick stop to grab your water bottle before you ran back to the dogs. Myle had so much energy, so she kept running up and down the field, while Calvin stayed closer to your side. You throw the ball for Myle again, but your vision goes blurry right after. You knew the feeling all too well, and sat down slowly. Calvin moved closer to you and started barking. Steph looked up at the sudden loudness from her dog, who usually is rather quiet, and notices you on the grass. 

“Hey Lia”, Steph didn’t even have to finish her sentence, the tone of her voice told Lia enough, she looked over to you and rushed to your side when she saw you were on the ground.

“I'm here.” She reaches for your hand, while reaching for her phone with the other. She taps the device to the patch on your arm, letting it read your glucose levels. You had been diagnosed with diabetes type 1 when you were a kid, so the symptoms were very familiar to your sister, and to the team now as well. “It’s low.” By now she didn't even have to tell you what she was going to do, as she was with you for a lot of your highs and lows. She grabs a juice box out of her bag, and tells you to drink up.

“Here, lean into me.” You heard Leah's voice behind you. Her hands on your shoulders guided you into her. The girls knew that there was nothing they could do for you, and that they would just have to wait for your glucose levels to get back up, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't try to make it as comfortable for you as possible. 

Slowly but surely you started feeling better, the blurred vision faded, and you felt a little stronger again. While you had gotten used to the hypo- and hyperglycemic events, they were still a little scary to experience, because you'd never know when one would be more severe.

“Come on, let's get you home.” Lia extends her hands to you, after you let her know you were ready to get up. Once you were up, she hugged you tight, always a little scared of the events herself. 

“Why don't you come to our place?” Beth offers, “We live closer, you can rest there.” You agreed instantly, the less you had to walk right now the better. Back at Beth and Viv’s place you find yourself slowly drifting to sleep cuddled into Viv’s side, with Myle on your chest. 

You’re woken up by the smell of one of your favourite dishes lingering in the air. “Hey, how are you feeling?” Viv asks when she notices that you were awake again. “Good enough for that delicious meal Lia is cooking up.” The girl you’re still laying against chuckles, “Ah good, you’re back.”

You looked around the room to find Leah, Steph, and Calvin had left the home, while Lia was in the kitchen with Beth. Though, you knew your sister did all the cooking, because Viv always loved to tell you how bad of a chef Beth really was. You got up and joined the rest for dinner.

The next few days your blood sugar levels didn’t have any major spikes, there was the occasional high and low, but nothing that wasn’t quickly fixed. 

On game day you were rushing out of the house, cause you forgot to put your alarm. You rolled out of bed, hopped in the shower, and quickly changed into your match day outfit, before you headed to your car. 

You knew it was stupid to skip meals, because it would most likely influence your blood sugar levels later on, but right now the only thought on your mind was getting to the stadium on time. Which luckily you managed to do, you headed into the locker room where everyone was about ready to start warming up. After quickly putting on your cleats, and your training kit, you followed the team out.

“Everything alright?” Your sister asked as she put her arm on your shoulder to warm up her legs. You nod, “I overslept. Forgot to set my alarm, but I’m all good.” You continue warming up together, before running some drills with the rest of the girls. 

On the pitch everything was going great until it wasn’t. You felt very shaky, and were sweating more than during a regular game. Trying to push the feelings aside only worked for a few minutes, with one tackle you were on the ground, and your body fully gave into the high blood sugar. Both Lia and the medics came rushing your way.

“You need to check her glucose levels.” Your sister instructed. The medic already had a phone in their hand to tap it to your patch. “We’ve got her Lia, don’t worry.” The phone quickly gave the glucose levels, and showed they were very high. 

“I’m going to give you an insuline shot, to get your levels down quickly.” You simply nodded, not caring how they would lower your blood sugar, as long as you would stop feeling this way. After the shot, your body started slowly feeling stronger again. The medics walked you off the field, and sat you down on the bench. Steph sat down next to you, and you leaned into her side. She took the bag of nuts the medical assistant handed over, and opened the bag for you. 

When the halftime whistle blew you headed into the locker room, while Steph went to warm up with the rest of the bench. 

“What happened?” Your sister’s worried voice rang out the moment you sat down. She didn’t even let you answer the first question, before she continued. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? You know how bad it can get if you don’t treat your highs and lows on time.” 

“Since I was in a hurry this morning I kind of forgot to have breakfast. I swear I was going to eat something when I got here, but you were all ready to warm up, so I forgot in the rush again.” You knew that skipping meals wasn’t good for your glucose levels, and you really didn’t do it on purpose, and you needed Lia to know that. “I should’ve said it sooner, but it was almost half time. I thought I would be alright until then.”

Lia uncrossed her arms, and the angry facade fell. “Please don’t ever scare me like that again!” She sat down and put her arm around you, happy to know that you were alright again. You listened to Kim and Leah discuss the tactics for the second half of the game, and made your way back to the bench when it was time to head back again. 

The team ended up winning the match. After the second half you felt a lot better again, so you walked the victory round next to your sister, who was happy to have you properly on your feet again.

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[bodythieves]

Bounce Back - Pt. 1

pro boxer!abby anderson, pro boxer!reader (tags: flirting, teasing, playful competition. short intro setup for part two.)

you were fresh, about three years into your career as a professional boxer. it was your outlet- a way for you to get everything out in a controlled environment. shit, it was violent and well-paying enough that you thought it was a pretty decent path anyway. let out some steam and make a pretty penny doing it. you had fans, friends, foes. your own place, an impeccable closet.

abby anderson was abby fucking anderson. not only was she an elite fighter, she had became your friend and colleague. you wanted to be built like that, you craved to be able to shuffle and duck and throw a punch before someone could even blink. she was at least 5’11”, extremely toned, clever. sometimes you couldn’t tell if you craved to be her friend, her, or her lover more.

You sat in a wooden and canvas chair, like a director’s seat, to the right of Abby. Cameras were rolling, an interviewer across from the two of you. she held on to a small stack of index cards, thumbing through them with a quiet click of her tongue against her teeth. You look around the room, eyes scanning the white paper backdrop and taking a good look at the cameras. then, of course, to Abby. Unlike you, Abby was totally relaxed. her body language was loose, open- feet together on the small step of the seat, legs spread wide and leaned back into the chair. You, on the other hand, were a bit more reserved. one leg crossed over the other. Your back was up right, chin held high.

“You two have been friends for awhile, haven't you?” the interviewer asked.

Abby cracked a small grin. her eyes moved over just enough to look at you, her cheek leading the way. You couldn't stop yourself from doing what you always did with abby-admiring her. Her brows, slightly wrinkled in the middle from an almost constant furrow. not that she was always in a bad mood, either, because she wasn't.

"Since the cage fight special." her voice pulled you from your thoughts, her cadence like velvet. Still, she always had an air of playfulness in her tone.

Your lips curled up, letting your chin fall as you exhale a breath of a laugh.

"God, that feels like forever ago," You mumbled below your breath. Your eyes tracked from your legs and you lifted your head, looking into the camera beside the interviewer for only a moment before your gaze met the interviewer herself.

"Did you think, then, that you'd be able to get on Abby's level?" the woman proceeded to inquire.

"Then?" you repeated, raising your brows high. "I mean, I'd hoped I could. But now.. I know I'm on her level."

That earned a joking scoff from the boxer to your left.

"Maybe in my weight class now, but not quite my level, chica." Abby shifted in her chair, a hand reached up and pulling her braided ponytail over her shoulder.

Did you make her nervous?

A faint, yet cocky expression phased over you. You pinched your brows and cocked your head.

"You got.. what? Maybe an inch on me? We're three pounds off from each other." Your tone was teasing, you could've nearly been gloating just with that small spark of confidence.

"Inch when you're in your heels."

"Oh, bullshit," you tossed your head back a little as another laugh rolls out of you, but that time, it hadn't been just a breath of one. Subconsciously, you flexed your ankle out and shift in your own chair, looking down at the very heels Abby had teased you for, before quickly looking to the interviewer. "Sorry. Can I say that?"

The woman had been smiling, content it seemed, with solely watching banter flow between you and your colleague. She nodded while she shuffled through her index cards. "Of course. You can say whatever, it's not live feed. We can always go in and take that right out."

"Anyways," the woman started, her index cards tucked between fingers. The daintiness of the interviewer's fingers made you squeeze your own for a moment, into a tight ball against your palm. Why were you so anxious? You'd done press before. "I think it's about time we address the elephant in the room." Maybe it was because you'd never done press with Abby.

Which elephant? The sexual tension elephant?

"This fight, it's only three rounds. That's fifteen minutes in the ring. And it's not even for a title."

Oh. That elephant. The fan-favorite elephant.

Abby shifted again and leaned back. Her hand moved down her chest, a thick palm guiding down her shirt and resting just above her knee. She looked good in joggers. And those polo shirts would really be the death of you one day... At least, you'd hoped so. That over-focused look was all over her. Eyebrows separated by three slotted lines in her skin, eyes piercing and lips fixed into a slight pout. "No, but it is to prove something." She said this as if she'd answered this question in her mind before.

"And that would be...?"

You looked to Abby curiously. What would that be? What was she proving?

"That just because you're a favorite doesn't mean you're on top."

Ha. Ironic. You were typically on top. With a turned head, you glanced at Abby. And in return, she'd caught yours. You could see a faint redness run through her cheeks. Her hand went to adjust her braid once more, and you'd realized you did it again. Abby Anderson was nervous because of you.

The interviewer smiled downwardly and moved her eyes between you and Abby. She continued with her questions, guiding you two through a conversation you hadn't quite had. One of your admiration of Abby, and hers of you. One of what it meant to be two of the most well-renowned individuals in your league.

Nearing the end of your session, the interviewer had decided to ask you one final question.

"Is there anything you want to say to Abby?"

You smiled, looked to the camera for one singular moment. And you felt your heartbeat quicken. There were a million things you wanted to say to Abby. But this wasn't about your feelings towards her, not in that way, no.

Your voice started before you even really began to think.

"I just.. I want to say, it's been an honor." Unexpectedly sweet, considering your colleague had been such a tease the whole time. Abby tilted her head, a strand of blonde hair falling across her cheek, loose from her braid. You had her attention. "I mean it. I watched you for years before I joined the league. Since you were a rookie, and I find a lot of inspiration in you." You cleared your throat, and shifted.

The entire time you spoke, Abby hadn't interrupted. She hadn't smirked or chuckled. Didn't heckle you. No, she was respectful.

"I don't care about a title. Frankly, I don't care if I win or if I lose. I'm.." You trailed off for a moment, your head turned back to the camera. Then, like strike to a lightning rod, you found Abby's face once more. Strong cheekbones, freckled skin, and eyes as blue as the deep. How pretty. "I'm proud enough to know that I stand a chance against you in the ring. I've made it that far."

You watched with a keen eye as Abby's features softened. Blue eyes warmed, cheeks rose, and she broke into a smile. She shook her head slowly and once more ran her hand over her shirt. She let out a small breath from her nose, then opened up for a response.

"Don't go trying to butter me up. Might make it hard for me to fight you."

(A/N) : omg hey hi sorry I haven't posted a fic in forever. Chapter two of this is already in the works! I know this is short pls forgive me.

[lovelyd0gg]

More HCs!<3

How would the boys react to you hugging an old friend that's a male.

Warnings: tons of possessiveness from Luz, yanking arms, jealousy, make-out sesh (Luz)

Bonus: Dick winters and Donald Malarkey at the end<3

Bill Randleman.

•When he saw a man speed walking towards you and started to talk to you, he at first didn't mind.

•He knew you had tons of old friends from high school and he didn't mind at all.

•But as soon as he saw the man had to go somewhere, the guy gave you a hug and walked away.

•Now listen, Talk with a couple of male friends of yours around Bull, that's fine. But if they start to hug you, oh hell no.

•On the outside, he just stared the man down, watching as the guy walked away, but on the inside, his blood was boiling and he felt the need to best him up.

•Especially IF you weren't comfortable with hugs, he'd want to kill the guy.

•You guys just kept walking when he decided to make small talk, asking you who the guy was and how long you have known him.

•When you told him he was an old friend of yours and a little bit more info, he started to calm down a little more but he didn't want to see the guy anymore.

"What's wrong, Randleman?"

"Nothin' darlin'."

Eugene Roe.

•Eugene didn't really care at first like Bull.

•He just thought you were gonna have a normal chat with the guy.

•But once he saw the guy wrap his arms around your waist, jealousy took over.

•His stoic and emotionless expression was very much there and if looks could kill, the man would've dropped on the floor by now.

•When the guy left, Eugene grabbed your hand and yanked you to walk a different way.

•He didn't say anything, but when you guys were out of sight, he hugged you tightly, almost trying to take the scent from the guy away from you.

•It was very much clear he was jealous and he wasn't even hiding it.

•He got irritated but you told him to calm down.

•He was pretty pissed off but you managed to reassure him that there was nothing going on between you and your friend.

•He trusted you and kissed your forehead. Believing you.

"I'm not cheating on you."

"I trust you, cher."

George Luz.

•When I tell you this man gets jealous easily, I KID YOU NOT.

•Once the guy hugs you, he immediately yanks your arm to you.

•Tilting your chin up. Making you look up at him.

•He kept telling you how you were his and basically a complete possessive freak.

•He didn't want any other man near you or touch you.

•Once you both got home, he pinned you to the couch and kissed you violently.

•The kiss was heated and passionate. And it was clear that he was marking what was his.

•He moved his mouth from your lips down to your neck. Leaving hickeys and red marks.

•After you both finished the make out session, he cuddled up to you the whole day. His grip really tight.

•Almost scared you'd run off.

•He was very possessive and he was scared he'd lose you.

"Am I a red flag?"

"You get possessive a lot.. But I love you."

Bill Guarnere.

•As soon as the guy even came to talk with you, he became impatient and wanted to just leave already.

•It was bad enough that he wanted to go and was just waiting for you to be done.

•But when the guy was about to hug you that reached a whole new "what the fuck" level.

•He literally just went between the two of you and pushed the guy gently away.

•He jerked his head somewhere else towards the guy, silently telling him to go away.

•He didn't care in the slightest if the guy didn't get his hug from you, you were supposed to hug Bill and your friends and family.

•Not to mention, Bill didn't even know this guy, you never told him but then again you forget the guy even existed.

•He managed to keep his temper in check (somehow) and you both continued with your day.

"You didn't tell at him."

"Yeah, yeah, sweetheart, keep walkin'."

Lewis Nixon.

•Nixon didn't seem to care much when the guy was talking to you. You both were catching up and he didn't really care how long you both took.

•He in fact needed to rest his legs a little after walking for so long.

•As he was staring down at the floor, he heard you end the conversation and he looked up to see the guy hugging you.

•He raised an eyebrow and gave the guy a judging up and down look.

•In his head he was thinking of all sorts of scenarios that would never happen.

•What if the guy punched you? What if you didn't bring your pepper spray with you?

•But after the guy left somewhere else, you told Nixon that you both can continue to go.

•He didn't keep his eyes off the guy. But then he looked at you and nodded.

"Where are you staring at?"

"The guy, what if he punched you?"

Ronald Speirs.

•Oh-ho-ho. Good luck girl.

•I don't think he'd even let you talk to the guy in the first place.

•But for the sake of this headcanon, let's do it.

•When he saw you talking to the guy, he was already feeling protective, like the guy was gonna do something unexpected.

•But when the guy was gonna hug you, Speirs just wrapped his arms around you from behind. Trying to hint to the guy that you're taken and you're not going anywhere.

•The guy stared at him up and down and just left. Clearly freaked out.

•It seemed that his plan worked, just like he imagined it to.

•Once you both came home, he started to rant about how the guy can't just touch you like that! And that he was in the right for stepping in.

•He sometimes asked you if you agreed with him, and sometimes you did actually agree, but sometimes you pretended to just so he doesn't start to scold you.

•It's clear he is protective over you, and he just wants to make sure you're okay.

"Was I too protective..?"

"No, you did what you needed to do."

Joseph Liebgott.

•Normally, he's chill and he doesn't really want to go pick for fights.

•He noticed the guy walk up to you and he raised an eyebrow.

•He was suspicious at first and he didn't trust the guy.

•But when the guy hugged you and walked away he got the "What he hell?" Look on his face.

•He stared at you then watched the guy walk away.

•He wasn't even that mad but he was definitely confused.

•When you guys continued to walk he asked who the guy was and just went on with your days.

•It was so weird and he felt a little jealous but not a lot.

•It was just out of context.

"Huh--?"

"I don't know what the fuck happened."

~•BONUS•~

Richard Winters.

•He is very calm. So when the guy started to talk with you, he was respectful and he didn't bother you or him.

•When the guy hugged you and left, Winters still didn't do anything. He just stood there and asked you who that guy was.

•When you explained that it was an old friend of yours, he nodded and you both kept walking.

•He was very understanding and calm in a lot of situations and he didn't feel jealousy almost at all!

•Which was a good thing for both of you.

•He also trusted you, he knew you wouldn't cheat on him or hurt him. He knew you wouldn't do anything bad to him.

•I mean, it was just a friend after all, so why should he be jealous?

"You aren't jealous?"

"He's a friend, why should I?"

Donald Malarkey.

•He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little jealous.

•When he saw the guy hug you, he felt a little needy for your affection.

•He felt like the guy was getting more affection than he was and that made him needy.

•When the guy left, Malarkey immediately grabbed your hand and smiled.

•Swaying your hands back and forth, he was in a good mood but he also wanted your affection.

•When you guys came home. He tackled you on the bed and covered your face in kisses then cuddled up against you.

•Either he was somewhat jealous or touch-starved.

•It didn't really matter though because he wasn't hurting or restricting you.

•He smiled while he cuddled you and it seemed he felt a lot better.

"Malarkey! Calm down on the kisses!"

"No! I'm not done!"

[jjkamochoso]

Hii!! I love how you write noritoshi sm i wish more people liked him!! Maybe a coffee date with noritoshi x reader and it starts raining :3

Omg THANK YOU!!! I’m the biggest Noritoshi fan and I’m glad I’m not the only one lol he’s such a cutie!! He deserves so much attention😤 Anyway I LOVE this prompt, it’s literally so freaking adorable, thanks for sending it in!!! I hope you enjoy this lil story🥺🫶

The Most Delightful Rainy Da(y)te

Fluff

Noritoshi Kamo x gn!reader

Warnings: none

"Hey, y/n... Would you maybe want to get some coffee? With me? Just us, together... sometime?"

Noritoshi Kamo was standing in front of you, nervous as can be, sporting a smile (a grimace, really) that could only be described as awkward and completely unsure. It was totally opposite of his usual collected, almost aloof, demeanor. He thought he was making a fool of himself; you found it the most endearing he'd ever looked.

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"Is... is that okay if I am?"

You raised a brow. "If? You aren't sure?"

That had Noritoshi sweating. As he floundered out a response, this clearly not going as smoothly as he planned, you quieted him with a laugh.

"Noritoshi, I'm just teasing you. I'd love to go on a date with you."

That conversation was what led you to meet the blood manipulator outside of a quaint cafe in a sleepy Kyoto neighborhood. You were happy to dress up a bit for the occasion, opting for a comfy yet stylish outfit. When Noritoshi entered your view, you were in awe of how attractive he was. He was in an all black ensemble and looked sleek as ever, even with his hair left untied and loosely framing his face.

"If you don't mind me saying, you look really good," he complimented upon greeting you.

"As do you, Kamo. I'd say you clean up well but you always look handsome," you replied, trying to hide your grin from seeing his face dusted with a light pink blush. He opened the door for you as you stepped inside the cafe, grateful for the rush of warmth upon entering. It was springtime but the chilly days had not yet come to pass. The cafe wasn't busy, you two being its only patrons at the moment. The atmosphere was calm but not enough to calm your nerves at the prospect of being on a date with Noritoshi. You'd had a huge crush on him for a long time so when he finally asked you out, you were beyond ecstatic. Even though you knew he was a kind person, you still found yourself anxious as you got ready for your date, running through all the possible bad scenarios that could happen. Noritoshi did the same thing, too. His overactive imagination had him picturing the worst outcomes if he went on this date with you and he almost canceled due to sheer nerves. Now that he was here with you, though, having already conquered (and succeeding in) the hard part of asking you out, he felt himself relax a bit in your presence. You two sat across from each other at a table in the back corner to enjoy some privacy as you got to know one another. When he pulled your chair out for you then scooted you in, you felt your heart flutter. He was such a gentleman! His actions might have been more old fashioned than what you were used to but you appreciated his high level of attentiveness. There were two menus on the table and you both reached for one at the same time, resulting in your fingers brushing. Pulling away like you received a strong electric shock, both of you apologized profusely at your blunder, though secretly wishing it could happen again so you could chase that heart pounding feeling. He let you pick up your menu first and you started browsing all the different coffee and tea selections they offered. For such a small place, there were lots of options to choose from. Your eyes began to wander from the printed paper in your hands and landed on Noritoshi as you admired him. His sharp features were highlighted under the glow of the cafe lights and he looked positively ethereal as he studied his menu. His broad shoulders and sculpted biceps were accentuated by the tight fitting black long sleeve he sported under the black blazer that he had shed when you sat down, resting it on the back of his chair. Some longer pieces of his hair fell into his face and when he pushed them behind his ear, he caught your eye. You averted your gaze as fast as possible, not wanting to admit you were staring.

"So, do you come here a lot?" you asked, busying yourself behind the menu and getting back to deciding your order.

"Yes, I'm here often. I like how quiet it is. Most of the other cafes here are too bustling and noisy for me but this one is never like that. Their coffee is the best I've ever had--and I've had a lot of coffee."

"Well," you said, closing the menu, "you've made my decision easy, then. I'll have whatever you get."

Noritoshi's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you sure? I don't know what you like yet and I don't want to order something you might hate."

"I trust you."

Although you two were dealing with something trivial, certainly not a life or death situation, Noritoshi's stomach still did flips when he heard you say that. Trust was very important to him, something he didn't give or take lightly, but in that moment, it was like something clicked into place. Here you were, looking at him so earnestly about a topic so laughably unserious, yet he could tell that you absolutely meant what you said in every sense of its meaning. You were wearing your heart on your sleeve so nonchalantly, waiting for him to grab ahold of it and never let go, and boy, did he want to. He gulped as his feelings for you amplified moreso than he ever thought possible for a first date and it only started less than 10 minutes ago. He was definitely in over his head.

When the waiter came over, Noritoshi ordered you both the same drink and you were excited to try his suggestion. You also ordered some delicious sounding pastries to share. As you waited for your food and drinks, you began to engage in meaningful conversation. Noritoshi was a very intellectual, mature man, but he was fun, too, and you liked being able to talk with him about all sorts of subjects, from world politics to gossip to the beautiful tree that stood strong outside the window next to you. You found it easy to get enthralled in his words, his soft voice lulling you into a state of relaxation. Watching him speak quickly became your favorite source of entertainment. HIs contemplative nature made him a fantastic listener as well. He nodded along with everything you said and he mulled over what you had discussed before he included his own insights. As you both spoke, you easily got lost in each other's eyes. His gray ones sparkled when he talked about something he was particularly interested in, like archery, and yours glistened whenever you got passionate about the topic at hand. You even felt yourselves lean in toward each other more and more as the date went on, trying to attain closeness in a subtle way. When the waiter finally brought over your order, you were ready to taste what Noritoshi had chosen for you. Carefully blowing on the steaming hot cup, you took a sip of the coffee and immediately knew it was your new favorite. The coffee had a rich, full flavor, but wasn't too overpowering. There was a hint of sweetness and the pleasant aftertaste made for a perfect finish.

"This is beyond amazing. I see why you're here often," you said, taking a bite of pastry and then another drink. You set your cup down and went to continue what you were last talking about but Noritoshi cut in.

"You have a little..." He pointed to his face. Embarrassed, you tried to wipe off whatever it was, but the slight chuckle from the man in front of you led you to assume you didn't get it in the slightest.

"Do you mind if I help?" he asked, and you obliged. Noritoshi had a napkin in hand and leaned over the table. He gently held your chin with his thumb and forefinger as he dabbed your upper lip and side of mouth and you felt like you could've fainted then and there. His hands, like everything else about him, were strong and steady, yet held a tenderness unlike anything you'd experienced in the past. The light hearted smile he wore had not an ounce of malice or disgust as he wiped your face like it was something he'd done a million times before. You felt the pad of his thumb reach up and ghost over your bottom lip.

"There," Noritoshi said, barely above a whisper, "all clean."

"Thank you," you muttered, your heart pounding from his actions. He sat back down, taking a long drink of his coffee as he stared out the window. It was silent between you but not uncomfortably so. All of a sudden, you heard the pitter patter of raindrops hit the cafe ceiling. You hadn't noticed the dark clouds roll in during your date; you were much too interested in Noritoshi.

"I love the rain," he mused, a dreamy tone present in his voice.

"We can move to the booth by the window if you want a better view," you proposed and Noritoshi readily accepted. He took the spot next to the window while you slid in the bench next to him. He got goosebumps from how close your face was to his, your warm breath hitting his cool skin. You were struck by a sudden onset of bravery so you put your hand in his and rested your head on his shoulder, keeping your eyes focused on the nature scene outside the window. He stiffened from the unexpected contact at first but quickly melted into your embrace, his heart overflowing with joy and love. He laid his own head on yours, finding the position quite comfortable and natural. Normally he would never dream of engaging in public displays of affection like this, too afraid of what his clan or peers might think, but he couldn't care less at that point. He was extremely happy for once, in that moment, just you, the rain, and his favorite coffee keeping him company and he would stay like that forever if he could. You sat there and watched the rain quietly until it started letting up into a sprinkle, and by that time you needed to head home. You reluctantly lifted your head from his shoulder and let go of his hand in order to exit the booth. Noritoshi paid for your meal and you thanked him profusely, trying to at least give him some money, but he wasn't having it.

"There's no need for that, really. It's the least I can do. Your company is worth much more than a few coffees and pastries."

"Fine," you conceded, "but the next date is on me."

Noritoshi was taken aback. Next time? You're already planning another date? You really did like him?! He was beyond relieved but his poor heart couldn't catch a break from all the excitement-- he'd barely recovered before you gave him a kiss on the cheek, dangerously close to his lips.

"That's also the least I can do. Now, may I walk a fine gentleman like yourself back home?"

"Under one condition."

"And what will that be?"

"I walk you home first."

You playfully scoffed. "That's the lamest thing you've said all day." You then tilted your head, pretending to think, before taking his hand in yours once again as you started the walk to your place. "But I still really like you so you get a pass."

The rain had stayed light on the walk home, but the temperature seemed to drop a considerable amount. Noritoshi noticed you shivering and easily slipped his jacket off, putting it around your shoulders. The rest of the walk went by much too quick for your liking. You'd prefer to spend more time with Noritoshi, but alas you arrived at your front door. You went to give him his jacket back, but he stopped you.

"I'll get it from you on the next date. It looks much better on you than it does on me anyway," he said, his flirting making your face warm. You bid him farewell and he was on his way, but you knew you wouldn't miss him too bad if you had his jacket that smelled of his delicious cologne and the promise of seeing him again soon. You felt your phone buzz not too long after you settled in at home and pulled it out of your pocket to see you had a text from Noritoshi:

Thank you for today, I had such a lovely time getting to know you and I look forward to seeing what the next date brings us. Also, I don't like being in debt to anyone so next time I see you, I owe you a kiss :)

[sillybayo]

A Lesson Under the Tree

(Originally posted on AO3 on 5/25/22. You can also find this on fanfiction.net)

 A very short and simple huntlow fic with fluff. Hunter takes Willow out to one of his favorite places in the Boiling Isles to help her relax after a long day of work and flyer derby.

~~~

Underneath a cherry blossom tree, there laid Willow and Hunter, resting beside each other whilst their palismen sat on top of a branch. Willow layed sideways on the soft grass, napping from a tiresome day at school. Watching her, Hunter sat against the trunk.

"Poor captain.." He thought. "She shouldn't be tired out like this. At least it's peaceful here.."

He continued watching her rest, and prayed to titan that she wouldn't wake up. Not only because she needed to relax, but also because of the sheer embarrassment that would overtake him if she noticed him staring. But, slowly, a soft pink petal floated down, and placed itself just above her tan ear. Despite it being just as light as a feather, Hunter knew how easy it was to awake Willow. What if that single petal was enough to wake her up? What if it tickled her ever so slightly? He couldn't let that happen! His captain deserves a nice break! So, he scooted closer, trying not to make a sound, and gently brushed off the petal with the edge of his fingers, running along her curly hair.

But then Willow quietly groaned and began to open her eyes.

Hunter lifted his hand away from her and completely froze in place, holding his breath. Once she managed to stir awake, Willow looked up at Hunter. Although her vision was a bit blurry and near-sighted due to the lack of glasses, she could easily see the dark red across Hunter's face and ears, and how he was sweating bullets.

"Mm..is everything alright, Hunter? You look sick." She said in a concerned voice.

"YUP!" His voice cracked. "I'm fine! Go back to sleep, captain. You need it."

"Captain?" She hadn't heard that one in a while. "I told you, you don't have to call me that anymore. Just Willow, ok?"

"Yes, Ca—Willow. My apologies."

"You don't really have to apologize either." She consoled. "I promise you, it's fine."

Hunter began to open his mouth to apologize again, but he figured it was best to keep his mouth shut. Meanwhile, Willow sat up to reach her glasses and put them on her face, taking a better look at the flustered boy beside her, who was now looking away and bowing his head.

"Why are you so red anyways?" She asked, trying to change the topic. "Is it too hot out here?"

"N-not at all! It actually feels nice out here.." He contented, looking back at her. The warmth on his face was still noticeably there, but it felt a lot calmer than before.

"It does." She said with a smile. "You really did choose a great place to sleep at, I feel a lot better now. How did you find it anyways?"

"Oh, I just flew past it during one of my missions the other month." He began. "I decided to stop by here again when I got the chance, because I wanted to study the tree. You barely see anything like it in this part of the Boiling Isles, actually! It's mostly filled with flowers, and you'd be surprised by how it survives with barely any leaves. Turns out that once the blossoms fall off, chlorophyll appears and allows it to photosynthesize! The reason the flowers are able to grow in the first place is because a few hours after the sun comes out, the tree starts producing high levels of pro—"

As Hunter stopped mid ramble, he noticed how Willow was leaning in close with wide eyes. He swiftly jumped back a little as blood rushed to his face and ears once more.

"Ah—I'm sorry!" She squeaked. "I was just so interested..I always study flowers and herbs, but rarely trees. Can you teach me more?" She asked as her eyes sparkled.

"O-of course!" Hunter settled. He slid back close beside her, which was a bit unexpected for Willow, for a slight red tint dotted her cheeks. But she returned the feeling by resting her head on her shoulder, looking up at him and happy to hear more.

[jpitha]

The Dreams of Hyacinth 3

First / Previous / Next

Nick and Eastern left the bar and headed down the street. When they reached an intersection with a large blue and yellow painted square in it, Eastern stopped and looked on her pad.

"We're really going to take a Hopper, Eastern?" Nick looked up in the sky. "I hate the Hoppers."

"It's the fastest way to cross arms, Nick, you know this."

Since the arms of Hyacinth were only connected at the bottom, moving from one arm to the other was a bit of an ordeal. One had to make it all the way to the base, then walk along until they got to the other arm, catch transit and head back up. There were whole groups of people who prided themselves on having been born, lived and grown old never leaving 'their' arm.

The Hopper was a solution to the problem of crossing arms. It was a small vehicle, carrying anywhere from one to ten people, that would descend from the sky when summoned and 'hop' up into the air and over to another arm and drop the passengers off.

Only the rich and people looking for an ostentatious way to spend money took a Hopper. Even those of moderate means would take mass transit to the base. A Hopper ride could cost a month's wages.

As they waited, the warning siren of the descending Hopper started softly and got louder as it came down. Coming down on the hum of thrusters, the Hopper was an aerodynamic box that kind of looked like an expensive loaf of bread. When it touched down, an automated voice stated "Thank you for choosing Hopper. Please stand back until the doors have opened completely." As the doors opened, a small fanfare played and Nick smelled incense.

"Sandalwood?" He looked at Eastern.

She shrugged. "I'm sure it's to hide whatever happened in the cab with the last passengers."

"Ew" Nick peered inside.

Eastern raised an eyebrow. "Don't be so squeamish Nick, I was hoping you'd take me for a Hopper ride while we were dating. Having sex in the Hopper is a popular date night." She stepped past Nick and got in.

"I say again, ew." Nick got into the Hopper.

As soon as they were seated, the doors slid shut and it took off. Nick was surprised at how rough the takeoff was. He expected more of an elevator gliding up, but instead it was much more... dramatic. "This is kind of rough, isn't it?"

"People are paying for that. Gotta feel like you're going somewhere."

As soon as they left the ground and rose above the level of the buildings, the Hopper's direction began to move towards the arm the Eastern had requested. Being that Hyacinth spins for 'gravity' as soon as they were free of that motion, things began to feel very weird. Nick doesn't get motion sick, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. He looked over at Eastern who was plastered to the window, watching Hyacinth pass below her. "People fuck in this thing Eastern? I figure they'd get airsick."

She laughed. "Nick, they'll stop in the center, relative to Hyacinth. You can fuck in microgravity for the low low price of a month or two's wages. Lots of folks use it to show off to their dates."

Nick quickly took his hand off the cushion. "Ew" He said again.

"Nick, they clean them."

"Not enough, I'll wager. I bet sandalwood is cheaper."

Eastern scoffed and went back to looking out the window.

Nick watched idly as Hyacinth spun under them as they flew to another arm. From high overhead, Nick could see that this one was much more industrial than the more residential arm he lived in. Things that look like factories dotted the arm, connected with heavier above ground rail lines than the lighter, hidden metro.

They dropped down into a Square that Nick wasn't familiar with. As the Hopper bounced once and landed, the doors opened, and the automated voice said "Thanks for choosing Hopper! Remember us for all your cross-arm transit needs!" and the little fanfare played again.

Nick had never been on this arm, and was completely lost. Eastern clearly had been here before, and she led him away from the Square, walking purposefully. Eastern turned left and right seemingly randomly as they walked through smaller and smaller alleys until she stopped in front of an armored door. Nick looked up. It looked like a warehouse or a factory or something. Tall, with a false brick facade to hide it's generic construction, it felt like someone doing their best with little money to make the place look like more than the box it was.

Eastern walked up to one of the doors and pressed a small box to the entry pad. Instead of the door opening however, two hatches slid open above them and rather large slug throwers spun out, their servos whining ominously in the quiet of the alley.

"What are you doing, Eastern?" There was a terse voice coming through the speaker. You are supposed to come alone after the job is done."

Eastern pointedly did not look at the slug throwers. "We need to see Jameson. It's about the job. I brought Nick along to corroborate the story."

"We don't know him from Gord, why would we take any bullshit he says as the truth?"

Eastern looked at Nick and raised her eyebrows, like she was trying to get him to join in.

Nick couldn't stop looking at the slug throwers who were following whoever was speaking. "Uh, I was at the job, I can prove I did it as ordered. There's a... complication, that's all."

There was a long pause. Then, the slug throwers spun back into their hatches, and the door unlocked with a loud clank. Only then, did Eastern take a breath and open the door. "Come on Nick, we've got to talk to Jameson."

Nick followed Eastern into the building. After a vestibule with more slug throwers - they were powered down at least - they came into a waiting room. It was... cozy? There were large, comfortable looking leather chairs, deep carpets and even a fireplace?

It wasn't real of course. Any fire on Hyacinth was a serious problem dealt with by the fire brigade as quickly as possible, but at first glance, it was a good illusion. A women was sitting at a desk in the room, watching something on her pad and chewing gum. Her eyes flicked up to Eastern and Nick and she said "Have a seat. Jameson will see you in a bit," and her eyes went back to her pad.

Eastern sat on the long couch across from the fake fire and patted a spot next to her. Nick sat back down, and Eastern leaned against him. Her scent and warmth familiar to him. "Thanks for coming Nick" she mumbled into his shoulder as she leaned against him. "I was worried for a moment you'd say no."

"Oh Eastern." Nick lifted his arm and put it around her, bringing his friend in close. "Old Boring Nick can't leave you in a lurch, you know that."

"I know." She lifted her head and looked at Nick. "I take advantage of it sometimes. I know you still love me."

Nick blinked. That was sudden. How was he supposed to reply to that? It was true, at least a little bit, but Nick thought that people weren't supposed to discuss things like that. "Eastern, you know I'd do anything for you. Even more so when you're paying me."

"I know Nick. You shouldn't though." She buried her head deeper. "I'm no good."

Nick put his arm around her tighter for a hug and she sighed and leaned in more. "Good thing for you I'm a terrible judge of character."

"You really are, Nicholas North, you really are." Eastern sniffed. "We're fucked, you know that right?"

Nicks reply was soft, quiet. "I had a hunch, yeah."

"So why did you come along?"

He shrugged just a little, Eastern's head bobbed as he did so.

"You asked me to."

"Oh Nick..." Nick felt the wetness as Eastern's tears soaked into his shirt. "Nick... if we make it out of this, do me a favor?"

"Sure thing Eastern, what is it?"

"Take me up for a Hopper ride."

Nick couldn't help himself. He blushed just a tiny bit. "Yeah. Okay Eastern, I'll take you up. We can see all of Hyacinth from the air."

She sniffed. "I'd like that Nick."

The girl at the desk looked up. "Mister Jameson will see you both now."

They both stood. Eastern wiped her eyes quickly and wiped her hands on her pants. She took a deep breath, her face hardened and she strode towards the door. She turned back. "Come on Nick, we can't keep him waiting."

Nick couldn't believe it, but he was proud and impressed with how fast she pushed her feelings down and her complete change of attitude. He shrugged and followed her through the door.

The moment they were both through the darkened doorway, it was slammed shut by an unseen hand, and a different pair of arms grabbed Nick and Eastern and thrust them into chairs. The option of resisting didn't even cross Nick's mind as straps were wrapped around his chest and legs. Eastern tried to resist a little and she got a back of the hand across her face for her trouble.

"Fuck! Jameson, why is he wearing rings?"

There was a cackling laugh from the darkness as the straps were tightened. "Your boy didn't even resist, Eastern. Is he the brains of the pair of you?"

"Jameson! We did exactly what you asked, we-"

Eastern was slapped again.

"Quiet, Eastern. When I need to know something, I'll ask. Until then, keep your hatch closed.

The lights came up in the room, and Nick saw Jameson for the first time. When his eyes adjusted to the room, he gasped.

Jameson was an AI.

Normally, it was tough to tell an AI in a body from a BI. They worked hard to make sure their bodies were as close to a biological human as possible. It was a point of pride among some them to pass as human.

Jameson made no effort to pass as a human. His body was missing from the torso down. Tubes and wires hung limply from his stomach, and he was clearly connected to the desk he sat at. His eyes met Nick's as Nick was staring and he winked. "At last we meet, Nicholas North. Am I what you expected?"

"Honestly sir, I didn't even know Eastern was in your employ. We always took jobs from her, and she provided the payment."

Jameson nodded. "Smart of her. I knew that she had a good head on her shoulders." He inclined his head towards her. "It's why you're both alive right now, honestly. He disconnected from the desk, and a small chair on wheels backed away. With a whirr, he wheeled over to where Nick and Eastern were strapped. "How much longer you're alive remains to be seen however." He leaned in to Eastern's face, and she stared at him defiantly. "Tell me what happened. Everything."

Eastern started the story from when she received the job, and Nick would add in where relevant. How he was able to get into the Houndstooth Offices by signing up for a tour (he did not mention Selkirk's work in getting the job set up for them), how he ducked out of the tour to 'use the bathroom,' how be boosted the coffin box from the lab - right where Eastern said it was - Nick made sure to point that out. For a split second, Nick thought about skipping the part about how he got pinged by the Houndstooth CorpCops on the way out of the building, but lost them in the metro and ended with him going to the Thirsty K'laxi to give the coffin box to Eastern.

When they had finished, Jameson leaned back in his chair and looked at both of them with a cool gaze. "You know Nick, a lot of people would have glossed over the fact that you got pinged on the job. They might think me upset that the job wasn't 100% glass." He leaned forward. "You did the right thing though. No job is 100% glass. You got pinged sure, but you ducked the ping like a pro and nothing came of it. I've been checking the Houndstooth back channels to see if I could find out when you boosted the box, and honestly, nobody has said anything yet. I don't even think they know it's gone.

Eastern visibly relaxed.

"But. The fact remains that the box is empty. Eastern scanned it, and I scanned it before you started your story. They either knew someone was going to try and boost her and moved her, or she was never there to begin with and our info was wrong."

Jameson wheeled himself back to his large desk. With a whirr and click, he connected back into it. "Here's what's going to happen. You two-" he gestured to them "-are going to find out where she went. If she's in another coffin box, boost it. If she's in a body, nab her. If - God Forbid - they gave her a ship, steal it. I don't care how, you find her and you bring her back to me."

Eastern was even more pale than usual. She was very frightened of Jameson. Nick, being much more stupid than Eastern, or emboldened by the idea of dating her again spoke up. "Okay Jameson. We'll find her. We'll need some help."

"Your K'laxi fixer? I know about Selkirk. I already assumed she's in the job."

"Well yes, but I mean more, that we need more info. Who are we nabbing. I don't need to know why, but I need who. It'll make it easier to find her if they gave her a body or a ship."

Jameson looked at Nick. He stared a long time, like he was weighing a decision in his head. Finally, he blinked and shook his head. "All right Nick, fine. Her name was - is, Yon." He looked away from Nick.

"She's my daughter."

First / Previous / Next

[danwhobrowses]

Star Wars Visions: Volume 2 - Review

I am one with the 4th and the 4th is with me, and it's time for Star Wars to return into the experimental animation department for Visions' second season.

I had high opinions of the first season, so the second had a high standard to live up to. But this is what I thought about it

Spoilers for Visions: Volume 2. Watch it first if you don't want to be told major plot points and what my opinion on it is

And again I was left impressed and satisfied. Very glad to see Visions hit a home run once again because there is a lot of meat to bite into of a similar and different variety to the previous season.

As we have for the review of last season we'll start with the negatives to get them out of the way.

What Wasn't Great

No existing story is picked up A small gripe would be that after the great episodes of the first season it was an overall shame that none got a continuation, despite their potential for greater mileage. It's not entirely a bad thing, but it's a shame nonetheless.

The runtime still lacks Before we were looking at 20 minute episodes, but it seems volume 2 has ran down to episodes as short as 10-15 minutes. Which for a fan never feels long enough. While nobody's asking for padding, some episodes could've benefited from a bit more time to flesh out their action or emotional scenes.

Dumb Hopeful Child is Dumb (Twice) Once is passable but twice is worth noting, but the 'In the Stars' and 'Bandits of Golak' storyline both seemed to use the same idea of a force sensitive child's ignorance to how much the empire would hammer down on them, leading to the older sibling to step in. Rani and Tichina may have endearing qualities, but given what the episode tells about their past bereavement at the hands of the empire you'd think them to be at least a little more apprehensive towards using the Force in front of the Empire.

'This Path is only meant for you' (Thrice!) While one side is Jedi x2 and another Sith, there's also a similarity in conclusion in 'Screecher's Reach', 'Aau's Song' and again 'Bandits of Golak' with the young force sensitive having to leave their companions in order to complete training with their master - who in the former and latter is adamant to only take the one child - in search of a better life. In comparison, Daal's tragic story which sees her forced to kill to fall into the dark was more compelling than Rani's previously mentioned naivete stumbling into it, but Aau's tale achieves the opposite side of being hopeful as a counter to Daal's which I'll get more into. But again since Visions is meant to be fresh stories from appraised animation studios, it's a shame that you see duplication: it wouldn't have been too difficult really to tell each other what your story is so there's no overlap.

The Pit's main conflict is easily fixable While 'The Pit' acts well as a well-animated story with a dark turn midway, the whole problem of them being stuck in a hole they have dug felt like it could have been resolved a numeral amount of ways other than 'one will climb out into the imperial controlled city to tell people how the imperial has built this city on prison labor' or just 'chanting in unison so they can hear', I mean they could just build steps out of the bedrock, or just climb out the way Crux did. I also think that the story didn't want to go super dark with the troopers opening fire on the civilians, even though they were okay abandoning people in a pit to die. I dunno it felt rather unambitious at times, taking stories of other media (The Dark Knight Rises) and putting it into Star Wars.

What Was Great

An immediate feast for the eyes Immediately from the episode 'Sith', we are presented with a fresh and stylish level of animation; from the sketchbook-esque world, the flat brush strokes to the classic claymation, everyone's unique take on how the Star Wars world looks offers a new and intriguing perspective. The action is dynamic and fluid too, not to mention the character design for most are unique and themed to their environment.

Aardman understood the assignment At face value 'I Am Your Mother' felt like it'd be little more than a silly story. But its unique charm, blatant references, typical anime antagonist behaviour and its relatable storyline managed to pull off a lighthearted but fun ride.

Journey to the Dark Head! My favourite for this volume has to be the fifth episode, Studio Mir's 'Journey to the Dark Head', I mean fuck yes! A story of multiple plot threads, character development, and stakes, paired with japanese-esque settings, anime visuals and an unnerving villain, not to mention the core theme of balance rather than just light and dark. It's much of what I expect from this series and much like my last favourite 'The Ninth Jedi' it leaves me desiring more.

But also, The Spy Dancer! Second only to this would be the mesmerising Spy Dancer by Studio La Cachette that came right after it. What could've simply been an episode of manipulation underlined by a stunning performance immediately got turned on its head when the imperial ended up being Loi'e's kidnapped and indoctrinated son! Providing a new layer of complexity to the entire second half. A story which could've ended in brutal tragedy was instead given a merciful and hopeful open end. I can't exactly tell you the reasons why it doesn't beat Journey to the Dark Head, it could even be because I saw it first, but these are two stories that go higher and harder than the others in the volume in the similar bar as Ninth Jedi, Village Bride, Lop & Ocho and The Ronin.

Slight Familiarity Although it is unique content, you can see many influences in the episodes from other Star Wars Legends; a Malak-like sith, Gennedy's Clone Wars aesthetic, even an actual Wedge Antilles appearance, the familiarity does usher an easier immersion into the story.

It didn't end on a bummer like last time One of my biggest critiques of season 1 was that the season ended on a sore and bitter note with 'Akakiri', but this season seemed to remedy that with the ethereal-like story of Triggerfish's 'Aau's Song'. Immediately drawn in on premise, Aau achieves where Rani and Tichina struggled in being curious but aware, and also using her powers when necessary rather than forcing another to step in. While Aau also leaves her companions behind, her choice appears a lot more soft than Daal and Rani's 'leave or continue to suffer in this poor existence', and her departure feels more hopeful than bittersweet.

Definitely more stories to expand upon While we didn't pick up anything from Season 1 (yet), Season 2 has offered even more great story paths to look into; I do feel like each episode provided enough to be explored further and most would be captivating enough to be commissioned into full series if given the chance.

Conclusion

It was another good showing from Visions to show the newer and creative avenues the Star Wars universe can take under the helm of various animation styles and creative minds. With episodes tailored to different audiences too, there is a widespread appeal. If I were to rank them from best to worst in my opinion it would be:

Journey to the Dark Head, The Spy Dancer, The Sith, I Am Your Mother, Aau's Song, In the Stars, Screecher's Reach, The Pit, The Bandits of Golak

I'd say Bandits is probably the one I liked the least because In the Stars and Screecher's Reach/Aau's Song had the same plot elements done better, in spite of its unique arabic culture aesthetic and inquisitor villain. The Pit's lack of ambition also harmed it, but the rest were all very strong stories. It's actually a very good sign how much I had to toil between where to rank the third to fifth spots, with Aau's Song and I Am Your Mother surprising me on their quality, Screecher's Reach is great too with its tragedy but I do like positive stories over 'trauma be upon thee'. But yeah I think I'll gush a long time over Dark Head and Spy Dancer, that's some premium gourmet star wars there.

Bring on a Volume 3.

[venusinsilk]

Hi! I came across your blog and saw that you are a pastry chef. I was wondering how you got into the field/your current position and if you have any advice. I'm thinking of changing careers completely (currently an MSW student) and I've always wanted a culinary career but have been terrified to try. Thanks! 🌞

Hi friend,

Before you fully switch careers and pause your education, I highly recommend attempting to work in the culinary field first, even as a dishwasher or prep cook. It's not glamorous, but I think it's wise for you to first get real first-hand experience and decide if this is the right path for you. Kitchen work is WORK. It's a physically demanding field that doesn't have a wide profit margin, but it's also fun and rewarding when you find the right team to work with. You can get an entree level position at most kitchens by making a basic resume and cover letter with your intention and desire to learn (send an ask with your username and I can DM you if you want help!) and make it clear that you are available to work weekends.

Here are a few questions you may benefit from-

What do you want to do with your culinary career? There are many paths you can take. Would you be interested in finishing your degree in Food Science and Technology to work as a scientist developing recipes in a lab for corporations ($$$ kind of evil but also cool)? Or would you rather be an executive chef at a fancy resort in a tropical destination (also $$ with x100 added stress but also travel perks)? Perhaps you see yourself working in a small business like a restaurant or cafe (way less $ but more intimacy with customers and community)? You may. end up dipping your toes in many of these fields before you decide which one you truly enjoy the most.

What specifically do you love about the culinary field? Perhaps you love manipulating recipes and making changes, and finding a surprise in your flavors. Or maybe you love routine and knowing exactly how something will turn out. Do you simply enjoy providing food and experiences for others? How best can you make a career of those passions? Get as specific as you can, and it will help you narrow down which career path within the culinary field you'd like to take.

Research the culinary landscape in your city. Are there any restaurants, bakeries, hotels, wholesale production facilities or even theme parks that inspire you? Could you see yourself working there? What steps would you have to take to get employed?

Given that you're studying for Social Work, I would guess that you care about social issues and your community. The food industry needs educated people like you who care about systems we live in and the way our food reaches us (or doesn't). Check to see if your city has a food bank, and inquire about volunteering. Restaurants are looking for ways to donate food, and you very well could be the person who bridges the gap between restaurants and food banks. Or perhaps there's an even better solution to hunger and food waste you can think of someday, with an education and experience in this field.

That being said, there's no reason for you to be terrified-- it is totally scary to jump into something new, feeling nervous is natural! But I hope you take away the idea that you belong in the field you desire to be in, simply because you work for it and actively try to learn as you go. You could apply a Social Work degree to our food landscape and make a difference in your community. People combine culinary work with all sorts of degrees-- English majors can edit cook books, Biology majors can work with bread and fermented foods on a large scale level (think Kombucha you buy at the grocery store. A microbiologist had to make sure the cultures are balanced!)

You asked about my start- to make the answer short, I was lucky enough to participate in a cooking contest in high school, and I won a full ride to culinary school. I floundered a lot at the beginning of my career when I started out in fine dining (which I hate!) and I went back to community college and dropped out 3 times. Right before the pandemic, I switched careers and I painted furniture for 6 months. It takes a while to figure out the career thing, and I'm still figuring it out. At the moment, I've been a baker for about 12 years and I now work at a cushy corporate job, making pastries for employees at a tech company in their beautiful fancy-ass open concept cafeteria where they watch the chefs cook their lunches. Outside of the job, I have a videographer waiting for me to write a script so we can start filming arthouse baking videos with crazy colors. I want to start filming videos and writing more of my own recipes. I want to ship tarts and truffles across the country and have a website with a menu. Getting here has been so insane but I met some amazing people and ate some really fucking good food.

You career is going to take on many forms and change, and school isn't going anywhere. You can always return to get a different degree if you end up hating what you tried! Good luck and feel free to reach out again if you want more help.

[wayward-sword]

I'm glad you think being a creep is funny. It just goes to show that you're aware of being a stalker. You don't care about the feelings of others, and you're going to continue your behavior without getting help. Go fuck yourself you narcissistic prick.

Well, since you've opted NOT to go calling me an ableist slur this time around (Kudos for that, bud. I'm real proud of you for being able to compose yourself for once), I'll deign to answer this one directly:

I dunno where all this talk about me being a "stalker" is coming from, but considering I block most folks I don't want to have any association with and ignore them as much as possible, it's a bit telling that you're looking obsessively at my blog to see whether or not I'm biting the bait you're putting out.

Sounds like if anyone's doing any stalking here, it's you. And considering I've kept your previous ask on hand, I'll be sure to correct that issue forthwith. Of course, I'm sure there's nothing stopping you from using a proxy service of some sort or making a new sockpuppet account to circumvent any blocks I apply, but hey, it just goes to show your own desperation towards attempting to harass me.

Thanks for playing along, chief. Have a good one.

Gonna also stealth update this post for the sake of transparency. Below the following Read More is a screenshot of the initial anonymous hatemail message I received, and I am Read More'ing it specifically for the comfort of others because this individual, as I mentioned earlier, has been legitimately, unironically ableist towards me in their initial ask and also referred to me by a derogatory slur as a result (which, I'll admit, I could care less about, but I feel like it goes to show the quality of this person's character by referring to me as such):

Like, I've never once blamed anything on my autism? Ever? And I was uncomfortable for years stating that I had autism until the last therapist I saw formally conducted a professional test to give me what was probably the third or fourth autism diagnosis I've received in my life. That one, I felt, was definitive enough, and my therapist helped me work through some of my communication shortcomings in order to accept my condition. Note: My condition apparently USED to (and I suppose in some practices still is) be referred to as "Asperger's", but that therapist in particular stressed to me that most psychological practices are trying to officially move on from that word in particular and, instead, file it under a general umbrella of "low level autism" (meaning, essentially, high-functioning, whereas "high level" would indicate low-functioning). The logic of it was explained to me such that too many people were thinking "Asperger's" was like a disease with no recovery and it wasn't conducive to patients' mental health to use it as a diagnosis, not to mention Asperger's sufferers have apparently been discriminated as such to such a pronounced extent that it just seemed "better" overall for the mental health community to try and move away from that term.

I've also... Never started shit with anybody on here? Before now, the first and only major conflict I've ever had with another mun is a certain guy who got REALLY mad that I became friends with Shay, and that's a whole bucket of worms to get into (which I believe I've talked about before on here).

The funniest thing of all here though is the fact that I do leave people alone and my mutuals can attest as much. Like... I must have shown this hatemail to all of my friends who are still active here on Tumblr and every last one has been like, "Kinkoz doesn't even do anything though??" You'd think, with how I've posted my follower/following count to show how ACTUALLY small my reach is and how much I notably stick to my own lane that this much would be blatantly obvious to anyone and everyone.

Like, what do I even have to gain by harassing people (like this anon is doing)? I just block and move on, man. I've got better things to do with my time than deal with all of that frustration. I'll fully admit that I enjoy the occasional schadenfreude, but I don't really do that whole thing of trying to tear someone else down myself in order to make myself feel better. I've had that sort of shit done to me enough times in my own life and upbringing that I don't dig doing it to others. Outside of teasing and joking, I'd much rather try to uplift people than to push them down, because that's realistically the only way we'll all get through this life better.

While I am greatly amused to have even gotten this anonymous messages in the first place, it's also kinda sad in a way. This person clearly hasn't figured out their own priorities in life if they're so paranoid about someone like me that they have to make things up like this. It must be nice to live in so sheltered and entitled of a life. That's also not counting the fact that most of this person's insults are contradictory to one another, like... Yes, I am definitely making up my autism. I'm also taking fiction way too seriously as someone who is lying about my own autism. I am also a freak stalker obsessive person and DEFINTELY not autistic as a result.

Although I will say that, oddly enough, the most complimentary thing they've had to say about me here is that I "scare" people. Like, shit, I hope I do. And that's not for any of the nonsensical "creepy stalker person who likes making people uncomfortable" reasons, but because hopefully, if I'm scary to others, it SHOULD ward away others like this anon from attempting to start shit with me.

[not-your-fucking-kacchan]

Masterlist <3

Sanemi x Shy!GN!Reader

@just-an-average-simp this was your request! hope you like it :)

No pronouns used, so can be an x male or x female reader :)

You sit, alone, hidden in the shade of a line of trees that covers the roof that you sit on. You're high enough that you can reach out and touch the leaves on the treetop, and the breeze ruffles your hair gently. It's very hot out today, and the intensity of the sun has you missing the winter instantly. You miss the early blanket of darkness and the snow that crumples beneath your footsteps. Summer is overrated.

You're only sitting outside because it's a nice day out and you don't want to waste away hibernating in your bedroom like you always do, only coming out when you're summpned for a mission. You want to get out of that mindset, but it's incredibly difficult to just change your whole lifestyle in only one day.

Everyone that sees you, if they even notice you, is visibly shocked that you've finally come out of your little cave and started seeing the light of day again. It's not your fault that you don't particularly value interaction with others. It just never really turned out all that well for you in the past. Friends are overrated.

With this in mind, it makes sense that not many people recognise you, and mistake you for a less experienced, new recruit. One of the only people that actually knows your name is the Wind Pillar, Sanemi. He is the one who'd scouted you, having seen your will to shed blood and protect a group of children that you were travelling with.

You had all been driven from your village by crooks, and while you could have overpowered them, it wasn't worth risking the children just to become a criminal, and run the risk of being hunted down by allies they might have. It had taken you a long time to gather the reason and courage to migrate, and so you did, carrying two children on your back and holding the hands of two others. Another three who were a few years older were following on behind you, and together, you migrated through a thick blanket of snow in the dead of night to get away, managing to fend off demons for a good few days until you had gotten desperate.

Sanemi had seen you struggle against a group of demons in a forest nearby to the town he was guarding just as you had started to get weaker, bleeding and bruised as you brutally kill the last low-level demon, telling the children that they can open their eyes now.

You had met him when one of the creatures had gotten up from where you thought you'd killed it, and the Wind Pillar had instantly terminated it, begrudgingly guiding you to the town. For some reason, he'd decided he wanted to take you with him, "because you don't talk so you're not so annoying."

The rest is history.

The Pillar is sitting beside you in the blink of an eye, watching you and huffing as you only offer him a shy smile, giving you a cross look.

"Why are you sitting here? You should sit with me more often! You're my disciple!"

"Ah... my apologies... i'll sit with you more from now."

He huffs jaggedly, his voice raspy and low in a way that has your stomach doing twists. He's always been quite possessive of you. It makes you feel happy, too, like you're worth something to somebody. It's an addictive feeling. One you can't get enough of. He'd started growing a soft spot for you when he started teaching you how to fight.

You were good in comparison to normal humans, but to a Hashira, you were nothing but an annoying little fruit fly that could easily be swatted away. So he trained you because he had a soft spot for people who were good with kids and those who were good against demons. What he wasn't too big a fan of was how quiet and antisocial you could be.

You're just a naturally very quiet, genuine person, so he talks to you in ways noone else can understand or bear witness to, and it makes you feel especially lucky. Especially when you lean against his side, resting on him and letting your head fall to his shoulder.

Somewhere along the lines, he grew soft for you, and fell in love with you. It was a difficult process but it was worth it, even if you don't say it much, and it took you a good few years to work up the courage to even invite him into your home just for lunch, to which he gruffly accepted and continued to eat you out of house and home.

You smile at the memory, happy that you gained the courage to confess to your saviour, and knowing now that he was equally as infatuated and interested, like he was some wild animal, studying you and stalking you in the hopes to learn more.

[adorerdraco]

Not My Type (Like You) ✧ Draco x Reader

Request: you should like do a one shot or even another mini series about amortentia/love potions in general. i’d soooo read that

AU SEVENTH YEAR WHERE VOLDY NEVER CAME BACK <3 f**k that mf !

italics are for flashbacks <3 i love them if you couldn’t tell 

Warnings: mean!draco, cursing, more mature themes/ideas, little bit of spice towards the end teehee but not too much bc idk how to write smut to save my life

Words: 4.5K

A/N: I saw a tiktok that kinda inspired this and i couldn’t get the idea out of my heaaaad if anyone knows which one im talking ab send it my way so i can show !!!! ALSO I LOVE THIS ONESHOT I LOVE DRACO AND I AM IN MY FEELINGS this might be my new favoriteeeee

Draco Malfoy was insufferable.

The Prince of Slytherin was unbearable for many reasons, things you've been taking notice of since your first year at Hogwarts when you accidentally had the ”pleasure” of interacting with him when he called you stupid in a class for reciting a spell incorrectly. That day, a hostility blossomed. A hostility that ensued nothing but teasing, mocking, and criticizing that would sometimes go too far and you'd both have to be pulled away from each other by your friends’ before either of you said anything excessively harsh that had no return.

You often felt like Malfoy sought you out to bother you and only for that. You could be sitting in the Quad with friends, conversing and laughing like nothing in the world mattered, and a few minutes later you'd be hurling insults towards the blond across the courtyard after he would yell something infuriating to you with that smug smirk on his face and his goons laughing wildly beside him as if he just said the most hilarious thing they've ever heard. 

On the days you’d ignore him, not having the patience or the energy to deal with him, he would still somehow find a way to push your buttons. Little things here and there like passing you in the corridors and tugging at the ends of your hair gingerly like a child but enough to tick you off or sending you notes from across the class in the form a small fluttering bird with a lousy drawing of you usually with a message along the lines of, “Y/L/N, hopefully, this note finds itself in the nest of hair you have today xx DM.”

In all honesty, there wasn’t a day you didn’t encounter Draco and it’s been that way for seven long years. Neither of you ever gotten tired of mildly or spitefully bullying each other and neither of you ever dreamed of stopping. He was one of the few constants in your daily life, and you in his. It was like you both lived on annoying the other, and in the midst of all the chaos that you brought to one another; there was a small, teeny, tiny acquaintance - not that either of you would ever admit it. You may have noticed it the time you bet each other ten galleons for who would win in the Triwizard Tournament your fourth year and he bet on Viktor Krum while you on Cedric Diggory. (he’s very much alive i refuse to think otherwise.)

“So you’re telling me, your mother is the reason why you’re not at Durmstrang,” you scoffed. “This whole time I could have been saved four years of headaches.”

“You’re just jealous some of us have more opportunities than others,” he snarks back pompously. “Unlike you, I hardly believe you would be graceful enough to even be considered admission into Beauxbatons.”

You had gone to see the last task of the competition just like the rest of the schools, all packed tightly onto the stands and watching carefully the exit of the maze. Naturally, you had arrived with your own friend groups, but somewhere during the time of sitting there and even being a few rows behind the blond and his minions, the two of you had met in the middle bench after he was trying to prove something wrong to you. 

When Cedric appeared back in front of the stands with the glowing Triwizard cup held high over his head in victory and every Hogwarts student loudly celebrating, you had jumped up from your seat and shook wildly an irked Draco beside you. He roughly shrugged your hands off his stiff shoulder, looking up at you with a sneer that you met with a bright beaming smile.

“Pay up, Malfoy!” You held out your hand towards him, opening and closing your fingers to receive the bet money. “I believe it was ten galleons you owe me.”

He begrudgingly reached into his coat pocket and fished out the coins, counting them defeatedly before tossing them into your palm. “What a waste of galleons.”

“Hey, you made the bet,” you reminded him with a still very bright smile. You shoved the money into your pockets, keeping one of the gold coins in between your fingers, and gave him a small hair ruffle that he harshly recoiled from before you turned to jump back up towards the level of stands your friends were originally sitting at.

“Were you really sitting with Malfoy this whole time?” One of your friends questioned when you reached them, a goading smirk on his face.

“Ooooh, she definitely was,” another friend piped up, wiggling her eyebrows. “They’re obsessed with each other.”

“Shut up,” you smack her arm casually, showing the pair the one gold galleon you were holding. “We are not. I was only sitting with him to get my bet money.”

“Sure,” they drawled in unison, sniggering when you threw your head back in annoyance.

You looked down the rows to see the mop of white hair you just sent into disarray. He was slowly descending the stairs of the stands with Crabbe and Goyle following closely behind him. Almost as if he felt your eyes on his back, he turned back to look at you, his cold gray eyes gazing into yours. It was like everything around you went quiet, the only thing in your focus was him and all you could do was stare back. It wasn’t until your friends started stifling laughter and whispering “aww’s” that you snapped out of the short-lived and odd few second trance you were in. He waited for you to do something before he turned back around, and you did - by holding up both hands; the one golden galleon on your left and your middle finger on your right, grinning to yourself when he rolled his eyes throwing you the finger right back before he finally disappeared into the mob of people below.

You were briskly walking down the corridors, books held tightly to your chest with your friend at your side while you made your way to Advanced Potions with Slughorn after Snape finally made his way into the DADA position. It was an easy class, potions being something you had a knack for and it gave you enough leisure to mess with your “favorite” Slytherin who shared it with you. 

“Look there goes your boyfriend,” your friend teases, elbowing your upper arm roughly and nodding her head down towards the hall to the tall blond appearing around the corner and entering swiftly into the class.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you hiss. “I’m tired of everyone saying that. I hate him and he hates me, end of story.”

“You know when you say you hate him, it just sounds like the opposite,” she says tauntingly. “Besides, hate is a strong word and very misplaced. Maybe, it’s just years of built-up tension that both of you have been too nervous to do anything about.”

“Tension? Yeah, I want to strangle him,” you laugh to yourself at the thought.

“Not that tension, idiot,” she shakes her head, “I mean sexual tension...clearly.”

You gave her a horrified look mixed between being disgusted and being offended. You held your hand over your mouth and pretended to gag as dramatically as you could. “I am appalled that you would even say that. I would rather be locked in a room with Filch and Peeves and hear them argue and fight all day than to be with Malfoy like that.”

“Come on, think about it,” she encourages, stopping the two of you a little ways away from the classroom. “You guys 'hate' each other?” She finger quotes the hate, looking at you with a raised eyebrow. “When you hate someone, you don’t go out of your way to talk to them every day.”

“It’s not like that,” you wave a hand dismissively. “Also, this isn’t a cliche, this is real life. We hate each other, that is all there is to it.”

You picked up the walk again, your friend to following behind you while letting out a deep and exhausted sigh. You couldn’t help but think about what she said, sure, perhaps at one point you thought Draco was attractive with his bright silver hair, his glittering gray eyes, his little button nose that he would crinkle up every other word he spoke in his charming haughty voice, or the way he’d tower over you in the middle of a conversation gone wrong and he’d be talking lowly to you but all you’d be able to focus on was the sweet scent of apples and cologne that radiated off of him.

“No,” you whispered almost silently to yourself, forcing yourself out of your thoughts and shaking your head from side to side as if it was going to get the image out of your head. He was mean, disrespectful, arrogant, and insulted you daily - even if you both laughed about it or gave props for the perfect jabs.

The first thing your eyes landed on when you walked into the dingy Potions classroom was Draco, his focus trained on the ceiling as if he was deep in thought. Just as his eyes were about to flicker down towards you, and sensing that he was about to, you quickly avoided his gaze and concentrated onto Slughorn who was waiting patiently by his desk with a bubbling cauldron for you and your friend to join the crowd in front of him.

“Great! Now that we’re all here,” Slughorn began excitedly, fixing the sleeves of his robes as he grabbed the ladle in the cauldron and began stirring it while continuing his lecture. 

You were trying to listen, capturing only the professor’s last sentence as he called on someone who raised their hand. All attention was thrown out the window when you realized Draco was standing near said classmate, a look of annoyance suddenly clouding his features when his pale eyes met yours.

“What?” He mouthed. You ignored him, trying to turn your concentration back onto Slughorn but nothing he was saying made sense, and right as you caught a word you did understand, a shuffling and an abrupt arm knocking into yours threw you right back out of the loop.

“Watch it,” you snap hushedly when you notice who it is. “Why are you over here?”

“I can’t say hello to my number one fan?” He whispers back, snickering slightly when you scoffed quietly.

“Fan? Says the one who shoved his way through the crowd to come over here,” you grumble, crossing your arms. 

“I hardly shoved,” he mutters. “I only moved because I couldn’t see Slughorn from where I was standing. Not everything’s about you.”

“Really? Because to me, it seemed like you came over here for my attention.”

He let out a breathy chuckle, a patronizing smile making its way onto his face. The type of typical boy smile where his mouth is half agape with his tongue smoothing over his teeth as he stared off across the room with his fingertips rubbing thoughtfully against his jawline as he thought of what to say. You stood still as he bent down, nearing his mouth towards your ear and whispering hotly, “you wish, darling.”

Slughorn sent everyone to their paired tables, and as everyone began moving and Draco sauntered off away from you, you stood stuck there, shocked with the lingering chills that were sent down your spine from your archnemesis’ comment.

“I told you, you’re into each other,” your friend sang expectantly from behind you, grabbing onto your sleeve and directing the two of you towards your table. 

You were working peacefully at your workspace, cutting up, peeling, and crushing the ingredients that your friend was sliding across the surface to you. In the table behind you was where Draco was working annoyingly quiet, tossing the stripped stems of the roses at you that you had to peel, tiny thorns pricking at your ankles through your socks since the bigger thorns had been taken off for the potion. As payback, you would throw back loose extra pearl dust you ground up, giggling tauntingly when he would frown at you for getting the coarse white powder all over his Italian leather shoes and most definitely inside of them as well.

When you, and seemingly the rest of the class, had finally thrown in all the ingredients and the potion promptly finished brewing, beautiful clouds of white and pink smoke began rising from the cauldrons, each one having a lovely scent of first; freshly pressed high-priced linens, then a faint smell of a brand new racing broom out of a box with a freshly polished wood handle that then quickly transformed into a sweet harvest of apples, green specifically, and finally...

“Ugh, gross,” you pinched your nostrils closed, turning your body around and sending a scowl towards Draco’s way. “Malfoy, we get it, your cologne is expensive, now stop spraying it. I was smelling all these wonderful things and you ruined it.”

He arched an eyebrow at you, looking at you as if you were crazy. “Are you mad? I didn’t spray anything, I think you’ve finally lost it.”

“Well you laid it on too heavy this morning then, it reeks in here.”

“You’re one to talk, Y/L/N. Did you bathe yourself in that dreadful perfume you wear just now? And that ghastly lip shiner thing you use,” He sneers, crinkling up his nose. “I can’t even think straight, I might vomit.”

“Lip shiner? It’s called lip balm, you prat,” you retort, crossing your arms angrily. “Either way, I haven’t used or sprayed anything either so-”

“For Merlin’s sake!” Your friend suddenly exasperated loudly from beside you making you briskly whirl around to look at her, a look of pure annoyance etched onto her face. “Are you two really that daft? Honestly? Have you been paying attention to anything other than each other? For instance, the potion we just made?”

This gained the attention of your classmates around you in the surrounding tables, turning their heads slightly but not obviously with small knowing smirks on their faces while they snickered quietly and listened. It was soundless as you reached towards the book in front of your friend, pulling it painstakingly slow towards you in fear of the words that were written on the open page.

“Amortentia,” you muttered glumly as you read the page, pushing it away from you dejectedly as everything began to click.

“The reason you’re both smelling each other is because you’re what the other desires and is attracted to. Wow, what a revelation! As if the whole school didn’t already know.”

You were afraid to turn around. You could feel the cold and hard pair of eyes burning holes onto your back and the immediate amount of whispers and giggles of the people around you. Luckily, Slughorn was busy at the other end of the room, working diligently with another pair of students who managed to mess up their potion. 

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Draco announces finally.

“What’s so ridiculous about it?” You questioned, your heart falling to the pit of your stomach when you turned again and took notice of the way his lips were curling upwards as if it was the most disgusting thing he could have ever heard.

“Think about it, Y/L/N,” he deadpans. “Why would I ever desire someone like you?”

There had been occasions over the years when you were in this situation. None as drastic and as revealing, but there would be times when friends and others would poke fun and say the exact same thing your friend told you earlier. The usual, “they got the hots for each other!” and you would always brush it off and joke about how you could never, and he’d do the same. It was always amongst laughs and jokes, but as you looked at the Slytherin in front of you - there wasn’t a hint of amusement on his hardened face.

“Piss off, Malfoy,” you seethed, biting down hard on your lip to refrain from lashing out either in tears or in insults, you couldn’t decide. “If I’m so revolting, leave me alone from now on, I mean it.”

“I never said that,” he argues. “You’re just simply not my type.”

For some eerie, awful reason, the words tore into you like a sharpened knife going easily through butter. You were used to his insults, his mocking, his comments about your appearances - but this hurt, and you couldn’t explain why. You thought, for a second, possibly, that maybe your friend was right. Maybe there was a hidden attraction you had for the platinum blond that you buried deep away and one that he had for you. There was no way that was the case now, not at all. 

And for the first time in your life, you couldn’t be more sure of a simple little fact.

You hated him.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

You don’t know how long you spent sitting in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, back against the cold tiled wall with your knees brought up to your chest. Your friends had tried to console you after the public rejection and humiliation, but their words only made you feel worse. You felt silly for being so bothered about being rejected by Malfoy, he wasn’t exactly someone you fancied, to begin with.

After dinner, you went off the grid and found yourself where you’re now sitting. The ghostly girl flew restlessly around you, popping out of her stall now and then to chat but then going back into her abyss of nothing when she learned you were still upset. You noticed it made her a little too pleased, considering the fact it was always her who was miserably wailing about her problems in the bathroom. She tried to hide it and let you talk to her about how you felt, but she gave terrible advice most of the time. 

“Well, if it was me, I would have never started fancying someone who was mean to me,” she mumbled. “Like when Paul Wighorn made fun of my hair for a whole year and laughed when I cried. I hated his guts then and I still do now.”

She had a point, but she was also Myrtle. Nothing about the overly dramatic ghost made sense.

“I don’t fancy him, It’s just weird,” you trail off. “I can’t imagine a day without him, even if he is a complete arse. We always joked about how we hated each other, but I didn’t think he actually meant it, I guess.”

“I think you do fancy him, though,” she whispers knowingly in your ear, making you flinch from her cold draft. “Stop denying it, it’ll only keep making you feel worse. Amortentia doesn’t lie, silly. Maybe when you drink it, but before that, all real feelings are there, whether you know it or not.”

You sat quietly, taking in her words before something came crashing down onto you like a wall of bricks.

“I suppose that means he’ll have to stop denying it too,” she adds thoughtfully. 

“Myrtle,” you rush to get up, smoothing your hair down profusely and fixing the wrinkles in your clothes. “You’re a genius.”

“I am?” She asks excitedly. “What did I say?”

You waved her off, giving her another thank you before rushing out of the bathroom and into the empty corridors. You were trying to go back to your dorm to sleep, hoping that when tomorrow came you would be bold enough to confront the Slytherin Prince but it was thirty minutes past curfew, something you didn’t notice until you were bustling down the steps in a rush and came face to face with the man of the hour himself doing his Prefect patrolling duties.

“Go to your dorm, Y/L/N,” he sneers. “I’ll take away house points, don’t test me,”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That I’ll take away house points? Watch me. Five-”

“No, you twat,” you groan, swatting his arm with your hand. “I don’t believe that I’m not your type.”

He stayed wordless for a moment, biting the inside of his cheeks and clenching his jaw as he peered down at you from his lanky height. “Why not?”

“Because I didn’t think you were my type until the amortentia made me aware of it,” you answer quietly. “Actually, my friend had a hand in it, but it was mostly the potion.”

Silence, again. Still and deadly. You could hear the large clocks around the school tick and tock, the hundreds of paintings snoring peacefully or chattering quietly. You avoided looking up at the boy in front of you, all of a sudden feeling small under his gaze until you felt cold fingers brush against your cheekbone and then softly through your hair causing you to finally look up into the soft wandering almost blue eyes. 

“I didn’t find out with the amortentia,” he muttered almost reluctantly as if it was the most difficult thing he had to reveal. “I’ve known I’ve liked you for a while.”

“How long is a while?” You curiously wonder aloud.

“I’m not telling,” he smirks. “Perhaps you’ll figure it out one day.”

Both hands came up to rest on your cheeks, slightly cold but soft and tender. It sent chills throughout your body as he took a step closer to you and then closer, backing you carefully into the diagonally ascending stone wall that went in the direction of the stairs. Your breathing was getting uneven, you noticed the way you accidentally switched to manually forcing yourself to inhale and exhale normally when he leaned down with his face now being mere centimeters from yours. It was torture, having your eyes closed and feeling the way his nose was brushing against yours, minty breath warm against your lips as he ghosted over them with his. He was so close, you smelt everything that was in the damn potion that got you here. It sent flutters of warmth down your body, trickling down and seeping deeply into every bone in your body as if this is was the remedy its been needing. This is what you’ve been missing.

When you finally felt a soft pair of lips being pressed into yours, it felt almost unreal that you were there. It was awkward the first couple of seconds, both of you wondering how in the world had you gotten yourselves in this position, but after you relaxed and he found his Prince of Slytherin confidence - it was magic. His lips moved languidly against yours, affectionately and full of longing. He kept his hands on your cheeks, still timid to move anywhere else while you kept yours resting lightly on his sides. It scared you a little, how fast and how easily you melted into each other, like if this was something you’ve been doing with him for years rather than torment the other for laughs. 

You hated the feeling when he pulled away, a gust of freezing castle air passing through the space between you and cooling your lips and face from his contact. His hands dropped down to his sides and he looked down at you with a small smile, a teeny bit smug, but happy. You wanted to feel the same way, but a question still loomed over your head, overpowering the giddiness you were vividly feeling.

“Why did you lie earlier?” You question softly, directing your gaze to the floor. “In class, I mean.”

He thought about his answer for a second, sighing deeply when he realized he had to uncover more truths about himself to you. You took a mental observation at that, he didn’t like to talk about feelings. “You didn’t say anything. Didn’t even look at me. I thought I’d beat you to it and reject you before you could reject me.”

“What made you think I’d reject you?” You coaxed. “Other than the fact that I made you a sworn enemy at eleven.”

“Exactly that,” he laughed lightly. “You’re unpredictable, Y/N.”

You smiled to yourself at the realization that he finally used your first name. “So are you, Draco.”

“Not really,” he grins. “Like in just a few moments, for example, I’m going to start snogging you.”

You opened your mouth to encourage him but shut it quickly when he closed the space between the two of you again, this time much closer than he was before. He was flush against you, and when you say you could feel everything; you could feel everything. You were almost begging for him to lean down and kiss you again by the time you felt his hands on you again, running delicately around the exposed skin of your hips when your shirt hiked up an inch on accident. He leaned down again, and with the advantage of his lowered height, you let your hands slide up his arms, biceps, and ultimately the nape of his neck where your fingers continued up into his hair. The breathiest gasp escaped his throat as you tugged at the ends gently, smirking to yourself when he closed his eyes in delight at the touch.

His lips came down onto your fast this time and hastily, pressing himself impossibly closer into you. You could feel his grip tighten against your hips, his hold moving upwards onto your waist as he continued to kiss you fervently. His teeth bit down softly on your bottom lip and you wasted no time in parting them slightly for his tongue to meet yours. You tugged at the platinum strands of hair again, feeling triumphant when a low groaning sound emitted from his throat at the sensation as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss further.

You knew you were done for when one of his hands slowly slid up your upper body, stopping first at your collarbones with warm fingertips fluttering over the skin, before he moved it upwards completely and he now had his large hand wrapped comfortably around your neck. You gasped in delight into the kiss, a swarm of butterflies going directly to your lower stomach as he squeezed against the artery in your neck meticulously, the coldness from his Malfoy family crest ring only adding fuel to the fire. He tore his mouth away from yours with his hand still clutched firmly around your throat and you were almost sent into orbit with the look he was giving you. A look filled with desire, adoration, and intensity - his pale gray eyes were much darker, almost a dark blue that resembled the starry night sky on a summer night.

Lips reattached themselves roughly and feverishly against your jawline, peppering long and tender kisses all the way towards your ear and then down towards your collarbones where he was beginning to undo the rest of the top buttons of your school dress shirt. You felt him smile against your hot skin when you’d writhe underneath him, emitting weak whimpers that you couldn’t hold back that he ended up having to clasp a free hand over your mouth as he whispered into your ear to stay quiet.

It didn’t matter that you were in the middle of a poorly lit corridor where anyone could walk past and see the frenzy that was unfolding, nor did it matter to Draco that his Prefect duties were long forgotten. Your friend was right, and everyone else for that matter; it wasn’t hate you felt for the blond at all, it was years and years of a craving and a hidden yearning packed with displaced tension.

And now, you were both exactly where you wanted to be; together.

[clouddd-hannn]

Stress Reliever - Kim Seokjin

Requested

COUPLE: CEO! Kim Seokjin x Secretary! M!Reader

GENRE: Smut, Fluff

WARNINGS: office sex, blowjob, cockwarming, vanilla to rough sex (a total 180), bulging, degradation, overstimulation, praise kink, lingerie kink, angry sex(?), hair pulling

SUMMARY: Your boyfriend, Seokjin who happens to be your boss at the company you work at, is stressed out. So, you decided to help him de-stress.

[ P.S. I'm finally back! And I'll be starting on the kinktober fics <3 ]

Inside the meeting room, Seokjin was busy looking through the documents then back up at the powerpoint in front of him. You stood beside him as you ticked out some meetings that were already done, looking at Seokjin once in a while who began tapping his pen lightly in the filed document. "So, if you decide to agree to my proposal, it'll be beneficial to the company."

You looked at your boyfriend who nodded lightly as he skimmed thoroughly through the papers again and looked at the person in front of the podium. "Alright, I agree that sex dolls can be a great offer but it is not our expertise nor no one in the company is professionally good enough to be making those."

"Yes, which is why I'll help out if needed," the man stated, making the CEO nod as the heads of the each departments nodded as well in understanding. "I'm not pressuring you, sir Kim. I'll give you time to think, of course."

The said male nodded as he closed the folder and stood up with a sigh then looked at the proposer. "Alright, I'll give you my response tomorrow. Meeting dismissed," Seokjin stated as he bowed at the other department heads and so did they, you following behind your boyfriend who brushed his hair with his hand. "Please tell me that was the last meeting, M/N."

You chuckled as you looked at Jin then walked beside him, patting his shoulder. "That was the last one, Seokjin. But I gotta say, today was really hectic. Have you finished signing the papers, too?" Saying that, Seokjin groaned as he fake cried to the point that you chuckled. "Jin, your groaning won't get you somewhere."

The other sighed as you both entered his office while you placed your clipboard down the coffee table that was available. Seokjin's office was almost colored dully, black walls, sofas, couches, and literally almost everything except the small decorations that was displayed. "Can't you help me sign these papers, baby?" The other asked you as he stopped and looked back at you yet you just booped his nose and shook your head, making him whine. "Aww, but why?"

"Forgery is against the law and if they found out, both you and I will be in trouble. Quit being a lazyhead, Jinnie," you stated as you pecked the other's lips and cupped his cheeks as he bent down a little to level your height. "How about this? If you manage to finish them, I'll give you a reward. How's that sound?"

Seokjin smiled widely as he nodded eagerly at your offer and finally moved behind his desk. "I'll get down to business then," he stated as he got his sign pen and began looking through each documents, signing over his name if he found it beneficial for his company and just if he needed to sign the documents.

You were just wandering around his office, looking through different books and awards he has been given by participating at workshops or being a commentator. You were surely proud of your boyfriend. You and Seokjin met way back when you two were only seniors in high school and during that time was when you two became boyfriends.

At first, you two despised each other because of the fact that you were a rebel while Seokjin was an overachiever, you could say he was the reason you wanted to change. You basically became his loyal pet that everywhere he went, you'd follow although Jin didn't mind. It took him long to finally find out that you had feelings for him, which he actually reciprocated.

From that day, he courted you, even though you stated that you should be the one to do that. And when you two reached your second year in college, you two finally started dating and until now, you still are. You've already been dating for about 10 years and counting, but now, you two were already engaged and that's the only thing that has mostly changed between you two.

You've already did a lot of things inside the office, clean his books, his table, eat cookies, gave him coffee, and just did mostly anything a bored person would do yet Jin was still not finished signing his papers. You were already growing impatient.

"Seokjin, are you done yet?" You softly asked the other who chuckled as he looked up from the papers, watching as you slumped down on the sofa. Seokjin can never be used to how you act so different when it's only you two, but when there're guests, you get too formal and very polite. "Are you?"

"Sorry, darling. This papers just keep adding up. Is there something wrong, M/N?" The other asked you as you pouted and began fiddling with your fingers as you swung your legs that was up in the air. "Don't tell me you're getting impatient," he joked making you groan as you looked at him.

"I am. I want to.." you trailed before thinking of a bright idea, making you smirk as you stood up from the sofa and neared your boyfriend's desk. "Hey, I want to try something. Will you let me do it? It's for experimental purposes," you reasoned out as you placed your hands on top of the table and leaned down towards Seokjin who looked up at you with a small smile.

Jin smiled before landing a small peck to your lips and it never failed to make your knees weak, how sweet and soft he was with you. "Of course, sweetheart. Just let me get these papers done and I'll let you do whatever you want," he stated as he looked back at his papers, yet you didn't want that. You wanted, no, needed his attention on you and only you.

You growled and slowly raised his head by using your thumb and forefinger, giving him a teasing smile as you watched his adam's apple bob up and down. "Kim, I want your attention on me. Just this once, I promise you can finish your papers in no time," you stated before finally pulling your fingers away and as if entranced by your spell, he continued to stare at you as he watched you intently.

You chuckled before slowly unbuttoning your button-up, teasing the other whose member was slowly becoming erect. You chuckled as you finally removed the sleeves of your polo off your shoulders a tad bit slow to Jin's liking. "Darling, what are you planning to do?"

"I just want to put a little show for you since I know how stressed you are," you stated as you finally removed your long sleeves off your body, revealing a pink lacey bralette that made Jin's eyes open widely in shock before blushing hard as he looked away. "I told you to watch, Seokjin."

Jin looked back at you as you slowly unlatched your belt and removed it from the hoops, your pants easily falling down towards your ankles after you've unbuttoned it. You smirked widely as you watched Jin blush hard, eyes fixated on the pink silk panty you were wearing. "You like what you see, Jinnie?" You taunted the other who just gulped as you placed a finger on the ribbon before you slowly pulled on it, yet you stopped. "Now, where's the fun in that?" You mocked as you palmed yourself in front of your boyfriend with a soft moan, loving how you were humiliating yourself in front of him.

You stopped then slowly neared him, turning around his desk while a finger swiped along his chest, making Jin swallow as he followed you. "M-M/N," he stated before he felt you walk behind him, dragging your hands down from his shoulders to his chest. "Fuck.." he let out.

"What are you doing? Keep signing," you stated authoritatively before the other grabbed his pen with a shaky hand. You chuckled seductively into his ears before you pulled his swivel chair and moved in front of him, underneath his desk, shocking the other male. "C'mere, baby," you instructed as you curled your finger to beckon him towards you.

Jin did as told before he slowly slid his swivel chair back towards the desk, biting his lip as he began signing papers. You stared down at the other's pants, an obvious bulge evident on his crotch that made you lick your dry lips. You hummed in satisfaction as you placed a hand on the tent and palmed it, making your boyfriend gasp as he closed his eyes, gripping the pen tightly. "D-Darling, do you seriously think I can sign these papers when you're doing this?"

You chuckled at his reaction before slowly unhooking his belt hastily, as if you needed to feel his cock this instant. "'course you can, Jinnie. If you put your mind to it, you'll be able to finish it in a jiffy," you stated as you placed your hands on the floor, supporting yourself as you used your teeth to unzip his pants while looking up at the male who was now blushing hard at your teasing. "Get to work, Jin."

Said male nodded as he nervously bit his lip, trying to put his mind into it like you told him to. Finally undoing his pants, you marveled at the huge outline of his cock that was clear on his boxer shorts that he was wearing, your mouth practically drooling as you stared at it. You moved closer and used the tip of your index finger to tease the tip that was already leaking pre-cum judging by the wet patch it created on his Balenciaga.

You felt it twitch as you rubbed the leaking tip before gripping on the base tightly, making Jin moan softly as he stopped signing, afraid his shaking hands might ruin the papers. "Darling, wh-why don't we just take this somewhere else later," he stated yet you ignored him as you licked a strip on his clothed member, making him let out a quiet whimper as he held the end of his desk tightly.

You smirked as you held the wasitband of his underwear and pulled it down, his erect cock finally freed from it's cage as it sprung to life, hitting your face as you marveled at the girthy length. "Fuck, Jinnie. Your dick is just really huge! Do you think I can take it all now?" You asked the other as you began jerking off his huge member, making the other shiver as he covered his mouth to stifle his moans. "Back when we were in college, I couldn't," you stated calmly, as if you weren't jerking off your boyfriend's cock. Totally normal.

Jin just hummed as you began to place kisses down the tip to the base, teasing him with kitten licks as you looked up at the male who looked away. "H-Hurry, suck my cock—"

"Tell that to my face. Look at me, Jin," you demanded before the male finally looked at you then watched as you opened your mouth before slowly inserting the tip of his cock past your lips, sucking on it like a lollipop which made Jin grit his teeth as his muscles contracted.

"AHH! FUCK! M-M/N, not th-the tip! Ah shit, fuck," he cursed as he began bucking his hips, making you groan as you held his hips down. "N-No, M/N. Please, stop teasing me, baby."

You removed his hard cock from your mouth and tsked, lightly slapping his hard, throbbing member, making him hiss as he looked down at you. "Less talking, more signing. That way, we can finish two things at once," you stated before smiling assuringly and looked back at his huge cock, holding onto the base as you jerked him off, twisting your hands before finally beginning to suck on his tip.

You began sucking hard on the bulbous tip of his cock, making Jin let out loud groans as he tightened his grip on the edges of the desk and threw his head back. "AGGHH! FUCK!" Jin groaned as he slightly squirmed in his seat at the pleasure, making you hum as you let out lewd, slurping noises as if trying to rile up the other. "Goddamit, M/N. Your fucking mouth's so warm..feels good."

Everytime you gave him head, you always loved to suck on his tip, to the point that he could cum with just that. Sometimes, you'd even tease him by sucking on the tip, and only the tip until he's had enough.

You just chuckled before you slowly inserted a few inches inside your mouth, laying your tongue flat to swipe along the underside of his cock, dragging along a vein that popped as you smirked. You felt Jin move, indicating he was yet again back to signing his papers.

Feeling a little bit needy, you began bobbing your head up and down as you jerked off the parts you couldn't reach with your hand. You could taste the salty flavor of his pre-cum as you did so. You could never get used to your boyfriend's large cock that, in fact, you haven't been able to fully insert his cock inside your hole.

You are a bit disappointed yet you knew how Jin doesn't want too hurt you so he just inserts the half of his cock that could already reach deep inside you, hitting your prostate dead-on everytime he thrusted.

You began sucking his cock, coughing once in a while everytime you accidentally insert more into your mouth. As you sucked on his cock, you were too lost in your own thoughts of how you could get it to fit inside your hole that you failed to notice Jin's large hand travel towards your soft hair.

Only then did you feel it when he gripped on it tightly and pulled on it to make you look up at him, his cock still in your mouth as you did. You watched as Jin smirk wildly and perked an eyebrow as if suggesting something. "Sorry, darling," he stated as he chuckled darkly with a teasing smile. Before you could comprehend why he apologized, you've found yourself gagging as you let out a choked out moan, widening your eyes as tears pricked on the corner of your eyes.

You found your nose buried on his well-trimmed pubes as you gagged, tears welling up in your eyes as you tapped his thighs thrice. Jin widened his eyes before letting go of you, you coughed immediately as you held your throat. "Ah, fuck," you managed to say in between coughs, making Seokjin pout in concern. You looked up at the other before smiling assuringly. "I'm fine, Jinnie. Honest."

You stated as you walked out under the desk and showed him your full body again which never failed to make Jin blush. "Are you sure? I didn't want to hurt you or anything. I guess I just got carried away by the pleasure. I'm sorr—sweetie, what are you doing?" Jin asked you as you settled yourself on top of his lap, legs dangling on each side of his thighs, beginning to grind your self on his cock slowly.

The feeling of your silky panty on his cock made him let out a close-mouthed moan as he placed his forehead on your shoulder. "Jinnie, you better not sleep. You still have papers to sign, right?" You stated with a small yet devious chuckle as you slowly moved away the cloth that covered your hole and began grinding yet again.

"Fuck!" Jin cursed as he closed his eyes and felt you raise yourself. The other opened his eyes again and looked up into your eyes, biting his lip to hold in a moan as the tip of his cock brushed against your pucker. "M-M/N, darling. You know I hate it when you do this."

"But I have to. You told me you'd fulfill my needs, right? And now," you stated with a sly smirk as you slowly pushed down, the tip of his cock entering your tight hole which made him groan while you whimpered in both pain and pleasure. "I-I need your cock inside me, Jinnie."

You slowly slid his huge cock inside your hole, needy whimpers escaping your lips as you tried to fit everything in. "M/N, you don't have to. I know how it hurts you when I fully insert my dick inside you," Jin stated as he caressed your cheek yet you shook your head. "Baby."

"No! I-I want to feel all of it," you stated as you looked at Jin with eyes full of determination before taking a deep breath and plunged his dick fully inside you, making you whimper in pain while the other moaned as he instinctively held your hips. "HAH! AH FUCK!"

"Fuck, so tight. So warm. Baby, fuck shit. Ahh..." Jin moaned as you hugged him by his neck immediately, tears escaping your eyes as you felt your thighs shake. "You did great, darling. You're doing great. Now, stay there and be a good kitten, alright?"

"Y-Yes. I u-understand, Jinnie," you stated as you tried to accomodate yourself with his cock that seemed to get bigger everytime you clenched around his cock. "Ah..fuck. F-Feels good, so fucking good," you mumbled as you began exploring his broad back with your small hands. "Do you feel good, Jinnie?"

"Of course, I do, sweetie," he answered with a small chuckle and placed a kiss on your hair before going back to signing papers. "It seems like cockwarming will be a new thing for us, huh? Everytime you're feeling needy and horny," Jin joked with a small chuckle then moved you in a more comfortable position. "You comfortable, baby?"

"Y-Yes," you stuttered as you hid your face on the crook of the older's neck, hugging him tightly as you let the other do his work. Your hard-on began to peek out of your underwear, making you whimper as you rubbed against his stomach. Maybe cockwarming wasn't a good idea, how you feel full inside makes you want to move, to feel good. To be fucked in your boyfriend's office desk was one of your greatest desires.

You were trying to hold in your moans but it couldn't be helped as Jin kept moving subtly, smirking whenever he hears a small whimper come from you. "You good, sweetie?" Jin always asks you which you always answered with a small nod, not knowing how Jin was satisfied at the reaction he's getting from you.

"Jinnie, a-are you still not done yet?" You asked the other who has been signing his papers for about an hour already. "Hurry, I want to—huh?" You let out a small whimper as you felt Jin raise your hips, making him chuckle as you looked sadly at him. "No, no. Don't pull out, Jinnie. I want to feel you inside—HYAHH!"

You screamed out loud as he pushed you back down onto his giant schlong with a grunt, making you throw your head back in pleasure, curl your toes at the sudden euphoric sensation, and clutch hardly on the other's dress shirt as you came on your bare stomach, messing up the other's neck tie. "Wow, you love being pierced by my fuckmeat, huh? You fucking whore," he hissed as he landed a painful smack to your right ass cheek.

"Mm—Ah.." you let out as you hugged him back, yet you heard a scoff from the other. You knew this side of Seokjin and you always found it hard to believe when he's usually very sweet and caring. "Fuck, ah...J-Jinnie, sorry. It just felt really good."

"Sure. Why don't you get yourself ready on the sofa, huh? I won't go easy on you today. Do you seriously forget to ask permission?" Jin asked you with a glare, yet you glared back and rolled your eyes as you groaned. "Is that attitude I'm seeing, M/N?"

"Why do I have to? You get to cum whenever you want and I don't? That's unfair. You're so annoying—"

"That does it. I better see you with your ass up in the couch when I come there!" Jin shouted authoritatively yet slowly pulled his cock away from your hole as to not hurt you since you just reached your high. You hopped off of his thighs and crossed your arms as you fixed yourself, you rolled your eyes as you went back to where you were seated.

You sat down on the couch and grabbed a cushion to cover yourself before grabbing your phone that was placed on top of the glass table. As you did, you were taken by surprise when it began ringing, making you look at it with a confused look. Upon seeing the caller's ID, you smiled and accepted the call. "Hey, Taehyung."

"Hyung," the other called with a small chuckle, hearing Jungkook trying to reach the phone. "Hyung, do you tuink you can come over? Jungkook's being a bratty bit—HEY! NO! NOT THAT POLARO—JEON JUNGKOOK!"

You laughed before finally standing up from the couch and grabbed your clothes, unaware of how Jin was glaring at you. "Alright. I'll come over," you answered as you prompted to wear your slacks yet Jin stopped you.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jin asked with a raised brow as he fixed his papers and stood up from his swivel chair, eyebrows furrowef as he looked at you with an angered gaze. "Where do you plan on going? To Taehyung's house? Again? Is he your boyfriend or me?"

You scoffed at him and rolled your eyes as you dropped the slacks and glared back at your boyfriend. "For fuck's sake, Seokjin. Taehyung is just a friend and he's fucking taken! Get that inside your brain, you dimwit! Ugh, I'm not having this. I'm leaving and until you finally get your mind cleared up, don't call me."

"You're not going anywhere beyond that point, M/N," he stated but you just rolled your eyes and got your clothes and ended the call with Taehyung. Before you could even comprehend anything, you were now bent down over the couch with your ass facing the other who was now tying your hands with his tie. "I told you, darling. I'm not going easy on you."

You smirked widely. Everything's going as planned. Taehyung calling me wasn't planned but it surely added fuel to the fire. Right, you wanted to see Jin angry one more time. Why? Because these days, you and Jin have been all 'vanilla' and you're getting bored of it. There's nothing wrong with Seokjin being soft and gentle but there was just something about 'mad' Seokjin that you always loved. Maybe how he becomes very dominant? Or the way he never stops until he's satisfied? Or maybe it's the way he fills you up with his cum until it leaks down your thighs?

You cleared your thoughts then feigned an innocent voice. "J-Jinnie, I'm sorry. I promise, I'm not goin—"

"Shut up, whore, you good for nothing whore. All you do is flaunt your ass everywhere like a fucking slut who needs something to fill his bitchy ass," he stated with a growl before you felt his right hand grip on your hair tightly, pulling on it harshly with a smirk. You let out a choked whimper as tears welled in your eyes at the stinging pain, yet you loved it. "You filthy cockslut. Let's skip the foreplay, I don't think you need it."

What?! No! You thought as you tried to look at Jin but you couldn't. "Seokjin, wait. You...won't go all in, right?" You asked the other but only received a chuckle from him as he neared your left ear. "Jinnie?"

"M/N, you managed to fit everything inside you just minutes ago. What's the point of getting scared now?" Seokjin stated before pulling back and unhooked his belt. You could hear how hasty he was moving judging from the way his breathing became ragged and how he hurriedly tried to undo his slacks. You heard the soft thud of the slacks as it fell down on the floor, your mind getting drowned in nothing but lust. "Fuck, I've always wanted to fit everything inside you. I'm not holding back now, darling."

Jin smirked as he stared at your juicy ass, carressing it with a lustful gaze before moving the part of the panty you were wearing to the side. He bit his lip as he felt his cock become erect at the sight of your puckered hole. "Seokjin-ah, hurry," you stated needily with a small whimper.

"You fucking slut. Can't even wait for his Jinnie? If that's so, here's your fucking meal," Jin stated as he pulled his huge cock out of it's restraints and lined it up with your hole and inserted his cock with a loud grunt, bottoming out as he heard you let out a groan. "See? Your fuckhole immediately swallowed it all. You fucking bitch!" Jin exclaimed as he landed a harsh slap onto your ass.

"Gah! Ah..J-Jinnie—HYAH! AH FUCK!" You shouted as you felt the tip of his cock brush against your prostate abusing it as you writhed at the sudden sensitivity. "J-Jin! Fuck, s-stop doing th-that. Hngh..agh..fuuuuck! So fuuuucking good. AH! Jin~ Seokjinnie~!"

Jin continued to abuse your prostate by brushing against it with an evil grin before pulling out and pushing all of his length inside you, making you scream out in pleasure as you tried to squeeze your legs together as if trying to create some kind of friction with your hard cock. "Fuck! Your fucking hole feels so good around me. I'm so stressed about everything that I want to fuck your hole until it's all gaping and full of cum."

You just moaned before your hair was pulled back again. "Ah! J-Jinnie," you called out as tears welled in your eyes at the constant ecstatic sensation. You let out a squeal as you felt him move at a fast pace, grunting as he inserted every inch of his cock inside of you.

Seokjin chuckled darkly as he looked at how you writhed in pleasure, letting out lewd moans as you fisted the hem of his dress shirt. "Does this feel good, bitch? No one can make your slutty hole feel good other than me, slut. Got that?!" Jin shouted before landing a slap on your ass.

You just nodded as you continued to moan in satisfaction, making Jin smile darkly at the sounds you were emitting. Suddenly, you were fully pulled back, your toes standing on it's tippy toes as your back was flushed against the other's clothed chest, making you scream out a moan as you felt him plunge his cock deeply inside you, you could feel it in your stomach.

"FUUUUUCKK! JINNIEEE!" You moaned out as you rolled your tongue out in pleasure, eyes rolled to the back of your head as you placed your head on his shoulder. "S-So big. Soooo good~" You moaned out, drool dripping down your tongue as your eyes teared up at the pleasure.

Jin smirked at your reaction and stayed in that position before you felt his hands travel from your hair to your bare torso, roaming around your abdominal muscles, to your hips which he squeezed softly making you moan into the other's ears. "You like that, bitch? Naughty little fuckdoll. Have you been fucking with Taehyung behind my back, cumslut?"

Too lost in the pleasure, you weren't able to clearly hear what Jin asked you so, on instinct, you just nodded with a small ecstatic laugh which made Seokjin growl and pulled you closer, his cock piercing against your stomach which made you scream out loud. "AHH! FUCK! JINNIE! Y-YOUR SOOOO BIG! I-In....my stomach...AHH!"

Jin rolled his eyes before he hurriedly removed the bralette you were wearing and began playing with your buds as he began thrusting back again, tears finally leaving your eyes as you continued to moan in pleasure, Jin's thrust were fast which you never got used to. "I'm the only one who can make you feel this good, cocksucker. Best believe that! YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

With each shout, Jin thrusted his cock deep inside you which never failed to make you yelp, moaning out loud as you listened to every squelching sound and how his hips slapped against the skin of your ass everytime he thrusted. For sure, your ass was already red but you didn't care. "Y-Yes, masshterr~. FUUUUCCCK! Fuck meee!"

You two didn't care if you were loud as of the moment. The only persons left in the building was you two so why bother muffling out your screams, right?

"AH, hnghh! AHHH FUCK!" Seokjin grunted as he thrusted faster, making you unconsciously buck your hips to meet his thrusts, Seokjin smirking as he pinched your buds that never failed to make you moan louder. "Your body's really sensitive, darling. Your ass pussy's also tight. Fucking slut."

You could only clench your fists as you listened to Jin's turned on groans every time he thrusted deeply inside your hole. "J-Jinnie, fuck me! Fuck me! AHHH! FUCK YES!" You moaned as drool dripped down the corners of your mouth as you threw your head back onto your boyfriend's shoulders.

Satisfied, Seokjin thrusted his entire length in one thrust making you scream out in pleasure as you came. "What a fucking bitch. Only coming with your ass," Jin stated before he watched your body slump yet he held you up to support you. Jin chuckled darkly and rubbed on your stomach, making you moan as you looked down, seeing the outline of his cock. "Can you see it, darling?"

"Y-yesh. I caaan~," you moaned out before Jin pushed you down on the backrest of the couch and began thrusting again, making you curl your toes as your eyes twitched. "Seokjin! C-Calm down! I j-just came—AH! Fuck! Jinnie~," you moaned loudly as you slumped on the backrest, letting yourself succumb to the pleasure as you smiled salaciously, tongue rolled out as you moaned.

Everytime Jin thrusted his entire cock inside you, you couldn't help but yelp at the overstimulation. Seokjin laughed evilly at how you squirmed everytime he bottomed out and showing you mercy was less of his concerns at the current time . "As of now, you'll be my handsome little fuck doll. Sounds good, ain't it?"

Your head was all over the place that you failed to hear Jin's comments. Your mind was starting to get hazy with the constant pleasure as your body became numb, and hearing no answer from you has made Seokjin's blood boil in anger.

Jin raised his left hand then back down your ass, a loud slap resonating throughout the whole office along with it was the pleasured shout that went past your lips. "Ah! Fuck! Seokjinnie, so gooood~!"

"Answer me you fucking slut! You are going to be my fuck doll which means I won't stop until I'm satisfied," Seokjin shouted as he leaned down and pulled your hair, all the while thrustng wildly as you howled out in ecstasy. You nodded as your answer before Jin chuckled darkly and began sucking on your neck, leaving hickeys as your knees buckled.

Through your dazed out state, you've lost count at how many times you've came nor how many positions you two have already tried or changed to. "J-Jin...I-I can't...anymore...Too much—HYAH! AHH! JINNIE!" You were sprawled all over Jin's desk, his hand under your knees as he pushed it towards, making it easier for him to fuck your abused hole.

"Just moments ago, you told me not to stop," Jin stated as he thrusted deeply making you throw your head back as you curled your toes and held onto the edge of the desks tightly, sobbing at the overstimulation and salty tears leaving your eyes as you let Jin use you like a toy. "Why stop now, darling?"

"FUCK! C-CUMMING!" You shouted as that same familiar sensation grew inside your stomach, shouting a particularly loud moan ad you came. Only thing was...nothing came out of your penis. A dry orgasm? "Ah, ah! N-No more, I-I can't cum—AH—anymore! J-Jinnie, rose!"

With that, Jin stopped as he looked down at you as if he went back to the reality. "Oh fuck! Sorry, sweetie. Shit, I got carried away," Seokjin apologized as he slowly pulled out and got a dry towel from his drawer. "Fuck, sorry. Ah, I'm so useless. I'm such a jerk," he stated as he fixed himself and finally began to clean your cum-soaked torso and thighs.

"I-It's fine, Seokjin. At least, y-you stopped when I s-said the safe word," you chuckled as you let Jin clean you off who pouted and got his coat, putting it on you as he hugged you. "Jinnie? Is th-there something wrong?"

"Yeah. I got carried away with my own anger and jealousy. You deserve someone better," Jin stated yet you just chuckled as you hugged him tighter making him hum in annoyance. "Hey, I'm being very sentimental and serious here."

"I know but it's mainly my fault. I mean, I've only ever saw you become a sex monster once and I wanted to see it one more time. And I guess it got out of hand," you stated and kissed the other's nose as you smiled. "Remind me not to annoy you ever again. My ass can't handle too much nor your big dick."

"Yeah, yeah. I love you, M/N," Jin stated as he pecked your lips.

You chuckled as you kissed him back passionately before pulling away and smiling genuinely. "I love you too, Seokjin."

[watchinglikeafangirl]

KinnPorsche Episode 7 - last scene

Sooo, I rewatched the scene and I'm gonna analyze the cinematography frame by frame. Bear with me because I wrote down so many notes and there's even a heaven/hell comparison.

This scene is one of the strongest scenes - if not the strongest - KinnPorsche has to offer if it comes to acting, cinematography and growth.

So let me remind you of last week's quote: "Maybe you'd sacrifice a hand for me. Or maybe because I've crossed your line. Or I like it when you're happy." This quote shows the same contrast as this conflict scene eight here because their whole story is about crossing lines. They both will continue to cross each other's lines and in this 7th episode, they cross their lines again. The mirror is a used object to underline when they are not themselves. The second the conflict starts, they are partly seen in the mirror as well and when it's resolved, it's only them in front of the mirror. So this whole conflict takes place in "another world", on "the other side" that can count as hell. There is no warm light, just a poisonous green one highlighting all the negativity. There is a bright yellow light in the "real world" but it's rarely seen and only when they reach a symbolic heaven.

After Vegas and the bodyguards are gone, Kinn confronts Porsche in a very harsh manner. He gets very close to his face and at first, Porsche has a tiny smile on his lips. Kinn is his savior, but Kinn is flodded with jealousy and the fear of having lost Porsche that leads to anger. He is very aggressive, shouting at Porsche "what the heck were you doing" and Porsche's gaze changes. He is irritated and his eyes try to seek something familiar in Kinn's but he can't find it.

Then Kinn even slaps him, asking again "whay the heck were you doing, huh?" Now, Porsche even looks scared and he gets angry as well. Kinn is not under control and just acts irrational but it's hard to meat a hot-head with a calm tone and Kinn is way too close to Porsche's face. It's uncomfortable, so Porsche pushes him away with the words "I haven't done anything!" Wrong accusations without a real conversation are now the tone of the scene and the air is thick enough to cut.

The angle changes and only Porsche is seen in the mirror because he now says something as irrational as Kinn did.

"You never trust me. Shoot me already. Just like you shot your ex."

But Porsche is different from Kinn. When Kinn is angry, he acts on it without thinking because he is out of control and in his own world where only impulses exist. The difference here is, Porsche is only angry to a certain level because he's just frustrated Kinn doesn't listen to him but it's not anger against Kinn as a person, just his behavior. It's why we get this look of horror on Porsche's face after saying those words, because his own behavior is scary:

I would say it's regret, fear, anger, love and pain all mixed together. We all don't know what will happen next because Kinn can be quite dangerous if he wants to. Things are not in his control and he still thinks Porsche betrayed him and the promises between them. So he gets very close to Porsche without saying a word. And for me, a quietly angry person is always scarier than a loudly angry person. Because you don't know what tsunami will come. A tiny wave or a wave as high as the skyscrapers of the city.

"You're way more loose than I thought."

Those are the only words Kinn says but they weight heavily. The way he says them will full hate and they aim right at Porsche's heart. They are supposed to be hurting and they awake something in Porsche, so he slaps Kinn. Hard. Because yes, Porsche crossed a line, but Kinn did as well.

"I shouldn't have loved a crappy guy like you."

Same camera angle from before but different emotions. Now it's disappointment, anger, pain, love and sadness. That Kinn could think of him like that, it's hurting Porsche in places he didn't knew existed inside his heart. He just wants to get out of there but the slap and his more-or-less love confession awoke Kinn. He went back to normal and is now ready to make it up to Porsche. He sees what he has done. He sees how much he hurt Porsche, because honestly this look on his face, I wouldn't be able to stand that. It's so disappointed and hurt. Kinn is the reason he looks like this...

Fulltime regret, all I can say. When Porsche tries to get out of there, Kinn wraps his arms around him. But Porsche is too hurt right now to accept physical contact as any sort of apology and actively fights against Kinn's grip.

We end up right here with Porsche pressed against the mirror, head down, arms crossed. It's a position that symbolizes vulnerability and self-protection. Porsche looks like he doesn't want to exist any more and their conflict just got even more intense because the mirror takes up 50% of the screen an they are pressed against it. It's confrontation with "the other side", their conflict.

I really don't know why, maybe because Porsche's face is not moving and he looks so young but destroyed on the inside, I immediately thought of the image of a fallen angel. He fell for Kinn and goes to hell for it. Everything is dark and green like poison. Porsche is naked, looking innocent, while Kinn wears black, he is the devil. Porsche is the victim of Kinn's uncontroled anger in the first place and Kinn really hurt his heart heavily. Porsche showed vulnerability but was met with coldness, so he would be a fallen angel. He was once happily in love and his love let him shine but right now his love dropped him and he fell far.

The mirror takes up even more of the screen while Kinn apologizes. A simple "I'm sorry" and the camera returns to his real side profile. Only Porsche is left in the mirror. Kinn did his part, he apologized and it's now on Porsche's part if he wants to give in or not. If he wants to escape the mirror or find comfort in his newly found identity of a fallen angel.

When Porsche turns around, the light behind them shines so brightly, it symbolizes heaven. A lover can be the devil and god at the same time. If you fight, it's hell. But when you love, it's heaven. This whole scene symbolizes the balance between them and their power dynamic. How strong their bond is and how much power they have over each other, how much power they give one another, how much power they allow the other to take.

It's very euphoric while the light is seen. They have sex and "reach heaven" for a second there. But then they calm down and love is all that's left.

[oro-e-diamanti]

The one where Damiano leaves for tour

Description | Damiano is leaving but before he does, he is sure to give you one last taste of himself.

Content | Smut - filthy, filthy smut

Pairing | Damiano x fem!Reader

Word Count | 2123

Taglist | @mywritingonlyfans @ethaneskin @ginny-lily @tabi-toast @mnskin @ohtorchio

***

You were awoken by a harsh slap to your bare butt. Your first instinct was to sit up but you soon realised that wasn't going to happen - you were lying on your front with your hands tied behind your back. Looking to your right you immediately found the culprit.

Damiano was standing next to the bed, completely naked, staring down at you with a dangerous smirk on his face. How on earth had the bastard managed to do that to you while you were asleep? You didn't even consider yourself a heavy sleeper, so this was rather impressive. Then again, you didn't really feel like complaining. There was something dangerous, something exciting about Damiano deciding to be the dominant one for once.

"Good morning, bellezza. Hope you're well-rested."

"Don't you have a bus to catch?" You challenged. You knew he had gained the upper hand long ago - in fact, he had done so the very moment he had decided to eliminate the use of your arms - but neither of you minded the little game.

"Oh, I do. Which is why you have very little time to make sure I remember you and your sweet body while I tour all over Europe for the next two weeks."

"And how exactly do you expect me to do that?"

Damiano didn't answer as he stared down at you. Instead, he slowly let his hand travel down his body, purposely putting on a show the way he sometimes did on stage, before grasping his cock and giving himself a few strokes. You tried wriggling in your restraints to no avail. It bothered you that he was standing next to you in all his naked glory while you were still clad in the shirt you slept in and a pair of skimpy panties. You were dying to touch him, run your hands over his skin, kiss where he needed you most, but he had other plans.

In slow, calculated moves, he started walking around the bed, vanishing from your field of vision. You desperately tried to turn around to catch a glimpse of what he was doing, but the silk rope around your wrists had you moving clumsily and without proper direction. As much as you wanted to hate it, you couldn't deny the excitement that came with it. The restraint, the fact that you didn't know what was coming. So naturally, it caught you off guard when another slap landed on your bum. Your gasp was quickly replaced by a quiet moan as both of his hands started squeezing the soft flesh of your buttocks, massaging them roughly. You could feel him push your panties upward to expose more of your skin, but it only ended up giving you delicious friction between your thighs as the fabric slid up your pussy. It was beyond you how he had gotten you so turned on so quickly.

"Don't you dare be quiet," he suddenly said from behind you. You could feel the mattress dip as he moved onto the bed, straddling your legs, his bare skin touching yours. "I want to hear every moan load and clear, understood?"

You barely whimpered out a yes when you felt his cock hard and heavy, resting on your butt. Your fingers were dying to reach for him, touch him, feel the weight of him in your palm, stroke him the way you knew he liked, but you had no choice. You were at his mercy, awaiting whatever he was planning to do with you.

Damiano's fingers trailed between your legs, softly rubbing your slit over your underwear and you were certain that a wet patch was forming rapidly. You craved more, a more intimate touch, more skin, a deeper feeling, but before you could even consider voicing your thoughts, he backed off. He started leaning over you, careful not to put too much of his weight on you, until his mouth was next to your ear.

"Enjoy it while you can because I'm not letting you come any time soon."

His low voice sent shivers down your spine, just as his movements did when his cock started rubbing on your behind. A whimper escaped your lips, the anticipation becoming too much. He got onto his knees, roughly pulling you up by your waist until your butt was sticking up in the air. Your attempts to hold yourself up were futile and your face was pressed into the mattress below you. This new position left you with even less of a chance to control your own body, leaving him to decide all your movements as your face was roughly rubbing against the sheets. You couldn't deny it - this was hot.

Damiano kicked your knees apart to make some space for himself as he slid his cock in between your legs and up against your pussy, before he started moving. Every thrusting motion seemed to be accompanied by a light slap to your flesh and you found yourself jerking forward every time his cock brushed against your clit through the fabric of your underwear. You couldn't contain your moans even if you had tried.

Suddenly his hand grasped your hair in a tight ponytail, yanking you upwards, his other hand quick to support your upper body as it left the mattress until you were seated on his lap. He was relentlessly thrusting up at you, your legs situated on either side of his. You were quickly turning into a sweaty mess, heat erupting from every pore of your body, especially knowing that Damiano was not going to let your release any time soon. His mouth was too close to your ear and his groans were sending you on another high, getting you closer and more worked up but never quite enough.

His hand wound himself around your front, lightly grasping at your throat, applying just enough pressure to take away your breath for a second at a time. You loved the feel of his fingers on you.

"I think I should leave you with a few souvenirs before I go just so you don't forget who you belong to."

His mouth was now attached to your neck, sucking and biting and unquestionably leaving an array of marks on you. You desperately wanted to bury your hands in his hair, pull on it, push him towards you, but your wrists were still bound, trapping your arms between the both of you. Usually, you'd tell him off, mad that he would mark you in places so hard to hide, but you wouldn't see him for two weeks. For once, he was allowed to do as he pleased. Your fingers started gingerly touching his belly, the only thing you could reach, but it wasn't enough.

His lips and teeth were still working their magic when his hands grasped onto your breasts. He easily found your nipples through the fabric of your shirt, giving little pinches before soothing them over with the palm of his hand. You were positively losing your mind, hot flashes running through you with every move he made. Every pinch had you gasping and shaking in his arms. He was touching you too much and not enough all at the same time. If only he would finally get you naked.

Your wishes were not heard - or simply ignored. Damiano noticed you getting increasingly restless though and in one sweeping motion, he had pushed you off his lap and let go of your completely. A coldness enveloped your sweaty skin immediately, leaving you in shivers.

"Turn around so I can see your face."

It felt clumsy, staying on your knees and shuffling around, but Damiano didn't seem to mind. Upon finally seeing his face again, you realised just how into this he was and judging from your situation, you couldn't blame him. His face already looked positively fucked out. Eyes dark and hooded, lips puffed from the treatment he had been giving your neck, hair all over the place. He had never looked more gorgeous to you and it filled you with a sense of pride knowing that only you could put him into this state. Your eyes wandered down his body, taking in every single one of his features and tattoos, before landing on his cock. He was impossibly hard.

Damiano came closer to you, your head now at cock-level, and it was painfully obvious where he wanted you. You didn't hesitate. Looking up at him through your lashes you willingly opened your mouth, an obvious sign of consent in anticipation of his next move. He didn't hesitate either, guiding his hard flesh between your lips. His groan sounded like music to your ears.

You eagerly sucked him, giving him everything you had, letting go and letting your tongue run up and down his shaft before swallowing him again. Damiano's hand wandered into your hair once more, carefully pushing you further onto him. Your eyes met his for a moment, telling him everything he needed to know, telling him you were willing to get him there. You ceased your movements, opening wide and let him take over. His hand was guiding your head as he thrust into your mouth, pushing his cock in deeper than before, making you deepthroat him. Tears were forming in the corners of your eyes from the intrusion and the strain and yet you had never felt sexier in your life. His other hand quickly caught a single drop that escaped, softly stroking your cheek as he continued to move into you. You pushed your thighs together as tightly as possible, chasing some sort of friction, clenching around nothing, but it just wasn't enough.

You knew he was close, aware of all the little signs you had grown to love so much in the time you had been with him. The way his movements became more irregular, the specific kind of high-pitched moans escaping his mouth, the way his eyes fluttered closed even when he tried to keep them open. You prepared yourself for his orgasm, willing to ride him through it, but he had other plans.

You were already embracing his impeding high, but he wrecked himself away from your mouth, roughly grabbing your shirt and pushing it upwards over your breasts. You arched towards him as he stroked himself two, three more times before finishing on you.

"Fuck," he groaned, eyes closed as relief and euphoria seeped through his veins. You felt like dying. Seeing him finish, and on your breasts nonetheless, had gotten you so wet, you were convinced your panties were completely soaked through at this point. As he opened his eyes again, he smirked down at you. You were aching all over, both from the position you were in and the fact that you still hadn't gotten any release.

In a quick move, Damiano grabbed your legs, shifting you from kneeling to sitting on the edge of the bed. As he knelt down between your legs, you were ready to transcend to heaven - or into a mindblowing orgasm, whichever came first. He placed hot, wet kisses along the inside of your calves, your thighs, getting closer to where you needed him most, spreading your legs, finally reaching your pussy.

His sneer didn't promise anything good. He slowly dragged your panties down your legs, fingers grazing your skin and leaving trails of goosebumps. You could see the massive wet patch as he held the fabric in his hands.

Then he stood up. Threw your underwear into his bag. And started dressing.

"Damiano, what the fuck?!"

This was unbelievable. Would he seriously go and leave now? Surely not, right? You were literally sitting on your bed, hands still tied, your wetness now probably dripping down onto the sheets, your breasts still covered in his fluids, and he was calmly putting on his clothes.

"Right, I gotta go," he said, nonchalantly, as if this was completely normal and not borderline insane. He moved around you to untie your hands, put a quick kiss to your mouth, and you briefly considered slapping him.

"No, no way you're doing this to me," you protested, trying to get up but failing, your legs still shaky. "You are not going to turn me on like this, use me, come on me and then leave?!"

"Well, I'm very sorry, bellezza." He didn't sound sorry at all. "But the bus is waiting and I've got a tour to go on."

Damiano walked away from you, just briefly stopping in the doorway to turn back towards you one more time.

"Oh, and remember the rules. No touching yourself while I'm away unless you're on the phone to me. I'll call you tonight. Maybe. And thanks for the souvenir."

You had never hated your boyfriend more.

[ticklish-touch]

Trapped in the Backrooms - Ch 11: Blank Slate

(Mild horror & violence, depression & existentialism, tickling)

Now separated from Ragaeli, you must team up with a reluctant group of allies to navigate a lonely, harrowing collection of tunnels. Tensions are high, and hopes are low. But you can't give up yet. After all, your emotional cry for help might reach out to a much-needed source of guidance and comfort...

(Chapter themes: "White Winter Hymnal" - Fleet Foxes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE

"Inspiriting" - Ori and the Blind Forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKN-NCiYEsM )

          The fall nearly knocked you unconscious. You collapsed onto the hard ground below, the wind briefly knocked out of you, your vision blurring. 

          After taking a few moments to compose yourself, you lifted your head to survey the sights: You were in a mine shaft. Dirt tunnels surrounded you on all sides, wooden scaffolding and arches lined the walls that towered upwards into the darkness. The tunnel was very dimly lit by the occasional torch sconce; but the torches didn’t bear flames. They all had small bulbs of artificial fluorescent light, illuminating the walls in a way that made them appear slightly yellow; just like the fluorescents back in Level Zero.

          But there was no time to stand around. You and Ragaeli had been separated.

          You felt your heart pounding. Your breath was fast and harsh, and you immediately started to search the walls and ceiling for signs of an entrance, not wanting to believe that the massive plants from the greenhouse had shattered it. “RAGAELI!!” You craned your neck back to cry out into the darkness. “RAAAGS, ARE YOU THERE?! PLEASE TELL ME YOU CAN HEAR ME!!”

          But, as expected, no response.

          You held your pendant tightly. It wasn't a direct connection to him like the tether, but he did tell you in the past that, with enough concentration, you could use it to send out a mental cry for help.           …Except something didn't feel right. It didn't have its typical ceramic texture. It felt like a pumice stone.

          You glanced down and gasped in shock. The pendant was destroyed, looking like an old piece of lava rock, totally devoid of its red aura. In the scuffle with the plants, you hadn't noticed that they scorched the talisman with their light magic. It could no longer protect you.           You clutched it closely with your now trembling hand, gulping hard, feeling cold chills run up your spine, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. Now you were terrified. Almost as terrified as when you'd first seen the Scourge.

          You took a few deep breaths to try and calm yourself. You knew that panicking wouldn't make your situation any better. You'd been through so many Levels already, so many puzzles and perils that even a couple gods of this world were impressed by your drive. And Ragman had faith in you.

          The first step was to scout out the area. Carefully look around for anything out of place, keep yourself on your toes. You took one of the wall sconces with you to light your path and try to check the walls, ground and wooden beams for clues. You had to watch your footing around some of the bent, jagged mine cart tracks. Other sections of the ground had completely caved in, creating small chasms into the depths below.

          Anxiety still gnawed at your mind. Rags had been in the middle of a heated battle with that entire forest filled with light magic. You remembered the awful pained wails he let out just from a few zaps of sunlight. What if he couldn’t ward them off? What if they kept scalding and burning him until he was reduced to ashes?

          You shook your head fast. No, no, you couldn’t think about the worst outcome. You knew how damn stubborn and tough that lunatic was. He might have already managed to turn the greenhouse into a giant salad. Maybe he could find the Nymph and try to reason with her. Or coerce her. You were sure he was hellbent on finding you, so now you needed to do your part.

          Whenever you came across an alcove or tunnel, you carefully peeked inside. Some of them led down dirt tunnels that faded into pure darkness. Others, however, led into rooms, as if there were small houses and studio apartments tucked away inside the mine. There were living rooms, offices, a kitchen, an insanely cluttered attic. And somehow, these rooms had eerie grey light shining in from the windows.           You were still on edge, and felt like you didn't have time to do a full sweep of each room for clues, but you still quickly skimmed around for anything out of place. There was nothing really of note, just a lot of clutter. Open filing cabinets, broken-down piles of electronics, dusty boxes with old framed photos of unknown facelings.           Eventually, one of the mine tunnels led directly into a small, dimly-lit library. It felt cozy, and somewhat nostalgic. You spotted someone sitting on the armrest of one of the nearby couches, one leg crossed over another, reading quietly.

          Your breath hitched. It was the Keymaster.

          "You!!" You cautiously walked towards him. "You're the one I need to talk to! Why have you been following me around?"           He didn't answer, nor look away from his book.           You huffed in frustration. "Can you help me, or not?? I got separated from my friend, he's the only way we have any chance of–”

          "Your friend has created a right headache for me," he interrupted snidely. He had an indiscernible European accent. "I've no interest in helping reunite him with his accomplice."

          "Wha– That wasn't my fault!! He acted on his own!"

          "You're clever enough," He snipped again, his piercing turquoise eyes flicking up to meet yours. "Find your own way back to him." He snapped his book shut, stood from the chair, and vanished in a flash of golden light.

          "Gee, thanks, asshole," you muttered, then sighed and rubbed your head, momentarily taking a seat on the couch. Looks like the Sovereign was right: Rags had definitely pissed him off. It had felt cathartic in the moment, and undoubtedly sparked hope in people who otherwise had no clue how to proceed through the Backrooms. But admittedly, it was kind of biting you in the ass now.           “Guess I’ll just have to scold that brat once I track him down again,” you chuckled to yourself. You decided to at least try and give the room a glance-over.

          You nonchalantly scanned the bookshelves. Almost all of the books were grouped in identical-looking clusters, that repeated on every shelf in the same pattern. You picked up and opened a random book; the ‘writing’ was gibberish, and some letters overlapped each other or cut off completely, as if the press had badly misprinted, or a computer algorithm had attempted to recreate what a novel should look like.           Putting the book back and scanning the shelves again, there was one single book that caught your eye: a small, bright sapphire book with golden embroidery along the spine. It almost looked like a mini wizard’s tome. Every now and then, the pages would flash, like a holographic image, phasing into descriptions and illustrations of totally different environments. You recognized some of them as the rooms you’d been exploring. You decided to take it with you, putting it in your pocket.

          You headed back out into the mine, still feeling unsettled and on-edge; More so than before. The tense dread started to become so strong that you definitely felt like you could be in danger. It wasn’t the same as the spike of adrenaline and anticipation that you got hit with whenever the Nightmare was near. You frantically started to peer down the tunnels, hugging the wall, your heart rate increasing.

          And soon, you learned that you were right. An inhuman growl emanated from the tunnel right next to you. You barely had time to leap away before a massive, gnarly clawed hand shot out towards you to grab you, letting out a vicious, guttural snarl. You screamed and bolted in the other direction, trying to duck around crates, mine carts and wooden pillars to try and shake it off your trail. You probably shouldn’t have, but you turned to glance back at the creature: It looked like an unnaturally tall, horribly disfigured humanoid feature. Its skin looked leathery and rotten; its face was split vertically with a gaping mouth. Its roars and snarls were downright chilling.

          You tried to shove some loose wooden planks onto the floor to slow its pursuit. You even chucked a metal rod at its face, smacking it right across its skewed mouth. It sounded even more pissed off after that stunt.           You attempted to lose it inside one of the nearest rooms, which opened on a large restaurant kitchen. You swiftly duck-and-weaved around the kitchen counters, trying to cause a distraction by throwing pots and pans across the room.

          Your fake-out had worked; you’d gained a fair amount of distance between yourself and the entity. You zigzagged around scaffolding and crouched behind mine carts to ensure that it could no longer see you. You ducked into an alcove that had a small gap behind the wall, crouching down just in time for the beast to run past; thankfully without even stopping to investigate.           The minute you couldn’t hear the creature anymore, you gasped to regain your lost breath, taking a moment before shakily standing.           You were firmly yanked back by something behind you, wrapping its arms around you.

          You screamed and started kicking and elbowing, trying to spin around to deck the culprit in the face.           "Hey hey hey, easy!!" The man blocked your attempted attacks. "It's okay, you're okay." He was a tall, very muscular man with short, dark hair, a bit of a mullet, and green eyes, wearing a grey tanktop and baggy camouflage cargo pants. He had an ammunition belt and two guns at his waist, and was covered in scars.           You quickly settled down, your heart still pounding a little. "Jeez... Sorry about that."           "Don't worry about it. Don't blame you for being on edge." He turned to reveal that the dirt ‘wall’ behind you had opened up like a hidden doorway. He beckoned for you to quickly follow him down a series of narrow hallways. After the coast was clear, he clicked a small walkie-talkie. “Hey, we’ve got a new straggler. I’m bringing ‘em to the outpost. I need at least one of you to meet me halfway.”           After a few moments, another voice answered; the voice of an older woman. “Copy that.”

          The man sized you up for a minute. “You’re damn lucky I happened to be around. We haven’t fully scouted this quadrant yet. How the hell you avoided that thing without any kind of weapon is beyond me.” He shrugged and yanked at your sleeve. “C’mon, let’s keep moving.”

          The further you walked down the long, dark corridors, the more they began to shift in appearance. The dirt walls were slowly replaced by stone bricks, and the ground started to become bare, revealing concrete floors. The dim wall sconces were traded out for uncomfortably bright white overhead fluorescents. Metal pipes spanned all the way down the hall, forming a latticework a few feet above your head.

          “So, you have a base nearby?” You asked, trying to pass some of the awkward silence. But he only answered with more silence. “How long have you been down here?”           “We’ll all fill you in as soon as we get there,” he snapped back.           Sheesh, charming attitude… You tried not to judge, though. Your tensions were pretty high, too.           Halfway down the corridor, you heard a door open just behind you, and heard your name being called out, in a familiar female voice. Spinning around, you gasped.           "Jay?!"

          Sure enough, it was the half-reptilian woman from the first group of wanderers that you'd befriended. She looked worse for the wear, with tattered clothes, fresh scars on her face, and a heavily bandaged arm. "Shit, what happened? Are the others here, or...?"           She sighed and shook her head. "I'll... tell you when you get settled in."            “You know each other?” The man seemed shocked.           You nodded. “Yeah, pretty amazing that I’m actually seeing a familiar face.”           The brunette looked around. “So uh, where’s the crazy red devil?”           Your expression dropped, feeling sullen all over again.           “Oh, shit…” She patted your shoulder sympathetically. “I’m so sorry… Well if anyone could find his way back to you, it’s that lunatic.”           You chuckled. “Yeah, I hope so…”

          Jay and the man led you around a few twists and turns down the mine shaft. Neither of them were that talkative, save for a couple of them going over reconnaissance plans and daily tasks.           You all eventually got to a door that led into an… Office firm? It was a very dull, quiet office reminiscent of a doctor’s waiting room or a study center in a library, but much more spacious. There were cubicles with very old-fashioned computers, a couple small bookshelves, and hand-written diagrams and blueprints scattered about on some of the desks. There was bedding, camping tents, a TV and a fridge set up in the extra space.

          You saw three other people: An older black woman with a cane and a beautiful - albeit tattered - shawl and flowing dress pants, a slightly chubbier, olive-skinned man with a faux-hawk, glasses and five-o’-clock shadow, and a person with wavy strawberry-blonde hair, androgynous features, freckles and baggy sweats. The latter was huddled on a couch, drawing in a notebook. The woman was sitting at one of the computers, discussing something with the man. She was the first to notice you, and her voice was the one from the walkie-talkie. She offered you a sympathetic smile. “Well I’ll be. Glad to see you in one piece, dear. I hope Rory here didn’t jerk you around too much,” she chuckled.           The man leading you, Rory, rolled his eyes. “They’re lucky I happened to be scouting around.” He then nodded to the woman. “This is Grace,” he introduced her to you. “Loren,” he gestured to the man sitting with her, “and Elijah,” the person on the couch. “Now get settled, get off your feet. There’s some protein bars in the fridge, but you’d better not take more than two for now.”

          You got comfortable on one of the couches, trying to get your body to relax. You also tried to think of something to say to them as they all turned back to their tasks, leaving you feeling kind of…awkward. It wasn’t really the same as the first group that you and Rags had befriended, who had a strong camaraderie with one another. There was almost a sense of detachment between all of them. As if it was business as usual. A heavy sense of tension and melancholy hung in the air.

          “So, Jay… What happened?” You finally spoke up.

          She let out a long sigh, rubbing her temple, heading over to sit on a nearby chair. "...Cian upgraded our communication radios a couple hours after you and your devil buddy left. They thought they picked up on a lead for a different way to get past the lab Level. Venali, Ramon and I all headed out, but..." she growled and gripped her hair. "I got in over my head. Thought I could take on a Partygoer, convinced the other two to head back to base. The fucker slashed me up pretty good," she gestured with her arm. "Damn freak tossed me down a stairway right into a different Level.” She let out an annoyed hiss.            “I ended up in some creepy-ass circus with a bunch of clowns. Literally. Clown entities, can you believe that? Guess everything is possible here,” she scoffed. “About lost my shit when one shaped like a living beach ball came flying and shrieking out of nowhere.”           You couldn't help but snort to yourself. Yup, that was Dazzle. "I met them too, actually.”           "Wha– Really??"           You nodded, listing off their names and features to prove it.           She looked dumbfounded. "I'll be damned. So we just missed each other?!"           "Guess so," you shrugged, then started to ponder. "They're really not that bad, y'know, they're just...Scared. They've been hurt by wanderers in the past. They all just want to have fun."           She sighed. "Yeah... I thought about that after they ran me right out of the Level. I just... Don't ever want to let my guard down again after the way I fucked up." She let out a low hiss. “Too many entities out there that want to merc our asses on sight.”           “Hm…” You frowned sympathetically. “Well, what about you guys? How’d you end up here if you don’t mind me asking?”           “Well, we all kinda just ended up getting… Dumped here,” Loren started. “Rory was first, then Grace, then Elijah. Then me. Jay's only been with us for a few hours.”           Grace's brow furrowed and she looked down in deep thought. “It’s… a little fuzzy, all I really remember was walking through a maze of party rooms, with terrible music. Then an old high school that needed some real TLC. And then a field full of houses. One door led to the next, and next thing I know I'm nearly getting eaten alive by a monstrosity out in those mines. Gave it a few good whacks, though," she slammed her cane down on the floor to demonstrate. “Rory here might be a hardass, but… He still saved me." Loren smirked to Rory. “Wanna remind us how you got dumped down a laundry chute?”           Jay and Grace snickered to themselves.           “Oh shut up,” Rory barked back at Loren. “At least I’m not the dumbass who blasted his own way into the mines.”           “I told you, that’s not what happened!!”           “Oh quit denying it, already,” Rory scoffed. “We all heard the explosion.”

          “Yes, an explosion I had no control over!!” He snapped back. “Children,” Grace banged her cane on the floor.           You turned to Elijah to try and avoid more quarreling. “What about you…?”           “Don’t want to talk about it.” They quickly answered, turning back to their sketchbook.           “Your turn,” Rory turned his attention back to you. “You seem like you’ve been traveling around this hellscape for a while. What’s your story?”           “Well…” You didn’t really know where to begin. But you could tell by his tone that he was cautious. Maybe all of them were. “You… Might not believe me.”           “Try me,” Rory grunted.           “Heh, if you say so…”           You started by lifting your pendant out of your shirt collar, stroking it in your palm. You explained how you fell into the Backrooms with Ragaeli. You explained how his warping powers were a big reason that you were able to survive at all. You were… A bit too shy to explain his true powers to a group of strangers. It would have been easier if he could be there to show them himself.

          “...I'd say that sounds like a load of bull," Loren quipped, "But if there's magic exploding clowns out there, then I guess it's not too far-fetched."           “I’ll be…” Grace contemplated thoughtfully. “Sounds like you’ve got a guardian angel of sorts.”           “Pffft– if that’s what you want to call him,” you chuckled a little. “In any case… We’ve been separated. Doesn’t matter how strong he is, his connection to me got cut off.” 

          “Well…” Jay perked up. “If communication is the issue, maybe we could help. These guys are trying to repair a radio station that used to be able to reach out to a bunch of other outposts before a fuckin Slasher destroyed it.” She brought over a blueprint and some photos of a small, broken-down radio tower. “These guys say it’s the best chance I have at getting back in touch with everyone, so maybe we can relay a message around to other outposts to keep an eye out for your buddy."           You nodded. “Well, it’s definitely a start… Maybe I could help you guys look around for parts?”           “Yeah, maybe!” Jay smiled.           “Well, boss man, what d’you think?” Loren looked over to Rory.

          The man stayed quiet for a minute, arms folded, tapping his boot impatiently on the ground. “....Tell you what,” he started. “I’ll let you help us out. If you tell us everything you already know. Tell us where you’ve been, how you figured out exits, tell me more about this ‘magic’ friend of yours.”

          And so, you explained everything. How the Nightmare protected you through each Level, how you had to strategically find clues while narrowly avoiding danger, how you came across entities like the Jester and the Sovereign. Grace and Elijah looked dumbfounded, and super curious. Loren and Rory looked skeptical. At least, until you got to explaining how he made an announcement to the Backrooms about the piece of information that could help every Wanderer: Finding and talking to the Keymaster.

          "Wait..." Loren's eyes went wide in realization. “That was him??" He looked incredulously to Jay. "That's the entity you were talking about??"           She nodded. "Told ya."           "And I saw the Keymaster," you continued. "Out in the mines, in the library. But he disappeared before I could ask him anything..." You frowned, then pulled out the blue book. "But I did find this." Loren took it, flipping through it, his eyes going wide. "Wow...This is... These are all rooms out in the mines!" He passed it to Grace to give her a look, then Rory. "How'd you find it?? We've looked in that library dozens of times!"

You shrugged. "I just... Did. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to always be aware here. Always look for anything out of place. These Levels will really try to trip you up with all the repetition." "Well, in any case, this will be wonderfully helpful to us," Grace smiled. "Thank you, dear."

           Rory scratched his chin. "So you've been getting wrapped up with a bunch of super-powered freaks, you coincidentally happen across someone you already know, your entity companion announced his presence across the whole damn world, you're finding important shit in the span of a few minutes that we've been trying to find for weeks." He narrowed his gaze. "How do we know you're really on our side?"           "Rory," Grace glared.           "Listen, we gotta look out for ourselves too. It's bad enough trying to fight off these monsters on our own, last thing we need is a bunch of so-called gods tracking us down."

          You shook your head fast. "I really don't think they will! The Sovereign confirmed that the way Rags did things was the best way to avoid trouble." You sighed. "Look, I know this is a lot of weird shit all at once, but he really does want to help people. I want to help you guys if I can."

          "Listen, dude, you don't need to be paranoid," Jay backed you up. "They helped me and my friends out even though they're the ones who didn't have any kind of base camp or equipment. Their buddy Reggie isn't like anything or anyone I've ever seen. He wants to fight for us." She folded her arms. "They gave you what you wanted, so let's get going already! Let's show 'em what we have so far and start hunting around for what we need."           Rory seemed hesitant, but eventually he relented and stood up, waving you to follow. "You're gonna stay close to us, and do what I say so you don't get your ass chewed out there. Got it?"           You frowned. "...Understood." Usually, you wouldn't mind being bossed around by a handsome buff guy. But his tone just rubbed you the wrong way. It was clear he still didn't trust you. He seemed to see you as a threat, a liability; similar to how the Order viewed Rags. Well hopefully, when he could see you were just genuinely trying to help, he would come around.

          You all headed out a door at the other end of the office. It didn't lead to a mine tunnel this time, but to a staircase down into a dingy, eerie maintenance tunnel, with white walls and grey concrete floors. It smelled vaguely of mildew and drywall, and it was uncomfortably spacious.  Weirdly, the next hallway was completely lined with appliances. Dishwashers, refrigerators, ovens... Most of which were partially broken-down or taken apart. Loren saw your confusion and chuckled. "They make for good salvage, so we just leave 'em here when we need parts."

        You soon got to the communication room, where a twenty-foot-tall radio tower stood. It was in massive disrepair, looking like someone had taken a wrecking ball to it. The command console, which also doubled as a surveillance station, wasn't much better. Some of the screens were damaged beyond repair, and there was loose wiring everywhere. Rory waved you over to a nearby wall, gesturing to a huge, intricate series of maps and blueprints. "Here's what we got. Obviously this place is fuckin' huge. But we've managed to get some pretty good salvage from the south-eastern quadrants of the mines." He pointed out all the mark-ups and circles in various "rooms". “These spots have been tricky," he pointed up toward the middle-right portion of the map, which looked like a science lab. "But at least they're more feasible than whatever the hell is going on with the bottomless pit here," he pointed to a drawing of a circular chasm. "We started building a sort of pulley system to get down into that pit," Loren explained to you. "But there's... something down there. Something huge." He pointed at the drawing of an amorphous blob at the bottom of the chasm, looking a bit like a typical silhouette of a sleep paralysis demon. "I'm not really fixing to lower any of us down into a death trap."

          Rory nodded. "Alright then, here's how we'll do it. You and Jay head back to the mines. Grace and Loren can do another sweep in the computer labs, but don't spend too long there. Start heading further north without disturbing Smiler territory. And keep an eye out for this fucker," He pointed to a sketch of a grotesque humanoid, wearing a mask seemingly composed of stitched-together body parts. "This is what Jay was talking about. Its lackeys are the ones who coordinated an attack on the tower."           "Elijah," he gestured to the blonde, "Stay here and monitor the feeds. Call us if you see anything pop up. Especially if we get any kind of feedback from the radios." He tapped his hand on the journal. "We'll have you collab with Loren to fill out the blueprints more when we get back." His scowl became more serious. "Pay. Attention. Mope around all you want on your own time, but right now, you stay at this chair."           "Right.." the blonde chuckled dryly. "Cause that's all I'm really good for, yeah?"           "He doesn't mean it that way, honey," Grace frowned sadly. "We know you're hurting. But you can still make a difference for all of us."           Elijah rolled their eyes. "Whatever."

          Once the group had a game plan, you headed out into the mine with Jay. She charged forward with purpose, walking with a swagger and clenched fists. You had to speedwalk to keep up with her. "So you really got through that gauntlet in one piece, huh?" She looked back to you. "I knew you were a tough cookie."           You thought back to the vivid red hallway, a multitude of monsters and entities being commanded like a cavalry to hunt you down and tickle you half to death, while that crazy nightmare's maniacal laugh echoed after you… You shivered and cleared your throat. “S-Sure did. Couldn’t have done it without Rags though…” A few more minutes passed. Jay seemed tense, her guard fully up and ready to defend from any potential entity attack.

          You tried to lighten the mood. "...So uh, what's Rory's problem?"           "Eh, dunno," she shrugged. "He won't tell anyone much about himself. Just that he was a military brat before he got discharged."           "...That suddenly makes sense." You and Jay both laughed.           "All of these guys are a total mess, 'cept maybe Grace," she continued. "Kinda reminds me of how all my buddies started off. We were hopeless, heh."           "How'd you end up working things out?"

          "Time, mainly. Time and communication." She finally slowed her strenuous pace a little. "When people realize that they have some common ground, it makes 'em more willing to open up. We were all stragglers once. Lost, afraid, and and angry." Her brow furrowed. "And now I'm pissed all over again..." She let out a loud huff and marched forward again, punching a nearby metal grate in frustration. "They'd better fucking be okay."

          You could definitely understand her anger. You were furious that the forest had totally turned on you and Rags at the last minute. You were angry that the dimension itself was barely even giving him a chance. For such a chaotic world, they sure were ill-equipped to handle a force of chaos that just wanted to have fun and take a stand against bullshit.

          You all eventually met halfway, showing your haul of metal and machinery, watching Loren and Grace bounce ideas and engineering jargon off of each other. You'd regroup by the communicators, taking time to freshen up with snacks and almond water, while Loren and Jay labored away at getting parts attached and re-wired. You all stayed in close contact with your walkie-talkies. "...Look at this..." Elijah had piped in when you all met up in the communications room for the second time, pointing to one of the journal pages. It showed what looked like a prison cell in a dingy dungeon, with a... computer tower? "A dungeon, huh? Haven't seen one of those yet..." Loren scratched his scruff. "This place really is a labyrinth. Could come in handy, though."

          You occasionally mixed up the grouping, heading out with Loren or Grace. Rory didn't seem willing to pair up with you yet, Elijah was still camping out in the communications room, starting to add sketches to the blueprints, and Loren was very much in his own head. Even though you and Jay were already on friendly terms, she wasn't in a very talkative mood. Truth be told, neither were you. An uncomfortable sense of tension and isolation hung in the air whenever you passed through the eerie, barren maintenance tunnels. Dread loomed over you whenever you passed through the mine shafts, knowing that, at any minute, you could get jumped by a dangerous entity.

         Grace was the only one that seemed interested in your well-being and story, offering comfort and positive affirmations. She even apologized for being nosey, but you explained that it felt nice to have a normal conversation; especially with someone so sweet.         “I appreciate that, dear,” she smiled, her face crinkling with crow’s feet. “I’ll admit, it can be… difficult to stay positive in a crazy place like this. But the way I see it… Staying positive in the face of hopelessness is the only way we can move on sometimes. The sooner we accept there are going to be ordeals that’ll try to beat us down, the sooner we can start acting to overcome those trials.” She paused to roll up her pant leg, revealing her prosthetic leg. “At some point I accepted this as a gift, not an ailment. That fire will never leave my memory…” She winced a little, letting her pant leg go. “But neither will the kindness of people who reached out to me after the fact.” She patted your shoulder, smiling warmly. “Hang onto that kindness of yours, honey.”

          It felt like ages had passed. Ten, twenty, thirty minutes... An hour... Two hours. The more time passed, the more anxious you became. Ragaeli had said he only had a couple hours left at most. But whenever you asked the time, they showed you that it had only been a few minutes. You were skeptical and wondered if their watches were all broken.           "Time dilation," Loren finally explained. "I still don't get how it works. I was skeptical at first too. But my equipment isn't wrong, time really is warped here. Five minutes in real-time passes by like an hour."           "... Weird..." That was very similar to how the Dream and Nightmare realms worked. It'd be nice if there could be some kind of connection. Some kind of weak spot in space-time or... Something. Anything that could give you a chance to connect back to Rags. Or maybe even Kenni.

          During your reconnaissance, you couldn't help but think of how the brat would behave if he were here. He'd dress up in some goofy-ass mining uniform and ditch his hard-hat by chucking it at a skin stealer's face. He'd drag you into one of the mine carts and send you both careening down the tracks and hopping over chasms Donkey Kong-style. And he'd sure as hell spring tickle-attacks on the group to get them to lighten up. This group needed a way to loosen up. You didn't have enough power and sheer lunacy to be that much of an agent of chaos, but maybe you could manage to sneak some tickle-attacks here and there if the opportunity arose…

Occasionally, the sentence spoken to you by the sentient rainforest echoed through your mind. "He is lying to you." You didn't want to believe it. You wondered if it was a last-ditch effort from the forest, from the Backrooms as a whole, to make you lose your trust in Rags and want to separate yourself from him. If so, it wasn't going to work. Whatever it is that the Nightmare might be keeping from you, you were still going to win this battle alongside him.

You miraculously came back from your mission unscathed, with a computer chip that could hopefully serve to get the radio operational. It was time to start piecing everything together. You helped from ground level, learning quite a bit about how to re-wire a motherboard. Rory soldered panels together, Loren and Grace devised a coding algorithm, Jay climbed up onto the tower to repair scaffolding and the antenna. Your team's misadventures gave you all something to talk about together for once, breaking the tension and awkwardness that had hung over you this entire time. The conversation went from your reconnaissance to more tales of your lives on Earth. You learned that Loren was working his way to a master's degree in engineering and computer programming. Grace had once been a well-known author in her town, and owned a horse ranch. Jay had always struggled to conceal her identity as half-reptilian, often getting into cage matches as a teen where she could vent her aggression and conceal herself behind the guise of 'costume makeup.' Rory and Elijah still wouldn't open up much, but Rory finally seemed to let his guard down for once. Everyone, even Elijah, watched with baited breath as the console lights, and the radio tower antennae, started to flicker to life. Loren frantically typed out commands. "Hhhh, no no no..." he grumbled to himself. All of the screens started to shift from green to red. All of the camera feeds completely cut to static.

𝙵𝙰𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝙴𝚁𝚁𝙾𝚁.

"NO!!" Loren slammed his fist down on a bare portion of the console. Rory growled and marched away, taking his boot to a nearby appliance. "FUCK." Jay harshly toppled a chair over. Elijah sighed, looking defeated all over again, shuffling over to plop down on the couch. Grace sighed and looked a little resigned, but her expression was more sympathetic than upset. "No... It'll be fine..." Loren tried frantically to type in more commands, to no avail. "I didn't mis-calculate anything..." He clutched the sides of his head, leaning his elbows on the console, his voice becoming shaky. "I...I-I can't mess up like this again..." Rory sighed and came over to pat him on the shoulder. "Knock it off. You did what you could. We all did." He glanced over to you, a contemplative look in his eye. "Yeah, dude," Jay leaned her hand on the console. "Don't beat yourself up. Could be an internal issue, not a programming fluke." "Tell you what." Rory spoke up to everyone. "Lets head back to the Checkpoint for now. We've all been running our asses off trying to get parts. Get refreshed, try to get rest. We'll try again later." "What's the point??" Elijah barked, stomping their foot. Their raised tone of voice caught everyone by surprise. "It's obvious we're meant to stay stuck here! End of the line!! Why should we keep risking our lives for something that might not even work?!" "Because the moment we give up, we might as well forfeit our lives!" Rory barked back. "You can't let a setback like this send you running with your tail tucked, or you'll get blown apart on the spot." Elijah shook their head, trying to fight off tears. "Life's nothing but setbacks..." With that, they stormed out, starting to head back to the office building. Rory sighed and shook his head. He, Loren and Jay all followed suit, heading back to the Checkpoint. You and Grace were the last ones in the control room. She took a seat down at one of the chairs. "I had a feeling things might end up this way..." she commented quietly, looking up at the tower. "I don't think it's a healthy mindset to put all our stock in one possible solution." She glanced over to you. "Honey... I appreciate your help. I truly do. But maybe, for now, you ought to try and find contentment in what we have to offer." She reached out to take your hand, smiling sadly, but sympathetically. "Now, I don't ever want to suggest giving up. But...I don't think anyone here is willing to accept that there are things we can be grateful for. We have resources. We have each other. We have safety. Not a single one of those demons out there can set foot in our little office." She shook her head slowly. "Like I said... It's only when we accept that there's going to be ordeals that are out of our control that we'll find hope in the dark." She squeezed your hand. "I dread to think that you can't be reunited with your friend, but...if that ends up being the case, please know that you can rely on us. You can always tell ol' Mama Grace anything that's on your mind."             Your heart sank at the implications of her words; that you should just accept that you may be stuck here, forever... You didn't want to consider that an outcome. But maybe she was right. You felt tears well to your eyes. You felt empty on your walk back to the office building. There had to be something, some way to get out of this prison, and make sure Ragaeli was okay... Just like that, everyone was separated again, off in their own corners of the office, keeping to themselves. A somber silence hung in the air.

          You spotted Elijah curled up on their couch. You realized that, in all this time, you hadn’t really gotten the chance to speak to them one-on-one yet. Part of you didn’t want to bother them, but you didn’t want to just ignore them, either. They really seemed defeated by the radio failure. You took a seat in a chair across from them. They glanced up at you and offered the smallest hint of a smile before going back to drawing.           “...So those blueprint sketches are all yours, right?”           They nodded. "Can I see some of your other art? If you don't mind." They flipped to one of their drawings and held it up for you. The page was full of very lovely, realistic sketches of birds, most of which were holding or wearing jewelry. The details of the gemstones were immaculate.           “Oh wow, those look great!”           “Thank you.”           “...I know you don’t know me very well, but you’re welcome to get things off your chest if you’d like.”           “...I appreciate it.” They shrugged. “But what’s to tell? Depression's a bitch. Life's a bitch. Finally worked my way toward some stability, got to move into my own place where I finally felt like I could be at peace, and then... I wind up here.” They tried to hide their face under their hair. “Life really said ‘Fuck you' for wanting to be happy for once.” Their voice became shaky. "And now it's happening again."

          “I’m so sorry…” You wanted to reach out to comfort them. “Well... I know we probably won’t be able to get in contact with Earth, but maybe when we get that radio working, we can find more people to get together with, and have a better chance at building up a better community and support system."         “And what if it doesn’t work?” They spoke up. “Can you really say that things will turn out alright?"

          You thought about how to answer that question. Of course you wanted to say yes, but somehow, you felt like it wouldn't help them.

          "Well... No, I can't. No-one can know or say for sure if things will be alright. But I mean... I don't think that means we should just give up, either. We deserve to hang onto things that make us happy, even if things seem hopeless." You frowned as you gently stroked a thumb over Rags’ damaged pendant. "That... doesn't mean we have to force ourselves to be happy, either." You gently placed a hand on their shoulder. "It's okay to feel hopeless, or depressed, or angry. Just know that you can work through it."           Elijah looked you in the eye, staring in surprise. "...No-one has ever told me that before..." They teared up a little, smiling. "Thank you... Finally someone gets it." They sighed, shifting to sit upright. "I just feel... Useless. All I can get myself to do is draw some blueprints and watch cameras while you guys all do the brave stuff." They chuckled dryly. "Y'know I used to go rock climbing? Skiing? Bungee jumping? Used to have the energy. Now thinking about doing anything fun makes me sick. Like my brain already expects it to go wrong. Even doing the one thing I love doesn't really make me happy anymore. And that scares me..."

You frowned sadly, sitting back in your chair, looking out to the direction of one of the bleak white windows. "Yeah... It sucks when doing things we love end up feeling like just... Distractions from the bigger picture. We shouldn't have to be okay with living in a Hellscape, being told to eat shit sandwiches and treat them like a gourmet meal. But when it comes down to it, no-one can tell you why or how to keep moving forward except for you. And if part of the process of finding that answer means bundling up in bed every day, screaming, crying and wishing things were different, that's just as valid. It's still progress. Even if it doesn't feel like it."

Everyone else had turned their attention to both of you, taking in the conversation. Elijah slowly nodded, reaching under their wavy bangs to wipe tears from their eyes. "I-I'm trying so hard to find that answer, I really am... I just... don't want everyone to see me as the depressed sack of shit that gets in the way, or brings down the mood..." They sniffled. "I-it's just... So hard, y'know? Realizing I may never see my family or friends again, knowing all that time and struggle to be happy was all just a waste…”

          “Hey, it was not a waste,” you spoke up. “I think it’s very telling that you fought to gain that happiness in the first place. Even when things felt hopeless, you still kept going. That’s worth something, right?”

          “...Yeah… Maybe.” You saw a soft smile cross their face.

          "Alright, guys," Rory spoke up. “Get some rest. All of you. We’re gettin’ this damn radio built one way or another and we all need to be at the top of our game.”           Elijah placed their notebook on the floor and nestled further into the couch. The others followed suit; Loren helped Grace get settled onto one of the folding cots, before he and Jay crawled into a couple of the tents.

        Rest?? There was no way you could go to sleep at a time like this. Even with the time dilation, you were still on the clock. But… It had been a while since you’d been able to sleep. You were sore all over from all the running, lifting, fighting. You were very mentally drained. Even something as shoddy as the blow-up mattress with dingy blankets looked very inviting.            Loren noticed your hesitancy. “I got an alarm set, don’t worry. Two minutes, two hours of rest.”

          You nodded, finally relenting. You got comfy on the blanket pile, yawning again, laying on your back to contemplate the white, mundane ceiling for a few minutes, before your eyelids drifted shut…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          From the depths of the darkness, you heard a voice speaking your name. A very deep, soothing male voice, speaking barely above a whisper.

          He called your name, several times, growing louder each time, but never outright shouting. But it was enough to start pulling you out of your brain haze. Your vision cleared to see that you were standing in a clearing of a forest filled with willow trees, painted in light pastel hues. The lilac-colored grass beneath your feet was nearly as soft as a sherpa throw rug. A gentle breeze passed by, the rustling of willow branches emanating the sound of wind-chimes. You knew exactly where you were: The Dream realm.           ...Sort of. You were stuck behind some type of barrier, not letting you proceed forward, and obscuring your vision from the rest of the field behind you. Pushing your hand against the forcefield felt like pressing against a thin elastic membrane.

          Soon, the misty air started swirling around, forming a column of clouds just ahead of you, which lit up in a soft, aquamarine light and began to take on a familiar silhouette. Stepping out of the clouds was none other than Kenisime, the Dream entity, the embodiment of knismesis. Light seafoam skin, fluffy silver hair, very dark eyes that shimmered like gemstones. He wore a Fae-like outfit with a fluffy-trimmed vest, long flowing silk sleeves, a grassy skirt over a pair of knee-high pants, with leotard leggings leading into stirrups. Many white, fluffy tendrils of feathers draped down from his back, and three bird-like tailfeathers curled behind him.           “KENNI!!” You cried out, feeling your eyes tearing up. Out of instinct, you tried to run forward to give him a hug - but, again, you were bounced back from the barrier like running face-first into a screen door. "OOF-" You sighed in frustration. "Kenni! How're you here?? Rags said you wouldn't be able to reach out to us!!"

          The Dreamie smiled sadly, taking a few steps forward, placing his hand against the barrier. "I'm... afraid I can't reach you, dear. Not entirely. I've been trying for hours to seek you out...I've finally found an opening, however small." He offered you a compassionate smile. "I'm just relieved to see that you're alright."           You nodded. "I'm okay, but Rags... H-he– we've been separated, and I don't know if..." You choked on your words. There was so much you needed to tell him recounting your harrowing journey, and the predicament you were in now.           He tried pushing against the membrane again, and with enough force, was able to slip his hand through to take yours; though it was apparent he was struggling against the energy field. "Shhhh, hon...Take a deep breath," he directed gently, stroking your palm with his thumb. "You're going to be alright. And so will he. If anyone can find a way out of a dire situation, it's that stubborn, crazy Nightmare."

          After seeing your expression soften, he let go of your hand and glided backwards. "It's such a... strange dimension you've ended up in. Rather frightening, in a way." He gave a wave of his hand, and the sky erupted with imagery of outer space, shimmering with colorful stars and swirling nebulas; but somehow, more mystical.           "Whoa..." Your eyes widened. "What's this...?"

"The Astral plane," Kenni explained. "The realm above all others; an overseeing of all life in the intertwining of all realities. I myself can only see a glimpse into the threshold, but..." He gestured to a prominent shape in the expanse. It was mostly transparent, and looked strangely like an amoeba. Its thin membrane was a sickly, pale yellow color…The same color as Level Zero. It looked fuzzy and angular at the edges, like glitching static on a television.           “It’s not actively trying to take from the universe, but it’s still growing at an alarming rate…” He pointed to the edges, where stars were slowly being drawn to the object’s gravitational pull, eventually getting sucked in. Some clusters of stars shimmered in pleasant, crystalline hues; others were sickly, brown and burgundy patches, looking a bit like dried blood and necrotized skin. Kenni then pointed out a prominent, vivid red star, crackling with energy. Concerningly, its vibrancy was starting to peter out.

          Your eyes widened. “That’s…!”

          Kenni nodded. "I'm not strong enough to free him on my own. But perhaps, if I were to recruit the aid of other Dream or Surreal deities, maybe even Morpheus themselves, it could be possible to pull him from its clutches..." He rubbed the side of his neck. "But... I may not be able to act in time. Nor can I guarantee that it would be fool-proof." A sigh escaped him. "It would be far more feasible if the grand ruler of his realm would reach out for him, but that tyrant would celebrate his suffering." His brow furrowed in disdain. "In any case, with the help of my companions, I could bring you home. It pains me to think that I would need to leave Ragdoll behind... But at the very least, he would want to guarantee your safety over his own."           "I appreciate that, but... I can't just leave him. It just doesn't feel right. If you can't guarantee that you could save him too, then I'd feel awful."           He smiled and nodded. "That's very fair. I've a feeling I would say the same in your position." He held up his hands, facing his palms together. "Then at the very least, let me see if I can provide something to aid you."

          He closed his eyes and cupped his hands together, whispering in an unknown language. A misty orb started to form between his palms, swirling and lighting up in a soft glow, until it took the form of a silver arm bangle with his symbol, the Whispering Feather. It was a talisman, much like Ragdoll's. "My magic comes from the heart," he stated, bringing the cuff to place over his chest in demonstration. "Keep it close to you, and it will bring my healing and guidance from across dimensions." He pushed his hand back through the barrier, slipping the bangle over your wrist, enchanting it to shrink slightly to fit comfortably in place.

          "There is one other thing..." He frowned in worry. "I've had a premonition. It's hazy, but.. I fear he may lose himself if he is not careful." He waved his hand, showing a hazy silhouette of a terrifying beast, with six arms and long hair that billowed out past its shins. It looked vaguely like Rags, but it gave off an aura of madness unlike his own, and let out a chilling, downright Lovecraftian laugh, before the image faded away entirely. “I feel he may become… desperate. This world may try to twist him into something that he doesn’t want to become. But if anyone could reach out to him in a dire circumstance, it’s you,” he smiled reassuringly.

          You sighed deeply, feeling both relieved and nervous. You had more hope now that you could find him again…But you knew the journey wasn’t over until you finally tracked down that pompous Keymaster.           “Thank you, Kenni.” You put your hand back on the barrier, and he pressed his hand against your palm. His hand glowed turquoise for a moment, activating your bangle, which shot a gentle, ticklish pulse up the length of your arm, straight to your armpit. “EeEE-Hehehe!!” You jumped back, blushing.           The deity smiled cheekily. “There’s that cute giggle~ I look forward to hearing more of it once you’ve returned home.”

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          Your eyes slowly fluttered open as you heard Loren's alarm beeping. You felt content, well-rested, and comforted. Then, you jumped upright, quickly looking down at your wrist, gasping in excitement and relief to see that the feather talisman was still there. Kenni really had managed to connect with you. And now you were rejuvenated with a new sense of purpose. “Guys!!” You shouted. “Everyone, look!!” Loren and Jay were the first to shuffle out of bed to head over to you. Rory had been sleeping upright on a chair, jumping awake and glaring over in your direction. Elijah slowly peeked up above the back of the sofa. "Whoa... What's that?" Jay reached out to examine your bangle.

          "Well…” You explained how Ragaeli had a counterpart in the Dream realm, and how he’d been trying to reach out to you this whole time.           Grace sleepily sat down in a nearby chair, chuckling to herself. “Well I’ll be… Like I said, honey, you truly have a pair of guardian angels watching over you.”             Loren and Rory eyed you over skeptically.           "I'm serious! Watch.” You kept in mind what Kenni had said: His power emanates from the heart. You place the bangle over your chest, concentrated on teleporting to the other side of the room; and poof. In a burst of misty haze, you warped over to a chair at the far end of the room.             Jay, Loren, and Grace exclaimed in astonishment. In another flash, you teleported back over to your mattress. “I bet we could use this to get around each room faster!”             Rory stomped over to you, arms folded, glowering down at you. “So you expect us to believe that you just now happened to receive a magical talisman from some other entity outside this dimension? Where was this so-called god of yours almost an hour ago?”             “Seriously, dude??” Jay glared at him, marching up to him and putting her hands on her hips. “What’s your deal? We finally have something that could help us and you're gonna get skeptical again??"             “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Grace added. “Rory, I understand why you’re being cautious. But for heaven’s sake, learn to notice a sign when it's given to you."

            Rory looked like he was about ready to tussle with Jay, his jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists. But hearing Grace, he eased up again, sighing and pacing around for a second, pinching the bridge of his nose.             “...What if they used it to get down into that chasm?” Loren suggested.             Rory paused, perking up at the suggestion.             “Oh yeahh, that could work!” Jay looked over to you. “Can you warp more than one person at a time? Might be good to have some extra security down there.”

            “Well…I’d probably be able to warp one other person with me. The magic is a little limited. I’d offer to pass it around between you guys so that you could teleport, but…” You demonstrated that you couldn’t take it off.             “I’d rather you didn’t put yourself in danger for our sake,” Grace commented. “What if whatever demon is down there isn't something we could contend with?" "We'll go together!" Jay stepped in. "Rory, Loren and me. Even you could camp out at the halfway point if you wanted, those southwest rooms are practically a fallout bunker." Grace scratched her chin in consideration. "...Maybe it'd be worth a shot," Elijah spoke up, to everyone's surprise. "I can't do much now that our cameras are gone. I still doubt this'll work, but...I don't really want to just lay around anymore."

"...Before we go..." You smirked a little, putting the talisman to your chest again. It picked up on your thoughts, starting to emanate wisps of soft, pastel blue magic, which snaked and danced through the air, toward the rest of the group. as they approached, they formed into large magical feathers. "Wha...??" Loren's face wrinkled in confusion. Rory took a defensive stance, putting a hand on the pistol at his waist. "The fuck are you trying to pull??" Jay seemed to know right away what was about to happen, her eyes going wide. "Oh hell no, not this again-!" She blushed and quickly backed up. The feathers soon slithered up against everyone's body. A couple targeted Loren's belly. Two slithered up against Jay's armpits. One affectionately caressed Grace's chin and Elijah's neck. All of them squealed and gasped with surprised giggles. Rory harshly smacked at the feather approaching him, causing it to dissipate. "What the fuck was that??" You grinned in amusement. "That is the real magic behind this." You took out Rags' burnt talisman. "Ragman's magic is similar, but a lot more intense. It's how it protected me through the Backrooms." Loren blinked. "Tickling?? You expect us to believe you survived entities and Levels with tickling?" "Believe me, I thought the same thing," Jay piped in. "But that magic's no joke. Any distraction would be a useful distraction at this point." Rory rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "Just stick to the teleporting, alright?" You snickered. "I make no promises~"

A ways down the mine shaft, you saw a partially caved-in section of the tunnel, looking like the dirt roof had collapsed. "And there it is," Rory gestured. "Loren's grand entrance." Loren grumbled in frustration. "I told you, it was an accident." "Quit denying it already," Rory grunted. "Mistakes happen. It's how you move on from them that shows what kind of man you are." Loren sighed, hanging his head. "...You think I'm proud of myself, knowing I miscalculated that badly? It was supposed to blast open a reservoir to flood a skin-stealer hideout." He turned away. "I'm supposed to be the smart one. The one that never messes up." "Well that's an impossible standard to put on yourself, honey," Grace patted him on the shoulder. You felt another grin come to your face, slowly putting the bangle to your chest. "Yeah, no-one's perfect. Lighten up a little~" by the time Loren noticed, there were already magical feathers sneaking up against his chin and belly. "Gyee-heheheh, heyy!!" The magic continued to playfully target all of them, making them squeak and yelp. Jay growled and eventually returned the attention. "That's it, come here you!!" She yanked you over and clamped her hands around your sides to start scribbling her claws up and down. You squealed and squirmed back and forth, trying to playfully push her arms away, smiling and blushing. Loren smiled and jumped in, targeting your armpits and ribs, making you shriek with more laughter. Elijah and Grace also looked like they were contemplating ganging up on you too... Before Rory marched over to all of you and yanked you apart. "Are you all fucking IDIOTS??" He hissed. "Knock it off with the noise! You'll attract an entity right to us!!" Loren rolled his eyes. "Oh lighten up. This is one of the safest spots on the map, remember?" Unfortunately, it had been too quiet, and too safe, for too long. ...Well, it felt like too long. In reality it had only been about ten minutes. As everyone continued into the mines, you heard an unsettling, raspy grunting sound. It was reminiscent of the deep clicking sound from the Grudge. Whipping around, you all saw a sickly humanoid figure starting to emerge seemingly from within the dirt walls of the tunnel: It was a grotesque amalgamation of bleeding limbs, wearing a "mask" seemingly made of spare body parts. It was the Slasher. It brandished a serrated cleaver, twirling it casually in its hand. "Oh fuck no!!" Loren hastily stepped backwards, scrambling to dig for something in his pocket. Jay on the other hand immediately let out a loud hiss, baring her fangs at the creature and charging forward to try and stab one with her own knife. Rory whipped out his gun and started shooting. The creature just laughed a sickly laugh and dodged the attacks. Soon, three more slowly crawled out of the shadows; one of which lumbered out from the room you were just about to head into.

"You'd better back the FUCK UP!!" Jay snarled, taking aim and shooting at one of the slashers trying to sneak up behind you. After successfully getting a shot at its shoulder, she let out another beastly snarl and football-tackled the other. Rory fought off one hand-to-hand with a series of self-defense techniques. Loren succeeded in pulling out what looked like a small laser gun, blasting the first slasher point-blank in its mask. It howled and staggered back. "You rotten wretches!!" Grace yelled. "Go crawl back into the sewers you climbed out of!!" She swiftly whacked one of the entities across the chest with her cane, and bringing it down on their head for good measure. Elijah didn't seem to know what to do with themselves, until they spotted an opportunity to put their foot out and trip up one of the slashers, allowing Jay the chance to pile-drive right on top of it to pin it down. Your heart was pounding, whipping around trying to see what you could do to aid them. Instinctively, you brought Kenni's cuff to your chest, activating its magic; you held your arm out just as one of the entities started swinging its cleaver down at your head. And the creature just... stopped, mid-swing. Kenni's magic wafted forward, giving off a puff of shimmering pixie-dust in its face. It lowered its arm, stood still to stare down at you for a moment, then turned and started trudging back into the mines. "Whoa..." You almost couldn't believe that it worked. Your group and the other slashers also paused in disbelief. The other three entities charged towards you, but you did the same thing. And, again, they paused, as if they'd been commanded to stop fighting. "How the hell-?!" Loren balked. With another burst of magic, a flurry of feathers erupted from the bracelet to get to work, surrounding the creatures and starting to tickle them from head to toe. Their laughter was like nails on a chalkboard. They even whined and shivered, trying to slash at the magic with their weapons. Rory took aim and was about to shoot again, but Jay pushed his arm down. "Just watch. You won't believe it til you see it." Finally, the magic relented and the entities staggered back, panting for breath. One of them pointed down the dark mineshaft, where you were headed. "Look for the right entrance," it rasped. "A shade different than the rest." With that, it huffed and disappeared in the other direction. Rory and Loren were both dumbstruck. You grinned smugly. "Told you."

All six of you decided to head to the end of the tunnel. After walking a little further, you were soon face-to-face with the Chasm: an enormous hole plunging straight down into the dark depths. The inner edges were lined with openings lit with fluorescents. Weirdly, it looked like a massive parking garage, spiraling down into the darkness. Loren brought your attention to the makeshift pulley that he'd mentioned. "Again, a work in progress. But just... Listen." Indeed, you heard what sounded like a whispering, gurgling beast at the bottom of the pit. You even saw the glint of a pair of red eyes peering back up at you. You shuddered. "Fuuuck that." "So what did that thing mean?" Jay put her hands on her hips to peer over the edge, looking at the various tunnel entrances. "I'm guessing maybe look at the lights?" You squinted at each opening. "Maybe there's a different-colored..." The behemoth from below suddenly shot up its long, gangly arm, its shadowy claw swiping just a few feet away from all of you. You all exclaimed and jumped back. "SHIT-!!" Rory seethed. You quickly scanned for the right tunnel entrance, until you spotted it: An opening with distinctly pale-blue fluorescents, rather than yellow. "There!!" You pointed. Jay stood next to you, holding your arm. "Alright, let's go-" But Rory nudged her away, taking your arm instead. "No. The rest of you guard the entrance. Keep an eye on that thing, radio me if you see it getting any funny ideas." He glanced down to you. "Stay close, rookie." "...Yes sir," Loren nodded. Both of them backed up. You took a deep breath, put your hand to chest, and warped you both down into the entrance. Unlike Rags' magic, which always sent you jolting forward on your feet after warping, Kenni's bangle had you both floating for a couple seconds before easing you down. You were right; you were now in a dingy parking garage. "So where do you think we should–" The moment you got a few feet further past the entrance, you felt Rory yank your arms down from behind, taking out a small rope to tie your wrists in place, just below your bangle. “AGH– What the hell?!” You frantically tried to tug your wrists free, but he was too strong. “Dude, what’re you doing?!”           “Making sure you don’t get any funny ideas,” he stated gruffly. “I’ve seen how this cuff of yours works. Can’t do jack shit if you can’t put it to your chest.”           You stared back at him, incredulous. “Are you serious?? After everything I’ve helped you with, you’re still suspicious of me?!”

          He just shrugged, shoving you to keep you moving forward. “It's a precaution. Nothing’s stopping you from warping your way to safety the moment you get your hands on something useful. Or trying that mind-control shit on me. You’d do the same in my position.”

          You growled and shook your head. “Can you blame me, with how you’ve been treating me?? If you’d get your head out of your ass long enough to see that I want the same thing all of you do…!”           He actually looked a bit regretful. "I'm not going to deny that you've helped us. You show some real tenacity and wit. But... I can't risk it." He scowled. "Been double-crossed one too many damn times in my day." He shoved you again, a bit less harshly this time. “Here’s the deal. You follow along, help me find some scrap, I’ll bring you back in one piece.”           You stammered in annoyance and disbelief, before relenting and letting out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, but I’m snitching on your ass as soon as we get back.”           He scoffed. “A risk I'm willing to take."           All you could do for now was sulk and follow alongside him. But before long, the garage eventually led into a dungeon, with rusty prison cells. The dungeon from the journal. "I'll be damned. It was meant to be," Rory showed a hint of a smile for the first time. “Start looking around,” he ordered. “Remember, no funny ideas. Or I’ll lock you up down here until I’m done.”           As he started peeking around through the cells and corridors, you spotted something: A loose, jagged piece of a cell bar jutting out, about at your waist level. If you were quick about it, you might be able to use that to cut yourself free…           As soon as you were out of his peripherals, you backed yourself up against the shrapnel, starting to quickly, carefully saw at the rope. Rory took notice right at the moment you’d cut yourself free.           “What do you think you’re–”           In the blink of an eye, you brought your cuff to your heart, warped to him and charged into him at full-force, slamming him up against the cell bars. “NGH–!!” When he tried to shove you back, something happened: The cuff let off a flash of wispy blue magic, pausing his hand in its tracks. Kenni’s defensive magic had activated, releasing a calming effect.

          “Here’s the deal,” You hissed. “You back the fuck off and let me help you how I want to help you, and I won’t use Kenni’s other magic against you.” Strands of magic started to waft up from the bangle, forming into feathery sigils.           His eyes went wide. “Don’t you fucking dare.”           You felt a smirk come to your face. “Actually… Maybe I should anyways~” One of the feathers floated up to stroke under Rory’s chin. The man shivered and fidgeted, trying to shove you back again.           But this time, his arms were slowly restrained by the magic, his wrists placed at the sides of his head. “Nnh–! How the hell…?!” Even his muscular frame couldn’t break free from the deity’s gentle hold.

          Your mischievous grin just grew wider. You slipped your hands up to start tickling at his armpits, kneading at his ribs. The man yelped and tried desperately to stifle his chuckles. The feathers caressed his neck and chest playfully. One slipped under the rim of his tank-top. He bit his lip, shivering. "K-Knock it off!!" He growled. You snickered. "Not such a tough guy now, are you?" You tickled his sides and ribs more firmly. "There's no bargaining your way out of this one, buddy. Be lucky that Rags' magic isn't working. You'd be howling by now." The ex-soldier yelped again, grunting and growling to try and stave off his building laughter. But once more magical feather tendrils slipped into his tanktop, he cracked. He let out hearty laughter, panting and grunting. You even saw a blush cross his cheeks. In turn, you felt yourself blush too. He was already pretty hot to begin with, but he was even prettier now with a smile on his face. "About time you smiled for once," You commented. "Admit it, it feels nice, doesn't it?" "Rrghhh-heheh...Sh-shut up!" His blush deepened. His biceps flexed as he kept trying in vain to free himself. "W-We don't hahahave time for this!!" "You're right, we don't," you snapped back. "So surrender now, or I'll make sure this magic keeps going the entire time we're down here looking." It took a few minutes more of tickling, caressing and taunting before the gruff man finally relented. "A-ALRIGHT ALRIHIHIGHT!! I won't tie you up again!!" He barked. "J-Just quit it!!" You smirked in satisfaction, and the magic tapered off; not before one of the tendrils affectionately stroked his cheek. "That's better~" You spent several minutes looking around; Rory was huffy and disgruntled the whole time after your ticklish sneak-attack. Soon, you both spotted it: A huge computer tower, almost Rory's height. Sapphire blue, with gold-colored trim. it looked like it was in pristine condition. You approached it, eyeing it over. "This is...Way too big to take back with both of us." You looked over to Rory, hopefully. "Rory... Please let me take this back. I promise I'll come back for you." He had his hands in his pockets, gaze narrowed at you, stewing silently for a moment, before he sighed and looked away. "...Fine. Don't have much choice anyways." He turned to walk a few steps away. "I promise," you reiterated. You wrapped your arms around the tower, closed your eyes to focus, and warped away to the radio room. The tower was lowered gently to the floor near the control panel. While you were still hovering, you warped back to the prison cell, right back to where you were. Rory turned around, looking at you in disbelief. Before he had time to comment, you smiled and grabbed his hand, warping you both back up to where the others were waiting for you. They cheered and gave you congrats. "I hope Rory didn't get up to any funny business," Grace nudged him on the way back. For a moment, you and Rory locked eyes. He looked like he'd already resigned himself to getting chewed out. And for a brief moment, you considered it. But decided against it. You smiled and gave a nod. "No, not at all. He's a hardass, but he's a real team player. You have a good leader."

He sighed, looking grateful. Grace squinted. "...Somehow, I smell bull," she poked him with her cane. "But I'll buy it. After all, this one knows not to get on Mama Grace's bad side," she gave him the disappointed-mother look. Rory cleared his throat. "Y-Yes ma'am." Her expression softened. "However, I agree. You've become a pretty excellent leader." "...I appreciate that. I'd like to think I was." "Was?" You raised an eyebrow. The ex-soldier looked you over. "...In my military division, I mean. I enlisted to protect my people and my family. Had no idea what I was getting into. No-one ever does." His face wrinkled in anger. "Fucking bastards stabbed my entire division in the back. Forced me to be a double-agent. After singing our praises, I overheard 'em wanting to use us as sacrifices even though I knew a better game plan that could gain the upper hand. But they were cowards and wanted to take the easy way out. They gave me an ultimatum. Go along with their plan to kill off the front line, or discharge me right then and there." He balled his fists. "So I walked away. After I told all my buddies and the General what they were planning. All hell broke loose and the general was stripped of his rank." He scoffed. " 'For my country'... What a fucking joke." "Damn..." Jay frowned. "Well shit, dude..." Loren patted him. "You made the noble choice. You showed what kind of man you are," he smiled.

Back at the control room, you all waited with bated breath again. The computer tower was fully functional, and worked like a charm when it was hooked up to the radio. Jay and Rory ensured that all the hardware and equipment was in top shape. Loren and Grace ran their algorithm again... "...Jay... Come in? Jay?" Jay gasped and ran up to the mic. "CIAN?! Cian!! I'm here!! Oh thank fuck you're okay!!" A wave of relief washed over all of you, cheering amongst yourselves. Grace and Elijah teared up; Grace gave them a hug.

          You concluded with them that they hadn't heard a word out of Ragaeli. Or the Keymaster. But you reiterated that he was the best chance of getting answers, and that he was out there. But as the others relayed information, and began to reach out to other bases, you felt a pull at your mind. You kept thinking about the Keymaster's... 'advice.' "You're clever enough. Find your own way back to him." Something was telling you that this radio wasn’t going to be the way to get reunited with Rags. How would a radio tower reach out to a greenhouse in the middle of a dead forest? It was for them, not for you. It's time to move on.

You took a deep breath. “Guys… I’m going to go.”

          “What??” Jay looked at you with concern. “Go where?”           “I... I don't know. But I just feel like I need to keep looking.” "Don't be ridiculous," Rory snapped. "You're not wandering off after we got what we all needed." "Dude, where are you gonna go??" Loren frowned. "As far as we know, the only thing at the end of the other maintenance tunnel is a dead end."

          This was exactly what you were worried about. You didn’t have time to argue. If anyone could get them to calm down, it was Kenni… Maybe you could somehow use the bracelet's magic to convey that. You instinctively brought it to your heart.           The talisman lit up in a soft blue glow again. It started emanating with five tendrils of magic, swirling gracefully through the air, making contact with everyone’s chest and disappearing in a sparkly flourish. Everyone in that moment became completely calm.

          “I see…” Grace sighed and stepped forward to give you a hug. “Well then… Just be careful, honey.” Rory rubbed his brow. "I think you're nuts. But...If you feel like it's the right move, then I'm not gonna stop you." He gave a soft smile and patted your shoulder. "Just know that you're always welcome here if you change your mind." After you said your goodbyes, you headed down the opposite end of the maintenance tunnels, coming across a single unlocked door. Opening it revealed… Another long hallway with eerie, boring white walls. Great. Maybe this was a stupid idea.

          But something caught your eye, laying on the floor in the distance: something small and blue.

          Closing the door behind you, you made your way closer. It was a fancy, wooden blue paintbrush with gold trim. it matched the journal, and the computer tower. There appeared to be some kind of inscription on the handle. You picked it up to try and see if you could read it…

          The moment you did, you were teleported away.

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          You gasped with a start when you landed on your feet. The paintbrush promptly vanished from your hand. The walls around you were still stark white, but you now stood in what looked like a huge, empty art gallery. There were small and large canvases and pedestals, most of which were illuminated by the soft warm glow of spotlights. A couple empty sections of wall had small ladders and step-stools set up in front of them. It felt very… Serene. Lonely, of course, but it somehow gave you the same comfort as huddling up in a chair at a library.

          Your thoughts were interrupted by the quiet tap of footsteps on the hardwood.

          A humanoid figure strolled into view. They appeared to be a tall young man, though it was hard to tell for sure, given their entire body emanated a soft glow and they had no visible face. He wore suede pants with a classy sweater and matching hat, using an ornate wooden cane. 

          You gave a friendly, but cautious wave to him. "Hello…"           He simply gave a bow.           "Is this your... gallery?"           He nodded.           "Oh, well uh, it's...Nice?"

          "Quite, isn't it?" He finally spoke, strolling closer to you. "A testament to many creative minds that have passed through these halls." He had a warm, polite voice, and his overall aura was very soft and welcoming. A bit like the Dark Sovereign.

          He wandered over to a nearby empty pedestal. "Ahh, one of my favorites."           He responded to your perplexed expression with a soft chuckle. "You can't see it, can you? Maybe one of these days, a Wanderer will be able to see what I see..." He drifted off, looking outward to the gallery with an aloof stance. "The creative endeavors of many are captured here." He walked up to one of the large nearby canvases, giving it a tap with his cane. It rippled and flickered with color, before a painted image flickered into view; an impressionist painting of a pond, surrounded by flowers and waterfowl.

          “Oh wow…!” Your eyes lit up. He demonstrated with a few other canvases and pedestals, revealing ceramic works that moved as if they were alive, mixed-media pieces that shifted and spun like cogs inside of a clock, and photographs of seasons and environments that emanated with the smells associated with spring, summer and autumn.           "Would you like to add your painting as well?" He turned his attention back to you. He manifested a palette and a variety of paintbrushes in his hand, and a large bucket of white paint in the other.           "Oh-! Well, sure...!" Was this a test of some kind? You took the brushes from him, he summoned up a palette for you and pointed out an empty patch next to the pond painting. “Try it out. Perhaps start with a flower. The paint will see your mind’s desire and shift accordingly.”

          You nodded, focusing your mind on the thought of your favorite type of flower. Dipping your brush in the bucket, you watched in curiosity as it did, indeed, shift to the various colors needed. As you made your paint strokes, the flower lit up with vibrancy and movement, as if it was blowing in a pleasant breeze. It started to lift itself off of the canvas, flowing and twirling in the air like a pinwheel. Your eyes lit up in awe. “Whoa… That’s so cool… I sure wish my art could always do this, heh.”

          The Artist chuckled. “This doesn’t often happen, you know. Pulling a subject out from its canvas is a mark of a truly passionate heart. You should feel proud.”

          “....” Something suddenly dawned on you. A crazy idea.

          “You said… I can paint anything, right? Does that include people that I know? Would it bring them here?”           He shrugged. “Given that they are residing within the confines of our world, it's very possible. Just... Please don't paint a dangerous entity. I don’t need any brutish beasts causing wanton destruction in my gallery.”           You felt your breath quickening. That’s it!! That’s how I can get him back!! You frantically climbed up a nearby stool. Your palette traded out its floral hues for black, orange, yellow, and shades of red.

          You began painting Ragaeli to the best of your ability, starting with his head. It wasn't perfect, but the magic of the paintbrushes aided the process, filling out your linework as you went along.            Curious..." The Artist watched you work, tilting his head. "Is this an entity from your world?"           "Yes and no. Just watch." You were in too much of a hurry to explain anything. But you also didn't rush it too much. Heaven forbid your friend get stuck looking like Doodlebob.

          As you began to paint in his striped neck and part of his jester collar hanging off of his bare shoulders, something happened. The painting winked at you. And then, his massive palms manifested and slammed against the wall from the inside of the canvas. 

          "RAGS?! Ragman, that's you, right?! Can you hear me??"

          He didn't answer, instead reeling his head back. You hurried off of the stool and stepped back, just in time for him to headbutt the wall as hard as he could, breaking right through the canvas and drywall and staggering on his feet. His jester top had only partially manifested, torn to shreds and revealing his midriff. He was still wearing his tattered black shorts.

          The Artist jumped back in shock. “My stars–!!”

         “RAGS!!” You immediately tackled the Nightmare to hug him tight. He scooped you up to give you a spin and a noogie, followed by a scribble of fingers to your side and belly. “HAHA– I told ya you’re a clever one!!”           You squealed from his quick tickle-attack, beaming up at him, feeling tears well to your eyes. “I–I’m SO glad it worked!! I was so scared we wouldn’t see each other again! I thought those plants might’ve killed you!!”           His giddy giggles died down into dry chuckles. “Heheh, yeah, well… They gave it their best shot.” He backed up from you. It was only then you noticed the third-degree burn scars covering his body.

          You gasped in horror and covered your mouth. “Oh my god…"

          He stood upright, folding his arms behind his head - instantly wincing and dropping them down again, looking at the burn across his peach-fuzz stripes. “Hhhhh… I can’t heal this shit. Tinkerbell couldn't either... Ah well. 'Least I'm still in one piece."           You still frowned in worry. “Rags, what happened? What did you do after we got separated?? You met the Nymph?”           He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. “Yeahh, she was a little pissed about me chopping her garden into salad, but she agreed to try and help me if I healed them. Said she couldn't do the same for me." He ruffled your hair. "Just don't worry about it, alright? I’m not gonna let a little sunburn stop me from getting you outta–”

          His eyes suddenly went wide as saucers when he saw your wrist. He yanked your arm forward to gawk at the bangle that Kenni had given you. “KENNI–!! How?!” he brushed a finger over the Dream deity’s sigil with surprising tenderness, as if he didn’t fully believe he was touching it.           “He was able to get through to me before we met back up,” you explained. “He tried to reach out to you, but said that he was being blocked off from you…”

          “My sincerest pardon,” the Artist finally spoke up, cautiously approaching. “But who… What, are you?”           Rags turned his attention away from your bangle to smirk at the man. “The best nightmare you’ll ever have~” he winked. “Say, don’t suppose you know how to get to the Hub from here?”           “...I’m surprised you know of the Hub… Why do you ask?”           “We need to find the Keymaster,” you added. “We’ve been told that he’s the only one who could help us get back to my world."

          The Artist seemed to stiffen at the mention of that name. “...I see… Well…I’m afraid I can’t simply let you through without clearance.” He loosened back up, sounding apologetic. “The Hub is the heart of this dimension, the means to gain entry to almost every other Level…”

          Rags narrowed his gaze, slumping over and looming over the Artist. “I. Don’t. Have. Time for this,” he growled out each word slowly. “We don’t have time for this. My friend needs to get back home, and that slippery little weasel is apparently the only shot we have!!”           The Artist stepped back and held his hands up defensively, intimidated by the monster. “Th-that is understandable, truly, b-but I have strict orders to–”           With a snap of the fingers, the man was suspended in midair.

          You felt a grin come to your face, knowing what was about to come next.           The Artist tried desperately to tug and wriggle free from the red aura holding him in place. "Y-You brute!! Release me at once!!"

          Rags chuckled devilishly. "Relaaax, I ain't gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna show you why everyone has been surrendering to me left and right~" He cracked his knuckles, wiggling his fingers at the man. "You aren't ticklish, are you?” The entity froze up. "I… Don't actually know? W-Why do you ask...?" The Nightmare smiled wider in glee. "Ooohoho, even better! Let's find out then~!" Instead of immediately diving in with his hands, he summoned up a palette and paintbrushes of his own, hopping up into the air like he was sitting on an invisible stool. A beret appeared on his head. "Quite the nice gallery ya got here, lots of great talent! How 'bout we make you the next Mona Lisa?" "W-What do you mean??" The monster smirked. Small pools of red "paint" appeared on his palette; condensed, liquid-like clumps of his magic, He dipped his brush in, twirled it in the air for a moment, before bringing it up to the Artist's belly, starting to scribble and stroke and drag it in circles. The red energy transferred ticklish sparks all up and down the man's torso. The poor Artist immediately went wild, howling out with startled laughter. "GYAAH-HAHAHA!! OH MY HEHEHEAVENS!!" He wiggled back and forth like a flailing fish, shaking his head. The Nightmare giggled. "Oooh, looks like this canvas takes to my paint pretty well~! Let's try some other techniques. How about some pointilism?" He started giving rapid-fire pokes with the brush tip, all up and down the man's belly, sneaking up to his sides and armpits, crossing over to the other side. "YIEEE-HEHEHEH OH P-PLEHEHEHEASE NOOOHOHOHO!!" He whined, his body jolting and shivering and trying to shrink in on itself. The Nightmare's shitty, playful smirk never left his face. "Hehehe, I didn't know I was gonna have a performing art piece~! What a musical canvas!" He giggled. He summoned up another brush, dipping it in his magic 'paint' and making it join the fray, alternating both brushes up and down the Artist's sides. "Tiiickletickletickle! Keep dancing for me, it adds a lot of character to the brush strokes~" You shivered, feeling a blush rise to your cheeks. You sure missed the brat's teasy playfulness. He picked up on your thoughts. You knew the moment he glanced over at you with his devilish gaze that you were about to be his next 'masterpiece.' "R-Raags, don't you even-" Within a moment, you were restrained next to the Artist. You squeaked and bit your lip, already smiling and trying not to giggle. "Come now, I've gotta reward you for a job well done in bringing me back~" He winked. This time, his hair tendrils rose up, morphing their tips into paintbrush bristles. "Y'know, I've always been partial to impressionism, lotsa chaotic little strokes of color working together to make something whole~" With that, all of the brushes started stroking, swiping and twirling over your belly button, sides, hips, underarms...Just about anywhere they could reach. Yours and the Artist's shoes were pulled off, to which the man started squealing and pleading and shaking his head. But the bristles started to circle over his pale soles and heels, sawing between his toes. "NOOO-AAHAHAHA!! Oh my staaahahahars!! P-Pleehehehease!!" He whined, trying desperately to curl his toes.

Likewise, you were quickly reduced to hearty laughter, shivering from the onslaught of brushes... Loving every moment. After the harrowing perils you faced, you definitely earned a good wrecking. The tickle monster continued his "painting" session for a good ten minutes, occasionally licking his lips, forming his fingers into a frame, giving a chefs'-kiss gesture, joking about painting 'happy little trees'. He finally pulled back to allow you both the chance to breathe. And to toss his beret away. That was a new record for keeping a hat on. "Not bad, not bad, I think we've all had some great painting lessons today~! But y'know, my favorite painter is Jackson Pollock. Dude got real wild with his canvases. Just imagine, aaalll those hundreds of paint splatters, really workin' over that canvas~" He snickered evilly. Ohh lord no. You could definitely imagine it. So could the Artist, who seemed totally flustered and giggle-drunk from the attention. "N-Now nowhehehehe l-let's not get too c-carried awahahahay...!" This time, Ragaeli lunged his tendrils out toward the air above both of you, rapidly leaving streaks, 'splashes' and hasty strokes in the air, creating a very Pollock-like mess of intertwined magic, crackling and buzzing like a plasma ball. He leaned in close to the Artist. "Laaast chance~ Let us into the Hub or you'll be my new Magnum Opus~" The man trembled. "I-I... I wont succumb to your threats..!" He tried to puff out his chest. "Suit yourself~" Rags chuckled deviously. With a wave of his hand, the entire field of magic came down on both of you. And both of you howled and shrieked with laughter, your bodies flooded from head to toe with the ticklish onslaught. It felt unbearable, but amazing. You didn't realize how much you missed this absolute rush. "YIEEEE-HEHEHEHE RAAAHAHAHAHAGS!! STAAAHAHAHAP!!" "GAAAH-HAHAHAHA!! OKAHAHAHAY!! OKAAAYY!! I YIEHIHIELD, I YIELD!!" The man cried out desperately. With another flick of the Nightmare's hand, the magic dissipated, lowering you both to the floor. The Artist doubled over backwards, having to catch himself with his cane before he fell to the floor. He slumped forward, clutching his belly, panting for breath. "That... is c-certainly a...unique power..." He cleared his throat, standing upright. "If that's how you intend to contend with our Keymaster, that ought to be a rather... amusing confrontation," he chuckled. "I'm not supposed to do this, but you've both thoroughly impressed me. And you've...Given me a rather exciting new experience," he chuckled a little sheepishly. "That's what I'm here for~" Rags winked. "If I can't beat 'em, I'll just tickle 'em into submission," he snickered. The Artist cleared his throat again, straightening out his sweater and hat. "In any case... Come." He beckoned toward the very back wall. Once he approached, he tapped his cane to the wall. The wallpaper peeled itself down and away, revealing a door. And that door opened up to a massive, cylindrical tunnel, much like a subway station, or a tunnel underneath a mountain. It stretched as far as the eye could see, dimly illuminated by warm yellow fluorescents.

"I warn you..." The artist turned to both of you, his tone growing firm. "The Keymaster is not an easy man to bargain with. ...He has his reasons, however. Carrying the weight of the world on one's shoulders is prone to give them an over-bloated sense of pride and obligation." He 'looked' you both over. "But such a unique duo might intrigue him. You've stubbornness, and cleverness; you're driven toward your purpose. I believe he'll quite respect that."

Ragaeli scoffed. "I'm not here to earn his respect. Bastard's been running scared ever since he started stalking us around." "Thank you," you quickly spoke up, taking the Artist's hand to shake it. "Really. This means a lot."

After saying farewell to the Artist, you both crossed the threshold into the Hub. A sense of accomplishment welled up in you... But a sense of uncertainty still loomed over your head. You had no idea what to expect. Was the Keymaster a vengeful god? Was it just a matter of talking things out? Was it all just a big misunderstanding? And why did everything keep pointing to signs of the Nightmare's demise?

There was no going back now. It was time to end this hellish adventure for good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Footnotes:

The Checkpoint: https://sta.sh/029ed71kwlzl

Mineshaft: https://backrooms.fandom.com/wiki/Level_186.2 Slasher: https://backrooms.fandom.com/wiki/Slashers

Skin-stealer: https://backrooms.fandom.com/wiki/Skin-Stealers

Anethika: https://backrooms.fandom.com/wiki/Anethikas

Art Museum ("Creative Minds") : https://sta.sh/01m1r2z7bl57

Insert obligatory apology for this chapter being so late, life got in the way, Muse wasn't cooperating, etc. etc. Truthfully I rewrote this chapter about three times. 🙃 I knew I wanted Y/N teaming up with other wanderers while separated from Rags; it was a matter of trying to figure out how to make it compelling and not convoluted.

I honestly also used this chapter as an outlet to vent a lot of my personal struggles with depression. It really re-surfaced this year, after months of dealing with crippling anxiety. A few of my friends have also really been going through it. As a whole we're all just... So fed up with shit. A cookie to those who can figure out what these five other characters are meant to represent 👍

A couple of the settings are actually based off of dreams I had. One was wandering through a mine shaft that led to different rooms. The chasm was a very creepy dream where I lowered myself down with a pulley into a round parking garage; I got swiped by a huge shadow-monster before being startled awake. And the maintenance tunnels are based directly off of where I work: a huge vacation resort with an entire underground maintenance basement that gives me the heebie-jeebies every time I have to go down there.

We're finally in end-game territory; the next chapter will be the penultimate chapter. I'm hell-bent on getting it posted by the end of this month, so stay tuned!