#but realises his favourite person is petting another cat

[chocmarss]

My brother, my father, the other half of my soul, you’re cheating on me and my wife with another person who’s not part of our group? What, you think you can just give your attention to someone else? As retaliation, I’m going to commit homicide.

[witchthewriter]

𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚

𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 | 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝟑

⤷ gender neutral, Valyrian blood (dragon rider), and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!

a/n: I kinda personified this group of dragons more than I have with the others...

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ | ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ ᴵᴵ

𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑

・You're actually apart of the royal family, your siblings already having bonded with either eggs from their crib or great beasts already living

・It felt embarrassing being the only one without a mount. It was true that not everyone in your family were dragonriders, but you didn't want to be anything but a dragonrider.

・You had heard stories of untrained dragons and with great bravery or stupidity, you went to find one

・Sheep Stealer and Grey Ghost have always stayed out of each other's ways. Not knowing what kind of dragon the other is (especially when the other wild dragon was a CANNIBAL)

・So neither Sheepstealer nor Grey Ghost stay in the Dragonpit

・With you, Sheepstealer is a lot more soft. It took time to build up that trust and reliance on one another.

・But once he realised that you weren't going to hurt or leave him, then the bond became one of the deepest ever seen

・When you're dreaming, it's as if you're in Sheep's head. Not controlling him, but seeing things from his eyes.

・And you can feel each other's emotions (like all dragon riders and their dragons) but it feels a lot deeper

・His favourite song would absolutely Sweet Carolina by Lana Del Rey. It would actually make him cry.

𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓

・Doesn't like to share food (not that you'd eat his food? Never once have you tried to either. But every time he's eating, he you're near - he frowns and grunts)

・He was just used to being independent and fighting for his food.

・It took a long time for him to warm up to you. Not liking human interactions

・Knows many, many good secret hide outs... you love hiding in them with him. You aren't a people person either

・Once bit a handler... on the butt. It sounds comedic, but there was blood everywhere and holes in the man's buttcheek.

・Your father had to spend a lot of money for the man to be healed.

・(Grey Ghost wasn't chastised, your father too thought it hilarious)

・No one is allowed near Ghost except for you, I'm talking even existing near him.

・He likes his personal space

・Ghost actually got a bit of colour once you spent more time flying. He turned a beautiful silver instead of a dull grey and had a bit of a glimmer to his scales

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐗

・A pyromaniac; likes to hear the command 'Dracarys' (it's the fastest one he responds to)

・Likes hitting you with his tail and when you turn around to look at him, he's obviously looking somewhere else - but his lil dragon laugh gives him away

・But you got used to it and remember to duck everytime your back is towards him

・Is very competitive, especially against Arrax, who is the closest in age to him

・Crushing on Morning; likes her pretty pink scales. You know this because he rolls in anything pink (especially pink flowers)

・Would love country music unironically.

・Gives Dennis the Menace vibes but he is acutely aware of the trouble he causes. Loves chaos.

・Likes to gently bite your shoulder when your attention isn't on him

・IS afraid of cats. Pretends he's not but once when he was a baby dragon, your pet kitten swiped at him and from then on he was terrified...

・Vermax loves being called a "beautiful boy," "handsome man," etc but DO NOT DO IT IN FRONT OF ANYONE, HE WILL GET EMBARRASSED.

𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐗

・Bit shy for a dragon, still courageous and honorable. But prefers to be away from ... everyone

・Does like Tyraxes though; they seem to have similar souls. Some say they could've come from the same clutch of eggs

・Definitely a Libra or Pisces.

・For a long time he was scared of getting into trouble. But you've been working on it ... constantly reminding him he's a goddamn dragon.

・When Arrax is happy, he makes a trilling noise and the red scales/flaps on his neck and head shimmy

・Vermax has made fun of him for it but Moondancer growled at Vermax (therefore he never made fun of him ever again)

・LoVES LAYING HIS HEAD IN YOUR LAP. A very affectionate dragon, loves pets, being brushed down, having his wings gently touched.

・It's safe to say his love language is physical touch

・It took some time for him to be a confident flyer. But once he took off, he never looked back.

𝐓𝐘𝐑𝐀𝐗𝐄𝐒

・A good boi, a very good boi. Does as he's told because his trust in you is unwavering

・When you look into his eyes, they almost seem ... human. They're a beautiful blue/green colour and seem to stare into your very soul

・You realised that at a young age, and swore to treat him exactly how you'd like to be treated

・Has youngest sibling energy (but the kind where the parents have a bunch of older children and for some reason have a baby in their 50s by accident)

・So technically youngest but basically grew up as an only child vibes

・...Loves baths. Like proper baths. You would bathe him as a little dragon. A tradition you and your mother started (because you, yourself hated bathing. So poor Tyraxes was subjected to it as well)

・Now that he's grown ... well ... the blacksmith had heavy pockets and no extra time on his hands for quite a while

・When the bath tub arrived just on the outskirts of the dragonpit, Tyraxes' tail wouldn't stop thumping. He knew exactly what it was for

𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

・Aquarius asf

・Always pliant when it comes to be saddled up. Very good girl, you trained her yourself (or you were there for the majority of it)

・From a young age you found yourself talking to her as if she could understand you perfectly well. And now you still do it;

・She gives huffs and chuffs in response, smoke coming out of her nose when she heavily disagrees with something

・Knows about Vermax's crush on her but expects a lot of romantic gestures.

・She's also an Aquarius so they're pretty difficult to shack up with; their independence is highly important to them.

・Like a dog with bad experiences with men, Morning can sense when a person is trustworthy or not

・If they aren't ... SCORCHED. If they are ... UNSCORCHED.

・Literally takes it upon herself to administer justice

𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑

・Quite calm in stressful situations

・Definitely more than you - not trying to be shady to you but Moondancer seems to know exactly what to do in like ... every situation?

・Nuzzles you with her nose

・Does adore when you clean her horns, I mean they're PEARLESCENT! (or chrome, however you want to see it)

・Absolutely adores music and will fly you to towns that are having festivals. (She's learned from experience that she can only fly over the top of the crowd and sit from afar...there have been some messy incidents in the past)

・Seems calm but is VERY overprotective of you. Will let you handle arguments until she can feel your heart racing and then she jumps in

・Likes adventure but not dangerous adventure. More so like finding pretty fields or lovely waterfalls.

[bilehwit]

Hi, another ask kinda indirectly related to the Bilehwit AU

But what are some of your personal headcannons about the bishops, that may or may not be in this au but as a personal interpretation of their character?

+ Who's your fav Bishop(excluding Narinder for now) ?

Favourite has to be Kallamar - gay coward??? Me coded fr fr.

That being said, I somehow always write more about Shamura???

But headcanons!

Kallamar:

🐙My man has a skin tone for gold, and he lets it be known by wearing enough to be heard janglin' a mile away.

🐙He has never once in his life done that! (He has done it 1 billion times, but he must appear better than thou.)

🐙Scared of Shamura when they're not lucid.

🐙Once drunk Leshy under the table only to then get decimated by Heket.

🐙Many spouses, does not like sexual activity. In my eyes he's asexual but a hopeless romantic.

🐙Will stop whole processions to look at bacterial growths on the floor.

🐙East Asian - South Korean, modern day would be a K-Pop beauty influencer.

Leshy:

🌱 Is Chaotic, but not in a fun way, more in a "Oh my God 3 people are dead" way.

🌱Used to biting to show affection.

🌱Cries when he's angry.

🌱Wants Shamura to be proud (they are.)

🌱Turns spouses into Witnesses. Also doesnt know what a spouse is/is for.

🌱Is the most physically violent.

🌱Ate scraps of metal on a dare (digested with no problems.)

🌱Russian.

Heket:

🐸Hates mushrooms (shockingly).

🐸Bought a cowboy hat.

🐸Likes to garden and cook but hates washing up.

🐸Says shit like "four score and twelve moons ago" to piss off Kallamar.

🐸Likes writing on Papyrus.

🐸Egyptian and will complain about heat.

🐸Lesbiab. Lesbaen. WOMAN LIKER.

🐸Tells you to go fuck yourself if you compliment her looks.

Shamura:

🕷When lucid, talks about the good old days.

🕷Most crimes committed as a mortal.

🕷Writes nursery rhymes for their followers.

🕷Used to have dancing rituals to gather sin - now can barely twitch their legs to a beat.

🕷"Oh, thank you Leshy- sorry, Narinder." "I'm Kallamar." "That's what I said." - common occurrence even before.

🕷Wants a pet so so bad. Do not give them one.

🕷Attracted to people with long hair and excellent grammar.

🕷Once did a kickflip so bad they had to kill the elderly congregation watching them.

🕷Tanzanian and speaks swahili when angry.

Narinder:

🪦Likes to bite Kallamar ("I can't help it, cats love fish." "I AM NOT EVEN CLASSIFIED AS A FISH." "You could be.")

🪦Indian, but spent so long in Purgatory he can no longer handle flavourful foods. At least at the start.

🪦Didn't realise Bilehwit had an ACTUAL CRUSH on him and thought they were like. Just that devoted. Pious. That's why they never took a lover.

🪦Cat baths when no one looks - gotta look constantly refined.

🪦Uses his third eye to scare people, namely children.

🪦I Would Never pt, except he definitely is still doing it while you watch.

🪦Finds children hilarious (to torment).

🪦Best dancer, worst singer of the Bishops. Can play music very well though.

🪦First time in Bilehwit's tent, he paid no attention because they were arguing. Then snuck in later to actually see the place.

And that's all my headcanons!

[oneatlatime]

The Tales of Ba Sing Se PART 1

Once upon a time in Ba Sing Se, the Gaang got Appa back. The end. Please?

This title sounds rather expositiony, but last episode was already a plot/exposition dump, and a rather dark one at that. So who knows? Not me.

Sokka hun I think you're supposed to shave with a blade slightly less substantial than that.

I am fascinated by the hair loopies. I always thought that they were braided in, but they clip in. Does she have a magnet in her braid that they clip in to? A lego type system?

CAT

Toph's morning routine is uncomfortably close to mine.

I know Toph likes being slobby to stick it to the man, but wouldn't it also help with her spatial awareness if she's always sporting a healthy coating of earth? Maybe she can sense where her limbs are better or something?

"Spa day!" "Do I have to?" UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE GUYS.

That has got to be torture. How would you like a pumice stone to the eyeballs?

Now THAT'S a healthy coating of earth.

You're not usually into that stuff? You got dolled up last episode.

Are there voice acting awards? Because whoever voiced these guys needs one. I have never in my life heard such perfectly distilled middle school clique bitch impression.

That's cathartic.

Katara's smothering/mothering tendencies usually annoy me, but it's a good thing those means girls happened when Katara was around, because this calls for serious hugs. I almost want to say that it's out of character to see Toph not be 100% sure of herself, but I think it adds character instead.

Do you think anyone's ever told Toph before that she's really pretty? Ever?

That's a good hug.

Is this short stories? Like an anthology? TALES of Ba Sing Se. Like day in the life? Ok. I'm going to break this up for ease of reading/writing.

The Tale of Iroh

If Iroh hadn't distinguished himself by making the best tea in the city, he would have come to everyone's attention anyway by single handedly fixing everyone's personal problems.

Bending soccer. Why didn't I think of that?

His voice is funny in this scene. Also isn't honour a fire nation thing?

One of my absolute favourite things about Iroh is that his philosophical side is always balanced out by a practical side. He's always philosophising but he's also always grounded. Sometimes hightailing it is what needs doing. Sometimes your sister is crazy and needs to go down.

You know you're bad at crime when your poor stance actually offends the guy you're mugging.

I also like how Iroh really doesn't moralise. He'll teach this guy what conditions the moonflower likes; he'll teach this guy how to mug better. Knowledge is for sharing, no judgment attached!

Random mugger speedruns Zuko's arc.

So pretty. It's been a while since there's been good pretty.

oh shit

ok

Now I have questions!

The Tale of Aang

Writers take note: You see this sad face? You see what you've done to my boy? You can reverse it with one simple trick! GIVE HIM APPA BACK.

I love this. Can't help Appa, so Aang helps every other animal in Ba Sing Se instead.

I want to know what this is. Monkey panther?

I didn't realise until now how tall platypus bears were.

CABBAGE GUY! HI!

Actual dragonflies. Punny.

I love these. My nomination for cutest atla animal.

I hope that wasn't required agricultural land. Should have put the zoo near the drill instead. That land already looked close to salted.

This was some Toph level bending. Love to see Aang's skills progress.

Turtle seal's got competition for cutest animal.

Just call this portion the petting zoo and it's a win.

The Tale of Sokka

Something I don't talk about enough is Sokka's supernatural skill with that boomerang. The realistic explanation is that he's spent every spare minute since receiving it honing his skills by chucking it at random piles of snow, but I like to think he's a boomerang bender. Actually wouldn't boomerang bending be a manifestation of latent airbending tendencies?

I make this face at lasagne.

I may have to make another Sokka's Stupid Faces post.

There is nothing oaflike about falling out of a window and into a Haiku. He was even polite about it!

Somebody introduce Sokka to flyting.

Forget about being a warrior, Aang needs to end this war yesterday so that Sokka can go be a poet. Warrior poet. He's way too creative to waste on cannon fodder.

Poetry bouncer. The longer I think about that the funnier it gets.

Betrayed by hubris.

A Poetry bouncer. Who comes up with this stuff? How do you come up with that? I keep thinking about a poetry bouncer and I keep giggling.

I'm breaking this post here as I'm reaching the image limit. Part 2 coming immediately!

[wellthebardsdead]

An au where Kaidan falls for Caryalind & Taliesin refuses to let marigolds chronic affliction steal him away from his heart. And I’m so tempted to make this his canon story you have no idea!!!

———

Marigold: *smiles looking out the window at the city streets, the whole of whiterun, all of skyrim celebrating his victory against the world eater. His friends all dancing and enjoying the festivities. Only for his stomach to drop as he witnesses two of them, ruining his plans* Wh-what?… *presses his hands to the window in shock as he sees Kaidan & Caryalind, both drawing in close to one another as they dance, their eyes joining each others gaze long before their lips meet* No! NO NO! *sobs feeling panic and heartache fill his chest as he pounds his fist on the glass, only serving to inflame his knuckles and old wounds* No Kaidan!!! You’re supposed to die with me!!! Caryalind you’re supposed to be with-

???: Me?

Marigold: *spins around in shock to see Taliesin standing there, a crumpled letter of confession in his hand* Taliesin- I-I can- I can explain- *steps forward only for his legs to give out beneath him, but instead of finding himself on the floor yet again, taliesins arms pull him in first, safe and warm*

Taliesin: You’re in love with me. But don’t want me to carry you and your short life as a burden. So you’ve been trying to set me up with his highness this whole time? With no consideration of how I feel?

Marigold: h-he’ll be good for you! Far better than me! You’ll be happy with him, you’ll have the respect of everyone back home as his husband! I-

Taliesin: I’m in love with you. Not him, Marie…

Marigold: n-no don’t- don’t say that! *grips onto him tighter as tears well up in his eyes* I’m going to die long- long before you! You can live a happy life with Cary! I can just die then and it won’t hurt! Nobody will need to hurt over me! I-

Taliesin: What makes you think I won’t hurt over your death? What makes you think Caryalind won’t? Or Kaidan? Or Lucien or inigo or serana?! Or your children? The lives you’ve touched the hearts that ache when you’re hurting…

Marigold: *speechless, usually so quick off the draw with a response but now left without a thought to spare, completely blind sighted as he realises for the first time in his life… he’s loved* b-but you’ll be stuck caring for me… who knows how badly my body will deteriorate. Everyone back home knows I was engaged to ancano, they’ll see you as my second option- the rumours they’ll- they’ll ruin your name- they’ll see me as the orphaned recently single heir and you as a status climber or-

Taliesin: *laughs* Ha! Do you think I’ve ever given a damn about my reputation back home? Let them talk, it doesn’t mean their words hold any weight. And you say caring for you as if it’s a chore?… *gently takes marigolds now very bruised hand into his and plants a soft kiss to it as he heals it* Caring for you is my favourite thing to do in the whole world… well… Petting a cat is actually but I’ll take you over that any day.

Marigold: b-but I’m a bad person!

Taliesin: *hums and picks him up* No you’re not.

Marigold: *tears spilling over as he hugs onto him tight* but I’ll break your heart!

Taliesin: *smiles and gently plays with the ringlets in his hair as he kisses his forehead* no you won’t. *carefully lays him on the bed to tend to where he’s hurting* You’ll have to do a lot worse than simply dying to make me stop loving you.

[naerwenia]

The Hunter and the Hunted- Grand Moff Tarkin x f!Reader

Yay, I wrote something!

Grand Moff Tarkin goes on a hunt for the charming reader.

Rating: T 

Might make another part for more explicit stuff, the aftermath of the hunt.

Words: 2100

Grand Moff might have been a political title, but Tarkin was a man of action. He was someone who would rather lead from the front than hide away behind the lines. Sometimes his involvement was expected, but most of the time he took control because he saw it as his responsibility as a Grand Moff; he was the one responsible for the safety of his area of control, and to keep peace in the Outer Rim he had to take things into his own hands. 

This was not one of those missions. This was not about responsibility or safety, it was about lust. There were many men more capable in hunting down a cat who had gotten away from the caring hands of its owner, but no matter how professional BBA was Tarkin had no interest in paying them to catch his prized possession with their needlessly crude tactics and grimy hands. To pay them to touch her, even if he demanded the utmost care, was borderline nauseating to him, but there was another aspect to the mission Tarkin kept close and hidden: the chase. He was a hunter, all of his family were hunters, and his children would be too, it was a tradition that was important to him. It made him who he was and no matter how small or precious the game was, the hunt was what made it worth it. And you had made yourself even more desirable by thinking you could just run away and hide, not realising Tarkin was only letting you leave to show you the man he truly is. 

While you thought you had the upper hand, that the odds were in your favour, Tarkin had seen this coming and made sure to give you a head start, to lull you into a false sense of security that you might get away and not be important enough to try and find. It would be your downfall, your own insecurity and reluctance to admit you were a worthy companion to him, but this would show you, this would let you know he would track you down through the Galaxy, hunt you down to adorn you with the chains of diamonds and crystals. Before this you were just someone he had his eyes on, someone to keep him company, but just by thinking you could run away like an unruly pet, you made yourself into a prey to be tracked down by a hunter.

Tarkin did a bit of research on where you might go. Your face was not unknown, so you already had a disadvantage, but it meant there were people willing to shelter you, and the large number of people you had met during your life would make it harder to locate you as you had connections around the galaxy. Still, he had a hunch; even if you had places to hide in, you didn’t want to put others in trouble. In a small village at the edge of the Outer Rim, you would stand out in your fine clothes and Core accent, and even just one person telling on you would put others at risk too. You were going to Coruscant, Chandrila, or Bar’leth, and would hide in the crowd.

 No respectable job would take you when the word got around that Tarkin was looking for you, so you might find a place in the middle and lower sectors of the cities. The seedier parts of society would welcome you with open arms, but you would find it difficult to fit in, even if you learned to play by their rules. Still, an accountant or a bookkeeper for a firm operating legally yet tied to a crime family would most likely give you the stability you wanted but also the secrecy you needed. Tarkin had to locate you himself when he located the planet you were staying on, even if urban tracking was not his favourite thing to do, but you running into a forest would have been too easy and you must have known it.

–

You were sloppy, or you really didn’t think someone might come after you, as you were no one in your own eyes. It was a chance encounter you had had with the Grand Moff, only meeting as you were accompanying your boss as a secretary, taking notes while he was talking with the higher up at the Imperial Star Destroyer. You met him, shook his hand and introduced yourself like you were taught to greet nobles, and a small detail so telling didn’t go past him, especially when your last name reminded him of an old noble house in Atravis, a planet near Eriadu in the Outer Rim.

“Are you from Atravis, a part of the noble house?” He asked, clearly knowing the answer even before you had the chance to answer. You were delighted by the fact he knew of your heritage just by the name, but also felt unsettled by the fact he had the knowledge.

“A former noble house, we are now part of the Galactic Empire and under your rule, Grand Moff”, you answered, smiling, and that was the end of your first interaction with each other. You continued to follow your boss around, calculating the costs and time it would take to prepare the fittings for the spaces that had taken a few too many lasers in a battle. 

The tour and repairs were coordinated by an imperial navy officer who didn’t seem to care about you before the short interaction with Tarkin. He kept glancing towards you every now and then, like making sure you didn’t run away, but something about the gaze was weird, like it was switching between confusion and pity. Maybe it was because of the mention of a noble house, even if it no longer existed, and you were never actually part of it, having been born right after the house was dissolved. It could have survived if your family had had political pull or money, or even a few members in the Imperial Navy, but all control was given to the Empire and your family were now just Imperial citizens. Still, your name remained, and it had caught the eye of a man.

—

A small Lambda shuttle landed at a secret spaceport, off the prying eyes of the public and off the record. Five men stepped out, all in military uniforms, blasters hidden on the side, but the main weapons were stun batons ready for quick draw. Each one of the men seemed like they had seen battles and took this operation with the same seriousness as any other mission. As soon as the men made it to the city centre, they dispersed, clearly not blending into the crowd. They followed Tarkin, who confidently trekked through the people, clearly knowing where he was going, and the people gave him way. 

He knew you were here, in Bar’leth, because your own family had told him, afraid of the consequences of even trying to cross the Empire, clearly remembering what it had led to in the past. You had told them you were relocating to Bar’leth, to change up your life, and that you would keep in contact, but needed some time to get your shit together. That was all Tarkin needed to find you. The first time you two dined together you had mentioned a friend in academia, who specialised in Kel Dor cultural studies, and Bar’leth had the only university in Core that still housed those studying that area. You had been hesitant to talk too much about yourself, but the people that surrounded you spoke much more, and he liked that about you. 

Tarkin arrived at the university library, wondering if he had to do anything other than tell you to come with him when you would meet again. From all he had seen his first thought was no, but there was no guarantee. Maybe you had changed in a month, but Tarkin knew he understood you better than you could ever know yourself. You had been taught to be a lady, a sweet woman to be by the side of a gentleman. He would be the one to give you back your status your family’s disobedience had robbed you of, and he would make sure no one else would disrespect you again. Your every move, every gesture, every carefully chosen word, every wide smile you tried to hide, all that was meant to be seen in high society, to be the face of a noble house, and Tarkin would give it to you. You would be the face of House Tarkin. A gentle face for the house while Wilhuff would be the voice. 

Everything is politics, and a deceptive face was what he needed to make sure he would hear better when he could not be there. Women were the first to know when something was happening and he needed ears to make sure he also heard it. Soon, he would have control over more than just his fleet, more than the Navy, more than the Outer Rim. He would have control over you and your feelings as well, and there was nothing as sweet as your submission.

—-

You ran, ran into the nearby forest as soon as you could, having sneaked into a shuttle with just the clothes on your back and whatever your small bag had had the night you had met Tarkin for a drink. He was an intimidating man, yet so kind to you. If you had met under different circumstances, you might have fallen in love over time, but now you were afraid of him. Seeing the man as he truly was had made you fear him more than you could ever love him. Cold, calculating, controlling, and he wholeheartedly believed in the politics of the Empire. You were only safe because you were a human with no apparent connections to anything.

This was your only chance to escape, to disappear from the grasps of this man. No matter how minute the chance of escaping was, you had to try, and to be honest, he shouldn’t be that interested in you, he really shouldn’t. He was a Tarkin, a Grand Moff, an Imperial officer. You had nothing to your name, even the name was worthless. You had been a secretary to a local company boss, but now you couldn’t even go back to being that or he might find you again. So you ran until you found a cave to disappear into just for the night, to think about what you should do, but not long after you saw lights in the distance. Few, but still lights that were coming closer. 

Trembling in fear, you tried to silence the sobs that were escaping your lips, but as the lights started to get closer and you started hearing voices, you knew you had no chance of escaping. You could try to run, but it was dark and you were tired, so you did your best and hid behind some rocks, staying still as you kept your breathing calm and quiet. 

The steps came closer, you could hear them clearly as the person coming closer did not try hiding his steps. He won, you thought as you heard a metallic click.

A strong hand on your shoulder pushed you to the ground, and as your eyes flew open from the surprise, you saw the face of Wilhuff Tarkin. It surprised you that he had made it to you himself, and as you laid there under Tarkin’s body, looking up at the man, you realised how much he enjoyed this. The hunt. This was as much about the hunt as it was about getting you back. He looked alive, a monstrous spark in his smile, like a predator who had cornered its prey, and you felt like a prey, but rather than feeling disappointed or afraid, you felt desired and alive. He noticed, he saw the change in your expression, and changed his plan.

“I give you a month. Hide, run, start a new life, disappear. I will then hunt you down again, because I will find you on my own, and you will be mine then. Go.”

—

You could hear the whispers around the library, and your friend told you to hide, but you knew better than to do that. He won, he found you. You could try to run again, but that would put everyone around you, maybe even those just hanging in the library at the time, in danger, so you went past your friend, walked towards your hunter as you took off the fake anti-oxygen mask you had hidden behind. Tarkin had seen you and recognised you even with the mask. He patiently waited for you to come to him, his hand ready to take your hand in his, to guide you back to him:

“Come.”

....

Hope you liked it, please comment and/or reblog, especially if you want more!

[chiwithekiwi]

when rio and jeff find out that miles is spider-man, they worry about how much he's holding back from them. they both work in career fields that allow them to witness firsthand how being put in a situation like the one that miles is in can effect someone. after a few weeks of deliberating, they decide that giving him some extra support will ultimately be a good idea—they tell him that they want to get him an emotional support animal.

at first miles is unsure. he's not home unless it's a weekend, and it's not like he could house it in his dorm since it's not a service animal. being spider-man also steals away his evenings and nights. with all this in consideration they decide to get him a cat—void black with a single white marking around its nose and whiskers which he affectionately names milk—and somehow it works out. before long he's dropping by his parents' apartment at the end of his patrols to check in with her, and within a week milk begins to meet him at his bedroom window, same time every night. miles doesn't have the heart to leave after coming back, and so the routine sticks, with him falling asleep on his bed, still in his suit and milk curled up nearby. the following mornings will see him rushedly swinging across the skyline to make it to class on time, but it's worth it every time.

the rest of the gang adopt milk into their band as an honorary spider-person and insist that she is brought along to every get-together. milk puts up with all of the attention surprisingly well, and her favourite by far (besides miles) is pavitr—a fact that several of the group are extremely jealous of.

it's not long before miles realises that he can bring milk along with him to the spider society headquarters, which he immediately makes a habit of every weekend. miles asked to have a day pass collar made in advance of their first visit, which margo joyously got to work on and finished within a single hour. miles insists on taking photos of everyone petting milk, adding to an expanding collection in his phone gallery dedicated to milk that takes up at least half of his storage.

miguel takes one look at miles when he walks into his lab, sees milk curled up and sleeping away in the hood of his jacket, and realises that mayday now has competition in the department of 'cutest freeloader' around the hq. he resigns himself to the fact that the cat is now going to be yet another distraction, even as he ignores the flash of miles taking a photo when miguel scratches milk's chin.

[vigilskeep]

Minerva and her mabari? Keir and his mabari? (Bonus! Minerva got Anders Ser Pounce-a-lot, right? Did Keir step up and get Anders another cat?)

i assume the mabari questions are abt the general dynamics? minerva was very pleased abt the status symbol of the whole thing and it was only unfortunate that she had to cope with a Mangy Beast to attain it. not typically an animal person but her fondness was grudgingly and insistently won. grew on her. like a fungus. ultimately she shows her fereldanness by allowing her dog to lie across her with its full weight and equally shows her tevinterness by complaining the entire time. as for keir, he absolutely IS a dog person and adores his mabari, never goes anywhere without him, constantly wears very visible kaddis, so on and so forth. the dog is just so much fucking easier to communicate with than anyone else. the dog Gets It. going without his mabari would be like going without a limb

minerva did get ser pounce a lot for anders of course, though she was slightly more annoying abt it than presented in the game, on account of not being an animal person and also being so annoying. you know those photos of middle-aged men with animals that are captioned like, my dad and the pet he said he didn’t want? nothing is funnier to anders than My Warden-Commander And The Kitten She Said She Didn’t Want. minerva disavows all witness accounts of having been spotted petting any cats knighted or otherwise. ser pounce ends up staying with her after anders leaves and she crumbles to the point where she coddles it whenever she is worried abt anders, and eventually whenever she is worried abt anyone, making it officially the most spoiled cat ever. oh how the mighty have fallen

i actually do have a mod that puts a sleeping cat in hawke’s estate if anders is romanced, which was very funny because i forgot i had installed that and i was like What Is This Beast On My Carpet??? before realising it was anders’ cat. so um as we speak i’m applying that to keir. anders brought a horrible patchy stray from darktown when he moved in and keir just has to cope. he has as much one-sided rivalry with it as anders does with the mabari. these are the consequences of dog person/cat person marriage. it’s not the same as ser pounce for anders but its such a miserable beast and needs constant medical attention and wants constant regular attention and he couldnt just LEAVE it there hawke :( orana ends up being the cat’s favourite

[demonicheadcanons]

Obey Me Brothers + Little Affections

AN: Keep thinking about the little things each brother would do to express affection. Some warm fluffy stuff because we all need it. Enjoy!!

The hair drying one on Lucifer’s sparked this entire thing thanks

Lucifer

- Washing and drying your hair. You know if you get your hair washed at a hairdressers and they just. Go to town with a towel drying your hair? He finds it hilarious and loves doing that. You’ll hear him chuckle, unable to see him because your face is covered by the towel. He’s softer towards the end but initially when trying to get most of the excess water his only concern is not actually hurting you. He’s also genuinely trying to help, just having a little fun with it at the same time.

- Continuing on from this, Lucifer will ruffle your hair. If it doesn’t really upset you, he loves to make a mess of it, and he grins at you, your hair sticking out every which way.

- The second his brothers aren’t around, he seems to canonically love holding your hand under the guise of keeping track of you or comforting you. Its partially true - the MC gets into trouble easily, so its good to keep a hand on them. However, the comforting affect goes both ways.

- Sharing information with you implies a close bond (or at the very least, a strong curiosity, like when he hints at where Mammon’s card is / when he talks about the album) and it means Luci cares about you a lot. He likes to talk about his interests and introduce you to things he cares a lot about. A lot of the time this comes in the form of music, because it’s something he’s able to enjoy whilst still doing his work.

- Doing origami or other paper crafts together? Really relaxes him. It’s so peacefully intimate and cosy. You sit together at his desk, work documents hidden out of sight for now, and make whatever you can out of colourful little bits of paper. He likes making flowers, although he’d never say it out loud, but he makes you countless crowns with paper flowers of all different kinds. You walk in one day when he’s taking a break from work and he’s got paper cranes lining the entire length of his desk. He calls you over and puts one on your head for absolutely no reason before acting like it never happened.

- If no one else is around and he’s feeling a bit daft, he’ll sweep you up into his arms with no warning and just hold you like that, staring directly into your eyes with a daring and loving smile on his face. This happens most when it’s late at night and all the coffee he’s had is starting to wear off and he feels a little more relaxed and open. He’ll carry you to his room to cuddle, too, if you don’t have anywhere else you need to be. Just pray none of his brothers encounter you two because he’ll set you down on your feet immediately and he won’t help you up if you fall.

[[Other Brothers under the read more]]

Mammon

- Fist bumps!!! He passes you and holds his fist out, and pouts if you don’t immediately bump your hand into his. Do the snail or turkey thing once and he falls in love with it. Lucifer, tired and stressed after a lot of work, decides for once to go along with giving him a fist bump because he’s too tired and no one else is around, and Mammon does the snail thing. The look on Luci’s face is worth everything that happened after. But when its you, Mammon just smiles and beams at you. He’s really happy.

- Sitting so close together that you can’t possibly move without disturbing the other. Sides fully pressed together even if he doesn’t have an arm around you or your hand in his. He likes the constant contact, it’s healing. So heavily invested in whatever you’re watching that the two of you simply don’t realise how close you are until the episode ends and you realise you’re leaning your full weight against him and his face is red but he’s smiling so softly you can’t bring yourself to move.

- You’ll have to start the habit, but, tackle hugs. You see him in the distance somewhere and sprint over and tackle him full force. He’ll act mad at first, especially if he trips and falls over or he’d been talking with someone else, but he holds onto you tightly and his face is beautifully flushed. After a while he’ll do it too, although he’s a lot gentler, but if you hear him call your name you need to turn around quickly and hold your arms out. He’ll lift you up into the air and twirl you around once or twice before just, going on with his day as normal. You hear his laughter as he walks away, bright and bubbly and confident, exactly as he should be.

- The absence of insults is important for Mammon. He’ll tolerate it if it’s every now and then but he’ll really notice if you’re always kind to him, he pays attention and holds tightly on to every compliment you give him. When he feels low he finds you and holds you in his arms, fingers playing with the loops in your jeans, as he recites off every nice thing you’ve said to him, hoping you’ll reaffirm them. Did you mean it when you said he was one of the most caring people you’d ever met? When you said his eyes made you feel at home?

- He likes feeding the crows with you. It’s something he does without telling anyone, but one day he takes you out along with him and the crows take a liking to you instantly. He likes how you look with his crows standing proud and confident on your arm, your hair a mess from their flapping wings as you laugh and try to get the last bits of food out from the bag.

- If you style his hair and put random accessories in it - anything from silly plastic hair clips to flowers to feathers - he’ll keep them in all day. He doesn’t care who sees because his MC spent their time doing this for him, and he’s happy to tell anyone who dares criticise him.

Leviathan

- He’s awkward with any affection at first, but he actually builds up to quick tight hugs when he’s really happy. If he’s incredibly excited - just won tickets for something, or some idol liked his comments - expect to be tackled in a hug. He gets flustered after, but if you hold tightly onto him he won’t let go immediately.

- If they even vaguely relate to his own interests, Levi will try hard to be invested in anything you really enjoy. For example, he’ll watch your favourite shows with you or try and read things you enjoy, etc.

- At the same time, Levi will share his interests with you. It’s not something he can really avoid doing as it’s ingrained in him to ramble about his special interests, but it will come in seemingly smaller forms - for example, he’ll hand you his headphones one day, blushing, and ask what you think of this song, or he’ll show you a paragraph in a TSL book that has particularly good rhythm or evokes a lot of emotion. If he lends you his books or DVDs it’s practically a proposal.

- You two have full conversations with Henry as he swims about in his tank. About silly and pointless things or very serious topics, from jokingly scolding him to venting about the future and about school and such. It warms Levi’s heart.

- Horn pats. When he’s in his demon form, pull him down to your level and pat his horns. He’s so flustered he can’t move the first few times, but one day he’ll start coming up to you and asking you if you want to do it. He likes being able to be in his demon form, and likes that you’re comfortable with him even when he doesn’t look as human.

- When he’s very comfortable with you, he likes to wrap you up in surprise hugs and laughs if you try to squirm your way out of his grip, a brilliant mischievous glow in his eyes, any self-consciousness long forgotten.

Satan

- I’ve said this before on another post but Satan likes to pet your hair and run his thumbs over your palms, pressing into them gently like he’s touching the pads on the paws of a cat. He traces circles and presses kisses into your palm and over each finger tip and knuckle, like it’s his own form of worship.

- It takes a long time to build up the confidence to do so but I can see him like. Playfully nipping at your skin if he presses light kisses against your shoulders or neck. If it makes you laugh or blush he smiles against your skin.

- If you fall asleep somewhere he’s the first person to go get a blanket to throw over you - he’d rather just let you sleep if you’re somewhere safe instead of disturbing you to lift you elsewhere, and risking waking you up. Occasionally he’ll kneel down beside you and stay there with a book until you wake up, and he’s fallen asleep like that once or twice.

- Just. Talking. Laying down together and going from topic to topic, saying whatever crosses your minds with no filters and no judgement. Letting time pass by with the comfort of the other, laying on your back in the planetarium or library or in his room, wherever there aren’t books piled up. No responsibilities except to listen to the other, and every now and then you laugh and he feels like maybe this could be home.

Asmodeus

- Sharing things, whatever it is. Food, clothes, jewellery. Taking a necklace off and putting it on him because “this would go so well with your outfit,” or holding out your fork and telling him to try some of your food, it tastes heavenly. Perfume, as well, is a must - he wants the two of you to smell the same.

- Like Mammon, he likes to have some kind of contact with you at all time - holding hands, an arm across your shoulders, anything. But the main point of contact he truly adores is if he has his hands on the skin of your stomach or back, even in the most innocent way possible. If his arms are around you and you’re comfortable with it, he’ll tuck his hands under your shirt and trace shapes against your hips, stomach, back, lower ribcage. Wherever he can. It’s something he’ll do absentmindedly without everything thinking about it, and it recharges him when he’s low on energy.

- He actually really likes working alongside you, whether it’s school work or something related to a part time job, or a potential business idea. He’s smarter than anyone would give him credit for and he loves how you look when you’re deep in thought, trying to solve something, and how your eyes light up as you figure it all out. He’s not one to just give you the answer to things, so if he knows something and you don’t he likes to hint at it like it’s a game. When you guess the answer right he presses a kiss to the tip of your nose and beams at you.

- Late night phone calls where you talk about whatever’s keeping you awake. He doesn’t mind who’s calling who, he wants to ramble or listen to you at any given moment and he’ll give up his sleep if it means you can get something that’s bothering you off your chest. Similarly, there is no greater comfort for him than getting to complain to you about something or other, something that’s genuinely bothering him and that’s stuck in his head. He feels like it only disappears when you take a hold of it for him for a little bit.

Beelzebub

- Sharing food, obviously, means a lot to him. Feed him bites of your food, give him anything you don’t want, and he’ll love it. He especially loves if you share food that’s important to you in some way, and you’ll find him giving you little bites of his food too the closer you two get. It means a lot to him when people embrace the fact that he eats so much, instead of scolding him for it or making jokes about it.

- He really likes holding hands. Your hands are so small in his and yet you trust him not to injure them as you pull him along. He feels possessive sometimes but isn’t outwardly affectionate enough to do anything about it, and the last thing he wants is to make you uncomfortable. It’s the perfect thing for him.

- Stacking random things on the other. Sitting cross-legged in a park, pulling daisies out of the lawn that’s about to be mowed anyway and gently placing them into each other’s hair, on the other’s shoulders and laps. If you’re laying in his bed he’ll take random light objects off his night stand and place them on top of you. There’s no purpose and no intention, and yet it makes him smile and gives him butterflies, and he laughs if you glare jokingly up at him but let him continue.

- Run your hands through his hair, down the sides of his face, under his jaw. Anywhere. He melts in an instant, mouth slightly open as you poke his cheeks or tickle his neck and shoulders with feather light touches.

Belphegor

- Nap. On. Him. Any time, any where. Snuggle up to him, lean your head against his shoulder or bury your face into his neck or lay down on his lap and just rest. He blushes every time and it takes him a second to recover. Sometimes he’ll angle himself so he can lean against you two and he’ll fall asleep as well.

- He likes those kind of monkey hugs where you wrap your entire body around him and he can bury his face in your neck and hold on as tight as he wants. He’ll walk around like that until you get to the attic and he can throw you into his pile of pillows and blankets, and he flops down on top of you and clings onto you again, trying to hide his face because he’s smiling so wide his cheeks hurt.

- He loves playful, back and forth banter. He’ll tease you constantly, loves if you pout at him, loves it more if you retort with something and keep it running for a while before the two of you start laughing.

- Being childish. He’ll stick out his tongue at you or pull a sudden face and he expects you to do it back immediately. If you don’t he’ll poke and tickle you, telling you how disappointed and hurt he is.

- Headbumps! But not too hard. Gently bump your head against his shoulder to get his attention and he’ll pat it. Bonus points if you nuzzle into his hands then - he’s hard to fluster but you can hear him swallow as he starts to go red. You’ll immediately have all of his attention to yourself.

- Belphie is the king of silent conversations. The tiniest gestures, nods, tilts of the head. He can pick up on all of them, knows exactly what you’re trying to say without you saying it, to the point where sometimes you won’t even realise you’re not talking aloud.

[beth-march]

just sitting in a cloud, oh wow

Summary: 

Fez would do anything to make Lexi happy. Apparently, this includes adopting four cats.

For @earnmysong, thank you for the request! Also inspired by a post by @fexilovebot

Read under the cut, or on Ao3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36897967

Once, when they were first talking, and their bond felt so precarious it was prone to the occasional bout of awkward silence, Fez had broken a lapse in conversation by asking about her favourite animal.

“Cats,” he remembers her saying. So quickly, her answer comes, like this isn’t a matter that has room for debate, like Lexi has been rigid in this forever.

“Word.”

A minimal answer, but a distinct sense of hope unfurls on her face.

“You like cats?” Lexi asks.

“Hell yeah I like cats. We used to have a stray hangin’ around the store, he was good company. Minded his business, only hung out if he wanted. Not like dogs, dogs love anyone, they fuckin’ fools.”

Laughter spills from her, and it’s breathless and happy. She’s beaming, and Fez thinks that it’s a disproportionate reaction to an expression of fondness for cats, but he’ll take it. Every time he elicits her smile, it feels like a gift.

“Yeah, exactly!” she exclaims, like vindication, like something long sought finally found. “Their temperaments are so cool, they’re so deliberate in everything they do. And they just have the sweetest little paws, you know, with the little toe beans, and don’t even get me started on their noses - ”

Fez is grinning in earnest, by now. There’s nothing quite like listening to Lexi talk about something she’s passionate about.

“You got a cat?”

“No, I wish,” Lexi sighs. “I’ve always wished.”

“You know you talking about a cat, right? Not some fucking illegal wildlife or somethin’. Like, shit, we can go down to the pet store right now, I’ll shout you the two hundred bucks.”

“That’s really nice of you,” Lexi says, and he smiles all the more when he realises she’s squirming with just how nice she finds this, fingers wringing together. “But my mom doesn’t want pets in the house, so that’s that.”

It might strike another person as silly, the way that dejection overcomes her. Not Fez, who is already so far gone it hurts him to see Lexi like this, sad because she doesn’t have the pet she wants, and has clearly wanted for a long time.

“Someday, Lexi,” he says softly.

He doesn’t realise that he’s making her a promise.

-

Someday arrives, and falls on the day before Lexi turns nineteen.

It feels long overdue, though it’s barely been two years since she confessed her love for cats, and it isn’t as though he could have hosted a pet in a drug house in good conscience. Things have changed since meeting Lexi - somehow, he’s found himself out of the town that ruined him, severed from the business that strangled him. He’s working a terrible job for terrible money so he can cover rent for their apartment and medical bills for his grandma and send his brother to a proper school, and Ash is still angry at him for uprooting their lives to try to act like they’re people they can’t be, but Fez doesn’t care. Maybe he’s playing a fool’s game, but isn’t that what all people do? Fake it ‘til you make it , he remembers Lexi advising the people in her play during her junior year.

For the first time in his life, he looks at the future and the picture is not blurry. It is not smeared in blood, it is not framed by metal bars.

It shouldn’t be significant, that Fez feels secure enough in his life to decide to buy his girlfriend a cat for her birthday. But it is. The freedom is staggering.

He wants to surprise her, but there is a problem in this idea, in that he’ll have to choose the cat himself. He assumes it will be a difficult decision to make in his first glimpse of the kittens wriggling in the glass, some cuddled together, others swatting at toys, others leaping about. They blur together for him, a heaving mass of fluff, a cacophony of sweet meows - but then, he spots a kitten the colour of honey sitting in the corner, and his mind is made up.

There’s something about the little cat that reminds him of Lexi. Maybe it’s the way that she sits perched in the corner, spectating, something knowing in her gaze. Maybe it’s the quiet dignity of her stance, the delicate graze of her tail where it is woven around her soft paws. Maybe it’s how pretty her pale green eyes are.

Whatever it is, Fez looks at the little cat, and he knows she was always meant to end up with Lexi - and, by extension, him. Not twenty minutes later, she’s in his car, hooking her claws on a loose thread in the passenger seat and yanking until it pulls apart, a little tear appearing in the cushioning.

“C’mon, man, don’t pull that shit,” he huffs, plucking up the kitten by her tiny shoulders, setting her atop his knee. “How you gon’ play me like that?”

It seems very rude, considering what he’s saved her from. A glass tank full of annoying brothers and sisters, or maybe a future with a family of young children who might tug on her tail too hard. Instead, she gets to have Lexi Howard as her owner, which makes her the luckiest cat in the world.

He explains this to her, while he sets her things up. Bowls of food and water in the kitchen, litter box in the laundry, a squashed pillow of a bed and a pile of toys in the corner of the living room. He tells her all about Lexi - “You don’t even know, cat, you in for the time of your life, your mama’s the best, she’s gonna spoil you like you wouldn’t believe,” he mutters - and he doesn’t really register how insane this is until Ashtray gets home from school.

“Who the fuck are you talkin’ to?” Ashtray asks, when he steps through the front door. “I know Lexi ain’t here, you’ve been bitchin’ about not being able to wake up with her on her birthday for like two weeks straight.”

“Yo, kid, how was school?” Fez asks, ignoring his tirade.

“What you think? That institution’s fucked, glorified babysitting, the way they treat us like preschoolers who ain’t got a clue about - what the fuck is that?”

Ash stops dead in his tracks when he takes stock of the tiny ball of fuzz streaking across the living room. The kitten does her best to leap atop the sofa, but she’s too small, and she comes crashing down to the carpet, rolling around and shaking her head to straighten herself out. Fez can already hear Lexi cooing - and he can already hear Ash cursing. There’s a gleam in his eyes that suggests he’s not far from it, from breaking out in furious protests.

“C’mon, you know this one,” Fez says. “Says meow, starts with a C?”

“Why the fuck is there a cat here?” Ash thunders. “You best tell me that little fucker’s out by tomorrow, Fez, I ain’t playin’ around. I don’t want no cat.”

“You liked that street cat who came by the corner store!”

“Yeah, but he didn’t live with us! You outta your fucking mind if you think I’m ‘bout to clean up after your girlfriend’s cat, that shit is nasty, literally - ”

“I ain’t askin’ you to do shit. Just ignore her, aight, and be nice? For Lexi.”

Ash grumbles and storms off to his bedroom, but Fez knows his brother well enough to recognise acquiescence. For Lexi is a compelling argument in this house. So much so that Fez doesn’t even have to decorate the place by himself - Ash stands on a chair on the other side of the living room and holds the banner straight while Fez pins it in place, his face only mildly murderous.

In the morning, Ash even agrees to keep an eye on the cat while Fez leaves to pick up Lexi from her dorm room. If he notices Ash dangling a toy mouse by its tail for the cat to swat at, Fez says nothing, only smiles to himself on the way out.

When he reaches Lexi’s college, he finds her already in the parking lot. She’s decked out in her usual eyelet lace, her hair in a low bun and her red lipstick pristine. She looks beautiful, and her smile is radiant.

He gets out of the car and Lexi twines herself around him, her arms fierce around his neck, her face powdery in his neck, her hair soft beneath his nose, and he soaks all of her in, he whispers tenderly, “Happy birthday, Lexi.”

“Thanks,” she giggles, hands twiddling at his nape.

“It’s been good, so far?”

“It just got perfect,” Lexi confides.

“I think it’s ‘bout to get a whole lot fuckin’ better,” Fez admits, his smile impish.

“That’s impossible,” she sing-songs.

Fez imagines this might be among the rare occasions that he is right and Lexi is wrong, and he relishes in it, because it’s a wonderful sort of thing to be right about. Indeed, they get inside, and the first thing Lexi reacts to are the decorations - the blue and purple balloons he’s hung by the banner wishing her a happy birthday, a minimal effort that has her gushing with gratitude.

Fez barely acknowledges it in his haste to ask, “You want your present?”

“There’s more?” Lexi’s voice sounds weak. He’s not sure why - this is the second birthday of hers they’ve shared since they’ve been a couple, and he certainly hadn’t held back the first time, though the pressure to make it nice was more evenly distributed between him and Cassie for her eighteenth. That could really be the reason, he supposes - he knows she’s been lonely without her family, however adamant she is about her relief to have him with her.

“More’s a fuckin’ understatement,” Ash scoffs, from his corner.

This draws a look of curiosity over Lexi. She follows with wonder as Fez guides her to his bedroom. It looks unassuming, neat as always, one nightstand table covered in his things and the other stacked in hers.

There’s no sign of the cat, which makes Fez frown, especially when he notices a pucker of confusion in Lexi. He releases her hand and crouches on the ground, checking the most obvious spot - and finds what he’s looking for. The cat is huddled beneath the bed, legs tucked under her like she’s a loaf of bread. She regards Fez with curious eyes, and doesn’t protest when he reaches under the bed and slips her into his hands, pulling her into the open.

The gasp that flows from Lexi is definitely reminiscent of her theatre days. Fez watches with a grin as she folds her hands over her mouth, her eyes shining.

“Oh my god,” she whispers. “Fez, are you serious? Is this real?”

“Real as all hell,” Fez assures her, bringing the kitten closer. Lexi dusts three careful fingers over the little cat’s forehead, and he swears that there are tears glazing her eyes. She looks up at him and laughs wetly, incredulity clear.

“Fez, I don’t know what to say,” she bumbles. “You really remember me telling you how much I’ve always wanted a cat? We weren’t even officially together, back then!”

“For sure I remember. I remember everything,” Fez says.

Lexi bops up on her toes to kiss him, and she’s sort of crying, sort of laughing, but Fez leans in as close as he can, cupping her face with his spare hand.

“This is the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever gotten,” she admits, stroking the kitten’s face. “But, Fez… I can’t keep a pet in my dorm room, you know.”

“Nah, she’ll stay here. I already got her set up, got her some toys and shit.”

“You’re going to look after a cat? For me?” Lexi asks, dumbfounded.

“You think it’s hard?”

“I think it’s inconvenient! It’s, like, a lot to ask of you.”

“You haven’t asked me for a fuckin’ thing,” Fez says. “I didn’t see you in the pet shop or nothin’. Anyway, you’ll be here next year to help me out, won’t you?”

That’s when her mother will relent on the importance of living a proper college life, and Lexi will be free to move in with Fez and Ash. They’ve alluded to it before but never made formal plans, and Fez has no idea why he hasn’t spoken to her about it outright, because her happiness is an abundant outpour, filling the room with light.

“Yes,” she says, nodding, grinning. “Yes, yes, yes.”

“I’ll be aight ‘til then. She’s only small,” Fez says, freeing one of his hands so that he can unspool Lexi’s fingers and settle the kitten in her palms.

“Oh,” she mumbles, pulling the cat close to her chest, cradling her. “She’s a girl?”

“Yeah. Shit, I hope you didn’t have a preference.”

“She’s perfect,” Lexi assures him. “You chose perfectly. What’s her name?”

Fez scoffs. “You think I got you a cat for your birthday and then fuckin’ named her myself? That’s on you, Lex, you gotta think of something good.”

“Well, she’ll be your cat too, really,” Lexi says. “We should decide together.”

“No way, this one’s all you. I know you got somethin’ in mind. You’ve been dreaming of having a cat how long, again?”

He’s surprised when she bites her lip.

“Actually, I do have something in mind, something I chose when I was really little and watching a Barbie movie…” she says, sounding sheepish.

“Mm?”

“I don’t think you’ll like it,” Lexi says.

“I don’t give a fuck. Whatever you want, for real.”

“I want to name her Serafina.”

Fez blinks. “How the fuck you spell that?”

Lexi giggles and spells it out for him, and Fez lets the letters uncurl in his mind, nodding slowly. “Serafina,” he repeats. “That shit’s dope. I think it suits her.”

“Really?” Lexi asks, brightening. Serafina squirms in her hold, abruptly darting away, leaping atop the bedsheets with a graceful curve of her tail.

“She’s a wily motherfucker, I’ll tell you that much,” Fez says, scooping the kitten back up and bundling her in Lexi’s arms again. “This is Lexi. I been tellin’ you ‘bout her, what the fuck is wrong with you, tryna leave her? That’s the best place in the world, those arms, best take advantage, you dumbass cat.”

“Don’t be mean to her,” Lexi scolds, bringing Serafina close, so she can nuzzle her cheek against the cat’s soft face. It only takes a moment for Serafina to realise just how lovely this situation is, and she breaks into high pitched purrs, a look of curious contentment dancing along her little face.

Fez doesn’t think twice about it - he tugs his phone out of his pockets and snaps a photo. Realising what he’s doing, Lexi tilts around so the angle is better, so Serafina is more visible, and makes her smile wider.

It’s the sweetest picture Fez thinks he’s ever seen. He hates social media with a passion, but an odd compulsion rises in him every so often, like his blood remembers that he’s Gen Z and insists that he has to do something to remind the world that he exists, and it usually coincides with a desire to brag about how stupidly lucky he is to have Lexi.

So Fez posts the picture to Instagram, captioning it something vague about it being his girl’s birthday. It slips nicely alongside all the other squares depicting Lexi in various positions - across the table on a date last month, a blurry selfie where she’s laughing and snuggled in his arms, standing with Ash at her high school graduation, a candid of her with sunshine making her hair glisten.

Rue has called his Instagram a Lexi fan account before, and Fez doesn’t dispute this claim. He’s even changed his bio accordingly, much to Rue’s chagrin, and Lexi’s pleased embarrassment.

Some time later, a chime from his phone informs him that the picture has been commented on.

@casshoward: oh my god it happened @lexihoward you finally got your serafina! please tell me you actually named her serafina!

That makes Fez laugh out loud. He joins Lexi on the floor, where she’s dragging a shoestring along the floorboards in the kitchen, giggling with delight as Serafina pounces at the shapes she traces on the ground.

When he shows her the screen, Lexi offers him a flat look.

“It’s a good name!” she insists.

“I love you,” is all he can say. And he does. He thinks of her tiny and wishing for a cat and deciding she wants to name her cat after a Barbie character and telling her sister about it, holding onto that wish for over ten years, and he cannot believe how much he loves her, loves that little girl and the woman she has become, the woman in his arms, the woman whose wishes he gets to grant.

Whatever dim embarrassment marred her a moment ago is long gone.

“I love you, too,” she confesses, with such ardour to suggest novelty, though it’s anything but - she tells him this every day, she shows him every moment.

They’re halfway to a kiss before Ash smacks them with one of the balloons. It goes careening between them, and Serafina eagerly bumps her head against the lilac globe, nudging it along the kitchen floor.

“Yo, what the fuck, Ash?” Fez grumbles, frowning at his brother.

“Y’all make me fuckin’ sick,” he declares. “Happy birthday and all, Lex, but seriously, I curse the day you came to visit our old store.”

With that, he leaves, stomping away to his bedroom. And Lexi and Fez dissolve into laughter, curled together on the kitchen floor, awash with bliss.

-

“Hey, you’re into cats, right?”

The question comes unexpectedly, about midway through their shift at the convenience store. Fez glances up from the shelves he’s stacking with a surprised look. This coworker is a nice kid, just a bit younger than Lexi, taking a gap year before he starts at college - but he’s rarely chatty. Fez thinks the kid might be intimidated by him. Lexi keeps telling him that he should make an effort to make his niceness more obvious, because he can be intimidating from afar, with his air of mystery and his foul language and the big scar on his head.

So Fez nods, and tries to make his posture as open as possible.

“More my girl who loves them, but yeah, I fuck with cats. Why you ask?”

“It’s just, my mom’s cat had kittens, and we’re trying to get rid of the runt.”

Fez can’t help scoffing at this. “Way to sell it to me, bro.”

“Shit, I mean - we’ve got one left, that needs a good home. And he’s cute, I swear, real cute. You wanna see a picture?”

There’s no real chance to offer a response before the kid has descended upon him, phone in hand. If he could refuse him, Fez thinks he might have - he adores Serafina, truly, loves to wake in the middle of the night and find that she’s tucked herself in the groove of his legs, loves to scratch behind her ears when she wanders into the kitchen to meow at him with demands for food, loves how happy Lexi gets whenever Serafina indulges her with cuddles. But he isn’t sure if he wants to have two cats, even if it would be a lot easier to manage looking after them, now that Lexi is living with him.

Seeing the cat in question doesn’t exactly convince Fez. The little kitten is pathetic, really, skinny and tiny, a black and brown tabby cat with thick white fluff protruding from his ears. He’s visibly smaller than his siblings - his paws are ridiculous, like little twigs, and he’s curled in on himself, his eyes bleary.

“Do they stay that fucked forever?” Fez wonders aloud.

“No, man,” the kid laughs. “No, runts almost always catch up. He might be a little bit smaller, but that’s no big deal, and he’ll be just as strong. He’ll be running around with your other cat someday.”

“That’s mad presumptuous of you, homeboy. I ain’t agreed to nothin’.”

The kid falters, which makes Fez feel bad. “No, I know, it’s just - I don’t know, I’ve got you on Instagram, you know? It’s obvious you and your girlfriend really love your cat, so I thought you might be interested in having another.”

There’s some insight in that. Fez has no doubt that Lexi would be thrilled to have a second cat, and the idea of coming home with a little cat, watching surprise steal her away in a rush of delight, holds a tremendous appeal. He knows the tenderhearted part of her would take great thrill in nurturing a little runt, so tiny he’s been left unchosen among his more robust siblings.

If Fez is honest, there’s even some appeal in this notion for him. Get rid of him, he hears again, and realises that he wants better for the little guy. It’s not his fault he’s so weak and ugly, after all.

“I’ll talk to Lex,” he tells his coworker. Which is really as good as yes, something self aware in Fez can acknowledge, but he dismisses the thought, because the sheer amount of power Lexi has over him is old news, this many years in.

Predictably, Lexi takes one look at the picture of the kitten and is utterly dazzled.

“He’s the runt of the litter?” Lexi asks.

“That shit’s not obvious?” Fez asks, laughing. “Look at them fuckin’ alien eyes!”

“I can’t believe nobody’s picked him just because he’s the runt,” she says. “He’s adorable, and he’s sure to grow. Look at those pretty markings on his forehead!”

There’s already something that resembles love in the way Lexi talks about the little cat. Fez looks at what shines in her eyes and realises, for the umpeenth time, that he would do anything, anything at all, to make her happy.

“You want to take him, then?”

“I mean…” Lexi trails off, chuckling. “Of course I do. But only if you want to keep him, too. I know you’ll say yes to me, and I don’t want to take advantage…”

Fez squeezes her hand, because Lexi really isn’t the sort to wield power in such a way, and that’s exactly why she has so much of it over him.

“Anything you want, baby,” he murmurs.

A few days later, they pick up Alfred. Lexi has picked another weird old timey name, and Fez doesn’t even blink, just says, “Cool. I’mma call him Alfie.”

Alfie the alien, Fez decides, when he realises that the kitten is even weirder looking in real life, with bulging eyes and spindly legs. Fez actually kind of likes it, how he’s so small that he can fit into even Lexi’s frail palm.

“Fez, that’s our son,” Lexi whispers, as they watch him shuffle headfirst into a cushion, bouncing backwards onto the blankets with a little wheeze.

“And he can’t even walk in a straight line,” Fez says, booping Alfred’s grey pink nose. “We chose real fuckin’ well.”

“We sure did,” Lexi says, without a trace of irony. She weaves her fingers around Alfred’s scraggly frame, flips over and lifts him into the air, giggling as she watches his legs kicking about, as though paddling through invisible water.

Fez takes a photo - Lexi sprawled on her back, grinning up at the ball of fluff in her hands - and in what he hopes isn’t becoming a tradition, posts the picture to Instagram.

-

Fez has no idea how they’ve ended up here. One moment, they were in the supermarket parking lot, unloading bags into the car. The next, Lexi has dragged him across the street, to the neighbourhood park, which is decked out in streamers and balloons, a massive banner announcing PET ADOPTION FAIR!

“What the fuck we doin’ here? I wanna go home, for real,” Fez grumbles.

“Okay, Ashtray,” Lexi says, laughing. “Remind me which brother I’m with?”

“We ain’t got no reason to be here,” he insists. “We ain’t getting no more pets. I cannot deal with another cat dragging dead mice and shit into my house.”

“No, I know we’re not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look!”

It might be the reason why he’s so reluctant to go along - he can see how this is most likely to unfold. Indeed, Lexi finds her way to the corner of cats, and from there, it doesn’t take long for her to latch onto yet another cat.

Cat, and not kitten. A big cat with fluffy, dark ginger fur, and bright amber eyes, white on his chin and the toes of his paws. He seems curious about Lexi - she crouches by the cage, and he pokes his nose through the gaps, nuzzling her fingers.

“Oh, hello, beautiful,” she greets, slipping her fingers through so that she can pat his head. This cat clearly knows his stuff - he ruts into her palm, purring loudly, and the happy sound that slips from Lexi makes Fez groan.

“Fez…” she says, turning on him with pleading eyes.

“Hell the fuck no,” Fez says.

“No, but look at him! Look how sweet he is!”

“Look, Lexi, I ain’t playin’. You know I love you more than anything, but we ain’t gettin’ no more fucking cats, I already got them two bitches at home getting into fights with the street cats at three o’clock in the fuckin’ morning - ”

“I thought you liked that they could hold their own against the street cats!”

“Not as much as I like stayin’ the fuck asleep.”

“Maybe he won’t get into as many fights. He doesn’t seem like the type.”

Fez doesn’t know how Lexi has managed to find the single most manipulative cat he’s ever seen - the cat is fixating him with wide, hopeful eyes, and he turns around with a huff. “Motherfucker, damn it all to hell. Fine.”

Relenting is the time that Lexi backtracks, mumbling worries about it being his choice as well, but Fez shakes it aside, joins her to kneel in the grass.

“Hey, bro,” he says, grazing  the cat’s face with his fingers. The cat seems to like him, too, licking at his knuckles with his prickly, bumpy tongue. “You right, Lex. He’s a good one. Shit, I think he’ll be runnin’ circles around our poor little alien.”

“Alfie is literally normal now, you need to stop calling him that,” Lexi says, laughing.

The way she walks back to the car with the ginger cat clutched to her chest reminds Fez of children leaving carnivals with stuffed toys. He’s a very placid cat, the one they’ve chosen, content to curl up into her throat and purr.

This is the picture he takes, of Lexi kissing her latest little love’s forehead, against the backdrop of an azure sky. Fez swears it’s the last time he’ll have a picture to post, and this time around he feels the sentiment is less hollow, because he is very much aware of how awed Lexi is by his relenting, how grateful she is.

“I’m so happy,” she tells him, burying her face in the cat’s thick ginger fur. It’s weird, how he’s reminded of Rue, of a life so long past it seems detached from everything Fez now knows - but it’s good for Lexi, because it spurs gratitude in him, and he leans in to touch his forehead to hers, brushing the cat, too.

“I’m glad, Lex,” Fez murmurs. “What name you thinkin’ of, this time?”

“You don’t want to name even one of our cats?” Lexi asks.

“I don’t got anything in mind. Do you?”

“Yeah, what do you think of Humphrey?”

This is the last straw for Fez. He pulls away from her and offers her an incredulous look. There’s old fashioned names, and then there’s Humphrey.

“Humphrey?” he repeats, staring at her in shock.

“It’s cute!” Lexi insists. “That guy on the Great British Bake Off had a rabbit named Humphrey, remember!?”

For a moment, Fez allows the information to wash over him, that if anyone ever asks him about his cats, he’s going to have to look them in the eye and explain that their names are Serafina, Alfred and Humphrey. He accepts it with a sigh.

“Anyone ever tell you how fuckin’ weird you are, baby?” he asks.

“Yeah, you, every chance you get,” Lexi huffs, but she’s laughing with joy.

(For a fledgling moment, a bizarre thought crosses his mind - a wonder, about what kind of funny names Lexi might pick for their actual children. Once he realises what’s occurred to him, his stomach lurches, and he banishes the thought with insistence, because they’ve never talked about kids before, he’s never even thought about having kids before. That it’s even grazed his mind seems like a miracle - evidence of how things have changed, how the prospect of that future is becoming less inconceivable all the time.

Still, he stops himself from thinking about it. It’s crazy enough that he shares three cats with Lexi, impossible enough that he has confidence that they’re going to share a life. If he stops to imagine what she might look like pregnant, what she might look like holding a baby, his baby, he thinks he’ll lose his mind.)

-

The fourth time it happens, the fight is entirely drained from Fez.

Lexi comes home, and she makes for a very melodramatic picture, with the rain splaying her hair in wet splotches on her cheeks, and a filthy cat smearing dirt all over her blouse. Fez has never seen a dirtier cat - he thinks that the kitten is a pale grey, but there’s so much mud obscuring the fur it’s difficult to tell.

“I know what you’re thinking, but this is an emergency,” Lexi blurts, as she rushes to the bathroom, knowing that Fez will follow her. He does, not bothering to release his hold of Humphrey as he does. Alfred is perched atop the toilet seat, so he sets Humphrey to sit alongside them, and both cats watch with curiosity as Lexi carefully sets the mewling little creature in the sink.

“An emergency? Is that it?” Fez asks, eyebrows raised.

“I’m not going to keep her, I just want to help her,” Lexi says, frazzled, running a tablecloth in warm water. Fez watches the movement of Lexi’s deft fingers, the tremendous caution she employs, as she runs the cloth into the kitten’s body, soothing away the dirt in gentle motions.

Rosy blood trickles into the bath, and Lexi makes a noise not dissimilar to a whimper. Fez takes over, gently brushing her aside, inspecting the mark - it’s only a shallow cut on the bottom of her foot. He suspects a shard of glass is to blame, and he knows that her paws will cease seeping soon.

“It ain’t deep,” Fez assures Lexi. “It’ll stop soon.”

“She seemed so distressed,” Lexi admits. She wipes a hand on her face and smears mud all over her forehead. Fez takes a moment to remove the face washer from the cat, folding it in half and pressing it to Lexi, instead. He makes quick work of washing the dirt off her face, and then returns to the sink.

man whatever just fuck me up, Fez captions his new Instagram post. The one where Lexi is beaming and holding all four cats in her arms.

Ivy, the grey one, named for a Taylor Swift song Fez recognises from the bathroom while Lexi does her makeup in the mornings, is noticeably smaller than her siblings. She’s squeezed between Humphrey and Serafina, looking much fluffier now that she’s been clean and dried, her grey coat almost snowy.

The comment section is quick to swirl with chaos.

@baddiemaddy: LMAOOOOOOOOOOO

@rueruebennett: dude you got another fucking cat?

@fezcoz: @rueruebennett lexi gets what lexi wants, you know how it is

@casshoward: my brother in law is the only man ever tbh

@fezcoz: @casshoward you a real one lil sis

@ashttrayz: i hate this fucking family

@lexihoward: @ashttrayz you know what, you’re in time out, get on top of the fridge

@rueruebennett: lexi coming in hot with a vine reference in 2023…

@lexihoward: @rueruebennett the joke’s on you, you got it!

@jules.vaughn: cat number five when?

@lexihoward: @jules.vaughn fez is lucky i’m not that mean :-)

“If only they knew the fuckin’ truth,” Fez says, and pulls Lexi into his embrace, so that their cats squirm between them. The extent can’t be emphasised enough - Fez is beyond lucky that Lexi isn’t mean, because they both know that Fez would do absolutely anything to make Lexi happy.

-

There’s something cyclical about the way that Rue falls apart.

Being clean, feeling stable, it’ll last for a few months, and then something will happen, some reminder, or seasonal depression will strike, and she’ll find herself in shambles on the floor. This year, Jules doesn’t want to deal with it, and nobody really begrudges that, after how hard she’s tried to make it work during their college years. Rue doesn’t want to call her mom, and nobody really begrudges that, because nobody wants to burden family with things like this.

This year, Fez and Lexi are the ones called upon. It upsets Lexi that she can’t come along for the drive to pick Rue up, but as Fez points out to her, someone has to see Ash off to school, and the cats aren’t going to feed themselves. (Really, Ash can take care of himself, and while he mostly hates the cats, he wouldn’t ever let them starve - but Fez makes it firm that Lexi needs to stay, because he wants to gauge Rue’s mindset before he imposes her on Lexi. Lexi can be pretty fragile when it comes to Rue, and Fez needs to make sure Rue will behave herself.)

It’s been some time since Fez had to deal with an addict. Rue is the only trace of his old life that still comes up in the present - everything else is a tangle of memories, something that rises up constantly, troubles him perpetually, but it only exists inside his own mind.

But when he finds Rue, slumped on a park bench in a random city halfway between her apartment with Jules and his apartment with Lexi, his old world comes crashing back, twisting back to frightful life. Frightful, real life.

“How’s it goin’, kid?” Fez calls, as Rue pulls her bag over her shoulder and shuffles over. He gets out of the car to help her with the duffel, placing it neatly in the backseat before he pulls his sister into a brief, one armed hug.

“I’m alright,” Rue says, even while she sniffles, starts crying. “I’m so fucking sorry, Fez. I’m so embarrassed to be burdening you and Lexi like this. I wish it hadn’t come to this, I really, really wish it hadn’t.”

“Nah, c’mon now,” he says, patting her back. “You ain’t no burden. Not to us.”

“God,” she mumbles, fumbling to swipe at her cheeks. “I just remembered something that happened fucking forever ago… Something Lexi said to me when she was dressed up like Bob fucking Ross…”

“That’s a sensitive subject, Rue. That’s the fuckin’ tragedy of my life, that I never got to see her in that getup,” Fez says, hoping to elicit a laugh.

When Rue’s laugh comes, it’s an unthinkable relief for Fez. They climb into the car, and the tone has already changed. Rue is desperate to hide her vulnerabilities under a veneer of something untouchable, so she lets herself laugh, lets herself joke, lets herself be the annoying little sister Fez always thinks of her as.

Fez doesn’t even protest when she steals his phone.

“Yo, how you know my password?” Fez huffs.

“I made an educated guess,” Rue snorts.

If Fez weren’t almost four years into his relationship with Lexi, he thinks he might be more embarrassed about the fact that Rue could so easily guess his passcode - 5394, numbers coordinating with letters to spell out Lexi’s name.

“Holy shit,” Rue says, a moment later, looking truly baffled. “There’s literally nothing in your phone but pictures of Lexi and the cats.”

“What about it?”

“I just… can’t believe that this is your life,” she admits, laughing. “How many cats do you have again? Five?”

“Four.”

“And their names are fuckin’ weird as shit, right?”

“No doubt.”

Rue tilts the screen at him, an amused smile on her face. “Tell me the story behind this one?”

The picture depicts Lexi and Alfred, wearing matching crochet bonnets, soft ivory trimmed by green. Both of their expressions are grumpy, because Alfred had been less than cooperative with his birthday treat, and Lexi had been disappointed by how reluctant he had been, when she found the idea to be so sweet.

“Lexi got them matching hats for Alfie’s birthday. He looks like he wants to kill himself, but it’s the cutest shit ever, right?”

What unfolds in Rue’s face seems bewildered. As though experimenting, she flips to another picture, one of Lexi in a pink and yellow tie dyed jumper, Serafina cradled in her hold while they sit on the sofa. “And this one?”

“Man, I dunno. They just chillin’.”

She shows some more pictures, waiting for Fez’s responses.

“That was before we left for Ash’s middle school graduation,” Fez remembers, when Rue shows him a picture of Lexi in a gentle purple dress, her crimson lipstick smile beautiful, her hair woven in braids like from the night they first met. She holds Serafina beneath her arms, so that her fluffy belly hangs on display.

“Humphrey was bein’ a bitch, which he’s not usually,” he explains, for a picture where the ginger cat is swatting at Lexi’s face.

“Serafina’s a good study buddy,” he says, for a picture where Lexi is decked out in green and has the honey coloured cat peeking from the blankets, gazing at the computer balanced on Lexi’s knees.

“That’s a pic she sent of her and Ivy when I was at work,” he says, for a picture where the girls are on the bed, and Ivy is nestled close to Lexi’s cheek, and Lexi is smiling brightly, her eyes closed so her eyelashes fan over her cheeks.

“And so, you think all of these pictures are like, so important to take?”

“Rue, will you put the fuckin’ phone down?” Fez asks, finally losing his patience.

Rue acquiesces, setting it atop the centre console with a clatter. She glances between the phone and him, several times over, before she speaks up again.

“Remember when you were a gangster? Those were the days, man.”

Fez throws her a wry smile. “If you think I miss doin’ shit like this, then you trippin’.”

That makes Rue avert her eyes. Embarrassed, overwhelmed, she turns to the window, where the world streams by in a blur. The colours blend together, and Fez wonders what she makes of it, wonders how sober she is, wonders just how many more years she’s going to be stuck in this terrible dance.

It could be forever. For a lot of addicts, it’s forever. For every addict, in fact, but Fez always hoped that Rue would be one of the ones who could smile a tired, triumphant smile, and talk about five years clean, ten years clean.

Fez still has hope, though the years are starting to wear on, and Rue has yet to yank herself from her eternal spiralling, her endless suffering.

“I don’t think I’m like you, Fez,” Rue admits, quietly.

“What you talkin’ about?”

“I just… I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get my shit together like you.”

“I don’t think anyone has their shit together, kid. That’s like a myth. We all just doin’ our best, you know? Making it up on the spot.”

“Lexi has her shit together.”

“Not exactly. She got shit to deal with, same as anyone.”

Rue sighs. She presses her temple to the window. “Yeah, but why is her version of shit to deal with - your version of shit to deal with - I don’t know. I don’t even fucking know what I’m talking about. I mean, her life was fucked, too, right? Her dad ran out on her, her mom’s drunk more often than she’s not, her sister’s basically a blowup doll… And you , you were stuck dealing drugs when you were still in fucking elementary school… And what, I’m the disaster, because my dad died? Neither of you have dads either but you’re good, selfless people. And you’re living this, like, pseudo normal life, by now. What the fuck is wrong with me?”

“You ain’t gonna accomplish nothin’ by thinking like that, Rue,” Fez says softly, his heart awash with secondhand sadness. “You got wires crossed in your mind, you an addict, whatever the fuck. It is what it is. Me and Lexi aren’t addicts, we got different shit to deal with. Ain’t no point in comparing yourself to us.”

“What is there point in doing?” Rue mumbles. “What am I supposed to do ?”

“Shit, kid, why you think I know?” he tries for a laugh, but nothing feels very funny. He considers the anguish edging Rue, how it has always been there but hasn’t shown this blatantly until now, and he pauses for a moment.

“It snuck on me. Whatever changed, whatever made me... grow up. I ain’t never thought I’d have an apartment, and my GED finished, and Ash in school, and someone like Lexi…”

“And a bunch of cats,” Rue adds, with an impish smile.

“Yeah, a bunch of fuckin’ cats,” Fez says, with a sigh. “What a trip, bro. It was right outta left field… Maybe it’ll be the same for you.”

“Yeah,” she mumbles. “I hope so.”

[jonahlovescoffee]

One Last Time | J.M.

a/n: hi im back with a new fic even tho it kinda sucks (???) because my skills are rusty but y’all better still love me <3

summary: after countless painful heartbreaks, jonah swore to never love again but for you, he might give it one last try.

warnings: angst with fluff in the end hehe

word count: 2250

Jonah was perfectly fine with living alone in LA. His career took flight after his last breakup and he was free to live his life as wildly as he desired without having silly romantic relationships tying him down. He moved out from his old house and chose to settle in a cozy little apartment with his pet cat for a new start; he went to every single party he was invited to and usually ended up kissing way too many girls, getting way too drunk or waking up the next day with way too many gaps in his memory of the previous night; he got to put all his focus into making more music now that he had no girlfriend to put as his number one priority. Life was never better for the 23-year-old singer and he had never been happier. He was thriving on his own and he definitely didn’t need to…

“Can’t sleep again?”

…head to the neighboring apartment—your apartment in the middle of the night just because he couldn’t sleep. He was strong enough to deal with the inner demons that kept him up at night by himself.

Yet there he was anyway, doing exactly that and falling into your arms the moment the door opened wide enough for him to pass through. You weren’t the least bit surprised with his actions though, since it wasn’t unusual for him to engulf you in his tight bear hugs at the most unexpected times. Or visit you, that is.

He was grateful that you never complained about them.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, his voice muffled with his head buried in the crook of your neck. He couldn’t stop himself from inhaling a lungful of your scent. It wasn’t until then he realised how much he missed you, although the last time he saw you was this morning when you were about to leave for work and him for Daniel’s house. Hours apart felt like eternity when you weren’t around. “You?”

“Lost track of time while working, nothing new,” you admitted, rubbing his back in familiar strokes that put him at ease.

“Who the fuck works on a weekend?”

“Your favourite girl is a workaholic, apparently,” you joked and a smile involuntarily spread over his face and against your skin.

“Are you sure you’re my favourite girl?”

“I better be, or I’m kicking you out of my home right now,” you tried to make your threat sound less serious by adding a light laugh but Jonah knew you weren’t joking this time. You meant everything you just said (you never gave blank threats) so to some people you might be come across as intimidating, perhaps, but to Jonah, well…have you seen how small you were compared to him? He doubted you could do anything to make him leave your home if he didn’t want to. But you wouldn’t have to do anything because…

“Yep, you’re definitely my favorite,” he chuckled and felt how your body tensed when goosebumps started to form on the side of your neck where his hot exhales caressed.

Right. “Just friends“ equals personal space unless you say otherwise. He reluctantly removed his head from its previous comfortable resting spot on your shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I was too close—“

You shook your head. “It’s fine,” your hands found their way onto his face, cradling it between them gently, the simple gesture knocking his breath and all his problems out of him. God, he loved the way you touched him. “I like it when you’re close to me. It’s just that…”

“I know,” he said when you trailed off, unable to say your thoughts out loud. He understood what you meant. It’s just that it hurts when he does all these things to pull you closer, further blurring the line between friends and lovers, only to let you down again and again in the end. He resisted the urge to apologize once more, knowing that you’d merely brush him off with another ‘it’s fine’ if he did. You put up with his bullshit too much. He wondered why you hadn’t blocked him out of your life after all the emotional distress he had bestowed you. Yet.

A beat of silence passed with him watching you as you studied his face. He knew what you’d see. Tired eyes, unshaven beard and disheveled hair. In short, a mess. He hadn’t bothered to make himself look presentable lately. He wanted to but he couldn’t find the energy to. To be honest, he had been too emotionally and physically drained to do anything lately.

He knew you’d notice and a selfish part of him desperately wanted you to fuss over him. He was an asshole, really, for wanting and taking everything from you but not giving you anything back in return. The thing was, you didn’t want just anything. You wanted his love and he didn’t think he was in the right state to give you that. You deserved the special kind of love that would last for a lifetime, not a pathetic one coming from a broken heart that was still in the process of healing like his.

Guilt ate him away bit by bit, especially as you did exactly what he yearned for.

“When was the last time you slept well, Jonah?” you asked softly, thumb brushing over his cheekbone. All traces of playfulness were gone from your eyes and were replaced by concern, worry and everything else of the sorts.

“Can’t remember,” he admitted frankly, licking his lips and taking a gulp for extra courage before adding, “Been traveling a lot lately and sleeping in foreign hotels aren’t the same as…sleeping by your side.”

It was true. He didn’t know whether it’s the domesticity of preparing for bed together and the shared ‘goodnight’s before heading on a journey to dreamland, or maybe it’s the soothing feeling of your body pressed flush against his that made it easier for him to shut all the negative thoughts out, just for the night. Either way, he ended up growing addicted to holding you in his arms as he slept, which was why the nights without you had been torture for him.

A faint blush dusted your cheeks at his confession. You were oh so beautiful, he thought to himself. It scared him sometimes—how much he adored and wanted you even when he shouldn’t. “Glad you missed me.”

You sounded glad, relieved even. It was as if…you really thought you meant nothing to him.

“I always do, Y/N,” every second of the day until I’m back in your arms. He hated himself for not having the guts to say his true thoughts out loud.

You shook your head while smiling as if you found his reply incredulous. “You’re tired. C’mon, let’s get you to bed.”

“I meant every word I said, Y/N,” he insisted. “I didn’t say that because I was delirious.”

He received no answer but he noticed how your smile seemed forced after the words left his mouth.

At this point, you probably knew better than to let yourself believe in any of his sickeningly sweet but honest words. He didn’t blame you for that.

“Thanks, I’m flattered. Now, sleep time.”

He watched as you built your defenses up around you again. It was one of the most painful things he’d ever witnessed, that’s for sure.

“Alright.”

#

The bed dipped, followed by the rustling of the comforter, before a familiar warmth hit Jonah as you nestled against his chest. This wasn’t the first time you had done this, nor would it be the last time, but the effect your action had on Jonah would never cease.

Eruption of butterflies? Check.

Increase of heartbeat rate? Double check.

Suddenly having the overwhelming urge to make you his? Triple fucking check.

Habitually, he wrapped an arm around you, his hand casually resting on the curve of your waist. He could stay like this with you forever, he realised and he didn’t like it one bit.

The last thing you needed in your perfect life right now was a dumb, broken man for a boyfriend. One who only knew how to turn his life experiences into songs and getting led on by girls with bad intentions because he craved the feeling of loving someone and being loved in return, even if it’s fake.

But God, it was impossible for him to not fall harder for you each day when you were the one who lights up his world with your smile, the one who’ll drunkenly blabber about how big your crush on him is in the most adorable way after accidentally having too many drinks, the one who is always there to help him catch his breath whenever he feels like drowning and most importantly, the one who sees all his flaws but doesn’t love him any less because of them.

You don’t deserve her, a voice in his head said as he silently looked at you. Yet why were you here, resting in his embrace?

It must be another sick joke made by the universe to taunt him. To show him how close you were to him yet still so unreachable. Even if he did manage to reach you in the end, then what? All his past relationships either ended with him accidentally breaking his significant other’s heart or the other way round and he wasn’t going to risk it with you.

He didn’t want to lose you like how he did with them because…he wasn’t sure if he could ever recover from that loss.

Instead of continuing to lay on his side, he shifted his sleeping position so that his back was fully pressed against the mattress, with your head remaining on his chest.

Your bedroom was dead quiet save for the sounds of your breathing and the soft swish of the curtains that were slightly billowing in the chilly night breeze that entered through the opened sliding doors that led to the small balcony. You always slept with the curtains drawn because it let you get a clear view of the wide expanse of the night sky and if you’re lucky, you got to see stars that were littered across nature’s dark canvas. They were your only company during the lonely nights before he came along, you had once mentioned to him.

Now that he slept on the side of the bed that blocked your view of the outside world, the only thing in your line of vision was his chest, his neck, or if you tilt your head a little more upwards, his face.

Which was exactly where you’re looking at now.

“What’s on your mind?” Your voice was soft but it cut through the silence all the same, tearing his attention away from his racing thoughts.

“You,” he answered swiftly, offering you a weak smile that you didn’t reciprocate, causing his to eventually falter.

“For someone who said he wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship when I confessed my undying love for him, you sure think about me far too much,” you tisked and he couldn’t quite tell whether you meant your words in a teasing manner or were they pure sarcasm?

“That doesn’t mean I don’t feel anything for you, Y/N,” he was as torn as he sounded. One part of him yearned for you whereas the other wanted to push you away, to keep you safe. From his mess of a life and the pain it might inflict on you. “I just…don’t want to hurt you.”

“But you’re hurting me now by not letting me in, you know that?” You sighed. “Look, Jonah,” “I can’t wait forever for you to make up your mind.”

“Because it hurts like hell to be this close to you,” you reached up to run your thumb across his jaw, “but not being able to call you mine. And if the pain gets too unbearable one day, who’s to say I won’t leave?”

He hated that you were right.

So for a moment, he let himself picture what it would be like in a world where you belonged to him and vice versa; where he could have slow, lazy mornings in bed that consisted of intimate kisses, touches, and words that warmed hearts; where he’d be able to return to a home that wouldn’t be empty anymore due to your bubbly present; where he could keep you close in public with an arm securely looped around your waist or a hand holding yours without worrying that paparazzis would spread rumours that you were dating because it was true. You are his.

Life still wouldn’t be perfect, but at least it’d be complete with you in it and he’d definitely be happier than he was before.

That was when he realised he was a coward for spending too much time fearing what could go wrong, instead of thinking of all the beautiful things that could go right.

Sure, he had messed things up in the past and hurt the people around him in the process but his relationship with you was the present.

That should mean something right?

Maybe…just maybe…the only way to truly mend his shattered heart was by learning how to love again. By giving love one more chance. One last chance.

So with a shaky breath of nervousness, he admitted, “You’re right. I’ve kept you waiting for too long.”

“But not any longer.”

Then he closed the remaining distance between your lips.

And nothing had ever felt so right.

@chilling-seavey @neralondon @mia-marais @randomlimelightxxx @hopinglimelight @kvd963 @cutiebandlover202 @savspersonalproperty @slowdownatthelotusinn @hollandsangel @freakshows199 @my-fangirling-outlet @the-girl-who-cried-wolf @sadbitchfangirl @hopinglimelight @onlyangelavery @lokiandbuckylove @hometothecanyonmoon

[shinaus]

AFFECTION

bnha versions here and here! haikyuu version here!

a/n: these characters are just so fun to write for & honestly they deserve some peace, so here’s my best solution for that hehe

themes: fluff, gender neutral reader

characters: itadori, megumi, toge, gojo & nanami

ITADORI➷:

it’s hard to not think everything this man does is cute, but man - his favourite way to give you affection just is. he’ll have his hands on your shoulders, usually when he’s about to head out or just when he wants to get your attention. then, he’ll lean over and place distinct little kisses on your face. first your forehead, then each cheek, nose, chin, and finally your lips. the smile he has on his face every time he does it is another level of happy. 

please just let him have headpats. or just play with his hair in general, he’s like a content little cat every time you do it and loves to receive them. he loves getting to be close to you and lie contently as you cart your fingers through his hair, more often than not it has sent him to sleep when you’re laying down together. as much as yuuji can most definitely take care of himself, the gesture makes him feel protected.

MEGUMI➷:

he’s not really much for pda, mainly because he likes to enjoy giving you affection when it’s just the two of you and he’s completely comfortable. however, one thing he’ll always give you when he’s feeling a little distant is kisses on your hand. it’s a very quick thing, even unnoticed by some. but chances are if you’re sitting down anywhere, he has your hand held within his own and it’s brought up to his lips frequently. 

gentle touches are his favourite thing to receive for sure. it’s easy for him to get into his own head, so his partner is certainly someone who’s quickly able to ground him. it can be a hand running along his arm to get his attention, at the base of his neck as you look up with him or simply holding his face in your hands. nothing quite gives him comfort like that does. 

TOGE➷:

he’s overall a very giving person, it’s the best way for him to prove his love for you - through his actions. every night, if you’re facing away from him then he’ll cuddle up behind you. his nose always nuzzles against the back of your neck and you feel him relax almost instantly, hands either resting on your stomach or holding your own. some nights he’ll even indicate that he wants to be the little spoon, which you of course indulge him in.

nothing makes him feel more reassured or relaxed than receiving kisses on his curse marks. a lot of what he hates comes from not being able to properly tell you how he feels about you, which he could go on forever about. so to know you understand so well and are with him despite the fact he isn’t able to convey it in the way he wants to, just makes him love you more.

GOJO➷:

he gives you neck kisses. a lot. it’s so commonly known amongst the others that they’ve begun to believe it’s the only way he greets you - not that you mind of course. it’s mostly due to the fact he’s so tall, he loves getting to duck down and make you think you’re getting a proper kiss but instead he’ll pepper little ones all along the column of your throat. bonus points if you fluster, a good boost for his ever growing ego. 

as much as he can be teasing around other people, gojo is surprisingly intimate. his favourite way to receive affection from you is when lace your fingers with his. without fail, you always kiss him as you do so - constantly sending his heart through a loop at the combination. it’s the closest you can get to him being bashful over you, but he begins to let down his guard more as he realises he asks you to do it so much more frequently. 

NANAMI➷:

he loves - and i mean loves - to give you a kiss every time he either leaves for work or comes back. he’s not the most traditional but it’s just always something that’s stuck with him in his relationship with you. will also be the time he’ll get the most romantic with his pet names, calling you love the most and wishing you a good day before he heads out or plans his evening with you upon his return.

it doesn’t take much to know that nanami is a hard worker, sometimes pushing himself well past his limits. you do your best to spoil him as much as you can which you more than believe he deserves, the love and care he receives from you is something he can’t help but feel spoiled with. at the end of a long day, often times he’ll forget to do simple things. so, as the night winds down, you take off his glasses for him and kiss underneath his eyes. it’s something so simple yet intimate, setting off his heart as if he were a teenager in puppy love.

[keerishima]

hi hi!! i loved what i saw so far on your blog 😎 it’s so cuteee waahh

for requests could you do something likeee um um soft things they do? SORRY IF THATS TOO BROAD- LMAKFKAKDK

oh oh or for bakugo could you do a small thing about trying to hold his hand for the first time? idk idk you don’t have to do any of these but just know your writing is amazing !!

hi there! this is actually so cute omg of course im going to do these! i hope they were okay, i sort of did it in a way where it would work with and without an s/o but some leaned more to either side,, if that makes sense

also thank you so much, i’m so glad you like my blog so far!! i hope i can continue this level of work for the future <3

Kirishima sometimes sneezes so hard his whole body hardens by accident- like he’ll just poof up like a pufferfish. Sometimes he doesn’t even realise he’s hardened 💀 it’s adorable to watch the both of you jump confusion when he tries to lie back down but he ends up poking you

todoroki juggles with the ice he can make. There’ll be days where he is watching or listening to something and suddenly his right hand turns blue and there’s three small ice balls between tossed between his hands. someone started a competition to guess how long he could do it for and so far, Shoji is in the lead

iida has a habit of shushing you in his sleep. like maybe you’d wake up before him and be on your phone, he’d roll over all bleary-eyed and you’d know he was basically still asleep because his normal I’ve-just-woken-up-and-you’re-the-first-thing-I-saw smile isn’t there. he’d brush his fingers against your mouth all ‘mmfhm shhh don’t worryyy don’t worry i'll t-ake..care’ because even in his sleep he wants to make sure you’re okay at all times. his role as class rep really is perfect for him 😩

denki is so energetic. and so clingy. sometimes a bit too much but just tell him and he’ll bound off and give you your space. anyway because of his energy, he sometimes struggles to sleep and rest. before he could never find peace with it and sleep, so he started to ask you to take a long walk with him before bed. you’d go around the area around the dorms and the woods area and talk about literally anything and everything. sometimes you’d walk past houses and try to guess the names of the house owners.

‘Someone called Sakura definitely lives there’

‘Why because there’s sakura trees?’

‘...yes’

shoji always wanted to help you. ALWAYS. if you were doing something that needed a bunch of tools like your makeup, or cooking, or building something like a new dresser after you told aizawa your old one broke, shoji would come RUNNING. ‘hey y/n can I help you?’ and the way he helps is he holds everything you need for you, and hands it over as soon as you need it.

‘okay mascara time shoji can y-‘ *shoji is already shoving the mascara into your face*

‘oh gosh I need a wrench-‘ *shoji’s wrenching it for you*

basically he just wants to help you 25/8

sero absolutely loves using his tape to drag you to him. if you’re across the room from him he’ll  loosely wrap it around your waist, and then pull you in towards his body with a smirk on his face. his favourite time to do this is when he’s in his hammock and you’re standing across his room, he’ll just pull you along no matter what you were doing or holding so he could hold you. another thing he’d do is pull you in for a hug and then suddenly tightly  wrapping his tape around the both of you like a snake, only smiling cheekily when you give him a questioning look.

‘sero?’ ‘I’m not letting you go’

bakugo stares at your hands. bakugo REALLY likes staring at your hands, I feel like bakugo has an obsession with your hands...because his are rough from his quirk but yours are soft and comforting :( and man does he want to hold them. but he refuses. holding hands is for extras. and also he doesn’t want to hurt you by accidentally setting off his quirk, but also because holding hands is for extras >:(. hon you’re going to have to take the initiative and one day randomly grab his hands, when you’re out don’t give him time to really comprehend that you’ve just grabbed his hand, because he really really likes it but his pride won’t let him enjoy it. if you grab it randomly he’ll probably short-circuit and walked with you dazed and again, just stare at your joint hands. his thoughts are running wild ‘fuck hands so soft fuck we’re holding hands oh god don’t let go bakugo or else I’ll smack you don’t sweat don’t sweat don’t sweat’. meanwhile you’re just smiling happily because he hasn’t let go! in fact he’s just tightened his hold around your fingers, grumbling under his breath

midoriya is so cute oh my lord. he's absolutely adorable. we all know he loves his note-taking and if you don't know, he also takes invisible notes when he doesn't have his books. once he got close to you, you became his new notebook. kind of. if you're dating midoriya you need to be able to handle his chattering. he'd do the boy thing and lean into your face so his breath is brushing your cheeks and not realise that he's making you flustered. 'hey y/n did you see the way mount lady did that? she runs and makes sure she has space to not step on anyway y/n what if she ever stepped on anyone what would the hero handbook say can you imagine??'

tokoyami would fluff his feathers omg i'm just imagining it and its the cutest thing ever holy shit. and he normally only does it when he lays down in your lap. he'd fall asleep resting on your thighs and then get up, just to stretch out his legs and back, change positions, oh and shake his head to fluff out his feathers. the first time you saw him doing that you literally stopped breathing in surprise, it was so cute. nobody else knew he did that until denki walked in on tokoyami curled in on your lap and your boyfriend chose that exact time to do his little birdy wiggle. best believe denki ran out gleaming to share the new information

shinsou takes you on a walk, to one place specifically. and this one place is a little secluded area in the park literally filled with cats of all sizes and shapes. according to shinsou all of these cats have names and favourite foods and favourite ways to be petted and their favourite person is shinsou himself! okay that changes a bit when you get involved too, but shinsou isn’t a jealous person especially when it comes to cats obviously. these are your favourite moments with him because as i’ve said before, shinsou values privacy so this is where he lets himself relax in public. when he’s comfortable he pulls you onto his lap or tucks you onto his side or lays his head on you. he’ll litter kisses on your neck whilst you stroke the kittens as per his instructions of what they like. he even picks up each kitten and says hi, pecking them on the nose when you two arrive, god my heart that’s so cute. when you leave the kittens would all meow briefly before teetering away, as you make shinsou promise to bring you back

[wizardlyghost]

- as i step aboard the HYDRAULIC PLATFORM which will bear my wide-eyed form to the surface, the GAME offers me one last chance from beyond the FOURTH WALL. "please, GHOST," it begs, "please reconsider your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats! to face this world with STRENGTH and CHARISMA and ENDURANCE scores as low as yours is an act of madness!"

- i barely even read the NOTIFICATION BOX. "to do otherwise would be an act of cowardice," i say. "the world can only kill me once."

- "that's not actually how videogames work-"

- "shut up."

- "ok."

- so anyway i exited the VAULT and, shockingly, the world had not survived NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON. i tottered on down the hill, past the TANGLED SKELETONS of people who had died in the BLAST 200 years ago, many of whom i presumably knew personally. i assume the VAULT TECH SALESMAN was among them, but i was unable to distinguish his bones from those of everyone else refused entry to the VAULT. diogenes laughed.

- when i got down to SANCTUARY i found MISTER CODSWORTH the ROBOT BUTLER watering some extremely dead flowers. he tried to put a BRAVE FACE on but pretty much immediately had a FULL BREAKDOWN about being left alone with no purpose to fulfil for two centuries. TODD HOWARD you give me a button combo to give this robot a hug right fucking now.

- notably, he claims that he hasn't seen Anyone in all this time. this possibly means that the ASSHOLES who kidnapped BABY(?) SHAWN didn't come through this way?

- as another side note, this is the first full dialogue sequence of the game that isn't tied to character creation, and i had forgotten that the camera goes third person when my character is talking. those GLASSES i picked up from the OVERSEER's shrivelled corpse? i am now legally barred from ever removing them from CAT's face. it's a Look.

- i elected to explore the VILLAGE alone, remembering enough from last time to know that if i took MISTER CODSWORTH along he would charge directly into battle and i would probably end up accidentally shooting him several times. i used this time to familiarise myself with the WORKBENCH aspect of the game, which i hadn't really used previously. recycling all of the RUINED DEBRIS in the VILLAGE was a weirdly theraputic way to come to terms with the TRAGIC DEATH of HOWARD-TODD.

- i also got my first taste of HACKING in this game. i fucking love these kinds of logic puzzle so much fam. i've got a little physical notebook that i work the answers out on and everything. so far this is my absolute favourite part of the game.

- at some point i realised that i had racked up enough XP to level up. i took my first PERK in MEDIC because cleaning up the VILLAGE reminded me of the rp value of acting like the npcs of this world are real people, and building my character to be able to help them rather than just power levelling as fast as my ammo supplies would allow. in character i guess i just felt like the act of cleaning up the ruins of the world that from my perspective i had only been living in this morning drove it home that if i wasn't going to try to fix things then what in the goddamn else was i gonna do?

- with that deep thought i headed on up the hill to the RED ROCKET TRUCK STOP, which in my mind will forever be called PIZZA PLANET because there will always be a toy story kid buried somewhere in my exhausted soul. on the way there i met the TRUE HERO of FALLOUT 4: DOG THE DOG! he is a GOOD BOY and immediately saved me from a bunch of NAKED MOLE RATS. i pet him on the head and tried to give him a CAN OF DOG FOOD that i had found back in the village. possibly this isn't intended to be a consumable item, as he just solemnly carried it around in his inventory. i guess, like most dogs, he doesn't know how can openers work.

- i explored around the PIZZA PLANET TRUCK STOP and found an underground cave with a bunch of cool shit inside, along with a bunch of NUCLEAR WASTE BARRELS that had been extremely responsibly disposed of by tucking them away dirECTLY UNDERNEATH THE NUCLEAR POWERED FUEL STATION WHAT!?!?!?

- there must be a constant earthquake going on around the ruins of osha hq as everyone who has ever inspected a worksite turns in their grave at once. this shit made ME turn in my grave, and i'm not even THERE yet. as someone who just spent two centuries nonconsensually frozen to death in a world where people get radiation poisoning from their cola this is maybe the worst health and safety violation i have yet seen. at least when VAULT-TECH disregarded human life it was intentional.

- new LAWYERLY OBJECTIVE unlocked: personally resurrect the OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ADMINISTRATION.

- anyway after NOPE-ing my way right the fuck back out of that cave i continued following the road towards CONCORD. it was here, in a house on the outskirts, that i made my most important discovery to date - a red bandanna, perfectly suited to be worn by my new best friend, DOG THE DOG. as i tied it around his neck, i heard in the distance the sound of gunfire, and decided that this was the perfect time to call it a night before i got sucked too deep into the action.

[starshipsofstarlord]

Alpine

bucky barnes x reader / masterlist

summary; when bucky returns from a mission, he is met with the most tragic news possible / warnings; angst, death, mentions of death, crying, i’m sad so don’t hate on this, pet death

Vast pools of tears flowed out of your eyes, running a river to encompass down your body, but you accepted the flood. It was tragic, the element of death, it was cold and unforgiving, taking whomever and whatever it pleased with its morbid grip, confiscating them from life and forcing them to be another form forever entrapped in the underworld.

Death had come again, leaving you heart broken, crumbling into your shell, tissues were useless to mop up the mess. There was so much pain crafting you into it’s victim, a person that had escaped its clutches, but remained futile to its sickly affects. To say you felt prepared to vomit was an understatement, and worst of all, you had yet to inform the man that had brought that little ball of fur home.

He was on a mission, about twenty minutes away from returning home, and it would absolutely wreck his heart to know that the world had handed him a situation so cruel. The cat had been crying, his eyes ruggedly searching for his father, but the white ball of fluff was forced to be sent into his peace without seeing him one last time.

There was guilt riding on your shoulders, maybe it was because you had been coerced by the veterinarians to put him on a diet, and he was suffering from that. Though they stated, trying to give you a sentence of reassurance, that the circumstances that had made Alpine deteriorate so quickly, within the span of ten minutes, was inevitable, and it was due to genetics.

The results were going to happen sooner or later, and you had to perceive what was best for your baby. There had been no time given to consult with your husband about the matter, he was pardoned from his allowance to communicate, in case the enemy tracked him whilst he was at work. And here you were, holding one of the feline’s prized possessions, as you curled up on the couch, his favourite blanket secured around you, as you messily sobbed.

It was certain that you were a sight for sore eyes, but your appearance didn’t matter. A part of you were relieved that you had been chosen to forgo the mission, otherwise poor Rhodey would be accountable for the decision as he cat sat for you, confused by the motives that he was supposed to lean towards.

The creak of the front door opening caused you to stiffen, realising that Bucky had arrived home. It would kill him to discover the events that had taken place in his absence, he adored that cat, you even had an inkling it was more than you, not that you minded.

Originally, the two of you had chosen to purchase a cat, to fill the absence of not being able to have a child together. It wasn’t that you couldn’t physically endure a pregnancy, nor the same with Bucky being able to cause one, it was more so a risk, with your combined genetics, it was uncertain how that child would turn out.

And not to mention, it was not fair to bring a baby into the world with powers, the pair of you hardly had your own under control. People, like hydra, would be after the baby, it being a blend of two powerful avengers, and no one should have to endure being hunted at all, let alone from birth onwards.

This one day, after speaking about rescuing a small critter, Bucky had turned up from his morning job, a small, meek and dirty kitten in his grasp. It cried, obviously hungry and malnourished, desperate for food and affection. For the past five years, that had been exactly what he had received; he had even been fed somewhat too well, hence the diet he had been prescribed.

“Doll.” His voice sent shivers up your spine, making you clutch onto the items of your baby tighter. Throughout the house, there were gentle reminders of him, and you had yet to bare the consequences of getting ready of any of it, it was too soon. “You okay baby?” He asks, dropping his bag, and kneeling before you, trying to cradle your face as you sniffled.

Shaking your head, you bit your lip, reaching your hand out to grasp his shoulders with a combusting touch. He knew from that contact alone there was something wrong, definitely wrong. “Alpine took a turn for the worst bubba.”

You could see the panic in his eyes, his blue orbs darting around the room, and the entrance to the hallway, as he tried to process your statement. “What? Is he okay, where is he?” I’m his life, James had lost so many people, they were all stolen by the reapers, that watched him carefully, constantly deciding that it was not yet his time.

“Bubs...” your eyes said it all, and Bucky felt his own turn glassy. A chortled breath escaped his lips as he tried to comprehend what you weren’t saying. “He is no longer in pain, it was an easy decision, though it did and still is killing me. I couldn’t wait to let him suffer more.”

You soothed his shoulder with strokes, as tears rapidly cowered from his waterline. “Did we do something wrong, was it his weight?” He blubbered, urgent to find an answer to the madness that was torturing him.

“No baby, it wasn’t us.” Breathing in, you allowed the air to circuit in your chest, giving you a moment of relief before you answered his urgent enquiring. Seeing him like this was killing you almost as much as it did when you carried the small animal’s body out of the clinic. “They said it was genetic, and that we had to think what was best for him. So I did, and a part of me was happy you weren’t there, it would have killed you.”

“It would have.” He agreed through his calloused and torn voice. “D’you bury him?” He asked as he swiped his nose with his knuckles, watching as you sat up, and combed your fingers through his brunette locks.

“Yeah, come on.” You stood, taking your partner by his shivering vibranium hand, leading out the back door of your home, and into the garden. There was a fresh patch of dirt in the middle of the shadow of the small holly bush, it being the destination where Alpine rested.

“He always liked to try and eat those. Half the time he’d just hide in there, and I’d be worried when I couldn’t find him when I came home.” He lightly laughed through his liquid sorrow, squinting his eyes shut as he imagined just that. Your hand found refuge once more on his shoulder, as you rested your head on his side, the rest of his arm wrapping around your quivering waist.

“He is home Jamie.” You spoke softly, as your face continued to be stained with evidence of your pain. Bucky pressed a kiss to the top of your head, and you could hear his shaky breaths; this man was really killing you, the pair of you knew that this dreaded day would eventually come, but it had breached your emotions too soon.

That small kitten had showed you how to love, encouraged you both to relax on particularly hard days, and now all you and Bucky had was each other. Your baby was deep in his slumber, and you hoped he had lovely dreams, as he rested under the thriving of hollies. Alpine would be sincerely missed, it was a great presence absent from your lives.

Death held no mercy upon its victims, he simply took and took until there was no more to take. And here you were, waiting for you to be next on the cycle, though it appeared that he never was fond of you, the coil of life was strung around you strong, and that meant you would have to remain here, with all these reminders of the loved ones that you had lost.

[bored-mumma]

Thor Odinson - Fluff alphabet

MASTERLIST

A = Attractive. What do they find attractive about the other?

Thor found your bravery unbelievably attractive. It would never matter who you were up against, you always gave it your all and never ever backed down. He admired that about you. 

B = Baby. Do they want a family? Why/Why not?

He wouldn’t mind children. His entire life he had always yo-yo’d between wanting them or not but he believes now he’s finally made the decision to have them. Having a son or daughter to carry on the family name and to pass on his wisdom, it sounds like a dream.

C = Cuddle. How do they cuddle?

His arm beneath your head, you using it as a pillow. You would cuddle into his side as he uses his other hand to stroke shapes onto your skin. 

D = Dates. What are dates with them like?

Very, very rare. Thor wasn’t particularly keen on actual dates. You would more just spend your evenings together watching the telly or going for walks. Its very simple but rather intimate moments, although not technically dates.

E = Everything. You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…)

You are my reason to smile.

F = Feelings. When did they know they were falling in love?

It took Thor a little while to realise his feelings for you. He would love to admit it was love at first sight but it wasn’t. He always thought you were very good looking, very kind, very intelligent. But it did take Thor nearly a year to realise that he doesn’t just like spending time with you because you’re a good friend of his. He realised he could never stop thinking about you and when you said someone had asked you for a drink, a wave of jealousy went through him - Making him finally realise his love for you.

G = Gentle. Are they gentle? If so, how?

He’s always gentle with you. He knows his strength and will always be careful. Not just physically though but emotionally or verbally too. Even if Thor is extremely angry or upset, he’ll never yell at you. He’ll never speak harshly or say things he may regret. He’s a gentle giant.

H = Holding Hands. How do they like to hold hands?

Gently with your fingers intertwined. 

I = Impression. First impression/s?

He didn’t really notice you much. You were just another Stark employee hired to help the Avengers as much as possible. It wasn’t until the both of you had to work pretty closely for a mission that Thor really started to notice you.

J- Joker. Are they into pulling pranks?

Not particularly. He’ll joke around with you and have fun but actual pranks he’s not too keen. Probably a side effect of growing up with Loki as a brother.

K = Kiss. How do they kiss?

He usually gently holds your chin in his large hands, lifting your face to look at him. He’ll start off gently dragging his lips against yours but will quickly turn more needy.

L = Love. Who says ‘I love you’ first?

You did. You were always the more forward one in this relationship and had no problem admitting you were utterly in love with the God. At first, Thor was taken back at your vocalised love but it only took a moment for him to return it

M = Memory. What’s their favourite memory together?

When he brought you to Asgard to meet his family - more importantly, to meet his mother. He would never admit it but he was desperate for her approval. Which of course, she gave. Watching you and his mother happily chatting, speaking of your mutual admiration of Thor and of each other, made his heart swell with pride. 

N = Nickel. Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?

Not so much on Earth as he doesn’t have much money. But when you go to Asgard? oh my god. Everyday is a new outfit for you to wear with matching accessories and shoes. Everyday is a new bath scent for you. Everyday he’ll bring you books, flowers, food, art, jewels. You always try to return the favour but Thor is definitely the God of gift giving.

O = Orange. What colour reminds them of their other half?

Red. His signature colour that you started to wear a lot when you began dating seriously. Thor will always buy you some red roses or red earrings because the view of you wearing his colours is one he’ll dream of with a smile for the rest of his life.

P = Petnames. What petnames do they use?

My dear or my Darling are the most common.

Q = Quaint. What is their favourite non-modern thing?

Horse riding. It’s a very normal thing to do on Asgard  but on Midguard its a little less modern. 

R = Rainy Day

Thor loves the rain! He bought an extra large umbrella to hold for you both when you go for a rainy day walk. He finds them so peaceful and enjoys your company.

S = Sad. How do they cheer themselves/others up?

His sadness tends to turn into anger. When that happens he’ll throw himself into battles and take it out on anyone on the opposite side. You will always try to help him, to get him to talk. But sometimes you just need to allow him to get on with it in the way he deems fit.

T = Talking. What do they like to talk about?

He loves to learn about you and your culture. Not just that but loves just hearing about you in general. Every evening he’ll ask how your day was and unlike most people, he’s honestly interested in what you want to say.

U = Unencumbered. What helps them relax?

Thor adores you playing with his hair. He’ll sit on the floor with you sat on the chair behind him and rest his head on your thighs. Dragging your nails across his scalp, you’ll style, plait and play with it as it relaxes you too.

V = Vaunt. What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?

His history. There is nothing he loves more than telling people tales of the glorious battles he’s fought or of the amazing planets he’s visited. Tales you will never get tired of hearing.

W = Wedding. When, how, where do they propose?

He had planned the perfect proposal. He took Clint with him to find a ring - him being the only Avenger with a long, successful marriage. He planned a romantic day of your favourite things only to return home with your living room to be filled with your favourite flowers. That is when he would get down on one knee.

You however had other plans. Three days before the amazing day Thor had planned, you two were cuddling in bed when you looked up at him, saw the love in his eyes and decided right then and there to say. “I think we should get married.” Thors eyes widened as he grinned, a sign that you two were on the same page. “Will you marry me, Thor?”

X = Xylophone. What’s their song?

Falling - Harry Styles. 

Not that Thor will admit to many people he actually really adores that song.

Y = You. You are the ___ to my ___ (e.g. the cookies to my milk, the macaroni to my cheese)

You are the thunder to my lightening.

Z = Zebra. If they wanted a pet, what would they get?

Thor might want a cat but he really doesn’t care much. If you want one, go for it but he’ll never ask for one.