#but wasn't nearly as phased by it like the last time either

[hawkinsbnbg]

Steve was a late bloomer. He didn't expect to present as an omega right after seeing a bloody Eddie Munson into the ER.

His biological changes weren't a problem at first. He found his perky tits and even newly-slit cunt easily acceptable. They just felt right on his body.

His peace only lasted until he visited Eddie in the hospital and slicked his underwear beyond repair.

It was embarrassing and also pathetic because he was quite certain Eddie didn't want him that way.

He knew the alpha just flirted with him for fun like everyone else.

To fix it, Steve began wearing scent blockers religiously, dressing in more layers, and using pads to keep his slick from leaking out and ruining the sterilized air.

So far, it was a success. No one batted an eye when he got a little wet whenever he sat beside Eddie's bed.

Even Robin—his platonic soulmate who had always been in tuned with him—didn't pick up his inappropriate behavior.

As for Eddie, the alpha just became friendlier with him; kissing his hands, giving him more flatteries, hugging him tighter and longer than the others, etc.

Though Steve was flustered by the new development, he reminded himself that it likely meant nothing to Eddie.

Still, he couldn't stop finding excuses to see Eddie nearly every day.

Eventually, Eddie was discharged, went through every PT session with admirable strength and determination, and recovered beautifully.

They held a party to celebrate it and Steve was rosy cheeked with joy when Eddie stuck by his side the whole time. And even followed him everywhere like a lost puppy.

It was cute.

Even though Robin kept saying otherwise.

Eddie seemed to decide they were best friends now. Because wherever Steve went, the alpha would be right beside him.

Steve didn't find it as annoying as he had thought. Since Robin and Vickie were in their moonstruck phase, she couldn't spend as much time with him anymore.

He was happy for her, but it was also kinda lonely. A problem that Eddie's constant presence had quickly resolved.

They would hang out and do everything together; cooking, doing chores, listening to the music, watching movies, getting high, and even sleeping.

It wasn't right for an unmated omega to get so close to an unmated alpha, but their bond ran deeper than their carnal instincts. A few cuddles wouldn't hurt their friendship.

Or so Steve told himself.

Because he had to change his panties at least thrice a night before going to bed to not disturb his friend with his situation.

"Where are you goin'?" Eddie muttered sleepily just as Steve tried to get out the alpha's arms.

On the other hand, his body had been acting weird lately. Producing more slick than usual and becoming more sensitive.

It might be his fault for letting Eddie into his nest all the time, but it wasn't like he could help it, either.

Jesus. Even Eddie's raspy voice already made his cunt pulse with want.

Steve felt thankful that he didn't give up his scent blockers. Otherwise, he'd no doubt smell like a bitch in heat right now.

"Nature's call," Steve mumbled, frowning slightly when Eddie's hold just got tighter around him and the musky scent grew thicker.

"'S your slick, isn't it?" Hot lips pressed to his ear, making him stop cold. "Yeah, I can smell it. Been wanting to taste how sweet you are, omega."

Steve gulped dryly, his brain turned hazier and hazier with lust. And yet...

"W– Why didn't you say anything?"

"And chased you off?" Eddie chuckled and squeezed a hand between his thighs, feeling his wetness and scratching his clit lightly through the cotton. "No way, baby."

Steve closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath, choking on the scent of a very aroused and virile alpha.

He didn't know why his blockers didn't work, but the heat of Eddie's palm on his clothed cunt was distracting enough that he just stopped questioning it altogether.

"Be gentle with me," he craned his neck to meet those dark wild eyes.

"You got it, angel," Eddie rolled him on his back and kissed him sweetly. "Gonna worship your pretty cunt for the rest of my life."

And Eddie did.

Eating him out every given chance and everywhere; on the bed, in the kitchen, in the back of the van, on the couch, in the shower.

And when Steve's heat arrived a few days later, Eddie had happily stayed up all night just to suffocate in the sea of slick before knotting him over and over again in the morning.

Which, consequently, triggered the alpha's rut and led to Steve being kept in bed for another week.

And by the end of it all, he was thoroughly bred and ravaged.

Eventually, Steve figured it out once they became mates. His blockers still worked just fine.

Eddie was the problem.

He was a horn dog who had sniffed out Steve's slick and got addicted to it.

But fortunately, Eddie had agreed to make do with his used panties whenever Steve was too sore to let him near his cunt.

The only problem was that Steve now had to guard his favorite pairs very closely.

[mxchaelsdiary]

"Is that the impression you get from me?"

･ ｡ﾟ★: . Headcanons. :☆ﾟ. ･

History

★ Michael was the first angel created by Father, and the eldest of the angels.

★ Michael's decision to cast the brothers out wasn't a punishment, but rather an act of desperation. He realized his heart couldn't bear to fight against the brothers any longer, and that if the war continued they'd surely lose and pay for it with their lives- either at Michael's own blade, or at Father's hand as execution for their crimes against the Celestial Realm. And so, in a split-second decision, he cast them out as a desperate attempt to end the war without any further bloodshed. More about this can be read here.

Hobbies

★ Prior to the Great Celestial War, Michael prided himself in his swordsmanship and often did fencing with his siblings during peacetimes. However, ever since the war he has not been able to bring himself to pick up a blade.

★ Michael collects enchanted artifacts, and keeps detailed notes on their histories.

★ Michael has had a range of different hobbies and interests over the millenia, with many becoming all-consuming phases for short periods of time. For every long-lasting hobby that's defining to his character, there's another ten random subjects he happens to know a lot about because he was obsessed with it back in year 547BC or something.

★ Michael is secretly very fascinated by both the Human World and the Devildom- though he'll never admit a fascination with the demonic, and he's far too busy nowadays to get much opportunity to engage with either.

★ Michael is a huge maximalist fashion-wise, owning and wearing lots of jewelry and other accessories.

Abilities

★ Michael can be easily startled out of a disguise; often, any kind of physical pain or significant surprise will be enough to shift him back to his own form.

★ Michael is clairvoyant, able to see and know things without actually being there. It's limited but powerful, and he likes to keep others on their toes wondering what he knows and what he doesn't.

★ Michael is capable of dream manipulation. On occasion, he'll check up on his brothers' dreams and change bad ones to good ones - or pester them in their dreams if he's feeling lonely. As dreams are a product of a subjective and fluid subconscious, sometimes his meddling has unintended effects.

★ Michael can manipulate space and time, but isn't as proficient in it as Barbatos. He also rarely proactively uses his time abilities anymore, having developed a healthy fear of it following an incident when he was young and dumb where he nearly collapsed the entire timeline using time magic to win a battle. Nowadays, he really only uses it to clean up Nightbringer's Solomon's others' mistakes.

Miscellaneous

★ Michael is prone to sleepwalking, especially when stressed.

★ Due to the trauma of losing the brothers, Michael has developed pretty serious separation anxiety with his remaining family. For the sake of the exchange program, he's working on it.

★ Michael's feathers have strong protective and fortune-granting properties- as such, they're rather sought after, much to his annoyance.

★ Michael's wings are similar to a swan's- he has hard, bony spurs underneath his feathers that make his wings rather efficient blunt weapons in combat. His wings are also absolutely massive, so they're usually folded to his back so he doesn't accidentally whack someone.

★ Michael loves to spoil his brothers, but he tends to take it a little too far.

[akutasoda]

Greetings! This is my first time requesting on tumblr so please lmk if I was specific enough? I really liked your headcanons about the Obey Me brothers with a rebellious teen mc, and I was wondering if you could do one with the dateables (platonic ofc)

If you feel comfortable, maybe the mc has a lot of trauma and subconsciously latches on to them as a healing parental/family figure? If you’re not comfortable adding that, just ignore the last part.

Have a nice day! (^_<)〜☆

try me

undateables wave 1

synopsis - first impressions in the devildom did solely depend on your current rebellious stage

includes - diavolo, barbatos, simeon, solomon - all platonic

warnings - gn!teen!reader, reader is mentioned to have undescribed past trauma, fluff, slight crack/angst, wc - 803

a/n: hello! thank you and hope your doing well! if you want the other dateables lmk!!

diavolo ★↷

↪he had found your little rebbelions entertaining. from the very first moment he couldn't explain why but he loved the kind of challenges he reckons the new exchange student would bring - much to both lucifers and barbatos dismay. although it couldn't be help when the little nagging feeling of wanting to protect you arose.

↪he never minded when you sought out his presence, never really catching on to why but always excused barbatos when he asked why. maybe he would eventually catch on as to why or maybe you told him. either way when he found out, that urge to protect you grew and he became determined to heal those memories.

↪his duties may keep him busy quite often but he would always make compromise to be with you, especially if something triggered a particularly bad memory. additionally just enjoys spending time with you, he took on the role as your healing/parental figure as if it was always that way.

barbatos ★↷

↪when you had first arrived in devildom he was only concerned about your age considering you would be staying in a place like this. sure your initial display of defiance would concern him more but he didn't really care for that. he was one of the only people to properly read your files afterall.

↪and as time went along he would notice how you naturally gravitated toward him for anything. he could probably guess the reason and never would press you to tell him. he wouldn't mind being your new parental/healing figure as atleast he knew someone was doing it right - and he enjoyed being with you almost to the point were he truly saw you as his own younger sibling.

↪would additionally always be the first at your side to comfort you whenever some form of trauma resurfaced, no matter what he was doing prior. always looking to replace those bad memories with newer, better ones. would very much grow accustomed to having you around and would always feel slightly worse when he hadn't seen you that day.

simeon ★↷

↪simeon was quite confused when he first met you as the new exchange student. he did feel a concern with someone as young as you being in such a place, let alone with that attitude. but he knew it wasn't his place to object so he did take it upon himself to look out for you whenever possible.

↪then he started noticing how you always sought his presence out - truth be told, his kind nature meant you naturally started gravitating towards him ad your new parental/healing figure. and however he found out he didn't mind, in fact he was rather glad. not about why you were doing this, but glad you had chosen him as now he knew he wanted to replace any bad memories with better ones.

↪your rebellious nature didn't phase him, in fact he did find it quite amusing at times - not when you nearly out yourself in danger however. he would never ask for a full explanation unless you willingly gave it to him as he knew it was a sore subject. overall just really took it upon himself to look out for you.

solomon ★↷

↪he didn't quite know what to think when he learnt the new exchange student was in fact a teenager. but then he found out your in your rebellious phase and loved it. he knew you would bring a certain essence to the program and he was there for it.

↪despite the brothers protest in you not listening to them when they told you to avoid solomon, you did and quickly saw him as your parental/healing figure. he wasn't oblivious and knew straight away when you started hanging out with him more and more. especially when you would always ask for his opinion or for him to do stuff with you - and he happily obliged to any of it.

↪he knew how important having a healing figure in your life would be, so he wanted to offer you a better time than whatever you faced before coming to the devildom. he also loves your rebellious behaviour and finds it very fun especially when you deny lucifer.

[royaltyoon]

GUN X READER

Deal with the devil

[A/N]

I actually like this one, it's a little long but I made the reader badass asf.

It's not the most realistic, but which fic ever is?

Tw: mentions of weaponry and death threats. Implied intercourse (?)

You stood at the entrance of the bigdeal streets. According to your calculations, he should be here soon. You were in charge of all the money statistics in the crew and you knew the amount was falling short. You knew he would visit sooner or later.

His entrance was right on cue, as if you summoned the devil himself. It wouldn't be beneath him to be the incarnation of the devil either. So the aim wasn't far off.

"We need to talk." If gun had as much as seen your face before he would've thought you both knew eachother. "And who are you?" He stopped right in front of you, holding his umbrella, shielding him from the rain. You couldn't say the same with your wet clothes and hair matting up, falling flat in its place.

"that doesn't matter. But I can't let you meet jake. Not when I know what the conversation is going to be about."

"so you know." He said, dropping his cigarette and putting it out with his foot. "I wondered who was in charge of all the finances after Samuel left. Guess that's you."

You bit the inside of your cheek, so much for being a secret. "I'm not here to beat him up, you should've known that too." His dark eyes stared straight into your soul.

"I do. But it's not a good time to have that conversation either." You knew jake was under too much pressure, especially after whatever happened with sinu. This topic would only put more on his plate than there needs to be. Jake was like an older brother to you, and you tried your best to repay whatever kindness he paid you.

"unfortunately, I don't take orders from you." He took a step to the right, dismissing your presence. You move in front of him again, blocking his way. "Are you planning on fighting me? Even you should know that's a losing bet for you." He raised an eyebrow.

He was not phased by your determined stance. "Alright let's make this interesting. Land a hit on me and I'll leave. You have a minute." His voice had a daring tone.

"I'm extremely good at taekwondo, are you sure a hit is all I need?" Pretending to be tough doesn't always pan out, but it's still worth a try.

You took his silence as a yes. You knew your skills weren't nearly enough to even touch him, so you had to work around it. You needed more than simply brawns.

"predictable." His voice was bored when he blocked your kick. "Pathetic." It rang out again. He didn't even have to keep his umbrella down, the power gap was just that much.

He held your ankle right before it could hit his face. Using it to your advantage, you try to twist your way out of it. "You know it's no use-" He fell silent as a small *tak* sound was made.

His left his grip on your foot and brought his hand to his eye. "Was that a stone?" His voice grew louder. "Mh-hm. My aim is impeccable." You shrugged, a grin breaking out but it dropped just as quickly.

You ducked as his fist reached out to you. "Hey now. A deal is a deal. You said you'd leave if I land a hit. And I did. You didn't mention it had to be physical contact" You could tell he wasn't happy to hear that. "Joongoo would've approved of you" he mumbles. Before turning back.

He stops half way, "Next time we meet, I won't go easy." He says without looking back.

"Next time we meet, I'll bring a gun." (I mean like a pistol. Lol)

--- (few months in the future)---

You take a deep breath, preparing yourself to open the door. Knowing the devil is on the other side really made you not want to. Big deals monetary status hadn't improved much since the last time. And you knew the next visit by him wouldn't be just a warning.

So you thought of the only way this would play out in your favour was if you went to him before he came to you.

Finally opening the door to his office and making your entrance. "Missed me?" You grin, putting on your tough facade again.

He took a few seconds to register the scene before he spoke. "Not in the slightest." His tilted his head to look behind you, seeing a body laying unconscious. "So the taekwondo wasn't just a ruse?" He asked. "Maybe not" you shrugged.

"I kept our promise, you know." You dug into your pocket, bringing out a gun (a pistol) and lazily twirling it around your fingers. It didn't do much to change his expression. Rather it seems you intrigued him more.

"There's one bullet in this. And you know I won't miss. So hear me out." You demanded, a smirk laying on your face and you leaned forward against his table. "Give big deal some more time."

He leaned back on his chair. "And why would I?"

"Or I'm the only one walking out of this room alive."

He smirks, "what do you have up your sleeve this time? You couldn't have just walked into the lions den without a plan?" Gun was more interested in your guts to stand against him rather than worry if it would be his last. He knew it wouldn't be.

"Of course." You smile. "If a big deal member takes out the infamous 'gun'. Big deal would make too many enemies. Stronger ones even. So you see, I left big deal three days ago." His eyebrow arched in surprise. But his silence urged you to continue.

"I left a note and everything." Your hand flailed in the air. "In these three days, I met with your precious leaders of the other crews."

"If you die today. The entire workers affiliate would come to aid bid deal if your acquaintances still manage to pin the blame on big deal. That little nerd with specs? He seemed too enthused to get rid of you." You twirled the pistol in your hand again.

Gun smirked, it gave off creepy vibes which almost made you lose your confidence. "God dog? He didn't seem too inclined to make a deal. He's got that lone wolf drama going on. But I know he wants to get rid of you too and he doesn't like being in-debt to anyone. He'd come to the rescue if the problem ever rises."

"Olly." You sighed. "He was a little tough to convince. But the second i mentioned Eli Jang, he was on board." Gun's expression turned serious at the mention of Eli's name. "And guess what?" You smiled wider. "I have a lead on his whereabouts."

"You're lying." Gun straightened himself. "Or am I?" You challenge him with a grin.

"So, what's your decision. The balls in your court now." You stood up straight, aim the gun(pistol) where his stone cold heart should be.

"You won't pull the trigger." He laughs.

"why not?"

"I see your hand trembling. You don't have the guts."

"or was it all an act." As if on the cue of your words, your hand steadies itself, moving to aim at his head now. "Oh, and if you think you fight i won't be able to shoot you." You throw a decorative piece from his table up in the air and shoot a bullet hitting it perfectly causing it to disintegrate in the air. "My aim? Impeccable. Even on moving objects."

"Didn't you say the gun had only one bullet?" He raised an eyebrow. "Or was that a lie?" You say, bringing back the gun and aiming it at this head. "So, your answer?"

"I shouldn't have called you Samuels replacement. You're better." He grins creepily again. "How do I know you're not lying about making deals with the other crews?"

"you don't." You smile. "It's up to you to risk it."

He laughs, "You've impressed me. I'll give big deal 2 months."

"Make it four and I might let you in on the lead about Eli Jang."

"Alright."

---(few weeks in the future)---

"How did you know you'd find me here?" You said lighting a cigarette. "Where else would you be other than the big deal streets. It had to be a lie that you left the crew." He said, stepping out of the dark.

"it was." You smile, the cigarette hanging between your lips. Taking it out and passing it to him, you blew out smoke.

He accepted the cigarette, leaning against the alley wall beside you. It was silent for a while "What brings you here?" You looked at him from the corner of your eye. He dropped the cigarette and put out the butt. "You." He said and pushed himself off the wall.

"wha- before you could complete your sentence, he brought his lips against yours. His hand traveled under your ear bringing you closer. It was hard not to kiss back when it felt so intoxicating. You were convinced he was the devil, no one else could be this tempting.

You pulled away to breathe, but he pulled you back to him. Pushing you into the wall with rough hands. He tasted like cigarettes, the addictive kind.

You took him up to your room that night after he snaked his hand under your shirt and you had no will to stop him. That gave rise to a 'no strings attached' agreement between the two. You made a deal with the devil.

---(three months in the future)---

"This ends the second you hurt jake." You said in between breaths. "Why." He shoved you against the wall harder, his hands pressed against your waist. "Are you talking about someone else when I'm right here." He bit down on your lower lip until you voiced out a moan. And he smirked in satisfaction.

Gun had come to grow accustomed to you, to your body. He knew what would make you moan or even scream. And he got accustomed to hearing your sounds more than he'd like to accept.

It had been a while since someone had impressed him like you did. He liked the danger, the thrill. He liked the sensation, he liked yo-

No, no he didn't. It is a 'foes with benefits' situation. That's it, nothing more nothing less. That's what gun told himself.

---(one month in the future)---

Gun stood in the rain. He just took care of jake and disqualified big deal.

For some reason, it felt heavy. Everything did. But mostly, it was his chest.

*tak* a small pebble hit him on the back of his head. He knew exactly who it was.

Another pebble followed, and then another.

He finally turned around and looked at you. Your eyes red, but no tears escaped them. You flicked another stone at him. Your last one. "Fuck you." You seethed

"That's exactly what you've been doing all this while." He smirks

"Go to hell." You hissed, turning your back to him. You couldn't stay there a second longer.

"That's exactly where I'll be going." He mumbled loud enough for you to hear. He looked at you, as your figure got smaller and smaller and finally merged with the horizon.

He clicked his tongue and himself left the place. But not before he bent down and picked a pebble you threw at him and shoving it into his pocket.

You should've known a deal with the deal would never end well.

[boin-de-bindery]

Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by @isthisselfcare

This was my gateway to fanfiction back in 2022 (after seeing it recommended countless times on the romance books subreddit). I read it again just prior to typesetting it last month, and man—what a fic. It's a charming showcase of the merits of transformative works. No other depiction of Draco can top this one for me, and it ticks all the fluffy, slow burn milestones it promises in the tags. Not to mention, it's hilarious. A perfect romance read, like the redditors promised.

Anyway, after reading all 200K words on my phone—for a second time—I wanted a physical copy for the next reread. Although there's a few existing typesets available, I decided to make my own. My goal was a reminiscent rom-com vibe that spoke for itself.

There's no illustrations, only some recurring visual motifs: the heart shaped glasses; the rings; moon phase dividers, which are a nod to Hermione's research trips around the country. The significance of flowers and geodesic wards in the story influenced the title design and back cover.

My favourite part is the spine; there aren't many fanfictions I'd recognise by acronym, but this is one.

Likely my one and only bind for HP, and it makes me smile whenever I pass the bookshelf. Thank you isthisselfcare for sharing your work, as well as your policy on personal fanbinds. Let's keep fandom free everyone 🩷

Technical details and bookbinding ramblings under the cut:

A5 casebinding with an attempt at trimming the edges. This bad boy has 528 pages, printed in seven signatures. A breeze to stitch together, sure, but trimming didn't go so well.

Bookcloth is homemade from pink cotton and a flax-like fabric... I couldn't quite iron out the creases in either case, but I was too impatient to be done with the bind to retry washing and ironing again. I figure it makes it rustic 🤷‍♀️

Pre-printed cardstock endpapers, a gold bookmark ribbon, and handsewn double core headbands. I love how these look, although I succumbed to my usual habit of having too many wraps 🥲 They're squashy but not the worst for a first attempt.

The cover features layers of printable vinyl stickers, clear protective bookwrap and an overlay of rose gold metallic HTV. It was near impossible to ratio the HTV to the print-and-cut vinyl accurately. The back summary graphic ended up waaaay too big, but after three misprints and using up nearly all my HTV, I wasn't in the mood to fix it.

Sabon is the body text font, one I wasn't familiar with. It works really well for romance fiction. I used Beautiful Dream as a feature font, using a mix of the two for the title design and back cover summary.

[somepsychopomp]

I love the idea that the Trojans pay closer attention to when Ody's heats are then Odysseus himself. They live in fear that one day he just rips the walls down with his bare hands. Everyone refuses to go fight by the fifth year. The Greeks have about five seconds to recognize what that means before they get jumped <3

Okay so I’m no longer asking- I’m telling y'all that if u leave me an idea or suggestion with no clear context clues/explanation as to what you’re talking about, I’m not going to answer 😭 Believe me, I love writing and answering prompts but if I have to treat it like a guessing game, its not nearly as fun for me anymore. Sorry to anon because I know that wasn't your intention, but I am simply not a mind reader

Like I know you’re talking about my omegaverse AU but I’m not sure if you’re referring to my actual AU or the Trojan spin-off. It sounds more like you’re referring to my side idea of omega Ody being kidnapped by Paris to Troy so okay-

I think Ody would actually be a lot more clever about his heats & would try to conceal them as much as possible, whether that be by frequently washing/changing his clothes and/or using copious perfume or ancient scent blockers.

And if not that, he could try prolonging his period of pre-heat to confuse the alphas in the Trojan palace as much as possible. Maybe he does this with herbal remedies that can partially suppress a heat, or he knows how to mimic the mannerisms of an omega approaching their heat- ex. increased purring & scent marking

Tricking the palace into thinking he’s near-heat has a few advantages. One, Odysseus can eavesdrop more easily because its Ancient Times and no one thinks a horny omega has even two brain cells to rub together. When they all think he's just a dumb himbo, Ody can steal supplies he needs more easily, or even seduce the palace guards into giving him access to places he shouldn't be in.

Cue Odysseus' many failed escape attempts from Troy. (Stealing a length of rope to scale the wall to freedom, stealing a knife and slitting a guard's throat so he can take a horse from the stable, seducing another to gain access to Troy's underground servant tunnels, etc.) The only reason why they're failed attempts is bc Priam is really smart and Hector is an extraordinarily talented warrior, and together they can just barely keep omega Ody in containment.

Omega Odysseus in heat is a different beast. If Ody in my actual AU has be to locked aboard one of his ships while in heat during the Trojan War, then he's 100% getting locked in Troy's dungeon while he's with them.

Granted, they prettied it up for him by cleaning the old blood and grime off the walls, giving him tons of soft bedding, keeping Paris far away from him, and providing him with a vast assortment of snacks and hand-carved dildos to bounce on.

Ody's horny phase lasts a few hours, maybe even a day if the Trojans are lucky. But once he begins to grow frustrated bc the dildos just can't satisfy him like his Penelope can, omega Odysseus is breaking out no matter how hard they try to barricade his cell. Somehow, perhaps with Athena's help, they always end up with a naked Odysseus running through the halls and ripping out throats with his bare teeth.

He won't rest until he either A) has his alpha back or B) has killed Paris. He would prefer both, but since Ody can probably only get B because Penelope is leading the forces from Ithaca outside of Troy's walls, he'll take it.

Whenever Ody escapes containment, which is quite often, Paris is told to hide while literally an entire battalion of fully-armored Trojan soldiers is sent to capture the omega. His heat doesn't make him the addled, boneless, whimpering pet that they expect an omega to be. He's quick and merciless, fueled by his instinctual rage at being separated from his mate and infant son.

Even when he's captured, Ody's still got a few tricks left. Sometimes, he'll cry out in pain and feign an injury. Since he's technically married to Paris and considered Trojan royalty, one of the guards or soldiers would have no choice but to venture closer to check on him.

From there, it's easy for Ody's canines to find flesh and for his nimble fingers to snatch the dagger or sword from the poor man's side.

After the Trojans start getting wise to Odysseus' ways, they basically form a union. They already have enemies at their gates, seemingly every able-bodied man in Greece (plus Penelope), but now they have a monster in their midst. One that is slowly killing them off from within their own palace.

Return the omega to his homeland, they say to their king. Or else they will simply refuse to fight any longer.

Bonus: If we're following my AU where Troy isn't sacked by the end of the war, then by the time Ody gets to leave, they'll have probably started to let omegas into their army. Something about viewing them as the most terrifying and ruthless warriors imaginable.

[or13m]

Waking Dream (fnaf) Chapter 007

"Um. I'm not so sure sunflowers are pink, Sunny?" you pointed out with a tilt to your head and a bite to your lip. You were holding the paintbrush with the bubblegum pink paint clinging to its bristles, ready to apply a coat to the outline the solar animatronic did on a wall of the daycare. There was a whole field of flowers ready to be filled in on this wall. Apparently, the paint was a special blend that would shift colors when the lights went out. The white outline was even a special glow-in-the-dark type that would really make it pop in the dark! Sundrop had nearly caused the man who had delivered his order a heart attack in his excitement to try out the paints. You couldn't really blame the delivery guy. A seven-foot animatronic rushing at you with spinning rays, glowing eyes, and an overly-excited hop in his step was enough to cause anyone pause.

Of course, from your standpoint, you had thought it was cute.

"Think outside of the box, Sunshine!" Sun crowed from his spot far below you. You were up near the top of the wall, using your ability to float to help in the creation of the expansive mural. You could feel the heat pooling in your cheeks at the new nickname. It had only been a week since he had named you "Cocoa" and, here he was, already giving up on the name and presenting you with a new one. Granted, this one was less "name" and more of an actual term of endearment, but still…

"But I like my box!" you whined with a playful grin. "It's nice and comfy. No mean Moons in there either," you added the part about Moon as an afterthought, not forgetting all the times he had tried to jump scare you so you would lose focus and phase through a wall. He could be sweet--asking if you got through the night alright while he and Sun charged or if you needed to talk whenever you got too quiet for too long--but he was still a mischievous imp when it came right down to it.

"Moony! What did you do this time?" Sunny exclaimed, a frown on his faceplate and his hands on his hips. You giggled at the sight, starting to paint in his masterpiece as you listened to his half of the conversation. The two had started to talk out loud for your benefit when they conversed. You had no idea why but assumed that they thought it made you feel less excluded somehow. It made for some funny images since you could only hear half of whatever discussion they were having in their head, but you appreciated the thought, nonetheless.

'I did nothing!' the naptime attendant defended himself, but Sun could hear the rumble of laughter in his tone. 'It's not like I can get away with anything with YOU in my head.'

The daycare bot hummed in agreement, exaggerating his "thinking pose" by rubbing his "chin" and raising a "brow". He was thankful that this new design wasn't static like their last one was. They could form expressions and move their mouths in sync with their speech now! Part of it was to appeal to the children and appease the adults, but most of it was because it made the two attendants feel more comfortable. It would also be a huge hit with the kiddos when they started performing on stage for them again! They had incorporated a raised platform into the daycare's new design right in front of the ball pit.

Sunny snuck a glance at the newest addition to their home--you. You were still floating along effortlessly as you concentrated on the task at hand, tuning out the world. Over the past few days, you had been getting a better handle on your life as a ghost. You had thrown yourself into learning how to control your new powers--floating, phasing through objects, and holding onto things--but you still worried him and Moon about how you had yet to come to terms with the fact that you had died. Any time one of them would attempt to bring the subject up, you would make an excuse to get out of the conversation.

How long will you be stuck in this stage of denial?

Other thoughts began to form the longer he watched you--Moon peeking through his eyes, too. Despite your reluctance in discussing your circumstances, you were quick to offer your help wherever you could. Thanks to your participation, the daycare was coming along swimmingly--much faster than Sunny had calculated. You had even aided Moon in other parts of the mall, helping to run cords or fetch tools for construction. None of the animatronics particularly liked the idea of a bunch of unknown human workers milling about unsupervised in their domain, so they kept it as minimal as possible by doing a majority of the work themselves. It kept their minds busy, too, so they really were grateful for the added distraction. Your enthusiasm to aid in that quickly endeared you to the three animatronics who knew of your existence. The way you'd chew on your tongue when your utmost focus was needed or how wide your eyes would get when they accomplished a feat that would be impossible for a human to do alone were just…well, they were cute. YOU were cute…

'Sunny…' Moon rumbled in their shared space. 'You're staring again.'

The solar bot startled at his counterpart's words once they registered. He squeaked, his rays spinning fast as he ripped his eyes away from you. He didn't think you noticed with how hard you were concentrating on painting in his artwork, but he could never be sure. His twin on the other hand… His embarrassment skyrocketed, telling on his faceplate with a gentle glow thanks to the upgrades Peter had oh so THOUGHTFULLY installed. Initially, they had been ecstatic with the new emotions they could show, but, now, they just furthered his panic…

"Oh? Like YOU don’t?!" he snapped back. His fans had kicked on and he prayed to the heavens that you couldn't hear them from your vantage point. To cover up his current predicament, he dove back into painting in the field of flowers near the floor of the daycare. "You're just as worried about them as I am!" He vigorously colored in a stem, flawlessly staying within the lines in spite of his heightened emotions.

'Worry? Yeah, that's it…' the night bot affirmed with a heavy sarcasm. If he had a face, then he'd be rolling his eyes right about now.

"…"

Moon sighed at Sun's silence, deciding to drop the subject for now. You weren't the only one in denial, it would seem…

"Laddies!" a certain captain called from the other side of the daycare door alongside some frantic knocking. The daycare bots had taken it upon themselves to use a children's toy to wedge in the doors at all hours of the day and night to keep you a secret. While you were okay with meeting the others now, Sun and Moon continued to insist that you were not. "I 'ave some news fer ye!"

You and Sun glanced at each other before Sun motioned for you to go to their balcony, just in case. While you drifted off to the castle tower that denoted the entrance to their room, the daycare attendant skipped over to the main door. You had just set down the can of pink paint and was in the process of wrapping up the brush in some painter's plastic, when Foxy came sprinting into the room. He was frazzled, missing his captain's hat and clothes askew as if he'd ran the whole way here from Pirate's Cove. If he'd been human, he'd probably be out of breath, as well. Even Sundrop was at a loss for words at the sight of the usually-pristine pirate fox in such disarray.

"Captain, are you okay?" you called down to him after noting that he was alone. You stood up to go down to the pair, but hesitated when Sun held a hand up to stop you.

"I be fine," Foxy assured you, waving off the other animatronic as he worried over the senior AI. "Listen, the lad be bringin' a new 'ire around. They'll be 'ere soon."

"New hire?" Sunny repeated, speaking your thoughts aloud for you. He'd been so engrossed in getting you settled in that he hadn't even bothered to keep up with how things were going up front. They would be launching soon, he supposed, so they would need employees--human, of course, since the bots were already in place. He knew that there were some employees hired and ready to go, but none of them were scheduled to start working until opening day. Only two security guards were currently on staff: one for the day and one at night. Moon is pretty sure that Peter had shown them around while they'd been charging early one morning.

'It's an employee for the daycare,' Moon supplied, having sifted through the files from the main server. Peter had even sent them a courtesy email to inform them a couple of days ago, but, clearly, they had both overlooked it in favor of their "guest". Moon was disgruntled at both the interference into their daily routine and the fact that they had neglected to check their notifications. Sun wasn't too thrilled either. While he appreciated the potential help in the daycare, he was nervous about how this employee would behave. 'This isn't Fazco, Sunny,' his counterpart was quick to remind him, stopping the thoughts before they could start.

'I know that!' Sun huffed only to perk up at the sound of the door opening once more.

You watched from your vantage point on their balcony, carefully hidden by the red drapery at the entrance to their room. Peter Lawrence--the owner of the new company and, by extension, your animatronic friends--entered the colorful space, holding the door open long enough for his companion to follow. In walked a young woman no older than twenty-five with gorgeous, strawberry-blonde hair that hung in waves all the way down to her midback. Her body was perfect, her eyes were bottle-green and bright, and she had even come dressed in theme for the celestial style that the daycare attendants had been modeled after: a star-speckled black dress with a loose grey cardigan thrown over. Even her black sandals had little silver moons on the sides, flashing in the fluorescent lights as she and Peter closed the distance between them and the two animatronics.

"Oh, Foxy? I didn't know you'd be here," the man addressed the captain who--for his credit--kept his cool as he gave a toothy grin at the pair of humans. "Well, while you're here, you can meet Miss Jessi Newman. She's actually Jon's cousin."

"The young lad who works the night shift?" he clarified, receiving a nod from Peter and a giggle from Jessi. "'e's a jolly lad. Welcome aboard, Lass!" The pirate animatronic executed the same sweeping bow--sans hat--in introduction as he had done for you. "I be Cap'n Foxy. Now I best be on my way. Bonnie be lookin' fer 'elp findin' 'is guitar again." He looked irritated at this last bit and you couldn't help but smile at the sight. He waved his hook in the air as he walked out the door--a farewell to you since he couldn't directly say one with two outsiders in the room. You'd heard plenty of gripes from the old fox about the bunny and how frequently he "lost" his belongings over the past week. You knew the real reason behind it but had been sworn (threatened) to secrecy…

You continued to watch the introductions between Sun and Jessi, taking great care to remain hidden in the shadows as you peeked out from between the curtains. Some pleasantries were exchanged and it all seemed to be going well--not that you were any expert--until the girl did something…odd.

"I can't wait to work with you, Sunny!" Jessi hummed up at the solar-themed bot, pulling her shoulders back and pushing her chest forward while taking a step closer to her new coworker. You raised a brow at the sickly-sweet tone she had suddenly adopted, feeling something twist deep in your gut. Both Peter and Sun seemed oblivious to the abrupt change as they worked out the details on what Jessi's job in the daycare would entail and when she would start.

"Oh! I'm looking forward to working with you and the children!" Sunny chirped, friendly and hyper as ever. The only tell he had that he was nervous was his fingers picking at the ribbons tied to his wrists, something that you noticed right away. Peter was just as aware of that quirk as you were. Once the daycare attendant started to fidget with his ribbons and bells, it was time to pack up and hit the road.

"I have some paperwork for you to fill out before you leave today, Miss Newman," the man intercepted before the blonde could get any closer to the animatronic. He guided the girl out with an outstretched hand and a smile, leaving the area with a goodbye to his anxious friend before the door shut on them. Sunny released a sigh and you were at his side by the time he was done. He turned to you with a nervous smile, tapping his long fingers together while he was lost in his thoughts.

"Want to get back to painting, Sunny?" you suggested with a tilt to your head and a smile of your own on your lips. At his grateful nod, you picked up a fresh brush and started to fill in the flowers at the base of the wall. He joined you not even a second later, chatting you up about all of the kids that would be filtering in through those doors in just a few weeks. You listened, hoping that the coil of jealousy you felt in your stomach would go away soon…

[donniesbabygirl28]

OMGGG hey tysm💕💕 I absolutely loved the James fic !:) and I’m glad you enjoyed the idea <33333 Okok I have another idea for you hope it’s not too lame!!

Basically rusty James and reader have known each other for quite some time, they met through mutual friend and since then he’s been head over heels for her, but she’s too oblivious to his flirtatious antics. To his dismay though she’s been asked out by some random guy on a date where she either was stood up for or maybe he was being such a prick to her that in both ways she storms out wherever they were. On her way back home she comes across James, who sees her all messed up, frustrated and in tears obviously confused and concerned. And in the end he makes it up for her by taking her on short cute date (of your opinion) and later on probably finds the guy who did all the damage and beats him up lololol

Of course bby! (I LOVE YOUR REQUESTS FR also i'm not putting a date scene for rusty in this because I'm bad at good dates and not ending them like I'm the most traumatized person ever.)

﹛♛﹜But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain.

You walked over to the lunch table, setting your bag down next to Rusty's.

"Oh hey Y/n. What's up?" One of his friends asked you, patting your back. To which you just smiled and said "Nothin much"

Rusty looked at you quietly before returning back to his lunch.

"Oh Rusty guess what. I got asked out yesterday." You smiled brightly, very proud of your accomplishment.

He nearly choked on his food as he looked at you.

"You serious, man? Who? You finally found someone other than me? The man of your dreams?" He said, pretending he didn't believe you as a joke. Only deep down he didn't feel so good. He felt sick and wanted to lay on the floor until the ground swallowed him whole.

"Mac westen" You said with a smug smile, sitting on top of the table.

He felt as if someone grabbed his heart and threw it on the floor right next to him.

"Oh. That's cool I guess. Congrats." He said, not really delivering good energy, which you just brushed off.

Rusty walked you home like he always did, only this time he wasn't talking with a boastful voice. In fact, he barely even spoke.

You gave him a hug, like normal as your arrived at your house. Rusty wanted to cry knowing that he would have to share these hugs with someone else.

"Whats wrong, Rusty?" You asked sweetly as he hugged tighter.

"Nothin'. Just givin' you a good luck hug." He lied right through his teeth. But you didn't have to know that.

You smiled before walking into your house, immediately getting ready for your date. Rusty walked to his house, thinking "When did I let her slip through my fingers?" and "Why can't it be me?" but he knew the answers to both questions. He supposed that maybe he just wasn't your kinda guy and just wanted someone more stable. Or that maybe he could offer you way more than he ever could.

You slipped into a white slip dress and a pair of white heels that had little diamonds on them. You did your hair and makeup, wanting to look absolutely perfect.

Once you were done, you walked to the place where he said the two of you would meet. The diner.

You saw him in the last booth, sitting by himself as he looked at the menu. You walked his way and sat down in front of him, putting your purse on the right side of you. He smirked slightly and took in your figure. You blushed and looked down.

"So uh. What are we doin' tonight?" You spoke quietly.

He rubbed his hand on your thigh. You weren't that phased because Rusty did that all the time when he was nervous or angry. But you were quite uncomfortable for it to be someone else touching you but you pushed the thoughts away and looked at him with a smile.

"Well I was planning on eating and then I can take you back to my place." He spoke as his hand rested on your knee.

You looked at your menu, feeling like he was staring holes into your body.

"Yeah I suppose that I am a bit hungry." You said, ignoring his last suggestion about taking you back to his place. You were honestly scared of what his intentions were.

He nodded before a waitress came up to take your order.

"Hello Darlings what would you like?" Her voice instantly made you smile brightly.

He stared at her figure longer than he had yours, and you were relieved. But you felt sorry for her as well, seeing her uncomfortable expression.

"Um. I would like the steak, Ma'am." You said, trying to distract her from him so she wasn't so uncomfortable anymore.

She nodded, writing your order down, looking at him for his order.

She took his order after a few attempts of him trying to touch her and swoon her with his words.

You almost felt like getting up and going home. This was your first date ever and it was going horrible.

He

He gripped your thigh under the table, surely leaving nail marks. You winced slightly.

"Ow. What the hell?" You exclaimed, kicking your feet.

His hand only went higher and higher, headed under your dress before you push him away and getting up hurriedly,

"Look. Uh, I don't think this is gonna work. You are being a major asshole. And I don't like the way you are touching me. You are hitting on the waitress and trying to slip your hand up my dress. And I'm sure you left a mark on my leg- yep there it is." You said crying, pointing to it.

He rolled his eyes, throwing his menu at you.

"Yeah whatever bitch. I was only trying to get you in bed anyway." He said walking out the door without paying for his food.

You sobbed at the table, leaving a tip for the waitress and also for the food.

You took your heels off and walked out the door. You had mascara stains running down your cheeks and you couldn't believe you didn't see the signs. You just wished you would've picked the right person.

You cried all the way to the bar, sitting outsid

Your thoughts were cut off by someone running into your foot, you said sorry before looking up and meeting with familiar brown eyes.

"Hey doll. You alright?" He asked, wiping your tears as he looked at you in a panic manner.

It was Rusty. You didn't wanna see him. Not saying that you didn't wanna be around him or anything. But not now. You knew he would throw a fit.

He sat down next to you, rubbing your thigh gently, making you pull away.

And it was weird to him because he was used to doing this to calm not only him but it calmed you down as well.

"Doll did he try to touch you or somethin'? He said angrily, before seeing the marks on your thigh.

He stood up, his hand covering his mouth as he tried to keep his cool.

He muttered under his breath about "Killing that bastard." and "Messin' with my girl."

"Rusty it's okay. It just didn't end well and it's fin-"

He didn't even let you finish before kicking something, the tin can rolling onto the parking lot.

"Look doll. You uh, don't need that jerk and you know what? I'm gonna take you out, okay?" He said, putting a piece of hair behind your ear.

You looked at him confused before laughing.

"Rusty James, you know that dates are for people that are in love- or somethin' like that I guess."

Mac definitely didn't feel that way towards you and you regretted even giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yeah, I know doll. That..That's what I'm trying to say I guess. And uh, it's fine if you don't want to, we can just go out for a coke just as good old friends." He smiled nervously.

He seemed tuff on the outside but on the inside he was burning up and felt like he was waiting for forever to hear your answer.

"No no. I like that first one, Rusty." You said as you smiled back at him.

"I love you doll." He said before kissing your cheek, pulling out off of the bench and walked down the street with an arm over your shoulder.

(I HOPE YOU LIKE IT LOVEEEE <3 I love when you send in requests it makes my days so much better

[stripedstarsblueflags]

i feel so high school (au) pt. 5.B: pierresteban

anyway here are some high school aus for my fav f1 rpf ships and an exploration of who knows how to ball, and who knows aristotle

(pierresteban continued)

and that should've been the end, but it wasn't. because while middle school (gr 6-8) was a lot of cold shouldering and wistful/bitter looks across the hallway high school is where it got mean. esteban was finding it more and more difficult to stay under the radar, especially since everyone was at the age to really be questioning each other's sexuality. so now it's not just the sexist comments it's the homophobic slurs/accusations too, and it wasn't like he had an easy time making friends in the first place but now he literally can't because people associate him with that danger of earning the negative attention too. and every single time he goes to the studio (he has to either walk or take the bus for nearly two hours) he thinks this is the last time, i need to be normal i need to stop being a freak. and then the music turns on and he completely loses himself and loses the pain and the stigma and he just can't bring himself to let it go. it's the only thing that makes him happy.

he could drag pierre down with him. he almost did. he's threatened to multiple times. but as many stories as esteban has about young ballerina pierre, pierre has 1000x worse and he's got pictures. cause yes when esteban was a kid he tried on the girl's costume for a couple recitals and even though that was way back when he was too young for him to really understand and the adults all figured it was a phase and they could let kids be kids, the risk of what the bullies would do to him if they found that out is too great. so pierre gets away with his behavior.

and esteban's trying to keep pushing, keep his head down, not hit back when he gets shoved in the hallways (he's less good at that, but the school knows how bad it'll look on them if they try to punish him for it).

and then something happens in pierre's life, some family tragedy (i am absolutely not basing this off any event in the real person pierre gasly's life because that's too far even for rpf) so in a similar way to when i wrote galex i'm just going to leave it as some sort of traumatic loss. he doesn't talk about it, doesn't let anyone in, he misses two months of school and nobody knows why. when he comes back he's a broken, hollow shell of himself with shadows under his eyes and too-long hair, he bites his nails and he barely talks and he's lost almost thirty pounds. some of his friends from before make halfhearted attempts to reconnect, but they're shallow and living in the fast lane and emotions make them uncomfortable so they give up on him quickly. pierre lets them go. let's say esteban knows something about pierre's family/home life and he has an idea of what happened, he's the only one in the whole school who might and he's starting to feel pity despite his every instinct and he's more than a little scared but he knows that trying to approach pierre is a stupid idea so he waits in limbo.

and then pierre shows up to a night class.

it's an advanced technique class, less than 10 people, and one you have to make an audition tape for to even be considered. if esteban's right and pierre hasn't danced in years, there's no way he should've been able to get in. but there he is. he doesn't seem surprised to see esteban there, and he doesn't approach. esteban is too shocked stupid to say anything the first class, he just watches pierre step onto the floor and dance with absolute awe like he's watching a fallen god come to life. and he's overwhelmed with memories and echoes of the heartbreak he swore he'd left behind and confusion and anger at pierre and anger at himself and he leaves that class early and punches the wall in his room as soon as he gets home because he has no idea what emotions to feel let alone how to contain him. because everything he hadn't even understood as a kid everything he promised was gone is back.

weeks go by and pierre doesn't drop out of the class. he and esteban are still some of the only guys in the studio and definitely the only two from their school. they pretend not to acknowledge it like they're each daring the other to say something and then one night the teacher has them do partners. and because there's an odd number of people in the class esteban tries to sit out but one of the girls is struggling with the routine and because pierre and esteban are both really good at it– and the strongest in the group– the teacher has them demo on each other.

cue the most intense, terrifying, lust-filled, hate-fueld, what the fuck are we doing you're supposed to hate me/i do hate you/why are you looking at me like that why are you treating me like glass why does this feel like we've done it a million times like we've never left each other and after the music ends and they're supposed to step apart they don't, holding the pose and panting and overwhelmed by each other's body heat until the teacher literally has to clear her throat and it gets awkward immediately and they break eye contact and finally jump apart like they've been shocked. but something's happened and there's no fucking way either of them can ignore it now.

WHY DID THIS GET SO LONG HOLY SHIT okay to be continued

[rose-of-oz]

🌟 + Nicky Bauer?

Thanks so much for this!! Also gonna tag @luucypevensie, @ginger-grimm, @dancingsunflowers-ocs, and @ginevrastilinski-ocs!! <3 <3

Nicky is basically a collector of fidget toys. His desk at the precinct is absolutely littered with toys of all kinds, fidget spinners and tangles and Rubix cubes alike. Miraculously, his desk is also very organized, despite the amount of stuff on it.

Nicky's first kiss with a boy was in his senior year of high school, with an Italian exchange student that he had been working on a project with at the other boy's house. This was a month or so after Nicky had been kicked out and wasn't living with his parents anymore, and he nearly cried right after the kiss, because this was the first time he'd done something relating to his true self that he'd been able to do without worrying about his parents finding out and getting angry at him.

Nicky never exactly had an emo phase, so much as he went through a phase where he wore a lot of hoodies and jeans and usually had his hood up to hide his face when he could get away with it. It had more to do with his insecurities after his parents kicked him out than it did with any real emo inclinations, but after finding pictures from that era, Rosa still likes to tease him about it.

Despite his trauma associated with religion, since it's the reason his parents kicked him out after he came out, Nicky still goes to church most Sundays he's not working and prays fairly regularly. Faith was still a big part of his childhood, and not only does he sincerely believe in God, he doesn't quite want to let go of the comfort religion brings him.

Nicky is extremely picky about his coffee, what he puts in it, and how much of certain things he puts into it, which is why he refuses to ever use the coffee machine at the precinct - he doesn’t trust the type of coffee they use at all. He always either makes his own at home and brings it in a big thermos so it will last all day, or makes a few trips to a shop down the block from the precinct that makes it exactly how he likes it on his breaks.

In what he insists is the only gay stereotype he fulfills, Nicky loves musicals and theatre in general, although he’s never been in any kind of production himself. His favorites are Hamilton and the Legally Blonde musical.

On a similar name, he once realized who the killer was in a murder that had the team stumped literally only because he overheard Boyle singing a song from Sweeney Todd to himself. It’s a bit of a long story.

As much as he loves coffee, Nicky also has an appreciation for tea; he bonds with Kevin over it, as it would happen.

His main stim is clicking his tongue when he’s really focused on something, and he needs to do it to be able to properly focus. He always feels a bit bad about doing it in the precinct because he worries it’s annoying, but Rosa always shuts him down immediately before he can overthink it.

Nicky’s favorite kind of pie is blueberry. He also has a great hatred for coconut cream pie, and he does not trust anyone who likes it.

send me 🌟 + an oc and i’ll tell you ten facts about them!!

[fuckyeah-dragrace]

Snowed In

I would like to thank @junosjukebox and @themetaluna for creating this winter fanfic exchange and letting me be a part of it, in incredibly honored to have been a part of it 😁

This is for @puppywritesthings happy holidays so enjoy some camsco!! you can find it on ao3 here as well!

Bosco knew that not everyone was going to like her and she wasn't going to like everyone either. It's just a fact. But they didn't think that their roommate, someone they'd spend every day with would be one of those people. So what happens when they're snowed in and stuck together? Will it bring them closer or tear them apart?

Bosco sat on the couch in the apartment, watching the snowfall before sighing, getting up from the couch and checking her phone. “Expect 10 inches of snow, yeah right. Fucking weathermen.” She scoffed, pocketing her phone before heading back to her room. Across from them, she could hear Camden. She could always hear Camden. She rolled her eyes and closed her door, some would say slam but it just had a little force behind it, and flopped down onto her bed. Just a week and then finals and then she was home free. A whole month without thinking about shitty professors, stupid assignments and most of all, no more of that bloody ginger bitch.

God she could rant for hours about that girl, Daya would know since she was always at the receiving end. Bosco sighed into their pillow, rubbing her tense jaw to try and relax. She’s lost enough sleep over that fucking girl, she doesn’t deserve any more. Thank god she’s moving in with Daya and Willow after the semester’s over, all her headaches will be gone and she can have some damn peace. Maybe it’s wrong for her to be so hateful of the girl but everything she did just ticked them off, like under that bubbly side she knew every one of her buttons and how to push them to drive her up the wall.

They matched up on the school’s compatibility survey and they messaged each other, figuring that they’d be decent enough and signed the lease for the apartment off campus. Everything was fine the first few weeks, maybe even the first month of the semester. In all honesty, Bosco was just happy to finally get out of those vile dorms and could shower in complete privacy without worrying about someone screaming about her simply cleaning themselves. And no more stupid fucking fire drills and walking down fifteen flights of fucking stairs in the cold. 

When they met on move in day, Bosco didn’t think there would be any issue. She was a dancer for campus so she’d be out of the house a lot for rehearsals and performance and what not which was fine, great actually so they could have the place to herself. The first night they were all settled in, they talked about rules and everything seemed pretty great. They agreed on almost everything and what they didn’t they were able to compromise on, smooth sailing. In the beginning both of them were cautious and careful of treading on each other's spaces, always texting if they could borrow a towel or politely turn down the music. Everything was going great and Bosco was happy, maybe they could actually be friends or something.

But then the honeymoon phase wore off and oh boy…

It was like a switch flipped and everything just got turned on its head. Camden would wake up with the damn birds and it was everyone’s business to know that she was awake, what with her blaring the damn Spice Girls while making her morning tea. She never put away her dishes or hung up her towels and left her laundry in her hamper until it was bursting at the seams, don’t even get her started on how many fucking times they’ve nearly broken their ankles on that damn dance bag. And the fact that she would just rearrange the furniture in the living, claiming she needed the space to rehearse after Bosco had just fixed it after the last time. 

Needless to say, they were livid.

So she paid it right back to her. She waited until the last second to do chores, cranked the AC and heat no matter what she whined about and brought all the girls back she wanted to. That was the one that really got the redhead, waking up still early as ever and looking much less rested than usual while they sat there with their neck covered in hickeys and whatever chick she picked up from the bar was hanging off her side. That one really seemed to grind the British girl's gears, huffing and muttering under her breath as she stomped off to her room to hide.

They would get into so many arguments and just scream at each other, it was a miracle they hadn’t gotten more complaints from their neighbors about it. The one thing they had in common was their stubbornness. Neither one of them was going to back down and give in until the other did which would never happen, creating such a hostile cycle their supposed home was its own separate battlefield.

She turned over in their bed again, pulling up the covers as the wind picked up outside, throwing white flurries around without a care in the world. The snow was starting to come down harder… surely it’ll be nothing. The most they’d gotten was barely two inches, there’s no way they’d get more than 4, maybe 6 if she was really pushing it. They yawned and curled into her pillow, eyes growing heavy as they fell into a dreamless sleep.

“Bosco!”

Shit. She groaned, rubbing their bleary eyes before sitting up in their bed. It was too fucking early for this. What the hell was she screaming about already? She got up, albeit slowly and not in the rush her roommate's voice told her she should be in, putting on her robe before stepping out of her room. “Good morning to you too, Annie.”

Camden huffed, standing in just her pajama pants and a baby tee that barely covered her chest. Thank goodness she was crossing her arms cause they did not want to see that this early in the morning. “Look outside.”

“Really? That’s why you woke me up? To look out the damn window.” 

“Just look.”

Bosco huffed and muttered some choice words under her breath before looking out the front window of their apartment. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah holy shit.” She scoffed. Outside, all they could see was white. Snow was piled high, completely covering her car in their parking space. She went to the door and unlocked it, trying to push it open but failed. She tried a few more times before Camden piped up. “Lose all your muscles or something?”

“It won’t open.”

“I can see that. Here, let me do it.”

“Please, if we’re talking about muscles then you aren’t one to talk.” She huffed, getting away from the door and watching the redhead put all her weight on the door. It didn’t move a single inch and Camden flushed in embarrassment, turning around to face Bosco’s look of ‘I told you so’.

 “So…”

“We’re snowed in.” They said flatly. “Great.” 

Perfect. Just perfect. This is exactly how she wanted to be spending her weekend. They ran a hand through her dark hair, trying to come up with a plan or some sort of escape route that wasn’t clawing out her damn eyes. “I’m going to check on the breaker and sinks. It’s cold out so we might have to run them so the pipes don't freeze.”

Camden nodded. “I’ll make sure to stay out of your way.” It didn’t have her normal bite most of their exchanges did and it confused them to a degree but she nodded, the two of them splitting up and going their separate ways. 

It could’ve been worse. They still had electricity, which was a damn miracle with these ancient ass apartments the school provided. Water was all good and they got a notification from campus, advising them to stay where they were and not go out. “No shit Sherlock.” They rolled their eyes walking back to the living room and seeing Camden sitting on the couch, looking stressed as she bounced her knee nervously. She looked over to Bosco and got up with an elegance only a dancer could for such a simple action. “How bad is it?”

“We’ve got power and water so we should be fine. Campus put out a message saying they’re sending out plows based on priorities so we’re probably going to be stuck here a while.” They said nonchalantly, heading to the kitchen as if it were just a normal day.

“Did they say how long it could be?” She urged, following behind the brunette.

“It’ll be hours, maybe even tomorrow.” They guessed, popping a keurig cup into the machine as they waited for the water to heat. That made the redhead tense up. A whole day? That was too long, there’s no way they would be stuck in here for an entire day. The machine finished dropping the black liquid into their mug and nearly immediately Bosco drank, hissing a little at the burn but swallowing. She noticed Camden still standing there, looking like she was about to blow a fuse. “Well I’m heading back to bed.”

“Bed? But-”

“Look,” their voice sharp as she turned around to face them. “I’ll stay in my room unless I absolutely need something so don’t worry, I won’t get up in your business if you don’t get in mine, deal?” Camden was left in silence, a little taken aback at how straightforward and calm she was being considering the fact they were literally trapped inside! The dark haired girl took her silence as agreement before nodding. “Great, good talk.” They smiled with a faux politeness before turning on their heels and marching themselves back into their room, closing the door with a little force to punctuate their earlier comments.

She stood there in stunned silence before following her roommates lead, heading back to her own room. Camden fell back onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It’s alright, everything’s going to be alright. It’s just a little snow. 

The day passed by and soon it was night, no snow plow ever came and the both of them were avoiding each other, just a typical day for them. Camden had three blankets wrapped around her under the comforter and was still shivering. She huffed and sat up. She knew Bosco must be freezing too, if anything a little less since they were always a furnace. She bit her lip and weighed her options before getting up, her fluffiest blanket wrapped around her and she opened her door, walking quickly across the hall and before she could even knock, the door opened to Bosco standing in the doorway.

The dark haired girl scanned her up and down, dressed in a baggy shirt and pants. “You cold too?”

“What do you think?” She quipped, managing to get her teeth to not chatter.

“Can we turn up the heat?”

“Yeah if you want to foot the bill.”

The redhead huffed. “Fine then. Make room.”

“Wha-” Before they could even finish, the redhead shouldered past her and into their room, plopping down on their bed and looking at her with her chin tilted up like she owned the damn place. “The hell are you doing?”

“Obviously we’re not turning up the heat so I’m staying warm with a demon from hell.” She got under their covers and Bosco could feel their eyes twitch. This fucking bitch..

“Fine.” They smiled politely before getting into bed with her. They grabbed a pillow and shoved it between them and Camden scoffed. “Really, a pillow wall?”

“You’re in my room, ballerina.” They looked over their shoulder at her. “My rules. Pillow wall or walk your happy ass back to your room.” Camden huffed and pulled her blanket up higher, turning away from Bosco. “Exactly.” They smirked before laying back down, facing away from her and sighing. It was going to be a long night.

They had about an hour of quiet and were just about to fall asleep when she heard Camden shift in the bed. “Bosco? Are you up?”

They groaned, eyes still closed. “I am now. What?”

“I’m freezing.”

“Go turn on the heat then.”

Camden groaned, not making any move to get up though. “Not everyone’s a demon that can heat an entire room.” The redhead snarked, glaring over the pillow between them.

“Oh please.” Bosco laughed without any humor. “If you’re trying to insult me, actually say something that’s hurtful, you tutu wearing bitch.” Camden grit her teeth and threw the pillow that was separating them right at Bosco’s face. 

Oh it was on. 

Both of them were throwing whatever they could grab at each other, all in a frenzy of anger before it all stilled when Camden felt hands holding down her wrists. She tried to squirm underneath her but Bosco’s hands had her pinned down, sitting on her hips and limiting her movement there as well. Both of them were glaring up at each other, panting and chests heaving before the anger and tension bled into… something else. As Bosco’s heart slowed they leaned down closer, dark curls falling in her face as she watched Camden’s eyes flit between her eyes and her lips. They were barely a breath away from each other when Bosco stopped, watching the redhead squirm again.

“Bosco.” She whispered, voice close to begging but she would never admit that.

“You still want that heater on?” They grinned, giggling a little bit as Camden rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile barely.

“You’re such a bitch, you know that?” There wasn’t any venom behind her words this time, only a tenderness they’d never shared before and god did it make her chest warm and fuzzy.

“That’s why you like me.”

“Who said that?” The brit cocked a brow, making both of them laugh before Bosco closed the distance, finally letting their lips touch. It wasn’t a hungry kiss but it was full of desire and wanting on both ends. Things started to click now, why Camden was so jealous every time Bosco brought someone home and why Bosco couldn’t stand the thought of Camden having any of her dancer friends over as they would always flirt with each other.

They pulled apart slowly and smiled at each other before Bosco laid back down, wrapping her arms around Camden as the redhead did the same, both of them pressing their bodies closer to each other as if their skin could fuse into one. Camden hummed and nuzzled into Boscos neck, relishing in the warmth. “Maybe I should come here more often. You are hotter than hell, in both ways.”

They laughed and pecked her forehead, pulling the covers over them tighter. “Why thank you, princess. I actually do like those tutus on you.”

“Because you can see all of my ass when I bend down.” She giggled, pecking her cheek. She sighed, looking out the window and smiling at the snow. “We should’ve done this a long time ago.”

“Definitely.” Bosco smiled. “But those arguments were kinda hot if you think about it.”

Camden giggled and nudged their shoulder. “Honestly! You’re a crazy woman.”

“Hey, I’m not denying it.” Bosco snickered, rubbing her back. It was all so sudden but so natural at the same time, like they were always supposed to be like this, holding each other and giggling and laughing together. They talked for a few more hours, laughing and exchanging more kisses under the blankets as the sky grew darker and then lighter, the sun starting to come up. 

Camden saw out the window and giggled. “Maybe getting snowed in isn’t so bad after all.” 

“Maybe not.” Bosco smiled, kissing her again before yawning. “Now it’s definitely time for some sleep.”

“Right.” Camden giggled, pecking their lips one last time before cozying up into her arms again. If you told her that she would ever end up cuddling with Bosco and liking it, she would’ve laughed in your face. Bosco would’ve called you crazy but it was perfect, better than anything either of them could have imagined. She’d definitely have to tell Daya she’s not rooming with her next semester.

[rey-townsend]

@werewolfroman

It brought Neylani no pleasure to lock up her own kind, especially ones as troubled as Roman Baudelaire, but ultimately the woman would do what was necessary to keep the peace within Greywood. This was their home, it should be their safe haven and deserved the respect of its people. As much as she wanted to give this person free passes because she sympathized with the struggles his rap sheet alone proved he went through on a nearly daily basis, there was only so much the sheriff could do before that understanding was being taken advantage of. Roman likely wasn't even aware of just how ill-suited she was to treat him just as everyone else in this town has-- like some good-for-nothing womanizer going nowhere in life and an ugly penchant for trouble. How anyone expected this man to shape up and take anything seriously when they would hardly give him the chance to, was beyond her. But it made things especially hard when Roman himself made little effort in the course for correction, too.

"You know," Neylani spoke as her gaze never wavered from the computer she worked at, fingers tapping away quickly on the keyboard, "after fifty-two years, I would think you'd be plenty tired of the same old song and dance by now." Honestly, the woman knew it really wasn't her business to get involved in-- they weren't anything to each other other than this, and their shared species community. Not to mention, he was a good decade or so older than her, too, so it was almost ridiculous to have the audacity to chide him. However, that just happened to be who Neylani was-- she cared, even when there was no cause to. He wasn't the first she meddled in, either, and wasn't likely to be the last. In fact, there were a slew of other men just like Roman whom she believed just needed a firmer guiding hand and a little bit of faith from someone, and they would get back on their feet in no time.

"There's only so many times you can be arrested before it's not as exciting anymore, right?" It was then her gaze saw past the computer to briefly check over the male locked within the reinforced cell; he wouldn't see home at least until Monday, at this point. Neylani could guess the coming replies-- most men were predictable creatures, they liked to behave as if nothing ever phased them. "Do you want medical to check you over?" Eyes were now back on the screen, the woman thinking to herself about how tired she was of having to see his file.

[hairstevington]

15 questions, 15 mutuals

I was tagged by @tartarusfairy (thank you for thinking of me!! I love these!)

Are you named after anyone? Depending on which parent you ask, I was either named after a famous album OR a random dead person.

When was the last time you cried? I am a triple water sign. All I do is cry lmao. I actually do hold it together quite well most of the time now, other than the week of my period but you can't fault me for that.

Do you have kids? I do not! But I am a pretty damn good babysitter ;)

Do you use sarcasm a lot? I think I do? I tend to do this thing where I make a ridiculous joke/observation but my delivery is super flat so people think I'm being serious lol. Generally though I've gotten a lot less sarcastic over the years.

What sports do you play/have you played? Currently nothing, I am an un-coordinated queen. But growing up I was a huge tomboy so I played baseball and danced. I went to a bunch of camps for sports too (baseball, basketball, golf, dance). And then puberty hit and I was like oh no I actually hate sports I think I'm gonna start a band instead. The rest is history!

What's the first thing you notice about people? Okay, I don't know if this makes any sense but...the vibes?

What's your eye color? Blue/grey. A lot more on the grey side of the spectrum these days. Sometimes they look kinda green.

Scary movies or happy endings? I love both! I had a huge scary movie phase in college (I still like them), but even then I prefer the ones that aren't soul-crushingly devastating. Recently I've been a lot more into wholesome content because I don't have the energy for super emotional/heartbreaking content. Thus why Season 4 Volume 2 broke me.

Any special talents? I can solve a rubick’s cube!

Where were you born? New Jersey, technically.

What are your hobbies? It's been music my whole life. Like, I AM music lol. It wasn't until recently where I started writing stories over songs, but obviously now I write fanfic all the time so it's my main hobby.

Do you have pets? Yes I do! My ESA <3

How tall are you? 5'10''(178cm) - I am super tall and I don't like being this tall a lot of the time. But! I'm only a little bit shorter than Joe Quinn, which meant we were ~eye to eye~ when I met him a few weeks ago. Love that for us.

Favorite subject in school? It was math, I think. I was always really good at it and ended up teaching calculus right out of high school, which is wild in hindsight. Then I realized I was gay and lost my abilities (just kidding! It wasn’t because of that. But the timeline does match up...suspicious...)

Dream job? I was an actor when I was a teenager and nearly moved to California to pursue it, but then I...didn't. Sometimes I still wonder about that other life, but I'm equally if not more passionate about my current career path (therapy and writing). Also, being a musician would be the coolest thing ever, but man oh man does getting started cost a lot of money. If I win the lottery though, that's what I'd put my winnings toward!

This was....long-winded. Oops. But hopefully interesting? Thank you so much for tagging me!!! <3

You're up, friends (if you're comfortable)! @steviesbicrisis @eddielives1986 @satan-is-obsessed @goodolefashionedloverboi

[tokiro07]

Cipher Academy ch.55 thoughts

[Just Dance 240+68+55+413+325+101+28+100+192+2+24+13+6+369+19+8+27+29+4+1]

(Contents: speculation - anxiety/predictions, thematic analysis - Friendship, character analysis - Anonymity)

Coming up with all of those numbers for the title took a lot longer than I'd care to admit. If you want to have a little bit of fun, each of the numbers I used has some level of significance to me, so try to figure out what each one refers to! Some of them are directly related to their neighbors, so those numbers should be at least somewhat easier to identify. Let me know if you have any guesses!

Anyway...AAARGH!!! This chapter did nothing to ease my worries about the series being canceled!! Is this just how the flow of this puzzle was supposed to go, or were all of the other cast members eliminated at once to get to the final match faster???

It works thematically to go this way, with everything being settled with what's essentially a big party and everyone having fun together, but so many of the characters didn't do anything! There weren't any major betrayals or twists aside from Karigane, when I really expected something like that from Kubinashi, Hakanage or Anonymity, and Rikiketo and Yonakiuguisu contributed essentially nothing to the arc at all! Were they cut for time??? Or have we just not reached the point where they matter yet??? Or is this just how Nisio works, and they're like the Plus Six???

Well, no sense in worrying about it for now. The important thing is that this chapter was a lot of fun! Seeing everyone coming together like this was nice; even if they're competing for the prize, in this moment they're not soldiers, they're kids. Everyone here has a smile on their face, or at least the closest thing to a smile they can muster, and even the defeated walk away satisfied that they tried their best

The only semblance of negative emotion comes right at the end, and is easily the most interesting moment of the chapter for me: Anonymity lets her emotions slip for just a second as she realizes that Iroha has chosen Toshusai as his final opponent over her. That little scowl, that brief moment of bitterness and regret, only to immediately go back to smiling and joking. Did she regain her composure as a sign of acceptance, or is she putting her poker face back on to hide the pain? The only thing we can tell for sure is that she wasn't lying when she said Iroha made her jealous, and that broke my heart. If this series does get canceled and that's the last bit of development we get for her, that's the thing that's going to bother me most in the aftermath. I want to see more of this girl's mask falling away and her real emotions spilling out, dammit!!

But even if it does continue, we'll still have to wait on that for a bit - cus next chapter, we're finally getting the showdown between Iroha and Toshusai!!! If the series is done, this is a great bookend for it since Iroha didn't get to face her for real in the CLP election, but otherwise this should serve as a good jumping-off point for the series to enter its next phase. If Iroha becomes the Code Emperor here, then he'll have reached the peak of the academy, so we'll need to move onto bigger and tougher opponents from outside the academy, so there'd be no reason for him to face off against Toshusai after this point. If he loses, he might face off against her again for some reason or other to prove that he's overcome the weakness that causes him to lose, but we can't really speculate on that too much right now

Of course this is all assuming that either Iroha or Toshusai win and even finish their battle. For all we know, the fight will be inconclusive and someone else will swoop in and steal the money, leading into the next arc to retrieve the Morgue from some outside force. Whatever happens, so long as the series isn't canceled, the mood we establish from the end of this arc is going to be abruptly undercut by the introduction of the next threat - that's how nearly every arc in Medaka Box ended, and it's the best way I can think of to keep this story going. I don't know how long Nisio plans to draw out this final battle, but I imagine we'll know the answer by the end of the month at the latest

Until next time

[vaultsixtynine]

no editing we die like warriors (i am exhausted after this week of work and i do not remember how to write NOR how to make genuine dialogue, especially for avery. good day) - technically not fallout because i've couched it all in Vague Space Terms (ignore the [] brackets around things that don't have analogs yet), but these are technically fallout characters. avery, as always, belongs to silt @darkwingerduck

===========

barbershop duet

"stop moving, munir," wyn chastised, putting one foot on the wheel at the bottom of the office chair to stop it from spinning if the man sitting under her hands decided to pull away again. "one wrong snip and i'll have to give you a buzz cut instead."

munir made a noise not unlike a malfunctioning engine and immediately tried to move to look back at her - perhaps to spit back something suitably scathing - but she lightly slapped the top of his head with her free hand before grabbing the corded muscle at the back of his neck and forcing him to hold it where she needed it. he resisted, at first, but she kept the pressure on until he accepted the movement and looked forward again.

"i'm not a fucking dog that you're grooming - "

"you're right, i could muzzle a dog!"

"very original, sawyer. i'm sure you have plenty of people you like to muzzle in other ports, right?"

the retort lacked his trademark bite, though, so wyn patted the spot on his crown that she'd slapped a few seconds prior to reinforce the 'dog' messaging and turned her attention to the task at hand: shearing the ill-tempered customs officer at her mercy before he could think better of it.

avery's hair had been growing unchecked for more than seven consecutive visits to the transit station, and he'd passed into a phase of immense irritability as he struggled against the perennially hot operations department office, since it sat so close to a station reactor deck. the nigh-constant nasal sighs of overheated frustration were a bit funny, but it distracted him from more important (wyn-related) matters and looked a bit too unkempt - even for her. she'd decided enough was enough and led him with somewhat accurate promises of quick results into one of their usual, slightly more secluded spots for a trim. sure, munir's coworkers would wonder if they were fucking, but it wasn't exactly a secret. and, well… they still might, if she made quick work of it.

wyn combed her fingers back through his hair again before he could try to move, holding a longer chunk between two fingers and extending it to its full length, which was certainly longer than she'd ever seen it before. pursing her lips, she gauged the tightness of the curl, gave it a bit of slack, and quickly snipped the excess hair. another piece - pull, judge the target length, cut. the repeated movement held a certain meditative quality, and she found herself sliding back into an old, sleepily-remembered rhythm. 

under her fingers, avery was clearly trying his best to not fidget since her chastisement, and - to her satisfaction - succeeding. the slope of his shoulders had started high, tight to his sides as he fought the instinctive pull from her every movement, but seemed to relax by degrees. once wyn established a cadence, occasionally nudging his head or lifting his chin with the lightest of touches, she needed to hold back in expectation of the lurch less and less. there were several pauses where she thought she heard him inhale as if to speak, but whatever wrung-out irritability he had upon being coaxed into this had seeped away in the resulting half-resigned sighs. it was nice, actually; this was perhaps the longest period of time she'd gone around him without either of them opening their mouth, in any context. it made her work on his hair easier, and she found her thoughts wandering to the last time she'd done this, nearly a decade prior.

in her mind's eye, a smaller pair of hands held an ever so slightly shittier pair of scissors, the head under her ministrations smaller, too. the haze of memory dulled the irritation she'd felt at the time, since her brother's hair grew like a weed - much like the rest of him - at that age, and that was the second time that cycle she'd had to deal with his impatient wriggling on their lopsided bathroom stool. wyn came back to herself abruptly - she had been humming the janky undercity radio song she remembered being popular around that time, and cleared her throat before properly coughing into the bend of her elbow to cover the realization that she had no idea how long she'd been embarrassing herself like that for. not a peep from munir, though, which was… a blessing, nominally, even if it was a bit suspicious.

she'd finished clipping the shaggy curls at the back and sides of his neck, and stepped around their makeshift set-up to begin on the hair on the front of his head, diving in with renewed vigor now that she'd snapped out of her reverie. tight at his temples, then getting longer and longer as she worked her way to the familiar peaked shape of his hairline in the middle of his forehead. she intended to match the slightly-non-regulation mussed look he'd had a few months ago, when they… wyn paused before her next decisive snip of the scissors and looked down for a moment, trying to bridge the silence stretching between them and the background station noises after she'd stopped sloppily humming a pop song he'd never heard less than two minutes prior. to her muted surprise, his shoulders had completely relaxed to a natural slope and his eyes were closed, though they snapped open to borderline glare at her from under dark brows as soon as he detected the mildest shift in conditions - which was very like him, she supposed.

"what?" - and it wasn't a question, really, but a sharp demand as to why something had changed. wyn didn't deny herself a smug smirk as she considered whether or not he'd actually been enjoying himself - was he relaxed, even? the novelty factor in itself had her tickled. there was an undeniable appeal at having him at her fingertips in as unguarded a state as he ever seemed to get - not that she'd let him know that, of course.

"oh, nothing. just, um, wondering how this -" she flicked the still-long curl falling over his forehead, taking the open opportunity to tease him, " - even happened. did they push all the barbers out the airlock?" she bent forward slightly to leverage the rare moment of having a height advantage, leaning in to meet avery's gaze with a playful, eyebrows-raised expression.

he tilted his head back to look over her shoulder, then, the intensity of their eye contact for longer than a few moments still to be avoided. she knew by now not to take it personally, and quickly reached forward to cut the last, long chunk before their conversation got any more animated.

"no, and technically, this is your fault -"

wyn couldn't contain her guffaw, but she made sure to pull the scissors back from his face as she laughed. a scar would add a little something to the sharp planes of his cheeks, but she could just as easily take out an eye by accident.

" - since our one single aide who knew how to trim hair overheard your bullshit tales of stellar derring-do and, in a fit of what i can only assume was temporary lunacy, decided he was going to run off to the moon to chase fool's gold." the exasperation was palpable, but she could tell it wasn't entirely directed at her.

"you sound a little jealous, munir."

"jealous? as if i had the - " he paused to inhale sharply. "i just can't get a haircut that doesn't look like it was done by a fucking infant anymore, so color me anything but green. especially considering i'm sitting in a heat sink corridor letting a known criminal near my neck with a pair of scissors." 

agitated movement in his lap - she saw him rubbing a few fingers over some scars on the opposite hand, one of his most predictable poker tells and the prologue to more dramatic gestures if no one put a foot out to trip him.

"well, good news - i'm basically done. that wasn't so bad, was it? i think it looks quite fetching."

she held up her pocket mirror for avery, then, passing it off so he could inspect it himself. a flicker of surprise passed over his face, replaced quickly by a more genuine expression of relief - he seemed to remember himself, then, and looked at her half-squinted, instead.

"i'll admit, sawyer, i thought this was going to look like dogshit." 

she grinned guilelessly and made a gesture of exaggerated humility with both hands before leaning forward to brace her arms on the back of the chair behind avery's torso, falling on either side of his head as she leaned closer to his level - he gave no indication of moving away, which was an open invitation from munir if there ever was one.

"i used to trim my brother's hair when he was about yea high - " she held her hand up to roughly wave around her mid-chest. "his cuts came out to worse, though, because you cannot convince a ten-to-thirteen year old to sit still when he wants to go watch ships coming to port. but your curls are similar enough to get the gist."

munir's head tilted slightly again, brow furrowed, and his eyes trailed back to her face as if to clarify an unspoken question - and. oh, moons. she had probably never mentioned even having family to him over the course of their relations - and she should have kept it that way. stupid! it was nobody's business, and certainly not his.

"i didn't realize you had… um, family."

great.

"don't get excited, mun, i was just sharing a topical anecdote."

something in her face must have changed or gone hard at the comment, though, and the freshly-trimmed officer reached up to hestitantly tuck her mirror back into the breast pocket of her jacket, if only to have something to do with his hands.

"how… how long am i going to be paying for this? i'm assuming you won't take [credits] for it."

she put her smile back on instantly, grateful he decided to have the most basic ability to back the hell off - which wasn't always true of munir, but maybe the renewed ability to avoid overheating had sweetened the deal.

wyn leaned in closer as if to answer and released the lever that controlled stabilization on the chair with her foot - the chair went spinning backwards towards the corridor wall, and she used the momentum to pull herself into his lap. he yelped in surprise, the relative calm of the jury-rigged salon replaced with a lapful of smuggler, and automatically closed his arms around her in a vice grip - he did that without thinking whenever her trajectory suddenly entered his space, and she could admit she found it endearing.

once near enough to one of the largest pipes, she used her foot again to halt their transit, and the sudden shift sent the chair and its occupants into the closest foam-built wall. 

before he could start with any complaints, she reached up to grab his chin with one hand, guiding him in for a kiss.

"no credits from [ring] government employees, yes, but i take alternate forms of payment. would you know anyone who has something like that?"

wyn punctuated her tease with another press of her lips to his and a hand wound into his fresh haircut, months of familiarity melding into a pleasant warmth between them as she waited for his omnipresent churlishness to melt away - and at that moment, she found none. avery met her halfway, and she smiled into him with an authenticity that she didn't need to manufacture.

[scorchedthesnake]

January 12, 2019

You'll note a lot of time passed between the previous memory and this one. After the fervor of the first few years had passed, and my heart had been broken more than a few times, I was focusing on some other things in my life: swimming, climbing, work, and in the latter part of this period, something resembling a relationship. After 2015 I was attending Sleep No More exactly four times a year, a sort of quarterly check-in on how things were going and sort of testing the waters to see if I could ever fully dive back in.

The thing was, the Hotel was full of ghosts. Every room and every corridor held vivid memories of moments and feelings, and for the most part it was unbearable. The show itself was just fine! But my relationship to it, and to people who were no longer there on a full-time basis had changed so much, there was always tension when I went back.

At the start of the year 2019, I knew big changes were coming for me personally: just a hunch I had in the lead-up to my 40th birthday in December. We had a new Chief Corporate Affairs officer take the helm at work, and initially I was enthusiastic about that. It didn't last very long. My situationship continued, and we had even entertained the idea of moving to Denver and trying to actually be together – but this wasn't panning out either, so something was going to give.

So I stopped in for one of my quarterly check-ups early in the year, and found something quite surprising: Austin Goodwin as the Boy Witch. Ordinarily, this probably would have put me off a bit – half of Ginger Lobby without the other half? But something was very different about that night.

Here's what I wrote on my personal Tumblr at the time:

I went back again, repeatedly even, such was my need to figure it out. I hoped I could see what it would be like to not know a single soul in the building. I’ve tried this before to no avail, inevitably someone appears who tethers me back into everything that ever happened there.  And I very nearly succeeded this time, but for a witch who was a familiar face from long ago, nearly five whole years now. And yet despite that long, not exactly easy history with him, or perhaps, paradoxically, because of it, the ghosts that have long haunted the ever familiar corners of that building evaporated before my very eyes. Through a whole loop with him some kind of white restorative magic coursed through me and the whole place recovered its long lost glow. For hours my face burned with an old warmth, a contentment and belonging.  We can never go back to Manderley. That much is certain. But sometimes, in my dreams, I go back to those strange days.  So I reread all of Scorched, the good parts and the painful ones, the proud parts and the shameful ones. What a treasure to have that archive of myself in such a curious phase of life, so full of longing and new desire and terrible, terrible desperation. What a joy to revisit the curiosity and excitement, the hunger for every shred of knowledge, and what agony to relive the welcomes and the farewells that marked turning points in a long journey together. The earliest days at the hotel coincided with one set of enormous life changes – arriving in this city, discovering a new life for myself, a new person I wanted to and was able to be. Returning there now awakens a keen awareness of a new set of life changes now in progress, unfamiliar and daunting in their own way.  It does not feel like welcome home – not exactly. A familiar embrace, certainly, but there is some other strange process afoot in figuring out where exactly this piece of the puzzle fits.  Only one is a wanderer. Two together are always going somewhere.

It began a renaissance of sorts - and 2019 would end up becoming the year I visited the hotel the most times out of all of them, and the person responsible for that is the topic of the next memory.