#caffeine doesn't do shit for me but make me tired

[c0ntaminxted]

am I chronically fatigued or am I really just "always tired" as my parents like to make fun of me for

[whump-imagines]

Too Much Coffee

Connor x reader

WC: 1500 ish

Warnings: overdose... caffeine, but still.

@whumpcember day 9 shaking

---

“It's two in the morning. What are you still doing up?”

You startled at the sound of Connor’s voice having not heard him come home. “Holy shit, make some noise when you come in.”

He chuckled. “I thought you'd be asleep and I was trying not to wake you.”

You glanced at the clock then not having realized how late it'd gotten. “Oh, right. Well I have to finish this proposal anyway and I wasn't tired.” You lift your mug and drain the remaining coffee. Setting it back down, you press your thumb into your temple and rub your forehead to relieve the growing headache.

Connor stood silently watching you. As you reached for your keyboard he saw your hands shake. “How much coffee have you had?”

“Um, a pot… or maybe two?”

His eyes widened before he made his way over and knelt beside you. He took your hand and pressed his fingers into your pulse as he looked at his watch. He shook his head before he locked eyes with you. “126 and irregular. Sweetheart, you have to be careful with that much caffeine.”

“Oops,” you shrugged, giving him a guilty smile.

“Come on,” he requested, offering you his hand.

You took the offered hand and stood. As you did, the world spun slightly and you gripped his hand harder. He wrapped an arm around you and gently leaned you into his chest. “Okay, maybe I don't feel so good.”

“Dizzy?” he asked.

You took a deep breath trying to settle the feeling. “Yeah, and maybe a bit nauseous.”

“Alright. Let's go sit on the couch.” He slowly led you out of the office and settled you onto the couch. “Try some slow, deep breaths and just relax.”

A few minutes later, he came back with a tray. He set it on the table and handed you a glass of water. “Drink some of that first.”

You saluted before taking the glass. “Yes, sir.” He pulled his stethoscope from around his neck that you hadn't noticed. “Where did you get that?”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “The entry table where it sits with my keys and wallet.”

You rolled your eyes. “I know that. I meant when and why?”

“While I was boiling water for oatmeal and because your heart is still racing and I need to keep an eye on that,” he explained.

“How do you know that from over there?” you asked. “Are you psychic now? Or maybe you have x-ray vision.”

He chuckled. “Well, for one,” he traced his fingers softly down your neck until you could feel your pulse beat against his fingers, “I can see your pulse in your neck here. And for two, I know that much caffeine doesn't wear off in ten minutes.”

“You know, you make my heart race like this, too. You don't worry about it then,” you tease.

“That's very different, smart-ass. Now will you drink that, please.” He nodded to the water in your hand.

“Okay, okay.” You sipped the water as he placed the tips in his ears and the diaphragm on your chest. You tried not to squirm under his attention.

He looped the stethoscope back around his neck. “Still way too fast and skippy. You do know it's possible to OD on caffeine, right?”

“I didn't mean to drink so much. I was on auto-pilot working on that stupid proposal.”

“It's okay. You just need to eat and hydrate a lot and it'll be okay.” He leaned in and kissed your forehead. “Oatmeal or banana first?”

“Oatmeal, please.”

He leaned forward to grab the bowl and handed it to you. “Here you go. What are we binging?”

“Hmm, how about House?” He just glared at you and you laughed. “Grey’s Anatomy?”

“That's worse. Why are you trying to torture me?”

You snorted a laugh. “I was just kidding. How about Suits?”

“Deal.” He turned on the TV and started an episode. “I need you to finish that water before this episode is over.”

Half an hour later, you'd finished eating and emptied the glass. “Pause, please,” you asked.

“You can keep watching. I'll get you more water,” he offered, already moving to stand.

“And I'll let you.” You handed him your glass. “But we still need to pause. I have to pee.”

“Oh, right.” He offered you a hand and pulled you up from the couch. “Still dizzy?”

“Uh, a little but not too bad. I can make it there on my own.”

He nodded once, looking as if he was contemplating your answer. “Okay. Shout if you need me. Otherwise, I'll meet you back here.” He squeezed your hand softly before releasing you.

As you headed back to the couch, Connor popped his head out of the kitchen. “How's your head? Do you need some Tylenol?”

“Um, it's better than earlier. I think I'll be okay for now.”

A minute later, he was settling beside you on the couch once again. He handed you a tumbler with a lid and straw and then pulled you against him and kissed the top of your head. Next, he took your wrist in his hand again and lifted his other arm off your shoulder to glance at his watch. ��A little better. Down to 116. Still way too fast but at least it's not so skippy anymore.”

You gave him a thumbs up and then snatched the remote to press play.

By the time you finished the new cup of water, you were yawning and starting to doze off. “I thought coffee kept you awake longer than this.”

“It's not as effective when you've built up a tolerance. Let's go try to get some sleep.”

You snuggled in tighter against him. “But I'm comfy.”

He chuckled and stood, lifting you easily into a bridal carry. “You can be more comfy in the bed.” He set you down in the threshold of the bathroom.

You pouted. “This isn't the bed.”

“I'm sure you want to go before bed and brush your teeth,” he justified.

Both of you made quick work of getting ready for bed. When you finished you leaned your chin on his sternum and glanced up at him.

“You want me to carry you?”

You just smiled and nodded. He bent and lifted you again. You sighed contentedly and closed your eyes as he walked. When he set you on the bed you whined. He sat down in the bed beside you.

As he grabbed his stethoscope, you rolled your eyes. “I'm fine.”

“You basically just gave yourself a caffeine induced stress test. Forgive me for wanting to make sure you're okay..” He listened to your heart and checked your pulse once more before he moved to lay in his spot.

He pulled you over and you settled against him. He kissed the top of your head. “Good night. I love you,”

You squeezed him and hummed contentedly. “Love you.” You quickly dozed off.

After a fitful night of sleep, filled with a lot of tossing and turning, you woke to Connor cuddled beside you with his head on your chest. You ran your fingers through his hair lazily.

“Morning,” he greeted.

“Are you doing what I think you're doing?”

“Probably. If you think I'm listening then you'd be correct.”

“Babe,” you started, pulling his head up so he could turn to look at you. “I swear I'm okay. I slept like shit, but I feel fine. I promise.”

He hugged you tightly. “I'm sorry. You freaked me out a little. If I hadn't come home when I did, you might have made a third pot. You could have gotten really sick.”

“But you did. And I didn't get super sick. I'm good. I could use a cup of coffee though.”

“No,” he whipped his head up glaring at you. “No caffeine for at least three days.”

“How am I supposed to function at work?”

“B vitamins might help,” he suggested. “You can take a supplement. Or, my preference, you could take a day or two off work and take it easy.”

You laughed. “Oh, yeah. I can just imagine how that call would go… ‘I need a couple days off because I drank too much coffee’. I'm pretty sure I'd get laughed at and then maybe even fired.”

“I can call. I can just tell them you have food poisoning,” he offered. “That's barely even a lie.”

You pried yourself from his hold. “I think I'll be fine.” You pushed to stand and the world spun a little and nausea flared. You sank back to sitting and closed your eyes for a moment. “Okay, maybe one day wouldn't be a bad thing.”

He rounded the bed and kissed your forehead before snatching your phone off the nightstand. “Just lay back down and relax. I'll call your boss and then I'll make you some eggs and bacon. The protein should help.”

“Thank you.” Flopping back down into your pillow, he pulled the covers up to your shoulder. “Love you.”

“I love you too, pretty girl. I'll be back in a few.”

[bluwavez]

His father always said that he thought with his heart, never his brain. The night of December 31st, 2024 was no different.

"Yeah, I'm walking fast as fuck because I'm pissed as fuck! Damn!" Noah snaps at his phone, looking at the screen like the commenter is stupid. Noah adjusted his airpods, shaking his head with a huff.

"I'm frustrated. Like, I'm mad frustrated right now. So frustrated I can't even speak Korean, like, someone is going to have to translate this--Don't translate this because the last thing I need right now is K-Sirens on my ass, holy shit." He keeps walking, not sure where he's going, but Busan's streets seem empty at this hour. It's nearly two in the morning, of course, they're empty.

It's a Wednesday.

Noah reads twenty of the same comments, asking the same question of what happened, nodding at his phone with pursed lips.

"I'll tell you what happened-Let me tell you, my shit got stolen. Again. Again!" He shouts the last word before taking a breath to try to collect himself. Arguably, he doesn't try hard. He's always found comfort in rage, treating yelling or raising his voice like a warm blanket. He's talking fast, words spewing out of him quicker than he thinks them— If he even thinks them. He swears he's on autopilot right now, shouting at his phone for thousands to see.

"Somebody Else, yes the song on Finn's album, is my beat. I made that fucking beat and I wasn't credited for it just like I made The Rizz–Wrote that shit too! Produced, composed, and wrote it. That was my fucking song through and through and I was never credited for it. He just took it and he did again! I'm so fucking mad like-" His eyes widen as he looks at the camera again, bewildered at these circumstances. Noah can't help but scoff and shrug his broad shoulders. He's still walking. The street lamps whizz above him at the speed he's going.

Noah scoffs, shaking his head and making his hair fall in his eyes. He stops walking abruptly to put a flat palm up to the camera to silently tell the viewers to shut up.

"Finn literally is not stupid. He is not dumb. He can play a dumb bitch boy for the camera all he wants, but he's not stupid and knew those songs were my songs," Noah rants, pointing to himself. Puffs of cold air are seen as he rants.

"Because I'm tired," Noah barks back, tossing a threatening finger at the camera, "I'm tired of his bullshit. He's a snake, and everyone loves him because he's 'cute' and 'precious'. Yeah, precious at stealing my work!"

Noah stops suddenly, eyes wide as he bends over to catch his breath. The night air cuts through his thin jacket, chilling him to the bone. But he doesn't stop, can't stop, because rage is fueling him more than any caffeine could. He straightens up again, pointing an accusing finger at the camera.

He doesn’t say anything with that, just pointing a finger at the camera with a scowl before walking again. His boots crunched against the frozen sidewalk.

He halts abruptly once more, raking a hand through his hair as he struggles to stay in control of his emotions.

Noah's face contorts in anger at the mention of his father, but he quickly composes himself. "My dad," he says with a sharp edge to his voice, "is not just some billionaire CEO. He's my dad, and I love him. So shut the fuck up." His words ring out, cutting through the streets with raw emotion, making him look over his shoulder before his head snaps back towards the camera.

He glances back at the camera, eyes flashing dangerously under the lamplight. "And F-Y-I, @LOOP4CHLOE," he goes on, pointing a preemptive finger at the screen, "I've never done coke in my life unlike some of your faves so keep my name out of your fuckin’ mouth."

His pace quickens again, driven by pure adrenaline and anger. His breath comes in short puffs, fogging up the camera lens momentarily as it struggles to keep focus.

Noah snorts a laugh at that one, an incredulous smile tugging at his lips. "Focus on my music? That's all I fucking do! Every beat you hear, every lyric you sing along - that's me! That's all me!" He punches his chest for emphasis.

Suddenly he stops again and looks straight into the camera, his gaze piercing the lens. "You know what?" he begins ominously, "Finn can have it all - fame, money, fans... whatever!"

He shrugs dramatically, kicking at a discarded soda can, sending it skittering across the icy pavement. "He can have all the awards too," he continues, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. "I mean, he already has my Grammy... right?"

Another ding from his phone makes him pause mid-rant. He glances down at the screen, brows furrowing as he reads aloud.

Noah's shoulders slump as he reads the comment, his anger dissipating just a fraction. "Yeah," he says softly, his voice sounding small compared to the loud rant from before. "Me too."

But the moment of vulnerability doesn't last long. He huffs out an irritated laugh, shaking his head as he looks back at the camera.

"You know what though?" He says, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Even with my beats and my lyrics, Finn's still shit. His voice isn't worth shit, and he knows it. That's why he keeps stealing my stuff, 'cause he knows he can't make it on his own."

He snorts again, that bitter laugh bursting from him as he walks down the deserted streets of Busan. "Yeah," he agrees, almost sarcastically. "I deserve better. But life isn't fair now is it?"

His phone rings then, pulling him out of his rant. He glances at the caller ID and swipes the screen to reject the call without a second thought.

"Fuck off Finn," he mutters under his breath, eyes narrowing at the screen before looking back up at the camera. "Anyway," he continues with a dramatic wave of his hand, "I'm done talking about that bitch."

He stops abruptly, turning to face the camera with an eerily calm expression on his face.

[missvelvetsstuff]

The Situation Room

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: After a mission almost gone wrong, Tony brings back Bucky's former assistant, who is also Bucky's ex. Can they work together without hurting each other? Will the whole truth about their break up finally come out?

Avengers AU where Thanos never happened.

Chapter 1

Warnings: swearing, angst

After a rough nites sleep, Y/N woke at 6am and took a shower before heading to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast. There was a team meeting at 8am and she knew she needed caffeine to get through it.

She was sitting at the table with her coffee and a bagel when Steve and Sam came in followed by Bucky. She greeted them with a quiet good morning which had Sam pulling her out of her seat for a hug, winking at Bucky who rolled his eyes. Sam's friendship with Y/N had always irritated him and he just knew Sam was going to do everything he could to exacerbate the tension.

"Radar! How you been, baby girl? I'm surprised to see you back here, tired of Madripoor?" Sam laughed as he squeezed her.

Y/N shrugged "Are we really sticking with this Radar thing? I mean I love MASH but just because you're so predictable, Sammy, doesn't mean I'm psychic." She teased "There's too much going in Madripoor to get bored, I'm just doing an old friend a favor but don't plan to be here too long."

"Thank God for small favors." Bucky spat

She felt her stomach drop at his tone but just smirked at Bucky "Just keep your shit together so I can train you a new assistant and get the fuck outta here."

Sam laughed "I have missed you!"

Steve was more reserved, worried about how Bucky was going to deal with this new dynamic "Nice to see you again, Y/N" he gave her a small smile and nod.

Radar grinned "Same to you, Rogers."

Wanda and Nat wandered in chatting with Bruce trailing behind them. Nat stopped dead and put her arm out to stop Wanda "Is that who I think it is? Y/N? You're back?" She tried to temper the excitement over seeing her friend here in the compound after 2 years while picking up on the anger radiating from Bucky. She went to hug her friend "I didn't think I'd ever see you here again. Not that I minded our girl time in Madripoor."

Radar smiled, hugging her and Wanda at the same time "It's good to see you ladies. It's been 6 months since our last get together we'll have to tear up Manhattan when we can schedule it."

She smiled at Bruce and he hugged her "Glad you're back Radar, we've missed you."

A voice came from the hall "I hope you aren't planning a girls nite without me. I missed the last trip." Maria Hill walked into the kitchen and went to give Radar a hug.

Steve and Bucky were staring at the women, slack jawed until Steve spoke up "So you girls have been getting together regularly? How is this the first I'm hearing of this?"

Radar chuckled "Well geez Cap, it's girl time and you aren't invited so why would anyone tell you? Besides there's all kinds of drinking and swearing and general mischief making. Really not your type of party."

Bucky scoffed, glaring at Radar "So Nat, you and Wanda have been getting together with her, even after she- after what she did?" he shook his head "some friends you are." and stomped down the hall.

Radar shook her head and whispered under her breath "Yeah, what I did to him. Pffft."

Nat rubbed her back "You going to be ok working with him again?"

Radar smiled sadly "Yeah, as soon as I get his shit in order, I'll work to find and train my replacement. Then it's back to exciting Madripoor and the Power Brokers trail."

Nat hummed as she considered whether she should say what she was thinking and decided to push ahead "You could try to talk to him, tell him the truth about what happened."

Radar chuckled humorlessly "Right, he's obviously totally open to talking to me, thats why he says something nasty every time we're in the same room. He's no more interested in my side of the story than he was the day it happened. Sorry, Nat, sometimes you can't go home."

Steve poured himself a cup of coffee, wondering what they were talking about before switching to captain mode. "Meeting starts in 30, make sure you're all there on time."

Radar smiled "Don't worry Cap, we're on our way."

The ladies chatted for a few more minutes before heading to the conference room. They all sat together with Radar between Nat and Wanda while Bruce sat next to Nat and Vision walked in with Tony then sat next to Wanda.

Clint was behind them and smiled when he saw her "Radar! Welcome home." He patted her on the shoulder.

Radar looked at her friends on either side of her and smiled sadly at their happiness. She was thrilled they both found good partners but seeing them like that made her so lonely. She'd had no romantic interest since she left the compound. It felt like that part of her heart was broken beyond repair. There had been a couple of flings, a girl has needs, but nothing more than one night.

She had truly believed that Bucky was it and after everything still loved him, even if they couldn't be together.

Sam, Wanda and Nat had kept her up on the team gossip and while learning of Bucky's many women felt like a shot to the chest, she knew that was him acting out and would still do whatever she could to help him. He had worked so hard to make up for what Hydra made him do and his reputation had been trending upward but this last mission and the incident with the photographer made the public and the team's benefactors question him being there.

Radar took a deep breath to calm her mind, reminding herself that she would get him back on the right track, then go back to the wilds of Madripoor and probably never see him again. The thought of that hurt but she shook it off, that's how it had to be.

She jumped when she heard her name.

"Radar! I can't believe it's really you, never thought you'd come back." Nick Fury shouted with a grin on his face.

She smiled "Good to see you too, Nick. Enjoy me while you can because I'm just here to clean up a mess and train the next guy."

Nick chuckled "We'll just have to see if we can find a way to make you move back home permanently."

Radar smile at him sadly, why did everyone but him have to bring up keeping her here. "I don't think that's a good idea but I'm flattered you want me around."

Bucky and Steve walked into the room and Bucky scoffed "If she stays I'm fucking leaving. I'd rather give up my pardon and live the rest of my life on the Raft than anywhere near her."

Radar sighed "Yes Barnes, we get it. You hate me and wish I were dead. If you insist on reminding me every time we're in the same room together, I'll be convinced that you're still obsessed with me." she winked at him.

Bucky was sure steam must be coming out of his ears, she had a lot of nerve fucking with him like that "If you-"

Fury interrupted "Flirt on your own time, Barnes. This isn't speed dating, we have business to take care of."

Bucky sputtered and went to say something but Tony spoke up and interrupted him, not that he had any coherent thoughts to voice so he sat back, glaring at Y/N.

"Now that we're all here. The first order of business is notifying all of you that Radar has returned to help Barnes get organized and train her replacement. Once that's done, we need some excuse to convince her to stay."

Bucky groaned "please, god, no."

Radar shook her head "Don't get yourself in a tizzy Barnes. I told you, that's not happening." She looked at Tony "I told you that I'm leaving once I've trained a competent replacement. I can't stay here permanently and you know that. You all need to let that go cuz it's not happening."

Bucky sighed, relieved that she wasn't planning to stay. He didn't know if he could deal with seeing her all the time so he promised himself he would do everything in his power to speed things along. But somewhere, deep in his subconscious he dreaded the thought of her leaving again. And maybe never seeing her again. He still loved her desperately, the countless women he had gone through in the last 2 years gave him no peace, none of them felt or smelled or sounded like her and he was terrified that he would give in and beg her to take him back if she stayed too long. He was also terrified that he wouldn't and she would get away from him, again.

Bucky badly wanted to touch her, kiss and hold her, make love to her for hours like he used to. He could smell her vanilla body spray, the citrus shampoo & conditioner and the musk that was distinctly her. He could feel his body responding to being in close quarters with her again and was grateful for the table to hide his, ahem reactions.

Thankfully, Nick Fury spoke up "On to business. There's a facility in Belarus that was believed to be abandoned but is showing signs of activity. I need 2 people for recon. Any volunteers?"

Bucky raised his hand "I'm in if I can get out of here while....." he trailed off.

Radar kept her face emotionless. She was starting to think this was a mistake. As if the glares and cold demeanor weren't enough he had to make a crack every chance he had.

Just being near him was torture. She felt an empty ache in her chest and her eyes filled with tears but she refused to let them fall. She swallowed a sob down and whispered in a sing song voice "Obseeesed"

Bucky growled and she felt her panties dampen. His nostrils flared and he sat back in his seat, a death grip on the arms, before he took her on the conference table in front of the whole team.

Sam volunteered to go with him and Bucky groaned, he was almost as difficult to be around as Y/N.

Fury nodded and handed packets to both men "There we go, that wasn't so difficult. Since Sam's assistant isn't here, Radar will prep everything you need and be in the quinjet and in your ears when you go in. I suggest the three of you get some sleep, wheels up at 9 tonight"

Bucky shook his head "What do you mean she'll be in the jet? Starks tech is good enough that she can do it from here. Goddammit I want to be wherever she isn't so send someone else."

Fury glared at him "For a man who's over 100 years old you are acting like a fucking child, Barnes. Grow the fuck up and act like the professional you are supposed to be."

Nick's face turned up into a devious grin "You do realize that if you don't go, she doesn't either right? She's your assistant, your angel. If you had hired assistants without prioritizing their fuckability, you wouldn't be here. It's already decided. Go hit your rack while you can."

Sam chuckled as he left the room "You just can't win Terminator. Maybe the universe wants you crazy kids together."

Bucky sighed, no point in complaining any more. A mission with the two people he would least like to be around. Hopefully the intel was right and it would be a quick in and out. He went to his room to stretch out, knowing that sleep was unlikely.

Steve caught up with him in the hall "I'm just giving you some information and what you do with it is up to you." He lowered his voice "I heard Nat trying to convince Y/N to talk to you, she said something about telling you the truth about what happened that day. Maybe you should hear her out, listen to her side."

Bucky shook his head "What side? There's no side that makes what she did ok so there's not much point. I just want to get through this so she goes on her way."

Steve shook his head "Fine punk, it's your life."

Radar went to the armory to put Sam and Bucky's gear and weapons together and loaded up the quinjet before heading to her room for a couple of hours of sleep, if she could manage that much. She prayed to whatever gods were out there that this mission would be easy and fast.

Chapter 2

[yandere-paramour]

Atlanta and Noelle's darling being the ever tired, this close to crying and yeeting their paper into a wall, edging ever closer to the forbidden number of cans of monster a day drinking PHD student about to defend their dissertation to the death for a doctorate.

Noelle says bad PhD students get sent to the box (the comfort room she has set up for you). Clearly, you can't be trusted to take care of yourself right now so she'll step in and do it for you. You're so lucky to have her, Darling. She's dragging you to the room and dumping you on the bed, forcefully confiscating your laptop from you so you don't work on that evil paper. She's going to run you a hot bath in her bathtub and make you relax in the dark with soft classical music. When that's over, she's setting up the snack stash and pulling out one of the craft kits she keeps stacked in the hall closet to appease you on your more restless nights. Maybe working with your hands a little will calm you down. She'll stay up as late as you need, sitting in that comfortable little room while disney movies play, letting you destress the way you need to. She's going to have to be careful not falling asleep first (Ata's really working her to the bone this week), she can't trust you not to steal your laptop back and stress yourself out again. Oh, and she's limiting your monster stash, she's not buying you any more until you can prove you'll drink responsibly. She doesn't understand why you'd want to get a PhD when she's taking care of you, but as long as it keeps you busy and content.

Atalanta looks at her Darling, who is buried in complicated and boring paperwork, crying as they're stuck in the same position for 9 hours, and thinks "Oh shit, that me". She remembers her own college days with fondness, but she also remembers the nights of endless studying, caffeine, and memorizing facts no one cared about. When she was young and stressed and needed to get away, she did just that, and she'll do the same for you. Atalanta will entice you into a car and before you know it, you'll be at the airport and she'll be ushering you into a private jet to spend the weekend in Europe. She will also lovingly hide your laptop because it is just stressing you out and you really need to relax, Darling. She will do anything to help you relax from taking you to the most historic museums to booking couples massages at spas normal people have to schedule appointments years in advance for. Even if it takes a while, no one can resist a combination of warm sun, good food, and a hot heiress who would move mountains at your command.

Vivien will drive you into the forest at night so you both can scream into the void together.

[atleastpleasetelephone]

Ain't that a lotta love - Chapter 2

A/N: A story that starts on the set of the 68 Special, with Elvis and his long-term girlfriend Dorothy Valens. Dorothy has been with Elvis for a long time for good reason - she's no pushover, and she has a habit of getting exactly what she wants. As Elvis' career starts to get back on track, their relationship fundamentally changes too...

Need to catch up? Masterlist is here.

Pairing: Elvis x OC - Dorothy Valens

Word count: 2.5K

TWs: None, really. Tinge of angst and mention of Elvis taking pills to sleep.

Dorothy eventually surfaces even later than Elvis, exhausted from staying up until the early hours of the morning and struggling to sleep in the unfamiliar environment of the NBC dressing room. She sits next to Jerry, hands wrapped around a coffee mug like it's a lifeline. Elvis is, indeed, practicing some kind of choreography or other and doing a lot of cussing about it. Jerry hands her a croissant and she leans her head on his shoulder, heavily. 

“Fuck me, I'm tired.”

Jerry laughs. Although she tries to keep herself prim and proper, a lot of the time Elvis’ girlfriend has a real potty mouth. His friend finds this very funny, especially when Elvis calls everyone he ever meets “sir” and “ma'am”. The contrast is hilarious.

“You up late last night? I saw you go out.”

“Mmm. El wanted me to ditch our girl.”

“Ah. Noticed she wasn't around this morning.”

“She was getting in the way, apparently.”

Dorothy moves her head and pulls the end of the croissant off, popping it into her mouth and chewing. The coffee cup has made its way to the floor. 

“You ok?” 

She sighs. “I guess so. I did like her, y’know, Jer. But she wasn't subtle enough. Or smart enough.”

Jerry looks at her quizzically. She takes another bite of croissant. 

“The fat man.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

He puts a comforting arm around her. “I'm sorry.”

“Thanks. Just wish Elvis would do the breaking up for a change. Why it always gotta be me, Jer?!” She asks, in a silly, fake New York accent. 

Jerry laughs. “Because we are all just his subjects,” he teases, in his own silly version of an English accent, pulling the other end off the croissant and eating it. She puts the rest in her mouth and licks the crumbs off her fingers, chuckling at the all-too-accurate description of their position in relation to the King, Elvis Presley. 

“Seriously, though,” he continues, after a swig of his own coffee to wash down the pastry, “you should put yourself first, sometimes. You're always doing things for him.”

“Mmm. I guess you're right. Easier said than done, though.” 

Drinking the rest of her coffee in several large gulps, she reflects that she's feeling better already. Although it was probably more to do with the company than the caffeine, yet. 

“Who's that over there?” She waves her empty cup in the direction of a man walking quickly around with a clipboard. “Saw him outside the room last night.”

“Oh that's Steve Binder. He's directing this whole thing.”

“Oh! The fabled Steve.”

The man comes a little closer and she gets a slightly better look at him. Shorter and stockier than Elvis but not bad-looking. Fashionable hair and a ruggedness to his features that she doesn’t mind at all. 

Jerry snorts. “Yeah. The only man to have stood up to the Colonel and won. So far.”

Dorothy has heard a lot about Steve. Elvis gushed about him when they first met, and then gushed even more after the recording sessions with him. Everything recently has been Steve this and Steve that. “Sounds like you want to marry Steve,” she'd teased him at one point, making him blush. 

“Yeah I've heard plenty about him from Elvis. Nice to finally put a face to the name.” She pauses to brush crumbs off her skirt. “What d'you think of him?”

“Seems like a good guy. Knows a lot about the business. Doesn't take any shit from you know who.”

She nods, settling her head back onto Jerry’s shoulder. At least she'll have someone different to talk to this evening. 

***

Elvis stands behind Dorothy with his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin on the top of her head. 

“Good day?” She asks, looking from the inner part of the dressing room through to the outer part, where the guys are already assembled, singing and laughing and messing around. 

“Mmm. Tirin’ but good. You ok?”

She nods. They stand there for a little longer and then he speaks again.

“You think my hair’s too black, Dodo?”

She turns around in his arms to look at him and sees his serious expression. Someone must've been joking with him about it but he's obviously hurt. Worried that people think he looks silly. 

“I think it looks perfect, El,” she tells him, reaching a hand up to touch his cheek. “You're perfect.”

He smiles and blushes and his tongue pokes out over his lips cheekily. 

“You think?”

“I know.”

Bowed up by the affirmation, he kisses her quickly before pushing the door open, making an entrance as usual. Grabbing her by one hand he spins her around in front of him, manoeuvring her to the side so that they can walk in together. The rest of the guys whoop and cheer, asking him where he's been, how his day was, what he wants to do. Dorothy settles down on the sofa and he flops beside her, an arm casually thrown over her shoulders. Steve has been watching them since they first came into the room, and as they start their cigarette ritual, he has to admit to being fascinated. Elvis’ girlfriend is petite and striking, with thick black hair and bangs. Her eyes are large and flick around the room, taking everyone in without comment. They meet his briefly, and then she's stretching out her arm for the cigarette and bringing it to her lips when she receives it. She and Elvis seem to communicate without talking, all little looks and gestures, and once he's stubbed out the cigarette it’s like that portion of the evening is over, and things move on to the usual talking and laughing. Charlie passes Elvis a guitar and he starts to strum, he strikes up a tune and people sing. 

Dorothy ruffles Elvis’ hair affectionately as she stands up, making her way over to the drinks cabinet and pouring herself a scotch. When she turns back, she sees her seat is now occupied by Alan and makes her way to another chair between Steve and Joe. 

“You got a light?” She asks Joe, as she brings another cigarette to her lips. As if her mirror, Elvis grips a cigarillo between his teeth and lit matches appear around him instantly. 

Joe is too far away to join in, and anyway he's captivated by Dorothy’s cleavage, something she's well aware of as she leans towards him deliberately. He flicks the wheel on his lighter and a flame kisses the end of the cigarette. She inhales. 

“Thanks, doll.”

Joe laughs and blushes a little. “Shouldn’t it be me calling you doll, not the other way around?”

“Sure,” she replies, then turns to Steve. “Hi. I hear you're Steve. I'm Dorothy.”

Joe sighs quietly at her giving him the cold shoulder, as she does so often once she’s got what she wants. 

“You heard right. Nice to meet you.” Steve proffers a hand and she takes it, giving him a firmer handshake than he'd anticipated. 

“How're you enjoying hanging out with these reprobates?” She asks, waving her hand around the room and producing a cloud of smoke in its wake. 

Steve smiles. “Well, they're kinda fun.” He pauses to look around as Elvis moves to the piano and the other men flock around him. Dorothy gestures to the now empty sofa, and they move there to better observe the group. “How do you enjoy hanging out with them?”

Dorothy takes a long drag on her cigarette as she contemplates his question. He's a little more direct than she's used to, but she decides to play along. 

“Joe likes my tits, Alan and Charlie like being told what to do, and Lamar likes whatever's left.”

She looks at Steve, eyebrow arched, ready for however he decides to respond. He feels a little spark of excitement in his belly. She's fun. 

“Sounds like you have them all worked out.”

She shrugs. “I guess so. I've been around for a while.” Another drag on the cigarette. “How'd you like dealing with the Colonel, then?”

Steve laughs. She's not beating around the bush, that's for sure. 

“I don't,” he replies, honestly. “How do you like it?”

That earns him his first proper laugh, her head is thrown back and her eyes are merry. “I don't either. Annoying little shit. Big shit, actually.”

“You really don't like him?”

She shakes her head. “No. But, I'll let you in on a little secret.” She leans close to him so she can speak more quietly, even though the amount of noise the guys are all making singing she's sure she could shout and they wouldn't hear. “Joe’s his dirty little spy. So don't tell him anything you don't want the fat man to know.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You trust me with all this? You've only just met me.”

“Ah, I've only just met you, but I've been hearing about you from El for weeks now.” She takes a sip of her scotch. “And you're not some kinda hick, which helps.”

Steve laughs again. They carry on sitting and chatting, Dorothy telling him more about the guys and him taking it in. After a while he realises she hasn't mentioned Jerry, who's standing up somewhere near the back and trying not to sing too loudly, having been told about his tunelessness in the past. 

“What about Jerry?”

She blinks. “What about him?”

“Well you mentioned everyone else.”

“Jerry is a sweetheart,” she replies, entirely without irony. “He wants to get into the business. You know, movies, music, whatever.” She waves her hand about. “You should give him some advice.” 

Steve is just trying to swallow being given such a direct order by a girl he's only just met when she stands up, finishing off the end of her drink and clearly signalling the end of the conversation. 

“Nice to meet you.”

He takes her hand and kisses the back of it this time, telling her how nice it was to talk to her and that he'll go and chat to Jerry. She smiles, pleased with both the kiss and the fact he's agreed to follow instructions, and then turns towards Elvis and the piano. It takes her mere moments to insinuate herself into the middle of the group and between Elvis’ legs on the piano stool. 

Her boyfriend greets her with an enthusiastic kiss to the neck and then asks what she wants to play. Moving towards Jerry, Steve is surprised that the next thing that comes out of the piano is a duet, and that Dorothy can play very well indeed. He shakes hands with the other man and strikes up conversation, first about the industry and then about Dorothy, finding himself oddly fascinated by her.

“She's a good girl,” Jerry enthuses, with a smile. “Good for E. Keeps him sane.”

Steve nods, wondering about the mutual admiration that Jerry and Dorothy seem to have for each other. He's surprised that Elvis would be so relaxed about their relationship, but now he comes to think of it, he's sure he saw them together earlier that day. Jerry with his arm around her too. He doesn't seem to fall into the category of the other guys, who she treats largely with disdain and orders around as if they were her lackeys, not Elvis’. Then he wonders about her telling him to go and talk to Jerry, and getting up to leave so quickly. Which category does he fit in, exactly? Friend or foe?

***

It's the early hours of the morning when Jerry finally persuades the rest of the guys to go home. Steve had left around the same time as Charlie, Alan and Lamar, but Joe stuck around for a frustratingly long time. Jerry knows he's a snitch, but surely even the Colonel has given up on trying to get rid of Dorothy at this stage. There are a couple of other hangers-on too, but once Jerry manages to persuade Joe that it's bedtime they don't stick around. It doesn't hurt that he's filling out his t-shirt nowadays, and at 6ft cuts an imposing figure. 

“Thanks, Jer.” Dorothy puts her arms around his neck and kisses his cheek. 

“Yeah, thanks man. Thought they were never gonna go.” Elvis sighs. 

“I better go myself or Joe'll be back in here assuming I'm saying something I don't want him to hear.”

Elvis hums. “I bet it was him shopped our girl to the fat man.”

“You ever think of demoting him?”

Elvis shakes his head. “Nah. Better he's not sure if I know. Also better I have him where I can keep an eye on the bastard.”

He doesn't like the fact that Joe snitches on him to the Colonel, but he still enjoys the other man's company, even if he knows Dorothy thinks he's a letch. He likes all the guys, despite their shortcomings. 

Jerry nods. “Fair ‘nough. You know best, EP.”

Elvis laughs. “I think you'll find it's Dodo who knows best.”

He pulls her to his side with one arm and she smiles up at him, her hand reaching up to dig into his hair. 

“She sure does,” Jerry replies, looking at them for a moment, lost in one another's eyes. He's amazed they're still like this after so long. That a girl has managed to keep Elvis’ attention for so long. And that someone could keep Dorothy’s. He supposes they are ideally suited, though he worries a little about her. She has a hard exterior but he can't help thinking that breaking up with so many girls must be doing her some damage and he hopes Elvis realises. Though his boss has had enough problems of his own recently, so the change in Dorothy over the years might have gone unnoticed.

“Anyway, I'll head off. See y'all tomorrow.”

Elvis and Dorothy bid him goodbye and go to bed themselves. Elvis is tired anyway, but he swallows his usual handful of pills and relaxes into the mattress. He never could persuade Dorothy to join him with the tablets. She's never said anything, but he has the distinct feeling she disapproves. She's always slept like a log though, so he doesn't think she understands what it's like to have insomnia. He slowly traces the contours of her face with the backs of his fingers as he waits for the drugs to kick in. 

“You're so pretty,” he drawls.

She smiles, sweetly. “You're so pretty.” Her hand catches his and she brings his fingers to her lips, peppering them with kisses. 

He snuggles into her, nuzzling her neck. “You'll always be here for me, wontcha, Dodo?” It's only been a few minutes, but his words already sound slurry to her. 

“Always, pumpkin.”

He mumbles something else she can't quite hear into her hair and then his breathing deepens and he lets out a little snore. 

“And you'll always be there for me, won't you?” She whispers back to him, knowing there won't be a reply. She strokes his hair and traces the contours of his face with her fingers, just like he had been doing minutes ago to her. “I hope you will,” she whispers again, into the dark, closing her eyes. “I really hope you will.”

☆☆☆

Chapter 3

Taglist:

@arg-xoxo @from-memphis-with-love @msamarican @blursedblegh @returntopresley @eapep @everythingelvispresley @i-r-i-n-a-a @sissylittlefeather @arrolyn1114 @jhoneybees @polksaladava @lookingforrainbows @jkdaddy01 @epthedream69 @lustnhim @elvisslut @pomtherine @that-hotdog @ladelinee @angschrof @fairybloodsucker @deltafalax @makethemorning @elviswhore69 @ilovequeen978 @wildhorseinkansas @pocketfulofpresley @dkayfixates @iloveelvisss @kxnnxy @presleyhearted @lvrdollep @nebulamorada @iloveelvis2 @18lkpeters

[spiderman2-99]

[03.25.2098 - I.]

"What the hell do you want? This better be important, or I swear to God-"

"Oh, calm your tits, it's just me," LYLA's voice rings out, nonplussed in the face of Miguel's more-caffeine-and-sleep-deprivation-than-usual induced snappishness.

Despite the lightheartedness of her words, she sounds tired. How an AI can be tired is beyond Miguel, and he's the man who programmed her. But whatever. The massive project they've been poring over the last few weeks has taken a clear toll.

Not like Miguel could be calm at this state-- couple days sleep-deprived with the eye bags and pallor to show for it, eating irregularly (worse than usual), hair an unstyled wreck, his hands and arms weary and shaking. The picture of a man who'd clearly holed himself up in his office and done nothing but work himself to shit.

But as far as he cares, he has bigger problems than sleep and food. He’s been obsessed with this little passion project for weeks. And if it works... it'll be worth it. It'll all be worth it.

"I just wired more of your calls to Jessica like you asked me to," the AI continues, "Nothing important came up."

“Thanks.” His voice is hoarse, his hands twitch, and his eyes are bloodshot from staring at screens almost nonstop. But he refuses to stop. He'll be damned if he gives up now.

Miguel sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, and tries to focus on the project on his screen. But it's hard. So hard. His mind feels sluggish and slow; overheated and abused worse than his overworked computers.

“Why can't I get the rigging right? Ugh. Lyls. How many of my files have you used? I need more.”

"Hush. I'm trying to find better footage of her. Sweet Jesus, I forgot how many videos you've taken of her," she trails off, scouring the clogged folders. It's like ever since Miguel inserted himself into another life, he'd been determined to catalogue every single last moment out of some desperate hope that if he'd just catalogued it all, it'd be enough proof to convince whatever powers that be he belonged.

"If this isn't a thousand percent perfect, you'll lose your shit, and I am not letting it be my fault."

At her words, Miguel’s gaze goes dark, and his jaw clenches.

He can already feel the familiar tightness in his chest; the guilt and anger towards himself rising up, as if he’s been slapped.

But he shoves it down, down, down, until the sting abates. He’s too tired to have yet another guilt-trip.

After a long moment, he asks, “you don’t think this was a mistake, do you?”

Miguel looks over his shoulder at LYLA's holo, floating in mid-air surrounded by her own screens. He doesn't know what he's asking for; not really. Permission? Absolution? Salvation?

The silence that follows is unnerving.

“Your life. Your time. I didn’t enable or discourage it," she responds.

Her form disappears, but he knows she’s still on. Various holographic screens pop up, all of old footage of Gabriella that LYLA is painstakingly poring through.

The screens, the memories, the reminders of a happy life he didn't deserve attached all make his chest tight, clawing through his ribcage and squeezing at the organ beating inside, but that's not the only thing that sets him on edge.

It’s the fact that LYLA isn’t discouraging this that’s so concerning. The idea that she’s just... letting him do this, with no real opinion.

His jaw clenches and he looks back at his own screen, resuming typing. If his arms tremble, he ignores that along with everything else.

“You usually tell me if you think I’m insane.” He can’t help but tack it on, his voice bitter and accusing. She certainly did when he first shat out the idea of inserting himself, and look where him bulldozing ahead anyways got him.

“Oh, you are,” she says, her voice coming from all around this time; the way it always does when she’s ‘gone into’ the main computer. “But I think we all knew that.”

[riality-check]

more daisy jones-adjacent things. this time, they're finally starting to hate each other a little less.

parts 1, 2, and 3, for your reading pleasure. less drugs this time around, but way more talk about steve's ptsd. part 5. part 6. part 7.

ao3

Steve has never co-written anything before. All of his songs are his, from start to finish. Every note, every chord, every syllable is his invention, and he takes them all very seriously.

That's not to say that he doesn't accept help. He wouldn't be himself if he wasn't constantly bouncing ideas off of Robin and Dustin and Lucas, and he always has other people look it over and offer suggestions.

But the initial creation? That's all him. Steve likes that kind of control.

Writing with a band is very different. Eddie declares it, the song Steve pissed him off enough into writing, done after they've got lyrics and a lead guitar part.

"They'll write the rest," he says, like it's that simple.

Steve can't imagine letting go that much. In all honesty, he's scared shitless. He's never been good at being nice. Charming, yes. Nice, no. And he doesn't know how he'll be nice if the drum, bass, and rhythm guitar parts suck.

It's his song. Well, his and Eddie's, which is weird to think about, but still.

Steve has never co-written anything before.

And, to make matters worse, he fell asleep last night.

He knew it was coming. He's never made it past seventy-two hours, no matter how hard he tries or how high he gets. He knew it was coming, and he prepped as best as he could.

That didn't stop him from sleeping in three hour bursts, at max. Torn between the nightmares and the exhaustion and the crash, he freaked out, passed out, and repeated the cycle until he had to get up and go to the studio.

At least this time, last night, he was back in the Byers house. Scary as shit, with the initial confusion never fading, but it's the best of the nightmares he gets. Between the dogs and the torture, Steve's brain has plenty of worse things to torment him with.

Maybe he should be grateful, but he's never been good at dealing with what he's given.

This morning, he doesn't need to take anything. He's tired, but not that tired, and he's trying to give himself breaks when he can.

He doesn't want to die. He just wants to stay awake.

He has a coffee, though. That's mostly for the taste. His tolerance is shot to hell, so it's not like caffeine makes a real difference.

Steve walks into the studio, coffee in hand, and sees the band setting up and tuning their instruments. Jeff gives him a little wave, Gareth nods absently as he tightens his snare, and Archie positively beams.

"Steve, you're a saint," he says, a little mischief in his eyes. "Different chords, finally. I could kiss you."

Steve laughs and promptly cuts himself off when he sees Eddie staring at him.

"Do I have something on my face?" he asks once the silence has stretched on for too long.

"Why are you here?" Eddie asks bluntly.

Steve, notably, doesn't flinch back. He doesn't snap. He doesn't do anything that he would regret later.

He just says, steadily, "I can go if you don't want me."

He stands there, and he swallows back his hurt. He thought Eddie was finally warming up to him. He took Eddie's fighting words as an improvement from being ignored. And, as usual, Steve thought wrong.

"Hang on a sec," Jeff says. He sets his guitar down and stands between Steve and Eddie. "I said I wanted Steve on backing vocals for this."

"Is Steve not on backing vocals?" Gareth asks from the other side of the room.

"Far as I know, he is," Archie says with a pointed look at Eddie.

Eddie turns to look at Jeff instead. Steve watches their intense staring match and thinks about just walking out.

Before he can take the first step, Eddie says, "Fine."

"Fine what?" Steve can't help but ask.

"Stay."

Steve nods, but he turns to Jeff. "Are you sure? It's fine if-"

"I'm sure," Jeff says. "I think you wrote this song more for your register than mine."

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," Jeff says. "I changed everything I can't hit, but I just want a little more support, you know?"

Steve looks around the little studio space, around at all the cables and amps and mics and instruments, and he counts. Then counts again.

"There's only four mics," he says.

Jeff picks his guitar back up and gives it a little strum. "Share with Eddie."

"What?" Eddie says, looking like he would rather walk out than do that.

"Nothing against you, Steve," Jeff explains, ignoring Eddie. "I'm just a big personal space guy. Can't focus otherwise."

Steve looks over at Eddie, still sitting, still scowling.

"Fine," he says, because he'll be professional, even if Eddie won't.

"You guys are fucking killing me," Chrissy says, and Argyle, the audio engineer next to her, nods in agreement. "Can we get this show on the road?"

Gareth gives them a little salute, one that Chrissy rolls her eyes at. "We all ready?"

"As we'll ever be," the rest of the band choruses.

Steve shrugs. "Yeah."

"You warm up?" Eddie asks, walking toward his mic.

Steve follows. "Never do."

Eddie rolls his eyes, but then Chrissy gives them the all-clear, Gareth counts them off, and they start.

And something switches.

Steve knew this would be higher energy. Different genre, different sound, whatever. But there's something fucking electric about playing with a band instead of being by himself in an iso booth, drilling vocals until he has a take he's happy with.

Recording with a band brings a different sort of energy. It creates a feedback loop, getting them higher, playing faster, sounding better.

Steve tells himself to back off. He's not the star of this show. He's been invited, and a quarter of the people in this room don't want him here.

But filling in the gaps has always come easy to him, and he gives the backing vocals his all.

And somewhere between the guitar solo and the end of the song, Eddie smiles at him for the first time.

It's quick, but it's blinding. Steve didn't think Eddie could smile until he does. It's quick as a flash and wide and feral and a little mean, but it's there, and it's directed at him.

But just like that, the first take is over. It was messy and imperfect, and as soon as it ends, Eddie is back to scowling at him.

But it's not as harsh. And that's how Steve knows that he wasn't imagining that little bit of something.

"Holy shit," Archie says, as soon as they're done. "This is gonna be a good song."

"It's gonna be a great song," Jeff says.

"I want more from Steve," Gareth adds, and the rest of the guys agree.

Even Eddie, however begrudgingly.

"Alright, boys," Chrissy says. "You've got the fun out of your systems. Let's focus and make some music."

Steve looks over at Eddie, who nods, however slightly. And he thinks, because he has never been able to kill hope a day in his life, that they could make a good team if Eddie could stop hating his guts.

[thr4shit]

It's headcanon time, once again, bitches!!!

Hehehehe- Marble Hornets headcanon time...

(I'm gonna start off with Alex. I might make more eventually, but my brain is primarily focused on Alex at the moment. *I may or may not be projecting, but... eh... idc right now. However, I do apologize if any of this goes against CONFIRMED CANON, as I do not know all of the canon lore, I'm still learning and I'm shit at retaining right now.*)

[headcanon list below the cut]

Alex Kralie Headcanon Stuff

He has ADHD and IED (Intermittent Explosive Disorder)

He feels really shitty after having an outburst, but doesn't really know how to properly apologize, so he just doesn't.

(whenever he used to apologize in the past, people wouldn't forgive him, and would call him a jerk, etc. so he eventually just stopped apologizing because he didn't see the point anymore.)

He has an oral fixation

(Primarily chews on pens, bites his fingernails, and bites the inside of his mouth. But he also has a keychain with all the stuff he needs, *his keys, little decorations, etc...* but also chew rings or other chewing fidgets so he can keep his fixation satisfied.)

Building on the idea of chewing on pens, he has a bag full of absolutely RUINED pens that still can write *but are chewed to all hell* because he goes through them very quickly while brainstorming.

Tim and the others *mostly Tim because Tim's the one who notices it* continuously try to stop him from chewing on the pens, but it's so habitual to him that he just doesn't.

Chews on ice and straws a lot, too.

He tried smoking once or twice but hated the smell and taste of the cigarettes. Although he still occasionally tries again, and NEVER comes around on it.

Bigender or Genderfluid ass bitch

Don't get me wrong, I also love the transfem Alex hc, but I personally lean more towards bigender or genderfluid for him.

Likes most if not all pronouns but decides not to say he uses all pronouns, instead saying that he uses he/she/they

(I'm only going to use he/him in this post because I'm tired and I also don't want to alternate at the moment because I know I'll confuse myself because of how my head is right now.)

Gender coded bracelets

Like... different colors/patterns to signal to people how he's feeling on that particular day. Preferred pronouns or even names

(bounces between/uses both Alex and Lexie)

So, so incredibly dysfunctionally Pan and Nebula

Constantly has the issue of "why are so many people attractive-" and "am I attracted to this person or are we friends?! What the fuck is the difference-"

REALLY loved Blair Witch Project when it came out. (When he was 13.)

Sparked his interest for making something with a similar genre, as he found it to be incredibly creative to film in such a way that made it seem "real"

Has a lot of interest in kids shows, but doesn't talk about them to most people.

I'm talking MLP, Sanrio/Hello Kitty/Cinnamaroll stuff, Invader Zim, etc.

He has a perfectionistic side

(I know that's basically canon already, but I have a thought as to why) He gets extremely perfectionistic with his projects because his parents didn't think he could pull off his filmmaking "dream," so, to prove them wrong; he wanted to make the BEST movie there was.

Caffeine makes him EXTREMELY tired, but he still drinks it to try to wake himself up.

He makes kandi bracelets for himself, and had some partially made for the cast of Marble Hornets, but never got around to finishing them.

Tim might've found them post Alex's canon death... and his and Alex's bracelets were matching. (waow- implied Timlex angst-coded stuffs O0O)

He is COMPLETELY time blind.

He has so many alarms and reminders set EVERYWHERE that it drives most people mad.

Constantly needs to be fidgeting with or biting/chewing on something, so he has an abundance of fidget toys on him at all times.

Spinning rings, chew necklaces, pop-its, wacky tracks, small stuffed animals/squishy animals, etc.

Extremely sensitive to smell

Viscerally hates when people wear cologne or perfume around him. Because of this, he also doesn't like most pets because of the smells they make.

(For dogs, when they heat up and it activates the oils in their fur, for cats, the ammonia smell, etc.)

He can only tolerate having a pet fish, which he finds boring because he can't pet or hold it.

He has SO MANY random facts stored in his brain, and he will randomly spew them to people

The more facts he shares, the more he cares about someone. It's sort of a love language to him.

No spice tolerance, but super high bitterness and sour tolerance

aka, starts crying after barely licking a pepper, but can eat 100% dark chocolate with a straight face and like it.

He does little watch parties of movies that inspired him whenever he needs to get out of a rut or writing block.

It normally doesn't help him get out of the block, but it helps distract him from looming feelings of failure.

There are several minutes of footage in the Marble Hornets tapes that are just Alex getting footage of Tim's moobs because he started spacing out and staring at them.

He's too embarrassed to do anything with the footage and doesn't know the correct course of action. (That, and he honestly forgets he has the footage.)

Would 100% live permanently in autumn if he could.

Absolutely feral for Halloween.

[alexxncl]

how the obey me characters like their coffee

brothers, dateables + luke, and side characters

resurgence of my coffee obsession has me thinking thoughts

and i'm right bc they all told me this themselves

masterlist | more drabbles/hcs

lucifer

i feel like he likes his shit sickeningly sweet...like you can barely taste the coffee

so much creamer it almost looks like milk, so much sugar that your teeth will fall out just by looking at it

it used to help him stay awake, but he's immune to it now. he just drinks it to drink it

he doesn't care for iced coffee that much. he had a sip of mammon's and almost gagged

mammon

the blackest coffee you've ever seen, extra espresso shots, whether it's hot or iced

y'all know how pedro pascal and jaemin from nct like their coffee? yeah...nasty

if he hasn't had his coffee, don't talk to him

unless you're mc or luke. then you have a pass

he drinks it before he leaves the house, while he's walking to RAD, while he's in class, while he's at lunch, while he's in detention, while he's-

you get the picture

but he won't admit that he's addicted

levi

he likes chai tea 🫶🏽

coffee never sat well with him, it made him more anxious than he already is

he likes the taste but he can live without it

he drank a bunch of it once while pulling an all-nighter with mammon before an exam...never again

luci and mams keep a very close eye on his caffeine intake

satan

no cream or milk, but a shit ton of sugar

"bitter like my soul" headass

he doesn't drink it often, but he's particular when he does

doesn't like hot coffee because he can't drink it right away

either makes it himself or asks asmo to do it when he's too tired

asmo

more milk than sugar with a pretty design on top

an oat milk girlie

strongly prefers hot coffee but will drink either

he just has a knack for creative stuff, y'know?

i feel like he worked as a batista for a while and does little pop up shops for his fans :(

beel

he doesn't drink coffee like that. it doesnt do anything for him

but he likes sweet things, so he asks belphie to put flavored creamer or sweetened almond milk and a lot of sugar in it whenever he does drink some

he started drinking it to get closer to luci and mams, but he never made a habit out of it like the two of them

asked asmo if he could learn how to make it so that mammon wouldn't run out during the day and is actually really good at it

belphie

do NOT give him coffee

he hates it

it's nasty and it makes him jittery

he'll make it, and he's almost as good as asmo, but he won't drink it. absolutely not

diavolo

never really got the hype until he had some of lucifer's

only drinks his coffee that way now

he still prefers tea, but a little caffeine every now and then won't hurt

he tried black coffee and hated it. you know he loves his sweets

barbatos

drinks it on occasion but will lie if you ask him about it

he's THE tea demon, yk? can't let the title be for nothing

if he makes some for diavolo, he'll drink it however dia likes it

if he's just making it for himself, he likes it with a little sugar and no creamer

simeon

spiked (sometimes, when he's not writing) and black

mainly because he doesn't want luke to drink any and thinks this is the best course of action

also because it keeps him awake

(he's like lucifer, coffee doesn't do anything for him anymore. it's a habit atp)

solomon

spiked and sweet

he's too old and too tired

but it's only ever spiked with top shelf, aged, hard shit bc he's extra

tried it black and spiked and hated it

luke

please don't give the baby coffee

11 year olds don't need coffee

he kept asking to try it, so mammon gave him some of his (much to simeon's disdain) and he quite literally almost died

he'll never touch it again bc why is it so BITTER

he won't admit to it but he cried

mammon has proof - videos and pictures

mephisto

tried it once and threw it away

likes his black like mammon, but way less espresso

only likes iced americanos

also likes them extremely watered down ??? idk man he's weird

raphael

another tea drinker but he likes his caffeinated

can't stand the taste of coffee, he doesn't know how simeon drinks it so often

tried some of simeon's - before he started spiking it, mind you - and threw it away bc he thought it was disgusting

simeon did not in fact cry (yes he did)

thirteen

it depends on the day, but she's a mocha girlie 99% of the time

when just wants coffee or she's having a really bad day, she gets her usual

if it's a really good day, she gets something different

iced or hot, she doesn't care

a very specific order and only gets hers from a very specific mom and pop shop in a run-down area of the otherworld

[fairyhaos]

seventeen and exams

how i think seventeen will study for important exams

notes: inspired by me, and my friends, who are currently going through exams. tag yourself y'all, im jeonghan

masterlist

seungcheol:

tries to study rlly hard, spends an hour looking over his notes then proclaims loudly that test scores don't actually matter and you shouldn't base someone's self-worth on a bunch of numbers before throwing his stuff into the air. before he goes into the exam, he tells everyone to not expect anything from him. gets practically full marks. 

jeonghan:

one of those superstitious people who says that eating chocolate before having an exam helps you perform better. the members still don't know whether he actually believes it or uses it as an excuse to eat half a box of chocolate before his exams. meditates (prays) with minghao on the day of the exam. crams in the two days before, pulls all-nighters and is all charged up in caffeine and sugar. scores super high, so does it all again next time too

joshua:

goes round telling everyone to do your best!!! your best is all that you can do when it comes to tests and don't feel bad if you fail, especially if you're mingyu or seungkwan!!!! tutors the younger members in maths/ english when they get stuck, literally looks like a cute nerdy uni tutor when he puts on his rimmed glasses. claps when everyone gets their results, never tells anyone what his were

junhui:

firm believer of Winging It. hoshi swears that junhui has photographic memory or smth bc if anyone ever has a question about the material he answers back in record time despite having not looked at his notes Once ever since he wrote them in class. gets the third highest score out of all of them. is basically a genius trapped in a catboy's body

hoshi:

almost kills himself trying to cram for his exam a week before. lives on energy drinks, cookies and sometimes the carrot sticks that joshua brings him. gets asked by wonwoo if he's slept at all, answers with "red". can barely focus on the paper when he's in the actual exam bc he's so tired. is going to go back into hibernation once he's done the exam, couldn't care less about the result anymore

wonwoo:

he's a nerd, so he gets full marks. makes a three month study plan, ends up only following the first month of it and the last two weeks of it. randomly yells questions at junhui at various times during the day, gets increasingly more exasperated when the guy keeps getting the answers right. stays up the night before the exam playing games, blacks out during the test but still does rlly well

woozi:

he's studying for it, okay, just not as intensely as soonyoung or wonwoo. makes a study plan that's less intense than hoshi's (admittedly, that guy doesn't even have a plan, he's just stu-dying), manages to actually follow through with it. asks joshua to help him with some stuff, buys the elder chocolate after the exam when he does well

minghao:

meditates his way through it. nah, he's studying too. is more relaxed about it, believes that half of the exam is just knowing the right way to word stuff. you could learn half the content and pass with high marks. and tbh, he's right. uses almost exclusively flashcards, carries them everywhere to randomly test himself n others. goes to joshua and junhui to double check his info, makes sure that hoshi's supply of cookies is all stocked up

mingyu:

prays to the gods. he knows he's smart enough to do all this, but has the attention span of a ball of wool and none of it is Staying in his head. steals some of jeonghan's chocolate, cries in wonwoo's bed after he's done the exam saying that he failed it. is pleased when his test scores come back and he finds that he Didn't fail it at all. the little shit smh

dokyeom:

either passes really well, or just barely doesn't make the pass. is practically joshua's permanent student. part-time studying partner of hoshi, part-time breakdown partner of seungkwan. also steals jeonghan's chocolate before the exam. is the most positive when they get their test scores, bouncing around and hyping everyone up so they don't feel too worried

seungkwan:

has a mental breakdown four (4) times while studying. declares himself done with revising a total of six (6) times. his room is a mess of  papers and flashcards. followed the advice of people on the internet and bought a wall-covering whiteboard, which he's covered in red ink and his tears. has one last crying session with dokyeom in the corner of the living room the night before the exam. comes out of the hall saying how badly he messed up and makes the members feel so bad that mingyu buys him ice cream

vernon:

locks himself in his room, has his headphones on his head almost permanently. walks around the living room like he's never seen it before, stares blankly at all the members he encounters as if he's meeting them for the first time. no one knows what he's revising. or how he's revising. practically only comes out of his self-isolation the day of the exam, wishing everyone good luck before gliding out the door like some sort of spirit

chan:

is the one providing everyone with positive reinforcement even more than shua!! hypes everyone up, encouraging everyone to keep going. gives like 5 members shoulder massages every night. no one ever knows when he has time to revise by himself bc he's always sitting with someone and listening to them rant. does moderately well on his tests, is praised endlessly by his members bc they're so grateful for how much he helped them

currently taking requests

[angelltheninth]

Certified Caffeine Addict

Pairing: Blitzo x Stolas Goetia

Febuwhump Day 10: Magical Exhaustion

Tags: angst, fluff, adjusting to a new life, overworking, caffeine addiction, hurt/comfort

Word count: 0.9k

Ao3

Ko-Fi | Rules | Fandoms and Characters | Commissions | Event Masterlist

A/N: Stolas turned into your average Gen Z-er, depressed and caffeine addicted.

Stolas was slowly getting the hang of working at the I.M.P. office. Despite his earlier complaints he was quite good at his job, if a bit too polite. It was odd to see someone with such manners, even if he didn't get that same politeness back when their customers realized who he was.

Rudeness was an integral part of Hell, that wasn't quite what began to worry Blitzo. Stolas could take the worst insults and dish them right back just as harshly, if not more so. His was polite because he chose to be. No, what worried the imp was how much coffee and energy drinks he noticed Stolas consuming on a daily basis.

He wasn't sure if Stolas could die from a heart attack or a sugar high but the day of finding that out was approaching quickly. "You alright Stolas? This is your fifth cup of coffee today. Little more and that bird ass of yours is gonna start vibrating. It should not be doing that without me being involved." He winked at the Goetia, causing him to grin knowingly.

"We all have our vices, Blitzo. Caffeine happens to be my latest one." He took another quick sip. "This one tastes very sweet. Would you like some? Or I can make you a new cup?"

"If I said yes to either of those you'd use it as an excuse to get more. I know an addiction when I see one, Stolas. This isn't just you wanting to have a bit more energy in the sack. You've been chugging those like a thirsty dog in a dessert." Before Stolas could finish that cup too Blitzo grabbed it with his tail and pulled it away from his grip. He tried a sip and shivered. "Yikes. How are you still on not throwing up rainbows after one of these?"

Stolas frowned and looked away from the computer. It was just past noon and he was already feeling tired.

"I'm not used to working like this, or feeling tired so much. I can't afford my antidepressants either. These were the next best thing, I suppose." Blitzo was right, it was an addiction.

"If you're tired you can go home a little earlier. I won't get mad at you for adjusting to a new life." He saw how hard Stolas tried. Every morning, he was trying to put on a smile and work harder, earn his keep.

"No, I don't want to be accused of getting special privileges because we're having sex. That would be unfair." Stolas straightened up and spoke with an air of importance. He knew how these things worked, and the unfavorable way they were looked at. Blitzo's friends and daughter all liked him well enough, but would they still if he began getting special treatment?

"Hey, they already know we're fucking on the daily. You're not exactly quiet. Not even when you got my dick down your throat." Stolas leaned over the desk and scratched beneath Stolas’ chin, making the owl man chirp happily. "Don't mind the work, you can come crash on the couch at the back. And just so you're not being the only lazy fuck, I'll join you!"

He took Stolas by the hand and once they were settled on the couch he placed his head in his lap. Stolas giggled as he looked up at his... boyfriend. They haven't talked about it but it was obvious to everyone that's what they were.

"How long have you been feeling like shit?" He asked as he ran his head through Stolas’ hair.

"My magic doesn't just give me special powers of the Ars Goetia, it also helps with energy. That's why I could always go so many rounds with you and never get tired."

"Aha, so there was a secret reason why you were always hard! I knew there had to be! Your magic is better than Viagra. Er... you were saying?" He composed himself. He wasn't feeling bitter about the fact that he wasn't the sole reason for Stolas being hard non-stop.

"I was saying, since I don't have my magic anymore my stamina isn't quite what it used to be. Although I'm sure you've noticed that hasn't dampened my desire for you, my roguish imp." Stolas reached up and pulled Blitzo into a deep, slow kiss. There was no real horniness behind it, just passion, admiration and love.

It took him losing everything he knew, everything he had, for the next hundred years, in order to be able to fully express himself.

"Next time if you're feeling tired don't overdose on coffee. Just say you want a nap. This isn't your fancy palace, no one's gonna write papers about you taking a day off work to sleep. Although Loona might complain about having to do more work, but when hasn't she done that?" Blitzo caressed his face, feeling the soft feathers beneath his fingertips. A stark contrast to his rough and scared skin.

It was just a turn on before, now it's just one more cute thing about his relationship with the Goetia. "Perhaps a nap is needed. Wake me up in an hour."

Stolas was out like a light, snoring lightly, chirping when Blitzo's tail wrapped up his arm. Every time he saw him sleeping Blitzo regretted all those times he's had to sneak out in a rush. A sleeping Stolas was just about the cutest thing he had ever seen.

[krahduzun]

36 lessons, Summarised

So if anyone was ever curious about what all went on in the 36 lessons of Vivec, in a haze of caffeine, boredom and and insomnia, 4 pages of writing IRL later. I summarized them to the best of my abilities.

Are they 100% accurate, probably not, but what do you want from a tired burn-out with nothing else to do?

Anyhoo, The 36 Lessons of Vivec, summarized.

Quick thing before we start, I know the subject of Vivec's identity and stuff is a bit of a contentious subject in certain circles of the community, we're going with he/him pronouns on this as it was written in the original source material.

Please do not jump down my throat if you have a problem with it. It's not meant in bad faith.

Also, passages marked with ***, believe me, I tried. I tried my damned best to make sense of it but much like Seal's song Kiss From a Rose, it's either a whole lot of words not saying much, or it'll take a smarter person than me to figure it out.

And finally, I'm gonna be using abbreviations.(ALM, SI, VI, N.) This is a long enough undertaking, and I'm not typing out the same names 100 times to make it longer.

-----------------------

Sermon 1: Almalexia (Ayem/ALM) finds a netch rancher's(netchiman) wife, prophesizes at her, and throws her in the ocean. As you do. Dreughs find her, take her home, slap gills on her, turn her into a hermaphrodite and she chills for 7-8 months. Sotha Sil (Seht/SI) shows up, tells the netchiman's wife(NW) she's pregnant with his brother, then sends her back to land where she chills for another 7-8 months teaching the unborn Vivec (Vehk/VI) the Codes of Mephala, Prophecies of Veloth, and the forbidden teachings of Trinimac.

7 Daedra, The Barons Who Move Like This(like from ESO's Maelstrom Arena) teach unborn VI how to move. The demiprince Fa-Nuit-Hen (Also of Maelstrom infamy) shows up, tells NW to go to Indoril lands in 3 month's time. They join the Barons, teach VI some more moves and peace out.

-------

Sermon 2: NW searches for Indoril lands, meets some spirits. The spirits teach unborn VI some stuff. Spirit 1 hugs NW, VI does a few flips and says thanks. Spirit 2 couldn't be bothered to act so left with a headache. There's a 3rd spirit, At-Hatoor, he wears whack clothes, VI calls him out on it, At-Hatoor agrees and dips out. Spirits 4 and 5 are cousins, this is important for some reason, they prophesize at VI and also dip out. The 6th spirit is actually Mephala, who cesareans VI out of NW after blinding her. VI merges with Mephala for a second, steals some secrets, Mephala doesn't like it, and puts him back in NW but leaves her blind.

-------

Sermon 3: NW wanders into a cave because remember, she's blind and is captured by Dwemer. They know the Velothi people are looking for NW so build a fake version of her and stick it back on the surface. The Dwemer try to re-cesarean VI out and fail, go to fetch an automaton to try. VI tells his mom to be calm because she isn't right now(and can you blame her?) NW falls asleep, the Dwemer retry the operation, succeed, NW dies. VI is put in a jar to be studied, tries to teach the Dwemer about love. They don't get it so they stick him in the fake NW(FNW) on the surface a-la a weird trojan horse.

-------

Sermon 4: FNW resumes the search for Indoril lands, meets more spirits who teach VI. VI gets in an arguement with one and denounces the concept of coincidence in the Velothi lands forevermore. An Old Bone of the Earth(whatever that is) posits a riddle to VI, folds in on itself and VI drinks it when he solves it, making him a ruling king of the world(whatever that means). Another spirit shows up some stuff happens and it pulls out the Astrolabe of the Universe, breaks it in half and gives it to VI. VI realizes from this he's in for some shit.

-------

Sermon 5: FNW starts to break down because remember, she's basically a machine. 80 days later is discovered by a merchant caravan. The warrior among them, Nerevar(N.) wants to bring her to ALM in Veloth to be studied because she's a Dwemer construct and they're about to go to war with the Dwemer and need every advantage they can get. The caravan captain disagrees and wants to sell her off in Noormoc to get paid and laid. N. offers to buy her instead, kills him when VI speaks to him and N. takes over the caravan and they head to Veloth.

-------

***Sermon 6: Lessons from VI to N. Mephala and Azura are a thing, Boethiah is a side piece? Lions don't exist in Veloth yet, but they're gonna eat the sun one day(possible allusion to ESO'S Daggerfall Covenant? Unlikely, but possible?) Go with what you understand, if it confuses you it's bad. there's 3,333 days until the end of days and there were other Nerevars.

-------

Sermon 7: There's a duke of Scamps named Kh-Utta who was summoned by Mehrunes Dagon. Offers 7 legions, is told by a domo(whatever that is) that they can't defeat Nerevar. Kh-Utta and the domo curse N., and he had words of power GHARTOK PADHOME written on his palms by VI. Twice.

-------

Sermon 8: N. and VI(via FNW) arrive in Veloth, meet with ALM and advisors. N. gives FNW over to ALM, VI hatches, merges with FNW. ALM, SI and VI make N. their champion.

-------

Sermon 9: There's a war with Nords. 5 warlords are slain or defeated.

Hoaga(aka Fenja) ate dirt. Literally. Used it in a type of necromancy. Frontline's getting killed, Hoaga's horfing down dirt in the backline, spitting it into corpses to make them rise again. Somehow.

Chemua ate a guy, Khizumet-e and could create acid rain. Destroyed 6 villages before being slain by VI and N.

Bhag had a lot of men at his disposal, was argued or debated to death by VI.

Barfok might have been a harpy, she could sing victories into existence, VI stuck his dick in her mouth to make her shut up. I wish I was kidding. Thus started VI's pattern of sexually assaulting people, be it actually or heavily implied. (See later, Muatra IYKYN, and if not, you'll learn.)

Ysmir. Strong silent type but when he spoke, mountains shattered. Possible use of the Thu'um. Some anime-ass BS goes down between him and N. Battle concludes with essentially ringing an ebony bell but with Ymir's head as the clapper.

-------

*** Sermon 10: More lessons of VI to N. Gives us the hard-ass line "The sword is an impatient signature. Write no contracts on the dead". Introduces concept of SITHISIT as a strife allegory?

-------

*** Sermon 11: More advice from VI to N. Alludes to the Sharmat (Dagoth Ur?). ALM has the stars, SI the sea and VI has the middle air. this sermon gives us the line "Embrace the art of the people and marry it and by that I mean secretly have it murdered" Possible foreshadowing of Nerevar's later death?

-------

Sermon 12: N. thinks about VI's teachings. ALM and SI get freaky, VI watches for a bit and loses interest, wanders to an ashland, gets really big(giant form) and meets Molag Bal(MB). MB has VI's feet cut off and VI essentially hits him with "damn, at least buy me a drink first". They get married, VI loses his head(literally). MB asks for proof of VI's love, VI recites a poem.(Actually 2 but only 1 is known). They proceed to have thousands of children, the mightiest named GULGA MOR JIL HYAET AE HOOM.

-------

***Sermon 13: Introduces the Four Corners of The House Of Troubles.

(Molag)BAL, (Mehrunes)DAGON, MALAC(ath), and SHEOG(orath)

The Triune House: ALMSIVI, VI will outlive ALM and SI and judge future Nerevars?

At the center of it all is Veloth, the Sharmat and Nerevar himself. Maybe. I couldn't make heads or tails of this one.

-------

Sermon 14: Headless VI and MB go at it for over 80 days(ouch), MB gave VI his feet back at some point but filled them with daedra blood.

Kh-Utta from sermon 7 rolls up to the dual wedding and horrid honeymoon with his 7 legions, VI and MB's children fight them off. Now scamps suck because of this war.

VI's head rolls up to find his body in good condition despite being used by MB for 80+ days(or not? It's unclear) bites new words onto MB's "spear" and creates a race of monsters called Biters(likely Vampires. Possibly kicks off MB's role as father of Vampires)

Vi then bites off MB's dick, makes a spear of it, names it Muatra, casts MB and the biters into the earth.(Somehow this isn't even the messiest divorce I've ever read about)

Uses his new spear to kill everyone at the wedding including his and his now-ex's thousands of children save for 9. (technically 8 as VI is somehow one of his own children)

Surviving children are called Moon Axle, Treasure Wood Sword, Horde Mountain, The Pocket Cabal, The Ruddy Man, City-Face, Lie Rock and the mightiest, GULGA MOR JIL HYAET AE HOOM. (with names like that maybe we should be grateful the worst we have are ones like Tragedeigh-Lynn-McWhateverthehell)

-------

*** Sermon 15: More advice from VI to N.

VI acknowledges that N. will kill him one day. Warns him of the Sharmat. VI will Permit N. to kill the Sharmat but only when the time is right to do so.

-------

Sermon 16: VI gets a haircut to make room for the fire. N. has trouble focusing and remembering all of VI's advice, VI tells him to reach heaven through violence, so N. grabs an axe and goes to one of the moons and kills a bunch of people.

-------

Sermon 17: Magnus kicks N. out of the Library of the Sun for his whole reach heaven through violence thing, Vi finds him in a field and they walk east across the sea to Akavir to learn more martial styles. They go north, nothing happens so they go west and train with Redguard sword-saints(in Yokuda?) VI wifes up a king, they birth monsters that destroy the west. VI and N. don't go south. They return to Red Mountain. The Sharmat is there, but VI says it's not the time to deal with him. VI and N. fight eachother.

-------

Sermon 18: Is straight up said to be untrue at the end.

Pre Battle of Red Mountain, VI tells ALM he's gonna hunt down the last of his and Molag Bal's children before going after Kagrenac.

-------

*** Sermon 19: VI dips into the void to prepare for his hunt. Finds ancestor moths in there?

-------

Sermon 20: The fight against Moon Axle, who is immune to spears(or straight lines, really).

Vivec weakens Moon Axle with a curved sword, finishes the job by I kid you not: turning into a giant, picking up a canyon, eating a handful of nix-hounds, spitting their souls into the canyon and having them kind of splatter onto Moon Axle before stabbing him with Muatra. As you do, I guess?!

-------

*** Sermon 21: Yeah, I have no idea. Wheels and towers.

-------

Sermon 22: VI looks for Treasure Wood Sword. ALM tells VI of an enchantress of House Mora that she's fond of, VI begrudgingly goes. Talks with a skeleton with a blinged-out lower jaw, marries a bunch of Morag Tong heads, they have 100 sons (speculation: with WAY too many arms and hands) and they go on a killing spree and I guess they killed Treasure Wood Sword?

-------

*** Sermon 23: Swords are important. That's all I got.

-------

Sermon 24: Horde Mountain. Three lower houses trap Horde Mountain in a net, Vivec rolls up, makes the house heads marry and makes them the first Buoyant Armigers. Stabs Horde Mountain with Muatra, creates a new city from it's bones. Vivec. (Yeah, he named the city after himself) ALM and SI bless the city.

-------

*** Sermon 25: Vivec is his city and his city is him. I guess.

-------

Sermon 26: The Pocket Cabal. VI disguises himself as a traveler, Muatra as a dwarf. The Pocket Cabal makes Muatra sick, he explodes, driving nearby slaves mad. A wizard gets pissed about this, mocks VI, VI kills him, drives The Pocket Cabal out of hiding, traps it under a dome and leaves SI in charge of it.

-------

*** Sermon 27: Words are important. Yeah.

-------

Sermon 28: The Ruddy Man. Possibly a cursed shell, a whole-ass dreugh in ESO. Any who wear him go mad killing. VI kills the Ruddy Man, gives his shell to the dreugh who got ahold of the netchiman's wife back in Sermon 1 (remember her?) The dreugh say they'll keep the shell safe and away from the surface world. That was a lie. VI reclaims the shell after the next wearer destroys 3 villages, entrusts it to trusted sages.

-------

*** Sermon 29: A whole lotta numbers, divined from stuff done to the Ruddy Man's shell.

-------

Sermon 30: City-Face. VI can't find him because he doesn't really exist until he does? VI kills a guy for asking too many questions, N. calls him out on it, Vi say nobody knows me and fuckall is done about the fact VI just murdered a guy. Things called Grabbers get ahold of City-Face, try to use him to build a replacement Vivec City, VI kills City-Face.

-------

Sermon 31: Nerevar is married to ALM, VI takes a break from hunting his kids to hunt nuisance monsters in the wilds, disappears for a minute to do so. N. misses VI, ALM tells him what's up.

-------

*** Sermon 32: Allusions to the Chimer becoming the Dunmer?

-------

Sermon 33: Lie Rock. Lives among the stars. VI sends N. to kill it, Lie Rock decides to crash into his dad and his city to destroy them, is caught in midair by VI, stabbed with Muatra.

Lie Rock's still there. It's known as the moonlet/ Baar dau and Vivec keeps it hanging in the air so if his people quit loving and worshipping him, he'll kill them all by dropping it.

------- Sermon 34: The mighty mouthful, GULGA MOR JIL HYAET AE HOOM. VI summons N. to help him fight and GULGA ect ect goes down without a fight after a talk with VI. Rather disappointing. Bones become the City of The Dead anon Narsis (Necrom?)

VI and N. talk and N. realizes *He's* now the mightiest of VI's children. (Given his sibling's fates, he's -totally safe-/sarcasm)

-------

*** Sermon 35: Love. If it's what he tried to tell the Dwemer back in Sermon 3, no wonder they threw him out.

-------

Sermon 36: Battle of Red Mountain is in full swing. Key Dwemer are King Dumac and Kagrenac and they've got an ally! Ysmir from sermon 9!

Nerevar trades in his old axe for the Ethos Knife, kills King Dumac with it.

Dwemer attack Mournhold, are met by Almalexia and defeated. Sotha Sil sets loose an army of machanical dreugh he's been working on under the sea and they drag a bunch of Dwemer stuff into the sea.

Red Mountain erupts, Nerevar seeks the Sharmat, Kagrenac unleashes the Numidium, and it's defeated by Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec, and ALMSIVI reel in the ash and eruption from Red Mountain and eat it, thus creating the Dunmeri people*.

*or so that's how it allegedly happened.

[elsfairy]

in desperate need of a little fluff with sevika :(

Sevika barely has any idea on how to comfort herself, but if you're upset over anything, then she's there instantly to help you. Any time of the day.

Knows you better than anyone, so she understands you would rather be in her embrace than talk for a while. So she would silently stand, with you wrapped in her arms, rubbing your back.

Not the biggest fan of smoking yourself, but that doesn't mean you haven't done it when you're with her or won't do it. So she knows to leave a cigarette out just for you. To calm you down or relax you.

Your favorite thing to do was listen to the patter of the rain on the window, so if she walks into the room and finds you relaxed, snuggled up in a blanket by one, she finds it really cute, but understands that's something else that comforts you.

No matter how comfortable you are, she's going to slide in behind you on the chair, just to hold you to her chest, she doesn't care.

She treasures being able to hold you.

Won't openly tell you but she finds comfort in the way you hold onto her hand, lightly but tight enough so it's not like she's going to disappear.

"Wanna tell me what's going on, Sweetheart?"

"Just tired, and I missed you is all"

Can bet your ass she's making you some hot chocolate, or whatever drink you prefer to help. She would do anything to help.

If you're just stressed from not being able to sleep, then she refuses to give you caffeine. If you're stressed about work? it's wine. Or if you're just feeling emotional? either hot chocolate or milk.

She's used to you falling asleep on her, but she doesn't mind it. Just means she gets to draw random patterns on your back with her fingers. Enjoyed it more when she would catch your tired, lazy smile.

You also just love smelling her when you lay on her, she always smelt like whiskey and cigarettes. A scent you always miss when you're not with her.

Sevika enjoyed reading books, so it wasn't a no-brainer to her whenever you would ask her to read something to you. Hearing her voice always made you feel safe. Shit, she would read you every book under the sun if it means you would still be with her when she's finished.

At any time, she will hum any tune or song she knows to help you sleep.

Going back to holding her hands, it was beautiful to her because your hands were so much smaller compared to her own. You were so small, she was like a human blanket for you. And you couldn't get enough.

She loved to kiss you. Kissing you was heaven to her. Just to hold your face in her hands, placing kisses all over your face, extra ones on your lips.

"Vika?"

"Mhm? what's up, baby?"

"Can we go on a date tomorrow?"

"We can do whatever you want, angel"

Will hold you in her lap if you're upset, and just want to be close to her.

Won't push you to talk but will ask you a few times if you're okay, she worries about you.

She's your home.

[heartshattering]

I still haven't found a solution for being fatigued all the time. Caffeine doesn't help, doctors don't help, literally nothing helps and I'm at the end of my fucking rope. I just don't know what to do anymore.

I can't take prescription stimulants because I'd be putting my heart at risk but sometimes it really is tempting to see if I could go to a new doctor and not tell them about my history of arrhythmia and see if they'd prescribe me something (but I won't since 1 - I'm too scared and 2 - it's not like doctors here ever want to prescribe anything either way, IF you're even lucky enough to see a doctor since the waiting lists are long af).

I feel like I've been spending all day sleeping, and when I am awake, I'm absolutely useless. I have constant headaches, I feel physically uncomfortable all the time (too hot, too sweaty, too itchy), and nothing makes me feel 'good' anymore. My only relief is sleep, and even then it doesn't do much for me since I still wake up tired, sometimes even more tired than before thanks to my nightmares.

Idk, it's just disheartening to have to deal with this because this is seriously interfering with my life. And I feel like I can't do anything about it. I'll always be the person in the house who needs the least amount of help. My mom can't get out of bed so of course she needs the most assistance. My aunt is depressed because her husband died so she gets all the sympathy from people. And then my dad is working all the time so of course he has a ~real~ reason to be tired while I don't (even though he literally only 'works' so that he doesn't have to be around us, and spends most of the time doing stupid shit in his office like arguing in the comments).

Every day the list of stuff to do piles up, to the point where it's barely even fun anymore. Things I used to enjoy feel like chores now. I can't catch up with that series I love, because I always end up falling asleep while trying to concentrate on it. I can't try out that new game my friends are all talking about, because my brain feels too drained to figure out how to play it and I'm embarrassed that I'd just slow them down. I can't self-study topics that normally I'd enjoy, because my brain just isn't absorbing anything and it makes me feel so fucking overwhelmed.

Then, there's the ACTUAL chores... I can't clean my room, I can't keep things organized, I feel too exhausted to cook. My hygiene has gone down the drain, like I currently feel disgusting right now but I can't do anything about it. I haven't done laundry in the longest time, all my used clothes are piled up and they smell like (and possibly actually have) mold.

I take care of my mom and my dog, but that's it... when it comes to taking care of myself, I just can't. And everything feels like too fucking much.

[hel-phoenyx]

Hospitals have never been my thing, even before the accident.

Dad couldn't stop saying the public hospital was shit, that we should go to clinics if we needed anything, that is was underfunded, understaffed, under the water. He's right, but he seemed to blame more the hospitals themselves than government funding.

Truth be told, I had one hell of a bias before then, even though I had to bring Kriss here for her giving birth. She was in pain, I was the only one here and the public hospital was the closest to reach. Not to mention I was sixteen and only driving a motorcycle so long drives were out of the question for both of us.

They took care of her accordingly but I saw how bad they were doing. How tired the doctors look. How left behind some patients could be. It didn't help the bias.

And then, right after, I got into that accident.

I wasn't the only one hurt. A lot of people had to be brought to the hospital that day.

I lost my right hand, but I know it could have been far worse without the help of the ER staff. I almost died that day, that's something prone to make an impression. And there's something I'll never forget. The smile of the doctors taking care of me.

I never saw that smile when dad brought me to clinics.

Since that day I'm prone to think people that still have the energy to work in public hospital are truly there for their patients. Well, those I saw, anyway. That's why I come back there regularly, for my check-ups. I don't need a lot of care, now that the wound is fully scarred, but you never know what my prosthesis might need.

End of context, this is why I am in those white corridors today. I just got out of my appointment, Domi and Oli are waiting for me outside, we're supposed to get a treat after this. Domi was supposed to see the guys at Planned Parenthood anyway. But I'd like to get a coffee before. Even one of those crappy hospital coffees.

Haven't slept all night because thesis and the two menaces are always throwing me worried looks when I drink more than three in a row, so, I've started hiding my true caffeine intake.

I wasn't expecting to see him at the cafeteria.

I wasn't expecting him to wave at me, either.

"But if it isn't Tyrfing ! How are you doing since last time ?"

I have a little smile.

"Hello, doctor Claro."

He's the one that took me into his care when I lost my hand. A man always smiling, with ice blue eyes adorned with dark circles. Probably around forty or fifty, but his hair is white as ghost. Stress, probably. We ran into each other a few times since then, but since my visits got rarer, I started seeing him less. Didn't expect him to still remember me.

Since he waved at me, it would be polite to at least join him. I take my coffee and go say hello, and he pull out a chair. Well, the message is clear. Does he do that with every patient ?

"Didn't expect to run into you today. Isn't your department downstairs ?"

"Day off, and I needed to see some of the patients I sent to colleagues, check if everything was good. I have time, today, don't worry."

I raise an eyebrow.

"You see your patients even when you're off work ?"

"Well, yeah. Healthcare doesn't sleep."

That man's dedication to his work astonished me at sixteen. It does even more now that I'm in my twenties. Sometimes I think every doctor should be like him, and then I see the dark circles.

This is not about the people nor the workers.

I smile.

"This isn't a good work ethic, doctor, you would kill me for the same thing."

"Not kill, I have sworn Hippocrates, he laughs. But I have to admit I wouldn't recommend that rhythm. The wife is already on my back for this and I don't blame her. What about you ? Life's good I hope."

"Eh, still a student. Thesis is fucking me over, but I still can see my friends."

"Oh, I don't look fondly upon those years. What doctorate ?"

"Deep-sea creatures."

"You're not doing politics anymore ?"

"Dropped out. I tried, but I couldn't help but get angry at so many things I didn't have the energy to be angry about. I still get some classes, tho. A friend in politics is giving me his slides."

Because said friend is trying to prove to me right-wingers are right every day, but hey, not gonna go into details, I don't need to talk about the homoerotic rivalry right now.

We may be friendly, right now, but we don't know each other so well, as much as he is easy-going and easy to talk to.