#cause sometimes I feel I have nothing to offer and the only reason guys would be interested in me would be cuz they wanna fuck someone? idk

[persistent-wallflower]

Dude I'm so bad at this dating stuff. It just never feels right

[invertedheaven]

If You Really Love Nothing

chapter 3: i promise

*chapter starts with flashback*

chapter index | next chapter

You met sukuna during your last year of high school and there was never any doubt that he was an asshole. As cliché and toxic as it sounded, he was the typical case of “if a guy is mean to you he likes you” but you think for a minute there he really did hate you.

He just started at the school and within the first week he became acquaintances— not friends because according to him he didn’t do friends, with satoru and suguru who also happened to be friends with you along with another classmate, shoko. Within that first month, sukuna couldn’t stand you, he didn’t understand why he couldn’t get under your skin that no matter his comments or his teasing you would only ever smile mischievously back. He thought you were stupid for that— and when you look back on it maybe you were.

A particular moment that irritated him was when he was at the vending machine trying to get a drink, noticing he was short in change and kicked the machine as a completely valid response, in his opinion. He didn't notice you waiting for your turn and the only reason he did was because you started laughing uncontrollably, stepping forward and buying the drink you knew he’d get. It clicked for him then when you shoved the drink in his hand, despite his protests that you were doing this on purpose, observing and provoking him. As you walked away without even a look back joining shoko as you headed to your next class he threw the drink away because who do you think you are, acting like you know him.

When a month turned into 3, those small moments of offered snacks, lending him a pencil when you noticed he was pissed that he didn’t have one or giving him parts of your lunch that you hated but he liked. It made him nauseous just thinking that you went around treating people like this, like you knew them. From then on he upped the teasing and it did nothing but make him more mad when you wouldn’t even bat an eye.

Satoru and suguru found it ridiculous that neither you or sukuna were letting up in this silent battle of who was more stubborn in their ways. Shoko told you to have more pride and to stop lowering yourself down to his level, that you were only doing those things to piss him off. Maybe you were, but what does it matter now. Until one day it clicked for all your friends that you and sukuna were never just gonna admit that you liked the thrill of the bickering, him chastising you for doing things for him or talking to him and you continuing to do it.

You didnt think you could change him, that’s dumb you knew that, but you did want to understand him because sometimes when you looked at him you felt like you didnt know what you were looking at. But the months drag on and it starts to feel tiring, so you decide maybe its time to move on from this small (massive but you couldn’t admit that) crush you’ve had on sukuna.

Sukuna remembers sitting at the lunch tables with satoru and suguru they were droning on and on about some argument that started in their last class period he wasn’t really listening because he was staring directly at you

“Right, sukuna?” the idiot who wore sunglasses indoors asked him something and he couldn’t care to give a response

“Oh, I see he’s sulking cause she’s not paying attention to him anymore” suguru adds once he sees what sukunas gaze is fixed on

You walking past the tables with another guy with an ugly haircut that’s an equally ugly shade of blonde, atrocious really is what sukuna thinks. Sukuna knows this guy he has a class with him, Kento Nanami. He didn’t know much and didn’t care to but as he watches you laugh like he’s said the funniest thing you’ve ever heard, he furrows his brows because he does know that idiot is not funny, in the slightest. His internal rant is cut off by satoru and suguru snickering which makes him snap out of it and glare at them instead

Satoru clears his throat before speaking “y’know if you’re that in love with her you shouldn’t be such an ass”

Sukunas eyes widen and he feels such a palpable anger that if he doesn’t walk away he’s getting expelled— he cant move schools again so instead he abruptly stands up before grunting out “I don’t fucking love her she’s goddamn annoying and her laugh is too loud”

Suguru nudges satoru as a signal to drop it but sukunas already walking away furious that satoru would even suggest that. He doesn’t even like you, he hates you that’s why his heart beats faster when you're around, why you consume every free thought in his brain and that's why your laugh makes his skin crawl. Right? No other reason there cant be.

He finally thinks he knows what’ll make you hate him as much as he hates you, you won’t get mad if he targets you but you do show signs of anger whenever he says something about your friends so what better opportunity than now? He catches up to you and that Nanami guy and as you approach the stairs that’s when you notice sukunas behind you and when you open your mouth to say hi, he walks past Nanami bumping into him a little too hard, causing him to lose his balance and trip down a few steps and when he sticks his hand out to stop his face from hitting the cement, it results in a sprained wrist.

Sukuna can’t help but feel a smile pull at his lips, it was a pathetic sight really, and that loser deserved it for… what exactly he couldn’t remember but as he’s trying to find a reason he’s literally smacked across the face into the present and he turns to find your eyes glassy, your face red and you shaking with anger

“fuck you, sukuna” you spit out and he thinks after months of wanting to see you angry, it doesn’t feel all that worth it now but he wont let it keep him up at night.

A week after that day, he finds out you’re dating Nanami and now you won’t even look at him. He thinks he should be happy that you don't even approach him now, but as the days go by and you’re not trailing behind him to each class nor do you acknowledge him when your group of friends stands together. He thinks he's never noticed (or cared about) such an absence from someones presence, and he tells himself he doesn't miss it but it gets harder to convince himself of that the longer you ignore him entirely. As you stand there with your hand in nanamis grasp one day while your friend group is chatting during lunch, sukuna thinks that’s his last straw he wasnt going to stand around for that. He doesn’t come around the group anymore and satoru, suguru and shoko bet money that its because of you and Nanami and though you should be getting over him you find yourself looking around for him on campus, only seeing him during classes but he seems to disappear in between them.

3 months later, you and Nanami break up he claims he knows a dead end when he sees one and you don’t know what he means by that. You stayed friends but it was awkward to say the least, and maybe it was the knowledge that you were dumped and you don't even have sukuna anymore you end up crying during the lunch period in a hallway you’re sure no one uses.

He hears you before he sees you, and if he had known he’d walk in on you crying he would’ve waited on the staircase until lunch was over. As he walks by your head shoots up thinking its a teacher and instead you're met with red eyes, you know they’re technically brown but they’re such a distinct shade that they look red most of the time and you think it's probably your favorite color.

He’s intent on walking by without acknowledging you but when he sees you sat against the wall staring up at him with tears streaming down your face he finds himself planted in one spot unable to move. He hates you he tells himself, he hates you so much he sits down next to you and the two of you sit in silence until the bell rings.

Your friendship— you call it, slowly goes back to normal. He never apologized and maybe you should’ve insisted on it but you just missed him too much to care. You decide that day in the hall, the look in his eyes was enough to pacify your anger.

Your friend group rolls their eyes once they see you and sukuna back to normal, and they think you’re being too lenient so satoru and suguru take it upon themselves to bring it up to you

“Don’t you think he should apologize?” Satoru speaks up out of nowhere while the three of you were studying

“Apologize for what” you play dumb, you know he’s right shoko already lectured you about this too

“You know why, he doesn’t deserve the way you’re letting him slide” suguru speaks this time with a stern tone you’ve never heard directed at you

You smile at the both of them but they notice there’s a hint of sadness in it “I promise next time I won’t let him slide”

All three of you knew that was probably a lie, because when it came to sukuna you had a soft spot. At the same time, you were stronger than you let on, and you made a small pact with yourself that if he did something like that again, you’d definitely demand an apology. You tell yourself you were just emotionally vulnerable in the hallway that’s why he won.

Graduation rolls around and you think this’ll be the last you see of him, you promise yourself you won't ask him anything…about the two you. So while you beg him to take a picture with you shoving the camera in shokos hands, you go to hug him tightly while he stands there awkwardly trying to convince himself he's annoyed and before he has a chance to stop himself he speaks up

“Go out with me”

The flash of the camera blinds your eyes and you’re sure the picture came out bad with your eyes widened and smile faltering you pull away from him to stare up at him, because for some reason he was always inhumanely tall

“Is that a request or demand” you whisper out

“What do you think”

“I- dont know” you feel your heart beating so fast like it’ll jump out of your chest, but what you dont know is sukunas heart is beating even faster he wasn’t sure you’d say yes, yeah you never asked him to apologize but you never bent to his will either. You could say no and get the last laugh, he found for the first time in his life he was nervous.

He doesn’t know why he asked, he swears he was gonna tell you to leave him alone but as you stare up at him with happiness in your eyes he doesn’t feel like he regrets it

“Is that a yes or no” he asks irritated that you’re just standing there staring at him

“Hmmm yes, ill go out with you… you’re lucky I didn’t say no though i really wanted to just so I could see the look on your face” you say while laughing at the idea of a pissed off sukuna he always looked so ridiculous with his face scrunched up with a pout that never seemed to go away

He scowls down at you before speaking “I’m already regretting it”

“No you’re not” you say slyly smiling up at him

And he rolls his eyes because of course you’re right

————

You think satoru was probably trying to talk to you for a while now but you were so lost in thought while cooking breakfast that you don’t notice until he puts a hand on your shoulder and you jump at the contact

He looks at you with concern before quickly replacing it with a smile “just wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner today I can pick something up instead of you cooking”

“Oh, uh I’m not really craving anything ask airi she’s the picky eater” you didn’t have an appetite you haven’t since yuji came around but he didn’t need to know that

“alright ill ask my favorite niece then”

“She’s your only niece” you reply teasingly

“Yeah okay” he waves you off before speaking quietly this time since airi is in the living room playing with her dolls “have you changed your mind about telling sukuna”

You knew he’d ask so it didn’t catch you off guard but its still hard to answer because you don’t honestly know so you took a few seconds to respond trying to find the right words

“I wont let him slide this time, satoru” you looked up at him with a sadness in your eyes he couldn’t place until he remembered the conversation you had with him and suguru all those years ago

You were gonna wait for an apology, and that sadness written on your face was because deep down both you and satoru knew that day would never come.

———

On his way to work satoru thinks back to the days that you and sukuna were dating he remembers the ever present smile on your face whenever you were with him and the way sukuna seemed less unhappy whenever you were around.

Satoru didn’t hate sukuna in fact the only reason he didn’t hate him is because he’d see the way sukuna would look at you with a softness he’d never seen from the guy. And up until the end of the relationship you’d never had a single complaint about him because according to you sukuna was all bark and no bite. He didn’t really believe that was entirely true but maybe more so that sukuna would never hurt you specifically but he keeps that to himself.

After high school, sukuna never really hung around satoru and suguru unless you were there and that would only be if they went out to drink or to eat, satoru eventually decided against going out as much because megumi hated any babysitter that was hired to watch him, so he had to start being picky about when he’d say yes to hanging out.

You would come around satorus house though, you never changed you were always kind to megumi whenever you were around and you were always a good friend to him, even when everything went down with suguru you guys became closer, much to sukunas protest.

Satoru thinks maybe sukuna didn’t pick up the fact that he wasn’t interested in you, but he cant say he blamed him. Being in your presence was intoxicating in a sense, you had an energy that even if someone wasn’t into you they just wanted to be around you and for someone like sukuna, it was a double edged sword.

As he walked into work, he sees a familiar head of pink hair standing in the lobby flirting with the receptionist, he’s baffled because why would sukuna be here of all places? And the nerve to be flirting like this was shocking to gojo because the sukuna he remembers wouldn’t even bother entertaining people he thought would be a waste of time

He tries to walk by without being noticed by sukuna because confrontation right now would be awkward but the receptionist calls out to gojo, smiling brightly at him while she says good morning and as he looks to her smiling back, his smile slightly falters at the sight of sukuna glaring so intensely at satoru all the charm he was using on the receptionist gone in an instant.

By the time he practically ran upstairs to his office, mind sifting through all the possibilities of why sukuna would be there his secretary, Hana, knocks at the door with a kind smile on her face waiting for gojo to request his usual coffee with entirely too much sugar

“Hana, did you happen to see a guy with pinkish hair pass through here?”

Hana furrows her brows at the question remembering the man that fit the description “Oh yes, he dropped off a proposition on behalf of his company I was going to give it to you after you settled in sir”

Gojo just nods “Not necessary, pass it along to my father” he doesn’t think he should take initiative on this as this would probably lead to more interactions with sukuna and he quite frankly did not care if his dad would lecture him about it

Hana notices gojos eyes haven’t moved from his computer screen she wonders what he could be thinking because the screen wasn’t even on

“of course sir, would you like your coffee this morning?”

“No, thank you hana that’ll be all” gojo responds

Gojo takes out his phone contemplating texting you about the close run in as a joke but decides against it as he stares at his lock screen, it's a selfie of him and airi that she took so its a little blurry and part of her finger comes out. She told him to make his phone screen look like yours and when he asked her what she meant she showed him the lock screen of your phone that was laying on the table next to them, it was you and your daughter smiling. So he changed his lock screen to their selfie and showed it to her she smiled and shouted that it was perfect, he hasn’t been able to bring himself to change it.

Even if you forgive sukuna he doesn’t think he himself ever will, you and your daughter have changed everything for him and sukuna doesn’t deserve to know that happiness. Even if its not his place to think this he cant help but feel frustrated with the whole situation, the pain sukunas absence has caused you and your daughter is not something gojo will overlook, and he truly hopes you wont either… he hopes you mean your promise.

next chapter

[dead-living-420]

404 - Title Not Found (part/chapter 3)

Part 1 - Tumblr Part 2 - Tumblr

Ao3

Summary: Jason was expecting the gala to be boring like always but is pleasantly surprised when it isn’t.

Danny meant it as a joke but Fenton luck always strikes. At least he gets an excuse to talk to the cute guy he gave quarters to.

AN: As always this is crack, this is a whole crack fic; and I play fast and loose with DC&DP cannon. Ignore any out of character writing(mainly Vlad and Bruce).

Kinda/slow Vlad redemption, kinda like a shitty uncle that you get along with sometimes.

Danny and Jason don’t know each other’s names for a bit so they refer to each other as:

Danny - Quarter Guy

Jason - Laundry Guy

Enjoy the crack! :)

Jason immediately knew that the other wasn’t from Gotham. No one just offered anything without an immediate confirmation that they would get something in return. At least that’s how it was in Crime Alley. He and the other held small talk while they were doing their laundry.

“You just offer quarters to people?” He said sarcastically only to have an actual answer in return. “Only the cute people.” The other said with a somewhat joking tone.

“Uh huh. What’s ya name? I didn’t catch it.” Jason wouldn’t directly admit but this guy had peaked his interest even more.

“Well, I didn’t throw.” The guy answered with a smile that felt sarcastic with just a bit of wanting chaos.

The topic changed to other things. He learned that quarter guy had moved to Crime Alley awhile back, he didn’t give a clear reason why; “Just thought it’d be a good change of pace.”

He also learned that Quarter Guy was going to some kind of event with his godfather; saying that even though he agreed to go, he could still complain. And god did he complain but nothing sounded too bad. “He’s just a fruitloop, I wouldn’t doubt him trying to use me to get secrets from the other people.”

Jason didn’t share any too personal information; besides it just out of sceret identity and such but it would also feel weird to. Jason did complain about how he was more or less forced into agreeing to go to the Wayne gala, only not sharing that it was a gala or that it was a Wayne event.

“Maybe we end up at the same event.” Quater guy, who still didn’t tell Jason his name, joked. His laundry had been done before his own. Quarter guy left with a smile that only made him want to figure out why he felt familiarly even more. Jason was more curious about this guy than before but decided to hold off on figuring out more about it.

—

It was just meant as a joke. Danny really did mean as a joke but just his fucking luck(or honestly he was expecting CW to be the cause in some way), he was now looking at the guy he gave quarters to a day or two pior. He was standing next to the snack table, avoiding Vlad so he didn’t have to worry about talking to other rich people he didn’t trust. The snacks didn’t look good in any sense of the word, why did he expect rich people to know what good snacks look and taste like.

He was thinking about texting Sam to complain, knowing that she would say I told you so but that when he noticed the guy from his apartment building was there. It took a second to recgionze him since he seemed more put together and dressed nicer, but it was him. Danny wouldn’t have questioned it too much if the guy wasn’t standing next to Bruce Wayne but he was. Danny didn’t need to know any more rich people but life(or probably CW) had other plans.

He noticed that the guy hadn’t seemed to see him yet. Danny moved away from the snack table, going opposite from Wayne and the laundry guy; mainly focusing on staying hidden but a voice called him. “Danỉ͔͖̜͌ẹ̿͋̒̕l̙͖̑̾ͣ!” It wasn’t loud, at least it wasn’t to humans. It had just enough of a hint of ghost speak to have Danny turn to look. Of course when he had his back turned, Vlad had to go and speak to Bruce Wayne. “Come over, I’ve hardly seen you since we’ve arrived.”

Danny held back a sigh and eye roll as he went over to Vlad and Wayne; which also meant laundry guy. He had felt Wayne’s eyes on him as he went over, laundry guy hadn’t seemed to notice or frankly care enough to look. He looked at Bruce. He knew of “Brucie” Wayne and had wondered if it was just a persona like when Vlad used to pretend to be niceish to his dad. He side eyed laundry guy, who didn’t look at him at all.

“You didn’t tell me you had a so-“ Bruce started with a hint of curiosity. Danny was quick to cut him off. “He didn’t because I’m not.” That’s what finally got laundry guy’s attention, he looked at Danny for a second and Danny already knew that he recognized him. “Daniel, that was rude.” Vlad looked at him before going back to Bruce. “I apologize for him but he is right. He’s my godson.” Vlad said, leaving it to Danny to introduce himself.

“Yes, I do apologize for cutting you off like that.” Danny started. He used the tone he would use with some of the ghost nobles. It was a bit forced but relatively kind. He’d hate to admit and never would out loud but he learned it from Vlad. “It’s alright, I understand how words hold meaning.” He noticed how it sounded more real than “Brucie” usually did.

He just nodded before continuing, “Okay. I’ll introduce myself before Vlad tries to.” Danny made his tone sound just a bit joking. He felt laundry guy’s full attention on him. He smiled, a little fake and a little smug. “I’m Danny Fenton and as Vlad said, I am his godson.”

There was some “good to meet you”s exchanged. Danny picked up on the fact that Bruce nudged Laundry Guy to introduce himself.

—

Jason didn’t like Vlad Masters at all. He was creepy, all around weird and untrustworthy. He had only seen him a few times before, spoke to him barely unless with Bruce but something was off now. There was a strange feeling of paranoia around Vlad that he couldn’t place. Even with all his training from the Bat.

He had been staying relatively close to Bruce, not wanting to deal with questions or the other people which Bruce seemed to respect. He had noticed that Bruce had been trying to be better or very least trying to understand his perspective. It was something, it was better than nothing.

Jason had held back a groan as soon as he saw Vlad approach him and (mainly) Bruce. He tuned out most of everything, just looking at the other people around them. It was like every other time Bruce was stopped by another billionaire. Just stand there, vaguely pay attention and look at the crowd of other people. That’s how it was going until he heard Vlad call out to someone else.

“Danỉ͔͖̜͌ẹ̿͋̒̕l̙͖̑̾ͣ!“ He heard Vald call out to someone else. it sounded off, not by a lot but still. He didn’t show a reaction outside of paying more attention. He noticed Bruce didn’t show any slight reaction which was expected. Jason still didn’t care enough to fully look up at whoever Vlad had called over until Bruce had started talking and was immediately cut off.

Jason had recognized the voice right off the bat. He looked up and saw Quarter Guy or as he introduced himself, Danny. It was obvious that the other recognized him as well but spoke as if he didn’t. He thought of when he talked to him while doing laundry and how he joked about them going to the same event. He heard formalities go around when felt Bruce nudge him. A signal to introduce himself.

He faced Danny, taking note of how he acted like they hadn’t met and he decided to go along with it. “Jason. Nice meeting ya.” He said with a similar smile that Bruice Wayne was known for but each bat kid had their own distinct version of it. “Nice to meet you as well.” Danny said with his own smile, he noticed that it was a mix between genuine and fake.

Jason noticed how different the other acted compared to when they talked a few days prior. He took note of how he was not as talkative or sarcastic and just had a small sense of fakeness about him. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for people to have a more or less fake personas at galas but he found it interesting how the other did a complete 180.

“So Danny, this your first gala?” Jason asked. A bit genuinely curious and also since he knew Bruce would ask him at some point. Danny looked at Vlad for a split second before answering. It seemed like silent communication. “No and yes. I’ve been to a few before but this is the first one I’ve been to in Gotham.” He had kept the smile as he explained. “Vlad has dragged me to some all over. Although I mainly attend the few that are held in my hometown.”

Yeah, he was definitely lying about something. It was easy to guess especially when Danny looked at Vlad before he had answered. He didn’t outwardly question it or look at Bruce to see if he noticed it too, of course he had; world’s greatest detective or whatever.

“Well we’re glad that you decided to attend tonight.” Bruce spoke, or well Brucie did. Some of the others had personas similar to the Brucie one but Jason didn’t. He didn’t feel like he needed one especially after coming back. “How about Jason and you go off and do your own thing while I speak business with Vlad?”

Jason looked at Bruce for a second, they both knew something was sketchy with Vlad and instead of including him in getting more info on him, Bruce was pushing him off to Danny. Not that he was complaining but still. He looked at Danny for his response.

—

Danny looked at Vlad, a bit surprised that Vlad wasn’t one to suggest that although he would’ve been suggesting it as a way to get information against competition. Vlad just gave a nod to him, Danny held back a sign knowing that Vlad would still use it as an opportunity for that. “Sure, why not? Still getting used to the city and all.”

And with that, he was led away by Jason. He could already hear Vlad scheming. At least he would be the only ghost he’d have to deal with. Hopefully, he didn’t want to jinx himself. He just let Jason drag him away from Bruce and Vald, not really caring where they went.

They finally stopped in a more quiet corner of the gala room. It was less bright with less people which Danny was grateful for. He had attended more ghost galas than human ones. So the loudness that came with human ones was still newish to him.

“So, I guess we really did end up at the same event.” Jason said with a smug grin. Hopefully just making it known that he said it as a joke would make it seem as a crazy coincidence and not too weird.

Danny gave him a sheepish smile, “I swear I meant it as a joke.”

[mushroomlupin]

Sirius' Surprise Party

Pairing: marauders era!james potter x f!reader

Summary: james and reader have been best friends since they were little. what happens when there's drunk declarations of feelings at Sirius' birthday party?

Requested: yes or no (please send me requests!)

Warnings: none!

Word Count: 1,499

James Potter was warm. 

He liked the band Queen and he wasn’t afraid to dance to his favorite songs. 

He enjoyed hot cups of tea with extra milk and sometimes cinnamon sprinkled into it. 

He smelt of broomstick wood, honey, and musk. 

The most important things to him were his family and his friends. 

His laugh could light up an entire room. 

Yes, James Potter had an invincible ego, but his heart easily matched it.

The good thing about being neighbors was that it brought people who were close by even closer. James was your best friend because of this.

He would aid in catching frogs in the rain, laughing whenever they jumped at you and caused you to shriek. The two of you would build only the biggest snowmen, with mismatched buttons for eyes and a wonky carrot for the nose. James would take his own winter hat off and plop it onto the snowman’s head. 

“There,” he’d say with a proud smile. “I think we should name it James Jr.”

“Why does it have to be your name? Why can’t it be mine?” you’d ask.

“Because, he’d never be complete without me!” he’d grin and point at the beanie. 

Every time.

You were thinking about that specific memory when you heard a voice.

“Alright, Y/n?”

You turned your head, seeing Remus descend the stairs from the boy’s dormitories.

You shrugged.

“Can’t sleep.”

He nodded.

“Same.”

He sat down by the crackling fire, making himself a cup of tea. 

“What’s plaguing your mind?” you asked him, straightening yourself on the Gryffindor sofa.

He sighed. 

“Full moon in two days. You?”

“Potions essay,” you lied.

He nodded once more, sipping at his tea and opening a book in his lap.

“If you need help with it, you can always join us in the library. Lily’s quite knowledgeable on Potions. She always comes,” he offered with a small smile.

You knew Lily was exceptional at Potions, she was the reason you were doing so well in the class. 

“Thanks, Rem,” you smiled. “I might take you up on that.”

You did your best to fake a yawn and stretched your arms. 

“I think I’ll try to go to sleep. I hope you feel better.”

He offered a smile in thanks before returning his eyes to the pages on his lap. 

You ascended the stairs to the girl’s dormitories, making your way to the room with Mary, Marlene, and Lily. You watched in envy as they slept, knowing you’d return to your tossing and turning. 

***

You woke up, your brain and body clinging to the one hour of sleep you got as you dressed yourself and made your way to the Great Hall.

“Oi!” you heard from the Gryffindor table.

Your eyes scanned the long wooden bench, spotting a standing James with his hands waving at you in the air.

“I saved you some toast!”

You grinned, taking a seat next to him and digging in.

“How’d you know I’d be late?” you asked.

“Moony said you were up in the common room late last night,” he said, concern clear on his face. “What’s keeping you up?” Your heart hammered in your chest.

“Nothing,” you were quick to say to defend yourself.

He looked at you, brows furrowed.

“Right… Well, hurry up, so we don’t get points taken away from McGonagall for being late,” he reminded you.

You finished your food, trying to ignore the queasy feeling in your stomach from nerves. 

“Are you excited?” he asked, grabbing your books and carrying them for you as you both made your way through the halls to Transfiguration. 

You frowned. “Excited for what?”

He gasped.

“Only the best house party of the year!” he exclaimed. “It’s Pads’ birthday today, we’re holding a surprise party for him tonight.”

You raised a brow.

“How does he not know you guys are holding a party for him?”

He grinned, pride wafting off of him like an aroma.

“We’ve been going along with a plan for days now, acting as though we have no idea it’s his birthday. Moony is ‘too busy with the full moon’,” he used his fingers as quotations.

“Yeah, but that’s actually true,” you interrupted. 

He rolled his eyes.

“That’s not the point!” He shook his head. “As I was saying, Wormy is ‘too busy with Herbology work’ and I’m ‘too busy trying to perfect a prank on Snivellus’!” 

“I seriously doubt he believes any of that,” you admitted.

He shrugged.

“You’d be surprised.”

***

By the time the party came around, James was right; Sirius truly was shocked. The common room was filled to the walls with people. He may have been right that it would be the biggest party yet as well.

But, you were too exhausted to have fun. After rejecting Lily and Mary’s multiple advances to get you to dance with them, you leaned against a tapestry, brooding as you held a glass of firewhiskey in hand. You watched in disgust, and honestly envy, as everyone practically got it on with each other; Marlene and Dorcas were snogging on a couch, Remus and Sirius were snogging not even five feet away from them, and there was a Hufflepuff couple getting handsy with one another next to them as well. 

You saw James talking to a younger Ravenclaw girl, who was twirling her hair in her fingers, and you decided that that was the last straw. You tipped your head back and emptied the rest of the alcohol down your throat, that familiar burning feeling residing in your throat and belly, before you set the glass down somewhere and made your way up to your dorm. Maybe you could at least get some sleep, you thought. You felt your body sway up the stairs and all the way to your room, where you sat down on your bed and immediately felt tears start to well up in your eyes and a choked sob left your mouth. 

“Y/n?” What now?

“Please leave me alone!” you begged, now fully crying into your hands.

You heard footsteps come toward you. 

“No way,” James sat down next to you, brushing the hair out of your face with his fingers and cupped the back of your head. “What’s wrong?”

You shook your head.

“Everything,” you croaked. “I’m the only one in that common room that’s not feeling someone up.”

He stifled a laugh.

“Do you want me to find someone you can get handsy with? Because I will, you best believe I’ll make it happen.”

You shook your head once more, tears falling down your chin.

“I could’ve killed that Ravenclaw girl,” you muttered.

Your eyes widened as you realized what you’d just said.

“Amelia?” he asked with a chuckle. “Love, she was asking me about Peter! I was his wingman!”

You put your head in your hands with a groan.

“I’m sorry,” you pleaded. “I don’t even know why I’m getting upset about that…”

“Hey,” he tapped your shoulder, mentally asking for your attention.

You looked up at him.

“If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t like the thought of you getting handsy with someone else,” he admitted.

You raised your eyebrows.

“Are you serious?”

“No, I’m not Sirius… But speaking of Sirius, it’s his birthday and we’re having a huge party for him down in the common room!”

You shook your head, playfully shoving his shoulder. 

“I’m serious, James!”

“Happy birthday, then!” 

You rolled your eyes as he laughed.

“Fine, fine!” He put his hands up in defense. “No more jokes.”

You shook your head once more, fighting a smile.

“If you don’t want me to be with anyone else, and I don’t want you to be with anyone else…” he trailed off, “Then what does that mean?”

You shrugged.

“I suppose it means whatever we want it to mean.”

His hand grasped yours, fingers intertwined.

“Then it means whatever we want it to mean,” he confirmed with a nod.

Your chest felt full at this declaration between the two of you. 

 “James?” you asked.

“Yes?” he pushed a stray piece of hair behind your ear.

Your heart was going a mile a minute.

“Does that mean you can…kiss me?”

“Y/n,” his lips broke out into a grin. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that my entire bloody life.”

He grasped your face in his big palms and crashed his lips against yours, your lips finding a smooth rhythm. Your fingers moved to tangle themselves in his brunette curls, pulling at them experimentally. He moaned against your lips, the kiss becoming deeper and more passionate.

He pulled away for a moment, his lips a shade darker and plump.

“I guess I did find you somebody to get handsy with,” he winked.

“Don’t ruin this!” you warned with a laugh.

“I can think of a way to ruin you,” he wiggled his eyebrows, bringing your lips back to his.

Sirius Black’s surprise party sincerely was the. Best. Party. Ever.

[p0rkbun]

APACHE TEARS┊❝Happy Birthday.❞ Chapter 01

─ Sam Carpenter x OC

Synopsis: Alexis forgets her birthday, but she didn't forget to visit her childhood best friend.

Content warnings: bad writing, slow burn, mention of being chased by a dog, original characters, not proofread, other than that there's nothing too serious.

Word count: 3.4k

Before Alexis left Woodsboro, she lived her childhood in the town that was known for its murders in the 90s. Something like that—you don’t expect to live an ordinary life, would you?

A very slim chance you would have a life with no mishaps in a town like that. Even though it has been eleven years since the last murders happened, some crimes occur every now and then. People doing drugs, accidents, assaults, attempted murder, and more. Despite these occurrences, Alexis had gone on with her life, trying to avoid anything that might make her life miserable, and she did. She was smart enough to avoid anything suspicious, including not answering calls from strangers, not going out late at night, having protection, and knowing when someone is planning to mug you.

It was common sense; even a half-brain would know this!

But Alexis wasn’t lucky. Her efforts were all in vain, because not even intuition could stop any misfortune sent to her. Not only did she never felt safe, but she never had any expectations for her own solace.

One day, she caught a blue butterfly around the playground when she was a young girl. The insect had beautiful blue wings—not something you’d see every day—along with its rapid wings that Alexis almost failed to keep up with. The young girl stared at the insect with interest and fascination, wanting to take it home. She didn't, since she knew keeping a butterfly would not last, so she released the creature.

It wasn’t long until a stray and horrifying dog plunged its canine teeth onto the butterfly, ripping its small wings in an instant. The wrecked beauty was nowhere to be seen, already evaporated and chewed by the rabid animal.

Alexis only stared in shock before she took off, frantically fleeing from the dog chasing the poor girl.

Before she knew it, the memories of her first sight of horror were nothing but a faint memory that left her story of how she has cynophobia. Thinking about it now, she thought about how easily a dog can rip a small creature to shreds, thus scaring another one. It was the same thing with humans.

You can easily take someone’s life; for what cause? For your own survival? Pleasure? Revenge? A relief for your buried anger erupting within yourself?

No matter the reasons, the act of killing someone was immoral and will always be something that’s kept with you until the day you breathe your last breath. Even after death.

Years went by in the blink of an eye. Alexis was no longer a little girl but a drowsy looking freshman in college in Modesto, California. She felt like going back to her dorm to sleep, feeling regret seeping in after she accepted the offer from a friend to hang out.

“Aw you already cut your hair? Lame, I already miss your long hair." The charming-looking boy gives Alexis a teasing grin. “You told me to do something new for myself, didn’t you?” Alexis replies with a sigh to Jesse.

Jesse was the first person she met when she moved to Modesto for her college, he was smiley and handsome-looking, and he knew how to dress neatly even for casual hangouts. Coincidentally, the boy was assigned as her roommate. If you met him, he’d be someone with a bit of an obnoxious exterior, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s pretty considerate, Alexis honestly had thoughts of him liking her because of how abnormally nice he is, the other part is him possibly being an asshole underneath that grin. Not the case; however, he's just... slow sometimes.

“Yeah but I didn’t know you were gonna cut your hair!” He exclaimed, “Dude, everybody was literally telling you how long and pretty your hair looked, they’re gonna be devastated if they see you now.” Alexis glances at Jesse “I’m sure it’s not that serious. It’s a matter of time anyway. I don’t know why I kept my hair that long, I feel so much light now.” 

“Really? Did having long hair feel heavy?” Jesse asks with genuine curiosity.

“Of course it does,” Alexis said, her face contorted with irritation. “Could you leave the questions later? Where are we even going?” Jesse lets out a sheepish chuckle at the girl’s response.

“Okay, alright! C’mon grumps” He held Alexis’ sleeve and led her to wherever their destination was.

She didn’t pay attention to where Jesse led her; in an instant, they were at a small shop. The sign was detailed in black, and the exterior was full white. They both stepped in and met with the sight of accessories and items. All of them are for school, studying, or just for looking nice via keychains, pins, desk lamps, and more.

“Woah, i didn’t know they had something like this here,” Alexis says with surprise. She looks back up to Jesse “Is this some kind of thing you’re doing to get a date with me?” Jesse snorts. “No way! I know you’re not into me.” 

“Then what’s the occasion?”

"C'mon, Al, it’s your birthday!” Alexis blinks at him.

“....It is?” The younger girl thinks, and finally realization hits her. "Shit, I forgot...”

Jesse lets out a small laugh and nudges her arm “That’s kinda funny, how’d you forget your own birthday? Did you not celebrate a lot?” Before Alexis could answer him, Jesse drags her to a shelf and picks out a keychain of a cute looking brown bear. “Cute, right?”

She stares at the pin, rubbing the surface a bit as she inspects it. "Yeah," she mumbles, a wave of nostalgia washing over her. “Weird…I remember getting something like this on my birthday.” The taller boy hums. “A pin?” Alexis shakes her head lightly. "No, the bear.” Jesse stared at her with a perplexed look before he spoke, and his words made Alexis laugh. “You got a bear for your birthday?”

“No, it was a..." Her voice trails before she hums as she tries to recall what it was that reminded her of years ago. 

"Actually, I’m not so sure.”

“Happy birthday!” A young girl exclaims with a small gift box in her hands. Ten-year-old Alexis accepts the gift by taking it in her hands. She lifts her head to look at her friend. “You remembered my birthday?” The girl nods and smiles.

Tara was Alexis’ friend, her first and best friend, and she still is as she grows older. She met Tara at the playground when they were about six or seven. Alexis was a year older than Tara, but that didn’t change their close relationship with one another. Tara was the only friend who wanted to talk to her and hang out with her almost every day. 

“How could I forget?” She giggles; she holds Alexis’ hand while walking her back into the house. “You got me a bracelet a few months ago when it was my birthday; I wanted the both of us to match!” She beams with happiness when she sees Alexis’ small smile. “But that bracelet was pretty expensive; how’d you manage to buy the same one?” This causes the shorter girl to stammer a bit. "Well….I kinda begged Sam to buy it."

“Tara!”

“What?” Alexis sighs at her. This girl…

“Why’d you have to bother your sister?” She puts the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet had small fake pearls on it, along with the green-colored string. Honestly, Alexis would consider it a scam since it was too expensive for its looks; it looked pretty, but it didn’t match the price. She only realized that after buying the thing. “It’s fine! Sam didn’t mind, i think...  besides she likes you; she even bought you your favorite soy milk on the way home.” Tara says this and hands her friend a soy milk box.

Alexis looks at the box and feels a small burst of joy in her heart. She rarely gets to see Sam, her best friend’s older sister, but she always made her feel comfortable when they were together. She found the older girl cool and sweet; she was a little quiet and scary at times, but it felt nice knowing Sam didn’t mind her. Things have been different for the last year for some reason. She was more distant, but that wasn’t weird for Alexis; she knew people change and get busy sometimes.

Alexis sends Tara an appreciative look before speaking “Could you tell her thanks?”

Tara frowns at the girl. “Hey! You didn’t say ‘thank you’ to me!” She huffs.

“Thank you, you brat.” Alexis rolls her eyes and receives a pinch from Tara for her response. “Ouch stop!” She hisses and pinches Tara back, earning a squeal from the shorter girl. “Ow! I got you a gift and this is what you repay me?!” Alexis dodged Tara’s hand when she tried to pinch her again.

The two ran back to Alexis’ house while giggling and squealing; it wasn’t rare when Tara visited her house. She seems to like being there more than her own home, especially nowadays. Alexis always got her to watch movies or play together.

Alexis snaps out of her daydream and finds herself resting her head on the desk. Memories of her childhood lives fresh in her mind; the ones she could remember vividly were with her best friend. The only memories she wished she could have visited again, being a kid again at least. Everything used to feel so much lighter. Only now, Alexis didn’t wake up and rode her bike around the neighborhood without any worries. Everything was so different; she feels like it was yesterday when she was spending most of her time watching horror movies and hanging out with her best friend. Crazy huh? You never thought time would pass so fast.

The next thing you were a happy kid, not knowing much about the world, until you grew up feeling bitter about things. Sometimes you wish you were a dumb kid who doesn’t know any better again.

Tara sent you a message.

Tara ♥️: Happy birthday lexi

Tara ♥️: I wish I got you something :( I know you’re busy and stuff. You gonna come to visit?

Alexis smiles at the text.

Lex: Yeah I will dw

Lex: Now stop being sad, be ready tmr Im gonna visit my dad first before you

Tara ♥️: Im not first? Wowww i thought im your first in everything. Finally over your best friend huh

Lex: Cmon you know I love you, I just love my dad more

Tara ♥️: You’re an asshole come quick before i hate you forever

Lex: You won’t

On the other side of the screen, Tara's lips curled into a bright smile. After a few months, she finally got to see her best friend again. It hasn’t been long, but it felt like a while for Tara, and it made her anxious. Alexis knew Tara wouldn’t like this distance between them, especially after…

No, let’s not.

But Alexis didn’t have a choice nonetheless; her dad didn’t want her in that town, and deep inside, she agreed with him. She could have brought Tara with her, but she doesn’t really have the requirements currently. So they both settled, visiting Tara once or twice every few months until she could kidnap her and put her in her pocket to live with her in Modesto. Doing it in a friendly way, of course.

Before leaving, Alexis decides to take a trip to the convenience store to buy some things for her ride. Driving came to mind, but she brushed it off, thinking it was too much of a hassle, and decided to take the bus instead.

Upon arriving at the store and stepping in, her mind wonders as she browses through the shelves, picking up a drink and a small snack. She thinks about how Tara’s been doing without her for the past few months. Alexis had the tendency to worry about the younger girl, even if she had others with her back at Woodsboro. Her thought was cut short when another person came to mind.

“hm…I wonder where Sam is and how she’s doing now.” She mumbles to herself; eventually, she purchases her drink and snack before exiting the store to wait for the bus.

How long has it been since Alexis saw Sam? She doesn’t know; she forgot when the older girl disappeared so suddenly. How did she even feel? She doesn’t remember.

With each passing day, Alexis would sometimes wonder what Sam was doing. Probably living her life peacefully without any disquietude. Or not.

The sound of a text message makes her stop halfway to the bus station. Alexis pulls out her phone to see Jesse’s message pop up.

Hey sorry but I left something somewhere and I’m a bit busy right now to get it.

I know you’re going to visit your family today but could you get my headphones and hold on to them for a while until you get back? Its at the bowling alley, you know, the one next to the gas station. Thanks 😀

This little…

Whatever, only 15 minutes remain until the bus arrives. This wouldn’t be so bad; make it really quick.

Alexis jogs to the bowling alley and enters through the door while receiving a greeting from a tall girl at the desk. “Welcome to Cardinal Lanes; how may I help you?” As Alexis approaches the desk, she takes in the tall girl’s appearance for a moment.

She was tall and had her black hair with brown highlights tied into a bun. Her eyes were dark brown, and she had tan skin, along with a rather expressionless face when Alexis entered, but a small smile formed on her face to be appealing and polite.

"Hi, sorry, a friend of mine left something here. Headphones with light-green and grayish colors?” Alexis rushed, not wanting to miss the bus; her voice was breathless from running.

The tall girl nods. “Oh yeah sure, I think I know what you’re talking about. Wait for a moment, miss.” She disappears into the back room for a moment before coming back with Jesse’s headphones.

“Here–” Alexis cuts her off, “Thanks so much—sorry I’m in a rush." She takes the headphones from her and pauses to look up at the woman.

Alexis can’t help but feel sympathy for the stranger; she looked tired as if she’s been working all day every day. Yet she tried to put on an expression to look winsome for the place’s policy and pleasing customer service—something like that.

A rush of thoughts swirled in Alexis’ mind. Funny how she was in a rush, but for some reason she wanted to make this stranger’s day a bit better. This always happens; at the most critical moments, most times, Alexis has this thing of wanting to cheer a stranger up when she sees them down. She knew she needed to mind her own business about whatever miserable thing was going on with somebody unknown to her in their lives. But would you cheer up this tall, pretty, and downhearted-looking girl even if you’re in a rush?

Shit what the hell do I do? What am I doing? I don’t have any time for this. But she looks kinda sad. What the hell…okay stop staring at her like a weirdo.

The tall girl furrows her brows in confusion at Alexis, feeling a bit anxious and flustered at this random Asian girl staring in silence.

“Is there something wrong, Miss?” She asks while her dark brown eyes linger on Alexis.

Alexis blinks and averts her gaze for a split second. “Um yeah, sorry uh…” She stammers before swiftly pulling out a bear pin that she bought that morning and placing it firmly in the stranger’s hands. “Sorry uhm, here’s something of my gratitude for your service—thanks again, bye!” Before she could reply anything back, Alexis had already bolted out of the bowling alley.

The bowling alley attendant frowns at what just happened. She looks at the pin in her hands, her expression puzzled. Weird girl…. she thought. Unknown to Alexis, she probably made someone’s day a little better with her small act of kindness.

Upon arriving at Woodsboro, Alexis feels a sense of familiarity with the town. As much as she doesn’t like it, she misses some of the aspects of the place.

Throughout the ride, Alexis felt the need to jump out of the bus and into a ditch because of her awkwardness earlier. Being back at the place where she grew up took her mind off that for a while.

“Hey dad,” Alexis says to the phone with a bright smile, feeling excited to see her father again after months.

“Lexi? Honey, hey, how are you?” Dewey’s voice was heard through the phone, his soft tone making Alexis smile wider.

“I’m doing fine; I’m visiting you today.” Silence fell momentarily; this made Alexis a little nervous before Dewey spoke again.

“Honey…I told you not to come here.” He sighs through the phone, making Alexis feel a little guilty. “I know but I just wanted to see you." She responded as she walked along the sidewalk; it still brightened out as the sunlight hit Alexis’ face, causing her to squint. “I’m only visiting for a few days; I’m planning to stay at Tara’s house.”

“Oh Alexis…  you know I don’t like that.”

“What’s wrong? I thought you like Tara?” Her response causes him to exhale deeply. "You have to understand that even though I like her and she’s nice for you, I find it difficult to get a good night's sleep knowing that you are here at someone else's house." Alexis lets out a small sigh as she listens to her father’s words.

“I’m not staying at ‘somone’s’ house,” “I know, I know." "Dad, c’mon...”

Dewey goes silent for a bit, waiting for what his daughter has to say. “Dad… I know a lot has happened here, and a lot has happened with you and me as well, but things aren’t like that anymore. It’s been ten years, and nothing strange has happened—no ghostfaces, no killers. I’m not blaming you for being paranoid, but I want to spend time with you without the thought of another murder happening.” 

“I just wanted to see you. Don't you miss me, dad?” Alexis’ words hit Dewey like tree logs crushing a brittle shed. He lets out a sigh before chuckling a bit.

“You didn’t have to say that to your old man; of course I missed you.” He smiles on the other side of the phone before continuing, “Alright, I’ll let you stay, but you’ll leave first thing in the morning on your last day, and make sure to see me.”

Alexis hums. “I will. I’m going to go see you right now, later, Dad.”

“Stay safe, sweetheart.” With that, Alexis hung up and was about to continue walking until she was met with familiar black hair in her sight.

The girl stood in front of her with a grin—Alexis could recognise that smile everywhere. She didn’t expect her to be the first face she'd see once she stepped into this morbid town.

“Well, look who’s back in town.” She laughs, grinning wider, and steps closer to Alexis. “Haven’t seen you in a while; it’s nice seeing you again.” She said in a low tone, her voice sounded sweet.

Alexis gave Amber an acknowledging and surprised expression. She feels a tingly feeling in her stomach—not a good one. It’s a feeling similar to when someone you aren’t that fond of meets you on your way to your destination. Or when a teacher calls your name to ask a question about the lesson you learned but didn’t bother to remember, feeling like your heart stopped for a second. She feels dread for some unknown reason; she always has bad energy whenever she’s with Amber. It’s not because she’s sort of got this bad girl's agenda or that she has a violent way of expressing anger.

Amber is awfully nice to Alexis, and she doesn’t like that. 

If somebody is nice to you, you wouldn’t be feeling a sense of dread. So, why?

It’s always been like this with them; Alexis always felt something was wrong with that girl, and it’s a little messed up to think that.

“What’s with that face?” Amber tilts her head, her eyes lingering on Alexis.

Alexis needed to make this quick before she vomits from anxiety.

— Note: thank you if you managed to read this whole ridiculous thing 🥹 You're probably wonder about Amber and Alexis, they have a complicated relationship which will be revealed more into the story. I'll have to make a new character biography for Alexis soon lol.

[imashoe69420]

Can I request a shy Leo x shy male reader, where they both have a nice sleep over together alone, and then the reader timidly asks Leo what kissing feels like, and Leo says that he doesn't since he never kissed anyone or know how to kiss, and the reader say the same. So Leo nervously asks if they could try it together, and the reader agrees, and they both bashfully try it together at the same time on 3?

The reader is Puerto Rican

Happy Pride everybody!!! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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

★彡 On Three ★ 彡

Rise!Leo X Shy!Male!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Relationship: Romantic

Timeline: Post-Movie

Pronouns: Masculine (he/him)

Warnings ⚠️: Language

===================================

One thing you weren’t known for was being up front with your thoughts and emotions. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust anybody, it was just the second you would open your mouth, nothing would come out. Or someone would talk over you, which always annoyed you.

That being said, you never had many close friends until you met Leo. For once, you’d found a person that had identical interests as you and would hyper-fixate on such topics the same way you did.

On top of this, the both of you weren’t inclined to make many friends; for different reasons, of course. But this only brought you closer to each other.

After a few months of hanging out, you noticed a change in your relationship with the blue clad turtle.

When he would come over to your apartment, he would bring gifts such as food or a new issue of your favorite comic. Leo would adamantly listen when you would speak, but you often questioned if he was really listening, or just admiring your visage. You didn’t mind it, but the question was always in the back of your head.

Aside from the gifts, the turtle would often brush up against you or place his hand right beside your own. If you pointed it out, he would automatically shrink away and try to deny his attempt at the intimate gesture while stuttering and blushing furiously.

In all honestly, you thought his little blatant attempts were adorable, frequently laughing at his embarrassment. You yourself had been questioning not only your attraction to him, but your sexuality as well.

You’d only had a girlfriend or female interests. The only guy you’d ever liked was a celebrity that was absolutely ripped. It would be fair to say that you were questioning.

~~~

It wasn’t long after the sun officially set when you heard a familiar tapping at your window. When you entered your living room from the kitchen, you saw a smug Leonardo playfully wiggling his factitious eyebrows at you.

You couldn’t hide the redness of your cheeks, instead opting to quickly open the window and scurrying into the kitchen to continue cooking.

Before you could even say hello, Leo had a quip about how good your cooking smelled.

“Yeah, they’re Empanadillas. Most people call them empanadas. Same thing.” You clarified. “You want some?”

He nodded, approaching the beef filling sizzling in its pan. “I’m sure anything you cook will amaze my tastebuds, (Y/N).”

Your heart betrayed you as it gained speed at his compliment, causing your face to be even more red. “I-I wanted to make the dough from scratch but I didn’t want to ask the workers where the corn oil was so…” your words trailed off as you admitted that. Being shy sometimes felt like your greatest curse.

Leo chuckled. “It’s alright! I’m sure it’ll taste the same.”

You knew he was just being kind, but you’d had authentic Empanadillas when you went to visit your grandmother in Puerto Rico every spring. The ones you were making could never measure up to your abuela’s.

Soon, you finished cooking and offered Leo one of them. To say he was absolutely in love would be an understatement. You only ended up having two or three while the blue clad turtle downed about six of them without getting up for air. In your culture, food was a way to express your love for people, so the fact that he was thoroughly enjoying your food warmed your heart despite only having a few of them yourself.

After the meal, you played an obscure romantic comedy in the background as the two of you talked about a recent episode of a show you’d been watching.

You eventually started to pay more attention to the movie as Leo tried to find the name of an actor from the show on his phone. The two main characters kissed briefly before continuing their conversation. This sparked a question in your mind for Leo.

“Hey, Lee?” You said barely audibly.

He gazed up at you with a curious expression, causing you to immediately backtrack.

“No, tell me. What’s up?” Leo smiled.

“I-I… well… no, it’s stupid.”

Leo laughed as he took hold of your hand in a friendly gesture, giving it a light squeeze. That was another thing he would often do. “See, now I have to know.”

You hesitated. “I… have you… well, probably not, but… have you ever… kissed anybody?”

The turtle nearly choked on his own spit, which only made you more embarrassed.

His face man act soon returned, though. “You see, not everybody can appreciate good looks such as this.” Leo waved a hand in front of his face, that iconic smirk plastered on his face. “So that’s unfortunately on the back burner. How about you?”

You shrugged pathetically. “I had a girlfriend in middle school, but that doesn’t really count. And we never kissed.”

Noticing his face suddenly fall, you subtly clarified that you were questioning your sexuality. Leo perked back up in no time.

After a few seconds of silence as the movie’s credits rolled, he came up with a unique proposition.

“Y’know… we could try.”

Your eyes practically bugged out from your head. “W-what?”

The turtle raised his three-fingered hands in defense. “We don’t have to! I-I mean, I was just… offering?”

More silence fell over the two as they stared at each other. You began laughing at the awkward exchange.

“I-I mean… I’m down for… whatever.” You said bashfully.

Leonardo exhaled in relief. “Should we, like… do it on three?”

The duo chuckled before you leaned in closer toward his face.

“Ok, on me. One, two… three.”

Leo was the first to close the space between the two of you. It was only for a second, though; a peck. When you parted, admiration was laced in the blue turtle’s features. He came back again.

Then again for a little longer.

Then again long enough to the point where you subconsciously maneuvered to sit in his lap.

After a minute or so, you and Leo parted. He exhaled a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” You teased.

“Nothing… I just think I like kissing you.” The turtle revealed shyly.

The corner of your lips pulled up into a smile; a real genuine smile.

“I think I like kissing you, too.”

[lirarey]

See you again (chapter 4 — ending)

That evening, Jane anxiously sorted through her things, trying to put her thoughts in order. The girl is frankly not used to talking about such difficult topics. What if everything goes badly and everyone decides that she's crazy?..

"You're not crazy," it sounded behind her, "but I still wonder what's going on."

Jane turned around with a start. The last phrase happened to be spoken out loud. Carlos was standing in the doorway of her room.

"I understand that everyone sometimes wants to be alone..." The guy broke off, and she remembered that one of his fears had always been loneliness. Without realizing it, Jane was hurting him even more. "But you weren't even here at your own birthday party. And you stopped practicing magic altogether. Something happened?"

"Magic is dangerous. Even for me," she replied quietly. "Mom was right."

"You never thought that. What happened?"

"I was in reality, where you're dead!" Blue flames flared up from the surge of strong emotions on her fingertips, and Jane abruptly clenched her hands into fists, calming down. "Because of this, the magic is completely out of control. What kind of fairy am I if I can't even figure out my essence?"

"Did I dead?.." He took a tentative step forward. "Another reality? Little star, what are you talking about?"

"I've been living in another one all this year. The reality where you died shortly after my birthday. One day you didn't wake up. Cardiac arrest in sleep caused by a decrease in heart rate." Turning away, Jane ran her palm over the frame of the floor mirror, but pulled her hand away, feeling the familiar tingling in her fingers. "I've never seen more mourning in Auradon in my entire life. Even those who didn’t fully approve of the opening of the barrier expressed regret. So many people gathered... Mal tried to hide her tears, but there was a tremor in her voice. Evie came without makeup for the first time. She was visibly shaking, and Doug was holding her elbow. Jay and Lonnie came up later: they couldn't find Dude anywhere. Who would have thought that he would jump into my arms. He whined so quietly. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Even Ben didn't finish his speech. Everyone was shocked."

Carlos froze, listening intently to her every word. Now he looked strangely like a Dalmatian, which his mother disliked so much. All the muscles were tense, except for the wide-open eyes. She talked and talked, recalling the smallest details, not shutting up, afraid to stumble and see disbelief in his reaction. The fire in her hands flared up every now and then, but she had to restrain himself.

"Jane," Carlos crossed the small distance between them and took the tips of his fingers, still hot from the magical fire, in his palms, "Take a deep breath. I believe you."

It's amazing how just three words can affect a person. A wave of relief swept through her body.

"I really felt bad that day. You know, it feels like your heart is falling down... I woke up because of Dude." A grin broke through the serious tone. "He said that he was hungry and offered to have a snack. I didn't feel like sleeping anymore, so I agreed. In the morning, I didn't even remember what had happened. Considering your words, the picture is starting to take shape."

"To take shape?.."

"Yes. I can't know the exact reason, but it's not for nothing that many villains were brought back to life for the sake of being imprisoned on the Isle." Carlos smiled bitterly, closing his eyes. "Maybe no matter what I do, I'll always be a villain."

A villain. Of course. How Jane didn't figure it out before? There're almost no people left who would treat guests from the Isle badly, but after all, long-term habits aren't so easy to eradicate. To live for years in a place where you don't want to go back. To find salvation only in the company of the same unhappy children. Uma criticized Ben at the time for not fully fulfilling his intentions to study the villainous descendants in Auradon, but Jane didn't forget how many problems there were with Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay. Local students seemed to enjoy the opportunity to mock those who didn't really touch others. And, oh, horror, she was once among the abusers. A wonderful continuation of the parents came out of them. Her own birthday came under the hot hand of Audrey, who decided to join the other side. But the girl didn't want to look for the culprits, although Ben apologized for a very long time when everything was resolved, and even allocated money for a new event.

"No, you're not a villain. Everyone chooses their own side." Jane finally hugged him tightly, feeling the gusts of magic subside. "But villains can also love."

"Yes... Yes, they can," the guy repeated absently. "Because I love you."

Her heart skipped a beat. The girl knew about the existence of different languages of love, and his was definitely somewhere between actions and gifts. However, he never talked about feelings just like that. Compliments were undoubtedly present, although Jane didn't believe that she deserved all of them, but declarations of love happened in the most valuable moments.

"To be honest," she said in a broken voice, "deep down I believed that this was how it should be. That I can't love, therefore... when you... as a punishment..."

"Shhh, hush." Carlos pulled away, kissed her gently on the forehead and touched her face with his palms. "If I can be a villain who loves a heroine, then you can't only create other people's stories, but also take part in your own."

"What a heroine I am... I was just doing what I had to do," Jane replied sheepishly, not looking at him.

"My heroine." His words made her skin crawl. "A heroine who also needs rest."

"Don’t go," escaped her lips. "I understand that this is very unwise, but..."

"I'm not leaving," the guy replied with a hint of a grin. "If you promise not to tell anyone about this. I don't even want to know what the Fairy Godmother will think of me."

"Mom already thinks only good things about you!"

"Everything can change!"

And so, with jokes and tears of joy, this long day ended. But it was worth waiting for its end, at least for the opportunity to fall asleep in Carlos's arms. Touch the black and white hair, look at all the freckles on the face and listen to the measured heartbeat. It was here, at this moment, that Jane felt she could trust him completely. Maybe fate really gave them a second chance at their future together? Now the girl really believed in the personal "and they lived happily ever after."

☆☆☆

Thank you for reading this fanfic. I can't help but think that these two deserve a happy ending. Just like Cameron deserved it. This is a bright, sincere star that is probably shining at us from the sky right now. Many actors spoke well of him, and this isn't surprising.

[houdinicorbini]

Hi! Can I request monty x fem!reader where she is a night guard and finds monty (after Gregory defeats him) crawling around and she helps him and fixes him up? Thanks!

Sure! This is actually good timing because I wanted to get myself out there with security breach!

So thanks!

Also, I will say for this that when the animatronics get destroyed by Gregory, whatever mind control thing they are under leaves

Trigger warnings: Monty getting destroyed, mind control, slight cursing

"Hey! Little guy!" Monty yelled as he once more caught sight of the lost child roaming the pizzaplex.

He's been chasing him all night, along with Chica and Roxy, but something about this didn't seem right.

Nothing about what he was doing,, seemed right. But he can't remember much right now. Like his memories had been taken overnight.

There are bits and pieces that Monty does remember, are memories confirming that he'd never go as far as to harm a child, though, it feels as if he has no more control of his body.

That he's merely a puppet. Someone who's having to watch from the outside, as he's forced to hunt down this poor kid.

He wonders if the others feel this way, or if he is alone on this.

But of course, none of that matters right now, only the objective at hand. Catch Gregory.

Multiple times Monty had come close to completing him mission, but Gregory keeps getting away, time after time again.

And suspiciously, Freddy will sometimes be there as well. But he's helping the others track down this kid, he's not helping him, no, that would be insane.

Vanessa has informed all of the animatronics to find and apprehend him, but why does it feel like their is some ulterior motive? Like catching is not just what you need to do.

Even if Monty wanted out of this, it seems as if something else, or someone else, is forcing him to stay in line.

So there's nothing that can be done here, the only goal is the find and kill Gregory, whether they want to, or not.

And because of this constant chasing and nearly dying, it's forced Gregory to stand up and fight back. Chica was the first one to experience that.

And unfortunately, Monty is about to as well.

~~~~~~~~

You've been working as a nightguard here at the pizzaplex for some time now. Maybe a few months already.

The plan was to actually apply for a mechanical job, but due to the company using high tech machinery to fix the animatronics, you decided to take the job they offered.

Which was nightguard.

It did bum you out a little that you couldn't work on the animatronics because this was something you've been striving to achieve since you were a kid.

But you took security guard becuase you'll at least be able to get close and see these fascinating robots.

Montgomery Gator was the one who had caught your interest the most.

You thought his design was absolutely amazing, how they were able to make something as heavy as an animatronic swim which the fact of that alone would make anyone want to discover how he operates.

He's also you're favorite due to the fact that you got this job while you were in an incredibly low point in your life. And seeing him give his all on stage cheered you up.

Made you even stay and watch the concerts he was in when it was your day off.

He was the main reason you kept doing this odd job. All night you swear you've heard talking, like a kid, but when you investigate, there is no one!

It feels like you are going insane.

And for some reason the animatronics were just out and about??

You tried to ask why, but they just seemed rather spaced out or tried to come up with an excuse.

You believe one of them said something about Vanessa letting them out, which is already causing your mind to run fifty miles an hour.

"I just need to find Vanessa and see what's going on."

~~~~~~~~

Monty had just jumped down onto the catwalks right above gator golf.

He could hear the robotic gators down below breaching the water here and there.

What he couldn't hear was Gregory, he saw the kid on the catwalks, but where was he?

And then he heard what sounded like the toy guns going off, hitting the target right above the giant bucket of golf balls.

Now he knew exactly where the brat was.

But why did he think Gregory was a brat? He never thought this way before. Sure there was the occasional kid, but this felt different.

Everything just felt hazy.

And this hazy feeling is starting to wear Monty down, like he's trapped. None of this feels right.

"There you are!" Monty screamed, chasing after Gregory at full speed, the flooring shaking with each hard stomp he made.

These catwalks were never up to date, and that is about to be Monty's downfall, quite literally.

This annoying little game of cat and mouse continued on for the next several minutes.

Probably the most stressful several minutes Gregory has ever had. Not everyday you go toe to toe with an animatronic alligator.

But all of that was about to change as Gregory was so close to filling up the damn bucket. Maybe five more golf balls and he's good to go.

Multiple times Monty has nearly achieved his goal, but he's always a second short and the shaking of the catwalk isn't exactly helping him out here.

He couldn't exactly understand why Gregory wanted up here, but Monty's not exactly in the right now to ask questions right now, not that he could anyways.

'Almost there' Gregory thought to himself, trying desperately to not get caught by this oversized attraction.

He was somehow able to get three balls in before he was chased away from the shooter, but no worries, he's got this!

"Enough of this game of hide and seek!" Monty growled in frustration, looking around eagerly to see if Gregory was anywhere near.

Monty can only deal with this damn child getting away for so long before it gets real annoying. And we have gotten well past that point.

"There you are!" Monty yelled, finally catching sight of Gregory once more, not realizing that the bucket has been successfully filled.

Rushing past the bucket and to the button, Gregory anxiously waited for Monty to get in close enough range.

"No where left to run." Monty said in a menacing tone, getting closer and closer.

Once he was right under the bucket, Gregory slammed his hand on the button, causing the bucket to begin falling on Monty.

Which Monty was able to catch it but he was struggling and was able to stop it for a second.

That absolutely terrified Gregory for a second, until the floors finally gave away and broke underneath the gator.

He watched as Monty hit each and individual beam on his way down until he hit the stage.

Finally, now he can rest a tad bit easier. ~~~~~~~~

You could have sworn that there was a loud crash that had come from inside the building somewhere!

What on earth is going on tonight!

You've heard about odd things happening sometimes, but after working here for months and haven't seen anything weird, you assumed it was all rumors.

But tonight is forcing you to wonder if there is some truth behind those rumors.

Getting a tad bit anxious and frustrated from the odd events of tonight, you decide to go investigate what exactly is going on.

"I new I shouldn't have come in tonight." You say in a tired tone.

"And on my day off too."

Going through the building, you see no signs of Chica or Monty. Which is weird because you saw them actively moving around earlier, even Freddy was no where to be seen.

"Vanessa is gone too, of course." You said with a sigh, getting rather fed up.

You jumped out of your skin when you heard what sounded like metal scraping against the floor.

You quickly grab your flashlight before turning it on in the direction of the godawful scraping sounds.

What you saw both surprised and disturbed you. It was Monty, and he looked so lost and broken.

He had no legs and his exoskeleton on his arms looked like they had been taken off.

"Monty?" You say, worried about how this happened and what did this to him. This is some really bad damage.

"What happened?" You ask, each step of your boots causing them to echo throughout the place as you got closer to him.

The animatronic looked around, wanting to know the same thing. He couldn't remember much, just bits and pieces of what happened.

Though, he didn't want to believe that to be the truth.

"I'm,,, not sure." His voice came out rather gravelly. And it's not like it was a complete lie, he didn't truly know what happened, only parts of the truth.

"Let's get you down to parts and service, we can talk more then." You say while effortlessly picking him up. Monty laid limp as he let it happen, he was very surprised by the raw strength you had.

He would've find it humorous, if it was not under these circumstances.

Monty didn’t want to see you under these conditions, you were always his favorite employee.

You actually treated the animatronics with love and respect, not like they were some inconvenience or abomination.

It was a nice change having you around, knowing he wouldn’t get treated badly for just being different.

“There should be some spare parts to work with down in parts and services.” You said, cutting the silence.

Monty stayed quiet, still trying to piece together what happened and why he felt like he wasn’t in control.

Maybe a deadly virus had hacked into his programming. Yeah, that has to be it.

After a few minutes, you had gotten down to parts and services through Monty’s door.

After sitting him down in the chair, you went to work, preferring to due this by hand. That machine is just a horrible shortcut, and who knows when it might malfunction.

“I’ve read through all of the Glamrocks manuals, including the daycare attendants!” You said proudly.

Monty slowly looked up at you, puzzled by how you got your hands on it.

Reading his confusion, you answered.

“I stole them.”

And then continued to work on him like nothing happened.

He couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh at the fact that you had the guts to do something like that.

“I made sure to put them back exactly where I found them.” You added.

“I think it’s good that you did take them.” Monty admitted, kind of happy that it’s you working on him and not the automated machine.

But he couldn’t explain why. Is it because he thinks of you as a friend?

You kept going back and forth from him to the back where all of his parts were being kept. You even made sure to grab his manual, just to be safe.

You don’t want to mess up just because you got overconfident. It would be him who mainly gets punished.

Well, maybe you too, you could lose your job.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get all fixed up!” You said with a smile, already working on getting his legs fixed up.

“May take a bit.” You said, noticing that you’d have to get a new exo skeleton, may need to replace some of his endo too.

You have a lot of work to do, and not enough time to do it since the doors would be opening in just a few hours.

What felt like a while but was actually maybe 10-15 minutes, Monty decided to speak up to break this silence.

Though it’s not like he minded it, your presence was just enough. But he couldn’t understand why.

“You’re too good at this to be a night guard.” He said, noticing how well you were doing.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” You laughed before continuing your sentence.

“I had originally tried to get a job here as a mechanic, but they told me I wasn’t needed in that department. I took what I could get, so when they offered me the night guard job, I snatched it.��

“I think they should reconsider, I’d still be crawling if it weren’t for you.” Monty said with what sounded like sincerity.

“Maybe I’ll try to request it again if the opportunity ever comes up.”

~~~~~~~~

You were able to get what you could done before the doors open. What was left would have to be fixed by whoever operates the machine.

After that night, you and Monty had grown so much closer.

You found yourself at his concerts when you were off or just available.

And Monty found himself leaving his room at night just so he could see you. He’d even walk with you through your shift.

Luckily the odd things from that night had finally stopped so you didn’t have to worry about anything weird like that happening again.

But the weirdest thing to you is that you might be falling for an animatronic alligator.

And he might be falling back.

I finally got it done! I apologize if there’s not enough Monty x reader in it, by the time I realized there was too much down to go back

But I hope you enjoy!

[dark-is-d3ad]

More fibro!Ghost because it hurts af, and I'm in for that infusion thingy literally right now, a month ahead of what it was supposed to be. So, I'm not suffering alone, i'm taking the guys on the ride. Christmas with Soap's family, some fluff, and caring Soap included in the pack.

~~~

• The leave is unexpected but still nice, and when Johnny offers to tag along with him on his trip to Glasgow, Ghost agrees, because why not? As if he's got something else to do. Soap promises all sorts of good things except for bourbon ("they'll be offended, and ye have ta try some proper Scotch at least once"), and also that means they'll get some time together. Ghost's sold.

• He's been doing just fine lately, despite last three weeks being full of missions. Hadn't had any problems at all, even though there wasn't much rest between them. It's a bit too good to be true, but who is he to complain about it? His next infusion is scheduled for mid January, and while the month before one is usually the worst because the effect from the previous one starts to wear off, this time he apparently has it good. Unbelievably good.

• Soap's family is big, and loud, and overwhelmingly funny, they roast each other a lot, and all of them got some sick burns, especially his dad. Ghost secretly loves it.

• They're also suprisingly understanding about his balaclava. There is only one question: is he comfortable with it? He nods, and then no one bats an eye, they're so freaking normal about it, as if he's not wearing one at all. After all this time it's refreshing.

• Soap, apparently, doesn't shut up about him at home. They all think he's some badass cool guy, and he fucking blushes, and oh it's so good to have the mask, saves him the embarrassment. He's really not used to this, it's just his job, after all.

• Ghost gets back at him, too, tells them some cool stories about Soap and his demolition work, how he's the smartest guy in the team, and how Johnny saved his ass in a couple of very hairy situations. He finds it really funny when Soap's in his shoes now, mumbling something along the lines of "oh it's just work."

• They go to the gym together early in the mornings, they also go for chilly morning runs every other day, and it's so enjoyable. Sometimes Soap's dad goes with them, too. Scotland is beautiful, hills, and rocks, and fog; Johhny huffs slightly when he runs up the hills, and Ghost feels so light, his legs bouncing softly off the road. The runner euphoria hits him here much more often than it usually does.

• They don't really share a bed, both deemed it too much for a family visit, but they do hang out at Johnny's room until wee hours, and then Ghost sneaks back to the guest room, heart pounding.

• Johnny's nephews are adorable. Ghost teaches them basic survival skills and quickly wins their sympathy. "They're little menaces, Si, why would ye teach them how to start a fire with next to nothing on hand?! I dinnae tell'em for a reason!" The little ones get a lecture on responsibility, and there's that. What was learnt can't be unlearnt, eh? They're finally allowed to practice in the chimney, and they're thrilled when they succeed. Ghost is put on permanent supervising duty because he caused it. He doesn't mind, for a grown-up he's having way too much fun with little pyromaniacs. And he hasn't even shown them his favourite knife yet. That will probably have to wait, he doesn't want to be banned from the house yet. He'll teach them how to throw it one day.

• They get out in the city for a day to get some gifts. Ghost heavily relies on Johnny in this endeavour, but they manage to find something for everyone. The little ones are getting some nerf guns, there's a bunch of knitting supplies for Soap's mum, a nice bottle of scotch for his dad, and some little things for his brother and sisters. Then they split for a bit, because Johnny is hell-bent on finding "the thing", and he refuses to tell Ghost what it is.

• Ghost uses the time to take a walk and get the stupidest kinda thing: a soft cover that goes on a helmet, bright red, fluffy, with little horns on top. He never knew Johnny had a motorcycle in the first place, but that thing looks like it's his already, so he figures he'd just add it to the gift he already got him.

• Christmas is chill and homely, and the dinner is amazing. On Boxing day Ghost doesn't expect any gifts, but he gets a hand-knitted balaclava from Soap's mum, black with a white scull, very much resembling his mask. It's warm and soft, and honestly fucking cute. He also gets some drawings from the little ones, with lots of fire and all of them drawn together around him, a huge ominous figure, but the scull has a little cheeky smile drawn over it. It makes his heart ache a little. It's been years since he got gifts like that. Since... he shuts the thoughts down as quickly as he can.

Then, he gets "the thing" from Johnny, and it's a set of bed linen with hello kitty prints. And it's light pink. "You bastard," Ghost says quietly. "I like it," he adds, almost non-audibly, feeling like he confesses a sin or something. It's really funny, and he's definitely keeping it. Johnny just grins at him, putting the fluffy cover on his helmet.

~~~~

It's all fucking great, until next day Ghost has a night terror. In his dream he's tortured and buried alive again, but this time, there's not only Vernon but lots of bodies, they decay on him, there's no space, their sharp bones pierce him through, and he screams from the pain, and he's dying agonisigly slowly. His own scream wakes him up. The pain is still there, but bearable, his heart beats so fast as if it's going to jump out of his chest. And then he tries to sit up in the bed, and it goes from a 4 to a 9 in an instant. Ghost groans and falls back down on the pillows, defeated. It just had to happen now, of all times, when he's got no access to medical, no meds on him, and it's mid holidays on the other side of the country. And it was all going so good. He probably woke the whole house up with his screaming, too. "Fuck," he thinks.

It hurts as hell, his palms and wrists are the worst, they throb violently as if someone was crushing his bones with a hammer, and there's no fucking breaks. No ebb and flow, no nothing, just pure agony.

A couple minutes later Soap knocks. "Ye OK? Can I come in?"

Ghost hums a yes. "Had a nightmare," he tries to explain. It comes out a bit slurred, and Soap picks up on it immediately. He's seen him in bad flares enough times now to know what's up from the get go.

"Ye got something ye can take?"

"Nuh-uh."

"How bad is it?"

Ghost doesn't come up with an answer to that. It's hard to gauge it, it's so fucking overwhelming.

Johnny turns on small lights, but it still makes it worse. Ghost's losing it quickly, much quicker than it usually would happen, and it scares him. It's not even a ride downhill, he's freaking falling off a cliff at this point.

"Yer as pale as death," - Soap says. He climbs up on the bed and starts doing whatever is that massage of his is, but it barely touches the pain at all. It's still comforting, and Simon moves closer, and that little movement hurts, everything fucking hurts so much.

He's not gonna last through this one. A day, maybe, two at most. If it's a long one that was building up this entire month, he's absolutely fucked.

Another knock on the door. That's Soap's mum. He gets up and goes to talk with her, voice low. He's explaining something calmly, but Ghost can't make out words, and he's too busy trying to keep his composure.

She leaves.

"She's right, Si, we can try whatever meds we have here, and if that doesn't work, we gotta go get ye to the doctor."

"Y'remember I'm legally dead?" Ghost slurrs.

"Oh, fucking hell!"

Soap's mum enters the room. She's got a little tray with some meds and two cups, and a she's got a bottle of water laying on it, too.

"Too early for coffee, and I really hope ye'll sleep some more," she says. "But I got ye some milk. Get well, Simon."

"Thanks, ma," Johnny says. Ghost mumbles a "thank you, mam" too, but she just waves him off, almost offended.

"Ye get better and then ye'll get to "mam" me again. Wake me up if ye need something."

"I'll take care of it. Go to sleep, ma, love ye," - Soap takes the tray, and she leaves.

He takes a shit load of pills. Like the max safe dose he can in one go. The milk is warm and tastes nice, but drinking it all means having to sit upright for a bit, and that sucks major balls now, so he lays back down and closes his eyes. Soap's hands are back on his head, rustling his hair, but he shuffles away.

"It hurts, Johnny."

"It's ok. I'm only trying to help ye." Soap pauses.

"Ye know, that's how mum used to make it for me when I was a wee lad. The milk. Made me a cup now, too."

"It's good."

"Missed that more than I thought."

Soap still stays with him for the night.

It gets even worse by sunrise. Ghost honestly thought there was a limit to it, but it reveals him new fucking shades of suffering. He's fading in and out, sees Soap sometimes. Sometimes he's alone. At some point he really hopes he won't wake up again, because waking up hurts so much he cries in the pillow. The curtains are closed, but the thin strip of light that gets through them is searing, as if it tries to burn itself in the back of his scull. He loses track of time.

In one of this quick bits Soap helps him to get to the bathroom. He doesn't remember how he ends up in bed again. Next time he wakes up Soap's there, but he's got two more guys with him, Ghost doesn't know them. He tries to ask Johnny, but the question refuses to form. Soap still gets him.

"Doctors," he says. "A family friend and his friend. Yer OK, Si, I trust them. You can trust them too."

Ghost would have said a thing or two about trust, but he's so overwhelmed with pain he decides it can wait. And he really does need help, and Johnny's sorting his mess for him the best he can.

"We'll do what you usually get," tells him one of them slowly, making sure he follows him. "And we'll leave a note for you so your doctor knows."

Ghost nods. It doesn't take too long before an IV is set up, they double check the dose and let it run.

"We don't have all the equipment, so we'll make do with what we got, and check on you every now and again. If you feel any metallic taste in your mouth, let us know."

He nods again. Johnny doesn't let him pass out, talks to him, asks him stupid questions. At first it feels like a torture, but then the pain becomes slightly duller, and it's easier to stay awake, even though he's exhausted beyond measure.

"I really contemplated getting ye a vet to get yer meds. The stuff is heavily controlled, these guys could easily lose their licence for what they're doing," Soap tells him. "And the vet's got the same thing, so I thought we could pretend yer legally a horse, and write it off like that."

Ghost chuckles. Then he realises doing so no longer hurts. One of the guys runs him through usual checks quickly - pulse ox, blood pressure, heart rate - and leaves him be again.

"I even came up with a name and the description," Soap continues," Would ye mind to be a black bay stallion called Riley?"

Simon glares at him in response.

"The alternative was," Soap's losing it now, really, he laughs so hard he tears up, "50 rabbits in a trenchcoat. Or like about 10 dogs that needed an emergency surgery on the same fucking day."

"I'd rather be a horse," - Ghost finally manages. The IV is definitely working, from a neverending flow of pain it turned into waves that come and go, and it's so, so much better already. His brain still feels like mush, but at least he can talk again.

"Scared the shit outta me, Si," Soap confesses. "These guys are legally treating me dad for a bout of back pain, yer not gonna be on any records. Called Price, too, they needed to know what ye were on and shit."

"He's on break."

"Ye, I figured he likes ye alive. It only took a couple phone calls from him. He does wanna talk with ye when we're back."

That can't be good. He's too tired to care about it now, though.

"I wasn't gonna die from that," he retorts.

"It looked like ye were," - says Johnny way too seriously. "OK, I see yer getting better, the attitude's back, can I punch ye now?"

"How long I was out?"

"It's 31st today. Nearly two days, three if we count the first evening."

"Fuck. I'm so sorry."

He can't tell if Johnny's annoyed with him or sad, but he has a weird expression on his face.

"Yer a complete wanker, Si, sometimes I hate ye so much."

"Thank you," - Ghost says, and opens his arms for a hug. He desperately needs it, and it seems like Johnny does need one, too. After all of what Ghost had put him through. Came with him, ruined his break with his family, made him worry and find him fucking IV ketamine from nowhere. He didn't even have any of the rescue meds with him. Great job, Simon, really outdid yourself with this one.

But Johnny does hug him, and the hug doesn't hurt at all, so Ghost just pulls him on the bed and hugs him tighter, almost afraid to let go. As if something would break if he did. Johnny doesn't let go either. They stay like that, in silence, until the infusion setup starts beeping.

After he's done, they make him drink some water and tell him to rest. He really feels a lot better, the residual high from ketamine doesn't feel remotely as confusing as the brain fog was. He's still not perfectly steady on his feet, but that'll do.

He even joins the family for the New Year Eve. Mrs McTavish practically forces him under a plead on the sofa. "I can see how pale ye are even through the mask!"

He tries to apologise again for the mess he had caused, and gets scolded for the attempt by the rest of them. And Johhny adds to it, the traitor. He really loses in numbers, and under the joint assault of McTavish clan, he has to concede. Not his fault, they say, he didn't spoil anything, he's fine, and they're happy to have him.

Anyway, in the end Ghost gets a plate of festive food, and he gets to hang out a little, and to rest close to the warmth of the chimney, and when the littles come to cuddle him, he thinks that he really doesn't deserve Johnny. And all the people Johnny brings alongside him.

But Soap thinks different. Soap sees Simon falling asleep at his parents' couch, and his nephews passed out snuggling him, and thinks that's the best fucking thing that happened to him in a while. Even if that thing is a stubborn bastard of a guy that doesn't know when to take a break.

~~~

"Will ye be back for Easter?" Mum asks him.

"Dinnae. I'll try."

"Bring yer friend again if he wants. He's a good lad, and wee bairns like him."

Oh.

~~~

P.S. about the talk.

It's not a discharge yet, but Price will enforce stricter rules on him (now it's not "just tell me if you're feeling off", it's "every time it's even a little off, you tell me", which leaves him no room to cover things up), and they will account for it more when missions are planned. And he has to have rescue meds on him at all times from now on.

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

I Did Something Bad 

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~2.9k

Summary: Wanda takes out another criminal that’s crossed into her territory.

A/N: I realized that we don’t have many (any) fics about Wanda actually doing something really illegal. Or at least nothing like this 

Warnings: mentions of rape, murder, feigned infidelity and injury 

Wanda wouldn’t admit that she did a bad thing. Despite how tonight had played out, she was satisfied with the outcome given it had been her ultimate goal after all. She didn’t like that her face hurt from where she’d been struck, but she supposed it was a small price to pay for what she was able to accomplish tonight.

“Wanda?”

She was about to find out the true cost of tonight’s outing now that you knew she was back. She takes a moment to remember why she’d gone to all of this trouble to make this happen in the first place. She’d emphasize these points as she answers your many questions.

“Hey, detka.”

Wanda walks into your rooms at the compound to see that you’re sitting on the couch watching something. She had expected you to be asleep by now, but she figures you were just having trouble sleeping. This happened sometimes when she worked late and despite you only telling her about half the time it happened, Wanda knew what signs to look for the next morning.

Closing the door behind her, Wanda heads over to you with a smile as she notices what you’re watching. She leans in to kiss you despite the look on your face as you notice her angry, reddened cheek.

“What happened to you Wands?!”

You look horrified as you examine the injury that looks a lot like a fist print that definitely wasn’t there when your wife left. You frown as Wanda sits down beside you with a sigh before she reaches out to pause one of her favorite shows so she can have your full attention.

“It’s actually a long story.”

Wanda had been planning this hit for nearly four months. When she’d first been considering how to go about it, she hadn’t been directly involved. She’d believed that her involvement would ultimately cause too much suspicion for things to be successful, and with the least amount of collateral bloodshed possible. She’d gone through nearly a dozen scenarios to get this guy alone and then vulnerable enough to kill him. The first 6 seemed too unrealistic, given what Wanda knew about the target. He was egotistical, rude and perverse, but unfortunately, he was plenty paranoid enough to not be considered harmless.

Not to mention this lowlife had raped and murdered 5 women in the past 6 months. The only reason he was on Wanda’s radar was because he’d been stupid enough to come to her territory to seek out his targets. After he’d dared to target one of her own, she decided that her involvement was no longer an option. She had him tailed for a while and she even observed him a couple of times to figure out what he was like.

He went by Zach but the way he said it and offered his name so easily told Wanda that it was just a cover. She hadn’t even bothered to figure out his real name before she decided that he needed to die. Watching him for only an hour had made her get so mad she had to drink a good deal to hide how flushed she was getting listening to his ridiculous pick up lines and sexist comments.

He liked to go after the smart types. The women who were obviously educated, but that he could still feel smarter than. He liked when they tried to outsmart him, and it was easy for Wanda to pick up on the fact that he had a pretty serious kink for someone who challenged him. This discovery was as important as it was disturbing, and she was sure to keep this in mind as she developed her persona.

She’d recently dyed her hair blonde and despite nearly giving you a heart attack, not many people reacted to the change. This is what she wanted because she quickly realized that she wasn’t recognized as readily with this hair. She was known to have red or brown hair, and despite liking those two colors better, her blonde hair had served her well.

She’s eventually ‘wandered’ in to the club one night when Zach was already there and reluctantly walked over to the bar. She ordered a drink and sat down a few stools away from him, but she’d caught his attention immediately. It only took him a few minutes to realize who she was, and despite this, as she’d hoped, he came to talk to her.

“Why Mrs. Maximoff. Why on Earth are you here?”

The ‘persona’ she’d created was less of an actual persona and more of a story she’d created to try and convince Zach that her presence here wasn’t completely out of the blue. She hated to pretend like this, but she also really hated this man and wanted him to die. If she was able to kill him it would make her charade worth it. 

So she sighs quietly before she shoots him a curious look, as if she doesn’t know who he is. He’s dressed like he usually is when he’s on the prowl, and Wanda had to stop herself from gagging at his too strong cologne.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

She holds up her drink that’s diluted so she doesn’t actually get drunk before draining the rest of it. She makes eye contact with the bartender silently requesting another. Once she gets a nod, she turns back to the man who looks unamused and Wanda has to hold back the urge to laugh at him. He’s so insecure it almost makes her feel embarrassed for him.

Zach regards her carefully and she just studiously ignores him while she receives her next drink that she’s already sipping from. There’s enough alcohol in it that she can taste it, but not enough to really do much to her. She needs to keep a clear mind for what comes next. Zach is wondering why she’s here at all, let alone drowning herself in drinks. He’s seen her here a couple of times recently, but he figured that was on business, not for any other reason. However, seeing her here now drinking and scowling at nothing in particular, he can’t help but wonder what else there might be going on in her life.

“You changed your hair.”

It’s not a question, more of an observation so Wanda doesn’t bother responding until she receives a near glare from the brunette who clearly doesn’t like being ignored. She knew this, but then again, she could have guessed it given the fact that he was just another male vying for her attention.

“Astute observation.”

Wanda sets her glass down with a little more force than necessary as she turns to the brunette who’s still staring at her.

“Well, Mrs. Maximoff, it looks like you’re trying to drown yourself in expensive liquor.”

Wanda doesn’t even listen to the last half of his sentence she just shakes her head before glowering at him in annoyance.

“Don’t call me that. I’m barely married anymore.”

She’d decided not to tell you about her plans to murder Zach. They would worry you and quite frankly you wouldn’t like having to hear that your wife was claiming to have relationship troubles. She’d needed to think of something believable, and not too dramatic to tell Zach to lure him in. He probably knew very little about you, which is how she liked it, but this could be a good and a bad thing.

In this case, Wanda believes it could work in her favor because the less Zach knows the easier it will be to sell this story. She hasn’t thought of anything too elaborate, but she’s hoping it will do the trick and fool him. She sees his reaction to her words out of the corner of her eye as she finishes her drink, and she shakes her head with a quiet sigh.

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

Wanda’s searching for the bartender when Zach shoots her a small smile. He wasn’t sure what he expected when he came over here to greet the mob boss, but he was pleasantly surprised by what he found. Besides drinking herself sick, maybe she’d be up for some company. He was certain he could be better company than a half dozen drinks. He turns in his seat so he’s facing Wanda and giving her all of his attention.

“Why not? Because it’s not true or you’re still in denial?”

Wanda doesn’t expect him to say this and she glares at him as her hopefully last drink of the night is set in front of her. She grabs it blindly before shaking her head again and focusing on something other than the murderer and his cologne.

“I’m not talking about this with you.”

She focuses on her drink for a bit before as she considers how she’d really feel in a situation like this. The two of you rarely fought. Sure, sometimes you bickered or had disagreements, but you were able to work it out in the end. The idea of either of you doing something that would cause you to split up was too much to think about. She knew that you were it for her, and she’d fight to stay together until you gave her no choice. Imagining your expression and the fictional goodbye you shared before she ended up here makes her tear up a little. She goes to wipe her eyes but the feeling of a hand on her thigh makes her stop short. She turns back to Zach prepared to slap his hand away but the look in his eyes tells her all she needs to know.

She’s got him.

Zach is smiling when he sees Wanda start to cry. She seems upset and he can’t help but want to take advantage of this opportunity. He tries to look sincere as he asks her if he can help, and he watches happily as her anger disappears and her face softens at his words.

“Is there anything I can do to distract you?”

Wanda suppresses the shudder at the feeling of him touching her. She realizes this is just the beginning and she’s going to have to do better than this to distract him long enough. She has to dissociate a bit and pretend like she’s talking to you when she speaks up. Her mind briefly flashes back to a time when you two roleplayed a similar situation and she finally smiles as she imagines you sitting next to her with a beautiful smile.

“There is something you could do for me.”

Wanda is still trying to pretend like she’s dragging you to the bathroom instead of a wanted killer, but as she’s shoved roughly through the men’s bathroom any illusion she has shatters. She gasps as he squeezes her hips uncomfortably before he’s kissing her again. She briefly wishes she’d enlisted someone else for this job, but she is so close already that she can almost taste it.

“God you’re so hot. Your wife’s an idiot.”

Wanda tries to ignore what he says but she groans under her breath at the stupid comment. She lets him slobber on her neck for a bit before she lifts her hands to shove him away. He stumbles and shoots her an angry look that she ignores as she walks over to the counter and jumps up beside the sink. She crosses her legs as she leans against the mirror with a sigh. She feels the paper towel holder on the counter behind her and she smiles at the seething brunette.

“What’s taking you so long. Get over here.”

Despite hating being told what to do, he can’t resist the urge to get his hands on her again. In two steps he’s reaching out to uncross her legs and step in between them with a growl. Wanda hisses as Zach tugs on her hair to pull her head back to meet him for another enthusiastic kiss. Wanda mostly pays attention to where his hands are and she shifts uncomfortably when she feels his hand slip up her inner thigh. She stiffens and reaches down to grab his hand but he pushes it away before pushing her against the mirror.

Wanda’s breath hitches as Zach pushes against her neck and steals her breath. She releases his hand between her legs so she doesn’t fall as she reaches behind her carefully. Zach’s glaring at her and he’s so close that Wanda can feel his breath on her lips.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t want it, slut.”

Wanda grits her teeth as she feels for something behind her with a deep breath. She offers him a smile that he doesn’t see through before she speaks up in a low voice.

“You really have no idea how much.”

Zach doesn’t get a chance to reach any further up her leg before Wanda shoves him away from her. He doesn’t go far, but that’s okay because it gives her enough space to bring the gun that’s in her hand from behind her back. She points it at him and his angry expression quickly turns terrified as he realizes he’s been tricked. Wanda smiles as she takes a deep breath before aiming low.

When she shoots him the first time he doubles over and howls in pain as she jumps off of the counter with a smile. She raises her gun to shoot him again, this time aiming to kill, when the door flies open and she jumps in surprise. She still shoots Zach but she doesn’t get to watch him fall to the ground before she has to focus her attention on the two men who are running at her. She curses under her breath and only manages to shoot one before the other punches her in the face sending her reeling.

She is thrown against one of the stalls and she drops her gun as another hand tightens around her throat. Wanda glares at who she assumes is Zach’s bodyguard before she stomps on his foot and knees him in the crotch. She watches as he falls into the sinks when she kicks him again, and she looks around for her dropped gun.

“After shooting him, I called the police and left.”

You’re staring at your wife with wide eyes as you try to wrap your mind around her convoluted murder plot. You’d heard Wanda talk about the guy to Steve one day when she hadn’t realized you were in the room, so you knew how horrible the man was. That said, you’d never heard details of what Wanda did for work, and hearing that she committed a murder, well three, tonight was a little daunting. If you were a person who was overly concerned with the law, and ethics you supposed, you’d be mad that Wanda had taken matters into her own hands. However, at the moment you were more concerned about your wife, and you reach out for her cheek stopping short of touching her as you examine the bruise.

“Is anyone going to come after you for this?”

Wanda didn’t think that this is the first thing you were going to ask, but she’s pleasantly surprised. She smiles before shaking her head and telling you that Zach worked alone, minus his bodyguards, and if anything she’d have people thanking her for this. She didn’t expect that, and she’d mostly done this because she wanted to, but if asked she’ll say that freeing her territory from a predator was her main motivation.

“No, detka. I can’t imagine that anyone cares he’s gone.”

You think about everything that Wanda’s told you. Her plot, the murder, but most of your focus is on the fact that Wanda had to let this creep touch her. You look to your wife with a frown, but you can’t notice any part of her body that’s marred except her face. You try not to think about how far Wanda had to let him go before she could kill him, but you have to ask or it will drive you crazy.

“Did he...? You let him touch you?”

You can’t say it without scowling, but luckily Wanda’s quick to shake her head. She tells you that besides feeling up her leg he didn’t get a chance to do anything else. You frown at the thought but decide to believe her and you sigh in annoyance.

You think about this for a minute before you turn to the television to turn it off. It’s late and you’d like to go to sleep, but you’re picking up on a gross cologne that you’d like off of your wife before she gets into bed. You decide to not dwell on how close this guy got to your wife, and instead focus on the obvious disgust in Wanda’s voice as she explained it all.

“Good. I’m proud of you, Wands. But let’s get you cleaned up. You stink.”

Wanda rolls her eyes, but smelling her hair she confirms that she smells of booze, sweat, and cologne. She stands up to follow you to the bedroom and she smiles as you grab her hand and pull her through the door with a pointed look.

“Next time though, figure out something that doesn’t involve him slobbering on you.”

With a spectacular eye roll, Wanda just nods before following you to the bathroom. With any hope, she won’t be in a situation like this ever again.

“Whatever you say, Y/n.”

Masterlist

[ask-spooky-manor]

What are everyone’s opinions on physical touch? For example, I don’t really like people touching me because it “hurts”, but some people can with permission, and one very special person doesn’t need to ask my permission, (within reason, obviously I mean nothing inappropriate.)

Gonna write these as headcanons cause I actually have a lot to say lol

Going from most touch adverse to most physically affectionate.

EJ: Strongly dislikes physical contact. It’s just always something he hated, especially if it happens without his consent like someone suddenly putting a hand on his shoulder. There are rare times where he can cuddle up with Natalie, but he needs to be the one to initiate it.

Ben: Also not a fan mainly due to sensory issues. As anon said, this actually applies to Ben as they occasionally find even the simplest touch painful. That’s not always the case and unlike Jack, they’re fine if someone were to like suddenly pat their back or give a hug or something.

Slender: It’s less that he dislikes physical touch and more he worries how someone else would feel about touching him. His body was morphed because of a curse, and he doesn’t like how monstrous he looks. He’s anxious and self conscious and assumes someone would be disgusted with having some sort of physical contact with him. (He has grown a little touch starved because of it).

Tim: He’s not the most physically affectionate person. Do not expect him to offer a hug or lean his head on your shoulder or what have you. He is, however, used to receiving a lot of physical affection. Brian is always leaning against him in some way, and Toby tends to cling onto Tim like a koala. His step siblings have also always been handsy but more in a way to annoy him like shoving him or pinching his arm. The point is that touch no longer bothers him, but he’s not quick to do it himself.

Sally: She’s the opposite of Tim in the fact that she loves to give a lot of physical affection but can occasionally be a bit hesitant on receiving it. The important rule is that someone can’t just hold her hand or give her a hug. They need to wait and see if she’s okay with the contact, which she normally is. She’s a kid who has a lot of love to give, but also one you need to remember to be a little cautious with.

Natalie: She’s honestly just chill when it comes to both giving and receiving affection. Like Tim, it comes from the fact that her two best friends are incredibly physically affectionate, so she’s used to it. How much she’s willing to give is based on the person tbh. With someone like EJ, she understands his dislike of touch so she’s very hands off. With someone like Toby, she can be as huggy and cuddly as him.

Jeff: He doesn’t seem to realize this about himself, but Jeff seems to be the kind of guy who always needs to be leaning against someone or holding their hand or just have contact with them in some way. It’s never really obvious. Like when he and Nat are on the couch and leaning against each other, or when he rests his legs over Ben’s lap while the two are playing a game together. It’s just this unconscious desire to be having contact with someone he cares about.

Jane: Similar to Jeff, a blasphemous thing to say. Only difference is she’s more conscious about it. She actively is one to reach out to pat your hand or back. She’s also a kisser as in she simply likes to give cheek kisses. It’s how people great each other in Mexico sometimes, so she’s more accustomed to that. Obviously won’t do it if the other person isn’t okay with it.

Brian: Also similar to Jeff and Jane in the fact that he’s naturally a touchy person. As mentioned, he leans on Tim a lot. He also likes to put his arm around people’s shoulders as kinda like a way to show that he’s there if the person needs them. He’s also one of the few who tends to accidentally overstep boundaries. Not out of any malicious intent obviously but more from him not noticing how touchy he is with others. He will back off once it’s brought up.

Nina: Good lord, this girl is extremely affectionate. Sometimes it’s to the annoyance of others (Jeff). Like Brian, she has a bad tendency to overstep but will back off when told to. The difference is she really likes showing affection through touch and forgets not everyone feels the same way. She’s a big hugger. It’s how she greets all of her friends. If she doesn’t hug you that’s how you know she doesn’t like you.

Toby: Finally there’s Toby who needs physical contact with someone at all times or he will die! Tim is the receiver of most of these interactions from hugs to cuddles to sitting in his lap to, again, being clung onto like a koala. He’s not the only one. Toby is like that with Jeff, Nat, Brian, Jane, Slender, even people who are supposed to be the enemy but dammit he needs that hug! He was someone who was extremely touch starved only to learn what he was missing, and now it’s like he’s making up for lost time.

[jungle321jungle]

Something Worth Stealing: Five

“What do you think?”

Truthfully Virgil was terrified at the very prospect. There was a reason each nanny didn’t last long, and Virgil had heard enough horror stories about the Ackroyd boys to avoid them at all costs when he had worked in the past. Hell the only reason he still got some to come in now and then was because the job was so high paying. Mr. Ackroyd knew exactly what he was doing advertising with all those zeroes, he was reeling in any nanny who would skip talking to peers at the sight. And now by some twist of fate that very bait was dangling above Virgil, and even worse there wasn’t anyway he could feasibly afford to ignore it. A sigh escaped his lips as he looked the man in the eye, “I think it is more than a generous offer that I would be happy to accept.”

(Virgil becomes the newest nanny for his very attracti- for Logan.)

Ao3 - Previous Parts - Masterlist

Five

Virgil was burning up. He wasn’t sick or anything, but the nerves surrounding this date had every nerve on fire to the point he was surprised he hadn’t melted into a puddle. Was it possible to get heat stroke while blasting AC in a car? If not, he’d likely be the first victim of such insanity. There was just too much riding on tonight. Sure, romance was on the line- but more than that, his job was on the line, and so were his relationships with Logan’s sons. 

Because what if he did something so horribly stupid tonight that left Logan’s fancy suit covered in fancy dinner? Surely, he’d be fired on the spot. And just like that, no job. No money. He wouldn’t see the twins or Patton. Janus would lose some friends. Janus would never get his own room. He’d-

“Are you okay?”

The deafening silence that was swirling around Virgil began to splinter at the sound of his nephew’s voice. Glancing in the rearview, he could see that Janus had looked up from the book he had been reading- was it too dark to be reading that now? The sun was beginning to set, so he shouldn't be straining his eyes. Virgil opened his mouth to tell his nephew so when he saw Janus frown, “So you’re not okay.”

“No-no! I’m fine. I’m fine! I was just going to say you should stop reading for now. But I’m fine!”

“You said that three times.”

“Because it’s three times the truth.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, yes, um… it doesn’t matter. I'm fine, Janus.”

“No, you’re not. Are you worried about your date?”

“A- a little- just the tiniest bit. It’s been a while since I was even on a date.”

“Was that with the guy who cheated on you?”

“W-what? What?” Virgil sputtered. 

“When I talked to Mom this morning, I told her you were going on a date. And then she said that the last guy was really mean, and he cheated on you, and he made you cry. So she said it’s now my job to watch out for you ‘cause sometimes you have bad taste like she does. But Mr. Logan is nice, so I don’t think you need to be nervous.”

Virgil gave a long and heavy sigh before he couldn’t help but smile, “Well, I’m always grateful to have you on my side, Jan… But what else did your mom say about me? Or my past boyfriends?”

“Nothing really,” Janus shrugged (to Virgil’s relief). “Just that you should take her advice more.”

Virgil gave a frown and mumbled to himself, “Did she tell you she’s a hypocrite too?” 

“What’s that mean?” 

Apparently, Janus had good hearing. Good to know. “I’ll tell you later,” Virgil said, pulling into Logan’s driveway. “For now, let’s head inside.”

Inside the home, Virgil found Logan in the family room talking with three other staff members, likely talking about watching the children for the evening… Virgil wished them luck. Upon realizing their arrival, Logan turned to grave Virgil with a small, slight, barely there smile, which somehow made Virgil’s knees feel like goo. He was dressed nicely (as always)- Logan’s attention snapped back to the few he was speaking to, and hushed voices were heard as they crowded Logan before they abruptly shoved Logan in Virgil’s direction. 

Virgil was about to comment on it, when he noticed that in the second he had turned around Logan’s perfect hairstyle had been messed up the tiniest amount in what was clearly an intentional way. Perhaps those three weren’t discussing babysitting at all, had he asked them for advice? The mental image was one Virgil couldn’t help but smile at. 

“You look nice,” Logan said with a nod. 

“You as well, I-”

“Mr. Logan?” Janus interrupted. 

“What can I do for you, Janus?” Logan asked, redirecting his attention. “If you’re looking for my boys, they’re in Roman’s room.”

“Okay! But first, what’s ‘hypocrite’ mean?”

Virgil gave a heavy sigh as Logan answered the question. “A person who says one thing then does another. Like if I told you to eat your vegetables but I never do. Does that make sense?”

Janus pondered for a moment or two before he nodded and turned to Virgil, “Then my mom’s one for not listening to you but wanting you to listen to her?”

“…She listens sometimes.”

“No, she doesn’t. I’m gonna go upstairs to play. Have fun!”

When his nephew disappeared, Logan let out a slight chuckle, “It sounds like you two are having quite… intellectual conversations.”

Virgil’s huff in reply only made Logan’s smile widen, so he turned away. “Let’s not miss our reservation.”

Dinner did not go as planned. 

Despite arriving at their reservation early- their table had apparently been given away which led to waiting. And upon finally being seated their waiter took the drink and appetizer orders and then promptly ignored their existence. The drinks had eventually found a way to them, but as time passed Virgil had the sneaking feeling that the appetizers would never come. This was only proven correct as the waiter vanished from the floor entirely, and according to the whispers of employees in the dining room- he had left the building entirely. Virgil couldn’t help but want to be a tad nosier, but he caught Logan’s amused gaze. 

“Any more info?” 

Virgil shook his head as he sipped at his near-empty water, “Nothing I can hear from here. But sorry, I forgot what I was saying.”

“I don’t recall myself,” Logan admitted. “I was staring at the couple behind you who received their meal. We have been here far longer than they have.”

“Does the food look good, at least?”

“As hungry as I am, everything does. I neglected to eat lunch today.”

“What? Why?”

“I was distracted by the boys and pulled in different directions. I had to make some calls, and then I had a meeting over Zoom. Ultimately, I didn’t even realize I had missed a meal until I began to get ready. So I simply ate an apple to tide myself over until dinner.”

“That’s not like you at all.”

“I agree. But I digress; how was your day off with Janus?”

“Good, good. I had told him to pick what we would do today, so we ended up at one of those pottery places where kids can paint the pieces. He was very meticulous over a few pieces of dish ware. He wanted a perfect matching set.”

“That’s adorable,” Logan smiled. “I’ve wanted to take my boys to do that, but I have a feeling that Remus would break far more than he’d paint. But he also wouldn’t take kindly to me just taking Roman even if I took him elsewhere.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“What did you paint?”

“I chose a shark piggy bank because… because it was there? Anyway, I made it purple with different colored polka dots because it annoyed Janus.”

“Brilliant reasoning.”

“I think so.”

“You-”

Logan’s words and Virgil’s train of thought flew off the tracks at that moment as a server walked by, holding a tray of dishes that looked beautiful but also smelled divine. 

“As good as that looks, I regret not choosing a place I am familiar with,” Logan frowned. Apologies.”

“Don’t apologize; you had heard good things about it. It seems like this is an off day. And I appreciate the thought process that we could try something new together.”

“Why do I sense a but coming?”

“However,” Virgil started because it was a different word than ‘but.’ “It is clear we are both starving, and it’s also clear that our food will never get here considering we still have menus. So, would it be such a bad idea to go elsewhere? I know a hole-in-the-wall a few blocks away with the best tacos I’ve ever had.”

Logan didn’t speak for the longest moment. Rather, his piercing eyes stared into Virgil’s as he folded his hands and sat up straighter in his seat. And in that moment Virgil couldn’t stop the strike of fear that shot through him as he wondered if he had accidentally insulted his date- if he had offended his boss. Logan had put in all this effort for tonight and yet, Virgil just wanted to throw it away. He opened his mouth to quickly amend his statement, but Logan spoke first. 

“Couldn't you have said that ages ago? Do they have quesadillas?”

Virgil gave a slight sigh of relief, “Real good ones.”

“No point in bothering for the check, it’ll take forever. I’ll leave more than enough cash for the drinks. Lead the way.”

The food was wonderful, and with it in their stomachs, conversation flowed easily. It was almost scary how easily Virgil forgot he worked for Logan. Right now, they weren’t boss and employee; they were just two (severely overdressed) guys on a date, and that was perfect. There was something alluring about just watching Logan be Logan. Just in the way he spoke and expressed himself as if trying to remain reserved but in the same way allowing Virgil to see his true expressions underneath. Virgil had always known how nice it was to listen to Logan speak of his children, but it was just as nice to hear him speak about his life and dreams. And even nicer was how smoothly he came up with ideas on how to integrate Virgil into them. It was a first date unlike any Virgil had been on, and as Logan took his hand as they walked back to the car- Virgil couldn’t have been more thrilled with that fact.

~~~~

All Parts

[youmakemyhearthowl]

Punk Princess

Ao3| Part 1| Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6| Part 7| Part 8 (Next Part)|Part 9 | Part 10

And just like that, a tradition was born. Every Tuesday night, when Hopper was out working the late shift (because apparently Steve lived with him and El what? ) Eddie would come over to the Hopper-Harrington residence and host DnD nights.

This was quite literally killing Eddie. 

“Gareth, dude you don’t understand, now that he’s more healed up than before he’s started walking around in like tank tops and he has a monster tattooed on his fucking arm. I didn’t think he could get any hotter. And, and he is so fucking soft with his sister El, it’s insane. Like a total mom about her and it’s killing me. Gareth I’m dying, I’m dead, I wanna suck his dick so bad” Jeff groans from somewhere in the back of the garage, setting up a few of the amps.

“Eddie I swear to god, I’m going to kill you if you don’t shut up.” Gareth grumbles, slamming a drum stick down on the symbol for emphasis.

“Yesterday he fucking, just sat in my lap on the throne they have for the game set up, because there wasn’t a chair and it took everything in me not to pop a woody right then and there. Have you seen his ass?”  Eddie couldn’t contain the dreamy sigh he let out as Mack cursed him out from somewhere to the left. 

“Wait, you said he had a tattoo?” Jeff perks up leaning his arms on the amp in front of him. Gareth groans.

“Jeff, don’t encourage his behavior.”

“Jeff my man, he has two tattoos, the one on his arm is this super sick art work of some creature whose mouth opens like a flower and it’s just covered in teeth. Will told me he drew it for him and they call it a Demogorgon even though it looks nothing like the actual one in DnD. And there's one on his hip, although I don’t know what it is cause I only saw a little bit of it peaking out once but it looked like flowers or something.”

“Wait Steve knows DnD?” Mack is the one to speak up this time, and Gareth just bangs his head on the drums in front of him.

“Yes!” Eddie shouts, hopping up off the couch he’s on to pace out some of the energy just thrumming under his skin. “Sometimes when we play, he’ll be with the girls like braiding Max’s hair while El braids Robins and he will just, fucking chime in with his knowledge of something or other that’s happening in the campaign. Dustin gets unreasonably attached to whatever Steve recommends too, even if it might be a poor play.” 

“Huh, maybe you should invite him to Hellfire.” It’s Gareth that speaks up this time, a mischievous glint in his eyes that makes Eddie feel a little nauseous.

“No, absolutely not.”

“Eddie come on, you never shut up about the guy, and this way it’d give you another reason to spend time with him. And we wouldn't have to hear you wax poetic about his ass during a campaign.” Jeff offers out, and actually that’s not a bad idea, even though he can see Gareth and Jeff and Mack exchanging sneaky looks out of the corner of his eyes, he thinks they might actually be on to something, Because if Steve comes to Hellfire, he’ll be on Eddies turf, and maybe for once he’ll have the upper hand and get Steve flustered. 

“Alright, yea I’ll do it. I’m gonna ask Steve to join Hellfire.” He nods his head spinning on his heels and scooping up his guitar. “Are we gonna practice or what?” 

He just barely misses getting hit in the face by the drum stick Gareth sends flying at him.

~

Eddie’s absolutely terrified walking into school Thursday morning. He’s got a whole speech planned out to convince Steve to join Hellfire staying up late to prepare and practice it, but he just knows in his gut he’s gonna fumble the execution. 

Gareth comes saddling up next to him as he makes his way down the hall towards the outside bleachers where they usually spend Hellfire’s free period. He knows Robin and Steve are usually out there as well so the conversation is sneaking up on him fast.

“You gonna ask him?” Gareth whispers in his ear, a shit eating grin spreading across his face.

“Obviously.” He knows you can hear the nerves in his voice and Gareth just throws his head back and laughs.

“Alright, good luck.” He offers before skip stepping over to where the rest of Hellfire is sat, and Eddie takes a deep breath, squaring his shoulders as he turns towards where Steve and Robin are.

He fucking flat lines.

Steve's standing on top of the highest part of the bleachers, his battle vest sitting over his black denim jacket open to reveal the soft pastel blue sweater he has underneath, and his arm is outstretched with a long roll of paper, pretending like its a sword or something as he marches back and forth. His hair is spiked slightly today to make it a cross between a traditional mohawk and the fluffy hawk he usually wears it as, and his eyes are lined in a bright blue liner with gray smoke around them. He notices idly that Steve had pierced his other eyebrow to make up for the one Billy had ripped out, and he’d shaved a little extra in the scar where the old one was so he has a slit in his eyebrow now.

Fuck he can’t do this.

Shit why is Steve so fucking hot.

He can hear Gareth and Jeff cackling off to the right as he just stands there, hands in his pockets open mouth gaping at Steve, but he can’t get his feet to move.

“Oi, Munson.” It’s Robin's voice that brings his brain back online, Her hands waving back and forth over her head. “Come here, I need your opinion on something.” And who is Eddie if not too oblige to that demand. So he takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders and saunters his way over to them.

“Okay so Steve thinks he’d be a barbarian in DnD right? But I’m convinced he’s more of a Cleric. What do you think?”

And isn’t this the perfect opening. The universe shinning down on him for the first time in his life, and he’d be stupid if he didn’t grab this opportunity by the balls and run with it.

“Actually, Stevie, I think you’re more of a Paladin.” Steve stumbles slightly on the bench he’s still marching on, hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets now, Eddie can see a soft blush rising to his cheeks. “Like okay, you know how Paladins have their belief and their oath right? Well your oath is totally the kids, or in this case The Party you’d play with. And you’re damn loyal too so you’d bend over backwards to make sure your party stays as safe as they possibly can no matter the quest.” As he talks he sees Steve's cheeks steadily grow redder and redder, scratching the back of his neck and turning his face bashfully. Hook, line.  

Eddie’s on his own turf now, he’s just gotta see if he can drive it home.

“If you wanna try your hand at it, we are starting a new campaign in Hellfire tonight, and you can join. Robin too.” Robin's face lights up, joy mixed with mischief and he wonders if it’s a good idea to actually have her in the same room as Gareth and Jeff. But Steve's eyes are shining a bit as he ambles down the bleacher bench till he's standing almost nose to nose with Eddie.

“You asking me on a date, Munson?” God fucking damn it, this fuckers smooth . Eddie groans internally, because apparently Steve seems to always have the upper hand, and Eddie can't catch a break. Taking a deep breath, Eddie rolls for charisma and leans a little bit closer to Steve, the tips of their noses brushing.

“See if you can even survive the campaign and maybe I’ll think about taking you to dinner, Princess.” Steve’s eyes grow big and he sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth, nodding his head slightly.

And sinker . Eddie’s got him right where he wants him.

Ao3| Part 1| Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6| Part 7| Part 8 (Next Part)|  Part 9 | Part 10

[powertaco]

Vol 9 Spoiler Rant (aka I have waited and thought on it and still dont’ like it/Ranting ahead

I hate Volume 9

I’ll start by saying that upfront so you aren’t shocked or surprised by a conclusion later down the line, and can leave if the notion of disliking it offends you.

I don’t doubt I’ll get many blocks or people who disagree with this take, which is fair since I’m putting the opinion out there and should be able to take it on the chin or stand by it. 

This will contain spoilers for V9, my thoughts on a lot of things, ships, and what not so if you want to turn back now the back button is over yonder.

If it’s disjointed I apologize but I’m not feeling my best, and the longer I think about it the more I dislike it and I’m sick of pretending and being toxically positive about it.

First off I’ll get a few things out of the way as things I approve of. 

The animation has largely grown phenomenally. There’s a few moments that are a little out of it (yo why you got a 3 foot neck Weiss?), but for the most part considering where we came from in the bass on the wall days of Volume 1. Big win here. 

The music. Good work Casey. Red Like Roses 3 is a banger, inside is great, and checkmate is…something. Overall good stuff. 

VA work. Good deal. Rob nails his ‘surprise’ villain as he always nails his roles but people seem to be putting their all into it. No hate here, and these guys clearly brought their A game. Good work!

This volume as a whole is very middling to me, bordering on bad depending on if or how V10 recontextualizes things that happened, which I will try to go into later. 

Essentially if you were a big fan of Bees this might be one of your favorites, but if you’re just kinda neutral to them like me then the volume didn’t have a lot to offer you and didn’t do much to really move the story forward.

Remember when Ambro said don’t fall in V8 like it was a big ominous thing, and remember how it ended up being almost entirely beneficial? Yeah so V9 was like that. Setting up stuff for an instant week to week payoff regardless of if it hurt the story or not cause we need that interest spiked to greenlight V10. 

For a Volume that took so long to make the entire thing is remarkably rushed. 

Why do Ruby and Weiss talk so little? Serious question. Even if you don’t ship them they’re supposed to be canon best friends, and yet they share almost as many lines together in the last few seasons as they do with Ren. In case you were wondering that’s not many. 

We had a reduced cast of characters and almost none of them can actually be bothered to interact meaningfully.

Why does Weiss and everyone keep ditching Ruby except Little? Ruby has a basically perfect assassin after her, and in the market everyone ditches her cause of nose hairs. 

But what can they do against Neo? Nothing, but they could maybe point her out, or talk and help distract her rather than leaving her to her own devices when she’s clearly not feeling well. 

Sometimes having someone there for you can help a lot, but instead we need to have Weiss backslide and the others abandon her so she can be alone to meet the smith. 

This is bad writing. I’m sorry but it is. Had this been Volume 1-3 Weiss? Sure I could buy this, but this is not that Weiss. If you need to have Ruby be alone to meet the smith, work harder. You had years for this. This would have gotten a C at best in a writing class with a see me after class/don’t keep using coincidences like this note attached to it. 

If you’re going to tell me I’m not a professional writer so I can’t critique then that’s asinine. I don’t drive trucks for a living but if I see one ramp off a cliff and into a pit I can tell you that, that guy/gal has messed up.

If Weiss wanted to help cheer on or try to get Bees together then that’s an even worse reason as the aforementioned ASSASSIN is after her partner.

“Oh but Neo wouldn’t attack in a busy market!” My guy do you know Neo “i live only to murder this woman’ AT ALL? There’s an amusing quote I can ascribe to her actions “i will kill as many people as I have to as long as you are one of them!” 

There was a reason the meme, ‘squads that would treat Ruby better’ was going around through volume 9 and even included pictures of villains. 

Blake and Ruby never talk outside of that one scene in V8, and Yang has focused way more on Blake and way less on being a sister. 

I’ve seen people defend her actions as being a target for her sister’s actions when she steps in front of Blake, but please note Yang just let her yell at Weiss and did nothing, until she starts yelling at Blake. 

Yeah, no I’m sorry she lets her have a go at Weiss and then when her girlfriend is getting her feefees hurt then she steps in. Her talking to her sister after the hound was nice (but again prob would have been a decent Weiss moment)

That’s bullshit. Had Yang stepped in or tried to when she was talking to Weiss then I could buy this, but as is it’s just another thing to hold against her. 

The bees eat a lot of screentime. If you’re a bee fan this is great. If you want story progression, this is not. 

The world bends and revolves around them very literally. We need to have a confession bridge show up so they can confess but we can’t get a ‘you have to talk about what’s bothering you’ camp you can’t leave until you talk things out for Ruby?

What are the rules of ever after? Basically w/e so the only reason Ruby can’t get that is cause well we want a breakdown. Again great writing. 

But let’s talk about it. Ruby has a breakdown. She complains there’s no time for her. It’s tragic because she’s put a lot of stuff on her own shoulders and internalized it. 

Good acting here, even from Jaune. 

Weiss puts out a hand and she flies away. 

When our heroes next see her she’s drank suicide tea. You can claim after the fact that ascension isn’t that (but i’m sorry that’s how it’s framed and the whole zooming into Yang’s eye thing is explicitly treated like it’s meant to be a big deal and get people talking)

Tragic truly, but you know what she believes in herself now, and now she’s all better. Her depression and desire to die are gone. I don’t know how it helps with Salem, as I’d be willing to bet Summer also believed in herself but it didn’t seem to help her much. If they go more into this in V10 I will retract this and accept it but I’m not in the mood to be forgiving to them atm.

Also again right after Ruby ‘kills’ herself they stop to help Jaune…just I’m sorry what?

Jaune still takes up too much time and serves a role that’s almost not needed and I don’t even hate or dislike him. His interesting development is stripped away at the end. 

By deaging Jaune now they can’t explain where they were with any real proof. A few scroll pics of a weird cat thing isn’t going to cut it. 

He has a few gray stripes and will likely go back to acting like he normally does and other than Nora ragging him about them once or twice will likely not be mentioned again. He may on occasion get to say something ‘wise’ but I’m doubting it since he went back to being the same almost right away. 

So rather than an aged, mature, and slightly damaged man going back and having to relate to his friends/people he knew he’s the same. Awesome development. 

Plus side is that now that deaging is canon DWR can still win! Anyway he takes entirely too much focus away. 

Ruby complains about how they have no time cause they have to help Jaune, and what do they do almost instantly after she ‘kills’ herself? Stop and help Jaune. It’s tonal whiplash. 

I get that JNPR are supposed to be deuteragonist but holy hell almost all the time goes to Jaune who is by far the least interesting of the bunch imo even with all the time dumped into him. 

Can we get more Ren and Nora? This could have been a good way for Nora to ‘learn’ who she is without Ren. 

If Nora had fallen(say off her hammer into the void at the start from Cinder during the scuffle with Penny in the air) and they met a wizened Nora who tried to act chipper but was clearly putting up a front it would be a great foil/combo with Ruby. 

It would also make her reuniting with Ren and being ready for a relationship in the next volume all the sweeter. 

We spend an episode on the red prince. Neat. You know what would have been better for it? Almost anything else, say perhaps after Ruby’s ‘suicide’ they spend a few frantic minutes trying to get to the tree until they see the reincarnated paper pleasers and then are like oh, ok so she’ll prob come back/be alright instead of just ‘we did what we can’. 

Girl I love you Weiss but you all did jack shit. You made one half hearted effort and stopped, and then every time Ruby might have gotten to talk they needed to help Jaune or something interrupted. 

Good work being the best partner ever by the way especially when Ruby spends a large portion of the volume helping you with all your problems and rushing to your side without a bit of hesitation and in return you muster up…about nothing. 

They did it in genlock and did it twice in this volume and arguably with Penny/Vine last volume. “Suicide is great!” Please stop doing this. 

Speaking of Penny if you like her you might want to get CRWBY to be pallbearers at your funeral so they can let you down one last time. 

If you liked Nuts’ and Dolts even more condolences. They’d have many chances to imply deeper feelings than friendship between them and take none of them. Her farewell song is called Friend where she talks about being friends with Ruby. 

During the fight with her clones, the Penny clone never once says she loves her. This is Neo, mouse killer and person with the largest hateboner for Ruby in the show. 

She is twisting the knife as much as she can so you can bet if she thought there was even an inkling there was more than friendly feelings between them she’d have had the clone say she loved her just to do that little bit more mental damage, but she didn’t. 

If there was ever a time to bring it up to put her off balance it was now. Neo is under no pressure and has no reason to not do so, so it basically sinks the ship. Well more than her being dead already does. 

I swear to god if they go to Vacuo and Pietro is in a coma or dead and there’s a new Penny I’m going to call Akira Toriyama and tell him RWBY is aping Dragon Ball because there’s no stakes in life or death anymore. 

Oh right, speaking of Neo she’s pretty ok until the end where she decides she’s cool with Ruby, gets to get the kill on the cat and then just bows out and leaves, and everyone is…strangely cool with that. 

Ascension or not I’m just struggling to think that any of them should just want her to essentially get away scot free. This woman tried to kill Ruby or get her to commit suicide and killed Little and we’re cool with letting her go because she killed the cat who was no longer a threat to them and did a hat doff? Um…yeah sure. I bet Yang is ok with people almost killing her sister, Weiss her best friend, etc. Then again maybe these versions of the characters are. 

I don’t care much about how ascension will change her; she's paid for nothing she’s done. “Get your revenge and you’ll get it and still get away scoTt free’. Ok last of us two. 

I can not overstate how pointless the suicide feels. 

It feels like they wanted her to do it, but have it not ‘take’ or have consequences because they’re in ever after and can say ‘hey the ascension thing fixes it’. 

Look, I'm glad the bees got together. Really I’m happy for you, but if you take out the Bee stuff, and the pining you’re left with a threadbare story that is only barely there since it’s all resolved in about five minutes. 

We all deserve better than that. The characters deserve better than that. 

I could keep going as this just scratches the surface level but it’s pissing me off to keep thinking about it. 

[eff-plays]

Obviously I can't prove it, but I'm not the same anon from the BG3 Fandom Critical blog!

Alrighty! In that case, here's my response to your second message!

And also the BG3 fandom critical anon, you're welcome to read this too, I have a small bit specifically for you at the end, since I assume you read my blog.

I mean there are definitely freakos and weirdos who will use any reason to morally justify their irrational (or sometimes somewhat rational) hatred for a character, in any fandom. And there are definitely crusaders who will try to use social justice in order to justify being an absolute shithead online. Personally I'm not really interested in arguing with those people or their stances or offering them more nuance than I already have, mainly because to them it doesn't really matter.

Like this blog isn't for people who send death threats over fictional character takes. Full stop. Doesn't matter if I agree with the cause itself. Like your brain is so fried at that point that I do not see any reason to engage with you. And tbh anon I suggest you do the same! Not in a condescending way, I just genuinely think that throwing those sorts of people out of your thoughts will actually improve your brain space. Don't waste precious mental effort on trying to understand or reason with people who aren't interested in a conversation.

Sure there are people who will use Wyll's treatment to moralize about their own hatred for Astarion. I'm sure those people exist. And I think it's hella cringe to make the mistreatment and neglect of a Black character entirely about a white character, who is only a symptom of a larger issue. But I think if they're at the point where they're sending death threats, then writing out essays about how Astarion is totally a soft boy, trust me, isn't gonna help change their mind. So I won't do that. Le shrug etc.

This all being said, I also think that a lot of the people who are sick of Astarion and do feel that a lot of fans might step into Wyll's "territory" with their portrayal of him feel this way for a reason. Like, especially for Black fans, I'm sure these opinions come from a very real place of hurt, and it's not my place to tell them they're wrong to feel that way or express their frustration. If they're sick of what they perceive is fandom portraying Astarion as a white Wyll stand-in, I'm not in any position to tell them otherwise because I do not have the same perspective as they do. Like yeah maybe they are incorrect in their perception or interpretation of Astarion as a character, but me imposing my own view of him onto them is less important to me than respecting their pain and experiences, ya know? I'm not here to convince them to like a guy who's lowkey a magnet for the cringiest motherfuckers a fandom could ask for. It's not my struggle and I will not make it my struggle.

Obviously anyone who sends death threats is a freako and weirdo and I want nothing to do with them. But I don't think the overlap between those two groups is quite as large as it seems, and it would be disengenuous to claim that (not that I'm saying you're doing it, only that we shouldn't be doing it).

I'm also not here to absolve every Astarion fan of accusations of racism. Obviously don't send death threats over a headcanon, but I can't make a blanket statement that all Soft!Astarion fans are coming up with headcanons that aren't racist or that don't accidentally or intentionally portray him closer to Wyll than to himself. I have no way of knowing that, and I'm in no position to make that judgment even if I did know.

All I can say is: Don't debate or offer nuance to people who send death threats. They're beyond that. They're brain-broken. That's it. That's my one hard stance.

Anyway I also don't think Astarion would offer Tav flowers. Don't care enough to send death threats to whoever does though. Because I am. Normal.

Adding in a small comment for the anon on BG3 fandom critical:

Obviously, once again, don't take the words of death-threat-sending freaks into any sort of consideration, but pretending that anyone who makes these criticisms is a death-threat-sending freak would also be dishonest. Try to understand where these criticisms come from, even if you don't agree, and try to make a judgment on whether defending your fave is worth the same as people expressing real hurt over their real-world oppression being reflected in art they enjoy for escapism. It's just a bit silly to go "And now I'm going to commit the greatest sin of them all" over a pretty popular headcanon and then inviting people to send you death threats like you're Jesus dying on the cross. C'mon man.

[skylarmoon71]

Leonardo (TMNT2014/2016): Short Story- Chapter 4 - Final

It's been about a week.

You miss Leo, but his words hurt. Did he really think you were just some airhead? You would not have survived this long if you were.

The world is a harsh place. Leo more than anyone knows that. So why was he acting like you didn't understand? Like you were oblivious to the truly terrible things out there. He couldn't have truly believed that you were this trusting with everyone.

You're not an idiot.

"I'm still a male you know. Stop being so casual about this. You need to be more careful."

Your face colors at the memory.

You aren't ignorant to that either.

You like Leo.

As a friend and..maybe something more.

There's a part of you that hoped he kept coming back because he returned your feelings. That his scoldings were just a way of looking out for you.

That deep down he really did care.

The knock on your glass makes you jump, and you look up.

Leo pushes the window open as he steps inside.

You gulp, unsure if you should be standing or sitting. You shuffle around for a moment. You settle for the latter.

When he's fully upright, he shows hesitation.

The air is a bit heavy for obvious reasons. You offer him a seat which he takes. Neither or you really speak for a while.

It's tough finding the words.

"I don't see you as a pet."

You finally get out.

Leo glanced at you from his seat.

"I just got excited. There's a bunch of us out there in the world. When I decided I wanted to live with humans, I guess there was a sort of stigma. A lot of them think that this way of life is seen as an escape because we don't appreciate our own species, but that isn't true. I've just always been intrigued with life above the water. I thought that I could do the most good this way, both in my world and theirs. It just gets lonely sometimes being the only one."

With your hand pressed into the cushions of your couch, you fidget with the patterns.

Leo wears a soft smile.

Reaching over, he places his hand over your own. You look up at the gesture and his expression causes a stream of butterflies to erupt in your stomach.

"I shouldn't have been so harsh. I was just worried about you. I didn't want anyone taking advantage of you. I was treating you like a kid when you have more experience out there than I do. My brothers and I, we've spent our entire lives hiding from the world. Master Splinter always said that there would be people who would exploit us. I just got a bit protective."

It was really sweet to know that he cared so much.

"Thanks for looking out for me. I guess you're not entirely wrong. I could be a little more careful. Usually I'm guarded like fort knox, but with you I just.."

You pause, and His eyes search yours as you try to find the words.

"I just feel safe when you're around. Like I can trust you with anything.."

It's crazy.

You've known him for two months at best.

"I should be flattered then." He replies.

His hand tightens just a little, and you're a little more aware when he moves closer. His hand slides against your cheek, and you stare, a bit dazed.

"If I'm being honest, I don't like it when you say that I'm harmless, because I'm not."

The intensity of those blue eyes would surely cause some damage to your heart.

"I may not be human, but I'm just as much a man as every other guy. You have to be careful. I am just as capable of taking advantage of you."

You nibble on your lower lip.

"What if..that's what I want.."

The confession makes his eyes widen just a bit, and you look down.

It feels like you might have crossed a line.

"Leo I'm sorry I-"

His lips silence any excuse and you gasp, or moan. You're not quite sure. His hand moves, holding under your neck gently and your brows furrow in satisfaction. Leo is strong, you know that. Given his job description, it's clear why. Yet, feeling this strength, it's different. His finger brushes just under your jaw, and you lean in as much as your body is willing to allow.

There's nothing but the wet sounds of your lips parting and joining. Your head follows every motion that Leo makes. His free hand moves to your waist, right down to the side of your thigh. He pulls you forward as if you weigh nothing, and you part, surprised. You're now seated in his lap.

Leo has found new territory, lips mapping out little kisses on your neck.

"I told you...I..was dangerous.."

He mutters between each desperate kiss.

Your fingers land on his plastron as you whimper.

"L-Leo.."

He's turning you into a puddle. You can't think properly. Form coherent sentences.

You don't realize that you're groping his chest until he pulls back and draws both of your wrists above your head. Leo pushes forward and you back hits the couch. He pins you there, and you stare up in surprise.

His eyes have visibly darkened, and the shift in position has your hips touching in a deliciously provocative way.

"Leo.."

He manages to bound you with just one hand and when his other moves under your shirt, your face is ever possible shade of red.

"You're too defenseless." He teases.

You mean to respond, but he gives your breast a squeeze and you moan instead. He licks his lips at the sound.

When he pushes the garment up, you're flustered. Because your shirt and bra bunch up just under your chin. Your chest is exposed and you squirm. Leo lowers and you stammer.

"W-Wait what are you-"

Your words are lost, because his tongue latches onto your nipple and you cry out. You arch against him and Leo accepts it. How responsive you are.

Loud you're being.

His tongue feels as though it's drawing patterns and you're losing your mind. It feels so good. He finally loosens his hold on your hands, and you immediately move them to the back of his neck to encourage his ministrations. He welcomes it, humming against your skin and you moan at the vibrations.

He changes focus to the other, giving it just as much attention. With each flick, you can feel your hips jerk involuntarily. Leo's eyes are closed, enjoying every minute. Every desperate cry that you let out.

When he dropped by, this was far from what he expected, but he isn't exactly complaining. Just a minute ago he was warning you about being careful, yet here he is losing control.

Devouring you.

The second he finally pulls back, it's to give you the opportunity to have a proper breath.

You look so good, beneath him.

"Are you alright.."

It's a bit of a whisper. You nod, still slightly heaving, but wearing an appreciative smile.

Leo returns the smile, reaching down and sliding your clothing back into place. Your shirt is obviously wrinkled, but you don't seem to care.

He helps you into a seated position, holding you close.

"I hope you learned your lesson."

You bite your lip to stifle another moan at those words.

You have learned absolutely nothing and you intend to make sure that he knows that for future punishments.