#cedric x axel

[meepthemeeping]

I End With You

(Cedric X Axel TW: Death)

Cedric had known for several minutes that Axel was already gone. He could feel the weight of his companion draped across him, Axel’s body heavy and unmoving, the numerous arrows piercing his back leaving little doubt. The arrows had done more than just take Axel—they had pinned them together, their fates sealed in the same gruesome manner. Cedric could feel the shafts lodged deep into his own body as well, the searing pain now a dull, throbbing ache as blood continued to seep from both of them, mingling in a warm pool beneath their bodies.

In the back of his mind, Cedric had always known this was how it would end for them. Witchers didn’t retire, didn’t live long enough to grow old and fade peacefully into the night. Death was inevitable, often brutal and swift. He had expected it, but he had never imagined the final moments would be like this—trapped under the man he had come to love, the one person who had made his harsh existence bearable.

A sharp, jagged breath tore through his chest as he struggled to move his arm. Every movement felt like dragging himself through broken glass, but Cedric refused to let the pain stop him. With a grunt, he managed to lift his hand, trembling from the effort, and comb his fingers through Axel’s short, blonde hair. The familiar feel of those spiky strands against his skin brought him a sense of comfort amidst the chaos.

He had never given much thought to his own death, at least not in any meaningful way. It was always an abstract concept, a certainty that lay far off in the distance. But now, staring it in the face, Cedric found that it wasn’t the terror or emptiness he had imagined. No, if he had to die—and he knew he was—then this was how he wanted to go. Not alone, not forgotten on some forsaken battlefield, but with Axel.

Blood pooled faster now, warm and sticky, and Cedric’s limbs grew heavier by the second. His breathing slowed, each breath more labored than the last. The world around him grew hazy, the edges of his vision darkening. The pain was fading, replaced by a strange sense of numbness that spread throughout his body.

With a final surge of strength, Cedric shifted just enough to wrap his arms around Axel, pulling him close, feeling the coldness already creeping into his lover’s skin. His head fell back against the ground, eyes fluttering shut as exhaustion finally claimed him.

There was no fear, no regret in those last moments. Only the quiet acceptance that, at least, he wasn’t dying alone. At least, he was dying with someone he loved. His final breath left him as a whisper, a soft sigh of relief, as the world faded to black.

[panandinpain0]

So I've never done a request before, but could I get a Cedric X Male ravenclaw reader. I just finished reading "good luck charm" and im in love

Being Best Friends with Cedric Diggory

Hey! So sorry this took so long, I've been... avoiding my requesting section tbh.

But I'm so glad you liked "Token of Good Luck"!

Me from 10 minutes later: Okay, I can't for the life of me think of a plot for this, so I'm going to do headcanons(ish) of being his best friend/falling in love with each other.

I'm really sorry, idk where any ounce of creativity went but it's left my brain.

Requested by: Anon

Cedric Diggory x Male!Ravenclaw!Reader

Reader is a muggleborn :)

Warnings: Lots of physical touch (Sorry, its my love language)

--

(Y/N) and Cedric had met during the sorting ceremony

(Y/N) was terrified-

It made sense, seeing as he had only been introduced to the wizarding world, what

a month ago?

So he was visibly unsettled

His hands were sweaty and his face was flushed

His hair was ruffled from having run his hands through it

And Cedric took pity on him

"Hi! I'm Cedric Diggory! What's your name?" Cedric asked, smiling as he held out his hand.

"Uh- I'm (Y/N)... (L/N)," (Y/N) hesitated, his hand shaking as he took Cedric's hand.

Cedric could feel the sweat on his hand as he shook it, but he shook it off.

"That's a cool name! What house do you think you'll get sorted into?"

(Y/N) didn't know, nor did he care

He just cared about going back home to normal school

And he told Cedric this

Causing his face to heat up as Cedric laughed

"You want to go back to normal school? Why? It sounds boring to me," Cedric had said as you waited for McGonagall to call the new students into the Great Hall.

"You're right, it was really boring. But it was less nerve wracking than this." (Y/N) gestured vaguely around them.

Cedric had offered his hand as a comfort

and (Y/N) took it

And that was probably the most defining moment in their friendship

Of course they only got closer through the years

And their friendship was very physical

The two of them were constantly touching

Holding hands

Hugs

Arms over each other's shoulders

Etc.

You get the point

So naturally (?)

People assumed they were dating

"Hey Cedric," another Hufflepuff came up to him, sliding into the seat in front of him with a flirty smile.

"Hey Axel!" Cedric greeted with a smile. The truth was, (Y/N) and Cedric were hardly apart, but (Y/N) had been pulled away by another friend.

"How would you feel about going out with me?"

Cedric was a bit shocked by the bluntness of the question, but was even more confused as one of Axel's Slytherin friends came up and hissed a whisper.

"Axel, I already told you- Cedric and (Y/N) are dating!" said Slytherin scolded, trying to pull Axel away.

"Wait, what-" Cedric's brows furrowed.

"So sorry about that, he doesn't know what he's doing," Axel's friend apologized, laughing nervously and pulling Axel away.

Cedric was left absolutely puzzled as (Y/N) rejoined him.

"Sorry about that, Ced. Woah, are you okay?" (Y/N) asked as he adjusted his blue and silver tie, looking at Cedric with concern.

"I think people think we're a couple," Cedric revealed, looking at (Y/N) with concern.

The two promptly burst into laughter.

Of course, they were both hiding the fact that they really did want to be a couple

But they'd never tell each other that.

Until Hermione Granger shoved them into a broom closet together.

"Hermione, let us out! I was in the middle of my painting!" (Y/N) shouted, hitting the door a bit for extra dramatics.

"Not until you two spill your guts!" Hermione shouted back.

"We have nothing to spill, Hermione, we're best friends!" Cedric shouted back.

Both boys waiting a moment before realizing Hermione had walked away.

(Y/N) groaned and twisted around, dragging himself against the wall until he was sitting on the floor.

"So, what famous painting are you working on now?" Cedric teased, sitting next to his best friend of six years.

"Uh- another landscape," (Y/N) chuckled, scratching the back of his neck nervously. He was clearly lying, but Cedric didn't question it.

Instead Cedric picked up (Y/N)'s hand and played with his fingers, noting the brown paint covering them.

"What were you painting that required so much brown paint?" Cedric snorted, noting the amount that (Y/N) was sporting.

"...Dirt?" (Y/N) sheepishly tried. ((Y/N) was very bad at lying, and Cedric knew this.)

"Seriously, what are you painting?" Cedric was genuinely curious now.

"...You."

Cedric's gaze darted up in surprise, eyebrows raised with a smile growing on his lips.

"You're painting me? Why?" Cedric asked with a laugh, whispering now.

"Because you're really pretty, why wouldn't I want to paint you?" (Y/N) shrugged with a smile, avoiding Cedric's gaze and hoping he couldn't see his rosy cheeks in the dark of the closet. "I'm not sure I'll be able to do you justice, though. The reason there's so much brown paint is because I'm trying to find the right shade for your hair- which surprisingly won't match your eyes."

Cedric brought his hand up to (Y/N)'s neck, using his other hand to turn (Y/N)'s face to look him in the eyes.

"Can I kiss you?" Cedric asked, eyes bright as he smiled widely.

"What?" (Y/N) gasped, blinking a few times.

"Can I kiss you?" Cedric repeated with a small laugh.

"Uh- yeah," (Y/N) stammered, and Cedric swooped in to steal a kiss.

As they parted, (Y/N) sighed, blinking his eyes open.

"Pinch me."

"What?" Cedric laughed, shaking his head.

"Pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming."

You can imagine majority of the school's surprise when they realized the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw boy had just gotten together-

and hadn't, you know, been dating for the last couple of years.

End

--

Sorry if this didn't turn out like you expected, but I hope you liked it!

Thank you so much for requesting, anon! Hope you're having a great day!

-Author Max <3

[peaktotheocean]

Cats Cat Cafe

Pairing: Cedric/Axel Summary: witcher 3: cedric and axel were brothers-in-arms me: oh, so they're gay. got it. they have a cat cafe now. and adopted baby aiden

"You know," Cedric leans across the front counter of the bakery and kisses Axel hello, "When people say leave work at work, I think they usually mean paperwork."

Axel is holding a cardboard cat carrier in one hand and with the other, gives his husband a rude gesture. After a decade of marriage and even longer together, his unimpressed expression only causes Cedric to kiss him again.

Truth be told, Axel doesn’t really mind.

“Another one?” Cedric pats the counter but Axel places the carrier on the ground instead. Cedric puts out food on that counter, after all.

“The shelter is full and so are our overnight kennels, I’m sorry.“ Axel shrugs. It’s not the first time this has happened but instances have been few and far between in the past few years. With a growing veterinary practice, there’s always volunteers and students offering to take home pets overnight. Or in the case of the students, sneak them into their dorms.

Cedric eyes the cat carrier with excitement. Axel knows the second they get upstairs to their apartment above the bakery, that little cat is going to be absolutely spoiled with treats and pets.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Cedric assures him. He tugs Axel over to his side of the counter for a hug. “I just wish there was something else we could really do when you’re that full up.”

“I know, that’s all right.” Axel kisses the top of Cedric’s head. “She’ll be okay upstairs by herself tomorrow. It’s like not you can have her down in the bakery anyway.”

Cedric freezes. Before Axel can ask what’s wrong, he pulls out of Axel’s arms and stares up at him.

“Why not?”

“Why not what?”

“Why couldn’t I keep her in the bakery?” Cedric asks, but Axel can tell it’s not a question he’s meant to answer. Cedric is thinking through something and Axel just needs to help get him there.

“Health code laws, I’m pretty sure,” he says anyway, knowing he brought this upon himself.

“Then how…” Cedric’s face scrunches up, like he’s got half a thought and needs to find the missing parts.

Axel nudges him with a gentle hand. “How what?”

“Cat cafés,” Cedric says finally.

Axel blinks and his brow furrows. He can follow Cedric’s line of thinking now. "How do those places pass inspection?"

Five minutes later, Cedric and Axel are crowded around the old laptop that Cedric keeps in the office specifically to take care of the business side of things in the bakery. Cedric is pointing to tiny images on the screen and Axel is squinting, leaning far too close to the screen than is probably healthy.

"Look," Cedric starts, "They separate the seating area from the kitchen. You get your food and then you go hang out with the cats. The two spaces are walled off with plexiglass so it doesn't feel too claustrophobic."

Axel hums in thought, still examining each Google search image result like they are a personal puzzle that requires his undivided attention.

"All right. So it's safe for the humans. Is it safe for the cats?" Cedric murmurs and presses a button to scroll through more images. Eventually, he brings up a few news articles.

Axel patiently reads along with him, tapping his fingers against the counter while he thinks.

"Some cats don't mind the attention,” he finally says aloud. “We already keep an eye on their personality and habits so that the shelter can tell future adopters.”

“Besides, we can stick some rules on the door. Anyone who hassles the cats gets kicked to the curb,” Cedric says confidently, with a bit too much glee in his tone.

The sound of the key turning in the lock of the closed bakery gets both of their attention. Gaetan comes through the front door, little Aiden perched on one hip and his other hand carrying a small colorful backpack that is covered with the Disney characters from a recent film Aiden’s been watching on loop.

Cedric winks at Axel and raises his voice, “Gaetan might prefer being a bouncer to working the register."

His brother squints suspiciously at him. “What would Gaetan prefer?" Gaetan asks, playing along.

He bounces Aiden in his arms and announces, “One kitten delivery!” He notices the cat carrier that Axel set on the ground. "I thought I was the one bringing a kitten home." He tickles Aiden's sides and the toddler squirms in his arms, giggling helplessly.

Gaetan gives the boy what he wants and sets him down. Little Aiden runs to his dads, who both kneel down to say hello to him, complete with hugs and kisses. Axel leaves Cedric kneeling to muss up their son's fluffy hair and finally answers Gaetan's question.

"We thought you might like protecting little kittens as opposed to be fighting with old ladies who want a discount on their baked goods."

"Does the vet office need a security guard now?"

"We're thinking about a cat café," Axel tells him.

"Really? Here?” Gaetan looks around as if trying to picture it. “That’s not a bad idea.”

"You think so?" Cedric asks nervously. Axel recognizes the look and kisses him quickly enough so that Gaetan and Aiden alike won’t wrinkle their noses.

"They're popular and we don't have one in town yet. A good novelty. We already know people like Cedric’s sweets. But sweets and cats? I think I could start half-assing social media posts if I could post about kittens most of the time." He winks at at his brother/boss.

"Are we really thinking about this?" Cedric looks between the two of them.

Aiden tugs on Axel's pants. "Up, dad."

"Up, kitten," Axel parrots back but obeys, hoisting Aiden into his arms and pitching him against his hip. He shifts the laptop so that Gaetan can see the images of other cafés.

Gaetan tugs a napkin out of the dispenser and steals the spare pen from on top of the register. Even as he sketches, he talks. "It wouldn't take much retrofitting. Maybe just a half wall of those little enclosures, an extra door out the front so no cats can sneak out too easily. Well, then you need to separate the front counter and kitchen from the rest of the café. Letho could do it in just a few days, I bet. "

"Oh, is that all?" Cedric rolls his eyes. He looks down from Gaetan's drawing to the single windowless wall he has in the corner bakery. Axel follows his gaze. Right now, the wall is filled with some of Letho's photographs for sale. He can picture the cats there, climbing on the wooden cages like shelves. "I like the idea of the wall enclosures. Then if the cats want to get away for a little bit, they could slip into them and hide."

"A no human zone,” Gaetan supplies.

"Exactly." Cedric hesitates and Axel knows exactly where his mind is going. He doesn't want to burst anyone's bubble but someone has to bring the three of them back down to Earth and his husband is ready and willing. "It's something to think about for the future. We certainly can’t afford it right now.”

They're doing all right. Comfortable in a terrifying way that neither of them are used to or trust. It's the only reason they agreed they could afford to adopt Aiden just two years prior. But between Axel's job handling most of the bills and Cedric's own business waxing and waning in their little college town with the semesters, well, of course they're wary of committing to any big changes.

"Sure but Gezras could."

“Gezras?”

“You know how his,” Gaetan briefly glances at Aiden and spells out, “P-O-S dad died before he could change his will. He doesn’t want the money but he’s got loads of people asking about investing in stuff he doesn’t care about. You know what Gezras does care about?”

“Cats,” Axel and Cedric answer at the same time.

“Cats!” Aiden cheers excitedly, hands in the air.

Axel eyes Gaetan thoughtfully. It’s not a bad idea. They’d need a business plan and a real construction sketch from Letho, but maybe it would help Gezras’ overall mood. Free baked goods for their friend and all the kitty cuddles he could want.

“Did you have fun with Uncle Gaetan today?” Cedric asks Aiden. He plucks him from Axel’s arms and peppers his face with kisses. The squeals of giggles have Aiden leaning breathlessly against Cedric’s shoulder, snuggling his dad who smells appropriately like he spent all day with baked goods, sweet sugar and chocolate.

“Cookie?” Aiden asks hopefully.

“Cookies?” Cedric feigns confusion. “There’s no cookies here!”

Aiden pouts and Axel knows the kid is adopted but it’s the same puppy dog eyes Axel learned from his furry four-legged patients, he’s sure of it. And judging by the eye-roll that Cedric sends his way, his husband knows it too.

“While you were at Uncle Gaetan’s, we decided to change the bakery into an…asparagus store!”

“No!!” Aiden wails, his eyes scrunching up.

Gaetan snorts and waves on his way out. “I’ll tell Gez to call you. I think he’ll love it. It’ll be easy.”

“Easy,” Axel huffs. He locks the door behind Gaetan and turns to see Cedric feeding a pre-dinner cookie to their son. He makes a mental note to add an age limit to the cat café rules. “Easy,” he repeats to himself and shakes his head.

---------------------------------------------------- In the end, Axel supposes it could have been harder.

Four phone calls, one afternoon with Letho and his sketchbooks and computer programs, and another with both Gezras and Treyse, fresh from a Treyse-mandated vacation. Gezras' excitement was contagious and by the end of the meeting, even Cedric seemed confident in their plan.

Gaetan had been surprisingly accurate in that it took Letho just a few days to construct the changes. The big man barely blushed when Cedric assured him that his lovely photographs were just going to be shifted, not taken down entirely from the new wall of fancy kennel cages.

With the final scheduled visit with the health department behind them, Axel could see Cedric just itching to open up the bakery again. Well, the cat café, now.

Not that he sees his husband at the current moment because Cedric took their grand re-opening as an excuse to bake even earlier than his normal 4am shift. Axel prays and hopes for the day that Cedric hires a second employee who isn't Gaetan and who can actually bake.

Still, he picks up a sleepy Aiden and carries their son downstairs for a breakfast with eight of the most personable cats the shelter had to offer up for adoption. And his husband, hopefully. If Axel can drag him out of the kitchen long enough to eat one of his own delicious creations.

It's going to be a long opening and Gaetan's already warned them about potential press coming by for interviews. Cedric is going to be on his feet all day and if he's on cat café duty, then Axel is on Cedric duty.

It ends up being...perhaps, a bit busier than Axel anticipates.

Not just friends and family but a line of customers around the block to the point where Gaetan starts directing people to reserve tables for later in the week. Within three hours, all eight cats have adoption applications pending at the shelter.

He looks on jealously as Gezras and Treyse sneak away from the crowd and head upstairs, using Aiden's need for a nap as an excuse to get away from the press wanting to know about Gez's donation. Axel wants a nap too. Not that he'd ever leave Cedric to the wolves but if he could sneak his husband away for a cuddle session at anytime, he would, not just today.

Axel can't even tease Cedric for being over-prepared. After all that, his stress baking worked in their favor this time. Even as Gaetan locks the door behind their final customer, Axel sees there's still a half tray of pain au chocolat left and he needs at least three of them in his stomach a half hour ago.

Or after he stops his son from climbing into one of the open kennels. One of the cats, who recently weaned her own litter, is licking Aiden's fingers with her little sandpaper tongue. He looks delighted at the sensation.

“No,” Axel scolds lightly, hoisting Aiden into his arms. “Not your kitten. This one is mine.”

Cedric comes and meets them, smelling of flour and butter. He leans just a bit too much of his weight onto Axel as he reaches out with wiggly fingers to tease Aiden. “You’re not an adoptable kitty," he says through a yawn.

“Meow,” Aiden tries, in a squeaky voice, his eyes fighting to stay shut even after his afternoon nap.

“No, no, you’re our kitty," Axel boasts, cuddling his son close.

They obey easily as Gaetan shoos all three of them upstairs, promising to clean up the café and the kitchen. Axel needs to remember to buy him a gift basket. Or maybe give him a raise. They should probably do both.

Cedric falls asleep nearly the second he hits the bed, still covered in flour. Axel tugs off his shoes and socks, all while swearing that he's going to change the sheets first thing in the morning.

Then he crawls in next to Cedric. Right before he falls asleep, Axel thinks the same thing he's thought for years.

I never want to go to sleep without you by my side.

---------------------------------------------------- Axel hopes Letho didn't mind too much when they took down just one of his photographs and in its place, hung up a framed family series. The ones that Gaetan took in sequence on the re-opening of the store and used for all the social media marketing for a good six weeks.

Cedric and Axel holding Aiden between them in front of one of the café tables. They're both kissing Aiden on the cheek, their son smiling as big as he can manage. The very next photograph has a curious cat interrupting them, two little paws on Aiden's chest as he looks at her, eyes wide with wonder. The final one shows Aiden wanting to kiss his dads on the cheek in return except in a different, Aiden-only universe where "kiss on the cheek" actually means "cupcake to the chin."

Axel rubs the cleft in his chin, right where the frosting had been, and smiles. He wouldn't swap out  those photographs for the world. He touches his fingers to the frame and wonders if Cedric has any spare cupcakes leftover from the day.

He hears Aiden giggle from behind the counter. Axel thinks they should both find out together.

here on ao3!

[multiwriterfan]

☾𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜☽

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦:

𝚅𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚊

𝙻𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛

𝙺𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚜

𝙳𝚒𝚎𝚐𝚘

𝙰𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗

𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎

𝙱𝚎𝚗

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚜

𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑙

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜

𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛/𝑏𝑜ℎ𝑟𝑎𝑝

𝚁𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚘𝚛

𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚢

𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚢

𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚗

+ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚘𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚢❤︎

𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟:

𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛

𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛

𝚁𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚢

𝚆𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚜

𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚘𝚢

𝙲𝚎𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚢

𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 ( 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?)

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ:

𝑃𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑛

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑚𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒

𝚂𝚖𝚞𝚝 ( 𝚒 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)

𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎

𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏

𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜

𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑖 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑚𝑒! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑖 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙼𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚢𝚊☺︎︎

[intomusings]

﹒﹒   male   names   masterlist     !

in honor of my third milestone on here ( thank you sm ) , i’ve decided to release a master list of 400+male names i personally love and think could be used more in the community . this was also requested by a few anons and names will be added to the list frequently . the names are sorted by first letter but not alphabetically within each letter category . if you found this useful , feel free to like or reblog to spread this !

A : alston, ander, adamo, alex, austen, ace, arian, adrian, atlas, augustus, axel, archer, angel, archie, aaron, abel, asher, amir, adriel, andrew, ace, alejandro, arlo, adonis, atticus, abram, ambrose. 

B : bryce, bryson, benji, bellamy, banks, bear, beau, bentley, barrett, brody, brayden, bennett, braxton, bowen, briggs, baker, bruce, benson, bristol, boston, brycen, bryant, brock, brendan, bruno, byron, braden, bronson, braeson.

C : colton, cartier, cyrus, caleb, carter, cedric, carson, cohen, calvin, callum, casper, caspius, chase, cole, connor, camden, colt, caden, cash, crew, chance, clayton, cruz, cairo, corbin, colson, cesar, clark. 

D : damon, damien, darren, dylan, dominic, declan, dean, dario, drew, dimitri, dakota, dawson, daxton, dante, desmond, denver, dax, deacon, drake, derrick, darius, duke, deandre, dash, dilan, dayton, duncan, dior. 

E : eduardo, edward, elias, emilien, evan, easton, everett, emmett, enzo, ezra, elliot, emmanuel, ezekial, elias, emerson, eric, emory, edwin, elian, esteban, edison, emir, everest, eliseo, everley.

F : florencio, flynn, fabio, forester, francis, flynn, fallon, finn, finnick, felix, fernando, finnegan, fabian, ford, forbes, fletcher, fisher, fox, fitz, flint, fulton. 

G : giovanni, gage, gomez, grayson, griffin, grant, graham, gavin, grant, gianni, gunner, gideon, gregory, grey, gustavo, guillermo, gentry, gadiel, gabriel. 

H : halton, herman, holden, hayes, hudson, hayden, harrison, harlow, harvey, hugo, hank, henley, holland, hamza, hugh, houston, hakeem. 

I : isaac, icarius, idris, ian, ivan, isaiah, ismael, ilan, irvin, iain. 

J : julian, juniper, joao, joaquim, jordan, jaxton, joshua, josiah, javier, jayden, justin, jonah, jace, jasper, jay, jj, jackson, jeremiah, judah, joel, jensen, jaylen, jonas, jamal. 

K : kai, kolton, kaleb, klaus, kyrie, kingston, kayden, king, kobe, knox, kyler, kaden, khalil, kane, killian, keegan, kian, kamden, kieran, keanu, kyland, kareem, kasen, 

L : liam, lukas, logan, lucien, lawrence, leo, leighton, leon, lindell, lamar, latrell, larson, lance, levi, luke, landon, luca, lincoln, landon, lorenzo, london, lennox, leonel, lawson, luciano, layton, lux, leroy, lamar. 

M : micaiah, mateo, marcell, manny, mac, malcolm, mckay, meechie, matias, mason, maverick, mitch, murphy, miles, malachi, maddox, marshall, malik, moses, marvin, milo. 

N : noah, nicolai, nasir, nico, nash, neymar, naveen, nehemiah, nixon, nelson, nigel, niles, nolyn, namir. 

O : orlando, ozzy, oliver, omar, orion, otto, odin, otis, oskar, osvaldo, owen. 

P : peyton, parker, pearce, prince, preston, porter, pierre, penn, patton, paxton, paolo, pope, percy. 

Q : quentin, quinn, quint, quang. 

R : roman, rowan, reid, riggs, reece, rafael, ryland, roland, ronan, rhett, rhys, rory, rainer, roscoe, rocco, ryder, ryker, remington, russell, romeo, raiden, ruben, ridge, rex, rudy, remy. 

S : sawyer, spencer, salem, salvatore, stefan, samson, sebastian, samuel, santiago, silas, sutton, sterling, sully, sergio, seth, santino, santibel, soren, saint, samir, saul, sal, santos, slater, santino. 

T : tyson, tyrin, taylor, teagan, tobias, troye, tristan, tucker, theo, torrento, tanner, travis, tripp, trenton, trey, tomas, talon, thad, terrance, teddy. 

U : uriel, ulysesses, umar, urbane, uri, ursel, usher. 

V : valencio, victor, valence, valentino, vance, victor, vaughn, vincent, virgil, vernon, vander, vito, vero, villard. 

W : wick, walker, weston, wyatt, wolfgang, wells, wilder, wesley, walter, warren, wade, winston, watson, wiley, waylen. 

X : xavier, xander, xane, xavion, xavi, xiomar, xackery, xan. 

Y : yosef, yosan, york, yasir, yoel, yuri, yannis.

Z : zane, zakhar, zavier, zion, zahir, zev, zeus, zacharias.

[inexplicifics]

Since its mentioned quite often in the consort fic plus the esker side story what exactly does a witcher going feral entail? And what would cause each witcher to go feral in the first place? How do they get back out of it? What sort of behaviours do they display? Much love and light in your days! X

A witcher going feral basically entails them going into a berserk fugue-state. It's unfortunately something Cats can do fairly easily, if provoked - which Cedric and Axel learn the hard way.

Severe injury or threat thereof, or threat or injury to someone very important to the witcher, can be enough; extreme rage can also be a trigger. Cats are the most prone to going feral; Bears are the least. (For which we are all grateful.)

Unfortunately, the behaviors they display are usually "kill everything that moves anywhere near me."

They can be broken out of it by the sight, sound, or scent of someone important enough to them to get through the rage, or by the passage of time, or by running out of things to kill.

Nobody enjoys this. A fair bit of witcher training is how to not do this. And at least in the AW AU, it's fairly uncommon.

[unprofessional-bard]

Chapter 11 - The Introduction

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

Previous Chapter • Next Chapter

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female!Reader/OC

Warnings: Fluff, smut (just a good ol' handjob in a tub and implied smut) and a lil bit of angst/tense situations + uncomfortable talks/thoughts of pregnancy and trauma.

Summary: Unprepared for the consequences, the reader has to put up with two new arrivals, even though there's something off about them. Something more than just the shock of survival.

Word Count: 6.810

Author's Note: This chapter is set between April and July 2036, I apologise bc the reader is slowly turning into her own character, like Dolly's becoming an OC 😭 but yeah I love you all so much, thank you for reading my series 🥺💗

Enjoy!

"Well, well, what have we here."

The trio halted in their tracks as your voice echoed in the stables, your flashlight shining on them.

"Hey, Dolly," Ellie turned around, dying inside. Beside her was Cat and Jesse, turning around with pursed lips. "What'cha doin'?"

"Oh not much- patrol, you know," You said nonchalantly, walking towards them with threatening steps as you did. "Making sure people don't sneak off in the middle of the night with the horses. Kinda like what you three are doing."

"We weren't sneaking off," Jesse chuckled, but the panic in his voice gave him away easily. "We're just here to... feed the horses?"

"They're being fed regularly, you know that, so cut the crap." You spoke sternly. "Where the hell are you all off to?"

"We were just-" Ellie took over. "We're meeting with Dina. Eugene is there with her."

"What for?" You inquired. "What does Eugene have to do with whatever it is you're planning?"

They were struggling to reveal the truth, but Ellie knew better than to lie. She knew that, as long as it was the truth you wouldn't get angry; it was your thing and Ellie had noticed it from the Boston QZ, so she gave a look to Cat, whom you suspected to be Ellie's girlfriend, and she spoke: "Eugene has weed."

"Ex-cuse me?" Your eyes widened with a long blink at the three words. You weren't against it or anything, but you were just shocked- How and where in hell did Eugene find weed?

"Yeah, shit- Uh, we'll head back," Jesse mumbled.

"No it's-" You quickly recovered and fixed your posture. "How?"

"We were going to find out," Cat offered an apologetic smile.

"Christ," You chuckled. "Oh, Eugene, Eugene..." You quickly look around, a devilish smirk spreading across your face. "You know what? Go."

"Are you serious?" Ellie asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. I'm not gonna rob you bunch from your teenage years," You chuckled. "Under one condition: I'll ride with you all."

"Oh, okay," Cat grinned excitedly and proceeded to climb on a horse, Jesse mirroring her actions after he offered his thanks.

"Okay," You pointed at the rifle you had in your hands after climbing on a horse. "Let's ride quick, I'm probably gonna get in a lot of trouble as it is, so..."

"Thanks, Dolly," Ellie spoke after she settled behind Cat.

If Eugene wasn't there, you wouldn't have let them out and would've proceed to fetch anyone who was already outside. You knew they could handle themselves, but you just didn't want anything to happen to them. It had just finished raining so it was extremely dark outside. After the quiet and fast ride, you saw them off into the partly wrecked building.

"If it's legit, we'll bring you some." Jesse smirked after the girls waved goodbye and walked in.

"Go on, get!" You chuckled and shooed at him, then began riding back the way you came while ignoring the offer, which was actually quite enticing.

It was near dawn when you heard a bunch of horses riding at full speed, nearing your position. The sky was turning a bright shade of blue, and you couldn't deny the beautiful scene in front of you. The air smelled of earth and remnants of rain from a few hours ago and there were the occasional chirping of birds and a squirrel here and there - the peace however was gone the moment the horses appeared. You immediately shot up from your place to see what was going on, shoulder aching a little whenever you gripped your rifle (the bullet which had teared its way into your flesh right before your showdown with Axel, although healed for the most part, still hurt).

You let out a relieved sigh when you recognised Ellie's red hair and Eugene's white ones, then you saw Dina and Jesse, but there were two other people you didn't know riding with them. You blinked a couple of times after you lowered your rifle, then shouted down to Cedric: "Open the gate!"

You made your way down and immediately went over to Eugene and the strangers, hand on your rifle just in case: "Hey, what's going on?"

"Cedric, take them to Kat, have her take a look at their wounds," Eugene instructed and he immediately obliged. After they disappeared and the kids went to put their horses in the stables, he spoke: "We were on our way back here when we heard shouting, found this couple fighting for their lives against a dozen infected in the woods. We took them down easily and offered them help afterwards... They're a bit freaked out, but they'll be okay."

"Okay, I'll let Ma-" You suddenly stopped, realisation dawning on you. "How the hell are we gonna tell Maria?"

Eugene looked deep in thought for half a minute, then spoke: "Tell her it was me and Dina. We were patrolling anyways-"

"What about the couple?"

"We'll ask them to say it was just the two of us, and to decrease the number of infected, problem solved. Relax, will ya?"

You nodded quickly, then walked off after telling him to alert the kids about the plan.

You stopped by the infirmary first. Daisy and a new medic, Angie, were tending to them and Cedric was standing guard while Kat wasn't present. You walked up to your patrol partner and tapped his shoulder: "You can go now, I'll take over from here."

"Sure," He shrugged, yawned, then waved goodbye. You slowly approached the beds the pair were sitting on, opposite each other, the grip on your rifle strong.

"How are you two holding up?" You said awkwardly, making them look between themselves before the woman spoke.

"We'll be okay... Thanks for helping us."

"Right- sure," You sighed quietly. "Could I ask for your names?"

The young woman looked at her partner once more, as if asking for permission, then looked back at you: "I'm Kiki... This is my husband Ward."

You nodded and offered a simple nice to meet you, but didn't give your name to them. Instead, you turned to Daisy: "Let me know when you're finished."

She nodded and proceeded with her stitches before you left the room. You weren't the one to judge people right off the bat, especially in the apocalypse. A lot of newcomers (including you) came here looking bewildered and drained because they were either almost eaten by a pack of infected or murdered by bandits, simple as that.

Ward was a brunette with a dark stubble, thicker than Joel's and had short, black hair. His nose was large but suited the rest of his face just fine, with big, dark brown eyes. A scar ran over the crook of his nose down his cheek and he looked hardened, just like everyone else. Kiki, on the other hand, was also a brunette, but her features weren't as sharp as Ward's, or she was just much younger than him. She had long, black hair and her eyes matched the colour; she was also smaller than Ward, with a petite figure. She was very beautiful, too and looked frightened rather than hardened.

Around ten minutes later, Daisy walked out: "Angie's finishing up, but I'm done. I'm heading over to check on other patients, if you need me I'll be there."

"Okay," You nodded and walked back inside. The couple was neatly patched up and sitting quietly, eyes wide. When you walked in, Kiki jumped, but relaxed the same moment she saw your face. "Must've been through a lot, you two..."

"You could say that-" Kiki murmured, then looked over to Ward, who didn't seem to take notice of he conversation. There was a gash on his chin and he was squeezing the hell out of the bed sheets as Angie worked on the wound. He didn't make a single sound, but the nurse looked a little distressed. "Do you-" Kiki abruptly asked. "Do you run things around here?"

"Uh- No," You turned your head towards her, your grip on your rifle never faltering once. "No, I'm sort of responsible for the security. The boss lady will be here soon."

"Lady?" Kiki looked genuinely confused.

"Yes." You offered a simple nod. "I'm gonna ask something of you both. Don't worry, it's something simple."

Ward immediately intervened before Kiki could open her mouth: "What?"

"Relax," You warned, keeping your eye on him. "Angie, could you give us a minute?"

"Of course, I'm done anyways," She practically threw the equipments onto the small table next to the bed, took off her latex gloves, tossed them into the trash and ran out.

You gave Ward a hardened look, then spoke, walking between their beds, keeping them in your vision: "When the boss comes here, she's going to ask you a few questions... I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about the kids' being there when they found you."

"Why?" Kiki asked, worried.

"Well, they weren't supposed to be outside- Except for the girl with long, black hair and the man who brought you here. It'd save us a lot of trouble if you didn't mention them."

"So, what, you expect us to lie?" Ward huffed.

"No." You spoke coldly, rivaling his hostile tone. "I'm simply asking you to leave out the part where there were 4 kids- There was just one. Besides, she may not even ask about it."

Your staring contest with Ward ended when, as if on cue, Maria, Tommy and Eugene entered the room. You saw the fright in Kiki's eyes, so you spoke calmly: "Hey, it's okay. That's her, the boss lady- and her husband."

"Boss lady?" Tommy chuckled and stood next to you, Maria and Eugene mirroring him.

"It's okay," Maria spoke: "We got this, you can go now."

You nodded once and reluctantly walked out from the room. Stepping outside the infirmary, you came across Cedric waiting by the entrance. You shook your head towards the gates with a simple: "Let's go."

Cedric was almost 15 years younger than you, had even younger features than someone would have in their 30s. He had chin length, dirty blonde hair with hazel eyes fleeing to green. He was a calm and collected person, unlike most people in Jackson. Your tactics and strategical thinking were similar, which made patrol much more effective and easy.

Both of your shifts ended around two hours later, when the sun was up completely and shining down on the streets, calling people to duty; it was, however, your call to hit the bed. After turning over your weapons and heading your separate ways with Cedric, you walked over to your house, a smile spreading across your face at the thought of seeing Joel.

You hadn't seen each other in almost three days due to different shifts but, with the weekend off, you could finally rest in your husband's arms.

You quietly entered the house and tiptoed up the stairs. The bedroom door was closed, he was obviously still asleep. Normally, he'd be awake by 7AM, but lately he'd been really hard on himself with patrols- it was only right he treated himself to a few extra hours of sleep. You really wanted to crawl next to him, or just take a small peak inside the room to see him, but you knew better. He awoke to the slightest creak of the bed when you got up, or simply turned to drink some water. You wanted him to rest though, that came first, so you used the bathroom outside your room to get cleaned up, then moved into the bathtub to treat yourself. It had been a while since you let your muscles rest and relax in the deliciously hot water.

Not even five minutes later after you settled in the warmth, you heard the slow opening of the door. You opened your eyes to find Joel with nothing but his boxer briefs on, heart beating with ecstasy and joy at seeing him in his sleepy state: "Hey," You giggled. "Morning handsome."

"Mornin' baby," He rubbed the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand.

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?" He smirked as he proceeded to take off his underwear.

"Probably not," You smiled apologetically, he'd quite possibly woken to the sound of the water filling. You extended both of your arms to him, calling him to your embrace while stretching and yawning: "Come here, I missed you."

The words made Joel stop in his tracks for a short moment, heart wearming at them, then walked over to the tub with his naked glory: "Scoot."

You simply leaned back and parted your legs, offering him to lay against you. He obliged, got in and sat, making the water level rise when he laid down against your chest. Your left arm rested on his chest, partly hugging him, while your right hand went through his hair. You gave him a kiss on his neck, a lovely kiss which made him sigh contentedly: "M-hm, I missed you too. Missed this..."

You wanted to stay like that forever: Caressing his hair and the occasional, soft kisses against his jaw, cheek and neck which made his heart melt. You could sense that this small gesture made him very happy, which in turn made you hug him tightly.

"What do you say we..." You purred into his ear. "Ditch the dinner plans for tonight, hm?"

His eyes were closed when he spoke: "Why? Got somethin' else in that pretty little mind of yours?"

"Yeah," You confirmed, running your hand up and down his chest. "We could do something, just the two of us."

"Like...?"

"Hmm, like movie night? Or you can play me something?"

"Only if you sing." He grinned.

"Nope, scratch that," You chuckled and shifted under him a little. "Or we can just... You know, fuck." He coughed out a laugh at your bluntness. "What? You don't want to?"

"I didn't say that," He turned a little and looked up into your eyes with a brilliant smile. "I'd love nothing more, actually, but these are Jesse's parents." You sighed, disappointed, saying I know, I know. "We have two days to ourselves, (Y/N)- You can have me all to yourself, except for a few hours."

"Fine," You growled jokingly, smiled and kissed his lips softly.

What was intended to be a simple kiss now slowly moved in the direction of a filthy make-out session, his tongue parting your lips with ease and meeting yours. Joel grabbed your calf and caressed it slowly, while you took advantage of his distraction and sneaked a hand down his abdomen.

You shifted a little more to the side and took his cock in hand, which made him sigh and drop his head on your shoulder: "(Y/N)..."

"Hmm?" You hummed with a smile when your thumb pressed on his slit, making him hiss and become harder. "Let me take care of you, huh?"

You watched Joel's brows drawing together when you slowly started to pump him. You kissed the pulse on his neck, then moved down to his collarbone. His grip on your leg was more solid the firmer you worked his length, and he jumped ever so slightly when you bit down on his collarbone. His erection grew bigger by the second all the while you sucked and bit a small hickey on his skin.

"Shit..." He shifted in the water, pulling himself upwards so that you didn't have trouble reaching for his shaft.

"You want me to go faster?" You whispered and kissed his shoulder. He nodded but didn't speak and let you work your magic.

You picked up pace, flicking your wrist and focusing on the underside of his head, making him groan broken, unclear profanities. After a while, you felt him tense under your touch, his breathing turning a little laboured.

"(Y/N)..." He sighed through gritted teeth, letting you have your way with him.

"That's it..." You cooed and continued kissing him. Soon, he let out a loud groan and came, making you moan quietly.

Seeing Joel like this -relaxed and euphoric- was always a treat, moments like this where it was just the two of you; no infected, no survival, no bullshit from tha past. You were aware of how it was a luxury to do the things you were able to do: Taking a hot bath, finding someone you loved and marrying them, sleeping on a bed with clean sheets without worrying if infected or bandits were going to jump you.

You were grateful, you were reminded of this everyday, but it took its toll on you, too.

A lot of people, innocent kids were out there, suffering- dying, surviving... You wished you had the power to help them all and rebuild, but you were aware of how dangerous it was out there. It was simply too risky to leave Jackson. You weren't some superhero, after all.

Not a hero...

"What's got you thinkin'?" Joel snapped you out of your thoughts, his fingers ever so gently tracing your cheekbone as you laid on the bed across each other. It was night-time, after dinner with Jesse and his parents and, of course, a round of much needed love making. You both were a little sleepy, definitely content with sweat covering your bodies like a thin layer of blanket.

You looked into his eyes from where your head was -which was on the crook of your elbow, resting on your pillow- and gave him a phantom of a smile, nodding slightly: "Nothing in particular. You?"

"You," He smiled, which made you chuckle. Convincing Joel that you were absolutely, 100% okay was getting trickier as he'd spent just enough time to sense a depressive episode's approach; you didn't want to burden him with your self-doubt and self-loathing, as you hated it when his mood shifted for the worse because of you. "Wonderin' what goes on in that head of yours."

"Wish I knew that myself," You grabbed his hand which was tracing the left side of your face, then turned the back of it for a kiss.

You knew, though. While you and Joel were helping with the dishes in the kitchen, Jesse's mother, Robin had asked if you were planning on having any children. The question you'd been dying to avoid had finally been asked, which made you drop the plate you had in your hand into the sink. It truly was an off-guard moment for you, which startled Joel, but luckily the topic was never brought up again after the plate in question shattered into pieces. You weren't sure if you wanted a child, not after the incident with Miles.

The moment when the contents of his skull splattering onto the ground while he was in your arms- under your supervision haunted you day and night. You never talked about it to anyone, and no one had asked, but it only intensified after your wedding. Because you knew what people had in their minds: Will we be seeing a Joel or Dolly Jr. running around?

You were fucking old, too, and so was Joel. Even if you didn't know whether you'd be able to carry due to that, there was no point in risking it either way, since I clearly suck at watching over kids.

"I think you do," He pushed himself closer to you and sneaked the hand against your mouth onto your waist, propping his arm up and putting his head against the palm of the other. "You just don't wanna talk about it. Which is okay, y'know." You nodded, smile growing a bit wider. "We've been over this before, but If you ever feel like- y'know... you're borin' me or something-"

"I know," You offered a full smile, pushing your thoughts away at the best of your ability. "I see you, Joel Miller," You then put a hand against his chest, where his heart should be: "I know you, you know me... You know what I think?"

He gave you a curious look, but it got replaced with something that hinted excitement when you ever so slowly pushed him on his back with the hand on his chest, then straddled his hips. Joel chuckled: "How is it that you still have this much energy after only four hours of sleep?"

The sleep in question took place after the 'mingling' in the bath. Warm April breeze, even warmer covers and warmest above all, Joel's body pressed against yours, both of your hairs wet and drying on their own as you slept in your lovers arms. He woke up after an hour or so, lingered there for awhile, just enjoying your presence by his side; he then quietly left you to sleep- lord knows you needed it.

"You're just getting old, baby," You giggled and leaned down to kiss him, his hands immediately going to your hips. "Not complaining, though."

An uneventful few weeks passed as Jackson entered the first week of June. Two losses in the town, but no new arrivals after Katie- Kiki and Ward. No raids as well, so overall it was calm.

After reporting in about the week in general, one evening, Maria asked you to stay behind: "It's time for Ward and Katie to go through the test," She declared. "We gotta see if they're fit for patrol or not."

"You got it. When?"

"Tomorrow. I already notified them, we'll meet at the northern training post-"

"We who?" You ran a hand through your hair.

"You and me. Robert and Eugene were supposed to be there originally, but they'll be off hunting." She explained and you nodded. Without further ado, you walked out and made your way back home.

The next morning, Joel accompanied you to the training post. Normally it was your day off with him, but training awaited. The weather was particularly hot for an early morning, so it came to you as a little shock when you saw Kiki, who was wearing a rather thick looking blouse. You didn't question it of course, but it made you think.

"Alright," You cleared your throat, after a quick greeting, stepping into the open training area. Joel and Maria remained inside, arranging the medical needs list while keeping an eye on you three. "I'm gonna put you two through a little test. Maria tells me you decided to stay here in Jackson, so we need to decide which duties you're fit for."

Ward remained incredibly still while Kiki nodded. Her hands were resting between her knees, while Ward had his arms crossed. They were sitting on a bench under the shade: "It's going to get a little physical, but I assure you I'm not going to hurt either of you." You turned around and walked over to the middle of the area: "Right, let's start with you, Kiki."

She gave a panicked look to Ward, but he just nodded with a thoughtful frown, rather than a permitting glare. Over the weeks they had been in Jackson, people sort of got used to their non-verbal interactions, even though some people found it suspicious. She got up and made her way over to you and, by the look on her face, regretted her outfit of choice as she tried to loosen the collar.

"If you want to stop- at any moment, let me know," You reassured her. She nodded, went to roll her sleeves up, but stopped immediately. You acted like you didn't see it, then proceeded to get in stance and lift your hands up: "Okay, let's start with something simple. Show me your stance."

She gave you a blank stare: "My what?"

"Your... stance, you know, fighting stance?"

"I don't have one," She simply shrugged.

"Okay," You sighed quietly. "Then show me how you punch."

She threw what could've been a proper punch but it was weak, you immediately caught her fist in your palm. She panicked and pulled back, and you immediately let go. You glanced at Ward, who seemed to be on high alert.

"Again," You got into stance and she obliged, throwing another weak punch your way. Her stance was there, actually, and her punches came through like she knew what she was doing, but the impact wasn't effective.

It went on a couple more punches, which you caught in your hand each time, until she spoke: "Why do you do that?"

"What?" You lowered your hands.

"You keep holding my hands," It was as if she was more annoyed than confused. "Can you not do that?"

"It's a reflex-" You explained, glanced at Ward again, then looked back at her. "I do it with everyone I train, but if you don't want me to then it's fine."

Not everyone, only the ones with punches as slow, weak and predictable as hers.

"Okay, now let's try some... combos," You added and got in a more secure stance. "Throw one punch after another. Fast and hard. Don't hold back."

"I'm not holding back," She grunted and did a typical boxing combo, which, generally, only people trained in boxing knew- but her punches were still weak. You remained quiet and let her go at it for a few rounds.

You suddenly took a step back, raised your hand up to the same level as your face and spoke: "Kick."

Instead, she went to kick you between your legs. A rush of panic and years of reflexes kicked in and you caught her feet between your knees. You looked up with a what the fuck was that? expression on your face and waved your hand in the air: "I meant here."

"We're fighting, right? We need to be unpredictable," She said with a tone of... irritation? Was she snickering?

"Do I look like a bandit to you?" You let go of her leg, giving her a displeased look.

"You did say you wanted to see what we were capable of."

Where was this sudden confidence coming from all of a sudden?

She was always a little weird with you. Not that you saw her too often but the moments when you two were together, one minute she'd look like she wanted to be your friend (which was when Joel was around), other times she'd remind you of a cruel, rank-wise superior back in the Boston QZ (which was when Joel wasn't around).

You gave her a hard look: "Alright. Let's see how you're gonna do when someone's actually fighting you, then."

Her expression went from somewhat cocky to seriousness as you took a few steps foward and towered over her. Your instructions were simple and clear when you spoke: "I'm gonna put you in a lock. Wriggle out of it."

You slowly grabbed her wrist, giving her time to get ready and process what you were doing. Then, you twisted her arm carefully around her waist and turned her around, pressing her arm on her back, only for her to suddenly squeal: "Okay! Enough!"

You quickly took a step back, startled at her reaction, you weren't even applying the slightest pressure. Ward suddenly shot up from where he was sitting and yelled: "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" You frowned.

"It's okay!" Kiki suddenly stepped in front of Ward who was advancing your way. "I panicked, she didn't-"

"Woah there," You suddenly heard Joel and Maria approach the field. Confusion was superior to your anger at that moment: Had you really hurt her?

"Calm down," Maria put her hands on her hips. "She specifically warned you that she wouldn't hurt you under any circumstances. Relax."

You gave Maria a grateful look as he defended you: "I didn't even apply pressure- Look, no one's here to hurt you on purpose."

Ward and Kiki stared into each other's eyes, and by all means it was not a romantic moment, then the bigger of the two finally groaned: "I think she's had enough. For today."

"You think?" You unintentionally slipped it out, but the companions by your side seemed to agree with what you were getting at. "Do you want to stop Kiki?"

"Um," She looked at the three of you, chewing on her bottom lip, then answered quietly after a tense moment of silence: "Yeah, I think I should stop."

"Fine," You said, trying to keep your voice as netural as possible. "Let's continue with you then, Ward." Before anyone could say anything, you and the man you challenged found yourselves back on the middle of the combat area. "Show me your stance and let's begin."

He did as you asked but didn't wait for you to size him up, throwing a punch into your palm as soon as you lifted it, startling your audience. That didn't stop either of you from starting off with a much quicker and a harsher routine, which seemed to have everyone on edge.

You didn't counter once, but it was as if he was forcing you out of the defensive with his strikes, not to mention he was forcing you to step out of the area.

"What the hell's goin' on?" Tommy half jogged over to where the three were standing, watching you two roll from a snowball into an avalanche. Ward was grunting with each hit missed, anger taking over his features, while you kept your cool. It was as if he was riling himself up because he couldn't land a punch - his aim was messy and unstable, which was nothing compared to your years of disciplinary training.

"Okay, I think you've proved your point, Ward." Maria spoke loudly after Tommy's sudden entrance, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"I agree," You grunted and dodged a rather heavy looking punch, rolled over behind him and got up immediately; before you could say anything else, thinking he had stopped, you momentarily let your guard down. Everybody seemed to have thought the same, but what none of you saw coming was the exceptionally hard blow on your nose.

"What the fuck?!" You heard someone, weren't sure who, yell as you saw a blur of people rushing toward you when you stumbled backwards, hands wrapping around your possibly broken nose with a brief shout.

Giving into your anger, before anyone can get a grip of what you were doing, you launched yourself at Ward: "Son of a-" You grabbed the collar of his shirt and headbutted him: "Bitch!"

It was beyond everyone just how fast you had moved, broke his nose with an equally strong strike and had him falling on his arse. Kiki rushed to his husband's side, Maria to yours while Tommy kept Joel from ripping Ward to shreds. You were sure you were going to pass out when Maria got a hold of you, feeling as if you were under water with the blurring of your vision and hearing. The adrenaline rush in your veins kept you from losing consciousness, though.

"(Y/N)?" Maria's voice got clearer each passing second as you chased the lingering faint away from your mind, finally opening your eyes completely to see a displeased face. "(Y/N) are you okay?"

"Yeah," You sighed, whipping your hands in the air around your waist to shake off the droplets of blood from your bleeding nose as best as you could, tears at the corners of your eyes. "Just fine and dandy."

You felt the familiar, calloused hands of Joel gently hold your elbows as Maria turned around to see to Ward: "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Joel," You nodded and wiped the blood on your white t-shirt in a pissed, exhausted manner.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" You heard Maria growl at Ward, who was still shaken and sitting on the ground, face looking about the same as yours. "You can't just come up and punch people because you got angry at them! This is Jackson: You're not outside, and she isn't your enemy."

"It's okay- I'm sorry Maria- He's a little, uh," Kiki whined on her knees where she had knelt, but went quiet when he looked behind her to see you and Joel.

"You're not his mother, Katie," The blonde spoke, more calm now but no less strict. "He can speak for himself, and the same goes for you."

There was an intense moment between the three, while Tommy nodded at what Maria had said, his hands on his hips, looking at them disapprovingly: "Alright, c'mon, let's get you to a doc."

Joel in the meanwhile, like a mother duck, studied your nose and held a piece of cloth against the bleeding. He kept you focused on him while Maria and Tommy handled the other couple: "Fuckin' bastard..."

You chuckled at the way he grumbled as he wiped the blood off your nose gently: "Got what he was asking for though, don't go around wanting to kick his ass."

"Yeah, that was a pretty damn good hit..." He spoke, but his voice faded into the background when you curiously looked over to see what was going on, only to come across Kiki's face first things first. What you saw on her face sent a shiver down your spine.

Anger.

Not because you hurt Ward though, no. It was more than that.

It was jealousy.

You knew both because you had spent enough time with her to understand what that look meant, and her expression wasn't hard: It was soft, a certain yearning spread across her features as her eyes went back and forth between you and Joel. You couldn't tell what irked you the most: The way she looked at you, or him. You seemed to add more to her anger, while when she stared at your husband (and stared at him longer), there was longing and confusion.

The moment you made eye contact, she immediately turned around and scurried off, leaving you two and Maria alone.

"Hm? Dolly?" You heard Joel again once you brushed off the odd stare you got from Kiki.

"What?" You gave him a puzzled look.

"I asked if you wanted to have this looked at," He repeated in a soft voice. Most of the time, with small scratches or wounds which didn't need stitches or weren't cut too deep to get an infection or anything, you preferred handling it on your own to not waste the town's medical supplies.

"No, I got it," You nodded quickly and took a step back, feeling your nose while Maria approached you both.

"What the hell was that, (Y/N)?" She had her hands on her hips as well.

"I don't know, Maria," You emphasised each word, making your discomfort and irritation show. "...I have a few ideas though."

You moved inside, away from the burning sun and began discussing your first impression.

"So, what do you think?" Maria asked from behind her desk. Two pairs of eyes watched you quietly as you sat up on your chair, still holding the cloth up to your nose.

"Well, they're definitely not military, I can tell you that much. They don't know the first thing about combat - Kiki doesn't, anyway." Something's not right with them, you wanted to say, but decided to keep it to yourself for the time being and continued: "She's weak, can't even throw a punch. Almost lost her shit when I put her into that lock- I couldn't even put her into the lock, she just screamed."

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Maria asked but didn't demand an answer, it was more like a rhetorical question. You explained how she also went out of the training routine and tried to kick you, but again, it was weak.

"It's actually not that she's weak, but more like she's holding back," You said thoughtfully after a moment of silence.

"How do you mean?" Joel spoke for the first time.

"I mean, you can feel that she's holding back on purpose." Much as you hated your years in FEDRA, your experience with training and being trained came in handy on a daily basis - as much as you hated it, you were also grateful. "While Ward, on the other hand," You shifted in your seat, annoyed, "Fights like a feral beast, and I can tell that wasn't his full potential."

Joel growled quietly and crossed his arms. You then continued with your observation: "I don't want to be too quick on my judgement, but there's something not right with them."

Tommy walked in at that moment: "Well, that was a shit show."

"What happened?"

"They argued the whole way," Tommy sighed and pulled a chair between you and Joel, then sat exactly the same way his brother was sitting. "It was... weird is one way to put it."

"Let's keep them under supervision for awhile," You offered.

"You're volunteering?" Maria raised a brow.

"Hell no, not after that anyway. My existence would just antagonise them."

"What are you suggestin'?" Tommy turned to you.

"Put them through another training session with Walt, he'll know what I'm talking about... And Eugene found them, so maybe he'll be up for the task."

A moment of quiet and glances were exchanged among the family, then Maria cleared her throat: "Fine, we'll see what the other's think of that and vote for it."

"Okay. Now if you'll excuse me..." You murmured and got up, walking out of the room absentmindedly, deep in thought. A headache settled to the front of your head and you felt fatigue take over as soon as you stepped outside, while you left the other Millers confused.

"Hey," You heard Joel's soft voice from behind you not much later, which made you stop in your place and turn around. You gave him a blank stare, the cloth holding hand dropping to your side to reveal the smeared, dried blood around your nose. Without any rush, he walked over to you with a worried look and stood right in front of you.

After gazing into each other's eyes fro a while, Joel no doubt searching yours to understand what was going on and you just finding comfort in his, he slowly took your empty hand in his. With a soft tilt of his head in the direction of your house, you blinked once in acknowledgement and started walking with him.

Your anger and irritation started dissipating the more you walked like that, hand in hand and in silence, but your headache and slowly worsening mood, the taste of blood on your tongue remained. Not many words needed to be said with Joel, he knew what you needed by just one look. You were sure if Kurt saw you like that, he would laugh until his lungs couldn't take it: Look at you! Although the thought made your heart warm, it wasn't enough to lift the corners of your lips. You unconsciously held onto Joel's hand tighter as you walked to your house, and he returned the gesture, a simple gesture- an assurance that let you know he had you.

Once you stepped inside and he closed the door while you stood in the hallway, he walked up to you and held your shoulders and gave you a soft, still concerned look. You looked up at him with a soft sigh through your nose some seconds later, and finally spoke: "I'm gonna... I'm gonna go lay down a little."

"Okay," Joel gave you a reassuring smile and placed a kiss on your forehead. "You let me know if you need anything."

"Of course," You smiled back, a lifeless, small but an equally reassuring smile. Joel watched you climb up the stairs slowly, thinking about how long it would take you to feel better while also thinking of how he could make you feel at ease during the time.

His fears were similar to yours: He didn't want you to feel responsible or upset because of his own self-doubt and self-loathing, and he hated having you show all the effort to make him feel better about himself, about the things he had done. You kept assuring him that that was what being partners was all about, that you do what you do for him gladly and would continue doing it for as long as you were able (which meant as long as you were alive). He was glad to have you by his side, but of course didn't rely on you as if you were a rehabilitation centre, and it went both ways.

While thinking about all of this, with a cup of coffee in hand and sitting on his porch, his ears perked up at the round of laughter coming from behind the house. It was then, when he came up with a plan to make you feel better, even in the slightest.

Ellie.

—————

tags: @spideysimpossiblegirl

[sofrpc]

⌖*ﾟ— 550+ UNIQUE AND UNDERUSED MALE NAMES

as requested, i have created a masterlist of 550+ unique and underused male names ! these are all listed in alphabetical order, and although i dont claim any of these as my own, please don’t copy and paste straight into another masterlist. feel free to use the names in any way you like, i hope this gives you muse for your characters (my faves are bolded) — also smash that like or reblog if you found this useful, thank you !

A

abel, acacius, ace, achilles, adagio, adaiah, adalius, adley, adelio, adonis, adrian, adriel, aiden, akello, alain, alarik, alastair, alek, alfred, alfonzo, ali, alisio, alonzo, amari, amedeus, amias, amos, anakin, andre, ansel, anton, anwar, apollo, aragon, aramis, archer, aries, arlo, arrius, artemis, asher, ashton, asriel, atlas, atlantis, atticus, auden, august, auri, austin, avery, axel, aziel

B

bacchus, baden, bailey, baldwin, balin, balton, bandit, banks, barley, baxley, baxter, baze, bear, beau, beck, benson, bentley, berlin, bianco, bishop, blade, blaine, blaze, bode, bodhie, booker, bosley, boston, brandon, brantley, brayden, braxton, brecken, brennon, brett, briley, brinley, brock, bruno, bronx, brooks, bryce, bryson

C

caelan, caesar, cade, cador, cage, cain, caleb, callaway, callen, callister, callum, calvin, camden, campbell, carlisle, carlo, carrick, carter, casey, casper, castiel, cedric, cesar, channing, charles, chase, chuck, clifton, clinton, cleon, coen, coleman, colton, crew, cristiano, cooper, corbin, corey, cortez, cravin

D

dale, dallas, dalton, damari, damian, damon, dane, dante, dario, darius, davon, dax, dean, declan, dedrick, delius, demarcus, demetrius, dennis, denzel, deon, derek, devon, dexter, dillon, dimitri, dion, dolan, dominic, drake, drew, drystan, duke, dwayne, dwight, dyson

E

eaton, echo, edan, eddison, eden, edrick, eli, eliam, elias, elijah, elio, eliseo, ellis, emilio, emerson, emmett, enoch, enzo, ernest, eros, essex, evan, evian, ezra

F

fabian, falcon, fallon, farley, felix, fenton, finley, finnick, floyd, flynn, fonso, ford, forester, francisco, franco, freddy, frederick, frodi

G

gabe, gabriel, gaius, gabin, galvin, gareth, garrick, gaston, gaveel, georgie, gemini, giorgio, glade, gonzalo, gray, gregory, greyson, griffin, grover, gunner, guy

H

haim, hadden, hadley, hale, hammond, hanan, hanson, harden, harley, harris, hayes, helio, helix, hendrix, hermes, hiram, holden, holland, holmes, houstan, howard, hudson, hugh, hugo, hunter, hyde

I

iago, ian, icarius, idris, iker, ilario, indigo, isaak, isaiah, israel, ithiel, ives

J

jace, jadon, jago, jahziel, jairo, jakez, jakobe, jamari, janos, jaron, jasper, javier, jaxon, jayden, jaylon, jaziel, jenson, jeremiah, jermaine, jersey, jett, joaquin, jonas, jose, joss, jovani, joziah, judas, jude, julian, julius, junior, justice

K

kace, kaden, kael, kairo, kahlil, kai, kaleb, kamden, kanan, karson, kashton, kasper, keenan, keiran, kennedy, keon, kenton, kenzo, keyon, kez, kiah, killian, kingsley, kito, klaus, kobe, koby, kodah, kohen, kolton, kristian, knox, kyan, kynan, kyson

L

lamar, lamont, lance, landon, laney, larkin, lawyer, lazarus, leandro, lee, legend, lennox, leno, leon, levi, lex, liko, link, locke, loki, loman, lonzo, lorenzo, luca, lucian, lukas, lyam, lynx

M

mac, machi, macklin, maddox, magnus, maison, major, makeo, malaki, manning, mano, marion, marlon, mars, martez, mathias, maxton, mekhi, meyer, micah, milian, miller, milo, montey, montez, myles

N

nakos, nasir, nathaniel, neel, neriah, nero, nevada, nicolo, nicklaus, nickolai, nico, nike, nikos, nixon, noah, nolan, norton, nye

O

oakley, oberyn, obi, obsidian, octavian, oison, olimpio, olsen, omar, ontario, onyx, orion, orlando, oskar, oslo, oryn, otis, oxford, oxley

P

pablo, paley, palmer, parker, parson, pauly, paxton, pearce, perkin, phelix, phoenix, pierre, pike, podrick, porter, preston, prince, puck

Q

qamar, quinten, quillon, quince

R

racer, radley, rafael, rafer, ralph, rambo, ramiel, ramone, randall, raven, rayan, reed, reese, rhydian, ricardo, ridley, riker, riley, river, robin, rocco, roderick, roland, roman, romeo, ronan, roni, rowan, royden, rufus, ryder, ryland

S

sadler, safari, salem, salix, salvador, sami, santiago, sawyer, sean, seaton, severo, shayne, shiloh, silas, silvano, simba, skander, skyler, slade, spencer, spiro, stanley, stefan, syrus

T

talmon, tane, tanner, tate, tatum, tavis, teddy, terence, theo, theon, tirion, titus, tobias, tommen, tonio, travis, trey, troye, trystan, turner, tyrell, tyrese, tyson

U

ulan, uri, uriel, urien

V

vadim, vale, vance, valentine, vaughn, venturo, venus, vermont, vero, victor, vidor, vince, volante, voss

W

wade, walker, walter, warner, warren, watson, waylan, wayne, wilder, wilson, wilton, wolfgang, wyatt, wynton

X

xander, xavier, xenos, xylon

Y

yates, york, yuri, yusef

Z

zacharias, zade, zavier, zayn, zed, zeke, zero, zeus, zion

[sunnytkm23]

My Crown Jewel Predictions

I will not watch, but here

5-on-5 Tag Team Match:

Team Hogan (Roman Reigns (c), Rusev, Ricochet, Ali & Chad Gable) vs. Team Flair (Randy Orton (c), "King" Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Shinsuke Nakamura & Drew McIntyre

Singles Match: 

Mansoor vs. Cesaro

Singles Match: 

Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury

WWE Universal Championship - Falls Count Anywhere Match "can't be stopped for any reason" : 

Seth Rollins (c) vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt

WWE Championship Match: 

Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) (c) vs. Cain Velasquez (w/ Rey Mysterio)

First Ever Women's Match in Saudi Arabia : 

Natalya x Lacey Evans

WWE World Cup - Tag Team Turmoil Match: 

The O.C (Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows) vs. The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) vs. Hype Bros (Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins) vs. Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik, Kalisto & Lince Dorado) vs. Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler vs. The Viking Raiders (Ivar & Erik) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) vs. Heavy Machinery (Otis & Tucker) vs. The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas)

20-man battle royal for United States championship shot :

24/7 Champion Sunil Singh vs Mojo Rawley vs Erick Rowan vs R-Truth vs Sin Cara vs The Brian Kendrick vs Titus O’Neil vs Tony Nese vs Akira Tozawa vs Shelton Benjamin vs Apollo Crews vs Buddy Murphy vs Andrade vs Drake Maverick vs Erick Young vs Luke Harper vs Cedric Alexander vs Heath Slater vs Humberto Carrillo vs No Way Jose

WWE United States Championship : AJ Styles x Humberto Carrillo

[meepthemeeping]

Eskel x Coën and Letho x Gaetan fic quotes:

Coën attempted to strike a pose he hoped looked sexy, feeling his face grow redder as Cedric snapped photos. This is for charity, he reminded himself.

Axel came up behind him with an iced coffee and, after glancing at the photo Cedric had taken, said, "He's like a shy kind of hot. I like it."

Coën felt like he could melt into the concrete.

----

Gaetan paused for a moment. What if Letho is asexual?

Letho had never mentioned being asexual, but they had never slept together, even after two years of knowing each other. Most guys Gaetan had been with, he slept with within the first few days.

It wouldn’t be a deal-breaker. He hadn’t stayed with Letho this long for the sex. Biting his lip, he lay down on the couch. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he were.

Huh. Damn, he really does like him.

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

Eskel watched Coën struggle with fixing the deck. He could have easily called Lambert, who knew much more about this kind of work, but...

Eskel smiled. Coën had found an excuse to spend time with him.

As Coën hunted for a tape measure, Eskel couldn’t stop smiling.

-----------

Gaetan fixed his gaze on Aiden lying in the hospital bed. It wasn’t the first time Aiden had landed in the hospital because of Jad. Gaetan had only been twelve the first time it happened, but the memories of that night was still vivid.

He remembered the look on Guxart's face and how Aiden had struggled to keep it together.

He hoped Jad would rot in hell.

-----------

Eskel discovered Guxart gazing almost defeatedly into the pond. Since Eskel had dropped him off at Vesemir’s, Guxart had hardly uttered a word.

Considering Guxart had nearly faced death, it wasn’t unexpected for him to be somewhat distant. Aiden had been noticeably formal and painfully awkward when he visited to check on him.

Guxart glanced over at Eskel and remarked, "Planning to keep staring at me?"

[sphinxsmuses-archived]

All my favorite guy characters!

Warning, this is very long. lol I’ve started this back in high school 14 years ago and have been adding to it ever since. I thought it would be fun to share here and show what things I’m into (fandom wise)

Teen Titans Aqualad Kid Flash Prince of Tennis Kaoru Kaido Tezuka Kunimitsu Shuusuke Fuji Shinji Ibu Ryoma Echizen (Only in the anime...) Eiji Kikumaru That one guy with the red long headband thing.. lol Tales of Symphonia Kratos Aurion Genis Sage Yuan IGPX Immortal Grand Prix Takeshi River Cunningham s-CRY-ed Ryuhou Asuka Tachibana Demon Diary Eclipse Fushigi Yuugi Chichiri Cardcaptors Lee Syaoran Eriol Yue Full Metal Alchemist Roy Mustang Envy Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio Eagle .Hack Balmung Bith the black Elk Moonstone Haseo Ovan Silabus Endrance Kuhn

Zoids Jack Sisco Raven Sonic Knuckles Megaman Chaud Protoman Zero Slayers Zelgadis Metal Gear Solid Master Otacon Raiden Tekken Lee Shaoran Jin Kazuma Hwoarang Naruto Kabuto Kakashi Sasuke Zabuza Kiba Super Smash Brothers Brawl Marth Ike Pit Toon Link Link Lucas Phantom Brave Ash Yugioh Bakura (Yami and Regular) Seto Kaiba Yami Yugi Valon/Varon Teen Pegasus Zane Truesdale/Ryu Marufuji (Yugioh GX) Mr. Banner and Pharoah (Yugioh GX) Bastion Misawa/Daichi Misawa (Yugioh GX) Syrus Truesdale/Sho Marufuji (sort of a cute thing...XD Yugioh GX) Atticus Rhodes/Fubuki Tenjione (Yugioh GX) The Gambler (lol Yugioh GX) Astir Pheonix/Edo Pheonix (GX) Jesse Anderson/Johan Anderson (GX) Yubel Jesse/Yubel Johan (GX) Jim 'Crocodile' Cook (GX) Adrian Gecko/Amon Garam (GX) Jaden Yuki/Judai Yuki (GX) (Especially season 4 Jaden. XD) Supreme King Jaden AKA Haou Judai (GX) (without his armor aka fanart lol) Yusei (5Ds) Jack Atlas (5Ds) Kalin/Kiryu (5Ds) Crow (5Ds) Gundam Wing Quetra Duo Maxwell Heero Yuy Cheng Outlaw Star Jim Hawking Gene Starwind Pirates of the Carribean Will Turner Final Fantasy Cloud(Final Fantasy 7) Vincent(FF7) Sephiroth(FF7) Reno(FF7) Irvine(FF8) Seifer(FF8) Squall Leonhart(FF8) Zidane Tribal (FF9) Auron(FFX) Balthier!!!! (FFXII) Genesis (Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core) Zack (Crisis Core) Snow (FFXIII)

Noctis (FFXV)

Prompto (FFXV)

Ignis (FFXV)

Rurouni Kenshin Sanosuke Rurouni Kenshin Aoshi Yu Yu Hakashu Hiei Jin Karasu Teen Koenma Kurama Shishiwakamaru Kuronue Kingdom Hearts Riku Zexion (from Kingdom Hearts chain of memories) Axel Demyx Luxord Marluxia Xemnas Xigbar Roxas Saix Ven Wild ARMS 3 Jet Enduro Clive Winslet Janus Cascade Matrix Neo Lord of the rings Pippin Took Merry Brandybuck Legolas Greenleaf Celebs Clay Aiken Ty Pennington Ashley Parker Angel Orlando Bloom Steve Bryn Teddy Greiger Ryan Seacrest Harry Potter Draco Malfoy Fred and George Weasley Cedric James Potter Sirius (when he was younger) Code Lyoko Odd Ulrich William Witch Hunter Robin Michael Wolf's Rain Hige Kiba Toboe One Piece Zolo (or Zoro) Shanks Ace Peacemaker Susumu Yamazaki Suzu Kitamura Getbackers Ban D.N.Angel Dark Satoshi Hiwatari Krad Daisuke Shaman King Ren or Len Yoh Horohoro or Trey Zeke Dragonball Z Android 17 Teen Trunks Supreme Kai Older Goten Vegeta Digimon Matt Henry Kouji Ken or Digimon Emperor Teen Izzy Mummymon Inuyasha Miroku Tokyo Mew Mew or Mew Mew Power Keiichiro (Known as Wesley on Mew Mew Power) Ryou (In Mew Mew Power he's known as Elliot..) Kish (known as Dren on Mew Mew Power) Fruits Basket Kyo Hatsuharu Yuki Vice president of the Student Council (can't remember name.. XD) Momiji Samurai Champloo Mugen Star Ocean Till the end of time Albel Nox Cliff Fittir Fayte Leingod Soul Calibur Maxi (with blonde hair) Kilik Raphael Kaleido Star Ken Yuri E's otherwise Eiji Yuuki Kai Shen-lon Saiyuki Sanzo Spirited Away Haku Angelic Layer Ouji Final Fantasy Unlimited Kaze Chrono Crusade Chrono (both demon and normal) Wish Koryu Kokuyo Bleach Ichigo Ichimaru Gin Captain Aizen Juvenile Orion Kaname Kusakabe Isshin Shiba Ultra Maniac Tetsushi Kaji Hiroki Tsujiai Yuta Kirishima Kare Kano His and Her circumstances Asaba Hideaki Full Moon O Sagashite Takuto Eichi Twinkle star sprites (A Mame32 or Dreamcast game) Griffon Tsubasa Resevior Chronicles Fai Kurogane Kamui Subaru Kimihiro Watanuki The Gorillaz 2-D X-men (any X-men) Nightcrawler Gambit W.I.T.C.H. Caleb Hands Off Youta Star Wars Obi-wan Kenobi (younger one don't ask..XD) Howl's moving castle Howl Xiaolin Showdown Raimundo Chase Young Galaxy Angel Takuto Lester Trigun Wolfwood Legato Alice 19th Kyo Frei Dragon Knights Thatz Kai-long Rath Lord Lykouleon Dream Saga Takaomi (Dream World/After Stage) Keima (Dream World) Vampire Game Darres Hume Illsade Pokemon Mewtwo Gary Brawly Morty Koga Tracy Aaron (or Riley or whatever xD) Legend of Dragoon Dartz Blonde haired King dude(can't remember name, starts with an L) Jet Set Radio Future Yo-yo Beat Corn (Tab) Final Fantasy Advent Children Cloud Vincent Reno Kadaj Devil May Cry Dante Xenosaga Kevin Chaos Tony Animal Crossing Aziz Sky high Stretchy dude (can't remember name..XD) Ouran High School Host Club Tamaki Suoh The Hitachin Twins Hunny Mori Kyoya Nekozawa Eragon Eragon Starfox Falco Lombardi Leon Powalski Wolf O' Donnell Storm Hawks Finn Aerrow Stork Code Geass Lelouch Suzaku Pheonix Wright Edgeworth Diego (Pheonix Wright 3) Godot (Phoenix Wright 3) Solty Rei Yuto Eureka 7 Holland The World Ends With You Joshua Beat Sho Minamimoto Kariya Prince Neku Mushi Shi Ginko Heroes Hiro Nakamura Peter Petrelli Fairy Tail Gray Loki Soul Eater Soul Evans Death the kid Kill la Kill Sanageyama League of Legends Azir Malzahar Ekko Fate Series Archer (From Fate Stay Night) Lancer (From Fate Zero and Stay Night) Gilgamesh

Yona of the Dawn

Hak

God Eater

Soma

Lindow

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans

Orga Itsuka

Assassination Classroom

Karma

A Certain Magical Index/Railgun

Accelerator (I don’t know why. lol)

Karneval

Yogi

Gareki

Hirato

Magi:

Alibaba

Jafar

Sinbad

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun

Mikoshiba

Seven Deadly Sins

King

Ban

Meliodas

Kamisama Kiss

Tomoe

My Hero Academia

Iida

Aizawa (Eraserhead)

Bungou Stray Dogs

Dazai

Cavalier of the Abyss

Regis Nex

Ninoorut Noah

Persona

Joker

Yosuke

Akihiko Sanada

Nier Automata

9S

Adam

[theshatteredrose]

you must have good boys of every letter of the alphabet X'D

Ahaha, probably :'D

Let's place it under cut for the sheer volume of names. Of course, there's likely to be one or two names absent, but for the most part I’ll list the names I've given to all of the boy portraits. You’ll definitely recognise the names I’ve written about. There’s a lot I haven’t, though. Hopefully Nexus will fix that :3

AAchyuta Andre Arber Arthell Ashton Asterios        Avith Axel Ayjay Ayron Aziah   Azure BBahari Bayne  Benedict Richardson the Third Biast Blayden Blayke Bodhi   Bryce CCaelem Caiden Cedric Chandra Chi-hung Clester Creed Crios Curio DDarrell Deniz     Devonte Drayce Pendragon Duke Durriken Dusko EEckart Eikki Elden Emerson      FFaelen Falkner Fardi         Fiorello Fletcher GGage Garcia      Garreth Gerald Ghali Golden Imperial HHalvard Hamza Havika Holt  IIncendio       Isiah JJaeger Japhia Jawara Jaxen Jeason Jeroden Jett Jhon Jiri Joren KKalan Kamali Kanati Kardos Karma Keita Kekoa Keoki Keron Kikaru Kishi Kitchi Koyla Krystallos Kyan Kyler Kyrell LLiam Lirit Loukas Lynus MMabuz Macerio Magnus Mahalah Mahogany Mannix Miach Mirza MitsuMizell Myall NNahele Namid   Narrah Nassir Netuno Nitish Noha OOracle Osmond Owyn PPalash QRRahas Razak Reymond Rhain Pendragon Ricardo Rishley Rodas Rodya RorieRouxRoxbury Rubell Runihura Ryker SSalim Sardon Sarkis Satri Sephtis Shashi Shauden Shen Shiki Shiro Sigil Silvio Simmons Steffan Suah TTallis Talos Telem Terron   Tetsu Thyron Tobyn Tohopka    Tokala Topaz Toral     Trisdan Tsuna UVValiant Varuna Vasilios Velkan Villard Vlasta WWade Washi Wren Wyatt XXander YZZadkiel Zalaph Zaniel Zarli Zeryn Zesiro Ziba Zohar Zoran Zydon

Hmmmmmmm....I might have to change some of these names simply because a few of them are similiar. Also, I need names that begin with Q, U, and Y.

[placetobenation]

Oh the Horror! Or is it the Horror Show at Extreme Rules!

We are now just one week away from the next WWE PPV in the COVID-19 pandemic era from the Performance Center. This PPV is usually built around the gimmicks and this year is no different. We’ll get a Swamp Match from Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman for the Universal Title. We’ll get an Eye for an Eye (or whatever that means) Match between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins. It’ll be a Bar Fight between Jeff Hardy and Sheamus and so much more.

Dolph Ziggler is waiting to tell the World what the stipulation will be against Drew McIntyre for his WWE Championship. It’s building to be a pretty decent PPV. I would expect the Swamp Match to be cinematic of course. It’ll be interesting to see how they incorporate the wetlands into their history. My expectations aren’t very high, so here’s hoping!

I expect Asuka vs. Sasha Banks to steal the show too! Could it be time for Sasha and Bayley to wear ALL the women’s gold in the WWE. I think so!

It’s hard to imagine that SummerSlam is one month away and we are still in the crowd-less era. Who would’ve ever thought that would be. It will be interesting to see how New Japan Wrestling handles their first event with fans, roughly 3,500 for this weekend’s event in Japan. But, things are so different here in the United States that I don’t see fans in the stands anytime soon with all the spikes we are getting, especially with the WWE based in Florida these days, the new epicenter of the coronavirus.

But, with that in mind, here’s where we stand:

Extreme Rules – Horror Show – Updated Card

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler

RAW Women’s Championship Match: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Universal Championship Swamp Match: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt

SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross

Eye for an Eye Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

United States Championship Match: Apollo Crews vs. MVP

Bar Fight: Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy

Star of the Week – Ketih Lee – No explanation needed!

RAW

RESULTS

WWE Championship Non-Title Match: Drew McIntyre defeated Heath Slater

Kairi Sane vs. Sasha Banks ended in no-contest

Rey Mysterio & Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy – Mysterio picks Eye for an Eye Match for Extreme Rules

MVP & Bobby Lashley defeated Ricochet & Cedric Alexander

Billie Kay defeated Ruby Riott

Champion vs. Champion Match: Asuka defeated Bayley

Overall, a mixed bag of a show this week.

The highlights:

Speaking of a GHOST from @DMcIntyreWWE's past…@HEATHXXII is here on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/B5W1DkF7gG

— WWE (@WWE) July 7, 2020

Heath Slater – Talk about delivering the promo of his WWE life! Slater brought the reality to bestie Drew McIntyre before Drew claymored him straight to defeat. Loved the surprise of Slater showing up while in the final days of his no-compete clause of his contract. I just wished they would’ve had Slater beat up Dolph Ziggler to further the storyline. Maybe, like Drew Maverick on NXT, it’s not the last of Heath just yet?

#ChampionvsChampion had EVERYTHING … including a VICTORY for @WWEAsuka! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/jEW0Vitrts

— WWE (@WWE) July 7, 2020

Asuka vs. Bayley – Two of the best in-ring performers right now, men or women, in the WWE. Nikki Cross showed how unpredictable she is too by showing up behind the plexiglass to help Asuka pull off the win. We are all fans in these weekly battles between Asuka, Bayley and Sasha Banks!

Hello, RKO – Found it funny that Randy Orton is again paired with two third-generation wrestlers in Andrade & Angel Garza. Brings back memories of Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas & Cody Rhodes. I love Orton’s slow build too! So good at the storytelling to the eventual “legend Killing” of Big Show to come.

The lowlights:

No-contest – I see no point in having matches end in no-contests these days. Love that Kairi Sane is back to help Asuka and set up next week’s Tag Team Title Match against Banks & Bayley, but we could’ve at least gotten a finish to the match between Sane & Banks.

Ruby Riott, again – I don’t get feeding Ruby Riott to the IIconics each week without the pay-off of Liv Morgan coming to help her former friend. It just makes too much sense not to do it. Having her lose weekly in mere minutes doesn’t do her any favors.

Enough:

That's a beauty.

@The305MVP has unveiled a NEW #USTitle on #WWERaw, claiming that he IS the new champion after defeating @WWEApollo last week! pic.twitter.com/GzyOzS9vUQ

— WWE (@WWE) July 7, 2020

MVP – We’ll say it again. The man sure does win alot these days. But, that belt is sweet! So, just how is Apollo Crews out of action again?

Explain please:

#WWERaw @reymysterio pic.twitter.com/F6NIiZFkDM

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 7, 2020

Eye for an Eye – Just what is the outcome of the Mysterio vs. Rollins expected to be? Does the winner really get to rip out the loser’s eye? I NEED to know! Clarification please! And yes, I’m sure we will be disappointed.

NXT

RESULTS 

Street Fight: Candice LeRae defeated Mia Yim

Bronson Reed defeated Tony Nese

Johnny Gargano defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott

Legado del Fantasma defeated Drake Maverick & Breezango

Mercedes Martinez defeated Santana Garrett

Winner Take All Champion vs. Champion Match: Keith Lee defeated Adam Cole to win NXT Championship & North American Championship

Uh-oh.

Competition is already lurking for new #NXTChampion and #WWENXT North American Champion @RealKeithLee… #NXTGAB @WWEKarrionKross @Lady_Scarlett13 pic.twitter.com/onKPrjDqL8

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 9, 2020

Night 2 of the Great American Bash set a new path for NXT. We get a new champion, one helluva of a Street Fight and a foreboding feud for the future.

The highlights:

July 8, 2020 will forever be known as the day that #WWENXT became N-X-Lee.#NXTGAB @RealKeithLee pic.twitter.com/fDaHpZ712N

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 9, 2020

Bask in his Glory – Give Keith Lee his due. He is now Mr. NXT! He holds all the Gold and can cement his position as to where either the NXT Championship or the North American Championship goes. The loaded main event helped NXT take the total viewership win again against AEW and sets in motion the Lee vs. Karrion Kross feud too, which could be EPIC! Now, what becomes of Adam Cole? Does he move forward to RAW after 403 days atop the Full Sail mast. Either way, he deserves a ton of credit too for elevating the NXT Championship.

LeRAE, YOU SLAY!

@CandiceLeRae puts away @MiaYim in an absolutely BRUTAL #StreetFight on Night 2 of #NXTGAB! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/NFQOjm2E99

— WWE (@WWE) July 9, 2020

Holy crap! – Candice LeRae’s neckbreaker off the table on the top rope onto a pile of chairs is truly an OMG moment! It made scream out loud HOLY CRAP! Well done ladies!

Welcome back – Mercedes Martinez could be the bad ass Shayna Baszler was in NXT and I could surely see a feud with Rhea Ripley down the road.

Funny as hell:

Nothing to see here, just @ShotziWWE 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯' care of business. #WWENXT #NXTGAB @RobertStoneWWE pic.twitter.com/8dXobJ5tDI

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 9, 2020

Robert Stone – Keep the comedy coming! Shotzi Blackheart running over Stone with her mini-tank is comedic gold! Another embarrassing moment of reject for the Robert Stone brand.

Solid:

The middle of the show – It wasn’t epic but it was truly very solid and a buidlng moment as we see Bronson Reed continue to gain momentum with a victory. The cruiserweights continue their feud of Legado del Fantasma against the rest of the division.

Gargano vs. Scott – Given a spot on a different night, this one could’ve stolen the show. But after the street fight and Championship vs. Championship match, it takes a back seat. Wouldn’t mind seeing it again though!

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Jeff Hardy defeated The Miz

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Non-Title Match: Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross

Lacey Evans vs. Naomi went to a no-contest

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura went to a no-contest

Wow! This one felt so mailed in it’s not even funny.

Highlights:

.@itsBayleyWWE & @SashaBanksWWE pick up the win on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/n7jw4sHA9e

— WWE (@WWE) July 11, 2020

Sasha, Bayley, Alexa and Nikki – Strongest part of the show. Fun tag team that keeps the storyline going with Bayley sneaking the win over Cross. It gives me a reason to care about their upcoming title match.

The lowlights:

The rest of the show! Honestly, from the start of the show with Miz TV (again) setting up Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz with the usual barbs to the end of the show with a tag team title no-contest, there just was not a good vibe to this show.

Don’t get me wrong, Hardy vs. The Miz was serviceable and a nice match between two vets, but nothing spectacular other than to set up what we already knew – a Bar Fight for Hardy vs. Sheamus at Extreme Rules

.@TaminaSnuka, @NaomiWWE, @LaceyEvansWWE & @DanaBrookeWWE face the music in this #SmackDown Karaoke challenge.

pic.twitter.com/MmZXAu3HfB

— WWE (@WWE) July 11, 2020

The Karoake Showdown was a disaster! Having Lacey Evans, Naomi, Dana Brooke and Tamina sink WWE entrance themes is a waste of everyone’s time and if you wanted to sing the “Common Man” theme for Dusty Rhodes, wouldn’t it have been more appropriate at NXT’s Great American Bash? Then, to have a no-contest for Evans and Naomi further wasted our time and was just a time filler.

Do @WWECesaro & @ShinsukeN have your attention now? #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/sfOgxMljQS

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) July 11, 2020

Finally, don’t get me started with the tag team title match. Why build up a championship match only to see it halted at the first sign of chaos that only seemed to let the World know we have a tables match coming at Extreme Rules. There are 100 different ways to accomplish that goal than to waste a title match on broadcast TV.

And oh yeah, did I mention we got a replay of Money In the Bank’s Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt’s title match? Time filler folks. They could’ve wrapped up that in a 3-minute production piece.

Here’s hoping that next week’s go home show is much better. I’m not holding my breathe. This one was not good people!

Parting shots:

Reigns vs. Lee – Sign me up for one, whenever it’s possible. Roman Reigns tweeted out this week his congratulations to Keith Lee for his NXT Title win and wants a shot down the road. Make this happen WWE! That is, of course, if you ever acknowledge that Reigns is still part of the company still.

Coming up this week:

RAW – Grudge Matches Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens R-Truth vs. Randy Orton (what’s the grudge exactly?) Andrade & Austin Theory vs. The Viking Raiders

NXT NXT Women’s Championship Match: Io Shirai vs. Tegan Nox Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes

SMACKDOWN Intercontinental Championship Match: AJ Styles vs. Matt Riddle

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

[sunnytkm23]

My SummerSlam Predictions

Kick off show:

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Cedric Alexander x Drew Gulak

Mix Tag Match: Zelina Vega & Andrade Cien Almas x Lana & Rusev

Raw Tag Team Championship: B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) x The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)

Normal Show

Raw Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss x Ronda Rousey

SmackDown Women’s Championship: Carmella x Becky Lynch x Charlotte Flair

Smackdown Tag Team  Championship: Bludgeon Brothers (Erick Rowan & Luke Harper) x New Day (Xavier Woods, Big E and Kofi Kingston)

United States Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura x Jeff Hardy

Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler w/ Drew McIntyre x Seth Rollins w/ Dean Ambrose

Singles Match: Finn Balor x "Constable" Baron Corbin

Singles Match: The Miz x Daniel Bryan

MITB Briefcase: Braun Strowman x Kevin Owens

WWE Championship Match: AJ Styles x Samoa Joe

WWE Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar x Roman Reigns