#dead fic revival

[adventures-in-mangaland]

Another Dead Boy Detectives Fic Rec List

Netflix sucks and I'm sad, but the Dead Boy Detectives fandom continues to be awesome, so here are some more very quick fic recs!*

Tonight's the Night You Fight Your Best Mate's Dad by Opossum_Subatomic

Everyone's Alive College/University 5+1 things fic featuring Charles bringing Edwin coffee and slowburn payneland. Also Family/Wedding Drama involving Everyone Thinks They're Dating so acute is verges on Fake Dating. This author is seriously fantastic, everything they write is gold.

You should also check out Kissing Lessons, which is a high school AU that does what it says on the tin while also giving non-binary Monty and polyamory.

Ornithology by Rosie447

Monty gets a job working at Tragic Mick's. This one's not actually payneland, being gen and Monty-centric. I know, gasp. It's a fantastic and very sweet exploration of Monty discovering his sense of self post canon and works as a great metaphor for recovery from toxic family/relationships. Also, the ex-animal solidarity and bonding with Mick is lovely.

what some circumstance stole by Chrome

The Sandman crossover featuring Edwin and Hob being kidnapped and tortured together. Their friendship is really wholesome with eventual Father Figure and Found Family Feels for the whole agency and background Dreamling.

dandelion wine (life and death in summertime) by world_wanderer

Payneland Right Person Wrong Time AU in which neither of them die but they still meet and become friends. The May/December friendship is sweet but tragic, with a bittersweet ending. Superb.

Mirror Image by Anonymous

Charles' afterlife gets taken over my an evil shape-shifting doppelganger, leaving him with plenty of time to regret never talking to Edwin about his feelings. Angsty but with Feelings Realisation and the Power of Love and Friendship vibes.

my healing needed more than time by babyseraphim

Case fic with de-aged Charles! Baby Charles is precious but be prepared for discussions of childhood trauma/abuse.

The same author has also written I'm So Aces at Babysitting, which is a really cute two-chaptered AU featuring Charles and Edwin babysitting the kid versions of each other, with bonus Crystal and Niko doing the same. It's very wholesome and the author writes little kids really well.

Pouring into me by tragedy_machine

Love me some "Charles wants to date Edwin to figure out his feelings but gets turned down" fic. Feelings are hard, OK?

thank u, next by KiaraSayre

Edwin fucks and Charles seethes. It's very funny and also features some interesting worldbuilding with the Fae.

Like We've Never Known Hurt by dearheartdont

Just cute established relationship PWP and praise kink. So good.

all of these hollows by handwrittenhello

The boys are alive again but sans memories. Can they still find each other and prove their devotion to the Night Nurse?? While also evading heavenly and hellish forces trying to keep them apart??? Very interesting concept executed well.

Suo Gân by emryses

The agency takes on the case of a traumatised Edwardian ghost searching for her missing baby... Read it for Edwin family feels.

Where Primroses Bloom by PantryJesus

Reading aloud as a love language and Watership Down feels. Idk, I'm now convinced that Edwin is kind of rabbit-coded with the whole "if they catch you they'll kill you. But first they must catch you" thing. A lovely well written fic.

I'm so sick of online love by Hse11z5

College/University AU where the boys meet through a dating app. It's cute.

you can have the best of me, baby (and I will give you anything) by aletterinthenameofsanity

Again, it's the Friends with Benefits but with real feelings and mutual pining for me. Now has a Charles PoV companion fic.

True Love's Kiss by Asidian

In which Charles curses himself with a Sleeping Beauty enchantment in order to confirm his feelings for Edwin and Crystal is the real MVP. I love this one because the boys are both SO stupid but in very different in-character ways.

I also recommend Promised, in which they kind of play the Green card angle to keep Edwin out of Hell? Which honestly needs to be more of a trope. And Tight Quarters, starring the boys trapped in a magic circle, leading to Forced Proximity induced Feelings Realization (in more ways than one! 😉).

Something I Can Turn To by DontOffendTheBees

I love some domestic fluff, in this case as an Everyone's Alive/Childhood Friends AU in which the boys are poor but happy living together. I liked how they both survive their respective traumas, but Reality Ensues.

I also recommend Lived My Whole Life Before the First Light for a lovely but melancholy Soulmate AU that goes for the "seeing colours" trope for extra wistful angst.

Dining at the Ritz by TerresDeBrume

Meeting the Parents fic in which Edwin's parents are awful and Charles is Not Having It. This has Everyone Thinks They're Dating and autistic Edwin stimming representation, plus discussions of racism, classism and ableism. The fic is also part of a great Modern AU series in which the boys attended St Hilarion's at the same time and Charles saved Edwin from a non-supernatural but still almost deadly prank. Highly recommended!

The Case of the Couples Retreat by juliasfanart

Listen, I can't get enough of undercover fake dating/relationships at a couples retreat, OK? Some minor angst but overall very cute and fluffy.

acu (aysar cinematic universe) by ObsessedWithFandom

The agency is hired to solve the mystery of Charles' death and bring his killers to justice. I'm genuinely obsessed with this series; I love its OCs and Charles having an exboyfriend gives Edwin a fun crisis. Plus haunting Charles' killers is very satisfying and cathartic. Just imagine they're Netflix execs, y'all.

*Not actually quick, as it turns out. 😅

I love doing these lists because I always think I've only got a few recs and then I look back over my recent bookmarks and I've got a metric ton of great fics to rec. You guys are so talented. ❤️

[alexrod-dbd]

Seems like I’m on a creative spree and can’t stop making book covers for dbd fics so here’s another one! I really like the outcome of this one, and yes, I’m already discussing with artists and authors for sharing a third one 🤭

Using @pawspaintsnthings / @ouchmyghostskin ‘s art for @safaiagem ‘s fic ✨

Again, NOT for selling distribution.

Here’s the link for people wanting to read it : https://archiveofourown.org/works/56577013

[marya-blackbone]

dead boy detectives fic recs i swear by

Who? You mean your teammate in the Codependency World Cup? - RoseGanymede95 - the prequel series one

the saviour of the broken, the beaten, and the damned - laiqualaurelote - the one with the many timelines

Dance the Night - Gruoch - the one at the nightclub

This is a gift (The high cost of living) - foolishgames - the one where they’re alive again for a day

Like the slumber that creeps to me - ghostinthelibrary - the sickfic one

Love like fools - CasiHuman - the comic strip one

As always, no author appears twice, so please check out their other works, they’re all superb!

[cuubism]

@magnusbae a surprise for you. finally, more silly rabbit au

--

Dream always listened intently when Hob spoke about his workday. Dream had mentioned, at least once, actually coming to Hob’s lectures to “experience his expertise in person.” Yet somehow, none of this had translated in Hob’s mind into the actual, heart attack-inducing experience of seeing Dream walk into his lecture hall.

He hadn’t really believed it would happen. Not for lack of trusting Dream’s word, but because his presence seemed so incongruous. This was Hob’s normal life. His normal human life of work and chores and errands and bureaucracy.

Dream, meanwhile, was from Hob’s other life, the one made of secret meetings in taverns with an ethereal stranger, the life that knew that magic, in some way, was real. That life seemed, in some ways, realer, for all that it was brief, hidden, threaded between lifetimes of normality. Being with Dream was to dip back into a deeper well of truth he usually had to lock away; his own truth, their truth.

That was not a life that was supposed to be striding down the stairs of his lecture hall and taking a seat in the front row.

“So, um…” Hob trailed to an uneven stop halfway through his description of the first printing press. Dream just smirked at him from where he’d sat down. He’d taken off his coat and everything, as if he really was settling in to listen to the lecture.

A few students’ heads swiveled in his direction, drawn by Dream’s not-so-subtle entrance and Hob’s uncharacteristic stumble. Dream’s gaze didn't leave Hob's.

“So.” Hob forced himself back into motion. “So, in 1482—”

It was only his years of experience that got Hob through that lecture without breaking, and even then, it was a close thing. Every second, he could feel Dream’s eyes on him. Saw more than one of the students looking at Dream, too. God, what was he doing here?

But Hob did manage it, and ignored the curious glances of the students as they filed out of class, leaving only Dream behind. Dream, who stalked over to him with a predatory little smile, stopping by the podium where Hob was shutting his laptop.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Hob asked idly, trying to pretend Dream’s presence here, in this normal part of his life, wasn’t throwing him completely off balance.

“I merely wanted the see the professor at work,” Dream drawled.

Hob chuckled and leaned in quick to kiss him on the cheek. “Not much of a show, to be honest.”

Dream’s brow pinched as if he hadn’t quite gotten the reaction he expected. “Does it bother you for me to be here?”

“No, no, of course not.” Hob held Dream’s arms tight, made sure he was looking at him. “I always want to have you wherever I am.”

Dream’s expression eased, and he tilted his head, waiting for the other half of Hob’s explanation he knew was forthcoming.

“It’s just… a bit odd to have you in such a normal place,” Hob tried to explain. “This is like… my ordinary life. And you, you’re anything but ordinary. I got used to thinking of our meetings as… kind of separate from all this, I guess. Like, you know. A dream.”

Or perhaps it was Hob’s ordinary life that was the dream, for everything snapped back into multicolored focus whenever he saw Dream himself.

“I have not been around for much of this… normal life,” Dream conceded. “I do wish now that I could have seen more of it.”

“I know. It’s okay.” Hob rubbed up and down his arms. “Though not sure how interesting you’ll find it all, to be honest.”

“Everything about you is interesting to me,” Dream said. He seemed completely sincere about it, too.

“You’re sweet.” Hob kissed him on the cheek. It was flattering—if occasionally unbelievable—to be interesting to The King of Dreams. Though Hob supposed Dream had had vanishingly little normality in his long life, to the point where what should have been mundane had become novel.

“I only hope I am not a disturbance,” Dream said. “You have always managed your life independently. I do not wish to derail it.”

Hob sighed. “My love, even if you were a disturbance, which you are not, I wouldn’t care? I love this job, don’t get me wrong, but you’re so much more important than that.”

Dream’s brow furrowed. “You have always held life most dear.”

“Well, life, sure, but life has infinite variations, doesn’t it? This version falls apart, I’ll make a new one. So long as you’re there.”

Dream still seemed confused, and Hob couldn’t have that. He couldn’t have Dream questioning his importance in Hob’s life.

“Look, you like pictures, right? I’ll draw it for you.”

Hob picked up a blue marker and drew a series of circles on the board, all in a line, touching end to end. “See those? That’s my life. Well, each of my lives, every time I have to start a new one. See how they’re all separate and only touch once one’s had to stop? Well.” He picked up another marker, this one black, and drew a line through the middle of the series, from one end to the other, bisecting each circle. “That’s you. Now do you get the difference?”

“I would have said that your ‘lives’ were more like concentric circles, compounding on each other, not in series,” Dream said, but it sounded weak, an automatic retort.

“The timeline accuracy doesn’t matter. This—” Hob touched the black line. “This matters.”

Dream studied the line. “That is a heavy meaning to draw from me,” he finally said.

Hob stepped back into his space, laid his hands lightly along his hips. “You’re the king of dreams, don’t people make meaning of you all the time?”

“Through me,” Dream said. “But you. See it— in me.”

How could I not? Hob thought. When you’re… it. You’re so much of it. “That’s what it’s like when you love someone.”

“Love,” repeated Dream, with the same awe he seemed to feel every time Hob said it.

“So yeah,” Hob said, “you can join my normal human life if you want to. Only don’t complain to me when it can’t compare to the crazy spectacles of your dreams.”

“You could not be uninteresting to me,” repeated Dream.

Hob leaned in to kiss his cheek again. “Sweet thing,” he said, and felt Dream’s tiny smile against his lips.

Dream clutched onto his hand as Hob packed up the rest of his things, and Hob let him, even though it made the process twice as long. “So did the lecture compel you, then?”

“I know these historical facts, but I enjoy your retelling of them,” Dream said. “However, the students seemed distracted.”

“Ha! That’s your fault, love.” He started leading Dream towards the door. “You created a spectacle. They’ll be mad curious now.”

“I was attempting to be unobtrusive,” Dream said with a frown.

"Oh, unobtrusive, is it? That's what that devious little look meant, hm?"

"...To draw your attention," Dream conceded. "Not the students'. I was affecting an appearance of average humanity.”

Hob snorted. “My love, I don’t think you could be convincingly human if you committed the rest of your eternal existence to the study of it.”

He led Dream out into the hall, and closed and locked the lecture hall door behind them. Dream’s nose scrunched adorably. “Oh? What am I doing wrong, then?”

“For one, you’re too pretty.” Hob tugged him close and kissed the tip of Dream’s nose. “Pretty like a fairy tale creature that’s meant to lure you into the woods. Don’t you dare change it, by the way!” he added, and Dream smirked.

“Is that all?”

“Nope. The other thing is, it is impossible to look at you…” he stepped in close to hold Dream by his hips— “and forget that you are a king.”

Dream raised an eyebrow. “You seem to forget frequently.”

“Willfully ignoring is not the same as forgetting,” Hob told him, grinning. “Besides, I’m not one of your subjects. It’s my job to ignore it and get you to let your hair down.” He scrubbed a hand through Dream’s already-messy hair, which Dream made no move to stop. “But I picked out the regality on you all the way back when we first met, it’s all in your jaw, and the tilt of your brow, and your spine—” he touched each spot as he spoke— “and especially in those eyes. Humans might play at being kings, but you are a king. Divine right and all. You’re a king from another world, a story, or—” he smiled— “a dream.”

“You have made a proper study of me.” They were standing very close now, hovering in the doorway to the lecture hall.

“Only for seven hundred years,” Hob told him. “Still think there’s lots to learn in Dream Interpreting, though.”

Dream touched his face to Hob’s cheek, leaning in close. “Interpret, then.”

Hob turned and kissed him, hands falling to Dream’s hips as Dream’s fingers curled around his jacket. and for a long moment, he forgot they were meant to be going home, as the wet heat of Dream’s mouth kept him firmly in place.

“Um. Professor Gadling?” squeaked a nervous voice from beside them, and they  broke apart, still holding onto each other.

One of Hob’s younger students was standing there, blushing furiously, binder held tight to their chest as if it could somehow block the embarrassment of witnessing their professor snogging on campus.

Hob could just see Dream smirking out of the corner of his eye, and poked him in the side. “Yes, Lily?”

“Um.” The student’s blush only deepened. “Do. Are you still supposed to have office hours after class?”

Fuck.

Hob looked at Dream. The bastard looked triumphant now. He sighed and turned back to his student. “No, I don’t think so. But email me and I’ll find time for you, okay?”

“Thanks,” they whispered, and practically fled, scurrying back down the hall.

Hob turned to glare at Dream. “Now look what you’ve done.”

“Me?” said Dream, duly offended. “Govern your own behavior, Professor. I am an unobtrusive bystander. I am not even here.”

“Oh, unobtrusive my arse, you—”

But Dream was gone, only a swirl of sand and a tiny smirk left in his wake.

“Bastard,” Hob swore to the empty hallway. Then went to go find him, inevitably, at home.

[violets-and-books]

Netflix cannot stop me.

Board Games, Love Confessions and Other Unimportant Things

Charles has been thinking. A lot of thinking. And he's realised that maybe he doesn't want to wait forever to figure things out. Maybe he wants to tell Edwin right fucking now how he feels. He's just not very good at... actually doing that. --- Netflix won't give these boys the love confession they deserve so I will. Featuring: the sacred board game cupboard, a lot of swearing on Charles' part and our boys finally getting to kiss

Hope you enjoy <333

[irondadfics]

Hi! Do you do fic recs? If so, can you rec me some really good really whumpy fics? Like, Peter almost dies but comes back kinda whump and Tony is just the best dad ever!

here are some recommendations for you

Reviving Peter Parker by YellowDistress

Spider-Man was murdered five years ago, on a beach, at the hands of Adrian Toomes. Peter Parker never came home. Spider-Man was murdered five years ago. Today Peter Parker took his first breath.

If You Should Die Before Me (Reserve Me A Place In Heaven) by Aurealis

Peter is locked in a flooding cave in and Tony tries to rescue him.

Identity Theft by KitCat992

It's been months since the events of Civil War, and the Avengers are doing their best to remain a team, having promised to forgive and forget. Unfortunately for them, Tony Stark's latest invention has been stolen and recovering it causes tension to reappear. Meanwhile, in Queens, Peter Parker has two main priorities on his plate — complete his midterm finals, and track down a fishbowl wearing criminal that may or may not lead him right into the hands of the Avengers. Somehow between all of this, Spider-Man's identity is revealed to the Avengers, Steve and Tony's friendship may permanently be damaged due to continued hidden secrets, and Happy struggles to buy a youth-sized casket for Peter's funeral. Things were a lot easier when they were fighting over Bucky Barnes. (Or: The Avengers welcome Peter into their crazy superhero family and will do anything to protect him.)

Burn up with the water by jaybaybay

Spider Man died while millions watched. There was a fire. Then an explosion. And just like that, the famed hero was no more. The world mourned for their loss, then the world had moved on. Save for one. Tony Stark had last been seen when he spoke at Spider Man's public funeral, his demeanor had been calm and stoic; a stark contrast to when he had been seen only days before, screaming and clutching the disembodied torso of the cherished vigilante. Iron Man hadn’t been spotted in months. Not since the incident.  Everyone knew Spider Man was dead. But somewhere, in a prison encased deep in the ocean… Peter Parker lived.

The Humbling River by mysterycyclone

Peter’s been distant lately. Edgy. Angry. On his best days, he moves through his life in a vague daze, skipping meals and sleeping. On his worst, he’s hit with fits of anger that border on unthinking rage.  Monday afternoon, he breaks Flash Thompson’s hand.  Wednesday evening, he goes missing.  That night, the first headless corpse appears in Queens.

[bonchobrick]

(angst alert !! death + slight blood tw !!)

Tim is stuck in a sticky situation and has to call a certain 'spooky' friend for help.

Jason would probably call him a dumbass for trying to do something so stupid. Well, atleast thats what Tim thinks Jason would do, he isn't for sure though, he isn't certain.

Because Jason's laying on the ground with a flat pulse and he wont be giving him any answers anytime soon.

---

“Don' look so weird replacement, its just anoth’r day in gotham.” His brother slurs with the slight quirk of his lips

"Jason don't fucking do this to me!" Tim hisses tears cursing his eyes

And Jason, oh that bastard—bleeding out on the pavement and in Tim’s arms sends him his classic beaming Robin Smile. 

"Love ya' little bro take care of yo'rself, kay?" he says eyes fluttering

"Jay," Tim cries, "You dick."

For all the joy and hope and belief his smile conveyed for the first time in a long time—his red blood muddled what should’ve been such a nice sight. Tim held him on the pavement with someone yelling on the comm mic on the floor that he just can’t bother trying to pay attention to. 

The pavement is cold. The air is cold. His brother is cold. It’s all so cold tonight. 

All the younger boy does close his eyes and slowly, In. Out. In. Out.

He lets himself breathe for a minute. Lets the horror wash over him. Lets himself absorb what just happened,

Then he gets back to work. 

Like a switch his brain is back online running at a hundred miles an hour–what is the best scenario, what should I do when my brother's wrist is limp and his eyes are shut, what do I do if he’s dead again, what can i do, how can I Fix. This.

Thoughts cloud his mind, whirring around his head like layers and layers of messy documents has just been dumped on his desk and he’s shuffling through them panicked trying to find the right file because its somewhere here, there is something and he just needs to sort. it. out. And–

Then it all becomes clear. 

His desk is back to clean and stationary. All of the papers are gone back into neat piles in neat manila folders, stored away in tidy filing shelves–

Everything is gone aside from one little yellow sticky note in the center of the desk.

“Well, Jay?” Tim chuckles with a cracked voice, “Second times the charm right?”

In his mind, at the center of it all, on a yellow sticky note lies the words in green ink: ‘Contact The Ghost King.’

Slowly he shifts and with a loud grunt he lifts up Jason, “Up we go!”

“--im? Why do you have Red Hood’s Comm–Tim what happened! Tim!” the comm speaker plays faintly in the background of his head, “Tim! Whatever you’re thinking off doing, don’t!” someone Tim can’t think about hisses

Tim hums absentmindedly towards the mic, almost automatically, “Don’t worry Babs, I’ve got it covered.”

Walking away from the roof he thinks to himself, I wonder where Jason would wanna wake up? Perhaps his apartment? Yea, i think that would go well by him–let’s head to the apartment.  

And just like that Tim leaves a crime scene—shuffling away with a dead body over his shoulder and a plan.

“Jay,” Tim murmurs to the corpse on his shoulder, “You’re really gonna hate this, but i’m doing this for you anyways cause I love you. So dont be too hard on me when you wake up okay asshole?”

Tim stumbles off into the stairwell making his descent and sometime as he walks away Barbara faintly catches him on the comm saying

“-Your gonna love Danny and making your lame 'im a dead guy' jokes with him man .”

[edwinspaynes]

As the outline has grown and I have begun to WRITE THE FIC (!!!) the playlist has become more robust. The fic has a title, as you can see, and the list of songs is in fact in order!

[read-write-thrive]

fem!payneland is seriously running the show that is my brain rn, like I was going to write a quick flirty one shot to incorporate how perplexed Charlotte would be with Edwina’s undergarments (as inspired by my fanart series, most recent part and links to all the others found here!) but then I somehow managed to rewrite nearly the whole meeting scene with my versions of the characters and now I want to make it a series too……….. something about the ghost yuri is getting to me

if I end up writing any more than what I’ve already done, however, I’ll want to bring Crystal and Niko and all our favorite other characters into the fold as well, so now I’ve got a bigger question for y’all: (and yes I also don’t like the term genderbend but im using it here to denote that they're sex swapped as in not trans about it yk)

[lulublack90]

Prompt 7 - Revive Potion

@wolfstarmicrofic March 7, word count 289

Sirius looked at the many bandages covering his friend as he lay in the hospital bed in the school’s infirmary. 

“Don’t worry dear,” Madam Pomfrey bustled over to check on her patient. “It looks worse than it is. Another couple of hours and I’ll give him a revive potion. He heals fast. He’ll be back to his old self in no time.” She squeezed his shoulder before moving on to her next patient.

Sirius wished he could do something for his friend. He hated seeing what Remus did to himself every full moon. 

He settled back into the hard chair and flipped open his book again. It landed on a page about animagi. Hmm, he thought, interesting.  

[trekkele]

ok time to be negative again i cannot stand the trope “character x finds out bruce ““let”” his sons murderer live and chews him out then goes to kill joker” because 60% of the time its a character who has an independent no kill rule, and absolutely zero business yelling at Bruce about anything. Fuck ooooooffffff with the guilt tripping about bruce not committing murder!!!!!

[alexrod-dbd]

It’s me again, making even more dbd book covers! 🤭

I’m particularly proud of this one, I clearly let loose and played with some effects and I love the results! ✨

Big thanks to @hannaloony for providing me her illustrations (again) 🙏🏼 💛

Fic by @ghostinthelibrarywrites ✍🏼

(Still not for selling distribution)

[mothinflamesdoodles]

Pulse Sans: The Frankenstein Font

Fanart for @specialmindz

[neomanateefromexiletribe]

heading to ao3 to post my first mashle fic

[augustghosts]

I’ve become awful at naming my writing so this just doesn’t have a title lol.

Idk if i like this im a lil rusty. Some more QZ!tommy because I kinda love him. I went overboard. In my head this was kinda the same characters/universe as this. So this is like, pre candles lmao. But if you don’t like that, this can just be a random stand alone thing lol. I also have some fluff ideas in my head that i just need to convince myself to write hehe. Hope u like <3

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: 18+ smut, not proofread as usual. No plot tbh, just some impractical kitchen table sex lmao. Tommy being soft at the beginning and the end but not during the smut 🤪

Fuck, don’t get emotional Tommy. This isn’t like you. He had found himself talking to himself like that more often recently. He never thought of himself as the type to catch feelings. Recently he had found himself addressing his own insecurities, ones he’d pushed as far down as possible years ago. Being afraid, being unfamiliar, getting emotional. He shook his head as he unlocked the door to his dreary apartment. This is what stood for an apartment these days, a small room with a kitchen and a bathroom. He was grateful, of course. He was alive and safe. Well, kind of safe. But the first thing on his mind every morning was how depressing this life was. He tried not to think about the before, but it's hard when this is the after. He often finds himself being nostalgic. His feelings and circumstances echoing in his head like water dripping from a roof. He needed a drink, something to make the dripping stop.

He turned to stare at his closed front door, she was just across the hall. He wanted to walk over there so badly. That’s nothing new, his longing. She is new, their relationship. But the longing he feels for her has always been there since they met. The dull and drab QZ streets lit up when their eyes met and he found himself addicted to her light. He promised himself he’d leave her alone today, he doesn’t know why he promised himself that. She is always happy to see him but his own insecurities are eating him up.

In her own way, she is expecting him. She’s across the hall also staring at her front door. Waiting for a knock, praying that it’s him. Tommy has a heavy heart, a lot of baggage, and she knows it. She hates to admit that she likes coddling him. She likes comforting him, she likes that he needs her. She needed him too. He protects her - running around the QZ with a Miller brother can bring attention to you. Sometimes not great attention. The QZ is difficult, and she feels safest when Tommy strolls into her apartment at the end of the day and kisses her. The outside world and the QZ disappear and it’s just them, when all they need is each other.

Just as she stands to cross the room and head to his apartment, a knock at the door stops her. She usually doesn’t go to his apartment, he prefers to come here - incase someone unsavory showed up. She paused, what if it wasn’t him? Tommy smiled for the first time today on the other side of the door when he watched her do her usual routine. As always, he hears the locks click and sees her peek through the gap the door allows as she keeps the chain on. She’s cautious and he loves that about her. Her eyes mirror his and light up as she sees him, the door closes again momentarily and he hears the chain drop before she appears again.

“Hey!” She smiles up at him and he pushes the thoughts that flood his mind away. What did he do to deserve someone smiling at him like that? He hadn’t really opened up to her about his journey to Boston, and he didn’t plan on it any time soon. But all of that left his mind when he was here, walking through her front door was the best part of his day.

“Hi.” He says - He doesn’t quite match her energy and he knows she’s noticed it. She always does. She knows him so well and he's still deciding if he likes it or not. When they first met, he always thought she was a person who wore rose coloured glasses, always seeing things so positively. Tommy took off his rose coloured glasses a long time ago, revealing the negative aspects of his life. Now, it’s all he sees. He soon realized that she encouraged him to start viewing things through a positive lens, and now he can’t stay away.

“Rough day?” Her sweet voice distracts him.

“Something like that.” He knows that if he doesn’t give her a full answer, she won’t pry. Before she can say anything else, Tommy’s lips press to hers in a deep, hungry kiss.

“You’re tense.” She mumbled against his mouth. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing new.” He forced a smile, his tense jaw muscles relaxing as her hands came up to cup his cheeks. She hummed, not believing him. She pulled him down to kiss her again, feeling the way his hands on her waist pulled her closer, held her tighter.

“You could talk to me, you know.” She pulled away again, much to his dismay. “You could tell me what’s going on in your silly mind.”

“Silly?” He laughed with her for a moment. “Seriously, nothings wrong. I just want you,” He said quietly, moving his hands to her back. Her eyes softened at his words and her hands moved to his shoulders, slipping his jacket off of his shoulders. He maneuvered his arms to help her slip it off, but his hands immediately took back their rightful place on her hips. Squeezing a little as he said, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

A classic line, but it always affected her. He watched her as her eyes drifted downwards - watched the way her eyes traced the bruises on his collar bones, bruises she had previously left. She knew what he was doing, trying to distract her from the questions she’d asked. Unfortunately for her and fortunately for him it always worked.

“Yeah?” She asked, pulling him down to her mouth again. His tongue slid into her mouth before she had the chance to react. He pulled her tightly to him and her response was just as eager, lips moving with his to make the kiss even more intense - her arms tight around his neck. They both needed this, they both needed each other. Tommy groaned into her mouth, his hips pushing forward against hers- backing her up against the table behind her. She could already feel his cock stirring in his jeans. Tommy hummed softly as his hand came up to cup one of her breasts, his thumb pressing over her nipple. She sighed as a flood of heat rushed straight to her core.

“Tommy,” She whimpered, leaning into his touch. Fuck, he loved that sound. He pulled away from her just enough to grab a hold of her wrists, holding both of them in one hand. He knew she loved it when he did stuff like that, reminding her of how strong and capable he was. The whimper that left her lips boosted his ego and he smirked down at her. Keeping a tight hold on her wrists, he gently bent her backwards onto the creaky kitchen table. She took advantage of the position they were in,Tommy leaning over her like this, and she threw her legs around his waist, trapping him against her.

“Are you gonna keep asking me what's wrong?” He teased, a grin on his lips as he looked down at her.

“No.” She breathed, biting her lip as she looked so lovingly up at him.

“Good girl,” He smiled, eyes on her chest - watching it rise and fall.

“Now come here.” He mumbled, leaning down to kiss her. He let go of her wrists and she fisted her hands in his shirt, tugging him forward as their lips met. His hand traveled up her body, grazing her chest again and locking gently around her throat.

“I’ve been looking forward to this all day, baby.” He said. He squeezed his hand a bit tighter, but still being as gentle as ever, relishing in the gasp she let out.

“You like this?” He asked, his mouth was now beside her ear, pressing a kiss underneath it. She nodded quickly, her hands running through his hair. Keeping eye contact with her, his hand still squeezing her throat, he slowly started working the buttons of her jeans open. Impressive, considering he was doing it with one hand. She felt his hand slide into the front, fingers caressing the fabric of her underwear.

“Please, Tommy.” She whimpered, practically rutting against his palm.

“I got you, baby.” He smirked, his finger finally dipping into her. “Fuck, always so wet for me.”

His fingers obviously met no resistance, her pussy easily letting him in. Since she had been worked up since he walked through the damn door, he didn’t need to put much effort into making her feel good. Everything he did was effortless, she always marveled at that. He watched her face, watching as her eyes closed, watching her mouth fall open in a moan. He leaned down when her head tilted back to give him access to the soft skin of her neck. His lips coming down to start kissing the exposed skin.

“Come around my fingers, baby girl,” He said against her skin, his lips brushing a particularly sensitive spot . “You look so beautiful like this.”

“O-oh, my god.” She moaned, followed by his name. Her back arching off the table making it creak below her, her pussy clenching tightly around his fingers as she came.

“I need to be inside you. Can i fuck you, baby?” He asked, already stripping off his jeans before she could answer. She sat up, slipping off of the table as she realised that they were both still practically fully dressed. She finally pulled her jeans all the way off before making her way to her mattress in the corner of the room. Stripping her shirt off on the way. Tommy watched her hungrily, following after her and making sure his own shirt joined hers in the pile. When they were both on the mattress he wasted no time in flipping her over, stomach now pressed against the mattress and her ass in the air. He stood behind her running his hand over her smooth skin.

“Please fuck me, Tommy.” She whined, looking over her shoulder at him. Tommy never had to be told twice. He took a hold of his hard cock and tapped it against her clit, smirking at the whine she let out. Just as she was about to beg him some more, he finally slid in. Immediately and easily bottoming out. The feeling caused her head to dip forward, a moan to leave her lips -almost muffled the pillows.

“I want to hear those pretty noises, baby girl.” Tommy hummed, reaching forward to grasp her hair in a ponytail and pull her head back up. His other hand smacking her ass hard enough to leave a mark.

“You feel so good.” She moaned, grinding her hips back against him. He pulled all the way out until his tip was the only thing still inside of her before slamming back in. The burn was deep and it stung so good. She bit her lip as she got accustomed to him, as each slide of his cock sent chills up her spine.

“Is this my pussy?” He growled, his fingers still tugging at her scalp.

“Yes!” She all but screamed, he often wondered if anyone could hear them. They had never heard anyone else, but he wasn’t sure if anyone else was as loud as them. Wasn’t sure if anyone else was able to have as much fun as they manage to have together during the goddamn apocalypse.

“It’s yours, Tommy. Always yours.” She whimpered, his cock hitting spots she was sure hadn’t been hit before.

“That’s it, honey,” He cooed. “You look beautiful like this. Take me so well. You like that?”

She loved when he got like this, when he would start rambling. The things he came out with never failed to push her closer to the edge.

“Fuck, I’m gonna come.” She gasped when his arm snaked around her body to find her aching clit.

“Come on then, baby. Give it to me,” He growled, his deep voice sending a shiver up her spine. He groaned as her whole body convulsed under him. Moans of his name bounced off of the walls as she came around his cock; a silent scream leaving her - her knuckles turned white as her fingers gripped the sheets underneath her.

“Fuck,” She sounded so breathless and he fucking loved it. “I wish I could feel you come inside of me Tommy.”

“Shit, don’t say stuff like that.” He groaned at her words. They had already had this conversation multiple times. He always pulled out, she was obviously scared of getting pregnant during their current situation. QZ’s weren’t known for their outstanding medical care. They knew they risked it by fucking anyway, but they always tried to take any precautions they could. Expired condoms still existed, but what good would they do anyway? Even if they could get their hands on them.

He dreamt about it as well, filling her up and watching it drip back out. Being able to push it back inside of her and tease her about it. Just the thought of it had him regrettably pulling out of her heat and spilling over his hand and her ass with a gasp of her name. She grimaced as he used his shirt to clean it up, after giving himself a moment to catch his breath. She giggled as she collapsed down onto the bed, crawling under the covers as she suddenly realized how cold the room actually was.

She reached for another one of his shirts that lay beside her bed and slipped it on, a clean one that had been discarded during another escapade. He lay down beside her, both of them still panting.

“You good?” He asked. She nodded and cuddled into him, pressing soft kisses to his jaw. His hand stroked down her back. He kissed the top of her head a few times, she always basked in this side of him that no one else got to see. This softness and love that was reserved for her, reserved for this room. Tommy loved it too, he loved being able to be himself after shutting it off for so long. All he could do now was sleep in her arms and prepare himself to put his walls back up again when he left her apartment tomorrow. Preparing to do it all again the next day. But the thought of being able to crawl back into her arms at the end of every day made his lips turn up into a soft, content smile as he drifted off to sleep.

[helianthusmiko]

Niko was such a heartwarming autistic coded character and I'm actually mourning that she will never get a good end now, she dies and never gets brought back, she dies and is trapped in some weird freezing purgatory and her friends will never save her.

She meant so much to me as someone who grew up and had so much trouble making friends because I was considered offputting, weird or too much, her friendship with Edwin especially meant so much, they were wlw mlm solidarity, they were autism to autism communication, they were a m/f friendship that had no romantic undertones at all, her weirdness was never portrayed as a bad thing, she was never seen as annoying by her friends even when she nearly got Jenny killed, fully honestly I think Niko is my favourite character of all time, one of the few characters I felt represented me best.

I'm heartbroken over the shows cancelation, at the very least she deserved an actual ending.