#december tropes

[dovewingkinnie]

donate him enough money and he'll cutely kill your streamer of choice

[nanaonmars]

one of my favorite tropes ever is knowing something or someone so deeply it goes deeper than what your brain knows. it’s so imprinted on your heart that even though you may not remember, your heart knows. that that familiarity is not something you’re making up. my heart calls your name. romantic, platonic, familial, it doesn’t matter. the yearning that comes with it.

[year-of-whump-tropes]

Hey all! If you have prompts in mind or tropes you'd like to see, please get them in sooner rather than later! I'd like to get the list done within the next couple of weeks so I can be sure to get the event all put together by the end of the year.

Types of prompts needed | Categories that need the most prompts | All themes

[lady-morrigen]

As Natural as Breathing

PAIRING: Peter Parker x fem!Reader

RATING: E

WORDS: 2600

WARNINGS: unprotected p in v, fingering, minimal plot, one bed trope

A/N: how delighted was I to get to write for @mortwig for the Flowers for Peter server fic exchange?! every bit of your favs list spoke to me in a very real way and I'm so excited to share this gift! HAPPY DICKED DOWN DECEMBER, Y'ALL!

(thanks to @acrossthesestars for her beta skills, as always!)

The door to the motel room swung open, banging against a small set of drawers in the corner. As your eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room, your heart leapt into your throat. The duffel bag you carried on your shoulder fell to the floor with a dull thud. 

“Umm…��� You turned to face Peter, who was rubbing a hand along the back of his neck in a sheepish gesture, pink tinting his cheeks.

“I think the clerk must have misheard me,” he grimaced, picking up your bag and heading toward the door. “I’ll go get it straightened out.”

You swallowed, steadying your breathing before you spoke. You had to admit the idea of sharing a bed with Peter was enticing. 

“Peter, wait.” You turned to him. “Didn’t you hear him? He said this was the last room available tonight.”

He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “And I’m pretty sure there was a sign on the counter that specifically stated ‘No Refunds.’”

“Right.” You grabbed your bag from him, tossing it on the bed, the single bed, in the center of the room. “And besides, it’s not like we’ve never shared a bed before.”

“We haven’t had a sleepover since we were like twelve.” His voice pitched up an octave as he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. 

“Okay, but I’m just saying.” You crossed your arms over your chest, avoiding eye contact. “It’s not like we have any other choice anyway. This is the only room available and we’ve been driving for hours. We need to rest.”

Peter looked at you for a moment and you could almost see the wheels spinning behind his eyes as he processed the thoughts swimming in his head. “Yeah… yeah okay. You’re right.” 

Peter had been your best friend for as long as you could remember. He had come to live with his aunt and uncle the year you turned six, his bedroom, a mirror image of yours, directly across the street. You had marched right over, pet rock in hand, and introduced yourself. The following day, he sat next to you on the bus to school and you had been inseparable ever since. 

Through vacations, rooftop sleepovers, and late night creature-features, you couldn’t count how many times you’d fallen asleep with your head on his shoulder. Being his best friend was easy, as natural as breathing. Falling in love with him had been inevitable. 

So much so that you hadn’t even realized when it happened. One day he’d been Peter Parker, the lanky neighbor boy with bony knees and elbows, the boy you cried to when Tony Piazza had broken your heart, and the next he was Peter, the boy you didn’t dare look in the eyes for too long lest a swarm of butterflies erupt in your gut.

Suddenly, you were keenly aware of the way his scent lingered in your car when you’d give him a ride to campus, the way he ran a nervous hand through his hair when he’d catch you staring, and how something ugly twisted in your gut when he’d waved a friendly hello to his pretty chem lab partner. Mostly, you were shocked to discover how meeting Peter in your designated spot at the end of every day felt a little too much like coming home.

Somewhere outside of Oklahoma City, you still had another eight hours before you made it to your next stop in Albuquerque, and another twelve after that before you reached Oceanside, your final destination. You weren’t sure what had prompted you to agree to a cross-country road trip to celebrate Peter’s graduation, but you couldn’t say no to a whole week relaxing on the coast with your best friend. 

He had let you shower first, giving you a phony excuse about not having to wait for the water to heat up, but you knew he was just being polite. Washing the sweat and grime from your body felt like heaven, the warm water relaxing your muscles, weary from the drive. You begrudgingly stepped out, deciding to pay Peter back in kind by not taking too long and saving some hot water for him. 

The room was small, leaving you to maneuver carefully around the bed where Peter lounged, his eyes sealed shut at your request as you held tight to your towel to keep it from falling loose. You were kicking yourself for not remembering to bring your clean clothes into the bathroom with you as you struggled to dig one-handed through your bag to grab a clean pair of socks. You threw a glance over your shoulder, smiling fondly at the sight of Peter with a hand covering his eyes and a dopey grin on his face. 

Pulling on the socks, underwear, and tee shirt you grabbed from your bag, you realized you had worn your last pair of clean sweatpants on the drive from Indianapolis and didn’t have anything else to sleep in. You rummaged for a moment more before letting out a huff and turning to face Peter. 

“You can open your eyes now, Pete,” you said. “I’m mostly covered.”

He sat up, eyes blinking rapidly as they adjusted to the light and he took you in. As his gaze landed on the hem of your oversized shirt, just covering the tops of your bare legs, he gulped hard. When you crossed your arms over your chest instinctively, he looked away quickly. 

“Did you happen to pack another pair of sweatpants? I wore my last pair today and they’re all grimy.” 

Peter got up to rummage through his bag, pulling out a gray pair and holding them in your direction. 

“This is my last pair, I think. I can re-wear the pair from yesterday tomorrow,” he said. You felt bad leaving him with nothing to wear, and you weren’t about to give up an opportunity to see him parade around in a pair of gray sweats, so you declined. 

“Oh no, I couldn’t let you do that! Besides, those are so grimy that they could practically walk by themselves. You should wear the clean ones.” You wrinkled up your nose, hoping it would be enough to convince him not to push it further. “I have one last pair of biker shorts to last us until we reach a laundromat, but I’d rather not sleep in something that tight. I don’t mind sleeping in just a tee shirt if it doesn’t bother you.” 

“I will be the perfect gentleman, I swear,” he said, grinning and holding up three fingers in an honor salute. 

“Go take a shower, nerd,” you said, rolling your eyes and pushing him toward the bathroom. 

As the tap turned on, you wiggled under the stiff sheets, reveling in the stretch of your muscles. The bed was surprisingly comfortable, though you weren’t sure if it was only in contrast to the hard foam of the car seat. As you burrowed deeper, your senses were assaulted by the foreign yet familiar scent of hotel sheets - a bit musty, like stale carpet with a hint of bleach. Your eyelids began to droop as the day’s exhaustion began to weigh on you and pull you into deep sleep.

When you woke, it was pitch black. As you slowly became aware of your surroundings, you felt the weight of an arm draped over your waist and the warm press of a body at your back. Rolling over, your legs intertwined and you nuzzled softly into the hollow of his neck, breathing deeply  when you remembered… Peter. You were in a motel bed with Peter. Momentary panic threatened to take over until Peter’s arm, still draped over your hips, pulled you closer, pressing you against him in a way that let you know he was very much awake. 

He sighed softly, and you melted into him, placing a tentative, delicate kiss to the dip in his collarbone. He shivered, his hold on you tightening, and you felt emboldened as you kissed him again, tracing a path over the warm skin of his neck, to his jawline, and across his cheek, stopping just short of the corner of his mouth. You threaded your fingers into his hair, deciding to throw caution to the wind and captured his lips with yours. Gripping his hair, you pulled him impossibly closer, canting your hips forward with yet unspoken desire.

His hand found your hip, fingers gently tracing the curve and pulling the fabric of your tee shirt with them as he grabbed at the bare skin of your waist. His lips parted for you, an invitation, and you obliged, lazily licking into his mouth, nipping gently at his bottom lip. Rolling onto his back, he pulled you to straddle him, digging his fingers into the meat of your ass as he moved you against him. You could feel him growing hard through the fabric of his sweats, urging you to grind down harder, desperate for any sort of friction to satisfy the growing ache at your center. 

His mouth left yours as he sat upright, finding your neck and sucking a mark into the skin that you knew would take ages to fade. The thought spurred you on, your hips moving of their own accord, the quiet room now filled with the rustling of overly starched sheets and Peter’s whispered name on your lips. His hands were pushing your tee shirt up your waist, higher, higher, until your bare breasts were exposed to him. 

Looking down, he was illuminated by the hazy, orange glow of the parking lot, the light trickling in around the edges of the flimsy curtains. He was even more beautiful like this, you thought - his eyes glued to your body in wonder and palpable desire, something you had fantasized about for what felt like a lifetime. 

His hands ghosted over the skin of your breasts, giving one firm squeeze before capturing a nipple in his mouth, his tongue laving over the sensitive bud as his other hand pressed tenderly against the dip of your lower back, holding you firmly in place. You dropped your head back with pleasure, tangling your fingers into his hair once again to ground yourself, to make sure you wouldn’t float away. A small moan escaped from his lips as he pulled away with a pop, his eyes meeting you for the first time, nearly black with desire. You smiled at him, brushing the hair back from his forehead in an intimate gesture. You cupped the side of his face, your thumb rubbing tenderly against the soft skin of his cheek. 

Peter closed his eyes and pressed his face into the space between your breasts, holding you there for a minute, his hands tracing invisible shapes over the skin of your back. When he looked back up at you, he spoke softly. 

“You sure?” A hint of insecurity marked the wrinkle between his brows and you reached up, smoothing it away with your thumb. 

You didn’t say anything, only nodded, before pulling your tee shirt over your head and throwing it across the room to land on top of your luggage. There was nothing else you could say as you pulled at the hem of his shirt, prompting him to follow suit, wrapping his arms around your waist so that your chest was flush with his. He kissed you again, slow and sweet and pillowy soft as he guided you back against the pillows, kneeling between your legs. 

He tugged your panties over your hips, down your legs, to your ankles, and grinned as you kicked out of them impatiently. His breath hitched as he took in the sight of you, open and wanting, luring him in. Peter pressed a kiss to the inside of your bent knee, his lips trailing torturously slow along the length of your inner thigh. He ran a finger through your slick folds, bringing it to his lips and savoring the taste with a groan. He pressed one finger to your entrance, swirling it around, teasing it in and out, before adding another and pushing inside. 

Your hips bucked at the sensation as he pumped his fingers lazily inside of you, curling every so often to brush against something that sent shockwaves dancing up your spine. Your fingers were aching from gripping the sheets when his lips found your clit, suckling lightly, the soft swirl of his tongue catapulting you over the edge as you fell apart. His free hand came up to rest on your lower belly, warm and grounding, pulling you back into reality. 

As he moved up the length of your body, you found yourself aching at the emptiness, desperate to feel him inside of you once more. He kissed you, clumsy and coated with the taste of your pleasure, sloppy and divine. You pushed helplessly at the hem of his sweats, eager to get them off of him. He chuckled against your mouth, the sound going straight to your core as he pushed them down, taking himself in hand and sliding through your folds, slick with the mess he made of you. 

He lined up at your entrance, barely pushing the blunt tip inside, leaning forward to rest his forehead on yours, noses bumping as he searched your eyes. 

“Positive?” He teased you with a roll of his hips, his eyes squeezing shut as you pulled him infinitesimally deeper. 

“Peter, ple-” He cut you off, his lips capturing yours in a searing kiss, burying himself to the hilt with a groan. 

For a moment, neither of you moved, too caught up in the feeling of being completely lost in each other. He began to move slowly, memorizing the feeling as he nearly pulled out completely,  rolling his hips as he pushed back into you. You brought a hand over your head, bracing against the wall behind the bed, meeting him thrust for thrust, pleasure building higher and higher until it threatened to consume you once more. 

You wrapped your legs around his waist, your free hand clutching his bicep, nails leaving half-moon shadows in their wake. Peter was all consuming - his mouth hot on the skin of your neck, fingers tightly gripping your hip, one hand snaked between you, rubbing tight circles on your clit. It felt as if you didn’t know where you ended and he began, your bodies moving as one, as natural as breathing. 

His moans grew louder, more desperate, as his pace began to falter. His fingers began to work faster against you, the circles growing sloppy, nearly begging you to come with him. Heat bloomed in your belly, melting into something delicious and you toppled over once more, relishing in the sensation of him filling you as he too met his end, your name slipping tenderly from his tongue. 

Slowly, he pulled out, groaning at the loss as he came to rest beside you. The two of you lay there for a moment, his head on your chest, unsure of what was supposed to happen next, or who was supposed to speak first. You began to run your fingers through his hair, your nails scratching gently against his scalp and he hummed in delight. 

“We really should have done that sooner.” His voice was honey, smooth and sweet, as it rumbled against your chest. 

“Mmm,” you hummed in agreement, tilting him up to face you, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. “But we have all the time in the world to make up for it.”

(dividers by @silkholland)

[meraki-yao]

So I just watched the Mary & George teaser

Here's the thing

I'm usually not really into explicit, both due to my environment (our fucking nation is pretty conservative) and age (I'm only 19)

But HOT DAMN

IT GOT ME SO FUCKING EXCITED

Like, it's spicy as fuck, Nick's a slut (affectionate) in it and it also genuinely looks like a fucking great show

I am SO looking forward to it

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

the basic formula for any fanfic direct to movie feature

main girl, a bit awkward, kind of pretty in the way that is not HOT but cute (she will think she's ugly and dress poorly), should be a relatively good girl and can be mostly virginal, and can have some sort of medical condition that is mentioned several times at first but never worked on or expanded upon and can sometimes be forgotten towards the end of the series

main dude, cold, (can be really toxic but will be ignored for plot reasons,) really rich for some reason, doesn't really work but makes it look like he works, unattached to everyone expect for main girl. has some sort of traumatic past and will not go to therapy.

main girl and dude meet in some sort of circumstance, can be a friendly or mean interaction- does not matter

proximity is forced. they have to interact at some point again. because of underlying circumstances they will be forced to talk and chat about something, main dude will learn one thing about main girl and find it interesting while main girl will begin to think that main dude is kinda cute. boy will become entirely obsessed for no reason other than that one fact he found out OR he is challenged in some capacity to pursue her.

girl will have a friend (can be boy or girl) that will be the comic relief and will fill in the spaces when girl can not talk to boy

they (m boy and girl) will meet again in another circumstance that is outside of their choosing, either friend or business or some other event will force them to see each other.

they will be separated from the group and have another conversation that leads to more interest being garnered from either side

some sort of event (could be tragic or very minimal) makes it so that guy will have to save girl from something. it is merely to get the first soft interaction from guy

she will fall for him slightly. girl will talk to friend about this interaction and friend will call it "irregular" or unusual because of boy's normal demenor

girl will attend school, job, function that is partially funded or dedicated to dude. they will meet at the function and are to be seen together. a potential ex lover from either side is introduced as a foil to main boy or girl

they will go on a date of sorts or will be forced to talk to each other again. (this can end good or poorly, it does not matter) they can also kiss here, but it does not matter.

girl will go further into what she was doing, get new job, move to new place, finish school etc. BUT she will struggle with it for the first while. she will reach out to dude because she will remember one interaction that was good OR she will reach out to a new boy because she wants friendship or a date

she will run into main dude again with the date or by coincidence with new boy. (a conflict can ensue or the date with new boy will fizzle out and she will go and reconcile with Main dude)

they will maybe have sex, (does not matter, but for the sake of shitty fanfic to movie formula, this is our first sex scene between the two main characters.) they will become extremely attached to each other and immediately begin to date

girl will attempt to go back to work or school but will have some sort of issues with main dude interfering. (they can or can not fight about this, it does not matter, just a conflict needs to develop)

friend should be brought back for an update since main characters had sex.

main dude will have his own issues with SOMETHING, does not matter what it is, it will preoccupy his time and make it so that their relationship can not develop normally

they will have some sort of conflict they next time they are together. this needs to be a huge red flag conflict that they can not reasonably reconcile over but they will to some capacity.

even though they are still together, the cracks start to show and main girl begins to doubt main boy from his previous relationships or some sort of secret he has kept from her

secret will be revealed somehow (does not matter from who) and main girl will ditch main dude without a word

main dude will be confused and unsure what to do and will not seek therapy for at least one more movie

they will meet in some sort of circumstance and have to leave each other in a dramatic fashion because something bad happened that was outside of both of their controls

cliff hanger

title card

next movie

[shortpplfedup]

8

For me the best May/December romances have come from the HIStory franchise. Make Our Days Count is probably the best-done example of the trope I've personally seen in BL, but whenever I get a chance to plug Right Or Wrong I will 100% take it so that is my answer.

[shaymiens]

💛Smoshblr December Asks Day 21💙

What are your top 3 favourite tropes in media and/or fanfiction? (can be as general or specific as you want)

Bonus: What are 3 of your fave fanfics? (can be smosh related or from other fandoms)

YAY FANFICTION APPRECIATION

v general category here but psychological whump is my shit. whump and extreme hurt/comfort have always been incredibly cathartic for me. i love making little guys miserable. it's great.

fake dating! encompasses miscommunication, mutual pining, being frog boiled by your feelings, awkward performative firsts, all the good stuff.

i had to think on this one but the "everyone can see it" trope, when done well, can be so cute. sort of adjacent to fake dating. i think having two people who already sort of know they can work well together in a relationship yet procrastinate on acting on their feelings, being pushed together by well-intentioned family and friends... very cute. very sweet and goofy.

and ohh i'm telling on myself with these fave fics of mine but alas the writers need their flowers!! sort of dead dove disclaimer here, these are v particular and ns/f//w at times soooo. read under the cut!

We Go Anywhere But To The Ground by geordielover (bbc sherlock, sherlock/john, mature) - veeeeeery whumpy, sad, and dark. but i love when fics actually address characters' trauma?!¿?!¿ and the writing is so top tier. i'm sure i've been peppering little things from this fic in my own writing.

Best of Three by SilentAuror (bbc sherlock, sherlock/john, explicit) - IT'S SMUT i'm sorry it's smut!!!! but i'm gonna be so honest, i probably read this as a teen and this fic sort of exposed me to the idea of dudes just fuckin down and dirty........ and various other forms of foreplay lmaoooo. the writing is so good, the pining and emotion is so good.... my aspec ass is truly not opposed to admiring smut.

Simple Math by TheMouthKing & tripwirealarm (w//atcher entert//ainment, ryan/shane, explicit) - ok i'm like SUPER telling on myself with this one lol. it's sad and horny—and written so, SO fantastically. i'm never a multi-chapter fic gal but this one caught me with the pining and whump. like i was reading this as weekly updates. it was such an experience. and this fic basically combines the elements of the last two fics i mentioned........

[nowthisis-dark]

It's still there in the deepest corner of my heart lurking and beating, it's still there the love I had for you.

I can't unlove you even if my mind craves for me to forget those memories those endless bickerings all with you. I can't.

I still remember the day we first met in that garden which is the harbinger of our love.

You asked me if you could sit beside me on that bench and I totally ignored you being busy in that book, the book you still keep as the last momento of us. You started the conversation and then I looked into those hazel eyes and that was the moment time stopped I kept looking into those hypnotizing eyes , the eyes I still dream of.

I didn't even realize when we clicked so wonderfully that I started visiting that garden just in hopes to see you.

And then on your birthday we confessed our love that was the first time I felt your lips on mines, the feathery touch I still feel whenever I think of that day. Your touch alone was enough to Ignite fire in me, the fire that only you could extinguish.

I was happy with you would be an understatement, my happiness knew no bounds and then suddenly you dropped a bomb on me that you never loved it was all a facade. An event I didn't see happening in my life. Then you left and my mornings started to ache,my nights even more miserable.All this time my mind would ask if anything of it was real that sparkle in your eyes when you would look at me, the love you held

Was it all a pretense? Why did you do this?

You occupied my mind body and soul with yourself and then suddenly you left leaving it all empty with just a void. It's been months since you left me with just a note, I reread that note everytime my mind thinks of, there has not been a day I don't think of the moments with you but now I'll have to let you go, I'll have to let the love I hold for you go.

I know it will take time it will hurt but it will fade everything does. Your love,memories would too.

~Your SKY

The one you said you loved

[dioles-writes]

• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), Bliss (she/her), Akali (he/him), Winola (she/her), Cora (she/her), January (he/him), Alzena (she/her), Maddox (he/him), Adelio (they/he), Avil (she/her), Wilder (he/him), Mr Prader (he/him), Howard Restall (he/him)

Characters in purple all belong to @jiphenn and Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop

Bliss and Akali were waiting outside for Felix as he made his way out of the bakery, bright and early as always. “Good morning!” Bliss greeted him happily, flashing him a smile. Akali was less enthusiastic, mumbling a “morning” in his usual monotone, along with a half-wave.

“Morning!” Felix grinned at them, hopping down the steps and joining the two as they started on the rest of their walk to school. “Are you guys ready to see Howard Restall?!”

They both nodded in response, although Akali seemed much more indifferent to the whole ordeal. Felix definitely wasn’t. He had been trying to hide it, but he’d spent the night restless, absolutely terrified of actually seeing the man in person. He was practically shaking at just the thought of it. Nevertheless, he continued on like it was a perfectly normal day, smiling like Howard Restall wasn’t the one person that scared him the most, the one person who had, inconsequently, made his life a literal hell. The one person that held the most power over him, over his family. The one person he would have rathered going his whole entire life without meeting.

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to meet him. Like… Howard Restall. The Howard Restall.” He murmured.

“I wonder what he’s here for.” Bliss said curiously.

“Me too! Do you think he’s investigating? Maybe he heard about a group of Dioles.” Felix was rambling, his anxiety getting the best of him. On a regular day there would have been no way he’d even suggest something like that, something that could be directly tied back to the Board Game Club, to him, but right now it was taking all he had to not fall apart, the sinking feeling in his stomach becoming harder to ignore the closer they got to the school. “Maybe he’s going to uncover them!”

“Imagine a group of Dioles living right under your nose! Like talking to them every day and then finding out they’re Dioles!” Bliss said, which made Akali and Felix laugh, the two of them giving each other a knowing look over her head. No statement had ever been more ironic.

“I know, right? That’d be insane.” Felix grinned at her. “I couldn’t imagine knowing an actual Diole. Maybe they have different thought processes and stuff. I heard they’re automatically more aggressive.”

“Imagine if like…” Bliss paused, thinking for a second. “January Restall was a Diole. Wouldn’t that be weird? Considering the odds there’s probably at least like ten Dioles at our school. Maybe Howard Restall is trying to find them.”

“Imagine being a Diole when your father created Diole Eradication? That’d be so fucked up.”

They crossed onto the street, the school appearing before them. Well that, and also the millions of shiny black limousines parked all down the road, blocking any type of traffic from passing by. The three friends themselves could barely even walk through, a hoard of reporters and paparazzi clicking away at different flashy cameras and swarming each student that tried to make their way into the building, shooting questions in rapid-fire. Felix glanced around, eyes widening at the sight before them. This was definitely a first for their shitty broken-down school. “Woah…” He murmured, in awe.

“Oh wow, that’s a lot of people.” Akali muttered.

“Is that Winola?” Bliss said, pointing to a girl who stood a few feet away.

Felix almost didn’t notice her. She was practically being engulfed by reporters, each of them pushing and shoving against her, backing her even further away from the school as they interrogated her. It looked like they were trying to blind her, their cameras all flashing only inches away from her face. She was wearing her usual dead expression, looking deeply unimpressed, like she would have preferred death over this. “Little girl, how do you feel being in the presence of Howard Restall?” A reporter shouted, louder than the rest, forcing his microphone right against her lips. Winola didn’t respond to him, acting as if he wasn’t even there, and just kept trying to push past. Although, she wasn’t having much luck, seeing as she was five zero and probably a hundred pounds, and they were all taller and stronger than her.

After a few more tries she sighed, the sound echoing through all the microphones. “Can you please move?”

A camera was literally shoved against her cheek. They were completely overpowering her now, the crowd of reporters growing even larger by the minute, pushing and shoving and screaming. Winola squared her jaw, blowing a few strands of hair out of her face and glaring up at the reporters. “Can you please move?” She repeated, evidently annoyed.

“Little girl, are you aware that this man saved your life?” The reporter shouted again, practically sticking the mic into her mouth.

“Please move.” Winola said through gritted teeth, still stubbornly trying to make it through and just get to school.

“It is reported that Howard Restall’s son also goes here, is that true?”

Winola shrugged, not caring in the slightest for their questions.

“Do you have any clue who Howard Restall really is?”

That just got another shrug out of her.

All the reporters gasped. “Howard Restall, forty-one years old, male, no spouse, one child, Founder and Head of Diole Eradication.” They started to recite a full-blown history lesson. “Howard Restall formed the Diole Eradication in 1996, at the young age of twenty-six. He created the act after seeing the horribly high crime rates, and after the disappearance of his childhood friend Vincent. Five years after the birth of their son, Restall’s wife also disappeared.”

“Why are you talking to me for when you could be interviewing Howard Restall?” Winola snapped.

“He’s gone inside the building already.” One of the reporters retorted sassily.

“Well, can you please leave me be?” Winola huffed, ramming all her weight into the wall of paparazzi, attempting to plow them over. (Which was of course, to no luck.)

“We should probably help her out now.” Felix said finally, ending the three from their shocked gawking at all the commotion. “Rescue her from all those stupid reporters.”

“Wow, so heroic.” Akali said with a joking smirk. Felix grinned at him and made his way across the street, forcing his way through the crowd and sidling right up next to Winola. The reporters all eagerly made room for him, and at once there were at least twenty microphones shoved in his face, all fighting for dominance over each other. “Young man, how do you feel that Howard Restall is in your school at this very moment?” Someone shouted, their camera flashing at his face.

Felix gave them his signature charismatic smile, making sure they caught his good side. “Wow… I’m in awe. Truly.” He said, really getting into the act. “To think Howard Restall is in my high school right now? It’s really mind blowing. Just the thought of being able to meet him, I mean- Wow.”

“Are you aware of the rumours that Howard Restall’s son goes to your school?”

Felix gasped in mock shock, even bringing up a hand to his mouth for added effect. “Really?! It’s always been a dream of mine to meet a Restall.” He gushed.

“Why do you think Howard Restall is here today?”

“No clue. But I heard there were Dioles hiding close by the school, so maybe he’s checking out that.”

“Where did you hear that from?” Someone else shouted.

“I have my sources.”

“Like what?” There were five microphones pressed into his face all at once.

“You know, the neighbourhood gossip.” Felix shrugged. “Who knows if it’s true though. Then again, there was that group they found in that cabin last week.”

“Young man, how has Howard Restall changed your life?” Another reporter asked, waving their mic around.

“Honestly, he has given me so much inspiration. My parents were murdered by Dioles when I was just a baby and growing up has been so hard, knowing that these monsters are still out there…” He choked up with fake emotion, placing a hand over his heart in dramatics. “But Howard Restall has given me hope that one day our world can be at peace.”

“What a touching story. May we get your name, young man?”

“Felix Rodriguez.” Felix gave the cameras a winning smile.

“Thank you for your words.” They finally left, going over to swarm some other person like a pack of rabid dogs. Felix skipped on over to Akali and Bliss, who were waiting for him after saving Winola, standing slightly away from the crowd with bemused looks. “Wow, your first TV appearance!” Bliss cheered.

“And it’s you trauma dumping.” Akali added.

“It’s barely trauma. That was just to spice the interview up.” Felix grinned.

“Where do you think he’s going to be?” Bliss asked, starting to walk once again.

“Well we’re having an assembly, right? That’s what Mr. Prader said.”

“Oh yeah, half the school is going first period and the other half is going second period. When are you guys going?”

“Second.” Felix replied. “You?”

“First.”

“First!”

Felix sighed. Of course. He was going to be stuck with January with his creepy trances and Howard Restall all second period. “We’ll tell you how it is!” Bliss said as they approached the school, holding the door open for the two of them.

The three stepped through the doors, finally laying their eyes on the mass security.

It was packed. There were guards lined up and down each of the halls, covered head to toe in protective gear, their uniforms adorned with weaponry, shiny guns held close to their chests. Their eyes flickered towards the three of them, watching their every move, completely stony-faced. “Wow, they really went all out…”

“Well, it is Howard Restall.” Akali said. “He’s probably on every Dioles hit list.”

“Good morning Felix.” Ms. Cora said, passing by them while patrolling. Felix turned to give her a smile, only to find himself staring at the largest gun he had ever seen in his entire life. It was impossibly shiny and pink, strapped close to Ms. Cora’s chest. She smiled.

Felix’s eyes widened, dread sinking in even further. “Morning.” He replied quickly, internally panicking.

“I told you she was armed.” Bliss whispered.

“Yeah.” Felix whispered back. “Oh my god…”

The bell rang, pulling Felix’s thoughts to a much more boring but equally dreadful topic: Chemistry. He gave a slight sigh. “Well, I gotta get to Chem now, so bye!”

“Byeee!”

“Bye.”

He headed down the hall, turning into his science class, where he found January sitting in their usual spot. “Hey,” Felix said, dumping his bag on the floor and taking his seat next to him. “Did you see all those reporters outside?”

“Yeah, there sure is a lot!” January said, glancing up from his phone.

“Have you seen your dad yet?”

He shook his head no.

“Are you nervous?” Felix pressed, so nervous himself that he was practically shaking.

January thought for a minute. “A little.”

“Did any of the reporters stop you? There was a whole crowd blocking the doors, I even had to rescue Winola.”

“No, I came in extra early through one of the back doors.”

“Oh.” Felix nodded, tapping his fingers anxiously on the edge of his desk. “I have them a whole story. I’ll probably make the news!”

He froze, the realization of what that actually meant hitting him like a truck. He slowly turned to face January, eyes wide with fear. “Oh my god. I’ll probably make the news.”

January stared at him like he was crazy. “Isn’t that what you wanted if you gave them a story?”

“My sister is going to murder me!”

“Then why’d you talk about it?” January asked, amazed by his pure stupidity.

“I don’t know!” Felix shrieked, horrified with himself. “I was trying to keep them off my back. Also, I’ve never been on the news before! But now I’m going to be on the news. I gave them my full name!” Felix’s mood rapidly switched, going between absolutely panicked and excited at the attention. “But maybe it’ll work in my favour! OR I’LL BE DEAD BY TOMORROW BECAUSE I WENT ON THE NEWS AND MY SISTER IS ALREADY PISSED AT ME.”

“Well it won’t air until tonight so you’ll have some time to prepare.”

“Oh my god. That’s worse!” Felix gripped January’s shoulders, looking at him petrified with fear. “Then I’ll be home. And she can just murder me right there!”

“Just have a sleepover at Akali’s house.”

“Practically his whole family hates me.” Felix sighed, slumping back in his chair.

“Oh.”

“And his little sister tried to kill me.”

“Oh!”

Felix put his head in his hands in utter despair. “But technically I was helping myself by going on the news, right?! So she can’t be mad!”

“Yeah, I’m sure she won’t be mad!” January said reassuringly, patting his back.

“No!” Felix looked even more terrified. “She’s gonna be. She’s crazy!”

“Just tune it out!”

“She’s going to beat me. She’ll strangle me!”

“She won’t!” January continued to pat his back and reassure him, despite the fact that he was definitely under more pressure.

“You don’t know that! You’ve never even met her properly. Howard Restall ruined everything.”

“Everything’s not ruined!”

Felix sighed loudly.

The rest of the morning passed by surprisingly normally, Chemistry for once flying by. Finally, an announcement crackled through the speakers: “All period two students going to the assembly please make your way to the main gym.”

Felix glanced at January nervously, standing up alongside him. His expression was completely neutral, not showing any sort of indication to what he might be thinking. Slowly, they followed the crowd, making their way towards the main gym.

January didn’t look to Felix once.

A tall, mean-looking security guard loomed over them as they approached the doors, his gaze cold. “ID please.”

They both fished out their ID’s, handing them over. Security throughly scanned through their ID’s before nodding and letting them through. Slowly, the two of them made their way into the gymnasium.

Security inside was even more packed than outside. Guards lined the walls, all standing in a tight row. Even more were positioned at the end of each of the bleachers, unmoving, guns held tight to their chests. Two guards took up spots beside Felix and January, marching them to the very front row.

There he was. The man himself.

Howard Restall.

He was silently sitting there, observing everyone. Felix kept his face completely neutral, bowing his head, trying to hunch down and become invisible - just for this once, disappear, but his flashy outfit drew the man’s attention. He locked eyes with him, mint-green eyes glaring into his brown ones, as he stared at Felix with a stoic expression. He could feel the same aura that January had radiating off of him: pure bloodlust.

Felix swallowed, forcing himself to stay calm under his piercing stare, and finally Howard Restall looked away, as Felix wasn’t worth his gaze.

It was as if a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He sighed slightly in relief, following January down the row as he took a seat next to Adelio and Maddox. Winola and Alzena joined them, Alzena sitting beside him and Winola squishing onto the edge of the bench.

“Hi guys!” Someone said from behind them. Avil sat behind them, followed by Wilder. Felix gave her a small wave, his whole body tense with fear.

Slowly more people continued to flood into the gym, until finally, Mr. Prader walked up to the front and spoke into the mic. “Good morning students and staff.”

“Today we have a very special guest, Howard Restall.” Everyone clapped. “Before we start our presentation, let us rise for the national anthem.”

Everyone stood, and Mr. Prader cleared his throat, bursting into song, leading all of them with his heavenly voice. He sang the last note and everyone burst into applause.

“Now… I would like to introduce the Head of Diole Eradication, Howard Restall.” The audience burst into applause once again.

Howard Restall slowly stood up from his seat, going to stand in front of the mic. “Good morning everyone.” He said in a smooth, gentle voice. “I’m happy to be here with all of you today to share special news.” He gave the crowd a smile.

Felix glanced at January, so nervous he was practically sweating. January stared straight ahead at his dad, mesmerized by his appearance.

“But before I do, I have a question to ask you all.” Howard Restall looked around at all the different faces in the crowd, eyes flickering from student to student.

“How many of you have lost a loved one? Whether it be family, friend, or neighbour?” He paused. “Now I’d like you to raise your hand if that applies to you.”

Alzena, Wilder, Maddox, Adelio, and Felix raised their hands. “Now keep your hands up if it was due to a Diole attack or any circumstances involving a Diole.” Alzena and Wilder put their hands down but Adelio, Felix, and Maddox kept them up.

“If we look at the amount of people who raised their hands, 3/4 of the deaths in this area have been a result of Diole violence and crimes.” Howard Restall continued. “As we can see, there are no real ways that we can prevent a sudden Diole attack. Because of this, my team and I have been working on a way to identify Dioles before they can attack.”

Howard Restall pulled out a pure black briefcase. He opened it, pulling out and revealing a syringe filled with a deep purple liquid. “Dividen. A serum that can detect Dioles.” The purple colour was bright and alluring, in a sickening way. “This serum is able to detect the gene ‘Diaphantine’ in people, which is a gene that only Dioles possess.” He slowly moved the syringe around, flashing it towards each side of the audience.

“Once injected with this serum, the fluids will attack the gene. As a result of this, the Diole will die after around five minutes of being injected.” He declared, voice low.

The crowd went dead silent.

Felix turned to January with wide eyes, but January’s gaze was locked on his father.

“And we’ll be trying them out today!” Howard Restall cheered.

January still wouldn’t look at Felix.

“We’ll start with the front row.” Howard Restall started to approach them, the heels of his shoes clicking against the laminate floor. In the dead silence of the gymnasium, it was the only sound to be heard.

He turned to the person on the end of the row…

Winola.

He loomed over her, the purple liquid of the syringe glistening under the luminescent lights. Slowly and carefully, he pushed back the sleeve of her sweater, holding the needle against her forearm. The entire gym could feel the intense aura surrounding Howard Restall, like he was actually going to snap her neck rather than stick a needle in her.

“Just kidding!” He pulled the needle away and laughed. “The vaccines still need a little more research, so all you Dioles in here are safe.” He said, going back to his place at the front.

“The release date of the vaccine is January of next year. But due to this news the GDEO suspects there will be a rise in Diole crime rates and attacks. Even after the release of the vaccine, not all Dioles will happily comply.” He said, looking around again. “So due to this, I have created these.”

He pulled out another item from the briefcase. A bullet, also purple in colour. “Can anyone guess what makes this bullet stand out from the others?”

Everyone was silent.

“Wow, a quiet audience. Am I really that scary?” He said with a laugh, like he wasn’t the Head of Diole Eradication.

“Well. As you can see with the similarity in colour, these bullets contain the same serum that is in the vaccines. If a Diole is shot with one of these bullets, it will be guaranteed to kill them.” He hummed, playing with the bullet. “These also are still being tested, and likely won’t be distributed until late January to early February.”

Howard Restall continued to talk more about Diole safety statistics and gun safety, droning on like any other assembly they had. It was just like a regular speaker, except for the fact that this was Howard Restall. He went on to talk about boring business economics and Diole stuff. But Felix was barely listening anymore. His head was spinning, fear freezing him in place.

Blood rushed in his ears. His heart was beating so hard he could swear that it was going to leap right out of his chest. Fear tightened around his lungs, his breaths coming out as shaky little huffs. He tightened his grip on the bench, hands beaded with sweat.

Despite knowing all of this information for over a week, Felix couldn’t believe his ears. There was something about sitting here, staring up at the Head of Diole Eradication, the sickening violet liquid of the syringe glaring down at him, that made his situation a thousand times more real.

Five minutes.

That’s all it would take. Five minutes… and then, it’d be over. Nothing would matter. He knew the vaccine was dangerous, he knew it would’ve torn his life apart, but not like this. Not to this extent.

His life really was in January’s hands. If he couldn’t manage to hack their files, then that would really mean…

He was going to die.

“Thank you for listening.” Howard Restall’s voice pulled him from his spiralling thoughts, interrupting any more of his stressing. “I hope to see most of you when the vaccine comes out.” He smiled before sitting back down.

One by one they all stood up and left out the door, leaving January sitting on the edge of the bench, eyes still helplessly locked on his father.

[banannabethchase]

Take My Pain Away - also on AO3

~

After getting chucked onto the windshield of a car at Dynamite, Adam goes home to Matt.

~

For December prompt challenge day 18: grateful. Title from Take My Pain Away by Anarbor.

~

He should have seen the call coming.

“What did you do?”

Adam laughs, wincing a little as his bruised ribs smart. “Hi to you too, baby.”

“Don’t you baby me,” Matt says firmly. “I stay home for a single Dynamite to get the rest of my stuff packed up, and you get yourself thrown on a car.” He huffs. “Are you okay? What can I do to help for when you get home?”

“I’m fine,” Adam says, and he lets the word home, their home, echo in his aching chest. He waves off Doc Sampson. There’s not much more to be done but let time do its thing. “Hurt like a son of a bitch, but I’m fine.”

Matt groans. “Well, back stuff hurts. Plane might make it worse tomorrow. How’s your hotel bed?”

“Seems okay,” Adam says. He shrugs on his jacket and nods to Doc, making his way to the door. “I should be fine.”

Matt’s quiet for a moment. “Take two ibuprofen an hour before leaving for the airport and then two Tylenol when you get on the plane, for backup. Make sure you get up and walk around a little, otherwise it’s going to be even worse.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adam says, waving it off. “It’ll be fine.”

~

It isn’t fine.

The hotel sleep is okay, the hard mattress supporting his aching muscles, but the time in the airport is bad and settling in on the airplane is even worse. Adam’s gritting his teeth the whole flight. He’s got Soul of an Octopus playing on his phone but he can’t focus: the ache in his muscles is louder.

The worst of it all is Matt was right. It takes an extra two hours of agony before the ibuprofen actually kicks in the right way, and the Tylenol steps in weakly to support. But the damage is done: Adam hurts and Matt is right.

The truck swings in front of him as he hobbles awkwardly with his backpack over his shoulders and his carryon miserably wheeling around in front of him. He braces for teasing, for the “I told you so”s, for the self-aggrandizing little smile.

Instead, Matt just frowns.

“Sit down,” he says.

“I have to get the bags in the car,” Adam says, frowning.

“No,” Matt says, “you don’t. I have to get the bags in the car. I don’t want you carrying anything heavier than a phone for a few days.”

Adam’s so startled he blinks and sits in the front seat, only jolted out of it by the ache that rears its ugly head again when his tailbone settles.

“Do you need medication?” Matt asks. He digs around in the center console.

Adam shakes his head. “Uh. No, I’m good. Took some on the plane.”

“On the plane?” Matt raises an eyebrow, and Adam prepares for the bitching out, but Matt sighs instead. “Alright, that’s good. Take some more when you can. Back issues are no joke, and sleep is both the best and worst thing for it to feel better.”

He’s not sure what’s happening. Five years ago, Matt would have gone after how irresponsible it was to get himself in that situation, how he shouldn’t have flown yet, how stupid it was for him to not follow the advice about when to take the medicine.

Instead, Matt’s got Adam’s playlist going in his truck, a hand on Adam’s on his thigh. And he’s quiet. For the half hour drive back to their neighborhood, he’s quiet.

“Are you good?” Adam asks before he can stop himself.

Matt turns to him as he slows to a stop by the old CVS Adam’s best friend’s dad worked at in high school. “I’m fine,” he says. “Finally got the chance to reorganize that disaster you called a pantry.”

Adam blinks. “You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” Matt asks, and his tone is still so casual. “They attacked you. Why would I be mad?” He glances over as he pulls into their driveway. “I’m worried, sure. Your face is all messed up in pain. But I’m definitely not mad.”

Adam tries to figure out what he’s missing. “Are you sure?”

Matt’s quiet again until he parks. “How mean have I been to you?”

It’s nothing what Adam was expecting. “Huh?”

He turns to Adam, expression intentionally blank. “In the past,” Matt clarifies. “You – it’s like you expect me to yell at you or something for getting hurt.” His eyes are wet and wide. But Adam can tell he’s deliberately trying to keep anything akin to booboo eyes in check. That might be the most concerning part of all of it. “I just want to know what I did to make that happen.”

“You – I don’t think it was you.” Adam speaks before he can stop himself, but at least confusion replaces the guarded hurt in Matt’s eyes.

“Who else could it have been?”

Adam doesn’t even know how to answer. He doesn’t know what to say, or what to do. But he knows he’s in pain. In every possible way. “Matt,” he says quietly. “Even if you did back then, that’s not how you make me feel now.”

Matt nods, his lips pressed together as he stares at something in the distance. Time stretches before him. “I shouldn’t have. Ever.” He turns to Adam. “Made you feel that way. You deserve – have always deserved – more than that.”

Adam tries for a smile. “Thanks, Matty. I, um. I know, in the past, I wasn’t as good to you as you deserved, either.” He presses his lips together. “Especially when – when the drinking was bad.”

“Addiction is different,” Matt says, voice tiny. “There’s no such thing as getting addicted to being horrible.”

“You – okay,” Adam says, because he can feel that this is about to derail. “I promise, Matt. If I was still mad about all that, if I still thought that’s who you – who you were acting like now…” He trails off and reaches out. Matt’s hand flips over automatically, lacing their fingers. “Matt, we’ve both changed.” Matt turns to him, head tilted to the side. “We wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t. I like to think,” he exhales, trying to find the words, “I like to think we only came back together because we became the people we deserved.”

The tears finally spill over onto Matt’s cheeks, and he pushes them away with a fist. Adam catches his hand and pulls him in, kissing away the tracks before kissing his lips.

“I should have been that the whole time,” Matt chokes out against Adam’s lips.

“Stop beating yourself up for who you used to be,” Adam says, pulling back to kiss Matt’s forehead. “And I’ll stop doing the same. Deal?”

Matt finally smiles and nods. “Deal.”

Adam leans in and kisses Matt, trying to speak forever into the movement of his lips. He knows asking right now would mean something. But he wants the moment he asks Matt to be forever should be in a moment of happiness, not a moment where they’re apologizing for past mistakes.

Today, they’ll commit to staying better. Later they’ll commit to more.

“Let’s get you inside,” Matt says, finally smiling. “You’ve got to be hurting.”

“If I say yes, are you gonna take care of me?” Adam swings out of the car too quickly, and the shooting pain cranks up his spine the second his feet hit the ground. “Oh, fuck.”

Matt must have skidded across the hood of the car because he’s in front of Adam in less than a second. “Do you need help getting inside?” He wraps a careful arm around Adam’s back. “Does this hurt?”

“You’re really leaning into the caretaker gimmick,” Adam muses. “Should I swoon? Let you carry me into the house?”

“No, but only because I couldn’t get your big head inside without hitting it on the door,” Matt quips. “Does my arm being here hurt? Do you need me to get, I don’t know, a wheelchair?”

Adam shakes his head. “I’m good.”

“I’m getting your bags,” Matt says. He lifts himself up into the truck, giving Adam a great view of his ass and his gigantic biceps at work.

“Stay right like that,” Adam says. “Your arms are fucking huge from this angle.”

“You like that?” Matt asks. He throws a grin over his shoulder and steps into the truck bed, slowly lifting the bags like a bicep curl.

“You know I do,” Adam grumbles. “Let’s get inside. I’m tired.”

Matt snaps back into serious mode and nods, throwing all the bags over his shoulder and jumping down out of the truck like it’s nothing. “You get ready in bed. Get cozy. I’ll take care of everything else.”

Adam leans over and kisses his forehead. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Adam can hear the hustle and bustle of Matt getting the house together, probably making some sort of tea, and he slowly puts himself into a pair of pajamas and rests into bed. He has to lie flat on the bed, body aching, and exhales. Maybe, if he breathes, it’ll get better.

Matt pads in with a cup of tea, ibuprofen, and Tylenol. “For later,” he says.

Adam nods, smiling. “Thanks, baby.”

“Anything.” Matt sits on the bed. “Do you need anything else?”

Adam gets an idea. “You know,” he says. “My ribs really are sore. I bet ice cream would help.”

“Not sure how, but sure. Give me five seconds.” Matt leaves without another thought and Adam relaxes.

He wonders, briefly, how ridiculous he could get this. If he could get really needy – like Matt needy – about things, with something as basic as bruised ribs and ego.

“Huh,” he says out loud. “Experiment time.”

“What?” Matt asks, coming in with two pints in his hands. “You’ve got maybe two or three spoonfuls left of the Moose Tracks, you quitter, so I grabbed the Pistachio Pistachio, too.”

“I’m not a quitter,” Adam argues, but he takes the Moose Tracks. “This is plenty.”

“Is not,” Matt says, and he sits down on the bed. “Anything else?”

Adam tries his best attempt at booboo eyes. “A kiss?”

Matt rolls his eyes and leans in, kissing his forehead. “Better?”

Adam taps his lips with the cold spoon.

“Oh, God,” Matt says, grinning. He leans in, pressing a tiny kiss to Adam’s lips. “Better?”

Adam pouts. He thinks it’s his best Matt impression yet.

“I think I suddenly know what it’s like to deal with me,” Matt grumbles. “I’m going to go put this away,” he wiggles the Pistachio Pistachio in his hands, “and then I’ll come back and you can hit me with boo boo eyes more.”

“That sounds great,” Adam says, grinning after him. Matt, unfortunately, was right again. There really isn’t much left in the ice cream as he scoops.

Matt’s back in a moment and climbs on Adam’s lap. “What’ll really make you feel better?” He sits down on Adam’s thighs. “Huh?”

Adam sighs as long suffering as he can get. “I don’t know.” He flutters his eyelashes.

“This is so annoying,” Matt says, shaking his head. “How do you put up with me?”

“Because I love you,” Adam says, shrugging. He scoops the last bit of ice cream and slides it between his lips, and grins around it as Matt’s eyes follow the motion. He sets the carton and spoon aside. Matt’s watching him like a hawk eyes wide and wanting, so Adam grabs Matt by the ass and hauls him in. “Oh, really?”

Matt blushes and rolls his eyes. “You know exactly what you were doing with that spoon.”

Adam grins at him. “Yeah, I did. Now you know what it’s like to be around you all the time.”

Matt sighs. “Well, it’s not safe to do our usual wild stuff tonight.” He slides down Adam’s body, mouth level with Adam’s dick, which is very quickly thickening. “But I can blow you, if you want.”

“If I want?” Adam asks. He lifts his hips, wincing a little. “Wait, hold on, let me – wait.” Matt gets up on his knees as Adam shuffles down so he’s laying down. “Okay, that’s better on my back.”

“So, yes?” Matt asks. “Only if you want to.”

Adam nods. “Always, baby.” He reaches out and tucks some hair behind Matt’s ear. “Are you sure?”

Matt nods and pulls Adam’s sweats down his hips. “I get to take care of you for once,” Matt says, and the way he looks at Adam’s dick is almost too much to handle.

He dives down onto Adam’s dive with less zeal than usual, lips and tongue feeling more intentional and focused. Matt doesn’t seem like he’s frantic, more like he’s concentrated. It’s new. It’s incredible.

“Jesus,” Adam says, sliding his hand into Matt’s loose hair behind his ear. “You’re all calm right now. This is weird.”

Matt pinches his thigh.

Laughing, Adam adds, “Weird good, baby, I promise.” For the first time possibly ever, Adam doesn’t push up into Matt’s mouth, doesn’t have any control over the situation. All he can do is revel in the warmth, in the way Matt swallows him down. He can speak, though.

“God, baby,” he groans. “You’re so good at this, I always forget.” He whines. His back is too fucked to push up into Matt’s warm heat, too warm to be an active participant, but god is it still so good. “After you – you should fuck my mouth.”

Matt pauses and pulls off Adam’s dick, replacing his mouth with his hand and stroking at the same pace. Adam can barely focus. “Me?” he asks. “fuck – your mouth?”

Adam nods, starting to pant. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, you – prop me up on pillows. I know how much I like it. You’ll love it.”

“Yeah?” Matt asks, smile knowing and a little devious. “Are you letting me be a top for once?”

Adam barks out a laugh. “Not quite, baby, but you can get that dick in my mouth and go wild.”

Matt’s cheeks turn pink. “Yeah? Okay.” He nods, and shifts back to wrap his lips around Adam’s dick. The suction, the heat, the sounds – Adam can’t hold it back.

“Matt,” he whimpers. “God, I’m almost.”

Matt pulls off, grinning. “Yeah, I know.” And he dives back down.

That’s it – Adam comes with a cry deep into Matt’s throat, hands fisting the blankets. He forgets the pain in his back, he forgets the night before. Everything is focused on just how good Matt makes him feel.

He comes back to earth with Matt pressing kisses to his thighs, with a little ache in his bruised ribs with how hard he’s breathing.

“Jesus,” he says. “Get up here, baby.” He taps his lips. “Fuck my face.”

“You sure it won’t hurt?”

Adam sits up, with just a hint of a wince, and shoves all the pillows on the bed underneath his body. “C’mon. I want it.”

Matt’s eyes go dark. “You – you want it?”

Adam nods.

Matt shuffles his jeans down his hips, then kicks them to the floor.

“Okay, take off the shirt, too,” Adam says, grinning. “I wanna see those muscles.”

Matt blushes pink. “Okay. Jeez.” He strips all his clothes and scoots on his knees up Adam’s body. “Oh, you look – different like this.” He looks down at Adam. “You ready?”

“So ready,” Adam says, relaxing his jaw. He’s more eager than he expected to be.

Matt is so hesitant he’s almost sweet as he feeds Adam his dick, slowly and shallowly thrusting. Adam grabs handfuls of his ass to encourage more, but Matt says, “Nope. You’re hurt. We’re not getting crazy with it.”

Adam groans around Matt’s dick and grins as it causes a dribble of precome to pool on his tongue. He suctions his lips around the head of Matt’s cock. If he won’t fuck his face, Adam will at least make this good.

He works his tongue, his lips, his hands kneading Matt’s ass, as he breathes through his nose and takes it all in.

Matt’s rambling, letting out absolute nonsense from his lips, and it’s taking everything Adam has in him not to giggle.

“Adam,” he whimpers. “I know – fast, but – I’ve never done – this – oh…” He trails off and grabs Adam’s shoulder. “Can I?”

Adam sucks harder, pulling a hand back to give a thumbs up. Matt still asks permission, even when he’s on top. Typical.

“Adam,” he gasps. “Adam, I –”

Matt comes in Adam’s mouth with a wordless cry, and he falls forward with his hands against the wall. Adam keeps working his tongue until Matt squeaks and twists his hips away.

“That was mean,” Matt whimpers.

“Was it?” Adam asks, running his hands down Matt’s thighs. He’s still eye level with Matt’s softening cock, which is a weird angle.

Matt shuffles around and flops next to Adam. “No,” he sighs. “That was awesome. I kind of get it now.” He turns to Adam. “I can be on top sometimes.”

“Oh, honey,” Adam says, leaning in to kiss Matt gently. “I love you more than anything in the world, but that was only being on top literally.”

“I fucked your mouth!”

“You asked permission to come.”

Matt opens his mouth, closes it, and pouts. “Damn it. You’re right.”

Adam laughs. “Get over here.”

“Hold on,” Matt says. He stands and throws Adam’s sweats back at him and pulls on his own pajamas. Adam shuffles them on, and he hadn’t realized he was getting cold until he’s warm again. “It may be one in the afternoon, but I think we’ve earned a nap.” He turns on Disney Plus. “Ah. Perfect.” He curls into Adam’s side, sighing as he turns the volume up on Nightmare Before Christmas.

“You good, baby?” Adam asks, closing his eyes.

“Yeah,” Matt murmurs. “Why?”

“You sighed.”

Adam can feel Matt staring at him, so he opens his eyes to see Matt peering at him. “I always sigh,” he says. “But, um. I guess I was just thinking that I’m grateful that we’re here, you know?” He leans in and kisses Adam, soft. “There are a lot of timelines where this moment doesn’t happen, if we hadn’t grown up and gotten over everything from the past.” His smile is as soft as his kiss. “Does that make sense?”

Adam nods and pulls Matt in, running his hands through his hair. “Christmas spirit getting you all sentimental, huh?”

“Always does,” Matt mumbles.

Adam turns and kisses the top of Matt’s head. “Go to sleep, baby.”

Matt’s response is a wordless mumble, and his arm tightens around Adam’s waist.

Yeah. Grateful’s the right word.

~

Mini Playlist: Unbreak - Ryan Star Take My Pain Away - Anarbor Throat Goat - Kim Petras Look After You - The Fray

[dudeshusband]

it's time for one of these

[shamera]

NaNo day 16

so previously i said fdb video game isekai since i was having a block with the time loop story but still need words

i lied. fbd modern hunter awakening au instead. in honour of solo levelling coming out next month. i have. an idea. dunno how far it will go, but i got pretty excited to write this today, so that's a win for me.

Man'er cameo, i'm so sorry to her. tw for blood and injuries, i guess. nothing fatal yet.

Fang Duobing still had his head in his hands when the loud thwack of files dropped right next to him, vibrating the office table. 

“No,” he whined, already knowing exactly who it was that would do such a thing to him when he very obviously didn’t want to be bothered. If the ‘do not disturb’ sign he’d written and taped to the door hadn’t been the largest indication, him being the president’s son with the corner office that he didn’t even want would have been a deterrent for people to talk to him in the first place. 

“I heard you tried joining Baichuan Court again,” his aunt’s annoying voice cut in. She sounded smug, and also right next to him, which was where she leaned when she was mocking him. “Don’t you already know you’re not going to make it in?”

“You shut up,” Fang Duobing mumbled out, slouching so that his arms started sliding down on the table as well, until his elbows were pushing the files away and he was nearly face down to scream incoherently into the wood grain. His words were the epitome of rudeness, but his aunt was only a few years older than him anyway, which meant she was the one who literally taught him every rude thing he knew. “They’ll have to accept me one day. I have all the qualifications; this is discrimination.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Tianji Hall, kiddo. What’s not to love here? You’ve got a good job, it pays well, it’s safe—”

It was nepotism, and the entire building knew it. Worse, Fang Duobing didn’t even want to be there in the first place, had tried running away several times the moment he hit legal age to do so, yet had always been dragged back home on the basis that he couldn’t make it out in the real world. Because everyone else took one look at his name, his face, his ID, and immediately backtracked. 

Anyone else might look at the office provided to him and his bespoke suits and claim otherwise, but his family was ruining his life. He wasn’t made to work in an office! Fang Duobing trained half his life to fight, to defend, to help people and clear dungeons!

He just wanted to be a proper Hunter, and didn’t that make sense? Both his mom and aunt were Awakened as well, yet they worked in logistics and defence and wanted to keep him behind-the-scenes as well out of the dungeons where Hunters died on the daily. 

It had been ten years since the laws that drastically changed how Hunters were allowed into dungeons, and Fang Duobing was still seething about them. Ten years ago, the two largest Hunter sects, Sigu Sect and Jinyuan Alliance, were decimated in a dungeon on the eastern sea, the two having turned against each other after the death of the dungeon boss and then caught in the collapse of the dungeon in one of the biggest disasters of the past decade. An entire neighbourhood had to be evacuated, and the fires burned for over a week before it could be put out. 

It was, his mother would insist, one of the reasons why Tianji Hall was needed, because Hunters could not run rampant as they had anymore since the dungeons first began appearing in the world. 

Since then, the government had also placed laws preventing individual or teams of Hunters from entering dungeons alone ‘for their own safety’, and enforced rules on how only sects could sanction dungeon raids. Which meant unless Fang Duobing registered with one of the remaining Hunter sects, no matter how hard he trained, he would be banned from dungeons. 

His aunt reached in to yank at his ear, causing Fang Duobing to sit up again, yelling as she continued to pull even as his hands reached up to shove her away. 

“Fang Xiaobao,” she said sternly, voice pitched with youth and her tendency to forgive him just about anything despite the amount of times she had been called into drag him home, “I understand you’re upset, but you’ll have to live with it! Why are you looking down on our Tianji Hall? Our work is just as important as the other sects!”

“We don’t raid!” Fang Duobing complained, still trying to pry her fingers from his ear. “We don’t even go into dungeons! Why even guard the gates? Even civilian children know better than to get near one, so at best we’re a logistics sect that deals with what people bring out from the dungeons— ow, ow! Okay, just let go already! Stop twisting!”

Thankfully, she did let go, although she sniffed disdainfully as he glared, cradling his red ear. 

“It’s insulting for the heir of Tianji Hall to think we’re not doing anything.” She told him, leaning forward in a threat gesture until Fang Duobing leaned back from his aunt, appropriately scared. “Do you think Hunters can work without us? Without our gear and weapons, without our regulations and support teams? Their casualty rate would be much higher!”

“Then you can be heir,” he murmured, and winced when she moved to grab at him again, “Sorry, sorry! But I mean it!”

“Stop trying to go after the sects,” she advised him, standing straight from where she had been leaning against his desk, brushing off her skirt and straightening her blazer before pulling the wispy strands of her bangs around her face artistically. “I’m going to be busy this afternoon— where’s your lunch?”

“Stop stealing my lunch,” he complained, and then stared suspiciously. “You’re dressed up today. Are you wearing lipstick?”

“Physician Li is stopping by to help us deliver the latest reports to— oh, stop making the face. Just because he reported you twice—”

“Tattled,” Fang Duobing insisted, pushing himself from his chair in indignation. Twice, Fang Duobing tried to run away from his family, and twice he met Li Lianhua who eventually told his aunt where he was. Twice. Even a dog would learn better, and he was definitely better than a dog. “You’re not taking my lunch to give to him!”

“And why not? I’m not a fool, Xiaobao! He would have gotten it anyway—”

Fang Duobing flushed, and began shoving his aunt out of his office. “He’s not— I wouldn’t— go wash your face, your makeup makes you look old!”

Amidst her shrieking over how she was barely any older than him, he finally managed to close the door in her face and breathe a sigh of relief for the soundproofing installed in his office. 

What a terrible morning. To think he personally made another trip down to the Baichuan Court tryouts with a (somewhat questionable) fake identity and a mask, and was almost accepted until they realised who he really was— it went to show that he had all the qualifications! He had the skills! They were banning him just because they were scared of his mother!

His only reprieve today might be Li Lianhua’s timely arrival, so that Fang Duobing could bully the man into eating a healthy lunch because everyone knew that Physician Li was chronically ill but also a terrible cook. Completely trash at cooking, with a tendency to not only skip meals but supplement them with candy like a child. 

(Well, Fang Duobing knew that, having trailed Li Lianhua for weeks at a time the two times he attempted to hide from his family, and having to choke down the ‘creative’ recipes the man would come up with.)

Yes, it was just revenge, after all! 

He was going to write another letter of complaint to Baichuan Court and then heat up his lunch, and Fang Duobing was going to make sure that the rest of his day would go better than his morning. 

— 

The shaking started subtly, like a truck driving too close to the building if it weren’t for the fact they were more than ten floors above ground level. Fang Duobing hadn’t even felt it at first, too busy on his phone until his assistant Li’er knocked on his door and stuck her head in, frowning when he scrambled to put his phone away and look like he was definitely busying himself doing something else. 

“Sir?” She asked tentatively, arms clutched around several case folders. “Should we sound an earthquake warning, sir?”

It was only then he noticed that the glass of water on his desk had the slightest of ripples within. Earthquake? It was unusual for this region to get earthquakes, and the rumbling was likely from construction nearby, but there hadn’t been any construction scheduled nearby. 

Fang Duobing thought for a moment and then figured, why not? It would be a good excuse to take the rest of the day off and also give the rest of the people some extra time to rest— “Yes, that’s a good idea, better safe than sorry—”

As if on queue, the slight rumbling increased dramatically that moment, starting to shake books from his shelves, and Fang Duobing gripped at his desk in shock before staring up at Li’er who screamed and dropped all her files. The scent of ions in the air like a sudden thunderstorm hit him, and despite never having been in close proximity to a dungeon, he knew the rulebook. 

“Incoming gate!” He yelled out, hearing people screaming outside his office as the rumbling grew to be violent shaking, and then it felt as if the hold of gravity lessened on them, and items went tumbling every which direction in a surge of purple light, the feeling like static shock on the skin. 

For several seconds, the world faded away and there was nothing at all, his vision brightening and then darkening, the air cold and then still and then like it didn’t exist at all, frozen in time. There was a terrifying moment where he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t feel, but that passed quickly until he registered the ringing in his ears to be the sounds of people screaming and crying around him. 

And then— cold. 

Fang Duobing shivered as his palms hit the stone floor, grit and bits of sharp sand pressed against his skin as he blinked himself to awareness again. The ground was uneven, and he could still hear people around him, although the screaming stopped. Most were groaning in pain, some whimpering from fear, and the thunderstorm smell in the air was slowly fading into something like rainwater and algae. He fumbled a moment in the pitch black, and then reached into his pocket for the pocket he just shoved in, pressing a button to light up the screen. 

The bright picture of a happy yellow furred dog sitting on a kitchen chair with both front paws held up by someone out of frame stared up at him, and Fang Duobing fumbled to thumb toward the flashlight app so he could better see his surroundings. 

The light revealed a large cavern, too big to actually see with his phone light, and several other figures slumped across the cave floor a ways from him, some shapes obscured by various furniture that had been transported along with them. 

Two others were also now fumbling for their phone light, and he could identify Wangfu and Li’er in the chaos. 

“Is everyone okay?” He called out, and got some groans of confirmation in return. Fang Duobing pushed himself up, getting his feet beneath him and relieved that he hadn’t been injured in the transfer. 

“Sir, I think… Man’er fell badly…” 

Amongst the small handful of people who ended up where they were, there was a college age girl grimacing on the ground, a hand clenched tightly around her bleeding calf. Fang Duobing hurried over with his phone to see clearer, and saw her leg twisted in an angle that meant bad news. 

There was a young man holding her shoulders to keep her up, although her complexion was pale even in the darkness. 

Within the confines of the dungeon, blood was very bad news. Not to mention most of the office workers in Tianji Hall were not Hunters, and therefore would be unable to fight back against whatever came at them. 

The young woman’s pale face only seemed to drain further at his severe expression, so Fang Duobing attempted to smile reassuringly. “We’ll have to bind that up somehow. Does anyone have…?”

Li’er came to his side, ripping off the white frills off the end of her dress with some difficulty, her eyes wide with both fear but also trust as she handed him the fabric. 

The others were also all looking at him expectantly, and Fang Duobing felt a rush of fear, a different kind than finding himself in the dungeon, as he took the fabric. He wasn’t— this wasn’t… but he had lived with Li Lianhua for weeks at a time, and read through the medicinal books when he got bored, having turned off his phone so he couldn’t be tracked. While the books were more on herbal knowledge and energy pathways for traditional chinese medicine, there were also basics for handling and treating sounds. 

As he came closer, Man’er whimpered and clutched harder at her leg, “Please don’t.”

“I’m sorry,” he told her, hoping the panic wouldn’t show in his voice. Then to the man standing behind her, he said, “Make sure she has something to bite on. We don’t know what’s here, and she might attract something by screaming.”

With the blood spilled, and what noise they already made, they would have to move, and move fast. There was a reason Hunters were only allowed into dungeons in experienced teams, and that was something the handful of them definitely were not. 

The man nodded, his movements frenetic, and pulled a pen from his shirt pocket even as the young woman whimpered and bit back a sob, shoulders shaking at the pain. 

There was a chance that Fang Duobing could make everything worse, but it was a chance he would have to take as there was no way Man’er could be moved otherwise. With her leg that twisted, every movement would be agony and they wouldn’t be able to bind her wound up. A wrong move, however, meant that he might nick an artery attempting to set her broken bone, and that would lead to even worse bleeding. 

“Don’t worry,” he tried to soothe her as she bit down on the pen, tears flowing silently down her face even as she shook. He reached for her leg and she jerked away, immediately regretting the slight movement as her breath hitched. When he touched her leg above the wound, her skin was burning under his fingers. He grimaced and looked up at Li’er’s expectant eyes and said, “I need splints. Chair legs, wood— anything that can hold her leg straight.”

She and Wangfu immediately acknowledged his words and went around to search through the furniture that came along with them, taking their lights with them. Fang Duobing looked back at Man’er and attempted the reassuring smile again. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. This will feel like it sucks for a little while, but you’ll be okay once we get out of here.”

She just closed her eyes, leaning back into the man holding her up. 

“Here!” Wangfu came back with a contemporary table lamp, the base and bulb taken off so that it was mostly just two long pieces of metal folded in the middle to allow for adjustments. 

Fang Duobing accepted the pieces, thinking that it really was exactly the kind of thing he needed, and then thought, am I really going to do this? 

There was so much blood, and he knew that it was best to not disturb the wound and leave it to professionals, but they were in a dungeon and no one expected a new gate to appear right in their office building, and no one was prepared and that meant that any rescue teams would need time to organise and get to them. Even minutes could mean life or death in a dungeon if they were unlucky. 

“It’s okay,” he said again, feeling like he was reassuring himself. “It’s going to be okay.”

His hands were trembling as he took apart the metal pieces of the lamp to make two sections, and then set it down on the stone next to the girl’s broken leg, staring incomprehensibly. 

Luckily, before he could gather up the courage to act, there was a voice behind him, “Move aside.”

He turned his head into the darkness, relief running through his veins as he recognised his aunt and Li Lianhua jogging up to them, both of them looking scraped up but otherwise uninjured. His aunt had blood running down her arm where she lost a sleeve, and a scrape against her cheek, but looked alright overall, features concerned rather than pained. 

Li Lianhua had his hair tied back in a low bun, his usual baggy clothes dirtied but undamaged, although there was a cut running down his brow that hit the outer corner of his cheek, streaking blood down his face. Despite this, he looked unphased, frowning as he crouched down next to Fang Duobing to examine the girl’s leg. 

“Physician Li,” the man behind Man’er breathed a sigh of relief. “She… is she…?”

“She’ll live.” Li Lianhua said curtly, his touch clinical without inciting any reaction from the girl like Fang Duobing’s had. “You got lucky here. The break’s not as bad as it looks, it’s still a closed fracture, you just happen to also have a deep cut above it. It really hurts, doesn’t it? The bone is dragging right against some nerves, so let’s—”

His hands were braced against her leg, and he moved, and the young woman didn’t so much scream as she wheezed out a breath around the pen between her teeth, ending the noise with a whimper before she slumped down further. 

“Good, good,” Li Lianhua told her, tone soothing. He braced the metal pieces against the young woman’s leg and reached to pull the ruffle that Fang Duobing had been clutching onto tightly in his nervousness. The woman made sounds of pain and discomfort through the first two wraps, but eventually settled as her bones were wrapped tightly, with the fabric soaking up the blood from her cut. He reached into the shoulder bag he always carried with him and pulled out a powder packet. “Take this. It’s just a mild painkiller, but it will help. It won’t hurt as much from here on, but you’ll have to be carried, and you’re not going to like it.”

“You couldn’t have given it to her before that?” Fang Duobing asked, dismayed. 

“It doesn’t work immediately.” Li Lianhua answered him, as Man’er shakily took the powder with a whispered thanks. “And it tastes bad. If she vomited from the pain, not only would she feel worse afterward, it would be a waste.”

“You—!”

“Xiaobao,” His aunt admonished, a hand coming to grip Fang Duobing’s shoulder tightly. “Let Physician Li work.”

Li Lianhua looked up, counting the heads there and frowning. “...This is a big group.”

They weren’t a large group, merely seven people in total, but Fang Duobing understood his meaning immediately. 

Short of defeating the dungeon boss, the surest way of exiting a dungeon was defeating the creatures within. One kill per one person if they wanted to leave, as each monster within the dungeon had a core which could be used to transport them out of the dungeon. With it being illegal to kill dungeon bosses, that meant it was their only way out other than waiting for a rescue team. 

Of the group, only Fang Duobing and his aunt were Hunters, which meant only they would be able to fight. 

Neither of them had ever fought in a dungeon before. 

(And, Fang Duobing would never say aloud, his skill was not… fighting oriented.)

“It’s best if we do this fast, then,” Li Lianhua said, “and get the injured out.”

“You know what’s in this dungeon?” Fang Duobing asked, surprised. 

“They look like centipedes,” his aunt confirmed. “We passed a corridor while looking for you with several dozen of them together, so they would all attack at the same time. If we could take those down, we can get everyone out safely. But the numbers are…” she trailed off, her eyes flickering over to the injured young woman. 

Li Lianhua pushed himself back to his feet, the phone light casting heavy shadows under his eyes. 

“Someone will have to carry her.” He said. “Because we have to move or we’ll be swarmed very soon.”

— 

In the end, the young man holding Man’er before ended up carrying her on his back, although Fang Duobing offered to do so as well and reassured him that they could switch when he got tired. Li’er revealed her injured wrist for Li Lianhua to wrap, and only Wangfu and Fang Duobing ended up without injuries entirely. 

“I’m fine,” He Xiaofeng waved her nephew off from her bleeding arm, turning a flirtatious look over her shoulder. “Physician Li looked at it for me earlier. It’s unfortunate, but won’t hinder me. I can still fight.” Her Awakening as a Hunter gave her a skill that ensured almost all of her hits would connect with its target. It was a physical enhancement, meant to control minute fluctuations of her muscles for terrifying accuracy, but it wasn’t anything close to magic. If it wasn’t possible to make a shot, then she wouldn’t be able to do so. 

With the deep cut in her arm, Fang Duobing worried that it wouldn’t be her accuracy affected, but the strength of her hits. With his aunt’s sniper-like reflexes, her greatest weakness would be not taking out her target on first hit. 

And without weapons, they were practically sitting ducks. 

“It’ll be fine,” Li Lianhua said to him, likely after seeing his woebegone expression. Thanks to their lack of injuries, it was Fang Duobing and Wangfu taking point, scouting out the area ahead little at a time to give others time to run if they attracted unfavourable attention. Li Lianhua was wiping away the blood from his cut with his sleeves and grimacing at the stain to his cream coloured clothes. Fang Duobing worried that the wound was still bleeding sluggishly, but Li Lianhua, like He Xiaofeng, waved his concerns off. 

“The gate appeared in a high traffic area,” Fang Duobing observed as they moved along the cave, three of them with their phone lights out to illuminate the way in front and behind them. He stopped a moment to scan the light around, making sure there was nothing lurking along the walls or ceilings where they were. If they were in a dungeon with insects, it was better to be safe than sorry. “It shouldn’t take the closest sect longer than ten minutes to mobilise, and then… five minutes to get here?”

“Ten if you’re lucky,” Li Lianhua corrected in a tired murmur, wiping at his brow with a frown. “If a gate appeared, then traffic would be awful around the area. There might be accidents on the streets, and abandoned vehicles. That means more pedestrians, which means it might be hard to even get runners to the location for the first while. I’d add another twenty minutes, likely. Maybe half an hour.”

“And then they have to find us in the dungeon.” His aunt volunteered. She didn’t sound very enthusiastic. “As we haven’t seen anyone else so far, we don’t know how large this place actually is.”

“We’ll have to keep moving,” Fang Duobing deduced, brow furrowing as they continued to walk. The scent of blood would attract predators, and if they weren’t getting help very soon, their best option really would be to find monsters they could defeat, and acquire the cores to get out themselves. 

This was an opportunity, Fang Duobing determined. So long as he could keep everyone safe and get them out, then that was absolute, irrefutable proof that he should be allowed to join Baichuan Court. He just had to… keep everyone safe. 

He thought of another instance, a reassuring voice and a warmth surrounding him, and steeled himself. 

“I’ll take point,” he said. “Wangfu’s with me. My aunt and Li’er at the rear, and we can keep Man’er safe that way.”

“Li’er’s wrist is injured,” his aunt protested. “It’d be best to have Physician Li with me at the rear.”

Fang Duobing gave her a dubious look, not at all convinced by that argument. Ideally, his aunt would take the lead as she could make use of anything to attack, but with the way things were, he was making do with what they had! Besides, he was also taking into account Li Lianhua’s unpredictable health, with his heart condition and all. “He’s the only one who knows what to do in case something happens to Man’er.”

His aunt made a noise in protest, but then pouted as Li Lianhua didn’t glance her way. Her lipstick was still the same dark shade of red from earlier. 

“Keep against the wall,” Li Lianhua suggested. “It will be one less side for ambush.”

They did just that, slowly but carefully making their way through the cave and staying out of reach of smaller pockets illuminated by the light. Once they found another site of destruction, with various office equipment that had been transported into the dungeon, and Fang Duobing picked up a waiting room chair with steel legs, figuring it was much better than having no weapon at all. Wangfu found a water bottle, and they stopped for a minute to give Man’er a break and some water. 

“She’s not doing so well,” the young man carrying her said, hitching her higher up his back as gently as he could, but she still gave a sharp inhale of pain. 

“Broken bones don’t like being jostled,” Li Lianhua agreed, but couldn’t give any way of comforting the young woman. 

“Don’t worry,” Wangfu told her quietly, “We’ll be out soon! And then the doctors can take a look at you… no offence, Physician Li.”

Li Lianhua merely shrugged with a slight smile. “I don’t often get patients with broken bones coming to me. If there’s still water left, you should use it to clean up some of the blood. We might be able to divert attention if we clean with a cloth and leave the cloth in other locations.”

“That’s a smart idea!” He Xiaofeng exclaimed. 

“Of course, that could backfire depending on the monster in the dungeon,” Li Lianhua warned. “If there are other types of monsters than what we’ve seen. We’ve been lucky so far.”

“Yeah,” Fang Duobing interjected. “And we should get going again.”

The brief respite took less than three minutes, but all of them were too jittery to stay for long, understanding the type of environment they were in. That they hadn’t seen others… There should be dozens of people on the floor of that building, and there were only seven of them here now. 

Li Lianhua lingered toward the back of the group this time as they left behind the ruined office furniture, his eyes lingering on the shadows behind them, moving and writhing just shy of the light.

[brwnsugcr]

have you noticed a 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 in your writing ? here are some of mine.

found family  ╱  you tend to write your characters inevitably joining forces to obtain a common goal within the plot. *in fic writing in particular, you like to write them in alternate universes where they share that same bond, but in a completely different setting minus the trauma. most of it, anyway.

romanticism  ╱  you somehow find an excuse to take a deep dive into the true beauty of an individual, in your eyes. often times it’s your main character, or a comfort character who you just ! love so much !! so what if they killed ppl

multishipping  ╱  having two or more developing ( or preestablished relationships ) that compliment the other. bonus points if said relationships happen within the same friend group ( found family ! )

friends to lovers, will they won’t they  ╱  whatever the case may be, character a and character b are in a strong somethingship with each other and they are now at a point of escaped definition. are they friends ?? are they more ?? don’t ask the idiots in question. they have no idea.

[poetryofmuses]

Weddings are fun because that's where most people find love

[shortpplfedup]

number 8

Since I've gotten my Right Or Wrong propaganda out of the way I can give the next spot on the May/December list to HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count. Sun Bo Xiang wasn't gonna let a pesky little thing like a 12 year age-gap get in the way of pursuing the gym hottie and that was fun to watch, but I especially liked how Li Zhi Gang struggled with accepting Bo Xiang's feelings because of the gap, and how Bo Xiang's cousin expected Zhi Gang to take certain responsibilities as the more mature partner, even though he wasn't the pursuer. It's a very delicate balance, and really all hangs on Wilson Liu's performance as Bo Xiang, and he nails it.