#did commit manslaughter before

[slime-sandwhich-nom]

Ngl gumball is the type to not fuck around when someone says anything about his gf he's very obsessed with

the tags aren't letting me tell you how gumball literally brought an entire PERSON, probably a dead one of unconscious as a SACRIFICE to a fake cult made by his own teachers and classmates (they didn't take it well)

[spokewar]

Force sensitivity is a very rare and treasured trait on Stewjon and Obi-Wan's parents were ostracized by a good chunk of people for giving him to the Jedi instead of raising him to be a church leader or fancy bureaucrat who they could have married off to gain higher social standing

[theonepiecebrainrotisreal]

LUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I MISSED YOU SOOOOO BAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDD WAURFESATGSEGSFDGEASFUHGERS FGINALLYLKSYLKYKLTIOHSDTYUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!💥💥💥💥💥

Water is Thicker Than Blood Chapter 71

Return Of The Fridge (not portable)

{Start} {Prev Next(coming soon)} {MasterPost}

Welcome back, Maggie :)

[writerfae]

Okay so I had priest Aiden AU but what about Keeper Aiden AU? What about Aiden being the eldest keeper’s first?

[lufyuu]

,,The Verdict''

Dragon Judge x Criminal male reader

Tw/s: abuse of power, corruption, rough dom, somewhat dubcon (?), breeding, mating, claiming, mentions of getting reader pregnant, marking, double stuffing, brat taming-ish, mentions of blood (reader biting his own lip & scratching)

Goddamnit. God fucking damnit.

You could've gotten away with it if it weren't for the judge's sharp eyes in noticing you sprinting away from the scene of the crime. It wasn't as if you weren't trying to hide either— you were in the dark, how could he had even notice! Unfortunately, your days of being known as the mysterious serial killer are now over as you stand in court, face to face with the families of your victims. Fuck.

You turn to look at the infamous judge or lord, a title given by the public to him. He has been and is still shrouded in mystery. His intimidating gaze is a sufficent warning to make people look away and abandon any thought of discovering more about him. He is known to be a very neutral and cold judge. Having been around this exact courthouse for 20 years, he seems to have never aged, staying forever in his prime. With a face and body like his, who wouldn't want a taste? Unfortunately, the ones who did shoot their shots were rejected in the most humbling way possible. They wouldn't even disclose it due to embarrassment. How this man came to be is still a mystery to the public. Not even people who work close to him can discover his origins. He is the one whom citizens claim to possess abilities one couldn't explain. Due to all the reasons stated above, the people tend to believe in whatever he says. Whatever the judge says, goes around here.

And there he is, right before your very eyes with court ending very soon you can assume. His expression is as calm as can be. Even when a serial killer such as yourself stands infront of him. His demanding presence commanding everyone to pay attention as the trial proceeds. Honestly, you should've been thrown in jail at this point, you've admitted to the crime already, what is the point of this trial?

"Mr [L. Name], is it true you commited these acts of manslaughter?", he turns his head towards you, gazing into your soul almost. You look up at him, gazing back with uncaring and bored eyes, "yes", a simple and clear answer. The entire courtroom is silent, the air is tense. You can feel eyes burning into your back, the cries of your victims' relatives satisfy you enough for you to let a fleeting smile spread on your face, disgusting everyone and anyone who notices. "Before we conclude this trial, the court will hear from the victims' families. Please step forward now if you have anything you would like to say to the defendant.", as the judge says this, many, many people came to the stance to have a word or two. Despite all this, his gaze settled on you, never leaving your figure.

You look at the family member infront of you. The sister of the first victim you had took the life of. You can't be bothered to remember his name though. "You fucking monster, how could you even do that to anyone let alone MULTIPLE PEOPLE!?", her tears eventually caught up with her, hiccuping as she stutters on her next few words which you drown out with thoughts of what to have for your first meal in prison. Not a single bone in your body feels guilty for the crimes you have commited. For the pain you have caused your victims' families.

With nine of the ten family members having said what they wanted and you drowning them out, it was time for the last one. This particular guy you can recall, Jason Williams, the brother of the victim you had dated. In the middle of his heartbreaking speech, he came closer to you and slapped you real hard. Your whole head turned 45° degrees due to the impact on your cheek. You look back with a hand on your cheek, amused almost. "Couldn't even hold back, no wonder your sister hated you", your expression showed no remorse, almost mocking him in a sense, which tipped him off even more. Fortunately for you, before he could do anything more physical, the judge butted in on the whole 'fight'. "Order in the court!", his deep and commanding voice caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity. He continues his command, "Quin, please remove the parties involved and restore order in the courtroom", Quin, the bailiff, immediately goes to de-escalate the situation by asking Jason to step back and that justice would be served. With a final glare, Jason steps back, not wanting to look at you anymore.

With everything out of the way, you glance back at the judge who seems to still be looking at you. "We will take a break to allow all parties to collect themselves before the sentencing. Court will pick up where we left in 20 minutes." And with those words, the audience and prosecution walked out of the room, including you who was escorted out by several guards to a secure room to ensure you wouldn't escape.

The room itself is rather simple and basic. Nothing out of the ordinary really. An air vent, an ac, thick walls and a sofa. At least it's comfortable.

Just 5 minutes into your relaxing, you hear a knock on the door. You don't get up as it's pointless seeing how they've locked it from the outside. You merely open your eyes and await whoever's beyond the door to come in. The moment the door opens, you are surprised to see an important figure walk in. "Oh? Lord, uh...", you try to recall his name, but to no avail, you've never cared to remember names other than your own. "Liu Zihao", "huh?", you raise an eyebrow at the sudden sound, "my name", he looks down at your laying body. Something in you decided it's best for you to sit up instead of laying down. Getting up from your comfortable position, you cross your legs and arms. "So what are you here for? To cuss me out like all the others?", you ask, not even sparing him a glance, even yawning a bit and closing your eyes in hopes he'd go away soon. Without saying another word, he gets closer to you. When you reopen your eyes, he's right in front of you. You get a bit jumpy and try to throw a fist at him, which he catches with ease.

Your fingers are eventually intertwined with his as he presses down one hand on the cushion right next to you. Your expression is conflicted. Your fight or flight insticts have kicked in, yet you almost tremble at his presence. You don't know what it is about him that makes you almost tremble. "Hm", he lets out a hum of curiosity and lets go of your hand, turning his heels and walking out the simple room. Leaving you in the room all alone once more as the door lock clicked.

"What the fuck was that for", you ask to nobody in particular seeing as you're alone. You look at your palm which had touched his a moment ago, finding nothing out of the ordinary despite a strange sensation enveloping it earlier on. Not thinking much of it, you plop back to your lazy laying position you were in before and doze off for a few minutes before being roughly woken up and taken to court once more.

"Ahem, Court is back in session. We will now proceed with the final verdict.", judge Liu announces to everyone as they hold hands with one another, having hope that justice would be served and you'd finally be out of the streets where you could potentially spot another target. You are told to rise from your hard seat. "After careful consideration of the evidence and arguments presented to the court, I hereby declare that the defendant, Mr [Name] [L. Name], is found guilty of the charges brought against him.", with that sentencing, you weren't surprised at all. You admitted to everything, and there was sufficient proof once you pointed them out. But of course, Zihao still had to continue his obligatory speech. "The crimes you have committed warrant a punishment which has never been given to a criminal such as yourself ever before.", this got you intrigued. You were sure you'd face the death penalty or even life in prison, but now that the judge has said those words, your mind begins to race through countless possibilities.

"Therefore, [Name] [L. Name] shall be personally punished and re-educated under my direct supervision."

What.

What did he just say?

You could hear for a split second the audience behind you start to whisper amongst each other but those are drowned out by your thoughts of confusion and shock. What did he mean by that? What could he want to do with you? He's unpredictable. There'd be no way anyone would agree with him—

"Court is adjurned.", Zihao stands up, indicating the session has ended. He moves his attention to the bailiff, "please escort [Name] [L. Name] to my headquarters.", Quin nods in obedience as he strode towards your still shocked and confused state. "Do not resist.", he lets out a warning and takes you to the judge's headquarters. You can hear the audience and victims' families cheer as justice has been served. Your punishment shall be served by the one and only judge, making this all the more exciting. What judge Liu says, goes.

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

All you remember is being escorted into a special carriage with black curtains. As the carriage carried on, you couldn't do anything, not even looking out the windows due to the curtains. Though, you did feel the road being very bumpy. It almost felt like hours before you finally arrive at the judge's headquarters.

When you first step through the doors, you take note of the high ceilings and extravagant interior. You walk further into the manor-like building, noticing even more details along the way. The walls seemed to have been carved as if this was once a victorian era castle. It looked very clean. upon closer inspection, you notice symbols of which you don't recognize. The shape resembled one of a dragon. You paid it no attention. When you turn to your left, your eyes lay on a pair of stairs which seemed as if they reached heavens due to the height of it. The railings are golden, if you squint a little, they had an effect which made it seem as if they're glowing.

You don't even notice the bailiff leaving until you heard the tall doors slam shut. You quickly look behind as it startled you. Why would he even leave you alone, that didnt make sense.

After a few moments of pondering whether to escape immediately or continue your exploration, you decide to ascend the almost never ending stairs to the top floor. There, you see that the top floor is a whole room itself. There are no doors to open, just an untouched bedroom which could honestly be called a treasure room at the same time. The amount of shiny things you could name were almost endless. Despite the whole thing looking a bit untouched, you could tell someone has taken care of it or at the very least, tried to. The desk and books are collecting dust but at least the sheets are clean. Taking another step forward, you examine the royalty-like room. There's a chandelier placed in the middle of the room. It hangs over you, something about it feel off. Maybe it's the fact it looks so much like a glowing purple bubble floating in the air. Maybe your eyesight's gotten worse? Though, you sure do notice the tall windows.

In your peripheral vision, you could see a box that caught your eye. You walk towards the box, which sits on top of the desk. Lifting it with your two hands, you blow off some of the dust. It wasn't locked, thankfully. You take a peak inside and see... a collar of some kind. A collar made out of what seems to be black leather with precious amethysts embedded into the leather itself, along with some chains drooping around it. You looked at it and thought about one thing. This thing could fetch you a pretty penny or two. Deciding on selling it the moment you get out of this fancy manor, you reach into the box and grab it using one hand. "That idiotic judge, leaving me all alone here", not only would he be blamed for letting a serial killer escape, but he would also lose a precious gem adorned collar. Within a blink of an eye, you felt something placing itself around your neck. Wait...where did the collar go!?

You panic and look in the mirror to see said collar somehow clasped on your neck. "Fuck fuck what is this shit!?", you start to cuss out of fear. You'd never been scared by anything but this....this is different. There must be some magic or paranormal activity for this to even happen. How did it teleport from your hand to your neck, that doesn't make sense!

You try to pry it off your neck but to no avail, it was tight around your neck. It wouldn't let go of you. Not now that you've accepted being its owner's mate. Your gut is screaming at you to get out of there as fast as possible. With the collar unable to be loose, you focus on escaping first. "Fuck", you try to break the windows to escape as you usually do but stop to think. You're very high above ground at this moment, if you jump off from this height, you'd end up dead or with broken bones which you don't feel like dealing with. The only decision you had left was to go back downstairs and to hopefully be able to escape through the entrance or a back door before Zihao arrives. Sprinting like your life depends on it, you finally arrive at the entrance of the manor. You push it but it doesn't budge. At that moment, you hear an "ahem" coming from behind you. Your whole body freezes, not daring to even look back. You recognize the voice as their footsteps get closer to you until you felt their chest press against your back. Their hands trailing your body. Their hands settling to grip your waist in place. "I see you've accepted my gift", you could even imagine the person to be smiling as they say this.

Their left hand grabs your chin to face them. You weren't surprised to see the judge. What shocked you was the fact he looked like a predator who just found its prey. His pupils looked like a..serpent's..? Not only that, you could see his eye color changing and glowing a bright purple. You try to pull your head back in order not to face his predatory gaze, but his hand stops you. He has a strong grip on your chin, preventing you from looking away. Even though your whole body is almost trembling with fear, you manage to ask, "w-what to do you...want...", he tilts his head a bit, as if he himself is confused. "You're now my mate, I can do whatever I please with you, can't I?", he states as if it's the most obvious thing ever, making you even more nervous. You try your best to stay calm, but how could you? Why did he even use the term 'mate'...

"What m-mate? I'm...nothing of the sorts, let go!", you thrash in his hold, trying your hardest and using all your strength to break free which eventually, you reach your goal. "F-fuck, crazy bastard!", your words spill out as you stumble back, trying to catch the breath you'd been unconsciously holding while in his strong grip. He only stared at you, you could see clearly now that he isn't human, there's no way he could be one. With the black to purple gradient horns ontop his head. Heck, you even see a long tail behind him. Your fight or flight immediately activated as you tried your best to get out of there. You've already established that 1. This man's grip is strong and that 2. He isn't human. There's no way you'd be able to beat him in a fight. You try to reach the front door. You're just a few inches away before he pulls you back to him, this time, your whole body is facing his. "Don't run", is all he says, you look at him as if he's said something crazy, "don't run?? Fuck you, let go of me right now", despite this man being easily 6'5 and intimidating as fuck, you manage to overcome your fear and speak your mind.

"I've finally found you after years of being in the mortal realm, stay with me, my mate", he says as he gently grabs your hand to touch his cheek. Whatever he said made you even more confused, is this all a dream? No way any of this is real. "What are you on..!?", you question but honestly didn't want to know the answer. All you want and nerd at this moment is to be able to escape his grasp as this time, it seems more secure. Without even answering, the serpent-like man whisked you up into his arms, carrying you as if you were light as feather. Even when you thrash on and on, it's as if he doesn't feel your weight at all.

Despite voicing out and even using action to show your unwillingness, he doesn't stop and continues to make the journey up the stairs with you in his arms. It doesn't take long until the both of you reach the top floor.

He proceeds to throw you on the bed as gently as someone could be. Before you could get up and even process what had happened, you're pinned down to the bed by Zihao. "Hey, hey Lord Liu–", just as you're about to protest once more, you're silenced by Zihao's lips shutting you up. At first, it was just smashing your lips together, but you knew Zihao wanted more than that. He tries to get you to slip up and open your mouth, but you don't let him. You try your best to keep your lips sealed. This proves to be even more difficult the moment his hand trails down your tummy and stops at your pants. With just a touch, your pants are suddenly discarded of along with your underwear. "Wh–", you made a mistake. The moment you had realized you accidentally left an opening for him, it was too late. His tongue slides itself into your open mouth. You have no way of closing it now. What's weird is that you could almost feel his tongue down your throat, "a-aufh!??!...", the sudden feeling shocks you yet you couldn't say anything about it so all you could think to do was try to push him off of you.

Using all your strength, you manage to push him off. It was weird seeing how you couldn't push him off earlier on. You wipe your lips, which had his saliva and your own drool still covering it. You couldn't deny that he's an amazing kisser and the way he explored your mouth did turn you on a bit but you're as scared as ever with him not being human and calling you his 'mate'. At this point, he's almost straddling you in a way. He licks his lips, and that was when you saw his long tongue. It's split in the very middle, making him look even more serpent-like. With his weight on you, you couldn't get up and sprint down the stairs and out the door like you wanted. Instead, you tried to talk him out of whatever he was about to do. "Judge Liu, why in the world would a judge want to do this with a criminal..!?", you catch your breath while you're trying to persuade him, well, more of asking now that you think about it. This obviously doesn't work. He's already decided on you as his. A simple question of why he's doing what he is right now is futile. "This is your sentencing, I'm merely carrying out my duty", after he says this, he loosens his tie and discards it on the ground next to the bed. "Having you in front of me is...exhilarating", his eyes are filled with so much lust and love while looking at your fearful figure pinned to the bed he's always wanted you to be on. "Consider this as discipline for the crimes you've commited", with just a snap of his fingers, your arms are suddenly bound above your head. When you take a look, you can see a seal of some kind hovering over your hands, preventing any movement.

With every touch of his on your skin, you felt pleasure even if you didn't want to admit to it. His hands trailing up and down your body, from your neck until your crotch. It was as if he's exploring his new treasure. "That is unless you desire the death penalty?", you shake your head as a 'no'. This definitely is better than the death penalty but you still have questions. One of them being what kind of nonsense was he even spouting? Some shit about being his 'mate' or whatnot. While infront of you, Zihao unzips his pants. "What the fuck!?", you couldn't believe what you were seeing and involuntary let out a scream of confusion as what you saw wasn't just a cock, he had two. "Hm?", he glances up at you once more, confused as to why you let out such a noise. You could only stare with your eyes wide open. As he followed your gaze, he noticed what you were staring at, "ah, it hadn't crossed my mind..you mortals aren't usually this size", though he wasn't wrong, you were talking about how he has two instead of one. "I meant you having two...", you refused to continue your sentence having already eluded to the fact he has two of which you and many others only have one of.. Fortunately, he already knows what you were trying to point out, "there shouldn't be an issue regarding them, you'll be able to take them fairly well without difficulty", this doesn't convince you, not at all. Looking at the length and width, you think you'll die if you try to fit both in you.

Fortunately for you, he didn't put it in immediately. He, at the very least, has the decency to prep you beforehand. As he was about to put two fingers in your mouth, you close it immediately. This ends up with his fingers on your lips instead. It's clear what he wants you to do but you refuse. "Open up", he demands. You aren't just going to let him put his fingers in your mouth. If you do, your ego wouldn't ever recover from it. You shook your head no as an answer seeing how you can't really open your mouth. His lips twitch ever so slightly. "You've been given mercy by me and yet you're still a brat?", he asks, eyes piercing yours. While that is technically true, you'd never thought this 'mercy' of his would get you into this kind of situation. Reluctantly, you open your mouth, leaving a small gap between your bottom and upper lip. It's big enough for him to shove both fingers into your mouth. He looks at you expectantly. You knew what he wanted so you slowly sucked and licked his fingers. His fingers eventually got deeper into your mouth, almost reaching your throat due to how long they are. You almost choke on them. His eyes scan your face, that adorable expression you're making is turning him on a bit more by the second. Before long, he removes his fingers from your mouth. Letting you catch your breath a bit.

Although, that didnt last long as he pressed his two fingers on your hole. "Don't take it that far! I'm a man—", God, how many times have you been interrupted by him? You can't remember and you simply don't want to. His long and slender fingers pushed their way into your tight hole while you could only close your eyes to avoid meeting his gaze. Of course just closing your eyes can't solve everything. You still felt this fingers push and twist inside of you in search of something in particular. You let out breathy and quiet moans until his fingers finally found what they were looking for. Your sweet spot. "Ahgh..!", a louder moan came out of your mouth as a response to the sudden pleasureful feeling. When you open your eyes, you could see Zihao look at you with hungry eyes. He continues to stretch your hole for the next 2 minutes. All the while you closed your eyes. "If this is already making you feel full, I fear my cock will be too much for you to handle", just then, he removes his fingers from your hole.

The sudden feeling of emptiness hits you so you open your eyes to look at what he's doing. Without warning, he takes one of your legs and rests it on his shoulder, leaving an easier access for him. Using his other hand, he places a firm grip on your waist, "h-hey now—", you couldn't say anything once had plunged one of his cocks inside of you. It wasn't even all the way yet but it had you arch your back, widen your eyes and mouth. You swore some tears even came out. "A-AaAgh..!", was the only noise you could let out. A mix of pleasure, pain and shock. Zihao lets out a groan of pleasure as he finally enters your hole. Though, he longed to be all the way in you and so he didn't waste anytime, thrusting all the way in this time. You let out a loud moan, almost like a scream of a moan. "Hah...you take me in so well", you couldn't even cover your face with your hands due to them being bound together. It's humiliating even if nobody's here to see. Having someone dominate you when you're a serial killer hurts your pride and ego. You look at him with a gaze which to you, conveys hatred yet pleasure. This only turns him on even more. "My mate...I've been craving for this", the second he finishes his sentence, he pulls up just until his tip is in before slamming his hips forward once more. Without anything to bite on to conceal your voice, you bite your lip until it starts to bleed. His thrusts get rougher and faster by the second. He groans and moans as he pounds your cute hole, all he wants is to fill you up with his seed. It's his natural instict afterall.

You were starting to manage the unexplainable feeling of his big cock stretching and pounding your hole when all of a sudden, he hits your sweet spot once more. Your voice might be raspy by tomorrow if you keep scream moaning all throughout tonight. You hoped it wouldn't last that long though. You wanted so badly to cling onto something or someone, to dig your fingerd into the sheets or Zihao's back but the seal prevented you. With the amount of stimulation you've been getting, you can feel yourself about to cum. You moan loudly once more as cum splurted out of your cock, coating your stomach with the fluid. This doesn't stop Zihao from thrusting in and out of you like there's no tomorrow. He's chasing his own climax.

Having just came, you're extra sensitive to his attacks. You could feel every inch of him enter. "Agh...take it all inside", Zihao groans as he can feel himself reach his limit after a few more minutes.

For the first time in the 7 minutes, he stops to catch his breath. You also take this opportunity to pant and try to grasp what had just happened. To your surprise, Zihao had broken off the seal that was bounding your two hands. You didn't have the strength to question it, you only put your hands back down, relaxing them as they had gotten quite sore.

Not even 3 minutes pass and you noticed something rubbing against your already filled hole. "W-what are you doing now..?", you question as you saw him bringing his second cock near your entrance, "you won't be able to conceive my kids with just one round", he's forcibly pushing his cock in your stuffed hole as he says this. You could only brace for impact as you gripped the bedsheets beside you. Not long after, you feel the head of his second cock pushing in. The pain is noticeable, you try to suppress it as best as you can to get through. Fortunately for you, his cocks have a sort of natural lube. Not only does it reduce the pain of the receiver, it also helps slide it in smoother.

"My love, wrap your hands around me instead", the way he said it in such a gentle and soft way made you give in. For the first time in your criminal life, you're holding and at the same time, being held by a male being.

Your thoughts are interrupted for the 2nd and probably not the last time by Zihao's dick entering you. You look down to see your stomach has a very visible bulge. When Zihao goes to press on your stomach, you moan out. "Seems you're very sensitive, you'll bring wonderful offsprings", he smiles. Before you could even question it, he starts to pound you again but this time with both his cocks deep inside your poor stretched out hole. Some of his cum even dripped out your hole due to how fiercely and deep he thrusted. Your brain is fogged due to being so full. Your nails dig themselves into his still clothed back, nearly tearing his expensive leather. He wouldn't mind if you did at all. He loves the way you're clinging onto him with your arms around him. "Hah...agh", he lets out a string of groans as he hits your prostate each time he thrusts back in. You could only writhe in the pleasure, not being able to conceal your voice anymore as you moan louder than before. If some passersby came along, they'd hear your moans and the sound of skin against skin. With Zihao's cum already inside, there's noticeable squelching noises each time he pounds your ass.

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

Even after having you've came five more times, Zihao shows no sign of stopping. He's only came about twice you presume, not being able to recall much. Both your bodies sweaty and sticky. Your voice has gotten hoarse. You can barely think with so much cock inside you. Your lewd sounds and expressions only fuels Zihao's urge to fuck you even dumber. It's almost as if his hips are unstoppable. By now, his clothes and yours are already discarded on the ground next to the bed. This lets your nails dig into his bare back, leaving scratch marks as gold liquid, which someone can only assume to be blood, drip out of the scars. Zihao doesn't react at all despite how painful the scratches look. You feel as if you're about to die from overstimulation, or at the very least, pass out soon enough. You feel a sense of relief once Zihao finally came in you and stopped for a moment, letting you rest. "H-hah...ah..", you look at the ceiling, your hands no longer wrapped around Zihao. Instead, they're sprawled out on the bed as you pant, out of breath. "You're my mate and I'll make sure everyone knows that", you could hear Zihao say. Out of curiosity and a tint of fear, you look at him. He proceeds to trail his finger around your lower tummy, using some sort of magic? Power? You don't know, you can see his hand having a purple glow to it before you suddenly experience intense pleasure all over your body. You look down and see a symbol on your body. Before you could even say anything, you're roughly lifted up into his lap. This sudden action shocks you as he's looking up at your cute face.

"This is my mark on you, all mortal and immortal alike shall know to stay away fron you", he says with a fierce voice, proud of his mark on your skin and then points at the symbol, almost poking your skin. "Claim...? What do you mea—", just as you are about to finish your sentence, he thrusts upwards, going balls deep in you. You end up jolting for a moment with your eyes wide. "My claim in you, you're mine, no one else's." With your body now weak and wanting him to fuck you senseless, you rest your head on his shoulder, your face almost smushed into his chest. Wanting him to do all the job for you. He finds this reaction to his mark very amusing and continues to bounce you up and down on his cocks. His thrusts are relentless, making you close your eyes. You bite his collarbone, trying to suppress the pain however you could. Even when you're distracted, you feel something slithering up your leg. When you open your eyes and put your chin over Zihao's shoulder, you see his long scaly tail wrap itself around your leg. Despite the sight being able to freak anyone out, it treats your leg with gentility, not ever squeezing too tight. Unfortunately, your cock filled mind's too foggy to even register it's Zihao's tail.

You don't even notice him cumming inside you. It's only when he stops do you realize. You're almost about to pass out, how long will your 'punishment' last..? "Z-Zihao....I can't take anymore...", you huff out, panting. He, on the other hand, only smirked, "the night is still young, you're my mate for a reason, are you not?", you wish you had never committed those crimes.

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

Your memory of last night is quite hazy. You barely remember what happened after the 8th or maybe 10th round, you can't even recount. Zihao's inhuman stamina lasted all night long. When you awoke, it was already noon, long past when you're usually awake. Instead of finding yourself alone in your own bed, you turn to the side to be face to face with the dragon's peaceful face. His long eyelashes cast a shadow over his shut eyes. It's a completely different view compared to the night before. You could barely move anything. With the bruises all over your body, people would have thought you got into a fight if it weren't for the hickeys on every part of your body. Your neck, your chest, your thights, everywhere. You stared at the one who caused these on your body. Wondering what to do with this whole thing.

"What happened last night...", you question yourself quietly, trying not to awaken the man infront of you. You try to recall the best you can about last night. "Something about mate and..", you look at him to confirm your suspicions. Purple horns, a long scaly tail and serpent eyes from which you still remember due to how intimidating they were last night. Yep. He truly is a dragon. The one you've heard about ever since you were a baby. All your life, you thought all those stories were just crazy talk from old folks. How wrong you were.

Though, even with this being explained, you are still confused about how Zihao is able to have a human form. Not to mention what he meant as being 'his mate' and laying his 'claim' on you. When you go to check your tummy, you can still see the symbol clear as day. The shape is peculiar. The main shape is a circle with a diamond shape inside of it. In the very middle, there is almost a vine-shaped line which stretches out horizontally. The color is an unmistakable purple.

While you're lost in your own thoughts, you fail to notice Zihao's eyes opening slowly. One look at his eyes and you'd wonder why hadn't you suspected him of being non-human earlier. "My dear [Name]?", he calls out for you with a gentle voice, snapping you out of your train of thought. His tail wrapping around your leg once more. "W-wha, wait", caught off guard, you mess up your words. He throws an arm around your waist, pulling you closer than before. With his grip being so strong and you being bruised up, you can't really escape this. It's your fate now and whether you like it or not, you have to accept it.

"Your punishment isn't over yet. Did you think one night would compensate the lives you took?", he states the very much obvious thing to him. You look at him with a worried look. What you did was wrong, sure but isn't this too excessive...? Being personally fucked dumb by the Judge every single night without a chance of escaping. God your pride and ego...you're not even sure if they survived last night, let alone several more nights. With a hesitant tone, you ask, "how much longer then?", which he answers without skipping a beat, "If I'm not wrong, it'll take about 7,783,457 more years", "WHAT!? Are you forgetting I'm a human? My life span's like 60 more years if I'm lucky, I'll die long before then", you yell at his outrageous words, trying to get up but eventually being pushed nack down. He chuckles, finding your reaction very amusing. "Don't fret, you're now the dragon's mate, you will live for as long as I do.", there he goes again about you being his mate. "And..how long is that exactly..", Zihao smiles sweetly, "we have the rest of eternity for us", you can almost see his face glowing as these words come out his mouth.

"Hold on, I have loads of other questions. What did you mean by having your kids??? On top of being human, I'm a human MALE", you emphasize the male part. It's common knowledge that males don't have wombs and, therefore, can not get impregnated. Perhaps it was just dirty talk? "Oh, of course you can, see this? It's proof you can", he rubs your tummy once more, gesturing at the mark he had left last night. You're flustered by his choice of words and instinctually lift your hand up to hit him for even saying such things, only to be stop in your tracks once more. "My dear, don't be like that", his expression is smug. He knew you were going to hit him sooner or later. "I guess I better make sure you learn your lesson instead of spoiling you."

══════════════════════════════

This man has my heart rn 😍☝️ I have so many ideas for him in the future.

Speaking of ideas, my next oc is an middle aged man/dilf 😋

[sayangrafayel]

Loft talk Pt. Dynamic Duo sparing for movie tickets.

MC: WHY did you let Sylus pick boxing?

Rafayel: He didn’t! I picked it.

MC: But.. You’ll die..

Rafayel: Don’t worry, my Aunt Talia taught me her signature punch, the Strawberry Basket.

MC: That does not reassure me.

MC, to Sylus: Hey there, big guy... you sure you feeling okay about... ending Rafayel's life?

Sylus: Yep. My boys are gonna see this movie.

MC: Well before you commit manslaughter I need to tell you the movie only has a 38 on Rotten Tomatoes!

MC, sighing: Alright. I guess this is happening. Touch gloves. Rafayel, it’s been very nice being your friend. Sylus, I’ll visit you in prison... and, fight!!

[thedevilspearl]

do you ever get the idea some of the brothers have a human kink? if so? who? i personally think lucifer and beelzebub. sometimes satan if he’s not thinking about committing manslaughter messing with lucifer!♡ (ꈍ ω ꈍ) ♡

-☽

the brothers with a human kink — most to least

a/n: i have to tell you, moon nonnie — i’m genuinely not sure with this one! it’s not something i’ve considered greatly before but when i think about the brothers with a human kink, i have a feeling they all have it, just to different extents. so i did a mtl if that’s okay ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝

also i’ve been sick in bed all day, so thank you for this awesome idea to keep me going ₍⸝ ˃̵͈᷄ . ˂̵͈᷅ ₎⸝ ♡

tags: all brothers, no explicit smut but consistent discussion of kinks, so minors do not interact! other kink warnings — power play, mild predator/prey, vore, exhibitionism.

𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐑

lucifer’s human kink is so lowkey that he doesn’t realise it himself, but it’s actually the most prominent out of all the brothers. it’s the fact that humans are so fragile compared to demons; one wrong move could be fatal so it brings out his protective side. he wants to be by your side, watching your every move to ensure your safety and well–being. it’s innocent at first, but then comes the part where he wants to test your limits, both in and outside of the bedroom. how much can a human like you take from a demon like him?

𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐙𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐁

he’s always thought about eating you, it was one of his first thought when meeting you, in fact. of course, he would never but there’s a little pit of fire in his belly that warms him up in all the right places when he thinks about it, and how weak you would be against him if he ever gave into his desires. he’s vocal about this kink, telling you how he adores you and how yummy you look. now, in the bedroom, there are some real tests of faith because he can become so close to devouring you whole. but he is aware of how strong his human kink is, so he knows how much more control he needs around you, especially when every little thing you do can set him off.

𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐎𝐍

the power trip from a human kink is what gets mammon going. he knows for sure how powerful he is, and his self–restraint is incredible. he’s never going to hurt you at all, let alone with his demon powers. but there’s no harm in threatening you a little with it, right? it totally boosts his ego when he sees you get all fidgety when he brags about how strong he is, and how a silly human like you could never best him. but, and this is a big but, he finds it all the more thrilling when a silly human like you actually overpowers him. he’s not as strong against his human as he thought, and his human kink is raging when you put him in his place.

𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐍

satan has a deep understanding of the difference between him and you. more than any of the brothers, he really acknowledges the power difference and he never wants to use that against you. and that is why he tries his hardest to never use the fact that you’re a human to sexualise you. he treats you as his equal, someone he would never use his power to take advantage of. however, if you were to suggest you were into it, he wouldn’t mind feeding his sinful desires and put you in your pitiful place. after all, what power does a human have to protest the demon of wrath?

𝐀𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐔𝐒

a human kink and exhibitionism come hand in hand with asmodeus. for him, it’s not entirely about power play like with some of the others but rather, he and he alone has the human every demon is after. he once was the most sought after, but now it’s you and it will always amaze him how a human could do that in a world where demons could destroy you in a second. you have the real power here, and he wants to flaunt that. walking side by side with everyone’s favourite human who looks at no one else but him... it makes him happy, and flustered. he relishes in everyone’s gaze towards the two of you. it’s a match that shouldn’t work, but it does and it excites him. he wants to show them everything.

𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐑

belphie’s emotional connection to the human race is far too deep; from hate to jealousy, to something akin to love after meeting you. he appreciates they way you helped him overcome his past views and actions, but regret will always remain deeply rooted in his soul. so he tries not to think about these things. it’s not right to think of you in such ways simply because you are human. after everything you taught him, he thinks he’s sick to even think about a human kink. but then again, it’s in his nature as a demon to want to overpower those who are lesser than him. he’s very conflicted and tries to hide it, but he will sometimes lose control and show you this dark secret of his.

𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍

while kinks are inevitable in a relationship, he doesn’t see them so significantly. sex is special, for sure. but what matters to him is the chemistry between you, the flow of emotions and the genuine feeling you have for each other. but still, he loves that you challenge him. a mere human thinking they can take on the grand admiral of hell’s navy? he won’t back down so easily. every now and then, he likes to remind both you and himself of his powers as a demon, and he loves even more the blush on your face when you test his strength. whether it’s out of fear or arousal, it drives him crazy.

[bi-panicatthedisco]

Twst first year incorrect quotes: ver 2

Yuu: Sebek is forbidden from monologuing, especially about malleus.

Sebek: did someoNE SAY MALLEUS?!

Jack: What is wrong with you?

Ace: Loaded question. Elaborate.

Deuce: Everyone has a toxic trait. Except Yuu, they’re perfect.

Yuu: Wrong! My toxic trait is how badly I want to domesticate a raccoon.

Yuu: I’ve been sleeping so little the past few nights that when I go to the alarm app, I click on the “power nap” button. I don’t set up alarms, I set up timers.

Deuce: Can you be quiet?! I'm trying to think.

Ace: Don't worry. Doing anything for the first time is difficult.

Epel: Screw lactose intolerance! I will consume as much dairy as I want!

Epel 2 hours later, crying on the floor: WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH?!

Jack: You want some leftovers?

Grim : What are those?

Jack: You've never had leftovers before?

Grim : No, ‘cause I’m not a quitter.

Deuce: I’m afraid of clowns. There, I said it.

Epel: Deuce, if you don't like clowns, why are you hanging with Yuu?

Yuu: Did you just call me a shrimp, you asshole?! I'm still growing, dammit!

Epel: Get in, loser, we’re committing vehicular manslaughter!

Yuu: *on the phone* Just snap his kneecaps and he’ll talk, I’m at a parent teacher conference.

Yuu: Anyways, you said Grim is enjoying finger painting! That's great.

Grim: *Kicks the door open, looking panicked*

Sebek: What did you do?!

Grim: NOBODY DIED!

Sebek: WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!

Jack: Don’t weep for the stupid. You’ll be crying all day.

Epel: Accidentally indulged in too much ‘free time’, turns out I’ve been reported missing for over six months and presumed dead by most local and national authorities.

Yuu: So, everyone, what does a story NEED?

Deuce: A character!

Ortho: A setting!

Epel, a gleam in their eyes, in a near-whisper: REVENGE.

Yuu: You gave me up, you let me down, you turned around, and deserted me.

Ace: But did I make you cry?

Yuu: *cries on the spot*

Ace: ...Shit.

Grim, with their hands cupped over each other: I found a cool spider!

Epel: Oh? Lemme see!

Grim, opening their hands to see nothing there: …hm.

Deuce: …where’s the spider.

Grim: *looks troubled and stares at their hands*

Ace: Oh no.

Sebek: GRIM, WHERE’S THE SPIDER?!

Epel: If it pleases the court I would like to say that my opponent is TALKING SHIT!

Yuu: ...

[kyeomkuppie]

Rooftop.

Pairing: Wonwoo x gn!reader

Genre: I honestly don't know but let's just say crack and a pinch of angst

Warnings: Wonwoo thinks reader is about to commit suicide

Synopsis: You were just trying to get a better look at the sky, but someone misunderstood and tried to save you.

You valued your peace of mind and the best way (in your opinion) to clear your mind was to look at the stars. At the edge of a rooftop.

Yeah, not the smartest idea but who cares!

Technically, anyone was bound to see a random person standing at a rooftop, misunderstand the situation, then call for help. Something you didn't exactly take into account.

And bingo as you had guessed, not only did someone see you, someone was at the same rooftop thinking you were about to jump, and you being at the edge didn't exactly help either.

Out of nowhere, you felt yourself being pulled backwards. Your back was now against the chest of a random stranger, and to make matters worse, on top of him.

"Uh, excuse me?" You were baffled and you didn't really know how to explain without him thinking you were lying "Can you let me go, please?"

No answer.

Oh shit. Is he dead? I don't think I'm that heavy though. You were thinking of the endless possibilities of you being charged for involuntary manslaughter. Great.

You finally feel the person who you thought you murdered move. "Are you okay? Why did you pull me like that? You could've been hurt!" You turned around only to be left awestruck. At least he was handsome.

His eyebrows were furrowed and his breathing was heavy, yeah it isn't the time for flirting. "How could you treat your life like it's something to be toyed with! You can't simply choose to end it because things are getting rough." His tone was stern and angry�� but wait.

What? Your mind short-circuited for second. He thought you were doing what!

"What about your loved ones and the people who would blame themselves for your death? At least think about all those variables before treating your life like-"

"Excuse me?! I was just standing like a normal person, looking at the damn sky. I wasn't toying with my life, I was enjoying it!" You were starting to get riled up as well, couldn't he at least wait to hear what you had to say about yourself— and wait, what does he even have to do with it?!

"You shouldn't lie about things like this! If you need help, say it."

There's was no convincing this man. "Listen here stranger, if I needed help I would in fact ask for it. But can't a person watch the fucking sky in peace." You huffed "Why are you even making a big deal out of it? It's not like we know each other."

You pushed his hands which were gripping you away. "At least try to understand, I mean it's not the smartest thing to do, to stand at the edge of a rooftop I mean, but I assure I wasn't trying to do anything you were thinking of."

You had an idea! Not the smartest either but good enough "Want to grab a meal?" If he didn't say yes, you'd bury yourself alive, but you wouldn't have to see him again. If he said yes, you'd resolve that misunderstanding and you could go your separate ways.

He suddenly realized that his body was so tense and his body was still on the ground.

You gulped as he proceeded to get up. His features became more clear. His face had a soft expression but his eyes were sharp, so was his jaw. Yeah, you were right, he was one handsome fellow.

He was weirded out by your spontaneous personality. One moment you were all angry, and the next you were asking him to grab dinner? Yeah, not normal.

"Fine. I'll pretend that I believe you, and we'll go grab dinner. But for the love of god go stargaze anywhere but at the edge. I had the ambulance ready." He scratched his neck.

"Okay Mr. Overdramatic." You laughed, it was a peculiar day, not the peaceful kind you usually preferred, but definitely a day to remember.

"Wonwoo."

"Hm?" You tilted your head in confusion.

"If we're going out for a meal, you might as well know my name." He shrugged.

Yeah, he had split personalities, you were sure of it.

"[name]." You extended your hand "It was nice meeting you here— wait what were you doing up here?!" Your eyes widenened.

"I was stargazing."

"Yeah, no shit. I'll pretend that I believe you." You mimicked him from earlier.

Inspired by that one scene in true beauty.

Reblogs and comments are appreciated!

[that-hazbin]

Blackout AU, because I’m fascinated with it:

With Alastor having killed Adam I imagine Heaven would not be particularly happy, especially because Alastor is a sinner and Adam is the First Man. It’s not explicitly stated in the show, but I think it is strongly implied that Adam has significant power because of his position and the age of his soul, whereas Alastor—for all that he is a very powerful Overlord—is still just a sinner in the eyes of Heaven. Do they investigate him to try and figure out how he did this? Do they find out about the blackouts?

That last bit is important I think, because it could be ruled that while Alastor did commit the crimes it was not a conscious choice—I think it’s kind of like the difference between murder in the first degree (premeditated) and murder in the third degree (accidental while trying to commit a non-violent felony) or voluntary manslaughter (committing an act that is not excusable or justifiable that resulted in the death of another person). I’m not sure how the knowledge of the blackouts would be interpreted by Heaven should they come into play, but it’s interesting to think about. Just as it’s interesting to think about how the hotel residents would view Alastor if/when they find out about it.

I think Heaven's not the type to give a shit about individual circumstances, to be honest. Regardless of the fact that Alastor wasn't aware or in control of his actions, he still did it, and that's all Heaven will likely care about. I don't think sins are thought about in the same way human laws are, where there's specific details that distinguish the crime into different categories. If someone is killed by your hand, you took a life. End of story.

However, Alastor's case would be a prime example of someone who was fucked over by Heaven's system. He only became a consciously murderous psychopath after he landed in hell, and that was out of necessity. You really can't survive in hell without being a baddie.

Alastor was a half-black man in early 1900s America with severe mental health issues due to period-typical racism, classism, and continuous childhood abuse. His mother was taken from him before he became a grown adult and he had absolutely no support system. He had to survive through extremely stressful events, such as The Great War (WWI), The Great Depression, and a devastating flood in 1927. (Seriously, check up The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, it's fucked up.) His body decided to cope with the stress by forcing his mind out of the equation. How could that be Alastor's fault? It isn't.

Not that it matters, of course. Heaven won't care, and Alastor has spent the last century in Hell. He's no longer the person he was when he was alive.

When the hotel finds out about the blackouts, I feel like they won't initially realize the implications of it. Alastor as they know him is consciously and gleefully a murderous jackass. So, at first, they're just gonna think, alright, he does his usual thing while not being aware of it. So, basically muscle memory, right? It would take more elaboration for them to understand, oh, Alastor didn't even KNOW why he ended up in hell when he first arrived. He was condemned to Hell for actions literally out of his control, and then was shaped by Hell as a result.

Charlie in particular would be extremely upset by this realization, I think. Alastor is certainly not the only person who has a case like this, and she'll wonder how she's supposed to get someone redeemed and into heaven when they 1, don't know how they landed in hell to begin with, and 2, the reason they're in hell isn't even their fault.

[angstyandromanticwriting]

Ellie Williams X Fem!Reader Angsty, Cute, and Fluffy Prompt [Full Version; a heavy WIP at this point!]

• Takes place after the events of the second game;

• Some details may be changed quite heavily [not exactly for certain yet; just a possibility] in the near future, when I work upon this idea again;

• Parts within this instalment + their transition indicted via the use of Roman Numerals;

• There will be more!

!TW(s): Mention of loss + death + guilt linked to it, implied suffering from depression, mention of theft/criminal activity, depiction of a dystopian atmosphere (an apocalypse + elements of horror), mention + presence of blood, implied mention of violence/a violent atmosphere + violence in general, implied having to commit murder + manslaughter, implied suffering from anxiety + separation anxiety, mention of a kidnapping + possible abuse + murder in general, a general lawlessness, being wounded, presence of weaponry (both implied and physical), mention of a car crash, an implied break-up, swearing, mention of maiming/body mutilation, implied sexual occurrence taking place - if I’ve missed any, please feel free to let me know; thank you!

Care for Each Other/Not Anymore

I

It didn’t take Ellie long to decide she should leave Jackson again. What did she have left there, anyway? Sure, there were the remnants of a past life, including what she’d built alongside Tommy, Maria, and the others who’d decided to join them along the way, but now that she’d lost Joel, Dina, and Jesse, what was the point in fighting to keep what was gone alive anymore? All that was left was a memory - a singular memory, combining each moment she spent with each of them into a dark void of regret, and even heavier a portal for crushing guilt to ambush her the way it did, every night she lay in Wyoming, wondering where she should go next, now that so much of what had made up her own life had been burnt down to nothing, but a few ashes, and unashamed drops of tears separating them.

She had to try and harden her heart against all of what had taken place, and she decided to make further decisions as she packed up what she knew she’d need into the last rucksack she had left, the others she’d ever got her hands on just broken and worn mesh she kept under her bed in the makeshift town they’d all put together in Jackson, a few years ago now. She knew it wouldn’t be enough, eventually - of course she did; nothing lasted forever, that much had already been made clear to her, several times before now. She sighed gravely; the anger was still there - no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get rid of it. She only hoped she could try and dissolve it the further she ended up travelling, if ever she did end up going through with it.

That wasn’t to say she liked to engage in the thoughts of a doubtful mind. If anything, they only ended up frustrating her. She forced the last of her canned goods into the bag, before pressing herself up off of her bed, only to falter again when she noticed the guitar Joel gave her stood - lonely, and grim - in the corner of the room. Her eyes darkened a little, and she tried to ignore the emptiness she began to sport again, but she couldn’t forget it, rolling her eyes, before she walked a little half-heartedly and unsteadily toward the instrument. Though she knew it didn’t make her feel the way it did before - and was certainly hard to play, with two fingers less than what she’d had before - she couldn’t give up. Joel wouldn’t want her to.

In a way, neither would she, or Dina, but the excess thinking only added to the pain she tried to conceal all over again.

She carefully slung the guitar over her shoulder, the weight feeling only too familiar, and for a moment she was cursed to remember every word Joel had sung to her, a few years ago. She grunted, shaking her head subconsciously as if it would do anything to conceal her, but - again - there was nothing she herself could do to fix what had already been inflicted upon her. Maybe she’d come back one day - who knows? However, for now, she saw no other option, but to take her travels elsewhere again. She wouldn’t go too far, though, she speculated - if she was needed, then she could be close by, just-.. not here. Anywhere, but here again, at least until the near future.

Once she’d got outside, she whistled for the new Shimmer - a steed she’d managed to steal from the stables without recognition, given the WLF’s costing the loss of her old mare, as well - and her mare whinnied in response to her call, before tossing her head slightly, and then offering it for Ellie to stroke. Of course she couldn’t resist - whoever could, a creature so beautiful? She smiled softly - at least there were some things still light and warm in the world that had grown so much colder overtime. She pet her companion’s neck, before attaching her rucksack to the mare’s saddle. For a moment, she couldn’t help, but hesitate again, looking back in the direction of the city she missed, when it hadn’t been wounded by so many demons the way it had, before, so many unnecessary deaths it made her herself feel dead inside, to some extent.

She knew she shouldn’t dwell on it for too long, forcing a smile back up at Shimmer, before she climbed onto her steed’s saddle, unhitched her, and eased her with grave reluctance into a trot, back away heavily from the farmstead. She wondered if she’d regret it, eventually, and she guessed she had only herself to blame, when she found herself in almost completely new territory.

II

You yourself weren’t always content with your own life. Things had taken a toll on both of you, as was often the case in situations like these, with the ever progressing apocalypse and all. You hadn’t been subject to much of a childhood to enjoy, either, and often had to shed blood just to get by, and the blood aforementioned that you and your family spilt was not just the blood of the infected, old and new.

You leaned heavily against one of the hitch posts you and Shalyla, your half-sister, had set up all on your own. The others were often busy either finding more supplies, or running a perimeter check. The rotor often ran like that; the days were full of theft without consequences, blood-shed where needs be, and sleep where sleep could be had. How else could your lives be lived, when constantly at threat of things alive, or dead?

“Lyla,” you acknowledged gently, as she appeared around the corner of one of the wind-battered tents to the right of your frame. You wondered if she’d been crying again, noticing that her eyes were red, as a loose strand of light blonde hair stuck freshly to her left cheek, before she brushed it away, and smiled a weaker than usual smile back at you.

“It’s a quiet night, isn’t it?” She mused, not daring to look back at you like before as she, too, leaned upon the post also unoccupied beside you. You didn’t know what you could say to appease her thoughts, nodding slowly, before you bowed your head a little, feeling utterly useless and colder than you ever had before. “It’s not been this quiet, since-”

“We’re gonna find her, Lyla,” you managed, a pained expression on your face as you spoke through the lump forming within your throat, nodding determinedly as your eyes shone a little more in the darkness as soon as your’s too grew wet like her’s had, earlier, ever since the moment she’d come back to you, and declared your and her little sister missing, after you’d allowed her to go off one morning with your sister, as well as your mother and closest associates, here. You still blamed yourself, sometimes. Still thought about her, every moment of every day, wondering if maybe - just maybe - she could still be alive out there, waiting for you to come find her again. “She’s not gone; she was never gone - we can’t just say that she’s-”

“But what if she is?” Lyla interjected through gritted teeth, her voice sounding a little more strained than it did, before. You didn’t blame her, if it were a sign of hatred; you only hoped that she was directing it toward you, and not yourself. It was your ignorant idea anyway, you never thought she could just up and disappear like that, but you guessed you probably should have, right?

You scoffed to yourself, before shaking your head gravely as Shalyla watched after you, as if silently begging for you an answer to your and her new problem in life, as things often go. You didn’t know if you’d be able to reciprocate her gaze, without letting your façade drop, revealing every second of pain you’d had to endure, since the day she’d gone. Instead, you kept your head low, hands fisted at your sides as you fought back the tears, not wanting to inflict anymore pain upon Shalyla, too, alongside you. You certainly didn’t notice the way she scowled down at the ground after that, her eyebrows furrowing together as if she were trying to figure things out again.

“You need to sleep,” you murmured simply, your voice threatening to tremble again as she rolled her eyes, before turning to face you completely as if ready to protest again, but you got there before she could, enforcing a sharper tone to your voice no matter how much it cost you mentally to do so toward her - especially her, after everything the both of you had been through together, at this point in time, hearts bleeding together every night; every second, of every day, and still you didn’t know what else to do, as you hardened your heart against her again, before allowing the following command to slip your lips all over again: “you heard me, Lyla - go to bed, okay? We don’t need you out here right now; the others’ll be back soon, and I can take over the next search with someone else, instead, okay?”

You couldn’t deny that it hurt, seeing the shattered expression now residing upon her face, in response to your harsh words. She shook her head defiantly, but the look of disarray and betrayal of sharp juncture didn’t go remiss by your gaze, even before she’d made to try and argue again, like she had before.

“But, no, you - you can’t do that! You promised me we’d go together,” she hissed, and you sighed heavily as you nodded gravely, making every recollection that you had in fact made such a promise to her, not long ago, now, “what, so you’d rather me not help you, when she’s my little sister, too? Our family, and nobody else’s? Is that just the way things are now, between us? Because I don’t think I like it, at all; the - the way you’re making things go, now. Look, I know you’re the ‘big boss’ around here, but-”

“Lyla,” you began again a little more exasperatedly, but she didn’t budge, continuing without hesitation with new vigour against you, but at that moment you heard the approach of heavy hooves on solid ground, and you found you couldn’t hear her anymore, looking toward the entrance of the temporary camp you’d all set up together within the remnants of Dixie National Forest. What it used to be, anyway, before the apocalypse had begun to spread further and further across the country, soon becoming unmanageable on all sides of the gambit.

Olivia rode in first, looking positively panic-stricken as her grey standardbred neighed beneath her in what sounded like it could be a confused state of fright, her rider panting above her as the two came to a stop a few paces away from you and Shalyla.

You didn’t hesitate, rushing up to her and her steed as you held the mare’s reins, and anxiously looked up at one of your closest friends over the years, her cheeks looking whiter than they ever had before.

“What happened?” You asked a little more breathlessly, but there were still dangerous undertones beneath your words, Olivia easily looking shaken by them herself as she tried to recover herself further, before managing one word that easily sent shivers down your spine, whenever you were cursed to hear it, the way you did again, then, your heart already pounding too fast, especially when you began to grow more intensely aware of the absence of Bianca, another of your and Shalyla’s companions as you tried to fight the growing apocalypse together, even in the earliest of years, somehow. “Bianca,” you managed, your eyes widening all the more as your hands shook a little alongside Olivia’s, but still it took her a moment to speak. The dreadful word came when you least expected it.

You extended your left hand toward Shalyla, as if requesting her help, but before she could even get to you, you heard just about the most dreadful of screams. You dropped the reins, and before you even knew it you were making for the stable, only briefly looking back toward the two of them only to make out the word ‘hunters’ slipping from Olivia’s now paler than usual lips.

There was only one thing you knew for sure, now: the hunters had fucked you over before, but when it came to family, you would do anything to stop them, no matter what that meant for yourself, at the end of the day.

III

Ellie couldn’t deny that she hadn’t made it very far, before she encountered another wave of infected. However, they weren’t focused on her - not yet, anyway. Where the Stalkers were travelling, alongside a mere few Clickers, was another wave of commotion she had yet to discover in a hunt of more clarity. In a way, she knew she may be better off just turning Shimmer around, and finding another way to get by. But she was too tired to make a few more shortcuts to get where she believed she needed to be, right now. A new atmosphere; new - if not permanent - home; a new beginning to her life. She had to get it right eventually, right?

She drew her slightly trembly right hand across her eyes, eyelids drooping heavily at this point, but she slowly followed behind the infected, surprised none of them had yet noticed her, though she travelled far behind them enough to guarantee at least a delayed battle, if it had to come down to one, this far into her journey. It only became an action easier regrettable, especially when she saw the too familiar black motors ahead of her.

IV

“How far?” You began again a little apprehensively, galloping alongside Olivia and Shalyla, the two looking almost as wary as you did, right now.

As others travelled close behind your trio formation, you wondered how far you’d actually make it against the hunters, without having to suffer more and more losses of the team the way you had, the fights you’d encountered before with the group. Olivia looked as if it terrified her; the thought of even speaking again, and you wondered what just had they done to her, before she’d returned to you, minus Bianca beside her, the way they’d gone earlier that day.

“Utah, on the border,” she breathed a little shakily in response to you, not once her gaze moving from where it was, now. You were certain, even then, that you’d kill as many of them as you could, before they could bring you down with them, somehow, if ever they managed to. “We’re close,” your companion added, and you subconsciously glanced toward your sister, wondering what she herself was thinking about, during this tense moment in time. You didn’t have to wonder, much longer.

“The hunters,” she began slowly, through the strain of gritted teeth, “do - do you think they-?”

She could hardly contain her composure, grimacing ahead of her as tears brimmed into the pools of her eyes, lighting them up in the dark the way they had, earlier, before Olivia had returned with such a grave announcement, the way she had. In some ways, you wished you didn’t know what had been plaguing her current thoughts, now.

“We won’t know what happened, until we find her, okay?” You murmured, and Shalyla tensed up, not sure as she reluctantly glanced back toward you, as if she were trying to determine if the answer you’d given was good enough, or too vague for her own liking. You didn’t give her time to consider enough, not wanting yourself to delve too far into it, though it made something within you shatter a little more each time you thought about it, knowing you should try and at least show you cared more, because you truly did; you never intended to convey to her any notion otherwise, the way you could see you had, now. “Look, Lyla,” you began again slowly, Olivia ducking her head a little as if ducking herself under an invisible branch, “I told you before that - that when things go missing, l-like a pet, or a pen, or whatever - it can be found, right? It isn’t gone; she isn’t gone, so she can be found, and we’re going to find her - promise me you know that, please, before we get to them-”

“You think they’ll kill us, don’t you?” Shalyla guessed, and you winced, not sure how to answer at first, but the dejected expression on your sibling’s face made it so much easier for the words to roll harshly off of your tongue, before they lingered, and burnt at the atmosphere around all of you, ready to strike at the hunters with new, and much - much fiercer - velocity. “That - That they’ll-”

“They’re not going to kill us, Lyla,” you interjected simply, your voice a lot bolder than it was, before, “I just want to hear you say it, before we rip their throats out, and have to wait again until later to talk again like we do - you get that, right? So promise me, please - it has to be now, okay? Not later, not tomorrow - now, because I can’t have you going in there without you knowing through to your bones that we will come out of this a family again, okay? Will you do it? Please say you’ll do it, Lyla - say something, at least - for god’s sake, say something!”

“I promise,” she managed, and you couldn’t help, but smile softly over at her, glad that she at least still had some faith in you, even after everything that had taken place, by now, but neither of you had much time to dwell on it, before the gunfire started, and you were torn from your horse’s saddle again.

V

Of course Ellie remembered them; how one had callously - specifically - crashed into the side of the car she and Joel had been gifted a few years ago, to get her to where she needed to be delivered, before, only for Joel to save her the way he had, realising something she still - and probably would never know, now - had no clue at all about, given that he’d lied about the result of the ordeal at hand, before. These cars - they belonged to the ruthless hunters, a group she’d been hoping to never run into again, for a little while now. If it weren’t for the screaming and rapturing gunfire she heard nearby - a few paces away, now, from the infected - she knew she’d probably avoid them, but that wasn’t who she was.

Instead, she pressed on, but sometimes she still wondered why she was even bothering with helping anyone, anymore.

VI

You guessed you still had some things to learn about the hunters, or - more specifically - the cruelty of people, as a collective. You fell from your steed, an agonising grunt escaping you as you hit the ground, the back of your head violently colliding with the solid surface beneath you, leaving everything suddenly quite blurry and darker than the world ever had been, before. You winced, hearing the laughter of the hunters, and the cries as well as shouts of your companions. You felt lost, for a moment, but it came somehow with a sense of peace. You couldn’t deny - shamefully - that you thought of how things would be, if you just let go of everything, and allowed the sensation to take you away, instead of carry you further into a life of oftentimes pain and torment, the way it had, before.

But you couldn’t leave your family. You pressed yourself up off of the ground, gritting your teeth fitfully as glassy pains ran through your right shoulder, what felt like the warm oozing of blood leaking from it, beneath your current and often usual attire; dark grey jacket, a usually dirty green top (all the more worn whenever you yourself went out on territory cleansing runs like these), already staining a little with the blood that escaped from your wound, the way that it was, now.

“Y/n!” You heard Shalyla cry for you from a few paces ahead of where you’d fallen, her keeping a hold on the reins of your horse as you tried to pull yourself fully off of the ground, and back up onto your toes, but you couldn’t hold yourself for long, cursing shakily as you had to grip unstably onto the tree, your left shoulder making it a bit easier for you to do so without your muscles giving up on you the way they did, within your right arm. “Shit,” you thought you heard her utter as more gunfire sounded out, the laughs dying down steadily, but you couldn’t see where the new bouts of commotion and sheer rage were coming from, now, the hunters being hit from an opposite angle not quite in view, yet.

Your head reeled from the pain of every explosion that sounded out following your fall, you even having to try and cover your ears pretty much unsuccessfully to try and stop it from hurting as much. It was then you remembered Bianca, and wondered where the hell they’d taken her to, now. If they had got her hands on her, anyway, before you’d showed up alongside the others to try and take them all back down, again.

“There!” Another of your friends cried out, as if to answer your question, and your heart dropped in an instant when you noticed the struggling and quite limp figure of who was unmistakably the splitting image of your ex-girlfriend, but still close companion to your cause, and very own family, Bianca.

The emptiness came back again, and you found your eyes glued to her as they darkened, watching how blood occasionally spluttered out from her lips, as her chest rose too fast, then too slow, as if she were still trying to cling onto whatever life left she still had within her, after what they had done to her, not too long ago, now.

“No,” you managed, not sure what else to do, at first, as everything seemed to fail you, your legs stuck where they were, small tears being allowed to leak down your cheeks as you watched the struggle go on, fury burning through the last of your veins; the very core of your own soul, in its entirety. If there was anything left that you knew, now, it was nothing short of how you knew for a fact that someday, and somehow, you would make them all pay. They were still trying to take everything away from you, and for no good reason whatsoever, and for once it would be nice if you could avenge those who had been taken away from you wrongfully, if only the day could come sooner, by now.

As soon as you could move, you ran for her frame, before allowing your legs to fail beneath you once you’d finally reached her, and could carefully ease her body close to your own. You paid no attention to the remnants of gunfire that rang out around you, instead trying to protect her frame as she shook fitfully within your arms, a horrific gurgling sound escaping her lips more consistently than her heart was managing to beat, at this point. You burned with it, your hands hardly being able to stop shaking as you allowed yourself to get lost in her again, crying quietly as you connected your forehead to her own, lifting your left hand up to the top of her head as if you were afraid of them targeting her still, though she herself had gone beyond caring about what may, or may not happen to her, at this point, her being virtually on death's door herself, already.

"Y/n," Shalyla's voice rang out above the two of you, but you paid her no heed, even as she grew more desperate to try and get you and the others out of the situation again. "Y/n, please, we - we have to go! They're distracted, now's the time that we have to-”

"I'm not leaving," you spat, your voice shaking as she faltered in response to your words; your sharp tone, despite the pain that was interlaced within it, making up its very core, the way that it was

now. “I can’t, not - not without-”

“She won’t make it,” Olivia managed dejectedly, and you faltered yourself this time, your heart somehow dropping further than it did before as you shook your head gravely, not wanting to hear such words from anyone, especially not her and the others; people you considered heavily to be your family, therefore much involved and clued up on how much Bianca meant, and still means to you, the way she did ever since you’d even first met her, somewhere back in Palmdale. You couldn’t be sure what part of the city, now, considering it had been a few hefty years ago, now. “Y/n, please, we can’t stay here,” she begged, and you didn’t know what to do with yourself anymore, stuck on the notion that you could save her, somehow, if only you still could; if only you’d all got there faster than you had, meaning maybe that she wouldn’t be in such a poor state, now. “She’s already bled out too much,” Olivia insisted slowly, “besides, we don’t even have the resources enough to keep her going long enough for us to get back to Dixie!”

“What? So you’d rather just - just abandon her here, without even trying to keep her with us?” You questioned hoarsely, your throat burning with each word as a lump grew within it, making it all the more harder to speak as the gunfire went on behind you. “You of all people should know, Olivia, that that is not what we do here,” you spat, before you carefully gathered Bianca up, and off of the ground, no matter how much it further pained your right shoulder to do so right now, in the state that it was. “Get me one of the kits!” You called to the few companions still waiting there behind you and the others, as the ones gone were assisting in the bloodshed of the hunters that had decided to mess with you and your friends one too many times, now. “Didn’t you guys hear me? I need a kit - now!” You cried, evidently growing all the more desperate as every second passed by, Bianca’s strained and raspy breaths growing ever quieter as you did, indicating a steady down spiral of life, in its last moments, for her, only breaking you down more than anything ever had before, before this moment in time. “Please,” you begged, as they all warily looked amongst each other, not sure what to do, but they themselves knew that it was too late for Bianca, as well, no matter how much it pained them alongside the others to think in such a grave manner as they were having to do so, right now. “Fine,” you uttered, burning with the pain and sheer agony of it all as you stared them all down for a brief moment, before returning your gaze back down to Bianca’s bloody frame, “I’ll take her back there, myself, and patch her up there - I don’t need you guys’ help anyway; not anymore.”

But you didn’t get very far - of course you didn’t. Not before the incoming wave of infected that had been trailing - ever so attracted to the commotion at hand - had fallen upon you both, but - in a way - the idea of dying didn’t scare you anymore, not if it meant you could be with Bianca again, as well as less of a burden to the remnants of your now fractured - clearly - family and friends, not too far away from you both, now.

VII

You guessed the future had other plans for you, still, though you couldn’t imagine why.

Ellie had managed to create quite a hole within the numbers of the hunters who had decided to ambush you, and your family, as was oftentimes the case, whenever she found herself involved with them, somehow. She didn’t care to call it luck anymore - what would the point be? In some ways, she didn’t know why she ever considered it in such a way, before. It was skill - of course it was. She carefully pulled herself up into one of the trees the hunters had taken to hiding within, and - with a cry of alarm - another revealed themselves, making to shoot her down, but she got to him first, managing to swing herself recklessly from one branch to another, before she brought her legs up and over herself to kick the man down from his post. He fell, of course he did.

She didn’t hesitate to aim her own gun down at him, before pulling the trigger, and embedding a couple of bullets or so into him, one lodged in his throat, the other in his forehead. She didn’t bother to watch him die, looking out for any others, but the area had fallen relatively quiet since she’d taken him down. Although, she could have sworn she’d seen other attackers here. They didn’t look like hunters, but she still knew she should be cautious in her next steps, nonetheless. Instead of taking any further rash movements, she dropped down from the branch she was clinging to, before looking timidly around herself again, and wondering if the other life forms had since then run off, as if they were scared she’d take them down, too, if they’d even noticed her, that is.

She couldn’t say she’d got much of a look at them, but what she did get was enough to determine that they were preoccupied, no matter what the situation at hand might be. As soon as she was satisfied that she was now alone again, and - hearing the approaching wave of infected she knew she should at least try and avoid, just for the purpose of her journey and current mental state - she ran back to Shimmer, and sought to continue her journey.

VIII

Of course it ended up being you who had to interfere in that. Sure, you’d tried your best in the end, to keep yourself and Bianca safe, but there were too many of the wave to clear, and you couldn’t get any further than you had managed, so far. It would have probably been a safer bet, that you’d picked up more ammo than you had, at the start of this very day. In all fairness, though, as you fought harshly in your head with your doubtful consciousness - you didn’t know the infected would come with a helping of hunters, the way that it had, today.

Bianca started fitfully within your arms, a pained expression on her face as she looked up at you through dark and hopeless eyes, small tears lingering within them, only for you to delicately brush them away whenever you could, without hurting her in the process, somehow.

“I’m here, baby,” you cooed in a strained manner, a dejected look upon your own face as if you were trying not to break down in front of her again, only for you to remember that you said you wouldn’t call her that anymore after you’d both broken up recently, but it had slipped from your lips so fast that it made your heart ache with everything surrounding it; the memories, especially, before the fight you’d had with her had taken place, before, “I’m here, okay? I - I’ll never leave you again, I promise, I-”

The infected were getting closer, clickers twitching fitfully in the distance whilst their contemporaries howled with frustration and anger, as if they were still trying to figure out how to get to you both, somehow, when you were just on the other side of the willow tree they were approaching, tears streaming down your cheeks no matter how much you tried to fight them back, alongside the girl you held in your arms, still.

Bianca tried to speak, but her lips moved soundlessly, and were dreadfully pale. You shook your head, lifting your left hand up to her right cheek, prompting her to wince a little at the touch upon slightly sorer skin, but she nonetheless allowed herself to melt into it, her heart pounding faintly in her chest, still, though it had a few moments ago felt as if it were just on the cusp of giving up, the way that it had been, before.

“Just rest, now,” you added gently, “you need it, okay? If you won’t do it for me, do it for yourself, and the others - please; Bianca, I-.. we need you - we always have, and we always will, just-.. stay with me, please; don’t - don’t go - not - not like this, okay?”

Your throat felt raw; it was taking you a lot, not to just put your gun to your head, but you knew that wouldn’t do you any good, now. You had no more bullets left, anyway, and you couldn’t leave Bianca and the others, no matter what divisions you find yourselves in, the way you were, right now - or, at least, you thought you were, after they’d neglected to patch her up the way you’d begged them to, earlier.

“Please,” you pleaded again, your voice coming out as more of a whisper, this time, it cracking almost as consistently as your whole existence was, with it, and you silently cursed her at the same time for letting her eyelids grow heavier than they ever had, before. “Bianca, just - just stay with me, okay? Stay with me!” You cried, and your shoulders shook as you began to break down, not sure what to do with yourself anymore.

“Run,” she managed, and her voice was so small, and wet with the blood that had been escaping her too quickly, the way that it was, now, but you didn’t dare leave her like that; you couldn’t, and - even as you could hear the infected growing ever closer to the tree - you still didn’t leave her side, not until the others had found you again, before descending upon the infected, and leaving you feeling nothing, but numb inside, and out, without her beside you again, the way that she had been, all those times before.

IX

By the time Ellie had successfully made it around the wave, only having to eliminate two of the Infected in the process, the group were gradually beginning to struggle, a couple more being bitten as they tried to keep the life forms away from you, as well as their horses. Your eyes never left Bianca’s frame, your heart aching steadily with the distance, and you struggled whenever the odd Runner or Stalker tried to get close to her, only to be shot down by Shalyla, noticing the dejected expression on your face that did finally make her cave in to trying to protect the girl again. Besides, she knew it would be horrible for her, to have so much pain inflicted upon her by the hunters, only to be worsened by jaws and claws of the Infected that had decided to join the congregation, here.

She’d successfully downed another, when Ellie grunted, decided to give in, as she readied her gun again, but she was alarmed by a piercing cry as you struggled against Olivia’s hold, desperate to get to Bianca’s now lifeless frame, seeing as Shalyla had now run out of bullets herself, deeming her body more vulnerable that it ever was, before. It didn’t take much longer for you to break free from your friend’s hold, you elbowing her in the stomach without thinking, before you bolted toward Bianca again, and took on the approaching Runner yourself. Of course, without any weapons to defend yourself with, by now, such a fleeting notion was not met with much luck, on your part.

You’d succeeded to avoid being administered any bites from the enemy, but soon it had you down on the ground, yourself, you trying to fight back tears still as you gritted your teeth against it, holding it as far back as you could from getting any closer to your bare neck as it almost had, whilst you’d had your guard down, for a brief moment. A second or two, at least, just so you could look over at what you’d lost so quickly, and unexpectedly, before you’d returned your gaze to the creature, scowling up at it with nothing, but pure hatred behind your darkened and weaker gaze. Ellie could see what was coming, even before it did. You were due to lose, if she didn’t step in; everyone was distracted, held up in their own battles - even poor Shalyla; this was more than what the group had expected there to be, and soon there’d be more Infected of them than there were true people, before.

She didn’t think to describe them as ‘good’; could people even be good anymore, or had the way things are now driven them all to insanity, as well as nothing, but a bold red greed clouding each and every one of their visions? She hoped, in some ways, that wasn’t all true, especially not for herself. She’d only ever done what she had to protect the people she loved, and nothing good seemed to come of that anyway. She sighed, before clicking the safety off of her weapon, and aiming it steadily at the Runner still snapping its jaws above you.

“Here we go again, I guess,” she remarked under her breath, before positioning her finger on the trigger as best she could, and allowing the bullet to slip from the barrel without a moment’s hesitation. The doubts came after, as the bullet embedded itself into the enemy’s head, splattering its blood upon your face as you winced a little, but it wasn’t something you weren’t used to, so it didn’t bother you much. What did, though, was how you couldn’t see where the bullet had come from, nor could you determine who had been the one to shoot the Runner down for you. You couldn’t think about it for too long, before another Infected - a Clicker, this time - stalked toward you, shrieking horridly as if in a nightmare, but again - from nowhere you could decipher - it had been shot down faster than it came.

You narrowed your eyes toward your invisible defender, and - for a moment - you believed you tricked yourself into seeing the hoof of a horse behind the brushes opposite you that Ellie was currently hidden behind, almost grinning with how comical the situation was, you still trying to see her, though it seemed useless to do so, at this point, but at the same time she wondered why she even cared, searching through the lens of her guns’ spyglass to seek out anyone else in need of her assistance, like you had been, a brief moment ago.

There were tons of them. Both Infected, and suffering humans. She took down as many of the snarling and clicking creatures as she could, though she still couldn’t think why she’d even bother, at this point in time. She’d lost so much as a result of this whole mess of an apocalypse, and still she was fighting. Maybe one day she’d figure out why, considering there seemed to be even less to fight for, now, the way that she had been, before.

The distraction of the rapid gunfire was enough to give you time to recompose yourself. You eased yourself toward Bianca, a pained expression on your face as you surveyed her quietly, not sure what to do with yourself, anymore. She still had her emergency pistol tucked away in her jacket; the hunters hadn’t found it, that much you could tell, not that they’d have any need of it, anyway. It looked like they’d been beating her, more than embedding bullets within her wherever they could. There was a horrible moment, you found yourself thinking of your little sister again - had they done anything like this to her, too, if they’d ever even managed to find her before you and the others could?

You scowled, cursing yourself for your wandering thoughts, the way that they were, and made you feel even more shattered and tired than you’d ever been, before. You slipped her pistol out of its secret holster, before you scavenged for the shiv you’d gifted to her for her birthday, a small engraving of her favourite animal upon its blade, followed by the initials ‘B.W.’, for ‘Bianca White’, and you faltered as soon as your left hand fell upon what felt like its sheath. You hesitated for a moment; it didn’t feel right to be taking it off of her - it was her’s, after all, and you wanted nothing, for it to keep being her own, no matter where she was, now.

You sighed, before nodding gravely, and taking it out of the sheath though it pained you to do so, and not just because of the way your right shoulder continued to throb, the way it did. You promised to return it; of course you did, even if she couldn’t hear it anymore - it was rightfully her’s. Besides, you only needed it to fight the remaining Infected that dare come any closer to her off, now, if your helper allowed you to do so, anyway, seeing as they were so insistent on doing them in, by themself, the way that they were, right now.

Eventually, there were too many for just Ellie to handle, on your behalf. You stabbed the shiv into each of them, digging it as deep as you could within their rotting bodies to try and help her as well as yourself as best you could, for Bianca’s sake, as much as your own, though you didn’t care whatever the future had in store for you, anymore, after today - not now. You fancied you did quite well, but even thoughts such as those you didn’t care for anymore; positivity such as that had left you, with the loss of Bianca, as dark as it made you feel inside, and outside, with no hope of rising up to the surface again. You believed that would end up being the case, anyway. Who wouldn’t, during times like these, now?

There were only a few more Infected that had to be taken down, but they weren’t anywhere near you, anymore, so Ellie diverted her attention again, and you warily surveyed the situation. Two more had gone down, by the time you’d made your decision. You crouched down beside Bianca again, your bottom lip trembling a little as you carefully returned the shiv to its sheath, after wiping it delicately upon one of the fallen leaves surrounding the area. You then lifted your left hand up to her right cheek again, remembering how she’d told you the day before that she’d been thinking about things for a little while, before she asked if the both of you could meet up and talk a little later today. The blow was worse, when you remembered that that wouldn’t be happening for you both, anymore. Not today. Or tomorrow. Or next year.

Not unless you did something about it. You grimaced, pressing your lips into a thin line as you gritted your teeth again, looking behind you to make sure the others were distracted. They were, still finishing up their own fights as you felt for the pistol to make sure it was still tucked away within your own holster. You allowed a small sigh of relief to escape you, before you smiled feebly down at her below you, only for it to falter as soon as you were reminded of the situation at hand here; you should have got there quicker for her. You could have saved her - deep within you, you knew you could, and that almost hurt you more than anything else ever had before, but not as much as it felt, to know she was just gone, now, not lost, just gone, with no hope of revival.

You nodded gravely, trying to accept that fact, but it was impossible, so you brushed over it, and leaned down for a brief moment to delicately connect your lips to her own, no matter how much it pained you to do so, not caring at all about the blood that stained your own lips from hers’, the way it did after you’d kissed her the way you had, so soft as if you’d been afraid you’d break her, if you lost yourself within her again.

“I love you,” you whispered shakily, even if she couldn’t hear it; you just wanted her to know, before you could try and end everything the way you hoped you could do so, soon. Whether it could reunite the two of you again, you didn’t know, but you were more than willing to try. The others would be fine, now; you were sure they would be. What would be left of you, anyway, if you didn’t do this, now? You pressed another delicate goodbye to her forehead, before forcing yourself to your feet again, and making to get far away enough from the others, so they couldn’t stop you like you knew they might try to do so, if you stayed there beside her body to do it, instead.

You should have known even that wasn’t good enough a plan, as Ellie caught onto your disappearance in almost immediate effect, before she noticed how the brambles you’d been perched by before shook as if somebody had passed through, or over them. She didn’t hesitate, before guiding her mare forward to chase you as fast as she possibly could, but it didn’t take her long to catch sight of you again, the barrel of the pistol pressed to the left side of your head as if you were ready - right then and there - to take everything away again, but she couldn’t let you give up like that, though she couldn’t think why; she’d seen it happen before, but nothing could be done to stop it by herself, or Joel.

No matter who you were, she couldn’t let you suffer the same fate, not for no particular reason, anyway, that might prompt her to want you dead, though it made her feel bad to have such a thought in response to the matter at hand, here. Perhaps that was why she hesitated for a moment, lifting her gun back up as she held Shimmer to a standstill below her, so she could get a good aim to try and shoot the gun out of your hand, perhaps, if she could manage to do so, anyway. It was no doubt to her that she could; she’d handled things with much precision, before, and this time was no different - of course it wasn’t. She readied her finger upon the trigger again, her eyes narrowing a little as you seemed to be crying quietly again, somehow making her ache a bit more to hear such a painful sound escaping you.

She couldn’t hesitate any longer than she had - not now, as she drew in a deep breath, and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn’t fire, and she cursed quietly, but she didn’t have the time to react any further as she was suddenly grabbed from behind by the collar of her hoodie, only to be pulled off of her horse again, and pinned to the ground like she had been, the day she’d lost Joel. It only brought the memories back again, exactly what she’d not wanted to happen, the way it did, but it didn’t last for long. Not when someone was suddenly standing a few paces away from her, commanding the attacker to let her go for reasons currently unbeknownst to her, if there were any, anyway.

It never occurred to her that you had as much power as you did within the group, but she guessed she didn’t know you like that, as she lifted her gaze, only to find that you were holding a gun to the attacker’s head, the way you were, now, and for a brief moment, she knew it was all over; she’d been caught, and maybe you’d get the others to kill her, so she never expected you to give her the freedom that you did, especially when she’d effectively invaded what she supposed could be your own territory. She wouldn’t take that for granted, no matter what the cost might be.

X

She didn’t know why, but she decided to go back to where you and the others were residing; the pull of fatigue was enough, at this point, to dissuade her from travelling any further than she already had, from Wyoming, now to the remnants of Dixie National Forest. She stayed there a little while, and already she knew half of the group’s names like she knew the back of her hands; the chords behind her melodies. You hadn’t left the tent you’d disappeared into, the interior dark and miserable like nothing she’d ever seen before, besides those abandoned buildings she’d been lucky(?) enough to come across. That was a fact still questionable to her, however; how all her explorations had made her feel, after all this time, now. Most of all, she wondered a lot about you, and that annoyed her, in more ways than one.

One way would be that she’d only just met you, today. Well, she hadn’t even met you, yet; you’d saved her, but hadn’t in turn said a word to her, at all. You were dismissive with your companions during their interrogation of your choices, in regard to what should be done with her, given none of you knew her, the only thing they had to go off on being how she’d assisted in the fight against not just the Infected, but the remaining hunters, alongside them. It irritated her so much, that she couldn’t focus properly, almost losing another of her fingers as she chopped off some chunks of the bread she’d been offered by your sibling, Shalyla.

It wasn’t half bad, when she’d finally got past the stage of preparation, not that it was needed, anyway. She could eat as if she were starving, and aching with it, but she didn’t feel like presenting herself in such a manner, too tired to be too ravenous anyway, even if she had been running quite low on her own supplies, lately.

“Where did you come from?” The girl asked her, and the question made her tense up a little as her skeptical gaze met with great reluctance the stranger, given that she’d not yet put a name to her face just yet, like she had already most of the others who had been a little more communicative toward her, as if they saw her as a friend, and not a possible foe, somehow, even though they’d only just met her, today, and not known her for years like she assumed they had each other, by now, although she’d not been made aware of any record of them, at all.

“Why d’you wanna know?” She questioned in turn, before swallowing down another chunk of the bread she’d picked off from the part she’d been given, earlier. “You wanna use it against me?” She guessed, and Shalyla frowned, looking a little disappointed, but she guessed she understood why Ellie would think in such a manner about her and the others in residence, here. Ellie softened; truth be told she felt guilty, in a way, for reacting like that, so she decided to answer her question anyway, albeit relatively quite vaguely, regardless of such a kindness as it was, given the situation she was finding herself in, by now. “Boston,” she admitted, her voice a little quieter than it was before, but not because she wanted it to be a secret; she just didn’t have much willpower left to talk a lot about it, anymore, “I’ve been in many other places, since then, but-.. yeah, I’m originally from Boston.” Shalyla appeared taken aback; Boston was quite far from here, after all, but even that was probably an understatement in regard to the true placements of such areas, compared to others against it. “Are you just from around here, or-? What’s the deal with you guys, anyway?” She inquired, genuinely finding herself quite curious into the new group’s own origins, in comparison to her’s and the others back in Jackson, but she deemed it understandable for now, given she only recently had just met them as a collective, the way that she did, earlier, having to save pretty much all of the remaining’s asses, including your’s and Shalyla’s, from a gruesome as well as certainly untimely death.

She didn’t know if she should find it comforting, or not, though, to determine that most of the people here were her age, or something just above it. She shrugged the thought off, instead picking at her bread again as she awaited patiently for the girl to answer her the way she’d had to answer her own question, a brief moment ago, now.

“Me and my sister came here from Palmdale,” Shalyla answered nonchalantly, “some of the others said they came from around there, too, whilst most of our new friends came here from Constance, or Colorado.” She smiled softly, and Ellie couldn’t deny she felt a bit safer, by now, everyone seeming more-.. well, friendly, than she expected them to be, especially after one of the others had put a gun to her head, earlier, only for you to chide them for doing so the way that you had, then. “We’ve never had anyone come from as far as Boston, before,” she remarked, “the others won’t believe it.” She then winced, before adding quickly, as if she were afraid of putting pressure upon Ellie when she’d not even decided to make any commitments here whatsoever, just yet: “that’s if you decided to tell them, of course; you don’t have to, nor do you even have to stay here, if you don’t want to.”

Ellie nodded slowly; thoughtfully, but she cursed herself for doing so, after that, reminding herself that she hadn’t exactly been planning on falling into another group, even after everything that had taken place, recently. She sighed heavily, before shrugging, and forcing a smile up at the girl before her as if still trying to hide her pain from her, as well as the others; she’d been doing stuff like that for a little while, now, not sure what else she could do, in a situation such as this one, or what had come before with the whole Wolves situation with Dina, as well as her new nemesis, Abby.

“What exactly do you guys do here? How - How do you even protect yourselves, in a place like this?” She pried, but regretted it almost in an instant, knowing how that sounded as soon as the question had slipped from her lips, like that. “No offence, by the way; I like what you guys have got going, I just-.. it’s not-.. y’know-..” She rolled her eyes, evidently a little frustrated with herself as she averted her gaze awkwardly, but Shalyla thought nothing of it, answering as best she could, especially after Ellie had gone so far as to defend them, earlier; she deserved what they could give them, and explanations were more than included in such a pact as this one was.

“Much?” The girl guessed, and Ellie appeared taken aback again, before reluctantly nodding, and appearing relieved once it appeared that Shalyla understood what was being asked of her, a bit more, now. Perhaps she understood too much, Ellie thought, as the girl grinned to herself, before looking over her shoulder toward the rest of the camp space beyond the tent Ellie had been given space to rest within, for a little while. They could all see that she needed it, and though they were at first hesitant to provide her with such hospitality, you smoothed them right out by commanding them to set up the space for her anyway, seeing as she’d done a lot for yourself as well as the rest of them for no particular reason or prompt to do so, today. “I can see why you’d think that,” she admitted in a little more of a strained manner, but nonetheless as willing as her voice had been, before this point in time, “we don’t have great defences, that’s for sure, but-.. there’s not a lot left to get here, I guess, not with the hunters and all, and the WLFs alongside them. You probably had it better back in Boston, right?”

Ellie couldn’t deny that she’d flinched a little in response to Shalyla’s mention of the Wolves, but she tried to cover it up as best she could, pretending to cough into her right hand, only to almost choke herself in the process with another chunk of bread - it was almost finished, now, and the sight was almost enough to deject her, if it weren’t for Shalyla’s speaking up again, taking her mind back off of it, and focusing her back onto the situation at hand, here - real life, as it was, she guessed, although some parts of it still didn’t feel real enough for her. How she was still alive was one thing that evaded her understanding, at this point.

“Shit, sorry,” Shalyla began timidly again, as if she’d just been pinched for forgetting something imperative, though Ellie herself couldn’t think of anything else she might need, right now, besides a stronger will to live, alongside a drink of water, maybe. “You’re dry, right? I’ll go and get you something to drink; I just got so distracted with introductions, and stuff, I’m really-”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Ellie managed, her voice cracking a little before she began coughing a little again, in the end having to spit out the bread she’d been working on in the meantime just in case she got herself into anymore danger with it, again, like she almost had done so, before, if her awareness hadn’t kicked in the way it did, a brief moment ago, now.

Once Shalyla had gone, you decided to take up the mantle, though she hadn’t seen you leave the tent you’d disappeared into, once, before now. You were out of sight, at first, lingering warily to the right of the tent she was perched beneath, before you drew in a barely audible shaky breath, and decided to reveal yourself to her again.

“Something wrong with the bread we gave you?” You asked, and she appeared a little startled, just briefly, her gaze warily falling upon you, before she tried to find her voice again to answer the question you’d so unexpectedly posed upon her, the way you had, just then, without giving her a moment to recompose herself the way she’d been trying to do, before you’d decided to come out of the shadows again, the way you had, a brief moment ago, now.

“Why? Were you listening to us, or something?” She retorted, but you didn’t bother to answer her question, though you knew you probably should, considering she’d done you yourself alongside the others an honourable service in fighting alongside the group, earlier, even if she weren’t apart of it at all, just yet.

“I asked you a question,” you uttered a little dismally, “we’ve done enough for you already, it’s your turn to start giving explanations, now.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, before averting her gaze again, though she didn’t miss the pang of emptiness she felt as soon as she’d allowed her eyes to leave your’s, the way she did, just then.

“Nothing’s wrong with it, apart from the fact that it’s a little stinky and hard, but-.. yeah; it’s decent for a chunk of bread wrapped up in some dusty tin-foil,” she remarked, and you raised your eyebrows, trying not to smile, though it surprised you in turn that your lips had almost curved upward in response to her comment, like they did, just then. “That a good enough description, for you, or-?” She asked, and you didn’t bother responding, slipping back around the corner the way you had, before, and she appeared a little disappointed in response to your hasty reaction, only to be further puzzled when she noticed Shalyla hurrying back over, making her think maybe you’d decided to slip away when you’d caught sight of her, before Ellie even could.

What she couldn’t understand, was why?

XI

“Don’t mind my sister, by the way,” Shalyla remarked, as she and Ellie walked slowly the perimeter around the campsite, “she’s-.. well-.. she-..”

The girl sighed, finding words failing her as she remembered the way you used to be, compared to how quiet you were, now.

“Could weird be a good word for it? What you’re tryna get at, here?” Ellie offered, and Shalyla winced; she didn’t dare think of you in such a way, not when she knew everything you’d had to endure, anyway, to reach a point such as this one, but she didn’t fault the stranger for it, knowing she had only had a couple of encounters with you, so far, none more revealing than the last had been, anyway.

“I guess - in some ways - you could say that,” she mused, and Ellie raised her eyebrows, evidently a little more skeptical than she had been before, in regard to you.

“Alright, well - how do you see her, then?” She inquired, and Shalyla would think for a brief moment, not sure if it would be fair on you to talk about what had happened to you, after your and her little sister had gone missing, the way that she did. Neither could she imagine the thought process taken place within your head, now that you’d lost Bianca, too, alongside her, and some of your other peers, here.

“I guess-.. a good word for her would be-” she paused again for a brief moment, as Ellie watched her with nothing, but a curious expression upon her face, though she were still quite weary after the fight she’d had to endure alongside you and the others, earlier, “loyal. Mostly in the sense that she’s - well, quite family-orientated, I guess.”

Ellie couldn’t help, but scoff, trying to hide that her action then led to her feeling guilty for doing so, the way that she had, then.

“It seemed like she was more than ready to give herself up, earlier - what would have happened to you guys, if she managed to?” She speculated, and Shalyla smiled sadly over at her new - hopefully - friend, before she again averted her gaze, not sure how to describe what must be plaguing your mental state, at current, as she’d puzzled upon, before, a brief moment ago, to answer Ellie’s previous question in regard to your behaviour earlier with her being nothing more than positively ‘strange’ and unfeeling.

“Even if she did do it,” Shalyla began slowly, ready at your defence in the most friendly and awkward way as she could to avoid any new confrontations within the campsite, “I’m sure she did it, with the eyes of a martyr; she’s never done anything otherwise.” She then stopped, before timidly turning toward Ellie who faltered at the girl’s side, warily looking over at her as if still expecting someone here to turn upon her, and shoot her behind the back, somehow. “Look, I-.. I know things are awkward between the two of you now, but-.. I’m sure, if you decided you actually want to stay with us, she’ll come around to you being here, eventually,” she added gently, and Ellie rolled her eyes; she didn’t like the sound of having to wait for that to happen, as she looked over at Shalyla’s shoulder back toward the tent you had disappeared within again.

“And if I don’t want to stay here?” She inquired, and she didn’t miss how her new companion’s eyes seemed to darken at such a possibility, only making her feel worse for wear, somehow, than she was, before. “What would happen, then?” She pried, and Shalyla tried not to appear anymore dejected, somehow, but her will failed her as she forced a smile back up at the girl before her, before she turned her face awkwardly away from her all over again, like it had been between them before, Ellie beneath the tent they’d cleared out for her, whilst Shalyla had supplied her with a spare chunk of bread, hardly talking to her at first in the process of doing so.

“I guess we’ll just have to see, right?” She added, and Ellie appeared thoughtful - gravely - in turn, before she nodded her head slowly in response to Shalyla’s answer, vague as it was.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t right, however, as Ellie schemed quietly in her head as best as she could, right now. She hadn’t decided yet, whether she wanted to stay here, or venture on further than she had been able to do so, by now, so what would the harm be, if she tried to force your hand a little more than she had done so, already?

XII

She waited until it was quieter than it was, before, pretending to be fast asleep until she was certain that she could get around without a heightened risk of discovery, as well as suspicion surrounding her. She recalled her and Shalyla’s conversation; she needed to make a decision, soon, but not before she’d eased her thoughts concerning you, and why it had been that you’d accepted her here the way you had, earlier, rather than force her out the way she’d believed you would, despite her aiding the group’s attack against the Infected, as well as the hunter that had tried to take over your family’s territory once again, like so many times before. You’d lost count of them all, so far, except from the numbers you’d all managed to kill within the groupings they sent toward you.

Ellie kept low, moving quietly as she warily looked around her, before moving a few paces ahead, only stopping to check herself again whenever she heard voices close by. She moved when they faded away, hearing nothing, but the horses nearby braying, and snorting as she grinned subconsciously, though she couldn’t herself imagine why. She found this moment - although dangerous, as the group didn’t know enough about her to determine that she was truly sound a companion - quite exhilarating, and - plainly stated - therefore quite fun. It wasn’t like that for long, however, as she had to quickly dive out of sight of the two straggling figured passing by your tent, her just lingering on the outside of it, by now, so close, and yet so far. They took a while to move, and she found it painful having to stay where she was as they discussed awfully random topics like their hair, alongside palm trees on tropical islands she’d never herself been to.

It was only when they brought up the hunters again that she grew interested in what they had to say, tilting her head partially as she listened to them in sheer silence, her body tensing up a little as she did to try and focus herself more, somehow, her hands trembling just slightly as she did, trying to make sense of things even more than she had managed to do so, before, though she couldn��t deny it was difficult, at first, until this brief moment in time.

“Do you really think the hunters would take her?” One of the figures asked, another girl who looked something around a similar age to her own, but she didn’t take much notice of either of them, mainly focusing upon the words they were sharing with one another the way that she was, now, gaze averted skeptically toward the ground beneath her, by now.

“Who, Kylie?” The other replied, and the first hummed as if to indicate that the figure aforementioned was the one who she had been referring to, previously. “Why wouldn’t they? C’mon, they would have seen her defenceless out there, and thought nothing of the consequences, right?” They reminded their peer, and the other would frown, before nodding gravely as Ellie awkwardly shuffled in place, feeling a lot more uncomfortable here than she did, before, her body beginning to ache a little again with the weariness still washing over her, from before. She had travelled a long way, after all - of course she still found herself tired, the way she was, now, but she couldn’t let it stop her, as she listened on, whilst - at the same time - she urged for the two to go on walking, so she could slip into your tent, and try to get a better impression of you, somehow.

“Yeah, but-” The girl began again, only to have her speculations shot down faster than any bullet could ever travel, before.

“She was a kid, Dianne,” the other reminded her dismissively, as if he just knew he was right, and that was the end of the argument, prompting Ellie to roll her eyes subconsciously in response to the peer’s arrogant personality.

“I know, I just-.. think of what it’d do to Y/n if she ever found her there, o-or - or had them tell her that they chopped Kylie up like their other unfortunate captives,” Diana continued, this time a little quieter as if she feared you’d hear the two of them. Of course you did; if Ellie could, right outside your tent, who was to stop their words from reaching your ears, too?

She wouldn’t be surprised, if that was why the second of the pairing - Chris, short for Christopher, by what she’d gathered earlier from Shalyla as well as general conversations going on around her since she’d even arrived here - led Diana away, leaving herself alone to her own thoughts again, all of them almost as lost as ever, now that you were linked to some other missing person, now - a kid, no less. She wouldn’t let her intrigue be stalled any longer, as she pressed herself to continue her journey, before she finally reached the front of your tent, and slipped through the part of the cover left undone, as if you couldn’t even be bothered to do up its zipper anymore.

XIII

By the time she’d got there, you were still awake; you’d heard something coming - you weren’t sure what it was. You were half hoping it would just kill you; take all the dark thoughts away, but when Ellie slipped through the bottom half of the tent flaps, you knew nothing would ever change, again. You just - well, knew. You raised your eyebrows, her straightening herself out as she brushed down the dirt upon her jeans, watching you cautiously as you scoffed, before you brought your left hand up to your face to wipe the last of the sleep from the corners of your eyes; it had been building up for a while, that much you could tell, by now. You hadn’t allowed yourself to sleep for a while; the nightmares only came back in more velocity than anything else ever had, before.

Ellie couldn’t help her expression softening, when she noticed how dark and sunken your eyes seemed to be, in the natural light of the moon.

“If you think you’re some sort of Houdini getting in like that, I think you should just leave now,” you remarked, your voice barely audible, and she couldn’t help, but grin in response to your comment, certainly finding it more than amusing, though she couldn’t exactly pinpoint why, at this point.

“You really don’t like me being here, do you?” She guessed, but you didn’t answer, not sure what to say as you slowly rose from your bed, before moving toward the stainless steel bottle you’d perched upon the makeshift cabinet opposite your bedside table, a small vase stood upon it next to a little black box she found much intrigue linked to, though she couldn’t imagine why, a guessing game starting within her mind as she tried to link objects that could fit within a container of such molecular size.

“Coffee?” You offered, and she would appear taken aback, before reluctantly meeting your gaze again as if she’d just reawakened herself to the world around her, wincing as soon as she noticed the expectant look hiding behind the dark orbs of your eyes before her.

“Who drinks coffee at an hour like this?” She questioned, in turn, and it was your turn to fight back a smile, bowing your head again as you poured yourself a cup of it, before setting the bottle back down in its previous place, and awkwardly shuffling as you tried to find another answer for her again.

“People who like to keep their wits about them,” you answered patiently, “even when their at their weakest.” Her eyes tracked you cautiously, as though you were a being unpredictable to her; a silent creature - no, a gracious hunter, tracking its prey, but she didn’t think of you as being one of the bad ones, despite not knowing you as much as she knew your sister, Shalyla, by now. “You ask a lot of questions,” you added a little more exasperatedly, before sitting heavily back down upon your bed, as miserable looking as it was; she could tell you’d hardly used it, and you feared this of her; how she was recognising such things and linking them to you, but you didn’t dare tell her to stop for fear of what it - in turn - would make her think, or expect of you, then.

“Is that a bad thing for you, or-? What’s the big deal, here?” She pried, and you grunted, but she knew through the bemused look upon your face that you were accusing her of doing it again, though it didn’t bother you as much as you seemed to make it out to do so, earlier.

“It’s not a bad thing, it’s just-..” you sighed, having to try and find the right words again to explain your thoughts and feelings on needless topic for her - you didn’t doubt it would soon become a recurrent thing between you both, if she ever decided to stay with you and the others in the near future, somehow, “it’s annoying, okay? That’s all.”

You frowned, recognising the impatient tone that had escaped you, only making you feel worse than you had, before; you didn’t like snapping at people like that, that much was clear, right now.

“Then it seems we both have a problem, right? If I do decide to stay, though I don’t know why I’d even bother to want to, right now - you know I’d still ask questions, don’t you? You’d want me to leave, as fast as I came, wouldn’t you?” She assumed, and you appeared thoughtful for a moment, perhaps considering such a anecdote for a beat too long than you should have, flashes of different possibilities flickering through your mind, but there was only one problem with that; Bianca was gone, and you'd never be able to see her again, now. It made your heart sink, slowly but surely, as your gaze subconsciously fell upon the little black box Ellie had taken much notice of, earlier, before you both had even started talking evenly, like this. Her gaze followed your's, and she grew ever intrigued by the situation at hand, here. "There's a ring in there, isn't there?" She guessed, and infinitely correctly before she even realised it, but you ignored her observation, pressing your lips together grimly, for a moment, before you - more suddenly than any movement you'd ever made, got up to press a small shiv to her bare neck.

She faltered as soon as it happened, unable to react quickly enough as you pressed her with your free left hand roughly against the cabinet behind you both, rattling it a little as you did, but it didn't last for long, you tensing up almost as soon as it stopped, and that was when she noticed the small tears clouding your vision; the pained, but unsuccessfully hidden, look on your face as you tried not to let your façade drop again, though it certainly seemed to have done so already, whether you were aware of it, or not, Ellie couldn't tell, looking back at you defiantly even as the blade lightly pierced her skin - the moment you remembered yourself, scoffed, and allowed the shiv to slip from your fingers before it fell down to the ground beneath the both of you, as you made to turn your back on her vulnerably all over again.

She could have grabbed the fallen blade, dug it into your flesh, and watched you bleed, but she couldn't bring herself to do so, still recovering from the moment, and the unusual spark she'd caught within your eyes.

“You’re right,” you managed a little more hoarsely as you picked up the little box within your hands, the index finger of your right brushing over the inscription upon the surface of the container, still gilded, but fading slowly over time. “Maybe we do have a problem,” you uttered, and she didn’t know what to for a moment as you turned back to her, your gaze briefly meeting her own again, before it flickered back toward the ground as if afraid of being trapped within her own bright, but nonetheless tired orbs - much like your own - somehow. “Maybe we always will,” you added a little quieter, and she narrowed her eyes as you seemed to offer up the box to her for a reason unbeknownst to her, as of this moment in time, “take it.”

“What-?” She continued, and you rolled your eyes in response, before pressing it closer to her, insistent upon the matter though it still hurt you to do so, somehow, as if you were still dreadfully attached to the ring even now that Bianca was gone.

“Take. It,” you repeated a little more firmly, and she couldn’t do it, shaking her head as she even eased the box back into your palms, before closing your fingers delicately over it.

“I’m not here to steal from you,” she stated gently, and you softened again, your heart skipping a beat, taking you aback as you winced, her smiling softly over at you as the moment began to feel unreal, all over again, “look, I-.. I know that things haven’t started out great between us, but I want to show you that you can trust me, okay?”

It was hard to just plainly say ‘no’ in response to her offer, her eyes somehow ensnaring you again as you tilted your head partially, wondering why you felt so lost again, but safe, all at the same time, as long as she were there before you - this-.. this more than confident stranger, who’d saved your life more than once, already. You sighed, before forcing your gaze away from her own no matter how difficult it was for you to do so.

“How am I supposed to do that, then?” You inquired, and - in a dumbfounding moment of peace, yet rippling confusion - Ellie meandered around your still sunken frame, before she sat down upon the edge of your cold bed, and patted for you to sit beside her.

Of course, you hesitated, but she expected that from you, at first, but she didn’t let it deter her, as she smiled kindly up at you again, before offering brightly up the words in a slither of apprehension, alongside some hints of trepidation: “let’s talk, and see how far we get, shall we?”

XIV

You’d never talked that much, before. At least, not in a few years, now. She listened patiently to every word, and you felt like a child again; actually at peace, and contented with yourself, but since the day of the Outbreak had taken place…

You didn’t notice the tears that escaped your eyes again, until one slipped slowly down your cheek, and you stopped talking for a brief moment to clear it away, not starting again until you felt you could, somehow, the feeling of her left hand resting upon your right shoulder encouraging you to continue, or was it just that you’d managed momentarily to fight the lump in your throat back, allowing you to speak all the more without it threatening to break you down again?

“It’s funny,” you mused, and she narrowed her eyes a little over at you, as if trying to comprehend your comment, but she didn’t dare interrupt, instead distracting herself by admiring a little freckle residing just underneath your right ear, “that things can change so quickly, isn’t it? One second, you think everything’ll stay the way it is; you won’t lose what you’ve built, or been gifted, and then - j-just-.. out of nowhere-.. everything seems to just-.. disappear, I guess.” You paused again, unsure of whether you should go on for fear of what she’d think of you, if you did, though you couldn’t imagine why you even cared anymore; things had been hurting non-stop, lately - if she wanted to pick up a gun, or the shiv you’d threatened her with half-heartedly earlier, she could, and you’d gladly allow her to end your miserable existence with either of them, maybe even both, somehow. You sighed, a shaky thing, and still she didn’t say a word, wanting you to be able to vent to her, but she guessed - at the same time - the sound of your voice was calming to her, and she feared that speaking up herself would mean she wouldn’t be able to hear it again like this, tonight, a thought she found disturbing, but nonetheless strangely warming, as she again allowed her gaze to fall upon your side profile, a faint smile playing on her lips as if it comforted her to know you were still there, and not rushing off again, somehow. “I still think it’s my fault,” you admitted a little dejectedly, and her heart sank a little alongside your’s as she shook her head subconsciously, though she didn’t yet know what it was you were attributing such a notion toward, the way that you were, now.

“What do you mean? What’s your fault, exactly? From what I’ve heard, you’ve done nothing wrong; the hunters took Bianca away, and where Kylie is concerned-”

“Don’t,” you interjected, a little panic-stricken, and she faltered, noticing the worried look upon your face; how your eyes widened as another tear managed to fall down from your chin, to your right hand. You winced, feeling it, and she frowned, not sure what else to do, though she wished there was more she could say, somehow, to convince you that none of what had taken place could ever be used to fault you. “You - You don’t understand, okay? Things have been-..” You cursed quietly as you got up off of the bed again, though it pained you to do so.

“I understand you,” she contradicted, after a further brief moment of silence had passed between you, and - though her voice was quiet, it was filled with a bold degree of certainty, “a few years ago, my best friend turned right in front of me; I couldn’t save her - I still think about that day.” You tensed up, reluctantly turning your head a little as you heard the bed creaking again; she had got up a moment after you, and you could almost feel that she stood a few paces away from you. It was unbearable, feeling as if you couldn’t breathe again, the way it had been whenever you and Bianca were together, before. “Do you think that makes it my fault? She saved me; if she didn’t, maybe things would have been-..” Ellie faltered alongside you, before she fought back the doubtful thoughts again; the accusations still residing within her, though she was trying to prove them wrong, for your sake as much as her own. “A little after that, I met this guy named Joel,” she continued, but it was hard to keep herself stable, her voice trembling a little more than it did, before, especially as you half turned to face her, a pained expression on your own face as you wished you could take the pain away from her, somehow, seeing it had impacted upon her a great deal much like your own had been doing even more so, now, “I thought-… I thought I finally had a father, and - and these people, they-.. they came, and they-..” She couldn’t take it anymore; couldn’t fight as hard anymore, as the tears came spilling down her own cheeks, as it seemed to grow ever harder for her to breathe, alongside their steady fall. “They took him from me, okay? They took him, and I tried to stop them, but-.. but they-”

You shook your head slowly, your heart aching fitfully alongside her own as you subconsciously inched closer to her, but you winced upon doing so, not sure what to do; you didn’t know if she’d want you to try and comfort her like that - why would she, if you’d both only just met one another earlier today? Why would you, in turn, even want to, then, not knowing her as long as you’d known the others; your own sister, and mother? You averted your gaze awkwardly, though it pained you again to do so for reasons unbeknownst to you, but soon she found it within herself to continue, no matter how much it continued to pain her to do so, like she did, then.

“The girl I loved back where I stayed with them,” she continued slowly, as though every word came from the suspension of agony, pronounced by the struggled and strained breaths that accompanied them, made everything within that moment in time all the more harder for the both of you to bear, as drew closer to breaking down further with each word, and you tried desperately not to through your arms around her again, “she left me too, and I should have seen what I was doing to her, but I didn’t, because I wanted to avenge him; I wanted to-.. to stop them all; to hurt them like they hurt me, and I tried - I swear I tried, okay? But it wasn’t enough; I didn’t kill all of them-.. Abby-..” She winced, reminding herself of the name she’d been cursing for so long, now. “I let her go,” she murmured a little more dejectedly, and your expression softened further as you glanced back up at her, somehow seeing more to her than you ever had before, the moment she’d first presented herself to you, “so don’t you dare try and say that I don’t understand you, because I do, okay!? You don’t think I go through every day, now, just - just wondering continuously what would have happened, if I did things differently? Huh? You don’t think that I’ve blamed myself before, for stuff like that? Well, you’re wrong, because I have; I’ve blamed myself every. Fucking. Day, for everything that happened, before, so please don’t just think that you’re alone in this, like I did, before, because you’re not alone, okay? Nobody is.” She fell quiet then, after her voice had cracked once more, her chest rising and falling quicker than it ever had, before, since she’d arrived here, as she tried to catch her breath; tried to keep herself together again, somehow. She failed, miserably, at that, but still she tried to keep that from you; safely at bay, just enough for her to muster up a few more words, though her entire body seemed to ache with the reminder of it all, somehow. “You know that, right?” She added, and you didn’t know what to say, for a moment finding yourself fighting back tears alongside her all over again, before you couldn’t fight it back anymore, and had your arms wrapped around her now shaky frame.

The next moment, she didn’t know what happened, but there was one thing she knew: she’d never felt this safe, before.

XV

Since that moment, you’d both been practically inseparable, to the point that the others were starting to talk under their breaths about the two of you. You’d even heard, once, that rumours were going around about you being Ellie’s bodyguard, and-.. well, you didn’t know what to think about that, but the thought of losing her did make you tense up, and have to take a short moment alone to try and recover yourself for her, as well as the others - of course - somehow. Since these rumours had been circling, you’d both been a little more - private, with one another, only going together where you couldn’t be seen, though neither of you could determine exactly why you were doing so.

You determined that there was nothing to it; this whole-.. scenario, you mused, trying to fight back against the guilt that washed over you, whenever you were reminded of Bianca, again. Ellie, too, took on a similar approach, often reminded of Dina, whatever she was doing, now.

On one of the next cold evenings; she couldn’t determine which one, now, considering there has been a few, at this point, she leaned heavily against one of the tall oak trees, wondering subconsciously at the survival of such natural elements such as these, as well as the occasional bushes lining the area. You didn’t reveal yourself to her, at first, warily lingering a few paces away from her, the brambles aforementioned serving as a good hiding place, for you, though you weren’t sure what had even driven you to hiding, the way that you were, now, your hands shaking a little as you tried to think of what you could say, before you shrugged the fear away, and pushed yourself finally to journey toward her, trying to make as little noise as you could, wanting to see how she’d react if you did so, sneaking up on her the way that you were, now.

You wondered if she’d get mad at you - if she’d be pleased with you, but you were too out of focus to think for too long on any of the possibilities lingering before you, right now, getting ever closer to her with every small step you took, to get to this point in time. She couldn’t deny she’d not seen it coming; how you’d suddenly emerged behind her, before making a snarl-like sound to try and scare her, somehow, just a fleeting moment of what you felt comfortable enough to do around her, right now, especially after the moment you’d both shared with each other before in the safe confinements of your previously grim-looking tent, before.

“Shit-!” She whisper-shouted, as she whirled around to catch sight of you behind her, now laughing quite heartily as she rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help it as a small smile fought to appear, and though she managed to restrain it just enough, the dimples still appeared despite the restraint, and it didn’t hesitate to make your heart stutter in your chest, as you acknowledged that you’d got her to smile, at least a little, as it hadn’t been something she’d done a lot in front of you, since her very arrival here.

You couldn’t help yourself, as you thought silently that you wished she would show it to you more often; the smile she tried to hide away from you, still, even after you’d both revealed so much to each other, before.

“Admit it,” you encouraged teasingly, after you’d managed to recover from the fits of laughter that had rolled over you, the way that they did, a brief moment ago, now, “admit that I managed to actually scare you, this time.”

“Fuck off,” Ellie remarked, after scoffing, but you raised your eyebrows, determined to win against her, somehow, “you did not scare me; I knew it was you before I even turned around.”

You grunted, as if generally frustrated by her stubborn protestations, but you giggled, all the same, still finding it funny, the way she fought for her cause, despite how you’d definitely caught the way she jumped, after you’d performed a make-shift - and hopefully Oscar worthy - snarl behind her, the way that you did.

“Yeah, right,” you commented nonetheless confidently, and the smile only grew upon her lips, though she’d done her best to try and subdue it, again, as if afraid of what you’d think of it, if she gave it away to you, too much, though she couldn’t imagine why the idea terrified her - all she could think of, was how she’d lost those she’d given up so much to, and how she didn’t want to make the same mistakes again, especially not now that she’d found you, and had found at least some form of happiness again, whether it would end up being temporary again, or not so inconsistent, she didn’t know, and - in some grim ways - she was certain she would never want to know, not where the two of you were concerned, the way that you were, now, somehow. “What are you doing alone out here, anyway?” You questioned, and she winced, keeping her gaze stuck to the ground beneath her as she awkwardly hugged herself to free herself of some of the cold around her, whilst also providing some amount of comfort to her nerves in doing so, not that she really needed it, but-.. it was nice to have, anyway - who could question something like that so readily?

No-one, she hoped; you certainly didn’t pull her up on it, and she thanked whatever she could for that aspect of you; your discretion - you didn’t have to question her on things you didn’t suspect her on, and - during times like these - she couldn’t be more grateful for that from you, at least - right now, anyway.

“If you’re really so concerned about my whereabouts enough to even follow me wherever I go,” she began a little more indifferently again, as you almost froze in response to her foundations of the question you could just feel on its way to a sharp arrival, the way that it was, now, she briefly lifted her gaze to look up at you again, and you couldn’t explain how your throat ceased up, feeling her eyes upon you, again. It was enough to make you want to turn, and make a run for it, before she could finish the accusation, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do so, even after the question had finally slipped from her lips, only to arrive delayed within your ears, the way you couldn’t deny it did, then. “Then I guess I should ask you, too, what you’re doing out here? I thought you were supposed to be on duty with your sister-”

“She let me stay,” you explained timidly, and Ellie raised her eyebrows in turn, evidently in disbelief of your previous statement, but you guessed you could understand why; you were often quite committed to the perimeter runs you all had to make together eventually, to clear the area of any straggling infected, as well as of any blood thirsty intruders who were blatant in their not meaning well for any of you, here. Thus, you knew she probably deemed this moment to be unusual for you, especially as you’d gone out of your way to stay just so you could be around her, like this. “Albeit reluctantly,” you added, after an exasperated sigh, and that made a bit more sense to her, grinning as she averted her gaze down to the ground again; she imagined it would have been an awkward conversation between the two of you, but she couldn’t imagine why you would have requested this of Shalyla, for her, or just yourself. She winced; the notion had come up so quickly - too quickly, that you would have done this for her, and she knew this could be her treading dangerously, and it didn’t exactly make her feel good about herself, especially after what had happened between her and Dina, before.

“So-..?” She began again awkwardly, but couldn’t bring herself to continue as she awaited a further response from you, hoping you could make the atmosphere clearer for her again, the way you had before, with your arms around her like they had been, at the time.

“So - I’m here, aren’t I? What? Did you want me to go?” You inquired, evidently curious as you narrowed your eyes over at her, as your heart pounded almost too fast against your ribcage to the point that it only left you all the more frustrated again, carrying out the way things were between you both, right now.

“No-!” She answered, as if taken aback by your assumption, and you raised your own eyebrows again, trying to ignore the flutter you felt within your stomach at her interjection - it could be that you’d just eaten something you shouldn’t have eaten, or whatever, anyway; there was no point in worrying about it too much - right? You felt a little more uneasy, then, but tried to hide this from your expression, focusing your gaze intently upon her own as she stammered for a brief moment, as if trying to find the right words to say again. “I - I just meant-.. I meant-..” She groaned, evidently just as frustrated - or more - than you were, even trying to shrug it off as she cleared her throat, and bowed her head back down, again.

“I know what you meant,” you reassured her gently, and she faltered upon feeling your right hand resting upon her left shoulder. For a moment, she found she couldn’t look away from you, her eyes stuck on your’s, and you didn’t know what to do, feeling your face growing warmer than it ever had, before. “Shit, sorry,” you began again a little quieter, before withdrawing your hand from her, though it made you both feel a little emptier as a result of you doing so, the way that you had. “I wanted to ask you something, but-..” You fell quiet again, everything feeling too warm around you as you tried to recompose yourself again, a pained expression on your face as soon as you gave in, not sure what you’d had in mind, anymore, the way you had it, before.

“Allow me to guess, then,” Ellie stated, and you felt a little less hopeless, watching as she pushed hearse off of the tree, a faint smile playing on her lips as she, too, tried to think of a reasonable thing that you may want to ask her for some reason unbeknownst to her; she never expected she’d be on completely the right lines, especially when it came to her first try of the makeshift game you two shared together, “let’s see-.. you - hm. Do you-.. wanna be my bodyguard, or something? I just feel like that’s something you’d wanna do don’t know why, so - y’know, correct me if I’m wrong - if I’m ever wrong, okay?”

“Actually,” you spoke up again, before she could make further guesses, “you’ll never believe this, but you’re right - I - I was thinking, and-”

“Wait, h-hold on,” she managed, and you faltered in place to anxiously look over at her again, “seriously? Of all the things you’d wanna ask me - that’s what you’re going with? Y/n-”

“What? You didn’t think I’d want to protect you, or something? I basically try and protect everyone here-”

“Yeah, but you’re not their bodyguards, are you? They’ve never referred to you like that, and you have never referred to yourself like that, before,” she contradicted, and you rolled your eyes, evidently growing to be frustrated again, especially when all you wanted to do was defend her, like you did the others; it didn’t exactly matter what they called you, you mused, so why start now? “C’mon, there’s got to be something else you wanna ask me - isn’t there?” She pried, and you shrugged, though there were things, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say any of them, to her; why would you, when they didn’t exactly matter, anyway?

“I just-.. thought-.. I don’t know,” you murmured a little awkwardly, “Ellie-”

A familiar snarl sounded out somewhere behind her, and you faltered, your eyes widening as soon as your gaze fell upon the Clicker a few paces away from you both, by now.

“Fuck,” she spat, the situation becoming sharply clear to her, only now, as she looked over her shoulder to see the enemy trying to seek the two of you out, somehow - slowly, but surely, anyway, despite its lack of sight over the years, “it must have heard us talking-”

“I’ve got it, don’t worry,” you reassured, but she took out her shiv anyway, moving cautiously to the left of you just in case she was needed, here, but you managed to take out the unfortunate being clean, except you seemed to forget that there would always be a straggler, wherever another straggler may go.

In this case, it happened to be a Runner who’d followed behind its companion, the way it did, just then, easily catching sight of you as you grinned sheepishly over at her, hoping - for a strange, brief moment - that maybe you’d impressed her, somehow. Maybe that was partly why you didn’t notice the other one, only hearing it when it was too late for you too so much about it, but luckily Ellie was way ahead of you where this one was concerned, throwing herself toward it before it could get to you, before she struggled with it for a little while, you not sure what to do as you helplessly looked on, stricken by a panic you’d never felt before, making it hard even to move, now, somehow, but she knew what she was doing, thrusting the Runner against the tree behind it, before she swiftly embedded the blade of her shiv into its bare neck, it beginning to gurgle as blood ran down from its mouth, and - of course - the wound.

You hoped you wouldn’t be blamed, if you looked away as she dragged the blade across the left and right of where she’d not cut it, yet, only making a slow, but sure death more likely than it had been, before. When she was finally done with it, she allowed the body to drop to the ground after retrieving her weapon, before she warily looked back at you, trying to catch her breath again as she did.

“Some bodyguard, huh?” She remarked, and you winced upon catching onto the sarcastic tone she’d adopted into her voice, as the comment was made.

You flushed a little, bowing your head as you tried to search for an explanation in regard to your previous behaviour. She didn’t need it, but she couldn’t help, but find the way in which you stammered over your words for a brief moment more amusing than the movements of the Infected attackers had been, a brief moment ago, now.

“I - I panicked, I-.. I don’t know what happened, I’m really-” You managed, but she shook her head subconsciously as she crouched before you, her expression softening all the more as her gaze met your own again.

“It’s okay,” she reassured you gently, “we all make mistakes, remember? You more than me, though, clearly.”

“Yeah, yeah, way to rub it in even more,” you murmured a little faintly, evidently embarrassed again, only making her grin even more over at you, to the point she couldn’t bring herself to fight it back much anymore, especially not around you, when things were finally more - at ease - between you both, now. You looked nervous again, even fidgeting with your fingers a little, as she cautiously looked around the two of you to make sure there were no more of the stragglers around, but she couldn’t say she saw any, or heard any, by now, for that matter. She expressed relief, before making to get up off of the ground again, when you continued cautiously, as if you were afraid of what she’d say, next, if whatever you had planned in mind came out wrong, somehow: “Ellie-”

It didn’t come out, at all. She offered you her right hand, and you seemed to tense up a little again, words forgotten as you stared at her offering for a little while, before allowing your gaze to meet her own again, somehow, without any panic befalling you whatsoever. Instead, it was replaced by a feeling of contentment, and the warmth that came with it, filtering in through your chest, back up to your face again; you only hoped she didn’t notice; that maybe the trees were enough to block the sun from making it all the more clearer to her that you had somehow found yourself beginning to blush, somehow, as she encouraged you to get up off of the ground alongside her, knowing the two of you probably shouldn’t stay out here for too long, for fear of discovery by all types of things, but - mostly - she wanted to ensure that you could both just - be, in the confines of a safe place together, where you could hopefully talk without interruption, somehow, and that was why she found herself leading you back toward your tent, all over again.

XVI

Of course, people talked when they saw the two of you, and you rolled your eyes whenever you heard them. Besides, nothing weird was going on, but they always made it seem like there was, somehow. Ellie kept her head low, as you asked those you passed nonchalantly how their days were going, before you both finally got to the flaps of your tent, and you held one of them open to get her inside.

“So - that was-” Ellie began awkwardly, as you said: “I’m really sorry-”

The both of you fell quiet, your cheeks flushing again as she winced, though a soft smile fought to play on her lips again in response to this development.

“You go first,” she offered, albeit timidly, and you raised your eyebrows, before you shook your head timidly, managing a wary smile up at her as you lifted your right hand up as if to offer the gesture back to her; the bandage made it a little difficult to do so, but she knew what you meant, and she hesitated, before deciding to accept your offering, though it made her feel guilty in a way, wondering what would happen if you spoke first, instead of her; where you both would be, now, together, but she tried to push it away, trying to tell herself it was probably just a stupid, small thing like her own remark turned out to be. “I was - er - basically just saying that it was - awkward, out there; tense - all those people - y’know,” she appeared a little embarrassed, and you frowned, before nodding gravely - it certainly had been, though you wished it wouldn’t be like that again; the way it was, when you and Bianca had started seeing one another more often than you ever had, before, in front of the others. It still made your shoulders slump a little, as your heart in turn sank from its original place, to think she was truly just-.. gone, now, no matter what; you never thought you’d lose her, like that, before, and so it just- “what did you want to say?”

You appeared taken aback, wincing as you recovered your train of thought, but it had never happened like that, before.

“E-Er-.. I just - wanted-.. t-to-.. shit,” you uttered, evidently a little panicked, and she couldn’t help, but grin sheepishly over at you, as though she saw past your panic with no trouble at all, her eyes glinting ever so slightly as she did.

Others would probably just tell you to snap out of it; things felt so - strange, today. Although, you couldn’t deny they’d been that way, since Ellie had first arrived here, the way that she did, before.

“Well, you know where the toilet is, right? Don’t do it in front of me - ever, okay?” She commented, and you rolled your eyes, though it was an effort to fight back the giggle that wanted to escape you, the way it did, then.

You sighed, before shaking your head gravely, and she tilted her head partially, her eyes narrowing a little curiously over at you as you tried to find the right words again, wishing the fluttering that began again in your stomach would dissipate as fast as it had come, but - to no avail - it stayed there, all the same, throughout this moment in time, for too many reasons unbeknownst to you, though the feeling was nonetheless familiar to you, at this point in time. Especially after what had taken place between you and Bianca, before.

“You know I didn’t mean that,” you mustered up, eventually, and she raised her eyebrows skeptically again, only making your face burn more as you kept your gaze stuck down at the ground beneath you, wishing you didn’t find it hard to talk to her all the time, whenever you were especially close to her, like you were, now. “I just-.. I wanted to say-..” You grunted, as if frustration was overwhelming you, by now. “Ellie-”

“Take your time,” she cooed gently, and you felt even more numb when you realised she was stood ever closer to you, her right hand resting upon your left shoulder again as her eyes now bore into your own, as if searching for something you yourself didn’t even know you could find there, somehow - it was almost like… she could see - everything, about you, all in the space of a few seconds, and you didn’t realise you’d neglected to talk, until she herself spoke up again, clearing her throat as if trying to regain focus herself, somehow. “Look, maybe-.. maybe you’re over-tired,” she mused, “have a nap?” The idea did sound quite appealing, actually, until you no longer felt her hand delicately squeezing your shoulder the way it did, before. “I can go, if you want me to-? I don’t want to interrupt, or anything, if-”

“No,” you managed weakly, and she faltered, her expression softening as she glanced back at you again, before she could even reach to open the tent flap up again, the way you had, a brief moment ago, now. “I - I just-.. shit, I’m sorry,” you began again, and the soft smile fought with Ellie’s conscience again, “okay, I think I know what I wanted to say before.”

She fully turned toward you again, curious as she awaited for you to continue, before she realised maybe you wanted her to prompt you to continue, first, though she couldn’t imagine why, you looking a little apprehensive as if battling yourself over whether she’d want to hear what you had to say, or not, somehow. Of course she had to appease you, smiling softly in your direction again as she directed you to sit down again beside her upon the edge of your bed, which you did so, with a further great reluctance, this time.

“I’m listening,” she reassured, and you warily smiled back at her, but it didn’t linger long upon your lips, before you’d averted your gaze again, fidgeting with your fingers as she wondered how bad this could possibly be, somehow, compared to what she’d had to say, earlier, in regard to the suspicious gazes of those probably eavesdropping, for all that the both of you knew, right now.

“It’s probably stupid, but-..” You began again nonetheless nervously, her listening patiently to every word again as you pondered, her focus never faltering, even when you found yourself stammering and stumbling over your sentences again, the way that you did earlier around her, as well. “I just-.. I wanted to say - I’m sorry,” you stated, and she looked confused again, but that didn’t prompt her to interrupt, her knowing better than to do so, especially when you made to continue again shortly after that brief moment, your eyes darkening a little as you thought back to Bianca all over again, “the others, if - if they’re making you feel uncomfortable, I can-”

“No,” she interrupted gently, and you appeared taken aback again, your heart skipping a beat as she rested her left hand softly upon your’s, and you couldn’t help it as you allowed your gaze to meet her own again, prompting you to have to fight back a shudder, though you weren’t sure why, a pained expression on your face as you kept your head low, again, knowing you couldn’t lose control of yourself - not now. Although, you did wonder what it would mean, if you just inched a little closer to her than you had, already. “It’s fine; they don’t make me feel anything like that, okay? Don’t worry,” she cooed, and you expressed relief, “to be honest, when I see them looking at us, I find it just-.. well, comical, I guess - it’s like.. they don’t know what to make of us; it’s hard not to laugh, whenever I think of them, and see them like that.”

You smiled softly back at her, evidently relieved as you looked back at her again, your heart pounding too fast the way it had been, before, though you weren’t sure why, and were scared - at the same time - you’d put everything together, soon enough, in regard to your feelings toward her presence around you, the way it was, now.

“Good,” you responded, and it relaxed her to hear how exasperated you sounded, whilst the smile still reflected through your voice, right now, suggesting you were at least more at ease, than you had been, a little earlier, by now, “that - that’s good.”

“It - It is, isn’t it?” She reflected alongside you, as she herself smiled a little more warmly back at you, though her heart stuttered in her chest as she did, somehow. Silence passed between the two of you again, and she felt her face growing too warm alongside your’s the longer her eyes were locked within your own bright orbs. She rubbed the back of her neck, managing a breathy ‘so’ as she tried to bring herself back to the moment in real time again.

You winced, realising you’d got carried away in her eyes again as you rolled your own orbs at yourself, before awkwardly clearing your throat, and bowing your head back down again.

“We should-.. probably-”

“Yeah,” Ellie agreed, reluctantly, as she made to get back up off of the bed again, though it made her feel emptier than before to do so like she did, then, “I’ll, er - I’ll see you tomorrow, again, right?”

“I should think so, considering I am your bodyguard, now, aren’t I?” You reminded her, the smile playing faintly upon your own lips again, alongside her own, now, as soon as she were reminded of your and her previous conversation, together.

“Oh yeah; the inexperienced bodyguard game,” she mused, and you pouted a little up at her, but she maintained her view, until she decided she couldn’t leave such a title in the air, anymore, “I’m just kidding - you know I am; you’ll get there, eventually - I know you will, even if takes you years to do so.”

She stopped before the tent flaps again, her heart jolting a little as soon as she heard you voice her name gently again.

“Tomorrow,” you began timidly, “we’ll be on duty together; Lyla’s okay with it, so-.. I was thinking, could I - show you someplace? I, er-.. I like going there to think, sometimes, and I was hoping maybe you’d like it there, too - it - it’a okay if you don’t want to - of course it is, I just-”

“I’d love to,” she reassured you, and you forgot how to breathe all over again, your eyes hopelessly locking with her own again, “you’d better get some sleep; I expect my bodyguards to be up bright and early for me, no matter how inefficient they may be, sometimes. Tomorrow, yeah?”

You expressed relief again, smiling a little sheepishly up at her, before you nodded, and managed to find your voice again, somehow, though it seemed it easily went away all over again, regardless, whenever you found yourself in the blessing of her presence, again.

“Tomorrow, bright and early,” you confirmed a little breathlessly, as if still trying to recompose yourself, somehow.

She appeared more at ease, again, though she hated the idea of having to leave you, the way that she did.

“Good,” she responded timidly, “I look forward to seeing you there.”

“I’m glad; I look forward to seeing you there, too,” you returned softly, and she lingered for a brief moment, trying to hide the pained expression on her face that came with having to leave you, the way that she knew she should, but she knew she couldn’t stay there all day, as she nodded her head faintly, before managing a quiet ‘night’, and pushing herself to leave, whilst the hurt process - for the both of you, this time - seemed to begin, dreadfully all over again.

XVII

You hardly slept, that night, tormented by old memories you’d made alongside Bianca, whilst your heart pounded too quickly against your ribcage again.

“Oh, c’mon,” you heard her say in your head, whining and appearing a little disappointed as you sat back down upon the edge of your bed again, finding yourself anxious that you’d only make things worse, if you tried to continue dancing with her, the way you had, then.

“I’m sorry,” you responded, the edges of your vision hazy as you imagined one another together, her arms around you as her eyes silently begged you to get up again for her, at least one more time, anyway, before you both had to go back home again to the others, like you had to do so as well - albeit nothing but begrudgingly, every time before, “look, maybe-.. maybe I’m just not graceful enough to learn this; maybe we should just-”

“We’re not going back home; not until I set this right,” she’d responded, that day, making it all the more harder to breathe as you’d glanced back up at her, nothing short of timidly, as if you were afraid of just making things worse, somehow, if you didn’t convince her to give up on you, the way you wished she would, now, before it could grow to be too late for her to do so, already, surely a prospect not too far away, at the time, “look-” You remembered how she’d sighed, sounding exasperated with the moment; how she longed to hold you close again, the way she had before. “Maybe you aren’t graceful, enough, or it’s the fact that maybe you just need to trust me enough to let me lead.”

You remembered how you’d smiled, then, as she’d offered you her right hand to help you back up off of the bed. How you’d then taken it within your left hand, before allowing her to spin you around as you’d advanced up before her. She’d giggled, then, and for a brief moment, you wished you could hear it again, somehow. That was when the angels came.

Your eyelids fluttered open again lazily, and everything was much too bright; the sun glared through the material of your tent, not strong enough to fight it back as you groaned, turning away from it, but it wasn’t enough to make the atmosphere any better, or easier to handle, for you. You grunted, raising your right hand up to your eyes to rub them; you didn’t notice the two of your companions, their shadows blurred beyond recognition, as of this moment, until they finally decided to speak up, and therefore startle you when you least needed them to do so, right now.

“Jeez - it looks like you had another of those rough nights, am I right?” Diana remarked, and you rolled your eyes upon recognition of her voice, a few paces away from you, by now.

“Hi, Diana,” you replied awkwardly, your voice straining a little aa you sat up, groaning as you did as if your back pained you as you stretched your arms upwards, trying to prepare yourself hastily for the day ahead of you, arrived much too soon, “what do you need, now?”

The girl appeared a little dismayed, as well as puzzled, looking toward Shalyla, as if the two had the ability to Shine with one another, somehow.

“You’re meant to be riding out with Ellie, today, remember?” Your sister reminded you gently, and - of course - Diana being Diana, couldn’t resist to tease you as best she could, to keep the dark parts of you away from hurting you again, somehow.

“More like riding on Ellie,” she remarked, and you tensed up, taken aback by her comment as Shalyla winced, trying not to giggle in response to her as you rolled your eyes, trying to hide that what she’d said had most definitely had some effect on you, no matter what it meant to do so; you didn’t dare think too deeply on it, shaking your head gravely, before you began to recall what you’d been planning on doing today; how you’d wanted to show her an old Campground of your fancy; you’d often felt quite safe there, at times, the parties the previous owners held being of a bright time for you and your sister, until - of course - Outbreak Day had come, deeming it no longer usable as long as danger were on the horizon, which it very much still was, now, no matter the talk of some distant cure you’d heard, over the years.

“Shit, okay,” you murmured, quickly getting out of your bed to try and get yourself ready as fast as you possibly could, trying your best to ignore Diana as much as you possibly could, though you couldn’t deny her comment had got to you, more than anything ever had, before, somehow.

“Wow, that was quick - right, Lyla?” She continued, and Shalyla awkwardly nodded, though she knew it would probably be inappropriate for her to begin heightening her own suspicions, as well, given that she could somewhat sense a connection between you and Ellie, especially the day after she’d first arrived, here.

“That it was,” she mused, and you rolled your eyes again, evidently annoyed at the both of them, by now.

“I wonder why-”

“Look, I don’t know what you guys are thinking, but-.. there’s nothing going on, between me and Ellie, okay?” You interjected a little sharply, but Shalyla knew you; she heard the hesitation in your voice; noticed how your expression softened when you spoke her name again before them. You sighed heavily, as the two of them shared a half-hearted look of knowing, though - at the same time - they didn’t exactly know what to think of the notion itself, at play here, between the two of you, now, especially after Bianca hadn’t been gone for long, by now, the way that things were. “I need to go,” you murmured, sounding a little more dejected than before as you meandered around the two of them, more than certainly avoiding their gazes, but you knew you couldn’t hide from them forever; you’d just have to deal with that fact, as you strolled resignedly toward the stable area, having to fight off - as you went, somehow - the painful memories of you and Bianca again.

XVIII

Ellie was already ready, and waiting for you to join her, guiding her mare slowly toward the edge of the clearing as you slowly approached, a pained expression on your face which you tried to hide, until you’d edged closer, and had to finally lift your head up to her again. She smiled softly, before waving over at you, and you timidly waved back at her, before jogging the rest of the way over to your black stallion, Gizmo. Christopher was holding the reins of his bridle, evidently waiting impatiently for you to get to the two, and once he finally saw you approaching, he kept the steed steady as you climbed on, hauling your right leg over and your foot into the stirrup, before you pulled the rest of yourself up, and steadied yourself within the saddle, thanking your assisting companion as he offered the reins to you again.

You could feel her gaze flicker over to you again as you winced, trying not to glance over at her, no matter how much you wished you could do so, right now, your heart skipping too many beats at a time as you kept your head low, and gestured with your right hand for her to begin the journey out, if she wished to do so.

“I thought you were going to be doing the leading, today?” She mused, and you rolled your eyes, forgetting yourself, as she subconsciously grinned in your direction, sensing the frustration rolling off of you, though she wasn’t yet sure what the cause of it seemed to be, during this brief moment in time.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just tired after-..” You sighed, before running your right hand over your eyes again, as if it would wake you up some more, somehow. “Whatever; last night was rough, that’s all,” you added a little more dismissively, and she raised her eyebrows, but didn’t have much time else to react, as you squeezed a little Gizmo’s sides, prompting the stallion to snort, before he began to walk toward the entrance of the forest surrounding the area, where the trails usually began, the way they did, here.

She winced, quickly easing her mare into a trot alongside you as the two of you - at first - briefly travelled in silence together, until she managed to bring herself to speak up again, knowing she should, given that the journey would be awkward, if she didn’t manage to do so, but at the same time, she couldn’t help, but find herself longing to hear your voice again, somehow.

“What’re you thinking about?” She inquired, curious, and you tensed up a little, but tried to ease yourself up again quickly, as to not worry the steed below you.

With great reluctance, you turned your head toward her, and she smiled softly again back at you, though she tried to keep it faint as best she could, not wanting to be too optimistic around you, though it was hard for her not to be, though she still couldn’t imagine why, somehow.

“Why would you want to know?” You questioned, not unkindly, and she fell quiet again for a brief moment, trying to find the right words to say again.

“Look - I can see something’s wrong; if you just talk to me, maybe-”

“There’s nothing wrong,” you interjected a little too sharply, and it even hurt you to hear it, especially when you noticed that she appeared a little dejected, now, alongside you, as if it had pierced her much too deeply for it to be a normal reaction, if you really didn’t mean as much to her as you feared you didn’t right now, still. You sighed heavily, and she warily glanced over at you again, wondering if maybe there was something else she could do for you, but she wasn’t sure; it still grew hard for her to read much of you, though she wished she could do so even more, by now, no matter what the situation at hand, here. “I just-.. it’s like I said earlier; I had a rough night, El - that’s all there is to it, now,” you managed, and she frowned, before nodding gravely in response to your half-hearted claim, the way that it was, then.

“Look, if you wanna go back-?” She suggested, and you winced, subconsciously gritting your teeth as you did; you couldn’t fathom the idea of having to turn back so soon, especially when a part of you was still eager to spend more time with her, somehow, without it appearing suspicious for you to want to do so, though you couldn’t imagine why anyone would view it in such a curious light as the others back at the camp were, now, somehow.

“No,” you managed, and she would appear a little taken aback again, though - in a curious way - it relieved her, however, her heart skipping a beat as she smiled down at the reins again, thinking about how nice it would be, if things weren’t so risky the way that they were, now. If things were right with the world again; or - at least - somewhat more peaceful, anyway. She dreamt of many things, but it always seemed like - especially now - they would never come true, no matter how much she wished they could, sometimes, especially now. “I have to show you this place; it - it always helps me, when I need to think about things; it should do the same, for you, and we’ll probably get the bonus of being able to take out the infected, whilst enjoying the sanctity of the area around us,” you insisted, and she appeared a little more at ease again alongside you, grinning a little back at you again as she wondered how she’d never noticed the way your eyes sparkled in the sunlight, before. “Is - Is that okay?” You asked, your voice suddenly - smaller, than it was before.

“Is what okay?” She inquired, appearing a little puzzled; she’d got too distracted by the glimmer in your colourful orbs, to take any notice of your previous statement, the way she had the ones that you’d voiced to her, before, until this brief moment in time, now.

You appeared skeptical alongside her, wondering what she, too, was thinking, but - nonetheless - you decided to answer her, anyway, knowing you shouldn’t think too deeply about it, the way that you had, then.

“Would you-.. still like to go to that site, with me? Y’know, if you’re up for it, and stuff - I just-”

“I’d love to,” she interjected gently, and you faltered as soon as her gaze met your own again, “you know I would - Y/n-”

“Good, that - that’s good,” you managed a little softer, as if you didn’t want her to hear you, then, as you kept your head low, trying to keep breaths even, and a sense of ease about you, but you found it difficult to maintain around her, though you couldn’t understand why, still, feeling safe around her, and as if you enjoyed her company more than perhaps you thought you should, the two of you only still recently acquainted, after all, at this point in time, “thank you; it - it means a lot to me - it really does, I promise.”

“Then I’m glad for it,” she added, in turn, “but we should probably hurry up; it’s getting a bit colder out here already, and I’m not sure, but I think I can hear some signs of undead life nearby.”

“Undead life?” You mused, and she grinned again, before shrugging a little sheepishly, and allowing a brief second for her gaze to fall upon you once more, the way it did, then, her heart beating much too quickly alongside your’s, but it didn’t stop her from buzzing at the feeling, all the same, especially not when you were with her, the way that you still were, now, and hopefully could for at least a little while longer, anyway.

“You know what I mean,” she answered in a vague manner, and you playfully rolled your eyes, before deciding to play dumb, though - of course - you knew what she meant; of course you did, especially when you heard the faint clicking and groans sounding out amongst the creaking of trees and shaking of brambles, nearby the both of you, the way that it was, now.

“Infected?” You took an uncertain sounding guess, and she raised her eyebrows in your direction again, but she didn’t bother to answer you, instead teasingly claiming you to be an idiot, before you protested playfully alongside her, the smile sounding out beneath your words all the while.

Again, you found yourself distracted in the good things that were still living, whilst she, too, began a replay of the dreams in her head, but it wasn’t until you’d both made it to the alternate campsite that she knew for a fact that maybe - just maybe, things could be okay again - for now, anyway.

XIX

You dropped down from your steeds’ saddle, first, admiring the area; it was standing well, regardless of all that had taken place, recently. You couldn’t deny, though, that you missed the way it was, before the events following Outbreak Day had taken place, the way they had, before.

“Ruby’s Inn Campground-?” Ellie read off one of the rotting signs in the area, before she - too - dismounted her mare, and jogged up to you, as your eyes perused the clearing.

“It’s a resting place,” you mused, and she raised her eyebrows over at you, before looking around her as if to check the two of you weren’t followed her; even if the area were as nice as you’d insisted it would be, that didn’t mean it was safe from any more - aggressive - disturbances. “So - what do you think?” You inquired, sounding a little nervous as she perched her rucksack upon a stump sticking out of the ground, bare and worn, weeds growing around its edges as if the wild were taking it over still, abandoned RVs and all.

“It’s - quiet, for sure,” she answered slowly, as if thinking of everything she could merit it for, though she’d seen many places, by now, and couldn’t bring herself to be much affectionate toward them, especially not after Joel had brought her to the Science and History Museum back in Wyoming, a few years ago, now.

“Makes it easy to think about things,” you added delicately, and she couldn’t help, but smile a little half-heartedly down at the ground again, not sure what it was exactly that brought such a reaction upon her, however. Sometimes she wished it would stop; that she could just run away again - maybe it would be better if she did; she could go back to Jackson, try and sort herself out again, but there were so many things telling her she should stay; that things wouldn’t get any better, even if she decided to return the way she had thought of doing so, a brief moment before, now.

“It’s also-.. certainly - well.. peaceful, I guess, but-”

“You don’t like it?” You guessed, trying to hide that it had dejected you a little, to think in such a manner, the way you had done, then.

“Of course I like it,” she contradicted, but it sounded strained, and you knew you shouldn’t have wasted her time, wincing as you gave the clearing an almost apologetic and forlorn look, as if you intended to move back onto the original trail again sooner, rather than later, but she couldn’t let this moment end so fast, catching your right arm within her hand as you tensed up again, your heart pounding too fast again as soon as you felt her skin against your’s. “Hey, I didn’t mean to say that I wanted to go so fast, did I? Let’s stay and have a little look around for a while, shall we?” She suggested, and you appeared a little more at ease, your eyes glinting back at her as you beamed softly in her direction, somehow making it harder for her to breathe as soon as her eyes locked with your own again, somehow, without her feeling lost within herself, again, as well as guilty over Dina; what had come before, between the two of them, in comparison to where she was now, with you, wondering where everything would start; how it would undoubtedly end all over again, in the near future, most likely.

She sighed a little shakily, before clearing her throat awkwardly, and averting her gaze as fast as she possibly could, though it pained her somehow to do so, by now.

“I - I’d love that,” you managed, trying not to allow your voice to tremble, and she expressed relief, then, the guilt that had flooded over her a brief moment ago soon faltering as she beamed sheepishly over at you, before offering you her right hand to hold, which you accepted from her, without hesitation.

You were certain you would have lost control of yourself; your senses, right then and there, before her, though you weren’t sure what you’d do, startling yourself a little as you thought to glance down at her lips, your heart pounding on much too confidently as her eyes grew a little lighter alongside your own, somehow, before she gave your hand a gentle squeeze, and eased you out of your tight consciousness: “where would you like to start, first?”

XX

“They used to host parties, here,” you recalled slowly, “even before the Outbreak got-.. well-.. really bad. I guess they did it to boost morale, sometimes; things felt so low, so slow; time just seemed-.. redundant - it still does; of course it does, with everything still-.. y’know.” You sighed a little exasperatedly, and Ellie wore a thoughtful expression upon her soft facial features, not daring to look over at you again after it had made her feel too much all at once, again, the way it did, a brief moment ago, now. “Anyway, there were some really fun times here,” you added a little more timidly, as if embarrassed at yourself for not stating that generally, before.

It was then she couldn’t resist a faint glance over at you, noticing the pained expression on your face, as if you were still plagued by such memories playing within your head, at a recollection of such a place as this one.

“Not so fun, anymore?” She guessed, and you tensed up a little, prompting her to wince slightly in response to your reaction, as if you’d been struck by a crowbar all of a sudden, an evident and unseen strength to her words that she now wished she could take back faster than she’d even said them, then.

The silence that befell the both of you didn’t last for long. You managed a weak smile over at her as if to console her, only making the achey feeling worse within her, though she couldn’t imagine why; you being in pain seemed to be enough to pain her, by now, even though it had only been for a few days that you’d both known each other, by now.

“You could say that,” you answered truthfully, returning your gaze to the bare sight that lay before the both of you, the way that it did, now, “things-.. just haven’t been the same, since-..”

You sighed heavily again, and she didn’t dare question what was going through your head, right now, knowing it wouldn’t be appropriate - nor would it even be easy - for her to do so, given the way it made her feel, to see you so dejected as you were, a brief moment ago, now. Instead, she decided to think on what the parties might have been like, having never been able to attend one, herself, before.

“Did you dance?” She asked, her voice a little quieter, but nonetheless sheepish and playful, as the two of you continued to walk slowly side-by-side around the wild RVs left behind, by now.

You appeared puzzled, at first, by the question, side-eyeing her slightly for a brief moment as you tried to figure out what she could mean, until you finally decided to give in, not in the presence of enough awake mental capacity to figure it out for yourself, right now, especially not after the night you’d found yourself having, a few hours ago, now.

“Did I what-?” You replied, none the wiser, and she couldn’t help, but playfully roll her eyes in response to your own question, before she teasingly nudged your right arm with her left elbow just to ensure that you knew she didn’t mind your previous state of sheer dumbness and part ignorance, as presented within you, before.

“At the parties you went to,” she clarified, and you then understood completely, your heart sinking a little again as you tried not to let the pain reach your eyes again, no matter how much it wanted to do so, right then and there, Bianca filling your mind and soul again, the way she had, so many times before, now, “did you dance at them?”

“Not much,” you answered vaguely, and she appeared half-bewildered; half-exhilarated by such a response as that one was.

“‘Not much’? Are you kidding me, right now? Y/n-”

“Okay - not a lot, then,” you corrected yourself half-heartedly, as she raised her eyebrows again, but you continued before she could protect anymore than she already had, a brief moment ago, now, “I guess I just-.. I never really cared for dancing as such, okay? I’m not even that good at it, anyway.” A soft smile seemed to play on your lips, but she didn’t need to ask why, before you continued on a little softer than you did, before. “Bianca-.. she-.. tried to teach me, sometimes,” you added, and Ellie’s expression softened again at the way your voice seemed to tremble a little, sounding a lot more strained in will than it ever had, before, in all the times she’d ever heard you speaking, before now, “that’s how I met her. I-..”

The smile collapsed almost as fast as it had come, and her heart sank alongside your own, a pained expression on your face again as she tried to think of the right words to say that could try and bring you back to her, somehow.

“You haven’t danced, since then?” She guessed gently, and you seemed a little frustrated with yourself, smiling sadly back at her, before shaking your head a little faintly as if it were hurting the very core of you to even move, at this point.

“There’s-.. not been much point in trying, anymore, since we-.. yeah,” you murmured, and Ellie knew the feeling, nodding gravely alongside you, before a perhaps risky idea struck her hard in the face, and she suddenly found herself wielding a lot more energy than she ever had, before.

“Then.. why don’t you try and dance again, now-? Maybe it would be easier - who knows? You might even enjoy it more-”

You scoffed, and she tilted her head partially over at you, standing her ground as you shook your head, wondering why she’d even think something like that, right now.

“You seriously think I’d want to do that, again, after everything I’ve told you, today?” You murmured, and she shrugged, unperturbed, before nodding as if she weren’t afraid of what you might say in response to her doing so, right now, your connection to Bianca, and all that playing quite an overbearing prominence, here.

“Yeah,” she answered simply, “why not?”

“El,” you uttered a little exasperatedly again, and she watched you keenly, though still with an expression of solidarity, alongside sympathy; she understood how you felt, losing Bianca the way you had, as well as your little sister, and she then knew - of course she did - how difficult it was to go on with life after such occurrences, but she didn’t want you to lose sight of the things that made life seem more-.. full, sometimes, regardless of the losses you can have, sometimes.

“Look,” she began slowly, her eyes expressing caution, as well as concern, as she held your hands carefully within her own, blocking your way forward as she tried desperately to restore your faith in what was lost, somehow, all whilst she found herself wishing more than anything that she could do the same for herself, after everything that had come down upon her before this moment in time, by now, “I know it’s hard, but-.. you can’t give up on what makes you whole, okay?”

“Ellie-”

She didn’t heed your interjections, eyes full of a new determination you’d never seen flare up within her, before, the way it did, now, eyes still locked confidently and contently with your’s, to the point it got hard for you to breathe in their wake, all over again.

“I didn’t know Bianca,” she began again sharply, but her voice didn’t grow less soft than it was, now, only making it harder for you to not break yourself down, all over again, especially before her, when her eyes were seeking something deeper than what she could determine on the surface of your gaze; she was trying to breach even your soul, perhaps, and sometimes you feared it was working, and much too quickly, at that - perhaps that was what Shalyla and Diana meant, when they’d made the comments they did, earlier, “but I know enough to determine that you both were close, okay? I’m sorry for what happened; I’m sorry I didn’t come and help you guys fight any earlier than I did-”

“What? Ellie, that’s not-”

“But she wouldn’t want you to give up on the little things you both loved to do, the most,” she concluded even softer, and that was when you gave in, faltering as though you knew she was right; Bianca probably hated you right now, for the way you’d been acting, recently - dejectedly; typically broken apart since you’d realised she was just - gone, the day you’d first met Ellie, the way you did. You cursed a little shakily, and she smiled apologetically over at you, as if still afraid that maybe her approach wasn’t as good as she’d thought it might be, a brief moment ago, now. “So, what do you say? Am I right, or-? Am I right?” She inquired, and you hesitated, surveying her a little skeptically, albeit with a somewhat warm gaze, as your heart beat steadily alongside her own again.

“Jesus, Ellie,” you murmured a little timidly, again, as if frustrated, but she somehow knew you better than that; she knew you didn’t mean it in a bad way, just perhaps in a oh-my-god-why-is-she-so-persuasive-way.

At least, she hoped that that was the case here, anyway, considering the situation at hand, here.

“C’mon,” she complained, almost whining, and certainly pouting over at you as you rolled your eyes again, before shrugging in a dumbfounded manner, and questioning your existence as you took a long time - somewhat purposefully, at least, just to get her to react some more, the way that she was now, practically begging for you to give in to her, at this point, but still you wouldn’t give, only making her all the more impatient, as well as frustrated, alongside you, but you weren’t so quick to give in like that, before you spoke up again, wanting to at least know why she was so eager to see you dance again, all of a sudden, the way that she did, now.

“Why? Ellie-”

“Okay; I guess I get why it would sound weird, or pointless, but-.. I’ll put it this way; I want to dance with you; you - you could maybe teach me some things, if you want?” She suggested, and you groaned, evidently finding the idea nothing short of a hassle, at this point in time.

“I don’t need to dance with you, El,” you reminded her a little more matter-of-factly, but she didn’t stand down, only grinning all the more as she watched you with an all-knowing gaze, as if she could see right through every part of you. It was humbling, nonetheless, the way she could see you, like Bianca could, before. Your heart stuttered again, and it was hard enough to hide it, the way you tried to do so, right then and there again. “I’m your bodyguard now, anyway - remember me?” You asked a little more dismissively, and she rolled her eyes, before uttering ‘boring’ under her breath, but the lift of her lips’ curves told you she didn’t mean it - of course she didn’t; not anymore, anyway.

“Sure, but that doesn’t change a thing,” she stated plainly, as you tried to seek an easy way out of this, but - at the same time - part of you wondered if an escape was what you really wanted, especially when she were here with you, the way she was, now, “yes, you’re my bodyguard now, and guess what that means? I expect you to guard me at all times-”

‘Even on the dance floor,’ you both concluded, and you sighed heavily, wondering how you’d even found yourself here, at this point, with her still beaming expectantly over at you, eyes aglow with things you wished you could decipher as easily she seemed to be able to do so, everything a part of you, despite your only recent acquaintance, here, at this point in time.

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this, but-” you sighed again, as you awkwardly rubbed the back of your neck using your right hand, what looked like a faint blush invading your cheeks and earlobes as you tried to avoid her gaze again, only to fail miserably as you did, somehow drawn in by every glimmering part of her being, effectively ever since you’d both first met one another, only to gather you enough to give into her completely with a lot more ease, as you grinned stupidly back at her, and couldn’t help the words as they steadily escaped your lips, and much too brightly - “where should we start?”

XXI

You weren’t expecting it to go the way it did; weren’t expecting how she learned as fast as she had to do what you could remember, your heart pounding too fast the whole of the way.

“You’re a natural at this,” you remarked, and she appeared a little embarrassed, as if she were still trying to hide something from you, but you could tell it wasn’t something fatally serious, as her lips curled up at the edges a little into a soft and sweet smile.

You couldn’t think much during that moment; you just noticed the way your heart slipped a beat, especially when your gaze tried hard not to fall upon the smile the way it wished to do so, a brief moment ago, now.

“Yeah, well, you’re clearly an excellent teacher,” she claimed, as the two of you warily kept hold of one another, feeling much too close together, without being able to part any further than you wondered if you should, right now.

You narrowed your eyes a little, even raising your eyebrows in her direction as you tried not to give into her too quickly, all over again, the way you had before.

“Possibly,” you agreed half-heartedly, though you knew you weren’t as good as she was making you out to be; Bianca had often tried to flatter you, as well, even when you accidentally stood upon her toes, at times, “or-” Her easy demeanour seemed to falter again. “You already know how to dance, and this is just an excuse to dance with me - what do you think, El?” You inquired, and she looked speechless for a moment, as if trying to find a way to escape this situation, somehow. “Don’t worry about it; I appreciate it, anyway,” you soothed, and she expressed relief, though she wished it didn’t flatter her as much as you had managed to, like you did, then, a roll of goosebumps prickling along her arms as you twirled her a little, and she warily followed your lead.

“Where did you learn how to do this, anyway?” She pried, and you winced, as if it were your turn to be embarrassed, now, somehow.

“You really like asking questions, don’t you?” You returned, and she appeared taken aback, remembering how Joel had once commented upon her inquisitive nature, a few years ago, now, before he’d taken her away from the fireflies the way he did, then. She still felt guilty for that, sometimes; the way she’d reacted to it, but she still found it difficult to think about how he’d lied to her like that, the first time she’d questioned such a rescue. “El-?” You continued gently, and she winced, realising she’d faltered in her step, before she managed to recompose herself again, and managed a faint apologetic smile over at you somehow.

“Sorry, I just-.. I don’t know what happened, I’m sorry - am I doing it right, now?” She inquired, and you tried not to ponder too much upon what might had crossed her mind the way it did, a brief moment ago, now.

“You’re doing it perfectly,” you reassured her gently, and she expressed relief, evidently glad, though she wished she could try and hold back the vulnerability you managed to pry out of her, “and it’s probably not that interesting, but - to answer your question - I learnt this in a violent assassin cult out in the Alps; it was part of our control regiment.”

Ellie raised her eyebrows, evidently surprised as she tilted her head partially, the glint in your eyes somehow appealing to her as being not entirely a truthful one, right now.

“Seriously?” She replied, and you - in turn - grinned sheepishly over at her, before shrugging your shoulders vaguely, prompting her to roll her eyes playfully, before she gently punched your shoulder, prompting you to giggle barely audible as she shook her head, tilting her head partially over at you as she awaited your true knowledge, genuinely curious to hear more about your own experiences, especially seeing as you seemed to understand her a lot more than some other people she’d met here ever had, before.

“It’s true,” you insisted, not very convincingly, as she snorted, before uttering ‘you dick’ as she had to try and stifle her own rising giggles, in response to your own, alongside her.

“C’mon,” she whined, evidently eager to know, no matter how boring the truth might be, in this case.

“Fine - you caught me,” you gave in as you timidly smiled over at her again, before warily averting your gaze as if you were afraid of allowing a wrong look to show; to grow too obvious, though you feared - at the same time - it wouldn’t make a difference, at this point. Not when you’d both caught one another looking at each other like that, before. “That wasn’t true-.. well, no - it feels like it was close to the truth, anyway, but admitting that my mother forced me into dancing lessons is so dull, isn’t it?” You guessed, and she raised her eyebrows, grinning over at you, in turn, as she hesitantly made to wrap her arms around you, again.

“It’s good enough,” she reassured you, before silence befell the both of you, as your eyes locked with one another, hearts pounding too quickly again.

“El,” you managed slowly, and she appeared nervous again, even as you allowed yourself to return her embrace, the way you did, then.

“You know anymore moves, at all? You are the teacher, remember?” She reminded you, but the smile never left her face all the while, though it seemed a little more weak, this time.

You couldn’t help it, as you giggled softly again; you couldn’t deny that it felt good, being here with someone again, like this, but it didn’t stop the faint ache that eroded you down gradually slowly, over and over again.

“Look, if this - if this is just an excuse to get close to me, I quit,” you remarked, and she raised her eyebrows again, though it amused her to see you a little more flustered than you were, before; the blush that invaded your cheeks again, somehow, after she’d raised her right hand timidly up to your left cheek, now warm with the blood that pulsed just beneath her palm.

“No excuse, don’t worry - besides,” she continued a little more brightly, as if anticipating what it could mean for you both, being able to be this close to one another, by now, “if I want to get close to you-” She inched even closer, and you tensed up even more within her arms. “I could just go somewhere people will shoot at me, and then wait for you to shout at me for doing so,” she speculated, and you winced - in turn - knowing she was right.

“Fair enough - so, what do you want to-?” You both faltered, hearing the click of a gun a few paces away from you, but it was too late to react to it, the bang sounding out before either of you could even open your mouths to speak, or shout, and she didn’t know what to do for a brief moment, time seeming to slow down and blur around her, as soon as she noticed the blood beginning to pour down from your right side.

XXII

Once the gun-shot had rung out, you didn’t know much of anything anymore. You’d felt the bullet; you didn’t need to look down and see the blood slowly beginning to pour out from where it had sharply penetrated you. You remembered Ellie holding you; saying your name, then shouting. But after that everything got-.. hazy.

You imagined you were back in Bianca’s old apartment, warily watching her as she poured you a generous glass of white wine.

“That much?” You remembered saying, and she grinned sheepishly over at you, a mischievous glint forming within her eyes as she offered you the glass, and you keenly accepted it from her, no matter how nervous you truly were, knowing that if you got drunk now, what might you end up doing before her, and how would it impact your relationship with her, as close as it was, now, after everything that had taken place recently, especially with your little sister going missing not too long ago, now, and all.

“What? You scared of having a little fun, now?” She teased, and you winced, before awkwardly shaking your head, as she smiled sweetly over at you, your heart skipping a beat at a time again. “Drink up; you need it - no, you deserve it, especially after-.. y’know,” she cooed gently, before she winced a little herself, and cleared her throat a little regretfully, busying herself with her own portion, now.

You sighed heavily; you didn’t want people to think they should pity you, or Lyla, for what had happened; you knew it was your fault, and being given sympathetic glances as opposed to spiteful ones didn’t exactly make life any better than the way it was, before this moment in time.

“Why did you bring me here?” You asked a little blankly, avoiding her gaze as she dejectedly, as well as warily, glanced back at you, a pained expression residing upon her face again.

“Your mom, she - she asked me if I could-”

“Great - no, fuck this,” you uttered, but she blocked the door a little exasperatedly before you could get up and flee from her again, and you faltered as you lingered timidly before her, your eyes darkening a little as she tried to catch her breath, as if your closeness to one another had knocked the life source out of her chest, somehow, the way it did, then. “B-”

“She wants the best for you; you know that,” Bianca explained gently, “Y/n, look at me-”

“Can you please just-”

“No - look at me, and then maybe I’ll consider letting you leave, okay?” She bargained, and you groaned, before begrudgingly allowing your eyes to lock with her’s, all over again.

You’d never felt so small before; her eyes were whirlpools of green, flecks of brown, and sometimes you wished you could live within them forever, if only she’d let you, and you had the courage to ask her if it wound be possible for you to do so, somehow. She warily lifted her right hand up to your left cheek, and you tried not to shudder, goosebumps swarming your arms; you were glad you’d decided to wear a shirt, that day, rather than one of your old vests that always seemed dirty, no matter how much you tried to clean them, after a few more further scuffles as you seemed to encounter now, almost every day, here.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she insisted, and you almost yelped at the way the words rolled over you, but you managed to swallow it back, your face feeling numb, and tongue feeling heavy as tears began to invade your own whirlpools again, somehow.

“Don’t,” you warned softly, your voice briefly trembling, and her heart sank at how strained your voice sounded, as if you were in danger of breaking down again, if she pushed any further than she had, already, but she couldn’t let you go on like this; she hated it, seeing the way it seemed to burden you, every day, since the moment the accident had taken place, or kidnapping - whatever it was that had happened to her, the way it did, before.

“Please,” she begged, and you fell quiet, your eyes warily searching her own as she winced again, and tried to swallow the lump that was beginning to form within her own throat, the way that it was, now. “Nobody could have known what was going to happen that day - you know that, right? Y/n-”

“What did my mom ask you to do?” You asked weakly, though you cursed yourself for it, as she frowned again, before bowing her head a little, and releasing her hands from you again.

“She just-.. asked if I could try and distract you for a little while - that’s all,” she reassured you gently, and you nodded gravely - of course you believed her; you’d believed everything she’d ever told you, before this moment in time.

“Well, I think you’ve done a good enough job of that already, so-”

“No, I haven’t,” she contradicted confidently, and you grunted as she held you back from the door leading back out into the too-long and eternally dark hallway, “look, I said I’d be happy to let you go earlier easily, but I’m not - not until you crack a smile for me, at least. Can you do that, for me?”

You couldn’t deny you tried, but it didn’t exactly do much to fight your corner. Begrudgingly, at least.

“Not like that,” she remarked, evidently frustrated, but it didn’t stop her from smiling timidly over at you, again, though it pained her to do so, whenever it resulted in a pained expression flooding over you, on your part of the warm exchange, “I want a genuine smile, okay? And neither of us are leaving here today, until I get one - understood?”

You sighed, and she grinned from ear to ear again, her eyes glinting as you shuffled awkwardly upon the spot, wishing you could just disappear already, if it meant you could curl up and die somewhere much further away from here.

“B - this isn’t-”

“Am I understood, or not, Y/n?” She pried, and you rolled your eyes again, before begrudgingly deciding to give in again, knowing that maybe you should do so, just to make her happy, if it did end up making her happy, anyway, by the end of the day, long as it felt, right now.

“Yes, boss,” you murmured a little exasperatedly again, “so - what do you wanna do, exactly? Or what did my mom suggest we do here, today?”

“She wants me to teach you some things,” she answered vaguely, her eyes glinting even more as she did, your heart skipping a beat painfully as you couldn’t help, but scoff, as a smile fought to show as she took a sip from her own glass of wine, before she leaned a little apprehensively against the bar behind her, again.

“So, let me get this straight,” you began again slowly, as if trying to keep your demeanour precise, no cracks left on show, anymore, the way they had been, before, in response to her attempted consolidation of your self-determined well-deserved demons, “my mom wants you - my personal bodyguard, and kinda best friend - to teach me some things, that aren’t - I’m assuming - anything to do with killing Infected, or those hunters?”

“That’s right,” she answered a bit too brightly, and you raised your eyebrows even further, somehow.

“So we’re not going to be doing what we’re supposed to be doing, basically? We’re just going to be-.. procrastinating, or-?” You guessed, and she scoffed, before rolling her eyes playfully in your direction, only flustering you even more as you winced, and timidly hid your face from her again, but that didn’t mean she missed how embarrassed and slightly red you had found yourself appearing, in response to her previous reaction, the way you did, then.

“I wouldn’t call it procrastinating,” she mused, as she swirled her wine a little, before gesticulating her head toward your own as if to remind you of its existence, given that it was still standing quite alone on the bedside table, the way it was, now. You grunted again, this time more frustrated at yourself for being so negligent again, as you lifted the glass off of the surface within your left hand, and hesitantly raised it up to your lips. The liquid wasn’t quite sparkly - perhaps it had been sitting for a while, the last time it had been here. You couldn’t help, but appreciate it anyway, the sharpness taking you aback as you even spluttered a little at the taste, but once it had settled, you couldn’t help, but drink more, your eyes brightening a little as soon as it had started to get the better of you, the way it seemed to be doing so, by now. It pleased Bianca, to see you enjoying such pleasantries again; you’d been a lot more - subdued, since what had happened, before; it had hurt her to see it, more than anything ever had, since that moment in time. It was nice - being like this with you again. It had been, since she’d first met you. She smiled to herself a little as she thought about that fateful day; how your eyes glinted as soon as she had spoken to you, once her sister had introduced the two of you, a few years ago, now, after Outbreak day had officially been announced, before. “It’s not procrastinating to keep yourself healthy and happy, especially when it comes down to things like - well, drinking and dancing, I guess,” she hinted, and you faltered, feeling cold all over at that; you wondered if you should just get up and run now, before you embarrassed yourself in front of her even more, somehow.

“Wait-”

Bianca pouted, noticing the worried look currently residing upon your face again, the way it had, earlier, after she’d brought up your mom’s intentions again, the way she had, before.

“C’mon - it’s not like I’m gonna shoot you; it’s just a bit of fun, okay? Don’t get so panicked over it-”

“How am I supposed to do that, when I don’t know how to dance? Like - at all?” You questioned, sounding a lot more breathless than you did before. You also looked like you wanted to be sick, as if you wished to force the words back down where they came from, but it was far too late for that, now - even you knew that, no matter how much such a fact harrowed you down to the bone, especially when presented in front of her, the way that it was, then.

“Wait, what? You don’t know how to dance?” She mused, looking like it was hard to not burst out laughing right now, no matter how much she wished to do so, right then and there, at such a revelation.

You sighed heavily, before bowing your head again, wondering how much mercy she would have on you, right now, if she could have any, at all, knowing that about you, the way that she did, now.

“Don’t look at me like that, okay? I sign your pay check, remember?” You reminded her timidly, avoiding her gaze like the plague, though you could still feel her eyes boring into you, the way that they were, now.

“And you won’t stop, no matter what, will you? I’m the one keeping you safe right now, aren’t I? Anyway, the one thing I can promise you right now, is that I won’t laugh, okay? Just - explain. You’ve been going to those campsite parties with me for years, now, and you’ve never learned how to dance?” She questioned, and you rolled your eyes again, wishing she’d just drop it; you didn’t like to be reminded of things like that, especially when they could hopefully be easily rectified, anyway.

“You’ve never noticed?” You pried, and she winced, before shrugging truthfully, because she genuinely hadn’t, at all; she’d often found herself more immersed within the experience - or, failing that, in you, but that didn’t mean she’d noticed your lack of a dancing spirit. “I guess that’s understandable,” you mused a little worriedly, before trying to inject a little more brightness into your voice again, “we both know that I’m excellent at coming up with excuses for things, anyway - right?”

She appeared a little skeptical, but you didn’t have time to react to her doubtful look, as she sighed exasperatedly, before pushing herself off of the bar, and offering you her now free and softly enticing hands.

“On your feet, then - it’s time for you to learn, if anything,” she decided, as you warily glanced up at her offerings, prompting your heart to pound much too fast against your ribcage again. “C’mon,” she encouraged a little impatiently, but nonetheless amusedly, as you brushed off the fear that tried to shake you, picked up your drink again, and allowed her to help you up off of the edge of her bed once more. She giggled, noticing the way you almost fell forward, as if you were tipsy already, despite still having a relatively half-full glass left. She didn’t know how she’d done it, but she’d almost finished her own glass, already, but she knew she should try and drink it slowly, wanting to keep herself responsibly mindful for her sake, as much as your own.

“So, how - how do we-?” You began, as you tried to recover from a burst of giggles that had awkwardly escaped, as if trying to relieve you of the embarrassment you’d faced, falling upon her like you had, a brief moment ago, now.

“First of all - stop stepping on my feet,” she advised, and you winced, shifting your ground again as you apologetically smiled up at her again, but of course she’d already forgiven you - how couldn’t she, when you’d been the centre of her world for so long, now?

“Yeah, well - you put your feet under mine, B - what did you expect to happen?” You teased her gently, your eyes locking helplessly with her own again, to the point that you couldn’t quite get yourself to look away, anymore, especially when you both were this close, your bodies almost brushing together as one, the way that they were, now.

“I only did that because I had to; you were gonna fall on your face if I didn’t - you realise that, right?” She reminded you, and you appeared a little flustered again, but not just because of her statement; it was the feeling - her hands running up your back a little. It was so hard not to shudder again, you having to try and think of other things just to stay calm, and not break down that easily in front of her, no matter how much you wanted to, during moments like these that you both found yourself sharing, the way that you were, now.

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts,” she interjected gently, “d’you know what? I’m gonna tell your mom to let me give you dancing lessons; you need them, that much is already clear, right now.”

You rolled your eyes, evidently frustrated by such an observation, but it didn’t stop the smile invading your lips as you held onto her shoulders, your heart beating steadily alongside her’s as long as you were gazing into her eyes, the way that you were, now.

“I believe you,” you admitted whole-heartedly, and she didn’t know what it was about the way you said it that made her eyes want to drop down to your lips again. She could only just hold herself back, focusing her eyes upon your own as she smiled sheepishly over at you again, wondering what she’d done to deserve a warmth like this, especially during times like these.

“You’re so stupid,” she remarked, and you giggled, subconsciously connecting your forehead to her own as you both couldn’t help, but laugh together, chests heaving and falling as you tried to recover again, reminding yourself of the situation; how you needed to keep a clear head, if you wanted to learn how to dance for her, somehow.

“You’re stupider,” you returned, and she scoffed, and you didn’t know how your faces had got any closer than they did, then.

“Oh, really? Well, I think you’re stupidest,” she stated, and suddenly it got hard to breathe, the two of you holding one another even closer, somehow, your clothes brushing against each other a little as you admired one another, the air growing somehow even hotter than it ever had before around the two of you, the way it was, now, “what do you have to say about that?”

You didn’t know what to do; didn’t know how to even think anymore. You tried to catch your breath again, but it had never been so hard to do so, the way it was, then. There were so many things you wished you could tell her, but - all the same - you were terrified. Why would she ever want to try and start something of a new life with you, anyway? Your heart dropped at the thought, and your eyes darkened. Bianca appeared dejected, as soon as you pulled out of your embrace, the way you did then.

“Y/n-?” She began, but you shook your head, slinging your rucksack over your shoulder as her heart began to pound again; head began to spin, at the possibility of her losing you again, somehow. She couldn’t let it happen again, as she caught your arm within her right hand, and you reluctantly stopped in place, forgetting how to breathe all over again.

“B, we can’t-”

“Why? We’re not even doing anything wrong - Y/n, please-”

“I love you, B,” you admitted weakly, and she faltered, her heart skipping a beat again as her grip loosened upon your arm, but you couldn’t bring yourself to rush off again, keeping your head low as she tried to process your words, only to fail several times over; she didn’t think you’d ever feel the same way for her - not in a million years, even, and now that you’d said the words, she didn’t know how to react to them, at first, staring after you tearfully as she tried to catch her breath after you, but it was as if her heart was stopping her from doing so, pounding as fast as it was, right now. “I’ve always-.. but we can’t be like this, because if we do, it’ll just make things worse, okay? And it’s nothing like what it was, before, from what I’ve heard anyway - I just - I want-” You faltered, your voice cracking more regularly, now.

Bianca slowly turned you to face her again, her heart slowing just enough for her to begin to concentrate somehow, as you kept your gaze low, and had never felt so vulnerable, before.

“Then let’s go - away from here - can we?” She asked, and you appeared taken aback again, evidently not expecting such a request from her, after you’d confessed to your feelings for her, assuming she’d hate you if you did, somehow, not that you wanted her to, anyway - of course you didn’t; you just couldn’t hide it anymore, especially after you’d spent so long just - wondering, what it would be like, to be with her, the way you were, now. You could still feel the faint pulse of what felt like electricity running beneath your skin, at her looser grip on your arm. It made everything-.. so much brighter, than it had ever been before, now.

“You’d-.. want to - after-?” You inquired slowly, appearing puzzled as she beamed over at you, before slowly easing your face back up to her’s again, the fingers of her left hand resting delicately beneath your chin, now, only making it all the more harder to think clearly, somehow.

“Of course I would,” she answered truthfully, and you couldn’t help, but grin up at her again, your eyes a lot lighter than they ever had been, before now, “Y/n - I - I’ve been in love with you since-.. since fucking Palmdale - I loved you, even then, I was just too-..” She sighed heavily, and you didn’t know how to explain the relief that flooded over you; how it started with a warmth flooding the depths of your stomach, before it began to swarm your upper body, a small tear leaking down your right cheek as you giggled softly, before leaning forward to delicately press your lips to her own, no matter how much it scared you to do so, before she’d smiled at you like you were her world, as much as she was, and had always been your’s, too.

“Fuck, that - that was-..” You managed, after breathlessly pulling away, though it had been a delicate thing to start with. “B, I-”

You both faltered, hearing something crashing in the hallway outside; it sounded like it was something tinny, like one of the trash cans you’d both passed by, and that’s when you heard the notorious clicking of an invading Clicker staggering by. Bianca rolled her eyes, evidently annoyed that your and her time was being interrupted by the stupidest of things, such as the infected could be, sometimes.

“Assholes,” she remarked, and you sighed heavily, before making to remove your own shiv from its sheath, but she caught your arm before you could do so, prompting you to appear taken aback again as you glanced back at her, so many questions pouring off of you, despite their silent conveyor. “They aren’t coming in here - leave them,” she stated boldly, and you raised your eyebrows again, but you didn’t dare protest against her, knowing that when she was confident, there was no way that that confidence could be knocked down, not even by a herd of incoming clickers flooding the establishment, even if there were that many out there - it didn’t sound like there were more than a couple - not yet, anyway. “Besides, I’ve worked on that door for ages, now; it’s stronger than you think it is - trust me, I’ve tried to break through it myself; it’s not happening,” she boasted, grinning a little again as her chest puffed out a little, as if she were proud of her remodel of a simple defence system.

“I fucking love you,” you stated, before throwing the shiv away, and kissing her just a little more passionately. It would be a lie, if you said you’d both slept at all, that night, but you knew the Resistance wouldn’t be particularly happy with either of you, the bastards its leaders were. You couldn’t deny it was nice, though, as well as quite flustering to think about, again and again, to have a moment with her like that, as Clickers screeched their frustrations outside the room, as if trying to find you both still, but Bianca had been right; you didn’t know what she’d done with that door, but boy did she strengthen it just enough to hold them all out, no matter how hard they bashed and clambered against it, the way they did, then. You loved that girl, and now that you knew she loved you, too, you didn’t think anything could ever take you away from one another, but you guessed you thought wrong, before you found yourself crying and bleeding out within Ellie’s now shaky arms, all over again, the way you had, before.

You guessed you’d just have to live with it; time doesn’t stop for the good moments in life, no matter how hard you fought for it to.

~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed it! Thankfully, it doesn’t seem as if it is breaching the text-block limit this time, so I managed therefore to fit the whole instalment into this post! I look forward to further exploring this idea, and certainly hope that you’re looking forward to the next one, with me! Have a lovely rest of the day, everyone!

As always,

Your ever faithful, H.H. ❤️

[postmortemlatte]

Since it's just kind of something that is said often and I just kinda wanna get it off my mind.

Lily does NOT actually deserve to have a space on the internet where she can "be comfortable and not harass anyone and continue to make YouTube money"

No.

That is a PRIVILEGE. Having access to Internet itself is a privilege and having a following of any kind and influence of any kind is leaps beyond that.

She doesn't need a safe space.

We shouldn't isolate her in some kind of echo chamber where she could easily reoffend again.

She should be deplatformed. She can get a job besides YouTube.

She SHOULD get a job besides YouTube, considering that her videos never get that many views anyway.

It's like having a car. That is also a privilege. If you use it to commit vehicular manslaughter you should get that privilege taken away at the LEAST.

We shouldn't let Orchard drive. We shouldn't make her a road of her own where her bad driver friends and passengers she groomed into getting in the car could have a safe space.

She should be completely deplatformed.

Even if you say "Oh, but she did so and so when she was traumatized and young". If we translate her actions into the real world setting, because you can very well do that for a lot of them. The public wouldn't care, if she was harassing people out in the streets at any age she would get her ass whooped immediately. And let's not forget that for a lot of this she was a full legal adult. And is one. Let's treat her accordingly.

And before you say I'm advocating for harrassment,no. Because living a comfortable life is actually a right, and we shouldn't go against that. But having a following. Having influence. That is not. And we should take that away. She doesn't deserve it.

[nanamineedstherapy]

Third Wheeling Your Own Marriage

F!Non-Sorceress CEO Reader X Gojo Satoru X Nanami Kento

Summary: You should be overjoyed that Gojo Satoru & Nanami Kento are your husbands. But you feel your skin crawl as you become the third wheel in your own marriage.

Previous Chapter 12 (alt ending 2.3) - Not Heroes (Tumblr/Ao3)

Chapter 13 (alt ending 2.4) - Burn the Mother of Three

The next morning, you emerged from the guest bedroom dressed to kill—figuratively, of course. Your fitted blazer and low heels screamed, “CEO, who could destroy your entire lineage before lunch.” Your stomach growled loudly, reminding you that, despite your intimidating aura, you were still a mere mortal.

The kitchen counter caught your eye.

Japanese soufflé pancakes.

Did they go and buy it early in the morning?

No Nanami was OCD about them, so he probably made them.

Golden brown, fluffy stacks of heaven sat neatly on two plates. The aroma wafted through the air, warm and inviting—a siren call to your empty stomach. Your feet betrayed you, carrying you closer despite every ounce of willpower screaming at you to walk away.

Damn your pregnancy cravings for Nanami’s cooking.

You eyed the plates suspiciously. Nanami’s meticulous plating was unmistakable—syrup poured in an even spiral, berries arranged like a Renaissance painting. Beside it was Gojo’s plate, chaotic but still oddly charming. His pancakes had a mountain of whipped cream that defied physics, chocolate chips spilling like they’d staged a rebellion.

Your stomach growled again, this time loud enough to echo.

“Fine,” you muttered, glancing around to ensure the coast was clear. The penthouse was eerily quiet.

You picked up a fork, hesitating only for a second before cutting into Nanami’s plate. The first bite melted in your mouth—the perfect balance of sweet and savoury. A tiny moan escaped before you could stop it.

“Goddammit, why does he have to be good at this too?” You grumbled, shoving another piece into your mouth.

One bite turned into two, then three. By the time you came up for air, Nanami’s plate was clean. You stared at the empty dish, mildly horrified. “Well, it’s not like I meant to...”

Your gaze drifted to Gojo’s plate.

“...No.”

Your stomach growled again, louder this time.

“...Maybe just a taste,” you reasoned, reaching for the second fork.

Gojo’s pancakes were equally sinful, though in a completely different way. The chocolate chips and whipped cream shouldn’t have worked together, but they did. A mix of chaos and comfort that made you groan in betrayal.

You demolished his plate, too, wiping your mouth with a napkin like the villain you were.

“Not a word,” you muttered to the babies, who kicked softly in response. Setting the plates back down, you turned toward the door.

Before you could take two steps, your phone rang.

“Where the hell are you?” Megumi’s voice barked through the speaker, a mix of irritation and concern.

“I’m leaving now,” you replied, irritation creeping into your tone. “What happened? Why is there so much wind?”

“What happened?” Megumi repeated mockingly. “Because Haibara and I have been waiting on the rooftop for fifteen minutes. With the helicopter. Which is burning fuel. Because you’re late. Again.”

“Helicopter?” You echoed, already moving toward the elevator. “I didn’t ask for—”

“You never ask for it, but we know you’ll end up needing it,” Megumi interrupted, his tone exasperated. “Otherwise, Haibara and I will be happy to commit reporter manslaughter. Now move before I bill you for the fuel.”

“I’ll be there in five.” You rolled your eyes, disconnected the call, and pocketed your phone as you waddled your human-suitcase self out.

//

Nanami and Gojo peeked out from behind the pantry door, watching as you disappeared into the elevator.

“She ate it,” Gojo whispered, barely able to contain his excitement.

“She ate both plates,” Nanami confirmed, his voice low but triumphant.

They clinked their coffee mugs together in silent celebration—though Gojo’s was filled with strawberry soda.

Gojo grinning, cheered. “Told you the ‘indulgent pregnancy-friendly’ soufflé pancakes would work. Admit it, I’m THE daddy!”

Nanami rolled his eyes, a rare smile tugging at his lips. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. This doesn’t mean she’s forgiven us.”

“But it’s a start,” Gojo cheered, his grin widening. “She couldn’t resist our cooking. That’s progress!”

“MY COOKING,” Nanami deadpanned, “because all you did was annoy me and make it look terrible.”

Gojo looked at Nanami with a pout, resembling a wet kitten. Nanami sighed and handed him another plate of pancakes to ruin with his “artistic endeavours.”

“We’ll win her back,” Nanami said, his tone resolute, determination shining in his eyes.

“And until then, how about more pancake flavours?” Gojo suggested, already brainstorming the next flavour combination.

“Oh, definitely. But let’s not forget about regular food too.”

Unbeknownst to you, Gojo had woken Nanami up at six a.m. for this—not that Nanami was complaining; he had barely slept because he was so excited.

//

As you approached the rooftop, you spotted Megumi and Haibara near the helicopter. Haibara was casually leaning against the fuselage, while Megumi paced back and forth, arms crossed tightly over his chest, a frown etched on his face. The moment you appeared, Megumi pointed at his watch, mouthing, “Five minutes means five.”

Megumi was dressed like he’d stepped out of a billionaire’s fashion spread: a perfectly tailored charcoal suit with a subtle pinstripe, his tie slightly loosened but still pristine. His hair was slicked back, but the wind from the rotors sent stray strands tumbling over his sharp jawline. He looked like he was ready to murder someone—probably you—if not for the way he immediately extended a hand to help you climb into the helicopter.

“Take your time,” he muttered sarcastically, though his grip would be firm, steadying you with an ease that betrayed his annoyance.

You handed him your handbag smugly, climbing into the helicopter with Haibara’s help, of course. Megumi scowled but followed you in.

Haibara, on the other hand, was the picture of relaxed confidence. He wore a black leather jacket over a white silk shirt, the sleeves pushed up to reveal forearms that probably had their own fan club. His sunglasses hung loosely from the neckline of his shirt, and his messy hair looked intentional, like he’d just rolled out of bed looking that good.

“Good morning to you too,” Haibara quipped, smirking.

You rolled your eyes at him as you settled into your seat.

Haibara had a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he slid into the pilot’s seat. “Bet you didn’t think I could fly this thing.”

“I hope that’s something you’ve at least learned as a spy,” you shot back.

“You’re not even supposed to be flying this thing,” Megumi snapped, securing your seatbelt with more care than his tone suggested. “This is my helicopter.”

“And yet, here I am,” Haibara replied smoothly, flipping switches like he was born to do it.

You blinked, still trying to process how your day had gone from pancake to riding in a private helicopter piloted by an ex-MI6 agent. “I’m sorry, you really know how to fly a helicopter, or is this going to be like the time you said you learned how to ride a bike and Megumi and I ended up with bruises all over? Only this time, we won’t be left to tell the tale.”

Haibara glanced back at you, smirking. “A. We don’t talk about that! And B, what, you think I spent my MI6 years just filing paperwork? Sit back, cookie. I’ve got this.”

His nickname whisked you back to your teenage years when Haibara had just been introduced to you and Megumi. At first, he barely spoke, spending most of his time in bed, suffering from pain and trying to remember his old, forgotten life—like a confused cat trying to figure out how to use a can opener.

During Haibara’s recovery, when he was stuck in bed with casts on his arm and leg, you and Megumi took it upon yourselves to “help.” This mostly involved drawing ridiculous things on his casts—cats, smiley faces, and once, a poorly done caricature of Megumi’s mom.

The nickname “cookie” wasn’t something Haibara came up with randomly. It started during one of those rare moments when he wasn’t drowning in pain or confusion. You’d snuck into his room with Megumi, carrying a tray of burnt cookies you’d tried baking for the first time. Megumi had grumbled the whole way, muttering about how pointless it was since Haibara probably wouldn’t even eat them.

But Haibara did eat them, wincing at every bite yet finishing the entire tray without complaint. “Best cookies I’ve ever had,” he’d said with a small smile that oddly reminded you of Nanami now—even though his voice was strained, and you could tell he was lying. From then on, he called you “cookie” whenever you brought him food or cheered him up during rehab.

Soon enough, he started to mess with you two. Being around Nanami’s age, he was a few years older than you, while Megumi was the baby of the group. Before long, the three of you were like the court jesters to the three musketeers—well, except for Megumi, who was more like the reluctant royal guard you dragged along everywhere.

Before you knew it, he was scouted for MI6. Little did they realize, he had simply wanted to be a spy all along and had cleverly maneuvered his way into that position.

But things weren’t always lighthearted. Haibara’s transition to MI6 came out of the blue, and you and Megumi went from teasing him daily to watching him pack his life into a suitcase. The night before he left, the three of you sat on the roof of Megumi’s family home, sharing cookies and gazing at the stars. Haibara promised he’d come back, and while you believed him, it didn’t make saying goodbye any easier.

After he left, you and Megumi were heartbroken when his communication was cut off during his training. It felt like a bad joke when you realized Megumi, despite his stoicism, had been sneaking messages into Haibara’s mailbox for months just to feel connected. You always wondered what he wrote in those letters.

Soon, Megumi grew quieter, becoming more focused on his work. You threw yourself into your own company, but there was always an unspoken understanding between you and Megumi that something essential was missing.

When Haibara finally returned, he was sharp-eyed, confident, and carrying the kind of secrets that could get anyone killed. Sure, he was a different man, but still the same guy who’d steal your food and roll his eyes at Megumi’s overprotective nature. You had thought the reunion would be awkward at first, filled with sarcastic remarks and side-eyes, but in reality, it didn’t take long for the three of you to fall back into your old rhythm.

“Cookie,” Haibara said again, glancing back at you with a grin. “Don’t fall asleep back there. I need someone to back me up when Megumi starts lecturing me about fuel costs.”

Megumi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t lecture. I state facts.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Haibara teased. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, baby sorcerer.”

You couldn’t help but laugh.

Megumi muttered something under his breath, probably a prayer for patience. His gaze lingered on your swollen belly for a moment, his frown softening just enough for only Haibara to notice.

“We should’ve left earlier,” he said quietly, avoiding your eyes.

“And missed this grand display of alpha male energy?” you teased, though your voice wavered slightly. “Not a chance.”

Haibara chuckled, the sound low and rich. “She’s got a point, Fushiguro. Lighten up. We’re just taking her back to her little HQ, not a war zone.”

Megumi’s glare could’ve frozen lava, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he leaned back in his seat, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the armrest.

As the city shrank beneath you, Haibara kept up a steady stream of casual chatter, pointing out landmarks and cracking jokes that had you laughing despite yourself. Megumi stayed mostly silent, his gaze fixed on the horizon, though his occasional sharp remarks reminded you he was still paying attention.

“Hey,” Haibara called back, his tone suddenly softer. “You doing okay back there?”

You glanced at him, surprised by the genuine concern in his voice.

“Yeah,” you said, a small smile tugging at your lips. “I’m okay.”

Now, in the helicopter, you couldn’t help but think of how far you’d all come. Haibara was effortlessly piloting, like he wasn’t the same guy who used to complain about your burnt food. Megumi, even in his tailored suit, still had that same frown he wore when you’d dragged him into one of your schemes as kids.

“Do you ever think about the old days?” You asked, leaning back in your seat.

“Only when I want to feel old,” Haibara replied, his grin widening. “But yeah, sometimes. Like when Fushiguro kept tripping over himself during Hanetsuki.”

“I never tripped,” Megumi snapped, though the faint blush on his ears betrayed him.

“And you?” Haibara glanced at you in the rearview mirror.

“All the time,” you admitted softly, your gaze shifting to the city below. “We were a bane for Megumi’s mom.”

Haibara’s smirk faded slightly, replaced by something gentler. “Still are cookie. Just in a different way.”

Megumi didn’t say anything, but the way he reached out to adjust your seatbelt, his touch careful and deliberate, said enough.

Even now, with everything that had changed, the core of your little group remained the same. A chaotic mix of loyalty, sarcasm, and love that didn’t need words to be understood.

---

The Great Haibara Conspiracy

It was a crisp eleven a.m., the kind of Tokyo morning that looked like a postcard, and Haibara was living his best life while doing what he did best: causing problems with unflappable confidence.

Clad in a jacket, half-unbuttoned shirt—highly inappropriate for work—and Givenchy trousers. He'd accessorized the ensemble with the pièce de résistance: a thin, twirlable fake moustache. For reasons known only to him, he stood outside your building swarming with reporters, clutching a stack of questionably sourced documents in one hand and a baguette in the other.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Haibara announced, flipping his jacket collar up as if he were revealing the plot twist of the century. His fake moustache wobbled dangerously, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I have uncovered the truth. And it’s not what you think.”

The reporters collectively leaned in, pens poised, like they were about to witness history—or a train wreck.

“First off,” Haibara began, slapping a tinfoil-covered clipboard, “Fushiguro Megumi is not human. He’s an alien.”

“Do you have evidence?” a brave soul asked.

“Do I have evidence?” Haibara echoed, scoffing like the question was beneath him. “Do you have evidence that he isn’t?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Exhibit A: He communicates with his dogs through telepathy. Normal humans? We have to yell, ‘Sit!’ five times before they even think about it. Megumi? One glare and his guard dogs are out here doing synchronized stealth assassinations. That’s not training—it’s alien mind control.”

The reporters murmured, equal parts confused and intrigued.

“Exhibit B!” Haibara shouted, pulling out a crumpled receipt from a convenience store. “I caught him buying three cans of tuna and nothing else. Tuna! What kind of human subsists solely on canned fish? That’s astronaut food, people. Connect the dots.”

He slapped the stack of documents for emphasis, sending a few papers fluttering to the ground. “Exhibit C: He’s a loner. Socially allergic. Most humans crave interaction, but Megumi acts like smiling in public is a punishable offence. Textbook alien behaviour.

Exhibit D: He doesn’t use his phone like a normal person. While the rest of us are doom-scrolling at 2 a.m., he’s probably communicating with the mothership via telepathy or something.

Exhibit E: His hobbies are too niche. Who spends their free time researching ancient texts about interdimensional travel? I’ll tell you who—aliens trying to get back home.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd, and Haibara smirked, twirling his baguette like a mic drop.

“Exhibit F: His emotional responses are completely out of whack. Laughs at a life-or-death situation but overreacts when you don’t text back quickly enough? That’s not a human. That’s a poorly mimicking lizardman.”

“What about Gojo?” another reporter interjected.

Haibara froze, his eyes narrowing. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a laser pointer, aiming it at a hastily drawn diagram of a stick figure wearing sunglasses. “I was getting to him,” he hissed.

The reporters perked up.

He took a deep breath—the kind you take—before delivering devastating news. “Gojo Satoru isn’t real. He’s an NPC.”

The crowd collectively gasped.

Haibara straightened his moustache with the gravitas of someone delivering breaking news. “He’s too perfect. His hair? Flawless. His sunglass collection? Always on point. His vibes? Unbeatable. No human has vibes that good. He’s a program.

Exhibit A: He grins and stands still in crowds, staring into the void like he’s waiting for a quest to start.

Exhibit B: He knows everything. Like he’s reading from a cheat sheet.

And Exhibit C: His uncanny ability to dodge responsibility is like a bullet in The Matrix.

Exhibit D: His total lack of emotional depth—have you ever seen that man cry? No, because NPCs don’t have emotions.

And Exhibit E: The memes. He responded to a national crisis with a meme. Who does that? I’ll tell you who—someone who’s coded to be entertaining, not real.”

The crowd of reporters was now equal parts sceptical and furiously scribbling in their notebooks.

“Mark my words,” Haibara said, raising the baguette high like a sword of truth. “This is the story of the century. Aliens. NPCs. A secret conspiracy to infiltrate humanity. And I’ve got the receipts.”

Haibara leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. “He doesn’t blink.”

The space went silent.

“That’s right,” Haibara said, triumphantly twirling his fake moustache. “I’ve been watching. He doesn’t blink because he’s coded to save CPU power. Wake up, sheeple!”

“But he’s a corporate hero going against the system,” someone protested.

“And so was Clippy from Microsoft Word,” Haibara snapped. “Doesn’t mean he was real!”

He stepped back, holding up his clipboard like it was the Ark of the Covenant. “Aliens. NPCs. It’s all connected. The conspiracy runs deep, and I am the only one brave enough to expose it.”

With that, he turned and strutted away, his fake moustache dangling precariously, leaving behind a bunch of reporters who exchanged bewildered glances, some already drafting headlines, others wondering if they’d just been part of a fever dream.

//

Later that afternoon, Haibara lounged in a corner booth at a minimalist café, his laptop open and his moustache and sunglasses perched unnecessarily on his face. He looked like a hacker in a spy thriller—or someone pretending to be one for aesthetic purposes.

The screen reflected a cascade of code, his fingers flying across the keyboard with a precision that was equal parts skill and audacity.

“Perfect,” he muttered, leaning back with a self-satisfied smirk that would make even Gojo’s grin look modest.

Hacking into Gojo’s phone was almost insultingly easy. The man could dodge attacks at the speed of light but fell for a phishing link offering a free pastry in under three seconds. Haibara almost felt bad about how predictable it was.

Almost.

Within moments, Gojo’s phone was compromised. His contact list now read like a dystopian NPC roster: Nanami had become “Budget Stranger #47,” Dr. Shoko—whoever she was—was now “Generic Medic Character,” and your name had been replaced with “Main Quest Giver.”

The icing on top? Every incoming call triggered a robotic voice saying, “Loading... Please wait for the script to initiate.”

Pleased with his handiwork, Haibara closed his laptop and took a sip of his overpriced matcha latte, as if he hadn’t just committed cybercrime against the most powerful sorcerer in existence. He then got up, picked up some pastries for you and Megumi, and headed out.

//

By late afternoon, Haibara was at your office building, slipping through the glass doors with the confidence of a man who had never once been questioned in his life.

A few well-placed whispers and an overheard “accidental” phone call were all it took to set the stage for his next move.

“Did you hear?” he said, leaning conspiratorially toward the receptionist, his voice just loud enough to carry. “She’s dating Alexandr Wang—you know, the billionaire? Youngest self-made only after her, of course. They’ve been secretly meeting in Osaka.”

The receptionist froze, his eyes wide as saucers. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” Haibara replied, his expression grave despite the sparkle of mischief in his eyes. “I overheard her talking about their next meeting. Match made in heaven, don’t you think?”

Within minutes, the office was buzzing. Whispers travelled faster than cursed energy, and by the time you arrived for your meeting, the air was viscous with speculation. People kept whispering about your “secret romance” instead of anything work-related.

//

That evening, Haibara reappeared outside your building—where the reporters camped 24*7 now—his moustache shadow stretching under the glow of a street lamp. He paced back and forth, the energy of a Shakespearean villain radiating from his every movement.

“I challenge you to a duel!” he bellowed, pointing a baguette at the confused group of journalists loitering near the entrance.

One of them stepped forward, visibly done with his nonsense. “What are you even talking about?”

“At sunrise!” Haibara declared, ignoring the question entirely. “Meet me at the park. Bring your sharpest lens and your strongest pens. Only the worthy will leave unscathed.”

The reporters exchanged long, exhausted glances. One of them muttered, “I need a drink,” while another took out their phone, already Googling job openings in less chaotic industries.

Haibara, undeterred, twirled the baguette like a sword and turned on his heel, disappearing into the night with the histrionic flair of a man who believed he was the protagonist in every story.

The reporters watched him go, the silence broken only by the faint sound of someone asking, “Was that guy real, or did we collectively hallucinate him?”

After Haibara turned the corner, safely out of sight from the reporters, Megumi grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Taking a pleasant evening stroll,” Haibara replied, nonchalantly biting into his baguette.

Megumi’s glare hardened. “You know I hate media attention. Why the hell would you start spouting conspiracies about me?”

“Relax,” Haibara said, waving a hand dismissively as crumbs tumbled from his mouth. “I made it so outlandish that no self-respecting journalist would touch it if they valued their credibility.”

“You called me a lizardman!” Megumi’s anger flared.

Haibara grinned like an unrepentant idiot. “Hehe, my bad.” Then his gaze shifted past Megumi, and his expression brightened. "Oh, hey, what are you doing out of your office?”

Megumi instinctively turned to look, finding nothing but empty space.

When he spun back, Haibara was gone.

He stomped away, muttering angrily to himself. “Lizardman… Unbelievable. I should’ve let the reporters eat him alive. So much money wasted to shush the cretins.”

Haibara did not show up for the duel—not out of fear, but because his snores were louder than his alarm. Not that it mattered much; the reporters didn’t show up either.

//

Soon after, Haibara was perched on a park bench, tossing pieces of what appeared to be homemade food to a group of pigeons. His fake moustache was now slightly peeling at one edge, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Eat up, my feathered brethren,” he said softly, scattering crumbs of Nanami’s homemade food with the flourish of a 19th-century gentleman hosting a soirée. “Tonight, we plot the downfall of our enemies. For the empire, of course.”

The pigeons cooed, pecking at the ground like they understood.

From the rooftop across the street, Gojo adjusted his binoculars unnecessarily, squinting as if the distance somehow distorted the insanity he was witnessing. Not sure why the beholder of the ‘six eyes’ was using binoculars.

“Kento,” Gojo said slowly, “I think we’ve lost him.”

Nanami, still staring through his own binoculars, didn’t reply immediately. His jaw was tight, and his left hand gripped the railing like it was the only thing keeping him from jumping down and strangling Haibara.

“Is he... talking to the pigeons?” Gojo continued, voice a mix of disbelief and morbid fascination.

“Yes,” Nanami replied, tone flat. “And he’s feeding them the food we made for her.”

Gojo lowered the binoculars. “Why are we even using these? We’re right across the street!”

Nanami sighed heavily, lowering his own. “I honestly don’t know.”

The two men descended from their rooftop perch, striding toward Haibara with the determination of men on a mission. Haibara, for his part, continued tossing crumbs to the pigeons, who now seemed oddly attentive.

“My friends,” he said, addressing the birds in a tone dripping with theatrical flair, “these uncultured brutes approach us with their barbaric accusations. But fear not—I shall defend our honour.”

Gojo stopped in his tracks, staring at Haibara like he’d grown a second head. “Did he just call us uncultured brutes?”

“Haibara!” Nanami yelled at him, his voice cold enough to freeze the pigeons mid-coo, “What are you doing?”

Haibara looked up, tilting his head in feigned confusion. “I’m sorry, gentlemen. Do I... know you?”

Gojo’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious right now?!”

“Quite,” Haibara replied, his expression deadpan. He turned to the pigeons, gesturing toward Gojo and Nanami like a Victorian man introducing guests at a ball. “Allow me to present... these strangers. Who are not invited to our gathering.”

“You saw us yesterday!” Gojo wailed.

Haibara twirled his fake moustache between his fingers, smirking. “Must’ve been my evil twin. Or mayhaps... a Mole person?”

“Haibara,” Nanami said, pinching the bridge of his nose as if trying to ward off a headache, “you’re wearing a fake moustache.”

Haibara gasped, clutching his chest as if Nanami had just insulted his entire lineage. “How dare you! You knaves and Nincompoops wouldn’t know a statement of style and sophistication if it smacked you with a whip!!”

Gojo chimed in, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “Where’d you get the ‘stash? Do they sell them in white?”

Nanami smacked the back of his half-wit husband’s head. “Focus!”

Startled, Gojo let out an accidental mewling sound that could only be described as a cat in distress. Nanami's eyes widened in horror.

Haibara couldn’t resist mocking him. “Pray tell, are you about to embark on a whimsical chase after yon magical red dots, like a jester pursuing a wayward firefly?”

Shaking off the distraction, Nanami’s gaze returned to the pigeons pecking at the food scattered on the ground. His eyebrow twitched in incredulity. “You were feeding pigeons the food we made for her?! The food she didn’t even get to eat?!”

Haibara was offended. “Lies and slander! My feathered companions can vouch for me. Isn’t that right, Lord Fluffington?”

A particularly fat pigeon pecked at a crumb near Haibara’s shoe.

“Lord Fluffington?” Gojo echoed, his voice cracking. “Are you okay? Do you need help?”

Haibara ignored him, leaning down to address the pigeon directly. “Do not listen to these villains, my Lord. They wish to divide us. But our bond—our bond is unbreakable.”

Gojo groaned, pulling out his phone. “That’s it. I’m calling her. You’re done.”

Haibara’s grin widened. “Oh, don’t bother. I already replaced your contacts with NPC names.”

Gojo froze mid-dial, his eyes narrowing. “You did what?”

Haibara stood abruptly, brushing off his pants with a flourish. “Gentlemen, I bid you good day. I must away—Lord Fluffington and I have matters to discuss.”

“Sit down,” Nanami growled, stepping forward.

But when they looked down at Gojo’s phone and then back up, Haibara was gone.

Gojo and Nanami stood in stunned silence, scanning the park for any sign of their wayward companion.

“Did he just...?" Gojo started, gesturing vaguely at the empty bench.

“Yes,” Nanami said, his voice heavy with resignation. “He did.”

On a nearby rooftop, Megumi stood, watching the entire spectacle unfold through binoculars of his own. He sighed, muttering to himself, “This overgrown fool.”

Meanwhile, Haibara crouched behind a hedge, his fake moustache now in his pocket. He glanced at the pigeons that had followed him, nodding solemnly.

“Well done, my friends,” he said. “The mission was a success.”

The pigeons cooed in agreement.

“Now,” Haibara continued, pulling out his phone and typing furiously, “let’s see how they like finding rumours about me being her secret boyfriend on the office bulletin board.”

---

Sometime later, on the other side of town, the room buzzed with anticipation as reporters adjusted their microphones, cameras clicked incessantly, and the collective hum of whispered speculation filled the air. At the centre of it all stood Gojo Satoru and Nanami Kento, flanked by their begrudging legal counsel, Higuruma Hiromi, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

Gojo adjusted his sunglasses, his signature smirk notably absent. Nanami’s tie was slightly askew—a rare sign of unease. Higuruma stepped to the mic first, clearing his throat.

“This press conference is to address recent events and provide clarity. Please keep your questions professional,” he said, his tone clipped, though he seemed to know that was a futile request.

Nanami stepped forward, his voice steady but heavy. “We deeply regret the events that transpired. Our actions were reckless and caused harm to innocent people. For that, we are truly sorry.”

Gojo leaned in, his voice softer than expected. “We messed up. No excuses. We’re here to take responsibility and make things right.”

The reporters pounced, and the room erupted into a flurry of questions.

“We will address your questions, but keep them relevant and within legal bounds,” Higuruma added sharply, already preparing for the mess. “Anything outside these parameters will not be entertained.”

A reporter wasted no time. “Why did you storm the headquarters? Was it premeditated, or a spur-of-the-moment decision?”

Before either man could answer, Higuruma cut in, his voice icy. “No comment. Addressing this could complicate ongoing legal proceedings.”

“Were your movements during the incident influenced by your involvement with organized crime? Some have compared them to Yakuza or even terrorist operations.”

Higuruma visibly pinched the bridge of his nose, ready to intervene again, but Nanami cut in. “We are neither. Our actions were not criminally motivated, and any insinuation otherwise is baseless.”

“What about the school you’re affiliated with? Jujutsu Tech is shrouded in mystery. Some are speculating it’s a cult. Care to comment?”

Gojo’s grin widened. “A cult? I mean, we’re cool enough to be one. But no, we’re just a very exclusive, very niche educational institution. Sorry, no brochures.”

Nanami added dryly, “We don’t recruit. We save lives.”

Someone from the back yelled, voice muffled. “Mr. Nanami, why do you always wear the same tie? Are you a lazily-drawn Squidward?”

Nanami’s tone was as dry as ever. “It’s called consistency. You should try it.”

“Mr. Gojo! Mr. Nanami! How does your wife feel about your actions?”

“Will she divorce you?”

“Are the rumours true that she’s the one pulling the strings behind your release?”

Nanami’s jaw tightened. “Our wife has no involvement in legal proceedings regarding us. Any insinuation otherwise is baseless.”

A reporter shouted over the others, “Is it true she’s pregnant? How does she feel about raising children with men who stormed her own corporate building?”

Gojo’s smile turned razor-sharp. “I think you should consider what it says about you that you’re asking invasive questions about a pregnant woman’s private life. Next.”

From the back, a muffled voice piped up, “Is your hair real, Mr. Gojo? Or do you bleach it so much because you’re going bald?”

The room burst with stifled laughter. Nanami’s brow twitched, but Gojo’s grin didn’t falter.

“Real hair, real charm, real skills,” Gojo quipped. “And no, not bald. I’ll give you a follicle count if it helps you sleep at night.”

Another question cut through the chaos. “Many are calling you both dangerous and unfit as husbands and fathers. What’s your response?”

Nanami’s expression hardened. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But baseless accusations and vile harassment against our wife will not be tolerated. We are pursuing legal action against anyone spreading misinformation or threats.”

Gojo chimed in, his tone laced with menace. “Keep it up, and you’ll hear from our lawyers.” He added to himself, “—or worse.”

The tension shifted as some reporters openly fawned over the two men.

“Mr. Gojo, Mr. Nanami, how does it feel knowing you’ve become global heartthrobs? Many are calling you the most attractive men alive!”

“So are serial killers.” Nanami deadpanned.

Gojo’s grin returned, cocky and unapologetic. “Flattered, honestly. But, uh, taken. Very taken.”

Nanami sighed, adjusting his mic. “Next question.”

The room descended into bedlam again as a voice rose above the din. “What about the rumours of your wife’s affair with Yu Haibara, the ex-MI6 agent? They’ve been spotted together frequently.”

Silence fell. Gojo and Nanami exchanged a quick glance, their surprise poorly concealed. Hiromi smirked behind the bottle of water he was drinking from.

Nanami was the first to speak, his voice calm but firm. “Haibara is a trusted friend and our wife’s bodyguard. Any insinuation beyond that is baseless and disrespectful.”

Gojo followed up, his tone lighter but no less cutting. “If you think a guy who calls her ‘boss’ is her secret lover, you’ve been reading too much fanfiction.”

Laughter filled the room, yet the tension remained palpable.

The mood shifted when a reporter’s voice rose, trembling with outrage. “What about the threats against your wife? The internet trolls commenting about raping her, calling her a sex addict for being married to two men, and those posting pornography of her? Are those real? What’s your response?”

The room fell silent. Nanami’s jaw clenched. Gojo’s smirk vanished, replaced by a chilling calm.

“No, they are not! And to the trolls hiding behind screens,” Gojo began, his voice dangerously soft, “if you think we’ll sit back while you spew your filth, you’re sorely mistaken. We’re tracking every one of you. Every threat, every disgusting comment, every vile video. You’ll hear from our lawyers soon.”

Nanami’s voice was a low growl. “And if you think that’s the worst you’ll face, you’re even more foolish than I thought. Leave her out of this.”

Another reporter hesitated before asking, “What about those saying to burn her and your children alive?”

Higuruma stepped forward, his expression icy. “Any threats against their wife and children will be met with the full extent of the law. Consider this your only warning.”

Gojo leaned into the mic, his grin returning but lacking warmth. “You think you’re untouchable because you’re anonymous? Funny. You have no idea what untouchable really looks like.”

Nanami’s tone was final. “If you value your lives, stop. Now.”

From the back, the same muffled voice chimed in, again. “Are you compensating for something with all these threats?”

Nanami squinted to look through the flashing lights at the reporter who had the audacity.

Higuruma sighed audibly. “Who let them in?”

“What do you say to those who still think you’re unfit to be with her?”

Gojo’s grin was wide and dangerous. “Good thing, it’s not your job to decide.”

Nanami’s words were cold, final. “We protect what matters. That’s all you need to know.”

One asked Higuruma how he felt about his sudden “thirst-trap status” online. Another demanded Nanami share his skincare routine.

Higuruma’s eye twitched, and he stepped forward, effectively ending the conference. “That’s all for today. Any further inquiries can be directed to our legal team.”

As the trio exited, Gojo’s parting words rang out, laced with menace. “Remember, we’re always watching.”

Nanami’s gaze swept over the room, cold and calculating. “Make better choices.”

With that, they left, leaving behind a room full of reporters scrambling to dissect every word and a world more divided than ever. As they walked away, Haibara strolled back to your office in a trench coat, the source of all those ridiculous questions now clear. Yes, all the stupid inquiries directed at the husbands’ insecurities had come from him.

---

“Are you going to divorce us for Haibara?” After work, came an absurd email to your work ID from the Dumb and Dumber Association.

This time, you replied, “I’m not a cheater like you." And blocked them there too.

The automatic doors to the in-HQ supermarket slid open with a cheerful chime. You walked in flanked by your two overly dramatic bodyguards—Megumi, looking like a disgruntled celebrity in his baseball cap and sunglasses, and Haibara, who had pulled his hoodie so low he looked like a Sith Lord shopping for Death Star snacks.

You adjusted your own cap and mask, trying to channel “incognito trillionaire” vibes. Not that it helped. Everyone in this building already knew who you were.

This wasn’t your usual scene. Trillionaire CEOs didn’t typically go grocery shopping. But after this morning’s helicopter fuel argument—where you’d learned that jet-grade kerosene was somehow not a justifyable expense for a snack run—you needed to stretch your legs. And, frankly, the craving for chocolate-dipped pretzels was not something you could ignore.

The brightly lit aisles stretched before you like a sugar-coated playground. Your eyes lit up the moment you spotted the snack aisle.

“Oh my god, look!” you whispered excitedly, clutching Haibara’s arm like you’d just found buried treasure. You pointed at a shelf stacked with chocolate-dipped pretzels. “They’re calling to me.”

Haibara, the chaos enabler, grabbed three bags without hesitation and dumped them into the cart. “We’ll take them all, just in case.”

Megumi, the self-designated killjoy, intercepted like a referee. “Absolutely not.” He plucked one bag out of the cart, flipping it over to scrutinize the label like it contained state secrets. “Artificial colouring, processed sugar, and—wait—is this aspartame? Are you trying to poison her?”

“It’s chocolate, not crystal meth,” Haibara replied, deadpan. “Relax.”

“I am relaxed,” Megumi snapped, tossing the bag back onto the shelf with enough force to make it bounce. “But if she eats this and it harms the babies, you will be held responsible.”

You rolled your eyes, reaching for the pretzels again. “Megumi, it’s one bag. I’m not eating an entire factory.”

“Not on my watch,” he muttered, grabbing the cart and steering it toward the produce section like an overzealous soccer mom.

“Traitor!” you called after him, snatching a smaller basket and turning to Haibara, who was already eyeing the next aisle like you and him shared the same brain cell.

“Alright,” Haibara said, his grin audible despite the hood. “What’s next?”

You scanned the shelves, your eyes landing on a box of brightly coloured fruit chews. “These.”

“Excellent choice,” Haibara declared, tossing two boxes into your basket without hesitation.

Megumi appeared from nowhere, like the ghost of responsible decisions. He plucked the boxes back out with a sigh so heavy it could’ve powered the entire building. “You’re both children. Do you even read the labels?”

“They’re fruit chews, not nuclear waste,” Haibara shot back, grabbing the boxes again and chucking them into your basket with an air of defiance.

“Haibara, if you keep enabling her, I will ban you from this grocery trip,” Megumi warned, his tone colder than a Siberian winter.

“You can try,” Haibara said smugly, tossing a bag of caramel popcorn into the basket for good measure. “But unlike you, I’m an actual employee in this HQ. You? You’re just an honorary guest with no snack-related jurisdiction.”

Megumi groaned, rubbing his temples like a man on the brink of a breakdown. “Why am I even here?”

“To make sure I don’t die from eating a candy bar,” you deadpanned, grabbing a box of frosted cookies from a nearby shelf and tossing it into the basket.

“Put that back,” Megumi said immediately.

“No,” you replied, already scanning the shelves for your next target.

“Put it back,” he repeated, his voice teetering on the edge of despair.

“Make me,” you shot back, grinning under your mask.

Haibara leaned casually against the cart, arms crossed, watching the two of you like it was the best show he’d seen all week. “This is better than TV,” he said, grabbing a bag of sour gummies just to see what Megumi would do.

Megumi stared at him, visibly debating whether it was worth it to keep arguing or just let the bedlam unfold. Ultimately, he chose the latter, as he trailed behind you and Haibara, who were now gleefully raiding the snack aisle like it was Black Friday.

Somewhere, a cashier sighed.

Five minutes later in the dairy section. “Can I have this?” you asked, holding up a tub of cookie dough ice cream.

“No,” Megumi said.

“Yes,” Haibara countered, grabbing the tub and dropping it into the cart.

“Do you know how much saturated fat is in this?” Megumi groaned again, pulling the tub back out and glaring at the ingredients.

“Do you know how much serotonin is in it?” You shot back, snatching the tub and cradling it protectively.

Megumi sighed deeply, muttering something about “ungrateful trillionaires” and “irresponsible enablers” as he stalked off toward the bakery section.

By the time you reached the checkout, your cart was a cluttered mix of fruit, veggies, and an absurd amount of snacks. Megumi was furiously double-checking every item, arguing with the cashier over the preservatives in the granola bars.

“These are organic,” the cashier said patiently.

“They’re fake organic,” Megumi replied, narrowing his eyes at the label.

“Sir, that’s not a thing,” the cashier deadpanned.

Meanwhile, Haibara was busy adding a family-size pack of lollipops to the conveyor belt. “This is for stress. Specifically, mine,” he declared, as if he were stocking up for an impending candy apocalypse.

You leaned against the cart, nibbling on an open bag of trail mix. “Are we done yet?”

Megumi turned to you, exasperated. “Not until I’m sure you’re not eating something that’ll turn your children into glowing aliens.”

“Honestly, glowing aliens sound cooler than those two’s bloodline,” Haibara quipped, earning a glare from Megumi that could have melted steel.

“Are we done yet?” You asked again, already eyeing Haibara’s lollipops.

“No! I will put my foot down here! Get your own!” Haibara looked ready to sprint away with the carton, clutching it like it was the last lifeboat on the Titanic.

“Are we done yet?” You asked Megumi again, your patience wearing thinner than the bag of chips Haibara was eyeing.

“Let me pay,” Megumi sighed, resigned to his fate.

“Oh, it’s within Madam’s monthly credit. So it’s on the house,” the cashier chimed in, clearly amused.

“That much?” Megumi asked, his confusion evident as he stared at the total and the pickup truck-worthy amount of food you’d bought, like a math problem he couldn’t solve.

“Yes, the grocery or snack amount for employees is quite generous here,” the cashier explained, trying to keep a straight face.

“Are we done yet?” You asked yet again.

Megumi was officially done with you.

By the time you left the store, your arms were loaded with snacks, Megumi looked ready to collapse under the weight of your choices, and Haibara was already tearing into a bag of chips like he was preparing for a competitive eating contest.

---

The night was your accomplice, and Tokyo was your playground. Mask? Check. Scarf? Check. Cap? Angled so perfectly you could pass as an undercover K-drama celeb—or at least someone who really didn’t want to run into their ex. The streets hummed with the quiet energy of late-night Tokyo, neon lights casting kaleidoscopic patterns on the wet pavement. For once, you were gloriously, blissfully alone. No Megumi’s guards lurking in the shadows, no overly attentive husbands tracking your every move, and not even the pigeons—Haibara had probably trained to keep an eye on you, presumably on union-mandated breaks.

Your disguise was impeccable. Unassailable. The kind of look that screamed, I am absolutely not suspicious, but also, please don’t notice me, Senpei. You strode with the confidence of a Fortune 500 CEO and the finesse of someone who had absolutely Googled "how to sneak out without looking like you’re sneaking out." Tonight, you weren’t the trillionaire tech mogul, the powerhouse boss, or the supernatural anomaly. Tonight, you were a woman on a singular, sacred mission: KitKats.

The convenience store loomed ahead, glowing like the gates of paradise. Its fluorescent lights bathed the sidewalk in an otherworldly hue, promising flavours you didn’t need but unequivocally deserved. As you crossed the threshold, the automatic doors whooshed open.

The sweet, cloying aroma of sugar hit you like a warm hug. Shelves upon shelves of KitKat stretched out before you in a glorious display of indulgence. Matcha. Yuzu. Sweet potato. Melon. Cheesecake. Even wasabi. Wasabi?! You paused, eyeing the green and white package. Who buys these? Psychopaths, probably. Naturally, you grabbed a box—strictly for research purposes.

“Alright, twins,” you whispered conspiratorially, your hand brushing over your bump. “What are we thinking?”

A soft, decisive kick answered, guiding your gaze to a box of roasted chestnut-flavored KitKats. “Excellent choice,” you murmured, tossing it into your basket.

The strawberry milk Kitkats caught your eye next. “I know, I know,” you said, feeling another gentle nudge. “You’re just like your dad. Sweet tooth for days.”

You wandered deeper, basket filled quickly—Peach parfait? A must. Deep Matcha? Classic. Cookies and cream? Iconic. The Sakura Sake-flavored ones? Let’s be honest, the twins didn’t need to know everything. “Don’t worry,” you assured your unborn audience. “We’ll pace ourselves. Moderation is key.” A nudge from your left side suggested they didn’t believe you.

By the time you reached the counter, your basket looked like the aftermath of a chocoholic apocalypse. The cashier, a sleepy-eyed teenager with purple-streaked hair, scanned your items with the kind of speed that said they were mentally counting down the minutes to their break.

“That’s a lot of KitKats,” they said, raising an eyebrow.

You tilted your head, considering your response. “Fuel for world domination,” you said finally, handing over the cash with an air of practiced nonchalance.

The cashier paused, blinked, and then wisely decided not to engage further.

Bag in hand, you stepped back into the cool night air, your spoils swinging triumphantly at your side. The city had quieted, its hum softened to a gentle murmur of distant cars and occasional footsteps. For the first time in weeks, you felt almost... normal. Just a person in the stillness of Tokyo, chatting with their unborn kids about the finer points of yuzu-flavored chocolate.

As you walked, a thought struck you. You glanced down at your bag and sighed. “We forgot the white chocolate ones,” you muttered. Another nudge, sharper this time. “Fine, fine,” you relented, turning back toward the store. “But this is the last stop. Seriously.”

Once you got them, you wasted no time tearing one open. The wrapper crinkled loudly as you shoved the bar into your mouth, savoring the sweet relief.

“This is nice, isn’t it?” You murmured, patting your growing belly. “Just us. No guards. No drama. No—”

A soft, plaintive cry interrupted your monologue.

You froze, ears straining to locate the source. The sound came again, faint and wavering, from the shadowy alley to your left. Your eyes narrowed as you peered into the darkness, the dim streetlights doing little to illuminate the narrow passage.

“Hello?” You called softly, your voice barely above a whisper.

The cry repeated, a high-pitched whimper that tugged at your heartstrings. Against your better judgment—because let’s face it, this could very well be how horror movies started—you edged closer. Your hand instinctively rested on your bump as you moved, a silent reassurance to your unborn twins that you had this under control. Probably.

As you neared the source of the sound, your gaze landed on a small, trembling shape. A baby raccoon, its fur matted and dull, was hunched over with a plastic bag twisted tightly around its neck. The poor thing was struggling to breathe, its tiny chest heaving with effort.

“Oh no,” you breathed, your heart clenching.

You knelt as best you could, which was no small feat given that you were nearly six months pregnant with twins. The maneuver was awkward, and your knees protested loudly, but you managed to get low enough to see the little creature more clearly. The raccoon hissed weakly as you reached out, its small body trembling with fear.

“It’s okay, little baby,” you cooed, lowering your mask and smiling softly to show you meant no harm. “I’m not going to hurt you. Where’s your mom?”

The raccoon’s dark, glassy eyes stared back at you, unblinking and filled with an innocence that broke your heart. As you scanned the area, your stomach sank when your eyes landed on a larger shape nearby. The raccoon’s mother lay lifeless a few feet away, her body curled against the cold, unmoving. She hadn’t made it through the night.

The baby whimpered again, unmoving but clearly struggling. Every instinct screamed at you to help, despite the little voice in your head reminding you that interacting with wild animals wasn’t exactly advised. But you couldn’t leave it here. It wouldn’t survive the night alone, and calling an NGO would take too long.

“It’s okay,” you murmured again, keeping your voice soft and steady. You reached into your bag and pulled out the least harmful KitKat flavor you could find—probably the roasted hazelnut one. Not ideal, but better than nothing. Tearing off the wrapper and breaking off a piece, you held it out to the baby, keeping your movements slow and careful.

The raccoon sniffed the air hesitantly, its tiny nose twitching. After what felt like an eternity, it inched closer, snatching the chocolate from your hand and nibbling cautiously. You took the opportunity to edge closer, your hands trembling slightly as you reached for the plastic bag around its neck.

At home, Gojo was sprawled on the couch, eyes more like six were trained on your location via his limitless technique. He grinned to himself, watching your progress with unrestrained amusement.

“Stop doing that,” Nanami snapped, his tone clipped. “You look creepy.”

“She’s saving an animal,” Gojo replied, conveniently omitting the part where said animal was a raccoon. Nanami didn’t need that stress tonight—he’d probably hyperventilate and insist on dragging Gojo to retrieve you, which would only result in you getting pissed off again.

“Come eat dinner,” Nanami said after a long sigh, giving Gojo a pointed look. Reluctantly, Gojo let his technique fade and followed him to the table, his stomach reminding him he hadn’t eaten in hours.

Back in the alley, you finally managed to untangle the plastic bag from the baby raccoon’s neck. It stared at you for a moment before surprising you by burrowing into your hand, seeking warmth. Your heart melted on the spot.

“It’s okay, little one,” you whispered, gently scooping it up and tucking it into your inner coat pocket. The raccoon relaxed against you, its tiny body curling into the soft fabric. You stroked its head lightly, murmuring reassurances as you stood—slowly, carefully, because crouching was one thing, but getting up while pregnant with twins was another battle entirely.

Before leaving, you glanced at the raccoon’s mother. A lump formed in your throat as you absently ran a hand over your belly. Pulling out your phone, you quickly texted the local authorities, requesting a burial and, if permitted, some flowers. It wasn’t much, but it felt like the right thing to do.

As you stepped out of the alley, the city lights seemed a little brighter, the night air a little less cold. The baby raccoon purred against your heart, letting out a soft sound of contentment.

“How are you this friendly?” You wondered aloud, smiling down at the little creature. It didn’t answer, of course, but its trust felt like a small miracle in itself.

Then it started subtly—a few glances, hushed murmurs. You didn’t think much of it at first. After all, you were well disguised. But as you quickened your pace, the whispers followed, multiplying, growing sharper.

Behind you, hurried footsteps echoed. A man’s voice broke through the growing din:

“Is that her?!”

Your heart plunged, freezing your steps.

Before you could process what was happening, a hand yanked at your scarf, pulling it loose. Panic surged through you as the cold air hit your exposed face like a slap. Your mask—you’d forgotten to put it back on after dealing with the raccoon.

“Oh my god, it’s her!”

Then came the noise. Shouting. Jeering. The kind of unfiltered rage that burrowed deep into your bones.

You stumbled backwards, instinctively clutching the squirming raccoon baby inside and your own belly. The twins inside you kicked like they used to before, mirroring your panic as if they, too, wanted to escape.

A crowd was forming. Phones appeared like weapons, their flashes blinding you. The whispers turned to accusations.

“Hey, isn’t she the one whoring for those terrorists?”

“What’s she doing out here? Slumming it with us peasants?”

“She’s buying KitKats? Seriously?”

Your breath came in shallow bursts. You tried to pull your scarf back up, trembling fingers betraying you. The voices sharpened, venom dripping from every word.

“She thinks she’s untouchable.”

“Bet her coward husbands send her out for this crap.”

“She’s carrying their freak kids! Like we need more of them in the world.”

The words struck like stones. Your legs felt like lead, every step an agonizing effort.

“Maybe she needs to learn her place,” someone snarled.

Panic flared in your chest, clawing at your lungs, making it impossible to breathe.

The shouts blurred together, a cacophony of rage. You clutched your bag of KitKats tighter to your chest, shielding your belly. Your trembling fingers dialed Haibara’s number.

He picked up on the first ring. “What’s up, cookie?”

You tried to speak, but the words caught in your throat. Your breathing was erratic, panic suffocating you.

“Hey! What happened?” Haibara’s tone sharpened; all business now.

“P…” Your voice trembled, each breath a struggle as your lungs fought against the tightening grip of panic.

“Where are you? Are those morons with you? Never mind—I’ve got your location. I’m coming,” he said, voice steely.

In the background, you heard Megumi’s voice. “Guards can’t find her, but the idiots are at home. We need to crack some skulls.”

“I know,” Haibara replied, already on the move. “She’s on call with me.”

“Do I need to bring a doctor? Just make a sound if you can’t talk,” Haibara urged, concern lacing his voice.

“Pl… Please come, Hai. They… they’re goin… hurt. I’m… scared. I can’t… be..breathe. P-Panic… attack,” you gasped, each word a battle against the suffocating anxiety.

Haibara’s jaw tightened audibly through the line. “Don’t exert yourself. Try to get to a less crowded area. Stay on the call. We’re coming, and whoever’s there won’t live to see another hour.”

You heard Megumi barking orders to the guards to follow as his own car engine roared to life.

Haibara’s voice softened, but the resolve beneath it was unyielding. “Just hang on, cookie. I’ve got you.”

“Please… I’m scared…” you whispered, struggling to keep your voice steady.

Hope flickered faintly through the suffocating dread as you clung to the sound of Haibara’s voice, each word pulling you closer to safety.

Just then, someone snatched your phone from your hand and hurled it across the street. It hit the asphalt with a sharp crack, shattering as a passing car crushed it beneath its wheels.

Your heart sank. Haibara couldn’t track you now. You were on your own.

Panic threatened to overtake you, but you straightened, clutching your stomach protectively and tucking the squirming raccoon baby deeper into the warmth of your coat pocket.

Three lives depended on you. You had to stay strong.

Lifting your chin, you spoke firmly, your voice steady despite the terror clawing at your throat. “Please…, I… I’m not… distur…bing anyone. Just let me… go home. I’m pregnant…this isn’t good...”

“Pregnant?” A man sneered, his lip curling in disgust. “You’re ruining our children’s minds and expect us to care about your worms?”

Another voice chimed in, shrill and hateful. “Why is she even out here? Spreading her unnatural ways in a well-cultured society?”

The first blow wasn’t physical. A half-full can of soda hurtled through the air, slamming into your back. The sticky liquid soaked through your coat, its coldness jolting you. You flinched but kept moving, one hand cradling your stomach, the other gripping your coat where the raccoon baby squirmed, sensing your distress.

“Go back to your country and take your disgusting ways with you!”

“Whore!”

“She thinks she’s better than us because she’s rich. Let’s see how far her money gets her now.”

The words hit like stones, each one stripping away your resolve. Someone threw a half-empty beer bottle. It shattered inches from your head, shards of glass raining down. Another stepped closer, leering, his eyes gleaming with malice.

“Ple..ase,” you said again, voice trembling but determined. “I’m… not here to bother… anyone. I just want… t…home.”

“Home?” A woman spat at your feet. “You don’t have a home here, whore.”

The crowd surged forward, a wall of hostility closing in. A hand grabbed your bag and yanked it violently, the strap digging into your shoulder before snapping. The contents spilled onto the ground, KitKats scattering like fragile little lifelines, crushed under trampling feet.

Panic clawed at your throat. The circle around you tightened, the air thick with anger and cruelty. Someone yanked your scarf again, exposing more of your face. Another shoved you hard enough to stumble, your balance precarious as you tried to shield your stomach.

“She thinks she’s better than men because she has money,” a man sneered, his breath reeking of stale beer. His grin was wolfish, predatory. “Maybe she needs to learn her place.”

Terror coursed through you as a hand latched onto your wrist, squeezing hard enough to bruise. You twisted, trying to pull away, but fear rooted you in place.

“D…Don’t touch… me,” you said, lungs not cooperating.

Your plea only seemed to embolden them.

“Burn her!” someone screamed. “She’s a disease, a stain on this city!”

Hands reached for you from all directions. One grabbed your scarf and yanked it free, sending your hair tumbling loose. Another tangled in your coat, tugging it open, the raccoon baby letting out a panicked squeak.

The world blurred as you stumbled backward, your breath coming in short, desperate gasps.

“She thinks she’s untouchable,” a voice growled, so close you felt the heat of their breath.

“She needs to learn her place,” another hissed.

Then came the first slap. It landed across your cheek with a crack, your head snapping to the side. Pain bloomed hot and sharp, tears springing to your eyes.

Your knees buckled, but before you could fall, another hand tangled in your hair, yanking your head back. You were forced to meet their eyes—faces twisted with hatred, lips curling into sneers.

“Beg,” someone demanded, their voice dripping with venom. “Beg for forgiveness for corrupting our children.”

You shook your head weakly, lips trembling. “Please,” you whispered, barely audible.

The crowd erupted into jeers, their rage boiling over. Another hand grabbed at your arm, another at your coat, exposing your vulnerable, shaking frame. You tried to shield your stomach, your precious twins, the raccoon baby pressed tightly against your ribs, but the blows were coming now—sharp jabs to your back, your arms.

Tears blurred your vision as the mob surged closer, their intentions unmistakable. The world spun, collapsing into chaos. Somewhere in the distance, Haibara’s voice echoed in your memory, a lifeline you couldn’t reach.

And yet, through the fear and the pain, you clung to one thought: You had to survive. For them. For all of them.

The world had dissolved into a blur of clawing hands, jeering voices, and sharp, biting pain. All you could do was clutch your stomach, your arms wrapped tightly around the fragile lives within you as if your trembling body alone could shield them from the onslaught.

They didn’t care.

Hands tore at your coat, nails raking your skin like talons. Someone yanked at your hair, the sharp pain barely registering through the sheer terror flooding your senses.

Then came the first kick.

It landed square in your side—a brutal, calculated blow that drove the air from your lungs. You fell to the ground, instinctively curling around your belly as the mob closed in like vultures.

“Don’t ruin the face. She must be good in bed if she managed to grab two husbands.”

The jeers turned darker, uglier.

“Maybe we can do a favor by helping you lose those bastard children,” someone sneered, their voice dripping with venom. “Do the world a favor.”

Another kick followed, then another. The pain radiated through your body, sharp and unforgiving, but it was nothing compared to the icy terror gripping your soul.

You couldn’t scream. You couldn’t fight.

You were back to being that scared six-year-old again. Frozen.

All you could do was lie there, trembling, as their laughter blurred into a cacophony of hate.

A/N: Alright, so what should we name the baby raccoon? Because apparently, PussyKiller9000 was already taken (tragedy of the century). Accepting all suggestions, but if you say "Bandit," I will personally haunt your dreams. Also, this chapter was a meme goldmine, & if anyone wants to bless the world with fanart, memes, or even a cursed stick figure, I will reblog, worship, and possibly frame it IRL. Bonus points if it captures: The Great Pancake Heist™ Haibara’s baguette duel with the media Megumi fighting for his life in the snack aisle Gojo glitching out of reality mid-sentence Nanami realizing he married into chaos

Next chapter Chapter 14 (alt ending 2.5) - He's Eldritch (Tumblr/Ao3)

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[offender42085]

Post 1374

Zachary Allen Gaskill, Iowa inmate 6590619, born 1990, incarceration intake June 2024 at age 34, scheduled for release October 2026

Involuntary Manslaughter

In June 2024, an Iowa Judge said it was "not a hard decision" to send the man responsible for Kirk Blunck's death to prison.

Zachary Gaskill, 34, was convicted earlier of involuntary manslaughter for the 2016 death of the Des Moines architect. In Court, he was sentenced to the maximum two years in prison after the Judge found he had showed a "lack of remorse" and that prior terms of probation for other offenses had not changed his behavior.

Blunck, a prominent developer involved in multiple projects to restore historic Des Moines buildings, died Jan. 24, 2016, after he was found injured at the bottom of a staircase in the Teachout building, which he owned. Gaskill, now 34, was charged with second-degree murder in 2022 after prosecutors accused him of assaulting Blunck and pushing him over a railing to fall at least two stories during an altercation.

At his trial, Gaskill's attorneys argued Blunck may have been intoxicated and instigated a fight, and that there was no evidence Gaskill had intended to cause Blunck's death. Prosecutors presented evidence that Gaskill had told inconsistent stories about what happened to investigators and several former girlfriends, including why he was on an upper floor of the building.

The jury found Gaskill not guilty of murder but did convict him of the lesser offence of Manslaughter. Gaskill also was previously sued by Blunck's family and ordered to pay $6.25 million for Blunck's death.

The defense attorney asked the court to suspend Gaskill's sentence and to consider running it concurrently to other sentences he faces, including for perjury during the Blunck family's civil case.

Gaskill addressed the court to describe change's he's made in his life, including stopping drinking after Blunck's death and working to improve his mental health. He spoke about his love for working with dogs at the Animal Rescue League and with clients as a personal trainer, and about improving his ties with his family. He told Gogerty he wanted Blunck's family to have closure.

"Every time probation is granted, he goes back to committing crimes, and he was on probation when he killed someone," the DA said. "... Every day this individual is not on the street is a day he can’t take from someone or hurt someone."

And while the defense argued he'd turned a corner, the Judge she saw the record differently, noting multiple criminal charges and parole violations since Blunck's death. The latest, a failed drug test, occurred just a week before his sentencing. And the Judge pointed to Gaskill's actions throughout the case, including celebrating in court when he was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder.

The Judge ordered Gaskill be sent to prison for up to two years, running consecutive to two other criminal sentences for a total of 12 years.

5j

[evoonevoo]

Ticci Toby w/ his son>>>

His name is Erin. This is an AU I made long ago.

———————————————————————————

After the aggressive blazes in the rubble of what was left of the Rogers’ residence finally subsided, the policemen gained access to the scene. There, they discovered the burned and heavily disfigured body of his deadbeat father. Toby was certain that no one would ever willingly waste another thought on him again. That was until he met the all-too-familiar eyes of his girlfriend, who had come looking for the disturbed boy, determined to find him before the law did.

In her mind, the horrifying news that Toby—her Toby—had supposedly set fire to his house after committing the gruesome act of manslaughter didn’t make any sense. Not to mention the subsequent reports of additional axe murders in the area. There had to be something, anything, to justify the atrocities her lover was accused of.

After wallowing in a pit of self-loathing, grief, and despair, she finally decided to act. She had to find him. Yet, when her yearning eyes finally found the twitching form of Tobias Rogers, she held her breath. He was filthy—covered in mud and smeared with a dark, scarlet-brown stain that painted his clothes and skin alike. His hardwood locks had lost their usual shine, and the stench of death reeked from him. In that moment, she realized that the figure standing before her was merely a silhouette of the boy she had once known. This wasn’t her Toby. This was something else—pure evil.

Not long after, her disappearance was broadcast on the news. What had happened to the 17-year-old girl? How could she vanish without a trace overnight? Could her fate be tied to the Denver Axe Killer?

Two years later, Erin was born. When Toby held the fragile, tiny life in his hands, the world seemed to blur. It was unlike anything he had ever known, and for a brief moment, nothing else mattered. Despite the doubts clawing at his mind and the haunting guilt of his past, a fierce, primal determination awakened in him. From that day on, he swore to protect his son, no matter the cost.

The same fierce love applied to the second child his “wife” was carrying. But one day, they were gone—vanished without a trace, just like her.

——————————————————————————

Okok I quickly typed out a lil plot-summary. This is still very unfinished (as you might be able to tell cuz one of the main characters doesn’t even have a name yet lmao) Idk if I will ever write a full fanfic to this but there will be drawings!

I wanna point out that nowhere in this story, will there ever be non-con between Toby and his gf. There will, however, be mentions/depictions of violence, kidnapping, mental illness, child abuse (Toby‘s past) ect. So therefore be warned and consume at your own risk if you struggle with any of these topics!

Unsurprisingly, Like Him from Tyler, The Creator inspired me a lot for this story. Fire song.

Anyways, thx for reading and see you soon! :)

(Edit: I rewrote the whole thing to make it a little more readable since I made this at like 4 A.M. without proofreading it)

[comedyloser]

sighs and rolls up my sleeves

035 x 049 headcanons list

They've actually been engaged for centuries prior to containment, but they could never get married for.. obvious reasons. And they met decades before that. Of course, they hate each other anytime they're in front of personell, can't let em know

They met in France where 049 had been his whole life, and 035 had recently traveled to from (current day) Italy. Originally he was just gonna be passing through, only stayed in each country for a month, but this time he stayed around a little.. longer. Always making excuses on why he couldn't leave yet

They had actually avoided being contained by the foundation MULTIPLE TIMES before settling in an old cottage in the middle of NO WHERE

035 would frequently leave the house for adventures or shows while 049 would stay back and work on his cure, 035 always returned with flowers or even dull bouquets

did I establish carpet on the walls

They have physical love language and gifting apology language!! Sort of as a sorry for fighting for decades before they fell in love

They're both immense hoarders. Like 049 will swear he keeps his room clean but no, he doesn't. They're so much trash and gifts from 035 in there you couldn't find the floor if you wanted to

049 sometimes goes out while 035 is sleeping to find him new hosts, especially when 035 has had a rough day, tries to give him peace and quiet

035, in contrast, will REFUSE to leave 049 alone when he's had a bad day, needs to make sure his dove is happy

oh yeah nickname 'dove'

Most of 049's clothes and medical gear have been battered and torn from corrosive acid, he won't complain though

035 likes to trace around the marks on his skin with ink where 049 kisses him, these usually dissolve away or get trashed when he exchanges hosts though

035 aims for that rich life while 049 wants something more peaceful, but 035 will give things up and 049 will indulge a little more just to see the other happy

they only buy cheap beds cause the soft fluffy ones dissolve in 2 weeks

Once 049 operated on a body while 035 posessed it to see what would happen and it hurt and they cuddled after , the end

035 commonly leaves for weeks at a time to do shows, I said that, and no matter how many times he'll invite 049 to come see one he never does, and this slowly made 035 depressed, until 049 surprised him to watch one of his shows on their (engagement) anniversary

kiss kiss kiss

035's love language leans more towards words and poetry while 049's is more physical touch, but by LORD does the other get so flustered when they embrace the one the other likes. Blushing ear to EAR fr fr peak

They have infact tried to shower together but 049 likes ice water and 035 likes boiling water and afterwards they settled on just taking lukewarm baths together monthly instead

They actually tried to propose at the same time in their favorite bench in their favorite park, it was a sunset too

They've both engaged in each other's horrible sleep schedules, but dw even if they’re up at midnight they cuddle daily

035 HAS come home drunk on multiple nights and 049 always has like blankets and a bath ready for him cause you gotta take care of the homies even if they’ve committed vehicular manslaughter

Adding onto the last one 035 actually can’t get drunk (on account there’s no way for the alcohol to actually affect him) but he knows how to act drunk PERFECTLY and it means he can do the bare minimum while also making sure he’s not going to far or breaking boundaries, also it means 049 pampers him cause he’s too embarrassed to ask

at one point 035 wanted to adopt a child but 049 was like how tf are we gonna take care of a child in this economy so they didn’t (and then the plague hit)

035 hates red wine but he has to drink it often to look fancy or because it’s the only thing they have at cast parties, so 049 often waits at home with his actual favorite drinks to cheer him up

049 doesn’t leave the house often but when he does and 035 is ever home alone without him he gets so depressed. Probably cause he spent the first thousand years of his life not knowing what love is and now he’s experiencing it, and when 049 leaves it’s like all that comfort goes away. bestie needs to take breaks on his own accord

035 is a professional seamstress and often makes dresses for his love even if he never wears them, that’s okay more to clutter up the walls

It’s only been twice where they take a night and cry in each others arms, but it’s so rare and delicate of an event it just has so much emotion

Neither of them used to care about pronouns, like 035 usually matched to his host since you know manipulation and 049 was never around people enough to actually need pronouns, except when they started living together they needed SOMETHING to refer to each other. Eventually they both leaned into she/him. Also say post-foundation, they HATED it/its, since most of the personnel used it to basically degrade them, and the public would use it in negative connotation. (Btw if you use it/it’s for them idc!! Pop off sparkle on queen ur so cool and awesome. I used to use it/its for them and sometimes I still do, it’s just I’ve just been she/him 035 for five years I need to keep to my truth)

035 is Dyo and 049 is Doc