#did you HEAR HER SHE SAID SHE SHOULD'VE RIPPED HER HEAD OFF

[thomas-the-goat-of-satan]

I should've ripped your head off.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Cloud's small hand wrapped around his mother's finger as he babbled. Claudia laughed, burying her nose in his soft blond hair and nuzzling him gently. "Happy first birthday," she whispered.

-

Cloud’s second birthday was marked by excited squeals when he saw the brightly colored toy train his mother presented him. “Tain!” he exclaimed as Claudia set it in his lap, laughing as she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. “Happy birthday, my darling.”

-

“Cloud!” Claudia laughed on the afternoon of Cloud's third birthday, watching the excited toddler dig his fist into his chocolate birthday cake and happily grab the candle between his messy fingers. “You're not supposed to do that!”

-

“Why is it raining today?” four-year-old Cloud huffed, upset as he sat by the window and watched the early August rain hammer against the glass. “I wanna go outside!”

“Think of the rain as a birthday gift!” his mother called back from the kitchen. “Now you can go out and play in the mud!”

Cloud grinned, lighting up as he leapt off the chair and bolted outside. It was going to be a good birthday indeed.

-

Claudia gifted him a small, blue backpack for his fifth birthday, perfect for his first day at the schoolhouse the following week. “I like it!” Cloud declared, slipping the backpack on.

-

“Woah!” Cloud mused as he ran into the kitchen on the morning of his sixth birthday. There, a wooden sword with a red bow tied around its hilt sat waiting for him. “It's exactly like a SOLDIER’s, right mom?”

-

Cloud's seventh birthday was somber as he sat alone with a small cake his mother made. None of the village kids showed up for his party.

-

“I wonder what Sephiroth did on his eighth birthday,” Cloud wondered aloud as he hung the poster his mother had gifted him on his bedroom wall.

-

“Hey!” Tifa waved to him as he was going back into the house after playing. Cloud blushed, self-consciously wiping away the dirt from his clothes. “H-Hey!” he called back.

Tifa smiled. “Happy birthday!” she said. “Nine is a big age!” And then she dipped back into her own house. Cloud sighed. Not big enough to join SOLDIER.

-

“Maybe everyone's just late,” his mother, ever the optimist, suggested on the evening of his tenth birthday. It was nine. Everyone was supposed to be there at six. Cloud shook his head, ripping off his party hat and looking at the cake his mother had baked with a mix of guilt and nausea.

“No, mom. They're just not coming.”

-

Cloud started his eleventh birthday by measuring himself on the door frame. “Aw, man” he groaned, stepping back to see that his height had not changed from the previous year.

-

Cloud spent the evening of his twelfth birthday on the water tower, looking up at the stars, wondering what it would be like to touch them, hearing the soft sounds of the piano drifting from Tifa’s room. It was the birthday he decided to stop trying to make birthdays special.

-

On his thirteenth birthday, Cloud's mother gave him a suitcase. “Woah,” Cloud mused, impressed as he picked it up, weighing it for size. “Mom, are you serious?”

Claudia smiled softly. "For the journey ahead," she said, pulling him into a hug.

-

Fourteen was the age Cloud stopped wishing for material possessions for his birthdays. He wanted only three things: to finally join SOLDIER, a friend, and to take care of his mother.

-

Cloud's fifteenth birthday gift was given to him early that morning, with chaos and laughter giving way into the moment his squad mates woke him up. They grabbed him out of his bed and dragged him into a cold shower. He pretended to laugh, to enjoy the seemingly harmless prank, but inside he was mortified. And now very cold.

-

On his sixteenth birthday, Zack handed Cloud a cupcake with a single, flickering candle. Cloud hadn't been expecting it, but he should've figured something was up the minute Zack walked up to him with his arms behind his back, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"What did you wish for?" Zack asked the minute Cloud blew out the flame.

Cloud huffed. “As if I'd tell you.”

“Hey!” Zack laughed, punching him playfully. “Don't forget, you can't talk to me like that anymore. I'm the adult here—eighteen trumps your sixteen!”

Cloud laughed with him, staring down at his cupcake. He wished all birthdays would be like this.

-

Cloud wasn't awake for his seventeenth birthday. Hojo's calculating gaze scrutinized him through the glass of the mako tank.

-

Eighteen came with a metaphorical slap to the face. "Subject approximately eighteen,” Hojo muttered, observing Cloud in his cell. Cloud's sense of time was warped. Zack was eighteen too, wasn't he?

-

Cloud was strapped to a table on his nineteenth birthday. The lab was filled with the sound of his screams.

-

On his twentieth birthday, Cloud watched through the mako tank as Zack was subjected to a torment familiar to him—strapped to the table, enduring agony under a knife, his screams piercing the air. Cloud couldn't do anything.

-

Cloud's twenty-first birthday passed in a haze as he lay comatose. But Zack was determined. He pulled him closer in the back of the truck they had hitched a ride in. "Happy birthday, buddy,” Zack whispered, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

-

On his twenty-second birthday, Cloud stood motionless as Tifa hugged him tightly. "Happy birthday!” she said, holding enough excitement within her to last him a lifetime. Twenty-two, he kept repeating in his mind. Was he really twenty-two already?

-

Cloud spent the early hours of the morning on his twenty-third birthday staring into a bathroom mirror. He traced his fingers over his face, looking at every line, every scar, his hair, his nose, everything. It was so strange. This was the age Zack was when he died.

-

On his twenty-fourth birthday, Cloud sat beside the Buster Sword, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry," he sobbed quietly. He was now older than Zack would ever be.

[snail-squasher]

Good Luck, Babe!

‘your head in your hands, youre nothing more than his wife’ - chappell roan

word ct. - 5571

warnings - fem!reader, cheating!!!, bathroom make-out gets heated, angst to fluff

“What do you mean you're ‘leaving’?” The wobble in her voice says it all. “Why?” The look on your face tells her everything she needs to know, “you know how my family is, Sho.” You reach for her left hand before she rips it away from you. “No. No. You don’t get to just say that I ‘know how it is’ because I don’t; okay? I don’t understand what is stopping you for sticking up for yourself! I left… everything behind for you, and you're leaving?” You messed it up. you knew this wasn't going to go how you wanted, you knew you should've said something to your parents, you knew and knew and knew. Why is it so easy to know something but not do something?

“Sho, I’m sorry okay? I can’t just have them cut me off, I’m not going to have a career like you and you know that,” obvious confusion washes over Ieiri’s face, “Then let me take care of you; that was the plan from the beginning!” Tear stains splotching onto her (your) t-shirt. “They already have a guy set up for me.”

The small laugh was the only response Ieiri could muster, “You have to be fucking joking. Tell me this is a sick fucking joke,” the pacing starts, then the cussing, and next thing you know all you hear is, “Fuck you and you're stupid shirt,” now discarded into your lap, “Sho wait-” “No. Don’t.” She puts on her own clothes and leaves. “I can’t fucking believe you.” 

The next few days felt unreal. You hadn’t heard from Shoko (obviously) and Gojo and Geto couldn’t even look at you normally. The goodbyes you uttered were to no one. You packed and left; a few days later meeting your suitor.

Meeting all of your old classmates feels wrong. You feel like you shouldn’t be here; you left after all - everyone avoiding eye contact solidifies it. You can see her - more like hear, since you’re too scared to actually look her way. 

“Is that the one and only!” Gojo. Satoru Gojo. The most annoying guy you knew in high school; given you only knew about 7. “I haven’t seen you since graduation. Well this is awkward, the laugh you let out proves it, “Yep it is. Didn’t expect you to actually show up, you never used to at least.”

“What can I say I’m a changed man,” this was worse than making eye contact across the room with her.

“So how’s it been? You still with what’s his face?” Why did he bring him up, this is so embarrassing, “Yeah, a little over 3 years now,” it must be the tight lip smile that gave it away. Satoru leans in, “Listen. I know, and I know that you know that I know. And I also know that she is single and probably will be until you do something.” Oh god. Your boyfriend is at the bar across the room grabbing you a drink and this is what he wants to talk about? 

“I know it’s just… I saw a ring in a drawer,” you say quietly. “I can’t just leave knowing that,” the desperation in your voice has never been this bad. “Well… that does… complicate things… but! Shoko was obviously waiting to see you again! You know, she stopped smoking months before this - and i think it’s to impress you, but you didn’t here me say that.” He says with a wink leaning back away from you. “Welp! I’ll be going now, I’ll make sure to Shoko a little hint for you, it was nice seeing you again though!” 

You leave a small smile in his direction zoning out before a arm around the back of your chair startles you, “Oh! Sorry I was zoned out,” you say looking at your boyfriend, he chuckles a little, “No problem, weird how you were zoned out looking at him though.” He’s starting again. He does this every time a guy is around - he probably forgot this was arranged in the 1st place. “Please don’t start that right now,” he shrugs and leans into his own chair more, “Just odd how you zone out a lot when another guys is around but no other time,” you glance in Shoko’s direction and everything stops. She holds eye contact like no one else. She licks her lips like no one else. She is unlike anyone else. 

Without breaking eye contact she turns towards the group of friends before saying something, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” That’s it. That’s all it takes. Shifting towards the guy on your right you parrot her before speed walking to the bathroom. 

“Hey, didn’t expect you to be he-” she’s cut off. The force of your body makes her stumble back into a stall. She doesn't break the kiss. She deepens it. Turning her head to the side, you follow her lead; you always seemed to follow. 

“God I missed you,” she mumbles into your lips before gliding her hands down, “Touch me Sho, please?” God. What are you doing? What are you saying? Does this count as cheating? Even if you don’t want to be with your boyfriend? 

Before you can continue to question everything, Ieiri slides a hand between your legs, making you pull her head closer to you, if anyone walked in they'd know exactly what’s happening. The heavy breathing, the noises, the slightly wet sounds echoing between the walls, and the taste of cigarettes- wait. 

“I thought you quit smoking,” you pull away confused, “You're kissing someone else while the man who has a ring in his pocket for you is waiting, and you're worried about me smoking?” While you want to be upset at the harsh words Shoko used, it’s true. You’ve been dating the same guy for over 3 years and yet the only worry you have right now is the lungs in front of you. 

“You could put it a little nicer, how do you know that anyways?” you whisper, “Gojo told me, also why should I be nice to you? You disappeared after graduation and then show up to the reunion with a boyfriend.” Why’d she have to bring this up right now? You two were just having a heated make-out and now something else was getting heated. “I’m stupid, I know! I’ve been planning on breaking it off anyways, but I just feel so bad knowing that he’s gonna propose.” 

Everything would be so much simpler if you didn’t snoop around your shared apartment trying to find a shirt to sleep in; instead you found a velvet box with a handwritten speech. 

“Do you wanna be one of those anonymous users talking about how you regret marrying your husband? Or do you want to be free? You have to decide, and when you do, the left side of my bed is always a little chilly,” that stupid fucking smirk. The same smirk you used to see after sneaking off to ‘go to the bathroom’ in high school. Why’d you ever leave?

“Can we just finish what we started in here and then go? I’ll figure out some plan to break it off, I promise.” The next thing you hear is a sigh and then a small ‘fine’ before you tasted cigarettes again. 

The small knock at the door gets increasingly more aggressive when Ieiri ignores it. “Sho, please,” it was faint but there. The spot on the couch immediately abandoned, her front door almost flies off the hinges when she opens it. 

“So you did it finally?” you nod, with water eyes and shaky hands, “Is the left side of your bed still cold?” Shoko giggles a little, “Cold is an understatement. Wanna help me warm it up?”

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!!

this is the longest fic i've ever written. save me.

[stinkysam]

Roronoa Zoro - Dinner.

Warning : none

Genre : fluff

Synopsis : “a male siren reader. Reader follows the straw hats ship around singing making zoro fall asleep more then usual, the siren sneaks onto the ship while zoro is asleep and leans in about to eat him but zoro ofc wakes up and thinks the siren is trynna kiss him he’s flustered but not complaining cus the male siren is gorgeous and you can take it from there.” - anon

Reader : male (he/you)

A/N : Part TWO

Water was dripping down your body when you sneaked into the ship, quietly approaching the green haired man. You noticed his three swords and delicately pulled them off of him before putting them aside. Now, he was truly at your mercy. He'd only have his voice to scream as you'd rip his flesh out.

You opened your mouth, licking your sharp teeth, you could already imagine the pungent taste of his flesh on your tongue with his strong blood gushing everywhere and into your mouth. You grabbed his face to push his head to the side, too entranced by the smell of your dinner to notice his eyes fluttering open.

Zoro froze, you were too close, your proximity taking him off guard along with your beauty and the intensity in your eyes. What the fuck ? Who is he ? What the fuck !?

You could hear his heart racing, beating loudly in his chest, alerting you. You pulled back a bit in surprise and saw him stare at you, face red.

Your eyes widened. Fuck. He wasn't supposed to wake up. You should've sang longer, but you had been too eager to taste him and rushed things.

Finally, he tried to grab one of his swords to push you away, but in vain, none of them were nowhere near him. You pulled away, your hand leaving a wet mark in his cheeks, and quickly ran off.

“Wait !” He called, rapidly standing on his feet, but you jumped off the deck and back into the water, disappearing out of his sight. He went where you jumped, looking to see if you were still here, but only the reflection of the moon could be seen in the dark sea.

Zoro waited, staring into the water in case you'd come out again. What the fuck happened ? Did someone just try to kiss him ? His mind was racing, and his lips felt like they were burning as if you had touched them. He touched them with the tip of his fingers, thinking.

The morning slowly came, and Zoro hadn't slept since what happened, too preoccupied by the pretty stranger who tried to kiss him.

It took a few hours for the others to notice, finding Zoro too in his thoughts to insult Sanji properly.

“Do you think he's okay ?” Whispered Nami to Usopp, hiding her mouth behind her hand.

“I don't know…” He whispered back. “Hey, Zoro ! Sanji thinks your swords are useless !”

“Oi, what was that for !?” Exclaimed Sanji, turning to Usopp with a frown, letting go of the plate he was cleaning.

But Zoro barely reacted. He should've drawn his swords out, ready to throw himself at Sanji and fight like usual, but nothing. A simple “He's the useless one.” and that's it.

Usopp, Nami and Sanji looked at each other, confused. This was weird.

“Hey, what's wrong with you ?” Nami asked, it was the first time she saw him like that, even if it's been only a week they've known each other. “Did something happen while you were on watch duty ?”

But Zoro said nothing, instead leaving the kitchen. There was no way in hell he'd talk about what almost happened last night.

You, nearly kissing him.

He stood next to Luffy, who was fishing, and he stupidly hoped his small hook would catch your eyes and you'd come back, hoping to fish you out.

[whatdudtheysay]

Annoying roommate Gojo

Cw - angry sex, unprotected, light spanking, no foreplay, Gojo's mean, degrading words

A/n - So sorry I haven't been active just been busy w lots of shit and planning stuff❤︎ - the rest is a mini rant

plus I got another Gojo X reader coming out but it's really long and the writer's block is hitting hard ❤︎

also sorry this will be kinda shortt cause I really wanna finish my drafts and get back onto Tumblr writing n I rlly hate this lnee → part 2! Part 3

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"Satoru! You're so annoying!" You complained, walking to where he was lounged on the couch, controller in hand as he focused on the TV.

"What did i do now, princess?" Gojo hummed, continuing to click the buttons.

You shot him a nasty glare at the sound of his little nickname he gave you. Sometimes you wonder if you should've just decided to take up your friend's offer of the spare room at her place but instead you decided to be 'independent'.

"First of all, stop leaving milk out and second of all, stop bringing your fuck buddies over."

Gojo sat up at this and you thought you'd get some sort of apology but instead he just shrugged. "No. My apartment, my rules."

You narrowed your brows at him, the urge to rip out his perfect white locs almost dominating over you. But instead you just decided to head back into the kitchen, slamming the now spoiled milk carton onto the kitchen island.

Before you headed into the bathroom, you heard the sound of Gojo's phone, instead leaning against the open doorway to eavesdrop.

"Hm? Yeah sure, we said nine didn't we?" Gojo hummed.

At first, you thought he'd be talking to getou but you noticed how his voice slightly dropped to a more seductive one, automatically letting you know he was talking to a girl he'd be inviting over.

Mentally, you sighed, knowing you'd spend another night either with ear plugs in, trying to ignore the obnoxiously loud sex Gojo had or you'd be sat trying to ignore it while watching Netflix - both being equally depressing.

Just as you began to make your way to the bathroom, you halted for a moment as a thought wandered over your mind.

Just a little revenge plan to get back at him.....

★★★

You could hear them before you saw them, the breathy moans, the door slamming was all the warning you needed to know.

"Ah, Gojo-"

Just then, you decided it was time. You rushed into the kitchen to see Gojo and a random girl on the couch, Gojo's shirt already off and resting on the coffee table.

"Satoru!" You gasped, faking shock, allowing your brows to furrow together.

The girl quickly pushed Gojo off of her, hiding her chest as her head bowed in shame.

"Again, satoru? I thought you told me you'd stop! That I was the only one for you-" you rambled, watching as both of their faces turned into shock.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, your girlfriend is talking about how you promised to stop cheating on me!"

The girl immediately got up, looking between you and Gojo.

"Girlfriend?!" She asked.

Gojo was about to defend himself but you interrupted.

"Yeah! Girlfriend." You scoffed. "Now I'll give you about 30 seconds to get out of my face."

The colour from the girl's face practically drained as she scrambled to grab her purse, quickly leaving the apartment afterwards.

As soon as she was gone, you sighed, smirking at Gojo's glare.

"The fuck was that about?" He questioned, stalking towards you.

You just shrugged, moving to walk back to your room. You would've if it weren't for Gojo's hand grabbing your wrist.

"Answer my question." He stated, his voice more flat.

"Well, someone's tired of hearing your annoyingly loud sex almost every night and you aren't the only one who lives here. That simple enough for you?"

Gojo narrowed his eyes at you, his hands tightening around you before pulling you closer.

"Well maybe someone wouldn't be jealous if she actually had someone who'd want to fuck her?"

It was your turn to narrow your eyes now, jabbing a finger to his chest.

"Well maybe I should bring a guy over, hm? Then you'd actually hear how it sounds when women don't fake an orgasm-"

Gojo roughly pushed you against the wall, shutting you up immediately with a heavy hand squeezing your neck. He looked down at you with an unreadable expression, the only thing you could tell was that he was so close to snapping.

"Think you're funny? Chasing my date away like that?" Gojo murmured, his hand squeezing your neck ever so lightly.

"Date?" You managed to get out. "That's funny-"

Gojo cut you off once more by grinding his hips against yours, his bulge making your eyes widened.

"Well. Since you started this. You're gonna end it."

Before you could respond to him you were already being manhandled, pushed up against the wall, your pajama shorts and panties being pulled down.

"Go- fuck-" you let out a load grunt once you felt his cock pushing into your entrance. Obviously you knew Gojo would be thick but his length is what had you feeling feral. His tip was already reaching amazing spots inside you to the point where you didn't know if you could stand properly anymore.

"Shut up- fucking whore," Gojo mumbled, landing a harsh slap against your rear that made you yelp, your walls clamping down on him as a reflex.

Sure, you wanted to piss him off but you didn't think you'd end up taking that girl's place and now you couldn't help but feel bad that you'd stolen this from her. With the way Gojo's hips snapped against your ass you couldn't help but feel good with his cock hitting all your soft spots.

"Gojo- wait-"

"Gojo?" He scoffed. "What happened to you calling me satoru hm? C'mon, say it"

You bit your lip, still trying to get used to his cock ramming in and out of your cunt, your hand sheepishly moving between your legs to rub at your clit.

"Ah, ah, ah- wanna cum that badly?" Gojo scoffed, pulling both your arms behind your back with one beefy hand. "You know what I want, princess."

You grunted, your head feeling like pure mush as Gojo continued his assault against your cervix.

"C'mon, giving you a chance here..." Gojo moaned, stopping his thrusts momentarily to pull out of you.

At first, you were confused, your mind still slightly hazed as Gojo easily carried you, your arms linking around his neck, carefully sliding you back down onto his cock, a slow drawled out moan leaving your swollen lips.

"What? Too fucked out?" Gojo grunted, still thrusting deeply into your hole.

In all honesty though, you were. Your peak was so so close to the point where that's the only thing you were focusing on.

"Shitt-" satoru voiced, almost getting lost in your heat himself. "Gonna cum...gonna flood this little pussy."

You quickly nodded, the need to be filled taking over any smart thoughts that tried to come up. Gojo delivered a few more deep and rough thrusts before copious amounts of his cum spurted inside you.

Gojo huffed deeply, letting you drop down onto the floor in frustration. You watched as he walked into the bathroom coming back out a few moments later with his cock back in his pants and a wad of tissue in hand.

"You..-" you panted, watching his cum leak out of you and spill onto you the floor. "You asshole-."

Gojo raised a brow, half heartedly throwing the tissue towards you.

"What? Sad you didn't cum?"

You let out an audible whine at how sore you were between your legs.

"Maybe if you weren't such a brat and actually listened to me I might've helped you out."

Tiredly, you glared up at him the need to cuss him out feeling heavy on your tongue.

"Make sure you clean this mess up." Gojo yawned, making his way towards his room.

As you recollected yourself you knew one thing was for sure.

He's gonna pay for this.

[scrollonso]

It Makes Sense — 1 (out of 2?)

“No… Domi, listen, I di-” Pecco was cut off by another angry yell being spouted by the phone. “Can you actually just listen to me?! Stop fucking screaming over the phone, I can hear you just fine!”

Pecco had been on the phone with her for almost an hour, and for the entirety of that time Bez had been laying on his back, watching the older man through half-lidded eyes. They were oh so busy, and she oh so rudely interrupted them. It was funny though, seeing Pecco pacing a hole through his floor in nothing but his underwear, covered in bite marks and hickeys that most definitely did not come from Domi. It put a sense of pride into Bez knowing that no matter who Pecco was with… it would never be them, always him.

Maybe it was fucked up of him to be so happy about it, maybe it made him a messed up person to be glad that no one else could ever make Pecco feel the way he did. But he didnt care, and it didn't change that it was true.

“Just listen to me! Actually fucking listen! Domizia…” He paused for a moment, the sound of the woman's voice booming through the phone speaker. Bez had never liked Domizia, but he also had never liked any of Pecco's girlfriends. They were always so whiny and annoying. ‘Blah blah blah, you and Bez are too close’ ‘Spend more time with me’ ‘Don’t ditch me for him blah blah blah’. All they did was bitch and moan. It was obnoxious.

“I'm sorry, okay? There is nothing else I can say… I genuinely forgot we had plans and I-” he sounded defeated. “What? …No'' Pecco looked over at Bez, eyes raking over his form. Sitting in his bed, shirtless wearing nothing but tattered old ripped jeans with his piercing shining in from the light of the dim bedroom, a smirk playing at his lips. Pecco looked him dead in his eyes before speaking into the phone. “No, Marco isn't here right now, I haven't talked to him all day.”

It took everything in the man not to laugh his ass off. Pecco could obviously hear the stifled laugh because when he sat down on the bed next to him he slapped his arm, whispering for him to shut up.

“… I’ll talk to you later okay, I swear… No I really gotta go,” Pecco sighed. “Domi, I’ll talk to you later… I need to, like, clean up and stuff, my apartment is a mess, seriously I need to go-”

Before Pecco could stop him, Bez snatched the phone out of his hands, not letting go no matter how much Pecco tried to wrestle it out of his grasp. He hung up just as Pecco got a grip

"Seriously, Bez?" He asked, groaning as he looked at the phone in his hands. "You should've let me finish talking it out with her before you hung up."

“Well if you loved her, I wouldn’t be in your bed right now. If you really cared about her, you wouldn’t be covered in my bite marks and my hickeys.”

“Just shut the fuck up Bez… I have to go do damage control.” Pecco said, trying to get up, Bez quick to pull him back down

“Or… you should just stop thinking about her pathetic ass and stay in bed with me, we could continue what we started...”

“As tempting as that sounds, I need to fix this, I can't have her upset at me for long."

Bez just looked at the other boy, rolling his eyes and sighing, putting Pecco's phone on the bedside table next to him. Leaning over and pressing the other into the bed, ducking his head into the space between his shoulder and neck. “She’s sweet, y’know… She cares about me, treats me well.” Pecco spoke softly.

“Does she?” Bez mumbled, pressing small kisses to his skin, sucking on it lightly.

“Y-yeah… She does.” His voice was quiet and full of breath as Bez's hands started to roam around his body, one settling on his hip and the other rubbing his arm.

“Do you love her, Pecco?”

“…Y-yes”

Bez's fingers dug into his hip as he bit down particularly hard on his shoulder, making him gasp, push his head away, and involuntarily buck his hips all at the same time. “If you love her, why am I the one in your bed right now?”

“Bez…”

“You don’t love her, just like you didn’t love the last one, or the one before that. Because every single time, you end up knocking on my apartment door begging me to-“

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut the fuck up!” Pecco smashed his lips onto the other, setting them for a bruising pace, neither minded though. Nothing was ever gentle between the two of them, always fast and aggressive, maybe that’s what they like about each other. They don’t have to tone anything down, they could be awful and mean and still end up in the same bed afterwards.

“It’s not always me seeking you out, you know…I’m not that fucking desperate” Pecco said pulling away from him. “How many times have you pulled me away from hangouts and texted me during dates trying to get me back at your place?”

“And how many times have you done it? Sure, I’m pathetic for asking, but you’re pathetic for listening.”

“I hate you.” He leaned back in, kissing him feverishly. Bez's hands felt so cold against him while Pecco was on fire, skin a flush red. “How do you want it?”

“Hmm? What’s that?” He leaned down to his jaw, kissing and biting at it as Pecco tried to speak.

“You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

“Just-… Come on.”

He stopped for a moment, teasing with the notion that he was thinking about it, trying to figure him out, but Bez knew exactly what he was asking.

“Oh, if I’m fucking you or you’re fucking me? Well, why didn’t you say that Pecco?” Bez smiled, and god, it did nothing but piss him off. “I don’t know, I think I have a lot to prove. Make sure you don’t call her back..”

“You petty bitch!” Pecco was laughing until Bez moved his hand to the back of his head, tangling it through the short curls, tightening his fist yanking on the hair in his grasp. “Fuck!” He moaned out, head tilted back and mouth open.

“If I fuck you hard enough you won’t even remember her name, will you?”

“Then actually do it instead of just running your mouth.”

Pecco felt the strong sting of a slap across his cheek, so hard it almost gave him whiplash. “You’re not the one telling me what to do here.” Pecco couldn't help but shudder at the sound of his voice, head still turned to the side as he was breathing heavily. If he wasn't hard before he certainly was now. “Wow… you’re fucking disgusting, arent you? Did you like that, Pecco? You like it when I hit you?”

Suddenly, Pecco wasn't moving, wasn't saying anything, eyes fixed on a patch of the dark blue sheets covering their his bed. Bez's stomach almost did a flip, hearing him so silent, not reacting, he worried for a moment that he might have gone a bit far.

“Amo..”

But his worries dissipated as soon as Pecco lunged forward, pushing Bez down and pressing all his weight onto him.

“You’re the one that likes hitting me, I simply humour you.”

Once again, Bez and Pecco caught each other in a kiss that was closer to eating eachothers faces than anything. The brunette's hand moved lower and lower until his palm rested right over the bulge in Bez's jeans, not quite pressing down, just resting there, teasing at the idea of friction.

Everytime Bez tried to buck his hips into his hands, the other would move it up with him, denying him the satisfaction, smiling into the kiss as he did so. He was growing frustrated, Pecco could feel it by the grip of the other man’s hand in his hair and the way he panted between each kiss while moving his hips up desperately. He moved down close to Bez's ear, whispering softly, with a voice far too angelic for anything the two of them were doing.

“And here I thought you were gonna take control, something about fucking me so hard I forget her name?” Bez gave a shaky exhale at the sound of Pecco's voice, taking a moment to collect himself. “I still remember it pretty well, hell… I still remember the way her pu-“

He was quickly cut off by the hand resting in his hair, yanking him back as the other moved forward, small whimpers escaping this mouth as Bez pulled him farther and farther back.

“Bez, Bez, Bez, please-“ he gave his hair another good tug, whipping his neck back and forth as he whined his name “I didn’t mean to-“

But every time he tried to speak, Bez just pulled harder, pulling until Pecco's hands frantically moved up. His palms resting over his knuckles trying to pry him off and release him from that damn death grip.

Smack.

Another harsh slap, his cock twitching when the calloused hand met the soft skin of his face. his cheek was red, his ears were ringing, and god, did he need Bez to just tear his boxers off and fuck him already. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this… how much longer he would last.

“I bet this could get you off alone couldn’t it? Pulling on your hair and slapping that pretty face of yours.” Bez looked at him as he spoke, his eyes showed nothing but adoration for him, and while looking at him like this, like Pecco had hung every single star up in the sky himself, he reared back his hand adding one more harsh slap to his face.

“CAZZO! Bez, fuck!” Pecco almost squealed, the skin on the right side of his face red and raw, a stark contrast to the left, cool and untouched. Bez's hips twitched and spasmed, bucking at nothing but air.

“Yeah… yeah, I could definitely get you off like this, wouldn’t even have to touch your dick… Bet I wouldnt have to fuck you either.” He chuckled. To anyone else, he looked fucking insane, but to Pecco? He almost looked godly up above him like this, holding him tightly in his grasp as he was groveling at his mercy. Yeah… Bez was a cruel and unforgiving god, a god that Pecco would worship at the altar of every chance he got. “You’re such a whore you know that? Sitting here humping the air while I hit you. Does your girlfriend know you like this shit?”

When Bez moved his hand towards Pecco's face, his whole body tense, ready for another blow to the face. He was surprised by him delicately holding his face, it made his cheeks sting no matter how soft the display was… and god did he love the sting.

“She doesn't…”

“What was that, amo?”

“We don't do shit like this together…”

Bez smiled. “Yeah, I didn't think so, I’m the only one that can give you what you need, aren't I?”

“Dont act so fucking smug-” Bez squeezed the cheek had been abusing all night, digging his short nails into the raw skin.

“Dont be fucking rude!” he released him, his grip on his face gone, and pulling his hand out of his hair. Pecco didn't even realize how harsh the grip was until it was released. His scalp was burning and sore, and his cheek was going to bruise, explaining that was going to be… interesting for sure.

Bez, who was propped up on the bed by his knees, finally began unbuckling his belt, slowly unzipping the fly. “I think… You forget yourself.” His voice was raspy, and filled with nothing but pure amusement. “You are so determined to defy me that you deny yourself of what you want.”

“The fuck are you talk-“ Pecco's jaw was grabbed harshly thus cutting him off.

“Shut the fuck up! Your mouth isn’t good for anything but sucking and moaning. Quit fucking talking!” The grip on Pecco's jaw got tighter as he shook his head back and forth.

“Fuck you.” He managed to choke out

“You can do that next time, it's my turn today.”

“Oh shut up-“

“Suck,” he interrupted quickly, staring straight into his eyes.

“Ask nicely.”

“Fine…” Bez grabbed him, shoving his face down, mouth hovering over the shaft of his dick, close enough he could feel every breath hitting the skin. He grabbed the base, tapping the tip on Pecco's lip. “Please open your mouth and suck my dick like the depraved whore you are.”

“That’s not very nice of you, Marco.” Pecco opening his mouth to speak was his first mistake, Bez taking the opportunity to shove the tip of his cock between his lips and quickly to the back of his throat.

He panicked for a moment, trying to pull off, but Bez's hand ruined every attempt at getting away.

“Stop struggling, stop- calm down and stop being a fucking baby about it.” He didn’t let up, not until Pecco stopped gagging and slapping his hands at his thighs. If he wanted to stop he would pinch. “I’m going to let go now, and you’re gonna bob your head up and down and fucking suck.”

And like that, his hand moved away, granting Pecco a small amount of mercy. It was still hovering in case his head needed a good push. Pecco tried to start off slow, maybe tease a bit, he loved Bez's reaction and how he tried to act less pathetic than he was, resisting the urge to whine and whimper when Pecco's mouth was wrapped around him. But Bez was growing impatient, deciding to start bucking his hips and returning his hand in its favorite place, gripping tightly around Pecco's hair. Well, it was his hands' third favorite place.

The first was around Pecco's neck, watching his face turn a light shade of purple before he finally let up; the second was his cock, when he would continue to jerk him off until he is overstimulated and begging him to let go; and third was his hair, when he could yank him around like his own personal ragdoll.

He continued thrusting his hips, watching his dick as it slowly dragged across his tongue and lips, precum and spit dribbling from his mouth. He could finish like this. It was tempting actually, to shove his head down and cum down his throat, basking in the sounds of him choking and the feeling of him struggling to get away.

He pulled Pecco off by his hair, the brunette breathing heavily, gasping almost. He needed to collect himself, Bez was too close and he didn’t want to fill his mouth, no he wanted to finish inside, he needed to fuck Pecco until he was screaming, and cum inside because goddamnit, he was his. He fucking belonged to him. He pulled his head up, kissing him, tongue licking along his lips.

“Lay… down,” he said between each kiss with him. Moving down to suck a couple more hickeys into the very minuscule amount of unmarked skin covering his body.

When Pecco's head finally hit the pillow, Bez pulled his boxers down.

It felt like the world had stopped spinning for a moment, Pecco looking up at him and Bez looking down, jeans still resting on his hips, fly open and cock out, and Pecco laying on the bed with his boxers bunched around his ankles and his body sprawled out like a figure in a renaissance painting. This was it, this was all he wanted, he was all he wanted.

Bez was terrified, and Pecco could see it on his face too, the lust turning bitter and forming into some sort of dread.

“Marco? You calling it quits?” His voice was soft, of course it was soft, he cared. He saw a shift in Bez's expression because of course he did, he knew Bez in such an intricate way — how could he not? And thinking about that only made it worse. “Let’s just… do this later, yeah?”

“No,” Bez blurted out, his hands holding onto Pecco's hips.

“No?”

“No, we aren’t doing this later, I want to fuck you now.” He pushed it away, it’s what he had to do, he couldn’t think about his damn feelings when all he wanted to feel was Pecco clenching around him when he finally cums.

“Mar-“

“If I wanted to fucking stop, I would’ve said the word. I haven’t, have I?”

“No… You haven’t.”

“Then shut the hell up about it.”

“Don’t fucking talk to me like that, you cunt.” Pecco leaned up to get into his face and was imedetly pushed back down. “If you don’t quit being such an asshole you aren’t fucking me at all.”

Bez just rolled his eyes as he reached over to the nightstand to grab the half empty bottle of lube, they had just gotten it a couple weeks ago and it was almost gone…

“I’m being fucking serious.”

He looked at him a moment, popping the cap open.

“Shut up.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Why are you such a bitch about everything?” He complained, squirting a pretty generous amount of the lubricant onto his fingers, not bothering to warm it up before pushing one in.

“Cold! cold cold cold, quit it.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I’m going to be worse to you next time.” Pecco breathed out, getting used to the feeling as Bez pushed the finger in and out. “You… are going to suffeeeerrr…” His words veered off into a whiny moan when a second finger was added.

“Oh, am I, baby? What’re you gonna do?”

“Gonna… fuck…” The pace of his fingers kept speeding up, making it difficult for Pecco to string a sentence together. “Fuck your face… ‘til you’re crying.”

“Are you?” The third finger was added, this one drew a loud moan out of Pecco, it was beautiful. “Is that all? That’s kinda boring, just until I cry?”

“You know that… collar we got?” That… That’s what made Bez freeze, finger stuck right at the knuckle and eyes a bit wide. If he wasn’t already hard he would have sprung up immediately. “The one with 'Pecco's' engraved on it?”

“I thought we were saving that for a special occasion.”

“I think bending you over in front of me and fucking you until you’re sobbing is pretty special.” It was Pecco's turn to smile at him — still looking so lovely — tan skin against the white sheets, dark bruises and bites littering every inch of his body, despite all that he looked almost innocent. Even when presented to him with his fingers knuckles deep inside curling in whatever direction would make him squirm, he looked sweet.

While talking about putta a fucking collar on him, he looked sweet.

“Getting a bit ahead of ourselves huh?” Bez chuckled out.

“Just preparing for the future.”

Bez considered a fourth for a second, but three was already too many, he knew how much Pecco liked it to hurt. It was just so much fun though, Pecco trying to act so casual while losing his mind just to Bez's fingers. He pulled them out despite every little protest coming from Pecco's mouth.

“Don’t be ungrateful. You are lucky I let you have my fingers.”

“Fuck me.” Pecco gasped out, a hand reaching out to grab Bez's arm.

“Patience.”

“Fuck… me.”

“I said you have to fucking wait a minute. I need to get more lube and-“

“I don’t give a shit about the lube Bez! Fuck me dry for all I care, there's already enough!” Pecco snapped, fingers digging into Bez's arm. “If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to press your goddamn face into this mattress and fuck you myself.”

If Bez's right hand wasn’t busy wiping the remaining lubricant onto his cock, he would slap the already blooming bruises on his cheek.

So… he used his left hand instead, the pristine and clear cheek being marked red, matching the other.

“You’re so ungrateful, did you know that?” Bez grabbed Pecco's thighs, pushing his legs closer and closer to his shoulders, almost folding him in half, leaving his hole on display. “But your body makes up for it, you don’t gotta worry.”

He pushed just the tip in, barely catching the rim before he pulled it right out, entertained by the way Pecco struggled to keep his breathing consistent and his eyes opened.

“Put it the fuck in!”

Another loud crack of palm against skin sounded through the room. “You think you would learn your fucking lesson, Pecco.”

“Please… Marco… Please fuck me, I need you, I need your cock, I can’t…you have to, please, I’ll do anything, please, fuck.” Tears slipped down Pecco's cheeks as he begged for Bez to fuck him. And he just couldn’t help it then, it was almost like he blacked out and his body started acting on its own. Finally thrusting into him, not taking the time to let Pecco adjust and starting the pace quick and brutal. Fucking into him like he wanted to break him in half, like he wanted to destroy him until he couldn’t move a single muscle.

He held onto Pecco's calves as he plowed into him, Pecco not able to shut up, broken moans echoing through the room.

“God, you are such a whore. You need to quiet down before your neighbours hear you… I bet you would like that wouldn’t you?”

“Hmm… Oh… mhmm!”

“Can’t even speak, can you? Is it that good? Do you just love my cock that much?” He didn’t slow down, not even when his hand snaked between Pecco's thighs to run his fingers along the shaft of his cock, lightly caressing it. “Aw, you still haven’t been touched yet have you? I bet you’re really pent up aren’t you? Do you want me to touch your dick, amore?”

Pecco's brain was fuzzy, he could barely focus on the world around him, let alone the words being spoken to him, but he nodded his head.

“Words, use them,” Bez croaked out, his pace faltering the closer he got to the edge. “If you want something, you gotta ask for it.”

“Yes… y-yes, yes, please touch, tou- fuck, oh fuck, Bez, god! Yes, touch my co- Jesus fuck!” He could barely get the sentence out, and that meant Bez was doing it right.

“That’s so pathetic.”

“Bez…”

“Begging just for me to touch you?”

“You told me to!” Pecco almost whined at him, as Bez borderline laughed at him.

“Mhm, and you listened like a good little bitch, didn’t you, Pecco?” He punctuated his words with a particularly hard buck of his hips, his dick hitting Pecco's prostate head-on, making him cry out in pleasure. It didn’t help that Bez finally held on to his cock, squeezing the base of it as he fucked him. Pecco was not going to finish first, Bez would make sure of it. He needed to know that his body wasn’t his own, it wasn’t his girlfriends either, no. It was Bez's. His property and most prized possession.

“Mar… Marco, it fucking hurts!”

“I know, just give me a minute, I’m almost there, baby, I promise.” He kissed him, not hungrily like it had been this whole time, not with aggression or overbearing control but, with a softer passion, the two pairs moving together in the softest gesture of the whole night. Maybe that’s what did it, that small little fantasy in Bez's head that they had more kisses like that, kisses that lingered just for the sake of closeness and not because they needed something to fulfill their bodies needs. Maybe that’s what got Bez to finally cum… or maybe it’s the way Pecco's hole clenched around his cock and he moaned into his mouth as he pulled away… It was probably the second one.

“Fuck… Shit, oh my… Pecco, baby, you are something.” He was so busy riding out his orgasm, thrusts slowing down as he came down, that he forgot about the hand wrapped around Pecco's weeping cock. And the way he squirmed and groaned, begging for him to let go and jerk him off. “Oh, yeah… You need to get off, too. You wouldn’t mind if I just left you like this, would you?

It was a joke, but Pecco obviously wasn’t in the mood to take Bez's shit. His hands moved up to dig into Bez's scalp and pulled his face close, noses touching.

“I don't give a shit if it's your birthday

I will fucking. Kill. You.”

Bez gulped, staring right into Pecco's dark brown eyes. “Hot.”

Pecco sighed, throwing his head back into the pillow, and that’s when he started moving his hand, slowly rubbing his thumb over the slit. He unfolded him and rested his legs on his shoulders. Moving down to take the tip of Pecco's cock into his mouth and suck on it. Tongue swirling around it, encouraged by Pecco's hand resting in his hair and moaning out at every slight movement. He didn’t take the whole thing, using his hand to jerk him off until he was cumming.

Pecco's hips spasmed as he came, screaming out and digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands until Bez pulled off with the most obnoxious popping noise.

“Be… Bez…”

He fucking swallowed it.

“Hm?”

“Apple juice.”

Bez stopped in his tracks, as he was pulling away from Pecco and setting his legs down.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Want it.”

“Aren’t you supposed to drink water after getting your brains fucked out?”

“Yeah, but… I want fucking apple juice.”

“Fine, whatever, I’ll get you apple juice.” He rolled his eyes, standing up and grabbing the box of tissues to throw at Pecco so he could clean himself up while he went to the kitchen.

When he came back in, Pecco was still sitting naked on the bed, now with his phone in hand and a serious look on his face, his head shot up when Bez walked in.

“I'm gonna propose.” the brunette whispered, sighing as he sat his phone down and grabbed his glass. “Christmas Eve, I'm gonna propose..”

“Yeah, okay Pecco.” he laughed, flopping onto the bed next to him.

“I am.” Pecco sat up, looking down at Bez "We can't keep doing this, we're both boys.c

"And?" Bez hummed, closing his eyes "Doesn't stop you from loving my cock."

"Bez. She's a girl, it makes sense for me to propose. This- Us. It doesn't make sense."

He just hummed, he didn't believe him.

Pecco had rehearsed his speech a hundred times in his mind, but standing here now, in front of Domizia in the same place they had their first date, the words felt heavier. It was Christmas Eve, the scent of pine and cinnamon in the air, and the lights from the buildings around them softly illuminated the streets.

Pecco’s breath came out in small, misty clouds as he tried to steady himself. Domizia was bundled up in a patterned scarf, her cheeks pink from the chill, eyes sparkling with the same love and warmth she had always shown him.

He reached into his coat pocket, fingers brushing against the small velvet box. Everything about this moment was perfect, yet his chest felt tight. The words he had planned seemed to tangle in his throat. But he had made his choice. This was right. It made sense.

"Domizia," he began, his voice low but firm, "I’ve been thinking about us, about everything we’ve been through. You’re my everything, the one person who’s always been there for me."

She smiled softly, stepping closer, her gloved hand gently brushing his arm. "Francesco, you’re making me nervous," she teased lightly, her breath visible in the cool air.

He chuckled, but it didn’t ease the tension building inside him. Slowly, he pulled out the ring box and knelt down on one knee, the city lights casting a warm glow on the ring nestled inside. Domizia’s eyes widened in surprise, her hand flying to her mouth as she gasped.

“I love you, Domizia. I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Pecco said, his voice steady despite the whirlwind of emotions inside him. “Will you marry me?”

For a moment, everything seemed to stand still. Domizia’s eyes filled with tears, her face lighting up with pure joy. She nodded eagerly, her voice trembling as she whispered, "Sì, sì, of course!"

He slipped the ring onto her finger, feeling a strange mix of relief and weight as she threw her arms around him. The world around them felt distant, the noise of the city fading into the background as they embraced. This was the future he had chosen—the life that made sense. But even as Domizia held him tightly, Pecco couldn’t shake the lingering shadow of what he was leaving behind. The man he was leaving behind.

Pecco’s mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions as he and Domizia walked through the softly lit streets, her arm linked through his. She was glowing with happiness, showing off the ring to every passerby who glanced their way. But behind his smile, Pecco felt a storm brewing within him.

He knew what he had to do next. It was inevitable, like a slow-moving train heading toward its destination. His heart ached with the weight of it, the reality of the promise he had just made pressing down on him. He glanced at his watch, the cold metal against his wrist grounding him as they reached the hotel.

“Should we go in?” Domizia asked, her eyes hopeful, her hand resting on his chest. She had no idea of the inner turmoil twisting inside him.

Pecco leaned down and kissed her softly. “I need to take care of something, amore. I’ll be back later.”

She pouted playfully but nodded, trusting him. As she always did. “Don’t be too long, okay? I want to wake up with you.”

He kissed her again, this time with a tenderness that almost broke him. “I’ll be back soon.”

As soon as Domizia disappeared into the building, Pecco let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. The tension that had been coiling inside him since the moment he proposed began to unravel, but only slightly. The warmth of her embrace still lingered on his skin, yet it didn’t bring the comfort it should have. Instead, it felt like a reminder of the weight he had just tied himself to — a weight that felt both safe and suffocating at once.

His hand trembled slightly as he reached into his coat pocket, fishing out his phone. For a moment, he stared at the screen, his mind racing. He had just promised his future to Domizia, but here he was, heart pounding, thinking of someone else. Someone who had always been in the background, in the shadows of his decisions, but never fully gone.

Pecco's fingers hovered over the keyboard, doubt creeping in. But he couldn’t stop himself. Not this time. He needed to see him, to feel that familiar rush that always came when they were together—the pull that kept dragging him back, no matter how hard he tried to resist.

With a quick breath, he typed out the words before he could second-guess himself any further.

"I need to see you."

"Now."

He hesitated for the briefest of moments before pressing send, knowing that whatever came next, there was no turning back.

Bez was waiting at Pecco and Domizia’s house, leaning against the doorframe when Pecco arrived. His posture was casual, but his eyes told a different story — darker than usual, shadowed with something Pecco couldn’t quite place. It was a look he knew all too well. It was a mix of anger, hurt, and anticipation, as if Bez had been waiting for this moment with an intensity that mirrored the weight of Pecco's own dread. They had been dancing around this conversation for too long, and tonight, neither could avoid it.

Pecco barely had time to close the door behind him before Bez pulled him in, pressing their lips together in a kiss that was more desperate than passionate. It wasn’t gentle or hesitant. It was demanding, a collision of need and frustration, of all the things they hadn’t said. It was familiar, the way Bez’s mouth moved against his, the way their bodies fit together, like the hundreds of times they had done this before. Pecco responded instinctively, his hands finding their way to Bez’s back, pulling him in as close as he could, as if proximity might make everything easier to understand, as if being together like this could make the rest of the world disappear.

They stumbled toward the couch, breath mingling with quiet gasps as their hands roamed over each other. Bez’s fingers threaded through Pecco’s hair, tugging just enough to send a shiver down his spine, a whine escaping as Bez's lips moved to press against Pecco’s neck. For a brief, stolen moment, it was as if everything was right again, as if nothing had changed between them. The familiar heat between them was still there, burning with the same intensity that always brought them back to each other, no matter how many times they tried to walk away.

But even as Pecco lost himself in Bez’s touch, his mind was racing. The ring on Domizia’s finger felt like a lead weight in his pocket, a constant reminder of the choice he had made tonight. A choice that had no place in this room, no place in the way Bez made him feel. He wanted to forget everything, to drown in the fire between them, to let Bez’s hands and lips burn away the guilt that gnawed at him. But he couldn’t.

He gently pushed Marco back, his chest heaving as he tried to find the words. Marco’s brow furrowed in confusion, his hands still gripping Pecco’s shirt.

“What’s wrong?” Marco asked, his voice low, almost fearful. "You didn't pinch me?"

Pecco pulled away, standing up and reaching into his coat pocket. He pulled out the velvet box, flipping it open to reveal the ring no longer nestled inside. Marco’s eyes widened in shock as he processed what Pecco was saying.

“This…” Pecco began, his voice thick with emotion, “this can never happen again.”

Bez looked up at him, his eyes searching Pecco’s face, trying to understand. “You’re- You really went through with it?”

Pecco nodded, closing the box and placing it back in his pocket. “I asked her tonight. She said yes.”

Bez laughed bitterly, shaking his head as he stood up. “So, that’s it? You’re just going to walk away from everything we had? From us? Seriously?”

Pecco felt his throat tighten, but he forced himself to meet Bez's gaze. “I can’t keep doing this, Bez. We can’t keep doing this. Domi… she’s my future. She’s the one I’m supposed to be with.”

“And what am I, then? A mistake?” Bez's voice was shaking, hurt. “Just some phase you had to get out of your system? Just testing the fucking faggot waters before settling down with some slut?”

“Don't call her that,” Pecco said quickly, stepping closer, his hand reaching out to cup Bez's face. “No, Marco, you were never a mistake. But we both knew this day would come. It had to.”

Bez closed his eyes, leaning into Pecco’s touch for just a moment longer before pulling away. “So, that’s it. We’re done?”

Pecco swallowed hard, nodding. “Yeah. We’re done.”

They stood there in silence, the weight of the moment settling over them like a heavy blanket. Finally, Bez turned and walked toward the door, pausing just before he stepped out.

“I hope she makes you happy, amore,” Bez said quietly, not turning around. “I really do.”

And then he was gone, leaving Pecco standing alone in the dark apartment, the echo of their goodbye lingering in the air.

Marco hadn’t felt this hollow in a long time. The familiar warmth of Vale's ranch — usually his favorite place to be during the holidays — felt like an emotional landmine this year. He couldn’t bear the thought of facing Pecco and Domi, watching them bask in the glow of their engagement while everyone celebrated around them.

It wasn’t just the usual holiday gathering. It was their Christmas now, the first of many where they’d be the center of attention, smiling and sharing their happiness with the world. And Bez? He’d be on the sidelines, forced to swallow the bitterness gnawing at his insides.

So he stayed away. He made excuses — something about needing time to rest, needing space. Valentino had tried to convince him otherwise, even sent a few messages asking if he was okay. Bez brushed it off with half-hearted responses, knowing that even Vale couldn’t pull him out of this one.

Instead of the ranch, he spent Christmas alone in his apartment. The quiet was suffocating, a far cry from the usual lively chaos of his racing family. He tried distracting himself with movies, but they all felt meaningless. Even riding, his usual escape, couldn’t fill the void. Everything seemed to loop back to Pecco — his laughter, his touch, his promises.

He imagined them at the ranch, the others surrounding Pecco and Domizia with congratulations. He could see Domizia holding out her hand, showing off the ring, while Pecco stood proudly beside her. That image stung more than any crash ever had.

[allthingsfangirl101]

Worth It – Timothy McGee

My first undercover case was a long one and it's pulled me away from NCIS. I don't have any contact with my team other than a text every three days to Gibbs to let him know I'm okay. He's in my phone as Dad. My cover is that I am an arms dealer selling weapons to a homegrown terrorist group. We are currently hiding out in an abandoned school.

"Texting Daddy, Queen Bee?"

I rolled my eyes at the nickname the terrorist group gave me. "Nope," I said, not looking up from my phone. "I'm texting your daddy. Say 'hi' to your new mommy."

I 'accidentally' kicked his ankle as I walked past him. As I was heading to my "office" or what looks like an old English classroom they let me use, I overheard a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear but I needed to make sure NCIS heard.

"Y/L/N, you're not supposed to be calling unless. . ."

"Gibbs," I cut him off. "They're moving the shipment and their plans have changed."

"What do you mean?"

"They're not selling the guns, Gibbs," I sighed. "They're using them."

"On what?"

"They're not what we thought," I said quickly.

"What do you mean?"

"The terrorist group we had was a fake lead," I sighed.

"They're not a terrorist group," Gibbs figured out.

"Nope," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "But, Gibbs, there is something more important. They're planning an attack on. . ."

"Hey!"

"Who are you talking to?!"

"Y/L/N? What's going on?" I heard Gibbs's voice before my phone was ripped out of my hand. I tried to yell out our panic code but my mouth was covered and I was hit from behind.

McGee's POV

"We got a problem," Gibbs said as he ran into the squad room.

"What's that, boss?" DiNozzo asked.

"Y/N's gone dark."

"Wait, what?" I stuttered.

"She called me," Gibbs started to explain, "said that they weren't selling the guns. They were planning on using them."

"Did she say what their target was?" DiNozzo asked.

"She didn't get the chance," Gibbs sighed.

"Why didn't she get the chance?" I asked.

"I tried calling her back, but no answer. My guess is they turned her phone off."

"Why would they turn her phone off?" I asked, my voice soft.

Gibbs sent us a look before clarifying, "Y/N's cover is blown."

DiNozzo and I didn't wait for Gibbs to order us to grab our gear. We grabbed it and instantly started jogging toward the elevator.

"Where are you two going?!" Gibbs called out after us. We froze and turned around.

"We're going to find Y/N," I said slowly.

"We don't know where she is," Gibbs said like it should've been obvious.

"We have the apartment she's been staying in while she's been undercover," DiNozzo said, neither one of us catching on.

"She told me eight days ago that they were making her stay with them," Gibbs sighed as he sat down. "We have no idea where she is or what they know."

"Or what they'll do to her," DiNozzo mumbled.

"I left that part out for a reason, DiNozzo."

We spent the next twelve hours searching for any lead on where Y/N could be. When we went to her undercover apartment, the group we were investigating had already torn through the place. They were most likely looking for the same thing we were looking for; any notes Y/N had taken about their organization and their plans.

"We got a lead," Gibbs said, leaving Vance's office and jogging down the stairs.

"Great," DiNozzo let out a sigh of relief.

"Do we know where they're keeping Y/N?" I asked.

"We got a tip from Metro that the terrorist group is actually a street gang," Gibbs said as he sat at his desk. "One of the detectives watching the street gang saw Y/N through the window and recognized her. They gave us a call."

"To be honest, I don't really care about metro detectives right now. Where is Y/N?" DiNozzo asked.

"The street gang is known for hiding out in an abandoned school downtown."

We grabbed our gear but Gibbs shook his head.

"Stop."

"Boss," I stuttered. "If we know where Y/N is, we have to go get her."

"We can't leave her with them," DiNozzo added. "If they know she's a federal agent, they'll kill her. The longer we wait, the more we risk. . ."

"I know what we risk!" Gibbs cut us off firmly. "We have orders not to follow the lead."

"But. . ." DiNozzo and I stuttered.

"Metro has been investigating the group for over a year," Gibbs explained. "They've asked us not to get involved."

"But, boss, we have an agent in there," I scoffed.

"And they are aware," Gibbs tried to calm us down. "So far, they haven't moved."

"Which means they haven't moved a body," DiNozzo mumbled.

"Which means Y/N could still be alive," I said under my breath. He and I shared a look.

"Metro plans to go in the first chance they have," Gibbs continued to explain. "They know that Agent Y/L/N is in there."

"She could still get caught in the crossfire."

DiNozzo and Gibbs looked at me, but neither one of them corrected me.

"You're right," Gibbs sighed. "Y/N could still get caught in the crossfire, but Metro has promised me they will look before they shoot."

"And if they don't?" DiNozzo asked.

"They'll have me to deal with."

* * * * *

I sat for an hour thinking about Y/N. Before she went undercover, she admitted to me that she was nervous. I tried to find a way for her to be able to contact me, but she didn't want me to be in danger. The only reassurance I've had the past month was the texts she'd send Gibbs. Whenever he got one, he'd let us know that she was safe.

The idea that Y/N was in the hands of Metro who was more focused on making the collar than protecting our agent bugged me.

"Okay," DiNozzo walked over and lowered his voice. "I can't handle this."

"Me either," I mumbled.

"Then let's go get our girl."

"Tony," I elongated.

"Come on," he whined. "You really want to sit back and do nothing? You trust that Metro will keep our Y/N safe?"

"Of course I don't trust them," I sighed. "But what are we supposed to do?"

"We could go rogue like they do in. . ."

"Do not make a movie reference right now," I cut him off. "Y/N's cover was blown, we think we know where she is, and Metro won't let us go get her back."

"They don't need to know," he whispered.

"They're watching the school, DiNozzo."

"Didn't you use to sneak into your school at night to play pranks on the teachers, probie?"

"No. But I'm guessing you have."

"Just follow my lead."

We left NCIS and headed toward the school. We parked down the street and headed around the back. I followed Tony but we soon ran into some of the gang members.

"Run, probie!" DiNozzo yelled as we started fighting.

"I'm not leaving Y/N!"

"I know! I'll fight, you find her."

I hesitated before turning and running away. I checked every classroom but tucked into a science lab when I heard someone running toward where I was. I stayed hidden in the lab as DC detectives led SWAT toward where DiNozzo was fighting off gang members.

"Tim?" I heard muffled from behind me. I turned around and my heart jumped into my throat. Y/N was tied to a chair, her hands behind her back, and a piece of duck tape covering her mouth. I ran over and instantly started undoing her restraints.

"It's going to be okay," I said as I carefully took off the ducktape.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice soft and rough.

"What does it look like?" I joked. "Saving you."

She watched as I continued untying her wrists and ankles from the chair.

"Metro detectives are watching the place," she said weakly. "There's no way they would let NCIS in here." I looked up at her and sent her a weak smile. "Unless," she sighed, "they don't know you're here."

"They know now."

Y/N and I looked up to see DiNozzo tucking into the room.

"Who all is here?" She started to ask but when I helped her to her feet, her legs gave out. DiNozzo reached for her as I caught her.

DiNozzo stepped forward and each of us took one of her arms. We wrapped her arms around our necks and helped her out of the building.

"Metro is going to kill you guys," Y/N said, her voice soft. DiNozzo and I looked at her before looking at each other. We picked up our pace when we saw how weak Y/N looked. We quickly led her out of the abandoned school.

We froze when we got to where we parked our car. Gibbs was sitting on the hood with Ducky and Palmer waiting by their van.

"If Metro doesn't kill us. . ." DiNozzo started.

"I will," Gibbs finished as he hopped off our car. "But first, Ducky."

"Ducky's going to kill us?" DiNozzo asked.

"No, Anthony," Ducky said as he and Palmer walked over. "I'm going to take a look at our Agent Y/L/N."

Ducky and Palmer took Y/N from us and led her to the back of their van. I kept my eye on her as they looked her over.

"Ducky!" Gibbs yelled. "Take Y/N to NCIS. We'll meet you there."

The ride to NCIS was not what DiNozzo and I were expecting. Gibbs didn't yell at us or berate us for going after Y/N. He didn't say anything to us until we got in the elevator.

"Good work, you two."

We didn't go to the squad room. Instead, we went straight to autopsy. Gibbs asked the question before I could.

"How is she, Duck?"

"A couple of bruises, scrapes, and bumps," Ducky listed off. "A few nights of good rest and some healthy meals and she will be as good as new."

"Thanks, Duck," Gibbs said, slightly lowering his voice. He turned and we watched as Palmer helped Y/N off the autopsy table. The second she was on her feet, Gibbs walked over to her. "How are you feeling, Y/L/N?" He asked her.

"Tired," she shrugged. "Sorry, boss."

"For what?"

"For not maintaining my cover," Y/N sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair but gasped in pain. Gibbs grabbed her hand and moved it. He checked her head and turned toward Ducky right as Ducky was handing Gibbs an ice pack. Gibbs pressed it gently to Y/N's forehead.

"You didn't blow your cover, Y/L/N," Gibbs told her with his hand still holding the ice pack to her forehead. "Metro blew your cover."

"But. . ." Y/N stuttered.

"No buts." Gibbs smacked the back of DiNozzo's head when he laughed. "McGee, take her home and Y/N, don't come back for a week."

Gibbs moved the ice pack and kissed her forehead. "Get some rest," he whispered. "Good work."

"Thanks, boss," she smiled weakly. She laughed when I wrapped my arm around her waist. "I can walk, McGee."

"Don't care, Y/L/N. Boss told me to get you home."

"That I did, McGee." Gibbs let out a small laugh as I escorted Y/N to the elevator.

"And I am never letting you out of my sight again," I whispered as I helped her into the elevator. When the doors closed, Y/N looked up at me but didn't pull away.

"Metro could have shot you, McGee," she said. She sighed as she added, "Or tore you a new one. Why did you and DiNozzo risk getting in trouble with Metro and Gibbs?"

"I thought it would be obvious," I teased her. She looked at me and waited for me to explain. I smiled as I clarified, "It should be obvious why we'd risk it. We came after you because you're worth it, Y/N."

She laughed and rolled her eyes before leaning her head against my chest.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue, Tim," Y/N whispered as her eyes fluttered closed.

"I'll always come to your rescue, Y/N. No matter what."

[firapolemos05]

@ft-platonicweek Day 4 - Silence

AO3

GET YOUR TISSUES READY, THIS IS SAD

They have only each other to rely on, to find comfort in.

CW: child abuse (mostly psychological, some physical), manipulation, dehumanization, disassociation, reliving past trauma, implied ableism, victim blaming, Jose is a piece of shit

Gajeel whump taglist: @heartonxions , @bambamnesiac , @grayseyebrowscar , @ostensiblyfunctional , @blackberry-bloody

“Easy for you t’say, he always goes easy on ya!”

“And Juvia is sorry about that, but we still cannot leave. There is nowhere for us to go!” 

“Fine! Then you stay! Clean his boots while yer at it! But I'm leavin’!”

Three days it's been since Juvia last saw Gajeel. Three days since their argument.

She'd thought she'd been doing the right thing, trying to convince him not to run away. He'd been angry, nerves frayed after a bad scolding from the master. Anger never made anyone think rationally. But she must have not explained that well since trying had only further aggravated his temper.

Perhaps her fear had also influenced her judgment. Gajeel had been so confident the two of them could make do on their own. Live off of the streets, in the woods like he had done before. Just them, no Master Jose, no rules, no punishments. He thought it'd be a good plan.

Juvia had said no.

The floorboards remained quiet as the girl ascended the staircase. She had long learned which spots would creak and stepped to avoid them. The chatter from the main hall offered somewhat of a cover, but she wasn't taking any chances. She didn't want to be discovered with a bowl clenched in her hands and lose the fresh fruit she swiped from the kitchen. Her friend would be hungry.

Master had given the guild a revised story, she was sure there were details missing or twisted out of context.

‘ “The little brat thought he could run off and neglect his responsibilities. Live in the woods again like some animal. Guess the cold was too much for him to handle, cause all I had to do was wait for him to come crawling back to accept the consequences.” ’

It had been cold that night, and Gajeel hated the cold. Which was why he'd been wearing that thick jacket and scarf when they talked. That should've been enough to keep him warm. If he had returned, as the master claimed, it would've never been for a reason so trivial. 

For as much as he hated the cold, Gajeel hated Master Jose even more.

‘ “I know he tried pressuring you to run away as well, Juvia. You did the right thing not listening, I'm very proud. But next time, you must come tell me. Understood?” ’

The revelation that their argument had been spied on, used as a means to punish, had dropped a rock into her stomach. Master Jose praising her should've made her feel good. No adult had ever told Juvia they were proud of her. It should've been good but instead it only made her feel sick. Master only wanted to use her against Gajeel. To hurt him. She would not do that. He was her friend. 

The door to his room stood tall before her. She raised a hand and gently rapped her knuckles against the wood. “Gajeel, may Juvia come in?” she whispered. 

It was enough for him to hear. Should've been enough. But only the silence met her. She knocked again, repeated her request for entry, just a tad louder. But no answer came, and a twinge of anxiety twisted in her gut while the Bad Thoughts wormed their way into her head.

Was he still mad at her?

Was he angry she didn't go with him?

Did he blame her for him getting caught?

The door thankfully wasn't locked, as she'd feared. The master often locked them in their rooms when they've been bad. Gajeel had a talent for picking them.

Juvia opened the door. 

The bedroom was darker than usual, and when she looked up, part of the window had been recently bricked up. Gajeel's jacket laid on the floor, ripped and torn beyond mending. The scarf tossed aside. His bed looked untouched, empty save for a familiar misshapen bundle of wrappings.

She took a step into the room. “Gajeel?”

Still nothing.

She would've thought the room was empty until a shape caught the edge of her peripheral vision. 

Her friend sat curled up far in the corner, scrunched into a tight ball. Knees clutched against his chest, face buried between them, hidden under unkempt hair. Bundled in a dark gray sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.

“Gajeel? Are you okay?” she asked, walking towards him.

He did not speak, didn't even move, made no sign that he acknowledged her presence. Juvia knelt down next to him. His chest rose and fell slightly, so he was still breathing. But as she listened, the more labored it sounded. Shaky. And even under the warm garment, his figure shook with faint tremors.

He didn't make a sound. Not when Juvia said his name again. Nothing to break the suffocating quiet.

A few times his stomach growled loudly and Juvia asked if he was hungry, told him she brought food. But still he didn't respond. She almost reached out to tap his shoulder but thought better of it.

‘Maybe he's asleep?’

The silence stretched. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty.

Until Juvia thought it might be best to leave. Perhaps Gajeel wanted to be alone, to not be bothered. She placed the bowl down on the floor and rose to her feet, making way to the door.

“...‘Via?”

The voice was so uncharacteristically small and hoarse. She turned around. 

Gajeel's head had lifted just enough for her to see his face.

He looked awful.

A strange ring of bruises dotted his jawline and the bridge of his nose a mottled purple. The scars she always remembered seeing him with looked newly inflamed, as if he'd been scratching at them too much again. Dark circles hung under vacant, bloodshot eyes.

Juvia had never seen Gajeel cry, but now there were telltale streaks of tears down his cheeks.

“What happened?” she couldn't help but ask, even though she already knew part of that answer. What had the master done to him for him to be like this?

Gajeel lowered his gaze again and shook his head. “How long were ya here?”

So he didn't notice when she came in. Did he just realize she was even there? “A little while. Juvia tried talking to you.”

“. . .Oh.”

He didn't elaborate, so neither did she. Though part of her was a bit relieved that he hadn't intentionally been ignoring her. He wasn't mad at her.

“Why were you crying?”

At that, he rubbed his face against the heel of his hand, erasing most of the tear tracks. “I wasn't.”

“Gajeel-”

“‘M fine.”

By the small trembles that shook his figure, Juvia could easily tell the lie. Whatever the master did, it was bad. Not even the cane ever reduced him to such a state. She sighed, defeated. He never did like talking when he got hurt. She tried not to take it personally, even though she always went to him whenever something troubled her. She trusted him to listen and he would. Was he too embarrassed? Did he not trust her? Did he not know he could trust her? Perhaps she should-

“How much did ya hear?”

“Hear? You were very quiet, Juvia didn't hear you say-”

“No, I mean, from when I was . . .not here.”

Oh, he must be referring to what everyone downstairs is saying about him. He could likely hear them from up here. “Master Jose told everyone that you ran away, and that he punished you when you returned.”

He buried his face into his arms again, curling his knees in a little tighter. Once more, the silence swallowed the room for a few minutes. 

“‘M sorry,” he eventually murmured. Before Juvia could question what for, he added, “for gettin’ mad at ya the other day.”

Their argument. She'd nearly forgotten. “Juvia is sorry too. She was scared, of things changing too quickly. She wasn't sure how to explain it at the time.” He seemed to understand that, something she would always be thankful for, someone who understood. As simple as that, they forgave each other. “The thought of being on our own to fend for ourselves is scary, but Juvia wishes things were better here. That people were nicer.”

“Yeah, me too. This dump is full of fuckin' assholes. Yer right though.” The sadness in his admittance worried her. “We can only trust ourselves, no one else. As shitty as this guild is, would any other place be different?”

That was something she hadn’t thought about. Had he planned to find another guild to join? She could see herself doing that, a smaller change that kept to the familiar. But Gajeel did make a good point. Would other guild's treat them any differently than Phantom Lord? No one except her appeared to bat an eye when someone left Master Jose's office with new bruises, so perhaps that was just a normal expectation. Would they even be accepted elsewhere? At least staying in Phantom meant the security of assurance, that they've already earned a place amidst the rankings. No matter the discipline and bullying, they were legal wizards with the various privileges that bought them under the law. 

“Juvia, do- do ya think I'm a monster?”

Her train of thought derailed. “What? No, of course not,” she replied immediately. Why was he asking that? He was human just like she was. Of course he wasn't a- 

Oh, Master Jose probably said something to him. 

“You're not a monster, Gajeel.” Another tear fell, and a cold wave swept through her body as she realized she couldn't tell if he believed her or not. “May Juvia hug you?”

The question clearly caught him off guard, if the surprise in his widened eyes was anything to go by. For the several long seconds he didn't say anything, Juvia almost expected him to refuse. He'd never been too keen on being touched. That's why she always made sure to ask or to let him initiate. But something told her at this moment that he needed to be held.

So when he leaned towards her, ever so slightly, it was all the acceptance she needed, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. A safe touch. He rested his head against hers. 

The two sat embraced in the silence for a long time. 

-

Three nights ago

Even before he climbed out of the window of his room, Gajeel was having second thoughts. By the time the edge of Oak Town was in sight, his heart was fighting him to turn back.

Juvia should be here with him.

They were the Freaks Club, they were supposed to stick together. They should both be going. Ditching Phantom Lord and Jose and taking back their freedom. They could do whatever they wanted, be whatever they wanted. No Jose to force them to fight each other, or lock them in their rooms, or deny them food, or beat them when they did something he didn't like. No obnoxious, creepy adults making fun of how they looked or spoke.

He knew how to survive. And the two of them had powerful magic to protect themselves. They could've made it work.

Why didn't Juvia want to leave?

Sure, Jose didn't hurt her as often as he did the dragon slayer, but she still hated being there, right? All the ridicule she got for causing the rain? For her unusual manner of talking? Did she not want to be rid of that?

With each step his feet felt heavier. Until they refused to go any further.

He didn't want to leave without her, the only person he was willing to consider a friend. He couldn't leave her behind with all those assholes. Couldn't stand the thought of being all alone on the streets again. 

Not after what happened last time.

Gajeel turned around. 

If he returned quickly enough, maybe no one would notice his absence. Juvia wouldn't snitch on him, even if she was mad. It hadn't been that long since he left, Jose wouldn't know.

No one else would know. He would go back. He and Juvia would talk. He would apologize for snapping at her even though he hated saying sorry. Or maybe make her something with one of those recipes she gave him. They'd figure out something else.

No one else would know.

The bushes surrounding the guild hall were easy to hide in. It wasn't like a grand castle, guarded with an array of waiting archers or a moat filled with giant crocodiles. Just a simple building with stone walls that were no trouble for the iron dragon slayer to climb.

The window to his room stood dark up above. He could hear no noise coming from within. Good. That meant his escape wasn't discovered yet. He still had time.

A hope that got dashed about ten feet from the opening, when his nose caught a scent.

‘Fuck!’

He didn't get the chance to think of a new plan. To retreat back down and wait for them to leave. To think of some story to give that may save him. Because the stone beneath him liquefied.

There's not many words that can adequately describe the viscosity of dry rock. Unnatural can be one. Mud and clay at least had moisture to them. Lava was its own thing. Magic was the only thing that could make solid rock look wet and act wet but not actually be wet.

It's not a pleasant feeling having it snatch your body like a giant hand.

Gajeel yelped in alarm as a tendril of stone burst from the wall, seizing his torso and limbs like a constricting snake. Squeezing tight. Allowing no room for resistance against the threat of crushed bones. It didn't even give him a moment to breathe before bolting up, shoving the captured dragon slayer through the window and onto the floor of his own room. But even then, it did not release him yet.

The end of the tendril reshaped, reforming into a body, a face, brown suit, green hair, that stupid monocle.

“Tiens tiens, seems I've caught quite the naughty petit renard, haven't I?”

“Sol, ya creep! Get off me!”

His protests get cut off, for a light suddenly filled the room, revealing two other men. Master Jose stood in the center, face neutral but eyes glaring. Behind him, Aria stood by the door, his wide frame a blockade.

In his mind, Gajeel cursed every god he didn't believe in.

“Care to explain what you were doing out of your room?” the master began interrogating. 

“I-” Fuck, he didn't know what to say. He hadn't thought of a cover story. No need for one if you didn’t mean to return. “I was… just takin’ a walk. I couldn't sleep.”

“A walk, is that so? After curfew, when you are strictly forbidden to leave?”

If he can hide that he almost tried to skip town, maybe he can get away with just being punished for breaking curfew. It's not like he's never done that before. “I wanted some air. It's stuffy as hell in here.” Sure, Jose will lock him in some dark, tiny closet somewhere for a day or so, but he can handle that.

“You seem to have this false belief that my rules only exist when you deem them convenient,” the man said, disappointed but not surprised by Gajeel's insolence. He should be used to it by now. “This defiance of yours is getting out of hand. Curfews are important for safety and maintaining order. Keep breaking them and I will find new ways to keep you inside.” Probably a couple days in the closet. He'll be fine. “That would've been the case if you were not lying to me.”

How-?

“I ain't lyi-”

Gajeel's iron scales were durable. He could brush off hits that downed most people. Metallicana made him spend hours honing his defenses until a strike no longer hurt, no longer did damage. His normal human skin retained a bit of that resilience, but not to the same degree. 

Which is why Jose made sure to wear rings whenever he slapped him. The backhand whipped his head to the side and the room spun. The rings left harsh scratches across his cheek, not deep enough to break skin but definitely enough to sting.

“Sol, why don't you show him?”

“Bien sûr, Master.”

Still reeling from the slap, helpless to do anything but watch, Gajeel sat frozen as the stone walls morphed. Twisted and sculpted themselves into new shapes, figures, a boy with long hair and anger in his face, a girl with a furred hat looking worried. Familiar faces. A scene copying a memory not even two hours old.

And voices.

“We don't have t'stay, Juvia! We shouldn't have t'put up with their shit. We can leave and start over somewhere else.”

Incriminating voices. A perfect replica.

“The earth remembers all, petit renard.”

Gajeel's mouth felt full of lead. Nothing to say. What could he say?

Jose spoke instead. “Sol heard everything about your little runaway fantasy. Shame on you for trying to force Juvia into your scheme.”

“Miss Lockser is a respectable young lady. Polite and dutiful.” Aria sang praises Gajeel knows mean nothing. If they actually gave a shit, all the bastards who harassed her would actually face consequences. “You are a terrible influence on her.”

‘You fuckin' know nothin’. Ya only think that cause she stands up fer herself now.'

“I know all about your little nightly excursions too, the many times you sneak down to my kitchen to steal food,” Jose added. Gajeel's blood ran cold. “Is that what you thought you'd do upon running away? Stealing from people again? Did you learn nothing from the last time that got you in trouble? It's only thanks to my generosity that you're in a guild and not a prison.”

Something snapped, sending all thoughts of pretending out the door. How dare Jose bring up that memory. “Fuck you! Like yer any better! Generous my ass, y’all treat me like shit! The scraps ya give me ain't ever enough.”

“Not this again,” Jose shook his head. “Lying to make excuses for selfishness will not work.”

“And taking such foul language with the master is a big non non,” Sol added, like he did every single time he heard Gajeel swear. “Where I come from, children would have a bar of soap shoved into their mouths for talking like that.”

It was so damn frustrating. Gajeel knew he wasn't lying. Everyone seemed to believe he could just eat scrap metal and be fine but it wasn't enough. He needed real food too, but the tiny portions he was allowed always left his stomach gnawing for more. Hunger became a constant pain that refused to go away. Jose never believed him.

“I've been patient enough to tolerate those grievances, but this disrespect has crossed a line.” Jose moved his arms to his front. Gajeel expected to see the thick discipline cane the man kept in his office, hung looming on the wall. It was a tool he utilized often. 

But when Gajeel saw what Jose had actually been holding, he wished it'd been the former. The blazing pyre of anger extinguished, smothered by the icy grip of dread. “Why… do you have that?”

This was not supposed to happen. Jose wasn't supposed to have that thing. He wasn't supposed to be like those other people. 

“I have used various methods of disciplining you, and if tonight has shown me anything, it's that those have proved ineffective. Perhaps this will get the lesson through. Aria.”

Gajeel didn’t pay attention to what the air mage did. His vision had tunneled in on the item in Jose's hands. Not that. Anything but that. 

Sol held fast until the sharp scales snaking over the boy's skin - tearing the warm fabric of the jacket - forced him to retreat. Gajeel managed one step before Jose's shadows snatched him instead. They did not falter as he writhed, kicked, pleaded for them to stop, for them to not put him in that awful thing.

But then Aria raised his arm, fingers dancing across a magic circle, and the air was sucked out of his chest.

When his eyes opened next, it was cold. And he was no longer in his room.

Stone walls, a lashing wind, and the inky black of night beyond. 

He was in the Sky Prison.

With the stiff leather straps of a fucking muzzle enclosed around his face.

No.

No no nO NO NOT AGAIN!

He lurched up, a panicked roar muffled to almost nothing. His balance nearly faltered but his mind wasn't there enough to register the absence of his leg prosthetic. Jaws sealed shut. He tried to claw at it, shred it to pieces, but he could not pull his hands free of the freezing shackles bolted to the floor behind him. Could not call his magic to protect himself.

And with those two simple tools, his mind transported him elsewhere. A dark and grimy jail cell. These same restraints stealing any agency he had. The phantom pains of bleeding gashes cutting across his back and arms, placed by a sharp belt buckle. A nightmare taking shape. A memory returning to haunt.

History repeating itself.

It was cold yet sweat formed on his neck. His ears rang with his own pounding heart. He heaved down breaths of air through his nose because he couldn't open his mouth, he couldn't breathe, the muzzle wasn't even around his neck but somehow something must be choking him because it's hard to breathe. Why can't he breathe? The cold air is stinging his lungs but it must be a lie because there is no air, he isn't breathing, his throat is closed, he can't get the muzzle off, he can't breathe. 

“Control yourself, Gajeel. You're acting like a rabid dog.”

Jose and Aria stood a few strides away. The lingering residue of the air mage's magic still hung in the surrounding space.

‘Take it off!’ Gajeel tried to yell through the muzzle, but anything that came out was unintelligible. He let the sound ground him back to reality. Made him aware of the air that was in fact moving in and out with the rise and fall of his chest. Or was that just the shivering? His jacket, scarf, and boots were left behind and the short sleeved shirt he wore was not a suitable wind buffer. 

“It’s saddening that I have to do this, but your behavior has left me little choice,” Jose chastised, ignoring the protests of his charge. “You will be spending time up here until you prove to me you've learned your lesson.”

“Tis truly tragic, trapping one of our own up in this prison, but it is the only way you'll learn.” Aria's tears soaked his mask, Gajeel always doubted if they were genuine. 

“These are the consequences of disobedience, Gajeel. You've only yourself to blame. I've sheltered you, kept you fed, protected you from the Bureau, and look how ungrateful you are. You should know there's not many people willing to put up with an animal like you as I've had.”

‘I'm not an animal I'm not an animal I'm NOT an animal!’

“What did you expect to happen once you left? Did you think you'd find people who'd want to help you? People more patient and generous than me? You'd sooner find yourself on display in a zoo.”

It couldn't be true. There had to be some who would see he's still human despite everything. People who wouldn't care about the scales on his face and shoulders, the pointed ears, the sharp fangs and claws. 

Jose had to be wrong. He had to be.

“You remember Nerium, don't you?”

At that name, the boy flinched. How could he not? He could only dream of forgetting that horrible place. Where all this began. He had learned its name months after leaving, while learning the language of this country, for the sole purpose of remembering never to step foot there again. 

“You remember how they treated you. They saw your draconic physicality and thought you a monster, a demon. Normal humans don't have scales or fangs. They don't growl at things they don't like or eat metal. Magic is not supposed to change a body like that. You're an anomaly, and most people do not like anomalies that aren't under control.

“That's why I brought you here. Unlike many, I can see you for what you can become. A strong wizard. One whose name can become synonymous with the strongest guild, the prestigious Phantom Lord. People won't dare to disrespect you then, no matter what they think about you. They will fear our retribution too much to even think of crossing you.

“But that only happens if you're under control. Under me, your master. Leave and there will be no one to protect you. And the only treatment you can expect is chains and a muzzle just like that. Or perhaps they'll hand you to the Bureau to be turned into a science experiment, just as those in Nerium planned. So consider this lesson a sneak peek into the so-called freedom you wish for.”

Gajeel didn’t notice the tears running down his face until he saw droplets falling to the floor. He turned away, wiping them off against his knee.

He didn't want it to be true.

But he noticed how people looked at him. At his bizarre appearance and mannerisms. The glares and raised voices whenever he got too angry, whenever he looked like he lied because he didn't like making eye contact, whenever he overheard a conversation he shouldn't have because tuning out the noise was so hard.

The people of Nerium had called a demon slayer to deal with him, as if he were a pest to exterminate. And she'd nearly done it. Turned back not due to him being a terrified child but only because he wasn't her chosen quarry. 

And the Bureau again. The town's plan b before Jose showed up.

Is that really all that he is to people, some wild monster? Something to be chained and caged? Would-

Would Juvia be in danger traveling with him? If not from him, then by the people who hunt him? Would they see her being friends with a monster and think she's one too?

Gajeel turned back and the two men were gone, transported back to the Oak Town hall with Aria's magic.

All alone.

Left to his thoughts and tears in the cold, cruel silence. 

Gajeel hated the silence, so he tried to fill it.

If it weren't for the muzzle, anyone within proximity to the tower would've heard the young teen screaming himself hoarse. Thrashing in his bindings until one shoulder dislocated. Carving grooves into the stone beneath him until his claws broke. But the biting winds drowned him, sapped at energy until they forced him to the floor, curled into a crumpled heap. Trying to stifle a sob.

No one could hear him. They wouldn't help even if they did.

-

Now.

Gajeel had sat beaten and bloody in Nerium’s jailhouse for less than a day before the master of Phantom Lord arrived to collect him.

Jose forced him to endure the Sky Prison for three.

The shoulder that'd been dislocated protested the pressure, but he didn't tell Juvia.

Hugs, he decided, were okay, but only if it was her. The thought of anyone seeing him so pitiful made his skin crawl, but at least he knew Juvia wouldn't judge. Wouldn't think him weak. He could think about this and not think about how humiliating it was begging the master to be released, with desperate apologies for running away.

He would not think about that.

He would not think about how he'd spent the last couple hours crying in his room, ignoring his parched throat and pleading stomach because he was too damn scared to walk down and face the other guild members. 

He can hear them gossiping. Laughing about the ‘little dragon brat’ who tried to run. Who ran right on back because he couldn't handle it, even though that wasn't why he returned at all. Who got what he deserved. Several theories were flying on how he was punished and while none were accurate, they made his ears burn.

He couldn't go down there. They'd be on him like a pack of hunting dogs with an injured fox.

Gods he was hungry.

He didn't know when Juvia entered the room. Those past hours felt like a blur, an emptiness. The pain dulling to a consistent buzz and then numbness. He didn't remember when the tears began falling, didn't even notice they had until Juvia pointed it out. 

What was wrong with him? He usually noticed things like that.

He pulled away from Juvia, stretching out his arms and legs to get some feeling back into them. Then took in the state of his room.

The window had been altered. It had already been only barely wide enough for him to squeeze through. But now the middle was filled in, bricked up and blocked, leaving only two small holes letting in minimal light. 

No more escaping. 

Aside from that, the rest of his space appeared untouched. The cloth he used to bind his chest still lay bundled at the foot of his bed. He's glad he took it off before venturing out, thinking he'd find a better one on the road. It probably would've been bad if he'd worn it the entire time in the tower.

His boots and prosthetic sat on the floor. Bracing with a hand on the wall, Gajeel slowly rose, his left leg sore but holding his weight. Following his eyes and seeing where he intended to go, Juvia stood up as well to offer assistance. Too tired to even use his magic, he accepted it.

He just wanted to lie down.

He collapsed onto the mattress as soon as they were close enough, nuzzling into the soft fabrics. His stomach growled, the emptiness like a monster's claws hacking at his insides.

“Are you hungry? Juvia brought some food.”

His ears perked up. “Ya did?”

She walked back to the corner they'd been sitting and picked up a bowl that'd gone past his notice. Several cut fruit, including a few orange slices.

The memories of getting sick from eating too much after periods of going hungry were all that stopped him from wolfing down the bowl by the handful. Juvia risked punishment by sneaking that up. He wouldn't let them go to waste. If she noticed the dried blood on his fingers, or the ripped up state of his nails, or the scabbed abrasions and dark bruises encircling his wrists, she didn't point it out. 

"Did you? Did you actually run?" Juvia eventually asked. Gajeel paused, then nodded, hoping she could catch the regret in his expression. "But you came back, and Master Jose caught you?" 

He can still see the man's face, that cruel smile haunting his mind whenever he thought about that night. He hoped the bastard dies slowly and rots in the deepest hells. Gajeel nodded again, and mentally prayed to be spared having to explain how he'd been punished as a result. 

For once the heavens listened, for the next question Juvia presents is, "why did you come back?"

'Cause I didn't wanna be alone.'

"Cause I didn't wanna leave ya behind.” It wasn't even a lie. “If I left, ya wouldn't have anyone else fer the Freaks Club.”

And now he could never leave again. But maybe that was for the best if it wouldn't be worth it.

[meowunmeow]

Undead Unluck Chapter 202 Spoilers!!

At first, I thought the title didn't make sense. Then I read on and oh it makes so much sense.

Of all languages... French. 6997 languages. And you chose French. Nico you USAmerican.

But yeah the game is extremely biased. Unless you're a polyglot, you're gonna lose against the literal personification of language.

So how exactly did 100!Nico beat Language... Was he a polyglot? Did he skimmed through every single dictionary there was before battling? Was he smart enough to choose something other than French?

I audibly gasped and yelled "WAR?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE" because seriously. What is he doing here and how did he even get here.

I'll admit to being unknowledgeable and not understand what Top means by Moga. Google only said a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with planes nor war. If anyone knows what he means, go ahead and tell me.

I like how the planes have animal heads.

I'm assuming she means Mandarin here because it's the standardised language. Even though there are other Chinese languages like Hokkien or Cantonese. I can't blame Mr. Evelyn here because the raw is most likely to be "中国語" which literally translates to "Chinese".

I like the callback again. Logic and self-imposed rules are what ultimately stops negators from fulfilling their potential. Victor ends up falling behind Andy in terms of strength because he somehow convinced himself souls do not exist. So here, even though Ichico is well versed in souls, she is still a woman of science. She can't back away from logic that easily.

I had to search it up but wow, you're telling me this is supposed to be a sea creature of some kind... They're both equally confused, they 100% deserve each other.

Whoa whoa whoa... Nico can't see or hear souls. Yet he somehow manages to hear Ichico's pain? Does he have a wifey sense of some kind?? Loser.

I like how she talks to him like usual. She's either somewhat stupid or just forgot he can't hear her. But she's right in the end and he can indeed hear her.

Aw man that means summoning a living creature and having it die causes damage compared to summoning objects. Probably because it requires active imagination rather than pulling it from real life memories. That means that Nico needs to battle with a MacGuffin that isn't under Lan's domain.

But then that also means the way to beat Lan is by summoning an imaginative creature that can kill Lan's own imaginative creature, the dragon in this case. But what defeats a dragon?

Nico can't see her yet... He is stressed out to the max here and hoping that she is fine.

NEW SOUL ABILITY UNLOCKED?? TELEPATHY??? Or... An ability manifestation?

They weren't kidding about Ichico being a threat due to her quick adaptation with soul abilities.

Ooh she had this set up from the beginning... She chose umibuzou and didn't bother imagining a decent creature because she just wants a "u". Her reliance on English really convinces my British-born Japanese HC of her lol.

Lol Sean probably woke up and went "something's wrong. I can feel it." and Gina just snacks him back to sleep.

FENG??? rip to tells fans but FENG???

Should've seen this coming when I re-read the early 101 arc and I noticed that Feng understood Fuuko even after she took off her necktie translator (her armband). After living for so long, he could definitely picked up an extra language or two.

It's around 1:30-2:00am in Brazil. So probably around 6:00am in the UK. So around 1:00pm in China or Hong Kong if that's where he resides. This man was enjoying an afternoon nap when he got teleported with his hair messed up and tits fully out.

[core4writes]

Hiii... can you maybe write a story were y/n is very reckless and always get herself in danger and colby have enough of that and like fuck her roughly cause he is frustrated with her then later break down and admit his fear of losing her ..... idk if you are writing though and if you are comfortable with the whole thing.... feel free to ignore it if you don't!

Either way thank you!❤️

i will be glad to do it! i have never written smut before so i think ill just skip that part till i get better at it.

Reckless

warning: sad ig, mentions of drug substance, mentions of alcohol

stuff in bold are flashbacks

pairing: Colby Brock x reader fem pronouns



y/n pov:

this past week all i have been doing is going to party to party with kat and stas, and everyday i am greeted with a hangover. i wake up in bed today with a deadly headache, the sun shining in my face. i pull the blankets hoping to decrease the aggravating pain in my head, the blankets were ripped off of me. "No more." i heard colby voice and open my eye slightly.

"what do you mean no more?" with confusion i sit up, colby is still staring at me with anger. i can just tell when he is angry, he breathes  more heavy. "No more partying, i have had enough." i look at him with a sly smile "what did i do this time? oh wait did i throw up on you again? sorry if i did." i laugh it off.

"im serious y/n. do you remember nothing that happened last night?" he points at me "you could have died."

flashback 

me, stas, kat, sam and colby were at the las Vegas bar called 'XS Nightclub' the hot spot for partying. i down my 9th shot of vodka with kat and stas and we went out into the dance floor, sam and colby stay at the bar watching us.

third person pov:

colby leaned over to sam "do you see a change in y/n?" sam wanted to say no i mean y/n is one of his close friends she will never change, but he didnt want to lie to his best friend. "yeah dude, but if she is happy-" sam was cut off by colby "y/n didnt even like alcohol but now look at her, downing it like its nothing." colby sighs

sam and colby looks at y/n on the dance floor, y/n swings her hips to the music. someone tapped her on her shoulder, "excuse me, where are the bathrooms?"

y/n can not hear over the loud music "what? oh, its over there let me show you." y/n pointed to the entrance "okay." the tall girl says and then they just disappear.

colby thinks nothing of it because he trust his girlfriend, "man, i need another shot."

hours go by and stas and kat come back to sam and colby, "guys, we cant find y/n." colby looked at kat and stas with eyes wide open and his face went pale. "wait, what do you mean you cant find her she was just with you." stas looked at colby, "yeah but she went to show some girl the bathroom and never came back."

sam, colby, kat and stas looked everywhere for y/n. they didnt find her till they saw her outside the club walking down the street. "y/n, where are you going." colby runs up to y/n, "im going to the gas station im hungry." she said whiny.

"we are going home." colby says

end flashback

y/n pov:

"oh... im sorry." my voice quieted down

"sorry? your sorry? you could have gotten hurt, like kidnapped or hit by a bus." colby voice yelled.

"well im here now so." i said

"im scared of you leaving me okay? you change into this party animal and im scared of just losing you, the old you. And you don't talk to me about your problems anymore you're just so reckless. I need you,I need you to be here with me physically and mentally." colbys voice cracked.

The silence was heavy for minutes.

"I didn't know you felt like that. "Should've told me about that sooner I would understand." I say.

Colby crawls on the bed next to me, sobbing."I just don't wanna lose you." colby cries into my chest. "i know baby i know."

"i love you."

it was a little bit rushed at the end, my first writing piece ever hope I didn't do bad.💕

[gazsluckyhat]

One- Stallions

Phantom Pains

Masterlist

I've decided that the chapters for this will be shorter than Sarah's House. Just because Sarah's House is dark and takes a lot to write. This is gonna be way lighter in tone and if the chapter's are shorter I can get them out a bit quicker.

I've also re-wrote this chapter because I hated it. So please tell me what you think!

-Bunny

Simon knew he'd messed up. The fire he'd started burning down everything and he didn't stay to pick up the pieces. Now, years later he's back. The place he'd called home for so long the only safe place he could think of, the family inside broken and burned. He think's it might be too late to fix.

or

You can always come back home

Ghost stands in the open area of what used to be his home. He spots several things that had once been his. Several news clippings and mugs. The pictures on the wall make him look twice. It's him and Cece. Ribbons pinned to his button up, Cece's arm around his middle, face looking up at him. He can see the love in her eyes. His chest aches.

"That you?" Ghost nods, Gaz staring at them. There's a lot. Most are at the rodeo and some of from get togethers. Grant must've put them up. He thinks, Cece would've burned them. He feels grief at he thought of the older man. It was him that took the chance on him. Taught him more than his own father. Loved him like a son. He should've been here. Cece and Liz shouldn’t've been alone. Fuck up. The voice is his fathers. The time he spent on this ranch were constant in his memory. He'd learned more here than anywhere else. He felt free here, alive.

"Gonna have to show us." Price said standing beside him. They look at the different pictures. "You looks happy. Really happy." And he was. So damn happy. With Cece on his arm he'd never felt happier. The guilt he now felt almost eclipsed it.

"Maybe it has to do with the girl hanging off his arm." Gaz smirks as he says it. Ghost's cheeks flaming under the mask. It did have to do with the girl hanging on his arm. Price chuckles.

"Think yor' right Sargent." Price claps him on the back as they walk away. Ghost needs some air. Needs to be alone. His chest is aching and he feels like hes gonna vomit. So his feet lead him out the door and to the spot he'd loved forever.

He rips his mask off when he gets there, falling to his knees and gasping. He can't catch his breath. His chest feels like a void, a hole he cant fill. Tears are racing down his cheeks and his throat burns. Panic attack. He'd had them before. They'd haunted him since he was a child. His mom used to hold him and kiss his hair. But he hadn't let anyone see them since. He let the sobs wrack his body, let himself fall apart fully. He couldn't help it. The grief coating his body.

"Thought I'd find ya' here." His eyes caught sigh of the woman who'd been his second mother. Eliza immediately got to her knees and grabbed ahold of him. He flinched slightly but she shushed him as she pulled him into his arms. Her hands rubbing his arms. Ghost let her, didn't fear her touch or worry about his face being shown. Not with Liz, the woman who'd took him in without a thought. She hummed quietly. He knew they looked funny, this tiny older woman holding a much larger crying man. Ghost had been taller than Liz even back then.

"Wanna tell me what's wrong, Beau?" The nickname brought back more feelings of grief and guilt. He couldn't say no to Liz.

"I shoulda been here. Grant- I shoulda stayed." He cries harder. His chest heaving.

"Hush. Nothing woulda stopped him from getting sick." He hears his swallow before she speaks again. "You left for a reason. Grant knew it and so did I. Doesn't change that we love you. He knew you'd come home. And you have."

"But Cece-" She cuts him off.

"Cecelia is too stuck in her head. She stills loves you or she wouldn't hold a grudge. She'll get over it. Use to blush every time her daddy brought you up." He chuckles at that. He sits up and smiles at Liz.

"I missed you. Wanted to call so many times but I couldn’t" She smiles and rubs his cheek.

"You had your reasons, as do we all. Now come on, let's go see if my daughter is making dinner yet." He laughs and stands before helping her up.

Cece has dinner started, Gaz standing beside her as she talks him through what they're doing. Johnny cutting up some veggies while Price works on shucking corn.

"She's just like her father." Liz whispers it to him as he leads her in. Cece turning around when she notices him. She freezes for a seconds, eyes going slightly wide at his maskless face. The boys also stutter when they realize.  They hadn't seen him without it since Las Almas. Liz like always knows when he doesn't want the attention and drawls it to her.

"What's for dinner?" The question shakes Cece from her trance and she nods towards Gaz.

"Dad's favorite." It's all she says as she turns to watch Gaz. Liz pulls him away, needing help to set the table. Cece watches as Gaz stirs the pot, memories and thoughts running through her head. She hadn't seen Simon since she was sixteen. The last imagine she had was him walking away from her. Her screaming and begging him to not leave. Still, he'd left. Her pleas nothing to him.

"What was he like." She shakes her head as she looks at Johnny, or Soap as the captain had said.

"What?" Confusion on her face.

"Ghost or Simon. What was he like." They don't know. She has to remind herself that. They don't know that he'd abandoned her.

"Kind. He was eighteen. Just turned legal actually. Daddy brought him home and he was meek, hardly talked at first. But kind." She smiled as she remembered it.

"Ghost?" Johnny chuckled.

"Daddy showed him the ropes and he just fit. The animals loved him. You'd always find him in the horse pasture next door, taming whatever stallion they'd gotten." They'd spent many evenings in that field, riding and rolling around. "'tis why he was so good at bull riding. Had the magic touch is what mama always said. I've seen him handle barrels heavier than cows so I know he was just holding on."

"Aye' seen 'im handle men bigger than him!" She nods. Wondering what he'd been doing all these years. What'd he been through. Her Simon had always been gentle with her, her family. She'd seen his temper but it'd never been aimed towards her. They'd talked about his family and his past so she knew he'd had issues. Things he needed to work on but she'd always thought they'd do it together. Hand in hand. He'd promised her.

"Think I'm done over here." She breaks away and goes to handle the rest of dinner.

 They gather round the table and of course say grace at Liz's demand. The boys digging in almost instantly. And so they eat, boys asking questions and Liz telling stories that cause Cece and him to blush. It almost feels normal. Like they're not hiding from anything, like he didn't leave. The only thing missing is Grant. He'd be siting right beside Liz, hand on hers in between bites. He'd be beside Cece, hand on her thigh, sneaking glances. But she was beside Johnny, laughing at some joke he'd said. He could feel the jealousy, knew he had not right to be. He'd left. And still he loved her. Had loved her all these years. Seeing her had brought so many feelings to the surface. He'd wanted to grab her, taste her lips once again and just love her. She'd grown, matured. Her body had filled out more. And he couldn't deny the lust he felt towards her.

"Ani't that right Simon." He wasn't listening. His cheeks blushing.

"I'm sorry, what?" The boys chuckled. Seeing him like this was new.

"I was telling them 'bout the time you broke in the Mastons stallion. The one that'd kicked Mr. Maston dumb." Simon nodded and chuckled.

"The old man thought throwing a saddled on 'em would work. Damn thing kicked him so hard he went cold." Cece laughed, her voice sounding so sweet.

"Heard Mary screaming for miles." They all laugh. The memory bittersweet. He had so many memories here. So many good ones. Ones that had filled his nights were grief and guilt. He'd punished himself repeatedly over the years. Spent sleepless nights running the night he left over and over. The image of her screaming and crying tearing him apart. But he was home now. Home. This place had become home so easily. But once again he was running, bringing trouble behind him. Seemed that was his destiny.

[kairiscorner]

PLSS DO ONE WHERE READER INTRODUCES MIGUEL TO KPOP LIKEEE this man definitely has loona on his workout playlist 💯💯💯🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

HELLO !! ok disclaimer: i'm not really that well-versed in kpop, so i had to ask help from my friends and kinda combined theirs and my opinions together, so sorry if it's jumbled and ooc, i tried :')))

introducing him to kpop – miguel o'hara x reader headcanons and blurbs

"what am i listening to?" he asked you as he looked at you with a perplexed expression as he listened to the beginning of the song russian roulette by red velvet. he didn't take the headphones off, but he didn't fully comprehend what exactly he was listening to. "it's k-pop." "ok, and why does it sound like a cotton candy fever dream?" he asked you as you chuckled aloud, knowing what the lyrics really meant. "it... it's part of the appeal." you said as miguel sighed and sat back as he listened to the song. you swore he swayed his head a little as he listened to the song; and you might've, sort've caught him on camera doing it.

miguel only agreed to listen to kpop because you wouldn't stop bugging him about it, like you and lyla keep streaming newjeans songs (FUCK YEAHHHH) and they just become an earworm for him 😭😭😭

he probably unironically likes supershy and it's his deepest, darkest secret.

why do i see him playing 'attention' while working out what, he blasts that while he's at the gym, ignoring everyone else and........ maybe hoping to get your attention (haha kairi's a shitty comedian)

the song's lyrics and melody are the only things filling his ears right now, the calls and greetings of the spider people in the gym are being tuned out by the song as miguel lifts a couple of weights. peter b walks over with mayday on his chest, the redhead babbling and trying to call for her 'tio miguel' as her father keeps rambling to him about his dad bod and proposing an idea to make a playpen for the spider babies when the spider parents aren't around; but miguel can't even hear either of them--he's too engrossed in the song and hoping that he'd not only go away, but that somebody's attention would be captured from his exercising. hopefully.

when 'paint the town' comes on his playlist while working out HE GETS IN THE ZONE; NOBODY CAN RIP HIM AWAY FROM HIS WEIGHTS

the only reason he likes boy with luv is because of how cute you are when you sing along to it :>

imagine him listening to life goes on while looking back at memories of him and gabriella (•‿•)

he can't stop the tears from falling; he knows it's a kpop song sung by really flashy guys who many people all over the world adore, that it usually wouldn't be something to bring him to tears, but... the message is conflicting with his emotions.

as he watches his daughter come back to life through the videos and photos they had together, though the stinging feeling that she's gone–that he can never hold her nor speak to her again, and can only see her in his dreams–won't leave him alone. the song's lyrics, after he understood the translation of it, made him feel a little achy, but it also helped him feel a little relieved, in a way?

"life goes on..." he read the title aloud as he tasted the salty tears rolling down to his lips as he blinked them back, seeing the distorted image of his daughter as he watched the video of the two of them at a soccer field after her big win. even without her, miguel still lived; life... went on.

though he couldn't understand why he lived when his daughter should've been given a full life ahead of her, he lived. and because he lived, his life will go on, with or without her–but he refuses to live another day without thinking of her his beloved daughter, and... apologizing for being the reason her life didn't continue, her life couldn't go on because his did.

tags !! @miguelswifey04 @binibinileonara @fiannee @fictarian @yuridopted0 @arachnoia @meeom @ophanimgold @melovetitties @popeheywardssecretgf

[madam-kumo]

Back and Here to Stay

(Probably should've put this sooner but major spoiler warnings)

Kunikazushi x Mother Reader (platonic)

PT.2 of Don't Leave Me Too!

"Mother!"

Scara shouts as he looks up from your chest. So many emotions were clear in his eyes. Anger, sadness, grief, but there was a spark of relief and pure happiness in his irises. Tears continue to run down his face in globs as he looks upon your illuminated form. He sniffs while rubbing his face with his hands.

"Why did you leave me?!" He yells in anger, though, his arms betray him and his arms grow tighter around you. "I know you're angry with me Kuni. But we need to get you out of here and taken care of". He was to tired and injured to retort and just collapsed in your arms; he was still awake- but barely.

You turn around to look the archon in the eye. "Thank you for helping him, Lesser Lord Kusanali" You praise the girl. A sweet smile appears on her face and she carefully steps over to you and Kuni. "We need to get him out of here. If I may ask, please pick him up". You nod and gently pick up the small boy. He hides him head in your chest, no longer wanting to see the outside world, wishing more to fall asleep in your arms and stay with his mother, and only his mother.

"A letter from the Dendro Archon" An attendant held out the letter to Ei. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why would Kusanali be reaching out to her. They barely interacted as their nations were too far apart to do so.

Ei hesitantly accepted the letter from the attendant before sending him away. Why was she so scared to open the letter? She had a weird feeling that this letter was something she didn't wish to see.

She ripped the green seal off of the envelope and left it to fall on the ground. Ei slowly red the note. Nahida had taken her son, no, her creation into her care and told her in case she had any words to say to him.

Her heart dropped to her stomach as she red the note over and over again. She completely forgot Kabukimono was even one of her creations. Ei had given him away so long ago. Just hearing his name makes her want to forget all over again but he was useless to eternity. She shouldn't care... right? So, why does she?

Would Makoto want her to let him go or to bring him back? If she brought the puppet back, he would fight her. And she didn't want to harm one of her own creations. She can't hurt her own creations.

"You seem quite conflicted don't you, Ei?" Yae Miko teased behind her. "What do you want Yae" Ei said harshly. "Oh, so angry! I was just stating a simple thing" Yae giggles at the angry goddess. Her chuckling dies down once she realizes the gravity of the situation. The shrine maidens face turns serious.

"You know better than anyone that you were the one to let him go and abandon him.". That word: Abandon. It played in her mind like a broken radio. His broken and betrayed eyes still haunted her like a ghost.

"So what the hell do you want me to do...." Ei mutters to herself begrudgingly. "Give up on this dumb guilt of yours and let him move on, you did that to Makoto after all- so why can't you do it now".

She wanted to smack that grin off of the fox's face but held back and reluctantly agreed.

After a few days, Kuni had woken up, and like before- refused to leave your side and was attached to you at the hip. He had brought you to Irminsul to help Nahida gather data on a topic that he had not informed you of. Because it was you he wasn't telling it to, it was probably for a good reason.

And there you stood, behind Kuni and next to Traveler and his floating companion. You and the other ladies had been having a conversation in your mind. "How did he turn out this way in the first place?" Paimon asked, scratching her head in confusion. You sighed but answered "Revenge is a blinding goal, it changes people for the worst". "How come every conversation is good when I'm not in it" Kuni interrupted your conversation.

A glowing branch suddenly appeared in front of the boy. "Anonymous date?" Kuni muttered, looking cautiously at the packet of information. "Hey! Remember to share it with us!" Paimon squealed while throwing her fists in the air. "Shush!" Kuni says harshly. Visions of Tatarasuna flash in past his eyes like a projector, allowing you and the traveler to see it as well.

The story of Niwa betraying your son never sit right with you. Niwa just never seemed like that kind of person; he was always so sweet and kind to you and your son- welcoming Kuni with open arms. Kuni had also buried something in your backyard but when you asked- Kuni never answered. At that point, you probably didn't want to know.

Once Nahida had finished her summary of what had happened, Kuni balled his fists and gritted his teeth, cursing the fatui member under his breath. "Kuni..." You mutter his name, but before you could touch his shoulder, Nahida told you to give him a moment.

Moments had past before Kuni pushed you away from him and grabbed the travelers hand, creating a shield. You only saw them hold hands for a few minutes before the shield dispersed. "I only thanked him for helping me" He said to Paimon. Kuni turned around and made an opening into the Irminsul tree. "Kuni, what are you doing?" You asked, panic increasing in your voice.

He hesitated before coming over and wrapping his arms around you. "Don't wait for me" He whispered in your ear and soon launched himself from his place and into the opening of the tree. "W-where did he go!" Paimon shouted while you looked around frantically.

"I don't know how he did that with so little power, but what I do know is that you three have to get out of here now" Nahida commanded, and you knew better than to question here.

You had been pacing in the inn for hours at this point desperately trying to find an answer for where your son had run off to. You had already cried and begged Nahida and the traveler to find your son, but they had no answers. As a response, you had isolated yourself in your room.

You two had already been separated for hundreds of years. Being separated again was the last thing you wanted!

You had no reason for sleep or food as ,ever since you came back, you felt no fatigue when it came to normal human needs; It was strange to get used to but you delt with it none the less.

The archon and traveler were very concerned about your wellbeing but they knew better than to bother you. After all, now they have a wanderer to take care of.

A knock broke you out of your deranged state, Nahida had only checked on you once and hadn't bothered you since, so why now? You sigh but open the door anyway, knowing it was probably important. You hesitantly open the door. Your eyes widen and you throw the door open wider to throw your arms around the smaller boy.

"Kuni!"

You yell into his shoulder as you hold him. You wanted to slap him for leaving you without answers but that could wait. You felt him wrap his arms around you. He sighed into you and relaxed in your arms.

"Where have you been!?" You ask between sobs.

"That will be told later, but know that I'm back and here to stay, mother"

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

Tag list: @swivy123

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

Perfect Paradise Ch.21 And Don't Tell Me You're Sorry 'Cause You're Not. Baby, When I Know You're Only Sorry You Got Caught

S: "The truth will set you free."

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

The nightmares began that night.

Visions of aborted timelines plagued Adrien's dreams and ripped sleep from his eyes. The very world ending and the only hope of salvation going back to prevent it from ever happening.

His nightmares were so strong that they grazed against the sleeping minds of his children. Who woke screaming about shattered moons and a brilliant, terrible light unmaking everything.

They were a bit old to sleep all together like they did during a bad storm. But Emma didn't care and Hugo gave only token protest. They slept in his arms while Louis used Adrien's stomach as a pillow.

"Papa?"

"Yes, Hugo?"

"Where's Maman?"

Adrien hoped Hugo couldn't hear how his heart accelerated. "She... She had some things to take care of."

"Hm," Hugo's head sank back down as he drifted off to sleep.

Adrien didn't sleep. Knowing that the nightmare would return if he closed his eyes and drag his children with him. So he stayed awake through the night.

Trying not to think about what these visions of futures past could mean.

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

Marinette had been crying.

She was never very good at hiding her feelings from him. It was figuring out why that usually gave Adrien trouble. Though in this case the cause of her red eyes was rather obvious.

"I..." Marinette took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

It shouldn't hit him so hard to hear those words. But still Adrien's stomach clenched. Limbs tensing as he resisted the instinct to comfort his wife.

"I'm so, so sorry I didn't-" She took another breath. "-Didn't tell you."

It'd be so easy to just walk up to her and put his arms around Marinette.

"I thought I-I was protecting you. From what your father did."

Adrien's fingernails dug into his palms as he looked away. Forcing himself not to wipe at the growing moisture in her eyes. "You let me think he was a hero, Marinette. A hero," Adrien's voice broke.

Marinette sobbed before she could swallow it down. "I know. I'm... sorry. I just wanted you to be happy. To be free of... all of this!"

His Lady looked so small then. Like they were teenagers all over again. Young, foolish, scared.

"I messed up!" Marinette wiped at her eyes.

"I can't tell you."

"I know I did!"

"It's too dangerous for us to know each other's identities."

"I should've trusted you!"

"I didn't think it mattered that Luka knew."

"I'll be better!"

"Felix always looks like he knows something you don't."

"I promise!"

"I promise."

"I promise."

Adrien forced himself to look Marinette in the eye. Opened his mouth and said the first honest thing that came into his head:

"I want a divorce."

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

Adrien still remembered when he told his kids that Maman and Papa would no longer be living together. The confusion and disbelief in their eyes. Especially Louis.

He remembered the akuma fluttering towards his son's room. Remembered crushing it's fragile body to dust. The rage as he summoned a Cataclysm untransformed for the first time.

"You think you can go after my son!?"

Adrien wasn't sure what happened in that moment but he felt the power of Destruction travel through the psychic connection the akuma had with its master. Hawkmoth's attacks stopped for a whole week.

But they were far more vicious after that. The imbalance fueling her corruptive magic. Making it stronger and her bolder.

It would still be a year before they'd manage to stop her. A year to relearn how to work together with someone that used to be Adrien's other half. Learn how to fight beside someone he no longer trusted.

And they almost failed.

Almost.

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

...

...

...

It was another year before Adrien was confident enough in his plan to execute it.

Felix threw back his head, downed another glass and slammed it back onto the small table between them. Then poured himself another. Cheeks red from the amount of alcohol in his system. "I gave her the best years of my life and this is how she repays me?"

Adrien made a noncommittal hum. He was rather surprised Kagami waited so long. Then again, Adrien didn't give her more than cryptic warnings. Felix took another long drink and Adrien poured his own into a nearby potted plant.

"Here," Felix refilled Adrien's glass. "Marriage is a fucking lie."

"True enough," Adrien watched Felix carefully. He wasn't prone to clumsiness while drunk but that wasn't what Adrien was looking for.

"Y'know, cousin... you're the only one who's ever cared about me."

Adrien smiled. "I've always cared about you Felix." Shame you can't say the same.

Felix raised his glass for a toast. "Good riddance to ungrateful bitches."

Adrien's teeth clenched but he raised his glass. "To cutting out toxic relationships."

Felix laughed. "Yeah. That." And down it went. Felix's shoulders sagged as his arms went limp. Glass rolling onto the expensive carpet of his sitting room.

"... Felix?"

His cousin sagged into the cozy armchair.

Slowly, Adrien stood and leaned over Felix's sleeping face. Carefully he moved the tie covering the brooch. The Peacock Miraculous.

A chill ran down Adrien's spine as he took the Miraculous off Felix and put it in his breast pocket. There was a flash of blue light as Duusu entered her Miraculous from wherever she was sleeping.

He glanced at Felix but the sleeping potion Adrien put in his drink held.

A hand patted the Peacock Miraculous through the fabric of his suit. It's insignificant weight like a boulder on his chest.

The thought of saying some clever quip crossed his mind but Adrien had places to be. Felix would know soon enough who took the Peacock.

Closing the door to Felix's penthouse behind him Adrien transformed. And Chat Noir raced across the night sky.

...

...

...

Adrien straightened his hair. Using gel to keep it even. He carefully applied makeup to slightly alter his complexion. Taking off his glasses Adrien put in contacts that added a slight tint to the irises. He put on his freshly pressed, custom tailored suit. Cut to make him appear slimmer on camera.

As they had grown older Adrien had gotten tanner and broader. They no longer looked identical without effort. But that never seemed to stop Felix so why should it stop Adrien?

He sat in front of the webcam just in time.

"Don't be bemused it's just the news! Today we have a very special guest. The one and only Felix Graham de Vanily, Argos!"

Adrien nodded seriously at the camera.

"Despite being one of the few Parisian heroes with a public identity catching you for an interview is much harder than that of your masked teammates. What made you decide to agree this time?"

"I have something to confess to the people of Paris."

Nadja's face shifted as she realized this wouldn't be the lighthearted hero interview she was expecting. "Go on."

"I... have lied to you. The Red Moon wasn't the only crime I committed against your city." Adrien's fists clenched out of view of the camera. His words bringing back memories he'd rather forget.

"Because... I was the one that gave Monarch the Miraculous."

Gasps of shock and outrage rolled across the live audience. Nadja's face paled as she interlaced her fingers. Knuckles white to keep from shaking.

"I knew his identity and I traded the other Miraculous for the Peacock."

The audience was shouting now. Some rising to their feet.

Nadja swallowed the anger that also rose up in her. "Who was he?" she demanded. "Who was Monarch!?"

Adrien stared unblinkingly at her accusing glare.

"G- A- ."

Adrien cut the feed as he felt the Veil riling like a stormy sea. He took a breath. Then sprinted for the bathroom. Wiping off the makeup, using hot water to dissolve the gel and taking out the contacts.

In a flash he was out of there and at a decent hotel across town. Where he'd been for the past several hours as host. Nino was waiting for him on one of the balconies.

Before he could say anything Nino's arms were around Adrien's shoulders. He squeezed tightly then let go all too soon. "C'mon, they'll be asking for you."

It wasn't hard to summon the tears of betrayal that his guests expected of him. Adrien felt that all too keenly. No one protested when he excused himself. Hardly anyone asked after him.

It was a show. A grand revenge after years of being the butt of the joke. And Adrien reveled in it. Yes he did. It was every bit the terrible truth he hoped for.

So long waiting for the perfect moment. For a weakness to exploit. Adrien was almost surprised how easy it was. Then again Felix always thought he was the smartest man in the room.

His only regret was not being there to see the look on Felix's face... At least, it used to be.

[tinyperson00]

Different Worlds 💠 pt. 2

if you havnt read part one yet, I recommend you go back to read that first. -part one link-

-Part two-

part 1 // part 3

Haia scans her surroundings in the forest before heading over to the people she sees. 'What is with the uneasiness in this forest..?' She asks herself. As she runs over to the first body she finds, something shocks her. 'They're not necessarily dead, but also not necessarily alive. It's almost as if they're shattered.' She leans down to closer examine the person who lays still again a rotting log on the forest floor. The body appears to still be breathing, but somehow they dont seem to be quite alive either.

"Help-..." the woman starts to say, "Help us.." her uniform is torn in many places, which means the demon must be strong to be able to cut through it. (Since in the manga the uniforms are said to be resistant to demon slashes.) her right eye is split open, and the slash continues down her body. there are several other open wounds on her body as well, deep wounds. Her left arm seemed to be nearly completely severed off from her shoulder, and her leg was badly broken.

"What.. What happened here..?" Haia says with a look of terror in her eyes. As she closer inspects the poor dying woman, something seems to stick out to her. The deepest wounds around the outside appear to form a diamond shape with the more shallow slashes inside the outline to make it look almost like some sort of shattered diamond.. Was this just a coincidence?? Or was it something more than that. Haia is unsure of whether she would grab the woman, or if she was too late to save now. 'Ill call for some Kakushi to collect and heal these people.' Haia finally decides.

"Don't worry.. ill get my crow to send in some Kakushi. How many more of there were you? Was it just one demon that did all this as well??" So many questions, not enough answers. Haia calls out to her crow and it leaves to gather the Kakushi.

"one demon.. it wasn't a moon, but it should've been.." she begins to say, "My squad had 5 demon slayer in it. We were all wiped out within 10 minutes of entering the forest.." then suddenly a strange sound begins and the woman slayer gets a look of terror. "NO! PLEASE! IM SORRY PLEASE! I DIDNT MEAN TO-" Then out of nowhere she practically gets destroyed from the inside. The 'Diamond' outline lit up a bright light blue, and the 'cracks' suddenly sank deeper into her skin all the way through and ripped her body apart into pieces. It was a shattering sound. Right before she died it sounded like a giant, loud, Shatter.

the look of pure and utter terror on Haia's face was unmeasurable. Some of The blood from the woman had splattered onto Haia's Haori and uniform. She slowly backed up from the body and decided to run and regroup with Toju. While she ran through the forest she passed about 6 more bodies that had suffered the same fate as the woman she had found earlier. 'Please be ok, Akira.. Toju..' she silently said to herself.

Toju hadn't found any living person yet. 'What the hell happened here..?' He wonders. 'How in the world can one demon do this' Toju hadn't made the connection with the diamond shape yet, since he hadnt found anyone alive so they are all just shattering into pieces.

"Someone..! Please, Anyone! HELP US!"

Toju can hear a voice calling for help in the distance. He speeds up and runs off in the direction of the sound. Finally, upon reaching the voice he is met with the sight of 2 young girls. 'They're not demon slayer..!' He is shocked what they are doing out here all alone like this. The smaller girl, the one who had called for help, was sitting on the ground holding another bigger girl in her arms. The older girl looked to be severely injured. Toju sees that she has 4 large, deep wounds formed on her body that somewhat resemble the outline of a diamond. She also has 5 smaller slashes inside this diamond making it look like it's cracked. The younger girl only had a few shallow cuts on her face and arms. 'How did she manage to get off with only those scratches? Did the older one protect her..? Did she hide??' Toju wonders confused.

"Hey, What happened? Are you two alright, where are your parents?" Toju softly asks while crouching down to kneel in front of them, still keeping aware of his surroundings.

"He- he hurt her!" The young girl says while sobbing in between her words. "The man with lots of scars and pointy teeth.. he-" Then suddenly she starts balling into tears uncontrollably.

Toju leans in closer to comfort her and gets her to calm down in order to ask a few questions. He knew that this 'man' she was talking about was in fact the demon that was controlling this area. "What happened to this other girl? Is she your sister," he asks gently.

"My.. she's my older sister," the girl responds. "We were trying to find our way home because we got lost.. then the man showed up and said some funny words."

"what did he say to you?" Toju asks

The girl tries her best to remember exactly what he said, then replies to Toju, "He.. he asked us if we had ever broke a promise. I told him no, since I haven't. Maki said the same."

"Is Maki your sister's name?"

"Yes. The man then looked angry and said that we were liars. Then he said some funny words that were like, bloody demon arts or something."

Toju is paying his full attention to what she tells him. "What happened after that?"

"well then he said more funny words. I think it was, Shatter diamonds? But then all of the sudden we were both blown back and I heard Maki scream really loud, but I only got some cuts."

'But how.. how was she not affected by this demons blood demon art?' Toju wonders somewhat frustrated now from confusion.

"Maki had 4 really really big cuts on her and then when I went over to her the kept getting more small big cuts inside the 4 ones. I think that she got the cuts because he said she lied about breaking promises maybe. Maki has broken some promises we made."

"So because you've never broken a promise the man didn't hurt you?" Toju says.

"I think that's why.. but Maki keeps getting worse! How can she get better again..? Will you do something," the girl begins to start sobbing again.

"..Im gonna help you, both of you. I promise."

".. You know, It's suicide to make promises that you can't keep. . Especially, around me."

Toju instinctively darts around to shield the two girls. 'Where did that come from? I dont recognize that voice at all..?'

"FIND AKIRA! HURRY!" Toju yells out to his crow with fear and urgency in his voice. The crow flies away as fast as it possibly can to go retrieve Akira.

Haia finally sees Toju in the distance. She had sensed the demon near him, and realized that he may be about to die.

"TOJU!" She calls out to him as best she can.

He meets Haia's eyes and realizes. The sudden shock of terror shakes him to his core. This is a presence he's never felt before. Even though he's fought lower moon 5 before with Akira, this demon.. even if not marked as part of the moons.. Was 1000% stronger than it.

Toju turns to the girls for a moment, "Hide."

The girls take off running, The younger one practically dragging her sister.

Then in what felt like an instant, Toju turns to meet the deathly gaze of the demon. He was just a few feet from where Toju now stood. He hadn't heard, seen, or even sensed the demon emerge from its spot.

The only thing he could hear from Haia was one single word.

"RUN!!!"

-end of part two-

Well Im pretty sure this one was longer than part 1, so thats a plus!

This was actually pretty interesting to write :D my brain the entire time was just like fully immersed in the reality of the situation lol-

I hope you liked this part, and the next one will be releasing probably either tomorrow or the next day.. depending on how much homework im loaded with ;-;

anyway! Lemme know what you thought of this 💗💗

Also if youd like to be tagged in these for when the next part comes out then just tell me! Id be happy to add the tag

[heniareth]

Oh well if you're doing prompts...

C2 from the dialogue prompt list! :3

(sorry for the weird follow notification, I accidentally clicked the wrong button, oops)

Ooooooh THANK YOU!!! I see I have inspired something XD XD XD XD No higher compliment is there. I hope you enjoy this one too!!

"So!" Anders looked around the room strewn with still bleeding bodies and shook his hands out. "Well... That happened."

Astala loaded her last bolt into her crossbow. Just in case. "Sure did. Are you alright?"

"Me?" Anders tugged at his earring. "Oh, sure. This was nothing! Should've seen them dragging me off the last time they did. They've actually gotten worse at their job!"

His gaze was still lost somewhere between the bodies on the floor. Astala exchanged a quick look with Ilanlas, who finished cleaning his daggers and returned them to their scabbards before clapping Anders on the shoulder. Anders flinched.

"Sigrun and Velanna are waiting for us," Ilanlas told him, arms crossed, positioning himself direcrly in Anders' line of sight. "We should go. My cousin might set something on fire otherwise."

"Right." Anders' inhale was shaky, but he ripped his gaze away from the dead templars. "Uh... all of this?"

"I will have people clean up," Astala said.

"Right." Anders repeated, nodded, and fell silent. Then, he quietly added: "This will bring trouble, won't it?"

Astala shrugged. "They were the ones who came looking for it."

"And we will gladly hand it out." A toothy grin steetched over Ilanlas's face. The lines of his vallaslin curled with it. "Fuck the Chantry."

"Right!" Anders' laugh was still shaky, but it was a laugh.

Ilanlas made for the exit. Anders followed. Before he left the room, Astala could hear him quietly mutter "fuck the Chantry" to himself. Still shaky; but for the first time since she had arrived at Vigil's Keep, she heard hurt and rage burning in his voice.

(For reference: Astala Tabris is arlessa of Amaranthine while Ilanlas Mahariel is Warden-Commander. Astala has some serious injuries from the fight with the Archdemon that severely limit her fighting capabilities—she used to be a dual-wielder but has switched to crossbows since because she physically cannot chase enemies across the battlefield—and also almost died to the Archdemon. She figures she's done enough for the Wardens. Ilanlas enthusiastically took on the title until he discovered just how much paperwork was involved. He still enjoyes it far too much when humans have to treat him like an authority figure. Thank you for the ask!!!!)

(Also also Ilanlas may be standing in Anders' line of sight but he is probably a good head and a bit shorter than Anders XD XD XD His efforts are valiant but limited by circumstance. Also Ilanlas and Velanna are cousins because yes they have a similar bad temper)

[Ask game here]