#do you know how close i came to asking to incorporate a rabbit into the half sleeve???

[artemisbarnowl]

Send away my design request to my tattoo artist but its reeally vague so here's hoping i can still get inked in December in my version of when women in movies change their hair and make a fresh start!!

[zaynmirrors]

A/N: hey y’all! I really want to incorporate more of their back story, but if y’all are interested I can always do a prequel! Taglist is open! Do y’all want chapter songs?

JUST US

Chapter 3: I remember everything

When Daryl returned to camp with his small haul of squirrels and rabbits, he expected to be greeted by his wife. However, she never appeared.

“Y/n!” He shouted, looking through their tent that looked untouched and had been for hours. He walked into the heart of camp and looked around. His wife is nowhere to be seen. Everyone stared at him. He scowled as Shane came over arms out, like he was already ready to diffuse the wild animal.

“Daryl, now listen to me man” Shane started, Daryl knew then something was wrong. His breathing became harsher as the emotions sank in. Fear, anger, anxiety. He felt them all at once.

“She dead?” He asked though he was afraid of the answer. Daryl didn’t really see a point going on without her.

“Her and Merle got separated” Daryl lunged forward, trying to grab ahold of Shane, but ended up in a chokehold by some guy he didn’t know.

His other half was missing. Lost in a world she had no idea how to survive. One he was trying so hard to protect her from. He couldn’t bear the thought of this new world tarnishing his love.

“I’m going to look for them,” he said strained, the arm around his throat making it hard for him to speak. He patted the arm to signal he was no longer a threat. He was carefully released.

Glenn looked at him and spoke, “I’ll go with you”. Daryl nodded, appreciating the extra hands. He was coming back with both of them. The officer, Rick, and Daryl had agreed to tag along too. As well as T-dog.

Daryl readied the box truck, that was brought back from the last excursion. He listened to the hushed argument between Lori whom his wife had become somewhat close, and Rick. It was the argument of a married couple.

He and y/n hardly ever argued, but he’d remembered their first. It was over a dumb cat, he smiled to himself at the memory. She’d brought home this orange poof of a cat from work.

Daryl wanted nothing to do with the small creature and swore up and down he was allergic. Y/n ended up winning their argument. They’d kept the cat and named him Norman. He loved that cat, though he’d probably never really admit that. Not to y/n anyway. Even if he had shed a small tear when Norman got sick.

“You ready?” Daryl spoke to the volunteers, Glenn made his way to the driver's seat, and Rick to the passenger seat. T-dog chooses the latter and sits with Daryl in the back.

-

The group of men made their way through the department store quietly. Not wanting to draw any unwanted attention.

T-dog led the way up to the roof, the heavy chain and lock he’d placed on the door still intact. He thanked any god listening, the last thing he wanted was to face Dixons’ wrath. Using bolt cutters he clipped the lock. Rick pulled off the chain as Daryl pushed open the door.

He was met with nothing, no sign of either of them. His lip quivered. The handcuffs Rick had told him about on their drive back to the city dangled from the metal pipe, swaying in the breeze. The side that had been cuffed to Merle was open.

“Fuck” Daryl said, voice quivering. Now back to square one, he began looking around the roof for any sign either one of them had left.

T-dog weighed out his dilemma, speaking. “Dixon, I’m sorry” This earned him a look from the tracker, and continued, “I was supposed to get them but there were too many geeks, and I-“

“You mean to tell me, this is your fault?” T-dog nodded. Daryl clenched his jaw, debating on putting a bolt through his scull but was distracted by a flash of red out of the corner of his eye.

He turned fully and saw an x on the back of a door on the other end of the roof. He walked over and gently ran a finger through it. Lipstick. That was his girl.

Daryl ducked into the doorway, the others following behind him. They descended the stairwell and were met with a small arrow in red lipstick signaling to the left.

Every few feet another arrow would indicate which way to go. Until the group came upon two dead walkers. Neither of them looked like Daryl’s wife or brother.

His wife wouldn’t have been able to kill so brutally, this was his brother's doing. Y/n would’ve been precise and less messy. Merle had found humor in positioning the arm and finger of the dead body to point in the direction they needed to continue.

-

Music played softly around the pair as they swayed. A slow, sad country song but they didn’t care. Nor did they care if they had onlookers.

Daryl rested his forehead against hers as they continued to sway. “I love you” he spoke so quietly she wasn’t sure if she’d heard it at first.

“I love you” she replied, a small smile playing on her lips. Daryl smiled and pulled her impossibly closer, gently dipping her backward. This earned a laugh to erupt from y/ns throat.

“Congratulations” Joe, one of the long-term patrons of the bar said passing by the two. Y/n replied with a thanks and stared at her now husband.

He raised an eyebrow at her, the side of his lip quirking upwards, “What?”. Daryl brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

The memory faded as y/n heard shuffling from outside her hiding place. She had been hidden in the cabinet for what felt like days. It was hot, and she was certainly dehydrated.

She sat still hearing the broken glass crunch under heavy feet. This could be it, her final moments. She prayed to any god listening that it would be quick and painless as the cabinet door swung open. The sun burned her eyes causing her to squint.

A voice etched forever in her mind spoke, “I gotcha” Daryl crouched down to look her over. Tears stung in her eyes as she took in his face. She stumbled out, her legs forgetting how to move from being stuck in a sitting position for days, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

His arms enveloped her, holding her close. Taking in the notes of citrus and sweat. How she could possibly still smell like her shampoo was beyond him. “Where’s Merle?” He asked, still holding onto her, refusing to let her go.

She shook her head, “I don't know, he told me to hide in here” Daryl sighed, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Though he knew his brother was tough as nails and could survive this world more than his wife could.

“Let’s get you back to camp” he spoke, standing, making her stand with him. Scooping her into his arms choosing to carry her rather than let her walk.

Daryl wanted nothing more than to look for his brother but his wife looked worse for wear. He also knew his brother could make his own way back to camp. So, he took his wife home.

Chapter 4

Taglist:

@nameless-ken

[puredramione]

My 2020 Reading List - Dramione

This year, I’ve read way more dramione than I’ve ever read, and I’ve been reading it for 7 years now. I even read things, tropes, I had never bothered with before. 2020 may not have been a kind year, but in the dramione community it has been a wonderful year of reading for me. Please be aware I may spoil some plot lines to dramione fanfictions you haven’t read yet. I have tried not to as best as I can. But anyway below is 20 fics I’ve read this year that have been there for me when I needed them. No particular order. Just a lot of love for these fics.

Wait and Hope - by @mightbewriting - memory loss is one of my favourite tropes but this story. I have never cried over a couch before. But this story. From the moment she first awakes in St Mungo’s to that beautiful ending, I was hooked. I loved how the story left me with not really a care about whether or not Hermione got her memories back. Those bloody text messages 💔 a journey I’ll never forget.

The Unofficial Diary of an Omega - MrsRen - my first time reading anything omegaverse. It still isn’t my favourite trope. I much prefer Veela for some reason 🤷🏻‍♀️ but overall it was a good story, just not my thing.

Apple Pies and Other Amends by ToEatAPeach - I actually gave up on this story the first time I read it. Unsure as to why because the story as a whole is just amazing. Baking and dramione? Yes please! Also dealing with their psychological trauma after the war? Heck yes! The relationship in this story develops at a lovely pace. There were moments I was on edge, others I was smiling ear to ear whilst reading this. Definitely one of my favourites now.

In Search Of Sunrise - @indreamsink - actually just reread this and I still get that warm feeling in my chest. So turns out my break up hasn’t made me lose the ability to enjoy dramione falling for each other. Anyway, the story was so heartwarming, like if I were to describe it as anything I would describe it as a hug. The best non-date fic there is.

Sex and Occlumency - Graendoll - this was the start of my slippery slope into reading smut stories. Like I had read smut before, obviously but I didn’t pay it much attention, normally just swiped past 😂 but this one was a completely different story.

Manacled - @senlinyu - this is truly the most beautifully haunting story I’ve ever read. I remember when I first started reading it, I thought to myself, how the hell could I ever ship dramione in this world? Then those flashbacks. Fuck those flashback chapters were a punch in the gut. The way everything links and connects. I love it’s realistic ending. I often think of this story in the shower cause I had to force myself to go shower whilst I read this cause I honestly couldn’t put it down. And SPOILER, but I laughed so hard at a certain characters death even though I probably shouldn’t have but she was such a bitch. I get flashbacks myself of this story. I’ll be in the shower and I’ll remember a certain sentence, a certain scene in my head as if I truly walked with Hermione on this heart wrenching journey. But fuck manacled Harry, I hate that boy.

He Becomes by @abromaposts - I needed this story. This was the first thing I read after Manacled. Draco Malfoy looking after rabbits with the sole reason being to get close to Hermione, yes please. Rabbits are my favourite animals. It’s just so much fluff. And after Manacled I was grateful.

The Right Thing To Do - @lovesbitca8 - this was the bookshop, slow burn, fluffiness I needed in the summer. The start of a truly wonderful universe. Idiots in love, I’ve never went through so much second hand embarrassment. Every interaction between Hermione and Lucius was fantastic. Especially the final one! Every character was written to a way that I loved them so much. Plus this story makes you think (like the rest of the series) it doesn’t spoon fed you information.

All The Wrong Things - @lovesbitca8 - I never thought I’d be into first person POV. The last thing I read like that was The Hunger Games back in school, many years ago. But I truly felt as if Draco were telling me the story. I love how it filled in things we never seen in the first story. I love Draco’s characterisation. Unlike TRTTD, this feels more lighthearted. Could just be the horny Draco though and his dramatics?

The Auction - @lovesbitca8 - this story. where do I start? When I started reading this story I was in a completely different life. This story has seen me through a terrible time in my life. Honestly the last few chapters before the final chapter were a blur and I had to go and reread them cause my head was all over the place but the story. This story, on it’s own, I would say is better than any fiction I’ve ever read 🤷🏻‍♀️ it grips you, pulls you in. Every question you ask, you get answered with a ribbon and bow. I cannot express my love, for this story and for the hard work that has went into it. The characters in this world so vastly different yet similar to the ones we already learned to love. I could write a love letter to this story.

Hindsight by @floorcoaster - if you haven’t been following this year long, monthly updated story, then you’ve really missed out. Each chapter is a month of the year. The story starts with Hermione planning to trim down her calendar for the year ahead. Although it’s fiction it gave me a sense of hope for my future. I had started this year on a different note than Hermione, and I’m now ending it on a different note as well. I think this story does a good job of capturing the passage of time and just how quickly things can change. I also really love these adorable idiots in this story.

Bring Him To His Knees by @willhavetheirtrinkets (WIP) - the best co-worker, friends to lovers, fake relationship story I’ve read. No question. I sent @magicaltraveler3 a tearful voice memo after that last chapter that was posted (chapter 20). It isn’t the first time I’ve cried at a fanfic, but it is the first time that I predicted something bad would happen, but I didn’t expect the bad thing to be what it was. I can’t wait to see where this story goes. At this point I have completely forgot about the murder plot. I know it exists, and we’ll get back to the murder but I’d honestly read the characters in this story eating breakfast.

The Flat In Bath by @adaprix (WIP) - this was the first story I got into that ada has wrote. Instantly I was fascinated with the use of “flat” over “apartment”. Being Scottish I knew this was someone British. Anyway, a very interesting story and I can’t wait to see how the rest of it plays out.

Good by @lovesbitca8 - I am dying for the update of this story. As so many are, it is 🔥🔥🔥 all I can say. I can’t wait for the update!

The Erised Effect by @adaprix - When ada first told me she was thinking about writing a story about Pansy and Hermione working in a sex shop together. Telling me about having the idea of them meeting in the pub and how she “needed to get some filthy smut out of your system”. I didn’t think it would be my thing. Boy, did she prove me wrong!

The Cell by WrathOfMacy - I don’t know how I came to read this one. But damn, this was a good one (who am I kidding they’re all good ones). I’m still reading through it though. It’s a warfic in which Dramione end up locked in a cell together. The relationship builds nicely. I cannot wait to read more of it.

The Melody Of Touch by @magicaltraveler3 - I never knew I needed a dramione story like this story. I love that there is so much musical imagery incorporated into it. I haven’t read anything like it before. The story, the smut, the taxi and the freaking art work. It is everything!

Every Day, a Little Death by @lovesbitca8 - I’ll be honest with this one. I read the first chapter and the last chapter 🙈 BUT only cause everyone scared me so much. I plan to revisit. SPOILER. I may not care too much that Hermione cheated. Just me? Like yeah I hate cheating and she shouldn’t have done it, but like she admitted to it, and was very regretful for it. Anyway, the chapters I read were very interesting I look forward to revisiting it sometime.

Away by @indreamsink - written for the romcom fest and I got to say I think this one may be my favourite from the fest. Not only do you get dramione but you get the amazing side pairing of Harry/Pansy, which this year has really became my favourite side pairing. It’s like reading two love stories at once, I was interested in the dramione plot line obviously, but I was equally interested in the hansy/potts&pans plot line.

The Path Unexpected by @magicaltraveler3 - this story is a cute little domestic dramione fanfic. And I lived for it. It shows dramione going through the process of having a child and honestly, they’re so damn cute in this fic. The fanart is next level also!

[ddwcaph-game]

Hey Franz!! Hope you're having a lovely day! 😊 I'm curious about 9, 19, and 24 from the author asks

(From this ask list)

Omg hiii Albie! Thank you so much for sending these in! I hope you're having a lovely day as well. Hugs from Rosie 😊

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Much of DDWCaPH! are elements from the various media I do like, so I mostly get inspiration when I just want to go watch something.

Often I'll just read/play/watch something (though most of the time I'd rather just watch playthroughs of games), analyze what I like about it (then look for video essays/reactions/similar stuff if I want to delve more into it), and then ask myself how I can incorporate those elements into my story. It could be anywhere from a character flaw or motivation, to something as simple as a joke or just because "I want a setting or creature like this in my story". And more often than not, I'll find a way to squeeze it in or at least make a reference.

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I've answered #19 here!

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

I guess? The first thing that comes to mind is the research I've done about ornithology for the worldbuilding in Wayne's story world. I wouldn't say I'm an expert or anything close to it (Wayne and his dad definitely know more about birds than me), but compared to any other subject, it's probably the one I've done the most research in.

And the only reason birds came up in the worldbuilding is because I wanted to reference The Twelve Days of Christmas. Talk about a rabbit hole 😅

[thedailyimagines]

Headcanons: Batboys

@magnificentpiesharkstatesman requested: “Can you do a Batboys dating sorcerer!male reader please , obvious reader is a bottom”

.

Ages: Dick Grayson is in his late 20s/early 30s,Jason Todd is in his mid/late 20s, and Tim Drake is at least 18/19 years old.

Not doing an nsfw section for Damien because he’s a kid, but there is a SFW section at the bottom for him. He’s about 13/14 years old in this.

.

Warning: Mentions of NSFW (sections are labeled)

~~~~~~~~

Dick Grayson

You’ve known Dick since he was a part of the Flying Graysons. The two of you kept in touch through email when the accident happened and he left.

Your parents were magicians in the circus (your mother was, your father was her assistant). They decided to settle in Gotham when you were fifteen years old.

You and Dick went to the same school, but neither of you did after-school activities. Dick was busy being Robin while you were learning magic (not that either of you knew what the other was doing).

You moved in with Dick when he went to Bludhaven and became Nightwing. Your parents were happy for you and maybe cried a little because they would miss having you home.

It was during the first month of you living in Bludhaven that you and Dick starting dating. You would patch him up after patrol and he’d tell you about the night’s misadventures.

Once Dick’s family knew you were dating, you received threats from all of them about what would happen if you hurt Dick (Damien’s terrified you because a kid that young should not be able to describe things that gory).

NSFW:

Dick is a very enthusiastic lover. He’s very energetic. Plus he’s got great endurance. You can imagine what the sex is like.

While Dick isn’t large (he’s average sized), he knows what to do to make you feel good. This man knows his tricks.

More often than not, you become a writhing mess during sex because Dick fucks like a rabbit. This man will go for hours because he is horny as hell.

Definitely turns innocent things into sexy teasing. Oh, the dishes need done? How about Dick does them in that cute apron he totally didn’t buy to do dishes naked in?

While it’s usually you on the bottom, Dick isn’t against switching it up. Just be aware that this boy can and will ride you until you can’t walk for a week.

Jason Todd

You and Jason lived in the same crappy apartment building when the two of you were younger.

Your father was a party magician (not very good at it, unfortunately) who made just enough to pay the rent.

Your mother had been a better magician (who used real magic and drew in large crowds) but she died in a magical accident. Your current apartment was the best your father could afford with his limited skills.

It was actually how the two of you met. Your dad was putting on a free show for the kids in your building and Jason tried to steal some of his props. You bribed Jason with candy to not steal them.

When Jason became Robin, he immediately told you. It was at this time you told him that magic was real and showed him some of the spells you knew.

You and Jason began dating when you were both teens. Your father was happy you found someone and would go out of his way to show his support.

After Jason died, you gained a closed-off and hostile attitude. Your father was the only person you shared your hurt with because he understood what it was like to lose someone you loved.

When you found out Jason was alive (he came and found you, told you what happened) your magic went wild. It took some time for you to calm down and get control.

NSFW:

Although Jason is a very in-charge kinda guy, but not completely domineering. If he can tell you’re not in the mood or if you tell him no, he respects your wishes.

When you do want to get down and dirty, Jason is very much willing to oblige. He’s always in charge and likes pinning you down as he fucks you into the mattress (or the coffee table, or the kitchen counter, or the top of the dryer...).

Jason is a loud orgasmer. His cock is big and he cums a lot. He will definitely leave you feeling full and leaking. (He’ll also let you know how good you look with his cum dripping out of you)

Doesn’t care much for being restrained during sex himself, but he loves tying you up. He’ll definitely get fancy with the knots.

He’d be curious about incorporating magic into your sex life. Are there spells to spice up the bedroom? (The answer is yes, and the magical community has several spellbooks on sex-safe spells)

Tim Drake

Tim was one of your classmates. You two occasionally worked together on class projects, but you two didn’t really talk.

That changed when Tim worked out your parents were a pair of magic-using criminals and then confronted you about it.

You told him you had no desire to follow in your parent’s footsteps, but were learning how to use your magic so it didn’t go out of control.

Over time, Tim would come to you when he needed magical assistance with his work. You were willing to help him because he was willing to believe in giving you a chance.

Tim once asked you to meet him at a diner to go over something with him. It turns out ‘something’ was asking you to date him. You gladly accepted.

NSFW:

Tim will often claim he’s too busy working on a case to engage in sexual activities. You respond by playing with yourself while he works. It gets him every time.

When he doesn’t come, you’ll sit under Tim’s desk in front of him and suck his cock. He’ll act uninterested but the twitch of his hips and his throbbing cock tells you otherwise.

While Tim isn’t thick, he’s long. His favorite thing to do while you’re under his desk is use your mouth as a personal cock-warmer. Your knees will go numb from kneeling so long.

Both of you are still experimenting with sex positions, but generally Tim is the one on top.

Damien Wayne

You met Damien when he joined the Teen Titans. You were already a member when he came.

Both your parents were gone, previously members of the Justice League. They had died during a mission and left you with a spellbook and a large fortune.

You intrigued Damian. He had heard of magic before but never seen it. And here you were, a boy his age with magic almost literally spilling from your fingers.

Magic came in handy with some of the Titans trickier foes, and you were pretty good at healing the lesser injuries the team sustained.

Damien once asked you about the Lazarus Pit and if you thought it was magic. You told him you thought it was more alchemical in nature, but magic wasn’t out of the question.

You asked Damien to teach you basic hand-to-hand combat, so you didn’t have to depend too heavily on your magic. It became a bi-weekly meetup for the two of you.

Damien was the one to suggest the both of you try dating. You both are still young, so most of your dates are things like going to the movie theater or grabbing a bite to eat somewhere.

~~~~~~~~

I don’t own the above gifs, all credits go to the owners.

[some-dr-writings]

Gundham’s and Kazuichi’s mangaka S/O wants to draw them

Gundham Tanaka:

·       Though you were the Super High School Level Mangaka you specialized in historical fantasy! You absolutely adored doing research and finding new mythical beasts and species to sketch and incorporate into your work. It was no surprise that Gundham became your muse the moment you two met!

·       Gundham would allow you to visit his creatures and draw them to use as bases for cryptids and monsters of all sorts in your manga. The four Dark Devas often acted as your pose models given how unusually animated they were for hamsters.

·       Having asked the Overlord of Ice to allow you near his animals so often you spent much time together and eventually started dating.

·       “My Queen, the Stringer of Fates, what curse dares to plague your soul?! You’ve not touched the pages with which you create and destroy worlds, as if it were deadly to do so! You’ve yet to search out a demon to immortalize. Not even have you greeted the four Dark Devas of Destruction as you always have.” You huffed lazily watching the rabbit Gundham was currently grooming. “Artists’ block. I can’t seem to draw or write anything. Either I just stare at a blank page for hours, or I start something which quickly dissolves into an incoherent mess!” Rubbing your temples, you grumbled at the clogged feeling fogging your mind. “I did pull a few all-nighters last week. Maybe I’m just drained. But if things keep going like this, I’ll miss my deadline! I already asked for an extension on it last week, I can’t keep doing this!”

·       Gundham watched as you picked up the sketch pad and pencil. There was this stiffness in your movements. Your hand which once flowed about gracefully like a bird in flight now paved plain straight lines. Your eyes darted about unable to focus on anything. “UGH! I can’t even draw a proper circle for the rabbit’s body!” Sinking into your seat you tossed your sketch pad and pencil aside. “Perhaps a day of respite is in order.” “No, I already took a day off yesterday. I feel I’m even worse now than I was two day ago.”

·       The Devas quickly scurried over to you, hopping into your lap, or climbing onto your shoulder to nuzzle your cheek. “… thanks.” Gently petting the two in your lap you sighed in defeat.

·       It was at that Gundham abruptly stood up. “Where is my Queen, and what have you done with her, villain?!” “… Huh?” “MY Queen would never rot away so quickly into a decrepit state such as this! She’d fight and claw till her final breath! She’d never faulter so easily!” “I Am, your Queen.” “Hmph! No, you are not. Now, tell me where she is.” You marched right up to Gundham glaring at him. “I’m right here! I am your Queen, the Stringer of Fates!”

·       It started as a chuckle which boomed into uproarious laughter! “There you are. That determination, your will to live has returned to your eyes. I am glad to have you back.” Surprisingly, you did feel like you had more energy than before. “So, shall we be off? A piece of you is still missing and we must search it out less you start to fade away once more.” “… Yeah, a date sounds nice right now.”

·       As a bright blush dusted his cheeks, the Overlord of Ice took your hand into his bandaged one, the other taking your bag of sketch supplies, he led you out of the school grounds into the great beyond!

·       The day was filled with fun and laughter as you raced from place to place, doing anything you could think of. A walk in the park, a trip to the arcade, lunch at a café, shopping at a bookstore, and anything else you could have dreamed of.

·       As the sun began to set, Gundham and you found yourselves at the clear beach, dancing around barefoot, not a care in the world. “… Gundham. Thank you, today was amazing.” His entire face instantaneously flushed hearing his true name being called. In that moment he just looked so beautiful to you. His sheepish smile, those tender eyes, just, everything about him.

·       “May I draw you?” “… Of course, my Queen.”

·       And thus you drew, having completely forgotten that morning or the past few days, you were struggling.

·       “Ah! Your depiction captured my true form! I should have known you could see through my mortal guise!” He so happily admired your drawing with sparkling eyes.

·       While he was distracted you worked on another piece, one of a dark king holding his queen close on the soft shores of the beach.

  Kazuichi Soda:

·       You never held much interest in machinery till you came to Hope’s Peak and met Kazuichi. It seemed just about every time you saw him, he was tinkering with something, from a small robot toy to a monster truck engine. Often times the parts of whatever he was working on were spread out, and then seeing how they all fit together fascinated you. Without realizing it you’d end up just watching him work for hours and sketching out the pieces and tools he was using.

·       Quickly this fascination bled into your own work, incorporating steampunk-esque elements into it. And the more elements you added, the more references you needed. At first you tried getting some on your own, but you’d just end up injuring your hands and fingers in some way or you’d break the pieces.

·       “Look, you got me into this mess and now you have to take responsibility.” “W-what!?” Before Kazuichi could panic you placed an old, rusted pocket watch before him. “How do I disassemble this!?” For a week or two after you’d bring some new item to Kazuichi to disassemble and reassemble. You eagerly sketched out the pieces you needed the references of and more.

·       Quickly you and Kazuichi became friends. You would chatter away as you did your own things. Before you knew it the two of you ended up spending time together just to be together, no drawing and no tinkering.

·       Kazuichi would go to you for advice for his unrequited crush on Princess Sonia to which you’d try your best to help, even if it did hurt a little given your crush on the mechanic. She wasn’t the only thing he spoke of though, so you had plenty of other conversations.

·       Kazuichi certainly liked chatting so when one day he was quiet you got a bit worried… Then you remembered something. “Oh Soda. You’ve never been on a school trip before, right?” “Hmm, uh, yeah. I skipped out on the only one I got a chance to go on.” “Because of financial issues, right.” “Yeah.” “Well, I happen to be going on a trip all over Europe for background references and I was thinking who better to take along than my best friend and best mechanic I know!” The news certainly perked him right up, and he excitedly chattered on about traveling! Quickly the news spread, and it ended up becoming a class trip! Honestly, though a trip alone with Soda sounded lovely, you more enjoyed seeing how ecstatic he was to be going on an actual class trip with everyone.

·       The trip was fantastic, it seemed to be nonstop fun. Often you’d forget that you were being payed to go on this trip for work and that you needed to get reference materials, thankfully Mikan took more than enough reference photos for you.

·       Though during the trip, you noticed how Kazuichi, though still friendly, was a bit more reserved than usual. When you asked him what was wrong, he said he appreciated the concern, but it was something he had to work out on his own.

·       Eventually your trip took you all to France the city of love. The place was certainly an artist’s dream, you found yourself drawing nonstop there. It was amazing!

·       At one point in your trip your class wanted to get to a restaurant at the top of a rather large hill, but the only way to get there was via a thin road by car. So, you, Kazuichi, Sonia and your driver were the last to get to the restaurant.

·       Then the car broke down. Kazuichi immediately went to check the engine while Sonia stood at the edge of the road, looking out at the sunset. It was a gorgeous sight, her profile, the sunset, the city lights, everything. You had started sketching out the scenery when a though struck you.

·       You elbowed Kazuich, gaining his attention. You then leaned in real close while still looking at Sonia, not noticing the blush spreading on his cheeks as he kept looking to you. “Hey Soda, now’s your chance. This view is absolutely romantic, and you’re in the city of love. Don’t you think this is the perfect time to ask out the girl you like?” This hurt, it really did, but seeing how happy he was to be going on a school trip without worry like he always wanted, you could hardly imagine his joy if Sonia got together with him at a time like this. It hurt, but you just wanted to see him happy.

·       “… Ask out the girl I like, huh…… Okay.”

·       Turning to you he placed his hands atop your shoulders. “Y/N I have a crush on you. Please go out on a date with me.” “… Wait? I thought… what about Nevermind?” “I, well, yeah, I do like her, but… I really like you… I… That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out lately and... so I... You get it, don’t you!?” “… Soda, please let me draw you!” “Huh?” “Well, if we start going out, we’ll be boyfriend and girlfriend, right? I’d like to have something to commemorate the moment by.” “S/O!” He pulled you into a tight hug, giddy out of his mind.

·       You ended up drawing him at the restaurant. He loved the drawing so much he took a picture to use as his phone’s lock screen. From then on you often drew him for references for poses and though all great, his favorite would forever be the first one you made of him. It was made to celebrate you getting together, it was always so special to him.

[bluerosewritings]

Happy birthday Cater! 🥳🥳

"Ah, look at this one! It's so tiny~!" Cater cooed as the two of you looked through the cafe menu. "And this coffee has an animal face on the cream... say, d'you think the cream they put on coffee would go well with one of these treats?"

"I mean, isn't coffee cream the same as regular cream?" You chuckled, enjoying Cater's marvelling at the menu. Plus, unlike your companion, your attitude was 'the more, the merrier!' when it came to sweets.

"Ah~ I suppose that's true. The art's just really good! I wonder if Trey can do stuff like that...? Actually, this is coffee we're talking about." Cater shook his head with a laugh of his own as he placed down the menu and looked around the shop.

It was a small place, located in the Rose Kingdom not too far from Trey's family business - that was how Cater had learnt of the place. It was quaint, with white walls splashed with random red and black paint and tiled red-and-black floors. On the wall was a giant pocket watch clock, and on each table were red and white roses in rabbit-themed vases.

Cater had been checking out the place for a while, deciding the best times to enter, when the food was at it best, the perfect time that the natural lighting came through the giant store-front window, etc. Once he'd decided, all he had to do was call you, his good old cafe tourist buddy. He may or may not have made enamel pins.

Not that you minded. Any reason to get off school campus (and away from being Crowley's slave assistant) was a good one. Plus, you got a bunch of free food! What wasn't there to like?

"Did you pick on you liked?" You asked, taking the menu to look at for yourself.

Cater pursed his lips in thought and tapped his chin with his phone. Then he looked at you with his signature smile. "Hmm~ guess!"

"C'mon, again? I swear you do this every time we eat out alone." You reprimanded him good-humoured.

Scanning the list of items, you try to find what items you thought match his aesthetics the best. The cream-art coffee was a given, obviously, since it was something that Cater could actually stomach. So what would he be getting you to eat? The heart-shaped parfait? The bunny pudding? The card suit macaroons?

You settled on an item, pointing to it on the menu with your little finger. "You want the raspberry diamond tiramisu."

"Eh, they have those? I had no idea!" Cater exclaimed, taking the opportunity to look over your shoulder. He was forced back soon enough by your finger pushing him in the middle of his forehead.

"Don't lie, you've probably looked at this menu online like, ten thousand times!" You tell him with a knowing look.

He holds up his hands in defence. "Okay, okay, you win! You were right! I'm paying... again...~"

"C'mon, you didn't really make that a bet without telling me." You laughed, nudging him lightly. "You know I have no money."

"Sadly~ but when you do, I expect at least one cafe date in return, you got me?" The orange-haired third year held out his pinky, grabbing on to the one you had used to point at the menu with.

"Alright, fine. Let's just order already." You smile at his antics before flagging down a waiter.

"Ah, just before that!" Before you could protest, Cater swung an arm over your shoulder and pressed his cheek against yours, his camera pointed to both of you with a wide smile. "Say cheese~!"

"Cheese!"

~~

You smiled appreciatively at the staff as they greeted you goodbye, then did a short jog to catch up with Cater who'd gotten distracted by the pictures on his phone, not even commenting on the interesting noise the 'bell' made when you let go of the cafe door.

The selection was, admittedly, a lot different than usual. Usually Cater took pictures mainly of the item itself, maybe occasionally incorporated into a selfie-styled photo. Recently though, today especially, the majority of his gallery’s new additions were pictures of the two of you. One picture you noticed Cater seemed to linger on was one where you were holding the plate of tiramisu in one hand and catching him off-guard as you tried to feed him a spoonful with your other hand.

“Are you going to upload that one?” You asked.

“H-Hm? Oh, no, my face in it is awful~!” Cater quickly swiped on to the next picture, not realising you’d already caught up with him. “I was thinking more of the one where you were holding the one for the camera~”

“Oh, those were some nice ones. You could see the display case in the back with the right angle.” You nodded in agreement.

“My thoughts exactly~!” Cater nods in agreement before turning off his phone. “Ah~ it’s such a shame we can only visit a cafe once a day! There’s this one in the Land of Pyroxene that’s been trending like crazy lately~!”

“Is it near your home?” You threw the idea out there as the two of you turned the corner.

“Well, it’s not close, but it’s not far either.” Cater admitted. “Why?”

“I was just curious. I mean, you never post anything about your home.” You explained with a shrug. It was genuinely out of curiosity.

Cater took it a little differently. “You... want to see my house?”

“I suppose.” You agreed. “I’d get to meet your family, too. That’s more what you consider ��home’, right?”

A blush spread across Cater’s face, one you thankfully didn’t pick up on thanks to the fading light of the sunset. “Well, I guess my sisters have been pushing me to invite a friend home... sure, we can go to one in the morning and the other in the afternoon!”

You smiled sincerely, then laughed a little as an idea hit you. “Maybe the cafe in the morning, so your sisters don’t get any ideas?”

“Ah, yeah...” Cater hummed in agreement, even if those ideas were what he hoped would be true. Your smiling face was enough to lift his mood though. “At least the morning lighting is usually good over in the Land of Pyroxene.”

“Of course that’s what you’re thinking of.” You say with a shake of your head, then stop walking suddenly, making Cater stop and look back at you. “Although, that reminds me...”

You pull your own phone out of your pocket and motion for Cater to come back to where you were standing.

Once he does, you try putting your arm around his shoulder like he did to you earlier and hold your camera up to capture both of you in frame.

“You have so many pictures of us, while I barely have any.” You explain to clear up his confusion. “So, now’s the time to get some of my own!”

Cater blushes once again as you turn your face back to your camera, only remembering to do the same when you nudge him, giving a wide smile when he does do so.

“3, 2, 1... say cheese!”

“Cheese~!”

[crazyyanderefangirlfan]

The Rabbit of Night Raven Chapter 1: Demons in high places Pt 2

Part 1 is here

For the next few days, Amane was running her dry with all his demands, as well as her money. They ranged from annoying to atrocious. But she bared through it all.

Jack, Epel, and Sebek found not long after, been informed by Ace and Deuce. They offered to take care of Amane so she could rest but declined. Amane might blackmail her that she wasn't doing her job as a hostess, not to mention he might make them uncomfortable as well. She just had to soldier on.

"I forgot to ask, how did you end up with those wounds?"

It was a Sunday morning, and Valerie just brought his breakfast. A plate of raspberry and chocolate waffles, and Darjeeling tea. He demanded it to be made since he said he wanted his favorite breakfast. He nearly emptied her wallet, because of how expensive the raspberries are.

She also decided to eat with him this time, to hopefully build a better level of trust. Grim was downstairs, saying he didn't want to be in the same room as him. He paused mid-bite and narrowed his eyes.

"Why the fuck should I tell ya? We don't exactly see eye-to-eye ya know."

"I know, but I thought I could understand you better. Despite, the sexist nicknames, and overall rudeness. I can tell you're not a bad person."

Amane studied her face to find any hint of mockery, or deception. However, to his surprise there was none. Her face was earnest, as she patiently waited for him to speak. He sighed.

"My shitty dad did this to me."

This shocked her, but he paid no mind and continued.

"I did something he didn't like and got punished."

"Wha-What did you do?"

"I gave some information to our rival company, safe to say my old man was not pleased. My friend is the CEO's kid, my dad was planning an assassination attempt on him, but I eavesdrop on one of his meetings and managed to phone her just on time. He saw this as an act of betrayal and punished me for it."

"Didn't you're mother do anything! What about the rest of you're family?"

"My mother had no power, and the rest of them agreed with my dad."

She went silent and contemplated. She had one question in her mind.

"But...How did you manage to end up in that crater? Night Raven is miles away from any other piece of land."

It was his turn to be silent. Amane looked away as he pondered for an appropriate response. Finally, he faced her.

“You see Sugar tits, my family and I are demons, sex demons to be exact. He probably used teleportation magic to get rid of me, and erase any evidence."

A demon, an incubus no less, well, that did explain why he didn't die so easily when she found him. Though she should have guessed he was a supernatural being, his ears were a dead giveaway. Speaking of which, she remembered what she first thought he was and let out a giggle.

Amane furrowed his brows. "What's so funny?"

She turned to him still giggling.

"I thought you were some kind of fae, with you're ears and all."

He knit his brows at her answer, before giving out a hearty chuckle.

"Haha, you actually thought I was one of those guys. Fairies are overrated  Hun, demons are what's hot."

"Oh really? they've been so overused in the media, I thought they were the overrated beings." She smirked. He gave out another chuckle.

"Oh, honey. That just means we're more lovable."

They let out another good-hearted laugh before the girl asked another question.

"So...Is there anything else I should know about you or demons?" He let out a thoughtful hum before answering.

"You know about demon pacts, yeah?" She nodded.

"Well, back in the old days my family would perform blood pacts with people who they are eternally grateful for and give them gifts as a sign of their loyalty."

He gave her a close-lipped smile.

"But of course, you won't see me that Sugar tits, I ain't exactly grateful to be in your care but it will do.'"

"Keep that attitude up, and you'll be relying on Grim."

"He's cute but unreliable and a bit whiny for my tastes."

She laughed. She was about to reply when she heard the said monster calling for her. Valerie muttered under breath on how he's such a whiny baby, but there was a smile on her face.

"I'll see you later. Call when me you need something." She got up and left. Leaving Amane in his thoughts.

No one, but his mother and his best friend were that kind to him.

Maybe she ain't so bad.

_____________________________________

Night came quickly. Valerie decided she and Grim will have dinner with Amane. Technically, she had to bribe him with her tuna casserole to get him to cooperate, and just like that he's happily eating his third serving with them.

"Mmmmm~ The cheese complements the tuna so well! You really outdid yourself Henchwoman!"

"Is he always like this?" Amane whispered as he watched Grim loudly eating his food with a blank look on his face.

"Yeah, but it's his charming point, I guess."

Unexpectedly, after their conversation this morning. Amane didn't bother her as much, just an occasional glass of water or a trip to the bathroom. She didn't know what changed his attitude, but it was welcomed regardless.

"So. After you get better, wanna hang out sometime?" He glanced at her mildly surprised, but a cheeky smirk made it's to his face.

"Asking me on a date are you Sugar tits? So bold~ But alas, girls aren't my thing, but if you're setting me up with one of your boy toys I'll happily oblige."

She giggled and lightly punched his shoulder. "No, I mean for us hang out as friends, and I don't think I should introduce you to guys just yet. Unless you want to traumatize their minds with all your flirting."

"Their loss if they can't handle this firecracker."

Valerie smiled. She liked this side of Amane better, he was easy to talk to and made great jokes, even if his humor is a little...Vulgar. After dinner, she helped Amane get ready for bed, then her and Grim's turn to retire.

"Kid, hey kid." She groaned and turned over. But she felt the covers being forcefully removed.  Groggily she sat up, she asked what's wrong.

"It's Amane, he's been crying for thirty minutes. We tried to comfort him but it got worse." Wilbur answered, concern evident in his voice.

Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, finally registering the loud screaming and crying, and the ghosts concerned expressions. She rapidly got out of bed, waking Grim up in the process, and sprinted to Amane's room.

He was a mess when she got to him. Amane was thrashing around, covered in sweat and tears leaked out of his eyes. He was mumbling in his sleep.

"N-No! Stop it!... Please I-I'm sorry, no more." He choked out a sob. Her heart clenched at the sight. She climbed on the bed and managed to wrapped her arms around him.

"Amane! Amane it's alright, no one's here to hurt you. It's not real!"

He jolted up and she caught the sight of his face. His eyes were red and his breathe were ragged. He started to chew on his bottom lip, and his eyes welled up with tears again. He buried his face on her chest, his body wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears.

She rubbed circles on his back in an attempt to comfort him and whispered more words of reassurance. It took a while, but he managed to calm down. They sat in silence, save for Amane's occasional sniffles.

"Hey, Valerie." This was the first time he said her name properly. "Ratting my dad out wasn't the only reason he beat me."

He confessed that the other reason he was actually a bastard child. His mother had an affair with one of his father's employees once she found out he had a mistress. She was going to announce the divorce during their anniversary when his father blackmailed her to stay with him. Amane didn't know what it was, but it worked.

He told her that since he was the only child, his father expected him to take over his place one day, and produce an heir. Unfortunately for him, he was interested in boys and didn't like the idea of taking over his father's company.

His mother was the only person who accepted him, while his father was outraged. He argued he could just adopt a child, but it only made it worse. The rest of his family expressed their disappointment in him, in everything he did, and voted him to be banned from the family.

Valerie, just sat there as he continued to cry. She soothed him, telling him that it's okay, that it's not his obligation to live up to his family standards, whatever he does his choice only not theirs. That he should be free from their hateful opinions.

She spied the ghosts and Grim at the doorway but didn't say anything, opted to just comfort the man in her arms.

_____________________________________

After that night, their relationship changed drastically. He was more open to her, more friendly, and used her name often. He told her stories about his childhood and his best friend Lorelei, who was also a demon descendant, notably a spider demon. A famous idol who's known for incorporating spiders into her aesthetic. He promised her to introduce them sometime.

In return, she confessed to him she was from another world and he didn't look a leased bit surprised.

"Honey, after all the shit I've been through, nothing surprises me at this point."

She told about her life in Night Raven, how she constantly solved the school's overblot problem, and how she's basically Crowley's errand girl.

"The school is lucky that I don't have any magic. With all the stressful situations I've been through, I would have overblotted and destroy the entire school.'"

She shared stories about her and her friends' shenanigans, and the rest of the boys. He questioned if any of the boys were her boyfriend, cause he noticed how affectionate she was to all of them. She told him no, she was just like that normally.

"I don't understand why they turn red whenever I hug them or kiss their cheeks. I mean, showing affection to friends is normal."

Ahh. The oblivious type.

_____________________________________

It was finally the day Amane recuperate, and to go home. They were in the mirror chamber and Crowley was there to wish him the best of health, (and maybe exploit some money from him.) He wore the clothes when she found him, all clean and fixed.

"Mr. Mania I hope your stay was pleasant, and I wish for you the best of health, A reward is not needed, a simple thanks will do for I am gracious. But if you like, then I am in no room to argue."

Valerie mentally rolled her eyes at that but gave Amane a soft but sad smile. She was slowly getting used to his company and almost asked if he could stay longer, but she refused to be selfish. Instead, she just hugged the man, which he reciprocated.

"I hope you come back soon."

"Of course I will Val, ain't nothing gonna stop this firecracker." He turned his attention to Grim and gave him a noogie.

"Of course I'll come back for you too, ya little shit."

"Fguaa! Just get out of here!"

He gave them a crooked grin and walked away. Valerie watched as he walked away, hoping she could meet him again. However, after a few steps, he stopped and ran back to her. This perplexed them, especially when he got into one knee and took her hands.

"Valerie Kemonihito, I wished to have a blood pact with you, I am forever in your debt."

They stared at him as if he grew three heads. None of them couldn't believe his words. A blood pact? What was he doing? Valerie was the first to recover.

"Amane you don't have to do this, you don't have a debt towards me." She tried to reason, but he furiously shook his head.

"No, I do. You have saved my life and brought me peace and comfort when I am at my most vulnerable, you have accepted me as I am, and have not judged me for my past, and for those reasons. So please, accept it."

They all stared, waiting for her answer. After a few agonizing seconds, she responded.

"It won't hurt that much right?" Amane smiled.

"Not much, just a tiny prick will do."

"Alright let's do it."

"Are you sure Ms. Kemonohito?" Crowley cut in. "Blood pacts are a serious oath that should not be taken likely if ever one of the party's' will break it, death is the only punishment."

Valerie gazed at Amane, there was no hint of mischief, the determination is clear on his face.

"I'm sure." Amane smiled and got up.

"Okay." He brought his hand up, claws grew and took his index finger and slowly cut a small line in both their hands. Valerie winced but bared with it.

"Now we hold hands and recite our own oath, I'll go first." He cleared his throat.

"I, Amane Mania will dedicate my life to serve you. Wherever you are and whenever you are, I shall protect you with my life, and bring you justice if ever I failed to protect you."

"I, Valerie Kemonohito will do my best to be kind and just to you. So you may never suffer or feel lonely, you are welcome to be with me as much as you want so you may never feel ostracize again."

As they said these words, a dark reddish light enveloped them. The blood on their hands swirled and mixed together before engraving it in their skins like tattoos, going up to their arms all the way to their faces.

Grim and Crowley watch the spectacle, astounded but frighten as the light died down, and their marks disappearing.

Valerie blinked, she stared at their hands. All healed as if he didn't cut them. She cut off from her musings when Amane spoke.

"With this blood pact, you can summon me anytime time you want, no matter the place I will be with you. All you have to do is either call my name three times or use your blood and call my name." He informed.

"And now for my tribute. Give me a moment."

He raised his hands, chanting words under his breath a pinkish glow covered his hands, when the light died down a silver necklace inlaid with pink quartz appeared.

“Alright, c’mere.” He turned her around and clasp it on her.

“This was an heirloom, but only those who we think are worthy may have this and I want you to take it.” Valerie admired the the craftsmanship of it and beamed up to him.

“Thank you.” He ruffled her hair.

“No problem, now time to to get my ride. Y’all better step back.”

They did just that. Amane closed his eyes before muttering incomprehensible words, a star pentagon appeared before their eyes, it glowed a red malevolent aura, then a screech.

It was horrendous. The sound shook the ground and cracked the windows but weirdly not the mirrors, finally, a giant figure swooped up and landed next to Amane. It was a monster, it was twenty-foot tall, it had a humanoid body but its hands and feet had dangerously sharp talons, its wings were big as its body, and it’s head reminded her of an owl but the sharp teeth made her reconsider.

"Mr. Mania! Do you realize what you have summoned!?" The fear and shock were clear in Crowley's voice as he stared at the creature.

'"What is that!? It's so ugly!" Grime cried. He hid in Valerie's clothes as it's glowing amber eyes glared at him for his comment.

"This is a Strix. A demonic vampire owl that feasts on human flesh and blood. Lucky for you, this girl likes what normal owls eat so your good." The strix's feathers were the colors of pecan and it had small tufts of white.

"Her name is Lisha, I saved her when she was being bullied from her own kind. Lisha that's Valerie." Valerie shrunk when the strix's gaze shifted from Grim to her.

Lisha tilted her head curiously before leaning towards the girl, sniffing her hair and clothes. Valerie stood still as it goes on. Finally, she let out a happy chirped and nuzzled her. Valerie let out a surprised gasp but laughed and wrapped her arms around her head.

“How about that? Lisha doesn’t usually like strangers, but it seems your an exception.” He grinned

Valerie ran her fingers in Lisha feathers, they were soft and smooth. The monster purred in content.

"I'll be off, for real this time." He got onto Lisha’s back, but Valerie spoke up.

"Wait where are you staying?"

"I'll go to Lorelei. Her dad and I are cool cause I saved his life." The star pentagon glowed. He looked back, he gave one final smirk and disappeared.

Valerie smiled fondly, she scratched Grim’s ears as an attempt to comfort him.

"Well." Crowley coughed. "Now that's over, Ms. Kemonohito I hope you learned something from this experience.”

"Yes, sir."

"Good now I must be off. Crewel will have my hind if I keep him waiting." He muttered as he walked off.

Just as he walked out, her first-year friends ran in. All with worried expressions on their faces.

"Valerie! We heard a screech and it came h-"

"Oh, it came from Amane’s familiar.” She answered.

“Damn, nice ice Val.” Ace commented looking at her necklace.

“Thanks. Amane gave her to me as a gift." The mentioned of his name sent shivers to the ADeuce duo as they recalled his...Advances towards them.

"Its beautiful." Epel was sure Vil would approve of it.

"He didn't do anything obscene, Valerie?" Sebek eyed at the peice of jewelry, feeling something different about it.

"No, but we did a blood pact though." That made them froze.

"You did what?" The fae's voice was low for once as he and the rest of the boys stared her, wide-eyed and slacked jawed.

"A blood pact."

All hell broke loose.

The boys were screaming at her, asking why would she do that, and promising to beat the life out of Amane, thinking he forced it on her.

Valerie pursed her lips, she set Grim down before hitting their head. They grunted in pain.

"Okay before you guys go off. Amane did this as a sign of his gratitude and gave me this necklace as a sign of loyalty. He was actually a great guy once you get to know him, and he's just misunderstood. He even promised to come back and hang out, you should join us."

Ace and Deuce paled at the mention that he was coming back to Night Raven, but jealousy grew in their stomachs like the rest of the boys. Hearing her talked so fondly of him irritated them, but she didn't notice.

"Fine, we'll consider your offer Princess. But we won't hesitate to gut that guy if he makes you upset." Ace huffed. She grinned.

"Thank you so much. Now if you excuse me, I'll have to buy groceries." She kissed their cheeks.

She happily walked out leaving five red-faced boys and made her way to Sam's shop. 

"Hey while we're at it, can we buy some premium tuna. I need it after all I've been through."

"Fine, you've deserved it." He cheered.

She giggled. Admiring her necklace, it glinted brightly under the sun. Her thoughts drifted to Amane, hoping he was alright. She knows she'll see him again after this is Twisted Wonderland

[jbbarnesnnoble]

Leap Day

Summary:  Leap Day is approaching and you have your eye on a guy from accounting. You work in a research capacity with the Avengers, scouring intelligence reports and doing research on localities where missions pop up, which means working closely with Captain America. When you’re overheard talking to Natasha about asking out the guy from accounting on Leap Day, Steve and Bucky go to great lengths to ensure that doesn’t happen.  

Features/Warnings: Dark!/Grey!Stucky. Elements of manipulation, potential dubcon (not so much in this part but in part two if I write a part two)

Pairing: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes/Reader

Notes: This fic has elements of manipulation. Steve and Bucky are underhanded and manipulative in getting what they want and if I write a part two that incorporates smut it will be dubcon. While I read dark!fic I don’t typically write it. This is me dipping my toes in that particular pool. Please let me know if you’d like to see a part two. 

Word Count: 2896

You sat in the kitchen of the Avengers living quarters at the compound. You were the resident researcher, the one who went through intelligence reports to compile details for briefings, the one who did research on the places the team would be going on everything from the government to local customs and the general lay of the terrain. Your job meant you worked closely with Captain America--sorry Steve, as he insisted you call him. Two years into your job and you still had a hard time with that one, even if you did consider him a friend. It had been at his insistence that you had moved into their section of the compound six months into your job there. 

Natasha was sat across from you, the two of you locked in a discussion on your love life, or rather the lack thereof. It was a Sunday and most of the team was scattered. It was a day off, except for light training, no mission on the horizon.

“So just ask him out. Leap Day is Saturday. You know there’s that whole tradition where women ask out guys on Leap Day,” she said. You laughed.

“He doesn’t work on Saturdays…besides I thought that was proposals,” you said. She smirked.

“You can still ask him out. Worst case, he says no, you move on with your life,” she said. You sighed. Rick worked in the accounting department. You crossed paths once in a while and you were smitten. You knew he had been flirting with you. There was no misinterpreting it. But neither one of you had made a move yet.

“Easier said than done. Rick’s just so...he’s the guy who all the girls would swoon for if this was high school. I don’t know that I can just ask him out,” you said. 

“Just do it. One of you has to,” she said. In the living area, Steve and Bucky both tensed as they listened to your conversation with Natasha. It wouldn’t do to have their girl going out with someone else, especially someone from accounting who could never protect her the way they could. 

“I think we need to pay the accounting office a visit tomorrow,” Steve said, his voice low. Bucky nodded in agreement.

“I think we do,” he said. The two sat in silence for a while longer, listening to what you and Natasha were saying. You’d see how wrong Rick was for you, and how right the two soldiers were. They just had to show you first. 

Monday morning you headed to the accounting office, two cups of coffee in hand. You handed one to Rick as you found your way to his desk, a smile on your face. 

“So, I was thinking. Maybe we could go out tomorrow?” you asked him. His smile fell. You could already feel the sting of rejection settling in.

“You’re a great person, a good friend, but...I don’t see you that way. I’m sorry,” he told you. You felt the sting of tears in your eyes. How had you misread the situation so poorly? You were sure he’d been flirting with you, sure that he was into you. 

“Oh...I...okay, yeah. Um, have a good day?” you replied, unsure of what else to say before turning on your heel and heading for your office. You shut the door as soon as you were safely inside, letting the tears fall. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You chastised yourself. It was high school all over again. Of course someone like him wasn’t into you. You had been foolish to think otherwise. You were pulled from your thoughts by someone clearing their throat. You let out a startled yelp, seeing Steve and Bucky sitting in the two chairs across from your desk.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked you. You shook your head.

“Nothing you need to worry about Captain Rogers,” you said. You saw the look of concern on his face as he stood and strode over to you. You were surprised when he brought a hand to your face, wiping away the tears that were still falling. Bucky was quick to join him. 

“You’re our friend, doll. We’re going to worry when you come in looking like someone just broke your heart. Who do we gotta go have a chat with?” Bucky asked.

“No one. It’s nothing. I was foolish for thinking someone like him could like me. That’s all,” you told them, pulling away and heading for your desk. You had had a crush on both soldiers once upon a time when you started. But once you settled and got to know them, it passed. They had become good friends, after some insistence on their part. 

“Someone like who, sweetheart?” Steve asked. You shook your head.

“You two aren’t here to talk about my relationship woes. What did you need?” you asked, your tone slightly clipped. The sooner you got them out of your office the sooner you could have your breakdown in relative peace.

“We wanted to go over the latest intel report with you, about the situation in Ottawa. But that can wait. Why don’t you take the day off?” Steve asked. You shook your head.

“I have far too much to get done today to do that,” you replied. The soft expression on his face hardened. You had never seen that look directed toward you.

“You’re taking the rest of the day off. No arguing. You report to me. And I’m telling you, it can wait until tomorrow,” he said, leaving no room for you to argue. Bucky gave you a small smile.

“Besides, we’re done with our work for the day. This was the only thing we needed to do today. We can go out and you can tell us what’s bothering you, doll,” Bucky said. You sighed. You missed the look the two shared as your shoulders sagged in defeat. There was no getting out of doing what Steve wanted, not when you knew he had no issue picking you up and forcing you out of your office. You stood and gathered your things, still missing the silent exchange between the two men.

“Good girl. Now, why don’t you go change into something more comfortable? We’ll go to that Italian place you like in town, hm?” Steve asked. You bristled at the first part of his comment. You took a moment before answering him.

“I think I’d rather just stay in. Have some time to myself tonight,” you said. His expression changed to something you couldn’t quite read. 

“If you’re sure...you know where you can find us if you change your mind. We’ll always make time for you, doll,,” Bucky said as the three of you exited your office. The door locked automatically behind you, thanks to FRIDAY. You just nodded at him, before heading for the residential building that housed the team. The duo headed in the opposite direction, toward Steve’s office. Once the door was closed, Steve gave him a look of annoyance.

“You should’ve insisted she go out to dinner with us,” he snapped. Bucky shook his head.

“Too much, too soon. If we want her to want us, we need to do this right. Push just enough. You almost had her running like a scared rabbit with your good girl comment. What happened to “let’s ease her into this”, or was that never your plan?” Bucky asked. Steve ran a hand through his hair.

“You’re right. I got ahead of myself. She makes it so easy to want her,” Steve replied. 

“We just have to be patient. We handled the Rick problem. Now we just have to wait for her to seek us out,” Bucky said. 

By five in the afternoon, you found yourself looking for the two. You found them lounging in the living area, Steve reading over a mission report and Bucky reading a book. You leaned against the wall, not wanting to interrupt the two. Steve glanced up and smiled when he saw you.

“Change your mind?” he asked, causing Bucky to look up as well. You nodded.

“Yeah...I was thinking I could go for some Italian,” you said. They both stood up and walked toward you. 

“How about you go shower and change into something nice. We’ll make a night of it,” Steve said. While it was phrased like a suggestion, his tone was commanding. You felt your face warm and a fluttering in your stomach. You nodded at the two before heading to your room to take a quick shower. You chose a simple dress, one of your favorites for the time of year, slipping on a pair of flats. You opted against putting on makeup. It was a dinner with friends, you didn’t need to go to that much effort. You headed to the common area, to find they were already there waiting, both men wearing dress pants and button downs. You shook your head, reminding yourself to get a grip. 

“Ready, doll?” Bucky asked offering his arm for you to link yours with. You smiled.

“Yeah,” you said, linking your arm with his. Steve came up along your other side, wrapping an arm around your waist. You could only assume what others who saw you would think. 

Dinner was nice. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say it was a date. As far as you were concerned, it was two friends taking you out to cheer you up to take the sting out of the rejection you had faced. 

They walked you to your door at the compound when you returned. You stood outside your door and turned toward the two men.

“Thank you. I was feeling pretty low. I thought...I really thought he liked me. I don’t understand where I misinterpreted things,” you said. Steve brought a hand up to your cheek, tilting your head so you were looking at him. 

“His loss. A guy like that? He doesn’t know how to treat a woman like you,” Steve said. You weren’t sure who made the first move, but his lips met yours in a gentle but demanding kiss. You were breathless when he pulled away, acutely aware of Bucky’s presence beside you. You were turned around suddenly to face him. Unlike Steve, his kiss wasn’t gentle. When he pulled away, you looked between the two men.

“I don’t...I don’t understand I thought,” you said trailing off. Everyone had their suspicions about the two. 

“Doll, we’ve liked you for a while. And if you’re willing...we’d both like to take you on another date, see where this thing goes,” Bucky said, ducking his head a little. His eyes met Steve’s. Things were clicking into place. 

“I...people will talk,” you protested. You felt the fire ignite inside you at the thought of being with them both, but you knew what people would say. 

“Forget what others will say, doll. We can make you happier than some accountant,” Bucky all but growled. You paused. You had never mentioned that the guy you had asked out worked in accounting.

“How did you--,” Steve cut you off with another kiss. You tried shoving him away but you knew it was no use. You were confused. 

“Don’t you worry about how we know doll. He wasn’t right for you,” Bucky said. Steve pulled away from you.

“Now, sweetheart, why don’t you go on, get ready for bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Steve said. You nodded, still a bit dazed from the kiss. You missed the door handle at first, drawing chuckles from the two supersoldiers. Once you were inside and the door was shut, you let the events of the day play out. Maybe they had overheard you and Nat at some point. It was the only explanation that made sense. 

In the apartment they shared, Steve and Bucky sat down on the couch. They were quiet, both relishing in the fact that they had gotten to kiss you.

“We could’ve had her tonight,” Bucky grumbled.

“Weren’t you the one telling me to be patient earlier?” Steve asked with a grin. Bucky groaned. 

“I take it back. She’s so...she’s perfect,” Bucky said. 

“Soon. Like you said, Buck, we need to take this slow.

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

The next morning you were up early. You were briefing the team that morning on the mission they’d be leaving for that afternoon, Steve and Bucky included. You had given thought to the previous night, deciding that while you liked both men, right now you couldn’t put yourself in that position. You slipped into the conference room, coffee in hand. You were startled to find  Steve and Bucky already there. 

“Careful doll,” Bucky said, plucking the coffee from your hands and setting it down. You set the folders down beside it, each one marked with a name. You pulled away when Steve moved to hug you.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, a frown on his face. You sighed.

“I thought about it. You guys are great but...I don’t think I’m in a position to well, put myself in that position,” you said. 

“Was it something we said?” Bucky asked, concern laced in his tone. He tried to think about anything that could have put you off. He and Steve didn’t account for this. 

“No, no. It’s...you guys are well, you. I’m me. You might not care what people think or say but...I’m not in a position where I can’t care. I don’t want people to think I have this position because of who I’m with. I don’t want to ruin our friendship either,” you said. Steve moved to say something, to argue, but stopped when he saw the subtle shake of Bucky’s head.

“If that’s what you want, doll. It doesn’t change how we feel. You know where to find us if you change your mind,” Bucky said as the door opened, Natasha shuffling in with Sam and Wanda. 

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

You found yourself on Tinder in the absence of the team. Your only company was FRIDAY. Three days into the mission, you found yourself on a date with a guy named Wes. He was charming and funny. He was a school teacher, you had learned, teaching US history at a local high school. The team was due to be gone for the month, if not a little longer. The mission had taken a turn and you were working through the intel. In that time, one date turned to three turned into the two of you putting a label on things. 

You weren’t at the compound when the quinjet landed. Steve and Bucky shared a look of concern while Wanda handed Natasha several bills. Natasha smirked.

“How did you know she wouldn’t be here?” Wanda grumbled.

“I checked her Instagram. She’s out with the guy she’s seeing. Spending the night from the looks of it,” Natasha said. Steve’s shield clattered to the ground, drawing the attention of the team. 

“Must be more tired than I thought,” Steve said, picking up the shield. He wasn’t happy with this development and he could practically feel the tension radiating off of Bucky. They headed to their apartment in silence. Once inside, Bucky went to shower without saying a word as Steve pulled out his laptop. He found your Instagram with ease. For someone who worked in intelligence, you left your social media wide open. 

He was quick to find out all he needed to about this Wes Everett you were seeing. A background check came up clean. Parents still alive, three older brothers and a sister. Youngest of five. And decidedly not good enough for you. No one was. Only he and Bucky could give you what you needed. Bucky entered the room, sweatpants slung low around his waist. He seemed calmer, but still on edge.

“Wes Everett, thirty years old, school teacher and the youngest of five kids. Not a single thing wrong with him on paper,” Steve grumbled.

“When are we going to pay him a visit?” Bucky asked.

“Tomorrow, once she’s home,” Steve said. Bucky nodded. It was in your best interest that things with Wes end before you got hurt. Because he’d hurt you in the end, they were convinced. 

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

Like clockwork, you were in the communal living room, crying. You had a movie on that you weren’t paying attention to. Bucky sat down beside you.

“What’s wrong doll?” he asked, concern on his face. You let out a sob.

“I really thought it would last. He was a good guy,” you cried.

“Whoa, whoa, let’s back up, who?” he asked.

“I’ve been seeing this guy, Wes. He was so good, so sweet. He broke up with me. Things seemed fine when I left his place this morning. He didn’t have the balls to break up with me to my face. I was really starting to fall for this guy,” you said. 

“Come here, doll,” he said, opening his arms. You had no qualms about sitting on his lap and crying into his shoulder. He was Bucky, one of your closest friends there. He ran a hand up and down your back in comfort. Steve entered the room and a small smile emerged on his face as he took in the scene. Your crying had reduced to small whimpers here and there as Bucky whispered words of comfort in your ear. 

[gustafsnightangel]

A Softer Side Part 1

Karl was done with Delos Incorporated and their “Westworld”, the entire clusterfuck that had been the slice of a fictional western. Sure the pay was good, he’d thought the progression of his career would have been better, but as it turned out, they were all a bunch of computer nerds and fucking loonies playing god with AI. He was glad to see the back of that contract and sighed heavily as he stepped into his office.

“Back to the fucking grind.” He muttered as he sat at his desk, the depressing grey paint making the room appear much smaller and that much more suffocating.

It wasn’t that he hated his job, he thought as he logged into his computer to open his current case load, it just lacked excitement, something different to keep his mind sharp, his skills honed. He felt as if he was stagnating, the job had become monotonous. Bad guy fucks up, go out and catch bad guy, put bad guy in prison, watch bad guy walk on legal technicalities. If only he could be permanently attached to the private sector that caught the bad guys and shipped them off to Hades 6 or Hera 4, off planet facilities that housed the most wicked criminals.

******

Deep into catching up on a case there was a soft tap at the door. “Hey boss.”

Strand glanced up briefly and went back to the report he was reading. “Jerry.” He said his tone terse.

“I think you’re going to want to see this.” He said with a grim face.

“You think, or you know?” He growled, if there was one thing Karl hated it was indecisiveness. He was brutally honest, abrasive, and when it was called for violent. He expected people to get to the point quickly, hand over the information, and then fuck off until he needed them, never one for gossip or dancing around the topic. Most hated him for it, his boss didn’t, which was the only reason he still had a job after Westworld.

“I know.” Jerry said, finding his spine and stepping into Karl’s office and closing the door.

“Give me the short version.” Karl said as Hunt handed him the report, skimming over the highlights as Jerry told him much the same.

“It aligns with a semi cold case I’ve had on my desk for the past few months. There’s something about that one I couldn’t let go, you know?”

“I know.” He did, he had a few of them himself that he even took with him when he went over to the Delos debacle. Some just never leave you.

“I’m sure it’s the same gang as the Peter Jenson case. Location fits, state of the neighborhood etc.” Jerry fidgeted, antsy to get going.

“You want to check it out?” Karl asked and his brow furrowed at the witness account he was currently reading. Something about this called to him, there was more going on, that undeniable itch between the shoulder blades he couldn’t ignore.

“If you clear it yeah I wanna go poke around.” Jerry said with a touch more confidence. He was a good kid even though he was still so rookie green.

“I’ll come with.” He growled, slightly distracted as he pulled up one of his own cold cases.

“Something chimed for you too didn’t it?” Jerry smirked.

“Maybe, and that’s a big maybe. We all have cold cases Jerry and we have to go where the gut feelings take us.” He opened the file and flipped through to the infants description even though he knew it by heart as if the child had been right in front of him, not that she’d look anything like it now thirty plus years later. “Get your coat.” He breathed. Could it be her? “And wipe that damn smile off your face this isn’t a fucking social visit.” The rookie’s face dropped as he scurried away to collect his coat and notebook. “Talk to me sweet girl.” He murmured. “I’m looking for you, I haven’t given up, talk to me.” Closing out his case file he grabbed his weapon and coat and headed for the elevator. He was in a mood, she always put him in a mood, and the kid had copped it. “Sorry.” He said gruffly as they stood in the elevator.

“Sok, I was an idiot and you were right. This isn’t a social visit.” Jerry mumbled.

Karl stared at the ceiling and sighed to clear his head, he’d have to knock the green off this kid fast if he was going to make it past his first year as his partner. “You know they stuck you with an asshole of a partner right?”

“No, they stuck me with the best.” Hunt said quietly as he strode off the elevator toward their car leaving Strand standing there in slight disbelief.

“Well shit!” Muttering he walked to the car, his long strides eating up the concrete, he didn’t like compliments either. He wasn’t the best, far from it, he was an asshole and preferred it that way.

******

The car ride to the house was quiet, Karl driving while Jerry ran a cursory search over the tenant and told him what they could expect.

“A Mr. Arthur Donovan lives in the house alone, has always lived there alone since his wife died in childbirth. Damn that’s rough.”

“Dig into Mr. Donovan.” He growled as the traffic came to a standstill. “Priors, arrests, blips, fucking everything. I want to know what he had for breakfast three years ago on April 22.” The itch between his blades was tingling. What were they walking into a trap, fire fight, bomb? Something was off.

“Your spidey senses tingling boss?” Jerry asked as his fingers flew across the keys.

“My what?” He glared at the rookie.

“Spidey senses, you know, Spider-Man.” Jerry dropped it once he saw the murderous look on Strand’s face. “Never mind.” He sighed. “Mr. Arthur Donovan, age 64, retired janitor at multiple women’s and children’s hospitals. That must have been rough after his wife died.”

“Same work history, different name. And that’s if he even had a wife.” Karl muttered, his fingers tapping the steering wheel in frustration. “Check the wife.”

“Wife, Aileen Donovan, wow pretty girl, died giving birth to a baby girl who also died, she was 27.” Jerry stopped and looked at Strand. “Wait, you think this is him? The dude that’s been kidnapping infant girls for the last thirty something years and raising them up to be sold?” Jerry’s voice caught.

“If the shoe fits.” Karl snarled as the traffic eased forward at a snails pace. It fit, a little too well and why would he go back to his real name, or was he changing the name of his wife along with it all?

“That’s one of your colds isn’t it?” The kids voice was gentle.

“Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate, how could he tell this kid that thought he was a god among men that he’d almost had the guy and watched him skate, slip through the net he’d cast because he was still too green himself to know any better.

“Shit boss. This makes my gang banger case look like nothing.” Hunt said quietly. “They’ve been after that guy for decades.”

“It isn’t nothing, you follow all leads, you do the job, you pursue every possible angle. My cold case isn’t anymore important than you fresh one. They both matter.” Snarling at the traffic Karl flicked on the lights, pulled onto the verge and got them out of the jam. It wasn’t exactly by the book and at times Karl didn’t give a shit, especially when he might be close to finding her.

******

They pulled up out the front of Arthur Donovan’s house and sat for a hot minute. Karl scanned the area taking note of the exits, neighbors, foot traffic and lack there of.

“You just know he has to have an escape plan.” He muttered more to himself than to Jerry. “Go knock on the door and ask your questions. If it’s the same guy he might know what I look like and I don’t want him spooked.” He said lowering the seat back so he wouldn’t be seen if Arthur looked in the car. “Call my cell and leave the line open. And before you ask, no this isn’t standard operating procedure. I don’t want him to rabbit if he smells something off. Go in ask your questions about your case only.”

“Sure.”

“I mean it Jerry. You say anything about those kids, that case we may lose the first fresh lead we’ve had in nearly twenty years.” He glared at the kid.

“Message received boss.”

“Get your head in the Peter Jensen case, that’s where it needs to be.”

Strand watched as the kid dialed his cell number and climb out of the car. Placing his call on mute he relaxed back and let the case filter through his mind. “Don’t blow this for me kid.” He sighed. Was she in there, he wondered, was she even still alive? “Yeah she’s still alive.” He sighed as he heard the knock on the door through the cell phone. “She was his first, she has to still be alive.” Karl listened to Jerry ask his questions, press for some details, and leave it at a ’were just door knocking for any information on Peter Jensen’. Karl would have pushed a little harder, but that was Karl, he was a hard ass and would make a stone cower given enough time.

“Is he watching?” Strand asked as Jerry got into the car.

“Yeah, it spooked him. I’m sorry.”

“You did good kid. Now we go back to the office and dig. I want fucking everything on this guy and how it correlates to those girls. Something’s fucking off.”

“It felt like it when I was standing there. An odd sense something wasn’t quite right.”

“Learn to take note of those feelings, they’re rarely wrong. If he’s not involved with my case or yours, he’s involved in something he shouldn’t be.” Karl looked at the kid. “He still watching?”

“Not that I can see without it being obvious. The curtains are flat and still.” He said typing furiously to get his notes into his report while they were fresh.

“Good enough.” Karl raised his seat, turned the key in the ignition, and drove off barely giving anyone looking in the car enough time to be sure it was him driving. “When we get back write up your report on Jensen and then read the file on Jane Doe 69384.”

“Your cold?”

“Yeah, we need to dig and dig deep, you want in?”

“Fuck yeah.” Jerry was all but vibrating in his seat. “I know some of it from the news reports.”

“Not all of it kid, there was a lot we left out, deliberately.” He set the car to cruise and relaxed back. “Read the file, then we’ll talk. This gets our attention until we run out of leads again or catch the son of a bitch.”

“We catch him this time.” Jerry said gently. “This time he goes away.”

The kids sentiment choked Karl up, this case had him by the balls. If only I had your faith in me kid, he thought inwardly. I’ve failed her so many times now I’ve lost count.

“Does it keep you awake at night?” Jerry asked.

“Yes.” He didn’t elaborate, the kid didn’t need his nightmares, he would have ones of his own soon enough.

******

Strand left Jerry to do as he’d instructed and headed into his office to start digging into Arthur Donovan. Jerry had sent him over everything he’d found on their drive over to Donovan’s and it set that itch alight as he scanned the hospitals he’d worked at. “You fucker.” He seethed. “You careful fucker.” The hospitals didn’t match while he was working there, the timeline was off for each snatch by two or three months after he’d moved on. “No way was it going to be that easy.” He poured over the entire case file, witness reports from the mothers, hospital staff, forensic evidence, which wasn’t much, and it was tugging on heartstrings no one knew he had. Karl Strand was a hard ass, he didn’t have heart strings, except for her, except for these poor girls that had been snatched from loving parents and used and abused before being sold like cattle. Yes he had fucking heart strings for them and a raging hatred for the man that had eluded him for so long.

Jerry knocked on his door and handed him the report on the Jensen case and looked at the twelve banker boxes of files stacked in the corner of Strand’s office. “Can I take one?”

“Sure. Each box holds about ten case files.”

“He’s taken that many?” The rookie visibly blanched.

“Yeah, he’s slowed down in the past few years. I used to get about three new cases a year before I left for that Westworld shithole. I’m hoping it stays quiet and we don’t have to add anymore.”

“Hard fucking same.” Jerry hesitated before placing a hand on one of the boxes, the kid had respect for the dead, that was what endeared him to Karl. They weren’t just case files or a job, they were people.

“Their stories aren’t pretty.”

“No, I imagine not. Did they ever find the ones that were sold?”

“No, were still looking.” Karl’s tone was flat, something else he’d failed at. Though it was difficult to find someone when you knew nothing about them or what they looked like. “The DB’s are likely related, there’s no way to be sure until we have him in a cage and put the thumb screws to him.”

“Who are you looking for?” He asked tentatively.

“His first.”

“Makes sense.”

“How so?” It intrigued him that the rookie would say that.

“Pedifiles, sex rings, human trafficking, the perpetrators almost always keep their first one close. It reminds them of the power they have, the ease at which they achieved abducting the person. It’s also, most of the time, their undoing. If you find her she’s going to know everything about every child that he stole, every in and out of his operation. She’s the linchpin.”

Spoken like a thirty year veteran, Karl thought. “You’ll do.” He said nodding. “You’ll do just fine kid.” The slight smile told Strand, Jerry was keeping his jubilation at being praised to a minimum, the kid was trying. “Book a conference room, set it up, get reading, I’ll be in shortly. We work this until it goes cold again or we nail this asshole.”

“I’m down with that boss.” Jerry stopped at the door before he went through it and turned to Karl.

“What is it?”

“Do you think the neighbors might have seen her?” He asked meekly.

“I doubt it, but we’ll certainly be asking when we canvas.” He nodded his head to Jerry to say get out and went back to his own report to Meekland.

An hour or so later Meekland knocked on Strands door. “Ma’am.” He offered a seat but she remained standing, that glint in her eye that she wasn’t in the mood for bullshit.

“You’re testing my patients Strand. Do you really have time to open this case, again?” She asked. Meekland wasn’t some girly girl, she was just as much a hard ass as Strand which was why they go along so well even if it was just sniping at each other. The reality of it they were oil and water.

“I do with Hunt. Somethings off. The kid has good instincts and even he knew something’s screwy when he interviewed Donovan. I’m not saying it’s him, but it damn well could be and I’m not letting it slide because you think I don’t have time. I’ll fucking make time, do it on my own if I have to, but I need to run this out. See where it leads.” He ran his hand over his scalp. “I have to fucking try.”

“Cross you t’s, dot your i’s, and send me a report once you’ve dug into it a bit. I can’t promise you resources, but plead your case and I’ll see what I can do.”

“I have resources if you can’t swing it.” He growled.

“I know you do, but let’s not go that far until we have no other choice.” She studied him a moment. “You’re a good man Strand, even if you are a prickly asshole.” She smirked at his huffed chuckle, that coming from her was as good as winning employee of the year award. “Keep me in the loop.” She said as she turned on her heel and left.

******

Karl walked into the smaller conference room a while later to see Jerry kicked back with a coffee, feet on the table, note pad and case files piled into sections. Maybe a fresh set of eyes was what this case needed he thought.

“Hey boss.” He said without looking up from the current file he had his nose buried in, hand scrawling notes of his own.

“Care to explain what you’re doing with my case files?” He growled.

Without missing a beat he stood and added the file in his hand to one of the stacks. “So I’ve gone through your notes from when these cases came in, the hospitals, as that seemed a good place to start. It’s related to the case more strongly than his name or residence. Each stack is each hospital he abducted children from. There’s one pattern that fits all of these hospitals, the first child was stolen on the date his wife and child died. He only takes girls and there is about a two to three month window where the girls go missing which if I were to guess would be the wife’s birthday and their anniversary. Only three kids per hospital, then he packs up and leaves.”

“But the girls go missing after he finished his employment at each hospital. For example he was in Atlanta working when the girls from Alabama went missing.” Karl pushed.

“I’m guessing he has a house somewhere where he can leave the kids with someone so he can scout the next location.”

“That’s a leap Hunt.”

“I know but...” He shrugged as Karl stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at the board.

“It’s a leap I didn’t see.” He sighed. “Run it through, work it, see where it leads you. I wonder if he leaves them with the first girl?” He pondered. “She’d be mid thirties now at least.”

“Brainwashed, tortured, and raised by a monster.” Jerry muttered.

“Indeed. Keep working it, I’ll be back in a few.” He needed some air, and food. Maybe I’m too close, he thought as he stopped off at the burger joint down the street. The memory of the kids mother screaming, grieving in his arms as she begged him to find her, the stupid rookie in him promising her he’d do so. The infant had already been gone sixteen years when he was handed the case, many more had been stolen in that time, the cops too busy to listen to a hysterical mother. The investigation went cold and it was only after the mother visited him to see if there were any developments that he began to dig, on his own time, every night an hour after shift had finished. That’s when he’d uncovered more, when he’d found the details horrific enough to churn even his iron stomach. No one had listened to the mother of the first child taken. She’d been told she was delusional, she was depressed, she was mistaken. Karl had been the one to bust it wide open. Bust it open to watch it go stone fucking cold as things in the department were kept under wraps, swept under the rug, buried. He’d always wondered if it was an inside job or some of the people here were in on it.

That girl would be a few years younger than he was now, mid to late thirties. What do you look like, he wondered? Will I know you when I meet you? Will you help me take this asshole down or has he corrupted you so completely you’ll do anything to get back to him, protect him? “We have to find you first sweet girl.” He muttered as he got onto the elevator. “I will find you.” He swore.

******

Strand came into the conference room to find Jerry in the exact same position as before but with a laptop open and currently searching through a database of some kind.

“Fuel up kid.” He said gruffly and tossed the bag with a burger and fries on the only section of table that wasn’t covered by case files. “Keep the files clean.”

“Thanks.” He blew out a breath, grabbed the food and pushed his chair away from the table to give himself some room. They chowed down in silence and it was only after Jerry had finished and took a few deep breaths that he noticed Strand looking at him.

“You need to get some rack time, if you don’t come up for air it’ll consume you.” Karl said honestly.

“In a bit. I want to show you something.” He pressed a few keys on the laptop and walked Strand through his findings. “I had to dig for info on the wife, I don’t think Donovan’s his legal last name and I don’t think the wife had the child in a hospital. If they did it would be on record. Either that or he’s been changing it as he’s progressed, something along the lines of keeping her alive or with him maybe? Which tells me he either knows how to hack, or he’s got someone on the payroll to do it for him. Speaking of payroll, I want to dig for the money, how much to you think he makes per girl?”

“Six figures at least depending on the buyer.” Strand said flatly, it wasn’t a favorite topic of conversation, but he could see where the kid was going with this, they were dealing with a syndicate not just a lone operator. Something he’d floated past his old partner and it was dismissed just as quickly, that had sparked his curiosity at it being an inside job.

“I think it’s more than that. 120 girls in these boxes at let’s say $100K and change, that’s 12 mil, over thirty something years. It’s a drop in the bucket. I think we’re looking at closer to $800K to a mil per kid, maybe more, and I also think it depends of who they’re going to and at what age they’re sold at.” Jerry wasn’t smiling now.

“Experience and age.” He added bluntly.

“Yeah.” Jerry blew a breath out. “I can sniff through Donovan’s accounts, but I don’t know if I have enough for a warrant to cover my ass.”

“Not yet but we’ll add it to the list.” He tapped his finger on his knee thinking. “Go as deep into the financials as you can without sending up any red flags, keep in on the down low.”

Jerry nodded. “I also believe there are more kids we don’t know about.”

“Why do you say that?”

“A hunch. Three kids a year, ish. Those are the groomed ones, the ones raised to be, for a lack of a better term, a fuck toy for some sicko. Those would be the premium priced merchandise. How do they make their milk money? The day to day?”

“Fuck! You’ve got a point.” Strand stared at the board, why hadn’t he pushed this line of inquiry all those years ago? Now he really felt like an asshole.

“I’m running all homeless girls and kidnappings in the database against dates and places of each infant taken.”

“And?”

“We’re getting hits and it’s still not done.” He glanced at Karl. “I have no clue if they’re related to this case but it’s worth a look.”

“Damn right it’s worth a look.” He was angry at himself for not pushing it sooner. Pulling out his phone he called Meekland. She wasn’t happy at being disturbed at nine at night but that was the job. He laid it out for her and she agreed to come in for a briefing. “What else you got kid, you’re keeping the ace to yourself I can see it.”

“I think he’ll strike again, and soon.” Jerry blew out.

“He hasn’t in a few years what makes you so sure?”

“I think he may have been sick or taking a break, something happened to give him that gap. Retired and took a holiday? Maybe things were too hot? Think about it, his kids birthday is coming up. I have no record of an Arthur Donovan working at any hospitals in the last forever. He’s changed his name again, maybe he changed his supply source? I don’t know boss I’m just thinking out loud here.”

“Where’s he working?”

“That’s the thing, he’s not, he’s retired.”

“Still doesn’t stop him from taking babies.” Strand spat. “And what’s the bet he had different aliases for every day of the fucking week? This guys a ghost.”

“Which is why we need a warrant to dig into his financials and employment records of each hospital. He can change his name but his face is a different story. Facial recognition can pin him pretty solidly.”

“This had better be fucking worth dragging me back here Strand.” Meekland snapped as she walked in.

“Sit down Sarah and listen to the kid, don’t interrupt.” He snapped back. Jerry froze, talking to Karl was one thing but the boss lady, shit! Her arched eyebrow made Jerry gulp. “Go ahead Hunt.” Karl said his eyes never leaving hers.

Jerry gave Meekland the report almost verbatim.

“We need a warrant for what we’ve found and what we’re going to find when we keep digging.”

“Dig first, then the warrant.” She put up her hand. “You and I both know we don’t have enough for one right now. Get me more Jerry and you’ll get your warrant. It’s circumstantial at best but it has weight. Let’s tighten the grip before we spook him.”

“Stakeout.” Karl demanded. “I want him fucking tagged and monitored, I want to know his every fucking move even if I have to go do it myself.”

“You may have to, we don’t have the budget for this Karl.” She snapped. Was she fucking stonewalling him?

“Then I’ll do it on my own time Sarah. I’m not losing the one fucking lead we’ve got.” He snapped and stormed from the room toward his office, Meekland hot on his heels. Jerry was left in their wake and breathed out carefully before getting back to it.

“What is with you?” He raged as she closed his office door.

“What’s with me? You need to take a step back and think about who you’re addressing Strand.” She shot back.

“Don’t throw that in my face Sarah. Why do you fucking stonewall me at every turn on this, they’re solid leads.”

“Because you’re too close to this Karl and it’s consuming you. Yes they’re solid leads I’ll give you and Hunt that. It’s more than what we’ve had to go on in a long time, but we need more and you know it.”

“Then give me some surveillance and let me get it for you.” He snarled and snatched his head away as she went to touch him. He couldn’t get involved with her again, although his body yearned for it, his cock twitching.

“You and I need a good sweaty night together.” She purred, her fingers trailing the buttons of his dress shirt. “I’ve missed you.” He didn’t pull away this time as her fingers trailed his chest.

“You’ve missed my cock.” He quipped, the scent of her stirring his system.

Her smirk told him as much. “That too.”

His fingers gripped her chin firmly and he devoured that lush mouth, taking what he wanted. He’d missed her too, her taste, the feel of her around him. She was bad news, but he had little restraint when it came to her.

“Let me make you feel good sir.” She whispered, her hand dropping to palm his hardening length, her eyes searching his for approval.

“Did you lock the door?”

“Yes.”

He let her chin go and walked over to check it himself. This wasn’t the first or last time they’d do this here. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, strictly sex, no attachment, consensual. He’d never done anything she was uncomfortable with. Crooking his finger at her to come hither she did without question and sank to her knees as he pointed to the floor in front of him.

“There’s my good girl.” He growled, her eyes never leaving his. She was hungry for him, the desire in her eyes making him smirk. “On your knees.” Unzipping his suit pants he let them fall to the floor, his briefs following a moment later as she sank to her knees, eyes never leaving his. “Open.” He commanded quietly and watched as those perfect lips opened for him. He gave her the tip, that clever tongue darting out to lick and suck him, the sensation making him groan softly, fuck she felt good. It had been far too long. Sinking his fingers into her hair he fisted them there and plunged into her mouth. She never disappointed him, taking him all the way in and letting him fuck that pretty mouth as he wished. His hips pistoned hard until he was right on the edge of blowing his load and then pulled her off him, the slight whimper of disappointment echoed on her face. “You’ll get it all little one.” He growled. “Up.” He commanded and held out a hand for her to rise.

Turning them sharply he pinned her against the wall, her ass pressing into his erection. “We haven’t done it like this for a while.” He purred as he put her hands above her head against the wall and nipped her neck. “Is this what you want little one?”

“I want to make you feel good sir.”

“That’s not what I asked you.” He snarled, pinching her nipple painfully through her blouse as he bit her neck. “Is this what you want?” His fingers busy between her legs, stroking into her heat as the other cupped a breast harshly.

“Yes sir.” She moaned softly as his fingers moved her panties to the side and hiked her skirt up more to bunch at her waist. He moaned his approval at the thigh high stockings and suspenders and snapped them hard. Her small yelp making him grin.

“Spread your legs and drop your hips.” He murmured, the tone demanding her compliance. Taking a small step back from her, she did as she was instructed as he stroked his cock. He swiped his tip through her heat and circled her entrance, the soft whimpers making him harder. “Are you going to take all of me like a good girl?” He asked as he stood between her open thighs and snaked his hands under her shirt.

“Yes sir.” Came her breathy whisper.

His hands yanked down the bra until the straps dug into her shoulders and his hands were filled with her fleshy breasts. Fingers squeezed her nipples and rolled them as he inched inside her, the feel of her tight pussy enveloping him almost too much to bear. Once fully seated inside her he feasted on her neck as he thrust. He wasn’t a gentle lover, he liked it rough and hard, skating the dangerous line between pleasure and pain.

He gave her what she asked for, took what he wanted. Pounding into her with long deep strokes, his hand snaked up to grip her throat, the gentle squeeze his branding of her. “Mine.” He growled at her ear, that gravelly tone rumbling out of him.

“Please sir.” She whispered as her orgasm peaked.

“Please sir what?” He snapped, reminding her of who she was talking to.

“Please sir may I come?”

“No.” He wasn’t ready for it to end yet and continued to fuck her, taking his fill of her tight little pussy.

“Please sir.” She choked as she fought to hold it off.

“No.” He pounded into her, took her, claimed her. Her whimper turned into a soft cry as his finger moved from her nipple to her clit, the hand at her throat squeezing slightly harder. He felt her body tense, the internal fight to hold off her orgasm. Letting it ride for a few moments longer he nipped her ear before uttering the one command she desperately wanted. “Come.” He growled and she exploded around him, that tight pussy milking him as he pistoned his hips in fast hard strokes until he came. Riding her hard, the need to fuck to prolong their pleasure he pistoned his hips.

“Thank you sir.” She smirked and he slapped her ass.

“Don’t sass me.” His tone low and savage as he pressed her to the wall hard still inside her as they caught their breath.

“Come over this weekend, please? I miss you.” She said as they stood there.

“I can’t Sarah, you know we can’t.”

“Why because I’m your boss?” She played.

“That’s exactly why and you know it.” He scoffed and pulled out of her, the soft whimper from his exit made him smile. Straightening her panties he lowered her skirt over her hips and pulled his briefs and suit pants up. “It’s just sex Sarah, you know that too.”

Turning she rested against the wall while she tidied herself up. “I know, I just want a weekend where we can disappear and you can fuck my brains out.”

“Not right now.” There was too much going on. “This case is my priority.”

“Understood. I’m here when you need to blow off steam Karl. Thanks for the quick fuck, it’s what I needed.” She straightened his shirt collar and headed for the door, the gleam in her eyes telling him she wasn’t happy about being denied. “You get a week surveillance, not a second more, use it wisely. The rest is on your own time.”

“Copy that.” He smirked, who said screwing the boss didn’t get you anywhere.

@hausofobsession @ill-skillsgard @grandpa-sweaters @authentic90skidd @tuckersgirl @fairlyfallacy @flowers-in-your-hayr @raewritesfiction @stinkerbelle007 @kamie-b @mrsaugustwalker @skrsgardspam @loliwrites @trippedmetaldetector @lihikainanea @fay-walden

[stry-someone-to-remember-you]

Plan(ed) to Have Something Ready, By The Ball Drop &/or Tomorrow!!! If Everything Works out...

Hey Everyone, 

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Wow, this is the second message without any art added or anything... LOL... Seems odd really to do this without having something up by now... By the way, yes the current avatar pic is related to the comic as you’ll come see soon. It’s and early sketch so some kinks aren’t worked out in the current image. But it was the one I was ready to have when I made this blog so there was at least something...

So as you probably can see by this title, I do plan on having something posted... I just don’t know to what extent. Due to some family drama, and continually piling on work I wasn’t able to get my Christmas Pic out to you guys, which was just a static scene with a few of the characters to get us started here. But... well family got in the way, continually decorating till Christmas day... a lot of things going on, bickering (though we all love each other) it’s just... you know life. I fully expected this as well, which is why I promised something before New Years, but didn’t specify as to what.

I postponed that idea to be released today or tomorrow, after seeing how I was completely unable to get to the work by Christmas Eve. But, by the looks of the progress I made on it and my families continually need of me till we get some things done in this house (that always has something to be done in it... LOL, at least things are coming fairly together).  So lets just say, I may not have anything out by tomorrow. But with hopes I want to have something out. So We’ll see. I could release early the character sketches. But I want to keep this blog clean as possible, so I feel releasing the character profiles, cards and blogs together prior to the Prologue, would fit better and keep this page having a cleaner look to it at the start.

 Maybe even by midnight tomorrow PST I could have something... But that again depends. I need to clean stuff for the internet/cable guy and I’m seriously allergic to dust... So the next few days I may be in an almost sickly comatose state regardless of the precautions I take. If dust gets kicked into the air at all and isn’t properly vacuumed up, than I’m often sick for days... I feel like all I’ve been doing the whole month is cleaning or working story wise on this comic... Mostly cleaning if you ask me, but at least after Saturday things should be more relaxed and I can have a better work schedule planned out. So yeah, that’s my life...

But DIDNT’ WAN TO LEAVE YOU HANGING with this Negative Nancy Talk ;D ;P ;D lol....

I want to tell you what I have so far:

I have the Christmas Image at least with the basic building blocks to complete it. Like I’ve drawn where I want things, but not detailed anything... So that’s why it may be a day or so... Technically its a Happy Holidays and New Years piece, but with the Christmas Tree in it I have the habit of calling it such...

I may have plans to detail it a bit more then I plan on having the comic, but that also depends on things. I may just leave it in the same style and not fully decked out to make it easier to finish...

~Several Characters for the beginning have their final forms created. These are major characters that will be scene in the prologue. I’m just having to figure out out little things with background characters in some instances.

~The prologue is almost completely written out. I had a change of heart a week ago on some things and had to change it around, which is why the written format for the prologue isn’t complete as it initially was. I just felt some things didn’t fit, so I added and took away some things so it flows better and also works both fanfiction wise for the story, but easily mixes for the Ask AU... I also have at least the beginning portion of the Intro script written, the parts unaffected by the changes. However, parts of the intro will be written out, depending on the questions you ask the characters in this prologue so these portions I’m leaving open on purpose. It’s the plot driven portions I’m mentioning that I’ve changed slightly. ;) I have fun plans for the prologue. Remember this story has a clear direction I’m taking it with plot. But the Ask portion will be a part of it, I have such a fun way of Ask’s being tied into the plot driven story, and it will change depending on the context, person and setting which makes this really fun to plan out. 

                   -With that said, here’s an early heads up, that for Ask Questions, I will allow any sort of asks, but if it has potential to spoil a part of the story, then I won’t answer it. Alongside this, I’ll allow Anon magic to a small degree. I won’t include Asks that like spoil something for a character, or tell the character where someone is, give away what someone else is doing to another character, etc... Unless it may fit the context, but generally I won’t use these types of asks. I will allow Anons to appear occasionally rather then just be unseen voices, as I have fun ways of incorporating Anons into the story that also works with different points in the plot. I will accept things like... say a dog or cat to appear for ex. amount of asks. I already know who they’ll be and have been planning out their designs, but I may draw the line at other animals (e.g. horses, fish, racoons, squirrels, lizards, etc.) Although, I do really love rabbits, I chose to make it concise to just two animals that if asked could appear. It’s not because I can’t draw them but I don’t want things getting out of hand. Types of anon magic I’m not going to use if put in the Ask portion, are things like giving people certain powers or items that may completely effect the tone or plot of the story, accept maybe if I did a non-canon AU to this au for fun one day. I will go more in depth in the general rules later. In no way is this to discourage anyone from asking such things. I may set reminders at times if I get to much of something. But, in general I’ll do what I can to make this a fun Ask blog all the same.

~The Larger Summary, I promised like a trailer would be in the comic form I have rendered the Script for, and have two slides so far drawn out, just not completed. (for the time I didn’t have around the Holidays compared to normally I actually surprised myself with this)

~The story itself is really coming together, I already have a starting and stopping point (which I had prior to this blog) as it will have several Acts and Arcs, some which have greatly changed and take on new depth since the point I started this blog. The themes and story in general are drawn out pretty well.  I don’t have all the chapters I’d want fully written. As I have my plan, but I also want to get the prologue in first, just to see if there’s anything I should change with my concept. It’s just a precaution, something I’ve learned well when taking on something new. So I don’t have things that are written in stone and hard to change if the form I’m hoping to take doesn’t work out and needs to be retooled or something. But these are minor and shouldn’t change the overall scope and plot I’m taking this story on either.

~I’ve created several of the character bios, many in fact are already written in true Henry Stickmin fashion. But as I took inspiration to make this into a AU as well, I will possibly make both the bio cards and show a static shot of the characters alongside it or something... It’s an idea, but I want this to also be the easier comic. But, considering that I’ll always have a static shot I use as reference for any character I make, this is what makes this more realistic to occur as well. ~I’ve nearly drawn out all the characters for the intro portion. And already know how I’ll handle Anon’s in the story. In the Prologue itself, I’ll actually have you Anon’s being referenced as audience members in a conference of sorts. Think of it like those conferences when a new Apple or Microsoft product is first advertised as something new to the news conference, those big rotunda’s where someone's being interviewed and presenting the hot new item. Think of the opening to the prologue being something like this scenario. So the questions directed at the character in there, who... *cough* I will introduce later after I fully render both their character profile and have their character bio(s) fully done. Which considering how fun and easy it’s been to do this so far shouldn’t be to long now... Although to keep from getting questions to soon on them, I may hold off on posting the Characters and Bio’s till I have that Intro/Trailer completed... I’m still considering which to do first actually. But top on my list out of all of these is having my cover art for the top completed. That’s something I admit though I have the layout I have hardly started on and should focus on first.

~I’m also taking close looks at how to properly make the rules for this group. When I posts either the Character Bios, Holiday Pic, OR the Trailer Comic... Maye even just the cover art... Then I will try to have out an official Rules list. The one I have on the group posts is just general stuff... But I’m reconsidering some rules I already wrote... Basically keep things family friendly, be kind an courteous, nothing vulgar or disturbing. 

I may change this from a PG-13 comic to maybe PG-15. I’ve realized recently, there are some points that some characters do swear... sometimes more then once. I’m not someone who talks with vulgarity myself, but I sure can write characters with it.... Let’s just say I’m going to see if in those scenes I might just bleep out words and see if the dialogue still comes through. But, I dunno... LUCKILY, we don’t have to worry about many of those scenes till way further into this comic. So lucky for either of us, this isn’t a major concern at the moment. And on the plus side it’s not the crudest words I could have chosen so... it may still work as a PG-13 work... I’ll make this decision soon as possible. 

Another reason for the sudden change, came as I realized as the story goes, and even in early chapters there will be scenes where blood is shown and physical mortal danger and peril is experienced by the characters. I do have heavy theming sometimes, later on it may seem constantly about. As this story is heavily Drama/Mystery and some suspense based. As the story progresses it will become less Drama/Mystery and more based around the drama/suspense itself. This will obviously be some more intense scenes that showing less blood would allow me to make PG-13, however I also don’t want to undercut the certain tones using representations of a mortal wound would bring. I also want to look at things like these future scenes realistically. Which is why I’m mostly considering changing this story to a PG-15 or at least more certain I am. I just don’t want people shocked that I’m doing this. I don’t feel this story will be R, there was a time where I heavily considered it. But for once I decided no, I didn’t want that. I just didn’t want to open the door for scenes I didn’t intend to have in this story. There will be heavy themes that my have TW for some people. But I didn’t want some TW’s  that having a R rated story could potentially have. I mean certain themes people are free to write fanfictions for, and depending on the content can make art for. But again this will be family friendly group... As You can see I’m considering more then a little here when it comes to the official rules. These details will be followed up on the official rules post.

~~~~~~

Now I apologize for the length.

The structure of this and the previous Authors Notes will probably fall under their own category for length. I’ll work to make sure posts in the future won’t be so long and hard to read. It is early morning for me when I woke to write this, and I found once much of the day passed that I still wanted to include the stuff I did into this update.

I have more to tell you, but I think this post has spurned the energy in me out. Anything that I missed in this post, I’ll try to remember to update in the next post (hopefully after I get some art on here). What I can’t do at the moment is promise dates right now till I’m more certain of schedule to work on this or can promise that my general allergies won’t cause me to delay this at all. But I can confirm that I should have several things coming out this next month, including the comic Prologue I hope. Depending on the traction the comic and fanfic gets, I may try to work on it quickly, or take my time with it. I may do a mix of both as my perfectionist self won’t let me just shoot something out without giving it my all first. I’m shushing that side slightly so this comic will be easier on me then the more detailed one I have planned. All the same, I’m planning to work on this one more at the moment till I can get an idea of my work flow. Sometimes the easiest route of work is better for planning, rather then diving head first into the deep end right away. You don’t learn to swim by jumping head first into the ocean. Piece of advice that it took years for me to learn myself ;). Anyways, I figured since I did promise something hopefully by today or tomorrow, I’d give you a formal update... Also... Well I can’t promise that updates won’t be like this in the future. I’ll try to keep them concise. But as people who know me, well have learned when it comes to personally talking I tend to write or talk out epistle. So... When I give updates, I may have lengthy ones... I’ll try my best to keep this side of me out of updates, if I can help it. Anyways Happy New Years Everyone!!! I hope everyone's Christmas and Holidays were extra special, despite the state of the world!!! 

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE AND DAY!!! Sincerely, <3 (Mod) Sweet Heart Blaze

[brydeswhale]

Fic Preview Time!

Bc I might as well tease you guys since I actually haven’t been writing that much lately.

1. Untamed death row exoneration fic

So, I was writing this one before the US government went on it’s little killing spree, but it started to be topical and real, so I put it on a backburner, but I'm getting back to it.

The house wasn’t huge. Wei Ying knew that, intellectually. Compared to the house he’d grown up in, it was modest. Compared to the entire lake that had been in his backyard as a kid, the small pond and five trees in the backyard were cute. 

But he couldn’t help it, as soon as A-Yuan left the house, just walking from room to room to room, in and out. He tried to be careful and close the screen door, but sometimes he’d forget and one or two rabbits would hop in and surprise Lan Zhan in his office.

Lan Zhan never scolded him for it. He’d just pick the rabbit up and put it in his lap. 

“You’ve got to go to therapy,” Jack came by with a bottle of wine the first day, patted A-Yuan on the head, and let his wife give Lan Zhan a salad with nuts and artichoke hearts. “I’m going to give you this right now, and that’s all the booze you get until you send me a picture of the appointment.”

“I can buy my own alcohol,” Wei Ying laughed at him. 

Jack just smiled indulgently at him.

“Trust me,” he said, gently. “You want to do this. For your kid.”

So he had an appointment on Friday, and until then he was walking the house the same way he’d paced his cell.

Wen Ning was in his room, working on something A-Yuan had asked him to do. Qing-jie was working on finding whatever job a woman who was snatched from the gentle grip of a first year med school could get.

Wei Ying tried to lie down at the edge of the pond. Several goldfish swirled around, looking at him expectantly, and he waved apologetically.

“Lan Zhan told me you guys are on a diet,” he pointed out. The fish, disgruntled, fluttered their fins, and drifted away.

The sun went behind a cloud. The lilies floated in the wind.

He slept. 

The sun shone off the wine bottle, still unopened, on the kitchen windowsill.

So it’s not really about the death penalty, per se, it’s more about exoneration and also humans and trauma and stuff. Really heavy and it makes me sad.

2. Unnamed Teen Wolf vampire fic

So this isn’t REALLY a Vampire The Masquerade crossover, but it kind of IS, because I played that LARP for ten years and I still don’t understand(because I’m stupid) so it incorporated a lot of their brokenness, lol. Basically, it’s Scott getting kidnapped by vampires, who then decide to keep him and won’t give him back based on him being their precious darling.

A hunter came up behind him, but Scott felt, smelled, heard him, and, with a twist, threw him into the lights. They smashed, and several of them died, much to the delight of the captive. Her grin, briefly delightful, suddenly terrifying as two delicate fangs appeared, brought a cry of terror from the hunter as she dragged him up, and Scott found himself stepping forward, hands outstretched helplessly.

“Don’t kill him!”

She paused, and her pout returned.

“But I’m hungry,” she complained. “And he’s not exactly a good guy, wolf, he steals kids.”

“Just,” Scott wanted to agree with her, wanted, suddenly, to just leave the bastard there. She was right. He was a kidnapper and probably a murderer. 

(“Some of us are human!”)

“Just, please,” he begged. “Just leave him. Help me save Siobhan.”

She looked him in the eyes, hesitating, then bent her head and sank her teeth into the hunter’s neck.

Scott felt himself drop a little. That was that. He didn’t know why he’d expected to persuade her otherwise.

“Fine,” she stood up, letting the hunter fall into the broken glass of the lights, blood dripping down her face. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. You could turn a cat from a mouse with those eyes. He’ll live, he just needs some juice.”

...

Maybe it wasn’t the shadows that had taken his breath from him. She’d thought the blood was someone else’s, but she could see it seeping out from under his fingers.

“Are you okay, wolf?”

“Scott,” he reached for a shirt, and pulled it on with jerking, shaking fingers. 

“My name’s Scott McCall,” he clarified for her raised eyebrows, then collapsed in a heap beside a pile of laundry.

She let a note behind. It was what you did, right?

She wrote it out on thin, lined paper, and pinned it to the fridge under a cute, pig shaped magnet. Then she picked him up, and stepped into the darkness.

...

“You’re awake!” The girl walked in carelessly. She wore draping scarves over a loose, not very long dress, and long, flashy necklaces. Her curls didn’t quite seem to match. “Took you long enough.”

“I can’t- I can’t stay here,” he was trying to get up, and he realized that someone had taken off his jeans and replaced them with loose, soft pyjamas. He was wearing a matching shirt. 

“You took my pants?” He held himself up with one hand, and noted, as if from far away, that it was shaking.

“Don’t worry about your maidenly modesty,” she pulled out her phone and used the camera to reapply lipstick in a bruised purple. “Seamus wanted you to be more comfortable. That’s all.”

“I have to go,” he shook his head. “I have to- How long have I been here?”

“Almost four days now,” she said, pushing him back into bed. “Stop that. You nearly died about five times.”

“My friends,” he tried to move, but she was stronger than she looked. Her hands were cold, and she smelled strange. Dull, and still. 

“I left a note,” she seemed utterly unconcerned. “I put it on your fridge. Cute magnets, by the way.”

“I’m Jewel,” she told him, clambering up to sit cross legged on the bed beside him. “Jewel Cleary.”

“Scott-“ she interrupted him carelessly. 

“I know, Scott McCall, you told it to me while you were dying.”

That explained it. They didn’t know he was an alpha.

“I wasn’t dying,” he tried to explain. “I’m an alpha. I would have been fine, you didn’t have to bring me here.”

“You nearly died three times in this very bed, boyo,” a huge, decaying mountain of a man, whose bulk spoke of power beginning to fade, and who had laugh lines at every corner of his face, came in with a steaming tray. “And now you’ll stay in it and eat your dinner and rest until you look a bit less of a corpse.”

“I’m Seamus,” the man handed the food to Jewel, then helped him sit up. “Tho most call me Shea, on the belief that my true name will call all manner of calamities down upon us. You’re Scott McCall, who saved our Jewel, and it’s a pleasure, indeed it is, Mr. McCall.”

He was saved from replying by Jewel putting the tray under his nose and both of them beaming expectantly over a bowl of stew and a cup of something dark and hot. 

It was… very good. And he fell asleep again as soon as he finished.

3. Another Chapter In Mysterious Fathoms Below

So this fic is actually stalled because I’m writing Uma giving a Ted Talk style speech on what it was actually like growing up in a concentration camp run by a totalitarian dictatorship and I’m stumped on it, also the mystical stuff that's coming in. But I'm back on track soon, so hopefully this will come out soon.

“Davy Jones’ Locker!”

“Don’t curse, dear,” Merryweather had scolded absently, trying to clear up supper dishes. 

“Don’t-What? Merryweather, look at the bloody stars!”

Harry grabbed her arm, pushing her to look up at the sky. It was just past dusk, soft and velvety blue, with early stars cheerfully popping into place. She followed Harry’s finger.

There should have been two stars there. One was newer, and that one had taken its place, although it’s bright shimmer was somewhat reduced.

Where the other should have been, there was black emptiness. Somehow, the sky looked cold and empty without it, and its mate seemed to shiver in the blackness.

“The second star,” she whispered. “Oh, Harry, what’s going on?”

…

“I was born in a prison, and on that day, from the moment I came screaming and bloody into this world, I was sentenced to life without parole. Like everyone born on the Isle Of The Lost, all my friends and my enemies, I was born to starve, suffer, and die, for the crime of being born to the losing side.”

“My first memory is of vomit. I was sick, because the food that came to the Isle came off garbage skows. Now, I don’t mean that the ships that transported the food were garbage skows, repurposed for bringing food to our prison, I mean it was garbage. The leftovers, the trash, rags and rot. Every bite we took was Russian roulette, and that day, I guess I lost.”

She smiled, and turned slightly again. She had never managed to stay still, even when she slept, she kicked and pushed out against the world. She had crawled early and walked early, she had swum from the moment of her birth.

“I don’t mean for you to think this was some kind of unusual event. I had food poisoning several times a year. The alternative was to not eat. There were no gardens, no farms. The ground was rocky and hard, and even if we’d managed to till it, the earth was leeched of life, to keep the barrier going. It was fed from the very island.”

From something more than the island. From something that had been since long before the Beast and his doll had been even thought of, something that had reigned before princes and queens.

Ursula drank her daughter’s face in. Sweet and pretty, crowned and gowned, just as she should have been. She traced the curve of her cheek, and pretended that this was something else, something from another world, where Uma was all that she appeared, and pure, and soft. 

…

They were making their way through grey fog, as fast as pixy dust could swing them. The Pan stood at the bow, staring into the mist. When Harry approached, he turned, eyes glowing with a terrible fire.

“It’s begun, impossible child,” he said, cheerfully.

Harry swore at him, savagely, and sat on the rail, listening for the sounds of planes and guns.

…

“Look how she lights up the sky,” she could hear Naveen singing, singing somewhere far away.

She stumbled out of bed. He must have been singing to Jimmy, and Jimmy was probably missing her.

But when she got to the nursery doorway, it was gone. 

The air was rich and humid, sweet with flower and sour with decay. Dragonflies hummed, their jewel-like bodies gleaming in the last of the sunlight as they danced over the glimmering water. She took one step, and another, the ground not giving way, but welcoming her in, wrapping water and earth around each foot. The trees swayed overhead, moss waving in the wind.

A place of death. A place of life.

3. The next chapter in Five Wolves Sansa Never Had

So this was a fic that stemmed from my irritation that Sansa lost her puppy. This chapter is called “Ned, you fucked up big time” and its about Ned trying to replace Lady with a sickly puppy who actually IS a dire wolf. Knowing what I know about dire wolves now, this is HILARIOUS.

He almost bought a doll, but Jory had shaken his head furiously, and he’d stepped past the toy shop, to a man selling what he called “exotic beasts, fit for the King’s own menagerie”.

Of course, the quiet little pup certainly wasn’t the dire wolf the man advertised him to be, but something in his golden eyes and quiet nature had reminded him of Lady, and he’d paid far too much for the little creature. 

Far, far too much, it seemed now.

Sansa hadn’t been grateful. She’d sullenly put it in her lap, and told him he couldn’t replace Lady, and needn’t have tried. Then she’d gone to her chambers, ignoring Arya, who wanted to play with the little creature.

At first he’d thought it was simply a quiet pup, like Lady had been. It had had little appetite, and messed in Sansa’s chambers, but she had been used to that from Lady’s infancy and hadn’t complained. He’d heard it when he accidentally eavesdropped on Jeyne’s complaints to another maid.

But after some days it had become clear that the little beast was dying. Food and water ran through it, ending in messes on the floor, it slept for hours, and when it woke, it cried weakly. It couldn’t walk, and Sansa would carry it out to the gardens, lay it on a blanket, and sit and embroider, only getting up to change the linens under the poor thing, or to persuade it to take a sip of water or a bite of food.

Ned tried to broach the facts of the matter with Sansa, but she had only glared stoney-faced at him, until he found himself faltering and retreating. He’d thought of sneaking in at night and smothering the creature, but it felt too much like murder, and he finally gave up, leaving the little creature alone to die in peace.

The one good thing about the matter, which was the rift between Sansa and Joffrey. The Prince found the puppy disgusting and wasn’t quiet about it, and Sansa found his rudeness distasteful, and tactfully avoided the boy. By the time he was able to put them on a ship, sickly pup and all, she was distant enough from Joffrey that her protests were only quiet, pointed remarks about how he had made her fit to be a princess, and now didn’t find the price she brought him high enough.

It reminded him, chillingly, of how Lyanna had argued with his father, and he found himself unable to embrace her when she left.

…

Stark had sent one of his daughters with a Braavosi swords master and the other with a sickly puppy, as if he thought that Stannis hadn’t enough to do, and would appreciate some further inconveniences. 

The younger daughter had no idea how to behave, and put the entire castle into uproar after uproar. But if he had hoped that the eldest daughter, who had lived up to her reputation as far as being a pretty child, who curtsied precisely the right depth, would balance the little urchin by behaving and staying in her place, he was, well, mildly disappointed.

“The dog will be placed in the kennels,” he told them on the arrival.

The girl shook her head. 

“No, my lord.”

He had paused, and the entire parade of noblewomen, septas and servants had stumbled in its tracks.

“No, Lady Sansa?”

She met his eyes, and he was reminded, uncomfortably, of her father.

“No, my lord,” she reiterated. “He shall not go to the kennels. He is the symbol of my house and he will remain with me.”

“It’ll probably die soon, anyhow,” the younger girl told him. “It’s been dying since father bought it, it’s an ugly little thing.”

For a moment, Lady Sansa was unable to school her expression to proper demureness, and a cold rage turned her eyes from sky on sea blue to springtime ice as she glanced at her sister. It only lasted for a heartbeat, then she was back to cold courtesy.

Stannis ignored their silent squabble, and looked more closely at the creature. It lay limply in her arms, eyes unfocused, and breaths shallow. 

“At the very least,” he allowed. “We ought not to bring whatever sickness that is amongst the dogs.”

Later, he found the girl seated by her hearth, trying to feed the little creature a soup of broth and bones, while her ancient septa slept in the window seat. The pup ate but little, and the girl rubbed a hand over her eyes before she saw him and stood to curtsey again.

“Forgive me, my lord, I did not see you.”

“I brought this,” he held up a small pot. “I purchased it for a sick hound, once, and it brought the creature strength enough to heal.” 

She thanked him very prettily, and he mixed a spoonful with the broth she was trying to feed the pup, showing her the portions carefully and appreciating her careful attention. Between them, they got the poor thing to finish the broth and eat a little meat, before it fell asleep in a rabbit fur lined basket.

“Thank you, my lord.” 

He took a closer look at the child. He’d never thought much about the girl who would marry his goodsister’s bastard, but he could see now that she had bright, intelligent eyes, despite her clear exhaustion, and that she carried herself very well.

“It must have been a shock,” he said, abrupt in his discomfort. “When your father told you why he had to break your betrothal.”

She hesitated.

“My father,” her voice was very soft, and uncertain. “My father has not-“

He stared at her, irritable and disbelieving. 

“Did your father not tell you why you were being sent here?”

He knew he sounded skeptical, but the idea that Eddard Stark would not have told his eldest child why her very excellent marriage pact was being broken seemed truly ludicrous. Stark wasn’t stupid, and he was a man of honour. It would only serve him well to keep his eldest daughter in his confidence.

The girl blushed in embarrassment. 

“He-He told Arya,” she said, slowly. “That is, I believe he told her. She hasn’t said anything. To me. But he speaks to her. He likes her.”

Stannis frowned. 

There had been another father, once upon a time, that father had made sure there was a space in his mews for a crippled bird, and as much fresh and good food for her as any flighted creature, all because his son had hoped she might fly again. Even if that son was not as handsome, or charming, or bright as his brother.

“Your father has been foolish,” he told her, coldly. He had not the talent to speak to children, but she seemed to understand that he meant no harm to her. “He may as well have sent you riding an aurochs blindfolded.”

“No matter,” he continued, and sat down in a chair by the hearth, motioning her to the opposite seat. “Listen to me. It’s a very long story.”

…

“…His Grace, the King, has explained all to me, my Lord Father. 

I am very glad to hear that you have escaped your confinement. Perhaps we shall see each other again soon.

Your Obedient Daughter,

Sansa Stark, lately of Dragonstone”

There was something cold about the letter, Ned thought, running a hand through his hair, for all that it was prettily written, with no ink blotches or crossed words, but he couldn’t quite tell what made him think so. He set it aside, with a group of others he planned to answer later, including word from White Harbour and the Wall.

Stannis had overstepped, he thought. Sansa was too young to know the truth of her betrothal, that her former betrothed was a bastard born of incest, that Jon Arryn had been murdered. But Stannis had never been known for tact.

His son had become a king. The Riverlands and the North called him so. So did some among the Vale. Word had come to the Stormlands, just as he managed to convince Renly to wait for the proper order of succession.

He put it aside for now. Robb was a boy, he could be persuaded to see sense.

“Sansa has chainjed her hair again. She just brayds it and pins it back under a hood like the new Queen does except she hardly spends any time with the queen. She and Stannis are always together with the Prinsess. All they do is play kivuss, and talk over maps and books. 

“I found a secret passij in the cellar of the kassle. It goes to the dungeon.

“Are you alright, Father? I herd one of the men say you lost your leg. I miss you very much.”

He smiled fondly over the mis-spelled words, imagining Arya roaming a new castle, learning all the new haunts and secrets.

“My Dearest Arya,

“I have not lost my leg, but it was very badly infected. I hope you are well, and you are behaving for your hosts…” 

…

The black wolf didn’t die, to everyone’s surprise. To their further astonishment, he thrived, with an ever-growing appetite and a newfound strength to match. He began to grow, and developed a certain cool dignity, to match his mistress’ adolescent gentility. She named him “Prince” and embroidered a collar in silver-grey thread and white shell beads.

Stannis wasn’t, precisely, surprised to find that the elder of his new wards was quick and clever, or that she knew already the names and banners of nearly every house in the Seven Kingdoms, and the relevant histories of said houses. His wife was pleased with her sewing and manners, and engaged a musician to teach her and Shireen the high harp and the lute. The girl’s septa kindly took Shireen under her wing, along with the younger Stark girl(when she wasn’t playing at swords with her water dancing master or dragging Shireen and Patchface into trouble) and their maid. She couldn’t really do much more than teach them etiquette and sewing, but she meant well, and she was too old to do anything else, so Stannis allowed it.

Sansa and Melisandre had begun a polite war. Word had been that the girl prayed as much in the sept as her father’s godswood, but she was little interested in opening her faiths any further, and clearly disliked the Red God’s followers for their fanatic disavowal of the older faiths. The small folk had been afraid that she was a witch, with her black wolf as a familiar, but when she proved kind and generous, they apparently decided that she was a good lady, whose wolf was a sign of favour by either the old gods, or the new.

[artificialqueens]

Not Nineteen Forever (16) (Branjie/Scyvie/Ninex)- Ortega

a/n: it’s been almost FOUR MONTHS what the fucking fuck?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! i’m so so sorry for my absence, i really have no excuse apart from work and life getting in the way. this chapter was a fucker to write but i hope it doesn’t disappoint! as always i would love for u to tell me if u enjoyed either on aq or on my blog. p.s. i am so excited i get to write chapter 17 now. GET EXCITED for that one xoxoxox

please note: this fic contains young adults often behaving in irresponsible/unadvisable ways with regards to alcohol, drugs and sex. if you are someone who feels as if they could be heavily influenced by fic and incorporate what happens in the plot into ur own life, pls steer clear!

summary: Brooke, Yvie and Nina are three flatmates who forged a friendship in their first year of university and picked up some other waifs and strays along the way. Now in their final year, there are feelings that need to be unravelled and confessions to be made whilst navigating drunk nights, hungover mornings, takeaways, group chats, library meetups, cafe gossiping, and the small matter of getting a degree.

last chapter: the least romantic of Valentine’s Days ever saw Brooke regretting cutting ties with Vanessa and Nina misguidedly breaking up with Monet. Scyvie stayed cute and unproblematic xoxo

this chapter: for Scarlet’s birthday she is gifted: a lie in, Yvie acting incredibly suspiciously, and a girlfriend-serenading plan worthy of a rom-com.

***

Scarlet woke up with an excited tingle in her tummy, a rush of adrenaline forcing her eyes open. She blinked one, twice, had the ever-familiar confusion (Am I waking up in my flat or Yvie’s?…Mine.) and then chastised herself for still feeling like a child on Christmas Eve on the 26th of February each year. Laughing to herself as she rubbed her eyes, she supposed she couldn’t help it. Scarlet loved her birthday- as vain as it sounded, it was a day all about her, and as someone with the friendship anxiety she had it was always nice to see how much her friends cared for her. Sitting up and stretching, she remembered all the birthdays that had come before- being little and tearing down the stairs at home, her feet skiting over the Mr Sheen-ed floorboards and running into the kitchen to see all her presents piled up on the table and her Mums there ready to greet her with a cuddle and a ridiculously big birthday badge. With a twinge of pain, Scarlet remembered the birthday she’d celebrated in her first year of uni- no night out, she hadn’t had enough friends to assemble for that, just her and another girl she’d befriended who later dropped out of uni altogether watching films in her room. That was all behind her now, though. She had the girls, her second family, and they’d made every birthday since as special as the ones she’d had when she was a kid.

Grabbing her phone, she smiled to see that it was already blowing up with messages. She supposed she wasn’t surprised- it was already 11 o’clock in the morning, and most of the world had woken up. Scarlet had been lucky enough to have her birthday fall on a Sunday, and that meant no uni, no obligations, and no alarms. She read over the two texts she’d got from her Mums, both of them crying over how they couldn’t believe she was 21 already. Scarlet supposed it was easy to lose perspective at uni- she was the last in their group to hit that big milestone, save Yvie of course, and it had seemed like she’d been waiting for ages. But to her Mum and her Mam, she was their little baby that had somehow grown into an adult without much time seeming to pass at all. Pausing, Scarlet texted them both back with a similar number of crying face emojis and kisses. She would go visit them next weekend.

On the group chat, celebrations had already kicked off. The group dynamics were weird these days, Scarlet supposed. Nina was unusually quiet, not her jokey and upbeat self. Still, Scarlet could understand that given what had happened with her and Monet. She was one of the rare few that had actually been able to hear both sides of the story- Vanessa explaining the situation to her after lectures one day having heard it all from Monique and Yvie telling her everything that Nina had told her- but Scarlet still couldn’t seem to get her head around it. How could it be, she wondered, that two people could have been less on the same page? Monet ready to make things official with Nina and Nina, scared and paranoid and convinced of Monet’s infidelity, ending things to protect her own feelings. Except nobody’s feelings had been protected at all, Scarlet had sighed to Yvie one day, as both girls were heartbroken and pining for each other but neither were sure as to how to go about mending things. With a pang of sympathy, Scarlet realised it had been two weeks to the day since they had ended things. She knew it would have made the poor girl feel worse if she’d revealed what she knew- that Monet had been about to ask her to be her girlfriend- so Scarlet had kept quiet, figuring that Nina was probably heartbroken enough for now.

Vanessa, on the other hand, couldn’t have been in a more different position to Nina. Every time Scarlet saw her she would be ready with a new story about something hilarious Monique had done, or something funny she’d messaged her, or something she’d done that had made Vanessa “go all heart eyes” (to quote her directly). Scarlet was happy for Vanessa- she knew that the two girls were spending time together and getting to know each other (and, thanks to what Vanessa told her in completely unnecessary detail, knew they were at it like rabbits), and it was exactly what Vanessa needed after all the drama with Brooke.

Before Scarlet could think about Brooke’s situation though, another message came through on the group chat that distracted her enough to scroll up and read all the others.

large incongruous silkworm spiced praline: IT’S INTERNATIONAL SCARLET ENVY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY BDAY HOE!!!!!!

Akeria Sainsburys Bag for Life: Woooooo!!!!! Happy Birthday Scarlet we love you!!!

cursed satnav voice: BITCH HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!! Hope you have the best day, love you so much xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

okay then: aaaaaaaaah happy birthday Scarlet!!! 21 at last!!!!!

cursed satnav voice: Why is she not ANSWERING??????

Akeria Sainsburys Bag for Life: Yvie’s offline too……

large incongruous silkworm spiced praline: ENJOY THE SEX BITCHES

Maple Syrup: Can confirm they’re not fucking

Maple Syrup: Yvie has an essay due she’s not started so Scarlet never stayed over

okay then: thank u to our reporter in the field, Ms Brooke Lynn Hytes

Maple Syrup: I’m here to help

Maple Syrup: also Happy Birthday Scarlet!! Hope Yvie spoils you rotten xxxxx

Scarlet’s Bitch: ur all filthy animals i was getting a coffee

Scarlet’s Bitch: ready for crying breakdown number 2 of the day

Scarlet’s Bitch: i would absolutely not rather be with my incredibly fit, funny, gorgeous girlfriend

okay then: keep that gay shit off the chat

cursed satnav voice: Yvie!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are so cute i s2g

okay then: vanj don’t encourage them

cursed satnav voice: Allow it hoe!! I got dumped, I’m allowed to be mushy

Scarlet’s Bitch: oh, did Monique end things?

large incongruous silkworm spiced praline: ASDFGHJKL YVIE I LOVE U

Akeria Sainsbury’s Bag for Life: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

okay then: omg

cursed satnav voice: On God I will leave this chat again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scarlet allowed the crazy replies from her friends to pour in, Brooke notable by her absence in the melee. Despite everything, Scarlet had to feel sorry for her. Yvie had told her in complete pain-of-death secrecy that it sort of, maybe, might have been the case that Brooke regretted breaking up with Vanessa. Brooke hadn’t exactly said that to Yvie, but she knew it was heavily implied, and even if Brooke didn’t know herself then Yvie sure as hell did. Scarlet had rolled her eyes at first and complained about how idiotic Brooke was being but when she actually really thought about it, she could see Brooke for what she really was- scared, unsure and full of doubt, unaware of what her feelings even were. In all the time Scarlet had known Brooke, she’d never been in a relationship, which made Scarlet wonder if she’d ever had one in her life. It was strange how people could be so different. Back in High School Scarlet always thought relationships were as simple as two people liking each other, kissing and then deciding to be together. But nothing was ever as simple as that. Sometimes they started out as friends and had to jump that platonic hurdle, like her and Yvie. Maybe everything started out great but ended up getting messy even though the two people probably loved each other, a la Monet and Nina. Sometimes the two people just never put a label on it (Plastique and Ariel). And other times it was a complete clusterfuck. Like Brooke and Vanjie.

Watching as the girls all teased Vanjie and Brooke’s silence became louder and louder, Scarlet decided that now was probably the time for her to break the ice.

Yvie’s Bitch: AAH sorry i just woke up!!!!! Thank you guys, I love you all sososo much!! Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

cursed satnav voice: xxxxxxxxxxx i wish we were all going out tonight :(

Yvie’s Bitch: I know, downside of a Sunday birthday!! We could do something else if anyone’s free during the day though?? Snacks and movie?

cursed satnav voice: Sorry bae I’m gonna be in the lib :(

large incongruous silkworm spiced praline: SORRY ANGEL MY FAMILY’S DOWN TO VISIT

Akeria Sainsbury’s Bag for Life: Sorry baby I’ve got dance class

Scarlet frowned, trying her best not to be disappointed. Yvie was still making her a nice dinner at her flat tonight, and they were going to go and see a film even though they hadn’t decided which one yet. It would still be a good day. Even if Yvie had been acting a little weird recently- shielding her phone, closing her laptop quickly if Scarlet came into her room, seeming secretive. It was probably nothing. Scarlet was probably being paranoid as a result of everything that had happened to their friends recently. Yvie still told her how much she loved her every day, and made her laugh, and smiled at her in a way that made Scarlet feel like she was the most beautiful creature on earth.

As if on cue, her phone lit up as the selfie she and Yvie had taken on top of the big wheel at Christmas filled the screen. Smiling as she swiped across the screen, Scarlet held the phone to her ear. “Hey, you.”

Yvie’s voice had a hint of playfulness to it as she answered. “Hey. Y’know, I feel like there was something important today that I totally forgot, can you help me out?”

Scarlet laughed, leaning back in bed and keeping up the charade. “Oh shit, is it not that essay you have due in about 40 minutes?”

“No, that’s pretty much all I’ve been able to think about all day. And it’s definitely going to be handed in late.”

“Meh. Better late than never. Is it, uh…some sort of Saint’s Day? There’s fucking hundreds of those.”

“No, see I don’t think this has anything at all to do with Saints.”

Scarlet laughed, giving a gasp on mock-irritation. “The fuck’s that meant to mean, you bitch?”

“Well for one, I don’t think Saints squirt when they-”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Yvie!” Scarlet screamed, giggling as she cut her girlfriend off. “Where the hell are you?!”

Scarlet could practically hear the nonchalant shrug Yvie gave. “Library cafe.”

“You’re such a tit.”

“Mh. Prefer yours. Happy Birthday, by the way.”

Scarlet caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, smiling like an idiot at nothing. “Thanks, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too. So what’s your plan for your big day?”

“Shit all, to be honest, although I’ve been stressed out my mind all week about that group project I had on Friday so that’s probably for the best,” Scarlet blew air through her cheeks, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

“Sounds good,” Yvie replied, Scarlet only the slightest bit let down by the fact her girlfriend didn’t pick up on her mood at all. “Hey, I’ve got a plan for you if you want it?”

Scarlet’s ears pricked up as she absent-mindedly fiddled with the studs she had in her ears. “Okay?”

“Well, I’ll probably be back at the flat around…one-ish? So you can come see me then. But can you do me a favour, girl? Phone Nina?”

Scarlet crinkled her nose up in confusion. “Uh, sure, I can do that. How, uh. How come?”

“Because I’m getting more and more worried about her with every passing day and if she kills herself in the flat we won’t get our deposit back. That’s a joke of course, but in all seriousness I am worried about her.” Yvie reeled off in her own deadpan way, then lowered her voice. “I just got the weirdest look from this boy that just walked by me.”

“He probably thinks you’re fit.”

“He probably thinks I’m criminally insane after that sentence. Does that sound okay, though?”

Scarlet was a little confused by the whole request. “So you want me to just phone Nina? What do I say it’s about?”

“I don’t know, say you want to do something for your birthday and ask if she’s free. Just something to get her out of the flat for something that isn’t a lecture.”

Scarlet shrugged. “Okay, I can do that.”

“Thanks, baby. I’ll see you later, okay? Come by about one. I love you.”

“Love you too. See you later,” Scarlet replied, Yvie hanging up the phone first. Scarlet frowned, blinking. There was something entirely weird about the whole conversation, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She rubbed her forehead. She didn’t want to entertain any thoughts of Yvie acting suspiciously, not after the breakdown of two relationships now in the friendship group, so without stopping to let the dam break in her head and for all those thoughts to flood in, she dialled Nina’s number. It rang twice before she picked up.

“Hello?”

Scarlet raised her eyebrows in surprise. Nina’s voice was a lot chirpier than she’d expected. “Uh, hey Nina. It’s just me.”

“Hey, Scarlet! Happy Birthday!” the girl’s voice came down the line again, Scarlet starting to wonder if it actually was Nina or not. “Just the girl, actually. I was wondering if you wanted to help me with something today?”

Scarlet stretched out in bed. This was an odd day. “Sure, sure. I was actually phoning to ask if you wanted to hang out, so that works. What do you need?”

“So basically I’ve decided that I’m going to cut my losses and go and stand outside Monet’s flat on the street with a speaker blasting a romantic song in a bid to win her back.”

Scarlet felt like going back to sleep. She couldn’t believe any of this was happening. “You’re…you’re what, sorry?”

“Yeah, I know, I know. It’s absolutely batshit crazy and probably won’t even work. But that’s two weeks I’ve been feeling like utter shit about the entire thing, and last night I just had this shock of motivation and clarity and I kind of told myself that if I really wanted her back that much I would have to just eat a concrete mixer of humble pie and just go and tell her what she means to me.”

In the list of things Scarlet never imagined Nina doing, publically putting herself out there in what could be an incredibly humiliating apology was probably at the top spot. Scarlet supposed it had to be seen to be believed. “Well, I’d love to come and be your moral support. You’re brave as shit, girl.”

“Ugh, you’re an angel. Can we meet halfway and then walk up to her flat together? Maybe outside the Sainsbury’s near me? In like, half an hour?”

Scarlet looked at the clock, then looked again in the mirror.  “Forty-five minutes?”

“Perfect. See ya then. Bye, Scarlet!”

“Bye,” Scarlet replied, bemused beyond belief. Giving herself a kick up the bum, she launched herself out of bed, grabbed a towel, and made her way to the shower. Forty-five minutes was a challenge, but she would make it work.

She was only ten minutes late when she met Nina outside the shop, which for the always-running-late-Scarlet was quite good. She saw with a pleasant surprise that Nina had changed out of the grotty black Primark leggings and huge oversized pyjama top she’d been wearing like a heartbroken uniform around the flat for the past two weeks, and had put on a pair of clean jeans and a red jumper. The two greasy plaits that Brooke had put her hair into last Friday were gone too, and she’d washed her hair and straightened it so it was all sleek and glossy. There wasn’t any makeup on her face, but Scarlet would allow it. This was already more than she’d expected.

“Hey, girl,” Scarlet greeted her, Nina bouncing a little in surprise as Scarlet appeared beside her. “You look so good!”

“Aw, thanks! Jesus Christ I’m so nervous it’s like I can’t even think. Oh, shit, happy birthday!” Nina said, almost in one breath as she hugged Scarlet tightly, clinging to her like an anchor and in turn illustrating how nervous she was. “How’s it going so far?”

“Yeah, okay. Well, no. A bit weird actually,” Scarlet furrowed her brow, sweeping a hand through her hair as she thought about the phone call from Yvie. “Has Yvie seemed off to you at all?”

Nina shrugged, shaking her head. “No.”

“Right. It’s just…ugh, she phoned me this morning. Everything was fine, it was just….I don’t know. Something seemed off. She said she was in the Library cafe but…I could actually hear her, you know?”

“That place has all the decibels of a rave combined with the noise level of my placement class,” Nina agreed. Then, frowning, she shook her head. “She was probably just on the way out of it.”

“Yeah…” Scarlet muttered, still puzzled. “She told me to phone you, you know.”

Nina laughed, kicking the bluetooth speakers she’d set down on the pavement, presumably too heavy for her to hold. “Oh, fuck. Checking up on the latest casualty of love, then?”

Scarlet was suddenly embarrassed, unsure as to whether or not she should’ve told Nina that. “Do you not think that’s a bit…odd?”

“Nah. Not in the least. Hey, speaking of, can we get this show on the road before I completely shit myself and/or back out?” Nina asked quickly, taking a deep exhale and bouncing on the balls of her feet. Scarlet nodded quickly, apologizing and offering to help Nina with her speakers.

“No, you’re fine. This is my cross to bear,” Nina insisted, puffing a little as she picked them up and started walking in the direction of Monet’s flat. Scarlet knew it was only a few minutes’ walk away.

“So, uh. I have a lot of questions,” Scarlet laughed a little, pleased to see Nina up and about. Every time she’d been round at Yvie’s the girl had looked an absolute sight, and had only changed her clothes once- one day where she tried to go into uni but came back sobbing as she’d seen Monet and the girl had completely blanked her. “The first one is…do the others know that you’re doing this?”

“No. Only decided last night, and I’ve been psyching myself up ever since. I’m tired of feeling like shit, I’m tired of not knowing what could happen if I just swallowed my pride and told her the truth. I was so happy with Monet, I…” Nina sighed, stopping and hitching the speakers back up. “I want to feel that happy again.”

Scarlet nodded understandingly, and they walked in silence for a moment. Nina spoke after a short pause.

“What’re the others?”

“Huh?”

“The other questions? You said you had a lot.”

“Oh, right. Well, they all kind of combine into one, really, I mean…where did you get this idea from?” Scarlet laughed, her stomach tensing as they turned into Monet’s street. She didn’t know why she was nervous. It’s not as if she was trying to get her girlfriend back.

“Well, one of Monet’s favourite films is Ten Things I Hate About You, and I’m kind of trying to recreate that. She’s a romantic, and…well, I’m shy. I need to at least try putting myself out there, even if it’s only to win her back. It’s been over a week and I’ve been torturing myself with the whole thing day after day after day. I’m grabbing life by the balls, I’m womaning up. I’m making my own happy ending,“ Nina said determinedly, heaving the speakers a final step and planting them outside Monet’s stairwell.

"No I know! It’s very inspiring. Just…I mean, you could’ve texted her first?” Scarlet chewed her lip, watching Nina flick through her phone. “I mean, she might be out.”

“Much more romantic this way, Scarlet, and romance is the order of the day. I mean how many Disney princesses get wooed by a text? None. Monet’s a princess and she deserves a princess attempt at begging her to take me back,” Nina said matter-of-factly. Scarlet watched as Nina looked up at Monet’s window, the confidence she’d possessed earlier now seeming to melt away. Scarlet took a little step forward and squeezed her shoulder.

“Hey. This will work. I know it. Monet still likes you,” Scarlet gave her friend a comforting smile. “I know she does.”

Taking a deep breath and smiling a smile of gratitude, Nina suddenly pressed play on her phone and a loud intro boomed out through the speakers. It was louder than Scarlet had been expecting. Deafening, even. Never mind Monet’s flat, half the street could probably hear it. The first faces were already starting to appear at windows, but Nina began undeterred, staring up at the window that meant the most to her hopefully.

“You’re just too good to be true…can’t take my eyes off of you…”

Scarlet jumped as the window above Monet’s suddenly flew open and an outraged bald man yelled an obscenity out of it. Nina continued.

“I wanna hold you so much…at long last love has arrived…and I thank God I’m-”

“Turn that fucking racket off!” came a yell from a flat across the road. Annoyed, Scarlet threw them the middle finger. Nina kept going, her face almost pained as her eyes flicked between the three windows at the front of Monet’s flat. She completed another verse and then casually hummed along with the start of the instrumental, and all at once Scarlet saw her face light up as Monet’s curtain was pulled back and Monet, Bob and Monique appeared at the window. Scarlet watched as Monet’s face rapidly displayed confusion, annoyance, and finally affection as she realised where the noise was coming from. As Monet threw her window open, Nina flung her arms out and beamed up at her, in the face of now several angry tenants from both sides of the street who were doing everything from wishing Nina an untimely death to phoning the police.

“I love you baby, and if it’s quite alright I need you baby, to warm the lonely nights, I love you baby, trust in me when I say-”

Monet was attempting to inject some form of disapproval into her tone as she shouted down, but her huge smile gave too much away. “Nina, what the hell-”

“Oh pretty baby, don’t bring me down I pray, oh pretty baby, now that I found you stay and let me love you, baby, let me love you!” Nina continued, cutting Monet off mid-sentence. Bob had raised an unconvinced eyebrow at the singing Nina but Monique seemed to be loving it, and had her phone out filming it all.

“You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off-” Nina started again, but stopped abruptly as the music suddenly died. Confused and frowning, Nina ran to the speaker. Dismayed, she looked up at Scarlet. “Shit! It’s out of battery!”

There was a moment where the two girls on the street level looked at each other with panic. For a moment, Scarlet thought about carrying on regardless, and it seemed as if the thought crossed Nina’s mind too. However, seemingly sensing it was over, Monique applauded enthusiastically from the window, cheering for Nina. Unimpressed, Bob turned and left. Monet didn’t go anywhere. She was still rooted to the spot looking at Nina, her face beetroot red. Taking her chance, Nina yelled up at her.

“Monet, I’m so so fucking sorry!” she began, and Scarlet’s heart instantly broke. “This has been the hardest week for me in a long, long time and…fuck, I only broke up with you because I thought you were going to break up with me but I just instantly regretted it because you’re pretty much the best thing to happen to me and…God, I’m just an idiot.”

“Shit, Nina,” Monet replied, her voice a little faint at speaking pitch. She said something that neither Nina or Scarlet could make out.

“What?”

Monet rolled her eyes, amused. Yelling down, she clarified. “I said I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend! You tit!”

Nina’s face dropped in surprise, revealing what Scarlet had managed to keep secret this whole time. She was so glad she’d got to find out from Monet herself and not her or Vanjie or anyone else in their friend group. Just her and Monet. How it should be. How it should have been.

“Oh my God! Monet! I’m a fucking dick!”

“Yeah, you are,” Monet laughed, pausing and leaning her head on her hands as she continued. “So uh…you love me, is that what this is?”

Nina’s eyes awkwardly flickered to Monique. She shrugged. “Don’t stop on my account, this shit’s cute! It’s like Eastenders.”

“Piss off, Monique!” Monet snapped, shoving her out of view. Scarlet shifted from one foot to the next.

“Do you want me to go?” she offered Nina. Nina’s face instantly turned concerned.

“Oh, God no! She’s not forgiven me yet,” she whispered to her, Scarlet nodding understandingly and stepping back. Turning back to the window, Nina shrugged a little and smiled. “Fuck it, I do love you, Monet. At least, I think I do, I’ve never been in love before to figure it out. But if you give me a chance, I’ll try my best to figure it all out with you. I’m so fucking sorry, I…there’s no excuse for it. Maybe people do stupid shit when they’re in love.”

Scarlet watched as Monet’s face broke out into a smile. Nina gazed up at her hopefully. “Can you, uh. Can you forgive me?”

“Well, I don’t know if I’m ready yet. But I guess if you come up here…” a smirk slowly spread across Monet’s face, all at once seeming much more like the fun, flirty girl Scarlet knew her as. “…I might let you persuade me."

Nina’s face immediately turned completely pink as if someone had flipped a switch, and Scarlet looked up with surprise as muffled cheering came from the window adjacent to Monet’s. Looking up she found Monique watching the entire exchange from her own bedroom window completely unashamedly. Scarlet was distracted, though, by Nina suddenly wrapping her in a hug. Pulling away, she was beaming from ear to ear.

“Thanks so much, Scarlet. I don’t think I could have done any of this without you.”

Heart warmed, Scarlet batted a hand at her. “Hey, any of us would’ve come with you!”

“No, I needed you. Yvie would’ve told me the whole thing was a stupid idea, Brooke would’ve just moped around like she’s been doing for days on end. You’re the next reasonable choice,” Nina smiled gratefully, then took a quick look up at Monet’s window and bit her lip. “Fuck, do you think she’ll actually forgive me or-”

“Oh, Jesus Christ, Nina, she’s so obviously about to bang your brains out!!” Scarlet cried exasperatedly, laughing at Nina’s instant blush.

“No, of course. You’re right. Fuck, shit, I should’ve worn nicer underwear. Am I even wearing a bra?”

“Just go-” Scarlet gently pushed Nina into the stairwell. “- and get your damn girlfriend back!”

“Right. Yes. Okay,” Nina babbled, turning and walking up the stairwell. Scarlet waited a second before she shouted at her.

“Speakers!”

“Speakers, yes, right,” Nina’s voice came from inside the building, the girl re-emerging from the stairwell, taking the speakers that she’d forgotten off the ground and scuttling inside again. Laughing, Scarlet grinned. She couldn’t wait to tell the girls about it all. Opening the group chat, she paused. Perhaps this was one Nina could do on her own.

Checking the time, Scarlet saw it was half twelve. She had said she’d head round to Yvie’s at one, but she was sure she wouldn’t mind if Scarlet was a bit early. Deciding to start walking, Scarlet began making her way to what was essentially her second home in the city now. It wasn’t a long walk, and Scarlet liked a wander at this time of year anyway. It was beginning to properly look like Springtime now, all the little bulbs poking out of the grass in the park and the air even smelling that little bit more sunshiney. Scarlet knew that didn’t make sense to anyone but her, but it made her happier knowing that better weather was on its way.    

Within ten minutes she was at Yvie’s door and pressing the buzzer. Scarlet stood for a moment and waited, which wasn’t usual. Brooke had once described Yvie reacting to the buzzer as racing to the door like an excited puppy, clamouring to let Scarlet in. Remembering the weird phone call, Scarlet felt a knot appear in her stomach. She buzzed again, waited again. Then there came a crackle.

“Hello?”

Scarlet recognised Yvie’s voice instantly. “Hey, it’s me! I’m a little bit early-”

“No, no, it’s fine- come up.”

The buzzer went, and Scarlet clicked open the door. She felt a little uneasy as she took the steps two at a time up to Yvie’s top floor flat. As she walked in through the door, Yvie was there to greet her.

“Hey, baby,” she smiled brightly, Scarlet not missing the way her eyes darted back inside just before she kissed her. “Happy birthday! How are you?”

“Uh, good, yeah. I’m good. Had a pretty weird day,” Scarlet admitted, watching as Yvie’s eyes darted back inside. This time, Scarlet followed her gaze.

“Is, uh. Is Nina not with you?” Yvie frowned, seeming worried as Scarlet entered the hallway.

“Nina? No, why would Nina be with me?” Scarlet frowned, taking off her jacket, folding it in half and crossing her arms. Yvie ran a hand through her hair.

“I just thought you two were hanging out- you said you’d phone her-”

Suddenly, there came what sounded like a giggle from the kitchen. Scarlet put two and two together and got a thousand.

“Yvie,” she began, her tone dark and her stomach churning. “Who’s in the kitchen?”

“What? Nobody. Nobody’s in,” Yvie frowned, her eyes darting to the kitchen door once more.

Scarlet paused for a moment. This was all wrong. Her mind was going too fast for her to catch up with. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Are you cheating on me?”

At once, she regretted the question as Yvie’s face dropped. “What?!”

“Are you cheating on me? Hiding your screen, shutting your laptop, being weird with me…it all adds up, fuck, Yvie, is she here? Is she here now?” Scarlet reeled off, feeling herself grow more and more frustrated. In a minute she would start with the angry tears but fuck, she couldn’t give Yvie the satisfaction of crying in front of her. How the fuck could she do this?

Yvie actually started laughing. “Is that what you think? Oh my God, Scarlet, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Confused, Scarlet fought the urge to push her girlfriend away as Yvie stepped forward and wrapped her in a tight cuddle. “I would never, ever, ever do something like that to you, okay? Let’s get that right from the start. You will never have to worry about that with me. Okay? Jesus Christ, I love you so much. You’re so dumb.”

“So you’ve not cheated?” Scarlet muttered quietly against Yvie’s chest. Her blood was still racing in her veins despite Yvie’s words calming her mind down. She felt Yvie pulling away and stepping back.

“Scarlet,” Yvie said simply, walking to the door. “What day is it today?”

“…my birthday?” Scarlet said blankly, watching as her girlfriend put her hand on the door handle.

“Exactly. So when it’s your girlfriend’s birthday, her twenty-first birthday, I should add, what do you do?”

Scarlet felt as if she was watching a murder mystery and couldn’t tie everything together. “You make dinner for them and spend time with them?”

“No…” Yvie laughed a little, turning the handle and cracking the door open a tiny bit. “You make sure she’s out of the house for the day and-”

As Yvie threw the door open, Scarlet almost got the fright of her life as the room was filled with screaming, confetti and party poppers. Blinking and trying to get over her shock, she could see Vanjie, Akeria, Silky, Brooke and Plastique, and they were all running to hug her. Finally, it sank in what was going on.

“Oh my God…you guys…this is a surprise birthday party?!” she squealed, the rollercoaster of emotions she’d been put through in the past five minutes causing tears to spring to her eyes. Akeria, who had found herself in the middle of the hug, laughed and gave her a shake.

“Not just any surprise birthday party! Your fuckin’ surprise twenty-first birthday party!!” she all but yelled into Scarlet’s ear, giving her an extra tight squeeze. As the girls pulled away from her, Scarlet frantically took in her surroundings. There was confetti all over the floor and pink balloons hanging from every possible place they could hang from. Across the wall above the kitchen cupboards, there was a very obviously homemade banner that said “HAPPY 21ST SCARLET WE LOVE U”, and on the kitchen table there were cakes, a selection of all the best beige-coloured party food, and a massive bowl of punch which, if Silky had had any hand in creating, would be absolutely lethal.

“What…but I still don’t get all of this!” Scarlet laughed in delight, feeling Yvie wrap her in a hug from behind. Doubling over laughing, she pointed to her girlfriend. “I just asked her if she was cheating on me!!”

The room exploded with laughter. Three of the girls started speaking at the same time, then one voice began to dominate.

“You seriously believed we weren’t gonna do stuff for your birthday just because it’s a Sunday?!” Vanjie screeched in disbelief. “Fuck outta here! It’s your 21st, bitch, of course we had to do somethin’!!”  

“Yvie messaged us all about two weeks ago making sure we were all free,” Plastique explained, smiling. “And we’ve been planning what to do ever since. If we’d known she’d be that bad at not acting suspicious we’d have organised it all without her.”

“So wait…did you even have an essay to hand in this morning?” Scarlet wondered, turning to her girlfriend. Yvie laughed.

“Nope. It was all LIES, Scarlet, lies! I was to make sure you didn’t stay over so we could make things and set stuff up all morning. And Nina was supposed to hang out with you and bring you back to the flat when we were ready. Which, by the way, where is Nina?”

“She’s, uh. It’s a long story,” Scarlet rubbed her forehead, too exhausted to even get into it. “I’ll let her tell you when she gets here. At least, I’m assuming she’ll be coming.”

“She better had, bitch, it’s your twenty-first!” Silky yelled indignantly. Scarlet wanted to say that the girl would’ve had a pretty good excuse to miss things, but she held her tongue. Still intrigued, she cast her eyes around the room again.

“So, wait, what’s the actual plan for today?”

“Movie afternoon here with all the food. Drinking Silk’s punch and getting day drunk,” Brooke explained with a smile before being cut off by Vanessa.

“Hey, I helped make that punch, gimme credit, bitch!” she flipped her hair, a little twinkle of something in her eye that intrigued Scarlet. Brooke seemed nonplussed and just smirked.

“Fuck, well. That’s even more reason to stay away from it, it’s probably just vodka and food colouring.”

As the other girls laughed, Vanessa leaned over and gave Brooke a small shove in the ribs. Scarlet exchanged quick eye contact with Yvie, and the look her girlfriend gave her seemed to say that there was more she’d be told later.

“Once we finish the movie then we’re gonna do MarioKart or Mario Party, then get ready and go out. Fuck a degree if we can’t have a life,” Akeria explained further. Scarlet felt like crying again. This was the feeling of running downstairs at 9 years old, of her presents in the kitchen and the people she loved happy and excited for her. These girls were truly her second family.

“Fuck, thank you guys. I love you so much,” Scarlet whispered, not trusting herself to speak unless her voice cracked. The girls all fussed over her and went in for a second hug, only pulling away when Silky cried out that it was punch time.

“What’re we watching, babe?” Yvie called over from the punch bowl, as Scarlet sat herself on her and Yvie’s favourite chair and the other girls began getting themselves comfy. Scarlet quickly forgot about what Yvie had asked, however, as she noticed something- Vanessa, Akeria and Silky all sitting on the sofa, but Vanessa positioning herself at the edge next to the other armchair. Brooke was sitting in it, and the two girls were actually talking. Not just talking. Smiling. Bickering playfully about fuck-knows-what.

“Scarlet!” Plastique suddenly shouted, causing her to yell in surprise. The other girls laughed. “Yvie said what’re we watching?”

“Uh, Princess Diaries, duh,” Scarlet rolled her eyes. As Yvie came back and grabbed the remote, she wordlessly tapped Scarlet’s phone. Picking up on the signal, Scarlet grabbed it and unlocked it.

Y: they’ve been like this all day btw

Y: arguing like an old married couple and flirting and shit

Y: wtf is going on

Scarlet’s brow furrowed as she read the messages. That was weird. Weird, weird, weird, and Scarlet didn’t know what to think. She was suddenly distracted by a notification from the group chat before she could speculate any further.

Kim Kardashian-West: I’m out of the doghouse and my depressive slump. Me and MY GIRLFRIEND will be with u all in an hour xoxoxoxoxoxo

As the news gradually reached the others in the room, it became filled with shouts and cries of excitement, disbelief and joy at Nina finally having fixed things with Monet.

“Wait, wait, wait a minute,” Plastique said urgently, turning round so quickly to look at Scarlet she was sure it would give her whiplash. “You were with her. What happened?”

Scarlet let out a laugh as she realised all the girls had their eyes on her like trained snipers. Who needed a movie when she could recount the great stairwell serenade she’d witnessed earlier?

“Buckle up, children,” Scarlet began, leaning on her knees. “It’s storytime.”

[ofstarsandvibranium]

The Trial Run

Fandom: Marvel (Cam Guy AU)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: After some discussion, you and Bucky have a trial run on a cam site and see how it goes.

Warning: S M U T

A/N: this is spinoff/sequel of sorts to my In Front of the Camera series.

The set up was one you were all too familiar with. You’ve seen it many times when you sat in on one of Bucky’s cam sessions. It was just a bit weird now seeing that set up in the bedroom of your new apartment. You stared at the laptop and set of toys on the bed, no expression on your face whatsoever.

“Doll?” Bucky’s arm rested on your lower back and he pulled you from your thoughts, “You okay? Are you having second thoughts?”

You shook your head and gave Bucky a grateful smile. He’s been so considerate with you. It’s been a week since you proposed Bucky about making a couple’s cam account. Every day leading up to this, Bucky kept asking if you were okay with it. Your answer was always the same, and, up until this moment, you were all for it. But now, some insecurities are coming into play. 

“Actually, um, can we talk about this one more time?” 

“Of course,” he says with a soft smile and leads you to sit at the edge of the bed, “What’s on your mind?”

You let out a deep breath and rest your hands on your lap, “Well, uh, it’s my first time doing this and everyone already knows and loves you, but me-I’m scared people will be cruel. I’m not like...her, Bucky.”

“Baby,” he cups your face and looks deep into your eyes, “It’s okay to be nervous. If you want, you can wear a mask. That way, no one will know it’s you. And if someone says something bad about you, I’ll shut that shit down real quick, ‘cause no one gets to talk down to my girl like that.”

You give him a shy smile and lean into him, “I love you so much, you know that?”

“And I love you too, babydoll. Now, are you absolutely sure you wanna do this?”

You look to the laptop and then to Bucky. You give him a curt nod, “Yeah, um, I’d like to wear a mask though.” you got up and went to your closet, reaching up for a box on the shelf and pulling out a familiar mask. 

“Is that-”

“From the masquerade? Yeah.”

He chuckled, taking the black lace mask from that night, “You know, I’m not gonna lie, I thought you looked really sexy with this on that night. Was thinking about incorporating it in the bedroom.” he puts it up against your face and ties it behind your head, “Looks like we finally can.” He gives you a quick kiss, “Ready?” you nodded and you crawled to sit up against the headboard while Bucky logged onto your shared account: cam4you.com/JamesAndDoll

He looks over his shoulder, silently asking, for the final time, if you’re okay with this. Once you give him the thumbs up, he clicks “LIVE”. His face is right up against the camera and he smiles.

“Some of you may already know me from my old account. I was in a rough place when I deleted that account. But things are so much better now. I’m back, as you can see, but I’m not alone this time. Some of you might already know about my baby doll,” he looks away from the camera for a moment, smiling to himself, but you don’t see this, “My doll, she’s quite something. But she’s a little shy right now, so I want you guys to be real nice to her. This is her first time camming, sweetheart? Wanna c’mere and say hi?”

You crawl over to sit next to Bucky, both of you in your underwear. You bite your lip, giving a shy smile at the camera, “Hi, everyone.” you watch how the number of watchers slowly grows and the chat room becomes more hectic.

OMG! JAMES IS BACK!

FUUUUUCK YES! Missed you daddy!

My prayers have been answered! i missed seeing your face and cock so much! <3

You can’t help but feel proud about people hyping up Bucky, your Bucky.

You gonna fuck her nice and hard? 

can u make her squirt for us?

EAT HER PUSSY, JAMES!

Bucky can’t help but chuckle at everyone’s enthusiasm, “Patience, everyone. Like I said, it’s my doll’s first time and she’s a bit nervous. We’re gonna go at her pace. And I better not see any rude comments. We don’t allow that shit here, got it?”

You lick your lips at Bucky’s sudden tone of authority. It was like the same tone he used when he ordered you around in bed. When Bucky looked at you, he could immediately tell you were getting aroused. 

“You like that, babydoll? Like how I ordered them to be nice to you?”

You bite your lip and you nodded, “Makin’ me wet already, James.”

He smirked and glanced down at your covered pussy, “Yeah? Wanna show everyone how wet you’re getting just from my words?” There was a moment of hesitation in your eyes, he saw it, but then you nodded, “Alright, sweetheart, get on your hands and knees with your ass facing the camera.”

You did as you were told, getting onto your hands and knees on your bed, a flood of excitement flowing through you. You can feel yourself growing wetter. 

Bucky takes your panties by the waistband and pulls them down, sliding them off your legs and tossing them to the floor, “Spread your legs a little wider for me, doll.” You obey and Bucky hums, “Look at that pretty pussy. Baby, can you bring it closer so the people can see?” you scoot back a bit, feeling your cheeks heat up in slight embarrassment. 

He runs his knuckles down your slit, loving how they catch some of your slick, “So wet already, but let’s get you a little wetter, shall we? What toy should I use on my babydoll: the wand or the rabbit?”

rabbiiiit! it’s my favorite!

the wand! 

the wand has more levels than the rabbit...just sayin

While I do love the rabbit, I think I’m gonna have to go with the wand,

“Doll, wanna guess what the consensus is?”

“Ummm...the rabbit?” you answered mousily and look over your shoulder. 

Bucky shakes his head, “Nope. It was the wand.” he grabs the wireless sex toy and turns it on, “Gonna start her off with three and see how you go from there, alright, sweetheart?”

“Alright, James,” you reply, hands clutching the sheets under you, bracing yourself for what’s about to come. You gasp when the head of the wand touches your pussy and you whimper out a, “Fuck.”

“Mmmmm. My doll’s loving this already,” he puts two fingers to your pussy, slowly sliding them into your core, “She’s getting real nice and wet for me now.” he pulls out his fingers and proceeds to lick them clean, “Tastes so fucking good. You wanna taste yourself, baby?”

“Yes, please,” you muster out as you try to stay up on your knees. You can’t believe your pussy is out there, being viewed by an ever growing amount of people!

Bucky scoops up some of your juices, and leans back, offering his fingers to you, “Open, sweetheart.” As soon as you take his fingers into your mouth, he ups the level on the wand by two levels, the vibrations increasing, taking you by surprise. 

You jolt forward and away from it, but Bucky pulls you back, “No, no, baby doll, you have to stay right here so the people could see you.” he puts his thumb over your asshole, grazing over the puckered flesh, “Mmmm...wanna play with this ass of yours, but maybe we’ll save that for another time, hm? Think I wanna focus more on this beautiful cunt of yours.” 

Keeping the wand on your clit, Bucky inserts his fingers into you again, this time, pumping them in and out at a rapid rate. 

Your arms give out and your chest falls onto the mattress, but your knees are still very much up, “Shit, James! James!”

“That’s it, babydoll. Love how you cry out my name. You wanna cum? You gonna let everyone see how pretty you are when you cum?”

“Don’t stop, baby! God, James! Right there!” you cry out as his fingers begin to curl in, hitting your G-spot hard, “Fuck!”

“Cum, doll. Cum for us, please. We wanna see you cum.”

You let out a mix of a squeal and a moan, splashes of your cum landing on Bucky’s arm as well as your bed. 

“Oh fuck, sweetheart!” he cries out in amusement, “You’re getting me all soaked!” he lets out a chuckle, completely satisfied with how you’re doing so far. 

Your body continued to writhe as you rode through your orgasm. Bucky pulled the wand away from you, gently stroking your pussy with the back of his hand, “sssshhh. Easy now. Did that feel good, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” your voice a bit raspy.

He chuckled and kissed your ass cheeks, hand still stroking your pussy, “I think we’re gonna end it here, guys. But I’d say that was a successful trial run, don’t you? Maybe next time you get to see me actually fuck her. Who knows? Until next time,” he gave the camera a wink and clicked up “END LIVESTREAM”. The laptop closed with a flick of his wrist and Bucky crawled up to you. 

He kissed your shoulder before turning you around and pulling you up into his arms, “You did so good, Y/N. Everyone loved you. Called you a good girl. Did you enjoy yourself?”

Still caught in a bit of the post-orgasmic haze, you dopily smile up at him, “Yeah. That was really fun,” and then you frowned, “I didn’t get to take care of you though.”

He shook his head, “It’s okay, Y/N. This was all about you and getting you used to the feeling of being on camera. You can take care of me another time, if you wanna continue doing this.”

You nodded, “Yeah. Another time. That sounds good.”

Bucky kissed your head and softly set your head on the pillows, “I’ll be back. Gonna get you some water and clean you up, okay?” 

“M’kay,” you mumbled, glazed eyes watching Bucky walk out of the room for a moment. It was less than a minute when he came back, cold water bottle in hand. He helped you sit up a little bit, tilting your chin back as you gulped down more than half of the water. Bucky finished up the rest, placing the bottle on your night stand. He left the room again and your ears caught the sound of running water. When he came back, he had two towels, one damp and one dry. 

“Open your legs so I can clean you up, doll,” he whispered softly. The damp cloth met your skin, it was warm and Bucky gently wiped away the cum and sweat from your body. The dry cloth followed, soaking up any wet residue left on your body. 

“After you’ve had your rest, we can change the sheets. Okay?”

Your body felt so warm and relaxed now. This must be how it felt when you took care of Bucky after his cam sessions. You liked this feeling. A lot.

[heartofether]

Episode 6 - Open Eyes TRANSCRIPT

[You can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts, or go to our “Listen” page if you’re on desktop.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Please state your message.

[THEME MUSIC AND INTRODUCTION PLAYS.]

VAL

Three-Eyed Frog Presents: The Heart of Ether.

[THEME CONTINUES BEFORE COMING TO A STOP.]

[PHONE BEEP.]

[EXT. OUTSIDE OF THE BOOKSTORE.]

[THERE ARE FAINT WIND NOISES IN THE BACKGROUND.]

IRENE

[MUTTERS] I hope this recording still sounds okay.

Other than the cracked screen, I haven’t run into any issues with my phone since I dropped it due to a…mishap, in my search. I can probably try to get the screen replaced at some point, but Aiden was right about backing up my recordings.

I’m not sure how I would react if I lost all of them. I mean, do I even need to keep them? I don’t usually go back and listen to them, but…I mean, I guess I have an emotional attachment to them.

It’s fine for now. I’ll look into saving them when I get home. Right now, I’m at the Open Eyes Bookstore. I know I’ve mentioned coming here before, but this is the first time I’m actually here. 

I’m hoping there might be something here about the thing I saw in the woods. I have sort of a theory going right now—and okay, sure, I don’t have much evidence, but here me out.

Bernard Kelly Valencia, the guy who used to live in my house, hung out with the previous owner of this shop a lot. They always seemed dedicated to some sort of mysterious research, right? I think they might have known more about this creature than I do, and while Dorothy Wood passed away, her bookstore is still standing. There might be something in there that explains all of this.

I’m looking through the window right now. There’s nobody in there but a young girl with a cane. To be fair, I think they’re about to close. I came here a bit late. 

Well, guess there’s nothing left but to go in.

[A BELL CHIMES AS IRENE OPENS THE SHOP DOOR. “I DO” BY ROSEMARY ROMANO IS FAINTLY PLAYING FROM A RADIO OR SPEAKER IN THE BACKGROUND.]

PHOEBE

[FROM A SLIGHT DISTANCE] Oh, hello! Welcome.

IRENE

Hey there.

[THE DOOR CLOSES. THERE’S FOOTSTEPS, ACCOMPANIED BY THE TAP OF A CANE, AS PHOEBE WALKS OVER.]

PHOEBE

[IN RANGE] Welcome, um, welcome to Open Eyes! I don’t think I’ve seen you here before?

IRENE

Nope, I’m new in town.

PHOEBE

Oh, um, neat! That’s neat. Um, let me know if you need help?

IRENE

Got it. [A BEAT.] Dorothy Wood used to own this shop, right?

PHOEBE

[SHE SWALLOWS.] Yes. I’m, uh, actually her granddaughter. 

I’m Phoebe Wood.

IRENE

[TAKEN ABACK] Oh, that’s cool. Uh, hi. I’m Irene. It’s nice to meet you.

PHOEBE

Oh, the pleasure’s mine. [A BEAT.] I mean, uh, nice to meet you, too. [AWKWARDLY] Yeah.

If you’re here for Dorothy, then I’m really sorry, but she’s not alive anymore. I’ve taken over the shop since, though, so if you need to talk to the owner, that’s—uh—that’s me!

IRENE

I knew that, don’t worry. You’ve been running this shop by yourself, though?

PHOEBE

[SHE GIVES A SHAKY BREATH.] For the most part, yes. It’s, um, it’s been fun! I think. [beat] I mean, really, really stressful, because I haven’t hired anyone else yet because I don’t even know how to run a— [SHE STOPS HERSELF.] It’s fine. It’s fun!

IRENE

It sounds like a lot, though.

PHOEBE

I’m okay! It’s okay, I promise. Sorry.

IRENE

It’s really nice in here, though. It’s cozy, I guess in the best word?

PHOEBE

[SINCERE] Thank you. Lots of the decor is left behind by my grandma. People, er, they came here a lot before she died because she made it feel like a home.

[REASSURING] Business is still good, though, don’t worry. Still, I try my best to take care of the plants she left behind; Make sure the shop still feels like a home. I mean, for me, it is a home—I live in her old apartment on the second story. [GROWING DISTANT] I want to start to incorporate more things I like, but…it feels too soon, I guess.

[COMING BACK TO HERSELF] Sorry, I’m so sorry. [MUTTERS] Jeez, I was rambling.

What can I help you find today?

IRENE

I’m… [HESITANT] Okay, this is going to sound really weird, but do you have any books about…monsters?

[A PAUSE.]

PHOEBE

[CONFUSED] You mean, mythology? Or, horror books?

IRENE

No, not that.

[A FEAR LINGERS UNDER HER VOICE.] I saw something in the forest. It was big, and it came up from the ground, and it saw me without any eyes. I know you might not know what I’m talking about. If you decide to just kick me out of your store, that’s fine. [DESPARATE] I need to know what I saw, though.

…do you think you have any books to help with that?

PHOEBE

[QUIET] Oh.

[SHE REALIZES, THEN, IN SURPRISE] Oh! Right. You, uh—

[MUMBLING TO HERSELF] Well, heh, she said that—I don’t know if —

IRENE

[OVERLAPPING, CONCERNED] Hey, if you want me to leave, I can—

PHOEBE

[CUTTING IRENE OFF] Follow me.

IRENE

...okay?

PHOEBE

I— [SHE FORCES A NERVOUS CHUCKLE.] I think there’s something in the backroom you should see.

IRENE

Oh. Okay, sure.

[THERE’S FOOTSTEPS, ALONG WITH PHOEBE’S CANE, AS THEY GO TO THE BACKROOM. PHOEBE OPENS THE DOOR. SHE FLICKS THE LIGHT SWITCH SEVERAL TIMES.]

PHOEBE

Come inside.

[THEY ENTER THE ROOM. PHOEBE CLOSES THE DOOR, AND THE BACKGROUND SONG FADES TO A STOP.]

IRENE

[ASTOUNDED] What is all this?

PHOEBE

My grandma’s research.

[PHOEBE WALKS FURTHER INTO THE ROOM TO BEGIN SEARCHING.]

IRENE

There’s so much of it, though. That’s a hell of a lot of reading material.

PHOEBE

[ALMOST BITTER] Well, it would be if all of it actually meant something!

IRENE

What do you mean?

PHOEBE

[GUILTY] Oh, sorry. It’s just that most of this doesn’t make any sense.

When my grandma died, she left me a letter where she pretty much left me the shop. She said that this room right here was the most important room—that all of the information here was vital, and needed protecting, and that I should only let very specific people see it.

You’re uh—heh—you’re actually the very first person I’ve brought back here.

IRENE

I guess that makes me special?

PHOEBE

[DREADFUL] Please don’t say or do anything to make me regret this. I’m still not even sure if it’s a good idea to be showing you—or, or anyone—all of this.

IRENE

Sorry. [A BEAT.] What did she research?

PHOEBE

I’m not quite sure.

She was always so secretive about all of it. I mean, I saw her working on it for my whole life, but I never even saw this room until after she died.

Don’t get me wrong, I tried asking about it, especially when I was a kid and I was living with her. She told me it would put me in danger if I knew about it, though.

[UPSET] Now, she actually wants me to know about it, but she’s not even here to explain it to me.

[SHE IS HEARD FLIPPING THROUGH SOME PAPERS.]

PHOEBE

Most of this stuff is blank, or it’s written in a way I can’t understand. I think she wrote some of it in secret codes?

IRENE

[CONFUSED] That’s…odd.

PHOEBE

I’m able to read some of it, though. She wrote some things in the format of actual books, so it’s easier to read. Even then, though, none of the things she’s talking about make any sense to me. I mean, it’s all almost like some fantastical story.

[WORRIED] I’ve tried to find some sort of starting point, like a “how-to” guide. Between running the shop and everything else in my life, though, I can hardly sort through the surface level things, let alone process any of the information.

IRENE

Sounds like quite the situation.

PHOEBE

[SHE SNORTS.] That’s one way to put it. 

I’m sorry. I think there’s got to be something in here about forest creatures, though.

[SHE GRUNTS IN PAIN AS SHE SITS ON THE FLOOR TO BEGIN SORTING THROUGH A BOX.] 

PHOEBE

Could you please look through that stack of books over there? 

IRENE

Sure.

[IRENE WALKS OVER AND BEGINS LOOKING THROUGH A STACK OF JOURNALS. SHE IS HEARD TURNING PAGES AS SHE SPEAKS.]

IRENE

Let’s see…The Feast? [VAGUELY UNCOMFORTABLE] Mm, no. I’m not sure what’s going on there, actually.

Um…? [THEN, TO PHOEBE] This one is just called Folk.

PHOEBE

Oh, um, trying looking through it? That might be one of the ones with pictures.

[IRENE LOOKS THROUGH THE BOOK.]

IRENE

I think…wait, yeah, this looks right. I think this might have something.

PHOEBE

Oh, that’s good! Does it, I mean, does it have the thing you saw?

IRENE

Hmm, well, it has lots of illustrations of the forest [SLIGHTLY GROSSED OUT] and also one of a dead rabbit. For whatever reason. It’s a starting place.

[IRENE CLOSES THE BOOK.]

PHOEBE

Oh, okay! Feel free to take it. I, um, I mean, please return it. I can’t charge you for it because technically it’s not part of the store, but just make sure you give it back when you’re done. I don’t want to lose any of my grandma’s research.

IRENE

You have my word. Thank you, er, Phoebe, was it?

PHOEBE

Yup! Thank you for remembering, and just, please promise not to tell anyone.

[SHE PAUSES, THEN, MUMBLES IN REGRET] Hnng, I, uh, shouldn’t have sat on the floor.

IRENE

Do you need help?

PHOEBE

Please.

[THE FLOORBOARDS CREAK AS IRENE HELPS BRING PHOEBE TO HER FEET.]

IRENE

And here’s your cane.

PHOEBE

[GRATEFUL] Thank you so much. I have to go close up shop for now, but, let me know what you think of the book! Hopefully at least some of it makes sense to you.

IRENE

[TWINGED WITH DOUBT] Let’s hope.

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

[INT. IN IRENE’S CAR, OUTSIDE OF THE STORE.]

[IRENE CLEARS HER THROAT BEFORE READING ALOUD.]

IRENE

The Forest Folk cannot bring harm, because they are made of harm. Without pain, without suffering, without death, they would not exist. They know that pain lives everywhere. In the streams, the trees, the sky, the earth. They know the natural cycle of pain as it comes and goes.

Because of this, they know no need to harm others, as nature will run its course without the assistance. No, the Folk do not bring harm—they collect it. They absorb all of that pain, gathering it all into one final resting place beneath the ground.

The Folk know nothing, but they know everything, and more than anything, they understand. They cannot give you answers, as they do not speak, but ask them about what it is you seek and you shall soon find it.

They will not ever ask you to join them, but it is advised you never do.

[SHE SIGHS DEEPLY AS SHE FINISHES READING.]

IRENE

And that’s pretty much one of the only coherent passages.

[SHE FANS THROUGH THE BOOK.]

IRENE

There’s illustrations, and blank pages, and special code, like Phoebe mentioned. The stuff I do understand seems to go back to pain and death a lot, but the “Folk” it’s describing seem to be peaceful.

[A LONG PAUSE.]

IRENE

[BAFFLED, TINGED WITH AN ANGER OF SORTS] What the fuck?

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Today’s quote is: “You are not wrong who deem /  That my days have been a dream; / Yet if hope has flown away / In a night, or in a day, / In a vision, or in none, / Is it therefore the less gone? / All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream.”

Edgar Allan Poe in “A Dream Within A Dream,” 1849.

[THE AUTOMATED VOICE STARTS TO SLOW DOWN, BECOMING SLIGHTLY DISTORTED. THE PAUSES GROW BETWEEN EACH WORD AS IT BECOMES SLOWER AND SLOWER.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

She is listening.

We are sorry.

[THEME MUSIC AND CREDITS PLAY.]

[keelywolfe]

FIC: In a Twinkling (baon, 12 days of Cheer)

Note:  For the 12 Days of Cheer!

Day #5: Decorations

Notes:  This one is Kustard for a change of pace and I don’t think the word ‘cheer’ quite applies. Melancholy would be more appropriate and a reminder that growing up in Underfell didn’t make for much of a childhood. A little citrusy at the end. 

Tags: Kustard, Alcohol Usage, Hurt/Comfort, Growing up in Underfell sucks

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

Red’s front door was almost always locked; wasn’t much point in ever unlocking it, not when the two main occupants of the place didn’t need to use it. Sometimes Sans wondered if being able to shortcut was robbing him of a prime opportunity to gauge his relationship with Red, cause seriously, why bother giving him a key?

Thinking about that too long would give him indigestion in the guts he didn’t have and maybe he should take the fact that Red didn’t shove a bone through his socket whenever he shortcutted in as a sign of...well, something, anyway.

He always stuck to the doormat when he shortcutted in, not because he cared about tracking in anything on Red’s already dubious carpet but because it made it easier to find his damn shoes when they weren’t buried in whatever wreckage Red had scattered around. Today was about the same as any, bare walls except for the occasional hole through the drywall, a coffee table that was probably scrounged from the side of the road, covered in dirty dishes and fast food wrappers. It was sat in front of a swayback sofa that was currently occupied by everyone who actually lived in this shithole. Namely, Red and his damn cat.

Red didn’t even look at him. His head was tipped back on the sofa arm, his sockets closed, but only an idiot would think he was asleep. Sans might be a fool and proved it every time he came here, but idiot was a title he hadn’t earned. Not yet, anyway.

“nice to see you’ve done up the place for the holiday,” Sans said, prying off one of his snowy shoes with the toes of his other foot. He kicked it off, repeating the process on the other side even as he hissed at the cold against his bare bones. “they got those charlie brown trees on clearance down at the pharmacy in town.”

“don’ need a fucking tree.”

That made Sans hesitate. The way Red’s words slurred together was telling, a slurry of consonants in search of a vowel. That damn cat was sitting curled into a loaf on Red’s lap, purring rustily. Red could call it any name he liked, but in Sans’s mind it would always be that damn cat. Had its motor running pretty good right now, Sans could hear it purring from way over here.The cat opened one yellow eye, glaring at him balefully, daring him to try to unseat it.

Yeah, it was way too early to try anything like that. If this was gonna end without broken furniture, then Red would push the cat off his lap himself, and if it wasn’t, eh, Sans was fine with having a furry little hostage sitting between them. Gave him a few more seconds to dodge.

He sat on the opposite side of the sofa instead, sprawling out so his foot barely touched Red’s ankle. Not to play footsie, nah, he didn’t try any fancy footwork. But he left it there, like a conduit between them as he asked lightly, “not one of santa’s biggest fans, huh.”

Red snorted loudly. He shifted, rummaging next to him and pulled out a whiskey bottle from the couch cushions like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. The loud sloshing was a warning of an awful lot of empty space in it. “never met the guy. only nobles got to have a gyftmas in underfell. ain’t much point for anyone else. when you don’t got any food or a bed, you ain’t putting up lights.” He took a long pull off the bottle and Sans could see the flow of it underneath his jaw, guzzled so fast that a few drops splashed down before his magic could incorporate it.

He lifted the bottle in offering to Sans and he took it, but only drank a small swallow. What he wanted more was to keep the bottle until Red demanded it back. Could be immediately, sometimes it was. This time, Red only slumped back against the sofa arm again, gazing pensively up at the ceiling. “but there was this one time…”

His hand never paused in its stroking, the damn cat purring so loudly Sans had to strain to hear Red. “we were still living in new home in those days, mostly. back then, we didn’t go any further than hotland and paps hated that place, whined and bitched so much i usually went there alone. so we hung around town together, kept in the alleys and shit.” Red blinked slowly, once, and the soft diffusion of his eye lights seemed less from the booze than memory taking over. “this’s before we found the dump, even. shit got a little better, then. less havin’ to steal and more’n sellin’ the junk i could fix up. i ain’t no engineer but i don’t do too bad--”

It was damn hard not to prompt him to go back to ‘this one time’, but Sans was afraid to speak. One word and he might break the spell, get this memory stuffed back into the overflowing closet of Red’s mind, and he’d bet hard G that Red would never bring this up again, no matter how much he drank. He sat, statue-still, listening to Red ramble and the damn cat’s engine revving until he thought he’d lose his mind. He almost missed it when Red did wander back, words slipping over his drifting thoughts until they jolted him back.

“it was cold that day and i left paps bundled up with all the blankets in one of our better hidey holes. figured i’d try to find us somethin’ to eat. most places threw away at least some food at the end of the night, and if ya were quick enough, you could get your share. i was on the main walkway, didn’t usually use it, but it was so damn cold even the beggars were takin’ the night off. and that’s when i walked past it. muffet’s bakery.” He sounded dreamy and far away, lost in the cloudy memories of childhood. “she had these lights up. i’d never seen anythin like ‘em before, tiny and twinkling, like stars are supposed t’ be. they’d painted the front window to look like snowflakes were fallin, only any snow i’d seen never looked like that, big snowflakes with patterns i never dreamed of. and right up front in these trays were piles and piles of gingerbread cookies. every one of ‘em was decorated different, weren’t two alike in the whole pile and there musta been a hundred, two hundred of those fuckin things, sitting there behind the glass and fake snowflakes. i thought i could even smell ‘em, was drooling on my damn shoes, lookin’ at those things.”

“what did you do?” Sans’s voice sounded strange, too loud, wrong in the midst of the past.

It was enough to yank Red back to the present. He snorted loudly, slanting Sans a look. “what the fuck could i do? i threw a fucking brick thru the window, grabbed some cookies, and ran.” He sank back again, scratching the cat under its chin maybe a little too hard, but it only purred on. “wasn’t worth it; we were on the move for weeks after that, couldn’t hardly stop to sleep. muffet almost got paps once, and after that, i took him to waterfall. wasn’t worth it.”

He trailed off moodily, staring empty-eyed at the ceiling, but Sans wasn’t entirely convinced, thinking back on a coupla faded memories of his own. “how did they taste?”

That got him a startled look. “what?”

“the cookies. how did they taste?”

Red’s mouth worked for a moment, sharp teeth gnashing, and here was the part where he might say something awful, that volcano of anger in his soul would erupt. He’d spew out a lava flow of bitterness and cruelty, and Sans’s would have to decide if he was going to take it or if he was gonna hang up his hoodie for the night.

Instead, Red threw back his head and laughed, his entire body quaking with it. “they were the best fucking cookies i ever ate!”

That thrashing laughter was enough for the cat. He hopped off Red’s lap, giving both of them a snooty look before wandering off to see if any kind elf left him some tuna in his dish. An empty lap was a terrible thing to waste and Sans crawled into Red’s, straddling him.

“know somethin?” Sans murmured, draping both arms around Red’s neck. Hands settled on his hips, fingertips pricking sharp even through his shorts. “sounds to me like you just need some better experiences with decorations.”

Later, when he was riding Red and trying to keep his balance with both hands tied behind his back with a shiny strand of garland, Sans was the one snarling and swearing. The Santa hat perched crookedly on his skull was making him sweat, his knees were aching, and Red only lay there, grinning up at him and letting him do all the damn work.

“come on, harder,” Sans panted, “get your elf on my shelf.”

Red laughed, rough and gleeful, and he wasn’t thinking of any awfulness from the dregs of childhood when he panted out, “that don’t even make any fucking sense!”

“harder!” Sans snapped, and the glitter in Red’s eye lights as he did, bright and fierce and wild, was better than any shitty light on any tree.

-finis-