#even when you don't remember having a nightmare or a big upset right before falling asleep

[sleebyconfy]

..

[fridgrave]

it was the first night since they decided to sleep in different rooms. first weeks they couldn't.

ranboo never trusted the life they started, the fake feeling of safety that came after moving on the different side of the country, hitchhiking with charlie days and nights until they stopped in the middle of nowhere. they will find the trace of their life before showfall, even if charlie doubted he had one, but ranboo remembered some faces and names, like it's a spot that gone through cheap laundry. starting all over again was hard, but not harder than sleeping at night. ranboo always kept one eye open, expecting to see white masks in the sharp shadows of a small room.

charlie tried to sleep not far away, mumbling nervously through his dreams until ranboo woke him up.there was no night without nightmares that tried to crawl in charlie's head, and ranboo had no other choice to wake him up before it gone too far. it never gone far enough to make charlie scream in his sleep, but ranboo wouldn't let it happen anyway. even a whisper was enough to keep them awake until it's completely silent around.

they barely slept, deciding to have rest by turns, and managed to deal with it for almost a month, until charlie catched ranboo after their job and declared:

"i will sleep in the living room now. on the couch."

ranboo sighed. he was expecting something like this, seeing mall-sized guilt in charlie's eyes every morning. charlie blamed himself for his nightmares, he always did, and deep inside ranboo realized that was the main cause of their restless nights. they really wanted to sleep.

"what does it matter if you will scream and wake me up anyway?" ranboo asked, and charlie steadily shaked his head.

"i don't think i will, man. if i was a screamer, it would've happen at least once already".

and it was a fair point, ranboo couldn't disagree. it wasn't a big deal after all, but ranboo felt guilty as well for his very light sleep. he didn't had it before, even in the cabin while dem- charlie haunted him and sneeg. ranboo wished they knew how to sleep like that at least for one night.

so it was the night of that day, and ranboo felt weird without a sound of someone's unequal breath on the other side of the room. charlie was in the next room, probably being on the edge of a nightmare, and thinking about it almost made ranboo to get up and check for him, but quiet and lousy voice at the back of their head reminded them to have a rest while they can.

"it was charlie's decision, he wants you to sleep, and if you won't he will be upset more than if the nightmare disturbed him. go only if he screams"

ranboo heeded, but walls kept him from any sounds on the other side. even if nightmare fell on charlie, he wasn't loud enough to get attention. and it felt bad, but their eyelids felt like lead, and thoughts were slow like the eighth hour flight. if he closed his eyes just for a-

low sound of falling reached ranboo's ears, roughly pulling him out of his dream. "3:56" on the clock dimly shined in the dark, making ranboo almost happy — it was more of night sleep he had before, even if the night wasn't really over.

they sat down on the bed when they heard the loud noise from the kitchen. if charlie decided to make himself something after a nightmare, it wasn't a good time for that. especially for someone, who moved in another room only to let ranboo sleep in silence.

ranboo picked up his knife he always hold close, for the case it was someone besides charlie's midnight hunger, and carefully looked out of his room. couch was empty, messy blankets lied on the floor like someone fell of and stucked in them.

"charlie? you woke up?" ranboo asked in the apartment, going further and looking in the dark of the kitchen. turning lights on was painful for their eyes, but that helped them to see a puddle of water, shattered glass and tableware on the floor. charlie stood right there in the middle of that mess, wet, weirdly looking ranboo in the eyes and holding a frying pan in one hand.

"what happened here? charlie?" ranboo made a little step, making sure they won't hurt their feet. "you had a nightmare?"

kitchen light eery reflected in charlie's glasses. he spread his hands a little, water dropped from his hair and face like he took a shower in his clothes.

suddenly, charlie grinned.

"i am your nightmare! boo, bitch!"

and ranboo felt a smack of the pan over his head before lights gone off again.

[sociieties]

" why are you sorry? " good question / bad question, quietly asked and he doesn't expect an answer. really, kazuya never expects an answer. not from shuuzou, not from anyone, ever. shuuzou might be the first born, but kazuya is the second / the middle child, born and abandoned before he even knew it. kazuya never expects anything -- only expects to get nothing in return. this isn't about him, though, it's about shuuzou and why he's crying. " you don't have to be sorry... " he breathes out slowly, and the feeling of cool water settles on his throat and he hates it here. " you never have to apologize to me, shuu. do what you do, feel how you feel. you're allowed to run if you have to. "

kazuya was thinking about leaving, anyway. not right now -- but earlier. it's probably why he thought that shuuzou had left, first. the habit of being the first to jet when things become too much is one that's well-embedded into kazuya that he's certain shuuzou felt it, too. leave before he's seen. leave before he's understood. leave after learning what it feels like to be cared about, before he can allow himself to develop a taste for it. shuuzou does better in kazuya's body than kazuya does. kazuya hates it.

shuuzou starts speaking, explaining, and kazuya falls silent, dutifully listening as he looks nothing but the back of his eyelids. oh, he hates that. part of this, kazuya remembers from one of the nightmares. fingers curl into fists and he has to remind himself to not dig in -- not his body, not his to harm. eventually, he swallows, dark eyes slowly opening and he lifts his head, reluctant and careful as he tilts head upwards to spot himself. a hand reaches out, carefully taking wrist and tugging shuuzou down.

" c'mere, " he mutters, careful to not hurt him. careful to not spook him any further. ( the strength in shuuzou's body is different, kazuya doesn't know where it comes from and he has to restrain himself for completely different reasons than he's used to. he hates being in this body. ) carefully, he brings the other to the floor, pulling shuuzou ( himself, really ) close and wraps an arm around him, draping it against his chest as legs move before he situates them to hold shuuzou close. eyes close and he's pressing ear against chest, his cheek resting in longer, lavender hair and there's some soft, distant hum that kazuya allows to bounce between ribs before it gets to meet the air. when kazuya's upset, he wants to be held, even if he rejects all and every chance to get it. it should help. he hopes it helps. he sighs, unoccupied arm coming up around him, too.

" it's okay, you don't have to come back if you don't want to. " he didn't have to talk if he wanted to, either, but shuuzou is constantly surprising him. " you don't have to do that anymore, shuu. " kazuya knows that's easier said than done, though, so he doesn't think to tell shuuzou something stupid like he can let go now. he can't. it probably makes him. kazuya gets it well enough. " you don't have to do anything anymore. they're -- " he doesn't want to talk about his family, " not here. " they abandoned shuuzou, then again, and again, and again. he does not have to impress them anymore. " mako's a big boy now, you don't have to chase after him, either. he can take care of himself. " and if he can't, then that's makoto's own fucking fault. " the miracles, too, " not that kazuya knows too much about them. " you don't have to do it anymore. it's not your job anymore. you have to take care of yourself now, you gotta worry about yourself now. " easier said than done, he knows. he lifts his head, pulling away enough to peer down at shuuzou ( himself ) and a hand comes up to wipe away the tears. " it hurts, i know it does. you don't have to tell me. "

hesitant he watches as kazuya sits near him - not to near that shuuzou gets spooked / not far enough so shuuzou shuts down and pretends that everything is fine. shuuzou lets out a wet laughter - ignoring the way that tears still fall and burn. what an eldest sibling thing to say. ( something was wrong / shuuzou's woken up with that thought many a nights when he was younger. woken up to trail towards makoto whose having a nightmare or to take care of his siblings or to try and protect his mother --- he's tired. always the one whose taking on all the responsibility of taking care of others. his siblings. his parents. his friends. makoto. the generation of miracles. everyone he's ever cared about. ) kazuya's picking up on shuuzou's own habit's it seems. " sorry -- " he starts, unsure what he's apologizing for. crying / waking up kazuya / not being there when he woke up / the idea that kazuya thought that he was going to run off. a hand lifts to scrub at his face. " it's my siblings birthday today. they're fifteen now, " dull - backstory. " before - before i left for america, " he chews on the bottom lip for a moment wondering just how much to say / what he can say, and decides that he's so tired / tired of literally pushing everyone away -- makoto knows some things, but makoto doesn't know this bit. " before - before i put my dad in the hospital here. he strangled me -- after the twins were worn out from their birthday party and went to sleep. something about how if he couldn't use his mayhem to take my air away then he'd just use his hands. " he swallows. " same year. it was my first year in middle school - i was eleven, and the twins had just turned seven. he climbed on top of me, strangled me, i don't know what happened after that. fast forward, i turned twelve in july, then fast forward to december and my mayhem spins out of control and i hit him so hard he's knocked out -- hospitalized ever since. second years happen and as i enter third year they all leave me alone to go to america because apparently i hit him so hard that it caused some kinda bleeding in the brain. " not that that was the only thing wrong with him, mind you - cancer is still cancer; but the hemorrhaging didn't - still doesn't - help. " i have done -- everything. i've taken care of everyone. i raised the twins until i was left behind and couldn't anymore. i fed them. changed them. got them to school. home from school. helped with their homework. went to after school programs. i stopped my father from hitting my mother. i took care of makoto when auntie ko wasn't around. i took care of the miracles. i'm - i'm so tired, kazuya. " of taking care of everyone and never being good enough. a shaky breath and he shakes his head, before hands lift to scratch at neck, leaving angry red whelps behind. " it'll be fine. it's not like this is the first time that this has happened to me. " the crying that is / the not being good enough. " sorry for waking you up. i would've come back to bed once my mind went silent. "

[tsunonotarou]

LEONA, JADE, FLOYD, ROOK’s ↷

reaction when S/O gets jealous and protective

notes: I notice us writers mostly write about—usually the canon male/female—being dominant and the other party is timid and shy, while I love that concept and idea since I’m a submissive bitch myself, I feel like we should get more S/O or reader who gets protective and goes grr

: gender-neutral reader!

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR

So there’s this crazy bitch who’s all over Leona ever since he was fucking born

They’re from a neighboring country and have been obsessed with Leona when they first saw him (honestly same) and as much as Leona didn’t want to admit it felt like heaven to attend Night Raven College because they’re AWAY from him

Magift is a nightmare because it’s open for everyone from everywhere to attend so he had already expected them

He planned to ignore them and steers clear of them as usual but they were extra persistent today

If they’re a guy Leona would have no problem scaring them away with a growl and possible threats

If they’re a girl though, it’s not going to be easy for Leona since he was raised to treat females with respect but then again, he knows that she does not deserve it

He also knows that you’re seething with anger

Your crossed arms while shifting your weight from side to side showed your frustration and impatience for them to get off

At this point he’d try harder and uses more of his energy to deal with them (he was a little lazy before) and tell them to go away but they just kept clinging and clinging

Leona’s eyes widened when you shoved them away, hard but not hard enough to make them fall on the ground and scrape their knee, just enough to keep them away

Your own arms wrapped around his and you stuck close, head resting on his shoulder, nuzzling your nose against his neck or trail your fingers a little lower on his waist than usual, anything to send the message across as you stare boredly at the ever persistent troublesome person

“Piss off.”

Normally people would get embarrassed/awkward after this and they’d leave but if they’re still on about it, pull Leona in for a kiss

A long, deep and passionate kiss from you sends him off the edge as he grabs you, smirking slightly at your behavior and also at the outsider staring at the both of you furiously

Will never let you forget this because he teases you almost everyday about this

If you're naturally a timid and shy person it's gonna be hell for you, because Leona is going to tease you ten times more

"Hey remember that time when you-" You smacked his head, hard.

"I don't regret it though, they were too close and I don't like it." Your adorable pout and red blush from his teasings only made his grin wider, and his heart racing faster

Proud of his herbivore, 100/10, would definitely want to see you getting protective again

JADE LEECH

They shamelessly flirted with him in Mostro Lounge, right in front of you

Constantly asking for Jade's assistance, ordering more and more just to have Jade serve them and if he's not available, they'll throw a tantrum

Of course Jade know about boundaries, he'd never want to make his lover upset, but then again, he's also curious as to what you'll do

Will you sit there and watch? Pout and wait for them to finally go away when Mostro Lounge closes? Be extra clingy with him afterwards? Silently cursing them? Or will you choose the popular trope of getting back at him by being physically close to another person?

Whatever you chose, he sure did not expect you to have a smile on your face as you call out to him, you are sitting just two seats away from them on the stool, so it is fairly easy to catch his attention without you trying to desperately cut off the one-sided conversation

You did what they couldn't. Holding his hand loosely as you talked about something semi-private (?)

"Hey, Jade. Where did I put my clothes again? That cream colored one. I know it's in your room but is it on the bed or bathroom? Have you seen it? Gotta go check it later..." To indicate that you've been to his room, countless of times

"Ah! I think you left your jacket in my room. Be sure to take it back before you go back to your dorm, okay?"

While Jade watches you and reply with an amused expression

This got them clenching fists and gritting teeth, and Jade can't exactly ignore them when they call for him since they're a customer, even if he's enjoying this a lot

You'd also pull on your clothes, kind of like flapping them when you're hot—even though it's quite chilly in Mostro Lounge—just to show them the bite marks Jade left the day before

*Thought I'd put this out just in case anyone misunderstands, y'all didn't have sex lmao because Jade is under 18, but he does leave bite marks every now and then ;)

When he does get away from their conversation and goes to you, like with Leona, you'd linger your hands a little lower on his waist than usual, or brush the bite marks you left that escaped the covers of his shirt collar

Nevertheless, expect Jade shaking his head when Mostro Lounge finally closes and them finally gone, though he can't hide the smile on his face

"My, my, I never knew you'd get to this point to drive them away."

He will forever remember this moment and the act you've pulled, truly memorable

FLOYD LEECH

The basketball team is having a friendly match with another school and the other school's team happen to have a manager

And man were they PERSISTENT

Offering to refill NRC's water bottles too when they went to refill for their own school's

Of course you're thankful for their help and thought it was out of pure kindness, but when their fingers brush over Floyd's for a little too long to hand him his water bottle and stays longer with Floyd than with other basketball players you knew something was wrong

Are they hitting on Floyd???

Ace and Jamil picked up on it and glances over you, with Ace shit talking about them and "If they're gonna do it, at least try to do it right." while criticizing their lame flirting skills and Jamil disapproving of their actions when Floyd clearly has a lover

Even if they're from another school, saying you didn't know is a lame excuse, not with how painfully different Floyd is with you than with others, it was obvious you two are together

Floyd, of course, is not dumb and oblivious and he is beyond annoyed at their constant touches and babblings he had no intention to listen to

Before Floyd could threaten to squeeze them to death, you're wrapping arms around his figure and called them out on their antics

"Don't you have your own team to attend to? Stop flirting with my boyfriend, he's not interested, take a sign."

Ace spit out his water and choked (yes he laughed)

Poor student scurried back to their own team's side and stayed there, as they should

Floyd would not care about attention as he picked you up in his arms, hugging you tightly and nuzzling close to you

"Shrimpyyy~! I love this side of you! Why haven't I seen it before?"

He probably already forgot about that student's existence as he only thinks of your jealous gazes and protective arms around him

Expect him to ask you to act like that again randomly, being all brave and calling people out, he loves this side of you!

ROOK HUNT

Rook is a social butterfly and will talk to anyone in anywhere

Much like Jade, he never intended to hurt his lover and upset them, but he's itching to know what you'll do. He has extremely good eyesight and knew you were close by, listening in to their conversation, possibly with a frown

Ah, a frown on your lips. That's not a sight he'd want to see! But the urge to reveal what kind of moves you'd make is stronger, so he refrained from walking away and chatted on

A smile played on his lips as he watches you stomp over, not sparing a glance to the other person as you locked your arms around his waist, tightly, then began to attempt to lift him up

...it didn't work

You didn't have enough strength so instead of lifting him over your shoulder (like what Rook usually do) you grabbed his gloves hand and dragged him away

Rook was certainly surprised, a big grin on his face as he laughed his heart out, bidding goodbye to the random student who had their mouth wide open

This only made you tug on his arm harder as an annoyed grunt and groan escaped you

When you looked back to them and sent a glare, that's when he lost it

He's sure he fell in love with you even more

When the two of you are alone he'd have your cheeks in his hands, staring at you lovingly, your squishy cheeks, furrowed brows and pouting lips are just too cute for him!

He will assure you that he will never do this again not telling you he was doing it on purpose to see what you'll do because you'll probably hate him his sweet words would surely calm you down

If you ever see Rook suddenly having a smile on his lips, you know that he's thinking about this incident again, and it freaks Vil out

[help-im-a-gay-fish]

(okay, i had breakfast, it was good, I'm a bit less sad, I'll try to rewrite all i did before, I'm sorry if i made you upset)

First of all, thanks for your answer it was super sweet to read (and scream into the pillow sometimes >///<)

Well when Nightmare and Killer just started their relationship, everything seemed fine - they saw their first colors, they liked eachother, then they saw their second color, same as any other couple does, but then... It stopped. And arguments appeared. Nightmare never thought that universe got it wrong, he more asked himself "What are we doing wrong? What am I doing wrong?"

This relationship made them both question a lot about eachother and themselves. It was a lot of trying, failing but also a lot of being happy. So yeah... Maybe because they aren't best fit for eachother they tried to change for a better way, and I think that's neat uωu I like when soulmate AU aren't just... perfect. It is easier than in real life, but also isn't as simple as seems.

Also about polyamorious thing. You know Killer knew that he is polyam before he met Nightmare and because of that he did whole research on "Is that fucking possible or not". And he found a lot of stories of people being in polyam relationship - some of them were all soulmates some not, but this gave him a lot of hope and inspiration. Soo.. He saw some hints about lacking soulmate, and made a guess about it (and he was right!!) after they come back together after first fight. And this caused second fight XD. Nightmare said something like "Oh, so you want another lover, right? Just me is always not enough for you". Ouch.

But they are fine now.

You know what? Now I'm thinking that I should've started my comic a bit different. I should've shown that part of their relationship - working and not working out at the same time, instead of just telling you about that. (maybe one day, I will draw a prequel... Who knows). But also I know that I also want to show something else that is important too, so it's fine.

🌺

Now about your and Jann stuff. DUDEEEEE One day I will definitely read your amazing works (i just don't have enough time rn ;ω;)

I really like idea of Nightmare being straight and than questioning his sexuality. That's super cool!

And also I remember how you made up a thing about Killer eyes and that being rare and making difficulties in actors job! (I think I drew comic about people thinking that he is blind and Night snapping at that person XD) So this:

This is beautiful!!

Personally I haven't thought about Nightmare and Dream being twins affecting others Night's relationship (which is a real thing!) and I think it's super cool.

Hi again!

Yes yes yes!!!

That all makes alot of sense! It's sad that Nightmare feels like he did something wrong, but in the situation he's presented with, what's he supposed to think?

Do you think their has been storys of soul mates falling out so badly that they chose to say apart and live their lives in black and white.

It would be even worse if potentially Dream had also found his soul mate and it was working fine with him. (weather or not this would be cross or someone else because of the different universe, idk but if it was true it would rub salt in the wound)

And then their fight about Killer's interest in a poly relationship. I wonder if he twigged an insecurety in Nightmare, which is why he refuses to be 100% sure they have another soul mate. Like, their is a part of him that doesn't want that to be true.

I loveeee where you started your comic! It's so soft and sweet that I even drew fan art for you remember!

But I wouldn't say no to a prequel if you ever made it. I'd actually love to know what happened when Nightmare and Killer first saw eachother. Whether I find out though a comic or threw you just telling me? I don't mind at all.

I'm really glad that you liked me ans Jan's story. The motive of Killer's eyes is a really big one in the story.

Nightmare is a person who makes him feel truly safe, and like his past won't hurt him. The genuine way that Nightmare tells him he has beautiful eyes in part 3 of Killernights is what lead to the nickname 'Moonpie' which is turn is Killer's first declaration of love.

He'd call anyone else 'babe' or flirt. But Moonpie is a nickname born out of effection, and is basically his way of thanking Nightmare for calling him 'pretty eyes' and trying to show how much it means.

And Dream and Nightmares relationship is one I love to explore. Its very easy to compare Killer and Night's relationship to Dream and Crosses. Which Nightmare often does, when he wonders how there relationships can be so similar, but so different at the same time. And again he wonders what he did wrong.

[ssscentral]

Mine

Summary: Is it a dream? A nightmare? Just a figment of my imagination. Or is it something more?

WIP - Masterlist - Members

Pairing : Namjoon x Reader || Established Relationship

Genre : Horror, Demon!AU

Warnings : Character death, brief gore at the end, it be scary

WC : 2.6k

Member : Kas || @voiceswithoutlips​ 

A/N : This is the fourth and last installation in the “Hell of a Ride” series. All four parts have the same prompt, but the authors have interpreted it in their own way. This is a horror fic, like it’s scary, there’s no fluff or smut. Thank you @taegularities​ and @heejinnien​ for being awesome betas and for all your feedback <3 And a special thanks to @eternalseokjin​ for helping out <3 I hope you guys enjoy it!!

Sunday

I wished Namjoon and I could go on a long vacation somewhere. I barely saw him since he had started working at night. He seemed so distracted these days - his company had just landed a big project, so he had to work overtime. Yesterday I came home from work and he was just leaving for his office. He gave me a quick peck on the lips, and then he was gone. That’s all the action I’ve gotten since the Halloween fiasco, to say that we went wild would be an understatement. 

We had attended a friend’s Halloween party. I had dressed as a slutty demon and Namjoon had gone as a priest. My red dress had been so short, it barely covered anything. Halfway through the party Namjoon had finally snapped and dragged me back to our apartment. Needless to say, the sex was incredible. He had quite gotten into his role and incoherently grunted in Latin as things got heated. I had no idea what he was mumbling, but I was too far gone to care. 

That was a month ago. Unfortunately, after that I’d barely seen my boyfriend in the house, or anywhere else for that matter. 

Monday

I could barely sleep last night. I went to bed after a lonely dinner. I’ll admit to being a little tipsy after all that wine but in my defense, I missed my boyfriend. As soon as the lights turned off, I heard this scratching noise coming from the walls. I tried to ignore it, I really did, but the thought of rats running around in my apartment brought goosebumps on my skin. Our building was really old and the landlord never really did any TLC, one of the reasons we got this apartment cheap. What if there were raccoons in there? I shivered at the thought. 

After about two hours of that unholy noise, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I got up, turned on the lights and armed myself with a broom. I lightly tapped the broom on the wall, maybe the noise would scare them into leaving. After a few more taps the scratching stopped, thank Lord for that. I didn’t want to go sleep in the living room or call our shady landlord. 

I glanced at the clock when I went back to bed. It was almost six in the morning. How the hell did that happen? I remember waking up at midnight. Did I fall asleep? Somehow I’d lost a few hours. I bet it was the exhaustion and stress taking over my wine addled brain. 

Tuesday

We had this really romantic dinner planned at our favorite restaurant. Namjoon said he’d pick me up from work and I was so excited for it, but  he called at the last minute to cancel. His boss had called him in early to work on some presentation. It is safe to say I was extremely upset, and rightly so. I’d barely seen my boyfriend for a month, even texting him was getting annoying. I’d ask him something and by the time he replied I’d already be fast asleep. One dinner, was that too much to ask for?

I couldn’t help but feel disgruntled at how things turned out. Even though I knew Namjoon missed me just as much as I missed him, I couldn’t help but feel unwanted. It was illogical and petty, and the moment the thought crossed my mind I felt guilty. He worked so hard and here I was bitching about him. 

Dinner was a sad affair, I was too upset to cook anything, so I ordered some chicken and drowned my sorrows in beer. I was about to fall asleep when I heard a light knocking on the door. I thought maybe Namjoon was back early, my sleep addled brain didn’t wonder why he’d knock when he knew the door code. I opened the door with excitement, only to be disappointed at the empty space in front of me. There was no one at the door. Either someone played a prank on me at this unholy hour or I missed my boyfriend so much that I imagined the knock, either way, it was disheartening.

I went back to bed in hopes of a quiet night. I hadn’t slept properly for two days. To say that I was exhausted would be an understatement. Sleep deprivation coupled with being a kindergarten teacher who had to run around all day after toddlers was taking its toll on my body. 

Another knock came, but this time it sounded much closer. I squinted my eyes at the darkness - was I imagining things again? Heavy curtains covered the bedroom window. I could barely see anything in the room. Was I so lonely that I was hearing phantom noises now? 

I turned on the lamp after a third knock. It came from the left wall. Rats don’t know how to knock, do they? I got up from the bed with a shiver. The bedroom was cold, I could see my breath in front of me. I gingerly touched the wall, it was just a wall, what did I expect? This time I could feel the vibrations when the knock came again, much louder. I ran back to bed, dread settling in my bones. What if there was some homeless person behind it? It was an irrational thought, I knew that, but I couldn’t help the fear. 

I tried to call Namjoon but it only went to voicemail. And what would I even tell him? That there was someone inside our bedroom wall? The whole situation seemed ridiculous but at the same time the knocking only got louder. I huddled in my blanket waiting for it to stop. The knocking had turned to pounding, the sound reverberating through my skull. Surely our neighbors must’ve heard it? 

Wednesday

I called the landlord and insisted that he should check for rats, but he said there were no rats. I asked the neighbors about the sounds; nobody had heard anything, not a single scratch or a squeak. I was losing my mind. Namjoon looked so concerned when he came home this morning. I looked like a crazy woman, red eyes, disheveled hair, don't even get me started on the eyebags. He insisted that I go see a doctor, maybe a therapist. The stress was getting to me. I was so desperate for sleep, but all I could do was get ready for work. 

The day was a blur - the only thing I properly remember was almost screaming at a five year old for showing me his drawing of a rainbow. I was going crazy. I stared at the empty bed, dreading to fall asleep. I prayed to every deity in existence for sleep. I was sure that the noise from last night had been stress induced and after a good night’s sleep everything would be okay. 

Someone was speaking. Was Namjoon back? I glanced at the clock, it was midnight. I reluctantly shuffled out of the blankets and turned on the light. The room was empty, just another dream then. But as soon as I turned off the light, I heard it again, clear as day, a quiet laugh. It echoed around the room as if it had a life of its own. 

I fought the rising panic in my chest. I was standing in the dark with my hand on the light switch. I desperately wanted to turn on the lights but I was frozen in place, heart pounding. There was someone in the room, someone besides me, someone who wasn’t my boyfriend. 

I felt a cold breath on the back of my neck. Someone was standing right behind me, so close I could feel the cold radiating from their body. A chill ran down my spine. My brain stopped working, all I could think of was how much I didn’t want to die. Was he going to stab me? Strangle me? Maybe he’d torture me just for the fun of it. 

“MINE!” a guttural voice said, laced with such malice that the adrenaline finally kicked in. My fingers acted on their own, turning the lights on. My body whirled around before I could stop it to see the face of this stranger. But there was no one there. The room was empty. 

Thursday

I woke up with a massive headache. I was somehow in my bed, sunlight streaming through the windows. Fear spiked through me as soon as I heard someone walk towards the bedroom door. I was about to scream when Namjoon peaked through the door and said, “Hey baby, want some scrambled eggs?” 

I don’t know what took over me but as soon as I heard his voice I started sobbing. He quickly scooped me up in his arms and tried to soothe me. He was so confused as to why his girlfriend was crying first thing in the morning. Between sobs I told him what had happened, what was still happening - I couldn’t help it. I wanted someone to know, no, I needed someone to know. It felt like I was losing my mind. How could the room be empty?

Namjoon insisted that I take a day off today, but I couldn’t. I needed to get out of that apartment, I couldn’t stay there. I wanted to feel the sun on my skin, I wanted to hear the children’s laughter. My boyfriend was sure that it was just a nightmare. Was it though? I was sure I was wide awake. I had heard his voice, clear as day, mine, that’s what he had said. Mine. 

Namjoon tried to take some time off but his boss wouldn’t let him. He had to go on a business trip. I had assured him that I would call him immediately if anything happened. Maybe it was just a nightmare, maybe there was nothing in the dark. The sleep deprivation, loneliness, and the stress had finally gotten a hold of me. That’s what it was, my brain trying to make sense of my emotions. Nothing else. 

I reluctantly got off the elevator. It was almost midnight, I had stayed out with my friends as long as I could. I was dreading going back to my empty apartment. As soon as I entered,  I swept the living room with my eyes. Everything was in its place. Namjoon was a bit of a neat freak, I didn’t know what I was expecting. I exhaled shakily; I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath. 

I debated whether I should turn off the bedroom lights or not. On one hand, I was an adult and I could just sleep with lights on. On the other, I was an adult and not a six year old who was scared of some imaginary monster.  I had too much pride, so I hesitantly turned off the lights and hopped under the blankets. 

I couldn’t fall asleep, I was too tense. The sound of the refrigerator, the comforting ticking of the clock, every familiar sound had suddenly turned eerie. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt exposed, like someone was watching me, raising the hair on the back of my neck. I debated whether I should open my eyes or just keep them closed. 

I chickened out and opened my eyes, frantically looking around. There was nothing. The bedroom was slightly illuminated and I had purposefully kept the curtains open, just to let some light in. I sighed and burrowed more under the soft fabric, hugging a pillow. Nightmare, that’s all it was, just a nightmare. 

I slowly relaxed, tracing patterns with my eyes on the dull, yellow wallpaper. I’d always hated that wallpaper, it was the color of piss. The pattern on it was irritating, just a bunch of lines that seemed to lead nowhere. The more I looked at it, the more I was vexed. I had half a mind to get up and violently peel it off the wall when I saw it. 

A pair of eyes were looking at me from the heating vent. The vent was located on top of the wall, its cover was open. Even though it was pitch black in that small space, I could clearly see those hostile orbs. Vertical pupils stared at me with such hatred that I couldn’t help but whimper. Every instinct in my body recoiled from terror. I could feel the blood pumping in my veins, my heart painfully pounding in my chest, I’d never felt so alive and so helpless. 

I wanted to run away from those eyes, the staring boring through my skull. I wanted to scream - surely someone would hear me? I wanted to call Namjoon, I wanted to feel safe. But I couldn’t. I had a sinking feeling that if I made any movement, it’d come out and jump on me. So I just laid there, barely breathing, perfectly still, like a dead body. 

It laughed. A horrible grating laugh that rang through the room. It touched my skin and I felt an intense pain, like a thousand tiny cuts. It was such a repulsive sound that I had to force myself from flinching. My tiniest movement could set it off. I didn’t know how I knew that, I didn’t know if it was even logical but at that moment, all I could think of was those eyes, dripping with venom. 

Mine. It growled. It kept saying that over and over again, sometimes it was soft, like a baby’s whisper, sometimes it was louder than thunder. The sound was in the room but at the same time it was in my head, like an airpod had fallen through my ear and landed in my skull. It was everywhere. 

Friday

I woke up groggy. My body felt like someone had put it through a blender, my head throbbing in pain. I could barely open my eyes, everything hurt. I didn’t remember much about last night, the only thing I could recall was being extremely afraid. I reached for my phone and somehow, through trial and error, dialed my boss to call in sick. I was so exhausted and as soon as I mumbled my apologies, I lost consciousness. 

My eyes opened to a dark room. I sighed when I felt a body press against my back. Namjoon was back, everything was going to be okay. I rolled around and buried my face in his neck. I’d never felt so safe. I inhaled deeply, he smelled so good, like orange blossoms. When did he change his cologne?

He put his hands around me, clutching me to his chest. I had missed him so much, I gripped his shirt. When did he start wearing a shirt to bed? His arms caged me to him tightly. 

“Joonie, too much,” I whined when he squeezed so hard I couldn’t breathe. 

“MINE,” he growled. 

Saturday

The smell hit him before he could see inside the room, metallic, like the smell in a butcher shop. Detective Jung almost lost his breakfast when he saw the crime scene. The ugly yellow wallpaper was covered in blood. It had seeped through the blankets and the mattress. Every color was distorted by red. There was a pile of undistinguishable body parts on the bed. The soft carpet made squelching sounds as the forensic team moved around the room.

Detective Jung left the apartment in a hurry, a thin layer of sweat covered his forehead. He would question the suspects first - to him, everyone who wasn’t the victim was a suspect. It was better than going back inside and putting together the puzzle that once used to be a human being. 

Kim Namjoon was sobbing in a corner, the victim’s boyfriend. He was the one who had called the police after coming home from a business trip. He was in shock, he could barely comprehend anything that was happening around him. Detective Jung tried to talk to him with no success, he’d just have to wait.

“What happened?” a melodic voice asked.

“Who are you?” 

“Park Jimin, I moved here a month ago.”

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hii!! I saw that your requests are open again so I hope u don't mind cosidering mine!! Maybe some Hcs of the THH bois being sad and their s/o comforts them and when they think they're asleep, they sing them a lullaby? the idea makes me very soft 👉👈🥺

Oop this idea makes me v soft, too ;w;

..........

Taka

You knew how emotional Taka tends to get, even over simple things like you reminding him that you appreciated him in your life.

Though one day, you find him laying on the bed, crying into a pillow.

The fact he neglected to greet you when you came home was especially concerning, since he always did that.

So you lay down beside him and hug him closely, asking what’s wrong.

He just buries his head into your chest and sobs about a quiz he failed, believing his life was ruined because of it.

Anyone else would’ve probably laughed at him for bawling his eyes out over something that insignificant.

But you never do. 

You understand he takes a lot of pride in success...and that he could be harsh on himself for little mistakes.

Instead you hold him tighter and reassure him that one bad grade doesn’t mean his future is in shambles.

Eventually he calms down, thanking you for those words he often needed to hear.

Before seemingly passing out from the exhaustion of crying.

You pet his black hair for a bit, and then quietly sing a short lullaby.

In response, his arms hug you tighter.

Mondo

Usually, he’s scary when he’s upset. 

But around you, however, he looks like a kicked puppy.

This especially becomes true when he comes home after an argument with his gang.

He takes a shower and comes back out to greet you, his infamous pompadour now shoulder-length brown hair.

Now he looks like a wet kicked puppy.

If you ask him what’s wrong, he’ll just say it was another stupid fight with his gang, who still doubt his capabilities as a leader.

You knew he was trying his best to keep them in one piece--fulfilling his late brother’s dying wish.

So you understood he could take those insults to heart.

He doesn’t wanna go into much detail, knowing he’ll just get angrier (and probably break the coffee table for the third time this week).

You just pat your lap, inviting him to lay his head down there for a while.

He obliges and just closes his eyes as you run your fingers through his hair.

It soothes him to sleep real fast.

And you hum a small song to help ease his mind and forget his frustrations.

Leon

It’s quite easy to tell when he’s sad, even if he doesn’t say anything directly to you.

Oftentimes, it’s when you enter the bedroom or living room and see him curled up with a pillow, eyes moist and red.

The moment he sees you, though, the pillow’s on the ground and he opens his arms up.

It’s like he’s saying “hold me right now or I will die”.

So you oblige and let him cuddle with you like a teddy bear, already feeling better now that you’re here.

He’ll talk about what’s bothering him if you ask.

Usually it’s either growing pressures of baseball practice or his own insecurities eating away at him.

Though sometimes he just says he wants to sleep the day away.

You’re fine with that, and you help him relax by singing a bit of a lullaby.

All he can pay attention to is your calming voice as he dozes off.

After the nap, he feels a lot better.

Hifumi

It’s typical for him to come crying to you about being bullied again.

Though when he asks if you truly loved him...that becomes a shock to you.

Of course you did! What idiot would try to tell him you didn’t?

You swear this is the last time anyone would mess with your big and lovable fanfic writer.

Usually the perfect solution is to sit down on the couch with his head in your lap, while you brush away his tears and list all of the things you loved about him.

No really. You have an actual list you keep in case someone has the nerve to ask you what you see in him.

He might get choked up all over again as he realizes he shouldn’t listen to those idiots.

At some point, he does fall asleep, and you catch yourself humming the tune of some anime song you recently heard.

Funny enough--he sometimes mumbles the lyrics in his sleep.

Yasuhiro

You find him sitting alone in his room, looking sad as he stares down at a crystal ball in his hands.

At first you scared him when you rush over to ask him what’s wrong (fortunately you save him another million yen by catching the ball before it hit the floor).

But once he calms down, he just says he feels like a “useless idiot” during trials sometimes.

He wonders why Monokuma insists everyone participates if he can’t contribute anything good.

What breaks your heart most is when he asks if you think he’s an idiot.

You just take his hands and reassure him he’s far from that.

You remind him that he did bring up some important topics that helped piece the crimes together.

So he’s not useless at all.

He feels much better after those reassurances, though also tired since he was doing a lot of thinking.

So you two just cuddle, and when you think he’s fully out, you quietly sing a random song.

Though he mumbles a “wow you sing rly good” before dozing off.

Makoto

Sometimes the guilt of class trials weighs heavily on him.

Especially when he leaves knowing he basically sent someone to their death.

Even though he knows he has to if everyone else wants to survive.

But that doesn’t stop the nightmares he has of the victims and blackeneds taunting him, blaming him for their deaths instead of Monokuma.

Fortunately, you sleep with him on those nights.

And when he wakes up suddenly, you’re quick to bring him into your arms.

Though if you’re a heavy sleeper, expect to be shaken awake by a teary-eyed Makoto who was scared you died.

When you’re awake, you comfort him by resting your chin on top of his head, while he listens to your heartbeat.

A reminder that you’re still alive.

And you end up singing a short lullaby once he falls back to sleep, ensuring he stayed asleep knowing you were safe.

Chihiro

Knowing Chihiro, it was easy for him to get upset over many things.

But all day long, he’s kept things bottled up, afraid you’d see him as “less manly”.

Though it all backfires horribly when he’s working on a program that keeps having pop-up errors and other glitches.

It’s just one after another and he can’t fix them all.

He feels like he’s faltering in his talent--the one thing he was confident in.

How could he be an “Ultimate Programmer” if he couldn’t fix simple errors?

Sometime later, you find him crying at his desk. You can easily tell your poor bf is overwhelmed again.

So you carry him away from his computer and to the bed, where you both cuddle.

He ends up breaking down into tears again, spilling his heart out to you--the guilt of ignoring you, the frustrations with the program, everything.

And you hold him and listen, letting him talk before you give him your own reassurances/advice.

Eventually, he passes out from exhaustion, and you take the opportunity to sing something to help him calm down more.

Byakuya

There’s not much of a sensitive side to him. He learned to toughed up in the face of many hardships--all to rightfully earn his position in the family.

But not even the heir himself was immune to the stress, suffering, and doubt--especially when he was all alone.

And when you saw that mask crack for the first time..it was a shock.

You came home earlier than expected one day, and you saw the prodigy pacing around the living room, trying to dry both his glasses and eyes while taking shaky breaths.

“You’re better than this...stronger than this..y-you’re..gonna be head of your family...”

The crack in his voice prompts you to intervene.

Of course, he tries playing it off as nothing, though you take him to the couch anyway and hold his hands.

You don’t say or do anything; you just let him calm down by himself, with your presence being more than enough.

Once he does, you convince him to rest for a bit. He just scoffs and says he already planned to.

You hum a song when he finally dozes off.

Your voice is actually soothing to listen to, though he’s not gonna outright say it.

But you know it from his small smile.

Kiyondo

Despite his brash attitude and tendency to mimic Mondo..you knew that deep down, your beloved Taka was in there--still heartbroken and grieving.

It became more apparent when you found him crying in the bathhouse (around the same time he was when he first went there with Mondo).

He shut himself into the sauna, but with luck you managed to convince him to leave and go to your dorm.

At first he aggressively cuddles with you, though as you brush away the hot tears that streaked down his face, his voice becomes less rough and more...soft.

Like his old self.

He admits he’s scared you’ll be taken away from him, too.

But you just hold him, promising him you will be okay...and you’ll help him through this, no matter what it takes.

It’s hard convincing him to sleep, but when he finally does, you just stay awake for a bit longer, petting his hair and singing a short lullaby.

By the morning, he’s back to normal--still gaunt and depressed.

Yet he seems more hopeful, as he remembers you’re still with him.

[violetwolfraven]

Prompt: "You don't have to hide your tears from me" for Redfinch

Mkay! Angst time! Let’s go!! I’m writing this the week after Valentine’s Day!! Woohoo!!

Anyway this takes pre-canon. So... spoiler alert they do get together later along this timeline, but right now it’s angsty and the boys aren’t together yet.

Tw: mentioned abusive parenting, toxic masculinity, unrequited crush.

...

Finch didn’t really understand blood ties. The concept of owing something to your biological family the way some of the other boys seemed to.

He didn’t understand why Albert, Elmer, and Buttons kept going back to their families even though all three of them always came back tired and usually a bit ticked off at best, genuinely upset at worst.

But then again, Finch didn’t remember his family beyond his father’s fists and his mother’s voice yelling at him. He’d run away when he was 6 and never looked back, and now he only thought of them when he was working through a nightmare or an old scar twinged in the cold weather.

The newsies weren’t exactly a family, he guessed, considering most of them weren’t blood, but they were like one. Better than most families, in some ways, with how Jack and Crutchie took care of the others and though sometimes jokes were at friends’ expense, it was never in a mean way. They were ride or die for each other.

Maybe that was what a family was supposed to be, but Finch knew he’d never seen blood family that was like that. He sure knew that the only people he was ride or die for were the ones he’d chosen.

He really hated seeing the people he’d chosen hurting. Especially when it was because of their so called ‘families.’

He hated seeing when Elmer came back from his parents’ house reserved and quiet, acting surprised when his friends actually paid attention to him, and he hated how exhausted Buttons always was, practically falling asleep on his feet.

But most of all, he hated how defensive and angry Albert always was when he came home from his dad’s house. How he acted for a good couple days afterwards, like any emotion other than anger was weakness.

This morning seemed to be an especially bad day, and everyone could see it. Even Wiesel and the Delanceys wisely avoided antagonizing him too much, knowing by the look in his eyes how bad of an idea it would be to mess with him today. The other newsies were giving him space, and honestly, the fact that they were letting him on the streets today at all was a little questionable.

Finch knew Albert. He knew how that boy’s words could be just as dangerous as his fists, and could get him into more trouble. It was useful sometimes, Albert’s uncanny ability to say exactly the right thing to start a fight. It was good for causing distractions if they were running from someone or to divert away from a topic he or a friend didn’t want to talk about. Finch actually was impressed with how he could always do that without fail.

But he really didn’t feel like helping his friend escape the Refuge again. Not today.

So, after a morning of watching him seethe with anger over... something involving his dad and brothers, Finch pulled him aside in an alley, putting his papes down on a crate and blocking the way out to keep Albert from leaving.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do ya mean ‘what’s wrong?’ Nothin’s wrong. I’m fine.”

Albert tried to shove past him, clearly getting more annoyed when he didn’t let him.

“Move.”

“No,” Finch crossed his arms, “Not till you tell me what’s wrong.”

“We’re gonna miss the mornin’ rush cause you’s seein’ things,” Albert urged, trying to escape again, “Nothin’s wrong, Finch. Move.”

“No.”

“Move!”

“No.”

“Just cause you’s sweet on me don’t mean you gotta care ‘bout my problems,” Albert hissed.

Well, that was... unexpected.

Finch still didn’t know how Albert had even found out about his crush—he hadn’t bothered to ask how—but since that time a month ago where Al tried to kiss him and Finch made it clear that he wouldn’t settle for being his rebound guy, they hadn’t spoken of anything involving that. He was pretty sure Albert had been being his friend as a way to make that incident’s thoughtlessness up to him, but neither of them had actually acknowledged that conversation happened.

Bringing it up now was a dick move. Especially considering Finch could tell Albert was still hurting over Race, because he was still in love with him, because of course he was because Finch’s luck was shit.

Well, at least it looked like it was dawning on Albert—albeit slowly—how much of a dick move that was.

“I shouldn’ta said that. Sorry. Still, move.”

Finch let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and shook his head, “No.”

“Please?”

He was a little surprised to hear him say that, but he still refused to move.

“No,” he insisted. “No, cause I know what you’re gonna do if I let ya leave this alley without talkin’. You’ll just bottle it up like ya always do, and then eventually you’ll snap on somebody and pretend you’re mad when you’re actually scared or sad. And besides the fact that you can’t last like that—it ain’t healthy—that ain’t fair to the others and I’d rather it be me you yell at than one of them.”

Albert scoffed, “I do not bottle—“

“Yes, you do,” Finch interrupted, “And it used to be Race who made ya let it out before ya snapped on someone who couldn’t handle it, but you and him don’t talk no more lately for obvious reasons, so I guess it’s gotta be me.”

It hurt that Albert didn’t trust him enough to talk the way everyone knew he used to with Race, but Finch didn’t let it show. He knew firsthand how secrets could burn holes in you. He himself confided in Henry, Tommy Boy, and Sniper when he needed someone to talk to. And he would like to be able to confide in Albert someday, but...

Trust went both ways. Admittedly, he had trouble with trust some days, so maybe it wasn’t fair that he was asking Albert to trust him.

Maybe he needed to give a little to show it was okay.

“Look, I... I know what it’s like to get hurt by somebody who’s supposed to care ‘bout you,” he admitted, “My mom and pop weren’t exactly... they... I know what I went through ain’t the same as what’s goin’ on with you now, but I’m only gonna ask you one more time: what’s wrong?”

Albert was still staring him down like he thought he could get him to back out, but Finch did see a flicker of surprise at the little piece of his past he’d confessed.

Nobody in Manhattan knew his past. He’d made sure he left all that behind in Flushing. He was sure plenty of the fellas—Albert included—had guessed the general idea, but no matter how bad the nightmares got some times of the year, Finch always tried to focus on just the right now’s problems.

He had that in common with Tommy Boy, Henry, and Sniper. Their ‘just the four of them’ talks always danced around what they were actually upset about, because openly talking about families or parents or home lives, past or present, was just too painful. That was why they gravitated to each other. Because they were the only ones who could figure out what the others meant by what they actually said. Sure, Jack took care of everybody, but he was too busy with taking care of the whole damn borough to have time to figure out their mind games. Crutchie was still trying, but he had duties as one of Manhattan’s seconds, too. Everybody else had either given up or didn’t care enough to try in the first place.

Albert knew all that. Or... he knew how much Finch was letting down his guard, openly telling him even that little.

He gave up on trying to make him back down and looked at the ground with an angry huff.

“It don’t matter, okay? Nothin’ Ben and John ain’t said to me before.”

“So it’s not a problem with your dad?” Finch asked, relieved. Sure, Albert’s brothers were technically adults, but they weren’t a big threat.

He scoffed, “No, of course not. Dad’d have to actually look at me to give me problems. Which he don’t. Practically ever. I remind him too much of Mom, as if that’s my fuckin’ fault.”

The anger in his voice was dripping with sadness, and it broke Finch’s heart. Albert didn’t deserve that.

But that was more of a long-term problem. Right now, it wasn’t what he was most upset about.

“So... Ben and John?”

“Oh, yeah,” Albert said sarcastically, “Y’know, they both had their first sweethearts by the time they was my age, so it’s hilarious to dump on how Albert’s gonna die alone. John’s gonna marry Thea, so it’s a great time to laugh ‘bout me not havin’ anyone to bring to the wedding like how Ben’s got Elizabeth. And it’s all in good fun, so I’m too goddamn defensive for gettin’ mad about it! Yeah, I’m the irrational one despite how I ain’t the one who started it!”

If he was this upset about a few little jabs from his brothers, that meant it wasn’t actually about them at all, and Finch probably should have tried to make him talk before now.

If the heartbreak he was trying to hide by keeping his face turned to the dirt was any indication, this was about Race. And that stung a bit, but it was clearly still burning at Albert.

Finch could deal with his own unreturned feelings. Sure, it hurt, but it was nothing he hadn’t been feeling for months. And he’d gotten rejected before, so it wasn’t anything new.

But Albert had never felt this before. He was volatile and emotional and he didn’t know how to express it any way but with anger because that was how he’d been raised. To his credit, he’d tried to push the others away, knowing his own tendency to lash out, but Finch hadn’t let him push him away.

Finch prided himself on his ability to read people, so he could tell exactly how gone Albert had been over Race. He could tell how much that was hurting him now, how much it was tearing him apart, and...

And Albert was crying.

“Al—“

“Shut up,” Albert snapped, even though his voice trembled.

Three years since he’d come to Manhattan. Finch had seen most of his friends cry in that time, but not Albert.

Admittedly... he wasn’t sure what to do. The others usually gave him a sign whether to leave them alone or try to comfort them, but the thing about Albert was that he craved affection but would never be caught dead admitting it. He hated letting anyone see him as anything other as unshakable even if he was on the verge of collapse.

They were just standing there in that alleyway, a couple feet apart, Albert staring hard at the ground as his shoulders shook and tears dripped off his face and Finch frozen, no clue what to do.

“Al,” he said hesitantly, “It’s okay to cry.”

“No. It ain’t right for a boy.”

“Really?” Finch risked taking a step closer, reaching out a hand slowly.

Albert clearly saw him, but didn’t back away or stop him, allowing Finch put a comforting hand on his arm.

“That ain’t what you told me,” he pointed out, “That time when I woke ya up with a nightmare. You just hugged me till I could breathe again.”

“That was different,” Albert shot back, finally looking back up to look him in the eyes, “You was hurtin’.”

“And you’re not hurtin’ now? Al, look me in the eyes and tell me you’re not breakin��� up inside.”

He didn’t. Or... couldn’t.

“Albert,” Finch said quietly, “You don’t have to hide your tears from me.”

He still looked like he wanted to hide them, but instead, he leaned forward, kind of head-butting Finch in the shoulder except he left his face there, his tears soaking through the fabric.

Finch would be lying if he said that his heart didn’t skip a beat at the contact but he shook it off, focusing on how that was a pretty clear signal that this was okay.

“It’s okay, Al,” Finch whispered, wrapping his arms around him.

He didn’t say that it would get better or that Albert would find someone else who’d love him back. He knew that saying those things didn’t make heartbreak any better.

Just being there, being a friend, being a shoulder to cry on, was better for now.

[tsukki-rising]

Pairing: Tokoyami Fumikage x Gn!Reader

Genre: fluffy angst, it gets a little emotional

Summary: You meet Tokoyami in the woods directly after the LOV attack at the summer training camp and comfort him.

Word Count: 2.2k

A/N: Reader has an illusion quirk like Camie from Shiketsu 

Extra lessons. You don't necessarily have an issue with taking them, you value you education and understand that this is an important step to raising your grades. You are a little bummed out however that you won't get to accompany any of your closest friends for the nighttime activity being put on by the Wild Wild Pussy Cats. You specifically feel a little anxious that you can't be with Tokoyami right now.

At the beginning of the school year, Tokoyami was a quiet student, but there were a few of his classmates with which he had created friendships. You had the honor of being a close friend to the boy along with Tsu and Shoji. You had found his interest in you slightly ironic due to your quirk. You have an illusion quirk that you often use for disorienting light attacks.

You felt quite overwhelmed by most of your classmates, most having large and often overbearing personalities with goals of being a top pro hero. But Tokoyami was a calming presence and he found you to be the same so you two got along great and a friendship blossomed.

As you sit in the classroom now, staring straight ahead at the whiteboard, you fondly remember your favorite times with Tokoyami. The first time he spoke to you in hero training, the first time he offered you to sit with him at lunch, the times you'd studied together at each other's houses, and of course, the time that you realized that your feelings for your classmate were more than strictly platonic.

You begin to reminisce on a certain memory with the boy that had you falling even deeper. You two were finished with your studying and you were looking around and admiring the décor of Tokoyami's room, noting how he prefers darkness.

"You know, I found it kind of funny when you wanted to be friends with me. You prefer dark conditions due to your quirk yet, with mine, I'm always using light." you noted while looking over some of the book spines on his shelves (classic literature, gothic mysteries, poetry).

"I wouldn't let that get in the way of a friendship. To be honest, I think you're quirk might've only worked to have me all the more interested in you." He was sitting in his desk chair and occasionally telling you stories behind some of the things he had in his room. Suddenly though, it felt like you were the decor being looked at, the story behind you being told. "I remember as everyone was getting to know each other in class and you made that illusion of a light show, it reminded me of all the nightlights I had when I was really young. My parents were cautious of dark shadow so I always had multiple in my room."

You note his words, looking around and observing the numerous small light sources littered around the space. "'had'?", you look over to him with a teasing smile.

He appreciates the jest and chuckles lightly before responding, "Ok, ok. Well, in my defense, I have a lot less now than I used to. I'm trying to feel out my limits with dark shadow and exercise working with him rather than letting him take over completely.", with his finishing statement the atmosphere grows slightly tense. This seems to be a bit of a sore subject for him.

It makes your heart ache to see him upset. "Tokoyami, I haven't known you long but I have seen you in action multiple times now and the way you work with dark shadow is so sinuous it almost seems choreographed.", you compliment.

You see a small smile creep onto his face before he elaborates, "You have seen me in the light. Dark shadow is stronger in deep shadow, much stronger, but also much more difficult for me to control. I want to increase my ability to remain calm while using that strength with precision, so that I can be an asset in the dark rather than a hazard.", he frowns, "It scares me to think of losing control. I want to be a hero but if I lose control...I could hurt someone."

He's looking off now with concern on his face. You really can't stand seeing him like this so you take his hand to gain his attention.

"Then I'm all the more impressed that you continue to follow the path of becoming a hero. What courage you must have to strive for such goals, determination, passion." You look him in the eyes and let your heart speak freely for just a split second, "You are an inspiration Tokoyami.", you quickly shut your heart up the moment after, "It's awesome to be friends with such a person.", you give the most platonic smile you can muster before pretending to receive a message from your parent about needing to leave and doing so.

Now, rather than taking notes, you doodle images of those gothic light fixtures across your notebook's page. You've got nearly half the page filled when Mandalay's message comes in.

The group of students in the room aren't too concerned. There were only two reported villains fighting against two classes of aspiring heroes and four pros. But when a group of students who were out for the activity join the class with Vlad King, they give more details and it's difficult to stay optimistic.

Looking out the windows, you struggle to even make out the shapes of the trees and worry about your friend who is out there somewhere in the night's darkness.

Time passes slowly as you try to distract yourself with small illusions in the palm of your hand. When the fuss breaks out in the classroom over whether or not to fight when Aizawa's permission is given, you stay back. You're antsy to find out how Fumikage is doing but you lean towards agreeing with Vlad King that Aizawa meant the message to apply only for self-defense. When Aizawa himself comes in to deal with the fake fiery villain it's only solidified and you must wait oh so impatiently. Worrying about your closest friend, somewhere out in the trees.

When the emergency vehicles begin to arrive after Vlad King's call, students are let out of the building as the area surrounding is found clear of villains and many go out to search for the students littered throughout the forest. Koda is a big help in this effort, communicating with the animals of the area and locating groups of students. He is a quiet boy, but an observant one. He tells you which direction Tokoyami is in hopes to calm your nerves, as soon as you get the information though, you run off to find him immediately and ignore the yelling of the officers telling you that the scene is unclear past the trees.

You run and dodge the obstacles in your path and run faster, you pass Midoriya quickly and find Tokoyami not far from him.

He is quite clearly in shock, standing still with his back to a tree and breathing shallowly. You approach him slowly and announce yourself so you don't scare him. When his sharp gaze makes contact with yours he seems to be broken from his overthinking trance and falls to his knees. You rush over and meet him in the dirt, placing your hands on his shoulders and assessing his body for any big injuries. There doesn't appear to be any so you look back to his face, he looks like a child who just woke up from a nightmare, like he lost everything.

"Tokoyami, breathe.", you realize you need to help him calm down, rubbing your hands up and down his upper arms, longing to hold him as close as possible to reassure yourself as well as him that he is ok.

You remember his words - "It scares me to think of losing control." -

"I did it...I let go. It was so dark and I let him take over." He's not looking you in the eye, shivering, though it's not cold out in the summer evening.

You remember his room, the lights. Using your quirk you recreate the candles and crystal balls, placing them all around the two of you and illuminating the space with a soft purple glow. You slowly surround yourself and him with the light as you continue gently rubbing his arms.

"You're ok though. You're here and you're ok. I'm here with you." Maybe your words served to console yourself slightly more than they worked to console him but you did grab his attention, his eyes lifting to meet yours. "Breathe. You're ok."

He caves into your steady form, hugging you tightly, his arms under yours and head tucked into your chest. His breathing seems more intentional at this point, relieving you. You move your hands from his shoulders to stroke at the feathers on the top of his head.

"I just- it was so fast and Shoji- He- and I couldn't-" He starts rambling, constantly stumbling over his words. You knew he didn't talk much, he preferred only to speak when it was necessary or directly useful for conversation.

"Tell me about it.", you rub up and down his back with one hand.

He takes a few deep, shaky breaths to steady himself before he pours out the story of him losing control to dark shadow. How he was trapped, enveloped in the darkness and at it's mercy as he watched it chase down Shoji and then Midoriya with lethal intent. How he figured out their plan to lure dark shadow over to others who could help and how he prayed to the gods it would work and no one would get hurt in the process. How bright and hot the flashes were next to him as Bakugo and Todoroki blasted their quirks on either side of his body to stop dark shadow. How he was shaking, walking with the others on the way to the summer camp's building before he got captured with Bakugo by a masked villain. The feeling of being trapped in the tiny marble of the villain's quirk. He was almost kidnapped himself along with Bakugo.

He's been talking for some time now, crying into your shirt and holding onto you tightly. He looks up at you then. You're also crying but there's a shakey smile on your lips. The furrow between his brows deepens as he looks at you.

You bring your hands to the sides of his head. "And you're ok?" You look over him again looking for any obvious wounds. "You're ok." You pull him back into a hug with his head on your shoulder and you cry, embracing him as tightly as you can manage. "I was so worried."

You realized as he was talking just how deeply you were in love with him, how much care you had in your aching heart for his safety. It surprised you how well you had been avoiding your feelings, concealing the full extent from even yourself and now you were a wreck. He could have been hurt, he could have hurt others and been unable to deal with the guilt of it, he could have been kidnapped. You held onto him now as if you were attempting to keep him safe from the dangers that were really gone for the time being.

With your arms around him he feels safe. With the lights around the both of you he feels at home. Hearing your heart beat slows his own down to a more healthy pace and he realizes too how much you mean to him. You've always been there for him, you've listened to his concerns, helped him in hero training and regular studying. You had become a part of what home meant to him and you grounded him. These feelings over came him and he reached up to pull your hands from his body to hold them in his own. Pulling away from you just far enough to look you in the eye.

You sat there with him on the forest floor, bodies pressed close and hearts beating loud. He looks you in the eyes for a second before bowing his head to rest his forehead against yours. You close your eyes to soak in the moment while you can.

"Thank you.", he says.

You separate from him by an inch to look questioningly into his eyes.

"You- You being here, the lights. Thank you Y/n. You mean so much to me and this,", he looks around "this is perfect. Thank you." He smiles and huffs out a small laugh, you really made things perfect in your little bubble of light in the woods even after all that's happened, he's calm now with you here.

You're speechless at this. He misses being as close to you as possible and surges forward with a bit too much force, capturing you in his arms before you both hit the soft dirt. You both share a little laugh at this that almost sounds like a sigh of relief and he nuzzles his head into your shoulder.

"You won't have to worry in the future. I want to be with you all the time Y/n, we'll stay close and when the next attack comes we'll fighting side by side."

He says it like no big deal but you hug him back that much tighter. "Close?" You don't want to get your hopes up.

"Close" He turns his head to nudge your cheek and you smile because he's safe and in your arms. Because he's with you and you're with him.

[addictofsupernatural]

Spidey Senses (pt. 3)

Peter Parker x reader

Summary: You and Peter suit up and fight.

Word Count: 2730

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 4

You woke up in Peter's warm arms, feeling his chest rising and falling peacefully. You slowly got out of his warmth and out into the cold room, where you took a quick shower. While in the shower, Peter woke up and figured it would be nice to get out a pair of clothes for you, laying it out on the bed before going back to sleep for a bit. You grabbed the clothes with a smile and changed in the bathroom. While you were doing that, there was a knock at the door.

Peter got up and opened the door, with low waisted sweat pants and no shirt. Happy furrowed his brows. "What are you doing in y/n's room? Where is she?"

"I think she's changing now in the bathroom. Did something happen?"

"Were you in here with her all night?" Happy was enraged at the misunderstanding situation he was watching.

"Um, yeah?" Peter leaned on the door, which pissed Happy off even more. Was he just eating this up?!

"What the hell is wrong with you? She's only 15, and you're seriously going to toy with her feelings just to sleep with her? Have some respect for her, and yourself!"

As Happy yelled at Peter, Peter was backing up out of shock, causing Happy to walk in. "No no no no no! It isn't like that!"

You got out of the bathroom, having heard Happy's voice and just finished changing. "What'd I miss?"

"Happy thinks we had, like, sex or something!" Peter looked at you in a panic.

"Woah!" You walked in between Happy and Peter. "It's really not what it looks like. I get nightmares so Peter slept in the same room with me. That's it."

"Oh." He shifted his feet awkwardly. "My, my bad. Sorry."

You smiled. "Thank you for defending my honor though. That's really sweet of you." He smiled and nodded back. "So did you want to tell us something?"

"Oh, right." He walked to a different door and opened it, revealing another room.

"Woah, was that a part of our rooms too?!" Peter asked.

"Oh my God that's so cool." You whisper yelled.

Happy geastured to the two suitcases, and Peter got out his phone to record. "Is, is this for for us?" He excitedly asked.

"Who else would it be for?" Happy said.

"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Peter quickly said, almost out of breath. Happy then walked away. "Wait, Happy!"

You then bounced up and down. "This is awesome!" You both put on your outfits facing away from each other. "Okay, ready?"

"Yeah."

"1, 2, 3!" You both turned around to see each other in your super suits. "You look amazing!"

"So do you!" You both hugged each other, and Peter spun you around. You had one mask to cover your eyes and another one to cover your mouth and nose.

"What are you two doing?" Happy came in again.

"We put them on?" You said, confused.

"No, you don't put them on yet. We're taking a plane and then you two put them on. I just wanted you guys to grabs the suitcases."

You both put on your normal clothing over the suits, Peter recording the two of you messing around. You went on the private plane and messed around some more, with Peter waking up to a sleeping Happy as a prank. That's when you got to the empty airport and waited for your signal.

You glaced at Peter, only to see him taking out his camera and still filming. "Are you recording this too?!"

"I need to get everything." He then pointed the camera to you. "Alright, let's see that face."

"This face isn't gonna be front and center in your videos Peter. You know I hate seeing myself on camera." You turned away from him.

He felt a little bad for reminding you of your insecurities, but decided that teasing you would make you feel better. "C'mon, just a little." He reach over and pulled down your mouth mask. "Let's just get the smile and..." He pulled over your eye mask as well. "Aww, see? You look nice."

He pinched your cheek and you giggled, swatting his hand away. "Okay, you got me. I guess I'm in your video diary."

"Don't worry folks, we got her smile." He teased some more. You put back on your masks and hugged him from the side as he talked to the camera one on one.

"Underoos!"

The signal was then shouted, and you both swooped in, you shooting a web at Steve's arm while Peter grabbed his shield. "Hey everyone." Peter said.

"Did we miss something?" You teased.

A big fight erupted quickly, and you were defending everyone whenever you could. You and Peter were with the Falcon for a bit. "So what's your suit made out of? Carbon fiber?"

You hung upside down and stared at the fallen Falcon. "That would explain the flexibility ratio."

"So Tony just hired teenager hims now?" Sam asked sarcastically.

"Does our intelligence threaten you?" You asked seriously before giggling and coming back to the ground. "I'm totally kidding man. I love your wings and I'm a pretty big fan."

Then there was that amazing moment for you when Clint was coming at the Black Panther, who was trying to get to the Ant Man. As he was running you ran over to him, sliding on your knees as you stuck out your arms. "Need a lift?" You asked.

You then boosted him up where he hopped right above Clint and punching Ant Man. "Thank you young one."

"Course sir!"

Soon the Ant Man was suddenly huge, and you followed in Peter's lead of wrapping him in webbing. You then heard Peter ask, "Hey, have you guys seen that really old movie Empire Strikes Back?"

You bursted into a fit of giggles over the question, and you heard, "Jesus Tony, how old are these kids?"

"Just hear Peter out sir." You suggested.

He was panting from working hard at this point, as were you. "You guys remember... on the snow planet... with the walking thingies!"

"I think the kid might be onto something." Tony said. Sure enough, it worked.

"Yes~!" You cheered.

"That was awesome–!" You and Peter both got cut off from the slap of the Ant Man's hand. You both slammed into the ground, where Tony told you guys that you did a great job, and that you were done.

You both took off your masks. "So," you said breathlessly. "We just fought with the Avengers."

"I stole Captain America's shield." You both giggled.

When you both got up and retrieved Peter's camera, you saw that Happy was waiting in his car outside. You both got in and sighed at the comfort of sitting on cushions. "Rough fight?" He asked.

"The guy with the metal arm was pretty cool." You said. "And I like Falcon's suit."

"I like how Mr. Stark vouched for us with the War Machine." Peter said.

"You two look like crap." You gave Happy a smile at the comment. "You're going to be in the hotel for the rest of the day, and Tony's gonna come with you tonight to drop you two off."

Once you two were in your hotel room, Peter rambled on to his camera, and you put in some information occasionally. Once Happy came and told him to shut up, he turned off the camera and faced you.

"So I have, like, a huge favor to ask." You sat on your bed and patted him to sit as well, which he did. "I need help with talking to Liz."

"W–um, okay." You said slowly. It's fine. You were his friend, and you had to help him out. Even if it hurt. "It's easy, just talk to me and pretend I'm her."

"Okay." He said quietly.

"Hey Peter." You said and smiled.

"H...Hey Liz."

"How was your day?"

"It was, um, it was good. How's your day? Did you–Did you have a good time, or... not that you were going anywhere but if your day in general was a good time. Y'know, sometimes you could just be at school and have a good time or—"

"Peter stop." You said, giving him a wide grin as you covered his mouth with your hand. "You need to take a deep breath and calm down."

"I know, it's just really hard when I'm talking to her." He sighed in defeat. "I'm just gonna keep looking stupid in front of her. What's the point."

"Don't say that." you said quietly. You leaned into the headboard, and opened your arms. He laid down into your side, fitting perfectly. You began stroking his soft hair. "You don't look stupid, and you never have. You just need to be confident with yourself and talk to her as if you were talking to any other girl. You're amazing Peter, of course she'll like you back."

He tightened his grip around you. "Thanks y/n. You're amazing too."

You both dozed off, but unlike the peaceful Peter in your arms, you fell asleep upset with the doubts about yourself kicking in. Your dreams went back to the thought of your mom and her friends. The drugs. You couldn't stop them from putting a needle in you. You thrashed around but they pinned you down. You yelled out for someone to help you, but they covered your mouth. Nobody's going to help you.

"Y/n wake up!"

You jolted up from your bed, where Peter was shaking you awake. You had tears in your eyes. "I... They held me down... I couldn't move..."

"It's okay. It's just you and me. Nobody else." He brought you into his arms as you hugged him tightly, quietly sobbing.

Happy then came into the room. "What happened?"

"It's nothing, she just had a nightmare." You hid your face in Peter's shirt, not wanting Happy to see you like this. "She doesn't like people seeing her cry."

"Oh, uh, sorry." He then left the room.

After a bit you stopped crying, Peter being patient with you the whole time. "Are you okay now?"

"I guess." You sat up and turned away from him, putting your face in your hands. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"It's okay, sometimes you just need to let out a good cry." He scooted closer to you. "Can I see your face please?"

"Why?" Your voice came out as a whisper.

"Cause you're hiding it from me." He gently moved your hands. "Look, I found my best friend."

You smiled and went on your knees to wrap him in a hug. "Thank you Peter. You always make me happy."

At that moment, Peter noticed how good you smell. He's always been around your familiar scent, but it was never this good before. And you hair, was it always so soft and shiny? You felt so soft and warm right now. He didn't know how to describe it, but you just felt so overwhelmingly nice in his arms.

It was cut short by Happy knocking as Tony barged in. "Alright, time to go." You both sperated and quickly got your stuff. As you were leaving Tony blankly told you, "Your face is puffy. Why?"

"Your ego is huge. Why?"

"Fair enough." You and Peter packed up the car when when Happy whispered to you, making sure you were okay. "Y/n, you and me are in the back. Kid you go in the front."

"Um, Mr. Stark sir." Peter fiddled with the bottom of his shirt.

"Look at me in the eye when you're talking to me." Peter's head quickly shot up. "Okay, what?"

"Please don't pressure her with questions. She's been through some stuff and I don't think it's fair if–"

"Peter, it's okay." You said. "He's still gonna overstep. I don't mind."

"Okay." You both smiled at each other as you went into the car.

"Happy put up the divider." Once it was up, he turned to you. "So you two had a moment."

"It's not a moment, I just had a nightmare. And by the way, what did you say to him yesterday?"

"I was just helping him compare you to that other girl." He said casually.

"You what? Wha–why would you do that? She's like, actual perfection!"

"And what do you think you are?"

"Nowhere near her." You sighed and looked out the window. "Well that explains him asking for help on talking to her."

"Oh wow, what an idiot. That's not at all what I was going for." He put his hand under his chin.

"I know but he gets like that with her. He really likes her Tony. Thanks for trying to help, but me and him are hopeless."

"I call bullshit on that. You two are adorable, and I can tell you'll end up together."

"Thanks." You smiled.

He knocked on the dividers, and you and Peter switched places, only with the dividers down. Peter talked to his camera some more, and Tony caught him, making a joke about it before talking into the camera as well. He then told the two of you that you were keeping the suits.

"One question I do have is for the other kid."

"Is he talking about me?" You mumbled to Happy.

"I think he is." He mumbled back.

"Did he just call me the 'other kid'? That's so rude." You then turned to Tony, smiling at Happy's quiet, high pitched chuckle. "What's up?"

"Why do you call me Tony instead of Mr. Stark like Peter? You called everyone else sir."

"That's not true. I call my new best friend Happy by his name."

Happy looked at you and awkwardly shook his head. "She doesn't mean that Tony."

"Yes I do. I'm stealing your friends. Now I just need to meet James Rhodes and Pepper Potts."

Peter let out a chuckle, and Tony laughed as well. "Watch it kid. And that didn't answer my question."

You shrugged. "I don't know, just sounds right. I guess I can try." You made your voice sound more mature when you asked, "Will that be all Mr. Stark?"

"Okay now you sound like Pepper, which is really creepy for me."

You giggled. "Tony it is."

"Oh, and before I forget." He took out a check and stuck his hand out for you to take it. "Here you go."

You only stared at it. "What's that for?"

He lightly scoffed. "You don't really think I'm not gonna help you out when you're living in a dump like that."

You frowned, and the car came to a stop at your apartment complex. "That dump is what I call home Tony." You said quietly. "I'm proud of it."

"No offense kid, but you really shouldn't be proud of that." Peter said nothing, but his body language changed.

"Well I, the 15 year old, got an apartment by herself. I got a job to pay for my living, and I cook and clean for myself. I even started buying cable recently. So yeah, I'd say I'm proud of what I managed to do. Some people aren't as lucky as me. I'm not a charity case, so don't treat me like one."

He hesitated. "I didn't mean–"

"Goodbye Mr. Stark." You then got out of the car, and they heard a glimpse of you saying "Linda!"

"I'll take the check Mr. Stark." Peter said. "I'll make sure she takes it tomorrow. She just gets angry and embarrassed when people look down on her. It's happened to her a lot, but she'll realize that you did it out of kindness."

Tony stared out the window. "Who's that?"

Peter saw that you were talking to a homeless girl, and buying a newspaper from her. "That's Linda. Y/n became friends with her not too long after she moved into the apartment. They talk, sometimes she cooks for Linda and let's her shower, and Linda sometimes leaves some money on y/n's counter. Maybe like a dollar or two. Y/n doesn't say anything about it so she doesn't embarrass Linda."

Meanwhile, you were talking to your friend outside. "Okay, I'll get us something to eat. I don't really have anything made so cereal it is."

"Lucky charms." She called out as you ran up the stairs.

"Got it!"

While you were preoccupied, Peter and Tony got out of the car. "Hey Linda." Peter said.

"Hey Peter! I'm sure your internship trip was fun with y/n."

Peter chuckled. "Yeah it was awesome."

"Kid go get her bags." Peter didn't say anything is he went to the trunk to get your suitcases. "Hi. Tony."

"You're..."

"Yup. Do you have a bank account?"

"Well, no."

"Then here." He took off his watch and handed it to her. "This is all I really have on me at the moment."

"Holy shit. Um, thank you sir!"

"Don't mention it." Just as you came down the steps with two bowls in hand, Tony nodded to you and went into the car.

"I'll bring these up to your apartment for you." Peter said.

"You have a lot to tell me you little shit." Linda said, grinning wide. "You didn't mention Tony Stark being a part of your internship tour."

"Ugh, I guess I could tell you a little bit." You teased.

"I just want to hear about him. Holy crap he's hotter in person."

"Do you ever not cuss Linda? Like, shit bro."

"What are you gonna do, tell my parents? And what about you? You just cussed."

"What are you gonna do, tell my parents?" You chuckled.

She scoffed and looked down at her bowl. "That was a pretty good come back."

"Okay, your stuff is in your living room." Peter said as he came out. You both hugged. "Good night."

"Night." He then left you to your nosy and thirsty friend.

---

Author's Note: Sorry this took long to do. I'll be quicker from now on.

---

Tag List:

@flawlessapollo6 @them-cute-boys @lunawndrlnd @the-greatt-perhaps @babebenhardy @sofisofi1602 @smilexcaptainx

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x13 - Mr. Jones

EPISODE SUMMARY:

SEASON FINALE — Having realized that a deadly threat has infiltrated CrashCon, the busiest event of the year, Liz (Jeanine Mason) realizes that she can’t save everyone she loves — and with Max (Nathan Dean) facing immediate danger, she and Isobel must make a heart-wrenching choice. Meanwhile, Michael (Michael Vlamis) finds himself caught up in the conflict between Jesse (Trevor St. John) and Alex (Tyler Blackburn) once again, even as Maria’s (Heather Hemmens) life hangs in the balance elsewhere, and Kyle (Michael Trevino) faces a moral dilemma when the enemy requires medical attention. Jeffrey Hunt directed the episode written by Christopher Hollier & Carina Adly MacKenzie (#213). Original airdate 6/15/2020.

DETAILS:

The episode opens with Isobel trying to hold back the fire. They don't actually show Rosa convincing Liz to go stop the explosion. But she runs up to Isobel and explains her science:

"I have to activate the ingredients first, but once I introduce my solution to the system it should kill the cellular matrix."

Liz literally squirts the console with her "solution".

Rosa is doing CPR on Max and praying. Max wakes up just as Kyle runs up.  Immediately Max directs Kyle to Flint instead of himself. It's interesting. When Max previously killed with his hand, in 1x06, he instantly knew that he killed the drifter. This time he wasn't sure (and he didn't. We eventually learn). Rosa and Kyle take Flint to the hospital.

Meanwhile Helena is saving Charlie's life.  

"Jesse Manes was the only one supposed to get hurt."

Which is...not what happened.  Jesse, Flint, Max, Maria...even Liz got hurt.  She burned her hand on the console.

Maria is being rolled into the hospital. She got there really really fast. Cam is by her side.

Liz is still squirting her solution onto the console. It turns red.  Liz asks Isobel to get people away but Isobel refuses to leave Liz alone.

Jesse, Greg, Michael, and Alex are still mid-standoff.

"Gregory, listen. You and I have had our differences in the past, but you should stand with me now."

"You're not well, Dad."

Jesse hits Gregory with the atomizer and appears to knock him out. He tries to shoot Michael, but Alex tackles him.

"Guerin, get the atomizer! Get it away from my brother!"

"Alex, I can't."

Jesse gets the upper hand in the fistfight with Alex and steals Alex's gun. Turns to shoot Michael again.

Liz makes more solution and squirts more of it on the console.  This time it starts to crack. Isobel pulls Liz to safety and the console shrivels and dies.

The dying console just doesn't work as well in still form, so @maxortecho giffed it for me! Thank you!! 😘

Max runs up to them.

"You disabled it. You saved everyone."

"Is Flint dead? Did you kill him?"

He looks at Liz with some heavy heart eyes for her being the hero. She looks at him with fear.

Back to the Maneses and Michael. Jesse has a gun on Michael. Michael has the atomizer.

"Drop it, Guerin. Drop it!"

There's a gunshot. Jesse Manes falls and Michael has blood on his face.  Gregory shot Jesse from behind.

"I should have defended you from him a long time ago."

"There are no more Manes men left."

Jesse dies.

Indeterminant time jump.  Liz is late for work.

"Sorry, Javi.  I just...I haven't really been sleeping."

"You've said that every day since CrashCon. You still having nightmares? …Did you read the papers this morning."

"Oh, I've kind of been trying to avoid the papers."

"Did you hear about that veteran who died at the carnival? They're going to have a parade, build a statue. Did you know he was disabled?"

Customers at the counter are discussing CrashCon:

"The CrashCon discourse is saying aliens invaded and killed the guy."

"That should be good for tourism."

"Newspaper said it was smoke inhalation though."

"He was making sure all the kids got out safely and the smoke overwhelmed him."

"We need more people like him."

Soooo much to unpack here.  And most of it is addressed by Helena and Rosa's exchange at the end of the episode. But the big question to me is… who is spreading the rumors and covering this up? Is it Flint? Is he even well enough to take the lead on that? Is it someone else with Project Shepherd that we haven't met? The mayor? I mean, Jesse was shot! There was a lot of blood! Plus, remember what happened in 1x11 and 1x12: it's a small town. People notice gunshots. 

Liz goes to take a table's order and, surprise! It's Diego. Who had gone back to Denver after CrashCon. He brought Dr. Margot Meyerson to Roswell to meet Liz.

Michael is visiting Maria at the hospital:

"What are you doing?"

"Oh they cut your bracelet off during surgery. How are you? You look better."

"Liz has been dropping by every day to inject me with witch serum."

"Ooh the synthetic nucleotide excision repair genomogenate? We're lucky you're only part alien, otherwise there wouldn't have been enough left of you for her to save."

"Listen, do you think you could use your telekinesis to open this box? Mimi left it when she visited. It's a family heirloom, but she forgot the key."

"Mimi hasn't exactly been leading you in the right direction lately. Her psychic visions led you toward a bomb instead of away from it. Seeing you like that -- all sick and pale and quiet -- I started praying."

Max and Isobel are at Max's house. Isobel is studying the photos of the console and alien symbols.

"I wish I understood why Louise and Nora would spend a year building an alien weapon of mass destruction."

"I don't think it was a bomb. I think it's a communication device. It's like a remote, you know, it just happens to be combustible."

"Are you mad at me, Max? Did I do something wrong? Is it that we're not related, or are you upset about the abortion? Because I…"

"Whoa, hey, God no."

"Because you're not talking to me."

"You're not the only one.  I didn't want everyone to worry, you know, 'cause I've been taking some of Liz's antidote. And things are coming back to me. Little flashes, sort of, mostly. Like vague memories."

"Michael said that you kind of zoned out when you touched that alien bomb...remote thing. Did it trigger a memory?"

"When I touched the console, I heard whispers that I could almost understand. All right, it's like the same with those symbols. I mean it's like their meaning is just beyond reach. Except for one word. I took this from Graham Green's display at CrashCon. See that? It's an aerial photo of some crop circles from Roswell in 1948. This farm belonged to a guy called Jones. Pretty sure it says savior... This is my name. Maybe that means you and Michael's parents weren't the only ones that survived the crash. Right, maybe I had a family too. You know, maybe my mom was just across town."

"Max. I really wish that you could just focus on the present. You know, I mean, as a recently deceased man, I really feel like you should be enjoying the simple pleasures in life, you know, like reading nerdy books, the smell of leather, and that feeling when you wake up before your alarm and the person you love is still asleep and they're kind of snoring a little bit. It's like the best thing that ever happened to you. Stuff like that."

"I want all those things too.  But I feel like if I only know half of myself, I'm only half living. And I know you understand that, Iz, because I've watched you this year become your entire self. And it is so beautiful. Okay, I am not at all mad at you. Are you kidding me? I am so proud of you. I am so proud that you're my sister."

Michael and Alex in the shed. For all that the shed is such a key location in this show's canon this is the first time we've seen it since 1x06.

"Maria made me bring food over.  I gave it to Gregory.  Seems to be holding up okay."

"Everything my family touches turns to crap. My dad used to talk about how my Grandpa Harlan built this she'd with his bare hands when he was, like, seventy.  For a long time it was my safest space. And the one night my dad destroyed it."

"You're right. This place sucks."

Michael and Alex start destroying the shed. In the next scene Michael breaks a floorboard revealing a skeleton. The skeleton is wearing dog tags, so Alex grabs them. In his shirt pocket Michael spots and grabs the key to Maria's box.  The tags say Eugene Manes III.  So this is Tripp's body. Which confirms for Alex that his grandfather killed Tripp.

Max and Liz are walking in the plaza.

"I don't understand the violence, Max. Flint could have had brain damage given how long he wasn't breathing. You risked your life to hurt him and he had already thrown the weapon away, Max, so why? I can't get that image out of my head.  You trying to kill Alex's brother."

"I know. I snapped. Last year Noah told me that we were energized by killing and not by healing. Even then I knew he was right.  I… Obviously I can usually fight that, but I guess this time my better angels just didn't show up."

"We have to stop keeping secrets from each other, Max. There's a scientist in town.  She's a supervisor at Genoryx.  She has a job for me in California. She's offered to sponsor my dad's citizenship. And it could put me in a position to help Rosa too. I mean, I'd be able to do a lot of good with the grant money they're offering, and I know that all sounds too good to be true, but…"

"It sounds like someone finally realizes how valuable your mind is."

"I think that a change of scenery will be so good for us. I mean, we could get a place by the beach and you could write."

"You want me to come with you?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, I mean, I just told you I have this killer instinct, and you want me to come to California with you."

"We'll figure it out. Okay? We'll figure all of it out together. Run away with me, Max Evans?"

"Anywhere."

Max goes to see Cam at work. She picks on him for getting arrested and has his mugshot as her desktop background because friends!

Max asks about Charlie.

"Yeah she texted me from a burner phone that she was all right and then she vanished again."

Max tells her that he has a doctor's appointment and then asks her to do some undercover work for him.

Michael visiting Maria at the hospital.

"So Alex thinks Harlan found out that Tripp was an alien sympathizer all that time and he offed him."

"So Mimi must have known that you would find it. That's why she left the box. Look, I know you don't trust my mom's visions, but I was the only one who could grab that atomizer and run with it. If it had been you, you'd be dead."

Maria takes off the bracelet.

"What are you doing? Maria, that prevents brain damage."

"I'm only part alien, but it is a part of me. Even if it's dangerous I can't just turn off a piece of myself."

"So I'm supposed to sit around helpless as you fade away? Maria, I cannot watch you disappear. I love you."

"I love you too."

"So can we just let this go?"

"You have it wrong. Mimi hasn't disappeared. Yes she can be inconvenient, she can make people uncomfortable, but maybe she's supposed to be an uncomfortable inconvenience that saves lives. And now I need to be inconvenient, and I don't want to be someone that hurts you. I think that we should find out what's next, apart from each other."

"Wait, so you think that if we break up, I'm gonna be able to stop caring about you?"

"I learned so much, being with you. You sacrificed yourself without hesitation when Alex needed you."

"I would have done the same for you."

"I know. I don't doubt your capacity for love, 'cause you made me so happy this year. And I loved being someone that made you happy. I just think that we should leave it be, before I wonder if someone else could make you happier. Open the box, Guerin. Let's see what comes next.

Skip forward to the Crashdown where Michael has the box in a booth with Alex and Isobel. He opens the box and pulled out a journal, which they in turn read aloud.

I did a separate post on the journal's content and the Tripp and Nora flashbacks here:

Kyle visits Steph in the hospital

"What do you think will happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I die, idiot."

"You know, Socrates thought that death was a blessing, because only one of two things could happen. Either consciousness ceases, and it's like falling into a dreamless sleep. Or you go to where all who have died before you have gone. Your loved ones, people you admire. If you lived a good and just life, you will be surrounded by goodness and justice, in a place without fear. Sorry.  I thought a lot about this when my dad passed, so I…"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I'm putting you through this again."

"No...I want to be here."

Liz interrupts them. She clearly wasn't expecting Kyle to be there and comments on Max's appointment.  Kyle gets up to leave.

Diego and Margot are talking in the Wild Pony:

"I was very impressed with her work when we first pursued her, but when I met her today, not so much."

"Why? 'Cause she had a little ketchup on her uniform?"

Undercover!Jenna staggers up to them and spills her drink on them, tells Margot that she's beautiful, and plants a listening device.

"Anyway I think we should move on."

"Okay, wait a sec.  Liz has been working on something recently, but she signed this NDA. Although I guess she can't be blamed if we took a peek, you know? Without permission."

The line that will haunt me for the next year. Kyle to Max while showing him what appears to be chest X-rays.

"You know what I'm saying here, right Max?"

Cameron calls:

"You were right. It is too good to be true. Diego just told some woman he can get her access to Liz's lab. He must have followed her there."

"Well, there's a security system."

"The way he's talking, it sounded like Diego's pretty certain he can get access. They just left here, Evans.  You need to tell Liz to get anything incriminating out of there - now."

Max arrives at the lab and immediately sees that the security system was manufactured by Genoryx. He uses his powers to break the system and get into the lab. He quickly searches through all of Liz's records and then pours what appears to be gas or lighter fluid or some other flammable substance all over the place and then uses his powers to set a fire.

He listens to the notes on Liz's recorder, which by the way has 22 minutes of recording on it. Some of what we hear:

This is my record of the dissection of specimen NB.

... immunoglobulin harvested from alien DNA can be transferred to a human recipient.

Commence dissection of the dorsal side of the spinal nerve.

I hypothesize that the female specimen's plasma…

Bracken's seminal cells indicate a pH level double that of a human counterpart.

I'm now extracting the grey matter to measure alien voxel signals.

Note that Max doesn't seem to have any chest pain this time when he uses his powers.

Right as Diego and Margot show up the lab explodes.

Max comes home to find Michael and Isobel waiting for him.  He's clearly exhausted and upset after the lab.

"Can whatever this is wait until tomorrow?"

"Jones? That's the guy who grew the crop circles in the shape of my name."

"Nope. We spent the day reading Tripp Manes' journal. Caffeinate, Max... Okay, so, when I asked Sanders about this photo of Nora, he said he didn't know whose hand this was. He was all, Mr. Bernhardt, Mr. Jones, Old Man Gibbons. Could've been anybody."

"Ten points to Hufflepuff."

"So in October '48, Nora decided not to finish building the ship with Louise. She decided to go to the reservation with Tripp."

"But then little Walt convinced her to go to the fall festival, where after successfully avoiding him for a year, she finally ran into the alien stowaway who had crashed the ship. He'd been masquerading as a farmer."

"Mr. Jones."

"Tripp saw Jones approach Nora, and he recognized him from the night of the crash, but he didn't have a chance to ask Nora about it before Harlan called for a raid on the farm."

"Yeah. And after the massacre, Jones was never heard from again. Crop circles were all that was left."

"If you were in hiding, why would you grow corn in the shape of an alien symbol?"

"Maybe they just grew that way.  It's the same way that this symbol just shows up everywhere, you know?"

Michael reveals his tattoo and it's the first time Max has seen it.

"Wait, when did..?"

"Oh, I got it when we weren't sure if you were coming back. It didn't feel like it was ever gonna be the same again."

"All right. There. Now can we all cowboy up and focus, please? Let's feel our feelings after we've solved the mystery of the unknown alien. After the raid on the farm, Nora was held by Project Shepherd."

Note...not actually accurate. Michael didn't get the tattoo until Max was out of surgery.

See Journal and Flashbacks post for the flashback.

Jenna and Charlie reunite. Relevant quote to remember:

Liz and Rosa find the destroyed lab.  Liz sees the fractal burn that indicates that Max is the one that destroyed it.

"I fought so hard to become who I am, and I just trade her in every time I get scared? No. I don't want to be on the run anymore."

Back to Max's house:

"Whatever happened to that thing that she and Louise were building out in the desert? I mean, did she ever tell him where it was or what it was?"

"Nope. And when Tripp asked Louise about it, she was silent."

Liz walks in and interrupts.

"Why'd you do it, Max?"

They go into the bedroom to fight.

"I'd been asking you for weeks to clear out that lab, okay? I knew it wasn't safe."

"Alex installed a military-grade security system."

"A system designed by Genoryx, okay? Diego could have hacked it. He could already know everything."

"And his nefarious plan is to what? Set us up with a condo in L.A.? Give my family a second chance?"

"Okay, I have a family to protect too."

"Yes, and you could have stopped Diego without destroying a year of my work!"

"I had to act fast."

"So your first instinct was to go with the one method that would break my heart?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about your heart when I'm staring at jars with Noah's liver and his brain. I mean, what else did you harvest from us, Liz?"

"Those are just cells. I wasn't hurting anyone. I don't know what you thought love was gonna be like when we were 17, but it isn't just sunsets and horseback rides."

"You can't put this all on me. Okay you were sneaking around behind my back…"

"I apologized. I stopped. Max, you died this year. I was all alone because of a choice that you made, but still every single thing I did was for you and about you and with you. So when you were back, when I could finally touch you. When I could finally breathe. I needed to take just one moment to remember where I end and where you begin. To just be whole in who I am. I am a scientist. I am fighting for something that is bigger than me. I am trying to leave this world a better place. And I am in love with you. And right now, I hate it."

Liz leaves and Max takes another dose of the antidote.

Time jump. No idea how long or what has happened in between.  Liz and Rosa on the Crashdown roof saying goodbyes.

"Dad is checking your oil and making sure you have enough chile...also you left this in our room. Mom's been texting."

"Trying to come up with a better response than, go duck yourself… You should come with me. The Ortecho sisters take California."

"I wish. But I can't. I'm going back to rehab tonight. I want to see the program through. Sorry."

"Don't be. It's the best possible thing you could have said."

"You know… Max should be your road trip buddy. You love him.  You're gonna forgive him.  Besides, we both know if you try to leave town without him again, he's just gonna show up with some big, grand romantic gesture to stop you."

Open mic night at the Pony.  Alex and Kyle have a drink together.

"So how does it feel to have your father's murder officially avenged?."

"Feels like my dad's still dead. Flint should be okay. He'll live to become the new Jesse Manes."

"No he won't. I'm not gonna let it happen."

"After everything you still believe in redemption?"

"Well, I have a pretty good example of it right in front of me."

Alex sings his song. Michael, Isobel, Greg, and Forrest are all there listening.

Flash to Kyle going to Steph's hospital room.  The bed is empty...because she's up doing her makeup, her hands steady.

"Your hands are better.  Did they give you morphine?"

"I woke up this morning feeling incredible. Look at my chart. My numbers are up. It's a miracle."

"Or just really good science."

Liz is preparing to leave, her suitcase beside her in the empty Crashdown as she stands at the juke box one last time. Kyle runs in.

"What you did was reckless. And dangerous. And unethical, Liz. Thank you." 

Back at the Wild Pony, Michael watches Forrest listening to Alex sing.  He turns to leave. Isobel tries to stop him.

"It's a sad story, me and Alex. I have to walk away so we can start a new one someday. It's not our time right now."

"But it will be."

"I think so."

Rosa walks up to a bar.  She hesitates before going in, her hands shaking.

Liz buckles into her car, ready to leave.  She looks in the rearview window and waits.  She's clearly expecting Max to come.  But he's at home studying his alien symbols. She gives in and pulls away, leaving Roswell. Her season ends with her looking out over the ocean.

Alex finishes his song and Greg and Forrest are still there and are proud of him.

"Well, damn. How do you feel?"

"Like I just sang a song about a guy in front of a bunch of cowboys, and...I don't care."

"Oh, lucky guy, with a song like that."

"Yeah it was a long time ago…can I?"

Alex and Forrest kiss.

Rosa walks into the bar. Helena is there.

"If you came to tell me what I did wrong, your sister already texted."

"Did you get what you wanted, Mom? Is your score finally settled?"

"No. I wanted everyone to see Jesse Manes humiliated and weak. I wanted him to die knowing shame. But the papers say it was a tragedy. People like him - bad white men - they die heroes, no matter what they've done. People like us - we die villains."

"Yeah I know. I've done it. But I also got a second chance. So I get to leave a different legacy. The last time that I saw you, I said that I hated you. That's not true. I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, mija."

"I also told you to leave and I was right about that. Liz was free and it should have stayed that way. Manes is gone. There is no revenge to be had. No closure and no redemption. Don't come back, mom. Don't bother Liz again. I really hope you get better. Maybe you can have a second chance too."

Another possible time jump. Michael and Isobel pull up to where Max is out in the desert.

"How'd you guys find me?"

"Freaky twin thing. What's going on?"

"I took more of the antidote. Sorry, I should have called you guys."

"Save it. We are sick of being pissed at you for being so obnoxiously yourself. Why you look so scared?"

Pod Squad is investigating a cave. There's a door or opening covered by alien text with the alien symbol on it. It sorta looks like there's something behind it.

"Um, well, when I touched the alien console at the fair, something happened. I heard whispers that I couldn't understand...until now. I think when I touched it I unlocked something... Like a cage? The whispers led me here. I know it sounds crazy, but would you guys help me find a tunnel?"

"It's sealed up."

"I feel like we should learn more before we just busy that door open."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

There's a knocking sound and a voice calls out.

"Help! Is someone there?"

"If Max unlocked something at CrashCon, whoever that is has been down here for days without…"

"I need water. Please."

"There has to be three."

Note that we now know which symbol represents each of them.

The door shatters and they all react (Isobel's face is priceless).  

We flash back to the mysterious stowaway/alien hoodie dude/Jones. Louise fighting him.  Now we can see that it's Max. Nora kneeling after the crash with the hand on her shoulder. It's Max's face. He attacks/burns the military men/Hector Valenti.

The stowaway/Jones looks exactly like Max. Only with a really bad beard. 

"Howdy partner."

MUSIC:

1. Hootie & The Blowfish "Time"

2. Tyler Rich "Leave Her Wild"

3. Clay Rigdon "That Kinda Kiss"

4. Marc Danziesen "See Yourself"

5. Gloria Hart and Art Kassel "Frankie And Johnny"

6. The Score "Legend"

7. Sarah May Byrom "Rhythm Of A Memory"

8. Tyler Blackburn "Would You Come Home"

9. The Well Pennies "The Echo And The Shadow"

10. Valerie Broussard "Dark Side"

[somewhat-happilyeverafter]

My Happily Ever After (Part 2 of Cursed Love)

Part Two just as requested!

Jane is kinda mean in this, but like I kinda don't like Carlos x Jane so hahaha. . .

I would love some more requests so please request something! (I have only 1 so please!)

Part 1

Warnings: Almost death, angst, blood

Summary: You get to read to find out!

A door was knocked on, once, twice, a third time. Nothing. Silence. The door was knocked on once more, but more rushed. There was a named called, and again. The door was barged open and a scream was emitted from the doorway.

~-~_~-~

There were tears as Harriet sat next to her first mate and closest friend. Her first mate was lying on a bed, fully unconscious. They were in Auradon, crazy right? Not really...

Harriet did all she could to keep (Y/n) alive even if the girl was unconscious. Luckily the day after (Y/n) went unconscious the barrier was opened. Harriet in fear of losing her friend, got help from anyone she could. She found Harry and begged him to help her. So he did.

Harry got help from Mal and Ben. They got Fairy Godmother and explained the situation. FG wasn't sure what to do, this curse was nothing like she's ever seen before.

The door to the room was open and Mal came walking in with FG right behind her, both in a hurry. "I'm sorry Ms. Hook, but we haven't found anything that could help. Right now we are only slowing the erm-- death now... I think it would be best to let her go."

Harriet was angry, "I'm not lettin' her die! She'z all aye got!!!" Mal sighed and thought for a second, "What if we get the person who she is in love with and talk to them about her," Mal snapped her fingers "That could work right?"

Harriet deflated against (Y/n) just holding her hand, "The person she is in love with has someone already. Besides that won't do anything! She has to fall out of love for the curse to leave her." Harriet ran a hand through her hair, "None of that matters anyways because her heart is broken... God I wish this didn't happen," Harriet wiped away her tears.

~-~_~-~

"Hey give that back!" A hand reached for their pirate hat, "Carlos!!!" Carlos laughed at the girl as she pouted and turned away from Carlos.

"Aw (Y/n). C'mon," a shoulder nudged the girls. The pirate turned to Carlos and laughed, he was wearing her pirate hat and was making funny faces. "Forgive me?"

"Always and forever." She rested her head on this shoulder and pulled the hat over his eyes.

~-~_~-~

When Carlos found out (Y/n) had fallen deeply ill he flipped out. He ran straight to her room as soon as Ben said where she was.

"Carlos wait!" Ben called, but it was too late Carlos was not going to lose his best friend and- nevermind that thought. It could never happen. He flew past people and even his friends, nothing would stop him to get to (Y/n).

"Carlos?" Was all he heard as he sped past his girlfriend. Yup nothing would stop him.

Well except the door in front of him and this newfound anxiety. What if (Y/n) wouldn't talk to him? What if she told him to leave? What if she said that she didn't want to see him ever again? What if... Carlos shook his head, no time for those types of thoughts.

The de Vil opened the door and saw her, she looked like an angel as she laid there, but when he took a closer look you could see the sweat on her face and the paleness of her skin. He then noticed she was asleep.

He walked closer and sat on the chair where he supposed Harriet was sitting before he got there.

Even if (Y/n) looked sick, there was still beauty in her. Carlos moved a piece of hair out of her face and sighed. "What happened to you, lass?" He hadn't used that nickname in forever. When (Y/n) first taught him different namecallings that pirates used he immediately used lass for (Y/n). It felt fitting for some reason.

The de Vil grabbed for her hand and sighed, nothing could be done to help her as he was told by Ben.

Suddenly Jane opened the door and looked at Carlos, "Why are you in here and why did you ignore me when I called your name?" She seemed upset.

"I'm sorry Jane, but (Y/n) needs me and she's not doing well! I can't lose her again." Carlos glanced at the priate then turned to look at his girlfriend.

"Lose her? Carlos I'm sure they can help her, why they would want to help a pirate I don't know why," Jane muttered before speaking a bit louder, "I swear Carlos these past few days have been you moping about this pirate girl! Have you heard what she's done to other people? I don't even know why you would even care about her! I mean her father is Davy Jones, isn't that a big enough of a warning sign to leave her?"

Carlos was shocked Jane even said that, but she did and he got angry. He stood up, letting go of her hand as he protected (Y/n) from Jane's verbal attacks, "What the hell Jane? (Y/n) is my friend! She knows practically everything about me and just because she is a pirate doesn't mean anything. (Y/n) can be kind and understanding, when on the Isle she would always be there after my mother would abuse me! So yeah she has hurt people, but that's how people live on the Isle! If you want to live you have to hurt, steal and lie."

Jane was shocked, he never yelled, but she wouldn't back down, "Carlos I am your girlfriend and you still go against me? I am there for you whenever you need me and this is how you treat me?"

"When have you actually been there for me? I try to talk to you about my nightmares and you brush them off as me being dramatic and when your friends talk bad about me you don't even stop them! Girlfriend? Not anymore, go find someone else Jane we are over."

"You cannot do that to me Carlos! You know what, fine, have fun with your dying girlfriend!" Jane then stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

Carlos fell back onto the chair as he ran a hand through his hair. He wanted everything to stop. He wanted to just stop this whole mess. He wanted to back to the time where he and (Y/n) would just make mischief on the Isle. He would do anything to go back to that time were some things were easier than others.

His eyes started to water and he let it all out, tears fell down his freckled cheeks and he just held the pirate's hand once again. Carlos couldn't handle the pain anymore, he missed when it was (Y/n) and him.

For a few minutes Carlos cried, his cheeks red and eyes puffy. (Y/n) seemed to hear him as she slowly woke up. She looked at Carlos and saw him there, broken and it hurt her. She remembered on the Isle when his mother would hurt him and (Y/n) would always help pick up his broken pieces, always fixing him even when he refused her help. This boy meant everything to her and it killed her body, but it was always worth it, to see his eyes light up and smile. To be able to hold his hand when he needed reassurance and hug him when he just wasn't feeling well. To wipe away his tears as he cracks a smile. Everything was so worth doing just for this boy and she would do it a billion times just to see him happy.

(Y/n) forgot about everything in that moment, but Carlos. She shot up from her laying position and grabbed him, hugging him even through the pain.

Carlos was a bit shocked, but he let the hug happen. He enjoyed the warm feeling that (Y/n) gave him including the butterflies in his stomach. They sat there for a while until the girl started coughing.

"Lass? Are you alright?" A coughing fit began and it just wouldn't stop. Carlos looked around and saw a glass of water on the table next to her, he grabbed it and held it in front of her mouth, "Drink this."

(Y/n) held onto his hand that was holding the cup, she took a few gulps of water and some deep breaths. She then looked up at Carlos, his face filled with worry. The pirate gave a small smile and said "I'm okay I guess."

She knew she was already dying so might as well tell him her feelings, right? "Uh Carlos. . . The reason I am sick is because I am in love with you so so much and after finding out about your girlfriend, I was heartbroken and I'm just in love with you beyond belief and I wish we could be together, but my stupid curse has ruined everythi--" (Y/n) was pulled into a kiss, her eyes wide in shock, but she kissed back a second later.

The kiss was slow and very sweet, the two put their hearts into the kiss, making sure every second counted. As the kiss went on they didn't notice the door opening, revealing some friends of the two.

What they also didn't notice is a blue and gold like fairy dust come from where (Y/n)'s heart would be and curl around her and Carlos.

"True love's kiss huh." Was said quietly from the door.

(Y/n) and Carlos pulled away and saw the blue and gold dust, the looked in awe. A voice then was heard and they looked to see a few people, but Fairy Godmother was speaking, "True love's kiss seemed to have broken your curse (Y/n). The curse stopped you from loving without hurting your body, but it seems by someone loving you unconditionally and you loving them back in the same way it was able to break the curse." (Y/n) looked at Carlos and smiled

"Looks like you're stuck with me," (Y/n) said with a laugh

"I wouldn't want my happily ever after any other way." Carlos pulled the girl in for another kiss, happy that he could be with the girl he truly loved.

[pangolin-404]

Delving into what chapter 2 of Bendy: Rewritten (or just the side scroller AU, as a couple people have called it- still working on a vaguely clever name hh) would be like, where there are choices and reactions! More canon divergence! Things set up and hinted at!

The background music changes. No shame to batim's music, I quite like it, but it can be better. Whenever Sammy's around (carrying the cutout, looking over the band room, giving his ritual spiel) a banjo is added to the bg track. The followers get string instruments, more added depending how many are in the room. The sacrifice room is mainly string instruments

Sammy is somewhat a lost one. He loses his buff rights and is a mix of his pre- and post-update designs. I say somewhat because, while he is skeletal, he drips a lot and doesn't really have feet.

Sammy actually has followers. It can be pieced together from notes and dialogue that he split from the Lost Harbor after a close run in with Bendy permanently mangled his body and converted him to worship. He brought a few other lost ones with him (like, only a dozen but a couple died on the way). They wear Bendy masks, too, yet he's the only one wearing pants (mostly to hold his legs together). He also wears gloves to hold his fingers together, and only takes them off for brief periods to play an instrument before having to put them back on. Bendy left him with a lot of lasting damage

They all look the same and they know it hh

He's a proper prophet figure now that people look up to him. If Henry can find them huddled around a statue in prayer or drawing a ritual circle, they will talk about how much hope he gives them and how kind he is, despite how strict or overly optimistic he can be at times.

The followers' opinion of Henry changes with his behavior. Suggest Sammy is nuts? Say Bendy is evil? Drink too much soup? Break cutouts? They don't like that. Ask to learn more, give them some fresh soup, maybe even draw Bendy for them if Henry comes across fresh paper, and they'll appreciate it.

The cutouts are decorated with soup and candles. Drink a couple cans and the followers won't notice, drink more and they'll be upset, drink them all and they'll get concerned. Ink rats will scuttle out of hiding and can be found licking the empty cans.

Oh yeah you think humans were the only thing the ink affected? No there are ink rats and they scuttle around. Sometimes they become an enemy if multiple melt/fuse together and it's just a Lump Of Rat

"Did you drink the soup?" "No, did you?" "We don't have mouths! We can't eat!" "Who drank all the soup then?" "I don't know, but now there are rats everywhere!"

The whole chapter 2 area is bigger, kind of. Lots more signs of being lived in, with offices turned into little bedrooms and such. The followers are shy, though, and lurk behind locked doors, so finding them is tricky. Signs of life are everywhere but finding the life itself is difficult. Finding ones that talk more than a sentence is even harder.

Sammy is unhinged. Well-meaning, but ultimately mentally...cracked. He claims to have visions he interprets, but it's ambiguous whether they're nightmares/dreams or if Bendy's messing with him. He genuinely believes that Bendy will set them free, and he wants the best for his sheep. He'd be amicable if he wasn't trying to sacrifice Henry.

Instead of pressing the switches to open that first door, Henry had to find a pipe valve. A new "mechanic" of sorts is draining flooded halls. Ink pours down from piped above in an unpassable wall, and one or two valve are needed to shut it off completely.

Remember those notes I mentioned earlier? Well, some found around the music department contain buckets of how the followers see Sammy and their situation in general. They range from "oh hey here's Sammy's favorite tune-" to "note: don't play the organ! D:"

It's possible to find old newspapers and comics. Some of the pictures have been carefully cut out and pasted on the walls in various memorials, ranging from Bendy letting them outside to Sammy being "blessed" by the Ink Demon.

Some of the more petty depictions paint Alice as a jerk. She's an angel, he's a demon, so they're opposites. Since Bendy's so great, she must be awful! Rumors of a cruel Alice in deeper levels are hinted at.

The band room is slightly different. The projector's bulb is burst and there's a sticky note on it saying something about how touching it when you're made of ink is a bad idea, and to fix the projector before Sammy notices. Henry has to find a lightbulb and fix it now before he can turn it on.

The fight after opening the sanctuary affects the followers' opinions. They begin to realize what Sammy has in store for Henry. Killing all the searchers make them either makes them wince or frustrated, depending on their view on him up til that point.

I feel like you could probably click/interact with the banister to look over and it shows a still image of the band room below, and it shows whether or not the projector is fixed/playing and also shows any Bendy cutouts that pop up. I tried to draw that but couldn't get the angle I wanted, so

Sammy's sanctuary is like...just a big ol Bendy shrine. It's also where he sleeps, writes songs to Bendy, and where his banjo is kept. He has a Bendy plush on his bed

The further the chapter goes on, the quieter the followers are to Henry. They're gathering candles and offerings of personal belongings. They might be bittersweet, neutral, or glad to be away from him, depending on Henry's actions.

Jack is important to Sammy. They worked closely together and so they somewhat remember each other. He acts as Sammy's personal treasurer and doesn't let go of anything given to him. The first encounter with Jack is relatively the same, with needing to grab a valve from him. However, instead of holding the valve, it's sitting on the box

Henry's notes in his sketchbook also change depending on his interactions with things. If he annoys the followers and develops a bad relationship with them, he'll treat them like blind fools. If he helps them or is generally nice, he'll sound more sympathetic towards their situation and wish them well.

One is in the infirmary, badly hurt, missing a leg, practically a searcher, and delusional after getting just grazed by Bendy's aura. They believe they've been blessed by his presence, despite falling apart more and more by the hour (Bendy and any ink creature do not go together-). Henry can kill them and put them out of their misery, if he so chooses. The others won't like that.

Whether Henry kills him or not, Jack remembers. Getting items from him in the future becomes harder if he's killed multiple times, until eventually he's downright scared (I'll delve into more detail on the mess that is chapter 3). Befriending him completely later in chapter 3, on the other hand, will make the task easier.

Killing Jack triggers a horror vision. Henry briefly becomes unable to move, visibly distressed and looking around until the vision ends.

Not necessarily the sewers you first encounter him in, but close enough. You know you've entered an area Jack's in if there's a random item on a box that's under a light in an otherwise dim ink-flooded room

He goes through 'stages.' First the valve is on a box. Henry tries to grab it, but Jack (moving through the ink) pushes the box away. The methods of dealing with him is a messy web of cause-and-effect, with chances to crush him, corner the box slowly and steal the valve, it rush at it and cause it to slide off, or snatch his hat and bargain. (It's possible to steal his hat, kill him, and then keep/wear his hat, but why would you do that? Jack would forever loathe Henry and later on Sammy may ask for it back)

Nothing will stop Sammy from knocking Henry out. No matter how kind or cruel Henry is to his followers, Sammy will smack him over the head with a dustpan. He can't run, but the man can be sneaky if he wants to be, lurking through shadows and phasing in and out of the ritual portals.

(Clarification: because it would be a side scroller and the player could see Sammy sneaking up on Henry, instead there's a ritual circle on the wall that he'll jump out of when Henry walks past it.)

The sacrifice room is more of a hallway. The followers are all watching from the sidelines, peering through knocked out walls and over makeshift fenceposts. Candles and other offerings are around Henry. Sammy gives his spiel as always, first starting with a quiet "that face..." whispered mostly to himself but then using his Big Loud Musician Prophet voice to put on a show about how grand the sacrifice will be and how happy Bendy will be. The followers get excited for it.

Messy rendition but you get the picture

Sammy enters the room off to the side and calls for the Ink Demon. Ink leaks from the vents, and his aura is making some of the followers unsteady/weak. They become more restless, and unstable, until the calling reaches its climax (Sammy also sounds out of breath and his voice becomes wet and labored) and Bendy arrives out of sight. Sammy is torn apart, as per usual, though it's a slower, more audible mauling, and drags on through Henry's escape.

Some followers flee into the ink, while one or two are liquidated just by Bendy's aura. Others panic and attack Henry when he breaks free, messed up by Bendy's aura and so they resemble searchers.

Whether or not Henry powers through the onslaught or axes the frenzied followers may alter the number of followers he encounters later on, and (combined with how he'd treated them) how they react to seeing him again. "Oh I kind of remember you" vs "I don't blame you for using the axe" vs "Did you slaughter your way down here, too?"

Like in the updated chapters in game, the you can see ink machine lowering past crates/wood boards

Bendy actually pries himself up out of the ink with effort. Like, hands planted on the ground, lurching up, ink sloughing off of him, generally more detailed for a 2D animation.

Boris time! The boy himself peeks out from behind a wall before stepping out of the shadows

Feel free to send an ask for clarification/more detail about anything- I'm happy to go on more tangents!

[snowstories]

could i possibly have some aro HP headcanons that aren't just about charlie weasley (since he seems to be the default aro character in the fandom and idk i don't find him that interesting)? i'm a big fan of aro mcgonagall, aro regulus and aro hermione...

Big fucking mood about Charlie Weasley my anon. I mean, dragon aro is cool and all, but like, I’d appreciate a headcanon for someone with more than like one line. 

I’m running on knowledge of ‘I haven’t read the books in forever’ so uh, sorry for any inaccuracies, but one aro Hermione coming up! 

///

It was three months after the war, three months since she and Ron had cemented their relationship, and it wasn’t working. Or it was, in a way, like a math question where you got the answer right but the method wrong; it worked, but not the way it was supposed to. 

For the most part, things were good. For now, they all slept in the burrow, the Weasleys, Harry, and her. She hadn’t managed to track her parents down to undo their amnesia yet, Harry had nowhere to go, and Fred’s loss was still too fresh for the Weasley’s to be comfortable apart. And, truth be told, she and Harry did not feel comfortable on their own yet, either. So for now, they stayed in the burrow. 

It was nice to have a stable roof above their heads again after months of camping, and especially nice to not be under constant threat of death. It was nice that they didn’t have to separate yet. It was nice that sleeping in the same bed as Ron was socially acceptable, because when she still woke up screaming, she needed someone to cling to, some reassurance that her friends weren’t dead. The physical contact was nice as well; the feeling of Ron’s arm around her shoulders or her hand in his or a stolen kiss was grounding when she couldn’t quite remember that this was real, or just whenever, really. Being able to stay as close to him as possible without anyone batting an eye was good, it really was. 

But at the same time, there was the aching hole of Harry at her side. He was there, she supposed, but he also wasn’t; he was with Ginny now, a pair, like she was with Ron. As much as touching and being with Ron was now acceptable, doing those same things with Harry was most definitely not. She understood that, she did, and it wasn’t all that different from before, but it was…

She had spent months relying on him, sleeping in the same tent, defying death with him more often than not, crying and despairing and hoping and above all relying on him, and to have that be over was strange enough, but now there was a wedge between them, and it was called ‘romance’. They had partners now, and priorities that weren’t each other, and for the first in a long, long time, she felt like she and Ron and Harry were no longer a trio, like it was no longer appropriate to spend as much time with both of them, but that she’d picked one and needed to stick with him.

But she could’ve shrugged this off, probably. After their first death defying stunt, she’d done a bit of research into trauma, and she recognized that her clinginess, her nightmares, her disassociation were trauma reactions. She knew she probably needed therapy - though where on Earth she was going to find a therapist, she didn’t know - and she was willing to consider that her upset at Harry’s newfound distance could be at least partially caused by this trauma. It probably was, in all honesty.

But there was also the true, honest fact that she did not love Ron the way he loved her. And that was the real problem, in the end. 

If she had not been in a relationship before, she might have written this off as a trauma reaction as well. Detachment from her emotions. She’d come around, she’d tell herself, if she didn’t know she’d be lying. 

Victor had been nice, and she had enjoyed his romantic attentions just as she now enjoyed Ron’s, only then her relationship had been tinted with a little less desperation and codependency. But in the end, she hadn’t felt those butterflies, hadn’t felt that extra spring in her heart that people always told her about. She’d liked Victor, certainly, but in the end, the relationship was casual to her in a way that it never was for Victor. 

With Ron it was a little more serious, but she’d known him for longer, and they’d been through much more together, so that was only to be expected. Yet still, her heart did not miss a beat, and their relationship felt slanted and sideways in a way that she knew her parents’ marriage never felt like. 

Hermione wasn’t stupid; she was the brightest witch of her generation, and she prided herself in her intellect and took comfort in knowledge. When she didn’t know what was wrong, she researched until she could identify the issue and then solve it. If she was anything, she was stubborn, and if she found a problem, she would not rest until she solved it. 

And the issue of why she did not fall in love when she really ought to was a problem. And so she researched, until she found… not a solution. But an explanation. 

“Oh,” she breathed, staring at the definition of aromanticism. Oh. That… that fit. That would explain a lot, actually. 

But even with the explanation, the problem remained. Worse, it was unsolvable. Orientations couldn’t be ‘fixed’, shouldn’t need to be fixed, and yet here she was, an aromantic in a romantic relationship, and surely, this couldn’t be right. This shouldn’t work. This needed fixing, because surely, this couldn’t work, right?

But it had been working, hadn’t it? Not perfectly, but Ron hadn’t been unhappy, and neither was Hermione. There was the problem with Harry, with feeling a distance now that they were two pairs instead of a trio, but that was hardly the aromanticism’s fault, she didn’t think. 

And even if it wasn’t, she couldn’t solve it, because you couldn’t solve an orientation. Should she break up? Should she try to establish some different kind of relationship between the three of them? Should she just tell Harry to communicate with her more often, and stay in the relationship with Ron because it made her happy, even if she wasn’t doing it right?

It was complicated, probably. There were most likely a lot of factors at play. And honestly? Thinking about figuring this out was exhausting, and almost enough to make her cry.

Maybe she didn’t have to figure things out, right now. They had won a war not three months ago, and just yesterday she’d had to hold Ron as he cried over his brother’s death, and three days ago she’d talked Harry out of a panic attack, and last night Ron calmed her down after yet another nightmare, and maybe things were just too complicated right now to worry about romantic attraction or the lack thereof. 

Because at the end of the day, they were happy, now; maybe not as happy as they could be, but happy enough for now. 

Maybe she could shelf this project until later. 

So she took a deep breath, shoved the pamphlet into the drawer, and resolved to figure this out. But later. After they’d gotten some time to breath.

Things were good now. Not great. But good enough, and she was no longer being chased by death. She had the time. She’d figure it out. Later.

[shadowknight465]

Sons of the Moon

Is the warlock is evil as the legend said? If so then why do those things so that he can make my scythe?

Nightmare thought quietly while taking Dream to a road trip. He stop in surprise when he heard the cries of horses. He slowly turn his head to the sound, and saw the monstrous snail. "Moon,... you're being more quieter than usual; is something wrong?" Dream asked. "Lou Carcolh." Nightmare whispers. "Really? Let me see." Dream whispers as quietly as he could in excitement. The twins look the creature in awe. Both deciding they should camp here for tonight. Nightmare grab necessary items so they can make a smokeless fire. While Dream hunted a few animals and gather some berries. After they were done they went to hunt the largest bear they could, and use it's skin for a bed; while it's paws for pillows. Because they knew the creature takes life from any valley it could, they decide to camp in a cave. "Bonne nuit, lunaire." Dream whispers, as he is frightened by the desperate cries of the equestrians. "Bonne nuit, peu de soleil." Nightmare reply back. The dreams he had weren't as pleasant as he thought it would be. He keeps seeing so many people that reminded him of Dream turning into fire elemental-spider-like entities. He struggled to try to control his dreams when he woke up. Seeing Dream paralyzed, while looking sick to his stomach. "Is something wrong Dream?" Nightmare whispered. "I-I saw her.." Dream mutter under his breath. "Who?" Nightmare asked. "Les Lavandière..." Dream replied. "What?"

"I woke up feeling really thirsty and decided to take a drink from the river, and that's when I saw her..." Nightmare try to analyze the situation. "Who's clothes was she washing?" Nightmare asked firmly. Dream's eyes widen. "I only saw her eyes before she screamed." Realizing he forgot that one simple thing to do whenever he sees a ghost like her. "I'm sorry-"

"You're just terrified so don't be." Nightmare reminded him. The brothers comfort each other until they fall asleep on each other's arms.

~~~~~~~~

"Dream, The croissants are ready." Nightmare call his brother. No answer. "Dream?" Nightmare called out again while removing his apron. He then heard some laughing, and followed the sound of leaves shaking. Seeing a few of his bullies, and Dream on top of a tree. "DAYDREAMER! GET YOUR HIPBONE BACK DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Nightmare yelled with a hint of worried in his voice.

"Daydreamer?" He overheard a bully. "Its what my brother calls me when I'm in deep trouble, or if he's worried." Dream answered. " Daydreamer." Nightmare calls again. "I got to go, see ya." Dream told everyone goodbye. "Is something wrong?" Dream walk towards him. "Breakfast." Nightmare answered. Dream got confused there's only remembers he skipped breakfast. " OH! Breakfast; what are we having?" Dream asked. "Croissants; with a new recipe." Nightmare replied as they went back. Dream took a look at the croissants, and noticed some brown stuff. "Cinnamon?" Dream asked. Nightmare shook his skull as he began eating. Dream took a bite. "Chocolate."

Nightmare nodded. As the twins were eating, Dream say something that was almost out of his character. "You know sometimes I think these chocolate croissant you made remind me at the moon."

"Because of the crescent shape?" Nightmare guessed. "That and itself."

"Hmm?"

"On the outside the moon may seem beautiful, yet plain; but if you break them you can see some dark secrets it's been hiding." Dream explains. Not knowing it made Nightmare feel guilty about giving him a amnesia spell. Plus some worrying? Maybe he's just over analyzing. "Moon, are you ok?" Dream snapped out Nightmare's thoughts. "Y-Yeah just doze off for a bit." Nightmare reply." Then again, Dream did beg Nightmare to give him that amnesia spell since no one else can do it for some reason. "Before I forget. A friend of mine is going to labor, and she asked me to see her baby, and the trip is a day away from here, plus 10 by catching up to do; so you think you can take care of the tree on your own?" Dream asked. Nightmare nodded. Knowing this is a perfect opportunity to go out at night without being question. "Sure. Just grab what you need, and I'll give you a navigation book. This time with guides." Nightmare replies. " I am not going to go till tomorrow, so I think I have some time for us to have a conversation." Dream said.

Nightmare thought about the 200 year old urban legend. How is scared of him and Dream at the same time, yet none of them said their thoughts about it.

"Remember that 200 year old urban legend? With the half demon half heroes being massacred?" Nightmare started the conversation. His first time doing that actually. "It send me chills every time I think about it, why?"

"Well it's because I've been trying to find what gender is that moon demon character is. I mean I get that the moon demon is born a girl, yet she wants to be a boy so should we regress her or him as his/her preferred gender?" Nightmare dance around the truth while trying to see if Dream also sees Moon as a boy. Even if the Moon wasn't born one. "Thank God, you were also thinking about that." Dream expresses relief.

"I thought I was the only one who thought of about that." He later explains. He took a sip of his tea. "Personally I think we should address Moon as a boy. Because if it makes him uncomfortable being a dress as a girl, then address him as a boy." Nightmare smiles. "Do you remember the other eleven urban legends where the main character is basically suffering the same thing?"

"If those characters were still alive today I want to address them as what they want to be, and maybe try to get all of them to be your friends."

"Hm?"

Dream put his cup aside. "Do you remember the stories you tell me? All of them are basically outcast just like you are; so I thought birds of a feather flock together in a way?" Dream tries his hardest to explain.

"What about the girl that had a crush on Moon? Better yet all those people that seems to be their only friends?"

Nightmare asked. Both of them knowing full well that he was referring to all 11 urban legends embodiments of evil, being outcast, for them to be scapegoats.

Dream fell silent.

Did I upset him?"

Nightmare thought. "Dream?"

Dream woke up from his trance. "Sorry, it's just... all of them are extremely toxic, or abusive in some form to those poor scapegoats; and yet for some reason I see their reasonings while feeling connected to them-don't get me wrong I'm very angry about what they done to their friend. I just wish that they could've done better." Dream answered holding his cup hastily. Nightmare thought of the 11 victims, and wonder if they're all connected somehow until.

"EKK!" Dream yelled. Nightmare realized he was in a trance again, and ran went to see the problem. "What is it?" Nightmare asked. Dream pointed at a orange golden spider that's as big as his hand on his bed. Nightmare took a closer look at it to see what kind of spider is it, so he can be sure if it's venomous, or not. Surprisingly it's not the spiders he ever read about. Nightmare knew that he has to take a risk, but he needs more information. Nightmare walk towards, and cupped the spider with his hands. No reaction.

Maybe it's dead?

Nightmare use his thumbs to rub the spider's adamant, and felt a warm beating heart. He knows he'll look crazy in front of his brother, but it's worth a try.

"Hey little guy, what's wrong?" Nightmare asked while placing it down on a desktop. The spider makes a web with the words. "My friend needs help."

Nightmare took a seat along with Dream.

"Where is your friend?" Dream asked. Spider rearrange his web. "At the fountain the giants got him." The twins look each other, then remember the new fountain.

Nightmare grabbed the spider, and place it on his shoulder. Lucky for them the bullies got away. However they didn't expect an octopus to be spider's friend. The octopus was a pretty sight to behold. Purely black with cyan colors on both the shining pattern and underneath it's tentacles.

The twins took a strong look at each other, then back at the friends.

"Dream, I need you to grab the biggest bowl we have." Dream nodded, and came back with a big bowl of salt water. The two later found a river full of sea water, and placed the octopus there. With the spider crawling on top of it. Sitting itself down like a crown as they dragged themselves to the sea.

"Kind of reminds me of us." Dream said. Nightmare turn to him. "You the octopus, and me the spider." Dream explains. Nightmare roll his eye-lights as the two went home.

~~~~~

Well, this is it.

Nightmare thought as he was about to leave his home. Nightmare walked out of the village, and ring the bell to grab a wagon. Not surprisingly when the wagon arrive. The carrier, and the passengers looked at him distastefully. Nightmare got on, and kept both his hands and his feet to himself feeling awkward every situation. He can feel the horrible whispers turned into judgmental eyes.

"Where do you want to go, demon?" The Carrier asked. "T-To the ruins of the celestial heroes."  Nightmare hastily answered. "Aren't celestial heroes part demon?" A passenger asked. "Why would you want to go there?" Another asked. "W-Well.. I wish to exercise the ruins. Even ghosts of demons need peace, right?" The others turned away. Nightmare felt like an idiot. The journey went on with an awkward silence until his stop. When he got off he noticed someone. However the little shadow disappeared into the ruins. He trying to catch up, but ended up losing it. He then heard a a owl's hoot follow by the sound of purrs. He look behind him, and saw the skeleton of a griffin purring at his legs. "Hey little girl what's your name?" He asked the Feline-Strigiform. Only to find a collar with a crescent moon, yet no name.

I guess, I could let the griffin follow me.

Nightmare took a deep breath as he walked towards that very ruins seeing a gallery of weapons with astrology signs in the carving on top of the room they were in. From the mercury bow and arrow to the Magic stuff of Pluto. Then he heard a voice. He turned and saw what could be a female ghost in the Mercury room crying. Nightmare then glance at the other rooms seeing more girls in their respected rooms. All have shown some parts of mutilation and hollow eyes. Their skin is like death it's self some were rotting with maggots and other bugs.

This must be the ghosts of the demons-heros.

He thought. He's not sure if he should feel happy or more scared when none of them said a word to him. Just staring. A few tried to look away from him. Because no one else is around and he's near the end of the hallway he felt like it's appropriate to talk a little.

"Are all of you really the ghosts of the demon-heros?"

"Yes?" One responded.

"Well let me just say.." Nightmare put his supplies down.

"You cunts got what do you deserved."

Then he heard the sound of giggling. Nightmare quickly turn around, and saw a young girl with purple yet Silveriest-white hair gradient, and the heaviest violet eyes he ever seen. Wearing a witch apprentice clothing. "You must be him." The girl said revealing her skeleton hands.

Nightmare look at her hands, then back at her. "Pardon me if I'm rude, but who are you?"

The girl blush in embarrassment. "Right, I'm sorry. My name is Hecate." She said. "I am his apprentice. Though between you and me; he's more like a dad." Nightmare nodded. "Can you lead me the way?" Hecate blush again. "Why do I always forget?" He heard her whispering to herself. As they begin walking Nightmare felt like he needs more answers. "So how old are you when you started working for him?" Hecate scratch her head. "To tell you the truth, i'm not sure. Maybe 2 1/2 years? Because all I remember him offering to teach me when I was 10." Hecate turn to Nightmare.

"Why are you so interested in that?"

"Because I always thought there's an age limit when it comes to apprenticeship."

Hecate nodded. "By the way,

why are you interested in necromancy? And how do you found Moon."

Hecate uncomfortably chuckled. "It's a long story. Plus he was the only family I had ever since my parents were murdered when I was just a baby." She answered. Nightmare nodded understandably, and took a look at the night sky noticing it's changed purple.

Nerco magic?

He thought. "We're here." Nightmare return his focus to the lunar scythe. The legend said that the scythe was silver, not black. Nevertheless he tried to walked towards the scythe when he heard. "You were supposed to wait for him." Nightmare turn around and saw another person standing next to Hecate.

The person almost black and white, except for should been his eyes, and parts of his hair, and appears to be missing arm replaced with what he has assume to be a magic-prosthetic version of it.

Nightmare gulped, and proceeded to ask for his name. "The name's Nox. I was an experiment partly created by W. D Gaster to travel worlds, unfortunately I got stuck in this one." "Quit it Nox, you're scaring him." He turn back to the scythe, and saw a ghost with a large wound on his chest before he turned into a person of the night. "Are you the warlock?" Nightmare asked. The warlock nodded. "I hope you don't mind me interrupting, but do do realize there's a little girl here right?" Nox cuts the conversation short. The warlock looks at Hecate, and transform to what he might have looked like in life.

"Anyway, without further interruption I guess we should get started-"

"Wait."

The warlock raise his only eyebrow. "Should we start introducing ourselves?" Nightmare suggested.

"Hmm.. I suppose we could do that first." The warlock snap his fingers revealing the room they were in is a graveyard. "Um..My name is Nightmare." He introduce himself. "Moon." Moon reply. Moon then chuckled. "At first I thought you were Nim reincarnated."

"Why would you think that?" Nightmare asked. "Because I taught her the reincarnation spell. One of my best students truly, but isn't willing to work under my wing."

"Um..what does she look like?" Nightmare asked suspiciously feeling uncomfortable.

"Aside from her clothes. Just a tree spirit with green skin, darker green hair, and a little cute tree branch on her forehead."

"That's my mom." Nightmare could easily see Moon blushed in embarrassment.

"Anyways before you can get your scythe I need you to do this small favor for the moon."

"And that is?"

"Stop the sun's children before they hurt another innocent soul."

"Are you suggesting me too..?"

"Yes, kill them."

"Why couldn't you do it?"

"My friend, I am bound to my scythe."

"Oh." Nightmare chuckle at forgetting that last part of the legend.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Aren't you already asking me a lot of questions?" Moon questioned Nightmare.

"Right.. anyways how can you talk to the moon, and are there others like us?"

"We are the moon's sons call the Lunarians, and yes there are ten more."

"Are there also Solarians?"

"They're called Solarite."

"Every Lunarian has at least one Solarite. However unlike us the Solarites contain every color of the dawn in the sun so this might help you get started on your mission. Anymore questions?"

"No, in fact I am completely satisfied that I got all of my questions answered. But so you're expecting more then what does a little light orb things that appears when I'm alone?"

Moon smiled. "Those are the little Astros, citizens of both the Sun and Moon Empire." Moon summon a base of Nightmare's scythe. "It will be done in 12 days. You can use this time to find and eliminate the Solarites. However it won't be easy."

"12 days?"

"Yes, and the moon asked me to give you some gifts. Most of them are from the Moon, but this one is from me."

"And that is?"

"Temporary Immortality. And it's not what you think it is."

"You mean I can get hurt?"

"Yes, as well every time you appear to be dead you're just in a deep sleep for a few hours."

"That doesn't sound like anything in the books I read."

"Magic always has a price to pay."  Moon reply.

"But first just know that they can't be killed with just any weapon. They can be killed by our scythes. And the book the Astros gave you is a bit outdated."

"What-"

"There's actually 12 realms of hell. One is controlled by three queens."

"Oh. But my scythe-"

"You can use mine. Temporary of course. Nox."

Nightmare turned to Nox, and can tell that he doesn't like the idea of giving the scythe to him. Nevertheless it seems he agreed on it. As soon as Nox had it over Nightmare was blinded by a beaming white.

"It has been done."

Nightmare rubs his eye-lights realizing that the scythe is missing, then look up to see Moon smiling. "You know out of all the lunarians you seem to be the only one that has both his eyes-"

"Actually my right eye-light is fake." Nightmare then proceeds to take it off. "See?"

Moon stared at the fake light for a while then back at Nightmare. "Also I really like your Griffin. Is it the same one back when you were alive?" Nightmare asked. "What are you talking about? I don't have a griffin back then. Though I did have a memory of seeing a dead Griffin. Come to think of it I don't remember any happiest memories back when I was alive." Nightmare felt like he should've brought Dream along. "But let bygones be bygones." Moon offered Nightmare to shake his hand. Nightmare proceeded, and felt something off about it then remembered Dream. "You're not fooling me with your gloves."

"Hm?"

"My brother basically wore gloves all the time so I know you have a skeleton hand as well." Nightmare explains now fully knowing the full costs of necromancy. Moon took off his glove revealing a similar hand like Hecate's, yet Nightmare doesn't feel any fear. Just comfort. "By the way do you have a spare book that will teach you how to read? I want to give it to my brother before he goes on a trip."

Moon nodded, and summoned a copy of that book. From the alphabet sounding to words sounding. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

~~~~~

Should I tell him the truth about his friend, and what they really are when his back is turned?

Nightmare thought as he watch his brother packing. He tried making the visions appear to him, but it didn't work for some reason. He took a deep breath, and made up his mind.

"Hey Dream, there's something I need to tell you about your friends."

"Hm?" Dream turned. "You see whenever you're not around, and I'm left alone with them they are a bit hostile." He explains. "What do you mean?"

"I mean they would attack me, and rarely torture me. Calling me horrible names, and tells me to kill myself." Nightmare hold back his tears. Reliving the memories is worse, than him being there. "Are you telling me that I shouldn't go?"  Dream questioned his brother. "No, I mean- It's your decision if you want to go or not.  I'm not forcing you to stay, but i'm not gonna force you to leave either." Nightmare explains. Dream put down his belongings, and went up to Nightmare. "I'll try to get them to stop while in the trip, OK?" Dream continue on. "And  I did have a new friend, and he recently lost his arm, his wife, and his son. So maybe you two can try to be friends."

Nightmare has his doubts, but he did had some comfort in his brother's words. " What's his name?" Nightmare asked. "Neil." Dream answered. The boys, then heard the whistle blowing. "Wait." Nightmare rush himself, and grab the book from the Moon. "Something for you to read."

"But I can't-" Dream looked at the book. "Does this teach you how to read?"

Nightmare nodded as The second whistle blows.

"I gotta go, goodbye." Dream said. As the golden twin ran to the cart to get to the boat Nightmare whispers to himself. "Goodbye."

[asktherexsquad]

Rocket returns to his room a few minutes after he left, a slight smile on his face.

Nice bathroom break, huh?

Rocket looks up at RB, startled. Wh-- what??

RB smirks from his spot sat on the edge of Rocket's bed.

Eh, you just look happy is all. Got yourself all prettied up, nice and good for bed princess?

Rocket grins, rolling his eyes. I'm not the one who needs to be prettied up here, doll-face! You seen a mirror lately? Rocket walks over to his sleeping bag as he talks, nudging it open with his foot.

As he's lifting up the covers and scootching over, RB scoffs.

Why would I need to look in one of those, when I've got a living mirror right here in front of me?

Because I don't look like I got attacked by a meat tenderizer. Rocket, now in his sleeping bag, gets comfortable on his side, chuckling. The offer for pain meds still stands if you need more tonight.

RB sighs as he snuggles under the covers and gets comfy in Rocket's nice, big, soft bed. Tonight he was certainly very happy he'd taken it instead of the sleeping bag. No doubt his bruises wouldn't have been happy about that.

I'll take more if I need 'em. Should be good for now, though I'll let you know if I do.

All right, sounds good. Lights out! At the voice command, the lights flicked off, plunging Rocket's room into darkness. 'Night Brickowski.

RB yawns, pulling his duvet up a little bit more and rolling onto his side.

Night Rocket.

Slowly RB closes his eyes, and after the hectic day they've all had, he soon finds himself fast asleep…

....

Once again, Rocket finds himself waking up quite the unreasonable time, with no idea why. He grumpily refuses to open his eyes, but finally curiosity gets the best of him, and he opens one eye to check the clock.

… 1 AM.

Rocket groans mentally, pulling the top of his sleeping bag over his head. Why did this keep fucking happening…??

Then he heard a soft noise from the other side of the room. Was RB talking to him?

Rocket sighs, pulling down the edge of his bag down again, listening closely. …No, maybe he had--

No…

No? No what? Rocket waits for a response, his irritation mounting at RB's silence.

From the bed, RB murmurs something, impossible to make out, and rolls over.

… He must be asleep.

Rocket props himself up on his elbow, peering through the dark in the direction of the bed. Huh… Maybe that was what had woken him up yesterday, RB was a sleep-talker…? What was he dreaming about? Rocket listens closely, his annoyance forgotten, overpowered by his curiosity.

No, please……

Didn't mean to… Didn't want…

Sorry…

A long, drawn out pause falls after that word.

No… No, don't…!

There's a single soft whimper, then, RB's breathing quickens.

No. No, no… N--!

He sounds far more panicked now, almost panting. Then there's a distressed mutter, before a much louder, more coherent:

NOOO!!!

Rocket is instantly on his feet at his desperate cry, rushing over to the bed and grabbing his shoulder. Hey!! Brickowski!! RB!! Wake up!!! Snap out of it!!! Rocket feels his heart plummet into his stomach as RB simply whimpers in response.

Rex!!!

In an instant, RB's eyes snap open, and he bolts up with a start and a yell of terror. His wild, unfocused eyes dart around the darkness, as his chest rapidly rises and falls with his ragged breaths.

After a moment, his eyes lock on Rocket, and the fear and confusion in them drains, leaving a tired, empty look. A few small tears glisten in the corners of them as he stares in silence.

Rocket's own panic fades as he sees that RB was conscious now, and he speaks in a soft voice. Hey, buddy. You're okay. You're here with me. Without thinking about what he was doing, he instinctively reaches over and gently wipes away a tear that threatened to fall down his cheek. You're awake, yeah?

RB blinks in surprise, but then he nods, frowning down at his hands as they tightly grasp the covers.

Rocket nods back and sits down on the edge of the bed, releasing his shoulder. Too often after being awoken from a bad dream, the disorientation lasted long into consciousness for Rem… He was relieved to see that RB truly was awake. You were having a nightmare… I heard you shouting in your sleep and thought it best to wake you.

RB takes in a deep breath before he hums in agreement.

Yeah… I do that a lot… Especially with nightmares… Though it's not been so bad recently… Sorry. Didn't mean to--

He pauses, remembering moments ago when he'd said that in his nightmare, and tenses again. He's frozen for a moment, but then he continues.

Sorry I woke you…

Rocket shakes his head, gently placing a comforting hand on RB's arm. Hey, no, you're fine. Rocket hesitates, reluctant to leave his side just yet, not when he still clearly seemed so shaken. ... Do you want to talk about it…?

RB thinks it over, briefly remembering what had happened in his dream, but shakes his head as he decides against it.

No… Not now. Just know… It was bad.

Yeah… No worries. You don't have to tell me. Rocket looks down at the floor with a small, worried frown. What else could he do…? This wasn't Rem, or even Rex… he had seen RB's look of surprise at his unconscious affectionate gesture, he didn't want to do anything that would make him uncomfortable.

... But he couldn't just leave him to fall back asleep like this...

Rocket makes up his mind, and gives a quiet huff through his nose. ... Do you… want a hug, at least…?

RB pauses, his gaze darting over Rocket in a quick glance, then, he nods rapidly.

Rocket rises from the bed, turning to face RB as he slowly does the same. After a beat of silence, Rocket opens his arms. RB immediately leans into them.

Rocket wraps his arms as tightly as he dares around him, closing his eyes. RB stands completely still for a moment… before all of his emotions come crashing over him all at once.

He wraps his arms around Rocket's waist and buries his face in his shoulder as silent sobs begin wracking his body.

Rocket gently leans his head against RB's as he cries quietly into him, holding him steady. After a moment, he lets his hand move gently over RB's back, a small gesture of comfort that makes RB hold onto him all the tighter. Rocket smiles affectionately, tilting his head to gently rest his cheek on RB's shoulder as he continues rubbing his back. No words were spoken, none were needed.

Eventually, RB's tears slow, his breathing evening out. Even so, the two still don't pull apart just yet. Rocket reaches one hand up to gently pet RB's hair, and RB gives a quiet hum of appreciation, nuzzling his shoulder slightly. Rocket keeps gently stroking RB's hair in this way until his tears had dried completely, RB giving a quiet, tired sigh.

Rocket can sense RB's reluctance as the arms around him relax slowly. Rocket doesn't hurry to release his hold either, but eventually, both men stand straight again, facing one another.

I guess… we should get some actual sleep now, huh?

Yeah, we should.

Neither of them move, both of them staring at the floor.

... Listen, I was thinking…

RB glances up.

... You mentioned that you sleep better with someone, right? Rocket looks up at RB, then looks away again, giving an awkward half-shrug. And, well, I mean… you took care of Rem for me when he was upset… why don't I return the favor?

RB seems a little surprised at Rocket's offer, as he hadn't considered it at all, but slowly he gives him a lopsided smile.

You… really wouldn't mind doing that?

Nah, of course not. … Not if you don't mind.

RB smiles a little wider.

Then… sure. Alright, let's do it.

Rocket gives him a small warm smile as well, and the pair move back over to the bed. They lift up the covers and climb in, quickly (albeit a little hesitantly from the underlying awkwardness of everything) scootching closer together. When they're shoulder to shoulder, and have pulled the duvet up around them, they look at each other as they both wonder just what to do next. Do they just… stay like this?

RB thinks briefly, and vaguely remembers what Rem had done when he'd ended up in bed with RB. So he decides, as it worked well enough for Rem, to do the same. He rolls onto his side and backs up a bit, inching his way towards Rocket with his back facing him.

Without hesitation Rocket turns onto his side as well, wrapping one arm around RB's middle and pulling him up against him. He adjusts his torso and legs' positions to match the curve of RB's, so they were gently resting against one another. He didn't move for a few moments… but without really thinking or caring, Rocket's hold protectively tightens, ever so slightly holding him closer.

In response, RB lowers his arm to rest over Rocket’s and holds it tightly as well. He lets his head rest on the soft pillow and closes his eyes. He finds it… interesting being held by Rocket like this. He'd not really been a little spoon before, well not recently at least, and never really by anyone other than Lucy. He couldn't lie, it did feel quite nice to have big strong arms wrapped around him, being held tight and close to a friend he trusted. It made him feel safe. Safe enough to let out a content sigh, and find himself slowly drifting off with a smile resting happily on his face.

Rocket feels a gentle smile spread across his own face at RB's sigh, and he closes his eyes, satisfied. He leans his head forward slightly and lets his forehead gently rest against RB, nuzzling slightly into his soft hair. In no time at all, his breathing becomes deep and even, sleep finding the both of them easily now.

And sure enough, they both sleep soundly through the rest of the night.