#every time i think he's out of my life for good POOF! HE'S BACK AGAIN!

[greatbigstorm]

/ /

[kirain]

My favourite bit of BG3 lore is that Withers is legitimately responsible for the Dead Three, but he's probably too embarrassed to tell you, so every time you ask him to elaborate he just gives you a very stern, "Noooo."

I also love that the reason he's responsible for their uprising is because he got bored. He literally got bored of his position as Lord of the Dead and wanted to retire, so when these three morally questionable humans came looking for godhood he was like, "Hmmm. Yes, okay. Here. Take my portfolios. Fight over them. I don't care. I quit."

So after bowling with skulls in a friendly competition to decide who would get what portfolio, they took up his powers and wreaked havoc on the world. Only at that moment did Jergal, AKA Withers, AKA our precious Bone Daddy think, "I'm just now, internally, asking myself, in quite a worried way, whether I might've made an error."

So he joins your merry band and watches your escapades, calmly twiddling his fingers while you clean up his mess. He's happy to lend his aid, even to the point that he'll bring Durge back to life if they reject Bhaal, even though he technically shouldn't. But he's Withers. The rules don't apply to him. If Ao doesn't like it, he can descend from the Heavens and say it to his rotting face.

And the reason he saves Durge isn't necessarily because he likes them or because he's a morally good entity (though one certainly could make that argument), but because he wants to add insult to injury. He steals Bhaal's child with a big smile on his face, dubs them his Chosen, and praises them for rejecting all the power they were promised. But of course, he still doesn't tell them who he is—or rather who he was.

Then, when all is said and done, he throws Tav and their companions a cute little party. No one knows it's probably half a thank you party and half a "Withers is bored again" party. And if anyone misbehaves, he'll get irritated and whisk them away. Because how dare they? He put a lot of work into that.

And at the end of it all, he walks up to a mural of the Dead Three and basically goes, "Lmao. Thou didst fuck around, and thou didst find out." Just savagely roasting them.

And then poof!

He waves them into non-existence.

[pedgito]

𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐀 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 | Javier Pena x fem!reader

summary | your boyfriend delivers the worst news possible on what should be a day filled with love. luckily your coworker is there in wait, not allowing a perfectly good dinner reservation to go to waste. [2.5k]

content warning | this is probably the tamest thing i've ever written, who am i? mostly fluff, vague descriptions of your boyfriend (technically ex-boyfriend/some misogyny (not by javi), small age gap, co-workers, dinner dates and more, unrequited (innocent) crushes, minimal spanish (mostly just pet names), open-ended

author’s note | @pascalispretty happy valentines day!! this is my first time doing one of these and i was your secret valentine, but i hope you enjoy! i haven't written for javi in so long and i was really craving some soft!javi so this was a joy to write. i hope you enjoy!

You hated the stigma around holidays and what they meant, what they entailed, and why people upheld them so highly. But, here you were—tapping your fingers insistently against the desk across from the pool of DEA agents who would throw a file of paperwork on your desk and expect it to magically poof away and, by default, relinquish themself of any responsibility over it in the process.

You couldn’t fault them all—some of them actually managed to follow instructions. A signature here and there, all in order, leaving with little work to do other than file it away. Murphy followed it to a degree that made you think he probably has some time of background outside of here, back in the states. Always uniform, always proper—he’d been a good addition from the start and a perfect match to Javier Pena’s strong personality and unwillingness to give up control.

He also smiled at you every morning and offered a kind greeting, a small acknowledgment of your existence which couldn’t be spared by many others.

As for Javier—he did the work. There was never an issue, but halfway through an expository to a question he asks his attention is drawn elsewhere. Usually to one of the other few in-office secretaries or visitors that just couldn’t resist a bite at the overconfident and suave agent.

You could see the appeal, but that didn’t mean you had to like it—sometimes it impeded your ability to communicate with him and it really, really annoyed you.

Plus, your boyfriend was perfect. Too perfect that it felt unreal at times, but as all things in your life tended to implode on you—you were waiting for the ball to drop.

“Buenos días, señorita.” Javier greets with a smile that shines perfectly under his thick mustache, dressed in his usual pairing of tight jeans and form-fitting button up. This one was pink though, or a deep red. Jesus, how many different ones did he own?

You snort softly, “Morning, Javi.”

And you’re expecting that crisp folder to slide onto your desk but he’s traversing down the steps into the bay of other desks, straight for his. He’s still in eyeline, his and Steve’s shared workspace right in the center.

His eyes flit up briefly, scanning the room before they land on you again and of course you’re staring, but not for the reasons he’s assuming. And there’s a fierceness behind your eyes that he’s seen before, like he’s about to be lectured.

You grab at an empty file on your desk and hold it up lazily, eyebrows raising in expectation. 

“Oh shit,” He curses lowly, but not soft enough for you to miss before he’s reaching in his desk and holding up the paperwork, “Here—I’ve got it.”

You pluck the item from his grip as he approaches, this time lingering. He’s got his fingers spread out wide on your desk and he leans, practically towers as you sift through his work quietly before jotting something down on a separate sticky note and filing it away for the time being.

“Sorry, bonita,” He apologized, some sincerity in his voice, “I stayed late last night and finished it up but you were already gone—I don’t forget, you know that.”

“All good,” You offer a polite smile and he still doesn’t move, nodding kindly to a few women that pass by, seemingly more done-up than usual, “big plans tonight?”

A man like Javier, there was no way he spent Valentine's Day alone.

Javier offers a non-commital shrug and nods his head in your direction, “What about you? You got that boyfriend, right? Kid with the glasses?”

And okay, Javier was a good chunk older than you. Ten years, maybe. But, kid? Please.

“Yes, that kid.” You roll your eyes light-heartedly. “Um, I reserved a table for dinner at that restaurant Steve recommended a couple months ago. The one he took Connie to.”

“Yeah—yeah, I know that place.” Been a few times, it lingers on his tongue. It didn’t matter if he went alone, the food was decent enough. “You made the reservation?”

“Come on, Javi,” You slap at his forearm gently, “It's not that big of a deal—besides I just…need a break. I thought dinner would be nice.”

“You know I can’t judge you for living at this place,” Javier says around a soft chuckle, “I’m guilty of it too.”

Many nights spent stuck in the office with just you and Javier—the occasional appearance of Steve. It led you to learn a few things about the men, even if inadvertently.

When leads were dry, Javier will go through half a pack in a day and Steve would chew at his fingernails almost constantly, tapping and fidgeting nearly nonstop. They both had obvious tells—a more obvious one for Javier being the close-mouthed smile he gave to women he wasn’t interested in but still remained polite to while the other, the unabashed grin was reserved for the women who piqued his interest.

He's given you both, but that was beside the point. 

“Any recommendations?” You ask curiously, fidgeting with the plastic clip on your pen.

Javier considers it briefly, lips pursing together as he taps his pointer finger in thought, “Well, the Pescado Frito they have is pretty good—can’t really go wrong with that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” You note, leaning back in your chair as you spot Steve making his way into the office.

“I thought you hated holidays like this?” Javier questions curiously, a sentiment he shared. They seemed pointless outside of the few that offered him a reprieve from work.

You shrug, looking away briefly to avoid his steadfast gaze.

“Well, I don’t think all of us are impervious to stuff—I wanted to do something…nice. I guess?”

Javier isn’t entirely convinced, seeing the uncertainty in your shy smile but he lets it go, slapping the desk lightly before waving a quick goodbye as Steve pulls him aside.

It had to be intel—and good intel at that by the way Javier’s face morphs into sudden interest, thumb and pointer finger brushing over his mustache.

And really, you shouldn’t keep staring at him. Not with that dinner on the forefront of your mind, the one you had so meticulously planned out for you and your boyfriend.

Things had to be perfect. There was no other option.

But, then Javier chances another glance in your direction and something swells in your throat—anxiety, sadness. You can't quite place it, but you swallow it down. Force it away.

Only a few more hours to go.

-

The call comes an hour before you’re due to head home, already packing up your belongings preemptively. And you smile at the sound of your boyfriend’s voice.

It’s been a few months. Good months. Too good.

He was younger, like you—some IT guy in his earlier twenties with a kind heart. Or, so you assumed.

“Hey,” You answer softly, lightly into the phone, “reservations are in a couple hours.”

“About that,” His voice sounds off, distant, “I don’t think I can make it.”

Your heart drops into your stomach and you find yourself chewing at your bottom lip in worry, watching wearily as Javier and Steve hold matching coffees in their grip, marching back to their desks in sync. Javier’s gaze lingers for a moment, a normal motion he did just to check on you.

Nothing more.

But, he spots the change in your emotion.

Still, he continues on.

“What—I—I’ve had these reservations for two weeks,” You reply in a hushed voice, trying to contain your frustration, “what happened—what changed?”

“I just—I don’t really know how to say this,” The dread is immediate, but your mind is filled with anger—rigid, bitter anger that wants to bite, “I think we should break up.”

“Are you fucking serious?” The small outburst catches the attention of you people but you avoid their gaze, even more pointedly Javier, who’s gone from inconspicuously spying to full on gawking now, alongside Steve who had a sudden interest. They’ve never seen you like…this. “Today? This felt like a good thing to tell me today?”

“I’ve been trying—“

“You’re an asshole.” You bite harshly, “You can pick your shit up from my apartment this weekend.”

You don’t let him have the final word, slamming the phone back down into the receiver and ignoring the gathering stares and sparse, hushed whispers.

You could sit and wallow, allow yourself to stew in regret and worry, wondering what you did wrong—but you knew it wasn’t you. It couldn’t have been. All the trying and trying and trying you do, the maximum amount of effort met with little enthusiasm. You were naive to think that things would work,

You’re thankful when the shift nears its end and people file out quietly, albeit with a few side-stares, you find yourself mulling over the idea of canceling the reservation completely. But, then there was perfectly good, hard-earned money going to waste. And you could eat by yourself, but the idea seemed even more miserable as you had specifically booked a table for two, decorations and accommodation to match. It felt ridiculous, in hindsight. 

You pass the stack of paperwork off to your boss as you step into his office, scurrying back to your desk with your head down—already prepared to go home and wallow in your self-pity.

“You alright?” Javier asks suddenly, jumping slightly at his voice as you turn on your heels, hip bumping into your desk in the process, wincing at the pain, “shit—sorry.”

He’s smiling to lighten the mood but it doesn’t help.

“You’re…fine,” You wave him off, leaning into the weight of the desk as he lingers, fingers shoved into the front pockets of his pants, “I’m heading home in a bit.”

“No dinner?” He asks curiously—if he was attempting to be coy he was doing a terrible joy.

It was only minimally amusing, cracking a smug smile at his obvious prying. 

“No dinner,” You confirm, “and he broke up with me, so…”

“Cabrón,” He says under his breath, but it isn’t lost on you, “I’m sorry—that’s…fucked up.”

You shrug, “Now I’m debating on canceling and wasting the money I put down to reserve it or looking pathetic if I show up by myself—“

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Javier defends, speaking entirely from personal experience. 

“Javi, it’s Valentine’s Day.” 

“And?”

Suddenly though, you’re struck with an idea. 

“Are you busy?” You ask curiously and Javier raises a curious eyebrow your way and smirks, “No ladies in waiting tonight?”

“Not yet.” Javier jokes lightly, knowing his usual routine of hitting the bar after work would end in one of two ways, and even if he didn’t mind spending his nights alone, it was nice to be in the company of others in whatever capacity.

“Go with me.” You suggest, poking at his bicep. “Since you love the place so much.”

“Come on, hermosa,” Javier chides playfully, “If you wanted to take me on a date, just ask.”

You grin wide, heart fluttering at the flirtatious tone he carried in his voice—it wasn’t something you weren’t used to, but it was never so pointedly directed at you.

“I am,” You tell him, “I just—I’ll need to go home and change first.”

His brow furrows and he looks you over, seeing nothing wrong, “Why? You look fine. You always do.”

It’s something he tells you daily—and maybe he has his own selfish reasons, though you know he does it to most of the women in the office, but the way he’s saying it to you now feels different.

He means it, no humor in his voice.

“My—” You can’t even address him in the moment, rolling your eyes with full force as you rub your fingers over your forehead to will away the lines of stress that form there, “I just—he used to say work clothes never complimented me very well. I already had a dress picked out, I can be quick.”

“Save it. I think you look perfect.” Javier affirms softly, keys jingling in his back pocket as he fishes them out, “I’ll drive us.

“But, my car—”

And hand breaches your shoulder, hot to the touch as his fingers curl around your form.

“Hey,” He’s searching for your eyes, waiting until they lock with his own and he nods, expecting the same motion to make sure you’re with him, “I’ll drive you there and back, you don’t have to change—we can enjoy some good food and forget about your shitty boyfriend, alright?”

You nod quietly, earning a gentle squeeze in response.

–

It wasn’t a date, not in the slightest. But, Javier did his damndest to make you feel like it was.

And maybe it was the guilt over him knowing you just got dumped—that whatever you had spent so much time planning had fell out underneath you, but it didn’t quell the nervous anxiety that you felt as you both sipped on a shared bottle of wine and your separate dinners, watching Javier grimace around the lip of his wine glass.

“Horrible, right?” You laugh softly, watching as he forces the liquid down and nods jerkily.

“Food is great, though—the wine,” Javier makes a face of uneasiness that has you covering a laugh with your palm, “—that’s why I stick with tequila or whiskey.”

“Can’t say I have much of a preference,” You admit, “as long as it does the job.”

Javier nods knowingly, stabbing his fork into a piece of food and chewing thoughtfully, the fingers of his unoccupied hand rubbing together as an idea forms in his head, “You know, if you’re not busy I was going to meet up with Steve and Connie for a drink. Later tonight—if you’re interested?”

You can’t believe how instantly you want to agree, blaming it on your impulsivity. 

“Javi, I don’t know,” You respond quietly, “I don’t—I don’t really go out like that.”

“Well—that dress you were talking about. It wouldn’t go completely to waste if you wanted to wear it out tonight. Plus, you treated me to a nice dinner—let me treat you to a couple drinks.”

It sounds like the perfect idea. Too perfect. Too good to be true.

“Javi,” You tease shyly, “if you’re trying to ask me out on a date just say it.”

Javier chuckles softly and you know it’s only an attempt to make a shitty day not so shitty, but the underlying chase you two have allowed to happen for so long now was unobscured by outside forces and you hated how easy it was for him to distract you from everything that had transpired today.

“Is that a yes?” Javier teases.

You sigh reluctantly, though a subtle grin pulls at your face, eyes soften at the expectant look on Javier’s face, all puppy-eyed and nothing like the man you’re used to seeing in the office. This was a side of him that felt new and you were curious to discover more. You nod.

“Well, hermosa—I guess it’s a date then.”

[itz-amani]

You are my sunshine [Imagines]

Sukuna x Sunshine reader[Most voted]

Thank you for voting so appreciate .Grammar error English is not my first language

-When he first met you he thinks you are the most annoying person ever .Well it turns out of the blue ,Unexpectedly he is the one who falls hard .

-He finally found his light in the dark ,his angel ,his paradise...his everything.

-He felt like he won something that is worth it for his whole life ..

-You are the one that can make him blush in anyway. He gets flustered the way you smile , laugh, The way you give him flying kisses He will cover his face a bit, looking away muttering ''Such a cutie..''

-He reminds you daisies. Every time he go for a walk in town he will go to the flower shop and bought a bouquet of Daisies because they represent you who brings joy and cheerfulness in his life .

-If you do the See You Again [ft. Tyler ,The Creator, Kali Uchis] trend You're the ''Lalalalala'' and him ''Okokokok''

-You like making him flower crowns and rings in your garden as you play with his big hands. He found it is very cute. As you finished his crown and placed on top of his head saying ''Here you are my King'' and he immediately pulls you by the waist for a hug , his face on your stomach as you pulled his head to your chest , playing with his pink- salmoned hair.

-he loves braiding you hair in many styles. His favorite thing about you is your voice. He likes when you sing or talk, Every time he is in a bad mood of something once he hears your voice that sounds like a melody his anger poof away..

-He gets mad when you are the one who apologize first even if you are the problem or him . He doesn't like to scold you . He doesn't want to.

-He loves when you tracing your finger on his tattoos talking random stuff ''Do you know fishes can swim❔'' He chuckled as he pat your head

-You love doing skincare with him. You force him to try to do skincare routine , He refuses at the first but he was defeated with your starlight eyes

-H e loves you when you humming him to sleep . While you are humming he closed his eyes .You are assuming that he is already asleep so You decided to stay quiet but he wont let that happen ''Do I ask you to stop angel❔'' He pulls you together, placed his head on your lap You giggled as you continued

-The type that records you running in the field of flowers, spinning and holding each others hands and piggy-back rides

-The type that says ''Good night'' first and carries you to the bedroom when , holding you in his arms , his lips on your ear lobe whispering

''Good night my sweetest girl''

idk sory if its short im tired of work

[herejusttosufferalong]

Hello, SEX anon again.

YOOOOOO, we have been fed so well these past few days. Isn't it?! I was getting a little peckish and A03 wasn't really filling me up. Slutty smirk. Then poof. Everything I ever dreamed about, on my plate. In my mouth. Blessed with fresh pics of N at Wimbledon. White last year, black this year. I see you, girl. That dark side coming out but your face like an angel. Ta-tas for days. Good for fkn you. Can confirm all previous statements.

Then before that we get BTS of an actual, irl wedding between L&N. I was fkn sobbing uncontrollably. Look at her cute cherub face, talking about shitting herself, placing her hand on his god damn heart. Are you trying to fck with me? You are the realest person I've ever seen in my life, I love you and if I met you my eyes would pop out and I would die peacefully having breathed the breath that you breathed in my vicinity. Thank you, I love you.

Then there's that goofy L. Jaw on the floor. Eyes bulging. Drinking her all up. Breathing her in Hocus Pocus style. Being all David Brent when startled by the cameraman. Yeah, guy, you're being filmed. This is a set. GUY. LOOK at me. We're filming. HELLO? Nup, gone. And them just having those glazed over eyes, just emotionally spent, just overcome, just in love, but not aware or maybe are aware, but I like the way you feel physically, and you look perfect, and you smell nice, and I cannot stop looking at your lips and eyes and your lips, and oh bohy. It must be fkn draining. It must be so hard to get married and pretend it's fake. I imagine that would be so challenging, but you know, they the pros.

Full disclosure, I wasn't present when this gift came to light. I was minding my own business, getting slightly high with my partner (medical, of course), thinking of ways to confess my love of Lukola and get his ADHD male POV. That sweet anon with toddlers inspired me to come clean. But it didn't go so well initially, because I was all slowed down, and laughing nervously, and saying shit like "I need to tell you something... please don't judge me... oh god". He looked like L when some man touch N. So yeah, I wouldn't recommend. But it all turned out just fine. What would've taken 10 mins took about 2 hours to explain. Tangents upon tangents of Brazil and security guards and Rory and the forehead stroke. But we got there. Ngl, we analysed hard. Every position. It was hot af. Some insights:

After two seconds watching L&N interview - "that guy is lost, he clearly wants her though... got some self-confidence issues... giving me Karl Pilkington vibes... she's like his carer". Fkn lol. Me being like N defending L "but like he's a nice guy, like a sweet sensitive guy". "Yeah he seems like it but he's clearly out of her league...". Me holding onto Lukola delulu so hard, "I know but he could get to her level, don't you think?". Please for the love of god. "Yeah but it's all down to him. He's the problem". YEP WE KNOW.

L is a "leaf in the wind" blowing everywhere, no foundation in himself, that's why his behaviour is so confusing. L is not aware of his feelings on a conscious level or not fully accepting it. Flirty behaviour followed by odd looks explained by liking her touch and closeness but not wanting others to know he likes it. Thinks they caught feelings on set. Didn't go ahead because of filming and being 'in character'. Reunited after filming, cue pics of them together, and lots of chatter about them being together irl. Thinks that L's friendship group may have joked about it, gave him shit for it, and L buried those feelings deep. May have been getting thirst messages after 'glow up', pumped up by fuck boy mates, ego takes over. Opts for friend-approved doll. Feelings came up again during press tour when separated from friends. May have acted impulsively on said feelings - Brazil possibly. Possibly shut down by N due to timing and messy third parties. Back to London and influences. Lost again.

My desperate question, "Will he find his way back? To self-actualisation???" "It would be hard for someone like him to find his true self when surrounded by those people". Me still hopeful, "Oh but he'll probably be away from them when they start s4 filming". Him being logical af. "Could be a good opportunity... I can only see two ways of him changing... either he reaches rock bottom and starts to wonder why he's so miserable, and even then maybe not... or someone he trusts and respects talks him round... but it's going to be really hard for him... he's asleep at the wheel". Ok, gotcha. Fck this is gonna be a slow process, guys.

But then again they already married so who gives a fck.

"But then again they already married so who gives a fck."

I FUCKIN LOVE YOU ANON

PLS SEND MORE 💜🥃

[aquaquadrant]

Sated

Word count: 1,200 Warnings: Violence, death, animal death A/N: My piece for the 5th edition of @trafficzine was Gem's session 7 task (the boogeyman apocalypse). Had lots of fun with it, please reblog/comment if u enjoy! - Aqua

Sated

~

It starts before Gem even opens her task book. 

Her mouth goes dry; she thinks it’s the shock, as she reads. It’s the weight of the task she’s just been given. She’s never been the boogeyman. That was before her time. And now she needs to infect the entire server. It’s a daunting task, but she’s up for the challenge. As she chats idly with her bandmates, a scratch starts up in her throat. She has to swallow down a cough a few times- though each time, her mouth gets drier.

After they disperse to prepare for their tasks, Gem kneels by the pond outside her cottage and scoops water into her cupped hands. But as soon as she puts it to her lips, it seems to evaporate. She can feel the water passing into her mouth, down her throat, into her stomach- but it does nothing to soothe her.

Her mouth is still dry. And worse, now- her stomach feels empty. Nibbling on a piece of steak brings a similar result; it’s dry and tough and flavorless, and after eating it, her stomach feels even emptier. There’s a powerful craving for… something inside her. An aching, yawning chasm in her heart.

It terrifies and confuses her. Is this what it’s like to be the boogeyman?

She stares at Scott and Impulse. They’re both green. They’re strong, healthy. She can see it in their eyes. And somehow, strangely enough, she can almost smell it on them- the extra hearts, the pure life flowing through their veins. It’s alluring. She licks her lips.

“Don’t come near me, just for a little while,” she tells them, turning away.

~

Gem’s kill on Bdubs leaves her reeling.

The second he poofs away, torn apart by zombies spawned by her hand, an odd sensation washes over her. It’s like the coolest, sweetest water soothing her sore throat. It’s a warm meal comfortably filling her stomach. It’s energy and strength flooding her veins, electricity out the tips of her fingers. After losing nearly two rows of hearts to Scar, it’s sorely needed. She’s almost giddy as she climbs back to the surface to find Bdubs.

He’s already licking his lips, before she even hands him the book. Killing is enough to spread the infection, then. As she guides him through the new task he’s been given, she feels her mouth go dry again, and she realizes that killing is only a temporary fix.

~

“You said you needed one more person,” Impulse says. Always eager to please, wanting to be involved in things. He thinks he understands, but he doesn’t. Not really.

Gem hesitates. “Trust me, you don’t- you don’t want…” She swallows, licks her lips. She and Bdubs have already tried and failed to kill Tango, and they’re both starting to feel it. Every step, every word, every breath takes more effort to get out. The scent of Impulse’s life is incredibly tempting, but she’d wanted to spare her band as long as she could. “I mean… no…”

Impulse insists. Bdubs kills him.

She sees him swallow it down; the relief that floods his wide eyes. The sudden vigor that returns to his body. The way he breathes a little easier. And she realizes that while the curse can only be spread if the newest victim takes part, the killer is the one who gets sated. 

Gem gasps. “You did it!” she cheers, even as she bites back her envy. “Did you gain hearts? You gained hearts, right? That felt good?”

“Yes, I did,” Bdubs breathes.

She tries not to hate him for it.

~

Gem’s sword slashes through the empty air where Scar used to be.

Pearl’s arrow got there a millisecond faster. Gem locks her feelings behind a smile of bared teeth. “Perfect,” she praises Pearl even though her mouth feels like sand and her limbs feel like lead. She’s been cursed longer than Pearl, she needs it more, can’t Pearl see how much she needed it?

She licks her lips. It doesn’t help.

~

Gem trudges next to Impulse, the cherry tree mountain looming before them. She gives him a sidelong look; Impulse’s face paint has dried into powder, dusted in the hollows of his cheeks. 

“Is the server weirdly quiet?” she asks. Every breath rasps against her throat, like she’s inhaling brambles. Her stomach gnaws at her. It’s been ages since her last kill.

“Yeah, I know,” Impulse murmurs. His eyes are sunken. He licks his lips.

~

“I would rather not kill Cleo, personally,” Etho says, because he’s still fresh and he doesn’t understand. He didn’t see the way she turned on Scott.

Gem nods. “Well, you have to participate in the next kill, for the curse to spread, so it’s your call.”

“Yeah, let’s go for Tango,” Etho decides, unsurprisingly.

She doesn’t mind. He’ll understand soon; he’s already clearing his throat.

~

Gem respawns in her cottage after a stray shot from Scar takes her last yellow hearts.

Scott’s there. He’s yellow, but still uninfected. The scent is maddening.

“How are you feeling?” Gem asks, her grip tightening on her sword.

He runs.

~

Wolves pour down the mountainside and sprint headlong into lava, all snapping jaws and burning fur. Their deaths bring Gem no satisfaction. Instead, she sets her sights on the life blood she can smell, sheltering behind the stone walls of the castle.

Her army has grown significantly. They swarm the castle almost like a single being, unified in mind and body. Not just by their shared task, but by their desperation to kill. To be sated.

“The curse feels so good,” Gem lies, as they close in on their next kill, “just let it take over!”

It’s Scar’s kill, in the end. She licks her lips.

~

Gem stands before the Secret Keeper.

She can feel the others’ eyes burning into the back of her skull. The resentment for bringing them to this point. Most have lost a life, and all have lost hearts. All this struggle just to fail at the end, when she could’ve spared them by failing at the start.

Despite her exhaustion, Gem keeps her shoulders back and chin up. She was given a nearly impossible task, and she nearly succeeded. She assembled an army and led it well. She doesn’t regret it. But privately, she’s glad it’s over.

“I failed!” Gem declares, hitting the button. 

This isn’t the first time she’s failed a task, but it’s the first time she’s failed as a red, and she isn’t prepared for what happens. The weight of the curse falls off her; body strengthening, mind sharpening. That much is back to normal.

But Gem is seized with horror as she finds that thirst, that hunger, that craving, is still there.

Martyn locks eyes with her from the assembled crowd. Martyn, the only person who was red without the curse. There’s understanding in his gaze, solemn and empathetic, and suddenly his eyes look more hollow than they used to.

And Gem realizes that while she might no longer be infected with the boogeyman curse, she’s still a red name, and there’s a reason they’ve always said the two things aren’t so different.

Her mouth is dry. She licks her lips.

~

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #20

Best of Luck

With a title like "Best of Luck," this sounds exactly like an Anti-Fairy episode. I'm intrigued.

I love how Cosmo and Wanda's house can be wherever it needs to be, including inside Hazel's desk.

I wish we would've had that lore in the OG series, because it makes a lot of sense (and makes the concept of riding around with your godkids and sitting in elementary school all day less boring). I think I'm yoinking this for 'fics.

I like how they still have old-fashioned desks in the future. I've never had these desks.

Peri and Dev are together again... Peri's trying his best <3 I like how Dev is a grump. That feels right.

"Peace is boring and lacking in swag." - Dev Dimmadome, 2024

I love him.

I enjoy how that random horse has been here for tons of episodes. It's just silly.

I really like Winn. They have so many happy things to say about life and their friends:

"Pulling out paper, even though you'd used it to defeat your previous 3 opponents?? /smiles and clutches hands to chest while shaking head. "Inspired."

They deserve to be the cool kid everyone likes and wants to befriend. I support it. I hope they have a really nice life and many joys.

Hey, wait a minute! I WAS right about Winn only having freckles on one cheek. I think it just flips sides when they turn.

Peri in his debut: I'm gonna take you from Dev to Dev-ine!! Dev now, on the heels of a massive meltdown: What happened to you 'taking me from Dev to Dev-ine?' I don't FEEL very Dev-ine >:( Peri: :')

I enjoy the detail of Dev pushing his shades back on his nose after throwing his head back and then snapping it forward. They didn't even fall down or reveal his eyes, but it was the correct move for him to do.

I like how every time Dev moves his head, his shades catch the ceiling lights.

Ohhh, when snooty Peri comes out, you've gone too far!

... I was wrong!! Dev just raised his voice and Peri crumpled. I love him.

That music sting, tho...

For some reason, that last one gives me bigger "Oh, that's totally Poof" energy than any other screenshot I've taken? idk why; I don't remember Poof getting angry often.

Hang on- I watch Season 9 a lot. Let me check my usual highlights...

... ah. I don't like what this says about me.

-> omg, his staff is based on his rattle! I didn't even notice that until now!! That's so clever!

There's something really funny about posting this picture right before jumping back into my liveblog.

Anyway, Peri is trying SO hard to explain the rules... He looked like he was about to cry and then he snapped; let's see where this is going.

OHHHH, he's quitting! I knew it~! He can't handle the pressure. He's too baby!!

I cannot believe this man lasted 4.5 months on the job. Every time he showed up, he was upset.

Peri: You know what, Dev? I'm DONE. Dev: Well, I'm done-ER! Peri: I'm the done-EST! Dev: Stick a fork in BOTH OF US, THEN!!!

Neither of them is okay.

And he's got tears down his cheeks... Freakin' GEEZ, Dev! You snapped him like a twig.

I'm glad he's having a hard time adjusting to being a nice person. lol. It really underscores why he's so mean at the start of the series.

The fact that he had no issue taking off his shades after befriending Hazel in "A New Dev-elopment" (even willing to go to school with them off and talk nicely to his teacher that Monday, regardless of the fact that this was his first time in the series doing that and people might've talked about it) gives me the inkling that he probably HAS tried being nice in the past, and he doesn't MIND being nice... until he's hurting, and then his self-defense mechanism is to shut down and wall everyone out.

He WANTS to be "a happy kid." He just keeps getting bit every time he places his trust in someone. Including Hazel (in his POV) since he couldn't move past his "Wait a minute... Did you WISH for us to be friends??" meltdown in spite of the good times that came from that wish.

He tried so hard to see the good in his dad in "Lost and Founder's Day." Even when his dad snapped at him for asking if he could help and told him to go "Eat a lizard."

Even when his dad blatantly used electricity to shock people's brains and Dev very clearly had issues with it. He tried SO HARD to turn it around to "Oh, so you can help kids!!"

He even tried to see the good in Vicky [before she entered the house] when Hazel tried cheering him up with the thought of, "Well yeah, maybe you didn't want a princess cosplayer at your birthday, but she might be a really COOL party princess!"

He just keeps trying and has such high hopes and patience despite getting nipped every time he speaks up and reaches out. That's why he stayed un-miserable for so long before tipping over and getting Peri assigned to him. Tell him how high to jump and he'll do his best without even asking "How high?"

So he took that leap with Hazel. And the floor went out from under him.

I read once that if your natural response is to close off when you're struggling and/or just handle everything yourself even if it's a lot, it indicates your past experiences of reaching out yielded no help, so it's hard to see the point in asking others for help in the future.

I don't have the place I read this on hand and I didn't dive for the sources back then, so take it with a grain of salt, but it's all I've been thinking about while watching Dev in this show.

btw, I had to rewatch part of "Lost and Founder's Day" to grab that screenshot, and it's hilarious to me that even when he's talking to his own son, Dale still introduces himself as "Dale Dimmadome, owner of Dimmadome Global." He's just like his dad.

Okay... Blue smoke? Anti-Fairy time??

OHHHH, it's the man of the hour!! Welcome back, loser!

I love the little shift of him flexing his wing. I like how similar the wing is to the old show (Black with blue markings).

Eric Bauza, is that you?? Score!

Okay, I looked it up to see if that was true and first of all, yes it is, and second, he's also credited as Peri's VA, so I love that! I hadn't bothered to check who Peri's VA was, but that literally makes so much sense; their parents have always shared, so of COURSE they'd share too. That's so smart...

Hm... Can't say I'm the biggest fan of Foop's name changing to Irep and I'm not sure I like his design, but maybe it'll grow on me.

That said, the name change is a really clever way to get Irep to explain the lore of how he's the opposite of Peri without being info-dumpy.

I'm glad he kept his facial hair. And he's got big boy fangs! I miss his F-shaped hair curls, though, or maybe I need a better angle.

Hey, he has a dark jacket like the lab coat I gave him in my high school design. I wasn't far off!

No freckles, but in OG canon, they only really showed up when he flushed, so no surprise. I don't expect to see them, but it would be funny if he did flush and they were still there.

Also, I really like the ultraviolet glow of his crown. That makes so much sense.

Insert joke about how Anti-Fairies used to be invisible to the naked eye until Season 5

... He is actually REALLY cute. He looks a lot like his old self.

Are other Anti-Fairies also going to have square heads? I don't mind Foop having a square one if all his species does, but I'll be a bit surprised if he's the only creature with a cube head.

I think it's funny that they took away Peri's eyelashes when he grew up, but left Irep with one. That feels incredibly right.

I love his unique scruffy eyebrows. That's cute.

Irep, who previously had such a traumatizing experience as a godparent that he spent that episode screaming and crying, his magic souring in a range of colors all the way down to green in one of the only appearances of green magic in the series, and literally almost gave up on life before he gained the courage to lash out at Vicky despite knowing full-well his magic would immediately backlash and torture him for it: "I am once again ready to take responsibility for a mean human."

This only exacerbates my analysis of Peri not being ready for godkids and that's flippin' hilarious.

The nerd finally put on shoes!!

Dev wished for it to be tomorrow, so now it's tomorrow (waning crescent, of course).

No Dev-Irep sleepover? Robbed >:(

??? Obsessed with Hazel walking into school chatting about what she spent her night doing. I love how this means Irep just... yoinked Dev forward in time.

/horse in the hospital voice: I didn't know he could do that.

This episode's set-up & plot is just great in general.

Everyone else has gone to bed and Dev's had no sleep or breakfast. He needs a snack.

Ooh, wait- what? Mace wand!! ... I don't think I'll keep that in my canon, but that's a clever way to parallel Poof's staff. It's funny to me that the posh British boy did not get a staff. He WOULD like bashing people with the mace, huh?

It delights me to see Irep left-handed. He's been a leftie since the day he was born, all through to Season 10 :')

I like how Irep started crying when Dev told him he was "better than Peri." I mean... He's not wrong- that IS literally all Foop-Irep has wanted to hear since the minute he was born.

He is literally the same person he's always been. lol.

"Best of Luck" & "Two and a Half Babies"

I wonder if he's still claustrophobic, because that was, like... his big thing after escaping Abracatraz. I doubt it will come up (and he's much older now), but since he's an antagonist, I assume he has a weakness, and that would be an interesting one to bring back.

-> Actually if I'm remembering right, it was his alternate personality's phobia (Foop vehemently denying it while his alter literally screamed at the top of his lungs and doubled down), which is definitely implyin' somethin' about which of them remembers Abracatraz better. Hmm...

FINALLY! I don't think we ever got to see umbrellas open indoors as a form of bad luck in the OG series. It's one of those tiny questions always floating in the back of my mind, sdklfj.

I like how Dev still went to class. He has rule-breaking magic at his fingertips and this is where he's spending his time.

I guess it's not like he can leave the school; his whole goal is to get in that schoolwide Rock, Paper, Scissors competition.

I like Hazel eating from her popcorn bucket of 4-leaf clovers.

is Irep going to try to poke her and then, like... break out in hives or something? lol.

[complicatedchelsea]

Fallen Through Time For You

Chapter Seven: A Little Bit of Government Hush Money and a Lot of Self Doubt

Masterlist:

(gif not mine)

(Sydney's POV)

Eddie didn’t waste a second wrapping himself around me once I sat back down. Not that I was complaining, but I didn’t understand how he was so comfortable displaying affection like this. Maybe it was the way I was raised with it being behind closed doors, or maybe it was the fucked up trauma my parents gifted to me over the years. Maybe everyone in the group was used to this as well, the affection that seemed to pour out of Eddie. No one even batted an eye. Maybe.

“Okay?” He checked with me. 

“Definitely,” I answered as I melted into his side. “What did you get me?”

“Pickles,” Eddie said as he scrunched his nose up at me. “A whole plate of them.”

“Asshole,” I laughed as I pushed at him. “You did not.”

“No.” He shook his head with a laugh. “I figured a safe bet would be a cheeseburger? Pickles on the side for me, of course.”

“Of course,” I rolled my eyes. “You can always have my pickles.”

“This is starting to sound like a marriage proposal, sweetheart.” Eddie teased me. “An official binding contract.”

“You are my soulmate, aren’t you? Kind of already bound for life?”

Eddie stopped for a moment, the hand that was moving to take mine stopped. “Does that scare you?”

“What, being bound for life?” I asked. “Only if you didn’t order me fries with that milkshake you promised.”

Eddie shook his head with a smile. “You can’t have milkshakes without fries. That’s just a universal rule.”

“Damn straight,” I shot back. 

Eddie was a little quieter after that. Not too quiet that everyone would notice, but enough that I started to worry that something I had said bothered him. He was right, the cheeseburger was pretty good and I was perfectly happy with this being the party’s go-to place. 

The only one that wasn’t happy was Steve.

“So you are telling me,” Steve started, waving a fry in my direction. “That you haven’t watched any basketball games? What about baseball? You can’t give me anything to look forward to?”

Robin groaned from beside him. “What did you think she was going to do? Give you the stats on every game? This isn’t Back to The Future, dingus.”

“Hey!” Steve exclaimed. “I’m just saying.”

“That kind of knowledge is powerful, Steve.” I teased back. “It falls into the wrong hands and poof; suddenly you are mega-rich and created something that belonged to someone else.”

Steve threw a fry at me this time. Eddie’s head shot up from where he was mixing some sauce concoction on his plate and playfully narrowed his eyes at Steve. “Did you really just throw a fry at my girl? Don’t you know that’s grounds for a challenge, Harrington?”

His girl?

Steve groaned and leaned his head back against the seat. “Does it ever stop?”

Robin snorted into her drink which led to Steve kicking her under the table. Before she could retaliate, Dustin appeared at the end of the table. 

Steve groaned again at the excited look on his face. “What now?”

“We want to go to the comic store,” Dustin motioned behind to the younger ones of the group. “Do you think we can go?”

“I’ll go with them,” Eddie said as he pulled his wallet out and slapped some bills on the table. “Need to see if they have those figurines I wanted last time.”

Before I could slide out of the booth, Eddie held his hand up. “Why don’t you stick with Harrington and Buckley for a bit, sweetheart?”

I frowned, trying not to take it personally that he didn’t want me going with him since we had practically been joined at the hip today. “But I like comics? You don’t want me to come?”

Eddie groaned. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, it’s already breaking my heart leaving you behind.” He dramatically clutched his chest and sank to his knees. “It might just crumble into dust!”

I scoffed and leaned over to push his shoulder. “So why can’t I come?”

“As much as I love seeing you in my clothes,” Eddie said as he stood up and leaned over into my space. “Trust me, it’s really getting to me,” he sent me a wolfish smile and stepped back to let me out as everyone else was getting up. “You need some clothes that actually fit and well something to call yours.”

“But I was dropped here with nothing, remember?” I said as I stood next to him. “You know, me falling from the sky or whatever you said happened?”

Eddie tsked and reached back into his pocket for his wallet, earring some bills out and slapping them into my hands. “Here.”

“Eddie,” I protested. “I can’t take this.” I tried to shove the money back at him. Sure I didn’t want to put everyone out and take their clothes too, but I couldn’t just let Eddie hand me a stack of bills that I didn’t even want to count. “This is too much.”

“Sweetheart,” Eddie said as grabbed my hand and made a point to close my fist around the money. “Take it. Get you something that you will actually wear, something you like and to tie you over for a bit. We can worry about the rest later.”

“Eddie-” I started again.

“Sydney,” his voice came out a little bit deeper again. Like at breakfast this morning. Why did that feel so far away? “I’m not arguing with you. Take the money.”

Eddie leaned his head down, whispering into my ear. “It’s not really my money. Thank the government for that. Hush money can be very helpful in moments like this.”

“But-” I tried again. 

Eddie stood back to his full height and cupped my face. “All of us got some of it. Just take it, please? It will make me really happy to make sure you have something that is yours here. More grounding.”

It seemed when Eddie touched me, all I wanted to do was agree with whatever he wanted. It seemed like he really didn’t want anything in return. He wanted to care for me, show his compassion in other ways than teasing and nicknames. 

“Fine,” I said. “I’m doing this for you.”

“That’s the spirit,” he teased as he pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. When he leaned back, he addressed Steve. “Meet you back at the arcade in about an hour?”

“I don’t know,” Robin drawled as she looped her arm through mine. “We might ditch town, run away together and start a band.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes at her and reached over to ruffle at her hair with a shout of protest from Robin. “You can’t start a band without me.”

“But we could run away without you?” I asked, teasing. “I see what priorities you have.”

“You could go anywhere and I’d find you,” Eddie said as he started following behind the group. 

Robin just rolled her eyes and nudged Steve with her other arm. “C’mon. Let’s go shopping.”

They led me over to a small clothing store that was two streets over. It was small and didn’t have much of a selection, but I wasn’t going to complain. I could feel Eddie’s money burning a hole in his flannel pocket. Robin was muttering about how if I didn’t find anything here, she could take me to the thrift shop she visits because she always has an eye for the good things. 

“Are you listening?” Robin waved her hand in front of me as I stared down a table of jeans. “Earth to Sydney?”

“Sorry,” I said as I scratched at the back of my neck. 

“What’s bothering you?” Steve asked. “Eddie wasn’t lying about the money. Each of us got our own trust. Some are just more inclined to use it than others.”

I shook my head. “No. I have a feeling if I wouldn’t have taken the money, he would have given it to one of you two to make sure I got something.”

“So what is it?”

“Did he seem upset with me?” I asked as I kept my gaze on the table. Moments like this when my anxiety bubbles over, seem to have hatched from moments of eerie silence and knowing someone is mad from the sound of them closing a door.  “I mean, he hasn’t left my side since he showed up this morning and then he doesn’t want me to come with him to a comic book store? That’s right up my alley, I thought he would be excited to show me more of his interests.”

Steve and Robin shared a glance. “Did you say something that you think made him mad? Because we’ve seen a mad Eddie, and that’s not mad.”

I threw my hands up. “I don’t know. Not like he is upset with me, but like I might have said something that came out wrong? I really don’t know.”

“Hey,” Steve laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure if something is bothering him, he will tell you. Eddie doesn’t do well with sitting on emotions. He’s got to get it out.”

Robin agreed. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. We all watched you slap the shit out of Carver in a room full of witnesses. If that doesn’t say something, I don’t know what will.”

Robin smiled and shoved a pile of clothes at me. “C’mon. Let’s go try these on and burn a little of that money.”

I ended up with a few pairs of jeans, some t-shirts with designs of movies and bands that Robin approved of, and I almost thought I was done until Steve mentioned getting a jacket. 

“Wait,” I said as I looked out the store windows like it would answer my questions. “What even if the date? You said it was 1986, and all this stuff that happened during spring break was in March.”

“Oh shit,” Robin said as she slapped her forehead. “She’s right, Steve. We really didn’t give her any other details.”

“It’s the end of September,” Steve supplied as he shifted his hold on the basket of clothes that he insisted on carrying around for me. “Today is a Sunday.”

“Sunday?” I echoed. I couldn’t even remember what the date was two days ago in my own time. It was fall, wasn't it? “So it’s been six months since all that stuff ended in March.”

“Well it didn’t really end, did it?” Robin said. “Remember, Vecna just disappeared. We don’t know what happened to him.”

Steve didn’t say anything for a moment. He just stared me down, trying to track whatever emotion that was splayed across my face. “Why is that important?”

“I just,” I started. “I don’t know. I’m feeling a little disoriented. Like yesterday Will made a comment about school and I remember Nancy complaining that it was unfair that you all had to repeat the year because of what happened in town with the earthquakes. I’m just trying to ground myself here. It's a little disorienting.”

Robin nudged my shoulder with hers. “We understand. I’m surprised you didn’t bring this up before.”

I shrugged. “One thing at a time? It’s kind of hard to think about stuff like that when you’ve got someone dragging you around in an unknown place.”

I stopped for a second. 

“Wait,” I started as I took a step back from Robin so I could face them both properly. “Is that what he’s doing?”

“What’s who doing?” Steve asked me, but wouldn’t look at me. 

I narrowed my eyes and turned to face Robin. “He’s distracting me, isn’t he? Worried I’m going to freak out again.”

Robin’s face flushed and she looked over towards Steve who looked up to met her gaze. They silently communicated for a second before Steve’s shoulders slumped. “Maybe?”

I eyed them both. “Do you two think I’m going to freak out?”

“Are you?” Steve shot back. “Because you are taking this extremely well and maybe Eddie does have a point. I think I would still be losing my mind if I was in your shoes.”

“Sydney,” Robin reached forward and placed her hands on my shoulders. “This whole situation is a lot to take in. We are walking into this with no idea what is going to happen.”

“Yeah,”’ Steve agreed as he stepped forward, him and Robin now standing in front of me and holding all my attention. “Eddie thought you might be the most comfortable with us. That’s all. No ulterior motive.”

“Are you angry with us?” Robin asked. 

I let out a sigh. “No, he’s right. He’s always right. isn’t he? Eddie knew that I was eventually going to think about this.”

Steve snorted. “Eddie isn't always right. I would say like, thirty percent?”

Robin laughed and they both took a step back from me. “Oh, c’mon! It’s gotta be at least sixty.”

I let them carry back into another conversation as Steve steered me towards the jackets. With all the major boxes ticked off, I got them to agree that I had enough to get me started. On the way to the cash register, I was stopped by a black cardigan hanging at the back of the rack of neon colors. Pulling it out, I noticed star patterns embroidered into the sleeves, the stars getting bigger as you went further towards the top. 

“Get it,” Robin pushed as she appeared at my side. 

I bit my lip. “I’ve already got so many clothes in that basket.”

Robin eyed me for a moment before snatching it off the rack. Before I could protest, she checked the size and grabbed my hand to lead me to Steve. “It’s the only black one and it’s in your size. No arguing.”

“Fine.” I said as Steve started to load the clothes on the counter for the associate to scan. He took the sweater from Robin with no arguments and turned back to me with his hand out. 

“You want me to take care of paying?” Steve asked. 

It already made me feel a little better that I wouldn’t have to worry about talking to the sales associate or worry about how much the total was. I pulled the money out of my flannel pocket and dropped it in Steve’s out-stretched hand. 

“You and Robin can wait outside of me.” Steve as he turned back toward the register. “The kids should be finishing up soon.”

Robin led me out front, leaning against the corner of the store. It wasn’t too long before Steve joined us, two bags in his hand that he refused to let me carry. 

“Where do you think you are going to sleep tonight?” Steve asked me. 

“That’s a very good question that I don’t have an answer for,” I said. “The others have school tomorrow, don’t they?”

Robin nodded. 

“What do you recommend?” I asked him. Steve had offered me his house last night, could that still be an option tonight? I didn’t want to burden Joyce about trying to find me a place to sleep at her house, and I don’t know if I wanted to stay with Hopper and El if that even was an option.

“Do you want to stay near Eddie?” Steve asked me. 

I squinted at him. Was this a trick question?

Steve rolled his eyes at me. “Obviously I know that you are more comfortable with Eddie around. You are always welcome to stay with me, but I don’t know if Eddie’s going to want to be away from you either.”

I shrugged. “I guess I’ll just see where the day takes us?”

“Of course,” Steve nodded. “What are you thinking about doing tomorrow?”

“That’s another great question I don’t want to answer,” I said as Robin snorted. 

I didn’t realize how quick we got back to the arcade. It seems that we beat Eddie and the others back, and it looked like the parking lot had emptied considerably since this morning. Steve gave one of the back doors a tug and it opened with no problem. 

“Munson’s gotta start locking his van,” Steve muttered as he put my bags in the back and turned around. He motioned for me to try the side door, and it opened with no problem. Robin moved ahead of me into the van while Steve leaned against the passenger side door. 

“Eddie mentioned earlier about people damaging his van.” I said as I took the seat closest to the door. “What did they do?”

Steve ran a hand through his hair. “Slashed a few tires. Someone spray painted some nasty words on the side of his van, those took days to wash off.”

“Does it still happen?”

Steve shook his head. “Rarely. We had to get Hopper involved because Eddie just stopped showing up to places. Even in broad daylight he was worried about shit like that.”

“You’d think the whole ‘devil worshiper schtick’ would have scared people,” Robin said from inside the van. “But Carver kept preaching his lies around town and people believed him.”

Steve snorted. “Eddie’s harmless.”

“I remember you being scared shitless when I held that bottle against your neck, Harrington.” Eddie’s voice joined the discussion. I saw him and the others make their way from the other side of the van. 

“Dude, you tackled me against the wall with a broken bottle to my neck because you were scared shitless. The next morning I watched you devour a box of honeycombs with a yoo-hoo. Let’s just say they mellowed each other out.”

I snorted. 

“That funny to you, sweetheart?” Eddie greeted me as he popped up beside Steve. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t call you Eddie anymore. Maybe it should be Teddy,” I teased him with a smile. 

Eddie let out a laugh, one of his full body ones that had him pitching backwards as Steve reached a hand out to steady him. Out of all the laughs that I’ve pulled from Eddie, this was my favorite. The happiness in him had to get out somehow, and it was like it was trying to force it’s way out of his body.

“Find some clothes?” Eddie asked. 

I nodded. 

“Good,” Eddie reached out a hand and it took me a second to realize he was waiting for me. I reached up and intertwined our fingers, and he let out a deep breath. “Don’t tell me Steve bought the whole polo section for you.”

“You should see all the khakis I got,” I teased and Eddie’s eyes widened. “You think you’ve seen preppy?”

Eddie shook his head at me and tried to take a step back. “What have I done? Letting you buy khakis?”

I laughed and tugged the hand I was holding closer to me. “They wouldn’t let me leave until I picked up enough clothes for their standards.”

“The horror,” Eddie teased. 

“Did you find what you were looking for?” I asked. 

Eddie shrugged. “Not exactly. You ready to head out?”

“Where are we going?”

Eddie shuffled his feet a bit before looking in Steve’s direction. Steve seemed to get the hint and turned around to go towards the noise that was coming from the other side of the van. 

I could feel Eddie look past me, probably eyeing Robin in the seat beside me before sliding closer to me. 

“By the time we drop everyone off it should be late enough that Wayne is up. Do you want to meet him?”

“You want to introduce me to your uncle?” I asked hesitantly. It was one thing meeting the group, but Wayne? The man that practically raised Eddie?

“Do you not want to?” Eddie asked quickly. He seemed to be speaking so fast he was tripping over his words. “Because if you don’t that’s completely fine and we can wait for another day when you are re-”

“Eddie,” I interrupted him. His mouth closed with a snap, his face flushing. “Of course I want to meet your uncle. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to.”

“Sweetheart,” Eddie said with a laugh. “I think after he got home this morning he was ready to shut me up because of how much I was talking about you.”

“Oh?” I asked. The emotion in Eddie’s voice; no one has ever spoken of me like that. “He wants to meet me?”

“Of course he does!” Eddie exclaimed as he bent forward to be closer to my height. “Why would he not?”

I shrugged my shoulders. 

“Wayne adopts everyone.” Robin let out a snort from behind me. “He’s almost as bad as Joyce.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

I took a deep breath. “I’m up for it.”

Eddie’s expression brightened. “Great. Let’s drop these two off and I’ll take you over there.”

I let Steve take the front seat again on the way back. I had a weird feeling about being alone with Eddie and meeting his uncle for the first time. I never really had anyone to talk about me like that, and Eddie just seemed to have no bounds on these situations. Was it really supposed to be this easy bringing people home to the family? I always had to gauge what kind of day it was before I even thought about bringing someone home.

“You promise to call me if you need anything?” Steve asked me again as he got out of the van and let me move to the front beside Eddie.

“I promise,” I said with a smile. 

“I don’t work tomorrow and with Eddie and Robin both being in school, I’m completely free to be with you tomorrow. Just so you aren’t alone.”

“Don’t worry Steve,” Eddie leaned towards me to face Steve out the passenger window. “I’ve got her. Thanks man.”

Steve waved us off with a smile and followed Robin towards the direction of his front door. Eddie waited until they both got inside before pulling out and out of the neighborhood. It was quiet for a minute between us; I didn’t know where to start and it seemed that Eddie was waiting for me to start. 

“Have I done something to upset you?” I asked him after the silence got too much for me to withstand.

Eddie kept his eyes on the road, but I could see his head slightly whip towards me and his hand tighten on the wheel. “Why would you think that?”

“I just,” I let out a frustrated sigh as I tried to piece together my thoughts and not to offend him. “Not that I have to go everywhere you go and not that you have to be in my sights; but I thought I might have done something when you sent Steve and Robin to go shopping with me.”

Eddie let out a breath. “So that’s a lot to unpack.”

I felt my face flush. “I’m sorry.”

“No.” Eddie said and when he came to a stop, he turned to look at me and grabbed my left hand. “I want you to be honest with me. I’m sorry that I gave that impression but I’m not upset with you.”

“You’re not?” 

Eddie shook his head as he took a turn. “I don’t think I could be upset with you, sweetheart. I just had something to think about and I needed a minute alone.”

“Oh,” I looked back out the window at that.

“That came out wrong!” Eddie exclaimed and squeezed my hand. “When I’m around you, you’re all I can think about sometimes. Kind of embarrassing, sweetheart.”

I felt more heat travel to my face. “I know what you mean.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asked, and I could see the side of his mouth facing me tick up in amusement. 

I groaned. Eddie let out another happy laugh at me. 

“Can I ask what you had to think about?”

Eddie was quiet for a moment. He stopped at another sign and checked to make sure no one was behind us before he angled himself more towards me. “You really want to know?”

“Of course I do. If something’s bothering you, I could be helpful.”

Eddie looked at me for a long moment, and whatever he was looking for he must have found because he let out a deep sigh and started driving again. “I was actually thinking about what you said at the diner.”

I tried to think back to what I exactly said. “About being ‘bound for life’?”

Eddie nodded his head. “The way you worded it made me feel like you didn’t think you had a choice in the matter. I was worried I had you all confused about this.”

One more turn and then Eddie was turning the van into a trailer park. We passed numerous trailers in all shapes and conditions before he stopped the van in front of a newer looking model at the very back of the park. The group mentioned yesterday that the government gifted Eddie and his uncle a new trailer before the other one had to be taken for “evidence”. This one seemed bigger than a majority of the others in the park and had an older looking truck parked in front of it as well. 

“You didn’t confuse me Eddie,” I said as he killed the engine but didn’t make a move to get out of the van. “You’ve been answering all my questions since I got here.”

“Have I?” Eddie questioned. “Because to me it feels like you don’t think you have a choice here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked him, a million different scenarios running through my mind. “Choice about being with you?”

“I told you when you woke up that this was going to be at your pace, and then this morning I said some pretty heavy things because you were freaking out. I just wanted to make sure you knew that whatever happened going forward was up to you. I don’t want you to feel like you have to be with me because of a mark that appeared on your arm. Soulmark’s don’t always have to involve romance, it can be completely platonic with no other feeling’s involved.”

Eddie turned to look at me head on. “I want whatever you want. You want to just be platonic? I can be platonic. But I need to know where you stand here or I might keep smothering you with affection that you feel obligated to return.”

That was a lot. 

“Eddie,” I started as I ran my thumb softly against his hand where it was still entwined with mine. “Did I give the impression that I wasn’t comfortable?”

“Well not e-”

“Yes or no?”

Eddie sighed. “No? But you’ve been so accepting of everything since you woke up, the last thing I’d want to do is force you into something you don’t want to do.”

“Baby,” the name escaped me before I could think twice. I let it hang in the air for a moment and with no complaint from him, I continued on. “You haven’t made me feel uncomfortable once while I’ve been here. I’ve been seeking you out in crowded rooms and sticking to your side because there is just something about you that makes me feel safe. I know that I have a choice here and I know that being bound to you for life is just more than romantic feelings. You asked me last night if I would go back given the opportunity, and I said no. You are right, since I’ve woken up I have just been going along with everything because I didn’t see a reason not to. No one has made a point to hurt me or get me to leave and you have been tripping over yourself to make sure that I feel comfortable here. I want to be here with you, I want to see where this goes. I’m choosing to be here with you and for the first time in my life, I’m wanting someone to choose me too.”

I let Eddie process my words for a moment. I watched him take in every facial expression, every movement that came from me so he could read me like he wanted to. I reached down to unbuckle my seatbelt before turning more towards him, bringing my other hand up to wrap around the one I was already holding. “Eddie, the way I was raised and the way my parent’s interacted with me really did a number on me. I have issues expressing certain needs, and a big one of those is affection. It’s really hard for me to just reach out, but you’ve been doing it for me since I got here and not once have I told you to stop. I love that you just want to reach out to me, it makes me feel like you see me in a crowded room.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asked quietly. 

“I don’t know the first thing about what we are doing,” I admitted to him. “But I want to try it with you. There are gonna be times I don’t get things right or I say something out of context and I just need you to be patient with me.”

Eddie stared at me a moment before pulling his hand out of my grasp and opening the door to get out of the van. I felt my stomach drop, my eyes begging to burn as he slammed the door behind him. Before I let it consume me, I noticed him running across the front of the van before opening my door and pulling me into his arms. I reached towards him and let him pull me from the van and into the gentlest hold I’ve ever been pulled to. One hand grabbed the back of his borrowed flannel while the other cradled the back of my head. In return I wrapped my arms around him tightly, not wanting to let any distance sit between us. 

“Sweetheart,” Eddie said into my hair as he squeezed me tighter to him. “Of course I want to try it with you.”

I laughed into his chest, feeling his vibrate back at me. He pulled back from me slowly, his hands moving to cup my face. “So we are on the same page?”

“There’s only ever been one page,” I said to him. “It’s not my fault you had the blank side facing up.”

Eddie let out another happy laugh before dropping his hands and shutting the van door behind me. In turn, he wrapped one around my shoulders and steered me towards the trailer door. 

“Stay with me tonight?” Eddie asked as we stopped outside the closed door. “Being away from you last night was torture, and I don’t want to do it again. I don’t care if I have to sleep on the floor wherever we end up tonight. I just want to stay close to you.”

“Wherever you go, I’ll go with you.” 

Eddie sent me another brilliant smile and with it my heart kicked up in my chest. I wanted to look at me like that everyday. 

“You ready to meet him?”

“If he’s anything like you I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Eddie gently nudged me before opening the door to the trailer and ushering us in. As for trailers go, it was a pretty good side. A worn couch was pushed against the back wall with a collection of mugs hanging above it. And there sitting on the couch was the man I determined to be Wayne. 

“Uncle Wayne!” Eddie shouted as he closed the door behind us. “This is my girl, the one from the future.”

Wayne’s eyes locked on me, a small smile growing across his weathered face. “Is that so?”

Hello! I'm sorry for the sporadic updates, it's been a few crazy weeks and I just made it worse because I quit my job yesterday! It's been a long time coming and there are some things you should stick out and some you don't. So hopefully these updates should start to be more structured.

Thoughts? Want to be added to the taglist? Leave a comment!

Thank you for all the love and support!

taglist: @silky-luxe @disaster-in-waiting @sadbitchfangirl @welliguessiwritethingsnow @comboboo @tuttigunner @avalon-wolf

[fakecoolkid]

I messaged you. And just like that, I slipped down a spiral staircase that ended in a pit of needles. Punctured, bleeding, wounded, delirious. I texted everyone I could. I slipped into a mild psychotic state. The KGB were after me again. The wavelengths in the air. Brainwashing me just like the words and actions of sociopaths and narcissists. I’m being puppeted by so many people. Who all holds the strings? I’m scared. Terrified. I’m spiraling out of control. I haven’t cried like this ever in my life. It is constant. Every day now for the past 5 days. I am not exaggerating. It got so bad that one of my alters had to front and take charge. I don’t know what’s happening. I’m scared to do therapy tomorrow. It feels like I am reliving every bad thing that has ever happened in my life all at once.

All the childhood trauma. All the teenage shit. Early adulthood. All the heart breaks. All the failed friendships. All the deaths. All the failures. All the pain. So much pain. No hope. No hope. Things felt hopeful for a little while until they came back into my life. Agent of chaos. You truly are. Good and Evil doesn’t really exist. But chaos? Yeah. I think… I think too much chaos tips me into an in unbalanced state where I cannot grasp anything, I have no anchor, and I fall so far that the only way out is [redacted].

I wanted to reach out to my first ex-fiancé. My first love. My first kiss. But I don’t think he ever wants to talk to me again. Ever. And realizing that today.. along with everyone else who has turned their back on me… I cannot breathe. I cry too hard. I hurt too much. I gasp and cough and choke from all the crying. How could someone who was so madly in love with me, despise me so much that they won’t even talk to me anymore?

What the fuck did I do? Was I really that awful to him? Am I a monster?

People I thought were my best and closest friends - gone. Poof.

So I look inward. What is it about me that makes it so easy to walk away and basically tell me “fuck off.” Or “I’m better off without you.”

Is it because of my severe mental illness? Did [redacted] abandon me because I was too sick? What about [redacted]? Or this or that. The list really does go on.

How can I love myself?

The “love” I learned at a young age was that of rape and abuse and punishment and fear. There were tender moments too. But mostly fear. Mostly solitude. I always had difficulty making and keeping friends.

Thanks autism.

Or whatever the fuck I have.

I think if I killed myself, a lot of people would probably just say, “it was only a matter of time.” Very few will be shocked. And I think very many will be disgusted because how can a piece of shit like myself atone for my sins if I am dead?

I don’t want to go to the ER. But I know how this ends. Because my alternative personality will step in and rat me out to my therapist. I want to die, but the other personalities do not.

Great.

Another 12-20 hours spent in a shitty psychiatric ER. Cool. Real cool.

[mhdiaries]

Diary of Clawdeen Wolf

This is my diary. If you want you life to last longer than in takes to read it. You won’t.

July 14th

I got up late so there was no hot water left then I cut myself shaving this morning cause my razor was dull and I was in a hurry to get out of the freezing water but amazingly enough the day actually went down hill from there… Later on Crescent, the alpha kitty, must have sensed my mood cause instead of spending the night prowling around her curled up in my lap and kept me company while I sorted through my funk.

July 15th

It rained today. I hate the rain. It totally caused my hair to poof out and I was not about to spend the rest of the day looking like a were-poodle. So I grabbed a pair of electric clippers and 15 minutes later I had new ‘do. It’s short, scary cute and perfectly wolfish. I think I’ll keep it for a while or at least until this rain goes away. I have decided that when I control my own fashion empire I’m going to have a stylist on call just for rainy days.

August 4th

I hate, hate, hate! Sharing a room with my sister. Howleen totally growls in her sleep, she wears my clothes and she got sprayed by a skunk last week which means that every time she takes a bath, which isn’t often, it stinks up the whole room. I’d hope she gets fleas but she’d just spread them to me.

August 7th

I’ve got to get serious about planning what I’m going to wear on the first day of school this year. I mean it’s not like I’m worried about some monster showing up and looking more fabulous than me but I feel obligated to set the bar for everyone else. Last year on the first day of school I caused a minor traffic jam just walking across the school parking lot. Its going to be hard to top that but I’ve been experimenting with some new hair styles and I’m considering just asking for a school assembly so that crowd control won’t be a problem.

August 10th

I tried a new hair remover made especially for werewolves. The label says it will totally eclipse unwanted hair and it’s supposed to keep you hair-free for a week…not. It’s expensive, it stings worse than wolfs bane and I still have to shave twice a day! What a rip…I could have used that money for a new belt.

August 15th

Spent the day at Draculaura’s. She’s the absolute sweetest BMFF ever! Although if she doesn’t stop trying to feed me tofu I’m going to bite her j/k ;p. She has like rooms and rooms of clothes. It’s like a fashion museum. So awesome! She always says that we’re going to pick out clothes to give Ghoul Will but she always gives most of them to me. I pretend I don’t need them but with so many brothers and sisters it’s not like there’s a lot of extra money to go around for new fashions. I guess we must have gotten a little loud though cause we woke up her dad. He doesn’t really like werewolves very much but he tolerates me cause I’m friends with Draculaura. Whatever. It’s not like I want to hang out with him either. Anyway, the best thing about Draculaura is that she doesn’t give me clothes because she feels sorry for me, she does it because she’s my friend.

August 19th

When to The Maul with Clawd today. He needed a new football and I needed to get some ideas for my next hair style. While I was there I saw the strangest thing. I was walking past the Witches Kitchen supply store and saw Deuce Gorgon reading a cookbook! I yelled “Yo Deuce, trying to find a recipe for snake?” He dropped the cookbook and looked all embarrassed; at least I think he was. It’s hard to tell what’s going on behind those glasses. I think he would have tried to stone me but Clawd walked up and Deuce chilled. Sometimes it’s cool to have the toughest guy in the school on your side. Thanks bro!

August 21st

If I were a mad scientist, the hairstyle experiment I tried today would be locked away in the lab never to see the light of day again. I flat ironed my hair so it was straight and then I razor cut it. As soon as the curl came back things got ugly. Even Howleen felt sorry for me. It’s a good thing I’m the werewolf equivalent of Rapunzel and my hair will be grown out by the end of the week or I’d be wearing a hat until Halloween.

August 23rd

Draculaura tried to talk me into trying out for the Fearleading squad again. Puhh..leeze. A list of why I’m not a fearleader:

1. I don’t “try out” for anything. 2. I wouldn’t be caught human in those uniforms. 3. -8. Boring and Cleo de Nile 4. While they’re yelling for the boys I’m in the stands flirting with the boys. 5. Boring and Cleo de Nile

I have thought about trying out just to show I could make the team but then I look at my list again and it reminds me why I don’t’ want to.

August 25th

Hung out an the Maul with Draculaura and met a new girl named Frankie Stein. She was shopping with her mom and fortunately for Frankie they ran into us. Otherwise she would have started the first day of school dressed like the Bride of Lame-n-stein. Frankie’s beautiful, and sweet but bit naïve. Fortunately, I’m here to make sure she gets properly educated in the ways of the fierce fashionista.

September 5th

Our annual End of Summer family boo-b-que was today. Mmmmm… fat juicy steaks for everybody. Except for Draculaura of course. She brought tofu dogs, veggie burgers and a human boy named Jackson Jekyll. She’ll always be my BMFF and the sweetest monster ever but ghoulfriend makes some strange choices. Anyway, I could tell he was really nervous, and what human surrounded by werewolves wouldn’t be, until Clawd started talking about football and then the two of them kinda hit it off. I think Draculaura is major league crushing on this guy.

September 6th

I know most monsters are probably dreading starting school but not me. I want to learn as much as I can so that I’ll be totally prepared when I start building my fashion empire. If for nothing else than to be able to move out of the house and get my own place without having to share everything with all my brothers and sisters. Oh no! I think I smell Howleen in the shower! Why couldn’t I have been an only wolf?

[sometimesrosy]

Rosy, how do you fall back in love with life? I’ve always been a very happy kid, not surrounded by friends but I wasn’t lonely either. When I went to university, I got sick by the end of the first semester and failed some classes. Because of that, I was put on different classes second semester and I guess became pretty isolated. Before I knew it, I was crying and couldn’t get out of bed. I went on antidepressants and everything seemed beautiful, I made friends and back in town reconnected with old ones. I even got together with my boyfriend, which was definitely a blessing, but then our old friends stopped caring about us and I distanced myself from some due to their attitudes. Anyway, things were still good, I got off the pills, I finished uni with a nice score and came back to town. Got a job at a study center and soon an internship there. I was already feeling lonely before covid, so when it hit I definitely didn’t feel much of a difference. Me and boyfriend went to live together, I got another job with actual coworkers, he found his niche, and we are happy overall. We are even going to buy a house! But there are times when I feel so low, I feel like I can’t really connect to the people at my job, I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either and I feel like I’m wasting my life away there, I’ve send out CVs and not a single place has called me for an interview (which feels alarming to me because I was always told I got a very good CV), and I simply can’t meet new people or even see them again after I do. When I start feeling like this, I want to run away and move countries if I have to. I “blame” my feelings on my hometown for being small, on my country for not having the same opportunities as UK or the USA, on people for not being more open about life. And it gets tiring, I want my bf to feel I’m happy with him, but sometimes I think he gets sad and thinks he’s not enough. I want to feel happy about the house we’re buying together instead of feeling overwhelmed about my life and where it’s headed. I don’t even know what I want, apparently.

The question of how to be happy is not something you can find an answer to and then poof it's done.

I mean aside from the chemical imbalance in the brain where you need meds to regulate things, but that doesn't always work because it's not always the problem and even with that taken care of, a lot of us are still struggling with happiness.

IDK. Life is tiring. It's hard work. It's a lot of disappointment and disillusionment. Things don't work out and people leave and stuff turns out to be not what you hoped for.

Happiness is not a thing to grab onto and hold, I think it's a state of mind, a habit, even an action.

I know one habit that helps is to keep a list every day of three things you are grateful for and/or three things that make you happy. Small things, big things, it doesn't matter. It's pretty hard to start taking these notes but as time goes on it gets easier as you train your brain to look for the good things in your life instead of the dissatisfactions.

Another habit is the habit of mindfulness. Recognizing that you are here, in this minute, making choices and living life. And this thing is good and that thing is meaningful, rather than just taking the life you're living for granted.

On social media, you also see people 'romanticizing' their lives. You know, instead of wishing you could be somewhere else where things are good and perfect and beautiful, you look at the life you're in and you make that the good and perfect and beautiful. Of course it won't really be perfect because there's no such thing. But it's also good to note that those lives that look perfect are just as flawed as yours. But if it's a life you love that you want, then ROMANTICIZE the life you life. Candles and music with dinner. A walk under the stars. Cozy socks and old quilts while reading your favorite book. An adventure to the book store. A sunset over the city. Whatever it is you see in other people's lives that looks like what you want. TAKE IT. AND PUT IT IN YOUR LIFE.

And then again, maybe what you're lacking is a spiritual component to your life. Maybe you want PURPOSE to your life. How do you find your purpose? Explore your chosen religion and/or humanistic practice. Maybe you need to give to others. Maybe you need to meditate or go to church. Maybe you need to commit yourself to something that is outside of yourself.

There's also a buddhist concept of non-attachment. It's very difficult, imo. But the idea is to stop resisting your life as it is, stop WANTING things to be different from what they are, and just, well, accept them for what they are. You want your friends to stick around? Sorry. They're not. And maybe it's not because of something horrible but just because your lives diverged. You are lonely right now? And you don't want to be? Ok, but this is where you are right now, and instead of fighting it maybe explore your personal relationship WITH YOURSELF. You can be alone without being lonely. It's basically just the idea that fighting what your life is is where all the pain and suffering comes from. If you say-- but i don't want to stay here, I don't want to accept it-- that's part of the trick of non-attachment. Because if you ACCEPT your life as it is, you actually have more energy to change things because you're not resisting it the whole time. Your life is HERE. Even if you don't want it to be it is. Now that you're accepting that, what steps RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE, can move you forward? but in order to be here right now right here you have to let it BE.

[bbiemochi]

saw reqs open :D i really loved how you wrote mika in your last req so i was wondering if you could be able to do a hiiro and writer!reader one where they're almost like leo when it comes to composing, but instead of writing down their ideas, they space out for a few minutes to form it in their head? hiiro needs a little more love and i think the reader would see his perspective of life as an inspiration <3

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎 | hiiro amagi x reader

[an]: hi, hi, sweetie~! <33 tysm for requesting! first things first, i’m sorry this took a while JEJSUSJS i had to pull my shitty motivation back together to finish requests ToT and my lack of brain juice is storming so i decided to use that to the reader as inspo LFMSJSNSI anyways, please do enjoy! <33

summary: like always, your boyfriend always notices when you’re struggling with words as your reputation as a writer. and as much as he loves you, hiiro helps out by opening his heart to you.

pairing: hiiro amagi x g/n!writer!reader

genre: fluff!

“arghh! no, no, no—that idea isn’t good enough..!”

as a head was slumped down the desk, papers scattering down the floor while a pen rolled over along, hiiro hears you groan for the 5th time this day after returning from idol practice. the new idol was often confused of you could easily get irritated when no sense of inspiration floats over your head like what happens all the time when writing a new paragraph for your new book. you’re a writer you see, and despite so it seems your lack of new ideas can completely bother you from time to time, and because of that you tend to freak out.

the deadlines is what pressured you the most. hiiro knows these for sure, in fact he tends to take note in mind that every time he visits your place, the first thing you both would enter is your (quite messy) room. just a cup of coffee, papers scattered, a typewriter on the side and your laptop on your studying table. plus add your trash can that has been filled. there were moments were you would stay quiet like a doll, then type down on what’s your head. and with that action thus brings a smile over his face. however, regardless of your condition at the moment, hiiro still loves how determined and hardworking you are at your position. even though you tend to just whine out of thin air which surprises him. like right now.

“out of ideas again?”

“it’s not that easy, ok?? i swear, whenever an inspiration comes out in mind and i decided to rethink it, all of a sudden, poof! it’s gone…!” you responded before slamming your head down your table, creating a loud thud. because of this, hiiro worriedly stands up and walks over to your side, hand reaching towards your shoulder. you were more worn out today than you always were, he takes notice of this. from the time being you would simply ask questions like; ‘oh should i put this on this?’ or either a ‘maybe i should add something more to these characters to add more interests to the readers?’ whatever it was, you would always tell hiiro what the fuss was. although at this moment, it seems that wasn’t the case at all.

as the male looked over your laptop (while your head was still slumped down on your desk), hiiro reads your work, carefully…reading every word existing in that very page of your work and then…smiles. it wasn’t that bad. well, he’s not much of a book reader so he doesn’t know. hiiro only reads your books, and no one else’s (also the magazines he reads given by aira about idols). “y/n are you writing a romance novel for your next work or…?” he asks, using the mouse to scroll down in order to read more. you hummed from below, not even bothering to look up and face him. “my editor told me that i’ve been writing a lot of amazing ideas about mystery plots, but then requested me if i could make a change a little…the most popular genre right now is romance so i gave that one a shot…” you replied, and your boyfriend nods in return.

over 221 pages is what you’ve written in total this month. he was reading the current page you were stuck in and whining about. chapter 15: cupids’ words it titles. and the main protagonist was narrating about the small realization of love that they’re feeling towards the love interests. typical novels. standing up, hiiro taps over your shoulder and placed both hands on his hip. “y/n, look at me,” he says, and you did. slowly lifting your head, hair messy and eyelids carried with dark circles underneath, hiiro sends you a beam. “i know exactly what you’re missing,” he adds, then you smiled widely.

“really?! oh my god, i knew you were a savior! tell me, tell me…!”

he chuckles at your reaction. “ok then. what you need is…a good and relaxing sleep.”

your face pauses. huh? the next thing you know is that you were being dragged down on the bed. hiiro was strong…so you didn’t had any time to escape his tough grip from your arm and slide back to your working station. now that you were laying down, hiiro finally locks you into his warm arms, face resting on your shoulders as he hums over your neck, sending small shivers down your back. “h-hiiro…! wait, no! i…i have to get back to work…!” you yelled, yet your lover didn’t listen. instead, his grip on you tightened, now there was no way you’re going to be able to escape his grasp. this guy…you swear…

“no, get some rest. i’m tired of seeing you stressed all the time…” you hear him mumble on your shoulder. the sight of your boyfriend being clingy was…kind of rare. in fact, he did support every action you made, he never seemed to make you refuse your decision, but today? hiiro was more caring than ever. this made your heart pound a little…cheeks slightly flushed and your hands gripping on his shoulder as you sighed. the room was a bit dark, considering it was almost nightfall—around 5:57pm. the lamp on your desk was still opened, papers making small noises down and the sound of silence took the rest of it along with a clock’s hand ticking down. you were speechless. you’re probably in the middle of thinking right now, is what hiiro guesses.

“how was practice…?” you managed to erupt out while cuddling the male.

you can feel him smile over your shoulder. “it was alright i guess…i was worried aira was dozing off a bit today. we thought he had a fever or something and…it turned out he was just nervous for the next live we’re going to be holding.”

“typical aira…” a conversation grows.

“yeah. not just that, when we return to the dorm he suddenly just slumped down on his bed—not even bothering to eat dinner. the next thing we know is that he was asleep…” hiiro added, and you laughed. “was he that exhausted? poor aira..”

“i’m not sure, either. but all i know is that he practiced well today. and that’s the important part..heck, today i even met even more idols than before. they all looked so serious, but i can’t help but ask some of them to be my friend.”

as another wave of peace floated by, you gently pushed hiiro away to look at his face. hiiro notices this gesture and looked back at you with pure bewilderment. “you’re…really optimistic about opening up to new friends, aren’t you…?”

hiiro wasn’t sure if you were serious about that question since he knew you know about this attitude of his. in fact, because of his friendly nature—that’s how he met you. “i like making new friends,” he answers back, naturally. “that’s how i got to know you after all. and i don’t regret a single thing about it.” hiiro finds you quiet, and observant at the moment. you were thinking…

if it was the temperature in this room or your cheeks glowing red, you would choose the temperature more for the reason. sheepishly, you dug your face down on your lover’s chest, too embarrassed to even look at him in the eye. “i-i know that..” you murmured. he chuckles down over your figure as he brushes his fingers through your hair. “do you still remember those words?” he looks down at you while he asks. “those three words you told me one night while we were scrolling down back to your house?”

your face heats up. “o-of course i do…”

with that reply, hiiro smiles. “would you mind saying it?”

“you little…! i-if you just wanna hear me say it at least say it first..” you retorted before inhaling a deep breath. hiiro was smiling cheek to cheek the entire time, and you were stuck between pinching his cheeks until it hurt or kissing him. and then, it struck you. “i love you.” just simple three words and it still made his heart jump till this day. satisfied with you response, hiiro pulls you close to him as the both of your foreheads stuck together, his laughter echoing the room while all you could do was blush.

“and i love you too…!” he says, pressing a small peck on your lips. how many cupids shot your heart today? definitely a lot…and he was the main victim for your love. with the idea popping through your head, you excitedly pushed hiiro away with the most huge smile on your face your boyfriend had ever seen today. your actions surprised him while you yelp in joy. “that’s it…! i finally found an inspiration! hiiro i really, really love you!!”

“eh?? y/n what are you—

jumping out of the bed, you quickly made your way back towards your study table and opened your laptop up in a flash, now continuing to type down on what had placed over your head. hiiro stands up after, and as he watches you type over your laptop with a wide grin, all he could do was smile over at you. who was he to stop your actions when you looked so adorable right now?

after your work was over and the two of you head to bed, hiiro secretly reads the chapter you finished today. instead of seeing ‘chapter 15: cupids’ words’ like it was titled this day, instead he saw ‘chapter 15: the three words you told me.”

a/n: i felt like this was a little rushed HUHUHU I’M SORRY :,}

request: closed :(

[simplyotometrash]

MC turns into MSheep!

Inspired by the lil anime announcement we got because I love MC still being represented by a lil sheepie~!

As usual, this is gender-neutral reader!MC

It was a total accident. You were just working on your potion project with Solomon. He was helping you with the math of it, mostly, since it was pretty complicated. You had no idea where things went wrong. There was a puff of pink smoke when you added the last ingredient and suddenly Solomon was a giant! Well, actually you were turned into a small pink sheep...

Lucifer:

He didn’t know what to say when Solomon brought you home.

You were a sheep. A tiny sheep. And very pink.

His beloved was a sheep.

Lucifer.exe has stopped responding.

Honestly, give this old man a few moments to take in the shock and let things settle.

Then he’s going to threaten Solomon because who else would have turned you into a fucking sheep?

A tiny voice sounded from the sheep. It sounded like you, only smaller.

“It was my fault. I think. Solomon didn’t even touch my potion ingredients.”

Well, that doesn’t change anything. Solomon had best change you back or else.

And those words shot pure ice through your veins. You knew when your Lucifer got pissed off, his threats were not to be taken lightly.

For the time being, however, you had to live as a sheep.

Lucifer didn’t hesitate to just carry you everywhere. What if you got lost? Or Beel tried to eat you? Or Belphie thought you were a pillow? Or Mammon tried to sell you?

There were too many variables and this old demon just wanted some peace of mind.

So you went literally everywhere with him. You two still talked as normal. You even slept in his room still. 

You promised yourself to help him relax once you were human again. You knew your situation caused a lot of unneeded stress on the poor man.

It took three whole days before Solomon was able to change you back.

But when you were human again you didn’t expect Lucifer to hug you so tightly or give you such a firm kiss. He had missed his human being, well, a human far more than he cared to admit.

But you better make good on helping him relax. I think there’s some grey in his hair now.

Mammon:

Haha, good joke, Solomon! Now, where was his human? Really, where were they hiding?

He was so sure it was a prank and you were taking pictures from the bushes or something.

When you voice sounded from the small sheep Mammon nearly fainted.

What the fuck did Solomon do to his human?! The Great Mammon’s human was a sheep!

You explained your situation and Mammon only grew more jittery.

He was grinding his teeth. He didn’t hesitate, though, to snatch you away from Solomon and hold you like you were the most sacred thing in the whole of Devildom.

“Ya better turn them back! I can make money at the casinos so name the price!”

Oh he was serious. Mammon was willing to pay good Grimm just to turn you back.

And Solomon, after cruel teasing with pricing your return to human at over a million Grimm, said he would do it for free. After all, there was no telling if this would wear off or if it needed to be reversed.

So he would do it. It was a good chance to study your potion recipe and figure out how you fucked up.

Mammon, like his older brother, took you literally everywhere with him. But by everywhere I do mean everywhere. Lucifer at least had the decency to leave you out when he went to the bathroom. Mammon did not.

He was also making sure to keep you away from Asmo, who had fallen for your pink and fluffy form on sight. 

Mammon talked to you like you were still human. He treated like his human.

But he also acted like you would break at any second. He had never been so careful in his life.

He honestly cried on the third day, worried you might be stuck as a sheep. He didn’t know what to do.

Of course, you were turned back by that evening. Solomon had dropped by to check in and the potion naturally wore off.

Mammon hugged you so tight you felt like you were being suffocated.

But he was back to normal the second Solomon joked that he wanted to get paid for his efforts.

Levi:

Once Solomon was able to get into his bedroom, Levi just about fainted at the sight of you.

He wasn’t even skeptical about this.

It was just like the anime “Help I’ve Accidentally Been Turned Into a Sheep and Now I’m Stuck!”. Literally, just like the anime! 

You needn’t worry about anyone trying anything with you while Solomon worked to turn you back, it wasn’t like you would be leaving Levi’s room very much.

You were in his lap almost 24/7 save for when you needed food or to go to the bathroom. Or he needed to do the same. 

His room was a fortress so you were pretty much safe. 

You couldn’t remember the last time you got to spend quite that much time with your otaku. He could be difficult at times, especially when he was playing a game.

You actually relished the time spent as a sheep because of it.

Levi was not-so-secretly getting more and more anxious though. 

He saw the anime! He made you watch it with him in one sitting, too! What if this turned out just like the anime and you never turned back into a human?

The main character in the anime was a sheep for an entire YEAR!

If he had a soul it would have left his body at the very thought.

By the end of the third day you could tell he was totally falling apart.

His partner was a sheep. Probably forever.

With a poof of pink smoke you were human again.

And Levi unconscious because, for some reason, you turned human and had no clothes on.

You just put on some of his clothes for the time being and called Solomon.

You caught a glimpse in the mirror as you were on the phone and told him to keep working on that reversal potion.

You still had sheep fluff for hair, horns, and sheep ears...

Satan:

If looks could kill then Solomon would have been dead where he stood.

The sin of wrath was so pissed off that there was an evil, menacing aura radiating from him.

And it was directed solely at Solomon.

“I don’t even want you working on a way to turn them back. You might be a great sorcerer but I’m going to do this myself.”

He snatched you away and slammed the door in the sorcerer’s face.

No one tried to bother him as he stormed back to his room. 

“I promise I’m going to turn you back, MC.”

He poured over his books and had you give him the potion you had been making. You had to tell every single detail you could remember of what happened leading up to your transformation.

But he didn’t only focus on turning you back.

He couldn’t neglect you being in the room with him. You still brought out the calm within him and made him feel at ease.

When you insisted he take breaks, he would make some tea and give you a straw so you didn’t get tea in your wool.

Like he usually did, he read to you when you wanted to go to sleep. It was even more relaxing holding a warm ball of fluff.

But he barely slept.

He had to figure out a way to turn his favorite person back to normal.

You were still you, no doubt about that, but he missed you being a person. Someone he could kiss and hold hands with. Someone he didn’t have to worry about accidentally crushing or losing because you were so small.

He finally figured it out. He studied your potion recipe for hours on end until he figured out what went wrong. You had been given a recipe that had been “mislabeled”.

Knowing that made it a cinch to turn you back within the hour.

Now to murder the dodgy sorcerer who gave you the recipe for class to begin with.

Asmo:

“Whaaaaaat? MC? A sheep? Oh, darling, you are so cute! And so soft!!”

He canonically loves cute things (did you read the Devilgram story about him taking care of bunnies?) so he was having the time of his life.

And then it hit him as soon as Solomon laughed.

He couldn’t go out on dates with you. He couldn’t kiss you. Or see your stunning face. Your voice wasn’t the same. 

Solomon promised to do what he could to fix this, but it could take a few days.

Did he spend the next hour crying and hugging your fluffy body? Yes, yes he did.

You got him calmed down, reassuring him that it was temporary and there were some perks. He would totally get lots of attention on Devilgram if he posted your pictures! You were pink, his favorite color! You had lots of soft wool he could brush and he could paint your tiny sheep hooves!

That perked him right up.

He spent the next several hours styling your wool, somehow managing to put braids in it. He gave you cute decorative pieces to wear in your wool, painted your hooves to match his nails, and even gave you a little bowtie!

And boy did his Devilgram blow up with attention at the sight of your pictures.

You even inspired his newest clothing designs! Clothing for pets! Devildom didn’t have a cute variety of pet clothes, and while you weren’t a pet, you were very inspiring to look at.

Even pets deserved to look beautiful!

You were so soft to snuggle with but nighttime really made him miss you. Even in an innocent way, he missed skin-to-skin cuddling. It was always so reassuring.

But he didn’t have that.

He managed to get through the days that went by before Solomon finally turned you back.

And he was beginning to wonder if Solomon had drawn out your time as a sheep on purpose.

That didn’t matter, though. Not when he had to take you out on a date!

Beel:

Solomon was holding something soft and fluffy. Was it food? Cotton candy? It looked really sweet and tasty.

“Beel, no, it’s me!”

“MC...?”

He wasn’t happy once the situation was explained. But he didn’t show it. To be fair, he wasn’t the most outwardly expressive of his emotions unless it was necessary.

With Solomon’s promise to return you to normal, he just carried you back to the kitchen with him.

But he wasn’t hungry anymore. Not when his dear human was in a new and unusual form.

It caused him to go into a bit of a crisis, though.

What did sheep eat? What could YOU eat? You were a human in a sheep’s body after all. Did you have to eat what sheep ate or could you still eat your favorite things?

He sat there, staring at the cupboards and fridge, with the most worried look on his face.

To be fair, you weren’t sure either.

And you two stayed liked that until Satan said you could still eat whatever you liked, though it would be best to avoid meat unless it was basically shredded. 

Then came Beel’s next huge crisis: he was terrified of crushing you!

You were so tiny and delicate now, even more fragile than when you were a human.

It took a little convincing but Beel took to carrying you literally everywhere you wanted to go. He loved how soft you were.

Though you didn’t like how often he drooled on you because your fluff looked too tasty. You promised to get him cotton candy once you were a human again, which kind of helped the situation.

Beel even made sure to make everything you ate easy on you! He didn’t want anything to be hurtful to your little sheep body or hard for you to eat!

He didn’t hesitate to help you drink the reversal potion once Solomon got it made, holding his breath until he saw you in your proper state again.

He could breathe easy again. 

Belphie:

What was Solomon carrying? A new pillow or something?

It looked so soft and like it would be a perfect napping pillow.

He wasn’t even listening to anything Solomon had to say, the explanation going in one ear and out the other.

He was focused on going inside to use the new pillow.

Until he heard you talking to him after Solomon had given up on explaining anything.

Now he was mildly concerned. You weren’t you anymore. You were a sheep. He actually listened as you told him your story, unlike with Solomon, and he merely shrugged.

“Well, what can you do? You’ll be normal again eventually.”

You knew your grumpy demon, though. He was worried about you. But Belphie was never good at showing his worry for others unless it was drastic.

True to form, he passed out once he laid down again. You were held against him as if you might disappear while he slept.

It was all the more proof he was worried about your situation.

He still slept most of the time, he was like a cat in that he slept for hours without moving. You had to wiggle free to do anything. No one wanted to wake up to a sheep smelling like piss and you didn’t want a bath.

Belphie whined that taking care of you as a sheep was too much work, but the moment anyone tried to take you from him he immediately got defensive. He even threatened to break Mammon’s hands.

The only one he trusted with you was Beel.

Always sleeping holding your little sheep self did make him realize he wanted a stuffed animal version of you just like that.

It was so nice to snuggle with.

But he missed the normal you. He wanted to have you to lay on or go “star” gazing with. He wanted to do things with you again that weren’t quite possible with you as a sheep.

So he may have gone to find Solomon and threaten him if he didn’t turn you back quicker.

It was all for naught, as he came home to find you curled up in his bed in your human form once again.

He’d wake you up later. For now, he wanted to take another nap with you.

[thiccnthintfs]

Squad Goals

Jack smirked and snapped the selfie with his phone. With a pic like this, he’d have some pussy in a few hours tops. He threw it up on his socials before tossing his phone onto his bed, then just stood in front of his mirror, flexing.

Life was good. Three months into college and he’d been having a blast. Scoring girls almost every night, partying with his bros, plus he was dominating in wrestling, so he was sure his athletic scholarship would be getting renewed. And tonight? Tonight would be legendary. He was going out with his best bros, Kyle, Steve, and Tom and Tom had promised it would be a night to remember.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door to Jack’s door. His smirk broadened into a grin. That would be the guys now! Jack sauntered over to the door, swinging it open.

“Whaaaat up, bros? You’re- oh, the fuck...” Jack started energetically, before trailing off. He’d been expecting his bros, but standing in his door instead, acting like they fucking own the place, had to be three of the biggest fags he’d ever seen on campus.

“Jackie, doll!” The one on the right squealed, “We’ve come to fetch you babe. Ya ready?”

“Obviously he’s NOT ready, T! Boy’s not even got his panties on! Like, I told you we were running early,” the one on the right sassily retorted, propping one hand on his slender hip.

“I seriously don’t mind this view, though...” the middle twink bashfully added, lisping, “Like...don’t mind us, Jackie. You take your sweet time getting ready.

“The fuck are you fags and where the fuck do you think you get off talking to me like that?” Jack growled at the twinks, but under his anger there was a growing confusion. These three were fucking flowers, but they almost looked...familiar?

“Jackie, babe. It’s us. Your besties?” the right twink looked at Jack over the rim of his green-tinted shades. “Like, duh! It’s me, Tommy! And Kylie and Stevie, obvi!” Tommy flicked a limp wrist toward the left and middle twinks in turn.

“What the...” Jack gasped, a horrified look spreading across his face. It couldn’t be! “Nice try, but cut the shit, fairies! You...you may look a bit like my bros, but there’s no way! Tom’s one of the biggest guys in the gym! And Kyle and Steve are heavyweights in wrestling like me!”

“Like eww, sports,” the right twink, Kylie, gagged before giggling, “Though I admit...I do miss fondling all those hunky guys.

“Saaaame, girl,” the middle twink, Stevie, agreed, lisping yet again.

“Babe, I promise its us. Like would I lie to you? Remember? Tonight is supposed to be legendary!” Tommy smirked before taking a step into the room. “And oh, honey. It will be.”

Jack backed up, horrified. Still smirking, Tommy took another few steps into the room. Giggling behind him, Stevie and Kylie followed and shut the door.

“The fuck...how can it be you guys? You were all twice as big yesterday! Not to mention straight...” Jack trailed off.

“Hah, you know, that’s a funny story...” Kylie said as he shot a glare toward Tommy. “Turns out that Tommy here was never as straight as he claimed to be. He fucked some twink behind the gay bar two days ago and then boom! Next day he wakes up a toooootal fag himself! Imagine my surprise when he knocked on my dorm looking like this!”

“Pssh, bitch, don’t act like you didn’t love it! You sure fucked me like you did!” Tommy shot back, making Kylie blush. He ran his hands down his slender chest and stomach. “Besides...now that I’ve gotten used to it, like I feel fabulouth!”

“Fuck...” Jack muttered, not knowing what else to say. He backed up a few steps further, falling back onto his bed.

“Oh...” Tommy was grinning devilishly, “We’ll get to that. See, babe, like...I don’t fully get what happened, but that twink I fucked? Must’ve been like magic or a curse or something to make me into this flaming comet. Whatever it is, it must be catching, though! Because when I woke up and was craving dick sooo badly, I found Kylie here and had him fuck me. Then poof! Kylie’s a fag, just like me! Then he was craving dick, too, so obvi we found Stevie and turned him out, too.”

Jack stared at Steve...or Stevie. The blushing twink was eyeing Jack hungrily. Now that he had fully stepped into the room, Jack noticed that unlike the other two, Steve still had a bit of muscle to him. His thighs a little thicker, his pecs a little meatier, at least compared to the other two.

“Soooo, you see, Jackie...” Tommy droned on, “We’ve learned a couple of things! Like, apparently, the most recent convert is just increeeedibly thirsty for cock after they come over.” Tommy giggled. “And also...like, the more guys you fuck, the twinkier you get!”

Stevie took another step toward Jack. “And Stevie here...he’s awfully hungry, Jackie...” Tommy intoned ominously.

“St-Stay the FUCK away from me, you fags!” Jack shouted, backpedaling on his bed. No way he was gonna become a fag like these guys!

Tommy sighed. “Give it a rest please, Jackie. There’s one other thing I’ve figured out...this curse or whatever?” Tommy smiled sweetly. “Like, it makes us irresistible, babe! All the guys want us! I mean...think about it, hon. If you really wanted away from us...big strong boy like you, wouldn’t you be gone by now?”

Jack opened his mouth to retort, but found that he had nothing to say. Shit. He tried to will himself up, away from these fairy former friends of his...but no matter how much he willed it, he found that he just couldn’t move.

Well, at least most of him wasn’t moving. Dread etched into his face, Jack looked down to find that his dick was inexplicably getting hard, causing his towel to tent upward.

The twinky trio smirked and with that each boy began to remove their tiny speedos. David nearly gagged. The twinks were hard, too, though it looked like none of them had a dick over 3 inches long. He was sure that they’d all once been bigger.

“See, babe? Toooootally irresistible, even to straighties!” Tommy giggled. “But don’t worry! You won’t be straight for long! After all...us four? We’re a toootal squard and like, it’s time you rejoined us!”

Tommy braced himself as the twinks dove onto him.

“Fuck...no...fuck...” Jack moaned. Tommy and Kylie had each latched onto a pec with their mouths and were sucking expertly on Jack’s nipples as they grinded their twinkish bodies into Jack’s stomach and sides. Every now and again he’d feel a little wet pinprick, which Jack realized was the two twinks’ dicks poking up against his stomach or hips.

“Remember...Kylie...” Tommy said between licks, “As yummy as he is...Stevie gets the main course.”

Jack gasped, looking up over the heads of the two writhing twinks to see Stevie standing on the edge of the bed, between Jack’s legs. Despite everything, his towel had managed to stay on this whole time, but it didn’t look like that would be the case for much longer.

Moving like a feral beast, Stevie yanked Jack’s towel, undoing the knot and with that, all 7 inches of Jack’s cock sprung upward. Stevie’s eyes locked right onto it, following it as hypnotically bobbed back and forth from Tommy and Kylie’s licking and grinding.

“Steve...please, man...I don’t wanna be a fag...” Jack pleaded. This broke Stevie out of his cock hunger, if only for a moment. He smiled almost kindly at Jack.

“Don’t worry, Jackie. It doesn’t take long. And you learn to love it, I swear!” Stevie wrapped one of his dainty hands around Jack’s dick, making him gasp. “Though I don’t think I could resist even if I wanted to, Jackie...I’m soooo... hungry!”

And with that, Stevie dove in. Jack’s eyes widened as he felt his friends warm mouth wrap around his dick, then begin bobbing up and down. Up and down. Every now and again, the twink would glance sultrily upward toward Jack.

And Jack couldn’t lie to himself. That breathy, starry-eyed look as Stevie slobbered over his meat nearly fucking made his come then and there.

Hell. If this was how he was going down, he might as well at least enjoy himself right? Soon as that thought came into his head, Jack found that he could move again. He took each muscled arm and shoved them down on Tommy’s and Kylie’s heads, forcing them to suck even more forcefully on his pecs.

“Fuck...fuck yeah, you twinks! You like that, huh? A top who’ll put you in your place?!” Jack growled, his dick twitching as the two twinks moaned in reponse.

“And you...” Jack growled, reaching down toward Stevie, “Fucking take it all, you bitch” Jack shoved Stevie’s head down so that Jack’s length was fully inside him.

Jack grinned, reveling in the sight of the dominated twink. And that’s when he noticed it. Stevie was changing.

As he bobbed up and down on Jack’s dick, Jack saw that Stevie’s shoulders were drawing inward. His light pecs were flattening out. And his ass, the boy’s ass was growing...filling in with fat that made the two globes jiggle as Stevie worked up and down on Jack’s dick.

That ass.

“That ass...fuck! I need that ass!” Jack shouted, suddenly, throwing Kylie and Tommy off of him and reaching down to pull Stevie up onto his bed in one swift motion. The dazed twink stared up at Jack and Jack saw that even his features had become twinkier. Stevie had a button nose and his hair...it had always been platinum, right? Not wasting any more time, though, Stevie flipped and offered his growing bubble butt to Jack. Moving almost instinctually, Jack groped Stevie’s cheeks, then in one quick movement, plunged his dick inside.

“Ugh...” Stevie moaned, “Jackie...go easy on me, babe.” Jack paid the twink no mind. It was like he was on auto-pilot. He began to piston his cock in Stevie’s ass, ignoring the small part of his mind that was screaming for him to stop, that soon he’d be past the point of no return.

“Aww...I was hoping for more of a taste...” Jack was vaguely aware of Kylie off to the side as he said this. From his other side, he heard a sigh. Tommy.

“Me, too, hon...me, too...this may be a record. In the end, Jackie here didn’t put up much of a fight.”

Some small part of Jack felt outraged at this statement, but he quickly brushed this part of him aside. He couldn’t stop thinking about how good it felt thrusting into Stevie’s newly fattened ass. As faggy as this was, somehow, when he was fucking this twink, Jack had never felt so manly.

“Fuuuuuuck yeeeah!!” Jack shouted, flexing his biceps as he continued to pump into Stevie. “Get ready, fag. I’m about to breed your athhole!” Jack starting thrusting even faster into Stevie, completely oblivious to the fact that he’d lisped the last word.

Off to the side, Tommy and Kylie smirked, each twink touching himself as they watched the show. It was about to happen.

Jack reached down with both hands to pull Stevie’s hair, causing the twink to moan even more, not noticing how his arms were rapidly deflating.

Thrust, thrust, thrust.

“Fuck...fuck...fuck....” Jack muttered, feeling himself edging closer to coming, not noticing how his voice ratcheted upward in tone with each “fuck.”

Thrust, thrust, thrust.

It was getting strangely harder for Jack to keep his balance as he fucked Stevie. He’d always been a top-heavy guy...or so he thought, as he felt a droplet of sweat run down his slender chest. But he was feeling almost...bottom-heavy all of a sudden. It almost felt like his own ass was starting to jiggle as much as Stevie’s.

Thrust, thrust, thrust.

“I...think thomething’s wrong with me...” Jack lisped. He was still fucking Stevie, but he was starting to get fucking tired. “I...ahh!”

And with that, Jack came and as he came, it was almost like he could feel his cock contracting inside Stevie’s asshole, like it was growing...smaller.

Jackie - that was his name, right? - though about this only briefly before he promptly collapsed.

================

“Pleeeeease, somebody fuck me!” Jackie whined, prancing through his dorm room half-dressed and glowering at his friends.

“Jackie, we’ve been over this, babe,” Tommy said with a sigh. He was entwined with Kylie on Jackie’s bed, both twinks still feeling sluggish after a night of playing with and sucking each other off. “There’s a lot we do...but topping isn’t one of those things, sweety!”

Jackie flipped Kylie off, before desperately turning to Stevie. “Please, Stevie? I fucked you last night, so you owe me one!” The lounging Stevie gave Jackie a tired look. Being fucked by Jackie last night had twinkified him even further.

“And you know that I appreciate that, doll, really!” Stevie mewled as he stretched out in a pair of Jackie’s briefs he’d claimed for himself, “But it doesn’t work that way! Once you come over to this side, it’s all about getting fucked, not fucking!”

Jackie crossed his arms and pouted.

“Yeth, I thee that,” he lisped. “Well, then...I need to find a guy to FUCK me! And thooner rather than later, pleath! Tho hurry up ladies, we need to go on the prowl for dick!”

Jackie turned, pausing as he caught sight of himself in his room’s mirror. He was a total twink. His face was boyish now with big lips and big eyes.His shoulders had narrowed considerably and much of his muscle had evaporated away, save for his abs. His dick was tiny now, too, but thankfully he could still fit in most of his underwear thanks to the growth he’d experienced in his ass.

“Thstill kind of thmall, though...” Jackie pouted, waggling his butt as he stared at his reflection, “Though if I could just find the right guy...hmm.”

Jackie turned and pranced back toward his friends. A minute or two of searching and he found his phone sandwiched between Kylie and Tommy in the sheets of his bed. He opened his phone to see the selfie he’d taken yesterday.

And then he scowled. “Eww...like gross, I looked like a total caveman...” he muttered, “Kinda hot, though...reminds me a bit of Brad, that sexy RA...” Suddenly, Jackie lit up! That was it! He turned to his friends, grinning devilishly.

“Ok, girls, listen up! You remember Bradley, from down the hall? I think it’s time we add him to our squad...”

[seijorhi]

No Strings Attached

A commission for the lovely @hearteyes-candyskies, hope you like it bby! 💕

Bokuto Koutarou x female reader

TW Age gap, power imbalance, manipulation, toxic behaviour, nsfw(ish)

Three months ago, you would have laughed at the very idea of having a sugar daddy. 

Then again, three months ago you were still living with your boyfriend and had a steady paycheck coming in every week. You can blame losing the latter on bad luck and an asshole boss, but the former-

You knew your relationship with your ex was far from perfect, but coming home from losing said job to find him buried balls deep in your next door neighbour was a bit of a slap in the face. 

Needless to say, in the space of a few days you were out a job, a boyfriend and an apartment. Which, somewhat inevitably, led to you being six wines deep, slumped over your best friend’s bed, sobbing over the wreckage of the life you’d built, suddenly ripped out from beneath you.

You can’t really remember whose idea it was, only giggling drunkenly between yourselves as Misuzu set up your ‘sugar baby’ profile. “Shh, no this is gonna be great,” she’d said, hitting at the hands that tried to grab back your phone. “Meet some hot rich old dude, ride a little dick, let him shower you in cash; all your problems? Poof, sorted!”

And even with the heady, rose tinted haze of your wine fuelled inebriation, you knew that it was just a joke, a bit of stupid fun born more out of an attempt to cheer you up than a viable plan to get the tattered remains of your life back on track. Calling some old creepy dude ‘daddy’ and pretending to love him (not to mention the whole letting him fuck you thing) just for a little money wasn’t exactly your idea of a good time.

Plus, you were fairly sure that you weren’t what most people had in mind when they thought ‘sugar baby’. It wasn’t ever meant to be anything serious, just dumb, drunken fun with your friend.

So when you woke the next day a little after mid morning with a head full of regrets and a pounding headache, the last thing you expected was to find a message from BigDaddyKou82 waiting for you, better sense told you to ignore it.

Honestly, you didn’t really want a sugar daddy, your love life was enough of a mess without throwing in a power imbalance like that.

You should have ignored the message, deleted it or shot him a quick reply politely explaining that you weren’t interested so you could put it out of your mind, and you would have-

If Misuzu hadn’t caught sight of the message first, snatching the phone out of your hand with a gleeful shriek. 

—

If you’ve learned anything in these past months, it’s that Bokuto Koutarou doesn’t do anything by half measures. So when he tells you he’s booked dinner for the two of you at an upscale restaurant in the city, you should have expected the package that’s hand delivered right to the door of your shitty little apartment. The dress is beautiful, expensive - though you could tell that just from the elegant matte black box wrapped in golden ribbon it arrives in. It’s exactly his style; short, revealing and just dancing along the edge of impropriety, not that that’ll bother him in the slightest. 

But it is gorgeous, and loathe as you are to admit it, it flatters you well.

It’s not the first time that he’s bought you clothes, your tiny closet’s almost overflowing with pieces he’s gifted you. He likes seeing you in the things he’s bought, sometimes a little too much, you think. But you’ve learned it’s better just to go along with it - he gets this wide eyed, beaming grin whenever he sees you dressed in the pretty things he’s bought you, and the sight of it never fails to make your cheeks heat, warmth curling in your stomach. 

The dress was not unexpected. The soft, lacy lingerie that comes in the accompanying box, on the other hand - that was new.

And of course, you barely have time to unwrap your gift when your phone flashes to life, an incoming call from the man himself.

“D’ya like it?”

The giddy excitement in his voice is unmistakable, and if you close your eyes you can picture the look on his face - golden eyes all hooded and hungry, that glittering, eager grin he wears when the two of you are out in public but his mind’s occupied with all the filthy, wonderful things he wants to do to you the moment you’re alone. 

Not that he’s ever that patient. 

“Um, it’s…” Fingers tentatively reach into the tissue paper, pulling the sheer, lacy bra out, warmth blossoming in your cheeks. The matching panties - a tiny scrap of lace held together with bows and thin black straps - really aren’t much better. Like the dress, the lingerie is clearly well made, probably cost more than your weekly rent, and the delicate set is arguably gorgeous (you can’t even argue his taste), but–

“You’re gonna wear it for me tonight, right, baby?” 

It’s not really a question; of course you will, because you always do. You would have thought by now that you’d be used to the gifts he showers you in. 

“Yeah, but Kou, you really didn’t have to spend all this money on me. Dinner’s enough,” you tell him, setting the lingerie back down. 

Dinner, and everything else for that matter. 

A chuckle echoes down the line. “But I like spoiling my girl. Like buying you pretty things,” his voice dips, “like tearing ‘em off you afterwards, too.” 

And despite all the apprehension curled up inside of you, a shiver of excitement runs down your spine. 

—

“So…” Misuzu pushes, leaning across the countertop with her chin resting on her palm and looking entirely too pleased at your discomfort.

“He… asked me to meet him.”

Her eyes widen, sparkling in delight as she gasps, “For dinner?”

“For a drink - one drink,” you clarify. You elect not to tell her that he’d initially tried to sway you into dinner, and it was you who’d talked him down to a drink. Truthfully, you’d probably feel more comfortable getting coffee, but meeting at a bar was fine.

One drink, and if things got awkward or he turned out to be a creep you’d be out of there in a heartbeat. 

“Oh my god!! My baby Y/N, all grown up and manipulating old, lonely men for money. I’m so proud,” she wipes a fake tear from her eye and bursts into a fit of giggles.

A crinkle appears between your brow as you frown at her, “He’s not even that old,” you grumble, “and it’s not like that. You know it’s not.”

“No?” she asks, her lips curling into a teasing smirk. “You know, for somebody who was so against me messaging your soon to be sugar daddy, you sure move quickly.”

She laughs at the glare you shoot her way. “You were the one who started this.”

“Mhm, and you were the one who didn’t stop it. Funny that, don’t you think?”

She looks like the cat that ate the canary; smug, glittering amusement written all across her face. And you hate, more than anything, that she’s right.

Because you’d meant to put a stop to it the moment you managed to wrestle your phone back from her. Afterwards, you’d blame the lingering hurt of having your heart broken, the insecurities and bitter humiliation that plagued you, the feeling that you weren’t good enough to stop your boyfriend from straying for making you so pathetically vulnerable and desperate for approval - but when you opened the chat instead of the sleazy come on’s you expected, his first message makes something inside of you flutter, warm and pleasant.

Holy crap, you’re beautiful.

Not exactly a sonnet from Shakespeare, but you can’t remember the last time any guy, much less your ex, called you beautiful. 

It didn’t exactly hurt that instead of the aging, creepy looking letch you were half expecting, the profile picture showed a rather fit, attractive man in a crisp, black suit with silvery grey streaked hair and an easy grin. Of course, it was a fifty-fifty chance that the pic wasn’t even him, or if it was then it was outdated or heavily edited, but it was enough to make you pause.

Enough to make you… curious, if nothing else.

But ridiculously attractive or not, you weren’t going to lead him on. If he wanted some pretty, simpering thing to fuck and throw money at, to call him daddy and be his sweet, obedient little girl - that wasn’t you. You’d explained that you weren’t really sure if this was your thing, that you probably weren’t what he had in mind, but surprisingly he hadn’t been put off by that.

Well what’s the harm in finding out for yourself? Maybe you’ll like it more than you think ;)

—

There were rules, when you started - lines you both agreed wouldn’t be crossed.

First and foremost, while it wasn’t exactly a conventional relationship - at least, not the kind you were used to - it was still a relationship of sorts, and there was an expectation of honesty in lieu of absolute exclusivity. You’d tell him if you were seeing anybody else, and Bokuto would tell you the same. Considering sex was on the table, it made sense.

You swore right from the beginning that you wouldn’t allow yourself to become financially dependent on him - you knew all too well that relationships were fickle things to begin with. That kind of dependency was half the reason you were in this position in the first place, and you wouldn’t - couldn’t - let that happen again. That didn’t mean that the arrangement wasn’t transactional. After a few initial meetings that went better than you expected, the two of you came to an agreement; a nice little sum of money he’d deposit weekly in your account in exchange for you being there when he wanted you. Dinner dates, skype calls when he’s travelling, spur of the moment weekends away in expensive hotels - whatever he wanted... within reason.

The thing is, despite his flaws - the little funks he gets into, his immaturity despite the age gap between you, the way he clings to you, mopes if you don’t pay him the attention he wants - you genuinely like Bo, he’s oddly endearing. Loveable, even. He reminds you a little of a puppy; eager for affection, bright and boisterous with boundless energy (and enviable stamina). He’s sweet and adoring and funny and he has this uncanny ability to make everything else fade away when you’re with him, to make you feel like you’re the only woman in the room, beautiful and perfect and entirely his-

But that didn’t make him your boyfriend. 

You weren’t lovers, and whether it was in two weeks or two years, you both knew this arrangement had an expiration date. And because of that, there were no strings attached. At any point, either one of you could end it without an explanation - no questions asked, no feelings hurt. 

—

Truthfully, you don’t know an awful lot about Bokuto’s line of work, only that his position within the company is senior enough that he can move around his schedule pretty much as he wants, leaving him free to see you whenever he likes. 

Which wasn’t a problem when that was once or twice a week. 

“Sorry, Koutarou, you know I can’t. Maybe tomorrow?”

The petulant whine that echoes down the phone fills you with an odd sort of  guilt. “Why not? You said no on Friday, too,” he pouts. “I miss you, baby. Wanna see you again.”

You shove down the faint, flickering unease that nudges at your gut. You’re not his girlfriend, and you find yourself wondering whether or not he sometimes deliberately lets himself forget that.

Nibbling at your bottom lip, you frown, “I told you I have work today. It’s too late for me to try and find someone to cover my shift, and if I call in again-”

You can kiss your job goodbye. You’re already on thin ice with your boss, and it’s not like new waitresses are hard to find these days. 

“Well… what time do you finish?” he asks, his voice thick with dejection, as if he already knows what your answer’s going to be.

You bite back a sigh, “Late. I’m on close again.”

The short silence on the other end of the phone is deafening. “… I’ll come pick you up afterwards.”

This time you can’t stop the soft sigh that escapes, “Kou, I’m gonna be exhausted, I won’t be any fun to be around.”

“Still wanna see you. You’re always working,” he grumbles. “Feels like you don’t have time for me anymore, baby.”

Slowly your eyes flutter shut, and you take a deep breath. It always comes back to this. “I need this job, baby. We’ve talked about this… I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? I have the whole day off, I’m entirely yours.”

“All mine, hm?”

You smile, “All yours, promise.”

He hums in acknowledgement, not entirely happy, but temporarily placated. “Fiiiine. But I’m holding you to it.”

As if you expected any less. “I have to go get ready for work. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“I’ll see you later,” he promises, and you hang up a moment later. 

When he said that, you assumed that both of you were on the same page as to what ‘later’ meant.

Three hours into your shift, you hadn’t expected to return from the kitchen to find a grinning Bokuto lounging in one of your booths.

“He asked for you specifically when he came in,” one of your coworkers tells you, shooting you a playful wink. “Didn’t know you were into silver foxes, Y/N. But I can’t say I blame you, he’s hot!”

“Yeah, thanks,” you mutter distractedly, glancing over your shoulder to check your manager wasn’t watching before making your way over.

The smile on your face is tight as golden eyes flicker towards you. “Bokuto,” you begin quietly, “what- what are you doing here?”

An odd look passes across his face at the use of his family name, but the smug grin remains. “You said you had to work tonight,” he says with a cavalier shrug, as if that explained everything. 

“Yes, because I’m working! Kou, I need this job, I can’t-” you break off with a huff, darting another glance over your shoulder. Thankfully, your manager’s busy berating your co-worker for a screwed up order and hasn’t noticed your absence yet.  

Taking advantage of your distracted state, Bokuto reaches across the table to take your hand in his, his thumb stroking back and forth along the back of your palm. “Hey, hey, relax. You’re here to work, I get it, baby. I’m just here for some food, cross my heart,” he swears, drawing an imaginary X over his chest with his finger.

Gently tugging your hand back, you ignore the hurt little pout he gives you. “So you decided to drive twenty minutes across town just to eat here?” you ask, trying to keep the exasperation from colouring your tone. 

He shifts a little in his seat, cheeks flushing a dusty pink under your narrowed stare. “… Well, maybe I wanted to see my pretty girl, too,” he admits, “But I swear I’ll be on my best behaviour!”

Somehow, his words don’t fill you with confidence, but what are you supposed to do? Kick him out? Snap at him for coming despite the fact you told him not to? Taking a deep, steadying breath through your nose, you force yourself to relax. Bokuto’s not hurting anybody by being there, and so long as he keeps his hands to himself, so long as he behaves, it won’t be an issue.

He’s a paying customer, and you’ll treat him just like you would anyone else who walked through the restaurant’s doors.

Yet despite trying to reassure yourself of that, you can’t escape the niggling sense of unease sitting in the pit of your stomach. Even if he’s the perfect gentleman tonight, the perfect stranger, you’ve worked hard to keep your boring day to day life and the one you’ve created with him in nice, neat, separate boxes. Bokuto hasn’t met your friends or your family and outside of Misuzu they don’t have a clue about your arrangement with your attractive if somewhat clingy benefactor.

You don’t want them to know.

Him being here threatens that - it makes you nervous.

But you’ve been with Bokuto long enough to know that you can’t tell him that without hurting his feelings, and you definitely don’t have the energy to deal with that tonight. It’s a conversation for another day.

Instead, you allow a small smile to tug at the corners of your lips, “You know the food’s pretty average here, you might be disappointed.”

Bokuto grins again, mischief sparkling in those golden eyes, and your traitorous heart skips a beat. “Yeah, don’t think that’ll be a problem,” he leans in closer, “I’m far more interested in what’s for dessert.”

Warmth floods your cheeks as he snickers. 

—

For the most part he keeps his hands to himself, but you can’t quite bring yourself to relax when you can feel those golden, hungry eyes burning a hole into your back as you move around the restaurant serving other customers.

You pretend you don’t see the scowling glower he sends to the harmless office-worker who spends a good forty five minutes flirting with you every time you go over to check on his table.

Bokuto orders enough food to feed a small army and stays until close, leaving a more than generous tip on his way out. 

It goes without saying that he waits for you to finish up. The moment you slip out the door, calling out one last goodnight to your coworker, he’s on you, pushing you up against the brick alleyway wall, hiking your legs up over his hips as his mouth attacks yours, greedy and eager, swallowing up any and all protests you might’ve had.

He doesn’t take you home like you ask, but back to his penthouse suite, and neither of you get much sleep that night.

—

You’re halfway through washing your hair a few days later when your shower head splutters once… twice… and stops completely. 

A blockage in the plumbing, your landlord informs you rather apathetically. It’s affecting the whole floor and it’ll take at least a day or two to get somebody out to fix it properly, leaving you without running water for the entirety of that time.

In hindsight, there were at least three other people you could have (and probably should have) called first, but he’s already answering the phone before the thought even occurs to you. 

And then it’s too late to backpedal. You find yourself grateful that he can’t physically see the way you flush and fidget, pacing around your living room as you awkwardly try to explain the reason you’re calling at ten in the morning. 

“Would, I mean, i-is it okay if I come over to use your shower? Just for this one time, mine kind of got interrupted this morning.” 

God, from the way you stutter, stumbling over your own tongue, you’d think you were asking him to marry you. You’ve spent the night at his countless times before, but asking for a favour, even a small one like this - maybe you’re toeing an unwritten line in the sand? Bokuto isn’t with you because he loves you, he’s with you because it’s mutually beneficial for both of you, because of an agreement. 

He wants fun, easy, not you saddling him with minor inconveniences. Calling to ask him to come save you, albeit from something as mundane as a lack of access to a functioning shower, feels like something you’d ask your boyfriend to do. 

Not your sugar daddy.

But just as you’re about to backtrack and apologise for interrupting his morning, he speaks. “What d’you mean? Just come stay with me till it’s fixed.”

He says it with such certainty, as if it’s the most obvious solution and for a moment you’re stunned into silence. “A-are you sure? I don’t want-'' Don't want what? To be an inconvenience? A problem? “I don’t want to be in the way,” you finish lamely.

Bokuto just laughs, “Don’t be stupid, baby, of course you won’t be in the way. Just swing by the office and I can give you the keys. Or I can just get you another set made? I don’t know, we can figure it out later. I’ll see you soon, ‘kay?” 

And you have to admit, as apprehensive as you were stepping into his penthouse alone for the first time, showering in Bokuto’s fancy ensuite bathroom (which you’re fairly sure is bigger than your actual bedroom) is a hell of a lot nicer than doing it at home. The lotions he has are all expensive brands with french names you’ve never even heard of before, but they smell amazing and they leave your skin feeling all soft and silky. Even the shampoo he’s bought for you to use is far nicer than the one you have at home, though you’re secretly pleased that its scent’s similar - your favourite, actually. 

Did he buy them knowing that or was it just a coincidence, you wonder. You never thought to ask. 

Without work, or Bo for that matter, to occupy your time, you decide to take advantage of his gigantic TV, opening up Netflix and settling into his ridiculously comfortable couch… 

… And wake, a few hours later to the feeling of fingers carding through your hair and a pair of lips pressing against your cheek. 

Bokuto’s home, you realise with a start, and there’s drool on your chin. Face burning with embarrassment, you hastily wipe it away with the back of your palm and try to sit up, only for Bokuto’s hand to wrap around your wrist, halting you in your tracks.

“No, don’t get up, baby,” he says, easing down onto the couch beside you and shifting your head onto his lap so he can continue threading his fingers through your hair. “I like coming home to this.”

Still half asleep, curling up and nuzzling further into those warm, thick thighs of his, you miss the intensity of the adoration burning in golden depths as he coaxes you back to sleep.

—

The two of you are in bed, your cheek resting on his chest, his arm slung over your waist and knuckles brushing idly along your side, when Bokuto breaks the comfortable silence. 

“Move in with me.”

You tense in his arms, heart skipping a beat. For a split second, you’re almost positive that you misheard him. “I-I’m sorry?” You push yourself up onto your elbow, turning your head so that you can look at him properly.

But Bokuto doesn’t miss a beat. “Move in with me,” he repeats, golden eyes bearing down on you.

The expression on your face is frozen halfway between disbelief and hysteria, and you’re staring at him, waiting for that stupid grin to break across his face, for him to laugh and tell you how ridiculous you look, because of course he’s joking.

He’s joking, right?

“Koutarou,” you begin slowly, “Wha- I don’t… Why would you want me to move in with you? We barely- I mean, we’re not…” 

He shrugs his shoulders, “Why wouldn’t I? It makes sense. My place is bigger and nicer, and I like having you here with me. Feels right.”

It feels right??

“I-I can’t just move out of my apartment, Kou.”

His eyebrows knit together, and he huffs, “Why not? It’s a shitty apartment.”

“That’s not the point!” Knocking away the hand that reaches for you, you push yourself all the way up until you’re sitting properly. “I don’t want to move.” 

Owlish eyes narrow, a flash of irritation sparking. “Why not? It makes perfect sense for you to move in here with me. You wouldn’t have to work at that stupid job anymore for one,” he huffs. 

“Bokuto, I’m not going to quit my job,” you mutter. “We’ve talked about this.”

“Why, though?!” he explodes. “You don’t need the money, I’ve told you I can take care of you, whatever you want, baby, name it and it’s fucking yours. You don’t need to work and you don’t need that shitty little apartment!”

Like a crystal glass slipping from numb fingers, the fantasy you’ve convinced yourself you’ve been living shatters into a thousand jagged shards in the space of a single breath.

Oh, how naive you’ve been. How fucking stupid.

Squeezing your eyes shut, you inhale deeply, “Kou, that’s not-”

Strong fingers grip your jaw, and your eyes shoot open as he tugs your face back towards him. Your breath catches in your throat, heart hammering painfully against your ribs. His eyes are wide, pupils blown out, but it’s the intensity in his gaze as he stares at you, the blank expression-

“I love you.”

—

39 missed calls. 72 unread messages. 

Flowers, bouquets of roses, peonies and chrysanthemums piled up by your door between boxes of chocolates and other gifts you won’t bring yourself to open. 

Wide eyed, Misuzu gingerly steps over them, holding two steaming mugs in hand. “Holy fuck,” she murmurs, and for the first time since this stupid, awful mistake began, there’s not a trace of mirth to be found. “Y/N, I…”

But she doesn’t have the words, and you can’t blame her. 

“He told me he loves me,” you sigh. “He asked me to move in with him and told me he loved me, and I grabbed my clothes and all but ran.” You still can’t get the image of Bokuto’s face out of your head, the raw, aching hurt swimming in his eyes as you all but stumbled over excuses in your haste to get out of there. But he didn’t lift a finger to stop you, didn’t say another word.

He just watched numbly, hunched over against the headboard as you fled.

There’s a short beat of silence between the two of you as she sets down the drinks and collapses into the chair beside you. “And… do you love him back?” 

Exhaling loudly, you drop your face into your palms. “I-”

You like how he makes you feel beautiful, the filthy, wonderful praise he lavishes you in when the two of you sleep together, the way he touches you, fingers and mouth so eager to please as his cock fills you, inch by delicious inch.

You like being adored, treasured, and you liked Bo, but… you don’t love him.

That was never on the cards, that wasn’t what your relationship was.

Every line he ever crossed, every boundary he toed, you keep replaying them again and again over and over in your head like a never ending loop. You hadn’t even wanted this whole stupid sugar baby relationship to begin with, and every step of the way he was the one to coax you forward.

And you let him, swallowing down your doubts and your insecurities each and every time. You let him think that this was something else entirely… 

How had you not seen this coming?

“No,” you admit.

The hand that takes yours is soft, and when you glance over with eyes beginning to burn with unshed tears, Misuzu squeezes it gently. “Then end it. Walk away.”

And with your head on her shoulder, her arms wrapped loosely around you, you type out a short message to Bokuto. No strings attached and no questions asked, you’d promised each other that much when you’d started this mess. You wonder if it still holds true. 

I’m sorry. Clearly we were on different pages and want different things. I didn’t mean to lead you on or for things to go as far as they did, but I can’t do this with you anymore. 

You send it and block his contact, and when the tears come and painful sobs rip their way free, Misuzu holds you tight and murmurs soft reassurances. It’ll pass, all breakups hurt.

—

A week after your ‘breakup’ you get a notification on your phone that money’s been transferred into your bank account. 

For a moment, you think that maybe it’s an accident, a recurring transaction he’d simply forgotten to cancel (you doubt he’d even notice) until you click into the transaction itself.

It isn’t the sum itself that startles you - twice the usual amount - but the short note attached in the description.

I need to see you. Please.

You transfer the money right back into his account.

—

Without your weekly supplement from Bo, it doesn’t take long for you to come to the realisation that your current salary just barely covers rent and your bills, and if you want to eat anything other than two minute noodles in the foreseeable future, you’re going to need either more hours, or a second job. 

Thankfully, the timing works out well. When you go to your boss with your most winning smile to try and convince her of your plight, she simply shrugs and agrees, having had to let one of the junior staff go only a few days before. The one catch being that instead of working a mix of morning and afternoon shifts with the occasional closing thrown in, you’re now exclusively on close, five nights a week, Tuesday through Saturday.

Mostly, it doesn’t bother you. The shifts are long and you always leave feeling aching, drained and barely human, but usually it’s quiet enough, and so long as you can get the last few lingering customers out early enough, the actual close runs pretty smoothly between you and the other staff. 

It’s not what you really want to be doing, but you’ve learned to make the best of it. This is adult life, and for the first time since high school, you’re supporting yourself entirely. It might not be the greatest job in the world, and there are absolutely days when you just want to throw in the towel completely, but there is a slight pride to that fact. You don’t need anybody in your life to coddle or support you, you’re figuring this shit out as you go along.

You just wish, sometimes, that you could do that without having to work until the early hours of the morning.

On paper, the kitchen closes at midnight and the last customers are supposed to be out within half an hour of that. Then, between yourself and another server, you can usually get the restaurant tidied up and closed a little after one. 

You knew right from the moment you clocked on that tonight wasn’t going to be one of those nights. The girl who’s supposed to be on close with you called in sick and your boss hasn’t bothered to replace her.

It’s not the first time you’ve had to close by yourself, but it’s still a pain, especially when the last few customers take forever to finish up and leave. 

One of the kitchen staff offers to stay back, his bag slung over his shoulder, hand already on the door handle but you just shake your head with a tired smile. 

“Nah, I can handle it. Thanks, though,”

To his credit, he doesn’t immediately take the offered out. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. See you tomorrow.”

Without any help, it takes almost twice as long for you to finish up, and it’s a little after two when you finally flick off the lights and lock the doors.

Your feet are killing you, and all you can think about is sinking into your bed at home, burrowing into your blankets and sleeping for a week straight-

“Hey, baby.” 

Leaning against the hood of his car, arms folded across his broad chest and eyeing you with an unreadable expression, is Bokuto. 

The tiny hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. 

There's nothing inherently threatening about him being here, but it’s the middle of the night, you haven’t seen him in almost two weeks and you don’t need to glance around to know that the car park’s empty. There’s nobody in sight.

Just you and him, and the few feet of distance separating you. 

“K-kou, what are you… what are you doing here?” 

He smiles at that, the way his name slips from your lips, but only for a fleeting second. It fades, and a cold, uncomfortable feeling settles in the pit of your stomach. 

“I missed you, y’know?” He pushes off the hood and takes a step towards you, “You didn’t call me.”

He’s always been bigger than you, towering over you looking like some Adonis with those rippling, powerful muscles of his. You used to like that strength, squealing in wicked delight when he’d hoist you up with a grin, hands gripping your thighs, squeezing your ass, your back shoved up against the wall so he could drive his cock deeper into ‘his pretty fuckin’ pussy’. 

But that was then. 

You’ve never been scared of his strength. Even that morning in the apartment, he didn’t lash out, didn’t scream or yell, he just… shut down. He wouldn’t hurt you, you know that.

That doesn’t stop you from skittering backwards like a frightened little bunny, your back hitting the wall.

The very moment you do, you watch as his eyes widen in surprise, hurt flashing for a split second-

-before they darken, his face twisting into a scowl, and you can’t escape the feeling you’ve made an awful mistake. 

Dread creeps its way up your spine, tightening like a vice around your chest, making it hard to breathe. Your brain is screaming at you to run, adrenaline surging through your veins, but even as your heart races and your breathing spikes, you can’t seem to move your legs.

It wouldn’t make a difference even if you could - with your back up against the literal wall, Bokuto and his car blocking your only escape route, you’re trapped; a fact that hasn’t escaped either of you.

Paralysed in fear, you can’t so much as twitch as he takes another slow, calculated step forward.

Desperately, you open your mouth - to try and placate him? To apologise? Scream for help? - but all that escapes is his name in a choked, breathless whisper. 

“Bokuto…”

As he stares at you, he almost looks regretful.

Almost, if not for the grim determination resolving like steel in those golden eyes of his. “I love you, and I know you love me, too,” he says, closing the gap between you. “I’m doing this for us, baby.”

[lynnthefrenchtoast]

🌱lynn's fanfic ideas

forgive me for this brainrot. i have so many fic ideas but my writing skills have gone poof so this was the only way i could think to get them out

ships: kazuscara

1) kaeya. the day of his dad's death. with diluc's boot grinding down on his chest and his claymore enveloped in flamed.

kaeya, who knows he has lost. kaeya who never intended to win in the first place. who looks up at his no-longer-brother and asks

"kill me."

because he thinks he deserves it. and what is justice if not dying at the hands of a brother you betrayed?

diluc looks at him, mortified. at kaeya's request? at himself? both, probably.

"ill forgive you, so.."

--🌱

"kill me."

years later, its the same situation. kaeya, under his brother, the same words exchanged.

but now they're older. now, kaeya wears a smirk. now, kaeya wears fatui clothing.

you joined the fucking fatui?! is what diluc's eyes seem to be saying.

where else could i have gone? back home? to you?

kaeya doesnt say it aloud, but he has a feeling diluc gets the message. maybe kaeyas eyes can talk too.

its the same situation, but diluc doesnt look scared this time around. he just looks defeated. tired. like he knows he's lost even though he's the one with the claymore in hand.

and kaeya's smirk gets a little more smug because he knows too.

you won't kill me. because i'm your brother.

diluc steps off kaeya and leaves.

--🌱

2) kazuha who spent the weeks after tomo's death soaking in loneliness. he knows it isn't healthy, he knows he has to get up and speak to an actual human instead of isolating himself with the sounds of nature but-

he doesn't know how. how to move on.

he doesn't know what he could have done different, but he must've done something wrong. he keeps recounting every step, replaying every memory, wondering what he could've said to make tomo stay.

"you look you haven't eaten in a while, here,"

it is then, at the lowest point in his life, he meets a stranger with a huge straw hat, gentle eyes and a gentle voice and the gentlest smile who offers him an onigiri🍙

kunikuzushi, he learns his name is.

the following months, kazuha doesnt know why but for some inexplicable reason moving on is easier. when he's sad, there is always onigiri somewhere to bite into. and when he's happy, so is kunikuzushi.

they are happy, together.

kazuha sometimes looks at him and thinks how could someone so kind exist on such a cruel earth? he thinks maybe kunikuzushi has fallen from some heavenly planet, because hes truly too good for this world.

"what're you staring at?"

his voice is a mercy.

"you."

kunikuzushi pulls down his straw hat, shielding his entire face. "..'s that so."

kazuha has a feeling he's blushing. both of them are.

they are flustered, together.

and then one day, he suddenly has to go.

"you're.. leaving me too?"

kazuha recounts his steps, replays every memory- where did he go wrong? what did he do this time? how does he fix it, please-

baal, if youre listening, i despise you but please- dont take him from me again.

kunikuzushi looks at him with so much guilt.

"i'm sorry. i'm really sorry but.. i don't have a choice."

kazuha doesnt think hes ever heard a voice tremble so much. it sounds like it hurts so much to say and-

"what? hey, what's going on? is someone threatening you? kunikuzushi, what's-"

"i-!"

a gust of wind blows, and his straw hat gets blown into the breeze.

"i'll find you again, somehow, definitely. we'll meet again, i won't leave you, i promise. okay?"

not okay. its not okay at all.

but, kazuha has a feeling this is already so much more than he can ask for.

"okay."

-🌱

months later, they meet again. the same gentle eyes and gentle smile and gentle voice-

except anything but gentle at all.

"who the hell are you?"

"kaedehara kazuha." your best friend. your almost-lover. you promised you wouldn't leave me.

..is this what you meant?

its him, undoubtably, but it's also.. not him at all.

"i'm scaramouche. never heard of you."

kazuha isnt sure if he should be glad he isnt dead, or if maybe kunikuzushi had died after all.