#finished the event on the last day cuz things been. yeah.

[toestalucia]

guy whos very very proud of their crew

[lesbiancolumbo]

i do wanna talk about my mentor a little bit so

i'll keep some stuff vague cuz he's not famous or that well-known or anything but he's a very good director, has worked in film and television for forever (he's probably directed eps of a show you love) but the thing i loved most about him was how much of his own time he gave for me. like, for context, my role in my previous life was a backstage person at a notable film workshop. he was there to mentor the filmmakers, filmmakers who have like. won oscars this past weekend and top film festival prizes and stuff. they've worked with him, and he goes there specifically to work with them! i'm just a 23 year old punk with a love of film and no shame bc while all my other colleagues prefer to sit with each other during meals, i was 100% sitting with our fellows and mentors... not to network or schmooze. just to listen. i love the filmmaking process and just wanted to soak up information. one of the first nights i sit down at a random table and we talk about filmmakers we're inspired by. i obviously bring up elaine may, i'd just finished my thesis on her. my mentor turns to me, grinning. a girl as young as you knowing elaine may? and i'm like well duh. i love elaine may and john cassavetes and barbara loden, all the american independents.

we don't talk to anyone else for the rest of the night. we can't stop talking about elaine may. when i gush about peter falk's performance in mikey and nicky, my mentor goes did you know i directed him once. and because i'm a nerd i immediately connected the dots on who this guy was. and i went YOU DIRECTED [film name]? and he went WOW, YOU ACTUALLY KNOW THAT FILM? like yeah dude!

he spent so much of his free time talking to me that i felt kinda bad for the fellows lmao. but we ate together at every meal and just talked and talked and talked. his wife and mother in law are filmmakers, filmmakers i knew and loved, and he was so happy that i knew that too. that was the summer i was planning to see elaine on broadway too and was bragging about it, and the following year the minute he walked into the door of my office he went where's miss elaine may superfan? did you meet her? did you hear she won the tony?

my mentor is so kind and gracious and very nerdy about cinema lmao. we lost touch due to the pandemic and my losing my job... i had always meant to get his email but assumed i would see him at the next workshop. it's been almost four years. the last summer we spent together, he told me very seriously that i should make a film about my relationship with elaine may. he said, you're a very creative person. don't sell yourself short. make it just as much about yourself as it would be about her. think of agnes varda's the beaches of agnes. and then he took the day's schedule and wrote all this down and gave it to me. i still have it. i slept with it above my pillow for three years until i moved away from my old place.

before i wrote this post out, i went digging around in my desk drawer and in the folder where i keep my valuables sits my mentor's handwritten note.

anyways. a good mentor recognizes creativity even in the person who is just event planning the workshop for the "true" creatives. he didn't have to give me the time of day -- many of the advisors didn't! and why should they! -- but he did. and i've always cherished that.

[aching-tummies]

Oil and Milkshake

Happy (belated) Easter ^^

Life's been pretty hectic for me in the last week or so and I haven't had time to write about it until now.

Anyway...I think stuff started around Tuesday, April 4? Things at work were getting hectic because some coworkers were demanding to trade/pawn shifts off (to me) last-minute because they decided then and there that they wanted to attend Easter events. So...schedule is thrown out of whack and I'm picking up hours here and there as well as being told that boss is cutting my regular hours because he doesn't expect the weekend to be busy (I ended up with net-gains due to picking up all the shifts everyone else was dropping, so not too salty about the cuts). Welp, I was already dealing with the beginnings of a stressy belly around that day. I was looking forward to getting my errands done and using my one day off to rest up at home. Relatives pulled a fast one on us again, telling us with about 6 hours notice that they were coming into town and expected to stay the weekend at our place etc. 6 hours notice. At least 4 of which I had initially planned to sleep my stress and exhaustion away. So...yeah...got up bright and early to start whipping the house and guest-areas into shape for their stay (the guest area is usually a storage/laundry-folding area for those of us that live here when there are no guests).

With the relatives staying over, our usual diet got thrown for a loop. These relatives insist on take-out and always end up getting copious amounts of breaded/fried foods. So...yeah...that's all that was on offer at the house and in our fridge for 3 days. Fried chicken, fried squid, reheated fried something-that-may-have-started-life-as-a-potato. Honestly...the only greens I saw all weekend were the lettuce leaves fast-food joints use in their TV advertising. Yeah...needless to say that my stressy-belly turned into an upset one really quickly over Easter. To top it all off, Easter chocolate was going on sale and anyone that knows me knows that I never miss an opportunity to score some cheap chocolate. So...all weekend my poor belly became a vat of fried, oily food, and chocolate.

Come Monday morning, the relatives were gone and so was the fried hell that had taken up residence in our fridge all weekend. At this point my belly was just a constant ball of upset and I knew I'd have to work with the churning orb going at it for a couple of days...so I decided to try and salvage what I could of a healthier diet. I ate instant oatmeal and have been doing my best to ensure every meal I take in has at least 2 kinds of vegetables in it.

Anyway...my days off are coming up, and because I intend to rest and relax during them, I decided to run my errands immediately after work. I had some things to print off (graphic organizers...some for work 'cuz I'm in charge of training new hires so I create graphic organizers/charts to help trainees quickly find information rather than having to look all over the place or ask someone every 3 seconds). So...I went to go get those printed off and decided that I would treat myself seeing as it's the end of my work-week.

I went to a nearby food-court and tried out a new-to-me place, got a donair wrap with some roasted potatos to go with it. There were onions, tomato, and actual leafy lettuce on it...three whole chunks of lettuce, which is more than my tummy has seen in a week. I walked around the mall for a little while, hoping to settle my stomach 'cuz it was still pretty upset from the weekend and I wasn't sure if the new-to-me food would play nice. The potatoes were actually extremely oily. There was a noticeable pool of orange-y oil left on the plate after I finished the potatoes. As if I needed any more oil in my poor tummy.

To *really* treat myself, I splurged and bought myself a milkshake from an ice-cream place.

I don't know if it's the oily potatoes or the milkshake, or the combination of both...but my stomach's been more upset in the last 2 hours than it has been all week.

I got through 1/5th of the milkshake while waiting for my bus to come home. After getting off the bus, I still had half a hill to climb before I'd arrive at home and my belly was so uncomfortable. It wasn't aching...but there was a sickly, sticky feeling in it. It felt like my throat and esophagus was squeezing tightly together, preventing something from coming up. I felt a constant urge to burp, but every time I tried, I got nothing, despite feeling a pressure in my throat and in my diaphragm. Halfway home, I tasted something sour at the back of my throat.

I got home and made a beeline for my room. I recently purchased a cheap stethoscope to indulge in my own stomach's noises. Unfortunately, it hasn't been very vocal since I bought the stethoscope. Anyway...I immediately set it up on my stomach, prodding it into various areas of my stomach.

There weren't any loud noises, even with the stethoscope, but I could hear a constant burbling...like something was perpetually foaming within my guts.

Even as I type this, I still feel that nagging pressure telling me something needs to come up and having nothing actually coming up when I try.

Honestly...if I had a partner into this kind of stuff, I actually think I would welcome them being rough with my belly--anything to make this nagging "gonna come up" feeling disappear. I don't puke easily and can count on my fingers the number of times I've ever actually thrown up...maybe some manual encouragement would help? ;) In either case, feel free to take this as an invite/jumping off point for RP-Asks/Starter/Lite.

[jaimebluesq]

about the wip game-

JZX phoenix hunt????? (also after-hall mark though I have more suspicions as to what that may be!)

Thank you for the ask!

JZX phoenix hunt is a fic I've been working on for over a year now and have posted quite a few snippets on the occasional WIP Wednesday. The concept is that pre-phoenix mountain hunt, JGY collapses from stress/overwork and is ordered to bed rest, and JZXuan takes over planning the hunt (JGY's other duties are also reassigned). Sounds like a simple premise, but he makes changes that have long-lasting results in fun ways! It features XuanLi, NieYao (there is only one person capable of stopping JGY from working long enough to heal his brain, and that's da-ge, so they have time together to figure out their feelings), and my personal guilty pleasure ship NHS/JZXun, and this is the fic that gave me the idea for Mianmian/Nie Zonghui too! Cuz it's kind of a joke for Mianmian that the "Qinghe Insanity" is spreading, first to JZXun then JGY, and she thinks she's immune... then she will meet NZH, and yeah, she's not immune ;) I have about 20k written - it stalled at one point because I'd hit a *very important scene* that if not handled right could change the tone of the fic, and I put too much pressure on myself about it, but that scene is finished and moved on to another, and... I probably would have worked on it more recently if I hadn't ended up making HUGE fics for the MDZS Reverse Big Bang (2 fics 23k & 26k respective) and the SangCheng minibang (which is coming to... 50k). It's a fun fic, and I really want to finish it, if only because there are really fun scenes I've planned for the event formerly known at the Phoenix Mountain Hunt :D

As for the after hallmark, it's a sequel to my SangCheng "After the Hallmark Movie Ends", which lots of people really enjoyed, because a wonderful person requested it on my personal prompt meme and it make my brain go "OMFG I have to do this, how did I not think of doing this before?!" This one will probably get a lot of my attention in the next few months because I want to finish it before the year is out, even if it's just to post in the days before New Year's. The fic is planned out, I just have to write the damned thing (so far the first scene is written and am onto the 2nd). And, in case anyone is interested, here's my moodboard for it :D

[goosefeather]

finished riverstar's home which is uhh the first super edition i actually finished since graystripe's vow?? i wanna say??

anway! final review: not enough death!!!

(actual, long review under the cut)

riverstar's home is Good. granted i had no expectations for it and kind of forgot it was a thing until it came out. but for a super edition that most people were like "huh? riverstar? really?" it really knocked it out of the park

and i just really think that the erins had a theme in mind (finding home and what that means to our guy riverstar) and the text actually supports that. and i know, most books do this and it is something we all had to learn in high school english. however, warriors has a thing where the messaging is telling us one thing but the actual text is saying something completely different (think of like... everything to do with bramblestar)

that being said, i liked reading about a young riverstar (yes, my character tag for him is river ripple and i prefer that but y'know riverstar is shorter) and his struggle to find a place in the forest territory. it's actually a really good coming of age story that really resonates with anyone who has like moved out of their hometown and has felt incredibly isolated because of that (like me!)

also as a dotc Enjoyer i really liked seeing the events from riverstar's perspective. unlike uhh the last two super editions where the new viewpoint didn't add anything (or it retconned something to make it worse!) or added in things that were just kinda... bad (still dont like brushpaw), riverstar was just enough of an enigma that it worked. like from gray wing's pov, riverstar is an Established Cat on the river and he plays it well. but in actuality he's just a lonely guy trying desperately to maintain his friendships while trying to carve out some space for himself. it's interesting and fun and even the one eye and slash bits that i didn't care for in dotc were fun to read about from his pov

unfortunately, this is dotc so the last half Drags. like it makes sense, obviously, after riverstar feels settled into his life and home and new role as leader, someone from his past comes back and makes him question all of it. love it, really. the problem is once they leave and make it a journey! idk what it is but the minute these cats start wandering off territory it turns into a snoozefest. tell me one book where a journey to some place was Fun to Read and you cant say TNP cuz we both know it wasnt

also, im so sorry, i know we love women here and we have to cuz the erins don't but i dont like finch. like the most she shows up to help with fighting slash's rogues and riverstar was like "she was feisty!" or whatever i knew it was So Over. im sick of this thing where they introduce a she-cat just for the purpose of giving our main male lead kits. it was bad with gray wing and slate and it's bad with finch. remember when she almost stayed behind? i was hoping so hard that it would stick

and like compare finch and riverstar to say night and riverstar (im not pitting two bad bitches against each other give me a sec). before riverstar leaves to go back to help the park cats, night is nervous, her and riverstar have been through a lot together and they lean on each other. so she's vulnerable with him and he's like "oh im sorry i dont think of you that way??" and she's like "no!!! you idiot!! as a Friend" and yeah it made sense cuz we've seen them grow together in real time. finch got None of that because she is not meant to be a character and it bugs me

however, clear sky came in to save the day and cause problems on purpose at the end so the book ended on a high note (for me)

and uhh yeah, this is already pretty long and i actually have More Shit to say cuz i genuinely did like this book a lot i just wanted to get my thoughts out while they were still rattling around in my brain

god i didnt even talk about how i wanted more cats to die

[ltsaradharkness]

I've kind of got a problem and I need to voice it before I lose my mind.

First literally the way the breaking news put it "yet another school shooting". So like they hadn't even evacuated the school yet completely, they hadn't even... the situation wasn't even completely over the guy is in custody or the individual is in custody, but they haven't even gotten all of their kids. they haven't even gotten all of the hurt individuals out they don't even know all of the details yet and they're already dada da ,another school shooting.

So yeah all of the details haven't come out yet it's a breaking story at 12:30 when the news interrupted the program we were watching or not watching actually and they hadn't even finished completing the story and my grandfather goes well they're going to start talking about need more gun laws in this that and the other again and I'm like literally they've never stopped talking about it first of all and secondly that is just political rhetoric that politicians spout on about how about we at least find out what kids are dead who's been injured what actually happened before we go off into worrying about our guns who cares.

I literally was just watching yesterday Christopher Titus and his wife and their best friend on their podcast talking about by the way her name is bombshell Ray which is just hilarious but I'm talking about the news and the way people talk about events in the world and then of course one of the things that came up in the course of that was gun control and the way people talk about things well the last 4 years and the eight years before Donald Trump and the eight years before George w you still have your guns you still have your rights however literally since Clinton was office in the '90s since I was a kid in like elementary School when it became part of every kid's everyday life that school shootings were a thing that could happen they have not taken your guns away they have not taken your rights away they have not done anything else that would keep this from happening because it has gotten to the point where it is literally only two weeks into the school year and this isn't even the first shooting of the year.

And yes this is kind of rambly cuz I literally am not even joking when I said I need to voice this I am voice recording this. I may edit it before I post but I may not.

But it's like I fully support legitimate gun control I fully support legitimate rights to guns anybody who thinks that is a contradiction in terms do not understand words. Do not understand well regulated.

But also...

Terms exist for a reason there is not language in the Constitution that is not chosen specifically on purpose these people were not stupid they knew what they were doing.

Also Tim wall said weapons of war not weapons in war there is a large difference you infantile idiot.

Anyway break for a day while I worked and did other stuff.

I haven't seen any real details yet. I was at work and we don't have a TV with the news anymore but all I keep seeing are memes and comments. And the comments are just as bad as yesterday. It's like damn give us some time for some real info. And for those people to even breathe.

Also there is a reason you don't hear anything about Trump's "shooter" from the Republicans. Because he was a Republican who just wanted to shoot someone and be famous for it. My brother (is wrong but also) says that there are more public mass shootings because people want to be famous then there are serial killers now because you don't get the same attention they way they used too. It's actually a lot worse than that. There are still just as many they just aren't doing it for attention, but the thrill of the kill itself. Because they think they are entitled to do what ever they want. But then you have people who want attention and the way news talks about the shooter/killer over the victim is what they are after. No we as individuals don't want a hundred stories of fear and pain for attention but also we should not give these fuckers a hundred stories or telling of coverage and attention they are after.

It's all a sick joke that literally will just become about the political rhetoric and it's only two weeks into school. And while it was a huge headline I could not help but wonder (I haven't looked yet) have there been others we did not see as big yet. Has a kid already been caught at school with a gun before anything happened etc.

Also it wasn't Georgia that had the 10 commandments, they tried it didn't work. The most recent law was Louisiana.

[unknownjpegs]

housesitting

When they’re finally out of the meeting, engagementpromotionbrandtripadspot, Saha’s agent turns to her. 

“It’d be really good for you to show at that after-party,” she says. “Lots of tag opportunities.”

Saha likes her agent, for the most part. More than the last one at least. She is a modicum more in-touch about everything. Still runs her about like a work horse. Worse, she’s a bit daft when it comes to figuring Saha’s priorities out.

And…honestly? Saha hates her annoying fucking L.A. accent.

She sucks her dislike down, though. Swallows it, sighs big and long. Fits a properly apologetic smile on her face,  but doesn’t look up from her phone screen.

“Ooh, I’m so sorry, Rach, but I can’t. Got a thing.” 

Her agent’s eyebrows bunch. “What thing?” She pulls her own phone from a neatly-pressed jacket pocket, and swipes at it. “I don’t have any thing on your calendar for that day.”

Saha pauses mid-text, waves her phone. “Yeah, ‘cuz I’ve got it.”

“Well, can’t it be rescheduled? This party is big, Saha, and —”

“Nope.” She pops the ‘p’ delicately. 

Her agent, for better or for worse, does not know when to give up: “Okay, well… we can delay an appearance. Which borough is it in? I’ll see if I can arrange a ride we can get you there late and still—”

“G’on, but it’ll be money wasted,” Saha says. Now she does look up from the screen. One thick, expertly shaped eyebrow arched, she offers: “It’s a family event back in Liverpool.”

Seeing the fruitless end, her agent sighs. “And I suppose it’s important.” 

Saha grins at her. Tucks the phone back in her nondescript tote bag — she won’t be caught dead in anything brand without a feature or stipend — and shakes her head.

“Naw. Not at all. Just housesitting.”

*

Fuck, it’s worse than the pictures, Benji had laughed the first time they’d pulled up to the ruined house. She’d helped with the downpay, and looking at it had made her feel a bit like she’d tossed money into a hole.

But every time she ends up on the property, the house grows on her. Been a sad, broke, ugly little thing before he’d gotten his hands on it. Obviously beautiful at one point, but not in some time.

And now, she thinks: Fuck, I like this place.

She’s admiring the bed of flowers and new bushes, the regrowth bits of spotty grass, the freshly-patched hole in the west end of the roof. 

Honestly she’d buy one just like this for herself. Then again, she’d never hear the end of it: copying me, huh? Finally admitting I’ve got better taste?

Nose wrinkling, she thinks of the rainbow assortment of threadbare, fraying flannels stuffed in his closet. You really fuckin’ don’t, Benj.

But…it’s a nice house. even though it still looks shit at certain angles, it’s becoming beautiful again.

Slowly.

Hard to blame him, but at the same time it’s not. Would have been a finished job months ago if he’d only just gave in and let her arrange contractors. But he’d insisted on doing it all himself.

Gives me something to do. Like time spent idle scared him. Want to have something to look forward to. Like the empty, unclear future scared him.

He’d said those things to her once over takeaway out on the rickety porch. And the delicate, vulnerable admission accompanied by his sad eyes, the implications of what he might get up to without the house…well. That had been well enough to shut her up about teasing him on it.

Saha rolls her eyes and snaps the car into park. 

Stupid melancholic little dickhead. 

The old front door cracks open ominously, dust and wood splinters raining down into her hair. With a grumble and a yank to free her key from the lock, she brushes it clean. Checks herself in hall mirror — just about the only wall hanging in the place, at the moment, and one she’d put up herself on a previous visit. 

It’s sad in here.

It’s not done! 

Okay. Means it needs to look like a Scooby-Doo set, does it?

Saha’s smiling at the memory of his offended, resounding laugh when she turns the corner past the stairs. The house is basically one big rectangle, and the center back is where it’s really lovely. Its main hallway opens into an airy space. Big windows. Kitchen on one side, living room to her left. 

There’s a table and chair set that hadn’t been there last time she’d come round, a pair of boots kicked haphazardly along its legs. Jacket askew over one chair, messy pile of old mail in the center. She scowls. Fucker hadn’t even gone through the mail she’d collected last time. Lazy. 

But still, all those little details? Benji Benji Benji. Makes her grin go wider.

Saha turns towards the other room, where the setting sun filters beautiful red-orange glimmers through the big windowed doors. It crawls across an old couch, the half-stained coffee table he says he’ll finish eventually, and — 

And.

Her fingers tighten on the strap of her bag, fear licking up her spine. Immediate and icy, as if someone’s just dropped a bucket of winter lake water over her head. 

There is a man lying on his back in the center of the living room.

And it is not fucking Benji. 

There is a man. Who is not Benji. A man who is not Benji in Benji’s empty fucking house that might as well be abandoned. A man in the living room that has holes in the floor, for fuck’s sake.

For a split second, the fear dissipates. She thinks he’s dead, maybe. Just a dead body.

And then it rounds a circle and returns, slamming into her chest: just a dead body. There is a dead man who is not her brother on the floor of her brother’s secluded country home. 

And Saha thinks:

Fuck. How am I gonna explain this one to the pigs?

Because she’s meant to report this, right? Meant to report a fucking dead man in the middle of her brother’s floor? Lying on the ground, dead? People report those things, naturally. Dead people?

Her heart starts to race, and that’s when the man sneezes. His legs kick up with the force of it.

He goes, “oh shit, dusty”. Laughs and settles back down into the starfish splay. Napping, maybe, in the sunlight? A stranger napping in her brother’s house oh fuck a stranger — 

The scream lodged in her throat bursts out. It is proper fucking loud: ear-piercing in a way that hurts even her own, makes them ring as it ends. 

And she’s in the kitchen, then. Not sure how she’s gotten there. She’s just…in the kitchen. Her bag isn’t over her arm anymore, phone flung out of her hand. She scrabbles at drawers — empty, empty, one fork, open another, a single takeaway chopstick, two cloth napkins fucking Benji can’t keep shit straight to save his life.

Or hers, for that matter, fuck’s sake. And if she dies to some stranger because her messy pisser of a brother can’t organize to save his life, she is going to be — 

The thought makes a wild cackle bubble out of her. The scream’s still there, weak in her throat. So the laugh sounds more like a wail. 

No way to be miffed if she’s dead. So she won’t be dead.

When she finally sorts out a knife from a drawer, the man has stood. Fuck, she’d been slow. He’s tucked into the corner by the fireplace. He’s big. Huge fucker, and if he wanted to he could cross then room in three strides. 

She grips the knife tighter, holds it in front of her like she’s…fuck, holds it like a daft fucking idiot, like she’s pointing a wand.

Abracadabra! Poof! Saha Palanivel found dead at 35! Ta-daaa!

“What the fuck are you doing in here?”

She’d like to say the words come out on a snarl, but they don’t. Her voice is a whispery, scared thing. Weak.

He holds his hands up. Shoulders rounded, eyes wide and a sheepish grimace that shows his teeth. 

“Jesus Christ, you scared me.” He puts his hand to his chest. “Man, I almost pissed myself.” He frowns, eyes distancing a bit like he’s forgotten something. “I leave the front door unlocked?”

It is a mad fucking question from a man who has, considering all evidence, broken in. Saha shakes the knife, and he lifts the hand back up. Palms out — palm out. One is tucked behind his back.

“Why are you American?” She shrieks, eyes narrowed, and then scrunches her face. “Fucking hell, I mean — get out! Oh, shit, get out!” 

“Listen — ”

“No you listen, dickhead!” She feels a bit insane. Her voice is shot, shaky with fear and adrenaline. She jabs the knife forward, but there’s no point. He’s still stood across the room. “There is nothing to steal in here, alright? So just. Get out, and I won’t even call ‘em round. Okay? If you leave, I promise I won’t.” 

The man pushes his hand out a little more, tilts it beseechingly. “Please don’t call the cops. That would suck so bad for me.” 

Her fearful expression twists in anger. “Oh, it would suck for you, huh? Maybe shoulda thought of that before you broke in!” She thrusts the knife again, knows it doesn’t look nearly as confident or threatening as she’d like. “I will stab you, mate.”

She won’t. The thought of brandishing it has her a little ill, and she is pointedly not thinking about actually having to use it. Fuck’s sake, she can’t even watch horror movies. Fake blood makes her nauseous.

Gets a real funny mental image of trying to rush this guy and slipping in her own sick, though. 

“Wow,” he tilts his head, eyes sweeping over her. Shuffles in place that she would consider shy if it weren’t from a B&E stranger. “That is…like, uncanny. Very Benji when you say it like that.”

“B-Benji?” The point of the knife drops a bit.a “You know Benji?”

He nods. Offers up a careful smile, eyebrows tilted meek. Like maybe he’s just earned a victory.

But Saha has the blade up again, her face set with suspicious determination. He could have easily nosed around, found paperwork or seen pictures or something.

“Like fuckin’ hell you do. Prove it.” She pats for her phone, tossed behind her on the counter, finds it, shakes it just as threateningly. “Prove it or I’ll call.”

“I dunno how I can convince you…?” He trails off and pauses, whole face twitching with amusement. Then he laughs, more to himself than present in the moment. “I mean, like. We could do the birthmark thing?”

Proper fucking weird. Those three words had been underlined, as if they really needed emphasis.

Saha distantly remembers reading that letter. You’d like him. 

“Wait.” She drops the phone with a clatter. Points at him accusatorially, her expression scrunched in shock rather than fear. “Are you shagging my brother?” 

The man is pale, even in the orange setting sunlight that tosses over both of them into the living room. She sees how absolutely red he goes at the question.

For the first time since she’d pointed Benji’s kitchen knife at him, he looks away. Directs his stare up at the ceiling. Swallows as if he’s nervous. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” Then his eyes find her again, flick back down, looking wholly embarrassed. “Uh. Not…technically?” 

“What the fuck does that mean.” 

“Listen, I’m assuming you’re like…his sister? I don’t really wanna talk about—” his flustered shuffle returns. “Man, come on.”

Saha starts to slip around the counter, arm moving to keep him at the tip of the blade. He still hasn’t budged, other than the nervous side-to-side. Now that the adrenaline has ebbed a bit, she’s piecing together a very specific scenario in her head. And it’s not looking all that good, the way her anxiously churning imagination paints it.

“Why did you break in?” She pats along the wall, backing up and putting more space between them. 

“I didn’t!” He says, and starts to move. Pauses with a glance up at her, then points down at his pocket. Saha only stares, so he fishes out something. Holds it up. 

A little golden key glints, sparkling in the sunlight. Looks exactly like her own. But the house had only come with two, which means…

Saha laughs. It’s not quite as mad, but still a bit nervy. “Sorry? He’s gone and given you a key?”

And that’s the most convincing thing he could have done, isn’t it? Proven to her that he isn’t some fucking stranger, an intruder or a squatter or a stalker. She believes him even if something within screams, he could have had that made where’s Benji where’s Benji is he okay?

Because Benji…yeah. He’s got that streak in him. The tragically quixotic drive to give a key to his fucking fixer upper country home to some man he’s known for —

“How long have you known him?” 

The man considers this for longer than she expected, eyes rolled up to the ceiling again. “Um. Months?” 

“Huh!” Saha scoffs, and with the breath ebbs out the rest of her anxiety. “Months. And he was so vague…?” She’s speaking mostly to herself now, eyes off him. “That cheeky little fucking —”

She has always been a hand talker. And now, the glint of the kitchen knife swipes through the air in front of her face. She recoils, forgotten her fist had been wrapped tight around it.

“Shit!” It clatters to the ground between them. She recoils, dancing back to avoid its edge. “Oh, shit, mate, I am so sorry. Look at you, Saha, pointing a fuckin’ knife at the —” she glances up at him, eyes tight and apologetic. “Fuck’s sake, you’re a vet too, I mean. Gotta be, right? And I’m pointing a knife at you.” 

She’s glancing down at the floor, head in her hands. Otherwise, she would see the slight movement as the man tucks a gun underneath the sofa cushion.

“No hard feelings.” He starts to approach her, but it’s wary. Slow, with a careful lope and friendliness that sort of reminds her of a neighbor’s dog. “You gotta be Saha, right?” 

Hearing her name makes her smile. The idea that Benji’s talked about her, out there. Spoken of her to other soldiers, maybe found some sort of comfort in sharing things of her, of them, makes her want to cry all of a sudden. And the idea that he’s speaking about her, being so uncharacteristically open, with a man who…who he’s given a key to his house? 

She wants to know everything immediately. Wants to know how he’s doing, if he’s cut his hair, if he’s still smoking too much and hasn’t taken her chiding to heart. Wants to know where he is, if he’s listening to music, what he’s listening to, if he’s holding a gun, if he’s crying, if he feels like he needs a hug and feels like he can’t ask for it—

“How’s he been?” Saha asks. Her voice feels very tight, the promise of tears jumping up from the ache in her throat to settle in her eyes. “He doing alright?”

Something goes across his face then that she can’t place. Looks…sad. Worried, maybe. She wonders if he’s not seen Benji in a bit, either. Would be like him, wouldn’t it, to fuck off in his own solitude. 

“Yeah,” the man says, shrugging his shoulders and laughing. “I mean, it’s Benji. He’s great.”

And usually, Saha Palanivel is god at picking out a liar. 

*

She won’t know he’s lying for a long time. But what she does know, after nearly two hours of conversation, can fill the void of that lie easily. He’s very forthcoming and Saha finds it difficult not to offer things up in return. Her brother’s…whatever he is, is a charming man. A bit funny, just as Benji had said, and not all that funny, but it’s bad enough that it works. And he seems lonely, so it feels good to lead him away from that space. Give him a couple embarrassing childhood stories that she, of course, swears him to secrecy over. 

She gets some very sweet tale that makes her ooh and aah, because Benji’s a fucking softy and it just…it all lines up, doesn’t it? She can imagine him getting a fat crush on somebody after working together just once, and it’s even more believable he’d seek out a connection across multiple leaves. 

“What does it say, that I’ve no idea the military works like that? Or that militaries work together, like that?”

“Probably good things,” Xavier from Boston says, grinning at her. He’s got a wide, all-teeth sort of grin. Reminds her of Benji’s, when it gets nice and true and wild, and the ache in her chest returns. More and more often, she gets that ache. 

The distance is always a press at the back of her skull — like reaching out with her thoughts strains over the length of it, the fuzzy lack of him. Feels so close and so far. But when she finds him at that point far away, when her mind curls around the details, it hurts. It aches.

It’s silly and cliche, but Saha misses him like someone has taken a piece of her. Like she’s been forced to watch that nebulous piece, maybe an organ or a valve on her heart or a lump of her brain, be carried away. 

No idea where it is. What it’s doing. If, maybe, since it’s been removed from her so long, it’s drying up. 

Can you just come over sometimes, water the plants? He’d dropped the key into her hand without any other preamble, and she could only stare at it. Water the plants. Meant so much more, of course, coming from him. So careful with pieces of his own, and here he was dropping one into her hand. Giving her a bit back. 

Water the plants. Be in my home, where I am sometimes, too. Where you can tell I’m living, that I’m alive. 

So Saha asks Xavier a lot of questions. He knows Benji better, right now. Knows the man he is, instead of the one that flits and out of Saha’s life, taking and swapping and returning pieces of her. Of him, of them. 

And every time she gets an answer, hears a new story, it’s like watering the plants. Watering the pieces. Making sure they don’t dry up.

She tries not to make assumptions. She really does. But that look on his face, when he talks about her brother? It really seems as if Xavier has got some Benji-pieces of his own. 

That shared ache, the shared joy, makes conversation flow. So, even if he weren’t charming or silly or freely sharing stories, Saha thinks that would be enough. They’ve got Benji in common.

And yeah, she’s fucking neurotic. Probably shares too much. Would do it even if she weren’t running off a jet lagged two-hour nap on the plane and exhausted from a day of travel. She’s talking about Benji to someone who knows him, understands at least in some way the big feelings she’s got about it all. Who gets it. Him.

So. She cries. Does a real good one right at Benji’s kitchen table, doesn’t she, in Benji’s old shit house. Cries to some stranger who had been laying on the ruined floor. Because she misses him so fucking much, all the time. Because she loves him, so fucking much and all the time. Because:

“Sometimes I hate him. Not, hate him, but hate him about it, y’know?” She plucks at the sleeve of her sweater, wet from wiping her cheeks.

“No,” Xavier admits, cheek red where it wrinkles propped in his hand. “But I get what you’re saying.”

*

The sun has set once she gets ready to leave. Wants to go see her parents, and promises Xavier not to tell them anything. Because, he says, he’s got a plan in mind and needs to do it right. Which is so fucking sweet Saha feels that same aggressive pull to hug him as she does whenever Benji pops something incredibly sappy out of his stupid little mouth. 

Xavier is leaving too, but not yet. Has some stuff to wrap up. Promises to water the plants.

They’re standing on the front stoop, Saha’s bag over her shoulder and Xavier framed in the doorway. Said their goodbyes already, but standing there. Not assessing one another, but staring regardless. Like each can’t believe the other exists, that they’ve had the night they had. That Benji brought them together in such a melodramatic fucking way. Typical.

“Hey,” Saha says. He pauses at the door, kicks a foot out as he turns back around. It’s such a little thing.

Goofy, she thinks. Weird. Almost boyish. Bet it makes Benji laugh, when he does that.

And it’s so strikingly clear to her in that moment, with that particular thought, his silly habitual movement, that she laughs out loud. 

Of fucking course he’d gotten Benji’s attention. Gotten under his skin, popped that bubble he liked (needed) to think was thicker than it really was.

Of course he had. 

“This is so proper strange, because like. I dunno. You could still be lying to me, I guess. But I don’t think so. And feel free to say no,” she holds her hands up, “if you’re not that kinda person. Y’know. Touchy one. Just…listen, I’m eldest, right? I’m real happy to know Benj is. Happy, I mean.”

Fuckin’ shut up, Saha, you’re rambling, she hears him say. Grins wider. 

“Because you talk about him, and it seems like he’s happy. I think maybe you have a little bit to do with that.” 

Xavier looks immediately away, scratching his jaw. Not red from the stubble, but the color coming back.

Saha steps back up from the yard onto the cracking porch that barely holds the door up. 

“And honestly? You kinda look like you need one.” She holds her arms out. “M’not gonna shake your hand, after all that.” 

She is expecting at least a bit of hesitation. Maybe a scowl and a fuck off, a flinch.

Except what he does is get that little brother pull to his face. She’d clocked him as one, a little brother, about four sentences into their kitchen-table conversation. 

And that expression? It’s totally, utterly unique. Brow furrowed like it’s an insult, lip pulled slightly up, and then a crumble of it all into relief. It’s the look Benji always gives her — gave, she supposes — if he skid his knee, broke something and needed it covered up, had a shit day and wanted her to listen. 

Xavier gets that look. It seems like he tries to hold himself back a bit, and Saha does too from a flinch of her own. Because, as pleasant as he’s been, the speed with which he stumbles forward is a bit intimidating for somebody of his size. 

It feels really natural, though. She knows immediately he’s got a sister. Because he bends all funny, long torso hunched in, and his head drops full on her shoulder. 

“Fuck’s sake,” Saha huffs, reaching both hands up to pat along his back. “Was right, then, was I?” She tries not to feel too proud of it. “Sometimes you just know.”

“You are a fucking goddess.” Xavier mumbles, voice sounding wet, and squeezes her tight. 

Saha can only laugh, because she’s not got the air to do much else.

[ilycorisradiata]

Itto x trans male reader (has had top surgery, T but not bottom surgery), basically theyre in a hotspring at night and itto sees readers chest scars and asks about them, and reader tells itto hes trans. Reader gets up to go do something after talking for w him for a bit but slips and falls right on top of ittos lap, oni dick between the thighs, and yeah sexy time 🌭 basically from fluff to nsfw cuz i just roll like that. Anyways love u and ur writing!!

heat

ಌ heat: itto x transmasc!reader

ಌ theme: after explaining your chest scars to him, you slip and fall right into his oni trap !

ಌ cw: 18+ NSFW, transmasc reader, no pronouns used just gendered terms!, clit referred to as a cock, fluff to smut, (semi-public sex) hot spring sexy time yeaahhh, no thoughts only itto oni cock, itto is very nice (and shy) at first then he goes feral hehe, size difference, reverse cowgirl position, fingering (reader receiving), slight hint at belly bulge? not sure?, do not dirty the water just cum inside!, (enough of the funky cw), solo read + solo edited, cross-posted on AO3

ಌ wc: 3.1k

ಌ notes: hello anon! this was just pure porn… but you guys probably want that, right? who wouldn’t, especially with itto!! thank you for the ask ! :D

It had been a long day of running around, doing commissions, and bumping into random enemies along the way. To say you were tired was an understatement. You were so sure you could sleep for a whole decade, and the aches you were experiencing were horrible, all you could think about was stepping into the hot springs for a soak. It was night time by the time you were finished, and you knew the public baths would be empty. This would be the safest time to go… Especially with no disturbances. No questions, no one to bug you. You could comfortably be there and relax, as it’s intended purpose.

By the time you had soaked for no longer than 5 minutes, you heard heavy footsteps from within the wash and changing area. Wishing you could sigh out loud, you peek with one eye, head hung low to see who it was stepping in. At this hour, especially at an hour that is normally dead, you really wished nobody would come. Of course, it turned out to be someone you enjoyed the company of. A certain Oni came strutting in, hair slicked back from the pre-wash and a towel hung low on his hips, he beamed when he realised it was you. A bright smile. Blindingly cheerful for this time of the night, you sigh with a smile.

“Yo! I didn’t expect you to be here, Y/N.” With a small wave, he steps politely, despite his size, into the bath not far from you. You had to look away, his towel riding up a little too far for your liking and it exposing everything. Coughing, you return the comment back, not exactly expecting anyone to be here. He was beaming at you, eyes like crescents, happy that he was able to run into you albeit the hot springs of all places. A lot of idle chat went on, with you explaining what you had been up to since you both last spoke. Everything he spoke of was just pure mischief. Per usual. Of course, the ‘one and oni’ Arataki Itto was causing bother, but that’s to be expected. He did help a lot, and he was amazing to be around, but he did cause a lot of trouble along the way. You’d laugh at all the stories he had to tell, especially the ones about his own drumming event he held not too long ago. Speaking of how he managed to get the Ms. Hina cardboard cutout (he stole it), and how he has been treasuring it since. He didn’t seem to miss a beat when speaking with you, always fired up but always respectful to how tired you looked. The water would wave every now and then, when he flailed his arms excitedly before apologising, as well as giving off that bright laugh of his.

“I’m curious… What are those scars under your pecs? They look badass! You get ‘em from fighting something here? Or didya fight something in Liyue… Or, OR… That giant worm thing down in that chasm perhaps?!” He was genuinely intrigued and excited about where you’d gotten the scars, so it didn’t bother you that he was asking. This was the first time he had seen you, well, naked. And for that matter… Topless. You never took any of this off, in fear of a bigot realising and the conversation going south. However, you knew it was fine to tell Itto this information, and even explain it if you had to. So, you chuckle at him in response.

“No, Itto… They aren’t those type of scars.”

“If they aren’t from battling… Then are they surgical scars? You got a dodgy lung or somethin’?? Smoking is bad, yknow! You really gotta look after yourself in this day and age, gotta keep yourself healthy, what with all them bad guys out there.” You laugh, maybe a little too loudly, from his rambling and worries. You were happy he was so concerned; happy he was worrying in case they were from something bad. These scars were life saving at least, in a way, something that was part of your identity. You calm yourself down from your laughing fit, wiping your eye from a stray tear, turning yourself fully towards him.

“Uhhh no, I don’t smoke. You’re right about them being surgical scars, but it’s because I’m… I’m transgender, Itto.” He smacked a closed fist into the palm of his other hand, his mouth forming an ‘o’ shape before smiling from ear to ear, a tint of red dancing across his cheeks.

“I heard about this kind of thing from Gorou! They’re really cool scars to have man, but I also found out you gotta be careful with those in the sun, make sure you put that ointment stuff on them, or you’ll get bad burns, y’get me?” Grinning back at him, you knew he’d have a good reaction to it all… He took it better than some other people you know. Itto wasn’t stupid, some would call him a himbo, but in situations like these he was 100% not one. He had a far greater sense of empathy for others. He’s headstrong and kind, willing to understand the things he’d never heard of before and love his friends all the same despite the differences. After all, he was the biggest difference in comparison to a lot of your friends, and the biggest to be shunned for being different. It would be a little weird of him not to accept those outside of what was considered “normal”. You thank Gorou for having this type of talk with him, and you guess the reasoning was because you came up in conversation between the two. He spoke about a lot more, mostly random things he plans this week or some things that were just random to keep the conversation going.

Itto used his arms and hands to emphasise his words a lot, and this did not help your drifting attention from his words to his arms, or muscles. He was explaining an explosion that had happened once, or you assumed that’s what he was going on about from the sound effects coming from his mouth, and you couldn’t help but gawk at him whenever his arms flexed, especially with the way his muscles would ripple now and again. You couldn’t tear your eyes away. Having always observed other guys to see how they presented themselves, just so you could replicate, but in comparison to them all… Itto was truly on a whole other level. You felt like you were looking at some Greek statue, the pure definition in his muscles and especially the peeking view of his deep-set v-line downwards was remarkable. This began one thought after another about other areas of his physique, especially where else his red markings went. Eyes travelling lower than you’d have liked, you shook your head, snapping yourself out of it. Itto questioned if you were alright, with a slight smirk on his lips. You don’t know if he caught you, but even if he had, you decided to lie. Lying by saying you needed to get out of the hot springs, that you were starting to feel really dizzy. Itto went to stand to help you out, but you ended up slipping, taking him back down with you. Panicked, you landed slightly into his lap, and he held you by the waist to make sure you didn’t slip any further and hurt yourself. If what you were doing before was gawking, then you hadn’t a word for what you were doing now. His large hands were massive in comparison to, well, everywhere. Whilst you were panicking internally, whilst also thanking the gods for never actually giving you the gender you were in your head (because you would be bricked up badly right now), Itto was too busy asking if you were okay.

Okay was far from it. You had felt it. It, aka his fucking monster of a third leg, was sandwiched between your thighs like a damned hotdog. Itto was big, there was no doubt about it. Hell, everything about him was big, muscle, height… You just weren’t expecting this. That he was actually packing down there too, and the towel covering him was long gone after you both had a small tumble. Not only was the size noticeable, but the red markings did, in fact, reach all the way to there. What’s more, he had small bumps, ridges almost, along the shaft. Not that you could fully see it in the milky water, but it’s what you could feel. Your head was spinning a mile a minute, and Itto was only trying to see if you were alright, trying to get you both out if you were truly dizzy. Only now was when you were actually dizzy. Hot from the fact that you were both in this position, that this situation happened in an empty public bath. Apologising finally, you were about to move, but both hands of his kept you in place. You finally looked at his face, and a wide set of pinks and reds dashed along his face, travelling to his ears as well as his neck, clearly just as embarrassed by the current predicament you were both in.

“I-Itto, sorry, I−”

“C-… Could I… Kiss you?” The heat from the hot springs didn’t help, trying to mentally process the words Itto had just said to you. Words wouldn’t come out, your mouth opening and closing.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that, I must have misunderstood your stares… You wanted to get out, right?”

��NO! No, I… Sorry. My brain is still trying to catch up... You- you can.” Sighing, you place your forehead on his, with your eyes shut. There was no movement for a good while, so you peeked one eye open, and Itto had his eyes shut too, squeezed shut. So, you decided to push forward instead, giving a light peck to the corner of his mouth in hopes of giving him some confidence, and it did. He beamed, not expecting you to do it first. You assumed he was psyching himself up after accidentally letting it slip that he wanted to kiss you. He was rough at first, not really knowing how to kiss you, but he eventually got the hang of it. Not too rough but not too soft either, he was touching you delicately, tugging you gently into his lap. You couldn’t really sit, his obvious growing erection digging in between your legs, so you tug on his bottom lip and look at him through lidded eyes. A hand of his travels to smooth over one of your ass cheeks, giving it a little squeeze, which makes you jump.

“Should we… I mean− C-could we…?” Grabbing the hand on your waist, with Itto looking visibly confused, you notice that his nails had recently been cut and you nod in approval.

“We can, well, since your nails are tidy…” Somehow, this gave him a new wave of confidence, and he flips you around. By the looks of it, he put you into a reversed cowgirl position, and his hands were quick to roam all over your chest and abdomen. An arm wraps around your waist, and he held you there, the other hand inching towards the area you wanted him to touch the most. He smoothed two fingers over your cock to test the waters, which gave him the most angelic sound he’d ever heard coming from your mouth, so he did it again and again. Switching to small tugs, and more rubbing, you were sure you’d tip over the edge.

“I-Itto…” Leaving little bites to the back of your neck, sucking on the juncture between your neck and shoulder, in attempt to leave evidence that the great Itto had been there. Breathing erratically with every move of his, you kept your legs spread for him, to give him easy access. He appreciated this greatly, moving his fingers down to leave ghost touches, circling your hole. Before, he seemed so nervous, like he had never touched another person in his life like this… But he was proving you wrong alright. It only started to click that he was nervous with you, and not at doing this act of closeness. Slowly, he begins to open you up, one thick finger pushing its way into you. Getting you used to it at first, he’s gentle and continuously asks if you’re okay, tickling your ear with every whisper. He’s incredibly skilled with his fingers, not missing a single beat with the way he thrusts a singular finger into you, not missing any little praises he says into your ear. You lean your head back, letting out little moans with every curl of his fingers, pushing you just over the edge each time.

“Shhhh, you know you need to be quiet… We’re still in the public bath.” He bites the lobe of your ear, sinking another finger into you, humming at the whine you had to trap in your throat. Watching the way his fingers disappear into you, he kisses your cheek, and then the corner of your mouth. Sweet. That’s the one word you could describe him with right now, as he’s careful to be gentle with you. He knows himself that he’s bigger than others, so he’s sure to take care with you, especially the height difference between a normal human and his Oni self. He stretches his fingers apart, scissoring, pushing, and curling his fingers, pulling any type of reaction from you, grinning when you let a small noise out but trying to silence yourself by biting your lip. When he tries a third finger, he only manages to get halfway in before you start whining for him to hurry up… And he’s too quick to agree. Lifting you up by the backs of your thighs, he lines you up, pushing the head into you.

“Remember, we have to be quiet… Okay? Shhh.” You move your head to the side to look at him, and he’s quick to kiss you, to keep you quiet enough as he sinks you down onto him. You scrunch your eyes closed, trying to keep your composure, and trying to keep as quiet as you could. Inch by inch, you felt like it would be impossible. It felt like he was hitting your stomach already, but he was still lowering you down so there was still more to fit into you. If that was possible was another thing, and you couldn’t help but jolt at every new (what you started calling as) ‘oni-dick-bump’ that entered you.

“I’m at my limit, sorry in advance.” Before you could question, Itto parted from you, licking your bottom lip before slamming into you. One hand placing itself on your mouth and the same arm as before wrapping around you, hand placing itself around here his head reaches inside of you.

“I should be right around here… See? Do you feel it?” Whispering this into your ear, you had to stop yourself from cumming right there and then. Who knew Arataki Itto could be so cunning? It was almost as if he was purposely trying to get you to be loud, to let it be known what was happening in the public bath at night. You weren’t going to let him win though, he may have gained confidence from your consent earlier, but that doesn’t mean he should start getting cocky. Deciding to knock him down a few pegs, or to see how he reacts, you decided to deny feeling him inside of you.

“Mmh… No. I don’t feel you at ah−” He pushed two fingers into your mouth, holding your tongue between them before giving you little to no mercy down below. Tightening his hold around your waist, he brutally thrusted into you time and time again, suddenly uncaring for how loud you were. It seemed as though you had awoken something within him, something of fierce nature.

“This should help you… Maybe it’ll make your body unforgetting of my shape too−” The last three words he spoke in time with his thrusts, unrelenting but willing to pull every single noise from you. At this point, he wanted you to be loud, and it was clear he wanted you both to be quiet in respect for the hot spring owners. But… That was entirely out of the window. You drooled down his fingers, and you were sure tears were running down your face. It felt way too good to be real… It had to be a dream. You felt his upper thighs tense with every push he did upwards into you, his arm around you tensing and the fingers in your mouth slackening and then tightening themselves around your tongue, somehow forgetting he was trying to keep up with everything all at once without losing into his own pleasure. You started tightening yourself around him as well, trying to remind him it was a two-of-you thing… Not just a you thing.

Pulling his fingers from your mouth, he uses the same hand to hold your jaw, directing your face to his so that he could kiss you again. It was messy, uncaring for keeping things proper and nice for your first time together, showing each other how much you had been wanting the other. Your teeth clashed with his plenty of times, your tongues dancing and it just being an overall mess with copious amounts of saliva escaping or slurping between the two of you. You felt that he was beginning to pull out, so you bit his lip in protest.

“Let’s… Not dirty the water. We’ve done enough of that, just do… Nn- Do it inside−” With no word of warning, he slammed into you a few more times before releasing, a hand slithering down to rub and tease your cock until you cum as well. Staying like that for a few minutes, the heat and everything was finally getting to you, especially after the ride of your life that Itto gave you.

“S-sorry, I got a bit carried away there. I-I’ll do it properly next time if you’ll let me…” He turned towards you, not pulling out, only to see you passed out on his shoulder. He panics, pulling you both out of the water to get you to a seat not far from the bath area, pulling out of you, and then fanning you with the nearest piece of plastic how found to get you to cool down. Shaking you, only for you to groan at him and then sigh. He was feeling awful, but you placed a hand on his cheek and smiled.

“Use that oni strength next time when we’re not in a public hot spring… Okay?”

“Absolutely, yes sir.”

[bigskydreaming]

Okay, so you know “Justice League meets Batman’s kids, who they’d previously been unaware existed” AUs?

So picture that.....but this time, instead of them just having no knowledge of any of these other Gotham vigilantes at all....the Batkids all migrate to various cities as they get older and become known as their protectors - Dick in Bludhaven, Tim in San Francisco, Cass in Hong Kong, etc....

Meaning they’re all established figures, the Justice League are aware of them as solo local heroes who stick to their cities and so they just don’t interact with them much if at all, or else some are members of team lineups but are particularly vague about their histories or life outside of the team’s adventures....

So the big reveal isn’t that they become aware of all these other Gotham vigilantes all at once....its that some big conflict or whatever requires a huge team up of all available heroes, and in the aftermath, they figure out that like.....despite being known as solo heroes who work alone or loners outside of their team settings, 80% of these heroes all not only seem to already know each other, they seem to be related.

And so naturally they all turn to Batman, who has profiles on every known hero and they thus figure had researched these individuals too and just never mentioned this little detail, and they’re like, “Did you know about this?”

And then Nightwing turns to him too, arms crossed and is like, “Yeah Dad, did you know about this?”

And the infamous Red Hood is all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never met any of these people before in my life. Lives? Whatever.”

And then Red Robin moodily grates out “I have no siblings.” Since he’s nursing a grudge since Dick and Jason broke into his apartment the night before and replaced all his custom Red Robin gear with Darkwing Duck merchandise and his vengeance will be swift and also totally disproportionate because things escalate quickly in this family, that’s true in every universe.

Cass meanwhile has deftly skewered Jason’s lie by walking over to him and brazenly patting down the man with many many guns with no fear whatsoever. He squawks and futilely attempts to bat her hands away as she riffles through his many pockets, but he doesn’t seem shocked, just annoyed. Eventually, she pulls away and triumphantly reveals a box of Hello Kitty themed band-aids.

“So these are yours then? Just for you?” Black Bat asks smugly. Red Hood squints at the box.

“What the fuck? How long have those been in my jacket? Why are those in my jacket? Did you freaking plant them in my jacket just on the offchance you could at some point in the distant future use them at my expense?”

Black Bat frowns, puzzled. “Yes?”

“Oh come on, Dead Hood,” Spoiler says with an exaggerated toss of her head meant to convey she’s rolling her eyes beneath her own mask. She skips her way across the room to Black Bat and then drapes herself languidly all over the smaller woman. Who in turn doesn’t so much as twitch beneath the sudden added mass as Spoiler holds out her hand towards the box of band-aids. 

“One please. I have a boo-boo,” she says with easy familiarity straight into the intimidating cowl of Black Bat. Only then does she deign to finish her train of thought with Red Hood.

“I mean seriously, are you saying you don’t have potential blackmail set-ups, pre-rigged releases of incriminating material, and a random assortment of traps, pratfalls and mortifying scenarios in place for the express purpose of being able to humiliate any and all of your siblings at any given moment, without any need for additional prep time?”

“Is this true, Little Wing?” Nightwing whirls on the larger Red Hood with a faux-scandalized gasp. The founder and leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans, renowned for his stratagems and calm competence when directing squads of supers in the heat of battle while he keeps pace with nothing more than naturally acquired acrobatics and a utility belt that apparently uses the same technology as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet....now appears to be....staggering with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead, moaning about how he felt....faint? 

What is happening right now, several dozen superheroes want to know. Is this a drill? Are they supposed to be checking for signs of a mental ambush from undetected psychic saboteurs? Did they all hit their heads at the exact same time and are now experiencing some kind of shared mass concussion?

Look, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen on the Watchtower. 

“Have I failed you so utterly?” The veteran child hero bemoans with a dramatic twirl - that when contrasted with his stern demeanor of a mere ten minutes ago - makes the fears of telepathic infiltration seem less paranoia and more....concerningly probable. “Did you learn nothing from me? Did you learn nothing from B?”

He stops and jabs a finger up at the sky. “Quick, everyone! What is the very first rule of Living While Batty?”

As if by rote, over a half a dozen voices chime in from all over the room, causing various heroes to jump. Spooked by yet more and more vigilantes joining in some kind of mass recitation like they and they alone have some kind of clue what the hell is going on and everyone else just hadn’t been invited to the party. Which is just rude, honestly. Nobody likes feeling like they weren’t invited to the party. Not even superheroes. 

“If you’re not going to bother preparing for every possible contingency and at least six impossible ones, you might as well just stay in bed.”

Even the Red Hood joins in the Illuminati chant or Cub Scout pledge or demonic ritual or whatever the fuck that just was, though his slumped and exasperated posture gives away every hint of sulkiness his headgear otherwise would have kept safely hidden. He’s surprisingly more...expressive, than most who’d only known of him by reputation had expected him to be. The day continues to yield surprises.

“Of fucking course I do,” he growls out, snatching the box from Black Bat. She doesn’t even fight to hold onto it, just lets it go with a knowing smirk. “I wasn’t surprised by the idea of it, I was just surprised she bothered with such a weak effort. Like yeah whatever, actually those could be mine. I use those all the time at home. So what?”

He aggressively yanks one of the band-aids out of the box, fumbles with the peel-off strips with one hand and he roughly rolls up the sleeve of his jacket with the other. Then just slaps it on his forearm and raises said appendage high, showing it off this way and that. “See?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Signal drawls from the other side of the room, nodding his head approvingly. “Totally convincing. Nice job walking that one back, you really showed them.”

Red Hood’s head snaps in his direction with ominous intent. “Watch it, Day-Glo.”

Signal just snorts.

“Yeah, like I’m gonna take constructive criticism on my name and costume from a dude who’s spent the last several years calling himself Red HOOD while running around in a freaking HELMET.”

“Its not meant to be literal, you fucking pedant.”

“So wait, its not literally a helmet? Huh, does it at least protect your head literally, or just like...symbolically? Like if Bane were to clock you across the head, would your concussion just be a metaphor? What’s the treatment protocol for a metaphorical concussion? Fluids, bedrest and a philosophical prescription of two chapters of Chicken Soup for the Soul as needed?”

“Laugh it up, KC and the Sunshine Band,” Red Hood bats back. “You just got yourself disinvited from Thursday night’s poker game.”

Signal just grins and folds his arms over his chest cockily. “Please. You’ve been looking for an excuse to ban me for weeks, cuz you know until you can prove I’m using my ghost vision to cheat, you can’t actually bring suit against me for it in Family Court.”

“That, and also Family Court isn’t a real thing, you toddler. Stop validating Wing-a-ding-ding’s obsession with Shitty TV Nostalgia and just call it that thing where Oracle traps us all in a room until we settle our latest fight without anyone getting stabbed.”

“Yeah, but like, say that five times fast,” Spoiler pipes up. “Its just not practical. Family Court’s way easier.”

“Says the one who’s not even in our fucking family.”

“And yet I grace you all with my sublime presence anyway,” she blows a kiss at him, beatifically unbothered. “You’re welcome.”

The Red Hood scoffs and rounds on his heel, zeroing in on Batwoman in the far corner.

“Hey Auntie B, my siblings are all dead to me and I just helped stop an alien invasion so I deserve nice things like a fun Saturday night. Can you get me into Dad’s fundraiser so I can crash it? He won’t put me back on the list until I promise not to bring any C-4 with me and I won’t promise not to bring any C-4 because he should just trust me that I won’t when I say I’m not gonna and he won’t trust me that I won’t until I admit I shouldn’t have brought any to that sting last month where three tiny little yachts blew up through barely any fault of my own, and I’m just not gonna do that ever because I have convictions and I feel I shouldn’t have to be punished for that. Y’know?”

Batwoman blinks at him. “Kid, I’m not gonna lie to you. You’re my nephew and I love you, but I stopped listening three seconds into all that.”

“Ugh, fine. Can you help me crash Dad’s event tonight so I can teach him a lesson about why he should just trust me not to make a scene so I don’t have to always make a scene to make a point.”

“Tempting as you make that sound,” she says wryly, “I have a strict policy for dealing with you lot and your......everything. I only worry about tolerating one of you at a time, and there’s seven of you, and seven days in the week. You each get your own. You know perfectly well its Robin’s day today. You get me on Tuesday, just like always.”

“Auntie B, we’re not like other families, are we?” Red Robin’s delivery is sarcastically childish and his question clearly rhetorical. Most of his attention is fixated on whatever it is he’s doing with his wrist-mounted computer. 

“No sweetie, we’re all severely fucked in the head and a little bit too comfortable with that.”

“Just checking. Oh hey, Hood, I just emailed you a patch for the hole in your firewall I exploited when replacing all my shit using your accounts just now.”

“You did what?”

“Used your accounts to pay to replace all my stuff that you fucked with last night?” Red Robin says slowly. “Did you not realize that I’ve been sticking within ten feet of you for the past five minutes just so I could clone your devices and do all that while BB and Spoiler kept you distracted? I gotta say, bro, I feel like that’s on you then.”

Red Hood swivels his helmeted head in the direction of the aforementioned two. Black Bat waves. Spoiler shoots him an utterly unrepentant thumbs up.

“You’d side with your ex over me? That’s what its come to?”

“My only allegiance is to chaos,” Spoiler says brightly. Black Bat shrugs.

“Plus he bribes better.”

“Hateful,” Red Hood points at Black Bat, moving on to level the same finger at Spoiler, who curtsies in acknowledgment: “Hateful-er.”

Then the finger rounds the bases to aim judgmentally at Red Robin. “Hateful-est. And that was all Nightwing’s idea anyway, not mine.”

“Oh, I assumed as much,” he says casually. “Your idea of a prank tends to have more of a Carrie vibe. Or be a literal literary reenactment.”

“Its called an homage, 4chan.”

“Whatever, plagiarist. And anyway, I couldn’t go after ‘Wing for payback on this one. He used an Immunity card. If you didn’t want me getting back at you, you should have used one too."

Red Hood looms aggressively. Red Robin ignores willfully. Round and round they go. Superheroes who can survive excessive G-Forces are getting dizzy just watching them have a largely motionless stand-off. That shouldn’t be how that works, but whatever. All the most infamously reclusive and isolated heroes in all hero-dom are apparently part of the same one big reclusive and isolated family of fucked up weirdos and they’re all officially bonkers. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality broke. Try another stall.

“Okay, but see, in order to have an Immunity card, I would have to participate in one of you losers’ stupid Immunity challenges,” the Red Hood drags out with exaggerated patience. “And I’m just not going to do that, on account of those all being fucking stupid. You see the problem there?”

Red Robin just shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, bro. You can have principles or you can have an Immunity card. You can’t have both.”

Meanwhile, on another side of....the same room.....look, its like, an octagonal room, probably. It has a lot of sides. Robin fends off questions from an aggrieved looking Superboy.

“You never told me you had a bajillion brothers and sisters!”

“Yes but I never said I didn’t either.”

Superboy rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, so I should just assume everyone I meet has a bajillion secret brothers and sisters?”

“Well clearly it would have worked out in your favor in this instance if you had, now wouldn’t it?”

“Assuming of course that you can trust what has been said or implied here today and I am actually related to any of those numbskulls. Which I am not actually admitting to,” Robin tacks on hastily.

Superboy eyes him dubiously. “You joined in the same creepy chant all the others did and then got super self-conscious and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Which uh. I did.”

“First off, your interpretation of body language is abyssmal. I do not get self-conscious,” Robin says with a delivery that probably could have benefited from being a little less self-conscious. “And second....that proves nothing. I guessed what they were going to say.”

“Word for word,” Superboy says super-skeptically.

“I’m very good at guessing things. You know this.”

“Okay. Guess how much I believe you right now then.”

Robin glares and folds his arms grumpily across his chest. 

“And what was that anyway? Was that like....you guys’ family motto or something like that?”

“Oh no,” Spoiler pipes up. “That’s much shorter.”

Superboy balks at that. “Wait, you guys actually have one of those for real?”

“Yup,” Steph says, counting out the words with her fingers. “He who laughs last....probably works for the Joker. So tranq him just to be safe. See? Only sixteen words. The first rule of Living While Batty is way longer, and what we said was just the abridged version. You should hear the original, before Black Bat put her foot down and refused to memorize it unless sizable edits were made.”

Superboy hovers between her and Robin now, both in mid-air and on the verge of taking Spoiler’s words as an invitation to hear just that. A low growl arises from Robin’s direction.

“Must you?” He asks the older vigilante, with a most put upon expression.

She looks at him pityingly. “Do you actually need me to answer that? Like, we’ve met, right? Hi, I’m Spoiler.”

“Wait, so Robin said that I just never specifically asked him if he had a bajillion brothers and sisters, and that’s why he didn’t tell me, so that means he wouldn’t have just lied and there’s not some code of secrecy that flat out forbids telling other people stuff, right?” Superboy realizes excitedly.

“Yes, excellent direction. Go on,” Spoiler says, steepling her fingers. Robin buries his face in the palm of one hand.

“Soooo, what other stuff could you tell me about Robin’s super top secret family that I wouldn’t think to ask about but that he would tell me about if I knew what questions to ask?”

She claps once, lightly but with emphasis. “Well done. You’ve passed the first barrier. Untold secrets await you behind just a few more.”

“I’ll get you for this,” Robin vows calmly. She waves a hand at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it before January 1st, remember? You’ve promised retribution like ten times already this year and those don’t roll over, y’know. Rules are rules.”

“Enough!” Thunders a voice then, from the front of the room. Well one of the fronts anyway. Like sides, it has a lot of them, but this is the one where Batman’s standing. All eyes snap to him. Which is kinda just what eyes do when Batman says stuff like that. Its like his superpower, except he doesn’t actually have superpowers, which is what makes it scary. But where the snapping of the eyes (directional) is usually followed by Batman saying something else besides just “hey look at me,” here he pauses in the wake of his own call to attention’s waning reverberations. Uncharacteristically silent.

Not that, y’know, he’s normally Mr. Talkity Talk, but usually his silences feel like he has the words to fill them, he’s just withholding them. This though, this feels more like he doesn’t have any words at all. And he’s as confused by it as any of them, and most everyone else is confused by Batman being confused, and its this whole trickle down economy of confusion and its wrecking havoc on the value of the golden silence standard.

Of course, not everyone present is rendered spellbound with confusion.

“C’mon B,” Nightwing cajoles, leaning forward and practically radiating delight. “I think you know what you have to do now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its not likely to come around again.”

Red Hood snickers beneath his helmet and chimes in. “Yeah Pops, go ahead. You do this and you’ll actually have my respect for a whole twenty four hours. No, wait. Sixteen. No! Eight. Yeah, eight. Still a good deal.”

“Carpe diem, B,” Red Robin grins, leaning back as if to enjoy the show.

“Hey! Infringe on my trademark one more time, dude,” Signal throws a faux-glare at the former. Red Robin just quirks an eyebrow.

“And what, you’ll start saying Yum every time you eat a burger? Oh no. I’m hoist by my own petard.”

Signal flips him off with a grin and then redirects his attention back to Batman. “Yeah seriously though B, you kinda gotta do it now. Because if you don’t do it, then you’ll forever be the guy who didn’t do it, and you don’t want to be that guy, do you?”

“Yeah you really don’t want to be that guy,” Spoiler shouts out. “Nobody likes that guy. He’s the worst.”

“Do it, do it,” Black Bat starts chanting beside her, steadily picking up speed and volume. Several others start joining in. Even Robin appears to be slightly anticipatory, albeit trying very hard to hide it.

Batman sighs, and somehow everyone manages to hear it. Stills. Waits for....something? Nobody but them seems to have any clue what, but the air is thick and heavy with portentiousness. Something is about to happen, and all most of the heroes present could say for sure is it was something they never would have in a million years seen coming.

Finally, Batman straightens with the resigned air of a man about to have oh so many regrets. He crosses his arms, shakes his head, and in an absolute deadpan monotone, says:

“You are awful children. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing your father.”

[eddieandbird]

Part 6 - Roommates

Part 5 | Eddie & Bird | Part 7

“So you’re not scared at all? You are surprisingly chill. I mean that’s what I was hoping cuz I did sort of rope you into this thing,” Robin asked as she finished up her chaotic retelling of all the events that happened after she met Steve and the rest of the crew.

“Honestly, I think what you said almost caused my brain to explode… but I believe you. You guys aren’t monsters, just kids trying to navigate a very weird world. I’ve been feeling the same about my life out here… Well, except I’m fighting shitty bosses in corporate hell while you guys kick ass in actual hell,”

“The Upside Down,” Robin added, cutting Dove off “Sorry, continue,”

“All I’m saying is I trust you and you trust them. You’ve never trusted anyone but me for your entire life. These guys must be really special,” Dove and Robin gave each other a warm smile. “And even though I think Eddie is a total douchebag, I think I’d enjoy the company,” She rolled her eyes playfully.

“Really?” Robin’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah maybe I’ll just make him my maid and have him do the laundry and dishes,” Dove giggled.

“There ya go! Make him earn his keep,” Robin pointed to her in approval. Dove made her way to the closet and grabbed the biggest clothes she could find: a black oversized Sixteen Candles shirt and a pair of green Hawkin’s High gym shorts. Then the two went back into the living room.

Steve shot up from the couch the moment he saw Robin, Dustin followed behind him.

“We gotta go back and tell Eleven about Eddie. We don’t know if Vecna is going to come back for him or something,” Steve spat frantically.

“Oh god please no. Can I get just one day of peace?” Eddie groaned.

“Steve’s right,” Dustin said looking at him. “We have to tell the others and figure out how Eddie survived. Or even possibly prepare for another fight,” His tone was low and serious.

“You two think you could spend one day together and not get into trouble?” Steve asked, looking at Eddie and Dove.

“By trouble do you mean getting pregnant? Cuz no promises,” Eddie chuckled softly, giving Dove a wink.

“In your wildest dreams,” Dove rolled her eyes and plopped the clothes in her arms into Eddie’s lap.

“Gross, let’s get out of here,” Steve made his way to the door.

“So gross,” Robin agreed and started to follow Steve when Dove called out “Rob!”

“Huh?” Robin whipped her head around to look at her.

“Please be safe,” Dove breathed out.

“No promises,” Robin winked at Dove before her, Steve and Dustin left out the front door.

“And then there were two,” Eddie said slowly as Dove locked her front door. She turned around to see him sitting on her couch, hunched over adjusting the silver rings on his fingers. Dove took a moment to admire his hands, and how strong and calloused they looked. She was stuck on watching them move slowly around his jewelry. “You alright?” Eddie caught her stare.

“Hm? Oh me? Yeah, I’m good. It’s just I haven’t had anyone over in…” Dove stopped to think. Eddie looked up at her with his head tilted, waiting for a response. “Yeah I don’t think I’ve ever had any company over officially,” She bit her lip.

“Well I’m grateful you let a stranger like me be your first guest,” Eddie replied.

“Not a complete stranger, Munson. We’ve met before unfortunately,” Dove feigned a disappointed tone.

“No way. I would absolutely remember you,” Eddie shook his head in disbelief. Dove felt her face get hot as Eddie scanned her body. He subtly licked his lips which sent a shiver down Dove’s back.

“Well, I look a lot different from the last time you saw me,” Dove scratched the back of her neck nervously.

“No shit,” His smile grew. “So spill it then, when did we meet?”

“It was when we were still in school… My hair was still brown and it had these ridiculous braided pigtails. Worst of all, I didn't have eye contacts. I was still wearing these goofy, gold, wireframe glasses,” Dove looked down to see Eddie looking back up at her. She didn’t expect to have his full attention like this. “I was in the theater, practicing my monologue in front of the drama club. I did my best to remember all of my lines, but I kept getting interrupted by you screaming in the next room over. I was really struggling with getting my words right, so I stomped over to your board game club and begged you to be a little quieter-”

“It’s called the Hellfire Club,” Eddie scoffed.

“What?” Dove shook her head, incredibly annoyed that Eddie would ask her to speak and interrupt it almost instantly.

“And it’s not a board game club. We play Dungeons & Dragons. Sorry please continue,” he smirked as he motioned to her. She sucked in air before she spoke again.

“Well whatever it was, you interrupted me and threw my concentration off! When I asked you if you could keep it down, you said ‘Who cares about theater? Anyone could act in a shitty play, but it takes guts and wit to defeat a 60-foot-tall giant’,” Dove crossed her arms

“That is true,” Eddie pointed to her. “But I told you I was joking… right?”

“Try slamming the door in my face,” She pouted.

“Yikes,” Eddie gave an awkward grin. “I’m sorry about that… Chivalry was not in my skill set at the time,”

“That was probably the worst day of school I’ve ever had. I cried so much on the walk home, Robin was scared that I was going to die of dehydration before we made it back,” she let out a harsh chuckle.

A silence fell upon the two. Eddie had felt terrible about how much of a jerk he was in his past. Dove was slightly embarrassed after telling Eddie about that day, and how currently it felt childish and petty to even bring up.

“I’m sorry-“ they said in unison and giggled. “Sorry you go first,” Dove insisted.

“It was so long ago,” Eddie said as the laughter died down. “Let’s just pretend it never happened,” he held out his hand, which Dove took enthusiastically. “Friends?”

“Roommates,” She looked at him sternly, like a teacher catching a student passing notes in class.

“Yeah we’ll see how long that lasts,” Eddie said, stretching his arms.

“Just go get showered and changed, I’ll go find you a blanket and some pillows for the couch,” Dove groaned.

[eddienbird]

Part 6 - Roommates

Eddie & Bird [photo] Part 7

“So you’re not scared at all? You are surprisingly chill. I mean that’s what I was hoping cuz I did sort of rope you into this thing,” Robin asked as she finished up her chaotic retelling of all the events that happened after she met Steve and the rest of the crew.

“Honestly, I think what you said almost caused my brain to explode… but I believe you. You guys aren’t monsters, just kids trying to navigate a very weird world. I’ve been feeling the same about my life out here… Well except I’m fighting shitty bosses in corporate hell while you guys kick ass in actual hell,”

“The Upside Down,” Robin added, cutting Dove off “Sorry, continue,”

“All I’m saying is I trust you and you trust them. You’ve never trusted anyone but me for your entire life. These guys must be really special,” Dove and Robin gave each other a warm smile. “And even though I think Eddie is a total douchebag, I think I’d enjoy the company,” She rolled her eyes playfully.

“Really?” Robin’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah maybe I’ll just make him my maid and have him do the laundry and dishes,” Dove giggled.

“There ya go! Make him earn his keep,” Robin pointed to her in approval. Dove made her way to the closet and grabbed the biggest clothes she could find: a black oversized Sixteen Candles shirt and a pair of green Hawkin’s High gym shorts. Then the two went back into the living room.

Steve shot up from the couch the moment he saw Robin, Dustin followed behind him.

“We gotta go back and tell Eleven about Eddie. We don’t know if Vecna is going to come back for him or something,” Steve spat frantically.

“Oh god please no. Can I get just one day of peace?” Eddie groaned.

“Steve’s right,” Dustin said looking at him. “We have to tell the others and figure out how Eddie survived. Or even possibly prepare for another fight,” His tone was low and serious.

“You two think you could spend one day together and not get into trouble?” Steve asked, looking at Eddie and Dove.

“By trouble do you mean getting pregnant? Cuz no promises,” Eddie chuckled softly, giving Dove a wink.

“In your wildest dreams,” Dove rolled her eyes and plopped the clothes in her arms into Eddie’s lap.

“Gross, let’s get out of here,” Steve made his way to the door.

“So gross,” Robin agreed and started to follow Steve when Dove called out “Rob!”

“Huh?” Robin whipped her head around to look at her.

“Please be safe,” Dove breathed out.

“No promises,” Robin winked at Dove before her, Steve and Dustin left out the front door.

“And then there were two,” Eddie said slowly as Dove locked her front door. She turned around to see him sitting on her couch, hunched over adjusting the silver rings on his fingers. Dove took a moment to admire his hands, and how strong and calloused they looked. She was stuck on watching them move slowly around his jewelry. “You alright?” Eddie caught her stare.

“Hm? Oh me? Yeah, I’m good. It’s just I haven’t had anyone over in…” Dove stopped to think. Eddie looked up at her with his head tilted, waiting for a response. “Yeah I don’t think I’ve ever had any company over officially,” She bit her lip.

“Well I’m grateful you let a stranger like me be your first guest,” Eddie replied.

“Not a complete stranger, Munson. We’ve met before unfortunately,” Dove feigned a disappointed tone.

“No way. I would absolutely remember you,” Eddie shook his head in disbelief. Dove felt her face get hot as Eddie scanned her body. He subtly licked his lips which sent a shiver down Dove’s back.

“Well, I look a lot different from the last time you saw me,” Dove scratched the back of her neck nervously.

“No shit,” His smile grew. “So spill it then, when did we meet?”

“It was when we were still in school… My hair was still brown and it had these ridiculous braided pigtails. Worst of all, I didn't have eye contacts. I was still wearing these goofy, gold, wireframe glasses,” Dove looked down to see Eddie looking back up at her. She didn’t expect to have his full attention like this. “I was in the theater, practicing my monologue in front of the drama club. I did my best to remember all of my lines, but I kept getting interrupted by you screaming in the next room over. I was really struggling with getting my words right, so I stomped over to your board game club and begged you to be a little quieter-”

“It’s called the Hellfire Club,” Eddie scoffed.

“What?” Dove shook her head, incredibly annoyed that Eddie would ask her to speak and interrupt it almost instantly.

“And it’s not a board game club. We play Dungeons & Dragons. Sorry please continue,” he smirked as he motioned to her. She sucked in air before she spoke again.

“Well whatever it was, you interrupted me and threw my concentration off! When I asked you if you could keep it down, you said ‘Who cares about theater? Anyone could act in a shitty play, but it takes guts and wit to defeat a 60-foot-tall giant’,” Dove crossed her arms

“That is true,” Eddie pointed to her. “But I told you I was joking… right?”

“Try slamming the door in my face,” She pouted.

“Yikes,” Eddie gave an awkward grin. “I’m sorry about that… Chivalry was not in my skill set at the time,”

“That was probably the worst day of school I’ve ever had. I cried so much on the walk home, Robin was scared that I was going to die of dehydration before we made it back,” she let out a harsh chuckle.

A silence fell upon the two. Eddie had felt terrible about how much of a jerk he was in his past. Dove was slightly embarrassed after telling Eddie about that day, and how currently it felt childish and petty to even bring up.

“I’m sorry-“ they said in unison and giggled. “Sorry you go first,” Dove insisted.

“It was so long ago,” Eddie said as the laughter died down. “Let’s just pretend it never happened,” he held out his hand, which Dove took enthusiastically. “Friends?”

“Roommates,” She looked at him sternly, like a teacher catching a student passing notes in class.

“Yeah we’ll see how long that lasts,” Eddie said, stretching his arms.

“Just go get showered and changed, I’ll go find you a blanket and some pillows for the couch,” Dove groaned.

[danses-with-dogmeat]

Hey I love your blog! If it isn’t too much trouble, could you do one of the companions reacting to Sole getting an unsolicited dick pic?

FO4 Companions React to Sole Receiving an Unsolicited Dick Pic

So I know the ask said one of the companions, but I just did 'em all cuz I got carried away (as I always seem to). This was definitely an interesting one to think about, and suuuuper fun to write. Thanks for the ask!

I ended up doing a little scenario at the top that'll apply to all of the reactions, and just kind of give context for the fateful event to take place (since phones/the internet aren't really a canon element in FO, I put this scenario together instead.)

Given the nature of this ask, there's a just bit of NSFW under the cut!

Sole had woken up like any other day. Heading down the stairs of their Diamond City home to make breakfast, trying to be quiet in order to keep from disturbing their companion in the other room. However, as they passed their front door, they noticed something peeking out of the mail slot.

The paper isn't meant to come out until tomorrow...

Curious, Sole reached for the little white square of photo paper, and noticed some writing in the corner. There was an address and the words, "if you like what you see, meet me here tonight," accompanied by a little arrow pointing to flip the photo over. Their intrigue got the better of them, and Sole did as the writing suggested, turning it over for a brief second before immediately regretting it. They recoiled at the phallic image, their surprise evident in the small yelp they uttered in response to the sight before them.

They heard their companion stir from the other room, and then their footsteps sounded from behind as they approached questioningly.

"What have you got there?" They asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Sole said, turning to face them, "just some mail, is all." Sole's words dripped with distaste, and yet... they felt an overwhelming need to share their unsightly discovery with the person in front of them.

"Wanna see?" They asked, mercilessly turning the picture so their companion could clearly make out the offensive image.

Cait:

*scoffs*

"What, they think that's somethin' te brag about? The damn thing's so wee, I almost couldn't make it out." She'd say with a smile, offering up her hand so she could take the picture and tear it in half. Cait effectively would make the decision for her companion in regards to the comment on the back of the photo. She knows this type of man, and she'd be sure that Sole wouldn't be meeting the asshole anywhere tonight. However, should she be able to sneak away while Sole is sleeping... Cait might just pay a visit to the specified location, where she'd surely give that asshole a piece of her mind, and at least one taste of her fist.

Curie:

Her eyebrows would furrow, and the synth would cock her head to the side in her confusion. Being locked away in a vault with three men for so many years, acting as their doctor, meant she had seen her fair share of the male sex organ. But now, Curie was confused, why did this man feel the need to send Sole a photograph of his penis? Was there something wrong with it? Did he want them to examine it? Sole was not a doctor...

"Why 'ave you received zhis, madame/monsieur? What does zhis man want from you?"

Once Sole explained, Curie would be quite upset by the concept.

"But... you did not ask for zhis, did not want it, and yet, he sent it anyway. Why would you want to meet someone like zhat? It seems very rude to me." She's still confused about it, and may ask a few more questions. Has this happened to Sole before? Does it happen often? Does anyone actually like to see such things when they are unprompted like this? If not, then why do these men continue to do it?

The scientist just wants answers.

Danse:

The soldier would physically recoil at the sight of the photograph, eyebrows raised high as he took in the image, before jerking his head and eyes away from Sole and the picture altogether.

"That-- that is highly inappropriate and an overwhelmingly vile display." He would say once he recovered from his initial shock, still refusing to look back towards Sole, "I suggest you dispose of that filth immediately. Why anyone would reveal themselves in such an unceremonious fashion is beyond me. You would do well to forget such graphic imagery. I know that I will certainly try."

He wouldn't even entertain the idea that Sole would go through with meeting the man behind the picture, but in the off chance that they decided to tell him they wanted to, Danse would spend the remainder of the day convincing them otherwise. He would almost be tempted to go to the location himself in order to lecture the man for his crude and inexcusable behavior, and blatant disrespect to his companion, but in the end, he decides that the man is not worth his time.

Deacon:

Ginger eyebrows would raise slightly over the frames of the glasses for the briefest of moments before he recovered his cool demeanor.

"Ah shoot, did the postman just put it right back into the mail slot? Didn't mean for you to see that, my bad. Here, I'll just deliver it myself."

The sarcasm was evident in his voice as he strode forward and plucked the photo from Sole's hand, examining it for just a moment, and grimacing a bit at the sight.

"Man, Dr. Rich Cockwood does not photograph well. I swear, it's bigger in person." He'd wink at them before glancing down at the picture again, scrutinizing blue eyes pausing to peruse the words on the back as he folded the paper up to put into his pocket. He'd quickly change the subject, trying to keep Sole's mind off the whole thing as he devised a way to sneak out that night and get some intel on the asshole who decided it was a wise idea to put Sole in this position.

Hancock:

*Squints*

"Oh shit. Looks like you've got an admirer there, Sole. " In his sleepy state, it took Hancock a minute to figure out what he was even looking at. Upon realizing that it was, in fact, what he thought it had been, he takes the picture from Sole's grasp and flips it around to glance at the back.

"Look at that, you've even got a date tonight. Must be somewhere romantic, I can tell this guy's old school." He nodded, flipping the photo over to glance once again at the offensive imagery on the front. "Yeah, real traditional, I'd say. Hmm... Mind if I tag along? Could be fun." There was a certain sort of glint in the ghoul's eye that made Sole's spine tingle.

Perhaps neither of us should go... Sole thought, noticing how Hancock's other hand toyed absentmindedly with his combat knife as he furrowed his brows at the photo one last time, before shoving the paper into the pocket of his coat. There was a certain sort of intent behind his actions that made Sole re-think even showing him the image in the first place. Hancock had killed people over less; that, Sole knew for sure.

MacCready:

"Ahh! What the heck are you doing?! I don't need to see that!" He'd squeeze his eyes shut just as soon as he was able to make out the photo, shoving his hands in front of him as though they would be able to push the image out of his mind.

"It's too early for this, what the heck is that guy's problem?" MacCready shuddered as he pulled his hands slowly from where they covered his eyes, glancing quickly at Sole before lowering them down completely, a relieved expression on his face as realized the picture was no longer in his line of sight. Noting his dramatic reaction, Sole considered toying with the mercenary a bit. They asked him what was wrong with the image, stating that perhaps they would pay this man a visit tonight. It had been so long since they had been out on a date, might as well go for it, right?

MacCready's eyes would simultaneously furrow, and widen at their words as he stuttered, finally finding his voice after a moment of shocked, choked silence.

"What?!" He exclaimed, "You're not seriously thinking of going, are you? That guy seems like such an ass-- Well, he just-- I mean..." He took a breath, and Sole had to bite their lip to hold back their grin. "Look, not that it's really any of my business or anything, but... don't you think you could do better than that guy? Like... a lot better?"

Sole couldn't hold back their grin any longer, but MacCready wouldn't meet their gaze. Instead he looked down at the floor, rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand, a nearly unnoticeable blush spreading over his cheeks.

"That guy just seems like a real jerk, and you? Well... Yeah, you deserve better than that, I think." He finished rather awkwardly, finally looking up to meet Sole's gaze before returning their coy smile.

Nick:

The synth would a have a brief moment of raised eyebrows as he took in the details of the photograph, and then the inevitable scowl of disappointment would spread across his face.

"You know, you'd think this guy would understand that no one in their right mind wants to see that particular... angle. You don't think that's his good side, do ya?" Sole would smile a bit at that, and as the synth turned to walk away from the offensive image, they told him about the writing on the back.

"Hey now, wait a minute. You're not thinking of paying this guy a visit, are ya? If so, that's a pretty poor decision on your part, I think."

Sole would shake their head, telling Nick not to worry as he fixed his inquiring yellow gaze on them. He nodded in response, seeming satisfied by their answer. In the next moment, a thought seemed to claim his attention.

"Hmm... I think I might just know the perp, actually. Ellie's got a few reports back at the office mentioning some similar events. Guess it's possibly one of the guards on night duty who goes around with these to see if he gets any takers."

Sole almost spoke up, but as they opened their mouth, Nick's words seemed to take their idea straight from their head. "On second thought..." He said, "You got any plans for this evening?"

Piper:

"Ahh! Blue! Why would you show me that!?" She'd physically cover her eyes with her hands, taking a few steps back and away from the picture for good measure.

"Look, I don't care what you do with it," she'd tell them, "just don't let me see it again!"

Sole would thankfully oblige, but before disposing of the image, they showed Piper the writing on the back. At the sight of the man's suggestion, Piper snatched the photo from Sole's hand, glaring at it furiously.

"Ohhhh no he doesn't. If he's sent crap like this to anybody else, I'm going to make sure no one falls for this."

And Piper kept her word, as the next morning's addition of Publik Occurrences contained a small piece written on exactly this subject, titled: To the Asshole who sent the Sad Little Picture to a Disgusted Citizen; No One Wants to See That! Sincerely, Everyone who has.

Preston:

"O-- oh! Um, that's-- okay. That's just wrong. Do you want me to get rid of it for you?"

Preston's face would wrinkle up in his clear distaste before bringing a a hand up to shield his eyes. When Sole had lowered the picture, he removed his hand, and looked them in the eye, refusing to pay the photo any more attention, but extending his hand out to take it from them so he could dispose of it properly.

"Are you... okay? I can't believe how rude some people are. Who would want to see that?" He'd flash a sympathetic smile at them, as he folded up the photo and prepared to throw it away. He didn't read the back himself, but if they told him about the words that were written there, he wouldn't even entertain the idea of Sole going, just shaking his head in disappointment at the man's poor and rude way of trying in vain to woo his General.

"Some people... The nerve. If you don't mind me saying, General, you deserve much better than that anyway."

X6-88:

His eyes would be locked to Sole's, but as they presented the photo to him, his gaze would fall to the image, and an ever so slight furrowing of his brows would take place above his silver eyes. A brief moment would pass, and X6's gaze would be back on his companion's face.

"Ma'am/ sir, why did you feel the need to show me this?" He's also quite confused, this was not a common occurrence in the Institute, and once Sole gave him an explanation, his expression would remain blank. For the most part, anyway. A small huff of laughter would escape him, prompting Sole to be the one giving him the questioning look now.

"If this filthy wastelander believes he can disrespect the future director of the Institute without facing consequences, he is sorely mistaken." He said, his gaze unbroken as he made Sole this promise, "Don't worry, I will take care of this filth at the specified meeting time and location. You will not hear from him again."

He doesn't necessarily intend to kill the man for his unseemly behavior; X6 is a courser after all, and he knew this man would be scared shitless if X6 were to so much as look at him the wrong way, but should the man make any... poor decisions in response to the courser's confrontation, well... certainly X6 can't be held responsible for the behavior, or the fate, of a mere stranger now, could he? Especially after his heinous actions.

[pufflocks]

Kuroo x bottom male reader, maybe readers riding him?

Summary: Honestly in my mind–, I believe if Kuroo had someone sitting on his cock I believe he would be so touchy. Touchy and impatient— Touching the readers curves and rubbing on his thighs until he couldn't take it anymore. ♡

"You- You are so fucking tight- ugh, I love it." -T.K ❣

Warnings: Slight degrading • Groping • Cum eating • Proof read • porn without plot

Cast: Bottom!M!Reader x Kuroo Tesuro //Kenma Kozumane//

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

It was an alluring Friday. Volleyball club didn't have another practice until next week. Leaving an eventful evening afterschool for a certain couple.

"Phew I'm fuckin' exhausted-" Tetsurou exhaled stretching out his long limbs. Many people, according to Y/N would kill for his height. Yet he was always saying how much he hated it. Words only to tick his boyfriend off – which it did.

The rooster haired male slicked back his sweat covered hair. "Oi, kenma I'm gonna head out first since my oh so handsome boyfriend wanted me to take him home early." Kenma nodded quietly, chugging his water down quietly. He gathered his belongings along with the other members of the team.

'I wonder why he needs a chaperone to walk him home..' Kenma sighed. Shaking off the thought since it was not his business. Besides that he started picking up some stray volleyballs. Faster he does this the faster he gets home to play video games with his boyfriend.

You however, was just about to get out of your last period. Thinking about some random things to get out of the fact you and nekomas volleyball captain sending eachother lewd glances throughout the day. One action led to another throughout the day.

You sitting in the back of class softly giggling to yourself once while at your phone and blushing at other texts. Some texts were cute flirts like "I can't wait to see you" or "Coach is being extra angry. He needs pop a chocky milk" Leading to a raging tent in your pants in your last class period when he sent a slick nude of a boner he accumulated in the past hour. Ugh— The clock nearing 3 PM setting you slight edge in your seat.

BRING !

'Thankfully the teacher didn't see me with my phone.'

Sighing tremendously you snatched up your bag that had a cheesy volleyball sticker in nekomas colors with a big number '1' on it. Gifted by your yours truly, Tetsurou Kuroo aka rooster bf. A small nickname you gave him in your guys' first year.

You chuckled at your own humor as you bumped into someone the way out of your classroom.

"Ah-!" You failed to finish your small mental comedy show as your overly tall boyfriend encased you in a nearly bone crushing hug. Lovingly of course.

Your not so obvious erection slightly catching contact on his muscular thigh. "You scared me tetsu- Come on lets go." You grab hold of the mans hand in dire need to fix your lower situation, pronto. One think you hated about your boyfriend was how much of a tease he so unashamedly was.

You both agreed, over text to leave early to do it after class since he didn't have practice today.

"What's the rush doll ? You were just teasing me with that I wanna ride you BS over the phone." He snickered. Face automatically bloomed red as you scoffed in face. Pushy bastard he is.

"Yeah yeah. Come on before people see-" And before you knew it. Your boyfriend took one glace down south to notice you weren't lying. Your small cock pressing up against the unformed pants.

'Cute how eager he is~' he mentally mused.

He took this opportunity to just drag you to an already emptied classroom. The school seemed to empty out earlier on Fridays, you thought. Slowly coming back to your own senses you see just how peckish he really was. Air thickening. Your noticable shudders of arousal not going unnoticed.

"God,, I need you right now." No other words were conversed between you two as he eagerly ripped and tugged the cloth off your smaller frame. Canines slightly nipping at now heated skin and grabbing wherever his hands could easily roam. Sloppy kisses to your neck making you gasp and make your penis twitch in gratitude.

"Please tetsu.. I want it badly~" You moaned wantonly as he was gripping some belly fat lovingly. Tetsurou grinned as if he was a wolf in the night howling at the moon.

Grabbing a nearby chair, after he let you go with a small peck to your nose he sat down and shrugged off his trousers. Hard organ slapping on his lean stomach. The sight making you purr in the presence of this 'wolf'

'I can't wait to fucking ride him..'

The sight of his cock made you rub your legs together eagerly. A small "Hm..~" erupting from your throat. Oh god did it not only have girth and a red bulge of its head – His length and overall cock had been mesmerized in your small pink hole.

"Wanna ride you Tetsu.." you mewled already palming the hard on in your now very tight pants.

He pulled you closer and gripped your chin to make you look at him as he stroked his cock teasingly, "Wanna ride me dry and see if you can come undone or vise verse but you blow me ? Which is it sweetheart ?" Darting dark eyes your way as he audibly purred. Kind to not so kind kisses being placed to your collarbone making you shiver as his cold lips met your hot skin.

New hickies you never minded showing off, just as much as he never minded giving you to show off.

The choices were hanging heavy on your tongue, now realizing his question. Almost obediently, in one swift motion you got down your knees willingly let him unravel you with his slim eyes.

"Such a lucky ass man I am~"

Fuck you wanted him so bad.

"You gonna blow me my pretty Y/N ?" He said stroking your cheek as if you were the most rarest diamond from his thief heist. To him you were not only rare, but valuable beyond his mind.

Grasping hold of his member you lick up his shaft kissing here and there. Making quick work to get to the main course.

Tetsurou smiled. His pretty boy serving his cock like it was something holy. Before he knew it you started gulping down his length. Slobber dribbling at the creases of your mouth. Pretty eyes of yours making their ways to your rooster headed lover.

"Fuck-! Baby I'ma fuckin' cum-" He groaned, head flying backward as you got off hearing him announce he was gonna shoot down your throat. Swallowing every. Single. Drop.

"Shit.. You gonna take daddies cum baby ? Yeah ? Where you want it ? Tell me babes." He was tapping his cock against your now plump and messy lips as he stroked himself off to your filthy face. Fuck, he was using your face for his own pleasure. You wanted him to know how much you enjoyed this.

"Mm- I want it in my mouth!~ please stick your cock deep down my throat daddy!~" You whined pathetically stroking your own leaking cock and using your own arousal for lube. The lewd squlching noises invading your ears.

He snorted at your poor attempts at getting yourself off and opened your jaw enough to shove all the way in down your throat. Tears prickling and threatening to fall down your face. You let out small gags leading to moans from the action as he shot down your throat. You swallowed his seed successfully, sticking out your tongue to show you did.

"Such a pretty boy.. Fuck such pretty boy." Tetsurou praised as he wiped the tears you ignored from your puffy eyes. Also unnoticing the ringing one of your phones was doing. You didn't care though. "We ain't done yet though. Get your sweet ass up here my prince." You joyfully obliged as he helped you off your knees seeing they were red. He started rubbing small circles and kissing your bare shoulders. A way of saying sorry for making you be on yourknees for so long.

'So caring~' You groggily giggled to yourself due to your throat being slightly sore from your guys' previous actions. Damn he was rough this time. Does being found out really get him this riled up ?

He cocked an eyebrow, "What's wrong ? Did a do something silly ?" He wore his signature smirk. The one you loved and hated. A calming and goofy aura being replaced with the once heated lustful one. All you could do was giggle again and cup his face in the moment. Just enjoying him.

"You're just so caring with me and I love you for moments like these." You confessed. Heart beating erratically as he chuckled kissing your nose.

"I know. I'm a big ass softy for my boyfriend believe it or not." You rolled your eyes jokingly. You loved this man, but you also loved his cock which by the way, still hasn't gone soft yet.

Turning around in his lap you wrapped your arms and legs around his form as you whispered alluringly. "Let me do the work cuz my dick is aching now and I needa cum stupid bad." You smiled devilishly. He once again for the umpteenth time, chuckled at your words and throwing his hands up.

"No hands my prince. No hands." You nodded. Knowing full well he would lose it half way of your quote unquote dominance.

You slowly and steadily began inserting his member inside. God, the stretch you fucking waited for was heavenly. Making it all the more nearly impossible to not close your eyes in delight.

Sucking through his teeth your boyfriend let out a long "Fuuuck..~" as groaned instinctively grasping onto your hips. On a loose thread of keeping his promise of letting you in control.

"God, you're so fucking- huge-! Testu~" You whined already grinding the rest of length into your now gaping hole. The feeling all too familiar to your body. Soon beginning to bounce up and down with pure greed. Not giving the slightest flying fuck if someone were to see you through the small class window as you were rolling your eyes back in ecstasy like a expert porn star.

"You- You're so fucking tight.. Ugh- fuck I love it !~" He moaned out aggressively as your bouncing only quickened at his words slapping sounds got louder. "Who's fucking cock are you riding Y/N ?" He growled and huffed bear your neck. His breath tickling the hairs in the area.

Noticing he didn't get any answer to his no rhetorical question, Tesurou slapped your ass harshly leaving a delicious itchy feeling rupture in the spot his heavy hand slammed on. You lost it as an almost unbearable amount of pre ran down your cock.

"You- Ah!~ Fuck it's you Testu!~ Your cock- Ah-!~ is hitting me in all the right places oh my fucking god!-" You shrieked small little tears making their way down your ruined face.

'This slut is really egging me the fuck on today~' Tetsurou mentally grinned.

Not only did he like the words coming out of your mouth, but he lived for those damn tears of diamond racing out the corners of your eyes. "

"Fuck it. I'm pounding the shit out of this ass." He mumbled to himself as he snatched you off of his body as if it was completely nothing and pressed you forward on a desk, your perky nipples grazing the cold school furniture.

He took a second to adjust his angle until ramming into your prostate directly dead on as you let out a high pitched warble. Anyone could mistake your voice for a females out of context. "Fuck-! fuck- MM— FUCK YES~" you moaned as your cock swung heavily in between your legs as Tetsurou began deep stroking every corner inside you. The feelings making your mind go numb.

"Baby boy I'm finna blow my load~ Who the fuck is fucking your shit up right ? Huh ?~" Testu's snarled in your ear. Snatching you up by your neck up to his sweaty hard chest. Your bodies creating an almost unbearable heat between you both.

You whined in a needy voice as the feeling of your prostate getting hammered repeatedly. "YOU DADDY~ YOU YOU YOU~!!! GOD LEMME CUM FUUUCK—" His grip on your neck did not falter as his pace only got faster. Quickly gripping your slick penis and jerked you off all the while placing delectable light kisses around your bruised neck and shoulders. You were nearly seeing stars with overstimulation and his contrast of touch.

"That's exactly what I like to hear my amazing boy~" Tetsurou hips stuttered as you came hard, your eyes rolling back and drool sliding down your jaw. Coming straight after your release he gave one last deep push cumming deep down in your tight little ass. "Fuck babe..- Fuck-" He panted smiling lazily, grip already faltering around your neck. He never would forgive himself if he accidentally choked you to death.

Since you guys literally just fucked in a classroom, aftercare had to be done differently. Slowly laying his head on your shoulder, rubbing your hips and doing anything to ease any after pain off your body. Maybe you'll let him try out a cream he uses on himself after volleyball. Eases the joints and moisturizes your body.

Such a loving boyfriend you bad.

"I love you so damn stinkn' much Y/N.. God I'm so fucking lucky I swear." You chuckled, 'cause he always seemed to be so emotional after you guys had sex. You thought it was cute coming from him. "Let's get out of here cuz' we already stayed here for half an hour." You stated pushing the tall male off your body, much to his unpleasant dismay. He only hummed in response.

"Your house or mine ?" He questioned after pulling up his pants and tugging his extra volleyball shirt on. You stretched while yawning a bit. Sex is tiring.

"Yours. My parents will automatically smell the sex on me and no cologne can cover that." Giggling softly at your statement your boyfriend nodding in a agreement.

"Let's just hope they dont find out we once fucked in your living room-" You glared at him as he stopped, snickering at how cute his boyfriend looked after being roughed up.

"Let's go so we can cuddle now please." You softly pleaded as you tugged his shirt tiredly. You know the first thing you were gonna do when you got to his house was instantly plop smack on his oversized bed.

"Let's go my prince."

Bees are pretty..

Zenna, no.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 1

It’s been longer than usual since our last answer session, so I’m answering a ton of questions today! It’s so big I split it into two parts. Thank you for the patience on getting a response to these.

Thanks for reaching out to us with your questions and kind words ^^!

Sorry if this has been asked before or isn't something you can say but is there anyway for Cove to confess in step 4? I wanted him to confess in step 3 and followed all the steps to make him do it but ended up texting my family instead of Cove at the end.

Yeah, Cove can confess in Step 4!

Hello! I heard that Cove is on the spectrum, albeit undiagnosed. As someone who is ND, this makes me UNBELIEVABLY happy. I literally was brought to tears! Thank you for that!

Out of curiosity, will Cove be diagnosed in Step 4? I have a strong feeling y’all won’t make it a HUGE deal/make it out to be negative, so I’m not worried about that whatsoever! I’m just curious just he’ll off handedly mention it? Or will it just not be touched upon at all (which is ok!)?

Either way is ok, I’m just curious!

I’m happy it made you happy! Admittedly, Cove simply being someone with autism that grew up not being diagnosed was something I included for myself. I didn’t really think anyone would notice or ask about it, aha. But players did start to have questions about his traits, so I started to talk about it outside of the game. It’s great to see it get such a positive response and now I do feel like having it be a non-topic may have been the wrong choice and bringing it up would’ve been good in terms of having positive representation for that. I don’t know if I’ll find a way to mention it in Step 4 now, with how far along the game is, but I am at least thinking about it when originally it wasn’t something I really even considered.

Hey!  Just wanted to say thank you for Our Life.  It's been a bright spot and a needed escape in what's otherwise been a crummy year.  I know you just did a Q&A post but I figured I'd ask anyway.  Was just curious about Step 4.  Will it be similar to the other Steps in that it consists of several different moments or will it just be one long sequence?

Step 4 is shorter than the prior Steps because it’s just an epilogue rather than a full arc of a story. It’ll consist of scenes that all happen in a set row one after the other. There won’t be a collection of Moments to choose from. But it’ll still be very sweet and fun.

¡hola!, you see, first I want to say that I love Our Life! (°◡°♡) and I have 2 important questions, would Cove cry watching titanic? and what is the saddest part according to him? (sorry for my english) 

Titanic would make him cry. He’d probably think the parts showing people who aren’t able to make it to the life boats/are choosing to stay and go down with the ship were the saddest.

Hello, I wanted to ask how much you earn with creating games? Like is it possible to make a living? Thank you >< <3 

How much I earn varies a lot month to month based on Steam sales, Patreon backers, and how many projects are in full production at the time. It’s also hard to say how much I make historically, since that also changes dramatically year by year. But I do earn enough to work on these games full time! I really appreciate all the support that allows me to do that.

Hey!! I was wondering for the 18+ Our Life moment, will there be an emphasis on safety/comfort for all involved? I feel like there  would be just going off of what the rest of the game is like, but I wanted to ask 

Yes! Cove is a nervous boy himself and also super cautious about doing anything the MC doesn’t like, so clear consent from both is absolutely needed for anything to happen. It’s a conversational sexy times Moment with stops/starts so the two can talk about how they’re feeling, rather than a heat of the moment just going for it kind of thing.

Hey!! I was wondering how long the wedding dlc would be? Will it be broken up into moments, or just one big event? 

It’s one long series of scenes all in a row rather than a collection of Moments to pick from. It’s the shortest and the least expensive of all the DLCs. It’s not super crucial to get and those who aren’t into big weddings can totally skip it without worry.

HELLO AMAZING DEVS 👋 i am hopelessly in love with the worst guy ever (jeremy king) and because of this i have a really stupid question: does he really hate people who are nice to him? TvT he’s too cute to be mean to istg it’s a miracle JB held the urge to be consistently nice to him bc just look at his FACE he is so cute! thank you for jeremy’s route it’s so lovely (and awful bc he’s scum 11/10) it gave me so much laughs LMAO i hope you guys have a good day!! 

Haha, thank you. He doesn’t hate them but he’s certainly not pleased with them. Jeremy is either uncomfortable with or annoyed by people being sweet on him, depending on how they approach it. He’s far more comfortable with jerkiness. It lets him relax and he can be himself without it being a problem, since he’s also a jerk. He feels a level of guilt being such a little punk to kind people, not enough to be a better person but still.

Has Cove dated or been interested in someone other than MC? 

Nope! He stays single over the course of the game if he’s not with the MC.

Is Step 4 more mature? Or it's gonna be set in similar atmosphere as Step 3? 

Step 4 is a similar atmosphere as Step 3. Though, it’s actually kind of less mature-topic heavy than Step 3 since it’s just a ‘hey, let’s check in on the gang to see what they’re up to’ style epilogue rather than a story arc with serious issues.

will there be new music for now and forever?? or will the old our life music be reused? 

It’s gonna be a brand new soundtrack. We’ll be opening up a job position for that soon.

Hi, is it okay if we use the assets in Our Life (like the sprites) for fanworks or fan content content, like edits? 

Sure! Just as long as you don’t use the assets made by those artists to make money.

Quick clarification on Step 3 choices: I hope I didn't come off rude (because I LOVE the game, really!!), I was just curious because the intro threw me off at times. For example, you could choose how you felt about Elizabeth in Step 2 (Dinner), but during the Step 3 intro, it says that you got closer to Liz and I didn't get a choice in it. 

For the example, it can’t be helped that you’re closer to Liz in Step 3 than you were in Step 2 because she’s inherently closer to the MC regardless of whether you liked her or not in Step 2. Her feelings are out of your control and the game isn’t so dramatic that you can push her affection away and not let her bond with you, haha. But ‘being closer’ can still be relative. For some people maybe that means you’re best buds now and for others it might just mean you’re not fighting all the time any more. If there’s other parts you want to mention, feel free to let us know.

Did the illustrator for Our Life change? 

We have many OL artists! The main artists who set the game’s style haven’t changed, but there’s multiple other artists who help finish assets.

So Miranda's type is confident and outgoing, huh? So...does that mean Terri's her type?? 👀 

Haha, sorry for the late reply on this. As you might’ve seen in our post yesterday- yeah that is her type.

Hey! First, I just want to say I've really enjoyed how detailed OL got with gender identity and sexuality and how respectful the topics were handled! It's been so wonderful to play since the experiences could be close to my own (I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up at parts). Second, I was wondering, would future games explore the topic of polyamory? I'd love to see more visual novels allow room for that and I saw you've explored the topic before.

Keep up the amazing work! ♡

Thank you! We do want to include polyamory in at least some of our future projects. Floret Bond, which might be what you’re referring to when mentioning how we’ve explored the topic before, is on hold unfortunately. So right now I’m not sure when something might release or what will be the first game of ours to come out with poly relationships (we might do something else before FB is done). We’ll have see how things ends up coming together.

Hey um. I feel like im not allowed to ask this on the private discord cuz people will yell at me but why is there so much focus on OL2 and not finishing OL1 stuff? I like the new people but i kind of want to finish cove's story and get derek and baxter stuff first. didn't people pay for it? 

I’m sorry, I don’t understand entirely what’s making that situation a concern. There’s a channel in the discord for critique where no one is allowed to comment back. People can voice things they’re worried about without any way for others to push back on it. And the two teams working on the OL games are different. We try to post pretty often about how we’re hiring brand new people to start on Our Life: Now & Forever. The OL1 team is all still working on OL1 like normal. There’s only more updates on the Patreon for OL2 because the expansions to the first game are mostly script-based at this point while OL2 is just starting to get all its art, which means there’s a lot more to show off as previews.

Also, there was a Kickstarter for the first Our Life, if that’s what you mean by people paying for it. But one of the stretch goals was to start Our Life 2 early, before fully completing Our Life 1, so that the new game could be out sooner. It wouldn’t make sense to stop doing OL2 work because that would be going against what backers were promised. Maybe you didn’t get the full story before and hopefully this clears it up!

Hello! I know it's up to every player but.. What is your recommendation for playing order? Did you ever had any timeline  events planned? 

I didn’t make the events with a planned timeline. The events got made simply as I had ideas for them and then I just kind of organized them from left to right on the screen in an order to space out more dramatic ones between more lighthearted ones. Any order the player wants to go with is totally valid!

Hi! It's Step 4 a paid dlc or update? And how long it's planned to be? Ps. Love the game! 

The Step 4 epilogue is free! The Cove Wedding DLC does cost money, though. Those are planned to be shorter than the usual Steps/DLCs.

Will we have options for what sort of job the MC might have by the time step 4 takes place? 

Yeah, you can. It’s not super exact or detailed, but there are options about it.

Is there a pandemic in Our Life world, or is it just in a better timeline with no pestilence? 

Our Life is pandemic-free! That didn’t exist when we began working on the project and it’s not something we’d like to feature in this story now that it has unfortunately come along, aha.

Hi, you said that you can play tic-tac-toe or hangman with Cove in Boating if you're sick/scared but I keep getting tic-tac-toe. Am I doing something wrong?

After being sick/scared you have to continue to be upset/unwell. If you calm down and decide to just chill you’ll end up playing tic-tac-toe.

Hi, GB Patch! Since Lee was initially commissioned to only appear in two Steps does this mean she won't appear in the Wedding DLC? I really like her character so it'll be a little weird to not have our cousin at our wedding, aha.

She is gonna be in Step 4/the wedding DLC after all! We’re still working with her creator to make sure it fits with what they wanted.

Is Sunset Bird based on a real place? Asking for a friend, not trying to move there or anything. 👀

It’s based on small beach towns in So-Cal, but not one specific town you could go see in real life, I’m afraid. It’d be nice if it was real, though.

—– —– —– —–

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 4,577 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: Alexandria Warnings: Language, mentions of abuse, violence, sexuality, nudity, typical TWD A/N: STUFF. IS. HAPPENING! A/N: This is part of a series! Find the previous parts on the Masterlist! Summary: The Hilltop and Alexandria are well into preparations for the war against the Saviors, and someone goes missing.

Your name: submit What is this?

A couple weeks later

It had been an eventful couple of weeks. Alexandria and Hilltop were well into preparations for the first hammer blows to fall against the Saviors, but the Kingdom, the latest community Jesus had introduced you to, had just decided to join in the fight after shit went sideways. You and Daryl had stayed there for a few days to help before heading back to Hilltop. The biggest relief was finding Carol safe and sound, although changed from how both you and Daryl remembered her. You knew it was weighing on the archer, but there was simply too much to do to spend more time there and try to figure out exactly what was going on...

The intel from Dwight so far had been untested but consistent. He was keeping you all apprised of the Saviors movements and what Negan seemed to be focused on. There had been some concern after the discovery of the bodies that you and Daryl had been responsible for out by the survivalist cache, but the Saviors seemed to think it was a chance one-off skirmish with some other group and no more heat had come your way. Of course, Negan continued to pressure and terrorize Rick and Alexandria, but they had been able to keep him placated so far with supplies. But that wasn’t going to last forever, and it was almost time to kick the hornets’ nest.

The fine weather, moderate temperatures and ample sunshine, were in harsh contrast to the anxiety and worry plaguing you as you all prepared for a war that you were sure would result in heavy losses. That particular day, Daryl found you down by the armory, helping to sort and finish weapons that had just come from the blacksmith. His tall frame darkened the doorway, and although Daryl was well aware of how worried you were, you still always had a smile for him. He stopped and leaned on the table across from you, drinking in the sight. “Hey.”

“Hey. What’s up?” you asked, setting aside some broadhead arrows.

“Ya still wanna do that pick-up from the ammo cache today?” he asked.

You nodded. “I think we have to.”

He straightened up and nodded. “Yeah. I think so too. I’ll get the gear and my bike. Ya about done here?” he asked.

“Done. Let me just drop these few off to be sharpened. I’ll meet you down by the gate.”

Daryl nudged his nose up in a nod and headed to your trailer to collect the gear you would need. He was just about done, zipping up his pack, when he heard hurried footsteps coming up to the door, followed by urgent knocking.

Daryl spun and rushed to open it. Jesus was standing on the top step looking deeply concerned. “I think we might have a problem,” he said.

_ _ _ _ _ _

“Well, when was the last time anybody saw the little weasel?” you asked, pacing the length of the trailer anxiously. Maggie, Sasha, and Enid were gathered too.

“That’s what I mean. I’m not even sure,” Jesus said. “He’s just been holing up in his office drinking lately. By the time I realized he wasn’t around anywhere I couldn’t even tell how long he’d been gone.”

Daryl let out a low growl. “We shoulda locked his ass up. Guarantee he’s runnin’ off to find some Saviors,” he roared.

Jesus looked dumbfounded. “I never thought he’d actually try something like this. He’ll be lucky if they don’t kill him.”

You rubbed your hands over your face and shut your eyes for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. We can’t go back and stop him, if that’s really what he’s up to. The only thing we can do now is prepare for what’s going to happen.” You met Daryl’s eyes. “Our timeline just accelerated. We need to get word to the Kingdom and Alexandria ASAP.”

Daryl nodded gravely, a shadow over his narrowed blue eyes. “Did he know ‘bout that radio of theirs we’ve got?”

“No. He definitely didn’t,” Jesus said.

“Well, at least there’s that,” Maggie said. “I’ll handle gettin’ the volunteers here all armed and come up with a final defense plan. I’m sure they’re gonna be knockin’ sooner rather than later.”

Sasha shook her head, anger plain on her face. “I’ll set extra watches on the wall. Thank God we didn’t cut him in on our plans.”

“Yeah,” Daryl agreed, straightening up. “Never trusted the bastard. If I see him, he’s a dead man. We’ve got one thing goin’ for us at least. They’re gonna think we ain’t armed or prepared at all. They’re gonna think they’ll be surprising us, but they’re wrong.”

Jesus sighed heavily. “I’ll contact Rick and The Kingdom and then stay glued to that radio. If I hear anything, anything at all, I’ll make the rounds.”

You all had your plans and you watched as everyone cleared out of the trailer. Daryl turned to see you frozen and your face dark with worry.

He moved around the table and stopped in front of you, his hands reflexively landing gently on your hips. “Hey. This ain’t it. It ain’t over,” he said.

You nodded and met his blue eyes. “I know. That’s what scares me. It’s just starting. All the—all the death and destruction is coming. It’s like being on a set of train tracks with a locomotive bearing down and nowhere to go.” Your eyes turned downward, but not fast enough to hide the glassiness in them.

“Hey.” Daryl gently clasped your face and your wide eyes met his again. “Everything is gonna be alright.”

“You don’t know that…”

Daryl nodded and brushed a strand of your hair away from your face. “Ya. I do. ‘Cuz we’ve been makin’ these plans, and they’re all good. Smart. It’s like ya said. Timeline gets bumped up, but they ain’t winnin’. And I will do everything I have to, to keep ya safe. You and every one of our people.”

There was still some seed of doubt in your eyes, but your fear seemed to have diminished some and you nodded before looping your arms around his neck and hugging him against you tightly. Daryl sank into you, breathing in the semi-sweet scent of your hair and smoothing his hands over your back. “I’ve got you,” you murmured into the crook of his neck. Even despite the bad news, Daryl couldn’t help but smile.

“Mhm. And I got ya.” He was still bewildered by your constancy and how each of you seemed to carry the other when you most needed it. It was a give and take he had hardly known in his life. There were no strings attached, no deals or bargaining. You were just there.

The rest of the evening was chaotic as you rushed around preparing for what could come at any moment, but it was almost midnight and still there was no word over the radio that the Saviors were moving.

“If he went on foot, he won’t be anywhere near the closest Savior outpost until tomorrow. And that’s assuming he somehow manages to survive,” Jesus said.

You glanced toward the gate and the inky blackness beyond. “Closest ones we know about…” you said quietly.

Daryl shifted a little anxiously, your worry being his. “Jesus is right though. We best try and get some sleep while we can. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.”

You sighed, but Daryl saw you soften. “Yeah.” You placed a friendly hand on Jesus’ shoulder. “Wake us up if you hear a single peep over that radio.”

He gave you a tight smile and nodded. “You got it. Goodnight.”

“Night,” Daryl drawled, falling into stride behind you back to the trailer. He shut the door behind himself and simply watched you drifting about the space for a moment, getting ready for bed. You felt his eyes on you and paused, turning to read his expression.

“What are you thinking?” you asked the archer.

He shrugged and drifted toward you. “Nothin’. Tryin’ not to.”

You nodded and turned to face him, unable to stand the space between you any longer. You pushed the curtain of dark hair framing his face out of eyes and gently rested your hand lightly along his jaw. “You’re so strong, Daryl. Whatever else happens, I at least know you’re gonna come through this just fine. Hell, you’ll probably be the one to put Negan in the ground.”

“Hey.” He grabbed your hand in both of his, and marveled at how small and fragile it felt, despite how strong he knew you were too. “ What’d I tell ya? We are gonna be just fine.” He pressed your hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. You smiled at the forcefulness of his assertion followed by the tenderness of his action afterwards. “C’mon. Let’s at least try and catch a little sleep.” He tilted his head in the direction of the bed and you were eager to comply, falling down heavily with your head on the pillow. Daryl moved behind you until he could press his body against you. This time he was the one who moved until he could tangle his legs with yours. He draped an arm over your waist and his fingers tickled against the bare skin of your side, exposed by the way your t-shirt was draping. His hand suddenly sought more of that contact, pressing lightly, skin to skin.

You smiled at the sensation and your heart raced a little with him seeking that intimacy.

“S’this alright?” he asked softly, his breath tickling your ear.

“Mhm,” you hummed, smoothing your hand over the back of his and pulling him more tightly against you. You shut your eyes and breathed out your tension. You felt Daryl relaxing against you too, and despite all the fear and anxiety of the day, you both were soon fast asleep, feeling safe and like you were safely at home.

_ _ _ _ _ _

By the time the sun was up, you and Daryl were both awake and busy. And it wasn’t long before Jesus came striding up with a grave expression on his face, the radio in his hand. You felt your stomach twist. “What is it? Are they coming?”

He only nodded. “They’re moving out this afternoon.”

“To where?” Daryl asked gruffly. “Just here?”

“I think so,” Jesus said. “I haven’t heard any mention of Alexandria. But if Gregory did make it and did spill everything he knows, they’ll be heading there eventually.”

You felt like the wind had been knocked out of you for a brief moment before you steeled yourself again. You brought forward the image of your brother in your mind. You thought of the workers trapped in the Sanctuary with no way out, of Negan’s ‘wives’, of everything he had done to Daryl and to you and countless others… And your fear and anxiety didn’t dissipate, but it took a backseat to determination and anger. You gulped. “Fine. Good. Let them come. We’re ready.”

Daryl felt a swell of admiration for you and he nodded. “We are. That’s what all these plans have been for.” He glanced back at you, knowing you weren’t going to like the next thing he was going to say. “I gotta go check the drop-off location. Dwight might have more info,” he drawled.

A shadow darkened your expression. “What? Now? Daryl, they’re headed our way!”

“I gotta check. It was the plan. He’d get us word if shit was kicking off.”

You shook your head. “No. I don’t like it. You’re gonna go out there? What if—what if you can’t get back in time. What if—”

Jesus seemed to sense that the two of you needed a moment. “I’ll go start spreading the word, get everyone to their assignments.” He rushed off, leaving you behind staring at Daryl with renewed worry.

“Daryl, you can’t—”

He gulped, admittedly not liking the idea of separating from you while you were all seemingly standing on the threshold of potentially the hardest fight of your lives. But he had to go. He had to check. What if there was information waiting that would save lives? What if the Saviors somehow had found out you had that radio and this was going to be misdirection? “I gotta go. This was the plan.”

“Fine, then I’m coming with you!”

“Nah. Ya can’t. Everybody needs ya here. There’s too much to do to get ready.” He paused to read your expression. You looked pissed. “Ya know I’m right.”

You were wrestling with another upwelling of fear. But this was Daryl. He was a warrior. And he needed to do this. It wasn’t fair for you to try and selfishly keep him behind the walls with you when there could be critical information waiting out there. You sighed and shut your eyes for a moment and nodded. “Okay… alright.” You pointed at him vehemently. “But you come back in one piece, Daryl Dixon! I mean it!”

He couldn’t help but smile a little at you. Your tone reminded him of so many times you had scolded him for ignoring an injury or being stubborn. He nudged his nose up at you. “I will. I’ll come back to ya. Promise.”

Your anxiety wasn’t relieved but you nodded. “Okay… Come here,” you said, your tone softened.

That was all Daryl needed. He paced over to you, chewing his bottom lip a little thoughtfully, and just waited for your touch. Your hands rested lightly on his sides and you looked up and met his blue eyes.

“I mean it. Come back.”

“Mm,” he hummed. “I will.” His arms looped around your lower back and pulled you against him. He watched, still amazed every time, as you shut your eyes and arched up onto your toes so your lips met his. Your kiss was gentle and soft at first, but he deepened it, tangling his fingers in your hair and relished the way your lips moved effortlessly with his, the taste of you and feel of you all he needed. When you finally broke apart, your eyes stayed linked with is for a long moment.

“Be careful,” was all you could whisper. Daryl nodded and slipped from you, heading for his bike by the gate. You crossed your arms over your chest like a shield, still feeling the ghost of his hands and lips on you, and watched his broad shoulders until they disappeared.

_ _ _ _ _ _

You purposely kept yourself so busy you hardly had a moment to think while Daryl was outside the walls. You were stocking ammo at strategic locations around Hilltop when Maggie came bounding up to you with a relieved smile.

“He’s back,” she said.

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you had been holding since he left. You nodded and murmured a thank you, before glancing at the pile of supplies you were sorting. She laughed. “I got it. Go on,” she said kindly, taking your place.

You reached him as he was climbing off his bike and Daryl gave you a smile that made your heart jump. “How’d it go?” you asked, nervous to hear what info he had, if any.

“No problems. Couple walkers,” he said with a shrug.

“And nobody saw you? And you didn’t see anyone?” He shook his head.

“Not that I know of. I was careful,” he drawled. “Got somethin’ though.” His tone changed. There was tension in his voice and it made the gravel more pronounced.

You felt your throat constrict with nerves. “Okay. What is it?”

Daryl pulled out a small piece of paper, left in the agreed upon location by Dwight. “He’ll be here.”

“Negan,” you said. It wasn’t a question

Daryl nodded. “Mhm,” he hummed. He looked about how you felt. Determined, disgusted, and angry.

You nodded. “Okay. So, he’ll be here. So, what? Doesn’t change anything,” you said. Daryl was watching you carefully, worried with the realization that this would be the first time you’d have to see him since busting out of the Sanctuary. It would be like if his own father suddenly showed up at the gates. It would be understandable if you were a bit apprehensive or shaken up at the idea. But instead, to his continued amazement, you just looked pissed. Maybe you were trying to hide how much it was affecting you, but Daryl couldn’t see anything other than determined anger. He licked his lips a little nervously and nodded. “They ain’t comin’ to fight. This time. They’re comin’ to give us a chance to give up. Probably think that once we realize Gregory has snitched that we’ll fold.”

You scoffed. “Not gonna happen.”

Daryl glanced down at the paper in his hands one more time. “They’re goin’ to Alexandria tomorrow. Same thing. After that, they’ll get ready to fight us if we don’t give up.”

You nodded. “I guess it’s really starting then.”

Daryl nodded. “Yeah.” He reached out and laced his fingers with yours. “But we’re ready.”

_ _ _ _ _ _

“I don’t understand why we’re here to chat instead of hitting them before they know what’s coming,” Simon said vehemently, matching Negan’s long strides as they approached the heavy wooden gate to Hilltop.

Negan turned a piercing glare to his lieutenant. “People. Are. A resource,” he growled. “Dead people don’t work for me, do they, Simon? They don’t gather supplies. They don’t work in the Sanctuary. They don’t do a damn thing except rot in the sun or feed the dead, do they? There is a goddamn good reason why I am in charge instead of you. And this is the last time I’m going to remind you of that. In fact you should be grateful you aren’t out on the fence after all of this was happening right under your oversized nose.” The look on his face was dangerous, vicious, his lip almost curling.

Simon hung his thumbs in his belt and averted his gaze down toward his boots. “Right. Sorry.” But he was biting back anger.

“Don’t question me again,” Negan growled, pointing at Simon with his trusty sidekick, the barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat he called Lucille. Negan of course knew that all of you inside knew he was already there, but he raised a cheerful sounding hello at the gate. “Hello! The Saviors are here!”

Two guards appeared over the top of the fence, glaring down at the convoy of trucks and assembled men. “Ah, there we go. Would you mind opening the gates and letting us in?” Negan asked, keeping his manufactured charm thick.

“We won’t be letting you in. Not today. And not ever again.” This was a new voice, and Sasha appeared over the top of the fence now too, her trusty rifle clutched in hand.

Negan laughed and grinned up at her. “Oh, I remember you,” he said. “Well, is there someone else here I could have a civilized conversation with? There are some very important matters that need discussing.”

“Everyone in here will tell you the same thing,” Sasha spat back at him. “And that’s ‘Go to Hell.””

There was a quick flash of rage in Negan’s eyes, like a lightning bolt, but it was gone immediately and replaced with another charming smile. He laughed loudly. “Oh, come on, now! I know just who you have in there that I would just love to talk to! WHERE’S MY DARYL AT?!” he roared. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in!”

Sasha only glared down at Negan in disgust.

“Huh. Not very friendly, are they, Simon?”

“Not friendly at all, Negan,” Simon answered.

“I don’t know what you think you’re hiding back there,” Negan said, gesturing toward the gate with Lucille. “Because I have all the inside information I could possibly want courtesy of one of yours.” Negan snapped his fingers. “Dwight! Bring my best friend Gregory out here!”

Gregory was pushed forward through the crowd and Dwight grabbed his elbow and led him forward.

“You see, Gregory here has already told me that The Hilltop and Alexandria are working together. And I know that there are some more of you Alexandrians hiding out here while Rick the Prick is back there plotting my downfall with enthusiasm. But the thing is you can’t win. We are better prepared, and better supplied, and there are simply more of US. So, I thought we’d come on down here and give you one. last. chance. to do the right thing and fall back in line.” He paused and looked thoughtful, keeping up his charming, amiable act up until this very last part. “Because if you don’t, we will rain death and hellfire down on you. And believe me when I say that I do not want to do that. But I will.”

You and Daryl were backed up against the outer wall on the guard stand, right beside Sasha, keeping out of sight. But Daryl saw just a split second before you did it that you were barely keeping your anger in check.

“Y/N—Don’t—” he whispered harshly.

But you couldn’t just hide anymore. You stood up and peered over the wall, immediately meeting Negan’s eyes.

You were surprised to see that he looked surprised. “We’re not taking any more of your bullshit, Negan. You’re done. This is your last chance to walk away.”

But instead of responding to what you were saying, Negan was simply peering at you for a long moment before he resumed his usual persona. “You have got to be kidding me! Y/N? My wife is with you people?” He clicked his tongue and clenched his jaw. “Ain’t that just a kick in the crotch? And here I was thinking that you just took advantage of the chaos of my Daryl breaking out to escape again… You always were the type to get restless. But it seems maybe I need reevaluate that chain of events!”

Negan seized the back of Gregory’s neck hard and yanked him forward. “You know, it’s funny, because I specifically remember asking for the names of everyone hiding out in Hilltop and Y/N, your name, never came up,” he growled.

Gregory was shaking from head to toe. “I—I’m sorry! I got her name wrong! I didn’t remember—”

Negan looked like he was ready to strangle Gregory when your laughter broke through his pleading. Negan’s eyes shot back to your face. “That should give you some idea of the quality of information you’re working with from him. You might want to rethink things,” you said, leaning on the top of the fence casually, like you were discussing the weather.

You knew that if there was one thing Negan hated more than anyone defying him, it was being made to look weak.

He ran his thumb thoughtfully over his bottom lip as he stared up at you.

“You cocky little bitch,” Simon suddenly drew his pistol and pointed it straight at you.

You didn’t even flinch, but Sasha and the two other guards all had their guns to their shoulders and aimed right back at Simon.

Negan was furious as he turned toward his lieutenant. Simon felt Negan’s eyes like they were burning a hole in his skull and he waivered. Negan spoke to him through a growl. “Put your goddamn gun down. Now. I told you, she comes back to me alive.” Simon lowered his gun.

You felt your stomach twist. You weren’t sure whether Negan had meant for it to be heard or not, but the effect on you was an instantaneous, overwhelming sick feeling. You managed to keep your expression blank, but you knew that if Negan did ever get you back alive, you would be in for a fate worse than death.

Daryl’s hands landed lightly on your hips from behind and he gently pulled you slightly back, stepping forward, protectively putting his body in front of yours, glaring Negan down.

Negan noticed and it was like he suddenly flipped a switch back to his old persona. He grinned and chuckled. “Daryl, Daryl, Daryl…” He took in how close the two of you were standing, how Daryl was guarding you, and he realized… “So, what’s this? You two? You’re together? Really? Daryl, you and Y/N? I mean, I don’t know, but that doesn’t seem to make any sense to me.” He chuckled again as he watched Daryl’s chest heave with angry breaths.

“Wow. Alright. I don’t get it but, hey, some women like dumpster diving.” You watched Daryl’s entire body tense and you laced your fingers with his, resting your other hand on his arm, wishing more than anything that you could just shoot Negan in the fucking head right at that moment.

Negan knew what effect he was having on Daryl. He saw it. And he went on, grinning. “Did she tell you about all the things we did together? Dirty, dirty things…” He bit his bottom lip and cultivated a starry-eyed and vague smile on his face, remembrance. “And she is either a fantastic actress, or she was having just as much fun as I was, because I really didn’t have to do any convincing. I mean, she is good… I still dream about it and wake up rock hard…” he trailed off, grinning widely as he saw your face burning with anger and humiliation. You couldn’t help but be extremely aware of the fact that the entire Hilltop community was standing right behind the gate, listening to every word exchanged. You felt like you’d just been outed. Daryl shifted uncomfortably, his fist clenching.

“Oh my God,” Negan laughed, his eyebrows lifting. “Don’t tell me you two haven’t fucked yet?” He chewed his bottom lip, nodding, knowing exactly how much this was torturing both of you. “Oh, Daryl. You don’t know what you’re missing! This is some biblical level shit. I’m talking Whore of Babylon! I mean, really, you have no idea what—” But Negan had to duck as Daryl pulled his gun and fired a shot that whizzed just past his head and struck the truck behind him. Instantly, about fifty guns were aimed your way. The archer’s chest was heaving with anger as he glared through the drifting cloud of gun smoke. And this time when Negan straightened back up, the cocky smile and manufactured charm was gone. His eyes were dark and cold with rage. “Now, that—that was a mistake, Daryl.”

“Nah. You made the mistake,” Daryl growled. “And ya will pay for it.”

[fanfictiondreamscape]

How-To: Knife Shoe

Request: Can I please request headcanons with Yuri Plisetsky teaching his fem s/o how to ice skate? ❤️❤️

Title: How-To: Knife Shoe

Genre: fluffy, comedic (i mean, look at the name), and lil romantic

Pairing: Yuri Plisetsky x Fem!Reader

Notes: I think I got hit by a comedy truck when I read the request above. I’m not kidding. When I read it, one of the first things that came to mind was “kinfe shoes”. How could I pass up the opportunity to use that? 

(Above translation: I think I’m funny.) 

Either way, I’m so happy to see that this request came in when it did because this has been on my mind for a while, but I was never sure when I could do it. Seeing as things are finally starting to look up (aside from other stressors - pretty normal), I am going to try and get more stuff out while I still can. At least before things at school or in life get too out of hand.

That said, I hope you enjoy this! Thank for sending in the request, as well! 

Below the cut! 

i feel like this should be slightly obvious, but Yurio is very passionate about this

hell, he made it a goal to win gold as many times as he can and actively wants to improve

of course he’s passionate

but that also means that he is going to be a stickler for what is done

not just for protection for you, but also for the image that you need to present when skating

with that said, prepare for the chaos

you and Yuri had decided to spend one day together 

he had no practice, you had nothing else to do, so why not, y’know?

you had been around town for a while now, and as the nighttime came by, you realized that it would probably be best to go to someone’s home

so you decided to go to yours

your parents weren’t home, and you knew that Yuri was able to defend himself 

(that, and his fans would bombard him enough if he were to even come across someone trying to attack him)

(still not good, but better)

(either way-) 

when you got to your house, you both stepped inside and set up a video game

typical choice between the two of you, but after the first two rounds of Mario Kart, you both found it boring

something was missing. 

in fact, it may have been the lack of stakes that come with the rounds

but you proposed something that you have been wanting

the chance has finally come! i cannot miss this opportunity! 

“i have an idea, Yuri.”

“what is it? unless you have a way to make this game less boring, don’t say it.”

you laughed at that, but you knew he would have something fun in mind as well

“how about this - if i win best out of three rounds, then you have to teach me how to skate. if you win best out of three, then the decision is up to you.”

and so it began

it was vicious, very much so

so much so that when push came to shove, you actually shoved and pushed him so hard he fell over

multiple times

he was pissed, of course

but you continued playing 

eventually, the rounds were tied

you had won the first one by body-checking Yuri

he had won the second by using an underhanded in-game tactic to throw you off the track so many times that you finished in last. 

and now, the big round

the final one. 

tension was running high, and as the round started, you were both preparing to absolutely destroy the other 

Yuri was going to try the same tactics he used before 

(they secured him a win, why wouldn’t he try and reuse the same tactic when you yourself used a typical one?)

you, on the other hand, had a different plan

and so it begins

(that was dumb, holy shit-) 

either way, the round started and you both had thrown some attacks at the other in-game

and you had managed to overpower him more often than not

he was getting messy due to it

so when you had taken the oh-so-deadly action of kissing his cheek mid-game

he got even more pissed

since that was the final lap, and you had just zoomed into first and won

and he fell so far behind that he finished last. 

still livid, he jumped up and started screaming expletive after expletive 

(i won’t write it cuz if you think what use is bad, this is about 1000x worse - promise you that)

you ugly-laughed at him 

(the sight was pretty funny, after all)

“so, when are you free to teach me?”

“do i have to?”

“a deal’s a deal, yurio”

“don’t ever call me that again!”

now, a week later, here we are

the two of you were already prepared to start

he had you do some stretching before you went on the ice (as this followed after one of his practices) while he did laps around the rink

“can i go on now, yuri?”

he stopped his action and skated to center of the rink

“have you done all the stretches?”

“yeah”

“and gotten the skates on, guards off?”

“mhm!”

“then gimme a second”

and so you did. 

he moved to the center and held his hands out for you to grab

you grabbed his hands and he led you onto the ice

though almost as soon as you were on the ice, you wiped out

he caught you just in time though

“is your balance that shitty?”

“shut up, you said you’d teach me!”

“yeah, yeah...”

you snickered and got up as best as you could

“just help me get it first, babe.”

from then on, comedy ensued

you managed to regain your balance on the ice, and from there, you had to learn how to skate

cuz standing isn’t skating

and you both knew that

what you both didn’t know was that your skills on ice are absolutely atrocious

you had fallen in the most comical ways possible

in fact, one of the falls was one in which your own flexibility was thrown into question

you had fallen in a scorpion position - somehow

it hurt like a bitch, but hey!

Yuri got a laugh and so did you

as he fell over laughing and snorting, he had faceplanted

that made your pain less intense, though he got angry

(it didn’t last long)

either way, after that 

(and a painful fall into the splits)

(yeah, that hurt) 

(but you persisted) 

you had managed to somewhat get the hang of it

and you were introduced to the middle of the rink

during that time, you had been trying to regain your balance

again

and this time, as he tried to help you, the cliche happened

you fell into his chest and you both made contact with the floor

hard

you both grunted, of course

why wouldn’t you? 

but Yuri was the one to push you off and over

it was friendly, i promise :)

you army rolled to his right, as he sat up

“what the hell was that for?”

“what the hell did you throw me off for?”

“you were on top of me!”

“you were supposed to catch me!”

“you weren’t supposed to fall on me!”

“but i fell for you, so where are we now, huh?!”

silence

you both burst out into laughing fits from your spots on the ice and didn’t stop for a good few minutes

(Yuri wouldn’t mention this, but he was actually happy to be laughing for once)

(and he was glad that Mila didn’t come in) 

you tried a few more times after that, though there were a few more falls

and you got the hang of it eventually.

later that night, around 11, you put your skates up for the night

Yuri had done the same, and as you two skated away from the ice and to the entry

the night finished off beautifully

you two shared a small kiss before leaving the rink, and both went your separate ways

to your respective homes.

the lessons continued after that

so did the antics and mess-ups

but you two have finally - 

FINALLY -

found something the two of you could do together that didn’t interfere with a lot of your scheduled events.

aside from Mario Kart, at least