#had too many options for this page so it took a bit longer to decide xp

[zu-is-here]

<– • –>

[drpeppertummy]

teddybear sneaking out for a midnight snack

[hunger, stuffing, tummyache]

Teddy didn't typically go to the diner alone. Ordinarily, he'd be there with his friends and housemates, laughing and chattering over a big greasy dinner that would leave all of them feeling a little too stuffed and set with lunch for the next day. This would be during the day, though, and right now, it was late at night. His belly rumbled impatiently as his sleepy eyes grazed over the menu, and he yawned. He didn't typically go this late, either.

The reason for the unusual visit was his monthly affliction--being a werewolf, of course. It was only a few days until the full moon, and Teddy's appetite had gone from extra perky to downright ridiculous. Even when his poor tummy was straining to hold everything he'd fed it, his body still insisted on a little bit more. The transformation took a lot of energy, after all; his body needed to prepare for it, even if it was at the expense of his own comfort. His housemates were thankfully very understanding and even willing to help, but Teddy was embarrassed by his absurd appetite spikes, and he felt guilty about going through so much of their own food. Tonight, to take a break from the usual midnight trip to the kitchen, he'd decided to sneak out to the diner in the hopes of appeasing his stomach.

Teddy yawned again, rubbing an eye. His stomach growled angrily. He'd been keeping it waiting for some time, not wanting to clear out the entire kitchen after Bruce had just gone grocery shopping, and as far as his stomach was concerned, it had been weeks since his last meal. In reality, of course, it had only been a few hours, but Teddy was ravenous. He was half tempted to eat the menu with all its mouthwatering pictures; he couldn't focus on it anyway. His belly panged at him, and he wrapped an arm around it with a soft, involuntary whine.

"Well, hello there, sleepy head." Teddy looked up to see a tall waitress looming over him, a big, fond smile on her face. "You sure you're at the right place? Your belly sounds like it'd rather hit the buffet." Teddy blushed, looking sheepish, and she laughed. "Oh, don't you worry, cutie pie, I'm just teasing. I'm gonna take good care of you tonight. What can I get you?"

"Um…" Teddy looked blankly back at the menu, trying to recall what in the world he normally ordered. There were far, far too many options for his sleepy, hunger-clouded mind to process, and he sat there gaping at it, trying to make something come out of his mouth. The waitress--Marianne, according to her nametag--leaned over his shoulder, reading the menu with him.

"If you need a few more minutes, we could always start you off with an appetizer," she said, reaching around him to turn the page back. His belly rumbled again, eager to eat something, and his blush deepened. "It sure sounds like you could use it."

"I guess I could do that," he agreed.

With a little guidance from the exceptionally friendly waitress, Teddy ordered a basket of fried mushrooms, and Marianne left him to ponder the menu a little longer while he waited. He hadn't intended to get an appetizer, but he supposed it wasn't a bad choice; if it would go toward staving off his insatiable hunger a little while longer, he'd be happy. Of course, he supposed he'd be hungry again by morning, but he hoped a big meal would hold him for the rest of the night. He looked down at his belly. For as much of a racket as it was making, you'd never know how hungry he was by looking at him. He was still bloated from a large dinner, which had been on top of a large lunch and a large breakfast, and his belly poked out adorably over the waist of his pants, snug even with his belt done at its loosest. Not even his oversized shirt could hide the contour of it. He wondered what Marianne must have thought, his stomach growling like it had been starved despite bulging as though it were stuffed.

By the time Marianne returned with the mushrooms, Teddy was on the verge of dozing off--it didn't take long, he was just very tired--but he had finally settled on an order. He was startled when Marianne set the basket on the table, and she laughed.

"Oh, you are just the cutest little thing," she said, pulling out her pad and pen. "Didn't mean to wake you, sweetheart. Know what you want yet?"

"I think so," he said, trying to shake the groggy feeling out of his head.

Since he was on his own, Teddy decided to order something he didn't usually go for: a nice big steak. Normally, if he was out with his friends, he'd go for something a little more simple, like a burger or a cheesesteak, but tonight his meat cravings were in full swing, and he didn't need any bread or toppings getting in the way. It came with a cup of soup--he decided to go with chicken noodle--and two sides, for which he picked a baked potato and fries. It would be a big, heavy, filling meal, perhaps too much even for his ravenous appetite, but that was exactly what he needed right now, and his mouth watered at the thought of it as he ordered.

"That's a good healthy appetite," Marianne said approvingly as she finished jotting it down. "We're gonna fill that cute little belly right up." Teddy blushed brightly, and before he knew it she was gone, leaving him alone with the fried mushrooms. They smelled heavenly, and his stomach let out an impatient yowl as he geared himself up for the first molten hot bite. He wasn't sure if it was just that he was starving or if they were really that good, but they were exactly as delicious as they smelled, crispy and flavorful and not too greasy, and even though they were hotter than the surface of the sun he found himself practically inhaling them.

"That's what I like to see," Marianne grinned, approaching the table once again with the soup. Teddy looked up, surprised and sheepish, a bite of mushroom still in his mouth. She smiled at him as she set down the bowl, and he felt her eyes creep down from his blushing face to his round little belly.

"It's good you brought your appetite," she said. "You're gonna need it when that steak comes out. I caught a peek at it when I was coming by with the soup--it's a big one. You need anything else, pumpkin, or are you alright for now?"

"I'm alright," he said, smiling shyly. He thanked her for the soup and she was on her way once more. The mushrooms, which were nearly gone, had sated the desperate surface of his appetite, but he was still plenty hungry, and the hot soup looked and smelled very inviting. He ate that more slowly than he had the mushrooms, taking the time to enjoy the pleasant flavor of it and the warm cozy feeling as it filled his belly. It came with a warm hunk of bread, and he dipped it in the broth as he ate. The gnawing ache in his stomach was fading now, giving way to a comfortable contentment.

The soup-soaked bread filled his tummy nicely, and he was thankful to be able to enjoy it without the eyes of his housemates on him, although he knew they held no judgment. In fact, Bruce was always plenty happy to whip something up whenever his belly rumbled, and Luna gladly encouraged him to eat. Even Stelian, seemingly cold and uncaring, reminded him that it was important to listen to his body when it was hungry, particularly where the pre-full moon cravings were concerned. Truthfully, most of the time he didn't care. When those werewolf cravings hit, though, he couldn't help feeling embarrassed and even ashamed of his constant and insatiable hunger. He felt guilty for eating so much, even when he did more than his share of the shopping, and he felt guilty that his friends took such responsibility for keeping him well fed, even if they did so happily. He was grateful for them, of course, but it was nice to not have to think about it at all right now.

Teddy went on happily eating his soup and finishing off the mushrooms, and Marianne watched from afar as she wiped down the counter across the room. She was enjoying Teddy immensely. He was a cute little thing, sweet as pie, and the way his belly whined and begged to be fed in spite of his soft demeanor just about set her on fire. She wondered just how much that plump little tummy could hold. The way it poked out disproportionately made her wonder if he might have already eaten, but the way it growled like it was ready to take her hand off made that thought seem impossible. She supposed she would find out before long, anyway. His dinner was just about ready, and she was perhaps even more eager to bring it out than he was to eat it.

"Still got that appetite, cutie pie?" Marianne stood over the table with a tray in her hand, smiling down at Teddy. He nodded sweetly, holding a hand to his tummy almost unconsciously. Admittedly, he did feel a little full with the soup, bread, and full basket of mushrooms in his belly, but he still had room for dinner. He hoped he'd have enough room to not have leftovers--he felt a little silly about his late night diner run, and he didn't want to bring back evidence.

"Good," she cooed, replacing the empty dishes with full ones with a motion that seemed almost effortless. "I was worried all that soup would fill you up before you even got your dinner. They say it makes the bread swell up in your tummy"--she gave him a light tap on the belly for emphasis--"but I don't know if that's really true."

If Teddy had been full, even with the possibility of the expanding contents of his stomach, it didn't matter now; his appetite returned in full force at the sight and smell of the big hunk of meat before him. Meat--particularly rare, red meat--was the thing he craved most when the full moon was around the corner, and it wasn't something he got to truly indulge in often. He supposed that the lack of it was probably at least partially responsible for the persistence of his appetite; a wolf wouldn't likely be satisfied after a plate of waffles, and a wolf's stomach was what he was feeding. Mouth watering, he cut off a big bite and dug in.

Teddy hadn't realized just how much he'd needed the steak until that first bite hit his tongue. The relief and satisfaction that hit him was almost instantaneous, and he savored the juicy mouthful, enjoying the feeling of his slightly-sharpened teeth sinking into it. A soft, blissful sigh escaped him as he ate. Marianne watched from the counter, chin in hand, unable to hold back a fond smile at the look on his face. Seeing him enjoying the food so much was almost as good as the chattering of his hungry tummy, and that was almost as good as knowing that that tummy was going to be utterly stuffed before long.

As he ate, Teddy became aware of a slowly-growing fullness in his belly, but he didn't let it hold him back. It was a welcome feeling, in fact. After trying for days to appease his relentless appetite, it was the most satisfied he'd felt all week. He ate slowly, taking care to enjoy the meal, breaking away from the steak here and there to dip into the hot, buttery baked potato and the thick, crispy fries. Right now, his stomach felt snug and cozy, comfortably full of warm, bulky meat and carbs. Between that and the day's previous meals bulging his belly out, he felt a little weighed down, but right now he didn't mind. Right now, he felt wonderful.

About halfway through the steak, the amount of food in Teddy's tummy began to catch up with him, and that gradual fullness in his stomach began to bloom into a taut, stretched feeling. He felt bloated and heavy, but he wasn't too full to keep eating just yet. He was still determined to return home empty-handed. He paused for a moment, resting a hand on his tummy, and he was surprised--and a little embarrassed--to feel just how far it was bulging out. He looked down to see his oversized shirt pulled snug over the wide curve of his belly, so swollen that it nearly bumped against the table.

"You're not gettin' full already, are you?" Teddy nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn't noticed Marianne approaching; he supposed he'd been too astonished by the size of his belly. Her gaze, he noticed, also seemed to be fixed on his belly, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, blushing. She leaned down, smiling, and her eyes met his.

"That poor tummy sounded awfully hungry when you came in," she said, her voice low and smooth. "You'd better make sure it's nice and full before you go. I'd hate to see a cute little thing like you leave without eating your fill." He nodded shyly, almost hypnotized by her stare. She smiled and gave him an affectionate tap on the nose before standing upright again.

"Now, you get going on that steak, sweetpea, and I'll be back to check on you in a little bit, alright?"

Ironically, that little break in the meal only gave Teddy more time to realize how full he was. His stomach having adjusted a little, he felt fairly stuffed, although not unpleasantly so. Still, the remaining hunk of meat before him seemed like a lot more now than it did a few minutes ago, and his stomach let out a reluctant gurgle as it worked away at everything he'd eaten so far. He didn't feel bad, though, and the thought of leaving with his belly feeling fully satisfied was enticing. He sighed and forced up a stifled little burp, picked up his fork, and got back to it.

A threshold had been crossed, and the pressure inside Teddy's belly grew steadily as he ate. The tight feeling was more prominent now, as was the feeling of his belt squeezing his bulging middle, and, a few bites later, he entered the territory of discomfort. He picked at the potato and the fries, but finishing the steak was his main goal. He wouldn't feel so bad about leaving a little bit of his sides behind, but if he was going home with no leftovers, he didn't want to waste a bit of the steak. His pace had slowed considerably since the last time Marianne stopped by the table, and each bite began to feel more and more like a chore. Still, despite the protests of both his stomach and his tightening belt, he pushed on. There wasn't that much left, after all; even if it left him feeling too stuffed to move, he felt confident that he could finish it.

Marianne watched Teddy, entranced by the way his belly pushed out tight against his shirt, straining with each breath. It was far too distended for there to only be the one meal inside it; despite his obvious hunger when he sat down, she supposed he must have been eating well all day. How he'd managed to work up such an appetite on such an already-visibly-stuffed belly was beyond her, but she didn't care. She was just happy to see him enjoying the meal--and, of course, to have the lovely view of that sweet little tummy swelling up before her. She'd have loved to give it a nice squeeze; it looked wonderfully plush, although right now she supposed it must have felt tight as a drum. Curious to see how much more it could hold, she watched. She suspected it wouldn't be long before he was too full to go on.

Teddy paused again, leaning back in his seat. His belly felt unbelievably heavy and swollen, and he could feel everything he'd eaten in the past day bulging out hard. He was just about at his limit. He rested a hand on the top of his stomach--it felt shockingly firm compared to its usual softness--and tried to force up another burp. A tiny one came up, but it didn't do much to ease the pressure. He looked down at his plate. Only a few bites of steak remained; the scraps of his sides that were still left were trivial. The tightness in his stomach was almost unbearable. His belt pressed hard into it, and he felt like he had an enormous boulder jammed up just under his ribs, jutting out dramatically against his shirt. His stomach groaned uncomfortably, and he gave it a cautious rub, hoping to soothe it into submission long enough to finish off the last little bit of his meal.

"If I didn't know any better, sweetie pie, I'd think you just polished off three of those," Marianne teased, smiling at him. "You look stuffed with a capital S. You ready for a box yet, or do you think you can squeeze in that little bitty piece?"

"Um…" Teddy thought for a moment. He wasn't sure he could squeeze in even a crumb, let alone the small hunk of meat on his plate.

"Judging by the look of that cute little tummy of yours, I'm gonna guess you wanna bring this home, hm?" Teddy hesitated.

"It's just, um… I kinda snuck over here without my friends," he said sheepishly, and she laughed.

"Ohh, I understand. Can't bring back any evidence, huh?" She grinned down at him, and he nodded, laughing a little along with her. "Well, I'd say that's pretty sound reasoning. Wouldn't want 'em catching on, would we? Well, you take as long as you need to, pumpkin. I'm sure you'll find a little space." She winked and left him again.

Teddy stayed put for a moment, leaning back in his seat with his hands on his belly, hoping it would settle a little if he gave it a moment to rest. He could hardly believe how taut and firm it felt, especially up around his stomach. His plush lower belly was softer, but even that felt packed tight right now. It rumbled uneasily, straining against the enormous meal. He rubbed his belly tentatively, trying to relax the stretched feeling a little, but to little avail. Finally, he decided to go for it. With a soft sigh, he sat up and picked up his fork once more.

There were only a few bites of steak left, but each one felt like a monumental task, his belly stretching tighter and tighter with each reluctant swallow. Finally, the last bite was on his fork. He wasn't sure his stomach could take it, but, with some hesitation, he stuck it in his mouth anyway. He chewed slowly, dreading having to force even another molecule into his already overstuffed tummy, but, after a good long chew, he did it, finishing off the meal with a thick gulp. His belly let out a strained grumble as it stretched just a hair further. He leaned back again with a heavy sigh, holding his distended tummy with both hands. It ached badly, no longer with hunger but with far too much pressure pushing out against the walls of his stomach, but he was done.

"My goodness," remarked Marianne, striding coolly up to the table. "I didn't think you could do it. You look stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey, sweetheart. You gonna be able to get out of that seat?"

"No," he said with a weak chuckle, and she smiled.

"Well, I'll take the long route to getting the check," she said, winking as she took the empty plate away. "You just wait right there and give that poor tummy a minute to settle."

Teddy did just that; he couldn't even sit up straight right now, let alone get up. All he wanted to do was sprawl out in bed and spent the next twelve hours sleeping it off. He almost regretted eating so much--he felt the way he did the morning after the full moon, when his small human stomach would be stretched tight with everything he ate as an enormous werewolf--but not quite. His hunger was gone, at least for the time being, and he had a feeling that his bellyful of meat would hold him over for a good while.

[random-imaginess]

i’m obsessed with ur work rn omg :o can you please write a shayne x reader fic where it’s their first halloween together and they’re just indulging in all the mushy couple activities? like matching costumes, scary movies, pumpkin carving, sweater sharing, all the sweet cozy fall vibes? thanks so much! <3

Hi!! Thank you so much for sending in a request, and I appreciate your comments so much! I’m sorry it took a little bit to get posted. (Tumblr is being a pain and not letting me post things directly from my computer so I have to jump through hoops just to get these to post, it’s so frustrating!) I really hope this meets your expectations. There were so many ways I wanted to start this and so many options of what to focus on, I couldn’t decide! I do plan on posting another version of this that will capture more of a cozy couple-y vibe! And it will be longer! But I hope you like this as well!

Not to be dramatic or anything, but Halloween was THE best time of the year, and to say that you were excited to finally be able to start decorating for it would be an understatement. If you had it your way, and technically you could have, you’d keep your place decorated in a spooky aesthetic all year round! Or at least fall themed, though either option would be equally valid. This year particularly, though, you were even more excited because you were able to spend it with your boyfriend, Shayne. You and him had been friends for a little short of a decade so it wasn’t even close to being the first year you two did something together, but this year was different because you were a C O U P L E and it just hit different.

Practically since after the 4th of July you were in plot mode, having a serious conversation with him about what you were doing for Halloween. It was important to know what you were going to dress up as, and it was vital to get ahead of it so you had time to get on the same page about what you were doing. Costume parties were going to be starting soon, and you had to be ready! You had both talked about options; going as a salt and pepper shaker, Mario and Princess Peach, Morticia and Gomez Addams, or more cliché, Barbie and Ken (though Shayne would most definitely be an Allan)!

“We should go as a cat burglar!” You exclaimed out of nowhere, startling Shayne a bit as he adjusted a leaf garland he was hanging up. “What?” He chuckled. “For a matching costume idea. We could go as a cat burglar! I’d be a cat and you a burglar and together we would be a cat burglar!” You raised your brows, enthusiasm sketched all over your face like it was the most brilliant idea. “Say cat burglar again, I don’t think you said it enough times,” he teased playfully. “That would be pretty funny, though.” “Or OOOH!! Pennywise and Georgie! Wouldn’t matter who would be who!” Shayne just laughed, watching you go back to placing plastic pumpkins on the mantle above the fireplace.

“I think the best part of this costume planning is going to be watching you get all excited about what idea to go with,” he laughed again. Shayne’s ideas were more subtle, which was great too. You didn’t normally go crazy about the dressing up aspect of it, but this year you wanted to do something special since you had someone to plan this sort of thing with. And you appreciated him being such a trooper about it! “It feels weird getting this amped up about costumes because normally I would prefer to just stay in and have horror movie marathons, which you can expect we’ll be doing because you can’t not do that during the spooky season.” “Yes, of course. Though technically spooky season isn’t until October..” “That’s up for debate,” you retorted quickly, getting another laugh out of him.

“Spooky season should always happen directly after the 4th, just like they do it with Christmas after Thanksgiving. But TECHNICALLY, spooky season gets started August 1st because that’s when all the fun things start, like horror nights and spooky conventions.” You let out an excited squeal as you hyped yourself up all over again. “So many fun things are starting!!”

After finishing up the decorations, your placed mostly decked out with fall themed items; apple cider and pumpkin spice scented candles and black cats and garlands everywhere, you were very pleased with how it all turned out. Standing next to Shayne, you wrapped your arms around his waist and marveled at both of your work for a few moments. “It looks like a Spirit Halloween store threw up in here.” “I know, don’t you love it?” You grinned. Shayne wrapped his arms around your shoulders and squeezed, giving you a long hug before breaking it.

Thinking about what the next couple months were going to bring brought you so much joy. You were anxiously awaiting for the colder weather to kick in so you both could snuggle up on the couch with hot drinks and a crackling fire while you watched scary movies. You were excited for when you could carve pumpkins, make halloween goodies together, experiment with spooky themed bread because you knew Shayne would enjoy the hell out of that! There was so much to look forward to and you couldn’t wait to share this all with him.

[billyrussohaven]

Into my Web

Chapter 9

Dark!Vampire!Billy Russo x Female Reader

Cowritten with @the-cult-of-russo

Ratings: Explicit 18+ ONLY

Warnings: Although this chapter might not include it, this fic will include; Sexual situations, swearing, human slave, biting, blood, murder, obsessive thoughts, dub con, stockholm syndrome, gaslighting.

Billy was overtaken by nostalgia the second he stepped foot through the large wooden doors, you by his side with your hand tightly holding his. It had been years since he'd been to a library yet it still gave him the same feelings it had all those years ago. It was so foreign to him now. Now he was older, now he was no longer human.

He led you inside slowly as his dark eyes swept the place, taking in the large shelves full of books, tables around with some people quietly reading, some studying. It was almost silent to most people but to someone with his hearing, he could hear every hushed whisper being murmured and the beating of the many hearts in the place. It made him huff a little, libraries no longer the quiet and peaceful place they used to be, even if they did invoke the same feelings he'd once had. 

You looked around excitedly and tried to muffle the giggles escaping your lips by the fuzzy feeling in your chest. The place was huge! There were so many books on even more than one floor. You had absolutely no idea where to even start.

"What kinda stuff you wanna learn?" He asked quietly, looking down at you. He was curious what things you might want to know and he'd make sure you'd only learn things that wouldn't jeopardize any of the things he'd trained you with. 

God, what did you want to know? It was as if all your life you wanted knowledge and now that it was handed to you, you had no clue, you couldn’t decide.

“Hum...What about animals? Like the ones around the house,” you asked first, thinking of the wonderful snowy owl you saw yesterday.

“Oh! Maybe also the special ones too! Uh, exotic? In jungles and stuff,” you added nodding, approving of your own choices.

It was such an innocent request and his lips tugged up as he nodded. 

"Alright. We can do that," he murmured, leading you over to where the books on animals were.

“How many can I have? Is it just one?” you asked with your head tilted to one side, trying to read the titles.

"Let's start with just five. We gotta bring 'em back in time and we can always get more when you're done with these," he said as he grabbed a big book about exotic animals, flipping through the pages before he held it out to you.

You grinned looking up at him and taking the book in your hands. You held it tightly to your chest and wondered what else you could get. You saw a big one that seemed to be about North American animals and you pointed to it so Billy could check it out.

He grabbed it, looking through it quickly, knowing there wouldn't really be anything in it to concern him before he nodded, keeping hold of this one because it was a little heavy.

“Three more. Okay, what about the human body? Heart, lungs and stuff,” you asked wondering if there were even books about that.

He pursed his lips as he thought about it, but decided it wouldn't be too bad for you to learn about the body. He didn't think there would be anything in there to contradict anything he'd told you. He led you over to where the anatomy books were, watching you carefully to see which ones you'd pick.

You looked around and pulled out one with a half-skeleton half muscles human body which looked interesting. You looked at Billy and wondered if it’d be a good pick.

Once again he took the book and had a quick glance inside. It all seemed pretty safe and standard stuff so he nodded.

"This one's good," he said quietly, keeping hold of it with the other one.

You poked the floor with your boot thinking about what other subject you’d like to learn more of. There were just so many options it kinda felt overwhelming. You bit your lower lip nervously looking ahead spaced out.

He reached out with his free hand and turned your face to his.

"It's okay. We can leave if it's too much," he frowned. Your heart was beating all weird and he really didn't want you to end up having a panic attack or passing out in the middle of the library.

“There’s just so much I’m not sure what to get. It’s like I had ideas at home but now I can’t think. I feel a bit stupid, I’m sorry,” you mumbled quietly. You didn’t want to lose his precious time here just waiting for you to figure your shit out.

He rolled his shoulder as he looked at you for a long moment, feeling weirdly unsure of himself.

"It's okay to be overwhelmed, there's a lot here and it's all new. What about astronomy? Like the stars, planets and the moon and shit? I loved all that when I used to come here as a kid," he suggested in a hushed voice. He remembered going to libraries as a kid and grabbing all the books he could handle on this kind of thing. It fascinated him.

“You can put the stars in books? Really?” you asked, looking up suddenly very interested, all anxiety evaporating instantly from your face.

His lips tugged up, unable not to at how cute you were being. For a brief moment he considered getting you a telescope so you could see the stars. But then he came to his senses when he realised he was thinking of rewards for you for absolutely no reason. He tried to tell himself it was because you'd enchanted him with your wonderfully innocent pussy the day before. That was the only reason for it.

"C'mon," he muttered, leading you over to a vast collection of astronomy books.

You followed beside him, trying to keep up with his long strides.

“What about our planet? Are there books about Earth too?” you asked almost tripping on a cart not looking where you were going but up at him.

"Probably tonnes of 'em. Take your pick," he said as he came to stop at a long bookshelf full of books. Any about earth would end up depressing if it went into humanity and civilisations though. He might be labelled a monster but humans were savages, history was enough to prove that.

You put the book you were holding on the floor carefully and started looking through a few ones about planets and space but they seemed too complicated, formulas and stuff. After a bunch of them you found one you liked and started reading it without asking Billy, the page you opened the book at just hooked your curiosity instantly.

He leaned closer, glancing over your shoulder to the page you were on. If it was any other book he might have snapped at you for not letting him check it first but he knew these books were safe for you to read. Instead he just watched you get sucked into it with fascination. You seemed so eager to learn and he liked that. You reminded him of himself when he was younger.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I-Can you look at it?” you asked Billy  with flushed cheeks at getting caught peeking into the book first and not him. You handed him the book and gave him an apologetic smile.

He almost told you not to worry about it but he didn't want to encourage that kind of behaviour so he took the book and flicked through it, even knowing it was fine.

"This one's okay. Just make sure you ask first next time," he chided lightly, no real heat behind his voice though.

You picked your book on the floor and nodded, mumbling a small sorry with your head down. You had four books now, the last one would be the earth one if you found a good one. You looked around again, reading the titles and wondering what to pick.

“Can you help with the last one please? Like hum...not people earth book more like...dinosaurs and what’s under our feet and stuff,” you asked looking up at him, wondering if you made any sense at all.

He raked his teeth over his lower lip as he nodded, eyes scanning the shelves for the kind of book you were after. He finally came across one, having a quick look through it before he handed it to you.

"Like that?" He asked, glancing from the book to you. You took a peek inside and nodded energetically, offering to hold that one since he already had three in his arms.

“That’s five, now home?” you asked, looking forward to reading them in front of the fireplace. You weren’t sure which one you’d start with. Maybe the one about astronomy he caught you reading.

He went to check them out with you in tow and before long you were both back home. He'd enjoyed the little outing and he knew it would become a regular thing, your desire for knowledge seeming quite big. He didn't mind it though. It had been nice for him to be back in a library and he figured next time he'd get books out himself. 

“Thank you again for the books!” You said loudly so he could hear it. You were laying down on your belly in front of the fireplace with your astronomy book in front of you. It was warm enough so that you took the leggings off and you kicked your feet absentmindedly with your chin resting in the palm of your hands reading the book. It was super interesting and you were already learning tons.

You made sure to finish up your chores when you came back home earlier and also packed up for the upcoming visit to Frank’s. With all that done, Billy confirmed you could take some time to enjoy your new books while he finished up in his office.

Billy waltzed in when he was done with his work, a glass of whisky in hand as he came in. His eyes were drawn to you immediately, your bare legs now out in display for him, just how he liked you. He moved to sit on the couch as he took a long sip of his drink, eyes following your legs as they moved.

"Enjoyin' the book?" He asked, voice low and eyes not straying from your legs.

“Mmhmm! It’s super interesting!” You said looking over your shoulder at him. You scooted a bit, changing position so your legs were parted and your feet hooked together, rubbing against each other. You turned the page and kept reading, your arms now crossed in front of you.

He bit his lip to stifle a groan, tilting his head a little as his eyes greedily took in the sight of you. 

“How was work?” You asked him wondering if he had trouble taking some time off to visit Frank. You thought probably not since they owned whatever Anvil was.

"Was fine. Same as usual," he muttered absentmindedly, too interested in you to care to elaborate. He downed the rest of his drink, setting the glass on the coffee table as he licked his lower lip, still watching you.

You looked over your shoulder and caught his dark gaze to your legs and backside. You bit your lower lip at knowing he enjoyed the sight of you. You scooted again so that your dress ran up and gave him an even better view of your bare pussy and ass. The cloth was just shy of showing the best parts and you kicked your legs slowly looking at him over your shoulder.

His eyes narrowed slightly, unsure if you were doing it on purpose or not. He shifted in his seat, his hand moving to adjust himself now he was hard and straining against his jeans.

You reached behind you with one arm and lifted the back of your dress with two fingers, giving him a good view before letting go and giggling at your boldness. You didn't know what you were doing, you've never done anything like that before but he seemed to enjoy it.

"Are you enjoying the view, sir?" You asked shyly, hiding part of your face behind your shoulder. 

He was thoroughly enjoying this playful aide to you, how you didn't even really know what you were doing yet did it well. Teasing him. A gave you a sly smirk, eyes trailing over your body again before they settled on your pretty little face once more.

"Really enjoyin' the view,'' he purred, relaxing back on the couch as his dark eyes bore into you. He wanted you badly but he was enjoying this little game you were playing.

You closed the book and put it safely by the couch. You rolled over to face him and propped yourself up on your hands with your legs crossed at the ankles. You reached over with one foot and ran it up his leg playfully. You weren't sure what to do now, what he'd like to see. You bit your lower lip nervously again and pushed the dress' straps off your shoulders one by one making it slide lower on your breasts, dangerously close to showing the areolas.

He shifted again, his dick feeling uncomfortable pressing against his jeans. Be slowly unzipped them, shifting them and his boxers down enough to free his throbbing cock. He fisted himself slowly, still watching you and your little minx routine.

"More?" You asked with a bashful smile and red cheeks. You were enjoying yourself. You were enjoying seeing his face and knowing it was you who made him all bothered like this. It was empowering yet you knew who was the boss in the room, you just wanted to please him and it happened to please you too.

"More," he bit out in confirmation, stroking himself firmly but leisurely. 

You slowly leaned forward sitting up and felt the dress drop to your hips in a pool, exposing your naked breasts to the cool evening air. Your breath picked up feeling the nipples harden and the telltale purr waking up between your legs.

The scent of your arousal had a moan leave his lips, eyes drawn to your perfect breasts. You were so beautiful. He could just watch you all day. You were perfect and sweet and all his and the thought made another moan leave his lips as he touched himself to the sight of you.

"How about now?" You asked again, running a hand behind your neck and arched your sore back to stretch it a bit.

"I want more," he smirked darkly, loving the way your body moved. You really had no idea just how much you affected him. No idea how much he just wanted to pin you down and fuck you until you lost your voice from screaming. 

You opened your legs teasingly slow, wider and wider, the dress still hiding and keeping a dark shadow over the best parts.

"Such a tease, kitten," he groaned, fisting himself a little faster as his eyes dipped down to between your legs, not getting a good enough view. 

You reached down with one hand and raised an eyebrow up at him before slowly pulling on the hem of the dress until it hit your hips. Your legs were wide open for him to devour with his eyes. You remembered he told you only he could give you pleasure but maybe if it was for his pleasure first...

His eyes couldn't leave your pretty pussy, he could see it glistening and it had his mouth watering. He remembered just how good it had felt so tightly around his cock. It had been the best pussy he'd ever had and he wanted more of it. Needed more.

You trailed a hand down to your inner thigh and waited for his approval or disapproval before touching anything that would give you pleasure. He raised a curious brow, not expecting you to be so bold.

"For your viewing pleasure, not mine. I've never..." you said quietly moving your hips around feeling some wetness leaking off you and down to your ass. A part of you wanted to try it and have him say yes and look at you. It had to be something people did if they put it in his DVD movies.

He thought about it for a moment. He had told you that you couldn't touch yourself but simply so you wouldn't get yourself off when he wasn't around. He needed you to need him after all. But this was different. He wanted to watch you touch yourself and he was pleased you'd clearly been taking pointers from the movies he'd had you watch. The whole thing was incredibly sexy and sensual and he found himself nodding. 

"It's okay if it's for me," he muttered roughly, his voice betraying how much he needed you.

You trailed your hand to your pussy and spread the folds with a finger. You rubbed it and gasped at how wet it was.

"It's wet but it's so soft too," you said, moving your fingers around and enjoying the silk wetness now spread all over it. You brought a wet finger to your lips and sucked it loudly giggling at the face he made as he moaned. He watched you like you were the most fascinating thing he'd ever laid eyes on.

You tried to picture what he did when he was touching you and rubbed your clit in slow circular motions with two fingers.You closed your eyes with a soft moan. It felt almost as good as when he touched you. Your hips buckled up and you squirmed, rubbing your clit faster. He started stroking himself at a pace that matched yours, groaning and arching up at his hand as he felt the heat sweeping through his body. The whole thing was so erotic and his eyes never left you, switching between your soaked pussy and your blissful face. You moaned and looked up at him biting your lower lip. 

“Wanna come and give me a hand?” You asked him, reaching out with one hand for him. 

"Hands kinda busy, sweetheart," he teased with a smirk, gesturing down to where he was touching himself as he bit down on his lower lip with a moan. He had a free hand of course but he was enjoying the show and he wanted to see what you'd do. You'd been getting more confident when it came to this kind of stuff and he was curious.

You did a dramatic little pout and dropped the hand that reached out for him. Fine, you could do this yourself. You rubbed your clit for a few more before sliding the fingers downward and inside your pussy. He chuckled at the face you made, you were being cute and sexy all at the same time and it left his head spinning.

You groaned as you moved your fingers around, testing things and trying to find what felt the best. You curled your fingers and moaned loudly, feeling a jolt of pleasure hit you, your hips moved forward to help you reach as far in as you could. You whined and thrusted your curved fingers in and out of you faster. You moaned and bit your lower lip to hide the pleased smirk on your face.

He'd never enjoyed watching someone make themselves feel good this much before. Every little noise you made had his arousal getting higher and higher. You were just so unabashed, not embarrassed at all to boldly touch yourself like this in front of him and he loved it.

You were getting closer and closer to your climax. Your cheeks were flushed and your breathing faster, your eyes never leaving his.. You gave him a little smirk and moved your other hand to come play too. You switched hands around for a bit, trying to see which one felt better and rubbed at your clit while you fingered yourself with the other. His dark eyes were glued to your pussy, watching as you pleasured yourself with both hands like you'd done it a billion times before.

“Can I come?” you asked with a whiny voice that shook slightly like your entire body. You were so close and you wanted his approval first.

He moaned, still stroking himself but not pushing himself too far. He had plans when you were done after all. His instinct was to say no. To edge you a little or deny it all together because he wanted to be the only one to make you cum. But you looked so pretty on the edge of your release like this, sounded so sweet as you moaned. He found himself wanting to watch you make yourself cum, having a front row seat.

"Yeah. Cum for me, kitten. Lemme see you cum all over your fingers," he rasped, voice rough and raw as he danced close to the edge himself. He wouldn't tip over it though. 

It was almost foreign to him. To be sat so close to you yet not touch you or help you along. Of course the sight of someone pleasuring themselves got him going but he'd always been more of an action guy. More interested in taking part than watching. Yet this was far more erotic than any of his movies he had and he couldn't look away. He hadn't thought it was possible to have this much fun without touching the other person.

You moaned as his words brought you so much pleasure and it was the last little nudge you needed to come hard, feeling yourself squeeze down on your fingers inside you. It felt so good and was so intense you stopped everything, your brain unable to keep up.

He had to stop touching himself or he'd go off watching you like that. His desire was bordering on primal at this point and a low growl rumbled in the back of his throat.

"C'mere. Now," he ordered harshly, eyes wild and intense as he stared at you.

You nodded and tried standing up but your knees gave way and you chuckled catching yourself on the floor. You crawled the rest of the way and reached up for him to help.

He grabbed your hand and tugged you up, pulling you onto his lap as he kissed you bruisingly, his hands squeezing your ass harshly as he arched up at you. He was overtaken with his need for you and all he could think about was being inside of you again. 

You hummed pleased to be in his strong arms again as you kissed him back with the same hunger. You tugged at his shirt wanting to feel his cool skin against yours but not wanting to be too bold. You whined softly looking into his eyes and pushing your body closer to his.

He smirked against your lips as he moved to pull his shirt off, tossing it across the room. He wound an arm around you, pulling you closer as he used his free hand to move his pants and boxers lower before he kicked them off completely. His hands were wandering your thighs and ass, enjoying how soft and warm you felt against his body. His kisses travelled down from your lips to your jaw and then to your neck. He moaned, rubbing his hard cock against your soaked entrance as he licked a long strip up your neck, soaking in the feel of your pulse under his tongue.

You moaned loudly under all the attention he was giving your body, you felt like a queen. Forgetting for a moment you were just one of his possessions. You kicked the last thought out of your head and pushed his lips closer to your neck with a hand in his hair. He was once again just Billy, his warm touch enchanting and addictive. Your hips rolled back and forth on the hard length of him and you whined softly, wanting him to take you again.

“Can we do this all evening, please?” you asked with a giggle, rubbing yourself harder on him and gripping his strong arms.

A grin tugged at his lips at your words and he sunk his teeth, his normal teeth, into your neck, sucking on it and leaving a lovely bruise behind for him to admire.

"I want you," he purred against the skin of your neck, nipping at it playfully as he arched up towards you.

“I’m already yours,” you answered. You knew what he meant but you were already his, his to take and do whatever he wanted with. You were glad he never mutilated you or kept you chained up in the basement but he didn’t really have to ask or tell...It made you appreciate him more.

He moaned at your answer, his hands palming your ass. He kissed and nipped his way back to your lips and smirked at you, taking your lower lip between his teeth and tugging on it a little. 

"You wanna learn a new position?" He asked, raising a brow at you with a devilish smile.

“I do,” you answered with a nod and a bashful smile, biting your lower lip hard from excitement. You weaved your arms around his neck and waited for him to show you a new trick.

The beast in him was purring and he flashed you a grin, still slowly arching up against you.

"You can take me like this," he started, kissing your cheek and making his way to your ear.

"It'd give you more control, you'd be the one doin' most of the work," he drawled, licking the shell of your ear before sucking on your earlobe. He wondered if the promise of you having any semblance of control would appeal to you. Of course he could always overpower you, but he really wanted you to ride him.

You moaned and shivered under his touch giving him a surprised look with one eyebrow up. He was letting you lead, have some control over him and it didn’t sound right to your ears like your brain couldn’t wrap your head around the idea. You stopped looking at him dumbly and moved up on his lap to try and take him like he explained. He kept sliding off and you whined annoyingly at it not staying put.

He almost laughed at you but held it back, tapping your thigh lightly.

"Kneel right up," he ordered, his voice not harsh though. You nodded and scooted up on your knees, looking down at him with a little smirk tugging at the corner of your lips. Maybe you’d like this after all.

He grabbed his cock, lining himself up with your entrance but doing nothing more as he raised an expectant brow at you. You slid back down to his lap slowly as his cock entered you and stretched your tight walls around him. You moaned loudly, grabbing at his shoulders and hiding your face in his hair.

His hands were tight on your hips, fingers digging into them as his lips parted with a long drawn out moan. His eyes wanted to squeeze shut at the amazing feeling that enveloped him but he kept them wide open, watching how your pussy took his cock much easier than the first time yet still felt so tight. He felt like an addict finally getting his fix again at the feel of you around him, like he'd been itching for it since the first time he'd taken you. He really couldn't get enough of you.

You slid onto him for what felt like forever until you bottomed out and you groaned with a little hiss of pain. He was flush against your cervix, in as far as he could possibly be and it felt sublime. You looked at him with your mouth wide open in a silent Oh, wiggling your hips around before remembering how to breathe.

One of his hands slid around to your ass again, the other smoothing up your back as he stayed still. He fought the urge to fuck up into you since this was all so new to you. 

"You feel so good, kitten," he murmured, leaning his head back against the back of the couch as he tried to calm himself a little.

A thought occurred to you and you decided to go for it. You moved upward, almost sliding off him and you leaned over to his neck. You moved back down and grazed his neck with your teeth testing how he’d react to it.

He let out a ridiculously needy moan, his hands pulling you closer to him as he squirmed a little under you.

"Harder," he demanded, feeling himself already descending into madness at your touches. It really didn't take much for you to drive him wild.

You moaned at his words as they hit your purring core. You moved up and down on his hard cock at a steady pace and gripped his neck with one hand. You bit down on his neck, tasting his skin with your tongue before taking another wider mouthful.

"Shit," he gasped, eyes practically rolling to the back of his head as he felt himself getting closer and closer to his release already. He arched up at you, unable to stay still when you were biting him like that.

“Oh yes!” you let out loudly, feeling him thrust upward into you. You moaned loudly at the feeling it gave you in this new position and wanted more.

“Again, please” you begged, trying to take him harder.

He'd been willing to hand you the reins for this one but how could he deny you when you asked so nicely? He growled, both hands moving to your ass and using it as leverage as he started fucking up into you, dirty moans leaving his lips as he did. You were as close to heaven as he'd ever get, better than anything he'd ever felt before. He was completely losing himself in the feel of you.

You held on to his neck and shoulders like a lifeline as you moaned and gasped loudly, your voice high-pitched and so close to coming already. You couldn’t focus on anything else but the pleasure and the feel of him all over and inside you. You whined a series of pained yes as he thrusted inside you feeling your climax build up fast.

He was moaning and growling, moving you up and down on his cock to meet his thrusts at a rapid pace, completely intoxicated by you.

"Such a good girl. My good little kitty," he moaned, feeling himself dangling on the edge of his own release.

You nodded quickly looking at him panting and almost sobbing from all the pleasure. You made small hissy and whiny noises and your nails bit into his back as your orgasm hit you like a train making you scream in pleasure.

He fucked you harder as he felt you so tight and wonderfully wet around him. Feeling you clenching so hard around his cock that it felt like you were trying to squeeze him right out. He let out a guttural groan, back bowing as he came hard, shooting his load inside of you. He thrust up at you a few more times before his body went completely lax, his arms around you holding you close as he basked in his amazing high.

You flopped down on his lap and rested your head on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck sleepily and giving it soft kisses. It had been wonderful once again and you wanted to do this all the time. You were wondering if he’d keep taking you this often when you’d both be at Frank’s.

His hands trailed your body slowly, soft affectionate touches he didn't even realise he was doing as he lay there and let the afterglow consume him. Sex with you was like nothing else. He'd never enjoy anyone ever again now he'd had you but he was feeling too high to care in the moment.

You moved up on your knees and off his softening cock. You stayed on your knees and looked down between your legs curiously, seeing his cum slowly leaking and dripping down the inside of your thighs. It seemed to be the only downside to this new position you could find so far.

He blinked at you, watching you look at his mess leaking down your thighs and he smirked a little. He grabbed you, pushing up on his long legs as he started carrying you out of the room.

"Shower before bed," he said softly, nuzzling the side of your head. You'd been a very good girl for him and he was more than pleased. Having a pet got wildly more interesting now he knew you were a little sex addict.

“Mmhmm,” you hummed, wrapping your legs and arms around him. You trailed your finger around his skin, making little invisible doodles.

“How long does it take you between sessions again?” you asked, wondering if you might be able to nudge him into another one before sleep. He did say bed, not sleep.

He let out a delighted laugh, more than amused at your eagerness.

"Don't worry, I'll be ready after our shower," he grinned, nipping your shoulder. He really couldn't deny that getting a pet was the best investment he'd ever made.

[after-witch]

White Room White Walls [Yandere Overhaul x Reader]

Title: White Room White Walls [Yandere Overhaul x Reader]

Synopsis: He’s going to come back soon. When he does, you’ll be waiting. 

Prompt: Overhaul + “No live organism can continue for long to exist under conditions of absolute reality.”

Word Count: 1939

Notes: yandere, kidnapped reader, starvation/malnutrition, implied character death

He’s going to come back soon. When he does, you’ll be waiting.

Waiting for what is a little difficult to decide. Waiting for his praise? Waiting for his attention? Waiting for his mere presence, something to break up the monotony of the days that you’ve been in this room, all alone?

Four walls, all white. Decorated with a few hard-earned personal touches, tiny pops of color that make you far more grateful than you’d ever imagined they could. Your bathroom is adjacent, thank goodness, but quite sterile; he didn’t want bacteria building up on the pictures you’d asked to hang up against the white walls.

Every morning starts the same: you wake up to the sound of your alarm, you make your bed as neatly as possible before showering and changing into something clean.

It’s very important to be clean. Overhaul told you so.

Though, it’s a shame your room doesn’t have laundry facilities; after a while, with no clean clothes left in your drawers, you realized that you had to wash them by hand. Then you threw them over the curtain rod in the bathroom to drip dry. Some of them smell a bit mildewy now, but it’s nothing that another rub-down with your scented strawberry shampoo can’t cover up, right?

After you’re clean, you can officially start the day. Your schedule is blocked into exercises for your body and mind. Reading time and puzzle time and journaling. When Kai gets back, he’ll probably want to read your journal, so you keep it up even though there’s not much to say anymore. You’re running low on books, but it’s all right; you limit yourself to a chapter a day to stretch them out and, in any case, when he comes back he’ll surely agree to buy you new ones.

He has been gone longer than he originally said he would be, but you try not to mind. You try not to let it wheedle at you. He is so busy, after all. And he’s trusting you to take care of yourself while he’s gone. You don’t want to disappoint him.

In addition to schedule blocks for entertainment, you’re expected to keep up your health. This means eating and exercises on time, every day, and getting to bed early.

It used to feel good to exercise, but lately all it does is make you feel dizzy. Probably the stale air, you think, when you’re bracing your hands on your bed and waiting for the wooziness to pass. Once, you thought about skipping your exercises, thought that maybe it would be better not to use up the extra energy, considering--but the thought was quickly smoothed over when you remembered that he expected you to do it and you’d better stick to the schedule he laid out for you.

Besides, he was coming back soon, and you’d be able to ask him about the dizziness. Maybe he’d know what was going on. He liked to give you check-ups, even though you once insisted that he wasn’t a doctor, you learned to let him touch and poke and record numbers in the chart pinned to his clipboard without a fuss.

You hope he’ll give you a check-up when he gets back, because you just aren’t feeling like yourself lately.

It’s not his first trip away from you. It’s not the first time he sat you down and told you in his patronizing way that he was going away for a while, that you needed to be good until he got back.

But it is the first time you were given so much responsibility all for yourself. Before, there was always someone else who came in to bring you food and take your laundry and anything else you needed.

But this time, no one showed up the next morning. He told you someone was coming, but they didn’t.

It took you a while to realize that it was clearly a test. Kai wanted to know how well you could take care of yourself, how well you could follow routine, without him there to hover over you for most of the day.

If you want to pass, you need to keep going. Stick to the schedule. Stick to his expectations and everything will be fine.

Today, your alarm didn’t go off. The batteries must finally be dead. But it’s okay, you woke up at just the right time, anyway. Old habits and all.

You grab one of the least mildewy day dresses from your drawer and head into the bathroom.

The mirror in the bathroom is all white, muddy-streaked with soap so you can’t actually see yourself. The sight is startling, but only for a moment. Silly you. You must have forgotten to rinse it off with water while you were cleaning it, that’s all. But the thought of wetting down a rag and wiping it away makes your stomach clench--it always feel clenched, lately, tight and hurting--so you walk by the mirror and prepare to step into the bath instead.

The shower is cold. But you like cold showers. They’re the only kind you’ve had for quite some time. It’s another thing you’ve added to your list, to tell Kai when he gets back--hot water’s broken.

You have to remember not to make it sound like you’re complaining, though. You don’t want to seem ungrateful. Especially now that you realize just how much he does for you. You understand now what he meant when he called you ‘spoiled,’ the last time you acted out. You were spoiled. Now you know how hard it is to be without Kai, to be without his direction and guidance and overbearing need to keep you going.

But it’s not all bad. You still have your favorite shampoo. It’s been watered down a few times now, but there’s no more left in the cupboard and you have to make do. You’re resourceful; another way for Kai to test you, right? To see how you can keep yourself clean without all the pampering.

Besides, in a way, you like it watered down: you’ve noticed less of your hair on the bottom of the tub now that you’re not lazily rubbing thick gobs of strawberry shampoo into your hair every day. It doesn’t seem to stop the hair from lining your brush after you comb it dry, but that’s fine, you’ll take the little victory.

For a moment as you scrub yourself with your thinned bar of scented soap, you think too much about your body. About how strange it looks as you scrub your skin red. Certain parts are just too pointy now, hollow even. Like your stomach and the space between your hips and--you toss the soap back in the little dish and let the cold water run over you. You think about how you get dizzy when you sit up too fast or do your exercise or sometimes for no reason at all.

Then you remind yourself to stop thinking about those things.

Best not to think about silly things like that at all. Best to just get clean and get on with your day. When Kai gets back, he’ll figure out what’s going on with your body. Probably a cold or a flu or something. Or maybe your vision is a bit wonky, and that’s what you’re seeing when you glance over your stomach, your hips--maybe your depth perception is off and you need glasses. Kai will know.

After dressing, it’s breakfast time, so you pad back into the bathroom with your water cup and fill up the glass as fully as possible.

Gingerly, you carry the full glass back to your table and sit down. You glance at the clock and wait for it to get to just the right time before you take your first sip.

Water from the tap is cold but refreshing. You have water for breakfast and water for lunch and water for dinner. Sometimes, you mix in paper from one of your journal pages and stir it around the glass with your finger. It’s mushy and pulpy but paper is tree bark, isn’t it? And tree barks have some sort of nutrients, you think, so you’re doing the best you can to stick to your schedule--three healthy meals a day--with what you have.

Will Kai be mad that you’re drinking paper smoothies instead of normal meals? He’ll understand that you couldn’t exactly get a fork or spoon from thin air. He’ll understand that he forgot to put food in your room for your test, so you had to make do.

When he comes back, you’ll just have to explain that you didn’t have any other options.

Though, you confess… you are eating much quicker than the designated blocks for meal-times that he generously created for you. It’s not that you want to deviate from the schedule. But eating too slowly makes you miss the meals you used to have, mounds of steamed vegetables and freshly cooked fish and so many things that get your mouth watering and your stomach growling. It makes you worried that you’ll spend another night in the bathroom, stomach cramped and pain, crying out into your hands, begging for the pain to stop.

You won’t tell him about these things when he returns, except maybe the bathroom stuff, because you would like for something--a pill or special diet or treatment--to make that go away. You wish knew what was causing it. But that’s why Kai’s the expert and you’re just you.

So you sip quickly and grab a book from the shelf as soon as you’re done, and curl up on your bed to start reading today’s chapter. If you focus hard enough on the story, you can forget a lot of things.

You can forget that you’re so, so hungry. You can forget that it’s been days and days and days and he still hasn’t come back, even though he promised he would. You can forget that one of the light bulbs in your ceiling went out a week ago, and one day they’ll all go out and you’ll be here in the dark. You can forget the deep, deep fear that one day you will turn on the bathroom faucet and nothing will come out.

If you try hard enough, you can forget all of that. And when reading time is over, and your bleary eyes glance at the wall, you can focus on the next thing to help you forget: journaling.

You sit up, slowly, carefully, to avoid feeling too dizzy. But instead of grabbing your journal from the shelf, you make your way to your bed and pull back the warm, slightly musty covers.

The strap of your gown falls down your shoulders as you go to lay down. They keep doing that, lately. You had to stop wearing pants altogether, because they just wouldn’t stay up. You like the billowy gowns more and more, because they cover up all the parts of your body that make you uncomfortable, lately. You feel okay when you wear them. Just as long as you don’t look down in the ever-widening gaps created by the loose fabric on your chest.

It’s true that there are no naps on your schedule, and Kai might not like you inserting your own decisions into the fray. But you’re just so tired lately. 

Wouldn’t it be okay if you napped, just sometimes? You’ll write in your journal tomorrow. You’ll confess that you eat too fast and you worry too much and that you hope Kai will come home soon, because this test he’s putting you through is confusing and hard and you might be losing. 

You feel dizzy again. Must be the air. Or maybe the book was too exciting. It’s just too hard to figure out. 

He’s going to come back soon. If he does, you’ll be waiting.

[echoghost1]

What's In A Name

okay, this took me longer than I expected... but here is the fic based on this post

Title: What's In A Name

Summary: Danny thought that having a sub in class would make things easier. Unfortunately, this leads to everyone finding out that his first name isn't Daniel.

His class isn't taking the news very well.

word count: 1670

you can read it on AO3 or down below the cut!

Oh, and I guess I'll tag the people from that post: @spookberry @shinygoldstar

Danny had just gotten to school and was getting his supplies for first period when Tucker ran up with way more excitement for this early in the morning.

“Dude, you’re never going to believe it!”

“Believe what?” Danny asked with an amused grin.

“Lancer took a sick day since the first time in forever!”

Danny felt like he was missing something.

Tucker rolled his eyes when Danny didn’t react correctly, “Subs, man. We have subs.”

“In all of his classes?” Danny asked as the news finally sunk in.

“Yup.” Tucker said with confidence as he popped the ‘p’.

“I have so many classes with him.”

“I know dude, me too!” He wrapped his arm around Danny’s shoulder, “Which means that today is going to be a breeze.”

Danny smiled and couldn’t help getting excited about a nice easy day at school.

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

His first class was easy.

The sub seemed just as tired as they were and simply checked that they were in their assigned seats and handed out a worksheet for them to do.

Once the teacher made it clear that they didn’t care if they worked together or not, it turned into more of a hang-out session than actually getting much work done.

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

His second period was science which he didn’t have with Mr. Lancer so he actually had to pay attention.

It was a lab day and he was still banned for life from handling all fragile school property, so the lab they had was a bit difficult until the teacher remembered (was reminded) and let him team up with Mikey.

All he had to do was take notes on what was happening. Which was fine. He could do that no problem.

All Mikey asked was for his handwriting to be legible.

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

It was his third class that ruined everything. It had all been going so well until then.

The teacher had decided to ignore the seating chart list and did roll by reading off the class roster list on the computer. Which in theory would be fine, except that the computer list didn’t have the notes that Mr. Lancer had added over the year, things like nicknames for instance.

It would have been fine if she had called him Daniel. It would have reminded him of Vlad, which would have been annoying, but manageable.

Unfortunately his first name isn’t Daniel.

“Johnathan?”

Everyone perked up at the name. They looked around, confusion evident on all of their faces. There was no Johnathan in this class. No John or Johnny’s. Was this a secret classmate? It couldn’t be, all the seats were full and no one here was Johnathan.

The teacher sighed and tried again, “Johnathan Fenton?”

Danny perked up and raised his hand, “Here. Sorry. I just um, everyone calls me Danny. Or Daniel, or just Fenton.” he realized he had been rambling and apologized again.

He looked down at his desk still embarrassed that he sort of forgot his own first name for a second. Then he felt like he was being watched.

He looked up and realized everyone, but Tucker, who was too busy chuckling to himself, was staring at him with varying degrees of confusion and anger. Sam included.

The class said nothing. Only stared for the remainder of the roll call.

Once the teacher was finished, and before they could truly start class, Dash was the first to break the silent tension. “Your name is Johnathan?!”

“Yes?” Danny answered hesitantly as he leaned away from the angry jock. Normally Dash wasn’t much of a threat anymore after all the ghost hunting, but he couldn’t exactly use his powers in the middle of class.

“Since when?!”

“Birth?”

“No!” Dash countered.

“Look, I’m named after my dad and it’s too confusing if we both go by the same name, so we just use my middle name instead.”

“But your dad’s name is Jack.”

“Which is short for Johnathan,” Danny explained with a sigh.

Dash sputtered in confused annoyance. Apparently, he didn’t know that either.

Before he could get too angry about his lack of knowledge, the teacher made it clear that they were going to start class now.

Dash glared at Danny and pointed an accusatory finger at him, “I don’t believe you, Fenton.”

“Okay?” Danny shrugged it off and the rest of the class went back to ignoring him.

Except for Sam.

She was still glaring at him.

“What?” Danny mouthed not a hundred percent sure as to what his gothic friend was upset about.

She flipped open her notebook hard enough for the paper cover to slap against the desk and furiously scribbled something down before tearing out the page and quickly folding it like a ninja star and chucking it at his head.

He carefully unfolded the note and read it.

“Are you serious?! Is this some elaborate prank?”

Danny looked up to Sam in surprise and then back to the note.

“No really. That is my name.” he wrote before trying his best to fold the note back up as she had it. He really wasn’t as good at it as she was.

She wrote her response quickly and made a point to get the creases of the folds just right. “Then why is Tucker laughing?”

“I don’t know? I’m not a mind reader Sam.”

“Did he know?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He didn’t really understand why she was so upset by this. It didn’t really matter. Did it? “I wasn’t keeping it a secret. I just forgot.”

“Forgot what? That it was your name or that I didn’t know?”

He hesitated too long and Tucker finally snatched the note from him and read it over before snickering to himself and added his own two cents before tossing it back to Sam.

Finally, Sam smiled. With a roll of her eyes, she slipped the note into the pocket of her notebook and went to doodling like nothing was wrong.

Danny wasn’t really sure what that was all about, but he was glad it was over.

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

The rest of the day was mostly fine. His friends teased him about his full name occasionally throughout the day, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

Dash kept giving him the stink eye, which was weird, but better than being shoved into his own locker.

Lunch was a bit of a disaster once Tucker let out his inner bookie and started holding bets on what Danny’s real name was.

There were three options.

One was that his name was really Daniel and he was just pranking everyone somehow.

The second was that his name really was Johnathan and he was telling the truth because Fenton can’t tell a lie to save his life.

While the third was that he had a completely different name and may or may not be related to the Fenton’s at all.

Danny wasn’t sure if he should be finding all of this hilarious or just plain annoying. Maybe it was one of those, ‘we’ll laugh about it when we’re older’ things?

Of course, word spread fast and everyone was trying to figure out what the real answer was. No one was asking Danny, because they weren’t sure if he actually was a reliable source. Tucker refused to give the answer until the end of the day when he would reveal the winners. And Sam admitted that all of the name nonsense was news to her, but since she loved chaos, she would wink and add, “But it could be true.”

Danny realized too late that the only other person to ask before the end of the day was his sister.

Before he could get to her, someone else beat him to it.

Dash had cornered her just outside of the library and asked, “What’s your brother’s name,” without any preamble.

Of course, Jazz, being two years older than them and in none of their classes, had no idea what had been going on. So she answered the question as best she could despite the confusion, “Danny?”

“Ha! I knew he was a liar!” Dash boasted as he turned around and punched his fist into his open palm as he eyed Danny.

“Wait!” He called out to Dash before turning his attention to his sister, “He means my first name!”

“Oh,” she turned to Dash, “Why didn’t you just say that?”

Dash’s shoulders slumped in defeat, “his name isn’t Danny?”

“His middle name is, but not his first name.” she turned back to Danny, “Didn’t you explain it?”

“Of course I did! He just didn’t believe me! And now the whole school is losing their minds because they think this is some crazy prank or that I’m a liar or something.”

Danny sighed and composed himself before giving the warning as he had meant to, “Tucker is taking bets on what my name is so other people might ask you about it too.”

Jazz hummed thoughtfully to herself while nodding, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You are going to tell them the truth right?”

“Of course,” she said but she still had that far-off look in her eye.

Danny figured he would probably regret asking, but he was just too curious, “what are you thinking about?”

“This is very interesting from a psychological perspective, don’t you think?”

“How?”

“Well by learning that what they assumed to be true, wasn’t, it has shifted their perspective on things.”

“Do you really think it’s that deep?”

“What do you think it is then?” she asked, not annoyed that her theory was being questioned, just curious.

“I think people just like drama.”

“Perhaps.” she said as she watched a dejected Dash walk away, “and maybe it’s a bit of both.”

“Whatever it is I hope it goes away tomorrow.” he walked away and wondered if this was a preview as to what would happen if his secret got out.

He stopped in his tracks with a sigh. No, if they found out he was really Danny Phantom it would be worse. So much worse.

[doubledgesword-2]

Soulmate Au Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2 are here! Requests for the Adult trio are open!

WARNING DUB-CON AND EXPLICIT SMUT +18 Please do not te upload somewhere else!!

You started to suspect something was wrong with you when you walked deep into the forest, looking to harvest the crops. Your mind screamed at you to keep walking. Walk away from this place and leave them behind. The minute your feet took one step forward, the most intense migraine struck you. You tried to walk forwards and work through the pain, but it became too debilitating to the point your legs gave under you, and your body crumbled to the ground.

Your eyes clenched close, and your body tucked in into a fetal position, your hands clutching your shirt in hopes it would lessen the pain. Suddenly, you heard a rustle behind you, but couldn't really be bothered to turn and look at the disturbance.

"Oh, here you are. I was worried something might have happened" Chrollo came from behind a tree, his coat gracefully moving as he came to stand before your crippled form.

He sat down beside you taking your body into his lap. His hands stroke your hair as tears came down from your eyes.

"(Y/N), this is such a nice and peaceful place you've built" his voice was so calm, and his hands went through your locks with such comfort that you were calming down for a second.

He took a deep breath, eyes close with a smile as if truly enjoying the quiet and the light breeze blowing through. Chrollo leaned down close to you, your body shaking in pain still. His hands petted away a couple of strands of your hair as his lips came close to your ear.

"You weren't thinking of leaving now, were you?"

The tone of his voice made the question feel like a gentle threat. But a threat nonetheless. He kissed your temple and kept running his hands through your hair, breathing in once more, smiling at the sunbeams coming through the leaves and shining down on the two of you.

"I am delighted you have decided to stay with us. It would have broken all our hearts to know you weren't happy here" he looked down at your form, no longer distressed but still slightly shaking and sniffling.

"You are happy here, are you not?"

You nodded weakly in response, and he beamed at you. He picked you up gently, bridal style, while his hand carried the woven basket underneath you.

"Let's go, I'll prepare dinner tonight. Just the two of us, little treasure. All is well".

Chrollo brought you all the way to the cottage, filling the air with casual banter along the way. His excitement grew whenever the prospect of a new book came into the conversation.

"It's very eloquent poetry. I am sure it'll sound melodic coming from your lips".

Chrollo walked into the cottage with you still in his arms. The other two were nowhere to be seen, and it confirmed what he had said: you two were truly alone. Chrollo settled you on the sofa, your fluffy cat meowing around his legs. He crouched to pet the cat's head.

"What are you craving today, love?" Your eyes were close, dried tear streaks under them, but you opened them to see him smiling warmly at you while still petting your cat.

"Chef's choice," you replied simply, trying a smile of your own, but it came out more like a grimace.

"Mmm, hard choice, I'll surprise you then" he gave your forehead a kiss and moved away from your vision line.

After leaving you on the sofa, Chrollo had draped his coat over the chair, washed his hands, and got everything ready for the food. Your eyes were droopy, body tired after your horrific headache, so you drifted off into a nice comfy nap.

A fantastic smell wafted around the house, waking you up to find you have drooled on the decorative pillow. Chrollo was in front of you, smiling at your cute and sleepy face.

You shot up, looking around as if you weren't in your house, and you didn't know who was in front of you. Then it all came back, the realization hit you, and you wiped the drool with the back of your hand. Chrollo chuckled at you and got up to kiss the top of your head, lingering for a second, hugging you to him.

“Dinner is ready, come on love."

A bit disoriented and groggy, you got up and went to the table. Everything was set up with candles surrounding the dinner table and the kitchen. A single rose in a vase was in the middle of the table, the same vase that you had changed the flowers that fateful day they had found you. Chrollo was waiting beside the chair he had pulled out for you. He had a proud smile as you went to sit at the chair, and he gently pushed you in. The whole thing was adorable, and it would have been romantic if you weren't wary of the man. He sat down as well and was looking at you with loving eyes. You pretended he wasn't fixed on you as you took the first bite out of your food.

"I hope it's to your liking. I had never made this one before" he had ended up making your favorite dish, and you were happy to have it; the food was truly delicious.

The fact that he knew your favorite dish shouldn't give you the feeling of dread, and yet it did. You knew the trio had most undoubtedly memorized everything about you, no matter how small the detail was. Still, you couldn't wrap your head around the idea.

"It's delicious, thank you" you forced a smile at him, and he chuckled under his breath, looking down at his own plate.

"You don't have to pretend with me (Y/N). I'm not Hisoka or Illumi; I'm a simple thief but a gentleman at heart. I know you're uncomfortable, and this situation is new to you. I don't blame you".

You looked down to your plate, feeling a bit embarrassed that he noticed your inner turmoil. His words should have offered comfort, but you couldn't feel it or find any. Instead, they further pushed down the heavy stone in your stomach.

"I-I don't know how to feel, still. I'm adjusting, trying to at least" you took another bite and gave him a close-lipped smile as you chewed the food.

Chrollo's dark eyes pierced yours; he wasn't buying it.

"Then perhaps we haven't fully helped you experience love in this relationship," he gave you a closed eye smile and took a mouthful of the food.

You felt shivers run up your spine, body tingling in fear and dread as if you were at the dropping point of a big coaster ride. Your heart beat faster to the point where you started hearing it in your ears.

The door seemed like an excellent option right now.

Your hands went under the table to grip the edge of the chair as you tried to ground yourself back into the moment. 'He didn't say anything. He just made a suggestion with a smile', you told yourself, looking for the logic in his words, and calming yourself. But it wasn't working, you had felt it. Felt the tiniest flare of his aura reach out to you in silent warning. Nothing big but just enough to put you back into place. There were so many meanings behind that little jesting phrase that it made you anxious.

"Are you alright? You seem a little pale" he placed his utensil down, getting out of the chair and crouching near you.

His cold hand reached to your cheek, caressing you and making you look down at him.

"Perhaps some air will do you good," he grabbed both your hands in his and pulled you up and out of the chair.

You were in a slight daze watching him as he placed a coat around you and dressed in his own. Chrollo exited the cottage with you around his arm. The two of you looked like a loving couple taking a stroll in the middle of winter.

As you walked into the forest, passing by trees and bushes taking in the sights under the moonlight, Chrollo pulled a book from inside his coat and handed it to you. You took it. Still, a bit shook but figured some reading might do you good.

"I borrowed it," the way he said borrow told you he meant stole "figured you might like it" he side-eyed you as your doe-like eyes looked up to him in question.

You looked down at the cover seeing it was a very elusive limited edition copy of one of your favorite authors. Your heart skipped a beat, and for once in a long while, you were pleasantly surprised and excited. Your lips pulled into an unconscious smile, and by the time you had noticed you were smiling and tried to hide it with a serious look, Chrollo had already smiled and locked the sight in his mind. You looked precious.

"Why don't you read it out loud. I'm sure it's a good night for some reading if you don't mind?" His suave and smooth voice questioned, but you knew better than to resist him.

So you nodded, muttering a thank you. He nodded back, closing his eyes briefly and then looking back at you with expectation. You opened the first page and started to read the prologue as the two of you walked. Your lips never stuttering a word as you got lost in the story, pulled into it to the point were you forgot his eyes on you.

Chrollo was looking around the trees, admiring the majestic scenery as your words filled the nightly air. He knew your tone was hesitant and scared. You hated reading out loud and especially to him. You'd told him it was something about the sound of your voice in your ears. But he loved it. The way you pronounced or mispronounced words made his heart flutter. How your tone changed when you got lost in the narrative and started muttering small comments for the characters under your breath. Your little mannerisms made you adorable in his eyes, and the more he looked at you, the more he wanted.

He wasn't satisfied.

At the beginning of his relationship with Hisoka, there were some bumps he had to overcome when it came to the clown. But once he did, he could say he came to love the jester. When Illumi came into the picture as his second soulmate, he was a bit surprised. He, at some point, even doubted the assassin could actually be capable of emoting or loving. But one night, when they were all together tucked away in a vacation home right in front of the beach, he realized something about themselves.

He was sitting on a comfy armchair sofa in the balcony, book in hand, a glass of wine resting on its wooden arm. The sun was setting as cliche as it may sound, but his eyes rested on the page's words. When suddenly, he felt a head fall on his lap.

Assuming it was Hisoka, he didn't even glance down in hopes of secretly riling him up. Though curiosity got the better of him, so his eyes did glance down, and he was surprised. On his lap, long black hair fanned across it, was Illumi with his eyes close and a peaceful expression on his face.

Chrollo's heart fluttered.

He felt his cheeks heat up as he stole glances of the assassin. He almost closed the book, but he was afraid the sound would shake the scene and make the Illumi leave. So he kept pretending to read, not being able to fully concentrate with the comforting weight of Illumi on his lap.

They bonded after that, growing closer together. Hisoka was proud of them. The troupe had always been his family but getting to feel this kind of love was different.

That's when he realized soulmates were meant to be together for a reason. So when your name appeared on their skin out of nowhere, he knew they had to find you. You were not being loved as you should. That's why he understands your apprehension and your wariness of them. They're not exactly good in lawful standards, and their moral compasses might be slightly broken. But if there's one thing they know for sure, loving you is one of their main goals.

You just need to see it.

"As soon-"your reading got interrupted by a pair of lips on yours.

Chrollo's hands grabbed both sides of your face and brought you close for a fevered kiss. The book fell out of your hands as they came to rest on his arms.

"I couldn't resist," he mumbled out of breath against your lips. You, on the other hand, were freaking out a bit.

The fact that you were in the middle of a clearing in the forest was making you anxious. Chrollo dived in again, looking for your lips, but you turned your face away bashfully. You looked down to the grass seeing the book and bending down to pick it up as if he hadn't just kissed away your breath.

He was a bit hurt, but he had to remember that you weren't like them. You needed a little more coaxing to come out of your shell. He would help.

You straightened, inspecting the book for any creases or tears in the pages. You dusted away some dirt, closing the book delicately and looking up at Chrollo.

You frowned at the sight. Not that it wasn't a pleasant one, he was handsome and pretty, but you weren't buying it. At some point, you were pretty sure you were in soulmate denial.

"What are you doing?" You asked meekly, seeing as he had shaken away his coat and was shirtless at the moment.

Your fight or flight sense was glaring up, and you hugged the book to your stomach. Chollo placed his coat in the grass, open as if it was a picnic blanket. He turned to eye you, his eyes no longer cold.

"I know you're afraid, but there's nothing to be afraid of. Let me show you just how much I love you," that was your cue.

He took a step, and you mirrored him taking one back. This made him slightly tilt his head to the side, the look playfully menacing. Chrollo took another step and your nen flared up in warning, this time stronger than the last time you had tried this. He looked proud instead of intimidated, and it angered you.

The loving way he looked at your nen didn't help your case, and so you attacked. Your nen moved fast, striking the spot where he was. But he was fast, as quick as Hisoka, and that was a disadvantage to you.

Chrollo had suddenly disappeared and left you in the middle of the clearing. You leaned down to quickly put the book out of harm's way and then stood in attention. The moon shone brightly on you, giving your dangerous look and angelic glow. He could've groaned and moaned out loud just like Hisoka would've done, but he bit his lip instead, looking at you through the foliage.

Your ears were strained, searching for any noise as little as it may be. But there was no noise when he came, fast and swift bringing you down. The two of you rolled around on the grass, he chuckled as you winded up, straddling him. Your face scrunched up in concentration. His hand lifted to your cheek, caressing it, which made you flinch for a second. Chrollo then flipped the two of you, causing you to shriek at the suddenness. He pinned down your wrists, bringing them beside your head. Your wide-eyed looked at him startled, yet something was growing in your stomach's pit.

"You're getting better. Illumi should be proud," he leaned down, bringing his lips close to your ear. "Your nen is worth stealing, I wouldn't mind, if it meant keeping you as well" he bit your earlobe, making you bite your lips.

You tried to wriggle your wrists out of his hold, but his hands tightened around them. Chrollo started kissing your neck, nibbling and sucking his way down your collarbone. Still, you kept muffling your noises, biting your lip, and holding your tongue.

He wouldn't have it. Chrollo bit down in between your neck and shoulder, making you moan loudly.

"That's more like it," he chuckled against the spot soothing it with a lick and kiss, "Do you think I could steal some more noises from your lips?" He asked, bringing his lips close to yours.

"Would you let me?" You could feel his breath on your lips as he talked.

Chrollo kissed you hard, tongue poking your entrance and biting your lower lip so you wouldn't deny him. He sucked on your tongue, relishing in your futile attempts to keep quiet. His hips started grinding slowly into yours, pressing down his hard-on on your clothed spot. He was only wearing his pants, back and chest bared under the moonlight and shining with a thin layer of sweat. He separated for some air, leaving you a bit dazed and fuzzy. His hands coming down to your clothes gripping your shirt and tugging at it. That jerked you up from your state, making you gasp, your hands coming to his own grabbing them. You tried to pull them away from you, but he took both of your wrists in one of his hands and pinned them hard on the ground.

You groaned at the slight pain, and he took the opportunity of your raised arms to slide the shirt up and jumble it around your hands in makeshift bounds. He smiled down at your bra and the way your brows scrunched up in struggle. Your fight was strong, but he was stronger.

Chrollo leaned down to your chest, kissing the curve of your breast pressed on the bra. He bit down on the mound, making you groan.

"You're so soft, so beautiful," he whispered to your chest as his hand slipped the breast out of the bra. He massages the nipple, head dipping, and licking the other to attention. You started squirming under him, bringing your tied hands to stop him but ended up hugging his head closer to your chest, a moaning mess.

A fire was rising in between your legs, and you felt the electricity go down your spine.

'What were they doing to you?!' You screamed in your mind trying to fight the feeling.

Chrollo's hand left your mound, his mouth kept sucking on the other, as he sneaked down to your waistline. You had been wearing a comfortable attire since it was a bit hot, and you were tending to the crops today before your accident. He easily slipped down and into your panties. His calloused and experienced hands didn't waste any time and felt your slit. He smirked when he found you wet, but not enough for him. Chrollo gathered some slick and gently rubbed on your hooded pearl. You jerked under him, muffling a moan by biting your lip. His lips left your peak, glistening and wet under the dim moonlight. He went to the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent, and planting open-mouthed kisses as his other hand maintained a steady rhythm on your nub. He didn't change the speed, going in gentle circles on your bundle of nerves.

You were getting desperate, feeling the pleasure rising in you, and pushing shame to the back of your mind. Your hips bucked unconsciously, and he tutted you like a child, smiling in victory against your neck with closed eyes.

"Tch, tch, tch, not yet, I think you deserve some punishment for being so stubborn with me" he bit your earlobe, making you whine in response.

Your body struggled against him, but he let his weight drop on you, making you stay still. Chrollo's hand then went quicker and quicker, driving you deep into pleasure but not all the way. You whined again, trying to move away from his hand, but he went faster. Suddenly you felt the ice-cold rush from the tip of your toes to your core, pleasure flooding your system like a wave. Your body shook under his, toes curling, and you let out a moan closing your eyes at all the sensations.

Chrollo groaned with you, his pants too tight for comfort. He grinned against you softly and sat up, still straddling you. In your high, you didn't felt as he pulled the rest of your clothes down and his arousal out, the tip an angry red as he stroke it, shuddering under the feeling. He then pushed into you, making you gasp and open your eyes wide to the see him. His eyes closed, and he bit his lip briefly. Then his dark eyes opened slowly, looking down at you in adoration. His mouth was slightly opened, breathing heavily at the feeling of your warmth engulfing him. Hair was falling sideways and forwards, almost covering the cross on his forehead. The light glowing behind him gave him a surreal look and feel.

It was euphoric.

You moaned, and he started moving slowly, leaning over you to capture your lips as he sped up. His hands were beside your head, supporting his body as he rocked with you. He rested on his forearms, bringing himself closer to you as he changed speed and slowly rolled his hips, making you feel everything.

"I love you so much," he whispered into your cheek, kissing it afterward.

Chrollo groaned lowly when he bumped into a special spot that made you clench hard around him. You moaned.

"Found it," he chuckled low, speeding up and hitting the same spot over and over.

Your hips buckled, meeting his as he sat up. He gave you a half-lidded look, smiling at you. His hands came to rest on your hips, pressing them down as he rammed inside you. He couldn't take how good you felt, your same walls gripping him and becoming him deeper. He complied, going faster and deeper, making you moan and whine. Chrollo's hand sneaked to your hooded pearl, rubbing it at matching speed with his thrusts.

Your body jerked, heat, and cold consuming you at equal measure. Your body glistened with sweat under the moonlight, making you glow and shine like a jewel worth stealing. Chrollo bit his lip at the picture, wishing he could just have it to look at it all the time. Instead, he committed it to memory, his hand rubbing your nub furiously.

Suddenly your body arched beautifully, your breasts offered to him as you came with a shriek. Pleasure flooded you, making you twitch and shake. He joined you with a groan, head thrown back as his body arched as well, driving his length deep inside you, releasing all of himself into you. Your walls massage him as he thrusts slowly.

The two of you panted heavily.

Chrollo's hands were beside your head, supporting his body as he caught his breath. He looked down at you, your skin looking perfect under the lighting, your lips puffy and slightly opened as your naked chest heaved, making your breasts move up and down. You looked gorgeous, and he couldn't ask for more. He was satisfied, and a sense of fullness filled him at the moment.

He pulled out, making your face scrunch up in pain at the slight discomfort of the tenderness. Tucking himself back in his pants, he zipped them up and laid down beside you. He undid the mess around your wrists, and you pulled them down beside your body, resting the aching muscles. His head was supported on his hand as he laid on his side, looking at you in love. Your eyes were closed, and you seemed to be calm, almost sleeping.

His fingers came to lay on your stomach. The ginger touch made you jump slightly at the suddenness, but otherwise, your eyes remained closed. They moved around your form, tracing your marks, your waves, the way your mounds curved into your chest, your collarbone, and finally, they came to rest on your neck. He caresses it with the back of his hand, coming up to your cheek and staying there.

You opened your eyes slightly, looking at him through a tired glaze. Chrollo smiles warmly, coming close to peck your lips. He pulled the coat around your form, covering you from the night's chill, and gathered you in his arms.

Chrollo stopped to pick up the book you had neatly placed away from the mess and chaos. Smirking at your thoughtfulness. He gave you the book or at least propped it on your stomach as your sleepy form was losing the fight. He carried you all the way back to the cottage, where he placed you on the bed. You turned to the side, and he petted your hair, kissing your head. He came back to put the leftover food away and the dishes in the sink, making sure to turn off the candles. Your cat was eagerly following him like he had treats in his pockets.

Chrollo went back to the room, taking off the rest of his clothes and stripping you of this coat. He draped it on your vanity, the rest of the clothes scattered in a corner of the room. Your fluffy black cat went to them, kneading the fabric and then laying on top.

Chrollo pulled the covers back and brought you close to him, pulling the two of you under the sheets. He snuggled closer to you, the two of you naked as the day you were born. He pressed a kiss to the back of your ear, nuzzling your neck afterward and then resting on top of your head.

"Sleep well, my love," mutters, and you reply with your own muffled and unintelligible goodnight. He smiled, closing his eyes in bliss.

He couldn't wait for the morning to do it all over again.

[sidespromptblog]

The Goodbye Letter

Warnings: Crying (Logan), Hurt/Comfort, goodbye letter, talk of fading (past tense- Logan), and general angst. 

Summary: After months of planning and thinking, Logan decides to finally leave the light sides for good. Through a letter.

AO3 LINK

Word Count: 2188

The desk lamp next to Logan clicked on, illuminating a corner of the logical side’s room on pale yellow light as the figure of the logical side sat hunched over his desk a pen clasped tight between cramping fingers. 

It was late, so late that even Virgil would have been asleep by now. 

Which meant that it was the perfect time to do this.  

“I can do it...” Logan softly chanted to himself, as he rubbed his temples only giving the clock on his desk a wayward glance. It was late, way too late for the emotions he was trying to wrangle right now. But it had to be done now, or else he wasn’t going to get it done at all. “We talked about this ahead of time, and we know that I can do this…” 

All things considered, Logan started his letter off pretty eloquently given the state of his emotions. 

“I hope, that when you finally notice that I am no longer around. That the silence where I once stood is deafening.” He began, finding that once he started it was almost impossible to stop. “I hope that you try to fill it in whatever ways you can possibly think of, be it your singing, dancing, or probably more accurately… the arguing that never seems to go away whether I’m there or not. Whatever way you try, I hope that they all fail and I hope that you remember the time where the silence wasn’t there. I hope that you remember that it was once me, and I hope that you remember how I once was.” 

Logan didn’t feel at all angry, despite how his letter may make him seem towards those it was directed towards… he wasn’t angry about any of it. He hadn’t been angry about it in such a long time, he was more…

Comfortably numb at this point, despite what the words scrawled on the page spelled out. It was easy to default to this past anger he’d felt, rather than attempted to write out how they’d made him this way and how’d they’d made him so empty, to begin with.  

He’d need longer than a few hours to explain that, it would take days… days that he didn’t have right now. 

He had long since passed the stage of being angry or even being sad, he’d shed so many tears that it had hurt to cry and it had hurt even more to just be sad without being able to cry. He had tried trashing things, burning all of his notecards, and just ripping everything that he had once worked on to shreds. Now there was just… nothing. He was just tired at this point, and that was left was that tiredness that made him feel as if that was all that there was at this point. He couldn’t recall a single morning where he woke up not feeling this constant tiredness. And not feeling like it would be better off to not leave his bed, let alone his bedroom. 

It was just easier to write this letter, rather than having to go through the struggle of having to explain himself without being interrupted or argued with. 

“I hope it hurts,” He added without much malice left inside of him. “I hope it hurts to realize how far you’ve pushed me. I could have gone an eternity existing beside all of you, had it not been for the belittling. I’m sad to say that I probably would have stayed a little longer even if that was the case, I loved all of you so much. But after recent events… something inside of me is broken now, and I don’t think that it will ever be fixed properly.” 

Much to Logan’s surprise, he felt a stripe of wetness streak down his face at his next words dotting the page that he was writing on. 

At the admission of weakness that he now felt.

But even so, that didn’t stop him.  

If anything it only spurred him on now, even as it became hard to see throughout all of the tears.

“I am far too damaged now to come back to you all. I don’t remember when I wasn’t.” 

Taking in a shaky breath, a whimper crawled up the logical side’s throat at the finalization that settled in his chest. He loved them… truly he did. He loved Roman’s energy, and how he put everything he had into every project he took. He had always given his whole heart to them regardless of how he felt. He loved Virgil’s mellowness and the way that he thought about things as realistically as he could despite how the world scared him. He loved Patton and his cheeriness, and his drive to keep going and to see the best in things… even if it wasn’t for the best in himself. 

“When did you first break me? And when could I no longer put myself back together?” 

But right now… it was so hard to love them. So hard that it felt almost impossible at this point. It was possible he knew… but not necessarily healthy. 

It was so hard to love them when they saw him as something optional, as something that was so boring that they couldn’t be bothered to even try to listen to him. Every single time they made a comment, every time they rolled their eyes, and every time attempted to ignore him once again…

It hurt. 

Every time it hurt more and more. 

“Logan?” 

The said logical side felt his shoulders stiffen at the hand that rested on his shoulder, gently cradling him as he went through wave after wave of tears that threatened to choke him if he didn’t let them out all at once.

It most certainly didn’t stop the shaking of his shoulders as he felt the tears that he had thought were once gone and dried up, rise up again with a vengeance. They ran down like a rainstorm, dripping onto the page and smudging the ink that hadn’t even begun to dry yet. Not that it mattered to him much anyways, it wasn’t the neatness he cared about now, but rather what the words had meant to him. What the emotions that had been locked away inside of him had tried to say after all of these years, and… what he had convinced himself that he had been alright with for years upon years. 

He wasn’t okay. 

Burying his face in his hands Logan tried to choke out an apology. “S..Sorry.. Sorry.” He mumbled out behind his mess of tears, “I thought that I was okay enough to write this. I thought.. I thought that it wouldn’t hurt as much… I’m sorry.” The apology was constant, despite the hand that released his shoulder instead curled around him, pulling him into a warm hug. 

A part of him wanted to pull against it, to finish his letter and everything that it entailed. Part of him wanted to rebel against the warmth from the other side, and from the hand gingerly petting his hair as his breathing hitched and a near-silent sob bubbled out of him. But…

He didn’t, as much as that part of him wanted to… he sank back into the comfort that was so freely given to him.

Why did kindness hurt just as much as cruelness? 

“It’s okay,” That gentle voice murmured again, “We both knew that this wouldn’t be easy, writing a goodbye letter is… very hard to do. It involves a lot of digging up old emotions and putting them on display for others to see, and that’s scary and hurtful for you. You’ve been hurt, and you have a lot to say.” A soft kiss pressed against the top of his head. “It’s okay Logan, you’re doing good.” 

Taking in a deep breath he nodded before leaning his head back enough to look back at the side that had come at the sign of his smallest discomfort. Janus’ mismatched eyes stared down at him with a sad kind of understanding, it was the kind of look that anytime before he understood would have made Logan very confused. But now… now he reached up, gingerly taking the hand that had resumed the petting of his hair and placed a tiny kiss on the palm. The tears on his cheeks hadn’t even dried as Janus swiped them away, the softness was unbelievably evident in just about everything that he did for Logan. 

“Thank you,” Logan whispered, his voice cracking with each word. “I’m okay, it’ll be tough to finally finish this… but I’ll be okay.” 

Janus’ eyes searched his for a long terse moment, before finally nodding.

Leaning down the dishonest side placed a simple kiss on the logical side’s forehead, the smell of his cologne lingering. “Okay,” He slowly began. “Be sure to take a break if you need to. Call me or Remus if necessary. He’s almost done completing your space in the imagination, just a few more hours and it’ll be fully complete.” A tiny smile lit up the serpentine side’s face, “He’s very excited to show it to you…” 

Oh, Logan was sure about that. Remus had spent the past few months creating blueprints for Logan’s new home ever since the logical side had brought up his idea of just leaving. At first… Logan had brought up the idea of leaving as a last resort, as in leaving the other sides as well as Thomas. Of just leaving the mindspace and never looking back, of finding his place in the real world even if he technically wouldn’t be able to survive as anything more than a phantom of a man. He had been prepared to make that sacrifice, even if it had meant that he could begin to feel better about where he was. 

It had really scared Remus and Janus when he had talked about it…

Apparently, he had been almost manic about the idea of it.

He wasn’t exactly in the best place back then, so their fear wasn’t exactly unwarranted.   

He’d even contemplated fading into the subconscious, and just becoming one of Thomas’ baser instincts. Still acting as logic, without being present and visible for him to be summoned at will. It had been a very tempting idea back then, but now… he had better plans, with a future that wouldn’t be nearly so painful as the past. 

“Yeah,” Logan smiled, his hand reaching up to card through Janus’ loose hair. “I can’t wait.” 

“This is goodbye, I am certain that I will miss all of you. It would be impossible for me not to miss any of you, I’ve grown up with you all and seen how you’ve all changed throughout the years. I will always hold a bit of fondness for you all. Patton, Virgil, and Roman. I love you all dearly so, but… I cannot continue. I cannot last how I have been, so this will likely be the last you ever hear of me. I will not show myself to Thomas, in fact, I will not be capable of being summoned. So for all intents and purposes… this is a final goodbye. So finally… Goodbye. Sincerely and with love, Logan ‘Logic’ Sanders. For the last time.” 

With a sigh of relief, Logan neatly folded the letter that he had spent the better part of the week writing. Sealing it with a glob of hot wax, that Roman would most certainly find ironic, Logan sealed the letter before finally rising to take it to its final resting place where it would be found by the others in the morning. Rising up in the living room, he moved silently and quickly, he placed it on the kitchen counter that connected to the dining room. 

Most certain Patton would come in the morning and find it, he’d be the first to read it and thus the information would spread to the others as well. They would all know well before the morning had even begun.  

“Janus?” Logan softly called out as he rose back up into his bedroom, “Do you think it’s ready yet?” 

The excitement on the other side’s face told him everything that he needed to know as he extended his hand to the logical side. “Yeah,” Janus murmured softly, the warm smile on his face growing. “Are you ready to see your new home?” 

With a nod, Logan sank down with Janus.

Just to rise up to feel the warm sunshine on his face, and the sight of a homely cottage that had been made just for him well within in his sight. Remus had really outdone himself this time. The long grass tickled his feet, and the smell of wildflowers graced his nose, letting him know right away that place was safe for him and not a single thing would hurt him here. The babbling of the stream in the distance, and the swaying of the windchimes in the distance almost made Logan want to weep from the pure joy of it all.  

He was home. 

He was safe. 

[mandareeboo]

ok now im curious what your most petty thing is (regarding the dp post)

Oooh boy, here we go! Buckle up fuckers this is gonna be a longer one.

My senior year of high school, I took a creative writing class. Partially because I needed to fill the slot, mostly because I wanted to improve my writing (spoiler: I did not). Now, my high school was a three floor building- first was mostly gym, second was general, and the third was senior lockers and art classes. I spent a good chunk of my schedule senior year on the second and third floor, going between an art class to my earth science (I took that one entirely as filler, but also bc I like science) to my locker and so on.

Creative writing? Creative writing was in the fucking basement. Go to the first floor, go to a corner generally used for health and development classes, to another corner, follow a ramp and some stairs, and boom there it is kind of basement. (Side note but this teacher was REALLY into attendance and would get you in trouble if you were late which was really annoying since basically no other class was in that part of the building).

My creative writing teacher wasn't bad, per se. I've had worse teachers. I had an algebra teacher who delighted in making freshman girls cry and mocking them for it. I had a journalism teacher who would use her class time reporting how Hilary was secretly ill during the election. I had a history teacher say trans people weren't real to an openly gender nonconforming student (I didn't know them well enough to ask for specifics on their alignment, but they were using they/them at that point) and set up assignments just to mock students on the take they were told to make. It was more that she was uncreative and took it out on the kids doing creative writing.

She gave us two books to read. Basically “how I write” by published authors. I don’t remember the first one well enough and I donated it ages ago, but the second was Stephen King’s “On Writing”. It was 3/4′s personal stories about his life and 1/4′s “also write a bit every day”.  I mostly remember the first author bc she had those fake dreadlocks white people do when they destroy their hair and she gleefully told a story about making her son have a meltdown at a party or wedding or something bc he got overwhelmed and she wanted him to learn that “sometimes you don’t get what you want”. So. You know. Not much there.

She also instructed us to write in a journal every day, which she would check every few months or so. It had to be at least half a page. She would leave little comments in every one else’s journals when she checked them, but not mine- I realized pretty quickly she was a bit uncomfortable with LGBT+ content, so I made it my mission to make every journal drabble as gay as possible bc I was bored and she couldn’t mark them WRONG when she just stated we needed to write.

But it doesn’t end there! Through the entire class, we got exactly five writing projects. Stories that follow very specific guidelines that we would then read in front of the class, group proofread, and then have the teacher give final grades for. These things were approximately like a thousand words a piece, and I was writing out my 10,000 word “It Starts off Small” story in class when I got bored, so it wasn’t difficult. 

Our first project was a character going through a difficult decision. Or... something? I honestly forget the criteria. Anyway, I was HYPE. I’d had this idea for a long time now a human choosing between peaceful death or reincarnation, and this gave me the push to write it! I had a whole thing planned with death being a deer and reincarnation being a wolpertinger (bc reincarnation leads to many possibilities, ed boy, so a Frankenstein bunny made sense to me). Anyway I poured my heart and soul into this bastard and, bright eyed and bushy tailed, handed it in. My classmates all thought it was pretty good. Not to toot m’own horn, but there was some pretty bad ones going in, so I thought I’d get a solid B or something.

I got a D. I guess the struggle was too metaphorical, or it didn’t perfectly fit her criteria. I was devastated. Then I was mad. Bc I was a bored senior who thought they’d made something pretty decent for this completely optional class and her refusal to see that really hurt me at sixteen (I was always a year younger than my other classmates, so despite being a senior I didn’t turn eighteen until almost a year after graduation)

Well, fuck it, I decided. I’m going to parody the shit out of this class.

Our next project was a fantasy story. I was bitter and grumpy. The other fantasy stories read aloud were stuff like “yeah this dude fought a wizard and got a girl, then they went home and banged” (this was not hyperbole, he would’ve written and read the smut if allowed, I knew him personally) and “this girl that NO ONE UNDERSTOOD was called CRAZY but this S@!$ cheerleader who Stole Her Boyfriend so she killed them all” (fun fact: the girl who wrote that was my age and a sort of half-friend from middle school. She was a yaoi fangirl who didn’t mind lesbians as long as they, you know, didn’t FLIRT with her or something.) 

So I get up there. It’s the last day of presentations. And I present with a polite cheer. My story is about two magical shepherd type figures who are called Sister Brighten and Brother Dick as they chase down a werewolf who was drunk off his ass and accidentally bit someone else. They then revealed they were basically supernatural designated drivers for the whole town. I made Brighten mention that Dick’s name wasn’t even Richard. I titled it “His Favorite Brand is Grayhound”. It fit every single criteria. I got an A. I could tell she didn’t want to, because there was no comments or anything like everyone else’s, but she had to follow her own criteria.

Our third was a conjoined effort thing so I didn’t pull any fuckery there, but the fourth one was about common myths and spinning them into real or fake. One girl did the hook-handed door handle thing and the boyfriend ended up above his truck hanging (somehow???). I think someone did the age-old adage of a haunted wedding dress? I kind of read through those presentations. 

Now, I’m salty-salty at this point. I wasn’t expecting His Favorite Brand is Grayhound to get me a good grade. I half-assed a lot of it. I am in full Not Happy Teenager at this point. I grab a daddy long leg and settle in.

My fourth story of the year is “Paperskin.”

Paperskin is about a boy named Billy with the thinnest skin membrane ever. Just full on body horror. You could see his teeth behind his lips. Billy gets bored one day and wanders out of his house, tries to kick a soccer ball, and breaks a leg. As he’s laying in the grass a daddy long leg bites him- and his skin is so flimsy the fangs sink in and he dies. I’m actually still pretty proud of Paperskin. It’s a horrifying, Edgar Allen Poe of a monstrosity, but it made people squirm, which was the point. The teacher is clearly a bit unnerved at this point, but she gives me another A. 

I wrote a more “normal” story after that of a contentious objector forced to house kids going to see if any confirmed soldier deaths were any of their parents as my final one and I could feel her spite as she gave me a B.

So, yeah. That’s the story of when I tormented my creative writing teacher with The Gays and my weird ass sense of humor after she called one of my best works at that age a piece of shit.

 Here’s a google drive of these bad boys, because yes I do still have these things. I turned these fuckers in for grades, people.

[scripturiends]

stole all the air from my atmosphere

Read on ao3

Summary: Han Joonhwi thinks maybe pulling all-nighters wasn’t so bad after all, even when you’ve practically finished studying ages ago.

Rating: T

Word count: 1,577

Notes: Inspired by a poem by Timothy Joshua. And totally optional, but I recommend listening to this song while reading.

~

Hey, all. Thanks for waiting patiently for an update. This fic is in response specifically to a request I received here. I know a lot of people have been requesting for a sequel to ‘gave me no compasses, gave me no signs’ as well; truthfully, I’m not sure if this fic is in the same ‘universe’ as that one — all I can definitively say is that this still follows the canon. So, I’ll leave it up to you to decide if it’s the same timeline or not. I have a lot of fic ideas lined up for an “official” sequel, anyway. ;) 

The Solhwi brain rot just gets more potent as we anticipate the new episodes — I absolutely love receiving plot ideas from all of you, and while it’s a challenge to interpret it in my own way, I still hope that it’s on par with your expectations. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments. You can send me a message anytime too! I know I say this often, but your continued support really really keeps me motivated to write. Would love to make new friends as well, if we can help it.

Okay, the note is getting too long now. As usual, the fic is under the cut, and all mistakes in this fic are mine. Enjoy! 

~

There was that moment, when you stole all the air from my atmosphere; when my heart pounded within the might of all the planets.

It’s the third time Han Joonhwi has bit his tongue in the past ten minutes, attempting to stifle his oncoming yawns, trying not to cause any disturbance. He fights his drowsiness as best as he can, hoping that his companion wouldn’t notice — and yet, as his luck would have it, the moment he couldn’t hold it in any longer just so happened to be the exact same moment the person next to him lifted her nose from the book it was buried in.

Without looking at him, she flips another page. Tone commanding but masked with concern, Kang Sol mumbles, “Just go to bed already.”

So much for being lowkey, he thought. Joonhwi stretches himself awake, thinking of the perfect response: casual enough to make it look like he doesn’t care, but caring enough that she wouldn’t push him away. “Not until you’re done,” he finalizes.

Sol scoffs, tossing her pen lightly on the table. “You don’t even take this class.” 

Well, of course he knew that. But Kang Sol A — truthfully, he prefers to omit the distinction: no matter how many Kang Sols there are in Korea, or hell, even in the entire world, he’s only got eyes for one — is not getting anything out of him. If getting Joonhwi to admit his true feelings was her goal, she’s far from reaching it.

“You know why I’m here,” he sidetracked. 

Unconvinced, she turns to him with a provoking look, and Joonhwi already knows she’s about to go on a long-winded rant. “Yeah, yeah, I do,” she started. “You want to hang out with me but instead of just asking like a normal person, you make up this lame excuse about how I need to study even though I was already planning on doing that anyway. You practically finished studying ages ago so you just sitting there doing nothing is really rubbing salt in my wounds.” 

He watches her with both his hands on his head, suppressing a smile. Finding an opening, Sol pushes his chest lightly. “I don’t need you here. Get out.” 

She said it so weakly that he knows there’s no way she could have meant it. Making sure she doesn’t lose her balance, Joonhwi quickly takes hold of her wrists and gently places them back on the table. “You talk too much,” he breathed. 

Sol purses her lips in annoyance and propped her chin up with her hand. “Yeah, well, that’s why you’re dating me,” she pouted.

If she keeps putting him in his place like this, he might actually have to walk out, but not for the reasons she’d expect him to, like his supposed exhaustion. Joonhwi knows Sol doesn’t do this on purpose, but she naturally has a way of making him flustered, and he’s trying really hard not to lose his cool right now. 

She stomps her feet lightly on the ground, groaning. “This is too difficult,” she complains, leaning her head on Joonhwi’s shoulder. 

Really, really hard.

It’s funny how Sol can say something one minute and then completely contradict it by the next. She says she doesn’t need him there, but clings onto him like her life depended on it. Not that Joonhwi was complaining — but he does want to have a little fun with her. He wanted to stir her a bit with something like, I thought you didn’t need me here? He knows she hates being called out for snappy remarks that she only ever means as a joke.

But a quick glance at Sol, in her favorite pajamas and one of Joonhwi’s sweaters, on the very rare occasions she has her hair down, bangs falling on her eyes, Joonhwi decided against it. Her vulnerability shouldn’t be treated with ridicule; it should be met with an equal amount of softness. After all, no one else but Joonhwi gets to see Sol like this — he finds that as a privilege which shouldn’t be taken for granted. 

“Okay.” He gives in. “Let me have a look.”

Joonhwi holds his palm out to ask for the reading material, which, as usual, Sol rejects. “Didn’t we already talk about this?”

He feigns innocence. “Talk about what?”

Her head feels heavy on his shoulder. “I need to be able to stand on my own if I’m going to survive law school hell,” she reminds him. “You can’t keep coming to my rescue for every little inconvenience.” 

“So this is just a minor setback?” Joonhwi teases. He couldn’t help it. 

“No,” Sol cries, “it’s a major obstacle.” 

She snuggles up against him, and Joonhwi could literally feel the heat rising to his face. Nonetheless, he lightly holds the side of her head for support and asks, “So what? Are you just going to give up?” 

“Of course not,” she mumbles, her breath hot on his neck. Joonhwi knows the law well, but he feels like this should be illegal. 

“But sometimes I wish I was just naturally smart like you.”

He lets out a soft sigh. Like many other things, the pair have talked about this before, and Joonhwi has never denied that he and many others have had a significant head start over Sol. But this is what he’d always tell her: 

“If everyone in this school had half as much of your wit, every crime in the world would have been solved by now.” 

To which she’d grimace and respond with, “Yeah, tell that to the F I got in Criminal Code.” 

But tonight was different. Sol wasn’t coming from a place of defeat, she was saying this out of frustration. She was probably thinking that maybe, had her life choices been different, she would have had it easier. That maybe, had she been as lucky in wealth and opportunities as everyone else, she wouldn’t need to work twice as hard as them. So that maybe, like Joonhwi, she could just comfortably sit in silence with him and enjoy his company. 

Right now, he’s treading murky waters and he’s afraid that one wrong move could give Sol the wrong idea. Joonhwi has never been the type to open up to people, but she never made it difficult for him to do so. With Sol, honesty was just the default. Telling her things he’d never entrust with anyone else came as easy as breathing. 

He takes her hand and gingerly intertwines it with his own. “I didn’t have it easy at the beginning either,” he admits. “Law school wasn’t even a part of my plan, and yet here I am.” 

This is at least one thing he knows Sol could empathize with. After being betrayed by the last person he’d ever expect to hurt him, Joonhwi’s life took a turn. To an extent, he was motivated by rage. But mostly, he was just trying to find a way to turn that pain into something useful, trying to make sure no one else has to go through what he did. And call him foolish for being too hopeful or optimistic, but he believes this is something he and Sol can do for each other. They’re two sides of the same coin: the law owes Sol an apology, and Joonhwi is coming to terms with the fact that he might never get one, ultimately being robbed of the opportunity after his uncle’s untimely death. 

Joonhwi knows his words bear significant weight to Sol. There’s a lot of things he wants to say to her but right now he just settles with, “I think you’re smart enough. If anything, you need to stop going overboard. What if you get sick again?”

She lifts her head and stares at him with doe eyes.

“That’s why I’m here.” He raises their interlocked fingers to show to her. “Why do you think I’m holding your hand? It’s so I can pull you out from under when you’re drowning in all of this.”

Sol slowly breaks out into an endearing smile, trying to repress her laughter but failing. “Heol. Han Joonhwi, since when were you so sentimental?”

Joonhwi doesn’t know where this newfound bravery came from, but he kisses Sol on the forehead lightly. “Since you needed it.” 

Sol blinks, her expression unreadable, and Joonhwi fears that he may have done the wrong thing. But much to his disbelief, she instead grabs him by the collar and closes the gap between her lips and his. They crash against one another in perfect rhythm, and Joonhwi mentally slaps himself for not doing this sooner. Never has he felt more at peace than at this very moment, which was ironic considering he was supposed to be the one doing the comforting. And yet, the lines blur when he realizes that even when their methods are vastly different, they’re at their best when they’re in tune with each other’s needs.

And right now, this is what he needs the most.

Much to Joonhwi’s dismay, Sol finally pulls away; they’re both out of breath. 

Still in a daze, he musters up the courage to ask such a stupid question. In fact, he’s surprised he could even speak at all. “What was that for?” 

“You’re not the only sentimental one here. If you’re going to kiss me, do it right.” 

That was when I knew, you were worlds more, than just a first kiss.

~

Send me your thoughts here!

[peachy-panic]

Only Temporary: Sebastian Tate

Hello. I was completely blown away by the positive response I got on the first piece of Jaime’s story (title under construction). Thank you to everyone who had a kind word to say about it! You made me really happy I made the mildly frightening choice to post.

In the interest of acclimating to the no-rules, freedom-to-post-out-of-order structure of this community, I wanted to introduce a new piece of the puzzle this time, with a new character that will come into play later.

Also, this piece goes into a little bit of the details, but for frame of reference on the BBU-adjacent thing: this story takes place in a not-so-distant future of the BBU, where WRU has undergone some changes. I look forward to exploring this world building more as I go.

Anyway, I’m rambling again. Thanks for reading. Here it is:

WARNINGS: General BBU warnings, talk of institutionalized slavery, classism, and general terribleness of large corporations. Referenced past homophobia and rough parental relationships, briefly implied/referenced non-con.

When Sebastian reflects on the day he graduated from med school, a sort of emptiness is the memory that first bobs to the surface. Among the cheers and camera flashes in the crowd, white coats and proud smiles, what Sebastian recalls most vividly from that day is looking out into the sea of parents and families and people there to support their loved ones on one of the biggest days of their lives, and not seeing a single person that had come for him.

What should have been one of the happiest moments of his life had been quickly overshadowed by the sinking feeling that none of it mattered as much as it would have if he had someone to share it with. Like there was something so fundamentally wrong with his life, that even something as objectively good and right and decent as becoming a doctor could be dulled over into a feeling of nothingness.

Perhaps, he thinks in hindsight, that moment had been foreshadowing for the following months ahead of him.

Watching rejection after rejection pour in from his top residency programs had felt like nothing short of his own personalized nightmare. He had spent several nights in a row on the phone with Alex, his undergrad roommate and only friend, clamoring back from the edge of many a panic attack, spiraling into all-out existential dread about the future and the past and what all of it meant for him if he couldn’t land an internship, let alone a real job out of school. To his credit, Alex never gave up hope in his friend. Or at least, he did a decent job hiding it if he did. Which was probably exactly what Sebastian needed to get through that particularly dark time in his life, and a good reminder of what a solid friend he had. Even if it was a party of two.

Unfortunately, Sebastian did not have the same faith in himself.

He was able to keep up some facade of optimism as his top five were picked off one by one. Telling himself, despite his devastation, that they were a pretty far reach, anyway. Even with good academic standing, it was famously no walk in the park to land yourself at John Hopkins or Mayo as a first-year. He even maintained a brave face as his first few safety programs reached capacity and moved forward without his name on the roster.

It wasn’t until he received his final rejection letter from some internal medicine place in Bumfuck, Idaho that he felt himself slip into dangerous territory. Sebastian knew himself well enough to know his own depressive patterns by then, and he knew it was only exponential decay from there.

Rock bottom came, as it did, in the wee hours of the night, after a full bottle of wine. Alone in his small apartment, surrounded by half-packed boxes with no destination, Sebastian found himself sprawled out on the floor with his laptop hot against his thighs. He couldn’t have explained why he opted for a privacy browser, but something about it allowed him to justify the words that he typed into the search bar.

It was a new low, and one he had sworn to himself he would never stoop to. Yet there he was.

He gave himself a moment to reconsider, to back out of what was undoubtedly a morally-gray train wreck waiting to happen as his thumb hovered over the enter key. And then the alcohol decided to override his moral compass.

Facility Care is the open secret of the medical profession. It comes with its fair share of stigma, and rightfully so, but it is notoriously easy to break into and pays a decent wage.

There are two types of people who end up stooping to that kind of employment. More often than not, it consists of doctors and nurses who had their licenses revoked or suspended somewhere along the line and needed a way back in. As far as Sebastian understood, they aren’t terribly ridgid about the particulars of each circumstance. After all, in the eyes of the law, the patients they would be treating are a price tag away from being entirely expendable.

The other percentage of Facility Care workers, and the reason Sebastian found himself staring at his too-bright computer screen with a sinking feeling of dread that night, are young medical graduates who find themselves in a tough spot. It isn’t difficult to spell out the logic behind that one when you open the WRU CAREERS tab on the home page and see the bright white words printed across the top of the screen:

LOAN FORGIVENESS.

It is shamelessly predatory and aggressively capitalistic, but Sebastian supposes that particular exploitation is pretty far down on the list of transgressions for an institution of legalized slavery. A few broke and hopeless medical students were hardly going to keep the Powers That Be up at night when they were able to rest easy under the weight of hundreds of thousands of stolen lives.

The whole thing is part of the massive PR overhaul the company did a few years back. In a world that was slowly inching toward civil activism and with the accessibility of platforms like social media to hold them accountable, WRU had to adapt to survive. Adaptation, in this case, took the form of changing the barest of minimums in order to keep themselves above board — to the public eye, anyway. Anyone who dares to take a closer look at the policy changes can see that it’s bullshit.

Changing ownership conditions to a rent-by-contract basis isn’t the humanitarian move they try to paint it as. In the end, it probably just equals out to more money in the company’s pocket when they can get more return on their “investments,” and a larger chance of exploitation for the people being moved around.

Getting rid of the Romantic division is an entirely meaningless gesture when they are still loaning out human beings with no legal rights and the inability to say “no.”

And offering an open job market with good wages and healthcare options to lower class individuals is a pretty convenient way to mute the backlash.

Essentially, you can tie a system of slavery and abuse up in a bow and make it pretty on the outside, but at the end of the day, it’s still fucking slavery.

Not that he has any room to criticize now. Now that he’s one of them.

In the end, Seb tries to justify his decision a few different ways. He is, after all, more or less a young man alone in the world. The odds are stacked against him and have been for a while. With only his own two legs to stand on, the only force stronger than his internal ambition is his instinct for survival, and he’s been running on those fumes for longer than he can count.

He had lasted less than two months under his parents’ roof after he came out of the closet at eighteen. It wasn’t exactly a surprise for anyone involved; Sebastian’s parents had known about (and subsequently bottled) his… urges… since he was in high school. Probably before that, if he is being honest with himself. And Sebastian, for his part, had spent the better part of his teenage years mentally preparing for the inevitable. He can recall long, late nights he had spent crying into his pillow and the perfectly-scripted ‘coming out’ speeches he recited to his mirror when he was one-hundred percent sure his parents were asleep.

Of course, none of the preparation had been anywhere near adequate when he actually found himself wilting beneath the heat of his father’s glare, the weight of his mother’s grief.

But. He had recovered. That is the point he tries to remember when the memories sting fresh beneath his skin, even all these years later. He has more-than proven himself to be a survivor. He has worked harder than anyone he knows for every scholarship, every grant, every dollar to put himself through school. Sacrificed nights out and real relationships for night shifts at shitty diners and long weekends cramming for exams. It hadn’t been easy, but he considers it the price he had to pay for his independence. For freedom, to live the life as the person he is meant to be, despite his unfortunate odds. He spent years telling himself it would be worth it. That one day, his hard work would pay off.

He can’t stop now.

Sebastian doesn’t have the luxury of taking time off to reroute when his navigation has gone amiss. He is walking the precarious line of rapidly accruing interest and student loans and a dwindling savings account, and there is no safety net below him.

Beggars can’t be choosers, and as it turns out, beggars sometimes have to compromise their moral integrity in order to survive.

It’s only temporary.

That is the mantra that gets him through the (half-drunken) application process and the (disturbingly lax) interview process. It is a job. One job. In the medical field, though the details are up for debate, and it is real-life money for rent and food and a savings that will hopefully be sizable enough to get him where he really wanted to be. Which is… really, anywhere else.

He can do ‘temporary.’ And perhaps, some misguided part of him thinks he can do some genuine good from the inside, too. ‘Be the change you want to see’ and all that.

It is a far jump from the floor of his apartment, sloshed and exhausted and desperate, to the cold, sharp reality of walking into his place of employment on his first day of work. Ironically, it feels a lot like an echo of the emptiness from his graduation day.

‘Sterile’ doesn’t quite cover it. ‘Sterile’ is the expectation of any well-respected medical establishment, but the inside of the facility walls has been wiped clean of far more than bacteria and germs. It is completely devoid of humanity. The long corridors that connect the medical wing to the general ward are windowless and dimly lit by flickering fluorescent panels that had make his head pound for the entirety of his first week.

He is given an office, though it is a term he, himself, might use loosely, as it is more akin to what was probably a storage closet before the old prison had been converted into the state’s training headquarters. It leaves him just enough space for a small desk and two chairs. On his first day, he asks if it is okay to bring in some personal items to spruce the place up. The older, balding doctor who had been assigned to show him around merely shrugs, and Sebastian decides to take that as a yes.

The small, pink-framed photo of a six-year-old Sebastian Tate in his grandfather’s white coat and an old-school stethoscope around his neck is hardly enough to make the place cozy from the corner of his desk, but it’s a good enough reminder of why he has to make this work.

‘It’s only temporary.’

‘Be the change you want to see.’

He will do his best.

[mysticgoblinwriter]

Driving In A Cold Sweat; There Is No One On This Highway

Warnings- Murder, infidelity, swearing, food imagery, shitty parents, i made Steve the villain who’s in the HOA and a politician, adult content, dark!reader, cheating, a bit of flirting, mental health joke (mental health is NOT a joke, y’all), religion symbolism, dark!steve, peggy x bucky,

Word Count- 1.9k

kudos to @blackberrybucky for being my soundboard, and @fandomsandxfiles for being my beta reader. Love y'all

a/n- This is inspired by Hypothermic by Goodnight Texas.  Its really dark, and I surprised myself writing this but I like it. I also changed the landscape to desert. Leave comments if you want! As many as you like, I fangirl over my work too. All writers should, its selfcare.

IF YOU WANT SOMETHING FLUFFY AND SOFT TURN AWAY NOW; MINORS DNI

DO NOT COPY OR REPOST ANYWHERE. A REBLOG IS APPRECIATED. A REPOST IS NOT.

Bucky looks you up and down, taking you in like you are the gods own ambrosia.  “So, doll.  What brings you to this shit hole?”

You laugh to yourself.  “I murdered somebody.”- was the sentence that also inspired this but its not in the actual story.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The radio gave out miles ago.  It was emitting nothing except for crackling and static.  Every now and then it would cut back to a sermon, funnily enough it’d been the same one that was on when you started your trip.  Sunset was a little ways off.  If you looked hard enough you could see coyotes just off the asphalt.  Alive, yes.  But just how long had their souls been gone?  Someone was screaming.

A man.  You’d heard that scream before.  Seared into you memory like that steak you had for your 15th birthday. It was right next to you.  Oozing blood and raw-red.  You could hear the clink of the knife as it scraped against the plate.  Shaking your head to clear it, you notice an exit with a gas station.  “Now’s a time as good as any to stop.”  Gravel crunches as you slide up next to the pump. The neon beer lights from the bar across the road are calling.  But you can’t answer. The gas handle is slick and grimy, you’ve felt something like that before, but you can’t remember what.  A fuzzy noise in the back of your ears gets your attention.  Another truck has pulled in.  Right in the spot next to yours, never mind the dozen others that are free.  A bulky man steps down, his face hidden by a rangers hat.

You could tell he worked out though.  And had hair in need of a washing.  Clunk.  The tank was full.  You thought it best to leave before anyone could place you, but your stomach needed something other than greasy two-bit fast food.  You glance around, looking for any sign that promised a hot meal.

“Looking for something, doll?” You let out a small gasp.  He was staring straight at you now.

“Does this shithole have a place to eat?  I might have to start eating the cactus.”

He lets out a soft laugh, “Yeah, there’s a diner about half mile down the road.”

His face brightens like he just thought of something.  “You wanna meet me there?  I’ll buy dinner?”  You weigh the options.  You can’t have anybody recognize you; but your cash is getting low and however you can stretch it, you must.  You nod once.  “Sure.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The diner is every trope you’d seen in the movies your pops watched when he got off work.  Flies buzzing, neon sign flickering, checkered tile.  It even had the shiny red leather booths.  What a dream.  “Getcha a seat anywhere, honey.  I’ll be right over,” came a perky voice from the back.  Presumably a waitress. You choose the booth near the back exit.  Its always good to have a backup plan.

The man said he needed to get something at the mini-mart, that you could go ahead and he’d catch up.  Somebody screamed right next to you, causing you to jump out of your seat.  You whip your head around.  No one was even in the dining area.  It sounded so real.  Like you could reach out and grasp the shattering inky blackness.  You take a couple of deep breaths.  Try to remember your happy place.  Tahiti, its a magical place.  Or so you’ve been told  You just picked it from a magazine that was open on the coffee table the night your mother set fire to the curtains in the living room.  The flames had licked up the page, burning the island resort into ash.  Boots thudded as they made way to where you were.  He slides in across from you.

“Um, the waitress’ll be right out,” you said softly.  He barely heard it over the rickety air conditioning.  He nods to show he heard.  He’s sitting close.  Closer than you’d thought another human would ever sit next to you again.  His hands are rough and calloused.  The sleeve cuffs of his hoodie are frayed; as if someone clawed at them.  Eyes traveling up his body, you take in more details.  The hoodie isn’t faded, its brand new.  He wears a bracelet of leather on his right hand, with a charm you can’t quite see.  His necklace is corded hemp, plain and understated.

A light stubble that’s maybe three days old covers his jaw.  His eyes... are piercing right through you. You take in a quick breath, not being able to look away.  You’d never seen that shade of blue before.   He’d been watching you watching him.  Quirking an eyebrow, ”See anything ya like, doll?” You start to sputter an answer but the waitress comes over.  “Sorry about the wait.  Here’s your-”  Blue eyes interrupts her, “We don’t need those.  I’ll have the special and she’ll have the ‘Its Impossible To Go Away Hungry’ plate”  “Okay, then.  I’ll get that right out to ya folks.”

You glare at him, he mirrors it with dicky nonchalance. “Why did you order for me?”  He leans forward, tilts his head the right the tiniest fraction.  “You’re starved.  I really don’t give a damn what kept you from eating but I ain’t gonna let you go without giving you a meal.  The steak plate is the biggest meal they have.  You can take a to go box, that is if you don’t eat the whole thing.”

“Oh.”  You cast out a huff, “Well, thank you.”  He flashes a killer smile. Pearly white teeth in a straight line.  Not an imperfection to be found anywhere.  A silence falls between the two of you.  You can’t decide whether its comfortable of not.

“My name is Bucky.  I thought you wouldn’t like eating with a stranger.  I like to doodle in the margins of my books sometimes.”  “Please tell me not library books.”  He scoffs as if you suggested the impossible, “Never.  Do you think I’m crazy?”

“Jury’s out on that, Bucky.”  He looks at you more intently now.  “Really?  Same could be said about you.  When I first spoke to you it was like a deer in headlights.  Ya running from something, sugar?”  He’d said it jokingly but you didn’t laugh.

“No.  Nothing like that.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shirley came back with your plates, and two root beers.  She left the check at the end of the table and Bucky swooped it up.  The meal passed by in the comfortable sounds of silverware clinking and ice clacking in the cups.  You both ate in record time.

You were careful to save enough for a second meal. That went into the to go container.  Now both cups were drained and plates scraped clean.  You start to slide out of your seat, mumbling a thanks but Bucky stops you.  “Wait, won’t you sit here a while longer?  I’d be kinda sad sitting here alone.”  After a moments hesitation, you resume your position.  “What do you wanna talk about?  It can’t be the weather.  Its been dry as bones for weeks.”   He ponders for a moment, “You.”  He shifts a little, resting one ankle on the opposite knee.

“I want to know what you’re running from, and see if I can offer...a distraction.”  That shocks you.  “Life?  Aren’t we all running away in some form or another?  I just happened to take the mobile route.”  You shrug, “What do you want me to say?  It was all shitty so I left it behind.  And as for the distraction part, I got a whore last night, so don’t bother.”  He is silent.  Just sits there and gazes at you.  You cock your head, getting impatient.  “Am I allowed to leave now?  Or do you want to talk about our feelings?”

“I slept with my best friends wife.”

“I-I’m sorry you what??”

“I slept with my best friends wife.  He owns half the town, what with him being mayor and all.  I couldn’t take it anymore, he’s always been the golden boy.  Always been the beacon of light.  I just wanted a slice of what he had.”  He looks up, his eyes are dead.  “She was willing, and I just... took her.  There on his desk.  He’d been out for lunch with some bigwig, and I made her cum twice on my cock.”  He chuckles darkly.  “That’d been the first time.  All the other times don’t matter, he doesn’t know about those.  But he does know about the time in the craft shed.  Peggy did pottery.

Had a nice little workshop, it was connected to the mansion they had.  I wanted to bring her pleasure in the place where she gets frustrated often, so she’d have something else to think about.  Steve caught us on the floor.  A big bunch of daffodils in hand.  Stupid, those weren’t even her favorites.”  He was gone now, lost in memories, not even knowing he was talking.  “Said he had come by to take her to lunch.  That was always like Steve.  Expected her to clear her schedule at the drop of a hat but never doing the same for anybody. He didn’t even get mad.  He just walked away, muttering something about his office.

Peggy said she could talk some sense into him.  The next day I found her in the garbage when I took out my trash.”  Your sharp inhale and big eyes do nothing to catch his attention.  “Steve comes strolling out of nowhere, said that she was a threat to his image.  Said that I need to leave or face the same.  I asked why he left me alive and he said ‘So you can remember the pain until you lay down in the ground and the mice and carrion drag your body up from its silk cocoon to feast.”

But that’s not all.”  He said the last bit so quietly, it was as if he said nothing.

“What?”  He’s crying now, tears are forming rivers in his eyes.  “She knew.  She knew  he was going to be there and that’s how she wanted to go out.”  Your puzzled expression makes him laugh.  “Don’t know many politicians, do you?  Good.  Keep it that way.  That day when the mail came I got a letter.  From her.  It said how she wanted to divorce Steve ever since he became the HOA president.  But she couldn’t.  He had threatened her once, just once and what he said was so blisteringly awful.  And he did it.  He is a man of his word, after all.  He kept his damn word.”

“So...she used you as an out?”  He winces.  You hadn’t meant to sound like that.

“Yes.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Out in the diners parking lot you say goodbye to James.  Wait.  No, no.  His name is Bucky.  He’s got a green  Chevy and blue eyes.  Or was it red?  It doesn’t matter anyway.  You back out and head for the next state, ignoring the blood leaking from the tarp in your trunk.  The screams have stopped.  And the moon is bright.

[usedtobe-angstyoikawa]

Found him

Oikawa Tooru x gn!reader

Summary: part 2 of this

Warnings: little bit of angst but it gets better I promise

Word count: 2047

a/n: you asked for it so here it is, I hope I didn’t fuck it up :)

———————————————————————

He hated rainy days, they made him wanna stay in bed and do nothing but sleep. The sound of his alarm going off for the third time that morning reminded him it was time to get up though. He hurried out of bed and tried getting ready as fast as he could, brushing his teeth while peeing at the same time wasn’t and easy task but he managed. Having breakfast wasn’t an option, neither was taking a shower, he was already running late to his first meeting as a professional. Some crackers and cologne will have to do, he thought before running out of his house and towards the bus stop.

You had woken up early that same morning, enjoying the peaceful sound of silence and the warmth of your hot beverage. After taking a long shower you got ready for work and searched for your car keys, which you were sure you had placed on top of the kitchen table the night before. You spent almost 15 minutes looking for the damn keys until you found them on the living room floor next to the sofa. Just when you were getting up your eyes caught a glimpse of a very familiar face smiling at you from behind a glass. It was yours and Oikawa’s graduation picture, that was taken way back when you were two reckless teens. After that day (and the horrible scene that still played in your mind every now and then) you hadn’t heard from him, except you knew he had moved to Argentina to play for the San Juan volleyball team. You weren’t mad at him and you were pretty sure he wasn’t mad at you either, there was no reason to be. Both of you were busy with college and volleyball, not to mention figuring out how the adult life worked, so you simply fell out of touch. As for what had happened between him and Iwaizumi you had no idea. You hoped they had realize how crazy they were for each other and started dating already, but you knew they didn’t really believe in long distance relationships so you doubted that had happened. Still, you were sure that if you ever bumped into them you’d be able to say hi without hurting like you used to. And with that thought roaming your mind you got in your car and drove to work.

The sound of the elevator doors closing and opening made him nervous, or maybe it was the tick in his left eye and the smell of a strong cologne coming from the man behind him. How could anyone wear such an amount of hideous vomiting scent, he thought. Before he could start complaining out loud the elevator reached his floor and he slowly walked to the conference room. He knew he was late, he had actually planed on it as soon as he was told who had been assigned as his interviewer. Was he being childish? Probably. Was there a reason for him to be acting that way? Probably not, but still he took his time while making his way to the last glass door in the hall.

You were sitting at the table with a bunch of other coworkers and your boss, waiting for your clients to arrive. You let out an annoyed sigh as you read through the pages that had been given to you with your client’s requests. Apparently you were about to meet a professional athlete with a tight schedule and many fans waiting for the new information to drop. For an instance your mind thought of a certain brown haired boy but instantly shook it away, he wasn’t even in the same continent as you were. Or so you thought. Suddenly the glass doors flew open and you heard the unmistakable voice of said boy, that was now a man.

He was almost a hundred percent sure he was lost. Had he taken the right elevator? Yeah, there was no other one. Maybe he was in the wrong building? No way he had double checked the address. Why did all the rooms look the same? How come none of them had a number or tag on each door? Man his boss was gonna kill him, he had warned him these people didn’t like waiting. He had decided to go back on his steps and star again from the elevator when he bumped into someone who looked like they worked there. Thank god.

“ Hello Mr Oikawa, I’m the head director of the magazine’s sports section” the sound of your boss’s voice echoed in your head but you couldn’t process anything he was saying. “ We’re so glad to have you here, I was told by your manager that you don’t have enough free time for a proper interview and obviously time isn’t something we have abundance of. So, here’s what we’re gonna do…” he proceeded to explain to the volleyball player how we had managed to arrange a joined interview with a fellow athlete.

“It sounds okay, I can’t say I’m excited though I don’t really mind sharing the spotlight. Plus I’ve read your magazine in many occasions and I can tell your writers have experienced in the volleyball field” his eyes were set in you and he gave you a small smile. You tried to smile back but you still couldn’t believe he was standing in front of you. Just this morning you had thought of him after such a long time of hearing nothing from him and there he was. As if that hadn’t been socking enough, the glass doors opened again and your second client entered the room. Brown spiked hair and a sweaty face caught everyones attention.

“Hello, I’m sorry I’m late the bus took forever to get through the morning traffic and I have to say these glass doors rooms look all the same” the man started while trying to catch his breath. As soon as he looked up from the floor his eyes scanned the room and stopped at the athlete. They looked at each other for a while without uttering a word, even when your boss started talking they still held each other’s gaze.

Oh to think that same morning you had thought you’d be fine with seeing them again. How naive.

After your boss finished explaining how and when the interview was gonna take place, he decided to introduce both men.

“And this is who you’ll be interviewed with, I’m pretty sure you already know who he is. Oikawa Toruu, professional volleyball player” he said “ And Oikawa this is Iwaizumi Hajime, Japan’s volleyball team’s coach he’s new to this so please be nice”

“Oikawa” said the shorter man while giving a nod with his head.

“Iwaizumi” the other greeted “ Its nice to see you again”

You could tell by the atmosphere in the room that those two had never confessed to the other. The tension could be cut with a butter knife.

“Oh! You already know each other that’s great. Now meet your interviewer, they’re one of our most talented writers in the sports section and they happen to know a lot about volleyball” and so everyone’s eyes were on you. You could tell Hajime wasn’t sure if he knew you or not, even if you had gone to the same high school you weren’t sure he remembered you. “You can follow them into the room next door and start discussing the details for the interview. I promise you you’re gonna be amazed by their skills”

“Trust me we know how great they are.” It was Tooru’s voice. You still didn’t know what to say so you exited the room and told the two grown men behind you to follow. “ Now are you going to interview us or are we back to hating each other” he joked as soon as you closed the glass door and you couldn’t believe that after all those years it still felt the same. You laughed along with Iwaizumi, who apparently did recognize you.

“This is crazy” he said “How long has it been? And you’re a journalist? I can’t believe I didn’t know about this”

“Yeah well, we all took different paths so it’s not that surprising I guess” you tried to play it off as if the whole situation didn’t have an effect on you.

“Oh no, not at all. I have to confess I knew you worked here” Tooru said “ But I certainly didn’t know you were gonna be here too, Iwa-chan” your heart stopped at the mention of that old nickname. You could see the blush covering Iwaizumi’s cheeks and it made you smile. It was so painfully obvious that even after all that time they still were head over heels for each other. But, like the last time you didn’t say a word, it was none of your business and you were only there to do your work.

The interview went smoothly, the three of you laughed and had a good time remembering old high school stories. Oikawa would give you a panicked look every time his love life was mentioned, but you managed to keep the sport as the main focus of the interview.

Once it was finished, you went for a coffee together and talked about your lives and careers. Iwaizumi was the first to leave, excusing himself saying something along the lines of training and team. You stayed a little longer with Tooru, chatting and asking him questions about Argentina and the friends he’d made.

“It was a great experience but there’s nothing like home you know. I really missed this.” his words would’ve warmed your heart only if they had been meant for you, even though they were directed to you it was clear he was talking about his childhood best friend and crush.

“You know I really thought you were going to confess to him back then” the words left your mouth without even realizing it. The boy next to you tended his shoulders and then let out a sigh.

“I couldn’t do it, I knew he didn’t feel the same way and I didn’t want to ruin the friendship” you knew exactly how that felt but that was different, there was no way his friend wasn’t in love with him. Whereas in your case you did know your crush didn’t like you back, hell he had even said it to your face. Still, both situations sucked and you knew better than anyone that keeping your feelings bottled up for too long wasn’t ideal. “I also knew you liked me” those words took you by surprise.

“Excuse me”

“Oh don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Iwaizumi told me, just when I was about to confess to him he said you should ask them out.” Oh, that’s why he though his feelings weren’t reciprocated. “I’m pretty sure I owe you and apology for not realizing sooner, you were always there for me but still I couldn’t see it and kept talking about my crush on someone else. So yeah, I’m sorry for that.” He was being sincere and you could tell he was a bit ashamed too.

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” you grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye “That doesn’t change the fact that you two are idiots and still need me to solve your problems. Now I promised myself I would never get involved in this, but I’m not gonna let my friends spend the rest of their lives alone. So, get your ass out of this café and go after your man before I punch you in the face”

“Okay okay I’m doing this, he can’t reject me I’m basically perfect” he hyped himself up before getting up and walking up to the door. Before closing it he popped his head inside again and looked at you. “Oh and Y/N” you gave him a small smile “Thank you, you’re the best friend I could’ve asked for” and with that he turned around and left not only the café but your heart too, finally freeing that space he was never meant to fill and placing himself on the right top shelf, the center of it now empty and ready to welcome a new beginning.

First part

[uniarycode]

Takari Week 2021, Day 1 - Sibling Shenanigans.

Things have gotten too bad, Taichi and Yamato need an intervention. And if they pay close attention, they might learn something important.

Nah, who we kidding.

Written as part of @takariweek

In some ways, Yamato was Taichi’s closest friend. They had gone through hell and back together, forming an unbreakable bond.

That said, they had different tastes in music, TV, and basically anything. Taichi preferred to watch sports and anime, Yamato preferred dramas and cooking shows. Taichi flourished in the company of others, Yamato demurred in the presence of anyone he wasn’t familiar with.

But one pastime they could both agree on was a good old fashion round of Smash. Whenever it was just the two of them, they generally sat down, fired up the N64, and just let their preferred characters bash one out.

As they were doing until a few seconds ago when an unsightly banner obscured their view of the television. “intervention” was proudly displayed, with one ‘i’ dotted with the crest of courage and the other with the crest of friendship. The phrase was repeated in Japanese, just underneath, in case the translation caused them to miss the point.

Either end of the banner was affixed to a small wooden tripod, being gently lowered to the ground by a devious sibling.

“What’s going on?” Yamato grumbled, still mashing buttons on the control in hopes of gaining an edge. “And when did you even have time to make that?”

Hikari ignored the protestation “We’re here because we’re your family and we care about you. We hoped that time would heal this wound, but time is no longer on our side. You two will be going to college soon, and we need to break through to you before too late.”

“What are you talking about?” Taichi asked. “We were in the middle of something.”

“Smash can wait, we can’t keep putting this off.” She took a deep breath. “This may be hard to hear, but please understand, it needs to be said: You are atrocious when talking to girls.”

“What?”

“Look Taichi, you’ve already near exhausted all your high school options, if something doesn’t change, you’re going to end up alone and unloved, filling your apartment with pets for some form of companionship.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic?” he asked. She solemnly shook her head ‘No’ in response.

“Can I go?” Yamato cut in. “I have a girlfriend, if you remember. We’ve been dating for years now.”

“Yes, and she still calls me to rant about it after every date.” Takeru cut. “I can only clean up your messes for so long Yamato, you have to learn how to do it yourself. Or better yet, don’t make messes in the first place.”

“Ouch.” Taichi said, casting a sideways glance at his co-captive.

“You aren’t any better Taichi,” Hikari shot, “You had seven people and eight Digimon wingmaning you on a simple phone call, and you still managed to mess it up.”

This time it was Yamato who glanced at Taichi.

“Now.” Takeru said “The first thing you need to learn is observation. If you pay attention to someone and signal that you notice when something changes. This shows you care enough about the other person to actually look at them and remember what they looked like yesterday.”

He cleared his throat, “For example, if say, your girlfriend decides to style her hair differently, you should maybe compliment the style change, instead of being oblivious. Wouldn’t you say, Yamato?”

“It was one time.” Yamato grumbled.

“Perhaps a practical demonstration would be better.” Hikari said. “Oh, Takeru, Honey, sorry I’m late, the train was delayed.”

“Don’t worry about it Babe, I’m just glad you’re here. Hey is that a new ring?”

“Why yes, thank you for noticing,” she said, bringing her hands up and giving the ring a twirl. “my BFF got it for me as an end-of-middle school present.”

“Ahh, I could tell it was someone close to you, that’s your birthstone on top right?”

“Yep.”

Takeru turned back towards his unwillingly captive audience. “See how I not only noticed the ring, remarked upon it, but also showed I remember her birth date.”

Taichi looked across at Yamato, “Do you know any of the birthstones?” A shrug was the only answer.

“You may think observation is only for what you can see, but it’s deeper than that. Any piece of information falls under observation, and if you like a girl, you will do your best to remember anything you learn about her.” Hikari said.

“Observation is really important, right Hikari?” Takeru asked.

“Very, but knowing everything can’t help if you don’t know how to use it. Which brings us to lesson two.”

“Is this whole thing just a ploy for your sister to practice being a teacher?” Yamato muttered.

“Tact!” Hikari and Takeru declared in unison.

“Tact is pretty tricky. You mostly define it by what not to do. Like not being a dumbass.” Takeru said.

“True, tact can be hard to see when done well. It’s basically about avoiding the obvious traps. For example, when calling a girl whose Maine coon died recently, you should maybe try and avoid mentions about that dead cat, unless she needs to vent. Isn’t that right, Taichi?”

“That was one time.” He protested.

“Right, right, a demonstration?” Takeru asked, pulling a magazine out from behind his back, and pretending to flip through the pages.

“Oh Honey, there you are.” Hikari said looking him up and down. She paused for a few seconds, then pulled lightly on his arm. “Say, I hear there’s a Harry Potter-themed escape room running these days, how about we go there on our next date.”

Takeru put the magazine down “Oh, what’s that? Thanks Babe.” he asked.

Hikari turned back towards the couch. “Notice how I observed the story about his favorite basketball star being caught in a scandal, and deflected toward other interests, instead of stepping on that land mine.”

“How would we even think to notice that?” Yamato grumbled.

“With observation of course.” Takeru replied. “Notice everything, even the things that aren’t being conveyed directly.”

“Being perfect might work for you Takeru, but some of us are human.” Taichi said.

“Oh, I’m hardly the only guy with a girlfriend. You just have to put some effort in.” Takeru said, “Which is as good a segue as any to topic three: Compliments.”

“I know how to give a compliment.” Taichi said.

“Do you?” Hikari asked. “So if you were at the beach with say Sora, or Mimi, or Meiko, you would be able to properly compliment their swimsuits?”

“One time!” Yamato and Taichi yelled together.

“And yet three failures. Pretty poor performance when you think about it.” Takeru said.

“Compliments can be tricky; they require you to combine the previous two skills. You need to observe someone so the compliment makes sense, but you also need tact. Something that’s a compliment to one person may be a touchy subject to another.” Hikari explained.

“Especially when it comes to appearance and body parts,” Takeru said, “and you don’t want to get too accustomed to your compliments either, keep them fresh and exciting.”

“It’s amazing isn’t it Taichi?” Yamato asked.

“So many words and I don’t think they said anything.” He agreed.

“Perhaps the demonstration then.” Takeru said, turning to his partner. “Hikari, I saw you reading to some of the elementary students today, boy am I lucky to have such a kind girlfriend.”

“Don’t mention it. I enjoy it, and I like to think they did too. Say, can you open this jar for me? It should be easy for a strong man like you.” Hikari said.

Takeru mimed grabbing and opening a jar. “Anything for you Babe, say, is that a new shirt, you look positively radiant today.”

Hikari raised her hand to cover her giggle, “I’m so glad I have such a funny boyfriend. You know this is the school uniform, I’ve been wearing it for almost three years now.”

“Huh, you’re right. I guess I never noticed, every time I look at you I can’t help but be overwhelmed by those pools of milky hazel, whenever I see them, my troubles float away and I feel like I have the strength of a thousand men. I could spend hours just staring into those wells of pure emotion.”

“I, uh, uhh, I like your eyes too?”

Takeru let out a large laugh and the pair turned back to the couch to find it no longer occupied.

“That’s no good. They’ll never learn like this.” Takeru admonished

Hikari raised her hands again, twirling the promise ring on her finger. “Do you think they noticed?” she asked.

“Them? No way.” Takeru replied, “but that’s what makes it fun. See how long it takes before they catch on.”

“What if someone else tells them we’re dating first?”

Takeru shrugged, “Just say we already told them, they just weren’t paying enough attention.”

[neologyro]

Robbed by a Crow Series:

Matsukawa Issei

Your day gets worse when a crow steals your transit pass from you, luckily a cute middle blocker is there to help you.

Word Count: 2457

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None

You heaved a sigh of relief as you exited the school building. You stretched your arms out, shaking out all of the stress and tension that had built up in them over the course of the day, you rubbed one shoulder trying to get rid of the tenderness that had developed in the last hour. You had just spent the last 2 hours hunched over books, hastily finishing an essay that was due at the end of the day. Maybe you should have managed your time better, then you wouldn’t have been trying to get a 10 page essay done in two hours, but alas, your procrastination had gotten the better of you and it had been down to the wire trying to finish it before 6 so that you wouldn’t get late marks.

Now you were tired, and going home and just relaxing for the rest of the evening sounded heavenly. But when you rounded the corner you caught sight of the gymnasium. Specifically the gym that the volleyball team practiced in. For a moment you contemplated stopping by, all of their practices were always open, though by now all the good spots in the viewing gallery would be taken, so you’d likely have to stand, and your back certainly wouldn’t thank you for that.

But still you started heading towards the gym, even if you didn’t go in, you might be able to catch a quick look, and the train station was that way anyway.

You hadn’t made it very far before remembering that your friends had mentioned that they would be watching today, and you knew they’d never miss an opportunity to tease you about your crush on a certain middle blocker. It wasn’t fair they’d always tease you for your crush, but heaven forbid you bring up their crushes.

So you decided to spare yourself the headache and potential embarrassment, you’d just head home and maybe, just maybe, you’d get up early tomorrow and catch some of their morning practice, your friends never went to those.

You were just nearing the gym when you felt your phone vibrate, pulling it out you looked at the notifications, you saw that you had a few texts from your friends, apparently the volleyball team had closed practice to the public a bit early as they were working on some new things, so they had gone home. The other message you had was from your mom, asking if she needed to add any more money to your transit pass.

You unlocked your phone, navigating to your transit app so that you could check, upon opening it you saw that it had updated and you needed to out your information in. Sighing you started to dig through your bag, looking for your wallet, once you located it you pulled it out, opening it so that you could find your card.

Almost immediately after pulling your shiny transit pass out of your wallet you saw a shadow fall over you, and the card was tugged out of your hand.

“Hey!” You shout, turning around to give whoever just took your pass a piece of your mind, only to be met with… no one? You stood in confusion for a moment before you spotted a crow sitting a few meters away, pecking at a piece of plastic on the ground in front of it. Upon further inspection you determined that the piece of plastic was in fact your transit pass.

You started towards the bird, hoping to startle it and make it leave your card alone. Unfortunately your attempt did not have the desired effect, rather than dropping your card and flying away, the crow flew away, with your card. Luckily for you it didn’t go far, landing in the large tree near the volleyball gym.

You quickly made your way over, planning on getting back your card no matter what. However now that you were at the base of the tree looking up at it you realized just how big the tree was and how high up it you would have to go to get to the nest.

For a brief moment you debated just texting your mom to let her know that you had lost the card and would need a ride home (because there was no way you were walking home, it would take you an hour and a half, and you were already tired), however you quickly tossed that option out, this was the third transit pass you had gotten this year, your parents would kill you if they found out that you had lost another one.

Having decided what to do you began scanning the area for anything that would help you climb the tree as the lowest branches were just out of reach. Sure, you could reach them if you jumped, but you seriously doubted that you had the upper body strength to pull yourself up. So you knew you needed something to give you a bit of a boost... something like the garbage can beside the gym doors.

You quickly took your bag off, placing your blazer and phone inside of it before zipping it up and leaving it on the ground next to the tree so it wouldn’t get in your way. You then made your way over to the gym doors, hoping that you would be able to get the garbage can without being noticed.

You were in luck, the doors were only partially propped open, so someone would have to be trying to look through to really see anything, so you were in the clear to grab the bin. Reaching the bin you had a second bit of luck - it wasn’t one of the bins that the campus bolted to the ground, so you would actually be able to move it. Your luck ran out when you tried to do so; it was heavy, and you couldn’t quite lift it, so you had to drag it.

The scraping sound it made pierced through the stillness of the evening causing you to wince. You really hoped that no one had heard it. Luck was partially on your side in that area, not many people had heard it, but the quartet of third years that happened to be standing near the door certainly did.

You however were so engrossed in your task of dragging the bin to the tree that you didn’t notice a head poking out of the gym doors, watching you in confusion and amusement. His friends called him and he went back into the gym and you were none the wiser.

It took you much longer to get the bin to the tree than you thought it would, but once you finally had the bin under the tree you carefully studied it, making sure that it would hold you without tipping over. You didn’t fully trust it, but felt that it would likely get the job done.

And so, after psyching yourself up a bit, you began your careful ascent. You carefully lifted yourself onto the lower branches, you were almost off the bin when the sudden sound of the gym doors being thrown open and loud voices of people exiting the gym startled you, causing you to kick the bin away from you. It made a loud noise as it fell to the ground, however since it was so dark no one noticed you dangling precariously on the lower branches of the tree and simply ignored the fallen bin, carrying on with their evening. Everyone but one curious middle blocker who recognized the bin on the ground as the bin that had been beside the gym doors, the same one that he had watched you drag away.

He couldn’t help his curiosity, he waved goodbye to his friends before making his way over to the tree. The tree that you were once again trying to climb, however you were finding it rather difficult, you did indeed lack the upper body strength to pull yourself up, and with nothing to push off of to get yourself fully onto the branches you were simply left partially hanging out of the tree.

You swung your leg around, hoping to build up some sort of momentum to help swing it onto a branch to help you climb. You were shocked when it hit something solid. Glancing down you saw that someone had caught your foot. Your eyes trailed down his arm, and eventually landed on his face. Standing beside you, with your foot in his hand, was none other than Matsukawa Issei, your crush.

He just stood there for a moment, smirking up at you before he spoke.

“How’s it hanging?” He evidently found this situation hilarious, you did not, and your face showed as much. Infuriatingly however, as your frown grew so too did his smile, until he couldn’t hold himself back and began to laugh.

It took a moment for him to calm himself before he addressed you again.

“Come on, not even a smile?” His smile grew exaggerated as he continued to tease you. “I thought it was a pretty good one.”

You still didn’t respond, partially out of annoyance, and partially out of embarrassment. Not only did someone find you in this situation, but it was Matsukawa, the boy that you’d had a crush on since you first watched him play. You had wanted to gather your courage and approach him, tell him how good of a player you thought he was, maybe even ask him out, but you still hadn’t quite got there yet. This was a terrible first impression, now he was just going to think you were some sort of weirdo that he found dangling out of a tree.

Seemingly unfettered by your lack of response he tried again.

“Come on cutie, you’ve gotta give me something to work with.” He gave you another smile, but this one seemed softer and more genuine, it seemed less like he was making fun of you, and more like he was being friendly. It was then that you realised that he had probably come over to help you, not make fun of you, he just couldn’t help the joke.

“The bin, it uh, fell over.” You finally spoke, internally berating yourself at how lame you sounded.

“I saw.” His eyes trail over to the bin, spotting it laying on its side a few feet away, your bag on the ground nearby. “So, do you need a hand?”

You didn’t trust yourself to not make a fool out of yourself if you spoke again, so you just nodded, you really could use his help with getting down.

“Up or down?” He looked at you expectantly, waiting on your response. You weren’t even really sure what he was asking. When he noticed your confused look he clarified, “Do you need me to help you up the tree, or down, out of the tree.”

Oh, that made much more sense, you looked up the tree, seeing where the crow was still perched. You thought for a moment before replying. “Down please.”

Smiling he adjusted his grip on your leg before reaching up with his other arm to wrap around your waist, gently pulling you out of the tree before gently setting you down on your feet, back on solid ground.

You turned to him, bowing while thanking him for his help. You could hear him chuckling above you and you began to feel your face heating up. Slowly you straightened out, once again facing him.

“So… Do you climb trees often? Or is this a new hobby?” He was studying you curiously, evidently very interested in why you had been up the tree.

“Oh, uh,” You searched for the words to properly explain what was going on, “I uh. No.” You fumbled over your words again before continuing. “I needed to get my transit pass back.”

He looked confused for a moment, looking between you and the tree. “How’d it get up there?”

At this point the embarrassment of the situation was taking over again, and you simply pointed up at the crow, pointing out the culprit to Matsukawa.

He followed where you were pointing, and when he saw the crow he quickly put two and two together, bursting out in laughter.

“No way, the crow took it?” His laughter trailed off, and he wiped a tear away before continuing, “Man, that’s some bad luck. Here, hold this.” Suddenly he thrust his bag into your hands, you almost dropped it but managed to keep your hold on it.

You looked in his direction, about to question why he had given you his bag, however the question died on your tongue when you saw him. He took his blazer off, tossing it to you as well, before hopping up into the tree, climbing it with ease. His presence startled the crow, causing it to fly off, luckily it left your card in the nest. Matsukawa quickly retrieved the card before making a quick descent, hopping out of the tree once he was close enough to the ground.

He passed the card to you, and you gratefully took it, a wide smile taking over your features.

“Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

You bowed again before handing him back his things. He smiled at you, finishing putting his things back in order he reached out towards you. You, confused simply cocked your head to the side, watching his hand with confusion. Suddenly his hand was on you, ruffling your hair, further messing it up. You yelped and quickly ducked out of the way, bringing a hand up to try and fix it. You gave him an unimpressed look, causing him to smile more.

“Well, I’ve got to head out, got early practice tomorrow. You get home safe.” With that he started to walk off, leaving you underneath the tree, staring after him.

He got maybe a few meters away before he turned back to you.

“Oh, and try not to let any more birds rob you, I’ve heard the chickadees are especially vicious, you might want to be careful.” Heat rose in your face again, and you weren’t sure if it was annoyance or if you were just flustered, but you weren't able to come up with a comeback before he turned back around, waving a hand over his shoulder in parting.

You just stood there for a few moments, before the caw of a nearby crow startled you out of your reverie. You tightened your grip on your card before grabbing the rest of your things, hastily shoving it back into your bag, you’d check the balance later, when there were less birds around.

[exhausted-dog-mom]

Underwater (2020) Fix It Fanfic

Last year, I was commissioned to write a fix it fic for the horror movie Underwater. I had no idea it was a horror movie until after I agreed to write it, lol. I'm a coward at the best of times and writing this gave me nightmares for months. It's 24k words and almost 55 pages long. I rewrote the whole dang movie, lol. The entire fic is on my Patreon, but here are the first 2k words. 

           Norah followed behind Rodrigo as they picked their way carefully through the debris. Her body shivered uncontrollably, her meager clothing long soaked through by water of questionable quality. The tinny, prerecorded voice of the infographics which once lined the walls echoed in the too tight hallways, skipping as sparks crackled along the broken screens. Great slabs of concrete and torn sheets of metal made their progress slow, their flashlights illuminating little more than water. The hallway they were following to CR-7 was far from a direct route, but it was the only one they were both able to traverse, and Norah knew she wasn’t alone in wanting to stick together—not after closing the bulkheads.

           She dismissed that thought. She didn’t have time to think about that. Not when the path before them suddenly stopped, the way forward cut off by a serious cave in.

           “Can we dig through there?” She asked, watching as Rodrigo crouched down and began moving loose bits of rubble.

           He called back, uncertain but willing to try, and Norah began scanning the area for alternate routes. They didn’t have time to double back and find another way. The Kepler wouldn’t last long and every second they wasted not getting to the pods was another second the entire station deteriorated around them.

           She took a chance and put her weight on a ledge above where Rodrigo was digging, shining her light down a narrow passage that might allow them both through. Maybe.

           “Hey,” she called down to her colleague. “I can fit through there if you can.”

           He came up and looked at her discovery, considering the rough looking tunnel.

           Distantly, Norah heard something. A voice. She had to turn her head to catch it, the hearing in her left ear completely gone, but it was there.

           “Hello?” She called out, hope rising in her throat. “Hello? Can you hear that?” She didn’t wait for Rodrigo’s response, leaving him behind as she clambered over derelict ductwork and dodged sharp edges, shining her flashlight on everything as she searched desperately for any sign of life. “Keep talking, I can hear you!”

           She turned her right ear to the ground, tracing the source of the muffled voice to a pile of concrete slabs, the edges sharp against her hands as she began to pull on them with a strength she didn’t know she had. Rodrigo came up beside her, helping to free whoever was trapped underneath. The first thing she saw as they pulled back a layer of rubble was a stuffed rabbit, the furlike fabric covered in grease and who knew what else. She stared at it, confused, for all of two seconds before joy and recognition filled her with renewed vigor.

           “Paul?” Sure enough, as she took the rabbit from upstretched hands, her friend’s face came into view, his eyes clenched shut against the brightness of Rodrigo’s flashlight. She handed the rabbit to Rodrigo, reaching down into the crevice to get better leverage for lifting Paul’s not insignificant weight. With Rodrigo’s help, she pushed back the final slab, revealing the drill worker in all his bare chested glory, his skin coated in dust and grime. His hand held on to hers tightly and she watched as recognition bloomed in his eyes.

           “Norah?”

           “Hi.” She was as breathless as he was, a shaky laugh passing through chattering teeth.

           Paul smiled up at her, squeezing her hand as he laughed right back. “Oh, you sweet, flat chested elven creature.”

           She couldn’t even be mad at him. She was sure she made quite the sight, in her sports bra and sweats, but it was no better than his.

           She watched her friend breathe harshly for a second, lungs taking full advantage of their renewed capacity now that the weight of the debris was no longer crushing his chest. She knew the instant his brain had reoxygenated, because he turned to Rodrigo, a man he’d probably never interacted with before, like Norah, and asked after his rabbit.

           His concern for his little buddy was endearing, though she knew the stuffed toy couldn’t hold a candle to the real Little Paul, alive and waiting seven miles above them on dry land.

           Getting Paul out of the hole was a process, but they did it, the large man standing before them in nothing but a robe, boxers, and one lucky sock. He cradled the rabbit against his chest like a living animal, his attachment to the thing so much stronger after so long down in the deep.

           Norah lead the way back down the hall, flickering blue lights casting eerie shadows on the walls. “There are pods in CR-7,” she explained over her shoulder, the joy she felt at finding her friend alive tempered by a renewed desperation to get out. “The upper decks are collapsing, so we’ve gotta move fast.”

           She pulled herself up onto the ledge, Rodrigo helping her from below. She caught the tail end of Paul’s whining complaint and she rolled her eyes. Leave it to him to find something to complain about during a life or death situation.

           Paul was much larger than either her or Rodrigo, but, as Norah crawled through the cramped tunnel, she was pretty sure he’d be able to fit. She had little trouble scooting through the dark, her movements sending the light from her flashlight in all sorts of disorienting directions. Everything was grey, with the exception of the odd wire or two, exposed copper stinging her wet skin as she brushed up against it. She turned back to look at her two companions, the men clearly having a harder time than she was.

           “You guys ok?”

           “Yeah,” Rodrigo nodded to her, dust clinging to his dark skin. Behind him, Paul grumbled out an affirming expletive.

           Turning back, she immediately recoiled, flashlight dropping from her grasp and teeth clacking loudly in her skull.

           Closing her eyes against the terrifying sight, she called back to the boys. “There’s-there’s someone up here.” She swallowed thickly. “It’s McClellen.”

           Just like that, the high from unburying Paul was gone, replaced by the grim certainty that his survival was nothing short of a miracle and the odds of finding anyone else alive were incredibly slim.

           How many were left alive? How many more would there be if she had waited just a little longer? How many were dead because of her?

           McClellen had no answers for her, blue eyes locked unseeing on something far in the distance. Norah took a shaky breath, bolstering herself as she began to move past the other woman. Their hands touched as she did, the fading warmth she felt deepening the ever growing pit in her stomach.

           If she’d waited, would McClellen still be alive?

           Would Paul be dead?

           Those questions, like all the others, were tossed aside as she resumed the slow journey forward, eyes locked on the darkness ahead of her. There was no telling what waited out there, just beyond the range of her flashlight, but she didn’t have time to lose herself to what ifs and should haves. There were two men behind her, two living, breathing men, and that was enough. It had to be enough.

           The cramped tunnel let out to an open space—another hallway, by the looks of it—and Norah carefully climbed out and set her feet on the ground. The light here was red, a sign that the emergency systems were working, at least, and she could only hope that the way to the escape pods was open. She led the way, following a mental map of the rig as automated voices rang out overhead. Their flashlights reflected off the tall windows which surrounded the evacuation room, the reinforced glass surprisingly intact compared to the wreckage all around it. Norah stumbled over a rogue pipe, her mind going blank as it struggled to put together what she was seeing.

           “Captain?”

           Sparks flew, the display illuminating Captain Lucien’s back where he sat hunched over inside the closed off rotunda. He made no indication that he’d heard her, his head in his hands as he sat alone in the dark. Norah hit the control panel, but he didn’t react to the obnoxious sound it made in protest. Squinting through the glass, her heart sank as she took in the damage surrounding him, the escape pods they’d all put so much hope in clearly no longer an option.

           “Shit.”

           “Shit?” Paul winced as he came over to stand beside her, looking over her shoulder into the dark. “What’s shit?”

           “The evac pods are gone.” Norah tuned out her friend’s frenzied cursing as she pounded on the glass, calling for her Captain. Could he even hear her through the reinforced windows? They were designed to withstand sudden changes in pressure—likely why they were still intact—but did that mean they also blocked out sound?

           The answer was no, they couldn’t, and Norah deflated with relief when Lucien turned around, face lighting up as he recognized first her then the men behind her.

           “Norah,” he called, his voice muffled but still intelligible through the glass as he rushed over. “You’re alive.” He didn’t sound like he believed it, but she could understand the sentiment. “The door’s jammed.”

           Right. Of course, it was. He probably would have left if it wasn’t. Norah quickly moved over to the control panel, mentally apologizing to the machine for hitting it as she tried to find some way to override the lock. Absently, she recognized the Captain giving orders to Paul and Rodrigo, both men rushing to obey, though Paul complained loudly between hissing breaths.

           “On a scale of one to ten, how bad’s my rig?”

           His attempt at humor fell a little flat and Norah looked up at him incredulously as the doors opened. “Uh,” she looked him up and down in the harsh white lights which conveniently decided to turn back on. His left arm was in a sling, miscellaneous bruises and cuts littered across his face. Shit. “Ten. We’re, um, seventy percent compromised—breathe too hard and we’re in trouble.”

           He didn’t appreciate her candor, turning away from her with a grim expression before turning back around and reaching for her face with his good hand, looking at her damaged ear with a grimace.

           “What happened,” she asked through chattering teeth, the two seconds she’d spent standing still reminding her body of how cold it was. “Was it an earthquake?”

           “I don’t know.” That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “I’m trying to figure it out.”

           She watched, still somewhat dazed, as he pulled a large red med kit out from seemingly nowhere, using his one hand to its full effectiveness as he rummaged through it.

           “I don’t understand.” Her voice forced its way through her tight throat, swallowing only thickening the knot living there. “Why are you still here? There were pods here, you could have left.”

           He gave her a look she was sure he’d leveled on his child a thousand times before. It certainly made her feel like one. “That’s what Captains do.”

           “Who cares?” She couldn’t stop the words or the incredulity which laced them. “You have a kid. You should have gone up.”

           He froze, expression blank as his mouth opened and closed, eyes shut as he tried to find the words to respond to that. Instead, he urged her to sit down, returning to the med kit as though she hadn’t said anything.

           “You know any one of us would have shoved your ass into a pod—.”

           “Listen to me!”

           Norah shut her mouth, staring wide eyed at her Captain as he kneeled in front of her, mouth tense as he glared up at her. His French accent was thicker in his anger, coloring his words as he gestured wildly with his good arm.

           “Everyone is getting out of here alive.” He said it with such conviction, Norah was almost able to believe him. “You here me? I already sent twenty two up, Smith reported seven dead.”

           Warmth spread in her chest at the news that Smith, at least, was still alive. She hadn’t let herself consider any other possibilities but having her old friend’s survival confirmed relieved a tension she hadn’t realized she was carrying. She gave a stuttering report of the dead she and Rodrigo had found before coming across Paul, and she struggled past telling him about McClellen, nonsensical words spilling from her lips—she lived three floors up, I was brushing my teeth, her hands were still warm, I shut the bulkheads on the entire East Wing so there’s definitely more.

           Captain Lucien, to his credit, remained staunchly focused on cleaning her ear, damp gauze coming away from it bloody. Whatever was wrong with it, it stung when he touched it, the pain a welcome reminder that she was alive, only living people could bleed, and a grim one that so many people weren’t.