#have hunches as to where the cut actually CAME from) and then when you notice it its like oh ok time to hurt terribly now

[bitegore]

ok while finding out i was bleeding all over the goddamn place earlier by wiping my hands on a white towel and smearing blood all over them was Fucking Annoying, i can't lie, bloodstained white towel kinda goes off. dried blood is a nice color

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Caring enough to Kill (part 2)

Part two to this. Jason confronts Bruce and when it doesn't go the way he wants it to Danny is there to pick up the pieces.

tw: Mentions of sex, descriptions of violence, abusive relationships

----

Jason stumbled back into his safehouse, clutching his bleeding throat where Bruce had cut him. He could feel the tears trapped behind the stupid Domino mask and he ripped it off, sobbing as he collapsed to the floor. He had finally done it, he had confronted Bruce, told him it was Joker or Him and Bruce had, Bruce had attacked him! 'Because he took me from you'. So pathetic, Jason had practically begged, and Bruce had nearly slit his throat. So pathetic! to have believed he still even had a father!

He could swear the tears that fell to the floor had a subtle green glow as he wept, he felt helpless, worthless, purposeless! He could feel the Pits churning inside him, burning in his veins with grief and rage that might turn him into a monster for good. He would let it, maybe escaping all this human misery would mean he didn't care so much about someone caring enough to avenge him. Maybe he would finally just be able to kill Joker himself.

A floorboard creaked and he looked up sharply. Danny, sliding through the window after him. He gave Jason a look of sympathy and concern as he approached slowly, his back hunched and his knees bent, making himself as small as he could as he kept closer.

"One of your people saw you running and called me. Jason, what happened?" Danny asked softly, reaching out to touch Jason's face.

Jason couldn't stand, couldn't stand the care, couldn't stand a gentle touch that wasn't from his father. He grabbed Danny's wrist and twisted it, startling a scream out of Danny who so rarely cried out in pain. He shouldn't have, he didn't want to, but he was not in his right mind when he threw Danny to the floor. Danny who did not fight as Jason lashed out at him Again, channeling too much rage and misery into the person who probably deserved it least, but who always let him.

He was barely aware of what he was doing as he hit and kicked, though he knew that for once Danny was actually shielding his head, curled up on the floor. The rage broke suddenly, and all that was left was the sadness and the growing dizziness and nausea of blood loss. He backed away from Danny where he was curled on the floor and slumped into an armchair.

After a drawn out moment of stillness Danny uncurled from where he was laying on the floor, he spat out a tooth and some blood as he pushed himself up to his hands and knees. Jason noticed that he had a black eye that wasn't healing as quickly as usual, had Jason broken something? Still when Danny looked up at him it was with concern not fear.

This time when he approached it was fully on his hands and knees, creeping over to Jason again, who this time stayed still and let him, Danny knelt between Jason's legs and cupped his jaw, Jason tilted his head back and to the side, bearing his neck to Danny so he could get a good look at the injury.

Danny grimaced sympathetically and kissed the corner of Jason's mouth before flitting away to the bathroom, he came back moments later with the well stocked first aid kit and knelt by Jason again. Jason stayed still, allowing Danny to gently clean the wound, stitching it up, besides the small place where it had ruptured his windpipe so the fluids would have somewhere to go besides down Jason's throat. By the time he finished and had bandaged the wound the black eye had healed as well and besides the blood on Danny's face there was no sign of what Jason had done.

There was no sign of it in Danny's behaviour either, as he curled up on Jason's lap, leaning against his chest and wrapping his arms loosely around his shoulders. There was no fear in Danny's posture, no anger. How could he love so unconditionally? Especially someone like Jason, who so clearly didn't deserve it. They stayed there until Jason fell asleep, exhaustion winning out over everything else.

Jason woke up in bed, and confused, how had Danny gotten him here without waking him?! He must have been more tired then he realized. Danny was there too, on his side next to Jason with an arm around his waist. As soon as he felt Jason stir he sat up and reached over to the bedside table where there was a bottle of water, unopened, which he offered to Jason.

He took it and drank deeply, finishing about half before he offered it back to Danny who took a few gulps as well before putting it down and laying back down with his head propped on Jason's shoulder. "I've never seen you that angry," He murmured against Jason's skin who winced, remembering just what he'd done yesterday. Danny had showered, and cleaned Jason up as best he could so there weren't really any signs of it but still...

"I'm sorry," He murmured and felt Danny shake his head.

"It's okay. I'm not upset, just worried. What happened Jason?" He asked softly.

Jason felt tears burning the back of his eyes again and he huffed, biting his lip for a moment, but Danny deserved to know. "It was my father again. I finally asked him outright why he hadn't avenged me, I basically begged him to, even let Me kill him and witness it. And you know what he did? He slit my throat to stop me, he chose the Joker over me." Jason gave a bitter little laugh, and was genuinely startled by the snarl Danny let out, he'd never heard him make a noise like that, but it continued, a deep, inhuman growl that didn't pause even when Danny spoke, creating a dark undercurrent to his voice.

"Who is your father," He asked, and Jason felt a chill run down his spine.

"Batman, but don't confront him Danny. I don't really have a father anymore. He can't change, I'd rather focus on the things I can change."

"Like the Joker's status as living?" Danny said dryly, but the growling did ease off.

Jason winced and sighed before he looked to the side. "As much as I know the world would be better off without him, something is holding me back from doing it. I do a lot of avenging people, killing rapists and traffickers and shit. Is it so bad to want to Be avenged for once?"

"No, it's not," Danny said softly. "Does it have to be Batman, or would someone else who loves you doing it be enough?" 'Would I be enough' goes unsaid.

"Yes, that would be enough."

----------

Jason's throat healed, months passed and Danny didn't mention the conversation they'd had about the Joker. Jason threw himself into work, gaining control of more of the drug trade to make sure his rules were followed. He set up safe injection sites and rehabs. He killed corrupt police, politicians, traffickers and anyone who harmed children, cleaning out his turf in the most permanent way he could, making it safe for the kids, the working girls, and everyone else who called it home without being a Complete piece of shit.

Danny kept him from completely losing himself, dragging him away from work for date nights, meals and to get some sleep. Occasionally Jason got angry, occasionally he lashed out, but Danny never held onto those times. Danny didn't only pull him away from work though, since they'd gotten together he started participating even more in Jason's work. He was no longer just a 'goon'.

He designed himself a costume, with a pattern different shades of brown and red, a muzzle covering the lower half of his face and a colour. The first time Jason had seen Danny in the tight leather... let's just say Danny hadn't kept it on for very long, Jason Really liked the collar. Danny called himself Hyena, like it was a joke Jason didn't fully understand. He was Jason's second in command and he gave orders when Red Hood wasn't around since he knew what Red Hood would want. It was almost like being able to be two places at once and Jason was incredibly grateful to Danny for it.

The Joker still being out there was the only thing that kept nagging at Jason, and as they got closer and closer to the anniversary of his death the worse it got. He thought he might have been imagining it but he though Danny was pulling away a bit too. He was busy more often then usual and distant in a way that made Jason worry he was keeping secrets, though he had no idea WHAT they might be since his life genuinely did seem to revolve around Red Hood and his mission.

When the day of his death came Danny was nowhere to be seen and Jason shut himself up on his office to focus on work, reading reports and writing responses. Doing whatever he could to try not to think about what had happened this day five years ago, and how Joker was either not thinking about it at all, or celebrating.

He had explicitly said for no one but Fox to disturb him today so when there was a pounding at a door he was ready to Fucking Kill someone! Danny never knocked like that, usually he just let himself in, so he knew that wasn't Danny. He got up from his desk so abruptly he knocked his chair over and stomped over to yank the door open.

"Please don't shoot! Hyena is in trouble!" The goon at the door, Marcus he though, cowered. Marcus got along with Danny, they might even friends, he would know.

"What happened?" Jason snarled through the voice modulator on his helmet, but he wasn't about to bite Marcus' head off anymore.

"He left your turf in costume this morning, I tried to tell him not to but he didn't listen to me! We've got reports he's on his way back but the Bats are on his tail! You have a tracker on him don't you?! He's gonna need help!" Marcus said in a panic and Jason grabbed his coat and his phone.

"Ya I do I'm not going to let them touch him," Jason snarled checking his guns before he practically bolted out of the building wondering what the Hell Danny had gotten himself into.

He grabbed his grapple and headed to meet Hyena as quickly as he could. He knew Danny was fast but Bruce and the Replacement would catch him eventually if none of the others were already on their way to intercept.

He heard Hyena before he saw them, the high cackling of the manic laughter Danny tended to lean into when he was in his Hyena persona, then Jason saw him, he planted his feet on a rooftop just inside crime ally and drew his guns. He saw the moment Danny spotted him and slightly adjusted his flight so he landed on the same roof as Jason, rolling to absorb his momentum and skidded to a stop half hiding behind Jason as he grinned at the Bats who had also come to a stop on the roof across from them with the muzzles of Jason's guns trained on them.

"Sorry about this, I knew what I was doing but I don't know the placement of the cameras all over Gotham, I didn't know they saw me," Danny said, resting his hands on Jason's shoulders.

"What did you do Hyena?" Jason asked without looking away from Batman and Robin.

Danny cackled again, the Hyena laugh that made him shiver just a little. He ducked out from behind Jason and got halfway between the two groups in the stand off. He pulled the bag Jason hadn't noticed off his shoulder and reached inside. Jason could tell Danny was smiling at him from behind the muzzle as he grabbed something and pulled out... The joker's head, Jason's breathing caught in his throat.

"Happy death day baby," Danny said fondly, his voice loud enough that Batman and Robin would be able to hear as well. "Someone cares about you enough to avenge you."

It was brutal, and final, it was a decoration of love as surely as anything else and so much better then a dozen roses. Jason thought he would be horrified, fixated on the head, but the Joker was just a lump of flesh now, a horrified expression fixated on his face as if he hadn't actually expected anyone to kill him. Nothing to be scared of anymore.

"Holy shit," Jason laughed and turned to Danny, scooping him up making Danny yelp in surprise and drop the bag, the Jokers head rolling away as Jason twirled a laughing Danny. "I love you so much Cub! This is the best gift anyone's ever gotten me!" He cheered and Danny blushed all the way to his slightly pointed ears, clearly pleased.

It was the first time Jason had said he loved him and Danny felt like he had won the lottery! He couldn't control his purring as Jason put him back down, he snuggled into Jason's side as he aimed his gun and put a bullet in Joker's decapitated head just for the catharsis of it.

"Jaylad," Bruce's voice was soft and betrayed. As if he had any fucking right!

Reminded of his presence Jason's gaze snapped back to Bruce, as did his guns, pointed at Batman and Robin again. "If you're planning to arrest Hyena for this I will not hesitate to shoot. If you take one step inside My territory," Jason snarled at them. "You can take the head if you want, I don't need to keep a lump of rotting flesh, I just needed to know Someone gave a shit." He stepped forward and kicked the head like a football, sending it hurtling at Batman with pretty damn good aim as Danny cackled behind him, high and loud.

Batman caught it, more on instinct then anything, but it was evidence, it was a body, he would take it, and the corpse from wherever Danny had left it. "Now if you'll excuse us, I think we have a celebration to plan!" Jason said before he shot at them, he wasn't aiming to kill, just to make them leave and it worked. They dashed off and Jason turned back towards Danny.

"I love you too," Danny said, soft and warm, pressing himself against Jason's chest. "Now take me home and Fuck me~"

Jason laughed and scooped Danny up into his arms, letting him wrap his arms back around Jason and cling as he set a quick pace towards their nearest safe house.

Part 2.5

Part 3

Masterpost

[lostreverb]

not like the movies

(virgin!luke cooper x fem!reader) in where your boyfriend invites you over to his house to watch a movie, but there seems to be a change of plans not long after you arrive content: pure smut (p in v), y/n is also an intern, fluff a bit? definitely not proofread a/n: kinda got obsessed with the way luke looks like he's never felt the touch of a woman (this is a very self serving write) THIS IS A WIP FROM A VERY LONG TIME AGO and i'm not good at smut sorry

--

in an act of courage, luke had invited you over to his place to watch a movie- which meant he hovered around your desk all day pestering you until you begrudgingly asked him what he wanted.

"come to my house" the words blurted out of his mouth, more blunt than he intended. "tonight, i mean- please"

your features softened as you listened to luke's proposal, finding it absolutely endearing how his nonchalant demeanor did an 180 when he was around you. his hands were stuffed in his pockets (probably to hide the fact they were shaking) and he was looking off into the distance as he spoke to avoid eye contact. he only periodically looked down to make sure you were still listening. which, of course you were.

that's what he loved about you.

you were the only person (other than his two friends) who could stand listening to his endless ramblings about whatever movie had his attention at the moment.

and that night was no different.

luke had picked inception (how he already had the DVD you had no clue, since the movie only came out 3 months prior) and was explaining in great detail how the effects for the café scene were done.

he sat crossed legged on the couch, dark eyes vibrant as he excitedly spoke.

"so basically they took like a shitton of plate shots of all these things just flying in the air-"

you had absolutely no idea what a plate shot was but that didn't matter. you were just happy to see him so passionate. it really surprised you how talkative he could get since he was always so quiet at work. and as he rambled on your eyes got lost in his features, the way his curls lay on his head, the softness of his cheeks and his smile...

"y/n?"

"sorry- what were you saying?"

luke grabs a bit of popcorn before continuing. "i said nolan is like a fucking genius when it comes to special effects. practical is ALWAYS better. none of that CGI crap. speaking of, I went to go see transformers and-"

you cut luke off with a kiss, the popcorn in his hand immediately falling out of his grasp and onto the couch. you tongued him deeply, hands lightly tugging his hair. luke responds with a moan, somehow finding the confidence to guide you into his lap to straddle him. he'd watched enough movies to know where this was going.

but once you had reached down to the bulging crotch of his sweats, his breath hitched, and he slightly pulled away.

"oh.. sorry-" you murmured.

"uh- no it's okay it's just-"

"we can take things slow-"

"no it's- i haven't done this... before..."

oh. oh.

well that made sense. it made perfect sense actually. between the both of you, you had always initiated anything intimate. luke always completely fell apart whenever things got a little pg-13. you thought he was just shy.

he must've noticed your surprised expression, because even in the dark of the living room you could tell he was blushing. you brought your head down to put your lips against his again, caressing his cheek.

"I don't mind" you whispered.

and that's how you both ended up on the couch, half naked. luke didn't have any condoms, but luckily you had a hunch this would go down when he invited you over, so you had some in your bag.

as you lowered yourself onto him, luke let out an embarrassingly loud mewl, your wet cunt cocooning his cock.

this was nothing like the movies.

absolutely nothing like them.

no matter how it was done, no close-up montage of half naked celebrities getting it on could ever compare to the euphoric feeling of you on top of him.

and you hadn't even started moving yet.

wait, you hadn't started moving yet?

luke eyes shot open, lifting his head off the back of the couch. you tilted your head, looking down at him with an intrigued smirk.

"you okay?"

his gaze flickered over your figure once before he gulped and slowly nodded, unable to open his mouth in fear of letting out another embarrassing sound.

despite luke's assurance, you seriously considered simply getting off him and just giving him a blowjob. i mean the poor boy looked delirious, body trembling and all.

but before you could act on your thought, a shock of pleasure coursed through you. luke had begun to roll his hips, his face still wearing a strained expression as he familiarized himself with the feeling of sliding in and out of you.

in response, you matched his slow rhythm then gradually picked up speed, coaxing him to follow. immediately, his jaw fell again, his eyes shut tight.

"ah.. fuck- fuck- shi- oh my god" he heaved and groaned, gripping your hips harder to guide your movements.

with how things were going, he was about to skip to the third act and didn't want to disappoint you by pushing things along too quickly. but god you were making it hard for him to hold back.

reaching a hand to his curly mess of hair, you combed it back and kissed his forehead. "look at me.." you whispered into his ear, the hot air sending a shiver down his spine.

luke opened his eyes and stared up at you riding him. only the flashing light of the tv behind you provided any illumination, the sounds of grunting from the fight scene playing mirroring both of your own moans. the way it brought out your silhouette was almost angelic to him, like a perfect movie still.

he wished he could capture it.

but a frame is short, just like how long he could hold out.

with a couple of deep moans followed by a high-pitched whine, you felt the warmth of luke's release through the condom. your body twitched from the sensation and as you continued to grind your hips to bring him down from his high, you reached yours, your moan a perfect soundbite into his ear. something that's definitely going to echo in his mind forever. you lazily draped your arms around his shoulders trying to catch your breath, when you felt luke shift underneath you.

"oh wait fuck-" luke tapped your shoulder and pointed to the tv, turning up the volume with the remote. "this part is so good- watch watch-"

--

tags (ask to be added or removed anytime!): @fear-is-truth @juliamaximoff @jazz-berry @violetsghosts @quickreider @tiffysdeath @honeymoon8 @wcnderlnds @lacucarachapisser @xrag-dollx @oceanblvd111 @andiloveher @vi0l3tgard3ns @acrosstheunivcrse

[solxamber]

Maybe a request where reader had a potion class accident with grim and idia as partners for it, and turned into a cat for a temporary amount of time due to a mishap?

I just think it sounds like idia would 100% milk this for all its worth cuz an event has occurred involving cats...

and i think grim being around with reader and idia would infact add to the cat meter, sounds amusing to me at least

Stay safe have a good day your writin is great :]

Mishaps and Kitty Cats - Idia x reader

love this request, combined 2 of my favorite things- cats and idia

Potionology wasn’t exactly a class you thrived in, but how hard could it be? You just mix some ingredients together, follow the instructions (mostly), and hope Grim doesn’t knock something over. Easy enough, right?

That was your first mistake.

The second? Teaming up with Idia and Grim.

Idia, hunched over his tablet, was busy calculating potion probabilities or something nerdy, while Grim was... being Grim. Pawing at random ingredients, making snide comments, and generally being more of a hindrance than any helpful mascot should ever be.

“I’m telling ya, we don’t need all these fancy-schmancy ingredients!” Grim huffed, flicking his tail dismissively. “Just throw in some catnip and call it a day!”

Idia, not even bothering to look up, mumbled, “Uh, no. That’ll throw off the potion’s balance and potentially, like, destroy the entire lab. But, yeah, sure, go ahead. I’ll just be over here doing the actual calculations.”

"Catnip," you muttered, shooting Grim a sideways glance. "Right. Because that's the missing key to magical success."

Grim puffed out his chest, as if the sheer confidence would make up for his utter lack of sense. "You mock, but I know what's what."

You sighed. Maybe pairing with the guy obsessed with cats and the guy obsessed with numbers wasn’t the best move. “Idia, are you sure you’ve got this under control?”

“I’ve got this down to a 96.8% success rate,” Idia said, tapping away on his tablet with the fervor of someone far too invested in digital alchemy. “The probability of anything going wrong is, like, practically nonexistent.”

You peered into the cauldron. It was bubbling ominously, more like it was contemplating murder than mixing into a helpful potion. “And the other 3.2%?”

“Well... worst-case scenario, you might end up as a squirrel. Temporarily. Maybe.”

Before you could even process what he just said, Grim—bless his chaotic little heart—decided to tip over a vial of glowing green liquid into the cauldron. “Oops.”

There was a brief, deadly silence. Then a whoosh of bright smoke exploded from the cauldron, enveloping you, Grim, and Idia in a thick, magical fog.

Coughing, you blinked through the haze. Everything seemed bigger, or maybe you were smaller. And then you noticed Grim staring at you with wide eyes, mouth hanging open.

“What?” you asked—or, at least, you tried to ask. What came out instead was a small, pitiful meow.

Grim blinked. Twice. “Nya?!”

Idia finally looked up from his tablet, and when he saw you, a grin spread across his face so wide it looked like he had just won the rarest item drop of his life. "Oh. My. Gods."

You stared at him, then down at your—oh no. Oh no no no. You had fur. You had paws. Your tail lashed back and forth as panic began to settle in. "I’m a cat?!"

"This. Is. Amazing!" Idia was practically vibrating with excitement, not at all concerned about your current feline predicament. "This is like, peak event status. You turned into a cat! This is exactly like that one episode of 'Magical Meow-taku no Monogatari' where the protagonist gets cursed and—"

Grim cut in, his tone somewhere between horror and indignation. “Nyaaa, wait a minute! I’m supposed to be the only talking cat here! This is outrageous!” His fur bristled as he looked between you and Idia, clearly not enjoying this turn of events.

You tried to hiss at Grim, but all that came out was a squeaky mewl. Great. Even your protests were adorable.

Idia, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying himself. “Oh man, this is like, prime meme content. We need to document this! Hold on, I’m sending a message to the dorm chat.”

You swatted at his leg with a paw, trying to stop him, but your efforts were in vain. He was already furiously typing into his tablet.

“‘So, uh, our partner just turned into a cat lol. 10/10, would pet again.’ There, sent,” Idia said, looking way too pleased with himself. He looked down at you, his expression downright giddy. “You don’t even understand how happy this makes me. A real-life cat transformation! This is like, a rare gacha pull, but better. Because it’s you. As a cat.”

Grim groaned dramatically, throwing his paws up. “Unbelievable! I can’t believe this is happening! Now there’s two of you! This was supposed to be my thing!” He shot a glare your way. “You better fix this fast, or I’ll never live it down.”

You tried to roll your eyes—well, as much as a cat could roll their eyes—and sat down, tail flicking impatiently. You’d really like to be human again, thanks.

But Idia wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.

“You know,” he said, voice taking on a thoughtful tone, “I could, theoretically, keep you like this for a while. I mean, think of the content. We could have a whole cat-themed channel. Imagine it: ‘Cat Adventures with the Prefect and Grim!’ You could be a streaming sensation!”

Your wide-eyed, horrified stare was lost on him as he started muttering to himself about potential subscriber counts and fan art. Grim, meanwhile, was rapidly spiraling into a jealousy-fueled rage.

“No way! This can’t happen! I’m the mascot! Me! Not you!” Grim wailed, tugging at his own fur as if his dignity depended on it.

In the background, Idia was already searching for the best cat toys to order online.

This was going to be a long day.

Masterlist

[spidernuggets]

could you pretty please, if you have any request spaces left open, do a little something where y/n is like a ball of sunshine type character and nothing ever seems to break her or get her hopes down, but one day jason is suuupper pissed off about smth and he verbally takes it out on her and it makes her cry, and he feels bad immediately but won't admit to that just yet because he's in his asshole era (maybe this would fit titans jay better), and he just doubles down like why the hell are you crying that he's seen her handle waayy worse than this and still manage to stay upbeat, and she's like forcing herself to stop crying and pull herself together and she tells him it's cuz it's him and hes like oh of course you'd cry over me cuz I'm just so awful and she's like actually no cuz it hurts to be on the receiving end of his anger because she's a little bit in love with him. Angst is my absolute fav so that's why I'm asking for sadness 💔😢

Jason Todd x Sunshine!Fem!Reader

Note: Yayyy angst! 🥳🥳

"Oh, oh, of course it's me! Blame Jason Todd once again for being such a prick and an asshole!"

"Hey, Jay! Wanna train together?" You came skipping into the training room, seeing Jason already throwing a couple of strikes to a punching bag.

"Not today." He replies, refusing to look at you and continuing to hit the bag, quickly wiping the sweat dripping from his forhead.

"C'mon, just one quick sparring match, hm? Please! You said you'd show me how to do that cool headlock thingy," you kept your upbeat attitude, missing the memo that Jason was not having it today.

"Jesus, I said no! Would you fuck off, I'm busy," he raises his voice at you.

He was in a mood because just a few hours ago, Dick threatened to bench him if Jason couldn't keep in line. If Jason won't stop disobeying orders, Dick wouldn't think twice about taking the mask and cape away from him.

But when Jason raised his voice, your smile quivered. "Oh.. I'm sorry. Maybe later, yeah? I know sparring makes you feel better!-"

You were cut off by Jason, fully yelling at you this time. "For fuck's sake, can you not take a hint or are you really that fucking dense? I don't wanna fucking spar right now, and I don't wanna spar with you! So how 'bout you get this through your thick skull, and fuck off!" He didn't mean to say any of that. He mentally punched himself for ever opening his mouth.

He knows you just wanted to make him feel better, but his stupid brain made him take his anger out on you. He always admired your happy and positive attitude. He doesn't know how you keep it up. Every time you walked into the room, it was like an angel came in with a glowing aura accompanying you. And his heart always swelled at the fantasy that you shared that aura with him every time you spoke a word to him, every compliment you gave him, every smile you sent his way. He wanted to apologise, but his thick pride got in the way.

"I..." You could barely get a word out. Jason has never talked to you like that before. Hell, he never even raised his voice to you before. You hiccuped, your throat getting clogged up, and you felt like you needed to hurl whike your chest ached.

It was too late before you noticed the salty tears travelling down your reddened cheeks. And it was too late before Jason noticed his mouth talking faster than his brain could think.

"Fuck, now you're crying?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "There's literally nothing to cry over, and I shouldn't even need to tell you twice to leave me alone!" What the fuck, why won't he stop talking?

You tried to wipe away your tears and tug your lips upward to show at least half a smile, but a choked out whine escaped instead.

"Honestly, stop crying, would you?" He really couldn't stop himself. Words just kept vomiting out his mouth like that time he drank one brew too many last time he kicked some villain's ass. He liked that memory. Granted, he was throwing up buckets, but you were behind him as he was hunched over the toilet seat. You thought he'd forgotten the next morning, but he clearly remembered how you were right behind him, rubbing his back in comfort, telling him you'd stay with him as long as he wanted. He also remembered the way you supported him up while walking him back to his room. He remembered you tucking him into bed, placing a trash can beside it, making sure he's sleeping on his side. He remembered you quietly reminding him about the water bottle you left on his nightstand. He also remembered that bold and cheeky peck you left in the soft curls of his head while telling him to get some good rest.

"You literally got stabbed and had a near death experience, and you were smiling the whole time you were recovering! Now you're crying? And for what?!"

"You- You're being mean," you sniffled.

He scoffs again and lets out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, oh, of course it's me! Blame Jason Todd once again for being such a prick and an asshole!"

You tried holding in your sobs, but that led to you almost choking on your held breath, your chest feeling full, and your head feeling sore. Jason wanted nothing more for you to slap him, hit him, shut him up. He wanted to tell you he didn't mean it, that he was sorry. He wanted to run up to you, hug you in a tight embrace, and tell you not to cry because he actually is a prick and an asshole.

"Literally, why the hell are you still even here! Get lost, I'm not gonna say it again!" He yells for the final time before going back to the punching bag. And after the few seconds he got back to it, he glanced at where you were standing and saw you were already gone.

He curled over, leaning his hands over his knees, panting furiously. He wasn't sure if the tiredness came from the punches or the yelling. Maybe both. But picturing the broken look on your face pissed him off even more. Not because you were sad. Because he was the one who made you sad. This made him hate himself even more.

He tore the boxing gloves off his hands, projecting them off somewhere in the room, and yelled out in anger. He didn't even notice he started crying himself.

It's been another couple of hours. Your cheeks were long dried, but that didn't stop your shallow breaths from shaking continuously.

You then heard light knocks coming from your door. You took 3 deep and calm breaths before going towards it to see who it was.

Jason was pretty much the last person you'd expect to be standing on the other side. Furthermore, him holding a small bouquet of flowers in his trembling hands was the last thing you'd expect him to present to you. But you were scared to make the wrong move that might tick him off again.

"Jason, can we talk later I-" You said slowly in a whisper, looking at the ground while shaking your head, trying to close the door on him.

"Y/n, please," he holds the door, leaving a little gap open between you and him. "I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have yelled, and I-"

"No, Jason, stop. It's my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you, and I'm sor-"

"Don't you dare apologise." This time, when Jason raised his voice, it was different. It was softer. "It's not your fault. I was just angry, and I took it out on you. The only thing I was right about was that I am a prick and an asshole. And- and I took your gorgeous smile away from you, and-" He started to word vomit again, but this time, it made your lips tug upwards. "And I don't want you to fuck off or get lost. I never want you to get lost because your so amazing and."

He continued his rambles and didn't notice that you opened the door wider. He tore his gaze away from the ground, and his heart raced when he felt your hands cupped around his own that were holding the flowers.

"The flowers are really pretty, Jay," you smiled at him.

Your happiness was so magnetising that he mirrored your smile. But it faltered. "I'm sorry," he repeats. "You shouldn't have cried over me because of how much of an asshole I am.."

You sighed, taking the flowers from his grasp and holding them close to your chest, your finger gently gliding over some of the petals. "Let's be real, Jason, you're always an asshole. But... I was crying because you've never been so angry at me before. I was crying because I hated knowing that I was the one who pissed who off."

"Shit, oh, sweet thing, no," he quietly replied, holding both your shoulders, making you look at him. Your face warmed at the nickname. "You- You didn't piss me off. I was already pissed off before that. It was just bad timing, and me being a hot head- you can never make me angry."

Neither of you realised how the two of you were in such close proximity.

"Well... you can make it up to me?" You say, your spark of sunshine and optimism coming back.

"Yeah- yes, how, I'l do anything," Jason quickly replied.

You step back, walking to your desk, pulling an empty vase to put the flowers in. "There's a cute cafe that opened downtown," you started, admiring the arrangement of flowers. "Go with me?" You shyly ask, back still facing him.

Jason smiled wider, thinking that alone time with you would count as a date. "Of course, sugar. Anything else?"

You giggled and turned around and crossed your arms. "Yes. You're paying, obviously," you walked up to him.

"Obviously," he copied.

"And I want this to be a date." This was a new, bold side to you. You've never been this straightforward before.

Jason glances up to the ceiling for a few seconds, pretending to think. "Yeah," he places his his hands on your waist, your own resting on his chest. "I think that could be arranged."

[ratcash-wasgud]

Hihi! Hope you are having a great day, but I had an idea/request for a modern mizu headcanons or fic? or a mix of both? I've been having a rough week, and dealing with some sh. i know this can be triggering for some, so don't write it if it's too much, but I'd really appreciate maybe a modern mizu x struggling or sh reader? and mizu does what she can to help reader feel better and keep reader safe from harming themselves? i hope this is okay! xoxo

hey lovely! no, no, this is actually so valid. i love this idea.

TW tho, as obvious, self harm and mention of suicide.

I hope you enjoy this one.

"...Hey, you...you okay?" Mizu steps into the bathroom, her face draining of color. She noticed how different you were acting these past weeks;

Randomly going silent during conversations, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, or biting you lips and picking at your skin violently...

But she'd never thought she'd see this. You, the love of her life, the one she'd die if she lost, the only one keeping her sane, standing or...hunching over in front of the bathroom sink, blood trickling and dripping everywhere, and your eyes looking back at her.

She's frozen. She doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know what would be right to do in this situation. Should she comfort you? Do you even want her comfort right now?

But all those questions flee her mind the moment your lips start trembling, your eyes narrow and fill up with tears, your nose scrunching up in a sniffle. "I...I'm sorry."

Mizu doesn't hesitate to basically jump away from the door and rush to hug you, not caring about the blood getting on her clothes. "It's okay...it's okay." She whispers it like a mantra in your ear. "Everything's fine...I'm here, you're here. We're here...i promise everything's fine."

After that, she sat on the bathroom floor with you until you calmed down, stroking your back while whispering the same, calming things in your ear.

When you calmed down, Mizu bandaged up your arms in silence after cleaning them up. She made sure to be gentle, not wanting to touch any cuts directly, but putting enough pressure on them to stop the bleeding. She didn't dare to look into your eyes while she did it, but when she was done, she leaned down to gently kiss the bandages.

She didn't ask anything, as she didn't know what to ask, or if she can even ask anything. She was just...worried. Worried more than anything.

She then silently led you to the bed, cuddled up behind you, and waited for the similar sound of your breathing slowing down as you fell asleep.

She couldn't sleep for a couple hours more tho. She stayed up, eyes closed, face burried into the warmth of your neck from behind.

You're warm. You're still here.

The next morning, she woke up before you, preparing coffee like she always does for you. When you came out to the kitchen, your eyes sleepy and the bandages still tight on your arms, Mizu gathered up all her strength.

"...can you tell me why?" She asks, her voice low and quiet. You looked at her for a couple moments, before sitting down at the kitchen table.

You started talking about your family backround, how school and work combined stress you out, how you don't like looking at yourself in the mirror. Mizu knew she was the one asking, but she hated hearing it, because she felt powerless.

But even if she felt that way, she was determined. She'll somehow make it better for you.

She spent the next day, thinking about ways to help you get more comfortable with yourself.

She started drawing small cats and bugs on your bandages when she changed them, to make you not want to throw up when you see them.

She stole your lipstick to make a kissmark on the mirror, to exactly where your forehead is in height, so everytime you look in the mirror, you get "kissed".

And she came up with this genius idea to bug a huge pack of stickers, and give you one for every day you stay clean.

She knew it wasn't much.

But to you it meant the world.

[mikobeautifulheart]

I hear you take requests and here I am👀 it might be a bit long so please bear with me🥹 So a Satoru × fem reader angst plus spicy without smut plz! (haha can I be more obvious?) So the reader was classmate of Satoru and they teach at jujutsu high together now! They are very close with each other and Satoru loves to annoy her. (Imagine like how he is with Nanami but he is actually fun with her and reader doesn't mind his teasing) Everyone knows they are closer than friends but not exactly lovers so they have will they won't they situationship!

Well well trouble comes in paradise when a new temp sorcerer comes to jujutsu high for some mission and she needs Satoru's help with it. She has some interesting curse technique so Satoru takes an interst on it. Slowly Satoru unknowingly starts spending less time with reader. Everybody but Satoru notices this and Reader asks Satoru out to hang out or go on mission with her but he is always busy. (Really he is an idiot cuz he doesn't realize what he is doing lol) Some time pass and after few days Satoru realizes that he hasn't seen reader so he looks for her but can't find her at school so he tries to call her but he can't reach her so he goes to Shoko to ask about her. Shoko has seen how reader has been feeling down due to Satoru not paying attention to her so she makes up a little white lie and tells reader has been injured during mission so she is resting. Truth is, reader WAS injured. A little cut that just needed 3 stitches. She is just at home binge watching shows and eating her favorite food because she just needed a break. Well Satoru doesn't know that so he comes to her house worried out of his mind just to come and see her chilling at home in pajamas with a little bandage. AND HE STILL FEELS BAD because regardless of how small the injury is, it took him this long to realize he hasn't seen you so he apologizes and then things get heated when you both realize how much you missed each other? (Sorry that was sooooo long😭😭😭 also I'm not good at spicy part so do what you want with it!)

No pressure. Write it if you feel like it because I'm just not sure where this whole idea came from lol.

Thanks!♡

OMG YES. OKAY HERE WE GO. (Sorry for making you wait so long I got caught up.) Apologies rn it seems like a bit of a slow burn.

Gojo×(fem)Reader angst

TW: Angst, some spice (but not smut), stitches 🥲

Unedited 1000ishh wordssss

"SATORU" You screamed watching him get stabed and absolutely murdered by Toji.

"no-" you said, your voice broken

You stood frozen, not even being able to move toward him. You felt useless.

He laid motionless on the ground. Toji steped back with a smirk, admiring his work.

He started to walk when he walk right past you.

"What are you gonna do now that your little boyfriends dead?" He said laughing hysterically.

He kept walking on. You wanted to go and kill him. You wanted him to pay but...if Gojo died to him, he would be no match for you. You thought.

Slowly your foot takes one step forward. And another. And another, reaching Gojo.

Your knees weakend so much you fell to the floor in a puddle of Gojos blood.

Your fingers dung into your palm, you didn't know how to do cursed technique, but you asked Shoko how to do it and she told you. But no after how many attempte you tried over time it never worked.

With tears in your eyes you held onto Gojos arm.

"Come on Satoru, remember what Shoko said. Uhhh you spin it then you channel it? And then you uh..." You tried your best to break it down as much as possible.

"Please Satoru" You said hunching your back over his face, your tears spilling now he, wasn't coming back.

You felt a twitch in his hand and some cursed energy flow through your body.

You gasped. The blood around you started to pulse. He was doing it.

"SATORU, PLEASE, YOUR SO CLOSE" you yelled as you saw his wounds slowly heal up.

"Awww man, I got a major headache" He said sitting up.

You could help but wrap your arms around him.

"Wow looks like someone missed me"

"How'd you know?" You said trying to mask your tears in his blood soaked uniform.

"And that's how I met your mother!" You heard Gojo say to little kid Megumi only giving an eye roll.

I thought you said you never wanted to babysit again? Is what you wanted to say but with Megumi there you didn't want him to think you were trying to get Gojo to get rid of him. Even so, it was obvious that Megumi favoured you way over him.

"Hey! You might wake Megumi!" You whispered harshly as Gojo caged your body between his and the couch.

"Hes dead on the inside, plus I don't think he'd care."

His head leans down slowly locking eyes with you when he's only inches away a small voice comes out of no where.

"Ewwww get a room."

"And that's how we trumatised Meguimi!" You heard Gojo telling the first years.

God he was the devil, when he wasn't bugging you, it was Megumi, poor kid.

"Hey stop embarrassing Megumi" you said giving him a slap on the shoulder.

He looked back at you with a wicked smile.

"So when you stab you want it to be right in the neck and pull all the way down yhe torso and just rip it all the way. I know it works because it killed Gojo-"

"And Y/Ns little heart, she was devastated!" Gojo budded in coming from nowhere.

"I'm teaching here." You said. As soon as he arrived you could feel tensions change, you just didn't know why.

"SENSEI CAN I PRACTICE ON GOJO SENSEI!" Maki said with a cursed object in her hand, looking at him like she was going to do more then practice.

"Fine but if you kill Gojo Sensei then I would-"

"Miss him very dearly and be heart broken forever. Then I'd have to burn all our wedding photos." Gojo finished your sentence for you, how kind.

"Were not even married-"

"Yet. We're not even married yet."

" Are you getting this guy Yuta? He's totally pushing it. No way he deserves y/n." Maki said aiming her knife at Gojos head before throwing it.

He caught it.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DON'T DESERVE HER? WE HAVE A KID TOGETHER- I WORK MY ASS OFF EVERY DAY JUST SO SHE CAN TEACH YOU!"

"So he is useful for one thing" Panda said.

"HEY"

"And that's how we became engaged!" Gojo was said, explaining 'your relationship' to the new sorcerer who transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo.

You didn't understand why the needed another sorcerer here but you thought it would be good so Gojo could have more time off (as if) and heck you guys might become friends.

"Hey wifey, this is the new transfer sorcerer."

"Hello" you said with a smile reaching your hand out for her to shake.

"I don't see a ring on that finger" She said

"Oh yeah, were not actually married" you said with a nervous laugh

"Interesting" she said shaking your hand.

"I got a bad feeling about her" Maki said seemingly appearing out of nowhere making you jump in surprise.

"Maki? Well, we just met her okay, we can't make these assumptionsabouther right now." You sighed.

"No, shes deffinatly up to something" Nobora said making your head whip around your other side seeing her with her arms crossed.

"Oh common, maybe that's just the vibe she gives off"

"Yeah people who plan evil things give off that vibe" Panda said behind you.

"Alright okay all we have to do is tolerate her, don't have to like her, but tolerate her at least."

Sure enough not long after that you'd walk around campus and see her clinging onto Gojo's arm laughing at all his jokes. Maybe your students were right.

"No, no your doing it wrong, you go from the torso and rip it right up"

"Yeah right lady, let me just do my thing and you do yours." Maki said annoyed at the woman 'correcting' her.

"Well I'm actually a teacher now so I'd think that I am qualified to mentor you." She said with a grin.

"After all the Zenin clans failure should get all the help she can, right?"

"WHY YOU BITC-"

"Maki? What going on here?" You asked seeing her trying to hold back on staring the woman.

"It seems they aren't very open to criticism" she sranled looking away from you.

"She insulted me about my clan like the little maggot she is, getting under my skin like that. Gross"

"I was just saying the obvious." She rolled her eyes.

"Look, don't insult my students, Maki is one of the strongest sources I know and she worked hard to get here." You said looking at her pissed.

How dare she insult your students. Who dose she think she is?

"Look Miss..."

"Oh you can call me Mrs Gojo."

Your eye twitched. You got to be kidding me.

"If were going to have problems i'll have to tell you to just stay away from my class."

"Oh nobody told you? Well since I moved here Satoru was kind enough to help me get a position in teaching, now your class is my class."

"What? No they can't just do that?" you said now furious

"They can and they did." She said with a smirk.

"Have fun in the feild!" She said looking at you walk away all the way to Yaga's office.

"EXPLAIN YOUR SELF!" You shouted pulling open Yaga's door with pure anger running through your vains.

"We need you out on more missions Y/N, there's been a sudden rise in curses and we need you to help."

"So send the other damn woman!" You said fist slaming down into his desk.

" Your a special grade, shes not even close compared to you."

" Thanks but I don't take flattery as a form of persuasion, give me back my class, I'll work twice the missions after if thats what it takes-"

"No, It's no good to over work yourself" A voice said behind you.

"Satoru, did you know about this?" You said turing your head to him feeling betrayed.

"Hes not wrong y/n there are more curses now, more then even I can handle right now."

"Traitor" you mumbled as you aggressively pushed your way past him bumping his shoulder.

"I hope your right about this" Yaga said looking at Gojo who has his head down.

You were in no power to over turn both Gojo and Yagas decidion so you ended up drowning yourself in missions and everyone you took, the more carless you became. You just let whatever happen happen, a scratch on you? Whatever. Stitches? Okay sure. Cast? what a downer.

Nothing seemed to bother you anymore, nothing motivated you.

"Thanks Shoko but its okay, I'll just put a bandage on it. Wouldn't want to waste your time, plus I got another mission to get to."

"Are you kidding me y/n, its bad enough you don't smoke at all but also the fact you keep coming here almost every hour with a different injury." She said taking a deep inhale of her cigarette.

"Well you know, I got no students, No class room, teaching assistants..." You think of the time Gojo spent dropping into your classes daily and how it would always be a joyful atmosphere. But that rat took your place.

"You know what Y/N? I'm sending you home for a full week, and you have to stay home the entire time. No missions, no Jujutsu. Doctors orders." She said writing a note on her clip board.

You sighed "Thanks Shoko." Even though you didn't want to your body felt so exhausted and so did your mind.

So you got up and walked out of Jujutsu high, when you walked out the field you saw Gojo and ... that woman with your students all on the oval making your heart throb in you chest. You clutched at your shirt hoping this choking feeling would go away.

"Hey Shoko, have you seen Y/N lately? She hasn't spoken much, plus the kids started skipping class since she left."

"When haven't I seen her? She comes here after every mission with a new injury, man you should have seen the last one, nasty, nasty gash just pouring blood every where like she was a fountain" She exaugurated.

"WHAT?!"

"Eh ya'know Y/N stuff, she stopped caring about her self so I ordered her to stay home for a week after her, lets see, 15th visit IN AN HOUR." She said placing a clip board down beside her.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THIS EARLIER?!" Gojo said teleporting before Shoko could even respond.

Knock Knock

You almost missed the sound of the knocking, you had the T.V on a high volume to buzz out your reality. You get up and walk through the door, hand on the door knob before you stop.

"If that's you Gojo, i'm busy, I have a mission in 2 minutes." You lied hoping you could drive him away.

"No you don't, Shoko told me the prescription. No curses for a week." He said.

"Now open the door."

Slowly you turned the handle and pulled the door open. There Gojo stood just staring at you. You couldn't physically see him stare but you could feel it, all 6 eyes.

"Was that it?" He asked gesturing toward the small Cinnemaroll bandage on you head.

"Yeah, can you believe it, a week off for this" you said trying to put on a playful tone but it died in your throat.

"You and I both know that that's not the reason for the week off"

"And? You and I both know the reason it happened in the first place. You betrayed me, replaced me, what for? For that...that woman!" you said anger starting to rise.

"Oh is someone jealous?" he asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Look Gojo just go tell that lady your jokes if your trying to crack any, i'm sure it boosts your ego to when she laughs." You sigh going to close the door on him.

His arm reaches out holding the door open before walking into your room.

"Y/N I'm telling you right now, on my life, there is nothing i want with that woman, she just sticks around a lot and is kind of helpless, so we out her in teaching"

"Yeah. And she thinks that to huh? Calling her self Mrs Gojo and all huh." You said watching as he closed the door behind him.

"What? She did? besides the point okay, you want the truth? I dont like her, I even told Yaga to send her back to Kyoto, your not you right now but you need to see that it hurt me to-"

"Why? because she took your spot as the strongest or something? Replaced you? She-"

"Because I like you."

The room fell silent.

"Its not worth keeping anyone around if their going to drive you away from me. Because I really do want to be more than just what we are now, whatever it is." He said leaning closer to you, making you move all the way to the arm of your couch.

"Well maybe you should have thought about that before, because I always...I always waited for you, but every time you just turned it into a joke, I don't want to be a joke to you Satoru but you make me one"

He takes a bigger step forward, wrapping his arms around you, making you fall onto the couch backwards.

"I'm sorry" He said moving strands of your hair aside and kissing the bandaid.

"I just...I want to move on" You said feeling his hand slowly travel down your head to your neck, gently drawing patterns on it.

"Why?" he said now leaning down and kissing the nape of your neck.

"Because- you'll never need me, when theres something, some one new i'll just be cast aside again." You said feeling tears pool in your eyes.

He hovers his head above yours.

"That's not true." he said before brushing his lips over yours.

"The problem is- I can't move on from you" You said finally feeling his lips on yours.

He pulled away wiping the tears from your eyes.

You heard his breath hitch as he went back down and gave you another kiss, but this one was more passionate, filled with all emotions. One of his hands glides up your thigh while the other went behind your head trying to get his tounge in deeper.

"I'll never hurt you again, I promise."

Your arms wandered up his shirt feeling the out lines of his chiseled abs. Slowly you could feel his chest rise up and down as things got more heated and you found your self pulling him closer to.

That night you almost forgot about the past few days as Gojo just kept littering your skin with kisses and hickeys. You wished the Kyoto lady was still there so you could show them off.

AUTHORS NOTE: @mo0nforme I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, USUALLY IM FAST-ER. I just got busy for a few days but now i'm back to posting regularly so, yay? Hope you liked it thanks for reading. reblogs r goot

[yandere-fics]

♡ Dark AU Nora ♡

(It's incest again, sorry folks, back out while you still can.)

Girlfailures sketch of monsterfied Nora, I love it.

You think you had lived amongst people when you were young, before your sister broke one of the most sacred rules, never kill a supernatural. It had been set in place for a reason, while supernaturals were reviled and no one wanted a supernatural to stay for very long in their village, you were never supposed to kill them, it was too risky, they were the only ones who could kill the monsters and beyond that they link between supernaturals and monsters wasn't fully understood, it wasn't something that could even be studied, all in all, a huge taboo. They say those who killed a supernatural would be cursed with immortality to repent for killing one more important than you but despite this your sister had killed one, a werewolf, the most dangerous considering they usually came in packs, and then to avoid justice for her crime she had stolen off into the night with you. You were too young to understand why she'd done it, only that it was one of the greatest sins a human could ever commit. If she had just killed you to avoid the supernatural visiting the village it would have been justified but killing a supernatural so they couldn't take a simple human with them went against every law. Once a human's soulmate had come for them, there was little you could do to stop the process, you had to simply allow it to happen.

The monster came the night you'd left the village, while you pretended to sleep, taking the form of a woman with long fangs and a long tail and offered her a deal, it could kill her now and you would likely die in the wilderness without her protection, or she could become immortal with you, destined to kill monsters for the rest of her life until she could make up for killing a werewolf, one of the biggest hunters of monsters. She took the deal without a second thought and that's when your relationship with your sister ended, she couldn't be trusted, her actions had doomed you to a life spent never being close to another human for if they noticed your immortality they would know one of you had broken the rules and they would attempt to kill you to make sure you faced your penance before Nora would cut them down for attempting to harm her precious little sister. She should have just let the werewolf have you, at least you would have been happier, but she would never let you out of her control like that, you saw the way she looked at you, wanting to tie you up somewhere dark and away from the reach of anyone. The day you'd had your soulmate dream she'd cut down your parents and your soulmate so she could keep you all to herself and so you ran from her which was when the dreams started again.

These dreams were different from a soulmate dream, different scenarios of her catching up with you, changing unlike soulmate dreams and yet she still got the sense they meant something similar, that stupid bitch had bound you to her as her soulmate! You knew very little about the monster she'd made her deal with but it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. The dreams were urging you to stop running from her, your new soulmate. Dreams where you relaxed and finally settled only for her to kill entire villages, some nights you would see her cutting through hoards of monsters who had been swarming you, smiling as she finally caught you again, her face more mutated as your dreams progressed through the years, you never liked looking at her face in your dreams, it was always so much worse each time you saw it.

You hadn't slept in a few nights, it was too dangerous to sleep while you were traveling between villages, perhaps that's why you hadn't known she was coming, if you had then you would have avoided her like you always did. Her teeth had curled inward and were protruding from her mouth, her back warped from years of hunching through the trees in the forest, might have happened to you had you actually lived with her for all these years, and her eyes glowed in the dark, she seemed to have acquired night vision, likely never seeing the sunlight very often from her years of living here. That wasn't going to be your life, you refused but having said that, it didn't seem like you had much choice as she pounced on you, you ignored the bulge pressing against you, likely another new trait she had developed, you didn't want to think of the implications of that.

"I have them again. Oh my reason for living is back and I'm never letting them go again. My beloved sister..." She nuzzled your face, pining your hands above your head, tearing your shirt fabric and creating a makeshift rope to go around your hands. "That will hold sister for now. Need more rope. I'm so happy my reason for living in back again."

"Nora, please let me go. Don't do this." She growled at you, nipping at your neck.

"My reason for living is selfish. They should learn not to reject their new soulmate. It's a crime." Very ironic coming from someone who killed your original soulmate. Clearly no getting her to see reason, that monster or whatever it was had affected her deeply. You pondered building up your strength to kill her but the tail behind her made you pause, yeah fat chance you'd be able to do it with her new monstrous form. Hopefully she was too stupid now to know what 'mating' was.

[sroop]

leave it

You didn't really know how to ask a girl out. So you just... did it your own way, I suppose, with your big eyes and open hands. Do you want to shoot deer with me?

Pairing: König x reader

Warnings: very brief, very light mention of past bullying

Summary: at one point in your life, you thought könig would be nothing but a passing character. tonight, you have decided he will be your life partner.

A/N: oops sorry, just a love letter to my fixation at the moment 😟

{}{}{}{}

When I first met you, I thought you were a dog looking for a bone. The kind of lost mongrel that you see padding along a highway, when you're going too fast to care and, by the time you do, too far gone to do anything. I wrote you off as another boy my age, only thinking he was ready for a relationship.

You didn't really know how to ask a girl out. So you just... did it your own way, I suppose, with your big eyes and open hands. Do you want to shoot deer with me?

Not really, actually, but I'd be happy to make us a dinner with what you bring back. Worked out for us anyway I guess. And even though I thought I wanted someone older, more experienced, you were actually so much more than I thought you'd be. Nervous, yes, but kind and so, so attentive. Always at my heels, happy to please.

Now here we are. You, in the dairy aisle of a supermarket I don't know the name of because I haven't quite gotten the hang of German, with your handwritten shopping list that I've scribbled a few items of my own on. You'll notice soon. Not yet, because you're too busy puzzling out the offered discounts. But soon.

Actually, I don't know why you bother with discounts anyway. You have more money than the army has bullets. Maybe that times two. But I don't say anything about it because I remember the first time we really talked, you told me about shopping with your mother.

It still makes me ache a little to imagine you cutting newspapers up for coupons, afraid not of going hungry, but that your mother would look away when you couldn't add up the right numbers. Of getting to the grumpy cashier who called you slow, every time, that you'd gotten the total wrong. I hate to see little you clench your fists, study harder, grow more and more afraid, get it wrong each time.

I know you are still a little afraid every time we go shopping. And it's ok, I won't tell anyone.

What I don't know is why you hang on. Like sometimes, I think you're even a little relieved when you're deployed. Like the time you were deployed just before my birthday, when we'd just started dating.

You, at my door, flowers in hand. All 6 feet something of you that you hunch over to hide. When you told me the news, you'd said sorry, but I knew from that look in your eyes that you wanted nothing more. War and battle you knew. A girlfriend's birthday, though, was foreign territory.

That's ok too. You came back after all, a month later, and asked me if I still wanted you. Yes, König. I still want you. Besides, you're getting better at all that stuff anyway. Getting better at letting go too.

Like yesterday, when you sidled up to me during dinner and asked, like a child with a Christmas wish, if we could celebrate our anniversary somewhere closer to home for you. Austria. In your hometown, which I never thought you'd want to return to. And as it turns out, it can be quite charming if you have a hulking boyfriend following you around clearing obstacles.

I get the sense that you're doing more than clearing my obstacles, be it the language or the money or the transportation. I sense that you're uncovering old wounds. That's why you came back last night, after I'd fallen asleep, tears on your cheeks and shaking cold hands. I don't know where you went or what you did, but I can smell in your stories the morning after that it was something at your old school. That you chose to tell me about those old bullies because you had chosen to summon them again. Fight nightmares awake instead of asleep.

Did I ever tell you that I'm proud of you? That I don't care what oddness you get up to so long as it means you can live, a day in your life, unafraid? That I only watch you count up unnecessary discounts because I know, somewhere in you, you're still trying to make your mother proud?

I put a hand over your shoulder as you make your way down the shopping list. You're finally seeing what emergency supplies I've tacked onto the end.

Your eyes are big and your mouth is open and there's nothing on Earth more excited than you. You pull your features together in a question, pitched and desperately hopeful.

"Das ist wahr? du bist schwanger?"

I play it off coolly, just a chuckle and a shrug. König, I put my hands in my pockets to hide how they shake. How equally desperate I am for that hope, no less dog than you are.

"If we get the tests, we'll know by dinner."

{}{}{}{}

thanks for reading!

[celestialsymbiosis]

Love and Mercy p.1 - Rick Grimes x reader

I know it's October.

But here's a little something on the group's first winter in Alexandria:

u_u

“What’re you doin’?”

Rick’s voice is heavy with sleep, quiet but enough to break the silence in the house as he shuffles closer to where you’re kneeling. You don’t need to see him to know he’s got that almost permanently etched frown on, the soft dip between his eyebrows. 

You tilt your head up in greeting, focused on your task, skillfully wrapping items with old newspapers you’d found on a run earlier that week. “Nothing,” you mumble, as if it were enough, your fingers pressing down on the paper with a sleepy determination. You hunch over them to shade from Rick’s view. “Go away.”

Rick hums, depositing himself onto the couch. “No. Missed you in bed. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been sneaking away from me. I’m onto you.”

“You’re not onto shit,” you reply, hands splayed over your projects. 

“Hey,” he lilts, nudging your back with his knee. “What is it?”

There’s a soft noise you release at that, something like annoyance. “Can’t say. It’s not time yet.”

“Time for what?”

You groan, turning around to put your chin up on his knee, looking up at him. “Christmas.”

“You’re still on that?” Rick’s eye twitches a little.

It had been a few weeks ago when the cool air starting breezing through Alexandria. With Winter on the brink and the group relatively settled and sheltered for the first time in years, you’d off-handedly mentioned the season’s festivities. 

Rick hadn’t been too keen on it however. He was everything but settled into the new Alexandrian lifestyle you had found easy to slip into. On edge and restless, as if the universe would detect his comfort and throw it’s next disaster his way. He’d informed the rest of you all, with a hand poised on his belt and fingers itching for the Colt Python Deanna had stored away. Be ready, we can’t let our guard down. 

That may have been weeks ago, but Rick never truly looked comfortable here even now- though you’re not sure he ever did. So between his stubbornness, the fact that Judith hadn’t ever celebrated a holiday, and your proclivity to do first and ask for forgiveness later, you were set on doing something small for the kids at the very least. 

Something to finally look forward to. 

You had gone to Deanna first, telling her of your plans to bring some cheer for Carl and Jude. Her eyes sparkled in that way they seemed to do when she was inspired by something so normal- but she sadly revealed they really did not pack shiny wrapping paper in the community. You weren’t derailed however. 

Any time you were on the run, you tried grabbing things the family would’ve enjoyed that would be painfully human. Glenn laughed when you handed him a new baseball cap, Tara nodded appraisingly at the palm tree snow globe, shaking it around aggressively to see the tiny white flakes swim around. 

So, you had immediately pushed the few issues you’d found of Y: The Last Man for Carl inside your backpack. The stuffed lamb you came across would need to be cleaned and fluffed, but it had made the cut for Judith’s gift. 

Rick noticed when you started crumpling newspapers into your bag, though, raising an eyebrow. 

“Figured we could do something for the kids,” you had said, moving to the next aisle to get some actual supplies too. 

“For what?” Rick’s gruff voice intoned, a hint of a warning behind it. You weren’t quite sure why he even had an issue with the idea of a gift-giving celebration; it’s not like the rest of you haven’t passed items to each other before. 

Kneeling in front of him now, the soft sound of snow pattering down outside and the hum of one of Deanna’s heaters, you nose at his knee. 

“Baby, you gotta- can you relax?” you say a little exasperatedly. “I cannot believe this is even a conversation we need to have when we literally deal with the dead. Is this like, Christmas related trauma or something that I need to be aware of?”

Rick rolls his eyes. “No.”

“Then what’s your damage?”

He scratches his arm, looking at the gifts you’ve wrapped with a suddenly weary sigh. “No damage.”

You tilt your head up at him curiously, tapping his hand to pull him out. 

“I just don’t want…” he groans softly, looking down at you before tangling a hand in your hair. “I don’t want to give them hope so soon. We don’t know how well these walls are gonna hold up when a hoard comes by. We don’t know if this community will survive anything yet. I don’t want to give Carl and Judith this and then have to take it away again.”

When you continue to just stare at him impassively, he nods with a huff, leaning back further back into the couch. “I know, I know,” he waves his hand vaguely. “Trust me- I can hear myself too.”

“So you’re aware that you’re being… difficult?” You choose your words carefully. Rick must find it amusing at the very least because he smiles almost sheepishly. “They need to know there’s more to life than everything we’ve gone through. You’re not taking anything from them. You can give them these moments, the time to just be children.”

“I’d just… feel bad if anything happened. ” 

You hum, his baby blue eyes glazed over with some far away memory for a mere second before they focus back on you. “Everyone’s okay, Rick. We’re all okay here. You don’t need to be so on all the time anymore,” you drop a kiss on his knee. “You’ve done so much for us already. Just- slow down.”

He considers this, considers what you’re saying to him. “A day,” he concedes. “I can slow down for a day. Only tomorrow.”

You let out a startled laugh. “So you’re declaring Christmas to be tomorrow? You’re just choosing?”

“Yes,” he nods once, rubbing his jaw like it’s a hard decision to make. “You get your day, and then I want you with me to assess the barricades. I can’t do it alone.”

You nod easily. “I’ll need help on the decorations. We don’t have much,” you gesture at the crinkled paper and frail twine on the ground. “Don’t suppose we can cut a small tree down with your hatchet?”

“I’ll figure out your decorations, just-“ he beckons you forward, pulling you up easily to straddle his lap, “come here for now.” 

------

Title's from the Gazelle version of Love and Mercy that plays in the show!

part 2 is nsfw and posted here!

and all together on ao3.

[inblurtub]

my nominations

for race line awards !

took me some good times to dive back into my ao3 history:) at this point i guess this couldn't be regarded as "lines" anymore, but anyways-- i've enjoyed myself while doing this:) thank you sooo much for bringing up this awards

love notes in the kitchen (say it all) - @/formulaes (mark/sebastian) 

Mark bent down to pick up the ring. What the fuck?, he thought, what the actual entire fuck? He turned the ring over in his hands, noting a small engraving on the inside of the ring: Love You Forever. Mark might actually be going into shock. No fucking way had Sebastian just proposed to him through the romantic medium of eating all his chocolate (again) and leaving an engagement ring as an IOU.

postcards from places that miss you - @/streetlightsky (sebastian/charles)

My poor English cannot describe how much I adore the title like it expressed the context and Charles' feelings sooo well. I felt the peacefulness and caught on an sensational hunch throughout my reading. Very recommend for when you wanna escape tough life out there.

love notes in the kitchen (say it all) - @/formulaes (mark/sebastian) 

He doesn’t say Multi 2-1, but they both know it’s what he means. Once upon a time a statement like that would have made Mark seethe with rage, but now it just makes him laugh and pounce at Seb, grabbing him in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground with a playful growl. “Ah! Mark!” Seb shrieks, “Mark! No, put me down! I’m innocent!” He shakes Seb around playfully, ignoring the clang of the tin as it hits the ground and peppering his face with kisses, “Stop.” kiss “Eating.” kiss “My.” kiss “Chocolate.” kiss.   Seb is giggling like a maniac, pretending to try and escape from Mark’s embrace as his feet finally touch back down to earth.

Cut open your Heart - @/Lovely_Lotus (carlos/oscar)

His eyes follow Oscar as he bends down to pick something up, his back muscles flexing and accentuating where Carlos left his marks behind.  But Carlos is unable to appreciate it. He is transfixed by the thing Oscar picks up. It's Carlos’ clothes. The 55 displayed proudly on the fireproofs. But there's something wrong with them. Only when Oscar puts them on does he notice that they are red. Weren’t they blue before? Oscar doesn’t seem to notice, nor does he seem to care. He takes one last look at him that Carlos can’t decipher. Unlocks the door and walks out, leaving Carlos behind to bleed out.

To Lando… - @/Lottie1824 (lando/oscar)

Not long until the end of the season now. I think I can do this and I can feel you with me every step of the way.  Love you forever and always Oscar.

5 times lando came into oscar’s room and told him he was bad at hugging plus one time oscar went into lando’s room and gave him the best hug of his life (by fall out boy) - anonymous user (lando/oscar)

“I don’t want to skip the sprint though,” Lando said. “I don’t want to let people down.”  “Taking care of yourself is not letting people down,” Oscar said.  “Which is why you're here to help me,” Lando said, attempting to smile.  “I’ll help you as best as I can, but I’m not a professional so I might make it worse.”  “That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Lando said, his eyes dark and serious. “I trust you, Oscar.”

cherry - @/helioslover (max/charles)

Max hates planes. Max also hates being too shy to ask the stewardess for a night mask so that he could sleep through the flight. Max hates knowing who’ll be picking him up at the airport. Max also hates the way he is happy to see a familiar face in a country where he doesn’t know anyone, even if it is this familiar face. But Max mostly hates the way he is eager to see Charles.

amaranthine - @/kjstark (carlos/charles)

Fate smiles at them again. And when the sun hits Carlos on the face during the anthems, his eyes don’t burn. You see: his teammate is Charles Leclerc, he’s used to the blinding light. 

he just turned in like i didn’t exist - @/linearity (carlos/oscar)

You see, Oscar doesn’t have a problem with his soulmate. It’s his soulmate who has the fucking problem.

[heaven-s-black-box]

Red at Night- Fukumori

Return to File

Recovery date: Feb 2nd, 2022

Description: Fukumori secret marriage

Notes: N/a

Word count: 1 153

Back to directory

Fukuzawa Yukichi, as Kunikida had come to learn, had a great many secrets. Some were inconsequential, like the man's incredible fondness for cats, and some were a great deal more important, like his former acquaintanceship with the port mafia’s boss. But Kunikida had come to understand that if it was important to the safety of the agency or Yokohama, the president would disclose any necessary information.

So when a bouquet of flowers was delivered one morning, addressed to the president, Kunikida brushed it off as just another simple secret. The colors were warm, and he couldn’t help but think of an old adage Kenji had told him: Red at night, sailors delight, red in the morning, sailor’s warning. It was likely a coincidence, but the yellows and reds painted the picture of a violent sunrise so early in the morning. But it was none of his business.

Fortunately for his curiosity, Dazai had no such filter.

“Kenji-kun!” Dazai called across the office once the delivery man had left. “What do those flowers mean?”

“Hm?” Kenji asked, perking up from where he was hunched doing paperwork.

“The flowers that were just delivered, what do they mean?”

“What makes you think they mean anything?” Kunikida snapped, not once looking up from his laptop. “Not to mention it’s none of our business.”

“Aww, Kunikida-kuuun, you’re no fun. Besides, call it a detective's intuition.” He posed, index finger pressed against his forehead and eyes closed pensively.

Kunikida just rolled his eyes.

“Hm, I think they were zinnias, carnations, and peonies. Yellow zinnias mean daily remembrance, and magenta zinnias mean lasting affection, but in a family kind of way. The other two are romantic, dark red carnations mean romantic love, and red peonies love, honor, and respect.”

“Wow, you know alot about flowers,” Atsushi commented in awe.

“That’s because I help the old lady a few blocks over with her shop sometimes, actually I think that delivery guy was from her shop.”

Despite his determination to leave the president's private life alone, Kunikida had two takeaways from that conversation: one, the sender was likely a lover, and two, the flowers were sent from a relatively cheap shop nearby.  A third less important takeaway was that Dazai was still as nosy as ever, not that he’d ever doubted that.

And so concluded the mystery of the flower delivery.

Until the following week when the same delivery boy delivered the same flowers, this time at the end of the day.

The office was still busy as Kunikida and the other agency members filled out paperwork given to them by the gifted special division in the aftermath of the guild conflict. Once again, Kunikida was reminded of the old adage.

A soft scoff sounded from Rampo’s desk where he sat munching on a box of pockies, but Kunikida wasn’t paying attention. Instead he noticed, as the president came out of his office to accept the floors, that the previous bouquet sat wilting in a vase on his desk. It wasn’t strange that they had begun to wilt, but it was quite the coincidence that a new bouquet arrived just as the last started wilting.

It was almost as if the sender knew they’d begun to wilt.

And so the case of the bouquet deliveries was once again reopened as Dazai called out-

“Another bouquet, president? Whoever sent them must really like you, maybe you should send some back!”

Kunikida’s shoulders hunched in as he grit his teeth. Dazai truly had no tact.

“Da-”

“Yes,” the president cut Kunikida off, stopping in front of the door to his office. He gently held a few petals as if examining them, a smile barely resting on his face. “Perhaps I should. Now get back to work, you still have a report on our partnership with the port mafia to finish.”

Dazai let out a groan at the reminder, sinking further into his chair, while the president reentered his office and closed the door behind himself.

“I still can’t believe you kept that from us,” Kunikida grumbled.

“What?”

“That you used to be a part of the port mafia, an executive no less! It never once occurred to you that that may be important information?”

Dazai just shrugged, and Kunikida was so busy scolding him for withholding such important information that he missed the amusement dancing in Rampo’s eyes. After all, if Kunikida thought Dazai had been withholding important information he’d blow a fuse when he found out who was sending the flowers.

And he did. Far sooner than Rampo thought he would, afterall the detective never expected Mori to show up so soon after nearly killing Fukuzawa.

But as the door to the agency opened and Mori Ougai, boss of the port mafia, stepped in, the entire agency jumped to defensive positions. All except Rampo, who continued sucking on a lollipop with his feet kicked up on his desk. He was glad Yosano was out for the day too, as even though she kept her mouth shut he knew she’d rather see Mori dead.

“Tired of sleeping on the couch?”He called, grinning at the confusion that echoed through the office.

“Yes, unfortunately it seems my words alone are not enough and so I have decided a proper apology dinner may be necessary.”

“He’s in his office.”

“Thank you, Rampo-san,” Mori nodded before slowly passing between the desk, wary of any attack that may be sent his way.

He reached the office door without incident, and as he reached for the handle Rampo waved Kunikida and Dazai down. Just as the two stepped closer to Atsushi and Kyouka’s desks, Mori opened the door and ducked as a knife was chucked out.

“I deserved that,” Mori said calmly before righting himself and stepping in.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Dazai turned to Rampo.

“Really? Tanaeda-san sent me to my ex-boss' ex-husband?”

“Ex-hus-husband! What on earth makes you think they were married?!” Kunikida hissed as the other agency members rushed over to convene at Rampo’s desk.

“Mm,” Rampo took the sucker out of his mouth and waved it towards Fukuzawa’s office, “technically they never got divorced, that’s why Mori-san started sending flowers again when we teamed up to fight the guild.”

“The president was married to the port mafia’s boss?!” Atsushi yelled.

“What do you mean again?”

“Why are you so calm about this!”

Using his sucker to point, he went through each question.

First Atsushi’s. “Yes.”’ Then Tanizaki and Naomi’s. “Back when they were together Mori would send flowers all the time, usually I would get a box of sweets,” he pouted, “hey I didn’t get treats this time.” And finally Kunikida. “Because I was a witness.”

“And you never thought that was important to share?”

Rampo shrugged. “It wasn’t my business.”

“Since when do you care what is and isn’t your business?” Kyouka asked.

“Since watching Kunikida blow a fuse is funny.”

[petitelepus]

The Loner's Unexpected Journey, Part 16

Kimetsu Academy!Genya Shinazugawa X Fem!Reader

Summary: New Year came and went and you and Genya's birthdays came.

Warnings: None

A/N: Modern!AU, Kimetsu Academy, Female Reader, Genya Shinazugawa, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Shuya Shinazugawa, Hiroshi Shinazugawa, Koto Shinazugawa, Teiko Shinazugawa, Sumi Shinazugawa

PART 1 II PART 2 II PART 3 II PART 4 II PART 5 II PART 6 II PART 7 II PART 8 II PART 9 II PART 10 II PART 11 II PART 12 II PART 13 II PART 14 II PART 15 II PART 16 II PART 17 II PART 18

New Year came and went, followed by your 18th birthday. It was a big thing or at least you had the hunch it was. You would finally be able to drink legally, get a driver's license, and even smoke, but you doubted that you would be doing any of those things.

None of them appealed to you as Genya did but you wanted to wait until you were both 18 before you could do anything bigger than kissing. Your partner's birthday was just a couple of days or such from yours and you were slightly nervous about it.

What if he wanted to have sex immediately? You weren't sure if you were ready, but then you thought about the times you had been kissing and how you wanted to show him how much you actually really did love him. Wasn't sex after all the ultimate show of affection?

After all, you had both dreamt of that special night when the two of you would do more than share the bed. Those dreams were intense and often left you breathless once you woke up. It didn't help that you and Genya slept in the same bed.

Yes, you were ready. If Genya wanted it as much as you did then you would be ready to share that experience with him.

"Happy Birthday!" You heard Genya sing to you. He had requested you to close your eyes as he brought out his gift to you. You were sitting on the couch when you heard him approach you.

"You can open your eyes now," Genya smiled and you copied him as you opened your eyes and saw this delicious-looking chocolate cake with your name and age written on it, alongside 18 candles lit on it.

"I wasn't sure what to get for you so I hope you don't mind me getting you cake?" He sounded a little guilty, but you were honestly so happy to receive your first birthday cake in years.

"I love it Genya!" You smiled cheerfully as you looked at him, "Can I make a wish?"

"Y- yes, go ahead!" He nodded and you inhaled and blew all the candles out with one try. He smiled as he reached for the plates and cake server, "What did you wish?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't come true?" You chuckled as you watched him cut you a generous piece of cake. There was a small meow and you looked down to see Lady rub her head against your leg as if she wanted to also know what you wished for.

"No Lady, it's a secret," You chuckled, much to Genya's confusion, "What- Oh!" He just noticed Lady at your feet and smiled, "I think I have some wet food for you-!"

Lady immediately meowed out loud at the mention of wet food and quickly abandoned you to make her way to the kitchen where she always got the food.

Both you and Genya chucked a little and he went to open a can of wet food for Lady and you smiled as you watched him take care of your fur baby.

Secretly you wished for willpower to make it to the 7th day when Genya would turn 18 as well. Otherwise, your birthday went well. You and Genya ate cake and watched a movie, the usual fun stuff.

As your birthday passed, you started to prepare yourself for your loving partner's birthday. You went as far as to buy condoms and lube and it was maybe the most embarrassing thing you ever did!

You couldn't look the cashier in the eyes as you purchased the stuff and it was even worse when the cashier wished you a good day, as if they knew! Well, they probably had a hunch but it didn't make it any easier! Your face burned so badly as you left the convenience store and headed back home.

Finally, Genya's birthday came and you were nervous, but also happy. You woke up a little before Genya to dress up, go and prepare him a birthday hero's breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and toast! Not the fanciest thing, but you rarely had bacon so it should be enough.

"Morning…" Came Genya's voice. You turned to look and saw him yawning tiredly, but you couldn't help but smile at the sight of his wild bedhead.

"Morning hero!" You chirped happily as you made your way to him and pecked his cheek, "Your breakfast is done in a second!"

"Thank you," He thanked you, still held back by the sleep as he took a seat by the table and you served him, his breakfast. You watched him slowly wake up as he ate and soon he was scarfing his breakfast as if you hadn't fed him for days.

"Easy or you might choke!" You chuckled, "There is plenty more!"

"Sorry," He apologised and you shook your head, "No no, you can eat whatever you want and how much you want. This day is all about you."

And you felt good saying so. Genya swallowed his mouthful and nodded eagerly, ready to say something when suddenly the doorbell rang. You both glanced at each other in confusion.

"Are you expecting someone?" You asked and he shook his head, "No, you?"

You shook your head and got up to answer the door. Once you answered the door and saw who it was, you smiled and made way, "Genya, it's for you!"

"What-?" He got up, ready to come and see who it was, and just in time, as his 5 younger siblings came rushing inside.

"Big brother!" They all cheered as they ran to their older brother and hugged him, "Happy birthday big brother! You're an adult like big brother Sanemi is!"

"You guys!" Genya was all smiles as he hugged his siblings happily. You smiled at the heartwarming scene and you almost missed Genya's big brother and your math teacher Sanemi by the door.

"M- morning, sir!" You greeted him as you made way for him and the silver-haired man grumbled as he stepped into your apartment with a bag in each hand.

"Morning," He greeted you and you were thankful that you had changed your clothes from pajamas to your warm sweater. You closed the door behind the man and this caught your partner's attention.

"Big brother! You came also!" Genya gasped and Sanemi frowned a little, "Of course I came! You should feel honored because your sweet siblings wanted to come and surprise their big brother!"

"I- I am!" Genya nodded and his siblings hugged him happily, "We brought you a present!"

"And then we are heading out for lunch!"

"Thank you, everyone…!" Genya was truly happy and so were you as you looked at the heartwarming scene before you.

"Kitty!" Genya's younger siblings shouted as soon as they noticed Lady who was basking in morning sunlight on the couch. As soon as Lady sensed kids, she raised her head and yawned before meowing curiously.

The children immediately turned to look at their brothers, "Can we pet the kitty?"

"Yes, just be gentle," Genya nodded and his siblings cheered as they surrounded Lady. You were briefly scared that they would scare her, but the kids were so well-behaved that you had no reason to fear.

"Happy birthday," Your teacher said as he looked at you and Genya.

"This is for you," Sanemi said as he handed you the bag in his left hand and the other one to Genya. You blinked, stunned by the kind gesture. You never really got presents and to have something from your partner's family?

"T- thank you, sir!" You thanked your teacher who scoffed, "Kids chose them so you should thank them."

"Thank you!" You and Genya both thanked and you opened your bag and saw the cutest and sweetest thing ever. It was a picture of you guys during your Christmas party at Shinazugawa's house. You all looked so happy and you felt your eyes sting thanks to the kind gesture.

"Kids put their allowance together to buy them for you guys. Of course, I didn't let them buy anything too expensive." Sanemi said and you nodded as you looked at him, "Thank you, sir… This is the sweetest thing I've ever gotten."

"Thank you, big brother," Genya also thanked his brother, and hearing you two thank him so genuinely made the eldest brother flustered, "Thank the kids, not me!"

Hearing that they were called, the kids looked at you guys over their shoulders, "We wanted to take you guys out to eat also!"

"When?" You and Genya looked at each other since you had just eaten late breakfast. Sanemi looked at you guys and saw the half-empty plates on the table, "We can come back later to pick you up for lunch."

"Oh, if you want, would you like to stay here until lunch?" You asked, "I have pretty much manga and games if you want to try them?"

"Really?" The kids looked absolutely excited as they looked at their eldest brother, "Can we stay big brother? Please?"

"Alright, but don't bother Genya's girlfriend too much!" Sanemi gave in and the kids cheered as they made themselves comfortable with the girls petting Lady and boys rushing to your bookshelf to see your massive manga collection.

You smiled as you watched them enjoy themselves. You couldn't remember if your place was ever as lively as it was now. It was a nice feeling. You glanced at Sanemi and smiled, "Would you like some coffee, sir?"

"If you had any, then sure." The silver-haired man nodded and you smiled, "Make yourself comfortable on the couch and I'll bring you some."

The man nodded as he sat down and actually reached to pet Lady also. You were truly happy as you went to prepare coffee and while the coffee was brewing, that was when Genya walked to you, "Thank you."

"Hm?" You blinked, confused, "For what?"

"For being so kind to me and my family." He smiled a little, "I couldn't ask for a better birthday present."

"Well…" You quickly glanced at his siblings over his shoulder and once you were sure they couldn't hear you, you quickly pecked his lips, "I'll give you my present later."

"Wait, wh-?" He was about to ask when he noticed the blush and shy look in your eyes and he blushed as he realized what you meant, "O- oh!"

"Just… Wait for me?" You whispered and he swallowed as he nodded his head quickly, "Y- yes!"

You smiled as you kissed him quickly and if things went along with your plans then that wouldn't be his last kiss today.

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

Excuse me . I don’t want yet another text draft I never get around to posting, so….

It’s funny how much a little appreciation means.

Yesterday I was working my ass off hacking on the overgrown yard at the Burras House when a man came walking by. I’d seen him earlier walking along the street. He was hunched with the sideways walk Pop always had when his back was out, but he apparently made it all the way to the Dollar General across the highway. Now, and hour or so later, he was trying to find a shorter way back home, and was cutting across the neighboring yard.

“Good job!!” he called out to me as he waved his hands at the area I’d cut. I thanked him so much for saying it must have surprised him.

The thing is that no one EVER says “good job” to me! Complaints, yes, but praise, never. I work so VERY hard all the time, but none of it ever counts.

It’s especially true for something like this, where someone would normally just either use a riding mower or even hire someone to deal with it. People look and tut that it isn’t “mowed” neatly enough, or if they see me swinging the blade they assume I’m either too much of a tight wad to buy a mower or I’m making some sort of environmental statement. ** I get grumbles about not doing enough, if I get anything at all.

We ended up having a nice little chat. It turns out he recently moved from New York, and he laughed that’s why he likes talking to all sorts of people. I chuckled too, because it is atypical for this town. I hadn’t really thought about it until he said it, but then again I hadn’t noticed his accent until then either. (I’m so oblivious to accents, not usually “hearing” them in the moment. it’s weird )

It’s a small, rural town of less than 500 people, where theoretically everyone knows everyone, yet people exist in these bubbles. As you would expect, race is one aspect, but there are many subtle shadings of who socializes with who. I talk to anyone/everyone, like eye contact cues a “Hi!” and will happily chat if they want. But my neighbors aren’t like that, and folks are often taken aback when I speak to them.

Anyway, the guy talked with me a bit. We commiserated about doing things through pain, and the way people don’t acknowledge it, and discussed yard tools. That sort of thing.

On the flattering side, he admired how strong I must be (Second time this week men have done that! LOL). I’m not strong, I’ve just got a lot of endurance and bull headed determination.

On the side that makes me sigh, he worried about me doing so much because I’m a woman. Never in my entire life had my family treated things as “what women do” and “what men do”. Gender has never been an excuse for not doing something, so saying “You shouldn’t have to do all that! You’re a woman!” irritates me.

It was a pleasant chat, especially since with no shopping trip until next month I might not get a chance to talk to anyone for quite a while. But what mattered to me, what really, REALLY mattered to me, was that he saw the work I was doing. My efforts were seen and appreciated!!

I had been resigned to the feeling that no one would ever notice anything I do, that nothing I do mattered, that I didn’t matter…

I thanked him. I thanked him for saying something about my work. I thanked him for just talking to me. He must have thought me nuts, but geez, I was so grateful.

There is still too much to do, and it all still seems so overwhelming and even futile. But you know what? While I still have to do deal with it all alone, but having a stranger see, actually see, my struggles made me feel so much better.

Sometimes you just want someone to appreciate your pain so you don’t feel so alone and forgotten…..

**You could say my father was the local environmentalist. In a tiny, rural, southern town that wasn’t too hard. The fact he was on the board of the North Carolina Coastal Federation and once was the local contact for Greenpeace doing a little action on a nearby plant polluting the river made it a wee bit more notable than just some dude trying to convince his neighbors that climate change was real. (BTW, I dunno when that started being a big thing for him, but he knew about climate change, albeit not by that name, since the late 1950s. Imagine how frustrated he felt)

[hermitcraft-8]

the fluffy ashean au fic thats longer than actual chapter parts

When Sean laughed really hard, he wrinkled his nose up and bared his front teeth like some sort of rabbit, and he held his hands up in front of his face like he was blocking blows that never came, and he curled his legs up and rolled around on whatever he was sitting on.

When Sean was bored, or thinking really hard, he tugged on his piercings. Sometimes his lip rings, and sometimes he'd pull on his anti-eyebrows if things were really difficult, but usually it was his ear lobe gauges.

When Sean was too cold, he hunched in on himself, and sucked on his teeth until they whistled. He would never ever ask for a jacket, but he would always eye whoever was nearby like he was waiting for them to offer.

And most of all, whenever he was talking to someone, he would copy them. Little things, like how he’d smack his teeth when talking to someone who smacked their teeth, or he’d fidget with his hair if you did, or roll his rs, or just smile more.

Madi never noticed.

Ash knew she never noticed because he knew how she ticked. He knew how she saw people. He knew she saw the freckles on his spine when he pulled off his shirt and never thought anything of them, or the little scars jaw from acne and shaving, or the divot in his skull that his buzz cut gave away. He knew she didn't notice.

For the first week that Sean and Madi dated, Ash hated that more than anything. Why was Sean with someone like her, someone who would never think the way he slept with his head tilted all the way back and his mouth just a little open was cute.

And then they broke up.

Ash was there. He saw the whole thing.

Personally, if Sean O’Lainey got really drunk and told him he had broken his heart and he didn’t want to remember their kisses, he’d probably never forgive himself, but Madi hadn’t seemed too rattled.

And then Sean was theirs again. They had him again, back in their midst, and everyone pretended not to notice when he called them the wrong names.

This, tonight, was their first hangout since the breakup, and Ash was starting to think he was the only one who was so nervous he thought he would throw up. It wasn’t a particularly classy event- Sean had to go shopping and the others all agreed to tag along for old times sake, but Ash felt absolutely ill.

“It’s not like he broke up with us,” Lori chuckled, watching him pace the parking spot again. “Come on, he’s been our friend since middle school- your friend since kindergarten. You’re fine.”

Ash snarled at them, wanting so badly to communicate what exactly made this such a cataclysmically important event, but not having any of the words necessary. It was important because it was Sean, and Sean was important.

And then Sean's truck pulled up. It gently nudged a stray shopping cart, and everyone winced, but Sean didn’t brake, just pushed onward, parking messily and slinging his door open.

“Thanks for finally showing up,” Kyrie called. “I was starting to think you’d died.”

“Sorry,” Sean called back, and the way he shoved his shoulders back was the same that Kyrie did. He was in mirror mode, just doing whatever everyone else did. “I lost my keys.”

“No worries,” Miki smiled. “Glad you could make it.”

Sean grinned a bit, slinging an arm around Lori’s shoulders, and Ash's neck suddenly felt very cold and empty.

The Rome Walmart was not very impressive, as far as Walmarts went. Every high schooler in town had worked there, it felt like, so it was impossible to go on dates there without everyone hearing about, but that’s where everyone went, anyways.

Not that this was a date.

Another cute thing about Sean: he hopped up on the back of the cart when he pushed it, leaning forward, and his t shirt that was just a bit too small rode up, revealing some of the freckles on his back, and the elastic of his boxers, and when Kyrie reached out to pull his shirt down, and he looked over his shoulder, he mouthed a thank you instead of saying it.

Ash really hated having a crush.

It didn’t seem worth it- best outcome was him dating his identical twin sister’s ex, worst outcome was him getting embarrassed and losing his best friend. There was no winning here.

So he very firmly kept his eyes off of Sean’s back-freckles.

And then the other three vanished. Miki wanted to check out the toy aisle to see if they had any new My Little Pony toys (she was turning 20 soon, he thought, in amusement) and the other two agreed to join her.

And it was just Sean and Ash.

Sean didn’t seem phased. In fact, he seemed to hardly notice their absence, just looking down at the list on his phone. “Okay, I need frozen waffles.”

And Ash had no choice but to wander behind him like a lost dog.

“Hey,” He said, fully unaware of where this was going. “Why did you break up with Madi?”

Sean turned, frowning. “What?”

“I-” Ash was regretting this immensely. Why did he even bring this up, why did he even open his stupid mouth? “Nevermind.”

Sean didn’t speak, just turned back to the cart and kept pushing it along. One of the wheels squeaked.

“You wanna know the truth?” Sean said, twisting his mouth a bit, chewing on his lip. “Like, the real actual truth?”

Ash huffed. “I mean, that’s why I asked.”

Sean’s thumb glided across the cart handle the same way Madi’s thumb moved when giving hugs. “I don’t know if I ever liked her. I was just scared to say no.”

“Oh,” Ash said, almost disappointed. “Okay, that’s fine-”

“No, I mean…” Sean paused, turning to look at him, narrowing his eyes at him like he was trying really hard to think. “That’s not it, I thought I liked her because- Ash. I don’t know what it’s like to like someone.”

Ash stared at him. “What, like- you’ve never liked anyone ever?”

“I…” Sean squinted. “Okay, I might have. Once. But I can’t really be sure-”

“Who?”

“I’m not telling you that.”

“Do they go to our school?”

“I’m not telling you that, either, man,” Sean exhaled, bumping his hips against Ash’s. “But… I don’t know, it’s probably not a real crush. Everything I’ve heard made it sound like I had a crush on Madi, but I was probably just scared of her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, my stomach hurt, I got all sweaty around her, I had a nightmare about her dumping me-”

“Why were you scared of her, though?”

“I don’t know,” Sean shrugged. “She’s… I don’t know.”

Ash hummed.

Sean hummed back.

“Did you know you copy people?”

Sean winced. Ash wasn’t expecting that. A laugh, maybe, or a sheepish grin, or a shrug. He didn’t expect a wince.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry? What for?”

“Uh, I was hoping you didn’t notice,” Sean said, tiredly. “I kind of hoped no one would notice. I swear it’s not on purpose, when I catch myself doing it, I try to stop-”

“Wait, wait, wait, what am I missing,” Ash grabbed his sleeve, stopping him in his tracks. “Why are you trying to stop that.”

“I read somewhere that it’s a manipulation tactic,” Sean shrugged a little guiltily. “Like, a huge red flag.”

“I think it’s cute,” Ash said, almost defensively. “Like, hey, you’re paying enough attention to me to snap when you’re bored like I do.”

“I don’t-” Sean blinked. “Cute?”

Ash felt his insides freeze. This was literally his worst nightmare, and it was entirely his own fault. He let go of Sean’s sleeve. “Forget it.”

“Ash,” Sean said, weakly, but Ash was already walking away. “Ash, wait.”

Ash paused, sighing, and, not turning to face Sean, asked. “Are you coming?”

“Ash. Look at me,” Ash paused, before turning to face him. Sean scanned his face, carefully, lips thin. “You don’t call things cute, Ash. Especially not people.”

“Yeah.”

“You just called me cute.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Ash. Can you tell me this: do you like me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Sean exhaled, tilting his head back. “This complicates things.”

“Yeah, no fucking kidding.”

“I can’t date you,” Sean said, rubbing his lip ring. “Because of Madi.”

“And because you don’t like me,” Ash muttered. “Don’t forget that.”

“I never said that,” Sean held up a finger. “I said I only liked one person.”

“And… and, what, that person just so happens to be me?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“Okay, would Madi kill us is the thing-”

Ash was pulling out his phone before he could finish the sentence, shaking fingers hitting buttons he hardly recognized, until his phone was ringing. They both stood there, staring almost in surprise at the screen, until Madi’s face appeared, crooked glasses and all, illuminated by a computer screen.

“What?”

“Would you be mad if Sean and I started going out?”

She squinted at the screen. Sean waved.

“Are you stupid? You called me for that? I’m doing homework, Ash-”

“Answer the damn question.”

“No? Why would I give a shit?”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“Wh-”

Ash hung up, turning to Sean, who was blinking at him, rapidly, the same way that Miki did when she was surprised.

“So-”

“So.”

And then Ash started laughing. He wasn’t really sure what he was laughing at, but he was laughing.

And Sean, of course, laughed along.

[deancodedinthewater]

Shadow Part 2

“Sam! Is that really you?” Meg yelled as she threw her arms around his neck, having to jump to reach, and pulled him down to her height. “Oh my God!” Sam really wasn’t sure what to make of her being her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m just in town,” Sam said and then realised he probably needed more of a reason than that. “Visiting friends.”

Meg pulled away and glanced around, her brow pinching as she frowned. “Where are they?”

“Well, they’re not here right now,” Sam said, with an awkward laugh. “But what about you, Meg? I thought you were going to California.” Sam could feel Dean hovering at his shoulder.

“Oh I did,” Meg said and she gave Sam the same exact lecherous grin Dean gives him when he’s been... Well, Sam didn’t want to think about that. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Oh, and I met- what’s his name? Something Michael Murray at a bar.”

“Who?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” Meg said, dismissively waving her hand. “Anyway, the whole scene got old, so I’m living here for a while.”

Over Sam’s shoulder, Dean cleared his throat. Sam and Meg both ignored him.

“You’re from Chicago?”

“No, Massachusetts- Andover,” Meg replied. “Gosh, Sam, what are the odds we’d run into each other?”

“Yeah, I know,” Sam said, he was actually running the odds in his head and it was getting less and less likely the more he thought about it. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Well, I’m glad you were wrong,” Meg said, with a bright smile that had Sam nodding and smiling back at her. Dean cleared his throat again, louder. Meg glanced over at him. “Dude, cover your mouth.”

“Sorry, Meg,” Sam said, stepping to the side so Dean could be included. Sam caught sight of his brother dropping back to his actual height out of the corner of his eye. Had Dean been standing on his tiptoes so he could look over Sam’s shoulder? “This is- This is my brother, Dean.”

Meg’s eyes went wide. “This is Dean?” she asked, mouth agape.

“Yeah,” Sam said, glancing sideways at his brother.

“So,” Dean said, with a grin. “You’ve heard of me?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you,” Meg said, folding her arms and glaring at Dean. And really, if looks could kill Sam would be scraping his brother’s corpse off of this bar's floor. “Nice-” she looked him up and down. “-the way you treat your brother like luggage.”

Sam flinched as hurt passed over Dean’s face. His fist circled his heart in the most heartbroken sorry Sam had ever seen him do.

Meg barely noticed as she kept ploughing through. “Why don’t you let him do what he wants to do?” she yelled, on her tiptoes now so she could yell right in Dean’s face. “Stop dragging him over God’s green earth!” She was gearing up to continue so Sam pushed his way between them.

“Meg, it’s alright,” Sam said, holding his hands up as if he was calming a startled horse. Meg backed down but all 5’3” of her was still raring for a fight.

“Okay, awkward,” Dean said, rocking back on his heels. “I’m gonna- I’m gonna go get a drink now.” He shot Sam a look that portrayed far more hurt and confusion than Sam ever wanted to cause in his brother, before he made his way over to the bar.

“Sam, I’m sorry,” Meg said, her frame softening. “It’s just- the way he treats you... if it were me, I’d kill him.”

“It’s alright,” Sam said and he couldn’t help the way his eyes cut across the bar to Dean’s hunched form as he perched himself on a bar stool. “He means well.”

Meg nodded, giving in. “Well, we should hook up while you’re in town.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed.

“I’ll show you a hell of a time,” Meg said, wiggling her eyebrows again.

“You know what, that sounds great,” Sam said, he pulled his phone out and tried to redirect his uncomfortable energy into typing on it instead of bouncing. “Why don’t you- why don’t you give me your number?”

“312-555-0143,” Meg recited from memory.

“You know what, I never got a last name.” And that totally wasn’t obvious. Sam was proud of himself for that. He’d definitely gotten better at subtly asking for information since he’d done pre-law.

“Masters.”

“Masters?”

“So, you better call,” Meg said, pointing at him in mock anger.

“Scout’s honour,” Sam replied, holding his hand up in the scout’s salute despite not having been one.

“I hope to see you around, Sam,” Meg said with a smile. She pointed to the bar over her shoulder with her thumb. “Maybe leave the ginger downer behind next time.”

-

Eventually, Sam had joined him at the bar and apologised for whatever her name was and they had made their exit.

“Who the hell was that?” Dean snapped as they crossed the parking lot.

“I don’t really know,” Sam said with a shrug. “I only met her once. Meeting up with her again? I don’t know, man, it’s weird.”

“And what was she saying? I treat you like luggage?” Dean turned till he was all but walking backwards so he could glare at Sam. “What, were you bitching about me to some chick?”

“Look, I’m sorry Dean,” Sam said, he signed as he said it. And Dean got the feeling that was meant to make it a more authentic apology. Or something. Not like circling your fist over your heart was difficult or anything. “It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana. But that’s not important, just liste-”

“Well, is there any truth in what she’s saying?” Dean snapped, interrupting Sam. “I treat you like luggage? I mean, am I keeping you here against your will, Sam?”

“No, of course not,” Sam snapped back, emphatically. Dean’s steps faltered in surprise. He hadn’t actually expected that response. “Now would you listen?”

“What?”

“I think there’s something strange going on here, Dean.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Dean said, rolling his shoulders as he turned to face forwards again. “Nobody watched me as I left, tragedy.”

“No, man, I mean like our kind of strange,” Sam said, waving a hand between them. “Like, maybe even a lead.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I met Meg weeks ago, literally on the side of the road,” Sam explained. “And now, I run into her in some random Chicago bar? I mean, the same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural? You don’t think that’s a little weird?”

“I don’t know, random coincidence?” Dean said with a shrug. “It happens.”

“Yeah, it happens,” Sam agreed. “But not to us.” And maybe he had a point. Their lives felt like a narrative sometimes. As if everything that happened had to relate to some as of yet unknown plot line that was hanging over their heads like a blade. “Look, I could be wrong, I’m just saying that there’s something about this girl that I can’t quite put my finger on.”

“Well, I’d bet you’d like to,” Dean said with a smirk. He nudged Sam in the ribs. “I mean, maybe she’s not a suspect. Maybe you’ve got a thing for her, huh?” Sam rolled his eyes but Dean kept teasing. “Maybe you’re thinking a little too much with your upstairs brain.” He tapped the side of his head and grinned.

“Maybe you don’t know shit, Dean,” Sam said and Dean felt like he might have hit a nerve. “Maybe I don’t get out as often as you because I don’t feel that way about people?” Dean’s eyes widened. He had actually hit a nerve. He hadn’t meant to do that.

“Sam, I’m-”

“Do me a favour,” Sam cut him off. “Check and see if there’s really a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts, and see if you can’t dig anything up on that symbol on Meredith’s floor.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’m going to watch Meg,” Sam said.

Dean laughed and resisted the urge to continue teasing properly. “Alright.”

Sam heard the teasing anyway. Probably what comes from learning to communicate silently. “Dude!”

“I’m going,” Dean said, throwing his hands up. “I’m going.” The car was parked across the street so Dean crossed it, shaking his head. He did hope Sam at least had some fun, even if it was just chatting with this Meg girl. He clearly liked her and if that meant bitching about him then Dean could deal with that. Maybe. He had no issues with it at all.

Who was he kidding? He’d absolutely hate it if Sam spent all his free time telling strangers how much he hated his brother. He hoped that wasn’t what Sam did.

“Dee,” Sam called back as Dean opened the driver’s door. “I’m gonna need the car.”

“You’re gonna make me walk back?” Dean asked, hand poised on the roof ready to swing into the driver’s side of the bench. Sam gave him that kicked puppy look and Dean sighed. If his brother bitched about him now he had a right to feel annoyed about it.

-

Dean had commandeered Sam’s laptop - maybe it was time he got his own? - and took over the little table in the kitchenette of their motel room to do research. He could do research. He already had some information. About the girl and the symbol. Which meant - check in with Sam. He grabbed his phone and dialled Sam’s number.

Sam picked up within three rings. “Hey.”

“Let me guess,” Dean said, teasing lilt to his voice though not quite going as far as he had earlier. “You’re lurking outside that poor girl’s apartment, aren’t you?”

“No,” Sam replied, too quickly. Dean waited, pointedly. Eventually, Sam changed his answer. “Yes.”

“You ever thought about asking her on a date?” Dean asked, half teasing and half genuine.

“Did you find anything on her or what?” Sam snapped. Dean grinned, spinning in his seat till he was facing the door instead of Sam’s laptop.

“Sorry, she checks out,” Dean answered with a shrug. “There is a Meg Masters in the Andover phone book. I even pulled her high school photo. Now, look, why don’t you go knock on her door and, I don’t know what nerds do, invite her to a poetry reading? Or whatever.”

Down the line, Dean heard Sam sigh and allowed himself a self satisfied smirk. Seemed he’d hit his mark with not pushing too much but still teasing his little brother. “What about the symbol? Any luck?”

“Yeah, that I did have some luck with,” Dean said, he wouldn’t admit that Bobby had been the one to point him in the right direction. He’d done most of the legwork himself, but without Bobby this would’ve taken so much longer to find. Dean made sure all his notes were in the right place and lifted up his journal so it was at the top of the pile. “It’s uh-” he flipped the page of doodles out of the way so he could see his actual notes. “-it turns out it’s Zorostrian. Very, very old school, like two thousand years before Christ. It’s a sigil for a Daeva.”

“What’s a Daeva?”

Dean skimmed through the notes on the page, wishing he had a little more organisation. “It translates to “demon or darkness,” he explained. “Zoroastrian demons. Rejected gods. They’re savage. Nasty attitudes - kind of like if Darth Maul was a shadow entity.”

“How’d you figure that out?”

“Give me some credit, man,” Dean complained. Okay, maybe the direction Bobby had pointed him in was Caleb. “You don’t have a corner on paper chasing around here.”

“Oh, yeah?” Sam asked, disbelief coming through loud and clear. “Name the last book you read.” The Two Towers.

Dean sighed in defeat. “Alright, I called Caleb. He helped me, alright?”

“Yeah,” Sam said and he sounded both self-satisfied and distracted.

“Anyway, here’s the thing,” Dean said, gesturing with his pen as if Sam could see him. “These Daevas, they have to be summoned. Conjured.”

“So, someone’s controlling it?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” Dean replied, throwing his free hand out to the side and accidentally dropping his pen. “And from what I gather-” He bent down and picked the pen up before he could accidentally kick it across the room. “-it’s pretty risky business, too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And, uh, the arms, and torsos.”

“What do they look like?”

“I can’t really get a concrete answer on that,” Dean explained, twirling his newly picked up pen in his fingers. “Nobody’s seen them for a couple of millennia. I mean summoning a demon that ancient? Someone really knows their stuff. I think we’ve got a major player in town. Now, why don’t you go give that girl I don’t know- a kiss on the cheek? Take her to a movie? Private strip-o-gram?”

“Bite me,” Sam replied.

“No, bite her. Don’t leave teeth marks though-” The line went dead. “Sam? Are you there?”

-

Sam shook his head as he dropped his phone on the bench and glanced up at Meg’s window again. Just as the light turned on and Meg walked across the pane in nothing but a black lace bra. Sam glanced away, trying to look at anything but her. But he found his eyes tracking her as she crossed the room, pulling on a t-shirt. He couldn’t name the feeling rolling in his gut but he knew it wasn’t sexual. He hadn’t known her that long so what was-

Someone cleared their throat at his window and Sam turned to find a woman standing just outside the car with a foul expression on her face. She flipped him the bird.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Sam tried to defend himself. “I’m just-”

“Pervert!” the lady yelled before storming away. For a moment all Sam could do was watch her in stunned silence. But then he heard Meg’s apartment building’s door open and he dropped down onto the bench. He peered up over the ledge of the door and watched as Meg crossed the street and made her way down the road. Once her back was turned, Sam sat up and got out of the car. He followed her.

At a seemingly abandoned building, Meg stopped and looked around. From just around a corner, Sam watched her open a camouflaged door hidden in the graffiti covered wall. As soon as she was inside, Sam followed her.

Once inside, Sam was faced with a set of stairs. There was nowhere else obvious that Meg could have gone so he climbed them. When he reached a door he tried it but it was locked and he had left Dean’s lock picking kit in the car. Sam glanced around, trying to find another way to get through when he spotted a broken down elevator, grate pulled aside just enough for him to squeeze through and start to climb. Inside there are decently spaced bars for foot and hand holds which made the climb less of a challenge.

Just above him, Sam could see an opening from another elevator gate. He pulled himself up until he could see through the grate into the room. It’s empty. A large space with equally big windows and nothing but a tiny altar table filling the space. Meg was there too. She crossed the room to the altar and picked up a goblet from the black altar, swirling her finger in whatever was inside. When she pulled her hand away blood dripped from the tip of her finger.

Meg spoke into the bowl but Sam couldn’t quite hear what she was saying. But then she spoke louder.

“I don’t think you should come,” she said. There was a pause. “Because the brothers, they’re in town. I didn’t know that-” she stopped as if interrupted and Sam realised whatever the goblet was she was using it to talk to someone. “Yes, sir.” She paused, listening to whatever was on the other side of that goblet of blood. “Yes, I’ll be here. Waiting for you.” Sam’s brow pinched as he watched her set down the goblet, blow out the candles and leave.

With Meg out of the room, Sam shuffled his way over to the wall, where the gate had been left unlatched. He hoisted himself up and into the room proper. When he approached the altar he found it decked in gruesome artefacts; human hearts, animal bones and other assorted witchcraft implements. But right in the middle, drawn in blood, was that same Zoroastrian  symbol that Dean had been researching.

“What the fuck?” Sam whispered.

Masterpost