#he reaches double his amount before he realises that there's no limit.

[dudedidujust]

can't stop thinking about that joke about Jason having to ask for every bolt of lightning he uses, but what if- what if that was true.

just imagine Jupiter giving a restricted amount of bolts he can use in a set time and not renewing them until the time limit has passed. just imagine Jason in battle counting off every lightning strike and trying to save them for later. just imagine that the only way to get more is begging to a father who does not care to listen. sometimes the count varies and he's in the middle of a fight and suddenly the lightning he's summoning puffs into smoke in his hands and he's left scrambling even though he's sure he hasn't run out. Jason learns to manipulate the winds, to fly, to fight and win without lightning ever sparking between his fingertips because there's always a chance that he may need it later, that a greater emergency could occur. He's fighting Krios, furious and fast when there's suddenly smoke where there should be lightning and he grits his teeth, raises his sword, and keeps going. He wins.

[everygame]

Batalyx (C64)

Developed/Published by: Llamasoft Released: 10/1985 Completed: 18/05/2024 Completion: Played every single game extensively.

Following on from the critical–and it seems commercial–failure of Mama Llama, which Minter put down to his twin bugbears (distributors failing to distribute, and game reviewers being lazy dicks) you would hope Minter would make something a bit more straightforward and commercial again–at least as commercial as Revenge of the Mutant Camels, anyway. But no, he doubles down on making things as hard for himself as possible by putting out Batalyx, a six minigame collection that doesn’t even work like you’d expect a minigame collection to.

You see, instead of just, like, selecting each game, playing it, winning and losing, you instead select an amount of time you want to play Batalyx for and can then switch between games whenever you like, with the goal of either getting an overall high score or receiving “completion icons” for “completing” each mode. You’ve essentially got infinite lives as a result, with dying generally only costing you time or opportunity (making it harder to reach an icon, or bumping you down a level and lowering your multiplier.)

There’s some sense to the design–as the timer ticks down, the games get harder, so if you’re trying for completion, you should play the games you’re worst at first. But it also doesn’t make a ton of sense because if you’re playing for high score it only really makes sense to play the one game you’re best at (or which you can score highest at.)

One wonders, almost, if Minter’s time spent designing his visualisers Psychedelia and Colour Space have leaked into his game design here. Games are no longer something to be beat (the completion icons a pretty flimsy sop to that) but something you stick on for an hour to zone out to pushing buttons and looking at the pretty colours while you listen to Dark Side of the Moon or something equally tedious [“Hey!”--Pink Floyd Dept. Ed.]

That said, there’s a slight case of multiple discovery here, in that Minter, sort of, accidentally has created Hudson Soft’s famous “Caravan mode” without realising and I believe before they even did. You can make the time limit as short as five minutes and then concentrate on playing a single game as well as possible, and so that's what I did. It doesn’t really work. But here’s my take on each mode individually anyway.

Hallucin-O-Bomblets

A perfect example of Minter’s gung-ho attitude to new ideas and his blindspot: he hits on an interesting design, creates it, gets personally very good at it, and then doesn’t consider that him being able to play it doesn’t make it even parsable never mind playable to anyone who didn’t come up with it. Here you have the interesting idea that shooting is how you move, so you fire bullets and the inertia moves you backwards, and you do this in an Asteroids-like wraparound screen as Ancipital-style wacky enemies show up.

The problem is that because you move in the opposite direction that you’re pointing the stick, you feel like your controls are completely reversed and end up flying around the screen wildly slamming into enemies, which deducts from your chance to actually complete the mode. This makes you play extremely conservatively, trying to move as little as possible and snipe enemies, trying to move yourself back into an advantageous position by quickly firing in the opposite direction you just did, but as a result it’s got the feel of playing Irritating Stick with your wrong hand while hanging upside down, as you gingerly attempt to survive. Just doesn’t feel very fun.

Attack of the Mutant Camels 2

It’s strange to demote the sequel to something you previously released as a full game to a mere subgame, but I suppose you have to reckon with the incredible speed at which games were evolving within just a couple of years. This doesn’t really live up to the original unfortunately. Minter was clearly enamoured with the graphics of the flawed Atari 8-bit version and gets some of that spark here with colour-cycling camels and the floor scrolling from a confusing perspective, but everything gets a bit more clumsy as the camels get smaller, leap around and you can have more than one on screen at a time–and they like to clump up together. Controls are more in line with the C64 original, but it doesn’t really seem to help as you can’t predict Llama leaping and when you kill one a new one falls on the screen basically where you are, making a nonsense of the original Empire Strikes Back concept that you’re pushing the attack back each time you take one down, And you can warp between levels whenever you want which is a quirk of the new “infinite lives” system–you can warp to a high level to kill camels that are worth more points, and if you die you just get bumped down a level. I almost feel like this undercuts the caravan-like 5 minute mode–there’s probably an ideal amount of time to spend warping to then rack up a high score, so it’s probably “solvable.” It’s clumsy to play either way though, and remains a disappointment– never mind that The Empire Strikes Back is still better, the original on C64 is still better!

The Activation of Iridis Base

Another pure example of Minter’s design philosophy and his priorities; not just gung-ho towards his ideas, but also led by vibes rather than what might seem like the obvious path. At first glance this looks almost like Yoshi’s Safari, where you, riding on the back of a camel, are shooting with a crosshair as the camel gallops forward (a clever re-use of the floor scrolling from Attack Of The Mutant Camels, actually.) But you aren’t doing that at all!

Jeff notes in the manual that he had originally planned it like that, but he strung all the projectiles into a string and thought it looked so good that he decided to build around that. The major problem is that the game he designed around that is basically just a reaction test that asks you to push your stick in the direction a tiny indicator box on the screen asks you to (sometimes holding the fire button as well.) This means that you spend the entire time staring at this tiny screen and not the interesting graphics! There’s almost something self-sabotaging here about taking a game that could easily knock the C64’s take of Space Harrier* into a cocked hat and instead make something literally less interesting than Simon.

*Remarkably, in the sixth issue of Minter’s zine, produced after Batalyx was finished, Minter raves about how cool Space Harrier is in arcades and how much he’d like to replace his difficult to maintain Tempest machine with one. How could he not see the potential here???

Cippy On The Run

A gag name based on the combination of the diminutive for the lead character of Ancipital and beloved C64 platformer Monty On The Run, it’s almost hard to not start to get kind of annoyed with Minter by this point in Batalyx, because it’s starting to feel like just a grab-bag of half-finished ideas that aren’t amounting to anything. Here he has a different take on the Crush Roller maze painter from Hover Bovver by tossing the maze out completely and transporting it to a side-scrolling level that will call to mind Sheep In Space for the real heads, as you play the Ancipital as he runs and fires nonsensical symbols wildly colouring in the floor or ceiling he runs across (as you can flip between floor and ceiling) as you attempt to colour in both in full.

There are gaps in the floor you need to jump over and there’s also spheres flying about everywhere that, should they hit the floor or ceiling, change that section of floor into something that will affect the Ancipital’s movement (make him jump, teleport, etc.)

“I had a lot of fun with this one. It was just a case of sitting down and coding and seeing what came out” sez Minter, and you can tell, because there isn’t really anything here other than, I imagine, the exercise of making it. I imagine the idea is that you’re supposed to be navigating the levels, hopping between ceiling and floor while blasting spheres, but the two aspects–colour the floor, blast enemies–conflict, because you can’t blast them successfully unless you’re hopping between floors, and if you’re hopping between floors constantly, you’re making it a nightmare to try and get the floor all coloured in because you’re constantly skipping areas and the enemies end up colouring the floor because you’ll never blast them all. You can either noodle around blasting them for what feels like forever or run full tilt colouring the floors in and trying to avoid the damage they do, and neither really feels like anything you’d want to do. Jeff!!!!

Syncro II

Have to admit my patience has been utterly sapped by Batalyx so far–and I have to restate I played Ancipital for ages and really enjoyed it, so I’m not just a hater–and I basically threw my hands up as soon as I started playing this one. There are a couple of spheres rolling about on screen, and then you are expected to make panels on the floor move in the opposite direction of the spheres to ultimately make them stop, with the goal to make all spheres on screen stop moving. This is based on a type-in/demo that Llamasoft has previously released called Syncro that looks a good bit more understandable (featuring Ancipitals on conveyor belts, or something?) but this version is almost completely baffling unless–as I assume Minter does–you have a really fine understanding of the velocities of the spheres on screen and exactly what speed you want to set the panels at. You could probably spend a lot of time learning this, but it would be miserable waste of time I’m afraid.

Psychedelia 

The final “game” of six, Jeff craftily recycled Psychedelia as a pause mode of sorts. It’s a bit impaired, however, because while it’s easier to use than the full thing (good!) you don’t actually get a full-screen to look at the nice patterns with as it’s all kept within the existing UI, and it gets rendered pointless as a result.

Will I ever play it again? There is not a single game on this that I’d like to play again for a second. Final Thought: I described Mama Llama as an example of the perils of genius–someone who has simply gone to a creative place that I don’t think anyone else could follow. I desperately want to say it’s like Scott Walker went straight from Scott 4 to recording Tilt, but firstly, that’s probably baffling to anyone reading this, and secondly, Tilt is actually very good, not just frustrating. Batalyx is like Scott Walker went from recording Tilt and suddenly just put out an album that consisted of a six tracks where he just kicked a set of bagpipes up and down a set of stairs for an hour (which now I say it, doesn’t sound that unlikely) and said the correct way to listen to it was to skip between the tracks whenever you got bored of them. It sounds clever, but you’re still just listening to a set of bagpipes being kicked up and down the stairs.

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[obeiii-mee]

Can I angst for Mammon where he is in a really bad mood and his brothers are at it again calling him names. And already ask them kindly to leave him alone but they keep at it. And Levi says something and it's the last straw. The air around them get cold for a moment as he slowly looks up and he flat out threatens them to shut up before he puts them back into there place with a really dark and threatening voice, before leaving. And the look could rival Satan's or even Lucifers glare.

I think Mammon takes the abuse of his brothers but sometimes he isn't in the mood and want a little peace and it is very very rare for him to get pissed

Like he's the kind of person who would yell when he's upset but when he's down right pissed it's like really fucking scary

People forget that as much as he lets his brothers push him around he is still the second oldest and is powerful so 😬

Brothers+ undateables reaction

Mammon snaps:

___________________

This is something I’ve mentioned in previous posts, but I basically second everything you said. I believe that Mammon dislikes getting into confrontations but isn’t by any means weak or stupid. He is the second eldest. However he is also, arguably, the one with the most self control out of them all. He has an overwhelming amount of patience when it comes to his siblings and I like to think he puts up with all of their insults because he loves them. Then again, it’s very possible for him to go berserk after years worth of build up.

Thanks for the request!!! I had a bit of trouble at first because I didn’t know how I was going to format it but I like the way it turned out so I hope you do too. Uhh also I reached my word limit writing this so I couldn’t include Simon, Luke and Solomon. I do plan on writing for them as well but at this point I’m just trying to get this done. Let me know if I made any grammatical errors! I double check my writing all the time but sometimes mistakes got over my head! The undateables are short because honestly I view the brothers as the ones who will suffer the most out of everyone. I hope you enjoy reading it anyway!!

•Characters: Lucifer, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphagour, Diavolo, Barbatos.

⚠️Warnings: Cursing, mentions of blood & gore and that’s about it.

___________________

For the past few months, Lord Diavolo’s pleasure of hosting parties and inviting people over had become more and more noticeable. It was pretty obvious that the Prince was lonely, isolating himself from others due to the responsibilities he has as the heir to the throne and a leader in the making. Attending his gatherings seemed like a down right chore for most of the brothers but you never had any problem tagging along. Besides, it felt nice knowing he seemed you worthy of coming to such important meetings. Your seven demons were, of course, also invited and per Lucifer’s orders, they all got cleaned up and dressed in fancy clothing to impress the regals prancing about the castle. Though the outfits themselves came with their own set of problems. Levi’s was way too tight; the collar seemed to annoy him more than anything else, judging by the patches of red skin on his neck. Satan accidentally ripped one of the buttons from his jacket off in a fit of rage earlier that day and was now silently fuming while poking his finger through the hole he made. Even Asmo spilled some water on his shirt before they arrived, ruining his pretty pink suit! Not to mention Beel was munching on his tie, having last eaten about 15 minutes beforehand. Lucifer pulled it out of his mouth and scowled at the saliva stains that were left behind. Safe to say they were all in a miserable mood to begin with.

“I expect all of you to behave in a respectable manner,” Lucifer flicked Belphie on the back of the head just as he began dozing off, making the youngest growl at him. He shot Mammon an irritated look “I’m especially talking to you Mammon. Don’t try to steal anything or I’ll cut your hands off.”

“I told ya big bro, ya don’t have to worry about me! I’ll be a golden child today! Promise!” Mammon held up his pinky as if he was committing to some kind of oath. The eldest darkened his glare and opened his mouth to say something else, but you interrupted in hopes of avoiding any bickering that might’ve followed.

“Look, there’s our table! Let’s go sit down. Lord Diavolo’s speech is going to start any minute now.”

Beel leaped at the table as soon as he sniffed out the appetisers, which were neatly arranged on the expensive tablecloth, shoving at least half of them in his mouth by the time the rest of you caught up with him. Having been seated, you quickly glanced around the room in hopes of spotting Diavolo. You bumped into Solomon and the angels before entering the castle, chit chatting with them for a while about the event. Even now, Luke was excitedly waving at you from across the room, using both of his arms. However, Lord Diavolo and Barbatos were the ones in charge of this party and you were yet to see either of them.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Mammon eyeing the golden utensils laid out in front of him. Not the biggest of surprises really. Anytime Mammon sees something along the lines of gold, he can’t help but snatch it away. And there’s obviously so many valuables scattered all over the place, including the silverware that was proudly presented on every table. You sucked in a breath of anticipation when he reached for one of the spoons, only to exhale in relief when he placed it on the bridge of his nose, trying to balance it.

“MC, look at this!” He tapped your shoulder, as always wanting your full and undivided attention as he demonstrated his newfound skill. You giggled at his antics with fondness as he accidentally let the spoon drop with a clatter and a quiet ��shit’ coming from him. Lucifer pulled on his ear, like a mother scolding her child and whisper-yelled at him to stop acting like an idiot. The only reason the oldest chose a sit right next to Mammon was to maintain order and peace. Basically, he did it for disciplinary reasons.

“I understand that being impertinent is your full-time job, Mammon but keep this up and I’ll throw you in Cerberus’ room. Let him do with you as he pleases.”

“Lucifer, it’s not a big deal-“

“Yeah, OK,” Mammon hissed, picking up the spoon from the recently polished floor with a slight grin that didn’t quiet reach his eyes “I gotcha. Can-“

“Speaking of Cerberus,” Levi suddenly piped in, no longer fussing about his collar or nervously twiddling with his thumbs because of the massive crowd of demons surrounding him “Didn’t you force me to walk him last week when it was your turn to do it?? I only agreed because you promised to buy me the newest Ruri-Chan limited edition body pillow that came out last Tuesday! And you never did! And now they’re out of stock, you scummy piece of-“

The third eldest would’ve leapt across the table and aimed for the throat if you hadn’t pressed a gentle hand against his chest, making him sit back down with a huff. People were starting to stare at the commotion coming from your table, turning heads and muttering between themselves. You were slowly dying from embarrassment by the way, since you guys definitely became the topic of conversation for the other guests. The brothers were being too noisy to even notice and Lucifer himself was too preoccupied to see the scene they were creating which made you further slouch down into your chair, silently hoping for the ground to swallow you whole. The night really wasn’t going as intended. You could hear Solomon laughing at the brothers’ antics from three tables down.

“I guess that’s Mammon for you,” Belphie yawned, barely raising his head from table “He lies everyday, all day. What exactly is new here? And that says something since it’s coming from me.”

“I apologised for that!” Mammon whined, referring to Levi’s accusation and choosing not to address Belphie’s insult “I was gonna buy it but then I realised I spent all my money earlier that week anyway so I couldn’t!”

“Perhaps that wouldn’t happen if you learned how to save the money you earn properly,” Satan muttered, sipping from his glass of whatever beverage he had snatched from the servants earlier “Not like you know how to earn money in any way besides stealing it.”

You watch as Mammon clenched his fist “Can we please just move on-“

“I can’t believe that I was cursed with this moron for a brother,” Asmo sighed, almost theatrically, as if he was performing. And, in a way, he was. People were getting really interested in the drama unfolding over there. It was making you even more anxious, all those eyes staring at you. The Avatar of Lust was leaning so much on his chair, you were sure he was going to topple over and at this point, you kinda hoped he would. Anything to stop this momentum of hatred aimed at Mammon “You’re always getting us in trouble, you know. Hmph, we can’t go anywhere with you Mammon! You always end up ruining it for us! With your stupid schemes and-“

“I’m hungry-“

“Not now, Beel!”

“Cutting him up into tiny pieces for the witches will always be an option,” Lucifer chimed in, smiling at the thought.

Mammon snapped his head upwards at that. It was such an abrupt reaction, it made you jolt a little in your seat. You couldn’t miss the tension radiating from him, how quickly his body stiffened and exactly how hard his hands were gripping the edge of the table. His brothers were still paying him no mind, blaming him for this and that under their breath or being silently judgemental in Lucifer’s case. You worried for him because Mammon rarely acted like this; feral, in a way. Just so you know, he definitely noticed it. The look of concern plastered all over your face. That’s the only reason he released the table from his vice-like grip and slouched back against his chair. Satan went quiet and was staring at Mammon in bewilderment.

He disliked the idea of you watching him lose control of himself. He was your guardian. Your first pact. It’s important to him that your relationship is build around a pillar of trust. And he can’t even expect you to trust him if he exposes you to his demon form every time something inconveniences him. Mammon would rather cease to exit than have you fear him. So he kept his breathing regulated as the fog cleared his mind. The Avatar of Greed isn’t an angry demon. Snuffing out the the flame of rage he had fanned up until then was relatively easy. He just needed to get through tonight, then he could go home and complain to you about it once he got out of his brothers’ earshot.

“Why does he get to spend so much time with MC anyway? He’d probably sell them for a few Grimm any time of the day, wouldn’t he? It’s so fucking unfair. He won’t change no matter what so why risk MC’s safety? I will summon Lotan on him if he starts getting on my nerves.”

It would be an understatement to say that those words rubbed Mammon the wrong way, judging by the lack of immediate response. It was unexpected for him keep his mouth shut at a time like this. What was even more unexpected was the abrupt, delayed reaction he had a few seconds afterwards, resulting in his chair being flung back about 5 feet in that general direction. The seemingly deafening thud it made when it collided with the floor echoed around the dining hall, bouncing off walls and whacking people over the heads with the aggression behind it. A moment of pure, indescribably loud silence filled the crowded space as everyone else stared in shock at their brother, mouths agape and eyes bulging out of their sockets. Mammon would’ve laughed at their faces if it weren’t for the circumstances leading up to that point.

“What gives any of you the right to treat me like some sort of punching bag?” Mammon drawled, accentuating his obviously superior nature to almost every single demon at that table. He laughed, in an oddly half hearted way, before his sea struck gaze landed back to his siblings “Do not try to push me into a corner, because I will not handle it well. You’ve been having a field day with me for centuries now and I’m starting to get really ticked off, ya know? But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’ve done everything in my power to keep MC alive for the past few months and y’all are acting as if I’m out here playing with their life. Complain about me all you want. But...” He thumped the table, loud enough to make all the noblemen in the room flinch.

“Don’t you dare insinuate that I would ever put MC in danger, willingly or not because I will rip out your insides and paint the walls of this palace with them while hanging your intestines from these chandeliers. I will pluck your hairs out one by one, then your nails, then your eyeballs and then your teeth. You’re the ones that have put MC in danger’s way time and time again in the past few weeks, and you’re out here trying to suggest that I would even think about hurting them? Unlike every single one of you, who almost killed my human-you’re lucky I don’t have your fucking heads.”

He smashed his fist into the table again, using even more of his strength this time and effectively breaking the whole thing, the wooden legs giving out and shattering into thousands of splinters. Mammon spoke again, his voice lowering “MC forgave you. I didn’t. And I have no reason to. Not with how you’ve been treating me.”Once he spit that out, Mammon turned on his heel and left, slamming the door shut behind him hard enough to shake the whole building, leaving his siblings in dazed awe.

......

Even more silence. For some reason, all of the brothers at the now broken table ended up looking your way, silently questioning what they should do. It often ended up like this

You gave them all an unimpressed stare and a half-assed shrug “Don’t look at me. You guys fucked up.” Before sliding out of your seat and following Mammon out of the castle, sending an apologetic smile to Diavolo on your way out. Hopefully, you could manage to calm him down before everyone else gets home otherwise this might drag on for a while.

Lucifer:

-In all honesty, he probably saw the signs from a mile away and still decided to ignore them

-Maybe because he believed they weren’t being all that harsh on him, even if in Mammon’s eyes they were

-‘Harsh’ in Lucifer’s vocabulary usually means being hanged upside down from a ceiling or publicly executed, not a couple of mere insults

-Not to mention the eldest had always been horrible at communicating with his brothers when it came to emotions

-Despite Mammon clearly suffering from the treatment he received from his brothers, Lucifer refuses to believe he’s the root of the problem

-As the Avatar of Pride, he always had a hard time realising that all those words and the constant teasing, which he deemed to be pretty harmless, scarred Mammon a lot more than expected

-Once he actually comes to that conclusion, and after getting over the initial shock, Lucifer would probably feel the guiltiest out of them all

-Being the eldest means he carries quite a few burdens on his shoulders as most responsibilities fall on him due to his prideful nature

-He would blame himself for Mammon’s outburst simply because he’s the older brother and he should’ve known better, not just because he sees how a big of a role he played in all of this

-Usually, if his brothers do something bad, then he’s there to fix it within hours, that’s how it always worked

-Except he doesn’t know how to fix this exactly

-The problem is he has no idea how to approach Mammon after that sudden meltdown and he has no idea how to talk it out with him because he sucks at expressing himself verbally

-And since this took place in a public space, Lord Diavolo’s Palace no less, he felt really conflicted on what should have been done at that moment in time

-There was a lot of frustration, embarrassment and confusion in him for a good five minutes after Mammon slammed that door shut behind him and even after he gathered his thoughts together, he was still in shock for the rest of the night

-In any case, the whole event was promptly cancelled and everyone ended up going home earlier than expected, after Lucifer apologised to Diavolo about the spectacle they created (several times)

-When they finally get home, he decided to give Mammon his space instead of trying to knock at his door and instead went back to his room

-He knows they will need to solve this matter soon but there’s no way Mammon will want to see, let alone talk, to any of them just yet

-He’s sort of hoping he can apologise best he can next morning at breakfast, cross his fingers and wish for the best but judging by the venom that laced Mammon’s voice the night before, it’s not likely he will forgive any of them that easily.

Levi:

-If I were to guess, he saw the ending credits of his life flash before his very eyes as soon as those words left his mouth

-Levi felt a panic in him like never before, not even while playing his engaging horror visual novels at 3am in complete darkness or that one time he used Lucifer’s credit card to buy merch before being found out

-Must’ve forgotten his brother technically ranks higher than him on the power scale for a second there

-Or maybe he didn’t think his insults were going to affect him much

-They usually don’t

-Or at least that’s the impression he’s been under for a while now

-Mammon doesn’t snap easily under pressure but Levi must’ve really hit a nerve there that night

-While everyone was sitting in a short silence after Mammon left the building, he started twiddling with his fingers again the more he thought about it

-Because now he went from nervous to fucking terrified of what the hell was waiting for him when he finally got home

-He does feel guilty, nowhere near as much guilt as Lucifer feels but still pure shame

-However most of that guilt is swallowed by a steady fear and the constant worry of ‘how do I stop my brother from killing me?’

-Unlike Lucifer, I honestly don’t see him taking any sort of initiative when it comes to apologising to Mammon

-Not even because he doesn’t want to, but he would freeze up if he were to come face to face with him after that incident and then scamper back to his room like a rat in hiding

-So without your help, it’s likely the two won’t be speaking to each very soon which can honestly make life at the House of Lamentation so much more miserable

-In the end, if either you or Lucifer forced him to, he would say sorry by selling some of his merch and then giving him the profits (in secret but we all know it’s him)

-That is a big sacrifice on Levi’s part considering how precious his merchandise is to him

-But the idea that he’s gonna get murdered in his sleep by his older brother was getting a tad too real

-Besides, Mammon is still his brother and if he has to sell a couple of items in order to make him less mad, he would do it, albeit with a bit of grumbling

-Despite that, Mammon still refuses to come out of his room and sort of relies on you to bring him food because he doesn’t want to see his brothers

-Levi and Mammon would probably have to rebuild a lot of their relationship after this but it could easily take months for that to happen since Levi is too terrified to look him in the eye and Mammon is too upset to even hear his voice

Satan:

-He wouldn’t be the Avatar of Wrath if he couldn’t spot the anger within someone from a mile away

-He’s always been able to recognise the fury building up inside of him so for Satan it’s second nature to just know when someone’s on the brink of snapping

-It’s no surprise to say that he probably noticed Mammon’s wrath spilling out before anyone else did

-But alas, he realised it too late

-If he had reacted quicker, maybe he would’ve been able to diffuse Mammon before he exploded on them. Or not

-It’s difficult to tell if he could’ve actually helped because who was he to tell Mammon to calm down??? If anyone told him that while he was throwing a fit, he would probably break their necks-

-In the end, he just pressed his lips into a straight line and watched his brother throw his chair across the room

-Not gonna lie, he found it a bit entertaining purely because of the look on Lucifer’s face

-Satan had to try really hard not to crack a smile because he knew Mammon would probably smash a glass against his head or something

-Even so, he was the first to stand up and offer to go after him, though he wasn’t sure he could do much consoling

-Being so experienced with anger meant that he knew Mammon had built himself into a rage that he won’t be able to escape out of too easily

-Which is why he advises Lucifer to give Mammon his space once they get home

-Overall, the most understanding out of all of the brothers

-At this point in time, probably the least judgemental out of everyone and once Mammon comes out of his room for the first time in a while, either him or Beel is going to apologise to him first

-He may push and push him alongside the rest of his siblings but I feel like Satan doesn’t want to reach a certain low, like cornering Mammon into the frenzy he had that day ever again

-He might get pissy with him if he’s being too stubborn to forgive anyone after coming down from his intrusive thoughts

-And he really hates that Mammon had to remind them about all the times you had nearly died because of them, because he knows they won’t be able to make it up to you so why is Mammon upset about this????

-But he will try to maintain respect for his older brother from then on

-Even if the sharpest of remarks is on the top of his tongue!

Asmo:

-Asmo is the type to laugh it off and then start feeling really upset about it later on, the longer he thinks about the whole thing

-After Mammon storms out, he just assumes it’s another one of those ‘Mammon’ things and tried to brush the feeling of unease off him

-Even so, later that night the memory of Mammon kept coming back to him while he laid in his bed, unable to have a nice rest for the first time in how long? He’s always been really strict about his sleeping schedules after all

-Asmo’s observant, almost on par with Satan himself when it comes down to it. He definitely saw the gleam of anger, pent up frustration and hatred in his brothers’ eyes that moment and it legitimately scared him, even if it was for just half a second

-Honestly, he begins neglecting himself out of anticipation and worry which is a huge red flag for the Avatar of Lust who always holds himself at such a superior level compared to everyone else

-It may start out slow, but it has the same effect as a snowball rolling down the hill. It becomes more of a problem the longer it’s ignored

-Because he spends most of his days now debating whether he should try to coax his brother into coming out of his room and apologising to him, he forgets about himself

-Skincare routines are missed, pedicure appointments have been cancelled; hell, if Mammon’s keeps being stubborn, he may let his hair become absolutely filthy

-Asmo sort of relies on his brothers to provide the living environment he revolves around. If something is off with his brothers, he can not work properly either because it doesn’t feel right to do so

-Imagine a machine not working anymore because one of the clogs in it got stuck

-I can see Asmo feeling a decent amount of guilt when it comes to the situation but he still blames Levi for completely pushing him over the edge at dinner

-So now those two aren’t talking (it’s honestly so exhausting since they’re shoving the blame onto each other without stop)

-If Mammon decides to come out and hear them out, Asmo might get on his knees and beg because that guilt bubbling up inside of him may end up being his demise

-No seriously, MC might need to keep an eye out on him too while comforting Mammon because whatever he is doing isn’t healthy

-Takes Mammon’s outburst pretty badly and tries apologising to him many times but the second eldest still hasn’t said a word to any of them

-And that’s driving him into a fucking swirl of insanity at this point

-Of course, much like Mammon’s mental breakdown, this builds up over time but the result can be devasting

-If you pass by his room at night, you could probably hear him sob about how his brother hates him and it’s really heartbreaking to hear pained cries like that coming from such an overly confident demon like Asmo

Beel:

-Literally the only one here that doesn’t dish out insults onto Mammon every hour of the day

-He joins in very rarely and even when he does, it’s usually in good nature rather than malice

-Unless food is involved. Feelings (and Mammon) might be hurt if that’s the case

-Beel wasn’t listening to his siblings as they were diminishing Mammon, he was way too hungry to comprehend what the hell they were on about

-So he just started wolfing down appetisers until he noticed you looking all weary

-That’s the first thing that put him on alert

-And then the second born’s aura was also...off putting

-Might’ve actually tried to nudge Belphie to stop him from saying anything offensive to Mammon in this state when he realised how tense the atmosphere got

-Flinched when his brother left the palace, almost cracking the whole doorway on his way out

-Hunger is all but gone and at this point he wants to go home to check up on him

-Beel is a bit of a softie and he wears his heart on his sleeve a lot of the times

-He never did anything particularly bad to Mammon, not on the same scale his brothers did certainly and yet he still felt extremely bad

-Perhaps because he didn’t step in as much as he should’ve...?

-Either way, when his loved ones suffer, he has a tendency of putting the blame on himself because he feels it’s the only logical answer

-Honestly, he feels guilty enough to the point where it’s affecting his eating habits-which is obviously not normal for the Avatar of Gluttony

-Beel knows Mammon doesn’t want to talk to him but he still brings him food and leaves it at the doorstep of his room since he doesn’t want to come out and have dinner with them

-Or he relies on you to give it to him

-The thought of Mammon being so mad at them that he doesn’t even want to eat makes him feel so vulnerable

-As soon as he sees him for the first time since that night, he will probably be the first to apologise, even if Mammon isn’t in the mood to hear apologies

-Again, he’s trying to use food to make up to him (bringing him his favourites and paying for them)

-Even if he gets ignored, he’s still going to do it

-Beel is trying his best to say sorry to his older brother the only way he knows how to do so, but Mammon still doesn’t give in

Belphie:

-Could’ve been asleep the whole time Mammon was thrashing about

-Or at least that’s what it looked like to the average passer-by

-Kept one eye open to watch as Mammon finally snapped under pressure, having to raise his head once his brother broke the whole god damned table

-“OK, alright, storm off I guess-I have a splinter now-“

-Don’t trust that sarcastic commentary, he’s in deep thought on the inside

-Maybe he should’ve expected this but then again, he never would’ve guessed Mammon had it in him to be so aggressive

-Will narrow his eyes at him when he talks your death and scowl

-As if he didn’t already feel like the world’s biggest piece of shit, he had to bring that up

-As soon as he leaves, he turns to Lucifer and goes “See what you did? You broke Mammon. You suck, Lucifer.”

-The shifting of blame suits Belphie really well (it takes Beel side glancing him to get him to shut up)

-The Avatar of Sloth is too tired to even try to communicate with his brother so he goes straight to bed after getting home

-However, he actually visits Mammon’s dreams that night

-Or at least tries to, if Mammon is getting any sleep after that showdown

-It’s his way of checking in with his brother, helps him evaluate the situation

- Whether that works or not, there was definitely an attempt that required a lot of effort and you don’t see that very often with Belphagour

-It really demonstrates how much he actually cares for his family, even if he hides behind snide remarks and the likes of it

-However, if Mammon refuses communication, then he can’t do anything but give up

-He clearly won’t be able to convince him to step aside for a chit chat and why waste energy trying to force him to do so

-When the time comes, Belphie knows his brother will willingly talk to him (or at least someone else because he knows he’s not any good at comfort or apologies)

-At the same time, a lot of the things Mammon said during that party rubbed him the wrong way and seeing his twin suffer because of it is also pissing him off so patience may be running thin with Belphie

-Like Levi, there may be a lot of ice between the two from then onwards so it won’t be easy for them to find the middle ground in this whole argument either

-It could lead to a strained relationship if no one intervenes or even a physical fight if the youngest pushes all of Mammon’s buttons properly

Diavolo:

-The Future King feels guilty too, for some reason

-He is clearly not involved but he’s under the impression his party was a catalyst of sorts to the fight that broke out that night

-Diavolo wasn’t even in the same room when it happened-he heard shouting and growling from next door whilst talking to a noble about future arrangements in DevilDom and rushed in

-The sight was something to behold really; Mammon cornering all of his brothers and threatening them with pure venom in his voice wasn’t something you saw everyday

-More often than not, it was the other way around so the Prince had every right to be concerned

-He tried asking Lucifer what was going on after the second eldest slammed the door shut behind him and left but to no avail; the Avatar of Pride was in a state of shock and the only thing he did was apologise to him about a million times before his departure with the rest of his siblings

-Despite his worry, Diavolo tried not to get involved in the aftermath either, believing it’s not his place to interfere and hoping they would solve it out amongst themselves

-He did give Mammon permission to miss RAD classes for that week, thinking a small break is what he needed most

-Even drops by every now and then to check up on him (he just asks you how he’s holding up because he doesn’t want to pry)

-He can’t do much but watch from the sidelines, I mean this is a family dispute so it would be wise to just give them all a bit of space

-If it drags on for too long, however, he will be forced to do something because the brothers are all distracted and can’t get on with their student council work because of it

-Lucifer is even more stressed than usual and can’t even focus during their meetings so for the sake of his friend, if nothing gets resolved quickly, he will intervene and it won’t be pretty

-For now, he’s counting on you to make sure there are no further incidents but it’s unlikely you can stop a train once it’s set in motion so just hope Mammon doesn’t come out of his room until he’s calmed down

Barbatos:

-The butler is a Time Lord so it’s probably no surprise to find out he already knew this was going to happen eventually

-Not like he believed Mammon was going to take his brothers’ insults for much longer anyway

-Being the quiet and observant demon he is, he’s been keeping a close eye on the Avatar of Greed knowing damn well he was going to lose his patience soon enough and go on the offence

-If he knew this was going to happen at such an important moment in time, he would’ve warned his majesty beforehand but he failed to see the potential catastrophe awaiting his breakdown

-Again, he has no right to intervene

-Unless, of course, Lord Diavolo asks him to do so but really the most he can do is give you tips on how to deal with miserable demons

-I mean, you’re the one that’s going to be stuck with them for the rest of the year and this isn’t the type of conflict that gets resolved too easily

-Barbatos is clever so if there is still bitterness between Mammon and his siblings after an amount of time passed, he might try to change timelines (with the permission of Diavolo)

-He’s had enough of Beel coming over to eat his cakes and cry about his older brother hating him (believe it or not, the butler is definitely a bit fond of the sixth eldest so his cries did pull at his heartstrings)

-Basically, in the same position as the Prince

-He relies on you to get them all to make up but he knows it’s not likely to happen any time soon

-For now, he’s getting ready for the chain reaction this fight set in motion because there was no easy way to end this, considering they’re all vicious demons and all

—————————————————————-

Al~ im mad I couldn’t add Simon, Luke and Solomon-I want to write for them too >:(

[writingsfromhome]

Nuclear Family I

A/N: As requested (accidentally deleted the ask soz) a Dad!Harry where you visit him with your daughter and you live together as a family even though the reality is far from it. But for the sake of your kid you put up with it. The next part gets better promise!

Part I / Part II / Part III / Part IV / Part V

--------

“Charlie don’t get too far,” I call out to my three year old. She gives me a disappointed look but I return one of my own and she drags her feet back to me.

Sometimes it felt like it had always been just me and Charlotte and other times it was hard to believe it would be almost four years since I’d had her. The moment she was born-two weeks early-on a rainy August day, I knew I made the right choice to keep her.

“When are we getting on the airplane?” my daughter pouts. She reminded me so much of her father with her bold eyes framed by her lowered brows. I remember when I held her for the first time in my arms and she blinked up at me, her big eyes were a dewy field reflecting her father. It was then that it hit me that no matter where he and I were on earth-we were still somehow connected. And since I was still in love with him then, it hurt. But I learned soon to pour my love into Charlotte and focus on raising her the best I could.

“We’ll be boarding soon." I pick her up and hold her on my knees to keep her from running off again. This was my first time travelling with her-her father generally came down to LA a few times a year to visit her so we never had the need to make the trip. This time, for her fourth birthday, we’d decided to go to London and stay there for the month. And since I was my own boss, I could take my work anywhere.

“I want to see daddy,” Charlie whines.

"We will babe,” I try to soothe her.

“Daddy” was Harry Styles, the Harry Styles. We met through a friend over six years ago when he was in LA. Up until meeting him, it felt like I was living a grey version of my life. Our chemistry was explosive and our connection instant--colouring my world a vibrant hue. We were in love-so in love I moved to London a few months later to be with him and it was going perfectly until I got pregnant. We agreed to keep the baby-it was a no brainer, but as the months went by and the reality sunk in, our relationship took a hit. Suddenly we were arguing about insignificant things, Harry stayed out late with friends or in the studio and wasn’t as supportive as he should have been, and I wasn’t happy. When I brought up the separation Harry looked almost relieved-which hurt. When I brought up moving back to LA he was enraged, but after a few days he agreed. Now, our Charlie saw him a few times a year when he lived in LA and she would stay with him. Our interactions were limited to picking her up and as I’d heard it Harry had a steady girlfriend for the past year. Despite all that, I still loved him. What we had was unlike anything I’d felt, seen, or read about before. I knew he'd felt it too, the music he released spoke the words he never said. But the ugliness of the last few months of our relationship always kept me from remaining wistful. Harry didn’t want commitement. He only had room in his heart for our daughter and I was fine with that.

We were staying around the corner from Harry’s at an air bnb for convenience. Ever since having Charlotte, I hadn’t been outside of the US so this was exciting yet daunting. The idea of seeing London again, all my old friends, and Harry gave me a rush of mixed emotions.

The landing and locating of our luggage had a few bumps and a minor tantrum but our taxi takes us to the flat where we are met with the hostess.

“There’s been a terrible mistake,” she wrings her hands as we stand in the heat of the summer afternoon.

“What kind of mistake?” My heart drops and there’s a tugging on my dress. Charlotte demands to be picked up.

“We accidentally booked another couple to the flat.” The woman responds.

“What?” If I wasn’t this tired, I would be shouting. “How can you make a mistake like that? I booked this well in advance!”

“I understand,” the woman says. “Your booking must have been accidentally cancelled and I-the couple is fine with sharing the flat-”

“I have a small child with me as you can see,” I cut her off not going into detail why our privacy was extremely important. “I’m not living with two strangers when I secured the place for all of August. This is bullshit,” I spit out, forgetting Charlie could hear me. This trip was not going how it should be. “I’m contacting air bnb and-”

My rant is cut short when my phone vibrates. Harry.

“Hi,” I answer.

“Daddy!” Charlotte yells into my ear. I hush her with a glance and try to listen to what Harry was saying.

“-landed? I was trying to reach you where are you?”

I sigh and give the woman a dirty look. “We’ve just arrived at the bnb and apparently there’s been a ‘mistake’ and it’s double booked so now I don’t know where-”

“Shit, stay with me,” comes Harry's steady voice.

“I couldn’t,” comes my own, slightly less steady voice. Staying with Harry would be bad for me. It would only stir old emotions back up and make it harder to leave once again. I just knew it.

“I’m right around the corner Y/N. Just stay until you find another place at least.”

I couldn’t argue with that. I agree and order an Uber, giving the woman a piece of my mind before I go.

Charlotte had fallen asleep on my shoulder in the midst of all of it so I struggle with the child, our luggage, and my phone when I reach Harry's.

“I’ll be right down,” he says. My stomach is suddenly doing sommersaults and I can barely feel my legs. I saw Harry near Christmas! Why was I suddenly so nervous?

“Hey,” Harry enters the lobby in a black shirt and jeans and his glasses sit atop his mess of hair. “You look lovely Y/N, but that’s nothing new.”

Harry's grin is like a crack in the ice surrounding us and I give him a quick hug hello.

“Let me get that.” He grabs the luggage and we wait for the elevator again.

“She fell asleep,” Harry brushes our daughter’s hands and she shifts on my shoulder.

“She’s been doing that since the ride,” I say. “I think jet lag is already doing her in.”

Harry smiles at her and the tenderness in his gaze holds me captive. It was a while since I saw Harry look like that.

Harry gets the luggage onto the lift and I follow him in. The mirrored interior reflects the glimpses he takes of me but I stay staring forward, not wanting to give in.

“Won’t your girlfriend mind?” I ask Harry when we enter his flat. “That we’re staying with you.”

“About that,” Harry scratches his nose. “I’m sure she’ll understand. We should talk though…about the trip.”

“Of course, let me just put Charlotte to bed.” Harry points out the spare room and I can tell Charlie will like it here with the amount of stuffed animals Harry's decorated the bed with. She was spoiled.

“So you can stay as long as you want here,” Harry begins. “Or if you want to find someplace else I understand. Whatever you feel comfortable with.”

He holds my gaze as he talks and I nod along. It was all very proper and polite, almost as if we’d never had anything more than a friendly relationship.

“What’s your schedule like?” I ask. “I know we already figured things out but if I’m staying for a few days here will I be in the way of anything?”

“I’m filming in a few days, I took a lot of time off the next couple weeks for Charlie but that’s it. Then I'm in the studio after that." Harry scratches the back of his head. “Just make yourself at home don’t worry what I’ve got to do.”

“I don’t want to get in the way. I know we didn’t plan for this,” I flush. Harry reaches over and squeezes my shoulder.

“I want you to feel comfortable, love...”

I’m suddenly 21 and Harry and I are on one of our first dates at a bar. He holds onto my hand and tells me he really likes me. He asks me if we wanted to take our relationship past the dating stage. I’m giddy and drunk on love and kiss him yes.

“Mom?” A small voice calls out.

“Yes!” I jump up and shake the memories off, rushing to the spare room. Charlotte sits up in bed with a frown on her grumpy face. “I’m right here babe.” I scoop her up and she holds onto me, already holding a stuffed koala in the other hand.

“So you’ve met Mr. Blake.” Harry walks into the room and points to the koala.

And just like that Charlotte is jumping into her dad’s arms and bubbling with laughter, explaining how his real name is Oreo. My heart squeezes watching the two interact. Charlie is more awake than before the plane ride as she continues with her endless chatter. Harey is wide-eyed and drinking in everything she says. She says something funny and he throws his head back laughing, kissing the side of her head while she giggles. Seeing them two made my heart full.

“Momma I’m hungry,” Charlie says abruptly.

“You must be,” I look at the time. “It’s been a while since we ate.”

“Let’s have an early dinner out,” Harry suggests.

“That’s not necessary-” I try to say but Charlie cuts me off with a big cheer and soon Harry joins in and he’s off with her riding his back with her hands clasped tightly around his neck. I would never win with those two together so I find my wallet and join them.

“I didn’t realise how much I needed this,” Harry says on our walk to the restaurant. It was a ten minute walk Harry wanted to take, reassuring me that we wouldn't be bothered. Charlotte holds her dad’s hand and stares in wonder at the new city around her. “I can’t believe you-she-Charlie hasn’t ever been down here.”

“She was so excited to finally see where her Dad lives,” I laugh at the image of her bouncing off the walls in happiness.

“I think the weirdest thing for me is that my baby has an American accent,” Harry comments.

“I never thought about that!” I laugh. “At least she won’t be saying things like crisps and the loo!”

“Oi that’s offensive,” Harry jokes. “My english is just as good as yours mate!”

“Now you sound Australian!” I tease.

Harry laughs and bumps his shoulder into mine.

“Australia has kangaroos,” Charlotte comments randomly.

“We’ve got a clever one,” Harry winks at me. “They’ve got massive spiders too.” Harry says to our daughter but little does he know she actively picked up spiders.

Charlie starts jumping like a kangaroo and soon Harry picks her up and sits her on his shoulder where she shouts to anybody who listens that she was on top of the world.

“I always tell people she’s got that energy from her dad,” I tell Harry quietly. There a shine to his eyes as he looks to Charlie and she looks down at him and shouts it louder.

“My mum and dad were thinking of coming around this weekend to see her,” Hadry suddenly says.

“That would be nice for her. To see her family,” I say.

“I mean you’d be there too?” Harry says.

“Oh, right.” My mouth dries at the thought of having to see his family. They were a great bunch but the way Harry and I ended things so abruptly was an uncomfortable reminder. “I’ll try to make it.”

“Charlie can have some sort of a normal family dinner,” Harry jokes.

“Both parents and grandparents? That would make her trip actually.” I say with a little bit of sadness. Charlotte wouldn’t grow up with both parents like Harry and I had the privlege of and that hurt me thinking about it.

“I wish she could have that all the time,” Harry sighs. He glances over at me as he says it and there’s something unspoken. But Charlie grabs a fistful of his hair and he has to get her down in her drunken power.

The restaurant is cozy and Charlie talks a mile a minute with the attention of both her parents. Every so often when she says something ridiculous or something related to an old inside joke from years past, Harry will glance over at me with a smile. It’s a secret language between us, and I swear I even feel his hand brush my own but I chalk it up to accidents. Harry had a girlfriend, he had no business doing that with me.

It gets more confusing later that night. Harry had plans to go out at 8 and Charlie falls asleep by half past 7. Being in LA time, I stay snuggled in the couch, watching a random movie Harry recommended. My eyes drift shut halfway but I’m awoken by a bang. My eyes squint in the dark as my hand feels for my phone. 1:47AM the bright display reads.

“Sorry,” comes a voice. The lights flick on and Harry stands dishevelled in the clothes he went out in. “I was trying to keep quiet I di'know you were sleeping!”

He was drunk-whispering which meant his voice was only slightly lower than normal. He stumbles towards me and falls onto the sofa, yanking his shoes off with a great deal of effort.

“Were you sleeping?” He asks me up close.

“I guess so,” I respond. “Did you have a good time?”

A part of me feels awash with sadness, the dull and familiar ache settling into my chest. Another part of me is angry at myself for still being in love with a man who could not love me the same way.

“It would have been nice if you came,” Harry reaches out and twists a strand of my hair. “Are you naturally a brunette?”

“I am,” I say gently. “You should drink water before bed.”

“No-no don’t start taking care of me!” Harry puts a pillow on his lap. “I’m supposed to be taking care of my girls. But I’m doing a shite job I guess.”

He stifles his laugh. I try to stifle the pang in my chest when he says 'my girls’ because it meant nothing more than just words. I couldn’t afford to read into these things. But when Harry switches the pillow to my lap and lays his head down, all self-control gets chucked out he door.

“It’s been so long since we talked,” Harry tries to whisper again. He reaches out to touch my hair again, his fingers lingering on my face before lowering to his side again.

“You came to LA a lot,” in my statement is also an accusation. He never came in to my apartment or asked me to go out.

“You never invited me in,” Harry says quietly.

“Surely I did?” I tell him.

“No,” his reply is almost a sigh. I realise maybe I didn’t make it so explicit.

“My mistake,” I admit. “But you know you were always welcomes.” I trace the bridge of his nose.

“I know,” Harry says with a boyish smile. “I was slightly nervous when we were on your terf. I didn’t ask either-you’re right.”

Involuntarily I brush my fingers through Harry's hair. Instantly, his body relaxes with a sigh as he closes his eyes. So I remove my hand immediately and nudge him.

“I should go to bed,” I wait for him to clumsily get up. We walk to the stairs together where Harry wishes me goodnight. He leans foward and misses my forehead by an inch, kissing my eyebrow instead.

“Night,” I back away into the spare where Charlotte sleeps, rubbing my eyebrow. In bed, I try to sort through my feelings. My eyes land on the sleeping body next to me and I pull her into me. She was all I needed, I try to remind myself. I was only here for her. Harry and I were never getting together again.

[ballofray]

what about 21 with ler!techno and lee!tommy?

Maybe Tommy got caught stealing some of technos stuff or smth

The idea of Tommy getting caught stealing from Techno has always kinda been in the back of my mind and now I get to write it today is a good day

Also, it came to mind that you probably wanted Tommy stealing stuff from Techno’s house in the SMP but I did it where they just live in the same house and Tommy’s being a little shit so I'm sorry-

21: “I’ll give you five seconds to run.”

Techno never took off his crown.

It looked like it weighed a decent amount. Wasn't it a hassle to keep on all the time? Did it fall off often? If he kept it on all the time, then it must be comfortable, right? So what would it feel like if Tommy wore it?

Tommy had been wondering these things for quite a while now. And he decided that if he wasn't going to get an answer from Techno, then he should find one himself.

He opened the door to his older brother’s room, peeking inside and taking a glance around. Is this considered an invasion of privacy? He'll just be taking Techno’s crown, so as long as he doesn't go around snooping through his stuff... It should be fine right?

Tommy took a few steps inside the room, looking around to make sure nobody saw him. He felt like a criminal. Spotting Techno’s crown on top of a dresser in the corner of the room, he quickly stumbled his way towards it, gently reaching out to pick it up and being careful not to drop it. The last thing he wanted was to break Techno’s property. As he picked it up he quickly realised that it was much lighter than he first thought it would be - a pleasant surprise considering his goal was to try it on and he wasn't sure if he would like having a heavy ass crown on top of his head.

Tommy lifted the crown above his head and put it on, only for it to immediately fall over his eyes. He let out a small snicker and pushed it back a little, to ensure that the front of it it would stay at his forehead. The crown was surprisingly comfortable. It didn’t look that way when Techno wore it, but honestly, Tommy could see now how the pinkette can wear this about the place.

Tommy took one look in the mirror and instantly decided that he was stealing the crown. He knew it’d be a short-lived theft, he was bound to get caught soon, but he wanted to feel like a king. This must be why Techno is so confident in everything he does. The crown just hits different, you know?

The teen walked out the door, head held high as the crown still sat atop it. He took a few steps away from the door before he heard footsteps behind him, and his heart dropped. “Tommy.” A deep, monotone voice interrupted his joyful humming, and he slowly turned around, coming face-to-face with Techno, only this time cloakless and crownless. He looked way less intimidating without his signature king outfit. “Give back the crown, now.”

Tommy felt a nervous smile tug at his lips as he let out a sheepish chuckle, averting his eyes and already planning his escape. “Um- naaaaah. Listen, big man, you wear this thing all the time so it's only fair if I get to.” He knew exactly what he was getting himself into. He knew exactly how deep a hole he was digging for himself. Did he care? Nope! This was gonna be fun. “I look better in it anyways.”

Techno was eerily silent for a few seconds, causing butterflies to form in the blonde’s stomach. He pushed down his nervousness and faced him with his usual cocky smirk, which faded a little as his brother returned Tommy’s smug expression with his own. Fuck. “Ill give you five seconds to run.” Double fuck.

Tommy didn't move for a moment, but as soon as he saw Techno’s fingers twitch and heard the sound of his monotone voice start counting down from 5, he took off running, dashing past Techno and leaping down the stairs. When he’d reached the living room, he looked around frantically, looking for a place to hide as he knew there was no chance he’d be able to outrun Technoblade. After a moment of panicked searching, he saw it. A couch with a small space between the back and the wall. He’d be able to fit in there.

Tommy rushed over to the small hiding place, shuffling into the gap and curling into a ball. The silence that followed only made his heart pump faster. God, why couldn't he just have given him the crown? But then again... The rush this give him was kinda fun. He gasped quietly as he heard the sound of Techno’s footsteps come thumping down the stairs at a running pace, and Tommy’s immediate thought was ‘I fucked up’.

“Oh, Tommy~” Techno’s voice still sounded rather bored, but this time it was also sing-songy, giving it a teasing edge that Tommy wasn't used to hearing come from his usually stoic older brother. His face flushed as he clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing any giggles that he could already feel building up in his throat. He didn't pick a good enough hiding spot. He was definitely gonna be found.

“There’s no point in hidin’, Tommy. I'm gonna find you. Might as well come out, y’know, save yourself the anticipation.” The brit would’ve glared at Techno for saying this, but, in this situation, he couldn't. He’d make sure to fucking murder him later. That was, of course, if he survived his current predicament. “C’moooon... Where are you?”

Tommy sat in anticipation as he heard Techno’s footsteps slowly become louder and louder as he grew nearer, letting a small squeak slip through his lips once he heard him stop right at the couch. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding his breath and preparing himself, trying to rapidly come to terms with the fact that he was royally fucked. And all over a crown too!

“AH-” Tommy let out a shrill shriek as he was suddenly pulled out of his hiding place by his sides, the two hands which had a hold on him also rapidly squeezing up and down as they dragged him out. He let out a few surprised giggles and began to lightly squirm, looking up and being met with Techno’s smirking face. “Nahahahah- Tehehechno no!”

“This is your fault,” Techno stated, shifting his attack up from the boy’s sides to his ribs, vibrating in-between each of them and making him let out a few squeals. Tommy kicked his legs and tried to sit up, only to be dragged onto Techno’s lap and trapped in a back-hug. “All I wanted was for you to give me my crown. Then none of this would've happened, but nooooo...” His nonchalant ranting only served to make the teen more flustered as he frantically shook his head, babbling out pleas and insults amongst his bubbly laughter. “You just had to make this difficult for the both of us. Didn't you?”

“Nahahah! Tehehehechno yohohou mahahahassive dihihihick!” Tommy said through his bouts of giggles, melting into the hug despite his constant squirming and kicking. His face was bright red by this point, especially since the anticipation was absolutely killer and the surprise attack took him off guard.

“You wanna give back my crown now?” Techno asked almost mockingly, leaning down to muzzle into Tommy’s neck and blowing a couple of tiny raspberries. Tommy squealed at each raspberry, his squirming and laughter only increasing as he felt the embarrassment rise from how vulnerable he was. All he wanted was his goddamn crown. Now he has to go through all this?

“N-nahahah! FuhuHAHAhuck ohohoff!” Tommy shook his head, lifting his arms to grip onto the crown, making sure it stayed on. Turns out this was a giant mistake, though, as Techno took advantage of his now exposed underarms and began to scribble at his hollows. The teen’s arms came crashing down in an instant and his laughter grew squeaky. “NAHAHAH! NOHOHOT THEHEHERE! TEHEHEHECHNO!”

The pinkette shook his head, sighing in mock disappointment as he continued to wiggle his fingers inside Tommy’s armpits. “Not there! Techno! No. You brought this upon yourself,” Techno said, mocking Tommy’s British accent at the beginning of his sentence. “If you agree to give me back my crown, then I'll stop.”

“NEHEHEVEHEHER!”

“Never? Well, guess this is your life now. Get used to it.” Tommy let out a loud shriek as he felt Techno move one hand down to squeeze at his hip, letting out a snort as now two of his worst spots were being attacked. “Oh? What was that?” Techno asked, a grin forming on his face. “Did you just snort?”

“NAHAHAHAH! NO IHIHI DIHIHIHIDN’T!” Tommy protested, looking down in an attempt to hide his glowing red face. Between his embarrassment and his two most ticklish spots being attacked at once, he felt himself quickly nearing his limit. But he wasn't gonna give up yet. He could go for a little longer. “T-TEHEHEHEHECHNOHOHO!”

“Yes? You gonna give it back now?” Techno seemed to be growing impatient due to how stubborn Tommy was being. And so, just to finish him off, he blew another raspberry on his neck. The teen screeched and fell into silent laughter for the duration of the raspberry, before rapidly shaking his head as his laughing returned.

“YEHEHEHEHES! TAHAHAHAHAKE THE CROHOHOHOHOWN!”

And just like that, it stopped. Techno grabbed the crown off of Tommy’s head and walked away, leaving him on the floor to regain his composure. And as he gasped for breath, he had a thought.

‘I should steal from him more often.’

[realcube]

Haikyuu girls // The Strap - NSFW headcanons

pairings: kiyoko x reader, yachi x reader, saeko x reader

summary: you and your s/o decide to add a bit of spice to your sex so y’all use a strap - the following headcanons are how I think they’ll use it/react..

tw// aged-up au!, (she/her) reader, vagina-having reader, sexual intercourse, strap-ons, WLW sex, fingering, oral (receiving and giving), swearing, exhibition 

Kiyoko Shimizu

honestly, you’re both very diplomatic when it comes to deciding who gives and who receives

whenever y’all do it, the mood kinda just decides for itself

however, since both y’all were just blankly staring at the bright pink object that sat in the middle of the bed, Kiyoko figured that she’d take one for the team

also, since it was her who suggested and bought the item, she thought it would only be fair if she gave it try first

so, she guided you through the steps of putting it on while strapping it onto herself

then, once she was done, she bent you over and got to it 

✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

Your eyes rolled back into your head from the unholy mix of ecstasy and pain Kiyoko made you feel. Never before have you felt so full. The way she mastered the smooth plastic toy so it occasionally brushed against your g-spot left you salivating and begging for more - just how she intended. “Kiyoko~” You whined, pushing your face out of the blankets so she could hear your desperate pleas, “M- Muh, More! Please..” 

A light pant left Kiyoko’s lip as she retracted one of her hand from your waist to reach down at trace sloppy circles around her clit, but she was a lot more sensitive than she thought she would be so after that small bit of stimulation, she involuntarily tossed her head back and let out a low moan.

That was part of the reason she wanted to refrain from touching herself while pounding into you but the sight of your dripping pussy being stretched out by her strap along with the high-pitch mewls you let out was more than enough to leave her with a throbbing cunt and weak knees. 

Without a word, she altered her movements so that she was now thrusting into you at a rapid pace, every movement of her hip directed at the spot you pleaded to be stimulated and upon your request, Kiyoko delivered. However, not without a cost. At this point, your g-spot was getting used and abused so quickly, your body was barely able to keep up.

Lewd wails escaped your throat, your mind clouded with pleasure and euphoria yet you were still conscious enough to notice that the slight vibrating of your thighs could only mean one thing. 

Despite the fact you were struggling to breath through all the erotic sensations throughout your body, let alone think - as soon as you felt your orgasm arise, the natural instinct to ask for permission managed to muster up enough energy to allow you to croak out, “May I?”

Kiyoko couldn’t help but giggle, gently caressing you waist with one hand and abandoning her needy clit to attend to your puckered hole. “You’ve been a good girl.” She mused, a low groan falling from her lips as he speed decreased slightly just to tease you. “Go on.”

Her deacceleration barely effected you as by the time those words had reached your ears, you were already halfway through your climax. Bliss shot through your body, sending shivers down your arched spine and to your legs, which was promptly followed by a pornographic moan. “Sh..Shimzu!~”

Upon hearing you finish, Kiyoko slowly pulled out the strap to provide you with some relief before taking it off, throwing it aside and attacking her pussy with her fingers - clearly, she had been left unsatisfied after being aroused by your messy, horny state. 

You looked over at her and were simply unable to stifle a giggle. However, you weren’t the one laughing when you tried to stand up to walk over there and help her but then you realised you couldn’t feel your legs. “C’mere.” You commanded, seeming slightly less dominant since you were still panting from when she was railing you just a few seconds ago, “I’ll finish you off.”

Hitoka Yachi 

she rarely ever gives and this was no exception

(well, by that I mean she is a bottom but when it comes to giving gifts and stuff she is extra af but that is a whole other headcanon)

in fact, she was actually the one who bought the strap 

however, it was now you who inserting it into her 

but you both like it that way!

bc she usually hates being on top since she’s always scared that she’ll hurt you or leave you unsatisfied 

anyway, you both mutually agreed that you were the top - despite the fact that y’all only do it once every millennium-

✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

You finished deciphering the instruction and managed to put the god-forsaken thing on - and the fact that you had little to no hand-to-eye coordination probably didn’t help. ( Throwback to that one time you momentarily pulled out and then when you tried to plug your fingers back in, you accidentally ended up aggressively poking Yachi’s labia.)

“Okay,” You looked up, biting your lip upon seeing Yachi in nothing but lingerie with the dim candle’s lit in the background, making her look heavenly. The character develop - you sighed, recalling the first time y’all had intercourse and she insisted the lights had to be complete off and her oversized shirt and thigh-high socks stayed on. Not that you had a problem with that - in fact, you found it quite charming - but it was just amazing to see how much more confidence she’s gained.

You shook your head in attempt to shake away all the off-topic thoughts, “Are you sure you want me to do this?” You inquired, eyes soft and exchanging a loving gaze with her. “I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing this.” Although, it was Yachi’s idea to invest in a strap-on but you’d rather be safe than sorry as she might’ve changed her mind since then. 

Yachi nodded, her signature sweet yet awkward smile gracing her lip while she fidgeted with the lace on the edges of the red panties she wore. “Oh, yes. I’m sure! I-I’ll be sure to tell you if it’s too much though.” She stuttered, losing her train of thought at the sight of you wearing the article. A deep blush rushed to her cheeks and she tried to stifle a snicker, “Safe-word: ‘waffles’, right?”

Waffles; a parallel to the name of your dog - Pancakes - which Yachi thought was so cute and fun but you - for obvious reasons - felt uncomfortable with her, in any case, screaming your dogs name in bed. So, you changed the word to Waffles. 

You hummed in agreement, sending her one last kind smile before a mischievous grin made it’s way onto your face. “Bend over.” You demanded, glancing down to look at the massive piece of shmeat erect on your vagina; you’d by lying if you said it didn’t make you at least the slightest bit uneasy - but you had to push through, for Yachi! 

Saeko Tanaka

at this point, you were used to Saeko whipping out the weirdest shit and using it during intercourse

if anything, a strap-on was pretty vanilla and conventional compared to the other things Saeko has used with you

which include (but not limited to): a wooden spoon, a candle, a TV remote, an Xbox controller, a whisk, ice-cubes in the shape of people, a needle,  lego brick(s), a sandal, a guitar, a broom, a lava-lamp, a ketchup bottle, a hairbrush, a straightener, multiple bottles of shampoo (since she only uses the tiny bottles that she steals from hotels), her gear stick, a D20 and a pack of instant noodles. 

so obviously you were pleasantly surprised when Saeko actually went out and bought a real sex toy instead of just using one of her make-shift ones. 

“Only the best for you, princess!” 

oh, and this goes without saying, she’s a top

it’s not that you’re a bottom though because you are from it as you’ve attempted to top her on multiple occasions 

but it just never goes your way so no matter how dominant and/or persistent you are, you always end up receiving 

not that you have a problem with it but- when I say she goes hard, she goes hard

literally she’ll stop whatever she is going if you seem even remotely horny and as soon as you give her consent to go further, it’s game over for you, honey

also, she is very much an exhibitionist so she really doesn’t care if she’s being to loud while her brother/his friends are over

in short, when you saw that bright pink toy lying on her bed sheet especially for you - it didn’t take long for you to realise that you should probably pre-book a few days off from work because you won’t be able to walk for the next week- 

✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

“Shut up, babe.” Saeko hissed at you, a evil smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, “They’re studying downstairs.”- not that she cared, she just enjoyed seeing you frustrated. So she couldn’t help but laugh at how much of  a mess you were, sweat matting your hair to your forehead, your ass cheeks red from Saeko’s unmerciful palm, your leg twitching as you approached your orgasm and your mouth full of lewd moans being forced shut as Saeko insisted that you quiet down.

Saeko leaned in to whisper suggestive threats into your ear, “If I hear another sound leave that pretty little mouth of your’s, you’ll be punished later.” The tingle of her hot breath against your skin and the implications of what she said just aroused you even more, forcing you to repress your whines..for now.

Honestly, you seriously didn’t know if you could do it as surely, Saeko wasn’t aware of how differently it hit when she used a proper toy - or perhaps she just felt that cruel today. The optimum amount of pleasure you thought she was capable of bringing you was somehow doubled due to the mix of factors: her using a real toy designed to endue pleasure, the impressive balance of attention between your clit and ass, her erotic threats and the fact she was seriously going feral back there.

You were already close but her harsh groping of your ass, licking her fingers to provide the slightest bit of lubricant before sticking 3 digits straight into your strained, dripping cunt while her other hand tightened it’s grip on the back of your neck - all that was enough to tip you over the edge.

You thought you’d be able to ask for permission or at least give a warning before you came but your throbbing clit along with Saeko’s tip violently slamming against your g-spot left you unable to do so, while you attempt sounded a bit like, “I’m gonna- I-” followed by an involuntary, loud moan.

“Don’t you dare-” Saeko snapped teasingly, but obviously unprepared for how loud your moan would actually be - so rather than covering your mouth with her hand, for her own entertainment she slammed into your g-spot once more, this time with more force - leading to you choking on your own noise.

Saeko was used to leaving you out of breath and tired, so while your lay there with your ass up, trying to catch your breath; she took this opportunity to take off the strap (but left it dangling out your pussy since she wasn’t sure if you wanted her to take it out or not) and went to get some aloe-vera for your bright red ass and dark purple bruises on your neck.

“Geez, your pretty lil’ pussy could barely handle that. Maybe we should stick to the ketchup bottles.” She joked, squirting the aloe-vera onto her hands and gently gliding her hands across your lower back.

[anxiouslyfred]

Limping on Phantom Pains

Summary: Remus is very much against the world when it comes to injuries being celebrated as a chance to find your soulmate. Why would he want to hurt a stranger for so flimsy a reason. Roman doesn’t care and will drag his limping brother off to congratulate his friend in hospital

CW: broken leg, hospital scene

/\/\

Remus knew how to avoid injury and pain better than anyone he knew. Of course he also knew how to cause it, but that was just a fun hobby. Avoiding it meant that he wasn't causing pain to a stranger he might never meet; causing his soulmate to be in pain and that was vital for Remus.

He knew through his childhood they'd have felt pain from him a lot, had a full collection of 'congratulations hope you find your soulmate while healing' cards. Those were what first made him realise how sadistic and cruel the world was to soulmates,especially before you met.

If he attacked someone they'd as likely get congratulations and suggestions to thank him as told to report the assault and he hated it. There should never be a celebration of causing pain to others. 

Since realising that Remus had ensured the only pain that could reach his soulmate from him was the sore throats he couldn't avoid. He was going to cherish his soulmate and keep them free from pain even before they met if he could. 

In all honesty there was so rarely any pain he felt in return that it seemed his soulmate was trying to do the same thing, at least before this week. This week Remus had been limping around, a phantom pain in his lower leg leaving him limping and struggling to walk as far as he had to for work.

“Remus, Have you been vandalising all of my injury cards again? I need to congratulate Virgil on his broken leg. You're coming with me too, since I've been trying to introduce you pair for literally ever. I know you don't have anything going on this afternoon, since you're pulling a sickie.” Roman yelled through the house, clearly still in his room if the bangs from drawers and cupboards being opened and shut was anything to go by.

“What kind of sick twisted jerk do you have to be to congratulate someone on getting injured? I don't care if he could find his soulmate, we should be hoping Virgil gets better soon, not praising him for however he got hurt!” Remus screeched, deciding to hop down the hall on his good leg and see how high he could hop.

Roman just glared over his shoulder, now kneeling to look under his bed. “It's what we do, what everyone does. Not that you seem to care about finding your soulmate. Do they even know you're still alive with how injury averse you are?”

“I care about not putting my soulmate in pain. Why the hell has this connection become societies excuse to get hurt, hurting soulmates in turn and not the way to protect and look after each other it was probably meant to be?” He'd never agree with his brother about the romance of sharing pain with someone else.

Once Roman had proclaimed that as soon as he found his love they would never feel pain again, and been completely flabbergasted when Remus suggested limiting the amount he hurts them ahead of time instead of waiting for the meeting. He'd had to watch his back and double check any of his art supplies for the next month after that argument, even after Remus took off on a skiing experience in Japan.

Roman's back bristled at the question, just as it always would. “Because your soulmate is your other half, someone who'll help smooth all your broken edges and complete you. Anyone sane would want to increase their chances of finding them.”

“I doubt Virgil would agree, given you said he's strapped up in hospital with a broken leg days after the accident that caused it.” Remus countered, before frowning again. “Why's he still in there anyway? Don't the hospitals usually just put a cast on you and let you leave for broken bones?”

Roman just shook his head, finally pulling out a blank card. “Something about the bone possibly getting shattered. A stack of heavy books falling on top of his legs can do that apparently, but I didn't ask for the details. Maybe I should try drawing Logan's book stack teetering above the congratulations?”

Remus groaned, turning away now. He should have known shredding or redesigning all the injury congratulations cards his brother had wouldn't work if he left the blank ones still around. That's a mistake he wouldn't be making again. When vandalising his brother's participation in societies sickness, get rid of all things possible to make cards out of.

Then again, he was actually curious about this Virgil guy Roman had befriended a few years ago. Perhaps he should actually go along to the hospital, as long as he could hobble along at his own pace. Remus even had a few fun outfits to wear for hobbling around.

/In the Hospital room\

Virgil was going to scream if another nurse, stranger or friend tried coming in to congratulate him on getting his leg broken. Bad enough the pain he was in, that surely, should his soulmate still be alive, was hurting them a lot to, but to act like it was a good thing? He was fuming at the idea.

So far Logan had been the only sane person to visit, apologising and promising to store his books more safely in the future. He hadn't stayed long though, only enough time to explain the provisions he'd made at their work to ensure Virgil kept his job while unable to walk and could return to it once release from hospital.

Roman opening the door carrying a congratulations balloon and a card only made the glare deepen. “Hey Virgil. Are you looking forward to trying to find your soulmate once you're released? I know some wonderful cafes we could sit in and watch for-” The words were cut off with a yelp when Virgil threw the notebook he'd been scribbling in at him.

“Are you seriously telling me I should be celebrating getting injured you empty headed, dust filled dreamer? I have a broken leg, far more pain than I've ever been in, and you think I should focus on finding romance or friendship with someone I've never met?” Virgil snapped, already looking around his bed for something else to throw.

“Of course. It's a fantastic-” Roman was cut off again by a pillow being thrown.

Virgil scowled at him, “Fantastic what? Response to someone I only guess at being alive still because of occasional phantom sore throats? Opportunity to torture someone I've never even met yet with pain I wouldn't wish on anyone else given I'm going through it myself?”

He could hear a lift opening somewhere down the hall since the door was still opened but just carried on yelling. “Or maybe all you think about is the fact that this worldwide obsession with getting hurt does more harm than good. A bruise is a good way to find a soulmate, or a tattoo, where the pain is controlled, and caused safely. Broken bones and ridiculous stunts that will end in injury are cruel! Especially given all the pain gets inflicted on a stranger! And that's what you're trying to congratulate me for! Have a braincell Roman, or would you prefer I ask Logan to throw those books at you? Holy hell, do you actually think I'm excited by the sight of the books that caused this freaking injury?” Virgil had caught a closer glimpse of the card and finally stopped yelling, dumbfounded by the idiocy Roman must have to actually have drawn them onto the card.

“Oh, so Roman does have a friend with some sense about them. I'm Remus and have been trying to stop this stupid congratulations thing for years.” A doppelganger of Roman was suddenly leaning against the door, grinning and panting a little.

Virgil paused for a moment, before nudging the chair beside his bed. “You injured yourself or something? You look like you've run a mile to get here.”

“Soulmate hurt their leg badly. Walking too much is a bit of a strain this week. Hope you get released from here soon though. It can't be fun spending your days in this place.” Remus limped over to the chair, collapsing into it with a sigh.

“Guessing you already know I'm Virgil if you're prince prats brother. Which leg got hurt?” Virgil smirked, realising Roman had fallen quiet now, given in just their few words it was clear Remus shared his views about the nonsense idea of congratulating people for injuries.

Remus glanced at the bed, wriggling his eyebrows, “Same leg as yours if you wanna try me out for a ride.”

“Roman, give me my notebook back. If your brother's going to flirt I need something to thwack him with.” Virgil ground out at the insinuation. He wasn't looking for his soulmate, and didn't care for getting hit on. Either that or he really needed another dose of pain reliever, hurting only ever made him more angry.

“Well that's one way to find out if we're soulmates, but I'm sworn not to get injured if I can avoid it. No pain for my soulmate at all. I can even tell the chances of a landslide on various slopes to decide whether I'll climb them or not.” Remus shifts as though to get out of the chair, grimacing in preparation for the pressure on his leg, despite the pain he'd mentioned being phantom.

Virgil reaches out with both arms then, one to shove Remus back down, and the other to take his notebook back from Roman. “Well then I guess you can keep dreaming of being my soulmate then. Since I try my best not to get injured too. If only save myself from the Roman's of the world.”

He smirked at the cackles that brought from the man beside him, while Roman protested. He was curious though, since it would be nice to be able to keep his soulmate safe in person, despite being well aware they were already experts at avoiding injury.

While Remus was still laughing he moved the hand still on his shoulder to pinch the back of his neck, flinching himself at the sting to his own neck. The gasp cutting off the laughter showed Remus had realised what he'd done too, turning to face him properly somehow in a jump while still sat down.

“So? Soulmates? Weirdly coinciding injury and phantom pain? Team destroy the congratulating cards?” Remus rattled off ideas for how they could be connected, eyes scanning over his face.

Virgil smiled, nodding. “Guess we are soulmates, and I should be apologising about all this.” He frowned again, realising just how much Remus's leg was probably hurting him, even through the phantom pains. “Do pain killers work on the soulmates thing?”

“We've got a while to figure that out! I don't think they'd work if I took them though. Let's call the nurse to give you some.” Remus was already jumping up and hurrying out of the room, or as fast as he could with his leg still in a lot of pain.

Roman watched him leave, before tilting his head at Virgil. “So am I going to get something thrown at me if I try to congratulate on finding your soulmate now?”

“Don't tempt me.” Virgil groaned out, realising he was never likely to lose the romantic now, and that entire scene could have just proven the use of injuries in finding soulmates, whatever arguments he and Remus had against it.

[intubatedangel]

Cold Snap: Chapter 1

I’m back, again, hopefully a bit more consistently. This time returning to the world of Anna Swift with a story that’s been an idea for almost 2 years but couldn’t quite come together.  No resus in this part, just setting up the scene, but I hope you enjoy.

----------

Shona dragged her large suitcase up the ramp and onto the lower deck of the old water taxi. It had become almost like an old friend to her over the last few years, the point of seperation between home and college. She turned and waved to her parents, who stood back on the quay, watching thier daughter leave for the last semester of her college life. In truth she wasn't going all that far. Only a dozen or so miles as the crow flies, and within the limits of the same greater city area. But while the city had grown and expanded to absorb her old home town as a mere suburb, the city's transport links had not kept pace. While the rail network ran along each side of the river, it didn't cross at this end of the city. There were plans for new bridges, but they never materialised. And so, instead of taking a 3 hour trip on the city metro, Shona would take the trusty water taxi that had been crossing the river back and forth for as long as her mother remembered, and be at her dorm within 40 minutes.

A good idea really, she thought, pulling on the suitcase behind her, trying to get it rolling again. She cursed internally at her professors for giving them so much work over the spring break, the suitcase weighed down with what felt like half a library. A gust of cold wind blasted her face, and she thought of another curse, this one at the northern climate. To many, spring break was about running around on beaches nearly naked having parties and getting tanned. To say it would not be advisable here was an understatement. This far north, winter was still clinging on, to the point where snow lay on the ground just a few weeks ago.

Shona pulled her scarf up a little further as she dragged the suitcase toward the door at the rear of the cabin, where luggage could be stowed out of the way. She pushed it open then spun to grip the suitcase handle with both hands and haul it over the small threshold, staggering back a little as the wheels finally rocked over. A gust of wind sucked the door closed with a loud bang and shone flinched, glancing around to see if anyone noticed. Like public transport in most cities, no one so much as glanced at her.

She ducked into the luggage area, and her heart sank. All the lower shelves were full. She walked over, wondering just how she was going to stow the case. She vaguely heard the door behind her, then the sound of rolling wheels that approached and stopped beside her.

"Erm, would you like a hand?" A male voice said. Shone turned to him. He was young, maybe a similar age to herself, with black hair in that intentionally messy style. He raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Not infering anything about the strength of your gender...You just looked... and I need to..." He glanced at his own case, similar sized to hers.

Shona shook her head "Sorry, yes that would be great." She smiled. "We can each lift half." She commented, prompting a grin from the young man. Together they lifted her bag. Well, Shona steadied it at least.

"Student?" The young man asked, with a slight pant from the effort. Shona nodded, and opened her mouth to reply. "Wait, let me try and guess. Your on this taxi, so you must be studying at Central. That amount of books, over spring break no less, narrows it down. Medical students are already back, my roomate's doing Chem and says all the natural sciences work is based on their own labs now. And, I haven't seen you in any of my classes or on my floor of the library, so by process of elimination I'm going to say... History."

"Impressive." Shona told him with a grin. "You must be studying literature." She grinned at his shocked face. "My roommate is in that course. She can almost quote the entire works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at this point, and she told me that almost everyone goes through a Sherlock phase in that course."

He chuckles. "Well played. I must know the name of the lady who bested me." He said, with a mock bow.

Shona couldn't help but chuckle too, though it was drowned out by the horn of the water taxi, as it gave it's last call. Shona felt the familiar rumble as the engine got into gear and began to ramp up in power. "Shona. Shona Smith-Carlson. Yes it's double barrelled. Ardent Feminist of a mother refused to give up her maiden name."

"Well theres nothing wrong with that. Though by the look on your face you aren't too happy it."

"It's not that," Shona shrugs. "She just never shuts up about it. Still loves dad though." She trails off, the silence starting to become awkward. "What about you?" She re-directs. "I'm guessing your name isn't actually Sherlock."

He smiles. "Jack Davidson. Not literally, My dad's actually called Mark."

"You must have practiced that line." Shona said, trying not to laugh at the perfect delivery.

"Maybe once or twice, but it's a good ice breaker, don't you think?"  He replied with another dazzling smile.

It was a nice smile. The boat jerked slightly as it left the quay and started its journey across the river. Shona rocked a little, Jacks arm moved, lifting a little, not quite reaching out, but ready to steady her if she had stumbled, and Shona suddenly realised he was flirting. Why did this always happen? She fought to not roll her eyes. Her girlfriend was going to rib her again. She would have to let him down gently. She took off her scarf, wrapping it and putting it into one pocket, and then unzipped her coat. She caught his eyes flick down as all men’s do, then slightly to one side, catching sight of the rainbow badge.

He blew out a breath, then nodded with a wry grin. "That's a good move. I am out played once again. Though I suppose we aren't quite playing the same game are we."

Shona shrugged. "Sorry." She mumbled.

Jack waved his hand. "Don't be. Not like you can change who you are. How about we get my bag stowed and then we grab a coffee on the upper deck?" Shona looked at him, puzzled. "Your roommate. From what you were saying she's a year ahead of me. A bit of early information is always good."

Shona considered it for a moment. He wasn't being pushy or angry like one of those guys. And she was planning on getting a coffee. So she shrugged. "Why not, company is always nice."

Together they lifted Jack's case, a little lighter than her own, and placed it in the rack. But as he was checking it was secure, Shona felt a rumble. A different rumble, one that she had never felt before on over two dozen journeys. If she'd been outside, she would have seen a plume of black smoke rise out the tall exhaust stack. If she'd been in the cabin that qualified as the bridge of the boat, she'd have heard voices filled with panic as alarms squarked.

Shona and Jack started up the stairs in front of the luggage compartment, when there was another rumble, and a strange noise filled the passenger cabin as the whole ship vibrated. Shona stopped halfway up the stairs, looking behind her. Jack turned to her, three steps higher up.

"What is it?" He asked

Shona shook her head "The boat. Somethings wr..."

 Her voice was totally drowned out by the noise of the engine exploding.

**********

Officer Matt Jones sat on the small river patrol boat, bobbing slightly against it's mooring. He glanced at his watch. Just another 7 hours and 50 minutes of his 8 hour shift. He sighed, feeling that boiling anger as he rembered getting busted down to river patrol. Not even standard beat cop, river patrol. In March, in this city, where even the foolish wouldn't think of getting in the river. Only the desperate. But this section of the river didn't even have any bridges, ruling that out too.

"So..." The old timer, Winston, who was now his partner muttered. "Who did you piss off to land yourself here?"

Jones breathed out slowly, sending the anger with it. "You know Dean Campbell?"

"The head of HR Dean Campbell?" Jones nodded, Winston whistled. "What did you do?"

"I may have pointed out that he was... inadequate for the position. In somewhat more forceful terms. To his face..."

Winston spat into the river. "That would do it. Not that you are wrong of course, that little weasel has done nothing but damage to the department, but, not exactly the wisest decision.

Jones nodded. "What about you?"

"I asked to be here." Winston replied, prompting a look from Jones. "Coming up on retirement. The last thing I wanted was to be that stereotype. Always liked fishing, figured I'd get some boat time and avoid anything likely to finish me off before my service is done."

"That's fair enough I guess." Jones told him, sipping at the coffee, watching the old water taxi make it's way across the river. He noticed the black smoke, but thought nothing of it. "Does anything interesting happen here?"

"Wouldn't have picked this spot if it did." Winston replied. "Occasionally that floating wreck needs a hand when it breaks, but that's about it." He says turning to look. "Speking of which, that exhaust don't look too healthy." He said a moment before the radio squarked, lighting up an indicator on the emergency channel.

"This is the Beetle, may-day, may-day, our engine is...." The radio cut off as a gout of thick black smoke burst from the exhaust tube, and the distant boat seemed to lurch. A split second later the sound wave of the explosion reached them.

"Get us moving!" Jones shouted to Winston, as he grabbed at his own radio. "This is officer Jones, Badge number 4582. We have a major incident in progress on the river between....between..."

"Between North Inglebank and Trippers point!" Winston shouted.

"Between North Inglebank and Trippers point. Explosion on a water taxi, we are en-route, unknown casualties, unknown situation, requesting additional backup for evacuation and medical assistance!"

"Acknowledged Officer Jones. Relaying now."

Winston had gotten the speed boat unmoored, tossing a high-vis life jacket to Jones, before he gunned the motor and they began to cut through the waves, heading for the vessel that was now smoking from more than just the exhaust.

(Edit: Fixed some errors and details. A little out of practice.)

[blu-archer]

Cold and Comfort

Sickie: Hybrid Jungkook

Caretaker/s: Taehyung/Hosoek

Snz and comfort based. 

Poly pairing. 

Alternate universe

Magic and hybrids are a thing, this is technically a universe that I write in often but I’ll probably categorize it differently from my previous Yoonmin based one... 

I thought I’d post this since it’s been sitting in my files for a while, it’s probably not great and feels a little unfinished but I’m going through some stuff so it’s probably not going to get better than this... so yeah.. Sorry for any grammatical errors

Word count: 4894

****

Perfect. Because a storm was exactly what he needed right now.

Jungkook sniffled meekly as he burrowed his face further into his scarf, glaring tiredly at the icy rain that flooded the streets just outside the safety of the campus Fine Arts building. His studio class was technically still in session, but after trying and almost completely abolishing the wood block that he needed to carve his image into for his print media class, Jungkook was calling it quits almost two hours early.

His head and throat ached in a way that could only mean one thing, and he really didn’t appreciate the timing. 

His printing project was due in just over a week and his lecturer already had it out for him for the amount of times he’d had to skip class or post pone meetings due to clashes with his minor dancing course. He couldn’t exactly help it though. It wasn’t his fault that his schedule tended to overlap a lot.

Jungkook stepped closer to the double doors, huddling behind the one that had remained shut in order to limit the amount of cold wind that entered the building. It was pouring buckets outside. The entire sky was painted a dark charcoal grey, making everything outside seem a lot more depressing and gloomier than what it should have been. It also didn’t help that while Jungkook was quite padded for warmth, his coat and jacket were not waterproof, and he did not think to bring an umbrella.  

To be fair it hadn’t been raining when he’d left that morning.

He sighed heavy and rearranged his scarf so that his droopy, black ears managed to just slip under the material, making his neck marginally warmer. Ultimately he could wait for Yugyeom or Jaehyun to finish with their classes, while they didn’t have a car they did store umbrella’s in their lockers by the dance studio’s, but that would be a while still. And he couldn’t call any of his friends or boyfriends because they were all either working or out of town and he didn’t really want to make them come out of their way for a distance that would literally take him thirty minutes to walk through. It would honestly take them longer to get to him than it would for him to get home. He really just needed to stop over thinking the cold and rain and just walk now. He knew he was getting sick anyway, he could already feel the heaviness settling into his body, so a quick walk probably wouldn’t make it that much worse. Hopefully.

Before he talked himself out of it or his lecturer could possibly come and find him hovering in the hallway instead of class, Jungkook stepped out into the brisk and awful weather. He hugged his arms around himself and tried to stick close to the buildings so that he had some form of shelter, but there was nothing that could really shield him from the immediate sheet of icy water that smothered and drown him with each step he took.

So maybe walking hadn’t been the best idea.

His body trembled until it had finally reached a peak point of numbness about halfway back home. He had crossed over the bridge by the highway and was beginning to weave his way through the streets that held all of his favourite cafes and stores, but there was no stopping for anything today. It was like a spell had been cast over the town so that no one even thought to wonder outside. He had only seen a few cars as well, none of them stopping in their journeys – not even slowing down when passing by the soaked bunny hybrid. There was one car in particular that had driven so close to the sidewalk that the puddle it had gone through had shot up high enough to smack straight into his face. If the rain and wind hadn’t been so loud Jungkook was sure he would have been able to hear the water in his shoes squelching with each step.

He tucked his chin deeper into his chest, rubbing a wet hand against his nose as the cold caused a ticklish buzz in his sinuses. He could feel cold rivulets streaming down his ears, leaving him feeling uncomfortable and heavy headed.

He really hated the rain.

 Eventually he turned up at home, walking up the three flights of stairs with shaky caution after he’d slipped on the first few before sighing at the relief of being sheltered and indoors when he finally reached the corridor that held their shared apartment. He sniffled and shook as he fumbled for his keys, taking far longer than usual to find the right one for the door. His neighbour had passed him with a look of sympathy as she carried on to her apartment, seemingly coming back from fetching her small child from school. He accidentally dropped them when he tried to slip a key into the lock. He could feel his neighbours gaze one final time before she disappeared, in which he then promptly sneezed deeply when he bent to retrieve the keys from the floor. After a few more shaky attempts he managed to get the door open, taking off his soaked shoes and bulky layers as soon as the door was shut and locked behind him, almost immediately sneezing twice into his fist from the warmer change of temperature.

Jungkook let out a wet sniffle and groaned as he shook his head to try getting rid of some of the water that had soaked into his ears and hair. It was mostly unsuccessful. There was now a puddle of water in front of the door where he had been standing and he couldn’t seem to bring himself to care about the trail he was leaving as he went down the passage to steal clothes from Tae.

He took his time in the shower, just standing under the hot water while his skin turned red and he burned the chill out of his skin. It was only when he started to feel light headed from the heat that he decided to get out, drying quickly to avoid the cold before changing into the softest baggiest clothes that Tae owned – it also happened to be Jungkook’s comfort clothes and had been since he and Tae had first started dating in high school. There was something about the scent and feeling of the material that made Jungkook feel completely and entirely safe. Perhaps it was because Taehyung had had the set of clothes for so long, and Jungkook couldn’t even begin to associate the items with anything besides his childhood best friend.

He scrubbed his hair with a towel, not feeling up to the effort of blow drying it, before grabbing the fluffy green blanket from Hobi’s wardrobe to drape around his shoulders. He needed something from both of his boyfriends, needing something with their scents. Hoseok had claimed that the blanket had magical properties purely because his mother had given it to him when he had studying overseas for a year, and it had kept him from most of his homesick thoughts or general dips in his mood. And therefore, it had quickly become a shared item for whenever one of their household felt down or off, there had even been a time when Jungkook had stolen and nested with it before Hoseok had moved in with them. It had been mildly embarrassing at the time, but if anything, it had helped ease any concerns Hoseok had had when he had first decided to try a relationship with two people – no longer fearing if Jungkook had just been tolerating him for the sake of Tae.  

The bunny got to work on heating up some of the left-over pizza from the night before, grabbing a carton of banana milk from the fridge before finding his phone that had surprisingly fared well, despite how wet it had gotten from his walk.

Skipping past the group chat that he had with Tae and Hobi to avoid any unnecessary concerns, since he didn’t need Tae to know he had walked through a storm when the witch wasn’t anywhere close to check on him, he shot a brief text to Taehyung asking how the little workshop that Namjoon had taken him to for the day was going, then switched to Hoseok’s contact.

 To: ~♥Sunshine☼~

Hobi, left studio early. Wasn’t feeling the mood… When are you coming home? It’s cold.

 From: ~♥Sunshine☼~

One more class, then solo session with a senior. How’d you get home? Gyeomie ask Jackson to drop you?

 Jungkook cleared his throat gently, taking his newly heated food from the microwave so that he could sit in the lounge and sprawl out on the couch. He looked at his phone again to see that Tae had answered him as well.

  To: ~♥Sunshine☼~

Walked. Yugyeom was still in class.

 From: ~♥Tae♥~

Learning so much! I met this really cool person that owns a crystal shop, so I can restock on things while I’m here. Might be home a bit later than planned but will definitely be back tonight! Love you!! Give Hoseok kisses for me when you get home!

 From: ~♥Sunshine☼~

Bun…

Jungkook quickly sent a ‘stay safe’ to Tae before he tossed his phone aside so he could focus on nibbling his food with little interest while he played some anime softly on the TV. He snuggled down in the cushions to get comfortable and emptied his mind of any stressors that had been plaguing him.

He doesn’t quite remember at what point he had fallen asleep, he hadn’t done much besides lay around or make coffee since returning from class, so he hadn’t expected to be able to slip so easily into resting, but he wasn’t complaining about it. He’d been stressing enough over his upcoming assignments that sleep was a blessing that he hadn’t been getting enough of right now.

*

Jungkook rolled over on the couch, pulling the blanket tighter around himself as he did, hoping that he would just go back to sleep. He rubbed his face into the blanket, scrunching up his nose as something tickled at his sinuses. He sniffed and tried to ignore it, but when he realised that it wasn’t going to subside he pushed himself up right. Squinting in confusion as he realised what he had thought was still natural light was in fact fluorescent, the TV had been turned off as well. He frowned with a sniff. He was waking up enough to realise that it had gotten dark outside and that meant that he probably wasn’t home alone anymore. Which… would make sense.

It took a few moments for him to get to his feet. His head had spun for a bit before he chanced putting any effort into being vertical, but he did manage to stand and stretch – not waiting a second longer before grabbing the blanket once more and wrapping it around his shoulders. Making his way to the kitchen to find water, his nose twinged once more and he snapped forward sharply with a throaty “Huhe’TSHhh”, merely tightening his grip on that blanket before he ducked down again.

‘Heh’ehhhshheww … Heh’eehhhTCHsheww!’

“Bless you, Kookie.”

Jungkook sniffled and blinked blurrily into the kitchen space, only noticing that Hoseok had been seated at the table going over what he could only assume had to do with the dancers students.

“Thangks.”

Hoseok’s brows were furrowed with concern as the bunny hybrid just made his way towards the cupboard to drag out a glass before taking it to the fridge to find cold water. Jungkook wanted to cringe at how wet his sniffling had now become but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

“How you feeling?” Hobi asked, concerned but toned down enough for the bunny to know that he disapproved of his actions. The elder glanced away briefly to continue checking his exam schedule, not looking at Jungkook as he said, “The walk must have really gotten to you.”

“mmm…” Jungkook gulped down his water before he discarded the glass and moved so that he was behind his boyfriend, rubbing his face gently into the crook of Hobi’s neck even if the dancers body language had first implied that he was mildly annoyed. “I’ve been feeling off all day. But it’s worse now, my head hurts.”

That caught Hobi’s attention. He twisted in his seat so that he could hold his hand to Jungkook’s face. “You’ve been sick all day? Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you even go to class?”

Jungkook shrugged. “If I said something then Tae wouldn’t have wanted to go to that workshop thing, or you would have tried to get the day off, even though you’ve been trying to work at the school as much as possible for your students right now. And anyway, I was hoping that I would be able to get some work done. I didn’t think it would rain.”

“Oh god, you walked in that while sick?” Hoseok pulled the hybrid into his arms so that his head rested on Jungkook’s shoulder. “My poor bunny, I swear you’re going to shave years off of my life with how easily you just disregard your health. Have you at least taken something?”

Jungkook grimaced. Hoseok let out a heavy sigh before getting to his feet and tugging the hybrid back to the couch that he had fallen asleep on earlier. Because of course Jungkook wouldn’t have taken something. Of course he would have waited until someone came home, and would have not bothered to mention anything about how he had felt before then – always quick to not be any form of immediate inconvenience.

“We don’t have much of anything left from last time… I’ll call Tae to pick something up, hopefully somewhere is still open.” Hoseok left Jungkook after covering him with the blanket, moving into the bathroom for a moment before returning with a box of allergy meds and a thermometer. “I know it’s not much, but if you want to take something now…”

Jungkook didn’t complain, merely dry swallowed two pills before allowing Hobi to slip the thermometer under his tongue. He pulled the blanket tighter around him  as he coughed – lips drawn tightly together to avoid spitting out the device before it was ready. Hoseok took a seat beside him, running a hand up and down the length of Jungkook’s spine. He peered at the hybrid with a heavy, concerned gaze as he waited patiently for the small alerting beep – pulling the stick from Jungkook’s mouth when he did finally hear it. His concern didn’t ebb.

“You’re a little warm… but that’s not particularly surprising.” Hobi murmuring, watching Jungkook’s lips fall into a soft pout and his ears droop further into his face. Hobi peeled some of the blanket back,  having to tug it a bit when the bunny gripped tighter, and half pulled Jungkook into his lap so that they were both covered by the fluffy green warmth.

He sent a somewhat lengthy text to Taehyung with stern instructions before he let his arms become a frame around the larger boy that had pushed himself into his chest. A wet nose pressed to his neck.

Hoseok sighed but didn’t put forth any humorous complaints like he usually would to lighten the mood, he had a feeling as much as Jungkook would probably try laugh at them, he wouldn’t necessarily appreciate them. So, he merely embraced the other, kissing at his hair line as the bunny drifted off.

 ….

Hoseok had been catching up on some series when Jungkook had woken up, wanting to shift positions so that he could lie length ways on the couch and use Hoseok as a pillow while he slept – which had maybe lasted an hour before he had begun to cough and rub at his nose insistently.

“Do you want to sneeze maybe?” Hobi asked gently as he ran a hand over Jungkook’s ears. “It might help…”

Jungkook whined and sniffled into his boyfriends lap. It had to have been over three hours now since he had taken the allergy meds and he was a mess.  The itchy feeling wasn’t leaving him and he wanted to sleep, or at the very least be able to focus on whatever series Hobi had put on. He rubbed his nose into Hobi’s stomach with very little progress. Hoseok took to slowly running his hand up and down the length of Jungkook’s left ear, hoping to send some sort of content through the hybrid.

It was mostly working, Jungkook sighed and relaxed his tense body. While he was still feeling the active buzz in his sinuses, a familiar warmth flooded his system and he was left uncurling his tightly pulled in body as the fuzzy sensations started to travel down his spine.

Hobi smiled. He easily forgot how soft and submissive Jungkook could be when he wasn’t feeling well, it wasn’t something that Hoseok particularly enjoyed to see, since the hybrid was usually sick or in pain, but it wasn’t all bad. Especially from the caring side of things. It wasn’t terrible to have Jungkook cling to him or Tae and seek general comfort and closeness more than being keen on isolating like he himself usually did. Or at least he usually tried to. Living with Taehyung and Jungkook had taught him that there was no running from cuddles.

Jungkook gave small pleased ‘hums’ as Hobi gently began to rub at the soft ears, moving in massaging circles from the bottom all the way up. When he reached the base, Jungkook subconsciously raised his head to push his ear harder into Hobi’s fingers. His body giving a light tremble as Hoseok laughed and focused his attention on where Jungkook’s ears met his hair, enjoying the soft sounds that escaped the bunny.

“Is it good?” Hobi asked teasingly when he noticed Jungkook’s foot twitching into a tapping motion on the couch. He wondered what it felt like. He had always been too shy to ask Jungkook about what he went through each time he or Tae played with his ears or tail, despite being in a relationship with the bunny for almost 2 years now and seeing that what Jungkook felt was clearly one of pleasure, he just couldn’t bring himself to ask the details. As a human he’d probably never understand it properly, and he didn’t want to seem jealous of it or something – because he wasn’t. He was just curious, and he’d much rather be able to be the giver if it meant seeing his bunny writhe and moan at his touch.

He’d have to remember to ask Jimin, maybe he could give a better explanation and pointers than what the internet did.

Jungkook moaned as Hobi found a particular spot right at the base of his ear, the bunny had been leaning into it so much that he was holding himself almost upright with his arms propped under him, hovering over Hobi’s lap now. His mouth hung open a bit with heavy breaths and glazed eyes peered through dark lashes. Hoseok rubbed harder, watching as Jungkook sniffled persistently and shivered against him.

“You okay still?”

“mmmhh, it’s good…jus-just ti-ticklish..” he sniffled wetly. “I’b gonna  sne-hih-sneeze.”

Well this was new, but not entirely unfamiliar territory. Taking pity on him, Hobi started to rub at the other ear as well. A deep bubble of heat burst through him as he watched Jungkook’s expression switch from pleased to downright euphoric. His breath stuttering and hitching as Hoseok become more determined in his activity. Jungkook was so beautiful, even when he looked like a mess. It was a hot mess, one that Hoseok had been a participant of creating. It didn’t take much longer before Jungkook was crumpling into his chest, tears brimming in his eyes.

Heh’ ehHHESHEW! ISHHHEW’uh Heh’EHHTCH’ahh… Hih..snf… Hiehh’TCHshhiew!

“Bless you.” Hoseok could feel the spray settling on the visible skin of his collar bone. “Are you done?”

Jungkook sniffled deeply, letting out a heavy sigh that forced him into a bout of soft coughs. “It still.. ugh.”

“Tickles? Should I fetch you tissues? We can coax them out if you want…”

Jungkook didn’t answer verbally, just sunk his face back into Hoseok’s neck while his hands clung to the elders shirt with an iron grip. That was as much an answer as he was going to get.

**

They remained in that position, both having fallen asleep at some point, until Taehyung came sneaking into the house later that night.  The witch winced as he accidentally bumped into the trellis of plants by the door that Jimin had gifted him a year ago when he was shaking water droplets from his hair. The sound resonating through the silent apartment with more volume than he would have liked. His wince returned as he realised that Hoseok was blinking wide, blurry eyes through the darkness in his direction, the only source of light being the T.V. that his boyfriends must have forgotten to turn off.

“Sorry, it’s just me.” He reassured softly before flipping on the passage light so that Hoseok could see him better without bothering Jungkook too much. Tae lifted up a large, damp paper bag that hadn’t been able to fit in his backpack with the other materials he’d bought throughout the day.  “I got some stuff. Most of the places had closed already but I found this one pharmacy that had just closed and convinced one of the workers that it was extremely vital that I got medication and stuff, so he let me inside for a bit. Praise that guy. Much thanks was given. A saint amongst people.”

Hobi let out a soft chuckle at Taehyung as shuffled closer to set a gentle kiss against his temple before leaning down and brushing the hair back from Jungkook’s face to press a kiss too his forehead as well. 

The witches brows drew together at the slight heat that radiated off of the hybrid. He ran his hand through the bunnies hair, giving a gentle scratch at his ears as he watched Jungkook cuddle closer to Hoseok in his sleep. The blanket that covered them slipped down a little and Taehyung was quick to tuck it back under Jungkook’s chin.

“Is he feverish? This came on so quickly, he seemed fine earlier.”

Hobi yawned widely, shifting in his seat but not making a move to push Jungkook off. “I thought so too, but he told me that he woke up feeling sick. He also left class early and walked through that storm to get home.” He sighed and Taehyung’s brows raised with surprise, his mouth slightly ajar as if he wanted to say something but no words came out. “I think we can be grateful he isn’t worse. I gave him some allergy med’s since its mostly his sinuses that were bothering him and that’s all we had, but they didn’t last very long. He was miserable for a while before he got to sleep. I don’t think he ate much today either…”

“…Should we give him something now?”

Hobi bit at his lip. He knew hybrids could tolerate certain things a bit better than  humans could, but he still didn’t like the idea of giving the bunny medication on an empty stomach. And eating at this hour… it must be at least close to eleven pm now.

“ If we feed him now he is probably just going to get nauseous. I don’t want him to feel worse..”

Tae nodded in agreement, still carding his fingers through Jungkook’s hair. “We can make a nice breakfast tomorrow and give it to him then. I got some new herbs and crystals, so I’ll make him some new charms as well. For you too.” Hoseok smiled at Taehyungs concern. “You still have classes tomorrow right? Yoongi is still out of town so I don’t really have to go into work. Namjoon is probably sick of me hovering anyway. Between him breaking jars and me doing the wrong measurements and methods, Yoongi may just bury us alive when he gets back.” He chuckled nervously, but Hobi knew that Tae had mixed feelings of disappointment and worry when it came to his work. “I just mean, I’ll be able to stay with him.”

“I know.” Hobi replied, staring at Tae’s downward gaze. “I think we’ll both appreciate the effort, Tae. I’ll try get home early, but it will probably be just the two of you in the morning. Just email his lecturers.”

 “Of course…” Tae pressed another kiss to Jungkook’s forehead, then to Hoseok’s lips before the elder broke into another yawn. “I’ll pack this stuff away quickly then we can head to bed, just give me a second.”

The witch disappeared, not trusting himself to try to levitate anything like Yoongi had taught him -he was still only getting it right a third of the time. So it took a bit longer than he planned, but he eventually packed away the food and goods that he’d gotten and left his charm materials and medication on the table to be dealt with in the morning. He re-entered the dim lounge to see Hoseok gently shaking Jungkook to a somewhat state of consciousness so that the elder could get up.

When Jungkook let out a deep whine Tae moved beside them and slipped his arms under Jungkook’s legs and back to lift him up. It was a bit of a struggle at first, since the angle was weird, but he bumped the bunny up in his arms to get a better grip and then carefully carried him to their room down the hall. Hoseok was a bit slow to follow, taking a moment to stretch and get life in his legs before he joined them. Jungkook buried his face into Tae’s shoulder as the lights in the passage forced him further into the land of the living.

“Tae…?” Jungkook sniffed, then pushed harder against Taehyungs body. “Eh’hii’ehSHHieww. Eh’iishieww!... … ‘m sorry.”

“That’s okay, Bun. Bless you.” Tae murmured. His shirt was still a little damp from the rain when he had to climb the stairs anyway. “Let’s get you to bed, Hobi is bringing your blanket so you can stay warm and comfortable.”

Jungkook nodded before sneezing again. Behind him, Tae could hear Hobi’s soft blessing and sloppy, half asleep movements as he used furniture and the wall to no doubt help him walk. Taehyung forced himself not to grimace at the delayed thought of how both of his boyfriends had kept him in the dark about things for most of the day. Hoseok had probably been exhausted from his classes and yet he had chosen not to bother Tae with any concerns until it was late, and Jungkook had acted like nothing had been wrong at all when he’d spoken to him earlier…

He kicked open the bedroom door with a shake of his head, walking into the dark room with perhaps a bit too much force. He was being dumb. This wasn’t necessarily about him, and he knew that. It’s not what he was supposed to be focusing on.

He set the hybrid down on their bed, opening up the duvet and encouraging him with little pats to roll towards the center, before he went and grabbed the ‘magical’ blanket from Hobi who was still only halfway up the passage – sparing an embarrassing chuckle as Tae picked him up as well – so that he could give it to the bunny before he started to look for it.

“You should change.” He said once he had set Hobi down and left him to handle settling Jungkook with gentle pats. He tossed some sweatpants and a T-shirt at Hoseok, before grabbing his own pajama’s to change into. “How was school?”

Tae listened to Hoseok tiredly ramble on about his students and the upcoming exam preparations while they both got dressed for the night. Overall, it sounded particularly stressful, and some of Hoseok’s kids weren’t the most hardworking – even if they had the talent to be amazing. Hobi more often than not would break down in spiralling rants about how they needed to work harder or at the very least pay attention in class. Honestly, Taehyung couldn’t fathom who wouldn’t be interested in having Hoseok teach them. The man was one of the most passionate people he had ever met, it was actually what had drawn him to the human. Of course now there many other traits that he loved, but Hoseok’s passion would always be his first.

He added a brief skim of his daily events, knowing that even if Hoseok was trying his best to pay attention, the elder needed to sleep more than he needed an immediate recap. Tae merely ended his tales by saying that it was ‘Knowledgeable and fun’ before he ruffled Hobi’s hair and jumped onto the bed, cuddling up to Jungkook’s sleeping figure. He imitated the bunnies deep snores and earned muffled laughter from the elder as he joined them on the other side of the bed.

“Good night TaeTae.”

“Sleep well, Hoseok.” Tae murmured. The lump in his chest from early slowly melting away as sleep dragged him into darkness.  

[pikelanette]

Trinket

hey friends!! been a while, I know... but hey, here’s some modern AU perc’ahlia! inspired by the prompt ‘carnival’ and kind of sad but also kind of happy (my favourite)

Pairing: perc’ahlia Words: 4580 Rated: T Link: ao3

a modern au about winning bears at carnivals

The first time Vex’ahlia saw Trinket, she let out a delighted chuckle.

Gilmore was showing them all of the prizes the kids could win at his shooting game at the annual Emon carnival. He’d pulled it all together at record speed. Apparently, his diner was going through just a tiny bit of a dip in visits, so he wanted to lure in some more families with younger kids by participating in the carnival and plastering his logo on everything he sold. He told Vex and Vax about it a couple of weeks ago and flirted with both of them until they gave in and promised that they’d help out. Vax would help out at the waffle stand and Vex was going to run the shooting game stand a few lanes over.

The game was fairly simple: customers had to hit a couple of unicorn-themed targets with a small plastic gun that shot tiny squishy balls. If they couldn’t hit any, they got a consolation prize, a discount for a waffle at Gilmore’s other stand. But if they did manage to get some hits in, there was a variety of small, cute prizes for them to pick from. And the biggest prize was a huge bear plushie.

Vex’s eyes shone brightly as she looked the bear over. When her brother saw what she was looking at, he snorted. Then he reached out and took her hand. He got it, of course.

When they were six, their mother took them to a carnival. The big prize for one of the games was a huge bear plushie just like this one. Weirdly realistic, kind of menacing, absolutely perfect for her. She’d spent a stupid amount of time trying to win it, but money was tight, and when she noticed her mom’s guilty expression every time she opened her wallet, she let it go. It didn’t stop her from walking by the stall a couple of more times, just to see the bear. She made up a story where she’d rescue him from his carnival prison and he would be her best friend. Together, they’d go an adventure. Vax too, of course. He was part of all of her adventures.

Quietly giving up on that bear was a turning point in her life. It was the moment she realised that her mom needed her help. Her mom needed her to be strong and happy with the tiniest things. Her mom needed her to stop wanting things.

Vex’ahlia never stopped wanting things.

She hadn’t thought of that bear in years. Her life had a bunch of other turning points that kind of took the spotlight away from it. Losing their mother to cancer. Moving in with their horrible father. Finally leaving his house the second she and Vax turned eighteen.

That last one got their lives onto a better track, though. Things got better after they left the Vessar family behind. It was rough at first, of course, trying to make a living, but they’d saved up money while they still lived with their father for that exact purpose, so things never got out of hand. They took any jobs they could for a while, and then they went into the food business. They opened their bakery when they were twenty-four. Thanks to Vax’s creativity and Vex’s eye for business, it took off after a year.

It was a little poetic that the bear came back into her life after all that.

She walked up to it and patted one of its arms, greeting it like an old friend. Gilmore had no idea what was happening and his head was too full to ask, so he just told her to get acquainted with the place before the opening the day after and dragged Vax off to see to the waffle stand.

Vex watched them go with a smile on her face and turned back to the bear. “It’s you and me again, buddy,” she told it. She grabbed its paw and shook it. “Nice to finally meet you. This is going to be fun.”

And it was fun.

Their bakery hadn’t made it through the selection process for the food stands at the carnival, but this way she could still show her face to prospective customers. People knew her as Vex from the bakery, so every time she chatted with them and handed out prizes to the children, she knew that she was putting her bakery back into their heads. The bakery was open, of course; their employees were running it during these weeks. Vex knew exactly how to pepper that fact into conversation.

Gilmore’s game was deceptively simple, so most customers left with a nice prize. The discount system worked too: Vax told her that most of the people who won a discount code showed up to get their waffles and spent some extra money on drinks and special toppings. Gilmore’s business was booming. And according to JP, the bakery was seeing customers too, despite the carnival.

The shifts were very long, but Vex didn’t mind. After the carnival she’d be beat for a couple of days, but for now she was thriving. She loved commerce. She loved carnivals. And Vax brought her waffles.

She ran the stand by herself, which kept her very busy during rush hours, but she preferred it that way. She liked having full control over the entire place. It reminded her of the first year at the bakery, when Vax and her were the only people keeping the place together. It was a little weird not to have Vax there, sometimes, considering that comparison, but every time she felt that she could just turn to Trinket.

She named him Trinket because all of the prizes were trinkets, and because he was adorable. Every morning when she came in, she patted him on his arm and told him good morning. A few days into the carnival, everyone knew that Vex had made friends with the giant bear at the shooting stand. She would stand next to it when the children were shooting and pretend to talk to it about how incredible their aim was. She’d frown and nod like she was listening to a response and tell the children that Trinket thought that they were awesome. No one came close to winning him, of course. You needed seriously good aim to get all of the targets, and for the big prize there was a time limit too.

Of course, some people couldn’t resist teasing her about her friendship with the bear. Like the handsome engineer who fixed broken games all day

He caught her eye as early as the second day of the carnival. He was called in to fix the Wack-A-Mole came right opposite to Vex’s stand and Vex absolutely did a double take when he came walking up.

He was wearing the same blue uniform as all the other engineers at the carnival did, but there was something different about him. He held himself as straight as a rod, every movement efficient and sharp. He wore glasses, golden-rimmed, and his shoes might be well-worn, they were clearly very high quality.

Money, she concluded with a surprise. You didn’t usually spot people with money doing jobs like this. He must enjoy it.

There was a lull in business around the time the engineer worked the Wack-A-Mole, so she had all the time in the world to send glances his way and check him out as he worked. He disappeared behind the machine for a while, but eventually he came back out, covered in grime and dirt and slightly sweaty. He wiped his hand over his forehead, still holding a wrench, and then he looked up and stared straight at her.

He looked eerily composed for someone who had just done some very dirty work. Something inside of Vex jumped to attention.

The engineer turned back to the guy running the Wack-A-Mole without saying anything and told him that there shouldn’t be any more problems with the machine. Vex made sure to busy herself at the till as they said their goodbyes, somehow knowing that he wouldn’t just leave. And she was right. Footsteps came up to her stand and halted, and when she looked up with her customer service smile, she found the handsome engineer.

“You must be bored,” he said. His voice was smooth and perfect, like whiskey down her throat. Lovely.

“It is rather quiet at the moment,” she replied, her smile fading into a more sincere one, “But the past half hour has been pretty entertaining.”

He smiled back. “You have a pretty intense stare.”

She leaned against the counter. “Being subtle is overrated, don’t you think?”

“Oh yes,” he said, “It has a time and a place.” He smiled again. “I’m Percy. I’d shake your hand, but…” He wiggled his grimy fingers. “Perhaps some other time.”

“I suppose we could do introductions without the traditional handshake,” Vex teased, “I’m Vex’ahlia.”

“Vex’ahlia,” he repeated, “Nice to meet you. You work with Gilmore?”

“Temporarily. He’s a friend. My brother and I own the bakery on sixth.”

“You didn’t get a spot with the stands?”

She shrugged. “Too many applicants. We’ll try again next year.”

“Shame. You make a mean cinnamon roll.”

Vex laughed. She was very proud of their cinnamon rolls. “You’re a fan, are you? I don’t remember seeing you around. I’m sure I would.”

He patted his head. “Is it the hair?”

He did have a very distinctive shock of white hair. But they’d already established her opinion on subtlety.

“That, and your face.”

He snorted and shot her a look. She just grinned back at him unabashedly.

“My sister usually picks them up,” he said, ignoring her compliment, “We have them for our Sunday brunch.”

Vex smiled. “What a lovely idea. We also have a great brioche every week. It makes for some really delicious French toast. Perfect for a brunch.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “Are you trying to flirt me into spending more money, Vex’ahlia?”

She laughed and sent him a mischievous look. “I merely want you to have the best brunch experience as possible, Percy. We just happen to offer the best product.”

He looked her over and waved his finger at her. “You’re dangerous,” he concluded.

“Absolutely. But you don’t look like you scare easily.”

He grinned. “I do not.”

“Then I expect I’ll see you around.”

“You’d be wise to.”

“I am so wise.”

He came by every day after that. Usually, he just chatted her up during one of his shifts. His work took him everywhere around the carnival and he passed by her stand often enough to just have a brief moment to flirt with her. He was a good flirter. She was enjoying herself.

The first time he caught her doing her little act with Trinket in front of some kids, he hid his laughter behind a fist. It was busy, so he didn’t say anything at the time, but when he came back later that day he had a twinkle in his eye that told her that he hadn’t forgotten.

“You never introduced us,” he said as he approached.

Vex sighed, catching his meaning, and patted Trinket on his arm. “Do you hear that, buddy? We’ve made Percy question himself.”

“Well, the two of you are clearly very close.” Percy leaned against the counter, cocking his head at her. “A man can’t help but wonder if there’s a reason you didn’t want us to meet.”

She crossed her arms. “Not every guy gets to meet my pet bear.”

“You wound me.”

She laughed. Over the days, Percy had really made an impression on her. There was something about the way he looked at her, something sharp and perceptive, that made her feel seen in a way that she usually didn’t. Plus, he could dish it out as well as he took it. That was rare, in her experience.

She was called away to let some kids play the game and his gaze drifted over to the targets. Sometimes, when he watched someone play it, he started tapping his fingers against his thigh. There was a nervous energy to him when he watched someone shoot.

Vex smiled to herself and told Trinket that the girl was doing incredible. Once the child left with her prize, a plastic unicorn the size of a microwave, she sauntered back over to Percy.

“Just do it,” she said.

He turned his gaze on her. “Do what?”

She nodded to the game. “Give it a try. You clearly want to.”

He laughed.

She absolutely adored his laughter.

“It does seem fun,” he admitted, his eyes still twinkling joyfully.

“Well, go for it.” She winked at him. “Give me your money, Percy.”

“You won’t even give me a discount?”

“Percy, I am a businesswoman.”

He snorted and flexed his fingers, looking back at the targets. “Alright. Sure.” He dug into his pockets and pulled out some coins, depositing them in Vex’s outstretched hand. She put them in the till as he picked up the tiny plastic gun. It looked ridiculous in his large hands; a hilarious sight that she was trying not to laugh at. She didn’t want to break his concentration.

He weighed the thing in his hands for a second and then brought it up. His fingers flexed one more time. Then he pulled the trigger.

He hit the first target easily. “A strong start,” Vex told Trinket appreciatively.

His lips quirked up into a lop-sided smile, but he didn’t look away from the game. He shot again.

Hit.

Again.

Hit.

By this point, Vex was watching him with a bemused grin. He was good. Where did he get that kind of aim?

She checked the prize ratings to see what he was going to get if he kept this up.

He missed the next one and cursed, but Vex felt a rush of relief as she realised he wasn’t going to get a perfect score. She patted Trinket’s arm.

He hit the next three, then missed the last two. All in all, it was the best score anyone had gotten as of yet.

“Impressive,” she said as he put the plastic gun back down. She turned to the prizes to pull down an extensive embroidery set (unicorn-pattern included). “Much experience with fire arms?”

“In a way. I work at the paintball range just out of town.”

“Really?”

This man really loved to get down and dirty, huh?

She held out his prize to him. “That’s pretty cool. Is everyone there as good as you are?”

Percy tentatively took the embroidery set out of her hands, looking at it like it was a lost child he had no idea what to do with. “Not really. But they’re decent enough.”

She laughed at his expression and his blunt confidence. The sound of it drew his gaze back to her, and he sent her that enticing half-smile again.

“Well, I’m certainly impressed,” she told him, trying not to blush. Her heart skipped a beat whenever he smiled at her like that, and it was ridiculously embarrassing, even if he couldn’t tell.

Percy hummed and looked back at the game. “Don’t be impressed yet.”

She arched an eyebrow at him, but he didn’t give her an explanation. Instead, he got back to work, leaving her with a wave of his hand and a row of question marks on her mind, the embroidery set tucked underneath his arm. The question marks disappeared soon enough, because business picked up again after that.

Something in had changed, though. After that, he tried the game every day. He started hitting the fourth target pretty quickly, but the last two still eluded him. They were pretty challenging, and the little plastic gun clearly wasn’t his preferred weapon.

It was Vex’s favourite part of the day. Percy would come by, usually bringing her a drink or a snack or just a snarky comment about someone at the carnival, he’d hand her some cash and then he’d try the game. He didn’t get frustrated when he couldn’t hit everything, but he was never truly content with his work either. He just stared at the last two targets sometimes, cogs in his head clearly whirling, trying to figure out how to make this work. But he never stayed too long – he always got back to work right when he was supposed to. Percy was nothing if not punctual. Plus, he loved his work here. She could tell from the way he talked about it.

Vex was having the time of her life. Not even her brother’s teasing about Percy could dull her sheer joy.

Then one day, Percy hit the eighth target.

Vex couldn’t deny the way her stomach dropped when the squishy little ball hit the target. Percy looked better than he ever did, staring at it with a fire in his eyes that made him seem invincible. But Vex couldn’t focus on it, because she was too busy clutching the huge artificial bear beside her.

Percy brought up the gun again, and part of her wanted to call out for him to stop. Panic hit her like a freight train and she held her breath.

He missed.

Vex breathed out and tried to still her shaking fingers. Percy was frowning at the target, clearly discontent. She laughed to relieve some of her own tension.

“Don’t feel bad, darling,” she said, “The last one is a real killer. I think it was made to be impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” Percy said. He eyed the ninth target again, still holding the gun as if he might try again.

“Until when were you on break?” Vex asked quickly, “Five to? Because then you should be getting back to work.”

Percy nodded and put down the gun, turning to smile at her. “You’re right. I’ll see you tomorrow, Vex’ahlia.”

“Looking forward to it.”

She waved at him before he disappeared into the crowd. Then her smile dropped from her face.

She tried to shake off the tension in her neck and shoulders. She was doing customer service, for God’s sake. She had to look welcoming.

She plastered her smile back on and tried to forget.

She thought it worked right up until Percy came back the next day, a smile on his face and his money already in his hand. Immediately, her shoulders tensed up again.

She smiled back at him. “Back to give it another try, then?”

“I’m going to get it one of these days.”

“Oh, well… There’s only five days left. You might have to concede.”

Percy handed her the money, his eyes already on the targets. “Not I, Vex’ahlia. Not I.”

Vex’s heart was in her throat from the moment he picked up the gun to the second he put it back down. He still couldn’t hit the ninth target, but she was getting seriously nervous. He’d managed to go from hitting the first seven to the first eight in… What, three days? There were still five days of the carnival left. The ninth target was definitely the hardest to hit, but, contrary to what she said before, it wasn’t impossible. He just needed some seriously good aim and a healthy dose of luck.

She looked at her bear. She felt jittery and uncomfortable, like she’d had too much caffeine.

“Are you alright?” Percy asked, a worried frown between his eyes.

Vex almost jumped. “What? Yes. I’m fine.”

She was being short with him, but for some reason he was annoying her right then.

He didn’t seem to pick up on it. Instead, he just nodded and said his goodbyes before heading back out into the fray.

Vex couldn’t calm down for the rest of the day. She kept glancing at Trinket, standing beside her all big and strong and dependable. She wouldn’t admit to it, but she’d been secretly thinking about taking him home after the carnival was done. She was sure she could give Gilmore a fair price for him. After all, she was now at an age where she could indulge herself. She could have the huge bear plushie if she wanted to. She could take him if no one else did.

After her shift ended that night, she looked up Gilmore. She couldn’t help herself.

“Shaun,” she said, making her voice and smile as warm and inviting as possible.

He arched an eyebrow at her, already suspicious.

Vex dropped the act. She frowned. “Is there a way to make sure that no one wins the main prize?”

“What?”

She was about to repeat her question when he held up a hand to silence her. “That’s illegal,  Vex. We’re not doing that.”

“But is there?” she pushed.

Gilmore sighed and stepped up to her, sending her one of his own signature dazzling grins. “Vex’ahlia. Darling. If you mess with the mechanics of my game, I will snap your neck like a twig.”

Vex repressed an angry pout and turned away from him. “I was just joking,” she snapped. She straightened out her shirt and left him.

The next few days, she had to physically restrain herself from biting her nails while on shift. The jittery energy she’d felt the day Percy hit the eighth target was a constant now. She kept bouncing her leg and rolling a coin between her fingers. She did breathing exercises to keep herself from rushing the customers, but she couldn’t help the turbulent river of nervousness that coursed through her own body. The sight of Percy’s white shock of hair in the crowd was no longer something that she looked forward to. Instead, every day she crossed her fingers that that day he’d be too busy to visit.

He never was, of course. No, he showed up every day, at a different moment, catching her off guard just as business lulled for a moment. First, she’d draw him into conversation, asking him about his work, his family, his hobbies, anything. She flirted excessively, trying to keep his attention fully occupied. But, about five minutes before his break would end, he’d hand her the money and pick up the gun.

She hated him a little bit in those moments. Couldn’t this guy take a fucking hint?

But he still hadn’t hit the ninth target by the time the last day of the carnival arrived. Vex dared to be a little hopeful. The odds were against him, at least, and she’d talked to Gilmore about taking Trinket home after the carnival. As long as they got through this day, her buddy would have a permanent place in her living room. But she hadn’t yet cleared out a spot. She didn’t have that kind of confidence yet.

When Percy came to the shooting stand that day, it felt like the moment that the entirety of these two weeks had led up to. She kind of felt like there should be a crowd for this. Someone should be paying attention, at least. Instead, everyone around them was just having their regular fun. Someone was cackling at the Wack-A-Mole stand. A mother was chastising her child for holding their ice-cream a little loosely. In the distance, they could hear the excited yelling of people on one of the more exciting rides.

Percy smiled at her as he gave her the money for the game. “One more try,” he said conspiratorially.

Vex forced a laugh that sounded hollow to her own ears, clutching the money in her hands.

She refused to hold onto Trinket as Percy picked up the gun. Instead, she crossed her arms, hunching her shoulders a little. She felt small, and she hated it. She hated that she cared about this. She hated that she couldn’t talk about it.

She was six years old again, walking past that carnival game just to steal another glance.

Percy hit the first five targets easily. He moved in a smooth line now, quick as a dancer. He was beautiful.

He took a breath before he hit the sixth. Took a second. Hit the seventh. The eighth.

Vex’ahlia held her breath. Her heart was racing. For some reason, fight or flight was kicking in, and she had the incredible urge to break something. She wanted to punch his pretty face.

Percy angled the gun. He moved his hand a hairbreadth. Settled.

Vex followed the little ball with her eyes as it shot towards the ninth target. She watched it sail right into it with an audible plop.

Bells went off. She was pretty sure a confetti gun covered the entire place in colourful paper. She didn’t care.

Tears rushed into her eyes. She was six years old, and she had to walk past the carnival stand. She had to give up the bear.

She looked up and caught the tail-end of an adorable dorky victory dance that Percy was doing. He had a grin on his face that could light up the night sky.

She turned away quickly, palming at her eyes to get rid of the tears. She took a deep breath.

She was twenty-seven. It was time to give up the bear.

“Congratulations!” she said, turning back to Percy with a smile.

His grin had faded into a content smirk. “I knew I could do it. I just had to get it right.”

“It’s a real feat.”

She tried to keep her voice peppy. Percy was a good guy. She liked Percy. It was just a bear.

He was basking in his own satisfaction. “Can I come pet him?” he asked her, a tease to his voice.

Vex forced a laugh and waved him over to the stand’s entry point. “Of course. He’s all yours.”

Percy entered the stand and stepped up into her space since the first time she met him. He was a little taller than she was, and he smelled like oil and caramel apples. He had her favourite smile on his face, but she couldn’t enjoy it.

She turned her face away and led him to Trinket. “Here he is! The man himself.”

“An honour to finally meet you,” Percy said, patting Trinket’s paw with his hand.

Vex bit her cheek.

“So,” Percy said casually, glancing at her, “What are you going to do with him?”

She blinked slowly. “What?”

“The bear,” Percy said, “Where are you going to put him? He’s pretty big.”

“Where am I going to put him?”

“Well, yes.” Percy turned his body towards her and crossed his arms, smiling down at her. His eyes had a boyish glint to them. “I’m not going to separate a lady from her pet bear. What do you take me for?”

Vex needed another few moments to wrap her head around what he was telling her. “What? You… What, you’re… You’re… Wait, you’re giving me the bear? You won it.”

“I think you’ll give him a better home than I would. Besides, isn’t this customary? Winning a prize for your date?”

“You…” Vex’ahlia let out a laugh. All of the tension she’d accumulated dispersed in one cackling bout of laughter. When she finally wiped the tears from her eyes, Percy was looking at her a little weird, although not at all displeased.

“I didn’t know we were on a date,” she said finally. Her hand reached for Trinket instinctively, and when she touched him, she knew that she could finally take him home.

She was twenty-seven. This bear was hers.

[hedwigstalons]

SpaceBear - bit 4 (end)

So this has finally reached the end (for now).  I will probably return to these precious babies at some point because the SpaceBear ship is just glorious.

Huge thanks to @willow-salix for naming this ship and for massive amounts of help in pulling this to some sort of conclusion.  

Bit 1 is here, Bit 2 , Bit 3

Bit 4

The shamefaced pair trailed down to the kitchen after Scott, like condemned prisoners following behind their jailor who led them in stony silence.  As if having big brother walk in on them hadn’t been bad enough he had stood there, tall and imposing in the doorway, waiting while discarded clothes were found and reclaimed.  Despite all the times he’d changed in front of his brothers Alan had never felt more naked and exposed even though he had still been half dressed.

Entering the lower level of the villa they found the table all set, Virgil and Gordon already seated and staring hungrily at empty plates.  The warm smells coming coming from the kitchen module were actually pretty good for a change although Alan wasn’t too sure he had much of an appetite any more.

“You’re late, boys.  Now hurry up and wash your hands then you can help me carry over the dishes, I made the others wait for you.”

With a quick chorus of “Sorry Grandma” and “Sorry Mrs Tracy” the pair hurried over to the sink to get washed up while Scott headed back to his place at the table.

“I really shouldn’t have to send Scott to fetch you, you know,” Sally scolded.  “I’d have thought after spending all day at the Expo you would have had enough of playing games.  Never mind, you’re here now so we can get started.”

She hustled them about, setting them to ferrying the serving dishes over to the table where they were eagerly pounced upon by Gordon and Virgil.  Scott was more reserved but she put it down to a tough day in the office, TI business was a necessary evil for him and he was often a little bit muted after a day stuck in a suit.  

Once everyone had had a chance to load their plates, and the initial babble of conversation between those who weren’t privy to the scene in Alan’s bedroom had faded as eating took priority, Scott finally broke his silence, his words falling like lead.  “So, when were you going to tell us?“  Walking in on his baby brother had come as something of a shock, Alan had been his responsibility for so long it was sometimes hard to accept that the kid he had taken custody of was growing up.  It probably didn’t help matters that the other party was Brandon.  He tolerated Brandon’s presence, mostly because he had been persuaded how good it was for Alan to have a friend outside the family, but the vlogger was definitely more worldly than his brother and preceded by a reputation that Scott did not approve of.  His protective instincts had been ignited and right now he was wishing he’d followed his gut and kept Brandon away from the island.

Alan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  He’d barely had time to come to terms with things himself and he and Brandon hadn’t actually got as far as defining what they were before giving in to their physical wants.

"Tell us what?” Virgil put down his fork and looked between his oldest and youngest brothers, Scott was radiating animosity and Alan looked nervous as hell.   

“Alan and Brandon here have been getting a little up close and personal." 

"Lighten up Scott, it was one kiss.  You make it sound like the end of the world”

Scott had been expecting an answer but he hadn’t been expecting it to come from Gordon.  “What do you mean ‘one kiss’?  It’s a damn sight more than that."  

Confusion reigned supreme on Gordon’s face.  "No, it wasn’t.  I saw the footage.”

“What footage?  What are you on about Gords?”  The question was low and threatening and Gordon found himself swallowing nervously despite having a pretty clear conscious for once.

“The Expo of course, what are you on about?”

“I just caught these two,” the words were spat with more force than was strictly necessary as Scott waved vaguely in the direction of Alan and Brandon, “fooling around in Alan’s room.  Now what’s this about the Expo?”  The pair in question were subjected to the full force of the Commander’s stare; Scott knew he was coming across as intimidating and probably overreacting but after a day spent examining share prices and and listening to market forecasts he was in no mood to be dealing with unexpected surprises. 

“That was all my fault, Scott,” Brandon stammered.  “I kinda got carried away with all the cameras there and surprised Alan, he…he had nothing to do with it.”

“Hmm,” Scott frowned, not missing the slight shift in movement that suggested Alan had grasped Brandon’s hand under the table or the grateful look Brandon shot him in response; it was a show of unity he hadn’t expected.  “That doesn’t make it any better.”  He reached up and activated his comm “Come in Thunderbird Five, I’ve got a job for you.”

“What is it, Scott?” the missing sibling popped into being via the nearest holoprojector, looking puzzled at being summoned.

“I need you to go through the footage from the Expo Alan went to.  You might need to do some damage limitation.”

“Uh, okay.  Are you going to give me a clue what I’m looking for?”

“Oh I think you’ll know when you see it.”

“FAB.”  The slightly puzzled Space Monitor winked out of existence as the link was cut.

Knowing that John was dealing with whatever had happened at the Expo, and taking Gordon’s lack of concern over the footage as a sign that whatever had been caught on film wasn’t too major, Scott focussed his attention back on the unhappy couple.

“So is this serious between you or what?”  

The tension between oldest and youngest was palpable.  Alan licked his lips nervously, trying to work out how to phrase things and desperately wishing there wasn’t such an audience as all eyes turned towards him.  Was it serious?  Was Brandon his boyfriend now?  He certainly knew what he wanted it to be.  

“Yeah, yeah it is.”  Brandon had cut in before he had the chance to answer, giving Alan’s hand a reassuring squeeze at the same time.  This time it was Alan giving Brandon the grateful look; he knew how hard it was to face up to Scott when he got like this.  

"Well I think it’s great, honey,” Grandma stepped in, giving Scott a brief warning look that clearly said the interrogation was over before turning her attention on the new couple.  “Hey, maybe you can come on a double date with me and Kip.”  She knew Scott had to get whatever concerns he had out of his system but his attitude needed keeping in check.  This was meant to be a nice family dinner after all.

“Ewww, Grandma!” Alan exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, I’m only messing with you.  I wouldn’t want any of you boys along anyway, it might cramp my style.”  She winked at Alan, causing him to shudder.  “Now will someone pass me those bread rolls, I’m hungry.”

The meal passed in relative normality after that although the oldest and youngest brothers ate barely a fraction of their usual portion.  Alan’s stomach was still in knots and he could only pick at his food while Scott was obviously still brooding but with Grandma giving her seal of approval any further discussions of Alan and Brandon’s fledgling relationship were clearly off limits.  

Mostly off limits.  Alan knew the silence from Scott was too good to last.

“Virgil, I’m going to need you to have a talk with Alan and Brandon after dinner.”  While he might not like the idea of his baby brother having anything that even remotely resembled a sex life he had to accept that this was a likely progression.  He would be failing in his duty if he didn’t make sure the couple went into this with their eyes open but same sex relationships were outside his personal realm of experience, hence calling on his next in line.  

“Huh, what about?”  Virgil looked up from his plate, he was far less bothered than Scott about the whole situation and wasn’t too sure what else there was to discuss.

“Alan.  And Brandon."  Scott gave his brother a pointed look. 

Virgil’s brow furrowed in confusion before realisation hit.  "Oh, right, couple stuff.  Really though Scott the rules aren’t any different just cos it’s a guy, but sure I’ll talk to them."  

Alan wanted the ground to swallow him up and he could feel the rising blush creeping towards his ears.  He could not believe this was happening.  He wasn’t completely clueless on the facts of life and Brandon definitely wasn’t.  To make matters worse Gordon was grinning like a Cheshire cat at the prospect, probably thinking up his own contributions Alan suspected.

"Really, it’s okay, we’re good.” Feeling the discomfort radiating off of Alan, Brandon tried to ward Virgil off.

“Oh no,” Virgil smirked, although to Brandon the look seemed vaguely reminiscent of a shark circling its prey, “if you intend to be involved with my little brother we are definitely going to talk.”

“Grandma, is this really necessary?” Alan tried to appeal to the one person who he thought he could count on as an ally.

“Actually dear, I’m with your brothers on this one.  Now if everyone’s finished I’ve got some jobs I want to do.  Gordon, can you give me a hand please, I’ve got some boxes I want shifting.”  She knew she wouldn’t be able to persuade Scott to leave but she could at least take some of the pressure off the situation.

The aquanaut grimaced but knew better to disobey.  Much as it would have been fun to watch Alan squirm he knew his Grandma was deliberately giving the others space; two big brothers was more than enough for Alan to be dealing with and Virgil would stop Scott from going overboard.  Anyways, he could impart his worldly wisdom any time he fancied grossing his brother out.

With Gordon and Grandma out the way a heavy silence settled over the table.  Scott was still radiating animosity and the attitude was starting to bug Virgil.  So what if Scott wasn’t a fan of Brandon?  Alan obviously was and if the feeling was mutual who was he to get in their way.  He took a sip of his water and waited for Scott to say something but Scott had evidently decided it was all on him now.  He cleared his throat.

“Now I don’t know what the pair of you have been getting up to, and to be honest I don’t want to know, but if you two are now an item there are some ground rules you need to follow.  Alan, you have a lock on your bedroom door, I suggest you start using it.  Brandon, whenever you stay over there will be a guest room for you as normal; it’s up to the pair of you if you use it but it’s there.”

“Now I don’t think…” Scott tried to butt in but Virgil cut him off.  If big brother was going to pass the buck on anything that wasn’t strictly hetero then he could keep his mouth shut for the moment.  And anyway, Virgil thought, Scott was a hypocrite.  He could well remember Scott’s own early forays into the world of dating which had started far earlier than Alan’s.

“No, Scott.  Alan not a kid any more and neither is Brandon.  I don’t want them to feel like they need to sneak around and neither do I want to barge in on anything.  Or have you forgotten how many times I had to cover for you or come up with some excuse to keep Dad out of wherever you’d chosen to mess around with your latest squeeze?”  Once he was satisfied that there would be no more interruptions he turned back to Alan and Brandon. “Now judging from the way Scott here has decided to drag me into all this I guess things have already started getting pretty physical between the two of you.”  Alan didn’t think it was possible to sink any lower in his seat but he tried.  “Now there are only two rules but they are absolutely non-negotiable.  Firstly, if you choose to go that far, you always use protection.  You have no excuse not to, there is always a stock in the cabinet in the infirmary, just make a note on the pharmacy order if supplies are running low.  And secondly, you do not do anything that you aren’t both wholly comfortable with.  You always check the other person is happy and if either of you want to stop at any point you stop.  Oh, and Brandon, if you dare hurt my little brother I personally know of at least 6 ravines where you could have a very convincing accident.“

Once Virgil had said his piece Scott launched in again, mostly about not broadcasting everything about their lives to the public or splashing it all over the vlog.  It was a request the pair happily agreed to; Alan wasn’t keen on the idea of navigating life with Bradon in front of millions of viewers and Brandon felt like he would have agreed to anything if it meant being able to get away from the combined force of Tracys one and two.

When they were finally released from their lecture Alan and Brandon fled back to the sanctuary of Alan’s room.  Alan clicked the lock into place behind them; still a bit shaky after the ordeal at dinner it wasn’t that he was in the mood to continue where they left off, more that he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of any more rules or advice from the family, well meant or otherwise.  

Brandon climbed up onto the bed and sat up against the wall, resting his forearms on drawn up knees.  “Man, Scott was like, so intense and boy I do not want to go piss off Virg, I used to think he was the soft one but I kinda think he scares me more than Scott.  Are your family always this extreme?”

“Yeah, sorry, they can get a little over protective sometime.  You do know Virgil was joking about the ravines, right?” 

“Right,” Brandon looked like he wasn’t wholly convinced though.  “Just as well I like living life on the edge.  Always be extreme and all that.”

“Were you alright with what they said, about not putting stuff about us out on your vlog?”

“Well clips with you or your brothers in already get 30% more views, think of the ratings.”

“Brandon!”

“Relax Alan.  No cameras, no clips.  I don’t have to put everything about me online and I don’t want to.  The media, well, you’ve seen how it can chew you up and spit you out and I don’t want to do anything that could hurt you.”  

Brandon patted the bed and Alan responded to the invitation.  He climbed into the gap between Brandon’s legs and settled his back against Brandon’s chest, feeling a slight thrill as warm arms circled round him in a gentle hug.  This was a side to Brandon that was rarely seen, a softer, gentler, more serious side that was at odds with the carefully curated persona of the Bear.  

As Alan’s weight settled comfortably back against him, the smaller form cocooned by his own slightly taller frame, Brandon felt luckier than he had done in a long time.  Alan wasn’t what would normally be considered his type, not if the string of conquests behind him was anything to go by, but there was something about the young Thunderbird with his raw and open honesty that had Brandon craving more than a quick fling.  There was a connection he’d never felt with anyone else before and he made a sincere and silent promise to look after the man who had first welcomed him into his life and his family and then invited him a step further into his heart.

He didn’t know if this would be a forever thing but he did know he was grateful for the chance to try, the chance to prove that he could be more than just a jackass pulling stunts for the cameras.  There was something about Alan, nestled comfortably against him like a puzzle piece where he had drifted off to sleep half way through a movie, that gave him a feeling of deep contentment and he dropped a gentle kiss onto the slumbering head beside him.  Commitment had never been on his radar before, uncomplicated fun was more his usual style, but this was different; a relationship to be explored slowly at whatever pace Alan felt comfortable with and if that meant starting off with movie nights punctuated by tentative kisses, well, he was happy to go along with that.   

-FIN-

[aufhcker]

Closed Starter || @ofmusingsxandmayhem​

                Over the past eight centuries, Apsel had witnessed the world change. It was a rapid progression; major events occurred, new places were built, and the population increased tenfold. As though mimicking his surroundings, the creature adopted a different form with every turn of a decade -- and that meant meeting a variety of people along the way. Most of them were long gone from this earth, leaving behind generation after generation, but his most recent encounters thrived. They remained, but were no longer apart of his life; he was somebody else now, unrecognizable from the person they once knew and cared for. He was, to them, a mere memory. And he preferred to keep it that way. There was always a certain amount of despondency in losing another friend to time, watching as they grew older until they took their very last breath. It was an event he found easier to avoid by disappearing altogether.

                Sentimental nights, however, involved him perusing the many photographs he collected over the decades. There were letters, naturally, before the invention of the camera -- but the visual evidence often brought a smile to his face much quicker than fading ink. It was a habit of his, documenting the time spent with friends by begging them for a photograph before it was too late. A permanent reminder of those he adored. They never knew what he was, or that he would spend most nights tearing out the throats of criminals, allowing him to stay undetected and apart of their lives for a while longer. Judging by the sheer amount of photographs he had accumulated, leading a double life had worked exceptionally well. 

               Those days were behind him, however. Nowadays, Apsel was trying his best to live a quiet life, limiting the amount of connections he had. Retirement was never his intention, but circumstances forced him into it -- and with it, a permanent form that nobody had ever seen before. The creature released a thoughtful sigh as he returned a photograph from the late 1800s to his collection, covering up the youthful face that stared back. It was one of his better forms, but he had many favourites over the decades. All of them did a wonderful job of blending into society. This one had held up pretty well so far. Before he could dwell on his past forms further, a loud knocking broke the silence, resonating off the stone walls and making Apsel lift his head in confusion. It took him a moment to realise that the noise came from his front door. 

               “One moment, please!” Nobody ever visited him. His castle was secluded and rather perilous to discover, so Apsel had no idea who to expect. They were persistent, however, knocking a few more times; at least it proved that his mind was not playing tricks on him. Loneliness had its consequences on his mental state every now and again. “Yes, I hear you! Mein gott...” Muttering, the door was thrown open and Apsel prepared to address the person with a declaration of his annoyance -- but no words came forth. They died in his throat immediately upon seeing her. Rosalind Ainsworth. 

              “Rose?” Her name was spoken quietly at first, as though he was unsure about it. That quickly changed as a wide and welcoming smile graced his features, wrinkles deepening around his eyes as he did so. “Rose! Mein liebling,” no amount of words could describe how ecstatic Apsel was, reaching forward to hold her hand delicately between both his own in a warm and affectionate gesture. “Please, come in. I will not have you standing outside in the cold.” Leading her inside, Apsel beamed at his friend as he closed the door behind them, locking out the bitter wind from outside. The mountains provided shelter, certainly, but the climate could be quite biting in winter. “Look at you -- as beautiful as ever! Will Thomas be joining us soon? I think a catch up is long over-due.”

[blankblankityblank]

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round, All The Way To Town

Prompt: "Hey," he grabbed the headphones from [insert name]'s head and grinned, "-what are you listening to?”

Prompted by @twokinkybeans for their celebratory fic challenge! I loved writing this!

Warnings: edging, groping (consensual), daddy kink, dom!Tony

“See you MJ!” Peter called to his friend as she affectionately waved back...in the form of flipping the bird. He shook his head fondly, a little smile on his face as he walked to his bus.

“Penis Parker! Come sit with us, I promise you won’t be as lonely as usual,” Flash snickered, his crew laughing along. The poorly hidden whoopie cushion steered Peter away from that group, not that he considered going there in the first place. He instead opted for an empty double seat, pulling out his earphones and letting out a quiet groan at the state they were in.

“This...this is gonna take a while,” he mumbled to himself, threading the cords endlessly through each other in hopes they would decide to separate. His head was bowed down in concentration, until a shrill clang snapped his head up, causing a subsequent ache in his neck. He hissed through his teeth, pulling his fingers out of the tangled earphones to knead at the sore muscles.

“Sorry! I just got caught up in an exam, I didn’t mean to be late, so sorry,” the source of Peter’s neck pain babbled, earning a low grunt from the bus driver as the mysterious person paid their fare...in all silver coins. Peter hid a smirk; who paid a $4 fare with all 20 cent coins?

The man, who, upon closer inspection, looked around the same age, if not older than Peter, with chocolaty brown locks framing his sweaty forehead. His hazel eyes darted around the bus, looking for an acceptable spot to place himself for the next half hour. His gaze landed on the seat next to Peter, who was still rubbing at his neck, and, his decision made, he slowly began to move forward. Peter’s eyes widened as the person came closer; he was gorgeous.

Peter was snapped out of his not-so-subtle ogling as the bus suddenly came to life, being accompanied by a series of jolts. The mystery teen stumbled to Peter’s seat, trying to get a good grip on the rails as he desperately tried to find his equilibrium. It backfired spectacularly as the person face planted onto Peter’s lap, his body askew on his chosen seat.

They both froze, neither daring to risk making the awkward predicament worse. The stranger was first to speak up, tripping over his words.

“Uh-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall on you! The bus started moving and I just kinda fell, I am so sorry, lemme just-”

The stranger placed his hands on Peter’s lap, one on his groin and one on his thigh (on purpose?), which was already bad, but then pushed down to try and get up. It worked, but at the cost of Peter’s blood rushing straight to his dick. Which created a little problem.

“I’m Tony! Again, I am so so sorry!” Tony stuck his hand out to a stunned Peter, who had not yet uttered a word. He mechanically shook Tony’s hand, the fleeting thought ain’t this a bit old fashioned shortly invading the chaotic state of his mind.

“I’m...I’m Peter, nice to meet you? I guess?” He spared an awkward chuckle, glancing at Tony to try and gauge whether he was coming off as awkward as he thought he did. Tony just smiled, and bent down to clean up the remnants of his once orderly bag. Peter attended to the abandoned earphones, methodically untangling the wires, and plugging them into his phone once he’d deemed them useful enough.

The slow melody of Viva La Vida infiltrated his mind, calming and relaxing his body. He slumped against his seat, the full force of the day taking its toll. His relaxation screeched to a halt when he felt Tony tugging on his earphones.

"Hey," he grabbed the earphones from Peter's ears and grinned, "-what are you listening to?"

Peter pinched the bridge of his nose, and gritted his teeth. It was only through the sheer force of willpower that he managed not to snap at the newcomer, who’s lithe fingers held Peter’s only source of relaxation.

“I was relaxing to Coldplay, until you decided to come along,” Peter wasn’t able to keep the annoyance out of his tone, the sentence coming out venomous. “That might’ve been a bit harsh…” he muttered to himself, taking the initiative to actually pause his song.

“Wow, it seems I’m having to give out a lot of my limited store of apologies today. You should be honoured you’ve been one of the lucky recipients,” Tony quipped back, the smile never leaving his face. His beautiful, Greek-god like face, with his full lips, the beginnings of an iconic goatee forming, his button nose, his…

“Yeah, real honoured to be the recipient of your clumsiness and inconsiderateness. Fuck off,” Peter mumbled the last part, fed up with his inner swooning.

It was like someone had flipped a switch, Tony’s demeanor changing almost instantly. The cheeky smile evaporated, making room for a much more...menacing frown.

“What did you just say to me?” His voice was dangerously calm, the older turning to face Peter fully. The latter’s Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped unconsciously, shrinking back.

“I...I said fuck off,” He whispered with a considerably smaller amount of confidence. “didn’t mean it,” he added nervously, when Tony didn’t seem to look any happier. The older adolescent exuding dominance to the point where Peter seemed to wither under Tony’s piercing glare. Why was Peter being affected this badly by someone he met two minutes ago? He couldn’t tell you. Other than his massive crush, massive boner, and massive kink for domination, he couldn’t tell you. Complete mystery.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say, little boy. I think you should apologise,” Tony said in a low tone, almost daring Peter to fight back.

The ‘little boy’ was like a punch in the gut, Peter’s boner strengthening with every second. His mouth could beat the Sahara desert any day, as he tried to find the words to appease the older teen.

“M-my name...my name’s Peter,” He whispered, not trusting his parched mouth to form a sound other than croaking. The phrase seemed to snap Tony out of his glare, being replaced with a horrified expression.

“I am so, so sorry. I just...you made me so frustrated, I shouldn’t have done that, I hardly know you.” Tony fumbled, his eyes wide. Peter looked almost shocked, almost disappointed-

“No, no it’s ok, I’m ok...with that..” he managed to breath out, reaching out to touch Tony, to reassure him, to encourage him to keep doing that, keep dominating him, but he pulled back with a jolt-the teen didn’t want to overstep.

A slow grin spread across Tony’s face. He grabbed Peter’s hand back, Peter not resisting.

“You’re ok with that, huh? You want me to tell you how bad you are, cussing at me? You want me to punish you, to put you in your place? Huh?” Tony mouthed hotly in Peter’s ear, his sinful hand traveling down further past Peter’s chest, stopping at his painfully hard dick. Peter was panting quietly, trying not to disturb the other few passengers as Tony tested the boundaries, first lightly stroking Peter’s cock, then giving it a sudden squeeze. Peter whimpered at the hot flash of arousal, bucking his hips in an attempt to chase the friction.

“Nuh uh, naughty boy. We take what Daddy gives, that’s what good boys do,” Tony murmured in Peter’s ear, continually groping at his erection. Peter held back a moan, the ‘Daddy’ was a second punch to the gut, as if one wasn’t enough. Peter steadily grew more flustered, eyes rolling back as he felt the familiar coil at the pit of his stomach from his many late night sessions, the coil threatening to erupt at any second, he just needed Tony to keep going, to palm harder and faster-

The bus made a piercingly loud ‘Ding’, devastatingly bringing Peter back to the real world. He wanted to cry, to scream, at the sudden loss of contact caused by the bus stopping. Tony had completely taken his hands off when the bus made the noise from hell, not wanting Peter to miss his stop. Peter would have preferred to keep going. Tony looked suspiciously satisfied, smirking at Peter’s flushed face. Peter was surprised there was any blood left to go to his cheeks; his dick had taken most of the supply. Upon realisation he might actually miss his stop, Peter scrambled to get his long abandoned earphones and phone, rushing toward the exit of the bus before the grumpy bus driver decided to close the doors.

Tony smirked, having put his number under “Daddy ;)” in Peter’s phone. He couldn’t wait for tonight.

[taliel-strykidz]

Difficult

A little Huannie x manager moment :)

Jaemin sucked in a breath as another sharp pain shot up his back for the fourth time in the past ten minutes, he really wanted to ask someone for help but that would result in the older members smothering him. He threw his phone beside him and attempted to get up, but ended up back in his original spot holding his lower back almost instantly. “Come on, just get up.” He grumbled, wishing the pain to disappear, like right then and there. 

He laid back down onto his side for a couple of silent moments, before holding his breath and launching himself up off the bed slowly, using the bedside cabinet as support. “And off we go.” He mumbled to himself before biting his lip and he wobbled out of the room and into the kitchen to find some painkillers. The walk was painfully slow but he reached the destination in the end. He tried to reach for a glass but the sickening pain in his back almost made him crumble onto the floor. He ignored Ai-Huan who was watching him with raised eyebrows and got the cup anyway. 

“NaNa, are you okay?” Lucas spoke up from the kitchen door, his hand on the door frame as they watched Jaemin double over in pain.

Jaemin glared at him. “I really want to hit anyone who’s taller than me today.” He truthfully told him as he gestured to the glass, sliding into the seat on the island as he took the painkillers. Lucas wavered a moment before backing away with his hands up- if it wasn’t for the fact that Huannie had violently gestured for him to get out he would have stayed to taunt the Dream member some more. “Have fun.” 

Once it was just Huannie and Jaemin in the room she turned to him with an expecting glance. “What’s wrong?” 

He ignored her and put a thumbs up, he didn’t feel a pain at the moment, but he knew the painkillers hadn’t kicked in yet. He could fool her long enough to get back to his room and lay down, it shouldn’t be that hard. 

Donghyuk entered the kitchen and took one glance at Jaemin’s murderous face, seeing that he was still in the same mood he had that morning: he elected to leave still salty about early hours this morning being assaulted for waking his friend up.  Huannie put her phone down on the counter and opened her mouth “Are you-” 

“If you about to ask if i’m okay I will throw something heavy at you Noona. No offence.” He pointed to the toaster on the side as reference and the woman shrunk back down in the seat. 

Huannie slowly moved the toaster out of his reach and leaned closer. “Yeah, but why?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, my back is slowly killing me.” He looked at her with a blank look quickly diverting his eyes when the look of realisation crossed her face. 

“Why haven’t you told anyone it’s still hurting? Jaemin-ah this is something important, forget your pride for a moment this is your health.” 

Jaemin sighed and stood up slowly, it was bad enough he’d had so many months off work, but it felt like if he was to take anymore time off he’d have no job to go back to, which Jaemin’s pride wouldn’t allow him. 

“If you think i’m going to smother you I’m not Jaeminnie, i’m just making sure you’re safe and healthy ok?” 

And with that she left him with something to think about. 

== 

NCT127′s manager had allowed Jaemin to join the dance for Black on Black, and Huannie and Taeyong were the least happy to hear the news. Of course they were happy that he was making a comeback but now knowing his back wasn’t in perfect condition really shook the two. 

It was clear that some of the members that were debuting with Black on Black were nervous, sat fidgeting in the back of the practice room as they waited for the choreographer to teach the dance break. Huannie sharply elbowed Taeyong   to show him that Jaemin was holding his lower back discreetly. 

The choreographer stood in front of the group quickly introducing himself again to the camera shooting Huannie’s Youtube channel, but as soon as he began talking about a lift involving standing on members back there was quiet murmurs. 

“Huannie-ssi is something wrong.” He asked quickly seeing the look of disgust on her face as she read the blueprint type paper of where each member will be. 

“I’ll make it brief sir, I will switch places with Jaemin.”  The choreographer nodded, stopping himself from impatiently snapping on the woman. 

“Huannie-ssi it’s already been decided. Recently people have been asking for harder choreography.” The choreographer sighed, “And though I admire that you would like to take the difficult part off Jaemin but holding Mark up is a difficult job.” She swallowed, getting worked up at his tone. She didn’t like how he was insinuating that A) she wasn’t strong enough and B) That Jaemin’s back could handle the weight of the boy. 

“And you’re willing to damage his back even further sir? I’m sure you’ve been briefed on his condition?” She asked in her best intimidating voice, it would really come down to if he would give up on his pride at this point, and they only had a limited amount of time until the performance so they needed to get moving. 

The choreographer nodded. “I know of his condition yes, but I was also told that it’s made a recovery. But this is something i’ve already blocked and it’s going to take too long to block again.” His tone told her that he’d already made up his mind and wasn’t going to give up that easily.  She clenched her jaw and shook her head. 

“Once you teach it i’ll reblock it for you if it’s such a difficult task sir, if you still go ahead and put Jaemin on the bottom of that pyramid I hope you’re ready for the law suit to follow it and-”

“Noona, stop now. I can do it.” Jaemin mumbled from beside her, tugging on her hoodie to get her to walk away. 

But Huannie wasn’t about to let the man live this down. 

--

As she began to warm up, Huannie’s manager walked in to gather her attention. “I have heard back from the choreographer,” he told her strictly. “I expected you to treat him wit respect Huan, he’s taking time out of his tour for you guys.” His eyes burned into her own and she felt like she was going to burn under his gaze.

She gulped, wow he took time out of his busy busy schedule, she felt her stomach twist in discomfort. She was barely happy with the fact that he came to scold her for something that everyone knew was the right decision. Jaemin was going to hurt himself, she was positive. Huannie and Jae-geun had a close relationship, she had the kind of brutal honesty that tested most friendships, but he appreciated it majority of the time. They always knew where they stood with eachother. He’s usually stand up for her in front of others, even when he knew she was at fault. Then privately let her know what his thoughts of the situation was and how she should have behaved differently, who she should apologise to and how to avoid making the mistake again. She listened to him because he listened to her. 

Sometimes he could loose his temper and be a right prat like now, then it would be her turn to guide him on how he should look at the problem differently. they were family after all. 

“Why must you argue with everyone? Seriously you need to keep your mouth shut.” 

“I’ll keep my mouth shut when you stop hiring idiots Oppa.” 

“I bet you’ll stop when you’re the one that has to choreograph everything because no one wants to listen to you complain.” 

“Oh I hope that will happen, because then I don’t have to hold Jaemin whilst he cries because his back hurts.” 

Suddenly the noise of the two arguing died in an instant. Huannie attempted to look for what he was thinking, but his face was calculative as he thought about their next move. 

“Do you know the choreography?” 

Feeling nauseated, she nodded slightly. As Jae-geun gave her a hard look, she explained quietly. “I learnt it yesterday, it just needed to be re blocked to keep Jaemin’s back from getting worse.” Her insides writhed. He’s considering it.

As Geun placed his hand on her shoulder she huffed. “I’m sorry i’m being difficult.” She whispered trying to keep an even tone. “I can’t wrap my head why these choreographers can’t maintain the safety of my group.” 

“Hey I didn’t say I don’t agree with you Huannie,” Came the soft tone Huannie was used to, the complete opposite of what had came out of his mouth earlier. Though there was still a hint of irritation in his tone. “I know how you’re feeling it’s the same feeling I get when you perform on a slippy stage.” He continued. “It sets your anxiety through the roof. But you tell me you can do it- so why can’t you let Jaemin say he can?” 

She straightened up. “Because i’m a stubborn bitch, but honestly should I re block it privately or not Geun?” 

“No let him prove that he can do this Huannie, you can’t baby him forever- I learnt that lesson the hard way.” 

“You’re annoying Geunnie.” 

“But you wouldn’t have me any other way. “

[joostsblog]

promises and secrets - Peter Parker One Shot

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader 

Description: Peter and you are best friends and a great team, you share every secret, even the biggest one there is. Except, you don’t share one specific secret with Peter, that you are in love with him. 

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: No spoilers for any MCU movies. they go to college and Ned is in this for a bit as well. First work writing for Peter Parker! I’m really excited about his one, it’s so cute! I hope you enjoy, let me know your thoughts! if you wanna be tagged in future works of mine, please message me, I write for Tom Holland and Peter Parker! (masterlist is in my bio)

Warnings: a bit of angst, tiny bit of swearing and more use of the phrase what the heck than you have ever experienced in real life. 

PROMISES AND SECRETS 

You were laying on your stomach on your bed, laptop in front of you. You knew that you could be spending your time right now studying but you were too exhausted from the day, so instead, you were watching videos on YouTube. The wind was ever so slightly blowing through the window you left open for Peter, the air softly moving the white curtain in front of it. Your window was almost always open for your best friend. He was the best best friend you could ever ask for, you knew each other since you both went to the same High School and now you were going to the same College doing the same degree. You shared every single secret, even the biggest one. So when a little bit later Peter slipped through the window to lay beside you on the bed and laugh along to you at the videos playing it was like any other evening. And when Peter later got a call on his phone from Tony Stark you pouted at him for leaving already.

“Promise me, you’ll get enough sleep tonight?”, you asked as Peter was getting up, ready to leave. “And please take care of yourself.”, just like everyone in Peter’s life who knew about his secret, you were always worried about his dangerous double life. But you felt like you were the one that worried about him the most.

“Promise.”, Peter said and pressed a hasty kiss to your forehead before putting his spider-man mask on again and leaving through the window behind the white curtains. Peter’s words ringing in your ear and the exhaustion taking over your body helped you fall asleep sooner than you anticipated. 

Surely, when you woke up the next morning you were relieved to see the message from Peter saying got home safe. The phrase “text me when you get home” had taken a whole different meaning between the two of you. With Peter battling dangerous criminals every day and you knowing the secret identity of Spider-man and by that also being a potential target of criminal masterminds.

When you got ready to leave you grabbed your backpack, your study books, your notebook and a few notes you took for Peter during a lecture he missed due to some Avengers business. You and Peter were a great Team. If Ned was Peter’s guy in the chair, helping him get information about important missions, you were Peter’s girl to keep him on the ground. You were the one that always filled him in on everything he missed in lectures, you were the one to help him keep a cool mind when things with College and his superhero life got too much. You always gave him the best advice and sometimes you had to force him to take a break or to step back a bit for his own good. Yes, everyone deserves saving, but sometimes you can’t save everyone, and you needed to remind Peter of that so he wouldn’t risk his own life too much. You wouldn’t forgive yourself if anything bad ever happened to Peter and you could have prevented it.

Later that day, when you were done with your lectures you found yourself sitting in the library working on a group project which was due the next week with Ann and Kathrin. You knew the two from some lectures you took together, you had been meeting to get lunch or coffee a few times and now to work on the project, but you didn’t know each other too well. Your group was concentrated on the texts and papers sprawled across the table in front of you so much that you didn’t realize when Peter approached you. He placed a coffee and a blueberry muffin in front of you on the table and leaned down from where he was standing to place a short but firm kiss on the top of your head.

“I figured you would need some fuel.”, he joked.

“You’re the best.”, you beamed up to him and put your arms around his torso for a short hug. “See you tonight?”

“Promise.”, Peter smiled before leaving with his text books under his arm to look for a table in the library to study by himself.

You smiled to yourself when Peter left and took a sip from the coffee, he had gotten you. You noticed that Ann and Kathrin were watching you, smiling as well.

“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”, Ann said surprised. “You look really cute together.”, she added before you could properly process her words. Heat was immediately rushing to your face as you realized that to Ann Peter was probably already out of listening range, but you knew that he could probably still pick up what she just said with his enhanced senses.

“Peter? No no, we’re just best friends.”, you hastily answered, even though now you could see what Ann probably meant. It wasn’t off-limits that people would assume that you were together from the way you interacted with each other, how easily you two played off each other. But you never looked at each other in that way, you never looked Peter in that way. You had never seen him as anything more than a very good friend. But suddenly it was consuming your mind and even though you tried to direct your concentration towards the work in front of you, you weren’t quite able to fully concentrate on it anymore.

And that evening you were sitting on your bed watching a movie – a rom-com so maybe that wasn’t helping much either in your situation – trying to get the image of you and Peter as a couple out of your mind. You started to imagine how your interactions would change. Not much, really. You already cuddled to comfort each other sometimes, you already shared every secret and every free moment together. So, the only thing that would change is you two kissing. And as the movie was reaching its climax with the two leads finally coming to their senses and sharing their first kiss, you couldn’t help but imagine it was the two of you kissing. Suddenly your heart started beating like crazy in your chest and heat once again began raising to your cheeks as you admitted that you liked the thought of kissing Peter.

“Hi, (Y/N)!”

You shrieked out loud when Peter was entering through your window as usual and interrupted your daydreaming. In a swift move, you shut your laptop, maybe a tad too strongly.

“Oh my god, (Y/N). I’m sorry to startle you.”, Peter said with a smirk as he saw you calming down slowly. “Were you watching porn?”, he teased.

“No!”, you exclaimed and thought that maybe it would be best if you lied and said yes. “You just scared me, Peter!”, you said, hand laid across your chest as if to calm down your heartbeat.

“Okay okay.”, Peter laughed and seated himself beside you on your bed. “Thanks for the notes by the way.”

“What?”, you asked confused, still recovering from the scare.

“The notes you took for me? They are always better than the ones I take myself. And so cute. The doodles are just the best.”, Peter said referring to the little drawings you always added to the sides to hopefully cheer Peter up when he was revising.

“Of course. Everything for you.”, you smiled as Peter put his arm around your shoulders. You couldn’t deny that for the first time, your heart suddenly started beating faster than usual when Peter was touching you. You grew uncomfortable as you remembered the thoughts you had about Peter kissing you just a few minutes prior when you were only friends. You shouldn’t be fantasising about your best friend like that. You didn’t want to ruin the amazing friendship you built. Thinking about the possibility of that made you sad already. So, you decided to ban those thoughts to the back of your mind and just continue with the friendship as if nothing had ever happened. After all, this was the first time you thought about those things anyway.

Your promise to yourself didn’t last for long. From now on, every interaction with Peter felt different. Whenever Peter was getting you a treat or when you hugged or when you were cuddling in your bed, you felt as if suddenly there was a different energy in the room. Suddenly they didn’t feel like small signs of affection between two friends anymore. Instead, you wished that every time you hugged each other goodbye that you could just get on your tiptoes to kiss him instead. And every time you would imagine that you hated yourself a little more for even wishing for something like that.

So without even realizing it too much, you slowly grew a little bit distant to Peter. More often you would now answer I have to study to Peter’s text, asking if you were free. And then sometimes you would even lie a little when he would suggest you just study together and send him a text saying it’s for a class you’re not taking. And you would slowly drop the amount of funny and cute doodles on the sides of your notes you carefully took for Peter. Your hugs became shorter, your cuddles colder in an effort to keep yourself falling for your best friend.

There was nothing that could stop it though. Because, without realising it, you had already fallen for your best friend a long time ago. You were only keeping yourself from realising it.

Eventually, it came to a point where Peter started to notice something was off. So, when he swung by your window unannounced one evening and he saw you cuddled up to yourself in your blankets, fixated on a book in your lap, trying your best to ignore Peter’s presence, it fell apart.

“What the heck is up with you?”, Peter snapped after a few minutes of him sitting on your desk chair, fiddling with his mask in his hand when you didn’t react much to him making conversation.

“Geez.”, you said when you finally looked up from your book, only holding eye contact with Peter for a few small seconds. “Nothing.”, you shrugged with your shoulders, hoping he would just drop it again.

“Nothing? Are you serious? You’re ignoring me right now!”, Peter said, slowly raising his voice.

“I’m not.”, you mumbled, even though you knew he was right.

“You know what?”, Peter got up from your chair, obviously having enough of it. “Text me when you can talk to me normally again.”, he said snappy and put his mask back on before leaving through your window again.

As soon as he left you felt guilt washing over you. You knew your behaviour was unacceptable, that it could potentially ruin your friendship you had with Peter and you cursed yourself for it. Frustrated you ran your hands through your hair as a tear ran down your cheek. You concluded that tomorrow you would put your act together and apologize to Peter. Maybe you should just be honest with him about your feelings, but you weren’t sure about that. For now, apologizing and rebuilding your friendship would be the first task, you decided.

But when you woke up the next morning your heart dropped to your stomach when you noticed that Peter hadn’t texted you last night that he got home safely. Either he was just angry with you and didn’t text your or something bad happ-

You didn’t even allow yourself to think something like that, so instead, you texted Peter. Have you gotten home safely last night? Can I see you today? I need to talk to you. And when you got to campus you had convinced yourself that Peter was only angry with you and didn’t text you because of that. You tried to keep the bad thoughts to the back of your mind, not worrying too much.

But the alarm bells started ringing again when at noon, Peter still hadn’t texted you back and Ned Leeds approached you.

“Have you seen Peter?”, he asked you.

“Not since last night. Have you?”, you answered, worry growing inside of you.

“No, we were supposed to meet for class two hours ago.”

When those words left Ned’s mouth you felt as if the world was suddenly turning around you. Your head was dizzy with all the thoughts flooding it.

“Have you tried calling him?”, you asked, trying to organize your thoughts.

“Straight to voicemail.”

“Shit shit shit.”, muttered and walked over to the nearest chance to sit down for you. “We've gotta do something.”, you said as tears started welling up in your eyes.

Ned only nodded in agreement and not long after you found an empty group study room you could occupy. You started up the computer while Ned was already typing away on the laptop, he brought with him. You tried to search social media, news articles for any recent mentions of Spider-man. Usually, this wasn’t the kind of stuff you did, usually, Ned was Peter’s guy for this work. You could tell because Ned was already trying to hack Peter’s suit AI to find his location.

“Does this happen a lot?”, you asked Ned as he was concentrating on the screen in front of him. It took him a little bit before you could give a definite answer.

“No, but it has happened. Sometimes Peter is just not much of a team player and doesn’t give you a notice.”, Ned’s words sparked a little bit of hope in you. “But I think this is the most extreme case of that so far.”, crushing the spark of hope again.

An hour later you and Ned still hadn’t found anything. You had been stuck on a loop in the customer service hotline of Stark Industries because, of course, you didn’t have Tony Stark’s private phone number.

“I’ve got his location!”, Ned exclaimed suddenly. You darted over to where he was seated to look at his screen.

“Chicago?”, you read out loud. “How are we gonna go there, that’s like a 12-hour bus drive!”, you were already starting to think over your options.

“I can detect movement though. Let’s wait another 30 minutes first and see whether he moves or stays in one place.”, Ned suggested.

“Okay.”, you settled in your seat again. “It’s bad if he doesn’t move, right?”

“Yes, I can basically detect his movement down to a meter. So, if he doesn’t move any meter that would be very bad.”, Ned explained. Fear rushed over you at the image of Peter being tied to a chair in a warehouse somewhere or even worse-

“Who the heck uses meters? Are you trying to be a posh European?”, you teased Ned, trying to distract yourself from the imaginary in your head.

“The metric system just makes more sense.”, Ned shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch his laptop screen. “He’s moving.”, Ned stated. “Not much though, from the movement, it could be possible that he’s in a fight right now.”

Even though Peter was fighting crime every day, this was different. He was in a different city, without any notice and you didn’t know whether he was alone or not. Ten minutes later Ned informed you that Peter has been moving at a faster pace now.

“If this keeps up, it looks like he’s possibly flying back to New York.”

“Thank god.”, you muttered and put your hands on your face, only now realizing that it was covered in tears. “How long till he’s back?”

“Probably in around 1 and a half hours if he keeps it up.”

“Should we go back to his apartment?”, you suggested, and Ned agreed.

Two hours later you both were sat on the couch at Peter’s apartment when the door clicked and opened. Both of you quickly sitting up and turning your heads to see Peter walk in, looking fine and wearing normal clothes.

“Dude!”, Ned exclaimed, making Peter jump slightly in surprise.

“What the heck?”, he asked when he saw you both sitting on his couch.

“No, Peter, what the heck?”, you opposed, your words filled with anger. “Where have you been?”

“On a mission with the Avengers.”, he answered as he set his backpack by the side of the door.

“Dude, you have to tell us.”, Ned said after he stood up and walked towards Peter to hug him. “You seriously can’t do that.”, Ned said silently after he hugged Peter. Peter let his eyes quickly dart over to your face and noticed the red swollen eyes looking back at him.

“My phone died, I’m sorry.”, Peter said.

“And Tony Stark doesn’t have a phone charger on his multi-million-dollar quinjet?”, you snapped. Peter only shrugged his shoulders. All you wanted to do was just hug Peter, but you were still angry with him and you didn’t feel like it was the right choice, with everything that happened last night.

“I’m gonna go.”, Ned said and patted Peter on his back before sharing one last look with you.

“Don’t you wanna go as well?”, Peter asked as he was running his hand through his curls.

“You don’t know what I want.”

“That’s true.”, he said, undertone in his voice clear as he was settling himself on the other end of the couch opposite of you.

“So you really had no form of communication to tell us you were okay? We missed class because we tried to-“, you said before Peter was harshly interrupting you.

“Oh my god, (Y/N)! Quit it!”, Peter put his hand into his hands. “You have no idea what it’s like to be a superhero. You have no idea how tired I am right now because you have no idea what a mission like this means!”, Peter raised his voice, his eyes already glistening from tears. “And then you only make it worse with your weird behaviour. So, if you’re only here to make me feel worse, please just go.”, when Peter looked you directly in the eyes to tell you the last sentence it broke your heart. This was the first time you had ever fought. You tried to swallow down the tears, but you couldn’t stop them from coming up again. You knew this was exactly everything you wanted to avoid.

“Damnit, Peter. I was worried. I had no idea where you were and I knew you were angry with me.”, you tried to explain yourself. “I am so sorry for last night, Pete.”, you almost whispered now. “I could not live in a world where anything bad happens to you.”, you admitted, looking deep into Peter’s eyes but not being able to read his expression.

“Didn’t look like that last night…”, Peter muttered under his breath.

“I am sorry! I know I have been distant recently. I didn’t mean to be.”, you said, not sure how you could explain your behaviour.

“We were always the best team, (Y/N). Why did you suddenly act as if I was invisible to you?”, Peter asked, hurt obvious in his voice.

“You’re going to hate me if I tell you.”, you said, your eyes avoiding Peter’s gaze.

“No.”, Peter said empathetically as he was scooting closer to you. “I could never hate you.”, he said and took one of your hands into his, unsure whether that was okay for you. You knew that the very base you two built your friendship upon was honesty. And you knew that honesty was the only way you answer to Peter right now.

“Pete, you are my bestest friend in the world and I don’t want that to ever change…”, you said, still not looking up from the hands of the two of you intertwined in your lap. “But I have a feeling this is going to ruin our friendship.”, you slowly continued. “I’m in love with you.”, you said, already bracing for whatever reaction Peter would have to this. The few seconds that lasted after your confession felt as if they were hours. You didn’t know you had been holding your breath until Peter finally moved. He released his hand from your grip. Of course, you thought yourself, it’s over now. You didn’t allow yourself to look up now, too afraid to see Peter’s weirded out face. You were only frozen in place, unable to move as a cold shiver ran through your whole body. Before you could release your body from its stare to leave Peter, as it was the only logical thing to escape this hurtful silence, Peter’s hand moved towards you again. This time it reached for your face to gently cup your cheek in his warm hand.

“(Y/N)-baby…”, Peter said in a low voice, almost only a whisper. “Look at me.”, he said as he used his other hand to cup your other cheek, using his thumbs to slowly wipe away some of your tears that had already gone cold. You slowly raised your gaze, surprised to see that Peter still had tears in his eyes, but he had a small smile on his lips. “I’m in love with you too.”, he said, making your heart skip a beat and your breath hitch. “Weren’t you able to tell by now?”, he asked, only making you shake your head in turn, because, no, you hadn’t noticed. But suddenly all those moments of affection flooded your mind. All the times Peter brought you coffee without even asking, all the times you two cuddled in bed, watching all your favourite movies and shows, all the times Peter took you for a swing around the city and all the cool buildings he brought you to the top of to watch countless sunsets with you. After all, those weren’t signs of affection between friends. “Stop thinking so much.”, Peter laughed as he practically saw how much time you spent making sense of all the things. And before you could say something yourself, Peter used his hands resting on your face to move your faces together and to finally lock his lips with yours. A warmth you had never felt before immediately overcame your body as Peter’s soft lips were innocently pressed on top of yours. They tasted sweet and if they could taste like it, they would also taste like comfort and familiarity. You finally gave into the tingling in your fingertips when you moved them from your lap, to find their place in Peter’s soft but unruly curls. After your lips disconnected again you two immediately fell into a long comforting hug.

“I can’t believe this.”, you mumbled as your face was pressed against Peter’s chest.

“Me neither.”, Peter laughed and pressed a kiss on top of your head. “Promise me next time you will just tell me what you’re feeling, instead of just ignoring me?”

“I’m sorry.”, you said truthfully. “I promise.”

“No more secrets.” 

~

Permanent tag list:

@sltwins @roosterteethgirl @ffxfancy

[ccwastaken]

Radley's Defeat

AN: Small Beastley au story that takes place at the end of PL2. The character Pearl that gets mentioned belongs to @dragongirl2. This story contains some uh. Slightly sexual implications.

××××××

He was so- angry. Rage seemed to course through his very veins as his arms shook, his hands curled into fists so tight his nails cut into his palms. He exhaled shakily and blinked. Out of the corner of his vision he could see his broken glasses lying on the ground, discarded as useless junk.

Useless junk...

He looked over his shoulder, at him. He looked back at the ground, then, calm as ever, he got to his feet, and moved over to him.

"Shida..." His voice was as soft as a whisper, but full of malice as he approached, limping slightly. "Ohh Shida..."

His bo- no, no he wasn't that anymore. His former employee backed away as he approached. Radley grinned to himself in amusement. "You're scared of me?" He asked, his amusement leaking into his sinister tone. "Now why would you be scared of little old me, Sargeant Pepper? Hm?" He looked up at him, admiring the blood leaking from the gash over Sarge's left eye. "Is it because you know what you've done?"

"Radley-"

"Is it because you know you took MY trust, my precious, precious trust that you worked so hard to earn, Crushida," he could see the panic in the Sargeant's remaining eye and he revelled in it. "And threw it into the DIRT!" He reached out and grabbed him by his shirt, yanking him with a surprising amount of strength. "Is that it?" He asked softly.

Shida said nothing, just glared into his eyes. One of them was half closed, and beginning to swell, but Radley didn't seem to even be aware of it.

"Well?"

"You know I couldn't let you do this- you're- you're an evil man, Radley and you know that-" Shida said. Radley glared at him as he spoke, his anger mounting. "You knew you were hurting people, yet you didn't care. You're- you're no better than your mo-"

He was cut off by Radley slapping him. Hard. Shida stumbled back, his hand over the stinging spot where he'd been hit.

"Don't you dare even think to say something so vile to my face..." Radley hissed. He closed the gap between them. "You've gone soft, Shida."

"I haven't, I just care about people now, unlike you." The Sargent retorted.

"I should've known- I should've known when you came to me with that thing you call a child-"

"You leave Pearl out of this!"

"When you came to me talking about a human girl! I should've known they'd turn you to their side!" Radley grit his teeth, and suddenly grabbed Shida by his broken arm, and yanked it as hard as he could. The army Sargent yelped in pain and gripped his bandaged arm, seething in pain as he doubled over. "You're soft. That girl-" Radley leaned down to him. "You couldn't help yourself, could you? Take one look at a woman and everything WE'VE worked for together goes out the window."

"I've been nothing but loyal to you-"

"LOYAL?!" Radley screamed at him, and then his angry face twisted into a grin of malice. He chuckled. "Ohh Shida I don't think teaming up with two humans to ruin the plans of the man you supposedly 'love' counts!" He stepped back and looked behind Shida as the two humans in question. One dark skinned, holding a weapon Radley himself had designed, and the other, just a young boy in a Fort Onion helmet holding a pepper bomb. Radley chuckled.

"You disgust me, you know that?"

"I'm realising the same about you." Shida replied softly. Radley's grin dropped, and he scowled.

"Consider yourself fired." He said softly. His leaves, which thankfully were unharmed, fluttered, and Radley took off. Shida watched him fly away, not a trace of emotion on his face.

"Crushida-" Sasha said, breaking the silence. She walked over to the foodian. "Shida...?" The army Sargent looked at her, and smiled, though she knew there was no joy in it. "I'm sorry I-"

"Don't be." He cut in. "It had to be done."

Sasha looked down at the ground. He ran his hand down her hair, then pulled her closer. She hugged him, closing her eyes. He stared down at her with his one good eye,admiring the way her hair moved with the wind. He knew their time together was limited at best with Radley gone but- just for this moment he'd pretend it wasn't. He looked over at the boy, still frozen in place, though he was shaking.

Shida pulled away from Sasha and walked over to the boy. He kneeled down. "You're one hell of a brave kid, Faniel." He said. The boy smiled nervously. "I know soldiers who wouldn't be able to do what you just did here." He took off the helmet and ruffled the boy's dirty blonde hair. "Good aim too. You're the one that hit his eye, ain't ya?"

"Y-Yes sir that was me-" Faniel replied quickly. "Did I do okay? I-I feel like I got in the way-"

"You did great." Shida smiled at the boy before standing up. He scooped the tiny human up into his good arm. "You wanna sit up front on the way back? I think ya earned it."

"I-I can?" Faniel sounded excited. Shida grinned and nodded before walking towards his red pickup truck. Sasha watched the dot flying through the sky for a moment, wondering where Radley was going, before following them.