#he's the only OC of mine that smokes haha!

[crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf]

Disgrace Chapter 7 : Crosshair x F!OC

Estkle City, hugging the base of the equator mountains, alive with the winds peeling away from Ga'hah's storm spot; This city is port du call for the grand rail that brings civilians through to the Sohn city state in the North. It's the last stop before Tah'nyem finds herself home. Armed with a satchel of casino winnings and a posh nightlife these two are determined to enjoy their evening. They talk about their families, their doubts, and she even bullies him into telling her how his toothpick habit started. For once the world feels slow.

Chapter Specific Warnings: Nudity, Angst and Fluff in a constant tug-o-war, drug use (smoking, drinking), Implied sex and sexual situations, I was hungry while writing this. This is also the chapter where I zoned out and forgot clone twins was fanon. Kark it we ball.

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Authors Note: My stars, are these two actually talking to each other? Self Indulgent chapter, jam packed with cute, watch Tahny die from cute overload. Am I stress posting my work at 5 am again? haha yeah.

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Word Count: 8687

Dynamic: Princess x Guard, Speed running Co-dependancy, A Mangy Cat and his Aggressive little Chihuahua. She's a damsel, she's in distress- she can handle it.

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Music Inspo- Sugar Water, Cibo Matto

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Chapter 7 : Sweet Water

The cargo hold bounced with a protesting rumble and I stirred from the light dozing that had taken me.

I was on the cot, laying flat against the rough fabric, nude besides a cloak draped over the narrow bed like a blanket. Crosshair was squeezed next to me, head laying on my shoulder, eyes only half lidded as he relaxed against me. 

There was a slight burning sensation against my sternum and I looked down to see him tracing lines on my skin with the end of a toothpick. Same pattern, over and over, etching a red symbol into my chest. A circle, then a cross through it. 

“You're an artist now?”

He didn't answer, nor stop his work. 

Circle, long vertical line, short horizontal line, circle. 

“Right over my heart?”

He finally slowed, tossing the pick aside, and blew softly over the hot scratches. I murmured sleepily against his forehead at the soothing, cool sensation. 

“What's on your mind, Cross?”

Crosshair still hasn't said anything, just moving to be more over me, taking the rosey peak of my breast into his mouth to suck on softly before coming even to look me in the eyes. 

He was making me a little self conscious, being so quiet… so intimate. 

“Again.”

“Again?”

“Again.”

He was dropping his hips, wedging my thighs apart and I groaned in exhaustion. 

“You can't have anything left by now…”

He wasn't listening, leaning in to kiss my neck and I giggled softly, nuzzling him in his persistence. 

“I need a shower, li’nen…”

We had been on the road for hours now, sections of the trip having the truck slowed to a complete stop.The channels could only do so much against the inclimate weather between the Ga'haiian city states. 

There hadn't been much to occupy us. I had tried to pull open a holofilm but we had gotten… distracted.The tiny sink made washing up pitiful and I was once again dying for hot water. 

The intercom over the workbench crackled to life and Ger'nahei’s voice came over the static. 

“We're pulling into Estkle, twenty minutes till we get to East Station, we'll be stopping just before to let you guys out… better be de~cent,”

That last part was delivered in a sing-song, answering my question about how much they could hear up there. 

Crosshair slumped dramatically against my chest, sighing and letting himself become dead weight on top of me, making it hard to breathe. I struggled, chuffing in showy annoyance. 

“Oh, get off… I need to figure out where our clothes even are,”

“Speak for yourself, mine are right there,”

He vaguely gestured to the pile of discarded armor next to our belongings on the floor. 

“What about your blacks?”

His eyes fluttered open and he glanced around before shutting them again. 

“Don't need em’”

I quit struggling with a short exhale of amusement. Instead, I wrapped my arms about him, stroking his back. 

“Guess I'll be walking about Estkle stark naked… lucky day for the locals,”

He scowled up at me and I shot him a smirk. 

“Not appealing, oh heavy one?”

“People already look at you too much”

He complained, sighing into my breasts but lifted himself to his elbows regardless, drawing the back of his relaxed fingers over my cheek as I raised a brow at him. 

“You're the one that wanted me to be bait,”

“It's the way they look at you…”

It was true, I've never attracted a… normal range of attention. The looks that came my way could never be called innocent; no matter what I tried. 

“Jealousy is still foolish, li’nen”

I stroked his brow, finding his gaze, trying to get through to him that I meant it.

“Men, Women, they look at me, always have… it's not likely to stop till I'm old and gray. I'm used to it,”

My fingers caressed the hollow of his cheek, the sharp jawline and he pressed against the cup of my palm, letting me hold him. 

“They'll stop if I'm with you,”

“I'm not yours to protect, You can't be with me forever…”

His expression darkened.

…

“Cross… you said you didn't care about how it ends-”

Lips pressed to mine without warning, his arms sliding between my back and the cot to hold me to him. 

“I don't…”

He mumbled against my lips, kissing me in quick little pecks. 

“Just… don't talk like that, not as long as there's for now,”

Kisses down my chin, my neck, down to the still hot symbol etched on my chest. 

“For now you are mine… you swore it,”

Is that what I promised?

My eyes were growing hot at the affectionate outpouring. 

How am I supposed to keep this in check while he keeps… doing this…?

But I was pulling his lips back to mine, wrapping my legs about him to get closer. 

…

Bzzzkrt

“Ten minutes,”

~~~

Ger’nahei had opened the door to a rather disheveled duo; A certain someone making a nuisance of himself as I attempted to get some semblance of clothing on. 

At least we found his blacks in time…

They were replacing our weight with sacks of gravel from the side of a depot and closing up again. Crosshair and I stood off to the side on the pavement between the tall, cubic pillars of the Estkle slums. 

The tall woman turned back to us, pulling up a holomap and approaching Crosshair. 

“The station is a few blocks this way towards the city center,”

From here we just grab our tickets and ride the train to Sohn. Easy peasy. 

The rail system being called a train was a vast understatement, the magnetized track powerfully propelling cars that were the size of buildings. The many floors containing sleeper cars, massive cargo storage, an entertainment holoplex and more restaurants than you’d ever actually see attempting to navigate the massive, moving city. 

East rail was more popular for civilian travel, whereas the West rail on the other side of Nohct used to be solely industrial, connecting the mining colonies to the ports but now it was reserved for military and political transport. Not exactly easy travel.  

The holomap was snapped off, and Ger'nahei made to leave. I moved in to give her a hug and she put her hands up, side stepping me.

“I ain't touching you after that concert we heard,”

She was laughing, Sevill was staring daggers at me. Not unusual. I smirked and gave them a little wave as I stepped away from the humming vehicle.

“Good luck, kids,”

Ger'nahei climbed into the rig with a salute and they chugged off, headed to the cargo loading bays of East Station. 

Crosshair casually draped an arm over my shoulders, opening up his own copy of the map to check our heading before steering me out of the alley to the main street lined with ramshackle stands and door stoops full of laughing chattering groups enjoying the weather together.

It was pleasant… strange to me, but pleasant. I watched younglings play along the curb while their families argued jovially about something nearby and was overcome with something wistful and aching.  

Hugging tighter to the side of my escort I tore my eyes away from the smiling faces. 

“It's so peaceful, this busy little world of yours…”

His voice seemed to reflect the ache that gripped my heart as we traveled farther from the residential buildings.

“Yeah… not that war has never touched us, these ghettos are a result of conflicts after all,”

“Still…”

He looked back towards the laughter carried up the street on the breeze to flow through us, then picked up the pace, distancing us from the source of the discomfort coiling around us.

The shopfronts lining the road began to have less bars over the doors and more spotlights casting warm lighting over the stone street with their displays. 

As we rounded the next corner the station pavilion came into view. 

A towering, steaming railcar clung to a tall wide track that stretched off to the horizon. The structures to the sides of the station kept most of the train out of view, but it blended against the gaps to look like parts of the building, almost even with the skyline.

“That's impressive,”

“Mm, it's the only way to get from Nohct to Sohn anymore, the Western line is a lot smaller and not open to civilians… especially since the occupation,”

“No one just… goes through the mountains?”

He looked in the direction of The Equator Range and I shook my head. 

“It's too dangerous… Weather's mild but the ground is unstable, there's Cockerexes everywhere, and above all else it's vast,”

It would take nearly two rotations with a ground vehicle just to cross the desert between the mountains and Sohn’s farmlands, and that's after navigating the mountains and valleys of the dividing range. 

“Besides, the train route is scenic,”

The tracks skirted the Eastern storm Mehaklei, cutting through the rain eroded valley that was now a misty wetland, shimmering and prismatic with the stray rays of light that managed to reach it from the sun facing hemisphere. 

“I’ll get us a view then…”

“My Vah'hadarr should have left us tickets…”

“It'll be safer this way,”

I could see thoughts whirring in him again but was afraid if I asked he would try to distract me with… well, himself… again. His increasingly reckless behavior had me worried what he'd deem appropriate in the small city square. I was trying to gauge when the shift in demeanor started. The private box, the moon… maybe since we left the watchful eye of the military?

He was steering us across the open block, approaching the lit kiosk selling tickets for the massive railcar. 

“Stay here,”

He instructed, angling me to a lamp post,

“I don't want anyone working for the rail to see your face till we're out of the city,”

He pulled my hood up, drawing the cloak about me a little tighter,

“Crosshair, your name was on that list too… and what about chain codes?”

He paused a moment but took my hand reassuringly, gently brushing his lips against my knuckles. 

“They shouldn't be able to recognize me, as for the codes…”

He jiggled our heavy satchel of credits. 

“Nothing money can't buy, Stay.”

He squeezed my hand and backed away, turning into a confident step as he wove his way to the sales counter. 

I leaned against the light and watched him go, his own cape blowing in the soft breeze, giving a peek here and there at the armored physique beneath. The glimpses were teasing as he drifted off and I smiled at the memory of what those hips felt like. 

Minutes passed with him at the counter, chatting to the clerk. A flirty tilt to his shoulders and a smolder in his stern brow was making her giggle while she made our reservation.

Look at him flaunting it.

I chuckled and entertained myself by taking in the surroundings. 

The open street wasn't as busy as the center of Nohct City, though people still drifted about the sidewalks navigating around the speeders that would occasionally pass through. The buildings were close together, shops and restaurants interlaced with hotels and apartments. 

Everything looked a little dingy, the buildings some of the oldest I've seen on Ga'hah. However, the updated storefronts still shone brightly, luring in the foot traffic of the evening diner crowd and a higher class of tourists waiting to depart on the train in the morning. 

I sighed, releasing a tension that I had been holding in my shoulders. Cross was right, this was peaceful. It felt safe… 

I knew the sense of security was foolhardy… Behind the facade of the train square there was the crime, the turf wars and the instability caused by Sohn's absolute disregard for the problems it created in the Southern hemisphere… But for now it felt, safe. Peaceful. 

A hand on my shoulder made me jump and the soldier smirked down at me, handing over a set of train passes. 

“You let your guard down,”

“Can you blame me? Its nice out here,”

I looked down at the passes in my hand and my eyes widened. 

“Cross, a whole suite?”

“We have a lot of credits, and the clerk was easier than I thought she'd be… this much is no good to me, and nothing to you…”

I caught the hint as he gave the satchel another jiggle, sharing a conspiratorial smirk.

“A last night hurrah huh?”

He shrugged.

“How much we got left?”

I was passed the still heavy casino satchel and whistled, checking the time on our tickets. We left early, first thing on the new rotation.

“Let’s find a hotel first, somewhere nice or somewhere less conspicuous?”

We could backtrack, go to something less formal off the beaten path. 

“It's safer where there's more people,”

“Then we'll stay somewhere close, your winnings, your pick,”

He leaned into the lamp post, an arm over my head, talking lower. 

“Then what?”

“A warm shower, then we'll get dinner,”

“Dinner?”

“Dinner”

“Mm, after dinner?”

“We’ll have a few hours, I'm sure we'll think of something…”

We pushed off quickly, an eager sway in his step I couldn't help but mimic as he pulled us to the first hotel within our line of sight. As we made towards the lighted porte cochere his pace faltered in front of a patio packed with patrons clinking cutlery against fine plates. The smell drifting from the restaurant was heavenly, a mix of grilled meats and wood smoke. 

“Let's go here,”

“Mm, sure, but there's a dress code, we'll need to stop and get you a dinner jacket…”

He grimaced, causing me to laugh lightly, patting his chest. 

“Don’t worry, it'll suit you,”

I looked about at the glowing storefronts and hurried us to one that was still open. 

~~~

Our room key guided us to the fifth floor, three doors from the main lift. I held my hand out for the key and Crosshair slipped it to me quietly.

The store experience had left him flustered, having let me take the lead in picking him an ensemble. At least flustered beat the heated irritation the experience started with. The switch in the shop keeper's demeanor between taking in our shaggy appearance and catching sight of our heavy wallet rubbed us. Cross about punched the man on principle and I probably would have let him. 

The door clicked and slid open leading to a simple king suite. A small kitchenette was just inside the door, opposite an alcove leading into the fresher. The large bed took up most of the room, but the feature was a nice set of chairs in a sunken sitting room overlooking a wide window. 

I sighed out a bit more tension, the safety of walls, silence and a locked door. 

“This'll do…”

Cross immediately went to the window and drew the curtain, locking us away from searching eyes. 

“You say that a lot,”

“What?”

“This’ll do,”

He was mocking me slightly. 

“Ever happy with your accomodations?”

“Maybe I'm just greedy…”

My things were starting to pile on the floor. Desperate to wash up and change into something clean, I was already walking to the refresher midstrip, bouncing on a foot stuck in a pant leg. 

“Greedy, huh?”

Cross seemed amused as he followed my half naked, self imposed obstacle course to the tiled room. He growled something under his breath I didn't quite catch, that familiar fire behind his eyes. No time for that though.

I almost cried at the sight of the oversized tub and double headed shower stall, we had been slumming it so long. It did raise a question though…

“Bath or shower?”

It was whispered in my ear, but his hands were busy undoing his armor.

“Mm, let's let fate decide…”

He raised a brow at me as I made my way back into the room undoing what remained of the buttons on my shirt, letting it fall to the ground. 

I picked up the directory next to the complimentary com. After making sure the display scanner was off, I opened a channel to the restaurant we passed. 

“Yes, hello… What time is your next reservation available?... Great, I'll take it… Tah- uh… Tahny. Of course thank you,”

Closing the com, I looked at the device, sparing a moment of regret that I couldn't contact Kahtzi. Changing coms so frequently, you would think I'd have her register memorized but… I was overdo by at least a day, she must be worried… maybe Jar'ath commed her. I shook myself mentally and turned back to the man watching me. 

“Plenty time for a bath,”

As I finished talking I realized the water was already running. 

“Can you still read my mind, Crosshair?... You have to tell me if you can,”

He strutted over and pushed me down onto the bed I was sitting on. Any lingering thoughts of home were wiped clear when my lips were his again; hard, hungry kisses while his strong arms wrapped about me. 

“No… unfortunately, but I can tell the future,”

“Oh yeah? And what does the future hold?”

I was breathing heavily already and he chuckled as he shifted, scooping me off the bed to drape over his shoulder like a rag doll. We headed back to the sound of echoing water.  

“Clean, warm, bath,”

He shifted me down slowly, pulling my body against him as I slid off his shoulder.

“Futures looking bright then…” 

The porcelain was filling quickly with nice clear water and I glanced about for the house soaps on the counter, smelling a few of them before dumping something delicately floral into the forming pool. 

Bubbles sprang forth spreading over the surface and I looked back at Cross. He was fiddling with the light panel, setting the tone to something warm and low before he finished undressing, slipping his blacks to the floor. 

Testing the water briefly, I stepped in with a refreshing slosh that swirled the bubbles. 

“It'll be easier if you settle in first,”

He breezed to the side of the sunken tub.

“Should we let it fill more?”

“Don't worry, you'll displace most of it,”

There was no further hesitation, he stepped in with me and lowered himself into the water causing it to lap at the sides of the smooth tub. I followed, nestling my back against his chest and sighing into the warmth seeping into my senses. 

We let the water finish leveling around us before I tapped the spigot with a toe, not wanting to shift from where I was. It had been a long day and I think both of us were more weary than we let on. 

The water slowed to a trickle and the soft tinkling echoed in the large room with its smooth stone surfaces. 

We had let exhaustion win this time. Curled in the tub in an odd kind of stasis as the world that had been spinning since the night we jumped ship slowly crawled to a stop… letting us be still. 

His fingers were trailing up my arm and back down again. The line he followed was faded, barely visable against my skin now tanned a few shades darker then when the ink was applied. He finished his tour by lacing his fingers in mine, cupping the back of my hand in his, and turning my palm upwards. It was the dark scars on my fingers he was after, stroking his thumb over the small marks. 

My eyes were wandering over his arms, taking in his own sets of markings patterning the skin. Shiney burns, raised rips…

“What's this one?”

I used my free hand to trace a set of parallel marks on his forearm and he groaned, a low laugh, sounding embarrassed.

“Wrecker’s lothcat… he snuck it onboard, guess who found it?”

I smiled softly. 

“Don't like cats?”

“I like cats, that one just didn't like me,”

“And Wrecker… who's that?”

The name had conjured an odd image in me, not really a picture but an impression; loud… apprehension. Odd. 

He took a moment to answer, I was starting to think he'd let another question of mine go flat, but eventually he spoke… softly, fondly. A nameless warmth that I hadn't realized was missing.

“He's my brother, one of, He's a big sweetheart… you'd like him,”

He nuzzled my hair encouraging me to pry further. 

“There's four of them?”

“Three… no, Echo counts, four, I have a sister too now…”

“They make female clones?”

“Yeah, special…like us, but she's just a child,”

“Aren't we all,”

Crosshair had gone quiet again and my heart and mind ached with him. He missed his family. He felt betrayed by them, replaced even, but he missed them. I could feel a tension starting to coil between us, in his muscles pressed against me. A now distant memory of a darkened service tunnel.

“... I had hoped they'd come back.”

I sat up, and turned to straddle his legs, wrapping my arms about his shoulders to pull him into a wet, tight hug against my chest. 

“How do we quell that storm in you, li’nen?”

…

“This helps…for now,”

For now. 

“What do you call the rest of them?”

There was still that lingering guilt of not learning the names of the clones that had traveled with me and his references stirred an odd feeling of familiarity in me, tinged with hurt and longing… a deep sense of broken trust… will I always be colored with his memories, or will this fade? 

He leaned back against the side of the tub to look at me more comfortably. 

“Hmm? Besides Wrecker… I mentioned Echo, he was a Reg before the Clankers got a hold of him,”

“Clankers?” 

“Uh… droids, tore him to bits, now he's part Clanker himself, Then there's Tech, we came from the same tube,”

“That's a thing? You have twins?”

“A few… Echo was a twin too,”

Was a twin?

A pang went through my heart again.

“Are you close? With your twin?”

“You could say that, he's the one of us that does all the talking… then there's Hunter, he's our leader… mainly cause no one else wanted to do it,”

He snickered softly at his own dig, the rumble of it in his chest caused me to smile a little too. I was glad he was talking for a change.

“Is he any good,”

…

His eyes went dark and distant at that, the little crook of amusement leaving his lips, I pivoted,

“... And the girl?”

…

“Her names Omega, honestly… I didn’t get to know her, didn't seem… prudent… seems like a good kid,”

You know the word ‘prudent?’

I was scanning him in the nice warm lights, finally getting a chance to really look at him. The red sun had filtered out our imperfections, making us like new in each other's eyes. The cargo hold was lit, but barely… This was the first time we were able to truly see everything.

 Like his arms, his chest was patterned with the stripes of war. Long gashes here and there, over a peck, across an ab. Countless healed burns from blaster bolts. I ran my hands up his stomach to trace the tattoo over his right rib.

“Ninety-nine…”

“That's our squad… we all have one of these,”

He stretched to give me a better look at the skull over the number. 

I sighed in exaggerated disappointment.

“Guess you're married then…”

His brow furrowed, not expecting that… I winced, rushing to explain the joke.  

“Sorry, old… Ga'haiian stuff, before we adopted the Republic’s ideas of marriages we had our own ways, rather than splitting into couples we would form tight knit clans and they would share a mark… military squads and their tattoos are kind of… similar,”

I leaned, moving my drape of hair to show him the tiny diamond star hidden behind my ear.

“Kahtzi and Jar’ath have matching ones, it's a promise to take care of each other, today people try to equate the two, clans and marriage, to make the fact that clans aren’t legally recognized any longer more palatable,”

“You and… Jar'ath? Not to judge a book by its cover but…”

I shot him a look, but I guess it was a fair question.

“It's not like that, doesn't have to be for the clan to work, he's like a brother… but that's why equating the two is kind of absurd,”

He was quiet again running his fingers over the ink on his ribs. 

“They left me behind… so much for taking care of each other.”

His voice was suddenly thick with bitterness.

I didn't really know what to say, every word feeling hollow as it passed over my tongue just to be swallowed again. The phrase was simple, but I knew the tempest that lived in him. What could match the devistation of such a storm?

“How could they?”

Was all I could really manage, cupping his jaw to turn his eyes so full of hurt to me. 

“I don't know… but they left me again, and again, They just don't want me anymore,”

“That can't be true…”

He choked back a dry, humorless laugh. 

“I guess not directly, Wrecker offered me a half assed invitation… but I've known him my whole life, the very thought of me on the Marauder again made him nervous. And when I didn't immediately jump on their very enthusiastic offer, they left. The second my back was turned, without even another glance… they left me for dead,”

“That can-”

“Thirty two rotations, Tahny…”

“What?”

“They left me, alone, on a platform in the middle of a raging sea, nothing but the smoldering remains of our home for company, it took. Thirty. Two. Rotations. for scouters to find me,”

I froze. 

“How are you alive?”

The words came out as a whisper, my lungs unable to fill against the tightness forming in my chest. 

“I shouldn't be, I should've died out there… I don't belong anywhere anymore,”

I carefully shifted, coaxing him to lean into my arms, to let me cradle him against my breastbone. 

“What about the Empire?”

He sighed,

“Might as well stay… rigid and unyielding, just like me,”

…

The phrase sent a wave of hurt through the back of my mind, alienation, loneliness,

“I don't find you rigid…”

“You don't know me… not everything,”

“Have you not been yourself with me?”

There was a heavy pause, reflecting his contemplation. 

“I don't know…”

“Do you like who you are with me?”

…

“...yes,”

His answer came soft and unsure. I took a deep breath, noting how heavy he felt against me as he surrendered to my touch, his muscles finally relaxing. The waves in him may never cease, I suppose…but I might be a shore for him to crash upon… for now.  

“Then… that's who you are, not what you've done, or what someone says you are… so I do know you, as for the details… tell me, don't tell me, I'll have your back either way,”

He lifted his head from my breast, a shimmer in his eyes as he searched for truth from my words, clinging to it once it was found. 

“I might not be a good person, Tahny,”

“You don't have to be li’nen… might be better if you're not,”

I'm not exactly a good person either… 

I found his lips, pressing against them to sooth him, reassure him. Arms wrapped about me, crushing me against his damp skin. My muscles ached in an unfulfilled bid to protect my lover, all I could do was cradle him, kiss him. 

…

The water began to cool around us, and I made to turn the tap back on to add more heat but Crosshair caught me, tapping the stopper lock instead.

“I’d love to stay like this, cy-uh… but I'm ravenous, and if I remember correctly… we have a dinner date,”

I snorted at that. 

A dinner date after everything?…

“This feels a little backwards, doesn't it?”

“Welcome to Strange.”

“Ha. Ha.”

It seems we had recovered from the shadowy place our thoughts had turned. 

I shifted to stand, but first turned into the soft kiss that was waiting for me. I had started to expect this temporary goodbye between our brief moments of private, quiet intimacy. 

He watched me as I dried and left the refresher before I heard the water slosh again as he made to do the same. 

Picking up the duffle from the floor I tugged out the paper bag from the casino. The shift I had purchased was black and slinky, the satin quality of the fabric making it shine like wet ink. I stepped into it, pulling the tight cut over my hips and sliding my arms into the straps. I hooked on the beaded filigree pieces to drape over my bare shoulders and adjusted the cleave cut that made a sharp line between my breasts down to my navel. It wouldn't drag, and the long skirt had enough flow to hide the egregious slit to either hip. Until I walked that was. 

On second thought, maybe this was too much for Estkle. 

I reached into the bag and grabbed the simple blazer and catsuit that I snagged as an alternative, laying it out on the bed. 

As I slid my thumbs under the straps to undress again, Cross rounded the corner, new slacks pulled up and hanging from his hips while the rest of him was still exposed. 

I looked at him and he looked at me. 

“Is that what you're wearing?”

“No… I was about to put this on instead,”

I gestured vaguely at the outfit on the bed and once again made to lower the straps. 

“Don't. I like this one,”

He had made his way over, catching my hand from its task and turning me to get a better look at the plunged neck line. 

“It's gonna draw attention,”

“I'm with you, their eyes won't linger…”

I doubted that, but admired his confidence. He was intimidating… maybe he'd be right. 

“We're still laying low, right?

His fingers traced the gapped fabric between my breasts down to the dip of my navel.

“As low as can be,”

~~~

We integrated into the posher crowd gathered on the busy patio alight with fiery torches, a few heads turning at his tattoo and my faded markings but otherwise no one paid us much mind. I did catch a few brief glances, the start of a head turn as my thighs split the hem of my dress as I walked, but they quickly turned back down to their food.

It was amusing, the slight man commanding such presence. He wasn't even that tall by Ga'hah standards. And yet…

By Be'llahl, they are scared of him aren't they?

I leaned into Crosshair's arm as he guided us to the host podium. The dark gray lapel jacket was soft despite its chunky knit, the leather patch on the elbow making a cool spot against my skin where my arm wrapped about his.  

He cleaned up well, the coat accentuating his slim waist and broad shoulders. I had picked out a thin, ribbed sweater to wear underneath, simulating his comfortable black bodysuit. The loose cut slacks had a crisp crease drawing the eye to the length of his stride as we strutted forward. 

A slim Ga'haiian girl looked us over briefly before taking us up a staircase past massive vases stuffed with fresh flower arrangements in vibrant, saturated tones. She showed us to a table for two on the second floor, snugged into the open bay doors overlooking the busy street below. 

A brief explanation, a bottle of nectar requested, and we were left to our devices. 

Cross subtly angled the window shades, his foot reaching between mine to hook the chair leg, drawing it slightly more into the room to obscured me from outside observers and keep a better eye on my back. 

“Want to see the cold bar?”

“Not yet,”

He clicked the flag device at the table which switched the glowing pattern from red to green. Almost instantly a muscular man brandishing an oversized skewer laden with a sizzling roast appeared at his side. He explained the cut and marinade then asked if we'd like a portion, which Crosshair eagerly accepted. 

A quick slice of a traditional blade and the seared meat fell to the waiting stone plate. 

“Should I wait for you?”

I shook my head, standing.

“Dig in, I'll be back,”

I sashayed across the wide stone floor, past a stories tall glass wall. Droids puttered about behind it, pulling nectar bottles down from the vast floor to ceiling storage racks just feet behind the glass. Buff men and women in leather aprons and chefs coats carried various roasted meats on skewers to the packed tables filling the space. Voices echoed off the dark stone walls, droning out the soft, live music drifting up the stairs that led back to the lobby. 

Finally I reached the massive bar laden with more fresh flowers framing overladen trays of cheeses, smoked fish and various salads. It didn't take long to fill a chilled dish. 

Cross had several cuts of meat laden high on his plate by the time I had found my way back to the table. He looked up at me, a subtle red tinging his cheeks. 

“I forgot to turn the flag off,”

I covered my mouth as I snorted back a giggle. 

~~~

Stacked plates, a case worth of empty bottles and a settled tab found us a little over an hour later. 

“... And that's how Ga’hah stayed out of the war… for the most part, not sure what the point was with the Empire moving in the second it was over,”

“I was there you know, in the field… at the end,”

“Yeah?”

“Our last order… was to kill the Jedi generals that turned on the Republic… I was the only one of us that complied,”

I was eyeing the flush tinging Cross's cheekbones trying to determine if he was actually a lightweight. I knew I was, and glanced back at the empty bottles scattered about the absolute carnage of the evening's feast. He just shrugged trying to hide the odd look creeping up on him. 

“You're serious…” 

“Lot of good it did,”

“What do you mean?”

He swirled the last of the nectar in his glass.

“It just doesn't feel any different, It's not called war anymore but the blaster fire sounds the same…”

“And now it's brother against brother,”

He downed his spirit, emptying the glass and drowning the ghosts in his inner storm. 

“They were cowards for running, nothing can be changed from out there… and now there's no choice for them,”

“You could have still gone with them… I'm not sure how much change we're really doing here,”

…

“Maybe I just stayed cause it was comfortable,”

He was starting to look really down. I took his hand around his cup, sighing,

“It doesn't sound like you've been comfortable at all honestly,”

He didn't answer, instead, checked the bottles for any remaining nectar. So I rambled…

“Hurts the pride though, just… enforcing some status quo, just look at me,”

He obediently met my eyes, though I really meant that figuratively. 

“Uh… look, I stay in my Vah'hadarr's shadow of progressive legacy, I uphold the appearances… but there's reasons we kill Bly’ju’s guards but not Bly'ju, there's consequences for one and not the other, some changes… people like you and I can't make them. Not without martyrdom and there’s better deaths out there than rotting in a jail cell for shooting some asshole,”

“Do you feel bad about the guards?”

“Nah… kark ‘em. Even a life contract can't compel you to act… they knew what they were doing,”

His brow furrowed in confusion, not really making the connection I was getting at.

“Maybe we just…chose the path of least resistance because we're too tired to really get what we want, holding your guard up your whole life will do that to you,”

“What is it you want?”

I felt like that should have sounded accusatory, but when I searched his gaze I found the same desperate questioning in his eyes. Like I might have an answer he was looking for. Chugging the considerable amount left in my glass I blurted,

“Peace… some quiet too, for myself and the few people I give a shyte about,”

“Sounds nice…”

“...Quiet?”

“Having someone to give a shyte about…”

His gaze matched mine, eyes shiney from the liquor. In amazement I tracked the occasional flick of him scanning around us, even drunk he was ever the professional.

“Oh Cross, you'll find your people!...some kindred spirits, plus I'll always be about in my tower for you to visit… or just find a familiar face and cling on, I'm sure there's one or two or three thousand at the GAR,”

I giggled, the absurdity of his reality dawning on my addled mind. 

“That's not funny,”

But his cheeks were tight from trying not to smirk. I found his eyes with mine again, laying my head on my arms, folded on the table. He mimicked my posture,

“You should know the regs don't like me much…”

“They're just jealous… just wait till they find out you have connections to Kahtzi Zho,”

He blinked,

“Wait, Zho? Why does that sound familiar…”

I smirked, raising a brow at him.

“The holocal? In the GRSO relief packages,”

“No… your Kahtzi is the Kahtzi Zho?

“Mm, which month was your favorite?”

“Nelona.”

“Of course you like Nelona.”

“What's wrong with that one?”

“Nothing… I took that one myself,”

He chuckled, closing his eyes a moment,

“So you want some peace, princess? Good luck if you plan on having your girlfriend in tow,”

“Mm… you know, I'd probably hate it,”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah… I need chaos, Crosshair. I need speeders racing through the night and bar fights, and toying with people who could easily kill me in sick, brutal ways, Without it I itch… without it I'm just my Vah'hadarr's… pet,”

The last word was spat with contempt and he started stroking my hair, leaning into the table to reach me. We were quite drunk…

“Peace still includes your father?”

“Family is important, Kleinthu Vah'hadarr nam’patri… there is no me without mine Vah'hadarr, so… all my rights flow through him till I'm married off…unless I abandon my station,”

I dramatically gestured to the red smudges under my eyes,

“It is my duty as a low-born Lady of Sohn,” 

“Well there's a Ga'haiian custom I'm not in love with…”

His brow was pinched in frustration on my behalf, charming me yet again so that a sad smile colored over me,

“It's not… Ga'haiian, not really. It's Sohnese. These marks under my eyes may as well be a for sale sign, but unlike your common slave I’m to be traded for political favors, I have my freedom on Coruscant… for now, but one day I’ll be sold just the same, It’s not so bad, symbolic mostly… and my Vah’hadarr has been good to me, teaching me and letting me have a life…”

Crosshair's eyes had darkened as I spoke, fingers sliding through my hair to cup my chin. I was too inebriated to really read his expressions, Maybe he could relate,

“Besides, I like the work for the most part… It suits me, Perhaps that's why you stayed too, not cause it's the right thing exactly… but because the blaster fire sounds the same… if you left, if you never had to fight on a battlefield again, Too quiet. You'd have to think about it all like… like I would,”

“It all?”

“Mhmm… all of it,”

“Sounds like a lot.”

“Isn't it though?”

“Mm, I think we're drunk, and overstaying our welcome,”

The man was keeping his cool though, trying to mask his slight wobble as he stood up to take my hand. I couldn't help but giggle drunkenly.

He takes himself so seriously…

“You're… kind of funny sometimes, you know that, Crosshair?”

“...funny? I don't think I've ever been called funny before,”

“Deal with it, it… it rounds you out, Mr. Rigid and unyielding,”

“If you say so… up you get ner’burc’ya,”

I leaned on him as we turned, with dread, to the long staircase. Giggling again, I checked that I still had my clutch.

“They must have a lift…”

“I can still handle stairs,”

He was maintaining balance fairly well, even with me hanging on him, and we haphazardly navigated the descent. 

“Where to?”

I jiggled the casino purse, there was still a good chunk of credits to spend. Once we were on the train I could charge my father's account to my heart's content, so splurging on souvenirs seemed in order.

He leaned in, the smell of nectar rolling sweetly from him as he wrapped his arms around me. His weight guided me to lean against a pillar, and he pinned my arms over my head, brushing his lips to mine. He still tasted like the fruity spirit and I drank the flavor of him as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue over mine before withdrawing.

“I just want to get you back in that bed…”

Maybe saving some cash would be wise…

He angled us out of the restaurant and we swifted back in the direction of the hotel, passing storefronts and groups of chattering people in a hurried stride. 

The fresh air was sobering, though it was getting cold, the smaller of the moons positioned to the West. The wayward winds from the Mehaklei pressure front made Estkle a breezy city, and they ran through the loose cloth of my skirt, making it dance about my legs as we briskly made our way up the street to where the buildings thinned to a view of the plains…

Until Crosshair slowed and stopped, staring into a glimmering display of fancy bottles. 

“What was it… that scent you wore, the night we met? Is it here?”

It was my usual bottle, long gone now somewhere in our travels. The perfume was something my mother had gotten me as a graduation present. Nothing too fancy, I wouldn't have used it, but the flowery scent was complimented by a fiery resin musk underlay. It smelled like a late summer evening. 

“That one,”

I pointed to a square of the display housing a red and gold bottle in various sizes. 

“Stay here,” 

He left me on the sidewalk, disappearing into the store with a staggered gate. 

I mean… I think I know what you're up to…

I shook my head but smiled to myself, turning to lean on the stone storefront. 

My eye was caught by a tiny store at the corner a few paces away. It was barely the size of a closet, with only a service window facing the street, a thin man zoned out behind the glass in front of his rolled wares. 

Cross had the big bag, so I rifled my own stash of credits in my clutch as I approached the dingy little stand. 

“You have Darh?”

“Sure do, plain, flavored or spiced?”

“What flavors do you have?”

“Berry or citrus,”

“Berry then,”

“Good choice,”

The clerk slipped the rolled herbs into a small tube to hand to me, took my credits, and I was at the perfume shop again before Crosshair had finished his purchase. 

He stepped back onto the sidewalk moments later and handed me a small bag. It was heavier than expected and I looked in curiously. 

“You got one of every size?”

I pulled out the tiny travel version to glint in the light from the shop window, lips quirked in amusement. 

“That one's mine,”

Cross lifted it from my fingertips, tilting the small vial to puff against my pulse point before he tucked it into his breast pocket. 

I looked at the small lump under the jacket lapel and felt my face flush with more than alcohol. 

“How you surprise me…”

Shaking myself, I pulled the tube from my clutch. 

“Now for me to surprise you,”

…

“What's this?”

~~~

My pumps hit the floor with a muted thump as I kicked them off and slumped into one of the chairs. The room was dark, the only light coming from the refresher. 

I flipped the hollow tube in my fingers, watching Cross carefully rip into the wiring panel, finding a way to disable the smoke detector without setting off the alarms.

Neat skill.

He had scoffed at the idea of lighting up in the stairwell, which was traditional, but I wasn't gonna complain about the privacy. 

I popped the tube and took out the paper roll and strike, waiting for the go ahead. There was a quick skrtt and Cross nodded that he had figured it out, before he came to sit with me by the window. 

“Have you ever smoked?”

His toothpick habit was suspect, but I wasn't even sure clones were allowed to pick up such things…

“No…”

“So the toothpicks?”

He turned away, hiding a new flush blooming over his cheekbones.  

Okay then,

I got up from my chair and moved to his,knees about his hips to face him.

“I'll help, first time rookie mistake is resisting the inhale,”

I put the end of the Darh stick in my mouth, hitting the strike to create a little flame. There was a crackle as the plasma caught the end of the paper and I drew air like a straw to pull the heat into the herbs, lighting them. A sweet smelling smoke coiled lazily from the fresh ember and I drew another breath, pulling smoke from the herbs, coughing a little. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah, it's normal… now here, just breath in through your mouth, slow and shallow,”

I pulled deep on the smoking herbs, filled my lungs and leaned into him, grabbing his chin to coax his lips open, exhaling slowly into his mouth. Smoke leaked between our lips, as we shared the hit, his arms wrapping about my waist as I pulled back again. 

He coughed as he exhaled what I gave him, but tried to suppress it, putting on a brave face.

Cute. 

I took another puff, but let him sit with what he had. 

“What's supposed to happen?”

“Give it a minute, it'll absorb into your blood stream and travel to your brain, everything will feel a little slower…”

Clipping the burning end of the roll, I set aside the rest. The first wave was already starting to hit me, the air taking on the thicker quality of water, the illusion of more resistance. More importantly my thoughts slowed.

The ever whirring flow of information halved it's speed and I could peer through my thoughts a little more carefully, examine them longer before they slipped out of sight again. 

Right now I was staring at Crosshair. My position was slouched, even to his face. A small crack in the drawn curtains was letting in a beam of moonlight to cut across his features, highlighting his tattoo. 

I love this tattoo…

My fingertips were reaching out to it and he leaned into my touch, closing his eyes. He was probably floating by now. 

I scooted closer, resting my elbows on his shoulders my one hand still cradled his temple, thumb tracing the thin lines of ink over his brow. I set the other to stroke his head, starting from brow to neck. 

Bristles of new growth had began to come in across his scalp, coarse against my skin. I delighted in the tactile feel of it, bringing both hands up to massage with my nails and fingertips.  

“So you do have hair,”

“I actually have amazing hair… it's just been easier to keep it off,”

“Is that so?”

I scratched a tad more vigorously and he leaned into it. 

“Maker, it's been driving me crazy,”

He giggled,

“Whatever you do, don't stop till it's fully grown back,”

I laughed lightly at his sudden, boyish demeanor, but my fingers were starting to cramp and I eventually had to stop to a sad whine from the intoxicated man. 

I quieted him with kisses, soft, small kisses… to the corner of his mouth, his nose, the cheekbone and brow. Feeling the shapes against the sensitive flesh of my lips, mapping his face, imprinting a memory. As I pressed my lips lightly to his forehead I felt his breath heavy against my neck, breathing in the scent that had been spritzed there,

“You'll come back to Coruscant… won't you, Tahny?”

“No one could keep me away, once whatever this is has blown over I'll be back,”

“...and I can come see you?”

“Of course, Cross, whenever you want…”

He relaxed into me, arms tightening slightly as he sat still, breathing me in.

“So…”

I slowly rocked back, sitting even with him again. 

“...the toothpicks?”

“If I tell you will you scratch my head again?”

We both giggled a little at that,

“Sure,”

…

I waited while he gathered his thoughts through the haze of the Darh root. 

“Back when we were cadets, there was a holofilm, Tech somehow managed to get a hold of it… an old Outer Expansion story about a gunslinger,”

I raised my brow, those old films were hokey, but I couldn't deny I liked them occasionally. 

“This gunslinger kind of became my hero…”

“What was the name of it?”

He flushed, looking down. 

“We didn't know… it was a silent film, the text files had gotten corrupted so the cards between scenes were just blank, I was meaning to ask Tech if he could look for it again…”

He trailed off. 

“So, your hero…?”

“He was the stoic good guy, never missed a shot or took insults, good guys could smoke in those days… but, obviously I couldn't,”

I was starting to put the pieces together and my heart started to warm. 

“I started taking toothpicks from the mess hall, and chewing on them to… look tough like the gunslinger,”

He said the last part fast and looked away, his cheeks turning bright red. 

My heart melted completely. Though I had little reference, I couldn't help but try to imagine a young Crosshair on Kamino. 

Tiny Crosshair with toothpicks. Tiny Crosshair making finger guns at the other clones. Tiny Crosshair acting like an Outer Expansion action star. By Be'llahl, can I survive without a heart?

I couldn't handle this story high, that was for sure, and resisted the urge to start bawling from the adorable imagery that flooded me. To disguise my distress I pulled him to me in a hug that could probably crush bones. 

He leaned against me, yawning. 

“Don't ever tell anyone that…”

“Who would I tell?”

…

“Jar'ath.”

“I absolutely would not tell Jar'ath.”

“Kahtzi.”

…

“Okay, I might tell Kahtzi,”

He groaned into my shoulder but seemed to accept that reality. 

“Scratches?”

“Mhmm, let's move though, you're getting tired and my legs are falling asleep,”

I slid to the floor and he obediently followed as I took his hand, guiding him from the sunken alcove back to the bed at the center of the room. 

I stacked the pillows into a nest and crawled in, fancy dress and all, reaching for my lover staring down at me dreamily through an addled haze. He crawled, more clumsily than usual, over me, resting his head against my chest with a relieved sigh. 

Starting slow I worked my nails in little circles, up and down, careful around the edge of his scar. His breathing eventually became heavy, the drinks and food and smoke catching up to him after an absurdly long day. 

I wasn't fairing much better, my hands folded around him and still, eyes heavy but… watching him sleep, not thinking much of tomorrow.

It felt important to remember him like this. Unguarded, content. There wasn't much time left, it was important to drink him in… like sweet water. 

~~~

BONUS TRACK: This kept playing while I was doing the illustrations.

It's them ✨

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Tag List:

@feral-ferrule @here-comes-the-moose

[indecisive-dizzy]

Mmmmm,,,,, thinking about Wallace B Dearest ;v;

Have headcanons cause he’s pookie

He smokes when he’s upset, it makes him nostalgic

He’s pretty nonverbal most of the time, so sometimes he communicates with a notebooks/whiteboard or with sign language

Sally definitely forces him to take photos of her plays and to be her cameraman when she’s putting one on. He doesn’t mind but he wished she’d ask

If he gets really upset or overwhelmed, he get loud and ends up yelling a little before running off and going completely nonverbal for a little while

Whenever Wallace smokes, Barnaby smokes with him and tells him silly jokes to cheer him up. He smiles a little, but that’s all he’s getting

His mom smoked when they were young, but hid it up until she died. Smoking reminds him of his mom

Wallace is a mama’s boy, he’s not super close with his dad but they manage

Random but all of my puppet ocs have teeth. Idk if they’re retractable or if they only pop up occasionally, but they’re there

He doesn’t let people touch his camera, the only people allowed to are Holly, Daisey, and Kiko. Andreas is on thin ice

He ties his hair up in a mini ponytail when he’s concentrating on something

He puts hair clips on his bangs to push them away from his face

His eyes are a dark green, but look a little tealish in the sunlight

He and Holly share a house, I can see half of it being star and ice themed while Wallace is mostly camera and film themed

Wallace loves movies, he’s always on board when Julie and Sally decide to film a movie that goes nowhere

He has a diary. Eddie accidentally read it once and cried (Wallace called him his big brother offhandedly)

Part of me wants to think he’s slightly colorblind, part of me wants him to know every color precisely for no reason other than hair dye purposes

He dyes his hair red every month, but he experiments a couple times. Once it turned pink and he didn’t have the confidence to admit he thought it was kinda cute

I thing eventually he might let it grow out and be blue again

He’s tall and lanky, but is still pretty average when it comes to strength. Holly gets him to exercise with her and they go on runs together

Holly is very athletic, so she’s really strong and has muscle (it’s more visible on human Holly, it’s just implied with puppet Holly). Wallace tries to follow her advice, but it’s really silly and over the top

Holly cut his hair once, he ended up with the worst layers and bangs ever. He cried, Holly tried to fix it but made it worse, and he ultimately had to cut it really short. His bangs were horrible and he had to wear a beanie for weeks afterwards

Holly and Wallace wear matching outfits often, mainly some star beanies Wallace got Holly for her birthday (she got him matching necklaces that she knew he could stim with)

They’re both autistic, that’s all

I love them they’re my babies

What! A! Baby! /pos <33

Sally genuinely asking for things? please that's so beneath her /j. oh I can feel the quiet frustration from Wallace haha

We love a Mama's boy,, and hey at least Barnaby is trying to cheer him up!

Maybe one day Wallace, Julie, and Sally can make a spontaneous movie idea work. one day lol

Talking about him dying his hair makes me wanna throw color in mine 😭 but I gotta wait till it grows out again sighhh

Hmm,, Holly and Wallace should go on a hike! Good exercise And photo opportunities, I think it'd be fun :)

Something tells me Holly was no longer trusted with hair scissors after that lol

[wewerebornsextuplets]

So...how do your OCs feel about the Riceballs?

this ones been sitting in my ask box for a little bit now, mostly because i wanted to try drawing some accompanying art for it but for some reason it just Was Not Happening. so im very sorry about the delay! but getting to it now!

under a readmore because this will probably be annoying to scroll past later

since kiru visits the matsuno house most frequently [+ passes by it on her way to and from work every day], she is, by far, the one who has interacted with the riceballs the most of the three. i think she would be mildly amused by them at first because she thinks the concept of an AI trying to become a comedian is a little funny in a strangely ironic sense, but would probably be a little offput by them and some of the questions they might have for her. the idea of a robot smoking a cigarette is also morbidly fascinating to her because of her own family history wrt smoking, but like. theyre robots. nothings gonna happen to them. so she cant really say shit.

i dont think the riceballs have much of an opinion on her since she didnt know them when they were more to service the matsuno family, and thus she didnt have any weird or strange demands for them. she just kind of occupies the space of "my roommate's friend who visits sometimes" in their mind. and to her they are just kind of confusing in a strangely fascinating way. but neither party is super interested in the other

being an artist, keiko gravely misunderstood what Kind of AI the riceballs are at first and was very sketched out about meeting them. but after finding out they were just robots, she was like Ohhh okay this is fine then. she hasnt interacted with them much but i think her temper may be a bit too short for them, haha... shes not quite as explosive as totoko, but after enough seemingly trivial questioning and nitpicking about how she sorts things/her art/etc, she would just kind of storm off and not want to talk to them for a little while. shes quite sensitive to high, squeaky noises as well, so i think their voices may just be a bit too shrill for her. nothing thats exactly Their fault so much as their programming, but just not very compatible. though keiko had some biases of her own going in

as for ippei, hes been to the matsuno household... maybe three times? and two of those times were probably just awkwardly standing around while kiru or keiko picked something up they forgot there. so he hasnt actually met the riceballs. but i think he would try to help their comedy routines by spicing things up with his more current, in-vogue teen humor, only for the material to fly over the primarily middle-aged audience they were actually catering to

and it goes without saying that none of the parents have met or Could conceivably meet the riceballs either, so for your sake and mine i wont entertain the notion

[writernopal]

Get To Know My OC - Pt. 2

Part two! Axtapor time! 

Again, tagging @lynnedwardswrites for blessing my feed with this tag and leaving it open in case anyone else wants to join in ♥️

The door opens before Mariel can exit the room; she pauses nervously. In the doorway, you spot a large and intimidating lizardfolk man. The two lock eyes, and despite his appearance, his expression immediately softens while her shoulders relax, and they smile at one another. She approaches and says something to him in the lightest of whispers and with the smallest of smiles. He responds in kind with a brightness in his eye. You're unsure of the words they’ve exchanged, but she leaves the room with a noticeable bounce in her step. He watches her go, leaning out the door to look at her just a bit longer before reluctantly coming inside. You notice he doesn’t bother shutting the door, nor does he acknowledge you. Instead, he busies himself by wandering his eyes around the room, fixing them on anything with a shine to it, including the jewelry you’re wearing. He fetches his pipe from his coat pocket and splays himself out in the armchair, throwing his tail over one of the arms with a frown. He begins packing tobacco into his pipe with a single knuckle, bites down on the end, lights it, then flicks the spent match away with little interest.

1. Are you named after anyone?

Nay. Name be mine own as this here pipe. He says, raising his pipe at you while exhaling smoke from his nose.

2. When was the last time you cried?

He frowns. Nay be yer business. 

3. Do you have kids?

He rolls his tongue in his lip and lets his free hand rest on the hilt of his dagger. Nay. 

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Nay, speak plain and true. Nay care to be dancin' with words. He takes a hit off his pipe.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Their riches, of course. He winks.

6. What’s your eye color?

Gray as the color of Oxlo. He taps just below his eye with the end of his pipe.

7. Scary Stories or Happy Endings?

Neither. He replies with an uninterested shrug.

8. Any special talents?

Dreamin’. Been the gift of my House.  

9. Where were you born?

Ihama as all Oxlo’s be. He looks at you as if you've asked a stupid question.

10. What are your hobbies?

Smokin’. Be right particular of my blends. He says, readjusting his posture as if he’s already grown tired of sitting.

11. Do you have any pets?

Nay. Animals nay meant to be caged. They be wild or on the end of my knife. He taps the hilt of his dagger.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

Huntin’. Only sport that matters, rest be triflin’ matter. He waves his hand in a dismissive fashion.

13. How tall are you?

6’5”. More of a beast than my father and brothers though. He beats on his chest proudly and flashes you a cocky grin.

14. Favorite subject in school?

Have nary a care for books or paper pushin’. He deflates as if you’ve just asked the most boring thing.

15. Dream job?

Nay care for what it be that I do, long as I be a free man. You notice that his tone is the most serious it’s been since sitting down to speak with you and something about him suddenly seems guarded.

I had to add a little sweetness here to show that he’s not a total grump haha. He just doesn’t have a lot of patience for people asking him questions; rather, he prefers to be the one asking them. That is unless a certain human woman is the one asking 😉

Also, question number 8 makes me realize that I probably need to write a lore post on Dreaming to clarify what it is in the context of As A Stranger Or A Friend. For now, just know that it is a special skill associated with Axtapor's House, The House of Dreams.

[ofallthingsnasty]

Your last answer to another anon dropped so much lore!!!! im so invested in your ocs and reader characters(along with how you write Micah haha) its not even funny lol And it honestly made me sit down and try to figure out which of the reader characters( along with their kids) in 'capture kill' and 'through the briar' have it the worst💀 So I thought I would post my findings lmaoo

Bill Pros: Reader is actually allowed to go outside by themselves😱

Can yell at Bill and vent frustrations😂

Have a super sweet mother in law that will help you out as much as she can

Bill actually financially provides for you and your kids

Probably live in a pretty nice house

Cons: Can go outside but not without Bill making sure you smell like him, jealous old man smh -_- so lets hope you can walk afterwords💀

Deadbeat dad that is barely involved with the house work and raising the kids

Will not stop smoking near your kids

Reader is probably never allowed to say no when Bill wants some ass cause he sees her as property🥲

Poisons your sons with a bunch of toxic masculinity bleh

So I would give an 8/10 on how much it would suck to be married to Bill, would still choose him over Evan any day tho ( Evan is scarier in my opinion😭)

Evan Pros: Evan is an actually an involved father

Does love his son and raises him semi-well

Probably also live in a nice house( if you are even allowed out of the basement to see the rest of it)

Is pretty loving to the reader( unbearably so ugh)

Will help out with housework and keeping everything in order

Cons: Reader is never allowed to touch grass ever again

Will lose 'privileges' if she acts out 😬

Your son probably thinks its totally normal that mommy is kept in the basement, and is probably being taught that kidnapping your future partner is completely fine👌

I give an 9/10 on how much it would suck to be married to Evan, honestly being stuck with him sounds awful🥲 You are forever trapped and if you act out, you get punished, badly.

Micah Pros: He leaves reader in peace for extended periods of time so she doesn't have to deal with his bull that often

Reader can better protect her kids(especially her son or sons ugh imagine two or three mini Micahs running around🫠) from Micah's influence since he's gone for a lot of the time

If we are going with the canon, then reader only has to deal with Micah for a couple more years🙃

Cons: Reader and her kids are struggling financially cause Micah probably only gives her 10 bucks and a box of crackers to tie them over for the next month smh

Don't think he ever actually officially marries reader, he probably just pulled the good old 'you're mine now no take backs' move on reader lol

Micah doesn't really have much, if any form of affection for you(definitely doesn't love you💀 he cares more about his guns than you lmao) So don't expect him to treat the reader well just because she's the mother of his children.

Micah will be one of those mfs that demand his husband 'privileges' from you whenever he comes back home ugh

Probably live in the middle of nowhere in some run down cabin that Micah 'removed' the previous occupants from😶

Will poison your son or sons with toxic masculinity and with generally awful life lessons yikes

I give a 10/10 on how much it would suck to be married to Micah. Being stuck with this blonde bastard sounds like hell omg, please shoot him now John lol😭

After thorough research (lmao) In my opinion its a close match of who has it the worst between the reader that is stuck with Evan and the reader from 'through the briar'. So yeah I would choose Bill if I really had no other choice😓 But if you read this ridiculously long list hahaha, who do you think has it the worst?

Holy shit, anon... You SAT DOWN and ANALYZED who has it the worst between these two fics? I am actually speechless, this is such an honor omfg.

(Also lmao you're so funny "If we are going with the canon, then reader only has to deal with Micah for a couple more years🙃" and "Micah probably only gives her 10 bucks and a box of crackers to tie them over for the next month smh" I am cackling)

I think you're spot on, actually. Evan is really easy to underestimate but he's genuinely... not well when it comes to you. I think I mentioned it somewhere in an answer to an ask ages ago, but he actually has no issue with seriously hurting you for what he perceives to be "the greater good". That includes either taking a limb or shattering (and not properly mending) bone. Yes, he'll probably cry while he does it, will swear up and down that he hates doing this (and he does, he does) - but he has to do this. He's not the fun type of yandere. His little thing for you is kinda cute on the surface - until he has his first panic attack over you not answering your phone. (That is, if you two started dating 'the normal way'. Hah.) Personally, I think Micah is the worst out of the three, as well - simply because he has no issue with immediately resorting to violence. (And not with misguided motives like Evan, either.) Once he has you in a remote place and something isn't the way he wants it, I can actually see him getting physically abusive. We saw how he had no issue with shooting Maddy in Strawberry although she (probably) had hardly anything to do with that "unfinished business". I think running with Dutch kept him in check, reined him in. (He had to adhere to the rules of the gang, at least a little bit.) Another clue is Amos' letter to him - Amos being so scared for his family, his daughters, makes me think that Mister Bell is actually way worse than we've seen in the game. He already doesn't love you. You have your uses, yes, you're his - but fucking hell, you're a lot of fucking work, too. He has to keep you fed along with his brats and you're not even a pretty face to look at (to him. Now if we asked Arthur, that man would have married you immediately. But, as you know. Micah happened.) And maybe, that's the crux of this whole thing. There is no love here - there is with Evan and Bill. With them, if you were to completely give up one day, you'd have a (very controlled but) decent life, as far as the circumstances go. With Micah? Oh, you can try and try and try again, it will never be enough.

[haddonfieldwhore]

charles lee ray x oc (part 3/3? maybe)

warnings: language, smoking, small age gap (7yrs), drinking, implied/borderline smut, kinda nsfw basically the whole time 💀, not edited haha

@psychohorrorbitch because they asked for it 🖤

remember what i said about maybe never seeing charles again? well that didn’t go exactly as planned, as a few nights a week he’d show up at my door and end up in my bed. i was surprised at how much i found myself enjoying his company, and missing it when he wasn’t around. he never called, he would just show up, usually late at night and he’d leave sometime during the day, only to return later that night or the next. i didn’t mind, but i had indeed been finding myself in a bit of a downward spiral- in regards to both my job and social life; i found myself thinking of him more than i care to admit.

“charles-“ i moaned as his lips ghosted kisses down my throat, my back against the wall as he pushed his body against mine.

i had arrived home from work to find him waiting outside my apartment, smoking a cigarette as he leant against the brick building. a smile crossed his lips as i walked up to him, his arm slinging over my shoulder.

“how was work, doll?” he asked, still hanging off me as i unlocked the building front door and went inside, dragging him along with me towards the elevator and pushing the button.

“just like any other day- how long were you waiting out there this time? i thought i told you i was at work till 9 when you were over last night.” i stepped into the elevator as it dinged, the doors opening with a metal scraping sound. charles backed me into the corner of the elevator, his arms caging me in as he stared down at me, his eyes gleaming.

“not that i wasn’t listening, toots- but i remember other things from last night-“ his lips met mine roughly and my hands wove into his long messy hair, tugging it gently but with enough force to get a reaction from him. “to answer your question…” he groaned, his hands trailing down to my ass and lifted me up, my legs wrapping around his waist as he held me up, the cold metal wall of the elevator supporting the rest of my weight. “too damn long.”

we stumbled into my apartment, after i ungracefully unlocked the door after finally convincing charles to put me back on my feet. i was barely able to set my bag down before charles’ slender fingers found the buttons of my work shirt, undoing them with ease and sliding the shirt off my shoulders.

“what’s got you so worked up?” i teased. charles, not in the mood to be teased, wrapped a hand around my throat, squeezing gently but enough to make my breath catch in my throat.

“mmm you really don’t wanna know.” he growled in my ear, before pushing me towards the bedroom.

•

i don’t know what inspired charles to be so brutally honest with me at this moment, but as i found myself in the now oh so familiar state of coming down next to him, he spoke up.

“hey doll, ya wanna know what i did today?” he asked, looking up at the ceiling. i could tell by the way he asked that it wasn’t really a question. i rolled over, crossing my arms on his chest and resting my chin on them, looking at him expectantly.

“what?” i asked.

“i killed a girl,” he said, his tone serious, but with charles it was hard to tell, and the smile on his face made me a little uneasy. i giggled a little, but he spoke again. “i ain’t joking doll.” his tone was less serious, but his face gave it away- he wasn’t lying. i sat up, the sheets looking around my waist as i straddled his lap, causing him to groan and shift underneath me a bit.

“yeah?” i asked, trying not to be distracted by the feeling of his fingertips trailing up my hips to rest on my waist just below my ribcage. charles sat up a little, leaning against the pillows at the head of the bed.

“yeah.” he moaned as i moved my hips against his, his grip on me surely leaving bruises with how his fingertips dig into my sides.

“i think i must be crazy….. because that’s kinda turning me on.” i admitted, causing charles to let out a genuine laugh.

“i think that’s about the best response i could hope for, doll.” his fingers grabbed my hair and pulled my face down until our lips met roughly, his teeth biting at my bottom lip. i wrapped my arms around his neck as charles kissed down my chest, stopping when we heard someone knock on the door to my apartment. charles looked at me quizzically. “you order pizza or something?” he questioned. i shook my head, crawling out of his lap and throwing on some clothes, fixing my hair in the mirror in the bathroom. my eyes stopped on the purple marks all over my throat and shoulders , a mix of bite marks and fingerprints around my neck. i shook my head at charles, who smiled smugly as he did his belt up, his unbuttoned dress shirt the only clothing on his top half. 

deciding there was no way whoever was at the door wouldn’t be able to tell what we had been doing, i decided trying to look presentable was a lost case and headed to the door where someone was persistently knocking.

“alright alright you better be on fire!” i called, a chuckle coming from charles in the other room and i realized how much it sounded like something he would say. i reached the door, my hand turning the knob and opening the door to reveal gina, a shocked look on her face when she was the state i was in.

“lindsey what the hell happened to you?! and where have you been you haven’t answered my called for weeks!” she ranted, barging past me and into my apartment.

“i’ve been… busy.” i said. well it wasn’t a lie. “and you weren’t exactly nice to me last time we spoke. ya know? when you stood me up for some guy?” i wasn’t even mad about it anymore honestly, but the way she barged in here mad at me was pissing me off.

“busy with what?” she asked, looking around my apartment, which admittedly was a mess. there were empty beer bottles scattered around, the couch cushions and pillows were messed up from certain… activities-

“with me,” i heard charles’ speak behind me and i jumped as his arms wrapped around my waist. smoke swirled in the air next to my head from the cigarette in his mouth and he rested his chin on top of my head. oh gina is gonna love this i thought.

“lindsey… who’s your- friend?” she asked, clearly uncomfortable with his presence and after connecting the dots between the marks on my body to the man looming over me, matching love bites down his exposed torso to the waistband of his pants.

“gina, this is charles. charles this is gina.” i kept the introductions brief, since i had never really planned on introducing gina to charles for more than one reason. i knew she wouldn’t like him, but i also didn’t really care to be her friend anymore in the first place.

“pleasure,” charles taunted, and i elbowed him lightly. he passed me the cigarette which i took without thinking, before he kissed the side of my head, probably as a possessive thing for than an affection thing but i didn’t mind.

“i thought you quit?” gina snapped.

“for a bit but i picked it back up again-“

“when you picked him up? god lindsey what are you doing with him?” she scoffed. i was annoyed with her to say the least. i always knew she was a bitch but she seemed every worse lately.

“oh fuck off gina, he’s better than half the guys you’ve dated. and we’re just fucking around-“

“no no i can see it in your eyes, linds, you like him. im telling you, a guy like that is just gonna use you and then leave you,” she said, pointing towards the bedroom where charles snuck off to.

“god have you always been such a cunt? or did you catch it in a bar somewhere when you told me you had to work and couldn’t hang out with me?”

“whatever,” she rolled her eyes. “clearly you’ve decided to let your life go to shit and i don’t want any part of it. don’t call me when he knocks you up and then disappears!” gina spat, before leaving, slamming the door behind her. i shook my head, putting the finished cigarette out in a beer bottle before walking back to the bedroom. charles was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a knife from the kitchen, and looked up at me when i entered the room.

“when did you take that?” i asked, straddling his lap again.

“a while ago. i hid it under the nightstand.”

“hmm.” i tapped the blade with my finger gently.

“your friend- can i kill her?” he asked, his eyebrow raised. as tempting as that sounded, i shook my head.

“not yet.” i replied. “i have other plans for right now.” my lips found his jaw as i pulled the skin between my teeth. i heard the knife get thrown to the floor a ways away from the bed before charles wrapped his arms around me and flipped us over, crawling on top of me on the bed.

“i think i’m gonna keep you.” he laughed, and i smiled up at him before his lips met mine again.

[morguemaw]

QUICK info dump something cool you might want to tell us about your OCs please! Because I want to be happy by making you happy by giving me an info dump!

rguh guh RU RUGHRU!!! I HAVE !! I AHVE i have.. i hvae some... I will start with my Skele OCs then under the cut go to my non UTMV ocs :) Zemuf; Zemuf was originally a vent sona. He didnt have a head because at the time i didnt want to give him one, i was very distant with the community and i was just kinda.. Scared to be back. A artist in the community traumatized me heavily, so i didnt want Zemuf to have a face. Well, overtime i just decided to give him one, and i just kinda fell inlove with him after!! Zemuf canonly does have a BF named Orca, but there is like.. 2? other non-canon crack ships, one is Zemuf x Skele Rot(another OC of mine), then one which was the original ship was Zemuf x Geno (sometimes + Reaper ), this was bc of a ask a anon made that Geno and Zemuf would be good friends xD Imp, Aka Mailboy; Imp was one of my first few new UTMV ocs i made! He is kinda chocolate themed, and is the UTMV Mailboy, he delivers letters to every AU out there!! He is seemingly dating a certain funky fresh boi owned by my brother 👀 Trick is another OC of mine.. But he doesnt have a ref yet :( It also reminds me of a dump of OCs i did once; they were a bunch of skele babies and i gotta find them since they contain a ref of another OC of mine named King who i miss D:

Cinder(fursona)- Cinder is one of my characters that i just really really fucking love. His backstory is that he was sacrificed into a volcano to the god within, but the God gave Cinder a offer to relive as a form of immortal to take care of the place he would be located into. He agrees, and was then .. frozen? into the hardened lava rock, like hundreds of years later he was found by another character named Icy, who belongs to my wife, and they trained together at a school. The plot twist is that Icy too is a form of immortal being, these beings are called Champions, Icy being one of the first ones after he left the school, but Cinder remained for abit, and when he got out Icy was retiring/retired, after Cinder became the new top Champion, he became Icy's guardian basically, which got them closer! Cinder has any power regarding Volcanos, which is alot, like Fire, Magma, Smoke, Explosions even, and in those rare cases of lightening coming from the Volcano's smoke :) Now we get into the stages of OCs of mine that i just wanna talk about/bring up because i just adore them

Rot; Rot is a albino shark, he is mostly white and pink and was one of my favorite characters i have adopted thus far. He is my PFP actually!! He has slim to no lore other then when he was young his fins were taken to make Shark fin Soup, aka my last ditch effort reasoning to why he only has 2 shark fins HAHA Wish; Wish was a custom i got by a designer i adore, he was in my 3008 animation meme, i love him and if Gutsy wasnt my everything (sona, persona, whatever ) i can def see him or Rot taking that place :) Spiggy; Spiggy is a spider boi of mine, though he looks nothing like one so i love that abt him!! He doesnt have too much of anything on him, other then i love him alot :D

[nightmare-foundation]

Hi just found your blog and I am ASTOUNDED at the insane number of OCs and AUs you have planned in detail I aspire to be like that it's amazing and I am lost for words. I may not know the fandoms they are from but one doesn't need to be in the fandom to appreciate art. If you need to, you can take this ask and info dump anything you want. If you are still carrying on with the Overthrown Ozpin AU that'd be preferable haha, but please go all out on anything you want. No questions in particular from me. Also would it be ok if I were to write fics for that AU if anything catches my eye?

hi!! i was,, not expecting an ask let alone smth so sweet?? i'm so glad you like my stuff, particularly the overthrown ozpin au!! i have put a LOT of hard work into the overthrown au in particular, since i've been developing it for over a year, so it's a project (of sorts) that i'm very proud of!! really i have nothing but time on my hands and an endless imagination, fueled by my adhd and autism, sooo that's how i'm able to make these au's and oc's LOL. and honestly, what i've posted on tumblr is just barely the tip of the iceberg of the shit i've made since i rarely post what i make on tumblr. also, if you were to write fics for the overthrown au i think i'd actually cry. like, if you do you may as well be asking for my hand in marriage LMAO. careful, you won't be able to get rid of me :)

and about infodumping!! honestly i really love infodumping about the overthrown au, and honestly it has so much shit going on in it that i could infodump for literal DAYS. not kidding, i infodumped to cara-kira for two days and i still missed a lot of shit. not that i can remember what they were given the fact that there's that much info (seriously, a friend of mine, snom, made an entire google doc and it's 12 pages long, and it doesn't even include everything or up-to-date info). i've been developing this au for over a *year* and there's still shit that needs to be given detail lmao (mostly bc i fixated on oz and oscar). but i'll happily infodump!! here's the link to the last post i infodumped on about the au, there's lots of info! i'll just share random facts here

-in the overthrown au, because of how much ozpin drinks and smokes, his voice gets incredibly deep and scratchy. a close match to his voice is smaug mixed with corpse husband lol

-the overthrown au takes place over ~17-18 years

-ozpin's exile lasts for 2 years, ozpin's reign of vale lasts for 5 years, ozpin's reign of vale and mistral is another 5 years, add vacuo and it's another 5 years, plus one more year for atlas

-oscar is a ram faunus in this au, with his trait being ram horns! this isn't known about until he's around 10 years old though, since his biological parents aren't known, and that's when his horns start growing in

-oscar was also born far later than in canon, not long before vales takeover

-ozpin has COUNTLESS scars from all kinds of wounds from all kinds of sources. burn scars, stab wounds, bite/claw wounds, you name it, he has it

-ozpin's goal isn't only to get his task done and to unite humanity, but to also spite the gods and finally achieve a permanent death

-ozpin has two wyverns; one he found and tamed during his time with roman, and the other that came from the mountain like in v3. however, the first wyvern is smaller and younger (able to be ridden far easier), and the second one is ancient, twice the size of the canon wyvern (possibly larger), and shockingly intelligent, able to understand human language and string together sentences. ozpin uses the larger wyvern to create a sort of living ship by hollowing out the black flesh, leaving behind organs and bones and replacing the rest with metal and dust. it takes a long time to build it, and it's a terrifying sight to behold

-vale plus the other kingdoms get turned into what's known as The Oz Empire. it's a very dangerous place, being a totalitarian fascist police state, not to mention the guards and the grimm that patrol regularly

-when it was shown just how unbelievably powerful oz is (given he took over vale in a single night), lots of scientists and other rich important people went to vale, believing they'd be spared if not on the enemy side

-the scientists, engineers, etc helped to create the empire's own airships, vehicles, weapons, armor, etc, building several factories throughout vale and the other territories

-oz sort of just,, threw together his army. at first, it was a mish-mash of unwilling huntsmen (professional and students), white fang, and robots. after scientists and whatnot started making things such as airships and armor, it more or less assembled itself with oz doing minimal work

-oz's outfit changes over time just like everyone elses, going from a torn and battered version of his old headmaster outfit, to being more military-esque. this is accompanied by the grimm from his grimm arm spreading over the right half of his body

-oz takes the maiden powers back for himself, and being inspired by how cinder fights, he's an incredibly skilled fighter with his magic

-despite the fact that oz is possibly the strongest fighter on remnant, he still has weaknesses to exploit, such as his arrogance, health issues, temper and his trauma

-oz tends to easily twist things around to mean something else entirely, i.e. being able to twist a crown of roses into treason, and he tends to project a lot onto people

-depending on his mood that day, he'll either be shockingly merciful or have no mercy at all. it doesn't matter what you did unless you hurt him personally

-oscar, despite being 15 (at the time of atlas), is an extremely skilled fighter, and is very good at hiding (because of his training/abuse from oz). his weapon is a glaive named Thus Always, the first half of the saying Thus Always to Tyrants (a small rebellion against oz)

-when oz accidentally revived qrow and glynda (which was a one time thing), it turned out that he could control them using orders, despite them being perfectly conscious. they're also immortal, but they can be killed

-the Oz Empire is a capitalist hell, and the classes are pretty clearly divided. though, everyone is miserable because of the police state, and oz simply not wanting them to be happy

-there's actually an infantry that rides sabyr's into battle. yes this is an actual thing

-most of beacon was changed a lot, and after the takeover, it resembles more of a gothic castle, with green banners embroidered with oz's emblem everywhere, and green torches lit with oz's magic. the entire place effectively looks like the beacon vault because of this

-the actual beacon vault was changed and expanded to be dungeons and a laboratory, meant for dr merlot himself to experiment on SEWs and prisoners to make human-grimm hybrids

-two of these experiments succeeded, creating The Lion and The Panther. the lion is twice the size of the hound, made personally for oz. it has a whip-like tail with several ends, and it has a roar that can effectively paralyze you. it somewhat resembles manticores. the panther on the other hand is the same size as the hound, if a smidge smaller, and it was made for oscar, and built for speed, agility and stealth in mind. whenever oscar tries running away, it tends to be the one to catch him if oz doesn't

-as more of the grimm from oz's arm spreads, he gets more grimm abilities, such as controlling them with more ease and summoning grimm hands with glyphs

-because of oz's alcoholism, he's actually completely lost the ability to see color, and to him everything is in various shades of gray

-oz's hair gets longer over time; he basically never cuts it unless it starts to become a liability in battle

-there's actually a nurse oc who takes care of oscar after training and beatings, and her name is Taffy Hollyhock! she's a red panda faunus with a large fluffy tail, and wears mostly pink. she used to be a huntress before she became a nurse (she wanted to help people more closely), and her semblance lets her 'shut off' specific emotions, which is incredibly useful as a nurse. when she turns those emotions back on, though, they come back full force and hit her hard. she's a sweet, short, chubby lady who loves oscar like a son, and would absolutely commit murder for him. just because taffy is short and chubby and soft doesn't mean she isn't a total badass. she's a girlboss incarnate

-mercury and oscar are actually pretty close, and have had years to develop their brotherly bond

-watts and oscar are also fairly close too, not that watts would admit it. he's something of an uncle to oscar that helps heal his wounds

[imnotwolverine]

The marriage pact - Reality strikes

Henry Cavill x OC Alice - multi-chapter

< Part 20 | Part 21 Reality strikes | Part 22 >

Disclaimer: Some angst

Author’s note: No idea what to write here today other than it’s 7.52 AM, so: good morning! 

Word count: 2.723

(Link to my Masterlist)

Dear readers,

Another year reaches its end and I’m sitting here with mixed emotions. Tonight I’ll be celebrating with friends. Meaning a house filled with a whole horde of kids and a few slightly boozed up adults.

I’ll be the only childless adult. I’ll be the only unmarried adult. And with my dear chocolate cake right now working abroad, I’ll also be the only adult that will show up alone.

It is what it is. Life’s reality. But I must admit that it sets a tiny sad note to an otherwise quite lovely year. I lost one love, but gained a far better one in return. I now know my parents better than I probably ever have - and what joy it has been to share my life with them again. Also, I am writing my first novel and that is truly a dream come true.

Looking at this from the bright side; it does give me some new goals for the next year and I can’t wait to smash next year out of the park. Do you have any new years resolutions, dear readers?

Ali

‘9..8..7…’

*BBZZZZTT-BZZZZTTTT*

With hasty fingers I grasped for my phone, hearing the count down quickly proceed. Henry bear. It was silly to feel relieved to see his name. 

He didn’t forget. 

‘5..4..3..’

Putting him on speakers I laughed as my friends had bottles of champagne in hand, thumbs on the ready-to-pop corks. Around us excited, albeit slightly sleepy, children were watching with expectant eyes, their arms hugging their favourite stuffies. It was special for them to be allowed to stay up so late, which only added onto the magic of New Years eve.

‘2..1!!!’

PffffPOP - ’Oh fuck..!!’

A cork shot out in a wild direction and near hit Gisele in the face, everyone gasping as the poor woman blinked in silent terror. Ooph..that could have gone wrong.

‘HANKK..come on!’ She laughed after recapitulating a bit, her shocked lips turning up in amused smile. And just like that the mood was good again, everyone starting to give each other kisses and hugs. After clinking my glass with a few friends I quickly walked off to the quiet of the hallway, bringing my ear back to my phone, Henry expectantly waiting for my voice.

‘Hen..’ My voice was cracking.

‘ALI, YOU OKAY? DID SOMETHING HAPPEN?’

‘Haha..’ I sniffled back a little tear. ‘No no. Just Hendrik being a fool..*sniff* with the champagne. Nobody’s hurt though.’

‘Hey baby.’ He said, still mildly concerned, hearing me sniffling back tears. ‘Hi.’ I mumbled, looking over my shoulder to see the party getting in full swing, glasses refilled and kids jumping with excitement, everyone dancing on the music that was playing on the tv.

‘Happy new year.’ I whispered, hiding another quiet sob.

‘Happy new year baby.’ He sighed. ‘Gosh I wish I could be there. I miss you terribly.’

‘Same..*sniff* sorry about this. It’s just the wine I think.’

‘Hmm..it’s okay baby. I’m going to kiss allll those tears away when I get back, okay?’ His promise sounded extra bitter, because that would take another three weeks. Three long weeks before he’d get back here for two days, only to fly back again immediately after. But then again, trying to see it on a more positive note; that gave me three weeks to put some pressure on getting that hiatus approved. And that was do-able, right?

—

‘Hi Ali.’ Mrs. Mulligan smiled, lighting up another cigarette, the office building quiet as most employees were out running reports. It was mid January and though I hoped there would be good news, I never could be quite so sure with Mrs. Mulligan. The bad ass Chief editor was hard for me to read. Was she happy? Enthused? Taking the piss? Or being for real? Sinking down in the seat opposite of her desk I gave her a pensive look.

‘Hi Mrs. Mulligan.’ I said, trying my best at returning the smile she offered me. She chuckled. ‘You worry too much Ali. Really.’ She sucked on her cigarette, the tip burning bright orange. Licking her lips she shifted forward a bit. ‘So how is Henry?’

Of course, small talk. I sighed and shrugged. ‘Bit difficult to tell with his busy schedule and the time zone issue, but, I think he’s doing alright. At least they haven’t gotten any delays thus far.’

Mrs. Mulligan turned in her chair, nodding. ‘Well let’s hope that you won’t distract him, when you join him.’ She quickly took another inhale, smiling as the realisation of her words hit me. ‘Really?!’ I sat up a bit in my chair, looking at her with widened eyes. ‘Really really. Though of course we still want to get plenty of updates. You’re one of our best reporters and..as you know..we islanders are close-knit. Even Superman can’t steal you away from us for good.’ She winked, blowing the smoke out high above her head.

I gasped quietly and I couldn’t help but laugh, the relief this news brought being just what I needed.

‘Thank you so much Mrs. Mulligan.’ I smiled.

‘You’re welcome Ali.’ She winked, then pressed her burned up cigarette down in her ash tray. Her way of saying; this meeting is over. Quickly I got up and fumbled through my jean pocket to retrieve my phone; I had to tell him! I had to tell him!

—

But I couldn’t tell him. He didn’t have reception, again. And when I tried once more later that night all I got was a quick message from him, sent from an unknown number, telling me they had some technical difficulties now they were out in the wilderness. He’d try to get a moment to call later that week, but he couldn’t promise anything. And that he missed me. Terribly.

I hated it. This. The distance. The time zones. The difficulty to reach him. The fact I couldn’t share the happy news with him. At least the good thing was that it was just one more week till I’d see him. And we’d better find a way to tackle this problem once and for all..and quickly..because with every lonely night in my bed the unease in my mind grew; like this, it simply couldn’t work. No matter how hard we both tried. If we couldn’t be together, then this relationship was doomed.

—

Once more I was standing here at the airport, looking through the arriving crowd, their suitcases rolling over the grey tiles of the hall as the cold draft made me huddle closer in my thick wool jacket. I couldn’t wait to be back in Henry’s warm embrace again, especially after being almost a month apart. It had been simply too long.

More and more people flooded the airport, loved ones embracing one another, business men back on their phones, their faces stuck in expressions of true importance. But no Henry.

*BZZZ BZZZZ*

Henry bear: Sweetheart, running a little late. Issue with my baggage.

Seeing the message on my phone, made me all the more frustrated. He was here! In this darn building! And what was up with this baggage? He really didn’t need to bring any hold luggage for just the few days he was going to be here right? Groaning in silent frustration I saw an old lady in the corner of my eye, her small blue eyes also looking over the crowd with a sense of worry. As if she couldn’t find the person she was waiting for.

Using some passersby as an excuse to move in her direction, I smiled at her, attracting her attention. ‘Picking someone up?’ I asked, finding her worried look melt in a friendly smile. ‘Hello dear. Eh..yes..my son..he was supposed to be on this flight, but I don’t see him..’ She furrowed her thin eyebrows and looked back at the sliding door, the flood of passengers slowly becoming thinner and thinner.

‘Well that makes two of us. Though I am not waiting for my son, but my boyfriend. He just texted me there’s some issues with the baggage, so maybe your son has similar problems.’ I also looked back at the sliding door, the door now sliding fully closed.

No more people coming through.

It shouldn’t have hurt so. But it did all the same. After weeks of hoping, wishing, waiting, it was all the more frustrating to have to wait even more because of something silly like an issue with the luggage. And it was especially frustrating to think that I only had so few hours with him before he had to head back again to continue shooting.

The woman turned back towards me and looked me up and down. ‘Aren’t you…’ She squinted her eyes slightly, then beamed up as recognition hit. ‘..Henry’s girl?’ I looked at her, seeing those small but warm blue eyes peering at me, her wrinkly face lined with years of many smiles and few frowns. I laughed. ‘Correct. I’m Alice. From the west side of town, work for the local newspaper.’

The woman nodded, then near jumped on her feet when the door opened and two men came strolling in. First a man who probably was her son. And then Henry. A very tired to the bone Henry, his day old beard unshaven and hair slightly disheveled. It was a silver lining that most people had long left the hall, making the odds of someone snapping a picture of him in this state just that bit smaller.

As the two men strode over towards us it became apparent that there was some mutual recognition.

‘Mrs. Penny?’ Henry blinked at the woman who was giving her son a quick but big hug. Pulling back she tilted her head slightly, taking in his disheveled look. ‘Little Henry. Look at you dear boy! All grown up! And you need a shave!’ She winked then directed at me: ‘I was his drama teacher.’

I wished to smile at her, but before I could I felt two large arms wrap around me, a head dipping down in the crook of my neck.

Henry.

Home at last.

Running my hands over his back I looked through the confines of his big embrace at the lady called Mrs. Penny, her son checking his watch as if he wasn’t quite willing to wait a moment longer. I felt Henry pull back and for the briefest of moments his lips brushed over mine.

‘Hi.’ He breathed, smiling at me warmly, albeit with great tiredness.

‘Hi bear.’ I smiled, stroking a thumb over his cheek.

Turning back towards his drama teacher Henry reached out his arms, wishing to receive a hug from her as well. She gladly accepted, snickering a bit as Henry was near twice her height and triple her weight. The tiny lady and the huge bear of a man.

‘Mom, it’s time to go. We need to get eh…’ The son licked his lip as he looked at Henry, a glint of jealousy or distaste lingering in his eyes. Thankfully his mom was quick to agree. ‘Yes yes. Time is fleeting! It is good to see you Henry and I love your work. Though gotta practise that smile talking a little.’ She tutted, pinching his cheek with some motherly affection. Henry laughed and shook his head. ‘It’s good to see you Mrs. Penny and..please..let us not hold you up.’ Henry nodded at the other man, who was practically sneering at him.

—

‘Something happened with that guy?’ I asked, driving us home in his dad’s car - anything better than my mom’s car. Henry sighed. ‘Got our bags mixed up and he just kept saying my bag was his, refusing to open it and compare the contents.’ 

He sounded so done with it all, voice low and dry, eyes peering out over the icy cold waves hitting the frosty shoreline. ‘Sounds like a pain in the ass.’ I frowned, looking at him a bit better. ‘How are you Hen?’ A question that I could easily answer myself; awful. Because he sure as hell looked awful, his whole aura dark and gloomy, perfectly fitting the weather outside.

‘Could use a nap.’ He yawned, looking back over at me and trying his best to offer me a smile, the joy not reaching his eyes.

Oh my poor bear.

‘Then let’s nap and talk later.’

‘Yea..’ He reached out a hand and squeezed the hand I kept at the gear stick. ‘I’m terribly glad to be with you again. I am. Just..tired..’s all. Sorry if I..-’ 

‘Hen..it’s okay. Relax. Close your eyes for a bit and I’ll tell you when we’ve arrived.’

‘Okay.’ He slowly nodded, immediately closing his eyes, settling more comfortably in his seat.

‘Okay.’ I whispered.

—

Running my hand through his curls, his head resting on my lap, I folded over another page of the book I was reading. We were sitting / sleeping on his parents couch, his father upstairs going about his business, his mom out for tea with a friend. The house was nice and quiet, all sound reaching my ears being Henry’s slow breathing and the buzz of the dishwasher running in the kitchen.

He looked tired even while sleeping.

Oh poor, poor bear.

It was then he shifted a little, heavy eyelids slowly blinking open and his lip curling up in a tiny smile. ‘MMmmmm…’ He hummed, nuzzling his nose in my thighs, making me giggle. ‘Hennn! Cheeky!’ He chuckled in turn, his voice deep with sleep. ‘Am I still dreaming?’ ‘No, you’re not. I’m here. And you’re home. And it’s 11.30, in case you wonder.’

He sighed deeply and nodded, shifting so he was laying flat on his back, his ocean blue eyes looking up at me. ‘Hi.’ He rumbled. ‘Hi.’ I sniffled, tracing my fingers through his curls again, massaging his scalp ever so slightly. ‘Mmm..I missed you. Your hands..’ He slowly sat up, moving his nose into my chest, sniffing a long line up into my neck. ‘..your smell.’

I giggled again. ‘Okay then Geralt.’ He smiled and sat back a little, cupping my cheek. ‘It was worth every delay, every sleepless hour, every luggage swap annoyance.’ And then he placed the first proper kiss on my lips. Soft and loving, as if testing again how I feel like. How our lips can slot together perfectly.

And what a good kisser he was. Hmm.

Humming gladly I didn’t wish the kiss to end, but he eventually did break it, chuckling softly when I leaned into him a little more. ’How are you sweet one?’ He asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, looking studiously at my face. As if relearning what I looked like.

Gosh we had really been apart for too long. If anything this had to be prevented from here on at any cost. At any..

‘OH! I have news actually.’ I smiled at him, my worried face turning up with pure joy. He also started to smile. ‘Does this mean that..?’ - ‘Yes. Or well. I don’t know what you’re assuming here. But eh..yea..I received green light for my hiatus. So..’

‘AAAHH YES!’ He let out an excited cheer and quickly pulled me in for another kiss. Deeper this time. And longer. Until both of us had to pull apart for the simple fact of requiring fresh air in our lungs. He was properly beaming. ‘Oh baby..oh…so..when and..?’ He babbled, keeping my face close to his. ‘Now, right now.’ I laughed, feeling his aura lighten up, the dark storm clouds pulling away, his eyes finally starting to shine with happiness.

—

The next morning we had our usual morning walk and it almost felt like it had for all those months before he left. Albeit that there was no happy Akita trodding ahead of us - Kal was still in Canada. With gloved hands interlinked we stepped in steady rhythm, small clouds coming from our mouths as we talked and laughed into the cold morning air.

‘You better pack real warm. It’s really, really cold over there.’ He smiled, pulling me closer and kissing my cold red nose. ‘Mmpff can’t wait.’ I grumbled - hating the cold, but accepting it if that meant I could finally be with Henry. ‘Hahaha. Oh sweetheart. Now...’ He halted us before a large blue slatted house. ‘Are you ready to move in with me?’ He raised a teasing eyebrow and I poked him playfully in the ribs.

‘I thought you’d never ask.’

--

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[salamancialilypad]

12, 17, 20, 42, 79? For nathan!! :D

eyyyyyy ty!!! u know i love to talk about my child :)

12. What is your OC’s relationship with his father? its ultimately positive!!!! nathan really loves both his parents, and his dad actually is the only person in the world who can call him Nate haha. theres definitely some ups and downs, especially after nathan goes through the hell that is his story, but the love is very much there 

17. What is your OC’s imagination like? vivid. i dont think it was always very vivid, but he definitely lets his daydreams get the best of him anymore for better or for worse (but usually for worse, whoops)

20. What kind of father would your OC be? a reluctant one!!!! i dont think he really wants to be a dad at all, he’d be too worried about messing it up horribly and scarring his kid for life. i think if he did end up having a child to look after, he’d end up as something of a helicopter parent 

42. What makes your OC happy? answered this in a positive way, so now its time to answer it for some of his less good habits that make him happy >:3c he smokes, unfortunately, and he loves to sneak out of his house at night and go on walks around his neighborhood

79. What is your OC’s favorite kind of ice cream? hm. i really thought about this one. and i think it would be the same as mine, butter pecan!

[smolbeandrabbles]

Sweet Spot - Danny Rayburn x Reader (Bloodline)

Sway: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6  / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10

All I Want For Christmas / When I See You Smile / Good Woman

@mandy23b​ @wltz-bby​ @happyskywhale​ #mendotagsquad

GIF CREDIT: X

Author’s Note: Haha - So, this Midweek is my Sway Anniversary, and to celebrate this, I uhm... came up with an Anniversary fic for your Mendo Midweek-!! 😉

That’s literally all I wrote this for but I hope you can still enjoy it for what it is! 😁

Sweet Spot - Kim Petras ❤

Disclaimer: Bloodline characters not mine / All OCs are from Sway but you don’t necessarily have to know who they all are at all. / lyrics + gifs not mine!

Premise: Danny is always full of surprises - but it’s your anniversary today, and you wanna surprise him. If he doesn’t get too mad with you first!

Words: 2774

Warnings: Swearing / Drinking...sorta. / sexual connotations

____

See you dancin' like you wantin' my attention See you dancin', see you dancin' Now your body's movin' into my direction My direction, my direction

Baby, what you waiting for? You got the green light Don't you hold back no more Let's live our best life Everybody wants to leave here with somebody Everybody, everybody Time of night we start to dip into the candy Give it to me, give it to me

Baby, what you waiting for? You got the green light Don't you hold back no more Let's live our best life

So baby don't stop, don't stop We're getting to the sweet spot, sweet spot Baby it's a sure shot, sure shot We're getting to the sweet spot, sweet spot

I wanna with you, I wanna with you I wanna with you, I wanna with you 

---

Anniversaries weren’t supposed to start with fights; but yours did. You completely understood why, he wanted to spend the day together. It couldn’t happen; unfortunately the reason that Danny was able to spend all of today with you was also the reason that you were able to get away to execute on your plans, or rather, couldn’t stay with him. Danny had shut his restaurant – he could have taken the day off but no, he’d given everyone a break -  that was just the kind of man he was. You had other ideas. He didn’t like this; and whilst you didn’t really expect him to, you thought Danny might be a little more understanding than the argument you now found yourself in the middle of. “Baby, I’m sorry-!” “Are you kidding!? I’m taking the whole day off from work for this--! The restaurant is CLOSED for you!” for us you mean! But you held your tongue, Danny was hurt, but it really wasn’t your fault – as far as he knew! You tried your best, but placating him wasn’t working; “I know-! I know! And you’ve been excited all week but-” “Can’t you just tell them you can’t do it!” “Danny, if I could, then you know I would!” “This is fucking ridiculous! It’s a Saturday.” “At least it’s not travelling…!” That didn’t help things, and Danny scowled before dragging his cigarette packet off the kitchen table and slamming the balcony door closed behind him. What you had told him this morning was that work needed to pull you in on something. The truth? You were about to meet your parents, Nolan, Danny’s best friends (and coworkers!) Javi & Jason, and your best friends Amanda & Evie down at Viva Caputa and decorate for a ‘surprise’ anniversary party. Surprise only for Danny of course. But right now, you’d be lucky to get him out for it. You sighed gently and followed him outside; “Baby…” touching his shoulder delicately you rubbed soothing circles. When Danny didn’t turn to you, you pulled yourself into him. “Baby, I’m so sorry…” His breathing was deep and Danny took at least three drags of his cigarette before he spoke. “I know. I just can’t believe this is happening today.” “Danny, please look at me?” He turned, and gathered you in his arms, brushing your hair back from your face. He was trying his best not to look super pissed, but you supposed he wasn’t really angry with you. “I’m sorry, baby girl, it’s just… It’s not what I wanted.” “Me either, you know that. God, Danny, I wanna be here with you so bad…” You leant up, brushing your lips to his. He chuckled, deepening your kiss, tasting like smoke. “What if you skipped out?” You raised an eyebrow, hoping that he was joking with you. Danny’s smiled faded, “Right. Okay.” You held him closer running a hand through his tangle of curls, “Just stay here, relax, okay? God knows you deserve it. I’ll pick you up later and we’ll go out for dinner.” “At this place you won’t tell me about.” “Why ruin a good surprise?” You realised the double meaning of your sentence and grinned, “I promise it’ll be worth the wait.” He took a double meaning of his own from that; “OH, I’m assured it will be!” You kissed him once more, “I’ll be back soon, I promise.” “Yeah, yeah! Go on! Leave me!” He might have put on a pout, but you were almost positive that he’d be sulking all day. As you waved goodbye part of you wanted to race back to Danny and tell him everything. You couldn’t. For this to work you couldn’t.   *** You’d hidden your dress of choice and a bunch of decorations in the car, and as you pulled into the parking lot everyone was already waiting for you. “Happy Anniversary!” “Oh no!!” You held your hands up, kissing Nolan gently on the cheek as he came over to help you remove the boxes, “Not when my man isn’t here, and NOT when he’s already pissed at me!” “For what!?” Javi raised an eyebrow “Well I’m at work, as far as he knows.” “That’s typically Danny.” Jason scoffed, “He’ll be fully in love by tonight!” “If he’s not, this Anniversary is gonna turn into a funeral-!” “Yours?” You narrowed your eyes at Jason and had half a mind to slap him, considering his amused little smile, instead just shoving a box into his arms; “No. YOURS!” *** Despite Danny not being here, you made sure to keep messaging him every spare moment you had. Danny wasn’t a texter, but keeping him up to date with what you were up to was important. You called him during your lunchbreak only, he seemed pretty fine – and didn’t complain once, which you thought was good of him. But Danny certainly wasn’t in high spirits; hopefully you could change all that quickly. It was a lot of fun, helping everyone else put up decorations. As you did so they all kept shouting random questions at you about your relationship, wanting you to tell stories and talk to your favourite memories. To which they all added running commentaries or their own anecdotes – either on things Danny had said about you when you weren’t around, or, if they’d been a part of any of the situations, their own personal take on it. Towards the end of your decorating Amanda paused and turned back to you, it dawned on her – much as it had your own mind – what exactly this was for, and yet your participation in it. “Wait, shouldn’t we have been doing this for you!?” You shrugged “No. I mean you could have! But, the amount of stupid surprise parties that Danny has thrown me in here?” You pointed around the room, “That all of you were all in on, I 100% need to throw him one this time! Even if it is for our anniversary…” Then you smiled, “Which uhm, reminds me, I guess I best be saying thank you!!”

On the other side of Miami, Danny Rayburn was growing more and more anxious. It was getting later; about the time you should really be getting home, or at least picking him up. Yet he’d heard nothing, not a text or a call. Danny was ready: nice shirt, smart pants, he even had a jacket. He wasn’t exactly sure where you were taking him, but he could guess that you’d like to sweep him across town and into a 5-star restaurant with views of the Pacific. Danny would roll his eyes and say you were paying too much, and you would smile and say he was worth every cent; and he wouldn’t be ungrateful, Danny would surely enjoy every second of your company. Even more so now he’d been bereft of you all day. Now he was pacing, and sure that you wouldn’t make it - at the rate things were going you definitely wouldn’t be on time! – he’d already had a few cigarettes to attempt to calm himself in vain, Danny didn’t dare have another. Alternating between staring at the door and the phone; which one would alert him first? Turned out it was his phone and as he scrambled to pick it up, Danny was disheartened to find it wasn’t even you on the other end of the line, but his head waiter, Javi: “Danny you need to get down to the restaurant there’s a problem.” If it didn’t sound so urgent Danny would have left a longer pause; what else could possibly go wrong today? He didn’t dare ask that question out loud. “You’re fucking with me right!? I’m waiting to go to my anniversary dinner, everything’s already ruined because my girl got dragged off to work. Now there’s something wrong at my restaurant!?” “Danny we need you!! We NEED you!” Javi did his best to sound panicked, “But she… she’s gotta be on her way back by now… I can’t just drive down to ya!” “Y/N left you for the day man, that’s on her! Just get down here!” Javi shot you an apologetic look but you waved him off. All he had to do was get your partner to his destination, it didn’t matter how. Heck, for leaving Danny all day you probably did deserve some slander. Hopefully it’d all be worth the pain. “Okay. Okay. Just, hold on!”  Danny cut the line, sighing, well this was just GREAT. He scribbled a little note to you, hardly believing that after you left him this morning he was now going to have to apologise for this. In the state he was in though, Danny never stopped to ask the question; If everyone was off for the evening, what was Javi doing at the restaurant in the first place? *** Danny couldn’t pull into his parking space fast enough, Javi’s car was the only other one here (you’d all moved yours into a parking garage to keep from ruining the surprise until the last second.) and yet the restaurant didn’t seem occupied at all. “What the hell?” Danny muttered to himself. Locking his car, he sprinted to Viva Caputa’s front door, wrenching it open as soon as he could get the key in. Stepping inside he peered around in the pitch darkness, reaching for the nearest light switch; “Javi, I swear to GOD-” Danny didn’t get a chance to flip them, as the lights were thrown up from the other end of the room. All your collective friends and your family standing there. “SURPRISE!!” Banners and balloons and streamers decorated nearly every surface, and the more culinary skilled of the little group had clearly been busy at home. He quickly noted signature dishes of both your mother’s and Jason’s. Danny’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. He just stood in stunned silence and shook his head, before his hands came up to his face and his eyes settled on you. No longer in the clothes you’d left in this morning, you’d changed into a gorgeous dress, standing in the centre of the restaurant with a glass of champagne in your hand; “Happy Anniversary Danny!” His hands came away from his mouth; “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’D PUT ME THROUGH A DAY OF HELL FOR THIS!!” Yet as he laughed and everyone joined in, Danny stepped quickly forwards, throwing his arms around you and pulling you into a tight embrace “THANK YOU!!!” “About time I threw you a surprise party, huh?” “Oh, baby girl…” He placed his forehead to yours, “You didn’t have to!” before kissing you to a room full of cheers. *** Nolan got the music going, a playlist you’d helped him put together, and the party started getting into full flow. Although Danny and yourself were the centre of attention, it was nice to lean back against him as he sat on a bar stool - arm around your waist and drink in his hand - and observe all your friends chatting amongst themselves and having a good time. “Sorry this isn’t the anniversary you expected.” He rubbed his hand over your hip and chuckled; “You don’t need to be sorry, I like this. Right here with the people most important to us...” Danny looked up to you with a smile; “As for this morning, you CAN take me to a 5-star restaurant to make up for it.” You shook your head at his cheekiness, but knew he probably deserved it, as you bent to kiss his forehead, “Okay, baby, it’s a deal!”

With the music up it was no surprise that eventually Danny took your hand and suggested you make your way to the middle of the cleared space. “If you’re gonna stand there in a good dress, and you and Nolan built a playlist, it’d be a shame to waste it!” You couldn’t help but laugh as he pulled you out; “Just be careful, this isn’t a dancefloor in the middle of Little Havana.” “Oh, I think I’ll save that for back home.” You raised your eyebrows, with a small smirk at his suggestion; “That better be a promise, Danny Rayburn.” “Oh, you bet!”

You weren’t sure if shuffle wasn’t working, or the fact that Nolan was smirking and standing relatively close to the music player with Beth, Evie and Amanda had something to do with your realisation that it was slow song after slow song. Probably was your best guess – your friends would certainly love the opportunity to control the playlist. It didn’t matter to either of you; Danny held you strong, one hand in yours and one supporting your waist - everything about it respectful, perhaps even delicate. Danny cared about you more than anything and you knew that; his body close and tight, back sloping to fold into yours; head resting against your own as he spun you slowly around the floor. Every so often you’d catch his smirk as the lights glittered on your ‘D’ pendant - and that look on his face persisted as he continued to hold you. Sometimes you really did love that Danny made it so obvious, and you pushed up against him a little harder just to let him know you knew exactly what he was thinking about. As you did you Danny gave you a little look; ‘I’m trying to be proper here!’ And you laughed, ‘Yeah right!’

 Eventually others joined you, your parents, Jason and his wife, and you and Danny even persuaded Javi to stop making eyes at her from across the room, and go drag Amanda onto the dancefloor. When everyone’s eyes weren’t solely on the two of you, you were able to relax a bit; and his hands fell a little lower on your waist as you looped your arms around his neck. You still gave him your best ‘careful’ warning look, yet Danny’s little cheeky smile let you know that he’d heed your words, but only for a time. If he thought that he was going to get away with it, Danny was absolutely gonna get a little inappropriate tonight. It was your anniversary after all!

 You were in your own little world, that much was for sure. People were aware of what this meant, and let you have these quiet, private moments together - when all that mattered was each other. Danny grazed his lips to your forehead, and cheek before he chuckled: “You know maybe we aught to stop celebrating every special occasion here.” “You’re the one who doesn’t like taking big days off!” You were specifically referring to Valentine’s Day, but Danny’s look was sharp and you laughed, embarrassed. “Today is hardly the day to complain at me for that. Thank you for the surprise, all the same.” “You’re welcome, you deserve it... Happy Anniversary Danny!” He accepted your kiss with a sweet smile; “Happy Anniversary, baby girl...” You looked around at all your friends but none of them were paying attention, all in worlds of their own too; “Maybe we should make this tradition?” “Oh yeah, gone are the days of good meals out, it’s all about hanging at Viva Caputa!” Although his voice was purely sarcastic, Danny couldn’t help that little smile he flashed “Something like that...” You smiled back, kissing him gently again. Then Danny laughed; “I have to say though, considering your antics you’re lucky we got an anniversary at all-!” “Oh what, c’mon! Danny!” “You just wait until we get home, you’re in BIG trouble.” You weren’t sure you trusted the suggestive look on his face, and you tipped you head curiously. Danny however was under no illusions that you weren’t hopeful; “Good trouble?” “VERY good trouble.”

Danny pulled you into his body, and you locked your arms around his neck as he kissed you. That wasn’t a sweet ‘Happy Anniversary’ kiss, and his hands ran way lower than the respectful line of your waist as he kept you as near to him as possible. That only made you smirk into the kiss as he grazed his tongue over your bottom lip. The dancing had paused; and no wonder. You allowed him what he wanted, Danny hummed in approval as sweet and short became fiery, hungry and passionate. You were in half a mind to ask him to abruptly cut your own party and take you back home right now.

You wouldn’t; because this was just Danny’s way of teasing you. Merely a taste of what was in store when you closed your apartment door to the world tonight and the lights were off.

Very good trouble was damn right. And you couldn’t wait.

---

Thank you for reading *possibly* the most self indulgent thing I’ve ever written 😅

[erebors-queen]

Captain of the White Tower

Chapter 1: Of fable 

Boromir X OC 

Cold. Freezing even was the breeze coming through the forest. Crunch went the red, orange, and amber leaves underneath the large mans leather boots. "This is madness. All of it." A mumble left his lips as he trailed forward. Boromir still grappled with the weight of simply being alive, and his task? Even stranger. How could all of this be working towards the greater good? Boromir glanced all around him again, like he had that entire day. Making sure nothing had been following him. He had had an eerie feeling, gnawing at the back of his mind ever since he was spoken to by one of the Valar. Its not an everyday occurrence, one that shook him to the bone, and one that made him want to succeed that much more at this task. The road gradually turned from the breathtaking maple trees of magnificent colors to a dying forest. Fog came up from the river as the night drew near the man and around him, but it was not so this time.

A spirit seemed to live among the fog, making every step along the way to the lake (Or where he thought the lake would be.) intimidating and almost disturbing. The silent sounds of the forest seemed to scream in his ears. Any sound that there was, came from his steps and the rubbing of tree limbs from the unnoticeable breeze. His right hand found its way to his sword, a tight grip he had on it. His eyes now more wildly looking from side to side as the fog become darker and thicker. "Haha." A snicker made its way to his ears. Sweat now forming as he forced his feet forward. "What bringith you to my ancient forest son of man?"  The voice playful, it knew the fear that played in Boromirs mind. He said nothing, drawing his sword to hack apart fallen plants that blocked his path. "Why do you dismiss me?"  The voice sounding disappointed yet growing a tad bit in anger. "It is none of your business. Be gone foul thing!" He kept his path forward, glancing at the path behind him a few times, swallowing his fear and pressing forward. "I can smell the scent of death about thee. But thou didest not take a life. Or, you hide something more sinister, something akin to a fallen one."  The voice seeming to be right up on Boromir. "BE GONE!" He shouted, defensively guarding himself whist peering around, heaving heavy breaths.

His sight stopped on an old tree. Black and mangled. An oozing tar like substance seeped from knots on the trunk, poisoning the ground around it. "Thou art a gravewalker. One who escapes death." Two amber eyes opened from the tree, unnerving Boromir. He took a step back, clutching his blade tighter against his palm. "Thou hast been sent about to awaken the maiden of the woods has thou not?"  A slim blackened figure hulled itself from the mangled wood. The sounds of creaking wood among a strange black smoke surrounding the figure as it spoke with its gleaming sinister eyes. "I askth that you tell me who has sent you about this task."  The creature spoke again, playing with its elongated claws, running them against one another, in an almost intimidating way. The man looked into the strange creatures eyes, mesmerized by them. "I come in the name of Eru. Yavanna has relayed a task to me. I have been fortunate enough to have found favor with them." Boromir shouted, not understanding why he had told the creature of his quest. Sweat dripped from his brow as the figure crept forth, observing him. Almost appearing to stock him like prey as it circled around. "So it is true. Thou art the man of prophecy." Boromir's face furrowed at the words. "I know not what you speak of. I say be gone!" He waved his sword, trying to intimidate the creature, it didn't seem to notice. "Mine time grows short here in Arda. Many lives of men and elf have I watched. Many lives have I taken since the time of Morgoth."  It looked almost sorrowful as it uttered these words. "My final task is upon me. Son of man. You will findith a wall of mist, behind it you will behold a lake in the golden hue of twilight. A white tower will reveal itself to thee. Peace be with you." It looked away from Boromir, slightly bowing its head as the creature was whisked away on the breeze of the woods. Boromirs brows where knitted further. His shoulders relaxing. He looked around to find nothing remaining of the strange and dark creature of the forest. Why did it help him? It said itself it had killed many before him. "A man of prophecy?" His fingers ran through his hair as he pondered the words. Everything since he had awakened seemed to be unreal. "What lies before me? More fables?" He sheathed his blade as he continued down the fading path. The strange feeling gone with the creature dying.

Boromir made camp not long after. The quiet woods setting him on edge for a mere moment before sleep took him. His dreams were full of battles from the past, life in Gondor before he had left. Then his death. Black arrows dug themselves into his shoulder and chest till he finally lost all hope of fighting. Then blackness had surrounded him. Cold and harsh was the feeling of being departed, voices from his life danced in his head along with his fears and regrets. Boromir woke with his hand over his chest, making sure his heart still beat, his hands ran over his sweaty face as his breaths were slowing. "Why have you done this to me? I was better off dead. Safer for everyone who was apart of my life." Tears formed in his eyes, he placed his hand over his brow, weeping about the past and all his wrong doings. He felt unusable, ashamed, and broken. Things that he had never felt as the captain of the white tower.  "Why doest thou weep about the past?" A voice he had never heard before asked. "Who are you?" He wiped his hand across his nose as he attempted to put himself back together. "The one who planned your life. One who knew you from before the foundation of Arda was formed."  The voice was comforting, warm, but firm and had a touch of protectiveness. "Why was I brought back. My time was over, my life was a disgrace. Everything I've done was for nothing, and none of my deeds will be looked back on as good. For I was tainted by the one ring, and I failed." Tears still threatened fall with his voice shaky as he opened his heart, his insecurities being laid out before the one who knows him. "You are not defined by thy past. Come to me, I shall make your path straight. I shall make you anew. Come to me my son, come and walk with me."

That night Boromir prayed. He prayed unlike he ever had before. His form kneeling and trembling, his eyes red from weeping that would not stop, his voice became hoarse, but still he prayed. Laying out all his darkness to the one who knew him most. He collapsed asleep when he could kneel no more.

He woke well after morning. The forest was still dreary. Despite the events of the previous night, Boromir felt light. As if a weight had been lifted from him. He rubbed his eyes to fully awaken. He took in the forest around him. It almost held a promise of life. A bird or two sang amongst its gray branches of the trees. The fog had disappeared, leaving the sight of the river clear. After drinking from the river he set off again, along the way finding blackberry bushes to his surprise. He took his fill, and saved some for the day after.

Twilight approached, the suns golden rays touched the sky with variations of oranges, violets, and fuchsia. "I will not make it." He mumbled, now picking up his pace. "Thy path will be made straight Boromir. Have faith."  The ethereal voice of Yavanna came back to him, although it had been fleeting. Boromir was so preoccupied with what he had heard that he almost didn't notice the green soft grass beneath his boots. He turned looking behind him. The dead forest had been divided, where he stood there was life. It was a difference of night and day. He turned again. A ways down the path was what could be described as a wall of mist. It seemed to almost wrap itself around something, hiding or protecting. Perhaps both.

Boromir approached carefully. His brows knit together as he put one foot into the mist. "By the Valar, If this kills me..." he mumbled under his breath as he put a hand through next. He felt tree branches rife with lush leaves and cool air surrounding his skin. He pulled his hand out from the mist to glance at it. Nothing had happened. There was only one way to find out what was on the other side of the mist. Boromir gripped his sword. Head first into the mist, he was met with a cascade of overgrown ivy and trees. Crickets had started playing their song of the evening, while frogs joined in. The grass had doubled in hight, coming up to his shoulders. The cool air enveloped him as his grip loosened on his blade. He waded through the tall grass, his hands shoving away the foliage gently attempting not to make a sound. He soon found himself blinded by golden light. It took him a moment to adjust to the sudden brightness, but as he did he found himself at the edge of a silver lake, and in the center, proudly stood a white stone tower.

[silverypurple-rosedlions]

I love the Chapter Unlocks and reading Seokmin's Chapter- Chapter Two? OFBEJFH I cried- But these are incredible! How did you come up with the three known/unlocked Chapters? (Jeonghan's Chapter One, and Seokmin's Chapter One and Two)

Admin Moon: Ah, this is an interesting question! Buckle up everyone, because this might be a long one, haha . . . Like, a reaaally long one.

Countless things inspired me to make everyone's chapters: music, research I've gone through related to mental illnesses and physical illnesses, little scenarios I've dealt with in real life, scenes, movies, and fanfictions, and the list goes on. Sometimes, images and gifs help me, allowing me to paint the main picture of each chapter that correlates to the member. Let's use Seokmin's Chapter Unlock, Chapter Two - Intoxicated, as an example.

With Seokmin's Chapter originally, I had no plan for him to be involved with drugs. That would apply to one member and one member only. The original idea for him involved a breaking point he would need to face, forcefully, seen within the chapter where Seokmin would lose control and attack viciously, to defend himself. But what would trigger him wasn't drugs. Instead, it was going to be a moment in his life when it was his family that triggered it. Fortunately, and I mean it, it was scratched off, and I revised the entire chapter, changing it to what is known now.

It converts to drugs because it's inspired by Billie Eilish's song, Xanny. It's referenced when Seokmin says that "Xanny" was used as another name for the drug, Xanax. If you listen to the song, certain lines within it are in the chapter. The chorus in Xanny is:

"I'm in their secondhand smoke, Still just drinking canned Coke, I don't need a Xanny to feel better, On designated drives home, Only one who's not stoned, Don't give me a Xanny, now or ever,"

Immediately, you can look back and see that this was portrayed in his chapter. Seokmin was around people smoking, taking drugs, and drinking while he's there, "sitting just drinking canned coke." Then in the chapter, Seokmin wants to go home and requests Mimi to take him home, a person "designated" to bring them home as she is the only one among the two with a driver's license. And of course, Seokmin is the "only one who's not stoned," and refuses to take a Xanny, saying that he doesn't want it and never will. This lyric is obvious, "Don't give me a Xanny, now or ever."

Just like in Seokmin's Chapter, a section in his life where he refuses taking drugs and alcohol, Billie Eilish's song also talks about refusing Xanax and telling people to avoid drugs. Period.

Now, not everything from the song is the same, word for word, within his chapter, such as the lyric mentioning kissing. That's not in his chapter, nor is it mentioned when he blacks out, attacking viciously (this is towards one specific friend of mine who misunderstood-).

Another good example is the first verse of Xanny:

"What is it about them? I must be missing something, They just keep doing nothing, Too intoxicated to be scared, Better off without them, They're nothing but unstable, Bring ashtrays to the table, And that's about the only thing they share,"

In Seokmin's Chapter, although it's not a long part, he questions why is it fun and games to them and so on, "What is it about them? I must be missing something." He goes on to explain why they're taking this, which is depression and anxiety, leading them to be "too intoxicated to be scared," and then wants nothing to do with them, "Better off without them, they're nothing but unstable," And of course, when Mimi is sharing a cigarette. It's clear, "Bring ashtrays to the table, and that's about the only thing they share,"

Not only this, but I wanted Seokmin to have this different and darker backstory that contrasts with his bright and energetic personality. It is a little of a cliche, to be honest. However, I wanted his backstory to be the reason why he's the way he is now, just like any of the bots I have. I want his backstory to be the reason he wants to be a bright and chirpy person, someone who likes to portray a happy but unsettling aura. Aside from three, perhaps more, bots, Seokmin is a very complex person. He likes to surprise people, keeping his deepest mysteries and thoughts to himself but is willing to expose them if asked to, or he wants to on the spot. He will play the part of being innocent and naive, he'll be reckless and excessive, and just about anything as long as it throws people off of who he is, using that to his advantage.

Now, Jeonghan's a challenge to explain since there's only one Chapter Unlock so far. And if I am not too careful, I may accidentally give hints of what his chapters will possibly be. However, Jeonghan is the MOST complicated here, and that may just be my opinion. But when going through his entire story, he was beyond difficult. Various research and videos watched, I had to study body movements, reactions, and so on that would fit for him, and even had assistance from a small group of friends. There are about a million things that inspired this backstory for him and how he is now.

For example, let's dive into Jeonghan's Chapter Unlock. It's shorter compared to Seokmin's, but that's on purpose. I usually like to make them reasonably lengthy, being able to give the reader themselves more of an experience that this person is facing. But for this, because Jeonghan has a different spectrum, I had to limit myself.

When reading his Chapter Unlock, he's allowing you to enter into this world he sees in his head. You, the reader, are presented this image of his mind, this "labyrinth," he's in and always has been. It's excruciatingly long and deceitful, the exit is nowhere to be seen, the stairs spiral from one space to another, and he's the target for this big, looming door of what is his insanity. The rose door is what opens him to a new headspace, throwing away the morals he knew, and creates an entirely new person who casts a shadow to his younger self that was too damaged to continue. When opening this door, this is the exit. It's an exit from the person he used to be and builds himself anew with shattered pieces of who he was, forging someone deadly.

For now, let's focus on this: Labyrinth. Surprisingly, there is no other thing that inspired this idea but three main things. One is the vast majority of songs. It is insane how many songs I have listened to that were included for him, and not just this one chapter, but for him in general. For this chapter, it's scattered pieces of songs: Psycho by Byun Baekhyun, Twisted by MISSIO, I'm Gonna Show You Crazy by Bebe Rexha, Angry Too by Lola Blanc, Hey Little Girl by Sophiemarie.b, and small traces of Broken by Lund. If you look at each song, you may be able to find similarities that correlate to them, but not entirely. Second, the idea of this labyrinth was inspired by, dare I say, Labyrinth and Pan's Labyrinth.

NOW HOLD ON!

I know that's the craziest thing I would get that idea from those two movies. Now, I didn't watch Pan's Labyrinth till late this 2020, but it was just one word, and I swear to God it is. "Labyrinth." That's it. I know it's ridiculous, but I'm dead serious that I thought of creating a labyrinth from the title name. Then there's the movie, Labyrinth, made in 1986. I watched that when I was little, maybe seven years ago, and I was always fascinated with the scene where the girl, Sarah, is in this labyrinth to save her baby brother. Sarah is in this bizarre area, face to face with the Goblin King, running in all directions with stairs everywhere. She runs, and she's suddenly upside down, she continues, and suddenly she's on the right side of the wall, so on so on. The stairs are placed upside down, and so on. It was that illusion that I thought I should add within his mind that's a complicated maze, containing fragments of memories and delusions created from stress.

Lastly, the third is me. I'll admit right now that Jeonghan was originally an outlet for me, someone I related to personality-wise, and then took it from there. This labyrinth idea is also a replication of my headspace before I got better (Quick heads-up: This entire idea for them was made a year ago, back in late October or so). I used what I saw of my headspace, changed it, altering it to what would become Jeonghan's headspace, but bigger and more complex than mine.

With all of this, images such as places, the people themselves, and other such things are what drives this. Aside from me as a writer, a person who absolutely loves writing, without these things, this wouldn't exist.

Admin Moon: So, I hope this answers your question, anon!

🥀// @yourlocal-babybear @aikihades @sophie-svt-13 @waitingwhispers60 @seventeen-chatbot @kpop-shelter @yangomangos @m00n-nim96 @ghoulxbaekhyun @moonlit-jaemin @empress-jiaqi @time-for-confession @xash-axx @fnafnctdream-chatbot @split-jiu @artsydahyun @softdommechungha @princess-yeji @werewolf-sehun @julia-oc [DM for +/-]

[purpleskiesandpaperflowers]

Introducing me(us???)?

Ok no that's a terrible freaking title. We are not the jonas brothers.

Who's we? Haha honestly I'm not even sure anymore. This is a hard one to write because I literally don"t tell anyone about my "inner world" which is why I'm keeping my blog anonymous for now .

I guess I'm just a wierd human with a messed up brain that has no reason to be messed up. I'm in the process of figuring it all out .

Long story short "we" is me and my ... I'm not sure what to call them I used to think they were just imaginary freinds , but they have become something so much more real.

I remember being 5 years old and having imaginary freinds like any other child. I cant remember much but I'm pretty sure my home life was perfect. I have an amazing mum and dad and even had two grandparents at the time. I remember happiness and my cat who really wasnt a fan of me , but I adored her regardless , even if she did end up scratching the living hell out of me on many occasions. My main issue at the time was serious separation anxiety, I couldn't handle being away from my parents , it got better towards the end of the school year I think after a lot of spending most of the year screaming until my dad would pick me up. I found it hard making freinds as I was somewhat anti social and liked playing on my own often, but I found a freind in the end. I think we got on so well cause she was different too. Turned out she had Autism, something that I'll probably talk about a lot here. Anyway as I said back then was when I first remember having imaginary freinds , and constantly daydreaming . I used to watch my dad play video games a lot so a lot of my daydreams would be based off the video games . At the time It was perfectly fine. I was just a strange kid who had an over active imagination, zoned out a lot in school , and often enjoyed my own company, but couldn't understand why my peers didnt like the antisocial wierd kid. I remember getting teased as I have a harmless autoimmune skin condition that I developed aged 3 and I felt alienated for it . The serious bullying didnt start until later in primary school though .(I think age 11 or thereabouts, was when shit really hit the fan) Anyway the imaginary freinds were originally just that . Unfortunately things changed when my one freind from school left and moved across the country. I had no freinds so that's where I began to use my imaginary freinds to replace real people. By the time I was 13 I'd almost completely isolated myself , I didnt know how to interact with real people.

I eventually thought I'd got it all under control . I found a group of people that were all a bit wierd. Originally it was cool and I fit in okay.

When I went to sixth form college, stuff started to get weirder though. I'd been struggling throughout secondary school I'd spent a lot of time kind of going back into my alternate reality . Even at freinds parties I used to pretend that I was a different person in my alternate reality doing something with my inner world family. I mentioned it once or twice to someone at CAHMS (The british child mental health services) that I was seeing as I'd struggled a lot with anxiety and self harm , but I never wanted to be fully honest about it . I was embarrassed.

Aged 12 I remember "pretending" to be a character called Casey. At the time I was spending a lot of time pretending I was Kasey and I was making a talk show with my other imaginary freinds . Eventually another character called Paulie took Casey's place .

Paulie's whole existence is kinda embarrassing. They're a typical queer cringe OC That you know a 14 year old neurodivergent weirdo would make up. I kind of originally used them as a way to explore my special interests. And to understand things about the world . In many ways Paulie was kind of a reflection of myself and you know everything was fine . Paulie is a 5ft7 young non binary person . Born male but definitely presents more feminine. Some of the other details about them came from me incorporating things I'd learned from various medical documentaries and things I'd researched on the internet. (One of my special interests always was science , particularly biology, when I was young I wanted to be either a doctor or a vet or something like that. I dont know why I find it so fascinating. It's kind of my party trick - boring people with the details of a random medical condition that they absolutely did not ask for.) I'll go into full details at some point . I find it kind of embarrassing to talk about it all.

Anyway It used to be great we used to pretend to do makeup on our youtube channel that of course did not exist .(the deeper I get into this the more I want to delete my life) it became to the point where I was doing daily "vlogs" in the inner world as Paul , again just something I day dreamed about. It was getting beyond the limits of normal daydreaming.

At some point I came across a video about "Maladaptive daydreaming " for once in my life I didnt feel quite so alone. I couldn't believe that I wasnt the only one who did this! Ever since then I've toyed with the idea of opening up about it , maybe through some sort of blog or youtube video etc. However, I wasn't ready until now. I'm still not ready to be completely open with my freinds and family (the one person who even knows 1/3 of this stuff is my mum) which is why I'll remain anonymous for now .

In the last 2 years things have gotten increasingly more strange and confusing. When I was in sixth form college (british equivalent of high school) Paulie started to be kind of phased out of my daydreams. Then Eric showed up.

Again , it was just daydreaming that had gone a bit too far at this point, however I soon realised that my personality appeared to have changed to become much more like Eric. I stopped wearing makeup so often. I began to feel dysphoric about my body , I began to wish I was Eric.

From then it's just been confusing. It's never just been Paul , Casey or Eric . At first i thought I'd just made an imaginary family. I've been saying that I have literally no idea why because my family are great. But I wonder if it was because I lost my nan and then metaphorically lost my dad.

My dads not dead , hes alive (just about I mean he smokes like a chimney so it's probably only a matter of time) Our relationship is so wierd. I try to be grateful for him purely because hes not a completely bad person. He gave me a great childhood and has never laid a finger on me. But when I was about 13 , I lost him. He became self absorbed in his own past.

Around about that time one of my dads ex freinds died. Since then dads been remembering things from his past and is convinced that this ex freind emotionally abused him and traumatised him for life.

Hes told me the stories so many times because hes so caught up in it that I should probably remember more of what he told me but honestly I think after the third time I just gave up with talking to him. Dad never cares about what you're talking about . He only cares about himself.

I'll spare you the details for now. Maybe I'll make a post about it. I suppose that's his shit not mine though . I dont deny that his ex freind wasnt exactly nice to him and cheated him out of a relationship. But I just feel like he should maybe you know go to therapy rather than sitting at home , freeloading from my mum , mumbling to himself all day about things that happened in the past.

Its very selfish of me because I know even though dads not exactly had the worst life, and he is a little bit of a narcissist who thinks that hes had the worst life possible , I know hes hurting. But I used to have a dad , now hes just not there. We used to do stuff , and I used to adore him, However hes just not my dad anymore. Theres glimmers of him there . But hes so entangled with the past , (and also a bit delusional) that I cant have a normal father daughter relationship with him anymore.

I guess maybe the combo of that , the strain its put on my parents marriage (they're still together but they argue more now) and the fact that I'm a sensitive little snowflake who really cant deal with anything unpleasant, is the reason I created my imaginary family. I don't know if I want to put it down to that though. I feel like that makes me sound like my dad , blaming my problems on what feels like insignificant past events.

Anyway. I kind of hate the fact that I have another family on the inner world. Because even though my dads a bit of an asshat , hes my dad and as a multitude of people have told me " at least you have a dad , at least your parents are still together" and I adore my mum. Like shes as close to a perfect mum as you get in this world. Of course she has off days and it's not always sunshine and rainbows , but shes amazing. She loves me , she supports me through everything and she does so much for me. No matter how many times I screw up she just sighs and helps me move on. Mind you. I havent got anyone quite like her in the inner world.

Since I've been more honest with myself (and the boys) about the fact that I am in fact daydreaming and its not real , the boys have begun to accept my mum as their own almost. Obviously they have real mums, but I know they love her to pieces.

Anyway, so this big imaginary family. Has become more than that. A lot of the dudes are still just imaginary freinds but with a few of the boys , whom I've introduced you to two out of the three, have become scarily real. Eric is the main one. The last couple of years it's progressed to the point where sometimes , I'm not sure if I am me or if I am Eric , or if Eric is me. Sometimes I feel like I'm thinking in his voice. Sometimes I look in the mirror and see him. And sometimes he looks in the mirror and sees me. I think as Paul was so feminine. It didn't show so much. We could just pretend we were me on the outside. But when Eric is in my headspace, I hate my feminine body, I've bought a binder and my wardrobe is becoming less feminine. Because I just dont feel like the same person. I'm honestly so confused I really dont know what is going on or why it's happening.

In some ways the inner world is still just me navigating the world and my way of making sense of things. But it's also kind of like , parts of my personality, as little people that live in my brain , but not quite , I cannot begin to explain it .

And then of course, just when I'm trying to figure out the Eric saga and who the hell I even am anymore, Vlad pops up.

I'll always have a soft spot for Vlad. Hes Paul's older brother and has been in the inner world for quite some time , but has been more I suppose, in my headspace as I call it in the last six months or so. Hes the only one that I've managed to do a successful drawing of thus far although I'll try and do some of the other dudes at some point. Only issue is Vlad would much rather we doodle bugs than the other boys. Vlad has been my way of exploring the whole prospect of having Autism , I'm not diagnosed yet as the waiting lists are frankly ridiculous (yay for the tories?) but I've based vlads character around the traits that I have, and he helps me not be so ashamed of being neurodivergent. He also kind of helps me deal with my Emetophobia (the fear of vomiting) and my issues I have around food - which I honestly thought weren't that bad until I got told that the issues I've been having with my stomach and swallowing for the last year , are completely down to my anxiety. And it was at that point that I realised I may have been a teensy bit more traumatised by my phobia of vomiting than I originally believed. In fact vlads backstory is based off of my whole fear of being sick and what started it off (that time the norovirus kicked my ass, big time) .

Uhh so theres a bit about us . I'm not ready to fully open up yet . I want to eventually tell you more about the inner world but baby steps hey. I plan on trying to post more but , I'm useless so I wouldn't count on it.

[isweartoerenimnotjaeger]

Omg can you describe some headcanons in which Allen finds out he’s completely gay? How he deals with it, how he says it to Cross and his friends, to Tyki?

Headcanons in which Allen finds out he’s gay:

Ooo I love this ask! First of all…I haven’t introduced Tykiin my story yet (gahhh! Sorry Tyki!). I did introduce Road, Devit, and Jasderoin passing though since they’re all on the school’s dance team in my drabbles.I do plan on introducing him…I just haven’t found the right time to do so. Probablywhen Allen goes over to Road’s house sometime? At a dance competition? This isgoing to be long so please read under the cut. Also this is not a Tyki x Allen related thing (just a NOTP of mine but since there has been discourse lately, I’d thought I should say it because I don’t want hateful anons on it. I’d rather keep a safe distance from the discourse since shit is sort of hitting the fan in my life and I don’t have energy to deal with any part of that discourse right now.)

So, first, how does Allen figure out he’s gay?

In the beginning he thought Link was pretty when he firstmet him, but he never really thought about Link in that way. I mean, in mystory he starts out at age 8. All he cares about is ‘wow this wonderful,beautiful stranger is giving me food and he likes my voice!? Let’s be bestfriends!’. Later on, Allen found himself pining over male band members at theconcerts Cross would take him to, or the bands he would introduce him to overthe years. He had a major boy crush over Adam Lambert, Keith Murray from We Arethe Scientists, Alex Turner from Artic Monkeys, Andy Black from Black VeilBrides (Also could go under Andy Sixx), to name a few. Kellin Quinn fromSleeping With Sirens was also a favorite of his. That’s only to name a fewthough haha, his heart still belongs heavily to Adam Lambert, though Andy Blackcomes in close second. (Andy Black and Kellin Quinn are my person projectionsonto Allen lol. No regrets!)

Allen would also pine over the boys he’d see in musicals(there was a time he was heavily into Zac Efron because his eyes, oh my god hiseyes!). Chris Pine was pretty hot. He played Prince Charming in Into the Woods.Sadly…I am not too hardcore into musicals (but I will be because I will do sofor Allen and my drabbles. Also, my friends who shun me because I don’t seemusicals).

Allen isn’t too bothered with it though. He’s still fairlyyoung and he doesn’t quite know that his interests are heading in thatdirection. He has an inkling, but he’s not bothered by it until he begins tofan boy at school about the guys he’s seen in concert or actors that he hascome across over the years. The kids begin to call him gay, fag, or give himweird looks because ‘Why are you that excited over a guy? What about the big breastedactresses?’ Allen writes it off that he’s just being a fan boy over theirsinging and acting, it wasn’t like he was pining after them or whatever. Hejust loved them for their talent…and they just happened to look sexy. That’sit. That’s all.

It didn’t hit full force until he got to see Tyki, Road’suncle, for the first time. (And before ya’ll get on my ass about this. No, Idon’t ship Tyki and Allen nor do I send hate on it. But Tyki is a sexy dude andI can totally see little Allen being all “Oh wow this guy is a super model! Ohgod I’m gay!”) Allen just stares up at Tyki all open mouthed and in awe because“Oh my god this is the sexiest man alive.” He ends up running away from Tykibecause he’s scared, embarrassed, and he’s having a major boy crush moment.

During all this, Cross figures out indirectly because hetried to introduce Allen to female vocalists that were smoking hot, actors, youname it, but the kid didn’t show as much enthusiasm as he did with men. Thatwasn’t to say he was disinterested in them. If they were talented and had abeautiful singing voice, he loved them. There was a difference between his fanboying over men and fan boying over women though. Cross also gets inklings ofit through the way Allen dresses and how he liked to play in make-up. That wasn’tto say it was something that said, “oh my god my son is gay”, I mean the kidwas good with make-up. He could be good with it and be totally straight. That’swhy they were only ‘inklings’. He kept his concerns to himself though andstayed open-minded.

(I headcanon Cross to be very open-minded. He was rebelliousas a kid and even now, he ran with society’s outcasts, the people that peopleturned their noses up at. He learned to be open minded because of the people heran. He also learned it through his annoyance at other people thinking he was abad kid because he couldn’t sit all nice and still in a desk and spit outinformation like a computer. I will write a drabble more on Cross’s backstorylater).

First person Allen tells that he is gay to? Jeryy. Jeryyworks at the school cafeteria and he’s become like a second or third mom toAllen. (Second or third because I have an OC secretary at the school who knowsCross well and became good friends with him when he was a teen). Jeryy is Allen’sabsolute safe space/comfort space. Jeryy provides food, advice, and a listeningear. Allen didn’t feel nervous at all.

Going to his list of friends though. Oof. Out of everyone,Lenalee, Alma, Kanda, Link, Lavi, his dance team members, Allen chose Kanda. Iknow crazy right? Well, he tells Kanda because Kanda can keep a secret. IfAllen ever had a serious problem, Kanda had his back. They may bicker and fightbut in the end they are there for each other. Kanda was also the type to beblunt and he can usually keep his cool…usually if the situation is seriousenough. Allen was scared shitless to tell him because he didn’t want his headto be sliced off or something because he was gross or something. He tells Kandaat his house in his little ‘sensory room’ that Tiedoll made for his boys. Kandais all “So what? That’s it? I thought someone died or something.”

Kanda is not the typeto blab to someone else, like Alma is (mostly when he gets too excited. Hedoesn’t mean to poor dear. He ends up being last.). Lenalee, she’s trustworthybut it’s her damn brother Allen can’t trust! He didn’t want Komui to overhearit. She becomes next when Allen can find a good spot to tell her. He didn’tfeel quite as nervous as he was with Kanda, but he still was. He was mostlynervous about Komui somehow hearing and telling people (seems like wheneverLenalee is in trouble or if there was a boy around, Komui somehow poofed intoexistence right there to defend his dear Lenalee!). I don’t headcanon Komui asbeing someone who gossiped over something as serious as this, this is purelyjust Allen’s worried thinking. Lenalee was all tearful and happy that he toldher.

Lavi is next. Lavi is hurt he wasn’t the first one told(even though, like Cross, he had a pretty good idea), but he gets over it. Hefigures out that it’s only because Allen was afraid of losing him as his ‘mostbestest best best friend’ in the whole world. Allen was dreadfully nervousbecause Lavi was his first friend he made since Mana’s death and he couldn’tbear the thought of not being friends with him anymore. Lavi is in tears whenAllen tells him, both out of hurt, but also more hurt that Allen would everthink that they wouldn’t be friends anymore. I mean they were ‘bestest bestbest friends’ and those kinds of friends didn’t break up over something likethis! Like bro, if you killed someone and needed to hide the body, I would hidethe body with you, no questions asked! Bro, I’ll get our alibis lines up, fakei.d’s, anything bro!

Link and the dance team? They knew. Oh, they fucking knewit. Link probably knew it before anyone else ever but was not ‘openly admittedto’ until after the whole friend group. Allen was blabbering about his boycrushes and his worries over being gay to Link for forever. Link became Allen’s‘hitting board’ for his thought processes and Link usually stayed silentallowing him to blabber to himself. He’d chime in with a piece of informationhere and there. He knew Allen was battling with himself over whether or not hewas gay. Allen didn’t settle on being gay and openly admitting it to him untilafter Alma was told and the other team members. Link didn’t react to Allenbeing gay until he admitted it officially to Link. Link’s reaction was morealong the lines of “I’m happy that you are no longer conflicted anymore. Thanksfor officially telling me, shall I make some tea?” Everyone else on the danceteam was all “Well jee, that’s not a shock. Congratulations on finally comingto terms with it, we’ve waited eons. We still love you.” Alma was all “OH MYGOD ALLEN I’M SO HAPPY THAT YOU TOLD ME I SUPPORT YOU 100% OH MY GOOOODD!”complete with tears and glomping.

To Tyki? Lol. Tyki knew the moment the kid laid eyes on himthat he was a flaming gay. It was awkward as fuck for Allen to tell Tyki “Ohhey, by the way I’m gay. So, you can tell Sheril that so he can stop being allsuspicious with me around his daughter. Fyi, you were my sexual awakening.”Tyki is all “Yeah I knew the first time I met you. I am the reason for manypeople’s sexual awakenings. Glad I could help.”

Road’s reaction is all “Awwhhh…and I was seriously hoping wecould be married. Oh well, Lenalee is looking pretty cute. Maybe she’ll marryme.”

Devit and Jasdero are all “So does that mean we can make gayjokes towards you now and it won’t be considered insulting?”

Cross was dead last. Anita came before Cross and even then,Allen was beyond nervous. He thought he was going to die. Cross was at work andAllen was brushing through her hair like he does a lot. He’s been putting offtelling them, thinking it would be better to keep his mouth shut until he was18 and out of the house. His friends kept telling him that he should reallytell them soon. They were going to find out eventually. I mean what if hedecided to date a boy from school? So, Allen paused and just blurted it out. Hedidn’t really notice he said it until it was out in the open. He was about torun and hide until Anita hugged him and was all “Oh honey I knew it a long timeago but thank you for telling me. I’ll always love you no matter what. Did youtell your father?”

So yeah, Cross was dead last. Allen just couldn’t approachhim with it. When he thought about it and how he’d react (which was usually badin his thoughts) he’d start crying. Cross knew something was off with the weekleading up to it. Allen was more withdrawn from him than usual, he didn’t eatas much as he usually does. Finally, Anita had enough and so did Cross. Anitadecided she’d give Allen a little push and urged Cross into going to a prideparade and taking Allen with him.

“Why do I have to do that? I mean the kid should know I’mnot going to judge him for it. I never judged him for wanting to wear dressesor playing in make-up.”

“You always wonderedif Allen was gay, so why don’t you take him to the parade? You know some of thepeople going there. If he sees that you’re supportive of the community then hemight open up more. There’s a difference between saying your accepting andactually showing you are.”

So Cross takes Allen to the pride parade. Allen is sonervous he refuses to eat, he’s already super suspicious because ‘why the helldid Cross take me here’? His nervousness slightly dissipates when he sees Crossinteract with some of the LGBTQ+ members, a lot of them were past friends hegot acquainted with in his youth. He was still nervous though because ‘he mayaccept people who are different but he might not accept me because I hit closerto home’ (this is an issue I struggle with myself when it comes to my dad whois supportive of my gay cousin…but may not be supportive of his own daughterbeing bi). So, they wander around, talk to people, etc. Allen is heavily withdrawnthrough the whole thing and that is a huge red flag for Cross that somethingwas wrong. He also didn’t want to push Allen into it though. It was hard to seehim struggle through the whole day though. Finally, Allen couldn’t take thenervousness anymore. He was getting light-headed and exhausted from not eatingall day because he’s so nervous. So, they’re just sitting there, alone,watching the sunset, and Allen’s bottom lip begins to tremble.

He begins to cry because he wants to say it but it’s so hardbecause he’s afraid Cross was going to yell at him or kick him out.

“Kid. Just tell me what’s up.” Cross said, tired of Allenstruggling with himself and making himself sick because of it.

“Dad…I’m gay…” Allen choked out, openly sobbing.

Cross hummed, thinking over his words a little bit beforeblurting out, “Hi gay I’m Dad.”

It was the most unnerving, stupidest things that Cross hasever said (he usually does not do dad jokes) but the kid was so nervous andshit, he thought he needed to say something stupid to dissipate the heaviness.

“W-What?” Allen asked, confused and thinking that Crossthought he was joking.

“That’s what was eating at you this whole time? For a second,I thought you got ahold of drugs and didn’t think to share with me. Unless youare on drugs, in which case I will beat your ass.”

“So, you’re not mad…?”

“Fuck no. Why should I be mad? I could think of many otherthings to be pissed about like the fact you still didn’t clean your room like Itold you to. Well okay, I am a little mad because now I have to change the sextalk to you a little bit. I’m also pissed you were worried sick over this thewhole damn time. Jesus, why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Cuz I thought you were going to kick me out…”

“I could think of a better reason to kick you out than overbeing gay. God with all the shit I’ve done over the years the one who should bekicked from the house is probably me,” Cross said, ruffling up Allen’s hair, “Nowcome on, you didn’t eat all day and Anita will burn me alive if she finds out.”

Cross also got Allen a flag to hang in his room

[miracleofunicorns]

Wicked Colors

WARNING!!! THIS IS AN CANON x OC FIC, IF YOU DON’T MIND, PLS ENJOY MY FIC!!! ALSO... there’s a slur in here, but don’t worry, it’s for the sake of the story and the person who utters the slur gets their come-upins. Like, he’s there for you to say “wow, fuck that guy” ALSO!!! THIS FIC WILL HAVE A COMPANION PIECE BY @sanriff unless they already made it and I’m super slow. then it does have a companion piece lmao.... enjoy the story.

ALSO @sanriff is the co-author

Miracle didn't really understand a lot of what Riff said. But they did understand that their friend was hurting. Luckily, Blue was going to be coming over that night. Not actually inside of the manor, but to pick Miracle up to go out.

“Go put on your best dress!” Miracle insisted Riff as they pulled their tux on. It was a really nice tux. At least all of the girls in Beastie's brothel said so. Miracle had been afraid to pull it back on, but they were sure that Blue would be able to protect them from those wanting to tear it off of them.

At least that's what they thought until they saw Riff. She wore the most beautiful wine red dress Miracle had ever seen. It had a modest neckline, but it was sheer down the cleavage where it pretended to look like a sweetheart neckline. Allowing the patterns on the sheer fabric look like it was just floating on her skin. And with that, she wore what looked like silk gloves that ended at the elbow.

A whistle escaped Miracle's lips as they watched Riff come stand by them on the sidewalk.

“And I thought *I* would be fighting off suitors, you're definitely going to be the light of the party.”

"Ya don't look half bad yourself, stud," she teased as she stopped before them.

A blush formed on Miracle's cheeks. Not that Riff could see it, but it still made Miracle feel pretty flustered. They bashfully waved their hand at SeRiff, giggling as they did. “Oh yooouuu.” they smiled. Blue said that would be picking them up, but he was suspiciously late for a skeleton that could instantly teleport anywhere whenever he wanted. Miracle was starting to get worried until a limousine drove up next to the sidewalk. Blue opened popped out, grinning excitedly up at them where he peeked out from the limousine's door. "Ready for fun?!?!?"

Miracle was buzzing with excitement. This was going to be the first party they had gone to! With Blue!

“Sure!” Riff replied, seeming to be just as excited. This was going to be a fun night.

Blue giggled happily as he went back further into the limousine, allowing Miracle to help Riff into the limo before climbing in themself. "Blue, this is Riff; Riff, this is Blue!" Miracle introduced them to each other, happily sitting next to Riff. "I'm happy to meet another one of Mira's friends!” Blue grinned happily, “Most don't really like me heh.... I hope they told you that the party is in my manor?"

Miracle watched in relief as the two shook hands. After everything Miracle had done to the family, they were happy that at least Riff was accepting of Blue.

Riff shook her head as they released hands. “Mira didn't tell me much, actually.” she said, sounding honest, “But I'm okay with that. Is your manor like this one?”

Blue gave Miracle the eye. Yeah, Mira deserved that. But they merely shrugged.

They were both troublemakers, but Miracle exceeded him by far in that category. "Well, yes, in a way, it has its differences and my family has different decoration tastes, but yes it's practically the same." Blue replied. "You'll see for yourself." It didn't take long for them to reach the property. The skeletons had set up a sort of valet system too, so servants helped everyone out of the limo. They had a chauffeur, however. So as soon as they were out, the limo drove off. Yellow spotlights lit up the skeleton manor, dressing it in gold. Several people were entering the manor too. From politicians to other mob bosses, they were all waiting to get inside. But since Blue was accompanying Riff and Miracle, they didn't need to wait to check in. The party was already getting started with a band playing ritzy music and people dancing to it. Servers carried food and champagne everywhere. Especially where there were people just relaxing on the couches and talking.... and doing other things. It was basically a den of sin.

“This is amazing!” the awe in Riff's voice was unmistakable, “You live here?? With whom???”

Blue didn't answer, it was like he didn't want to be associated with whoever he lived with. Instead, he just grabbed Mira, keeping his arm around them before leading Riff to meet his brother.

"This is my Papy!" Blue introduced to them as he led them to a rather lazily dressed tall skeleton. While everyone wore tuxes or full suits, this Papyrus only wore a long sleeved shirt and an orange, silk vest with slacks. And even then he had rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. "Pappyyyyy!!! I told you to wear something nice!!!" Blue complained. "This is my nice clothes, all the others were dirty." Papyrus replied, then turned towards Riff as he left his brother to stew. "Heya, you can call me Honey." The tall skeleton smiled, holding his hand out to Riff while his other hand moved to take a drag from his cigarette.

He didn't have it long, however, as Riff promptly plucked the cigarette from his hand and stomped the smoke to the ground. It brought the attention of some of the other skeletons that were hanging around there. Even Boss Red, who promptly laughed. Along with some of the others.

“Riff. Pleasure to meet you, Honey.” she introduced, after she was done with smothering the life out of his cig.

Honey was just as surprised, but ignored the soft laughter his family gave. Though he gave his brother an exasperated look when Blue joined in the laughter. Instead he took Riff's hand that she offered in a firm shake.

"The pleasure's all mine, Riff." Honey smiled at her, his irritation gone. Not much seemed to bother him. "So, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Blue grabbed a platter of food and drinks right out a  server's hand, allowing Miracle to grab a glass along with a snack from it. Blue soon offered the platter to Riff.

She thanked Blue and took a glass by the neck with her index and middle finger and thumb. "Mira asked me to come along." She turned back to Honey, her smile wavering minutely before regaining control. Miracle couldn't help but feel for her friend. "I was thinking overlong about someone that attacked me not too long ago, and they figured bringing me here would help keep my mind off things for a while.”

"Heh, well you're in a good place, no one is going to attack you here." Honey replied, taking.... not a drink from his glass. "Yeaah, Blue's the social butterfly, I'm happy with just keeping to the shadows if you know what I mean." Honey shrugged. "But my bro is here so it's okay." He added, watching Riff for a moment before he smirked. "Wanna get outta here?"

“Where did you have in mind?” Riff asked.

This was great! Riff and Honey were getting along. Miracle was sure that whatever was bothering Riff, she would forget by the end of that night. It also sounded like Miracle would have to make a set of four BFF friendships bracelets rather than just two. They were all practically friend-married at this point…. Was that a thing? Well if it wasn't, Miracle was going to make it a thing.

“Hey Mira?” Riff called, snapping Miracle out of their fantasy.

“I'm going to take a walk with Honey, we'll be back later.” Riff informed them as she looped her arm with Honey's. Miracle gave Riff a thumbs up as Honey escorted her away.

“See ya later then, Riff!!!” Miracle called back, shouting over the noise of the party.

Oh yeah.

They were totally friend-married already.

Blue dragged Miracle around the party, introducing them to several of Blue's friends. Which included many of the skeletons and some humans.

“So are you twoooo???” Dream had asked, motioning between Blue and Miracle.

“Are you guys… involved?” Ivory had asked.

“You're the strangest couple I've ever seen.” Chara said bluntly.

“We're friends!” Blue and Miracle insisted. It was exhausting as they tried to correct everyone, just to continue the conversation elsewhere. Which somehow kept circling around back to the two being a couple.

“Let's just go dance!” Miracle suggested, pulling Blue along. He laughed, following Miracle.

“Okay! Haha, slow down, you're gonna make me--”

“Blue!!” a deep, staticky voice called out. It made Blue stop in his tracks. Mira watched as Blue spun around, pushing Miracle behind himself as if he was trying to protect them from a beast. And he might as well have.

“What is the meaning of this?!” a dark skeleton demanded. Miracle had never seen him before. His eye lights were mismatched and wild looking. And blue stripes… or… strings? Dripped from his eyes and down his jaw. He was interesting to look at. And Miracle might have liked him… if he wasn't acting like such a jerk.

"Well, gee, Ebby! You gotta tell me before you accuse me of anything!" Blue grinned, his jaw clenched. "Don't play dumb." Ebony stopped right in front of Blue and glared down at him. "What the fuck is SeRiff Fontesca doing here??"

Blue was opening his mouth to answer, but the voice that came out wasn't his. "She's my friend!" Mira piped up, looking over to glare at Ebony.

Blue pushed them further behind himself. "Riff is apart of Bone Tibia Wild! Heh.... didn't... didn't you know?" Blue chuckled. "Golly, Ebby, you're making me look like quite the investigator!"

Ebony's mismatched eyes fell onto Miracle.

Miracle couldn't help but glare back, their chest puffing up.

“Is that so?” Ebony purred, his static making it sound more unsettling than cute. His fingers twitched, which just made Blue tense up more.

"Why'd a ragtag buncha wannabes let a freak like her in? Ya that desperate for people?"

That just set Miracle off. They pushed Blue's hand away to let themself get into Ebony's face. "Shut up!!! We're not a rag tag group!!! We're a family!!! And we're way more put together than your gang with you people stalking our members!!! During a TRUCE!!! Going against your boss' WORD!!!!!" Miracle yelled, poking a finger into Ebony's chest with every sentence they said. It was enough to make Blue sweat bullets as his eye lights disappeared. "M-Mira..." Ebony smirked as he stared into the eyelights behind the goggles unflinchingly.

"Family?" He laughed derisively in the cleaner's face.

"Really? You call that a family?" He laughed again like the monster thing had said a bad joke. Wiping at an imaginary tear from the edge of his socket, he turned a sneer back at the other. "

Ya think I care what the others do? Heh, if yous all were worth yer salt, then a little stalking shouldn't even be worth a batted eye. But that's to be expected from as weak of a so-called leader as Malenchka." He gave a nonchalant shrug. Then he looked over at Blue.

"And you. I thought I taught you better than to associate yourself with things like this." Now Ebony was pushing just to push. To see what he could get away with.

Miracle looked like they were about to pop in rage. But before they could say anything more, Blue grabbed Mira with blue magic and pushed them behind himself once again. "Not, here." Blue growled, his dark sockets glaring at Ebony. "If you want to mess with me, don't do it here." He added

"Hey, Ebs, how's the party for you? Hating everything as usual?" Honey called, suddenly back in the ballroom.

Had he teleported?

However he did it, didn't really matter. All that mattered was that Ebony didn't seem very happy to see Honey.

"Tch, you see the two yer brother brought with him? I thought he had standards." Turning, Ebony walked around Honey to leave.... And smacked right into Riff. "Nice to see you again, Ebony." Riff smiled sweetly, being as friendly as she could be. It surprised Miracle and it also made Riff a Saint in their eyes. No way would Miracle be able to treat an asshole with such kindness! Ebony was taken aback by not just her friendliness but that smile. She had caught him so off guard that his face showed his surprise and a little more for just a moment. Then the scowl was back right as he turned and left the four alone. Riff immediately went to Mira and Blue, worry written all over her face. "You guys okay? Did he hurt you?"

As soon as Ebony began to leave, Blue released Mira from the blue magi . They shoved Blue a little, not appreciating getting manhandled like that. During which, Honey kept his eyes on Ebony as the dark skeleton moved through the crowd. "No..." Blue sighed, relaxing as he took out a hankie and began wiping his face with it. "That guy's a big meanie!" Miracle huffed, crossing their arms in a huff. "He was talking shit about our family, I couldn't stand for that!"

"And that's all it was: talk." Riff pointed out and hugged her friend tight.

"Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never hurt us.”

“Then I'm gonna throw a book at him.” Miracle grumbled. Soon, however, they let out a sigh, returning the hug with a soft squeeze.

“Don't let what he said get to you, Mira." She pulled back and gave them the best smile they had ever seen.

"Fiiine, I won't indulge him anymore, I still don't like him." Miracle huffed,

"We know the truth. And we won't let him get in the way of our fun." Then she took both Mira and Blue by the hands and led them all to the dance floor.

"C'mon! Let's have some fun!" She let go of Miracle and Blue and commandeered Honey into a dance.

Miracle giggled as they not so much as danced, but bounced with Blue on the dancefloor. Blue soon spun Miracle into Honey. And the brothers were so synchronized that Honey had traded Riff to Blue.

Honey was rather… tall. Extremely so. But it didn't stop Honey from dancing with Miracle. He found the solution by lifting them up onto his feet, making the two dance in unison. The four of them danced and spun around together. It didn’t matter to Miracle if they knew how to dance or not, they just moved with the music. Thankfully, the skeletons seemed to be adept at the art of dance.

Miracle was mostly being silly regardless, making it up as they went. And after Miracle dipped Riff and spun her back to Honey one final time, they faced Blue once again. In unison, they jumped towards one another and

The music changed.

The previous song had ended and now the band was playing a sweetly slow tune. Other dancers left the floor, leaving couples to dance together to a soft ballad.

Miracle didn’t know what to do and it seemed like neither did Blue.

Eventually, Blue outstretched his arm to Miracle, offering his hand to them. It took a second but Miracle grasped his hand and allowed Blue, their dear friend, to pull them into an embrace meant for…. People not them.

What were they?

Miracle followed Blue’s lead, swaying with him as their racing SOULbeat began to slow along with the dance. They noticed that Riff had a new partner, Ebony, but didn’t think much about it. They just kept close to Blue. And wished they could smell Blue’s scent through their mask.

Blue and Miracle  separated as the music slowly began to kick up, looking at each other with stars in their eyes.

“HEY FAIRIES, GET OFF THE DANCE FLOOR!!!!”

Like glass shattering, Miracle’s world came to a stand still. Their SOUL dropped to the floor as if blue magic had been casted onto it. They were pretty sure they heard laughter. Was the crowd laughing at THEM? What was wrong??? What did they do??? Miracle thought that after they had left the hospital, that after they had joined the family, everything would be normal! Were they not normal????

The room spun around Miracle, the crowd growing and nearing closer. They could barely hear Blue’s voice as their ears pounded, though they could see his lips move.

Miracle had to leave.

Now.

“Mira!!!” Blue shouted as Miracle ran off, the pushing through the crowd to just… get out. They didn’t know where they were going. They just needed to get out of there.

.......

“Yeah! You better run!!!” the asshole yelled as Blue was about to run after Miracle. But that stopped him in his tracks. His hands clenched into balls of fists. Blue couldn’t take this, not for making his friend upset.

Blue teleported behind the asshole, grabbing hard onto his shoulder.

“Hey FRIEND, why don’t we we go somewhere nice and QUIET to talk?” Blue gritted through his smile.

.......

Miracle slammed the door closed as they ran into the bathroom. The rushed to the sink, screaming out a cry that would be sure to be drowned out by the party’s noise.

“THERE’S IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!!!” Miracle screamed, “I’M NOT AN AMNESIAC, I’M NOT JOHN DOE, I’M A MIRACLE, I AM MIRACLE!!!!” they screamed out everything they had wanted to scream at the asshole. But they couldn’t not with that crowd… They didn’t know they were scared of crowds. Miracle had always had their friends to make them feel better.

This was a revelation they didn’t need nor wanted.

Miracle curled up onto the counter, staring into their reflection, but seeing nothing. Remembering nothing. “There is nothing wrong with me.” they whispered, less sure of themself now.

"I could have avoided this" "I could have gone in a dress" "I have dresses, lots of them... why didn't I go in that???" Miracle murmured to themself. They adjusted their goggles,letting the moisture escape before the ink could.

"Dress or tux, you're still an absolutely beautiful person anyone would be blind to not appreciate." She said softly and gave them a smile through the mirror, tears sparkling at the edges of her sockets. "Fuck that asshole. He can go choke on a big bag of hairy baby dicks for his ignorance."

Miracle looked at the reflection of Riff behind them. It made the cleaner whirl around and rush to grab onto Riff so they could hug her. Crying some more on her shoulder before nodding. "That would be mean on the hairy baby dicks." They sniffled, giggling a little. "Did that meanie make you cry too?" Miracle asked, pulling away so they could take off their goggles. All the crying was obstructing their vision. But even with their goggles off, their face was darkened by... something. Something shiny that moved every once in a while. It reached out a little, but as it was moving out of Mira's face, Mira snapped their goggles back on.

"No," she said honestly and wiped at her sockets. "Seeing you hurting hurts me. I don't ever wanna see you cry. You're too sweet to cry." She reached up and placed her hand on the side of their head, her thumb gently stroking the edge of the air filter on the side of their breathing mask. "I would've beaten that guy to a bloody pulp had Blue not teleported away with him. No one makes my Mira feel bad for being themselves and gets away with it." She gave him a wink and a conspirator's smirk. "I woulda thrown his body into the sludge pit of my shop. I'm sure the Creature of the Black Pit would've enjoyed the snack." She was joking about the creature and Miracle knew it. But they couldn’t help to wish it be true.

Miracle giggled, blushing as Riff fussed over them. "Aww, it would have been fun melting him, ehehehe." They replied, "Though letting something eat him would do the job too... ooo, you should let it eat him alive." Miracle giggled, they were kind of joking... but also kind of not. Miracle would not shed a tear over that man if they found him dead on the ground.

"Wait, Blue teleported him?"

"Yeah." Riff wrapped her arm around their waist and started to lead them out of the bathroom. She wasn't sure if they felt up to going back to the party, but the place was huge. They could walk around and talk away from the crowd. "He went over to the human, said about going somewhere quiet to talk, and teleported out."

"Oh... so he had fun..." Miracle murmured, they had hoped Blue would have ignored the human. Just until after the party. They flinched when their phone started going off. let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting. Right there where you left it, lying upside down.... "Hello? Blue? Oh we're in... the left wing I think?" Miracle said, looking over at Riff. "Okay.... okay... love you too..." They pocketed their phone again. "Blue wants to meet us here, is that okay with you? Ebony is with him..." they asked Riff.

“Yeah that’s fine.” Riff replied, “Maybe there’s a study around here we can wait for them in?”

"Sounds good, it'd be quieter in there too." Miracle added. Enough for them to have a decent conversation. Miracle took Riff's hand, looking around for a study until, finally, they found an office. It was dark and the walls were a red and black striped pattern. It looked like Boss Red's office. Miracle immediately looked for a pen and paper to leave a thank you note for the party, then drew a picture of Boss Red, Miracle, Riff, Blue, and even Ebony all riding in a boat attached to an air balloon on the back of the paper.

A ping went off, alerting Miracle of a text. It was Blue, asking for a more specific location. Which Miracle happily gave. They couldn’t wait to give Blue a hug.

“Mira” Riff whispered quietly, grabbing Miracle’s attention. Riff’s hands were shaking as she handed them several pieces of paper. “Boss needs to see these.”

Several pieces of paper with Bone Tibia Wild’s name on it.

Several pieces of paper with everyone’s name on it.

The fuck?

“First they stalk my friends and now this???” Miracle grumbled quietly. These couldn’t believe this! There was even stuff about them! Wait a second… A lot of this… were things they had only told Blue…. Blue.

They quickly stuffed the papers down their turtleneck shirt. It was the safest place with all of the layers they were currently wearing.

Riff pushed a hand through her hair and looked around. "Vivi." The dragon appeared almost instantly.

"Go outside. Tell me what you see." Vivi nodded and disappeared. She shut her sockets and concentrated on the link between her and her familiar.

"Mira, we have to go. We have to get those papers back to Boss Malenchka. She has to know." Vivi looked carefully around the hall to show there was no one in sight. "We gotta go now before Ebony and Blue gets here." The urgency in her voice was calm and firm.

Unlocking the door, Riff snapped her fingers to make Vivi fly ahead and looked around just to be safe.

"C'mon!"

"Aw, I was hoping to give Blue a proper goodbye." Miracle replied in a huff, walking out with Riff at a brisk pace. Not a full out run, but fast enough to be in a hurry.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!!!” Ebony bellowed at them

“Mira, get outta here." Riff said under her breath. "Get those papers to the Boss."

When the looked like they wanted to protest, she smiled reassuringly at them. "I'll be fine. Those are more important than me." Then she pulled some random papers from the purse she had hanging on her shoulder and turned to grin at Ebony.

"Come get me tough guy." She taunted with a saucy smirk and took off running down a corridor that lead deeper into the mansion.

Miracle shot off in a run, trying to get away from that freak; Ebony.

They were so focused on getting away all Miracle heard a slap and Blue yelling;

"Do NOT use your strings on my friends!"

Miracle looked over their shoulder, worried over Riff. But all they saw was blue.

Blue strings that was, not Blue the skeleton.

But Blue the skeleton was in their vision as well. Miracle grunted as the just as surprised monster slammed into them, tangling them up further into the blue strings Ebony had casted at them. The said dark skeleton had run off after Riff. Leaving Blue and Miracle tied to each other in a rather awkward position.

"Well--" Miracle wheezed. "Dont." Blue pleaded. "This is a--" "Mira..." "stringy situation." "I'm disowning you."

Miracle couldn’t help but giggle at Blue’s expense. The skeleton just rolled his eyelights, unimpressed by his cleaner friend.

It was rather easy for him to break out of the strings, as if he had done it several times before. He merely puffed up and pushed his shoulders outward to break the strings, freeing them both. Sort of.

Blue kept himself leaning over Miracle, glaring down at the cleaner. Miracle had never seen their friend like this before.

“Why were you running?” Blue asked, his voice sounding as if he were hurt. It squeezed Miracle’s heart. Especially since they had to do what was good for Bone Tibia Wild. It wasn’t personal, it was just business…. Okay it was personal. Very personal.

“Ebony was screaming at me, what would you have done? Stand there?” Miracle huffed, folding their arms and turning their head away. Miracle was sweating bullets, hoping Blue would buy it. They weren’t a spy and didn’t make a good one either.

But Blue seemed to like the answer as he stood up, offering his hand to help Miracle up. Which Miracle gladly took-- Oh, wait, no…

He was still mad.

Blue squeezed Miracle’s hand, close enough to break.

“What were those papers Riff was holding?” Blue grounded out, his eyelights gone. Fuck he was livid.

“Nothing…” Miracle replied, fiddling with their mask. They couldn’t meet Blue’s eyes.

“Miracle…” Blue growled.

He was about to open his mouth, to ask another question from Miracle. A question they wouldn’t be able to answer. Fear ran through them, they weren’t sure if they would be able to answer the question no matter how they lied. There was no other way….

With their mask thrown across the hall, Miracle pressed close to Blue. Their mouths united in a form of a kiss. It wasn’t a great kiss as it was one made out of fear and lies. But it was a kiss.

And it was enough to freeze Blue for a good minute. Enough to let Miracle get away.

“Thanks for dancing with me, seeya Blue!!!” Miracle yelled, running off as they waved goodbye.

“Uh huh…” Blue murmured, still confused by everything. He watched Miracle disappear around the corner, his jaw hanging slightly. Blue didn’t know how long he stood there, but soon he noticed the mask on the floor. Slowly, he picked it up, studying its features. He remembered a time before the mask. Before when only bandages had covered Miracle’s face. Rotten, old bandages hidden behind several layers of scarves and coats.

He didn’t feel same way back then as he did now. Before, Miracle had been a small, defenseless homeless person in need of a hot meal. But now? Blue’s eyelights narrowed into slits as a crooked smile formed on his skull.

Now, he understood what he felt.