#his smile did me in OK i am now actually fond of this

[ruporas]

post-trimax vash meets stampede wolfwood

[ID: Black and white comic of Vash and Wolfwood of their Stampede versions. The comic starts with Wolfwood continuing off a conversation, saying “I didn’t mean t’say anythin’ bad to her. She just took it the wrong way. But anyway...” Wolfwood speaks with a hand gestured flippantly while Vash, who’s seated next to him, just listens. Vash thinks to himself, “Talks more about himself... Honest expressions... Immature, though he was pretty immature too.” He smiles and continues to think, “And yet...”

A panel of Vash’s eye directed now to the sky. He thinks, “Some things are bound to be the same with us...” He thinks of a memory, the version from Maximum of him and Wolfwood, back shown as they chatted underneath two moons, one moon with a hole through it. Vash continues, “Isn’t that right, W-“ His thoughts are interrupted by Wolfwood coming into a view, a close up his deadpan expression. Vash utters out “-olfwood..?” with a nervous expression. He starts to explain, “Um. Sorry if it seemed like I wasn’t listening, I was! So, let’s keep talking?”

Vash smiles and puts his hands together as he says, “okay?” Wolfwood glares at him with gritted teeth and Vash immediately remembers, “Right, he’s more short-tempered...” He continues to think, “Maybe Plan B works with him—“ before he’s grabbed by his coat collar aggressively and changes thoughts, “OK, never mind, brace for impact..!” But he’s surprised when he’s tugged instead, him and Wolfwood flops against the ground. Wolfwood puts an arm over Vash and says, “I don’t need to be entertained, blondie. If yer tired, we can go to sleep.”

Two close up panels of Wolfwood and Vash’s eyes looking at each other, Wolfwood taking off Vash’s glasses as he says, “Am I wrong?” Vash thinks to himself, “Actually... I was being genuine when I said I wanted to keep talking. I don’t feel tired at all. But, I think you know this body more than I do.”

Vash’s thoughts continue, “I can’t deny the me you’re fond of from being taken care of. And I could never deny your kindness. Even though...” Vash finally smiles and says, “You’re not wrong...” Wolfwood smiles back before tugging Vash closer and says, “Then, let’s sleep.” Vash asks, “Should we get a blanket?” Wolfwood asks, “Why?” before kissing Vash on the cheek, “I’ll keep you warm.” Vash puts his face into both his hands and flushes. Wolfwood smiles cheekily and asks, “What?” Vash responds, “I was caught off guard..” Wolfwood says, “You’ve said worse though.” Vash responds, “Did I...” The panel phases out and the dialogue returns to Vash’s thoughts. He thinks, “I want to stay a bit longer. Talk a bit longer.

You’re tired here too. The future is always going to be unfair to you. I want to protect you from it. I want to hold you close so you won’t go far.” The thoughts overlap the scene of Wolfwood now sleeping peacefully against Vash with an arm over him, Vash’s jacket draped against him as a blanket. Vash looks at him and a small thought bubble thinks, “He can fall asleep first...” His previous thoughts continue, “I know I can’t. I already had that chance.” A close up of Vash putting his hand over Wolfwood’s. He continues, “I wasn’t capable once, I can’t be sure I’d be capable a second time. And in a way...”

Vash’s thoughts continue with the back drop of the sky, Stampede’s sky of two moons without holes, “Some things are bound to be the same. But I know you’ll be loved again and again in a way I’d never know.” A split panel, one half contains the sleeping face of Wolfwood from Stampede, the other of Wolfwood from Trimax. In turn, the Vash lying down looking fondly at Wolfwood shifts to the post Trimax Vash while the other versions, Stampede and earlier Trimax, are faintly drawn next to him doing the same. Vash closes his eyes and finally drifts to sleep as the final text reads, “Goodnight, Wolfwood.”

[tomsvouge]

Bad Idea Right?

Pairings: Ex!Joe burrow x Ex!Reader Warnings:Alcohol use, situationship, mentions of sex Summary- What happens when y/n gets a text message from someone in her past that her friends are not fond of? Her friends tell her not to go but it can’t be a bad idea…. right?

Who would have thought I would end the night with him, In his bed cuddled with him like we are together. Should I regret it? Probably. Do I regret it? Hell no! Have you seen this man he is literally a walking hercules and who am I to block an opportunity that I was given. Anyways, you may be asking, "y/n what the heck are you even talking about?". Well let's go back to earlier in the day where everything started.

My friends and I were talking about throwing a party and I couldn't be more excited. I needed something to get my mind off of him. Me and Joe are kinda rocky when it comes to a relationship. We broke up about two months ago. Usually when two people break up they dont talk to each other, buttttt me and Joe have been sneaking around for the past two weeks. No one knows about this, not my friends, not his friends just sneaking around like two teenagers. 

As we all sit on my couch we start talking about party details, y’know the time, who to invite the food, all that good boring stuff when out of nowhere melody says this.

“Well since we're talking about personal invites I don't think you should invite Joe y/n”- Melody 

“Why would I invite Joe? We're done. Over” I said lying through my teeth knowing that we were still hooking up.

“I'm just saying you seem to be tense each time you see him. Like that one time we were watching tv and his Bose ad came on. You looked like you saw a ghost.” She says laughing.

“I was Just shocked at his dance moves, I thought I taught him better when we took that dance class.” and that was true we did take a dance class but let's just say, Joeys not dancing for a while.

“I wasn't the worst i've seen but also not the best”- Kaylee says while  writing something down.

OK! Can we stop talking about my ex, kinda getting weird. 

“Ok but just know Joe Burrow is not allowed through these doors.” Melody says in a serious tone.

“Got it Not allowed through the doors.” I say looking at her. 

“I'll just let him in the backyard” I say in my head.

Getting ready for the party I put on my outfit and did my makeup. As I'm putting on my mascara I get a facetime. I look at the screen and immediately knew it was joe as his contact name is “LOSER NOT WORTH MENTIONING🩷” showed up. Reluctantly I picked up the phone.

“What?” I say in a aggravated tone 

“Well hello to you too” Joe says, rolling his eyes on the other side of the phone.

 “What are you doing?” he says, trying to change the vibe of the call.

Getting ready-i say in a sassy tone.

“For?”- Joe

“My party”-y/n

“And i didnt get an invite?” joe says with that cocky smile on his face 

“Didn't think you needed one considering we were not really together”- I say side eyeing him so hard you could feel it.

“Just because we're not together doesn't mean we cant be friends”- joe 

“If this is what you call just friends I would love to see what you do with people you hate.” i say laughing

“You know what i mean” - Joe

“Friends dont have sex nearly every night and talk to each other the way we do.”- y/n

“Well friends also don't hide things from each other” Joe says, placing the phone down so I could see him.

“I didn't invite you because you are not allowed to come, you are not exactly on my friend's good side right now.”- y/n

 My friend did not like Joeto much after the shit they had heard about him from endless phone calls to late night gossip sessions at the house. He didn't hurt me like cheat or anything. He is actually a nice guy but anyone who plays mind games and gaslights is a no no in my friend's book.

“Nothing new, I wasn't on their good side when we were together.”- Joe

“But since I can't come to you, how about you come to me?”- Joe 

“And why would I do that?” I genuinely asked because who was he to think I would leave my own party for him.

Because we can't get enough of each other no matter how hard we try we both know that we will all go back.

And Joe was right, no matter how hard I tried to move on, no one seemed to understand me like Joe does. He knows everything about me. He accepts me for who I am and vice versa. Still sad we didn't work out due to commitment and trust issues. I think when the time's right Joe and I will be perfect for eachother.

“Well I'll think about it.”- I say 

“Good, let me know when you decide.” - Joe

I was having the time of my life. My friends made sure I didn't even think about joe. So much that I forgot to even remind him if I was coming or not. 

In the middle of taking group shots I feel a vibrate coming from my hip.

LOSER NOT WORTH MENTIONING🩷- u still coming??

“Don't do it.”-Kaylee says, looking over my shoulder.

“Who said I was?”

“You didn't say that but the look on your face said otherwise.”

“Okay but would you pass up a chance to just go back to your ex for one night.” 

“One night more like two weeks but she didn't need to know that right now.”

“No I wouldn't, he cheated and I'll be damned if I go back to him just to disrespect myself again.”

“Well I won't if i will make you happy.”

“Good”

Okay sooo im going to his house. You guys may say I have little respect for myself but all the respect leaves my body when I see that man. You get in a room alone with Joe Burrow and see how long you last without being all over him. Plus, can't be that bad of an idea right?

With my luck the rain decided to pour harder and completely drench me. Rushing to my car I hopped in and started it. I quickly texted Joe back telling him I was on my way. Thankfully The drive from my house to joes is not that far at all. Getting out of the car rushing to get to the front door as the rain came down on me. When I kid you not to say this man is a QB he is not quick on his feet off the field. I literally took him forever to open the door. 

Walking in the house I'm immediately tackled into hugs and kisses . After a while pushing wavy from him I decided I needed to put my clothes somewhere because wet clothes just don't feel comfortable. 

Eventually me and Joe decided to chill on the couch and talk for a while. And lets just say after the talk and cuddles the door was locked to that bedroom and that's how we got to this morning 

I woke up to like a million texts from my friends asking me why I disappeared in the middle of the party and I just told them all that I didn't feel well and went up early to sleep. Looking over left I see Joe sleeping with his arms wrapped around me. Part of me felt bad for lying to my friends about going to sleep early but technically i did lie i said I was sleep I just didn't say where.

hey guys! I'm gonna try to start putting out more fics . I chose to do this as a fun hobby and I just don't want it to feel and chore or job but if you want to request fics you are welcome to do so 🩷

[quitealotofsodapop]

DBK is most certainly confused as hell! But the moment he hears Wukong is in Danger, he's all on storming the Celestial Palace against his former brother's, this time with permission from his in-laws! It's also during this situation the truth about his rampage 500 years ago becomes known to the Celestial Realm. Xiwangmu, who has figured out Uwkong was not pregnant on the Journey, has even more reason to respect DBK.

Prev.

DBK is all sorts of messed up when he gets revived, but he immediately softens when he hears a tiny excited "BABA!" at his hoof. Immediately the feared demon king drops to his knees to embrace his child, barely larger since he last saw him centuries ago. His wife is close behind, cupping her husband's face and peppering him with kisses as she sobs with joy.

Red Son and Iron Fan are the only people who matter to DBK in that moment.

Then he notices his in-laws. And what appears to be the Pilgrims? Why are they all here?

DBK: (*finally gets a good look at the room/construction site*) The Room: (*His wife's parents, her nephew, and her cousin are all watching him closely. A pair of dragons + their pup stay at a safe distance. Macaque is alive again and is struggling to keep the Staff upright. And a trio of Pilgrim-looking fellows look extremely out-of-place.*) DBK: "Uh... ok, I am completely at a loss for what is happening right now." Nezha: "The Brotherhood have taken over Heaven. Azure Lion has taken the Emperor's power for himself, and taken Sun Wukong as a hostage." DBK: "Those fools! But, why is Wukong unable to fight back against them?" Macaque: "He's very weak from delivering a stone egg." DBK: "HE DID WHAT!? After I nearly ripped heaven asunder to prevent him from doing so!" Tang, history nerding: "Wait - that was the reason for your rampage 500 years ago?! You were trying to stop Wukong from creating his Stone Egg?" DBK: "Of course! He approached me to act as a vigil for Flower Fruit Mountain while he buried himself. When I discovered that the process is more often-than-not fatal, I became adamant on distracting Wukong by any means necessary!" Nezha: "You were not successful, sadly. Me and Iron Fan kept watch for the last 5 centuries - though I was not given context on why. I now understand why that was. I nearly strangled Wukong when I learned what the purpose of his "meditation" was." DBK, surprised: "Truly?" Pigsy, gesturing to the Ao-Long's: "Yeah, it was only when a certain baby dragon got lost playing with your kid did anyone know about this." Mei, puts up hand proudly: "I dug up Uncie Wu!" (*DBK turns to PIF, his face uncertain*) DBK: "My love, is this all true?" PIF, nodding: "Yes dear. When I saw the reincarnations of Wukong's pilgrim brothers touch upon the island, I sensed that it was time to slowly reunite our family. I retrieved Red Son from Guanyin, and of course, you know how much trouble he can get into on a good day. Eventually, things got a little away from us when Macaque came back into our lives - you must see the recording of the Trial that happened because of that. And of course my parents eventually found out about their grandson from my involvement." Red Son, smiling proudly: "I set the Jade Emperor on fire!" Jade Emperor: "He did." Xiwangmu: (*hiding fond laughter behind her sleeves*) DBK, turns to face his in-laws: "In that case, I will accept any rapport offered to me in kind. My main priority is my family, and if Iron Fan wishes to include you in it - I would honour her choice." Sandy: "Guess, thats gonna include Mr Monkey King now too, huh?" DBK: "What?" Pigsy, getting frustrated: "We'll explain it later!"

So yeah, big brother Bull got some ears to shout off, and a few former-Brothers to interrogate.

Yellow Tusk actually breathes a sigh of relief to see DBK burst through the cloud layer into the Celestial Realm, furiously shouting "SUN WUKONG!" as he charges at the doors to the throne room. Finally a good distraction.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Ok no let me explain you a thing.

I can't take it. I literally can't take this moment without making a sound somewhere in the back of my throat. It's the cutest thing ever and it's this frame here that makes it.

Look, I know this is Wan. I know Wan isn't really canon and this is the preschool episode so it's even less so. But there's something in here that is an absolutely canon thing Akutagawa does.

The scene starts off with Akutagawa's typical reverence and excitement that Dazai is sitting near him. Nothing particularly notable there. But then Dazai gets excited by what's going on and Akutagawa gives him this look and I just can't take it man.

Because that's a genuinely fond look. He's happy for him. He's happy Dazai is enjoying himself.

And that's not just a Wan thing. He says along those lines to Kyouka in one of my all-time favourite BSD scenes in general.

It just. I just have a lot of feelings about that. This is a guy who, we know from Heartless Cur and the beginning of Beast, has very little in the way of emotion - but when he does feel, it's rather all-encompassing, even overwhelmingly strong. Things like rage and desperation. It's raw survival instinct.

But then he has. This too.

Here's the thing. In the preschool chapter, silly as it is, Dazai is still fixated on suicide. He has the noose, just doesn't speak about it openly. So, it's probably quite rare that Dazai shows genuine enjoyment the way he did here - and that's worth that small smile.

In the main universe, Akutagawa remembers how Kyouka hated herself to the point of asking to be killed, then sees how fierce she is about defending her new life and self, and decides that he's glad for her.

It really means something to me that one of the very few relational emotions he allows himself to feel is happiness and pride on others' behalf.

It roots itself less in compassion or happiness itself and more in a sense of respect... but remember that Akutagawa hardly gives his respect easily. He gives his respect only to those he considers strong, and in nearly every battle, he finds himself disappointed. What he wants is kind of contradictory - he wants a worthy opponent, so someone who poses a strong challenge to him to prove his own worth as one who will never be weak again... and yet, when they lose against him, he's often disappointed they did not succeed or fight harder, and looks down on them.

Atsushi's motive, or what he initially thinks his motive is, is disappointing to him at first - Akutagawa believes he is trying to prove himself as worthy of living through someone else's acceptance and berates him for it. But that's... exactly what he has been doing. Later on, he continues to question Atsushi for his motives, in yet another of one of my favourite scenes.

He asks him over and over - "why?" And is not satisfied until Atsushi reveals that he's also looking to get rid of the shadow of the orphanage director that follows him like a haunting - that trauma? All that pain thrown in his face? He is fighting to overcome it. He is fighting via proof and change because Atsushi wants to live, and to not have to feel ashamed of that. And that's what it took for Akutagawa to trust him and respect him enough to transfer Rashoumon to him.

I think, on some level, Akutagawa is invested in seeing whether Atsushi will succeed in this. And I think, in spite of everything between them, he will be glad for him if he does.

I just really love this aspect to his character, because while he searches for strength in violence and power and physical skill, it means on a deeper level, he actually sees joy and resistance in the face of despair as true strength that's worth acknowledging.

I want him so badly to accept that as true strength within himself in the main timeline.

I also love it because Beast confirms that Akutagawa would do anything for his sister and I am now free to imagine Gin telling her brother all the things she was learning and how she was slowly connecting to the Black Lizard and feeling overwhelming pride for her but not really expressing that but Gin knowing that's how he felt regardless, anyways that is all

Is this even coherent anymore? Oh well.

[elliewithcellie]

Graduation Jitters

summary: You and Steve celebrate passing your final class

wc: 0.6k

warnings/tags: gender neutral reader (but let me know if you notice otherwise), established relationship, mostly fluffy i think, characters are each at least 22 here, no y/n

*********

The digital clock may as well have been analog the way you felt the seconds tick away. Your heart kept in time. Steve took longer than usual to return home from work. Anticipation filled your feet, lifting you from your seated position, now pacing in the living room. There was no use distracting yourself with TV or a book. Your mind raced with the news of your day.

The doorknob shook, pulling your attention from your thoughts. The door opened revealing your boyfriend. His eyes met yours, and a smile lit his face.

“Hi, baby,” he said. He closed the door with his foot, an arm staying behind his back.

“I did it,” you said. “I passed! I’m actually graduating! I’m getting my degree!” You couldn’t contain your excitement, the energy expelling from the balls of your feet as you all but skipped toward him.

Steve put his arm out for a hug. You gladly accepted, nuzzling into his chest. “I’m so proud of you.” He spoke quietly as if his message was only for you to hear. “I knew you could do it. Which is why I got you these.” He pulled his hiding arm around and revealed a bouquet of flowers.

“Steve, you shouldn’t have!” Your voice wobbled, and tears welled up in your eyes. Your sudden burst of emotion surprised both of you. You laughed despite yourself. “Sorry, sorry.”

He set the flowers down and pulled you even closer, lifting your chin to look up at him. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Nothing, nothing at all. I’m—I’m just so thankful that you’re here with me.”

“Of course, I’m here. You didn’t think I’d just ditch you after all this time, did you?” He chuckled and wiped your tears from your cheek.

“I guess not. It’s just that��so much has changed. Nothing is how it was when I started. It was so hard, Steve.”

“I know. Which is why I know how much this means to you. I know how hard you’ve worked, even if I haven’t been there for all of it. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere, ok? So, you better believe that I’ll be right there with your parents cheering you on when they call your name.”

You huffed out a breath you were holding in. “You’re pretty great, you know that?”

“I had a feeling,” he teased. His expression switched from smug to uneasy. “They do know about me, right? It’s one thing to introduce yourself to the parents, but for it to be a surprise—”

“Of course, they do!” you laughed. “You’ll do great. My mom will welcome you with open arms. My dad, well, he’ll do his best. I promise. Just don’t tell them that we live together because they don’t know that yet.” You winced at your own words, waiting for Steve’s response.

Steve’s face shifted to one of horror. “You’re joking, right? You didn’t think that would be necessary information?”

“They can piece it together when they get here.” You shrugged.

“What am I gonna do with you?” Steve asked, fondness painting his voice. He pulled you in for a kiss, feathery and light, but loving, nonetheless. “Oh, gosh, I almost forgot!”

“What is it?”

“Your other gift,” Steve smirked. “I’ll go set up your flowers. Go to my car in the backseat, and you’ll find a little treat.”

Your eyes widened as the smile beneath your nose grew. Without another word, you dashed out to his car. A “Congrats” cake sat in the backseat, and you smiled to yourself. You were so thankful to have such a thoughtful man in your life.

[spnhunter4life]

Familiar Chapter 3

Word Count: 3.3k

A/N: Here it is! The third and final chapter! It's a little bit of a shorter one, but I hope everyone will still enjoy it!

Part 1 Part 2

Masterlist

Dean was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. He was looking at me with what seemed to be a mixture of smugness and anticipation. He had a small, barely contained smile on his face, and his eyes were bright. I also detected a hint of fondness that softened his features. I looked at Sam next. His face was set in a careful mask of indifference. He may as well have been holding a sign that said, ‘I’m having a very strong emotion right now, but you’re not allowed to see it and you can’t know why.’ I knew trying to ask him questions would get me nowhere.

“Well? Did we figure out what happened?” I asked since no one else seemed inclined to speak.

“Yeah, we did,” Sam answered. “Dean will obviously have more information, but I’m fairly certain we’ve also solved the case we came to town for in the first place.”

I looked to Dean for confirmation.

“Yeah,” he said. “It was the same people. I’ll explain when we get back to the motel.”

“Ok,” I agreed and then turned to Annabelle. “Um. Thanks for your help, I guess?” I said. I was being sincere, but it felt weird to thank someone when you couldn’t actually remember what you were thanking them for. 

“How much do we owe you?” Sam asked.

“It’s on the house,” she smiled. “Call it the hunter’s discount.”

“Thank you,” Dean said. “We really appreciate it.”

Annabelle’s soft, friendly smile turned into a teasing smirk. 

“No problem. I know you got more than you bargained for, so I hope you take advantage of that information.”

“We will,” I said. “We were already after them anyway. Apparently. Solving two things in one makes our lives easier.”

Annabelle and Sam shared a look and Dean tried to hide a small smile.

“What? What am I missing?” I asked. Dean opened his mouth to answer, but Sam quickly interrupted him.

“Nothing. Let’s get back to the motel and Dean can fill us both in.” 

Weird.

“Ok,” I agreed. 

We said our goodbyes and then climbed into the car, heading back to the motel.

~~~~~

Sam’s POV

The drive was made in relative silence. Y/N tried to start a conversation a couple of times, but gave up when both attempts fell flat. I did feel bad. I’m sure she was dying to know what happened. I was practically on the edge of my seat wanting to know more, and I at least had enough visual details to have a fairly clear picture in my head.

But I could see the wheels in Dean’s head spinning, processing everything he’d seen. I couldn’t blame him. I’d promised Y/N I wouldn’t say anything so I’d never talked to him about it, but I knew how much he liked her. If I’d seen what Dean just saw in the head of the girl I loved, I’d probably take a while to process too.

Although, judging by the last comments Dean had made during the trance, he probably wasn’t so much processing as planning. Deciding the best way to use this information. Going over everything again and learning what he could about Y/N’s inner thoughts. Figuring out how he would approach the subject. 

He was the picture of confidence. He’d just found out the girl of his dreams was within his reach. There was no doubt about that. All that was left was actually doing something about it.

Back at the motel, we all walked into our room. I got as far as locking the door behind us when Y/N’s patience finally snapped.

“Can someone explain what’s going on now?” She asked.

“Yeah. We should talk,” Dean said.

Was he really going to start that conversation now?

“Dean, can I talk to you for a second?” I quickly interjected. He looked at me, confused by the urgency in my tone.

“Ok…” he agreed.

“Sorry, Y/N. We’ll be right back,” I promised.

I unlocked the door and we stepped back outside. When I turned around to face Dean, he was standing there expectantly with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Ok, what was that about?” He asked. 

“Listen Dean. I know that you two have been pining after each other for forever now and now that you know she feels the same you want to let her know. And believe me, I’ve been waiting for this to happen for a while too. I’m so excited for you and frankly, if you don’t say something to her soon, I will. But do you really think that’s a discussion to be having right now? Shouldn’t we track down that boy and the woman first?”

“How big of an idiot do you think I am?” He asked. “Obviously we’ll take care of the case first. You really think the first thing I was planning to say to her was that I saw about twenty different dreams she had of us kissing?”

“Well. Maybe not quite so bluntly, but-”

“Sam, I’ve been doing this a long time. I know that the job always comes first.”

He took the couple steps it took to reach the door and I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey. I’m sorry,” I told him. “I wasn’t trying to imply that you don’t know what you’re doing or that you were more concerned with yourself than anyone else. I don’t know. I guess I just…” I trailed off, trying to find the right explanation. “Obviously we don’t have a lot to be happy or excited about. I guess I just figured, of course that’s what you would want to talk about. And I wouldn’t blame you. But I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“It’s fine, Sam. I get it. I probably would have assumed the same thing if the situations were reversed.” Then, probably deciding this was too much of a chick-flick moment, he turned to his patented devil-may-care, cocky attitude and smirked at me. “I didn’t know you felt that way about her.”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You said if I didn’t tell her, you would. I didn’t know you were interested in her.”

“You know that’s not-”

“Sorry, Sam,” he teased. “Looks like the better brother won. The more handsome brother too.”

Ignoring my protests that he knew perfectly well what I meant, he opened the door and stepped back inside. Older brothers. Sometimes they really were the worst.

~~~~~

Y/N’s POV

I was absently wandering around the room, wondering what Sam’s interruption had been about, when the door opened and the boys walked back in.

“Everything alright?” I asked.

“Yeah. Everything’s fine,” Dean assured me. 

“Ok. Well, great! Do I get an explanation now, then? What happened to me and how does it connect to the vics from the article?”

“When you were walking past the alley of the music store, you overheard the witch who’s been killing people in the middle of another murder.” 

Dean explained what happened, Sam occasionally pitching in a visual detail that he thought might be helpful.

“Ok,” I said when they were finished. “So I guess the good news of this whole situation is it makes tracking down our killer significantly easier. We know what the mother and son look like and have a first name. That narrows things down a lot.”

“Yeah. That would be the good news,” Dean agreed. Sam turned away to hide a smile. “There is bad news though.”

“What?”

Dean sighed.

“I hate to say it because I know you liked him, but we have to consider the very real possibility that this is the piano guy’s family. The woman said it was stupid to be killing people right outside his father’s store.”

“You think he might be involved?” I asked, feeling a pit in my stomach at the idea. I’d spent very little time with the man, but Dean was right. I liked him. He was so friendly and passionate about his work. He was one of those people you just instantly liked.

“No. It was pretty clear that, whoever the father is, he’s unaware that his wife and son are witches. Or that magic is even real,” Dean said.

“Well… that’s good at least.” It made it better knowing I wouldn’t have to be killing the kind man. But the thought that it might very well be his family we were getting rid of… well somehow that almost seemed worse. He’d be left devastated and with no understanding of why.

“You don’t look like you feel any better about it,” Sam said. I sighed.

“It’s just… we’re going to be destroying this guy’s world. Is that really any better? Don’t get me wrong. They’re killing people and they have to go. I get that. I just feel bad for the guy. I mean it’s hard to feel good about saving lives when you know you’re ruining someone else’s in the process.”

“You can sit this one out if you want,” Dean offered.

“What? No, I can’t do that. I just need to focus more on the stopping a murderer side of things. I’ll be fine.”

“Hang on. Can we just- can we just talk about this a little more? I mean, are we really sure we should be killing anybody?” Sam asked. Dean gave him an incredulous look.

“He’s killed five people, Sam. He has to be stopped,” he answered.

“Yes, obviously he has to be stopped. I’m not arguing that. But does stopping him really have to mean killing him? It sounds like his mother has it under control. Maybe we just talk to him, warn him what would happen if it ever did happen again.”

“Under control? Killers don’t stop being killers just because their mommy yelled at them. And we know for sure he’s already killed at least one person after being told to stop. If he’s got that kind of temper and if that’s the way he handles his problems, there’s no way he’s not going to kill again,” Dean argued.

“Yes, but-”

“He tried to kill Y/N,” Dean snapped. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Sam looked over to where I was quietly listening to them. His features softened a little and he sighed.

“What about the mother? She didn’t technically do anything.”

“She covered it up. As far as I’m concerned, that’s just as bad as if she’d killed them herself.”

“Alright, fine. They’ve both gotta go,” Sam relented. “I guess we should go track them down then.”

It only took about twenty minutes of asking around to track down the two witches. To my immense relief, they turned out not to be the family of the music store owner. The boy’s father owned the store next door, the one right next to the alley.

It was easy enough to lure them out. I simply walked into the store, asking after a boy named Thomas. I explained that I was having some trouble remembering events from yesterday, but that I was certain I remembered him being there. As expected, both the boy and his mother followed me out to the alley, right into firing range of the waiting hunter brothers.

~~~~~

A couple days later I found myself alone with Dean. He had parked the car on the side of an old, rarely traveled backroad. We had a great view of a small pond, ducks floating lazily across the water, and miles of endless grass and flowers. This is something we did on occasion. When the weather was nice and the view was good, sometimes it was nice to just stop, take a moment to breathe in the fresh air and relax.

I was currently sitting on the hood of the car. Dean walked around the front, a beer in each hand. He gave one to me and then hopped up to sit beside me. 

“What was all that about?” I asked him. As soon as Dean pulled over, Sam had told us he wanted to go for a walk and stretch his legs. Sam wanting to exercise wasn’t unusual. But at this time? This was usually a kind of bonding time for all of us. A way for us all to unwind together.

“All what?” Dean questioned.

“With Sam. Going for a walk. That was weird. Actually, you’ve both been acting weird the past couple of days. What’s going on?”

“I haven’t been acting weird,” he denied. I gave him a disapproving look and he chuckled. “Alright, fine. I’ve been different, I’ll give you that. And maybe to you it seems weird, but it’s actually pretty typical behavior on my part. You’re just not used to me acting that way with you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. He sighed.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about. About when you were in that trance. I’ve just been waiting for the right moment,” he said. 

My stomach dropped. What had he seen? It could be any number of things – private things – that I didn’t want him, or anyone else to see. This is why nobody should be allowed to dig around other people’s heads. And since I was blissfully unable to remember anything, I was content to pretend it never happened and assume nothing private had been found. This seemed to contradict that assumption though.

“Ok…” I said warily.

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing bad,” he assured me, noting my discomfort. “I obviously got a really detailed, unfiltered view of things in your head. Private things that you maybe wouldn’t have wanted me to know, but that you couldn’t exactly hide from me when I was seeing everything you were,” he started. I didn’t like the sound of that. I took a sip of my beer.

“So I want to even the playing field a little. Tell you a few private things that I never intended for you to know.” He took a sip of his own beer before continuing. “Did you know that I couldn’t believe my luck when you came up to me that day we started hunting together? I thought you were easily one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, and here I was with the perfect excuse to spend time with you. 

“Truth is, I would have tried to take you home that night if circumstances had been different. But then we just clicked so well, I knew it would be foolish of me to ruin things between us by hitting on you. It was a much smarter move for me to ask you to stay with me. I needed a hunting partner, you were on your own, and I can’t deny that I couldn’t stand the thought of letting you go and maybe never seeing you again.

“I always intended to ask you out eventually, once things were more stable between us and I was sure it wouldn’t mess things up. But as time went on, it seemed better to just let that idea go. I wasn’t getting any hints of particular interest from you, and by then our friendship was too important to me to risk losing.” 

He paused to take another sip of his beer.

“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this,” I said. But I thought I did know why. If he was evening the playing field as he said, then why choose this particular topic to share with me? He could’ve given me any number of private thoughts. If he was telling me this now, I could only assume he’d seen something of my feelings for him and wanted to let me know it was reciprocated. I was beyond giddy at his revelation, of course. But I was also a little scared to know what exactly he’d seen in my head.

“I’m telling you this,” he said with a self-satisfied smile, “because I witnessed enough of your dreams about the two of us together to assume that the feeling must be mutual.”

I doubted I’d ever blushed so hard in my entire life.

“Could you be a little more specific about what you saw?” I asked, taking a big gulp of my beer.

He shrugged and looked out towards the pond.

“A little bit of us out on dates. A little bit of us dancing. A little bit of us curled up together in bed.” He turned to me and smiled. “And a lot of this.”

He reached over, cupping my cheek in his hand and leaning in to kiss me. I responded to his kiss immediately, embarrassment fading away. If this was the result I got from showing him my dreams, I’d show them to him ten times over.

It came as no surprise that he was a good kisser. But that didn’t mean I was prepared for just how good he was. This is what I’d been missing for the past three years? I’d been even more deprived than I realized. 

Then something occurred to me. I broke away from Dean’s intoxicating kiss.

“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled. “This is why Sam left? Oh, I can’t believe he saw all of that,” I groaned. “No wonder he’s been so weird!”

“Are you really thinking about my brother right now?” Dean complained.

“No,” I denied. It wasn’t exactly a lie. It’s not like I’d been thinking about Sam while we were kissing. It was just one of those intrusive thoughts that forced its way into the front of my mind, giving me no option of ignoring it.

“Sorry,” I apologized anyway. “I mean, it’s not like he didn’t know. But there’s a difference between knowing and seeing. Damn. I mean, you seeing is one thing. But Sam…”

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘it’s not like he didn’t know’?”

“He knew I liked you. He’s known for a couple of months. Wouldn’t leave me alone about it, actually,” I told him.

“Well why did you tell Sam that you liked me, but not me?”

“I didn’t tell him! He just found out.” 

Dean looked at me expectantly. I sighed. This was a story I really didn’t want to tell him. It would only piss him off. I wanted to enjoy our moment.

“I’ll tell you some other time,” I promised.

“Why not now?” He asked.

“Would you rather talk about Sam, or enjoy being alone together?”

“Hmm. Tough choice.”

I shoved his shoulder and he laughed, putting an arm around me and pulling me close. We sat quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the view and the feeling of being so close.

I looked up at Dean, just admiring his stupidly perfect face. Now I was allowed to look and appreciate in a way I never could before. He took another sip of his beer before turning to meet my gaze. He leaned in and connected our lips again.

After a few minutes of this, Dean grabbed my beer, setting it and his own on the ground out of the way. He pulled me with him as he scooted back further on the hood of the Impala and leaned against the windshield so he was in a half seated, half laying position. I turned onto my side so I could reach his mouth easier. 

This wasn’t the most comfortable position though – not to mention we didn’t exactly know when Sam would be back and I felt like he’d seen enough of my personal life regarding Dean as it was – so I broke the kiss and instead curled up into his side. He immediately put his arm back around me.

I let out a content sigh.

“I could get used to this,” I told him. I could easily picture the smile on his face when he answered.

“As good as you dreamed it would be?” He teased. I smiled into his chest.

“Better.”

Tags (let me know if you want to be added or removed) @123passwort @buckybarnes-1917 @chicken-nuggs-and-cozy-hugs @globetrotter28

Tags for Familiar: @applepie2479 @lacilou

[ya-zz]

I absolutely love your works! ‘‘Twas wondering if you could do a Rama piece on his approach to seeing his partners SH scars?? Or something similar anyway!! The way you write him is so good, like he’s a lot more caring! Soft Rama is a good Rama!

OMG HELLO HI THANK YOU!!! ;u;

I won't lie, I've been thinking about something similar to this ask for awhile but never really got around to actually doing it, so here we go!

Ramattra x Reader (gen)

Wordcount: - 976

He hadn’t seen you all day again, and normally he wouldn’t mind, but it had been nearly a week since he had last seen you, and a part of him was growing concerned with each passing day. 

Of course, everyone had their own lives and were free to do what they wanted, but to not see your face around for nearly a week troubled him. There was nothing said before you vanished, and nobody else on base seemed to notice either, only when Ramattra asked around for you, did the others realise you were missing.

Although he disliked many humans, he had grown fond of you, and being around you warmed his circuitry more than any other being, which only pained him more when you were absent.

-

Another day passed and suddenly you were there, talking as if you hadn't been missing for a week. Nothing had changed with you, your smile was the same, your bubbly laugh never changed and nobody else seemed to realise what you were hiding.

Ramattra clocked on almost instantly. While the others didn't realise, he saw the slight shift in your tone, the hesitant movements with your body. He wanted to pull you to the side and ask if things were ok, but he knew that would only draw attention to him and you, so he waited.

The conversation seemed to drag on far more than what Ramattra would've liked, but when you spoke up saying you had something to do and that you had to leave, he saw his chance.

"I will walk with you." He said, voice low, almost comforting as he stood by your side.

You look up at him, a gentle smile on your face as you start walking. "Thank you."

He waited until you both left the room, out of earshot from the others. "You were gone for some time. Is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine."

Ramattra noticed the change in tone instantly, a slight worry washing over him.

"I am here if you need to talk. I know I may not be the best of omnics to talk to, but my offer is there." He cocked his head to the side as he spoke, following behind you.

"I appreciate that." You pull out your key card for your room, the movement pushing your sleeve up, revealing fresh cuts.

As you tap the card against the system, the door unlocks. Ramattra notices your arm, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

"What happened?"

"What?" You turn and look at him.

"Your arm."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"It's nothing."

"It does not look like nothing." He squeezed your shoulder, hoping to reassure you. "There is no judgement."

"It's-"

"[y/n]." His tone shifted to something more stern.

You step back, shaking his hand off from your shoulder as you stepped into your room.

"Are you hurting yourself?" He followed you inside. He watched as you moved around room, avoiding him and his question.

"[y/n]. Answer me."

"I don't owe you an answer." You kept your distance from him.

"Do you not trust me?"

"That's not what I said."

"Talk to me." He took a step forward.

"I'm fine."

"You are clearly not fine." He closed the distance and wrapped his arms around your body, embracing you tightly.

You tried to pull away, but he was far stronger than you. Eventually, after a few seconds of struggling, you give in, letting him hold you.

"Talk to me." He repeated, his hand slowly moves up and down your back. "Do not say it is nothing, when it is everything otherwise."

Your body relaxes against him, and he feels this, a silent sigh escaping him.

"I don't want to talk about it right now..." You say, cheek pressed against his chest as your arms slowly move up to hold him.

"Then, at least let me care for your wounds." His tone was gentle as he spoke. "Please."

You nod against him, pulling back.

"Sit." He commanded as he went into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit.

You sat on the edge of the bed, arms itching.

Ramattra returned a few seconds later and knelt down in front of you. His hands gently rolled your sleeves up, his head tilting to the side as he grabbed some antiseptic wipes.

You remained silent, not looking at him. He was gentle with you, a starking contrast to his usual demeanour around everyone else.

There was a slight sting as he wiped the cuts from dried blood. He noticed the older scars underneath, tilting his head back up to look at you.

"This has been happening for awhile?" His voice was low as he began wrapping your arm with a bandage.

"Yeah..." You look back at him, a sadness in your eyes. "Way before I joined."

"I am sorry."

His words took you by surprise before you smiled gently at him, shaking your head. "Don't be."

He spoke out as he tied the bandage around your arm. "My offer still stands. Talk to me when you are ready." Ramattra gently rubbed his thumb across your hand.

"Thank you..." You smile at him again before looking at his sloppy attempt in wrapping the bandage. A small laugh escaped your throat.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing... Thank you... For caring about me..." You bring your free hand up to his cheek, gently caressing the purple metal.

"Anytime." Ramattra leaned into the touch, a warmth spreading through his chassis.

The worry still lingered inside of him as he looked at you from under his face plate, his eyes glowing a soft yellow as the lights on his forehead flickered. He wanted nothing more than to see you happy and it pained him deeply to see you hurt. His hand never left yours as his thumb rubbed over the softness of your skin.

"I will always be here."

[myshiptrashcan]

Jalim Ghost town au

just me trying to understand and sort of flesh out the idea

Zain is dead, a ghost.

Jason gets shot a d dies for approximately 7 minutes.

Zain doesn't like Jason, but he can see him. Jason isn't fond of him either. But he won't go away.

Says he needs help. But Jason doesn't give him the time of day and tries to go about his business.

Eventually he gets to him.

"WHAT?!"

"It's my Baba."

In which Zain tells him how when he died his father lost the light in his eyes, lost his passion for life. He was his everything.

"So how'd you die?"

"Quickly." Was Zain's short answer.

"Alright, you're lucky I got a soft spot for kids."

"I'm Not a KID!" Jason only gave him raised brows.

"What do you want me to do about it? Your father, I mean."

And Zain sits down beside him.

"I don't know.... I just want him to be happy. That's all I wanted. I can't help him. All I can do is watch as he dies more and more each day."

Jason was tempted to throw an arm around the kid, comfort him in some way, but then again he'd just go right through him.

"I'll see what I can do but no promises ok?" And Zain lit up.

The next day.

"Alright kid. Where does he live? What's he look like?"

"Badra-Mandali! His name is Salim."

"Othman I'm assuming."

"Yes! He's your height, maybe a little taller. Black hair, dark brown eyes, a soft lovable face, pinchable cheeks, perfect hugger."

"Alright alright kid, I'm not gonna go around and start pinching cheeks and hugging every man I see."

"Not every man, just my Father. "

"He grows pumpkins..... He's let them die since then."

"should I ask around?"

"Wait what am I doing I can just show you. Follow me."

Jason watched as Zain comfortably walked out in front of him. Jason shifting his gaze to each person he passed.

"we're here."

"Now...what?"

"Knock I guess."

"And tell him what, that his dead son wants him to get a life?"

"Figure something out." Zain hissed.

So opens the door Salim looking tired and grey somehow.

Well, here goes nothing.

"Hey, I'm Jason." He starts awkwardly while Salim just gives him an odd look.

"I'm new."

"You just moved in?"

"Yeah." Jason answered lamely.

"You just moved in?"

"Uh, yes? What's the deal?"

"You're an American soldier."

"Marines. Is that a problem?" Jason started to puff up.

"Actually honorably discharged, took a bullet a few months back and I just haven't been the same." Christ! Why did i say that?

There was a silence for a moment.

"Come in, Jason."

"You like coffee?" Salim said already filling the water, and Jason saw Zain sit down at the table.

"Yes please, and thank you. I'll be honest I was a bit nervous to introduce myself."

"And why is that?" Salim hadn't looked over at Jason but Zain did with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't bring a pie."

And to everyones surprise Salim laughed.

Coffees now in hand they drank quietly, Salim looking only fairly less miserable.

"Well I thank ye kindly for the hospitality." Jason stepped out side, putting on an exaggerated cowboy accent. Thumbs in his belt before tipping his hat to Salim.

"I am sorry for not being a very sociable host, I haven't been feeling well." Salim leaned against the door and Jason's smile dropped.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jason said with a rasp of emotion in his voice, knowing full well what Salim was talking about. The kid was standing right behind him.

"Although it may not have seemed like it, I did enjoy your company. Perhaps sometime soon you can bring over that pie and we can drink coffee again, neighbor."

"Right. Well thank you again, hope you feel better soon. Goodnight."

"It's barely past noon, Jason."

"Uh, yeah, well it'll be night at some point today." And Salim chuckled again at Jason.

"Goodnight then, cowboy."

"Fuck!" Jason cursed when he walked away enough.

"To which part?" Zain said beside him.

"I told him I live here."

"So I heard, tell me which one Is yours?" Zain mocked trying to find Jason's house.

"That's not funny. What am I gonna do?"

"You could you know."

"Could what?"

"Live here, there are plenty of free houses. That one right there looks good."

"Yeah right, Im Not about to go house hunting with some kid."

"It's only a few houses down from Baba's, you'd be close enough to keep an eye on him."

"It's a No, kid. Drop it."

"I'm worried about him."

"Yeah I've heard." Jason scoffed.

"I think he's trying to kill himself. " and that stopped Jason in his tracks.

"What do you mean?"

"The only time he doesn't have that lifeless look in his eyes is when he sees something that could end it..... Jason, I don't want to watch him do that." And there where tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Fuck. Come here kid." He opened his arms and Zain rushed into and through them.

"Shit! Sorry, forgot." Jason grunted after sneezing.

"I hate this. I hate being dead. It's not fair! He doesn't deserve this!" Zain screamed.

"And what about you?"

"This isn't about me, it's about my Baba. So are you going to help him or what?!" There was fire in Zain's eyes.

"Yeah Kid. I'm going to help your Father. You said this one was good?" Jason pointed walking over to the empty house.

"How are you going to pay for it?" Zain sniffed, collecting himself.

"I got a fair bit of cash after my discharge, I can afford it."

So Jason moves in the next day after settling on a price with he seller, he doesn't have much but two boxes to move, and a cot.

"Hey man are you sure about this?"

"It's a bit late now, Nick. Already bought the place." Jason huffed struggling with one of the boxes before Nick took it from him.

"Thanks."

"Are you going to be ok by yourself I mean?"

"I ain't by myself." And Nick tilted his head in question.

Shit! Right, Nick can't see him.

"I've always got you don't I?"

"Always, semper Fi."

"Semper Fi.... Plus I met one of my new neighbors yesterday, nice guy."

"I'll leave yo to then. I gotta get back to camp." Nick threw a thumb over his shoulder.

"I get you. Go on then. And thanks for the help moving. "

"Lucky me you don't own a couch."

They waved and Jason turned back to his new home with a chuckle in his lips.

"That your friend?"

"What's it to ya?"

"He seems nice, I like him."

"So it's just me you don't like?" Jason piped only half serious.

"Is this really all your stuff?" Zain asked looking at the small pile of things by the door.

"Everything I own here. Guess since I'll be staying awhile might as well build it up some." He said rummaging through a box.

"You don't have any food or cooking supplies." Zain mentioned walking around.

"I've got a few days of food right here, should be enough until I get something for the kitchen."

"Like a pie?" Zain smirked at him.

"I'll have you know my mom and her mom and I'm assuming her mom before that all cooked our famous Kolchek Pie for friends and neighbors." Jason pointed a finger at the ghost.

"Famous how?"

"Locally, but I'll have you know that pie has won blue ribbons at every fair it's entered, even made the front page on the paper." Jason lifted his chin to him.

"Slow news day."

"Oh fuck off!"

"So are you going to make it for my father?"

"What?"

"The pie, are you going to make it for him like you said you would?" Zain rolled his eyes.

Jason only glared at the boy before putting his few belongings away.

That night there was a knock at his door.

"Zain, who is it?" Jason whispered out.

"I don't know, open the door a find out yourself." Zain snarked for all the teenager he was.

When he open the door it was Salim standing in the lamp light.

"Salim?"

"Oh, Jason."

"What are you doing here?"

"I made us something to eat, for dinner, to celebrate your new home!" Salim held out a pot he was holding with one kitchen glove and a rag.

"I don't have any silverware, or bowls." Jason said blankly.

"Ah, I could bring some for you to borrow..... Can I come in?"

"Shit, yes, sorry, come in." Jason stepped aside and held the door open for Salim.

"I'll be right back, my friend." Salim said after putting the pot down.

"Your dad, he a good cook?" jason eyed the pot.

"The best." Zain wanted to growl

"I'll take your word for it then."

Salim came back with his arms full.

"Two cups, two forks, two spoons, bowls, plates. I trust they'll be well cared for?"

"On my honor." Jason held a hand over his heart and a hand in the air.

"That a Marine thing?"

"Sort of, it's more a me thing though."

"On your honor then." Salim eyed, before setting up the table.

"I gotta tell ya Salim, this is a lot better than the meal I had planned." Jason said happily as he ate.

"Which was?"

"Let me see " he leaned over to grab a flat box.

"This says chili Mac, and I've got a dry cracker."

"You were really going to eat that?"

"It's all I got for now. Then there you come like and Angel sent from heaven with your hands full of this delicious stew." Jason chirped giving a grin and a friendly wink.

"It's made from the last of my pumpkin harvest." Salim seemed to look through his spoon.

"Best damn pumpkin I've ever had, and that's sayin something."

"Why's that?"

"Not sure If you could tell, but I grew up in a small town of house wives and farmers. Too much time and too much food."

"I never would have guessed!" Salim laughed.

"It's true! And we had fairs a plenty! Nobody wanted their blue ribbons like us Kolcheks, and nobody had as many either!"

Notes:

(Jason's own father had hung himself when he was a teen, he never knew why, never thought that his father was unhappy. That's why when Zain said he was worried about Salim it changed his mind about helping. Jason was the one to find his father, he doesn't want the same thing to happen to Zain, he's just a kid after all.

Also Jason accidentally breaks Salim's plate and he is freaking out about it. He shows up at Salim's door, shoulders sagging and he's low. The broken plate on his bloody hands. He's sobbing about being sorry he broke it, it was an accident, if he could fix it or buy him ten knew plates. Salim at this point doesn't care and is worried about Jason's bleeding hands. Pulls him inside and asks what happened. Jason says he was washing them when his side starting hurting sending him to the floor in pain, out of breath and being unable to see for a moment. When the pain lessened the plate was broken at his hand were all cut up.

Jason is also worried he'll see the ghost of the girl he and Nicky shot, about how the next time a situation like that happened he hesitated, the part of camp slayer was bombed and more showed up to shoot. People died and Jason got shot. He didn't make the right call twice now both times lives were lost needlessly, this is something he tells Salim far later into the story. Jason doesn't sleep well at all.

Eventually Zain shares why he thinks he may have deserved to die, how he was a bad son. How his father gave him everything, loved him more than anything, was proud and caring and how Zain still managed to fuck things up. How he would steal. He's not sure why he does it and that it could cause real problems for him and his father if he's caught. How for some reason he wanted to be as far away from his father as he could, just because he would get into arguments over him stealing. He didn't mean it. Zain cries when telling this to Jason. He misses being alive, being with his father.

Not sure how Zain died though.

Salim gets better and Jason is falling HARD for Salim. And it scares him. Something happens, Jason is pushing Salim away, you know, some angst, zain isn't happy about that.

Angst happens Jason dies, he's saved, he bakes a pie once recovered and knocks on Salim's door with it in hand.

"Howdy, Neighbor. I baked you a pie." )

Anyway that's what I got so far for the idea. I finally got to watch Ghost Town again, so. Yeah.

[cocosnows]

A Lone Sword

This is an AU that explores a different outcome on the incident at the twins’ house, as well as insights on Vergil’s attachment to the Yamato and overall a new perspective on their brotherhood.

NOTES: It is super self-indulgent and might be out of character/I got the DMC lore wrong. English is not my first language and I have no experience in writing, so excuse me if it’s poorly written.

Thank you for reading! ^^

———————————————————————

Chapter 1

“Life had always been this way… and it will always be” — a young Vergil pondered as he walked around his house. He had always thought Dante was a spoiled brat. Even as twins, he felt Dante always did whatever he wanted whenever he said so; and the worst part was that his Mother always gave him the right.

The silver haired boys were both 12 years at the time. And they didn’t seem to get along too well, as they both seemed to differ in energy levels and preferred activities. But somehow, Dante, seemed to always win the arguments whenever they fought (which was very often, by the way). This bothered Vergil greatly, as he felt it unfair.

“When am I ever going to get MY time…”, Vergil pondered.

“It’s always do what Dante wants… but why can’t I do whatever ~I~ want once in a while”

As the child thought this, an idea popped up in his mind. He thought it would be a good idea to watch over the books of the local library as he usually did, to keep those stressful thoughts away; and have that desired alone time after a long day of dealing with Dante’s carefree whims.

When Vergil arrived to the library, the shopkeeper was actually joyous to see him. It seemed that the child’s visits came more and more often as time passed— and the librarian loved his enthusiasm and curiosity towards the books, which was rare amongst the children of that small city.

The child couldn’t stop looking at that one specific book: a collection of poems written by William Blake. The librarian felt some sort of deep compassion and understanding for the child, and turning to him in a gentle voice he said:

“Do you like that book…?”

The child turned to see the man and nodded with a worried expression. The man smiled, and told him:

“It’s ok… you can have it. It’s all yours”

The child’s face lit up.

“Really?! Thank you so much!”

The child picked up a pen and drew his initial on the cover of the book, much to the librarians’ surprise. After he finished drawing, he told the librarian:

“My twin brother… he’s always grabbing my stuff… so I have to make sure this is mine”.

The librarian let out a soft chuckle as he witnessed the innocence and spontaneity of the child.

Vergil thanked the shop owner and took off to his home. The librarian watched over him as he walked away with a fond expression.

—

After some time, Vergil arrived home. He was greeted by his twin brother’s usual high energy, which rarely ever matched his own. Today, he was carrying the wooden swords they use to play with. Vergil’s face instantly turned serious.

As soon as Dante opened his mouth, Vergil already had an answer:

“No, Dante. Not now. I want to read right now, so don’t disturb me”.

Dante frowned and told him:

“You didn’t even hear what I had to say!”,

to which the other child answered:

“I don’t care Dante! Just leave me alone!”.

Dante dropped the wooden swords in an instant and threw a slap to Vergil’s face. After this, they just kept on throwing punches to each other in a very common scene for that family… just until Eva arrived.

“Children! Oh my… what did I tell you about fighting? Look at you, you’re bleeding!”, said Eva to the boys.

The twins, having all sorts of bruises on their faces, stood up in a jolt as soon as they saw her.

“He did it! He started it!”, Vergil exclaimed, pointing at Dante.

“He didn’t even listen to me, mom! He was so rude!”, Dante answered.

The woman just sighed in distress, as she has dealt with these same quarrels countless times, and said:

“Vergil, please don’t ignore your brother—”

Just as she was about to continue, Vergil let out a loud groan.

“It is ALWAYS my fault and never HIS, I am SO DONE”, Vergil exclaimed as he ran away from his family and into the house’s garden.

“VERGIL!” Eva exclaimed, but the child refused to listen.

Dante looked over to the floor and saw the book that Vergil had brought. He picked it up and kept it. His mother decided to leave Vergil alone for the time being, so he had time to unwind. She escorted Dante back inside, while thoroughly scolding him for his aggressiveness and behavior.

Vergil walked over to a little playground and sat down on one of the benches.

“It’s always the same… he gets his way and I’m the one at fault. I can’t stand it.”

Vergil groaned.

“I wanted to read that book so bad and now he completely spoiled my mood.”

The child crossed his arms and pondered for a short while.

“It’s all Dante’s fault as always…”

Just as he was thinking this, he felt a dangerous presence behind him. In just a second, he had a swarm of demons wanting to kill him behind his back.

He swiftly dodged the demons’ attacks, but as he ran towards his home he found a grim scenario that made him froze: his home was burning in a pillar of flames. The moment he stopped in his tracks to watch the horrible scene, the demons took the opportunity and attacked him.

They pierced his body countless times with their long, slim swords. His chest, arms, legs, hands… all pierced by the demons’ weapons.

“It hurts… it hurts… it… HURTS…!”

The child was silent, but under his painful expression lied a yearn for help.

“Someone… anyone… please… help me”

The image of his mother and brother appeared inside his mind…

But no one came to his aid.

And the demons were ruthless in his endeavor, as they pierced his body until they left him unconscious.

After some time, the child woke up. His body ached and everything burned. But even so, he stood up and was determined to walk towards his home. His mind was fuzzy and the tears rolled uncontrollably down his face, but something made him go towards the house- towards his family.

As he walked, he felt some of his wounds closing and healing due to his demonic lineage, which made him able to survive such ruthless and deadly attacks. This allowed him to move a little more freely with each step.

However, the moment he picked up his pace, a second horde of demons approached him. But this time, something unexpected happened: the legendary sword Yamato appeared right before his eyes as if summoned by his desperate cries for help. He picked it up from the ground and wobblily started fending off the attacking monsters.

The boy was panting and grasping for air, but he kept walking towards his burning home, holding the Yamato close and using it to help him walk. His clothes were all ragged: he was left shirtless and covered in his own blood.

As he got closer to his house, he thought of his mother, his brother, the demons… the emotions were overflowing and he couldn’t stop crying. He thought to himself as he sobbed uncontrollably:

“I’m alone… no one is here anymore… Dante and mom… they must’ve fled… they’re… gone… … maybe mom didn’t even—”

Just as he was thinking, he heard a distant sound that made him stop in his tracks. It was a voice… a faint voice. The child’s expression changed from helpless to worried, and he turned desperate to find the source of the sound.

He walked even closer to the house and heard the faint voice again:

“Ver…gil!”

The voice was followed by several coughs.

The child’s eyes turned very big as he let out a big gasp. He exclaimed his brother’s name, hoping for an answer. He ran towards the main entrance of the house, but as soon as he was about to enter, the door busted open.

A sobbing, coughing child came out of the door, extremely agitated.

“VERGIL!”, the child exclaimed as soon as he saw his twin brother, and ran directly into him for a hug.

Vergil was suddenly petrified.

He looked behind his brother, and caught a glimpse of the grotesque scene that occurred inside his home. Dante noticed and immediately ran to close the door, sobbing profusely.

“N-no, Vergil… *hic* y-you can’t see! *hic*”, he exclaimed as he blocked the door with his body.

Vergil, with a somber expression, and tears rolling down his face, asked his brother:

“Dante… what… what happened?”

Dante started sobbing even harder. It was hard for him to catch his breath, as he inhaled a great amount of smoke. He gathered a little bit of air and, just when he was about to speak, a demon peeked behind his brother.

Dante peeled his eyes as he screamed his brother’s name.

“VERGIL!”

The child’s reflexes activated instantly, drawing out the Yamato and fending off the demons in a whim. Vergil turned to Dante again and exclaimed:

“It’s not safe here, Dante. We have to go, NOW!”

Vergil’s expression turned serious and determined, but Dante was still inconsolable. Vergil grabbed Dante by the arm and dragged him out of the house.

“With the Yamato…”, Vergil thought, “no demon… no… nothing can hurt us”.

And thus, the silver-haired children ran away from the burnt house that was once their home… with no destination and nothing more than their own company and a lone sword.

CHAPTER 2

[selenacosmic]

Romance in the office.

Chapter 15 - becoming closer.

Well… this was awkward.

If I could, i would dig a hole and hide myself right now. I have heard of people complaining about meeting their bosses outside of their office, but to be with your boss in their home? Guess I am the lucky one.

To be completely honest, my problem isn’t that he is my boss, I believe I have gotten close to him enough to the point where I don’t really feel awkward around him. My problem is that I fell asleep and he had to carry me on our way back. I can’t imagine just how inconvenient it must have been for him to lend me his room. He even prepared something for me to drink…

I felt very awkward when I woke up, but I can’t say I am feeling that way now, shingen has done a lot already to make me feel comfortable. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity for us to know a bit more about each other. He had guided me from his room to his living room, I took the chance to glance around his apartment. His bedroom was quite large, it surprised me this was one of the apartments in the same building I live in. What caught my attention was the fact that his bed was huge, that could be considered a queen’s size bed. The duvet was very comfortable too, I can’t help but feel ashamed about what went through my mind while laying on his bed.

Anyone he brought home must have loved laying in that bed.

I know I did, I almost slept again if I hadn’t noticed I wasn’t in my room. Ok, brain, enough thinking about his bed. I distract myself by looking around the hallway, despite being a big apartment, it was actually very simple yet comfortable.

“I apologize if the place is a bit messy, I am still decorating everything.” His voice was as sweet as ever, making me pay attention to him.

“Oh, you don’t have to apologize! I actually really liked what you did with the place.” I wasn’t just saying that out of politeness, his apartment was already very nice. Despite being my first time visiting him, I already feel cozy.

My words seem to have brought a smile to his face, he moved the cushions on the couch to make a comfortable seat before offering it to me. “You truly are sweet, my angel. Though I am serious about the decorations.” Once I was sitting on the couch, he made himself comfortable beside me.

“If that’s the case, why not ask Yoshimoto to help you? I am sure he knows his cousin’s taste very well.” In fact, they might have some taste in common, Yoshimoto would make this place resemble Shingen a lot.

“While that’s true, I would rather take my time making the furniture, then I will ask him for help with the rest of the decorations.” That caught my attention, did he just say he makes furniture?

“Excuse me for asking, but did you make every furniture in this apartment?”

“Most of it, yes. Only a few things were gifts, like this couch and the bed. But the rest of what you saw was all my work.” As if I couldn’t be more impressed with this man… the furniture I have seen so far was beautifully crafted.

“You truly are a talented man. I am guessing art runs in the family?” Yoshimoto and shingen were obviously different in many ways, but there were also many similarities that reminded me that they were cousins.

For example, their experience in romance, how they sweet talk others, their passion for art… though the last one seems to be more intense with Yoshimoto.

“Thank you, receiving compliments from a goddess motivates me to make more.” He shot me one of those smiles that I used to see as insufferable, though recently it has become a smile I feel fondness of. “In other words, if you ever want me to make something for you, I will be more than glad to.”

“That’s a tempting offer, can you hold onto that request? When I think of something, I will immediately tell you what I want.” I wonder what it is that I should chose, I don’t have have a furniture that I need in my apartment, perhaps something more decorative…

“Hmm… can I make another offer?” He crossed his arms, shifting his gaze away from me as he became lost in thought, it was almost like he couldn’t truly wait for me to think. “How about I surprise you? From my last visit to your apartment, I think I know what would suit you.”

“Oh, so you want to surprise me? Well.. that’s definitely better than making me decide.” I put my hand on my chin, pretending to be thinking hard about his offer. “Alright, I will let you impress me.”

“My muse has expectations from me, then I should go beyond them.” With that, he threw a wink my way. That gesture became so silly to me by now that I could only laugh at him.

Shingen really was both easy and difficult to talk to, that was something i could clearly see. From what i have observed so far from working with him, he is the one who decides if it would be a chill conversation or an unnerving one. In other words, he is the one who takes the lead. And right now? He really knows how to lower my guard and make me relax while being in his presence. If this had happened during my first week of working for him, this situation would have been very awkward.

“As I have asked, I was hoping I could learn more about you. Truth be told, I feel quite bad about making you go through all of this.” He was still guilty about that? But I was the one who accepted it… this was one of the things that frustrated me about him and I don’t know why.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty, didn’t I say I wanted to help you? If I can do more, I will.” To be honest, I also didn’t understand why I wanted to help so badly. It’s just that… something about him frustrated me, made me want to assist him and take some of that burden off his shoulders. “But I do agree that this is the perfect opportunity for us to talk.”

“Yet again you remind me that you are my angel.” He shifted on the couch to become more comfortable, smiling softly as he closed his eyes. “I remember that you said you used to be in an orphanage. If this isn’t uncomfortable to ask, how long were you in there?”

Ah, I never truly stopped to talk about this with anyone ever since… well, she is in the past now. I should control my emotions if I ever end up mentioning her.

“I was there since my first memories, I have no idea who my real family is, what they are like.. or why I ended up in that orphanage.” Some might think I suffered while being there, but that wasn’t true. While I did have my own issues regarding who my real family was, and the financial problems that the orphanage went through, I did make good friends there. “I would say I had a pretty normal childhood, lacking a few things that other kids with families had, but nothing big.”

“It’s good to know you didn’t go through anything bad while staying there. Children should be able to be spoiled and enjoy their childhood.” There was a sad tone to his voice, it made me wonder what was he thinking about while saying that. “But you didn’t spend all your life there, what happened?” He changed the subject and opened his eyes to look at me.

“Someone adopted me, obviously.” Someone very precious at that, I wish I had been more open with her at that start when I was adopted. “She was… someone with a very noble heart. She couldn’t have children so she adopted one.”

“You speak of her with a lot of affection. If you don’t mind me asking, how was your guardian?” How was she…? Guess I did end up talking more about her than i should.

“She was always smiling, acting silly for an adult her age. Sometimes I wondered why she was that playful.” I can still remember how I was back then. I didn’t trust her to keep me as her daughter, so I acted coldly. I wonder if that was because I was an edgy teenager. Despite that, she still treated me warmly, almost like I was still a toddler. “She had a bad luck with dates.” I chuckled as I remembered the nights she would come back frustrated at her dates, always complaining how ‘they didn’t know how to treat a lady’.

“Is that so? You seem to find her bad luck amusing.” He was chuckling with me now, i felt like my tongue was getting more loose while speaking with him. “What was her name?”

“… Eden, her name was Eden. She looked nothing like me, so to many it was obvious that I was adopted.” Though she never cared about what others thought, I was her daughter and that was final.

“… perhaps I am becoming too bold, but what happened?” I could see that he was hesitant about asking, and I was sure I wouldn’t be able to say much.

“An accident. She didn’t… leave, but sometimes I wonder if what happened to her was more cruel than..” I preferred to not finish my sentence, lowering my head to not think about it. Come on, you should be over by now.

I felt something warm on my cheek, only now did I notice that were a few stubborn tears rolling down my cheeks. Shingen moved closer while wiping them for me.

“Let’s talk about something else, hm? I asked you more than I should, and I apologize for being selfish. Why not ask about me?” His voice was warm, very comforting in the mood I was in. I nodded and quickly wiped my face and shook my head, it was better to focus on him now.

“If you really don’t mind… can I ask how your childhood was like? I remember you saying that you couldn’t really enjoy things like amusement parks.” It was on our date, I remember him mentioning this briefly. I am still curious as to what he meant by that.

“Well, for one, I believe we are quite similar in that regard. Back then… my name was Harunobu.”

To be continued…

[new-dawn-au]

Am I going to make Apis and Saki canon? Hell yeah, they're too cute not to! Don't blame me, blame the little demon pulling my heart to make this happen X3

Bold = texting

"Italics with quotation marks = thinking"

This was not good.

It was supposed to be a normal day, but of course, something had to go wrong. The thunder was too loud, too near, too…. Familiar. And Apis was not a fan.

He could feel tears building up in his eyes and his own grip on reality or any sense quickly slipping away as he tried to find somewhere to hide from it all.

He had stupidly forgotten his house keys, and Adonis was working that day so he couldn't unlock the door for him, leaving him in a bad situation of having to wait for hours to go home. And it sucked.

But just as he was about to break down, he heard a voice he had grown fond of over the past few months. "Apis? Are you okay?" Saki asked her friend, visibly worried about him.

Apis looked to his friend and tried to muster a smile but miserably failed, letting tears fall as he clung onto her.

"Please… don't let them hurt me again. I can't go back, I can't, they'll hurt me, I just know it. I'm dead if they find me, please don't make me go back… help me, please." He mumbled through his tears, he couldn't control himself when he was like this. He felt embarrassed, embarrassed that he was breaking down like this and having a breakdown in front of someone he considered a good friend.

Surprisingly to him, Saki had not pushed him away, instead pulling him closer and taking him to her house. Despite her knowing little to nothing about what he was talking about, she still comfored him. "It's okay, I won't let them take you. You'll be safe here."

By the time they had both entered her room, Apis had fainted from panic, leading Saki to lend him her bed and pull the covers over him whilst she went to get something for the both of them to eat and drink.

Nobody was home today so it left her to watch over her friend without interruptions. Suddenly, his phone received a message.

Adonis: That thunder is really loud isn't it? Hope you're ok❤️

Yikes, it was going to be complicated to explain that Apis wasn't actually seeing this message and that he had passed out. But Saki did it in the best way she knew how to.

Apis: this is Saki Tachibana, a friend of Apis from school! He's at mine rn bc he got scared by the thunder and he's sleeping thru it srry do you want me to wake him up? :)

Adonis: no, it's fine. It's nice to know that he has many good friends now. Or maybe you're more than friends🤨? Jkjk

Wait, what?

Was Apis's dad trying to suggest that they were… dating?! Saki had never even considered dating him! However..

She did find him very kind and cute. And it was so fun messing with his hair, it was always so soft and he always reacted so cutely when she accidentally touched his neck when playing with his hair with his little giggle and nose scrunch followed by his insistence that he was most definitely not ticklish on his neck despite him obviously being so. And his face was attractive as well, she had thought of kissing him before…. Wait, kissing?!

Okay, so she might like him, but there was no way that he felt the same!

Apis: omfg no💀 were not dating but Im flattered that you think I cud end up with sum1 like him XD

Adonis: uh huh, sure thing lol. If he isn't up or still at yours by half 4 then give me your address and I'll come for him.

Apis: will do.

A few hours later, Apis stirred awake and looked around before seeing Saki and realising what just happened. "Ah, Saki! I'm sorry for falling asleep in your bed, it won't happen again!" "Haha! It's fine, you were scared and you needed it, I don't mind." Saki smiled, handing him a rice ball.

"I assumed that you'd be hungry when you woke up so I made some rice balls for you, do you like it?" Apis took a bite and smiled back at her, blushing slightly. "Mmhmm! It's really nice, thank you."

There was that look again, that smile and those rosy cheeks. And those eyes… it made Saki truly realise her feelings for him.

She loved him, she actually loved someone again. She didn't even think she could love like this after her last relationship, but here she was, basking in Apis's presence, loving his existence, loving being around him.

Nope, she had to stop herself there. She was supposed to be looking after him, she could crush over him another time! "Hey, are you thirsty? I have some apple juice downstairs that I can go get if you want." Apis nodded and followed her to the kitchen, holding her hand to keep his balance stable

Saki could just feel herself overheating, his hands were strangely soft in comparison to her rough ones up, they felt like heavenly buttercream to her and she adored it.

But all of a sudden, she heard whimpering coming from him as he pulled his hand back, covering his white eye. "It must be that scar again! But how can I help him?" Saki thought, coming to a reckless conclusion.

She held his wrists gently so as to not hurt him, leant near his face and placed a gentle kiss on his white eye and scar, gaining a squeak from him. "E-Eh?! Saki, what are you doing?.."

"Oh shit! I am so sorry, I didn't know what to do and I thought that if I kissed it then the pain would go away! That was really stupid, I'm so sorry again." Saki apologised profusely before Apis interrupted. "You don't have to apologise! I… um.. actually kind of liked it.. it made me feel safe, and warm and fuzzy inside and I don't know why.. is there something wrong with me?"

Saki widened her eyes, could he feel the same thing towards her as she did to him? She had to test it.. "Hey, is it okay if I try something? You can stop if you feel weird or uncomfortable."

Apis nodded his head. Granted, he didn't know what was going to happen, but he put all of his faith and trust in Saki.

She leant near his face again, kissing his lips as she closed her eyes. She was taken by positive surprise when she felt Apis kiss back slightly, so he did feel the same way! His lips were just as soft as the rest of him, it was clear that they had been bitten out of anxiety and overall stress,but it wasn't unpleasant, it was kind.

Apis pulled away to catch his breath, his cheeks now a bright red. "I.. enjoyed that… a lot. I think that I… love you."

Saki smiled wide, her cheeks the same as his as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him I to a hug. "I love you too, Apis."

IT'S DONE AND NOW I'M GONNA BURRY MY HEAD IN FLUFF OVERLOAD, GOOD BYE

[skelingtonsderek]

(From Willow) For "Remembrance.":

They’re pressed in close, hands still clasped from their efforts to raise Boyd from the grass. His other hand, he slides from Raylan’s hip to the small of his back, presses in just enough to encourage Raylan just a little closer, leaves a small kiss against the frown Raylan makes sometimes when he forgets to smile. 

“There a story to that face of yours?” Boyd asks, voice as gentle as his lips as he lays another kiss, this time on the scrape across Raylan’s cheek. There’s a shadow under his eye Boyd knows will develop into a beautiful purple to match the ruddy mauve his already swelling lip will be by tomorrow. 

Raylan releases his hand from Boyd’s, runs those anxious spider legs he has for hands along Boyd’s sides, just this side of tickling. There’s a knowledge there, when he looks at Boyd, a shimmering depth that Boyd wishes to plunge into with the ardent yearning of a man at the shore of an expansive lake on the hottest day of the year, hot eyes fixed on just exactly what he wishes to quench the thirst in his flesh upon. 

Raylan hums, taking his hat off and settling it gently on top of Boyd’s head. 

“Oh, you know me, Boyd,” Raylan responds, smile breaking out all lopsided and goofy and brighter than the sun above on his face. “I don’t play well with others.” 

Willow!!! You have great taste in picks, too. Y’all are killing me. Deceased. Dead. I am really quite fond of Remembrance. As a story. I promise I don’t say that about all of them just all the ones I like (all of them) Don't think I didn't notice this one was also a Hat Scene...

So this is like a couple things all at once because I can’t not multitask when I’m having fun but anyway there’s this ending to Remembrance. here to talk about. Boyd is unearthed here, now no longer feeling like he’s in his grave and dead. His mind finally allowing himself to believe that he’s alive and he’s alive because Raylan reached into perdition and— argjygfns;OIEHK sorry was briefly possessed by the Supernatural fandom there. It’s like this. Their experiences together, their shared agonies and griefs and joys have brought them closer. Boyd has returned to himself but different. He came back wrong but that has made them all the more close to each other because of it. A sort of hope in what they might grow to be together and a faith that they Will. “There a story to that face of yours?” Is a line taken directly form the script for the show that Boyd asks Raylan at one point when they meet. Used here to show for Boyd’s curiosity about Raylan continuing even with his memories back, he wants to know more and more and more. Bookended by another line taken from the show. I think “I don’t play well with others” is said by Boyd in the show though. I can’t find the scene again. I wish I could. But. OK. I have to admit it. This is a confession. Confession time here. I was also referencing someone else’s fic but only a little tiny bit because there was a scene from it that gave me the idea in a sort of roundabout way so I wanted to pay homage to that as well but was too shy to like just out and out say it. In Take Care of You by norgbelulah there’s this scene where they get in to a bit of a shootout and Boyd goes in to shock and I thought that was quite dramatic and interesting and then I thought well what if he really did go mad tho so I took that thought and ran with it. “You know me” is one of the things Boyd and Raylan say to each other in that story. I don’t know if it’s actually a Thing in Set Fire to This House but my head said it was and just… quietly altered my brain to include that as a term of endearment.

ETA: also because it's affirmation. Boyd really Does know Raylan and has the whole time and would all over again given the chance to learn him a third time lololololol

[comicgeekery]

Ok, this took me a few days to finish but I had a lot of fun with it!

<b>It’s Not a Sonic Butt-Plug</b>

“It’s perfectly normal, you know,” Aziraphale said far too brightly. “Just a little game, nothing indicative of me growing bored or less fond of you.”

“I know.” Still, Crowley eyed his husband warily. “Humans have been doing sexy role-plays since clothes became non-optional. ‘Oh, look at me, I’ve got a crown made of twigs! I sure hope no handsome blokes with authority issues come bugger me in the bushes!’ I just...don’t understand where this…<i>specific</i> fantasy comes from.”

Aziraphale huffed. “<i>Well</i>, if you’d listened to me and done a bit of <i>research</i>…”

“The show’s been on for 60 years! I’m not sitting through 60 years worth of a madman in a box fighting bins with plungers on!”

Aziraphale stuck his nose in the air, but didn’t comment further. Crowley frowned. That was too easy. <i>Had</i> he actually just won the argument? Or was his angel just barely holding back a smirk right now?

“In any case,” Aziraphale continued, “I thought the show might not appeal, so I’ve already prepared all the materials you should need.”

And he handed Crowley a small pile of things: a brown pinstripe suit, a few pages of notes, and a grey stick with a light on the end. He wondered if maybe the stick would benefit from a flared base. Then he picked up the notes.

“Right. So, I’m a doctor.”

“<i>The</i> Doctor.”

“Sure. Mysterious doctor without a proper name, who’s also a time-traveler and also an alien.” Crowley paused and raised a lecherous eyebrow. “Any special alien anatomy I should add on?”

He’d meant it as a joke to fluster Aziraphale. But instead Aziraphale was quiet for far too long, staring at Crowley’s chest with thoughtful intensity. “...No,” he finally said. “I think I’d prefer the usual there.”

Crowley smiled uncertainly and went back to the notes. What sort of bizarre alien nipples had he just dodged? He’d thought this was a family show!

“Alright, so you’ve got a few phrases ready for me. Let’s see.” Crowley frowned. “Allonsy?”

Aziraphale brightened. “Yes, but with a bit more verve, my dear!”

“Allonsy.”

“No, be excited! And with a bit more French to it!”

“<i>Allonsy</i>.”

“Ah...maybe try…”

“ALLONSY!”

Aziraphale winced and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let’s….Let’s just move on, my dear.”

Crowley grumbled. Maybe he <i>should</i> be jealous of this Doctor. He snapped his fingers to change into the pinstripe suit. The fabric felt cheap, but then so did most things compared to what Crowley usually wore. The fit wasn’t bad. Glancing in the mirror, he could tell it was a decent look for him. He held up the little light-up stick and struck a casual pose.

“Ok, I agree to the cheap suit, but I am <i>not</i> on board with whatever not-so-angelic ideas you have with shiny little lightsaber, you hear me?”

He looked away from the mirror and immediately dropped the ‘lightsaber’ in shock. Aziraphale was staring at him with the most overt, laser-focused lust Crowley had ever seen. Suddenly it seemed like a good thing that the suit was cheap. Clearly it was about to torn off him. With angelic teeth.

Crowley gulped.

“Why don’t you finish the script, darling?” Aziraphale said, managing to sound utterly filthy.

Crowley quickly picked up the page again. “Ah… ‘In all my adventures in space and time, I’ve never met someone as clever and beautiful as you.’ Wow, okay. Not going for humble here, are you? ‘Won’t you join me as my companion, but in a low-stakes way where we won’t have to save the world every week?’”

Immediately Aziraphale gasped as though he was actually surprised. “Why, Doctor! I don’t know what to say! How could I <i>possibly</i> leave behind the Earth I love so dearly?”

“Uh…” Maybe the bigger issue with sexy role-play was that Crowley wasn’t very good at improv. “I’m pretty sure my police box thing is bigger than it looks. We could get a nice bed in there and…”

“If <i>only</i> there was something really <i>special</i> you could offer me. A temptation I couldn’t <i>possibly</i> resist.” Aziraphale was looking at him pointedly now, while unbuttoning his waistcoat like an utter tart. It took Crowley a moment to collect himself and look back at the notes.

“‘Well, I know it isn’t much, but I did pull some strings with the Vashta Nerada.’ Whatever that is. ‘You’re welcome to use their planet-sized library whenever you want.’”

Crowley frowned. “Wait, how—NGK!”

Aziraphale crashed into him and the question was soon happily, vigorously forgotten.

The suit did not survive the experience.

Hi lovely people long time no see! Don't worry, in a month or so I will be back feeding you art more often but until then, I finished 1 out of 2 prizes I promised for the winners of my DTIYS challenge 💜 winner asked for Aziraphale making Crowley cosplay the 10th doctor!

More art 🖌️| Tip Jar 🫙

[swamp-chicken]

hugs n kisses // ethubs ficlet

short little fluffly ficlet inspired by all the great stuff in the ethubs tag today. yes please keep feeding my brainrot. 

Etho’s bag was overflowing with stuff when he finally made the trek home. He passed Bdubs in the woods, kneeling over a fiddly redstone project near his tree. The wiring was so messy it made Etho wince.

Bdubs heard him approach and whirled around, eye wide. “Hey! Oh, it’s only you.”

“Hello,” Etho hummed. “Expecting someone else?”

“No, I’m just being… pestered today.”

Etho snorted. The hermits in the neighborhood were particularly fond of Bdubs, or at least fond of bothering him. Etho couldn’t blame them, the guy was cute when flustered.

Bdubs eyed Etho up and down. “You on your way back from the shopping district? Those are a lot of shulkers.” 

Etho patted his loot protectively. “Well, someone wouldn’t buy me any.”

“Oh, please,” Bdubs scoffed. “Where’s my rent? You freeloader! Why would I buy you anything?”

Etho sniffed. “You should be nicer. I made a stop to a certain moss shop while I was there.”

Bdubs scowl vanished. “No way! Moss o menos? What did you think?”

“Yeah, Miso Mosso.” Etho stifled a laugh as Bdubs narrowed his eyes. “Actually, I have a few complaints.”

Bdubs pushed aside the redstone and stood, dramatically throwing his hands in the air. “Oh good, here it comes. What now?”

“I think you could use a few lessons in shop design…”

“Shop design!” Bdubs spluttered. “I’ll have you know my shop is perfect! Perfectly glorious!”

“Well, Bdubs, a customer shouldn’t have to read an entire book just to figure out how to use the brone meal they paid good money for.”

“A book! Now you’re mad I made you read a book?”

“Not only that, but the book doesn’t even tell you where the drop chute is. You have to walk all the way outside to find it.” Etho shook his head sadly, “Poor, poor design.”

“That’s part of the experience,” Bdubs insisted. “Exploration is the name of the game!”

“You want to know the worst part?” Etho asked.

“Ok, ok, this should be good. You got too much moss? The building was too beautiful?”

“I didn’t get any hugs and kisses. As promised in your little book.” Etho huffed and crossed his arms, eyeing Bdubs sidelong to gauge his reaction.

“I don’t remember putting that in the fine print!” Bdubs’s face was flushing up spectacularly. Hook, line, sinker. 

“Well, it was. And here I am, huggless, kissless…” Etho trailed off and gave a little shiver for dramatic effect. 

“Oh you,” Bdubs griped, but then he was stepping into Etho’s space and tugging him down for a brief kiss. It was quick, a little too forceful, but Etho still found himself smiling into the kiss, chasing Bdubs’s mouth as he pulled away. 

“Happy now?” Bdubs asked. His cheeks were bright red, but he frowned stubbornly. 

“And hugs?” Etho prompted.

Bdubs grumbled, but let Etho tug him closer. Etho held Bdubs against him, cupped his head gently, and savored his victory. 

“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it,” Etho murmured.

Bdubs sighed, put his arms around Etho and held him just as tightly. “You know, you could try asking for affection like a normal person.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Etho dropped a kiss on the crown of Bdubs’s head. 

Bdubs’s arms tightened around Etho’s middle. “Maniac,” he said. “Can you help me with my redstone now, or do you want to torture me a little more?”

“No, I’m satisfied. For now.”

Bdubs extricated himself from Etho’s embrace, fighting a bashful smile. “You thought the shop was nice, right?”

Etho smoothed Bdubs’s hair back into place. “It was beautiful.” 

[imaginestuffs]

Falling Slowly pt.3-Steve Harrington x Henderson! Reader

word count:4515

warnings: language, fluff, season 2 spoilers if you haven't seen it, no spoilers for 3, or 4. Dialogue from the show is used and of course, is credited to the writers and creators of the show.

summary: You and Steve each have a moment of vulnerability that makes your hearts grow ever more fond. And someone from the past comes to the door.

taglist: @fanficfanatic204 @peachycupotea @secretsicanthideanymore @lexiecamposv

Part 1 part 2 part 4 part 5

(gif not mine!)

You sat on Jonothan's bed with Dustin beside you. “What did you want to talk about?” you asked softly. “Lucas is right… I put the party in jeopardy, and broke the rule of law,” he said defeatedly. “I didn’t know he was a Demogorgon, if I had known I wouldn’t have kept him. None of this would’ve happened if I had just left it all alone. If I had just told someone, it wouldn’t have escalated like this. Now Max probably hates me, hell the whole party probably does,” he admitted to you and you could hear his voice crack. Your heart ached at his words. “Dustin, this isn’t your fault. Ok, we make mistakes, and they have outcomes that aren’t very great. That’s ok because this was an accident, you would never willingly and knowingly put the party in danger I know that. We all know that.” you told him and tucked some of his unruly curls away so you could see his eyes better. 

“You don’t have control over what Dart is, you didn’t even know Dustin. You didn’t start this, it was nobody’s fault. It came back for Will. It would’ve come back no matter if you had Dart or not. This is not your fault, do you hear me? It’s not your fault,” you stated firmly. He nodded his head despite the tears on his cheeks. You made him look at you and wiped the tears from his eyes. “You’re so brave Dustin, you’ve been so strong and I am more proud to be your sister than I’ve ever been proud of anything in my life. You’re my brother and that’s more than I could ever ask for. A smart, handsome, kind-hearted, caring, brave, and loving brother. I love you, Dustin, everyone here loves you ok. Everyone,” you reassured him. He hiccuped and nodded his head vigorously. “I love you so much (y/n),” he said and you pulled him into a big hug. You gently swayed the crying boy from side to side. “I love you more Dusty,” you kissed his head. 

You wiped his face and smiled softly at him. 

“I have one more question,” he said. “Anything,” you answered. “Do you like Steve?” he asked with a playful grin. You sighed and your head fell back in annoyance. “Really Dustin, that’s what you wanted to ask me?” you raised your brow at him. “Yup,” he popped the P. 

“You can’t tell anyone ok, especially not him. I’m only telling you because I knew you’d find out eventually. So I’m warning you now, that if you say something I will not hesitate to sell your D&D stuff,” you threatened and his eyes widened in shock. “You would not,” he said in fear. “I would, so you better not say anything,” you pointed seriously at him. “Alright, my lips are sealed,” he said and you chuckled. 

“Anything else?” you asked, “No, I just needed to talk to you. Thanks (n/n),” you smiled, “anytime Dusty, I’m always here,” you said and playfully tugged down the bill of his hat. 

He opened the door and walked out first. You still sat on the bed with your thoughts running wild. You didn’t even realize that someone had walked in until they sat next to you. Your gaze shifted to the person beside you, the familiar scent of bergamot and mint flooded the space between you and it helped you relax the slightest bit. “Is he ok?” Steve asked you. You shrugged your shoulders, “he will be, he just needs some time,” you said with a heavy sigh. 

“Do you want to talk?” you asked him softly. “No, I’m ok…” he trailed off. You knew there was a hint of mistruth in his words. “Actually, you know what… Yeah, I think I really need it,” he changed his mind. You nodded your head, “Of course, I’m all ears,” you said and turned a bit more towards him on the bed. You sat in silence for a little while before he spoke up, “I don’t know what to do, I mean I see her there and know that she doesn’t love me. It hurts so badly, it hurts because I love her so much, and you can see it in her eyes when she looks at me that I’m not who she wants,” he explained and your heart cracked at his vulnerability. “Sometimes you lose things just because the right thing is coming your way and you just don’t know it yet. It’s ok to hurt and to feel. It’s ok to love and lose because that’s how things go sometimes, things like that can open your eyes and in time open your heart and be ready to find the love you won’t ever lose,” you explained to him. You tentatively reach out to rest your hand on top of his. He slowly but surely turned his hand around so his palm was facing upward. He grabbed your hand in his,  “Do you really think that?” he asked genuinely. You looked over at him and nodded your head. “Yeah, I do. I mean, I think that just because love is lost sometimes it doesn’t make it any less real,” you stated. “I didn’t know you were so wise,” he joked a bit and you chuckled. “No, I think I just really believe in love…” you trailed off and squeezed his hand. He felt his heart thump against his chest as your smaller hand fit so perfectly in his. “You’re gonna find someone someday who will treat you well and love you as much as you love them. You’re too good of a person not to find happiness Steve, you deserve it,” you assured him. “I may not be as great with words, but you do know that you’ll find it too right?” he asked and examined your features. Your beautiful (e/c) eyes, and your (h/l), (h/c) hair. Your shy smile and the lines by your eyes. He seemed to get lost in how beautiful you were, and it just so happened that you got lost in him too. “Maybe it’s closer than we think…” he spoke up softly and your eyes sparkled at the thought. He smiled slightly at the gleam in your eyes. “Yeah, maybe it is,” you agreed gingerly and played with his fingers. He cautiously tangled his fingers with yours and watched a blush cross your cheeks. You squeezed his hand and before he could speak you saw the kids rushing by and into Will’s room. 

You sighed, “what are they doing now?” you questioned and let your head drop. “We should probably go see,” Steve said and got off of the bed. You stood as well and he never dropped your hand, it made heat flood your chest as you walked with him into Will’s room. “What are you guys doing?” you begged the question and they turned to you holding a drawing Will had done.

“The shadow monster, it got Will that day on the field,” Mike explained and your brows pulled together. “Ok,” you said, telling him to continue. “The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him,” Mike said. “And this virus, it’s connecting him to the tunnels?” Max asked and your eyes widened in realization. “To the tunnels, to the monsters, to the Upside Down, everything,” Mike said. “Woah, Woah, slow down, slow down,” Steve said as he took the drawing into his hands to look at it. “Okay, so the shadow monster is in everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will,” Mike described, “Then so does Dart,” you added. “Yeah, like Mr. Clarke taught us. The hive mind,” Mike said. “Hive mind?” Steve asked. “A collective consciousness,” you told him. You learned it from your brother seeing as he told you everything he ever learned.

“It’s a superorganism,” Dustin said. 

“And this is the thing that controls everything. This is the brain,” Mike clarified. “Like the mind flayer,” Dustin compared. Max, Steve, and you looked at each other, “What’s that?” you asked in unison. “Oh wait, it’s that D&D thing right?” you asked as it popped into your mind suddenly. “Yes,” Dustin confirmed. They grabbed Will’s D&D manual (forgive me if I’m wrong, I don’t know much about the game,) “How did you know that?” Steve asked you quietly. “Dustin doesn’t shut up,” you whispered back, “Oh,” he said and slowly nodded. “Yeah,”

You followed everyone into the kitchen, where Dustin banged the book onto the table. By this point, you and Steve were no longer holding hands but unconsciously stayed close. 

“The mind flayer,” Dustin said as everyone looked at the page he had opened up to. “What the hell is that?” Jim asked in confusion at what he was looking at. “It’s a monster from an unknown dimension. It’s so ancient that it doesn’t even know its true home,” Dustin explained. Everyone was just listening as your bother continued to explain. “Ok, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers,” he described. “Oh my god, none of this is real. This is a kid's game,” Hopper said in annoyance and frustration. 

“No, it’s a manual, and it’s not for kids. And unless you know something that we don’t this is the only metaphor-,” Dustin is cut off. “Analogy,” Lucas corrected. “Analogy? That’s what you’re worried about?” Dustin asked incredulously. “Fine, an analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is,” Dustin said. 

“Okay, so this mind flamer thing-” Nancy started, “Flayer. Mind flayer,” Dustin corrected her. She sighed, “What does it want?” she asked. “To conquer us basically. It believes it’s the master race,” Dustin detailed. “Like the Germans,” Steve stammered a bit. You looked at him in surprise, “You mean the Nazis?” you asked, and he nodded, “yeah, right, the Nazis,” he said. 

“If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally,” Dustin said. Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself,” Dustin informed. 

“It wants to spread, take over other dimensions,” Mike added. “We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it,” Lucas stated. You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. “Great. That’s wonderful,” your sarcasm slipped from your lips. “That’s really great,” Steve said in exasperation. 

“Ok, so if this thing is like a brain that’s controlling everything. Then if we kill it,” Nancy begins, “We kill everything it controls,” Mike finished. “We win,” Dustin said, “Theoretically,” Lucas stated. 

“Great so how do we kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?” Hopper asked. 

“No, no, no, fireballs. You summon an undead army, uh because zombies… you know, they don’t have brains…and the mind flayer, it-it likes brains,” he said and came to the quick realization. “It’s... it’s just a game, it’s a game,” Dustin trails off in defeat. “What the hell are we doing here?” Hopper mumbled and tossed the book on the table before turning around. “I thought we were waiting for your military back-up,” Dustin smarted. “We are!” Hopper raised his voice. 

“Even if they come, how are they going to stop this, they can’t just shoot it with guns,” Mike’s voice rose steadily. “We don’t know that! We don’t know anything!” Jim bickered back.

“We know it’s already killed everybody in that lab,” Mike said. “And we know the monsters are gonna molt again,” Lucas joined. “We know that it’s only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town,” Dustin sprung in. 

“They’re right,” You hear a familiar yet soft voice. You turned to find Joyce standing in the living room. Your eyes softened at her state, you knew how much she must be hurting. “We have to kill it,” she agreed. “I want to kill it,” she said and your heart hurt knowing how much she meant those words. “Me too- me too Joyce, ok? But how do we do that? We don’t exactly know what we’re dealing with here,” Jim said to her. 

“No, but he does,” Mike said, and walked into the living room. “If anyone knows how to destroy this thing it’s Will. He’s connected to it, he’ll know its weakness,” Mike pointed out. “I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore?” Max asked. “That he’s a spy for the mind flayer now,” she continued. “Yeah, but, he can’t spy if he doesn’t know where he is,” Mike explained. 

You began to set up the plan, cleaning out their shed and stapling and taping up the tarp to the windows. Steve worked with Nancy and your heart clenched the slightest bit. You knew it wasn’t your place to feel this way but you couldn’t help it. You had a crush on him, and so seeing him with her hurt a little bit. In spite of your feelings you did wish him happiness and if he found happiness in her and she found happiness in him then that is what you would support. 

You were currently in the kitchen with Mike and Max. Mike was rummaging under the sink while you and max were taping cardboard and such to chairs. 

“I get why El was your mage now,” she said and you glanced over at her. Mike looked up from what he was doing, “what?” he asked in confusion. “Lucas, he told me about her,” Max explained and it made you smile. “Well, he shouldn’t have,” Mike said bitterly. You glared at the young boy. “Mike, stop,” you said sternly. He looked over at you “He shouldn’t have,” he said to you this time. “She’s trying to be kind you know and you’re not doing anything to help right now. I know you’re upset Mike but there is no reason to take it out on her. She has done nothing wrong, and you’re just being rude,” you scolded him. He looked at you in disbelief. 

“Just because she knows the truth doesn’t mean she’s in our party,” he said to you and your jaw clenched. “Yeah, I know,” you heard Max speak up and your heart ached at her tone. “I mean, why would you want a stupid zoomer in your party anyway?” she asked as she pulled and ripped more tape. “He’s just being an ass, Max don’t listen to him,” you told her. She looked over at you and slowly nodded. “I’m just saying. El, she sounds like she was really awesome,” Max finished and you looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “Yeah, she was, until that thing got her. Just like it got Bob,” Mike said before standing and abruptly leaving the room. You sighed and shook your head. “You know Max, he’s just being bitter. He misses her, and he doesn’t know what to do about it. He’s been taking it out on you and there is no reason to. I know I can’t apologize for him but know that you are welcome here with this group and we do care about you,” you tried to reassure the girl in front of you. She smiled softly at you, “thank you,” she said and you nodded. You moved a little closer so you could pull her into a short hug seeing as how uncomfortable the floor was. “You’ve got friends here who will always stick up for you. I just so happen to be one of them alright, I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” you promised the girl and she held you tighter. 

You sat there for a moment with Max before finishing up your task and moving on. 

---

Nancy stood with Steve ripping pieces of tape while he stapled the tarp. “You and (y/n) seem to be getting along well,” she spoke up softly. He looked over at her, “Yeah, she’s a sweet girl, I like her,” he said. “I was surprised to see you with her and the kids. I bet she was a bit protective wasn’t she?” Nancy asked. “She was, I mean she would do anything for those kids really. She’s incredible with them,” Steve complemented not even realizing the smile that took its place on his lips. “Yeah, she always has been. Especially with Dustin, I mean you and him seem to be getting along pretty well too. I’m sure she’s happy about that,” she said with a small smile. “She really loves the kid and I understand why, I mean I care for him too,” Steve told her. “I’m sure she appreciates it,” she nodded. “She’s usually really shy, but she seems incredibly comfortable around you. That’s a rare thing for her, she must trust you a lot,” she spoke once more. Steve looked over at her with a small glint in his eyes at her words. Despite Steve’s heartbreak he couldn’t help but feel warmed at the thought of you putting your trust in his hands and having faith in him not to break it. 

Before anything else could be said everyone joined together to finish setting up the plan and putting it in motion.

They carried Will into the shed and shut the door. 

You were all waiting in the house while, Joyce, Jim, Mike, and Jonothan were in the shed with Will. Doing their best to get through to him, while not letting him know where he was. 

You were scared that the plan wouldn’t work and scared that more people would get hurt, and this thing would never go away. You watched as your brother watched out the kitchen window obviously eager to know what was happening to his friend.  You sat on the couch and watched as Steve took a couple of practice swings with the bat as if he needed them. Your elbows perched on your knees with your head in your hands. 

“Everything will be ok,” you heard Steve’s voice cut through the silence. You looked up at him with sad eyes, “I’m not sure,” you said honestly and ran a hand through your hair. “What do you mean you’re not sure?” he asked and set the bat down before sitting on the couch next to you. “I mean, Bob is dead Steve. Will is practically possessed, there are these god-forsaken monsters everywhere and I just can’t keep up anymore. I don’t know what to do, I’m scared, I’m honestly scared,” you admitted, your voice breaking the process. You felt your eyes tear up and you turned away from him. He placed a hand on your back slowly rubbing soothing circles across its expanse. “I know how scary this is, and I know it seems pretty bleak but we’ll be ok. We got through it last year, and we will this time too,” he spoke but you cut him off. “I just don’t want anyone to die, I don’t want anyone to get hurt, we’ve already lost so much, and what if something happens to the kids? God, I’d never forgive myself ever. I would die if something happened to them, I’d die Steve.” you cried and looked over at him with fear in your eyes. He looked at you sympathetically. “Listen to me. I swear to you, nothing will happen to the kids. I won’t let anything happen, and I know for damn sure you won’t either. The kids will be ok, everyone will be ok do you hear me?” he asked and pressed a hand to your cheek. More tears fell down your cheeks as you nodded your head. “Promise me, that you’ll be ok?” you asked him softly. He now held your face with both hands as he knelt down in front of you. “I promise you, that I’ll be ok. I promise.” he said and gently rested his forehead against yours. Wiping away the tears that had fallen, you stayed there for a while just taking each other in. 

He pulled away the slightest bit so he could tilt your head down to place a kiss on your forehead. His lips lingered for a few seconds and you sighed in relief at the feeling of him with you.

“Why, don’t we clean you up, alright?” he asked softly and you nodded your head. “Okay,” you whispered. He let you go so he could stand back up. Helping you up he nudged you in front of him guiding you with a hand at the small of your back to the bathroom. You entered the small room and turned on the light. He closed the door and you grabbed some tissue to clean off the mascara under your eyes. He saw your shaking hands and took the tissue from your grip. He got it wet and gently wiped the excess makeup away. He tossed the tissue away and for a while, you just stood there, you looked at him and your chest tightened. You wanted nothing more than for him to hold you and you think somehow he knew that. To be honest, he wanted the same thing, so that’s what he did. 

He reached out to you and pulled you into him. His arms wrapped tightly around you while yours wound tightly around him as well. His body was warm and it seemed to subside the cold you felt during this time. Your head rested against his chest and his rested on top of yours. You felt safe, and secure in his arms. You felt as if he was a safe haven at this moment because to you that’s what he was. He could tell how much you needed it by how tightly you were holding on and he swore that he would hold you forever if you asked him to. 

All of a sudden a knock sounded at the door and you jumped slightly, “Hey, it’s ok it was just a knock,” he said and ran his hand over your hair. “You guys, we need you,” you heard Nancy’s voice and you sighed. “We’ll be right out,” Steve told her and you just squeezed him tighter. “Thank you,” you mumbled against his chest. “You have nothing to thank me for,” he said before slowly letting you go. Before he could open the door you picked up his hand and placed a kiss on it, he smiled at you softly before leaning down to kiss your cheek. “Let’s go, you ready?” he asked and held the door handle. You nodded softly, “I’m ready,” you responded for the second time that night. 

He led you out the door and your brother eyed you suspiciously. He saw your puffy red eyes and red cheeks. You stood by him and he looked up at you. “Are you ok?” he asked. You nodded at him, “I’m alright Dustin, just needed to talk that’s all,” you told him and his heart dropped a bit at the thought of you not talking to him. “You can talk to me you know?” he asked and you smiled softly down at him. “I know Dusty, I know,” you said and kissed his head. He was just going to have to accept the fact that maybe it wasn’t him you could talk to about something. “I love you, Dustin,” you said and he looked up at you with furrowed brows. “I love you too, are you really ok?” he asked. “I am, I just wanted you to know,” you said and hugged him tightly. He hugged you back for a few seconds before having to let go. 

Steve looked at you and Dustin and sighed. He knew how scared you were and it broke his heart, he was just going to have to be there with you and he would happily do that. He wanted you to feel as safe as you could, and he’d do anything to help you feel that way. 

“What’s going on?” you asked everyone sitting at the table. “We think Will is using Morse code,” Lucas informed you. Before you could respond Hopper was already sending it over to you. 

Dustin wrote it down as it came through and Lucas associated the letter with the dashes and dots. “Dash dot,  dash, dot,” Dustin wrote down and Lucas located the letter. 

“Okay, got it. C.” he informed and Nancy wrote it down. This kept on going until you finally got what you were looking for. 

“Close gate,” is what it said and your brows furrowed. 

The phone suddenly began to ring and immediately Dustin was up, he picked it up and hung it back up to stop it. It started to ring again and acting fast you ripped it off of the wall. 

“Do you think he heard that?” Max asked. “It’s just a phone it could be anywhere right?” Steve asked. 

There was a pause of silence that was almost instantaneously filled with distant screeching and your heart dropped immediately. They knew where you were. 

“That’s not good,” Dustin spoke and you just stood there in shock. 

The door opened and in came everyone who was in the shed. Hopper walking in last with two guns in his hands. The kids sat on the couch facing the window, “Hey, get away from the windows!” he commanded and they all got off the couch and into the middle of the room. 

He looked at Jonathan, “Do you know how to use this?” he asked him. “What?” Jonathan asked in panic. “Can you use this?!” he asked louder this time. “I can,” Nancy spoke up and took the gun from his hands. 

Steve quickly tucked you behind him along with the kids. Immediately you went to stand by them, though you had no weapon you were ready to do anything to keep them safe. To keep anyone safe. 

“Where are they?” Max asked in fear. You could hear them getting louder and your heart started to hammer against your chest. They were right outside, “What are they doing?” Nancy asked breathlessly. They snarled loudly outside, it made you jump and turn to face the window. 

It sounded like it was groaning in pain almost, like it was being hurt. Your brows pulled together in confusion at the sound fearing what was to come. 

All at once, everything went completely silent and you felt your heart stop. It crashed through the window and you all screamed and moved away from it. It looked as if it was dead as Hopper walked over to it gun still pointed straight at it. “Holy shit,” Dustin said as he looked on at it. “What the hell?” you asked as you moved in front of the kids once again. “Is it dead?” Max asked as she looked at it from behind you. Hopper nudged it with his foot and it lay still, it lay dead. 

A creak sounded from the door and you all turned to face it. The lock clicked and Steve moved in front of you and Hopper moved to the front of the group. You all stood there in fear, waiting with bated breath as the door opened.

[dinsbeskar]

OH MY GOD I AM DEAD, CEASED TO EXIST

Sub!Sauron is a gift and you've written him so well??? The giving in to her control, only under his terms, to then take it back and do exactly as he likes??? I am living!!!

That was it for him.

She heard a crunching of leaves, causing her eyes to open. She turned to see him in all his dark glory. Eyes dark with lust and a burning animalistic desire to dominate her. 

But that’s not what she wanted.

OOOOOOH OK OK OK OK OK OK

Yes queen holy shit 🙌👌🤌👏

Sabina wanted him to beg her to stop this torment, beg her to grace him with entrance between her thighs, kneel before her, and beg for her to ride his pretty little elven face.

He did not move even to acknowledge her request; only the straining in his neck muscles told her he was fighting an inner battle. She was about to say something, but his fingers unclasped his belt, tossing it on the ground. “Good boy,” she breathed [..]

AHHH WE LOVE A CONFLICTED KING

Weighing up the pros and cons of submission and figuring, what the hell let's try it

And the "good boy"????? Oh my lord I died, I am on the floor

Underneath all that material was something carved out by the Valar themselves. Sabina licked her lips. She had taken a fondness for his rugged, dirty, manly form, but this was otherworldly. Her eyes traveled down his sculpted shoulders towards the spattering of light hair on his chest. Eyes traveling across the pristine outline of his muscles and the line of light hair from his navel to the jutting appendage that was eagerly awaiting to be worshiped like she so desperately wanted to, but that would come later.

It's the chest hair for me!!!!! Yasssssss we love to see it, I can't headcanon a smooth Sauron now tbh, so this little detail is very much appreciated

Sabina wished to prolong this teasing as long as he would play fair, and that was growing thin, she saw in his eyes.

Oh yes I was just waiting for him to start losing his mind, love this so much!!!

“Beg for it, Shadow,” She hissed out. His lips tightened together as he fought the urge to give in. [...] His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

I fucking love that she calls him Shadow, holy shit

And the Adam's apple?? A tiny detail that I absolutely love/am a bit feral for 🙌👌🤌👏🥵

“Kneel and beg for it then,” she repeated. He closed his eyes, and the straining of his body was evident. She knew he kneeled to no one, and that was what was so thrilling about this. She wanted him at her mercy and to have complete and utter control over one of the most powerful beings that walked this earth. 

YES YES YESSSSSSS

Absolute perfection, just loved this 👌👌

He knelt, and she opened her legs towards him in invitation. “I need to taste every inch of you, little viper; I crave it like I crave power.” Her heart thumped in her chest, and for a brief moment, she lost control as her face heated up. A knowing smile reached his lips, but he remained where he was sitting, not daring to move even though he knew he had broken her control.

OH MY GOD

she actually manages to make him kneel and that breaks her control of him, I gasped??? And he just plays along, I am dying???

"I crave it like I crave power" holy mother of god, that's quite a lot then, who wouldn't want that from him 🥵👀🤌🙌

Eyes closed as his name fell from her lips like a maiden praying to the Valar for forgiveness.

This line is absolute perfection, I need you to know how beautiful it is

“You are so pretty when you beg for me, Shadow,” she breathed through the rising heat of her orgasm in her belly. It built like it always did. “So good, letting me make a mess of your pretty godly face.” She felt his chest rumble from a moan. “You want me to come on that face of yours, want to make your Queen happy?” 

Ooof I have no words, I nearly threw my phone, so hot it should be illegal frankly

“Yes, I crave to make my Queen happy," [...] “I crave to rid you of his touch and show you what true worship is.” Sabina giggled and kissed his neck. “Fuck you so deep, you won’t remember who you were before me.” [...]

“I want them to envy us. Envy you taking your fill of me.” He breathed hoarsely. “Envy me for getting to worship the goddess that walks among us. I need them to see me fuck you senseless, knowing that I am the only one who can pull those sinful words from your lips.” His breath hitched when she sunk her hips onto him, taking him to the hilt.

I can't tell you how much I loved his little monologue, kicking my feet, swinging from the chandelier, jesus this was insanely hot

She was too far gone to care about this little game anymore, riding so high on her pleasure that she just wanted to keep this going for as long as she could. “I want to worship the woman that holds my dark heart in her grasp. I want her—“ He pushed her on her back now.

She yelped in surprise as he continued to thrust in her, caging her underneath him. “I want her by my side each and every day for eternity. I want to fuck her each and every second I have.” Sabina smiled as he moved to grip her wrists above her head, holding her into the ground.

LOVE THIS FOR HER 😂🥵 she gives up the game but she's already won 🙌🙌🙌🙌 his desire for her is so palpable too, like you've written it so well 👏👏👏

“Good girl,” he said with a sickly sweet smile as her orgasm pooled in her belly. The notion of him praising her ignited the fire as he quickened his pace, reaching that deep spot in her as she struggled to hold back the orgasm. “So good for me,” he chanted as her walls squeezed around him in climax as a cry of his name left her sinful lips. [...] “Taking all of me like the good little maiden you are,”

Oh it's the praise for me!! After she started with domming him, he gets his revenge and it is so sweet!!!

“I will always kneel to my Queen,” he licked his lips and ran his finger across the delicate skin of her cheek. “And submit to her every order,”

AS IT SHOULD BE 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

We love a Sauron who is so down bad, his desire to serve his queen trumps all else.

I need to lie down, Sam this was utter perfection

→ climax

PAIRING → annatar (sauron) x f!oc!sabina

WORD COUNT → 3.4k words

WARNINGS → 18+ mdni - smut, semi-public sex, mild exhibitionism, dom & sub dynamics, degradation, voyeurism, masturbation, unprotected p in v, oral (f & m recieving), rough sex, praise kink, body worship

SUMMARY → in which sabina tries to test her shadows resolve, she wants one thing and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t get it.

AUTHORS NOTE → this is purely self-indulgent smut tbh i honestly had very little plans to put smut in the main fic due to girlie having feels about it. i'm jumping on the sub!sauron train. this can be read by itself as it is adjacent to the series and doesn’t reveal too much.

The moonlight scattered across the forest floor, bathing her form in a soft glow. She could feel the eyes on her as she turned the page in her book, not even trying to hide his presence. If she could not sleep, she would always end up just outside Eregion, reading or drawing. It took her mind off the nightmares she would have. 

On this particular night, her mind was full of something else, and it drove her mad to chase the high in which she wished to lose herself. Sabina had never been allowed to indulge in womanly desire; it just was not something Olavi had concerned himself with. She had been pushed to contain it and never released it from her body. It kept wanting more, so if she did a good job, he would let her have that toe-curling release she had always dreamed of. 

But that never happened.

An idea popped into her head, and she smiled devilishly as she closed her book and set it next to her on the forest floor. She gripped the front of her skirt and pushed it up, eyes closing as she ran her fingers up her inner thighs, tracing circles around the skin. She pushed her back into the tree she was leaning against.

Her mind went to how this would feel if he was tracing the circles on her sensitive inner thighs like she had dreamed about for so many nights. A whimper left her lips at the dirty thought as her fingers moved up her inner thigh towards her undergarments. Sabina arched her back as she traced her finger across the material, still thinking about those hands moving in the motions. A light whimper left her lips as her dreams drove her mad with lust for the figure that stood off watching her from a distance.  A smile crossed her lips as she felt his restraint breaking as she continued the motions. Her mind got even more impure thoughts of him buried between her thighs, lapping up her desire as his tongue drove her hips up to meet the motions.

Sabina pushed aside her undergarments as the aching and throbbing of her aroused core was becoming too much to handle. She swiped her fingers through, collecting some of her arousal on her fingers, and brought them to her mouth, licking the substance off. 

That was it for him.

She heard a crunching of leaves, causing her eyes to open. She turned to see him in all his dark glory. Eyes dark with lust and a burning animalistic desire to dominate her. 

But that’s not what she wanted.

Sabina wanted him to beg her to stop this torment, beg her to grace him with entrance between her thighs, kneel before her, and beg for her to ride his pretty little elven face.

She wanted control. 

And she was not going to give up without a fight.

“Uh—uh,” she said, sticking her foot out to stop him from approaching her further. She met the dark edge of his robe. The sole of her foot felt the delicate stitchings before pushing it up, and her foot trailed against his boot-covered ankle. “It’s not that easy, love,” she licked her fingers again, still keeping her eyes locked on him. Those dark eyes darkened even more, and she could see the snarl hiding behind those lips. “You want a taste; you must work for it,” Sabina smiled devilishly. “It won’t be hard to follow the rules now, will it?” She pouted her lips as those lashes lowered, taunting him even more.

Sabina watched as he swallowed hard, but she could see the tenting in his robes as the filthy words left her lips. He was struggling with this, and she knew by the way he was watching her he was going to put up a fight to submit to her willingly.

“How about you be a doll and take off those clothes,” She bit her bottom lip. He did not move even to acknowledge her request; only the straining in his neck muscles told her he was fighting an inner battle. She was about to say something, but his fingers unclasped his belt, tossing it on the ground. “Good boy,” she breathed as she watched his fingers unclasp more of his garments until they fell to the ground in a heap of material before tossing his boots to the side.

Underneath all that material was something carved out by the Valar themselves. Sabina licked her lips. She had taken a fondness for his rugged, dirty, manly form, but this was otherworldly. Her eyes traveled down his sculpted shoulders towards the spattering of light hair on his chest. Eyes traveling across the pristine outline of his muscles and the line of light hair from his navel to the jutting appendage that was eagerly awaiting to be worshiped like she so desperately wanted to, but that would come later. “See, now, was that so hard,” she slid her fingers underneath the top of her gown. “That earns you a little reward,” she said as he stepped a little closer when she pushed the garment down to her waist, revealing her round, perky breasts, nipples pebbling in the cool night air. Both gazes still locked on each other, not daring to waver for fear of losing the chance to enjoy each other.

Sabina moved her foot to his knee and held him in place. She tsked and shook her head. “You want a taste; you have to follow my rules, hun,” she reminded him, surprised he had not even uttered a word since coming over. His balled-up fists were all but a tell of how hard he was trying not to. Sabina wished to prolong this teasing as long as he would play fair, and that was growing thin, she saw in his eyes.

Her fingers moved down her mounded flesh as his gaze followed those delicate fingers. She pinched and pulled against one of her nipples, eliciting a moan from her soft lips as she watched the dark lines appear around his eyes. “You want to touch these, pull that very same moan out of my lips, huh?” He nodded. “I’m sorry, love, I didn’t catch that.” Her foot moved up to trace against the solid muscle of his inner thigh.

“Yes,” he growled.

“Uh—uh, be nice,” She continued to massage her breasts and lowered her lashes again.

“Yes,” he repeated, less harsh this time.

“Good boy,” she breathed. “That deserves a reward; touch yourself.” She breathed as she moved to sit up, his appendage just a few centimeters from her face now. He moved to grip himself and lightly started pumping his hand against the flesh, their gazes locked. However, hers were sparkling with mischief as she got exactly what she wanted. “Mmm,” she hummed. “You want my pretty little mouth around that, right?” His hand moved to pump faster, but she grabbed his wrist, slowing the motion. “Did I say you could go faster?” He shook his head. “Light and slow, love,” 

She knew it was torture for her mouth to be so close to where he ached to seat his cock. Sabina smiled and moved so her breath tickled the tip, causing him to twitch slightly. She smiled and watched as his eyes closed. “Eyes open,” he groaned as his strokes started becoming labored. “I want to watch those eyes of yours.” She looked down at the precum dripping off the head of his tip, and her tongue ran across her bottom lip. “Good boy,” she repeated, only this time she ran her tongue across the tip, taking in his salty, sweet taste. 

He growled again as his cock twitched in anticipation. Sabina looked up and shook her head. “That was not nice,” those dark eyes bore into hers. She grabbed his wrist again, though this time stopping his motions. Sabina shook her head and took his hand off. “Only boys that follow the rules get rewards,” A smile touched her lips as he fought back another growl. “Right?” 

“Yes,” he fought out through his teeth.

“I’m sorry, hun, you’re going to have to repeat that.” She smirked.

“Yes,”

“Good boy,” Sabina could tell how agitating it was for her to keep calling him that, but it was powerful enough to her that it was causing her to get drunk on the ability to quiet the man who always had some smart-ass thing to say. “You want to fill my pretty little mouth,” she paused, eyes darkening as she placed his hand in her hair. “Fuck my face until I’m a mess?” she licked her lips as that straining in his neck returned when she ran her tongue across his tip again.

“Yes,” his breath was labored this time as he anticipated what she was about to allow him to do.

“Beg for it, Shadow,” She hissed out. His lips tightened together as he fought the urge to give in. Sabina moved to push him flesh with his stomach, her tongue trailing the underside of his shaft to the tip. He fought back the groan in his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Beg for this little mouth to suck you dry,” 

“I need—“ he started, but Sabina twirled her tongue around his tip.

“You need what, love,” she taunted, eyes not leaving him.

“I need that pretty little mouth around me,” He breathed out in a groan. Sabina smiled and trailed her fingers up his shaft. “I need to fuck that warm wet mouth of yours,”

“See, that wasn’t so hard,” She opened her mouth wide, tongue dropping out as her lust-filled eyes gazed up at him. The open invitation for him to seat himself inside her mouth. He hesitated momentarily, but when she did not stop him, he filled her mouth. She closed around it and gripped the base. Sabina picked up a slow pace as her free hand went up his leg and around to grip the taut skin of his ass, steadying herself.

He moaned over top of her, eyes watching as she bobbed up and down his length, taking him to the hilt. He could not help but grip her scalp as she picked up the pace and hummed around his cock. The noise made his cock twitch in her mouth, he was close, and she knew that. 

This game needed to keep going. 

She moved to try and pull off, but his grip on her scalp held her in place. Sabina pinched his flesh, and he released her quickly with a hiss.

“Not yet,” she breathed as saliva dribbled down her chin. The sight was almost to erotic for him. “I want that inside me, filling me full.” She smiled at him as she gave him one last teasing lick. Her fingers pushed the rest of her garments off so she was now bare to him. 

The hunger in his eyes returned as he could see the arousal dripping down her thigh; she noticed his gaze and moved to run her fingers through it before holding the fingers up. She hovered them towards her lips, “Mmm, you want this?” She hummed as he struggled to keep standing there as she leaned back against the tree again. His eyes glued to her fingers. “You want to have my taste on your pretty plump lips? Taking in my sweetness?” He nodded.

“Kneel and beg for it then,” she repeated. He closed his eyes, and the straining of his body was evident. She knew he kneeled to no one, and that was what was so thrilling about this. She wanted him at her mercy and to have complete and utter control over one of the most powerful beings that walked this earth. 

He knelt, and she opened her legs towards him in invitation. “I need to taste every inch of you, little viper; I crave it like I crave power.” Her heart thumped in her chest, and for a brief moment, she lost control as her face heated up. A knowing smile reached his lips, but he remained where he was sitting, not daring to move even though he knew he had broken her control.

“Then come taste me, Shadow,” she said, collecting herself back up. He leaned forward and took her fingers into his mouth, tongue tracing up and down, licking her clean. There was something completely erotic about him between her thighs, tasting her arousal and doing it without question. The power she held over him currently made her drunk with her arousal and her body screaming for more.

When he popped off her fingers, she smiled and pushed him back against the forest floor, sitting astride him as she had one hand on his chest and the other trailing across his lips.

“I want you to show me just how starved you are for my taste,” she paused, moving to lift her hips over his face. “I’m gonna ride that pretty elven face of yours; how does that sound?” He nodded, but she gripped his chin. “Answer,” she hissed.

“Yes,” he moaned, and she smiled. 

“Good boy,” she lowered her cunt onto his face and leaned her arms behind her on his chest as she rolled her hips against his face. Arms snaking underneath her thighs to support her movements more. He ate her like a man starved for water. The way his tongue darted in and out before he sucked on her clit sent her hips surging forward against his face. He repeated the motions, sending whimpers and moans out of her mouth. Eyes closed as his name fell from her lips like a maiden praying to the Valar for forgiveness. “You are so pretty when you beg for me, Shadow,” she breathed through the rising heat of her orgasm in her belly. It built like it always did. “So good, letting me make a mess of your pretty godly face.” She felt his chest rumble from a moan. “You want me to come on that face of yours, want to make your Queen happy?” 

She lifted off his ministrations for a moment so he could give her an answer. “Yes, I crave to make my queen happy,” he breathed, breathless, before she lowered herself back onto him. He continued, but this time, a finger snuck in and rubbed her bud as he lapped at her entrance. 

Sabina threw her head back as the fire burned, and for the first time in her life, she climaxed in ecstasy. A call of his name echoed through the night as she chased her high until overstimulation took over. Her motions slowed as her legs shook, and her fingernails clawed that soft skin of his chest. She let out a breath and smiled, soaking in the feeling denied to her for so long.

It was intoxicating, and she wanted more, so drunk off the power she held right now and on her first orgasm that she did not register for a split second that he almost had her on her back. She hooked her leg around his waist and had him on his back again. He groaned as his back hit the forest floor. “You’re playing dirty,” she breathed, leaning over his lips that glistened with her orgasm. Sabina leaned in to lick her taste off his lips and chin before her tongue traced against his jaw. “You want my cunt now, don’t you?” She breathed against his neck. 

“Yes,” 

“You want to fill me and take pleasure in how I strangle that cock of yours?” She bit at his jaw. “To feel what makes even Maiar quake underneath its gasp?” He moaned as her hand moved to grip his taut skin and pump it lightly.

“I crave to rid you of his touch and show you what true worship is.” Sabina giggled and kissed his neck. “Fuck you so deep, you won’t remember who you were before me.”

“Good boy,” she moaned, her grip tightening as she pumped the skin harder. Lips traveled down his chest, tongue running circles around his nipple as her hand slowed. “What else?” She breathed, looking up to see his flustered face as his eyes were nothing but blissed slits.

“I want them to envy us. Envy you taking your fill of me.” He breathed hoarsely. “Envy me for getting to worship the goddess that walks among us. I need them to see me fuck you senseless, knowing that I am the only one who can pull those sinful words from your lips.” His breath hitched when she sunk her hips onto him, taking him to the hilt.

The stretch of her walls accommodating him sent a shiver down her spine. “Continue,” she hissed. “I love it when you beg for me. Bow to me and submit yourself to me.” She rolled her hips against him, the feeling sending her toes curling as her fingers gripped at the splattering of hair on his chest. “Tell me how much you want me for eternity,” He groaned and moaned against her rolls, eyes locked as he struggled for words.

“I want you like the power that runs through my veins; I need you like some starved animal—“ he trailed off as her hips moved faster against him; the force would have sent any mortal aching in pain, but she just felt him get harder and call out her name against the crisp night air. “Gods, you feel so fucking good.” He whimpered. Sabina smiled and watched as his hands moved to grip the flesh of her hips. 

She was too far gone to care about this little game anymore, riding so high on her pleasure that she just wanted to keep this going for as long as she could. “I want to worship the woman that holds my dark heart in her grasp. I want her—“ He pushed her on her back now.

She yelped in surprise as he continued to thrust in her, caging her underneath him. “I want her by my side each and every day for eternity. I want to fuck her each and every second I have.” Sabina smiled as he moved to grip her wrists above her head, holding her into the ground.

“Harder,” she whispered. A growl escaped his lips, and his hips jutted into her harder, fingers tightening against her wrists. Sabina’s eyes closed, and her hips arched to meet those pelvis-shattering thrusts. Her toes curled into the leaves as he rubbed every nerve and ridge just right like he was made for her.

“Eyes open, little viper,” he hissed. “I want to see you. I want to know what Varda crafted only for me, know what those stars do when she falls around my cock,” She whimpered again as her eyes opened and she looked into the feral gaze of her lover.

“Good girl,” he said with a sickly sweet smile as her orgasm pooled in her belly. The notion of him praising her ignited the fire as he quickened his pace, reaching that deep spot in her as she struggled to hold back the orgasm. “So good for me,” he chanted as her walls squeezed around him in climax as a cry of his name left her sinful lips. She pulsed against him until he painted her womb with his seed as a satisfied groan left his lips. Eyes never leaving their locked gazes as they took in just how each other looked when they felt their love reach its climax. “Taking all of me like the good little maiden you are,” Sabina blushed and moved to grip his face as they kissed deeply for a moment, tongues clashing as fingers greedily ran through each other's hair, tousling their already unmade strands.

Sabina pulled away and gazed up at him with those sapphire eyes of hers. “I couldn’t wait to have you like this,” A smile touched his lips as he pushed some of her white hair out her face.

“Like what, divine?” His eyes searched hers for the answer. Her thumb moved to trace his bottom lip as her lashes lowered in a blissful, satisfied look of contentment.

“Kneeling before me and begging for me,” He chuckled and shook his head.

“I will always kneel to my Queen,” he licked his lips and ran his finger across the delicate skin of her cheek. “And submit to her every order,”