#hopefully they don't just look blurry and bad

[theerastour]

long live that look on your face...

[yanchive]

Tsundere turned Yandere?

Listen, I reaaallly don't like tsunderes, I find the concept to be annoying, having someone essentially treat you like shit because they can't grow a pair and accept their feelings for you.

But, the concept of a tsun going yandere sounds pretty interesting.

Surely, after dealing with so many snarky comments and polarizing experiences, not knowing if they genuinely enjoy your presence/friendship or if their just tolerating you because you two share an overlapping social circle. There's only so much you can take recieving gifts from them only for them to turn around act like it was burden to go all the way to the store to buy you it even though you never asked. Like, who does that? Gets mad at YOU for giving YOU gifts...?

It makes you stressed. The contradiction of verbal abuse and caring, affectionate actions leave you confused and annoyed. Eventually, the only right thing to do for your sanity is drop them as a friend. Yeah, you'd probably have to drop the other couple friends that are part of each of your social circle, but if it meant not being overwhelmed with gifts, affection, and berating comments, then so be it.

You break the news to them after another encounter. They had called you stupid for being cold one day(it was the middle of winter, why tf wouldn't you be cold!?). They began dragging you to the nearest café for a cup of hot chocolate, but you pulled away and confessed how your feeling. You wanted to do it as cordial as possible, but that uneeded insult had you being a little harsher than you liked it to be.

To be honest, it made you feel bad for a second, when you saw their resting bitch face melt away, their eyes going wide as they flinched away from you when you raised your voice. A look crossed their face that you couldn't quite discern, but you can tell it fell under the line of surprise and sadness. Heartbreak, maybe? But why would they be heartbroken? They've been nothing but a pain in the ass to you.

You fled before they could shake themselves from their shock and respond. They called after you, but you can tell by their fading calls, they were not following after you.

You blocked them on everything, and explained the situation to your friends before leaving all groupchats that had the little brat in them, and took the week off to settle your nerves and hide away. Not because you thought anything bad would happen, but just to hope whatever possible attempts at contact would wash over when they'll eventually(hopefully) give up. You knew a few times you got them coming to your door, but you never bothered to respond.

Once the week ended, and you decided to enter back into society, the first few days went by smoothly. Only to be awoken one morning to barrage of texts and missed phone calls from an unknown number.

The texts started off tame. A wave of apologies and begs of forgiveness. Confessions of love and compliments, telling you how they never meant to hurt you. How they were terrified of you finding out they were in love. The fear of rejection was so bad that they completely overlooked how their actions would affect you. It got more and more incoherent and unhinged until it was nothing but a massive load of photos taken of you throughout the past few days. Distant photos. You're in a grocery store in the first few photos. Going down multiple aisles. You're getting milk and eggs in one, chips and soda in another, deodorant, and body wash in these one. At the checkout lane in the last.

You're at a gas station in the next. Someone was taken the photos from within their car. You're stepping out of your own. Heading into the station. They're zoomed into the window, getting your blurry silhouette at the register. And dozens of you just standing at the pump filling your car.

They have you at your workplace, on a walk, at a restaurant, and a coffee shop. They put little quips of how amazing you looked in the photos, how you made them feel. They talked about wanting to snap the neck of the waiter who took your order when they made you laugh.

Voicemails were them alternating from having straight up mental breakdowns, sobbing uncontrollably as they tried to plead for forgiveness between each gasp of air. Others were just straight rambles, detailing their stalking and reiterating the same affectionate compliments found in the texts. They went on about how they dream of dates with you, how your wedding would look. It was such a 180 from how they used to be. Did that one argument seriously have them snap this bad?

You told them off before blocking their number, attempting to continue your day, albeit so much more paranoid that you liked it to be.

It was terrifying. No matter how much you looked over your shoulder, studied every single person in your vicinity, and tried to blend yourself in the crowds, you could never catch a glimpse of their face, nor shake the unnerving feeling of eyes burning into your body.

Gifts would start showing up at your doorsteps and workplace. Almost every day you were continuously blocking new numbers to try and get them to stop sending you messages and photos of you with no such luck.

You were at your wits end. None of your friends could help. Hell, several of them just seemed to disappear. They just quit contacting you. Police were only minor help, actually taking it a little bit seriously until they came back and told you they talked to your alleged stalker and determined it couldn't possibly be them and that you should contact them when this alleged stalker began getting aggressive. (Hello?? You have voicemails of their fucking voice what do you mean its not them!? You knew this town was shit...)

Though, one good thing came out of contacting the police. It seemed to have scared them enough to halt their harassment. All phone calls and texts came to an end. No more gifts. You could finally breathe.

This continued for a couple weeks. Life returned back to normal. So normal, in fact, that you finally felt safe enough to attend a bar party with a few coworkers one night, just to celebrate what you thought was your new found freedom.

Its just... such a coincidence you weren't the only one invited. Not that you knew. No, not until the next morning after a horrendous hangover. A hangover you weren't expecting. You had one drink, didn't you? Why does it feel so much worse than a hangover? And why can't you move your body? When did you have so many photos of yourself in your room?

And why is their a familiar face looking down at you with that unsettling grin?

[voonroo]

Hell?

⌐‣Hazbin Hotel x teen reader (platonic)

Want more? Check out the masterlist↩︎

Hot.

Hot.

Hot.

Hot.

Hot.

Why the fuck is it so hot.

Damn.

Everything hurts.

I don't want to open my eyes…

You were met with the sounds of screeching tires, crackling fire, yelling, and many other chaotic noises. It was as if the world was falling apart at the seams.

Opening your eyes, you quickly notice that you could hardly see. This place you are in is so different from what you knew. Wait- what did you know?

Standing up and almost stumbling, you felt as if everything you had ever known was slipping from your fingers. From your brain. What was my name again?

God, everything’s blurry.

Why is it so loud?

My heart is beating. Very loud, loud.

I don't like how loud it is…

Your breathing was uneven, and the stress began to show on your face. You looked down at the clothes you were wearing. What?

You were wearing basic black and red plaid pajama pants. A black tank top with wide arm holes that reached almost down the whole shirt length. You could feel your undergarments touching your body under your clothes.

I don't like this.

Something about these clothes makes me feel insanely claustrophobic.

I need to change.

God, I can't see shit in front of me.

You began to stumble around. You felt so on balance but so off balance at the same time. It was fucking nauseating

You couldn't see for shit but you could hear everything going on around you. All the different noises clashing with each other to the point of being unable to distinguish the direction they're coming from.

You're frozen in place when you hear a voice call out to you in the chaos.

“Damn kid- you alright?”

The voice sounded like a man… but it was so hard to tell with everything around you. There were screams.

“Kid.” The voice sounded a lot closer.

Your eyes darted in front of you, wandering aimlessly in hopes of being able to clearly see who was talking to you.

“Wha—” You felt short of breath. “Who?” Your breathing and the sound of your thundering heart made it so hard to focus on what was happening around you.

“You ain't lookin’ too hot kid. You just roll in?” The voice sounded both worried and not at the same time, but then again it's not like you could really care. You were a bit more focused on trying to not have a meltdown if things didn't start clearing up.

“What? What do you mean?”

There was a beat of silence from the man.

“I mean are you new here? In hell?”

Hell?

“What do you mean hell?”

“Damn, kid! Are you blind? Look around and tell me this doesn't look like hell!”

Knowing you wouldn't be able to see, you swiveled your head around in hopes that, maybe, you'd be able to see clearly for the first time in what felt like forever, even if it's only been a few minutes. But to no one's surprise, you couldn't. Everything was still blurry. You could feel your anxiety spike.

“I can't see.” Your voice wobbled with uncertainty.

“Oh, so you are blind…” The voice sounded quiet now. There was silence from the man and from you as well. Hopefully staring at the man, you spoke in his direction. Your voice growing shaky due to stress.

“I can't see shit, what I can hear is so loud that I can't distinguish shit, my back hurts like shit, and apparently, I'm in hell!” You let out in a small outburst.

This situation is so… so entirely frustrating.

I still want to- no I need to change into something.

I feel so itchy in these clothes.

Subconsciously, you scratched at your arms, only to recoil in shock when you felt fur. Not skin. Fur. That must have been the final nail in the coffin for your nerves.

The poor voice (hopefully) in front of you, was not prepared for the following,

You, letting out a high-pitched animal-like shriek.

You, frantically looking around even if you couldn't see.

And lastly, you were fainting.

The voice felt so bad for what had just happened in front of him, even if he didn't contribute much to your shock, seeing someone as young-looking as you in hell and then passing out on the side of the streets. He did the only thing he could think of.

He brought back you to the hotel.

The only place he thought was safe enough for a kid to be in hell.

.

Word Count: 755

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

oct 2024 episode of octa + 4koma update

***SPOILERS for the new Episode of Octavinelle chapter (13) and this month's 4koma!*** Reminder that there is no Episode of Savanaclaw update this month.

Ayo... 😳 The girlies are fighting... asdjvaiutfvaofdilfei AZUL FINDING IT IN HIMSELF TO PUSH UP HIS GLASSES ANYWAY, AS IF THAT'S SUPPOSED TO INTIMIADATE LEONA SoMEHOW??? ???f????? ? ? ? ? ??

… Also why the FUCK is Leona’s skirt skewed like THAT… I know that’s NOT how that shirt looks in the game 😭 COVER UP WHORE

WEH... OJITAN SAVING THE DAY BY YOINKING RUGGIE BY THE SCRUFF... Makin' up for almost sanding him yourself, I see... WHAT A GOOD ONII-SAMA... (<- delusional)

This is kinda cool yet also disturbing and gross 💀 Azul seems to have a bunch of tentacles shooting out from his back (he still seems to have legs???). And then those tentacles shoot out and grab people's talents for him... LIKE THEY SHOVE THEMSELVES DOWN YOUR WINDPIPE AND RETRIEVE IT

LIKE UGH I'M MGAGGING SJUST THINKIGN ABOUT IT, THAT SHIT MSUT FEEL SO UNcFOMROTABLE ... THE TENTACLE SQUIRMING AROUND INSIDE OF YOU... YOINKING OUT A PEIC EOF YOURSELF... EWwwwwwWwwwwwwwWWwwwwWWWwww 😭

There's many panels of Azul and his tentacles causing havoc and snatching up mob students + the twins showing up and fighting his tentacles off. BUT. AFGUADVKFADUVAOGVUEGVWIYEFBIAL IT MAKES ME KINDA ILL LOOKING AT THE TENTACLES SO I;M JUST ONGNGA KEEP WHAT I SHARE TO A MINIUMUM... OTL SORRY, I FIND IT REALLY ICK

The trend of Azul making the most out-of-pocket expressions continues. Bro's LITERALLY the screaming crying throwing up meme?????? (For comparison, Riddle bled ink from a different spot; ie his head.) Although here I feel really bad for him, because it CANNOT be good to be leaking ink from your eye sockets, nose, AND mouth... Please help this boy...

NOT THIS NOT THIS, ASHENGROTTO... HE'S SO UNHINGED, WHY'S HE PULLING A YUNO GASAI FACE

HE'S FINALLY SNAPPING, GFUYS.... .. .. . . ..... .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . . I love the detail of Azul looking like he's sinking in Ursula's cauldron and her poor unfortunate souls + bottled critters for her potions are mobbing him... The encroaching despair...

Aw, the twins are worried about Azul and call out to hinm... JADE EVEN SHOWING HIS TEETH, EVEN THOUGH HE CLAIMS IT "EMBARRASSES" HIM...

I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE, OCTATRIO... 🫵 YOU'RE FRIENDS... YOU CAR EABOTU EACH OTHER, DON'T DEN Y IT

Also, these!! (Because I didn't know where to cram them before.) A back shot of kid!Azul and a really REALLY blurry image of their class picture in the Atlantica museum.

Hopefully we get to see kid!Azul in full during his flashbacks :DD

... And now for complete tonal whiplash, this months' 4koma features Deuce as the main character! He's accidentally bleaches Kalim's Magic Carpet (thinking it is his lab coat). He tries various methods to restore the Magic Carpet but ultimately goes to Malleus for help.

[junkdrawerfics]

Insomnia

Jasper Hale X Reader

Summary: There's one thing the Cullens don't know about you and you try with every fiber of your being to make sure things stay that way, especially with your boyfriend, Jasper. His gift makes it a little hard though, making you stretch to unhealthy limits.

Word Count: 2677

Warnings: Insomnia, the effects of sleep deprivation, no beta

---

A heavy sigh escapes your lips as you lean against the lockers, welcoming the cold bite of the metal against your skin. Why did you come to school today? Every second that goes by, you feel like you’re walking deeper and deeper into a fog only surrounding you. It makes it hard to think, hard to process anything.

“Darlin’?”

You jump like a cat finding a cucumber when a deep voice breaks through your fog. As quick as you’ve moved in days, you spin around to find a familiar blond standing right behind you. Jasper. Out of habit, a smile slips onto your lips.

“Morning Jazz,” you murmur and wrap your arms around his waist.

Jasper doesn’t reply, just gently pulls you back so he can look at your face, his brow furrowed. You keep the smile up and try your hardest to push your emotions away, just focusing on how happy it makes you to see him. You don’t want him to worry. It feels like that’s all you do, make him worry, which honestly just makes you feel worse, so hopefully today you can play off the sluggishness clinging to you. It would be so much easier if he didn’t have his gift.

“Everything alright, darlin’?”

He might have caught on before you could think of hiding it, though. Stubbornly, you press on, giving him a nod and stretching up onto your toes to press a chaste kiss to his cheek.

“Everything perfect now that you’re here,” you throw out the cheesy line, which seems to be enough to distract him.

Jasper shakes his head, but an amused smirk pulls at the corner of his lips.

“So, are you going to walk me to class, cowboy?” You ask, closing your locker after you grab the books you need.

“It’d be my pleasure, ma’am.”

Your heart melts at his words, and your smile shifts into a soft grin as the blond loops your arm through his and takes your books. Such a gentleman. And lucky for you, all his previous concerns have disappeared. Hopefully you can keep it that way for the rest of the day.

It’s a mostly well-hidden secret you keep from the vampire coven. Ironically, Bella is the only one who knows about it, your insomnia. On a normal day, you can function well enough and get through school with little issue, but recently it’s been worse. Last night was particularly bad, and by that you mean you didn’t sleep at all.

You just don’t want Jasper or the others to find out about it. Not because you don’t trust them, or it’s some big, bad secret, of course. You just…You already feel so weak compared to them and all their amazing powers. You don’t feel the need to add to that, or worry them.

So, one day of hiding your fatigue isn’t too hard.

A week later, however, you feel like you’re falling apart at the seams.

You’re sitting in history class, trying to listen to whatever your teacher is saying about the civil war, and then the next moment, you’re jolting awake to the school bell. The shrill ringing sends pulses of pain through your head. They crash on you like waves, and you can’t breathe, can’t even open your eyes without nausea sweeping through you.

“Are you alright, Miss (L/n)?”

Vaguely, you can hear your teacher’s voice, but he sounds miles away. It feels like there’s cotton stuffed into your ears, which somehow makes the ringing in your head even louder. Despite the pain, and the sudden urge to throw up, you nod your head and slowly shuffle out of the room. Out of the room and into the loud, loud hallway.

“Hey (Y/n)!”

You flinch. Why are they screaming right in your ear? Everything in slow motion, you turn, eyes squinted but unable to make out the blurry figure jumping in front of you. Why are they moving so slow? Or are you moving slow? Why can’t you see their face?

The nausea comes crashing back over you, and you have to press a hand against the nearest wall to keep yourself upright. The person, you assume you know them, asks you something. What are they saying? The words mix and blend, getting lost and muffled in the cotton. Brow furrowed, you try to get them to repeat themselves, but your tongue feels heavy in your mouth, like sand. You press a hand to your forehead, the pounding becoming more like someone taking a hammer to your skull. Everything feels so heavy, so loud, so…so…

Your head hits the tile before you can hear the surprised shrieks ringing through the hall.

---

Jasper jerks when he hears a loud scream sound from another hall across the school.

“What was that?” Alice asks, earning a few weird looks from the passing students. They hadn’t heard it, of course.

The blond vampire shrugs, but something uneasy starts to build in his chest. An accident on school grounds could mean blood, and losing control here would be a one way ticket to leaving Forks, leaving you. He can’t bear the thought.

“Should we go check it out?” Alice looks at him, gold eyes gleaming with concern. The same thoughts are running through her mind.

“No,” Jasper says tightly, lips pursed.

The ravenette nods in agreement, so the two continue towards their class. The uneasiness doesn’t go away, though. All Jasper can think about is you, where you might be, if you’re okay. You’d been acting strange the past week, and it only makes it worse that he can’t seem to get a grip on your emotions. It’s like you’re hiding them from him. That in itself worries him, but he trusts you, knows you’ll talk to him if you want to. He won’t push. Yet.

Jasper tries to put these thoughts out of his head as their algebra class starts. Though he doesn’t need to focus in the class (they had taken it several times at this point), keeping appearances is important to the Cullens. It is difficult though when images of you flitter through his head each time the teacher starts to drone.

Things come to an abrupt halt when the door flies open. Everyone jumps in their seats when it slams loudly against the wall.

Alice and Jasper exchange a look when Edward appears at the front, offering a sheepish smile before quickly talking to the teacher in a hushed voice. One only the vampires and he can hear.

“Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen have been requested at the office. There’s been an…incident,” Edward says in a calm, smooth voice. The teacher doesn’t even question him, just gestures for the pair to go.

“What’s going on, Edward?” Alice demands once they reach the hall. There were no visions, nothing about an accident with the family, so she feels horribly caught off guard.

Jasper walks a few paces ahead of his siblings, overwhelmed by the concern and shock rolling off of Edward. It’s not like him to project his emotions so loudly, and it sets the blond on edge. If he was feeling uneasy before, now he’s on the brink of panic. Had something happened to Bella? Was it good idea for him to be here if so?

“Bella is fine,” Edward assures him from behind, a hint of hesitation creeping into his voice as he continues, “It’s…It’s (Y/n).”

Jasper stops dead in his tracks. He whips around, wide eyes ablaze.

Both his siblings take a step back, unfamiliar with the wild, unbridled look on the blond. His careful composure is cracking. Things are different with you, they always have been. Despite having the ability to sense and influence emotions, Jasper struggles to contain himself when it comes to you. Everyone felt the shift when they met you. They had all been ecstatic to see Jasper’s more reserved nature slip away around you, but they never considered what else that could entail.

“She’s okay, Jasper,” Edward is quick to try and calm him, “She’s just resting in the nurse’s off-”

In the blink of an eye, he’s gone. Off to find you.

“You probably should have waited on that detail,” Alice murmurs, a touch of amusement in her words, “It’s nice to see how much he cares about her, though.”

Edward nods, but he can’t ward off the concern that pulls his lips into a thin line. Alice puts a hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly before giving him a tug towards the office.

“Let’s go,” she insists, “and tell me what happened on the way, okay?”

---

You’re just waking up when Jasper rushes into the room. In less than a second, he is kneeling at your side, jaw clenched, eyes scanning every inch of you for injuries.

“Hey Jazz,” you croak, throat dry and scratchy.

Those wild amber eyes finally meet yours, and it feels like a punch to the gut, worse than the headache still clinging to you. They are filled to the brim with untamed concern and glazed over with exhaustion. But he can’t get tired. The thought makes you cringe. You did this, he’s feeling your emotions. Why did you let it get this far?

The building distress quickly fizzles out, replaced by a warmth, a sense of contentment. It’s unnatural, certainly Jasper’s gift, but you close your eyes anyways and let it take over. It is a welcomed break from the torrent you’ve been living through.

“Sorry if I scared you,” you break the small silence building between you, peaking an eye open to look at him again, “Guess the cat’s out of the bag, huh?”

Jasper nods curtly, but doesn’t say anything. You take that as the sign to keep talking. He deserves an explanation.

Starting with a deep breath, you hesitantly begin, “Well…I have insomnia. I um, it’s hard to fall asleep sometimes, and when I do, it’s hard to stay asleep.” You chew on your bottom lip. It almost sounds ridiculous, it’s like you don’t know how to sleep. You basically don’t. “You could say I’m going through a rough patch right now.”

One of Jasper’s hands covers yours, which you were fiddling with. His fingers interlace with yours gently, thumb smoothing over your knuckles.

“Darlin’...when was the last time you slept?”

It takes you a moment to think. Whenever things get bad, your memory is the first thing to go in the trash.

“Probably like, I mean, if we’re talking a decent amount of sleep, that was probably, probably a week ago?”

Jasper takes in a deep breath, jaw clenching once again. His grip on your hand tightens, not enough to hurt, but enough for you to know he’s distressed.

“I’m okay, though, I’ve been dealing with this for years,” you smile at him softly in reassurance.

Exhaustion is slowly creeping back towards you, tugging at your mind like an annoying little tick you can’t get rid of. He must notice too, because he suddenly looks around for a nurse, one of which is standing near the doorway to keep an eye on the two of you.

“May I take her home? She’ll be needin’ some rest after all of this.”

The nurse seems to hesitate, but you notice a small shift in her expression before she offers a warm smile and concedes, “Of course, hun. Make sure she gets home safe, we’ll give her parents a call.”

You go to get up, but are denied the chance to stand when Jasper quickly sweeps you up bridal style. A squeak escapes your parted lips, all the while a small grin tugs at the blond’s lips. You cling to his shoulders, squirming slightly, but his grip just tightens.

“I can walk on my own, you know,” you grumble and hit his chest weakly, “Don’t go to any trouble for me.”

The small twitch of his lips turns into one of his fully cocked smirks and he raises a brow at you, “Trust me, darlin’, it’s no trouble. If you don’t recall, I’m stronger than I look.”

You pout at the smugness in his voice. Stupid vampire. Stupid super strength. And he totally used his gift to convince that nurse to let you go. If you had any energy left, you’d probably find something snide to say, but all you want to do is curl into his cool embrace and fall asleep. Just one full night of sleep.

“Is she okay?”

Alice?

“You gave us a real fright, girlie.”

Yep, that’s Alice.

You offer an embarrassed smile, “Sorry, things got a bit out of hand, I guess.”

“You passed out in the hall.”

And Edward, of course. Makes sense how they found out now.

“I’m taking (Y/n) home so she can rest,” Jasper is quick to explain, “You two can head back to class.”

You hear a snort from your best friend, but she doesn’t pose an argument. She must be worried too, but it would look weird for her to leave. It’s bad enough that you’re dragging Jasper out. It’s a relief he offered though. Because there’s no way you could get home without a car, since both your parents are working.

“Can we um, can we take it slow, Jazz? Kinda nauseous,” you grumble, burying your face in his sweater.

“Of course, darlin’.” He presses his lips to your hair and the journey starts.

You let your eyes close, equal parts lulled and dizzied by the steady sway of Jasper’s steps. Despite taking it slow, it still feels like you reach your home in no time. When you open your eyes next, you’re right in front of your house. Jasper silently asks for your keys. You fish them from your pocket with trembling fingers. He glides into the house, kicking the door shut behind him as he carries you to your bedroom. With a gentleness beyond human, the blond settles you down on the bed.

You curl up under your comforter as he proceeds to speed around, gathering everything you could possibly need. Food, water, extra blankets. You wouldn’t think based on the way he presents himself that Jasper is actually the biggest, softest teddy bear. You don’t think you’ve met a kinder soul.

When everything is in its place, Jasper settles down on the edge of the bed. He glances around, as if looking for something he can do. You reach out to grab the hem of his sweater, bringing those gold eyes down to you.

“Can you stay? Cuddle?” You mumble with your best puppy dog eyes.

Jasper smiles softly, not one of his smirks or fanged grins, just one of his smiles that he reserves just for you, “Why, of course. Anything for you, darlin’.”

The blond slips under the blankets and leans against the backboard, shifting so you can curl into him, head on his lap. The exhaustion that has been lurking around you seems to be just on the edge, so close to letting you sleep, but something in your chest won’t settle. Him being here helps. You feel safer when he’s next to you. It feels like you didn’t even know the meaning of peace until you met Jasper.

The vampire senses the quick succession of your emotions. He tenderly threads his fingers through your hair and focuses on detangling the strands as he does the same to your emotions. For each one, he replaces them with something comforting to help you sleep. Safety, love, everything warm.

You melt into Jasper, the ache in your chest finally easing. 

“I love you,” you all but whisper, eyes fluttering closed.

He leans over, pressing one final kiss to your forehead. His lips brush your skin as he murmurs, “I love you too, now get some sleep.”

You giggle sleepily and bury your face back into his lap. The feeling of his fingers in your hair slowly lulls you to sleep, one you willingly give in to. And for the first time in a week, you stay asleep. All thanks to a certain Jasper Whitlock.

---

Love me some Jasper Whitlock. I felt like writing this because of my experience with insomnia, and I thought it would be interesting how that would work with Jasper's gift.

[celestial-dreamscapes]

Malleus Draconia relationship headcanons

A/N: I love him sm T_T finally actually playing the game so I don't mess up writing anyone too bad 😭 also I use different translations as reference lmao I just go with wtv I like best. Requests are open!!

Word count: 1.9k

-Malleus already has really nice hands and nails, but he doesn't really do anything to maintain them. So whenever you notice his hands feel a bit dry you moisturize them for him and play with his hands a bit while doing it and he loves it

-Kind of along the same lines, he'll let you draw on his hands whenever you're bored (a common occurrence in class) and you always take pictures afterwards

-One day it starts to rain so you pull out your umbrella, and he offers to hold it for you and you get excited thinking it'll be romantic like in those cute manga scenes but no,, it gets caught on one of his horns and you have to try and reach up to remove it. In the end he ends up just holding it over you and saying he doesn't need it to save you both the trouble

-Somehow after all the chaos of removing the umbrella he still manages to make it cute when he holds the umbrella over you and says stuff all concerned about you getting sick since humans get sick so easily

-Speaking of getting sick, he has a general idea of how humans are when they're sick thanks to Silver, but he's still very worried whenever you tell him you're not feeling well :( he'll likely just ask you what you need or usually do when you're sick so that he doesn't end up making you feel worse somehow

-He's aware of the strength difference between you two so he gets even more worried about hurting you because of how delicate humans can be

-He'll definitely cuddle with you if you're feeling alright enough for it, and he reassures you that he's not going to get sick because of you

-After taking care of you while you were sick he's even more conscious of how you're feeling when the weather changes

-He'll let you do literally anything you want with his hair. If you start playing with it he'll just let you do your thing. Same with braiding, putting bows or accessories, he's just happy to spend time with you and he loves how gently you do it

-Though Sebek might say something about you not taking Malleus seriously and hindering his reputation if you do it in the Diasomnia dorm and he sees you, so you usually play around with his hair in your dorm instead

-Malleus mentions sometimes that he wants to come off as less intimidating so people will want to talk to him more and invite him to things, so you suggest getting more casual clothes since it might help people see him as less scary, calm down the intimidating aura a bit and hopefully make him look a bit more approachable

-So you have a cute little shopping date!! He ends up getting you more things than for himself in the end because he really likes picking stuff for you and doing the whole mini fashion show thing!! The employees don't even say anything about you passing the item limit in the dressing room because they're a bit scared of him lmao

-You also pick out some outfits for both of you that have similar vibes or colours that compliment each other (couples that are well dressed together>>) and it's adorable. He carries everything you bought while you both keep looking around

-Cute little ice cream break later on and you share a cone and just relax and enjoy it together 🥺

-You try to catch him up with modern trends to the best of your ability, though it's kind of endearing how clueless he is with some of it. You definitely help him get better at using his phone at the very least so he's not constantly breaking his or yours

-He's not the best texter since he prefers to just go to you if he wants to talk, but he's trying his best

-You also teach him how to take selfies and pictures that aren't super blurry and he mostly takes pictures of you. He's the type to have like 15 things in his camera roll but they're all just you and maybe some cool gargoyles or architecture he wants to show you aw

-Lots of sleepovers at the Ramshackle dorm so you don't have to worry about being interrupted or disturbed for the most part (with the exception of Grim occasionally)

-While cuddling you tend to sort of lie halfway on top of him/on his side, curling up against him while he rubs your back

-Normally cuddle time ends with you falling asleep because of how peaceful it all is, especially compared to the chaos of your daily life. Sometimes he'll tell you stories about back home and his family, other times he'll ask you to tell him stories about your home, and sometimes you both just enjoy the shared silence comfortably

-He's totally the type to just watch you sleep for a bit, admiring you and whatnot and just really appreciating the fact that you're with him

-You wake up at the weirdest times every now and then and panic thinking you're late to class and he tells you you still have time to sleep so you cuddle a bit until you eventually fall asleep. He kisses your forehead gently before drifting off too

-Cuddling while sitting on his lap in bed or on the couch in your dorm he loves how close he is to you and it's so comforting and warm for you

-When it comes to PDA he's kind of conflicted because on one hand he wants to be private and "proper" but on the other he wants to show off a tiny bit that he's with you, so nothing excessive but he'll hold hands with you or give small forehead and cheek kisses here and there

-Sharing your hobbies and seeing if he's interested in any, you try painting, cooking and baking together. He loves how normal it all feels and that you're trying to get him into things you enjoy, it's sort of a reminder that he has someone very precious to him that's not scared of him and he's so happy about it

-Especially at the start of your relationship, he shows a lot of his affection by giving you gifts and you have to kind of reassure him you don't need all that stuff (or that you literally have no space for some of it)

-As the relationship progresses he does continue to give you stuff but it becomes more personal and he realizes he doesn't want to overwhelm you by giving you insanely expensive stuff or like.. family heirlooms so instead he'll settle on getting you stuff your eyes linger on in stores or things you mention, even off-handedly

-One day you're both chilling in his room while you scroll through your phone and you see someone post a heart locket and you start telling him how sweet and romantic of a gift they can be but how hard it is to find good quality ones

-And then not too long after that he shows up to your dorm and tells you to close your eyes and he clasps a heart locket he got you around your neck and you open it and you see that he put a picture of the two of you inside <3

-It was definitely a struggle for him to do the picture thing but he got Lilia's help lmao

-Unfortunately you can't really afford expensive gifts for him so you gift him handmade things instead. You give him a little bracelet you made yourself and a little phone charm to match yours

-Though he's still not great with phones he starts being more careful with it because he doesn't want to damage your gift

-He decides to also try to make things for you himself, without using any magic. He remembers you mentioning paintings back home that you used to decorate your place and decides to try making something like that, especially since he already has some paints still lying around his dorm from when you were trying to get him into some of your hobbies.

-In the end he tries painting you some scenery from the Valley of Thorns and it doesn't come out as great as he would've liked but you're so happy when he gives it to you and you immediately put it up and reassure him that you love it and that you appreciate him making something for you

-Whenever it's nice out and you're not busy (an unfortunately rare occurrence) you try to have picnics together!! It's so peaceful preparing the food and snacks and getting to relax together

-You finally get the hang of making flower crowns and teach him how, it takes a while but he gets it eventually. He makes you one and you make him two small ones for his horns and one just for his head and you take a ton of pictures together because the vibes are so perfect and <3

-Doing his makeup!! Maybe it takes you a while to do it well but just him letting you experiment with different looks on him, and he asks to do yours in return sometimes. He's so focused while doing it and it's very cute

-Since you're together I feel like your friends wouldn't be as scared of him (though they're still a bit intimidated) because of how you talk about him. So he tries to befriend them and talk to them here and there, though it does worry him a bit how chaotic they can all be together, especially since 99% of the time you get roped into it somehow. You're proud of the socializing progress anyway lmao

-As for the dynamic with you and the other main Diasomnia members, it's very relaxed for the most part, though you and Lilia can be a bit chaotic when together at times

-Sebek warms up to you, though he's still a bit scandalized when he sees you both doing anything remotely couple-y

-But generally it's nice family vibes and Malleus is very happy that you all get along

-You guys sometimes have little tea parties, usually just you two but sometimes you get Lilia, Sebek and Silver to join and it's very chill

-One day you show Malleus that you got matching mugs for you two and he's so 🥺

-Since you're from different places and also different species, you're very curious about norms and different traditions from his homeland and he asks about yours in return. He really wants you to visit the Valley of Thorns with him someday

-You mention one (1) time that you find his dorm uniform cool and he takes it upon himself to get you one and now you're an honorary member. He tells you to transfer as if you'd be able to navigate it without magic 😭

-You constantly ask him to do little magic "shows" for you when you're alone together because it's just so amazing and there's nothing real like that back home. Even though you're constantly surrounded by magic users now, you can never fully get used to it. He'll make tiny flames and other things and it's so cool to you and he loves watching how you react every time and he's so happy you feel safe enough around him to trust him with stuff like that

-He'll sometimes do it when you're upset/stressed and need a distraction too

[chiipay]

What if.. celebrating Christmas with Kaiser alongside his birthday? (Fluff)

Ohh cool idea. Ty (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) I'll do my best to make a scenario that fit your imagination (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠). Also forgive me because my country is a tropical country- we don't have Christmas here.. so idk much about Christmas Day.

Snowy days- MICHAEL KAISER.

24th December

It's Christmas. Fucking Christmas. Oh how much Kaiser hates to be reminded of the day he was born. But he couldn't express it to you because well he didn't want to get slapped on Christmas day because he pissed you off. He decided to just let it slide hopefully Christmas would just go along without bothering him.

" Kaiser. Wake up. It's freezing here. Help me up with setting presents for the players. I'll give yours later for the day."

You were just moving stuff around Kaiser so called 'penthouse'. Hie place looks gloomy and empty- tf he did here? Just laying around? You shaken every bad thought of him deciding which present suites for every bastard munchen players-

"... dang-this is harder than i thought.." you mutter- thinking hard on the presents.

This is the first time you celebrate Christmas with Michael kaiser and you had no idea how to plan things out. You rought a few items to become presents for bastard munchen players- but you don't spend a single penny in your bank...it was Kaiser's.

'he insisted on using his credit card only- rich people phase ig..'

Your thoughts got distracted by Kaiser leaning his body on you from behind. He let out a long sigh while resting his head on your shoulder, eyes glancing at the sight of items you brought earlier.

Kaiser looks at some items and picks up one of them and he chooses...a perfume.

'...wtf. wtf is this?'

Kaiser holds the perfume bottle for a minute before scrunching his nose up making a disgusted expression. He tightened his grip on your stomach making you look towards the same direction as he is.

"..what?"

" who the hell did you bought a perfume for? My whole teammates are freaking male. They have male anatomy. Tf is this for?"

Kaiser brings the perfume closer to your face as you just look at it for a sec before returning your attention to him.

" oh- i thought it would be good to give it to grim. Y'know? Just some vibe- I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

You said nonchalantly not really finding what's wrong with giving a perfume to a guy. Kaiser gave you a weird look before just putting the bottle down and would just bury his head deeper into your hair, sniffing your scent.

'Nasty.' you think.

----------___________-----------_________

25th December.

" Michael- wake up... it's Christmas.."

Michael kaiser groaned in his sleep before slowly opening his eyes. A glimpse of his mother came to his blurry vision just for it to get more clearer it was you. His eyes twitched a bit when his vision was getting more clear but soon turned into a softened gaze.

"..heyy..you awake now? It's Christmas..and happy birthday micha."

'micha..' you didn't always call kaiser by a nickname because of how you didn't want to make him uncomfortable. He never really cared about it. Mostly he would often ignored you whenever you called him that...but somehow he couldn't resist how smooth when he got called like that by you.

"....merry Christmas i fucking guess." He hushed in his low voice.

He sat up on his bed and then slowly looked at you while you prepare him breakfast in bed. He blankly looks at you while you prepare for it. When you were done he slowly ate his breakfast in front of you while you watched him eat it motionlessly.

"...why did you suddenly make me breakfast in bed today? You've never done this before."

" dang- forgave me for acting nice then. It's your birthday so why not? If this was another normal day i would have just forced you to do your own meal."

Kaiser didn't respond but continued to eat repeatedly. He was in deep thoughts...-you think. You didn't want your morning with kaiser to end up being an awkward morning so you try to change the atmosphere.

"uh- do you want a present? I already got something for you..?"

" present?"

Kaiser hates presents. He couldn't react properly when he got one. He hates it if he can't react properly would you be upset with him? Would you hate him for that? Would you actually leav-

".. having you is already like having a hellish present. Why should i get another one?"

His words actually came out opposite of what he is thinking. But even so he didn't want a present. Having you is already like a present he got from fate. He's more surprised that his 'present' is still with him and wasn't broken at all.

" oh-uhh thank you?..." You had no idea if that's a compliment or not but sounds pretty sweet to you..?

The tips of your ears went red making kaiser grin at your reaction-

' jackpot.'

"alright then, here's my present for you, meine einzige Frau~"

He leans closer to you making you started and backing backwards but Kaiser already trapped you before he gates his mouth on yours.

[ssentimentals]

Hi, I love your writing! I was wondering if I could request hurt prompts #22 and #23 with Vernon please? Thank you💜

hi, angel! ahhh, thank you for your kind words and thank you for requesting! 💜 hopefully you'll like it!

hurt prompt: 'why are you being like this?'. 'don't shut me out.'

bad habits die hard. you know vernon is not him, you know that there will be no guilt-tripping or gaslightning in this relationship. you know logically that vernon is not lying, not cheating. your brain fully grasps those facts but bad habits die hard. and that's why you are here, rushing from the training back home, hoping to escape your boyfriend. only luck is never on your side and vernon awaits for you at the gates, looking rather calm despite everything.

'ignoring me is not a solution,' he says in a flat tone, when you approach. 'trying to hide from me is not one either.'

'why don't you understand all the signs of me not wanting to talk to you right now?' you snap, instantly regretting it but not being able to stop. 'do i have to say it out loud for it to be clear?'

'yes, actually.' vernon steps closer and from the way he's clenching his fists, you can tell how mad he actually is beneath that calm facade. 'i'm not a mind reader.'

you know that you're not being fair to him. you know how lucky you are to have a boyfriend for who clear communication is the only kind of communication, who wouldn't even think of ignoring or giving silent treatment. you know all of that and yet - bad habits die hard. without saying a thing, you turn to leave when he grabs your bag, making you stop. 'why are you being like this?' vernon questions.

and it's a fair question. your eyes sting with unshed tears, because he is so good and you're being so, so bad to him right now, but your heart just can't, can't understand that it's safe now. it's safe with vernon and your mind is just playing tricks with you. 'we will talk later,' you manage to grit out, not turning around.

'don't shut me out.'

it's not a plea exactly and it's not a command. it's just vernon being his disarmingly honest self, asking from you such a fair thing. how he is not giving up on you is the main question in your mind. you can't even face him because you're too ashamed, because you don't deserve him. vernon is still holding on the strap of your bag and even that is considerate, you know he's doing it cause touching you in this state will not end well. and you can easily pull your bag and march away, which is exactly what you do. he calls your name once, twice - but doesn't run to you, doesn't try to talk again. and you know that this is done out of consideration too, because he knows you need your space now, but part of your brain is fully convinced it means he's giving up on you. maybe this is his final straw. and even despite these thoughts, you still stubbornly run away with vision blurry from the tears, because - yes, you guessed it. bad habits die hard.

a/n: request your own here! <3 - nini

[eringurumi]

Ancient Hearthian (Outer Wilds) Pattern

I got so many requests for the ancient Hearthian from Outer Wilds, and they really are so much simpler than the Nomai - but also, my notes and pics are a bit less detailed, and I've been so bad at even getting on my computer lately - so lemme try and cobble this together so anyone interested at least has something to work with!

Technical stuff: 3mm crochet hook, 9mm safety eyes, Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Jade, probably... but any nice shade would do!

Body:

They start as one long piece that kinda looks like a tadpole! A lot of the shaping is just by gentle smooshing it, but there are a few rows where you increase or decrease unevenly to contribute to it... I'm not even sure how much it really makes a difference tho!

6 sc in a magic circle

inc 6x to make 12 stitches

(3 inc, 3 sc) 2x to make 18 stiches (and a slightly elongated oval rather than circular cross section when looking face on)

(2 sc, inc) 6x to make 24 stitches

9 rows of 24

Add eyes and begin to stuff

Across the "top" of the body (wherever you choose that to be) do (1 sc, 1 dec) 3x, then 15 more sc to make a row of 21 stitches

Again across the "top" of the body do (1 sc, 1 dec) 3x, then 12 more sc to make a row of 18 stitches

From here, it's slow decreases (still at the top) and stuffing as you go:

(1 sc, 1 dec) 2x then sc around to make a row of 16

1 dec then sc around to make a row of 15

1 dec then sc around to make a row of 14

1 dec then sc around to make a row of 13

1 dec then sc around to make a row of 12

2 dec then sc around to make a row of 10

1 dec then sc around to make a row of 9

1 row of 9

1 dec then sc around to make a row of 8

3 rows of 8

2 dec then around to make a row of 6, fasten off and hide tail

Feet and Legs:

It looks like I really winged it a bit here, so let me try and figure out approximately what I did - the main idea is I think I made a very small tube for the feet, then pulled the tails through to the center, chained into a random stitch, and and did a few chains up and down to give it a short leg, then used those tails as well to sew them on to the body... I'm afraid I can hardly tell what I did for those legs, even looking at it in person, like it might just be a few knots... I am hoping that for here it isn't too much trouble for you to improvise something that works well for you!:

4 sc in a magic circle

3 rows of 4, then close off and pull the tails through the small cylinder, out the center

chain into a random stitch, then into an adjacent stitch,

sc "around" these two for 2-3 rows, to make a short leg

use the rest of the tail to sew onto the body.

Very messy, possibly blurry.... but hopefully this at least gives a bit more inspiration.

Ok, again, I apologize, it's not my best pattern, but I hope it will give people a starting point! Don't hesitate to ask questions if you need them, although as I mentioned, I'm not on tumblr much now a days. Don't forget to check out my Nomai pattern here! And as always, give me a tag here or @ erin.gurumi on instagram if you make one! I love to see them!

[corruptedcaps]

The Plan

Ok, so let's go over the plan. We will use this machine that you made to steal one of Britney's attributes, something like her manicured nails. This will hopefully make her less mean. I mean, have you seen how she acts? It's like she's always looking down on everyone. And her nails are always so perfect, like she thinks she's better than everyone else. Well, not anymore! Once we take away her manicured nails, maybe she'll realize that she's not so special after all. Plus, it'll be a little payback for all the times she's made fun of us. Just imagine her reaction when she sees her nails disappear! It's going to be priceless.

Oh my gosh, can you believe it? Britney is still just as mean! She went back to the nail salon and got her nails done again. Ugh! It's like she never learned her lesson. But hey, on the bright side, I received her stolen nails, and I must say, I love how they look on me. They make me feel powerful, like I have a piece of her confidence. Anyway, we can't stop here. We need to take something more permanent from her. How about her 20/20 vision? Imagine how lost she'll be without it. Let's make her see the world in a whole new way, or rather, a blurry way. It's time for revenge!

Oh, come on! This is ridiculous! Now Britney has become even more stylish because she has to wear glasses. And what's worse is that everyone wants to wear glasses just to mimic her! It's like she can turn anything into a fashion statement. But hey, ironically, I don't have to wear glasses because I received Britney's good eyesight. Talk about a twist of fate. Well, enough is enough. It's time to hit her where it hurts the most—her beauty. Let's start by taking away her precious tan. Without her golden glow, she won't be able to rely on her looks anymore. Revenge is sweeter than a suntan!

Finally, we're starting to see some results. Britney seems to be less confident and less mean. It's like a small crack in her queen bee facade, but hey, it's a start. Maybe taking away her attributes is actually working. As for me, I can't help but admire my new tan, courtesy of Britney. It's absolutely flawless! I mean, look at how radiant and sun-kissed my skin is. I almost feel bad for taking pleasure in it, but hey, she had it coming. Now let's keep going. We need to strip her of more of her beauty and watch her crumble. Revenge never felt so satisfying.

Hey, quick question. How does my new blonde hair look? Wait, don't even answer. I already know it looks absolutely gorgeous! I can't help but feel amazing with this luscious, golden mane. And guess what? Britney now has dull brown hair as a result. Talk about a style downgrade for her. It's just another blow to her once-perfect image. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she realizes what she's lost. But hey, enough about her. Let's keep going. We have more of her beauty to take away, and I'm loving every minute of it.

I have to say, I absolutely love my new boobs. Thanks, Britney! They make me feel so sexy and superior. But you know what's interesting? Despite all the physical downgrades we've inflicted upon her, Britney is still mean and cruel. It's like her personality is untouched by our efforts. Maybe we've been focusing on the wrong things. Perhaps it's time to go straight to the source and take away her mean, haughty attitude. That's what we should have done from the start. Let's strip her of that toxic demeanor and finally bring her down a peg or two.

You know what? I've had a revelation. I've absorbed Britney's delicious toxic personality, and guess what? I've become the new queen bee. And let me tell you, it feels incredible. I revel in the power, the control, the superiority. Change back? Why would I ever want to change back? You, my oldest and ugliest friend, suggesting such a thing, clearly are jealous. You want all this for yourself. Well too bad because I’ve destroyed the machine because I'm here to stay. You can either bow down or step aside, because I'm the new alpha now. Now I’m off to steal something the machine never could, Britney’s boyfriend. It’s good being the queen.

[pjsk-headcanons]

HI ITS GLOBE ANON...SHINONOMES AHHHH (apologies for dying lol kind of wanted to get more art sided stuff done (i didnt))

shinonomes: distant

-basically, it was around middle school ena time when akito had that little line between "real" and "fake" start to blur

-ena knew he hated soccer but couldn't bring herself to say it to him. felt really guilty about it because after a while, she couldn't even look him in the eyes

-mental state was already pretty bad because of this, and then she got "the talk" from her teacher and then her dad confronted her too. she ended up throwing her art supplies out

-akito found out why she was having such a hard time, but he was already so deep into the spiral that the only thing he could do was avoid her

-they ended up just falling apart. they're so distant that they don't see each other at all. no phone numbers, just occasional notes on a counter. no birthday gifts

-can you tell they are my favourites (they are the ones on my display profile....hhhh)

summer festival, rekindled flames - post 1st anni

character boost: ena (focus), haruka, airi, akito, stage miku

-SUMMER FESTIVAL HAHAHA. pretty sure ena is not gonna have a good time. fashion and all

- ena didn't call akito to get her more comfortable shoes this time, who knew if she did what would happen next

-stage miku canonically likes food, like alot, so she is looking around with ena and admiring food

-airi and haruka meet in this one :D airi is preforming a small stand-up play, haruka is preforming a solo show

-akito simply admires the shows. ena sees him once and freaks out

-some enairi (platonic??) bonding maybe. a little bit of shinonome sibling backstory reveal

animal care? kamiyama clubfest! - post 2nd anni

character boost: rui (focus), akito, ena, nene, theater len

-literally what it sounds like i mean. reads i. mean text. i mean looks like i mea

-kamiyama is having a lil festival where clubs hold a lil stand for people to try out something related to the club so people join!!!

-since this is pre-3rd anni, the list goes like this

akito "helps out at various sports clubs"

ena doesn't have one. you gotta be kidding me

nene has film

rui has greening (for anyone who doesn't know, its like making more environmentally friendly stuff)

-rui gets kicked out of hosting the stand (everyone fears he will do something funny) and decides to look around

-animal care happens. seperate timing but this is probably where we learn akito's cynophobia

-meets ena (wanted to look around), akito, and nene seperately. theater len almost gets caught in open looking at a short film but nene gets him to hide right before akito pops up

-silly event, with some sibling mentions

blurry snapshots from that yesteryear - pre 4th anni

character boost: akito (focus), ena, an, minori, city MEIKO

-i love the word yesteryear. it doesn't even make sense (according to the oxford dictionary) in this occasion but i had to use it at some point ok

-akito goes to weekend garage and meets minori and an. minori mentions there being a live concert for stage○•showtime (yapping about how cool shizuku is)

-thinks huh. maybe i should go watch

-thinks for a bit too long in front of the two. an knows its normal behaviour and minori freaks out, talks to city MEIKO

-MEIKO says to keep an eye on him. if its that worrying

-day of preformance. minori fangirling and akito *DROPS FULL SHINONOMES FLASHBACK*

-ena spots him. oh no!!! gotta scram

-event story ends with ena coming home and her spotting a lil gift on the counter. she smiles a bit at it

sibling trust ranks are next + the asks in that one ask from a long time ago (sorry again. school sucks but there is a break soon so more content hopefully)

AAÀAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA have a great day mod!

🌐 anon

[mariposa-drowned]

Abby x injured!reader fluff 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Hello lovely! Thank you so much for being my first request! I'm sorry this took so long, I struggled with this one for a bit, and it was stuck in my drafts for longer than I'd like to admit. I know this isn't pure fluff, and I apologize for that, but I do have some period comfort/fluff in the works, so hopefully that makes up for this. I did my best to make this gender neutral aswell, so I hope I did okay:)

Warnings- hurt/comfort, small interaction with icky men, smidge of blood, bad and inaccurate medical descriptions, swearing, reader doesn't like taking medicine, that should be it but if I missed any lmk!

--🤍🖤🏹🤍🖤🏹🤍🖤🏹🤍🖤🏹🤍🖤🏹🤍🖤--

It was a pretty normal patrol day, you had been paired with Abby once again, you were convinced she was tugging some sort of strings to get paired up with you whenever you were out. But you werent complaining. Patrol was almost over, you just needed to check an abandoned convience store on the corner and then you could radio back to be picked up.

It seems that the seraphites had a different idea in mind about that. Before you could even register what was going on, you and Abby had been ambushed just as you were exiting the store. Bows and large rusty guns all pointed your way.

"Well, well look what we have here." one of the men on the front horse said. He looked to the others on horses and spoke again "What do you think men? Should we blow their brains out right here? Or have a little fun with these sinners?"

You looked to Abby, trying not to show the fear on your face and ultimatley failing, you reached to your hip for your gun before feeling Abbys hand covering yours, you looked to her with confusion evident on your face as Abby whispered to you.

"We're outnumbered, I radioed for backup when I heard them coming. Just stay calm for a minute." You trusted Abby with your entire life, so you slowly took your hand away from your hip, taking hold of Abbys hand instead.

You were snapped back to reality as one of the men got off his horse "I don't know, I think the little one would be nice, might take her back huh?" a murmur of agreement was heard from the other seraphites.

Abby gripped your hand harder, trying to gaurd you with her large frame.

"Don't fucking touch them."

"Oh protective one eh? I don't think you're in much of a position to have a say in this, do you?"

You heard a low growl come from Abby. You took a quick look around, trying to figure out what was taking the rest of patrol so long to come get you. Once you were distracted, you felt yourself being ripped away from Abby, the movment catching herself so off gaurd that her grip faultered. You let out a small yelp before your back was pressed against one of the men who had gotten of his horse. His hands digging into your wrist and hip where he held you. You could feel his hot breath on your neck trying to think.

Taking a deep breathe, you did what seemed most reasonable at the moment. You lifted your leg up and kicked backwards, hitting your captor right in the nuts. The man groaned, stumbling back as you tried to run forward back to Abby. You were a mere 5 feet away from her when you felt a searing pain in your leg. Dropping to the ground you let out a louder scream this time, the arrow doing deeper into your leg as you fell.

Abby screamed your name, quickly running to you as the men surrounding you started laughing. Their laughter was cut short though as you heard one of the WLF vehicles pull up, gunshots rang around you as bodies fell to the ground, Abby got close to you, sheilding you with her body. You couldnt help but start crying, you could feel the pain crawling up your leg as you tried to curl in closer to Abby, hoping she would take some of the pain away.

Once the gunshots ceased, you looked up with blurry eyes, seeing people rush towards you, medkit in hand. You could see mel come into view, a grimace on her face before she quickly hid it.

"We need to get them on the truck now, they need to go to the medwing, too much blood loss." Mel hurriedly spluttered out.

Abby nodded, she whispered a quick 'I'm sorry baby' before lifting you up bridal style, you yelled out in pain, a string of curses coming from your mouth as she carried you.

Abby laid you down on the truckbed sitting down next to you. Mel sat down by your leg, trying to asses the damage she got out a tourniquet. You looked to her knowing exactly what that was for and how much it would hurt. You tried to shuffle away, Abby quickly slid behind you, holding you still.

"no no no, Mel please, we really don't need to use that"

Mel gave you an apologetic look before starting to slip the tourniquet around your leg just above where the arrow stayed. You kept spluttering out pleas making pathetic attempts at kicking away, it got you nowhere. This was gonna hurt like a bitch. Mel leaned closer to Abby whispering a small "keep her still, it'll hurt worse if she's moving" Abby nodded at the request, still behind you she took both your arms to cross them over your chest, hugging you tight.

"you're alright angel, doin so good baby, so strong. Just need you to try and be still."

You looked up at her in question, still panicking when you felt the tourniquet start tightening. You screamed out, trying to wiggle out of Abby's iron grip despite her soft words.

You were so tired, and in so much pain, eventually your yelling stopped and you went slack in Abby's arms. She felt for your pulse, elevated, but still okay. She figured it was probably best for you to be unconscious right now anyways.

⁠●●●⁠●●●●●●●⁠●●●●●⁠●●●●●●●⁠●●●●●⁠●●●●●●●⁠●

You woke up feeling extremely groggy, like you were living in a cloud of fog. You tried to sit up, assessing your surroundings only to find you were in yours and Abby's shared space in the stadium. You were tucked into the bed, trapped in a cucoon of yours and Abby's blankets. Abby could see movement from the corner of her eye as she was tidying up the small kitchen.

"Hey my love how you feeling?" Abby walked over to you and sat on the edge of the bed, being cautious of your leg.

"Like I got shot with an arrow." You deadpanned, Abby laughed at your response "what happened? I remember passing out in the back of the truck."

Abby sighed "Well, once we got you back to the med-wing they took out the arrowhead but found that those asshole seraphites dipped it in some sort of natural poison found in plant roots. So they had to come up with a concoction of medicine to help your body process it, but they only had so much to spare. Long story short, you've been out for two days and the poison is likey still in your system and will be for the next few weeks. I've been checking on the wound and it does seem to be healing okay. We've both been given a month off and you're allowed to stay here with me as long as I look after you. Mel said she might still come by for checkups just to be safe though"

You kept your gaze on the blankets that surrounded you trying to process the information.

"I'm gonna be okay though right? We can still go out together?"

Abby could hear the tremble in your voice, she knew you were most likley overwelmed with the surge of information and the pain that you were in. She scooched in a bit closer to hold both sides of your head in her hands.

"You will be okay. You will heal overtime and I will help you in any way I can, we will do this together okay?"

You met Abbys eyes, you knew deep down that you would recover, and everything would eventually go back to normal, but you needed that reassurance. You put your hands over Abbys that currently resided on your face, taking a deep breath and closing your eyes focusing on her touch and how her smell had surrounded you, being redressed in one of her big shirts, her blankets mixed with yours all around.

You enjoyed the moment for several minutes before a sharp stinging pain radiated throughout your leg. Your face twisting into a grimace, Abby took notice of your expression and quickly pulled away from you, muttering under her breath 'be right back baby' you sat there as Abby went to go retrieve whatever. Taking a fistful of the blankets into your hand as you slunk down on the bed into a laying position you could feel the pain getting higher up your leg, letting out a small whimper in response. When she said that there would still be lingering poison she was not kidding at all.

Abbys footsteps neared the bed as she helped you back into a sitting position, her face contorting as she heard your small cries as the pain intesified, she placed her items on the side table and quickly positioned her frame behind yours.

"okay i have something here to help but its gonna taste like shit and burn like bad alcohol goin down okay?" You let out a small sob, Abby shushing you before speaking again "I know angel but it'll help lessen the pain, I have water right here for you afterwards, just need you to take one big gulp of it and you'll be all done." she held up a small bottle to your lips, you tried to take in a deep breathe to prepare yourself for the awful taste, but you would do whatever to stop the nausiating sensation in your leg.

You opened your mouth, Abby taking it as her signal to bring the bottle to your lips. You had to hold back a gag as you tasted the revolting medicine of sorts, squeezing your eyes shut you managed a full swallow before pushing back into Abby signaling yo her you were done. You reached around, searching for the water she had mentioned, wanting to rid the taste from your mouth.

Abby replaced the small bottle with a glass of water, bringing it to your lips and whispering soft praises into the air. You finished the whole glass noticing the pain in your leg had lowered back to a tolerable amount already.

"what the hell was that sin of a drink" Abby laughed at your comment, wrapping her arms around your torso

"Something that Mel and a few others downstairs put together as a morphine like substitute, but it has to be ingested orally unlike morphine which would require an IV. Does it feel any better?"

"I dont feel like tearing my leg off anymore so I guess so. Just aches on my upper leg now, I think I just wanna try and go back to sleep." you yawned through your last statement only proving your point more.

Abbys hand lowered down towards your injured leg as she started softly kneading the fat there trying to soothe the ache you mentioned "I'm fine with you going back to sleep but I need you to eat something first."

You whined at both the mention of eating something right after that horrible "medicine" and from the relief of Abbys hand on your thigh. Before you could protest Abby had shoved a protien bar in your hand. "Just this and I'll massage you til' you fall asleep"

You took the bar with a small grumble, knowing that her hand was currently working magic for your injured leg and you would probably start crying if she stopped. You quickly chomped it down, hearing a hum of approval from Abby. She repositioned you so you were laying on your good side leg, as she remained behind you. Her hands contined to rub on your leg, the other rested under you on your side, giving small squeezes of reasurance every now and then.

She contined her motions until she heard your breathing even out, your body fully relaxing into her as you slipped off into a dreamless state. Abby let herself doze off aswell after making sure you were okay.

Abby startled awake feeling small movements and whimpers of discomfort coming from you. Often times your dreams were riddled with nightmares but she knew that you were just uncomfortable from your body language. She maneuvered your body so you were laying on the matress flat on your back and started lightly kneading a bit further down your leg, trying to help rid your discomfort.

You settled down after a minute or two, waking Abby up a few more times during the night as she helped readjust your body, ultimately propping your leg up on a few pillows. She didn't know if it was doing much, but judging by how you slipped back into sleep so easily, she figured you were comfy enough.

Giving a final kiss on your forehead, she fell asleep with you, interlacing her hand with yours as she joined you in slumber.

[elliesbabygirl]

Hypophrenia

Ellie Williams x Female!reader

Summary: A sudden meltdown near Ellie causes you to worry about her attraction to you. Ellie and reader are in a relationship already .

Warnings: Crying, mentions of a panic attack, nail picking and a college wellness center (we all know college centers suck ).

Author's note: New piece of writing, who's excited? Hopefully, this piece turns out alright in the public eye and obviously encourages me to try new styles and write more often!. Reblogs, comments & likes are greatly appreciated.

Wc: 0.8

Hypophrenia

[hi-po-fre-ne-a ] • Greek

(n) A vague feeling of sadness, seemingly without any cause.

Now playing: I just wanna feel your love again - Montell Fish

“Ms.l/n”

You didn't mean for it to happen, one minute you're fine and dandy. The next you're hyperventilating while your vision becomes blurry. The worst part was Ellie noticing your meltdown and immediately getting up from her seat to notify the professor.

“Ms.l/n!”

A low voice caught your attention, you couldn't bother responding fully instead choosing to hum to let them know you're listening.

“How are you? Ms.williams said you were experiencing..issues? I'm dr.Castillon and I am one of the many counselors here for students like you. Which you obviously know, care to explain what happened today?”

Great, a wellness center. Ellie brought you to a wellness center, she thought something was wrong with you. You pinched and picked at the skin surrounding your nails as you looked up at dr.Castillon.

“Nothing's wrong, I just had a moment in my lecture s'all”

You responded, eyes wary as you looked around at the office space. Lightly cluttered, strong smell of coffee and degrees all over the walls.

“You had a moment? Do you wanna explain that to me?” Dr.Castillon asked as they readjusted themselves into a more entertained position, the chair squeaking as they laid back.

You didn't have to look back to know that castillon was giving you a condescending smile. The speed of which you picked your nails at increasing as you felt trapped in a box.

“Is this neces-”

A knock at the door interrupted you, moving to look behind you as the door quietly opened to reveal what looked like another counselor to you.

"Castillon- oh forgive me, I don't mean to interrupt but dr.Castillion is needed” Seeing your chance, you nodded at light speed. Already up from your chair as you grabbed your backpack, shrugging it on.

"nono, it's okay! There's something I need to do anyways"

Slipping past the other counselor, you hurried through the small hall. Eyes focused on the ground as you entered the waiting room. Ellie stood up, eyes full of worry as she came closer to you.

“baby, are you okay?”

You gave her a measly smile as you ignored her question and hurried outside. The chilly november air welcoming you with a harsh kiss to the face, your breath visible as you walked away from Ellie.

You couldn't face her, not now. Not after she had to drag you all the way to the wellness center like a crying baby. The embarrassment was eating you alive as you heard her trying to keep up with you.

“Y/n, wait up! What's wrong?!”

God, you wish the world would just open up and swallow you whole. You couldn't bare having to see her face to face and explain what was wrong.

Because the truth was, you didn't know. You didn't know why you had these episodes? Could you even call them that? It seemed like a stretch to call them episodes and you couldn't call them panic attacks because it just came on whenever you were fine with no probable cause.

“Y/n! Listen to me!”

Ellie stopped in front of you, hands on your shoulders to keep you from running away. Her lips in a small pout as she took in the way you looked and it was then when she realised that you had looked tired.

Your eyes dead as you just stared at her with no will to response. How long had you been feeling this way? And why didn't you tell her? It made Ellie feel like a bad girlfriend and an even worse friend.

“Oh baby..”

She wrapped you in a hug, tears pricking her own eyes as she nestled her face into the crook of your neck. Ellie shuddered, the feeling of her brown jacket against your own puffer motivating you to hug her back.

She could sense your insecurity, you were scared of how she would react. Scared that Ellie wouldn't wanna be with you, all because of a meltdown and it broke her heart.

“Baby, I love you..and nothing's going to change that okay?" she whispered into your neck, her hand finding the back of your head as she slightly massaged your hair.

The two of you might've looked weird, hugging in the middle of the walkway while crying but Ellie couldn't give a single fuck neither could you because you needed her in that moment and she knew that too.

© 𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 ─ 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙙. 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮, 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙨.

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

Yandere! artist x gn! reader

So this is my first time posting my writings, so please be gentle (lol). Still pretty mild though.

He's so enamored with you.

But why?

Is it because he saw you on that faithful day on the train station that was bound to make its last trip?

Is it because he, in his clumsy glory, spilled his arts supplies and you're the only one that helped him? (It does not matter that you two are the only one there, no no no no... YOU HELPED HIM.)

Is it because despite him saying sorry over and over again for inconveniencing you, you just smiled and chuckled, saying that it was okay?

Or is it because of the way the wind blew and the autumn leaves fell, making your sparkling eyes tremble as you look at him. Making the perfect scenario in his head?

It didn't matter anyways. What he knows is that you never left his head after that. Your perfect visage and perfect smile burned in his brain, in his memories, in his heart.

You were his muse, his inspiration.

But it's been quite a while since he saw you, and your face is slowly getting blurry.

And he's also getting desperate.

He panted after frantically painting for the nth time today.

"No... Why can't I remember their face?" He whispered with a slight stutter in his tongue. "Please no... Please make me remember!"

He hit his head with the heel of his palm as if trying to jog his memories. But still, the face that he once dreamed of every single day is so blurry. So awfully blurry. He gasped as he tried to stop the desperate tears threatening to fall from his shaky eyes.

His knees buckled and his body fell to a kneel. The room cold from the air-conditioning, and also the rainy weather outside. As the pitter patter of the raindrops fell and slid on the windowsill, his heart pumped with so much adrenaline from painting and wasting so much canvas and paint. His work room littered with broken canvases, unfinished paintings, and different variations of a person smiling at the beholder.

The only thing consistent about the person was their big, sparkly eyes.

"Ah..." He shivered. "Ahh..." His lips trembled as a stray cry escaped his mouth. The tears now falling.

He wanted to see them again so bad, to see their muse. But the train station was now closed, sealing off his fate in this small, quiet town. He regrets moving from the city now that he saw them moving away from here.

The store front bell rang and he stilled.

With knees weak, he stood up and wiped his face from the tears. His heart was still slowly breaking as he trudged towards the reception.

"Welcome to my grandmother's antique store. May I know your..."

He stopped.

"name..."

His eyes landed on you, whose eyes still sparkle the same way he remembers. His memories was immediately jogged, almost giving him whiplash from the sudden surge of overwhelming emotions of finally remembering you, seeing you, facing you.

And hopefully, loving you.

You grinned at him, remembering the artist who had spilled his art supplies on the exact same day you departed from your home town.

"Hi! Didn't expect you to be the one to inherit the old lady's antique shop. She's so sweet. Delivered me baked goods time and time again. Oh uh, i'm the one who helped you in the train station months ago. Maybe you don't remember... Oh god maybe you don't and I just sound like a creep haha." Your sweet voice filled his ears once more and he quietly sighed as he felt the shivers go down his spine.

"I definitely remember!" He said enthusiastically.

"I now remember."

[romanoffs-widow]

Sorry for everything

Sum: Nat takes out her anger on you after a stressful couple of weeks.

Warnings ⚠️ : Shouting, arguing, and split up?

A/N: Thank you very much to @bobisek96 for requesting this fic, I hope it's okay 😭 and tysm to everyone for all the love on my (not actually first) first fic! I appreciate you all sm ❤️

(I promise there is eventual fluff 😅)

Happy reading! 😊

NATASHA POV:

Everyone thinks being an Avenger is so easy. All you gotta do is a couple of fights and interviews, and that's it, right? Wrong. These last couple of weeks have had me exhausted and honestly drained.

Steve and Tony keep arguing about useless crap, Lena accidentally stained the couch with red wine and didn't even tell me, so I sat in it and stained my favourite sweatpants and I've had to do 6 different interviews because Tony had a cold and couldn't do them, and on top of all that, Morgan has clung to me like a magnet since her dad has been sick. I love kids, and I really do, but not when I'm exhausted and keep having nightmares, leaving me sleepless almost every other night.

"Hey Natty," she says with that smile I love so much. I don't know what it is, but even y/n/n can't cheer me up today. Too tired to respond, I just give her a nod. Hopefully, she can see I don't want to talk right now.

I went to change into comfier clothes. I feel a pair of hands wrap around my waist. I shrug her off, getting annoyed. "Are you okay, baby?" I roll my eyes as I put my top over my head. "I'm fine." Maybe now she'll get it? "You know if you don't want to talk to me, just say." She says it with a tone that tips me ove rather edge.

"You know what? Maybe I don't want to talk to you. Maybe all I want to do is lay down in our bed and try my very best to relax! I have had such a hard couple weeks, and all you do is bug me because you're a pathetic childish wench that wants my attention all the time! If you knew what I go through every single day as an Avenger, maybe you'd at least try to understand how hard my job is! So please just shut your whiny mouth up and get out. I don't want to see your face EVER AGAIN!"

Y/N POV:

My vision is beyond blurry as I feel the endless stream of tears rolling down my cheeks. My hands are shaking, and anxiety is sitting heavy on top of my chest. "Alright. O-okay." I get up, and without saying anymore, I grab my backpack and start shoving a bunch of clothing into it. I go into the bathroom and grab my toothbrush, as well as the other necessities that belonged to me.

With my bag and arms full with items, I give the redhead one last look. Her face is still red from all the shouting she did as she stared at the floor, in the same spot she'd been in for a couple of minutes. I give her a small nod, sniffling as I close the door. I am fully aware the whole compound heard all of that, and honestly, they should. I don't deserve to be treated like that.

I'm going to miss this place. The past 9 years of my life have been spent living here, getting to know all of the amazing people within. I had so many memories here, one of the first being when Morgan was born. She had a head full of hair and a smile that looked just like her fathers'.

As I walked out of the tower, I went to the first person I could think of. Wanda Maximoff, my best friend of 5 years. She does live in the compound, but she also owns an apartment on the other side of the city for emergencies. She gave me a spare key when she got it. Thankfully, I'd never used it before, so I'd never seen the interior of the four walls.

Memories, good and bad swirls around in my head, as I twist the bronze key into the lock. It took me an hour to get here, with the bus and all. I get settled in, as I know I'll be staying here for a while. I started getting myself a snack when I heard the door swing open. I look at it to see the red magic I'd come to know very well.

"Y/n/n honey? Are you in here?" As soon as I hear her voice, I run over to her, the flow of tears starting up again. "Oh my god, are you okay? She didn't hurt you, did she?" I shake my head, unable to speak. "Oh, my poor baby. I'm so sorry I didn't find you sooner. Everyone is out looking for you. I'd better call Pietro and tell him to tell everyone you're safe."

I just hug her tighter. "E-e-even...?" She looks at me with guilt in her eyes. "We all heard what she said to you, and F.R.I.D.A.Y said that you'd left, so we all went looking for you. None of us have heard from her since." By now, I've soaked her hoodie with my never-ending tears.

"Shhhh, it's okay, you're okay." Wanda whispers as she rubs my back to calm me down.

1 MONTH LATER...

I hear a knock at the door. Wanda only left, and she had her own key, so it definitely wasn't her, and i haven't ordered any packages. Deciding i dont care, I go to open it. I see nothing but a white teddy bear holding an envelope sitting on the welcome mat. There is no sign of anyone being here, as the halls are silent. I pick up the toy and bring it inside, closing the door. I go and put it on the counter, taking the red letter from its paws. It had my first initial on the front.

Our place, 2 pm?

- N xx

I roll my eyes. Even if I was very upset with her, she always knew how to make me smile. I check the clock, seeing it's already 1pm, so I decide to start getting ready.

I step into the shop and immediately see Natasha. As I get closer, I can see that she has bags under her eyes, and I see that her knuckles are all red and sore. She's probably been training to get her mind off us. "Hey," She goes to hug me, and I let her. "Hi." She ordered both our favourite drinks.

"How have you been?" I scoff. "What kind of a question is that? My girlfriend of 9 years kicked me out because she was having a rough couple of weeks and hasn't even bothered talking to me for a whole month, and you think I'm okay?" She looks down with guilt filled eyes. "...no. Sorry."

I sip from my cup. "Are you gonna give me some pathetic excuse as for why you made me leave like that, or what?" She nods her head, and takes a Depp breath.

"What I said was really messed up. I shouldn't have called you any of those rude names or said any of that to you. I was having a hard couple of weeks, and I just wanted some quiet. Which I got. But by all means, that's no excuse to take my anger out on you. I don't know if you even want to talk to me anymore after what I did, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness or anything remotely close but I really am sorry y/n/n. These past 9 years have meant so much to me, and I don't want them to go down the drain because of my stupid actions."

She pauses for a while. Waiting for me to give her some sort of response. "Thank you. I'm sorry for bothering you so much, but it would be very helpful if you communicated how you feel to me, so I know when you need space. I haven't forgiven you. That's going to take a long time, but if you're willing to work on this, so am I. Okay?" She puts her hand on top of mine. "Okay."

6 MONTHS LATER...

Everything had been going actually quite well with y/n, and I. I've been working on my communication, and she's been helping me to recognise when I feel like I need space. She's moved back into the compound, and as of recently, she's started staying in our room again.

"Hey baby." I forgot how much I love her voice. "Hi malysh. Cuddles?" She nods her head and wraps herself around me on the couch. We quickly get sucked into our newfound favourite show, Greys Anatomy. "Meredith really is gorgeous, but not as gorgeous as you!" I say as I give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm nothing compared to McDreamy." I laugh, knowing she loves Derek too much.

"Sorry...for everything." She turns to look at me with her eyebrows furrowed, abandoning our show. "I know. It's okay." She adjusts herself so she can kiss my lips. "I love you." She snuggled back onto me, sucking back into the show.

[summerlycoris]

Is It Really A Birthday Party If You Wake Up In A Hospital Bed?

Chapter 1- And I Lay Under The Smoke And The Falling Debris.

Cassie's learning the hard way- nearly dying in an elevator after being betrayed by her bestie doesn't make for a great thirteenth birthday.

So that's a wash- but Cassie's a forward thinker. She wants her fourteenth birthday to be great- with carrot cake, her dad back, and friends who don't try to kill her.

Shouldn't be too hard, right? All she has to do is make some new friends…

… And maybe figure out what happened with that All Staff Meeting her Dad had talked about before he went missing…

This may be harder than she thinks. Can she really pull this off? Or will that monster in the basement finally finish her off?

Join Cassie as she tries to answer these questions, and more! But most importantly…

Is it really a birthday party if you wake up in a hospital bed?

For a moment, she was floating. But only for a moment. Then she slammed into the roof of the elevator as it careened back down.

Time slowed down to a crawl, but her thoughts only sped up. She must've dropped her Faz-Wrench- It couldn't help her now. She couldn't find her Roxy-Talkie either. The monster's arm was just out of reach.

She wanted something to cling to.

Anything.

Everything was so confusing.

She wanted Roxy to be here. Gregory to be here. Someone to hold her hand. Whisk her away. Mom Dad please-

She'd spent all night falling, and she couldn't stand it. Maybe this was just a bad dream that she'd start awake from, safe in her bed.

I hate heights. I hate heights. I hate heigh-

Those were the last thoughts she could remember.

When she came to, she saw the damage done to the floor first, because her face was lying against it. The boards were sticking up slightly at breaks, or bent weirdly through the middle. She could feel some of them poking into her body. Her head hurt. Even worse than when Monty had tackled her into the sewerage pipe.

She breathed in dust, still hanging in the air as she looked up. Her eyes were blurry, but she could still see. The door was partially opened, the bars looked like they'd been wrenched apart.

She could hear something shuffling nearby. There was a faint creaking and groaning of metal from above her. She couldn't see her Faz-Wrench, V.A.N.N.I mask, or Roxy-Talkie anywhere. Or that monster's arm.

There was a grate sitting on the floor that hadn't been there earlier, though.

…

How long had she been out for?

Everything hurt way too much. Her left arm was stuck underneath her. When she tried to pull it out, it just hurt. A sharp, throbbing pain. She couldn't help but groan.

Her back hurt when she tried to get up. It was a duller pain though. Manageable? But she couldn't get up properly. She tried rolling off her belly, so she could push herself into sitting using her right arm. Her head spun just attempting to roll- so she put paid to that idea.

She couldn't feel anything weird in her legs. So they should be okay? But she couldn't move them. Oh, so they're broken. That makes more sense. She thought.

She lay her head back against the floor, taking some time to breath, and hopefully get her head to stop spinning. This was a really bad time for her vertigo to play up.

If she wanted to get out of this, she needed every advantage she could get.

To get out of here…

Could she even get out of here?

She could hear a faint shuffling noise nearby.

This elevator was… broken now. There was another one that she'd taken down from Roxy Racers. But she'd run away from it when the monster chased her, she thought.

…

Yeah. That one had a metal floor. She could remember because she'd spent too much time staring down at her shoes, crying over Roxy. There were two elevators. This broken one. And the one she'd have to get to to leave.

… Get to it how? She couldn't even roll over? Her legs were broken? Her head was still spinning?

She whimpered, the realization crashing into her. She wasn't getting out of this. Gregory may not have killed her with the fall, but she was still going to die.

It'd just take longer.

She could feel tears prickling at her eyes. Nobody could find her here. Nobody would even think to look here. No one knew where she was. She didn't have a phone- didn't even have her Roxy-Talkie anymore.

She had tried so hard, and this was where it would end? She sobbed, and her heart ached.

The shuffling noises got closer, and she could hear servos whirring. She stopped. That thing… it could still be here. What if it had heard her? She shut her eyes, and tried to play dead.

That noise got closer and closer. She was so tempted to look. Maybe dying to it would be better? Would it kill her quickly? Why was she still trying so hard to live?

"Cassie, are you in here?" She heard a small voice whispering. Roxy's voice. She'd never heard Roxy whisper before.

She squinted her right eye open, and looked out the wrecked door.

And there she was. Cassie couldn't even believe it. It really was her. She looked different though. She was missing most of her left arm, from the elbow down, and seemed to be crawling. Her head was hanging loosely from her neck. She saw Roxy's whole body twitch, and some sparks fly at her neck.

The tears she'd been holding back streamed down, and she sobbed out "Roxy- Roxy I'm so sorry-" her voice was creaky from the dust. She started to cough.

"Cassie, it's okay. You're okay. It's gone now, it can't hurt you any more. I'll get you out of here." Roxy's ears flicked around on her head, trying to pinpoint exactly where to go.

Cassie tried to push herself up with her right arm, and scramble towards her. She at least got her head and chest off the floor, and off her left arm. Her back protested from this movement. She couldn't go anywhere. "Roxy, I think I broke my legs- I can't move."

"That's okay. That's okay." Roxy tried to reassure her as she clambered over, gently as to not knock the loose boards up too much.

When Roxy reached her, Cassie tried to tap her with her left arm. It screamed at her to stop. She couldn't stop. I'm here, I'm here. You found me. Her hand ran over what was left of Roxy's hair- the green forelock, dangling loosely from her head. It felt more like plastic than hair. But it also felt like a lifeline. And Roxy could feel where she was now, too.

Roxy got closer, and kneeled up onto her legs, so she could use her arm. Her legs were damaged in places, and Roxy seemed to be off balance. But she braced herself with her busted arm, and used the right one to wrap around Cassie's chest. "We need to get out of here now. Can I move you? It may hurt."

She nodded, before realizing that was useless. "Yes, please." The creaking from up above reached a crescendo, as Roxy pulled Cassie up against her stomach. Cassie whimpered as her back stung. But she needed to be brave. She could be brave for a bit longer, now that Roxy was here.

Roxy held her firmly against her chest with her right arm crossing over Cassie's back. What was left of Roxy's left arm holding Cassie's head against her chest. Cassie could see the broken wires in her neck by looking up, and could see where that monster had further damaged Roxy's casing. Cassie had to be careful of Roxy's damaged head, hanging loosely just beside her own. She couldn't afford to take a wire to the eye. She clung to Roxys left shoulder with her only good arm.

Roxy stood up and quickly walked out of the elevator, leaning against the bars of the door as she crawled back through the hole.

"Did you open the door before, Roxy?"

"... No. But I think it has left now. What did it do to you?"

Roxy turned around to face the elevator, even if her head was dangling. Even though she was blind.

Cassie had seen the roof of the elevator buckling as they'd left it. Had seen some broken cords and cables next to the elevator. The walls at the back and sides of the elevator were buckled and bent in the fall, almost looking like the crinkly part of an accordion. But way less intended. The beams that should have held everything steady were snapped or bent. It looked like it was going to collapse.

And then it did collapse. Cassie gasped at the noise. Roxy took some frantic steps backwards, nearly tripping over.

"Oh my!"

"Roxy-"

Roxy managed to catch herself and stay upright, before turning around and getting away. The dust that had just been hanging in the elevator before was now everywhere. Cassie held her breath until they were clear of the cloud.

Roxy slumped forwards against the doorframe leading back towards the tunnels. She knelt down, and placed Cassie so she was sitting up against some nearby crates.

She breathed heavily, and made the mistake of looking down at her legs.

…

She looked away quickly, back up to Roxy. It just made her queasy.

"... What did it do to you?" Roxy asked again.

"It? Umm, it chased me through the tunnels… I got away though, I got into the elevator and I got away-" Cassie stalled.

She didn't want to think about a lot of things right now. Like heights. Like what the monster would've done to her if it had caught her. Her right ankle twisted strangely inwards. The cuts on her left leg. The fact her left leg just looked wrong. That her legs should be hurting. Her back-

But most of all she didn't want to think about that.

‘...But we can't let it follow you. I'm sorry.’

I was getting away until Gregory-

Her face felt warm and ashamed, and she started crying again. Maybe she'd just cry forever.

"The elevator fell. I fell. Gregory-" she couldn't continue though the sobs. She couldn't see properly through her tears.

And then Roxy was there. Holding her tight. Hugging her, and running her hand through Cassie's hair soothingly. For being pressed against broken metal and plastic, it was… comforting. They stayed like that for a while, until Cassie was calm enough to explain.

"He dropped the elevator. H-he couldn't risk that thing following me. That's what he'd said…"

Roxy's ears twitched. "That kid again, when I find him…" She growled, then shook her head and refocused. "Don't worry about him right now. You said that you thought your legs were broken earlier. Is there anything else?"

"My left arm really hurts. I think it's busted too? And my back hurts. It's not too bad, though. I think I landed badly?"

Roxy was silent for a moment, and Cassie got to thinking- how were they gonna get out of here?

"... Roxy, there's another elevator that leads back to Roxy Racers. That's how I got here. If we can get back to it, we can leave."

Roxy hummed. "I can do that. But I can't keep carrying you. Not safely. My balance is… off. If I fell forward I'd crush you. But I also can't leave you here to get help, anything could happen…" She trailed off, back to thinking. "Cassie, do you see any rope anywhere?"

She looked around. All she saw was the hallway, the door next to them, and the remains of the elevator. Except- wait. There was rope. Rope netting that was skirting the wall of the hallway just besides her.

"Yes! Just over there- err, to your left, along the wall. There's a long net stuck to it. Why?"

Roxy walked around her and the boxes, feeling her way over to the netting. "If I can't carry you in my arms, I could tie you to my back instead. That could work… you could even help tell me where to go."

Hope filled Cassie's chest. She could get out of here- and even get to help her favorite animatronic at the same time?

Maybe this birthday was still salvageable.

She agreed, and they set to work. Or rather, Roxy set to cutting the netting loose from the wall. Luckily, she still had one set of decently sharp claws. She cut a long length of netting, then pulled it back over to where Cassie sat, laying it on the ground.

"We could also use this to help splint your legs. Though, we may have to splint them against each other- I'm not sure if there's anything we can use here."

"There could be something in the crates? There's some behind me, and some against the other wall, closer to the elevator." Cassie was already taking her role seriously. Roxy went to go check, prying the lids off the crates behind her and feeling around inside the boxes. She rummaged through there for a long while, before speaking up again.

"Doesn't seem to be anything useful, just old party supplies? Everything feels like cardboard…"

Cassie looked over at the crates further away. They were half covered by a tarp, but she could see that they were typical kinds of crates. They had diagonal cleating on the sides for added support. She looked over her shoulder at the crates behind her- they were the same!

"The crates are made of wood. And the cleating shouldn't be too hard to remove. Could the cleats work as a splint?"

Roxy put the lid back on to the crate she was at, and started testing the cleating on its side. "This could work. I need three pieces…"

"Three?"

"Two for your legs" She ripped off one of the cleats, and moved onto the other side. "And one for your arm. Im not sure what to do about your back, though." She ripped off more pieces of cleating. "They taught us basic first aid, how to manage cuts and bruises, even apply splints. But not what to do for suspected spinal injuries. Maybe I should send a formal request for more training, when we get out of here."

Cassie didn't want to think about what that implied. So she didn't, instead focusing on what Roxy was doing.

Roxy got all the pieces together, cut some lengths of rope out of the net, then asked Cassie a question- "I'll need help to do this. I'll need your hand to help tie the ropes properly. And I'll need you to look at what I'm doing, to let me know if things go wrong. Can you do that for me?"

Cassie didn't want to do that. Just glimpsing her legs a few minutes ago had made her feel queasy. But what choice did she have?

I just need to be brave for a little bit longer.

She agreed. And Roxy handed her one end of the rope, before lining up the splint against her left forearm. She held Cassie's arm gently, but it still hurt. Cassie bit her lip as she wrapped the rope around her arm and the splint. When both the splint and forearm were stable against each other, Roxy let go, and grabbed the other end of the rope, feeling along the floor for it. They worked together to tie it up.

And then needed to repeat that for her legs. Which, on one hand, were easier. Cassie didn't need to bite her lip to keep from crying out in pain. But it was also harder. She didn't have much in her stomach- lunch was so long ago- but it was threatening to make a reappearance as Roxy helped straighten her ankle. It just looked wrong.

After that one, they moved onto her left leg. But didn't know where exactly that one had broken, only that she had some nasty looking cuts in her calf and thigh. So while her right leg only needed the ankle and shin splinted, she got her whole left leg laid out straight, and splinted. She was sure it'd feel uncomfortable later.

After finishing with her legs, Roxy and Cassie worked to tie what was left of the netting under Cassie's arms and around her upper back. Then, Roxy put her arms one at a time through the squares of the net. It's almost like she is putting on a button up shirt. Except the shirt is made of rope netting, and there are no buttons. Cassie giggled a little at the thought.

"When we get out of here, I'll make you a proper shirt. One that looks super cool." She whispered, clinging to Roxy's shoulder. She was so, so, tired. It was way past her bedtime. Definitely past midnight. Maybe even past two am. Mum never lets me stay up this late- even on new years eve! She'll definitely be home by now.

"Okay?" Roxy tilted her head in confusion. But it didn't look right because her head lolled forwards, as she walked on her hand and feet. Cassie guessed it was for better balance. She couldn't help but laugh at this situation. Everything just seems a little funnier when you're exhausted.

Roxy slowly continued following the tunnel back towards the monster's… Lair? Prison? It seemed to take eternity for them to get to the first fork in the road. And it seemed to take forever for Cassie to decide which way to go. "I… I think we go right here? Wait, no… He said to go right on the way here… Umm, we go left now?"

"We'll try left first. If it leads us to a dead end, we can just try again after."

So they went, continuing their slow trek back. And Cassie nearly dozed off several times. Despite having metal and plastic pressing into her belly. Despite having rope rubbing up into her shoulder blades. Despite the pain in her arm and back. She was only twelve, after all.

Wait, no. Thirteen now. I'll need to get used to saying that.

"Roxy- Roxy, did you know I'm thirteen now?"

Roxy laughed lightly. "Yes, that's why I wished you a happy birthday earlier. Did you forget?"

"Nuh- uh. Didn't forget it. I was just… distracted earlier."

Distracted running away from Chica, and Monty, and Freddy, and little Music Men. Distracted by a liar lying to me. Distracted because I shut you down. Because I let you down. Because I betrayed you, and he betrayed me-

"Roxy, how did you know I was down here anyway? I shut you down…"

"Shut me down? You rebooted me."

"But I saw you go limp-"

"I should clarify" it felt so weird to hear 'clarify' come out of Roxy's mouth- err, voice box. "You shut down security. But then I could reboot without it draining my resources, back into safe mode."

Cassie nodded, pretending like she understood how that worked. She wished she could ask her dad.

"And how did I find you? I could hear you crying. That led me down the elevator shaft, then to you."

Cassie could feel her eyes get watery. How haven't I run out of tears yet?

She sniffled out "Thank you, thank you sooo much." Into Roxy's back.

"Don't worry about it, kid. I'd do anything for my number one-twice." Roxy couldn't exactly grin- being pretty much all endo now. But she sounded like she was grinning.

That's why Roxy's my favorite.

A gust of cold wind rattled down the tunnel, causing Cassie to shiver. It was so noisy, too. She remembered the weird noises from earlier, and how the door had been torn ajar.

The monster had tried (and succeeded?) At getting into the elevator while she was unconscious. That's terrifying… another shiver ran up her back. This time it was not caused by the cold.

Maybe it just wanted its arm back? Maybe it thought I was already dead?

She shook her head, these thoughts were getting her nowhere.

"It's pretty late- four forty-five by my internal clock. When did you last get any sleep?" Roxy kept walking forward on her three limbs, going over a bumpy part, but trying her best to be gentle with it.

"Umm, a long time ago? I woke up at six yesterday…"

Roxy hummed. "Did you want to take a nap for a while? It seems to be a straight path for now. I should be able to handle this bit."

"No, not yet. Roxy, do you think it's gonna come… back for me? I think I really made it mad earlier."

"It- oh, that one." Roxy stopped walking, and craned her ears around. "I think it found a way out already. If it was still here, I'd be able to hear it. And I doubt it'll come back- it'd be scared of having a second round against me!" Roxy joked.

Cassie laughed at that. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight you either…"

"How would you have made it mad, though?" Roxy asked, after a bit. She'd resumed walking, following the tunnel.

"It thought it was Gregory. And I told it that it wasn't him. Probably made it embarrassed."

Roxy laughed. "Maybe so, but I don't think it'll come back just because you embarrassed it. It might never want to see this place again, it was trapped down in that room before?"

"Yeah… until I let it out." I'm the biggest, most foolish girl in the world right now. "I really messed up, huh? I knew something was wrong, but I kept going anyway." Her eyes started to water again. "I just wanted to see him again…"

"Cassie… it's not your fault. Things like that, they like to mess with people and trick them. I've been tricked before too- if they can trick me, that means they can trick anyone."

Cassie waited for Roxy to tell her how she was tricked, but Roxy changed the subject instead.

"You know what the best thing to do is? When someone treats you like dirt?"

"No… What?"

"You keep trying, and you never give up! Then, when you win, you can rub it in their face! 'You tried to tear me down- well look where I am now!' "

That made Cassie feel a little better. Roxy didn't really get why she was upset, but it was nice to hear her attempts to comfort her.

"I'm gonna get you out of here. Then, you can show them up- both Gregory and that thing!"

"...Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Cassie grinned, and felt determination flow through her. Because they wanted me dead- getting out alive would be enough.

They kept going for a while, down the cold, drafty tunnel. Cassie yawned loudly, and slumped down further into Roxy's back. Today- well yesterday and today- had been such a rollercoaster for her. She was fighting just to stay awake.

Roxy laughed. "Get some sleep, Cassie. I'll wake you if I get lost."

She couldn't fight her heavy eyelids for any longer. So she did just that, curling up as best she could against Roxy's back. The slight swaying of movement rocking her to sleep.

________

Cassie didn't know how long she'd been asleep, just that Roxy had woken her up near the toppled forklift.

She groaned and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "Whu- what time is it?"

"From my internal clock, it is about seven thirty a.m."

"Wow… Mom's gonna kill me when I get home. Do you think I'll miss the school bus?"

"... Cassie, it's still summer break? Are you okay?"

"Umm, yeah. Just tired." Exhausted was probably a better word. She felt like she had less sleep than she did before that nap. "I'm awake though. You need help?"

Cassie looked around. They were near the lair where that monster had been trapped. She could see the upturned forklift next to them. It still had power- though, luckily, the engine had turned off. There was only the faint smell of gasoline filling the space. Though, it must've still had battery. Because the brake lights were still on, shining a dim light to the ceiling. Even if the headlights hadn't been buried in the rubble when the monster threw it down, they'd probably have broken on impact with the wall. She could vaguely see the room where the monster had been stuck, using the scattered faint red light. But there was a problem- it was up higher than the tunnel. She'd had to jump down into the tunnel earlier that morning from the room. Now they'd need to climb back up into that room.

And it was at least six feet off the ground.

"I just… I don't know where to go now. I don't have an internal map of this place. Is this a dead end? I swear I went the right way…" Roxy asked, feeling against the wall underneath the hole with her hand.

"No, there's a hole up in the wall, but it's pretty high up. It's just above you. If you stand up, you should be able to reach it."

Roxy stood up, and felt along with her hand until she felt the wall give way into a hole. The hole was tall- but Roxy was nearly as tall as it. If she'd had eyes, and a head that wasn't lolled forward, she would've been able to see inside the room. But she didn't have eyes. And while she would've been tall enough to see into the room, she was not tall enough to climb back through. At least, not without injuring Cassie further. They both realized this around the same time.

"There has to be another way. We're so close!"

"You can leave me here, if you want. I'll be okay."

Roxy shook her head. "No, there's no way I'm leaving you behind. Not like this."

Cassie sighed. Am I gonna drag Roxy down with me? She can't have endless power… The chill swept through her again. She shivered, and looked around. Maybe Roxy was right, and there was something that could help them.

There was rubble, from when the forklift had broken through the brick wall. But most of it was just… Well, bricks. Some pieces were bigger, but none were both big enough, and stable enough to stand on. The only really solid thing in this tunnel was the forklift.

Hey, wait…

"Maybe the forklift can help? It's to your left, and it's kinda stuck in the rubble. It landed on its bonnet earlier. If it was laying on its side, in front of the wall, could it become a stepping stone?"

"... That could work. Hang on."

Cassie gripped onto Roxy's shoulder pad tighter, as Roxy turned towards the fork lift. She went over, grabbing onto the chassis and testing it for any give. It wriggled a bit when pressure was applied.

Roxy braced herself, and secured her hand a bit higher on the frame, before trying to pull it towards herself. Cassie whimpered, worried it would fall too quickly and crush them. Roxy had already gotten stuck under a forklift earlier that morning- what if it happened again?

These worries turned out to be baseless- it never moved enough to become a crush hazard. And it was clear to Cassie that this was really pissing off Roxy. She started grunting with exertion, and putting her whole body weight into trying to move it. She tried pushing it backwards, then pulling it towards herself, trying to lever its tynes out of the ground. But it just wasn't working. It was stuck too fast. The sudden movements running pain through Cassie's arm and back, with the way Roxy was jolting back and forth. Cassie didn't worry about that though- she could hear Roxy's servos straining, and see the way the loose wires near her neck sparked.

"Roxy- Roxy! Just stop, please- You're going to hurt yourself!" She begged.

And she did stop. Roxy leant against the chassis, still gripping it with her hand. She panted as she stood there, the effects of that effort catching up to her.

Cassie changed her grip, from shoulder pad, to shoulder itself, and laid her head down against Roxy's back. It was the closest she could get to giving her a hug.

"I'm gonna… waste all my battery trying to move this… stupid, useless hunk of metal!" Roxy yelled in frustration, slamming her fist into the paneling of the forklift. Cassie flinched at the sound of metal meeting metal.

A few seconds passed. But it felt like eternity. Roxy eventually stopped panting, and backed away from the stuck fork lift.

"I'm sorry that I scared you just then. I just… I can't lose again. I have to protect you, but I can't even get you to safety like this." The disappointment in her voice was palpable.

"It's okay, it's okay…" Cassie tried to sooth her. "You tried, I'm just glad you didn't get crushed again."

They stayed there in silence for a minute, brain and CPUs wracking for a solution.

"If you went without me, you could get Eclipse for help. They're back in the daycare, but they're in pretty good shape, and they can fly."

"Wait- Eclipse is back? I haven't seen them in years… if I could get closer to the raceway, I could probably send a distress signal to them."

"I'll be fine down here- you said it yourself earlier- it probably never wants to see this place again. It won't be back."

"... But it's my job to protect you. You're a kid, and you need help. I already failed you once- I can't do it twice."

"Wait, you didn't fail me- You saved my life? I don't understand…"

Roxy tensed up. "I lost. To that thing. And it chased you, and he hurt you. I couldn't even do anything. Not anything that mattered."

"But that wasn't your fault! If anyone failed me- it's Gregory! You tried to save me. You still are saving me."

Roxy didn't give any indication that she'd even heard her. Cassie didn't know what to say. But she needed to say something.

"...When we get out of here, I'll fix you. I'll get Andy to help- I'll get Dad to help, too…" if I ever find him. "then you won't have to worry about losing again."

She felt Roxy relax a bit under her- maybe that was the right thing to say?

"...Are you sure? About being okay here, I mean."

"I've gone through a lot worse things than waiting tonight- err, today."

Roxy sighed. She got down, as low as she could get to the ground, trying to smooth out a spot with her hand. Then she started taking off the netting. "Make sure to hold on. I'll be able to grab you- you won't fall- but not until my arms are free."

Cassie agreed.

Slowly, and as gently as she could, Roxy put her down on the ground. It wasn't great- she was laying on rubble, and the netting from before. It was uncomfortable. But she'd be okay.

Roxy hovered over her, and ran her fingers through Cassie's hair. "... I'll be back soon, okay? I'll get Eclipse, and we'll get you home again. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She lied. Cassie wanted to be greedy. She wanted to hold Roxy's hand, and never let go. She wanted Roxy to keep running her hand through her hair. She didn't want to be left here alone.

But I have to be brave, for just a little longer. "I'll see you soon."

Roxy drew back, and her hand left Cassie's hair. "I'll see you soon, Cassie." She went back to the wall, looking like she was measuring with her hand how high up the hole was. Cassie wondered how she'd get up there. She was answered quickly- Roxy took a few paces backwards, crouched, then took a flying leap. Straight at the hole.

She nearly nailed the landing- despite not being able to see it. She got most of the way through, and only needed to scramble her legs against the wall to completely get through, knocking a few bricks loose.

Then she was gone. And Cassie was alone again. In a cold, dark tunnel, just laying down. At least this time I'm not stuck on my belly, I guess.

Nothing much happened from there. All Cassie could do was think. Wonder what Eclipse would say when they saw her again. Or what Mom would do when she saw just how many bones Cassie had broken in one sitting.

She'd need to go back to school- would they send her back in a wheelchair? She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Her classmates would probably pick on her for it. But she could probably do some cool tricks in it, as well. And if she was lucky, she could even get a red one, or a purple one. That'd match her outfits well. Even a green one would be okay- as long as it isn't dark green. I don't want to look like I'm dressed for Christmas!

She wished she hadn't gone through the water earlier. Well, she wished she hadn't bothered coming down here at all… but she really regretted going through that water. Her clothes had gotten soaked when Monty pushed her into the sewers, then from when she missed a step while trying to avoid Monty near the log ride. Then soaked again when wading through the weird, underground lake. Despite being hours later, her clothes were still damp and sticking to her.

It hadn't been as annoying earlier, because she'd had better things to worry about. But now, stuck in a drafty tunnel, it was really difficult to deal with. No matter what, she just couldn't get warm. She couldn't stop shivering.

She had no idea what time it was now. Or how long Roxy had been gone for. Cassie just wanted to go home already. Go to bed with her plushie collection, and forget that this had ever happened to her.

But what if Roxy couldn't find Eclipse? Wasn't there a broken set of stairs Cassie had to jump down earlier? If Roxy had problems finding the hole in the wall, would she really be able to get back to the raceway without help? What if she powered down halfway?

Cassie tried not to think about it. She really tried. But there was nothing happening here, and thoughts of home could only go so far in distracting her. She could hear her breaths speed up, and she felt faint. I need to stop panicking. I'm okay, I'm okay…

But even after grounding herself (literally, by grabbing at the loose ground beneath her.) She still felt breathless.

She was so tired.

Just so tired.

After a while, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Authors note- God I love Ruin, for all the same reasons I love Sister Locations story- concise, clear storytelling. But the elevator ending cliffhanger… that stuck with me. So, using the powers of autism and frantic obsession for… well, not good, but for something at least, I'm writing a story of how Cassie gets out of this mess.

I needed to start with the usual sort of after-elevator-ending chapter though, to set up things for the future. I hope it was interesting, even though it was long.

For anyone worried Gregory cut the cord in this- he didn't. But Cassie doesn't know that. And there will be drama, trust me.

Also- no I'm not including anything from help wanted 2 onwards (unless it already vibes with what I'm doing.) Because. I started writing this monstrosity on *checks date* the 22rd of august. To change it to include anything major from hw2 would be to. Gut 100k words and practically start over I reckon.