#i am completely sleep deprived so if this is a rambling mess i am so sorry

[demeterdefence]

considering your issues with lore olympus, is the lore rekindled any better? it's the same plot, no?

fantastic question, i am going to write far too much in response!

in short: yes and no! but also no. with a little yes!

for those who haven't seen, genericpuff (and their background artist banshriek) are essentially "redoing" lore olympus, although that doesn't even begin to cover the work and talent they've put into rekindled. probably the best way i could explain it is they've taken the core pieces of lore olympus and actually given them depth and structure, with a plot that just scratches my brain so good uuugh please read rekindled if you haven't already

i've said this before, but arguably my biggest grievance with myth retellings - and absolutely the case here for lore olympus - is a complete lack of care or understanding of the core myth being "retold." someone who knows the myth, knows the importance and value it held and adheres to that in a retelling, will always be ten thousand times better suited to the story than the most awarded artist out there.

i could easily overlook the degrading art and the weird plot holes if rachel had bothered to do her research and show the original myth any kind of respect; instead, she goes out of her way from page one to disrespect the culture, history, and mythology the story of persephone is taken from. rachel sees these shiny pieces, but she doesn't know how to use them with depth or purpose, so ultimately, she just dresses them up and shoves them into the page. it's a shallow and pedantic story that uses familiar names and history, but never goes anywhere with them. genuinely, you could go to the first wattpad fic of a fourteen year old on the internet for the first time and find the same plot, and i'd argue the fourteen year old would do it better because at least they're excited about it!!!

i'll try not to spoil too much, and it is ongoing, but the way rekindled has taken the original plot and made it work is incredible. persephone's hidden rage, her complex feelings towards demeter, the hierarchy of the gods - all of that is displayed with far more tact, respect, and delight. it uses the basic plot of lore olympus, and the very basic structure, but the similarities end there, because there's depth and connection that never show up in rachel's work.

lore olympus often relied on surface level conversations and plots - it struggled to create intrigue, it couldn't really do secrets or plot reveals in an organic way. concepts of sexuality, feminism, toxic relationships, abuse, power, and systemic dysfunction were broached in the comic, but ultimately handled sloppily, or discarded entirely. this is not a comic where you're going to find a lot of nuance, or you can discuss the nature of a character and acknowledge they have levels to them - what you see is what you get, and what you get ... isn't very good.

rekindled adds a lot more to the characters, giving them meat for the readers to parse through. there's a reverence for the original myth that shows, there's clear research in how the dynamics work (hera inviting persephone to her home is not just hera asking for company, and genericpuff showed their work in a follow up post which made me so! happy!!!) this is a retelling that genuinely enjoys itself, and it's a pleasure to read it, because you know the work is being done. the artwork is gorgeous, naturally, but it's the clear work and delight both genericpuff and banshriek demonstrate, and how they've carved away all the unnecessary floss from the lo version.

it also goes to show that rachel - with all the money and accolades she got from lore olympus - could never do what genericpuff and banshriek are doing for free, on their own time. and that says a lot about her talent, but even more on lore rekindled.

[draconic-ichor]

The Cat, The Sun, and The Moon

Fnaf fanfic

Sun/moon x female oc

Part 9

Warnings: strong language, sexual themes, biting, blood, predator/prey dynamics, mentions of past trauma, cannon typical horror

Summary: Things deteriorate further, and Tabby decides Moon needs a little adventure out of the apartment as well.

Feedback appreciated, 18+.

Sun blinked back online, systems feeling sluggish from the lower temperature. Sitting up, the sound of cement granted against the metal of his exoskeleton, he grimaced into the sunlight.

He was on the roof again.

And his clothes were gone���

Sun huffed, lifting himself to standing. He glanced around, finding Moon’s outfit quickly.

The rising sun started to warm him, making movements easier, as he grumpily pulled on the sweatpants, forgoing the hoodie since he was just going to have to change soon anyways.

He was painfully aware his counterpart was offline, in rest mode or forced updates, he didn’t care to find out.

“Hotheaded.”

He swung a leg over to the fire escape, words low and growly.

“Self centered.”

He climbed down to the apartment's balcony.

“Piece of…”

His voice-box grated as he sat crisscross on the balcony floor, rays tilting to beginning charging. Huffing out to release tensions before they flared too high. Sun tried to focus on any little sound of the waking city, closing his optics.

Bip!

The sound of a complete charging cycle roused him from his meditations. He blinked, standing to return to the apartment.

Something was off…

He tilted his head, listening.

Walking quietly his mood dropped into worry as he spotted light filtering from the office door. Padding up, he knocked softly.

“Moon?” Came Tabby’s voice, strained with tiredness. Throat sounding dry as well.

Sun wilted a bit, despite his best efforts, faceplate leaning on the door as he responded softly, “…No.”

“Sun?” She sounded surprised, adding more to herself than directed at him, “Shit, what time is it?”

“Can I come in?” He asked.

“Sure.”

He turned the knob, peeking in to see her at her computer, the dark circles under her eyes were only partially hidden by her smeared makeup.

“Have you been up all night?” He asked, free hand clenching into a fist with concern.

Rubbing at her cheek, streaking old mascara into an even worse mess, she answered sheepishly, “I guess so. Is it morning?”

“It’s seven thirty-six am…” Sun spoke in a way that was desperately trying to hide his disapproval, adding lower, “You work today…”

“Yea…yea I know.” She nodded, looking away. Forcing a weak smile, Tabby attempted to sound sure as she assured, “I’ll be fine though!”

“You’ll be fine?” Sun echoed.

“I’ll be fine.” She nodded, trying to convince them both at once, “I’ll just clean up a bit and buy like an energy drink or something on the way.”

“Star…” Sun frowned.

“I’m used to long nights.” She waved away his concern, standing, “This will be nothing.”

Sun stood to the side to let her pass, worrying his hands together as she rambled on about past experiences of sleep deprivation. He followed behind her as she went to the bathroom.

He caught the look that flashed over her features before she realized he was there: weary and self-reproachable. Turquoise eyes shifted to meet his gaze through the mirror, giving him a weak smile before starting to wash her face.

She hardly ate breakfast, mostly filling up on coffee before rushing out of the apartment.

Sun stood, just staring at the apartment door, optics far away and unfocused. He worried his hands together, rays retracting the longer he looked. He withdrew more into himself, feeling out of place.

You could only organize a one bedroom apartment so many times.

Sun knew that…weeks ago.

He filled the madding silence by stacking DVDs into a tower, carefully replacing them in alphabetical order before doing it all over again. It was almost therapeutic.

By the time he detected the door’s lock clicking open he’d been at the repetitive task for hours. Jumping to attention, his most recent tower was knocked over, making a plastic-y hollow sound as the cases clattered across the floor. Sun winced, swiveling to check if it was noticed.

If it was, Tabby showed no sign of caring about it, struggling to get her shoes off. She kicked them away, dropping her bag to the floor before stripping out of her work clothes. She looked about as bad as she felt, eyes dull and downcast as she made her way across the apartment.

He rushed to pick up the DVDs, placing them on the shelf with habitual ease.

“I missed you today.” Sun smiled, straightening to following behind her as she went into the bathroom.

“I missed you too.” She nodded, voice soft as she ran cool water to splash on her face. Sun noticed the little wince at the much brighter light of the bathroom.

“Sunshine…are you ok?” He asked, his excitement of her arrival fading.

“Y-Yea.” She didn’t look at him, “I just have a headache.”

“Can I make you something?” He offered, “Tea? Soup? Anything?”

“No.”

The answer was quick and simple, spiking through his casing. Sun moved out of the way as she crossed the hall.

“Maybe we can watch a movie?” He reached out for her, “Or, or, or, maybe-“

“I…” Tabby looked away, “I just want to go lay down, okay?”

Sun’s outreaching hands withdrew slightly, fingers curling into his palms. He forced his faceplate to keep the smile that painted over it.

“Well sure!” He agreed, masking his words in a cheery tone. His head tilted, a shadow of his desperation cracking through as he watched her. An optic twitched.

“Star?” He asked as she passed him.

“Yea?” She asked tiredly, not even turning to meet his gaze.

“Could,” he ventured, tone needy and searching, “Could we cuddle then?”

Tabby paused at the bedroom door, hand on the handle. He saw how her fingers clenched in the slightest, shoulders sagging before she spoke.

“I have a migraine.” her voice was low, “The light makes it worse….”

There was much more implied in the tense silence that yawned after her words, making Sun flinch a bit.

He couldn’t go where there was no light…

He straightened, fiddling his fingers together. Nodding, his voice strained to convey normality, hell even a bit of false positivity, “Of course!”

Sun’s voice was just a touch too loud, making her wince again.

“You just go rest, and and and,” his smile almost hurt, “I’ll be right here!”

“…yea.” Tabby acknowledged the sentiment just enough to escape the interaction.

Sun watched closely as she closed the door behind her, painfully aware of the small click of the lock. Now away from any prying eyes he cracked, tightening enough his movements jerked as his head tilted.

Optic twitched, wandering back into the main arena of the apartment, desperately looking for something, anything, to clean.

It was spotless.

Everything was done.

Things organized and reorganized.

The twitching worsened, metal fingers clinking together.

“Moon?” Sun whispered, deadly low. His voice was almost just a staticy hum.

Moon was online, he could tell. He heard him.

“Moon, if you ruin this for me…I’ll…I’ll…” the words glitched.

M: You’ll what, Sunny?

The words were flat, no challenge yet no fear in them.

Sun grabbed at his faceplate, fingers clawing into his rays. “Well golly, I don’t know what I’ll do!” He smiled wildly, chest hurting, “I don’t know what I’ll do…”

His anger gave away into despair, rocketing through him like a comet, burning him from within.

M: Sun…

“Moon…I…” Sun crouched down, hiding his face in his knees. His body shook, rocking a bit to release tension.

“I love her, Moony.” Sun whispered, voice strained, “I love her a whole lot…”

M: Sun…

M: Sorry, I don’t…I don’t know why I-

“I know.” Sun whispered into the fabric of his pants, words wobbly and uneven, “I know…”

~

The bedroom door was still shut long after darkness fell, standing like stone before the lunar animatronic.

Moon was on all fours, faceplate pressed against the door, listening. He could just faintly pick up the soft sounds of snoring.

Tabby was sleeping.

His optics blinked open, moving away from the door slightly.

That was good….she needed sleep.

So why did he feel restless?

Moon took a few steps into the main area, pausing to listen again. Pressing his faceplate into the floor, he could hear the murmurs of a different tenant, the soft buzz of a strange tv.

Nothing to hold his attention for long, lifting his head to continue his rounds of circling the tiny living space. His optics caught sight of something, bright fabric drawing his attention. He snapped towards it, pawing closer to find one of Tabitha’s plushies laying on the living room rug.

It was the Moon plush…

Sun must have taken it earlier to give himself some company in wake of our recent silence.

Moon thought sadly, coming closer to look over the toy. Something inside him shifted.

His head tilted.

He pulled the plush closer, staring at it as if it would move.

“Hate you…” Moon whispered, words coming out like growls.

Claws scraped the old wood off the floor, grimace seared into his faceplate. A static-y sound left his voice box as he stared down into the small sewn eyes: bright blue thread staring back.

Mocking him.

He hissed, “Hate you.” Hands caging in the little plush. His optics burned red as he brought his thumbs down over its small face, digging his claws into its eyes.

“Monster!” He gorged them out, ripping into the stuffing, “Hurt everyone.” His voice rasped.

Clawing into the plush further, sobbing sounds choked out of his voice box, optics squeezing shit.

“Hate you.”

He wished he could cry, could release this rotting feeling.

“Everyone hates you.”

Wished that his body was flesh, that it would rush to comfort him with chemicals, sooth his mind. But nothing came: no tears, no relief, no kind hand.

Just him, that little doll with a false face, and rot.

“Everyone…”

He swallowed, looking down at the mangled toy.

Blue orbs gone.

Gone…no reminder of what he should be.

Of his failure…

Of his mistakes…

His chest hurt, looking at the wads of stuffing, part of him desperately wanting to scoop it up.

Desperately wanting to be held…

In a moment his demeanor shifted, face hardening as he ground his teeth. He pushed the doll away as if it was filth, lip curling.

“Deserve everything.” He hissed as he passed, stalking towards the balcony doors on all fours.

~

Sleep only brought the slightest relief to Tabitha, blinking open her eyes to the first shafts of light that peeked through her curtains. She swallowed, mouth feeling dry and heavy.

She needed water.

Standing up, she unlocked her door and started shuffling across the apartment, half awake. She stepped on something substantial, something soft that squished and gave underfoot.

Instantly sobering from her sleep haze, Tabby cautiously looked down, images of dead mice making her stomach tighten.

It was stuffing.

Relief eased the tension at the fact it wasn’t the gross remains of a rodent she'd stepped on first thing in the morning, was quickly replaced as her mind caught up with her more, eyes following the mess to its source: the torn up plush.

A little sound of surprise left her lips as she knelt down, scooping up the remains of the innocent toy.

A pain ran through her chest, guilt washing over her all over again. She clutched the toy tighter, thoughts pooling ever darker until the sound of the balcony door sliding open ran a steak through them.

Sun walked through the threshold, looking sour as he stepped out of Moon’s sweatpants. He grimaced slightly when one foot got caught in a leg, hopping a bit in an effort to free it.

“Did you do this?” Tabby turned towards the balcony.

“Do what?” Sun asked, leaning down to pull the sweatpants off his foot, once bare he turned and shut the glass door completely.

“This!” Tabby held up the toy, tone a bit more sharp.

His faceplate tilted up, he padded closer curiously. Looking over the mess, his rays retracted.

“….no.” Sun answered softly, worry and hurt thick in his voice, leaving Tabby little room to question.

“What did Moon do last night?” She asked, worry thick.

“I…don’t know.” Sun admitted turning away. He padded to the hall closet, busying himself with getting dressed to make distance between them.

Tabby didn’t relent, watching him expectantly.

Sun pulled on his hoodie slowly, going on, “I went into full rest mode…I have no idea what Moon did…”

He crossed the apartment to place Moon’s outfit on the counter to wash later. Taking a breath he didn’t need to steady himself to turned back towards her, coming closer as he spoke, “Maybe we can get you another one?” Sun offered, hopeful. He forced a smile to accompany his words.

“I’m not upset about losing this!” She held up the toy for emphasis. Seeing Sun’s smile falter at the volume of her voice, Tabby softened, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. She sniffed, “I just…am worried and sad he would do this. I don’t know how to help, he never wants to talk to me and I just keep fucking things up…”

“Starlight…” Sun hummed, leaning closer to her.

“I don’t know what to do.” She sniffed, looking up at him.

Sun tilted his faceplate to bonk softly against her forehead, smile fully faltering. He thought for a moment, optics shifting about.

“I can try to fix this?” He offered, cupping a large hand around her much smaller ones, cradling the toy within.

“Could you?”

“Can definitely try.” He nodded, adding more softly, “I need more material though…”

“I can take care of that part.” Tabby wiped at her face more. Sniffing hard she mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He hummed, taking the toy to carefully set on the table. Sun urged her closer, scooping her up in a hug.

“I’ll get snot on your shirt.” She huffed, relaxing into his hold.

“I’m used to it.” Sun hummed.

Tabby shot him a sharp look. She didn’t crythat much!

Practically reading her thoughts, Sun reminded, “I watch a baby three times a week.”

“Ooooh…right.” She softened.

“Silly.” Sun chuckled, curling his body around her affectionately.

~

“Mr. Sun?” Dakota’s voice broke the animatronic from his trance.

Sun blinked back into the present, looking down at the young girl. Her dark eyes were big and worried.

“Are you okay?” She asked, tilting her head.

They sat at her little art table, coloring and making crafts together. Tabby had been at work for hours now, this being one of the babysitting days.

Sun’s optics shifted down, jumping a bit in surprise.

The crayon he’d been using prior now lay snapped in his tightened grasp.

“Oh I’m so so so sorry!” He exclaimed, guilt washing over him as he dropped the broken tool as if it burned him.

“It’s ok, Mr. Sun.” Dakota reached out to pat his arm. Her concern melted his heart.

“I’ll replace this.” Sun looked down at the broken crayon again, “I promise, I’ll bring a new box Wednesday, little comet. I’m so so sorry.”

“We can still color with it.” Dakota smiled finally, cocking her head downwards to ask, “What’ure you drawing?”

Sun glanced down at his picture, realizing he’d drawn a messy version of Moon in his stupor. His rays retracted. “I…uh…I drew Moondrop.” He looked up to ask quietly, “Do you remember him at all?”

“His candy!” Dakota nodded, standing up to race into the other room.

Sun shifted to check on the baby, finding him still resting after his afternoon bottle. Just as he turned back to the table, the girl returned with a book. She held it up proudly, showing off an open page.

“It’s Moondrop!” She announced, pointing a tiny finger to the page. It was a book with brief information about the animatronics from the Plex: this page in particular showing the iconic poster with the character Moon was based on.

It was an odd feeling, every time Sun saw the characters they were made to model, like he was wearing someone else’s skin.

And in a way…he supposed he was.

“Yes, Star.” Sun nodded, “That’s Moon.”

Dakota nodded along with him, beaming.

The realization that that poster was her only reference for his counterpart dawned on him.

She turned the book back towards herself, looking it over with a more serious look on her little face. Pouting out her lip in concentration, she asked, “Where does he work?”

“Well, he works with me.” Sun informed softly.

“But I never see him!”

“No…”

“Is he sick?”

“Kind of.”

“Can we make him soup?” She asked sweetly, “Mommy says soup makes you feel better.”

Sun smiled, shaking his head gently, “Soup won’t help, I’m afraid.”

“Awwwww….” She sulked.

“Thank you, though.” Sun reached out to ruffle her hair, “It’s awful sweet of you.”

She giggled, previous discouragement quickly forgotten.

Sun was quiet, watching as the child returned to her crafts.

He felt far away from the colorful little table.

~

“I stopped at the craft store on the way home.” Tabby sighed, holding out a bag at arms length.

Sun carefully took it, glancing inside as she went on, “I tried to get matching fabric from memory but….”

“It won’t be the same…” Sun finished her thought, voice sounding defeated.

“Should it be?” She ventured.

Sun’s rays drooped, agreeing, “I suppose not.”

They both turned to look at the toy, sitting broken and sad on the coffee table. Tabby reached out to squeeze Sun’s free hand a bit, making him let out a little sound. His head tilted towards her, murmuring, “Go rest for a bit…I’ll work on this.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, offering, “Can I help?”

“Not enough room for extra hands.” He admitted, but added softly, “Thank you, though. I can handle this, Sunshine.”

She nodded, going to take some medicine before laying down.

It was dark by the time she woke, bolting up a bit. She grabbed her phone: 9:31 pm…

Moon was in the same spot he found himself any night recently that weather would allow…on the apartment’s rooftop.

He lay on his back, staring up into the night sky. His hoodie had been left in the apartment, clad in only the old grey sweatpants and his hat.

Moonlight mixed with the glowing lights of the city reflected off the bare metal of his chest. Moon’s hand absentmindedly felt over the exoskeleton of his chest, fingers tracing the seams of cured silicone that littered them. Optics never leaving the sky, wishing to see the stars more clearly.

The light pollution and smog made them very difficult to make out even to his mechanical vision. His fingers curled in harder to his chest, threatening to damage the casing, closing his eyes to the yawning feeling of longing.

A sound made him sit up suddenly, faceplate swirling towards the fire escape. The metal creaked with added weight, the clink of shoes to follow. A pastel form appeared, Moon’s fight or flight response warning as he realized it was only Tabby.

She huffed, lifting herself over the lip of the roof. Brushing some of the rust from her clothes she padded over to where he sat.

She’d never followed him up to the roof before…

“Hey big guy.” Her voice was soft, guarded.

Moon looked her up and down, eyes reverting back to their normal half lidded state as his surprise waned. He huffed out, “Dangerous for you.” As he lay back down.

“You like to point that out a lot.” Tabby snickered, kneeling down beside him.

He made a dismissive sound, not offering her any other attention.

Tabby wilted a bit, following his gaze up into the sky. She wasn’t much for sky-watching, their place in the city guaranteeing a level of dissatisfaction to the hobby. Despite that, she attempted to get comfortable beside him, laying down on the concrete.

The cold of the roof seeped through her clothes quickly, sending a chill over her skin. Tabby crossed her arms over her chest, straining to look for any little lights in the dark sky.

They just lay there together, no idea for the time that passed. If not for the cold, Tabby would have started to drift a bit.

Moon made a sound, rousing her to attention.

“Why do they look…different?” Moon asked, voice gravely in its low tone.

“Hm?” She tilted her head slightly towards him.

“The stars.” He clarified, reaching his hand up towards the sky. His optics searched around as he tried to find the words, “So dark.” He pulled his hand back, clutching it to his chest, “….so far away?”

Tabby sighed softly, “It’s because we are in the city.”

Moon tilted his faceplate towards her, optic flicking away from the darkness.

“The lights drown them out.” She explained, “Out in the country, far away from any towns, they would be beautiful.” Her voice sounded wistful, closing her eyes as she painted the idea for her own mind as well.

“Have you?” He asked, voice hardly audible.

“Seen the stars?”

Moon rolled on his side, full attention on her now. A single claw scratched at the concrete roof, anticipation alighting his eyes.

“Never like that.” She admitted, a note of disappointment tinging the words.

Moon shifted a bit closer, the space between them warming up from shared heat. His teeth flashed a bit from his lip.

“Can we?” The words were light, much more than she’d heard from him in weeks. The shift in his melancholy blind-sighting her for a fleeting moment.

“See them together?” He asked more pointedly, part of him worried she misunderstood the question, while the other wrestled with the thought she wouldn’t want to spend the extra time together in the first place.

“That would be a long, long drive.” She admitted, watching him withdraw a bit. Quickly catching him before he completely hid away, she went on, “But…some day, I want to take you far away and see them.”

His gaze turned hopeful, a soft smile shadowing his lips. He nodded.

Tabby rolled back, looking up into the sky once more. A sigh left her, long and slow, as her mind wandered.

“I've hardly ever left the cities, just moving from one to another…” she admitted almost regretfully.

Moon watched her closely, single red optic never blinking.

“I want to see the ocean, and the mountains…” she thought aloud, wistfully, “So high we can touch the stars.”

“We?”

Rolling back on her side, Tabby nodded, “If you’d both come with me?”

Moon shifted, looking away as he clutched his hands to his chest. The sounds of the city as the only thing filling the silence between them.

“You don’t have to.” She soothed, voice gentle.

Moon shook his faceplate a bit, the metal making a hollow sound as it bonked against the concrete. His voice box seemed stuck with glue, words far away.

Tabby withdrew, mouth a thin line.

Sometimes they felt close, but all that warmth and familiarity could be washed away in a fleeting moment. Moon became quiet and hidden, bunching up in on himself to look small. He almost seemed scared?

Or maybe shy?

She thought, looking away as the gears turned in her head.

“Hey!” She exclaimed, excitement infecting her tone as she sat up suddenly.

Moon jumped at the sudden outburst, fans kicking up as he looked at her wide eyed.

“Let do something fun, yea?” She leaned over him, propping herself up on her hands.

Moon looked completely bewildered, hands going to wring his hat a bit without thinking.

“I know things have been…strained…between us.” She gave an awkward smile, “But maybe going out together is just what we need!”

“G-going out?” He echoed the words, optics widening further.

“Yea!” Tabby beamed, “I know somewhere I think you’ll love!”

Moon looked away worriedly, making Tabby double down, “No, you’ll love it, I promise! We have to drive tho so you gotta put a coat on.”

“Worried I’ll get cold?” He huffed, goading a response.

Tabby huffed herself now, snapping back, “No! I just don’t want people to stare at your shiny naked ass.” She crossed her arms as she finished.

Moon gave a gravely laugh at that.

~

Apprehension, and Moon’s inherent dislike of the car, strained his mood. Whatever mirth tickled around his chest now absent as he crunched himself up to fit into her tiny front seat, knees almost touching his chin.

Tabby has changed her clothes into something a bit more sturdy and dark, hair tied tightly back in a bun. She didn’t normally go out looking like this, making Moon’s curiosity thicken.

He looked away quickly when she glanced his way, instead focusing on the streetlights as they passed beneath them.

“I’m sorry…” Tabby’s voice came softly, glancing away again from the road a bit as she clarified, “About the other day.”

Moon just huffed, shifting to look out the window.

She gripped the steering wheel a bit harder, rambling to fill the silence and to soothe her own guilt. “I shouldn’t just assume the worst about you…you know?” Eyes flicking to see if there was any reaction. When one didn’t come she sighed, “It was shitty of me.”

Moon’s hand raised to do a ‘so so’ gesture, faceplate never turning from the window.

Tabby drove in silence, the awkwardness threatening to eat her alive.

“What about some music?” She offered, hand already going to the radio.

Moon turned to give her a narrow look of warning, Tabby instantly putting both hands on the steering wheel again.

“Okay, no music then.” She felt sweat on her lower back, this maybe being her top three of worst car rides.

“This is it!” Tabby announced, bringing the car to a stop.

Moon furrowed his nonexistent eyebrows, faceplate tilting.

They were in the parking lot of a long abandoned fast food restaurant, one that sported a multi level indoor playpark. Many of the windows were boarded up with large pieces of plywood, outer walls covered in graffiti.

Tabby got out of the car, going to pop the trunk. Moon got out more slowly, still trying to take everything in.

The sound of the trunk closing drew his attention, a look of confusion over his face.

Tabby smiled mischievously, holding up some flashlights and a crowbar.

“Wanna have some fun?” She asked, wiggling the crowbar.

“Where did you get that?” Moon frowned.

She scoffed, handing him a flashlight he truly didn’t need, “They are like ten bucks on Amazon. Come on.” She gestured.

He followed close behind, still trying to piece things together.

She looked up at him, smirking, “You miss the jungle gym right?”

He gave a small nod.

“Well this one has your name aaaalllll over it.” Her voice tinged with excitement, “Let’s play.”

Moon tilted his head, optic widening. A smile crept across his faceplate, nodding eagerly as Tabby ripped off one of the boards sealing the back entrance.

Anticipation made his fans kick up as he helped pry the door open. It creaked open with the sound of splintering wood, dust raining down on them.

He peeked inside, smiling widening.

“I used to work here…” Tabby explained as they wandered through the derelict dining area, colorful seats coated in a layer of grime scattered around the many round tables.

Moon didn’t respond, faceplate swiveling about to take everything in: old drink cups and food wrappers littered the floor, a cutout of the chain’s mascot standing in a lone corner. It looked at them with a big painted smile.

“But this,” Tabby announced, pulling open a set of double doors, “This, is where the magic happens…”

Moon stalked forward, hunching over a bit to investigate.

This was the play area: a multi level jungle gym made of plastic tubing, slides, play areas on each level, and plastic windows. The colors were dulled by years of neglect, dust coating every surface. The room echoed with the sounds of their steps, Moon’s posture changing to excitement.

He was practically buzzing, wishing his zip line was here.

“Well…” Tabby gestured upwards, “Have at it!”

Not needing to be told a second time, Moon was off. Reminding her of a released greyhound.

He ran about like a wild animal, climbing up the structure inside and out. He was deft and fast, just a blue blur about the rainbow plastic.

Tabby sat on a dusty old chair to watch, leaning back a bit as a smile reached her lips.

Moon was laughing, jumping to the ceiling rafters with glee. As he jumped to the next it gave a low groan.

Tabby leaned forward, worriedly.

The rafter bowed before snapping, it and the animatronic falling into the play structure with a clatter.

“Moon!” Tabby yelled, standing and cupping her hands around her mouth to call out again, “Moon! Are you okay?!”

A tense moment of silence answered her, Tabby steeling herself to climb up just as a fit of giggles broke out.

Moon crawled out of the twisted metal, a large grin across his faceplate. He smiled down at her, giving a thumbs up.

Tabby deflated, calling up, “Be careful!”

“No!” He called back defiantly, quickly resuming his explorations.

Rolling her eyes, she sat back down, pulling her phone free from her pocket to pass the time. She got lost within the tiny screen, unsure of how many minutes ticked away.

A sound made her look up.

Moon looked at her expectantly.

“Play?” Moon hung upside down, bouncing a bit as he attempted to lure Tabby in. When she looked apprehensive he shook the bars harder, voice more urging, “Play, Play, Play?!”

“I think I’m too big, buddy.” She looked at the old structure nervously.

He paused, head tilting to the side. He crawled closer, “No. Very small. Fit juuuuust fine.”

She bit her lip, Moon wilting.

He hung more limply, whining out, “Star said we’d play?”

Tabby huffed, “I did, didn’t I…” she sounded defeated, making Moon perk up.

He rattled at the bars again, chanting for her to join.

Kicking off her boots, she reluctantly entered into the play structure, batting away the cobwebs that tried to cling to her hair and clothes. It took a good moment for her to traverse the maze to find the opening where Moon was waiting.

“Okay…I’m in the tubes.” Tabby huffed, shifting around to sit more comfortably, her feet up against the fall wall.

“Let’s play chase.” Moon smiled, big and wide, his optics shining, “You run and try to hide, and I come after you.”

“Sounds unfair.” She crossed her arms.

Moon shook his head, trying to keep an air of calm over him despite the excited vibration that rattled through his whole form. “No, no, no.” He corrected, “I’ll play fair, I promise.”

Tabby squared her jaw, leaning towards him a bit as she held out her right hand. “Pinky promise?” Her smallest finger offered out, almost as a challenge. Her sea green eyes flashed in the darkness.

Moon’s smile returned with a vengeance, eagerly shuffling closer in the small space. He locked his pinky finger with her own, rasping out, “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“You don’t have a heart.” She teased, making him roll his eyes.

“Cross my wires and hope to die.” He corrected lowly, optics narrowing.

Her lips cracked a smile.

But as she attempted to pull away, his finger gripped hers tighter, drawing her closer. She winced, eyes darting between the hold and his faceplate.

He leaned in closer still, huffing out synthetic breath into her ear. “The rules, kitten.” He whispered, “I’ll give you three minutes to hide before I start hunting. You can run as far and as fast as you want.” His voice was deadly low, causing a shiver to crawl up her spine.

“But if I win.” His smile spanned his faceplate, “If I catch you….You’ll be mine.”

As soon as the words sank in he let her go, the promise made.

He sat back on his haunches, detecting a spike in her heartbeat. Tabby swallowed, backing away to give herself room to breathe.

The dust heavy air suddenly felt stifling.

“One.”

Moon’s voicebox rasped, his claws flexing excitedly at Tabby’s sudden look of panic. She shuffled around to her hands and knees, stumbling over herself in her hurry to hide.

“Two…Three.”

His voice echoed off the plastic tubing. Tabby’s knees already aching from her crawl-running. No matter how far she seemed to go, his voice always seemed close, ever counting.

Finally she found a spot, far away and secluded, that she felt safe enough to stop. While trying to calm her thundering heartbeat she came to a sudden realization:

The counting stopped.

Tabby sucked in a breath, holding it in her lungs as she strained to listen.

The eerie silence was replaced with something even worse.

Moon was singing.

The animatronic’s gravelly voice sang along to his music box, glee evident in his tone alone.

“Round and round the cobbler's bench

The monkey chased the weasel

The monkey thought twas all in fun….”

The music stopped for just a fleeting moment. Tabby heard a bang much closer than she expected, hands going to her mouth to stifle a squeak.

“POP goes the weasel!”

The singing started again, much clearer:

“A penny for a spool of thread

A penny for a needle

That's the way the money goes…”

The scrape of metal against plastic echoed off the tubes, a gravelly voice chucked out the next line, “Pop goes the weasel!”

She bolted, adrenaline fueling her. An aching pain radiated through her knees as they scraped against the confined space, the old bolts holding the structure together snapping at her from static electricity. Her heart hammered in her ears.

All the while the singing continued, echoing around her.

He was everywhere, all at once. The image of his earlier romp flashing through her head: how quickly and easily he traversed the derelict structure.

“Round and round the mulberry bush

The monkey chased the weasel

The monkey stopped to pull up his socks…”

“POP goes the weasel!”

“Half a pound of tuppenny rice

Half a pound of treacle

Mix it up and make it nice!”

Tabby crawled through a cobweb, falling back a bit to sputter and wipe at her face. A red glow caught her eyes as the flash of teeth called out, “Pop goes the weasel!”

“Fuck!” She cursed, jumping into a nearby slide. Dust rained down, the bolts snapping and biting at her. One particularly loose one catching her hair and pulling it free of the bun.

Her sock clad feet hit an old play-mat, jolting her.

Shit.

She thought darkly, the slide only went to a different part of the structure instead of fully to the bottom. The darkness, mixed with the maze-like build had Tabby realizing she was thoroughly lost in the mess of rainbow plastic and foam coated bars.

She didn’t have long to mull over that as the singing picked up with a vengeance. Looking up, she just saw the animatronic dropping down on top the the layer she was currently in, giggling madly between words:

“Round and round the cobbler's bench

The monkey chased the weasel

The monkey thought twas all in fun!”

He was having the time of his life…

She thought before running again.

Like a scared little rabbit though its tunnels, as a viper hunted it down.

She burst out of the tube, falling into a small plastic room opening up somewhere within the structure. Tabby eyed another tube on the far side, trying to crawl toward it.

A hand shot out of the tube she just escaped, grabbing her ankle.

“Pop goes the weasel!”

Tabby squeaked, falling on her side as she was pulled backwards. She looked back, stomach suddenly dropping.

Moon was upside down, clinging to the top of the tube as he effortlessly crawled forward. His face was illuminated red by his optics, teeth looking exaggerated in the low light. He looked terrifying.

Oh fuck.

Tabby thought.

This was a mistake…

She kicked off his hold, trying to make a last ditch effort towards the far tube. She didn’t make much progress.

He darted from the tube on all fours, dropping down easily from the ceiling seconds earlier. A finger hooking into a belt loop of her jeans, pulling backwards.

Tabby lost balance, falling to her stomach.

“Fuck!” She yelped.

He pressed against her, faceplate dipping in dangerously close to her face. Tabby tried to raise up, her head being forced back into the plastic beneath her instantly. Moon’s hand tangled in her hair, using just enough force to keep her in place.

A low chuckle escaped him, making her tremble.

“I won.” He hummed into her ear, body caging her in.

“M-Moon?” She started, his hold tightening a bit to pull on her hair. She winced, falling silent.

“Shhhhhh.” He hissed.

The space felt hot, the smell of plastic making her head spin. She could hear the sound of Moon’s fans kicking up, steam a coming threat if he couldn’t cool his systems.

He carefully pulled down the collar of her oversized sweater, artificial breath huffing over her skin. Feeling her tremble, he chuckled again, low and slow.

After everything she was going to die in a stupid fast food play place…

She thought darkly.

Tabby felt teeth scrape the nape of her neck, panic pulling her back into the present. She tried to raise up on all fours, unable to with the weight of the animatronic over her. Moon clasp a hand over her mouth, stifling her yelping.

He forced his faceplate more into her, biting down. His teeth sank into the space between neck and shoulder, only using enough pressure to mark her.

Tabby’s body surged with adrenaline, and…was that arousal? Back arching at her body’s own will.

Moon faltered, hand slipping to allow a mewl to leave her lips. Sensing her vitals he pressed more into her, teeth popping skin. His tongue bathed over it in a mixture of curiosity and the desire to soothe the sting.

Her mewl thickened into a moan at that, Tabby trying to swallow the sound in embarrassment. He tilted his head at the sound, tongue trailing up the back of her neck until his mouth pressed against her ear.

“Fighting so hard.” He jeered, “Yet you enjoy every moment.”

She started to struggle again, Moon propping himself up to allow her to wiggle onto her back. She hissed, bite stinging as it hit the hard plastic through her shirt.

She froze, eyes locking onto his, catching her breath.

His optics were half lidded and hungry, a large hand moving to caress her face. Tabby could feel her heartbeat in her throat, the space suddenly feeling closed in and intimate.

Moon’s thumb moved to swipe across her lip, Tabby opening slightly unintentionally. His optics were fixed there.

“Moon?” She whispered.

Gaze flicking back to her eyes, he looked like a man starved.

She reached for him and that last thread snapped. Separate storms collided, crashing into one another.

His lips pressed against hers, warm to the touch. She closed her eyes, pushing back against him. Moon took seconds to force his tongue into her mouth, curiously exploring her taste.

It was odd, the animatronic not producing saliva or any kind of moistening agent in their mouths. His tongue was dry, tasting almost sterile. She could only detect the smallest hints of copper, wondering if that was her own blood instead of anything truly his.

Artificial breath huffed out, mixing with her own as he pulled back ever so slightly. Tabby panted, staring up at him, face crimson. He licked his teeth, a smile slicing his face in two before he ducked back in. Whatever he tasted on her, he clearly enjoyed it.

It was nothing like a human kiss, mouths too mismatched for that; yet it was zealous and needy, making her feel wanted in ways she never thought possible. Tabby held onto him as he lifted her, pushing her gently into the wall of the opening.

Quickly feeling overwhelmed, Tabby broke the kiss for needed hair. She hugged him, face against the soft material of his hoodie. Moon made a sound akin to a purr, shifting back to sit.

She tried to even her breathing, legs easily wrapping around his narrow waist for stability. Moon leaned back, faceplate clinking against the plastic wall, fans in overdrive to cool his systems.

“So I guess you enjoyed the tubes.” Tabby huffed, relaxing a bit in his hold. He made a rasping chuckle.

“Who knew letting you run around like a feral animal was all you needed to open up. She sighed, teasing in her tone.

Moon put a hand over her face, stifling sounds, “Shut up.”

They rested in the darkness for some moments, Moon clicking on his music box to fill the silence. A realization dawned on Tabby, however, sitting up. Moon opened his eyes, tilting his head to the side.

“Wait.” She thought aloud, “Wait, wait, wait….I thought we needed like a bonding exercise or something because we weren’t as close. But you just kissed me!” She turned, pointing at him, “We’re you just shy the whole time?!?”

Moon gawked at her for a moment, suddenly pulling his hat down, hiding his face.

“Oh. My. God.” Tabby playfully hit him, “You were!” She wrestled him for a moment to get the hat off but as soon as his face was revealed she made another upset sound.

Optics were black, faceplates frozen…Moon had shut off his faceplate.

“That’s no fair!” Tabby stood on her knees, grabbing a limp arm, “I've caught you this time!” She showily bit at his forearm, blunt teeth clinking against the metal.

Moon made a smirking sound, optics blinking back to life, it thickening into full laughter as she tried to look intimidating.

“Brat.” He took her face to stop her biting, smiling toothily at her.

“You have no room to judge.”

S: She’s right…

M: Shut up.

~

Tabby was home, cleaned up, and safely tucked in bed, Moon waited quietly until her breathing evened.

He carefully stood from the bed, having cuddled Tabby to sleep after their little adventure. Looking back, his optics scanned over her peaceful form, taking in every little piece of her

A smile reached his faceplate, feeling lighter than he had in weeks.

Moon crossed the room, closing the door with programmed delicacy. Main directive complete he now had another job to work on…

Moon typed away at the computer, careful to listen for the door across the hall.

He was snooping again…

But this time, by request.

His optics scanned the screen, shifting to look at the medical discharge paperwork and compare information.

Yes.

He’d found it.

“Sun.” He murmured, looking over the information, “I got in.”

S: You actually did it?

S: You’d think hospitals would have better security…

M: It took me weeks…

S: True, true.

Moon read on a bit more, sighing.

M: There’s not much here…

S: She really hate’s hospitals.

M: Enough to not go for broken bones.

Moon shifted through the files, finding no record of her seeing medical professionals for the past fractures that the animatronics had discovered through scans. Fractures that healed oddly.

S: Check when she was a child.

M: I am.

M: ….

M: Nope. Nothing.

Sun was quiet, yet Moon could practically hear his worry. Moon looked further to discover Tabby made yearly visits to the doctors fairly religiously until five years ago. His brows furrowed.

S: She didn’t go after the fire to protect us…

S: Even though she was burned.

Moon’s frown deepened, remembering the multiple fracture points, healed in little knots of bone. She’d been lucky they hadn’t been full breaks, still things of that nature left untreated was risky.

S: Who was she protecting then?

[phoenix18990]

Hey all, this sickfic has spoilers from Season 5 Episode 13... vomiting, concussions, and PTSD. Please enjoy! 

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Its one thing to hear someone throwing up through a closed door, its another thing entirely to witness someone throwing up in front of you. Especially if the entire time you have known them, they were depicted as a strong and steady person. At least that's what Buck thought, until he was in that very situation.

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Chris had called his best friend, when his dad locked him out of his dad's room and started destroying everything in sight.

Buck had stayed by Eddie's side until the tears had stopped flowing and the older man was able to breathe again.

He had told himself he would stay until both his boys were asleep, and yet here he was cleaning up Eddie's destroyed room at two o'clock in the morning, and he had work at eight in the morning. He had cleaned up and thrown away the debris, vacuumed the entire room from top to bottom, moved everything salvageable to the hallway, laid out plastic all over the floor, and was setting everything up to paint the room.

He looked around him, resolving to not sleep until the room was back in order, even if that meant it had been thirty-something hours of being awake, since the beginning of his last shift. Eddie was more important, Chris was more important, and he couldn't think of a better reason to not sleep. He was so deep in his own thoughts and sleep deprivation, that he didn't hear the door open or the soft footsteps on the plastic he'd carefully laid on the floor should his sleep-addled brain lead to spills of any kind.

"Whoa," was all that was said, making Buck jump back to the here and now.

"Oh hey, Eddie, you okay? I thought you were sleeping." Buck rambled a bit, he'd hoped to get it completely done before Eddie saw what he was doing.

"I was asleep, but I realized I didn't hear you leave. So I went looking for you," Eddie said thoughtfully, rubbing his stomach as he was talking.

"Oh, yeah. I figured I'd help you before heading home." Buck said in a nonchalant tone, as he looked at Eddie for a moment. He turned back to painting the walls, as he had already patched all the holes, and given them time to bond with the wall before starting to paint.

"Don't you have a shift in the am?" Eddie asked in a wounded voice, the same voice that had been there when he lost his carefully built composure, which scared Chris, Buck, and himself.

Buck shrugged. "Maybe, it's okay though." He said, smiling as he kept painting. "You can go back to sleep if you want to," he offered, as Eddie had gone too quiet for a time.

Eddie's face was completely blank, as if he were lost in his thoughts and didn't want anyone to know how big of a mess he was. He stood silent for a moment, before taking off running into the hallway, startling Buck again.

"Eddie? Is it Chris?!" Buck asked, jumping to his feet and moving to the doorway to try to figure out what was wrong.

Instead of responding, Eddie slammed and locked the bathroom door he ran through, moments later there was harsh gagging noises from behind the door.

"Oh Eddie," Buck said softly in a calm voice, even if every fiber of his body was now leaking worry. He walked to the bathroom door, knocking softly. "Eddie?" He asked, after the man inside had fallen silent.

"I'm fine, Buck," came a weary and clipped voice from beyond the bathroom door.

Buck sighed quietly, settling down by the bathroom, to keep vigil while waiting to see if his help was needed. He pulled out his phone and text Josh followed by Bobby, knowing Eddie might kill him.

'Hey, Eddie is sick. I don't think you want him coming in and puking everywhere.' He sent Josh.

'Hey Bobby, I know I'm supposed to have a shift at 8, but Eddie is sick. Can I stay with him?' He sent to Bobby, getting as comfortable as he could get on the hard floor.

Moments later, Josh text him back. 'Keep him home. Oh and yes, Sue is going to have someone else cover him.'

Buck sent Josh a thumbs up emoji, relieved he had Eddie covered to stay home. He looked at the clock with a frown, wondering if Eddie had fallen asleep by the toilet.

As he was about to knock on the bathroom door, he got a text from Bobby. 'Buck, do you have any idea what time it is?! Oh nevermind, yes, take as much time as you need.'

Buck sighed in relief, knowing Eddie might be pissed with him. "Eddie, you okay in there?" He asked, with a soft knock on the door. He waited patiently for a response of any kind, before starting to consider the wisest way to get in the bathroom if his best friend didn't answer him soon.

He heard Eddie sigh, before he heard movement and the door opened slowly. He blinked up at the older man, taking a really good look at him. His best friend didn't look so good, and it had nothing to do with the vomiting.

"I thought I said..." Eddie trailed off with another sigh, looking more tired than Buck had ever seen him.

"When do I ever listen to anything anyone tells me to do?" Buck asked, getting up off the floor quietly, knowing Chris needed his sleep too.

Eddie rolled his eyes, which he knew was a bad decision instantly, as the whole room spun out of control, causing him to stagger backwards.

Buck saw something was wrong as soon as it started assaulting the older man. He grabbed Eddie's arm, not wanting the man to fall or hit the wall, or risk waking the poor boy that asked for Buck's help. "What just happened?" he asked, a frown grazing his lips briefly.

"Rolled my eyes, made myself dizzy," Eddie mumbled, lifting his hand to cover his eyes for a moment, as he tried to regain his balance and composure. "I need to sit down," he admitted softly, with a hint of urgency in his tone.

Buck snapped to it, pulling his best friend to the chair he had removed from Eddie's room. One of the still whole and functional pieces of furniture that survived Eddie's onslaught.

Once Eddie had all but collapsed onto the chair, he doubled over with one arm wrapped tightly around his middle. "Ugh," he groaned softly, trying to not be too loud in his discomfort.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you hungry?" Buck asked, not sure if Eddie had eaten after work.

Eddie swallowed hard, before shaking his head.

"Are you going to try to throw up again?" Buck asked, wracking his brain then remembered that he had extra plastic from his painting kit. He slipped past Eddie, darted around the furniture in the hall to spare the upholstery, and grabbed the tube of plastic right inside the room. He moved fast, putting plastic on the ground in front of Eddie's feet.

Eddie, who was so preoccupied watching Buck scurry about, that he forgot to pay attention to his body, was caught off guard by a surprising gag that rocked him forward over the plastic. With the first gag came only bitter saliva; the gag that followed produced a large rush of sour liquid and partially digested food.

Buck cringed, before disappearing into the bathroom, returning moments later with a clean wet washcloth and a Dixie cup full of water. His return was greeted with even more pouring from the older man's lips.

Once Eddie stopped trying to upchuck all the food he had eaten in the last year, he accepted the wet towel, which he used to clean up his face, then grabbed the Dixie cup and rinsed his mouth out, spitting the vomit flavored water onto the puddle on the plastic.

"Feeling any better?" Buck asked, as he put the back of his hand against Eddie's forehead. It didn't feel like he had a fever, at least not a high one.

Eddie looked up at Buck, feeling every last bit of color drain from his face, and he felt like he might pass out. "Mmm..." was all he could muster up.

Buck, who watched his best friend go unnaturally pale and start trembling, sprang into action. "Hey! Eddie?! Come on, man, talk to me." He urged, feeling something running down his cheek. He figured it was sweat, so ignored it.

"B...b...b...bloo...d..." Eddie gasped out, his eyes fluttering briefly, before he fought to open them again.

Buck frowned, clasping Eddie's neck gentle and firm, as he pushed it down until Eddie's head was between his knees. He kept one hand there, the other finding the older man's back to rub gentle circles. "There is no blood, you're okay, slow deep breaths." He encouraged over and over, as he could feel the older man was hyperventilating.

"You're bleeding," Eddie gasped, starting to get choked up all over again. "He shot you, didn't he?" He questioned in a broken voice.

Buck's eyebrows shot up so high, they met his hairline and disappeared. He wasn't bleeding, or was he? He reached up and touched where it felt wet, pulling his fingers back to see deep red staining his fingertips. "Crap!" He muttered more to himself than anyone else. He moved quickly, darting to the bathroom, flicked on the light, and looked in the mirror to find that he had a nice little gash, from the hairline to his eyebrow, right by his birthmark. He grabbed some toilet paper, wiping the blood away with a hiss of discomfort.

Once the majority of the blood was cleaned up, he could see he had cut himself when cleaning the room, and had been so preoccupied he hadn't even noticed it. He was fairly certain he didn't need stitches, and he wasn't on the blood thinner anymore, so he just finished cleaning it, until he heard a loud thump. Crap! Eddie!

He ran out of the bathroom, to see Eddie was in a heap near the wall, somehow managing to pass out without landing in the vomit that felt like it happened hours, even days, ago.

He knelt beside Eddie's unconscious form, putting his hands on the older man's shoulders. "Hey, hey, come on! Eddie! Come on, man! Come on, wake up!" he said over and over, trying to rouse the man. Finally after a couple very tense moments, the older man stirred with a groan.

"B'?" Eddie mumbled, wrinkling his nose when a whiff of the vomit assaulted his senses.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm going to help you sit up." Buck said in a steady tone, as he braced his best friend, his hands sliding under the man's armpits and lifted him with ease. Once the man was leaning against the wall, the younger man could see that his best friend was struggling to stay awake and/or not throw up.

Eddie groaned as he was moved, too disoriented to help and too exhausted to aid in getting up. "M' tired," he mumbled out, his eyes closing for a brief moment before a light slap to his cheek roused him again. "M...?" he questioned, too worn out to be more articulate.

"You just lost consciousness, am I supposed to let you go back to sleep? Especially if I don't know if you gave yourself a concussion," Buck explained, hoping that him talking like a first responder would help trigger the instincts of the man in front of him.

A confused sense of understanding crossed the older man's face, as his tired brain started generating questions and facts. "The 'patient' needs to stay awake, use a small light to check for pupillary reactiveness or abnormalities, check the pulse for too weak or too strong a pace, and check for fever. If all comes back normal or only slightly elevated, administer water, or put in an IV to avoid dehydration that was triggered by the vomiting." Eddie mumbled, sounding more and more exhausted with each word that came out of his mouth.

Buck worked quickly to do everything the older man had listed off. "Awake, check." He said thoughtfully, as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket to use his phone's flashlight to test Eddie's pupillary response. "Pupils: left one is enlarged, the right is normal," he added, taking the man's wrist placing his pointer and middle finger along the wrist bone to count the pulse. "Pulse is faster than normal, about 115 beats per minute." He added, looking at the Army vet for instruction.

"Sounds like a grade 2 concussion..." the Army vet said softly, his voice trailing off after the few words slipped from his lips.

Buck nodded, as he realized he didn't know how to treat a concussion, not completely. "So how do I help the uh... 'patient' so he can rest and feel better?" He asked simply, worrying that Eddie would need further medical care.

Eddie shook his head, as if shaking it would clear the fog from his mind. "The 'patient' is fine, Buck. Just tired, dizzy, and nauseated." He said, making Buck chuckle at being caught in his elaborate ruse to help treat himself. "My biggest issue is that I want to sleep, and possibly puke at the same time." He added after a quiet moment of thought, feeling like he was literally grasping at straws to try to understand what was going on around him.

He could feel his head throb with each breath he took, he could hear the slight buzzing in his ears making it hard for him to concentrate on anything but his ears, he could smell the vomit close by which was only ramping up his already present and intensifying nausea, he could feel his heart racing instead of being at its usual even pace, he could feel his body so overdrawn and exhausted that all it wanted was for him to sleep, and he could feel Buck's hand on his knee offering a loving, caring, and safe feeling to pass over him.

"You okay, Eddie?" Buck asked, watching his every move carefully for signs of danger.

Eddie blinked a couple times, bringing himself out of his head and to a mental space that would allow him to talk to Buck more coherently, or so he hoped. "M... yeah, just uh... thinking." He stammered, realizing that his brain and mouth were not working very well together. Go figure.

"Alright, you gonna be okay while I get you more water?" Buck asked, concern thick in his voice.

"I know that mm... tone," Eddie managed to say, looking at Buck through blurry eyes. The older man knew that tone meant something was bothering the man beside him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was going on. If he was being honest, his head was starting to feel like his room had looked earlier that evening.

"It's nothing, Eddie. Let's get you hydrated, then I will help you to the couch to sleep this off." Buck said, beyond relieved he had asked for them both not to work in the morning.

Eddie didn't know exactly what was going on, but he did know something was off with his best friend, which kind of broke through the effects of the concussion enough to clear his thoughts for a moment.

"Wait," he said, a bit sharper than he meant to, and grabbed Buck's hand when the man stood up to walk back to the bathroom.

Buck stopped, turning to look at Eddie in surprise. "What's wrong, you okay?" He asked, immediately looking the man up and down in concern that something had changed.

"Fine, I just... don't want you to leave." Eddie admitted shyly, as he tried to think of how to ask the man before him to stay in eyesight range, since he wasn't entirely sure that he was even close to feeling okay, even if his vitals said he wasn't in any danger.

Buck's features softened, as he nodded, seeming to understand Eddie's request without the man having to utter another word. He offered a hand to help Eddie up, hoping to get him to the couch and resting, so he could finish the bedroom while his best friends slept the rest of the night away.

Eddie took Buck's hand, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet, increasingly grateful that Buck hadn't let go yet, as standing made him so dizzy he could have passed out all over again.

"M... Bu..." he mumbled, his eyes drifting shut of their volition.

Buck grabbed Eddie's other arm with his free arm, somehow jarring the man enough to distract him enough to not pass out then and there. "Hey, keep your eyes open until we reach the couch, then you can sleep." he explained, hoping to keep his lover, not lover, best friend awake until he could be settled on the couch.

Eddie nodded slowly, allowing Buck to all but drag him down the hall and to the couch. He collapsed onto the couch, his head falling back until it connected with the back board of the couch. "Mmm..." he groaned as his head connected.

"Oh Eddie. Think you can stomach some meds? You have a minor fever, on top of that Grade 2 concussion." Buck explained, wondering if he needed to take Eddie to the ER.

Eddie shrugged, allowing his eyes to close in pure exhaustion. He felt a light slap on his cheek again, but he didn't have the energy to open his eyes.

"M?" He asked, his tone and lack of articulation betraying just how exhausted he felt.

"Meds first, then you can sleep." Buck said in a gentle but insistent voice.

"K," was all Eddie could think to say. He was so tired that arguing would have been a useless use of his depleted energy reserves.

Buck got up from the couch, walked to the bathroom where the medicine cabinet was, found some acetaminophen and some meclizine that he was relived to find, before heading back to the living room with his prizes. "Here take these three pills, then you can go back to sleep." He said, putting another dixie cup of water in Eddie's hand, along with the three pills.

He watched Eddie do as he was told, before moving towards the hall again.

"Stay... please..." he heard Eddie say in a low voice, and turned to see the Army vet was looking at him intently.

"Can I finish your room first?" Buck asked, really wanting to finish it, so he could relax and get some sleep too.

Eddie shook his head no, before frowning in discomfort.

"Alright, scoot over." Buck said, moving back to the couch and sitting down beside his best friend. As soon as he was comfortable, Eddie laid down, with his head in Buck's lap.

Eddie smiled, as he heard Buck start humming a random tune, and drifted off to sleep with the sound of the man that had literally saved him humming.

No sooner was Eddie asleep, Buck joined him. Finally giving in to his exhausted body's request to rest. 

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I hope you all enjoyed this fic. Please let me know if you would like a sequel. I am currently working on multiple requests and a couple of sequels, so please bear with me. Thanks. As always: drop a note, comment, and request away. Love you all! <3

[sonofshin]

I don't know I can trust you again. You left without a care for anyone else who put time, effort, and love into their characters relationships with Yun. You also are not apologizing and it seems you are only suggestion you will apologize because you are bored and want to come back instead of actually being sorry for the trouble caused and giving those you hurt the worst a heartfelt apology and accepting if they don't accept it.

I know I said I wouldn't post the anons, but I feel this one touches on some very important things that deserve to be answered.

Anon, it is absolutely heartwarming to know that people care so much about Yun. People come and go in this community so often, why would I be any different? This is genuinely something that is boosting everything I lack. And, of course, it also makes what I did that much more unforgivable. I care a whole bunch about the characters Yun has made relationships with. Those bring me joy. They get others excited, which is what I genuinely live for. I went to bed excited for those interactions, like between Igris and Yone, and woke up thrilled to answer them. My heart skipped a beat when someone called Yun out on being dumb and arrogant because yes, that's what he was! Repercussions! I LOVED THAT!

I know it seems like I left for shits and giggles, but you have to realize that I was (and still am) hurting very much (I know, wild). What was said to me completely sucked any and all fun I was having on Yun out of me. I won't go into detail, but I've never lost joy for a character I put over 5 years of blood sweat and tears into this fast since my ex. I know this is no excuse, but I do need you to realize this. I'm hurting just as much as you.

And no, I am not apologizing currently. I would be if I weren't still shivering from stress and running on mere hours of sleep for the past *looks on watch* 6 days. I haven't had a full nights sleep since then, and we all know that writing something long and serious while in a high emotional state is Not A Good Idea. It needs to come from the heart, not from the ramblings of an anxious, sleep deprived mess. I promise you, I will get to that. I need to take care of some things first.

And lastly, yes, I am bored. But do I want to come back? Honestly? No. Not really. And that's without taking into consideration that no one would interact with me. This is a character I have put well over 5 years of love into. I've built him with others and he is a facet of everyone who cares about him. And... I've lost that joy. My bondaries were thoroughly crossed and as a result, I can only look at Yun with disdain.

I love you all. I miss you all. But I can't find it in myself to come back. Probably not even if everyone DOES accept my apology and forgives me.

[justfangirlthingies]

Caught my eye (Corpse Husband x reader)

Soulmate AU: In which everyone has one eye in their own eye colour and one in the colour of their soulmate. However, when you are close to meeting each other, your vision will change to the soulmate's one, letting you know you are close. When your eyes meet they will change their colour to their original eye colour.

Word count: 4189 words

Warnings: cursing because that is automatically given when writing about Corpse

Another Soulmate AU from my Wattpad account let's go!

Staring into the camera were a pair of, colourwise mismatched, eyes, one iris a deep brown and the other one a shimmering (e/c).

It was not unusual for someone to have two different eye colours in one set of eyes, it simply meant one had yet to find their significant other.

Pressing record on your camera you let your eyes stay right in front of the lens for a second before rolling backwards on your chair, your torso now in frame as well "Hello all of you beautiful individuals! I'm (y/yt/n) and as always I welcome you here!" You waved at your camera, a warm and welcoming smile gracing your lips. "In case this is your first time stumbling over this channel" you paused a second and giggled "Hi, welcome to this chaos!" Slowly you neared the camera again "Leave while you still can" you whisper shouted into your microphone.

"No hold on don't leave please! I was just kidding" You joked at your camera.

A happy sigh escaped your mouth as you leaned back in your chair "Today is q & a time isn't it?" You wiggled your eyebrows at the blinking light in front of you "Well let's get to it then...hmm...lemme see. Youtubetrash asks 'how old are you (Y/n)?' Do you always have to ask that question guys?" You scold playfully "I'm 19, but I really don't get why this is so important to you that I have to answer it in every video, like do you want to know the exact amount of days and minutes? Will you stop asking it every goddamn time then?" You chuckled as you ran a hand through your (h/l), (h/c) hair. "Right, next question! SusanIsAFish wants to know which eye colour my own is. I can easily answer that with either 'both are' or 'hell if I know' I've always had two eye colours like how am I supposed to know." A grin spread on your face as you continued to interact with your community's questions...

"Alright alright these are the last two questions guys. Nightmaresscareme...honestly same" you laughed as you read the users name out aloud. When you calmed down again you cleared your throat and continued "Ahem, anyways they wanna know if I found my soulmate already and who it is....Do I look like I found my soulmate?" You asked smiling as you approached the recording device once again and pointed a finger at each eye. "I have no Idea who it is but maybe you find whoever it is because all of you people are little Sherlock's I swear, you find out everything." Laughter erupted from your throat once again as you pointed at your camera.

"Last but not least, (y/n)stan asks 'when will you collab with Jack again? The two of you promised to make a video or something together?' Woah calm down, honestly I don't even think he remembers that, it was years ago. How do you even remember that (y/n)stan? I swear to god that's exactly what I meant with ya'll being Sherlock's." You wiggled your eyebrows again "But if you do remember, Seán and you magically happen to see this video. What happened to our collab plans dude?" You giggled "Alrighty guys that's it for today's video. Stay awesome my dudes, dudettes and in betweens and I'll see ya in the next one!" You winked and waved before stopping your recording and going straight to editing your video.

Just as you were about to upload your piece of work, your phone rang, scaring you in the process and causing you to delete your video. You groan in frustration holding your head in your palms.

"This better be important..." you mumbled to yourself as you went to check your phone. Seriously?! It was a Twitter notification. You sighed and ignored it for now, saving your video was a priority right now.

After hours of retrieving and re-editing your footage you finally uploaded the video to the worldwide known platform and picked up your phone to see what Twitter wanted from you.

As you opened the app you saw that it was a private message from none other than Jacksepticeye. What a freaking coincidence you thought, a smile now appearing on your face as you read the message. All your frustration was gone and instead replaced with confusion and laughter.  "What kind of message is that?" You muttered as you shook your head laughing.

Jacksepticeye:

Hey (Y/n) what colours are your eyes again?

(Y/T/N):

What kinda question is that? Lmao

Jacksepticeye:

Just answer my question dum dum :)

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A raven haired male was on a discord call with his online friend that he had just revealed his face to. "Jack what are you doing now?" The young man laughed at his friend.

"Hold on, I'm texting someone."

The dark haired man sighed and waited "that's not very polite you know" he smiled.

"Pschh I'm finding your soulmate, what's impolite about that?" The Irish man looked up from his phone and back at his Computer screen. Only to start laughing at the other's reaction.

"Corpse? You good?" He kept on laughing at the dumbfounded expression on Corpse's face.

Who as a reaction turned off his camera, suddenly feeling very insecure towards his friend again.

"What do you mean?" His deep voice asked cautious.

"Don't worry man I'm not leaking your face or any info to anyone" he smiled reassuringly. "Your eyes just reminded me of someone else with the same or very similar ones. At least I hope I remember their eye colours correctly" He rambled on.

"Oh..." came from the other line, which was now more quiet than usual.

Seán noticed the change in his friend's behaviour and immediately stopped what he was doing. "I'm sorry Corpse..." the Irishman scratched bis neck awkwardly "I should've asked you first"

"I-it's fine. I just can't imagine anyone wanting to be my soulmate" the male sighed.

His friend flashed an encouraging smile at the screen "Dude! Anyone would be happy to be your soulmate. I know I would be! You are great, I know you probably don't believe me but I mean it bud. Besides, your soulmate is your other half, it's like they were made for you"

One could hear a sigh coming from the black screen as Corpse turned his camera back on, his pink tinted cheeks now showing up on screen as well. He had put his eye-patch on, leaving only his brown eye visible. "And you're really sure?" He asked quietly.

"100% sure! Anyone with half a brain would know how lovable you are" the blue eyed male grinned. "Besides, the person I'm thinking of also has a YouTube channel, I think I still owe them a collab, sooo I could maybe invite them to play some kind of-"

He cut himself off. "They answered!"

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(Y/T/N):

Well they're like brown and (e/c), it's such a weird mix though.

Jacksepticeye:

Interesting.

Hey (Y/n), how about we do that collab? You could fly out and we meet up

(Y/T/N):

You still remember that? XD

Yeah sure I'd love that, I just had someone ask me about that collab today.

But seriously dude why are my eyes interesting to you all of a sudden? You found my soulmate or smth 🧐😂

Jacksepticeye:

😏😌🤭🤫

Right....

So when are you coming?

(Y/T/N):

Dude!

You literally just asked me if I even wanna come! Like come on, you think I've booked a flight already? Just like 10 minutes after you asked me to travel there?

Jacksepticeye:

As a matter of fact I don't just think so, I know it ;)

So when do I have the honors of picking your jet-lagged ass up at the airport?

(Y/T/N):

:(

...

This weekend

Time skip

A happy sigh escaped your lips as you felt the plane reaching the ground of its destination. You swiftly grabbed your bag and left the plane to get the rest of your luggage.

A yawn escaped your mouth as you grabbed your stuff, staying awake during the whole flight probably wasn't your best idea, but you couldn't help it. To you it was simply impossible to fall asleep on a journey by plane.

Your eyes skimmed the airport as you were searching for your friend.

After a few minutes of looking around you decided to sit down and wait, he was probably still on his way to the airport.

Just as you decided to open up your phone you got smacked in the face... With a balloon? "What the hell?" You whispered as you were pulled up from your seat and embraced. "(Y/N)! Hey! I haven't seen you in forever"

You looked up a little confused as you reciprocated the hug. "Well hello to you too Seán"

He chuckled and grabbed one of your bags before dragging you with him. "How can you be so motivated and energetic?" You giggled and tried to keep up with your Irish friend. "That (Y/n), is simply because I'm not sleep deprived like you"

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Setting up his stream was a curly haired nervous mess. He was always nervous when he had to stream. But today was somehow worse.

The half Mexican ran his fingers through his hair. It was just a game with friends right? However, he had never played this game before.

His nerves getting to him caused Corpse to cancel the idea of a stream. "I'll just be there and play along, that's fine too. I don't need to stream every time I'm playing a game with my friends..." he muttered to himself.

With a bottle of water beside him he started the game and went through the tutorial. "Man this game is fucking cute" he laughed before joining the discord call, just to be engulfed in a complete chaos of voices.

"Hey Corpse is here! Hi hi!" A Swedish voice boomed through his headphones along with the rest of the group greeting him. "Hey guys" he replied as he joined their server in the game. "So what are we doing? Why is no one starti-" the deep voice started but was cut of by someone else.

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"HOLY FUCKING- Who the hell was that?! Hello by the way" The whole call erupted in laughter at the reaction of the (h/c) haired individual.

"Uhh hi, that was me" Corpse answered laughing as he scratched his head nervously "and you also just answered my question for me thank you, whoever you are" Everyone laughed once again.

"Okay but seriously who are you?" Dave asked.

"Jack! You said you told em that I'd join" you huffed as you glanced At your friend next to you, you were sharing one discord account for this call as you sat right next to each other and didn't want the quality of the call to go down because of an echo. Both of you streamed online on twitch.

"Whoops! I thought I did" he chuckled once more as he introduced you to the party. "Well then..." he coughed in an attempt to clear his throat "Drum-roll please! this is (Y/n), they came to visit me this weekend. (Y/n), that's Dave, Felix, Joel, PJ and Corpse."

"Hi" you said suddenly a little nervous because you thought everyone knew you'd join.

Luckily no one seemed to mind that you were here as they greeted you. In fact, they seemed ecstatic to meet you.

"So have any of you not played this before?" Pewds asked the group. "Uh yeah, me" Yours and the deep voice said simultaneously. "But I did the tutorial" Corpse added. "Well I didn't" you laughed. "Great then we're all set, shame on you though (Y/n)!" Seán shouted.

"Jeez man, you told me to skip it and I can hear you! I'm right next to you and not deaf in case you didn't know" you sassed back, causing laughter to bounce through your headset once more.

"(Y/n) and Corpse you two haven't played before that means you count as one person for the group things cause both of you are noobs and if you count as one we have even team numbers" The swede joked.

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"We're the Meowfia" Jack laughed, starting off with his puns for this game.

(Y/n) snorted at that as everyone chose the animals of their teams. Corpse chose the cat with an eye-patch along with his team. "Maan this is peer pressure!" Your voice called out "lucky for me I like cats"

"That is the truth" the Irish voice boomed through the call once again, "I mean you should see, even their headphones have cat ears"

"I wanna see that!" Dave shouted.

"Can we see them in your cam Jack?" PJ asked.

"Not completely, they're streaming on Twitch though, its at (Y/YT/N) on Twitch and YouTube" Seán smiled as he pat your back.

"You can't just expose me like that!" The cute voice answered panicking.

"I gotta see that, hold on!" Felix shouted as he opened up your stream smirking as he followed you. "Corpse, they'll ruin your life" he continued as your cheeks flushed a bright red, suddenly feeling so exposed and put on the spot "why...why am I ruining his life?" You asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Corpse had also opened up your account as he stared in awe at the enchanting individual now on his computer screen. Were you the one Jack had meant? No it couldn't be.

"Well you see, he wrote a song about cat girls ruining his life. Right Corpse?" This statement made him come back to reality and quite flustered at that "Huh? What-  ...ohhh uhm- uh- yeah" he responded in a stutter, the pale skin of his cheeks heating up and turning red.

"Corpse are you alright?" you asked, concern not only laced in your voice but also written all over your face, which he saw. This whole ordeal just made him blush more. There was a short pause "...Yeah.." the raven haired responded. But not even a second later a laugh erupted in the call "Did we just catch you right handed?" The voice belonged to Dave. "What do you mean?" Corpse asked confused. While he waited for a response from his friend, he started fiddling with his rings as he kept his eyes on (Y/N)'s stream which was still pulled up on his screen. "Well, did we catch you watching her stream?" Dave replied trying to hold in his laughter.

Your expression changed as your eyes went wide and you looked right at your camera "Is that true?" Your voice chimed in as a hint of pink spread across your cheeks, one of your eyebrows arched. "Well..." The man with the username 'CORPSE' cleared his throat "I had to see if Jack and Felix were speaking the truth..."

A smirk spread across your face "And? Were they honest?" you laughed as your Irish companion moved his face into the frame of your camera wiggling his eyebrows. The only answer you got to your question was silence before the deep voice continued "Alright let's start this game." Yet another laugh escaped your throat when you noticed the lack of a reply to your question. However, one could say that silence was an answer on its own.

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The young guy sighed loudly after the game had ended, rolling back, away from his table, in his gaming chair he ran his hands through his curly hair. The game was fun, but it was exhausting for the man to concentrate on a game this long. Just as he was about to get up, turn all devices off and leave, he heard a familiar sound coming from his computer screen.

A discord call and video call at that was incoming from none other that Jacksepticeye. So, Corpse rolled forward in his chair again as he checked if his camera was turned off and covered. After reassuring himself that his face was hidden he accepted the call. "Hey whaddup?" He greeted his loud friend who immediately responded with a "Hey my man". His mismatched eyes widened as he looked at the screen, it was not only Jack on the call...they were there as well, a shy smile plastered on their face as they kept their eyes closed "Hey Corpse, tell me when your camera is off. Sean told me it might be on and I don't want you to accidentally expose yourself to me." "Oh yeah, it's off. You can open your eyes it's fine." Just as he finished his sentence their eyelids slowly fluttered open as they stared at the black screen and waved. There was no way to describe the feeling that went through him as he admired you in awe. He seemed starstruck and without thinking he blurted out "You have to visit San Diego sometime, but like soon"

Your eyes widened slightly not knowing how to respond to that "Umm...yeah I dunno, maybe someday?" Jack gasped dramatically "You never invited me over even though I'm the one you trusted enough to show your face to!"

Yet another time today, the male behind the black screen felt a blush grow on his face. "Well i-it's your fault for introducing me to your friend. And umm sorry if I was a bit too blunt there" He stuttered. "No it's fine. I'm a very spontaneous person ya know." You replied an embarrassed smile gracing your lips once more "But you could be a killer for all I know...sorry you probably hear that one a lot haha. Also, would you even be comfortable enough to meet up..." slowly you started drifting off with what you were saying. As soon as you realized you were trailing off of the topic at hand, you tried to get back to the conversation "ahem.. yeah, anyways as I was saying...someday sure. I mean...I am traveling around at the moment because I flew to Brighton. Maybe you know, we could get to know each other a bit better first" you smiled nervously as you replied.

"Ah yes...of course. Though I do have a question for you Seán. Is (Y/n) the one we spoke of a few days ago?" came back as a reply. He had a plan to gain their trust if they really were his suspected soulmate. The man next to (Y/n) nodded and gave a wink to the camera they used for the call. This action just confused you even more and it must have shown on your face because your loud friend started laughing at you. "Don't worry it was nothing bad" Jack reassured. "Hold on, is this about the random-" there was a lot of shuffling coming from the black screen. The noise had startled you a bit, causing you to stop mid sentence. "the random question about my eyes?" You continued your question, looking at that Irish friend of yours, but you didn't get a reply for there was another loud noise coming from Corpse's side of the screen. You shifted your attention back to the screen in front of you again just to be met with more shuffling and a sudden colour change of the screen. Your eyes widened as you saw a face only briefly for a split second before your vision suddenly changed. You looked around to see an unfamiliar room and as you saw the sight before your eyes you felt as though they were going to pop out of their sockets at any moment.

No...

No fucking way...

"Holy shit" you heard the words leave both your mouths. You just stared at the screen in front of you to see yourself, who apparently sat on the other side of the screen next to Seán. And you also saw the live view of a young man with black curly hair, dressed in black in a small window of the computer. You felt really dizzy all of a sudden and the light before your eyes went black briefly before returning to more used surroundings again.

Realisation dawned on you as you blinked a few times and spoke aloud "I-I just imagined that right? There's no way. C-Corpse you didn't happen to experience that right now, did-did you?"

"Holy fuck..." you heard a low mutter coming from the speakers.

Jack looked at you, eyebrows raised in confusion for a second before realization dawned on him and a knowing smirk appeared on his face as he shouted "CALLED IT!"

The two of you could not yet comprehend what was happening, let alone listen and realize what your mutual friend had to say.

After a few minutes of complete silence you tore your eyes away from the pen on Jack's desk, which had become the most interesting thing and perfect staring partner for the past minutes and shifted your gaze back to the young raven-haired individual before you, a small smile and a huge blush grazing your facial features as you spoke up, voice quiet and soft, but also full of nervousness "soo...umm...Corpse, are you gonna give me that address in San Diego?"

The question stood in the room for a few moments as silence engulfed you once again. Corpse's expression on his bright red face however, showed he was pondering."Y-yeah of course...sure...I-I'll text it to you if you give me that number of yours..." Then there was a pause. "Whe-When can I expect you then?"

This time it was your turn to think. "How about directly when you leave Brighton?" Jack chimed in. "But th-that's like in two days..." you stuttered in response. It was a nice idea and you did feel a pull to meet this handsome stranger as soon as possible. "Well yeah, that's the point is it not? I already checked for flights while you two where staring off somewhere....Sooo? Should I buy the ticket real quick? You can thank me later." Your mismatching eyes kept switching your gaze from your friend who had made this crazy suggestion and your apparent soulmate who now wore an eyepatch and was watching you expectantly while patiently awaiting your answer. A small sigh left your lips as you made your decision. When you tried to verbally answer though, your voice had left you, so you made eye-contact with the man also known as Corpse Husband, who had trusted you enough to reveal his face to you, and just gave him a small nod. He seemed to understand and gave you a reassuring smile.

"It's final then?" Seán, who had watched this whole ordeal unfold asked smiling happily as you just nodded once again "Y-yeah"

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Two days later you found yourself on yet another plane ride, but this time it was not to England, nor was its destination your home. You sat on your seat in silence, music which you couldn't concentrate on, blasting through your headphones while you  twiddled with your fingers, bouncing your leg up and down quickly. What were you gonna say? He would pick you up outside of the airport in order to avoid bumping into things when the view-switching-thing would happen.

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Meanwhile, the faceless YouTuber had finished tidying up his apartment and prepared everything for your arrival. He would be lying if he said he didn't look you up on the socials to learn more about you.

About half an hour before the plane would land he drove off to your designated meeting spot. He arrived there 10 minutes early so he could mentally prepare himself. About 5 minutes later he put on his black face mask and exited his car. At first he was gonna wait for you here, but his nerves and heart got the better of him, so he made his way closer inside the airport building to meet you halfway. What he didn't know was that your plane would land early. So, as he made his way through the people, which was way out of his comfort zone already, he started to see black dots clouding his view, but suddenly he came from the other side. Oh no. The body kept walking until he saw himself in the crowd.

Your eyes met as you tried to navigate through the crowd of people, it was hard as you had to control your own body somehow even though you could only see what your soulmate would usually see. Finally you had gotten somewhat closer to one another and as you came to a halt, your bodies mere inches apart as your eyesight returned to your own again. You looked up at the man in front of you in awe. Your eyes were fixated on his as you noticed the (e/c) in his one eye fade away, just to be replaced by this beautiful shade of brown that was in his other eye. The colour you knew so well because you had seen it in the mirror in one of your own eyes everyday. "Your eyes" you whispered. He smiled in return "yours too..it's nice to meet you (Y/n). My soulmate. You are even more dazzling in person" he complimented. "I can't say anything else besides the same applies to you" You smiled in return as your face went red. "Well then...Shall we?" he grinned as he took one of your backpacks and started walking. "Hey! Wait up!" You laughed as you ran to catch up to your soulmate...

[grimseywrites]

Obey Me Preferences #15 - Surprisingly Strong MC

Lucifer He never thought you would be this strong, not looking at you. And yet here he is, in your arms, completely confused and frozen. It’s not until you put him down that he gets mad about it, going into his demon form to threaten your life should you ever dare to pick him up again. He puffs up his feathers to make himself seem bigger and more intimidating, meanwhile Belphie and Satan are laughing their asses off in the other side of the house at the picture they took. Lucifer wouldn’t kill you, and would begin to appreciate your help with physically managing his brothers, but he would hate even the idea that you can pick him up. The only time you can get away with this is when he’s so sleep-deprived he barely knows what is going on beyond the stacks of paper on his desk, and only then can you gently pick him up in a princess carry and take him to bed.

Mammon No, don’t start this with him. I’m telling you, do not. He will constantly ask for piggybacks, and I mean constantly. He’ll ask for a piggyback from the common room to the front door, from the table in the coffee shop to the counter, from one chair to another. Any excuse he can find he uses because he loves holding on tight to you, burying his head in your neck, knowing every second you carry him is another second his scent is transferring to you and vice versa. Also, he is just lazy, but he does genuinely love it for the other reasons first, and he definitely uses it to show off to his brothers. He will try and make comments, sometimes dirty, mostly just being superior, but it’s easily taken care of if you tell him you’ll refuse to give him piggybacks.

Leviathan Do you want to kill him? Like do you actually want him to have a heart attack when you pick him up? Once you try, he’s just frozen, but not like Lucifer, more like a dead rabbit. His entire body is locked in place, you could probably balance him on one hand. Inside his mind is a rambling mess of thoughts about how you’re amazing and strong and he’s a worthless otaku. It takes hours to calm him down, but after that he kinda gets used to you picking him up when you feel like it (of course his jealousy over Mammon and Asmo has nothing to do with it). He does ask for a warning though, and you mostly oblige. One time you forget to warn him and pick him up from behind, and the surprise means his Grand Admiral skills come back. He quickly subdued you, thankfully realising it was you and not a demon naval officer, but it was a side of Levi you’d never seen before.

Satan He's nonchalant about it. If you really want to, you can pick him up, but why bother? He’s capable of walking, and has no particular fondness or distaste for it so his reaction is just mild surprise and that’s it. However he does appreciate your strength because to him, it means you can help him carry large stacks of books home from the bookshop, or he can foist his stacks onto yours when he sees a cat and not worry that it’s too heavy. Yes, you become a packhorse for this man. But he always thanks you with some quality time reading together.

Asmodeus Are you kidding? Asmo is LIVING for this. Likes to go to the gym with you and watch as you lift weights, and much like Mammon will try anything for you to carry him. Constantly flirts, obvs, look who we’re talking about, and he likes to wear long gowns to convince you to carry him so the hem doesn’t get dirty. When he’s not in your arms, he’s ogling them, but if you ask him to stop then he will (reluctantly ofc, but he’s a demon who respects consent). He is very dramatic about asking you to carry him, mostly so you know the ‘reason’ is just an excuse. “Oh MC! I’ve hurt my ankle! How am I supposed to go to RAD and bless everyone with my beauty? If only there was a strong human around who could carry me the rest of the way!” Meanwhile his ankle is completely fine as he skips over to drape himself on you. After you show him Dirty Dancing he is constantly launching himself at you to recreate that lift. Good luck.

Beelzebub Much like Satan, isn’t bothered by it. Being carried just isn’t necessary, but if it makes you happy, he’ll let you. You cannot do a fireman carry, Beel is WAY too tall for it, but a princess carry is just fine. Once he sees you carrying a bunch of books for Satan, he asks if you’ll help him carry his snacks, and who can say no to him? He realises that you can carry Belphie too, and often asks you to carry Belphie back to their room if you see him sleeping somewhere he shouldn’t.

Belphegor Another one who loves it. The second you pick him up he falls asleep against your chest, a vice-like grip stopping you from separating the two of you. Will ask you to carry him everywhere also, but unlike Mammon and Asmo, it’s just so he can sleep longer. Belphie is impervious to your grumbles, but now you have to mediate between three demon brothers about who you carry to/from RAD. Belphie nearly always loses, just because he’s always half asleep, until he found out that if you pick him up to get him out of bed, he can simply refuse to let go and you end up taking him to RAD. Mammon got so jealous of this, he then latched onto your back, so good luck figuring that out.

Diavolo He delights in it. Dia thinks it is the most wonderful thing in the world. Doesn’t want to abuse it, but seriously, pick him up. He giggles and grins and it’s like when a big dog is cuddling in your lap like a puppy. He may occasionally ask for piggybacks, which probably make him look like he’s on a step-stool (I don’t care how tall you are, this is a GIANT) and Lucifer is always appalled at the sight. It’s common when you greet each other to hug, and then you lift him up just to remind him you can. Seriously, Diavolo adores it very time.

[maibi]

All You Really Needed

Gojo Satoru x reader

Warnings: contains a spoiler of one of the first few episodes.. the summary also contains that spoiler so be wary!!

Summary: after the death of Itadori Yuuji, Gojo finally let’s go of his strong posture and breaks down in front of you. (I suck at descriptions I know T_T)

A/N: I apologise for any mistakes,, this was not proofread plus I am sleep deprived 99% of the time so I have no clue what im writing lmao. Anyways ENJOY!

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Gojo wasn’t one that opened up about his feelings or emotions, whereas you were the complete opposite of that. your days together were mostly filled with you rambling about your days teaching the first years at Kyoto Jujutsu High. You loved your students, but it was a tiring job to train them constantly. 

Gojo never seemed to complain about his work or students and he didn’t really seem to take his job seriously, yet he always pulled it off. He talked about his so called dream to change the jujutsu world when in reality that wouldn’t be as simple as he thought it was. Even for the strongest shaman, this is a job that was almost impossible to accomplish alone. But as much as Gojo had confidence in himself, you believed he’d get far. Because whatever he wants always comes his way. 

For example: you.

You and Gojo were actually classmates throughout high school, but nothing really happened between you back then. Being in a class of 4 didn’t really help with getting you two closer. It would be you and your friend and he with his. It wasn't rivalry or hatred, but rather a situation of seeing each other but ignoring each other’s presence. Your personalities just��didn't match, or at least that’s what the both of you had convinced yourself to believe. 

It wasn't until both of you actually became teachers that you grew closer to each other and that’s also when you realized he wasn’t as bad as you thought he was. Yes he was quite the clown, but in reality he was a very caring person. 

The first years of your teaching career had been a constant loop of Gojo trying his best to get closer to you. His personality hadn’t changed much, but in whole  honesty there wasn’t much different in yours either. The only difference was, that the both of you had finally become adults.

You liked Gojo, but telling him that back then would be like giving in on his constant confessions that you rejected as if it was a daily routine. Sooner or later you gave in, not being able to resist him. He knew you would fall for him, because he always gets his way.

You had been together for a long while now and even though you didn’t actually live together it was as good as if he lived with you. Both of you had an own place to stay at, but given the circumstances you always were together. With the whole Yuuji situation the teachers and higher ups didn’t really have a choice but to be together constantly. Stuff had to be talked about and for Gojo his students’ safety was his number one priority. Even though yuuji had brought this all on himself, Gojo had no intentions of letting him die any time soon. If they let him, he wouldn’t even let him die. 

He always looked as if he was having the time of his life, but you knew him longer than today and sometimes his masked slipped. He didn’t deepen the conversation when you pointed it out, but he was already happy to have you by his side. He didn’t need words to comfort him, but even if he didn’t it felt as if you didn’t do much for him. You wanted to show him that you cared for him and that you would listen to him if he needed to vent.

He didn’t show, but the whole Yuuji situation messed with his head. The higher up scheming Yuuji’s death and Gojo constantly running behind his back to make sure Yuuji is safe. It tired him. He always said he was okey and gave you kiss on top of your head. It was a constant routine, but you noticed. You noticed how he’d fall asleep the second he arrived home and how he let his weight fall on you when you hugged him. You didn’t say anything because you didn’t want him to feel pressured. But you desperately hoped he would talk to you because the both of you knew that would be a big relief for him. 

You went home earlier than usual. The students had begged you for a day off, but just randomly giving them a break was not the best option in these hectic days. They had to train, they had to get stronger. So you made a deal. If they caught you, you’d give them free the rest of the day. Of course they failed, but you saw great accomplishments so you agreed on giving them free for the rest of the day. They were also tired, you could tell. But you didn’t want them to get hurt because you weren’t able to teach them properly. 

You sighed as you dropped your weight on the couch. You let your head fall back and looked at the ceiling. Your eyes darted to the clock on the wall. About an hour from now Gojo should be home. You could already tell how he’d be when he got home. His sleep deprived posture walking inside as he slumped on the bed. You felt bad to see him like that.

You were surprised to hear the door open and when you turned your head you say Gojo walking inside with his blindfolds in his hand. His hair was wet and he was supporting himself against the wall. You noticed this wasn't like normal, but before you could even walk up to him he had left to the bedroom and slammed the door shut. You knew it wasn’t directed you so you immediately knew something was wrong. 

You raised from the couch and made your way to the bedroom. You knocked once and walked inside. “Hey, Satoru”, you said silently. 

He was laying on his back on the bed, his feet touching the ground. You walked up to him and sat down next to him. You brushed your hand in his hair and felt water droplets collect on your hand, but you didn’t really care. He was breathing heavily and his heart was beating rapidly in his chest. 

You didn’t was a word and kept your touch on his hair. He slowly rose from his laying position and rested his arms on his legs. His head was bent downwards and naturally your touch left his. You placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “Are you alright-”

And suddenly he dropped his head on your legs. You noticed that he was refusing to look at you. He was rejecting any kind of eye contact, just so you wouldn’t have to see his worn out face. He mumbled something, but you didn’t hear him. But before you could ask him to repeat himself, he spoke up again.

“Yuuji is-”, he said with a crack in his voice. “Yuuji is dead.”

You were shocked. Your heart dropped and you couldn’t even imagine how torn he must be feeling. He stood up and showed you his face. His eyes were red, he had been crying. 

You placed your hands on his face and a tear rolled down his cheek. You wiped it away, caressing the spot a few times. “He did his best, so much. He wanted to become stronger, but I failed him.”

“No you didn't and I'm sure he thinks the same. You were so good to him and you thought him many amazing things. I bet he was so proud to say that he had you as his mentor. He was a great kid”, you said in a whisper to calm him down. 

This was the first time he had shown any sign of vulnerability. You didn’t want to let him down and you wanted to show him that you cared. You wanted to show him that you were there for him, that you were willing to do anything in your power and beyond to help him.

“They killed him. They planned this, they schemed it so that he would die. They’ve been wanting him dead from the beginning and I swear I'm not gonna let them have this. I will destroy every single on of them and I will show them exactly how much of a mistake they made”, he said in a small voice.

“Hey, you did the best you could. And I have trust in you. I know you’re gonna make it and you’re gonna show them exactly how powerful you are. This won’t go unnoticed and we will make sure of that. Yuuji’s death will not be in vain”, you said.

You embraced him and pulled him flush against you. You pressed your lips together and closed your eyes as you squeezed him, as if he was about to fall from your grip and were to never return.

“We will get revenge”, you whispered as you felt his breath against your neck and felt the wetness of his tears create a damp spot on your shirt. “For Yuuji.”

You stayed like that for a while and you were almost convinced he was asleep. You slowly tried to wriggle the both of you in a laying position because you didn't want to wake him up, but his arm squeezing around your waist told you that he didn’t want to move just yet. 

He moved away from your grip but placed his hands on your cheeks. “Thank you for being here for me and thank you for always knowing how to deal with me.”

You gave him a small smile of reassurance. You placed your hand on his cheek once again and pulled him in for a kiss, a small brush on the lips. “I will do everything in my power to help you get through this. And I will use up every bit of energy to carry on Yuuji’s will. We will protect the students together and we will take revenge for the teenager’s death. And we’ll do it together.”

No other word were spoken that night. No words were needed that night. The both of you had understood and the both of you had agreed. It was the first time Gojo had openly showed his feelings and you were more than happy to receive those emotions with open arms. To show him just how much you cared for him. But in reality he already knew and he didn’t need you to comfort him alone to understand that. He was a person that looked out for the smallest details and you just being there next to him, was really all he needed. And him being there, next to you was all you really needed.

[celest1all]

flowers of the heart • [s.s] 2

part two

pairing: stiles stilinski x fem!reader [Hanahaki AU]

chapter summary: stiles and you finally talk after what happened at the clinic.

warning(s): sadness, angst, reader has a panic attack, coughing, coughing up blood, mentions of death, let me know if i've forgotten any.

authors note: i have an idea where i'm going with this which is good but also bad as it might be filled with angst so yay? also please read part one if you haven't already otherwise this will make zero sense k bye

part one | part two | part three | tbc...

Ever since you were little, the rain was something you took comfort in -- something that always managed to bring a small smile to your face and soothe your worries. You loved it, the way the little droplets raced each other down the glass before dropping off, the sound of it patting against the window. You loved everything about the rain.

The key word here; was.

As of right now, you hated it. The rain was causing a massive dampener on your mood, as if it was a good mood in the first place, and you hated it. It also made your clothes significantly wet, sticking to you like a second skin. Eugh.

The only reason you had left the damn house was because you started coughing up blood and flowers again, another harsh and painful reminder that the one you love didn’t reciprocate your feelings.

Oh God, Stiles.

You hadn’t seen or spoken to him since that day at the clinic, he didn’t even try and contact you. You can’t blame him though, what are you supposed to do when your best friend is dying all because you don’t love them back?

As you were walking, the sheer severity of the situation hit you like a bus, panic gripping at your heart like a vice causing you to stop in your tracks, the rain still falling down around you.

You were dying. You were dying and there was no cure.

Staring down at the floor, your chest heavy with dread and fear, a car pulled up besides you. With laboured breaths, trying hard to grasp a small amount of oxygen you seemed to be deprived of, you turned to your left, “Stiles?” you spoke breathlessly, the sight of him not helping your current situation in the slightest.

“[Y/N]?” His eyebrows were furrowed, confusion evident in his tone. He stared down at you, watching the way you were breathing heavily, almost like you had just gone on a run. Stiles, though, knew better. He knew that you would never go on a run, not even when Coach forced you. “Woah, hey, [Y/N],” he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the jeep’s door, shutting it with a slam before moving towards you.

“W-What the hell--” another sharp intake of breath, “is happening?”

Stiles grabbed onto your shoulders, making your gaze whip up to meet his. “I think you’re having a panic attack.” his tone was soft, not wanting to increase your evident anxiety.

“A panic... attack?” your breath was still laboured, you were struggling to chase that small piece of air that you needed to fill your lungs, to bring you back.

“Okay, so just listen to me, okay? Can you do that?” He asked you, eyes still boring into yours. You nodded, opting to not talk. “Good, okay, follow my breathing. In...out...in...out...in…”

You mirrored the way he was breathing, the panic slowly but surely subsiding, leaving room for the oxygen that you will now forever be grateful for.

“In...out...good.” he rubbed your back soothingly “Are you okay?”

You nodded once again, “Y-Yeah, I think so. Thank you.” He smiled softly at you, making you almost forget about your last encounter with you.

Almost.

You scratched the back of your neck as the air around you two went from comforting to extreme awkwardness and tension, not entirely unsure of what to say. That was until your throat started to become scratchy which meant one of two things; it was happening again or -- this is the one you hoped -- it was just a side effect from the panic attack. Clearing your throat slightly, you hoped that it would go away and that it was only a side effect from the lack of oxygen, but no. The familiar feel of a flower blooming in your lungs to only spew out from your mouth with a disgusting hack told you that it was not a side effect.

Stiles, who was completely at a loss for what he was supposed to do, watched you turn your back to him and hunch over. He thought for a second that you were going to pile but when you turned around with blood smeared across your lip slightly, hands enclosed around something, he realised that you weren't being sick.

You wiped the back of your now socked sleeve across your mouth, ensuring that no excess blood (or petals) were around it. You made an effort to not look in Stiles’ direction, not wanting to see the no doubt guilt ridden look he was sporting.

“[Y/N]...”

You knew what he was going to say so you stuck your hand up to stop him, “Don’t.” your voice was croaky and your throat was sore. “Just don’t, Stiles.”

He bit his lip, “Please just -- just hear me out and then you can leave. Please?” he begged, eyes pleading even though you weren't even looking at him.

Stiles knew that you were currently debating whether or not you should listen to him, the way you squeezed your eyes shut and balled your hands into fists was the telltale sign. After about ten seconds of mental torture, for him and you, you gestured for him to go on. “I’m so sorry [Y/N].” Stiles winced at his poor choice of words and he heard you scoff slightly whilst simultaneously kicking a pebble with your shoe. “I never ever meant for any of this to happen to you. And-and if I could fix it then I would.--”

“But you can’t.” your tone was soft, much like Stiles' earlier on. But it wasn't for the same reason, not in the slightest. You looked up at him finally, teary and tired eyes meeting his saddened ones. “I’m dying, Stiles. And nothings going to change it unless you miraculously fall in love with me,” you let out a dry laugh with a small smile on your lips “but I don’t blame you.”

Stiles eyebrows furrowed at your statement, “Y-You don’t?” he asked quizzically.

You shook your head, “No. I thought I did, but I don’t.”

“You should blame me though, [Y/N]. I mean Jesus, I’m the reason you're in this fucking mess.” his voice grew louder with every passing second and you knew that anger was replacing his previous sadness. “I mean, there has to be a cure, right? There has to be. Especially in this town, anything can happen! What about Scott gives you the bite, then you’ll survive and then--”

“Stiles.” the smooth honey-like voice that came from you made him stop his ramblings abruptly. “Stop.” There was no anger, no malice to your tone, just a simple plea. A plea for him to stop giving you false hope and to stop giving himself false hope. Even though he didn't love you back, he was still your best friend. You were his best friend and he couldn’t lose you. Not now, not ever. “Look, I gotta go back home as Mom’s probably wondering where I am, but I’ll come see you and Scott tomorrow if you’ll like?”

The quick subject change made Stiles’ head spin slightly, he almost had to shake his head to regather his thoughts. “Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, sure. I’ll text Scott and let him know.”

“Okay,” you smiled at him before turning away and back towards your house, heart hammering slightly.

Stiles watched you walk away, guilt swallowing him up from the inside. You didn't deserve this, no way in hell did you deserve this. You were the sweetest, caring and most loving person he had ever met and now you were destined for a fate such as this? No. Not if he had anything to do with it. He knew what he was going to do, and it involved not sleeping at all.

He was going to find away to save you.

[aglassmenagerieofallergies]

Rant about Mystreet Season 6

Now I love Aphmau’s channel and series, have since I was 10, but this last season of Mystreet and parts of season 5 could have been so much better. This is meant to be no “attack” or “jab” at Jess and Jason’s writing, these are merely opinions from a long-time fan. I am gonna go on a bit of a rant about the parts I personally feel could have been MUCH improved on. I would like to preface this with saying that I really do not enjoy this season and therefore do not re watch it a lot. Its also 4:40 am my time so this might turn into a sleep deprived ramble but anyways, here we go...

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5/6 OF APHMAUS MYSTREET 

Kawaii Chan/ Nana

I adore Nana. She has consistently been my favourite female character for all 6 seasons of the show and in diaries but holy she has done wrong this past season. Getting almost killed and then not having any involvement what so ever. The majority of her screen time, especially near the fight with the demon warlock, just felt like the writers forgot she was there and wanted to give Moeka lines. Her involvement with Zane was the only moments she seemed to have. Speaking of her and Zane... While I love them as a couple, I also despise the fact that Nana only ever got development or a backstory when it came time to ship her with Zane. I wish she could have been more explored earlier on aside from being the “annoying, shippy, meifwa girl”. She got the short end of the stick recently and I hate it.

Aaron 

I have really never liked Aaron. From him being a high school senior dating a freshman to him literally murdering people, I never liked him. This season really didn't help that. Aaron ended lives, we see him kill Blaze and is he punished at all for it ? No. Yes, he was blinded and lost his memory but that wasn't as a reprimand for his crime of I don’t know MURDER. Aaron and Irene’s constant interactions make zero sense to me. One man cant be brought back to life by God twice. I get a bad sense that through-out season 6, we are meant to be supporting or sympathising with Aaron but I just cant. We are treated to numerous flashbacks to Aaron’s past, inter-cut with scenes of him committing various horrid actions. His father raised and treated him horribly but that is no excuse for murder. The ending of season 6 seemed almost hopeful for Aaron with the “hope” of him and Aphmau reuniting and I honestly don’t feel it is 100% earned. 

Ultima/ Werewolf 

This point isn't so much a critique on season 6 specifically but on the series as a whole. Aaron and his family being werewolves, being descendants of the ultima werewolf no less, came out of no where. Werewolves being introduced into the main plot could have been cool but instead the majority of it came off being rather cringey, specially in Phoenix Drop High. Anytime a werewolf would call Aphmau or Aaron “Alpha”, I could feel my skin crawl. The dealing of almost species based discrimination in season 6 was down right awful and Im not even talking about Aphmau wanting to be turned. The whole ordeal with the restaurant denying the werewolf pack service was over and dealt with as soon as it happened, The werewolves being hunted in season 6 because of the possibility they were an ultima and Katelyns reaction to Aaron being a werewolf seemed to come out of no-where. The idea of discrimination based on something someone can not control in a minecraft story could have been a way to teach younger kids a great life lesson but the majority of story lines involving werewolves were so half-assed, you cant even make a successful anecdote out of them. 

MCD/MS Connection

In the last season of MS, they really tried to shoe-horn in this connection with MCD which honestly creates nothing but plot-holes. A MS/MCD connection could have been a really cool concept and piece to see but its so rushed and forced, it just comes across as awkward and last minute. If the writers really did want to merge the two series or at least have them canonically exist in the same universe, they should have been setting it up from the first season. Overall, the two series are so vastly different from their environment to the characters that a complete mash up of the two would be so jarring. Just imagine Zane from MS meeting Zane from MCD or all of the MCD characters in a world without Wyvern, common use of ships, lords, and being introduced to the technology. A series combining the two would be fun and it would be fun seeing the characters interact and meet each other but it would need to be well thought out instead of just saying “and now here’s Irene and the demon warlock” which is what season 6 did. 

Dante/ Laurence

The Laurence curse strikes again but this time, its not just him. Since season 2, there has been a “tendency” to forget Laurence in the shows events. He was absent throughout Season 2 and again for Seasons 4,5 and 6. Dante, however, was very present in the first 3 straight seasons of the show. No one expected for him to disappear out of the blue ;) like that. Laurence disappearing could make sense, maybe Sebastian was booked up at the time or other personal reasons but Kestin voiced Zane and Eric throughout the show. Season 5 of the show I will cut some slack for forgetting them, It already barely made sense for how characters like Kai or Nate were there, but forgetting Laurence in Season 2 seemed odd. Dante and Laurence not only could have helped the “gang” but they could’ve provided some great entertainment and story lines but instead we got Ein ... again.

Ein

Eins rant will be shorter as while his character in season 4 did not leave much of an impact on me, his story could have been written leagues better. Eins story line and subsequent death was insanely fast. We got the spotting at the end of season 5 and a poorly done B plot throughout season 6. Ein is a fairly good villain with some decent potential, he could have been much more utilised. Ein served only to kill Aphmau then die. His character got walked all over. Literally. He caused such shit in season 4 and his death was a simple *stomp*. Are you kidding ? Everything could have been just ... better. Not only in regards to Ein but for the entire season. 

Closing Thoughts 

Overall the season was not good, in my opinion. Mystreet works much better as a episodic show like a slice of life anime, as a story driven series like a shounen it does not. If the rumours about a season 7 are true, I really hope it is at least a bit better than this one. It as a whole was a mess. To reiterate, this is meant as no attack on the writers or BluJay Studios but as a critique on this particular season. I love Aphmau and the Mystreet series but this was its low point. Thank you for sitting through my incoherent rantings about a minecraft show. :) have a great day/night !!

[equestrianwritingsstuff]

Can you do a part three of this?

For You Part 3

Part 1, Part 2

Thank you for asking for a continuation! I actually had one started, but thanks for the reminder to keep it going!

@forestfanders I didn't know if you wanted to be tagged again, but if you did here.

Warnings: cannibalistic behavior, implied sleep deprivation, fainting, mentions of eating animals in a gross way, vampires, blood, feverish whumpees, delirium implied, hospital setting, drugged mention, dead (minor) characters

~

Supervillain was knocked to the ground by a comet of murderous ferocity. Involuntary reflexes kicked in and there legs instantly shot up to block the attack, but Villain was quicker and was already clawing at Supervillain's chest.

Realizing that Villain had the upperhand, Supervillain grabbed the walkie talkie from their belt, pressed the botton and yelled,

"I need assistance in Villain's room!"

And then they went back to working on calming the thrashing villain down.

"Villain," Supervillain pleaded. Fierce yes, but also incredibly weak, the villain slowed their assualt.

Supervillain took the opportunity to grab one of Villain's wrists and twist it around. They stood up and flip Villain back onto their stomach.

Suddenly being completely vulnerable, Villain ceased all struggles and laid there limp, sobbing. Sounds of distress tore their way out of Villain's throat in animalistic tones.

"Villain," Supervillain released some of the pressure on Villain's arm and leaned close to their ear. They whispered soft words of comfort as a herd of henchman galloped into the room.

Instantly, the breathless cries coming from Villain were masked by the ramble of incessant questions.

"Are they okay?"

"What happened to them?"

"Have they... turned?"

"Why are you pinning them?"

"Oh my gosh, what happened?"

"Supervillain... are you okay? Tell me you are okay!"

"Should I call an ambulance? Or Hero?"

"Oh my, what do I do? I dunno what to do."

Supervillain didn't answer any of their concerned henchmen and gathered Villain into their chest, hugging them tightly while rocking back and forth. The movement made their heavy head drop, forhead nearly resting against Villain's head...

"Boss?"

Supervillain jerked, trying to remember what they were just thinking about. They must've dozed off for a second as they couldn't recall anything...

A hand was resting against their shoulder. A voice whispered something. But Supervillain ignored all signs of life outside their tunnel vision. They stood up on their knees, and clumsily shoved Villain back onto the bed.

They didn't notice a henchman help them.

Upon completing their task, Supervillain stood completely up.

Then it hit them. A wave of dizziness crashing down to make them stumble.

"I'm fine... f-fine... just lil'..." Supervillain slurred as they swayed.

"Boss?" Distant and cold.

As if they were buried under the snow.

Supervillain tried to step forward. "I-i-i... I..." they mumbled just as they fell to their side- limp as a wilted daisy.

"Someone, catch them!"

Two arms under their armpits.

And then they descended into darkness.

The door barged open and a steaming henchman entered the cozy bedroom that could also be described as a generous cell. Hero raised an eyebrow at the seemingly mad lackey.

"What can I do for you? Is it time for my blood to be mercilessly spilled for the sake of dear Villain?" Hero asked smugly.

"You mean the 'dear villain' that fed you, risked their life, and nearly died for you?" Henchman sassed back.

"I reckon that'll be the one," Hero confirmed, a smirk growing on their face. "Are they still sick? Or have they turned?"

Henchman replied with their own question, "How do you contain a vampire?"

And it kind of answered Hero's question as well.

"Well, you are containing me right?"

"A vampire that just wants to kill."

"Oh you don't," Hero said quickly. "Just give them a rat or something."

"We should feed you a rat, with mashed up worms as garnish."

"I'd prefer a cheeseburger."

"Well-" a sound of static interrupted Henchman's retort.

"Hello?" Henchman spoke into their walkie-talkie.

"Boss woke up, muttering something crazy. Looks feverish," came a reply from the other end.

"Figures. They wore themselves out pretty good," Henchman replied.

"Yeah. They said something about a magician, but we really can't trust anything they are saying right now."

"What about this magician?"

"Dunno, but apparently they know about vampires."

"So does Hero-"

"And how to un-vampire them."

"Oh," Henchman tutted, glancing at Hero who was unceremoniously making faces. "Knock it off!" Henchman growled.

"What's that?"

"Nothin'. See if you can ask where this magician is."

"As I said, we can't-"

"DO IT!"

"Okay, okay... hey boss, where is your magician friend?"

A bunch of garbled nonsense sounded from the other end.

"Someplace in the darkside of town," the henchman on the walkie-talkie said.

"Tell whoever assumed leadership that I'm heading out," Henchman said.

"'Kay."

Henchman turned to leave, but Hero's voice stopped them.

"If you don't feed Villain soon, they are gonna starve. They need to resume a human status soon. Can't you give them the pills?"

Henchman left without another word.

Henchman sauntered through the lazy streets, barely looking over their shoulder. They were somewhat accustomed to the creepy, dark and stagnant environment of the neighborhood.

The neighborhood must've got bored of whatever inactive game it was playing as a group of men and women jumped over fences and rushed at Henchman with guns in their hands.

Henchman pulled out their own handgun.

"What brings you here?" A classy man spoke, his voice taut with some kind of accent.

"I am searching for a magician."

Rumbles of murmured voices rang through the threatening crowd.

"We have no magician," the man spoke. Henchman raised their eyebrows- that was obviously a lie.

"Hmm. I see. What if I told you that Supervillain orders this?" Henchman asked.

There was no time for secretive whispers. An old man pushed himself through the crowd and hobbled over to Henchman. Despite the old, lethargic impression he gave, his voice was unnaturally deep.

"Henchman," he boomed. "Welcome to The Alley."

Supervillain woke up to flashing LED lights and the beeeeeep of monitors, signifying their awakening.

They coughed, trying to remember what just happened...

Villain. Attacking. Falling. Darkness... Supervillain shuddered. The hospital room surrounding them made sense now. They tried to sink back into the less than comfortable mattress, but a nagging reminder of Villain kept them from falling back asleep.

What if they were getting sicker? They didn't have anymore pills- that happened to cost ten grand a piece- so changing them back to human was not an option.

What if they attacked someone? Supervillain couldn't deal with three vampires. Two was more than enough.

Hero.

They thought of that insufferable luggage contently laying in a perfumed guestroom. Supervillain snarled. Once the drugs wore away, they turned into a little brat- sassy without a care for the world.

"Looks who's awake."

Supervillain's gaze shot to the door as Doctor and Henchman2 walked in. They craned their neck to look for Henchman, but discovered that they weren't there.

"Where's Henchman?" They asked, worry knitting at their voice.

"They went looking for a magician that you kinda fever-ordered them to pursue," Henchman2 replied. "They've been gone about seven hours."

Magician...

No.

"Gotta get them back," Supervillain speed-yelled. "They are in trouble."

Henchman2 flinched back towards the door instinctively.

"What do you mean?" Henchman2 asked.

"Magician, he..." Supervillain shook their head. "Never helps anyone."

(Flash foward in time)

Supervillain spat at the ground, wrists bound and tied above their head. Their henchmen were in a similar predicament, bound, or unconscious...

Or dead.

A voice cackled through the auditorium as a shadowed figure made its way through the red curtains.

"Welcome, my lowly servants." The voice, so familiar, yet so uncharacteristic rang through Supervillain's ears.

"Today," the voice continued. "I have a special demonstration."

The figure stepped to the center of the stage, dragging a bound and gagged hero behind them.

"I am going to show to you what happens when you mess with the master," the figure continued and drew a blade. They pressed it against Hero's artery.

But before they plunged the dagger, they whipped off their hood to reveal a pale, stony face.

Their eyes were sunken and devilishy black.

They were Villain.

[riotwritesthings]

song and dance number not included

WinterIron, T, 1.9k, crack, this is just crack, banter, vague nonpowered AU | A03

Once upon a time @gayspacesprinkles made this post. And fun fact about me I will write basically anything Ant says ahaha ILUBRO.

I know this has already been done better don’t fight me I just wanna make everything crack

Title: song and dance number not included Collaborator Name: Riot @buckybarnesbingo Square Filled: U4, One Night Stand @starkbucksbingo Square Filled: N1, World Domination Ship/Main Pairing: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags & Triggers: Crack, banter Summary: Bucky has seen some wild things in his time as a Professional Cuddle Buddy. Nothing beats finding himself in Tony Stark’s penthouse with the sleep deprived genius himself. Word Count: 1,897

-

Bucky steps off the elevator, into the giant penthouse, and he is 90% sure that this is some kind of elaborate prank. Ten minutes from now someone is going to be shoving a waiver in his face and demanding to broadcast his embarrassing surprised face on national TV.

Because no way does someone like Tony Stark need to hire a cuddling agency.

He takes another couple steps, and there’s no cameras. There’s nothing, just a giant empty penthouse, and Bucky glances down at his phone to confirm that yep, he is in the right place.

He’s just about to turn and leave when a face pops up over the back of the couch.

The first thing Bucky notices is the big doe eyes, warm brown and huge like a Disney character, but so sad. The second thing he notices are the bags under the eyes, deep and dark like bruises, like they’ve been there for a while.

The fact that he’s just staring dumbly at Tony Stark is actually the fifth thing Bucky notices, after the insane lower lashes and the fluffy hair.

Luckily the man is apparently as sleep deprived as he looks, because he just blinks at Bucky for a couple seconds and by the time he speaks Bucky has mostly gotten his brain back online.

“Please tell me you’re really not a hooker,” Tony says, squinting at him, voice rough and a little whiny as he adds “I literally just want a hug.”

Bucky sputters out a laugh, rocking on his heels as he says “I solemnly swear I am not a prostitute. Though I do give great hugs.”

“Awesome,” Tony says with a happy sigh and flails his arms up over the couch, making grabby hands at him.

“Did you wanna move somewhere more comfortable?” Bucky asks, rounding the modernist monstrosity of furniture that is the couch. When Tony opens his mouth, suspicious look on his face, Bucky rolls his eyes and says “Still not a prostitute.”

Tony snaps his mouth shut again with a sheepish look, then huffs out a soft laugh.

“This is fine,” he says, sitting up fully and patting the spot between himself and the arm of the couch, “It’s just me here, I end up falling asleep out here half the time anyways.”

Which is... kind of a sad thought, actually. This penthouse seems huge, too big for one person, and based on the dark circles under Tony’s eyes he doesn’t get much sleep anywhere.

Bucky has barely dropped onto the couch before Tony is plastering himself to Bucky’s side, surprisingly strong arms looping around his waist and his face pressing into Bucky’s shoulder.

“Okay, start the clock,” Tony says, already going limp against his side.

“Hold on,” Bucky says with a laugh, twisting to the side slightly so he can lean back into the corner of the couch and get his arms around Tony in return, pulling him in a little closer and nearly fumbling his phone in the process. “Is that comfortable, um, Mr- Ow.”

“Just Tony,” Tony says, peeking up at him sourly and removing his impressively pointy finger from Bucky’s side, “unless you want to be ‘Mr Cuddle-Buddy’, that is.”

“I’ve been called worse,” Bucky says with another laugh, guiding Tony’s head back down to his chest. “I’m Bucky, though, for the record,” he adds.

“What are you, a Disney character?” Tony asks, voice muffled as he nuzzles into the curve of Bucky’s shoulder and then quickly blurts out “please play with my hair.”

Bucky doesn’t need to be asked twice, burying the fingers of his free hand in Tony’s messy curls, soft and wild like Tony has been running his own hands through it.

“Mm, perfect,” Tony sighs as he pulls his legs up onto the couch, curls himself into a neat little ball against Bucky’s side.

Bucky lifts his phone just enough to see the screen and punches the shortcut to set an alarm for three hours. “Okay, now you’re on the clock," he says, and then wedges his phone into the couch near his head where the armrest meets the back.

“You are already getting marked highly recommended,” Tony slurs out, and Bucky laughs softly. “Seriously, you are like 90% muscle how are you this soft.”

“It’s my specialty,” Bucky says dryly and Tony’s answering laugh shakes his whole body.

“Shh, I’m mentally composing my review,” Tony says, patting lazily at his chest.

“Out loud,” Bucky can’t help pointing out.

“Yes,” Tony says, lifting his hand again to wave it slightly as he talks, “Now where was I- Ah yes, guaranteed ‘not’ a prostitute-”

“-I could hear those air quotes-”

“Very warm,” Tony continues, completely ignoring his interruption except for the way his hand flails a little harder, “Possibly a Disney character."

“Pretty sure I’m not, someone woulda told me by now,” Bucky argues, grinning helplessly and pressing his fingers a little harder into Tony’s scalp.

“Oh, you definitely are,” Tony says with a happy sigh, rubbing his nose against Bucky’s chest, “The only question is, with a name like that, you’re either an adorable animal sidekick, or a villain. Possibly both.”

“What-“ Bucky objects around a sputtering laugh, “I don’t think there was actually a question there.”

Tony tilts his chin up just enough to give Bucky a sleepy glare as he says “Well, which one is it, is the question! You planning world domination?”

“Yes. My plan begins with cuddling you into submission.”

“Well it's working,” Tony says happily, and his expression really does look lighter than it had when Bucky first got here, even if he does still look exhausted. “But when is the song and dance number?”

“Later,” Bucky says with a snort, “It’s my dramatic exit.”

“Or you gotta pay extra, right? In the back room?” Tony asks with a grin and a lazy wink that’s really more of a slow, uncoordinated blink.

“Not a stripper either,” Bucky huffs with a roll of his eyes, resisting the urge to tug at Tony’s hair.

“Too bad,” Tony says with a dreamy sigh, and Bucky really does pull at Tony’s hair a little in admonishment even as he laughs.

Tony continues his rambling ‘review’ amid Bucky’s protests until his warm, teasing voice slowly tapers away, and an hour in he’s fast asleep, snoring quietly into Bucky’s chest.

Bucky is torn.

On the one hand, Tony probably wants to be awake for the time he’s paying for. On the other, he looks so tired.

Waking him up would probably be a crime, and despite Tony’s claims Bucky is not actually a Disney villain.

So he wiggles down a little more against the arm of the couch, slow and careful even though he figures that if Tony does wake up, he has two more hours to fall back asleep if that’s what he wants.

Bucky certainly wouldn’t mind, Tony is warm and pleasantly heavy against his side, draped over his chest, and he looks so much younger when his face is softened with sleep.

He looks so different in real life, so much more real than he looks on TV. So much smaller, curled up into a tiny ball on his giant couch, in his big empty penthouse.

Tony’s hair is a mess of fluffy curls, so soft as Bucky continues running his fingers through it, the muscles of his back strong under Bucky’s other palm.

When Bucky’s alarm goes off it’s startlingly loud in the quiet of the penthouse, and even though Bucky has to fumble with it a bit before he turns it off Tony doesn't do anything more than make a quiet, sleepy sound and wiggle in a little closer.

Bucky hesitates for a second, glancing down at Tony’s peaceful face, and then wedges his phone back into the couch.

He was going to make this his last appointment of the night anyways. He’ll just stay until Tony wakes up.

Bucky wakes up staring at the incredibly high ceiling of Tony Stark’s penthouse, bathed in early morning light.

“Ah, fuck,” Bucky groans quietly to himself.

“Yeah, I actually get that a lot,” comes the voice from somewhere around his sternum, and when Bucky tips his chin down it’s to find Tony with his chin propped against Bucky’s chest, giving him a thoughtful look.

He looks a little less tired, bags beneath his eyes a little less pronounced, gorgeous even with crease marks on his cheek from Bucky’s shirt. Even if there is something wary in his expression.

“Hi,” Bucky says stupidly, still trying to blink away the grogginess in his brain and wincing when his neck aches sharply. That’s what he gets for accidentally spending all night with his head tipped way back against the arm of the couch.

“Hi,” Tony says back, and his big Bambi eyes dart to the side for just a second before he says “I’m not wholly unfamiliar with the one night stand, but I must admit we usually make it further than the couch. Fully dressed. What-“

“If you accuse me of bein’ a hooker again, ‘m gonna roll you right off this couch,” Bucky says before he can wake up enough to stop himself, and while he’s busy mentally cringing Tony’s eyes go wide with recognition.

“Ah fuck,” Tony groans while his cheeks flush an appealing, distracting pink, “What’s the overtime charge look like for top rated pro cuddlers?”

“Nah, don’ worry about it,” Bucky says quickly, finally untangling his fingers from Tony’s hair so he can rub over his eyes, “sorry, should’a woken you up-“

“So you’re saying you’re off the clock?” Tony interrupts, one eyebrow raised in an incredulous look, “You stayed off the clock?”

“I’m- um,” Bucky sputters awkwardly, and then realizes he has no excuse and sheepishly finishes with “Yes?”

“Even after I’m pretty sure I called you a prostitute at least three times?” Tony asks, and he still looks mildly baffled but there’s a smile growing on his face.

“It was five,” Bucky corrects, smiling back helplessly, “Once by callin’ me a lady of the evening, which, incorrect on multiple counts.”

“Right, I remember now,” Tony says slowly, and there is a devious look in his eye as he adds “We decided you’re an animated cow.”

“It was a horse, an’ I think you know it,” Bucky says with a mock-glare, gently pinching Tony’s ear and then tightening his arm around Tony’s back when he unexpectedly bursts into wild giggles.

When Tony settles down again he digs his chin into Bucky’s sternum with a happy sigh. His expression goes thoughtful, chewing on his bottom lip, and Bucky tries really hard not to get distracted.

They’re so close that Bucky can just barely feel the way Tony’s breath shakes nervously on the inhale, and then he asks “So, what are your feelings on breakfast?”

“Important,” Bucky blurts quickly, heart jumping in his chest, “Very important. Especially if I’m going to accomplish world domination today.”

“I knew it!” Tony crows victoriously, pushing himself upright and elbowing Bucky in the gut in the process. He grins happily in response to Bucky’s pained grunt and climbs to his feet, grabbing Bucky’s hand and giving it a tug. “C’mon,” he whines when Bucky moves not at all, “we need to go raid my kitchen. I want to get on your good side before you take over the world, I’m hoping it’ll get me a good spot in the dance number.”

“Yeah, I think that can be arranged,” Bucky says, grinning wide as he lets himself be pulled to his feet.

[kitwatson]

A Late Night Rambling about the family tree

I am heavily sleep-deprived and cannot stop thinking about that damn family tree, so I’m going to write out all my thoughts to get SOME peace. This will mostly relate to relationships and how these characters are related to our 21st century Shadowhunters. I’m also writing this with the expectation that CC will look like a complete fool with the next two books. 

Carstairs: Surprisingly, I’m worried about them the least even though there’s a lot of tension to be dealt with. So, like most of the fandom, I believe that Alastair and Thomas will be together and that the family line will continue with the baby. Unfortunately, due to CC saying that “a surprise baby will have to be adopted” I think that Sona will die, which is devastating. 

Herondale: This one seems pretty clear as well. We know that James has to continue the line that will lead down to Jace and Lucie cannot pass on her name. Jordelia will endure a lot of bullshit throughout the neext two books, but I’m confident that they’ll make ith through. The only thing worrying me is a question where someone asked CC if Cordelia and James get married and have kids, and she said “sort of”. I’ve seen a few theories on this, but one that stuck out to me was this one where maybe the gracelet comes off at some point and James and Cordelia sleep together. She becomes pregant but still believes that James doesn’t truly love her. It’s really messed up, but I wouldn’t put it past CC to do that

Fairchild: Prior to reading ChOG, I assumed that Clary descended from Charles, but now I’m not so sure. He said he would marry a woman to advance his political career, but will he still feel the same way by the end of the series? As for Matthew, I still think is crush on Cordelia is out of place and hopefully won’t last too long. Maybe he’ll have another love interst by the end (I’m still a clown for initially thinking he’ll end up with Lucie). 

Lightwood: The line could continue with Christopher, but what IF it doesn’t? Alexaner’s a child in these books, but he could get married later on, despite the family tree stating otherwise. I think this tree has to wrong about at least one of these pairings, and right now I think it’s Grace and Christopher. 

Blackthorn: Listen, thereis no one to pass on the name besides Jesse. Plus, I distinctly remember a scene in Lady Might where Julian is looking at Ty and says that he is a “throwback to past Blackthorns” like Rupert and Jesse. So, he has to come back SOMEHOW.  

One final thing I should point out is that, if you look at the past Shadowhunter books, none of the main characters are single by the end; they are all in relationships or have a love interest. This is only untrue if the character is too young or dead. So if all of these characters survive, I think they’ll all be paired off. 

[amythecinnabunny]

Space AU and Time Travel for Juke 👀 <33

Holy shit holy shit holy shit ok ok ok ok first of all AKDBJSJSJJEJE YES

Okay okay so let me try to iron out the mess in my head skxbjsjjd I hereby apologize if things get out of order or whatever but I am literally vibrating with excitement someone please write this I'll love you forever

Ok so I'm thinking also an aged up au for ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* reasons *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ sjsnnsn

Also, I've done this before and I'm gonna do it again, but Bobby and Trevor are two different people for the sake of the timeline here.

Time frame for this would be WAY into the future. Humanity has gone galactic. We also had our asses handed to us by several alien planets but we probably deserved it. Anyway, after we got rid of Elon Musk, we eventually made peace with the aliens and now roam the galaxy freely. 20-30yo generally try to get into a different fleet, just to learn about other races. Think all those alien ships adopts a human posts.

Julie, Carrie and Flynn are my three girl geniuses. They're like,,, the smartest people in every room. They've been like this since freshman year of college. Julie, Carrie and Flynn also all want to get into the student exchange program, which is exactly what you think it is. Alien races (and this now includes humanity) swaps out older students with each other so they get a feel of what the other race is like. It's fun, educational, and! You get to make super long distance pen pals!

I'd also have so much fun making up new memes???? It would be so fucking stupid tho but I love it.

Anyway, so after a few years of jumping through the exchange programme, hoping from planet to planet, unfortunately, without their bestfriends :<, the three of them qualify to board research ships!!!

So at like 23-25, my girls come back together on the same ship!! Its a massive thing and so they've hired so many interns from so many different races. It's like a landing hub for several smaller ships. They have like 10 interns per species and that's only because there are laws against having too many of one kind after they put 50 humans on a space station and the humans tried to take over. Also, humans multiply faster than the others. This terrifies some races.

Anyway, the ship's really just a bunch of college kids from different planets trying to avoid exam season by submitting research papers from their ship. They all bond over deadlines, breakups and coffee (or the alien equivalent thereof)

Flynn dated an alien girl for a while. They were cute. Flynn: as a lesbian, it's my duty to date all the women in space

This is also where they run into Willie!!! Yay, Willie!!!

Nick Danforth-Evans and Kayla Evans-McKessie are around ... somewhere ... in bunk beds like the little toddlers they wish they were, crying about the 15 page essay on why Xjsbsjdjd is a very intelligent race that we could learn a lot from (yes, that is a keysmash I'm too buzzed to be creating alien species names sjdjjdjd)

Carrie and Nick do date for a while but then Carrie hooked up with Kayla. Bisexual queen who?

Julie met Willie that time she didn't sleep for over 48 hours because she had a research paper due within a week and she hadn't started yet and it was 10 000 words on her experiences with the Psjxjjdkeiwj race. Luckily for her, the kid she bumped into and spilled an energy drink all over had the same paper and helped her finish it. Willie sometimes goes by the nickname Lifesaver, thanks to Julie. This confuses the metaphor-less people because Willie's never saved anyone's life?? So why is he a lifesaver??

ANYWAY ON TO THE TIME TRAVEL BIT

On their own, Julie, Carrie and Flynn are professional smart people who know what they're saying and are clever enough not to do things with too many risks. In the same room, however, they turn into dumb geniuses who can and possibly may blow up the entire ship. It's a good thing they have Willie, Nick and Kayla to babysit them, right? WRONG. Willie Kayla and Nick egg them on.

They decide there going to gather all the information there is on time travel and they're going to decipher it and make it work! Yay!

When they find stuff in alien languages they start calling up their alien pen pals "hello what's this word mean in this context? What, haha oh no, it's a research paper on why time travel projects were abandoned before completion. Okay, thank you!"

Before long, they have a working time machine. I mean,, they hope so. And so they enter a random date from the past and prepare to pop their heads through just to see what the world looked like approximately 200ish years ago

2020s, post covid because that exists for joke reasons later, Sunset Curve is performing live for one of their biggest audiences yet when mid-song, the floor just opens them up and swallows them whole before vanishing. The crowd things it's a stunt but Sunset Curve's managers are flipping their shit

Back on the ship, the machine starts sparking and with a soft boom and a hiss, the power in that quadrant goes out -- not before Willie's is pelted in the face with a pair of drumsticks and then a whole person.

It's a miracle the drums survived the trip, pet alone everything else.

So now these sleep deprived geniuses and co. have to hide three people and several musical artifacts, plus the smoking remains of a time machine, from their Supervising Officer, who is regrettably, a human too.

And none of them are very good at lying.

Luke and Bobby are though, and after piecing together bits and pieces from the frenzied rambling around them, Luke and Bobby save the group.

Shenanigans ensue as they try to rebuild the time machine under the watchful eye of the SO, while trying to mantainbfake credentials for the boys and trying to explain their very dated clothing. (Yes, Sunset Curve STILL rocks the 90s vibe. In the 2020s. It's their thing.)

Willex happens in the background -- and I mean that very literally. (Jukebox having a tension moment, Willex making out in the background.)

Honestly I'm not sure yet how theyd solve the problems, whether they'd send the boys back or not or what, but I do know that they will all cause a BUNCH of problems in between.

Sometimes they play music just because they still can. Sunset Curve becomes a house band for the ship. They get broadcasted to neighbouring or passing ships like "hey, losers, we have live music, SUCK IT!"

Focusing on the jukebox aspect of this whole fic, that's gonna be a fucking hilarious slow burn.

It will definitely contain the lines "Oh my god, I have a crush on Julie." "Congratulations, you're officially the last to know." "What? Even [SO's Name] knows??" "Dude. The ship's navigation crew knows." "Does ... Julie know?" "No, you're both morons."

Julie is having the exact same conversation four hallways away.

They'd talk a lot about sending the boys back home and it'd be really quiet conversations when everyone else is asleep.

Julie and Luke write music together and after a while, Julie performs a few of them too. Thanks to the concerts, they meet the other human interns that were on the other end of the ship and Carrie and Kayla form Dirty Candy.

The ship becomes known as the party bus.

A thing that will happen: Luke helps Julie write one of her history papers that she gets an A+ for and a comment about how dedicated she was to have delved so far back in the history records to get authentic insight.

Julie and Luke speak in memes but they don't speak the same memes and it drives them both up the wall.

Luke says yeet one day and Julie's soul leaves her body because she hasn't heard anyone say yeet since she was a toddler back on Earth.

Julie: odd display, but acceptable.

Luke, physically experiencing a record scratch: what the fuck did you just say

That is all I have to offer because I'm afraid of plotting further and causing angst somehow.

oh one more thing, someone gets to bang an alien and it's probably Flynn.

Oh oh oh another one more thing. Reggie says "this is just like in Star Wars" for literally anything. The band goes along with it for shits and giggles. The rest of them are very interested in this ancient tale called Star Wars. Reggie sees a picture of Flynn and her green gf and says "hey, you dated photoshopped Yoda" and Bobby just loses his shit.

[tutubola-moved-on]

Hi I like music and I kind of go wayyy too deep into the TPN soundtrack and I think it's about time I start throwing my thoughts out there before they spiral too much

Disclaimer!!! This is not a complete analysis at all, just a few thoughts on each of the songs. I'll probably revisit some of them in future parts if I ever do those aha anyways enjoy

(Part 1/?): 63194, Emma's Sorrow, Emma's Determination, 22194, Norman's Lament, The Promise Between Humans and Demons, Jailbreak and Isabella's Lullaby.

(manga spoilers)

I've done a lil smth smth on Main Theme 2 already and its my favourite song like ever aha this is a cry for help

here you go people

but now anyways fr

63194 (Season 1)

Wouldn't have started with this one cuz I'm still figuring it out but it was the first one that came up when I pressed shuffle

Let's just go straight to the point so we can move on. The first time we hear 63194 is in episode 2, when Norman is talking to Ray about their plan in the forest (or, as I like to call it, "boat scene"). It reaches its climax when Norman starts talking about how he'll use himself to ensure the escape plan will work.

And then it's only used again in episode 8, if I'm not mistaken, after Isabella tells them about Norman's shipment, thus foreshadowing him refusing to escape and using his "death" as a tool to help the others escape.

But alsooo the song is Emma's theme, so there's definitely some sort of meaning other than foreshadowing Norman's shipment. That's for later though cuz I'll have to think more. The beginning does sound a lot like Strauss' Metamorphosen, a piece symbolising how German culture was destroyed during WW2. Not sure what to do with that info for now.

If you'd like a little extra stuff, I also tried connecting the pieces to the Doctrine of Affections, a... thing some Baroque composers wrote that connected music keys to feelings. (I found many sources but I used this one).

63194 is in C Minor, which is described as "innocently sad" (although another source said "sweet but sad") and "lovesick." I think innocence really describes Emma, Ray, and Norman in general, as kids who never did anything wrong but were thrown into the wrong world. Innocently sad would be their conversations in boat scene. They're talking about life or death, it's not something kids should have to deal with.

But again, it's hopeful. Norman wants to create a boat made out of mud---he wants to save everyone---and he really believes it'll work. So although sad, it's also sweet. It's a light at the end of the tunnel, and also just an act of kindness. As for "lovesick," that would just describe Ray and Emma's inevitable longing for Norman after he was gone. Which brings us to...

Emma's Sorrow (エマの悲しみ) (Season 1)

The two times I remember Emma's Sorrow played was 1) When they first talked to Don and Gilda about the house and 2) During the infirmary flashback scene.

The Doctrine of Affections describes E Minor as "grief and longing." In the infirmary flashback scene that obviously not only shows how Norman longs for that time when they didn't know anything and everything was light and happy but also, once again, foreshadows Emma eventually having to grieve him.

Especially because they don't play the staccato part (short quick notes) that's in the original version. Instead, the strings are always present. In staccato, the music gets pretty,,, lowkey? because the instruments can't exactly "show off," whereas the legato (long/connected notes) really shows the true importance and impact each individual instrument has on the song. Considering how the strings (specifically the violins) in the soundtrack could symbolise Norman, it's showing how Norman is not just another guy who's in their group and planning the escape, but an actual friend they'll lose and who'll leave a significant emptiness behind. Not only brain power wise, but just.. you know he's a human being and it's gonna hurt either way.

Not only that, but the harmonies itself in Emma's Sorrow once the strings really do come in are really incomplete. Like, the piano part seems to be all over the place, but it comes together because of the strings. Norman was the one who brought Emma and Ray together, in a way, and isn't Emma and Ray clashing exactly what Shirai wanted when he sent Norman away? Yea...

And Emma's Sorrow is, of course, parallel to:

Emma's Determination (エマの決定) (Season 1)

Yea no I'm still gathering thoughts on that one. The ascending bass contrasting the descending bass in Emma's Sorrow is pretty cool, though. It plays when Don is going off about how he wants to be strong after punching Ray and Norman and it's in F# Minor, so "passionate resentment." Connect both and Don really is ready to change the world. He got slapped with this very very bad reality and naturally he's angry and he's sad and he wants to do anything in his power to save people.

But back to Norman.

(hi future me here. oh my god why am i only talking about norman this was not the route this was originally going to take im so sorry i swear there's more to this post than just norman brain rot 22194 is the last norman one)

22194 (Season 1) and Norman's Lament (ノーマンの嘆き) (Season 2)

22194 is in B Minor, so "patience" and "walking towards fate." That's pretty self explanatory considering how he, and I quote, "chose death." Yea. G Minor would be "uneasiness of the future," and once again, pretty self explanatory (The whole Lambda seizures thing and I'm The Only One Who Can Save The Humans Syndrome. Normy worries too much :/)

Comparing both is pretty fun, too. It's the same melody but in different keys and instruments and thus just give off different feelings. While 22194 is full of instruments and harmonies and is clearly structured, Norman's Lament is just. Empty. It's like it's trying to stay true to 22194, so the Norman from before, but at the end of every musical sentence it just drifts off. You can see parts of 22194 in there, but it's not the same. At all.

There's also no harmony. He wants to do everything himself, and discards all his bonds and friends for that. So sad. Stop him.

All that while 22194 is rich and beautiful and oh my god i love that song so much and it's just showing how Norman was a lot more lively and layered and human when he allowed people to come into his life (the harmonies) and listened to those people instead of just locking himself up and doing everything himself.

So in conclusion cuz I ramble a lot, 22194 is about GF Norman, who hadn't gone through all those things that turned him "evil," who trusted his friends and believed everything had a good, ethic solution. Norman's Lament is about Lambda/post-Lambda Norman, who had gone through a whole lot, and was now in a downwards spiral and had left everything behind to become God or whatever, but was also in denial that he had changed in the first place.

does this make sense no idea i'm typing this while sleep deprived and high on bread and i failed english this quarter

but that aside

The Promise Between Humans and Demons (人間と鬼の約束)(Season 2)

I love this song!!!!!! So much!!!!!!!!! I love the percussion, it's used so well. And I love the way the song builds up and adds more and more instruments until it eventually reaches a climax, like the growing tension between the humans and the demons during the war that snowballed and snowballed and eventually caused both sides to resort to the Promise.

And when the song comes down you can hear a very short "first draft" ish version of Isabella's Lullaby.

It's as if yes, all this mess went down and the demons and humans made this huge promise that completely changed the world and affected an entire society but then far far away from the Seven Walls and the Promise and oblivious of the Ratri Clan and the demons were these two tiny tiny children just singing a song and living happily. And those children---and that song---were the foundation for the entire revolution that ended with the Promise. Wow.

And it's in D Major, D Major is "Triumphant." The song itself sounds triumphant, and yes the Promise was gross but it was a nice little hello kitty band aid over the mess that was the world before it.

What was truly triumphant, though, was the kids' escape, which happened to the same melodic theme, albeit in a different key. Which leads me to...

Prison Break (脱獄) (Season 1)

Oh my God. I love this song.

It symbolises the kids breaking ties with Isabella and how many obstacles were in the way (not only was she their mom; their only mom who had cared for them for their entire lives, but she was also their enemy and did everything she could to prevent them from escaping). The second the brass comes in with the theme (around 0:53) it sounds like it's struggling to play it fully. In this case, Isabella, once the singing parts, would have lost her voice after being outwitted by the children (keep in mind the song starts playing after they've already reached the wall). After all, the song starts with a voice that seems to get more and more desperate before it's overrun by instruments, thus losing its power.

So she's trying to control them and get them back, but they won't let her. They're going to break free. So you have the melodic theme playing with significant breaks, until eventually it all goes silent. Why? Because they escaped. Isabella completely lost contact with them, they're free. And then you get the same melodic theme in The Promise Between Humans and Demons.

But the theme isn't played full. It's not played to the extent that they play it in TPBDAH, instead there's a lot of just "blank space" with no melody above it: that's where the children will write their melody---their story; a story independent from the Promise that shaped their lives thus far.

AGH.

I need a break but I'll be back

Isabella's Lullaby (イサベラの唄)

OK OK Continuing on Isabella I love how Sarah Alainn sings like she's crying. I really recommend this if you want to go deep on Isabella's Lullaby, they pretty much said everything I had to say. I don't go on youtube like ever and that might as well be one of my favourite videos LOL anyways

I also really recommend listening to the no vocal/piano solo version, the harmonies are so beautiful. And the more you listen to it the more you hear, there's always something new. The violins especially oh I love the way Takahiro Obata uses violins. Honourable mention to Nat King Ballade (ナットキングバラード) and Each Thought (それぞれの想い) (idk if thats the english name for it,,,, i've seen it as "Their Own Thoughts" too)

WELL THEN. What a ride. I'll go to sleep now. If anything is incoherent or u just wanna talk then send me askies or a dm smth idk aha i like music but i hate grammar :P

[dreamiehrs]

lovin’ on repeat series: dance, baby! ➛ l.dh

genre: some fluff, mainly angst, college!au, jealousy, comedy, gender neutral reader

pairing: lee donghyuck x reader

word count: 2,710 words

warning(s): some swearing, drinking

summary: donghyuck was less than happy when his good friend and local hotshot, named na jaemin, dragged him out of his dorm room and to one of his frat parties of his. however, when he catches sight of you, dancing without a worry in the world and laughing with your friends, he realizes that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to go, after all.

note: hi guys!!! hope u enjoy this fic based off of the song dance, baby! by boy pablo. I love that song by him so much, and I feel like it would fit hyuck the best with how upbeat the song is!! I hope you guys are still looking forward to the other member’s fics, and please let me know if you guys enjoyed this fic of mine :-)

tag list: @notaroyal​ @angeldreamies​ @amorcita​ @nicolettalauren�� @wooqzi​ @lovelycharm05​ @staymoarmyzen​ @neolights​ @florence-cvrt​ @mimika-28​ (send me an ask if you wanna be added onto the tag list!)

➫ masterlist

lee donghyuck had no idea what he was doing here. well, that was actually a complete lie, if he was being honest. his hotshot friend, named na jaemin, had dragged him to his frat party after donghyuck had cooped himself up in his dorm room after failing one of his chemistry tests. don’t even get him started on his professor for that class, he honestly hated his professor’s guts (and everything relating to science, too). he may have shed a few tears after failing that test since it was around 20% of his entire grade, and he barely even had a B in that class, so if he ended up failing that class his parents were going to whoop his ass (and no, he wasn’t being dramatic. his parents would kill him if he failed another science class again).

but besides his dramatic retelling of failing his chemistry test, his friend had still somehow convinced him to dress up a little nice and attend his frat party to brighten up his mood. donghyuck had doubted that going to one of jaemin’s disgusting frat parties would remotely do anything to brighten up his already sour mood. failing the test was one thing, but spilling his entire drink of boba on himself and his stylish outfit was another thing that made him just want to scream out at the universe. however, he would definitely get room complaints and his roommate would have a huge fit if he did so, and he, therefore, let out all of his aggravation by playing rounds and rounds of Overwatch until jaemin dragged him out of his despair (and his dorm room).

jaemin even had the nerve to just throw clothes at him and told him to “try them on and see if you can make a decent enough outfit to woo somebody with tonight.” donghyuck loved his friend, he really did, but tonight he just wanted to bodyslam jaemin down until they reach the core of the earth. alright, he admits that that idea is a little too extreme, but who says he can’t make that idea a reality? he can just hear renjun now, saying his idea is ridiculous until he finally gives in and decides to help donghyuck bodyslam jaemin together.

coming back to reality, though, donghyuck was standing in the corner of the living room awkwardly, holding a cup full of coca-cola as he people-watched while occasionally taking a sip of his carbonated drink. he’s been at the party for about an hour and a half now, and even though it was entertaining to eavesdrop into others conversations and learn all the gossip about michael cheating on his girlfriend with another girl named jessica, but after a while, it began to bore him. even worse, he couldn’t locate jaemin after jaemin had walked right into his frat house with donghyuck by his side, and within 15 minutes, his dear best friend was nowhere to be found. this wasn’t unusual, however, because whenever donghyuck attended one of his friend’s frat parties, jaemin would go missing under 20 minutes, probably smooth-talking anyone who showed the least amount of interest in him.

the music playing wasn’t that great either, it was some shitty pop radio that someone had searched up on Spotify. donghyuck didn’t have anything against pop music, by the way, but the songs that were just playing right now were… horrendous, to say the least. they made him want to plug his ears for the rest of the night and just blast his playlist all night.

oh, did he mention that it was night yet? well, it was around midnight already, and he was doing his best to fight back his sleepiness with his soda. staying up wasn’t that rare for him, in fact, he almost did it every night with how much college was kicking his ass and how playing video games would help him just chill out. also, it didn’t help his sleep deprivation when his roommate was a hardcore gamer, too, and the two of them would stay up until 3 am playing Overwatch numerous nights of the week.

although the party almost was boring him to death right now, almost enough to make him just walk out of the front door and head back to his dorm to play more video games, he couldn't find it in himself to do so when he caught sight of you.

you were standing in the middle of the living room, conversing with your friends with a red solo cup in your hand with a dazzling smile shown on your lips. he was starstruck as he watched you from afar, his eyes never leaving your figure as you start to slowly sway your hips to the song playing. he suddenly became self-conscious of what he was wearing, and he looks down at himself to see his black and white plaid flannel, white graphic tee, dark ripped jeans, and dark cherry red Doc Martens. well, he didn't look too shabby, he thought to himself before taking a sip of his drink to find that his cup was empty.

shit, the only way to get to the kitchen was to pass by you and the 50 other people who were dancing like their life depended on it. doing parkour would be easier than this shit, he thought to himself before sighing and making his way towards your direction. he couldn't find it in himself to walk up to you, say at least a greeting or a small "hi" before he finally reaches the kitchen. he frowns and scrunches his nose as the smell of alcohol fills his senses, and he could never understand why people his age liked getting drunk so much until they couldn’t even speak properly.

he shakes his head at the thought and fills his solo cup to the brim with coca-cola, and he takes a big gulp of it to make sure he doesn't end up spilling his drink all over the floor by accident. however, that almost happens when he chokes on his drink when he hears someone whisper in his ear: "woo anybody yet?"

he turns to his left to be met with jaemin, the one who had abandoned him to go make out with someone, which was quite evident from the red lipstick marks on his neck and how his lips look more red than usual. he takes note at how messed up jaemin's pink locks are, and rolls his eyes at his friend's antics. "no, I haven't 'wooed' anybody yet unlike you, jaem."

jaemin chuckles as he clinks his cup with donghyuck before taking a long swig of his drink. donghyuck did not doubt that there was some sort of alcohol in that cup, as jaemin would occasionally stumble a bit over his own 2 feet. "damn right I did. you should've seen her, man. she was all over me, and she was such a great kisser, too, oh my gosh. I just had to come over here and tell you about it." he boasts, and donghyuck can see his cheeks lightly turn pink as he rambles on about his little make out.

"...well? what happened to the girl?"

jaemin’s face slightly falls after donghyuck asks that question. "oh. I said something about exchanging numbers and eventually going on a date and scared her off. once I said that she quickly made an excuse as to why she had to leave and ran off."

donghyuck laughs as he leans against the counter beside jaemin, his eyes wandering back over to where you were to see a guy making his way up to you. his breath hitches as he watches him snake an arm around your shoulder, bringing you closer beside him. donghyuck zones in on the both of you, and he hate how he can feeling jealousy pool into his veins the longer he stares down the guy beside you, and if it wasn’t for jaemin waving a hand in donghyuck’s face and saying “earth to donghyuck?” a thousand times, he would’ve been in a trance for hours.

he shakes his head as jaemin furrows his eyebrows at his friend’s suspicious behavior, and takes it upon himself to see what was up. his eyes settle on a tall, dark-haired guy with his arm wrapped around someone, and he lets out a little “oh” and the sight. he swivels around to face donghyuck with a teasing grin on his face, and this is another reason as to why donghyuck just wants to leave this disaster of a party. “well... does little hyuck have a crush on someone? hm~?” he scoots closer next to his friend, whose face resembled a tomato with how flustered he was right now.

he swats away at his friend’s hand that was pinching his cheek, rolling his eyes once again at his friend’s antics and poking his tongue onto the inside of his cheek. “well, thanks for giving me another reason to go back and hibernate in my dorm room for the night, jaem. now if you excuse me, I’m leaving now. see ya.”

he takes a step towards the entrance before jaemin’s arm is latched onto his. “wait! hyuck, I’ll help you get their attention. come here.” he insists and places both of his hands on donghyuck’s shoulders before jaemin leads him in your direction.

donghyuck’s eyes go wide at how persistent jaemin was, and he whispers: “no, jaem, stop it. that guy is still right there beside them.” however, jaemin is too focused on getting donghyuck to woo someone tonight, especially someone who he’s attracted to, and doesn’t process his words until the two of them are standing close by you.

“ahem.” jaemin clears his throat, and donghyuck wants to just disappear right then and there as your head turns towards him and jaemin, and the guy beside you practically glares down at him and donghyuck as his arm slightly tightens around your shoulder. your eyes meet jaemin before glancing over to donghyuck, and you’re temporarily awestruck by how his eyes seemed to glimmer when the two of you met eyes. it takes you a minute to realize that that’s not what you’re here for, to be drawn to any guy that has a fashion sense and is pretty attractive. you didn’t have the time in your busy schedule to fawn over boys who would just steal your heart and run away with it.

“yes?” you question, an eyebrow raised as your eyes gloss over donghyuck’s facial features and the prominent eyebrow piercing that seemed to make him even more attractive than before. you momentarily forget that the guy that you’ve been romantically talking to is standing right by your side, his left arm possessively wrapped around your shoulder. your friends are having their own fun somewhere else, feeling bored after these two random guys came up to you and ruined the party for them. however, you knew that if they gave these two guys a chance, they would fall head over heels for them. both of them were your friends type, and even though that may be the case, it seemed that one of the guys only had eyes for you.

jaemin nudges donghyuck, and you hold back a smile as you see the dark-haired boy roll his eyes at his friend, clearly annoyed at what situation his friend had involved him in right now. “well, my friend over here, named donghyuck, has been eyeing you all night, so I think it’s safe to say that he has the hots for you. I mean, I even caught him in the act earlier! he wouldn’t stop staring at you with hearts in his eyes–”

jaemin is interrupted with a swift jab to the side of his stomach from donghyuck’s elbow, and he doubles over as donghyuck gives you a small smile. “well, if you’ll excuse us two, I will be escorting this pretty boy back to the kitchen so he can sober up.” he gives you and the intimidating guy beside you a nod before wrapping jaemin’s arm around his shoulder and lugging him back to the kitchen. you watch as he does so, your eyes never leaving his figure as some of you hoped that he would actually ask you to dance with him.

“jaem, did you just lose your fucking mind back there?! what the fuck were you planning to happen when you told them that?!” donghyuck whisper-shouts to jaemin when the two of them are back in the kitchen, making sure he’s out of your sight as he turns his back towards you. although he was mildly upset at how jaemin basically exposed his thoughts about you right in front of your face, he was also the tiniest amount of hopeful that you would come barging in here to get to know him more. however, that isn’t likely to happen as donghyuck glances back in your direction, to see you laughing up a storm with the tall guy beside you.

he can feel his heart clench in hurt and disappointment as he turns back to jaemin, just to see that his friend has abandoned him once again this evening. of course, he wasn’t really surprised at the fact that jaemin had disappeared as soon as he had gotten a hold of him, but he just wished that at least one of his other good friends were here. like jeno, who would just joke around for hours and maybe even attempt to try a kegstand. he was always the life of the party, and everyone would seem attracted to him like magnets wherever he would be.

donghyuck yawns as he taps on his phone, checking the time once again to see that an entire hour had gone by. it also didn’t help that he had another reason to leave the party, which was because of his failed interaction with you earlier. he had only spoken one sentence to you during that entire interaction earlier, and he honestly just wanted to slap himself in the face at how awkward he could be around attractive people sometimes. at this rate, all he wanted to do was distract himself and his terrible ability to flirt with people by playing rounds and rounds of Overwatch until he eventually passed out.

before leaving, he makes sure to fill up his blue solo cup up until the brim with coca cola one last time, and also makes the mistake of glancing back over at you to see you all cozied up with the guy from earlier. he couldn’t say he wasn’t surprised, honestly, but he can’t help but to hang his head down on his walk all the way back from the frat party back to his dorm room.

that night, although he was busying himself with playing Overwatch and drinking red bulls until his head spun, he still couldn’t help himself from replaying different scenarios in his head if he had actually asked you to dance with him. would you have been cocky? teasing? frivolous, maybe? he can imagine your elated expression as he busts out some terrible dance moves, and he can almost hear what your laugh would sound like in his head. he hated that he actually blushed at the thought of how beautiful your laugh would sound to his ears, and he proceeds to log off of his computer before burying himself underneath his covers.

that was the one and only chance he had to ask you to dance, because every night after that eventful night that he had decided to attend jaemin’s frat parties, you were never to be seen. even when he tried searching for you, walking in and out of every room more than once, he could never find you after that night, and even though donghyuck expected many things, this wasn’t one of them.

every night after he had gotten back underneath his covers after partying until unholy hours of the night, he would always remember how he failed to ask you, the only person who he was remotely interested in, to dance with him and forget all of your worries together. he was really an idiot, he thought to himself every night before he drifted off to sleep.

[anubislover]

Not So Easily Replaced

(Ikkaku is pissed at how idiotic her crew has been while on Amazon Lily, so she does what she's always done - vents about it to Law to let off some steam. Unfortunately, when an argument breaks out between them, she's left to wonder if she's really appreciated by her nakama)

“Ugh!” Ikkaku growled, stomping into Law’s office with his second afternoon coffee and a selection of onigiri on a tray. Normally lunch delivery wasn’t her job, but since all the men had been “too busy” fawning over the women of Amazon Lily outside, the menial task had fallen to her; otherwise their workaholic captain wouldn’t eat. “I swear, Boss, if we don’t set sail soon, I’m going to strangle every guy on board!”

“Hmmm,” Law grunted absently as he poured over his notes. Ikkaku didn’t hold his monosyllabic response against him—he’d spent the past few days fixing up that Straw Hat kid and the Fishman. On top of that, the extensive treatments had basically depleted their medical supplies, Straw Hat’s freak-out upon waking up had wrecked more than half the operatory, and the Kuja had been pretty stingy with letting them replenish their food and water from the island, so she was sure he had plenty on his mind. The dark bags under his eyes attested to that.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to vent, though. Honestly, if she didn’t, she’d probably snap and end up going on a killing spree or something. Only Bepo and Law would be spared; the Mink had no interest in human women and thus hadn’t been an obnoxious Neanderthal, and Law had been too focused on keeping his patients and crew alive to drool over Boa Hancock.

Hell, when her captain was like this, Ikkaku could literally say anything and he wouldn’t even register it. It took a lot to snap Law out of his thoughts, and he’d never really seemed to mind when she ranted at him to let off steam. Mainly because once she was done, she was usually calm enough to take care of the situation herself, leaving Law in peace and with a non-murdered crew. A happy engineer made for a happy submarine, after all.

Setting the coffee and onigiri down onto the desk, Ikkaku continued, “They act like they’ve never seen a hot chick in their lives. I mean, what am I, chopped liver? They should be thanking the gods that they get to look at my gorgeous face every damn day!” The statement was accompanied by a dramatic toss of her curly hair. When Ikkaku felt strongly about something, she tended to gesticulate a lot, and this was no exception.

“Uh huh.”

She leaned against the edge of Law’s desk, hands waving about as she ranted. “Not that I want them to start lusting after me, but it hurts a girl’s pride, ya know? They could at least acknowledge what a hot piece of ass I am instead of acting like I’m some ugly hag.” She clenched her fist as she recalled how, just that morning, Shachi and Clione had basically given a lecture to the whole crew over breakfast about the superior physique the Kuja displayed compared to the average woman. There had been charts and everything, and to her dismay the silhouette for the “average” woman looked suspiciously like her.

“And that’s not the end of it!” she rambled on, smacking her hand against the desk for emphasis. “When I’m not ignored or insulted, they try to convince me to go out into the jungle to talk to the Kuja for them! I mean, I’m probably the one least likely to be killed outright, but it’s not guaranteed! They might fill me with arrows just for being affiliated with men! Are they really willing to risk my life like that?”

Her question didn’t get an answer—not because Law wasn’t paying attention, but because at that moment, her emotive gesticulating accidentally smacked her wrist into his coffee mug, knocking it over.

“Mother fucker!” Law shouted, scalding coffee spilling all over his crotch and papers.

“Oh my god, Law, I’m so sorry—”

“Will you shut up?!” he snapped, grabbing his nearby lab coat to frantically soak up the scalding coffee that had spilled across his crotch. “Don’t just stand there—get some towels!”

Nodding mutely, she ran to the en-suite bathroom and snatched up every towel she could find in the cupboard. “Here,” she said, trying to hand them to him so he could clean himself up.

“My desk, damn it! Save my notes!”

Immediately she swept the pile furthest from the spill to the floor and began patting down the desk, but she knew it was already too late; the coffee had completely soaked through several of the papers that had been strewn across the stainless steel surface.

“Law, really, I’m so sorry!” she apologized hoarsely, flinching as he turned the full force of his sleep-deprived glare upon her.

“Maybe if you’d fucking been watching what you were doing instead of ranting on and on, none of this would have happened!” he shouted, well and truly pissed. Not that she blamed him—a week’s worth of important medical and inventory notes was now a brown, sopping mess. On top of that, first-degree crotch burns would sour anyone’s mood, especially when they were only running on an average of three hours of sleep.

“It’ll be ok,” she assured, assessing the damage. To an average person, the mess was a disaster, but while the charts and notes that had been in the immediate spill zone were soaked through and ruined, many of the others could be salvaged thanks to Law’s powers. “Just Room the coffee out of the papers—”

“Do you have any idea how much time and effort you just flushed down the toilet?” he snapped, even as the familiar blue bubble filled the office. Drops of coffee were pulled from the sheets of paper like magic, but to Ikkaku’s dismay, much of the ink left behind was still smudged beyond recognition. “You’re lucky that wasn’t Mugiwara-ya’s medical file you just destroyed!”

“Law, really, I’m sorry,” she said, trying to calm him down. Her usually chill captain was far more volatile when stressed and sleep-deprived. “It was a stupid accident on my part. I’ll help you rewrite all of this.”

“Hell no,” he growled, gold eyes narrowing furiously, the tendons in his thin neck tightening as he ground his teeth together. “The last thing I need is you going on another stupid rant and ruining my notes again. Get the fuck out—I’ve got more important things to do than listen to you bitch and moan about how the guys aren’t paying attention to you.”

“Tha—that’s not what I’m angry about at all!” she snapped.

“Then what is your fucking problem?!”

“My problem is that the guys were being jackasses and I’m not appreciated around here!”

“Well if you don’t like it, leave!”

Ikkaku’s back stiffened, each syllable cutting into her heart like Law’s sharpest scalpel. Those words…it was the exact same thing her old boss would say whenever she complained about her asshole coworkers’ creepy leers or “accidental” groping. The greasy old mechanic was a sexist pig, but still the only one in that shit port that had been willing to take her on as an apprentice. It had always been an unspoken threat—if she left, no one else would hire her, so she could kiss her dreams of becoming a world-class engineer good-bye.

Trafalgar Law had changed that with his offer to join the Heart Pirates.

And now he was telling her to leave, too. To give up her dream, her nakama, and her home because she wasn’t willing to put up with a little sexism.

As if he could replace her in a heartbeat.

The thought hurt more than expected. She’d worked her ass off aboard the Polar Tang. For five years she’d toiled in the heart of the engine room, maintaining every little piece. She kept the gears turning, the motors humming, and the propellers running. Just from sound and the slightest vibrations through the ship, she knew exactly what was wrong with the engine at any given time.

Ikkaku had never asked for praise or recognition for her hard work—it was just her job. But she was as knowledgeable about the mechanisms of the submarine as Law was of the human body. She had always assumed he’d quietly acknowledged this fact and respected her for it.

Clearly, she’d been wrong.

She nearly screamed all this at him, but before she could open her mouth, the blue light of Law’s Room encased her, and in a blink, she was out in the hall, the cabin door slamming shut in her face.

Knowing better than to try and force her way back into his quarters, Ikkaku instead stormed down the steel hallway, fists clenched and muttering furiously to herself. Maybe she would leave. March right up to Boa Hancock and ask to join the Kuja. That would show them! She didn’t need Law, or the Tang, or men at all! She’d get along just fine without those jerks! Sure, Amazon Lily didn’t have any of the high-tech machinery she was used to, and working for a shichibukai wasn’t exactly something she was thrilled about, but at least they’d appreciate her, right? She had other skills—she was a hell of a tattoo artist, and was a damn fine shot, and could kickbox, and…

Her pace slowed as her heart forced her brain to accept the truth—she didn’t want to leave. She’d go crazy without machines and engines to work on. And sure, she was no slouch in a fight, but the Kuja were warrior women trained from birth. Ikkaku would look like a total weakling next to them.

And no matter how much the crew pissed her off, she wouldn’t trade her nakama for anything. Sure, they could be thoughtless jerks sometimes, but they could also be really sweet. Bepo may not have been much for girl talk, but he was always willing to lend an ear if she needed companionship. Her fellow engineers, Malamute and Skua, were dependable and shared her love of machines. Shachi was always down to help her pull a prank, and when he wasn’t drooling over the Kuja, Penguin could be counted on to talk her through her problems.

As for Law…by this point, he was more like her big brother than her actual brothers had been. They shared a similar devious sense of humor, was discreet about any feminine issues she might have that, as the ship’s doctor, he was forced to deal with, and he’d even played wingman for her a few times at the taverns they’d stopped in.

Had she just ruined all of that? Was Law just angry, or had this been coming for a long time? Law had threatened to fire her plenty of times in the past, usually in response to her back sassing him, but he’d never been serious about it. This time had been different—he’d been legitimately pissed at her. Maybe those teasing threats hadn’t been jokes, but subtle warnings, and her ruining all those papers had simply been the straw to break the camel’s back?

Ikkaku was deep in thought, mentally going over every encounter she’d had with Law with a fine-toothed comb, searching for any clue whether he seriously thought she should leave, when she quite literally bumped into Bepo.

The Mink took in her flushed, angry expression and asked, “Are you ok, Ikkaku?”

Oddly enough, it was that simple, gentle question that shattered her composure like a bullet through a bone, and without even thinking she buried her face in his soft fur and just broke down crying. “He told me to leave, Bepo,” she sobbed, scared and hurt and frustrated. For all the grief her crewmates had given her and all the dangerous positions being a pirate had put her in, Ikkaku loved being a Heart. Where would she go? She’d never find another ship like the Polar Tang. Another crew like the Heart Pirates. Another captain like Trafalgar Law.

Bepo, though shocked that the normally fiery and confident engineer was using his fur as a tissue, didn’t say anything—he just carefully rubbed her back and hoped that letting her treat him like a massive teddy bear would calm her down enough to explain what had happened.

XXX

“Ok, real talk—has anyone noticed anything…different about Ikkaku lately?” Penguin asked as he sat down to lunch.

“You’d have to actually see her to notice something,” Shachi replied, brow furrowing. He glanced over at Uni, raising an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. “You been giving her stealth lessons or something?”

Uni frowned behind his bandana. “No, but she’s definitely avoiding us. It’s been a week since we left Amazon Lily, and I can count the number of times I’ve seen her on one hand.”

“Same,” Ermine said as they finished molding Law’s onigiri into the perfect triangles the captain liked. “I actually thought we left her behind for a minute—nearly asked Jean Bart to turn the ship around to get her.”

Malamute rubbed his chin, mouth twisting in concern. “Nah, she’s here, but she’s mad at us about something—barely leaves the engine room most days, and she basically refuses to talk to me and Skua.”

His fellow engineer nodded. “We thought it might just be her time of the month, but that ended over a week ago according to the calendar.”

“You guys keep track of her menstrual cycles?” Clione asked, weirded out. The rest of the crew wore similar expressions of disbelief and disapproval.

“Out of self-preservation!” Skua shouted defensively. “We’re in a hot, confined space where she has easy access to heavy tools—of course we wanna know when we should have emergency placating chocolate on-hand!”

“We tried the chocolate anyway, though,” Malamute added. “She just…waved it away and kept working.”

The cook’s frown deepened at that bit of information. “Ikkaku never turns down chocolate,” Ermine said, “and she hasn’t shown up to lunch, dinner, or breakfast all week.”

“She’s been eating, though, right?” Penguin asked, concerned. He didn’t care how mad she was; it was no excuse to skip out on meals. It was bad enough Law was an insomniac that got most of his nutrients through coffee and onigiri. It would be a cold day in hell before he would stand for an anorexic engineer.

A large, white paw shyly raised in the air as Bepo interjected, “I’ve been bringing her meals so she doesn’t have to come by the galley. She’s…wanted some time to herself.” He dropped his head gloomily. “Sorry.”

“But she’s talked to you?”

“Ummm, a little bit,” he muttered, twiddling his claws. After she’d stopped crying, Ikkaku had spilled her guts about everything—her issues with the crew, her argument with Law, and why his words had affected her so badly. Though sympathetic, Bepo was certain Law hadn’t meant his thoughtless words—underneath his casual persona, he cared deeply about his crew and would never let any of them go for such a silly reason.

At first, Bepo’d tried to get her to go back and talk to the captain, but she’d shot that down quickly—with the mood Law had been in, it would do nothing but start another argument. The Mink had hoped that, now that they were sailing away from Amazon Lily and Law wouldn’t have to worry about Straw Hat’s injuries anymore, they’d both cool down and the whole thing would blow over.

Unfortunately, the past week had proven otherwise. Ikkaku had taken to hiding deep in the bowels of the ship, and Law had been so focused on redoing all those notes and charts that he hadn’t left his quarters in days. Bepo wasn’t a Mink who liked confrontation, and he certainly didn’t want to choose sides between his oldest friend and his favorite engineer, so he’d relegated himself to supplying food to both parties, hoping one of them would finally get tired of the oppressive silence and breach the topic.

As the crew frantically gathered around him, hoping to finally have an answer to the Mystery of the Missing Engineer, Bepo began to wonder if he should have just locked both humans in an empty room and made them talk it out.

Not that such a plan would have been very effective with Law’s powers, but it was better than nothing.

“Talk, Bepo,” Shachi growled, pulling a flashlight out of his pocket and shining it directly into the bear’s black eyes like he was in an interrogation room. “What’s up with Ikkaku?”

“Why’s she hiding from us?” Clione interjected.

“Why are you the only one she’s talking to?” added Jude.

“Is she pregnant and going through weird mood swings or something?” Skua asked loudly.

Bepo blanched at that last one. “No, she…she’s just kind of upset about…how you all acted on Amazon Lily.”

Exasperated, Ermine rolled their eyes. “What, was she jealous about all the attention we gave Hancock’s crew?”

“No, but…you guys were really insensitive. Like, that presentation—”

“It was a joke!” Shachi defended, though a guilty blush rose to his cheeks.

“And asking her to venture into the jungle to talk to the women for you—”

“Hey, she was the only one who they wouldn’t kill on-sight!” Jude sulked.

“And then she had to bring Law his lunch because you were all too busy staring at the Kuja.”

“Wow. Having to do that one menial task must have been such an inconvenience,” Malamute scoffed.

At the back of the grumbling crowd, Jean Bart awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. He hadn’t been on the crew long, so he didn’t really think it was his place to get involved, but he had the feeling Ikkaku had taken whatever had been said and done a little more personally than they thought. “Look, regardless of how we feel, we should all apologize to her. I mean, I don’t know her great, but does she usually give the silent treatment for this long?”

“Well, no,” Clione stated, looking a bit nervous. “Typically, she yells at us and smacks us around a bit, or maybe pulls some embarrassing prank, but she’s never quiet.”

“So, what’s this mean?”

“It means this is serious.” Penguin frowned at Bepo, who was looking around anxiously as if hoping to escape. “Ok, spill. You’re the only one she’s talked to, and you clearly have a better idea of what’s going on than we do. What’s Ikkaku really upset about?”

The Mink hung his head sorrowfully. “Sorry.”

“Damn it, don’t apologize! Just tell us!”

“It’s just…”

“Are you guys bullying Bepo again?” came a voice from the doorway. The crew turned to find Law strolling into the galley, looking thinner and more exhausted than usual, but he was at least out of his room and among the living.

Still shining his flashlight in Bepo’s face, Shachi yelled, “Captain! You gotta help us—Ikkaku’s basically been AWOL all week and won’t talk to anyone, and Bepo won’t tell us why!”

Law plopped into his chair and grabbed an onigiri, scoffing as he took a large bite. “She bitched at me for a while about how you all were being sexist pigs. Figured she would have gotten over it by now.”

“She complained to you about it?” Jean Bart asked, tilting his head.

“Yeah, and then she managed to spill hot coffee on my crotch and ruin the inventory list for the infirmary that I’d spent hours compiling.”

The crew unanimously gave a sympathy wince.

Taking another large bite of his lunch, Law continued, “We’ll be making port in a few days—she’ll come to her senses once she’s spent some time off the ship.”

“You…you want her to leave the ship?” Bepo asked, voice raising an octave in disbelief.

“Time apart will do us some good,” he replied with a shrug, activating his Room for a moment to remove the flashlight from Shachi’s hand.

“How…how much time?”

“Well, we’re not making port any longer than necessary. If she hasn’t gotten her shit together by then, that’s her problem.”

Bepo’s heart dropped into his stomach. What did Law mean “get her shit together”? Was he talking about packing her things? Was he really kicking her out over a silly argument over spilled coffee and ruined paperwork?

“Law!” the Mink shouted, jerking to his feet so quickly his knees knocked the table. “Please reconsider!”

Dark blue eyebrows rose at the normally soft-spoken navigator’s outburst. “There’s nothing to reconsider. Ikkaku’s a big girl—I agree that the sexism she faced was unacceptable, but she’s never had a problem handling that kind of shit herself.” His face twisted into a scowl. “And considering how I only just finished redoing all the work she destroyed, my tolerance for temper tantrums is at an all-time low.”

“She offered to help you rewrite it!” Bepo argued, slapping his paws down on the table. “Is some soggy paperwork worth losing your best engineer over?” Pausing, he glanced at Malamute and Skua. “Uh, no offense. Sorry.”

“None taken,” the duo said in unison, though their jaws dropped a second later as they registered the Mink’s words. “Wait, what?!”

“What do you mean ‘losing’ Ikkaku?” Penguin snapped, grabbing him by the orange collar of his boiler suit.

Shachi grabbed the flashlight again and climbed onto the table to shine it into Bepo’s face. “Talk, bear! Is Ikkaku quitting or something?”

“Because we won’t let her!” several of the crew shouted.

“Everybody calm down!” Law snapped, his deep voice silencing the rambunctious crew. “You all acted like idiots around the Kuja—I don’t blame her for being annoyed at you. But if your petty acts of sexism could drive her off that easily, she wouldn’t have lasted ten minutes at her old job. You’re blowing everything out of proportion.”

“You’re the one who told her to leave over a spilled cup of coffee!” Bepo angrily stated, only to immediately shrink back when he realized just who he’d yelled at. “Sorry.”

“Whoa, wait, Law, did you fire her?” Penguin asked, genuinely horrified as he numbly released Bepo’s collar. Of all the things that could have been bothering Ikkaku, that hadn’t even made his list. Sure, she could be tempestuous, but that had never bothered Law before—on the contrary, Penguin had always assumed his old friend liked trading snarky barbs with.

“I didn’t—why would I—I was just pissed because she spilled hot coffee all over crotch!” Law defended, even as he inwardly cringed at the way his entire crew had turned to glare at him judgmentally. Shachi had even turned the flashlight’s intense beam on him.

“But was that worth actually firing her over?”

“I didn’t fire her! Yeah, we argued, but I never said she was fired. At most, I told her to get the fuck out of my office.”

“That’s not all you said,” Bepo mumbled, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Flinty gold eyes narrowed at the sulking Mink. It was extremely out of character for Bepo to snap at or sass anyone—least of all Law. His brow furrowed as he thought back to his fight with Ikkaku—the memory was a bit hazy due to the lack of sleep he’d gotten. “Then what exactly did I say to her? What could have possibly been so bad that it could make her think I’m firing her?”

“You said…she told me…” Bepo took a deep breath. He hated scolding his captain, but he hated the idea of Ikkaku leaving even more, especially if this really was just a big misunderstanding. “You said to her ‘if you don’t like it, leave’.”

A sour taste worse than umeboshi filled his mouth as Law realized the full implications of what he’d said and done. He clearly remembered her old boss, a scowling, greasy man who’d shouted at her when she’d argued that she deserved to be respected as the talented engineer she was and not just seen as eye-candy.

If you don’t like it, leave, he’d sneered through crooked teeth as the other mechanics sniggered. Good luck finding anyone else willing to hire an inexperienced chick, though. Law could distinctly remember the hot surge of outrage he’d felt on the woman’s behalf; in less than ten minutes, she’d managed to identify what was wrong with the Tang’s engine and exactly how to fix it. Yet because she was the sole female in the shop—because she was a little bit different—she was overlooked and scorned, with her boss refusing to check for himself.

It had reminded Law a little too much of how quickly he’d been rejected from every hospital Cora-san had taken him to, the so-called “expert” doctors refusing to believe that Amber Lead was not contagious, or even examine the white patches across his skin.

And maybe—just maybe—the way her curly hair fanned out around her shoulders and down her back reminded him just a tiny bit of a certain black, feathered jacket.

Law hadn’t even bothered to consider whether or not the woman might want to become a pirate before he’d activated his Room and cut her boss to pieces. He’d then turned to Ikkaku, whose dark eyes had been wide with shock but not fear, and told her that if she could fix his engine as easily as she claimed, she was welcome to join his crew.

Now he stood to lose her due to his own sleep-deprived stupidity.

“…fuck.”

XXX

Down in the engine room, Ikkaku lay on her back underneath the ship’s engine, tightening the bolts that secured the freshly-cleaned cooling pipes. Since her argument with Law she’d basically spent every waking hour disassembling, repairing, and reassembling every piece she could. She trusted Skua and Malamute to take good care of the sub after she was gone, but the Polar Tang deserved nothing less than a thorough inspection and tune-up as thanks for carrying her so far.

She’d give the crew their own goodbye once they reached port. She hoped they were still too blinded by the hearts in their eyes to notice she’d been avoiding them. It wasn’t out of anger anymore; instead, she was scared she’d start blubbering. Admitting that Law had decided to toss her out on her ass was humiliating and heartbreaking, and she honestly wasn’t sure how the others would react. They could just as easily stage a mutiny as shrug it off as her overreacting.

Perhaps she was freaking out over nothing—Law hadn’t even left his room since their fight. Surely if he really wanted her gone, he could have marooned her back on Amazon Lily. Then again, he was a sadistic bastard; luring her into a false sense of security, then dumping her and her belongings onto the next port they landed on wouldn’t be entirely out of character. Or maybe her years of service had earned her enough mercy that he was willing to wait until they were at an island where Ikkaku could potentially find work instead of stranding her in the Calm Belt.

Whatever it was, she had every intention of confronting him about it after dinner. If this was all just a big misunderstanding, she planned to give him a good smack upside the head. If she was really fired, she wanted at least enough time to pack her things and say her proper goodbyes.

Until then, all she could do was stay busy to pass the time and hope that the knot of anxiety that twisted in her stomach would loosen up by the time she talked to him.

She didn’t want to leave, but if Law decided she was really that expendable, there wasn’t much she could do but try to hold onto at least a shred of dignity.

Reaching over to her tool kit, Ikkaku fished out her screwdriver, silently lamenting over the sad state of her tools. She’d planned on picking up some new ones back on Sabaody, but with all the chaos that had taken place, she’d missed her chance, and she wasn’t sure she could justify the cost now that her job was in jeopardy.

The sharp click clack of heeled boots against the metal floor startled her out of her thoughts. Glancing towards the sound, she immediately knew from the spotted jeans that filled her vision that, for better or for worse, the mystery of her termination was about to be solved.

She watched as Law turned around, and she knew from the barely-audible creek of the pipes that he had chosen to lean against them. Ikkaku had yelled at him for doing that more than a few times in the past, but this time she kept her mouth shut. Most likely he’d done it to provoke such a reaction out of her, but why? To break the viscous tension that filled the room by establishing a sense of normalcy, or so he’d have another cause to fire her?

Whatever his reason, Ikkaku refused to be the first to speak. Whether he wanted to kick her out or extend the olive branch, he’d have to make the first move.

After a few minutes of silence where Law merely stood there and Ikkaku continued to tighten the bolts, he finally sighed. “Penguin tells me that you haven’t been eating dinner with the crew,” Law’s low, nonchalant voice rumbled through the pipes.

If Penguin had to tell you, that says that you haven’t been eating with them, either, she thought sourly, though opted to stay quiet. She didn’t want to turn this into an argument if he intended to apologize. And if he planned to fire her…well, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of riling her up.

Noting her unusual silence, he continued, “I understand their behavior has been…upsetting as of late. They were acting like idiots, but that’s no reason to isolate yourself.”

“Haven’t been isolating myself,” she lied, fiddling with a bolt she’d tightened ten minutes ago. “I’ve just had work to do. The Tang needed some maintenance, so I thought I’d get it done now that we weren’t being chased by Marines.”

“Sure. And the fact that Bepo’s been bringing you your meals this past week?”

“Going to the galley would have wasted time. Eating in here was more efficient, and Bepo offered.”

“Why didn’t you ask Skua and Malamute to help?”

“You doubtin’ my abilities as an engineer, Trafalgar?” she asked in a clipped tone, growing sick of tiptoeing around the point. “Whether you like it or not, I know how this ship works better than anyone. If you don’t trust me, tell them to get their asses in here and do it instead!”

There was a deep sigh from above her, and Ikkaku could easily picture the wrinkle between his eyebrows that formed when he was tired and frustrated. “Bepo told me you’re thinking of leaving.”

Ah. The moment of truth. Heart in her throat, she forced her herself to take a deep breath, ready for whatever judgement he saw fit to pass. “You’re the one who said I should if I didn’t like how I was being treated.”

“Are you?”

“Leaving or enjoying how I’m treated?”

“Leaving.”

“…I don’t want to.”

“Good.” It was subtle, but there was an unspoken “I wouldn’t have let you if you’d tried” in his tone. There was another long moment of silence before he continued, “Engineers as skilled as you are hard to come by—finding a replacement would have been a bitch. Plus, the crew would have been upset; they were practically interrogating poor Bepo about why you were avoiding them.”

“And of course you stepped in and played hero, rescuing the helpless Mink from an angry mob?” she snipped, tightening another screw. It didn’t sound like she was getting fired, so it was a little easier to let her natural sass creep back into her voice.

Law let out a faint tch above her. “I wouldn’t say ‘helpless’ considering how he then yelled at me about allegedly firing you. After that, the mob was on his side.”

A proud grin curled the corner of Ikkaku’s mouth. Who would have thought that Bepo would yell at his best friend for little old her? She’d have to come up with a nice thank you gift for her favorite shipmate. With luck, Law might actually apologize for his behavior if even Bepo was calling him out.

Of course, that might take a while, so it was best to keep busy. Reaching out her hand, Ikkaku felt around blindly for her socket wrench. She jerked slightly in surprise when she felt long fingers wrap around her hand before the tool in question was placed firmly in her palm. She pulled her arm back, only to stare wordlessly at the brand-new wrench that practically gleamed in the light.

Clumsily she slid out from under the pipes, jaw dropping as she found Law crouching beside a new, expensive, top-of-the-line tool kit. “I was saving this for your birthday but given the chance that you wouldn’t be around to receive it…” he trailed off, adjusting his hat so the brim cast a shadow over his face.

The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled, immediately recognizing the gift for the chrome apology that it was. Plus, it was hard to stay mad at Law when he was like this—honestly, it was so dang cute how awkward he was when forced to display actual human emotions like caring and guilt. “You bribing me to stay, Boss?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

She laughed, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him in for a hug. “Then I accept, along with a twenty-percent bonus on my next paycheck.”

He grumbled slightly but didn’t refuse, nor did he pull away from her embrace, even if he stubbornly refused to return it. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t technically said “sorry”. Actions spoke a hell of a lot louder than words with him, anyway, and Law was practically groveling for her to stay.

When she finally let him go, Law stood up and cleared his throat before nonchalantly strolling towards the door. “Well then, since you’re not leaving, unless the engine room is actively on fire and no one but you can put it out, you’re eating with the crew tonight. They’ll formally apologize for their behavior, and they’re all going out of their way to show you how much you’re appreciated. Ermine’s preparing your favorite meal. Clione and Shachi have put together a presentation detailing exactly how stupid they’ve been while Penguin has one extolling your virtues. Malamute and Skua have volunteered to take on your cleaning duties for the next two weeks.”

“What are you going to do?” Ikkaku teased, though he could have said “nothing” and she’d be fine—she knew he’d never make the mistake of discarding her again.

Law stopped at the door and threw his trademark cocky smirk over his shoulder. “Isn’t it obvious? I’ll be standing by your side all night to make sure you can’t run off when you realize just how obnoxiously sentimental those idiots can be.”

Ikkaku’s grin fell a bit as she realized he was right—the Hearts were an infamous band of pirates led by a fiendishly dangerous captain, but when it came to their nakama, they could get downright sappy in extreme circumstances. Jude was probably preparing some hippy-dippy song. Cousteau would inevitably name some weird sea creature after her. Seiuchi would probably find a way to scatter confetti all over the galley and she’d be picking it out of her hair for days…

Getting up, she chased after her devious captain. “I don’t suppose there’s still time for me to quit and join the Kuja, is there?”

Gold eyes glinted sadistically at her as Law replied, “Nope. Welcome to Appreciation Hell. Population: you. Don’t try to run, either—I’ll Shambles your ass into the galley if I have to.”

Ikkaku punched his arm in retaliation, though she was careful not to hit him too hard—if she annoyed him too much, he’d go out of his way to rile the guys up even more. God, he’d probably propose they all get tattoos of her face or something just to make her suffer.

“You’re an absolute bastard,” she said, affection creeping into her voice despite her best efforts.

“Yes, but a bastard that appreciates his engineer,” Law replied, and out of the corner of her eye, Ikkaku could have sworn she saw the barest hint of a genuine smile flicker across his face.

Despite the knowledge that she’d be stuck with a crew of idiots and a captain who had the emotional range of a teaspoon and a truly frightening sense of humor, Ikkaku felt happier than she had in weeks as she playfully knocked her shoulder into his. “I guess that’s not so bad, then.”

The End