#i could say I think meryl is getting tired....)) so then he helped me turn it off but was still so sad

[itsalwaysdark]

read asoue to weeman as a bedtime story he liked it YAYYYY

[peachyloveswriting]

What would Vash, Wolfwood, and Knives do about sick reader? Like reader knew they had been getting sick for a few days but saying stuff like "I sneezed from the dusty sand" or "I choked on my spit. I wasn't coughing. " they keep coming up with stuff to say till they have a fever and collapse.

YES. MORE FOR KNIVES. I actually really enjoy writing for knives. He's such a complicated character to get right because he hates humans and more often than not the reader is portrayed as human. His feelings are so contradictory but I love it.

You're Only Human (After all)

SUMMARY: Vash, Wolfwood, and Naï, find out that you've been hiding a sickness from them. The outcome feels like a nightmare come true.

NOTES: Vash and knives parts are very long. There's a shit ton of angst but there's also hurt/comfort. I'd say it took me 16 hrs total from start to finish and that's partially because a huge part of Kives original part got deleted and yeah... I couldn't remember some of it. Enjoy tho lol.

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

Vash

Setting up camp for the night was no easy task, getting up to gather what everyone needs to sleep comfortably while helping Meryl set up her own tent. Yours always comes last and before you can even finish Roberto is asking you to help him cook. You never stop working and seize every opportunity to stay on your feet, the restlessness that comes with stagnancy kills you. Through constantly throwing yourself into work is painful and tiring, it's been even more so than usual.

"Hey kid. Come and help with this roast."

You ignore Roberto's request, too tired to even think straight much less give a coherent thought, only curling further into the backseat of the truck. In the back of your throat has settled an itch, one that's not quite there but prominent enough to make you force down a cough. It bubbles up suddenly, making you gasp for air in-between coughs. Your throat burns in pain and tenses as it stops.

Soft foot steps pad up to the open door. Meryl peeks in at you with worry before she fixes herself right. "Uh... Sorry if I'm bothering you but could you help me with my tent again?" She clasps her hands together, eagerly waiting for your answer.

Nick watches from the outside of his own tent, gazing at your still form while his hands blindly settle the cross firmly into the sand. He doesn't decide to speak until Meryl extends a hand to tap you. "I'll do it." He offers.

Meryl turns to look at him with a disgruntled smile. "Thanks?" He scoffs. "Yup. Don't mention it. And close the door while you're at it."

Meryl looks at your limp form, not wanting to close any limbs in the door she checks just to be sure before she carefully closes the door. Just before walking away she takes one last peek inside to see if she disturbed you but you haven't moved an inch. Taking a deep breath she turns to stand beside Nick while he puts her tent together.

The night carried on and with it came Vash. To everyone else the night went on as usual but to Vash, a part of him was missing. When he looked for your tent he was sad to find that it hadn't been set up at all. This only worried the blonde further. His stomach would churn with unease the further he looked around. There was no sign on you anywhere. Just as he was about to peek around the truck, a soft finger tapped his shoulder. He turned to find Meryl gazing up at him.

"If you're looking for them..." She points to the truck. "They've been there all evening."

Hia gaze follows her pointed finger to the backseat of the truck. Offering her thanks, he rushes over to the truck and pulls open the door. You lay curled up on the farthest side away from him, your face hidden and tucked away in your arms. Face softening, Vash climbs into the empty space by your feel and closes the door behind him, ensuring privacy.

"Mayfly?" He leans over curiously, his hand slipping under your chin to lift your face into view. You grimace, your head swimming in agony and dizziness. "Are you okay?" His cries crease in concern.

Lazily, you lift a hand to swat him away. Setting your head back on your arms he lifts the back of his hand to your forehead. "You feel hot. Maybe you should get out of the car. Get some fresh air." His hand brushes over your head in a soothing manner.

"I'm fine." He smiles at your half-hearted grumble.

"If you say so..." Swiftly grabbing your shoulder, Vash scoops you up into his arms with ease and scoots to press his back to the door. He spreads his legs and leans back just enough for you to lay comfortably on his chest. You're just lethargic enough that you flop against him, no resistance whatsoever.

He stayed with you until the morning, upset when he kept waking up to you practicing choking in your sleep. Every time he raises a hand to your forehead it burns his skin. You were certainly running a fever of some kind or at the very least sick, he's never seen you so lethargic before. You've always stayed on your feet, working yourself to the brink, till' your legs won't carry you anymore. This might just be one of those spells but you never left the truck. Even when he got out to help everyone pack up you didn't move.

When everyone gathered inside the truck, you didn't move, allowing yourself to get shoved around to make room for Wolfwood and Vash. As Vash climbed in, he scowled at the priest who shoved you about as if you were some object he could just discard. Gently scooping you far enough to slide in. he laid you back down in his lap and held you close, allowing you to get some rather comfortable rest. Hours later, you woke up in a daze. The heat consuming you from head to toe is unbearable, breathing comes harshly.

You can see legs moving through the sand below you as you wake up but very quickly realize they're not yours. You begin to feel hands under each of your knees and your body pressed against another. Below you, Vash's coat flaps into view, the edges of it tugging about with each step.

You groan, dizzy from the heat and disoriented. Your head is reeling about, begging to go back to sleep and crying at the same time. Every part of you aches and your throat feels like it's been grated like fine cheese.

"You're awake!" Vash turns his head to look at you nuzzled into his shoulder. Swallowing harshly, you lift your head to glance at him. "Where are we?"

You cringe at the sound of your own voice, sounding like a decrepit frog that smokes cigarettes. It feels like you haven't drank in forever and your stomach rumbles angrily. Suddenly Vash jumps to keep you up on his back, you whine at the sudden jolt and dig your hands into the chest of his shirt. He grimaces at your painful response.

"You okay?" Forcing yourself to right yourself, you begin to wriggle in his hold. "M' fine. Put me down."

Vash's brows creased with worry. "Are you sure? You've-"

Pushing from his hold you fall into the scorching sands. Hissing in pain, you jump to your feet jostling your brain into a wave of vertigo. Your hand shoots out to find purchase while your vision grows dark. Tingles flood your body as a low dull pain pulses in your head. Two arms scoop you up into security, keeping you from falling back into the hot sands. "Whoa!"

Vash steadies you as you lean against him limply for help. "Slow down. You're not well." His hands move to your shoulders. A long drawn out couch slips from your lips. You shake away from his hole to walk towards the group, they're way ahead of you occasionally glancing back to stop and wait. "I'm fine."

You trudge forward at your own discretion and Vash follows closely behind. "Let me carry you Mayfly." A hand comes to rest at the small of your back. Beneath you, your legs shake horribly, threatening to lose your balance. It's hard just to push forward in the sand without wincing from the sore ache that settles into your bones. "I'll be fine, Vash."

The desert becomes distant, a cold covering your whole body like ice. "I'm..." The sky began to darken, blotting out the light from the suns and the sand beneath you.

"oh!" Slipping forward, Vash stretches an arm over your chest to stop your falling body from collapsing in the sand. The over exertion is obvious and your body makes it hard to deny. Vash can see it clearly, the bleary look in your eyes as he scoops your bridal style in his arms. Gazing down at you with an unreadable expression, he shakes his head. "How long has this been going on?"

You roll your head into his chest, shielding your eyes from the suns. Breathing in to speak you choke out a cough, you can hardly catch a breath in-between. When you finish, your head falls back softly. "A few weeks ago." You mumble weakly.

A frown settles upon his lips as he looks ahead at the horizon, the glare on his shades stops you from seeing his eyes. Those are always a dead give away for how he's feeling. Those shades work wonders for him.

Taking a shaky breath, you relax in Vash's arms. "Don't worry. I'll take you to a doctor. You should rest until then."

You shake your head. "Won't you get tired of carrying me?"

He looks back down at you smiling softly. The smile reaches up to his eyes, softening his gaze and wrinkling the corners of his eyes. "I will. It's okay, I'm supposed to take care of you Mayfly. Just rest." His voice is so soft he's almost whispering. It makes a heat swirl in your chest as you close your eyes.

"I'm sorry Vash."

He chuckles. "It's alright my love."

Wolfwood

Sweat beads along your forehead as you follow the giant wandering cross in front of you. Your wavering pace slows you down even more the longer you push forward. It's so far away now. When was the last time you even had water? God, you can't remember. Trudging through the sands makes the ache in your already sore leg grow worse, you can barely lift your feet from the ground.

Breathing is a labor, it burns your lungs with each breath you take, the longer you go without calling for Nick's help the more dire this starts to become. The dull ache in your head is pounding with the intensity of the suns and your body grows weaker. You regret lying to Nick before he ran out of gas, you knew them you should have said something but the situation was bad enough. You thought saying something then would only cause more worry to settle in Nick's mind and you didn't want to burden him.

Suddenly, searing hot pain blossoms on your exposed skin and sand hugs your body as it lands. Your mind is foggy and blank, you watch Nick grow smaller in the distance not even bothering to look back at you. You rasp his name but your throat doesn't allow you to call any louder than a simple talking tone. After traveling with Nick everywhere, you never thought it would end like this, laying in the sand pathetically sick because of your irrational fear and Inability to ask for help.

Suddenly, in the distance. The space between you and Nick closes in. He runs towards you, tossing the cross all about on his back. Distantly you can hear him call your name for the first time ever, he's only ever called you by silly nicknames. You don't give much care to mutter a response and sink into the sand.

Panic squeezes in Nick's chest and he drops his cross beside him to tend to you. Grabbing your shoulders he turns you over and sits you up in his lap. "C'mon. Don't fall asleep." He begs.

You cough up a laugh. The concern in his face grows even more severe with your seeming obliviousness to the situation. "I'm fine..." You want to shrug him off so bad but even moving feels like hell.

Heart pounding in his chest, Nick swallows harshly "You haven't been fine since we got stranded, have you?" The back of his hand feels freezing as he presses it to your forehead. You grimace with discomfort and whine. "I'm not stupid." Carefully, he stands with you in his arms.

As he turns to walk away you spot his cross on the ground. "Your cross..." Nick acknowledges it with a hum. His face is stern, pointedly staring straight again with his lips pressed into a thin line. "I'll get it back later. You need medical attention first."

You smile. "So you're saying you care?"

His grip on you begins to tighten. *Of course I do! Don't fucking scare me like that again." He growls.

"Sure." Sleep tugs your eyes closed, pulling at your weight the less conscious you become. Nick glares down at you, squeezing you tighter against him. He feels your body grow limp in his arms, heart dropping to his stomach.

"What did I say? Don't fall asleep." You're jostled awake with a groan. "Just let me sleep. Please."

"And if you don't wake up again?" He's become eerily nonchalant. "What then?" The edge in his voice shakes with worry, tracing the thoughts of what might unfold after your death. His chest aches at the thought of losing you and he won't say it but he's scared of losing you. "It'll kill me..."

Nick will never admit it but you do more for him then he lets on. Your company alone could last him a lifetime, your smile, it could make him happy forever. Everything about you fixes everything bad about him and he's not ready to give that up. Especially not over some silly illness. Hearing his words and understanding what he means, you coo quietly and rest your hand over his heart. Your touch quells his fraying nerves.

"I drag you down Nico." Your heart weighs heavy in your chest. "It might be better if you leave me behind."

Stomach clenching wearily, Nick grunts. "No." Venoms laces his tongue. "You idiot. I love you too much to do that." You gaze at him in surprise. "Don't look at me like that. I said what I said. You should just be quiet and conserve your energy."

Hesitant, you gaze at him for a few moments longer before letting your head rest carefully against his chest. "I'll get you help. Just hang in there."

Millions Knives

Sitting beside Naï, he plays the piano. Quietly, you watch his fingers dance over the keys as they belt out a dramatic yet familiar melody. It strikes the soul as misunderstood, you know it well. Many times has Naï played this song in your presence. You've heard everything he plays, as his words command you stay by his side under his watchful eye. Many of his followers take this as a sign of mistrust, a show that the human race will never take his attention. Naï has said to you before: "Hear me and believe my word. My trust in you is not misguided, I only wish to protect you from those who wish to harm you."

Despite hating humans, Naï knows his fair share about the ways they operate. He understands the delicacy of your body and handles it with immense measure and meticulous care. He keeps you near to prevent his followers from making a move to take your life. For him, he even strives to understand more about you, to protect you. His care for you and your well-being runs deep, although Naï doesn't quite understand why it's you he's so careful about, he understands that you make him feel something.

Naï, even in his own strange way, shows that he cares for you. He appreciates the company you keep him and he's not foreign with thanking you. Just the same your appreciation runs deep, he offers you friendship, safety, food, and a place to lay your head at night. Above all else, his friendship and company you find the most rewarding, to know so much about him is to see under his facade. Knowing that underneath all of those sharp blades, a gentle, and caring man resides. Only sparing himself to his closet confidants.

Beautifully, the keys fade into an epilogue, an ending to the story it once opened with. You find that as you watch with a smile your lungs begin to burn. A cough tries to bubble its way past your lips, it takes your breath away and chokes you on the way out. Turning away to cover your mouth, you find it hard to catch your breath and tears blur your vision. The melody that had once carried through the room now falls silent in the stead of your sputtering.

Worry tingles in Naï's chest as you gasp for air beside him, he's unsure of what to do or what this is. His knowledge might be expansive but he still has so much to learn, about sickness, potential threats, the many causes of death. His lack of awareness makes his heart quell with concern and his mind reel is fear.

"Are you alright?" His voice carries through the harmonious room. Tentatively his hand hovers over your back.

You wipe the tears from your eyes to see his angelic face clearly. "It's okay Naï, just choked on my spit."

Cautiously, he looks you over with care checking for abnormalities along your external appearance. Your eyes are dark and lightly sunken, despite noticing this fast Naï goes along with your word and nods in earnest. You feel scrutinized under his gaze, like he's judging every part of you without ever saying a word.

"Choked?" He queries. "Is this choking, dangerous?" His brows crease with worry.

"Well..." Recalling gasping for air, the onslaught of coughing as it keeps you from breathing in deep enough to catch your breath makes you choose your next words with ease. "Yes. It can be, depending on the circumstances. But it can also be prevented"

Intensely focused, Naï nods. "How can this be prevented?" His absolute attention is always divulged onto you anytime you talk, it's endearing, the way he listens to every detail. Nothing you've said has ever been forgotten by him, he remembers everything, making it a point to bring it up when useful later on. It tells you that he cares about what you have to say, knowing that makes your heart soar.

"Drinking a glass of water, or anything of likeness, then there's the heimlich. You should ask Con'rad about that if you want to understand it." Although many of the things that Naï knows about humans have been acquired through you, there are many things you can't find the energy to explain. Best someone else with more knowledge explains it to avoid any confusion.

"I'll go visit him then." Naï stands. "Come. I'll escort you to the room." Gently, you hold his outstretched hand, letting it guide you to your feet. He holds it gingerly as he pulls you alongside him. His hand is soft and warm, inhumanely so, you find comfort in his warmth.

The more time chugs along the more you begin to realize you've fallen I'll, coughing spells out of nowhere, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite. The coughing grows worse with intensity, burning your sore throat, your body wastes energy faster, and waking up in the morning becomes a difficult task. For longer times you would lay in bed seeking the comfort of your companion, Naï, despite hiding your growing illness from him. He's buying into what you told him, though it won't last for very long. If he's really that worried he'll seek the knowledge of Con'rad once again.

He knows your habits even down to the smallest details, including your sleep schedule. Though sleep is the only time he lets you spend alone, that's only in his room, the only ones allowed inside are you and him. As far as his knowledge goes, since you last went in about a day ago, no one has bothered to enter. Not even Naï himself would go to see you. He figured you only needed a little alone time before you might come out again to grace him with your company. The time rolled around for you to come out but the door never opened, Naï waited in anticipation, trying to stace off the minutes to spare you time.

The paranoia got to him before you could.

The whole time you've been inside he's only let the door out of his sight once, for only a short amount of time. Very few people would dare enter knowing what punishment would await them if he ever found out but just the thought of someone going in and hurting you... It makes his blood boil. He paces just outside with worry and frustration beginning to build just beneath the surface. He has to know you're okay, he has to hear you speak... No. No, he needs something more... He has to see you physically. Otherwise, he might just lose his mind wondering what awaits him inside.

Eager to finally see your face again, to hear your voice and feel your touch, he pushes the door open. Eyes scouring the darkness for your form he finally spots you laying still beneath the covers of his bed, you make no sound as the door closes and you stay still even as he says your name. In his chest, his heart begins to pound wildly, sending the rest of his body into a frenzy of feelings.

He rushes to the bedside, a singular blade extending to turn the lights on. The darkness cowers away at the flick of a switch and your form is revealed amongst his mattress. Almost stripped bare of your clothes you lay unmoving, almost as if the life from inside you has been drained. Chest straining, Naï climbs over top of your body lowering his head to your chest, your skin feels cold against his ear as he listens for a heartbeat.

Just underneath your delicate skin beats the rhythm of your life, it beats on even as you lay utterly still. Naï can feel his shoulders relax, the sound of your heart telling him that you're indeed still alive, but as he pulls away to further examine you he knows something's not quite right. it makes his stomach churn with unease. Your skin tone seems off, like something's not quite the same as it was before.

As softly as he can, Naï shakes your body. After the first movement he expects you to come to life with a groan but you don't move. If your heart is still beating, why won't you wake up?

"My flower, wake up. You've slept long enough. I need your company by my side." He shakes you harder this time. "Petal, wake up. I demand it." He tries to sound like he normally does when addressing everyone else but he can't seem to find it in himself to truly yell at you, to demand something of you. Especially not when you're stripped of your freedom at this moment.

Naï's throat tightens, his brows creasing with worry and fear. He's so confused, you usually wake up when he calls for you but now he's got nothing. It scares him, knowing just how fragile you really are, it aside now that he rushes you to Con'rad.

Before he parts to the lab, he envelopes your exposed body in his cloak and carries you in his arms. Nothing like this takes more than the blink of an eye, Con'rad barely even has time to process his master's sudden appearance. Everything is thrust at him at once, the fear and confusion that riddles Naï's face when he presents you to Con'rad, how he begs for him to find out what's wrong, to fix you.

Con'rad frowns at your unconscious body as he takes you from his master's arms. "Careful! Don't hurt them." Naï warns.

Con'rad can only cast him a glance before he sets you down on a table, he collects his supplies needed to check you over and watches as Naï retracts the cloak that is wrapped so tightly around your body.

To plants, a decade is only supposed to feel like a day. So why did Naï feel like it had already been years when it was only minutes. He stared at you intently, waiting for you to wake up, willing you to do something. But you didn't move at all. Naï was anxious from tip to bottom, so to quell his nerves Con'rad began explaining things to him.

"Like we discussed, humans are susceptible to many things, illness being one of them. Should a person go an extended amount of time without medication or medical attention, it can cause death. This happens to be the case with your friend. You're lucky you found them when you did Knives. I can still run this IV to get the right fluids in check. After, you can take them back to your room, the IV has to stay in until it's empty though." He eyes the bleach blond from the corner of his eyes as he tapes the IV to your arm. "Again. You're lucky. They should recover soon. But they'll need plenty of rest."

Naï steps away from the wall he had leaned on, the blades slither out from behind his back and circle you carefully until they meld into his cloak once more. Content, he carefully picks you from the table with ease, using another metal appendage to grasp the IV bag.

"Thank you." Naï bows his head to Con'rad in thanks. Before he can reply Naï is gone again just as fast as he appeared.

Returning back to the privacy of his room, Naï gently sets you at the edge of the bed where he could rest the IV bag beside you. Leaving you swaddled in his cloak, Naï climbs up the bed behind you. For a moment he's hesitant to touch you, like it's the wrong thing to do but he pushes forward. Softly laying an arm over your waist, he pulls you flush against him, his face tucked into the back of your neck. He would lay here until you woke, until then, Naï would relish in the feeling of your body against his and find comfort in your presence by his side.

He might lecture you when you wake up, or inspect you thoroughly for any other sickness, but he also might enjoy your waking company for a moment before he does anything else.

[miamochi-writes]

The Only Time I Feel Safe

A/n: Vash x reader, another request from a friend of mine! Enjoy! Here is Part 2

You were trained to be a spy and gather intel growing up. You were the best at what you did, but it came with a price. You trained under the best spy, except every mistake you made he punished severely. Each punishment would grow progressively worse until you perfected your technique. Eventually it grew to be too much and you escaped his clutches. Now you were on the run just traveling to be far away from your mentor as much as possible. As a result,  you didn’t liked being touched, especially by men. Even if it was a tap on the shoulder or a hand on your shoulder, you felt disgusted. No one was allowed to touch you unless you said so. You were tired of getting hurt, so you put up your walls to make sure no one would hurt you again.

You managed to stumble upon Meryl and Roberto. They asked for your help on finding “Vash the Stampede.” You agreed to help so long as you could join them and that they met your conditions on the no touch rules. When you did find him, you let Meryl handle him. Even though Vash looked harmless, you didn’t risk letting your guard down.

“So you’re Vash the Stampede?” Meryl asked.

“Oh you know little old me?” he asked.

“Only because of y/n,” Roberto pointed to you.

“Hey y/n, nice to meet-” Vash was extending his hand to you until you immediately backed away as your whole body tensed. You made yourself look bigger and got into a defensive stance. Vash looked confused until Meryl spoke up.

“Sorry, y/n doesn’t like it when people come too close. It’s not just you,” she explained as Vash looked at you with his sad blue eyes while you sneered at him with your e/c eyes.

~

After seeing him help the people of Jeneora, you figured you could keep him at an arm’s distance. Even though Vash was a wanted criminal, you still made sure to throw off police or anyone that was hunting him. When you first threw off the cops, Vash was laying low at the bar.

“Hey! Thanks for helping me out there y/n!” Vash came up to you but stopped himself from getting close.

“It’s no big deal, you’re not the only one trying to avoid cops,” you said with your arm’s crossed.

“Oh you too?” he asked.

“I’ve got my reasons,” you replied.

“Well I got time. We can relax at the bar,” Vash offered. You thought about it for awhile and figured you’d tell a little more about yourself. If you were going to tag along with this group you might as well start talking.

“Okay, but I pick the table and you sit across from me,” you agreed as Vash let you walk in.

~*~

You were traveling through the desert after leaving Jeneora. After the incident, Vash was at the lowest you’ve seen him. He didn’t really talk much or sleep throughout the drive. Meryl had to stop after driving too long, so it was your first night spending the night in the dunes. When you camped, you noticed Vash wasn’t eating his food. By the time you all went to bed, you spent about an hour just staring at the sky until you turned to Vash’s direction.

“I know you’re awake,” you spoke.

“How can you tell?” he asked.

“You didn’t eat so I can hear your stomach grumbling,” you pointed out.

Vash let out a dry chuckle as he finally turned to you.

“You got me, so why are you awake?” he asked.

“It takes awhile for me to sleep properly. Even if I do, I wake up at the slightest sound because of how I was brought up,” you explained. 

“That bad?” he asked as you nodded.

“Even though I’m away from my mentor, my body can’t relax if I sleep. I keep thinking something will happen,” you divulged further. Vash looked at you with those eyes again as you sighed.

“Listen, what I’m trying to say is...what happened back there wasn’t your fault. I know you wanted to help people, but you did what you could,” you started. You could see Vash was starting to tear up. You reached into your pocket and to grab something that would help. You scooted closer to Vash and offered him your handkerchief.

“Here, for your tears,” you offered. Vash looked at you like you grew another head.

“Yes, you can take it. I don’t mind it,” you reasoned. He then grabbed the cloth from you. You felt his fingertips brush yours briefly. You didn’t feel as disgusted when he did this. In fact, his touch was light as a feather. You then looked at him wiping away his tears as you felt for him. He really cared and you knew how it felt when things didn’t turn out well.

“You can keep it for now. Just get some rest and please eat something. You can’t help people out on an empty stomach,” you finished as you turned away.

~

You were camping out by the desert dunes once more. You gained another new member, Wolfwood. He was an unorthodox priest to say the least, but you were thankful to have him as he practically destroyed the worm you were all trapped in. You were eating worm meat, and you noticed Vash was finally eating his portion. An unknowing smile made your way while you were eating. Once everyone was falling asleep, you got comfy with your sleeping bag and looked at Vash. He was still up and  was staring at the stars. You scooted yourself quietly towards him before you said anything.

“So you finally got your appetite back,” you spoke as Vash slightly jumped.

“That’s right you don’t sleep right away,” Vash chuckled as you held back a laugh.

“Yeah, so what gives? Last night you were moping and now you’re eating again like nothing happened,” you asked.

“It’s what you and Wolfwood said. I have to value my life a bit more if I want to help out people. Thanks for putting up with me, I kinda get lost in my thoughts sometimes,” Vash answered as he gave you a cheeky smile.

You don’t know what came over you, but you slowly raised your hand towards him. You gently put your hand on his shoulder as Vash looked at you like Wolfwood did when Meryl hit him with the car.

“It’s great to have your cheery self back,” you commented as you tried to hide your small smile.

“You...you touched my shoulder,” he said.

“Don’t get used to it. I felt like you needed it earlier,” you mentioned as you retracted your hand back. Vash chuckled at your actions as he kept his eyes on you.

“So does this mean you’re a little more comfortable with me?” he asked with his face lit up,

“Sure, but you need to ask for permission on touching me okay?” you argued.

“So would it be okay if we shook hands?” Vash asked with his human hand reaching out to you. Once you heard him you looked at him with one of your eyebrows raised.

“We didn’t get to introduce each other properly,” he explained with a sheepish smile. You were a bit hesitant at first, but you figured it wouldn’t hurt.

“Sure,” you gave in as you extended your hand to his. He held your hand and shook it delicately. 

“Vash, glad to have you traveling with us,” he said.

“Y/n, glad to be tagging along,” you replied.

~

You caught word of another nearby town to explore. It wasn’t until Vash led you to a windmill town that was in horrible shape. You encountered an overgrown man chasing after Vash and ran to a safe place with Roberto and Meryl. In the end, Vash and Wolfwood got into an argument and weren’t speaking to each other. You found Vash sitting in a corner near one of the buildings. You walked towards him and sat next to him.

“So you and Wolfwood aren’t talking now?” you asked.

“It’s a long story,” he sighed.

“I’m here to listen,” you offered as you looked at him. Vash explained how that man was once a kid Vash knew. He told you about the promise he made to the kid and what happened. Then, Vash explained how Rollo did recognize him, but Wolfwood landed the final blow. When you took everything in, you gathered your thoughts before speaking again.

“Your feelings are valid. Honestly it’s hard to tell what was the right thing to do. But Rollo recognized you for a bit. I think a part of him might have been happy you came back. But Vash, you do understand we can only do so much right? As much as we want to help do something, we all have our limitations. Like I said earlier, you did what you can,” you answered. You then heard Vash starting to sniffle. You could only do so much, but at least he was expressing his emotions and not bottling it in.

“Y/n? Is it okay if I get a pat on the shoulder?” he asked with his voice cracking.

You scooted closer to him and patted his back. He cared a lot, but that meant he carried a heavy burden with his emotions. While you were patting him, you slowly gave him a side hug. The guy desperately needed it. You felt his body stiffen. Then he relaxed and pulled you closer as he cried it out.

~

You were camping out in the desert once more. Everyone practically ate in silence and fell asleep. Except you did try to sleep but you had a nightmare. You dreamt that your mentor came after you with a vengeance. When you dreamt that he grabbed you by the shoulder you jolted awake with a small scream. You covered your mouth to keep quiet so you wouldn’t wake anyone up. You were sweating profusely as your heart was racing.

“It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream, he doesn’t know where you are,” you tried telling yourself quietly. You then heard someone move and stilled yourself. You cursed for making too much noise.

“Hey are you okay y/n?” A soft voice asked. It was Vash and you saw the concern in his vibrant blue eyes.

“Did I wake you up?” You asked.

“No, I was still awake, but it sounded like you had a nightmare,” he replied.

“Yeah, I dreamt about my mentor finding me. It felt too real,” you explained as you tried to wipe off the night sweat.

“I’m sorry to hear, but know that we’re pretty far from any towns nearby. So you’re safe,” he reassured you. You took a deep breathe and nodded. That’s right he still hasn’t found you, so you’re fine for now. You were about to go back to sleep but you felt the cold night breeze hit you. You tried to pass it off but it was bothering you.

“Are you cold?” Vash asked.

“It’s fine, I’ll find a way to sleep,” you reassured him, not wanting to bother Vash anymore.

“You know you can scoot closer to me? I run a lot warmer than most people,” he offered. His offer was too tempting for you. You needed your energy, and decided to swallow your pride. You scooted closer to his left side and once you were close to his prosthetic arm, you felt the warmth he was emitting. You practically didn’t feel cold anymore. Your muscles relaxed the minute you felt the heat as you got comfortable.

“See? I told you,” Vashed smiled as you were now lying next to him.

“Have you always been this warm?” You asked.

“For as long as I could remember,” he chuckled as you felt your eyes get heavy from his warmth.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything while you sleep,” he reassured as you let out a small yawn.

“Okay, goodnight Vash,” you softly muttered before dozing off. And that was one of the few nights you had actually slept well.

~

You traveled to another town nearby that had a decent amount of people. The group split up to gather resources while you were gathering intel until you stopped to see a group of bandits wandering around the city. You followed them closely and saw they had a poster of your face.

“Anyone see this person? They’re wanted alive at all costs! If you know, the reward is 30,000 double dollars,” one of them said.

Your eyes widened as you quietly took a step back. You looked for the nearest crowd and ran through it. Was your mentor that desperate to find you?

“Hey! Over there!” Someone shouted as your anxiety spiked. Who spotted you? It didn’t matter, you needed to run. You dodged and ran through multiple objects to throw them off your trail but you were still being followed. You were desperate and ran more until you took another turn but it led to a dead end.

“Looks like you ran out of luck there!” A voice called out. You turned to see the group of bandits closing in on you slowly.

“There’s nowhere else to hide. You’re feisty, but you’re at the end of the line. It’s time you come with us so we can get that reward,” another one of them spoke. You were on edge and kept taking a step back until your back hit the wall. The group walked closer as their hands were reaching out to you.

“Stay back! Get away from me!” You pleaded as your mind was screaming. This is not how you wanted things to end. You then heard a few punches. The group stopped and looked back to see someone was beating up the members.

“Aye! What are you doing?!” One of the men shouted. You could see their group dwindling in numbers as you stood frozen. You couldn’t move as you were still surrounded. You couldn’t get a good look until you saw a familiar blonde hair and red coat. Vash beat up the last man in front of you as you stared at him.

“Y/n! There you are! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He asked you as you exhaled deeply. You didn’t even know you were holding your breathe until now. Your body trembled as you walked to him.

“Vash…how did you find me?” You asked.

“I noticed the group running after someone. Then I found your poster and followed them. You’re safe now,” he explained as you felt your eyes tearing up.

“Hey don’t cry, you’re okay now,” Vash reassured as he slowly brought his hand up to your face and wiped away a few of your tears.

~

The group camped out again in the desert after what happened. They couldn’t afford to risk staying in a motel sadly. You apologized for what happened even though the group didn’t blame you. After eating your meal, you tried to fall asleep but your mind kept replaying the incident.

“Can’t sleep?” Vash asked.

You turned to him and nodded as he let out a small sigh.

“What’s on your mind?” He questioned.

“I can’t stop thinking about what happened earlier. If you didn’t show up, I wouldn’t be here right now. Now that my mentor is after me, I can’t exactly show my face or stay at the hotel earlier,” you explained.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. None of us knew this would have happened. Right now, we’re away from that group and we’re safe,” Vash said as you looked at him.

“Hey Vash, is it okay if I sleep next to you? I’m cold,” you requested. He then patted his left side as you made your way to him. You missed the warmth and made yourself cozy.

“Comfy?” He asked.

“Yes, thank you. Um, actually can I ask for one more thing?” You questioned.

“Yeah what is it?” He asked.

You slowly gave him a hug that caught him off guard.

“Thanks for earlier. I feel safer with you after what you did,” you told him. You then felt his other arm wrap around your shoulder as he gave you a small squeeze.

“I’m always happy to help. I’ll make sure I can keep you safe when we travel,” he replied with a fond smile. You smiled back at him and then felt your eyelids getting heavy. You were drifting off, but wished him a goodnight. Once you dozed off, you didn’t feel the small kiss Vash gave you on your head as he watched your sleeping figure and then fell asleep right after.

[maltmealo]

Chapter 1: Rhythm of the night

Was blood really that bad? Now that you were laying in the middle of your own blood, it wasn't so bad. Well yeah, it was warm, and sticky, and your bones hurt, but you weren't cold even though it was autumn. Where was the driver? Gone. Probably. No cameras no evidence. But whatever, it was getting colder and you could hear a voice calling for you.

Oh well, maybe in the next life.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The buzzing of luminescent lights was welcome in the library silence. god, I wish brought your phone, I’m so stupid. I don't know why I listened to your friends, they're stupid too, you think, biting your lip. The blue light from your computer burned into your retina, even closing your eyes felt like sandpaper. Big bold letters shone on the screen, "HOW LATIN HAS BRANCHED INTO 30 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES" the blinking black line standing proudly behind it. this felt like a big fuck you from the universe, the essay is due in two days and we have a draft title, great.

"You keep looking at the screen like that and the computer might start crying." you jumped, you almost forgot that Meryl was still here. "your bad, didn't mean to spook you. You've just been staring at that computer for so long, I thought you might have died."

"Meryl, I forgot you were here." you pause before you sigh, "This essay does not want to be written." you smack your computer screen in mock anger, it returns the favor by displaying your favorite words "LOW BATTERY, PLEASE CHARGE"

Deep laughing echoed through the empty library, Meryl shut your computer and opened your bag. Meryl, the older brother you never had, part-time librarian, full-time worrier. Before you knew it your chair had slid out from under the table and your bag was dropped in your lap.

"Sorry kid, but you'll have to go home, I've let you stay for far longer than you should of and you didn't even get any progress." you turned to look at the man, a scar ripped across his skin creating a dark ravine in it, he never told you how he got it, just said it was an accident. "You want me to check you out a book before you go?"

You nodded and stood up, picking up the books that lay scattered across the table. trailing after the man as lead weaved in between tables towards the front desk, you set the books down and braced yourself against the desk. The sharp knives of stress already digging into your head, you grit your teeth and slowly lower yourself until your forehead is touching the cool wood. You hear 4 quick beeps, the sign that Meryl has checked out the books. A new sound, the rattling of pills in a bottle being set down by me. You look up and glance over at Meryl.

"Are you allowed to bring that to work with you?" you ask, picking up the bottle of aspirin. He shrugged and pulled out a bottle of water, sliding it over to me.

"Probably not, but also, you look like hell," he said, giving you a once-over. "Plus, you shouldn't be driving home when you're so distracted that you can't even realize that I took your backpack." he lifted up the old dirty backpack and shook it with a smile. your lips drew into a thin line, setting down the bottle and pushing it away from yourself.

"I didn't drive here, I walked, and I don't need your help." you say more weakly than you intended, inwardly cringing at how tired you sound, taking his bag from his hands and swinging over your back, "Plus, walking is more healthy for me and the environment."

This time his lips formed a line, then a frown. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pulling out his car keys. "then ill drive you home, you know drunk frat boys are going to be coming home around now."

"No you won't, I can take care of myself," you hissed, biting your tongue when you saw his expression, "My dorm isn't even that far away."

A hurt look came across his face, he looked away and sighed, "At least wait for me to close up. It's 3 am, and I don't want you walking home alone."

You shake your head and walked towards the doors, "Sorry Meri, I'm a grown adult, and I can take care of myself."

"Don't get hit by a car!" he shouted as you waved and walked out, the crisp cold air hitting you. you shuddered and inwardly cursed yourself for not bringing a jacket, you rubbed your hands over your shoulders and began the process of walking home. The yellow lights that guarded the streets flickered, weird. You felt a chill run up your spine, and bile rising in your throat, someone was watching you. You almost gag trying to force it back down your throat, you speed up.

"Just paranoia, the paranoia of being stalked at three am," you whisper to yourself, your mind racing with the thoughts of someone trailing behind you, holding out a knife, ready to strike, footsteps speeding up. your breath stopped, the footsteps were real, so real in fact you could feel the vibrations in the ground as they got closer. Without a second thought, you ran, ignoring the street you were supposed to turn onto. you don't want that creep to know where you live, the street lamps flickered again, this time turning completely off. This should be annoying if you weren’t being chased by a potential serial killer. Acid rose into the back of your throat as you felt the sidewalk dip, you were in the street now. The footsteps stopped, and you kept running.

Laughing, that bastard was laughing at you. Anger and fear kept you going until you tripped trying to get back on the sidewalk. The lights flicked back on, showing the now bloody pavement your hands were on. you whipped your head back, and there he was, standing right above you. How'd he get to you so fast? you screamed as loud as you could, kicking his knees out and getting on your feet, only to be dragged back down by large hands on your ankles. your head hit the pavement hard, only increasing the stress migraine you already had. Adrenaline was probably the only reason you could stay awake. Kicking and screaming you were dragged to your feet and brought back into the street, being held by your wrists. you could see the bastard now, another scream rose in your throat, a blonde man in his 30s, covered in scratches and blood. But his eye... his eye was bright fucking red, like some demon, emphasis on eye, he only had one eye, the other a black void.

"Get off me!" you screamed, he almost looked hurt. His hands wrapped around your wrists, forcing them together. you could feel your hands turning blue from how hard he was gripping them. You took a small breath before letting out the most blood-curdling scream you could muster. Fighting and kicking to get him off you, the blood from your hands making his grip somewhat slippery. Fear is what got us here, if you fight you can survive, repeating the mantra in your head. Without thinking you kicked his knees in, thank god for a random factopedia. A sickening crack echoed through the streets, he grunted and doubled over, he was still holding your wrist tight.

He laughed again, then he stood up. He fucking stood back up after you broke his knee. A smile replaced the blank look on his face, his face contorting into a macabre version of a skeletons smile. you screamed again trying to kick out his other knee, trying to do any trick to get someone's attention, you screamed fire, help, robbery, 'he's trying to kill me', nobody, nobody was coming to help me, why? This was a fucking residential street why was no one helping?

He dragged you both out into the middle of the street holding us there until the lights flickered back off. His eye was fucking glowing, your panicked babble and screams for help quickly cut off as you felt him being pulled away from you, The lights came back on. Meryl. Oh your fucking god it was Meryl beating the shit out of the red-eyed man. you could only watch as he dragged the red-eyed man to the edge of the street and started pummeling him. you could barely make out anything he was saying over the ringing in your ears and the blaring horn of a truck, wait what?

You barely had time to turn and see the giant semi-truck come barling down the street, when you turned back to Meryl he and the red-eyed man were staring at you. The unknown man seemed angry and Meryl looked scared, he reached out to you as you tried to jump out of the way.

Screeching tires did nothing to stop the impact, cracking bones and the blood rushing to your head were all you could hear. the hard pavement came next, and you were surprised you weren’t run over, the truck seemed to just push you to the side. you can't breathe, your own blood is drowning you. desperate gasps turned to pathetic gurgles. you could feel the warm blood starting a puddle around your body, the cold air only making the pain so much worse. you could hear Meryl shouting, you couldn't understand what he was shouting, footsteps were getting closer, maybe it was Meryl, No, it wasn't, it was the man, leering down at me. He looked sad, he reached down at you, you screamed as best you could pain shooting up your stomach and into your throat.

More pathetic gurgles and tears rose in your eyes as your senses returned to you. Something was set down beside you, you couldn't move, your broken bones made that impossible but out of the corner of your eye, was the raggedy fabric of your bag. between pathetic whimpers of pain and the dark spots littering your vision, you didn't notice the man leave. you were alone, nobody was there, did Meryl leave too? No, he wouldn't leave you, that bastard must have done something to him. The pain was steadily fading to couple your vision. You started to think, the man who chased you, the truck, where was the truck?

Was blood really that bad? Now that you were laying in the middle of your own blood, it wasn't so bad. Well yeah, it was warm, and sticky, and your bones hurt, but you weren't cold even though it was autumn. Where was the driver? Gone. Probably. No cameras no evidence. But whatever, it was getting colder and you could hear a voice calling for you.

Oh well, maybe in the next life.

[selineram3421]

Song Rec: Kids with Guns by Gorillaz

Isekai'd

Part 9: Networking 1/2

Part 8

~

Vash (Tristamp) X Reader

Warning! ⚠

⚠ cussing, insomnia, sleep deprived Reader, car hitting someone(Wolfwood), blood, mentions of death, what the fuck is vore? Does this count as it? Idk ⚠

The car bounced slightly as it drove on the sand.

You were half asleep because insomnia could be a real bitch sometimes. Vash was dozing off, sitting at the other end of the back seat.

Meryl had asked to accompany both of you, mostly to get the blonde's story.

Not wanting to drag Kevin around, you let the big bird stay with the people of Jeneora Rock, knowing that they would need the bird more than you. Also handing over a letter for them to give to the doctor.

So here you were, in the back seat of the reporter's vehicle while the news was going on, struggling to stay awake.

Maybe I should sleep. You think, too deep into your thoughts to notice that Roberto and Meryl were talking about the worm cluster up in the sky.

Then the car jerked into a sharp turn.

"Ah!", you yelped, grabbing onto the top of the seat with one arm and the other darting over to keep the blonde from flying forward, having to get closer to keep him safe.

Car having stopped, everyone in the let out a breath before getting off.

The small dark haired woman sprinted to the figure lying in the sand and the rest of you followed.

"Hey! Are you ok!?", Meryl asked the person she hit.

You went next to her, holding a small first-aid kit and recognized the poor accident victim making pained noises.

"Wolfwood?", you were a little more awake now thanks to seeing a familiar face. "Hey Star boy, help me lift.", you say and pocket the kit before crouching down to grab the man's legs.

"Right!", the humanoid typhoon rushes over to help.

After getting the man in black into the car, it was a little cramped but at least the injured person wouldn't get his head hitting the side windows. Meryl was speeding through the dunes, the car bouncing even more than earlier. "There's no dying on my watch mister!", she said panicked.

You and Vash held onto the man so he wouldn't get even more hurt, but with all the movement he was still in constant pain. Both you and the blonde looked at Wolfwood worriedly since he looked a little braindead.

Thankfully with the fast driving, the car made it to a plant stop.

Meryl jumped out of the car and rushed over to the building while you helped Vash get the injured man out of the car.

"We need supplies! This man is injured!", she said before getting a good look at the state the place was in.

"Hold on.", you mumble to the blonde and let him take hold of Wolfwood before going into the building, seeing the blood and dead bodies inside.

The other two followed you both in and also took in the scene.

.

After the bodies were buried and Wolfwood was up, you stood next to the kid as you watched the undertaker in black stuck the heavy cross into the sand.

"Uh.. Heavenly father, lord in heaven..", he started, taking a drink from the bottle in his hand while squatting down. "Forgive us our sins oh lord as we forgive those who sin against us.", he said and started sprinkling the water on the makeshift graves.

You rolled your eyes, too tired for whatever gibberish the man in the suit would say next.

"Please welcome their souls and all the faithful departed into your..into your.. What is it?"

Vash and Meryl look up from their sad gazes after hearing that.

"Welcome them into your humble abode?"

The two look at the black haired man in confusion as he continues to guess what to say next. And then the cross starts to tilt and fall, making the man scramble to catch it.

"Uh..make sure there's some empty chairs. They're kindom coming so..", Wolfwood says with his hands in a praying position.

"That's enough!", the small reporter says, making the undertaker stop. "You're not really a priest, huh?"

"No, I'm not.", Wolfwood says standing up. "I'm an Undertaker."

Shovel, shovel. Bury, bury. You thought with a slow blink.

You didn't pay attention until the man in black walked over and took a knee, handing the kid a lollipop.

"I want one..", you mumble to yourself.

Damn. I am out of it. You thought and rubbed one of your eyes.

Looking over to the three, you are just in time to see the check scene. Vash in total shock at the price before shakily showing it to Meryl. Then Meryl starts to argue with Wolfwood and the other reporter walks up, taking the check before scoffing.

There was a sudden light ring in your ears, making you wake up just a bit.

Isn't this when-

You don't get to finish that thought as everything starts shaking and you grab onto the kid so that you both don't fall over.

Even though I know they're the cause, here I am making sure they don't fall.

The shakes continue and that's when the sand dust starts to form when the worm gets closer. At the moment you wonder if you should feel terrified or in awe.

Then it hit you.

Ah, I've hit my sleep deprivation insanity.

"It's a grand-worm!", Vash yelled out before the giant worm swallows the plant station whole.

"AAAAAAAHHH-!"

Everyone screams as all of you go down the dark and odd throat of the worm, eyes widening when seeing the high fall after entering another part of the worm.

All of you groan after hitting the bottom, sitting up or standing from the fall.

Meryl had held onto you and the kid while falling, then she pulled both of you back when a large piece of metal fell just a few inches away.

"Incoming!", Roberto yelled out as more of the plant station started to fall down, even the car.

"Nope, nope, nope.", you started moving the two next to you and felt someone squish you between the two while bringing all of you away from the danger. "Oof-", you sounded as all of you landed.

"You guys aren't hurt are you?", the humanoid typhoon asks.

"No.", you say and shiver in disgust when feeling sand in your clothing, sitting up quickly and shaking/pulling at your clothes.

You stand up and grab onto your coat, also shaking the sand off of it. And as you were doing that, you heard Wolfwood saying something about watching your step.

Then a flying worm crawled out of a skull.

.

"I've heard something about worms being interconnected.", the small reporter said.

"You heard right.", the older reporter confirmed.

Vash and the others watched as the worms communicated. Light bouncing off the walls of the worm as the small one flew farther and farther.

"That's its detached electron network. The bigger the worm, the more detached electrons it holds.", the older reporter says. "Judging by its size, this guy must be a pillar of its community."

"Which means?", Meryl asked, turning to look at her partner.

"Which means we're in the head honcho.", Roberto replied.

The blonde was still looking up at the bug before snapping his attention to the two figures going deeper into the worm.

"Hey!", he said and ran after the two.

What is the angel doing!?

"Come back!", the small reporter shouted.

They stopped when the two were climbing, the kid jumping over while the medic was still going.

"What are you doing?", he asked as they kept climbing.

They looked over their shoulder and down at him with a serious gaze, not missing a beat with their response.

"Going after the kid, duh.", they said and continued climbing.

Well, that makes sense. He thought and started climbing.

Then after the climb, he found them standing in front of four tunnel like openings.

"Uh..", the medic turned to face him and the reporter with a nervous smile. "I think I lost the kid..?"

Sleep? What's that?

~Seline, the person.

Next: Part 10

Taglist@

@summerdazed @lunar-archangel @+?

ML Vash | ChL Isekai'd

[chris-continues]

It’s suffocating,

A Vash/reader (or my self insert but name isn’t mentioned) that deviates from my canon. Unrequited love.

It’s when I can barely handle his smile that I know it’s a lot.

It always has been, I mean, he’s far too kind and wonderful and sweet-

He’s too perfect.

And now he’s casted away and I’m grateful to be acquainted with him- his unwarranted unwanted reputation doesn’t suit him.

It’s when I feel my head and heart sink. That’s when I know it’s wrong. He smiles at Meryl, she teases and laughs all the while and I feel sick.

How could I get my hopes up? He doesn’t owe me anything, what did I expect?

“..It’s them, isn’t it?”

“Who?”

“Them.” Wolfwood gestures out the van window to them sitting at the campfire. There’s no need to explain it.

“Yeah.” My voice pathetically squeaks and he looks at me with.. pity? Empathy? Something. “I get that.”

I feel suffocated, seeing them together.

Quite literally, that’s when the first petal comes up. I walk with Wolfwood, Vash and Meryl teasing each other a few feet ahead.

It’s a few bloody petals.

A week later and it’s small buds, I cough behind the van while Wolfwood offers me water.

5 days after that and it’s whole, beautiful flowers. I can feel them leaving my throat and making me strangely pretty. I have to bury them in the sand once everyone goes to bed.

Only Wolfwood knows, along with Roberto, who had walked in once when he heard me coughing. I feel like shit.

I gag and cough and cry, throat tight and dry and I’m nauseous and lightheaded. I’ve barely eaten in the past few weeks.

“Jesus..” he pinches the bridge of his nose, “you’ve gotta eat.”

… “eat.” He insists, shoving a small portion of rations in my chest. “Thank me later.”

“I’ll just thank you now. I appreciate your help.”

A week ago I’d discovered what it was once I’d asked around a tavern curiously. Well, not really asked around. A barmaid was kind enough to inform me and listen once they’d caught my weary eyes on Vash. Who was laughing with Meryl.

“He’s a cutie, huh?”

“Yeah. He really is.” She turns, offering me a free drink. “It’s on the house, no need.” I nod, “Thank y-“ before I can begin, I hack and cough. Her towel helps to catch the blooms and now prickly vines that I feel poke my throat painfully.

“Hanahaki, huh?”

“Hm?”

“You cough up flowers thanks to unrequited love. It’s unknown why it happens.. but I’d recommend you enjoy your last few days.”

“What?”

“It’s fatal,” they explain. “I’m sorry.”

“..thanks for the free drink.”

I head up to my room early that night, and Roberto is kind enough to check on me. I cry, really cry as much as my tired throat lets me sob. Crying is even a privilege.

“And you’re still not mad at him?”

Even though it’s fatal?

“How could I be?”

Ever since we met it was always about making him happy. I left Jenora Rock to travel with him. I listened to him.

I was..

Just a really good friend. He needed that from me, nothing more.

“He doesn’t owe me anything. I can’t be mad at him for liking Meryl.”

Meryl was smart, and educated and older.

I was just.. me.

Roberto and Wolfwood make us stay in the tavern a few extra days. I’m laying on the bed again, I’ve barely left my room the past few days. One of the guys is kind enough to offer me food, but one day Vash greets me at my door.

“Wolfwood told me that you were sick. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s not your fault, uh..” I silently take the food from him. “Thank you.”

“Of course!” And he smiles. That beautiful, heartwarming grin. “If you need any help let me know, I’m just a room or two over.”

“I will.” That’s a lie.

I think it’s a slap in the face that very night that I get another coughing fit. I wish I could call him for help to rub my back, gently move the hair out of my face and hug me. But I know that wouldn’t help me at all.

Just saying hi to him pains me.

And so do the petals that grow, the vines that encase me beautifully, tearing my heart open and leaving me gorgeous.

I hope she looks at him the same way I did.

[museqmeg]

Reporter’s Notes - Chapter Three: Coffee

___________________________________________________________________

A vashmeryl fic

Author’s Note:

No real notes for this one. Just something that popped in my head.

____________________________________________________________________

It was the third morning of traveling with the two reporters. They were fortunate enough to find an inn with enough rooms for everyone to rest the night before. The last night any of them had in a real bed was at Jeneora Rock.

Jeneora Rock… Vash felt a tightness in his chest and gut, thinking of Rosa, Tonis, and everyone else that suffered because of him. He fully intended to go off alone after the destruction. He was used to being banished from the communities he kept getting himself attached to.

He was a little shocked when Meryl and Roberto tracked him down and insisted that he go with them. Meryl was the most verbal in trying to convince him and Roberto just looked at him from the truck with a face that said, ‘Just get in kid.’

He was so tired and so broken down after seeing his brother and the losses Nai incurred. Vash had no fight left in him. He hopped into their truck thinking he could just slip away when the time was right. He wasn’t going to endanger more people.

But here he was, three days later and still with the two reporters. The brevity of traveling with them and enjoying the dynamic between mentor and apprentice drew Vash in like a magnet. Honestly, any of their human interactions did. He supposed he was being selfish, but he didn’t want to be alone just yet. He knew he should leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to go.

The guilt of Jeneora Rock was eating at him and ironically, causing him not to have an appetite at all. He hadn’t eaten anything since the incident and always made a point to be off doing something else when Meryl and Roberto stopped and made time for meals. He hoped they didn’t notice. He wanted to keep things light, for their sake and his. The little, positive moments he had with them were the only things keeping him from spiraling into a pit of true self-hate. Their little distractions. His favorite distraction so far was teaching Meryl how to shoot. Sure, it was amusing to stumble upon her and watch her honest attempts, but not in a mean-spirited way… more out of entertainment and curiosity.

He was eager to teach her something he was an actual master at and could help keep her safe. He wished he could keep everyone safe. If a short little lesson to improve her accuracy and gun safety skills could increase her chances of avoiding harm or death… then that was at least one more human life he could save.

He vocalized many times that he felt no pride, but the moment he heard and saw the “ting!” of the bullet hitting the can, something giddy filled his chest. Seeing her bright smile at the accomplishment made it bloom even more.

He wished more of his interactions with humans were like that and not so heart-breakingly catastrophic.

Vash absent-mindedly threw his bag on the bed and started to gather his belongings from their stay when he heard a knock on his door.

“Hello?” He called out.

“It’s me, Meryl. Is it alright if I come in?”

He stopped packing and walked over to the door, turning the handle to open the door. He smiled down at her eager face. “Sure Meryl! What’s up?”

She skittered quickly past him and the open door before turning to face him and said, “Roberto is gathering supplies for the next few days. Apparently, the next town is quite a ways off, so I hope you enjoyed having a bed last night. Sleeping arrangements are going to be bed rolls on the sand or cramped in the truck, depending on the weather.”

Vash gave her a smirk saying, “Darn… I thought traveling with the media was going to be a high-end luxury experience.”

Meryl rolled her eyes. “Speaking of that, I also came to ask if you had breakfast yet. I thought with Roberto gone, I could get some interview questions in while we wait for him.”

Vash scratched the back of his head, not feeling good about lying to her before saying, “I had some food from my pack when I got up this morning.”

“Oh...”

“But, I’ll still do the interview!” He hated disappointing her, anyone really. But seeing her face fall did nothing to unease the twist already in his gut.

Her face brightened back up before clapping her hands together. “Okay! Then just coffee then! I have to throw my stuff in the truck, but we can meet at that little cafe down the road from the inn.”

“I’m actually almost packed now. I’ll just go with you.” He smiled back at her.

He finished packing while she ran back to her room for her bag before tossing their things in the loaned Bernardelli truck. As they walked to the cafe, Vash watched as Meryl pulled her notebook and pen out.

“Whoa! Starting the interview already?” He quipped.

“Sure! What kind of top reporter would I be if I didn’t capitalize on my time with the Humanoid Typhoon?”

Vash stopped dead in his tracks. The guilt punched him in the gut and before he could pretend nothing happened. Meryl had stopped too and was looking up at him with concern.

“Hey… are you okay? I’m sorry, that was poor taste on my part with everything that happened recently. I wasn’t thinking.” Guilt washed over her face.

Vash was angry at himself. It wasn’t her fault. It was spilling all onto her. The shame, the guilt. He needed to change the mood, not for himself, but her.

He looked up pointing, “Is this the cafe?”

She turned her head in the direction of his finger, “Yes!”

They both found a table and settled in for their interview. A server came over to take their orders. Vash wasn’t surprised when Meryl ordered a sweet chai latte. The drink order seemed to fit her fiery, but caring demeanor. When the server turned to him, he just ordered a plain black coffee. He didn’t deserve the little treats life had to offer. He probably would have ordered something similar to Meryl, had his self-loathing not consumed him. He loved sweet things, donuts especially. He saw them up at the counter behind a glass case, but couldn’t bring himself to order any.

He looked back at Meryl, who looked at him and back at the glass case. She quickly turned eyes back to him while brandishing her pen and paper.

“Alrighty! First question… When is your birthday?”

Vash was caught off guard, this wasn’t a serious article question. “Uhh… July 21st.”

“Year?”

Dangerous territory. He liked Meryl, but hadn’t known her long enough to share that bit of himself. It would just raise more serious questions and terrify her. He was a master of smoke and mirrors though.

He looked at her young face and took in her mannerisms. He heard her and Roberto bickering in the truck enough to know that she was a recent university grad and their professional dynamic was clearly a mentorship. He also remembered how it felt to be that young and naive. Excited about life’s possibilities.

“Let’s just say a few years older than you.”

Her face did something funny he couldn’t read while she scrawled and read aloud, “mid to late 20s.”

“Hey now! I said a few!” He knew he was much older, but it did sting his ego just a little to have her insinuate he didn’t look close to her age. It was one of the perks of being a plant!

She just giggled and said, “You have a world-worn look to you that ages your face sometimes.”

Damn. Maybe hanging around reporters wasn’t such a good idea after all. A little too perceptive.

The server had returned with the coffee. Meryl reached out for hers and took a sip while Vash mock-grimaced at her, “Next question.”

“Favorite color?”

He grinned while brandishing his prosthetic hand over his torso. “Isn’t it obvious?”

She grinned back asking, “How did you get a coat like that? It’s so red. I don’t even know where’d you find something like that.”

“It was a gift.” He was hesitant to share much more. She only nodded while scribbling his answers.

“And your earring?”

“Oh, that’s not really something worth sharing.” He was getting a little embarrassed, propping his head in his hands.

Meryl just looked up at him waiting with a bemused expression.

Vash let out a whoosh of air, admitting defeat, “I was drunk with some friends and dared to do it. I hate to admit it, but I think I look rather dashing.” He took his left forefinger and flicked the hoop so it would catch the sunlight. It made Meryl laugh and he felt his gut and chest loosen. He took a sip of his coffee, more for show that everything was fine.

“Wow, old and vain.” She mused.

He was about to counter her when she asked, “Favorite food?”

“Are these just going to be lowball questions?” he asked with a fake annoyance. He picked up on what she was doing. She somehow knew something was off and was doing exactly what he was trying to do for her.

“Oh definitely, these are the questions our readers want to know about the infamous outlaw.” Her grin was taunting as she looked up at him.

He glanced at the donuts again knowing she was onto him, but answered with his second favorite food instead, “Pizza.”

“Am I to understand that the Vash the Stampede is a sucker for junk food?”

“Oh most definitely.” Giving her a mischievous grin.

She was writing in her notebook when he said, “Okay, my turn for questions.”

Her head shot up. “You’re not the journalist!”

“No… but I did give you a shooting lesson the other day for free. I am an ace gunman you know. That amounts to at least one question.” He winked with his right forefinger up.

“As I recall, it was you who played off any gun skills when we first met.” Meryl pushed his finger down.

“Part of being an ace gunman. Gotta keep the cards close to the chest.”

She made a more serious face at the comment.

Shit, he just outed his whole mask. “Please? Just one question?” He asked, making a sad puppy-dog face.

Meryl sighed through her nose, in mock defeat and set her notebook and pen down. “Okay, one question.”

“Why did you come after me after everything that happened?” Vash’s face had a quiet solemnity to it.

A startled look came across her own face at the serious inquiry. She looked down, fidgeting with her hands before saying, “It didn’t seem fair to put the blame all on you. It seems like the world is so quick to do it. I mean, that’s how I ended up finding you in the first place. Our bureau sent me with a mentor who does the bare minimum to write a fluff piece on the Humanoid Typhoon. We expected to find a caricature of a person, but instead it was just a normal, albeit goofy, gentle human being.”

Vash stopped breathing for a second. She saw him as the same as her: human. If only she knew… It was a wave of comfort and shame all at once. He had a hard enough time grappling with his “humanity” and his plant origins. And here was this tiny human, accepting and sharing in his humanity.

She kept going, “You seemed like you needed help, especially when we first met you. You were tied up and upside-down.” She chuckled. “But then you did share some of your story and how the blame wasn’t completely on you… I know I said we would write an article to clear your name and that ‘journalistic integrity’ crap. But I… we did it because we wanted to help. We wanted to go with you.”

Vash looked at her in silent awe, the gut twisting feeling he had in his stomach the last few days dissipating into a warmth spreading in his chest. He started to reach his right hand to hers and thank her when Roberto was suddenly standing over their table.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Vash pulled his hand back and smiled warmly at him.

“No!” Meryl answered, flustered, “Just a little interview for our article!”

Roberto only looked at her red face and the dopey smile on Vash. “Uh huh…”

He reached down to grab Meryl’s notebook, her protests and hands coming up to snatch it back.

“What kind of questions are you asking him, newbie? Birthday? Favorite color? Favorite food? I thought you were top of your class?” He gave her a look of feigned disappointment. “You’re both acting like a bunch of school kids.” He chuckled and tossed the notebook back on the table. “I’ll pull the truck up. Finish your coffee and let’s get going.” He left, ruffling Vash’s hair and still chuckling to himself.

Vash had a feeling Roberto knew what she was up to as well.

“I’ll take care of the bill. Go ahead with Roberto.” Meryl said standing from the table.

“S-sure!” Vash stood up as well, picking up his coffee mug and chugging it.

“You can go ahead and have mine too. I’m finished.” Meryl smiled at him, turned and headed to the counter.

Vash looked down at her sweet drink and smiled. She did that on purpose too. He reached down and drank it. His secret way of saying thanks for cheering him up.

They were on the road for a while when Vash noticed a paper bag in the seat next to him. His curiosity got the best of him and he opened it to find it full of honey donuts. There it was again, that tightness in his chest. It wasn’t the tightness of guilt though. He looked in the rear view mirror hoping to catch Meryl’s eye, but she had been watching the whole time.

Vash smiled at her and said “Thank you.”

She just smiled back with a nod when Roberto blurted, “Thank you for what?”

Vash laughed, “For the coffee and kindness. Really, thank you both.”

Roberto just shrugged and said, “Don’t mention it.”

Meryl was still smiling at him in the mirror. “I figured out that pizza wasn’t your favorite food. You had mentioned donuts to us once before when we questioned why you actively keep your gun in its holster. Your excuse was that you preferred to spend money on donuts. Plus, your glances at them in the cafe this morning weren’t subtle.”

Vash laughed, “You got me.”

He tucked the bag of donuts under his seat for later. He still wasn’t feeling up to eating, but the weight of guilt in his chest was considerably lessened. Damn, he did it again. Went and got attached to some humans. He really couldn’t help the affection he had for them. It was going to be harder than he thought to shake these two off.

____________________________________________________________________

My only gripe with Tristamp was that we didn’t see poor Vash get a single donut. So he got a whole bag of them here.

Also, Meryl’s answer to Vash’s serious question is a reference to my favorite video game, Final Fantasy IX. Points to you if you know the event I’m talking about. :)

[eventheodds]

That checkpoint will unlikely be the last one they encounter. Since the ark, more and more have appeared—and she understands why they have—but in her current situation, if anyone were to find out Vash was travelling with her, it would mean a whole lot of trouble for the both of them.

Meryl's not even yet looked at how many iles between here and home base are left.

This newfound alliance is tumultuous at best, fragile as she remembers Luida calling it before Meryl had left, so the less people involved in the extraction part of the plan, the better.

Right now, home is the main objective; avoid getting caught are the main hurdles.

"That was cutting it very close, Vash," she groans, but there is hardly any bite behind her words as she feels the desert air breeze through the cabin of the van and even she can't deny how nice this feels. It helps that the checkpoint and any guards on duty are far behind them, but there is always that fear that they'll be discovered and Vash will be taken away.

His hand on the crook of her arm brings her back from her spiraling thoughts, turning her head to look at him. Her eyes are tired, she is tired, but it is not the eyes of someone who has been exposed to the horrors with no way out—though Milly has told her she's seen her stare off into the distance like that some times—but she feels like she's getting better. If getting better is such a thing.

Fear is not something that goes away with time.

The fears she carries are what made her go to hell and back for those she wanted to help and save. And if she survived once, Meryl thinks she could do it again if need be.

Despite everything, Vash appears like he is without much care as he sits in the passenger seat next to her. It almost feels normal, if that can be such a thing, and Meryl continues to drive at what feels like a more leisured pace.

She watches as he makes himself more comfortable next to her, wanting, for a brief moment, to reach over and take hold of his hand with hers, but opts to keep both hands on the steering wheel. His question will not go unanswered, though it's not something she's thought about.

Meryl huffs out a laugh as she begins to see the silhouette of buildings becoming larger and larger as the van continues to drive.

"Retirement's not in the cards for me," she says, thinking back onto those days where she said she would treat herself to the latest fashion accessories for putting up with headache after headache from her job. To her, it feels like she'd been a different Meryl back then.

His mention of her articles, calling them special, brings a flush of red to her cheeks as she continues to drive them, unable to help the smile that's curving her lips as he tells her why he enjoyed them.

"So, you see why I can't retire," she says, feeling something as she mulls over what he's just told her about her work over and over in her head. That feeling blossoms into something else as she remembers the amount of work it took to get all the information she needed—because people deserved to know the truth and there was no point in covering up details or lying about the current situation.

"In truth, I just always hope that my words aren't disappearing into the spaces in between where people can't find them. There's so much going on, so much noise and chaos, that it's always a gamble whenever an article is posted. I want to think I am doing what I can to help in different ways other than being in the thick of it and rebuilding. Putting whatever free time I have into this."

The van's speed slows down as she reaches the town's borders.

"Hey, Vash...," she continues to drive at a leisure pace, mindful not to enter the town before he's had a chance to hide again. "...do you think you'll ever get the chance to stop running?"

Somehow, she knows the answer to that question, but asks anyways.

"What do you want to do?"

“Yeah, but I got bored of waiting,” he complains, abandoning the blanket and pouring himself into the passenger seat after they have trundled past the baton-waving checkpoint sentries. 

There aren’t any windows in the back of the van, such as it is when attempting to travel incognito with a wanted man. For the time being though, he’s happy to make the assumption they will have time between before they encounter another Terran or Federal checkpoint any time soon. Vash slumps down into his chair and props his feet up onto the dashboard, ankles crossed with a loud sigh. He reaches down the door to crank the window down and breathe in fresh desert air. “Aaah. C’mon, Meryl, can you blame me? It’s stuffy back there. And there isn’t anyone to talk to!”

He can talk to Meryl through the back of her seat perfectly fine. The joy of such a conversation, however, is greatly diminished when talking to the back of someone’s head. 

“Everything happened so fast…I never got a chance to thank you for saving my butt.” Vash smiles sidelong at her as they trundle along through town. With the threat of the Ark gone, humans simply picked right back up where they left off. Plus Terran support and resources, the cloud of fear hanging over their heads has cleared.

The long term survival of humanity in No Man’s Land is no longer under doubt. 

He reaches out to gently rest his hand on the crook of Meryl’s arm. She must have searched nonstop in the following two months after his disappearance from Octovern. Earth cannot ignore nor absolve him of his involvement in Knives’s plot (regardless of which side he had taken) and the Federals, in the interest of preserving this newfound alliance with their long lost brothers and sisters, were not likely to pardon him either.

Whatever tomorrow holds, the Humanoid Typhoon remains at large.

“Hey, have you thought about what you’re going to do when you retire?” Vash crosses his arms behind his head as the van bounces past the gates and into the town proper. He doesn’t know how far she intends to drive, whether Meryl deems it safe enough to stop now or later, and more importantly, he does not know whether he can convince her that she should follow her dreams in a way that does not involve carting around a wanted man. 

“I read all of your articles while I was stuck in bed that whole time! Each one was really special…Like the ones that focused on what it was like living in No Man’s Land for the average person or your interviews with the survivors who helped the plants as they fell.”  

[scarletwidowaf]

broadway, baby. (part 1)

Florence pugh x female Reader

Summery: reader is a singing waitress in a new York restaurant (like in glee) where many famous people go to, and one night the little women cast are are there and R is their waitress.

Warnings: there's some cursing and harassment. Its not revolve around it but its there.

A\N: im soft for florence pugh and this is a complete shit.

masterlist

Credits: Glee Gif Credit • Florence Gifs Credit

“I'm just a Broadway Baby, walking off my tired feet, Pounding Forty Second Street to be in a show. Broadway Baby, learning how to sing and dance, waiting for that one big chance to be in a show.” - Cast of follies

Life can be hard and some days can be rough, especially in your line of work where people competed for the spotlight on a daily basis. but that's life and that’s the road you chose to walk through.  And it's alright, after all, what's life without a spark? A movie without a breaking point? or a shift at Clayton's without drama?

This was one of these days, the kind of days who kept you on an edge as your body and mind both ached for a break.

'Just roll with it. just a few hours for your day off.' You silently said to yourself.

Being a young artist in New York was a challenge you’ve taken on yourself, luckily for you working at "Clayton's" was a good way to start a career.  most people who started working there were young talented artist who were determined to make an impression over the industry. The place was always packed with many famous people, from actors to singers and producers. So, in many ways, working in "Clayton's" could be a ticket to Broadway or the music industry. And that was the reason you moved there in the first place.

You tried the traditional way, but after months of trying to get into college and fix your past mistakes, like your high school career, you decided that this path wasn’t for you. no matter what you did or how hard you tried your ADHD still managed to kick your ass. So, that’s how you ended up as a singing waitress in NY. You liked your job, truly. You liked singing and dancing and meeting cool people along the way, but sometimes it was just too much.

"You look like shit" Aaron said from his spot at the bar.

Aaron was a sweet guy and probably the only straight person in your group of friends. He was charming and talented and most importantly; he was the first friend you got in NY.

Aaron pulled his long brown hair into a bun as he chuckled at you. You huffed in frustration in return.

"Thanks" you muttered as he passes you a mug with coffee, hoping to help you get a grip before the restaurant opens.

"You need to rest" he said. "properly" 

"that’s overrated" you joked and took a sip.

You felt an hand on your shoulder and you turned around to meet your friend's stern gaze. "You, okay?" she asked

"Always" you answered Mackenzie's question and she raised her eyebrow, knowing full well you were lying. 

"we should sing as a warm up!" David, another one of your coworkers and Aaron's twin brother said.

"Let's not" Aaron said as he rolled his eyes at his brother's enthusiasm. 

You laughed quietly as the two started bickering. Mack and you glanced at each other knowingly. Both of you already know who will win in the stupid argument.

15 minutes later, after a group warm up and Aaron's dramatic sighs 'Clayton's' was open for business.

It was a nice evening, not too full, not too loud. And most importantly, not too many known faces.

Of course, you liked to have famous people on your shifts, and it could obviously be a game changer for you but it can get intense at times and you want in the mood. Seriously, how can you be the only one who found singing "defying gravity' in font of Idina Menzel as a very stressful experience?? You were terrified by the idea you'll fuck up in front of the original singer- and make a total fool out of yourself. 

When 10 pm rolled around, every opinion you had about the evening flew out the window. at this point, the restaurant was full with costumers and some known faces as well, and you found yourself holding every inch of you together as you approach the table who was occupied by the one and only Meryl Streep, and some fellow little women cast members.  

 *rule number 1 of working at Clayton's: don't make costumers feel uncomfortable. Don't annoy the costumers, don't ask for autographs if they're famous and generally treat them as normal and respectfully as you can. *

 "Hello, my name is Y/N and ill be your waitress for tonight" you introduced yourself with a small smile. The women smiled at you brightly.

"How does it work" Meryl held the tablet with a puzzled expression. "Am I that old?" She joked

"Barley" One of the other women, Emma fucking Watson, said. 

"I know it looks complicated-" you told them as you took the tablet from Meryl's hand."-But it's pretty simple, actually, I promise. As you can see the top part of the tablet is divided into two sections: The right one who says 'ask for a waiter'- which means that your waiter- which in this case, me, is busy- probably performing at the moment, and you can ask for a different waiter." You said with an ease, knowing the explanation by heart.

"The left section says 'ask for my waiter' which is a pretty simple one to understand... I guess- if you'll need me for whatever reason, you can press it and it'll page me. Feel free to use it."  You said with a smile as you scanned their faces, making sure they understand the first part.

"And the bottom section?" Saoirse asked. 

"The bottom section is the 'refill' sections. It will get into validation only after ill place your order in my own tablet and send to the kitchen." You explained as you gestured to your own tablet. "It's pretty useful, the point of it is that you can ask for a refill without having to social with me. Its awesome"

You noticed one of them, Florence pugh, scanning the tablet with a small smile- as she listened to your explanation. She was absolutely a sight for sore eyes, that's for sure.

"Thats pretty cool" she said and you nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I got really excited over it when I started working here" you admitted awkwardly "most importantly- When a section isn't relevant its will be grey instead of in color so you won't get confused. Like, for example - if You haven't ordered anything yet you can't get a refill, for the obvious reason. or if I'm not performing you can't ask for another waiter... which means you're stuck with me for the time being" you finished with a small chuckle.

"I don't think any of us mind that" Florence smiled and the others agreed. The blonde smiled at you again and you blushed slightly. "You're singing, right?" she asked out of the blue, just when you were about to leave and let them look through their menus. 

"Yeah, i do. In a few minutes, actually" 

"Thats cool! Good luck" she smiled and you wondered if Emma, who set the closest to you, could hear how fast your heart's beating. 

"Thank you" you said with a smile and turned around to the stage. 

__________________

"you paged? I'm guessing you guys ready to order then" You said as you approached their table after your performance. 

"YOU WERE SO GODD!" Florence said excitedly.

"Thank you" you blushed slightly. 

What. The. Fuck. Y/N?! You scolded yourself.

The others joined into the conversation with their own compliments and you thought you'd die when Meryl Streep, the legend herself, complimented you.

After another few moments the conversation calmed downed and moved to the next, and most important topic: the food. You tried your best to not blush under Florence's soft gaze and keep your focus on the other members of her table as they consulted you about the dishes, but damn, that was hard.  luckily for you it didn’t take long and a few minutes later, their order was sent to the kitchen. 

 The next hour and a half weren't much different. you sang and placed orders, you smiled to costumers and even pretend to laugh at some old man's joke. And maybe (just maybe) you glanced over to Florence every now and then.

The thing about Clayton's is that apart for the famous people who visit there frequently, it also contains many of the rich and the snobs of New York, so you weren't surprised when you got paged from a table who was occupied by two guys with fancy clothes and their parents credit card.

"Hey" one of them said to you as you approached them. 

"hey, welcome to Clayton's! You're David's table, right?" You said and pointed at your friend who started his own performance.

"Yeah, the fag one" the other guy said and your smile fell.

Take a deep breath, Y/N. It's not worth it. 

"I see you guys already ordered a few minutes ago" you said as you checked your tablet.

"Yeah" the asshole confirmed. 

"Okay, in that case, how can I help you?" You asked politely as you could. 

"we would like to get the check." The first guy said politely as he pulled out a few bills from his wallet. "Keep the change" he said as you took it and made sure it was enough.

"Thank you" you smiled politely and made a mental note to give David his well-earned tip.

"my brother want to know if you're single" the asshole said and the nicer guy looked at his with his eyes wide.

Shit.

"I'm sorry, I'm in a relationship" you lied after a moment, hoping the lie will spare both his feeling and any more questions in the subject.

The guy nodded in understanding but on the other hand, the other guy didn’t seem to get the massage.  

"I'm sure he won't mind sharing" the asshole said and you felt sorry for the poor guy for being related to this ass.

"What the fuck Chad" the nice guy said as chad smirked at you.

"yeah... that’s not going to happen." You glared at him "have a great weekend tho" you gritted out and turned around to leave.

you were taken by surprise when you felt chad's hand on your ass. Again, what the fuck?!

"What the fuck is wrong with you' asshole" you gritted out and moved away from him. 

Don't make a scene. He's not worth it. 

"C'mon-" he started to say as he got up. You moved away, knowing you were cornered since the place was full, the lights were deemed and the music was loud. 

"Don't touch me" you said and moved away; you're back hitting an empty table who stood nearly.

"Hey what's going on here?" You heard and turned to catch Florence walking to you.

If a look could kill chad would’ve been dead. that’s for sure. It's like the sweet and excited Florence had left and a different, intimidating (and hot) version of her took her space and so help you god, you were glad she was on your side.

"Nothing! we were just leaving, really" Frankie said.

"None of your business" brad said and Florence raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow, daring him to cross her.

"I see" she said "well, I'm sure y/n won't mind my intruding" 

'Thank god for Florence Pugh.' You thought.

Before chad could press the subject any further David, who just finished his performance, got there. You were sure he noticed that something was happening.

"what's going on here?" he asked after he scanned the situation quickly.

"nothing as I said to your friend, we were just leaving" Frankie said again. 

he didn’t want to draw any negative attention, just like you, and thankfully for the both of you, not many people noticed the situation.

This time chad didn't answer, he just glared at Florence and you while his brother pulled him away from the place.

"so, are you going to tell me what happened?" David asked Florence and you after the two left.

Florence looked at you, waiting for you to answer him. 

"Nothing" you lied. "it's okay David, you can go" you promised your friend. David looked at you with his 'I done believe you' expression, but he didn't press it any further. He just nodded before he turned around and left. 

 Rule number 2: do not make a scene under no circumstances. At Clayton's, everything you do while you're on the clock is practically showcased. You slip? you fall? you sing out of tune? Its under a spotlight, everyone can see that and everyone will have something to say about it. Thats the thing about this place.  most people who started there and moved on to bigger things as Broadway or Hollywood were practically trained to keep their best poker face, act on the demand or pretend that everything is okay when it was clearly not. 

 "You should go back to your table" you said to Florence 

she looked at you with an unreadable expression before she went back to her table. You didn't have much time to read into it since a few minutes later you found yourself at her table, printing their check and having a small friendly conversation with the women. You smiled at them as they left before you turned your tablet off and went to cover for Aaron at the bar.

 "I thought you guys left" You said with a smile when the blonde approached you a few minutes later. 

"Why did you lie?" Florence asked with the same unreadable expression from earlier.

Okay. No smiling then.

"I didn’t" you pulled out two shot glasses and filled them with tequila. The blonde gave you a 'are you kidding me' kind of look and you couldn't help but to chuckle. "I didn't see a reason to make a scene over nothing" you explained and downed one of the shots.

"It wasn't nothing Y/N" she said before taking the other glass. 

"its fine. I'm fine. He didn’t do anything " you said as she downed her shot.

"Yeah, because I was there" she argued.

"I can handle guys like him. Seriously, at this point it might as well be a part of my job" 

"you're not helping yourself"

"I liked you better smiling" you chuckled as she glared at you.

"I'm sure you did"

"shut up" 

"How's your back?" She asked/

The blonde definitely didn't seem convinced about the chad situation but you were just grateful for the change of subject.

"It will be alright"

"Good"

"I appreciate your worry, truly. But I'm fine and I really don't want to hold you back here over it" you said  

"Who said I was worried" she smirked at you with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, you don't?" You played along 

"Nope"

"Then why are you still here? Its almost 12 am, don't you have something better to do" you teased her 

"no. Do you?" She turned the question and you laughed. 

"I guess not - considering the fact I work here and I'm still on clock"

"Oh, please we both know this place is about to close" she argued your logic

"True" you admitted

"So, if you have nothing better to do, and you don't, would you like to go out with me? You kinda owe me after I saved your ass earlier"

"Uh, and here I thought you did that as an act of kindness" you joked. A small smile playing on your lips.

"Ew no" she said and You laughed. "Well?" Florence pressed with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, why not. It's not like I have something better to do" 

"Just what I wanted to hear" she joked.

[watchmegetobsessed]

VALERIE - Part VI. (Harry Styles)

part 6 omg!!! ahh, these christmas chapters are my favs, i hope yall will like them asmuch as i do! as always, feedback is much appreciated!

word count: 4.1k

SERIES MASTERPOST

masterlist

“So how did you two exactly meet?” your dad asks over the dinner table. You are all sitting around the long pine table, the tremendous amount of food lining in the middle as the plates are going around, getting filled.

“Oh, um, we were set up, actually. It was all Rosa,” you admit with a soft chuckle, sharing a look with Marcus beside you. 

“I just thought they would be a good match, guess I was right,” Rosa grins, clearly satisfied with the work she’s done.

“What do you do for a living, Marcus?” Jeremy chimes in while helping Margaret cut her meat beside him. She is the youngest of the cousins, only five, but she can boss around anyone as if she was Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. 

“Oh, I work in sales. We had a project with Steven’s company, that’s where we met.”

“That sounds interesting,” Joe nods, but at the same time you hear Harry huff on the other end of the table. Looking in his way you see him with his eyes fixed on the plate. He hasn’t said a word since Marcus arrived and his silence is quite worrying if you’re being honest. You haven’t seen him be silent for this long ever, you’re afraid he might be plotting something. 

“It’s so weird that all four of us are here with a significant other this year. I remember when we were all just kids, running around in our backyard,” Etta sighs with a nostalgic smile.

Your eyes wander over to Harry, who is still relentlessly staring down at his plate, as if he wasn’t even there. 

“Yeah, now there are just two single people sitting at the table. Aunt Monica and Harry,” you say and his head finally snaps up, eyes meeting yours, but you can’t read them. 

“You’re single?” Lily asks Harry, leaning forward a little so she can see him since they are sitting on the same side of the table. 

“I, uhh--I am, yeah,” he nods, clearly uncomfortable he is being discussed all of a sudden.

“Would have sworn you have someone waiting for you at home.”

“No, it’s just me,” he shakes his head. “Maybe I could pair up with Aunt Monica so there wouldn’t be any single people,” he jokes, making everyone laugh at the table. Aunt Monica looks up from her plate and winks at Harry.

“I’ll leave my door open for the night,” she cheekily comments and Harry almost chokes on his wine as another round of laugh runs over the table.

“Monica, he is not a lonely soldier,” your mom tells her, but she just shrugs her shoulders grabbing her glass and downing the rest of her wine. Joe is quick to refill it for her, knowing well she was about to ask someone to do that for her. 

“Thanks for the offer though,” Harry nods shyly and you think it’s hilarious how his cheeks have turned red from a nasty comment your aunt made. 

His eyes find you again right when Marcus reaches over and squeezes your thigh gently under the table and you catch Harry’s grimace before you turn to your boyfriend and share a short peck on the lips. 

For your biggest surprise Harry doesn’t try to drop any nasty comments about you during dinner, not even after, when all adults gather in the living room while the kids leave to play video games in their room. Rosa is sitting on Harry’s thigh as he is supporting her back, letting her curiously look around in the room. You’re sitting on a loveseat with Marcus, curled up to his side and he has an arm around your shoulders. Occasionally you catch Harry’s eyes on the two of you, but you try to pay little attention to him and just enjoy the evening.

“I should get going soon,” Marcus tells you, checking the time. It’s past ten and he has to leave early in the morning.

“Why don’t you stay for the night?” Teresa asks when she sees the two of you getting up from the sofa.

“Oh, I didn’t want to bother too long, it’s my first time meeting you all, thought a dinner would be just enough,” Marcus chuckles and you bite into your bottom lip. Does he believe this or did he want to stay, but only tells this everyone because you didn’t invite him to stay the night? You’re not sure if you want to know the real answer...

“Silly, you don’t bother,” you mom huffs. “Isn’t it too late to drive home?”

“I’m fine, but thank you. I didn’t bring my stuff so I would have to leave extra early in the morning to make it in time. But thank you for having me, it was wonderful meeting you all.”

Marcus goes around and says his goodbye to everyone before the two of you head to the front door. 

“Drive safe, text me when you get home, alright?” you tell him as he throws his coat to the passenger seat before turning to face you. 

“Yeah. Have fun with your family and I’ll see you in a few days.” A genuine smile stretches across his face and it immediately triggers your guilt. He could have stayed the night avoiding to drive back to the city so late, but even now, standing out on the driveway you don’t feel like you want him to stay for longer. 

What you keep telling yourself is that it’s all because you haven’t been together that long and it would have been a too big of a step just yet. Seemingly Marcus is fine with your choice, but something is telling you that it bugs him deep inside. 

Leaning down he kisses you softly, a hand sliding to your waist and pulling you closer before you part your ways. Standing on the side you wave at him as he backs out of the driveway and disappears in the darkness of the woods. 

You stay out there for a little longer, the spicy coldness of the night feels numbing in a soothing way. Chewing on your bottom lip you contemplate if you’ve made the right choice by not inviting him to stay. You don’t find an answer for that before you head back inside.

Not much has changed since you left, but you notice that Valerie is back in Rosa’s hands and Harry is nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Harry?” you ask sitting on the ground next to your sister, eyes on Valerie as she is adorably babbling at you.

“He said he’s tired, went to bed.”

You look in his room’s way. That sounded like absolute bullshit, but you don’t have a right to question it. Maybe he truly was tired, he probably had to wake up quite early to pick you up and be here in time.

Nodding you reach for Valerie and take the little girl into your arms, making yourself busy with her.

***

Tossing once again in the bed you growl in annoyance. You haven’t gotten an ounce of sleep since you’ve come to bed hours ago. Turning to your side you tap on the screen of your phone and it shows you that it’s already past two in the morning. No position feels comfortable anymore and you’ve flipped your pillow way too many times, there are no cold side anymore. 

On cue, your stomach growls and you let out a sigh staring up at the ceiling. Maybe if you had a late night snack your body would finally relax and let you rest. Kicking the covers off you put on a pair of fuzzy socks and throw a hoodie on before heading out to the kitchen to find something you could feast on. 

You stop in your way surprised when you see that the lights are on in the kitchen and someone is clearly out there, probably with the same intention as you. Walking down the hallway you hear a plate getting placed on the kitchen island and soon enough the person starts eating, the fork meeting the plate.

Harry is sitting at the kitchen island in a plain white t-shirt and checkered pajama pants, a plate of mashed potatoes and meatloaf sitting in front of him. His head snaps up immediately when he hears that someone has joined him and you stop at the door.

“Hey,” you smile softly. “I see I’m not the only one having trouble with sleeping,” you chuckle shuffling your way to the fridge. 

“I don’t sleep too well at new places,” he admits, eyes following your frame as you pass by him before he turns his attention back to his plate. 

Grabbing the milk you are about to close the fridge when your eyes lay on the absurd amount of eggnog. Hesitantly you grab a bottle and take it out as well, thinking that a few sips might help you fall asleep easier. Then you grab the cookies the kids decorated this afternoon and sit on a stool next to Harry.

“Woah, in need of having some fun?” he chuckles seeing the eggnog and you just shrug your shoulders, pouring milk into a regular glass, then some eggnog into a smaller one in hopes you won’t go overboard with it. 

“I’m just… having a hard time falling asleep.”

“Empty bed?”

“What?” you ask taking a bite from a cookie.

“I mean, Marcus left. You must be used to sleeping next to him,” Harry explains and you look back at him with furrowed eyebrows. 

“Well, I do sleep better with someone next to me, but it’s not like I’ve done that a lot with Marcus,” you admit, turning your attention back to the cookies.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” you shrug, not really in the mood to get into it, because it’s a whole spiral that would bring you down into depths you definitely don’t want to talk about right now. 

“You haven’t slept with Marcus?” he asks, and you notice how it could mean two versions. Either he is only talking about just sleeping or he is nosily trying to find out if you’ve had sex with him.

“That is… none of your business,” you tell him with a soft chuckle. Harry holds his hands up innocently before returning to his plate. 

A few minutes pass by in silence, just your munching and Harry’s chewing breaking it. As you pour a little more eggnog to yourself Harry stands up from the stool upon finishing his food, and after putting his plate to the sink he gets a glass for himself and sits back, holding the glass in your way.

“Want to have some fun too?” you ask, but pour him some eggnog anyway.

“Might help me fall asleep too.”

“Sometimes I feel like mom is right saying that I have a drinking problem,” you snort finishing up your cookie.

“Don’t think that’s true,” Harry tells you with furrowed eyebrows. 

“Well, you have seen me drunk quite a few times, but it’s nice that you think it’s alright.”

“What’s wrong with having a few drinks occasionally? It’s not like you blackout every other day.”

“My mom would want me to never blackout in general, but I don’t seem to know my boundaries with alcohol,” you tell him with a sigh.

“Happens to everyone, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Thanks, but I’m sitting here at two in the morning, drinking eggnog for no specific reason, because it surely won’t help me sleep, so... Maybe there is some truth to it.”

Harry thinks to himself a little before pouring some more to himself and some into your glass as well.

“I literally just said that I should stop,” you say, giving him a puzzled look.

“It’s fine if you have a reason,” he answers with a cheeky smile. “We’re gonna play never have I ever.”

“Oh hell no!” you chuckle looking at him with wide eyes.

“What? Are you afraid I might find out something nasty about you?” he challenges you, clearly trying to push you to play. “I don’t think you can surprise me with anything.”

“Excuse me? That’s pretty hurtful you think I don’t have surprising secrets,” you say putting a hand to your chest. “I think I’m the one who can’t find out anything surprising about you.”

“Hah, we’ll see, Y/N. All you gotta do is play,” he smirks and you already know you’re fucked. Sighing you take your glass and look at him with a murderous look, but the corners of your mouth are curling up. “You can start, just so you see how generous I am.”

“Oh, what a gentleman,” you mock him. “Okay. Never have I ever… gotten into a physical fight,” you say and watch Harry raise his glass to his mouth, but at the same time you do the same, already sure he is gonna be shocked.

Just as you expected, he freezes seeing you take a sip from your eggnog.

“Alright, rule is that we gotta explain them, because there’s no way you’re leaving without telling me about who you got into a fight with,” he tells you pointing a finger at you, but then adds: “Fighting with your sister does not count, Y/N.”

“It wasn’t Rosa,” you chuckle. “I had a huge fight with my best friend in third grade and we somehow ended up kicking and punching each other in the middle of the gym in class. We were both sent to the principal’s office.”

“Who would have thought you were a feisty little kid!” Harry chuckles and you just shrug with a proud smile.

“See? I told you I can surprise you. Your turn.”

“Okay. Never have I ever had a threesome,” he easily says and brings his glass up to his mouth as you stay put this time.

“If you think I’m surprised, I’m not. It’s literally written on your forehead that you’re the kind who enjoys that kind of stuff,” you scoff.

“Oh, please. Don’t pretend like you haven’t even thought about having one.”

“I’m not admitting anything outside the game. You have to ask that next if you are that interested,” you smirk, but you’re certain your eyes give you away, because Harry is chuckling and shaking his head. “Never have I ever cheated on someone,” you say and watch Harry’s glass stay on the counter.

“I’m not that bad of a person.”

“Never said you are, I was just curious,” you shrug and nod at him letting him know it’s his turn again.

“Never have I ever had a crush on a teacher of mine.”

You both drink.

“My finance professor, junior year in college,” you inform him.

“English teacher, senior year in high school,” Harry replies and you are already picturing him sitting in the first row just to be close to her during class.

“Did you write poems to her too?”

“You said no questions outside the game!” he retorts laughing and you roll your eyes at him.

“Alright, I have thought about having a threesome before, now your turn, spill the tea!”

“I wrote a song about her,” he admits and you raise your eyebrows at him. “Even planned on showing it to her, but my friends talked me down, luckily.”

“It’s kinda sweet and romantic.”

“Yeah, and very inappropriate,” he adds chuckling. “Alright, enough of Miss Hastings, your turn.”

“Never have I ever stolen something.” You both raise your glass and you smile at him swallowing the alcohol. “Virginities do not count,” you tease him, earning a laugh.

“Still would have drank. I was a little kleptomaniac when I was a kid. Liked to steal small things in the store just to see if I would get caught.”

“And were you ever?”

“One time, yeah. My mom was so mad at me, I got grounded for a week, never stole anything again,” he admits chuckling. “What about you?”

“It wasn’t regular, but I definitely have stolen candies when I didn’t have enough money to pay.”

“What a rebel,” he teases you and you just smack his upper arm jokingly. “Never have I ever snuck out.” Only Harry drinks and you roll your eyes at him.

“Again, not surprising.”

“I just wanted to know if you have ever snuck out, chill,” he smirks. “Guess you were a saint.”

“Never have I ever said the wrong person’s name while having sex.” A devilish smile sits on your lips as you watch him drink while you do the same. You see his eyebrows rise over the glass.

“Nasty,” he huffs. “When did that happen?”

“First year of college. I was casually seeing a guy, but I wasn’t really over my last ex from high school and accidentally called him Ethan.”

“And what was his real name?”

“I don’t even remember,” you admit with a laugh, clearly feeling the alcohol slowly kicking in. Harry’s mouth hangs open before his expressions turn into that iconic ‘not bad’ face.

“Never have I ever had a wet dream about a friend of mine,” Harry asks and you feel your cheeks heating up right away, eyes snapping down at your glass. Unwillingly, but you drink as Harry does the same. “Who was it?”

“I’m not answering this one,” you shake your head. 

“Come on! I promise it’ll stay between us. Was it Steven?” he grins at you, clearly enjoying your embarrassment. “I bet it was Steven.”

“Shut up, it wasn’t!” you snap at him rolling your eyes.

“Okay, then who? I won’t sleep tonight if you don’t tell me!” he begs, but you shake your head stubbornly. “Do I know him?” Oh, all too well, you think to yourself. “Is it someone who was there at the bar last time?”

“Can we move past it?” you sigh painfully.

“No, no way. I’m not leaving you alone until you tell me!”

“It was you.”

The words slip out fast and a little quiet, but he hears them clear. His lips part, a truly stunned look pulls on his face and you just wish you didn’t say a word.

“Happy? Now you know,” you snap running a hand through your hair.

“Was I any good in your dream?” he then cheekily asks and you gasp at the nosy, nasty question.

“Now that I won’t answer.”

“I have to know if I did good!” he protests and you laugh.

“It wasn’t even you, well, not your real version, why does it matter?”

“I’m a maximalist, I have to know if my dream self did good,” he pushes further and you can’t believe this is really what you’re talking about.

“Jesus fucking Christ, it was good!” you admit throwing your hands into the air, giving up to keep anything to yourself. He is just too damn annoying and stubborn to ever have anything other than his way.

“If that makes you feel better, I’ve had a few about you as well,” he admits with a straight face and the heat is back in your cheeks immediately.

“A few?”

“I didn’t count, but yeah. And you were awesome, if you’re interested.”

“Thanks, but I was not,” you say with a meaningful look, but he just smirks at you. “You’re such a pig, Styles.”

“Says the girl who was probably moaning my name in her dreams.”

“If you keep talking about this, you’ll be the second person I get into a physical fight with,” you warn him and he chuckles, but takes the hint and finally moves on. 

You easily forget about time as you keep playing for quite long. Question after question, some shocking and surprising things come up, but there are some absolutely ridiculous facts too. You’re definitely over the line of being tipsy, but you’re not at the drunk state yet. 

Harry clearly enjoys asking questions that make you nervous, but you don’t shy away from risky questions either. By the time the bottle empties out you are both laughing on something he said, your eyes are teary and you gasp for air, holding onto the edge of the kitchen island.

“Oh fuck!” you breathe out when your gaze wanders over to the windows and you see that it’s starting to brighten out there. “The Sun is coming up, what time is it?” you slur, having a hard time to get off the stool and keep your balance at the same time. Harry fishes his phone out of his pocket and his eyes widen.

“It’s six in the morning!” he whisper-yells and you almost faint.

“Shit, mom is usually up around six thirty, she can’t find us here like this! Quickly, we have to clean up!”

Harry takes care of the empty eggnog bottle while you wash the dishes and then the two of you head back to your rooms, but you just really don’t want to go to bed alone. Alcohol tends to make you clingy and you need the presence of someone next to you.

“Harry,” you whisper as the two of you stop in the hallway.

“Hm?” he hums, looking back at you with glassy eyes.

“Can I… sleep at yours?” you shyly ask.

Part of you expects a smart comeback, something dirty, but he looks down at you for a long moment as if he is debating what he should say and you start to think he is about to reject you, but then he takes your hand and pulls you in the direction of his room.

“It’s strictly friendly, okay?” you tell him once the two of you are in his room and the door is closed behind you.

“Like the dream you had about me?” he cockily asks grinning at you and you’re quick to smack his hard chest, making him chuckle.

“Shut up! I just really don’t want to sleep alone.”

“Chill, it’s all good,” he chuckles and stepping to the nightstand he plugs his phone in to charge as you crawl up to the huge, comfortable bed.

Tugging a pillow under your head you turn your back against him, only hearing as he lies down next to you, tugging some of the cover off you since there’s only a big one. He shuffles a bit more until you both stop moving, but you still have your eyes open. 

Knowing that he is right there behind you irks your mind and the urge to cuddle to his side is stronger than you will to stay still. You want to feel his body heat, his touch, hear his heartbeat under your face as you curl up to his side. You are dying to listen to his steady breathing from up close and your self-control is slowly but surely dissolves. 

Before your rational side could talk you down, you find yourself turning around and snuggling to his side, a soft chuckle emitting from his lips.

“It’s totally friendly, wipe the satisfied grin off your stupid face,” you mumble as you lay your head to his shoulder, bringing a hand up to his chest. One of his arms curl around your shoulders as he stays silent, letting you snuggle up to him all you want. 

It’s even better than you remembered. Last time the two of you were like this, the morning ruined everything and it had a whole different antecedent than now. You can only hope history doesn’t repeat itself and you don’t have to go through the same embarrassment like last time.

“Y/N?” he whispers and your eyes open at his voice.

“Yeah?” There’s a short pause before he speaks up again.

“Do you really… think that… there was not much Etta was missing?”

You can’t stop yourself from smiling at how self-conscious he just sounded, still thinking about the joke you made in the car on your way here. For a split second you think about lying again, but it’s clearly been bothering him, so much he felt the need to ask after several rounds of eggnog.

“No. I was just joking,” you admit and he lets out a relieved sigh. “Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really think I have a fat ass?” you ask referring back to the time the two of you encountered at the hospital when Valerie was born. You feel him huff as his hand on your shoulder squeezes you gently.

“You have a great ass, Y/N. The best I’ve ever seen.”

“Are you just exaggerating?” you ask, lifting your head up and narrowing your eyes at him in the dark.

“No,” he smiles. “Swear to my sister’s life it’s the truth.”

Knowing well he wouldn’t bring his sister into it if he wasn’t telling the truth, you put back down your head, finally closing your eyes.

“Good night, Harry,” you mumble, feeling yourself drifting to sleep.

“Good night, Pretty Eyes.”

PREVIOUS PART

NEXT PART

TAGLIST

let me know if you’d like to be added or taken off!

@f-vasquezp​ @perspnhel​ @http-cherries​  @h-arrystyles​ @just-damn-bored​ @millennial-teenybopper​ @sarcasticallywitty15​ @gwenlovesharrystyles​ @perfectywrong​ @do-youseeme​ @burberryharold​  @irwindoll​ @stylesfics-xx​ @sltwins @mellamolayla​

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

Did you hear about the Fraktz haunting in New South Wales (1995ish)?

It has gotten a little folklore-y and probably sensationalised over the years, but the basic premise is that Dina and Hans Fraktz were one of those overly helpful religious types, and were raising their three kids (Curtis - 11, Angie -8/9?, Louisa-May - 3) just about the same.

They lived in Albury, NSW which is in Australia in a dept of housing place, not much room but they made do and were always grateful to god about it. Enough that, as the story goes, it catches the attention of some demonic entities.

Belphorn bets that Lucifer can't corrupt the whole family in under a year, and of course the overachiever that he is, the head of hell says 'Hold my beer mate' and goes to work.

It starts as every horror movie starts, weird noises, bad dreams, smell of decay, something in the corner of their eye, etc. Louisa-May is the most sensitive, and of course, gets taken first after promising something to her 'imaginary friend'.

The paediatrician isn't sure what to do when her frantic parents present at the clinic with a toddler that keeps cackling maniacally and contorting in ways bodies shouldn't. They rationalise it's probably ehhlers-danlos sydrome or a varient, and this needs further observation. A referral for a specialist is provided, and that's that apparently.

Of course with a 'sick' child, the stress and tension in the house is high. Dina and Hanz are having whispered not-arguments so the kids won't hear, and Hanz pretends to ignore that Dina's gone back to smoking ten a day to keep herself calm. In the same way she turns a blind eye to his fermented grape juice dinners... and breakfasts.

Curtis shows the stress by acting out at school, getting detentions frequently and just skirting away from suspension by technicality alone. His friends distance themselves, he has no energy for footy anymore, and he can barely concentrate because something is always just behind him. He screams himself awake, begging it to just leave him alone, he'd do anything to just be left alone.

"Anything?" the shadow asks one night in late June, detaching from the wall. There's a few variations of the pact that the demon makes, but they all boil down to 'you can't be scared of us, if you're one of us' and Curtis is so tired he accepts.

The next morning Curtis is muttering in ancient sumerian under his breath, with bloodshot eyes and a strange echo to his voice.

Hanz speaks with their local minister about an exorcism, or some sort of spiritual guidance. A bake-sale to assist in medical care is organised, and a prayer night held for the two Fraktz children.

Nothing seems to change. Dina can only turn the crucifixes in the house rightside up so many time a day, and starts to just walk past them now. Who cares anymore?

Morning and Evening prayers go by the wayside, and even saying Grace falls out of fashion because its horrifying to hear it babbled back in dead languages, or one of your children shrieking at the holy words burning her ears...

By September, Dina's exhausted. Something's scurrying in the walls at night and she knows its not rats, it can't be. She checks on Curtis and Louisa-May to make sure it's not either of them climbing the walls again.

Hanz won't get up anymore, so she tends to wander the house with a flashlight trying to find the noise, and ignoring the lingering sensation of something breathing on her neck. She ignores it, because their minister said acknowledgement gives it power.

Something has written an ominous message across her kitchen wall in what is either blood or thick jelly, and that's the straw that breaks the camel's back. Dina bursts into tears and starts yelling for whatever was doing this to get the FUCK out of HER HOUsE because she JUST WASHED THAT WALL and WHO DID IT THINK IT WAS to go doing something like that?

Something knocks a few jars over, and four slash marks appear on the bench. Dina's scared but still angry, she screams at the air, turning in every direction. "What do you want? Tell me, and I'll do it, just leave us alone!"

By the time Hanz stumbled into the kitchen, swaying and dizzy from his skinfull, Dina wasn't there anymore. Well, at least, her body was.

Hanz would tell his neighbour, the minister and his church group about finding Dina walking on the ceiling and singing an old lullaby to the sleeping Louisa-May in her arms. She reportedly screams at him when he asks what in god's name is she doing?

Terrified, Angie asks her father if she can go stay with her aunty (Meryl) in Woodonga, just a town over. Hanz readily agrees, and drives her there himself, before again seeking assistance from the church.

The minister, clearly not ever having been prepared for such things when he'd accepted the small town position, was at a loss and offered platitudes. Using comparisons to Job to try and help Hanz feel that his faith was merely being tested, and not that God had abandoned him...

For the first time in his life, Hanz began to doubt in the power of the Lord. He left a few journal entries around October 1995, many of which contained the phrases "I feel like I'm going mad" and "I know I'm not crazy, but it feels like I am", as things spiralled out of control.

The main barrier to accessing help, is that Dina, Curtis and Louisa-May were perfectly capacble of acting like themselves when people came around. So Hanz came off as having some sort of mental health episode, and the minute they left, things deteriorated again.

At his wit's end, Hanz locked himself in his bedroom and begged the lord for help. Sobbing and pleading, clenching his hands so tightly in place that his nails pierced the soft flesh between his fingers and the crucifix imprinted on his palms.

It was not entirely clear what happened after this point, as the tales all like to make interesting claims but the key point is there were no actual witnesses, except Hanz and the already 'taken'. But by the next morning Hanz had been subsumbed by the entity as well.

Despite being with her aunty, Angie continued to have nightmares that she would shriek herself awake from, well into late November. Her aunt and two adult cousins would take turns reading to her, distracting her, and reminding Angie about Christmas coming up soon so she had something to look forwards to.

They also took turns sleeping on the floor by her little bed in the guest room, so that there was always someone to point out there was 'nothing there and nothing can hurt you' when Angie woke up distressed. [Her older cousin Deliah has a book about the ordeal, and I think it might be in e-reader, but you can google it if you want.]

So Christmas rolls around, and excitement for Santa overlays even the deepest fear of shadows, which seems to breathe some life back into little Angie. Her aunt is relieved, but is still fighting to get some in-home supports for her brother, his wife and their other two children; she knows something's wrong, but suspects it might be something in the old council pipes...

Angie struggles to keep her eyes open as the countdown begins, and just managed a solitary enthused 'tooooooooot' from her party blower before falling asleep on the couch against her other cousin, Javin. The adults laugh uproariously and take photos, for when she's old enough to be embarrassed by such things.

Oddly enough, the new year seems to have snapped the rest of the family out of their funk, as if 1996 has a power all of its own. Things seem to slip back into place as if people had not been puppeted by a demonic entity for nearly 12 months...

Down in hell Lucifer was fuming and Belphorn was far too smug.

But what could be said about the bet? Lucifer was bound to lose, because he didn't possess all the Fraktz.

[gyllenhaalstories]

BEST FRIEND!JAKE GYLLENHAAL HEADCANONS

notes: jake and you are bffs, that’s it, that’s the tweet! warnings: some mentions of sexual content, but it’s pretty clean and safe otherwise! the gifs were in a gif hunt so i don’t know who made them unfortunately! i suggest you listen to tongue tied by grouplove or dog days are over by florence + the machine!  i hope you guys enjoy! <3

Your friendship happened so out of the blue. You were at the grocery store with a friend and you picked some product up, reading the informations about it. You exclaimed “this comes from Canada”, you know, as one does while realizing Canada is a real country and not just a fantasy where everyone lives in igloos and chop wood and like wish Justin Trudeau good night. Your friend shrugged, very bored, but you heard a voice behind you. “Actually, I have some cool theory about Canada. Do you know the Ryans? Gosling and Reynolds? Well...”

“Canada had sex with America and they made the two of them and they’re twins and they tried to eat each other in the womb, but they didn’t, they survived...” You both spoke in sync. You turned around, only to realize that Jake Gyllenhaal was the one radiating even more chaotic energy than you.

It was signed, sealed and delivered.

You two were painful to be around. You would go on some random conspiracy theories of your own creation (you know Strawberry Shortcakes, like the toys and the shows for kids? Well they’re just Bratz dolls except for Bratz dolls, somebody confused the sugar with the salt and they ended up without feet and with some very large heads). You would argue about everything and nothing.

It was a 0 to 100 real quick.

You could be watching a movie at the cinema with a few friends, staying silent the whole time until you got back in the car and you just exploded with thoughts about the movie. You two were screaming so loud the driver of the car had to pull by the side of the road to try and keep you quiet like two angry children.

That’s what you two were: two very annoying children.

In Jake’s and yours opinion, you never argued. You just shared thoughts with a strong passion.

You could call each other names, but you never meant the insults you were saying.

“You can go suck a fuck”, “Tell me Y/N, how exactly does one suck a fuck? I’m all years”

Laughter. You guys laughed all the time together. No, wait, you laughed and Jake just wheezed. You took him to see a doctor once, you managed to convince him he might have a condition because no one ever wheezes THAT MUCH but it turns out you just both suffered from a great sense of humour.

For the first couple of months, your friendship was so filled with arguments and chaos that your mutuals thought you two actually hated each other.

But it could not be more wrong.

Jake and you were inseparable. You’d do everything and nothing together. You’d stop at the convenience store, share the newspaper, have a karaoke night (you were two Britney Spears stans), buy gifts for your respective relatives (you suspected that your own mother preferred your friend Jake to you). You spent the Holidays together. New Years, Valentine’s Day, even Halloween. You would host Halloween parties at your house. There would be only the two of you wearing matching costumes you made with clothes and craft supplies around the house. You both looked horrible, but you ate way too many candies to realize it.

You were attached by the hip. Wherever Jake went, you were there too.

At some point, you lost your job. It happens to the best of us. So Jake suggested you’d become his assistant.

In theory, it was a beautiful idea. You knew Jake’s schedule by heart and did everything together. Being paid for it? Sign me up.

But in practice...

It created some sort of tension between the two of you. It was one more reason to depend on Jake, and for Jake to depend on you. You were two peas in a pod but you had to manage the new pressure.

During red carpets you were hiding behind the interviewer or by his sides, taping your wrist to remind him to go faster and cut the long analytical speeches nobody really cared about. Except for you, you loved how insightful he was and how he rarely showed this side of his personality.

He knew when you were tired to just sit and watch the same people win awards for similar roles they did in other movies before.

Jake would lean in and say “Actually, I think Meryl Streep is a wizard, like the nice type, and she hides magical potions in her purse that can make you fly and don’t even get me started on Julia Roberts...”. You were too far gone, laughing so loud during an emotional speech when a not very talented celebrity won over very talented celebrities that deserved it more or during a movie premiere.

You would hold hands. For funsies.

He’d give you his jacket. He’d feed you a spoon of his food at the restaurant. You’d give him a sip of your hot chocolate on a cold winter evening. You’d share your comfy slippers with him even if his feet were too big and barely fit in.

Life without Jake? You simply did not remember what it was like.

Your mutual friends stopped calling you two enemies. You were straight up a married couple.

You’d go grocery shopping together and Jake would push the caddy around while you guide him through the aisles. “Could make you this dish, I know you like it” he’d suggest. “The oreos are on sale? Must get six packs of them, double stuff only” you’d add.

You’d go on car rides. They lead nowhere: a dead end street, a bridge under construction, a small ghost town. You both just sat there and listened to music.

His hand would mysteriously fall on your thigh and just stay there the whole way back.

And you’d give each other shy looks.

And giggle. And chuckle. And drop your keys by the front door, oopsies you were all of a sudden clumsy.

And when the door was closed behind you, you stared into each other’s eyes and just shrugged before ripping each other’s clothes at the speed of light and fucking on the couch, on the kitchen table or even on the floor. The bed was too far away.

You both had seen each other naked so many times it was not intimidating. You knew he was handsome, he knew you were beautiful. That was all you guys needed to know. But there were new infos to take in consideration: in bed, you two were just powerful. So you slept together again.

Again and again and again...

It did not bother any of you. Your friends did not even find out about it. Everything was fine.

Everything was fine until you went on a date with someone else. Two times, three times... It was starting to get serious.

Jake felt so weird. He hid it from you.

He caressed your hair when you cried as your new fling just broke up with you over text messages. He fed you your favourite ice cream while you two cuddled on the couch, trying to heal the pain with a wholesome Disney movie. He helped you get in the shower when you were too sad or too tired. He supported you.

He cared for you.

He loved you.

And he told you.

That one time he helped you get in the bathtub after you insisted you could go to the gym with him and he literally crushed you not even five minutes in. You were sore and tired and you thought you hallucinated when you heard the words: I love you.

He thought he was having a fever dream when you replied: I love you too.

[thepropertylovers]

Happiness vs. Wholeness: The Kind of Day We Normally Wouldn't Post About

I have found, most of the time, real life is way more interesting and eventful than any book or movie out there. Such was the case yesterday.

Note: I wrote this post at 9p and as soon as I stopped typing, I fell asleep on the couch with my computer in my lap. Clearly I was just tired after a very, very long day :).

It was the kind of day we wouldn’t normally post on Instagram or Facebook or the blog. That’s not to say we don’t share hard days on social media (because if you’ve been following for a while you know we do), but it was just a frustrating, real life kind of day, and doesn’t it seem like social media is mostly reserved for the good highlights of your life, not the mundane and the difficult ones? That’s another topic for a different day, but I would love to dive into that more and change that somehow.

PJ started some new medication for an issue he talked about in our latest vlog (the comments have been SO helpful!!), and as the side effects started to kick in, he was sore all day and felt extremely lethargic. He’s also been working nonstop on the farm every day, so I think that was a big factor, too. He stayed home all day and rested on the couch while catching up on The Handmaid’s Tale, and I’m so glad he did. He works so dang hard and needs a rest every now and then.

Meanwhile, our 2nd oldest dog (and our smallest) Jolie, who turned 10 this year, has been dry heaving and coughing the last three days. Along with that, yesterday I came inside and found her laying on the floor on her side whining, and she’s since lost her balance and fallen over three more times (almost like a seizure, but not quite that severe). It was scary and awful and the thought of losing her, our original baby that we’ve loved for all these years, makes me nauseated.

We called our vet’s office but they couldn’t get her in until Friday. Knowing we couldn’t wait that long, we called three more vets in town until we finally reached one who said they would see her ASAP. Since PJ wasn’t feeling well, older brother and I took her in so they could check her out.

They said she would be fine (thank goodness), but that she has heart issues, so they put her on three medications, two of which she will have to be on forever. I felt relief knowing she will be okay and that she still has a few more years. However, the thought of having to keep up with two more medications every day, after having to give little brother medicine twice a day (for a condition we’ve never discussed publicly), sounds overwhelming in the most minuscule way. I know it’s such a small task, but it’s like it’s just one more thing to keep track of. Still, I would give her medication five times a day if it meant keeping her alive for as long as possible, so really I’m just venting right now. Remember, it was one of those days.

When we got home, I was in the office working while the kids were eating lunch and sis got up to get more water, something she’s been doing all by herself lately as she stands as tall as she can on her tiptoes. And then I hear a bang and a gasp and a “(little sis) spilled her water!” coming from the dining room. I go in to find she somehow not only spilled the water all over the floor, but also on top of her head and her shirt and her face. Poor thing. She was soaked from head to toe and felt so bad. I was frustrated at first, but once I took a breath I told her everything was okay and accidents happen; cleaned her up and changed her clothes and she sat back down to finish her lunch.

As I made my way back into the office to finish working, I stepped in something wet on the rug in the front room. For a split second I wondered how little sis’ water fiasco made its way all the way to the front room, but then I remembered that makes no sense and quickly considered another scenario. I am always expecting anything wet on the floor to be pee with two dogs and a cat living inside the house, so I smelt it and sure enough…it was dog pee. One of the side effects of the medication Jolie is on is that she will be a lot more thirsty and have to pee more frequently. My guess is she couldn’t hold it in and went on the rug. Again I say: poor thing :(. 

I finally finished working for the day around 7:30p and got out of the house to pick up some dinner for us since this was definitely not going to be a cooking night. Where had the time gone?

Like I said at the beginning of this post, real life is often so much messier and all over the place than what we watch on TV. And especially more so than what we as humans post on social media. I am choosing to look at today as just a normal day in the life of a family of five with young kids. Unpredictable, challenging, difficult, frustrating, wonderful, and…ours. Today was ours. This life is ours. 

A good thing about today? Sis didn’t go pee in her big girl panties ONCE; she went in the potty all day, which I honestly think is a first for her! How amazing is that? Also, knowing she doesn’t feel well, Meryl has been extra sweet to Jolie all day, laying with her in her bed and checking on her, and currently burying her nose into Jolie’s neck as they both are cuddled up on the couch beside me while I write.

After my quick late-night nap on the couch, I woke up and we all went upstairs to brush our teeth and get our jammies on. By the end of the night, all five of us were in the kids’ bathroom rolling around on the floor laughing for no reason other than we were all tired and had had a long day. Their smiles and laughs are so infectious. Nothing like a right-before-bed laughing session to end the day on a high note, right? ❤️

Days like today seem more frequent lately, but how we respond to them is what ultimately makes up the quality of our life. I’m finding more and more that in the moment I’m so frustrated at life’s mishaps, but when enough time has passed and I have a moment to really think about it, I realize I am grateful for it all. The ups and the downs, the good and the bad, the easy and the difficult.

Because in the end, we’re all striving for wholeness, not necessarily happiness, right?

[cosmicclownboy]

Blame @adiwriting for this garbage fic. ;) love you 

Originally it was meant to be five times Walt had enough of Malex’s bullshit but I may have lost count???? oh well...

Nora's boy was hurting worse than usual. At first, he didn't mind the boy showing up an hour late for a shift with a stick up his ass half-drunken from the night before. He told himself whatever situation Michael was in he could get himself out of it. And whatever he needed to get out of his system would eventually fade away. It didn't. Seven months of him acting like a wolf in heat stomping his legs about and shouting as loud as he could could of driven anyone up the wall. Nearly pulled a muscle in his back pulling out thorns from his legs when he woke up half-naked next to a cactus.He still doesn’t know how on earth he wound up there. He's not his father the system made damn sure of it but it's days like this he curses them saying no to him. The boy deserved better maybe if he had a decent home he wouldn't be spending his days pulling himself off a curb. All he can offer is a place to vent his frustrations.

"I'm not your therapist. I ain't gonna hold your hand kiss your forehead and tell you it's going to get better anytime soon but you won't find the answers in a bottle son"

Even if he has to turn a blind eye to less copper and roll his eyes at the girls hanging off Michael's arm seeing the boy drink less makes his day a little lighter.

He's not blind or stupid. As soon as he saw the Manes boy loitering the place he knew he wasn't interested in an old todger like himself. He'd be worried otherwise. Manes family weren't dirt poor wasn't a reason for him to be there. "Weren't you the goth one?" He doesn't even get a response. The boy's mind is elsewhere. It's when he follows his eyes to the window where Nora's boy is shouting profanities to Meryl June's jeep that his suspicions confirmed. Trust the lad to follow his mother's footsteps. He sees a small smile light the Manes boy's face and the way he inhales as he breathes tells him he's been holding in something for a while. "Once upon a time ago"

He tries his hardest to stay out of it to not to get involved in whatever hormonal teenage drama they are in the thick of.He can't deny he's not tempted to bang his leg against the rental so boy wonder comes bursting through. "He ain't exactly Cinderella that one don't know why you'd waste your money bursting a hole through a rental tire to see him" He splutters nonsense festering in anxiety that ends up engulfing the small room. The anxiety disperses and he quietly looks at the floor begs him to not saying anything to his father. "Why would I tell your daddy seen the likes of him before not worth the sand in my boot. And if anyone says owt on the lot they'll get another digit on their receipt"

By the time he gets the replacement tire on the boy's gone. And he's about to shout him over when he sees them huddled in a corner, hugging and holding one another. Michaels' curls are buried in the boy's neck his hands curling into his t-shirt for a minute before he presses his forehead against his. He remembers a time he caught Tripp brushing a curl out of Miss Nora's neck it's the same pang he feels when he sees Alex brush a curl out of his eyes. Love.

Louise proudly explained it to him and Roy one night. Soul bonds when they find their hearts equal and counterpart.Thought it was a farce at first a story they told themselves to get through the nights. But if the stories she said were true she knows the moment the boy gets back on a bus to go back to base they will both feel lost missing a piece of themselves. Bloody soul bonds.

The first time Alex leaves he's fine for a while at least the kid gets back to work puts himself back together awaiting for the moment he can hold him in his arms again. It becomes a game of chicken with those two where they skirt around having a conversation until Alex has to leave again. Every time he catches Nora's boys sad he just wants to curse a storm. He lost his first love, Marilyn, in a car accident when he was shy of twenty-two. He doesn't want Michael to ever get that call saying the boy is ash and dust and he can't promise him he'll come back. Michael opts for different jobs over the years always finding himself back at the auto shop. Not that he'll admit he minds misses the annoying bastard calling him an old man or even missed seeing missing pieces of copper around the yard. He's got a reputation to uphold.

When he finds out from one of the housewives in the area that the Manes kid got himself in an explosion hanging on life support he tries to maintain his best composure until she struts out. He closes up shop and goes out of his way to find Louise's girl to ask how he's holding up. The last thing the boy needs is to feel overwhelmed. Isobel doesn't seem to fare any better she looks frazzled her shirt scrunched up her eyes dark as if they haven't slept. The girl usually hasn't got a hairpin out of place.

"I don't think he'll be okay until he knows he is" The blonde nods. "I'll let him know you were asking about him"

By the time Michael reaches twenty-nine years of age, he notes a big change. He's no longer an angry cowboy. He doesn't get himself in the drunk tank. He shows up for work on time and he hasn't seen a bottle of alcohol anywhere near his body in a while. Walt is proud. They all are there is just one thing driving him up the wall. They are still doing the bloody dance pining like damn fools. It was unbearable when they were kids. It's even more unbearable watching two grown men skirt around their feelings. The moment he truly goes against his better judgement and intercepts is when the knucklehead decided to involve the Manes lad in the finances. Sander's Auto now has a website, an efficient booking site and a way in which to chart profit and receipts. Michael looks up at the boy like he's hung the moon. Right, that does it.

"Can you two just bump uglies and admit your in love so I don't have to figure out what a damn spreadsheet is?"

The next day he runs into Louise's girl who excitedly wraps her arms around him whispers a quiet thank you and runs off. Doesn't have the faintest clue what he's being thanked for until he sees Michael an hour early for work the next morning kissing the Manes boys cheek bye.

"What Sanders never seen a bisexual alien kiss his boyfriend before?" and just beams a smile so bright and warm that his heart feels full for a minute. Never had his own children but he thinks that feeling pumping in his chest is the closest to a paternal bond he's got. He's just glad the kids happy.

The boy reaches thirty and he's invited round their house. Dog's barking at his feet and Alex is excusing himself to the kitchen to help oversee the birthday cooking. With a quick head kiss, he's off barking orders along with the dog barking the captain making his presence known. There's photo's littered all around the house of them looking happy sappy in love he's glad to know that's he's loved and seen. He's a good lad that Manes kid and he's helping Michael see he's a good person too. He and Michael are quietly talking shop when his sister shoves herself in the middle of them and their brother silently apologises with a look and a drink. "Come on, Michael you can't leave me out of it". Isobel is shaking Michael's arm around like a damn rag doll and he's choosing to keep his mouth shut and drink this very nice purple drink in front of him.The lad is nervous bouncing his leg around and whipping his head around making sure the coast is clear before he whispers. "I took you to the shop.I'm not having you plan it. We'll end up in some fancy public setting or maybe a hot air balloon and I don't really want to tell our dog your father and me split up because your aunt wanted to plan the proposal"

The boy doesn't propose in a hot air balloon. Or in a fancy place. He proposes one morning at breakfast stuttering out the words wrong as Marry me you will and Alex responded in a Yoda voice or so he's told. If anyone asks he didn't ask.Just like he doesn’t ask when they planning on hitching so he close up for the day.

[unholy-sacrificial-mutt]

A Reel Catch

Pairing: Roceit (fic and fanart)

AU: Mermaid

Word: 3126

Warnings: Mentions of blood, mentions of death, slight panic.

Summary: Would you smooch a merman?

Merry LATE christmas and birthday @suicidal-maffin​

I hope this was worth the wait!

Roman Kingsly loved long walks on the beach, no matter how cliché it was. It was the time he got to himself after a busy day of working at the theater. He was still dressed in the costume he made himself for tonight’s performance. 

A prince. 

A regal white and gold outfit with a red sash.

He stood, looking at the setting sun, the feeling of the sand between his toes as the cold ocean runs over his feet calming him. He let out a sigh as he began walking again, letting his stress wash away with every lap of the cool waves against his ankles. He followed the thin stretch of beach, pausing when he saw what looked to be a sleeping person on the beach. The waves crashed over them, obscuring their body from view for a few seconds at a time, though they didn’t move. 

“Excuse me, Sir, Ma’am?” The man called out, taking a few hesitant steps forward. 

No response. 

“Are you hurt?” 

Still no response. 

‘Calm down Roman, they could just be a deep sleeper.’ 

He walked up to the still form cautiously, his movements slow - unsure. As the man’s body was illuminated in the dying light of the sunset, Roman let out a soft gasp. They weren’t… human. Or rather, not fully. At least half of his body was that of a human, if a little…. Strange. But rather than legs, a long fin wound around itself in the sand. 

“Mermaid?” he breathed out in shock before blinking himself out of his trance. 

Something was wrong.

The creature wasn’t breathing. 

Tangled up in a fishing net. 

Hooks stuck out of their skin. 

A large gash on their side soaked the sand in red.

Roman looked around, knowing he should probably call the police, but… what would happen to this poor creature? Who would even believe him? Most people didn’t even think mermaids were real. 

Hell, Roman didn’t think they were real until hardly a few seconds ago.

He took a breath, working as quickly as he could to get the not-so-imaginary creature untangled from the netting, and picked all the hooks out of his skin. He looked down at the creature and bit his lip in thought. He couldn’t just toss him back into the ocean. He could die. With shaky hands - and a made up mind - he took his handmade princely coat and wrapped it around the creatures tail, cradling him in his arms as though he were the perfect bride. 

“Okay, now to get you to my truck without anyone noticing,” he mumbled to himself. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have much issue getting back as the theater parking lot was empty and the lights inside the building were off. Getting the creature home, having broken a few speeding limits, he brought him inside before he risked being caught by any of his neighbors. He quickly rushed to the bathroom, filling the tub with lukewarm water. Resting the creature in the tub for a moment, Roman turned the light on. 

He gasped. 

The creature was absolutely beautiful. 

His gray-violet skin appeared smooth but for a few scales that were scattered over his chest and face, glittering in the light as though they were made from gold dust. Brown hair fell across his forehead, perfectly framing the beauty of the creature’s face. If not for the insanely long and iridescent tail that occupied most of the tub, immediately drawing Roman’s eyes, he would have spent more time admiring his beauty. 

He felt bad. 

The creature’s tail was all scrunched up, curling over itself to fit in the tub. Roman looked down and saw that the water rising over the creature’s form was a deep red. Cursing to himself, he let the water drain while he dropped to his knees, opened the cabinet under his sink, and dumped everything out until he found a first aid kit. He found some bandages and propped the creature up on his arm before beginning to clean and wrap his torso. 

“How did this happen…?” he whispered softly, though he knew he was speaking to no one but himself. 

Once the creature was bandaged, he plugged the tub again, watching it fill. He noticed that the creature was breathing - albeit very small breaths - which made sense as to why Roman thought he wasn’t breathing when he had only seen him in the dull light outside. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor. Once the water was filled as high as it could go, he turned off the tub. 

There was a merman in his tub. 

A freakin merman! 

What do mermen eat? 

He rested his head against the wall, watching the other, eyes feeling heavy. It wasn’t late, but it had been a long day, and god was Roman tired. His eyes slid shut as the creature’s patterned black and yellow tail seemed to shine. 

***

Dee awoke to feeling cramped and in pain. He let out a groan, eyes snapping open as water didn’t enter his mouth like it should. He squinted his eyes as the bright artificial light burned and seemed to be brighter because of the white tile walls of the bathroom. When he turned his head to see a human man - shirtless, the unnatural light showing every curve of his muscled form - sleeping against the wall near him, he jumped, trying to get away. His tail writhed in the already-overfilled tub, splashing water out onto the man, which caused him to wake with a sharp gasp.

“Ah! What the hell?!” He shouted, the noise startling a hiss from the merman. The human blinked as his eyes landed on Dee. “Oh. It wasn’t a dream. Mermaids are real,” he said with astonishment. Dee’s chest was heaving, making him wince every time as pain shot through his side. He was as far away from this human as he could possibly be, given the circumstance he found himself in. Roman noticed his fear and put his hands up as if to show he wasn’t going to harm him. “Hey, it’s okay,” he reassured him, keeping his tone soft. “Do you know what I’m saying?” The creature looked at him with a glare, fear still in his eyes, though it was obvious that he was trying to hide it now.

“Of course I know what you’re saying; I’m not an idiot!” He snapped. Roman’s eyes watched the others mouth, seeing the sharp teeth. He gulped, only now realizing that he had brought a creature - that he had no idea what it was capable of - into his home. 

Fuck.

“Okay, look, I’m sorry. I just discovered mermaids actually exist. Sorry for not automatically knowing that you speak English,” Roman spat out, trying to not seem suddenly scared. Roman went to stand up, the sudden movement startling the merman as his tail writhed again, trying to push him further away from the moving human, but with a wall there, he had nowhere to go. Roman blinked, sitting back down, looking at the other. 

“I’m sorry. I-um…do you have a name?” Roman asked timidly.

“Of course I have a name,” the merman huffed, rolling his eyes. Roman watched as his chest stilled heaved with fear. When the creature didn’t continue, he spoke up again.

“May I know your na-”

“No!” The other snapped again, the tip of his tail rattling slightly, much like a snake. Roman kept his hands up defensively for a second before dropping them in defeat at his sides. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have any other choice but to bring you here. You were wounded.” He motioned to the bandage that had a dark red blood stain on it. The merman looked down, touching his side with a wince before looking up in confusion. 

“You….helped me?” His voice was unsure, his words coming out hesitantly.

“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?” It was Roman’s turn to be confused, a single brow raising on his forehead. 

“Well, sorry that most humans I’ve met have tried to capture or kill me on sight. Not that most merpeople are any better. It’s more of an every-merperson-for-themselves situation,” he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. As he did so, he felt the gash in his side throb painfully, and a wince must have crossed his face, because Roman’s eyes softened, looking at the bandage. 

“Is that how… that happened?” He looked up to meet the other’s impossibly golden eyes. “Humans, I mean.” 

He sighed softly, sinking into the water more, curling his tail into coils so it all fit into the confines of the small porcelain tub. “Both, actually. Some merpeople led me to the fishermen, and then the fishermen tried to kill me from there.” 

Roman gasped softly, covering his mouth. “That’s rude. Why would they do that? What did you ever do to them?” 

“Well,” he stated matter-of-factly. “They were my brothers. Our mom died giving birth to me.” He shrugged, looking out the window of the bathroom. “Mother’s are the only type of merperson one of us will care about.” 

Roman’s heart softened for the snappy mermaid in front of him. “Considering you don’t exactly have anyone to go back to, you’re welcome to stay here if you’d like. Or if you need a place. I can order a bigger bathtub for you. Or a big fish tank? Is that racist? Or…species-cist? I’m sorry if that’s offensive-” 

The man’s gaze lowered away from the merman, his hand coming up to awkwardly rub at the back of his neck. 

He was rambling. 

He was definitely rambling. 

He had just asked this scarily pretty merman to live with him. 

He had just met him.

But it wasn’t like he could just send him back to his brothers. 

He would be killed!

A deep, rumbling laugh pulled Roman out of his thoughts in an instant.

He looked up to see the other’s mouth - full of sharp teeth that glinted in the light - wide open in a laugh as he winced, hand going clutching his side over where Roman knew the wound was, unable to stop laughing. Roman’s face warmed, a blush painting itself across his cheeks as he watched the other laugh, his heart pounding as his stomach dropped. 

Oh sweet Meryl Streep. 

I’m gay. 

I’m so gay.

I’m going to die. 

This is how I die. 

Here lies Roman Kingsly, death by gay.

This is my legacy. 

The merman’s laughed calmed down, cheeks flushed a deep shade of yellow as he looked at the man staring at him with wide eyes. The flush in his cheeks deepened and he scoffed. 

“Take a picture, it will last longer,” he teased, enjoying the way the other’s face seemed to turn even redder. Roman huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I’m going to get up. Are you okay with that?” He asked cautiously, to which the merman nodded slowly, watching the other. 

Roman stood slowly, watching the other for any sign of fear in his eyes. While there was some, the merman stayed mostly calm. Roman stretched, the merman getting a good look at the human in front of him as he did so. He was fit, tan, and dare he say…cute? For a human, anyways.

The merman shook his head to clear his head. 

Roman looked down and held out a hand. “My name is Roman. Pleasure to meet you Mr. Merman!” he grinned charmingly at the other, wanting to ease some of the tension between the two of them. The merman blinked, tilting his head curiously at the outstretched hand before looking up at Roman in silent confusion. 

Roman chuckled, feeling his heart skip a beat at the frankly adorable look. “It’s a handshake. Put your hand out like mine.” 

The merman put out his left hand. Roman let out a hearty laugh, making the merman scowl and withdraw his hand with a hiss. 

“Oh, no, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh; it was just cute. You need to put out the other hand.” 

“Don’t laugh at me again…” he said almost defensively. Roman smiled softly and nodded. The merman put out his right hand.

“I’m going to grab your hand. Not hard and not to hurt you, okay?” The sea creature nodded and Roman grabbed his hand, giving him a slow hand shake. “Hello, my name is Roman. Pleasure to meet you. Your name is?” The merman looked at their hands holding each other, his face flushed yellow again.

“Dee. My name is Dee.” Dee looked up at Roman from the tub. “Would you really let me stay here?” It’s not like he had anything waiting for him in the ocean. He kinda hated it. It was boring to him. 

“Well yeah. Your brothers are trying to kill you over something you can’t control. I can’t just send ya back out there. Besides it will take some time for you to heal.” Roman blushed, looking down at the others tail, wondering what would be big enough for it. Finally getting a good look at the other, he noticed all the scars and missing scales, feeling his heart ache for Dee.

“Well I’ll give you an answer once I’m healed.” Dee smirked at the slightly deflated look on Roman’s face. He wasn’t completely convinced Roman wasn’t trying to just keep him captured for money or something of the like, but he did need to heal, so for now, he’d stay here.

***

The next month passed with a domesticity that both of them quickly became accustomed to. Roman ended up buying a big fishtank that barely fit in his living room, but it gave Dee room to stretch out his tail, so it was worth the trouble. Roman would go to work and be gone half the day, and at night, he would come home with fresh fish for Dee, making dinner for himself while Dee. 

Roman made a steak one day and Dee practically started drooling, making a weird chirping sound. It didn’t take long for the human to figure out that it was the sound merpeople made when they wanted to hunt something, and he decided to give in. After teasing Dee with the meat for a bit, he gave him a bite, and it was immediately learned that he loved red meat. 

The two of them got to know each other really well, spending every spare moment talking over whatever tv show or movie Roman had put on. They talked about their lives - Roman’s as a budding actor and Dee’s as a merperson. Roman asked as many questions about Dee’s life as he could, and Dee would give a warm smile for a moment at the thought of someone caring enough to ask questions about him. 

Roman took extra care of Dee’s wounds, changing the bandages every day, even having to stitch one one up. He made sure he cleaned them, even when Dee hissed and clawed at him from the strange stinging it caused. 

Within the month, Roman came to learn that Dee was part eel - rather than the ordinary version of a mermaid that he had come to think about - as he began to “shed” his slime. It became so bothersome to Dee that at that point, Roman had to jump in the tank with him to help him as there were no rocks or plants to swim through. 

Dee’s face was a deep yellow shade at the prospect of Roman having to help him get rid of his slime, but the minute the others hands were on his tail, he let out a gasp and shuddered slightly, his entire tail shivering as his eyes fluttered shut. Roman pulled his hands back, scared he had hurt the other, to which Dee groaned in annoyance. 

“You okay, Dee?” Roman asked, feeling the slime that was on his hands from just the little touch. Dee nodded slightly in response.

“Yeah. Just…not used to anyone touching my tail like that.” Dee kept his eyes cast downwards, which was strange for him. Even when startled, Dee always looked at Roman. 

“Okay. I’m going to touch your tail again…”  Roman said hesitantly, it being made clear by his tone of voice that he was asking permission. 

When Dee nodded, Roman put his hands back on the other’s slimy tail and begin gently rubbing the slime off. Dee, who’s entire face was yellow at this point, shivered at every touch of his tail. With how long his tail was, it took Roman a good 10 minutes to finish. The water was a murky grey color and felt almost thicker than before. Roman looked at the water curiously as Dee, breathless and flustered, looked at Roman. 

“Ro…?” Dee’s voice was soft - which was also unusual for him, Roman noted to himself. 

“Yeah, Dee?” Roman looked up with a soft smile. 

“You know that thing that the people in your romance movies do?” His voice shook and he moved a little closer to Roman, making the other blush, now just fully aware at only being in underwear. 

“Which thing?”

“The thing with the mouths.” Dee licked his lips as Roman’s face flushed, his eyes took a quick look at Dee’s lips. He was shocked when he learned during one of their movie nights that most merpeople don’t kiss. And he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t dreamt of kissing him - sharp teeth and all. 

“You mean kissing?” Now Roman’s voice was shaky. Dee nodded softly, their bodies flush against each other now, the feeling of the merman’s chest cool against Roman’s. 

“Can…can we do it?” 

Roman, once the question was muttered, pressed his lips to the other’s without hesitation. Dee let out a very undignified squeak as he turned deep yellow once more before kissing back, quickly learning how it worked. Dee’s tail wrapped around the others body protectively, keeping him close as they kissed softly in the murky grey water of the tank. They slowly sank below the water, neither caring as Dee just kissed oxygen into the other’s mouth. Popping out of the water a few minutes later, Roman gasped for air as Dee chuckled, wide grin on his face. Roman’s red face looked at Dee’s yellow one before they both stopped laughing, going back in for another kiss. Dee pulled back with a chuckle after only a moment. 

“If it wasn’t obvious, that was my answer as to whether or not I’m staying.” 

At Roman’s gasp, Dee let out a deep, rumbling chuckle before pulling him in for yet another kiss. As new as he was to it, Dee had to admit… he liked kissing.

[saymypiece]

This nobody’s journal of hot, boring afternoons…

Day 21 (7.4.2020 - Tuesday)

I did not sleep through the night, again! What on Earth! On the other hand, I worked out, a little, but still a workout. As in I played with my dog. She got a hold my bro/sis old silambam belt and goes around playing with it. So grabbed on to the other end and had a tug of war with her, which was fun, until she realised I wasn’t much of a competition and got bored. :S It’s alright, I will prove to her that I am worthy of her time. I shall try again. Practice makes perfect Koko, you adorable snob! 

Day 20 (6.4.2020 - Monday)

Omgoodness its day 20! I cannot believe we have been stuck at home without a choice for so long. I keep hearing of doctors and nurses falling ill, scientists working so hard to create a vaccine. I can’t help but wonder what this virus is all about. This thing we can’t see is causing so much chaos, panic and fear in everyone. And the way I see it, it’s not going away anytime soon. But our God is God over the impossible! He is the only way this virus will be washed out. This time at home, especially during this time leading up to Easter, has allowed me to spend some time in devotion and the Bible. And what I have learnt is we are not alone. Our time on Earth, though temporary, is designed to be fulfilling and beautiful. So I’m embracing that. No matter what comes against me, it shall not prosper. For my God is for me. On the other hand, I have not been able to sleep. It’s been challenging to 

Day 19 (5.4.2020 - Sunday)

As usual, Sunday was enriching and chill. Not that every other day is not chill, but Sundays, they are quite a little more chill than other days. At 3pm, I joined a group chat with some friends from church. Fun.

Day 18 (4.4.2020 - Saturday)

After last week’s shopping debacle, I was terrified about going out there with mum again. Nevertheless, we had needs and they needed to be bought, so I got ready with my gear, the usual suspects of masks, gloves and a hand sanitiser. This time, the mall staff were even more strict. They checked body temperatures before anyone could even enter the building. And only one person per family was allowed in. So, yes, we kinda put on our inner Meryl Streeps and acted the strangers we never knew we could play so well. They believed it. Heck, at one point, even I believed it. My mom, I think, may BE, Meryl Streep, I don’t know. Anyway, no drama during shopping, everything was perfect. I even got to keep my shorts intact the whole time. No, it was a different shorts, I wash them everyday. Yes, I’ve got a whole lot of loose shorts okay? They’re comfy! What some more you want?

Day 17 (3.4.2020 - Friday)

Another Friday has come and gone. There is really nothing new happening, but today, I got to catch up with the darling! You don’t feel time passing you by until you actually do something you used to do very, very often, years ago. We used to Skype and video call all the time until work and life happened. Then suddenly, it had all come to an abrupt end. This conversation felt like such a treat. I felt like I was catching up with her entire lifetime. Well, a lot can happen in over six years. Feeling so blessed for technology and this time we get to reconnect and spend quality time with each other. 

Day 16 (2.4.2020)

Ok so, sleep lost it’s way and didn’t really get back to me, blardee heartbreaker! Didn’t do much other than write and hang around all day. So I decided, to pick up my guitar and do somethin with it. :) You Say by Lauren Daigle

Day 15 (1.4.2020 - Wednesday)

I know it’s meant to be April’s Fool today, but like the rest of the world, it didn’t mean a thing. I mean, our situation right now seems like a giant prank anyway. There is no need to scare anyone else about, anything else. The greatest prank in the world right now would be to just go up to someone who’s NOT your family, and sneeze or cough right at their faces. Once they know you’re pranking em, they’d either laugh or slap you so hard, you begin to foretell your f-f-future. Even watching old YouTube videos of interviews or clips from shows where there is some amount of coughing or sneezing involved makes me cringe so hard! And I’m not the only one. Read the comments. Once thing I am certain of, whether a vaccine is found or not, is that once this MCO is over, everybody is gonna be a germaphobe/hygiene-junkies - always washing hands and sneezing into handkerchiefs and such. Anyway, goodnight, hope sleep finds me tonight.

Day 14 (31.3.2020 - Tuesday)

Oh praise the Lord I’m alright. At least, I think I’m alright. I don’t feel fuzzy, I have no fever, no headache. I was awake super early and I decided to feed my three dogs, for the first time! Let my bro and sis sleep in a little this morning. I had no idea how to do it. I just winged it based on what I thought is normally done, and it worked. The three ding dongs listened, sat patiently, ate sweetly and gave me some kisses. And then, I put on a fan for them, coz there was no air movement out. It was so weird, it was early morning and it was so hot with zero movement in the air. Man, we really need the rain!

Day 13 (30.3.2020 - Monday)

I am so not feeling good today! My mind is racing. Was it the shopping at Tesco on Saturday? Was it the Lontong flavoured Chef noodles I had for dinner last night? What is it? I have a bad headache, body ache and my brain is a little fuzzy, like when I have a fever. When I asked my sister to check my temperature, she confirmed there is a slight fever. Paracetamol. I need it. And a good shower. Had both. Going to sleep again. Maybe I’m tired, exhausted. I’ve told everyone in the house to stay away. Lord, protect papa. And heal me. Let this not be…it.

Day 12 (29.3.2020 - Sunday)

Time for church online. Mummy made friend mee hoon and some Portuguese tarts. It was one of those quiet days. Didn’t do much today.

Day 11 (28.3.2020 - Saturday)

Nope. Zoom didn’t let me down. I let Zoom down! My frickin alarm didn’t go off, or maybe it did and I didn’t hear it, I don’t know. All I know is I wasn’t up until 11.20am! The meeting was supposed to start at 11am! #muchembarassed Thankfully they were all in conversation while waiting for me. I didn’t even have time to brush my teeth. Just washed my face, tamed my hair and appeared online. Connect was awesome though. The two newcomers were great. Kinda weird we didn’t shake hands or hug, kinda weird we literally met face-to-face, online, but it was great! Cheers to new experiences, I say. Speaking of new experiences, I have never liked shopping. Like, ever. I don’t enjoy walking around, I don’t enjoy going to shops after shops after shops. Basically, I’m most men when it comes to shopping. Today, my mom and I had to run to Tesco to stock up on some of our essentials that are running low. I wore a shorts and t-shirt but with two masks, gloves, and in my pockets, Clorox anti-bacterial wipes and hand-sanitiser. We strategised how and what to touch before entering the store. I was going to be the one doing the touching, cos I wore the gloves, and my mom, wearing one glove, was to be the one pointing out what I was supposed to pick out from the shelves. Carefully, but swiftly, we began picking out everything on our list. My heart, for some reason, was drumming like a Taiko drum in my chest. And to make matters worse, sometime during our walking through the aisles, my mom completely ditched our strategy and started touching the things on the shelves! Like, ALL things! Okay, granted, I wasn’t fast enough for her but PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE, okay? Just… keep your hands to yourself and straighten ONLY the index finger. How difficult is that strategy? Now, she’d gone and made my mind spin round and round tryna think of how the virus would travel, or get stuck on her phone (which I sanitised the moment we got out), or what her gloved hand touched and what she could and could not touch anymore not that is has been exposed. Arghh! Finally at the cashier, we more or less got in sync. Everything went according to plan, like which hand she would get her debit card out of my shorts pocket with and which hand she received it from the cashier with after the payment was made. It went pretty perfectly, with the slight risk of me losing my shorts because mummy decided to shove her hands so far down my pockets. The shorts was loose to begin with. Thankfully, with my firm grip, nothing untoward happened. We got out, got home, showered and washed all the clothes we were in. All good. Phew…

Day 10 (27.3.2020 - Friday)

Thankful for technology. It’s made life very easy. Even my mom, who is completely resistant of anything “technology” (because she thinks she would destroy the internet or something) has had to organise Zoom meets, coordinate her kindergarten teachers’ online lessons and activities - it’s been quite a trip seeing my mom grow into this technological wiz, so to speak. I joined her connect group today, had a good discussion. A little nervous about mine tomorrow morning. We will have two newcomers on board. Hopefully Zoom doesn’t let me down.

Day 9 (26.3.2020 - Thursday)

It’s the end of the day, and lo and behold, I have completed the pages I was meant to complete. Turns out, I didn’t have to do some of the last pages, so that saved me some work. I was right. I DO feel blind and like a bat after completing the job, but the satisfaction of a job completed is unmatched. The number of cases keep increasing by around 130 every day! It’s not even funny how people are still choosing to ignore this situation. We are already in day nine of the MCO and they still feel it’s alright to meet their friends and family in such a time as this. If only we all, collaboratively, stayed home for two weeks, we could actually curb this virus from spreading out. STOP GIVING IT TRANSPORT! Ugh! On the bright side, I am organising our Connect meet online.

Day 8 (25.3.2020 - Wednesday)

Quick update: Still on the project. I have managed to complete around 10 pages, mostly profiles. I am so surprised at how weirdly written everything is. On COVID-19, we are 300 cases short of 2000. It’s not looking good at all. And what’s worse, the government has extended the MCO to April 14. So instead of going back to work on 1 April, I would be jobless until 15 April. Lord, I surrender this to you. Let all that happens, happen according to your plan. I place my trust and hope in You, Lord. Amen.

Day 7 (24.3.2020 - Tuesday)

…aaaaaaadddd!!!! There are sooo many words in this, it doesn’t seem to have an end! 105 pages of THIS is more than I can bear!!! I’m gonna go nuts by the end of it, or blind! Anyway, I started on this the day before yesterday, but it has been a lot of, what my dad would call, broken focus. I just can’t seem to stay on the editing bit. I keep getting beckoned by either YouTube or Facebook or Instagram, and end the day without completing even one full page… so here we are. I have exactly two days to complete editing 103 pages of words. *takes a deep breath* RM530 is riding on this, man! Get it together and do it! I know RM530 seems little, but to me, after 5 months of RM0, it’s an upgrade I never thought I’d get. #suckitup

Day 6 (23.3.2020 - Monday)

Monday has arrived. I am refreshed, I have my mind set on the epilepsy article I am gonna write and the copy-editing project from the marketing department. I’m all set. I sent my interview questions to both the people I am meant to talk to. Under the current situation, I am not able to talk to them so email is the next best thing. Except an interview over Zoom would have been better, but they can’t seem to make it. Being researchers and lecturers and all, they don’t have much time on their hands…. unlike me. Anyway, that’s done. Now, continuing the project. Ohhhhmaaaiiiigaaa…

Day 5 (22.3.2020 - Sunday)

Oh Sunday. It was a really awesome Sunday service. It was truly something I think we all needed. The praise and worship was amazing, and allowed me to just soak in worship. Despite all the chaos and fear that I have in my heart and mind, I felt a peace wash over me. Suddenly I realised that the only reason for the fear in my heart is the unknown. But every “next step” we take is an unknown anyway, so why fear this one? I will keep praying, staying home, except during essential buys, washing my hands, working and doing pretty much everything I always do WITHOUT having fear in my heart.

Day 4 (21.3.2020 - Saturday)

What a total frickin crap-show! The numbers are increasing and I’ll tell you the truth, I’m afraid. Every time I wash my hands, I can’t stop wondering if I’ve washed them enough. There is just too much stake. My dad, his lungs are really not good and I am worried about what would happen should one of us get careless and carry this virus home from some essential grocery shopping. The only comfort I have right now is that my God is bigger. I know my God is bigger than all of this. I know my God is bigger than all of this!

Day 3 (20.3.2020 - Friday)

I know I wished for an eventful 2020, but my goodness, enough already! 

OMGIF already?? So, suddenly, the number of the infected in Malaysia hit 1000+. That is really too much! Who’s to blame? Why are there still cow dungs out and about on the roads, meeting friends and speaking their essentials words and letting their spits flow freely in the world and into each others’ ears? Don’t they know of a phone? There’s WhatsApp, Zoom, Hangout, Telegram, frickin Signal, Line, FB Messenger…heck, everything has a caller these days! *checks if Tinder has a caller* Not Tinder, thank goodness. Just…ugh…stop going out. *breathes* Meanwhile, my lovely brother gave us all his homemade Ais Malaysia and it was lovely! Like, it hasn’t properly rained in quite a few weeks now, and it is sooo hot. That Ais Malaysia was truly somewhat of a saving grace. And to top it off, my darling little sister made o-maki sushi, with the tuna and everything. Superb! Anyways, all things considered, the numbers locally are not too bad, is it? Is it? I’ll just have to keep washing my hands… “His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti…”

Day 2 (19.3.2020 - Thursday)

#tbt like #tbeverydayforthelast5months ! 

This MCO doesn’t really make much of a difference for me since I was not working the last five months. This time around though, I wash my hands more, go out lesser, and can’t go out even if I wanted to. You know what? The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Home Edition is super awesome! I love it. It’s a breath of fresh air so I’ll have that to enjoy over this period. When we get out of this, I don’t think my hands will make it out “alive”. The number of times I wash my hands to the first verse of “Lose Yourself” is nuts!

Day 1 (18.3.2020 - Wednesday)

So, I started this to keep track of what is happening in this lovely, wonderful, fantastic nation during the Movement Control Order and also to me, as a… non-essential employee. Coz as long as I’m not working, I am not paid. Ok, let me rephrase that. As long as I am not present AT the office, then I’m not paid. Never been in this position, kinda worrying, but thankfully, I do have projects to complete to get me some kinda cash. Don’t know how its all gonna pan out. I am leaving all these worries to the Lord Almighty coz I know there is nothing I can do to change anything happening around me other than pray and stay home. These daily entries will be filled with dramatics and descriptive nothings, coz seriously, I can’t imagine another two weeks at home. So I AM gonna add some spice to this. Alright, so, first day was…err…normal. How’s that for spice? Whaaaat? I don’t know what to say in this okay? I am just…I just wanna remember what I went thru so…