#i did this instead shshshsh

[calbeloved]

Spiderbit week!! prompt for "blood" and also very inspired by the supernatural au that WSD thought of!! I've never written these guys before so apologies if i got their personalities very wrong shshshsh @anonymous-dentist

Neither of them speak, though Roier has his eyebrows furrowed and he pauses from time to time, like he's about to say something.

Maybe it's because Pepito is already asleep, Cellbit muses to himself, only half aware of what's happening. Roier pours the bottle of… alcohol, maybe? right onto his wound, and it immediately foams, a now pink-red liquid dripping down his chest. It falls on the floor in drops. Cellbit somehow can't bring himself to care or comment, even with the knowledge that Roier hates mopping his floors. He seems awfully passive-aggressive tonight.

…It should hurt more, he thinks. It should sting and make him hiss, he should be holding in a scream. It should hurt. It doesn't. Cellbit doesn't feel anything, just… numbness.

(It hurt her. Why- why did he allow that to happen? She got hurt and it's all his fault and he doesn't feel anything and he's the one that should be feeling it.)

“I'm sorry,” he says, a barely hearable whisper. He doesn't know who he's saying that to, in the end. “I… I didn't mean to bother you.” I didn't mean to wake you up. I didn't mean to make you take care of me. I didn't mean to make myself attached. I didn't mean to. I didn't.

Roier only tsks, rolling his eyes. He picks up some gauze and presses it right beneath the wound to soak up the falling blood. He does it rougher than necessary. Harder than he normally does. “You're not bothering me, asshole, just making me-” He pauses, throwing the gauze into the sink and looking away for a moment. “Worried. And mad. Mostly mad.”

Cellbit would normally snort in response, but he doesn't now. He can't quite bring himself to. Instead, he stares at Roier’s fingers. They tap on the sink anxiously, leaving bloody fingerprints that turn into small puddles mere seconds later. He doesn't seem to notice it, so Cellbit doesn't comment.

“You make me mad,” Roier concludes. “Because you are an idiot and keep throwing yourself into situations you can't… bring yourself out of.”

He takes another gauze and a needle into the other hand, returning his gaze to Cellbit. His chin is pointed up, but his eyes- They pierce him, and the black smudged eyeliner only makes it more unsettling. Well. It would, if Cellbit cared about that. He doesn't. But- the eyeliner was smudged already when he first knocked on the door. There had been no time to ask, if Cellbit even would want to.

(He had been crying. Why? Cellbit wants to know, but Roier is everything he doesn't understand. There's just something he's missing, as always.)

“And you make me worried.” Roier murmurs, voice low yet almost like a growl. His hands tighten on the objects he's holding, knuckles turning white. “You make me worried. And you might die and you're a stupid idiot and I hate you for that.” His voice cracks.

There's a pause.

“Yeah.” Cellbit responds. He knows Roier doesn't like apologies. “I know.”

“You could have died. Tonight.” His voice is shaky, and his eyes shine. He's beautiful. He's about to cry. “God, you're so stupid.”

Cellbit swallows and feels his throat close up. He reaches forward, placing a gentle hand on Roier’s cheek. It's covered in blood. Cellbit thinks he feels sick, but Roier either doesn't notice or doesnt care. He has to… Gods. He can't see Roier cry. That'd just break him, he thinks. He can't deal with that now.

“I'm…” No, he can't say that. Not to Roier. “It won't happen again. We just- we had a fight and I… I fucked up. It won't happen again.”

Roier nods without a word. He swallows and moves away from the touch, his expression changing into something more controlled.

His hand comes up close to the wound, needle itching close before it stops. “Want anything to bite on?”

Roier knows a lot of things, both small and big, about Cellbit. Information that a lot of people would like to get their hands on. But he doesn't know everything. He doesn't know how it was for Cellbit back then. He doesn't know and he doesn't ask. Maybe that's why Cellbit keeps coming back.

“No.”

Roier hums and doesn't ask and there's that.

“You had a fight, you said.” Roier eventually says when they're near the end of stitching. Cellbit doesn't really know what the fuzzy-numbness he feels every time… something like this happens is, but by this point, it's gone. “Is Bagi- How's she holding up, then?”

Cellbit thinks back to his sister, eyes furious and a snarl on her face. He thinks back to how she screamed, how much blood she lost. He should have helped her, but-

He grits his teeth, fingers pressing hard into his own leg.

That damned demon barged in like-

God, he can't think about this. He doesn't want to.

Tina took her away with a cold gaze and a snarl of “Leave” and there was nothing he could have done. He tried, before. It always ended the same. And he was bleeding out, he was hurt- (It shouldn't have mattered, it shouldn't have made a difference, she was hurt worse, he should have tried harder-)

So. He can't even be sure. Tina took care of her, surely. (But in what way?) She wouldn't allow Bagi to die, they both know that.

“She's fine.” Cellbit says, realizing he was silent for too long. He uncurls his fingers and tries to breathe. “Staying at the motel tonight. We, um. Decided to stay away from each other for a little while.”

That's not true. They haven't decided anything, but he knows how Tina is.

“Ah.” Roier breathes out. He probably knows he's being lied to, but that's their thing. They don't ask questions. Cellbit cringes anyway. “So you're… you'll be staying?”

Roier’s hand on his chest - the one that's not stitching the wound, that is - flexes, fingers starting to drum. Anxious.

There's a pause.

I didn't mean to get myself attached. I didn't mean to get you attached, either.

“If… if you'll have me,” he murmurs, quiet and only a bit uncertain.

(Gods, he can practically hear Bagi taunting him right now. When did his face get so hot? This is- embarrassing, he can't belive in himself.)

Instead of calling Cellbit out, Roier bites his lip, eyes darting down. There's- something that maybe could be called a grin, if only he could see Roier's face better. They don't speak, but then-

“Of course, man.” Roier smiles eventually, looking up at him. There's something in his eyes that hasn't been there before.

“Of course,” Cellbit repeats, a small smile appearing on his face as well, despite everything.

They fall into comfortable silence after that, but it's… different from before. The tension is mostly gone and… Roier seems almost satisfied. Or something similar, anyhow. Because despite how good he is at reading people, Roier is… like an enigma he can never quite understand. There's just something about him, something Cellbit isn't getting.

(Maybe that's why he keeps coming back.)

Roier finishes the stitches and after pouring some more of that disinfectant, starts bandaging the injury. It's only then that Cellbit realises he's been staring at Roier the entire time. But- it's weird. It doesn't feel like he's going to throw up from stress because he had to keep watching, just to make sure Roier wouldn't hurt him. No. Roier would never do that. It's more like…

(“What is up with you today?” Bagi asks, eyes squinted. Her laptop has its screen turned off already, research long forgotten. She's been staring at him suspiciously for the last 10 minutes. “Why do you look like that?”

“What?” He rolls his eyes, giving her an unamused look. He looks fine, he knows this, because he checked himself before they left the motel. He's meeting up with Roier today, so obviously- Pause. That sounds… He's meeting up with an important and respected informat today, so obviously he has to look at least a bit put together. There's nothing unusual about that. “You're being weird, stop staring at me and do your research.”

Bagi clearly isn't convinced, creeping her face closer. Cellbit keeps up the gaze and- there it is, she sighs in disappointment, eyes darting down to his meal instead. But she doesn't steal the plate away, like he expected her to.

There's a pause. Ever so slowly, she raises her head and on her shocked face begins to grow a grin.

…uh oh. What is she-

“Are you wearing fucking perfume?”

He stops chewing. Meets her gaze. Tries to ignore the absolute horror growing as he realises his face is getting hot. He's blushing. What-

“...no,” he tries, but his voice comes out practically like a squeak. He curses himself for it.

“You are! Oh my Gods, are you serious?” Bagi cackles, suddenly gleeful. “Why are you-”

He watches the realisation paint on her face. Her mouth opens, but no words come out of it.

“...You're wearing perfume.” She says slowly, a smirk beginning to make itself known again. “For the meeting with that guy today?”

Cellbit silently starts chewing again, looking away. He takes a sip of his lemonade (which was supposed to be a coffee, but of course, he can't have anything nice in life) and sighs. “Let's- let's just eat and leave. We are-” He shoots her a look, which at least makes her look a bit bashful. “-not talking about this.”

Bagi leans back in her seat, eyes squinted once again. Considering. Was he too harsh on this? There's a growing ache in his stomach, because- Gods, he doesn't want to fuck up with her again. How can he- how can he fix this?

“Okay, maybe I am wearing perfume for the hot guy, but- Hey, no, listen to-! That's just good manners! There's nothing weird about that!”

“Oh my Gods, I have to tell Felps. Does Felps know? Doesn't matter, I'll tell him anyway.” Bagi grins, not bothered at all that she was interrupting him. She looks very eager to eat quickly and get out of here, suddenly.

He sips on his lemonade instead, jaw tensing and untensing. Ugh. Gods.

“You so have a crush, that is crazy.” She continues, eyes wide. “I can't believe this, what?”

She laughs again and doesn't stop, even when Cellbit gives her his remaining fries and salad.

A crush. How stupid is that?)

It's more like adoration. He's enjoying watching Roier work. Gods. Gods, that is- He is not dealing with that tonight.

Roier grins at him, obvious to his thoughts. “All done! Come on.”

On shaky legs, Cellbit stands up to follow Roier out of the door. When Roier's back is turned, he reaches his hand out to touch the bandage gently, looking down at it. It's… good. Suspiciously good, even, he'd say. But. This is Roier. He's like that, Cellbit found. Full of surprises.

The house is dark. Obviously, because it's night and Pepito and Jaiden are sleeping-

“Oh.” Cellbit murmurs, a small wince on his face. “I hope I didn't wake Jaiden up.” He likes Jaiden. It just wouldn't do to make her angry, and he knows she likes her sleep.

Roier full on stops in the middle of his tracks. His shoulders come up, but his back is to Cellbit, he can't see his expression, can't understand-

“Jaiden's gone.”

…what?

Cellbit pauses as well, but for a different reason. Oh. He isn't… He isn't good at dealing with this. Oh Gods.

But then Roier suddenly turns around, a smile on his face. It doesn't look quite right. “Er, I mean-! Not like that!” He laughs and it sounds just like the one that Cellbit hears a lot while interrogating people. But never before from Roier. He's anxious. Why? Covering something up, surely, but…

“Huh.” He just says, smartly.

“Erm. Yeah! You know, just- For a little while! We're just taking a break from each other, you know?” Roier stutters awkwardly, that smile still wide on his face. It brightens suddenly. “You know, like you and Bagi! A… bit. But we didn't fight or anything, just-!” There's another pause, but this time Roier is watching his expression closely. His face sours slightly at whatever he finds. “...you know.”

Cellbit has no idea, despite how many ‘you-know's Roier just uttered. “Um. Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Roier nods, seemingly relieved. He stands still for a moment longer before reaching out to flick off the bathroom light, making the hallway fall into complete darkness. (Are there no windows here? No, that doesn't seem right. He's sure there were some the last time he was here.)

“Um. Anyway, now that you're here-” Roier grasps his hand tightly and begins leading him deeper into the house. “You know how you're like, an even bigger nerd than me?”

“I'm not a-”

“So, I was thinking- You could even help me with Pepito a bit! You know, he's such a little geek, I don't know who he got it from…” Roier doesn't even stop talking as they get to a hallway with many doors. Bedrooms, Cellbit thinks. He doesn't lower his voice either. Cellbit winces in sympathy for the kid. He hopes they haven't woken him up. “He just reads and reads! Ugh, I swear, I need to start taking more of those books away, his eyesight is already so bad!”

Bad eyesight doesn't come from just reading, Cellbit wants to interrupt. He wants to say a lot of things, actually. But… It is Roier's house. He's a guest. If Roier is so eager to change the subject and then rant about his child, then who's Cellbit to stop him, really?

The door to the- bedroom, it's a bedroom, is opened and Roier pulls him inside, closing it right behind them.

“And, he's still a little stupid, but I'm sure you-” Roier suddenly stops talking, yet again. He looks into Cellbit’s eyes, an alarmed look on his face. “You… like kids, right? I mean, you must like kids, but even if you didn't- You'd… you'd like Pepito! Because, I mean-”

“Um. I guess I do?” Cellbit interrupts, only because Roier looks like he's about to kneel over from over explaining himself.

A beat.

“Cool! I mean, no, that's good… Yes, I'm just…” He laughs and pulls away from Cellbit, walking deeper into the room alone. He stops in the middle of it, eyes locked on the bed. A large one. “...I'm- I'm sorry, I must be acting like a terrible host right now. Oh. I'm just…”

He makes some vague motions with his hands and smiles.

Cellbit winces internally. It's… just a bit awkward.

“No, it's… it's fine. Seriously, you're good. You're… good.” Oh Gods. What does he say to that? “I'm, um. Just. Thank you for taking care of me. That's already enough. You don't need to explain yourself, seriously. It's… fine.”

Roier stares at him. Stares some more. His hand comes up to his chest, almost as if he was… scratching at something underneath his shirt. But it's dark and Cellbit isn't really sure what expression he has and-

“Oh.” Roier breathes out. There's something. Something he's missing, again. “Ah… Alright.”

He's… muttering something to himself, Cellbit’s pretty sure. But… Then Roier clears his throat and puts his hand down, tense. Almost like he didn't realise it moved. He looks at the closet and back at Cellbit, in thought.

“You'll be fine in your clothes for tonight, right?”

“Um, yeah.” He's only in his pants anyway. His shirt was way too soaked with blood (hers, but by his fault) and even if it wasn't, Roier already took care of it. As in… shredding it with his hands. He's probably not getting that back. “We can work something out tomorrow. It's okay.”

Roier nods and sits down on the bed.

Cellbit stares. He is… pretty sure Jaiden has her own room. And Roier mentioned she's gone, so why… why is he here?

And he immediately curses himself for thinking like that. Maybe Jaiden isn't comfortable with people sleeping in her room, especially when she doesn't know about it. Roier would surely know that.

So he walks closer to the bed and lays down, slowly.

The bed is big. Big enough for- three people maybe, if he had to guess. So it isn't like it's awkward, but…

He doesn't really know what to do. Sharing a bed isn't something he does, it's just not. It'd be different if they were sharing heat while in the wild or something like that, but- That's not the case.

He feels Roier lay down next to him. When he looks at him out of the corner of the eye, he's smiling. A hand on his face, gently touching his own cheek. Inspecting. And then he turns on his side, towards Cellbit. Who very pointedly tries to pretend he wasn't staring.

He swallows.

“Goodnight.” Cellbit mutters quietly and turns as well, laying on his stomach. His hand automatically goes to rest under the pillow, reaching for a knife or a gun. It finds neither.

…Fuck, he left his weapons in his backpack. Which is in the entrance of the house.

“Goodnight,” Roier whispers back, a smile audible in his voice.

No, he can't go for it now. What would Roier think? And besides… he has a kid. Surely, this place is warded against everything, to hell and back. It's fine. And just for one night.

It's fine.

(Later, when Cellbit will wake up, he'll realize he forgot many things. Like his nightly prayer to Felps and cleaning his knife. Writing down in his notebook what exactly happened on the hunt. Cursing Tina in his thoughts.

But with the chaos of Pepito waking them both up early and immediately wanting to play, what he won't remember is that Roier never washed his face after Cellbit touched it with his bloody hands. He won't notice it either.

Maybe that's for the best.)

[lurkingteapot]

Laws of Attraction กฏแห่งรักดึงดูด Ep 7

My keysmash count for notes this episode was at nine, which is impressive considering I only had about 30 lines of notes -- that's nearly one keysmash per 3 notes. Deserved.

Ooof of course it was Thatthep who killed Tongkhao, but making his kid take the fall??? Dude is even worse a person than I thought.

OH that escalated quickly? Good for them

Shshshsh oh no Thaen and Matee are SO death flagged, oh nooo

Chaan, upload that recording somewhere safe NOW, ffs

Ahshshs Tinn barrelling in no holds barred to hug his man right in front of the kid's salad

This Macmansion is an abomination

Aahahajaja this dude coming out with bloody brass knuckles

Dhdhdhhhd SPELLING ERROR I cannot (ญาน // Yaan instead of ฌาน // Chaan)

Communication? In this economy?? (also 👀 Tinn uses the same word, งี่เง่า /ŋîː ŋâw/, here that Pat keeps using in BBS when the subtitles say 'silly')

I love Rose so much

Suicide missions are never a good idea, FFS Chaan

These two is2g, do they have to be so cute???

Omg confession? Also does he though. Does he. Is he capable? Tinn, I believe, but Chaan … Jury is out

This is a pattern of behaviour that I find deeply concerning, Chaan. Just so you know.

FFS Thaen you are on the run WHY WOULD YOU STREAM THAT, make it make sense. Thee, at least you I thought were smarter than that.

OOOF I hope they at least realise they need Thee alive if they want to use him to make Thaen listen

Oh like I didn't hate Thatthep enough already.

Tinn, I wanted you to be smarter than that

Chaan having a change of heart?

Chaan … "Money and power isn't everything" is very easy to say when you have both of those things. Just saying.

Aahahshs of course Tinn broke the bed to get free. Of course he did.

Pretty sure that's not the while truth but Chaan

Damnit Chaan can you not be cruel for once??

Oh man what an ep 11

Awwww

Oh this is going to go so badly

Oh, did he just marry him?

I'm torn between "I can't wait for the next episode" and "no no no it'll be over after next episode!" I hope One31 keeps blessing us with shows like this one, it has been a WILD ride and addictive as all get out. The DRAMA!

[poems-and-wine]

so im looking back at an interactive story thing i made a while ago on my other site. mystery based thing w/ a bunch of hidden notes & stuff since i figured out how to make links invisible

decided to use poems for a couple clues instead of ciphered/encrypted messages

the players didn't notice the acrostic message in one, but they did notice that i did a dumb and rhymed enough with enough in a couple lines.

Gods, Clouded Mind is even chaotic & barely held together on my part than i remember shshshsh

Well, you could use some of mine, or references from the other author's works......also, how could someone miss a clue in a literal mystery game?

[fixfoxnox]

Can’t stop thinking some ideas that popped up in my head last night for the Camboy/streamer AU because i was working late and needed something to keep me sane

- Roach being a smaller streamer and announced he would be having a Subathon and Ghost accidentally (it was not an accident, he’s a simp) donated him too much money and now poor roach has 72 hours worth of stream time mere minutes after he started streaming, he didn’t expect to go that long nor actually getting that much money in one sitting (literally he just sat down) and he’s sitting there frozen in place because why did Ghost, THE GHOST donated so much money, he asks if it was an accident and he would gladly return the money if it was, and ghost who has never spoken in chat before revealed that nope; he’s just…supportive of smaller streamers ( a huge roach simp)

- Roach found out that Ghost/Soap follows his spicy twitter (works for OF too but i have no idea how OF works lol) so he puts on their merch and may have had a little TOO much fun with his photo shoots and his little uh…spicy Video may have accidentally gone viral in the Ghost/Soap community and people are FREAKING OUT, there’s copy cats for other streamers too and Roach almost gets a heart attack one morning when #dicksfortwitchstreamers goes viral and a censored version of his tweet was the top post on the Top twitter Page

Some smaller stuff that i couldnt see fitting in the AU

- Soap convincing Ghost (or vice versa) to join a dating show online, and he someone chooses someone that to the community is really toxic and only joined the game to gain popularity, and while Ghost has no intention of getting to know the person, it didn’t stop roach from absolutely SLAMMING the ever living fuck out of the person in his alt account, and for a bit of Angst, add roach in that dating show too and Ghost turns him down out of pure shyness cause he couldn’t even talk to Roach nor look at him in the eyes without going beet red

- Roach, Ghost and Soap in a compilation together, thats how they found out about him, could be for a video titled “Streamers with Thich accent” or “Cutest Twitch Couples (and its of Jackson and Roach / Price and Gaz/Ghost and Soap of course)”

Now on to the “Ghost is reborn but due not wanting to pursue the same career becomes a streamer instead” streamer/camboy AU

- found Roach by accident while going through the COD tag, Roach is playing the game for the first time and he goes into the stream just as Roach gets shot and he almost goes into cardiac arrest when he hears Roach scream (I know Roach didn’t say anything but lets pretend he did) he actually had to go to the hospital for his panic attack though, doctors still trying to convince him he doesn’t have PTSD (yeah right u fucks)

- as much as ghost wants to ignore this Roach in favour of trying to convince his own roach to join him, there’s just something about the idea of letting go of the past and continuing to live in a universe in which both of them would find comfort and happiness with the same people they once knew

- on one of Roach’s chill stream he mentions he would like to get a tattoo one day, he’s deadly afraid of needles though, maybe he’ll get one if someone holds his hands though :> this is when their friendship had blossomed quite a bit so Ghost goes to his chat to say he would hold his hands, in any universe (and he will never let it go, never)

Reading the top part: 🥰

Getting down to the Ghost remembers part: 🥲😭

I love the idea of Ghost justgetting so hasty to donate to Roach that he

A) Donates way too much without thinking and

B) Forgets to switch to his alt account when he does it sjjdjfjfjfj

I can just see chat losing their mind and Roach is just staring at the screen completely frozen and when Ghost gives his stressed excuse of "I just like to support smaller streamers" within a week people are calling him out like "You've never donated to anyone else 🤨" and he just refuses to address what happened shshshsh

Stealing the Roach dressing in their merch for some of his content idea because YES

It would happen later in the au and he finds out but can't get them to admit it so he starts doing things like that to try to send hints/get them to confess and he's like "Oh I'm sorry I just grabbed something 😇" and when the video goes viral he can literally see Ghost and Soap struggling lmao

Bonus points if he's in the room with them when they find the video on Twitter and gets to watch them have a meltdown while trying not to show it AH

Also I literally have to write the compilation idea as a non-canon oneshot now. I already love Ghost and Soap being jealous of Jackson cause he's in all the videos, but if they think Roach and Jackson are dating before they ever find his content? Then fall for him while thinking they're dating??? THE DRAMA! THE JEALOUSY!

I can just imagine like a video comes out of Jackson somewhere kissing someone or something (just like a fun one time thing for him) and Ghost and Soap are royally pissed on behalf of Roach and even more pissed when Roach posts another video with Jackson. They think Jackson managed to convince Roach to stay with him and they end up making a bunch of passive aggressive tweets about it or something

Drama channels are eating it up and when Roach realizes the tweets are about Jackson he's pissed because that's his best friend tf? JUST THE CONCEPT MAN AH

Also adore the internet dating show idea so much like I can just see Ghost getting to the end with Roach and this other person and he chooses the other person cause he's too nervous to get any further with Roach.

Roach is absolutely heartbroken but he's still like "well I want him to be happy and have a good date" then the video of Ghost and this other person's date comes out and its so clear that there had to be HEAVY editing done to make it seem even slight normal and even with the editing everyone can tell that this other person was bring a bit of a dick to Ghost.

The internet is pissed, naturally, and Roach literally goes radio silent on his main account, but is making the most insane rants on his alt account about how shit this person was and how he (Roach) would have never treated Ghost like that. He literally ends up getting his act account banned from the other persons twitch chat because he is in there cyber bullying to the max.

A few months later when the other persons internet career has essentially failed and gone stagnant, when someone asks him about it on chat the clip of his smug and way too satisfied reaction goes viral ajdjdjjd

For Ghost Remembering Specifically:

God the idea of him getting so excited to find Roach only to immediately have to deal with a PTSD trigger just...oh man. And you know that he probably ended up taking time off from streaming and everything for a bit after and was essentially just dealing with the sudden memories and rise of paranoia and anxiety on his own. Soap helps a bit but he doesn't understand and Ghost doubts he would believe him if he did tell him. God...I feel so bad for him man.

He tried to stay away from Roach's stream but after another conversation with SiTO Roach he just needs to see him. He just needs to see a version of the man he loved being happy and not weighed down by what happened. Roach's streams quickly turn from a trigger for him into a form of comfort to come down from things. If he can see that Roach is happy and alive it helps him work through everything.

With the tattoo thing 😭 I know when they eventually get together they do go get a matching tattoo and within like two weeks there are compilations of Ghost touching the tattoo when he gets nervous or stressed or just needs to calm down.

I also had an idea for Ghost who remembers: he gets like invited to do one of those streamer fights things against a super toxic streamer and he says no cause like...he has a whole life of military experience that he's actually kept up with training wise and he is not going to put someone through it. Then the other streamer makes a video or something shit talking and Ghost is still like insisting he's not going to do it even when his community is pissed. Roach doesn't understand why he's so against it but supports him and ends up like briefly mentioning the situation on one of his streams.

That clip of Roach talking about it and very kindly dissing the toxic streamer goes viral and the toxic streamer responds with yet another video shit talking Ghost, but this time he fucks up and brings Roach into it. Ghost sees the video and see's this Toxic streamers wanna be alpha male community shitting on Roach and he gets pissed. Though he doesn't want to rise to taunts, you absolutely do not fuck with his bug and get away with it. He calls the people back and says he's changed his mind if they still want him to do it.

Naturally he absolutely sweeps the floor with and humiliates the other streamer

GUYS I LOVE THE STREAMER/CAMBOY AU

[alchemist-dazai-osamu]

related to said interactive;

i used 6? ciphers in hidden notes since i figured out how to make links invisible

for a couple clues / notes i decided to use poems instead of ciphers

the players didn't notice the acrostic message in the first one they found, but they did notice that i did a dumb and rhymed enough with enough in a couple lines.

Gods, Clouded Mind is even chaotic & barely held together on my part than i remember shshshsh

Intriguing.

Seems fun! 

[domsaysstuff]

gareth from stranger things for the character ask game?? :D

Shshshsh okay, so this will be mostly my headcanons and whatever fanon things abt him that i liked bc let's be real our boy literally got like three minutes of screentime and also you gave me one of the hardest ones anon because I don't really think that much abt corroded coffin outside their relationship with the rest of the party but!

Give me a character and I will give you my thoughts on:

one aspect about them i love: i love, love, love when people make Gareth a petty little shit? Like yes, hold that grudge and yes, tease your friend on his pathetic gay crush, i believe in a little shit Gareth supremacy™

one aspect i wish more people understood about them: I think a lot of people are making fun things with his character but i have a slight problem with a miniscule part of the fandom. When he broke and told Jason where he could find Eddie I wish people understood that he is also just a child and he at first was all sarcastic abt and it wasn't until Jason got fucking violent that he spilled and it's so understandable that he did? Like you are just a child (16-18 IS still a child), you've looked at a guy who was always just a bark and no bite and suddenly you are on the ground and you don't know what he will do, it might end with a few broken bones it might end with your life, the boy who was just no bite is suddenly a crazed man sniffing for blood and you are terrified. You are just a child. It doesn't make you a coward, it doesn't make you want to stop being someone's friend, it just makes you a terrified child and people who hold it against him just kind of piss me off.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character: oh, oh, oh OKAY SO

I'm in love with child of a single mother with an older sister Gareth, idk he just screams to me like a guy who would have a sister, also just something about him and Dustin just kind of getting eachother in that way. Also I think Gareth was the baby of the group before Dustin, Mike and Lucas with Jeff and The Freak both being a year older than him and Eddie ofc being the oldest of them.

one character i love seeing them interact with: obviously Eddie, but second best is Steve. Idk, i just think their dynamic in fics is nice and I wish we would have more Gareth and Steve becoming friends fics

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more: like i said, steve but also! i would love more takes on how he would take on interacting with Nancy Wheeler sjdjdjs

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character:

I have this little headcanon that him and Eddie met first when they were just children when Gareth was being bullied and Eddie steped in and then got beaten up instead of Gareth. Like he's eight and there are kids bigger than him and they are looking for an easy target which he is and he think it's the end of the world and then suddenly there is this kid, older than him, one which he has never seen before, which is strange because here everybody knows everyone. At least that's what his sister always says, she always complains about it, his mother calls it teenage angst but you can't help but agree. So he should know him but he's never seen anyone this strange around here before, he would surely remember but he's here. He's scrawny and he moves all funny, like his limbs are moving before he thinks where they're going, he has a big black shirt with some scary print on it on, one that covers almost all of him, his head is shaved and he has the biggest eyes Gareth has seen. He's also yelling. Yelling at the kids to get a better target, one maybe more their age. And so they do. Afterwards when they leave, the boy turns to him and grins, his teeth are bloody, there is a split on his lip and dirt on his face and clothes but his eyes are still shining and the smile is genuine and big. "Had worse" he says and makes it sounds like a joke. He laughs and the boy somehow smiles even bigger. He's taller than Gareth and his back is illuminated by the sun. There is a slight breeze making his big shirt flutter behind him, a little like a cape would. Gareth doesn't know this boy, he must be from somewhere else, he must be a hero, like the one from the comics his sister reads.

"I'm Eddie." He says.

"It's a lame superhero name" Gareth says and Eddie laughs.

"I'm not a hero kid" He says kid in the same way all the adults say it.

Gareth looks at his big easy smile and the bruising forming on his face and the shirt that almost looks like a cape and doesn't believe him.

Years later he wishes he wasn't right.

So, that's it! Thank you anon for this!!! 💗💖

Find out my opinion about a character!

[https-furina]

archon, venti, vision, freedom, delusion, adventurers guild, guizhong, rex lapis, barbara, sakura blooms, lantern rite, ganyu and dainsleaf <3

aaaa love of my lifeee<3

archon; "which nation's known 'ideal do you like the most: freedom, contracts, eternity, wisdom, justice, or war?" this isn't fontaine bias at all but !! justice !! but if you know me well enough, you know that i have a degree in criminology (and explains it) but it's just coincidence that justice happens to be fontaine shshs

venti; "which character(s) do you think you'd get actually get along with if you were to meet in person and who do you think you'd actually dislike interacting with?" on the list of people i'd get along with: zhongli, childe, hu tao, beidou, kaveh, nilou, candace, kaeya & venti (together, pls take me drinking /hj), amber, heizou, ayaka, yoimiya, itto and thoma!! on the dislike list, i actually don't think i'd get along too well with bennett? (cries), ningguang (intimidating) and miko (also intimidating, i'd be very much like gorou)

vision; "if you were visionless, how would you compensate for the lack of elemental boost? pure skill and wit or would you invest in some premium fatui-made delusions..." i highkey think i'd pull a diluc with a delusion, go on a 4 year murder spree and become banned in snezhnaya and act like it never happened /j. but i think i'd genuinely be like heizou with wit and intuition? instead of martial arts (although i did karate shshsh) i'd make up for it with archery though <3

freedom; "if you were blessed with a vision, which one would you want to have (and which one do you think you'd actually get?)" i'd want a hydro vision !! but i'm fairly certain i'd end up with an anemo vision oopsie...

delusion; "what are your genshin unpopular opinions?" following metas is boring ): if you wanna focus on builds and teams that make sense and have good compositions, fair enough!! but also you don't have to do that, you can make teams out of whatever the hell you want. don't want to put an artifact set everyone recommends onto someone? don't! want to make someone a main dps who isn't typically one? do it! i'm a mix of both but like it's so annoying when people comment on others' teams. if it works for someone and they enjoy it, why the hell not <3 another one (which is gonna be controversial i apologise) but the community leans heavily towards mlm ships and seem to dislike wlw ships more and more. lyney x scaramouche is currently a ship but i saw people shunning clorinde x navia ???

adventurer's guild; "which genshin group would you align yourself with?" okay so i'm not 100% on the groups but perhaps 4ggravate? (i'm like someone put all four of them in an afab body) and also the losers who like books (alhaitham, xingqiu, lisa)

guizhong; "which characters have your favourite aesthetic and/or design?" alhaitham (aesthetic, if you've seen my bedroom + phone it's literally his colours), lyney (aesthetic + design), kirara (design), kokomi (design + aesthetic) <3

rex lapis; "what's your favourite cultural aspect of each of the released nations?" hmm okay, does windblume count for mondstadt? because i hecking adore windblume so badly - liyue would be the architecture !! inazuma is the shrines and their torii gates, sumeru is their attire and fontaine is food <3 if they all count shshshsh

barbara; "you're a tourist traveling teyvat, which locations in the game would you want to visit in person?" windrise, guyun stone forest, wuwang hill, dragonspine !! the grand narukami shrine + tenshukaku, serpent's head, watatsumi (all of it hehe), pardis dhyai, devantaka mountain, mawtiyima forest, opera epiclese and elynas !!

sakura blooms; "what is/are your favourite world quest(s) you've done?" the heckin melusines !!! and also neko at the asase shrine <3

lantern rite; "what is your favourite cutscene in the game so far?" i have too many favourites aaaa !! possibly the parade of providence event cutscene though <3

ganyu; "which character's rerun are you waiting for desperately?" albedo. hoyo. hand him over. (:

dainsleif; "what theory do you have about the lore and the archon's involvement with the destruction of khaenri'ah?" my current fave theory is celestia clearly destroyed khaenri'ah because khaenri'ah didn't believe in them? and i believe that khaenri'ah was possibly a very technologically advanced country - maybe so advanced that it scared celestia into using the archons to do their bidding. obviously we may not know because of his contract but i like to theorise that zhongli doesn't like khaenri'ah's blood on his hands but he made a contract with celestia to not tell the truth as to what happened.

[darlingpwease]

shh shshshsh– im happy you do like my writing tho :))) you sound like my friends like that, but it's pinching with them lol

Oh, well I guess we do all do different things for 'me' time. My brain usually shuts off when I do those things lol,, I'm glad that what you do is helps shut off ur brain for a bit :)) I do hope ur work isn't too stressful (I couldn't even forget it rn even if I tried 😒) was it really in yesterday's post?? The only thing I can think of that was somewhat smooth was the Yuuta addiction thing???? Idk–

(I feel like I've aged 10 years because of this haha :')) /hj I know that some of the group members wouldn't be pleased but I'm to drained to really care atm. Good news? We managed to do quite a lot yesterday and now we're just organizing everything. Bad news?? We're all super fucking exhausted and are still stressing that we have a very short amount of time for post. bunny face?? I do, but when you go around being too sweet, of course I get at least a few from you >:(( /t)

I slept in so I think thats a good thing, right?? Once I finish this I'm gonna sleep as much as I can.

...ah... WORM???

I do try to be flexible lol, but I really do like that!! I love when colors mix together well, but things such as earthy tones, nude tones, pastel ones, just soft and/or nature-like colors in general I guess?? are some of my favorites. But I really like different shades of them too,, I also like how they all can correlate to some things or match with things as well, I could go on lmao /neu What?? Of course not!! Do I have to reiterate what I said??? /ht

I can't tell which one would be worse <//333– probably the first one times a trillion well of course I'd stay with the box. I think dying in it would be unsightly tho

-panna cotta

ajshjs don't shush me!!! i'm in great sadness, fruitcake wrote to me again, ahahah, do I have to read and be touched again??? how awful :(((( 🤨🤨🤨 look at him, he looks as if he immediately switched from an anxious mood to a complacent one🤨 that is, it's not pinching with me??? I, I feel betrayed; I will try to follow their example!!! obviously, someone (ex. cocotta) react to the method of punishment more than to encouragement, which is very contrary to what the modern school of management says, you know? it's outrageous 3:<<< /t /hj

... you doing??? my brain calms down only when I don't allow anything to analyze or reflect,,,, If I have to communicate or think about myself, it's always making plans and calculating the best moves — especially if it's games or future... on the other hand, I think if you used your brain more, you would be more tired & would understand the principle of sleep, — and would be taller, — so your brain is more of a curse😔 /t /j [work in the sense of "brain activity", not in the sense of "somewhere where they get money or work experience" — I can still afford the life of a rake😋 not counting volunteering, donating blood, working with some documentation...] (I could say the same about our past messages, but given your forgetfulness, I'm afraid I have to make sure that you remember that you sent me a message yesterday🤨🤨🤨) ... wow, is that your social skills & hint recognition getting... better?😦😧😯😲 impossible...... /t /hj /pos

(apparently, now you're the senior sibling instead of me, huh? /t /j well... but this is the experience of working in a very short time. most deadlines at work will sound like "when did we have to do work?" "yesterday," so it's good if you get that kind of experience early, even if it's, um, not the best way to get it</3 just make sure you're not trying to go ahead of the engine and rest, okay? don't make me crawl out of the blanket to carry you there<//3 yes, a bunny face. when you look with frightened innocent eyes, as if you are trying to convince everyone around you with a more temperamental personality to "attack" you; I'm sure when you're nervous and scared, you make that face ://// /t /hj me? sweet? didn't you tell me I was a 'rotten crumb'? so fickle, so fickle~ don't blame me when we both know it's you too sweet<333 /t)

... does this mean that you will sleep 'a lot' or 'a little'??? because in your case, it has a lot of interpretations, even if I'm sure that this cocotta brain probably assumes "a lot" — I know how cunning you are, I can't let you slip like that ://///

you were caught by the tail of course!!! don't you remember how you agreed to become a worm~?<3333 /100% srs & 100% gen hehehe silly forgetful panna cotta >:3333 /t /j /nsrs

... peacemaker<///333 yes, yes, I realized that you are harmless and accept and love any color & shade, stop being so sweet</3 I myself am about to start caries from you</333 /t /j /nsrs pastel shades and gold are the best honestly but what about snails?🤨🤨🤨 what did you say? what won't you say when you have someone??? I can't trust your words — what if I kiss the already taken panna cotta??? I can't be an 'other crumb', I'd rather be not-kissed and lonely, but proud</33333 /t /j

because it's not one of them!!! I know you don't mind, hey, don't be shy<333 we haven't sorted out your clothes yet and the fact that people are naked under their clothes, so don't be so timid, we still have so much to discuss<3333 /t /j wrong. none of them. you didn't pass this test 3:<<< ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? why??? aren't my pocket and my hands better??? I'm going to recognize this as tyranny and insubordination, besides the fact that you've already shown how unfaithful you are!!! 3:<<<<<<

[imfandomtrashokay]

see here's an example of opportunities for fun >(ideas>⚟ i was talking about

oh also i changed the >(second half>⚟ <- of it to use > instead but you probably noticed that

i just found this https://www.autohotkey.com/ and my first reaction was "i think i can automate the >(silverfish>⚟ thing with it"

and i >(could>⚟ and i >(did>⚟

faster than i could ask myself why or if i'm wasting my time

https://mega.nz/folder/xHglUZrb#hca5i20IaPA0M-yvBeI7iw

and to answer what you said on the last ask, does it look like i wasn't going to??

FIRST STOP LEAVING SAD THINGS IN MY INBOX HAHDSAKJFHG I'm just a forgetful busy guy shshshsh Also I love htat a l o t, typing quirk typing quirk >:)) Tbf is it a waste of time if it's f u n?? I think that makes it worth it even if the solution you got is cool as shit! Not at all!! I just wanna encourage oc creation bc I'm silly< 3

[danurso]

Poltergeist AU

Team RWBY is peacefully enjoying their time in the dorm, everything seemed nice and quiet until Nora happened.

Nora: *kicks door open* GIRLS!!! EMERGENCY!!! CODE RED!!!

Weiss: *sighs, massaging her temples* How many times do we have to ask you to not kick the door open like that?

Nora: SHUT UP!!! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!

Ruby: what's the emergency this time? Did you run out of pancake dough again?

Nora: NO!! That one is emergency code fluffy!!

Ruby: Then, what happened this time?

Nora: *inhales* JAUNE IS BEING HAUNTED BY A GHOST!!!

Blake: *covering her cat ears* Can you please stop yelling?

Nora: I CAN'T!!! I ALWAYS SCREAM WHEN I'M IN PANIC!!! AND RIGHT NOW I'M VERY MUCH IN PANIC!!!

Weiss: don't tell me you still believe in something stupid like ghosts.

Nora: IT WAS REAL!!! I SAW IT!!!

Weiss: *rubbing her temples* I can't believe it. How can you, a huntress-in-training, admitted by one of the four great Huntsman academies still believe in something so childish like ghosts?

Nora: BECAUSE I SAW IT!!!

Weiss: Of course you did, just like ruby saw santa claus invading her house to leave her presents when she was still a child.

Ruby: BUT I DID SEE HIM!!! HE'S REAL!!!

Weiss: *rolls her eyes* of course you did ruby.

Ren: *walks in* She's telling the truth.

RWBY: what?

Ren: As hard as it is to believe, I saw it too.

Nora: HA!!

Yang: Wait, wait, so you two saw the ghost?

Weiss: Are you sure you two didn't just hallucinate or something of the kind?

Ren: We both saw the exact same thing, jaune was walking on the corridor carrying some books, and there was a nearly transparent girl following him.

Nora: IT WAS A GHOST!!!

Weiss: This is ridiculous, ghosts aren't real.

Nora: YES THEY ARE!!! AND WE'LL GET RID OF THEM ALL!!!

Ren: or at least just the one haunting jaune.

Nora: WORKS TOO!!!

Blake: even if this ghost is real-

Weiss: which it isn't.

Blake: how do you plan to destroy it?

Nora: that's easy!

Nora bolts out of the room, leaving the confused group behind, and not even five seconds later she's back dressed up as a priest, with a cross in one hand and the bible on the other.

Nora: We're gonna exorcise that evil spirit from the realm of the living!!

Blake: Do you even know how to conduct an exorcism?

Nora: Of course I do!

Blake: how?

Nora: *pulls out her scroll* I found a tutorial on schnoogle.

RWBY: *deadpans*

Nora: Let's go my fellow ghostbusters! We have paranormal legs to break! *bolts out of the room*

Weiss: this is so stupid.

Yang: Yeah, but I don't have anything better to do soo. *puts on a ghostbusters jacket* GHOSTBUSTERS!!!

Ruby: where did you get that jacket?

Yang: *bolting out of the room* WAIT FOR ME NORA!!

Ruby: . . .i guess we're going on a ghost hunt.

Weiss: OR, instead of wasting our precious time, we could study for oobleck's te-

Ruby: ghost hunt it is!!

Weiss: *sighs* Of course, why do I still bother?

*At the courtyard*

Nora: *hiding behind a pillar with RWBYR and whispering* there he is.

Jaune: *sleeping under a tree with a book on his chest*

Weiss: All i can see is an idiot who enjoys wasting time, where is the so-called ghost?

Nora: shshshsh! Wait for it. . .

Ruby: . . .

Weiss: . . .

Blake: . . .

Yang: . . .

Ren: . . .

Weiss: i still can't-

Nora: there it is!

As Nora said that, they all noticed what seemed like a girl approaching jaune, she was transparent like ren and nora said, but they could notice that she was wearing a white dress and had long red hair.

Yang: what the. . .

Ruby: is that. . .

Nora: I said I wasn't seeing things. Whatcha think ice queen?

Weiss: *rubbing her eyes* that can't be a ghost.

Blake: *eyes wide* it looks like one.

???: *kneels in front of jaune, picking up the book and placing on the floor*

Ruby: what is it doing?

???: *slowly reaching out to him*

Nora: she's gonna possess him!! Ghostbusters!! Pull out your crosses!!

Weiss: what cro-

R_BY/_N_R: *pulls out a cross*

Weiss: *deadpans* of course you all brought crosses

Nora: Ghostbusters!! Attaaaaack!!

RWBY/_N_R: *charges at the ghost* RRAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

Nora: Get away from our fearless leader, you evil spirit!! *pulls out a vial of holy water and throws it at the ghost*

The spirit hissed in pain as the holy water made contact.

Nora: bullseye!!!

Yang: nice nora!

Ruby: *holding up the cross* Get away from him you monster!

They all cheered and the ghost seemed to fall down defeated, but it didn't disappear, instead it seemed to get bigger and bigger.

Blake: err. . . .nora?

Weiss: W-what's going on?

Nora: I think. . . .i should have brought more holy water.

???: RHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

It let out a deafening screech, turning to them and revealing its deformed face.

RWBY/_N_R: AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

They screamed in panic at the sight of the creature and bolted as fast as they could, leaving jaune behind with the monster that slowly shrunk back to its normal size.

Jaune: *groaning* ugh. . . .what's with the noise.

???: Oww. . .

Jaune: *sits up, seeing an beautiful redhead ghost sitting next to him and rubbing her shoulder*

???: Oww, oww. . .it hurts. . .

Jaune: Pyrrha? What happened to you?

Pyrrha: Your friends, they threw holy water on me, and it burns.

Jaune: Oh no. are you okay!?

Pyrrha: Yes, but I accidentally let them see me angry and scared them. I'm so sorry jaune.

Jaune: *relieved sigh* No no, it's okay, I should've known this would happen. if i had told them about you they wouldn't have done that.

Pyrrha: It was my fault, I showed myself in the open.

Jaune: but why?

Pyrrha: *red* i. . .i just wanted to look at you, you look cute when you're sleeping. . .m-maybe lay down a bit too.

Jaune: *pink* I see, well, just try to be more careful next time, okay?

Pyrrha: okay.

Jaune: *hugs her* I don't wanna risk losing my girlfriend to a random exorcist out there.

Pyrrha: *hugs him back* you won't, i promise.

Jaune: thank you.

Pyrrha: You're welcome, but. . . .

Jaune: what?

Pyrrha: I don't think there's anyone left around so. . . *Red* can we stay like this a little bit more.

Jaune: *chuckles, resting his head on hers* you're really cute, do you know that?

Pyrrha: *redder* y-you say it too much.

Jaune: because it's true. . .and it makes me love you even more.

Pyrrha: *even redder* y-you're going to make me die aga-

Jaune: *silences her with a kiss*

Pyrrha: *melts on it and kisses him back*

Cardin: *at distance, watching arc making out with the air*

[sunshinereddie]

hey! hope this works as a distraction but what got you into it and writing in the first place? and whos your favorite, who resonates most with you? im sorry and i get how youre feeling, and also sometimes typing sucks when youre stressed so uhh ,,

hi lovely <3 i first got into it back in 2017 when i heard that there was a movie coming out, but i wanted to read the book first, and i really enjoyed reading it! i watched ch1 when it came out and i also really liked it, but never really got into the fandom and tbh kinda forgot about it…. but when ch2 came out, i rewatched ch1 and then immediately watched ch2 after and idk what was different the second time around but i just completely fell in love with the losers club! i really wanted to join the fandom this time around, so i did, and well here we are :)

i first started writing a reeeaaaaal long time ago, i think i was in like grade 5 or 6… my friend and i used to write stories with each other all the time and as i got older it was just something that i really enjoyed doing. i started specifically writing fanfic when i was 13 i think, and that’s mostly all i’ve been writing ever since shsksjdns i started writing puppy love pretty much immediately after watching ch2, because i just really wanted to write some fluffy reddie and teenage losers :’) (tbh i was only planning for it be a reddie prom one shot, or maybe a few chapters, i wasn’t planning on it to become an actual long fic shshshsh)

i think my favourite loser is….. ahhh i can’t choose sjsndbsn! it’s been a while since i read the book so i can’t really remember their book characterizations, but i just love them all in the movies <3 (although 1990s eddie will always be dear to me….) as for who i resonate with…. i think probably richie or ben. with richie, when i was watching his struggle with his sexuality and self acceptance… oof i’ve been there. and with ben, i could really relate to him with his feelings of feeling out of place and alone (until he becomes friends with the losers ofc), i’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for him.

aaahhh sorry for such a long answer :> but thank you for the ask! it definitely kept me busy for a while and made me focus on responding instead of worrying about other things… <3 <3

[genshinarchives]

I was gonna send a request but had to remind myself i should check request notice lmao so instead lets talk about how much of a simp I am for tighnari. Got him my 20 pull, my friend told me to try to get his weapon, lost the 50/50 because of zhonglis weapon and i didnt stop wishing so I now have to recover prob a 500$ of my savings also did you read his birthday line its so good

Shshshshs sorry I'm so slow with my requests, but now that I'm back in Saudi (I literally just landed in the airport as I'm typing this-) I should be able to go full speed ahead with them 🏃‍♀️

US 🤝 I RECENTLY BECAME A SIMP FOR TIGHNARI AFTER READING HIS VOICELINES AVSISHAOSSIW 🥲 His birthday line made me really soft, Tighnari is surprisingly warm-hearted *sobs and slams my fists on the table*

Also $500?! I read that as $50 at first- Reminds me of the time I spent £650 to get C6 Heizou and got C4 Kazuha in the process lul

Either way congrats on your pulls! Just pretend vortex vanquisher never existed ✨

[cloudsarecoolman]

luca was such a good movie guys oh my god guys the ending was so satisfying in the bittersweet pixar movies way. i mean everyone knows this but each character gets their peace with their own personal struggle, even if it hurts to not get their wildest fantasies they learn that some dreams have to be discovered instead of chased, y u h so giulia found her peace with herself by completing the race or ending the “reign of terror” whatever the exact wording is she stops needing to push herself to win and finally lets go which is shown by the way she says next summer they (her alberto and luca) should have fun for once and that was an amazing moment, luca got his peace by unlearning the misunderstandings and looking for more answers, and also a place he belongs where he doesn’t feel like a castaway cause he never felt welcome in the ocean and he never felt welcome on the land he really felt at home when julia and alberto showed him he didn’t need to belong, that he could be an underdog and still win, and alberto a l b e r t o m y b e l o v e d got his peace when he decided to stay with giulia’s father, the entire movie he was always trying to stay by luca’s side and in his darker moments make luca believe that he was dependent on alberto because he was afraid of the only friend he’d found leaving him like his dad did and he couldn’t stand the thought of being alone again, he wanted to believe luca needed him because he knew he needed luca or at least someone to give him an escape from that island and he pretended to have all the answers and be completely trustworthy because he was all he had to trust for a long time and if he was ever wrong then he wouldn’t even be able to trust himself, so his ending was that he accepted the fact that he and luca were wrong about the vespa and their dreams needed to take other forms to be reachable, he stayed with giulia’s father (his adoptive father shshshsh) and let luca go because he knew luca would come back, he knew he’d be okay on his own and luca left knowing he would always have his friend to teach him how to navigate the world, no matter how shabby he was at it, since he’d taught him everything he knew and then giulia corrected it of course cause she’s awesome but y’know if ya think about it in a way luca and alberto traveled the world together everything luca learned at school he’d of course teach to alberto as well and maybe alberto would let himself be taught and trust someone other than himself, anyways uhhhhhh she/they giulia anyone

i’m too unstable to watch movies.

[marshmallow-phd]

Catching Rain

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: You were more than satisfied with your life. You attended a nice college, had nice friends, a nice boyfriend. That’s what your life was: nice. You weren’t looking for anything more, so what were you to do when this seemingly harmless boy walked into your life and turned your nice little world into one much more dangerous?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Epilogue 

**

Cheerful mess was the understated way of putting the current scene. Tonight was the first evening of a long sleepover at the farmhouse. It was a holiday weekend which meant you had unlimited access to Minseok for three whole days. 

The two of you had been "together" for about a few weeks but it felt more like a lifetime. You and him fit together like puzzle pieces, like that Greek myth of the origins of people and soulmates. Both of you had walked the earth for years, not even realizing what you could have been missing. You didn't feel complete, necessarily, but… more. 

"You're going to run out of battery here soon," Minseok teased.

You were sitting up on your knees clicking picture after picture of your favorite subject. How could you stop when nearly every angle of his face was so fascinating? He looked sharp then soft then older then younger. You wanted to capture every possibility. 

"It's not going to die," you said as you checked the focus. "It's still on full battery. You're stuck with this for a while." 

"I'll endure it. Only because it's you."

"Are you camera shy, wolf boy?"

Minseok's answer was a low growl. He reached out and pulled you down for a kiss, careful to not crush your camera. Somehow he managed to pry the device from your hand and place it on the floor while keeping you occupied. 

"(Y/n)?"

"Hm?"

With soft eyes, he caressed your cheek. His lips were taunt, tension creating the tiniest lines around his pink mouth. 

You propped yourself up on your elbows. "What is it?"

"There's… something we need to talk about."

"Okay?" Sitting up all the way, you braced yourself for whatever he was about to expose.

Minseok kept his eyes down, fidgeting with the sheets between his fingers. "I'm sure you've noticed how… protective I've been lately?"

Protective was probably the soft way of putting it. Since you and Minseok officially accepted the bond between the two of you, you'd spent nearly every day up here at the house, soaking all the time with him that you could. It was impossible to ignore the way he shifted closer to you when one of his brothers walked into the room or the subtle growls if they said something cheeky. While it took time to get used to, you'd shrugged it aside, owing it up to his supernatural nature. It had never gotten too much out of hand or uncomfortable for you. Apparently, there was much more to it than a simple instinct.  

"The reason I've been like that is because you're my mate."

You snorted. "Yeah, I kind of figured that."

"But not just my mate." He let out an elongated sigh. "My unmarked mate."

You held up a hand, palm facing out. "Okay, hold up. Unmarked? Like… I have to get a tattoo?" 

Minseok snickered. "No. There's no ink involved." He sat up. Fingers soft and tender, he traced the outline of your neck and shoulder. "When a wolf finds their mate, they are protective. And… we need a way to tell other wolves that their mate is under that protection and not to… touch them… for a lack of a better explanation. So, we mark our mates. Once that happens, our instincts calm down a bit. Or so I've been told." 

"Okay." You clicked your tongue a few times, processing this new information. "You're asking to mark me? Is that it?"

Minseok chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Okay," you said. Nerves were brewing in your stomach. Though the answer seemed obvious once ink was ruled out, you still asked, "What does that entail?"

Scooting closer to you, Minseok kept eye contact. "I have to…." Blush exploded on his cheeks. He scratched the hairline behind his ear. 

"To do what?"

"I have to bite you."

"BITE ME!"

"Shshshsh." Minseok pounced on you, covering your mouth as he pinned you to the bed. He cocked his head to the side as if listening for additional noise. Right. Supernatural hearing. The house was full of extraordinary ears. When no one came, he eased off. "It won't hurt. I'd make sure of it."

"But you have to bite hard enough to leave a scar," you said. 

Minseok nodded. "I'd… distract you."

You started to imagine what he meant by that. You cleared your throat. "I guess I can go along with that." 

Those were the magic words, apparently. He grabbed your face like he did that night downtown and kissed you deeply. A rush of giggles bubbled in your throat. They grew louder and louder until-

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Can you guys keep it down? Its getting annoying!"

Minseok half-groaned, half-sighed. "Jongdae."

"Just let him be," you said, though you were feeling a little embarrassed yourself. "Some people just don't like being around couples."

"You're right." A mischievous smirk pulled at his lips. "But I still hope that he's next. It would help loosen him up."

"Maybe."

"Until then, we'll just wait until the house is empty." 

You smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

**

On the morning of the last day of the holiday weekend, you were a little sad. The nonstop Minseok time was coming to an end. But alas, it was inevitable so you rolled with the punches. 

Minseok was already downstairs when you woke up. You freshened up before deciding to join him. 

Several of the boys were sitting around the table eating breakfast as they chatted happily. Minseok had a full plate in front of him waiting for you before the others could shovel it down. When he saw you enter the kitchen, he waved you over. You took the empty seat next to him. 

"Hungry?" he asked. You nodded. He slid the plate over to you along with eating utensils. 

Junmyeon walked in then, a newspaper in his hand. He must have run to town early this morning. Tossing the newspaper down on the table, he sighed.

"What is it?" Sehun asked. 

"There was another death on Saturday," Junmyeon announced. 

"What? Why are we just hearing about it?" Minseok asked. 

"The police kept it quiet. Its just now hitting the newspapers. I got an email last night from the university."

Baekhyun frowned. "Why did you get an email?" 

"The hiker was a pre-med professor from the University. The board wanted to prepare the rest of us."

Yixing reached for the newspaper and scanned through the article. 

“We need to find this guy and stop him," Chanyeol said worriedly.  

Kyungsoo nodded in agreement. “He’s bringing too much attention.” 

“The last thing we need is for some vigilante hunter coming into the woods,” Jongin added. 

You swallowed, unable to keep eating. The image of a hunter with a gun was making your stomach churn. “That won’t happen, right? Minseok?” 

“Everything will be alright.” Minseok reached over and squeezed your hand reassuringly. Rolling his eyes, Jongdae stood up and left the room. 

“He just doesn’t like me, does he?” you asked quietly. Though the two of you would joke about Jongdae needing a mate of his own to loosen him up, you couldn’t help but feel it was more personal than that. 

“Jongdae takes a long time to warm up to anyone," Junmyeon said. "Don’t stress about it.” 

You pursed your lips. “Easy for you to say.” 

“Don’t worry, the rest of us like you.” Baekhyun said happily as he munched on a cookie. “Especially if you keep making goodies like this.” 

You had gotten a little bored last night while the pack went on a run, so you went through the cabinets and found ingredients to bake a few… dozen cookies. There were approximately three left at this point and you were worried that it might become an outright war for the morsels. 

Minseok starred at Yixing, who was lost deep in thought, reading the article over and over again. “Yixing? Is something wrong?” 

“This hiker was my professor," he explained. "I’m just worried about what the consequences of another death could be.” 

“You sound so morbid,” Sehun complained.  

“Campus will be in an uproar tomorrow when we get back,” Minseok commented. To Yixing, he asked, “Do you think they’ll cancel your class?” 

Junmyeon answered instead. “No. In the memo we got they said they would combine her classes with others.” 

“Seems a bit weird,” Baekhyun said. 

Junmyeon shrugged. “It's the option they went with. Yixing, you should be getting an updated schedule and syllabus in a day or so. As for us, we're going to up our presence in the woods. Take shifts running perimeters."

"Is that safe?" you asked. The last thing you wanted was for Minseok to get hurt. Or any of them, really. You were growing attached to the pack as a whole. 

"We're supernatural creatures," Minseok smirked. "There's more of us than of him. If anything, its him to be worried about."

You nodded, but your concern didn't ease up. Your own instincts told you this wouldn't be as cut and dry as the pack was making it sound. They may know what they were capable of, but they weren’t invincible. You had to agree with Yixing. There were to be consequences of this new death. But that was the thing about consequences: they could be either good or bad. Only time would tell what they would be. 

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

He’s practically flying through the woods.

There’s no sense of fatigue as he slays another Stalkoblin, and keeps running.

“Son?! Hello?? Anyone!?”

The captain continues down the familiar twists and bends. Dead trees seem to bare fangs, and whispers seem to taunt him. But it’s all familiar. It’s all been done before.

Finally, there’s a spot of green in the distance. 

His sprinting turns to running, turns to jogging, to a hasty walk. The Royal Guard’s sword is at the ready, and he swings at stray ferns and branches as he descends further in the collapsed tree trunk.

Though night has fallen, the air seems to brighten as the forest comes into view. Moonlight sifts through translucent green canopies, and the fragile light blankets on the lush, vibrant earth. The air is crisp, with a faint breeze swaying at loose leaves and twigs. There’s the distinct aroma of roasted mushrooms somewhere, and it nearly makes Arcadius forget why he’s here.

His boots catch the dew of the grass as he walks. 

“Son?” he calls out. 

There’s not even an echo. 

The captain treks further into the lush gardens of Korok Forest. There’s a patter of wood to his left,and out the corner of his eye he catches glimpses of Koroks in the trees. 

He makes it to the open clearing.

“No… Please...”

The cracked ancient stone surrounds a humble pedestal. Flowers bloom at it’s corner.

It’s empty.

“Son?” he calls out again, a bit louder and more frantic this time. Someone quickly shushes him, and he looks down.

“Shshshsh!!” A Korok, as small as can be, tugs at his bootstrap. “Quite Mr, quiet! You’ll wake him up. He’s tired! He’s tired!”

Arcadius immediately crouches to the Korok’s level.

“Who?! Who’s tired? Is it a boy? Look like me? Fair skin, blue eyes, freckles, dirty blond hair?!”

The Korok spins in a circle several times. “Yes! That’s right! That’s right! He’s dirty, alright! We’ve all been playing all day, my friends, that boy, and me! We had a mushroom meal. Tasty! Tasty!”

The Korok suddenly stops spinning, and falls into the forest floor. “And then he paaaaaaaaaaaaasssed out! Very tired! We gave him a leaf! Haha! Haha!” They keep laughing to themselves, but they gesture with a little pointed wooden limb towards a tree to the side of the forest’s path. Arcadius practically sprints, despite how close it really is.

In the cool shadows of an old, green tree, a boy sleeps soundly. His little blond head rests comfy on a pile of ferns, and he’s curled his body up under a large Korok leaf. On his left is a small bowl, with bits of unattended mushrooms, along with a metal heap of discarded soldier’s gear. 

On the boy’s right, catching the dew of the grass, soaking in the light of the moon, is the Sword that Seals the Darkness. 

Arcadius just falls to his knees.

His vision is blurred for a moment, but he blinks the feeling back. He just grabs a fistful of leaves and says nothing more. Arcadius starts the action to wake his son, but thinks better of it. Instead, he simply stays where he is, watching his son sleep soundly for a long, long moment. It ends too soon.

The Great Deku Tree stirrs.

“Hmmmmm? Is someone there?”

The captain immediately bolts up at the noise, and faces back towards the tree with his blade at the ready in an instant. He says nothing.

“Ah...Arcadius. What a pleasant surprise.”

He scoffs. “Pleasant?! You’ve entrapped my son’s life and future!”

The great tree stretches the branches around it, in a similar motion as one might crack their neck.

“Arcadius...I am sorry. I do not choose these things.”

The captain is practically marching over, knuckles bone white as he clenches his sword. He stands just below the tree, on the bottom right edge of the triangular pedestal. 

“Choose another.”

“The Calamity approaches...this is what must be done.”

“NO.” He scrapes his sword against one of the large rocks, making a hideous sound. “This is bullshit. I was here! I was ready! I have nothing to lose! And you choose a child!?”

The tree takes a moment to frown. “I do not choose these things…”

“Then why’s he here, huh?!” He shakes his head to himself. “You’ve lured him. Probably with false tales of glory and pride and-and…” He starts sputtering to himself. 

The Great Deku Tree sighs. “I did no such thing. Perhaps it was the sword itself. Perhaps it was coincidence. Truly, Arcadius, I am sorry.” 

He bursts out in anger. “I DON’T WANT YOUR APOLOGIES! I WANT TO KNOW WHY MY SON IS HERE!”

There is silence between them. Korok shuffle behind trees behind them.

“He is here…” the tree starts, cautiously, “...to fulfill his destiny.”

“No…” Arcadius whispers. His hands ball into fists again. “No.” He starts heading back to where his son was resting, sorrow on his face.

“You can’t have him!”

Roughly sheathing his blade at his hip, Arcadius ran to scoop up the boy in his arms, hugging him close. “Please. He can’t yet understand. He doesn’t deserve this. He doesn’t deserve...what I went through.”

The great tree is quiet for a moment, but soon the words are found. 

“I am sorry Arcadius, but there is no more time. If the hero does not begin his journey alongside the princess, it could potentially cost lives.”

Arcadius stills, just holding his slumbering boy for a moment, feeling his steady breathing by his neck. He closes his eyes for an eternity, savouring the moment. Then he sets the boy back beneath the tree.

The Deku Tree stretches again. “He is a capable boy. He will be a fine hero, Arcadius. There is no need to worry.”

Arcadius says nothing. He just walks.

“Arcadius?”

The captain picks up the sacred sword, admiring it. “I know why I could never be the hero of courage…”

He turns and walks back towards the pedestal, daring to look back up at the ancient tree.

“It’s because I’m a coward.”

“Arcadius!”

He takes the sword, and steps up to the pedestal. 

“There is a great danger coming to this land! This could cost lives!”

With a shining light, he sinks the sword back into its resting place, once more.

“Arcadius! What are you doing?!”

The man says nothing. He heads back to scoop up his son, swiftly heading for the exit. 

“Arcadius…” Oddly, the tree’s tone is not stern, but sympathetic. “If you do this, this could just as well doom the boy, as well as all of Hyrule.”

He stops in his tracks.

Silence. Again.

He keeps walking. 

“It’s like you said. I’m not nothing. There are still some things I have.” He turns his head, an apologetic expression on his face. “He’s all that’s left.”

A father walks out of the forest in quiet.

[everlarkficexchange]

A Simple Choice

Written by: @justajjfan​​​

Beta’d by: @sunsetsrmydreams​​​

Prompt 83: Katniss is whipped instead of Gale in Catching Fire, Peeta’s the one who’s there to take care of her after. [submitted by anonymous].

Prompt 116: Peeta braids Katniss’ hair to soothe her. [submitted by anonymous] 

Rating: Mature 

Warning: Mention of whipping. Use of coarse language.

A/N: Here’s the next instalment as promised. Sending my thanks and gratitude to @everlarkficexchange​ ; @javistg​ and @xerxia31​ for posting my really late submission and to @sunsetsrmydreams​ for always being there for me.  

~~~

Chapter 3

The gate of the Victor’s Village is just ahead and as I get closer, Katniss starts to stir from her semi-conscious state and tries weakly to pull away from me. I hold her a little tighter, trying to avoid touching her wounds and whisper she’s safe, but she continues to struggle and cries out in pain from her sudden movements.

My steps quicken as Katniss keeps trying to free herself from my arms and when I tell her, “we’re almost there,” she mutters the one name that pierces my heart like a sharp blade.   

“Gale?”

This is the second time I’ve heard his name today but hearing it from Katniss cuts deep and it hurts me more than it should. But I try not to let it show in my voice and bite the inside of my cheek before speaking.

“No…it’s Peeta.”

Katniss mutters something unintelligible but stops fighting me and her tense body relaxes a little as she buries her face in my neck, taking in a deep breath and letting it out as a soft whimper.

There’s no time for my hurt emotions to resurface and when I feel her tears moisten my skin, I try my best to console her.

“Shshshsh, I know you want to be with Gale right now, but you’ll have to put up with me for a little while. It will be okay,” I promise to her. Katniss shakes her head and wraps her arms around my neck, clinging to me even tighter.

Climbing the steps of my house, I fumble with the front door handle and manage to get us safely inside before slamming the door shut with my foot. Standing in the hallway, unsure of what to do next, I try to decide which room I should take her but when Katniss starts to whimper in pain again, my legs move responsively and I’m taking double steps upstairs towards my bedroom.

After laying her as gently as I can face down on my bed, I nervously bite my thumbnail and pace around the room needing a minute to think this through.

Cleaning her wounds is the most logical first step which means removing my now blood-soaked apron from her back and when I do, my stomach heaves at the bloody sight. But Katniss needs me to be strong for the both of us, so I sprint to the adjoining bathroom and splash water on my face to calm myself down then take a few deep breaths before washing my hands thoroughly.

I carefully clean each wound with a damp cloth, making sure to refill the bowl several times with clean tepid water. As gentle as I have tried to be, Katniss grimaces with each dab and my heart sinks further with every pitiful moan she lets out.

When I’m satisfied the wounds are cleaned to the best of my ability, I place a muslin cloth covered with a thin layer of crushed ice cubes on top.

There’s always a tray of ice cubes at the bakery in case one of us burns our hands from the ovens and it helps numb the pain a little, but it also lessens the chance of swelling and painful blisters forming. Although this is nothing remotely like a small burn from the ovens, I figured it might do some good while I wait rather impatiently for Haymitch to bring the medicine.

What is taking him so long?

I know I’m flying off the seat of my pants with all of this healing stuff but as I watch Katniss for any sign of discomfort, the coolness of the ice seeping through the cloth seems to have a soothing effect on her. I assure myself this can only be a good thing and for the first time today, I breathe out a sigh of relief.

Now that I have that critical part under control, there’s no sense in putting off what I’ve been anguishing over for the last few minutes.

Although nudity has never been an issue with me, I know Katniss has always been self-conscious about that sort of thing and I can’t stop thinking how she must have felt as her shirt was ripped from her body in front of Thread and his men, not to mention every citizen in Twelve. She wouldn’t want anyone seeing her naked…except for maybe Gale of course, but under these circumstances I hope she can forgive me for what I’m about to do.

I apologise profusely but she doesn’t complain and offers a slurred “s-kay” as I carefully remove her trousers and then the rest of her soiled clothing including her undergarments. With a clean cloth, I gently wash her skin and the dried blood from her hair with warm water mixed with a few drops of lavender oil my stylist Portia gifted me, amongst other luxury items in her care package.

“Just a few drops in your bath will help relax and soothe your aches and pains…and it smells divine,” I can almost hear her saying.

Once that’s done, I cover the lower part of her body with a fresh linen bedsheet and it doesn’t go unnoticed how thin she’s become. I tell myself I should go to Katniss’ house and grab some clean clothes for her to change into, so I start to make a mental list in my head of some things I think she’ll need.

A sudden loud knock stops my thoughts and has me almost flying downstairs to let Haymitch in.

“Were you making the fucking stuff?” I curse loudly as I fling the door open only to find the Mayor’s daughter, Madge Undersee standing on the other side, cheeks flushing bright pink.

“I’m really sorry Madge, I thought you were Haymitch,” I say, my cheeks heat with embarrassment as I move to the side and gesture for her to come inside, but she shakes her head.

“I need to get back home before I’m missed,” she tells me before handing me a small tin box.

“You’ll find a syringe in there…give it to Katniss straight away. It’s a sedative and will knock her out probably until morning, but it will take the edge off the worst of the pain. There’s also a Capitol grade salve which the peacekeepers use to help fight infection as well as having quick healing properties and from what I saw today, she’ll need every bit. There’s not much but a little goes a long way, just make sure you save a little for yourself,” she says, pointing to my shoulder, and when I take a look there’s a rip in my shirt and a streak of dried blood that I completely forgot about until now.

One thing’s for sure, no matter how many lashes I would have received if Haymitch hadn’t arrived when he did, Katniss would always come first and there is no way I would ever think of using any of this salve on myself. I nod anyway, thanking Madge for her kindness and go to close the front door, eager to run upstairs to give Katniss the medicines.

“I’ll do my best to get you some more,” she tells me.

“Thank you.”

Madge turns to leave but stops at the bottom of the steps, “I just want you to know…what you did back there, even when you thought Katniss was dead. That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do for the one they love. I wish I had someone to love me that way.”

I don’t say anything, offering only a smile in response before Madge turns and starts her way back to town.

“Stay alert!” she shouts before reaching the Victors’ Village gates.

Between Haymitch and now Madge with all of this stay alert stuff leaves me puzzled and somewhat curious, but there’s no time to figure out what it is I’m supposed to stay alert for when I hear Katniss scream.

“Peeta!”

I’m up the stairs and by her side in double time and try to calm her while she screams at whoever to let her go. It must be the peacekeepers who found her or maybe Thread before he laid the first painful lash to her back and hopefully not me, but I can’t be sure.

“Shshsh…It was just a bad dream…it’s not real,” I whisper as I gently stroke my hand over her still damp hair. 

“Peeta!” she cries out again.

“I’m right here,” I hush, and she holds onto me tight.

“He lied! You have to believe me!” her frantic words making no sense.

“You need to rest,” I tell her, too concerned all this jostling about may have caused her wounds to reopen and bleed again to try and make sense of what she’s saying. “I won’t let Thread near you ever again.”

“You don’t understand— AHH! It hurts,” she cries out, the pain stopping her from finishing whatever it was she was trying to say. 

“I know it does and I’ve got you something to help with the pain, but it will make you sleepy,” I say, stroking her hair with one hand to reassure her, the other still holding onto the tin box tightly.

Katniss begins to shake her head, “no…I don’t want sleep syrup…please Peeta, not that,” she pleads with me, making me wonder what’s making her react this way.

“I promise it’s not sleep syrup, but you need to hold still…can you do that for me?” I ask, laying her back down on the bed and covering her naked body again with the bedsheet.

I explain the medicine came from the Mayor’s daughter and show Katniss the tin box which seems to ebb her concerns long enough for me to remove it from the box. I’ve never done this before but neither did Katniss when we were in the cave and as soon as that thought crosses my mind, any hesitation I had passes and I’m injecting her arm with the clear liquid.

A few anxious seconds later and the chemical concoction in the syringe is beginning to work as Katniss loosens the tight grip she has on my arm. Her face takes on a relaxed look and her breathing begins to even out and thankfully starts to drift off to what I hope will be a pain free sleep.

Even though I know Katniss can’t hear me, I speak to her softly and let her know everything will be okay as I brush her hair gently away from her face. It’s then I decide to try my hand at braiding to keep any loose strands of hair away from her back, especially before I apply the salve.

It takes a few attempts as my fat fingers fumble with her hair but she hasn’t uttered a word of complaint and sleeps contently throughout my braiding failures.

The medicine is really working fast.

Lost in thought, I almost forgot entirely about the salve and reach for the tin box again to grab the small jar and unscrew the lid. When I see how little is in there, I try not to let the disappointment show on my face.  

Madge wasn’t exaggerating, but it must be potent stuff if this is all you get.

I dip my finger into the jar and gently apply the clear gel-like salve sparingly over the deepest gashes first then the lesser ones until most of Katniss’ back is covered with a thin sticky layer. I draw in a breath with every touch I place on her open wounds as I carefully spread the salve to ensure each raised welt is treated with an even amount of healing medicine.

As careful as I have been, the jar is empty and I can only hold out hope that Haymitch or Madge can get their hands on another.

***

I watch as Katniss sleeps and having her so close to me for the first time since The Victory Tour ended feels like a luxury. But I’m quick to remind myself this is only a temporary arrangement born out of necessity and I’m probably the last person she would want taking care of her.

I can’t allow myself to get too attached. Katniss will leave the moment she’s well enough.

My mind can’t seem to stop going over the events of today. Dad finally telling me the truth; mother and Delly and everything they did and said; almost losing my mind at the sight of Katniss tied to the whipping post thinking she was dead; Haymitch coming to our rescue. Every detail replaying in my head with one puzzling thought sticking out from the rest.

I move the armchair closer to the bed and reach my hand over to Katniss and instinctively start to gently smooth my fingers down her braid, trying to sort things in my head. So lost am I in the calmness it brings me, my voice follows my thoughts and blurts out the one question troubling me since this morning.

“People said you ran away, but you come back. Why?” I ask softly not expecting Katniss to answer.

“Couldn’t leave you behind,” she utters, her words sounding slurred.

***

She came back…for me.

I rolled her words around in my head through the night and finally convinced myself that it was the medicine talking and to stick to the things I know to be true.

Katniss pushed me out of her life to be with Gale and if that wasn’t bad enough, she planned their escape from Twelve with their families without a single thought of me. Their plan succeeded but for whatever the reason, she came back and that decision almost cost her life.

Could she be a rebel spy?

No! I refuse to entertain that absurd notion and push it right out of my head.

I wrestled with my thoughts for hours before giving up exhausted from the mind battle and even managed to doze off at some point during the night. Sleep didn’t last long and I woke up gasping for breath from my usual nightmare of running in the endless darkness desperately searching for Katniss as she calls my name over and over until her voice fades away.

I’m not sure how or when it happened but at some point during the night, my hand found hers. I must have reached out for her in my sleep, but I tell myself it’s okay and it’s not like she’ll remember much of the past 24 hours anyway. She’s safe and sleeping soundly in my bed and there’s a happy look on her face.

***

Sitting back in my chair, it takes a few minutes for my heart to stop pounding. There’s no use trying to fall back to sleep, it’s almost dawn anyway. So, I slowly untangle our fingers and decide to take a quick shower and change into clean clothes before heading downstairs to prepare some light meals for Katniss.

Dad will understand why I’m not turning up for work today and besides…I don’t think I’m ready to face my mother just yet.

The pot of broth I made for Katniss earlier simmers on the stove top and its delicious smell along with the freshly baked bread just out of the oven, permeates the air. I’m hoping when Katniss wakes, she’ll have an appetite and remembering how she liked to eat a simple breakfast, I made sure to include her favourites.

I’m busily preparing a breakfast tray to take upstairs when I hear a knock at the front door. I smile thinking it must be Madge with more salve or maybe Haymitch who I haven’t seen since he ran off yesterday.

Maybe I’ll finally get some answers.

When I go to answer the door, I’m taken by surprise at the sight of Delly, who let herself in and is standing by the kitchen doorway wearing a rather low-cut dress I’ve never seen before.

Far from the reaction I’m sure she was hoping to get from me, the smile on my face drops. I can’t think of anyone I want to see less right now…apart from my mother.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, with a tone of displeasure.

Delly moves from the doorway and steps slowly towards me, “is that anyway to greet me? You didn’t come to see me last night and I missed you,” she proclaims, gazing around the kitchen until her eyes fall on the food tray set on the table.

“Did you seriously expect me to after you tried to keep what was happening to Katniss from me?” I explain rather coldly.

She steps into the kitchen, swaying her body and smoothing her hands over her dress, “of course I did! You always come by after dinner, nothing has to change because of that silly girl. I’m still your fiancée after all…or have you forgotten?”

It seems I have.

I thought I made myself abundantly clear my future was mine to decide and it doesn’t include Delly, but by the way she just labelled our friendship…it appears I wasn’t clear enough.

“Delly—”

“You hurt my feelings and all I was trying to do was stop you from getting yourself killed. I know you didn’t mean all those things you said, it was all a big shock and you weren’t thinking straight,” she says. “We all say and do things we regret and are sorry for later, but everything turned out okay in the end. I’ve decided to forgive you and put yesterday behind us,” she adds, inching closer to me.

“I’m not seeking your forgiveness and I don’t regret what I did…I’d do it again if I knew Katniss was in danger,” I say, in no uncertain terms.

“This isn’t The Hunger Games, “she says with a snap. “You made it back home alive and now you have responsibilities and a future to plan and under the circumstances, it would be best if someone else took over caring for Katniss now.”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that sounded like something my mother would say and I’m not prepared to listen to this any longer. It’s time I spoke up and set things straight.

“I will be caring for Katniss until she’s well…and exactly who would it be best for?” I question, unable to hide my annoyance by her comments. 

Delly glares at me and her cheeks begin to flush red with anger, her expression taking on a different look far from the one she wore when she first walked in.

“I’m sure your drunken mentor can take over. Isn’t that part of his job?”

“No…and don’t talk about him that way. If it wasn’t for Haymitch, Katniss and I would both be dead by now,” I retort.

“You wouldn’t have been in that position if you listened to your mother and me! We tried to warn you to stay away from the square. You almost got yourself killed and right now…you’re being vulgar and unfair about all of this Peeta,” Delly pouts like a spoilt child. “And I didn’t come here to argue with you,” she says in the same breath.

I clench my teeth recalling how everyone treated me as though I was a child and assumed it was best if I was kept in the dark about Katniss and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

“I don’t want to argue either,” I admit truthfully, and this brings a smile to Delly’s face. “But I think you and I need to sit down and have a serious talk,” I tell her, pulling out a chair and motioning for her to sit.

Delly nods and flicks her long blonde locks away from her shoulders in a boastful kind of way before stepping beside me and as she does, brushes her fingers up and down my arm. I step back and move to the opposite side of the table and take a seat. When she reaches out her hands for me to hold, I don’t take them. 

It’s plain to see what Delly was hoping to gain from this visit and although this isn’t going to be easy for either of us, she needs to hear what I have to say without her conveniently changing the subject. She needs to understand how I feel and how things can no longer go on as they have. If nothing else, Delly deserves my complete honesty.

I take a deep breath not really knowing where to begin, “we seem to have different views on our relationship status,” I start.

She gives me a cold stare and moves her lips to respond, but I’m determined to speak first before she has a chance to turn the conversation around as she so often does.

“Here me out first before you say anything,” I tell her. She rolls her eyes and lets out a huff in petty annoyance, but I allow myself to continue.

“It was my mother who planned for us to meet under the guise of a neighbourly dinner invitation between our two families, but I’m sure you were aware of her plans,” I say and Delly nods. “Mother had been telling me for weeks to move on with my life and when I finally agreed with her, she took it upon herself to make the arrangements without bothering to ask if I was okay with it…

It was awkward, but I thought it would be nice to have a friend I could talk to. Someone I thought I could trust. I did enjoy being in your company and your friendship helped me feel a little less lonely, but it soon became clear to me you were expecting more than friendship and I’m sorry I wasn’t totally honest with you from the beginning. I guess what I’m trying to say is with everything moving as fast as it did, I didn’t know how to react to your advances,” I finally finish saying.

“Well…” Delly sniggers, “I seem to remember you having no problems reacting to my kisses.”

A thump coming from upstairs distracts us both and it definitely sounded like it came from my bedroom. Katniss must be waking which means I need to finish making breakfast and check on her wounds. The rest of this awkward conversation will have to wait for another day and so I move from my seat, ready to ask Delly to leave when I’m stumped by her next comment.

“…in fact, you enjoyed our kisses so much, even your body reacted to them,” she adds voicing it rather loudly.

I hear sounds of movement coming from upstairs and my concern for Katniss intensifies. Without a moment’s thought of how hurtful my words may come across, I’m mouthing them, “if my body was reacting it would be to the image of me kissing someone else’s lips,” I tell her and the smugness on Delly’s face drops. In that moment I regret being so forward, but I see no sense in hiding behind the truth even though honesty can hurt sometimes.

“No matter how hard I’ve tried to forget and move on with my life, I can’t shake her image from my mind…and before you say anything, I know Katniss will never feel the same way about me. But I can’t change how I feel…how I’ve always felt about her and for that I’m truly sorry for leading you on and giving you false hope. It wasn’t my intention.”

Delly shakes her head and reaches for a handkerchief tucked conveniently inside the bustline of her dress to wipe away a tear, but I forge on.

“Yesterday made me realise more than ever, how pointless it is to think I can move on…not when I still feel this way about her.”

Delly slams the table with clenched fists, “How can you say that after everything Katniss Everdeen has done to you. I watched all those broadcasts and saw how you were being manipulated and used by her. She was probably praying you’d eat those berries first so she could claim victory all on her own. Seam only think of themselves!” she practically yells.

I look at Delly…really look at her and for the first time I see a side of her that has been kept well-hidden underneath that bubbly, kind and easy-going demeanour.

“Being Seam or Merchant didn’t matter in the arena. We were just two kids from Twelve trying to keep each other alive. And if your comments were a way to hurt me then it’s probably what I deserve after everything I’ve done.”

“I would never hurt you, not like Katniss has. I’m trying to get you to understand how you’ve wasted practically your whole life fantasising over her and what have you gotten in return?” Delly questions with one breath and answers with the next. “Heartache and pain! She’ll never give you the things I know you’ve always wanted. You could never trust her to be faithful, but I would be,” she says, reaching her hand out to me. “You and I…we can be the perfect little family and I can help you run the bakery, give you strong and healthy sons. All I’m asking is for you try harder to see things my way, the way they should be. In time, that Seam girl will be a distant memory and you’ll finally see I was the right choice all along.”

I shake my head, knowing there will never be a reality to Delly’s hopes and dreams, “do you really want someone who has to try?” I ask, but she doesn’t offer anything in reply.

“From everything you’ve just said, there’s one important fact in all of this you haven’t mentioned,” Delly looks at me with a puzzled look. “We don’t love each other.”

A few seconds of silence pass before Delly speaks, “that’s true, we don’t…but you know as well as I do, Merchant pairings are arranged for good reason. It’s always been that way and I don’t know of anyone actually marrying for love…not at first. My parents certainly didn’t and neither did yours,” she says, and her words ring true.

I’ve never seen my parents kiss much less give each other a loving embrace or show any sort of real affection towards each other. Merchant marriages are simply deemed a satisfactory match by families who would gain the most financially, especially shop keepers without male heirs to take over their business.

“I could never commit myself to anyone in that way…good or otherwise. If I ever marry, it will be for love,” I confess.

“Maybe in time, we can learn to love each other. I do have feelings for you, isn’t that enough?” Delly asks.

“Not for me,” I answer truthfully.

Delly clenches her fists again and it’s clear she’s not happy with my response, “Do you think coming to Katniss’ rescue will make any difference to her? She will never love you the way you want. Are you blind to see it has always been Gale Hawthorne for her? What do you think she’s been doing with him since you both came back…probably even before the reaping? The only difference is they do it in the woods like wild animals instead of the slag heap!” she yells, scrapping the floor with the legs of her chair as she pushes it back to stand in a fit of anger.

I’m taken back by her scornful words that seemed echoed from a familiar source and I’ve heard enough.

“You need to leave now,” I instruct. “I don’t think there’s anything left for either of us to say.”

She tries to argue her point, but I’m done listening and get up from my chair and walk through to the hallway and open the front door as an obvious hint for her to leave. The time for subtleties is over and it takes a moment for Delly to accept our conversation has ended and the outcome wasn’t anywhere near what she had first hoped for.

As Delly walks towards the door, she stops and looks up to the stairs leading to the bedrooms where I’m sure she knows Katniss is sleeping.

“It was a simple plan really,” she says, her eyes still focused upstairs. “All I had to do was get you to have sex with me until I was sure. It worked for your mother and she said it would work for me too.”

I stand motionless with my mouth gaped open, completely stunned by her admission. It’s no secret why my parents are together. It would have been scandalous if dad hadn’t married my mother after she told him she was pregnant with my oldest brother. The fact my mother spoke to Delly and suggested she deceive me in the same way is beyond belief.

“You need to leave and not come back here again,” I tell Delly.

“But—”

“You planned and schemed with my mother and all this time I thought I was the one being dishonest. I can’t believe you would stoop to her level and use deception as a means to get me to what…marry you?”

What I think may be genuine tears start to flow down her cheeks, I find myself unaffected by them and stand at the front door waiting for Delly to leave.

“It was wrong…I know that now but seeing as we’re being open and honest with each other, we can start all over,” she pleads.

“Start over? As what…friends? I’m afraid it’s too late for even that now.”

Delly looks out to the pathway then turns her head to me, “I just don’t get it. At school, there were so many girls lining up for the chance to be your girl, me included, but you weren’t interested in anyone except Katniss Everdeen. She never even gave you the slightest indication she was interested in you, yet you continued to swoon over her and I never understood what she had above us all…I still don’t.”

No one could ever hold a candle to Katniss but how do I explain the depth of my feelings when I don’t understand it fully myself. All I know is it has no bounds and if I were to find enough words to define it, they would be for Katniss’ ears to hear only.

“Maybe one day you will.”

“You’re a romantic fool Peeta Mellark,” Delly says as she takes the first step out of my house. “Katniss will break your heart again the moment she heals. She’ll sneak out of Twelve the first chance she gets and run into the waiting arms of Gale Hawthorne…and his bed.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

“Then why do you still care for her so much?”

Because I can’t let her go.

But I don’t say it and although I wouldn’t say our conversation has been fruitless, there’s already been too much time spent talking when I should have been checking on Katniss instead.

There’s only one thing I have left to say to Delly and I seriously hope she takes heed to my words, “if I can give you one piece of advice to take with you today it would be to forget everything my mother ever told you and never listen to people like her again.”

I’m half-expecting Delly to argue the point but she gives a curt nod and wipes the tears from her eyes. I know this is the conversation we should have had weeks ago but now with everything said and done, it feels like a huge weight has just been lifted from my shoulders.

Delly takes a moment, I guess to let everything sink in before taking another step and stops to look upstairs one last time, “your true love doesn’t deserve you,” she sniffs then starts her walk back to town.

“Goodbye Delly,” I say to myself, closing the door gently behind me and making sure to turn the lock this time.

…tbc