#i had a dream last week that i'd moved out and i wasn't taking early as fuck classes anymore and my friend had a museum job

[walterdecourceys]

i've been having weirdly vivid dreams recently... mostly about moving out. which always upsets me deeply

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Gonna hold you

Gonna kiss you in my arms

Gonna take you away from harm

a/n: So first and foremost, this is an early birthday present to my one and only true mate @brekkershadowsinger. You're an absolute love of my life and I'll never get tired of telling you that! Second of all, be gentle with me I haven't written for Az in a hot minute. 🤍

request: Since your requests are open could I ask for a Azriel x reader scenario? One where they are pinning for each other but someone obssesed with reader seduces/controls her with a enchantment or a spell and suceeds at some point, but our batboy realizes and comes to save her and that's when the bond snaps.

warnings: capture, kidnapping, murder... yeah

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"You're so smitten", Cassian says, trying to catch up with Azriel, who strides past the streets of Velaris. "No, I am not", the male grumbles back, picking up his pace. The two batboys were making their way to the little bakery that had opened not long ago. Well, it wasn't the bakery itself that was the reason for the trip, even if the baked goods there were to die for. It was you and you alone who had Azriel go there every free moment that he had.

"No, but you so are", Cassian said once again, since Azriel slowed down slightly while his thought lingered. "I swear if you don't shut up…", "You will stab me, burry me where no one could find me…", Cassian bent finger after finger as he named all the threats Azriel had made in the past two weeks since you had walked into his life. "But, dear friend, I'm mated to Nesta, so be wary of that", Azriel rolled his eyes at that threat. "As if she doesn't want to leave you in the ditch herself most of the time". To that, Cassian let out a loud gasp, "You take that back", but Azriel didn't even bother as he stepped into the little building, bending slightly since the doors were rather low for his tall frame.

This place used to be an ancient supply store before the war, but the owner never returned. Rhys had worked night and day trying to provide for families, hold their broken lives in his hands, and help them build them right back up. But the town shifted. There were many more new faces. Quite a handful of refugees from different courts have traveled here, full of hope and dreams, and Rhys has welcomed them all. Among that mass was you.

And mother struck Azriel dead, but he had never seen anyone else that was even close to what you were. He doubted that you had any magical powers. But in his eyes, you were the goddess of beauty herself. Someone who felt like a home at first glance. Someone who made it feel right. Who finally made Azriel slow down. Who got him so lost in his own mind that Azriel forgot about the steps in training.

The spymaster caught you refilling some couple's cups with a bright smile, and it was as if the room was glowing alongside you. You lifted your head, probably weary of the eyes watching you, and your face lit up once more. With the last goodbyes, you moved to walk closer to Azriel. Who looked way too big for this tiny place with his broad shoulders.

"Amazing, you're here. I thought I'd have to sit next to this sulking ass all morning", Cassian said, beating you to your first hello and leaving you quietly taken back by his words. Azriel threw him a deathly glare before yanking his man bun backward, causing the soldier to stagger back. "Don't pay him any attention; hit his head during training", Azriel's grip didn't loosen, and you couldn't help but frown slightly. "Ice?", the shadow singer hummed. "If it's not too much trouble, and two cups of tea while you're at it". You nod quickly before rushing towards the back room. "If you'll open your mouth one more time", Azriel glared at Cassian, who looked more like a toddler who just got a proper scolding from his mother than a scary Illyrian, "I'll sit still and look pretty, soldiers promise".

Azriel wasn't sure why he took Cassian with him in the first place, but he just had to. A part of him was scared. He got nervous around you. It was like all of his systems would overheat, and he would start ranting the most stupid nonsense, looking like an absolute loser. And well, no one besides Cassian knew about the feelings blossoming in the spymaster's heart. He was the one to point out that Azriel had fallen for you. The one who encouraged his brother to go offer you help with getting the bakery ready. The one who told him how to compliment you from time to time, even if it came out slightly weird at times. Azriel had never truly taken a liking to someone to this extent. So he needed backup, and well, Cassian was the best he got.

"You sure you don't need to see a healer?", Azriel snapped his gaze up, watching as you carefully pressed the pack of ice to Cassian's head. "I'm a worrier, lady; I've seen worse", Cassian's fingers brushed yours as he took the pack from your delicate fingers. A part of Azriel grew jealous. He wouldn't call himself territorial, and well, you weren't his, but still, it just didn't sit well with him. "And I made you tea how you like it", Pushing the cup towards the shadow singer, you smiled lightly. "Dash of milk and some honey", "Thank you, Y/N.", Azriel gave you a tight smile. Cassian nudged him under the table slightly, but it didn't seem to change much.

Your eyes scanned the bakery; considering that it was still pretty early, you didn't have too many customers to tend to, so you pulled the chair for yourself, wanting nothing more but to stay in the Illyrian presence for as long as possible. "The paint for the walls came", you muttered quietly, "I didn't open all the cans but had to peek to see the color", a light giggle escaped your lips, and Azriel wished he could hear that sound forever. "Do you have someone to help you?", Azriel never really liked that his voice sounded so harsh compared to yours, but he just didn't know how to make it sound more gentle. You shook your head. "Brian still can't move his arm; the healer said it has to stay wrapped for at least a couple more weeks". Brian was an older male who came along with you. You had told Azriel that he was the closest thing to family you had ever had, and so Azriel grew to respect the man who had given up a lot just so he could provide for you.

"I can come by and help; the next couple of evenings are free for me", Azriel said, but you shook your head, "I can't ask the spymaster of the night court to help me paint the walls". It was nice for him to offer, but this was too much. They had all done way too much already. "Don't worry, Azriel over here is capable of many things", Cassian said, clapping his brother on the shoulder, "Getting dirty just happens to be one of them", and Cassian was surprised that his head didn't meet the tabletop after those words.

Azriel did return to the bakery that same evening. The place was much more lively. All the tables were occupied, and you were twirling around them like a little bee, buzzing away with a never-ending smile on your face. Your light was the first thing that made you way out of his league. Everything you were, Azriel wasn't, and all he could think of was how he would stain you with his darkness.

"We don't have free tables, but I can make you a spot by the counter if you want?", Azriel jumped slightly at the sound of your voice. Mother, he needed to stop daydreaming around you so much. It was not good for his image, yet he just can't seem to keep his head in check. If beforehand all he could think about was work and the past, now it was all occupied by you.

"I can always just stay here", Azriel blurted out, gesturing to the side of the street, making your eyes grow big. "And eat on the ground, no way". Your much smaller hand grabbed his palm. And Azriel wanted to pull away, not wanting you to feel the scars that covered his skin, but your soft skin only presses against his palm firmly as you dragged him through the filled room.

Only when you two stepped into the little side room did Azriel speak up again, "I came to help with the paint". Another bland response; he generally needed to start working on that, but then you didn't seem to mind it. But what if you did? What if that ended up being the reason why you would potentially reject him? Not that you would ever want to do anything with him anyway.

"Az no..", his name rolling from your lips sounded sweeter than honey, and Azriel had to hold himself back from asking you to say it once again. "I'll work on some paperwork till you close, then we'll start painting", The spymaster shrugged his shoulders, summoning one of his shadows and pointing to the pile of papers the little dark creature barely managed to hold up. You gave him a look. One of those looks that Azriel hadn't yet learned to read.

"You know you won't reach the top of the wall anyway", the spymaster tried to reason, but you only crossed your arms over your chest. "I can get a ladder", you shrugged, "And fall over potentially, no", Azriel's voice sounded way higher. And now all he could see was you laying there unconscious. You said nothing for a bit, then leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Azriel's cheek. Some of his shadows started to twirl around him, causing the crimson blush on your cheeks to darken even more. You two lingered in silence tomorrow until you ran your hands over your apron and quietly slipped through the door back to the main part of the bakery. Azriel lifted his hand to his cheek, rubbing his fingers over the spot where your lips had been a moment ago.

"Can we paint shapes and then paint over them?", you giggled to yourself softly, a brush in your hand as you looked back at Azriel, who stood not far away from you, the sleeves of his shirt rolling up his arms, making his mucky arms seem even thicker. "Sure, do it if you feel like it", Azriel had watched you almost all night, and how could he not when you came to drag him out of the side room. Everyone was gone. You had pushed a couple of tables together, lit some candles, and had a warm meal steaming in the middle of the table. To say that Azriel's heart had nearly burst would have been an understatement. You had refused to tell him where the paint cans were until he had a proper meal because you had a feeling that he hadn't eaten much today.

"Do you paint?", you asked suddenly, finishing the outline of the flower that you had chosen to paint on the wall. "No, Fayre is the painter in the family", but that was only partly true. Feyre was the one who everyone knew for a fact painted in the family. So did Azriel; he just chose to do it in the comfort of his room. And for a while now, all he could draw and sketch was you. Was it in some way creepy? Yes, and that was the reason why no one would ever see it. But a part of Azriel feared that with time the memories of you might fade, so he wanted to capture and keep at least a couple of them.

"I heard that the high lady is a true beauty as well", you said with a dreamy sigh. Not even half as beautiful as you, Azriel wanted to say, yet he didn't. "Is it strange now that the city has been fed with newcomers?", You had dropped the brush back into the can by then, turning to watch Azriel's face. "More work on the safety part, but other than that, I don't care for it much", The hurt that suddenly shimmered in your eyes made Azriel want to add that you and Brian were by no means a part of the trouble. Or that he did care because that wave of refugees had brought you into his life, but those words seemed too big. Too close to the shadow singer's heart, so he choked them out.

"I guess everyone adapts differently", your eyes fell on the big bakery window, and for a moment, the room fell silent. Azriel found himself asking, "What do you mean?", when a stranger sensation started to twist his guts. "Oh, nothing too serious", you waved your head carelessly, "There's just this male. He comes by, stares through the window, and murmurs stuff ". Azriel's eyebrows knitted together in an instant. The worrier inside him woke up immediately. Red flags and warning signals rang in his ears. You must have sensed the tension and the shift in soft energy.

"Brian ushered him away a couple of times", you tried to reassure the spymaster. Brushing your fingers over one of the shadows that had started to swirl around the room. "I'll look into him", Azriel said firmly. "That is unnecessary", you followed suit straight away, but it seemed as if Azriel didn't hear you. "Maybe get one of the males I trust to stay nearby". You pulled at his hand softly. Letting your fingers tangle with him as you squeezed his hand, you said, "That is even more unnecessary".

Azrie wanted to argue, but then you were so close to him. He could feel your heartbeat. He could feel your body's warmth. He could smell you. He could touch you. And he did softly brush a strand of hair away from your face. "I'm sure the man just suffered a serious trauma during the war. We all deserve to have some peace, and if watching through the bakery window gives him that, let it be", you broke the silence once more before leaning in to press a kiss to Azriel's chest.

Just Azriel couldn't let it be. Especially when Rhys and the work on his hands kept him away from the bakery for the next couple of days. He felt restless. Even on the first night after not seeing you, Azriel was ready to just fly to you. Even if it was just so he could listen to your heartbeat for a moment.

And his concerns only grow when he and Cassian eventually made their way to the bakery. Brian was pacing in front of the building, the cane he uses to get around wobbling in his hands. "Sir", Azriel called out carefully, not wanting to startle the old man even more. And the way Brian's face both lit up at the sight of the spymaster and fell at the same time made Azriel think of the worst possible scenarios. "She's gone", Brian reached the bandaged hand towards Azriel, shaking as a leaf in the midnight air. "What do you mean gone?", Azriel tried to stay professional, to not let the words spoken affect him—not yet, not now; he needed a clear mind. "She.. she just", Brian's legs bucked, but Azriel quickly steadied him, throwing a glance at his brother who stood nearby, "Cassian, grab a glass of water".

Walking the male to the nearest chair to sit down, Azriel allowed him a moment to breathe. But he can see the need in Brian's eyes as he spoke up again< "She wasn't like herself. Her eyes… they looked dead". At this point, Azriel felt the fear start to choke him slowly. Let its nails dig into his throat and squeeze as hard as possible.

"Then that man came, and she just walked out with him", Brian gestured to the window, and Azriel instantly knew that he had made the biggest mistake when he agreed to drop this. Everyone deals with their trauma differently. How does this man do, then? By stealing young, innocent females?

"What man?", Cassian asked, and the question was needed. In place. And required when they dealt with trouble in the city. Just Azriel didn't count this as yet another mission in the city. His mind was working so fast that he gently started to feel like he was seeing sounds and hearing colors. "Azriel…", Brian called out for the spymaster, and he instantly drew his eyes back to the man, who had reached out to him once again. "She's been so happy with you the past couple of weeks, and it looked like she had no recollection of that when she left". Azriel didn't let the words set it. Happier. Happier because of you. Happier because she found something in you. Happier for the first time in a long while. Happier, just like you deserved to be, but where are you now? Where was he supposed to find you?

"We're going to the house of wind", Azriel said firmly as he stood up. "Rhys will look into your mind. I need to see the man's face. I need to know what to look for. Need to…", Cassian clasped Azriel's shoulder and said, "Start by taking a breath in", The general of bloodshed could practically feel Azriel's heart trying to beat out of his chest, "We'll find her; we won't stop until she's back home".

They are not wrong when they say that the unknown is what you fear most in life. You can handle things going bad; you can even prepare for and predict some of them, but it's when the situation is laced with uncertainty that it hits you, crippling you to your core. Azriel felt like he had lost a part of himself. As if one of his limbs had been cut off and he just now realized the necessity of it. Walking aimlessly, thinking thoughts that lead nowhere. He had everything. Everything that he didn't even know he had was gone. He hadn't even stopped to acknowledge it. Azriel's shadows had been twirling all over Velaris, but in a couple of hours, they had led him nowhere near you.

That was until such a strong sensation hit him. Like banging from behind closed doors. Something was reaching and clawing to get his attention. Azriel gripped his chest abruptly. The voices in the room died down. Turning into unidentified muffles. Where are you, Azriel ran that question through his mind once more. Where are you, my little light? The pain ripped through him once more, and the spymaster let out a quiet growl.

"I say we move the search out of the city", Rhys said, pointing to the areas he would suggest checking first on the map. "The mountains", Cassian also added. But Azriel shook his head, "No", the two bat boys exchanged glances, "Azriel", "I said no". Cassian wanted to speak, but Rhys shook his head quickly before saying, "We just want to…", "I can fucking feel her. I feel her here. She's here", Azriel roared as he quickly stood up.

Rhys read the situation fast, a knowing gleam flickering in his eyes. He too had been in a situation where the world was working against him and the love of his life, and now, with Azriel standing in front of him panting like a hurt animal, Rhys knew the truth and knew where this was leading, "Say a word, and we will go where you feel that she is kept".

The place was nothing more than a cave, a cave covered and drenched in dark magic enchantments. Tucked away on the north side of Velaris. Easy to miss because nothing hid you away more than the darkness itself. In the darkness, you could easily blend into absolute nothingness. You were there with your dress ripped to bits, twirling like a spring flower; just your face looked dead. No emotions. Eyes unseeing. The male motioned for you to step forward. And you did—no fighting, no pleading. Fully in control. The necklace gleamed in the firelight. The voices inside Azriel's head roared. That must be the main source of this insanity, then.

It took all of Azriel's self-control not to just march in there right then and there. He didn't want to wait for everyone to get into their position. This meant that he had to watch you being toyed with for one more minute, and it was already one minute too long. His hands gripped both of the daggers that he was holding. He thought of all the ways he knew how to end a life. All the ways he could drag out a death. Everyone deals with trauma in their own way. Your voice echoed in Azriel's mind once more. Well, this was how Azriel dealt with his.

When they finally struck, they quickly realized that the place was filled with at least a handful of other girls, all drained to the point of barely standing. Whatever had been happening here had been overseen, and for that, Azriel was ready to take the blame because this should have never been a thing in the first place. It was Azriel who pierced the male straight through the heart, letting Rhys devour the rest with his dark magic, crushing whatever remained of it around the cave. The moment the enchantments vanished, the place was filled with females gasping and crying. Please, confusion. Azriel noticed Cassian softly talking to some of the women. We're here to help, not to harm. Even if it seemed far too late.

Azriel's eyes fell on your shaky frame. The tugging in his chest continued with every step that he took closer to you. Your body flinched right as the spymaster kneeled in front of you, but the moment your eyes met his, you leaped forward, burying yourself in his strong chest. Azriel wrapped his arms around your middle without a second thought.

"I got you; you're safe; you're all okay", he whispered over and over, fingers brushing through your hair gently. "Az", you muttered almost in disbelief still, holding onto the spymaster as if your life depended on it, and in a way it did. "Yeah, my love, it's me", pulling away slightly, Azriel cupped your face, wanting nothing more than to bring back that happy gleam to your eyes once more.

"Az", you murmured once more, now watching him, memorizing him, and remembering him. "No one will ever harm you", Azriel stated firmly. He wouldn't allow it. Never again. You were his to look after now. You shook your head in disbelief, your delicate fingers brushing over the spymaster's sharp jaw. "It's you", your voice was nothing but a whisper, and Azriel couldn't help but smile as he turned his head to the side to kiss your palm, "It's me", he said.

"My…", but your breathing hitched as your head lulled back. Azriel was quick to steady your neck, but it didn't stop the panic from spiraling. You can't die. You couldn't have just died. His eyes darted to Rhys, who slowly approached you two and said, "Let's bring her back home, hun?".

Watching you sleep—at least that's what Madje said—was torture. Azriel was glad that your body was doing everything in its power to wear off the stress as quickly as possible, but he had to hear you tell him that you were okay. That you weren't hurt. That nothing happened there because he would bring back that fucker once again just so he could skin him again.

Your body stirred slightly, and Azriel held his breath. The flicker of the bond between you grew brighter. It fully snapped into place for Azriel when he stepped out of the cave with your unconscious body in his arms. He couldn't help but wonder what the last thing you wanted to say was. My what? Love? Savor? Mate? He would take any of those; he just needed to see your eyes once more.

With a couple of slow blinks, your eyes shot open, your breath picking up as the unfamiliar room filled your senses. He did not bring you back home, he wanted to be with you until you woke up, so his room felt like the most comfortable place at the time. "It's okay; you're in my room; you're safe now", he said softly, reaching out for your hand. Your gaze fell onto him once more, eyes filling up with tears.

"Come here", Azriel muttered. Sitting closer to you, he brought you into his arms, mindful of the weight of his wings pressing against your legs. Your arms sneaked around his neck as you held him close. Azriel sent nothing but love and light through the bond in hopes of soothing you even more, and he was more than surprised when he felt the same love coming back from your side.

The shadow singer pulled away slightly; he hated seeing your tear-stained eyes. "You…", he started, and you nodded your head. Knowing without words what he was about to say. Mates. As odd and unexpected as it was, you two were chosen for each other. A light smile painted your lips as you pressed your forehead against his. Azriel breathed you in. Finally allowing himself to let go of the tension. Finally letting himself believe that you were safe.

"Could I", you started, crimson tinting your still pale cheeks, "Could I kiss you?" The question was nothing but innocent. Yet carried by nothing but a desire to feel whole. To find that extra strength in having someone you could fully lean onto. Azriel brushed some of your hair from your face, his fingers caressing your cheek, "You don't have to ask because I would love nothing more".

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All acotar writing taglist: @brekkershadowsinger @cityofidek @baebeepeach @lucyysthings @hideings @urfavbrunettebish @historygeekqueen @marina468 @courtofjurdan

[zaceouiswriting]

The farmer (1)

Characters: Alec Lightwood x male reader, Sweet Pea x male reader

Universe: Shadowhunters/Riverdale

Warnings: implied death

I know this is an odd pairing. But this idea came to me in a pretty… dirty dream. But as you all should know by now, I have to do a rather long setup before we can move on to the interesting parts.

It was cold in the early hours of the morning. Much earlier than I'm used to being awake. I hadn't been out at these ungodly hours since I hired more workers. But to my dismay, two temporary workers hadn't shown up the day before, as they should have.

Ricko, the Chief Shepard, had pulled me from the warmth of my bed as he had done with everyone else. Wild wolves had killed three sheep. He was able to kill one of them but needed help catching the others.

With a rifle in everyone's hands, we searched even the smallest parts of the property, which took hours. It pushed back all the other work that had to be done. Even though we found the other wolves, five in total, I still wasn't happy because they had also killed one of the guard dogs.

Despite everything, I couldn't kill the trembling puppies I found, all huddled together in their small makeshift den.

I sighed heavily as the bright morning sun shone, with the puppies forming a pile in my hands, carrying them back to the house. It wouldn't be the first time I'd trained wild wolves to be guard dogs. They hadn't been out of the womb long, a few weeks at most, barely finished drinking their mother's milk.

I soon walked onto the main property, followed by Ricko and Hannah, one of the dairy workers.

“Boss!” Hannah suddenly shouted.

She was close to my ear. But I just followed her outstretched finger. In the distance, I saw two men dressed in dark colors near my home.

I felt anger rising within me. “Hey!” I called out to them. Abruptly, their heads turned in my direction. While the one on the left was a well-groomed young man with black hair and dark eyes, the other was the opposite, rather rough on the outside, wearing clothes made of rags, except for his leather jacket, which was in good condition. “Are you two, the last farmhands?”

The two men looked at each other strangely before calling back affirmatively.

Suddenly, the anger I could hardly contain deep inside burst out on my face. With quick steps, I reached them in a few moments.

The two men looked at each other again, almost as if they knew each other, but they came from vastly different areas.

“Do you both have work clothes?” I asked through gritted teeth.

The one on the left looked down and saw how overdressed he was. When he looked up again, a rosa blush laid on his cheeks.

Meanwhile, the other one also looked at him with a grin. “I already have mine on!”

Just as the left one looked at the right one, I giggled. Suddenly, both of them were focused on me again.

"No. No, you don't," I told him, chuckling dryly. "The post explicitly said you should come with work clothes on or in your bags. But I can also see that you two haven't much with you.“

I couldn't believe this idiocy. How can someone come to a farm unprepared?

"Pretty boy."

“Yes?” both men answered simultaneously.

“Left one, you’re about 180cm tall, right?”

“183,“ he answered.

His voice made me do a double take; it was deep, silky smooth. I rolled my eyes in response and shifted my attention to the other man. His grin had reappeared.

“Then you’re about 190 cm tall?”

“Give or take a few centimeters,” his voice was deep and rough.

Both men's voices gave me an obvious problem. As a shiver of excitement ran down my spine, I knew I had to get away from them quickly.

But before I did that, I looked them over again. The slightly shorter man had a smaller stature, was athletic, and probably toned underneath his clothes. While the other man was much taller and not all muscle, it seemed. At least not yet.

Without saying another word, I placed the wolf pups in the taller man's arms, turned around, opened my front door, and walked in, leaving the door open. Annoyed, I jumped upstairs and entered the first of two locked rooms. A lot of dust has already settled in it. After all, I haven't been there for two years.

I tried not to look at anything, knowing I wouldn't survive the day if I did. Slowly, I wandered around the room with my eyes almost closed, feeling around the walls until I could find the closet. Still, with my eyes closed, I pulled out whatever clothes I could find.

Out of nowhere, I could smell something. As soon as I realized what it was, it hit me like a ton of bricks. How? How could this smell still be here? Why must life endlessly taunt me?

Tears began to linger under my closed eyes. Soon, they forced me to open my eyes. But luckily, the room was dark. Even though I felt my body slowly freezing, I quickly ran outside and closed the door. I slammed my body against the door and tried to catch my breath.

I noticed that some of the clothes had slipped out of my hands. The sudden realization made me feel uneasy, causing me to almost fall to the ground. While preparing to enter the second room, I couldn't help but dread the thought of it.

I tried to suppress my feelings again and unlocked the second door. Strangely, the smell was even stronger than the last. Memories filled my mind: So many happy moments with these three. I miss their laughter, silliness, and voices. But most of all, I miss having them here.

It wasn't until a sob ripped from my throat that I realized the dam had finally broken. Before I knew it, I fell to the ground, ugly crying, as all the memories of the past flooded back, which I had successfully locked away. Why are they coming back now?

I couldn't hold back any longer. With the door wide open and me kneeling in the room right in front of a pile of clothes that hadn't moved since the accident. Somehow, his scent still clung to them. I loved this smell, it had always made me feel safe.

For a fleeting moment, I thought someone was standing at my side because it felt like a hand was gently stroking my back. From the top of my shoulder to my side. I knew the fingers would try to tickle me there, which they always did. In their words: “If you laugh, you cannot cry."

It made me feel better, even though there wasn't a hand or anyone at my side when I finally looked around.

I wiped away my tears, went to the closet, pulled out most of the clothes, and left the room. I left the door open and immersed myself in the pleasant scent. Upon returning to the other room, I opened the door, letting it stay open. I retrieved the remaining clothing items and proceeded downstairs.

Fortunately, the two men had come in together with Hannah, waiting in the open living room. As soon as she saw me, her eyes also became sad. She was obviously worried.

I stayed silent as I placed the clothes on a nearby table. I didn't even look at her anymore. “Please ask Jonathan to show these two how to clean the barns as punishment for being a day late,” I said sternly to Hannah, without a hint that anything was wrong.

Finally, I turned to the two men, looking at me uncomfortably. "Right," I mumbled, barely loud enough for anyone to hear, "call Tomas as well and tell him we have new puppies. I'll start training them tomorrow."

I could see her nodding in understanding. 

“I will be back in the evening.”

It took a while, but before I could reach the door, her voice sounded again: "Where are you going?“  Panic could be heard in her voice.

“The lake,” I answered curtly as I opened the door.

She gasped. Which wasn't surprising since I hadn't been there since the day my life fell apart two years ago.

Just as a gust of wind passed me, I felt something strange at the end of my leg. When I looked down, I saw one of the little wolves. Barely strong enough to walk.

Hannah became even more panicked as she tried to run towards me, most likely to take the wolf away from me. But much to her certain amazement, I crouched down. “Do you want to come with me?” I ask softly and gently stroke the wolf’s head.

It even tried to howl. I could only smile. 

"Come on!“ I told it, holding out my hand.

The little wolf sniffed it. A second later, I licked it and then suddenly nibbled on it.

“You’re a cheeky little guy, aren’t you?” I asked, laughing. I grabbed the wolf by the neck and examined him. “Yes, a naughty little boy.”

I put him in the palm of my hand and stroke him a little more. I even set a kiss on his head, after which he tried to get another one by following my head.

Instead of leaving the house, I went to the fridge, took a couple of small meat cubes, and put them into a small container. While doing this, the little wolf cranked his head and licked my hand. He could obviously smell the meat on it. His teeth weren't very long, but they would suffice to chew a little.

Without giving any of the three a last glance, I left the house and headed north towards a forest that was a few kilometers away. I had to go through it to reach the lake, which was located near a corner of my property. Even though the place was gloomy, I still had to go there after all these years.

[Masterlist]

[finkinthisfrew]

Anything (pt.1)

A Matty Healy Fanfiction

cw: nightmare, boring plot set up (I promise Matty comes in, pls bear w me)

Chapter 1

I woke up shivering. Sweating. Stomach-churning. Sitting up and shaking my head, I grabbed the book from my nightstand and started reading to distract myself before I could register what I had dreamt and let the tears that had welled up in my sleep fall. I knew the pattern well and I wasn't going to let it ruin yet another morning. Thankfully these dreams happened less often than they used to, maybe once or twice a month now, yet somehow they never seemed to upset me any less.

After a few minutes of reading, I picked up my phone- 48 minutes until my alarm was meant to go off. 

Well, I guess it could've been worse. I sighed to myself. 

Trying to ignore my exhaustion, both emotional and physical, I tore off my sheets and hopped out of bed to start my day. 

Shuffling into the bathroom in my oversized sleeping shirt and thick knit socks, I turned the tap on and plugged the sink, letting the water pool. Splashing water on my face I tried to shake off the sleep that still bogged down my mind. 

The dreams definitely didn't help much with my terrible sleep schedule, though they weren't always the cause of it. I'd always struggled with sleep, ever since I was a child. I was always an anxious kid growing up which led to countless restless nights. I'd gotten better as I'd grown older, but my recurring nightmare set me back into my old habit of staying up too late and waking up too early. Unfortunately, it's something I've grown accustomed to.

As I looked up at myself in the mirror, I saw two green eyes with dark circles under them staring back at me. My dark brown curly shag haircut was messy from the tossing and turning in my bed, the ends dripping wet from the water I'd splashed on my face. 

Suddenly I wasn't there anymore, my vision was replaced with a flashback to my dream, black eyes staring back at me. 

Gone as quickly as it appeared, I once again stared back into my own green eyes, now filled with panic. I dove back into the basin to splash more water on my face. 

I took a deep breath and turned back into my bedroom. Determined to not let my recurring nightmare dictate the rest of my day, I decided I would treat myself. Today I would put on my favourite clothes, do up my hair and makeup and take myself to my new favourite coffee shop.

I opened up the door to the beautiful handpainted wardrobe I'd just bought last week and began to sift through all the hanging fabrics. Picking out my favourite jeans and a long sleeve shirt, I closed the door to my wardrobe and stepped back to admire my new apartment.

I had just moved to London a month ago for a six-month-long residency at an art gallery. I had been shocked when I was first offered it but jumped on the opportunity immediately. A six-month trip to London with free housing and endless hours to work on my art? It was a dream come true. 

The housing that the gallery supplied me with wasn't anything extravagant, but it was definitely charming. My apartment was on the top floor of a three-story walk-up, boasting giant slanting windows that brightened the single-room apartment even on the gloomiest of London days. I had found various charming vintage pieces of furniture and art to spruce up the bland basics I'd originally been supplied with, and it had finally started to feel like a home away from home. 

As I glanced one last time into the full-length mirror, I admired my outfit. My vintage light-wash perfectly worn-in Levi's fit me like a glove, and my new beige fitted long-sleeve mock neck looked effortlessly sexy, the semi-sheer knit material showing my black bralette in a casually immodest way. After I put my thin black sunglasses over my now brown smokey eyes and slid on my black vintage cowboy boots, I popped my AirPods in as I locked my apartment door.

Singing along to the opening lyric of an upbeat playlist, I started to get excited about my little trip to the coffee shop. I had just discovered it last week, finding out that they sold what I believed to be the best cookies I'd ever had in my life. Noticing the sun peaking through spotty clouds, I quickened my step down the stairs into the tube as I decided I'd take my coffee and cookie to a park to finish my book and maybe draw up some new ideas for pieces to make. 

Twenty minutes later I found myself saying "I'll have three cookies please" to the friendly barista, trying and failing to not blush at the fact that I knew that the extra two cookies I was buying for later wouldn't even make it home. 

Excited that they hadn't run out of cookies yet, I stood at the counter, humming and letting my toes tap along to the music in my ears while I waited for my iced latte. Considering how my day had started, I was positively chipper. 

I had already begun to daydream about some new pieces I wanted to sketch out as I stepped out the door of the coffee shop. I was about to turn to walk towards the park when suddenly something slammed into me and I lost my footing, falling straight to the ground. 

Disoriented, I gasped for breath as the air had been knocked out of me. Looking around to see what had hit me, I was met with a pair of chocolate-coloured eyes. 

"Oh fuck! I am so sorry! Are you okay, darlin'?" the eyes asked me earnestly.

I opened my mouth to answer yes before I noticed the searing pain that engulfed my entire chest. 

I winced, and then, I blacked out.

[awkwardtickleetoo]

Lee!George Week Day 6 - Intense Tickles

well. this has taken way too long

I'm sorry it took like 8 years to get this out, but I'm hoping that it being literally 12k words will maybe make up for it a little??? thanks everyone for being patient, I hope you guys still like this <3 and day 7 will be out shortly!! for real this time lmao

this is still part of the lee!george week event that mush put together!! you can find the prompts here, and if you want to participate make sure to use the tag "mushie's lee!george week" when you post <3

WARNINGS: feet nibbles!! I can't sugar coat it, dream fully nibbles on george's feet/toes!! there's nothing weird or nsfw about it, but I know a lot of people really do not like that kind of stuff, so this is your warning, if you don't like mouth tickles and/or feet tickles, they are both featured in this PRETTY heavily, so either skip this one or proceed with caution <3

this entire fic is pretty nibble-centric, so if mouth tickles are where your issue lies, I'd say skip this one, BUT if it's just the feet tickles/feet nibbles that bother you, I'm gonna highlight the last word before it and the first word after it in green so you can skip just that section if needed!!

thank you guys for being understanding <3

lee!george, ler!dream, ~12k words

enjoy!

--

Dream, Sapnap, and George had arrived back home in Orlando the previous day from their two and a half week long trip, which was split between North Carolina for George and Sapnap and then Los Angeles for all three of them. The plane landed on smooth pavement at 6pm on Monday evening, and the three went out to dinner and then headed home to finally get some well deserved rest and relaxation. They had all piled into the reclining chairs in the movie room, sharing the biggest blanket they owned in the house and watching a few hours worth of movies and TV shows, before finally heading up to their own respective rooms for the night. They planned to take the next day or two as well to get back on their Orlando schedule, since they wouldn't be traveling again for a while.

Fortunately for Dream, and unfortunately for George, this meant there was plenty of time for Dream to enact a very evil plan that he had been forming in his mind since he dropped the other two off at the airport to head to Karl's house. And Dream was not going to wait any longer to do so.

He'd prepared everything he needed to complete this task the night before, not wanting to waste any time or risk any complications the next day when he put it into action, so everything was completely ready to go when he left his room and left the door barely cracked behind him. He padded his socked feet across the floor with a subtle pep in his step, trying to stay as calm and collected as possible so he wouldn't risk revealing his plans too early. He planned to go up the stairs and head to George's room, hoping to find him there and make sure he wasn't still asleep, but he was redirected when he heard noise in the kitchen, switching to follow the sound instead to see who it was.

To his luck, it was George, nearly finished blending a smoothie at the counter with his back facing Dream. This, Dream decided, was the absolute perfect time to get moving.

"George?" He called softly as the whirring of the blender slowed to a stop, tapping his knuckle against the wall three times to alert George of his presence. The elder startled a little, whipping his head over to look at Dream, before a wide smile spread across his face. Dream couldn't help but smile as well. "Hey!"

"Hi," George responded, turning his attention back to the blender as he took it off the stand and began pouring it into a glass. Dream slowly walked over to him, gently bumping George's hip with his when he made it there and making them both giggle. George did it back, and they both giggled harder, and George shook his head fondly at the actions.

"Whatcha makin'?" Dream asked, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Smoothie. It's got, uh…" George paused, picking up the bag of frozen fruit and reading the list on the front. "Strawberries, pineapple, mango, and peaches in it. I usually make it with bananas but we don't have any so I used these instead… you wanna try?"

"Sure!" Dream agreed, nodding happily. To George's credit, his smoothies were always fantastic, perfectly blended and perfectly balanced in flavor. George took out another glass and poured Dream some of the smoothie mix, about halfway full just in case he didn't want to finish it, and he then grabbed a cup with a straw and lid that he'd set to the side and poured the remaining amount into it before putting it into the fridge. He stepped back over to where he was standing next to Dream, pressing into Dream's side as he picked up his phone, and Dream looked over George's shoulder as he sipped the smoothie to see him texting Sapnap that 'hey idiot there's extra smoothie in a cup in the fridge for you if you want it' before placing his phone back down on the counter, leaving it open on the text. 

"So?" George asked as he went to take a sip of his own smoothie, looking up at Dream and waiting for a response.

"It's really good! I like that you can taste the mango in it."

"Me too. I'm shocked I even got to use it, since all you ever do is eat the mango out of every package we buy."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. That's why we buy extra mango, you little idiot." Both boys smiled as they bickered, the jabs clearly playful, and Dream glanced over at the dirty blender before pointing at it. "Want me to wash that for you?" 

"Uh– yeah, sure, thanks," George nodded a bit as he spoke, smiling up at Dream in appreciation. Dream grabbed the blender, catching a glimpse of George's phone again and seeing that Sapnap had replied with two messages, saying 'no ew fuck you' and then 'thanks kitten <3' immediately after. He watched George type out 'i hate you' and then 'ur welcome stupid' and then turn off his phone and slip it back in his pocket, and he finally went to rinse out the blender. Dream finished washing it, rinsing the soap out and placing it upside down on the drain board to dry, just in time to turn around and see George about halfway finished with his drink. Dream grabbed his own empty glass, washing that out as well, just in time to reach out his hand and offer to take George's now empty glass too. George smiled at him again, letting out a small giggle this time at the way he was completely correctly predicted, and Dream finally finished the dishes and dried his hands.

It was now or never, he supposed.

"Hey, George?" He started off, leaning back against the counter the same way George was and placing his hand on top of it, behind George's back. His thumb was within reach of the back of George's t-shirt, so he slid it forward, curling his pointer finger around the edge of the counter and trailing the tip of his thumb against George's spine.

"Hey, Dream?" George mimicked Dream's tone, turning his head to look up at him.

"Do you remember what I told you right before you and Sapnap left?" George furrowed his eyebrows in thought, pressing his lips into a line and tilting his head to the side. "Like, right as I dropped you guys off at the airport, when I called you back to the car?"

"Um…" George said, before his eyes widened and he looked at Dream in shock. "Oh…"

Bingo.

"Aw, good! You do remember," Dream said with a smile, significantly more sinister than the fond one he'd been sporting the whole time. He slid his hand forward on the counter when he noticed George take a step back, leaning down to be closer to George's face and lowering his voice. "I think it's time I show you what I have in mind, don't you agree?"

"Drehe– Dreheheam I– I don't think that's nehecessary–" George stuttered, already letting out nervous giggles. He felt the heat rise to his face, positive that Dream could see the pink tint rising with it, but he still attempted to keep his cool. He stepped back again, then once more, then tried to take a third, but he was stopped by Dream's hand on his waist, pulling him close and tight into his chest. He gasped at the pull and leaned backwards, placing one hand against Dream's stomach to keep their distance and flicking his head down for a second to look at the grip Dream had on him before looking back up at him with wide eyes. "Dream, c'mohon. Don't."

"I want to, though, is the crazy thing," Dream said, squinting his eyes in a way that was just so Dream that it made George's heart flutter and made his giggles lighten up a bit more.

"Dream, no, we can't, I can't, I'm–" George tried to bargain, pushing Dream away and moving to take another step back.

Suddenly, Dream took his hand off George's waist and crouched slightly, wrapping his arms around George's thighs and lifting him off the ground, throwing him halfway over his shoulder and walking towards his own bedroom before George got the chance to even process what had happened. 

"DREAM!" George yelled, entirely caught off guard, squirming and kicking in Dream's arms and pushing at his shoulder to try to get away. "LET GO, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! PUT ME DOWN!"

"No can do, Georgie," Dream said, adjusting his grip and hoisting George up further when he began sliding down, making George squeak and grip onto Dream's shoulder harder. He went still for a second, regaining his balance so he could be sure he wouldn't fall and hurt himself if Dream did suddenly let go or drop him, before placing his free hand on the back of Dream's head for stability and moving the one that one on his shoulder up to cover his mouth. "My mind's been made up for two weeks. You can't stop me."

"Dreheheam, this– oh my gohohod–" George still let out his nervous giggles, butterflies erupting in his tummy as he thought more and more about what Dream might have planned for him. He dropped his hand from over his mouth to squeeze Dream's shoulder again, as they rounded a corner that made him sway a little too far to the side for his comfort. 

They finally made it to Dream's room, and George expected to be taken over to Dream's bed, but instead Dream walked past the bedroom door and into his office next to his bedroom instead. George laughed nervously as he was brought into the room, twisting and turning in Dream's arms to check his surroundings for anything suspicious. 

"Whyhyhy– why in here? Why– why nohot one of, like… our nor– normal beheheds?" George asked, obviously confused on top of his fluttery nervousness. Dream slid him down in his arms, barely a foot just to get closer to his face, making George squeak and grab onto both Dream's shoulders for stability as he slid. He was still unable to touch the ground, even when he looked down and stretched his foot as far as it would go, and the material of his t-shirt had caught between them, making George even more nervous as the bare skin on the now exposed strip of his stomach pressed against Dream's shirt as well. George couldn't stop giggling, the butterflies in his tummy threatening to explode out any minute, but he still looked at Dream and caught his eye when he noticed him staring at him.

"Why in here?" Dream repeated, earning a confused nod from George. Dream pushed the office door closed with his foot, smirking menacingly at George as he reached over to the knob, and George breathed anxiously at the sound of the lock clicking. "Because it's soundproof."

"Wh– DREAM?!" George yelped out in shock when Dream suddenly lunged forward and threw him onto the small bed against the wall of his office. He bounced on the soft mattress when he landed, taking barely a second to comprehend what had happened before he was trying to sit up and crawl off the bed, but Dream was even faster than him, jumping on the bed at the same time and immediately straddling George's thighs. "NO, NO! GET AWAY, GET OFF!" George shouted, sitting up and pushing at Dream's knees to try to get him away, then at his chest and shoulders, then against the mattress to try and push himself off as well, before Dream stopped him.

"Nope," He said simply, pressing one palm flat to George's chest and pushing him down against the bed. George fought him the whole way down, pushing against him and squirming and screaming and protesting, but it was no use. 

"DREAM, JUST– STOP!" George attempted one final time, as his elbows finally gave out and he was forced the rest of the way down, laying flat against the narrow bed, barely 30 seconds after he had been haphazardly tossed on top of it like an extra throw blanket. He breathed heavily, nerves bubbling up in his stomach, the rapid rise and fall of his chest barely even affecting Dreams's hand. "Dream. This is stupid."

"Relax. You're being a baby." 

"I'M– WHAT?!" George exclaimed, in complete disbelief at the accusation. He knew Dream had only said it to get a rise out of him, and embarrassingly, it worked like a charm. "DO YOU NOT HEAR YOURSELF?!"

"Oh c'mon, George, all I'm gonna do is tickle you until you cry, it's not that crazy," Dream explained casually, barely giving George time to react when he suddenly grabbed his wrists. George gasped and flinched away, pulling his arms away and holding them to his chest.

"WH– THAT– WHAT? YOU'RE– ARE YOU INSANE?" George sputtered, unable to form a proper sentence at first as the weight of Dream's words flooded over his body.

"Yes. Now give me your wrists," Dream said simply, holding out his hands and making subtle grabby hands at George's arms. When George didn't hand them over, he reached out and grabbed his wrists again, smiling menacingly as George struggled to pull them away again.

"NO?! Fuck off, Dream, no, Dream, NO!" George squealed, sliding his arms out of Dream's grip again. Dream simply grabbed him once again, holding tighter, until he decided to play into the fight and let George slip away so he could just grab him more. They continued their game of cat and mouse for quite a bit longer, with Dream laughing and giggling happily and George screaming and fighting for his life the whole time. "I'M NOT– STOP! LET GO, STOP IT!"

"Shhhh, relax, Georgie. Just relax." Dream soothed, finally deciding to put a stop to George's fighting and firmly grip his wrists, holding them up in the air above his face so he could see that Dream was serious this time. George gasped, letting out a small sound from the back of his throat when he tried to pull again and was truly unsuccessful. "Relax. Okay? You know I won't actually do anything bad, you're gonna be fine."

"Dre‐Dreheam– dohon't…" The smaller boy whimpered, shaking his head. Dream just giggled again, pulling his wrists upwards and placing a small kiss on each of them to comfort him. "Oh, Dreheheheam…" George whined bashfully, closing his eyes and turning his head to rest his cheek on the soft pillow behind his head.

"It's okay, sweet boy," Dream spoke quietly, dropping George's right wrist and tugging his left up to the corner of the bed. George's breath caught in his throat the second he felt his wrist being pressed flat against the top of the mattress, and he whipped his head around to stare wide-eyed at what Dream was doing. His squirming and pulling started up again the second he saw Dream pulling the cuff up from behind the bed and wrapping it around his wrist.

"NO– oh my god, Dream, don't, do NOT, don't do it, please, NO, DREAM–" George turned his body to the side, using his free hand to push as hard as he could at Dream's hands, trying desperately to get him away from his wrist. He heard the first clasp of the cuffs clink, followed by the second, and then Dream leaned back and left his wrist alone. He tried to pull on it, reaching up with his other hand to try to undo it himself, whining and whimpering when nothing worked. He yanked his arm as much as he could manage, biting back more nervous laughter when Dream then took hold of his other wrist, repeating his earlier actions and pulling it up to the opposite corner. "Dream, STOP!"

"Stop whining," Dream reprimanded, pulling up the second cuff and tightening it around George's wrist. He secured both clasps, twisting the material so it didn't irritate George at all, and then he backed off for a few seconds to give George some space. The elder, against Dream's words, kept whining, tugging at his wrists and letting his head fall back and his eyes squeeze shut when he realized he couldn't escape. Dream let him calm himself down for a few moments, before gently brushing his fingers through George's hair and resting the other hand on his hip, palm first so he knew the touch wasn't cruel just yet. "Hey, baby. Can you look at me for a second? Just a second. Then you can hide all you want." George whined, squeezing his eyes tighter before blinking them open and looking nervously up at Dream. As soon as their eyes met, George's shoulders relaxed, he stopped pulling at his arms, and he let out a soft breath. "There's my kitten, hi angel. You doing okay?" 

"Mhm, yeah," George responded, voice soft and slightly shaky already from all the yelling and heavy breathing he'd been doing that tired him out. Dream smiled down at him.

"Good." Dream reached his fingers up to mess with the cuffs, slipping his pointer finger into the tops of both of them as he continued. "These feel okay too? Not too tight, not too loose? They're alright when you pull on them?"

"Yeah, they're– they're good. They're okay." George pulled lightly on them a couple times for demonstration, nodding. Dream's smile widened, showing his canines and scrunching up the corners of his eyes.

"Perfect. If at any point you need to stop, like completely, a hard stop, you yell red, okay? Does that work for you?"

"Mhm, red. That's perfect," George said with a nod. 

"And if I wanna check in and everything is okay to keep going. you say green?"

"Green. Got it."

"And if you need a pause, just to catch your breath for a minute or two but not a completely hard stop, yell pause. I know we usually use yellow, because the light system makes the most sense, but I wanna give you all one syllable words in case it's difficult to get out. Does that sound good? Red, pause, and green?"

"Red, pause, and green. That's perfect, Dream." They both smiled, letting out soft giggles as Dream nodded this time. 

"Okay, great! Good… Really good," Dream mused, mostly to himself, patting George's side and then resting his palms flat on George's tummy. He tapped his fingers against George's tummy, through the material of his t-shirt, giggling as George sucked in his tummy and whined nervously, letting out a barely audible 'oh god' as he did so. "You ready, Georgie?"

"I dohon't– I don't really have much of a choice."

"Oh… yeah, I guess not, huh?" Dream said with a small chuckle, making George shake his head fondly.

"You're such an idiot, Dream."

"I know," Dream agreed, and then suddenly dug his fingers into George's upper ribs, where they started just below his underarms. George bursted into loud laughter, caught off guard by the quick movement, and he tensed his entire body at the feeling.

"FUCK– DREHEHEHEAM!" George squealed between his cackling laughter, throwing his head back against the pillow and squeezing his eyes shut. He shook his head, yanking at his arms to no avail. Dream pulled his fingers back slightly, this time rubbing slow circles into his ribs and the space in between. "Oh my GOHOHOHOD, Dreheheheam!"

"What's wrong, Georgie?" Dream asked smugly, tilting his head to the side in fake confusion.

"Ihihihit– it tihi– aha!"

"What was that? Sorry, you kinda cut yourself off a little, it what?" 

"Ihihit tihihihi– nahaha–!"

"Oh, it tickles? Well yeah, baby boy, I would sure hope so!" Dream continued to pretend to be concerned, and he reached behind him to grab one of George's ankles, slipping his right leg out from underneath him and holding his foot up in the air.

"Fuhuhuck yohohou!" George said, and then gasped and yanked at his bound arms as he realized what Dream was doing. "NO! No, no, nonono, don't, whatever you're gonna do don't do it, NO– NOHO, DREHEHEAM!" He was lost to hysterical laughter almost instantly, as soon as Dream began scratching over the sole of his socked foot with two fingers. He twisted and turned and pulled at his leg as much as he could manage, shaking his head wildly before letting it fall against the pillow underneath him. "Dreheheheam, plehehehease!"

"Oh, c'mon, Georgie. This is nothing, you've handled way worse than this," Dream encouraged in his own backwards way. "You will handle way worse than this." 

"Dohon't sahahay thahahat, oh my gohohohod–" George complained. Dream didn't respond, instead sliding his thumb into the top of George's sock and pulling it down his ankle, slipping it over his heel, still swiping his fingers up and down his sole in between movements. George gasped and pulled at his foot again, twisting and yanking a lot more frantically now, knowing exactly what was coming next. "NOHOHO, Dreheam, don't, dohohon't, don't you DAHAHAHARE– LET GOHOHO–"

"Jesus Christ, George, just– oh my god, stop KICKING– oh, you're being– you're so ridiculous, just–! STOP!" Dream fought with George's kicking leg the entire time, trying to find a way to keep him still enough to properly tickle him without risking a kick to the face. He pushed himself forward on George's other leg, wrapping his leg around the thigh that was held up in front of him to keep his leg in place at the top first, earning a squeal from the elder once he realized it was actually working. Then, he grabbed the toe of George's sock and slid it the rest of the way off, dropping it on the floor next to the bed before harshly grabbing George's big toe and holding him in place with one hand there and one hand cupped over his heel.

"Oh shit, oh gohod, Dreheheam–" George tried to plead, heart racing in his chest once he realized he was really, fully stuck in that position. Dream's hold was working, and they both knew that.

"God damn, now I can't even, like… how am I supposed to tickle you if it takes cuffs and every fucking limb just to keep you in place, like, do I just have to…" Dream mused, mostly to himself, but smiling at the whimper it got from George as an idea popped into his head. 

He tilted his head to the side and smiled wider, looking up at George and baring his canine teeth as he did so.

Then, he leaned in, and experimentally nibbled the side of George's incredibly sensitive foot.

George reacted immediately, squealing and trying desperately to pull his foot away, his entire leg flinching in Dream's hold. He scrunched up his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, pulling at his arms again.

Dream repeated the action, going further and leaving a few nibbles this time, and George bursted out laughing as soon as he did so.

"DREHEHEAM, WHAHAHA– whahahat the FUHUHUCK, DREHEAM!" George protested, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion at how the fuck Dream had an idea like this. "Wh–whahaha– WHY?! S-STOHOP IHIHIT! Whahahat the FUCK?!"

"Listen, okay!" Dream began defensively. "I couldn't tickle you with both hands occupied holding one of your stupid little squirmy feet in place, okay? So I had to think quickly, and this seemed like the best solution, so… deal with it," Dream finished, and immediately dove back in to deliver more devious nibbles. George flinched and squealed again, squirming the rest of his body as much as he could manage to get his energy out.

"Thihihis ihis fuhucking weheheheird, Dream, stohop!"

"You keep saying stop but you're not seriously telling me to stop. You know exactly what you have to say to let me know you need to stop."

"This is STUHUHUPID, Dreheham, gehet OFF MEHEHEHE!"

"Georgie, what's your color?" Dream asked, rubbing his thumb gently over where it was gripping the side of his heel. George went quiet for a second, whimpering and sighing in defeat before mumbling something incoherent. "What, George?"

"I sahaid greheen, idiot."

"Good boy. That's what I thought." Dream immediately resumed his nibbles, this time moving them up and down the inside of George's foot from the ball to right above his heel.

"Oh, FUHUHUCK– Jesus CHRIHIHIST, DREHEAM–" George screamed out through his laughter, trying desperately to get Dream away from his foot, but nothing was working. "Yohohou are soho WEHEIRD!"

"Oh, am I?" Dream asked between nibbles, moving to the other side of the same foot, the outside this time, to see if it would get him any different reactions 

"FUCK– YEHEHES! Yohohou're a fuhuckihing WEHEIRDO– GEHET YOUR STUHUHUPID MOHOUTH AWAY FROM MEHEHE, yohohou FREHEAK"

"Wow, weirdo and freak, huh? You really think that little of me, sweetheart?" Dream asked, exaggerating his sad facial expression when he caught George's eye. George immediately dropped his head back down to avoid looking at him for too long, knowing it would only make him giggle more, and groaned in frustration. He pulled at his arms again, yanking on them so hard Dream thought he might hurt himself, before trying the same with his legs with the same amount of success. He groaned again, falling off into a whine as the knowledge of how trapped he was kept circling around his head.

"Yehehes!"

"Yes?"

"Mhm."

"You really wanna stick with calling me a freak?" Dream smiled when he didn't get an immediate answer, having to bite his lip to stop himself from giggling at George's hesitation. 

"…Mhm."

"Hmm… okay then! If I'm a freak, I might as well embrace it just to make you miserable for a while," Dream said, smile still evident in his voice, as he moved his hand to hold around the middle of George's foot, nibbling suddenly on his toes. George absolutely screeched, before falling into helpless, squeaky laughter, shaking his head and pulling his leg as much as he possibly could.

"NAHAHAHA, DREHEHEAM!" George yelled, arching his back and crashing back down, squirming wildly against the blankets below him, desperate for some kind of help. "STOHOP, PLEHEHE–AH! PLEHEHEASE!" George squealed when Dream caught his third toe with his canine tooth, curling his toes to try and get away from the sensation. In retaliation, Dream forced his fingers underneath George's scrunched toes and scratched at the skin there– knowing that was one of George's most sensitive spots in that area, if not the most sensitive– and moved his other hand down to the back of his ankle so he could nibble at his heel as well. George squeaked, quite adorably, before bursting into broken laughter again, gasping for air whenever he could, and trying to kick his leg again. He had gotten so used to being held in place and having his kicks be pointless that he didn't expect much of it, and he was incredibly shocked when his foot actually moved forward this time.

Dream did not appreciate the movement like he did.

"Did you just kick me?" Dream asked in disbelief, and George was already shaking his head before he even finished.

"NO! No, nononono, I didn't, I promise I didn't, I didn't mean to, I-I didn't– I didn't think– you were holding and I thought– I thought it wouldn't–"

"You kicked me!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Dream, I'm really sorry, please, please don't do anything, please–"

"Y'know… I think your other foot could use some attention too, don't you?" Dream said as he pulled George's other leg out from underneath him. George protested instantly, but Dream just continued pulling it out, propping it up, and began tugging off his sock. He moved slightly, pulling his other leg back from where it was still wrapped around George's thigh to mirror the position with his new target.

"NO, DON'T– Dream, don't, Dream, please, you can't do this, I can't take it, please," George pleaded, tugging at his arms and staring up at them helplessly when he barely moved the cuffs an inch.

"You know what to say if you can't take it, baby boy," Dream responded casually, tossing George's sock onto the floor to join the other. He wrapped one hand around George's ankle and the other around the top of his foot, leaning in and nibbling the inside of it just the same as he had done to the other one.

George was lost in hysterical laughter immediately. 

"NOHOHO, Dreheheam, plehehehease!" He begged, twisting his foot however he could, using his now free leg to kick at Dream's thighs and stomach and arms to try to get him away. "STOHOHOP, DREHEAM, DOHOHON'T!"

"Kick me one more time and I'll tie your ankles and toes together and stay here the whole time. And I won't stop until you safeword," Dream threatened sternly, but his tone stayed casual, and George squeaked and immediately pulled his leg back, gently resting his foot on Dream's knee instead. "That got through to you?"

"Mhm," George whimpered, biting his lip and nodding.

"Good." Dream smiled, giggling to himself at George's tense body language. "Aww, sweet angel, I wouldn't be so cruel to you if you didn't deserve it. Take a breath, okay? You're alright," He soothed gently, patting George's foot and placing a soft kiss to his ankle. George nodded, and he did take a much needed breath, whining at the gentleness of the kiss compared to how fucking evil Dream was being to him. His reprieve was cut short, however, when Dream nibbled on his ankle lightly, making him squeal and let out a few tiny giggles again. Dream nibbled up his leg more, up the side of his calf, letting out little growls as he did so and giggling himself as George let out more confused protests at his actions.

"Whahaha–!" George giggled out, nose scrunched again and head thrown back. "Yohohou're soho WEHEIRD, oh my gohohod…" George complained, seemingly bashful, face burning bright red as he squirmed his hips slightly, sliding his heel against the bed and twisting his leg in Dream's hold.

"You're the one letting me tickle the life out of you though, aren't you?" Dream replied smugly, chuckling as George whined openly and squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah, exactly. So you let me worry about how weird I am, okay, sweetheart?" Dream concluded, sliding his hands up George's leg. He wrapped one arm around his calf to keep it in place, letting the other hand come up to scratch behind his knee and returning to his nibbling, now hitting his inner thigh right above his knee. George gasped and squealed, whimpering as he tried desperately to hold in his laughter, his leg shaking in Dream's hold and his thigh tensing every time Dream's teeth grazed his skin. "Oh, c'mon, George, you can't hold back on me now." 

"Sh-shut uhuhup–"

"Come on, you know you wanna laugh," Dream teased, blowing a tiny raspberry right on the inner thigh spot he'd been nibbling and cheering when it caused George to flinch and burst into laughter. "Yes! There we go, that wasn't so hard, was it, my kitten?"

"Whaha– yohohou nehever sahay kitten?!" George asked, in genuine confusion at where the sudden use of that name came from.

"I feel like it's appropriate for today. I'm taking it from Karl and Sapnap," Dream explained, before getting an evil idea, saying it before he could stop himself. He continued scratching behind George's knee the whole time, keeping him giggling, but not too much that he couldn't respond. "You're my kitten today."

"Oh gohohod– juhuhust… shuhut uhup!"

"Shut up? Okay! I'll just go back to nibbling!" Dream said, leaning back in and nibbling on George's inner thigh again before he could protest. George flinched and squealed, yanking his leg away, and Dream just grabbed both his thighs right above his knees and squeezed rapidly. George yelped again, pulling his legs in as much as he could, but Dream just followed him as he curled up anyway. He tried to kick his legs out, but it proved to go even worse when that only made it significantly easier for Dream to push his knees down against the bed, continuing to grab and squeeze at his thighs.

"NO– FUCK! LEHET GOHOHOHO! PLEHEHEASE– FUHUHUCK OFF!" George screamed, drumming his knees against the bed as well as he could when he was still held down, twisting and turning his arms, shoulders, and hips in an attempt to get away.

"God, Georgie, I love hearing you scream," Dream commented, making George shake his head and clamp his mouth shut so Dream didn't get the satisfaction of hearing him. "Come on, baby. Don't hold out on me. You know I'll just make it worse," He said, and George whimpered, but shook his head even more. He kicked his legs again, and he was able to knock one of Dream's hands off, but Dream just let go of his other leg and used both hands to grab the kicking one instead. 

This time, however, he let George's leg drop down on the bed, pushing his knee down so his leg was slightly turned, and then pushed his shorts up a bit and leaned all the way down to nibble his inner thigh that way, keeping George's leg almost entirely immobilized against the bed.

Apparently, this was the worst thing that he ever could've done, because George was immediately begging, thrashing, screaming in laughter, doing anything and everything he could think of to get him to stop. Dream had no intention of doing so.

"NOHOHOHO, OH MY GOHOHOHOD– FUHUCK, PLEHEHEHEASE–" George screamed, turning to the side as much as he could and attempting to pin his legs together, but all he did was and up with his other thigh resting against Dream's head and keeping him in place between his legs. He kicked out instinctively, unable to do much else other than kick his leg uselessly against the bed and pull at his arms desperately. "DREHEHEAM, I CAHAHA– I CAN'T, I CAHAHAN'T! PLEHEHEASE!"

"This always has been one of your worst spots, Georgie, I'm kinda shocked I haven't lost a tooth yet," Dream said, unsure if George could even hear him over his booming laughter. 

"DREHE– PAHAUSE! PAUSE, PLEHEHEASE!" George shouted, and Dream pulled back immediately, pressing his palm to George's thigh and rubbing away the leftover tingles for him. "Hohoholy fucking shihit…"

"You okay? I didn't go too overboard, did I?"

"Noho, I'm fihine, I just… cahan't fucking breheathe…" George said, chest rising and falling rapidly as he gulped down some desperately needed oxygen. 

"Yeah… sorry, baby…" Dream mumbled shyly, adjusting their positions to be slightly more comfortable for when they continued. He moved to sit criss-cross between George's legs, grabbing his legs and gently laying them on top of his own thighs, so George's legs were almost wrapped around his waist. 

"It's okay. Thank– thank you for, uh, pausing when I asked, though. I thought I was gonna die," George said with a small laugh, turning his head to the side as his face turned even more red as the fluttering position he was now put into.

"Of course, angel, I would never, ever wanna make you uncomfortable. You can pause as many times as you want, okay? And we'll stop whenever you want too," Dream reiterated, and George nodded. Dream let his hands rest on George's thighs, tugging the legs of his shorts down where they'd ridden up before gently rubbing his thumbs over his skin. Seconds later, George whimpered and gave a light tug to his arms, squeezing his hands into fists and biting his lip. Then, he shifted his legs, curling them around Dream's waist and squeezing him, pulling him in closer. Dream chuckled, letting him squirm for a few more seconds, before finally putting him out of his misery. "You want me to keep going?"  He asked, and George nodded frantically. "I need a verbal answer, please, my baby kitten," He requested, knowing it would hit the nail perfectly on the head. George whimpered, tilting his head back, before nodding again.

"Yes, please," He mumbled along with his nod, just loud enough that he knew Dream would hear. Dream cooed, sliding his hands up George's thighs and resting them gently on his sides.

"Oh my god, you're so cute I could cry," Dream fawned, leaning over slightly to watch George's blushing face as he reacted to the compliment. He shook his head, squirming against Dream's hands on his sides, arching into the touch to try to get him to just shut up and get on with it, then whining when it got him nowhere.

"Shut uppppp, you're such an idiot," George complained, giggling when Dream delivered one tiny squeeze to his sides, already on edge of his next movement. He tensed his legs again, squeezing his knees tighter around Dream's waist, squirming as much as he could in his incredibly immobilizing position.

"I can't! You're just– you're so cute, like, just squirming around like a little worm and letting me completely destroy you and not even asking me to stop until you absolutely need me to, like– you're just like– you're adorable!" Dream finished off, bouncing George on the bed once just to test the waters, smiling as he broke into bright, giddy giggles, butterflies no doubt fluttering all around his tummy. "You're just so precious, Georgie, oh my god, you're literally like a little kitten, I just wanna–" He shook him again, repeatedly this time, holding his sides firmly and bouncing them both up and down against the mattress. George's giggles never stopped, and Dream giggled along with him, the silly, playful nature of the situation getting to both of them. 

"Dreheheam!" George squeaked out, laughter becoming more high pitched the longer the bouncing went on, and when Dream finally stopped and let him rest flat again he was already out of breath and limp once again from laughing. "Yohou're so duhumb!"

"You're the one who's giggling like a little baby at it! Maybe you're dumb, then!"

"Shut uhup! Just go alreadyhy!" George complained, and Dream could tell he was actually getting antsy, especially with the way his legs curled around Dream's waist and his knees struggled not to curl up.

"Okay, okay, fine. Party pooper." Dream moved his hands back down to George's hips, his thumbs resting right on the spot between the tops of his thighs and the jutting bones of his hips. He pressed in softly, and the second George felt the pressure on that spot he was already squirming and yelling. 

"No! Nononono, not there, not there, that is off limits, no!" George protested, yanking on his arms. Dream giggled, gasping as George pulled hard enough to actually slide himself up on the bed a few inches, squirming the whole way up. Dream grabbed his squirmy hips, pulling him even further down than he was before, and George screamed out as he realized he was even more screwed. Now, his arms were pulled taut, completely straight above his head and out towards the corners of the bed, and he couldn't bend his arms more than a few centimeters no matter how hard he tried to pull. His hips were tilted upwards now, his lower back resting against Dream's crossed ankles and his butt on his calves, and this time his thighs were in line with Dream's waist instead of his knees wrapping around them. "NO! NO, DREAM, DON'T, LET GO, LET ME GO, YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" He complained, trying to squirm away again, but he found himself pinned even worse than he already was. His entire torso was as stretched out as it could be, and he noticed the bottom of his t-shirt had ridden up as well. When Dream placed his hands back on his hips, he felt the tip of Dream's middle and ring fingers resting on his bare skin, and it took everything in him not to whine about it. He knew if he did, it would only make Dream torture him more. "Dream, please, please, this is evil, you can't do this, you know you can't!"

"Hmm… I think I can do whatever I want," Dream teased, and immediately dug his thumbs into the spot between George's thigh and hip that he'd teased already. 

George yelled, pulling uselessly at his arms, breaking into chest-aching laughter as he tried his hardest to wiggle his hips away from the tickles. He arched his back, dropping down only seconds later as his body seemed to give in on itself for a moment, before.his squirming and shaking started up again at full force.

"Jesus Christ, Georgie, this is a good spot, huh?" He asked, tugging down the waistband of George's shorts and boxers just a tiny bit to be able to slide his thumbs underneath and dig into the same spot, right into George's skin this time. George nearly hit the ceiling with how hard he jumped and arched his back, his laughter raising in volume and desperation as he shook his head wildly.

"SHUHU– SHUHUT THE FUHUHUCK UHUHUP!" George yelled, blinking his eyes open before immediately squeezing them shut again. Dream could barely see the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes, and he heard how hard he had to gasp to be able to keep any air in his lungs, and he sensed that if he kept up with this technique and spot any longer that George might call his safeword much, much earlier than either of them would've liked for him to. He stopped what he was doing, wrapping his hands around George's hips and rubbing over the bone with his thumbs, letting George take in a few breaths before continuing. 

"I'm gonna dedicate an entire day to that spot. Just so you know."

"I will… I will actually kill you," George responded between breaths, letting his tense body relax at the soothing touch.

"Meh… it'll be worth it," Dream said, and then he suddenly shifted himself and leaned down, nibbling right at George's protruding hip bones. George whined the second he touched down, squirming side to side and trying to slide his hips out of Dream's grip. "Oh, nibbles work well here, don't they?" Dream said, pressing his lips right against George's skin as he spoke, making him squirm even more.

"Sh-shuhut uhup!" George said for the millionth time, his tummy tensing and twitching with his laughter. His giggles were turning hicuppy, and he was not at all helped when Dream let the nail of his pointer finger scratch ever so gently over the line of skin between his hip bones. "Dreheheheheam!"

"George!" Dream responded, mimicking George's tone, pressing a group of tiny raspberries in a circle around George's hip and then jumping back into nibbling the bone. George squealed at the raspberries, arching his back again, his squeaky, hicuppy giggles making Dream want to continue forever.

"Dreheheam, plehehehease, sohomewhere ehehehelse!" George pleaded, whining again as Dream placed another raspberry down, on the inner side of his hip, and then followed it up with a soft kiss.

"Okay, but you're not gonna like it," Dream said as he slid his hands up George's sides, letting the hem of his shirt catch on his fingers and pushing it up to the middle of his ribcage. He kept his head against George's skin, resting his chin just underneath his bellybutton as he did so. George instinctively sucked in his tummy, pushing his chest up and curling as far away from Dream as he could, letting out a small noise of protest from the back of his throat.

"Oh god, why nohot…" George whined nervously.

"You know why, pretty boy." Without any hesitation, Dream leaned down and connected his teeth with the edges of George's belly button. The elder absolutely screeched, dissolving into flustered, breathy giggles, as he continued to try to curl away and suck in his stomach to get away.

"Oh nohoho! Nonono, Dreheheheam, plehehease, not thahaht!" George begged, kicking his legs out behind Dream, his tummy fluttering under the nibbles.

"Not that? Okay, let's try this then," Dream mumbled against George's tummy, not pulling away to speak this time, and making George flinch even more.

"No, no, NO– NOHOHO– Dreheheam!" George protested, as Dream slid his hands back down to George's sides and gently scratched at the backs of them, on either side of his spine. He arched his back instinctively, as far as he could, but he then had the horrifying realization that it only pushed his tummy further into Dream's mouth. And if he dropped down, he would land in Dream's hands. He was entirely stuck in place, giggling his head off, arching and curling up between evil fingers and even more evil nibbles, and he had no idea how he would handle the situation. "Fuhuck, oh god, Dreheheheam, plehehease, this is awfuhuhul."

"I know, baby," Dream mumbled, blowing another small raspberry right underneath his belly button just to see him flinch in both directions and let out another squeal. "Too bad I don't care."

"DREHEAM?!" George shouted in response, offended by the notion that Dream didn't even care that he was torturing him. Dream simply giggled, scratching even more unbearably light at his back and going back to nibbling the area all around his belly button.

George could feel every breath he took, expanding his chest and sitting between his ribs, and he could hear his laughter getting more squeaky and broken. He wasn't sure why, and he wasn't sure how, but it seemed like the more Dream stayed in those specific spots, completely unmoving and unwavering, the tickling only became more maddening. He was laughing harder now, way too hard for the soft techniques that were being used, and he realized he was becoming more frantic as time went on. Squirming more, gasping more, begging more, and once again, George was convinced he might die if he didn't get a break right that second.

"PAUSE, WAHAHAHAHAIT– WAHAIT, wahahait, wait, wait wait wait, wahait…" George babbled, catching his breath once again as Dream paused his tickling. Dream took both hands away from George's back, gently guiding his hips back down so his back was flat and his hips were against Dream's legs like before, helping his body relax. Dream rested one hand on his tummy, covering almost the entire surface of it and making George whimper through his breathing at the thought, holding his hip with the other one to comfort him.

"You okay? That one was more frantic."

"Yeah, yes, I'm good, I just– that, like, both at once, just… I couldn't do both at once."

"Too much?" Dream asked, slightly nervous at George's explanation.

"No! No, not at all, it just… it really, really t-ti…"

"Really, really tickled?"

"Shut up," George answered the second Dream spoke, making the younger bark out a laugh of his own, rubbing his palm over George's tummy to help calm him.

"You're cute," He stated, no question about it, making George scoff. "And pretty," He continued in the same tone, making George whine a bit at the compliment. They stayed silent for about 30 more seconds, before George spoke again.

"You– you can keep going now. Just don't do, like, back and front at once, okay? Two spots is fine, but that– that was a lot… and it hurt my back." George giggled at the end, shifting slightly in anticipation. 

"Of course, sweet boy. As long as you're comfortable," Dream agreed, patting George's tummy before sliding his hands around his sides again, holding him gently. "You are comfortable, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Somehow," George said, smiling kindly up at Dream. Dream smiled back down at him the same way.

"Good. That's good, because I'm gonna switch it up a little bit," Dream explained, rubbing his thumbs up and down George's sides as he spoke. George furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 

"You're gonna switch it up?"

"Yeah. I think I've been too nice to you," Dream said nonchalantly, and George's eyes almost shot out of his head with how wide they got. 

"WH– you think you've been TOO NICE?!"

"Yeah."

"Dream, I-I've had to take two breaks so far!"

"Eh, could've been more. I haven't broken you yet." Dream smirked, and immediately dug his thumbs into the area right above George's hips so he wouldn't have time to protest. He screamed out, falling into loud laughter and bucking his hips uselessly to try and get him away. "I'm gonna keep going until you use your safeword. Use it whenever you feel you need to, okay, baby?"

Miraculously, George still managed to nod in understanding through his shrieks and squeals, and Dream decided he would get the show on the road. He leaned down again, blowing a line of huge raspberries up and down George's left side, pressing far into his skin and gripping his other side so he couldn't pull away. He gasped for air between every raspberry, never getting more than a few seconds of rest while Dream took in enough air to deliver another one. Dream finished with his left side after going from the bottom of his ribcage, down to his hip, then back again, and repeating that process without stopping probably four or five times– George lost count after the second– and then he switched to his right side, doing the exact same thing. Bottom of his ribs, down to his hip, then up again, repeated five times (George was more confident in the guess this time). 

"DREHEHE– DREHEAM, PLEHEHEHEASE!" He begged, voice broken and raspy, clearly nearing the end of its ropes and threatening to break and go silent very, very soon.

George's chest was already burning from his laughter, his throat dry and his stomach aching, and he had barely enough time to suck in two huge breaths and swallow his own saliva before Dream was already moving on. His next target was his tummy again, only slightly less cruel by avoiding his belly button. He nibbled up and down the sides of his tummy, as well as over his lower tummy, sprinkling in sporadic raspberries there as well. His laughter became less worryingly frantic with this technique, and he was able to calm down his shrill laughter enough to be bearable, even if it was still unbelievably hard for him to breathe.

"Dreheheheam, fuhuhuck! Oh gohohohohod, oh god, plehehehease stohohop!"

"No can do, Georgie!" Dream mumbled right into George's tummy, making him squeak even louder before falling into even more giggles. He nuzzled right into the side of his belly, smiling and giggling into his skin as he felt it flutter beneath him, clearly still tickled by his growing stubble and the rumbling of his words. 

"Stahahaha–"

"Is this a good spot, sweetheart?" Dream asked, dragging his syllables out as much as he could on the last few words. "Do you like it here? It sounds like you like it here."

"Nohohoho!" George immediately protested, shaking his head wildly. 

"Hmm… I think you like it there."

"Shuhuhut UHUP!" He could barely breathe to respond, gasping when he finished, shocked that any coherent words made it out at all. Suddenly there were hands on his ribs, and thumbs pressing into the middle of his ribcage on both sides– right between along the 5th rib from the bottom, where Dream knew was his favorite spot. "FUHUHUCK–!" He yelled, arching his back and trying desperately to dislodge Dream's hands. Nothing worked, and Dream's fingers stayed exactly where they were, massaging incessantly into his ribs, only moving every so often to switch to a different rib to keep George on edge. He continued placing tiny raspberries and nibbles all along the sides of George's belly, giggling into his skin every so often when he felt George have a particularly strong reaction. 

"How are you doing up there, kitten?" Dream asked, smiling at the way George stuttered through wild laughter as he tried and failed to answer. "It's okay, I know the answer is 'I'm doing great, Dream, thanks for asking, this is everything I want and more', right?"

"OH MY GOHOHOHOD, I CAHAHAN'T, DREHEHEAM, I CAHANT BREHEATHE!" George finally managed to get out, taking a huge gasp for air after he finished speaking before it was too late to try.

"Oh no! So sorry about that!" Dream said, cruely insincere, and George whimpered and cut his laughter off to swallow before exploding into another wave. "I'll get right on that for you."

"FUHUHUCK YOHOU!" George screamed, feeling the tears that had been forming start to finally slip out of his eyes when he squeezed them shut so hard he began to see spots. 

He felt his chest aching again, and he couldn't stop thinking about how desperate, how helpless, how utterly trapped he felt. His arms were useless, his legs were wrapped around Dream so he could barely even kick, and Dream was boxing him in pretty much completely�� sitting between his legs, his hips on Dream's lap, hands holding his ribs, Dream's body essentially bent in half with his face pressed into his tummy– and he no longer had the strength to get away even if he'd been completely free. Those thoughts, combined with Dream's promise of 'I'm gonna keep going until you use your safeword' and his observation of 'I haven't broken you yet', circled rapidly around his brain, and only in that moment did he realize that Dream was actually going to break him. He whimpered, took in another sharp breath and swallowed, feeling breathless for a new reason, feeling his face flush even more and feeling the heat radiating off it when he turned his head to look up at his left wrist. He pulled at the cuffs a few times, less desperate and more observational, before whining again through his laughter.

"WAHAHAIT, WAHAIT, SLOHOW DOHOHOWN–" He pleaded, not needing another break but needing the absolutely maddening sensation on his ribs to relax slightly. Dream pulled his head up, moving his massaging fingers down to George's bottom ribs and drilling in circles, just to keep him laughing wildly and to make him arch his back with a choked noise.

He hadn't called for a stop or pause, so Dream wouldn't give him one.

"What's wrong, my kitten? Does it tickle?" Dream asked, faking his sincerity, which was almost more infuriating than him being obviously insincere. George groaned, squirming as much as he could through the discomfort of arching his back.

"Yehehehes!" 

"Aw, right here?" Dream said, shifting up to his middle ribs again and making him drop back down with a squeal and more boisterous cackling. 

"AHAHA– YEHEHEHEAH!"

"Really bad?"

"YEHEHEHES, YES, REHEALLY BAHAHAHAD!" George agreed with a frantic nod, hoping it would get him somewhere, yanking at his arms instinctively.

"Aww, baby," Dream said with a pout, shifting up to the top of his ribcage, barely below his underarms, and George squirmed nervously and tried to pull his arms down again at the proximity to such a deeply flustering spot for him. "I'm sure it does, angel. You poor thing. Poor baby kitten."

"Yohohou're so MEHEHEHEAN!" George whined, shifting his legs and kicking out as much as he could with Dream's body in the way. Dream laughed out loud at that, nodding his head.

"Thank you, I try," He responded, and then suddenly tugged the sleeves of George's t-shirt down to expose more skin and switched between fluttering his fingers and scratching his nails under George's arms. George's laughter switched almost instantly, beautifully, music to Dream's ears. His loud, painful, broken screams and cackles switched to incredibly shy, fluttery laughs and giggles, high pitched and continuous. His eyes relaxed slightly, staying squeezed shut, but not as painfully tight. His nose scrunched up too, and his head tilted back before falling to the side as he attempted to bury it in his arm. "Aw, baby, this spot is so embarrassing for you, isn't it?"

"Shuhuhuhut–" George cut himself off when his voice cracked, clearly hoarse and rough from everything he'd already been through. He clamped his mouth shut, trying to stay silent, but he burst back into bright and raspy giggles after only a few seconds. "Dreheheheam!"

"Yeah, sweet boy?" Dream asked softly, and George was too exhausted to care if that was real or fake sincerity. The name still made him whimper, hiding further in his arm. "Aw, c'mon, don't hide on me. Let me see your pretty face."

"Mm-mm, nohope," George protested, gasping and pulling on his arms when Dream scratched a little too close to the top of his underarm near his tricep.

"C'mooooon, please?" Dream pushed, reaching up with one hand to poke at George's cheek. George giggled and flinched away from the poke, squeaking when the hand went back down to his armpit, saying no again. "Okay, suit yourself," Dream conceded, and George peeked one eye out just in time to see Dream leaning down towards him, squeaking when he felt Dream press his lips right to the exposed side of his neck.

"NO, Dreheheam, doh–ON'T!" George squealed as Dream blew a raspberry against his skin, right in the middle of his neck, Dream's cheek pressed against his arm where it was still bound above him. He tried to scrunch his shoulder up without moving his face out of hiding, but it wasn't possible in his current position. "Dreheheheam, stohop, dohohon't do ihit aga–AHAIN!" He let out another yelp when the action was repeated, this time right behind his ear. He couldn't keep himself hidden through that, whipping his head back to face straight forward as he scrunched his neck up to get Dream away.. Dream did pull away, giggling at George's reaction.

"There's my pretty baby!" Dream exclaimed dramatically, making George groan, as he moved his hands up to hold both sides of George's face. "I missed you! Don't leave me again, stay like this." They both giggled at Dream's words, and George rolled his eyes and tilted his head back, letting his eyes shut again. "Okay, back to business!"

"Oh, fuhuck– FUCK!" George yelled out when Dream suddenly jumped his hands back down to his ribs, digging his thumbs into the same middle ribs and rubbing in quick, tiny circles. "GOHOHOD, NOHOHOHO!"

"Yes, Georgie, yes!" Dream teased back, continuing his thumb movements while he leaned down and blew a few more raspberries in a line on the side of George's tummy, nibbling in between them.

The switch from gentle yet insanely flustering tickling to the most brutal tickling George thought he ever felt was a lot, and it was way too much for his body to handle, sending a surge of energy that felt almost like an electric shock up to his brain the second it started. As soon as Dream caught the spot above his hipbone between his teeth again, George knew he had to call it quits, not convinced his body and mind could take much more torture without completely caving in on him.

"OKAHAHAY, OKAY, REHEHED, DREHEHEAM, PLEHEHEHEASE STOHOHOP!" George begged, yelling out his safeword in the middle of his sentence before collapsing into hysterical laughter, not even attempting to speak anymore. He trusted Dream to stop, and he did so the second he heard the word come out of George's mouth.

He rested his palms on George's ribs, pressing in with just enough pressure that George knew he wouldn't tickle anymore, but it would still push out the ghost tickles. Dream rubbed over his ribs for a while, letting him calm himself down and catch his breath, before glancing down at his still jumpy tummy and pressing one hand over it as well, repeating the soothing process. When he was done rubbing the residual tickles away, he placed his hands on George's thighs, rubbing his palms up and down the sides of them, until George finally seemed to fully calm down, at least enough to speak. 

"How are we doing, angel?" Dream asked softly, watching George as he wracked his brain for a response. 

"Mm… good…" He mumbled, his voice still shaky and hoarse. He swallowed, taking in another deep breath.

"Do you feel okay? Nothing hurts? Nothing feels bad?" Dream asked again, tapping his fingers against George's thighs gently. George shook his head.

"Mm-mm, everything's good. I feel good," He started, coughing a few times before continuing. "I mean… my throat is dry and my chest feels like it's on fire and I can feel your fingertips inside my ribcage, but yeah, I feel really good." They both laughed at that, and Dream nodded, reaching up and rubbing his thumb over George's ribs.

"Yeah, I… I may have gotten a little carried away. But you loved it, to be clear."

"Maybe I did."

"I mean, look at you. Like, actually, look," Dream said, and George lifted his head up as much as he could manage to look down at his torso.

There were red marks all over his tummy and sides from Dream's teeth and stubble scraping and rubbing ruthlessly against his skin. There were a few marks by his hips, slightly more faded than the rest, from the nibbles and digging fingers. And there were finger-shaped, bright red spots all over his ribcage from how harshly Dream had dug in. The sight made George's jaw drop, letting his head fall back against the pillows.

"Holy shit, Dream, did you turn into a monster or something? It looks like you tried to maul me," George said in disbelief, making them both giggle.

"I became a tickle monster, Georgie, what can I say," Dream replied, making them both fall into laughter again. 

Dream was seconds away from standing up and starting his plan of taking care of George, when suddenly he realized there was one tiny detail that had slipped both their minds.

While Dream's office was soundproofed, it didn't drown out every single sound. It was nearly impossible to, some small sounds would always travel out through cracks in the door if they were loud enough, and while they wouldn't be too audible, they could definitely be heard if someone was close enough to the door of the room.

And they had a third person in the house. A third person who had open access to the kitchen… that Dream's door happened to be in the direct path of.

Sapnap made it downstairs just about 30 seconds before George needed to scream his safeword, intending to go grab the smoothie the aforementioned man had told him was left in the fridge if he wanted it. On his way down, he heard a sudden scream coming from Dream's bedroom area that was directly next to the stairs he had just walked down, extremely muffled but still audible enough for him to be concerned. He turned to his left and walked barely three steps to Dream's cracked open door, pushing it open and stepping inside.

"Dream?" He said quietly, glancing around and seeing the room was empty. He heard another scream, and he was able to place it as George's this time, and he assumed it was coming from Dream's office instead. He walked over to that door, putting his ear up to it and hearing that he was indeed right– there was definitely screaming, and it was definitely George– before he gently turned the handle, slowly so as to not alert either of the other boys.

To his dismay (or relief, he wasn't sure yet), it was locked.

So, he pulled out his phone and pulled up Dream's contact, messaging him 'wtf are you doing lol' and then a second message that said 'are u killing him in there??'. He placed his phone back in his pocket, scurrying off to the kitchen to grab the smoothie he was originally going to get, before going back and standing outside the door, now curious about the answer.

That was the moment Dream had his realization, and he picked up his phone to see the text from their youngest housemate. Dream smiled, almost evil, before gently grabbing George's legs and placing them on the bed next to him so he could stand up. 

He stretched his legs as he stood, standing up on his toes and then dropping down, before stretching his arms over his head and arching his back, then relaxing that position as well.

"Hold on," He whispered, patting George's hip, before going over to the door and unlocking it. He opened the door slowly, cracking it open just enough to stick his head out and look at Sapnap. "Hey!"

"Hi! Um, are you guys okay? I thought I heard screaming and I just wanted to check in," Sapnap asked, fussing with the straw in his drink nervously, spinning it in circles. 

"See for yourself." Dream smiled at him, opening the door further and pressing his back to it, giving him space to walk in. Sapnap stepped past him, his eyes immediately focused on the bed, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

George was laying there, wrists cuffed above his head, breathing heavily, and looking completely disheveled. His hair was a mess, his shirt was still pushed up and his shorts were still tugged slightly down, his socks were still on the floor, and his entire body was flushed red and sweaty. Ordinarily, Sapnap would make a joke about the two doing something inappropriate in there, but Sapnap knew exactly what had gone on without even having to ask any questions. 

He felt the heat rising to his chest, his jaw dropping open and his eyebrows raised, feeling bashful himself just looking at the state George was in and thinking about how Dream managed to do that. He glanced up at Dream, giggling nervously, tapping the toe of his socked foot against the carpet. 

"Oh…" He mumbled, flicking his eyes between the other two. "Oh, God, uh… wow."

"Did this help you get the idea?" Dream asked quietly, gently placing his hand on Sapnap's upper back and rubbing up and down.

"Ye– yeah it did, uh…" He stuttered, letting out a shaky breath. "Well, um, you guys have fun, I'm gonna go back upstairs now," He said, smiling up at Dream before walking out of the room, sipping his smoothie as he left. Dream couldn't help but burst out laughing as soon as Sapnap left, closing the door behind him and bracing himself on the doorknob. He recovered quickly, letting out a few leftover giggles as he walked back to George.

"That was so mean," George said with a smile, rolling his eyes and shaking his head fondly. 

"Aw, come on, it was adorable!" Dream defended as he reached up to remove the cuff on George's left arm.

"You know how flustered he gets by this kinda stuff!" George sympathized, watching Dream as he worked. Dream finished removing the left cuff, gently taking George's wrist and placing a soft kiss to the red marks on it before guiding it down to him again. He started removing the right side as he spoke again.

"I do, but did you see his face! He got so shy so fast, it was so precious," Dream explained, pouting slightly at the cuteness. "I mean, it's not like he doesn't like it, he just gets embarrassed! It wasn't, like, making him actually uncomfortable. Just antsy." Dream placed another kiss on George's right wrist before letting go of his arms entirely, letting him have them back.

"That's true." George rubbed his wrists to get rid of the restricted feeling. He paused, smirking evilly up at Dream. "We should do this to him one day."

"I was already planning it the second I unlocked the door," Dream agreed, matching George's smile. He reached forward to adjust George's waistband, fixing it for him, before tugging his t-shirt down and patting his tummy gently, making George giggle and curl up. Dream turned around and reached into the mini-fridge next to his desk, pulling out a water bottle and handing it to George. "Sit up and drink this, please?"

"Mhm," George hummed, pushing himself up into a sitting position, his legs hanging off the side of the unnecessary high bed, kicking aimlessly as he thankfully accepted the water. While he drank, Dream kneeled down in front of him, grabbing one of his socks and bunching it up. 

"One." He gently grabbed George's swinging leg and slid the sock on his foot, pulling it up over his ankle and adjusting the top, before letting that leg go and repeating the process with the other sock. "Two. Perfect." George smiled down at him, silently thanking him for the gesture, before taking another sip of water and capping the bottle again. Dream stood up, running his hand through George's hair to fix how messy and disheveled it was, before jumping back on the bed and laying down behind George. Then, he wrapped his arms around George's waist and yanked him down to lay with him, making him squeal and giggle all over again, squirming around until he was comfortable. Eventually he turned over in Dream's arms, facing him this time, and settled down in that position. "Is this okay?"

"Mhm, of course," He agreed, nuzzling into Dream more. They ended up with Dream on his back, his arm underneath George's head and curled around his shoulders, with George's legs curled and one arm between his knees. His other hand played with Dream's fingers on his free hand, and he nestled his head under Dream's chin on his chest. "My tummy still hurts from laughing so much."

"Aww, baby," Dream cooed, pressing his palm to George's tummy. George giggled, nervous at the touch, holding Dream's wrist to make sure he didn't do anything. "Poor little tummy."

"Shut uhup, Dream!"

"I can't! I just can't help it when you're so cute!"

"Okahay, okay, shut up. No more teasing," George said, pulling Dream's hand back and cupping it in his.

"Ugh, fine. I'll be nice now."

"Thank you." George relaxed against him again, staying quiet for a second before saying something else. "You know I'm definitely gonna get you back, right?" He asked, and Dream hummed out a sigh.

"Yeah. I do."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I kind of expected you'd want to."

"Good. Not now, though."

"No, not now. Now is cuddle time. I'll be nervous about payback starting tomorrow."

"Good. You should be."

"…You're gonna be ruthless, aren't you?"

"Ohhhh yeah. More ruthless than you could've even threatened to be to me."

"Oh god… should I be scared?"

"Very. I'm already planning it as we speak," George said with a chuckle, nuzzling more into Dream's chest and squeezing his hand. "Now shut up. Nap time."

And that is how Dream was left, wondering what George could possibly be planning, wondering when it would come. He knew by the next morning he would be scared out of his mind (he was never good with anticipation), and he would probably end up begging George to 'please just get it over with' in just a few days' time because he couldn't take the waiting.

But, for now, all he had to worry about was making sure George was comforted, safe, and held for as long as he wanted. So that's what he did, curling onto his side and wrapping his other arm around George's side just to pull him closer. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head, hearing George chuckle softly, before they both drifted off into their well deserved nap for the foreseeable future.

[churchofthpl]

an elaboration of sorts

(this one doesn't rhyme;

most of them don't, but

the one before the last one did

and that's the one that this one

is a sort of extension of)

i see them in everything,

and i could talk about it for hours.

my list of examples is endless.

some of them have cool stories;

some of them don't, but

they still have a place of utmost importance

in my heart.

here are ten of them.

one; she is that feeling i got when i listened to the safety dance by men without hats for the first time. i was twelve years old. i'd been a fan of the ramones for a while, i was getting into other bands in their scene, i knew punk rock, i knew what it was like to be heard by music. the safety dance was different; it was like my future self was being heard. a future self in which i was happier and i had more freedom than i did aged twelve and i felt free to love and be loved back.

two; he is the mural of a swan on the side of my dream college. when i went for an initial visit - the same visit that caused me to apply before even leaving the building - i arrived twenty minutes early to my show-around, so i was stood outside. in front of the main entrance is a huge painting of a swan. i remember sitting on one of the benches opposite it and just looking over every detail and admiring the effort that went into it. i am working my ass off to get my grades up so i can go to that college.

three; they are the first pair of earrings i ever got. i got my earlobes pierced at claire's when i was six years old. they were tiny studs with aqua-coloured gems on them. they lasted a little over a year before seven-year-old cecile took them out. they were really pretty. i still have them somewhere.

four; she is the rocky horror picture show poster on my wall. it's "camp", thank you very much, though my cat seems to be afraid of it.

five; he is the folder of drawings i did as a child. the last time i saw my dad, i was twelve years old, and the last gift he ever gave me was a folder of every piece of art i did as a child that he kept. my best friend at the time joked that i should burn them. i thought about it, very briefly - i kept them. i kept them until i moved out of the apartment. they got lost in the moving, as did a lot of things, because my apartment was cleared out entirely only a couple of weeks after my mom's passing, so there were a lot of things i wasn't in the headspace to remember to take. i never got around looked through the folder.

six; they are the storm that england got a couple of weeks ago. there were tornado warnings in towns only a couple of cities over from me, and though i didn't say anything because it felt silly, i was terrified. the winds were so loud i could hardly hear myself breathe, and the rain was flooding my garden. i stood in my porch and recorded it, deciding that joking about it would calm my nerves a little. (they were there when i sent these recordings to a group chat.)

seven; she is the pair of scissors that were used when i got my first masculine haircut. i was at a point where i didn't know if i was a transgender boy or a butch. it's funny to look back on, because between then and now, i have gone through 'phases' and experiments with my gender and presentation, i have identified as multiple things, and i am back here, now, yet again not sure if i am ftm or a butch.

eight; he is the first muji pen i ever bought. it was a lifechanger. i need to go out and buy some more soon - i wonder if ryman is open on a sunday? they're my favourite brand of pen to use. almost all of my poems that are in notebooks have been in muji pens. all of my handwritten essays have been in muji pens that had the labels ripped off by the invigilators (you know, just in case i printed the answers in japanese onto a pen label and stuck it on the pen).

nine; they are the copy of gloom that i stole from my old group counsellor's office back when i first got transferred to my current school. i only did it because i thought the box looked cool and i was a bit of a kleptomaniac. he never asked for it back. since then, i've taught myself to play, and gloom is my favourite card game of all time.

ten; she is - above all else, i suppose - the first thing i smile about every morning. no, seriously. that's not even me being sappy. i check my phone first thing every morning, and she's always the first notification i read.

[inkedmyths]

[[So I just woke up from a Fucked Up Dream and I just. Yeah. Not 100% accurate to what I dreamed, mostly bc I'm already forgetting some details]]

Statement of Inked Myths, regarding the passing of an ill relative. Statement given June 18, 2023. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

---

Statement begins.

-

I wasn't supposed to be home.

That's the thing I keep coming back to. I wasn't supposed to be home at the time. If I hadn't been home, my mom would be dead. Maybe the rest of us would be dead too. I don't—

...I don't think I want to think about that.

Anyways. I guess I should start off with the background, first, right. You have to understand that first.

I live with my family. Well, my mom's side of the family. Sometimes I think it makes me a disappointment, you know. Twenty year old still living in the house. I try not to dwell on it, though. Did you know the whole "move out right at 18" thing only really became a thing in the 1950's? Same with the nuclear family model. It was a couple of decades worth of a fluke, a country wealthy enough that you could do that. Now, it's so damn difficult to make a living wage, and people still expect you to move out—

Er. Sorry. Back on topic.

So, yeah, I live with my family. It's me, my mom, my grandmother, grandfather, and...

...And my great grandpa. Or, was.

That last one, um. That's why I'm here today.

My great grandfather had been ill for a long time. So's my grandfather, but Grandpy was worse off. It's just, life, you know? He was so old, and you rarely get that old and stay in good health. So he just kind of sat around most days, sitting in his chair, watching television or reading or whatever it was he did to pass the time.

I– God. I feel. I feel so bad, you know? I barely know what he even liked. I just... like he was always just kind of there, in the background, and I never... never really talked with him. I had my life and it was going too fast to stop and just. Just talk. God, who knows how long that— that thing—

Right. Getting ahead of myself.

Point is, he was sick, and had been for a long time. We took care of him, as best we could. Not really qualified, since none of us are really caretakers, but. Well. Homes cost money, and the best one we could find was so far away, so. We did our best.

...He used to talk. Just, a lot. To anyone who happened to pass by his chair. Just, about anything. What he was watching, recent news, reminiscing about times gone by. Sometimes it was just nonsense. He just liked talking. My grandmother always said to try and listen to him, if just for a little bit. That he just wanted some comoany for a while. I was never— never the greatest, at sitting and listening. Just. Don't like sitting still, and it tended to be boring, and. God, I feel like an asshole. But I mean. We all tried.

It should have been a huge red flag, when he stopped talking one day.

I think... I think we all assumed it was a sign of his health taking another bad turn. That happens. One day they can chatter your ears off, the next they can't. Perfectly natural.

Life went on, but it was. Unnerving. He'd always been talkative. Always. And he stopped watching his television, so it was always silent down there now. It freaked me out, so I avoided the downstairs even more than I already did.

I wasn't supposed to be home, that day.

Last week, I'd gone to school, you know, as normal, but. God. Have you ever had a feeling of dread so, so awful, you feel actually sick? I thought my unease would go away, but it just. It stayed, evolved, and I just couldn't shake that gut-wrenching feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Mom was off early, so I called, and had her pick me up. Not that home felt much better but, god, I didn't want to sit through fucking pre-calc while I felt like this. I figured it was just a particularly nasty bout of anxiety. I don't usually get, like, the whole shaking and crying and having a hard time breathing panic attacks, but I do get, like. Deep bouts of anxiety where I can't eat and feel really jittery.

Mom picked me up, asked if I was ok. I just kind of, shrugged, said the anxiety was bad today. She nodded. Her phone went off. My great grandfather was calling. Mom groaned, and ignored it.

He'd been calling all day, she said. Asking when she'd be home. Over, and over. When would she be home?

In hindsight this is. God. I wasn't supposed to be home. He— no, it. It didn't plan for me being there.

So, we got home, and went up to our rooms, like we always do. I sat down for a while, tried to take comfort in more familiar, quieter surroundings, but couldn't. That feeling of dread just felt like it was growing, and growing, and.

You know, I just read the other day that it's a symptom of a heart attack. This overwhelming feeling of dread. That it's your body knowing something is really, really wrong, without being able to tell it to you specifically. I've never had a heart attack, but I imagine that feeling is probably not to far off from what I was feeling then.

I decided to go down and grab a snack. Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly jittery, it's just because I haven't eaten enough. So, I got up, and stopped by mom's room, asked her if she wanted something, and she said she'd be down in a second.

I turned away, walked to the top of the stairs and.

And was face to face with my great grandfather.

He was standing. He was on the stairs. He he hadn't— he hadn't been able to walk unassisted in— in years! He was standing on his own, walking up the stairs, in a way I'd never seen him do! It looked wrong. Like the slightest breeze should knock him over, like he should be shaking from the effort of standing. But he stood, like it was normal, though it was anything but.

The dread turned into terror when my eyes met— met it's. Because in that moment I knew that this? This was not my great grandfather. It was something else. Something pretending to be him. Empty eyes stared back at me, devoid of that little twinkle he'd always had, no matter what he was talking about. They were just... just empty, like glass.

I didn't even have time to scream. He— it lunged at me, grabbed me, and.

You know that thing in dreams, where you can't move or scream? Where you like, try to scream, but nothing comes out?

It is so, so much worse when it happens in real life.

I struggled, tried to break away, trying to scream. I couldn't. I could barely move, the moment it grabbed me. It was like it was... draining, me. Of my strength, my life even. I couldn't— I couldn't fight back. I fell backwards, wheezing, desperately trying to free myself, to scream, to hit something and make a noise. It's grip moved towards my throat, and there was nothing I could do.

I don't know if my struggle managed to make enough noise, or if my mom had just arbitrarily decided that was when she was going to get up and go join me downstairs. Or maybe she, too, had felt the same dread I had, and couldn't stand it anymore.

She walked out of her room to my struggle for my life.

I don't really remember exactly. I just know she knocked it off of me, and we both ended up downstairs.

And I know it lunged for her, next.

Free from its weird, freezing grasp, I ran. Fight or flight, and for maybe the first time in my life, I was choosing fight. I'm not a strong person, but, but that was my mom, she was in danger, and so was I, and. I ran into the kitchen, and grabbed a knife. Cliche, maybe, but what else was I supposed to do.

I ran back, to where it now had my mom in that same, awful grip. She was frozen, like I had been, unable to do more than try and not fall over, unable to shake it off as its cold, thin fingers dug into her arms.

But all its attention was focused on her. Maybe it thought I had run away completely. It's back was to me, and I had an opening.

I've never, in my life, killed anything more than a bug. Never gone hunting, never slaughtered a pig or whatever. Never really had the stomach for it.

I took the knife I grabbed, and without hesitation, plunged it into that thing's back. It plunged deep, like through sponge, a streak of blood spurting out. I guess it didn't have much substance. It just kind of... shuddered, squirmed a bit around the knife, and then it just... went still.

I didn't expect it to be that easy. Maybe it wasn't built to be stabbed, or whatever. With an ability to render someone imobile with a touch, other physical defenses aren't a priority I suppose.

My mother and I stood in silence. Then, realizing how this looked, I set about cleaning up. Not really, I mean, I was in shock, but I got the body out of the front entryway. Dragged it outside, back behind the house. I knew we had to properly dispose of it or something, but didn't know what else to do about it, for now.

Then me and my mom just kind of. Sat there, for a moment. And she said, "I should have known. He just kept calling, and calling, asking when I'd be home."

I wasn't supposed to be home. It had been planning on going after my mom, and wasn't expecting me. That had probably saved our lives.

The rest of my family came home, along with my uncle and his family. They'd been talking, apparently, about how something was wrong with my great grandfather, how he'd just stopped talking and they needed to figure out what was wrong.

Mom and I exchanged a look.

I don't know what she told them. I'd had enough for the day. I wandered back up to my room, closed the door, and collected myself.

I... I don't remember when exactly he'd stopped talking. That must have been it, right? When he'd been... been replaced? How long had it been? How long had we had that thing in our house, biding its time and waiting to kill us?

It's gone now. My uncle burned what was left of it. We haven't talked about it since.

I'm not sure I'll ever feel safe in my home again.

-

Statement ends.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone just walked in here and confessed to murdering their ailing relative in the midst of some kind of fit. I debated calling the police on this matter, but decided against it. I have some doubts as to whether or not it would be taken seriously, or, given our Institute's reputation, if it would be passed off as not enough evidence, if not outright a prank.

It does fit with the running theme of doppelgangers that I've noticed in several statements. I'm not sure if that lends it more or less credit.

There is... another reason, I did not call the police on this. I had Sasha do some digging on the family, to try and figure out which members were referred to, particularly this "great grandfather". As it turns out, the man in question was recorded as having passed peacefully in his sleep... 16 years before this statement was given.

Statement ends.

[time-is-standing]

top 10 songs of september

- a late /as usual/ description of my days

1. Who I Am Without You by Aislinn Davis

this is a new find! I got so excited when I stumbled across this sound under one of the tiktok videos I watched. I happened to fall in love within seconds and have been listening to this ever since.

2. My Blood by Ellie Goulding

this is a song I've heard countless times before but somehow the melody, the deep lines and the overall vibe of the song hugged my heart tightly a few weeks prior. I am deeply connected to the vibes and the lyrics overall, so it climbed to the top of this list.

3. Strangers by Kenya Grace

this is another tiktok favourite. I didn't even notice at first how much I'd love the entire song, the chorus was enough for me to fall in love. but the lines

"and then one random night when everything changes

you won’t reply and we’ll go back to strangers"

gave so much depth to the experience...

4. Last Resort Reimagined by Falling In Reverse

I got reminded of this masterpiece in a party of ours. it lasted until 1am and we really only finished the "karaoke" because we had to wake up early the next morning but singing these kinds of songs, having fun and being careless was something I've missed dearly earlier.

5. You Are Enough by Sleeping At Last

I really do need this song nowadays. even though I'm in a happy relationship, all our dreams came true when we moved in together a month before and things are looking great... I think now is the time when it's most important to take time and learn to love ourselves.

6. Parasite Eve by Bring Me The Horizon

in the mornings I have my routine 15 minute walk to work and some days I still need hyping up so I get these songs out to help. I'm still thinking about my bmth concert experience a lot.

7. Another Life by Motionless In White

we had a party at our new house and one of my fac friends busted out this banger. I've cried so much to this song when I was a teenager and now I have such strong feelings. knowing that not only it can get better but that it did get so much better... priceless.

8. Voices In My Head by Falling In Reverse

"the voices in my head keep telling me I'm not okay

it's feeling like a hurricane in my brain

dark clouds, hard times, bad weather

please don't make this last forever"

this is one of the tunes that are real close to my heart. I've first listened a few years ago, when I wasn't the biggest fan anymore (because I loved the band for years before, when I was a teenager) but it's still a real cool song.

9. Eyelids by iamjakehill

an older fav. I don't know how I listened to this again but it's still a banger. I'm loving jake's career and this song makes it obvious why he is so good.

10. Still Waiting by Sum 41

another song from the party at ours, we had fun. reminds me of the summers when we didn't have internet & made fun little videos with our (not really smart) phones. great times, I will never forget how different everything was back then.

[brattysorcerer]

If you're down for this request, how about the guys reacting to a reader with the worst sleep schedule? They're collabing with the girls and Mama Nina asks when was the last time they slept and they're like "uhhh Friday?" not even realizing that its already Wednesday and they've gone 5 days purely on caffeine and poor life choices.

so, this ask got me curious on how long the body can go without sleep and apparently, it's about 8 to 10 days according to some research studies.

anyways! i only included luxiem at the moment as i was low on ideas for noctyx but i hope you enjoyed!

you were one of the newer members to the nijisanji crew, having debuted just over two months ago. but in that short time, you'd grown close to everyone and had been having a lot of fun. the last week or so had been busy and you'd been running mostly on caffeine and sleep. you'd zoned out a bit during a collab with nina, reimu and rosemi which had prompted nina to show a bit of concern as this wasn't the first time you'd been a bit off during the collab or in the last few days, in fact.

"honey," nina says, "when was the last time you got some sleep? you sound exhausted."

you pause for a moment, glancing at your chat as they seem to express the same concern and it makes you think hard for a moment. "uh. what's today?"

"the 11th," reimu pipes up.

"oh." you say quietly, busying yourself with your minecraft house as nina's model comes closer to you. "okay so maybe it's been a couple days."

"a couple days?"

"okay, okay, five. it's been five days."

VOX

vox immediately joins the collab voice channel. like...no shame, no care, nothing. you know that gif of big bird kicking down a door? that's vox in this moment. "y/n." he starts and you whine a little bit, knowing your about to get scolded. "what the fuck do you mean it's been five days?"

"to be fair," you start meekly, feeding your minecraft cows. "this isn't the first time i've gone this long without sleep."

"oh my god." vox says. "okay so here's what's going to happen. you're going to log out of minecraft and you're coming with me."

you frown, muting yourself on discord before apologizing to your chat and ending your stream early, promising an unschedule stream later on to make up for it. you click out of everything and unmute on discord once more, saying goodbye to the girls. soon after you leave, your discord rings as vox calls and you answer, obviously.

"i'm not mad," he starts, clearly realizing that maybe he might've come across angry. "i'm just...concerned. five days? and this isn't the first time? that's...that's not good, y/n."

you're quiet, aside from the small affirmative noise to let him know you're there.

"so, what i was thinking, since i was about to go take a nap...maybe we could nap together? and maybe we could...do it often? just to help you with your sleep of course." he says, clearing his throat.

"i...i'd like that, vox." you say, switching over to your phone and settling into bed.

"perfect. sweet dreams, y/n."

MYSTA

mysta had been in your chat, memeing and goofing around with you when it had happened.

MYSTA RIAS [NIJISANJI EN]: fIVE DA---Y/N?!??!!?!? MYSTA RIAS [NIJISANJI EN] donated £200: get your ass to bed now or i'll boobytrap your minecraft house next time i'm in the server :watergunemoji:

you snicker a little bit, making a deliberate move to make your model look at the camera before you walk it over to the bed and lay it down.

MYSTA RIAS [NIJISANJI EN]: Y/N YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. OR DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL THE CHAT ABOUT *YOUR* COOKING MISHAP?

you gasp loudly after reading out the message and you hear the other girls all laugh a little bit.

"alright! well, i'm gonna have to call it here for my end of the stream. nina, reimu, rosemi, thank you for being lovely guests and for collabing with me! and chat, i'll do an impromptu stream later tonight after i get some sleep! bye!"

@ yournijiname: @ mysta_rias is a filthy liar and i'm an amazing cook. this is slander and lies.

LUCA

i think luca would like,,,wait until after stream to say anything. he doesn't want to embarrass you because you already seem kinda flustered and embarrassed from the response the girls have given you. but after you end your stream and leave the discord call, you see a message from luca.

luca kaneshiro: do you want help with your sleep schedule? y/n y/l/n: i y/n y/l/n: you don't have to do that. luca kaneshiro: i know i don't have to but i want to. this kind of sleep schedule is gonna hit you hard in the future. luca kaneshiro: if it helps, we can sleep on call together? i know our timezones are kinda different so maybe not like. sleep sleep. but naps maybe? it might be pretty pog? plus, i like spending time with you so even if we don't nap, we can just...relax together? y/n y/l/n: ... y/n y/l/n: i think i'd like that a lot, luca. luca kaneshiro: POG, wanna take a nap now? i can call you in a sec. y/n y/l/n: sure thing, just let me get settled in bed. y/n y/l/n: and luca? luca kaneshiro: yeah? y/n y/l/n: thanks <3

IKE

i think he'd probably be similar to vox? at least in level of concern. i don't think ike would barge into the collab voice channel but he'd wait. as soon as you were done with your stream and had said your goodbyes, you'd get a call from ike.

"ike? what's up?"

"you and i are going to work together to get your schedule fixed."

cue the spongebob gasping audio.

"y/n...please. it's important to get good and regular sleep." he says, frown very evident in his voice. "i think, since we're close in timezone, perhaps we can like...check in with each other? make sure we take some naps here and there? that kind of thing? i just want to help you, y/n." he says quietly.

you nod a little, before remembering he can't see you currently. "i, uh, i'd be okay with that," you respond.

SHU

i think shu would take an approach similar to luca? probably calls you after your stream under the guise of wanting to play a game with you. not for stream, but just to play and vibe quietly. it was a common occurrence with you and shu, honestly. he'll hit you up with 'eyyyyy minecraft?' or ' :eyeemoji: spy party?' or something like it.

sometimes he'll do guerilla's with you in this moments but today was just you and him and some minecraft in a realm he'd made for the two of you. it was quiet and honestly a good time for the most part before shu cleared his throat.

"so. five days, huh?"

"oh god," you whisper, humming as he snickers a little bit.

"m'not gonna, like, scold you but i might start checking in on you." he replies, moving his model over and into your cabin and throwing a flower towards you. "i care about you, y'know? and i don't wanna see you pass out on stream."

you pick up the flower, moving to put it in a pot in your cabin with a smile. "that's fine with me. i appreciate it shu."

he hums quietly, moving around your little minecraft cabin before turning his model to look at you. "now...what if we put our minecraft beds next to each other?" he says with a laugh. "jk jk...unless?"

[barbiewritesstuff]

Chapter 1: Lost and Found

-- This is my first Top Gun Maverick fanfiction, I saw tge film like a week ago and I am in love. Enjoy Hangman, he's out of character but I don't care :) --

Y/n: your name

L/n: last name

C/n : country's name

The Hard Deck was more crowded than usual with people having had to spill out of the bar and onto the deck to drink their beers. The team had secured their pool table early in the evening and their reputation had ensured none of the idiot rookies would attempt to steal it. 

The jukebox played a fast and cheery rock song which had the whole place dancing and moving, and which marked the tempo of the pool games being played. 

Hangman bent down to shoot his shot but fumbled when an unsuspecting person bumbed into him. He stood up suddenly, ready to throw some choice words out whej he stopped mid-sentence. 

The bumper was a woman, early twenties, wearing a beige flight suit and with long blonde hair in a bun. She looked different than the last time he'd seen her - She had been wearing a blue and white college cheerleading uniform with her shorter hair curled and draped over her shoulders - but it was unmistakeably her. 

She turned and almost apologised when recognition passed her face.

"Y/n" Hangman said, in a colder fashion than he had meant to.

"Jake" She replied in the same tone of voice

"Do you two know each other" Phoenix interrupted. Eyeing them suspiciously, and looking around, Hangman noticed the entire team was looking at them. It wasn't hard to see why, there was barely any space between the two of them, having subconsciously taken a step forward once they had recognised each other.  

He was standing so close he could smell her, that same wonderful perfume she wore in college and somehow the toothpaste she had brushed her teeth with. And he could see every detail of her face too, the mascara she had put on, the eyeshadow that had slightly stuck to it, the glistening lipgloss on her lips and sadly for him, he could also see right down her shirt. 

He coughed and backed away to take another shot in his "friendly" game of pool. His heart was beating a mile a minute, and he seemed entirely incapable of thinking. He fumbled his shot again. Rooster's eyebrows shot up.

Worst for Hangman, was that she seemed entirely unfazed by their meeting, she turned on her heels to face Phoenix and immediately started a brand new conversation, and the only indication that she had been affectes by their sudden run-in being the great care she took in redirecting the conversation from whatever had happened to litterally anything else. 

For the first time ever, Hangman had lost a game of pool. The team was baffled and he was furious at himself for letting someone get to him that much. 

She was his ex, the one he thought about alone at night in his room, the one whose name Coyote, the poor poor lad who had had to bunk with Hangman, had to pretend he hadn't heard moaned and groaned when Hangman thought he was sleeping. But they'd parted on bad terms, and he had done the breaking up, so there should have been no reason for Hangman to be this bloody hung up on her. 

He tried to shake it off, work it off and shower it off but it just wouldn't leave him. He could still smell her and see her. When he closed his eyes at night he could do nothing but dream about her bouncing on top of him, head thrown back and coming.

"This girl's bad news", he tried convincing himself after his third cold shower of the night, "she could put my carreer in jeopardy. Even if she was interested, and she's not, a Lieutenant fucking a rookie would not look good." The shower didn't help much, but he still fell alseep for a few hours only to be woken up at 4 am by a text. 

"Didn't think I'd run into you. Thought you'd left Top Gun"  The unknown number had texted, but he knew it was her. Totally not because he still remembered her number by heart, he would have sworn if anyone had asked. Hangman left for a jog. 

The team was at the Hard Deck with Maverick. Hangman had declined the invite, if only to avoid Y/N, and to avoid looking like a fool again. 

His dissapearance had been noticed, and Coyote was the first one to adress the obvious confusion.

"So who's the girl and how does she know him?"

"Y/n's a friend of mine, we met before basic, she used to babysit my baby sister. She's really nice and sweet. Totally not the type to hang around Hangman"

"Well, as cute as Hangman's obvious crush is, I'm curious about her. What are the chances you can call and get her down here, so we can meet her properly." Rooster asked, mischievous smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Phoenix took out her phone and texted her friend. 

Y/n wasn't an idiot, she knew why she'd been invited to the Hard Deck for drinks with Phoenix's team. They were curious about her, and she wanted to indulge them. 

She'd enjoyed Hangman's face when she didn't react to him. To his fucking gorgeous face and his chiseled chest she could sense through his stupid beige flight suit. Beige flight suits who didn't suit anyone, or so she'd thought before she'd been too enthralled by looking at his ass to pay attention to where she'd been going. 

But she'd been good and restrained and she'd be good and restrained when the team would interrogate her, so she could see the torture in Hangman's eyes. 

Sadly, when she joined the pilots, she noticed Hangman had been clever about this and simply hadn't shown up. So she mentally patted herself on the back about dressing casually and went on with the evening. It was funny seeing the team try to phrase their questions as delicately as possible to avoid her suspicion and she delighted herself in only giving vague answers. Not that she would ever give real ones, her relationship with Hangman had ended on a painful enough note that she didn't really want to talk about it with any seriousness. 

"So, how's your love life?" Had been Phoenix's boldest questions, but there were plenty of subtler ones, like "Do you have a boyfriend?" From sweet, cute Bob, or Rooster's "Why did you join the army? A girl like you doesn't really strike me as a Navy type…" or even Coyote's "So what's your name again?", just to make sure he'd definitely heard Hangman moan it right. 

After she'd left, they had all moped around quite sadly until Maverick had joined, they relayed the information they had learned - A big fat nothing - and Mav admitted to doing some sleuthing of his own. He'd snuck in Cyclone's office and read her file, drowning his guilt with the explanation that he needed to know what made his team tick. The file was uninteresting.

Her name was Y/n L/n, she was 25, went to UCLA and majored in Psychology. Single, born in Y/c and had a mother, a father and four sisters. Her emergency phone numbers were Phoenix, her older sister and another number.

And then he'd read Hangman's file. Also 25, attended UCLA and majored in psychology. Single, born in Texas and had a mother, father and three brothers. His emergency numbers were his mother and father and an unknown number. 

Comparing the two files lead to one small piece of interesting information. Y/n's unknown emergency number was Hangman's and Hangman's was Y/n. 

Still, the team found, that didn't explain much… they could have met at college and become friends but Phoenix still didn't believe her friend would date a guy like Hangman. 

Her friend was sweet, smart and kind. She knew that before the navy, she'd worked at a coffee shop. She was more likely to date a guy like Bob, Rooster at a push, someone sweet and gentle. Not a raging asshole.

There was, obviously, a third option but one the Phoenix wouldn't entertain. The third option was that Hangman wasn't actually a raging asshole, which is the side Bob had pitched his tent on and was now firmly defending, having developped his own crush on Y/n and having become entirely incapable of thinking anything remotely unflattering about her.

In his bunk, Hangman had taken some sleeping pill to hopefully get some sleep, any sleep, as his mind had been working overtime. Every though he had had since seeing her again had been about her. He hadn't eaten, he hadn't worked out and he had barely been able to move, paralysed by the thought of her. Of running into her, of being around her, of talking to her. Not because he didn't want to but because he didn't think he'd be cool, calm and collected. He was afraid to fall on his knees and beg for forgiveness and a second chance, or worse beg for the release he had been thinking about for 25 hours straight and that he knew wouldn't be helped by his hand or any other ramdom woman on this earth. 

Eventually he fell asleep, mercifully unable to remember any dream he had had, but waking up with a wet patch in his pijama trunks. Coyote had not yet woken up when he sneaked to the showers. At least training today would keep him occupied and away from trouble. Ironically guessing your callsign correctly.

[starplatinumnun]

"when i was eighteen, i came home from college over summer break. i had already thrown away the old me. or at least i thought i had thrown her away, you know? maybe i packed her down somewhere. at the bottom of one of the suitcases full of dirty clothes. or underneath all the books in the cardboard boxes that had started to gather dust. the cardboard had ripped when i tried to carry it to the bookshelf. isn't that funny? a moving box that can't be moved. dad had told me not to pack it so full, but i trusted it, so i guess i was the one that really got hurt.

i don't think the box felt anything. the tear was clean and fast. one moment it was a whole box, and the next, just a corpse of one. cardboard corners and bones and wavy insides and a hundred books in a stomach that would never finish digesting them. gross. the acid must've gotten to the pages by now. no point in trying to clean the carcass.

i guess it'll just stay there another day.

sorry. i guess i got distracted. anyway. when i was eighteen, i came home from college over summer break. and i didn't really know how to act. i had already thrown away the old me, you know? or at least i thought i had. maybe i packed her down somewhere. i always forget to unpack whenever i travel. the suitcases just keep filling up and the clothes get dusty. dad always got so angry over it, too. he'd talk about how bad the smell was, and it was all because of me. but i really don't think the smell was that bad, because i always kept the bags zipped, and when it was trash i bagged it up and kept it by the door so that when i had to switch houses again i could take the bags and throw them all away. did anyone else have to switch houses?

... sorry. it happened again, huh?

when i was eighteen, i came home from college over summer break. i'd... i'd sort of forgotten how to act around everyone back home. like i'd already thrown away the old me.

right. the old me was in the trash, so i would have taken her out when i switched houses.

okay. that's a relief. i was worried i'd run into her again.

because she was gone, i didn't really know how to talk to all the people i used to talk to. mom and dad thought i was someone i wasn't and i didn't really know what to tell them so i just didn't. i tried to smile and laugh like they wanted. but i did it at the wrong times, and they got really mad. not mom! mom told me she wasn't mad. so i guess it was dad that got mad. dad mad, mom sad. i think she was sad. she started crying once, when she asked how i really felt and i told her. but she said i wasn't in trouble then, either, so maybe she wasn't sad or mad but something else.

i didn't really want to leave my room. my room had the computer and the other rooms had mom and the floors that made my feet black and the wall with the screaming face and the other house had dad and he'd scream and the bed wasn't right there either. it was in the middle of the room and anyone could crawl up from underneath it and i couldn't keep my back against the wall. i just used the computer until i couldn't stand it anymore and then i'd pass out. and before you ask, it wasn't sleep! i was unconscious. i didn't dream, so i knew i hadn't slept. smart, right?

i think i managed to exist for two weeks like that. almost two weeks, actually. thirteen days. i remember because one of the few times i managed to put myself together and exist i just spent the whole time thinking how unlucky it was to stop existing on the thirteenth day. i thought i could make it two whole weeks and fly back to where the real me was, but i disintegrated on the last day. dad would've yelled at me if he ever found out. he always hated when i quit early. i didn't really think disintegrating counted as quitting but i'm sure he'd yell at me for it anyway.

anyway, i stopped existing for a few days. and while i was gone i didn't shower or leave or eat or talk to anyone. i mean, i tried! you can't be mad, because i did make a real and honest effort! but it just... didn't work. i turned on the shower and turned it off because the water wouldn't hit my body. and i tried to open the door, but i didn't have a hand, so i was stuck. and i typed to people on the internet, and they typed back, and for a little bit i thought maybe that would make me exist. but isn't that kind of stupid, when you think about it? nothing in the computer is real. i mean, it's real, it's electrons and led displays and microchips, but it's not REAL. not real enough, at least. it's text and emoticons and asterisks next to a name and maybe a display picture if the internet loads well enough. not real enough. you can't exist off of that. it's just not enough.

what saved me? huh. i guess...

you're probably going to laugh if i say this, you know?

promise not to laugh.

promise me, okay! i'm serious! i'll know if you don't!

well... it was a lot easier than i thought to exist, actually. i ended up finding a picture of eyes. a bunch of eyes all looking out at me from the screen. and that wasn't real either, but it was just a little more real, you know? just real enough. when the eyes were looking at me, i knew i existed, and that meant i was there again. i could shower and eat and go out where my dad was as long as i had their eyes watching me after. it wasn't easy, though, i can tell you that much! it took me almost an hour to open the door, even with my hands back. but i managed to eat eventually. thanks, mom.

this is a game about people like me.

maybe you don't understand my words, but you're curious enough to want to.

or maybe you do understand, and this is the first time you're seeing someone else who understands, and even if it's not REAL it's real enough and you can exist for a little bit longer.

or maybe you just want to point and laugh at someone that's different.

but you can't. you promised me, remember?"

- a steam review on the game "milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk"

[spencestyles]

The Other Woman

summary: spencer and meave have a toxic relationship after saving diane and the new agent doesn’t help

pairing: meave x spencer, spencer x BAU!reader

warnings: angst (lowkey), cursing, broken relationship, fluff

words: 4k+

~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since the team and I stopped Diane from killing Maeve, things were different. When I dreamed about meeting Maeve, I thought things would be perfect, we would be a match made in heaven. But after finding out important things she felt to leave out (like she was engaged), the spark was seeming to fade and just genuinely getting to know her personality. Of course our new agent wasn't any help either.

y/n y/l/n

She was different from any other girl I had met. She was smart and a great listener, she was determined to keep learning. She didn't try to outsmart me like Maeve had begun to do. Her biggest talent and asset to the team was her interrogation skills.

"Brian, I know how you are feeling," y/n said to the unsub. "You are upset your dad left you and upset that he left you with your mother."

"She was never a mother," Brian screamed. "That dirty whore didn't know her left from her right."

"The girls?" y/n asked. "Did they know their right from their left?"

"I wouldn't know, I didn't do anything to them," Brian said.

"Well I do, I looked into their background, all single mothers, husband left. They weren't dirty Brian, they were doin-"

"YES THEY WERE. They are all whores. I tried to help them, to help their children. But they were just like she was, a whore."

Since the first day she arrived, I've been enthralled by her presence. Maeve asked to move in around a month ago, I said no. She was so upset it was almost pitiful. It had been an argument that continued for weeks and was heated tonight at our at home dinner date. "Why, Spencer, why can't I move in with you?" She yelled at me.

"Because I barely know you," I yelled back, quickly calming down. "We may have been talking on the phone, but we have known each other in person for five months. I just, Meave, I'm going through a rough time at work. It wouldn't be good for you to move in right now." I made a large breath as Maeve roughly stood up from the table.

"Is there someone else?" Maeve asked. "That new agent, (wrong name), or whatever-"

"y/n"

"Like I said, whatever. Are you talking to her, is there something going on?"

"Maeve, there is nothing going on between y/n and I," I explained. "She is a new agent, she is young, she is like I was when I joined the BAU. I am just trying to help her get settled."

"Why can't JJ do that? She was young when she joined."

"Because JJ was the communications liaison then, she didn't become a profiler until two years ago."

"Whatever," Maeve said, grabbing her purse. "I'm leaving, I need to think."

Thank God

"Ok, we need to talk about this," I said. Maeve muttered something before slamming the door.

Moments like this made me question the relationship I created with Maeve. Maybe it's because I never really knew her. I knew her job and that she was smart, but I didn't know how clingy she was or bitchy and competitive. I don't blame Diane for being so upset. Why was she so upset about y/n, I mean y/n is gorgeous and smart. But she is so young, she's only 24. Tomorrow was going to be a good day, tomorrow I was finally going to make some decisions about Maeve.

Waking up the next morning felt like a chore. The sound of my phone going off was much worse than my alarm clock.

"Reid."

"Spencie, it's y/n," the angelic voice I was longing to hear was music to my ears at 3 in the morning. "We have a case, JJ called me and told me to call you. Which thinking about it is a little strange- wait that's not the point of this call. I need you to pick me up."

"Yeah I can come get you," I said rushing around. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Thanks Spencie, I owe you big time."

Running around my room, I tried to pick my best outfit. y/n loved when I dressed in blue or purple, so I decided I would dress in blue this fine morning. My light blue button down and my tight navy pants, made me look a sexy professional as I would say, so would Derek (and hopefully y/n). I hated driving, but I would never tell y/n that, she is too cute when singing in the car for me to say no to her.

On my way to her apartment (which was very small and in a terrible area), I began to think about what y/n said on the call. JJ called me and told me to call you. Why wouldn't JJ just call me. I mean I do tell JJ about my problems with Maeve and my schoolboy crush on y/n, but she was so upset when I first said it.

"Maeve is literally your dream girl Spence, why are you trying to stop that? And for y/n, now I know she is smart and wow, she is hot, but Spence, she is 24. She still has a lot of growing up to do. Also, I didn't work my ass off to save Maeve for you to end things with her."

JJ was right, y/n was too young and too naive to know what she wanted. Hell, I didn't even know what I wanted. I fell for a girl over the phone and then realized she's not at all what I thought. I should have known.

Arriving at y/n's apartment building I texted her a quick 'here' before noticing her car tire had been slashed. The passenger door opened and y/n sat down handing me a large coffee in her typical reusable to-go cups. "y/n you didn't have to bring me coffee," I said.

"Spence, it's three in the morning and you are driving," you said with a straight face. "I brought you the coffee so you wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel and we would die." I laughed before taking a big swig of the drink and heading to the office.

"I saw your tire had been slashed, what happened?"

"I don't know, JJ called me so I went out to get my go-bag from the car because I left my good mug in it and I saw the tire was slashed. I have no idea how it happened or why, it's really annoying though, I just got new tires." The situation with y/n's tire was strange, I mean she lives in a complex where nearly twenty cars are out front if they aren't in the back lot. Why only her car? Maybe it was nothing special, just a coincidence.

y/n heard my phone ring and looked at the screen, "It's Maeve," showing me the screen. "Why is your girlfriend calling you at 3:30 in the morning?"

"I have no clue y/n, leave it to ring out. I'll get to her later."

This has happened before. When I drop y/n off from a case that ran late or after a night with the team. I get calls and texts from Maeve enraged. Does she honestly not understand we work together. We live less than six minutes from each other, so when we ride together it's not like either of us are going out of our way.

After spending most of the car ride singing to Taylor Swift, we arrived at Quantico and rushed to the elevators. We weren't late, but y/n liked to be early so she didn't look sweaty for the team.

"Why do you hate looking sweaty?" I asked her.

"Well, when our Unit Chief is a TOTAL dilf, I'd like to at least look nice," she said smiling. I frowned. "Kidding Spence, not totally, but I like to look nice because I am still proving my spot on this team and good hygiene is very respectable."

Of course she has a crush on Hotch, not that she has daddy issues or anything. But they are so close and the validation he gives her is a bit too much to be work appropriate. I'm honestly just so glad its not Derek she has a crush on.

"That makes sense, I'm going to call Maeve to she what she needed," I said stepping towards the conference room. "She's been calling me non stop." y/n nodded as she rubbed paper towels on her armpits.

Right as I was about to dial Maeve, her name flashed across my screen, "Hello."

"Spencer, what the hell," she screamed. "Why were you at y/n's at three in the morning."

"Maeve, tell me where I am right now," I said.

"You are at work Spencer," She answered. "But that is besides the point. Why did YOU pick her up?"

"BECAUSE WE WERE GOING TO WORK AND SHE LIVES SIX MINUTES FROM ME," I yelled, tired of her assumptions and bitchy, clingy behavior. "JJ called y/n and told her to tell me we had a case and her car's tire was slashed so she asked for a ride. There is no harm in that."

Maeve let out a large breath, "I don't want you around her anymore."

"What, I can't do that, we work together," I laughed.

"Quit," she said shortly. "Or tell Hotch that she is terrible to work with and isn't qualified for the team."

"Maeve, you are angry. I'm not quitting and y/n is very qualified at her job, Hotch wouldn't believe me."

"Then why do you help her if she's qualified?"

"I told you that last night, this conversation is over." I hung up the phone hearing her protests. I looked over and saw the team looking at me, they obviously had heard the interaction. y/n looked confused. Why was she being brought into this?

The team walked into the conference room, "Garcia, you can begin," Hotch said. Turning to me he said, "We will talk about this before we leave." I nodded. I didn't listen to Garcia presenting the case, but I looked at y/n. She looked like she had been crying, I don't know why, hopefully it wasn't me. After the presentation, Hotch gave us thirty minutes to gather ourselves before we needed to be on the jet.

He pulled me into his office, "What was that in the conference room?"

"Maeve thinks I'm cheating on her with y/n," I said. "It's not a big deal."

Hotch looked at me sternly, "Well it becomes a big deal when our newest agent tells me she should transfer because she doesn't like that she's interfering with your relationship. Now y/n cannot be transferred, she is an asset to this team and the team loves her. You need to sort your shit out with Maeve." I nodded and walked out the door over to y/n's desk where she was getting her small things together.

As soon as she saw me walking over, she began to walk away, "y/n wait."

"I'm going to see Penelope," She said, not looking at me. Even without looking directly at me, the tear stains were evident.

I looked over at JJ who had seen the whole interaction, "JJ what do I do?"

"Well Spencer, you need to either break up with Maeve or get over your crush on y/n," She said sarcastically. "In my opinion, you should break up with Maeve anyway. After hearing that phone call, I think she sounded toxic and manipulative. Give y/n some space, she just got a lot thrown at her. She thinks she's a homewrecker."

I sighed, "I know I need to end things with Maeve, but I feel so horrible."

"You feel horrible even though she treats you like that?" JJ asked, shocked.

"I just don't want her to think I led her on or I actually was cheating on her with y/n."

"You may not be cheating on her with y/n, but Spence," I looked up at her. "You like y/n, you can't deny that. y/n still is the other woman, whether its intimate or not."

JJ was right, I was about to walk up to Penelope's office when Derek reminded us we had to leave. Looking ahead, I saw y/n talking with Hotch. She looked upset and Hotch looked concerned, but when he looked over at me, he was pissed.

As we made it to the entrance of the jet, I told JJ and Derek I would meet them on the jet, wanting to talk to Hotch, "Hey, what did y/n say to you?"

"She told me this was her last case," Hotch said. "She gave Strauss resignation forms and is going to be an elementary art teacher. Now she isn't even transferring. Fix this now or you will be suspended from cases and you will be staying back and doing paperwork until I see fit. You and your relationship problems should not have led to y/n leaving the team."

To say I was shocked was an understatement. y/n was leaving the team. She was leaving because of me. Because I was so enchanted by her smile and the slight gleam in her eye.

Worst of all, she isn't even staying in the FBI. She is going to do the job she said she always wanted to do after the FBI. y/n always told me she wanted to stay in the FBI and then when it got to be too much, she wanted to teach art.

You may say I'm a terrible person for basically emotionally cheating on Maeve, but Maeve and I would never work in the long run. She may have been my back then, but she will never be my forever.

Walking onto the jet, I felt the hostile stares of my teammates. y/n sat at the corner of the jet, alone, reading her favorite book, Little Women. While the book is very boring in my opinion, I understand the appeal to y/n. A strong female lead who doesn't believe in the common standards in her time period. Much like Jo March, y/n was strong willed. She always put up a challenge to the ideas she opposed.

I unfortunately, was Theodore Lawrence in this situation. In love with Jo March, but I needed to show it to her. The only and strongest difference was that I am in a relationship.

I need to end it with Maeve.

That however, will be easier said than done. Maeve is much like Amy March: annoying, greedy, easily angered, jealous, and most of all the one that is settled for.

But no, I, Spencer Reid, will not settle for Amy, I am going to get Jo.

I was walking over to y/n when I was stopped by Rossi, "Don't make it any worse than it already is, kid." Appalled, I looked at him and then the team. Their faces all said the same thing only Rossi was able to make into words. I decided to sit not near them and not near y/n. I sat by myself and created a plan to keep y/n at the BAU.

The plan went as so:

1. Convince y/n to stay and explain relationship problems with Maeve

2. Break up with Maeve

3. Tell y/n what truly happened with Maeve (phone calls, kidnapping, and after)

4. Tell y/n feelings (and pray she feels the same)

This plan was definitely going to be easier said than done. The hardest part being breaking up with Maeve.

The case wasn't eventful and easy to figure out. The unsub was killing people who looked like his wife that left him at the altar. Not once did Hotch put me with y/n, understandably. Instead, y/n spent her time with JJ and Hotch.

I decided to not talk to anyone because I needed to devise my plan. I needed to break up with Maeve, but make sure I kept y/n out of it. That was going to be the challenge, Maeve was going to blame the break up on y/n. I decided to text Maeve a quick 'jet is landing. I'm coming over. We have things to discuss.'

I turned off my phone, knowing Maeve would start blowing it up. The jet landed and I went to begin step one, but Derek stopped me from going towards her further, "Pretty Boy, I know you want things to get right with Pretty Girl, but give her space. Just a little and sort things out with Maeve. After hearing what JJ and y/n have said about her, you should end things.

I nodded and sprinted to my car, seeing as y/n got a ride with Penelope. The ride over to Maeve's house was tense, even though I was alone. I couldn't stop thinking of the outcomes that could occur tonight.

Making it to Maeve's apartment, I kept reciting all the things I could say to her.

"I don't feel a spark anymore." Decent.

"You are a controlling bitch." Too harsh.

"I never really knew you." Getting there.

"I think we need to try new things." Fuck. I had made it to the door and I didn't know what to say without the possibility of hurting her. Breaking up with her is the only thing I can do to save my friendship with y/n. Its also the only thing I can do to save myself from this toxic mess of a relationship.

I knocked on the door and it was immediately opened by a very angry Maeve, "Spencer, finally you are here. You were taking so long I thought something may have happened, were you with y/n?"

"No Maeve, I wasn't with y/n," I sighed. "In fact we aren't even talking."

"Well that's perfect," Maeve said. "Why do you look upset about that?"

I looked at her surprised she didn't understand, "Because Maeve, she heard our fucking fight yesterday morning over the phone. She isn't talking to me because she thinks she ruined our relationship-"

"She did-"

"NO SHE DIDN'T MEAVE!" I screamed. "y/n is leaving the team because you are jealous of anyone in my life. First it was JJ, so I pushed JJ away. Then Derek, so I pushed Derek away. You have ruined all of my friendships with my coworkers and are now making work a living hell. y/n didn't ruin our relationship because it was already fucking ruined Maeve. How did you not see it?”

"What? Spence?" Maeve went to touch my arm.

I stepped away, "No Maeve, this is over. We are over. After we stopped Diane, I thought we would be perfect. But we aren't, we aren't good for each other at all. Whenever I accomplish anything at all, big or small, you fucking disregard it and talk about something you did. I am helping y/n, I like y/n. y/n is nice and she listens to my facts and she doesn't judge me for having feelings."

"Spencer, do you think I do that?" Maeve asked with a fake sweet act.

"Think? No Maeve, you do all of those things. Yesterday you told me to quit my job or tell Hotch y/n wasn't qualified. You should be supporting me. This relationship is not good for me. I am leaving, none of your stuff is at my place so you don't need to come over ever again." I quickly left the apartment, ignoring Maeve's pleas for forgiveness.

Sitting in my car, I quickly drove off to y/n's house. I needed to see her, to explain to her what had been happening.

YOUR POV

When I met Spencer, he was my mentor. Very quickly after that however, he became my best friend on the team. Since we lived so close together, it was common for us to carpool to and from work and work events.

I quickly learned about Maeve once I began to get closer with Spencer. Spencer's manipulative, psycho bitch of a girlfriend that was out to ruin my life. I had never done anything to try and involve myself in their relationship, but when they have problems it's always my fault.

After hearing Maeve and Spencer's phone call, it was a no brainer for me to leave the team. However, I knew that wasn't enough for me to get rid of the taunts I had been receiving from Maeve. And by taunts I mean she slashed my tire. I was offered a job at one of DC's most prestigious private schools to teach art and after the phone call, I decided to take it.

Now, I wasn't upset that Spencer didn't like me back. I was upset that Maeve was making him decide between us when nothing had ever happened. I thought Spencer was cute, definitely, and there were times when we were a little too touchy or flirtatious. But, I saw it as Penelope and Derek and I'm sure he did too.

I sat in Penelope's car trying to focus on the road whilst she was screaming at me, "WHY ARE YOU LEAVING? You can't leave y/n. You just got here and we like you here. Maeve and Spencer have had problems for a few months, it's not because of you. JJ and Maeve also got in a fight because he thought Spencer was too handsy with her and I've barely ever seen them touch.”

"Pen, I'm leaving because I have a great job opportunity," I tried to reason. "I was eventually going to take it, but I don't want to hurt Spencer's relationship." Penelope sighed, giving up her attempt to have me stay. We got our Wendy's before Penelope went to drop me off.

As Penelope drove up to my apartment, I noticed a figure standing in front of my house. It looked familiar.

Spencer

"Pen, so you think I can stay over tonight?" I asked.

"No, go talk to pretty boy, have him explain," Penelope responded.

I walked up to my apartment, Spencer looked at me. His face lighting up under my front porch light. He had flowers in his hands. Daisies. "Spencer, what are you doing here?"

SPENCER'S POV

"Spencer, what are you doing here?"

"If you'd let me in I think you need to know what has been happening," I said handing her the flowers.

"Okay, come in," She said grabbing the flowers and unlocking the door. "That you for the flowers."

"Daisies are your favorite," I said quietly. "You never told me, but you always said you liked the name Daisy for your daughter and I just assumed."

"You guessed correctly Spencer," y/n said putting the daisies in a jar.

I sat on her couch, the one I had sat on to watch countless episodes of Dr. Who when I needed to get away from Maeve.

"Can I explain?" I asked as she walked over with a coffee.

"Sure Spencer, but I don't think any explanation will make me stay," she answered.

I sighed, "Well you know the whole Maeve back story right?" she nodded. "Well after we saved her things were great. I was happy, so happy and so in love. But around the time I started to die down from the holy shit you just almost died phase, I began to notice all the flaws and toxic traits in her and our relationship."

y/n nodded, "And you couldn't see any of that before because you only ever talked over the phone?"

"Correct. Maeve, she is very smart. So smart that she often would say things to undermine the fact I went into the FBI and as she would say instead of something useful. At first I thought it was a harmless joke, but when she began to say things like that in front of the team, it crossed a line. When I confronted her, she accused me of lying, saying she never said anything like that. She has always been decently jealous, she was jealous of JJ and even jealous of Alex Blake. Blake's spot is the one you filled, she was like a mom to me. Now, she is jealous of you.”

y/n looked motionless, "Why is she jealous of me Spencer?"

I looked over at her nervously, "y/n we are very close right?"

"Yes, Spencer, you're like my best friend."

I nodded, "yes and Maeve didn't like that. She was very jealous of you because at one team dinner before you joined, Garcia showed us a picture of you from Instagram. When everyone saw the picture, everyone was like wow she is so pretty and you know, you are very gorgeous and I'm a bad liar so I agreed. Maeve and I got into a huge fight because of that. Ever since, she is like really jealous and then we sorta became a mentor, mentee relationship because you are so young and I was so young when I joined.”

y/n looked surprised. Did she not know the team thought that about her. However, y/n nodded, telling me to continue.

"Then I realized how close we lived and we started to carpool and hang out. This was when the aggressive texts and phone calls began. The team knew I needed to break up with her, but I didn't want to make it look like we were seeing each other, you would never like someone like me.”

y/n laughed, "She was jealous because we carpooled? Did you know she was the one that slashed my tire that morning, I got a clip of it on my Ring doorbell."

"Seriously? Sounds about right. Anyway, I broke up with her. She isn't what I want y/n. I want to be with you. And I know you might not like me and-"

y/n cut me off with a laugh, "Spencer are you serious?" I looked at her confused. "I have had a crush on you since I first met the team. I was heartbroken when I found out you had a girlfriend."

"Actually?"

"Spence, why would I lie to you?"

"Will you come back to the BAU?"

"I'll talk to Strauss, but I think if we want to do anything we should wait. I don't want people to actually think we were having an affair."

I laughed, "Definitely not. You were the other woman though. Kept me up all night thinking, dreaming. You infatuate me y/n y/l/n."

"Well I am very glad we got that done with," y/n said. "Watching you with Maeve was like watching the end of Derrick and Addison's relationship on Grey's Anatomy."

"What?"

"Never mind Spence, we will have to save this topic for another day."

—��———

in light of the recent allegations against mgg, i will no longer be posting mgg content. however, mgg is not spencer reid, spencer reid is a character. please understand that at this moment i am working on a new username

* IF ANYONE HAS NEW USERNAME IDEAS PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME or i may just be changing to spencerscumslut

[demonsandmischief]

My Warrior Wolf - Ch. 1

Marvel - Bucky Barnes Werewolf AU

Warrior! Bucky x Human! Female Reader

-> Alpha: First in Command. In charge of the whole pack. The leader.

->Beta: The Alpha's Second in Command. Keeps the pack organized.

->Lead Warrior: takes orders from Alpha/Beta. Fiercely protective and a strong fighter.

-> Mate: Soul-Mate. A wolf's other half. Predestined.

1.3K Words

-Chapter 1-

The beginning.

---

"This house is a little more isolated, and it's definitely a fixer upper, but it's below your budget," the real estate agent gave a sniff as she looked around. She stuck out like a sore thumb in a pencil skirt and a perfectly pressed shirt. "Are you ready to move onto something else, maybe a little closer downtown?"

You walked through, taking in the wood floors that groaned in protest with each step. The house was bare. There was no furniture, just a large layer of dust.

There was something quaint about it that you loved. It had a cottage feel, and there were so many windows that highlighted the towering trees.

You walked through the kitchen. Your mind was filled with endless possibilities. It was like a dream. You stopped in your tracks, catching a glimpse of something running through the thick vegetation. Probably a deer.

"Are there any neighbors around here?" you asked curiously. It did make you a little nervous to be out here by yourself.

The lady paused like she was baffled you would even consider the place.

"There might be a few scattered, but nothing that close. Do you want to see some more places?"

You smiled, "I don't think I need to."

---

"There's someone moving in. East territory - that old run down shack of a house." Bucky announced to his Alpha and Beta.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, opening the refrigerator up for a drink.

Steve Rogers frowned, placing the stack of papers down. "Did you see who?"

"I didn't get a chance to. I just saw that pesky agent pulling the for sale sign down."

"Maybe when they move in, we can scope out the place by being neighborly," Sam Wilson grinned, not even looking up from the laptop he was staring at. "By pesky agent, do you mean that one lady that simply asked for you number, Buck?" He closed the lid, standing up and walking to Steve's side.

Bucky's frowned deepened when he reached for the orange juice and pulled out an empty carton. "Who the hell puts it back empty?" He straightened, finally answering Sam's question. "She wasn't my mate, so I wasn't interested."

The three of them were best friends. They weren't always close, but after what happened to Bucky, they naturally migrated to each other for company.

Steve was an excellent leader and Alpha, and Sam was an excellent Beta. Bucky never felt like he actually belonged, but they treated him like a brother, and secretly, he longed for the comfort.

Bucky wasn't born into a role like Sam and Steve. He had to work to build his rank, but he was happy to put his energy into something other than his past that always seemed to drained him.

Steve's alarm rang out. "It's seven o'clock. It's time for training." He stuffed his phone in his back pocket. "You're leading today, Buck."

"I'm no leader, Steve," Bucky said. "We've tried this before. It never works."

"Are you defying an order, Warrior?" Steve was such a hard-ass.

Bucky was tempted to roll his eyes, especially when Sam snickered a little.

"No, Alpha," he grumbled.

Walking from the offices down to the open field was always a journey for him. He couldn't help but let his mind wonder when he saw mated pairs, or little pups running around. Bucky was a broken man though, and he was certain his mate wasn't out there. Even if there was the slightest possibility that you were, a life with him was no life worth living.

He loved to train, but he hated leading it. He knew Steve used this to get him out of his shell. He was a bit of a recluse - keeping to himself most of the time, but being the lead warrior did mean being intune with the others, so he did his best.

"Your position is sloppy," he said to one of the sparring females. They were working in pairs, warming up before they got into the actual training.

"What do you see that I can't?" Steve asked, his voice low and discrete from where he was watching.

"They are getting too comfortable in routine, Alpha," Bucky frowned, crossing his arms.

"You should join them, then."

"You know I can't. I will have the advantage." Bucky wiggled the metal fingers of his prosthetic arm.

"But not as wolf," Steve patted his shoulder, ordering the warriors to break apart.

No, as wolf, Bucky stood on three paws instead of four. His human side was lucky to have the benefit of technology, but his wolf side, not so much. That's why he always wanted to prove that he could do it.

---

You felt accomplished. A week after getting your belongings into your new place, there was not a speck of dust anywhere.

You were enjoying the many tasks that had to be done. It felt good to put your mind to something, and the woods that surrounded you were very calming. You felt safe and grounded. But, being outside had always felt that way for you.

It was just you. You had some friends at work, but they were only work friends. The house was quite small, but maybe you could have them come over. That might be a good step to initiate.

You pushed away the thought. You'd have to get some actual furniture first, and some working appliances. The stove and refrigerator were being delivered tomorrow, so you had been focusing your energy on cleaning and painting while the space was free.

You paused, hearing a car in the gravel outside your house. Were you expecting someone?

You frowned. Maybe the appliance people were early?

Except, the two strange men on your porch said otherwise. You felt panic blossom when they knocked on the door.

You hesitantly pulled it open. The man on the right gave a bright smile while the man on the left glowered.

"Hi, I'm Sam Wilson, and this is my friend Bucky. We live a few miles away, but still technically neighbors," Sam chuckled, holding out his hand.

You lightly grasped it, "I'm Y/N. I'd invite you in, but I don't-" you swallowed thickly, feeling absolutely scrutinized by the man named Bucky. He was incredibly handsome, with short messy hair and haunted blue eyes. "I don't have furniture." You finished with an uneasy smile.

"That's alright, we just thought we'd introduce ourselves." There was something about Sam that was you liked. He seemed very personable and kind, but first impressions could be deceiving. "If you don't have furniture, do you need anything? We could run it back to you."

Bucky's gaze was like a magnet. Even when Sam was talking, you were immediately drawn to him. His eyes never left you, and although it normally would have been unnerving, this felt different.

"That's really nice of you, but I'm okay," you relaxed slightly at their generosity.

"What about dinner?" Bucky spoke for the first time, and you were stunned by his voice. It was deep and husky, and it took you a moment to realize that he was looking right past you and into the empty kitchen. "It doesn't look like you have an oven."

"I was just going to go back into town to get something," you smiled with a slight chuckle. "All of that stuff is coming tomorrow."

"If you're sure," Sam said. He seemed really sweet. "If you need anything we're just right up the road."

---

"Thank you. It was really great to meet you both." And with one last lingering gaze with Bucky, they walked away.

Here's Chapter 2.

A/N: I've been working on this series for so freaking long. I'm so excited it's finally coming out.

Please note! I will not be tagging the people I normally tag for Bucky/Marvel after this chapter.

If you want tagged, please comment on the WARRIOR WOLF TAGLIST.

-> my Masterlist

And as always if you like this, let me know by liking, commenting and reblogging. 💕

Tags: @drayshadow @leyannrae @alexabarnes17 @bklynxbaby @jerseynatural-enthusiast @nyx2021

[sunseteyes]

FLUFFVEMBER DAY 30: KENMA KOZUME

prompt: random questions at 1am (prompts are by @jojosmilktea)

word count: 1,414 words | themes: gen!reader. comfort fluff? domestic! pre-established relationship

tags: @kacchanori @chickynn @todominica @sparkleswritings @brinthie @patricia-ceballos @giyuus-wife @bitchtrynafck @astrxrism @animatedarchives @deephasoceanmagic @strawberrysalwa @kawaiinishii @moonlightaangel @mrs-kuroojinguji @meliorist-midoriya @pandabobachan

rv: entirely self-indulgent. this is my routine at nightㄟ(￣▽￣ㄟ) plus, i first wrote this at 1am hehehe. also, if you guys want a song inspo listen to dreamy night by lilypichu it fits this fic so well!! also, thank you so much for supporting me all throughout my fluffvember! aaa i’m never doing anything like this again but instead maybe an event that posts every atleast 2 days?? heheh. i may have grew exhausted at least more than once but this was fun! please do look forward to my future events~ i love you all~ although speaking of kenma i’ll have an smau for him comin up!

✒︎ unspoken rule

kenma was sleeping when he heard the muffled noises that eventually became the cause of his consciousness, pulling him into the wake world with his eyes landing on you, your phone held up to your face as the light from the gadget reflected on your irises; eyes wide open, indicating that you have been focusing on whatever you were doing on the screen.

obviously from the sounds though, kenma could rule out that you were playing your favorite game—mobile legends, probably. he wasn't much of a fan of that game since he knows and likes the others more, but since it was the only game you and him mutually could play, he frequently lets you indulge him to play with you. he also knows that the only reason you might be playing as of the moment is because you couldn't sleep, just like usual.

however, his eyes were already giving up and he let the sounds from your game lull him again to sleep, pulling him in the dream world where his unconsciousness settles him in and tucks him in a fantasy that he might not even remember the moment he opens his eyes.

it was 1AM when he was awoken again, which was unlikely of him since he usually wakes up an hour after, and he'll play games from then on. despite that, he forced himself to stay awake when he sees your form, this time in front of your laptop, clearly working on something—probably a schoolwork or a tumblr post you would schedule to be published by tomorrow evening.

he sits up from the bed and he immediately wanted to lay back down again, his body urging him to. still, he raises up a hand to rub on his eyes, hoping to scratch away the sleepiness in his system.

he was half-asleep when he pulls himself to stand and sit on the empty chair next to you—the one he usually occupies whenever he's gaming or doing his livestreams. your chair will only rarely be occupied by you since you do your work outside, where you set-up your laptop and things to do on fresh air, also as a way to not be interrupted by the sounds his switch or keyboard produces whenever he plays.

every night though, is a different story.

kenma knows you are not much of a procastinator and usually does your schoolworks or stuff to do as early as possible—and he actually admires you for that. for him, you were one of the most responsible person he has ever met. however, you have a tendency to pressure yourself to do things as fast as possible, and kenma is here to support you, even if he has to sacrifice one hour of his sleep just to accompany you in your work.

he didn't have to peak on your laptop screen and just pushed his chair next to you, presumably a natural move of his—which it is, anyway. he then raises both of your hand rests so that he can settle himself beside you and lean his head on your shoulder, letting his eyelids close as you merely continued typing away from your laptop.

this is not actually the first time you've attempted to stay up late while doing your schoolworks or other things that could only keep you busy. that's why this is also not the first time he has done this for you and these moments just comes by, as if it was part of your daily routine.

"what are you working on again?" came out kenma's voice, soft and slurred from the drowsiness, but still clear enough for you, who was only inches away from him. he feels you halt your movements, and probably looks at him sideways for a second before continues on with your work.

"i have this event that i'm working on. i was supposed to do this last week but i got piled up by my schoolworks. you should sleep on the bed, ken. aren't you uncomfortable in this position?"

"i'm not," he says almost instantly, situating his head further onto your shoulder. "are you?"

"no, it's fine." there was a pleasantry in your voice that even when his eyes were closed, he knew you were smiling. "this actually feels nice. thanks for accompanying me again."

kenma on the other hand, barely had energy left to form a reaction, but he was still able to speak and mutter out words, nonetheless.

"ask me questions, (y/n). i might fall asleep if you don't."

"hm? isn't it better if you sleep instead? it's alright, y’know. i know you're tired."

"i'm not,” his brows curl and furrow in the slightest, "-just keep me from falling asleep."

"okay, alright, alright." you chuckle lowly, your energy depleted all the same, but seemingly still in a fair mood. he notices you stop your typing and you were humming, as if thinking and pondering deeply.

"what's your moon sign?"

"what's that?" kenma's eyes flufter and he sees you typing away again.

"like-your sun sign in the zodiac is libra right? the moon sign is the sign that you truly are deep inside of you." you say, despite being preoccupied. you're good at multi-tasking like that.

"i don't know what you're talking about." his eyelids closes again as he says the word "next"

"okay, uh-if me and kuroo are drowning, who would you save?"

"you," he says, not even thinking about it. "kuroo knows how to swim and you don't. besides, i'm sure kuroo would be the one saving you before he could even drown."

you let out a chuckle, probably grinning wide despite the straight-up insult he just gave.

"yeah, i think so too. your lazy ass would be ordering kuroo to save me instead, that's what."

he removes himself from your shoulder and opens his eyes to weakly glare at you, a pout on his lips that you had to laugh when you glanced at him sideways.

“what? it’s true.” you giggled and he eventually makes his way back to your shoulder, his silky hair tickling the sides of your face.

"how long are you going to stay up anyway? i'd have to play a game in a few later." he mumbles under his breath, his eyelids probably sliding shut with its desire to sleep.

your typing stops and your head turns his way once again, a hand along its way to reach for his hand, squeezing it ever so gently, "i told you, you could take a nap now. i'd just wake you up later when it's 2 AM."

your reassurance seems to have proven its worth when he lets out a breath that resembles one of a scoff, snuggling a little more on your shoulder, making himself more comfortable.

"head on to the bed, ken. you'll have a stiff neck if you sleep like that."

"i won't."

"hm?" you resumed typing, your focus divided upon kenma and what you were doing previously. you're so used in multitasking, but since you were far more concerned with his well-being, your fingers couldn't even find a way to work out anything with how your mind seemingly can’t form the thoughts you wanted it to do so.

"i won't, i'll stay here. just wake me up on time." he mutters as he drifts off, his breathing stabilizes and his form going slump next to you.

without noticing yourself, a corner of your lip curling up as the words to your work began to come back on your mind, your fingers working its way to type on your computer. you found a little bit of comfort in defiance of the stiffness and exhaustion of your muscles, trying your best not wake the other.

with him there, it was enough. with him beside you, it’s more than just enough.

thus you continued to work, with thoughts of how you’d sleep on kenma’s lap while he’s gaming a little bit later the moment he wakes up. just like usual, even in the difference of your waking states, you two still kept each other company.

despite having no conversation or obligation to do so, it became like an unspoken rule to keep the other from feeling lonely. because even in the darkest of nights and the brightest of days, you're there for him, and he's there for you.

and that alone was enough to go through the day, even at 1AM, where everyone else was sound asleep. at least, you have kenma here, right beside you.

[xxkellsvixen19xx]

Autumn Leaves Fall While Love Is Fading Andy Biersack X Reader

Word Count: 1,662

Warning: ANGST

Lyrics: Seasons Of Wither By Aerosmith (Except Changed Her To Him

An inextricable sadness can be experienced when love fades. You're left questioning what is left when the one you promised to love forever no longer loves you. I experienced this. I understand this. I know what it feels like to have my heart ripped out, leaving a gaping hole which can never be filled. I know the pain that comes with wondering. What did I do wrong? What didn't I do right? Is there any way I could have prevented this from happening?

The feeling of loss which stuck me whenever I thought about him.

Andy's words still lingered in my mind; Love fades, mine has…

They stung. After everything we'd been through together this is how it was ending. I'd glimpsed that light at the end of the tunnel; the one telling me that I had what I'd dreamed of in my grasp… but now it has slipped away… it's just completely gone. Andy no longer wants me… the realization hit some storms are simply not meant to be survived but designed to strip you of everything and anything. 

Loose-hearted man, sleepy was he

Love for the devil brought him to me

Seeds of a thousand drawn to his sin

Seasons of wither holding me in.

Flashback…..

“Andy,” my voice is thick with emotion because all that we'd been through. Anger is turning into desperation but he can't, he just can’t do this anymore. – “Please. I need you here.”

“I can’t.” his voice is weak and trembling slightly and I force my eyes shut–   the singulat though flashed...damage. Hide. Now. In that moment there was no way to know my world would completely unravel, we were two souls of one beating heart cursed to be untied never to be whole. But the love between us Andy discarded aside as if it were nothing, yet out of our control we would be forever tangled within each other's embrace. 

I didn't exactly understand why he felt differently or what caused him to just without warning drift. All I now knew, was that the man standing before me has changed, there is an indifferent air around him. 

*********************************

6 months ago…..

Andy pressed his chest against my back  wrapping his arms around my waist before kissing the back of my shoulder tenderly. My heart swells at his gesture, leaning back into his embrace.

“I love you” You whisper, Andy’s arms tightening around me.

He presses another kiss onto my shoulder. I let out a small sigh, I breathe him in deeply, taking in his the deep scent of hiscologne. Letting the smell wash over me, I close my eyes, I completely lose myself in the feel of his presence. 

……….

I trudge through the apartment, breath shaky and tears welling in my eyes. But they still don’t fall. I feel completely numb.

I walk into our bedroom, completely catatonic and moving as if on auto pilot. I sit on the bed, staring at nothing in particular. The moonlight streams through the window catching a large photo frame hanging on one of the walls. My eyes are unspeakably drawn to the glinting photo.

It’s our wedding photo.

It’s a candid shot. Me and Andy are staring at each other, smiling tenderly at one another. Andy’s arm is around my waist, his head slightly bent and leaned into mine, almost as if he’s about to kiss me. The white of my dress is a stark contrast against his black suit, the pale pink bouquet of roses on the floor as I hold onto his arms. The sun is setting in the background, both our silhouettes set ablaze with a halo of sunlight.

I remember the day as if it were yesterday. It was the happiest day of my life. Andy sang to me in his deep vibrato voice of his. He danced with me. Held me close. He kissed me telling me he loved me. The memory of him reciting his wedding vows pops into my mind.

I can’t help it. I break down, sobs wracking through my body as I cry into the dark, quiet of the room. My body shakes with the cries, tears flowing freely. I feel the warmth of them run down my cheeks before disappearing into my shirt. I fall back onto the bed, curled into a ball as I weep out all my feelings, all of the hurt and heartache I feel.

I cry and cry until finally, I can’t cry anymore. My throat is raw, now only dry hiccuping as I somehow run out of tears. My heart aches, my headaches and my eyes sting. 

I tried my hardest to remind him why we fell in love with each other  and why we married. But the harder I tried, the more he pulled away. Bit by bit, he slips from my life. I didn't understand why can but he fell out of love with me; I could see it in his eyes when he walked away. He wouldn't buy me flowers every week anymore. He no longer kissed me goodbye. He no longer sent me little messages about how much he loved and missed me. The more I try to occupy his attention, the more he refuted me, and my heart just aches all over again, longing for him to come back to me.

Heat of my candle show me the way

Seeds of a thousand drawn to his sin

Seasons of wither holding me in

Oh woe is me, I feel so badly for you

Oh woe is me, I feel so sadly for you in time

Bound to lose your mind

Live on borrowed time

Take the wind right out of your sail

Time heals nothing it only makes the memories fade away, It’s sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew. 

What hurts more than losing Andy is knowing that he wasn't fighting to keep me. Nothing hurts more than realizing he meant everything to me, but I meant nothing to him. It’s funny how he could break my heart, and yet I can still love him with all the little pieces. 

Love is not as much a choice as it is considered a feeling. Staying in love takes a commitment. The worst thing is not only being told that someone has fallen out of love with you but being told that they haven’t been in love with you for some time. When you find out you're losing your soulmate it's as if every bit of oxygen has been expelled from your lungs. 

Flashback…..

“Do… do you even love me anymore?” I whisper, dread heavy in my bones as the question slips from my lips. Andy’s eyes soften and I see the hesitation on his face as he contemplates whether he should answer me or simply walk away. Finally coming to a decision, he stares directly in my eyes and I can almost feel the next words.

“I don’t know” he replies, the uncertainty reflected in his eyes before he walks away.

I watch him walk away from me, I was trying much harder to save this relationship than he was. In the last few months it was a last ditch effort to go through couples therapy. I know my husband wants to be anywhere but here at the moment. His entire demeanour is closed off, arms and legs crossed as he stares out the window. 

"When was the last time you actually paid attention to your wife?” he asks and Andy balks, unsure of what to say at the sudden tangent. More importantly, he doesn’t know the answer to his question. Andy abruptly turned about to storm out of the office, “If you have nothing to say that’s fine. Just think about it. I believe our next session is in another two weeks. I want you to think about this relationship carefully." The therapist says, his tone final. Andy quickly leaves the room, his mind in a jumble for the first time in a while. 

…………..

For the first time in over half a year, Andy look at me; pays close attention noticing the sadness in my eyes. He swallows thickly, eyes scanning over my face and as if willing me to look at him. He wants to say something, but he doesn’t even know where to start. He frowns slightly at that. You’d been together for almost ten years, so why was it suddenly so hard to speak to you?

All of a sudden, the distance between you two hits me like a freight train. I can feel the huge rift between the two of us. I sigh slightly, wondering when it had gotten so big. Did he always feel this far away from me? 

Why did it feel like I was worlds away, almost unattainable? The two of us had always been close, always been able to speak about everything and anything. There were times when we’d both wake up in the early hours of the morning, still in bed and voice heavy with sleep and speak about the smallest, silliest of things. 

We had spent close to a decade together; we knew each other like the back of each other’s hands. He didn’t look back as the the door closed behind him that night.  Bereft now of pain and I felt the dying spark of embers from our relationship. Like autumn dyes the leaves bright red, I encountered a love that I'd hoped would last longer than a fading breeze. 

Beauty is fleeting, evanescent,  But all of it ended, Andy’s presence in the photos won't fade away as easily with the flow of time.

Because love is ephemeral and memories die, only the photos of him will accompany me until I take my last breath. I can say, I was once loved; Together, in the fires of hell, we will burn with the memories of the most beautiful moments in life, the moments I shared with Andy the remaining proof.

[acciocriativity]

Spark of Happiness ||Harry Potter

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Reader

Summary: You already went through a lot in your life, but while dating Draco the world you knew has changed dramatically and it seems like it couldn’t get any worse...

Word Count: 2,8k

A/N: Thanks for the request @loxbbg and sorry for tagging you, I just thought that you would like to, since I took a longer time than I promised. That’s my first time writing for Draco, so I don’t know if it’s what you wanted. Hope you’ll enjoy it!

Part II

Like in all relationships, difficult moments always come up to test the couple, their trust, their love, and their future together.

It wasn't easy to get through the first two but we were still together at a nebulous time in the Wizarding World and in Draco's life.

I always knew about everything, the return of you-know-who, the nightmares and I thought that eventually, when this all came to an end, we could live a quiet life somewhere, preferably as far away as possible.

Draco agreed with me when we talked about it the other day but things were not going well, besides the daily stress at Hogwarts, the anticipation of the weight of the black mark on his forearm was taking him down bit by bit.

He was drowning, losing what little light I could see inside him, and even if I insisted to know more, he still had to keep too much inside himself. Partly because no one else could know and partly because he had trouble expressing himself. It was always like this, although I like to think that we were slowly getting better at it.

"Draco, can you come sit with me for a little while?", I said watching the blond try to concentrate on the book in front of him only to fail, for the 3rd time in a row. "I promise that page can wait about 10 minutes, it's a weekend". My heart sank in my chest as soon as he turned to look at me, the dark circles under his eyes even deeper than the day before. Another sleepless night.

I heard his defeated sigh and soon after felt the warmth of his body close to mine and his natural scent fill my lungs.

"Why are you up so early, love?", his arms passed around my waist and his head lay on my right shoulder. "More than anyone, you should rest, even if it is during the day."

"I just couldn't sleep anymore", his voice husky and faltered and automatically my hands went to his messy blond hair, stroking the strands carefully.

"You know I'm here to listen to you and I know these nightmares are getting worse, I won't say anything after listening if you prefer but I can't watch you like this anymore, not without doing something about it”.

We were silent for a few minutes, all that could be heard was our breathing and his tired sighs. I continued in that position, I tried to pass on as much reassurance as possible, because there was nothing else I could do if he wouldn't allow me.

"My mother sent me a letter, when I go back to Malfoy Manor, I will get the black mark", he didn't look me in the eye and I tried not to take it to heart.

"And when did you intend to tell me this? It's not more than two weeks until Christmas, is that why the nightmares are worse?", I felt my head spin and I had to close my eyes to concentrate again.

He nodded and again silence fell over the room, each lost in his own thoughts until I decided to speak again.

"You want to tell me about the nightmares? You don't have to go through this alone", my hands came out of his hair and went around his shoulder.

And he told me everything this time. The meeting room where the death eaters gathered, the place most of the dreams usually took place. While he felt the worst pain he had ever experienced, his father was standing with a proud expression beside his mother, who was paralyzed and you-know-who looked pleased, basking in the fear evident on his face.

The worst part was left for the end, where the reason for his entrance was revealed, which changed every day. In some he was supposed to be just a spy, in others he was supposed to kill someone or be killed, and it didn't stop there. He was supposed to prove his loyalty by killing a muggle in front of everyone there, who would serve as dinner for the snake named Nagini. He had no choice, he could have no compassion or he would be there with that woman.

"They were laughing like it was the most fun situation, they were all there, the Carrows, Lestrange, Avery…”, I felt a few tears wetting my blouse but he pretended he was fine and I preferred to pretend I believed him.

He kept talking more names with a tone of anger and disgust but I stopped paying attention to Avery, which was the last name on my old birth certificate before it changed to both my parents when I was adopted.

"Love? Y/N???", his grayish blue eyes were reddened, I could clearly see where the tears had run down his face. "Sorry love, I was just thinking...keep talking, it's good to get it all out at once."

After I heard everything, I kept my word and didn't say anything so instead, I let him finally relax in my arms.

"What were you thinking about earlier?", his eyes were already closed, exhaustion was winning the battle.

"I was thinking it would be a much better idea if we got some more sleep now, don't you agree?", he couldn't see my smile but I could see his and there was nothing in the world I wanted to see more often.

"Sounds like an excellent idea...", he wriggled a little until we were both comfortable in a position to sleep.

Later after lunch I began to notice the change in Draco's mood, he seemed equally tired as the few hours of sleep were not enough but somehow, he was glowing and I was loving it.

The next few days followed the same path until he decided to tell me why.

"Meet me at the Astronomy Tower in 10 minutes - D.M."

That was all it said on the note his owl came to hand me and I couldn't help but smile.It's not easy to be dating at Hogwarts, where there are students everywhere so we usually meet during the night in my dormitory or somewhere empty in the castle.

I waited a few minutes to make sure there was no one else in the Slytherin common hall and then started my way to the tower with the utmost care not to run into Filch or his cat and I was really close to being caught on the 7th floor.

"I thought you got lost along the way", he said without the humor I expected to find in his voice.

"I had an accident with Filch but I'm here now, so did something happen? You're so serious", I said approaching him by the window and leaning on the window sill by his side.

"Yeah, sort of, I've been thinking a lot the last few days about what's going to happen", he took a deep breath before continuing. "And this time is different, this time I might have a choice".

I opened my mouth but nothing came out, he didn't want to be like his parents, it's not a new thing but to really stand up to them?

"I'm putting together a plan, well I was. I need to know if you want to be in it with me", I could see my own reflection in his eyes.

"Of course, as long as we end up alive at the end. What's the plan?", he grinned and explained to me the little bit that was already right in his plan.

He wouldn't go to Malfoy Manor for Christmas, instead he would have to sell something to get enough money to rent a room, which isn't hard considering his shoes are worth more than all the Hogwarts school supplies tripled. I didn't have to check to know it's true.

"That's a good start but I don't think it will be necessary, what do you think about coming back with me for Christmas? My parents won't mind. They want to meet you and it would be harder to find you there", he was staring at me intensely but not saying anything, I started to think I had said something stupid. "Draco? It was just a suggestion...you don't have to come with me if you're not comfortable and...", he gave me a quick kiss and smiled at me.

"I'd love to go spend Christmas with your family, and then we can think about what to do after that", he said moving closer to me to the point where our lips touched.

I agreed with a small nod and we kissed again, this time for much longer. The weather was perfect, the cold wind contrasting with my warm skin from the blond's touches, for me we could stay there forever.

A week later, another letter arrived for Draco during our breakfast in the Great Hall and his expression changed as soon as he picked up the paper.

"Draco?", he didn't answer me and continued reading and rereading non-stop with the most grim expression I have ever seen on his face. "Draco, can you talk to me?", I whispered and even with him beside me, I couldn't read a whole sentence.

He simply got up and left in a hurry, I wasn't going to stay and pretend that everything was fine. I didn't bother to make an excuse, since most of the table stopped to pay attention to what was going on, I walked out a little behind him and it wasn't hard to catch up.

"Draco! What the hell are you doing? We were going to work it out together, you don't have to run from me like you do the others", I said approaching in the middle of the empty hallway. "You're still not going to talk to me?", I said with my arms crossed zero percent intimidated by his angry expression.

"And for what? You can't do anything for me now. The plan has failed, they're going to ask the principal to send me home tomorrow", he started pacing back and forth, his hands clenched tightly, fear and despair formed a powerful alliance inside him

I had no idea what to say, what could be said to make this better? His steps became harder against the ground and I was sure that at some point something would be broken if we continued there.

"Come on love, let's skip class today. Let's think of another plan, you won't become one of them, I promise", I held his tense arm and guided him quickly into the dungeon.

"You can't promise that, how can you be so sure?", I could see a glimmer of hope that I wasn't going to let go."Because I will do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn't happen, okay?", I slid my hand down his arm until I found his.

It was a long day, we barely slept that night as we were both unsure if our idea would work out or not.

The next morning I awoke to an unusual movement downstairs, the clock I had been given by my parents showed a little over five in the morning. My friends didn't even move in their beds as I walked closer to the door to hear what was being said and I didn't recognize those voices.

"I will call him Mr. Malfoy, please settle down", was Professor Snape's voice and after that silence came.

Damn it, there wouldn't be time to escape as we had planned. I took a deep breath and started to think, I wouldn't stay here, I had to do something, I had to think but the sound of my own heart was getting in the way. I hadn't noticed that I was shaking until I took a step back to my bed, my legs had almost gone weak.

A few nerve-wracking minutes later, as if I had drawn it to me from thinking about him so much, I heard Draco's voice in my hallway moving closer to my room.

"She won't mind, I'm sure", I could hear clearly through the door and I was sure that if it had been any other student, not only would he not have made it upstairs but he would also have gotten the scolding of the century.

The door was opened and the first thing Draco did was to quickly push me back near the bed before Snape appeared inside the room as well.

"Miss Lewis, you may also go with Mr. Malfoy, your Christmas break will also be early. Your parents will be waiting in the Great Hall Mr. Malfoy", and he stood there until Draco left the room but he didn't leave before giving me a quick hug.

"Wait for me in the common hall", he left unaware that his voice had made me shakier than I already was.

"They let you leave early because the Malfoys asked? That's so unfair", the girls were all awake. "Will you two be quiet? I still want to get some sleep before breakfast time", the second one said, still covered up.

After that complaint, they went to sleep while I took a shower and tried to process what had just happened and what was going to happen. I got dressed in one of my warmest clothing, I grabbed my suitcase that was already packed and went downstairs, it wasn't even past six in the morning, no one but my boyfriend was there and I barely set foot on the floor when he ran up to me.

"We don't have much time, we'll have to go with them but I'll make sure we get out before the meeting starts. It won't take more than 5 minutes", he hugged me tightly and I smiled as soon as the strong smell of his cologne hit me, I rested my chin on his shoulder and we stood like that for a few minutes.

"We'll be fine, the end of our plan still works", I spoke softly and I could notice the skin on his neck got goosebumps."I'm just going to let it go because it's not the time for that sir”, I said with a grin across my face.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, miss. We better go soon, the faster we go, the faster this is over", he kissed me before we walked hand in hand down the halls.

“Draco, why didn't you let us know your girlfriend was coming to visit us for Christmas earlier?”, his mother was the first to speak as soon as we approached them, her tone was nice but her smile trembled.

As soon as we started our relationship we talked it over and thought it would be best not to mention to his parents that I came from a muggle foster family. We knew it would be impossible to keep this secret since his parents are quite "protective", so he only mentioned me when he had no other choice.

I already knew that there would be one reason for them to be polite to me, I had not been judged on whether I was appropriate or not yet. They weren't giving me the benefit of the doubt, they were giving it to Draco's choices.

"I must have forgotten but it doesn't make that much difference, does it?", he said calmly and I pretended I hadn't seen his father's expression harden.

"We shall be going, I can't waste any more time here”, the disgusted tone in his voice left me more surprised than anything else.

Since no one can apparate on the grounds of Hogwarts, we walked to Hogsmeade in awkward silence. His parents walked imposingly in front of us and we were right behind them holding hands, only communicating by glances. Once we got far enough, we stopped on the dusty road at the entrance to the small village.

"Alright you two, Draco you know how it works, dear, have you ever apparated before?", she was kind enough to ask me. "No Mrs. Malfoy, I have never apparated".

"The first time is complicated but you'll be fine”, she held her husband's arm and in one second we were standing in the middle of the road and the next we weren't.

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