#i love repairing my own clothes and plushies

[lordrandreaming]

I've been busy! Very busy.. But art wise, this is the most accomplished I've been! Haven't touched 3D in years (since junior year actually) so I figured it wouldn't be ✨amazing✨ but, for my 30+ year old puppet it's more than enough!

The heart is full of his old, original stuffing! It also has a jingle bell in it, for the jinglies of course! If I remember correct, he was attacked by a dog but had minimal damage (you can see the 2 holes and the stitching in the middle of his face) but all in all, for a puppet as old as dirt like him, he's still holding together well!

I did have to sew a leg back onto his body a bit, since it was tearing. But that was easy! I want to patch up the holes on his face, but that'll be for another day when they start becoming a problem.

He's been entertaining me since I was a small lil bab, and is the only surviving remnant of my childhood.

With my birthday just being around the corner (less than a month away now!) I've been.. Different feeling about my art. I want to take it more serious than ever. At some point, I'm going to try and make my own plush (which will be HARD but im excited!!) And then eventually, make a fursuit! Of course- this will be years from now, but I have something to work twords as a result :)

[attyisavailable]

Any random headcannons you have for Cole and Anon? Those two are also my faves.

Sorry this took a while to answer. My drafts kept getting deleted, and it was a pain in the yk to keep rewriting it 😞🙏

ANYWAY- Cole and Anon headcanons (both with and w/o Marshmallow!)

Cole🔪

-He has a tendency to clean the entirety of his house often. Sometimes, his (totally normal) hobby makes it so he gets stains on his clothes and in his house. He can't have anything be dirty, especially when you visit! God knows what wrong ideas that'll put in your head.

-Prefers psychological horror rather than supernatural horror. It thrills him much more, plus he loves seeing what messed up things people come up with.

-Also loves thriller movies. I mean, how silly is it to watch a movie in which there's a dangerous person around? You won't have to worry about that, there's not anyone like that in the city.

-Knows how to bake, cook, and do all sorts of neat tricks with food and cooking supplies. Can make a delicious velvet cake, though sometimes you'll see the stains on his clothes but not a single cake in the kitchen.

-Isn't too into arcades or places like that, he just prefers reading at home or doing something where there aren't many people nearby. Genuinely, he just doesn't like interacting with people much.

-(If you're AFAB or have a uterus) He's pretty educated on female anatomy. He doesn't find it weird when someone is on their period, God no, he'd be a jerk if he found simple human anatomy odd. Well, there are odd parts about anatomy, but not that. Plus he's great with cleaning up blood—don't ask—so you wouldn't have to worry about stains.

-Knows all sorts of weird facts, like how it takes around 75 to 155 espresso shots to kill someone.

Anon👾

-Along with being a germaphobe, he's also a neat freak. Likes having things in certain places where he can always expect them to be. That way, it won't be such a hassle to look for something so small, like his glasses.

-Constantly tries getting you to play different games, none of them similar to the others. One day, he'll try getting you to play Resident Evil, the next he'll make you play Animal Crossing.

-Ever since turning into a lemur, he never got rid of the urge to swing from branches. To fix this issue, he often goes to a nearby playground to hang out on the swings and play games on his phone.

-SPEAKING OF PHONES AND LEMURS, he once accidentally dropped his phone as a lemur.. while he was climbing a tree. He was absolutely devastated, especially since there's no way he could get it repaired without having the employees look at him weird, wondering why an animal was in the shop.

-He can't focus on games while you're around (also mentioned in his phone-fling I believe), he'll constantly try stealing glances and that'll make him lose whatever game he's playing. If you ever mention it, he'll go on a ramble about how you're more attractive than a game with good graphics.

-Knows how to draw but doesn't know anything about animation. He wants to learn how to animate in order to create a game of his own, though it's difficult when he spends most of his time playing rather than working on his own project.

-Has a collection of fatass plushies in a corner of his room. He calls it his cuddle corner, but he mostly just collapses onto it if he doesn't wanna bother with his bed.

[squishy-lombax]

I got bit by the Scooby-Doo bug and really wanted to make my own AU, which I'm calling "Groovy Scooby." I grew up watching Scooby-Doo and it's always been a big part of my life. Seeing other people make their own redesigns and AUs really got my gears turning. This took forever to make and I still need to work on the dogs and the Mystery Machine. I decided to go ahead and post the human characters at least, though.

Here's some fun facts from my AU:

Shaggy * Hates his hair cut due to a past traumatic experience. At this point, only Daphne is allowed to help tame his mop of hair. * Was diagnosed with diabetes as a child. He manages it well with a pump and service dog. *Into recreational drugs like marijuana to help ease his issues with anxiety. Overall a big advocate for mental health and hidden disabilities. *Believes gender is more of a construct and doesn't think clothing should be gatekept. Isn't shy to wear women's clothes. * Doesn't have a good relationship with his parents due to them sending him to boot-camp in order to "fix" him his gay tendencies years ago. * Knows how to operate most guns and even own ones the rest of the gang doesn't know about. However, he hopes never to use it because he's ironically anti-gun.

Daphne * Bimbo with a brain. Enjoys acting dumb for the attention but is very aware she looks good and knows how to use it to her advantage. * Makes money with her side-hustle of vlogging their van-life and making videos about true-crime. * Enjoys childish things like plushies and games, being a firm believer in the "cringe culture is dead" mentality. One of her favorite things to do is bring up Just Dance on Youtube and force the rest of the gang to dance with her. * Has been taking jiu jitsu since she was little but tends to forget it if panicked. Overall, very much enjoys fitness including jogging, yoga, and yeti tumbler collecting. * Generally goes with the flow, letting the gang make most decisions related to plans and activities. However, if she really wants something, she always gets her way. * Loves horror/thriller/slasher media, with her favorite being the classic Scream. Poor Shaggy cannot be in the same room when she's watching horror movies.

Velma * Loves to paint and draw. Overall a big arts and crafts hoe. * Refuses to shave. Will never apologize to insecure men. * The only one in the gang who graduated collage, which is in social sciences and history. Everyone else is a drop-out. * She is farsighted but usually wears her glasses all the time because she genuinely thinks she looks cute in them (she is correct) * Grew up as a token "tomboy" and now that she is an adult, she's really embarrassed by her inability to wear heels or apply makeup. However, Daphne is more then willing to help her out without making her feel dumb about it. * A terrible liar but great at asking inappropriate questions. Generally socially awkward.

Fred * Grew up in a conservative Christian household but after befriending the gang and having his world-view expanded, he no longer identifies with the religion. * Only one in the gang who genuinely loves sports. The gang tries to share his interests by going to games with him, but they don't share his enthusiasm. * His autistic superpower is knowing how to repair basically anything that's broken. However, cars is his specialty. * He's the token straight-ally character in a LGBTQ piece of media, but goddamn he's on thin-ice. * The most emotionally sensitive in the gang and not afraid to cry in public. However, the things he cries about could be something as simple as a very adorable cat photo he saw online. * He's emotionally very dependent on the gang and reverts into an NPC if separated from them. He feels very thankful he doesn't have to mask around his friends.

[inkblackorchid]

Hit me with your favorite 5Ds headcanons 👀

Okay so I’ve used/alluded to some of these in my fics already, but that’s just because I love them that much (also it was really hard deciding which are my favourite headcanons):

Crow swears the most out of the boys, but has an almost supernatural ability to completely shut his swearing off the second children are around (unless he’s really flustered)

Though I’ve kinda hinted at something like it before, Jack isn’t actually the worst cook at the Poppo Time. Bruno is. Because Jack knows what good food is supposed to taste like (having been a star duellist for a while and all) and can reasonably guess how to approximate those flavours—he just doesn’t cook because he doesn’t have the patience to learn any technique whatsoever (or clean up after himself when he’s done). Meanwhile, Bruno just can’t cook. Straight up. It’s not a matter of wanting or not wanting to, if you try tasking this man with anything more difficult than preparing cup ramen he will burn something. Guaranteed.

Bruno and Yusei don’t have the same mechanical skillset. Bruno is almost 100% specialised only to runners, and at that, he’s slightly better than Yusei. But Yusei’s advantage is that he knows how to fix almost everything else (provided it’s mechanical and/or electronic), too.

All three of the Satellite boys actually know how to sew a bit. Martha taught them how to mend their own clothes. The quality of their seams varies (Crow’s are the neatest because he got a lot of practice from mending his kids’ stuff, too), but they all know how to sew tears shut and mend holes.

Aki isn’t as good a gardener as one would believe with her plant theme. She likes gardening a great deal, but doesn’t have a lot of experience outside of house plants. So she could decently keep a garden alive, but would never be able to maintain something like, say, a bonsai collection or a bed of prize roses, despite her love for the activity.

I’ve written a whole post about this already, but I still adore it, so: Satellite natives, post reunion with the city, are the bane of brand phone store workers’ existence. They want everything fixed, not replaced, and trying to explain to them why that would be too complicated (whether contrived or not) usually results in them not paying a single cent and going something like “oh, forget it, I’ll just give it to the neighbour’s boy, he’ll take care of this”. This includes Yusei, who usually just ends up fixing his own stuff, and especially Crow, who has already nearly gotten in a fistfight with some tech company’s store manager upon hearing the supposed price of a repair/replacement on more than one occasion before. (He obviously just ends up handing his stuff over to Yusei, too, in the end.)

Maybe my favourite headcanon: As TCG fans know, the manga versions of the signer dragons were printed as the duel dragons. In-universe, I imagine the duel dragons were also printed—as commercial, publicly available retrains of the signer dragons, who are supposed to be one of a kind in canon. (I also use this headcanon to justify why the signers have support cards tailored specifically to their dragons—they were printed to go with the duel dragons in-universe, but allow usage with the original signer dragons as well.)

Rua/Leo isn’t actually that bad at school. He’s just not very disciplined when it comes to studying because he’d rather keep polishing up his deck.

Ruka/Luna owns several duel monsters plushies. Her favourite is, of course, her Kuribon plushie.

Carly is really good at clocking people’s vibes and figuring out their character quickly. The caveat is that this only works when she meets them face to face.

[nekojaf]

Now it's your turn to tell some fun facts about your space characters ~ May you pls?

Absolutely! Sorry for the wait. Time for space characters part 2!

Beige, My anxious little lady

-Is one of the many workers who are put in charge of clearance work for hyperdrive travel. She was so lucky to end up with the flirt Eclipse. She is so positively overjoyed by that.

-She's rather tired of her current life but also fears changing anything. She definitely has commitment issues.

-Very very much a worry wart.

-She's obsessed with Lunar's coffees that he makes. (Eclipse is envious of that.)

-She knows Dawn's secret of being an idol. Well it's not actually much of a secret. She's surprised the others haven't noticed yet.

-She lives and works on a planet on sector 9-1A38B! Well... before things happened.

Dawn, squish queen

-Is the runaway idol from one of the most technologically advanced planets out there. Her manager is constantly looking for her so she now just hides on Lunar and Eclipse's ship and joins them for whatever random adventure they go on.

-Her saliva can melt stuff if it touches you for too long. It's a separate gland though so she can control it. Makes a good grease cleaner.

-Her antennas can smell things! She will smell anything or anyone new that she meets.

-Is obsessed with Eclipse's plushies that he makes. (Lunar is envious of that.)

-More stretchy and squishy then the regular joe.

-Loves her blueberry space man very much.

Ruby, my tired lil tom boy

-Lives on a a large spaceship with only her and her caretaker in the middle of practically nowhere.

-the only adventures she gets to go on is when those junkers take her on adventures to the nearby trash planets.

-Bloodmoon it's probably one of the strangest things that has happened to her yet. She wished that he would keep his clothes on.

-has in unnaturally large collection of Old world Earth media. Got it all from the trashlands. It serves as one of her few forms of entertainment in her boring large house.

-Enjoys very much just going out of the ship and watching the stars. It's relaxing. It's quiet. Was at least.

-She's apparently now Bloodmoon's emotional support human.

Cosmo, space au only :O

-A mechanic! She loves going to the dumps and finding things to help her make stuff or repair stuff.

-is utterly exhausted with Angel's programming to be helping constantly. He will not sit still long enough for her to fix him Because he believes he has to make the bed or do the laundry or whatever else you can think of.

-Is a little scared of Earth. Just a little. She's um....very protective of her 'children'.

-her boots can send out Force waves which allows her to travel faster around planets with lower gravity.

Caretaker, no that's not her actual name but we'll stick with it for now

-has been watching over Ruby for a long time.

-is quite good at judo if she does say so herself. She often teaches the young Miss.

-Bloodmoon and Ruby are a different level of complexity to moderate. Often does she turn around to him imposing on Ruby in.... inappropriate ways.

-She does not speak of her own wants and desires very often but she does have them.

I have more characters but um.... *Sweats in not being able to introduce them until I introduce them in my other story* ... eventually eventually. This is what happens when you make a world with your friend who knows all your secrets.

[cheruv-ii]

LuciBen/LoveBug HCs/Facts:Pt.3-Sillies

(Last part! This one won't be as lore based as the others and will mainly just be silly lil hcs/cute stuff-thank y'all for sticking around for my shenanigans 🙏)

-Ben's the lil spoon

-Ben isn't much of a hugger but he will always cling to Lucien when possible, whenever anyone questions him about it he just tells them Lucien's just "comfortable" to hold onto (not a lie tbh)

-Lucien has a service dog named Latte that absolutely adores Ben, like if she's "off work" then the second she senses Ben, she's BOOKING IT to him. S1 Ben would've been a little icked out (and scared) by a full-size Malamute coming at him, but Big Ben is always happy to give the big pup all his love

-Ben was nervous to come to Lucien's place at first since he lives on the sanctuary he works at, which means theres a lot more of a chance of running into dinos, but he does quickly learn the ones that he will run into are very chill and used to humans so now he can come over without being spooked

-Mia(Lucien's lil sister) is a mechanic and has done an ungodly amount of repairs on the Van, at this point, she's the only one Ben will let touch it

-Lucien and Ben share a pretty similar music taste, mostly because they're constantly introducing each other to new music, so long roadtrips are pretty chill when it comes to who gets the aux

-Whenever they go out and have to look at least somewhat put together, Lucien will put a tiny bit of eyeliner/mascara and lipgloss on Ben, at first Ben was iffy about it but he very quickly got used to it, and even carries around his own little pouch with chapstick, gloss, mascara and eyeliner in his dork pouch

-They absolutely do the little dorky couples' trends you'll see on tiktok (like the nail polish to match each other's eyes, those hug shirts where they paint each other's arms then hug, matching pjs, etc.)

-Neither will admit it, but they are hopeless romantics. Even small romantic gestures from the other will have them giggling n kicking their feet for days

-Lucien's main love language is acts of service, if Ben says he's been stressing about doing something Lucien will do it for him, if Lucien notices the trash/dishes are building up in Ben's dorm he'll take it out/do them for him. Sometimes, Ben won't notice until Lucien's already done it and left, but it always makes him smile.

-On the other hand, Ben's main love language is gift giving, little trinkets he finds that reminds him of Lucien, post it note doodles, plushies (Lucien adores plushies and will always love getting them), you name it. Lucien doesn't really buy many nice things for himself unless they're necessities, so it always feels nice to have someone that does love him enough to think he's worth the money/time spent on gifts.

-Ben does most of the cooking, Lucien knows how to cook but unless it's certain dishes or he's in a certain mood it just stresses him out, whereas Ben grew up cooking with his mom a lot since she was at work a lot and therefore dinner was most of the time they got to spend together, so he finds it actually helps with stress. The boot slop was a low point in his life that we do not talk about.

-Lucien will compliment Ben at whatever chance he can. His hair looks good that day? Compliment. He's cooking, and it smells good? Compliment. The sun hits him in a way that makes his eyes shine and his freckles pop? 100 compliments. Lucien just loves Ben and thinks he's perfect in everything he does, and he's going to let him know that. Ben always gets flustered no matter how many compliments he's gotten.

-If Ben has an essay or exam coming up, Lucien will always stop by to bring him food, make sure he's resting, etc.

-Ben is a notorious clothing thief, I feel like I've mentioned this before, but I am mentioning it again because of how much he does it, someone help Lucien he's running out of clothes.

-They'll spend hours cuddling and talking, nothing else, just taking in each other's presence. They've both "lost" each other at some point in their lives, so they know not to take these things for granted.

-They have inside jokes in ASL, the other camp fam know if they're signing at each other and trying to hide their giggles, then the joke is probably at their expense. Especially Kenji.

-Lucien gets "Love Zoomies" as Sammy calls it, where sometimes Ben will do something or just like- exist- that has Lucien doing laps in his head, stimming, just a huge burst of energy that usually contains him going on about how much he loves Ben while trying not to do a backflip

-Lucien looks like he'd be the scary dog but he is like- the biggest dork, literally and figuratively- especially when it comes to Ben, like I know I've stated it fifteen goddamn times but I genuinely do not think there are enough words for me to properly describe just how madly, insanely, hesd over heels in love with Ben Lucien is, like that is his soulmate, he would take the trauma of Jurassic World an infinite amount of times if it meant he got to love Ben every time.

-Ben has Lucien wrapped around his finger, if he wants something he doesn't even have to say it, Lucien knows and he's already doing it

-Lucien is a biker, and while Ben does very much find it hot, he is also terrified by the way that man drives. He will be a backpack if absolutely necessary, but he will nearly break Lucien's ribs every time with how hard he holds onto him

-Ben was never really a concert enjoyer, hurts his ears and theres just too many people, but after seeing how excited Lucien gets at concerts and how much fun he has, suddenly Ben is a huge concert person, as long as he's with Lucien.

-Lucien's favourite sound in the world is Ben's laugh, the way he squeaks at the end of it, or how if he's laughing hard enough he'll cover his mouth and just go silent, and you can only tell he's laughing because he's shaking and has tears in his eyes- it's just the greatest thing in the world to Lucien. There has been so many time Lucien has completely embarrassed himself, and if it was anyone else laughing he'd curl into a ball and die, but the fact that it was Ben laughing just made everything so worth it.

-Ben thinks Lucien somehow hates pteranodons more than he does, which is crazy, Lucien's whole shtick is that dinosaurs are just doing what they have to do to survive and they shouldn't be punished for it, but pteranodons are a completely different story, they are the wasps of the dino world, they are hell spawns and will be treated as such if they dare come near him. Man, wonder why he hates them sm 🤔

-Lucien is the type of bf to send Ben pictures/videos etc. Of two random things and just caption it "us"

[m1d-45]

i am having SO MUCH FUN with my fishing i am planning to get every single ornamental meduka to display in my teapot bc again. they look more like betta fish than the actual "bettas" and i love bettas so fucking much there's no punchline here this is not a bit i just really like bettas and having fish in my teapot that look like them make me go :]

ANYWAYS you get me. you understand me. i wanted to put this in the original ask but just figured out how to word it now so picture this with me: before your killer gets isekai'd, but after you're returned to your world, you wake up after a nightmare and see the plushified face of your murderer - and well, your emotions are high... you couldn't do anything then and you still can't do anything to the one who killed you, but that plush is right there and completely defenseless... it's so easy to just grab its little fabric limbs and pull, pull, pull-

you realize what you're doing before you can tear the whole thing apart. you loved that stupid little thing, buying little clothes for it and taking it to nice places for little photoshoots, and now you're destroying it, killing it, for sharing a face with someone else. the rest of the night is spent crying and apologizing as you clumsily sew it back together.

idk if it's just me but i am horribly attached to all of my plushes and the idea of anything happening to them ESPECIALLY if it was my fault makes me feel incredibly upset so obviously i gotta do smth with that - teddy anon

(reader upon seeing the plush: rip kill tear main kill rip slaughter /ref (obscure, unimportant))

it’s ironic, how something that had once brought you so much comfort now just fills you with anger.

you loved them. you loved them. you’d done so much, prefarmed, you cooed and fawned over their character model, you’d spent maybe a bit too much on a plush of their likeness just because you adored them so much. you were so attached to it, attached to them, and what was your reward for your devotion again?

right. betrayal.

you grabbed the plushie before you could think, digging your fingers into the seams. tears blurred your vision, emotions swirling out of control.

you loved them. you loved them. why did this hurt? why did they hurt you? what did you do? how was this fair? why?

you get embarrassingly far into ripping it to shreds before your hands ache and you’re brought out of your mind, the sight of stuffing and torn fabric in your hands making you cry more.

this wasn’t fair. this wasn’t fair. you loved them, you adored them, and now you were hurting this poor plushie for a crime they committed? oh no, no you’re sorry, you’re sorry…

you wipe at your tears, trying to remember where you’d stashed your sewing kit. you’d bought one with the plushie so you could repair it, but it’s been so long since you’ve been in your own house that it takes far too long to find it. the sight of your torn beloved makes your heart burn, but you push through it.

they didn’t deserve this. you shouldn’t have taken out your anger like this. no, that wasn’t right…

it takes most of the night, but by morning your plush is all back together. the seams are a different color, more visible, and the stuffing a bit more lumpy than before, but… you did your best.

clutching the plushie of the one that killed you, you cry.

[the-crystal-femmes]

thats awesome! I don't sew much, but one of my close friends irl does a lot of repairs so I hear a lot about it. He embroiders, too! So its become a hobby of mine via osmosis. I love to sew stuffed animals, though. I tend to use old clothing that I've worn out or ripped and cant donate or repair. I also crochet a TON! i like to make stuffed animals for that, as well :p I was making a gillman stuffed animal, but I recently left home for a few months and don't have my stuff with me </3

do you have any more physical/tangible/crafty hobbies like that? Personally, I don't have many outside of drawing and painting.

Crocheting sounds fun! I've never done that before but I want to someday.

I don't have any hobbies, really. My disabilities prevent me from doing a lot, although it's all more of a mental factor. I barely sew, so doing it yesterday was something I don't usually do. I wish I had more hobbies but oh well.. /lh, nav

If I could, I would love to make my own plushies! There's a lot of cute bat plushies out there and I wish I could make my own. I do have one I got from Etsy, she's a little Victorian cutie! I don't have a picture of her right now though, I need to brush her down, she's made of fleece so she gets covered in cat fur a lot. /lh

[awardenandacrow]

It is 12:14 and I should be sleeping but I miss Naimy.

NOTE: I’m tired and that generally means I swear more. TW/CW strong language.

1. Naimeryn has a secret stash of plushies. She hides them in the console table behind the couch and sleeps with them if it’s been a really bad day. Hee favorite is an incredibly dirty and hardly-holding-it-together patchwork bunny in frilly overalls.

2. Harding gave her some plant clippings. They’re living, but it’s unclear if Naimeryn can actually claim any responsibility for that. She took care of the mousers at Weisshaupt, and especially that one kitchen cat, so a pet she could probably handle. Given her childhood, she doubts very much she has the tools necessary to care for and raise a child.

3. “You know about Lucanis and me? Uh… I mean, he’s perfect. Right? He’s so thoughtful. About everyone, I mean, not just me. He notices what you like and what you need and then just sort of… quietly makes it happen. He’s the sweetest.” *cue blushing and idiotic grinning and happy feet kicks*

4. Naimy doesn’t own much red, and generally the color reminds her of her mother, so she avoids it. Lucanis generally isn’t nuts about red (all that Venatori fighting, probably), but he’ll answer this question with a resounding “YES.” As will Spite. The two may have conspired to go back to Gabriela for the red dress, we may never know.

5. It’ll be the shortest speech you’ve ever heard, and it will absolutely give the credit to everyone else. And then she will go hide under the covers of her bed for a year.

6. Emmrich. He’s basically her dad, and he knows what’s up. On the other hand, Illario. That fuckin’ idiot 🤦🏻‍♀️

7. Resilient, resourceful, and kind. “Uh, me? I guess… clumsy? Awkward, and… yeah I’ll take resourceful let’s go with that.”

8. “Fuck. Puzzles!”

9. Naimeryn spent years teaching herself to painstakingly re-bind a large percentage of the books in Weisshaupt’s library. She also keeps her secret plushie stash well-repaired with her embroidery skills, also self taught. So, yes.

10. She’s pretty happy with her current age. Most of her younger years kind of sucked. She’s looking forward to being older, but living in the now is working out pretty great despite the looming threat of her own damn gods.

11. Naimeryn would not have any idea what to do with all that money. Lucanis would take her on a shopping spree, but end up buying everything for her. So then Teia would have to round up Neve, Harding, and Taash for a ✨proper✨ shopping spree.

12. Naimeryn enjoyed Varric’s books, but didn’t actively seek out the romance genre until she learned it was an interest of Lucanis’s… and realized she needed to do some research.

13. The people you love most, may not be the people who love ✨you✨ the most.

14. Naimeryn isn’t guilty. It’s food. Especially trying *new* food.

15. Doing something you don’t enjoy for the benefit of people who don’t appreciate it (e.g. laundry was a waste of time in the magister’s house, but doing it for the team was an act of service everyone noticed, and therefore not a waste of time).

16. Just, *new* clothes when the old ones get wore out.

17. Naimeryn ✨does✨ like kids. She’s a little uncomfortable around them, but she enjoys seeing them happy and thriving, and is actually really good with them. I have this image in my head of her slinging spells with a baby in a wrap carrier on her back like a badass but I dunno, guess we’ll see…

18. Yes, please.

19. Obsessively. She was so nervous about her final project for Lucienne (the spinning magic orb thing) that she started studying the enchantments and mechanisms a full year before Lucienne actually assigned it to her.

20. Sloshing through literally any and all water sources. Barefoot, preferably.

21. He’d have to totally abandon who he is. Become cruel and unthinking. Leave his principles behind. Chest on her, probably. If a stranger stood where Lucanis does now, that would be the end of it for her, but she’d cling to Lucanis until the last shred of him was gone before giving up.

22. Once she finally learns what “Mia fiamma” means, she’s going to be obsessed with being called a pet name. People are going to start thinking “Fiamma” is her given name. She plays with some for Lucanis but nothing fits and she feels awkward using them.

23. A mix of both. The stability of Weisshaupt was suffocating. The novelty of adventuring wears on the body and the soul. Something in the middle might be nice, next.

24. Honesty, but tactful and gentle delivery are important. Lies are lies, no matter how well-intended.

25. There’s plenty of possibility in safety. Safe is good. Safe allows for many more things to be possible.

26. “Well, shit, neither did me much good, so who the hell knows.” 😅

27. Case by case basis. Naimeryn wanted vengeance in the cases of both Illario and Solas, but in both cases forgiveness was more important for someone she cared about, and so she chose forgiveness. If the circumstances were right, though, and it wouldn’t negatively effect anyone she loved, she could probably go the vengeance route if she felt someone deserved it (cough, cough, Calivan, Anaris, Zara, Aelia, The Dragon King…)

28. Does Lucanis count?

29. Blight dreams (cos she’s a Warden). Will these persist after-game? We shall see…

30. Being given forgiveness is not the same as deserving it. Naimeryn endeavors not to do things that will require forgiveness in the first place.

I hope y’all enjoyed this! Let me know if you’d like me to expand on any of these.

oc asks that reveal more than you think

Do they sleep with a stuffed animal? If they have multiple, who’s the favorite?

Can they take care of a plant? What about a pet? What about a child?

Ask them to describe their love interest.

Do they look good in red?

Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech! Will they give one, and what about?

Who will they take advice from, no matter what it is? Who won’t they take advice from, no matter what it is?

Describe them in three words. Now let them describe themself in three words.

Do complex puzzles intrigue or frustrate them?

Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?

What age do they most want to be right now?

They’ve won the lottery. Spend, or save?

Do they like romance in the books they read (or in the book they’re in)?

Name one thing their parents taught them.

Would they agree with the term ‘guilty pleasure’? Do they have any?

What would they consider a waste of time– other than school or work?

If money wasn’t a limit, what would they wear?

Do they like children?

Kissing: tongue or no tongue?

Do they study before tests? Practice before job interviews?

What do they like that nobody else does?

What would it take for them to break up with someone? What would be the last straw?

Do they like being called pet names? Do they call other people pet names? What’s their go-to?

Stability or novelty?

Honesty or charity?

Safety or possibility?

Talent or effort?

Forgiveness or vengeance (or…)?

Would they date a fixer-upper?

What recurring dreams do they have?

What would they do if they knew it would be forgiven?

[breakfastteatime]

JFO Headcanon Collection Masterlist #2

Looking for older stories? First Masterlist

📘 Denotes minific

Got a headcanon you want to discuss? Drop me an Ask!

Want to read my longer stories? I’m on AO3!

Latest Posts

Merrin braids Cal's hair 📘(and fanart from @ledeni-tm!!!!!)

Merrin sings in the shower. Greez... endures

Greez knits a gift for Cal 📘

Malicos: Old Man

Merrin keeps Cal company after Nur 📘

Jaro hunts down a sleepwalking Cal📘

New Normal

Sleepover 📘

Soup (Greez: How I learned to stop worrying and tolerate the kid)📘

SNITMICE!!!!📘

Blankets📘

Loved ones📘

Plushie📘

Dreams📘

Meditation with Master Tapal and Padawan Kestis📘

Greez takes Cal shopping📘

Safe

Cal versus Bracca's Death Shift📘

Greez learns about Cal's connection to Master Yaddle

What about the other scrappers from the train?

Cal learns about a little thing called NAPPING📘

Cal's sunglasses

Campfire 📘

Cal + Acrobatics

Nightmare 📘

I can explain!!!! 📘

Echo meta

Little Rituals 📘

A thought about Cere...

Cere and Cal spar... 📘

Cere watches Cal experience an echo 📘

Silence 📘

Cal has some thoughts about the nature of flying...

Break 📘

Gardening is good for the soul 📘

I feel fluffy 📘

Family 📘

Are you okay? 📘

You've got one minute... 📘

Get ready 📘

Just breathe 📘

Sleepwalking 📘

Wake up 📘

Cal picks up an echo from Master Yaddle 📘

Freckles 📘

Fingers through hair 📘

Fever 📘

Baby Cal goes on a fieldtrip! 📘

Chores are everyone's business 📘

That's an unpopular opinion... 📘

Yes, another post-Ilum fluff story 📘

It wasn't your fault 📘

Echo Overload 📘

Yeah, it's a migraine... 📘

Nothing but the clothes on his back...

Cleaning

Cal uses his psychometry to test out an ancient Jedi artifact for Cere 📘

Limited Edition 📘

Cal's repaired lightsaber impresses Cere...

Cal describes how he broke his wrist. Greez has immediate regrets📘

Cal buys Greez a present

"Chaos and regret" on Bogano...

Cere takes care of Cal after Ilum 📘

Cal gives Greez a taste of his own medicine

Jaro Tapal's Padawan is too comfortable with heights... 📘

BD reminds Cal to eat 📘

Used the Force too much? Have a migraine! 📘

How Cere knows Cal was Jaro Tapal's apprentice 📘

Let him sleep (Cal's first night aboard the Mantis) 📘

Greez teaches Cal to cook 📘

I've had worse.... 📘

I don't want anyone to panic... 📘

[crazyyanderefangirlfan]

La Squadra haunted doll au

A/N: Based on @twisted-n-thirsty au about TWST boys as haunted dolls. Hon, if your reading this I miss and love you.

Warnings: Non-con

You have a hobby of collecting and repairing dolls and plushies, it didn’t matter if it was old, new or creepy looking, you loved them all equally and unconditionally.

You were browsing an antique store in hopes to find new dolls to add to your collection. As you headed deeper in the shop, nine dolls were lining up the shelf. They were beaten up, no doubt handled to roughly.

You shook at carelessness of the children who owned them before and gently placed them in your arms and to the desk in front.

They were all suspiciously cheap, the shop keeper explained they were brought in my some man and demanded they take them from him, he even threaten the shop keeper.

He tried the sells the dolls but no one seemed to wanted them.

Taking pity on them, you bought all nine. Once home you got to work in fixing every single one of them.

Each design on them was so unique you couldn't understand why no one wanted them.

You happily gave them all a make over, nothing too much, just some cleaning and repairing their clothes, once done they look brand new.

Smiling at your work, you placed on the shelves in you bedroom, where all your best work are. Nodding in satisfaction, you went back to your work space in the next room to come up for more outfits for them and maybe some accessories.

Few hours later, you made about five different and accessories for each of them, including maid outfits both classic and French.

Checking the time, your eyes bulged out on seeing how late it is. Quickly wrapping up for the night, grabbing a quick meal from the kitchen and headed back upstairs.

One of the dolls were on the floor when you came back, frowning, you picked it up. Smoothening it's green hair and gently placing it back on the shelf.

"Be careful next time." You giggled and kissed its fore head.

The next day, you felt some stickiness on your cheek. You shrugged, probably drooled again.

However, coming downstairs the place felt…cleaner.

You checked the entire house, no one broke in, and if they did they stole nothing.

Chalk it up as paranoia, you decided to forget all that and dress up the nine dolls you bought in maid uniforms. The one with purple hair looked good in it.

Until the next day all the dolls except the purple haired one were out in their maid dresses, some were even torn.

Weeks past and the paranoia returned full force, each day you wake up to find the house clean which would have been fine in a messed up way, if it wasn’t the way all the dolls except the nine were on the floor and sometimes the items in the house felt used.

Perhaps the most frightening part how you felt tired almost every morning. Waking up became more of a hassle, like your energy was drained in your sleep. Sometimes dark marks littered around your neck and collarbone.

And this all happened when you bought those dolls.

Normally you think logically and think a skilled stalker would do this, but…

The dolls’ eyes on you were becoming more unnerving, sometimes you feel like they’re watching you.

With a heavy heart, you boxed them, and drove to the forest. You did not have the heart to destroy them.

However a sinking feeling was forming in your gut was you drove away. Like you could feel the ire through outside the box.

But that’s crazy, right?

You never been more wrong, cause right now you were being used in twenty different ways by nine men who looked like the dolls you left.

“Fucking Puttana! You think it was that easy to get rid of us!?” Ghiaccio, you soon learned they’re names, growled as he pounded into your hole.

You wanted to push him away but your hands were occupied by Formaggio and Iluso’s cocks. Beneath you, Melone muttered praises as he took you ass.

The rest of them were watching and waiting for they’re turn.

Sorbet and Gelato were watching with wild looks in they’re eyes, Prosciutto barked at Pesci to keep watching.

You accidentally made eye contact with Risotto, his stare chilled you to the core.

It’s been years since they meet someone they want. Not when they’re boss used black magic to turn them into dolls after a failed assassination attempt.

They were left in the antique shop for years, with little to no power left.

That is until you bought them.

They couldn’t understand why someone wanted something so banged up up such as them. But the way you touched them, how gentle you were in repairing them, even kissing their heads.

Perhaps, they should thank their old boss for such an opportunity.

That is until you decided to dump them in the forest.

It was hell in getting back, but it was enough time to think of ways to punish you.

Risotto moved from his spot and stood next to your bed. He gently lifted your chin to meet his eyes.

"You ours, our darling doll."

@industriallyinsecure

[stillwinchester]

Destiel AU - toddler!jack, mechanic!dean

“Good morning, sir!”

Dean looked up from his newspaper straight at the kid with a teddy bear. He had no idea where it came from. He was just sipping his coffee and reading the news, when some stranger toddler appeared on the seat in front of him.

“Umm, mornin'?” he greeted him, still confused.

“I have a birthday today,” said kid and grinned. Dean looked around, but nobody seemed to bother with his situation.

“Congratulations, but you shouldn't be alone here. Where's your mom?”

“In Heaven. She's watching over me, like an angel,” kid explained, and after that kicked him accidentally under the table. Dean dusted his knee off.

“And what about your dad?”

“There!” he pointed to the counter, where was standing a dark hair man in the trench coat. “He's buying birthday's milkshakes. Strawberry!”

“Yeah?” Dean relaxed a little bit, good that kid wasn't alone here. “And how old are you?”

“Four! It's more than three,” he said cheerfully. “Look, I have The Marvelous Marvin. He can talk!”

Kid showed him a teddy bear and pressed his belly. A plushie toy said: 'Hello!', his father turned around immediately and came quickly to Dean's table. He picked the kid up and spoke to him:

“Jack, I told you, don't harass people.” And then to Dean: “My apologies.”

“Nothing happened... He's a great kiddo.”

The man tried to smile, but he was too much embarrassed, so it lookes more like a grimace. Jack, on the other hand, seemed not to care about anything, playing with his teddy bear.

Dean pulled something out from his pocket and asked: “Hey, Jack, do you like stickers?”

“Yeah!”

“So, I have something for you. Happy birthday, buddy!”

It was a commercial sticker with a big text "Singer Auto Repair Shop", but there was also a picture of Chevy Impala which was what Jack noticed first.

“A car!” exclaimed Jack, putting a sticker on his teddy bear at once.

“Jack, what do you say?” reminded him his father.

“Thank you, sir!”

“You're welcome!”

The man put Jack on the seat at the next table and went back to Dean.

“I'm sorry once again, he's a little too much excited,” he excused for his son.

“Sure, nothing happened.” Dean shrugged. “I'm Dean, by the way.”

“Castiel.” They shook their hands, and Dean smiled at him.

“It's nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Cas smiled back. “I'm not gonna take more of your time. Have a nice day.”

Cas sat across of his son. The waitress had brought their milkshakes already. The kid started drinking, but a few seconds later he was talking again.

“Dad, can I try yours?”

Dean heared a chuckle, he looked at Cas and caught how he was rolling his eyes.

“They're the same, Jack.”

“Please... I have a birthday,” begged the kid with a sweet voice.

“All right.” Cas gasped, but changed their milkshakes.

“Yours is better,” admitted Jack, and Cas laughed once again.

Dean finished his coffee and walked away a few minutes later, one more time looking at them. The family picture, a lovely and cute view...

*

Cas knew shit about cars, but he was certainly sure his truck shouldn't make so weird noises.

“Crap,” he murmured. Did he say it loud? Crap! He turned to the back seats where Jack was sitting in the child chair. “You didn't hear anything, Jack.”

“That's not true! You said: crap!” said excited Jack. “Crap, crap! Crap, crap!”

Great! Now his kid expanded his vocabulary.

“I think grocery needs to wait. Somebody needs to check our car.”

“Maybe Marvin? He's a mechanic. He has a badge.” Jack pointed at the sticker on his teddy bear.

“Oh, honeybee, I think we need the other specialist, but thank Marvin for his service.”

Cas pulled out the phone to find some Auto Repair Shop on the internet when he realized that actually Marvin could help. He gave a quick look at the sticker and read an address.

*

“I have no idea how to fix a car. Sometimes I even forget to refuel it,” explained Cas to the old man with a baseball cap. He had found out earlier it’s Bobby Singer, owner of this Auto Shop. For a moment, he felt disappointment because deeply in his heart he had hoped he was going to see Dean from the milk bar again.

“I’ll call my best mechanic. We can handle it,” Bobby assured him, and after that he turned around and yelled: “Dean, we have a client, can you come here?”

Dean got out from under one of the cars. He was wearing work clothes, and his face was dirty from grease, but Cas recognized him at once. Jack, who was standing next to him, was too busy with his teddy bear to notice him.

“Oh, Cas. Hi,” said Dean, frowning with confusion. Probably he didn’t expect to see him again.

“Hello, Dean.”

“And how are you, Jack?” he asked a toddler.

“Good! Marvin took us here!”

“Yeah, so let’s see what’s wrong with a car.”

Dean opened the hood and checked the car. It didn’t take him a lot of time before he found cause of trouble.

“It's the engine...” explained Dean.

“Crap!” said Jack, and Dean looked at him surprised.

“Whoa, isn't it a big word for so little guy?”

“I'm big now! And dad taught me that!”

Cas’ cheeks turned red at once, and he mumbled: “No, I... I didn't.”

“You did, daddy. Don't you remember? Truck was broken.”

Dean chuckled, but he was not going to torture him any longer.

“Okay, I need at least half an hour. You can wait there if you want.” He pointed to a bench near a big tree.

“All right, thank you.”

Dean started working, but his eyes were heading to Cas and Jack all the time. He saw how they were talking and playing with a teddy bear, laughing all the time. They looked so happy, and Dean found himself jealous of what they had.

When he finished, he called them and Bobby. Cas paid for the repair and thanked him for help. They didn't go at once, so Dean used an opportunity to talk with him a little longer.

“He's similar to you, like Mini-Cas,” said Dean, and Cas smiled with proud.

“Actually, he's not my biological son... His mother was my very good friend, but she died in childbirth, so I took care of him,” he explained.

“What about his biological father?”

“It's my brother, but I don't know where he is. He ran away when he found out Kelly was pregnant.”

“This one,” started Bobby and patted Dean on the arm. “I kinda adopted him and his brother. And they're good men. I think I did no bad job raising them.”

“Yeah, you were always a better father to me than John.”

Bobby squeezed Dean’s shoulder, and walked away to talk with Jack. Cas looked at his son with love in his eyes.

“It must be hard, huh? Be a lonely father with a toddler?”

“Sometimes. But I've never regretted this. He's my whole life.”

After a long minute of silence, Dean decided to go one step further. He scratched a back of his neck and cleared the throat.

“Listen, Cas, I'll give you my private number...” he started, but then added quickly: “You know if something would be wrong with a car, just call me.”

Shit! It wasn't supposed to look like this... He chickened out.

“Umm, thank you,” said Cas, putting the card with his number in his coat's pocket. “Dean, one more.”

“Yeah?”

“Would it be okay if I call you on another matter?”

“Which means?”

“If I want to, for example, invite you for a milkshake?”

Dean's face brightened with a smile. So, it wasn't like he was the only one who was interested.

“Yeah... it would be okay, Cas.”

“So, I think I'll call you.”

“I will be waiting.”

Cas gave him a huge smile one more time before he went to Jack.

“Jack, we need to come home. Let's go!” He took him on his arms.

“Okay, daddy!” Jack raised his hand and waved with it. “Bye, bye, Dean!”

“See you later, buddy! Oh, and I have another sticker for you,” said Dean.

“It's like a doctor, but without needles.”

“Yeah, I'm a car doctor.”

“Cool!”

They drove away, this time without a noisy engine, and Cas thought it's a very good day.

*

Cas put Jack to bed, read him the bedtime stories and kissed his forehead. He turned the light off, but stayed there a few minutes more, just to look at his sleeping kid.

Yes, like he said before, being a single father wasn't always easy, but he would never change his life. At least not in this area. Because, of course, he would like to find somebody who could love Jack like their own son, and somebody who could love him...

Sometimes, especially in the nights like this, he felt lonely, it wasn't like he has a lot of time to meet new people, not to mention dates. That's why he went to the kitchen to make a call.

“Yeah?” asked Dean, and Cas couldn't help smile, hearing his voice.

“Hello, Dean. It's Cas. I hope I don't call too late.”

Answer came almost immediately.

“No. It's never too late.”

Part 2

[a-vamp-and-a-half]

Shooing him back towards the border, Bruno reaches down to pick up the plushie with a huff, standing back up to look at it

It was an old plushie, yet throughly, throughly loved, it’s many tears and rips long since repaired over and over again, worn fabric replaced by patches of other fun textures

One wing seemed lighter than the other, a different color, but it was hard to see with the dirt and mud nearly unifying the color to one

There was also a tear at the bottom, a tiny bit of fabric missing

“Oh dear, this has certainly seen beter days” he says softly, holding the plushie in hand

He looks up, walking closer to the border so Actor could hold it “Must have unfortunately been through the elements for a bit”

"I'm going to wash and repair it." Actor accepts the plushie, patting it off a bit. "I always did my own laundry to ensure my clothing was taking care of exactly as needed, so I can translate that to plushie care, I think. Give Beeka a friend."

[bravoman]

-Yeets a whole ass Mimikyu at Anti-

Now, normally things didn't just go falling out of trees, unless they were sticks, leaves, or a particularly clumsy cat.

Or Anti. Anti's fallen out of a tree at least twice.

But what came tumbling down atop his noggin was no stick leaf, or even a cat. The tiny antihero yelped and lifted his arms, at the same time that the thing rolled down his front and came to a stop nestled safely in his grasp.

Blinking in surprise, he looked down and realized that he was holding... a teddy bear? Oh! But not just any old teddy... it was a Pikachu plushie! One that had seen better days, if he was being honest. For some reason, it had no arms or legs whatsoever--huh, or even any holes or stitches where they would have been. And was the face... doodled on?

"Where did you come from," he mumbled idly to himself as he looked the mysterious doll over. He did not expect it to shiver and whine in response.

"Kyuuuuu..."

"Oh my gosh," he cried in alarm. Finally, he noticed that there were a pair of eye holes on the doll's belly, and the eyes that looked up at him were brimming with tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't even notice... are you okay..?"

"Chaaaaa~!"

A new voice reached his ears. Taking a peek around the tree, Anti realized that there was a real Pikachu only a few short feet away. The Pikachu and its owner seemed to have gotten some attention from a few other passerby, who were all cooing and aww-ing at the yellow rodent cradled in the young woman's arms.

"So adorable!"

"I've always wanted one of my own!"

"You're sooo lucky..."

The little bundle of cloth in Anti's arms shivered and let out a mournful cry. Looking down, he saw that a pair of shadowy black claws had slithered out from underneath the plush body to cover the creature's eyes. As frightening as the sight of the claws probably should have been, Anti felt his heart break.

"... hey. It's okay," he murmured as he cradled the Pokemon in his left arm and lifted his right hand to stroke the plush's belly, where he assumed the critter's actual head was. "Are you upset because of all the attention that other guy is getting? I know how you feel..."

The Pokemon lowered its claws slightly to look up at him with a sniffle. "M... Mimi..?"

He nodded in response. "Yeah... ever since the day I was born, I've lived in the shadow of some lousy goofball who hogs all the attention for himself. He barely even has to do anything to get people to love him. But no matter how hard I try, it's like nobody ever notices all the things I do!" He sighed and shook his head. "It stinks. It's really not fair at all."

The Pokemon's eyes grew wide as it listened to him speak. "Mi kyu..?"

Anti was quiet as he thought some things over. Then, with a gentle smile, he turned away from the Pikachu and its flock of fans. "You know what? Forget about him. You are, like... so much cooler than he is. Did you make your costume all by yourself? It's so cool! I have a sewing kit back at home that I use to repair my teddy, but I've always wanted to learn how to make whole new things all by myself," he praised as he began to walk.

By now, the Pokemon's eyes were wide and practically sparkling. "M-Mi! Mi kyu mimi! Mimikyu mi kyumi!"

"That's amazing," he gushed with a bright smile. "You've already got more experience than I do... do you think you could teach me?"

"Mi mi mi," it joyfully exclaimed as it raised its claws high into the air.

Anti giggled in response and happily chatted away with the little Pokemon. He wasn't expecting to make a new pal today, but he was pretty sure he'd just made a friend for life.

Gotcha! Mimikyu was caught!

1/6

[feastofcadavers]

Surrounded in the overcoat that Aloe had given him, Mint's trembling hadn't subsided. Even as he was gently guided into the room Sandwich had told them to go into... The fear that the scene had instilled in him shook the poor violinist to his core. So much red... He felt the need to wretch even as the atmosphere became clean. Homely, even. Moving without seeing, lost in his terror-fueled haze, he was gently nudged into a chair and sat at a small table with Aloe kept behind him. Though he wasn't paying attention, he could feel the presence of the other behind him.

"I am sure you are startled, but..." Aloe settled a hand upon Mint's shoulder, attempting to find the right words. The musician laid his head against it, shivering against how cold it was compared to the heat of his panic. It was almost grounding in how much of a difference it was to his system... Almost. "Know this state you are in is not permanent, at least... The fear, that is." Ugh, the researcher wasn't meant for this type of comforting- or any kind for that matter. Though, if they were to think of what Co would do...

Should they? It could be invasive, cause something worse to occur, even spur on thoughts of the past they weren't entirely to trace back to. Then again, it was either this or have Mint get to the point of passing out or having his instincts go wild like them... And the very thought of Mint losing himself got the scientist to huff and close their compound eyes as they gently, and hesitantly, hugged the one that was so utterly shaken.

For the one who received it, the hug was... Something that he couldn't exactly register all too well. Despite how cold the taller happened to be, there was some quality that brought comfort that he hadn't felt in so, so long... Was it a touch that was meant to be something comforting? Secure? Safe? He didn't quite feel safe, but at least it was better than being left with nothing but himself and this coat to cling onto. "No harm will come to us here... So long as we remain calm..." The researcher murmured, voice just above a whisper. A moment, two, three passed before Aloe would remove themself from the other.

There was mainly silence that came over the room, save for Aloe's steps to sit across the quaint wooden table that the two would share. It seemed to be meant for two, as big as the room was. It was almost surreal... Such a warm place behind a gruesome coating of what was the cannibalistic nature the shop owner had. Having a moment of relative calm after such sudden and high amounts of panic were sure to leave some type of daze in the atmosphere...

...one that wouldn't be noted by the slamming open of the door and who else but Sandwich bursting through with her stacked plates of plate, sandwich, plate, sandwich, and Spinny upon her shoulder! Despite how solemn the both of them seemed- including the fear that Mint had due to the door opening so suddenly- Sammy grinned as she swiftly set the sandwiches down before the both of them. To the untrained eye, these sandwiches would look akin to normal meat and cheese sandwiches. Neither would dare ask where the cheese came from for this case.

Mint would silently pick up his sandwich, gaze settling on the white plate beneath it as he would eat the awful substance. His stomach growled quietly with his first bite as if it was reminded of what is required. He was oblivious to his own body's reactions at this point, mind staring sightlessly at the plate that showed his reflection. It was so similar to what it used to be, but the bags under his eyes were more than prominent. Huh... And here he thought he had gotten a good night's sleep. Oh well. At least he can eat in thoughtlessness.

"I certainly hope you two enjoy your meals! If you need, I can get some water for the both of you, too!" Sandwich's whole body tilted to the side as if she was curious about the response she would receive. Though Mint was lost in his head, Aloe quietly nodded as they took their food in one hand. As prim and proper as they are, their eating habits were... Less than that. At least they wouldn't speak with their mouth full. "That would be appreciated. Though before you do so-" Ah, they had caught the slicer before she went out the door. Too eager to serve, wasn't she? "I... I have a few questions about you and that doll of yours..."

"Doll? This is no plushie or anything of the sort! This is Spinny!"

"Right... I have a question about Spinny."

"Go on, then! Anything for a dear cursed customer!"

There was a gentle huff as Aloe would contemplate how to phrase such a question without offending the other party. She seemed in such denial that someone dear to her was gone. Though they couldn't help but admit that in the same situation, they wouldn't consider that someone to be 'gone', either. "So, I assume that something horrid had happened to Spinny, yes? Did it happen to be fatal?"

Sandwich's face twisted into something that had never been seen from her before. Was it disgust? Fear? Something along those lines... But it was quickly shrugged off for that ever-chipper smile and voice pitched for joyousness. "Well, kind of! She was a tasty snack that I was planning on planting for the sake of, ahaha, getting away with things! But this lovely lady offered to help me out of my despair! And repair Spinny into something she could live through again! And all it took was a small part of her and some sweet memories! Truffle is such a sweet lady, I tell ya!" That... most certainly caught the many-eyed scientist's attention. "And she was brought back to life? In this new d-... In this new, cloth-covered form?"

"Mhm!! Spinny is practically as good as new!" The server gently picked up the doll from her shoulder, holding her out in front of Aloe. They could see the little thing squirm, which was followed by Sammy laughing giddily and bringing her back to the shoulder of comfort. "She's super shy, but when alone with me, she acts just as she did before she became a little wacky snacky!" The prospect gave Aloe a glimmer of hope, eyes widening for a moment before they realized that there was likely more than meets the eye. Let the excitement die down before letting disappointment and despair consume them again... Though perhaps there could be some consideration, right?

Aloe let themself take a bite of their sandwich, body feeling a wave of relief over finally being fed properly, before swallowing and following up on the conversation. "So, if you happened to have such an encounter, would you happen to know her location?"

"Oh, of course! In fact, I visit her often! If you'd like to see her, you can even do something for me in exchange!"

"That seems entirely fair... What would that happen to entail, though? I would never accept a deal without knowing both ends of the offer." ...or if they happened to be in a state of desperation, accompanied by a 'this is the only way' mentality. They were lucky not to have such at this very moment, and that the deal would be as calm as it is. "All I ask is that you deliver something for me! I run a special sandwich over to her every other day or so as thanks, so! When you two head out, I'll give you instructions on some slip and a bag full of sandwiches for her!"

"Just a delivery, hmm? Understood. We will accept your offer... It is not as if we have any other means to spend the rest of our time today... Ah, what was the woman's name again?"

"Truffle! The widow! Though- ahaha- don't call her a widow directly unless you call her a spider! She loves those!"

"How fitting for someone sympathetic of us..." Spiders and mosquitos... The relationship between the two of them was glossed over by the researcher as their mind wandered to something far more hopeful. Obliviously faithful, one could say. Such as one could be for someone near and dear... Such as they would be for them... "I accept your offer. Now, ah, you are free to grab us water. Pardon for holding you up."

"No biggie, no biggie! Just enjoy your sammies!! I will be back! Incredibly soon! Faster than juice through a kid's silly straw!!"

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

True Religion (Favored Ones, Part 23.)

Series description: Many things were surely fucked up in the year 2038, but no-one ever told anyone how all of it went down. What happened before a group of people left for Seattle to handle personal matters? Why did one girl refuse to leave all of it be? And why there were so many dead in the end?

Quote for the chapter:  “So I've become the bringer of death. A lover of life. The one who guards from the dark of the night.” - Shawn James

Part summary: As Dina repaired the old radio you and Ellie had found, Tommy and Nora’s whereabouts started to get clearer with every conversation she heard. But you didn’t know what can all of that cost you. 

A/N: I think you’ll kill me boys, but, honestly, I do not care at this moment anymore. This is intense shit and you knew what you were signing tf up for. 

Warnings: Gore, blood, murder, infected, guns, shooting, angst.

Word count: 5.8 K

Tagging:   @nemodoren @xxgoldenhour @missdictatorme​​ @peakymarvels​​ @davnwillcome​ @pickleriiick​ @jodiereedus22​ @gladiosamicitias​ @tamkashi​ @eternallyvenus​ @avengerssstuff​ @fangirl-inthe-us​ @avery-miller​ @mikah-writes​ @mad-hatter-98​ @sadiaafrin99​ @flavorishy

Series master list: H E R E

Joel Miller’s playlist for the bonfire occasions: H E R E

Youtube playlists: JACKSON DAYS | SEATTLE DAYS

Seattle, day two - midday:

You've woken up with an uncomfortable ache in your head. Dina's things were carried away somewhere, so you were laying alone in the room with the door closed. Joel was there as far as you could say - you could hear a song being played on the guitar being played. It could be Ellie, sure, but she was never into Johnny Cash to play some of his songs. Slowly, you sat up and looked around. It took you another while to gather at least enough strength to get on your feet. Maybe Joel was right - you most probably had some slight concussion or stuff like that, because the whole theatre was spinning around you from side to side, making you sick from your stomach. Even walking up to Joel was enough problem on its own.

"Goodmorning." - Your raspy voice mumbled to Joel as you slowly sat down into one of the plushy seats next to him, disturbing his small guitar concert. With that, Joel gave you a small smile. - "You snored a lot." - He stated, making you shake your head.

"You're snoring all the time and I'm not whining about it. Stop being such a pussy." - You teased the man back, having him chuckling at you. This was the girl he knew and fell in love with - the one who was bitching him down daily, poking fun of him daily.

"I take it as a sign that you feel better now, huh?" - The man hugged his guitar, trying not to stare at you too much because you were the prettiest lady he had ever seen. Your eyes were playfully shining as you couldn't take your gaze off the man. But slowly, you nodded with a grin on your face.

"Where's Dina? Is the baby too much these days, huh? And Ellie? Did they leave us here because I was snoring too much?" - It was meant to come around as a joke, but it didn't quite hit off that vibe. You were worried about the girls since you couldn't see them around. Joel shook his head with a smile of a boy, looking at you.

"Ellie has gone after Tommy because the other girl had repaired the radio and made some connection here and there, so we now have a pretty good idea about what's WLFs doing at the moment. But she's feeling better now, I made sure of that." - The man put the guitar down - and as he did, you put your feet there right away. He sighed but started to smooth your shins, leaning his back into the seat as well.

"What are you doing here, then? You wouldn't let her go alone." - You sighed, leaning in and catching his palm to play around with his fingers. He knew that you knew him - you knew he wouldn't let her go alone, but, maybe it was the time to start putting more of his trust to her.

"Someone had to keep an eye out for you, baby. And for Dina." - Joel smiled sheepishly, making you grin even more. Against all the painful grunts coming out of you, you sat up and climbed on top of him - which was certainly an unexpected turn to start with. Maybe you meant what you've told him the previous night. Maybe, even though all of his sins, there was still a small way of hope.

"You were just staring at my boobs when I was out. Let's be real here." - A smile appeared on your lips once again as you put his hands on your hips. - "I dunno what you're talking about, miss. Must be in your head." - The man teased you back, sliding his palm on your butt, palming it to bring you even closer to him. Gently, you felt first kisses on your neck as you hugged him tightly, having this lazy smile on you as you embraced him.

"I mean, you shouldn't think of yourself that low, Joel, you could've just asked me. I would show them to you anytime you'd like me to." - Jesus, you were in one particular mood that night, weren't you? But to be honest, he was glad for every second of the endearing light-hearted moment.

"Go on." - The man leaned his back into the seat, still keeping your ass in his hands as a grin spread all over his face. - "I'm askin' you. Rite now." - And with grace, you did exactly what you implied on doing, slipping the t-shirt on the floor. And of course, it all ended up in a pretty heated up make out session. Just as you were about to undo his buckle, someone had opened the door.

Shocked, you shot your look at Dina, having a horrified expression on your face. And what should Joel say? He was already getting hard to take you right there on the very seat. Holy fuck. - "I'm-I'm sorry, guys! I was just checking if everything's alright. I'll fuck off now!" - Dina yelled at you with her cheeks heated up, already leaving the room. Well, it didn't mean much since the mood was ruined beyond recovery in your opinion.

"I'll go check on her, okay?" - You mumbled and Joel nodded without hesitation. Swiftly, you made your way through the building as you tried to smoothen out your clothes and try to look as if you weren't horny beyond socially acceptable. It must've been the nerves the whole situation which made your body overly seeking out some good old fucking. Yet to your bad luck, you hadn't got exactly the circumstances, time, or a space to do this stuff at. Soon, you were knocking on the radio room where Dina was residing.

When you entered the room, she was just puking into a metal bucket as you poked your head in. To be honest, it was still a better sight than seeing your girlfriend's dad figure touching your best friend in a rather inappropriate way, no matter he's her man. So this wasn't anything that would make you turn on your heels to leave - you just tiptoed in and sat on the other side of the map, waiting for Dina to gather herself back together.

"You're not looking exactly spectacular, babe." - You whispered when she straightened again and got her hair off of her face drenched in a cold sweat. Swiftly, she put her hair into a ponytail, smiling back at you. - "You're not at your best either, pal." - Then, Dina coughed to the top of her palm, jumping at the radio coming to life. And you did so as well. Last you remembered, the radio was out of order. The girl stretched out for a marker, writing something down on the map as she grinned at the sight of you staring at the old piece of technology.

"Loosened connections and antenna. No wonder you and Ellie didn't figure that out since neither of you is exactly an electrician miracle." - The girl explained shortly. - "And what you're looking at... Are the WLF zones here in Seattle. I mean, when you look at it, it's pretty impressive." - "They're singlehandedly ruling over Metropole with limitless potential. Woah." - You finished for her, looking at Dina. The girl nodded, but something told you that this isn't everything she had to say.

"Not necessarily. I heard that Joel told you that WLF is having a full-blown war here with someone. He told me that he heard some people talking about some assassination." - The girl explained quickly and you nodded to let her know that you're listening. - "They call these people Scars. I don't know who they are, what are they doing here or what's their deal... But I heard a whole patrol getting murdered like ten minutes ago. That was why I was looking for Joel."

"Do they know we're here, or what's the deal?" - You mumbled with horror in your face. While the theatre was your biggest source of safety in Seattle, you could get surrounded fairly easily. Dina shook her head to calm you down, whether that would help or not.

"But we have information about this girl right here." - Dina picked up a polaroid from the ground, giving it to you to look at. To be honest, you didn't remember the girl's face in the slightest. Sure, she could be here... Oh. Wait. She, this woman, was the one who told Abby to end all of this already. Nora. Her name was Nora. - "Ellie is in Hillcrest right now, looking for Tommy, and Joel wants to take off to search for Nora. She should be... Here, I guess." - Dina pointed her marker at a hospital building marked down as 'Zone 2'. It was quite a stretch from where you were at the moment, but it wasn't the furthest either.  

"She was assigned there just an hour ago and her group is gathering medical supplies there." - Your friend looked down on her palms leaning into the table as she sighed loudly. - "I don't know what's happening here, but it seems as if something nasty is about to go down any minute here in Seattle. From what I understood about all of there operations WLF is running, it's supposed to be some sort of gathering process because they are planning on launching some huge attack. Where? I don't know. But sooner we get this over with, the sooner we'll be able to go home." - Dina finished and caught her belly.

"Can we meet Ellie somewhere halfway? We can search the perimeter, clear the area up, and then meet up with Ellie." - An idea left your lips which had Dina watching you with her mouth slightly opened up. Clearing up the area. You were talking about killing people without a doubt, which Dina could read one thing from. That was the adrenaline rush Dina talked about. The acceptance of the things being as they were. It was the survivor slowly waking up inside of you.

"I mean..." - The girl sighed again, fetching the map you were having all of your directions written on since day one. - "You'll be going to the Lakehill hospital, which is right here." - As she spoke, she circled the spot with her marker, watching the big map she had on the wall. - "The nearest spot you can meet on is this park over here, you see it?" - Dina asked, pointing at a small orange circle on your map and dark-colored spot on the big map. - "You might be prepared to spend the night there because I don't know when Ellie's planning on coming back from Hillcrest." - With that, Dina marked the park on your map as, giving it back to you.

"Are you sure you'll make it if we leave now?" - You asked, smoothing your friend's shoulder. At that, Dina snickered and shook her head. - "I've survived a lot worse shit than a bit of stomach sickness, trust me. In the worst case, I'll barricade myself in here with some snack and I'll wait for your arrival, your majesty. What about you?" - Dina knitted her eyebrows and waited for your response.

To your surprise, you knew exactly what Dina was asking about. Will you handle murdering another tens of people, groups of survivors? But, for real, had you any other option there? No. This was the only way around it. These people shoot on sight without mercy. Why should you be worried about killing them if you were the one making it in the end?

It was good to know that you weren't as sensitive around the topic as you were before. Sure, it wasn't exactly feeling the best knowing you've ended the lives of people which was more or less violence coming in vain yet... This was the only way you could go from the point you were at. Also, you needed more ammo, food, and other supplies because most of it was stolen by the people looting your horses while you were out - and you couldn't gather everything from Sadie's saddlebacks. Some fresh clothes would help a ton as well, but you couldn't complain about what you had.

The last thing with which you reasons the WLFs members with was that... Each of them was a friend of Abby's. What better message could you send other than killing each of them, making the woman realize that someone's after her, thirsting for seeing her in pain - in the same pain she had caused you. So, to summarize it all, you didn't tell Dina a single word. You just nodded, assuring her.

Quickly, you ran down to find Joel already packing his backpack. As it seemed, he wanted to take off on his own and unnoticed, which didn't exactly play out as he thought it will. Instead of confronting him off the bat, you tiptoed to the doorframe, leaning into it with your shoulder. - "Sneaking somewhere, Miller?" - You asked and narrowed your lips to a line. - "It seems so for sure."

The man let his backpack fall to the ground again, turning his head at you. He was worried. About what, you didn't know, but understandably, in this situation, he didn't need to have a specific reason to be worried. - "Dina already turned you in, so, no lies here. We're taking off immediately. Ellie will catch up with us later." - You told him just when he opened up his lips to speak. Without further explanations, you packed your stuff as well, looking at the hollow magazine of your gun. Now you knew you can hit the target sometimes - the other side of the fact consisted of your inability to shoot properly. At least, you had your knife, bow, and arrows - which could prove quite useful if you'd need to attack some patrol from the shadows.

"Are you sure," - "Sure up my ass, Joel. I have nothing to be sure of because this fight is my fight. I was the one for this cycle was started for and so, I will be the one to end it. By any means necessary." - You answered just when Joel was about to start his typical 'I just want you to be safe' pouting show. With that, the man shut up, nodding at your decision.

Just ten minutes later, you were hugging Dina as you and Joel were leaving. It wasn't raining anymore, but the air was sultry and humid just like the clouds were sending a clear sign - it could start raining any minute again. Rather than standing there without a clue of what to do there, you moved forward to make your way through the mostly abandoned city. The closer you got to the downtown again, the crazier it was looking around you. There was tall skyscrapers with beaten out windows, ravaged cars and stores, deep pits and cracks in the asphalt full of water and surely, it could be seen how quickly nature overtook the whole city.

"What did you mean by saying that you've started all of it? You weren't the one who started at all." - Joel suddenly spoke into the silence, having this question on his mind for quite some time at that moment. First, you spared him a quick over-the-shoulder glance while making your way through a corroded building before you gathered some normal-sounding answer.

"Tommy went MIA because of me in the first place. Ellie is obsessed with the image of having all those people dead because of what they did to us and her choice made Dina wanting the same. You left by my side because I couldn't sleep at night. This was started by me in so many ways, Joel." - You sighed back, opening another door to the third floor. This time successfully. And as far as you could say, you could safely cross a big mass of water from this floor on some kind of a wooden structure.

"Nothin' of what you've listed ain't your damn fault." - The man huffed out while you both scanned the area for possible supplies. This place seemed to be already cleared out and infected-less, so you didn't worry about keeping your voices down too much. - "But you can't deny it all just a big fucking cycle repeating again and again. And to be honest," - You stopped to look at him with a tired expression. - "I'm just tired of that."

Joel knew exactly what you meant, so he only nodded and didn't ask further questions. It was a cycle in a way - a cycle of violence and revenge of some sort, repeating just like life itself. There will be always someone seeking revenge on other people, just like there will be people who will be trying to escape it. And putting an end to all of it? That seemed like a reasonable and mature choice. Which could bring consequences?

It wasn't too long after that when Joel caught the sleeve of your jacket, pulling you to the ground. His palm pointed your head in the direction of a dying fireplace in the middle of the room which had each window beaten out, so the air was coming in. Someone didn't leave the place recently, oh no - they were on the same floor with you. Which was terrifying, because these people didn't make a single sound the whole time. Neither of you kept your voice down, you searched through the room rather carelessly. And these people were watching you from afar, most likely, waiting for you to walk into their trap.

"We need to move now." - You instructed Joel. The man wanted to resist, but you held his palm in yours. - "We can't win in this situation. They have us outnumbered and they knew where we last were. We need to make a run for that bridge." - You motioned your head forward, reminding Joel for what you've been there. And just when Joel was about to answer, a high and long whistle sounded through the room, accompanied by at least ten other whistles.

Without a lot of thinking through, you tugged on Joel's jacket as you got on your legs and ran through the room, hearing the first arrows fly by you in the next second. By a miracle, neither you nor Joel got shot, but it was just inches between you and tips of it. The office building you were crossing through was a labyrinth and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't find any logical solution to it. To make it even worse, any of the people firing at you couldn't be seen - they were hiding in the shadows, communicating by some system based on different whistle sounds. Which terrified you. The whistles were dissolving in the number of rooms you were making your way through, so you couldn't find at least one of the persons based solely on the sound of it.

Both you and Joel hid behind a thrown over bending machine - the wooden bridge was just across a long, well-lit hall. Something was telling you that there's going to be most of them. But there was no other option. You couldn't hold positions at the moment and even if there was a long time since the last arrow flew in your direction, you were somehow sure that these people knew exactly where you were.

"Listen." - Joel turned your face at him, holding it in his palms. - "Now, you have to run. Don't look around, don't look behind, just run straight forward, 'kay? I'll be rite behind you." - The man kissed you briefly, tugging you our of your hiding spot in the direction of the bridge. His palms pushed you in front of him to put your tired body into motion. Abd it helped - even if you were out of breath, you needed to keep in motion so Joel would stay right behind you. The bridge was nearer and nearer, just like the ducking whistling. The people seemed to go over the top with it, panicking because you were almost there.

It was just when you ran to the end of the bridge when you realized something's off. It wasn't finished. It didn't lead anywhere. There was this huge mass of water under you, thanks to the rain, and a broken-down wall, where you could jump to. It was now or never situation, so you backed a few steps back, hoping Joel will see what you were after; not realizing that it would be there with you, he'd be already telling you what to do. Yet your mind didn't make that connection as you tried to hype yourself up before the jump. But just as you sprinted towards the edge, you cried out when spasm tensed your muscles up on the leg which was fucked up by Abby, making you fall down before you even made an attempt to jump.

You screamed for your dear life - you were just falling down to the water from the height of the fourth floor of one of the skyscrapers. Your palms were stretching out as you desperately tried to catch any ledge, but it was pointless. Nothing could help you now. And so you, you fell into the water with a loud splash. For a second, your body fell into a deep shock. The water was ice-cold, making your tensed and heated up muscles hurt as you regained the control over your muscles. You've fallen, but at least you crossed at least three savage-looking-like barricades you and Joel were making your way around. Something told you not to surface just yet - you swam in the water to another collapsed building on the other side of the street, climbing out in the basement.

There was no way around it - you had to cough loudly to get the water out of your lungs as you gasped for all the air you could get. First, you started to check yourself. Were you hurt? Did some arrow hit you? Did you hit a bone or broken anything? And there was a long, relieved sigh when you realized you're still doing good. But that was when it hit you at full speed. You stood up and looked around through the collapsed wall to the mass of water, upon the bridge. But you couldn't see or hear literally anyone. Where the fuck was Joel?

The panic attack took over you almost immediately. Where the fuck was he? Why didn't he jump after you? You were all alone now while the whistling people were after you. Right at the moment. The paranoia and fear made their way into your system rather quickly as you jumped at every small sound around you. He had to figure out another way out, right? He was safe for sure. He was just fine and you couldnt stay on one spot for too long. They knew you fell right into the water. It won't take them too long before finding you. Without too much thought put into it, you moved forward to take at least some stand on the situation. The only thing leading your steps were your instincts.

Now, you were on your own. Joel sure as hell was fine, you hoped so, and he knew where you were supposed to meet Ellie. He sure will appear on the meeting point, so there was no point in waiting for him. Somehow, you made your way into the first floor and except torches lighting up the place, it was pitch black. But the less your eyes saw, the more your ears heard. There was someone right in front of you, so you slowly took the knife out, listening to the pace and loudness of their footsteps, realizing where they were. And once you did, oh boy, they had it coming.

It was a woman in a brown coat, you guessed, facing away from you. She was struggling a lot, but not as much once you stabbed her abdomen before stabbing her neck open. With shaky hands, you let the hand slip to the ground, watching her face. The scars leading up from the corners of her mouth up to her earlobes was what caught your attention immediately. These were the Scars Dina told you about. These were the people who killed a patrol of WLFs in a gruesome way. No matter how stressing was that, there was no way for you to slow down for at least a bit. So you moved around in the sheer light, mostly helping yourself with listening to your surroundings, carefully touching it with your palms so you'd know where's solid wall and where's something else.

One man walked just a foot from you with his bow ready, looking for you. They knew about you, they surely did. It was impossible not to hear the warning whistles of their friends. Okay, okay, you had to get your facts straight. So, there were the Scars for sure. And they communicated by whistling. Which was amazing in a way - fucking every pinch of hope you had in many others. With a shaky breath, you closed your eyes and waited until the man crossed the few rooms you crouched through. Just when you moved forward again and saw a door opened enough for you to squeeze through, you heard another sharp whistle cutting the silence. The man found his dead friend.

As you climbed out of the building, you tried to memorize this sign at least. It surely meant that they were warning others about a dead body they had found. Quickly, you put the knife back in, thinking about where to go next. The adrenaline was really pushing you over your limits as you climbed on a trunk of an old picked up, over to the front side and jumping off, sliding on a muddy hill. When you ran for another three blocks, you finally stopped to catch some breath, leaning your back to one of the concrete buildings.

Joel wasn't there. Joel was MIA. He could be even dead. And while you knew and realized all the possibilities that could meet him on his way out of the office building, your brain didn't seem to sort them out. It still didn't seem to click inside there. Also, you didn't have any ammo or arrows, since all of them fell out of the quiver once you took the deep dive into the mass of water. And as it seemed, the hunters were now after you - you could be anyone in their eyes. They didn't care much if you were a civilian, a WLF, or a trespasser. They wanted you dead now as well. Great. The whole situation was fucking up more and more while you just watched it going downhill.

At least the map was partially intact, so you were still able to orientate around the city - or pinpoint where you were. As before, there wasn't any time for you to stop just like that. You were more or less a hunted prey at the moment, so you had to move quickly before having an arrow shot up to your ass. The paranoia didn't leave you for the slightest moment - you now knew the Scars were capable of being extremely quiet when they had to be and as a reaction for that, your ears responded to every small sound they caught. The light was starting to fade away, but because you were too afraid of using your flashlight, it was only adding up to the tension of the situation because soon, everything seemed like a person moving around.

Yet by a miracle, you made it to the edge of the park. There, you were finally calm enough to find a small place to reside for a moment, eat and drink a bit, rest up before Ellie makes her way to you. As soon as you bumped into an opened canalization shaft, you took it as a sign. This was your place to hide despite the smell and rats. You made a fire to warm yourself up without being terrified of it catching some attention since you were in an abandoned underground area, ate a can of baked beans, and drank almost all the water you had while trying to dry your jacket. It was really no surprise you drifted off right on the spot.

The kid had some cool music taste, which made you like her a lot more. She caught your eyes here and there when she was hoarding the food in her pockets, quickly pacing out of the dining room soon after each time she has done it. The girl was underweight-slim, always disappearing as if she was only an illusion hanging on the backside of your head. But there was something about her which made you smile.

Maybe she was just scared of all of you, which could be pretty reasonable when you acknowledged what happened to her. Or at least the things you've heard about the girl. Sure, most of them were pure works of fiction, but some of the stories made you scared of her too. So you decided to be the first one to break the silence, coming up to her house and befriending the scared-to-death kid. And you heard some pretty dope music from the inside when you did so. You couldn't believe how nervous you felt when you were about to knock on the door, just when she opened them up.

"Joel, what are you," - The girl grinned at you before she realized you aren't that Joel of hers. - "Oh." - She whispered and looked back at you the same way you were looking at her. For a moment, you both stood there uncomfortably, looking down on each other. She was the first one to speak.

"Hey, whatcha doing out here?" - Her voice muttered quietly and you watched as the played around with the tip of her back shoe, watching it. Her forearm was wrapped up in a piece of white cloth, her red hair was put to a messy ponytail and dear lord, she seemed to be weirded out.

"Heard the cool the music, so I came to ask who you're listening to." - You explained with a nervous giggle at the end, pointing at her radio in the corner. A white CD was put in there, rotating as the song progressed. The girl nodded with insecurity in her face, but she still stepped aside to invite you in, fetching you the CD cover. Foster the People was what the cover said. - "It's called Pumped Up Kicks. They're dope." - She nodded nervously when you read the song names on the back of it, but suddenly, she pointed her finger at you. You arched your eyebrows while slowly looking at her.

"Wanna hear a joke?" - She wondered. She'd swear that you could hear her heart beating with nerves at that point. Pumped up Kicks slowly faded into another of their songs, which you maybe liked even more. Slowly, you nodded at the proposal, still standing there since you didn't know what else you should do. - "Okay." - She chuckled and nodded, blushing slightly at those actions. - "What's golf's club favorite music genre?"

This question made you furrow with a growing smile as you shook your head unknowingly, watching the girl as she leaned her ass into the edge of her table. - "Swing."

There was an awkward silence as you tried to understand the joke - and suddenly, you started to laugh out loud so much, you had tears in your eyes. - "Dude, that's so bad!" - You whispered between the laughter, seeing the girl smiling right back at you. - "Name's Y/N, nice to meet you finally." - You offered the girl your hand, watching her approaching you with an unbelieving smile on her face. Did you want to talk to her sooner? You and your group of friends sure as hell caught her eyes before and to be honest, she was desperate to join you. All of you seemed cool and fun, around her age, but... She didn't know how to approach any of you. In her eyes, you were maybe too cool for someone weird as she was. But you came to her with an offer of friendship on your own, which was kinda dream-like for her. - "I'm Ellie. Nice to meet you too."

Ever since that day, you learned how to recognize the girl's voice and touch anywhere. So you realized it's her who's waking you up from your unplanned nap. The fire had already died out and Ellie was stinky, covered in mud, wet dust, the sewers water, and blood. Which didn't stop you from hugging her tightly, breathing out to her neck. Slowly, everything that happened had popped in your head again, making you terrified once again. - "Oh, God." - You muttered to the crook her neck, tugging her even closer.

"Focus on me. Where's Joel? Why you're alone?" - Ellie asked with worries in her eyes, palming your jaws gently. Disoriented, you looked around and tried to catch at least a slight gasp on reality before realizing what happened. - "We bumped into the Scars on our way here. We were running to the bridge, trying to get away when my fucked up leg tensed up and stopped me, so I fell into the water under. I didn't see him since then."

The nape of Ellie's neck got sticky from cold sweat as she realized what you were telling her. You and Joel separated, and you didn't know where the fuck he could be. He could be possibly dead, kidnapped, or something like that. It happened hours ago so there was no meaning in searching for the man. Which made her feeling sick from her stomach. At the same time, Ellie did know that with all the chaos she just managed to start by entering the sewers, anyone could've heard her. At the moment, there wasn't time to grief over his loss. You could do that later. - "Listen to me. It's only you and me now and we will make it outta here no matter what. We're coming for Nora, okay? It's you and me not. We're the last ones who remained on the battlefield." - She mumbled as she helped you into your jacket, packing all your stuff up. Trying to understand the meaning of her words, you nodded and sighed, pointing to the exit.

"The park's just above us. It's probably the quickest route straight to the hospital." - You instructed her and both got out of the building, seeing the dying daylight. And the coverage over the park didn't make your sight conditions better in any possible way. The only thing you could hope for was that the fucking park was empty.

Yet as soon as you heard a sharp whistle, you pushed Ellie to the ground, taking in a deep breath. You were in some knee-deep shit at the moment.