#i really think it's the strength of the setting that's getting to me like

[thesecondhandwoman]

could i request a modern au w/ambessa, where she and the reader are celebs (actor au works with this if you want), and during an interview, the reader gets a rude question or comment, and Ambessa defends them? Like- public relationship or not, she's gonna protect her s/o from rude people

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

Ambessa x f!reader

Synopsis (AU): You and Ambessa were famous actors, constantly working together throughout your career, and the outside of it as girlfriends too. However, during an interview, an offensive question comes up that makes it a lot more serious.

Request: Anon 🤍

The bright studio lights bathed the room in a harsh glow, illuminating every detail of the set. You and Ambessa Medarda sat side by side on the plush chairs, the centerpiece of yet another promotional interview for Steel Hearts, the summer blockbuster that had shattered box office records. The film followed two battle-hardened warriors—Ambessa as a commanding general and you as a brilliant strategist—forced to unite against a common enemy. Critics had raved about your on-screen chemistry, and audiences couldn’t get enough.

The press tour, however, had been less glamorous. Endless questions, prying eyes, and the constant pressure to present a perfect image had drained your energy. You were thankful for Ambessa’s steady presence. She’d been through this circus more times than she cared to count, her calm demeanor and sharp wit a masterclass in handling the media.

Ambessa exuded power even when seated, her tailored black suit hugging her frame perfectly. Her polished shoes gleamed under the studio lights, and her short, silver hair was styled to perfection. Her hand rested casually on her knee, but you noticed how close it was to yours, her pinky brushing against your hand in a silent gesture of reassurance.

You glanced at her briefly, catching the subtle quirk of her lips, the kind of smile that was just for you. It was the same smile that had made you fall for her months ago when you were shooting the first battle sequence together. You had stumbled over your lines, nervous in her commanding presence, and she’d leaned in with that quiet smirk, whispering, “Relax. You’re brilliant.”

Those words had stuck with you, much like the woman herself.

The interviewer, a man in his late forties with a practiced grin, adjusted his cue cards. He was the latest in a string of journalists, most of whom asked similar questions. You hoped for the same today—something easy, something routine.

“So,” he began, his gaze flicking between you and Ambessa, “Steel Hearts has been a phenomenal success. Congratulations to you both. The chemistry between your characters has really resonated with audiences. Was that something you had to work on, or did it come naturally?”

You smiled politely, though your nerves prickled. “It’s always a process, but Ambessa made it easy. She’s a phenomenal scene partner.”

Ambessa chuckled, her voice a low rumble that seemed to command the room. “She’s being modest. Most of my best takes were because of her.”

The interviewer nodded, though there was a glint in his eyes that made your stomach twist. “Interesting. Well, some might say your character’s intelligence and strength were a bit aspirational. Do you think that’s realistic, given your off-screen persona?”

The question hit like a slap. Your smile faltered as you processed the insult buried in his words. Aspirational? Off-screen persona?

Beside you, Ambessa’s posture changed instantly. Her jaw tightened, and her eyes sharpened into a glare that could cut glass. “Excuse me?” Her voice was calm but laced with danger.

The man blinked, clearly taken aback. “I just meant—”

“No, I’d like you to clarify,” Ambessa interrupted, leaning forward slightly. Her presence was overwhelming, even seated. “Because it sounds like you’re questioning my partner’s capabilities, and I won’t let that stand.”

“I didn’t mean—” he stammered, his face reddening under the lights.

Ambessa cut him off with a cold smile, the kind that made her on-screen enemies cower. “She’s worked tirelessly for this role, and for every role she’s ever taken. If you can’t recognize that, then perhaps you’re in the wrong profession.”

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, the tension thick enough to suffocate. You glanced at Ambessa, your heart pounding. Her protective fury was palpable, a force that wrapped around you like armor.

The interviewer fumbled with his cards, desperate to move on. “Well, moving on, what’s next for you two after Steel Hearts?”

You answered automatically, your voice steady despite the lingering sting of the earlier question. Ambessa’s hand rested on her knee again, close enough for her pinky to brush yours. It was a small touch, but it grounded you.

When the interview finally ended, Ambessa stood first, extending a hand to help you up. You took it, her grip firm and steady, and the two of you walked out of the studio together.

The moment you were alone in the hallway, she turned to you, her features softening in a way only you ever got to see. “Are you alright?”

You nodded, though your voice wavered. “I didn’t expect that.”

Her hand cupped your face gently, her thumb brushing over your cheek. “You don’t deserve to be spoken to like that. Ever. If anyone tries it again, I’ll make sure they regret it.”

A shaky laugh escaped you. “You’re terrifying when you’re angry, you know that?”

Her lips quirked into a small smirk. “Only when I have to be.”

You leaned into her touch, letting her hand anchor you. “Thank you for standing up for me. You didn’t have to go that far, though.”

Her eyes softened, the steel melting into something gentler. “Yes, I did. You’re brilliant, and no one gets to diminish that. Not on my watch.”

The sincerity in her voice made your chest tighten. She always had a way of making you feel like the center of her world, even when surrounded by the chaos of fame.

Ambessa tilted her head toward the exit. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. You’ve had enough of this circus for one day.”

The car ride back to the apartment you shared was quiet, the kind of silence that felt comforting rather than awkward. Ambessa’s hand rested on the center console, and without thinking, you reached over to lace your fingers with hers. She glanced at you briefly, her expression softening further, before returning her eyes to the road.

Once you were home, you kicked off your heels with a sigh of relief. Ambessa followed you into the living room, shrugging off her suit jacket and tossing it over the back of the couch.

“Wine or tea?” she asked, already heading toward the kitchen.

“Tea,” you replied, sinking into the plush cushions. “I need to unwind, not wind up.”

She returned a few minutes later with two steaming mugs, handing one to you before settling beside you. You curled up against her, letting her arm drape around your shoulders. The warmth of her body and the quiet intimacy of the moment eased the tension that had been coiled in your chest since the interview.

“You know,” she said after a moment, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on your arm, “you handled that question well. Even before I stepped in.”

You huffed a laugh. “I don’t know about that. My brain practically short-circuited.”

“Maybe,” she admitted, “but you didn’t let it show. You’re stronger than you think.”

You looked up at her, the weight of her words settling over you like a blanket. “You always know what to say.”

“Not always,” she said with a wry smile. “But I know how much you mean to me. That makes it easier.”

Your heart swelled, and before you could stop yourself, you leaned up to press a kiss to her lips. It was soft and lingering, a silent thank you for everything she’d done for you today—and every day before.

When you pulled back, she was looking at you with the kind of intensity that made your cheeks warm. “You’re everything to me,” she said quietly, her voice a promise. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks or says. I’ll always have your back.”

Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes, but you blinked them away, instead curling tighter against her. “I love you, Ambessa.”

Her arm tightened around you, her lips pressing to the crown of your head. “And I love you. Always.”

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of quiet conversation and shared laughter. The world outside could wait; for now, it was just the two of you, safe in each other’s arms.

The next morning, headlines about the interview flooded your notifications. Most of them were centered on Ambessa’s fiery defense of you, with phrases like “Ambessa Medarda Shuts Down Rude Interviewer” and “Power Couple Goals: Ambessa Protects Her Partner.”

You showed her one of the articles over breakfast, raising an eyebrow. “Looks like you’ve gone viral.”

She glanced at the headline and shrugged. “Good. Maybe next time they’ll think twice before asking you something stupid.”

You laughed, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

She smirked, her confidence as unshakable as ever. “I try.”

[nostalgebraist]

Thanks for this thoughtful review!

(BTW, for others – this is probably obvious but there are spoilers below the readmore, don't click unless you've read the book)

I'm going to use this as an opportunity to talk about one specific thing that bugs me about some reader reactions to my stuff. Therefore, most of what I say below will be negative (about your review), but I want to emphasize first that that's not a reflection of what I thought of it overall.

----

What I'm here now to talk about is this kind of thing:

There are parts of all his books, where I really think that the explanation for why they are the way they are is that they are "bad on purpose", and all the bullshit [note: in context "bullshit" seems to be meant as a neutral term for non-realist elements -nost] is a way of turning these shortcomings into strengths. The self-effacing voice which whispers that the characters aren't sufficiently well-drawn, are too cartoonish—well, what if that was the point? What if there was a reason for that, in the story?

And like... okay, there is sort of a sense in which this is true, sometimes, kinda. There is a grain of truth to this; it is getting at something real.

But it pains me to say that, because I don't want to encourage this kind of reading. Interpretations like this are occasionally correct but IMO they're much more common than they should be. IMO the right intuition is that this is a galaxy-brained, contrarian sort of take, a last resort you land on when you've ruled out everything else.

And not just with my work, with everything – I'm simply more aware of the problem when it comes to my work, because I wrote it and I'm aware of why I actually did things the way I did.

I've said this before, but watching the way that people react to my own fiction has been an eye-opening experience, one that has taught me things about reader (and viewer, etc.) reactions in general. Specifically, what I've learned was:

People's tastes are way more diverse than I had realized (before I started writing and sharing fiction). And they are diverse in a very fine-grained way; even if two readers have the same preferences about 90% of stuff, or 95%, they'll still diverge on some things. While it's not literally true that "every reader is a unique snowflake with a preference set that no one else shares," that is a very good first approximation of how things are.

Readers (including me!) have been trained by a lifetime of reading book/movie/etc. reviews to frame their preferences/reactions in a pseudo-objective "this is just how it is" way, like their own tastes have some special viewpoint-independent priority, a quality of "reality" or "accuracy" lacking in everyone else's tastes (which are all different, cf. 1). And this is not just a stylistic quirk of the way people write about fiction, it actually (IMO) feeds back into the underlying opinions behind the written commentary. It degrades people's ability to understand what it is they're looking at and their ability to make accurate inferences about the process of its creation.

----

Here's a sort of cartoonish schematic of the type of experience that led me to draw these conclusions. (And I suspect this is not just a thing that happens to me, I imagine it happens with any sort of work that "contains a lot of different types of stuff" the way mine does.)

Writer makes something that has X and Y and Z in it. Writer thinks X/Y/Z are "great tastes that taste great together." Writer is very pleased with the result.

Reader 1 has similar tastes to writer, says something brief about how they loved the book and it's a new favorite for them.

Reader 2 loves X, is OK with Y, hates Z. They write a lengthy review saying that the book was a mixed bag and could have been great if the writer had stuck to X and not messed things up by doing so much Z.

Reader 3 is the reverse of their predecessor: they hate X, are OK with Y, love Z. They write a lengthy review saying that the book was a mixed bag and could have been great if the writer had stuck to Z and not messed things up by doing so much X.

Reader 4 loves X and Z – but they hate Y. They write a lengthy… you can fill in the rest. Imagine a whole bunch of these guys (readers 5, 6, etc).

Reader 17 has the same tastes as Reader 2: loves X, is OK with Y, hates Z. But their lengthy review takes a different, in some sense "more charitable" angle, speculating that the inclusion of Z was a load-bearing pillar in the overall structure, a thing that unfortunately had to be included to "unlock" all that sweet sweet X.

Reader 18 has the same tastes as Reader 3: hates X, is OK with Y, loves Z. But, they explain, X was a load-bearing pillar in the overall structure, a thing that unfortunately had to be included to "unlock" all that sweet sweet Z.

Writer reads all these reviews and feels strange, dizzy. The "nicer" reviews like 17 and 18 are actually more uncomfortable to read than the "meaner" ones like 2 and 3.

"I don't know how to convince you guys," Writer thinks, "but I... I just liked all of it? I thought it was good? That was why I wrote it? (Why else would I have written it?)"

----

Or, as I wrote in that previously linked post from 2021, w/r/t TNC specifically (and making a slightly different but closely related point):

Some people say X was the worst part of TNC, some people say X was the best part. The story was a celebration of Y; the story was about how Y is laughably futile. It’s a letdown that we were never told more about Z; the reason TNC is good is that it leaves stuff like Z to the imagination. It was obvious we were meant to believe P; it is obvious we were meant to believe not-P; the ambiguity about whether P is tiresome literary masturbation; at least the story didn’t jump the shark by spelling out whether P! The reason people like TNC is, of course, that it has A, although nostalgebraist insisted on putting B in there too because he hasn’t fully perfected his formula yet / he somehow thinks B is good even though it isn’t / he thinks it’s funny how bad B is (but the joke tires). …and then someone else has same take, but with A and B flipped.

This exact sort of thing is of course happening again before our eyes with reactions to TAoHS.

I've encountered multiple readers who disliked most of the story but felt the ending (sort of) "redeemed it," and I've also encountered multiple readers who liked the story up until the ending but disliked the ending (or at least thought it was worse than the rest) – to say nothing of the many readers who liked (or disliked) the whole thing all the way through.

And this ending-related stuff is just one particularly obvious facet of a broader diversity in the overall reader response.

By now I know not to be surprised by this stuff, and even to find it kind of fun to watch... but I have to admit, it is still a dizzying and uncomfortable experience.

----

Now, as I said, it is sometimes true that things really are "bad on purpose."

But I think the interpreter's default hypothesis – which should be maintained by default unless convincing evidence against it can be brought forth – should be:

The writer thinks that the thing they wrote is good. They think the ideas are good and they think they executed them well. And they think this more-or-less homogeneously for everything in the work – there are no "bad but unfortunately necessary" parts from the writer's POV.

(At least, this should be the default with works that aren't making the writer much/any money. Obviously things are different with lucrative commercial fiction; there are plenty of well-paid hacks who know they're hacks and do it for the money, etc.)

Why should this be the default? Multiple reasons.

First: it takes a lot of effort to produce any sort of creative work. The writer thought that effort was worthwhile, for some reason – why?

The most straightforward explanation (and a very common one IMO) is that the writer simply believed in the thing that they were making. They believed the effort was worthwhile because it would yield a good product.

Second: as a writer you have an immense amount of freedom. It's difficult to overstate the extent of it. You are playing God, you decide the way that literally everything will be.

Obviously there are some constraints, cases where one part of a story will imply the existence of another or whatever.

But it's very rare that you actually get forced into "doing a thing you know you are bad at, badly." After all: why do that? No one's forcing you! Just do something else! You're God, you control everything!

(Note that this applies also to the very act of writing anything. No one is forcing you to write at all. If you can't come up with good ideas, nothing prevents you from just not writing your bad ones.)

Third: at least in my experience, "playing God" in this way requires a certain state of mind, a certain boldness and self-assurance, which is incompatible with thinking "yeah this is gonna suck but I have to do it" – but is very compatible with thinking "I am making something excellent and every part of it is excellent, hell yes."

Fourth: because of the previously noted diversity of reader preferences, it should not be surprising to any given reader that they find some parts of the work much better than others, even if the writer thought it was all excellent.

This outcome is predictable from the X/Y/Z stuff I talked about above. No clever interpretive work is required to explain it; it arrives pre-explained; it's simply what happens by default.

And finally: because, as I noted above, I think all of us are infected with "reviewer brainworms" and we need to be mindful of this fact.

(Just to be clear, I am not accusing OP of being more infected with said brainworms than anyone else; I'm still on my soapbox, giving a generic rant about a general issue, with OP as merely a jumping-off point.)

We've grown accustomed to the casual conflation between our own tastes and some (usually hazily imagined and under-theorized) sort of "objective, ideal artistic standards."

Outside of a few edge-case eccentrics who can be ignored for my present purposes, we do not do this because we've become intellectually convinced that

(a) such objective standards make sense and really "exist" or at least really matter and

(b) they just so happen to match our own preferences.

Rather, we've fallen into this habit because it's what the pros do: there's a standard style that professional critics and reviewers write in these days, and that style implies these stances. And if one writes (and thinks, in one's inner monologue) in this style, one can easily fall over backwards into uncritically believing (a) and (b) for no better reason than "I seem to already be talking as though I believe these things, hence it would be simple and convenient if I really did believe them."

But – even if we bracket the philosophical questions of whether (a) is in fact true, and (if it is) whose tastes in particular ought to be elevated in the way (b) presumes – even if we table all that for another day, still we ought to keep in mind how weird and audacious a move this is, this simultaneous assertion-without-explanation of the (a)+(b) pair.

We've gotten used to it by exposure, because "the pros" have normalized it. But in actual fact it is a pretty wild thing to just go and assume, given the X/Y/Z/etc. diversity of actual opinion!

If (b) is true for you (general "you" not OP), then it can't be true for me, because we're both unique snowflakes to a first approximation; indeed if (b) is true for you then (to a first approx.) it is only true for you. No one else's tastes have this magical relation to reality, just yours.

Holding the belief (b) about a given reviewer is conceivable-but-wild if we're only considering them in isolation. But once we bring a 2nd reviewer (with non-identical tastes) into the picture, who also believes (b), it's literally impossible to maintain that both of these people are fully right.

And then of course in real life there are not 2 but many, many readers out there, all of them unique snowflakes. And, while it is socially normal in our social context for each one of them to write like they're the chosen one blessed with that special (b)-magic, if you read enough such writing and actually think about what you're reading, it can't help but feel like a sort of game, like playing make-believe. As with most games, it can be very entertaining (for all parties involved), but we shouldn't confuse its amusing conceits for properties of the real world.

In the real world, the writer has their tastes, and you have yours. These tastes are probably not identical. The writer may be aware of the diversity of readerly tastes, and may thus be aware that tastes like yours are out there, but they have no special reason to consider you in particular, elevating you above all the other readers who are non-identical with them (and with you). The writer is dimly and abstractly aware of you, at best, as just another one of the people who will come along later, dislike some of their choices, assume that these choices were wrong in some "objective" way the writer knew about at the time, and then speculate as to why the writer would do something they know is wrong. For every choice, and every way of making every choice, one can imagine a reviewer who responds to it in this way, and quite often these reviewers actually materialize once the work is available for consumption. If you try to reason about these guys in advance, as a writer, it'll stop you in your tracks (if nothing else because there are 2+ of them whose takes are mutually incompatible). You've gotta have some other standard of value to rely on.

So, as a reviewer, if you ask "why would someone ever make a choice I don't like?" and try to pick at this question, you are quite likely heading toward a dead end. The writer wasn't thinking about you (or people like you). They were applying their own, distinct standard of value.

Better to ask: "suppose there was a person who actually liked all of this. What would they be like? How would they be similar to me / different from me? And what, if anything, can I conclude from that?"

The Apocalypse of Herschel Schoen

My fourth novel, The Apocalypse of Herschel Schoen, is now available in full.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

[oldsoul007]

back to you

joel miller x reader

summary: you and joel lose each other 20 years ago until now

joel miller masterlist

It had been a time of desperate chaos—the world falling apart piece by piece as the Cordyceps fungus ravaged the human population, turning family, friends, neighbors, and strangers alike into mindless monsters. The infection had spread fast, too fast, and when the first signs of the outbreak hit, Joel and I had no idea how bad it would get. We had no way of knowing how quickly the world would change, how our lives would shatter.

We had been living in Austin, Texas, just before everything unraveled. Joel and I had found each other after both had weathered our own storms. Joel, already hardened by the loss of his daughter, had been reluctant to open up again, to let anyone in. But me, with my quiet strength and fierce protectiveness, had somehow wormed my way past his walls. We had been inseparable—cooking dinner together, taking long walks in the park when the world still felt like it could survive, making plans for a future that now felt like a dream.

We were out at a grocery store one night getting supplies, It was late, the store empty, when the panic started. At first, it had just been rumors, whispers about some kind of outbreak, about people getting sick, acting strangely. No one really knew what was happening. But the fear was palpable, and soon the streets were filled with people shouting, running, and driving in every direction.

Joel and I had been in the store, frozen, trying to piece together the chaos around us, when the first outbreak in the city was confirmed. Someone came running into the store, screaming. “They’re coming! They’re here! They’re killing people in the streets!” The words were barely out of the person’s mouth before the man was shot—killed by an officer who had clearly snapped under the pressure. The gunshot echoed through the aisles, and the reality of what was happening struck both of us like a blow.

Joel grabbing my hand, pulling me toward the exit. He was already thinking ahead—where to go, how to survive. His instincts had kicked in, and all that mattered was getting us both to safety.

But as we reached the parking lot, the world outside was nothing like we had ever seen before. People were running everywhere, cars were abandoned in the middle of the street, and screams filled the air. There was no order, no government, no protection anymore. The world had just… collapsed.

Joel and I jumped into the truck, making a run for it, weaving through traffic, heading toward what we hoped would be safety—toward the country roads, away from the violence, away from the chaos. The radio was filled with static and terrifying reports about people being “turned” into monsters, the cities being overrun, and the government preparing to implement martial law.

But the further we got, the more the roads became impassable. Traffic ground to a halt. People were panicking, leaving their cars behind to run on foot. The military had begun to set up barricades and block roads, trying to contain the spread of the infection, but it was clear they weren’t winning. In a matter of hours, it was every man for himself.

As we approached a bridge on the outskirts of town, the military set up a roadblock, and the situation escalated. The soldiers were desperate, their faces wild with fear. Joel could see them shouting at people to stop, to turn back, but chaos had already descended. Some people obeyed, others didn’t. The soldiers were growing more aggressive by the minute.

Then, the first gunshot rang out, echoing through the air, followed by the staccato of multiple shots. People screamed and scattered. It was a massacre. I clutched Joel’s arm, pulling him toward the back of the truck as we tried to take cover.

But in the madness, the truck was hit. A soldier fired at our vehicle—one shot, then another—and we were caught in the crossfire. Joel shoved me down into the truck bed as bullets ricocheted around them, his mind racing. He could hear me scream, but everything was a blur of motion and panic.

The next thing Joel knew, the truck was overturned. He was thrown to the ground, and the world spun in a dizzying whirl. His head slammed against the asphalt, and when he opened his eyes, everything had changed. The truck was in flames, the sound of gunfire was distant now, and the road was littered with bodies. But y/n was gone.

Panic flooded him as he tried to sit up, his body aching, his mind foggy from the blow. “Y/n!” he shouted, his voice raw, desperate. His hands were trembling as he pushed himself up, looking around. But the smoke from the truck and the blur of his vision made it hard to focus. “Y/n!” he called again, stumbling toward where he last saw her.

But there was no answer. No sign of her.

His heart hammered in his chest as he fought to stay calm, trying to think. She couldn’t be far. She couldn’t. But every direction he turned led to more chaos, more destruction. The world was coming down around him, and he couldn’t find her.

He ran, calling her name until his throat felt raw, but all he found were empty streets and the distant sounds of chaos. People running. Soldiers shouting. The infected tearing through the streets. And through it all, he couldn’t find y/n.

Eventually, he was forced to retreat. He couldn’t stay on the streets; it wasn’t safe. He had to keep moving, had to survive. But every time he looked over his shoulder, he expected to see her, standing there, coming toward him.

But she never did.

For weeks, Joel searched, desperately trying to find any trace of her. He moved from city to city, scavenging for supplies, trying to avoid the growing number of infected. He asked anyone he met, hoping against hope that someone had seen her, that someone knew where she was. But no one did.

As the months passed, and the world became a nightmare of survival and bloodshed, Joel’s hope began to wither. Y/b was gone. And the life he’d once known—those simple, precious days of being with her—had been buried by the weight of everything that had happened.

The days turned into weeks, then months, and the years stretched on. Joel tried to survive. He tried to forget. But he couldn’t.

Y/n was a ghost in his mind, a presence that never fully left him. He thought about her in the quiet moments, when the weight of the world wasn’t pressing on him, and he wondered if she was still out there—alive, surviving, thinking of him as he thought of her.

But every time he let himself think of her, the fear would grip him. What if she wasn’t alive? What if she hadn’t made it?

He never stopped looking. But after so much time, after so many broken pieces of the world, he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been lost forever.

It was a wound that never fully healed.

Until now. Until Jackson. Until he saw her again.

The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the town square of Jackson, and everything felt… surreal. The world seemed quieter here—safer—but that didn’t change the gnawing ache in my chest. I couldn’t shake the feeling that, despite everything that had happened, despite all the time that had passed, something was about to happen. Something big.

It had been months since Tommy had returned. When he’d arrived back in Jackson, he’d been a man worn down by years of survival, much like the rest of us, but there was something different about him. Something in his eyes. Something in the way he carried himself, like there was a weight on his shoulders that wasn’t just about the chaos of the world. Something about the way people spoke when they saw him—the way they avoided certain questions, the way they looked at me with a mixture of pity and hope.

Then came the whispers. Joel was alive. Joel Miller, her Joel, was alive.

I didn’t believe it at first. I couldn’t. Not after all this time, after everything we’d been through, after the last time I’d seen him. It had been 20 years—twenty years since I last saw his face, since I last felt the warmth of his hands in mine, since the world had fallen apart.

I’d lost him then. Lost him in the chaos. In the violence. In the desperation of that world where nothing, not even love, could survive for long.

But now, standing in the square with Tommy in front of me, I felt the pull of that memory—of the person I had been before all of this. The woman who had loved Joel with everything she had. The woman who had believed they’d somehow be okay, despite everything. The woman who had lost him anyway.

Tommy’s face was tight, his jaw set in that way that always made me nervous. Something was off with him, something hidden. His eyes flicked nervously to the side, like he was trying to gauge something, or someone. I didn’t know if it was me he was avoiding or the truth that had yet to come out. But then I saw him.

Joel.

My stomach flipped in a way that was both familiar and completely foreign. He was standing there, just a few feet away, as though he’d been watching us the whole time. His face was gaunt, like he hadn’t eaten in days, but there was something unmistakable about the way he stood. The way he held himself. It was him. My Joel. After all this time. After all the years of wondering, of waiting, of fighting to stay alive in a world that felt like it had no room for love, it was him.

I froze. The air seemed to leave my lungs all at once. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, my feet, my thoughts. I could barely breathe, could barely move.

Then I did.

I started walking toward him—slowly at first, unsure if I was dreaming, unsure if I could trust what I was seeing. He didn’t move at first, just watched me with that same look I remembered—like he couldn’t quite believe it, either.

“Joel…” My voice was barely a whisper, like I wasn’t sure I even had the strength to speak his name after all this time.

And then, as if the world around us had ceased to exist, I was in his arms. His rough, calloused hands were on my back, pulling me in, holding me against him. I buried my face against his chest, inhaling the scent of him—the faint trace of earth and leather and everything I’d forgotten I needed.

He smelled like home.

His voice rumbled in my ear, hoarse with emotion. “You’re here. You’re really here.”

I nodded into his neck, unable to speak, not sure if I was even capable of forming words. I hadn’t let myself think about him for so long, hadn’t allowed myself to believe that I might see him again. That maybe, just maybe, I could find him.

But here he was. Alive. Real. And I couldn’t remember a time when I’d needed him more.

I felt his hands trembling as they ran over my back, as if he couldn’t believe I was real either. I stepped back just enough to look up at him. His face was rough, older, but still the man I’d known. The man I’d loved.

Tommy, watching from a distance, smiled softly to himself, his eyes flicking to Ellie, who had her arms crossed, watching with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. It was a strange thing, witnessing the reunion, but it was also a rare, beautiful thing. He could see the weight of the years lifting from Joel’s shoulders, even if only for a moment.

“Joel, I thought… I thought you were dead,” I whispered. The words sounded strange, as though I’d been carrying them around for too long.

His eyes closed briefly, and I saw the pain there. The same old pain that never really left him, no matter how many years had passed.

“I thought the same about you,” he muttered, brushing a hand through his hair as if trying to shake off the years. “I didn’t think I’d ever find you again.”

And for a moment, there was nothing else. No chaos. No world falling apart. Just us, standing there, lost in time.

Joel’s hands tightened around me, as if he wasn’t ready to let go. I wasn’t either. The air between us was heavy now, charged with all the things left unsaid.

Joel squeezed my hand, his thumb brushing over the back of it. “We’ve got time, y/n. Time to figure this out.”

I nodded, barely able to contain the wave of emotion that had built up in me. I wanted to say something—anything—but the words felt too small for what I was feeling.

Instead, I just held onto him. The man I had once thought I’d lost forever. And in that moment, I let myself believe that, maybe, we could find our way back. Together.

The sun had dipped low, casting a warm, golden hue over Jackson. The town, though small and humble, had become a symbol of stability in a world that had long been devoid of it. The smell of fresh bread from the local bakery drifted through the air, mixing with the earthy scent of pine and the faint hum of distant laughter. It was a peaceful night—one that Joel thought he’d never see again, especially after everything that had happened with Ellie, the Fireflies, and the things we’d both lost.

I stood just a few steps away from him in the courtyard, my hands folded tightly in front of me, my brow furrowed as I glanced down at the ground. The years had left our marks—on both of us—but there was something familiar in the way my eyes met his. He could see the same spark, the same strength. He felt a rush of relief in his chest, but also something else—something he hadn’t quite expected.

Fear.

Joel cleared his throat,

I sighed, my gaze drifting toward the horizon. There was a long pause. After a moment, I spoke again, voice steady, but my words were pointed. “I thought I’d lost you, Joel. I thought… I thought I’d never see you again.”

My eyes softened, and I stepped closer, placing a hand on his arm, but my gaze remained intense, searching his face for the truths he hadn’t shared in all the years they’d been apart. “I need you to understand something. I don’t just… need you here now. I want you here. With me. I’m not letting go of you again.”

The words cut deeper than he expected. He hadn’t realized just how much he needed to hear that. But as she spoke, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was coming—a decision she was making, and he wasn’t going to like it.

He swallowed hard and met her gaze. “There’s something you need to know about what I’m doin’, y/n.” His voice softened, but the weight of it was unmistakable. “I’m takin’ Ellie to the Fireflies. She’s the key to everything. Maybe the cure.”

My face remained neutral, but my jaw tightened. “I know. I heard about it. You’re gonna try to save the world, right?”

Joel flinched at the way I said it—like I was trying to keep my emotions in check, but the words cut anyway. He hated that she had to be so strong, so distant, but he understood why. We had both lost too much in this world to trust anything easily.

“I have to do this,” Joel said, his voice thick with determination. “It’s for Ellie. It’s for everyone.”

My expression hardened. I took a step back, crossing my arms over my chest, as if weighing something. “And you think you’re just going to leave here alone? After all these years?” I asked, my tone cutting now, almost like a challenge. “You think I’m just going to sit here and let you go off on your own? No. I’m coming with you, Joel.”

Joel’s heart skipped a beat, his thoughts momentarily swirling. “Y/n, I just got you back. I—I can’t lose you again.” His voice faltered for a moment, the rawness of his emotions slipping through despite his best effort to stay composed. “You’ve already been through enough, seen enough. You don’t need to be part of this.”

My face was unyielding. “You don’t get to decide that for me,” I said, my voice steady but firm. “I’m not who I used to be, Joel. I know what it means to survive, to fight for what matters. And you—you are what matters. You think I’m going to sit back and let you walk into danger without me?”

Joel looked at her, his mind racing. His first instinct was to protect her, to keep her safe from the world and all its cruelty. It was why he’d shut her out for so long, why he’d tried to push her away before. But she was different now. Stronger. And she wasn’t backing down. Not this time.

“Don’t make me choose between you and her,” he muttered, voice barely above a whisper.

My eyes softened, and I reached for his hand, my grip firm but gentle. “I’m not asking you to choose. I’m asking you to let me help.” My eyes locked onto his. “We’ve been through too much to turn back now. We’ve already lost so much. I’m not losing you again—not when we’re so damn close.”

Joel closed his eyes, his breath coming out in a rush. The pain of his past, the burden of Ellie’s safety, the fear of losing y/n all pressed in on him at once. But when he looked at her again, something in her expression—a quiet strength, an unshakeable resolve—made him realize that this was something he couldn’t keep from her. Not anymore.

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Joel said, his voice low, filled with a vulnerability he hadn’t allowed himself to show in years.

“You won’t stop me,” I replied softly, but there was no hesitation in my voice. “And you don’t have to carry this alone anymore.”

For a moment, the world outside of Jackson felt like it didn’t exist. In that space, with my hand in his and the years between us seeming both too short and too long, Joel knew that I wasn’t just offering him my presence. I was offering him something he didn’t know he needed: a partnership—a choice to face whatever was coming, together.

“Alright,” Joel said, his voice steadying, his decision made. “We do this together. No turning back.”

My smile was small but fierce, the quiet promise of our unspoken bond lingering in the air between us.

And for the first time in a long time, Joel felt like maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t going to lose everything he loved again.

[gabessquishytum]

That monster "slayer" Hob idea got me thinking: that, but Dream is a shapeshifter, and like half of the monsters Hob gets asked to deal with are just Dream, shapeshifted. Jury's out on whether this is a dramatic story (they keep meeting while Dream is shapeshifted into different creatures. he's finding himself getting attached to Hob, but he refuses to admit that to himself or let their relationship be something more. And maybe Hob is starting to catch on, and brings up that hey, Dream's current form reminds him a lot of the last four strikingly beautiful monsters he's had sex with, is there something Dream wants to tell him? and Dream storms off and gets caught by actual monster slayers and Hob saves him).

Or a story where this is their ye olde magical equivalent of pretending your spouse is a stranger and picking them up in a bar.

This is great. I personally like the idea that Dream keeps doing it and Hob pretends not to know, but really he can tell because Dream’s eyes are always the same. Whether he's a harpy or a kelpie or a vampire, those beautiful blue eyes always give him away.

Then Hob puts his foot in it and jokes that Dream must really like him if he's going to all this effort just to see him (and have sex with him). And Dream gets all YOU DARE, goes off in a huff, and immediately walks into a trap set by monster hunter Burgess. Burgess is thrilled to have caught a shapeshifter and can't wait to use Dream to commit evil deeds!

Hob obviously saves the day, but not for a while as he didn't know that Dream was in trouble. As a consequence, Dream only has the strength to shift into something very small and vulnerable, which fits right into Hob’s pocket. A tiny werecat, perhaps. Hob nurses him back to health, and soon enough the little werecat is a big werepanther, and those lovely blue eyes are seducing Hob back for another round of "slaying" - or rather, laying. Now Dream doesn't have to pretend to be a different personality each time he fucks Hob, it's much less effort but just as spicy and fun!

[runningfrom2am]

moon river // part two

summary: people in lincoln county are dropping dead alongside their livestock, the wells are running dry and children are prompted from their beds to wander unconsciously in the night. billy has been hired as a last resort by the lawmen as a bounty hunter, charged with the task of hunting and killing the witch responsible in exchange for a reward and the clearing of his name. how could he turn that down?

pairing: william h. bonney x fem!reader

wc: 2k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: witch!reader x bounty hunter!billy, warning for like,,, witchcraft and stuff i suppose?? mentions of death, minor amounts of gore and animal mutilation. devil worship and other supernatural/biblical tea. also angst. probably.

my asks are also open to talk about this series! (i do have emoji anons open now too!)

send me any and all of your thoughts! here!

series masterlist // pinterest board // playlist

To you, Billy was a reluctant friend slowly wrapping vines of ivy around your ankles and up your calves. You didn't mind the itch of his constant presence on your mind, especially when the final destination of its growth was your heart. You were too busy setting up the trellis to be concerned about keeping it trimmed, anyway.

He would come and go from your forest home like the change of seasons that turned more and more often as time went on. He'd sit with you while you tended the graves, and spend afternoons with you in your cabin while you baked fresh bread or cookies, willing to eat whatever you made even if he couldn't for the life of him figure out where your ingredients came from.

"You know," You hum one day, sitting on a blanket outside your little cabin that was almost as covered in ivy as you felt. "You are lucky the town isn't really cursed."

Billy scoffs out a laugh from his spot next to you, laid back on the blanket with his hat over his face to simulate a nap in the sun he wasn't truly taking. "Yeah, I'd say so."

"Well, of course, but what I mean is that you folks went about it all wrong." You explain, closing and placing the book in your lap to the side. "With a curse of that magnitude, typically it culminates with the casting witch's death. So if you had found them and killed them like you planned, it would've only gotten worse."

"Darlin', sounds like you're still pleading with me for your life." Billy chuckles, lifting his hat a little bit to be able to look over at you from beneath its shade. He's met with his favourite view, you, with the sunlight dancing off your skin and gleaming with the strength of your smile.

You roll your eyes playfully, gently picking up some stray leaves of grass from the blanket and tossing them aside. "I know you're not gonna kill me," You giggle, "and you know I'm not responsible."

"That I do." He confirms, pushing himself to sit up. He takes in the view surrounding your home, the trees that encase this little paradise made up of a small frog pond and an unsurprisingly extensive garden. You grew nearly everything you ate out here, the forest providing you with a perfect amount of sun to help them grow and rain to help them thrive. That's what he assumed, anyway.

"It is, anyway though. Gettin' worse." He mumbles after a few moments of contemplative quiet, helping you dust off the blanket and peeking casually over at the cover of your book. The Eldritch Arbetorum I. He knows less than nothing about what that means, but part of him wishes he could.

"The crops and such? I'm sorry to hear that." You frown, chewing on your lip while you think about it. Maybe there was something you could do, but you doubted the townsfolk would let you get close enough for a long enough period to try. "What about the animals?"

"Every week, like clockwork." Billy replies with a click of his tongue and the slightest shake of his head.

You chew on your lip, watching him closely. It's weighing on him, you can tell. From what he's told you he's a wanted man, yes, but he has a good heart. You know that much for sure. Even when he came all this way carting a bullet with your name, he was doing it to save people.

"What about..." You start, hesitating on how to ask this. "The local children? All are well?"

Billy scrunches up his nose a bit in thought, still avoiding your eyes. "Well enough, from what I know. None have died, at least. I hear whispers that some are sick."

Your cat, Dante, scurries through the grass and onto the blanket beside you, chirping toward you as he crawls up onto your lap. Instinctively you let your hands find comfort in his fluffy orange fur, taking in Billy's words.

The children are okay, that's all that really matters.

"Good, that's good." You say softly, giving him a reassuring smile. "I'm sure they will recover well. I'll send you back with some tonic, if you would be willing to leave it with the parents. Something that should help."

"Yeah... yeah, that would be nice." Billy's already considering how exactly he would go about that- not many folks liked an outlaw dampening their doorsteps. Especially not to give them something for their kids to drink. He would have to leave it on the porch with a note, or something. Then it would be up to them to decide how desperate they were for a solution to their kids plight. "Why do you ask, though? About the kids."

Your eyebrows raise slightly in shock, and it takes you a second to respond. A second in which Dante takes the opportunity to glare at Billy, a low growl leaving his tiny form. He had yet to forgive Billy for trying to take his mom from him, though it was a mystery how he knew about that. Or maybe it was the fact that he hadn't met another living soul in the five years of his short life in which he had been out here in the woods with you, but Dante made it clear at every turn that he did not like your new friend.

You gently pat the cat's head to get him to stop, which he promptly does, before you come up with an answer.

"I was just wondering." You say, tilting your head with a smile that's mildly dismissive. "You know, if people are falling ill. I was hoping the kids would be spared."

"Yeah, fair enough." Billy agrees, his eyes darting between you and your fluffy orange companion. He tended to become a lot more skittish around Dante, ironically enough- but that likely came from being bit and swatted at by tiny claws one too many times over the last few weeks.

You reach over the edge of a blanket to a nearby flower blossoming from the healthy dirt that surrounded your home, swirling your hand around its unopened petals. Your action seems to encourage it to bloom, and Billy watches, his smile returning and the worried crease in his brow ceasing as you gently pluck the stem from the ground. "For you."

He was in awe of you at every turn, his cheeks flushing as he takes the flower from your extended hand. "Thank you, darlin'." He grins, turning the stem to look at it before looking up at you again. "I ain't ever been given a flower before. That's sweet of you."

He brings it up to his nose to smell its purple petals in a somewhat dramatic gesture before grabbing his hat and tucking it under the black ribbon around the outside. "You like it?" He asks as he places it back on his head.

"Yeah." You giggle, nodding as you look at the new accessory to his hat. It wouldn't last forever, but for now, it was cute. Even as it further blurred the lines of what your relationship was. Though, that was mostly your doing by gifting him a flower in the first place. "Purple is a good colour on you, I think."

"Ah, thanks, sunshine." He chuckles, removing the hat to examine it further. "It suits you a bit more, I'm not much for colours myself."

"You like blue, though." You reply, pleased to move on from the anxiety inducing topic of the problems going on in town. "And that red sweater."

"That's true." He admits, shrugging slightly. "My ma always dressed me in blue, though. She gave me that sweater too, matter of fact."

"A mother's touch, I see. She had good taste. As most mothers do." You say, with that same lighthearted tone that keeps him coming back to visit you. That, among a variety of other things, being just about everything about the energy you exude in waves. A silent battle he's been waging in his mind for a long time now; whether you get your power from the forest or if it gets it from you. Secretly, he's leaning toward the latter.

The topic of his family was something he hated breaching in the best of times, but your voice, sweet like honey in his ears makes it easier. You seem to do that with everything you touch.

When the skies outside of the forest started darkening in the coming weeks, perpetually clouded but never granting the county a drop of its refreshing rain, people got more anxious. It was like a palpable negativity in the air, crowding the increasingly empty main street. It was nearly always quiet, never a direct threat but people were packing up and leaving based on the energy in the air alone- and Billy couldn't blame them in the slightest.

It was noon, around midday, he was sure- when the overcast and dim sky provided enough cover for a break in. About twenty yards prior he'd dismounted to lead her, after she started to get clearly irritated and not want to take the worn path they normally did to get to the edge of your forest.

The sound of glass shattering at a nearby home drowns out the crickets song, making Billy turn his head toward the commotion coming from the ranch home not far off. Then the screaming, a woman's scream- the scream of a mother losing a child, a cry he had heard before and rocked him to his core in a way that made his stomach turn and his feet move in that direction against his will.

Dante alerted you to Billy's near arrival, high pitched meows quickly approaching the porch as he hops up onto the window sill in your little cottage kitchen.

"Oh, hush- it's just Billy." You scold him with a slight laugh, reaching up to ruffle the cats fur. The insistent meows continued, and you could feel the prick of his upturned hairs, which told you something was wrong, this time. It was Billy though, you could feel his energy in the air. The usual dreary grey feeling of loss and loneliness normally overshadowed by his cheerful blue, the weight of his good intentions falling dull to the sadness this afternoon.

You glance out the window, brow furrowing slightly as you quickly hang the last few bits of lavender to dry on the twine to be draped over the rafters this evening. Brushing your hands off on the front of your skirt and hurrying to the door, you're not sure what happened or what you're about to be met with, but Dante follows dutifully.

"Billy?" You call, just as he comes into the clearing, having forced his horse to carry him quicker through the trail he would normally take on foot, through the thick trees and branches that this time parted to let him through.

He jumps down from his horse, narrowly avoiding falling into your little pond and disturbing the family of toads you know don't like to be unsettled during the late afternoon.

You reach out with a slight wince, but relax when he steps over the edge of the water in his effort to get to you, digging into his pocket and holding out his flask with urgency as he grabs your upper arm, startling you away from your relief that the toads would be okay.

Billy's eyes are wide, hair mussed under his hat and breathing slightly shallow as you look up at him with a confused furrow to your brow.

"Can you tell me what's in here?"

no taglist this time around!! my fics usually get over a hundred requests to be added to the taglist so instead i made a library! follow me over on @runningfrom2am-library and turn on notifs to get updates when i post new parts!!

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Let’s put on some tinhats for a minute. Bear with me through all the set-up.

So, I think it’s pretty well known that Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are pretty good friends, right?

And some other facts that most of us know:

Ryan’s wife, Blake, is suing her director/co-star for harassment and informed on a major New York Times article.

Blake’s harasser is suing the New York Times for libel and his co-defendant in Blake’s lawsuit is planning to counter-sue her.

Ryan has gotten dragged into this. First, Blake made comments during her movie’s press tour that he rewrote scenes during a writer’s strike (big no-no). Next, Ryan is said to have confronted Blake’s harasser on set to protect and defend her. Now, there are rumors that Ryan has been threatening people to stop supporting Blake’s harasser.

While Blake initially had a large segment of Hollywood and the public supporting her, some of that support is crumbling as more evidence and stories about her behavior come out and her absence from the Golden Globes was questioned. (By this I mean that there’s been social media commentary about how if they’re really telling the truth about what happened, they would have shown up to the Golden Globes projecting strength and confidence as part of their PR strategy, especially since they have a lot of support in the advocacy part of Hollywood. But they didn’t; not that they owe anyone a public appearance, but Ryan’s film was nominated, and in a brand new category to boot. The commentariat is suggesting that because they didn’t appear at the Golden Globes, it’s suggesting that they’re lying about some claims and didn’t want to risk being called out. Again, Ryan and Blake don’t owe anyone an appearance on the red carpet or at an awards show and their absence most likely doesn’t mean anything other than “they had other plans.”)

While all of this is happening to Ryan and Blake…

Hugh Jackman and his wife announced their divorce in September 2024.

Almost immediately, speculation began that Hugh had cheated/was cheating with his Music Man costar Sutton Foster.

For almost four months, the cheating and/or a Hugh-Sutton relationship was never confirmed.

UNTIL, that is, January 6th when they were papped walking hand in hand down a New York City street…coincidentally the same time when Hugh’s good friends, Ryan and Blake, began getting criticized and started losing public support in their lawsuits and complaints.

So, here’s the tinhatty part. Did Hugh and Sutton papwalk/debut their relationship to take attention off Ryan and Blake so the criticism and gossip would stop and they could regroup their PR strategy?

I don’t know.

But it’s awfully suspicious timing.

[streetslost]

       CAT FORCED HERSELF TO STAY SILENT. to not just pick up the nearest item and chuck it at angel's head. the brunette wasn't exactly known for social grace, and the ability to be reassuring, encouraging, easing... any of that was far from her strengths. being met against angel's stubbornness wall was GRATING to the patience, but despite her frustrations, cat wasn't so foolish as to believe her desire for a physical retaliation would do any good. in fact, it could do the opposite; why would old friend want to trust someone who could turn violent in a heartbeat.

                    it wasn't personal, it was just difficult. learning how to deal with people didn't happen overnight, and now that she was in the position she was, cat was forced to keep hold of her tongue. to be g o o d, else the eyes of scrutiny would have her hauled off to jail for poor behavior. she toed the line more than she ought to, so the flexibility she had been given despite her probation was more than she really had earned. perhaps she took far too much advantage of it, and one day that would most likely be her downfall were she not careful.

      so she gritted her teeth behind pressed lips, tension quivering her cheeks as she inhaled as slow as she could manage. reel in the heartbeat, reel in the thoughts. thoughts that bang bang banged about like a drum that some little kid had found. incessant, unrelenting. and terribly, terribly bad at playing to boot...

                        "doing great or doing better?" fire in her tone, fingers curling around her forearms as she crossed them before her. give her something to grip, to hold, to divert their intentions away from any other prospect.

       perhaps, she recognized in that moment, was not she was angry with angel. not a n n o y e d. it was fear. hearing words aloud that spoke to her own heart, her own raging emotions. in a different way; a different life. scott's immediate and extended family were not about to run out of money any time soon, there would be no getting rid of her over anything in relation to finances.

                 but there were some burdens money couldn't alleviate. her personality was a shining example of battles people couldn't always arm themselves for. the world around her now couldn't quite grasp her most days. the former thief boiled too hot, spilled over, then turned frozen in an instant. was BOLD and brash one moment, then a defiant wall of refusal the next. refusing to talk, refusing to open up. a jarring creature when standing next to the ones that took her in. warmth and compassion and pleasantness were lacking. her only use was the media's frothing interest that something would go wrong soon... and maybe that wrong was her. they could all be sick of her at any moment and choose her to be gone or to be behind bars. it would only take a phone call most likely. no more, no less.

         reminded that she still didn't feel human most days.

                  "i know wha' you mean," acceptance flood her voice to tiredness. "the idea of... any day y'wake up and everything you finally had is jus' gone. taken from you. left with nothing but the reminder tha' once again, you're shit."

        her gaze went distant, hands shook mildly as she realized she had released her clenching, unfolding her body, and was looking for something to idle them. she probably should be helping back in the kitchen... "but yet here i am, i guess. y'know... maybe it was different for you but. something i've thought about recently. all those times i thought i was safe and FINE and home... other people had set it all up for me. given me the space, the opportunity, and ultimately really left me no choice. good or bad. it was their making. but this time... this time, it was my choice. sure, they gave me the opportunity... but i had t'be the one to take it. somehow, an' i don't know how to explain it... i think tha' means something."

And that was the million dollar question, wasn’t it?

"Maybe I don’t know their limit.”

The blonde paused to let her tongue moisten dry lips, picking her words carefully as she did so.

“But I don’t think they know it, either. They could have taken me in with all the best intentions in the world… but those intentions don’t mean a thing if it turns out they can’t manage a fifth child after all.”

Never mind that she was hardly a child, so close to crossing the boundary of adulthood in her own right… Angel was sure she had enough issues of her own that adopting another young kid, and all the struggles that entailed, would be an easy prospect for anyone compared to dealing with her day in, day out. Even Tenderfoot had hardly seen the full extent of her internal struggles, the old self-loathings - though those had thankfully been quiet in recent weeks without Buster to stir them up - and fears of abandonment that gnawed at her very heart at any chance they got. She wouldn’t be able to settle easily to a home life.

Even if she was taken in, Angel was sure that the road to her actually feeling accepted would be a longer one than any family would have the patience to tread.

She shook her head. “And when the expenses mount up, and they realise they can’t support everyone, who’s going to be the first to go? You can bet it won’t be the kids they’ve raised since birth.”

Nor would she want it to be: she’d fought too hard for Tenderfoot to appreciate what he had to ever want to strip him or his sisters of it. That wouldn’t make it any easier to take when she was, almost inevitably, shown the door. It always happened; no sooner had she been taken in, got comfortable, finally dared to hope, than it was snatched from under her nose…

She stared off into the distance, not really seeing anything.

“You’re right, I could take a no. What I couldn’t take is a yes that they have to take back in a few months… just like everyone else has.”

That was what she was afraid of, that was the chance that she couldn’t bear to take. In that moment Angel couldn’t remember how much she’d told Cat about her past adoptions, if much at all; but those memories, of open arms that eventually turned hostile… how could she possibly believe that everyone wasn’t like that? When something happened five times, that was far too many to dismiss it as a one-off.

She forced herself back to the present, a small smile back to her lips.

“Besides, all I really needed was getting Buster out of my hair. I’m doing great now, I promise.”

It wasn’t quite a lie… but great was very definitely a relative term.

[potatoesandsunshine]

so maybe they got me. maybe they did. 

[imminent-danger-came]

I'll never get over the fact that MK trades his friends for power to save his friends. What's wrong with him

[two-person-job]

hi it's been a month and a new . hold. is over me. it's called hollow knight. and. I have. like. 50 hours in it. in the past two weeks. 150ish total. and i've almost 100%'d it achievement wise. I already got the pure completion/112% completion achievement the only thing I have left is um the p5 ending which i've gotten really close to. I got to abs-rad last time which is funny because the time before that I got to pv before dying and that's also funny because the time before THAT I got to nkg so each time I only got one boss further so hopefully next time if I make it past pv again i'll beat abs-rad (ofc I need to practice against her but yk (I'm so bad at fighting her)) ALSO tiso is my favorite character he's the best he's my favorite ant EVER second place goes to god tamer she's cool. I hate fighting her tho she actually can ruin my p5 run. boooo. grimm gets me my health back tho he's real one. anyways ig unpopular opinion but I LOVE godseeker idc that she hates ghost in a normal playthrough I heart her she's the best :) and I like cloth a lot too that's a normal opinion I think cloth is really neat! hive knight is also my second favorite character. I loveee the little bit of lore we actually get about him and I like how he goes "bzzz huzzah!" because that's so real hive knight!! huzzah!! and pure vessel. pv. oughh they're totally my favorite fight with hive knight being my second. pure vessel is so much funnn like idc that they already deal double damage like. they're soo much fun!!!! and speaking of vessels lost kin is also the best lost kin makes me want to cry sometimes. ough the nod after you finish the dream battle I KNOW THE LORE I KNOW WHAT THAT NOD MEANS RAHHHHH. I also like monomon and quirrel a lot. jellyfish and pillbug combo my beloved.. I want. the next username I need to make. monomonn. because I love her. and I think her name is super neat. also nkg is pretty cool but like his name is kind of. middle schooler. nightmare king grimm.. muah ah ah... but he's a fun fight he's an enjoyable fight. idc that he's also double damage it's fun!! it's so much fun I love how. he's .pink. anyways. yeagh. bzzz HUZZAH! bzzzzz HUZZAH!

[kimmkitsuragi]

alright making a pact w myself i will try bg3 A LITTLE BIT.... only a little bit not too long.... and Only If i can write this thing and email it to (redacted) tomorrow.

[deathbxnny]

Maybe a part 2 of the arcane characters saying things they regret, but they're apologizing because I can't live after reading a angst 🫠

Making up with Arcane characters after a bad argument. | Vi, Caitlyn, Jinx, Ekko, Sevika x Gn!Reader

(Previous part)

Fine, fine, here is a happy part two guys. Take it as an apology for the tears and pain I've caused.✨️

Content: Swearing, accusations of cheating, slight angst, making up, fluff, potential spoilers for season 2, established romantic relationships, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!

((Not proofread))

》VI

She knew that she had fucked up. There was no way to deny or refute it either. And your absence was further proof of that.

You were always there for her, even when things got bad and she became even worse. No matter how much she yelled or drank, you were there afterward to nurture her back to health. It was so unfair of her to expect it still, after all she had said to you. She hated herself. She hated how weak and pathetic she had become. How she can't even stand straight anymore from the alcohol and couldn't win a single game since she had lost you.

And instead of Caitlyn haunting her like she used to, it was only you now. But you were crying every time. Asking her why she hated you so much. Why she couldn't care for you the way you cared for her. Why you were always the second choice despite having been there since the start.

Why, why, why.

Gritting her teeth against the headache, she made her way through the dark, familiar lanes to your small home that you once shared together. She had to talk to you. She really, really had to. Even if it's far too late now after a week of silence in-between the two of you. She had taken the time to reflect and think about everything, especially about your relationship. And it made her realise that nothing in this world was losing you too.

Knocking on your door, she nervously waited as she heard your footsteps quickly approaching her from inside. You opened the door carefully, ironically just how she had taught you, before freezing at the sight of her. She gave you a weak smile, attempting to look calm and friendly, but it still scared you off. "Hey cupca-" You tried slamming the door into her face mid greeting, but her foot was faster to jam itself in the way.

"H-Hey! Wait, please hear me out!" "Fuck off, Vi. I'm not in the mood to hear more of your bullshit. Go back to Caitlyn since I know how badly you want that!" You never cursed, and every word you spoke made her flinch. She, for some reason, didn't expect you to be this mad. But it hurt, and she deserved it. Another thing she underestimated was, unfortunately, your strength since you somehow managed to push her away and shut the door again. "Come on! Please! I... I didn't mean what I said. I just... have been losing my shit ever since what happened. The guilt is killing me, and I know it's not an excuse! You're right, I have to stop this shit! You're right, I need to stop treating your love for granted!"

She didn't know if you were even listening to her anymore, but it didn't stop the tears that burned in her eyes. "I don't give a damn about Caitlyn like that! I never did! It always you for me. You... you cared for me when no one else ever wanted to, and I was such an idiot for not appreciating it more." Her hand slammed against the wood in defeat, her head coming to rest against it as her body trembled. She was so scared of losing you. This can't be the end. "Please. Please just give me another chance to prove myself. I know I'm a fuck up but I swear I'll do better now."

Vi nearly fell right through your house entrance when you opened the door wide with a teary huff. "God, you're such an idiot... get in already before the neighbors complain." You didn't let her reply as you simply dragged her inside and locked the door again. The pitfighter watched you do so with a gentle gaze, one that felt so familiar to you. "... Fine, I'll give you another chance... but no drinking or fighting anymore. Please." You whisper to her, and she nods quickly before engulfing you in a warm hug.

She knows that she isn't fully forgiven yet, but she'll do everything in her power to prove herself worthy of your love again.

》CAITLYN

"You're still up." Caitlyn's voice was calm and gentle now, so different from the stern and cold tone it had before. You ignored her, however, knowing better than to fall for this again. She always got like this when she knew she had screwed up and was trying to crawl back into your good graces. But this time around, you didn't allow it that easily. You refused to speak to her if she hadn't come back to apologize. And yet... you couldn't help but allow yourself at least one sharp dig at her. "And you're late to bed once again. But I suppose Officer Nolan's 'report' was just that interesting, no?" You were perhaps the only person in all auf Pultover that could ever accuse her of something so scandalous as adultery and get away with it.

It certainly would have been amusing if Caitlyn didn't feel so sick at the thought of you believing that.

Sighing, she placed her hat onto a clothing hanger, her jacket following suit. You were facing away from her on the bed, trying to read a book and rest, despite the pain in your heart. It was hard being angry at her when you loved her so deeply. But her insults had struck much deeper than that.

The bed dipped behind you, and soon enough, you felt her strong arms surrounding your body and her nose tickling your cheek. "I'm sorry, my love. I really am. I... have lost my cool, and that was wrong of me." You scoffed at her words, finding them too shallow for the pain she had caused earlier. Yet you struggled to get out of her strong grasp on you. It felt desperate. And you hated the warmth and security that it made you feel. "If that is all you have to say, then you can leave." You hissed out weakly but couldn't find any malice in it. Just heartbreak, that solidified in more tears burning in your eyes. "Because how... how could you ever say that I could betray you? Do you know how that makes me feel? Do you care?"

Caitlyn hummed against the nape of your neck soothingly, a way to acknowledge the plight she had caused you without revealing her own tears. The grief had made her into a monster. A monster that hurt its friends, family, and most importantly, you. It was unforgivable, and yet she wanted to prove herself worthy of you anyway. She wanted to show you that she hadn't changed deep down like everyone claimed. She was still yours.

"... I will find a way to end this war and resolve it peacefully as soon as I can. I swear it to you." She began, her voice low and gentle, as she listened to the sound of your hiccups and sniffling. This wasn't what she wanted. "And I apologize, truly, for what I called you... I know that you are loyal and trustworthy. Much more than I ever could be... I'm still your Caitlyn." The last part was whispered quietly, as she tried everyone in her power to not break down in front of you like this.

She hated what she had become deep down. She knew it was wrong and that her mother must've been turning in her grave at the sight of what she had done. But what she couldn't handle at all was you hating and leaving her.

There was a moment of silence before you turned to face her and immideatly hugged her impossibly close as you cried into her arms. She rubbed your back lovingly, understanding that this was your way of accepting her apology. But forgiveness will still be a long journey she was willing to take.

For now, she'd rest in your embrace thankfully.

》JINX

Deep down, you knew that she didn't mean what she said. She never would do anything to hurt you. Silco's death was just killing her more than anyone could have expected, and it was hard for everyone to deal with. But you just couldn't take the pain and hurt she caused you anymore. You've been there since day one. You were always at her side. You always took care of her when no one else wanted to. And you understood her better than she did herself. But it was ultimately just not enough. Or so you thought.

The young girl that was now dragging you through the lanes reminded you of her too. She didn't speak a word to you, and for some reason, you didn't have it in you to protest against her odd actions either. She somehow seemed to recognize you the second you bumped into her. And that was enough for her to take your hand and lead you to a very familiar hideout. Perhaps it was fate that brought you here again when you needed Jinx the most.

"Hey kid, who's our little guest-?" The rest of the young woman's words died on her tongue, and it left you simply staring at each other. There was a familiar haze in her eyes, one that you often saw when the voices were taking over. She once mentioned that you sometimes became a part of her hallucinations during longer absences, and that reminder alone made your heart ache. You shouldn't have run away that day. But what other choice did you have? She didn't trust you anymore. She didn't think you should be together anymore. Why were you even here?

"S-sorry... I'm just going to leave..." You muttered as your ears rung and that familiar burning in your eyes made your sight blurry. You felt suffocated and somehow also angry, wishing she could just see how much you loved and cared for her. But just as you were turning away to run again, her strong hand was quicker and held you back by your arm. "Wait. Let's just... talk, alright? Like we always do?" That was your thing. Whenever things got bad, you'd sit down and talk calmly to her about it. She used to scoff at it every time... yet she was the one who suggested now for once. Something about it shook you so hard that it made the first tears finally spill at the recognition she had given you for all the work you've put into her.

Jinx panicked a little at that, unsure of how to comfort you, yet at Isha's stern frown and cross of her small arms, she just hugged you for the first time in a while. And god, did she miss it.

Perhaps it was good to show the little girl a picture of you after all.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, I swear, sweetie! I... I won't ever say stuff like that again. Just don't leave me. Please don't leave me. I just, I was just-" You hushed her by just hugging her tighter and shaking your head. "It's okay... just hold me for a while. We can talk later... I missed you so much." You whispered, voice breaking into sobs. Jinx hummed weakly and sighed against your hair, the familiar scent making her relax and feel better at last.

Isha grinned to herself behind you before quickly sneaking off to let you talk things out.

》EKKO

To say that the entire firelight hideout was pissed at him would be an understatement. Absolutely everyone disagreed with the way he treated you, and the side eyes he got very much confirmed this. But the worst part of it all was definitely you avoiding him like the plague.

Every time he entered a room, you were the first one to leave in a hurry. Every time he tried speaking to you, you either ignored him or found an excuse to get away. Every time someone even mentioned his name to you, your mood seemed to dampen. And that hurt so much that it killed him. This isn't how he wanted you to feel about him. He was your boyfriend, damnit it. Yet he acknowledged that he was failing at his job way more than he should've allowed himself to. He had to fix this somehow.

Ekko couldn't just lose you over his own foolishness. You were the one person who motivated him to keep going even on his worst days. You were the light he fought for. The person he battled to come home to every day. He couldn't handle your absence any longer, especially at night when he laid wide awake in your empty bed without you.

And so, he finally had enough and cornered you one night up in the tree during a patrol you had together. One, he definitely didn't pull the strings for to happen. And ever the one to abide by his orders despite your current dismay, you were now avoiding his gaze whilst you watched your sleeping home below. It was peaceful and calm, but the pain lingered between you two too much to enjoy the moment. He didn't know how to break the deafening silence, and it made him think of backing out on his initial plan... until you surprised him by speaking up first.

"I'm... sorry for avoiding you. I didn't mean for this to become your last resort. I just... didn't want to be a burden anymore." "Wait, wait, wait... who said that you were a burden, I... I should be the one apologizing right now. Because I was wrong about every fucking thing I said to you." The words spilled out in panic at the mere thought of you blaming yourself. He never wanted you to feel like this. It made him feel even worse about himself. This wasn't right. "You're not useless. You do so much for us, for me, and I take it all for granted like the asshole I am! And I fully acknowledge that now... I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. There is no excuse for it." He shook his head in disappointment at himself, wondering if this was it now. He'd understand if you broke up with him now... but instead, you seemed to be in the mood to surprise him alot today.

"Did you... like the food I made you?" He blinked at your question in confusion, yet answered honestly. "Best thing I had all week." "Then I guess I'll forgive you... just don't do that again." Ekko chuckled weakly at your words, relief filling his senses whilst he pulled you close to press a kiss to your head. "Would never dream of it... wanna ditch patrol and fly around town?" You mirrored his sly smile, glad he had the same thing on his mind as you did. "Sure thing. But let's make it a race."

He let you win.

》SEVIKA

She took some time to cool off after your argument and returned later into the night with a clearer mind. Sevika had actually reflected on what you had said to her, and she knew you were ultimately right. She was extremely overprotective and stubborn, two things that didn't mesh well and often ended in her thinking you couldn't take care of yourself. Even if she knew better than to actually believe that.

You were strong, especially mentally. It's what drew her into you to begin with. But with the fall of Silco and a war being on the verge of breaking out against Piltover, she had no choice but to make sure that you never left her sight. And if you did, then you had to be somewhere she knew was safe and away from all the chaos she dealt with daily. It helped her focus and stay calm to know that you're okay. Yet despite how much she cared, she still fucked it all up for herself again.

And now she had to fix it, something she was never good at.

She felt awfully guilty at the sight of the things you've lovingly prepared for her, now laying forgotten and cold on the kitchen counter. She truly didn't deserve someone as kind as you. And yet she considered herself too selfish to let you go.

Slowly approaching the bedroom door, she paused to hear if you were awake or not. Unfortunately, you were, but she only knew this from the faintest sound of your sniffling and sobbing that drifted through the wooden door. Sighing to herself, she knocked once, deciding to just rake things slow and as calmly as possible. You had sustained an injury after all, and her mind was reeling at the thought of it getting worse without any proper care. "What do you want?!" Your weak voice yelled at her, and it made her frown. Yeah, you were definitely beyond pissed.

"I want to talk." Her gruff voice said, and it may have sounded like a demand if the underlying care and worry didn't overshadow it so clearly. Your silence made her initially think you were ignoring her until the door slowly opened and revealed your disheveled form. "... well, go ahead." You muttered, one hand cradling the side of your hip that was clumsily bandaged up by you. You were never good at stuff like that.

"Let me take care of the wound whilst we're at it. Can't have ya dying on me because of an infection." She sighed out before simply dragging you to your shared bed and pulling out your medkit. You didn't protest or complain and let her do as she pleased, whilst you carefully listened to her speak with an unreadable expression.

"Listen. I... get it. I really do. The way I treat you isn't right, and I know you're grown enough to take care of yourself, but... I can't risk losing you too now. It drives me crazy to think about. Even if that ain't much of an excuse, and I get that too." She was never this honest before. Usually, she simply deflected or blamed someone else. But here she was, for once admitting openly to being the problem. "Just... be more careful out there. That's all I ask of you. I won't comment on it otherwise anymore though, unless you're in serious danger. I promise." Finishing the last of her bandaging, she hummed at it now looking much securer. This way, you are sure to recover much faster.

Taking a deep breath, you nodded your head at her words, deciding to give her another chance to prove herself. You understood where she was coming from after all. "Okay, fine. I'll accept your apology... if you help me cook." She grinned at that slightly with a casual shrug. "Fine by me, if I get a taste of your heavenly cooking, sweetheart."

[maybanksbaby]

summary: oh, poor drew has to lose his big biceps while filming queer. and oh, poor drew, is victim of his girlfriend's teasing :(

warnings: none, pretty light and fluffy 👌

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

You’re lounging on the couch, scrolling idly through your phone, when the sound of a key turning in the lock catches your attention. Glancing up, you see Drew walk through the door, looking a bit slimmer but still smiling in that warm way that lights up his whole face. He came home only for a few days, and you still couldn't get over the fact that they didn't gave you a small copy of your boyfriend, it was actually Drew. Even if you were there in his whole process of weight losing, it felt weird.

You missed those pretty big things so much it was painful.

He’s wearing a loose T-shirt and faded jeans, his hair tousled from a long day on set, and something about him seems softer around the edges—almost like he’s let his guard down after weeks of intense filming.

You sit up, an exaggerated frown on your face. “Oh, no way.” Your tone is teasing, but you can’t resist it as you give him a once-over. “What happened to those big, strong biceps of yours, Starkey? Am I seeing things, or did you trade them in for some noodles?”

Drew raises an eyebrow, pausing mid-step as he gives you a look of mock offense. “Noodles? Seriously?”

You grin and shrug, crossing your arms. “I don’t know, babe. They’re looking a little… deflated.” You stretch out an arm, giving his bicep a playful poke as he comes closer. “Am I supposed to start lifting the groceries now?”

Drew lets out a chuckle and drops his bag on the floor before plopping down on the couch next to you. “I’ll have you know that my ‘noodle arms’ still work just fine,” he says, feigning indignation as he flexes, the bicep muscle tightening under his sleeve even if it’s smaller than you’re used to. “Had to lose some weight for Queer, remember? Luca didn’t want me looking like some action hero on this.”

You put on a look of exaggerated sympathy, patting his shoulder. “Aww, poor noodle-armed Drew. Must be so hard, not being the Hulk for once.”

He scoffs, but you can see the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You’re really not gonna let this go, are you?”

“Oh, no way,” you tease, leaning in and poking his arm again. “If you lose even one more ounce of muscle, I’m buying out the protein aisle and bringing it to set.” You pretend to squeeze his arm, making a show of struggling as if it’s the weakest thing in the world. “Seriously, who’s gonna protect me now? Or open all the jars?”

Drew smirks, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Is that right?” he murmurs, leaning closer, his tone a playful challenge.

In one quick motion, he wraps an arm around your waist and effortlessly pulls you onto his lap, his fingers tightening around your hips as you let out a small squeal of surprise, laughing. “See? Noodles or not, I think I can still handle you just fine,” he says, a smug grin on his face as he holds you close.

You try to keep a straight face but can’t help the smile that’s tugging at your lips. “Hmm,” you say, tilting your head as if contemplating. “Maybe you’ve still got a little strength left in you. But I’m gonna keep a close watch. Just in case.”

Drew raises an eyebrow, feigning exasperation. “Oh, great. A personal bicep inspector. Exactly what I needed.”

You laugh, brushing a stray lock of hair from his face. “Someone has to make sure you stay up to code, Starkey. You’re still my big, strong boyfriend, right? Don’t want anyone thinking I’m dating some scrawny little noodle boy.”

He lets out a laugh, his arm still firmly around you as his hand traces slow, comforting circles along your back. “Would it make you feel better if I promised to go back to the gym as soon as filming’s done? Maybe even lift double just to prove I’m still ‘your big, strong boyfriend’?”

“Maybe,” you say, narrowing your eyes with a smile. “But in the meantime, don’t be surprised if I start calling you ‘spaghetti arms.’”

Drew groans, dramatically rolling his eyes, but he’s laughing too, unable to keep a straight face. “Fine, fine, make fun of me all you want. Just remember who’s still carrying you around all day if he has to.” With that, he shifts his grip and effortlessly hoists you up, standing and cradling you against his chest as he walks toward the kitchen.

You burst out laughing, arms looping around his neck. “Oh, okay, maybe there’s still a little muscle left!” you say, gasping between giggles as he gently sets you down on the counter, his hands resting on either side of you.

“Exactly,” he says, leaning in close, his face just inches from yours, his voice softer now, teasing but affectionate. “No matter what, you’re still stuck with me.”

Your laughter fades as you look up at him, a warm smile spreading across your face. “Good,” you whisper, fingers gently brushing his cheek. “Because I wouldn’t want anyone else, noodle arms and all.”

Drew’s expression softens, his gaze lingering on yours as he cups your face, leaning in to press a tender kiss to your lips. His hand trails down to your shoulder, pulling you closer until you’re wrapped up in his embrace, your laughter replaced by a comfortable, warm silence.

As he pulls back, his forehead resting against yours, he chuckles, fingers idly tracing your arm. “I’ll get my biceps back,” he promises, his voice barely a whisper. “But for now, I guess you’ll just have to deal with ‘scrawny’ me.”

You grin, sliding your hands up his chest. “I’ll manage,” you say softly. “But just know I’m keeping an eye on those biceps. And maybe—just maybe—I’ll even give you a few compliments along the way.”

Drew laughs, kissing you again, and for a moment, it’s just the two of you, wrapped up in each other’s warmth, with no need for words. Because no matter how many muscles he has—or doesn’t—you know there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than right here, with him.

[luv4fushi]

thinking about arguing with husband!gojo. it’s funny because he’s the strongest sorcerer alive with several other, more wicked enemies harboring one sided hate for him, yet he’s anxiously glancing at you every now and then as you hiss at him. you’re the only one who can make him doubt his strength.

he usually finds you cute when you’re mad, but right now he doesn’t really appreciate the way your face is scrunched up and how you’re yelling at him.

it’s not his fault. he thinks you’re being so dramatic.

“you’re laughing at me,” you deadpan. “why do you never take things i say seriously?”

“because i honestly don’t think it’s that serious,” he fires back, and your eyes narrow. oh, fuck.

arguing with your husband is never fun. it’s probably because the both of you are stubborn; you’re stubborn because you’re simply right all the time, and satoru’s stubborn because if you’re not right, then he is.

you pause for just a second, but it’s enough to sprout a moment of extreme tension between you and your husband.

“right,” you scoff after you inhale sharply. “you just don’t care, do you?”

“don’t fucking say that,” satoru snaps. “i do care. that’s why i’m here.”

it takes everything in you to not shoot him another death glare. “so i should be thankful for the bare minimum?”

satoru blinks. he would’ve flinched, but he refuses to let you have that sort of power over him. “i’m not giving the bare minimum.”

“yes you are,” you argue back, voice straining as you swallow a lump of anger down the back of your throat.

the both of you are still. it feels like an eternity passes before the anger in you wanes. you’re exhausted and this fight with satoru is surely going to make the both of you upset enough to not talk for the rest of the night.

“i’m sorry that i’m not good enough,” satoru says, breaking the silence. you’ve never heard his voice so small, so pathetic—he’s never, ever shown you this side of him, and you’re starting to feel that dreading pit of guilt tug at your gut.

“that’s not what i meant,” you force yourself to say, sighing.

“but that’s what you’re thinking,” satoru mumbles. he avoids looking at your face.

“no it’s not,” you deny. “it’s never been about that.”

satoru gives you a wary look. “then what is it about? because i’ve done everything i can.”

“everything? really?” you sneer. “do you even love me anymore?”

silence. satoru swears he can hear your heart break.

“baby, don’t say that,” he groans, “c’mon, we were ten points away from three stars. that’s a single plate—one you didn’t turn in because you somehow forgot how to dash!”

you whip around to glower at satoru, your face twisting into an offended expression. “you set the kitchen on fire! how could i do something like serving a dish if the kitchen is on fire?!”

“baby, it’s the same button that it always has been this entire game!” he whines. “and you set the kitchen on fire! you keep forgetting to take the rice off the stove!”

you sigh exasperatedly, crossing your arms to act like some sort of shield between you and satoru’s (truthful) words.

“but you don’t chop up your stupid fish!” you protest. “so i end up doing five things at once!”

satoru opens his mouth to speak, but he knows you’re in the right. he opts to click his tongue instead.

“and every time i asked for help,” you add, frowning, “you just kept bringing out more of the dumbass cucumbers! we don’t have counter space for that!!!”

“that’s for prep to maximize our sushi making! throw it on the floor!”

“are you kidding me? that’s so unsanitary!”

“it’s a game!”

you’re both panting by the end of the fight. you’re biting down on your inner cheek and satoru is scratching the nape of his neck awkwardly.

“… sorry,” he mumbles. “i won’t bring out cucumbers anymore. and i’m also sorry for being mean about you not knowing how to dash.”

“good,” you huff. “‘cause i was seriously not gonna play anymore.”

“and…?” he prods, nudging you in your ribs. you can tell what he wants just by the sound of his voice.

“and i’m sorry for getting mad at you even though you’re doing you’re best at carrying me in this game…” you murmur, rolling your eyes.

satoru’s face brightens and he places a wet kiss on your cheek. “you’re forgiven.”

“love you, dummy.”

“love you too, baby.”

“no more cucumbers unless the ticket calls for them,” you remind him pointedly.

“yes, chef!”

[yuwuta]

VITAMIN ME — JUJUTSU KAISEN BOYS + SICK FIC

featuring. gojo, toji, inumaki, nanami, okkotsu, itadori, choso, fushiguro

content. taking care of the boys/the boys taking care of you when feeling sick, all fluff, no warnings 

word count. 2.5k 

SATORU GOJO

He doesn’t feel under the weather often, but when he does, it hits him tenfold. He’s whiny, dramatic, borderline inconsolable, and feels well within his rights to demand your undivided attention, because he’s not usually like this… sick, that is (he is usually whiny and dramatic, no illness in the world could take that away from him).

You and him both know when he’s dragging it, but you can’t help but to feel bad for him. Because when Satoru is sick, he’s sick—you feel like you need to constantly monitor all his vitals, set a timer to make sure he gets medication because he’s so cold and pale and sluggish, it’s worrisome. Of course, he finds the strength to tease you, “You worried about little old me, sweets? Don’t be—‘m gonna be fine, you know. But I hear kisses cure the flu.”

“Not scientifically proven, or peer reviewed,” you tell him, “But you know what is? Tylenol. Time for more, open up, Satoru.” 

“Will I get a kiss? Just a little one?” 

He gives you a hard time, even in sickness, but it’s only because he absolutely relishes being in your care, thinks you’re good at taking care of him; proven by the way you give in with a nod, and then a kiss after he takes his medication. He really does feel like shit right now, but with you here, caring for him, his heart has expanded ten times and a warmth spills into his chest that makes the pain insignificant. Satoru feels honored and humbled to have someone fuss over him like this—to have this concrete reminder that you worry for him and care about him and love him just like he loves you.

TOJI FUSHIGURO 

“You gonna feed me?” Toji grumbles, sounding much less threatening with a frog in his throat, “Because there’s no way I’m drinking that.” 

You roll your eyes, lightly tapping the spoon against the edge of the mug before placing it onto the coffee table and extending your arms towards Toji, “The ginger is good for you. The lemon, too, if you wanna stop sounding like a low-budget villain anytime soon.” 

Toji’s nose scrunches—it’s almost cute, if it weren’t followed by an infuriatingly stubborn turn of his jaw, pointedly away from you and back to the television. You huff, sitting down next to him—or as close as you can get through his mountain of blankets and forcefield of pillows—carefully nursing the cup in your palms. 

Who would have thought that the great Toji Fushiguro would be so stubborn as to let a little cold get the best of him. Him attempting to suffer without cold medicine wasn’t that surprising, but you didn’t think that he’d petulantly refuse tea just because of some ginger. Getting him to take his antibiotics only worked when you told him you’d boot him onto the couch if he didn’t, but that won’t work this time, he’ll call your bluff. 

You sigh, moving a pillow to your other side and reaching over to the coffee table to redeem your spoon. You fold one leg under the other and turn your body to Toji’s, scooping tea into the spoon, giving it a soft blow, and then raising it to his face. He quirks an eyebrow when he feels the steam brushing against his skin, and turns to you with a hellish grin.

He opens his mouth, to say something slick no doubt, but you take advantage of the opportunity to shove the spoon in his mouth, “You don’t get to talk until after you finish your tea.”

TOGE INUMAKI

Despite being a renowned insomniac and someone who is willing to throw away hours of sleep to binge watch his favorite series or complete a new game, Toge does believe that rest is the best medicine. He does take his own sleep seriously—it’s not his fault that most people consider his preferred sleeping hours to be regular waking hours.

So, even though it sounds a bit hypocritical, Toge is very firm about you resting as much as you can when you’re not feeling well. He’s quick to make a cocoon out of you in your two favorite blankets and fit you onto the couch to keep you within sight as he rummages around the kitchen to prepare your meals, and make sure that you don’t skimp out on your medication. He’s got some pretty effective homemade remedies for a killer sore throat, but cough syrup is cough syrup—he knows it tastes horrible, but if he has to force feed it to you, then so be it.

He feeds you spoonfuls of homemade broth and rice to make up for it, giggling as you scrunch your nose from the taste of the medicine. When you’re finished, he lets you tell him off and forgoes teasing you about how nasally you sound as he coerces you to lay down again. You don’t feel sleepy, but when Toge’s lips brush against your forehead, his words are like a spell that makes your eyes flutter shut, “Sleep, my love.”

KENTO NANAMI

“It’s cold, Ken,” you whine, sniffling at the end of your sentence. Kento sighs softly, switching off the light to the bathroom and taking careful strides to the bed. He carefully sits on the edge of the bed, expression sympathetic as you complain about the temperature again.

The room is actually slightly warmer than normal per your earlier request, but he knows you still feel cold because of how high your temperature is. It's exactly why he took your blanket from you—fuzzy, and warm, and weighted would all be enticing and acceptable if you weren’t running a very concerning fever. Kento absolutely hates to say no to you, but he has to do something to break your fever. 

“I know, darling,” he nods gently, settling himself onto his side of the bed. He’d prefer to have the comfort of a heavy blanket right now, too, but he wouldn’t taunt you like that—if you have to sleep without one, then so will he. He should get you another cold towel for your forehead, but you tug on his heartstrings when you scoot yourself closer to him, nose nudging against his thigh. He smiles softly, carefully reaching to tap at your arms, “Come here.”

You shuffle upwards and into his arms, cheek pressed against his chest with your arms coming to wrap around his torso. Kento lets you melt into him and wraps strong arms around your body to keep you close—body heat will have to do for now.

YUUTA OKKOTSU

Yuuta walks—waddles, really—with his blanket over his shoulders, mouth slightly ajar, and a box of tissue in his hand for good measure. He looks cute despite his febrile state, with his nose red and eyes wide and you have to resist the urge to coo at him.

“I thought the Benadryl would have kept you asleep at least a little longer,” you smile, turning off the heat underneath the pot.

“Something smelled good... and I got hungry,” Yuuta shrugs weakly, taking the remaining steps into the kitchen and plopping his body weight onto a stool at the island. He sniffles deeply, setting his box of tissues down on the counter, before pointing at the lowly simmering pot behind you, “Is that… for me?”

“No, it’s for my other sick boyfriend,” you grin, reaching into a nearby cabinet for a bowl. You giggle when you see Yuuta’s pouty expression, cheeks a light pink and bottom lip jutted slightly.

“It’s not nice to make fun of the ill,” he coughs. His façade is waning, already weakened by his sick state, and crumbling when you push a warm bowl of his favorite soup in front of him. You can’t help but to laugh a little louder because Yuuta’s eyes practically grow three sizes and you swear he’s salivating a little. 

He shakes away the shock, turning with a pout when he realizes you’re poking fun at him again, “You’re doing it again. Now you owe me a kiss.” 

“Do I?” you tease, taking the seat on the stool next to him, elbows resting on the counter, as you peer up at Yuuta’s flushed face. You’ll let him ride the excuse his blush being the fever for a little longer, “That’s risky. I might get sick, and I have a very cute boyfriend to take care of.”

“I’ll take care of you, too,” Yuuta all but whispers, tired eyes fluttering to your lips, “In sickness and in health, right?”

He leans down a bit and you meet him for a quick kiss, pulling away to smile, “I thought that was for married couples.” 

“I’ll fix that soon,” Yuuta smiles, satisfied. You giggle, reaching out to poke his red nose and then his cheek to turn his face back to his soup. 

“Well, then go ahead and eat and get well soon,” you muse, leaning forward to kiss his cheek, “I expect a very romantic proposal from an un-sick lover boy.”

YUUJI ITADORI

You should have known that Nobara was going to rat you out sooner or later, if not for your own wellbeing, then for hers—because despite your roommate being a caring soul beneath her tough exterior, she is not caring enough to risk her own health because you’re sniffling all over your shared apartment; especially not before she’s supposed to go on her first vacation with her boyfriend.

On the third day of coughing, Nobara tells you she’s going to camp out with Megumi until her flight, and that Yuuji is the person she’s entrusted with her keys until she returns back from her trip. So, it’s not a surprise that a mere hour later, you find Yuuji all but barreling through your front door with grocery bags in hand, all of which he promptly drops when he hears you hacking out your lungs on the couch, quick to dart to your side and hold your cup as you shakily drink some water.

“Babe! You’re, like, super sick,” he exclaims, now sitting criss-cross on your living room floor, slowly unpacking the grocery bags for a real-time haul, “You should have told me earlier, I could have gotten you all this stuff way sooner!”

“I’m fine, Yuuji. It’s a mild cold at most,” you reassure him, smiling to yourself as he rips open a new box of Kleenex and thrusts it in your direction. He looks at you with furrowed eyebrows, untrusting of your words, before he springs up with the last grocery bag in hand.

“Well, still... I’m not a doctor, but I got all the medications Nanamin told me to get, so we’re gonna get this cold out of you in no time,” he grins, patting your head before leaning down to kiss your forehead, “In the meantime, how about some soup? Oh—I just saw a recipe for something spicy, that should help with your nose right? Or maybe ramen? Leave it to me!”

CHOSO KAMO

You couldn’t help but to snap one more picture of Choso. You felt bad, a little bit, he was tired and sick and probably felt like crap, but he looked very cute when he was sleepy, cuddled up in fuzzy blankets from head to toe, with just enough space to expose his tired eyes and red nose. One more wouldn’t hurt. 

You smile to yourself as you look back at him, slipping your phone into your pocket and walking over to join Choso on the couch. There’s not enough room for you to sit in the seat, so you have to cotch yourself in the arm of the couch closest to his head and gently reach out to move a stray strand of hair away from his eyes. It would make for another cute picture, but you refrain, choosing to lean down and press a kiss to his forehead instead, before standing to start picking up the spare tissue and cough drop wrappers littered around him.

You always tell him he’s going to worry himself sick, and he’s managed to do just that. It was a little fun, a little cute, but mostly, you’re just happy that Choso is resting. You know that sleep doesn’t come easily to him under normal circumstances; if being a little under the weather is what gets your boyfriend to slow down and care for his body, then so be it; you’ll be there to help him out.

You’re about to head into the kitchen, when you’re stopped by a warm hand brushing against your leg. You turn to see Choso limply reaching out of your, slowly blinking awake, before weakly beckoning for you again, “Stay here,” he croaks, “Please?”

You smile, placing the gathered trash onto the coffee table, before burying yourself within Choso’s blankets. You have to do a little wiggling to get underneath him, but Choso doesn’t mind, happily resting his weight against you, eyes already fluttering closed again, not before he lets you a meek, “Thank you. I love you.”

You give him one final kiss to the crown of his head, “I love you, too.” 

MEGUMI FUSHIGURO

“Megumi, are you… okay?” you question softly, leaning over the small restaurant table to squint at your boyfriend. You’d been watching him carefully since he’d picked you up from your house, deducing that something was definitely wrong, even if Megumi had been trying his best to hide it.

He could be quiet, but he was definitely not soft spoken, nor did he normally wince after swallowing a bite of his food. You should have known something was off from the start, when you’d held hands on your walk and Megumi’s fingers were warm, and not icicles attached to his palm.

Megumi freezes, mouth gaping slightly, before he closes it and composes himself with slumped shoulders—he’d considered keeping up his brave front, but it’d be futile at this point, so he sighs, “My throat hurts, is all,” he confesses, the hoarseness of his tired voice peeking through, “I had a fever yesterday, but it was fine this morning.”

You lean over a little more, just enough to be able to extend your hand so that the back of your palm meets Megumi’s forehead. It’s warm, to no surprise, and you find yourself tutting, recoiling your hand slightly, with enough space to flick him.

“Ow?” He groans, and you only roll your eyes. You pull back to fish through your bag, to pull out some cash and leave it on the table. Megumi begins to question you, but you’re not hearing it, getting up to sling your purse over your shoulder and grab your boyfriend by the forearm.

“You’re an idiot,” you scold, ushering him out of the restaurant, “We are going to urgent care to get you a strep test, and then to that bakery Nanami tells us not to tell anyone about to get you soup, and then you are going to sit and eat it and contemplate your actions for the rest of the evening.”

Megumi lets himself be dragged away—another tell-tale sign that he really is feeling under the weather (which is also what he chooses to blame his blush on). If “contemplating his actions,” was code word for you hovering over him for a bit, then maybe he wouldn’t mind.

[luvyeni]

⠀ ( drabble ) playing games ̨ ! ୨୧ 一 이희승 ՞

⸃ ⸰ ⌁ playing with heeseung going too far  ヾ

boyfriend!heeseung・ reader ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ g ・ smut ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ cw ・ ‎unprotected sex, cumming multiple times, dirty talk‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ wc ・ ‎0.8k ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎| ‎ ‎click to library

request. omg imagine teasing bf!enhypen for being weak and then they use their strength on u and manhandle u during sex. thatd b so hot

「 ୨୧ authors note 」 hope this is what you wanted 🫶🏽🩷

you knew heeseung let you win when you guys would play fight. he was way stronger than you and could easily overpower you, that didn't stop you from trying— flipping the boy, the both of you rolling around your bed. “baby.”

he couldn't help but laugh, watching you crawl all over him. you hits weren't causing any damage to him, they felt like little baby hits to him. “baby stop now im tired.” his pleas falling on deaf ears, your thighs still straddling his waist. “then push me off.” you teased. “come on i know you could do it.”

knowing you were trying to egg him on and he wasn't about to give into you. “you can do it can you?” you smirked, you could see the shift in his body; the clenching of his jaw, the darkening of his eyes. “baby.” his words started to sound more threatening, this is where you should've stopped— but you didn't, because you like to push your man's buttons, because the outcome was always rewarding in your favor. “you can't do it.”

“its cause you're too weak” that's what set him off. “yeah?” he said, you nodded teasingly. his tongue pushing the inside of his cheek. “okay princess.” the lowering of his voice filling your stomach with butterflies and shiver down your spine. “just know you bought this on yourself.”

“hees-ah!” before you even get a word out, he was flipping you over. “you really like playing with your life baby?” his big hand coming over to pin both yours over your head. “what's with the wide eyes baby, you shocked?” he chuckled, but it wasn't the cute one you loved — it was the dark one that made your panties soak and wet. “scared?”

you finally got the courage to speak. “i wa-was ju-just playing hee, i didn't mean it.” he smirked at how meek your voice sounded. “yeah baby , you were just playing a little game?” he said. “i love games , let's play one of my favorites.” his other hand finding it's way to your neck, squeezing it. “it's how many positions i can put you in and how much cum i can fill you with until you pass out.”

when heeseung said something, he meant it. it had been an hour since he said what he said — and he hadn't let up since, you had been in at least 3 different positions and he'd had roughly fucked at least 4 of his sticky loads into your spent cunt. “heeseung fuck!”

you grip the sheets, he had you on your knees; ass in the air as he assaulted your hole. “fuck baby i never get tired of his pussy.” he groaned , plowing into you. his hand on the back of your head , smushing your face into the pillow. “always takes my cock so fu-fucking well.”

you were a drooling mess, eyes rolled to the back of your head. “look at you.” he laughed condescendingly. “so full and fucked out all because you wanted to think with this nasty pussy and not your brain.” you moaned. “you should've called it quits with i said to.” he could feel himself about to cum again. “fuck im gonna cum inside this pussy again.” he moaned out , then you felt the warmness of his fifth load pouring inside you. “ugh fuck!”

he pulled out, cumming leaking out; you finally thought he was giving you a break. “nah baby im not done.” he flipped you on your back. “he-heeseung to-too much.” he smirked, still listening for a safeword. “you can take it.” was all you heard before he slammed back into you. “fuck!” you screamed. “oh my fucking god!” you choked out as he pounded into you. “that's it take my fucking cock.”

you felt like you were gonna burst , this entire time you had not cum, he didn't let you; that was your punishment. “you gonna cum?” he moaned out. “fuck yes!” the headboard slamming against the wall. “i shouldn't let you cum , since you wanna play games.” he growled. “i-i’m sorry , please let me cum im sorry.”

“say im stronger than you.” he said. “you-you're stronger than me heeseung -fuck- you know you are.” he was fucking with you, much like you were to him all those hours ago. “yeah i fucking know baby.” he grunted. “i can feel your pussy pulsing , cum for me , make a fucking mess.” he gave your clit a slap , just as you came, your juices squirting on him. “ah fuck heeseung!”

he frantically thrusted his hips, chasing his orgasm. “oh fuck baby, fuck baby.” he grunted. “im cumming.” he buried his head in your neck , pumping his last load inside you. “fuck!”

you felt him softening inside you; holding his shoulders. “fuck i think this is a new record of how many times i came inside.” he joked , slowly pulling out of you , his cum came pouring out of you. “all because you can't take a joke.” you pouted. “well baby.” he tapped the tip of his cock on your sensitive clit. “hee stop.” your legs twitched, he smirked.

“play stupid games win stupid prizes.”

©LUVYENI