#i think he got caught up for the sake of the story since every other adult that would take care of him is gone too

[lostandbackagain]

I understand that orpheus is like the personification of toxic nostalgia so his continued fixation on what he knows from childhood makes some sense but it's crazy to me that he's such a powerful mage and instead of going back to our world and making himself rich and hanging out, he'd rather be poor and miserable in the inkworld and be mean to small children if he thought it would make dustfinger upset

[just-j-really]

Snow White-adjacent Dreamling AU?

Dream is the prince of Time and Night's kingdom (with skin as pale as snow, and hair as black as ebony). Hob has some sort of huntsman-ish role in the palace. Dream goes out hunting fairly often, not for the sake of hunting itself but to have some space from the weight of his responsibilities (and from other people) and the ability to be alone with his thoughts. Maybe to mope a little.

Hob has liked Dream from the moment he set eyes on him, half-despite-half-because he was acting like an arrogant little snot at the time. And although Hob's initial infatuation was mostly just that, infatuation, he really did want to get to know Dream better. So when Death told Dream that he should get out among the people more, which led to Dream, grudgingly, attempting to make conversation with Hob the next time they were alone together, Hob genuinely made an effort to keep the conversation going and get to know him. They meet up every month or so, Hob talks about what he's been up to, a beautiful friendship blossoms, etc.

But they're in a weird space, with each other. Hob thinks of Dream as a friend, and Dream... wants to do the same, but he's too aware of the difference in their stations and the politics of the court, the way it would be so easy for Hob to just be- pretending to like Dream, in order to get something from him. He wouldn't even have to try very hard. Dream's lonely.

And maybe, given enough time, they could have reached an understanding. But the problem is, everyone is aware of Dream's tendency to be alone, in the dangerous forest, with only his huntsman for company, and someone (Night? Time? Desire?) gets Hob alone and asks/bribes/orders him to kill Dream next time they go out hunting.

Hob does not want to do this. Obviously. But the person who ordered him to do it is literally royalty and could have him painfully executed if he doesn't. Not to mention that he has no idea how deep the conspiracy against Dream goes, if there's anyone else in the palace he can trust to help, who'd go running straight to Dream's enemies if they caught him making plans. But he can at least warn Dream, right? Maybe come up with some sort of plan to fake Dream's death and get him to safety.

So the next time Dream goes hunting, as soon as they're far enough from the palace, Hob tells Dream that his father ordered him to ensure that Dream didn't come home from this little excursion.

Dream, obviously, assumes that this is the prelude to Hob stabbing him, punches him in the face, and runs. Hob is left going "Wait! Come back! I said that really badly! I meant it as a warning, I want to help you!"

He chases after Dream, but between the punch and the fact that Dream has some level of magic powers over his namesake- either he made Hob hallucinate or put him to sleep for a bit- Hob isn't able to catch him. He panics for a bit, but he figures at this point the only thing he can do is feed Dream's enemies as much misinformation as possible. So he goes back to the palace and tells Time-or-whoever that he killed Dream and left the body in the woods, giving the completely wrong direction so that when/if someone goes searching for Dream's body they don't find him.

Now, obviously Time doesn't fully believe that Hob went through with it and killed Dream, especially since there's no body. But the fact that Hob's nose is fully broken helps sell the story, at least for a couple of days. Hob spends those days trying to figure out a way to sneak out of the palace- he doesn't want to be executed, but also, if it's at all possible, he wants to make sure Dream got away. (And as long as he's daydreaming, he'd like a chance to apologize.)

He gets his chance when Death tries to kill him for killing her little brother. Unlike Dream, she actually gives Hob the chance to explain, and when he does, she helps him sneak out (under strict orders that he find Dream).

Hob is much happier to obey those.

Meanwhile, Dream has found shelter with a group of raven shapeshifters living in the woods (definitely Matthew, Jessamy, and Lucienne, maybe include other Dreaming residents to make seven). He is much happier being Dream, who lives in the woods and writes stories, than he was being Dream, prince who is hated to the point of assassination attempts. He's maybe making a little money granting people restful sleep and good dreams using his powers. He misses Hob, though. With some distance from the utter betrayal and terror of the moment Hob said he'd been sent to kill him, he's beginning to wonder if he hadn't overreacted, maybe just a smidge. But that's all tied up in and complicated by the fact that he's also beginning to realize he was probably in love with Hob, and he's not sure he can trust any of what he feels about him.

Unfortunately, the king of the neighboring kingdom, Roderick Burgess, hears about a powerful magic user living in the woods and decides to take that power for himself.

Double-unfortunately, Time realizes Dream is alive and sends one of Dream's former bodyguards, the Corinthian, to kill him. Dream's able to fight him off, but he's exhausted to the point of his powers turning on him and putting him into a coma, and that's when Burgess swoops in and captures him.

Dream is caught in a strange, deathlike sleep, making him mostly useless to Burgess. But having him nearby means that everyone around him sleeps peacefully, and occasionally has prophetic dreams, and Burgess is doing the same 'I'll force him to work for me' thing he does in canon except the logic is 'one day I'll figure out how to wake him up (and force him to work for me), and/or how to actively use his powers while he's still asleep.'

So Burgess has a glass coffin built for Dream, and seals him inside.

Back with Hob, he's spent most of this time on the run from Dream's enemies, unable to actively look for Dream, and slowly going mad with worry over what might have happened to him. He's also slowly, painfully come to realize that the feelings he'd felt for Dream were a little closer to 'love' than 'friendship'. It is a bad time. But eventually he hears rumors about Roderick Burgess, who 'rescued' a comatose prince from the woods and is offering a reward to anyone who can wake him up.

Hob goes chasing after these rumors- Dream showing up alive took a lot of the heat off him- eventually ends up in Burgess' kingdom, and decides to try his hand at waking up Coma Prince. Worst case scenario, it's not Dream. Best case scenario, it's Dream, he's able to rescue him and explain, and- well. Dream will go off and do whatever it is he wants to do, and maybe he and Hob can be friends.

(Hob doesn't let himself hope for anything more, any sort of soft little happily-ever-after.)

But for all that Roderick is pretending to have rescued Dream out of the goodness of his heart, Hob steps one foot into the room with the glass coffin and is immediately aware that isn't the case. He doesn't know much about magic, aside from the couple of times Dream showed off his powers for him. But it's not exactly difficult to spot that the glass coffin, and all the magic circles surrounding it, are somehow vampirically feeding off of Dream, and even though he only understands every third word of the larger explanation he's given, it's more than enough to confirm his suspicions. Burgess' fellow mages give Hob the tour of the apparatus, snickering among themselves because clearly this idiot won't be able to do anything magical that they couldn't. Hob nods along and plays up the 'idiot peasant with delusions of grandeur' vibe right up until everyone has stepped back to see what he'll do.

And then he drags his heel straight down the middle of the largest circle of runes, sending the spell completely haywire.

The backlash of the spell collapsing causes Roderick and his mages to pass out, and gives Hob time to smash open the glass coffin and get Dream away from all the spell circles.

But Dream doesn't wake up, even as the spell collapses. Just remains in Hob's arms, cool and lifeless.

Hob is not about to let it end like that. Sure, none of the most talented mages in the land had been able to wake Dream, but none of them tried getting him out of the stupid coffin, first, so Hob's clearly a step ahead of them already.

He sneaks out of Roderick's palace, carrying Dream, while Roderick and his servants are asleep. Gets him to relative safety (with the help of Jessamy, who'd been waiting for a chance to break Dream out and jumped in to help the moment Hob started breaking things).

And Dream's still in the weird death-trance but he isn't dead. Hob's sure of it. It might be wishful thinking but he swears Dream looks a little better now that they're away from Roderick's palace- a little more color in his cheeks, the faintest, threadiest suggestion of a pulse when Hob feels for one.

So Hob keeps a vigil at Dream's bedside that night, but eventually exhaustion causes him to drift off to sleep.

When he does, Dream is waiting for him.

"You need not have come to my defense," he says, staring at Hob suspiciously.

"Yes, I did," Hob tells him. "You're my friend. Of course I did."

Dream sizes him up for a long while. He's powerful enough, in this dreamscape, to tell that Hob genuinely means what he's saying. It takes a long time for him to decide it might be worth it to tell Hob how to shock him out of the dream he's trapped in (by fulfilling one of his most treasured dreams), but finally, he says, "You might be able to wake me up."

Hob's immediately like "Yes of course how whatever you need."

"Kiss me," Dream says, and then, while Hob is still trying to process that, "This dream is over."

And Hob wakes up.

And yeah, a good part of him dismisses the dream as some extremely strange wish-fulfillment fantasy. But it had seemed so real.

So, with the extremely romantic thought, alright it's worth a shot, Hob leans forward and kisses Dream.

Almost immediately, there's a little shiver of breath against his lips, and when he pulls away, Dream is blinking sleepily up at him.

Hob immediately pulls Dream into a hug, and by the time Dream is actually, fully conscious, Hob is sitting in the bed with him, supporting him with an arm around his shoulders, fussing over him just the tiniest bit frantically.

And Dream, eventually, manages to explain why Hob kissing him awake worked, which means that OBVIOUSLY Hob needs to kiss him some more.

(And they both get a soft little happily-ever-after)

[antoncyng]

౨ৎ. save my heart — l.mk

synopsis - while your bestfriend saved the city as the friendly neighborhood “spider-man”, he also gets caught up in saving your heart from a lost love.

warning(s) - fluff, slightly angst..? happy ending tho, kissing, spiderman!mark x fem!reader, slightly suggestive towards the end?, mentions of injuries and blood, bestfriends to lovers.

word count - 0.7k (731)

another night studying, calming music from your favorite group currently, TWS. the studying was seriously starting to get to your head, you felt it pounding as your rubbed your forehead, finally putting down your pencil for a break after hours and hours, then you heard it.

knock, knock, knock

you knew who and what it was just by the rhythm of knocks, it was your bestfriend, mark lee. other than your bestfriend, mark was also a well known superhero in your city, as well as around the world. his story about being bitten by a radioactive spider went viral, turning him into the friendly neighborhood spiderman.

you've made a realization over the years that you had gained feelings for your bestfriend, but having to push away your feelings for the sake of friendship and trust wasn't easy. ever since you made realization of these feelings, it hurt and left you with a heavy heart every time he talked about his past and previous crushes.

"yn she's so pretty, what am I gonna do?!"

“i asked her to eat lunch with me today! i might confess soon..”

“from a girl’s perspective, do you think gwen likes me?”

gwen this, gwen that.

"I don't think gwen likes me back.. she said I was like a brother to her when she was talking to hyuck.." was all he could choke out before leaning in and crying into your shoulder, feeling the fabric of your shirt get heavy from his tears over another girl, that wasn't you.

✦.

you heard muffled grunts and groans coming from mark outside your window, rushing to it to open it for him and help him inside, noticing how he stumbles and limps into your room. pulling his mask off his face as he sits on the floor with his back against your mattress and bed frame, laying his head back while sweats drips from his forehead and he’s hissing in pain with every contact that’s made with the fresh wounds on his body.

observing his body in his suit, you noticed scratches that went through his suit, they seemed deep but not enough to have any serious injuries. shocked, you sat there, too scared to touch him in such a vulnerable state, you’ve dealt with marks small scratches and bruises a few days after his “villain” fights, but you’ve never had to deal with fresh wounds like these.

“are you gonna sit and stare or help me out here?” he said with a sarcastic tone and a slight laugh, only to be cut off by a hiss and groan of pain. that was your signal to jog towards the kitchen and get your emergency medkit, bringing it back to mark and taking out everything you would need to help him heal his open wounds.

“u-uh.. mark..?” you said quietly after making a realization, and what you got was a curious hum in response, knowing he was in too much pain to respond to your sudden concern. "you're gonna have to.. take your shirt off.. only for me to help you!" darkness was all you could see when you squeezed your eyes shut in embarrassment after rushing out your sentence, only to hear a chuckle with a hint of pain coming from mark.

“you can open your eyes, you know.” you heard before peaking one eye open, only to be met with a shirtless mark and a heated blushing face. you hesitated, but started to help the boy with his cuts and bruises, blushing harder everytime you looked up and made eye contact, not knowing he was staring at you and only you the whole time you were healing him.

after many whines and hisses of pain, all bandaids and ointments were over. “thank you yn.. sometimes i think, i genuinely don’t know what i would do without you, you know? you’ve been there for me forever and for everything, even when i was sad because my mom couldn’t buy me ice cream when we were like.. 6, you shared yours with me! i feel like i would be so hopel-“ but he was cut off by your lips on his, you don’t know what got into you, but hearing him ramble on and on just pulled you in. but what you didn’t expect, was for him to kiss back so quickly.

the butterfly feeling in your stomach increased when you felt his fabric covered fingers make contact with the skin of your hips, closing the gap between your bodies. the two of you pulled away after realizing you both needed to breathe, looking at each other like you’ve been waiting a whole lifetime for this moment. snapping back into reality, you started blushing and attempted to look away, only to be brought back by mark’s index and thumb gently gripping your chin.

“don’t look away now, you meant that kiss right? because i know i did.” he said, looking for any sign of uncomfort or sarcasm in your eyes, but all he found was adoration. “of course i did..” was all you could mumble back, mark felt a weight lift off his shoulders before leaning in and resting his forehead against yours.

“you don’t know how long i’ve been waiting for you to save my heart, just like you save the city.

antoncyng ‘24 — PLEASE DO NOT STEAL OR COPY!

nini’s note — sorry the ending might be kinda rough.. i’ve had this in my drafts for a little while and have been dreading to finish it until today.. 🥲🥲

[stinkywritin]

SpideyLix blurb

Synopsis: Felix has been Spider-Man for a few months now and he feels like he’s gotten the hang of the job, until he has to save his life long crush from a dangerous situation

*short story I came up with and wanted to get out asap cause I’ve had severe Spidey-Lix brainrot*

Warnings: intended male reader, mild swearing, absolutely no grammar or spell checking, honestly just a little over 3300 words of cringe dialogue/action

It’s been five months since he got bit, three months since he unofficially took up the job of Spider-Man, but he’s spent two years crushing over y/n l/n and Felix is still nowhere near being confident enough to ask him out. He spends his evenings swinging down the busy city streets and helping people from getting mugged, for fucks sake just last week he caught a runaway bus that had its brakes give out before it went crashing into oncoming traffic; and yet every time y/n sends him a small smile Felix feels his knees start to give out underneath him. The two boys had been acquaintances since kindergarten, y/n had moved across the street from Felix and he has been smitten for his new neighbor ever since five year old Felix saw five year old y/n trying to ride his scooter on his front lawn. He liked to think it was love at first sight; while on his nightly patrols Felix’s brain would rattle with thoughts of y/n, he’d replay all his favorite interactions with his crush while daydreaming about what a relationship with y/n would look like. Felix took his role of Spider-Man very seriously, he felt it was his responsibility to use his abilities for good instead of for his own gain or to put down others. He had years of having his kindness being taken advantage of, he always tried to help the people around him even before he got bit by the spider, which meant Felix knew firsthand how negative the world around him could be and how greedy humans were capable of being. But he also knew that the good always overpowered the evils around him, so Felix tried his hardest to be a source of good in the world.

But he was still human, he was still only one person. One person who was head over heels for the boy across the street.

Felix shot a web at a light pole, swinging over the roofs of the cars below him while he swung back home from his nightly patrol. He’d start immediately after class got out — sometimes beforehand but he rarely cut class for Spider-Man duties — and swing by all the local shops in the area before moving into the main city. Felix would scope out from rooftops, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious before moving along, trying his best to keep a low profile but daylight made it difficult. Once the sun sets is when Felix would consider the work to really start.

With the nightfall usually comes a wave of pickpockets or other threatening types, this is when Felix’s heightened senses come to help him become more attentive to the dark city streets.

It’s a windy Friday night at 8:56 pm, Felix is perched on the rooftop of a tall brick building, surveying the busy street corner below. He’s across from a corner store, one of his regular checkpoints since he’s — sadly— had to stop a lot of robberies and fights at this shop in the past, Felix would often hang out near the shop if he knew there was only one employee on the clock, acting as a makeshift bodyguard from the shadows. He’s just about to take out his phone to check his messages—mostly his aunt asking him to pick up groceries or his best friend Hyunjin spamming with photos of his art and dog— when he spots a familiar figure walk up the front door of the corner store. It wasn’t rare for Felix to see y/n outside of class, and yet it still caught him by surprise every time. He sees y/n pull on the front door, hearing the familiar door chime and his crush’s sweet voice greeting the employee. Felix is still gushing about how nice you are—he thinks it’s so sweet that you try to greet everyone so kindly—when he catches sight of a hooded figure clambering into the shop. He feels a familiar chill run down his spine and the hairs on his arm standing up, Felix doesn’t think twice before leaping off the rooftop and swinging to the entrance of the shop.

Felix takes a quick glance into the shop through the glass door, he sees the hooded man holding a gun at face level to the young and terrified cashier with one hand and using his other arm to harshly grip y/n in a headlock. He doesn’t need to hear anything to know the man is holding y/n hostage, intending to hurt the innocent boy if the cashier doesn’t comply with his demands, and Felix knew he could not let that happen. With all his previous ‘nightly patrol endeavors’—as he liked to call them, Felix always felt a sense of urgency to make sure all the surrounding civilians were safe but seeing the boy he cared so deeply about being in danger caused Felix to feel a sudden rush of perturbation.

Felix swung the door open, thankfully slipping into the store unnoticed by the only other people in the shop; the cashier, the guy holding y/n hostage, and y/n, the crush of his life. Felix shot a web at the man’s gun, shocking the guy while Felix yanked it from his grasp before he could process that he was suddenly unarmed.

“Listen I don’t know if you read the sign out front or not-“ Felix casually talks and now points to a paper sign taped on the front glass door reading ‘no weapons allowed’. He continues, now that he has everyone’s attention, “or if you even can read, but this here’s against the rules pal.”

While Felix was chatting, his hands were busy disassembling the gun he just took from the man, he had taken the barrel out of the weapon before throwing the separate pieces above him and webbing them to the ceiling. He had effectively disarmed the assailant, but he still had y/n in his grip. “Alright now let the innocent guy go and we can all just head on home.”

He was sure that the cashier had already pressed the panic button underneath the counter—a device he designed in his bedroom after he stopped the fourth person trying to rob that specific corner store— but Felix offered the possibility of letting him go as a way to try and buy himself some time.

The guy answered, “Until this fucker gives me whatever’s in the register,” the man had pulled a small pocket knife from his back pocket—a move Felix didn’t account for—and held it up to the bottom of y/n’s chin, “I’m not letting anyone out of here.”

The tip of the assailant’s knife ends up piercing y/n’s chin, only beginning to break the skin but causing a few drops of crimson to start falling towards his neck. Felix can pick up on a small whimper he hears from y/n, his sense of hearing seemed to also heighten from the spider bite, which meant even now he could faintly hear the sound of y/n’s heart hammering in his chest.

In a move that can best be described as utterly batshit, before he can think twice Felix shoots a web that catches onto the hands of the robber’s knife—and part of his hand. He pulls back on the web before shooting a second one that lands on y/n’s shirt and yanking the boy forward, effectively removing y/n from the assailant’s grasp and into his arms but now that meant Felix had two separate people to protect and one criminal he had attached to the end of his web. Felix didn’t even have a chance to gush over the fact that he—well, okay more accurately Spider-Man—had his crush pulled flush against his chest with his left arm wrapped securely around his waist, if it weren’t for the fact that the robber had just now seemed to snap back into reality and was coming after him, Felix would be freaking out about how perfectly y/n fits in his arms.

Felix prided himself on being able to think clearly under pressure, trying to stay level headed at all times was part of the job, but having y/n in the scenario suddenly made waves of anxiety flow through him. In an effort to keep him safe, Felix began rapid firing webs at the assailant barreling towards him in the hopes of momentarily stopping him. Luckily one of these lands directly between the guy’s eyes and causes him to stumble backwards in a daze, trying to pull the webbing off his face. Felix uses this chance to dash behind the counter and drop y/n next to the cashier while muttering, “stay here I’ll be right back I swear!” He heard the robber’s angry grunts as he continued trying to clean his face and Felix knew now was his perfect chance, he’d blinded him but he needed to act fast.

He jumped on top of the counter and shot two webs at the ceiling, using them to slingshot his body across the store and kick the mugger in the face. The robber fell backwards into some shelves of chips and landed on his back while shouting. He still had the webbing across his face and while laying back against the shelf, Felix webs his legs to the floor to trap the guy in place. The sound of police sirens began growing louder in the distance, Felix looked up and could see the red lights starting to flash through the window. He ran back behind the counter as he heard the officers enter the store, looking for y/n and the store clerk he told to hide.

“Hey you doing okay there?” Felix says, the mask muffling the sound of his voice. He heard the officers starting to handcuff the assailant and cutting the webs to get him off the floor, Felix extended a hand out to y/n to pull the boy up to his feet.

“Yeah” y/n stutters out, “I’m all good just a scratch.” Felix’s worry still didn’t die down, the boy had a knife pressed up to his head just a few minutes ago yet here he was acting as if it was no big deal.

“Okay well if you need anything I can help okay?” Felix replied before addressing both his crush and the store clerk, “I’m gonna bounce since it looks like the cops got this covered now.”

“Thank you Mr. Spider-Man I don’t know what I’d do without your help,” the store clerk says, gratitude coating his words.

“Let’s hope we don’t find out sir,” Felix jokes, trying to cut the serious tone in the air. He’d been doing the job for a while and receiving praise still made him slightly uncomfortable, not because he wasn’t appreciative but because he felt like still wasn’t doing enough.

Felix swings out the front door that was left propped open from the cops, ignoring the shouts from the police telling him to stay. Felix never sticks around to talk to the police since they always try to figure out his identity or try to get him to stop doing his patrols, he tried to stay in his lane not get his identity figured out. As he swings to the rooftops and starts making his way back to his bedroom, Felix’s brain was full of thoughts of y/n and how to potentially comfort him.

—-

The lunchroom was its usual busy and loud scene, the long rectangular tables full of chatting students and halfway decent food. Felix was sat as his usual spot across from his best friend Hyunjin, the only person he could trust with his secret, mostly because he knew how nosey his best friend was and he knew he could never hide something that big from him. Hyunjin immediately noticed how his best friend suddenly became busier in the evenings and showing up the next day with bruises on his knuckles or a black eye, it took two days for Hyunjin to confront his best friend about this new behavior and Felix came clean when he saw the worry in his friend’s eye. Since then Hyunjin has been his trusted confidant and occasionally helped him hide his identity from the public and especially his aunt, he started calling him his “bestie in the chair” much to Hyunjin’s dismay.

Last night after the incident at the corner store and once he snuck into his bedroom without waking up his aunt, Felix spam texted his best friend about ‘saving the love of his life from danger.’ Hyunjin immediately asked for more details and the two spent way too long texting, only for this conversation to continue into the next day.

“You need to tell him it was you!” Hyunjin said after taking a swig from his water bottle. “You saved his life he’ll definitely notice you now!”

“Thanks for the reminder he doesn’t remember I exist dude.” Even with the close proximity due to them living in the same neighborhood, Felix could never bring himself to talk to y/n for longer than five minutes and even then he felt like he never left a lasting impression. Sure y/n always gave him a smile in the hallways and tried to make small talk if he ever saw Felix, but before the spider bite Felix’s nerves wouldn’t let him make eye contact or any form of normal interaction. Even now with the heightened senses and the new air of confidence — he’s Spider-Man even if he wasn’t in the suit it still always made him feel a little cool — his heart still stuttered every time he saw y/n’s kind eyes.

“Yeah but I bet he definitely remembers Spider-Man saving his ass from a robber” Hyunjin whisper shouts, quickly darting his head around to see if anyone could overhear him, even though the school deemed them as lonely art nerds and mostly left them alone. “I heard him talking to his friends in gym and he said he would do anything to repay him for saving his life.”

Felix poked around his food with his fork, he missed making his own lunches but he didn’t have any free time to prepack or cook. “He’s not gonna believe me,” Felix furrowed his brows at his friend before continuing, “and besides, I’m not gonna use Spider-Man as a way to try and get a date that doesn’t feel right.”

“You’re too responsible for your own good Lix” Hyunjin sighed before putting his cafeteria cookie on his friend’s plate, knowing his affinity for sweets.

—-

The shrill sound of the last bell ringing floods Felix’s ears as he jumps up from his seat and makes his way towards his locker to grab his ‘Spidey-bag’ —the one he kept his suit and extra equipment in which Hyunjin unfortunately named. He’s already started mentally preparing his route for his daily patrol when he sees a familiar figure propped up against his locker.

“Hi Felix!” Y/n cheerily greeted the blonde with a small wave and for a second Felix forgot what he even needed from his locker. He awkwardly waved back, a gesture that made the grin on y/n’s face grow wider.

“H y/n,” they stood a few feet apart from each other, with y/n leaning against the other’s locker with his hands now stuffed in his jacket pockets. “Everything okay?”

Y/n chuckled before responding, “Yeah I was just wondering if we could walk back home together?” The question made Felix’s eyes widen slightly while his heart pounded even faster against his ribcage.

“Uh sure,” Felix stuttered out, his cheeks and nose surely bright red now. “Just uh, why are you asking me now? Not that I don’t mind! It’s just, I uh-“ He was a stuttering mess who surely just scared away his crush, Felix thought. Only to hear another giggle erupt from y/n’s mouth, the blonde can see y/n’s ear-to-ear grin.

“Well you said if I needed any help you could help me right?” Y/n replied, Felix started searching his brain for clues as to when he said something like that. A glint of mischief appears in y/n’s eyes when he sees the blonde’s look of confusion, so he gestures to a small bandaid beneath his chin before continuing, “You said so yesterday, remember?”

It suddenly dawned on Felix that while he technically never made any offers, Spider-Man did. He still decided he’d try to play dumb, so he exhales as nonchalantly as he can act before saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about y/n I’m-“

“No I think you do,” y/n pushes himself off of Felix’s locker to come closer, thankfully by this point the hallways have cleared out leaving the two boys in complete privacy for the time being. Y/n gets a few steps closer before finishing, “I think you remember exactly what you told me, Spidey.”

Felix’s eyes widen in shock before he starts to deny everything, stuttering nonsense while avoiding eye contact.

“Felix I think I would know my neighbor is Spider-Man especially after seeing him fall into his bedroom window last night” y/n’s comment stuns Felix into shocked silence. His bedroom window faced the front of y/n’s house, anyone walking down the neighborhood probably would’ve seen him if they just looked up. The two boys stand in silence for a few moments, Felix processing the shock of someone else finding out his identity while y/n patiently waiting on a response.

“Look okay,” Felix lets out a sigh of defeat. He continues, “literally no one else besides my best friend knows please you can’t tell anyone about this”

Y/n cuts him off by softly responding, “I’m not gonna tell anyone don’t worry Felix.” The smile on y/n’s face is warm and if this were any other situation Felix would be gushing over how cute he is, however he let out a sigh of relief knowing his secret would be safe. “I just wanted to thank you for, yknow, saving me last night.”

“Just doing my job,” Felix shyly responds while trying his best to keep eye contact, the pink tint reappearing on his freckled face. He hadn’t noticed how close y/n had gotten until he was a mere centimeters away, “being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

“Still,” y/n placed a short peck on the blonde’s cheek before continuing, his voice barely above a whisper, “thank you, I mean it thank you so much Felix”

The spot on his cheek tingled, he felt like his heart was either beating so hard he couldn’t feel it anymore or it’s completely stopped. Felix raised a hand to touch where y/n had pecked him, not once breaking eye contact. Felix gazed into y/n’s e/c eyes, while no words were exchanged he could see the admiration and fondness in y/n’s eyes mirrored his own. They’d have to talk it through but right now that was all the clarity Felix needed to know his feelings were reciprocated.

“So you gonna walk me home now or?” Y/n’s soft voice broke the silence and Felix’s face erupted into a wide grin.

The look of shock on Felix’s face is broken by a sly smirk, “How about something faster?”

—

“Hold on tight okay?” Felix jumped a little when y/n first wrapped his arms securely around his neck, followed by his legs wrapping around Felix’s midsection. This wasn’t the first time Felix had swung around while carrying someone but this was the first time he would be swinging his crush back to his place, that time he carried Hyunjin wasn’t as nerve wracking as this. Felix had led y/n to the rooftop after sneakily putting his suit on in the empty bathroom stalls, all while trying not to freak out that his crush seemed to like him back just as intensely.

“If you drop me I’m suing Spider-Man for damages” y/n jokes while securing his koala grip around Felix, subtly trying to admire how the blonde looks in his red and blue suit.

“Not gonna happen sweetheart,” Felix shoots his first web and starts to make a running start to launch himself into the air. “I got you, don't worry.”

AN: thanks for reading, I’ll probably update this with another short blurb cause I love spideylix so much:,) -V

[mischiefmaker615]

Ghost (Loki Love Story) Ch.22

Your eyes quickly looked up to the smirking god of mischief who sat calmly across from you at the table. This is about the seventh time you’ve had to move your legs in a different position before he sought them out with his own again to rub against you under the table. Apparently warning looks weren’t helping and there was nowhere else you could sit while Steve continued with the meeting.

Now and again you were sure he knew what was up and caught some irritation in his voice while he spoke. That reaction seemed to then trigger Loki doing it again, almost giving off a smug look he failed to hide while you pressed your legs together.

Ever since you both left the bathroom after your.. moment.. the rest of the morning while you headed towards the meeting had been filled with nothing but sexual innuendos and his hands “accidentally” brushing up against particular parts of you- mostly your ass.

The very thought of your moment with Loki had your cheeks reddening and your thighs squeezing together again while you trained your eyes on Steve. Any attention off of Loki- especially on Steve made him rub against your ankle harder- it’s not like you had a choice?? Steve was running a meeting!

You thought about kicking him in the leg, but something told you you’d pay for it later.. yet the gods blessed you to having the urge to pee where you then raised a hesitant hand up and paused Steve’s talking.

‘’bathroom run..’’ you said apologetically and stood, Steve giving you just a nod with a blank expression before it gave Loki a distasteful one when he stood up too.

‘’stuck together, you know how it goes.’’ He chuckled, raising his hands with a small shrug but looked anything other than disappointed where you sighed and had him follow you out.

The feeling of his slender hand then finally run along your lower back to pull your side against his made your skin feel like it was tingly and your cheeks redden.

‘’so darling, do you actually need a bathroom break or are you wanting a bathroom break?” he winked, trying to search your face to see if you had just secretly got you both out of there to continue your.. activities before you gave him a dry look.

‘’bathroom break.’’

Loki raised his hands again in a surrender position yet his smirk remained. ‘’very well darling, I’m sure waiting outside in the family facilities would be not to far to be teleported.. unless you want me to go inside and-‘’

‘’the family bathroom is a single unite and is relatively close to the wall. It should be fine if you wait outside without having yourself teleported.’’ You said with the same dry sound, hoping he’d catch on to your disappointment on how he had totally interrupted the meeting.

Loki didn’t get the hint as he lowered his hand at your side every so slightly to try to sneak his fingers under your shirt before you shook him off a little.

‘’we’re in public- would you mind just watering down your actions a notch??” you scolded but he merely chuckled as he kept his pace with yours that quickened.

‘’so you are referring to the fact that if we weren’t in public, my affections would be acceptable?”

You merely gave him a ‘watch it’ look before you gripped the handle to the bathroom. ‘’I won’t be long.’’ You told him and he gave you a nod, leaning against the wall as if to wait with his arms crossed while his gaze watched you disappear.

As soon as the door closed behind you, you felt yourself exhale and your shoulders slump to relax yourself finally.

Fuckkkkkkkk last night was truly amazing.. but he seemed to now think it could happen anywhere. He seemed quite adjusted to this whole thing, having no problem to this whole ‘stuck together’ situation but honestly- you needed air. There was nothing wrong with being together but.. for gods sakes you needed privacy in the damn bathroom region of the issue.

Running a hand through your hair, you freshened up with some water in your face before a deep breath. ‘’just finish the meeting, then back to figuring this thing out..’’ you told yourself, knowing Loki used every excuse to try to get out of it or avoid it but- no. no no no. this was happening. You took hold of the doorknob, chest puffed up to be firm and took a step forward.. only to take several back when ‘speak of the devil’ collided his lips with yours, pushing you with the door slamming shut behind him until your back found the wall.

‘’for gods sakes Loki- bathroom sex??” you whined, never really fond of the idea but by his wondering hands and lips over you, he may be able to convince you as you pressed your hands against his chest to separate you both.

‘’if your facility is so adamant with following orders than im sure your janitor followed his.’’ Loki said, finding it clean enough to hoist you up and sit you onto the bathroom counter, his slender hands gripping your hips while he moved his body to stand between your legs.

‘’that’s not the damn point- we have a m-meeting to go too-‘’ you tried to reason, finding it hard to think while Loki leaned forward and began brushing his lips along your neck, adding open mouth kisses while inhaling your sweet scent he loved so much. ‘’d-don’t you want to take things so?-‘’

‘’darling, I don’t remember your preference being slow’’ he winked before a hand reached up to rest behind your head, pulling you forward so he could get a hold of your earlobe and nibble, causing goosebumps running up your skin while you shivered.

‘’but the meet-‘’

‘’the meeting was boring and pointless. Rogers just calls it so he can just keep an actual eye on us.’’ Loki brushed it off, working his hands up your shirt now while your own gripped his shoulders.

‘’but he had an idea to get us to work until we figure things out-‘’

Loki paused his movements, slowly pulling back enough to look at her with a raised brow and a questionable expression. ‘’when did you have time to talk to him?”

‘’when you were in the bathroom.’’ You told him with a small shrug.

‘’when I was in the- this morning?? What the hell is he doing up that early?” Loki said with irritation while he furrowed his brows.

‘’it wasn’t that early.. we were almost late to the meeting but apparently not really. He always does his jog- er.. run in the morning before he begins to prepare for the debriefing.’’

‘’I don’t even want to know how you are aware of that’’ Loki shook his head and sighed, resting his forehead against your shoulder like a pouting child while his hands rest at your thighs. ‘’I want sex..’’ he said quietly.

‘’now don’t tell me just because we.. did it, it now has made you needy.’’ You gently tease him as you ran a hand against his back, the other tangling in his hair where he moans at how you scratch gently.

‘’I really didn’t desire to leave that room Y/N.. ever..’’ he breathed, growing an erection at the memories from this morning and it made his hand glide around to your hips, puling you more forward against him while his face nose to be nose to nose with you. ‘’don’t tell me you aren’t needy too..’’

Your cheeks reddened, fingers gripping his shoulders while you felt the urge to instinctively close your legs while you looked at him. ‘’you were.. amazing Loki..’’ you breathed, feeling arousal as your teeth captured your bottom lip while Loki’s nose playfully rubbed against yours. ‘’but we need to get back to the meeting.. there will be plenty of time after to-‘’

‘’done.’’ Say no more, Loki took hold of your hand and helped you off the counter, a blush creeping upon your cheeks but you couldn’t help the small smile tug at your lips as he confidently lead you out of the bathroom and back to the meeting room.

Steve was still going on about files Loki was still sure wasn’t important, when he paused to look at them enter. ‘’took awhile..’’ he said dryly, clearly looking at Loki while he gave him a smug look.

‘’we got caught up discussing just how fascinating this all was.’’ Loki said sarcastically and resumed his seating across from you where you sheepishly sat down and sighed, trying to break the two up.

‘’carry on..’’

‘’honestly you both are like an old married couple.. but divorced.’’ Tony ‘complimented’ while he sat back with his arms crossed impatiently.

‘’anyway-‘’ Steve dragged on before continuing.

 While Natasha gave you a few looks, nonverbally asking if you two actually did it in the bathroom, Loki began resuming his rubbing against your leg, causing your attention to be split while Steve gave an irritating tone while he tried to power through. The moment you jumped a little by Loki’s somehow-skilled movements with just his leg, Roger’s threw his hands up and huffed.

‘’will you for once in your life just-‘’

*BOOM*

Someone violent seemed to shake the building, causing you all to jump to your feet and look around.

‘’what the hell is that??” Clint asked, looking around while Tony raised up his wrist device.

‘’Jarvis- what are we looking at here??”

The tower shook violently again, a loud explosion being heard from somewhere below them while it felt like a drawn out earthquake. The lights began flickering, alarms could be heard down the halls where Nat had to cover her ears briefly with a wince.

‘’seems like something shot into the tower- a missile of some sort but a smaller type, it looks like- hang on!’’ Tony yelled, everyone bracing and some gripping the large table before another harsh jolt of the tower could be felt, Clint losing balance while Loki pulling up along side you with an arm around your waist.

‘’now’s a perfectly good time to end the meeting, right?”

‘’not now Loki- everyone else head out, suit up, I have a feeling this is coming from-‘’ Tony cut off Steve as he growled out the word Hydra, everyone losing balance once another missile hit, causing some of the ceiling boards to fall down and break apart upon impact.

‘’lets go, come on!’’ Steve ushered, standing by the door as he let everyone hustle out- Tony, Clint, Nat and Loki- Y/N holding onto Loki’s hand where you were almost out the door yourself before you both fell onto the ground after another violent shake.

‘’you okay?” Loki asked, getting to his hands and knees while you rolled over off your back.

‘’yeah I’m-‘’

‘’watch out!” Steve yelled, grabbing Loki’s arm and yanking him back as a piece of ceiling collapsed between you both.

‘’Y/N come on-‘’ Loki yelled, struggling to his feet by the swaying building while you raised a knee to get up.

Just before you could stand there was a horrible ripping sound while the building shook before you felt yourself sliding back away from Loki. Your nails dug into the floor, trying to anchor yourself while you glanced behind you to see that the floor was falling apart and down a couple floors below.

‘’Loki-‘’

‘’hang on!”’ he yelled, getting onto his belly and crawling towards the ledge you hung off in as if the floor had literally made a cliff. ‘’take my hand-‘’ he told you, Steve having to back off as the floor in front of him crumbled, leaving you and Loki on crumbling floor patches held by barely a thread while he clung to the now useless doorway.

‘’almost-‘’ you breathed, your fingertip brushing against Loki’s before another blast was shot, this time you could see the flames from the broken window beside you where you quickly covered your head, the glass scattering beside you before you felt yourself being elevated into the air. Once you opened your eyes you could see yourself falling, your back towards the ground as you passed several floors whose floors had collapsed too. As soon as you felt like you were going to hit the ground- squeezing your eyes shut, you suddenly felt strong arms envelope around you while you fell, opening your eyes to see Loki holding you close.

There was a sense of relief upon seeing him, even though you both now were falling through the broken floors, some pieced scraping against your sides and legs that still clung to the original frame before you suddenly hit the ground with a thud, pain shooting through your body where your cheek rested against Loki’s chest, indicating he had used himself to absorb most of the impact so you could land on him.

‘’-you okay?..’’ Loki grunted, a hand on the back of his head where he winced from hitting it on the ground.

‘’y-yeah.. are you oka- look out!’’ you screamed, by the gods mustering up the strength to shove him out of the way while the building’s ceiling came crashing down amongst you both, causing darkness and dust to be in the air while Loki heard a gut-wrenching scream come from amongst the rubble.

‘’Y/N?! Y/N!!’’ he yelled, ignoring his pains while he looked around, coughing while he waved the dust from in front of him to see, moving broken concrete and wood out of the way before he finally turned the corner of the largest piece to find you.

Pain shot up in waves through your back, your fingers curling into fists on the ground while you stayed laying on your side while your legs kicked out to try to wretch yourself free and your hands searched for something to pull at. It hurt so much- you felt like you wanted to throw up while your skin began growing cold and your face draining. ‘’L-Loki..’’

‘’I’m here Y/N I’m here-‘’ he breathed, kneeling down at your side as his hands hovered over your body, not sure if he should touch you while his eyes searched for injuries. That’s when he saw it..

Amongst the largest part of concrete rubble, your wings stayed pin right underneath them.

‘’oh gods..’’ Loki whispered, his voice hushed as to not scare you while his eyes frantically looked over the rock. Using his shoulder and arms, he rammed against it, hearing a yelp leave your lips while he used all his god strength to try to push it off. ‘’fuck..’’ he cussed, Midgardian language slipping out as he ran his fingers through his hair while his eyes widened, trying to figure out what to do.

‘’Loki..’’ you breathed, your voice weak as you tried taking in proper breaths through your shock.

‘’yes Y/N? yes? What do you need?” he asked, his voice shaky as he immediately knelt at your side, a hand grasping yours that shook just as much as yours.

‘’Loki… cut them off..’’

Tag List: @violethaze @fire-in-her-veinz

[interestingturnofthetables]

Backrooms Fiddlesix AU? Anyone??

Where ~30y/o Ford and Fidds get stuck in the backrooms and slowly go crazy!! (og backrooms. None of these ‘levels’ or monsters or whatever)

More details under the cut, (It sorta got away from me so now I guess I'm writing a backrooms AU fic)

With no one else for company, they both start going a bit mad just looking at the same yellow tinged wallpaper for miles and miles in every direction. After a good few weeks months of being stuck in this place, they’ve made a little camp site set up in one corner of a particularly large hallway that neither of them stray too far from for fear of losing the only person they have for the time being here.

One night (day? Who knows. It’s not like there are any windows) when Ford has gotten to sleep, he has a dream where he meets a particularly cheerful yellow triangle; and what a nice break from the hollow melancholic monotony that’s become so commonplace over the past few months this little guy is. So it’s an extra great surprise when he starts to hear that same cheerful almost physically warming voice in his wake too! He finally has someone else to talk to! Won’t Fidds be just ecstatic to know they’re not as alone as they thought? But maybe it’d be nice to keep this a secret, just for a bit. After all, it’s been so long since Ford has had anything that’s just his. For months now, everything they have they’ve shared for the sake of surviving in this neverchanging hell. It’d be nice to have somethingone just for himself. Just a few more days. Then he’ll tell his friend. Just a few days longer…

Fiddleford has started to notice a strange change in his companion in the past couple of weeks. Sure, over the months they’d slowly become more reserved, both attempting to come to grips with the reality of their situation. They’d begun to run out of fresh conversation topics; their silences growing more and more stretched by the day. But Ford isn’t silent. More and more often Fidds has come back to their home (yes, home. That’s what our little staked out hallway has become to us. At least, he thinks it’s ‘us’) after his usual walk up and down the marked halls only to hear his partner talking just beyond the walls.

At first he didn’t think much of it. Just Ford trying to pass the time, fill the eerie, stale silence of the air, mumbling to himself maybe some memories of his childhood. Lord knows Fidds has done the same recently, why else would he insist on so many walks alone?

As the days go on, he starts to catch full sentences as he nears home. Sometimes even small bits of soft laughter. Gosh, he hasn’t heard that sound since probably week 2 of this prison! It never lasts, however. Without fail, just before Fidds steps around the corner of their hallway, Ford falls silent; almost as eerily as their constant surroundings. He’s begun to grow worried about his friend.

There have been a few times recently when —and Fiddleford isn’t proud to admit this — on his way back home, he’d be sure to stay extra quiet, lingering right next to the wall, trying to catch some longer glimpses of his partner’s conversations (because that is what they are he’s realised. Excited, if not frantic, muttering followed by stretches of silence that somehow seem so different from their own; like Ford is hanging onto every unheard word, before jumping back to action with his own follow up remark). Who is he talking to? Fidds is yet to ask him this, of course. He fears the answer will only prove his suspicions; his only friend, only company, the only other person in this repetitive hellhole, is succumbing to madness. And Fiddleford dreads the thought of what would become of either of them then.

The one-sided conversations started off fine enough. He’s often heard Ford waxing poetic about a summer night’s breeze, constellations he once spent hours gazing at, or the dreams he had has of sailing the world one day. A couple of times he’s even caught Ford recounting old stories from college; these are often accompanied by a warm, hearty chuckle. Fiddleford has found himself smiling an awful lot more frequently whenever his partner would bring those memories up.

As the weeks continued, Fiddleford’s concern continues to grow heavier. The soft muttering which once had him holding his breath to make out, had turned to a perfectly regular volume as if speaking to someone across from him in a private room. It’s as if Ford wanted him to hear. But of course, that couldn’t be true. Because as soon as he’d round the corner of their home his partner would cease his speech (sometimes mid word!), immediately seeming on edge; so unlike the sound of his jovial voice not seconds before. He seems… jumpy… Scared… Secretive. Like he’s trying to hide this from Fiddleford. Obviously, he is. But why? They’d agreed to not keep things from each other. For both their sake's. They’re all the other has anymore. Why would he feel the need to hide from him? Does he know of Fiddleford’s concern for his mental state and wishes to not worry him more? If that’s the case, his progressively failing efforts are not doing him any favours.

Eventually it stops being a secret. They’ll be sitting together quietly, serving their food, and Ford would just… Speak. A completely nonsensical sentence with no prior context. And if Fiddleford didn’t know any better he’d assume he were the one going mad.

“Whas’at”

“Hm? Oh nothing, nothing… sorry.”

And what is he meant to say to that? It’s okay? It most certainly ain’t okay!

Even as Fiddleford feels himself losing it over the prospect of losing his only friend to this… sickness, he doesn’t bring it up. Ford certainly doesn’t seem as jumpy whenever he shows up in his line of sight anymore. So, Fidds rationalises, it must be okay. It has to be.

Until it’s definitely not. Until Fiddleford hears a half conversation on his walk home that makes his bones freeze, and his skin crawl with with the whispers of bad bad bad.

He’s not unused to hearing Ford speak of himself with his… — Fiddleford’s never put a name to it — but never like this. He’s never heard Ford question the 'necessity' of having him around. The 'usefulness' of his only true companion in this lonely world they’ve found themselves in for… how long now? (They’d drawn up a calendar on the wall at home, yet he can’t seem to recall the last time he’d cared to check it) Surely about a year at this point. Without the other, they’d both certainly have gone mad in this time. Maybe to an extent they already have. No. They have gone mad. It’s no matter of ‘maybe’. This isolation. This loss of time. These dang hollering overheard conversations! At least Fidds is still sane enough to recognise the signs. They need each other. He’s been stupid to let his partner fall this far into the horror of his head alone.

From now on his partner can’t hide this from him. He needs help. And by god is he gonna get it.

***

This has basically turned into a rough fic prologue. I have more planned that I’m not bothered to write out at the moment. I might fancy it up and post it to ao3 later too. If you bothered to read all this tho, thanks, please talk to me about it. It’s driving me insane thinking about them!!

[cowboybarzy]

see it with the lights out — mat barzal

SORRY!!! a bit late but it’s out!! I’m also not very proud of this but I wanted to publish it for you and didn’t really see myself write it any better lol I hope you still like it. but this part was just to get ready for the big finale!!!!!!!!!!

word count: 2.3k

masterlist read part 1 & 2 first

debate: are landos eyes blue or green? I definitely think they're green but sometimes appear blue so for the sake of this story they are green lol

THREE — you can see it with the lights out

October 19th

"Because he doesn't fucking love you like I do."

The harder you tried to push those words out of your brain, the more they repeated, reminding you that your best and longest friendship just imploded.

It had been five days since that night and all you had done was sit in your apartment going over and over every single moment you shared with Mat. You hadn't spoken to him since that night and don't know how to face him. After he said those words, you stared at each other in stunned silence until one of Mat's friends came over to talk to him, breaking up your discussion. Not soon after you left the bar, retreating to your apartment to wallow in peace.

Lando was supposed to come to New York a couple days ago to see you, before you both traveled to Texas for his race this weekend, but after what happened with Mat and now your feelings being all messed up, you felt guilty and told him you were sick. You felt guilty for rejecting him, but you needed a few days alone to collect yourself.

Having Mat's sister stay with you didn't make this situation any better, but she had friends in the city and you just pretended you had work to do so you could avoid the topic of her brother. She finally left yesterday and now you were on the elevator up to go see your boyfriend.

"Hi! Finally," Lando greeted you when he opened his hotel room door, pulling you into him immediately. "How are you?"

"Good," you answered, kissing him.

"Yeah? Not sick anymore?" He pulled you into the room, dragging your suitcase in and closing the door.

"No. Had some turbulences on the flight that made me feel nauseous, but all good now." His smile widened and his hands grabbed you by your hips. You immediately figured out what his face was saying and let him push you onto the bed.

"Good," he whispered and slowly leaned over you showing you just how much he missed you these past two weeks. Unfortunately, another brown haired boy was on your mind.

***

"You okay?," Lando asked, pulling you out of your deep thoughts. He ever so slightly brushed his finger against your cheek, gaining your full attention.

"Mhm." A certain pair of green eyes were haunting you and unfortunately they weren't your boyfriends. You pulled the bed sheet up, nodding, pushing the guilt away.

"Maybe not fully recovered then, huh?" He pressed his lips against your forehead. "So, how was New York? We've barely talked since the weekend."

"I know, I'm sorry. Just had a lot of things to do and people to see and obviously didn't feel great." You told him about your time at home, what you did and saw. About the hockey game – but purposefully left out the party after.

Talking to him got easier as time went on and he caught you up on his last few days as well. "Wait, I got something for you." Lando stood up, not caring about walking around the hotel suit naked. He came back with a little jewelry box. "This was a lot harder to find than I thought it would be."

You opened the box to find a dainty charm bracelet, a singular charm hanging from it – a little formula one car. "Aw. I love it. Thank you." You kissed him gently, before he placed the bracelet on your wrist. "And I love you." While those words rolled easily off your tongue, your heart didn't mean them and your stomach turned at the realization.

"Room service?"

November 13th

For Lando's birthday, he had spent a few days in England with his family which you couldn't make due to having to work. But you joined him and his friends for the real celebrations in Mexico.

Except for those few mandatory office days, you hadn't been back in New York since that weekend. You were too scared to bring up any of the emotions you were trying so hard to push away. And it was working great so far. At least until you opened Instagram and saw all of the New York Islanders posts that often included pictures of Mat. You avoided those posts, but every once in a while, you broke down and fell down the stalking rabbit hole. But you told yourself you just missed your friendship.

He still hadn't reached out and neither had you. You were too scared to hear what he had to say that would ruin your friendship and felt like you were cheating on Lando if you let yourself think and feel about the situation too long.

In front of Lando, you pretended everything was fine – that you didn't just lose your best friend. Not that he asked much about him, but you pretended to watch his games and still be in contact with him – but you weren't.

And while you thought you were doing a good job about hiding your feelings, there had been a few tense and awkward moments between the two of you. You had never really fought before, but in the last month your quarrels increased not only in frequency but intensity.

But today of all day, it had to be all about Lando. You started with a morning swim, just the two of you, and then a huge breakfast that you got catered to the villa you were renting. You spent the rest of the day on a boat, celebrating and trying to revive the connection you had with Lando just a couple months ago.

During dinner, your phone reminded you that the Islanders had game that night. The notification however shocked you a bit when you read the full title: 'Barzal doesn't return to ice after brutal hit from Nurse'

Your heart sunk and your first instinct was to excuse yourself and move to a private room to figure out what happened to him. No matter how many times you watched the replay and saw his face in terrible pain – and blood – it didn't make you feel any better seeing him leaning on Lee as he was skating off the ice.

"What happened?" You jumped at Lando's voice as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's Mat. He had a game tonight and got injured." He nodded, but you could see the twitch of jealousy flash across his face.

"Is he okay?"

"Not sure, there hasn't been an update yet." Lando sat beside you, wrapping his arm around you to comfort you.

"I'm sure he'll let you know soon."

"Mhm." You nodded as your eyes flooded with tears. He wouldn't, though. Not after you ignored him after that bombshell of a confession.

"What's wrong?," Lando asked immediately when he noticed your demeanor change. He grabbed your face with concern, but you just shook your head not daring to speak. His face changed from concern to a much more serious. "Did something happen between the two of you?"

His hands dropped from your face. "What? No. Why?"

"You've been acting weird since Texas. You didn't let me come take care of you when you were sick and you've been distant ever since."

"No, Lando. We're fine, it was a stupid little fight but it's all good." You weren't very convincing.

"Are you sure? You usually talk about him more, or his hockey, which I haven't seen you watch in a long time. And every time I touch you, I feel like you flinch and I can't shake the feeling it's got to do with him."

"No." That's all you could say. No. Nothing happened between you. You stood up, forcing a smile. This day was about Lando. Whom you loved. Right? "I promise."

You distracted him with a kiss and another assurance that everything was fine. He believed you, but you could tell you were nearing your breaking point. Just not yet.

November 25th

And that that came sooner than you'd hoped. You'd been having a great time in Abu Dhabi, celebrating and partying g with the other girls until you slept in Saturday and you were reminded of one of your favorite days.

In your first year of university, you had caught your then boyfriend making out with another girl at a party. After that, you might have gone a little hard on the alcohol and ended up calling Mat to come pick you up. However, he was in Seattle and you in Vancouver. That didn't stop him from showing up outside the club at 2am. He picked you up from the side of the road – a low point in your life that you thankfully never repeated – and drove you to your apartment. He gently helped you change into pjs and held your hair when you threw up in the toilet. Then he let you cry into his chest until you fell asleep.

You almost called him remembering that moment, but couldn't figure out what to say so you put your phone back down.

'I got you. I always will.'

Mat's voice hit you like a bullet. It was clear as if he was just next to you and you felt his fingertips stroking the side of your face like it was yesterday. But you were still back in your freshman year apartment, cuddled up in bed with Mat. He thought you were asleep when he whispered those things to you and until this day you thought you'd dreamt him saying it.

Something in you broke and all your feelings finally came crashing in. All those years he made you laugh and stood by your side you had mistaken it for friendship. You thought you were in love before, that's why you didn't recognize what you were feeling for Mat, but turns out no one ever made you as happy as Mat did. He'd always been your person and one day just turned into something even more.

You had no idea how long you laid in bed, thinking everything over and finally admitting to yourself that Mat may be more than a friend.

Eventually, you had to get ready. Lando was due to return from the qualifying race anytime soon, which you were actually supposed to attend, and you needed enough time to pull yourself together. You couldn't dump your newfound revelation on him the night before his last race.

"Lando." You looked up at him, tears streaming down your face. "I'm sorry."

"I know," he said, nodding, trying to mask his pain. He turned away from you and started packing his bag.

"No, I'll go. I'm so sorry." He shook his head, denying you and you could just stand there and watch him throw his suitcase together.

"Lando," you called, before he reached the hotel door. "You really were so good to me. And I'm so grateful to you. For everything you did to me. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

He nodded, avoiding your gaze though. "I'm just sorry he got you first."

You took the few steps you needed to reach him. "I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me one day. And I hope we can still stay friends."

"Kinda hard to forget you." He let you pull him into a hug and it felt like goodbye. It was hard for you to let him go. He did play a huge role in your life and had shown you so much. He was a genuine friend and you did love him, but enough to stay with him. Lando smiled, pain still in his eyes, and pressed his soft lips on your forehead. "One day."

December 29th

It was almost midnight when your phone rang, the screen lighting up the darkness of your bedroom. You reached for it, sitting up when you saw the name and picture flash across the screen. It was Mat. The first sign of him since that night in October you regretted so much. Carefully, you pressed the green button and held the phone up to your ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi." His voice was rough and from that small word you could tell he was in pain. And after the game he had you couldn't blame him. He was more aggressive than he usually was – even counting the last few weeks – and got punished by it, not only with penalty box minutes but also with brutal fights on the ice. On top of that, they lost the game with a pretty rough score.

The line was silent for a while, neither of you daring to speak. You could feel your eyes tearing up. You missed him so much. And that's when he finally broke the silence with the exact same thought. "I miss you." Still so much pain in his voice. "I miss you. And I'm sorry for what I said that night. You were right. I hope that you are happy. And I do support you, no matter what. Just putting it out there that I miss you while you're out there exploring the world."

And in the darkness of your room, you suddenly could not see any clearer. You heart ached for him. For him to hold you and kiss you for the rest of your life. You wanted him. To explore the world with, yes, but also to do the mundane things with. You still had a lot to figure out about yourself, but one thing you were sure about was him. That you needed him by your side just as much as he needed you. It had always been like this. He was your person. And you wanted him to be that for the rest of your life.

"Mat," you took a deep breath, mustering up all your courage. "Lando and I broke up."

The line went dead.

[genevawrenn]

I am just going to put this at the top : this post is going to be a long vent about missing Technoblade, please scroll on if you do not wish to read.

We are coming up on two years without him.

We are also coming up on three years since I discovered his content.

I thought I was at the point I could watch one of his videos tonight, as I used to often do when I am doing tasks or writing he was always the background noise I used. I remember calling into work when he streamed for the sheer sake of enjoying them while they happened the few times I caught them before...well. I think you know. He was the reason my passion for writing came back to life and I believed I could actually follow my lifelong dream of eventually publishing a story.

But I suppose the part I always forget about grief is the absence of the unique spirit that person brought to your life. I found his content and engaged with it instantly, developing one of the longest running fixations I have had in a good while. The sheer excitement I'd have getting the notification he went live for one of his rare streams.

I don't think it truly sunk in when he announced his diagnosis. I remember discussing it with the irl friend who got me into watching him and both of us laughed, saying he's strong enough to fight off anything.

A few months pass with his rare posts and there was always this tiny little bit of intuition I had where he never told us what severity of cancer it was. Like he was a very private guy, yes, but this seemed extra...odd.

Then I remember the way my heart sunk when 'so long nerds' popped into my notification bar. The dashing of my heart against the floor texting people as I tearfully listened to Technodad tell us the words his son Alex wished for us to hear.

Its been a long two years. Its been great ones, tbh. I found a new passion with QSMP and Hermitcraft after the finishing of DSMP [tho c!Techno will forever remain close to my heart]. I kept writing, with over half a million words in published fics on ao3 and several WIP including 3 original novels.

But the only one I ever wanted to thank for helping me find my creativity again I can't, and I never will be able to.

I miss Technoblade.

I will never stop missing him.

I wish he could have laughed with his friends for many years yet, being silently proud of their accomplishments while he messed with people on the QSMP. I wish he could have had another MCC with friends.

I wish his unique soul wasn't taken from us so soon, as we weren't done following our hero yet.

But the only thing I can do now is continue to speak his tales. The first book I properly publish, the gratitude page is going to be addressed to him. I will continue to tell others about his accomplishments and tell them to go watch his content on his Youtube channel [get him to 17 million!]! Buy some of his merch [when it comes back in stock]! Support his family & friends!

Though he would call us nerds for crying, I think its beautiful how many lives he touched and how many thousands mourned his passing. He was a light all corners of the MCYT sphere and beyond saw and respected, and not too many creators can claim such an honour.

I'll always be a Voice at my core. Even if I spend my time these days as a crow, a huevito, a ferret, a tubling, a doozer and many more, my heart will forever belong to Technoblade.

Please keep creating art and writing in his name. I love scrolling the fanart tags and adore every piece I come across with my favourite piglin in them. Please, please, please keep saying his name. Sing his legends. Make references, continue the jokes, hang out in one of his friends chats and support the people he loved.

Support those who are still here, even if your heart hurts.

It's only painful because we all loved him so much, which is a beautiful type of sorrow.

[somethingvicked]

True love of mine part 10.

An Eddie Munson story

Stranger Things AU (no Upside-Down)

warnings: female reader, angst, mentions of sex, weed and death of minor character, fluff.

Chapter 9.

Now

Y/N

You were lying in Eddie’s arms, both of you damp with sweat, the comforter kicked down to your waists.

You two hadn’t spoken since he rolled off of you, only the sounds of him stroking your skin was heard in his bedroom.

You could feel his spent running out of you and down your thighs and made an effort to sit up but he held you back.

“But… I’ll ruin the sheets,” you told him and he shook his head.

“Don’t care. I can’t let you go when I finally got you in my arms again, even if it’s just for a moment.”

You smiled at that, lying down and letting him hold you again. You ran your fingers over his tattoos and he played with your hair.

“It’s shorter,” he commented and you nodded.

“Yes. When you… after you left… I cut it off and kept it short. It just hurt every time I saw it and remembered how you used to love playing with it…”

Eddie had tensed up when you brought that up and you could feel your own muscles go taut from the stress of bringing it up.

You realized though that sooner or later you two should talk about everything. You didn’t know if Wayne had told Eddie that you knew, but you needed to talk to him anyway.

“Eds?”

“Hmm?”

“We do need to talk about it,” you told him softly and he closed his eyes, his face looking pained but he nodded.

 “I’ll start. Wayne… he came to see me the other day. He’s the one that gave me the ticket to your concert.”

Eddie’s eyes widened and he shook his head. That wasn’t what he had expected you to bring up when you said that you needed to talk. The little reprieve from the hard memories, even if it was just a second, made him smile. “That old man… always has to meddle. But… I’m glad he did.”

“But… he also told me some other stuff. Why you left all those years ago,” you carefully continued and you heard Eddie inhale sharply.

“… he told you?” he whispered, so quietly that you could barely hear him.

“Yes.”

Eddie was quiet, but you could feel that his skin underneath your fingertips had gone ice cold and that the tenseness of his muscles had turned into tremblings. You wrapped your arms around him.

“I killed her,” he whispered, his face suddenly wet with tears. “I didn’t mean to, but I killed her.”

“No!” you exclaimed. “It was an accident, Eddie. A horrible accident that never should have happened, but an accident nonetheless. If she hadn’t gotten the pills from you she would have tried somewhere else. And… don’t forget she overdosed and mixed them with other pills. Had she taken the recommended dosage she would probably still be alive. I’m not saying it was her fault, but it wasn’t yours either!”

Eddie still trembled and cried, but you could feel he was listening to you.

“I don’t understand… if you knew… why did you show up tonight, follow me home? I was going to tell you, I was but… then I got so caught up in seeing you again and then… don’t you get it? I would have led you on if Wayne didn’t tell you! I’m a pig.”

“Eddie… I don’t think you are a pig. I wanted this as much as you did. My goal tonight was talking everything out with you, but I got caught up in the moment too. We still love each other and we haven’t had the chance to show that to each other for eleven years. It needed to happen.”

“So you mean, if I had slept with you and then dropped the bomb half an hour later, you wouldn’t have felt disgusted?”

You sighed. “Not disgusted, no. Shocked, maybe. And incredible sad, both for your sake and Chrissy’s. But I wouldn’t have felt taken advantage of. I don’t know if that makes me insane, but… Eddie, I don’t think any different about you! I’m just… so sad for your sake, that you had to go through that alone. I wish I could’ve been there for you but… I know why you felt you had to protect me. Protect us. I can’t even imagine how you feel about what happened, but… you did your time. Isn’t that what the society should really be about. You pay your dues and then… you should be given another chance?”

Eddie couldn’t help but snort at that. “In theory perhaps, but we both know that in ninetynine cases out of hundred it doesn’t turn out like that.”

“It did for you,” you pointed out. “You have made your own success after this. And… Wayne told me that you have stayed away from drugs and alcohol completely?”

Eddie nodded. “Yes. There were so many times after I came out of prison that I was tempted to take a joint, take a pill, drink myself stupid, just to forget… but after what happened to Chrissy I swore I would never go near any drugs again, neither to sell them or take them myself. And… even though I wanted to forget it all I also wanted to remember it. Maybe to… torment myself, I don’t know. But the main reason was that it happened around the same time I had you; if I forgot that… then I would forget you too.”

You felt tears run down your face. “Oh, Eddie,” you whispered, hugging him harder.

“My first album was about drugs, but not to honor them, more like to spread awareness. I made one song in honor of Chrissy on that one. But I felt bad about that too.”

“Why?” you wondered, stroking his cheek.

“Because it was in honor of her and not you. And that felt wrong as well, because she died. You were alive, but… you are my true love, the only one I ever loved. Yet I didn’t dare write about you in a way people would understand, or you would understand if you heard the songs. I…”

You ran your fingers through his hair, leaning in to kiss his nose. “I actually never listened to many of your songs. It hurt too much. But… when Wayne had told me everything last night I looked online and listened to the songs of your first record. It all made sense.”

It had. You remembered the name of the songs clearly.

That was the record where Eddie had made a remake of Metallica’s Master of Puppets, which had earned him his title in the music business. Metallica themselves had even said the song belonged to Eddie, even though they had written it.

The rest of the songs followed the same theme, all of them having some kind of connection to drugs.

Crack of the whip

Mother’s little helpers

Thy will be done (You had understand that that was in honor of Chrissy and her nickname as being the ‘queen of Hawkins high’)

Soaring on the dragon’s wings

Toasting with demons

Dark (Mary) Jane

Dead men tell no tales

Break the habit

“I know what Jason told you,” you said, returning to the conversation at hand, wanting him to know you understood his actions back then. “But that was a long time ago. He wont hurt us now, would he?”

Eddie shook his head. “He may still hold a grudge agianst me, but he’s a loser who peaked in high school. I’m not the defenseless freak I was back then. I can protect us both now. For the last years, my biggest fear in reaching out to you has been that you… you would see me as a killer. Then… then I heard through the grapewine that you had met someone else and I figured… you had moved on and it was time to let you go. It was only when I got your letter I understood that you couldn’t move on. Just like I couldn’t.”

“I didn’t,” you agreed, shaking your head. “Brent was… he was a good man but he never made me feel like you did. I still thought about you for at least thirty seconds every day and I realized that wasn’t right to him. That’s when I decided to write that letter to you.”

“I’m glad you did. I’m just… I’m sorry that I hurt you so badly. And everyone else. But I was terrified that Jason would come after you. Anyone of you. He had more power as a teenager than he does now, now that his old man is dead.”

You nodded. “I understand. It doesn’t mean I’m still not upset about it. I wish… I wish you could’ve just talked to me. But I also understand that you felt the need to protect more people than me – Wayne, for example. He needed that job, he barely made ends met even with it.”

Eddie pulled you close, kissing your forehead.

“That was why I started to sell drugs in the first place, you remember?”

Of course you did.

Then

Hawkins, 1984

Eddie

Eddie was concerned. He had turned eighteen a few weeks back, but he had also understood that he would have to repeat his senior year, because his grades hadn’t been good enough to graduate. In a way he was almost glad about that – it meant he would spend the next year with Y/N and they would graduate together.

He had another problem though; it was clear Wayne was struggling with bills. At first he didn’t understand but then it hit him. The child support. The one his dad was paying – or more accurately, his lawyer, since his dad was in prison – had dried up because now he was legally an adult.

Eddie had tried to find a part time job for a long time, wanting to help Wayne in any way he could. But no one wanted to hire the town freak.

That’s why in desperation he visited his dad’s old pal, Reefer Rick, and wondered if he needed another hand with his side business.

He felt ashamed of himself, even before he made the suggestion. Eddie had never wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps, but he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Wayne had done so much for him already – and technically he had no obligation to support Eddie after he had turned eighteen. Especially since Eddie wouldn’t graduate high school this year and at least have a diploma to show for it when he looked for jobs.

No, he needed to pull his own weight, and who knows – perhaps it would even give him enough money to help Wayne, pay him back for everything he had done for him?

Rick was symphatetic. “I could need another seller. Nothing hard core, I take care of that myself. Just weed. The occasional prescription pill. Maybe K . Ketamine,” he clarified when he saw Eddie’s confused glance.

“You buy it from me, half price. Sell it on your own terms to your customers, keep the difference.”

Eddie nodded. He had no choice.  

“Okay,” he said. “Would… would it be okay if I pay for this batch later?”

Rick smiled again. “This one’s on me, kid. I know how hard it is when you can’t pay your bills. Why do you think I am where I am?”

Eddie couldn’t help but snort. “Seems you’ve gotten it pretty good from where I stand.”

Rick had a nice house, a boathouse connected to the house, filled with fishing gear and even a boat. Didn’t seem like he was struggling.

Rick barked a laugh. “And I am how old, son? I’ve been in this business for years. The pay off will come, just not immediately.”

“Well… if I’m lucky I won’t need to continue this until I’m your age,” Eddie say, accepting the bag with the pot as he got up.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Rick told him with a shake of his head. “That’s what I did. But sooner or later, this becomes your glue.”

“Glue?”

“Yes. Like the glue from tape you can’t scratch off. There will always be something you need, some bill that can’t wait, some favor your owe… and the drug trade will never disappoint. Because there is always the poor bastards that needs the wares, just like we need the money.”

Never, Eddie thought as he left Rick’s house. Yes, he would do it for now. Until he and Y/N graduated and they could leave this dump of a town that had been stuck in time since the 1950s.

He was just worried about how Y/N would react to him starting to sell drugs.

Eddie hadn’t need to worry though. No, Y/N wasn’t thrilled that he was going to sell drugs but she also knew that life wasn’t the rainbow fairy tale it was made out to be. Sometimes you just needed to do what you could to survive.

“As long as it isn’t any hard drugs, those that can kill people easily and get them addicted from the first batch,” she begged him and he agreed.

And he had kept that promise. But as he was to find out two years later, circumstances could be more powerful than promises.

taglist: @ali-r3n @ficsbypix @mewchiili @melodymunson @ches-86 @jenniquinn @eddiemunsonfuxks @stolen-in-moonlight @alastorssimp @pandemoniusstuff

(let me know if you want to be on the taglist!)

please, like, comment and reblog!

Your likes are wonderful but reblogs expand my reading circle.

[clown-friend-gt]

Octomer Chapter Five

TW: Blood, violence, implied death

It's finally finished, and only one day late! Thank you to everyone who read this far. This chapter gets a little heavier and more action-packed towards the middle, but it gets lighter towards the end again.

This isn't the end for these characters, by the way. This story is just an introduction to them, and I'll probably still write scenes between them, when the mood strikes. If you have anything you want to see, or anything you'd like clarification on, feel free to let me know.

I hope you enjoy the last part of this story

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

Spots didn’t come back to visit me the next day. Or the next. Or even the day after that. By the end of the week, I was starting to worry I’d dreamed the whole encounter.

I’d finished getting unpacked. Now all there was to do was get caught up on my work, but I kept getting distracted. I kept looking out the window, hoping I’d see him out by the cliff each time. But I had no such luck.

At night, I’d go out and sit on the edge of the cliff like I had that first night. I’d sing “La Mer” until I got sick of it. Then I sang every other song I could think of, hoping that the sound of my voice would be enough to bring him back. In the end, I only ended up making myself hoarse.

The weekend arrived and I had nothing to do. Thankfully my phone started working again the morning after Spots left, but I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting around the house all day. No, I had to get out and do something.

There was a short dock down at the beach where my grandpa used to keep his boat tied up. In addition to the house, Grandpa had also left me the boat in his will. I figured now was as good a time as any to check it out.

I left the house around noon. It was a clear but windy day, perfect for sailing. I tied my brunette hair back in a low ponytail so it wouldn’t whip into my face. Then I went down to the beach.

Grandpa’s boat sat right where it always had, along the side of that old dock. It was a little catboat, just over fifteen feet long with only one sail. Above the waterline, it was painted a bright white. The bottom of the boat was painted blue.

The first thing I did was untie the boat. The rope latching the boat to the dock had a thin layer of dust on it; clearly it had been a few years since Grandpa had been able to take it sailing.

Then, making sure I had a firm hold of the rope, I moved to the back of the boat and began pushing it out to sea. I dug my feet into the sand and pushed. It was difficult with the sand trying to slip out from under my feet, but I got the boat moving soon enough.

Now, for the hard part. I crawled onto the side of the boat, trying not to tip it too much. There was no way I could tip this thing over by myself, but if I got it rocking too hard, it’d be hard to stand.

I waited for the rocking of the boat to subside enough to try to stand. I got one foot underneath me, then the other. It was such an odd feeling to try and balance on an uneven surface, but soon enough, I got my sea legs back.

I started by checking the lines the way my grandpa had taught me. The first few times we sailed together, he drilled me on this so many times, there was no way I could ever forget. I got everything untangled and ready to go.

Then I checked the flag at the top of the mast to see which way the wind was blowing. Grandpa told me he could just feel the direction of the wind on his face, but I never got the hang of that. I was just glad he’d kept the flag. Maybe he’d done it for my sake.

Don’t cry now, you have work to do, I told myself, swallowing the emotion before it overwhelmed me.

I used the tiller to point the bow into the wind. The water lapping against the hull kept pushing it off-kilter as I worked. Surely there was a better way to do this, but it wasn’t coming to me, so I kept having to stop to readjust as I hoisted the sail.

Finally, everything was ready. I adjusted my heading, trimmed the sail, and sat down by the tiller, preparing for the trip ahead of me. But as I drifted out into open water, I remembered something my grandpa always warned me about.

“Don’t forget your lifejacket, Sabrina!” I could almost hear him chiding me.

I rolled my eyes, but he’d always insisted, “Lifejackets save lives!”

I was always a strong swimmer, so I felt confident I could keep myself afloat if worst came to worst. But as long as I was honoring his memory, I’d honor his warnings as well.

I stood carefully and went to the cabinet where the lifejackets were stored. Inside was a blue life jacket, faded and covered in dust, along with two other things. A compass and a letter.

I hesitated for a moment. What were they doing there? My grandpa had always kept his compass with him, hung around his neck by a cord. I thought he would’ve been buried with it.

And that letter…

The boat lurched suddenly, reminding me where I was. Right now, I didn’t have time to stand around wondering what was going on. I had a boat to pilot. I scooped the items out of the cabinet and shut it tight.

I fumbled back over to the tiller. The angle of the boat was off, so I tried to fix that while putting on my lifejacket at the same time. It was a bit tricky, and probably would’ve taken less time if I’d just done one, then the other.

I kept the letter trapped underneath my foot so the wind wouldn’t steal it away. My shoes were covered in sand, but I cared more about keeping the letter safe than keeping it clean at the moment. The compass slid across the deck as I struggled with the tiller and my jacket.

Finally, I got everything sorted. I was far enough out that I could reef the mainsail for a minute. That’d keep it from blowing all over the place, giving me time to check the letter.

I picked it up and brushed the sand off as best as I could. The envelope had my name on it, written in cursive. It must’ve been from grandpa.

I tore it open, desperate to find out what he had to say after all those years. The whole letter was in his messy cursive, and the wind kept threatening to tear it from my hands, so I had some trouble making it out. It read:

“Mon ange,

If you are reading this, it means I am gone. I hope we got to speak one last time before the end, but knowing the both of us, it is doubtful. You could always be very stubborn. I suppose you got that from me.

So you’ve chosen to pick up sailing again! Wonderful! Even better, you had the good sense to listen to me and wear a life jacket. Remember this always, for the sea can be a cruel mistress.

There is so much I would like to say to you. So much has gone unsaid between us over the years, old wounds gone untouched. I want you to know that I still love you no matter what, and I am proud of you.

I do not wish to speak much on the day that drove us apart. I know that you probably have not forgiven me. But as long as you understand what I was trying to teach you, I am at peace. This world is so much bigger, and so much more dangerous than you know.

But I’ve given you everything you need to navigate this new world you may find yourself in. You have a trusty vessel, one that contains some of my happiest memories. I cherish the time we spent together here, and I hope you still can as well.

You also have my compass. May it never fail you or lead you astray. But there may come a time when it does, when all of man’s tools fail you. When that time comes, I hope you’ll remember everything I’ve taught you. That is my final gift to you.

Good fortune and good weather to you, mon ange.

         Bon voyage,       

Grandpa"             

A drop of water hit the paper. I felt tears streaming down my face. I wiped my eyes to avoid spilling any more water on the page. Then I folded the letter up and stuck it in my breast pocket for safekeeping.

I look to the palm of my hand, where Grandpa’s compass sits. It’s old, but the needle still points dutifully north. I squeeze it once, before hanging it around my neck.

I felt ready for whatever the world might throw at me.

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

As it turns out, I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was. I steered the boat through the wind so that the wind switched from one side to the other, but I kept forgetting to move out of the way of the boom. It smacked me on the side of the head more than once before I realized I needed to duck out of its way.

Managing the sail was a struggle too. Whenever the wind picked up and I started travelling too quickly, I tried to reef the sail like Grandpa taught me. But each time it’s too little, too late.

By the time I realized I was way too far out, the sun was starting to lower in the sky. I checked my phone to see if I could pull up a map or dial 911, but it flashed with that same teal light as before, with weird symbols trailing across the screen.

I put my phone away and tried to check the compass. If I could just figure out which direction I was headed, I could make my way home. But the needle was spinning aimlessly, like it had no idea where I was either.

I was reminded of something my grandpa used to say. Whenever he was teaching me about the stars, or telling me of his adventures, he’d talk about places where “the tools of Man fail.”

A shiver ran down my spine as I realized how much trouble I was in.

Suddenly, the boat lurched wildly, like something had just rammed into it. I clung to the sides, praying the boat didn’t capsize. When the boat began to settle, I cautiously peered over the side to see what caused the disturbance.

Vaguely, I saw a figure below the surface. Human-like, but much bigger. Its arm reached towards my boat, apparently touching the keel below, causing the boat to tilt back and forth. I couldn’t make out any details, but I only knew of one mercreature in the area that size.

“Spots?!” I called out, hoping to get his attention so he’d stop messing with the boat.

The figure’s head shot up. Our eyes met.

It was not Spots.

I froze in place as its massive tail flapped beneath it and propelled itself upwards. Its head breached the water about fifty feet away. The wave that resulted from the humongous figure emerging from the water sent my boat skidding back, nearly tipping it over.

By the time I regain my balance, I’m caught in the shadow cast by the enormous mercreature. It loomed over me, peering down at me like I was an insect. Long black hair stuck to its face, dripping with water. Dark, shark-like eyes glare at me from underneath.

Water rolled off its huge, pale body in rivers. Scars crisscrossed across its torso. Around its navel its skin was gradient, slowly shifting to the mottled gray color of its lower half.

It reached towards the boat again. I wanted to scream. To abandon ship and swim away. But there was nothing I could do but watch as its hand got closer and closer.

It plucked me from the boat with two fingers. I kicked and flailed, but I couldn’t escape the creature’s grasp. My stomach plummeted as I rose rapidly into the air. It brought me higher and higher until I was face to face with it.

Where Spots would watch me with a playful curiosity, this thing stared at me with a sadistic malice. Its mouth split into a cruel grin, putting its conical teeth on full display. A low, rolling clicking sound echoed from its throat, reminding me of the creature from Predator.

That’s when I started screaming.

I screamed and screamed for what felt like a full minute, until my lungs were empty, and I was gasping for breath. In that moment, I was sure that it was going to eat me. That I’d finally found one of the monsters that my grandpa had warned me about all those years ago.

It made no move to bring me closer to its mouth like I thought it would. Instead it brought me to its eye, turning me this way and that so it could inspect me in detail. Then it starts shaking me like I’m some kind of toy.

I squealed and shrieked as it bounced me up and down, clinging to its fingers for dear life. That only made the thing grin wider. Then it tossed me up into the air. Distantly, I heard it cackling as I screamed my head off. As quickly as it started, the horrible experience is over and I’m sitting in the palm of its hand, dazed from the impact.

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for it to stop tormenting me. Maybe if I stopped reacting, it’d get bored of me. Would it eat me then?

Suddenly, the creature stops messing with me. I heard a low growl coming from it, and I opened my eyes again to see what’s going on. It was no longer even looking at me, instead glaring at the water below. Its hand lowered slowly as its attention was drawn elsewhere.

Cautiously, I crawl over to the edge of its hand to see what it’s looking at. I can’t make out make out anything except for two huge golden eyes staring from the deep. The glowing eyes narrow as they meet with the eyes of the other mercreature.

Spots erupted from the water before the other mer. His teeth were bared and he growled furiously at his opponent.

“Spots!” I called out to him. If anyone could help me, it was him.

His eyes flicked down at me for only a moment. His expression didn’t change, and soon enough he was back to sizing up his opponent. The other mer stood almost a head taller than him, but he didn’t back down.

Without warning, the hand I was sitting in tipped, and I started freefalling. A scream escaped me, and Spots eyes darted back to me. His face fell and he lunged towards me, his hand outreached to catch me. But before he could, the monster tackled him back below the waves.

Hitting the water knocked the wind out of me. I reflexively gasped while my face was still submerged, and my lungs filled with water. Then I bobbed back up, hacking and sputtering, trying to cough up all the water. My lungs felt like they were burning.

My life jacket kept me afloat, but the waves churned vehemently, tossing me around. I desperately tried to regain my composure, but I was thoroughly discombobulated. I looked around wildly for something to cling to.

Grandpa’s boat sat a short distance away. It had capsized completely, but it was my only hope. I paddled towards it frantically. It took a while, but I made it eventually.

I clung to it like it was my only lifeline, which it basically was. With some difficulty, I scrambled on top, so I wasn’t relying on the strength of my arms to keep me anchored. Then, once I was secure enough, I looked over the edge.

Under the water, the two titans clashed. Their battle was what caused the waves to roil so intensely. Occasionally, they’d burst above the water as they fought, and I caught glimpses of the action.

Spots had his tentacles wrapped around almost every part of the other, whale-like mer. Around its tail, its torso, around one of its arms, and even its neck. Meanwhile, the whale had its mouth clamped around one of Spots arms, locking it in place. Spots clawed at its eyes with his free hand, his hooked claws digging into its face.

Each time they crash below the water again, another wave emanated from the disturbance, rocking the boat. I clung anxiously to the keel, praying that I wouldn’t be flung back into the ocean.

Finally, though, my luck ran out. One huge wave crashed into me and knocked me from the boat. I fell back under the waves again, flipping around violently as the current fought to try and keep me below. But thanks to my life jacket, I eventually surfaced.

This time though, I was much farther away from the boat. And before I could even think to start swimming in that direction, the two giants surfaced again. The whale’s face was beginning to turn blue from lack of oxygen, and its unbound arm flailed unpredictably. Then, all of a sudden, its thrashing hand crashed into the boat, smashing it to pieces.

I didn’t have time to mourn the loss. I was under a spell watching those two beasts at war. The whale’s jaw released Spots’ arm as it gasped for breath. Spots flipped immediately, turning to face it head on. He grasped the whale’s head and pushed him back underwater.

The whale thrashed and flailed, but Spots didn’t let up. The expression on his face is one of absolute hatred. He held fast and gritted his teeth with the effort he was exerting.

Then, finally, the whale let loose an awful scream. I’m certain that if it weren’t muffled by the water, it would’ve shattered my eardrums. But that’s not the worst part.

The worst part is just how painfully human the thing’s scream is.

Spots let go and let the spasming whale sink into the depths. I don’t know what he did to it, but there’s so much blood. He watched it descend, the expression on his face unchanged.

Then he looked up at me, and I started to shiver. Whether it was from the cold ocean or the horror from what I just saw, I didn’t know. My heart pounded in my chest as he swam towards me.

His face softened the moment our eyes met, but in that moment, I couldn’t find any comfort in it. He tilted his head at me and chirped. I swallowed down the bile that rose in my throat.

Then, all of a sudden, I was rising into the air. Slower, more gently than the other mer, Spots lifted me out of the water, his palm underneath me. At the same time, he lowered himself into the sea, until we were at eye level.

He chirped again, quieter this time. I was trembling so much I could hardly speak.

“Sp—Spots?”

He nudged me with his nose, and a whimper escaped me. He leaned away, a hurt look in his eye.

“I—I—” I sputtered, unable to find the right words.

I looked over the side of his hand. Floating in the bloody water are bits and pieces of Grandpa’s boat. Spots leaned and looked past me, watching the scene as well. Then, with his other hand, he reached out and gently pinched a piece of the detritus in between his claws.

He set it down in front of me. I crawled over to it and flipped it over. The name of the boat was written on the board.

“Mon Ange”

The dam broke. I started sobbing. I was cold and wet and scared and I had no idea where I was and I just lost one of the last things my grandpa gave to me. I was on my hands and knees, my body wracked with sobs.

I felt something gently press against my side. It was Spots’ thumb. He clicked softly at me.

Despite everything, I clung to him. He was all I had at the moment. I wrapped myself around his tree-trunk sized thumb and wept.

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

Once I was all out of tears, Spots set me on his chest as he float on his back. He wasn’t headed in any direction, just letting the current carry him. His hand was laid on top of me, his thumb gently rubbing against me to keep me warm.

I stared out into space, no idea what to do. I had no idea which way home was, and it didn’t seem like Spots knew either. My phone was gone, and the compass’s needle still spun uselessly.

I could feel Spots’ heartbeat. It was slow and relaxed. His chest rose and fell with a gentle rhythm. It was like being on the world’s slowest roller coaster, or some kind of living hill.

The stars were beautiful that night. They twinkled delicately at me from above. The wind blew softly and the waves lapped at Spots’ sides gently. I might’ve even enjoyed it if I wasn’t hopelessly lost at sea.

Then it hit me. The stars. I traced them with my eyes, double, then triple-checking my observations.

I knew how to get home!

I squirmed beneath Spots’ hand. He tilted his hand up and I crawled to freedom.

“Spots!” I called. “Listen up! I know how to get home!”

He tilted his head down towards me, blinking sleepily. Then he rose slowly, and with a start I realized I was going to lose the ground I was standing on. I tried to cling to his chest but started slipping as the wet surface gradually shifted from horizontal to vertical.

Luckily, Spots had thought ahead, and kept his hand palm up beneath me as he got up. I fell down into it with a thump. Then he raised his hand in front of his face so he could see what I wanted.

I got to my feet. The surface beneath me had much more give than I anticipated, and I nearly fell over. But I’d gotten plenty of practice balancing on uneven surfaces earlier that day and managed to get used to standing in the palm of his hand pretty quickly.

“Listen!” I pointed in the direction of home. “If you take us this way, we can get back home!”

He tilted his head. I mentally kicked myself. He had no idea what I was saying.

“This way!” I kept pointing emphatically. When that didn’t work, I started making swimming motions.

“You! Swim!” I did the breaststroke with my arms.

“That! Way!” I pointed again.

He made some clicking noises. He began to lower me towards the water.

“No! No!” I shouted, shaking my head and gesturing wildly. He stopped.

“You!” I pointed at him several times for emphasis.

“Swim!” I repeated my earlier motion.

“That way!” I pointed towards home again.

He looked at me, confused, for a few seconds. Then, a little unsure, he pointed to himself, then in the direction I was pointing, flashing his lights as he did so.

“Yes! Yes!” I nodded enthusiastically, bouncing in place.

He paused, looked back at me, then nodded.

I felt myself rising again. He brought me up to the top of his head and tilted his hand, depositing me on top of his hair. I tumbled off and landed on my stomach with an “oof.”

Before I could question him, he began to sink under the water.

“Hey! What’re you—” I shouted.

He cut me off, chirping loudly. Then he started moving in the direction I’d indicated. He started slowly enough, but I still jolted forward. I clung to his hair for stability.

Then he began picking up speed. He swam faster and faster, keeping only his hair above water as he did so. My eyes watered as the wind rushed against my face. I shut my eyes tightly and waited for it to be over.

Eventually, he began to slow down again. I opened my eyes slowly as the wind died down. My stomach caught back up with me after seemingly being left behind several miles ago.

“Urghh…” I groaned, trying to keep my lunch down. I’m sure Spots wouldn’t appreciate it if I threw up in his hair.

I saw lights in the distance. Spots rose back out of the water as we approached the coast. He came to a stop several hundred feet from land and plucked me from the top of his head.

He held me in front of his face with his forefinger and thumb. He clicked questioningly, then turned me around to face the coast.

I scanned the landscape in front of me, trying to determine if I could figure out where we were. There were a few cliffs, but eventually, my eyes barely made out the shape of my grandpa’s house.

“There,” I told him, pointing as I did so. He put me back on top of his head and made his way towards the cliff.

He moved slower, like he was walking across the ocean floor instead of propelling himself through open water. I sat on top, holding onto his hair to keep my balance. The coast got closer and closer, until finally, we were there.

He pinched me gently in his fingers again and lowered me down to the cliff. He set me down on top. I turned to face him once my feet were on firm ground.

He brought his other hand in front of me. It was curled up into a fist. He unfurled it, and sitting on his palm was the board from my grandpa’s sailboat that he recovered.

“You kept it!” I exclaimed.

He smiled at the praise. Then he carefully took the piece in between two fingers and handed it to me.

We stood there in silence for a moment as I waited to see what Spots would do next. He kept looking away whenever I tried to make eye contact. Then he rubbed the back of his neck, almost as if he was feeling self-conscious.

He raised his hand and waved awkwardly before starting to sink underwater. Shocked, I set the board down and ran to stop him.

“Wait!” I called after him.

He looked up at me, halfway submerged.

“Come here!” I told him, laughing in disbelief.

He rose again, until he was back to where was before.

“Closer,” I said, indicating him forward with my hands.

He leaned in close, but still stopped short.

“Come on,” I urged, spreading my arms out for a hug.

Finally, he figured out what I was asking for, and grinned. He crashed into me, nuzzling up against me and chirping happily.

When he had settled down some, I kissed him on the bridge of his nose.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “For everything.”

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

Life settled down after that. I fell into a routine. Grandpa’s house became my house, in my mind.

I ended up hanging the piece of his boat on the wall. It sucked that I didn’t have the whole boat, but this was the best I could do. Hopefully, Grandpa would be okay with that.

Sometimes I wonder what he would think of my life now. If he saw Spots and I together. Would he be angry? Scared for my life? Or could he learn to accept it, if he got to know Spots? If he came to realize that Spots was nothing like the monsters he’d seen in his time?

I guess I’ll never know.

I’m pulled from my thoughts when my laptop begins to act up. I pause the episode I was watching, not bothering to try and figure out what’s wrong. I’m used to the weird lights and esoteric symbols that plague the technology around me when he comes around.

There’s a tapping at the window. I look up to see a large finger pressed against the glass, leaving a huge fingerprint I’ll have to wipe off later. The finger retreats, and I see its owner leaning over the cliff to be able to reach the house.

Spots grins when he sees me look his way.

I set my laptop aside and went outside to see him. It’s late at night, which is when he usually comes to visit.

“There you are!” I greet him, and he chirps a greeting of his own.

It’s been a week or so since he’s been by. I’ve gotten used to the fact that he can’t visit me every day like when we were kids. He has his own life now, and I have mine.

I sit in the chair I’ve set up near the edge of the cliff. He folds his arms in front of me and lays his head on top. He stares intently, waiting for me to speak up.

I smile. “Let me tell you what I’ve been up to.”

[dub88dab44]

I finally caught up with season 10 and I have some thoughts. This might be an unpopular opinion, but.....

I really like this season! I originally stopped playing after the first volume cause I created a sweetheart of a character, and that just wasn't working. So for the first time since season 1 I decided to wait until I could binge the season (I got impatient, oops) and let me tell you

S10 works so much better when you're playing it as one big story, rather than having the same issues week after week. But as a whole, here are some more specific thoughts:

(under the cut cause this got looong)

First of all, design. I like MC's design. We've come a long way since whatever that s5/s6 MC mess was. I understand that Fusebox, in order to make this game work, has to prioritize. And keeping essentially the same MC sprite over multiple seasons for the sake of the other characters' designs seems reasonable to me

Speaking of: For the most part the other characters' designs look great! They actually look like real people to me the obvious exceptions being Sophia (why... just why?) and kinda Franki (idk, she looks odd to me) and sorry Hayden (why does he have a hamster mouth)

Moving on to plot: I actually like that we don't couple up with someone straightaway! This plot point is a big one where being aware of it ahead of time helped a lot. I was growing tired of every LI immediately being all in with MC. In past seasons, as soon as you couple up, every LI just turned into the same lovesick mush. Let us work for people's affections!

This also allows for actual character building. I feel like I actually know Ethan, Milo, Hayden, and all the others. Characters having their own consistent personality? Unheard of since s4! I refuse to acknowledge s5 You have to make the coding work somehow and I feel like this is a smart way of doing it and stopping the personalities from melting into each other without doing a forced couple à la Miles/Jasper from s1. If a season wants to draw me in, distinct personalities is one of the most important factors to me.

Jesse!!! That's all.

No but seriously. Jesse is (so far) what Nicky/Seb from s3 was supposed to be. I have been craving a character like Jesse!! A male best friend whom you can genuinely come to for what would otherwise be girl talks. With the option of a friends-to-lovers route but also the option to just hype each other up!

Jesse thinking MC was the cheater during the dirty laundry challenge bc Sophia was spreading lies? Yes please! This is the type of drama that is genuinely important to me. No character, even your faves, are without flaws. This was a genuine fuck up on Jesse's part but I think it's so good for character and relationship building. More drama like this please!

Speaking of characters I love: Lisbeth. First of all, her character design? A+, give whoever did that a raise! Her character? The whole witchy, wanting to live in a overgrown castle, plays in a band and smashed her guitar vibe? A++! Calling her partner a good boy, giving dom-mummy vibes, but also nervous around her crush? Please let me marry her!

Okay hear me out.... I like Sophia as a character. Shitty person! Good character. Because I feel like she makes sense? I've seen many people basically call her cartoonishly evil but I don't think that's true. I think she is just self-absorbed. She genuinely doesn't think about how her actions might affect other people. Not in a fuck-you type of way, it just genuinely doesn't occur to her that when she is happy other people won't be happy for her, or that they might be hurt by the chaos trail she leaves behind. I find that compelling as an antagonistic character, especially since you can choose how sassy or understanding MC is of Sophia's narcissism.

If I were to ever make one of those TikTok hear-me-out cakes, I would put Tristan on it. What can I say, I like a good ratboy! Visually he reminds me of an early Damiano David from Måneskin, and I think that man just fundamentally changed something in my brain chemistry

What I like about the dates is that they are more than I generic "I like you, and I see myself with you and only you, you changed my entire outlook on life, now kiss me". Cause after a while that just gets boring. I feel like we actually get to learn about the LIs on the dates (partially due to them being given actual distinct dialogue!). Please, yes, actually tell me something about yourself! And that boat/snorkeling date? That shit was good!

The challenges have also been really fun so far. I particularly loved the dirty laundry challenge and the fairground (can never go wrong with a blindfolded kissing challenge, and combining that with the tea from the rest of the challenge was a cool thing to do)

Speaking of, the drama is delicious! Genuinely reminds me of s2 (maybe too high of a compliment, but whatever). I feel like we get to be a part of the drama, like how Jesse confide in MC about his feelings and doubts about his couple. I also love the Ethan/Hayden rivalry. And getting to split up a couple? I thought that was a cool new twist although I agree it probably should have come later in the season. I love that as MC, you kind of get to decide how seriously you want to take everyone coming to you with their issues

This is a minor thing, but it makes such a difference to me: Whenever a Thing has happened (date, tea got spilled, announcement, etc.) it's often the boys (lead by Jesse, my heart) who say "let's go for a debrief" FIRST. In past seasons I have been a little frustrated by the constant girls chats, cause like... I might not trust the girls?? Why are you making me do this?? *cough* Amelia *cough* But seeing the boys leave to chat males it so that (a) well, they're busy, might as well go chat to the girls instead of it feeling do forced, and (b) implies an actual bond between the boys - which makes the characters and the world feel more real. Male characters having relationships with each other? Outside of rivalries? What a concept!

I think the gems are well spent. Season 10 still has a bit of an issue with interesting drama only being introduced to you if you spend gems. But that also means that spending gems actually gets you something worth your money. Be it drama, intimate scenes with your LI or an extended scene where you get to clap back - I much prefer this over the alternative aka gem scenes being essentially meaningless (so essentially s5-s7)

I partially created this list because I've grown exhausted with the negativity in this fandom. Sure, there is also a lot to criticise. But despite all I still love litg. We've had unplayable seasons (s5) we've had mid seasons (s6 & s7), but recently we've also had some really good, replayable material (s8 & s9) that rivals the early stuff. And I think that deserves acknowledgement. So I'm gonna be cautiously hopeful for the rest of s10 and the future of litg.

[freezerbrldes]

A Long, Unfortunate while

PAIRING. Lucy Gray Baird x Coriolanus Snow

WARNINGS. Mentions of abuse and SA (not too in-depth but its still there)

AUTHOR'S NOTE. This is my first time writing and using Tumblr so please bear with me lol. This series is based on the album Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain. If you're unfamiliar with that album I highly recommend listening to it because it is honestly one of the greatest albums in the last decade. I changed some of the story up so it's not so predictable for people who know the lore behind the album. Also, I made Lucy Gray 18 years old and Coryo 20 years old for the sake of this story because it gets pretty dark towards the end (iykyk).

credit to @cafekitsune for dividers

now on ao3

Chapter One: American Teenager

I stand before the mirror, amazed at how the rainbow dress paired with the cream-colored corset and subtle makeup transformed my features. I’m not one to dress up, but since I’m attending the homecoming dance with Billy Taupe, I need to wear something other than my usual oversized t-shirts and baggy jeans. 

Never in a million years did I think he’d ever ask me out, let alone as his homecoming date. Billy and I grew up together in Shady Grove, a very small town in rural Alabama. We’ve never been close friends in school, but I always had a huge crush on him. He is the star player on the football team and is by far the most sought-after guy in school. 

Billy had been dating Arachne Crane, the captain of the cheer squad and the local bitch of Shady Grove High. He caught her making out with Fetus Creed under the bleachers after a game a few months ago, he broke up with her right on the spot. Since then he has talked to me more than he ever has. I didn’t think much of it until one day after chemistry class he stopped me in the hallway and asked me to homecoming. I was shocked but accepted anyway, hoping it would eventually lead us into a relationship.

I walked down the steps where my mother was ready with her Polaroid camera. 

“Oh my” she exclaimed, “You look beautiful.” She began snapping picture after picture, my eyes closed in almost every single one from how blinding the flash was. She grabbed my arms and tried to position me into a pose, taking even more pictures. After about 10 more photos, I had enough.

“Okay Mama, you got more than enough pictures, I need to go,” I say as I hear Billy pull into the driveway, honking the horn to let me know he’s here. 

“Let me go outside and say hi to the boy, I haven’t seen him in so long,” She says as she tries to open the door and walk outside. I immediately shut the door and blocked it with my body. 

“Please no, mama, he’s in a hurry and we gotta leave right now.” I began cracking open the door and inching my way through before my mother could get outside., not wanting her to embarrass men in front of Billy. 

Billy hops out of the truck and opens the passenger side door for me. 

“Wow, Lucy Gray, you look... stunning,” He says with a laugh as he looks me up and down. I blush at his words, not used to receiving compliments. 

“Thank you, Billy, you look great too” I replied. 

“Oh, Thanks,” Billy said. “It's the same suit I wore to your dad’s funeral.”

My heart sinks at his response.

My father passed away four years ago. He was the preacher at Shady Grove Baptist church for over 25 years. He was well respected around town. Everyone loved him and the services he led every Sunday. If only they knew what a monster that man was when he was not leading the congregation.

He and Mama did a good job of acting like they were happy together whenever they were at church or neighborhood cookouts, but no one could see the bruises that he would leave on my and Mama's bodies sometimes.

I shake myself out of my memories as Billy helps me into his truck and heads towards the school. The drive was mostly quiet. Every now and then he'll ask me about church or tell me about his recent football games, which I pretend to care about.

He parks the truck in the parking lot as I watch all the girls dressed in lavish ball gowns enter the school, they all make mine look insignificant in comparison. Billy helps me out of the truck and into the gymnasium. 

The room was filled to the brim with people, the DJ playing terrible remixes of various pop songs as people danced. I’m not a party girl, never even been to one other than birthday parties as a kid. The thought of the loud music mixed with sweaty bodies grinding against each other was enough to steer me far away from that lifestyle.

“I’m going to get us some punch, I’ll be right back,” Billy says as he maneuvers through the sea of people. 

I find an empty table in the corner away from all the commotion and make my way over to it. I take a seat and watch the crowd as everyone dances along to the music. Billy emerges from the crowd holding two glasses of red punch. 

“Thanks,” I say as I take the drink from him and have a sip. We sit in silence as the opening notes of Time After Time play. Billy looks over at me and places a hand over mine.

“Would you like to dance?” I look down at our hands and then look back at him. 

“Uh, sure, but I’ve never danced before,” I reply, my eyes avoiding his in embarrassment as I finish the last of my punch.

“That’s fine, I’ll teach ya” Billy stands from the table, his hand now holding mine, as he leads us to an empty spot on the dance floor. He places my hands on his shoulders before placing his on my hips. 

Billy began to sway us back and forth with the music and for a moment it felt like we were the only two people in the room. My confidence began to grow as I rested my head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart instead of the music.

His grip on my waist got tighter as he pulled me closer to his body., my chest now flush against his. He begins kissing up the side of my neck as his hands move further down my waist and he grips my ass. I feel him snake a hand up my thigh and under my dress.

“Billy, what are you doing?” I muttered, trying to push his hands off of me, but his grip was too strong. At the same time, I began to feel a little dizzy, Did he put something in my punch?

"Just relax, baby," He whispers into my ear. He then grinds his crotch into my thigh as his hands search for the waistband of my panties.

"Billy, stop, let me go," I beg quietly, but he ignores my pleas.

Before he could get any further, a shrill voice spoke, causing Billy and I to both jump.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Lucy Gray Baird, what a surprise! I wasn’t expecting Billy to bring you to homecoming. I see he’s almost won the bet.” Arachne laughed, and her cheerleader friends giggled along with her. “Arachne, leave her alone,” Billy muttered, getting in between her and me. 

“Bet? What bet?” I questioned. “Billy, what is she talking about?” 

“I-It’s nothing Lucy Gray really-” 

“Billy made a bet with Festus that he could get laid by the preacher’s daughter,” Arachne interrupted, grinning widely. 

My face heated up as I felt tears well up in my eyes. This was all part of a bet? I thought to myself. I glared at Billy as he desperately tried to talk his way out of this.

“I-I wasn’t being serious, We were just joking around, I would never try to pressure you into anything I swear.” He stutters, his hand scratching the back of his neck.

“Did you really think Billy would ever go for you willingly?” Arachne snickered, “You look like a circus clown in that dress, and besides, the only reason he came here tonight with you is to get a quick 50 bucks”

“That’s not true, I came here with you because I-” Billy is cut off by Arachne’s giggling once again.

“Oh my god Billy, you like her?”

“N-no, I didn’t say that-” Billy adds, before he finished his sentence I turned away and headed towards the door. Before I could get to the door, Arachne cut me off and threw her punch all over my dress, staining it a dark scarlet red. I felt all eyes on me as she began to laugh. Soon it sounded like everyone in the room was laughing at me.

I pushed my way through the crowd and ran out the door and through the parking lot, walking down the empty, dark road. The sound of cicadas chirping in the trees surrounded me as I made my way down the street.

I had no clue if it was whatever Billy slipped into my punch, but all I wanted to do was run into the forest and let the wildlife consume me alive. Anything at this point would be better than facing everyone in class on Monday, especially Billy and Acrachne, but the thought of leaving Mama all alone, not knowing what happened to me quickly sucked me right out of that thought.

About 30 minutes into my walk, Headlights illuminate the road as they head towards me. An old beat-up pickup truck pulls over on the side of the road a few feet in front of me. As I walk past the window is rolled down to reveal a young man with long blond hair behind the wheel.

“You know, it's not safe to walk on the side of the road when it's this dark,” he says with a friendly smile,  “Do you need a ride?” 

I took a moment to think. I hear a lot of horror stories about women getting kidnapped from hitchhiking like this, but this guy looks very nice and he seems to be worried about my safety. There’s no a way crazed serial killer would ever be in a town this small anyway. 

“Yeah, I’d love that,” I answered as I approached the truck, getting into the passenger seat. I got in and gave him directions to my house, which was about 25 minutes away from the school. 

“My name’s Coriolanus, what’s yours?” He asks, I notice his accent is a lot different from anyone around here, he must be from out of town. 

“Lucy Gray,” I replied as he began to drive.

“Lucy Gray.. That’s a pretty name,” He smiles at me. 

“You don’t sound like you’re from here, where are you from?” I asked, looking over at his large collection of cassette tapes on the dashboard. From the looks of it, he must really like Metallica.

“I’m from Florida, I’m just passing through here on my way to California.” He answers as he lights a cigarette. 

“You’re driving from Florida to California? Isn’t that like a 40-hour drive?” I inquired, this man has to be insane or something to wanna do that all by himself.

“Yes, it's a very long drive,” he laughed. “My father was a truck driver and would always come home talking about how therapeutic driving all across America was, I’m hoping I’ll find it just as therapeutic as he did,” Coriolanus mutters, he looked almost sad for a second but quickly snapped out of it. "And there are so many more opportunities for me out there than there are back home."

I could almost sense the sadness in the air as he spoke about his father, he must have lost his father too. Almost like he knew I was going to question him about his father, he spoke again.

“May I ask what you are dressed up for?” He asks, glancing at my dress.

“I was at the homecoming dance tonight at school, my date was a dick so I left,” I said, playing with my hands in my lap as I spoke.

“God, that sucks,” Coriolanus replied, “well, he’s missing out big time, you are a very beautiful girl” he looks over at me and smiles sweetly. “What’s all that red on your dress?”

“My date’s ex-girlfriend decided to throw her drink at me before I left, I guess she was jealous that I went to the dance with him instead of her,” I said as I laughed slightly, feeling comfortable around Coriolanus as I spoke about my humiliating experience.

“Yeah, I imagine,” He says as he looks over my dress once more.

I watched Coriolanus as he continued to drive down the dark highway. He notices and quickly looks over, his eyes meet mine for the first time. I’m taken aback by his blue eyes are, they're almost as blue as a clear sunny sky. He smiles as I blush and look back down at my lap nervously.

“I’ve always dreamed of leaving Shady Grove, starting a new life in a big city somewhere,” I confessed. 

Coriolanus looked at me as I stared out the window.

“I know we don’t know each other at all,” he started, “but if you were up for it, you could join me on my trip.”

I looked over at him again, my eyes lit up. 

“You want me to stay?” I asked, a smile forming on my lips.

“I won’t force you into anything of course, but I could really use the company,” Coriolanus smiled, “I feel like I might go insane driving all by myself,” He laughs as he waits for me to answer.

Living in a small town, you’re not really taught to not talk to strangers. Everyone knows everyone, a little too much sometimes. Coriolanus seems like a genuinely good person, and he’s offering me a chance to escape, one that may never come again. I know my Mama would miss me, but once I get to California I’ll be sure to write her to let her know I’m okay. This is my one shot at leaving the town, and I'm not about to pass it up.

“I’d love to join you, Coriolanus,” I replied, grinning at him once again.

He looks at me, returning a smile.

“Well then, let’s get out of here, Lucy Gray.”

[queenquinzel715]

Halfdan 18+

Wrd count 3,398

Y/n p.o.v

People always told my mother that twins were a true blessing of Freya, but when one is a crippled son while the other is a normal girl, it gets more difficult. My brother Ivar was born ten minutes after me, but he deems himself my boss. Growing up I was in charge of pulling Ivar everywhere I went, which was mostly to Uncle Floki's home. He taught us everything we needed to learn on how to be Viking. Most came to fear Ivar, but when I got caught in my own hunting cabin torturing a man that was watching over Kattegat. I got the nickname Galco which means monster. So far I've never been bothered by the name, people would run away, and I'd be left alone like I like.

Over the years my brothers have allowed me to be in charge of weapons, but of course I have my shadow behind me telling where I mess up.

"You have to sharpen that end or it won't snap into place." Ivar snaps over my shoulder.

"I know Ivar I'm not finished." I try to calmly respond.

"Don't snap at me, because you're to stupid to actually build weapons properly." He rolls his eyes with his sassy voice.

"Can't build…." I slam the arrow shooter down as I turn to him. "Ivar I've been building weapons while you were going crazy crawling after Floki, so would you shut up." I walk out of the work area we have in the blacksmiths.

I was stomping my way through Kattegat, people would jump out of my way, but one man kept following me without me even noticing. The brother of King Harald Finehair, Halfdan the Black, a man that has worked with my father and eldest brother, a man I've heard so many stories of, and admired since I began my own stories. I've heard he's been asking questions about me, and since the first stories that are told are my torture stories then I'd say it's good he wants to hear more. I'm opening my cabin's windows when I see a shoulder poking from behind a tree. I quickly grab my bow and arrow, shooting the tree in warning, and to my shock Halfdan jumps from behind with his hand up with a sly smirk on his face. I watch his every step as he walks across the field getting closer to the window.

"Why are you here?" I ask imitately.

"I heard of this cabin, and saw you coming out here. I thought I would get a look at your weapons." He seems to be speaking truthfully.

"Behind a tree?" I smirk at him as I lean on the window.

He seems to stagger a bit, but when I point to the door he walks inside. He eyes all the weapons I have hanging on the walls, but stops at my baskets of snakes.

"I tend to collect different snakes I see on my walks." I honestly tell him.

We get comfortable talking about the different weapons I have made or in the middle of making. He helps me finish the arrow shooter and advance another weapon I had. We tell stories as we work, mostly raiding stories, his England times, and I give him my details of my nickname sake. The way we move together is like we've been with each other for years. Once the sun starts to set I roast some meat and potatoes as we sit on the palette I have made of blankets and pillows.

"I still don't understand why Galco is your name. Why would a mother name a gorgeous girl like that?" He waves around the bone he has in his hand.

"My name is (y/n) Halfdan." I laugh. "People just call me that since I started torturing people." I take the plates away as I laugh.

"(Y/n) is much better." He compliments, standing up. "I'd much rather call you that." He's standing against my back now.

"Halfdan, you know my brothers will kill you if you continue to try this." I informed him.

"Love, do you think.." he runs his hands on my waist to connect them on my stomach. "I care about your brothers when I have a goddess like you in front of me." He softly kisses my shoulder, causing me to lean my head back. "I want you as mine (y/n)." He whispers to me as he moves his hands along my body. "I need someone who thinks like I do, who can handle my ways." He turns me around to face him.

"Halfdan, I take words seriously. If this happens then you are mine." I grab his arms so I can lean into him.

He deeply kisses me while he pulls me against his chest, and all I could do was move my hands to hold onto the back of his shoulders. Everything moves so fast as he pulls my dress off to me pulling his clothes apart. He slowly lays me onto the palette with a hand behind my head, and his arm around my waist. His lips move around my neck, shoulder, down my chest, and once to my breast he licks my nipple in circles. I hold onto the back of his head not really feeling anything in my body other than heat, and shaking.

"Halfdan please." I moan out as he kisses down.

His head goes in between my legs using his shoulders to keep them out of his way. I've never had a man do this to me before, and I'm angry at every man I've been with for not doing this amazing thing. I couldn't stop moaning his name loud, and having my back shoot up into an arch. He keeps moving his tongue around, but he adds his finger into me. With his finger curling up, his tongue circling around I tighten my legs around his head and cum so hard making him groan as he gets everything. As he stands on his knees he wipes his mouth, but his eyes stop me. They were almost black with a primal look, like he was claiming me completely just for him. I let my legs rest on his hips as he leans over me with his hard cock slowly entering making me gasp, but he kisses me as he bottoms out. I hold the back of his head with one hand, his side with the other as he starts moving. He rests his forehead against mine with a groan while I moan out. He grips my hip as he goes harder.

"Halfdan!" I yell from the stretch I've never felt.

"Mine" He groans, his head falling into my neck.

He starts pounding away like he lost all self power, and is letting everything go. I can't even begin to think of how good he feels from the non stop cumming. He lifts my legs higher to his shoulders making him go so much deeper than before. He's holding onto my hips using them to help him pound into me. My body arches as I let out a loud moan, but as I feel my body shake he groans loud.

"Fuck!" Halfdan finishes deep inside me with a tight grip on my hips.

He lets my legs fall as he slowly pulls out of me causing a surprise gasp to leave my mouth. He gives me a smirk as he leans back down to kiss me, and lay down next to me. I'm so relaxed my eyes won't open, and his body is so warm I don't want to move.

-Next Morning-

"Love, I have to get going." I'm woken up by Halfdan whispering into my ear.

"Then leave, why must I get up." I smirk at him.

He rolls his eyes before kissing me, rolling over me as his hands cage me to the pallet. He kisses around my face, neck, and down to my chest. He gives me a soft smirk as he stands.

"You have to get up, because I know your brothers will be looking for you if you aren't at breakfast." He holds his hand out to me.

"Ugh. I wish they'd let me be." I grumble as he helps me stand, but pulls me to his chest.

My naked body against his clothed body just makes him feel so much warmer than mine. He holds me by my lower back.

"I could always just take you with me. You'd be left alone… for the most part." He grabs me tighter causing me to laugh.

He gives me a last hug before leaving. I smile to myself as I lift my dress from the floor, but I almost lose my heart when an angry Ivar comes crutching his way into my cabin.

"Halfdan?! Have you…no no I know you've lost your mind!'' He yells pointing at his finger in my face.

"Ivar I'm a grown woman I don't need your approval. Now leave so I can get dressed in peace." I move to the small wall I have off to the side.

"Grown woman who's stupid enough to pick a man that won't actually care for you." He leaves once he realizes I'm not going to respond.

Not long after I'm about to reach the great hall when a body is thrown from the doors. Ubbe, Ivar, and Sigurd are glaring at the slowly moving body.

"You can beat me all you want, but (y/n) do as she wishes." I hear Halfdan tell my angry brothers.

"Well let's ask her ourselves." Hvitserk decides now to come outside, making everyone turn to me.

I can't move. I just look at my family, and then to the man I've actually felt normal with even before yesterday. He would always made me feel like a normal girl that liked a man. My brothers eye me like I'm some villain. Ivar shakes his head at me, because he knows what I'm going to do. He just doesn't know where. I give Halfdan one last look before bolting away from the great hall to the stables. I mount my horse, and push my poor girl as fast as she can until I reach the past the small river. I dismount to guide her into the water, going up the river, and getting out at the waterfall. I then ride my horse only a few miles til my father's cabin comes into view. This is the cabin he stayed in while he went into hiding. He only told me about this cabin, and I only come here for my moons.

It's only three days until we leave early for England. I'm glad I keep supplies up here. I know this seems cowardly, and Halfdan probably feels betrayed by me just leaving him there beaten up. I don't even understand why I ran. I just can't believe everything just flipped over night. One night my brothers, except Ivar, would eye me like I'm an angry dog that's one movement away from attacking, but now I'm their fragile little sister.

-Three days later-

I ride slowly into Kattegat with my head high as people point, and whisper about me, gods only know about what this time. I give my horse to the stable boy, and walk into the great hall as everyone is giving one last cheers to the gods for safe travels. I speak to no one as we load the boats, and set sail. I do keep looking over to King Finehair's boat to see Halfdan look over from time to time. I wish I actually talked to him, but I know he wouldn't want to speak with me.

As we get to England we start to build camp immediately. I'm helping with my tent as I looked over to see Halfdan move trunks of weapons to tents. I roll my eyes at my little girl act, and get to work. That night I swear I hear walking near my tent opening.

As I wake up, and get ready I find a new piece of armor that goes over my shoulders on the ground. I quickly strap them on as I walk to the front of lines with my brothers. Ubbe hugs me like always, giving me a quick nod, Hvitserk smirks at me from his spot, Sigurd touches axes with me, and as I step to Ivar's horse wagon he rolls his eyes at me.

"Don't die with those off-made weapons." He says as he ties his gloves.

"Don't worry I'll be close to protect you little brother." I laugh as he snaps his head to me.

"Ten minutes you awful…" He grumbles to himself. Cursing the Gods for giving him a twin.

Northumbria is an English kingdom my father spoke highly about, and since King Aelle is the one who killed our father we thought it'd be better to kill him first. The closer we march the faster my heart pounds the more I want to run ahead. The moment my axe makes contact with the Saxon's sword I get hit with my childhood of my father teaching me. The faces my father would make at my strength, at the precise strikes I'd make. I catch myself laughing at certain points in battle, and then laugh harder at myself.

Everything seems to stop once I hear my Viking family cheer I'm victory. I smile around catching my breath, but I'm spun around. Halfdan pulls me into a Saxon home, throwing everything on the ground, and putting me on the table. I grab hold of the table as he rips every strap in his way until he can finally push himself inside of me making me moan loud. I could only hold onto the table as Halfdan grip my hips in a bruising grip.

"You are mine." He grunts in my ear. "Think you can run from me, and act like I'm not here." He pulls out of me to quickly turn me around.

He enters me roughly again making the table scratch against the floor. He grips the ends of my hair to pull me up to have him bite my neck.

"HALFDAN!" I scream out as I shake against his body.

"What is it, love?" He mocks.

I keep moaning out as he grips my body in rough, tight grips. I can't gather any part of myself, but when he deeply groans with a final push so deep I get a sharp amazing feeling as he finishes inside me. He leans against me as we take deep breaths, and just cling to each other.

"I'm sorry I ran. I got scared with everyone looking at me." I tell him honestly.

"I know. I was going to wait until later, but I know your family's plans. I couldn't wait." We laugh at his last statement.

(Actual detail blood eagle)

He helps me tie everything in place in time for my brother's to collect King Aelle. My brothers Ubbe and Hvitserk tie him up as Ivar and I sharpen the tools we will use. Sigurd takes the first as Bjorn opens the great King open for me to crack his rib off. Ivar completes the rest, so Hvitserk can raise his arms to spread open more. We left him on the spot they dropped our father. We are joking like old times as we ride back to town where we set our new camp.

"So you and Halfdan?" Bjorn asks.

"Yea (y/n) him of all people." Hvitserk mocks.

"I don't think I could ever explain to you how I feel or how things are. However the Gods gave me a strong man, and I'm not going to question it." I laugh as we get to camp, and I go to my tent to bathe.

I have some of the girls help me with the water as I try to get as much of the blood off as I can before getting into the tub. I use some of the oils I found, and groan from the hot water. I can actually feel the knots untie along my back, some of the scars I have sting a little. My mind races from how battle went, what is to come, but I'm stopped with thoughts of Halfdan. I feel the water start cool, so I get out. As I wrap a linen around me Halfdan sneaks his way inside, making me stop in motion. He stops once he gets a look at me, and just falls to his knees.

"Goddess." He grumbles looking from my feet up to my eyes.

"Halfdan, get up." I laugh, but I'm stopped when he grabs the linen.

"I can't believe you are mine." He moves the linen over me to dry me off.

He helps me dry my whole body leaving soft kisses from my ankles as he rises to leave a long kiss on my lips. I smile at him, but when we hear my maids coming he tells me he'll see me at the celebration before running out.

I smile to myself as I walk into the celebration dinner in the town center. I'm about to sit next to Ubbe at the table when I hear Sigurd tormenting Ivar again, but something makes me snap my head at Ivar. He quickly grabs his axe, and throws it at Sigurd. I somehow grab it before it hits Sigurd. Everyone is quiet until Ivar crawls away with a shocked look on his face.

"Sigurd, I swear you never stop you torment. Next time I'll let him kill you if you don't learn to keep your mouth shut." I tell throwing the axe on the table.

He stands with a scowl as he steps closer.

"You're just defending him, because you know I'm right. No one, but other cares for him." That did it.

"Step back." I warn.

He comes closer with his hands reaching for his sword, but I stop him by putting Ivar's axe to his throat. Ubbe stands, but I give him one look making him sit back down with his eyes on his plate. I slowly feel a warm hand slide around my waist, and the other grab my wrist.

"Breath, love. He is your brother." Halfdan whispers to me as he takes the axe from my hand.

He slowly moves me from my brother's tables, and puts me in between him and King Finehair. I glare at Sigurd as Halfdan places a plate of food in front of me.

The rest of our time in England Sigurd stays away from me even though he and Ivar have made up. I will not tolerate him disrespecting me like he thinks he can with Ivar. I catch myself glaring at him as I help Halfdan pack up.

3rd pov

Ubbe watches his sister grow more and more dark toward Sigurd as he keeps being Sigurd. Even at her wedding to Halfdan. She doesn't even acknowledge her brother, Sigurd as he makes jokes on her life. She just whispers to Ivar, Halfdan, and her new King brother in law. It wasn't until (y/n) became pregnant that Ubbe understood what they whispered about. As (y/n) told her brothers of her new gift from the Gods Sigurd tried attacking her in her sleep the night before she was supposed to leave Kattegat to go to her new home in Norway. Ivar was waiting in her room to protect her, and (y/n) and Ivar killed Sigurd.

(Y/n) gives birth to two boys of perfect health, naming them Eirk and Egil. Once she is back raiding Ivar is king of Kattegat and tries to set up an attack on her, and her husband while they are planning to raid England with him. She ends up killing Ivar late at night, becoming Queen of Kattegat. Only to give birth shortly after to a girl, named Helga. She ends up giving Kattegat to Bjorn, so she can go home to Norway. Over time King Harald gives his kingdom to Halfdan when he gets too old, and still doesn't have sons. She dies with her pet owl watching over her howling as she goes to Valhalla to see her husband who died in the battle of Norway to keep our land from the Irish.

Fin

[rubyreduji]

hehe i am actually the teacher jihoon anon and also the ceo jihoon anon!!! i guess i am career woozi anon now 🤔 but i just wanted to say thank you for making my thoughts come into reality!! thank you for writing them and i’m glad i could help you get out of a lil writing rut with the teacher idea <3

but 👀 since we are on the topic of jihoon… i recently got his fts carat vers album and in the pcs there is one of him with one of his feet on like something a little bit smaller than a table… if that makes sense, ever since i got it i can’t stop thinking about ceo jihoon or just jihoon fucking you in a similar position 😵‍💫 after you purposely make him jealous too or wear something revealing… phew. i hope i described the position well enough? but i’m sure u can look at the pcs! hehe just some jihoon brainrot i hope i can dump my thoughts in ur inbox 🤲🏻

first off hi im so sorry this took so long (im always saying that but i do feel bad that im such a mess) but i didn't realize you're the same anon haha! i love it sm thank you for all of your requests <<33

secondly so i actually can't find the pc you're talking about 😭😭 i feel so bad and i can't tell if im imagining the position well but i love the idea of jealous ceo jihoon so i hope this suffices (if not maybe send me an ask with the pc and i'll see what i can do?)

pt. 1

[minors dni]

it's been a few weeks since the encounter between you and jihoon in his office and thought it seems like jihoon has stopped his mistreatment towards you, he hasn't alluded to that day at all

he's nothing but proper around you; formal greetings in the morning, considering your ideas in meetings, praising the work you turn in. it's strange and you almost wish he would go back to degrading you every second, at least then you knew he acknowledged you, it's almost like you don't exist anymore

you tell yourself he probably regrets it. he's your ceo for goodness sakes, of course he regrets it. you hate yourself for caring so much because you know jihoon is nothing but a up tight, rude man who thinks of only himself first. the thing is you thought that just maybe it meant something, the other day in his office. he literally called you his favorite how can that not mean something?

well if he's not going to care about you, then you're not going to care about him. it's not like it would have gone anywhere anyways, jihoon isn't worth your worries

"y/n!" you look at the call of your voice to see kwon soonyoung approaching your desk. you like soonyoung, he's upbeat and nice and has always backed you when jihoon was too harsh

"hi soonyoung. how can i help you?"

"would you mind if i ate lunch with you today? it just feels like it's been a while since we've caught up"

"no i wouldn't mind at all" you smile up at the man and he grins happily back at you

soonyoung takes a seat at your desk and pulls his lunch out. you two start a conversation about your lives outside of work. you listen to soonyoung talk about his secondary job as an afternoon choreographer at a dance studio and you can't help but get lost in his stories about his students. you can tell he has a passion for what he does and loves the students he works with

eventually the conversation switches over to you and you're telling soonyoung your own stories when you hear your name shouted across the office

"y/n l/n! my office. now." you look over to see jihoon standing by the elevator, an angry look on his face. soonyoung gives you a worried glance and you quietly excuse yourself before scurrying over to the elevator

jihoon doesn't speak as you two ride up to his office. he doesn't say a single thing until you two are inside his office, the doors shut and locked

"you really do know how to get someone's attention, don't you?"

"i don't know what you're talking about, sir"

"you and kwon soonyoung. don't think i didn't notice the way he was all over you"

"he was just being friendly"

"is that what wanting to get into someone's pants is called these days?"

"jihoon i don't understand what the problem is here. soonyoung and i are friends. it was just lunch"

"the problem is you belong to me" jihoon grabs your face and forces you to look directly at him "you got that?"

you're feeling bold so you spit out "you've barely acknowledge me for the past two weeks"

"so you go and throw yourself at someone else? i didn't take you for a slut, mx. l/n"

"i- that's not- jihoon-"

"do you not want to belong to me?" he's asking permission. in his own fucked up, power hungry way, he's asking permission

you take a big gulp before answering "i- i do, sir"

"that's what i thought. be good now"

with a hand still cupping your face jihoon pulls you into a rough kiss. your lips are messy as they press against each other, desire running through your body

jihoon's hand slides down your neck and to your shirt where he starts to unbutton your shirt. his fingers are nimble and soon your bare skin is exposed to the room. his hands run over your torso, his fingers cold against your warm skin, and you shiver. you feel jihoon smirk at that before his fingers breech the waistband of your pants

his fingers trail against your skin and you gasp into his mouth when his hand plunges deep and cups you over your most sensitive parts. you whine a bit and buck into his hand

"so needy" jihoon tuts

his fingers push back further until his digits trace around your entrance, teasing you

"jihoon please" you beg

"please what?"

"please fuck me. i need it. i need you"

"that's what i like to hear"

jihoon pulls his hands out of your pants and quickly unbuttons them and pulls them down along with your underwear. there's a coffee table sitting in the corner of his office and he points to it

"bend over"

you quickly follow orders, rushing to bend over the table for him, not wanting to prolong him not being inside of you any longer. you feel a big embarassed with your whole ass exposed to the room, wantonly waiting as jihoon takes his time to walk over to you

you hear his own pants drop to the floor before he squirts some lube onto his fingers and shoves them inside of you. you jolt and moan as he fingers you open. he doesn't keep his fingers inside of you for long though, because soon he's pulling them up and grabing your hips to pull them up to meet his cock

without much warning he thrusts into you and you have to bite down on your lower lip to keep your screams in. you breathing gets choppy as jihoon pistons into you, pounding into you fast and hard

his cock is heavy and large and feels even better than his fingers did the last time jihoon touched you

it doesn't take long for you body to start to feel heavy with pleasure, your mind fuzzy with the only thought floating through you head being jihoon jihoon jihoon

jihoon props his leg up onto the table and pulls yours hips into his and you whine at the way his cock digs into your sweet spot at this angle

"only i get you like this, got it? you're my pretty little thing and no one else's. especially not kwon soonyoung's"

"fuck jihoon, only you. no one else makes me feel this good. promise"

"say it again"

"only you jihoon. i'm yours"

"yes, that's it. so good for me"

one of jihoon's hands reaches around to rub at where you ache the most for his touch

"so tight y/n" jihoon grunts "not gonna last much longer"

"sir please cum in me, please"

your words and the breathlessness of your tone is all it takes for jihoon to spill over, filling you full of his seed

your own release comes quickly after as jihoon presses a kiss to your neck, the press of his warm lips against your neck sending you over the edge. you shake in jihoon's grip as your insides pulse around jihoon's cock

you're panting as jihoon pulls out of you. he grabs a tissue off of the coffee table to wipe you both off

you both get dressed again and for a second you're both awkwardly standing around until you turn to leave

"y/n wait" jihoon grabs your arm "i- uhm, i'm sorry...if i came off too strong earlier. i've uh, never done something like this before so-"

"it's okay jihoon, i get it. don't worry. i won't tell anyone either, if that's what you're worried about"

"no! that's not it i just-" you don't think you've ever seen your boss so distressed before "would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

oh. that's not what you were expecting at all

"oh! uhm. y-yes, i'd like that a lot" you can feel your face heat up with your fluster

"good. well uhm. i'll see you tonight" jihoon stands there for a moment like he doesn't know what to do before he quickly leans in to press a kiss to your cheek and then he turns and walks over to his desk like he didn't just do that

you smile to yourself as you head out of jihoon's office, giddy for what's to come later

[codename-adler]

DANCE TIL YOU FIND SOMEONE TO DIE FOR UPDATING??? YES GOD YES!!!

Yes!!!!! It really warms my heart that you still care anon 🥹🫶

Adler's WiPs ~ Project: dance 'til you find someone to die for (dtyfstdf)

Premise for newcomers: What if instead of Seth, Riko had tried to get rid of Aaron? The night Seth was supposed to "accidently" die, Ravens found their way to Aaron instead. By pure dumb luck, Kevin answers his call for help and from then on, Kevin and Aaron are thrown together to brace themselves for every deadly trap sent their way. The dangerous game they play isn't just Exy anymore, and their hearts might get caught in the crossfire. >>Here on ao3 or >>here on Tumblr (masterlist of all parts)

Oh dear lord I have not updated since… 2021. I am so sorry. Things in the brain and the body got in the way. But that does not mean I have stopped thinking about Kevin and Aaron and the alternate timeline I have created. I’ve just had to scale down the plot a little bit, for now, as well as my expectations and goals. It became too big for me and that scared me, and discouraged me. So now it’s little bites and little steps! Or what they call “filler episodes” in the industry… We love those, right?

Up next: Shower Scene. Will it be sexy? Uh, yeah, you could say that. Will it be angsty? Oh yeah. That’s the main goal. I’m drawing a lot from personal experience with physical scars and how it affects routine activities such as washing up. I wanted to give a new perspective on scars, different from Neil’s or Andrew’s, and realized that I could expiate some of my demons through Aaron (like one does), who now has scars similar to mine due to every injury he has suffered in the fic until now. I also just love shower scenes in aftg fics. They’re so tense and charged!! There’s Kevin, and there’s Aaron, having an emotional conversation under hot water, only separated by a stall wall. Ugh! The boys have got to get hot and bothered about each other at some point, ya know? Anyhoo, that is the starting point of this new era for the fic. It’s small in the grand scheme of things, it’s full of dialogue (my péché mignon), it’s good therapy (for me, not them) and well that’s the dream for now!

Now, what after that. There are, evidently, unavoidable parts that must happen in order for the story to progress both in its own timeline and according to the canon timeline. There is the infamous New Year’s in NYC / holidays at the Nest thing, where I want to explore how Kevin copes with both Neil and Andrew locked away, and how Aaron helps (or aggravates) him considering how changed their friendship is. Thea also has to make an appearance at some point, both for the sake of this fic and for her own spin-off with Katelyn. And also so I can end things between her and Kevin in a way that I deem respectful and believable enough for both Kevin and her. I have little fillers here and there that mean the world to me, but they all lead to a First Kiss. They gotta get there at some point right? I’m not sure yet which of them will make the first move. I got multiple scenarios for each. There most certainly will be blood involved.

I really want to give you a snippet. I’ve got nothing ready or non-spoilish. But maybe, just maybe, by the time I post the corresponding part, y’all will have forgotten about this? So, um, there:

P.S.

Ye olde playlist

[goddess-aelin]

Little Did I Know

Chapter 7: The Match

Masterlist | LDIK Masterlist

Word count: 2.7k

Warnings: language, innuendos. Oooo we’re gettin spicy in here (no smut, sorry)

A few days had passed since the Independence Day Parade and the subsequent realizations that came after it. Aelin definitely had feelings for Rowan, that much she knew for sure. More than friendly feelings. Feelings that greatly outpaced anything she ever felt for Dorian, Chaol, or Sam, the only men she ever dated. 

He made it a habit to take his breakfasts and dinners with her every morning and evening. She had even found him waiting for her in the hallway by her rooms a few times. She thought it was incredibly sweet and definitely added to her budding feelings.

It was a few days after the damned magazine came out with the seven page spread of pictures of her and Rowan that she was cornered in her room by her best friends. Lysandra and Elide caught her unawares while she was taking a hot bubble bath, locking the door and holing themselves in the bathroom with her. They claimed that it was the only way they could get some privacy with her but she had a theory that this was the only way she couldn’t run away from the conversation.

Because that’s why they were there. They wanted to speak with her on her growing feelings for Rowan. And it’s not that she didn’t want to talk about them, she just didn’t know what to say. 

“Ok, now that I’m finally here and apparently missed so much the last few days, you need to fill me in.” Elide was practically bursting with excitement, having missed the entire parade when she traveled back to her home town of Perranth. 

Aelin just groaned and sunk further into the bubbles. “I don’t know what to tell you. We’re friends. That’s it.”

Lysandra scoffed. “That is not just it, and you know it. I told you the same thing the other day and I stand by it. I see the two of you together and you have never been like this with anyone else.”

“I mean, I’m marrying the man, for fucks sake! How do you want me to act? Like I hate him? Because let’s not go back down that road, please. It was not fun.”

Elide took her hand and gave her a knowing smile. Her friend always knew how to calm her down. And not many people could resist Elide’s dark brown puppy-dog eyes. “Ae, just start from the beginning. Pleassseee? For me?”

With a sigh, she did. She told them how they didn’t get off to the best start, about their fighting. And then she told them about their late night kitchen talk, of which neither Lysandra nor Elide knew about. Both of them were trying to contain their enthusiasm at the news. She filled them in on their ride up the mountain, about their later conversations. 

When she got to the part about the parade, Lysandra just happened to have the magazine from the morning after with her. Because she was always prepared. Elide was practically vibrating with excitement once she saw the pictures, not commenting for the longest time but rather just taking the pictures in. 

She slowly turned to Aelin, asking, “Aelin. I mean this in the most non-prying way possible. But…do you love him?”

Aelin sputtered. “Love him?!” That was ludicrous. How could she love a man she barely knew? She had strong feelings, sure. But love? “No, there’s no way.” Elide looked like she wanted to protest. But before she could, Aelin added,  “But I will admit that I have developed…more than friendly feelings towards him. Possibly.” 

Both Lysandra and Elide tried, and failed, to hide their glee. “Oh we know that. We can tell by these pictures.” Elide was having way too much fun with this. “But I think these pictures also tell another story, too. I hate these magazines. With a  passion. But I can’t deny that you, both of you, look super in love here.” 

“We had to play the part since we were in public. Rowan is really good at selling his charm despite not liking people all that much.”

“With all due respect, this is not the face of a man who is pretending. Especially not this particular gem,” Elide pointed to the picture of Rowan kissing her hand. “No, this is a man who is more than smitten. I’ve seen his smiles for the public and this is not one of them.”

Silence followed.

“Are you guys here to do anything other than pester me or can you let me get out of the bath so I don’t look like a prune? I have to get to the orphanage today.” 

Lysandra and Elide reluctantly got up from their spots on the tiled floor. “Just think about it, Aelin. We just want the best for you. And if you say to back off, we will. But I also know that you have a tendency to run when things get to this stage. I think you’d be throwing a good thing away if you did so.”

“Well, I can’t exactly run, can I? Since I’m in a contracted marriage. That’s probably all this is to him anyway. He’s doing his duty. That’s all.” 

“Maybe that’s something you should confirm with him.,” Elide said with a raised eyebrow. Aelin knew Elide meant well but she did know that Rowan was here in Terrasen because Queen Maeve ordered him to be. He left his family, his friends, his lover behind. He said as much on their ride up the mountain. Sure, maybe he didn’t blame her for his situation. But it sure as hell wasn’t going to make him love her any more easily. 

With a sigh, Aelin unstuck her pruney fingers from the tub and got ready for her day. 

- - - - -

Aelin got home late from the orphanage, meaning she missed dinner with Rowan. She hoped he wouldn’t be mad but something told her he would’ve encouraged her to stay and have the meal with the people at the orphanage, anyway. The only problem with not seeing him was that she was overthinking things. Lysandra and Elide’s conversation did not help to calm her nerves about the situation. She had hoped being in Rowan’s presence would help the anxiety but since she didn’t get to see him, here she was. Sitting in her room, trying to read a book but spectacularly failing. 

She decided that perhaps a nice kickboxing workout was in order. She dressed in her workout clothes and made her way down to the palace gym. It was blessedly empty, her cousin opting to have morning workouts instead of six at night. 

She started going through her warmup motions. Since there was no one else present, she was going to use the kickboxing bag today. She was trained since she was little in a few different martial arts forms, mostly for self defense. But kickboxing was her release. The high intensity of it calmed her mind and allowed her to get out any pent up energy. And tonight’s workout promised to be one where she put everything into those kicks and punches.

She was deep into her workout when a throat cleared behind her. She hadn’t even noticed anyone come into the room but there was a familiar head of silvery hair, leaning against one of the machines, smirking. 

“You ok there, princess?”

She let out a huff of breath. “Fine. Just couldn’t turn my mind off.” A thought came to her then. “How long have you been watching?” 

“Long enough. You know, you’re not so bad. You have great form and obviously have enough pent up anger to beat up these poor punching bags.” He patted one of them, followed by a chuckle.

“I’m not angry.” Rowan raised an eyebrow.  She let a sheepish smile show through. “Ok, maybe I’m always a little angry. But it just feels good to let it out here. The Gods know I can’t do it anywhere else. I always have to be the prim and proper princess.” She started unwrapping her hands. “Sorry I missed dinner, by the way. I got caught up with the orphanage and some of the kids asked me to stay. I can’t say no to them,” she smiled.

“No worries. I figured something of the sort happened.” He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “I was actually coming to find you and when you weren’t in the library, I just decided to wander around a little. And then I heard some pretty alarming noises coming from in here,” he smirked. “I thought someone might be getting murdered. But it turns out it was just you murdering the punching bags.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the small laugh that left her lips. “I was not murdering. Like you said, I have great form. I knew exactly where I wanted to punch and kick. It was a very controlled environment.”

“How about we make things interesting? Would you like a real partner to spar with?” It was Aelin’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Rowan’s eyes raked down the length of her body. “See how much control you have over your form?” Was he flirting with her? This was an entirely new side of Rowan that she hadn’t seen before. It gave her a little hope that what Lysandra and Elide had been prattling on about this morning was slightly true. 

“I’m trained in four different martial arts, a black belt in three of them. Plus I’ve been kickboxing since I was 10. This isn’t going to be easy for you,” she snarked. 

“Then prove it.” 

Aelin was never one to back down from a challenge. “You said to make it interesting. What do I get if I win?”

“Well, given that that’s not happening, when I win, let’s just say a favor of my choice.” Rowan sobered a little. “Nothing bad of course.” Ah, there he was. That sweet, sort of dorky Rowan that made her insides feel like mush. The other Rowan, though. He was making her insides feel like they were on fire.  

“Ok, ditto. When I win, favor of my choice.” “I honestly dread to hear what you might come up with.” 

“Are we going to talk all night or are we going to spar?”

Rowan’s eyes met hers and a smirk crossed his face. He reached behind his head to tug at his shirt. Right, of course. He wasn’t dressed for sparring. Perfectly natural that he’d have to take off his shirt. She was totally not going to get distracted.

She was totally distracted.

His abs were delicious. She knew he worked out before, could tell just by holding his arm. But feeling the muscles beneath his shirt and seeing them were two different things. Her mouth went dry at his tanned skin rippling as he finally got the shirt off. Godsdamnit. Either he was really horrible at undressing or he was doing it on purpose. She was inclined to think the latter given the way his body looked like a god. 

Never one to play the easy way, Aelin decided to even the field. She ripped her tank up and over her head, leaving her only in her dark green sports bra. The one that she knew made her boobs look fantastic. She smirked right back at the man who was now as still as a statue. She didn’t let him recover as she attacked first. He barely dodged the impending attack, only tumbling out of the way at the last minute.

“Huh, thought you’d be more graceful, Prince.”

“Are we going to talk or are we going to spar?”

He was flustered, she knew. 

They went back and forth for a while, both of them getting hits in but not enough to turn the tide of the battle they were currently engaged in. For every jab she threw at him, he deflected. And for every kick he offered in return, she spun out of the way before his foot could make contact. 

She must have been distracted by the sweat running down his pectorals because in a moment, he had her flipped on her back, straddling her thighs. They both were breathing heavily, tired out from their well-matched fight. But Aelin was nothing if not persistent.

“Didn’t think you’d give up that quickly,” Rowan taunted.

“I know when I’ve lost.” 

Rowan bent down slightly and Aelin angled her neck just so. She saw his eyes flick to her lips, her neck, just slightly lower. And she took her opening. She maneuvered one of her legs out from under his, wrapping it around his waist and pushing with all her might. A man caught unaware was quite the easy target despite his larger body size. She pinned his hands above his head, straddling his legs and pinching them tightly between hers.

“And good thing for me, I knew I hadn’t lost just yet.”

Rowan let out a huff of breath that seemed more than just a laugh. 

“Guess this means that I win. Favor to be determined.” Aelin just smirked and rolled off of him, laying right next to him.

They both caught their breaths for a moment, neither acknowledging the tension that was filling the room. If she was a bolder person, she would call in the favor right then and there. She knew exactly what she’d want it to be. And the favor would be to continue what he started before she flipped them over. But she wouldn’t do that to him, not with so much up in the air about where they stood in their marriage. 

Rowan slowly rolled up and gracefully got to his feet. He offered a hand, which she gratefully accepted. At the last moment, before she let go, he pulled her close enough to share breath. “This isn’t over, your highness.” Aelin just smirked in return and he gave her a devious smile. 

They both went their separate ways with a promise to meet for breakfast again the next morning. Aelin had to say that she was disappointed when he put his shirt back on to walk back to his room. She hated for him to go but loved to watch him leave. 

She had hoped that working out would help her mind to settle but after their little match, her mind was spinning faster than ever. She decided a quick ride on Kasida was in order. She had to sneak by the guards, which was incredibly easy. She wondered if she should have a talk with Aedion about that. 

Quickly, she saddled the beautiful Asterion horse up and rode off into the cool night. It was unseasonably warm for the usually long, bitter Terrasen winters and Aelin was taking advantage of that fact. Her mother always told her that she had fire in her blood. She knew she meant that more about her personality but she couldn’t help but get as much sun as she could whenever it was out. 

She was lost in thought as she traversed the easy path that veered into the Oakwald forest. She wasn’t planning on going far but she needed the crisp air to clear the raging storm in her head. The way Rowan was flirting with her tonight pointed to him more likely than not returning the feelings she held for him. Perhaps she should talk to him about it. Or maybe they could just keep going like they were tonight, flirting, sparring, and having the raging sexual tension build up until one day, it would hopefully just burst. 

A twig snapped behind her and she halted Kasida so she could get a better listen. It was most likely just a small rabbit or squirrel but she couldn’t be too careful, especially since she didn’t tell anyone where she was going. 

Another branch rustled off to her left, making her turn quickly towards the sound. Maybe this was a good place to turn around, she thought. Just as she was about to give the signal for Kasida to race back to the palace, something grabbed onto her left leg, pulling her from the saddle. Kasida reared up, almost trampling Aelin in the process. She took off at a breakneck speed, leaving Aelin laying in the dirt. 

But those twigs snapping didn’t stop and before she could figure out what was happening, blinding pain shot across the back of her head. The last thing she registered before she hit the ground were polished brown riding boots stalking toward her and a distant whinny from Kasida. And then everything went black.

A/N: You really thought this was just going to be a fluffy, spicy little chapter, didn't you? Next chapter, we'll get Rowan's POV because you know our bird boy will lose his mind.

Tagging: As always, lmk if you want to be added/removed!

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