#i was just sitting outside last night and it just sorta happened

[kiisuuumii]

some thoughts on (my) self concept

its not a secret that ive lately felt not in control of my emotions. its not even a secret to those who've followed me since my days on my old blog, that im very vocal about whatever it is that im struggling with, to the point of vague oversharing.

being back on tumblr, having an outlet where people will see, and choose to interact however they see fit, has maybe exacerbated it a little, but ive always felt at the mercy of my emotions.

the highs are high, and the lows are low, as they say.

ive sought out professional treatment, both therapy and psychiatric means, for it, because id always thought that it was an issue of discipline, or lack of—something that, so long as i caught myself and worked on it, it would eventually not be a problem anymore. and while to a certain extent that could be true, i think in my case, thats just how i am:

i am easily excitable, i am easily saddened. and i love easily. and i grieve easily. and i stay that way, easily.

for so long, i have berated myself, disparaged myself, torn myself apart, for the idea that i always, and have continued to, let myself be so easily swept into my emotions. ive only ever wanted to distance myself from this part of me, having come to believe that all ive been is a burden on the people i love, and who love and have loved me, because of it.

i think in doing so, ive been trying to live as a "me" that i thought really was me. but i was living rather as someone incomplete. i'd abandoned—and i've always abandoned—a part of me that wanted nothing more to be held. not just witnessed, not just seen, not just reassured that i was too much or not enough. just, held.

ive admittedly not made the best decisions in the past in my subconcious effort to find someone who would be more than willing—glad even—to hold this part of me. and i think my constant fighting with myself because of it had only made me seek to fill a hole in me from, well, a lack of understanding from a lot of different places while growing up.

thats all to say that i hurt a lot of people in the name of trying to believe that i wasnt too much. if someone else could love me as i am, then surely i could too.

and thats not too far off from the way i think now, but what's changed now is that, yes, i am a lot. maybe even too much. but having come to terms with that, seeing a little bit of how beautiful feeling too much can be, i think i can at least stop beating myself up for the things ive done. i think its enough.

i think, actually, my immense capacity to feel is what makes me, me.

[marvelwitchergilmore]

Sweetheart

Summary: Tyler Owens x Fe!Reader -> Times when you told Tyler to not call you 'Sweetheart' and the one time you did.

Disclaimer: This had been a w-i-p over the last couple of days so if it feels patchy, I apologise. Best friends to lovers, mutual pining, completely oblivious and scared idiots. Two almost kisses, one actual kiss, long love confession, little angst, lots of fluff, one bed trope, fake dating (sorta), lots of uses of the nickname 'Sweetheart', getting caught in a tornado, cowboy romance books mentioned. Not Proof Read.

You could remember the first time you told Tyler to stop calling you ‘Sweetheart’. 

It had been when he had been fixing his truck outside the fifth motel of the season. 

You’d both been friends for years. Ever since college. In fact, you were the first friend he made there. You’d been sitting under a tree since every bench either had a couple or a massive group of friends at each one. That was when he joined you. 

“Hey, do you mind if I sit here? It looks like most places are taken.”

Moving your bag from the spare patch, you let him sit down. Then you noticed his text book. 

You both got to talking and you found out your classes shared a building, and with a similar timetable for classes and a shared fear of student society nights, you both stuck together. 

Tyler took you to a couple of rodeos, showing you round and explaining everything that went on behind the scenes. Which was also when you found out he was an ex-bull rider. 

You showed him around campus and the best place to study, and when neither of you were working, you’d show him around your home town. 

And the rest was history. 

You’d both been together ever since. 

However, it wasn’t until after you both experienced an EF-4 whilst ‘off duty’ that you found something out about yourself. 

You were in love with Tyler. 

Of course, you’d always loved him as a friend. He was your best-friend and had been for years. Except, until that moment, you didn’t realise how deeply. And you couldn’t remember when it had happened. Had it been right away and you just confused it with friendship love? Or was it long after you made friends with him? 

You had a thousand and one questions about it, but something you didn’t question was how Tyler felt about you. Of course, he loved you, too. You were one of his best friends. But that was how he loved you. As a friend. 

And you were happy with that. More so considering letting your new fact be known out-loud might not only cost you your job but also your long time friendship with someone who you considered family.

Except, as time went on, you picked up on more and more things. Like how you always leaned into him, or found yourself by his side at most times of the day. Or like how he threw his arm around you when everyone sat around the campfire, or how you’d fall asleep beside him only to wake up in your bed the next morning. 

Or like how he’d always called you ‘Sweetheart’. Like he just did, when he asked you to hand him the socket wrench. 

“You know, you gotta stop calling me that. People are gonna think we’re together.”

Tyler took the wrench from you with a small chuckle. “But I always call you that.”

“That’s my point. What if someone wants to chat you up but they think you’re with me?”

“But I am with you.” Tyler told you. 

You scoffed and kicked the sole of his boot lightly. “I’m being serious. What if you miss out on meeting your wife? The mother of your children because she thinks you’re with me?”

From under his truck, Tyler rolled out. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. Why?”

Everything wasn’t fine, but the less he knew about it the better. 

“You’ve never had a problem with me calling you Sweetheart before.”

You shrugged, trying your best to remain casual about it. “I was just thinking about it, s’all.”

Tyler hummed in confusion before disappearing back beneath his truck. “Okay, I’ll try not to call you Sweetheart in public anymore.”

Though he couldn’t see, you gave a small nod to thank him. You didn’t want to let him know that it was killing you asking that of him. You loved when he called you different nicknames, because that was him. If nothing else was right in the world, you knew he was. 

But the more and more you became aware of who you were when you were with him, the more you started to think about how it would start to affect him, even if he didn’t realise it. 

Except, for as much as he tried, he still slipped up every now and again. 

But the second time you told him to stop calling you that, he’d fully done it with intent. 

Another week, another motel. Only, this time there weren’t enough rooms to go around, with the rodeo in town. So, whilst you stood and listened to everyone fight over who had to share, you searched for some sticks before shoving them into the middle of the group circle. 

“Lily, here. Whoever pulls the short straw shares. I need the bathroom.”

So, you disappeared. 

However, when you came back, you found most of your family disappearing into their own rooms whilst Tyler was still standing inside of the motel office. 

“I think he’s gonna need your help.” Lily told you as she grabbed her bag from her car. 

A little confused, you followed her advice and headed for the office. Only when you opened the door…

“Ty, Lily said-”

“Sweetheart! There you are. Thought you’d gotten lost.” You were about to correct him and tell him to stop calling you when suddenly, you found yourself being dragged to his side. “Molly, this is my girlfriend.”

“She’s not your wife?”

Tyler seemed to panic for a moment. 

What the hell was going on?

“Is everything-”

Tyler looked at you, but something in his eyes begged you not to ask. 

“Well, no. Not exactly.”

“Well,” the owner drawled. “How long have you two been together?”

“Just a little over ten years.”

She almost exploded. “Ten years?! And you still haven’t put a ring on it yet? Oh, honey, what are you two doing?”

Tyler chuckled a little all the while your body became fully aware of his arm around your waist and his hand at your hip. “See, that’s the thing. We wanted to get married but-”

“Your parents don’t approve?”

You practically gave yourself whiplash for how quickly you turned to look at her, an offended look on your face. Okay, maybe you didn’t look your best but you’d all been on the road for six hours and you hadn’t slept the night before. And it wasn’t your fault Tyler looked good at any time of the day. 

Tyler, a little shocked himself, shook his head. 

“Her parents don’t approve?”

“Well,” Tyler seemed to be making it up as he went along. “Her parents don’t believe in marriage.”

You came back to earth. Lying, right. 

You nodded your head. “I’d love to get married but I kinda want my folks to be there. But, we’re getting around them, aren’t we, honey?”

You tried your best to ignore how easily the pet name rolled off your tongue for Tyler. 

Tyler smiled and you could have sworn he blushed. “That’s right.”

The owner looked between you both. “Well, I suppose…that’s okay. Here’s your key. I hope you two have a nice stay.”

“We will, thank you.”

Taking the key, Tyler took hold of your hand before opening the door for you and leading you outside. Once more, your hand was in his all the way towards the car, only having him let go when he climbed into the bed of his truck to grab his luggage and your own. 

“Do you…” You looked to see if the owner was still watching. She wasn’t. “Do you wanna tell me what just happened?”

“She thinks we’re together.”

“That’s my point.” You told him. “Why?”

He hopped down from his truck. “Boone took the short straw and since you were in the bathroom, the others called their own rooms. But, since he’s eaten nothing but spicy tacos for the last three days, I offered to share with you.”

“What a gentleman.”

Tyler smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“That still doesn’t explain why she thinks we’re together.”

“Hey,” Tyler held his hands up. “I was gonna correct her but then she started talking about how nobody who wasn’t wed shouldn’t share a room. So, when you walked in, I just rolled with it. The next motel is an hour away, but the rodeo in town is probably booked up.”

And everyone was tired. Dragging everyone back on the road would just feel illegal. 

So, taking your bag from him, you followed him up to your shared room. With just one bed. 

Considering the owner didn’t like unmarried couples sharing a room, it shouldn’t have been as much of a shock as it was. 

“Want me to take the floor? You already offered to share, seems fair.”

Tyler shook his head. “That bed could fit me, you, and probably a herd of cattle.”

You rolled your eyes before walking inside and dumping your bag on the small bench by the window. 

“We can share.”

Remember; normal. 

You and Tyler had shared a bed a hundred times before. This was no different. Other than your self-aware feelings for him and the fact that you’d been trying to complete less of them ever since. 

“Okay.”

And like normal, you both took your registered sides. Tyler by the door, you by the window. 

Barely an hour later, both yourself and Tyler were lying in bed staring at the ceiling. 

“How many people do you think have lied about being married just to get a room here?”

You shrugged. “Considering there are like, a thousand romance books out there with the main couples doing that exact thing…I guess…a lot.”

Tyler turned to you with a shocked smile on his face. 

“What?”

“You read romance books?”

You furrowed your brows a little. If you had been talking to anyone else, or talking to Tyler before you found yourself harbouring such a big secret from not only him but also yourself, you would have owned it. 

But this was a man you had secretly been in love with for god only knows how long. 

“I read other stuff, too.” You managed to stutter out. 

“I’ve never once seen you read a book that isn’t a textbook.”

“And? Plenty of people read romance. That’s why it’s a genre.”

“So, what else happens in these romances of yours?”

“They’re not my romances.” You clarified. But nothing could wipe that shit-eating grin from his face. 

“Are they all as cheesy as they used to be?”

You found yourself stumped at that question. “Used to be? Wait, you’ve read a romance book?”

Tyler nodded. “Just after I got stomped on by my second bull, I was waiting with the medic. I got bored and she gave me a book to read.”

“And how was it?”

“Cheesy,” Tyler said. “But the cover did have a half naked man on the cover. The doc tried to pass it off as her friends, but since she went bright red in the face, I knew it was her. So, what are yours?”

Then he started listing off different characters, revelling in the embarrassment it was causing you to admit it to him. 

“A hot firefighter who saves kittens from trees? A…18th century Duke from London, England who just so happens to ‘hate’ his sister’s best friend? That was what the Doc’s book was. Oh my god, is it a Prince in disguise who falls in love with the local baker and they win a pie contest together?”

“You’re an asshole.” You told him before turning over. 

“Oh, come on.” Tyler laughed. “Just tell me. If you don’t, I can always ask Boone to go through your goodreads. Maybe I want to buy you one for your birthday, but I don’t know which one you’ve already-”

“It’s cowboys.” You felt like you were shouting. 

“What?” You could already hear the grin on his face, which made you only try and repress yours. But he heard it anyway. 

“It’s cowboys. Bull riders, ranch owners, cowboys. Those are the romances I, mainly, read.”

You managed to build up enough courage to turn onto your back, only to look over and see Tyler’s smile still on his face. 

“Go on, go ahead. Laugh at it.”

“Are any of them Tornado Wranglers?” 

With a laugh behind your voice, you threw a pillow at his head. “Shut up and go to sleep.”

From behind you, you heard him laugh as he fixed his pillow. “Whatever you say, Sweetheart.”

You turned the lamp off. “Go to sleep.”

He was still smiling as he turned his own off. “Night, Sweetheart.”

By the time you woke up in the morning, you were scrambling to find out where you were. 

In your head, you’d been in bed with Tyler. You’d all been sitting around the campfire, listening to Tyler finally agree to tell an actual spooky story. Of course, after scaring the crap out of you, Dexter told a nicer one which…you fell asleep to. Only, you’d woken to Tyler being in your bed. He’d carried you to bed. Again. But, just as you were laying in his arm, you felt the ground beneath you begin to shake before a cold draft came up the back of your neck. 

By the time you turned to look at the window, you saw…

Flying cows. 

Tuning back around, everything went from colourful to dim. Almost black and white. You could just about make Tyler out beneath the covers but each time you took a step, you found yourself unable to move. 

But when you finally did move, a pair of arms reached for you and held you back to the window. 

You woke up with a start, trying to figure out where you were. 

You were in bed. 

With a pair of arms around you. 

You sat up. 

You were in bed. 

In a motel. 

With Tyler. 

You were in bed with Tyler. 

For the second time in less than twenty four hours, you nearly gave yourself whiplash. The window was open a little. Tyler must have woken up in the night and opened it. But there were no flying cows. You made a mental note to not watch The Wizard of Oz, and have it be the last thing you watch, before bed.

Looking down at a sleeping Tyler, you noticed where his arms were around you. Around your back, and since you’d moved to sit up quickly, across your thighs with his hand closer to your hip. 

Trying your best, you tried to ignore how attractive he looked even when he was asleep. You’d seen the same image many a hundred times in the last ten years, and yet it never got old. Of course, at the time you weren’t trying to bury feelings. 

Slowly, you tried to peel yourself from him only to have him tighten his hold on you and pull you back towards him a little. 

“S’everything okay, Sweetheart?”

Sweetheart. Morning voice. Looking like that.

“Every…” You swallowed and forced yourself to look away before he caught the heat on your cheeks. “Everything…everything’s fine.”

Having most of his face buried into his pillow, he opened up one eye and looked at you. “You’re looking a little flushed there, Sweetheart.”

The nickname rolled so easily off his tongue, you knew he didn’t notice how casually he used it with you. 

If you weren’t awake before, you were when he spoke. 

Almost throwing yourself from him, you scooted out of bed and stood up. “I’m fine. Promise. I’m gonna get some coffee.” It almost sounded like a question as you looked around for your jeans. 

From behind you, you heard him shuffle around the bedsheets. When you looked back, you almost melted at the sight. Lay there in bed, watching you with that smile on his face that you could never quite pin a meaning to. One arm behind his head, the other out of the covers and by his side, white tee on, his pj pants that you’d gotten him almost seven christmases ago just visible from the flipped corner of the bed. 

“Yeah. Coffee. You want one?”

“You sure you’re okay? You never usually have this much energy in the morning.” Tyler said. “Sure you don’t wanna wait. Don’t think the diner’s even open.”

“That’s okay.” You grabbed a random shirt from the chair by the small dining table. 

Again, that smile was on Tyler’s face. 

“I’ll be back soon.”

From their own rooms, the others watched as you left your shared room with Tyler, dressed in his shirt, looking like you’d just rolled out of bed. 

Lily: Do you think something finally happened?

Dex: If something did, I don’t think she’d look so freaked. 

Dani: Or be leaving their bed so early in the morning…

By the time Tyler had actually gotten out of bed, showered and had changed, you still weren’t back from your freaked coffee run. 

“Hey, Boone!”

“Yeah, dude?”

“You seen Y/n?”

Boone shook his head. “No. Why?”

Tyler looked…sad. And confused. “Nothing. No reason.”

But rather than wait around, he went and looked for you. And it wasn’t long before he found you. Sat inside a mostly empty cafe-diner, you were waiting on another two coffee’s to go. 

“Hey.”

Tyler could have sworn you’d jumped out of your skin. 

“Oh, hey.”

“Was starting to get worried. Need some help.”

You looked at the two coffee holders. “Uh, sure.”

Tyler watched you. You couldn’t look him in the eye. And you still looked flushed. He was starting to get worried. For years, you’d both been attached at the hip. But in the last six months, you’d asked him to stop calling you ‘Sweetheart’, had stopped leaning into him or even standing by his side when in a group. You’d stopped fighting Boone for riding shotgun with him. You’d stopped falling asleep on his shoulder or even sitting beside him at night. And he was pretty sure if the owner of the motel didn’t make a point of the married couple sharing a room, you would have taken the flatbed of his truck over sharing a room with him. 

“Are we okay?”

That got you to look him in the eye. “What?”

“I just mean…Are you sure you’re okay? In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never even been awake before a diner has opened unless you’ve had to be.”

You nodded and looked back at the drinks. “I just needed coffee, that’s all.”

“But if something was going on, you would tell me, right?”

You forced yourself to look at him, hoping he wouldn’t see through your lie. “Of course.”

Tyler nodded, but something in his gut told him you weren't telling him the full truth. 

Either way, he kept his eye on you for the rest of the day. And the days that followed. 

You’d always go to bed earlier than everyone else, or much later. He’d fall asleep watching you read over data and old textbooks but would wake up and catch a glimpse of you curled up either on the bench by the window or on the bed beside him reading a book he could only guess was a ‘Cowboy Romance’ considering a cowboy hat was just one of the small details designed into the cover. 

He’d smile and close his eyes again, listening to you turn the pages every now and again, gasp quietly or let out a soft laugh every now and again. 

Only, when the morning came round, if he woke up before you, he’d close his eyes, still holding you close because he knew the moment you woke up, you’d stay still for a moment but if he moved, you’d shoot right out of bed. 

It was getting harder and harder each day to pretend you didn’t worry him. And it was getting even harder to ignore the feeling in his chest he got each time he looked at you, or heard your voice or even thought about you. 

But all of that finally came to a head a few days after rolling into town when a tornado hit. 

All the data had shown no tornado was meant to come into town and what with the rodeo on, everyone headed down to it. Walking down there, Tyler could remember when he first brought you to one of the circuits he used to run on. He’d loved to have you there. To have you know of his life before he met you, because in a way, it put you there. Like, even if you hadn’t met til college, you had a place in all aspects of his life. 

And for the first time in months, you met his eye and smiled. Like you used to. Watching the bull riders, and the cowboys and him asking you if you remembered when you and him first attended a rodeo together. 

But just as he looked back at you, your gaze matched his for a second too long and…you looked away. Flushed, embarrassed, then…annoyed. 

Not at him. He knew that look off by heart. 

You were annoyed at yourself. 

But why?

Forcing himself to look back at the rodeo, he tried his best to not think too deeply into why you were annoyed with yourself. But it still worried him. 

But then something else worried him. 

Everyone’s alert on their phones. 

“We weren’t picking up cells this way.” 

One look shared between both yourself and Tyler let the other know what to do. People had to get to shelter there and then. And for the next fifteen minutes, everyone started running, staring up their engines to drive away or running to find shelter. 

You and the rest of the team helped who you could before finding shelter for yourselves. 

“Down here!”

Tyler pulled you closer and followed you down the steps inside the cramped underground shelter before you helped him shut the doors. Bolting it shut before the Tornado could whip them open again, you and him (like everyone else) huddled to the floor. 

With his arm across your back, you turned into him, gripping onto his shirt for dear life. And despite the rattling of the doors, people’s nervous screams and the battered weather outside, you eventually only heard one thing. 

“It’s okay. We’re okay.” 

Tyler’s voice in your ear provided soothing words that eventually started to slow your heartbeat. He pressed a kiss into your hair, his other hand coming around your front, before holding onto your hand that was gripping onto his shirt. 

“We’re okay. I promise. Just breathe, Sweetheart. Breathe with me.”

And you did. 

You didn’t know when the tornado had passed or when everyone felt like they could breathe again. But you did know you’d just fallen so deeply in love with Tyler at the thought of losing him, even if he’d been wrapped around you the entire time, that you were almost paralysed in those moments. 

Slowly, you looked back up and directly at him. Any closer and you both might have kissed. Tyler’s eyes were searching your face just as yours were searching his. He was okay. He wasn’t hurt. No scars. No bruises. 

Instinctively, he let his hand from round your back come to your face, pushing the hair from it all the while letting his finger trace your cheekbone and your cheek. 

If he didn’t fear losing you forever, he would have kissed you. 

“I love you,” he said in his head. 

“Tyler…”

He just nodded. “We’re okay.”

Leaning forward, you hugged him and he hugged you back. 

It was slow getting back to the motel. It wasn’t until early hours. You took turns getting cleaned up and for the first time in a long time, you didn’t scoot to the end of the bed only to make your way over to him in your sleep. 

As he climbed into bed, you turned towards him. 

“Come here.”

That night, you fell asleep in his embrace, listening to his heartbeat inside of his chest. Feeling his lips press a kiss to your temple twice before he locked you inside his hold, warming your entire body. 

And when a lighter morning rolled in, Tyler woke to his name being quietly called. 

You were having a nightmare. 

Holding you closer to his chest, he stroked the back of your head with one of his hands before his other hand took hold of yours. He pressed a kiss into your palm before pressing a similar one to your temple. 

“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here, Sweetheart. I’m right here.”

You calmed after that. But you woke up not long after. However, before you could scoot away from him and launch yourself out of bed before your body was ready for it, he told you something.

“You were calling out for me. You were having a nightmare.”

Going off your previous track record, you were about to lie. Tell him you weren’t or that you weren’t even having a nightmare. That you’d been arguing with him or you’d been talking to him and the other Wranglers. 

But you didn’t. 

You told him the truth. 

“You were hurt.”

Tyler was a little taken aback. 

“You were hurt and I needed you to be okay.”

Tyler didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know if your nightmare had been frequent or if it was just a fluke after everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours. 

So all he could do was say…

“Sweetheart.” 

His voice soft, his touch even softer against your skin and yet secure in all the same aspects, he pulled you closer to him as he pressed a kiss to your head. 

“I’m okay. I promise I’m okay. I’m right here.”

He kissed your hand. “I’m right here.”

All you could do was just…look at him. 

The man you’d been best friends with for as long as you could remember, the man who’d shown and invited you into parts of his life, the man who had invited you to be apart for the rest of it, the man who you’d spent almost every single day with ever since, the man who you’d been and only fallen deeper in love with each day…was right by your side. 

He was right in front of you. 

He wasn’t a dream. 

He wasn’t a nightmare. 

There were no flying cows, there were no more tornadoes (for now at least), there were no elements of anything being fake. 

And the longer you looked at him, the more you realised…

You would always be in love with him. 

And there was nothing you could do about it. 

It wouldn't matter how much you avoided him, or pushed yourself or even pushed him to find someone. You would always love him. 

With his thumb caressing your cheek, Tyler watched you. 

“God, you’re beautiful.” 

He hadn’t meant to say it outloud. But he was glad he did. 

Your other hand came to his chest…but you didn’t push him away. And you didn’t push yourself away, either. 

“Tyler…”

All of a sudden, it was like the only thing either of you could hear was your heartbeats. Blood pumping faster and faster and you got closer and closer, if that was even possible. 

Finally, Tyler made a decision. 

Cupping your face, he moved until you were almost under him, placing the hand he kissed over his heart. 

Suddenly, he was nervous. 

He swallowed, gazing at you. 

“C…Can I…” He swallowed again. 

Except, just as he went to ask, and you would have replied, a booming knock came to the door making both of you jump out of your skin. 

Neither you or Tyler moved, but when it came a second time, you looked at each other quickly before bolting out of bed. You didn’t know what to do. Your mind was still trying to process the last ten minutes.

Whilst you stood on your side of the bed, Tyler took a final look back at you. And when he opened the door, Boone thought Tyler looked like he was guilty of sin. 

Boone had known Tyler long enough to know that look. Anybody who didn’t know him, well, they wouldn’t have noticed. But he did. 

“Boone, man. We were asleep.”

“Shoot. Sorry, dude.” Boone apologised. “Well, we were all gonna get some food before we hit the road to help. Want something?”

“Where’s your phone?”

“Dude! We tried. Tried Y/n, too. I’ve got a charger if you need one.”

Tyler sighed. Right. Dead phone. 

“No, that’s good. We’ll just…get us the usual?”

“And coffee!” You heard yourself add. 

Tyler smiled at the sound of your voice. “And coffee. Wait, here.”

Handing Boone a twenty dollar bill, he thanked him before shutting the door. 

“He’s gonna give someone a heart attack one day.” You said as Tyler finally shut the door. 

Tyler scratched the back of his head with a nervous chuckle. “Almost gave me one.”

Then the silence hit. 

“Well, I, uh…we better….bathroom. I’m just gonna…yep.”

In his heart, Tyler was elated at the thought of what almost happened. But in his gut, it was like a punch to his soul. 

You couldn’t even meet his eye when you spoke and ran towards the bathroom. And when you left and he entered, it had never been more awkward between you both. 

He could only hope he hadn’t lost you. 

He loved you. 

He was in love with you. 

But he didn’t want that to be the reason he lost you. 

For the rest of the day, he only felt worse. 

And so did you. 

You’d almost kissed him. Then Boone had knocked on. And suddenly him being the only other person in the room made you feel like the walls were closing in. No matter how much you wanted to go back to the bed and finish what had almost started…something inside you forced you away from it. 

Being on the verge of telling your best friend who you’d been in love with for years was suddenly a much higher cliff than you’d originally thought. 

Due to the wreckage of the tornado, you and the rest of the crew spent the day helping people, giving them food and water, making sure they were okay. 

However, just a little after two, you looked around for him. And, like usual, you found him instantly. 

By his truck, he was loading a toolbox back into the flatbed. And he turned. He’d seen you. 

He’d been looking over at you all day. And for the first time, you met his gaze. 

He would spend the rest of his life loving you. There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind or in his heart about that. And there never would be. 

He could only hope that what had almost happened that morning wouldn’t make you hate him. 

After a moment, you heard your name being called and you forced yourself to look away from Tyler. 

“I love you,” you told him, in your head. 

“I love you,” he told you, in his head. 

Hours passed and every five minutes, Tyler’s gaze would find yours again before being forced away. 

When he wasn’t looking at you, he was thinking about you. Thinking about the tornado, thinking about the rodeo, thinking about the motel room. And watching you from across the wreckage, he made a decision. 

He could only hope it was the right one. 

And getting back to the motel couldn’t come quick enough. 

By the time everyone did get back, it was long after the sun had gone down. And entering your motel room, Tyler tried to get you to talk to him. 

“We need some ice. I’ll go and get some.” 

“Y/n.”

“I’ll be back in five minutes. Promise.”

Only, you weren’t. And when Tyler heard a crash, he practically ran out of his room and down the stairs. 

“Y/n?”

Looking around, he saw you stood at the end of the building scooping ice into the bucket. 

“You okay?”

You looked up. “Yeah, why?”

Tyler looked around. “I thought I heard something.”

You were confused. “I didn’t hear anything.”

But as the ice stopped, you both heard it. Trash cans. 

“This way.”

“Tyler-”

Grabbing your hand, he pulled you round the corner. Neither of you were cast in the light from the motel but rather hid in the darkness beside it. You looked behind you and around the wall whilst Tyler stood in front of you. 

“What was that?”

“I don’t know.”

It happened again and then…

Laughing. 

You physically relaxed and turned back to Tyler with a relieved smile. 

“It’s just people coming back from the bar. We’re safe.”

Only then did you realise how closely you stood together, or how you could feel his weight slowly pressing against you. Or maybe you were pulling him forward. 

Softly, you pressed yourself into the wall as Tyler started towering over you, his hands slowly grazing over your hips as he looked at you. 

It was like what had happened that morning only…more. 

Slowly, your breath tangled with his, your heartbeat steadily rising as one of his hands ran up your body and pushed your hair from your face. 

“Tyler…”

“We should get back inside. Before you get cold.”

You were anything but that, in the moment. 

And when you both got back inside your room, having Tyler carefully take the ice bucket from you and place it on the table, only made you feel hotter. 

“We need to talk about this morning.”

“Tyler…”

“Sweetheart, I mean it.”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that? There’s nothing to talk about.”

“We almost kissed.”

You closed the bathroom door in his face before reaching for your toothbrush and paste. Only, you forgot to lock it. 

Opening it back up, Tyler stood by the door, one hand on his hip, the other on the handle. 

“Y/n, will you please listen to me?”

“Tyler, please. Please, just…just stop. Before either of us say something we can’t take back.”

He stood tall. “What if I don’t wanna take it back? What if I want to say it out loud so we can both finally be finished with this…this…this weird awkward…thing between us. In ten years never once has it been awkward.”

You sighed, dropping your toothbrush under the tap before rinsing out your mouth. “Well, whatever it is, you can say it to an empty room.”

Pushing past him, you grabbed your jacket and headed for the door. You weren’t going to stick around to hear him tell you your friendship with him was over. That your worst fear was about to become your reality. 

Only, as you reached for the handle and opened up the door, the next three words that came from Tyler’s mouth, as he stood, still in the opening of the bathroom, stopped you right in your tracks. 

“I love you.”

He’d told you he loved you a thousand times over the years, but it had always been quickly and in the same way and same tone as he told anybody else who he loved. But those three words. They were different. 

They meant something entirely different. 

You could hear him slowly taking a few steps forward. 

“I love you, Y/n. I’m in love with you.”

You physically couldn’t move. Everything inside of you wanted to do…something. Kiss him, tell him the same, tell him he was mistaken, that he didn’t love you, tell him to stop, tell him to keep going.

“And I think…” He took a breath. Not of fear, not of worry, but of relief. Like finally saying these words out loud was a weight off his chest. “I think you’re in love with me, too.”

You didn’t know what to say, so you just waited. 

“Now, you can run out of here. You can leave, if you want. But know that I want you to stay. I want to talk about this. All day, the only thing I’ve been able to think about is you. About the rodeo, about the other morning. About all the other times I’ve wanted to kiss you and to have you be the one I share a room with. Not because we’ve drawn straws but because you would want it, too. Again, if you want to leave, you can. The door’s open. But I’m hoping you’ll stay.”

Tyler couldn’t comprehend what was going on inside your head as he watched you. He could have swore he saw your body move a little. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe you were going to leave after all. Maybe all of it was just in his head. 

But then you let go of the handle. 

The door shut in front of you and suddenly the white noise from outside floated away. You’d made your choice. But you were still scared. 

“I…I don’t know what to do from here.”

“That’s okay.” Tyler moved closer to you until he was directly behind you. Carefully, he took your jacket from you and you let go of it willingly, allowing him to place it on the bed behind him. “We can figure it out together.”

Still behind you, Tyler’s hands lay gently by your sides. “Is this okay?”

“Yes.”

He took another step closer. You could already feel the heat from his body behind you, warming you from the cold draft that had wafted through when you’d opened the door. 

“I’ve loved you since before I can remember. But I know the day I met you, you were gonna be in my life forever.”

Feeling brave, you turned in his arms to look at him. For a moment, he looked scared. Like it would be the last time you’d ever look at him and he’d never see you again. Scared that you’d leave. 

But as your gaze landed on his, that smile came back. 

“What?” 

Still with that smile, he told you. “You look like you love me.”

“How can you tell?”

“Because you get this look in your eyes. Like something I’ve never seen before. And it’s new every time. Do you love me?”

You didn’t have to think about your answer, but the courage you had to build to tell him took a moment. “Yes. I-I don’t know when. But I think one day it just…clicked. But I was scared. I still am…scared. Tyler, what if…what if something goes wrong? What if we lose each other forever?”

“That’ll never happen.”

“How? How can you know that?”

“I just…do. It’s like a tornado. Part science; all the chemicals that go into loving someone. Part religion. I don’t have to physically see how something happens, but I like to believe it’s there. Maybe I don’t have all the answers, but I knew I had to listen to what my gut told me.”

“And what did your gut tell you?”

Tyler gave you that smile again. “It told me that; ‘that girl, right there, under that tree. You need to talk to her, because she is going to be the best part of your day for the rest of your life.’”

You felt the heat in your cheeks rise. 

“You have always been, and always will be, the best part of my day, Sweetheart. No matter how many tornados, no matter how many sleepless nights on the road or how much data we collect. The best part of my day is talking to you. Is looking over at you and having you look back. The best part of my day has forever been, and always will be, you.”

“So, trust me when I say that,” he continued. “Nothing bad will ever happen to us. Because I don’t plan on letting you go just because of fear. I’m in love with you, Sweetheart. And I want to be in your life, for the rest of your life.”

You smiled, “Say that again. The ‘I’m in love with you,’ part.”

Tyler was a little confused, but he would say it as many times as you wanted. 

“I’m in love with you, Sweetheart.”

Watching you blush and try and hide your smile made him realise why you’d asked him to say it again. 

“I knew you liked it when I called you that.”

You looked back up at him. “You know, you’re lucky I love you.”

Tyler smiled. “That’s the first time you’re saying that outloud.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna kiss me now? Or are you just gonna keep talking, Cowboy?”

“No, ma’am.”

Pulling you in closer, Tyler finally kissed you. 

And it was…

Everything. 

Every moment he’d dreamed of finally kissing you, every moment you’d wished he’d do so, every moment you’d both shared, harbouring those feelings, wishing for something more and being too scared to reach for it…

It was a lot to put into a first kiss. 

But it came out naturally. 

Having waited years, you both had some catching up to do. 

[astarionancuntnin]

Undisclosed Desires (Chapter 2)

summary: its the day after you and astarion indulged in each other's embrace. it shouldve been a once done deal, nothing more, but that last night ended with you questioning your feelings for the pale elf. you struggle to come to terms with those and the day might prove more difficult as you get trapped alone with him in a secluded dungeon

or in short:

rating: E

word count: 4k

pairing: astarion x you (fem!reader, sorceress tav)

cw: 18+. smut, porn with little-to-no plot, karlach gets hurt for the sake of the porn (shes doing her part o7), denial of feelings, sexual tension through the roof, dom!tav/reader, teasing, dry humping, begging, ear licking, vampire bites, kinda praise kink, sorta breeding kink, your honor- theyre both brat switches fighting to top the other.

a/n: at long last, chapter 2! i had so much fun with the dialogues, i hope you enjoy them as much as i did uwu. also, inspo song at the beginning is the same as chapter 1, but a different part of the song, and end of chapter song is a different one (that i linked at the end). let me know how you feel about the dynamic in this chapter 👀

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I shut my eyes

You call but I just cut the line

I know your style

I know that you want one more night

And I'm backsliding

Into this just one more time

-

You wake up this morning to the sound of your companions talking nearby. Instinctively, you reach for the spot next to you, only to find it empty. Figures. If it wasn’t for the aching pain in your muscles and the dizziness of your mind, you’d think what happened last night was just a dream.

The way Astarion had ravaged your body, how feral he was, the taste of him on your lips, how he felt between your legs…

Instinctively, you rub your thighs together, chasing the feeling from the previous night. You already feel that warmth between your legs as a result of those memories flooding back to you. You hear laughing outside your tent and it brings you back to the present moment ; your companions are probably waiting for you.

You quickly push aside any thoughts of him and reach for your clothes to get dressed up for the day. You take some time to prepare for what your companions have to say about the sounds that came from your tent last night. They had to have heard.

As you take your first step outside, Karlach is the first to greet you.

“Hey Soldier! Slept well? Doubt it was restful but it looks like you had the time of your life!” She nudges you.

“You can say that again! Those screams made me believe she was dying in there!” Shadowheart shouts, sitting near the campfire, before her and Karlach start laughing.

You feel yourself turn redder after each remark. Hells, I didn’t realize how loud I was.

“It did sound… intense. Are you sure you’re alright?” Wyll speaks up, more worried about you.

You lift your blushing face which was hiding in shame between your hands. “Oh, yeah no, I’m fine just- um,” you turn to Shadowheart, “Can I ask you to cast lesser restoration on me, please?”

She looks at you puzzled, “Can’t you cast it on yourself?”

“The only thing I wanna cast on myself at this very moment is eldritch blast, now, can you please cast the damn spell?”

“So much for the ‘great sorceress with limitless talents’,” she mocks you, reminding you of the very words you used back when you introduced yourself to her.

“SHADOW.”

“Fine, fine,” she scoots over the log, making space for you. “Come here, I’ll take care of you.”

You walk over to her and you sigh as you sit down, completely slouched over.

“Gods, he really did a number on you, huh,” she casts lesser restoration and you straighten up, instantly feeling much better. 

“Yeah, you should see the other guy,” you say, smiling, proud to have gained back your wits.

“Speaking of,” Wyll interjects. “We haven’t seen him all morning. We fully expected him to come out of your tent.”

“Huh, I did wake up alone,” you confess. “I just assumed he went back to his tent.”

“Heh! Maybe he’s still in there recuperating from your night together!” Karlach shouts, before laughing some more.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go check up on him,” you roll your eyes as you get up to walk towards his tent.

You’re glad it’s placed far enough from the campfire to be out of your friend’s sights. You didn’t want to give them more ideas if they saw you with the vampire this morning. You call out his name before opening the flap of his tent, only to reveal it to be empty. 

“Looking for something?”

You slightly jump, as if you were caught doing something you shouldn’t have, and quickly turn around to face him.

“Gods, you startled me.”

He walks towards you, shirtless, with his hair still damp from his morning bathing and his trousers hanging loosely around his hips.

“Terribly sorry dear, I would never do this to you intentionally.”

His little smile is unnerving. Your heartbeat quickens, and you frown at yourself; You can’t allow yourself to falter this early in the day. You take a deep breath, your way to gain back control over yourself. 

“We’re almost ready to leave, so I came looking for you,” you try to look elsewhere but you’re mesmerized by his sight.

“Well, here I am now. Can I… help you with something?”

He raises his hand and strokes your cheek gently with the back of it, his face dangerously getting near yours. You feel your face burning hotter and it takes everything in you to push yourself away from him.

“We should really go, just– get dressed. I’ll uh, I’ll wait for you around the campfire with the others.”

You turn around completely flustered and walk back to your companions.

“Again?!” Karlach exclaims as she sees the state you’re in. “At this rate, you’ll turn redder than me!”

You wanna crawl into the depths of the hells and never come back up.

—

Today’s quest brings you to a secluded dungeon. Your findings from the previous days led you there in search for more information about an artifact you previously found throughout your adventure. If you’re correct, you should find here what’s missing for it to work. Now the only thing left to do is actually finding that missing piece.

With a swift flick of his wrist, Astarion opens the door to the lower grounds. As the door opens, you’re greeted by damp air and a musty smell. The place is dusty and covered in spiderwebs. Whatever you’re looking for must be here judging by the fact that no one has been down here in ages. You all walk in and notice that the place is a damned maze filled with countless rooms. You split up from the group, starting the search on your own, and the first room you walk in greets you with an absurdly obvious trap. You sigh, discouraged, as you fall back against the wall next to the entrance. Guess I won’t be able to avoid him much longer.

“Astarion? A hand?!” Your voice echoes through the hallways, followed by the sound of his footsteps.

He makes his way towards you nonchalantly, “You called, dear?”

“Can you take care of this?” You point towards the device.

He leans over you, his arms caging you between him and the wall, “I could, if you were to ask nicely.” His face hovers dangerously close to you, you can feel his cold breaths ghosting over your lips. It would be so easy to just tilt your head up and close the gap… No, you can’t let him win this. Last night was just a mutual agreement. An exchange of sorts. Nothing more, nothing less.

You cross your arms over your chest, creating some distance between the two of you, “Don’t push your luck.”

“Oh well, I assume you know how to deal with such an intricate mechanism then, if you’re so much better than I am?”, he wears his typical shit-eating grin.

You roll your eyes and step over your pride, “Fine. Can you please disarm this trap so we can carry on?” 

“See? Now, was that so hard?” He gives you a playful look before getting to work.

You stand next to him as he fickles with the machinery when you hear a loud commotion from afar.

“FUCK!”

You recognize the voice from your fiery friend and waste no time running towards the source of her scream, only to find her in a terrible state with Shadowheart kneeling next to her. Her leg is barely recognizable. Whatever got her rendered her unable to fight from now on.

“What happened?!”

“Godsdamned trap got me, shit!” She keeps groaning in pain.

“Alright, Shadowheart, do you think you can take care of her wounds?”

“I can stabilize her, but she won’t be able to carry on with her injuries, we need to head back to camp as soon as possible so I can tend to her,” she explains.

“Okay, okay,” your eyes wander between your friends as you’re thinking of a solution. “Yeah, okay, you’re right, I’m not risking Karlach’s life on this,” the cleric nods in agreement, “But we can’t back track now. Who knows what else this trap triggered, it might’ve alarmed someone. We are so close to finding the answer, I can't risk letting it slip past us.”

Shadowheart raises as she’s about to argue but you cut her off, “Don’t worry, I still believe you two should head to the camp. Astarion and I will carry on.” You feel Shadowheart’s glare of disapproval. “I swear we’ll be careful and we’ll run back to you guys should we encounter a situation that's too much for us.” You try to reassure your friend.

“Oooooooo, keeping Fangs all to yourself?” Karlach never missed an opportunity to tease you, even when in insufferable pain. You could respect that.

“Oh please, if it were up to me, he would be the one in that trap.”

“Rude,” Astarion remarks from behind you. You can’t help the smirk creeping up on your face.

“Fine,” the half-elf frowns in resignation. “We’ll head back– but don’t do anything stupid.”

“We wouldn’t dream of it,” Astarion adds sarcastically, as the two walk away.

With half of your party gone, you lose no time continuing your research. You didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary with half the manpower in unknown territory. You pass a few halls and rooms, each containing an absurd amount of traps for what little they were hiding, slowly getting discouraged from your lack of findings, when you hear rumble afar.

You both still, listening to the sounds, when you realize they are making their way towards you. 

“Hide!”, you barely whisper.

Before he can react, you roughly drag Astarion with you in the next open room and slam the door behind you. You acted faster than you could think ; the sound of the door was loud and the footsteps are now getting faster and louder. You try to remain calm to avoid drawing any more attention than necessary when you see the expression change on your companion’s face, followed by him yelling.

“What in the sweet hells is wrong with–!”

You don’t give him time to finish his sentence as you push him against the stone wall by his waist with the force of your whole body, while your other hand covers his mouth. You stare intensely into his eyes and mouth a “shh”, as silent as you can, to convey the urgency for him to shut up as the rumble of the footsteps get even closer to your location. He blinks rapidly and nods, understanding your motion, but brings his hand up to remove yours from his mouth. You hear the footsteps stop nearby and your heart pounding in your chest as your breathing stills. Your eyes dart towards the door, anxiety building up in your chest. Anything could be outside. You cannot risk getting into a fight you couldn’t handle. Against his own good, Astarion speaks up yet again.

“Let’s just kill–”

And you shut him up, again. 

This time, with a kiss.

It’s a surprise to both of you. It was sudden, instinctive. You’re not sure what took over you, but at this moment, it seemed to be the best course of action. You stay motionless for a moment before pulling away, slowly. You hear the sounds outside your room getting further away and you finally breathe out in relief. He looks at you with an annoying smile painted over his face.

You notice him observing you. “You really need to learn when to shut up,” you say, a poor excuse to try and justify your actions, as a blush takes place over your cheeks.

His lidded eyes observe your lips before making eye contact again, “And you think you know better?”

“I know I do,” you frown slightly. 

He keeps smiling, that damn annoyingly confident smile. “I’m afraid you’ll have to teach me, then. I’ve been known to be awfully loud.”

You scoff. The audacity of this man.

Initially, that first kiss was never supposed to lead to anything else. It was spontaneous, a means to an end, just like your last night spent together. Anything to stop him from talking, whatever would save you from being found. But you couldn’t deny the feelings that fluttered in your stomach, the butterflies in your chest. 

He continues, his words dripping with sarcasm, “I’m sure a sorceress of your expertise must have some way to silence a noisy rogue like myself.”

You realize then : all along, you didn’t hate him, you hated the fact that you were attracted to him, to that damn attitude of his. Truth is, you couldn’t have enough of that banter between the two of you. Every morning, that was the thing you were looking forward to. There was no denying yourself anymore ; you chased the feeling of arguing with this overblown, pretentious asshole. You wanted him, in more ways than one, and in any way he would offer himself to you.

“I can think of a few tricks,” you lean over him the same way he did you earlier, your faces barely an inch apart.

“Try me,” his voice is barely a whisper by now.

You let your feelings guide your next move as you pull him in by the collar of his armor, crashing your lips against his. If he saw this as a game, you intended to win. As the kiss depends, you’re taken back to that scenario you played in your head the night before, prior to Astarion’s visit.

At the next corner, you would’ve pushed him by the waist against the nearest wall and shut his pretty mouth up. 

Your kiss started out rough, but it quickly became passionate, it engulfed both of you into a world of your own. His hands roamed up your back and down your waist, pulling you in closer, reaching for more contact. Your sorcerer robe allowed for you to feel how tightly he grabbed you and yet, it didn’t feel like enough. You wished for nothing more than having your skin being ravished by his touch.

You would’ve taken the chance to let one of your hands roam through his silky smooth, curly hair, pulling it enough to get a moan out of him. 

Oh, and how soft it was. Freshly washed from this morning, his curls felt like silk through your fingers. You let your hands linger in his hair, combing through it, before lightly pulling it back. He groans in your mouth as a response, not parting from your lips just yet, and you smile through it.

How you would’ve parted his legs with your own, and grinded against his crotch, feeling his growing bulge.

You easily push yourself between his legs and grind against him. He pulls back from your kiss then, gasping in surprise. With the threat outside the room being long gone, you welcomed any noise you would get out of him. You feel his cock getting harder against your leg and you keep rubbing him up and down, creating more pressure over his member. He rests his head on your shoulder, breathing hard, his hold on you getting tighter. 

“Hells, darling, I didn’t think you had it in you,” he pants.

“Mmh, seems like I’ve got a lot more to teach you then.”

You reach for your trousers under your robe, letting them fall down after loosening  your belt, before reaching for his, pulling them down just low enough to expose his cock which is already leaking with pre-come. He hisses when you grab a hold of him, your mere touch sending shivers down his spine.

You smirk at the visible reaction he has to you, feeling powerful over him. Such a contrast compared to your last night tryst. This time, you were guiding this dance.

You guide him towards your entrance, only to grind yourself over him. He slides so easily between your wet folds and you can’t help the moan escaping your lips. The friction over your clit is nothing short of euphoric. You swing your hips back and forth, coating his length with your arousal, as he holds onto your waist for dear life. You grab his face and pull him closer so your foreheads touch, then take a moment to admire the mess you’re making of him, and by the Gods, what a pretty mess he was. His parted lips, gasping between each stroke you would allow him, his eyes fluttering open, lost in the feeling of your thighs squeezing him, his roughed up curls from the sweat building up on his forehead. 

He was beautiful.

You feel him moving on his own, trying to change positions so he has more control, but it's not something you will allow this time. You take his hands from your waist and push them against the wall he was leaning against, never stopping the rhythm you had going on. 

“What do you think you're doing?” Your voice is coated with desire.

“Please, let me in,” he begs.

“Do you think you deserve it?”, you say, playfully.

“Gods, I– yes, yes I do!”, he whines.

“Beg more.”

“What?! I will not–”, before he can finish his sentence, you reach for his ear with your tongue and give it a lick from the base to the tip. “Mmmgh ah, fuck–” 

“What was that?” You nibble on his ear.

“I– Ah–,” his entire resolve crumbles. “Please, love, I need you please,”  he begs again, his voice faltering.

You continue to lick and nibble on his ear. “See? Now, was that so hard?” you tease, using his own words against him.

“Oh, you little– ah–!”

You cut him off as you raise your leg to hook it to his hips allowing you for a better angle as you push him inside you slowly. You’re so wet from teasing him that he slides in without any resistance.

You throw your head back, taking in the feeling of him filling you, and at the vision of your exposed neck, Astarion leans in the crook of your neck, bared fangs scratching the spot he previously fed from you. You feel his cold breath along with the wetness of his tongue, lapping at your healed wound. You sense what he wants to do and although you crave it and you would let him do it, you don’t wanna give in so easily.

You stop all motion and with him buried deep inside of you, your hand lingering in his hair grabs a handful of curls to pull him back, away from your prized neck, holding him in place. 

He growls insistently, his true nature coming back to him.

“Give me one good reason,” you tug harder.

Through his ragged breath, he smiles playfully, “I just wanted a snack for the road.”

“You drank last night, you don’t need it,” your tone comes out raspy and aggressive despite your enjoyment of the situation.

“But you want this,” he pauses, watching your reaction. Your answer isn’t spoken, as much as it’s seen : your chest rises higher with each panting breath you take, your eyes flutter, drunk on lust, and your core is dripping wet, your combined fluids leaking against your leg. “Don't you?” He knows both of you know it's a fight for control. 

You thrust roughly, once, to reassert your position over him, making him whimper. “And just what makes you think that?”

He locks eyes with you, a grin painting over his face. “You seemed to enjoy it last time.”

“Hardly.”

“My dear, you can deny it all you want, but I can read you like an open book.”

You hated how he always managed to have the last word. One day, you tell yourself, It’ll be me. But for now…

“Shut up and bite me.”

The second you let go of your grasp in his hair, Astarion dives in the nook of your neck, plunging his fangs in your pulsating vein. You cry out at the sharp sting you feel and once the initial pain settles in, you pick back up the rhythm you had earlier, making the elf groan as he drinks you in. He was right, his bites had the effect of an aphrodisiac on you. You would never tell him though, his ego was inflated enough as is, admitting it would only make him more insufferable than he already is.

His hold on you became tighter and the more he drank, the less your strength allowed you to keep your position, but the build up down your stomach only grew. You didn't want to falter so close to the end.

“Astarion…” you warn him.

He growls against your neck and takes one last sip of your liquid gold before removing his fangs from you, licking off the new wound he created to clean you up. That's something else you could appreciate from the vampire ; no matter how selfish you found him, he did seem to respect the boundaries you established. He would absolutely push all of your buttons but when it came to sex he seemed more attentive, responsive. You never wanted to fall for him, but your heart had other plans.

You cross your arms around his neck, closing any remaining distance between your two bodies and with all the energy left in you, you thrust harder, and faster, letting yourself get lost in the overwhelming feeling he provided between your legs. Now that you had experienced him once, you craved getting filled up by him, only him, as much as possible, as much as he wanted to. You wanted to be his. 

“Darling, I’m close–”

“Come, let go for me,” you breathe in his ear before licking him again. “You’re so pretty when you come inside me.”

Your last words combined with the stimulation you’ve given him trigger his collapse in your arms. He grasps your hips vigorously, pulling you flush against him, allowing him to unload himself deep inside of your womb. You fall over the edge shortly after, drinking in the feeling of his semen filling you up. You fantasized constantly about being filled to the brim by him. Used over and over again, leaking from his seed, the act merely done to defile you in his image. You clench around his length, your legs shaking as you picture yourself overflowing with his come and ride out the wave of electrifying pleasure that courses through you.

As you come down from your high and let your leg down, you reach for something to grab a hold of so as to not completely fall over. Astarion had completely slouched over the wall you fucked him over, he was not an option. The nearest thing that seemed solid enough was an empty torch holder placed right next to the door which you grab without second thoughts. The last thing you expected was for it to pull down as you grabbed it. Even less that it opened a secret trap door in the middle of the room, from which a pillar came out of. You stay in place for a moment, piecing together what just happened, with Astarion making eye contact with you, just as puzzled as you were.

Before you now stands an altar with a very clearly placed piece of dark metal, shaped strangely like the pattern you remember being described in the previous document you found. You put your trousers back on, dismissing the mess between your legs, and grab the missing piece, connecting it to the artifact you held, to see it click in place.

“No fucking way.”

Astarion smirks, as if he was responsible for your discovery, proud of himself, “Wouldn’t have found that out with Karlach now, would you?”

He will never let you live this down.

-

When you're around me, I'm radioactive

My blood is burning, radioactive

I'm turning radioactive

My blood is radioactive

My heart is nuclear

Love is all that I fear

[intimidating-fettuccine]

YAYYY!!!!! first request, I’m relatively new and I missed it last time lmao😭- pls may I request a scenario with poly Ben and Jeff where reader is known for being emotionally strong and independent, and really struggles with being vulnerable (crying, opening up to people emotionally, etc) and sorta has their first moment of vulnerability with the boys?

Like- maybe they’re all gaming and reader slowly starts to talk or make comments about how they’ve been feeling, maybe some traumatic things that have been on their mind, slowly opening up, which ends in them crying/breaking down Infront of the guys for the first time? Just some comfort, cuddles, etc (I live for comfort w best Boys >:D)

Hcs are alright too if you don’t fancy a scenario, love ur writing!! Have a lovely day/night, take care of yourself <3

I really wanted to write this one but I do need to go with the HCs. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you also have a lovely timezone! &lt;3

You're not the only one in the trio who has a hard time being vulnerable, but perhaps that's what drew you all together. I've even mentioned before how BEN has emotionally discreetly opened up to Jeff over some video games, so it seems fitting that you would do the same. I could see why you might be hesitant to open up and expose all your vulnerabilities to them... They have so much going on themselves, always stressed from work and their own issues, and so even with them constantly encouraging you to be more open with you, your own sense of independence constantly takes over, making it harder and harder for you to finally open up to them until you've bottled it up so much that you begin to overflow, and that's where we find ourselves today.

The three of you were sat bundled up together, trying to stay warm from the growing winter air outside, Mario Kart on the TV and controllers in each of your hands as you just try and relax and have fun together. Eventually, though, the warmth of the atmosphere starts to eat away at you, and the stress you've been holding in from recent and past events in your life finally begins to bubble up over the carefully crafted vase you've been hiding it away in. It starts with your hands, shaking and trembling, and then your jaw and lips follow behind, and then the tears begin quietly falling down your face. Your voice begins level, mentioning how you've been so tired lately. How you've been having those dreams again, and how you just feel like you haven't been doing well enough. Their eyes remain trained on the screen, not wanting to make you uncomfortable by watching you as the three of you continue to race. It's not until you've fallen off the same part of Rainbow Road for the third time and your sniffles reach the air that they both turn to you and notice what's happening with you physically, your whole body shaking and tears they've never seen before traveling down your cheeks. 

They're left breathless, unsure of what to do, their hands reaching out for you but unsure if they should make contact. When the first choked sob comes out of your throat they lose all hesitance, Jeff scooping you into his lap and BEN hugging against your back as you bury your face into Jeff's neck and wrap your arms around his back. They're both holding you tightly, whispering that it's okay, that you're alright, and they're there to protect you and keep you safe. As you continue to sob and open up about what's been bothering you a deep ache fills in their chests. They blame themselves for not noticing sooner that you've been this stressed, for not probing deeper into the issues you'd alluded to before. They sit quietly as you open up to them, occasionally asking questions to make sure they have a deeper understanding of what it is you've been feeling the need to keep to yourself. They tell you not to hide things like this from them anymore, that if you ever begin to feel stressed or if anything is making you depressed or bothering you or giving you anxiety, to please open up to them and let them help you, because you always do the same for them. They are your partners, and they want to be able to support you and love you, and they can't do that if you don't let them in. 

They hold you close as your tears begin to die down, covering you in gentle kisses and whispering words of comfort and love. When you're fully calmed down and feeling better they'll work at implementing a check-in system with you while you get used to opening up, but for now... For now, it's time to rest and be close. BEN goes off to get you all some snacks and some hot chocolate to relax with, and Jeff continues to hold you in his lap, running his hands through your hair and pressing delicate kisses to your forehead. They won't allow you to be lost and alone like they were, not if they can help it. You took them in emotionally and gave them a home in your heart, a place to belong to, and they're going to do the same for you. They love you too dearly to let you continue wandering alone, and it's time for you to come home to them, where you're warm and welcome and cared for, no matter what. You deserve to be at peace with them, no matter what your brain has told you all these years, it's time for you to be open and free.

[theboywithburninghands]

Hello and Happy Pride! I have the penultimate chapter of the murder mystery au for you. It’s a doozy, there’s romance and conspiracy and root beer. Enjoy!

T/W: Murder, suicide, mild surgery, emotional abuse, fantasy racism

Animals Ch. 4: Dogs

You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to

So that when they turn their backs on you,

You'll get the chance to put the knife in…

—

Pomni was dimly aware of a deep ache in her side. This pain wrestled her from sleep, and she blinked awake. She looked up, but instead of her apartment’s cheap popcorn ceiling, she saw a ceiling with visible oak joists and beams. She looked down at herself, and saw a red and black checkered wool throw blanket wrapped around her rather than her quilt. She looked around and saw herself in a wood cabin, sparsely decorated. A sturdy wooden table and chairs in the middle of the main room, a braided, dull-colored wool rug laid across the floor to keep one’s feet warm, a brick fireplace with a shovelful of still warm ash in the hearth. Tilting her all the way up, she could see a small CRT television sat on an end table, in front of a cheap brown loveseat with red chenille cushions. It looked like someone had slept there last night, the pillows stacked at one end and a rumpled blue blanket on the couch.

She raised her arm to check her watch. It hurt a lot. She saw that her arm had been wrapped up in elastic gauze, but her watch was still on her wrist, although the screen had cracked. 7:21 AM. She moved the blanket aside with her left hand, her good hand, to look at herself. She was in a black t-shirt too large for her that appeared to be ruined by a bleach stain, and what appeared to be a pair of red long johns, also too big for her.

She heard the flush of a toilet and a door open at the far end of the room, but she couldn’t turn all the way to look without aggravating the pain in her stomach. A heavy pair of boots approached the bed, and she thought about throwing the blanket over her head like a child hiding from the monster in her closet.

“Hey. You’re up.”

A deep and growly voice greeted her. Above her stood a burly rabbit-wolf hybrid in a white collared shirt, black dress pants and a pair of black suspenders. He smiled sheepishly, trying not to show too much of his enormous teeth. She recognized him. He was the butcher shop owner.

His name was… Jax.

“Sorry, I just got back from feeding my livestock…Do you remember what happened last night?” the rabbit asked.

Pomni thought. She came home, and she couldn’t get in her apartment, and then…

“You got attacked by a Nightwalker,” the rabbit-wolf said. “I’m not sure what happened before then, but I found it biting into your side right outside your apartment. I know you probably feel horrible, and I don’t blame you, but you actually got sorta lucky. Nightwalkers like to travel in packs, so you probably ran into one that had wandered off from the group. A juvenile or runt or something.”

Pomni looked at him with big eyes. He cleared his throat.

“We should get you to the hospital as soon as we can. I patched you up as best I could, but I’m no doctor. You prolly need stitches.”

He looked at her again. Neither of them said anything for a moment. Jax’s ears pinned back, and he scratched behind one of them.

“…Uh. You were freezing too, so I had to warm you up by the fire and get you into dry clothes. Didn’t want you to get hypothermia…” His ears perked up. “A-Are you hungry? I can make you some food.”

Pomni opened her mouth to speak, but an eruption of coughing came out of her instead. She winced at the pain that flared in her abdomen when she did, clutching at her belly after her throat was sated.

Jax looked away with a grimace. “I know, I’m sorry… hang on, I might have something for the pain and cough. It’s not much, but…”

Jax looked inside the first aid kit he left sitting on the table. There was a small packet of extra strength aspirin inside that he gingerly opened with his large fingers. He went into his bathroom and found some acetaminophen in the medicine cabinet, filling a small glass cup with water from his kitchen tap. He carried the pills in one hand and the cup in the other.

“Can you sit up? I don’t want you to choke.” he asked.

Pomni attempted to scoot up in bed, but the nerves in her arm flashed with a pain that cut right to her ulna and she whimpered.

“Here, I’ll be quick,” Jax set the pills and water on the table and gently put his paws under her armpits, sliding her up against the headboard. She whined from the brief pain, but she remained sat up as Jax brought a chair over to the side of the bed and picked up the medicine and cup again.

“Open,” he requested. She opened her mouth and he put the pills on her tongue, bringing the brim of the glass to her lips. “Easy…”

She drained the entire thing, panting and then coughing again, her face crumpling in pain.

“That's all I got,” he growled meekly, putting a paw onto her left shoulder.

Pomni panted, sniffed twice through a clogged nose, swallowed, and managed to speak.

“Jax… weren’t you in jail? Did you… escape..?” Her voice was raspy.

Jax smiled a bit, still doing his best to hide his fangs. “Nah, I got bailed out. No idea who did it. My dad’s never seen that much scratch in his life.”

“Zooble wanted to bail you out yesterday but they didn’t have enough money…” Pomni mumbled.

“Sounds like them. Nah, I got no idea who did it. But I’m glad they did, cuz that way I was in time to get that Nightwalker off you. What were you doing outside?” Jax asked.

“I got locked out… Slipped and fell on the steps… I lost my keys at Kaufmo’s house…” Pomni rasped.

“Kaufmo’s house?”

“I went yesterday… I wanted to see if there was…” Pomni had to stop to swallow, smothering another cough. “If there was anything that might implicate someone else for his… you know… murder.”

Jax tilted his head, letting out a short, breathy laugh. “That’s… Uh, why? I mean, thank you, but-”

“Because you didn’t do it. I know you didn’t do it. Those detectives… I saw the way they looked at you. It wasn’t fair…”

Pomni bit down on her left hand’s fingernails. “But… if you got bailed out, then it was for nothing, wasn’t it..?”

“No,” Jax leaned forward a bit. “That’s… I don’t think any stranger’s ever stuck their neck out for me like that. Thank you.”

Jax smiled again. It was too wide to hide his large, frightening teeth, but Pomni’s pale face became dusted with pink anyway.

“We didn’t find anything anyway before the repo men got there. Just a bunch of pills and a scrap of burnt up paper someone flushed down the toilet…” she wheezed.

Pomni coughed again, groaning at the pain it caused her. Jax rubbed her shoulder.

“We should go to the hospital. I’m not all that hungry right now… But I don’t know if I can walk.” Pomni admitted. “Is it cold out?”

“Uh, I can turn the weather on.”

Jax got up from his chair and pressed the power button of his television with a hollow tink sound. The screen hissed to life, and the audio kicked in.

“-surprised everyone yesterday when he posted bail for Mr. Kingston.”

Jax’s eyes widened somewhat, and he sat down on the loveseat. The same news anchor that was interviewing Jax’s dad on Main Street yesterday now stood in front of the police station. The scene cut to Autumnvale’s mayor, a teeth-humanoid in an impeccably tailored red suit jacket and yellow scarf, standing at a podium in front of town hall.

“The people of Autumnvale have made their stance quite clear. The persecution of crossbreeds is already intolerable enough as it is, and the demonstration out here has shown that Autumnvale is just as tired of it as I am. Therefore, due to my dissatisfaction with the investigation and the evidence, I posted Jax Kingston’s bail yesterday evening.”

The crowd erupted into equal parts cheers and shouts of protests. The picture cut back to the news anchor.

“Police informed ADC news this morning that Mr. Kingston was privately released at 6:15 last night to avoid a scene. The detectives who arrested Mr. Kingston, as well as Kingston himself, have yet to be reached for comment.”

Pomni couldn’t quite turn to look due to her injuries, but she heard Jax give a short, incredulous laugh.

“I’ll be goddamned… Mayor Mason actually did it.”

He gave another short laugh, switching channels on the television to the weather.

“Do you know him..? The mayor?” Pomni asked. She couldn't help but smile right along with the butcher.

“He saved me. He found me when I was a baby, after my fake parents abandoned me. He also helped these grow in.”

Jax showed off his entire maw of razor sharp teeth. Pomni couldn’t help but shiver, despite how kind he had been. When something had big teeth, it was scary, a primal feeling buried deep in her animal brain.

“Is that… a good thing?” Pomni asked.

“Suuure it is. I’m part wolf, meat’s part of my diet. Plus, if I didn’t have that passion, I never would have opened the best butcher shop in the country.”

Pomni smiled again. “Well, I’m happy for you. But we still don’t know who actually did it… Killed Kaufmo I mean.”

“That can wait. You need the hospital. The only issue is, it’s not getting above 23 degrees today, and your snow clothes got… really messed up.”

Jax picked up her puffer jacket with the massive hole ripped in the side from off the table, and in his other hand, showed her fleece and black long sleeved shirt, the blood had dried on both to the point that it would probably never come out in the wash, unless said wash contained antimatter.

“Ohhh… my mom bought those for me…” Pomni said weakly. “They were part of my going away present…”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to sew.” Jax replied. “Ragatha might, but I don’t even think she could fix a mess this bad… But the good news is, I’ve got spare winter stuff. I used to wear it as a teenager, but it’ll probably still be big on you…”

He went over to the wood trunk at the foot of the bed and opened it, the hinges squeaking. After a few moments of rustling, he got out an insulated brown leather jacket with cream fur trim, a gray trapper hat and baggy, dark green squall pants.

“It’s not Gucci, but it beats freezing.” Jax said.

“You know what? That’s fine with me-” Pomni had another coughing fit, clutching her midsection in pain.

“Fuck..!” she exclaimed.

Jax rose to his feet, putting the chair back under his table. “Yup, that’s my cue to get you to the hospital. You need help getting dressed?”

“Uh… no, I uh…” she stammered with a blush.

“Look, I already cleaned you up and got you changed into dry clothes last night, so it’s no big deal. I don’t want you torturing yourself over pride or anything.” Jax said, looking up at the ceiling.

“I mean… I can do it. Just… if I need help, I’ll… call you? I guess?”

“Sure. I can hang out in the bathroom. Just holler if you need anything, okay?” Jax said. He set the clothes down on his bed, tucked his hands into the pockets of his work pants and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

It took a good fifteen minutes and a great deal of whinging on her part, but Pomni got herself dressed. The only thing that hadn’t been swapped for something dry and warm was her underwear, which she silently appreciated quite a bit. She examined the bandages on her belly, which were reddish-brown with blood, but otherwise fairly clean. The wounds on her forehead and back had been washed and bandaged as well, although a few locks of her hair were quite sticky with dried blood. She needed a shower when it was safe to take one.

“Okay, I’m done.” Pomni called out, sitting on Jax’s bed.

Jax exited the bathroom and smirked upon seeing Pomni.

“I know, I know, I look like I’m wearing my dad’s clothes.” Pomni sighed.

“You look cute.” Jax replied.

Pomni felt her cheeks warm up. “Th-Thanks… so, are we just gonna call an ambulance? Since I don’t feel strong enough to walk…”

“Haven’t got a phone. I can walk you there.” Jax said. “What would be the most comfortable way for me to carry you?”

“You don’t have a car..? Or a horse?” Pomni asked.

“Nope. I get everywhere on my own two feet. When you’ve lived in this backwater as long as I have, you get good at moving around quickly and quietly.”

Pomni sighed. “Okay, fine. I guess we don’t have a choice, really.”

“What? Are you worried I’ll drop you? I carried you all the way here before, didn’t I? While running.”

Pomni sighed. “Okay. But before we go, can we get my keys? I know they’re still sitting there under his back window…”

“I’ll get ‘em after I drop you off. Hospital first. Come on, upsy.”

Jax scooped Pomni up carefully, placing his hands around the gash on her back. Pomni made a faint squeak in surprise, but luckily, he didn’t aggravate her wound. He must have gotten really good at picking up dead weight over the years.

“Shit, you’re tiny. Like lifting a bag of corncobs.” Jax grinned. Up close his teeth were even bigger than they looked, each one about the length of a toothpick.

“Yeah, well… you stink.” Pomni shot back. “You always use bacon grease as soap?”

Jax laughed. His chest bounced. “As if you can smell anything right now.”

“I can smell you. You ever thought about bathing once every few years?” Pomni covered her nose, but her smirk betrayed a playfulness to the gesture.

He opened the door to outside, shutting the door behind him and locking the door. Impressively, he balanced her on one palm and still managed to keep his hand off her back wound.

The morning air was freezing, as expected. Pomni felt a wave of shivers roll through her body upon feeling the bitter winter cold again. She felt her body gearing up for another coughing fit and clapped her hands over her mouth.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha…” Jax said.

She let out a painful, barking cough into her gloves. She winced from the pain, which was only mildly dulled from the pill Jax gave her. As it finally subsided, she turned her head to the side and spat a gob of phlegm into the snow.

“Nice shot,” Jax chuckled.

“Mmmrrrrgh…” was the only thing Pomni managed to say. She rested her cheek against his chest. The warmth felt good.

—

While Dr. Wren’s office was the town psychiatric clinic, Autumnvale Regional Medical Center was where citizens were treated for injuries or sickness. It was a small building not too far from town, only one floor with twenty beds, five nurses and three doctors.

The nurse at the reception desk did a double take from her pulpy romance novel when a six foot tall rabbit-wolf entered the lobby, carrying what looked at first like a bundle of clothes, but was actually an adult woman.

“She fell down some stairs and got attacked by a Nightwalker. I did my best to patch her up, but she needs real medicine and stitches. It hurts for her to walk, too.”

The nurse narrowed her eyes at Jax before looking at Pomni. “You… fell down some stairs..?”

Pomni caught on immediately and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I fell down some stairs. He didn’t do this to me. He saved my fucking life, actually.”

She let out another barrage of coughs and groaned in pain, Jax smiling gratefully at her,

The nurse soon had Pomni in a wheelchair, taking her to the emergency room. The surgeon, a Persian woman almost as short as Pomni with rectangular glasses and bright red lipstick, tended to her. She applied some local anesthesia to Pomni’s belly and removed the bandages, Pomni only feeling a faint rip as her skin had gone totally numb.

“You know, these are cleaned and dressed quite professionally,” the surgeon said as she removed the gauze from the bite mark with a pair of forceps. “Your friend out there did a fine job. So, tell me what happened?”

Pomni thought a moment. It was easier to focus now that the pain had finally been put on mute. “There was this… I don’t want to call it a dog, it had hooves and no hair…”

“Nightwalker,” the surgeon said, picking up her suturing needle and threading it with Kevlar. “Awful monsters, they are. They come in all different shapes and sizes. Some of them move on two legs, like people. Some of them have too many arms and legs.”

“Uh huh. Well it came over and bit me, hard. It must have seen I was already hurt. But Jax… he got it with a knife and carried me to his house. I would’ve bled out or froze without him…”

Pomni coughed, the nurse giving her a menthol drop to soothe her throat so she wouldn’t jostle the surgeon’s needlework.

“Well, we’re all glad you’re safe. Did you ever find your keys?” the surgeon asked with a slight smile.

“No, but I know where they are…” Pomni said, sucking on the menthol drop. It felt great on her throat but tasted like chemical honey. “Jax said he’d go get them.”

“Well, that’s good. I’m glad you have someone who can look after you here, even if you’re from out of town…” the surgeon said as she cut off the thread with a pair of scissors before moving to the next bite. “Your wounds aren’t infected, but we are going to give you a tetanus and rabies shot just in case. I’m also going to give you some painkillers, are you allergic to any medication?”

“I have a sulfa sensitivity,” Pomni said. “Oh, I am on antidepressants though… I have the pills in my apartment.”

“We can probably give you some if we have any in the hospital pharmacy. I’ll have to check if they haven’t expired. Have you had anything to eat?” the surgeon inquired.

“No. Since my stomach doesn’t hurt right now, I could go for something to eat. I also need to call my parents. Man, they’re gonna be pissed…”

“Don’t be silly, they’ll be worried and relieved. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times.” the surgeon replied as she started on the next wound.

Pomni sighed. She supposed the surgeon was right, but she really hoped that her parents didn’t panic and want to take her back home. She was four hours away from the big city anyway, it wasn’t like it was a short trip for them. She had work to do as well, not just for school.

—

Jax sifted through the snow under Kaufmo’s back window. The drift wasn’t as heavy due to a colossal pine tree that had probably been here since before the town was even founded, but it was enough to hide a small object like keys.

Eventually, he found a few bits and bobs that might be in a lady’s purse buried in an inconspicuous patch of snow: a half eaten roll of breath mints, a bobby pin, and a ring of keys. Jax held up the keys between his thumb and pointer finger. It was one of those flimsy 99 cent things you could buy at any gas station, with two keys and a little charm dangling off one side. The charm appeared to depict a little blue smiling face with black eyes and sharp teeth.

“Hm. Cute,” Jax said to himself as he tucked the keys into his pocket. He looked into the window . So she had really gone in there looking for clues, huh? Brave of her, if careless. Well, now that the government repossessed all of Kaufmo’s things (he probably didn’t have a will), whatever clues there may have been were long gone.

That is, unless the cleaners hadn’t come yet.

Jax shaded his eyes and looked into the window. Too dark to tell. He tried the window. It was locked. He tried again, a little harder. It didn’t move. He tried again with his full strength. There was a loud twuuuuuung accompanied by the sound of metal clinking across a wooden floor, and the window slid open. Jax double checked to see if anybody was around, then climbed inside.

There wasn’t any furniture at all in the condo, really. The refrigerator in the kitchen appeared to be the only thing left. The hardwood was covered in gritty bits of crud that must have been under rugs, dust bunnies and a couple bits of loose change and chewed pen caps that had lived under couches and chairs for who knows how long. It smelled dusty and lonely. Jax rubbed his nose.

He took a brief look inside the bathroom. It was still a bit grimy, but otherwise empty. He checked the mirror cabinet. Empty. He opened the toilet lid, then closed it. Yeah, he wasn’t about to go sticking a paw in there, sorry Pomni.

He checked the last room, the bedroom. It was the only room with carpeting, and thus Jax could see where everything used to be thanks to the impressions in the floor. A bed, a dresser, something like a bookshelf or wardrobe. That was it. There was another window to the outside, but it wasn’t like you could take those out of the house too. Nothing in the closet either.

He turned to leave out the window he came through when his boot kicked something tiny on the carpet, about the size of a pebble you’d put in an aquarium. It skittered across the carpet and tapped the wall, coming to rest after rolling a short distance. Jax picked it up and held it towards the light filtering through the window.

A capsule, half blue and half orange. The blue side marked with a string of letters, TEBA, the orange marked with numbers, 7199. He sniffed it. Smelled like… the floor. His sense of smell was good, but he couldn’t pinpoint what a pill was for just by sniffing it once. He put it in his back pocket for later, then stepped out of the window into the snow. Maybe Pomni knew what it was for, or one of the doctors at the hospital. He crunched up the sidewalk back towards the hospital. He was always thankful for his fur, it was like having a coat year-round.

“KINGSTON!”

Jax’s long ears sprung straight up upon hearing a voice call for him. He growled and turned, expecting to see Trevor or some other goon waiting to pick a fight for “getting off easy.”

Instead, it was two people on a striped horse. The person in the rear clambered off the back and ran forward, a chess piece shaped fellow in a red flannel jacket and bucket fishing hat.

“Jax..! Oh, my boy!” Kinger threw his hands around Jax’s burly torso and pressed an ear to his chest, squeezing him with all his might.

“Dad..! Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t…” Jax began. He could feel Kinger’s breath and shoulders hitching.

“We all thought they were gonna put you away forever, Jax…” Kinger whispered, tears running down his face.

“…I did too, dad.” Jax replied tenderly. He hugged the old man back as tight as he could without hurting him. His real dad.

“I’m so glad you’re here…” Kinger sobbed.

“Me too… I’m sorry I didn’t call, really. Something huge came up, I- OOF!”

Jax felt a fist box him in the side. He looked over to see Zooble, their fist raised and quaking.

“Something came up, huh? It better have been life or death, you stupid! Meathead! Asshole!” Zooble punctuated the last three words with three more sharp blows to the side. Jax’s arms were still around his adoptive father and thus too preoccupied for a counter hit.

“Zooble, cut it out already, that shit hurts! Sorry dad…”

The cowboy relented with a huff and hugged Jax as well. The butcher rolled his eyes, but smiled and put an arm around them too.

“So what was so important you couldn’t let your friends and family know you were outta jail?” Zooble demanded.

“That art student girl, Pomni, she- I was on my to vi- I was on my way home and I saw her getting attacked by a Nightwalker. She needed help.” Jax explained.

Zooble withdrew and tilted up their hat incredulously. “Wait, Pomni? Seriously?! I just saw her yesterday, we were casing Kaufmo’s place over there for any evidence that might get you off the hook? She got attacked! Shit, man, I hope it wasn’t ‘cause I left her behind…”

“Good job son! Killing a Nightwalker all on your own… your mother would have been proud!” Kinger said, at last releasing Jax and wiping his eyes.

“I know she would’ve, dad… But no, it wasn’t you, Zooble. She lost her keys.” Jax held up and jingled Pomni’s keychain. “She’s in the hospital now if you want to see her. I had to keep her from bleeding to death last night…”

“Ugh. What a fuckin’ mess… Sorry, Kinger. I’m glad she’s okay though.” Zooble said, putting their hand and hook on their hips.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Jax,” Kinger said. “And good for you for helping a stranger. I raised you right.”

“You know she’s got a crush on you, right?” Zooble added, a smile in their voice. Jax arched an eyebrow.

“What? Don’t be stupid. She’s just thankful someone was around to save her skinny little butt.”

“Ohhhh no no, we figured it out yesterday. She’s got a huuuge crush on you. I bet she thinks you’re her knight in shining armor now.” Zooble elbowed the butcher in the side.

Jax scoffed, but there was an unmistakable shy smile on his face for a moment before it turned into a smirk.

“A crush, huh? You mean like the kind you have on Gangle?”

Zooble rolled their eyes. “This again? Don’t try and change the subject, man.”

“I’m not. I’m very much still on the subject of crushes. In fact, I think I was just thinking about what those flowers left by Kaufmo’s house were originally for. There was a card left in the bouquet.”

Jax removed a small paper card with elegant lavender cursive written on it from his back pocket. Zooble somehow turned even more pink.

“Let’s see, ‘To Gangle, From Your Secret Admirer,’ with two little hearts after it! How cute! Now who do ya think coulda left that there, hm?”

Zooble flicked the card out of Jax’s paw and pulled the brim of their hat almost entirely over their face, climbing up onto ZigZag.

“We’ll meet you at the hospital, FangFace. I’m gonna go tell Ragatha about what happened and hope she doesn’t swoon.”

“You better tell Gangle too. Unless you’d rather send her a card, ‘Secret Admirer.’” Jax leered, feral teeth on full display.

He ducked an apple thrown at his head, waved goodbye to his dad, and watched the two of them ride off into the distance.

Jax put his hands in his pockets, smiling a little less wickedly to himself. So, she had a crush, huh? He couldn’t think of a time anyone had ever liked him like that. There had been a few disgusting remarks thrown his way by some of the lint-brained, redneck wife-beaters that hung around the bar and hardware store. It must have been some kind of weird sexual racism thing, where you hate someone for their race but at the same time think they’re hot. Gangle told him about it once. He didn’t much care why. The mouths that issued those taunts now had significantly less teeth or tongues in their heads anyway.

But… he was alright with this. He liked her too, and it felt good. For ages, he didn’t understand stories with romance in them. Putting your mouth on someone else’s mouth and calling them cute things always felt weird and sort of childish to him.

But… Now he got it. Maybe he could try doing those things with her, if she was okay with it. He’d have to watch his teeth though.

—

Pomni had been on the phone with her mother for almost 30 minutes. The nurse, a sheep woman, had sat her in a wheelchair and trundled her down to the white corded phone on the wall.

“Of course I understand, mom, but I’m not going home… Because I’m okay on my own… I’m 25, mom! If something happens with my stitches, I’ll just call an ambulance… Yes, they have ambulances here, mom, they’re not Amish… Mom, I have insurance, you helped me set it up! I’m not going to max out my copayments, I- look, can I talk to dad? Well, when’ll he be home..? Oh, okay. You didn’t tell him I was in critical condition or anything, right? Thank you.”

Ragatha sat nearby, reading the newspaper. She had, of course, dropped everything and closed the café when Zooble informed her about Pomni’s ordeal, rushing over to the hospital to check on her. Ragatha had tried to call Pomni twice the previous evening to let her know about Jax being bailed out, and was nervous the rest of the night upon not getting an answer back. Sitting here and keeping an eye on Pomni helped curb some of the guilt she felt, however irrational it was.

“Everyone locks their doors around 6:30 or 7:00 around here, and now I kinda understand why… I’m only joking, mom… Um, I don’t know about tonight, it’s a four hour drive. Okay. Okay, well, if you’re dead set on coming tonight, leave ASAP, and book the room now. Like, now now. I know you’re worried, mom, but I don’t want you or dad getting hurt… Uh… Shoot, I don’t know the name of the inn. Do you want to talk to Ragatha? She can help. I need something to drink, anyway, my throat hurts... It’s just a cold, mom. Okay, here she is. Love you too, talk in a sec.”

Ragatha was over by the phone in a heartbeat, Pomni handing it off to her and wheeling her way down the hall towards the drink machine.

“Hi, Ella! Holding up okay?” Ragatha said in her sweetest voice. “Oh, I understand, all of us are shaken up. But she’s a tough girl, she’s doing awesome. Okay, you got a pencil?”

Pomni reached the humming drink machine and took her pocketbook out of her purse. She shook out a few coins into her palm, sorted out three quarters and poured the rest back in. She reached up to the machine’s coin slot gingerly and dropped in two quarters. The surgeon told her to not bend too far up or down to keep from popping any stitches, so she had to awkwardly push the coins in with the very tip of fingers to avoid stretching her arm out. The last quarter slipped off her finger and chinged onto the floor, rolling a few feet away before laying tails-side up.

“Goddamn it…” Pomni rolled her eyes and reopened her pocketbook. She didn’t want to risk ripping her sutures.

“Here,” a deep voice said.

Pomni looked up to see Jax picking up the quarter and sliding it into the coin slot. From her sitting position, he looked even taller.

“What do you feel like?” he asked, hovering a finger over the selection buttons.

“Root beer, thanks,” Pomni said with a smile.

Jax pressed the appropriate button with his thumb, the machine whirring for a moment before a silver can of Barker’s Root Beer clunked noisily into the vending slot. Jax picked up the can and cracked the pop top. He sniffed it and recoiled.

“Smells like medicine,” he said as he handed it off to Pomni.

“I just took painkillers, a decongestant and my anti-depressants, I know what medicine tastes like.” Pomni smirked.

She took three long swallows of root beer, the manufactured hyper-sweet taste like ambrosia after the pills and bland hospital food, the cold and prickly bubbles easing the dryness of her throat. She belched, grimacing in disgust and putting a fist to her mouth.

“Euck- okay, that tasted like medicine…”

Jax laughed a bit, then reached into his pocket and offered Pomni her keys. “These are yours, right?”

“You found them…”

As she took the keys , she turned over his large paw and placed a small kiss on his knuckle. Jax looked at the back of his hand like it had suddenly grown an extra finger.

“Sorry,” Pomni giggled, blushing. “Was that too much?”

“No, it… I just… I’ve only ever gotten those from my mother.” he replied distantly.

Pomni smiled. For all his razortooth smiles and talk of blood and butchery, there still existed something warm and fragile inside that bulky frame.

“I could give you one on the lips too, if you wanted.” Pomni said, keeping her gaze on the floor.

Jax’s moon yellow eyes widened somewhat. He scratched the back of his head and looked at the ceiling for a moment before looking back down with a short laugh.

“Why?” he asked.

“I want to,” Pomni answered without hesitating.

Jax opened his mouth to answer. He found he had no words. He gently gripped the armrests of Pomni’s wheelchair and lowered his upper body down to her eye level. Up close, he looked… fluffy. Downright huggable. His eyes, usually so laser-focused and piercing, darted about.

Pomni went for it. She leaned in carefully and laid a chaste kiss on the rabbit-wolf’s lips. Jax’s ears pinned back, but his eyes closed with hers for the moment it lasted.

The kiss broke, only lasting a moment or two, and the two of them stared at one another.

“My breath wasn’t bad, was it?” Jax asked with a sheepish, sharp-toothed smile.

“It can’t have been any worse than mine, I haven’t even brushed my teeth today.” Pomni replied.

The two of them laughed shyly, before Pomni touched her forehead with Jax’s and closed her eyes.

“Thank you for everything…” she whispered.

“Pomni, hun! Your dad is on the phone!” Ragatha called from around the corner.

“Coming!” she replied, her voice still slightly weak. She gave Jax one more grateful smile before turning her chair around and wheeling towards the corner.

“Oh! Pomni, wait! I found something at Kaufmo’s house.” Jax took hold of one of the push handles to keep Pomni from leaving, taking the capsule out of his back pocket. “Look. You said he dumped all his medicine, right?”

Pomni handed Jax her drink as she took the pill from his paw.

“Oh. Yeah, this is- this is like the kind I take! It’s Prozac. Or the generic version of it, at least. It-”

Pomni blinked, then held the pill closer to her eyes and squinted. She thought for a moment before she gasped and covered her mouth.

“What?” Jax asked urgently.

“I think I know what happened to Kaufmo.”

“What? Seriously? You’re not just-”

Pomni nodded feverishly. “I think I’m onto something. But there’s one thing I need you to do for me before we go pointing any fingers.”

Pomni handed Jax back the pill, whispered something to him, then wheeled forward, only for Jax to grab a push handle again.

“Wait, how am I supposed to convince them to do that?!” Jax demanded.

“Use their biggest weakness against them. Be scary.” Pomni said with a smile before wheeling around the corner.

“Ragatha! Do you have any idea how to get in contact with ADC?”

2 hours later…

The news anchor checked her makeup one last time before taking her mark, in front of the hospital by the double door entrance. The protestors from the previous day had gathered outside, some carrying signs congratulating Jax, others had signs asking for more justice to be served on the part of crossbreeds. The news anchor tapped her earpiece.

“We’re rolling? Okay- Thanks, Rob, many folks in Autumnvale, including myself, were floored to hear this afternoon’s story. 22-year-old Jax Kingston, proprietor of the town butcher shop, faced arrest on suspicion of murder only yesterday. However, Autumnvale’s Mayor Caine Mason posted Kingston’s half-a-million dollar bail out of his own pocket, citing ‘dissatisfaction with the evidence and investigation.’ And it would appear that Mr. Kingston did something truly heroic not fifteen minutes after he was released from the town jail.”

The footage cut to B-Roll of a young woman in a hospital bed talking to a nurse.

“25-year-old grad student Pomni Freeman found herself in a life or death situation at 6:30 last night, when she fell down the flight of stairs outside her apartment and encountered a juvenile Nightwalker waiting for her at the bottom.”

It cut to Pomni laying in her bed. She looked quite tired.

“It just walked up and bit me in the stomach. Like it was the most natural thing in the world…” she said.

“It must have been terrifying. Can you even describe how you felt?” the interviewer said from off camera.

“Like I was going to die. Alone, cold and screaming…” Pomni replied dourly.

The news anchor continued.

“But, in a miraculous stroke of luck, Kingston heard her screaming and rushed in.”

It cut to Jax being interviewed. He loomed over the entire news crew. The boom mic operator had to stand on a stepladder.

“I got the monster off of her, then I got her somewhere safe.” he grunted.

“How did you feel?” the interviewer asked.

“…Afraid.” he responded after a lengthy pause. “Afraid for her.”

It cut to B-Roll footage of the mayor, Caine Mason, at his desk, working on some important-looking paperwork.

“ADC was informed of these events via an anonymous tip just a few hours after the mayor announced that he bailed out Mr. Kingston, ”

It cut to Caine, at his desk, fingers knit together.

“Hopefully this will serve as an example of how crossbred people are just as deserving of our respect as anyone else. This is a landmark moment.” he said.

The camera cut back to the news anchor.

“But not everyone agrees, Rob. As you can see, some townsfolk have gathered outside Autumnvale Regional Medical Center behind me, some to celebrate Mr. Kingston’s achievement, others to-”

There was a commotion behind the anchor. The crowd appeared to be agitated by something occurring at the entrance.

A shape humanoid in a green and yellow poncho and cowboy hat had wrestled the megaphone out of Dr. Wren’s hand, shouting into it.

“EVERYONE LISTEN UP! Pomni Freeman has an important announcement regarding the…uh…”

They paused, looking at a nearby woman made of ribbons and a white mask for help. She whispered a few things to them, and they spoke up again.

“…regarding the encouraged suicide of Kaufmo.”

The news anchor waved at her cameraman, “Keep rolling, keep rolling!”

Pomni Freeman, still in her wheelchair but wearing a brown leather jacket and a gray trapper hat, both too large for her, and rolled over to take the bullhorn. Jax stood right beside her.

“Test, test… Okay. Uh. Hi, everyone. I can’t talk very loud, I have a cold. Uh, as you know, Jax Kingston has been the chief suspect in this case. But… I’ve uncovered some evidence that proves otherwise. I know I’m not a cop, and I’m willing to sacrifice my scholarship for the evidence I’ve obtained. The truth is… Kaufmo really did just kill himself.”

She held up a small blue and orange capsule.

“Uh, this is Fluoxetine Maleate, also called Prozac. It’s an SSRI that helps with anxiety and depression. Kaufmo took these just as I take them, every morning. The one I’ve got right here, it’s a fake. A placebo. I had Jax ask one of the doctors to check and make sure it was a real pill, pretending it was one of the ones I got from the pharmacy. I’m… sorry I lied to the hospital staff, but you wouldn’t have believed me if I had just asked you to analyze it. I have the proof right here…”

She held up some complicated looking paperwork.

“What tipped me off was the letters and numbers on the capsule. Anyone that takes generic Prozac will tell you the pattern on the capsules is always TEVA-7189. This one says TEBA-7188. It’s just a capsule of sugar.”

There was a murmur in the crowd.

“Kaufmo was on fake antidepressants. That’s why he killed himself. He was taking all different sorts of medication, but he wasn’t improving. So… he gave up. He decided to end it… Nothing was helping… But why? Why was it all phony?”

She turned slowly to glare at Dr. Wren.

“I know what you did, you twisted fuck.”

“What I- excuse me?” Dr. Wren replied.

“You call yourself a doctor? You gave Kaufmo placebos for who knows how long, so his depression got worse. Then, when the poor man offed himself, you dumped the fake pills, and replaced them with real ones in case someone ever tried testing them. I found all those pills you flushed down the toilet!

“But that wasn’t the only thing you flushed, was it? Nope. You burnt something and flushed it down the toilet too. Right? What was it? Something to push him over the edge even further. Hate mail? Some kind of threat? Something that would make him lose all hope. The final nail in the coffin for him to end it all.”

Dr. Wren had gone red in the face. “Young lady, these are completely baseless allegations! How can you say something so-”

“I’m not done! Then, when he hung himself from that pine tree, you slit his arms with one of Jax’s knives, hid the knife badly so the cops would find it and blame Jax, and then you waited for him to get arrested so you could send out a rallying cry to aaall these people who actually wanted to help, and you could look like a hero. Well, I hate to tell you, Dr. Wren. You’re not a hero. You’re a freak! All you did was bully a man that everyone loved into killing himself, then you made the guy who was already the town pariah into the main suspect because it looked good to defend him!”

“Stop this right now! You’re demeaning an entire movement with your lies! You don’t-” Dr. Wren let out an incredulous laugh. “You don’t have any proof that one word of your insane story is true!”

“You’re right… I don’t,” Pomni replied. “None of this has any hard evidence, there’s not even any proof that this pill came from Kaufmo’s house. Just my word. But guess what? You’re the only one that can prescribe anti-depressants around here, and I’ve got proof that these didn’t come from the hospital pharmacy and that they’re fake! I don’t care if you don’t get convicted! I don’t care if this all gets thrown out in court and you walk! You’re DONE. I know that you’re guilty! And now everyone else knows you’re guilty! Here in town and out in tv-land!”

Pomni pointed the bullhorn at the news crew, who were still rolling. She turned back towards Dr. Wren, whose face had bleached.

“Congratu-fuckin’-lations! You made a good movement look worse and you took a man’s life away! Was it worth it? Do you feel like a hero?!”

Pomni devolved into a coughing fit, dropping the bullhorn to the ground with a clatter. Jax held her handkerchief to her mouth, then wheeled her back towards the hospital entrance, the cowboy and ribbon woman following after them. A growing murmur began to rise in the crowd, Dr. Wren staring dead-eyed into space. The news anchor turned back to the camera and swept her hair out of her face, clearing her throat.

“Well. I guess that’s back to you, Rob.”

[huntersmoon1]

If the boys adopted pets.

•Xavier would have a cat that followed him home and refused to leave.

•Rafayel,well he already has a fish named Reddie (sp) so maybe,a bird of some kind or a dog.

(Edit) or some kind of sea creature.

•Zayne would have a dog,an abandoned great big gentle giant Great Dane or Great Dane mix that wanders into the hospital and starts to comfort kids.

-And she kinda becomes the hospital mascot after they realize she’s harmless and get her checked out and get her all her shots.

-And she sorta chooses Zayne as her owner (they say dogs choose their owners as much as cats do.).

-And whenever he has an ice attack whenever his evol starts to take over she gives him a neck hug wherever she can reach,his stomach if he’s sitting in his desk chair or his leg if he’s standing up.

-And even if that’s not happening she’ll often rest her head in his lap when he’s sitting at his desk. (This man needs love.)

(Edit.)

Ok because of this⬇️ he would have a cat and one dog maybe.

•Caleb a dog and a cat duo.

•Thomas a cat.(Rafayel never visits his house after he gets the cat even though she’s a sweet heart and is loving as a dog.) Maybe a dog too, a female Irish Wolfhound Great Dane mix (AKA Irish Dane or Wolfhound Dane) complete with big paws and long lanky legs she doesn’t know what to do with.

-He learned that she can jump a fence with ease and even climb over one if she really really wants to get out when someone tried to break into his house while she was outside and he was away.

-Most of the time she’s pretty calm,quiet,obedient,and well behaved but does have her hyper or excited moments.

-She’s pretty protective of him too.

-She’s his cuddle baby though.

-She does have a bit separation anxiety though,she doesn’t like it when he leaves for the day but is pretty chill while he’s gone cuz she knows when to expect him to come home.

-But as soon as he has his suitcase open on the bed ready to pack she sitting in it like she’s either saying “don’t go” or “me too!” or “take me with you!”.

-If it’s an over night trip or heaven forbid a week long trip god help the house sitter/dog sitter cuz big baby will cry so much,especially at night when she normally cuddles with Thomas aka daddy in his bed.

-Thomas puts a blanket he used for the last week in her crate since it has his scent on it and it makes it a little easier on her and she cries a little less.

-But when he comes home he better be prepared to be attacked with love in a way an only a dog that’s a big puppy could.

-Whenever he comes home after a long day especially if he had to deal with Rafayel,you can usually find him cuddling with his dog and his cat on the couch or the bed or heck even the floor.

I just like this breed. It’s one of my favorites.

•Greyson a fish.

•Sylus a cat or some kind of bird. He has Mephisto but he’s stated Mephisto hates being called a pet.

-Seriously I don’t know why he doesn’t have a pet cat he obviously loves cats and cats are pretty independent if he doesn’t feed it then it’ll go hunting if it’s let outside,assuming it was either a stray or feral cat first or it’s a half indoor cat half outdoor cat.

[ask-olive-huchers]

☆•~“Empty thoughts fill my head.”~•☆ ((Yaaayy olive angst!!))

WARNING: mentions of d3@th, $uicid@! thoughts, and other sensitive subjects.

The morning was cold and grouchy. It had rained all of last night. The water had seeped in through the leaky roof, causing a few damp spots to appear overnight. That’s not really why Olive was upset, however. I’ll let you in on a little secret..

Olive never liked themselves. Sure, there were moments where they felt proud and confident, but those quickly fade once the phrase is over. Why do you think they’re so damn loud? Though, the thoughts were definitely imprinted into their head, as well. By all kinds of people in their lives. Mother, Father, Strangers outside. Always telling them “don’t be so upset, let it roll off your back” or “relax, it’s not a big deal”. It had never been that easy for them. For as long as they could remember.

It seemed like almost everyday, they’d be pissed off, yelling at the nearest person who fucked with them. But today, however, was a bit different. The only anger that was inflicted was- well, 

Was on themselves. It wasn’t all self rage, though. A bit of insecurity and lack of actual confidence was mashed in there. Especially since- well, since their eye was sorta..

..not..working, anymore? Yeaahhh, it’s safe to say they went blind in one of their eyes. Which, actually- really fuckin’ sucked. 

Olive was balled up, hidden under their blanket. Like usual, I suppose. A couple muffled sniffles can be heard. along with a pathetically cracked voice. A couple of sad hiccups follow. It wasn’t hard to tell, Olive wasn’t accepting this fact easily.

And this certainly wasn’t helping with their self hatred problem.

They so desperately just wanted to disappear. Vanish, go missing. They didn’t wanna be here anymore. Olive hopes every day, someone would just- end their suffering. Cut their throat, suffocate them to death. Toss them off a Cliff, push them in-front of a moving car.

They wanted to die.

So, so badly.

Life has no point if the people they love and care about aren’t apart of it. Olive hadn’t heard from anyone in weeks. Did they even care about them? Or were the visits out of pity?

That’s what they started believing. No one could even care about them. They weren’t capable of having a real family. Real friends.

…they didn’t deserve it.

And Skipp. Why hadn’t he come visit? Olive couldn’t blame him, though. Who would ever find interesting in a blood- covered murderer? 

They knew they deserved this. I mean, obviously. Anyone with common sense would agree.

But-..they couldn’t help but wonder..

What would it be like if none of this would have happened..?

After a couple more minutes of pathetically weeping under a blanket, they emerged. Messy bed head hair, red puffy eyes, it was the definition of sad, really. How embarrassing.

They sniffled, using their one good eye to look down at their ends. They remembered how they were covered in blood, once. 

…sometimes, they wished it were their own.

Olive stands up. Their legs weak from all the sitting and lying down. They limp to the wall, sliding down it. Olive let their head rest against the cold brick, letting out a long and shaky sigh.

They knew they’d escape, soon.

..at least, in some sort of way.

So..all they could do was wait. Wait, wait, wait, and wait some more. Before their time had come. Sooner or later, anyway. They had a feeling mercy wasn’t in option, so..

..i guess they were waiting for death to come take them. And if they are being honest?

They didn’t hate that idea one bit.

[gvndhams]

soudam lawyers au I made up when I played berry in radium girls (I'm normal abt them)

Kaz and gundham are on opposite sides of a case right, and it's a pretty like important televised case, which they're both enjoying for publicity reasons, but it's also pretty emotional.

Kaz is trying to stay detached and only do his job, sorta just working towards his own best interest because he's under a lot of pressure from 1. his parents and 2. his new wife to uphold everything, and doesn't want to let anything on to the public that could ruin his image or disappoint his family.

Gundham is very emotionally involved in the case and isn't afraid to vouch for what he thinks is right (within reason ofc). He doesn't have many people in his life (he never had many friends and his mother passed away), so it's not an issue to uphold his own beliefs without fear of judgement from who he's close with

So during this case they flat out don't like each other. Gundham disapproves of how Kaz treats the case so casually because gundham believes that it should be treated with care, even if it's a means to make money. Kaz thinks that Gundham us too stuck up in his own beliefs and it's annoying how much he cares because it makes it harder for him to do his job when the other guy is way too involved.

They end up meeting each other in public outside of work at a grocery store and just side eye each other while they shop on the same aisle. They end up looking at the same thing and Kaz just turns to him and says "I don't like you." Gundham turns back kinda thinking like who does this guy think he is but just says "I don't like you either." from there they keep making small comments at each other until eventually Kaz storms away.

Little meetings like this keep happening every now and then as the case gets even more intense and goes on for longer and longer. They learn more about each other little by little, and Gundham seems to find Kaz fascinating, he thinks his outlook on life is interesting and can't help but want to know more, always coming up with little questions to ask him when they see each other again. Kaz starts to feel strangely about Gundham, wondering why on earth he looks foward to meeting him so much. He has almost everything he could want in life, a food job, a loving wife, parents who care about him-- all that's left is a child, but for some reason he just wants to be close to this man he's supposed to hate.

Things continue, but as Kaz and Gundham get to know each other their disdain turns into more of a playful rivalry. They learn from each other, Kaz starts to genuinely care more about his work and find things in it that he couldn't before, and Gundham finds things to enjoy outside of work so that he doesn't cry over every little lost thing in a case.

However, Kazuichis entire family hates Gundham. Whenever anything about the case shows up they all start shit talking him. Kaz tries to subtly defend him but he can't say much because they are on opposite sides of the case and he doesn't want to disappoint anyone.

Tension starts brewing more as the case starts to wrap up, Kaz and his wife are fighting more, they're constantly unhappy with each other, Kazuichi slips up sometimes which makes his parents angry, and he ends up just being miserable. One night after a particularly large fight, Kazuichi leaves the house and sits at the park for a while, and he finds Gundham walking a puppy. They sit and talk for a little while just kinda venting their frustrations and hanging out, and Kazuichi tells gundham how he feels like he just can't do it anymore, how everything is so stressful and painful, how he wants to run away. Gundham tries to comfort him and let's him hold the puppy for a while, then they part ways.

In the next few days the case comes to a close, Gundham wins. Kazuichi is a little upset but not quite bitter, it feels like a massive stress will be lifted off his back. They have a small conversation after the last trial and Kaz realizes "shit I think I'm in love with him" which he hadn't even thought of before. This kinda crumbles him because he knows he's already in deep shit with his family for losing and he can't handle this alongside it.

Long story short there is a massive fight between him, his wife, and his parents. Lots of things are said that weren't for so long and now it's too late. His wife wants a divorce and his parents want no contact. In short-- his life is over. He leaves the house to process his emotions and runs into Gundham and the puppy again.

Gundham is happy to see him and the puppy runs up to him, but Kazuichi is nearly in tears. Gundham notices and instead of trying to talk to him he takes him back to his house which is luckily nearby. They sit in silence for a bit and Gundham gets him some food and water and makes sure he's comfortable, all the normal things, and eventually Kaz starts talking. When he starts he doesn't stop and it just keeps going and he starts crying mire and more until he's just curled up in a ball on the couch with tears and snot dripping down his face. He ends his giant tangent by looking and gundham and just saying "and I think I'm in love with you."

Gundham looks at him and doesn't know what to say, but reaches out and holds his hand and starts to tear up as well. He opens his arms and let's Kazuichi lay in them while he tries to comfort and encourage him, although he's never been the best with that. After a few minutes they get to talking again, and they decide that while everything is out of hands with Kazuichi he can stay with Gundham and they can take things from there, they go on a few dates to see if there's any kind of spark and there is.

In the end, Kazuichi ends up cut off from his family, which is a struggle but he learns to live with it. He gets mental help and learns to cope with differthings, and Gundham stays with him. Gundham opens up and becomes a bit more social, still learning to enjoy people (as much as he can) and rebuild some of the childlike wonder that he used to have.

[phoebe-delia]

Eight Drarry Nights! I loved your series last year.

I’d love to prompt something about dreidels or latkes or a choir! Take your pick! 💜

Happy Holidays!

Night 5: Luck of the Spin

@kittycargo Hello my friend! Thank you—for this prompt, and for reading last year's series.

Those are all three great prompts! I had trouble picking. I decided to go with dreidel, even though I sorta-kinda already did it. But this is different. This fic is entirely self-indulgent. It takes the dreidel game, adds horny post-war teenager spice, and lets it simmer. In this fic, Hermione, Harry and Blaise are all three Jewish. I'm sorry to my ancestors for making this game of dreidel...uh....PG-13, I guess lmfao. Enjoy!

Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead as he walked into the eighth year common room. He noticed the large group sitting in a circle in the middle, old friends and new ones alike. Rather than join them, he tried to sneak past in hopes of getting to the shower and then falling into bed, aching muscles and all.

"Harry! Come hang out!" Ginny called, causing Harry to jump and the entire group to look in his direction.

Harry winced. "Sorry, Gin, not tonight. You know how I get after Quidditch." He'd spent over an hour chasing the snitch, despite the freezing weather. His mind healer said flying would be a great way to clear his head, and Harry'd made it a part of his daily routine, with or without a snitch. He liked it best when his roommate joined him outside, but the git had refused, saying, “It’s freezing out there, Potter, are you mad?” Harry had gone anyway, and he had smiled to himself when he felt his Draco’s magic wash over him in a long-lasting warming charm.

But now, he was sweaty, sore, and ready for bed; not whatever mad game they had going. Though, the sight of Draco in the circle made him tempted to stay.

Ron frowned. "Come on, use a Scourgify and perk up! We're playing draddle!"

Hermione huffed a laugh. "It's dreidel. And Harry, we're hardly even playing. Someone—" she looked pointedly at Ron, who grinned shamelessly—"ate all of the gelt, so we've been playing with...new rules."

Pansy smirked. "You've got to admit, Granger, it's more fun this way." Hermione just blushed, and the entire group began snickering.

Finally, Neville spoke up. "It's sort of a hybrid of dreidel and spin the bottle."

Harry frowned. "What are the rules?"

Blaise explained. "You still go around in a circle and spin. If you get nun, nothing happens. If you get shin, you have to kiss someone, but only on the cheek. If you get hey, you close your eyes and let someone random kiss you. And if you get gimel," Blaise smirked at Ron, who blushed, "you kiss the person of your choosing."

Harry let out a laugh. "Who came up with these rules?”

Pansy shrugged. "It was a collective effort. Now cast your cleaning spell and come join the circle!" She pointed to a place next to Draco. "There's an open spot."

Intrigued, Harry followed Pansy's directions and sat between Draco and Luna, who scooted a bit close to Theo to give him more room. Draco gave Harry a small, reassuring smile, and Harry ignored the way his stomach flipped.

"Alright! My turn," Pansy said, reaching for the dreidel in front of Ron and giving it a spin. When it landed on nun, she shrugged and passed it along to Neville, who blushed.

Neville spun and got shin. He glanced around the circle before crawling over and pressing a kiss to Luna's cheek. The group let out teasing whistles, which only made his cheeks redden further before he handed the dreidel to Hermione.

Hermione took it and spun, watching it with sharp eyes, The dreidel landed on hey. Her breath hitched, and she glanced around the circle, but closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted. By some silent consensus, the group turned to look at Pansy, who smirked sharply and crawled past Neville, who sat right between her and Hermione. Pansy’s expression turned shockingly tender, and both girls gasped when their lips touched.

Harry felt his cheeks heat, and he glanced away, instead taking in the others’ reactions. His eyes met Draco’s, exchanging looks for a moment in commiseration, and then shifting into something else. Harry shivered.

When Pansy and Hermione finally broke apart for air, they both seemed fairly wrecked. Pansy moved back to her spot, pinning Hermione with a heated look. Hermione cleared her throat and handed the dreidel to Ginny. “Your turn, Gin!” her voice squeaked slightly, and Pansy looked extremely smug.

Chuckling to herself, Ginny spun the dreidel and landed on gimel. With a grin, she crawled across the circle and brought Theo into a kiss that rivaled Pansy and Hermione. They finally broke apart, and rather than return to her spot, Ginny sent the dreidel levitating back toward Draco and settled herself in the lap of a blissed-out Theo.

Harry felt a jolt run through him when Draco reached for the dreidel and spun it. It seemed to go on forever before finally toppling over on hey.

Draco glanced around nervously before his eyes met Harry’s, almost pleading, and then he closed them. Harry looked at the rest of the group, only to find them all staring at him. Pansy waved her hand to gesture between Harry and Draco and mouthed “Go!” and so, filled with butterflies, Harry turned to face him.

He reached up to cup Draco’s cheek, rubbing a thumb over his bottom lip to make them part just slightly. Draco’s breathing grew heavier against Harry’s thumb, and that was enough to encourage Harry to close the distance between them and shut his eyes.

The circle erupted into cheers, but Harry tuned them out. The kiss was hesitant, slow, and a bit awkward, but it was the best he’d ever had. Draco’s lips were soft, unlike Harry’s chapped ones, and they moved against one another with more and more ease as they kissed. Harry shivered as he felt a hint of Draco’s tongue against his, but he didn’t dare push it further than that for fear of breaking the moment.

With great reluctance, Harry pulled back, and watched as Draco opened his eyes. There was no flash of surprise, or anger, or disgust at seeing Harry right in front of him. He only gave Harry a small grin and handed him the dreidel, letting their fingers brush.

Harry kept his eyes on Draco while he set the dreidel on the ground, snug between two fingers, and twisted sharply to spin it. Where it landed, Harry didn’t know or care, as he brought Draco in for another kiss.

Read the other Hanukkah fics so far here.

[fruityfroggy]

I genuinely can't tell if this is good anymore. But I spent so long on it, maybe some feedback on this wonky one shot ficthing could help T-T

Am I...Doing This Right?

OC X CANON WARNING (you have been warned)

Pairing: Dikke x Verdigris

Word count: 764

A/N: Dikke's anecdote did things to my brain chemistry, so I have instantly been distracted from the fic I was working on (as well as the fic I was going to write before finishing said fic cuz I got distracted by that before this). What else is new, right? This is the fruity blob of nonsense we're talking about, ofc it ended up this way. Anyways, this fic may not be as juicy as the last one, but we’re making do. Awkward lesbians is sorta the vibe I was going for. Hope I did okay on that.

The wind blew swift and sharp that evening, causing the loose strands of Verdigris' hair to whip around with it. She was getting a breath of fresh air after hours of sitting and working in her workshop. A small walk would do her good, and she knew it.

By the distant trees, a figure stood tall and slender. Pale white hair cascaded down her dark cape, wavering in the wind like rippling water. It seems that Dikke was out here as well.

It wasn't uncommon to see her outside at night, but this time around, daylight hadn't even left the sky yet. Curious, Verdigris walked over to her, careful not to disrupt the judge’s pondering as she stepped beside her.

Despite her efforts, Dikke seemed to notice her fairly quickly, turning her head just slightly to glance in her direction. “Good evening,” she greeted her with a slight smile. But a distant look was in her eyes, suggesting that her mind was still elsewhere.

Verdigris had noticed this, but she greeted her back and looked into the distance for a while, trying to keep it off her mind. But she couldn’t. It felt a bit nosy to ask such a question, but Verdigris just had to know.

“You seem a bit…troubled today. Is there something bothering you?” A look of worry softly spread across her gentle features, as she carefully glanced up at her.

“Perhaps…but ‘tis not of thy concern. Worry not about my troubles, Verdigris.” Dikke looked away for a moment, the front two strands of her hair blew almost mesmerizingly in the air, forcing Verdigris to look away as well.

Before she could reply though, a giant gust of wind cut her off suddenly; even colder and sharper against her skin than before. Maybe she should've worn a little more overtop before heading out. But it was a little too late at the moment.

As sudden as the wind had hit her, a warmth wrapped firmly around her shoulders in response, pulling Verdigris out of her thoughts. "Thou should wear more in weather like this. Such neglect of thy health shall do nothing but harm to thee..." Those words may sound a bit harsh on paper, but Dikke's voice sounded warmer than most would expect. Glancing up at her again, Verdigris finally processed what had happened. The warmth around her was the cape of a certain judge beside her.

Maybe that cape was thicker than it looked, or maybe it was the heat that quickly rose to her cheeks from the situation. Either way, Verdigris didn't seem to feel the chilly air anymore in that moment. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out.

Dikke's gaze shifted around a bit, unsure where to look, now that they’re standing this close to each other. Despite that, she still reached a shaky hand over to Verdigris and placed it gingerly on her waist, pulling her a little closer. Why she did any of this was unbeknownst to her. What started off as an impulsive act of protectiveness, quickly became more forward than intended, and the flowery language needed to resolve such a situation just doesn’t come naturally to her. What has she gotten herself into? Things weren’t supposed to unfold this way.

Without even realizing, a lengthy silence had dragged out between them. All they could do was feel their breaths quickening, as their sides pressed together warmly. “Thank you…for the kind gesture” Verdigris finally managed to push out. “…No need” the much taller arcanist replied, still struggling to make eye contact.

Fine, since they were at this point already, Dikke might as well take a risk. Risks weren't new to her at all. But unplanned risks...unplanned risks..like this, why were they so hard? Slowly, she took the inventor's hand in hers, feeling its coldness against her skin. Her thumb grazed the back of her hand so carefully, it was as if she was going to break it if she wasn’t careful enough. She glanced down to check Verdigris' reaction, watching her gaze as it shifts towards her hand, then back up to meet her eyes. Verdigris...such a sight for sore eyes that it aches elsewhere...

Something different danced across Dikke's icy blue eyes, accompanied by a slight, warmer hue. A soft smile pulled at both their lips as they looked at each other for a little longer than they should.

"What's on your mind now?"

“…Thee…’twas thee from the start…thou who occupies my thoughts…”

“…! what?…”

“What?”

Maybe things just won’t go as smoothly as they could be…

[radioxxgirlfriend]

Small Part of the start of my new story!

Girlfriends. [ELMAX]

Eleven and max has been friends ever since the summer of 85' they've been tied to the hip.

They've gotten boyfriends, but you know what they say, middle school boyfriends don't last.

Well, except for theirs.

Max was dating lucas, well really on and off.

But Eleven was dating mike, and she couldn't be happier.

She loved kissing mike in her room, and just being around mike.

But what she didn't notice was, mike was sorta a shitty boyfriend.

She had told max about when Mike had ignored eleven, and she said Mike was bullshit.

Eleven didn't really believe her, but she went along with it.

Cause she liked max, she thought max knew everything.

Max taught her about ninja boy, and wonder women.

And how to find her style, etc, etc.

But, eleven did get back with mike after dumping him.

And max did stay together with Lucas for a while.

Everything was okay.

——————-

"I don't know what to wear!" Eleven exclaimed, digging through her closet.

"Ooh! You should wear this! It's cute on you!" Max said, grabbing a flowery dress from elevens closet.

"Would mike like that?" She asked.

Max sighed, and held the dress in her face.

"Do you like it?" Max told her.

"Well yes-" Eleven started, but got cut off.

"Then wear it!" Max said, throwing the dress in her face.

Eleven peeled off the dress from her face, looking at it in her hands now.

"And wear these." Max said, handing her doc martens.

"You think this looks nice on me?" Eleven asked, holding up the two items.

"Yeah! Everything looks good on you, eleven." She said, smiling softly at the shorter girl.

"My god, what would I do without you?" Eleven asked, smiling back at the redhead.

"You would be wearing an ugly outfit." Max said, sitting on the bed.

Eleven let out a small laugh, that made maxes face heat up.

——————————

The two girls hopped in Johnathans car the next morning.

Max had stayed over, so Johnathan was also taking her to school.

The two girls were standing by the front door, waiting for Johnathan.

They were excited, first day of high school is always exciting.

Suddenly, will walked down the stairs, his eyes red and his hair a screwed up.

Max and eleven both made face, a confused one.

"Shit, what happened to you?" Johnathan asked, putting his hand on wills forehead.

"Ugh, im fine Johnathan. Just take us to school." Will said, moving away Johnathans hand and stumbling over next to the girls.

He stood next to max, his head looking at his feet.

Max looked him up and down, before taking a step away from him.

"Uh, come on guys." Johnathan said, opening the front door.

The three teens got out of the house, getting in the car.

"Hey will, why don't you sit in the front!" Eleven said, smiling at the slightly taller boy.

"Mm, okay." He muttered, walking around the car to the passenger seat.

"Jeez, did will do drugs or something? He looks stoned." Max shrugged, staining outside the car.

"Eh, he might be. You can ask him if you want, but i dont think he'll give you an answer." Eleven said, hopping in the car.

Max followed behind her, taking another glance at will.

————————-

Johnathan stopped infront of the school, dropping the three teens off.

They all got out of the car, as they started to go into the school.

"I cant wait to see mike!" Eleven said, her smile bright.

"I cant wait to see Lucas!" Max said, her smile not as wide as eleven.

They both heard will slightly groan as he pushed past them, going Infront of them.

"What the hell did he even do last night?" Max asked.

"How would I know? You were with me the whole night." Eleven said.

"True, true." Max shrugged, her smiling returning.

Elevens face instantly shot up when she saw mike, but someone had beat her to mike.

Angela.

"Oh my god, that slut!" Max said, lifting her sleeves slightly and starting to walk up to her.

"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down! They probably are just friends." Eleven said, talking a breath.

She and max silently stood a distance from mike and Angela, trying to listen to their conversation.

Mike grinned at her, and Angela's cheeks flushed red.

Once their conversation was over, Angela walked away, bumping shoulders with eleven.

"The fuck..?" Eleven said, looking back at Angela as she walked away.

"She is definitely trying to get with Mike just to upset you." Max leaned on a locked, crossing her arms.

"Why the fuck are you so mad?" Dustin said, approaching max.

"Why does your face look like that?!" Max growled back, before looking at Lucas behind him. "Lucas!!!"

She hugged Lucas' neck, and Lucas leaned down,

kissing her softly.

"Hey, how are you guys doing?" Mike said, approaching behind eleven.

"Mike!" She said, hugging him, and he slightly hugged her back, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Are you gonna try out for cheerleading?"

Mike asked, holding her hand.

"I don't know, I don't don't think I'll make a good fit for it." She said.

"Aw, that's a bummer. You know, my friend Angela is going to do it. I think you two would get along." Mike said.

Eleven felt her blood boil, but she kept a tight smile on her face as she looked at him.

"Yes, I bet we would. But I can't have her replacing max, haha." She said sarcastically, which made Mike look at her weird.

"Well, I've got to go. Football coach wants to meet with me." He said, kissing her lightly.

"Yep, bye." She said, as Mike ran off quickly, his shiny black hair bouncing slightly.

She slowly turned to look at the rest of the group, and they all looked like they had just seen a ghost.

"What..the..fuck was that." Dustin said.

"You and her would be friends, is he fucking stupid!" Max yelled, hitting her head against a locker.

My user is xgirlxgirlxx On wattpad !

[hqmillioncorn]

Red moon, Red Moon

"Wait, wait! Chelinka slow down!" Elelote tried her best to keep up with what her daughter was saying. "What exactly did you say you saw when Yuri was born?" Chelinka paused her exciting activity of digging a hole in the dirt to look up at her mama. "I saw a big cherry in the sky!!" She held up her dirty hands in the air as high as she could, "I know they weren't the moon or the sun cause the moon and the sun don't look like that!" Elelote took in Chelinka's words and looked down at the newborn in her arms. Bright blue eyes looked up back at her. They were even brighter than her own. "...Hm." Surely this meant nothing.

Lalapril 4/1: Arrival :) the egg has already hatched

Chelinka hummed to herself, using a stick in her hand to draw a slightly wiggly line on the dirt. As she walked backwards she occasionally looked behind herself to make sure she wasn’t stepping on the lines she had already drawn.

It had happened before and because of that she had to start all over again. So this time she was being super duper careful not to mess up her drawing.

It was even harder than it should have been because it was dark out. The night had snuck up on Chelinka really quickly.

“Ahhhhummm….” Chelinka stopped and wiggled the stick up and down. A frown crossed her face as she looked down at her handiwork. It was meant to be a drawing of a pretty flower she had seen once but to her it sorta just looked like one of those really tasty fruits that her mama and papa brought back home sometimes. She could never pronounce the name right,

“Not a flower…” She despondently kicked a cloud of dust up with her foot.

She had wanted to give the new baby a flower as a present ever since she learned a long long time ago that she was going to be a big sister. It had to be the prettiest and bestest flower in all of the garden! In the whole world even!

Chelinka had been very insistent on growing the flower all by herself herself that she pushed her parent’s help away at every opportunity. Even when she would huddle over to her flower, trying her very best to carry the watering can in her very small hands.

Though Cocorn and Elelote found it very cute they still decided it would probably be best if they stepped in to help take care of the flower where Chelinka couldn’t. Especially after she would dump a whole water’s worth of a watering can on the poor one singular flower.

Unfortunately, the entire Starsinger family had done such a good job on raising the flower that it proved to be irresistible to a wandering Chocobo who, in the blink of an eye, had eaten the flower right before Chelinka’s eyes.

Her parents had arrived that day to see their daughter sitting on the dirt and sobbing her eyes out. And though they planted a new flower as quickly as they could, the day quickly came that her baby brother was supposed to be born. Sadly the flower had not even so much as sprouted from the ground.

Which is how Chelinka found herself scrambling for any last minute gifts she could give.

“Stupid Chobobo!” Chelinka puffed out her cheeks in anger and swung her stick around. If only she had been outside of the house at the time, she would have totally scared that bird off. “Where am I gonna get a present now?”

Chelinka waddled over to the steps of her house and finally sat down after an agonizing minutes of running around. There was a bowl of baby corn waiting on the steps for her, courtesy of her parents. Sitting next to her was her best friend Mash, the piece of Millioncorn that never talked back when she talked to it.

Both her mama and papa were inside watching over the baby very carefully. Observing the baby’s egg as it got closer and closer to hatching. They were both eagerly waiting to see if everything was going to go well.

The new baby was going to come out of a really bright pink egg! The egg had been sitting on an equally pink cushion in their house for months now and Chelinka wondered if the baby was gonna be as pink as the egg was.

Her papa told her that probably not, since the egg she hatched out of was an orange color. And she wasn’t orange! Her hair was yellow! “My hair is yellow! Like the sun! Papa said so!” Chelinka looked up to check up on the color of the sun, momentarily forgetting that right now it was nighttime and that meant that the sun was sleeping.

“Oh! Right! Suns asleep…” Chelinka yawned. Now that she thought about it she was kind of sleepy too but she really wanted to see the baby first.

Chelinka took another handful of baby corn from the bowl and happily munched on them, kicking her feet happily. “The egg is taking a long time.” She looked over to Mash, who had fallen over on their side. Chelinka carefully sat them back upright and placed a piece of baby corn into what she assumed was Mash’s mouth.

Since Mash didn’t really have a mouth the baby corn simply fell to the ground instead. Chelinka didn’t notice (otherwise she probably would have eaten it) and instead went back to thinking about what the baby was going to be like.

She had never actually seen one herself, she knew she had been a baby once but that was it. There weren’t really many opportunities to see a baby when she spent all of her time at home.

There were a few times that Chelinka had asked her mama and papa if she could go outside with them but they always explained to her that it was too dangerous for her to go. It was always going to be safer for her to stay home, where no one could take her away.

And she didn’t wanna go away! She wanted to stay here with her mama and her papa and the baby. So if being home was safer for her then this is where she was gonna stay forever and ever with her family!

Chelinka heard another noise besides her. “WAAh!” She yelped. Lots of things scared her but scary noises scared her the most. Especially when she didn’t know what made the noise.

Turns out she didn’t need to be too scared because it had been Mash who made that noise. They had fallen over again, not only that but the bowl of baby corn was empty! “Maaash? Did you eat everything?!” Chelinka was so mad. She and Mash had been taught about sharing just last week!

“Mash you gotta rember’!” Chelinka took the bowl and showed it to Mash, “We gotta share cause the baby is coming and that means we gotta let him have stuff too!”

Mash remained silent in response. It’s silk gently blowing in the night’s wind.

Chelinka nodded, “Mhhm! And that means we gotta share together! For baby!” She gave Mash a pat on what could only be described as the top of their head. “Good job Mash!” Chelinka stopped, mid-pat when she heard something. “Huh?” It sounded strange. She stuck a finger into her ear to see if there was something in there again but the sound was still around.

“Helloooo?” Chelinka looked around for anything around her. That’s when she spotted a small lizard crawling near her feet. “Oh! Mister Lizard!” Chelinka jumped from her seat and grabbed the lizard in her hands. Her mama had taught her that she couldn’t eat lizards like this so she did a good job remembering that too.

“Mister lizard!!!”

The lizard looked at her, confused.

“Mister lizard did you know…” She looked around to see if anyone else was listening. Chelinka felt the presence of someone around her but she couldn’t quite tell who or what it was. She whispered as quietly as she could. “Did ya know mister lizard? I’m gonna be a big sister!” She grinned from ear to ear.

The lizard didn’t quite seem to get it. It stuck its tongue out, wondering when Chelinka was going to let it go.

“Did ya know! Did ya?!” Chelinka laughed to herself excitedly.

Then there was a sound.

Without a word Chelinka’s grip on the lizard loosened, allowing it to safely crawl its way back to the ground and back towards its home. “…Hmm?” Chelinka wiggled her ear. There was an odd sound coming from above her.

“Who’s there?” The source of the noise was a mystery but for some reason Chelinka wasn’t really feeling scared. It sounded like someone was calling out her name. “I’m…Chelinka?” Now she was feeling really dizzy. Like she had just spun around in a circle really fast again.

Look up

Chelinka looked up at the sky. The stars were out and shining the same way they always did. Maybe they were shining brighter tonight? Whatever the case, Chelinka knew that if the stars were in the sky, then everything was okay. “Hello!” Chelinka waved up at the stars.

Over here

Chelinka heard the voice again and looked to where she had heard it. “Woah!” Up there in the sky! She could see two bright red circles! Was it the moons? Chelinka knew one of them was red but the other one wasn’t! So why was it red now?

The two red moons captured Chelinka’s complete attention as she walked off the steps and closer to where she could see them.

A bright red light illuminated everything around her. Chelinka’s eyes glowed a luminous yellow.

There was a strange voice speaking to her.

“That’s why you don’t have to worry. There isn’t a world where…

Chelinka heard her own voice.

…You and I aren’t together.” . Then as quickly as the sky had glowed red, it vanished. Chelinka looked around, confused. “Huh?” When had she walked over here?

The last thing she remembered was looking up at the big cherry in the sky. Now that she thought about it she was kinda hungry. “Mash? When’s dinner time?” Chelinka skipped over to Mash and picked them up in her hands.

Suddenly, Chelinka heard the crack of a door opening. Then another strange sound. Unlike the other one however, Chelinka thought that this one was way too loud. What she didn’t know was that it was the sound of a crying baby.

The new strange sound continued for a couple of more minutes until it slowly began to quiet down. Then Chelinka heard someone else.

“Chelinka!!”

Chelinka recognized that voice! It was her mama’s! She giggled and ran right towards her mama, who was standing in the doorway. She knelt down and caught her daughter in her arms, hugging her tight. “Is the baby here?! Is it?!” Chelinka grabbed onto her mama’s shirt. She was practically shaking in excitement.

Elelote nodded, smiling wide. “Out of the egg and without a problem.”

“Can I see him! Can I?! Can I?!” Chelinka tried her best to see past her mama’s shoulder but try as she might she really couldn’t see anything.

“Of course! But right now he’s sleeping so we have to be…?”

Chelinka gasped and put a finger up to her mouth with a shhh. “We have to be really really quiet…!”

“That’s right my little babycorn!” Elelote kissed Chelinka's forehead, ruffling her bangs around. “Ewww! Mama’s gross!!” Chelinka laughed and stuck her tongue out.

Elelote carried Chelinka inside while still laughing to herself. In the house, Cocorn was trying his hardest to clean up the bits of eggshells that had been stabbed into the ceiling.

And also pretty much every other wall and floor in the house.

Cocorn had been soooooo confident that this one was going to be different than the day Chelinka was born, and to his credit it wasn’t as bad but he was still very wrong. Losing the bet was the reason why he was currently on egg clean up duty but that could wait for a bit.

“Papa!” Chelinka cried out, stretching her arms out to him.

“Chelinka? Remember we have to be a little quiet?” Elelote gently reminded her.

“Oh! That’s right!” Chelinka looked at her papa and put a finger up to her mouth, “Papa we gotta be quiet cause the baby's sleeping! Shhhhh!”

“I’ll be the quietest I’ve ever been then.” Cocorn chuckled to himself. He took Chelinka from Elelotes arms and carried her over to the crib. “Take a look in there.”

Chelinka stretched her neck to look inside. “Woah…” There was something in there, covered with a blanket. She tried to move even closer to get a good look. To the point where he papa had to hold onto her tighter to make sure she didn’t fall.

The baby looked so much different than what she had imagined! It didn’t have that many spikes or that many eyes. Its hair was different from hers too! Her's was yellow and the baby’s hair looked like her mama’s!

Chelinka looked at one of her hands, then down to the baby. She noticed that its hands were much smaller than her’s. Everything about the baby was so much smaller. It looked just like the doll her papa had brought home for her one day.

“He’s so small!” Chelinka couldn’t believe her eyes! “Is he s’pposed to be that small?!”

Elelote and Cocorn exchanged a pair of glances, trying their best not to burst out laughing in fear of waking up their new son. “Yes, he is quite small, isn’t he?” Cocorn whispered, “You know, you were that small once too.”

“No way!” Chelinka looked honestly shocked to hear that.

“It’s true!” Cocorn held out his hand, “You were so small once that I could hold you in just one of my hands.”

“Nuh-uh! Papas lying!!”

“…Maybe just a little bit.” Cocorn smiled to himself.

Elelote took Chelinka from Cocorn and looked down at the baby with her. “He is small but that just means we have to take care of him. And make sure he can grow up big and strong. Like you!” Aleria bopped Chelinka’s nose.

Chelinka giggled, “He’s gonna get bigger?” she asked.

“That’s right!” Cocorn ruffled the top of Chelinka’s head. “Maybe he’ll even be taller than all of us when he gets bigger.”

Elelote rolled her eyes, “I wouldn’t bet on it.” Her husband was notorious for his short height and while she was taller than him, her height was still not that impressive. If anything both their children would probably end up shorter than the both of them.

“Well I can dream can’t I?”

As her parents laughed to themselves Chelinka looked down at her brother. The conversation had woken him up but instead of crying he was calmly looking up right at her. Chelinka noticed that his eyes were the same color as the sky was when the sun was out.

“Hi…!” Chelinka whispered.

The baby yawned and blinked at her. It really was small. If what her mama and papa said was true (and it always was) then he was gonna grow bigger.

Just like a flower did when she put it in the ground! When her mama had helped her put her flower in the ground, it started out as a small little thing. Then as time went on and she took care of it, it became a really big flower!

Only this time, things would be different.

Chelinka leaned in closer than ever, to the surprises of Elelote. She managed to grab onto her in the nick of time. Chelinka held her brother’s small hand in her own.

“I’m gonna keep you safe okay?”

Her brother mumbled something in response.

Elelote brought her daughter closer to her, making sure she didn’t fall. “I think that means he heard you.”

Chelinka looked down at her brother again.

“Forever and ever! I promise!”

[leon-swedfinqs]

So last night my partner and I were sharing ideas back and forth and they gave me a prompt of what Aziraphale and Crowley’s first meeting together was like, so I ended up writing a short little snippet about them getting their first job. It cuts off short because I ran out of steam, but it’s a great example of the early days of their relationship!

I have decided to start calling this AU the Serpent and the Serpent Bearer (if I end up writing anything in full this would be the title), as an aside. You’re welcome to request writing blurbs for this story/au so don’t be afraid to say something!

Story blurb under the cut!!

The Serpent and the Serpent Bearer Writing Blurb #1

“So how much is the pay again?” The tiefling sneered.

“That is the third time you’ve asked that in the past ten minutes,” the human huffed.

“Well I just wanted to find out if it’s really worth it to put up with this charade.”

“Excuse me-“

“Gentlemen, gentlemen!” The dwarf standing at the other side of the table said firmly. “I have already stated, completing this delivery and return will reward you both with 20 gold pieces. But you will only get the money if you deliver and return the goods *together*, I want multiple bodies to protect it. Do you understand?”

When answering the job posting for a simple delivery and return job for 20 gold, Crowley was quick to jump on it. He was desperate for money at the moment — he was low on food supplies and could barely afford to keep staying in inns, so he needed to start saving up for a tent. The last thing he wanted was to sit in a village square and beg for money and help, it brought too much attention. But now he was stuck with this religious dunce who made his eyes hurt — quite literally, he had these stupid rings around his head that were just bright enough to bother him when he had his sunglasses off.

Aziraphale sighed to himself as he shifted his bag over to his other shoulder. He really needed the money — he was running low on food and he needed to start saving up for a tent or something similar if he was going to continue like this. It’s been getting harder and harder to find an inn that doesn’t immediately turn him away the farther out into the country he goes, and it’s becoming to be a bit frustrating. He saw this job posting in the village square and couldn’t believe his luck — well, it was clear he should’ve held his tongue, as he was stuck with this brute rogue that had a sharp tongue.

“I’m sure we can make things work,” Aziraphale said with a curt nod.

“Perfect!” The dwarf, whos name was Steven, smiled. Crowley groaned and rolled his eyes as Steven ducked under the table and pulled out a map.

“Now, it’s should be about a 3 day trip one way. Once you reach Ravenspoint, the delivery exchange will happen on the night of the waning moon, which may be a day or two wait depending on your timing. Once the exchange is complete, come straight back here and I will give you both your full pay. This is the path you must take,” he said as his finger trailed along the map, following the river. “Understood?”

“Understood!” Aziraphale smiled. “Is it alright if we borrowed the map for the journey?”

~

“Shouldn’t you have a horse or a carriage or something?” Crowley asked with a huff as the two sat in the village square, taking stock of their current supplies.

“Wh-huh? Excuse me? Of course not! Why would I?” Aziraphale sputtered in surprise.

“Well, I mean…cleric, fancy top, silver sword, the jewelry, it’s all sorta…” Crowley trailed off as he waved his hand back and forth. “You know?”

Aziraphale chewed the inside of his cheek as he rustled through his bag to count up his potions. “Now listen, uh-“

“Crowley.”

“Crowley. Just because I am a cleric doesn’t automatically mean I have the money to spend on a horse.”

“Suuuure it doesn’t,” Crowley said with a roll of his eyes.

Now, from an outsider looking in, the two forced teammates seemed to nearly be at each others throats, with the way they kept snipping at each other, the tiefling occasionally hissing. It was as if working with a partner was one of the worst things in the world to have happened to both of them. The tiefling looked liked he’d rather just grab the delivery item and run off to get the job over with, while the human was still being careful in his preparations.

However, just below the thing facade, both were exactly the same. They were afraid. Beings on the run, hiding for their lives — being in a group just brought more attention to them, practically acting as a beacon to their current location.

A rogue, Aziraphale thought, would be useful in combat. Someone skilled with knives and sneak attacks, able to actually land any substantial hits on a creature who got in their way. As he’s been trying to keep his focus on learning magic and healing, Aziraphale has essentially side-lined the use of his sword. If he wanted to get better at his spells, then he had to use them. Trying to look on the bright side of things, Aziraphale had willed himself to relax about the situation knowing that he now had proper back up on this team.

Crowley was trying to be optimistic, working with a cleric meant that, by default, he was going to have a healer. If he somehow fucks up in battle (which has been happening a lot recently), he has the safety of knowing that he has a form of back up to protect him. Learning the tricks of working with small knives and generally being a “rogue” has been proven to be a bit difficult for Crowley — he still needs to develop the coordination for proper throws, and he isn’t exactly the most…sneaky person there is. He was an optimist, deep down — he can make this work in his favor.

Not long after the two looked over what supplies they currently had, and stocking up on what was missing, they awkwardly walked down the long road to their destination, keeping an awkward 5 feet of space between each other.

[babydolly444]

saw him today, but only for a moment.

we had a 500 ft drill today. in case u aren’t aware of what they are, they’re basically when we walk 500 ft away from the school in case there’s a bomb or something. it was just a drill though, so nothing actually happened.

my class was sitting out where the bleachers were, and so were several other classes, including his class. i looked back at him, and i saw him looking at me, but he looked sorta serious.

he didn’t stand outside his classroom today either, like how he usually does. i noticed that he would only ever do it during the passing period before 2nd period, which is when i walk by his classroom. if he did, i would know, because i sneak glances down that hallway when i change classes.

i skip saying hi to him for one day, and suddenly he’s shunning me. he probably say me playing hard to get, and now he’s doing it too but with even more intensity because men ain’t shit.

earlier this school year i remember my friends and i were talking to a (female) teacher (W) that we are quite close with. we were talking about him (S) and she said how she thinks he’s playing hard to get. (i have posted about this specific moment before, but it’s on the blog i used before switching to this one, my primary blog.)

i don’t know how he is in relationships or when he’s perusing a relationship. i can only speculate. one night after the last performance we had of the play, we all went to buffalo wild wings, and I was talking to W, and the conversation made its way to talking about S. i learned new information about how S had an ex-girlfriend, and he would often talk about her with his coworkers, though he doesn’t anymore. (i posted about this before, too.)

i’m close to finishing crime and punishment, but i have to read today’s assigned reading for one flew over the cuckoo’s nest for ap lit. i don’t really like it, to be honest. most people in my class don’t. i can get into details about why, but i won’t at the moment.

i need to figure out what periods S doesn’t have any classes. i don’t want to ask around though, at the risk of people suspecting things. i can ask W, though, maybe? i’ll tell her that i’m almost finished with a book that he gave me, and i don’t want to disturb any of his classes when i go to give it back to him.

[kimhargreeves]

Accidents Can Happen (Buddy Daddies, Rei x Reader)

Summary: You live in a shared apartment with Rei and Kazuki.You don't get along most of the time and you get your feelings hurt often, but they finally reveal what their true job is. In a single night your life changes when a girl enters your life claiming you as her mother. (This will be a full book which will be posted on my ao3 account as KAckerman. I'd appreciate the support.)

Reader age is 24

Rei age is 25

Kazuki age is 28

I sighed walking up the stairs and finally arriving at my apartment. Hoping to finally get a bit of rest and continue on my sketchbook. Listen to my favorite soundtrack and have a relaxing rest of the day...I fiddled with the keys and opened the door wide and closed it behind me.

I dropped my bags and stared surprised at how filthy the apartment is. I just cleaned it earlier this morning! That's the last straw.

What the hell?! I angrily let my belongings fall onto the table and I quickly walked over at the figure sitting on the couch.

"How many times have I told you to clean this place up?!" I balled my hands into fists and growled at the man playing videogames and with his headphones on.

"Huh? Did you say something?" He lazily asks turning to glance at me.

"How many times am I going to clean this up, Rei?! I'm not a cleaning lady and less your wife to be cleaning our apartment everyday!" I begin to tell him and grabbed his controller so he would pay attention to me.

"Then don't clean it up.."

I growled again and stepped over the many trash and clothes thrown on the floor and I began to slid the glass door open since I hated the smell of cigarettes. How many can he even smoke?!

I reached down and began to grab onto some of his clothes piling it up next to him and grabbing

"That's it! I'm not giving your controller back until you help me clean up this tim-" i stopped mid sentence when I saw what seemed like fur next to me. A black and white cat.

My eyes brighten when I looked at the cute cat and I forgot about the controller and quickly joined Rei's side and began to pet and hug the cat who lowly meowed and purred against me.

"It's so adorable! Where'd you find it?!" I ask turning to see Rei staring at the cat in my lap.

"Outside in a box."

This isn't the first time Rei has taken in a stray cat. I've taken in stray dogs as well but Kazuki never lets us have pets, i once had to take care of a coworkers pet goldfish and even that I couldn't do because of our roommate.

The three of us have known each other for years, since we've remained friends we decided to live together. Split the bills and live comfortably, well sometimes since living with Rei is impossible and frustrating.

"Aww I do hope we get to keep it this time. He sorta resembles you." I chuckle and saw Rei's eyes darken when he sighed and looked again. "He's so cute." I continue smiling at the cat but it disappeared when the door opened.

"I am home.."

Rei and I turned our heads we saw his eye twitching. "This place is a mess! And you brought a cat home?! How many strays are you going to bring in." He pointed at Rei.

"I've been busy all day and night,l. At least you could've helped with cleaning, (Y/N)." I fumed when Kazuki said that.

"Hey hey! I've been working at the bakery for hours now. No one is responsible for this but Rei."

"Yeah, but we've been through this many times." Kazuki said defeated and began to pick up the place.

I stood up from my spot on the couch and started to walk over to the kitchen and tied my hair and our an apron on preparing to make lunch.

"You better at least throw the trash away, Rei." I warn him and stare at him with an icy glare. Rei turns to glare at me back but says nothing and I silently watched him beginning to rise up from the couch.

"Lazybones."

"Manga obsessed nerd."

"Antisocial freak."

"Otaku."

I felt a pang in my chest when he said that. Rei and I began to call each other out until we passed by me and I continued to cook.

"We've been over this, Rei. You can't take care of yourself and because of our..work..we can't take care of a cat." I heard Kazuki whisper to Rei who was holding a big pile of a trash bag.

I opened the fridge and cursed at myself and Rei. I made dinner for the idiot yesterday since I was working in my room, the lazy man didn't even bother to eat it.

I started cooking as fast as I could and made a decent looking meal. "Enjoy, boys! Cause this'll be the last time I'll cook since somebody didn't eat what I did last night." I accentuate every word and noticed Rei playing with his food.

"It was cold."

"So that's why you didn't eat it?!"

I fought the urge to strangle him from across me. Kazuki was seated between us and trying to not argue.

"Well, I'll gladly eat whatever you cook, (Y/N)." I stared at him and got annoyed by him again.

"You say that to every woman you meet, you womanizer."

Kazuki hung his head low and continued to eat. "At least you didn't make this too spicy."

"I hate spicy food."

Kazuki and I go way back as well. We met each other in highschool too and I used to crossdress as a boy. Kazuki was blind to realize I was truly a girl, the moment he found out about he got all giddy and tried to confess his love for me. I've rejected him ever since, since I don't like men who sleep with random girls every now and then.

"(Y/N), has always been one of those weird otaku people. Always obsessing over the newest thing."

"Your life isn't better at all." I said placing my bowl down and glaring at him.

"Remember when she ordered a cardboard sized, of that weird character.." he said trying to remember the name and Kazuki also hummed trying to remember it.

I blushed and defended my dignity. "He's not weird at all. He's humanity's strongest soldier and he's my husbando!"

"You'll get nowhere with being so weird. You claim to be a mangaka, go to work, but you haven't published a single thing for months. You say you go to your room for inspiration but have never presented us with a single panel."

"Whoa chill, (Y/N)." Kazuki calmly said staring at me when I gripped onto the table tightly. I stood up and left my plate, "I lost me appetite. The cast must leave." I say broken hearted that the furry little kitten must leave.

"(Y/N)!" Kazuki tried to stop me from leaving but I grabbed my belongs and headed outside the apartment and shut the door loudly on my way out.

I breathed in and out and stopped to hear Kazuki  saying a few things to Rei. I hummed sadly to myself and began to walk away to try and distract myself.

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

I've been feeling really upset since Rei said those hurtful words. Truth be told, I kinda got fired from my job since I was past my deadline and my boss treated me like crap sometimes, my coworkers were great though. They always encouraged me, but unlike them I haven't found any inspiration for my manga.

I stayed hidden and saw Kazuki walk past me and I heard a small meow. I frowned and stepped out and saw the frail cat left in a box. "Damn you Kazuki." I forced a smile on my face and I grabbed the kitten. "I'll find you a nice home, don't you worry."

I grabbed the kitten that was wrapped in Kazuki's scarf and I held the cat against my chest. I knew exactly where to give this cat a proper and loving home. My once coworker, Ami has a young daughter, they recently mourned their cats passing and have been looking to give one a new home.

Without hesitation I rang their doorbell and net up with Ami, she saw the cat against me and called her daughter out. She is an extremely adorable little girl, I remember wishing fo a little sister when I was younger...

Both Ami, her daughter and husband were delighted to welcome their new family member. I didn't stick for long since I wanted them to get to know the kitten.

At least I did a good deed.

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

It was late at night and I refused to go to my apartment. In fact, I was searching to see if I could afford a small one for myself. I was ready to check another place when my phone rang and I saw the name displayed on the screen.

'Kazuki :D'

I picked it up wanting to know what he wanted, or if he needed a shoulder to cry one cause another girl ditched him. I was met with the opposite.

"You guys need me to what?!" I ask through the phone and heard Kazuki pull the phone away. I heard him lightly chuckle and continued to apologize to me.

"Sorry, Rei and I never got the chance to fully explain it to you. But we're a spy and assassin. I know this is urgent, I know your exact location a friend of mine has a dress for you and a fake identification, with that you'll be able to access the Christmas party being held by a dangerous man."

I hiss through the phone and continued to talk with Kazuki while I made my way over to his friend whom handed me what Kazuki said he sent for me.

"You're extremely dumb to get her into all of this mess." I could hear Rei nearby and Kazuki quickly shushing him.

Kazuki sighed through the other line. "Get to the building we'll be right behind you." I ended the call and hurriedly got into the dress Lazuli chose for me and I felt my eye twitching when I noticed it was a bit revealing for my taste.

Whatever. I'll head into the building, what could go wrong?

I entered the building and showed my id and invite to the guards up front. They looked at the papers in my hand and then back at me.

"What?... don't I look anything like my picture?!" I snapped. The men lowly said something under their breath, "Oh, and the misses is waiting for her cake." I told them once the door to the elevator shut itself.

As soon as it opened I continued to walk ahead and two men opened their doors and I looked around to see many people dressed all fancy like. This is out of my league. Okay, (Y/N), imagine you're someone else like those cosplays you do.

"Miss, would you like a a drink?" I heard someone ask.

I held my hand up and blushed trying to play it off like I'm a shy kind of woman getting flustered by the 'handsome' men in the room.

"I would love nothing more." I smile seductively and held the glass of champagne in my hand. As soon as the man left I tossed the champagne near a plant and I folded my hands over my chest, feeling self conscious over myself being surrounded by these types of people and this stupid dress.

When are the idiots going to show up?!

I hummed at myself and caught sight of a man with light brown hair drinking away and stepping up to talk at the microphone.

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

The doors were kicked open and gunshots began to fire at Kazuki and Rei. Kazuki was dressed as Santa Claus and Rei was dressed in a suit with his hair ties up. The room was filled with screams and people running to safety.

I was backed up against the wall by a man and felt him pointing a gun at my head when he grabbed me tight, holding me as a hostage. Oh, shit this is real. And here I thought Kazuki was playing with me.

I began to shake in my spot and glanced to tm aide to see the black weapon against the side of my face.

"(Y/N)! You idiot! I swear if you do something to my friend I'll-" Kazuki began to threaten the man who continued to hold me tight. I glanced over and noticed Kazuki and Rei were hidden.

"Everything's gonna be alright, (Y/N)." Rei mouthed to me.

The feeling of him saying that made me feel less afraid. I nodded my head slowly and right before the man could pull me further into the room, a bunch of guys appeared with more guns aiming aimlessly.

"Idiot! How dare you use me as a human shield?!" I angrily headbutted the guy with the back of my head, hitting his face and nose. The man cried out and and loosened his grip on me.

Now's my chance! I stepped forward and began to run straight ahead. A single bullet almost penetrated my skin, but a bit of damage was done when I felt my shoulder bleed a bit. The action made me begin to trip but right before I would hit the floor I was caught and held close against Rei.

I looked at at him and blushed when I realized how close our faces were. Ahh why am I just realizing how handsome he looks?!

Rei held me close to him when more gun shots began to ring. I closed my eyes and noticed Kazuki run to my side but with a tray full of desserts. "Don't worry, {Y/N)." He seemed determined when he said that.

"See that kid over there?"

I nodded when I glanced and saw that weird creep from earlier holding an innocent girl hostage. "What kind of a man would hold a kid against her will?!" I angrily asked myself, seeing the girl not knowing what was going on.

"Miri mustn't get hurt." Kazuki said glaring at the man holding her.

"I've got a clear shot through the kid." Rei said making Kazuki and I shout at him to not shoot.

"I'll distract the men and when I give you the signal I want you to grab her."

"Where is the kids parents anyway?! Where's her mom?" I continued to ask questions.

I noticed Kazuki shifting his eyes. "She doesn't remember what her mother looks like. She's around 4 years old I think." He muttered.

"These people are ruining my party!!" I heard a woman shout through out the crowd.

Kazuki knelt down grabbing onto the desserts. "Miri! I found your papa and mama!"

"Where?!" The girl exclaimed with her eyes shining bright despite the gun pressed to her.

Kazuki dressed as Santa got into position and threw the tray of desserts up at the air. I watched Kazuki grab the tray and telling me to follow him as the tray somehow protected us from the gunshots.

Rei hurried and began to shoot the men down easily. "That's your mama!" Kazuki shouted grabbing my shoulders and making sure the girl would look at me.

"What?!" I shouted looking extremely confused.

"Mama!!"

A bullet went to the man's knee who was holding the little girl. The girl jumped off of him and through her arms up for me to grab. Ahh she's gonna fall!!

I ran faster and reached my hands out to grab her. "Mama!" The girl exclaimed and smiled wide when I grabbed her. Her face resting against my cheek when I felt her gripping onto me tightly.

I held onto her and held the back of her head when I heard a loud gunshot and I glanced back to see the man that was holding her, fall to the ground with a bullet in his head.

Rei cleanly shot him. They seemed unfazed by all of this blood. I seemed to be the only one confused and concerned by all of this, not even the little girl known as Miri seemed unfazed.

"Are you really my mama?!" I stared down at her and didn't know exactly what to answer her. I stared down at her with my eyebrows furrowed together.

Her eyes were shining so bright, her smile could cure cancer and she seemed just so damn adorable!!

Miri still in my arms turned to look at Rei and Kazuki who were standing next to each other. "Ah! And are you my papa?!" Miri asked and I noticed her directly looking at Rei.

I blushed furiously and felt like dying right then and there. Rei seemed unbothered by it but quickly looked away when we met eyes. I shifted my eyes away as well and saw Kazuki smile to himself.

"Sure..Miri." Kazuki said patting the girls head.

"What the hell happened here?" I asked wanting a proper explanation.

"Ugh.." Kazuki turned to Rei but we noticed he was long gone. Typical...

"I'll explain it to you on the way out." Kazuki and I along with Miri quickly ran out of the building and made it back safe.

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

Last night seemed like a strange dream. Only that it was a dream, everything was real. Rei and Kazuki apparently are assassin's and very professional at it. No wonder they could afford this big ass apartment.

By the end I decided to not leave since these two won't know what to do with a kid. The kid needs a mother figure. Last night Miri quickly fell asleep in my lap with her mouth wide open and drool running down the side of her face.

The three of us were inside of a car and Kazuki seemed happy at the girl. Rei seemed extremely unsure about all of this but didn't comment anything on the topic.

It was the next day and Miri was playing with a few toys I got for her, meanwhile she was busy I stepped outside the living room and noticed the place was different.

I squealed and fangirled when I finally saw the place spotless. "Ahh I can't believe you cleaned this place up."

I cheer Rei who has his back to me and seems uncomfortable at my sudden change in attitude towards him. He muttered something to himself but I saw his tired eyes glancing back at me and Miri who continued to talk to herself and play with toys.

I've only had Miri for a day and I would do anything for that little girl. I've never been a person who adores kids, but she is the cutest one I've seen. Truth me told, I've hidden front eh boys that my dream was to some day have a kid of my own and marry.

Hmm Miri is so cute!!

I smile to myself and blush furiously looking at Miri as I pressed my hands together and fangirled.

"I can't believe we have a daughter together!!"

"Idiot. she's not ours biologically!" Rei snaps.

Kazuki entered the room rubbing his eyes and smiled at us. "Hey hey. It's early in the morning and both of you are fighting like an old married couple."

"Papa look at this!" Miri said wanting Kazuki's attention to herself. The little girl began to call me her mama, and would call both Rei and Kazuki her papa.

"You didn't let me have a cat, but your brought a kid." Rei said glaring at the blonde.

"Don't worry. I found that kitten a nice loving home." I blush looking up at Rei and reaching out to hug his arm, but he tried pushing me off of him and didn't know exactly what else to do.

We heard Miri cheer and run over to hug our legs. "Mama and Papa are hugging. I want a hug too!"

Kazuki reached down and held Miri in his arms. "I'll give you as many hugs as you'd like." Miri cutely giggled and smiled.

Only time will tell how this weird new dysfunctional family will end.

[natikoko]

Tilly, Marlon and Adrian During their first meeting

okay. Sorry for the little hiatus!!! Was working on different stuff and dealing with stuff. anyways here’s the cringefail wifefail husbandloser otp3 ever

- okay, so. Post Octo expansion. Maybe around five months after it happened. These three are complete messes but for entirely different reasons loosely strung together into one.

- Eight is still weary of Tilly because she almost like kinda killed her. She still interacts with her, though. They’re on friendly terms (she guesses) just hesitant.

- Tilly is consumed with guilt. It’s no way she allowed an evil old-timey telephone to brainwash her and almost kill someone. Thats literally something out of a cartoon and she somehow fell victim to it. and she almost SUCCEEDED.

• this is before Tilly transitioned btw. I don’t think it’s right to deadname her

- Adrian feels as if he can’t compare to the elusive Agent 3 and that he was sorta a last resort and doesn’t feel needed afterwards. He’s scared and anxious because he doesn’t really have anywhere else to go, after sleeping at tentakeel outpost every night during the campaign.

- They all meet each other. It’s awkward. Tilly shows up with a scarred, healing eye, Adrian with nervousness practically radiating off of him and Eight presenting herself a new name: Marlon.

- They’re quiet— Tilly never released there even was an Agent 4 until this moment and is reeling, Agent 8 doesn’t necessarily know how to communicate with this new Agent (even after a few months, interacting with new Inklings outside of her immediate circle is intimidating) and Agent 4 is confused as to why there’s an Octoling here when they’re goal is to stop the Octarian Menace (poor guy doesn’t know anything better).

- There sit together in a simple circle, because despite the hesitancy and uncomfortableness, they’re agents first and foremost, and you’re got to talk to each other for their partnership to work unhindered.

- Tilly eventually breaks the ice; a simple, “what’s your name?” directed towards Adrian. He’s quiet, but he murmurs his name and she proceeds to ask about his journey of retrieving the Great zapfish and saving Callie and it snowballs from there. The tension subsides and talking becomes easier. After an hour or so, they’re talking as if their first encounters weren’t marred with a sullen undertone.

• Adrian comes out of his shell, Marlon cracks a smile and Tilly realizes something about herself.

- Tilly and Marlon talk about the events of the Metro, alone. Tilly wholeheartedly apologizes for what happened— she blames herself. Marlon probably spent months trying to escape underground, and Tilly dragged her straight back down into hell. If only she hadn’t been so confrontational on Mount Nantai, then none of this wouldn’t have happened.

• Tilly doesn’t mean to cry that much; it burns her healing eye and all. Marlon’s face never changes, but, perhaps if you look close enough, her clenched jaw trembles slightly.

- While Tilly shoulders the blame, Marlon explains her perspective: without Tilly interruption, she would’ve made it to the surface, unguided and without resources, without a home or food. During her time underground, she met Off the Hook, Cuttlefish, and Squid Sisters; all helpful in her well-being today. Yes, it was horrendous in the Metro, but the aftermath was reawarding.

• Plus, Marlon doesn’t even remember their meeting. If anything, she could’ve been the aggressor and Tilly was just defending herself and Cuttlefish; or maybe Tilly was just in a such a state of self-loathing that she just blamed herself for everything.

- They come to a state of deep understanding and quiet trust. They’re the only ones in the world who’s experienced something like that. They can’t separate themselves now.

- They find Adrian an enjoyable companion. He’s quiet, but with a underline of confidence that’s unparalleled with anyone else. He just needs it to be nurtured.

- Their meetup ends, and everyone departs feeling satisfied. The next day’ll be different.

• Callie and Marie, the organizers of their little meetup, think to themselves, they should do this more often.